 | Songs, Carols, and other Miscellaneous Poems, from the Balliol Ms. 354, Richard Hill's Commonplace book |  |
72
III. Didactic, Moral and Allegorical Poems.
92
81. To dy, to dy! what haue I
Offendit þat deth is so hasty!
1
O marcyfull God, maker of all mankynd,What meneth dethe in his mynd,
& I so yonge of age—
Now deth is vnkynd;
For he seyth: “Man! stop thy wynde,”
Þus he doth rage.
93
2
✗ So dye shall thenAll Crystyn men;
No man wottith his tyme, ne when,
Wherfor thow may,
Yf þou be hye,
Thynk non oþer but þou shalt dye.
[Death and the Four Ages of Man.]
1
In XXti yere of age, remembre we euerychon,Þat deth will not be strange, to taste vs by on & on,
With siknes grevows, which makith man to grone,
Deth biddith beware, þis day a man, to-morow non.
2
In XL yere of age, whan man is stowt & stronge,Trow ye þat deth dare stryk hym or do hym any wrong?
Yes, for-soth, with worldly deth he vill not spare among,
& seyth: “Man, beware! þou shalt not tary long.”
3
In LX yere of age, then tyme is cum to thynk—How he will cum to þe hows, & sit on þe bynke,
Comaundyng man to stowpe toward þe pittis brynk;
Than farewell, worldis joy, whan deth shall bid a man drynk.
Explicit.
| Songs, Carols, and other Miscellaneous Poems, from the Balliol Ms. 354, Richard Hill's Commonplace book | |