# Romance of the Rose (Ellis)/Chapter 94

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This tells how Nature, Goddess sweet, Herein much labour have I spent With honest purpose and intent, Of showing forth to every man How to defend him from the ban17190 Of taking such a mate as may His goods despoil and life betray.
Trust not women But if some fool repose his head, Pillowed beside his wife in bed, Where scarce he dares to hope for sleep, Since of some crime he fears to reap Ill consequence or death if he By evil chance betrayed should be, And therefore wallows, turns, and sighs, In vain attempt to close his eyes,17200 ​With fawning voice towards him turns His wife, who for his secret yearns, Nurses his head betwixt her breasts,
The wife speaks to her husband.
The wheedling wife And saith: Your restlessness attests Dear man, some grief; what makes you sigh And toss about uneasily? May we not feel, as lie we here, Secure from dread or irksome fear? Of all the world, the special twain ’Twixt whom sweet confidence should reign17210 We well may be with reason reckoned, You as the first, and I the second: No pair of hearts than ours could be Together knit more lovingly; My hands have made secure the door, Thick are walls, and stout the floor, The rafter beams are set on high And through the windows none can spy, Seeing that we well hidden are Therefrom, and with strong shutter bar17220 They’re fastened that could nowise stray Our secret thence, whate’er we say. Nay here, unless with warning noise Some rash rude hand the door destroys, We’re sure and safe from all unkind Disturbance, save of boisterous wind. Briefly, you need in nowise fear That any living soul can hear Your voice except myself, and I Therefore implore you piteously17230 ​By all our love, amain you tell Your wife what drags your soul to hell.
The Husband.
Fore God! the thing that doth oppress My mind, quoth he, with heaviness, Had better far be left unsaid.
The Wife.
A wife’s plea Alas! dear husband, are you wed To one whose counsel you reject As of disloyalty suspect? When we in holy wedlock, came Together in the precious name17240 Of Jesu Christ he was to us Of his sweet grace so generous. That closed within the sacred mesh Of marriage are we but one flesh: And seen that thus one flesh are we By every right we ought to be In no one single thing apart But have betwixt the twain one heart. My heart is yours, by that same sign Your heart should be all wholly mine,17250 Nor should its inmost chambers hold A secret thought or wish untold To her who loves you. Therefore say To me, whate’er of grief, I pray, Afflicts you, free from all deceit. For till your heart with mine doth beat ​Twill know no peace. If you refuse, Alas! ’twill then be clear I lose Your confidence, but well I know What tender love for me doth flow Through all your being when I hear You say, ‘Sweet love’ and ‘Sister dear.’ And ’gainst whom is it that you guard This chestnut, kept with watch and ward? Wherefore mistrust For if you hide from me your grief ’Twould seem as though a traitor thief You but esteem me—I, who ne’er From that first day ’twas mine to share Your name, concealed, whate’er betid,17270 The secret thought my bosom hid, But leaving father dear, and mother, Uncles and cousins, sister, brother, On you alone do I depend My one relation, love, and friend. Forsooth, a sad exchange I’ve made If you should show yourself afraid To trust me, though I ne’ertheless Love you with fondest tenderness. But no more than a garden leek Can you esteem me, if you seek17280 This trouble from me to withhold, Possessed with fear lest it be told Abroad. By Christ, our Lord in heaven! Into whose hands could it be given So safely? Think the matter out, And if my loyalty you doubt. My body’s in your power to do Therewith whatever pleaseth you. ​And if that pledge sufficeth not, What more you’d have I fain would wot.17290 Would you assign me place below My women friends around, who know Their husbands’ secrets? Other men Speak freely to their spouses when In bed o’ nights with them they lie, Telling them all their privity As openly, to say the least, As though they shrived them with their priest. All this I know for gospel truth Since I from their own mouths, forsooth,17300 Have learned things many a time when fain Were they, in confidential strain, To tell when all alone we’ve been The secrets they have heard and seen. But you would do me grievous wrong Should you suppose that I belong To women of such sort, for I Ne’er blab or speak unseasonably. So am I of my body too, Fore God and man, fair-lived and true.17310 You never heard that any one With me adultery had done, Or if some one with ill intent Said so—a lie did he invent. Have you not often proved me well? And can you aught against me tell?
Wedlock’s oath Remember you, fair sir, I pray, The oath that on our wedding-day You pledged to me? The offering You then made of a wedding-ring17320 ​I now look back on with surprise, Knowing your vows for barefaced lies. If you to trust my faith are loth, Why sware you then that spousal troth? I charge you by that oath to say What thing it is you hide away Secresy promised In secret from me. Let me know This once what palls your spirit so, And by St. Peter it shall sleep With me as safely as if deep17330 ’Twere buried ’neath a pile of stone. I should but for a fool be known If out my lips a single word Were to your hurt or damage heard; Moreover, ’twould my lineage shame, Whereof I’m proud to guard the fame, And cast on me disgrace so great That death I’d count a worthier fate. A saying is there, just and true, That whoso cuts his nose atwo17340 For ever after shames his face: If faith in God still find a place Within your heart, confide to me Your grief, or you my death will be.
Genius.
Then with her head and breast laid bare No amorous dalliance doth she spare, Nor pleadings of false tears she misses, With treacherous smiles and Judas kisses.