Hoccleve's Works. I. The minor poems in the Phillipps Ms. 8151 (Cheltenham) and the Durham Ms. III. 9.: Edited by Frederick J. Furnivall |
 | HOCCLEVE'S MINOR POEMS.
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 | Hoccleve's Works. I. |  |
1
HOCCLEVE'S MINOR POEMS.
A. D. 1413–1446.
The Compleynte of the Virgin before the Cross.
(englisht by command of Lady Hereford.)
[_]
[The first leaf of the MS. and of this Compleynte (a 1) is lost. The first 2 leavs of the Poem to ‘Oldcastel,’ sign. a 7, 8, hav been put befor the 2nd leaf of the Virgin Compleynte (sign. a 2), to prevent the MS. looking incomplete. Ther was thus at least one rascaly bookseller in James I's time.]
7
O Womman,—þat among the peple speekHow þat the wombe blessid was þat beer,
And the tetes þat yaf to sowken eek
The sone of god / which on hy hangith heer,—
What seist thow now / why comest thow no neer?
Why nart thow heere? / o womman, where art thow,
That nat ne seest my woful wombe now?
8
O Simeon / thow seidest me ful sooth‘The strook that perce shal my sones herte,
My soule thirle it shal’ / and so it dooth:
The wownde of deeth ne may I nat asterte,
Ther may no martirdom me make smerte
So sore as this martree smertith me:
So sholde he seyn / þat myn hurt mighte see.
2
9
O. Ioachim / o deere fadir myn!And seint Anne, my modir deere also!
To what entente / or to what ende or fyn
Broghten yee me foorth / þat am greeued so?
Mirthe is to me become a verray fo.
Your fadir Dauid / þat an harpour was,
Conforted folk þat stood in heuy cas.
10
Me thynkith yee nat doon to me aright,Þat were his successours / syn instrument
Han yee noon left / wher-with me make light,
And me conforte, in my woful torment.
Me to doon ese / han yee no talent,
And knowen myn conforteless distresse:
Yee oghten weepe for myn heuynesse.
11
O blessid sone / on thee wole I out throweMy salte teeres / for oonly on thee
My look is set / o thynke / how many a throwe
Thow in myn armes lay / and on my knee
Thow sat / & haddist many a kus of me.
Eeek thee, to sowke, on my breestes yaf y,
Thee norisshyng faire & tendrely.
12
Now thee fro me, withdrawith bittir deeth,And makith a wrongful disseuerance.
Thynke nat, sone / in me þat any breeth
Endure may / þat feele al this greuance;
My martirdom me hath at the outrance;
I needes sterue moot / syn I thee see
Shamely nakid, strecchid on a tree.
13
And this me sleeth / þat in the open dayThyn hertes wownde shewith him so wyde
3
So largeliche opned is thy syde.
O! wo is me, syn I nat may it hyde!
And, among othre of my smerte greeues,
Thow put art also, sone, amonges theeues,
14
As thow were an euel & wikkid wight.And, lest þat somme folk par auenture
No knowleche hadde of thy persone aright,
Thy name, Pilat hath put in scripture,
Þat knowe mighte it euery creature,
For thy penance sholde nat been hid.
O / wo is me / þat al this see betid!
15
How may myn yen, þat beholde al this,Restreyne hem for to shewe by weepynge
Myn hertes greef / moot I nat weepe? O yis!
Sone, if thow haddist a fadir lyuynge,
That wolde weepe & make waymentynge,
For þat he hadde paart of thy persone,
That were a greet abreggynge of my mone.
16
But thow in eerthe / fadir haddist neuere;No wight for thee / swich cause hath for to pleyne,
As þat haue I / shalt thow fro me disseuere,
Þat aart al heolly myn? my sorwes deepe
Han al myn hertes ioie leid to sleepe.
No wight with me, in thee, my sone, hath part:
Hoolly of my blood / deere chyld / thow art.
17
That doublith al my torment & my greef.Vn-to myn herte / it is confusion,
Thyn harm to see / þat art to me so leef.
Mighte nat, sone / the Redempcioun
4
Of thy blood? yis / if it had been thy lust.
But what thow wilt be doon / souffre me must!
18
O deeth / so thow kythist thy bittirnesseFirst on my sone / & aftirward on me.
Bittir art thow / & ful of crabbidnesse,
That my sone hast slayn thurgh thy crueltee,
And nat me sleest / certein, nat wole I flee.
Come of / come of / & slee me heere, as blyue!
Departe from him / wole I nat a lyue!
19
O moone / o sterres / and thow firmament!How may yee, fro wepynge yow restreyne,
And seen your Creatour in swich torment?
Yee oghten troublid been in euery veyne,
And his despitous deeth / with me compleyne.
Weepeth & crieth as lowde as yee may,
Our Creatour with wrong is slayn this day.
20
O sonne, with thy cleere bemes brighte,Þat seest my child nakid this nones tyde,
Why souffrest thow him, in the open sighte
Of the folk heere / vnkeuered abyde?
