University of Virginia Library

PASSUS XII (DO-WEL IV). Passus duodecimus.

“I am ymagynatyf,” quod he “Idel was I neuere,
Þouȝe I sitte bi my-self in sikenesse ne in helthe.
I haue folwed þe in feithe þis fyue and fourty wyntre,
And many tymes haue moeued þe to þinke on þine ende,
And how fele fernȝeres are faren and so fewe to come,
And of þi wylde wantounesse þo þow ȝonge were,
To amende it in þi myddel age lest miȝte þe faylled
In þyne olde elde þat yuel can suffre
Pouerte or penaunce or preyeres bidde;

Si non in prima vigilia, nec in secunda, &c.

Amende þe while þow myȝte þow hast ben warned ofte
With poustees of pestilences with pouerte and with angres;
And with þise bitter baleyses god beteth his dere childeren,

Quem diligo, castigo.

And dauid in þe sauter seith of suche þat loueth Ihesus,

‘Virga tua & baculus tuus, ipsa me consolata sunt, &c.

Al-þough þow stryke me with þi staffe with stikke or with ȝerde,
It is but murth as for me to amende my soule.’
And þow medlest þe with makynges and myȝtest go sey þi sauter,
And bidde for hem þat ȝiueth þe bred; for þere ar bokes ynowe
To telle men what dowel is dobet, and dobest bothe,
And prechoures to preue what it is of many a peyre freres.”
“Poule in his pistle,” quod he “preueth what is dowel;

Fides, spes, caritas; & maior horum, &c.

Feith, hope, and charitee and alle ben good,
And sauen men sundry tymes ac none so sone as charite.
For he doth wel with-oute doute þat doth as lewte techeth;
Þat is, if þow be man maried þi make þow louye,
And lyue forth as lawe wole while ȝe lyuen bothe.
And riche renkes riȝt so gaderen and sparen,
And þo men þat þei moste haten mynistren it atte laste;
And, for þei suffren & se so many nedy folkes,
And loue hem nouȝt as owre lorde byt lesen her soules;

Date & dabitur vobis, &c.

[So catel and kende wit acombreth ful many;
Wo is hym þat hem weldeth but if he hem [wel] despende;

Scientes et non facientes varijs flagellis vapulabunt;

Sapience, seith þe boke swelleth a mannes soule,

Sapiencia inflat, &c.;]

And ricchesse riȝt so but if þe Rote be trewe;
Ac grace is a grasse þer-of þo greuaunces to abate.
Ac grace ne groweth nouȝte but amonges lowe;
Pacience and pouerte þe place is þere it groweth,
And in lele lyuynge men and in lyf holy,
And þorugh þe gyfte of þe holygoste as þe gospel telleth,

Spiritus vbi vult spirat, &c.

Clergye and kynde witte comth of siȝte and techynge,
As þe boke bereth witnesse to buirnes þat can rede,

Quod scimus, loquimur; quod vidimus, testamur.

Of quod scimus cometh clergye and connynge of heuene,
And of quod vidimus cometh kynde witte of siȝte of dyue[r]se peple.
Ac grace is a gyfte of god and of gret loue spryngeth;
Knewe neuere clerke how it cometh forth ne kynde witte þe weyes,

Nescit aliquis vnde venit, aut quo vadit, &c.

Ac ȝit is clergye to comende and kynde witte bothe,
And namely clergye, for crystes loue þat of clergye is rote.
For Moyses witnesseth þat god wrote for to wisse þe peple,
In þe olde lawe, as þe lettre telleth þat was þe lawe of iewes,
Þat what woman were in auoutrie taken were she riche or pore,
With stones men shulde hir stryke and stone hir to deth.
A womman, as we fynden was gulty of þat dede,
Ac cryste of his curteisye þorw clergye hir saued;
For þorw carectus þat cryst wrot þe iewes knewe hemseluen
Gultier as afor god and gretter in synne
Þan þe woman þat þere was and wenten awey for schame.
Þe clergye þat þere was conforted þe womman.
Holykirke knoweth þis þat crystes writyng saued;
So clergye is conforte to creatures þat repenten,
And to mansed men myschief at her ende
For goddes body myȝte nouȝte be of bred, with-outen clergye,
Þe which body is bothe bote to þe riȝtful,
And deth and dampnacioun to hem þat dyeth yuel.
As crystes carecte conforted and bothe coupable shewed
Þe womman þat þe iewes brouȝte þat Ihesus þouȝte to saue;

Nolite iudicare, et non iudicabimini, &c.

Riȝt so goddes body, bretheren but it be worthily taken,
Dampneth vs atte daye of dome as þe carectes dede þe iewes.
For-þi I conseille þe for cristes sake clergye þat þow louye,
For kynde witte is of his kyn and neighe cosynes bothe
To owre lorde, leue me; for-þi loue hem, I rede;
For bothe ben as miroures to amenden owre defautes,
And lederes for lewed men and for lettred bothe.
[Saul, for he sacrifised sorwe hym be-tydde,
And his sones al-so for þat synne myscheued,
And many mo other men þat were on leuites,
Þat with archa dei ȝeden in reuerence and in worchippe,
And leyden honde þer-on to liften it vp and loren hir lif after.
For-þi I conseil alle creatures no clergie to dispise,
Ne sette schort be here science what so þei don hemselue.
Take we her wordes at worthe for here witnesse be trewe,
And medle we nauȝt muche with hem to meuen any wrathe,
Lest cheste chafen vs to choppe vche man other;

Nolite tangere christos meos, &c.]

Patriarkes and prophetes repreued her science,
And seiden, her wordes ne her wisdomes [was] but a folye;
As to þe clergye of cryst counted it but a trufle;

Sapiencia huius mundi, stulticia [est] apud deum.

