The Wife of Bath: Alysoun's Tale
Deborah Stokol
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They say Experience Has no value And it's no authority But of husbands I've had five So you should Listen to me Folks may spin yarns I mend and darn A seamstress I will stitch Together a story You'll well remember I'll sing for my supper But if I tell a good lie You'll buy my supper tonight And if I do tell things true Well, my supper Will be on you They tell girls, Oh, act so pretty And don't make yourself filthy Don't enjoy it Don't have fun He's not the one Don't sully yourself Before your God But do your duty By your husband, Todd And I say Don't pay them heed If marriage was good For King Solomon And virgins can't Make more virgins, true I say have fun You are the one For you I will kneel for my God On the stone shod and unshod And I will visit the cathedral Pay respects A pilgrim to Jerusalem To Canterbury, too, But mind Don't tell me What to do So I had five husbands Three good and two bad Some were old with gold And some were lads But the thing I know And I know it well Is ruling ladies Is their own, fresh Hell I hail from Bath Don't need to Cleanse myself Of all that I have lived Let me speak Mr. Pardoner And please don't interrupt There is much that I have still to say Maids can be The fresh, white bread But I'll be barley And I'll wear red And moths won't Have a chance To eat my Best, crimson dress For I'll wear it often Around the town My friends And lovers Well, they like that gown But what matters Is that I like it All myself My last husband Oh I liked him well Married not for money But his lovin', swell His name was Jankyn And I outranked him I don't think that's a sin But he had a book of Evil wives When I opened it Oh, I saw those lies And I thought My laddie Well, that just won't do So I tore three pages From those false sages And he met that act With his lack of tact But I matched him And I met him Neck and neck And I said Jankyn, I'm the mistress here And you can't stay 'Til you give me sway We'll be happy If I have my say Am queen of our domain And finally he saw Some sense And we were jolly From then on hence And I bid you Know That this is all a fact So let me tell you My great tale Sit tight, be merry Drink your ale Let Alysoun Regale you with her song Centuries ago In England When King Arthur ruled his court The fairies roamed the woods Not the lechers in their hoods And magic was the order of the day And in that kingdom There was a Knight Who swore his oath to do Right But one day In the fields Disgraced a lady And he took her by force So he got Sentenced To Death The Queen Guinevere Had mercy in her Soul Said he is foul But should learn his lesson Through a different toll And being wise Good King Arthur He listened to his wife And he spared That horrid knight His Life At least then So she said, Sir, you've had great Clemency You've a year and day To find, pithily What it is A woman Wants He thought it would Be simple, sure But not knowing Where the truth could dwell He rode around The realm This question clear in mind. Some girls said I want to Learn And some girls Said I want to burn With Passion For myself And my lovers Some girls said I want the World And some girls said I want to go to Hell In a hand basket And I can weave it too But one day He saw fairies dance He saw them there Was it by chance When he neared their group They up and disappeared He saw the fey there in the wood Their greenest cloaks and golden snoods He said, oh, please, stay just one moment more But all that there was left of them Was an old grey hag Stood in her rags And our knight Cared not for that Said, hello, young sir I'll tell you true What it is the thing you seek To prove So long as you do grant Me, what I ask In time And he agreed So she told him What it is the thing I will relay And I swear I think I like her More and more She said Give them a choice Let them lift their voice Let them have free reign Of life's horse Let them steer The course Of their own Destinies For them to see Let them be Who they must Needs be Let them grow And wander freely Around this sylvan Ancient Land He said, That's all that they want You're sure And she said Oh Lord Must I endure The presence of this Oaf without a mind So he thanked her And he went with her To wend his way Back to Arthur And he hoped That she had Given sound advice They rode Over the castle's moat Through gates Of Camelot The Knight stood there For Guinevere Told her what she Hoped to hear And she sat back And said Now That's The word He said Well, now, I've answered true So the crone said Good, now, I'll have you And he cried No, please, no Anything but that They were married then And she asked him Dear knight, why do you Seem so grim And he said You're poor Have grime And you are past your prime I don't know why she wanted him He was cruel And he was a great fool But I guess that you cannot Account for taste! Patiently, she verily Said wealth Is not Morality Youth brings risk And beauty Lies within But, all right My Knight I'll offer you To be young and fair But you may have to fear That I will stray away from you Or you can have me Old and grey But Loyal every single day Not that those Should be The only selections left But he had somewhat Understood That women should have Their own rule So replied, Dear Wife I leave it all to you To choose And with that He saw Her change Into a Lovely Young maiden And she sighed And said, because you Let me have my way I will remain this way With you Forever and a day With you At least until I find My next husband So that's my tale Hope you've listened well I was born under Venus and Mars as well So I'm lusty But I'm also wise And I know all about the life of wives So remember, one And two and three That women want Their sovereignty And that's all That I have to say For now So experience has value And my life Is testament To the worth of worlds Not just of words I've shared my piece Goodnight And Farewell
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