Thou art as moche, or more, holde him to hyde,
Than Sem, þat helid his Fadir Noe
Whan he espyde þat nakid was he.
21
If thow his sone be / do lyk ther-to!Come of / withdrawe thy bemes brightnesse!
Thow art to blame / but if thow so do.
For shame / hyde my sones nakidnesse!
Is ther in thee no sparcle of kyndenesse?
Remembre he is thy lord and Creatour!
Now keuere him / for thy worsship & honour!
5
22
O eerthe / what lust hast thow to susteeneThe crois on which he þat thee made, and it,
Is hangid? / and aourned thee with greene
Which þat thow werist / how hast thow thee qwit
Vn-to thy lord? / o do this for him yit!
O! wake for doel / & cleue thow in two,
And al þat blood / restore me vn-to,
23
Which thow hast dronke / it myn is, & not thyn;Or elles thus / withouten taryynge
Tho bodyes dede / whiche in thee þat lyn,
Caste out / for they, by taast of swich dewynge,
Hem oghte clothe ageyn in hir clothynge.
Thow Caluarie / thow art namely
Holden for to do so / to thee speke Y.
24
O deere sone / myn deeth neighith faste,Syn to an othir / thow hast youen me
Than vn-to thee / & how may my lyf laste,
Þat me yeuest any othir than thee?
Thogh he / whom thow me yeuest / maiden be,
And thogh by iust balance / thow weye al,
The weighte of him & thee / nat is egal.
25
He a disciple is / & thow art a Lord;Thow al away art gretter than he is;
Betwixt your mightes / is ther greet discord.
My woful torment / doublid is by this;
I needes mourne moot / & fare amis;
It seemeth þat thow makist departynge
Twixt thee & me for ay / withoute endynge;
26
And namely / syn thow me ‘womman’ callist,As I to thee straunge were and vnknowe;
Therthurgh, my sone / thow my ioie appallist;
6
Hath bent / & me purposith doun to throwe.
Of sorwe talke may I nat ynow,
Syn fro my name / I-doon away is now.
27
Wel may men clepe and calle me ‘Mara’!From hennes forward, so may men me call.
How sholde I lenger clept be ‘Marïa’,
Syn ‘I’, which is Ihesus, is fro me fall
This day / al my swetnesse is in-to gall
Torned, syn þat ‘I’, which was the beautee
Of my name / this day bynome is me.
28
O Iohn, my deere freend! thow haast receyuedA woful modir / and an heuy sone
Haue I of thee / deeth hath myn othir weyued!
How may we two, the deeth eschue or shone?
We drery wightes two / wher may we wone?
Thou art of confort / destitut / I see;
And so am I / ful careful been wee!
29
Vn-to oure hertes / deeth hath sent his wownde:Noon of vs may alleggen othres peyne.
So manye sorwes in vs two habownde,
We han no might, fro sorwe vs restreyne;
I see non othir / die moot we tweyne;
Now let vs steruen heer par compaignie!
Sterue thow there / & heere wole I die.
30
O Angels / thogh yee mourne and waile & weepe,Yee do no wrong / slayn is your Creatour
By the folk þat yee weren wont to keepe
And gye & lede / they to dethes shour
Han put him / thogh yee han wo & langour,
7
And yit ful cheer he had hem þat him slow.
31
O / special loue / þat me ioyned haastVn-to my sone / strong is thy knyttynge!
This day ther-in fynde I a bittir taast;
For now the taast I feele, & the streynynge
Of deeth / by thy deeth / feele I deeth me stynge.
O poore modir / what shalt thow now seye?
Poore Marie / thy wit is aweye!
32
Marie? nay / but ‘marred’ I thee call.So may I wel / for thow art / wel I woot,
Vessel of care & wo, & sorwes all!
Now thow art frosty cold / now fyry hoot;
And right as þat a ship, or barge, or boot,
Among the wawes dryueth steerelees,
So doost thow, woful womman, confortlees!
33
And of modir / haast thow eek lost the style:No more maist thow clept be by thy name!
O sones of Adam / al to long whyle
Yee tarien hens / hieth hidir for shame!
See how my sone / for your gilt & blame,
Hangith heer al bybled vp on the crois!
Bymeneth him in herte & cheere & vois!
34
His blody stremes, see now & beholde!If yee to him han any affeccioun,
Now for his wo / your hertes oghten colde.
Shewith your loue and your dileccioun;
For your gilt makith he correccioun
And amendes / right by his owne deeth:
Þat yee nat reewe on him, myn herte it sleeth.
35
A modir þat so soone / hir cote taarOr rente / sy men neuere noon or this,
8
To yeue her tete / as my chyld, þat heere is,
His cote hath torn / for your gilt, nat for his,
And hath his blood despent in greet foysoun;
And al it was for your Redempcioun.
Cest tout.
Ceste Compleynte paramont feut translatee au
commandement de ma dame de Hereford, que dieu pardoynt!
[II.] Ceste feust faicte au temps que le Roy Henri le Ut, (que Dieu pardoint!) feust a Hampton sur son primer passage vers Harflete.
