John Skelton: To Mistress Margaret Hussey

To Mistress Margaret Hussey
by John Skelton

Merry Margaret,
As midsummer flower,
Gentil as falcon
Or hawk of the tower ;
With solace and gladness,
Much mirth and no madness,
All good and no badness,
So joyously,
So maidenly,
So womanly
Her demeaning
In every thing,—
Far, far passing
That I can endite
Or suffice to write
Of merry Margaret,
As midsummer flower,
Gentil as falcon
Or hawk of the tower.
As patient and as still
And as full of good will
As fair Isiphill,
Coliander,
Sweet pomander,
Good Cassaunder ;
Steadfast of thought,
Well made, well wrought ;
Far may be sought
Erst that ye can find
So curteise, so kind
As merry Margaret,
This midsummer flower,
Gentil as falcon
Or hawk of the tower.
1523

Cosmè Tura. Primavera. c.1460.
National Gallery, London.

Source:
Poetry of the English Renaissance 1509-1660.
J. William Hebel and Hoyt H. Hudson, eds.
New York: F. S. Crofts & Co., 1941. 7.

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