 | A paraphrase on the Seven Penitential Psalms |  |
[To thé, Lord, my cause I take]
Domine , exaudi oracionem meam; auribus percipe obsecrationem meam, in veritate tua: exaudi [me,] in tua justicia.
To thé, Lord, my cause I take:Thi doom is truthe and ryȝtwysnesse:
On myn enmýes a pleynt I make,
That steryn me evere to wickydnesse.
Here my prayère, and redresse
The malyce that thei schewe to me.
I leve my synne; I take wytnesse
Of ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Et non intres in judicium cum servo tuo, Domine! quia non justificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis vivens.
What so evere I háve ben here before,Deme me noȝt on the hardest wyse;
I have do mys; I will no more,
But take me fully to thi servyse.
43
No lyvyng man gyltles may be:
Therfore I rede, no man dyspyse
‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Quia persecutus est inimicus animam meam: humiliavit in terra vitam meam.
Myn enemyes ben ful harde to knowe,That so faste my soule pursewe:
Thei drawe my love to the world ful lowe,
That be resoun I schulde eschewe.
They make me, to the ful, untrewe.
Out of here handys I may noȝt fle,
But ȝyf thi grace in me renewe
‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Collocavit me in obscuris, sicut mortuos seculi: et anxiatus est super me spiritus meus; in me turbatum est cor meum.
Thei cumbre me in wyll and werk.My spirite is ful of wo wyth inne.
Alle my woordys be waxĕ derk,
For thei be mynged with dedly synne.
Myn herte begynneth to breste atwynne,
And hope of helpe I kan non se,
But ȝyf I may frenschypp wynne
With ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Memor fui dierum antiquorum; meditatus sum in omnibus operibus tuis: in factis manuum tuarum meditabar.
44
Summe of oure faderys, as I fynde;
And largely qwytt hem herĕ mede,
That han to hym be good and kynde.
His werkys schul nevere out of my mynde:
Love and dreed they prentyn on me;
That I dar nevere more leve be hynde
‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Expandi manus meas ad te: anima mea, sicut terra sine aqua, tibi.
Often tymes myn handys I sprede,And my synne be ful ypocrysye;
For I lyve noȝt ther after in dede;
Myn herte is fals[ĕ feynt, and drye.
There ben no terys in myn eye;
Thowȝ I wolde wepe, it wyll noȝt be:
I kan noȝt preye ryȝt hertylye,
‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Velociter exaudi me, Domine! defecit spiritus meus.
Here me, Lord, and wyll noȝt tarye:My spirite begynneth to feynte and fayle.
Suffere nevere my soule myskarye,
Whannĕ the feendys will me assayle.
Evere he is redy to gyvve batayle,
And I drede sore his cruelté:
I have non armour, of plate nor mayle,
But ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
45
Non avertas faciem tuam a me: et similis ero descendentibus in lacum.
Turne noȝt awey fro me thi face,But lete me have a syȝte of itt:
For, ȝyf thou withdrawe thi grace,
My soule in synne schal sone be schytt.
Who so falle in that depĕ pytt,
It is so derk he schal noȝt se.
Thanne is non helpe in mannys wytt,
But ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Auditam fac michi mane misericordiam tuam: quia in te speravi.
Of thi mercý I wolde fayn lereBe tymĕ, ȝyf it be thi lyst,
In this world, whil I am here:
In thé is al myn hope and tryst!
Syth truthe and mercy were freendys and kyst,
There was nevere man, of no degré,
(But ȝyf he wolde hym self,) that myst
‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Notam fac michi viam in qua ambulem: quia ad te levavi animam meam.
Teche me, Lord, the ryȝt[ĕ] weye,That I may my soulĕ save;
Zyf the gospell trewly seye,
Me thar no more but aske and have.
46
That wolde lyfte up his herte to thé,
And devoutly crye, and crave,
‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Eripe me de inimicis meis, Domine! ad te confugi: doce me facere voluntatem tuam, quia Deus meus es tu.
Delyvere me, Lord, after thi myȝt,Fro myn enemyes that wole me ille:
Thei púrsewe me, bothe day and nyȝt;
Thei seke my soule to spoyle and spylle.
Teche me to parforme thi wylle:
Thou art my Lord, and evere schalt be!
This is my prayère, lowde and stylle,
‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Spiritus tuus bonus deducet me in terram rectam: propter nomen tuum, Domine, vivificabis me in equitate tua.
To the lond of ryȝtwysnesseThi spirit schal lede me hole and sounde,
Tyl God schal deme bothe more and lesse:
Thanne schal I ryse out of the grounde.
There schal truthe and ryght be founde;
We schul be demyd be equité.
There schal no man, for peny ne pounde,
Have ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Educes de tribulacione animam meam: et in misericordia tua disperdes inimicos meos.
47
And myn enmýes dysparple wyde;
Whan thou schalt deme alle men be dene,
There is no man that may hym hyde.
Make me thanne with hem abyde,
That schul be savyd, and go with thé;
For thei ben provyd, ageyn that tyde,
Of ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Et perdes omnes qui tribulant animam meam: quoniam ego servus tuus sum.
Allĕ feendys, ferse and felle,That wolde my soulĕ schame and schende,
Thei schul be dampnyd to the peynes of helle,
Whanne thi servauntys to blysse schul wende.
That joye and blyssĕ he us sende,
That schadde his blood up on a tre;
And alle that makyn here last ende
Wyth ‘Ne reminiscaris, Domine!’
Amen.
| A paraphrase on the Seven Penitential Psalms | |