1
The laddre of heuene / I meene charitee,Comandith vs / if our brothir be falle
In to errour / to haue of him pitee,
And seeke weyes, in our wittes alle,
How we may him ageyn to vertu calle;
And in gretter errour ne knowe I noon
Than thow, þat dronke haast heresies galle,
And art fro Crystes feith twynned & goon.
2
Allas! þat thow þat were a manly knyght,And shoon ful cleer in famous worthynesse,
Standynge in the fauour of euery wight,
Haast lost the style of cristenly prowesse
9
Of good byleeue / & no man with thee holdith,
Sauf cursid caitifs, heires of dirknesse:
For verray routhe of thee / myn herte coldith.
3
Thow haast maad a fair permutacionFro Crystes lore to feendly doctryne;
From honour & fro dominacion
Vn-to repreef and mescheuous v[e]nyne;
Fro cristen folk / to hethenly couyne;
Fro seuretee vn-to vnsikirnesse;
Fro ioie and ese / vn-to wo & pyne,
Fro light of trouthe / vn-to dirke falsnesse.
4
O Oldcastel / allas / what eilid theeTo slippe in to the snare of heresie?
Thurgh which / thow foo arte to the Trinitee,
And to the blissid virgyne Marie,
And to the Innumerable holy compaignie
Of heuene / and to al holy chirche. allas!
To longe haast thow bathid in þat folie!
Ryse vp / & pourge thee of thy trespas!
5
Seynt Austyn seith / ‘whiles a man abydithIn heresie or scisme / and list nat flee
Ther fro / his soule / fro God he diuidith,
And may nat saued been in no degree.
For what man holdith nat the vnitee
Of holy Chirche / neithir his bapteeme,
Ne his almesse / how large þat it be,
To helthe him profyte / ne god qweeme.’
6
And yit more-ouer he seith thus also,‘Thogh þat an heretyk, for Crystes name
Shede his blood / & his lyf for Cryst forgo,
Shall nat him saue’ / allas, the harm & shame!
10
Obeie / obeie / in the name of Jhesu!
Thou art of merit & of honur lame;
Conquere hem two / & thee arme in virtu!
7
If thyn hy herte, bolnynge in errour,To holy chirche can nat buxum be;
Beholde Theodosius Emperour,
How humble & buxum vn-to god was he!
No reward tooke he of his dignitee,
But, as a lamb, to holy chirche obeide:
In the scripture / may men rede & se
How meekly of the Bisshop, grace he preide.
8
Thoffense which þat he ageyn god wroghte,Was nat so greet as thyn / by many fold;
And yit ful heuy he was, & it forthoghte,
Obeyyng as þat holy chirche hath wold.
Thow þat thy soule / to the feend haast sold,
Bye it agayn thurgh thyn obedience!
Thyn heresie is al to hoor and old;
Correcte thee at Crystes reuerence!
9
And for thy soules helthe / do eeke so!Thy pryde qwenche, & thy presumpcioun!
Wher thow hast been to Crystes feith a fo,
Plante in thyn herte a deep contricioun,
And hennes foorth be Crystes Champioun!
The welle of mercy renneth al in brede;
Drynke ther-of / syn ther is swich foysoun,
Thyn hertes botel / ther-of fille, I rede.
10
Thow haast offendid god wondirly sore;And nathelees / if thow the wilt amende,
Thogh thy gilt wer a thowsand tymes more,
Axe him mercy / & he wole it thee sende.
11
And so been alle of thyn opinioun.
To god & holy chirche thow thee bende!
Caste out thy venym thurgh confessioun!
11
Thow seist ‘confessioun auriculeerTher needith noon’ / but it is the contrarie;
Thow lookist mis / thy sighte is nothyng cleer!
Holy writ ther-in is thyn Aduersarie,
And Clerkes alle fro thy conceit varie,
Þat Crystes partie holden & maynteene.
Leue þat conceit / lest þat thow mis-carie!
Waar of the swerd of god / for it is keene.
12
Heere, in this lyf / vn-to god mercy crie,[MS.] Augustinus de visitatione infirmorum dicit. ‘In muro Ciuitatis superne apponendus es lapis viuus, in cuius edificio non auditur securis aat malleus. hic perferendus est strepitus / hic adiciendus est lapidi malleus / hic conterendum est totum lapidis superuacuum / strepitus peccatorum tuorum recordatio super quibus perstrepat in aure sacerdotis humillima tua confessio, &c.’
And with the ax or hamer of penance
Smyte on the stoon / slee thyn obstinacie!
Haue of thy synnes heuy remembrance!
Rowne in the preestes ere / & the greuance
Of thy soule / meekly to him confesse;
And in the wal of heuene / is no doutance,
Thow shalt a qwike stoon be / for thy goodnesse.
13
O Oldcastel / how hath the feend thee blent!Where is thy knyghtly herte / art thow his thral?
Thow errest foule eeke in the sacrament
Of the Auter / but how in special
For to declare it needith nat at al;
It knowen is in many a Regioun.
