| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
| |
| John Skelton. 1460?–1529 |
| |
| 30. To Mistress Margery Wentworth |
| |
| WITH margerain gentle, | |
| The flower of goodlihead, | |
| Embroidered the mantle | |
| Is of your maidenhead. | |
| Plainly I cannot glose; | 5 |
| Ye be, as I divine, | |
| The pretty primrose, | |
| The goodly columbine. | |
| |
| Benign, courteous, and meek, | |
| With wordes well devised; | 10 |
| In you, who list to seek, | |
| Be virtues well comprised. | |
| With margerain gentle, | |
| The flower of goodlihead, | |
| Embroidered the mantle | 15 |
| Is of your maidenhead. | |
| |
|
GLOSS: margerain] marjoram. |
|
|