For þe heihe holigoste heuene shal to-cleue,
And loue shal lepe out after in-to þis lowe erthe,
And clennesse shal cacchen it and clerkes shullen it fynde;

Pastores loquebantur ad inuicem.

He speketh þere of riche men riȝt nouȝt ne of riȝt witty,
Ne of lordes þat were lewed men but of þe hexte lettred oute,

Ibant magi ab oriente, &c.

If any frere were founde þere Ich ȝif þe fyue shillynges;
Ne in none beggares cote was þat barne borne,
But in a burgeys place of bethlem þe best;

Set non erat locus [eis] in diuersorio; & pauper non habet diuersorium.

“Riȝt so,” quod þe Renke “resoun it sheweth,
Þat he þat knoweth clergye can sonner aryse
Out of synne and be sauf þough he synne ofte,
If hym lyketh and lest þan any lewed lelly.
For if þe clerke be konnynge he knoweth what is synne,
And how contricioun with-oute confessioun conforteth þe soule,
As þow seest in þe sauter in psalme one or tweyne,
How contricioun is commended for it caccheth awey synne;

Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates, & quorum tecta sunt [peccata,] &c.

And þis conforteth vch a clerke and keuereth hym fram wanhope,
In which flode þe fende fondeth a man hardest;
Þere þe lewed lith stille and loketh after lente,
And hath no contricioun ar he come to shryfte & þanne can he litel telle,
And as his lores-man leres hym bileueth & troweth;
And þat is after person or parisch prest and, parauenture, [bothe]
Vnconnynge to lere lewed men as luk bereth witnesse,

Dum cecus ducit cecum, [ambo in foueam cadunt.]

Wo was hym marked þat wade mote with þe lewed!
Wel may þe barne blisse þat hym to boke sette;
Þat lyuynge after letterure saued hym lyf and soule!
Dominus pars hereditatis mee is a meri verset,
Þat has take fro tybourne twenti stronge þeues;
Þere lewed theues ben lolled vp loke how þei be saued!
Þe thef þat had grace of god on gode fryday as þow speke,
Was, for he ȝelte hym creaunt to cryst on þe crosse & knewleched hym gulty,
And grace axed of god [þat to graunten it is] redy
[To hem] þat boxomeliche biddeth it and ben in wille to amenden hem.
Ac þough þat þef had heuene he hadde none heigh blisse,
As seynt Iohan and other seyntes þat asserued hadde bettere.
Riȝt as sum man ȝeue me mete and sette me amydde þe flore,
Ich haue mete more þan ynough ac nouȝt so moche worship
As þo þat seten atte syde table or with þe souereignes of þe halle,
But sitte as a begger bordelees bi my-self on þe grounde.
So it fareth bi þat feloun þat a gode fryday was saued;
He sit neither with seynt Iohan Symonde, ne Iude,
Ne wyth maydenes ne with martires confessoures ne wydwes,
But by hym-self as a soleyne and serued on þe erthe.
For he þat is ones a thef is euermore in daungere,
And as lawe lyketh to lyue or to deye;

De peccato propiciato, noli esse sine metu.

And forto seruen a seynt and such a thef togyderes,
It were noyther resoun ne riȝt to rewarde hem bothe aliche.
And riȝt as troianus þe trewe knyȝt tilde nouȝt depe in helle,
Þat owre lorde ne had hym liȝtlich oute so leue I þe thef be in heuene.
For he is in þe lowest of heuene if owre bileue be trewe,
And wel loselyche he lolleth þere by þe lawe of holycherche,

Quia reddit vnicuique iuxta opera sua, &c.

And why þat one thef on þe crosse creaunt hym ȝelt
Rather þan þat other thef þough þow wolde appose,
Alle þe clerkes vnder cryst ne couthe þe skil assoille;

Quare placuit, quia voluit.

And so I sey by þe þat sekest after þe whyes,
And aresonedest resoun a rebukyng as it were,
And of þe floures in þe fryth and of her feire hewes,
Where-of þei cacche her coloures so clere and so briȝte,
And willest of briddes and of bestes and of hire bredyng to knowe,
Why somme be alowe and somme alofte þi lykyng it were,
And of þe stones and of þe sterres þow studyest, as I leue,
How euere beste or brydde hath so breme wittes:
“Contra,” quod ymagynatyf þo and comsed for to loure,

And seyde, “saluabitur vix iustus in die iudicij.

Ergo saluabitur,” quod he and seyde namore latyne.
“Troianus was a trewe knyȝte and toke neuere cristendome,
And he is sauf, so seith þe boke and his soule in heuene.
For þere is fullyng of fonte and fullyng in blode shedynge,
And þorugh fuire is fullyng and þat is ferme bileue;

Aduenit ignis diuinus, non comburens, sed illuminans, &c.

Ac trewth þat trespassed neuere ne transuersed aȝeines his lawe,
But lyueth as his lawe techeth and leueth þere be no bettere,
And if þere were, he wolde amende and in suche wille deyeth,
Ne wolde neuere trewe god but treuth were allowed;
And where it worth or worth nouȝt þe bileue is grete of treuth,
And an hope hangyng þer-inne to haue a Mede for his treuthe.

For, Deus dicitur quasi dans vitam eternam suis, hoc est, fidelibus; et alibi: si ambulauero in medio vmbre mortis, [&c.]

Þe glose graunteth vpon þat vers a gret mede to treuthe,
And witt and wisdome,” quod þat wye “was somme tyme tresore,
To kepe with a comune no katel was holde bettere,
And moche murth and manhod:”—and riȝt with þat he vanesched.