Now syn the feend hath youen the a fal /
Qwyte him / let see / ryse vp & slynge him doun!
14
Ryse vp, a manly knyght, out of the slowOf heresie / o lurker / as a wrecche
Wher as thow erred haast / correcte it now!
By humblesse / thow mayst to mercy strecche.
12
The holsum oyle of absolucion.
If thow of soules hurt ne shame recche,
Thow leesist heuene / and al knyghtly renoun.
15
Par cas / thow to thy self shame it arettist,Vn-to Prelatz of holy chirche obeie:
If it so be / thy conceit thow mis settist.
What man aright can / in his herte weye
The trouthe of that / To Ihesu Cryst, I seye,
Principally / is þat obedience.
God hath ordeyned preestes to purveye
Salue of penance / for mannes offense.
16
Vnto seint Petir and his successours,And so foorth doun / god hath his power lent
Go to the Preest / correcte thyn errours,
With herte contryt vn-to god y-bent!
Despute no more of the sacrament!
As holy chirche biddith, folwe it!
And hennes forward / as by myn assent,
Presume nat so mochil of thy wit!
17
I putte cas, a prelat or a preestHim viciously gouerne in his lyuynge /
Thow oghtist reewe on it / whan thow it seest,
And folwe him nat / but aftir his techynge
Thow oghtest do / & for thyn obeyynge
Thow shalt be sauf / & if he teche amis,
Toforn god shal he yeue a rekenynge,
And þat a streit / the greet peril is his.
18
Lete holy chirche medle of the doctryneOf Crystes lawes / & of his byleeue,
And lete alle othir folke / ther-to enclyne,
And of our feith noon argumentes meeue.
13
We sholde no meryt of our feith haue.
But now a dayes / a Baillif or Reeue
Or man of craft / wole in it dote or raue.
19
Some wommen eeke, thogh hir wit be thynne,Wele argumentes make in holy writ!
Lewde calates! sittith down and spynne,
And kakele of sumwhat elles, for your wit
Is al to feeble to despute of it!
To Clerkes grete / apparteneth þat aart
The knowleche of þat, god hath fro yow shit;
Stynte and leue of / for right sclendre is your paart.
20
Oure fadres olde & modres lyued wel,And taghte hir children / as hem self taght were
Of holy chirche / & axid nat a del
‘Why stant this word heere?’ / and ‘why this word there?’
‘Why spake god thus / and seith thus elles where?’
‘Why dide he this wyse / and mighte han do thus?’
Our fadres medled no thyng of swich gere:
Þat oghte been a good mirour to vs.
21
If land to thee be falle of heritage,Which þat thy fadir heeld in reste & pees,
With title iust & trewe in al his age,
And his fadir before him brygelees,
And his and his / & so foorth / doutelees
I am ful seur / who so wolde it thee reue,
Thow woldest thee deffende & putte in prees;
Thy right thow woldest nat, thy thankes, leue.
22
Right so / where as our goode fadres oldePossessid were, & hadden the seisyne
Peisible / of Crystes feith, & no man wolde
14
Ther-to / let us no ferthere ymagyne
But as þat they dide! occupie our right;
And in oure hertes fully determyne
Our title good / & keepe it with our might.
23
Who so hath right / and nat wole it deffende;It is no manhode / it is cowardyse:
And as in this cas / he shal god offende
So greuously / þat he shal nat souffyse,
The maugree, for to bere in no wyse
Fro Cryst þat right first greew / & if þat we
Nat shuln susteene it / we been ful vnwyse:
Him self is feith / right / trouthe, & al bontee.
24
The Cristen Emperour Justinian,As it is writen / who so list it see,
Made a lawe deffending euery man,
Of what condicion or what degree
Þat he were of / nat sholde hardy be
For to despute of the feith openly;
And there vp on / sundry peynes sette he,
Þat peril sholde eschued be therby.
25
Bewar Oldcastel / & for Crystes sakeClymbe no more / in holy writ so hie!
Rede the storie of Lancelot de lake,
Or Vegece of the aart of Chiualrie,
The seege of Troie / or Thebes / thee applie
To thynge þat may to thordre of knyght longe!
To thy correccioun / now haaste and hie,
For thow haast been out of ioynt al to longe.
26
If thee list thyng rede of auctoritee,To thise stories sit it thee to goon:
To Iudicum / Regum, and Iosue,
15
And Machabe / & as siker as stoon,
If þat thee list in hem bayte thyn ye,
More autentike thing / shalt thow fynde noon,
Ne more pertinent to Chiualrie.
27
Knyghtes so dide in tymes þat be past,Whan they had tendrenesse of hir office;
In Crystes feith they stooden stidefast;
And as þat the preest, hir soules Norice,
Hem goostly fedde / & yaf hem the notice
Of Crystes lore / with obedience
They tooke it / but now regneth swich malice,
That buxumnesse is put in abstinence.
28
O Constantyn, thow Prince of hy nobleye /O cristen Emperour / whos worthynesse
Desdeyned nat to holy chirche obeye,
But didest al thy peyne & bisynesse,
With wel disposid spirit of meeknesse,
The Ministres of god for to honure;
How thow wroghtist / hast thow so strong witnesse,
That lyue it shal / whil the world wole endure!
