John Skelton's “Speke Parott”

Lectoribus auctor recipit opusculi huius auxesim.

Crescet in immensum me vivo pagina presens;
Hinc mea dicetur Skeltonidis aurea fama.

PAROT

My name is Parrot, a byrd of Paradyse,
By Nature devised of a wonderowus kynde,
Deyntely dyeted with dyvers dylycate spyce,
Tyl Euphrates, that flode, dryveth me into Inde;
Where men of that countrey by fortune me fynde,
And send me to greate ladyes of estate;
Then Parot must have an almon or a date.

A cage curyously carven, with sylver pyn,
Properly paynted, to be my covertowre;
A myrrour of glasse, that I may toote therin;
These maidens ful mekely with many a divers flowre
Freshly they dresse, and make swete my bowre,
With, ‘Speke, Parrot, I pray you,’ full curtesly they say;
‘Parrot is a goodly byrd, a prety popagey.’

With my becke bent, my lyttyl wanton eye,
My fedders freshe as is the emrawde grene,
About my neck a cyrculet lyke the ryche rubye,
My lytyll leggys, my feet both fete and clene,
I am a mynyon to wayt uppon a quene;
‘My proper Parrot, my lyttyl prety foole.’
With ladyes I lerne, and go with them to scole.

‘Hagh, ha, ha, Parrot, ye can laugh pretyly!’
‘Parrot hath not dyned of al this long day;’
‘Lyke ower pus cate, Parrot can mewte and cry.’
In Lattyn, in Ebrew, Araby, and Caldey;
In Greke tong Parrot can bothe speke and say,
As Percyus, that poet, doth reporte of me,
Quis expedivit psittaco suum chaire?

Dowse French of Parryse Parrot can lerne,
Pronounsynge my purpose after my properte,
With, Perliez byen, Parrot, ou perlez rien;
With Douch, with Spanysh, my tong can agre;
In Englysh to God Parrot can supple:
Cryst save Kyng Henry the viii., our royall kyng,
The red rose honour to florysh and sprynge!

With Kateryne incomparable, our ryall quene also,
That pereles pomegarnet, Chryst save her noble grace!
Parrot, saves habler Castiliano,
With fidasso de cosso in Turkey and in Trace;
Vis consilii expers, as techith me Horace,
Mole ruit sua, whose dictes ar pregnaunte,
Soventez foys, Parrot, en sovenaunte.

My lady maystres, dame Philology,
Gave me a gyfte in my nest whan I laye,
To lerne all language, and it to spake aptely:
Now pandez mory, wax frantycke, some men saye;
Phroneses for Freneses may not holde her way.
An almon now for Parrot, dilycatly drest;
In Salve festa dies, toto ys the beste.

Moderata juvant, but toto doth excede;
Dyscressyon is moder of noble vertues all;
Myden agan in Greke tonge we rede;
But reason and wyt wantyth theyr provyncyall,
When wylfulnes is vycar general.
Hec res acu tangitur, Parrot, par ma foy:
Ticez vous, Parrot, tenez vous coye.

Besy, besy, besy, and besynes agayne!
Que pensez voz, Parrot? What meneth this besynes?
Vitulus in Oreb troubled Arons brayne,
Melchisedeck mercyfull made Moloc mercyles;
To wyse is no vertue, to medlyng, to restles;
In mesure is tresure, cum sensu maturato,
Ne tropo sanno, ne tropo mato.

Aram was fyred with Caldies fyer called Ur;
Iobab was brought up in the lande of Hus;
The lynage of Lot supporte of Assur;
Iereboseth is Ebrue, who lyst the cause dyscus.
Peace, Parrot, ye prate, as ye were ebrius:
Howst the, lyver God van Hemrik, ic seg;
In Popering grew peres, whan Parrot was an eg.

What is this to purpose? Over in a whynnymeg!
Hop Lobyn of Lowdeon wald have e byt of bred;
The Jebet of Baldock was made for Jack Leg.
An arrow unfethered and without an hed,
A bagpype wihout blowynge standeth in no sted:
Some run to far before, some run to far behynde,
Some be to churlysshe, and some be to kynde.

Ic dien serveth for the erstych fether,
Ic dien is the language of the land of Beme;
In Affryc tongue byrsa is a thonge of lether;
In Palestina here is Jerusalem.
Colostrum now for Parrot, whyte bred and swete creme!
Our Thomasen she doth trip, our Jenet she doth shayle;
Parrot hath a blacke beard and a fayre grene tayle.

‘Moryshe myne owne shelfe,’ the costermonger sayth;
‘Fate, fate, fate, ye Irysh water lag.’
In flattryng fables men fynde but lyttyl fayth;
But moveatur terra, let the world wag,
Let syr Wrig-Wrag wrastell with Syr Delarag:
Every man after his maner of wayes,
Pawbe une aruer, so the Welche man sayes.

Suche shredis of sentence, strowed in the shop
Of auncyent Aristippus and such other mo,
I gader togyther and close in my crop,
Of my wanton conseyt, unde depromo
Dilemmata docta in paedagogio
Sacro vatum, whereof to you I breke:
I pray you, let Parot have lyberte to speke.

But ware the cat, Parot, ware the fals cat!
With, ‘Who is there? A mayd? Nay, nay, I trow;
Ware ryat, Parrot, ware ryot, ware that!
Mete, mete, for Parrot, mete I say, how!’
Thus dyvers of language by lernyng I grow:
With, ‘Bas me, swete Parrot, bas me, swete swete;’
To dwell amonge ladyes, Parrot, is mete.

‘Parrot, Parrot, Parrot, praty popigay!’
With my beke I can pyke my lyttel praty too;
My delyght is solas, pleasure, dysporte and pley;
Lyke a wanton, whan I wyll, I rele to and froo;
Parot can say, ‘Caesar, ave,’ also;
But Parrot hath no favour to Esebon:
Above all other byrdis, set Parrot alone.

See the Skelton Project website for the full text of the poem together with many notes.

Strictly, this unit should be labeled “Early Modern English” rather than “Middle English”, since it is just after the border between the two.