Introduction to the Tale of Alleyne

AND do ye not the story know
Of ALLEYNE, the good Boy,
Who work'd the murd'rer mickle woe,
And liv'd his mother's joy?

I'll tell ye then—in Cestrian Plains,
The tale full well is known,
Deliver'd down, for many a year,
From parent to the son.

I learn'd it from a mother's tongue,
Who "strok'd my youthful head,"
While on her honey'd words I hung,
Yet heard with silent dread.

A mother, whose maternal care
Few mothers could surpass,
And she was graceful, good, and fair,
And kind as fair she was.

And, as the due her virtues claim,
These filial thanks I pay,
And with her ever-honour'd name
Thus dignify my lay.