29
Thow took nat on thee hir correctioun,Ne vp on hem / thow yaf no iugement!
Swich was to god thy good affeccioun,
Thow seidest / ‘they been goddes to vs sent!
And þat it is nothyng conuenient,
That a man sholde goddes iuge and deeme.’
Thow were a noble & a worthy Regent!
Wel was byset on thee / thy diadeeme!
30
Blessid be god / fro whom deryued isAl grace / our lige lord / which þat is now
Our feithful cristen Prince and King / in this
16
Oldcastel / thow haast longe tyme ynow
Folwed the feend / thogh thow no lenger do,
Do by my reed / it shal be for thy prow:
Flee fro the Feend / folwe tho Princes two!
31
Reward had, & consideracioun,Vn-to the dignitees of tho persones,
Thow art of a scars reputacioun!
A froward herte / haast thow for the nones!
Bowe & correcte thee / come of at ones!
Foule haast thow lost thy tyme many a day!
For thyn vnfeith / men maken many mones;
To god retourne / & with his feith dwelle ay!
32
Thogh god the haue souffrid regne a whyle,Be nat to bold / be war of his vengeance!
He tarieth . for thow sholdist reconsyle
Thee to him / & leue thy mescreaunce.
Holsum to thee / now were a variaunce
Fro the feend to our lord god / & fro vice
Vn-to vertu, þat were his hy plesaunce,
And his modres, man-kyndes mediatrice.
33
Some of thy fetheres weren plukkid late,And mo shuln be / thow shalt it nat asterte;
Thow art nat wys / ageyne god to debate!
The flood of pryde / caste out of thyn herte!
Grace is a-lyue / to god thee conuerte!
Thow maist been his / if thee list him obeie;
If thow nat wilt so / sorrer shalt thow smerte,
Than herte of man may thynke, or tonge seye!
34
Almighty god / thow lord of al, and Syre,Withouten whom is no goodnesse wroght,
This knyght, of thyn habundant grace enspyre!
17
He is thyn handwerke / lord! refuse him noght,
Thogh he thee haue agilt outrageously /
Thow þat for mercy deidest, change his thoght!
Benigne lord, enable him to mercy!
35
Yee þat peruerted him / yee folke dampnable!Yee heretikes þat han him betrayed,
That manly was / worthy & honurable,
Or þat he hadde of your venym assayed,
I doute it nat / your wages shal be payed
Sharply / but yee correcte your trespas,
In your fals errour / shul yee been outrayed,
And been enhabited with Sathanas.
36
Yee, with your sly coloured argumentesWhich þat contenen nothyng but falshode,
Han, in this Knyght, put so feendly ententes,
Þat he is ouercharged with the lode
Which yee han leid on his good old knygthode,
That now ‘a wrecchid knyght’ men calle may.
The lak of feith / hath qwenchid his manhode;
His force ageyn god / naght is at assay.
37
‘Prynce of preestes’ / our lige lord yee calleIn scorn / but it is a style of honour:
Auctoritee of Preest excedith alle
Eerthely powers / thogh it seeme sour
To the taast of your detestable errour.
They þat in the feith been constaunt & sad,
In seint Petres wordes han good fauour,
And fayn been to fullfille þat he bad.
38
Alle eerthely Princes and othir men,Bysshops to obeie / commandid he.
Yee han no ground to holde ther ayen:
18
Alle the thynges temporel þat be,
As moche as dooth the soule the body.
In the scriptures, serche / & yee shul see
Þat it no lees at al is hardily.
39
Two lightes, god made in the firmamentOf heuene / a more made he, & a lesse;
The gretter light, to the day hath he lent,
It for to serue in his cleer brightnesse;
The smaller, to the nyght in soothfastnesse
He lente also / to helpe it with his light.
Two dignitees they toknen in liknesse:
Auctoritee papal, and kynges might.
40
Looke, how moche & how greet dyuersiteeBetwixt the sonne ther is, & the moone ;
So moche is a popes auctoritee
Aboue a kynges might / good is to doone
Þat yee aryse out of your errour soone,
Þat there-in walwid han / goon is ful yore.
And but yee do / god, I byseeche a boone,
Þat in the fyr yee feele may the sore!
41
Yee þat nat sette by preestes power,‘Crystes Rebels, & foos’ men may you calle.
Yee waden in presumpcioun to fer!
Your soules to the feend, yee foule thralle!
Yee seyn, ‘a preest in deedly synne falle,
If he so go to messe / he may nat make
Crystes body’ / falsly yee erren alle,
Þat holden so / to deepe yee ransake!
42
As wel may a preest þat is vicious,Þat precious body make, day by day,
As may a preest / þat is ful vertuous;
19
And shal, but he be cleene: it is no nay.
Be what he be / the preest is instrument
Of god / thurgh whos wordes / trustith this ay,
The preest makith the blessid sacrament.
43
Yee medle of al thyng / yee moot shoo the goos:How knowen yee what lyf a man is ynne?
Your fals conceites renne aboute loos!
If a preest synful be, & fro god twynne,
Thurgh penitence he may ageyn god wynne.
No wight may cleerly knowen it or gesse,
Þat any preest, beynge in deedly synne,
For awe of god, dar to the messe him dresse.
44
Yee seyn also ‘ther sholde be no pope,But he the beste preest were vp-on lyue.’
O! wher-to graspen yee so fer, and grope
Aftir swich thyng / yee mowe it neuere dryue
To the knowleche / nothyng there-of stryue!
Medle nat ther with / let al swich thyng passe!
For if þat yee do / shul yee neuere thryue;
Yee been ther-in as lewde as is an asse!
45
Many man outward / seemeth wondir good,And inward is he wondir fer ther-fro:
No man be Iuge of þat / but he be wood:
To god longith þat knowleche, & no mo.
Thogh he be right synful / sooth is also,
The hy power þat is to him committid,
As large as petres is / it is right so:
Amonges feithful folk / this is admittid.
46
What is the lawe the werse of nature,If þat a Iuge vse it nat aright?
No thyng / god wot / auyse him þat the cure
20
Waar / þat he nat stonde in his owne light!
Good is, þat he his soule keepe & saue.
Your fals conceites, puttith to the flight,
I rede / and Crystes mercy, axe & haue!
47
Yee þat pretenden folwers for to beOf Crystes disciples / nat lyue sholde
Aftir the flesshly lustes / as doon yee
Þat rekken nat / whos wyf yee take & holde:
Swich lyf / the disciples nat lyue wolde,
For cursid is the synne of aduoutrie;
But yee ther-in, so hardy been & bolde,
Þat yee no synne it holden, ne folie.
48
If yee so holy been as yee witnesseOf your self ; thanne in Crystes feith abyde!
The disciples of Cryst had hardynesse
For to appeere / they nat wolde hem hyde
For fere of deeth / but in his cause dyde.
They fledden nat to halkes ne to hernes,
As yee doon / þat holden the feendes syde,
Whiche arn of dirknesse the lanternes.
49
Ne neuere they in forcible maneereWith wepnes roos / to slee folk, & assaille,
As yee diden late in this contree heere,
Ageyn the King, stryf to rere, & bataille.
Blessid be god / of your purpos yee faille,
And faille shuln / yee shuln nat foorth ther with!
Yee broken meynee / yee wrecchid rascaille
Been al to weyke / yee han ther-to no pith!
50
Also yee holden ageyn pilgrimages,Whiche arn ful goode / if þat folk wel hem vse;
And eeke ageyns the makynge of ymages.
21
How can yee, by reson, your self excuse
Þat yee nat erren / whan yee folk excite
To vice / and stire hem, vertu to refuse?
Waar goddes strook / it peisith nat a lyte.
51
For to visite seintes / is vertu,If þat it doon be for deuocioun;
And elles / good is, be ther-of eschu.
Meede wirkith in good entencioun.
Be cleene of lyf / & be in orisoun!
Of synne, talke nat in thy viage!
Let vertu gyde thee / fro toun to toun!
And so to man / profitith pilgrimage.
52
And to holde ageyn ymages makynge,(Be they maad in entaille or in peynture,)
Is greet errour / for they yeuen stirynge
Of thoghtes goode / and causen men honure
The seint / after whom / maad is that figure,
And nat worsshippe it / how gay it be wroght.
For this knowith wel euery creature
Þat reson hath / þat a seint is it noght.
53
Right as a spectacle helpith feeble sighte,Whan a man on the book redith or writ,
And causith him to see bet than he mighte,
In which spectacle / his sighte nat abit,
But gooth thurgh / & on the book restith it;
The same may men of ymages seye,
Thogh the ymage nat the seint be / yit
The sighte vs myngith to the seint to preye.
54
Ageyn possessions / yee holden eeke,Of holy chirche / & that is eeke errour:
Your inward ye / is ful of smoke & reeke!
22
Whom Angels diden seruice & honour,
Purses had he / why ; for his chirche sholde
So haue eek aftir / as seith mine Auctour:
Yee goon al mis / al is wrong / þat yee holde!
55
Iustinian Emperour had swich cheerteeTo holy chirche / as þat seith the scripture,
Þat of goodes how large or greet plentee
It hadde of yifte of any creature;
Him thoghte it youe in the best mesure
Þat mighte been / his herte it loued so.
Yee neuere yaf hem good, per auenture:
What title han yee / aght for to take hem fro?
56
And if yee had aght youe hem or this tyme,Standynge in the feith / as yee oghten stonde,
Sholden they now / for your change & your cryme,
Despoillid been of þat they haue in honde ;
Nay / þat no skile is / yee shul vndirstonde,
They nyght and day labouren in prayeere
For hem that so yaf / styntith, and not fonde
To do so ; for first boght wole it be deere.
57
Presumpcion of wit, and ydilnesse,And couetyse of good / tho vices three
Been cause of al your ydil bysynesse.
Yee seyn eeke: ‘goodes, commune oghten be:’
Þat ment is, in tyme of necessitee,
But nat by violence or by maistrie,
My good to take of me / or I of thee,
For þat is verray wrong & robberie.
58
If þat a man the soothe telle shal,How þat your hertes in this cas been set,
For to ryfle, is your entente final;
23
And fayn wolde han it in the watir wet,
The fissh to take / which yee han purposid.
But god and our lord lige hath yow let!
It nis, ne shal been / as yee han supposid.
59
Men seyn ‘yee purpose hastily appeere,The worm for to sleen in the pesecod:’
Come on / whan yow list / yee shul reewe it deere!
The feend is your cheef / & our heed is god!
Thogh we had in oure handes / but a clod
Of eerthe / at your heedes to slynge or caste,
Were wepne ynow / or a smal twig or rod;
The feith of Cryst / stikith in vs so faste!
60
We dreden nat / we han greet auantage,Whethir we lyue / or elles slayn be we,
In Crystes feith / for vp to heuenes stage,
If we so die / our soules lift shul be;
And on þat othir part / yee feendes / yee
In the dirke halke of Helle shul descende!
And yit with vs abit this charitee,
Our desir is / þat yee yow wolde amende.
61
Yee holden many an othir errour moThen may be writen in a litil space,
But lak of leisir me commandith ho.
Almighty god / byseeche I of his grace
Enable yow to seen his blessid face,
Which þat is o god / & persones three.
Remembre yow / heuene is a miry place,
And helle is ful of sharp aduersitee.
62
Yit, Oldcastel / for him þat his blood shaddeVp on the crois / to his feith torne agayn!
Forget nat the loue / he to vs hadde,
24
From hennes forward / trouble nat thy brayn
As thow hast doon, ageyn the feith ful sore!
Cryst, of thy soule / glad be wolde, & fayn:
Retourne knyghtly now vn-to his lore!
63
Repente thee / and with him make accord!Conquere meryt and honour / let see,
Looke how our cristen Prince, our lige lord,
With many a lord & knyght beyond the See,
Laboure in armes / & thow hydest thee!
And darst nat come / & shewe thy visage!
O, fy! for shame / how can a knyght be
Out of thonur of this rial viage?
64
Sum tyme was no knyghtly turn no where,Ne no manhode shewid in no wyse,
But Oldcastel wolde, his thankes, be there.
How hath the cursid fiend changid thy gyse!
Flee from him! and alle his wirkes despyse!
And þat y-doon, vn-to our cristen kyng
Thee hie as faste / as þat thow canst dyuyse,
And humble eeke thee to him / for any thyng!
Cest tout.
25
[III.] Cy ensuyt la male regle de T. Hoccleue.
1
O precious tresor inconparable!O ground & roote of prosperitee!
O excellent richesse commendable
Abouen alle / þat in eerthe be!
Who may susteene thyn aduersitee?
What wight may him avante of worldly welthe,
But if he fully stande in grace of thee,
Erthely god / piler of lyf / thow helthe?
2
Whil thy power / and excellent vigour(As was plesant vn-to thy worthynesse)
Regned in me / & was my gouernour,
Than was I wel / tho felte I no duresse,
Tho farsid was I with hertes gladnesse;
And now my body empty is, & bare
Of ioie / and ful of seekly heuynesse,
Al poore of ese / & ryche of euel fare!
3
If þat thy fauour twynne from a wight ;Smal is his ese / & greet is his greuance!
Thy loue / is lyf / thyn hate sleeth doun right!
26
Bettre than I, þat, of myn ignorance,
Vn-to seeknesse am knyt / thy mortel fo.
Now can I knowe feeste fro penaunce;
And whil I was with thee / kowde I nat so.
4
My grief and bisy smert cotidianSo me labouren & tormenten sore,
Þat what thow art now / wel remembre I can,
And what fruyt is in keepynge of thy lore.
Had I thy power knowen or this yore,
As now thy fo conpellith me to knowe,
Nat sholde his lym han cleued to my gore,
For al his aart / ne han me broght thus lowe.
5
But I haue herd men seye longe ago,‘Prosperitee is blynd / & see ne may’:
And verifie I can wel / it is so;
For I my self put haue it in assay.
Whan I was weel / kowde I considere it? nay!
But what / me longed aftir nouelrie,
As yeeres yonge yernen day by day;
And now my smert accusith my folie.
6
Myn vnwar yowthe kneew nat what it wroghte,This woot I wel / whan fro thee twynned shee;
But of hir ignorance hir self shee soghte,
And kneew nat þat shee dwellyng was with thee;
For to a wight were it greet nycetee
His lord or freend wityngly for toffende,
Lest þat the weighte of his aduersitee
The fool oppresse / & make of him an ende.
7
From hennes foorth wole I do reuerenceVn-to thy name / & holde of thee in cheef,
And werre make, & sharp resistence
27
Þat vndir foote / me halt in mescheef,
So thow me to thy grace reconcyle.
O now thyn help / thy socour and releef!
And I for ay / mis reule wole exyle.
8
But thy mercy excede myn offense /The keene assautes of thyn aduersarie
Me wole oppresse with hir violence.
No wondir / thogh thow be to me contrarie;
My lustes blynde han causid thee to varie
Fro me / thurgh my folie & inpudence;
Wherfore / I, wrecche / curse may & warie
The seed and fruyt of chyldly sapience.
9
As for the more paart / youthe is rebelVn-to reson / & hatith her doctryne,
Regnynge which / it may nat stande wel
With yowthe / as fer as wit can ymagyne.
O / yowthe / allas / why wilt thow nat enclyne,
And vn-to reuled reform bowe thee?
Syn resoun is the verray streighte lyne
Þat ledith folk / vn-to felicitee.
10
Ful seelde is seen / þat yowthe takith heedeOf perils þat been likly for to fall;
For, haue he take a purpos / þat moot nede
Been execut / no conseil wole he call;
His owne wit, he demeth best of all;
And foorth ther-with / he renneth brydillees,
As he þat nat betwixt hony and gall
Can iuge / ne the werre fro the pees.
11
All othir mennes wittes he despisith;They answeren no thyng to his entente;
His rakil wit only to him souffysith;
28
To doon as þat Salomon wroot & mente,
Þat redde men by conseil for to werke:
Now, youthe, now / thow sore shalt repente
Thy lightlees wittes dull, of reson derke!
12
My freendes seiden vn-to me ful ofte,My mis reule me cause wolde a fit;
And redden me, in esy wyse & softe,
A lyte and lyte to withdrawen it;
But þat nat mighte synke in-to my wit,
So was the lust y-rootid in myn herte.
And now I am so rype vn-to my pit,
Þat scarsely I may it nat asterte.
13
Who-so cleer yen hath, & can nat see,Ful smal, of ye, auaillith the office /
Right so / syn reson youen is to me
For to discerne a vertu from a vice,
If I nat can with resoun me cheuice,
But wilfully fro reson me withdrawe,
Thogh I of hir haue no benefice,
No wondir / ne no fauour in hir lawe.
14
Reson me bad / & redde as for the beste,To ete and drynke in tyme attemprely;
But wilful youthe nat obeie leste
Vn-to þat reed / ne sette nat ther-by.
I take haue of hem bothe outrageously
And out of tyme / nat two yeer or three,
But .xx.ti wyntir past continuelly,
Excesse at borde hath leyd his knyf with me.
15
The custume of my repleet abstinence,My greedy mowth, Receite of swich outrage,
And hondes two / as woot my negligence,
29
Of hire þat werreieth euery age,
Seeknesse, y meene, riotoures whippe,
Habundantly þat paieth me my wage,
So þat me neithir daunce list, ne skippe.
16
The outward signe of Bachus & his lure,Þat at his dore hangith day by day /
Excitith folk / to taaste of his moisture
So often / þat man can nat wel seyn nay.
For me, I seye / I was enclyned ay
With-outen daunger thidir for to hye me,
But if swich charge / vp on my bake lay,
That I moot it forbere / as for a tyme;
17
Or but I were nakidly bystadBy force of the penylees maladie,
For thanne in herte kowde I nat be glad,
Ne lust had noon to Bachus hows to hie.
Fy ; Lak of coyn / departith conpaignie,
And heuy purs, with herte liberal,
Qwenchith the thirsty hete of hertes drie,
Wher chynchy herte / hath ther-of but smal.
18
I dar nat telle / how þat the fresshe repeirOf venus femel lusty children deere,
Þat so goodly / so shaply were, and feir,
And so plesant of port & of maneere,
And feede cowden al a world with cheere,
And of atyr passyngly wel byseye,
At Poules heed me maden ofte appeere,
To talke of mirthe / & to disporte & pleye.
19
Ther was sweet wyn ynow thurgh-out the hous,And wafres thikke / for this conpaignie
Þat I spak of / been sumwhat likerous,
30
Sweete / and in wirkynge hoot for the maistrie
To warme a stomak with / ther-of they dranke.
To suffre hem paie, had been no courtesie:
That charge I tooke / to wynne loue & thanke.
20
Of loues aart / yit touchid I no deel;I cowde nat / & eek it was no neede:
Had I a kus / I was content ful weel,
Bettre than I wolde han be with the deede:
Ther-on can I but smal; it is no dreede:
Whan þat men speke of it in my presence,
For shame I wexe as reed as is the gleede.
Now wole I torne ageyn to my sentence.
21
Of him þat hauntith tauerne of custume,At shorte wordes / the profyt is this:
In double wyse / his bagge it shal consume,
And make his tonge speke of folk amis;
For in the cuppe / seelden fownden is,
Þat any wight his neigheburgh commendith.
Beholde & see / what auantage is his,
Þat god / his freend / & eek him self, offendith.
22
But oon auauntage / in this cas I haue:I was so ferd / with any man to fighte,
Cloos kepte I me / no man durste I depraue
But rownyngly / I spak no thyng on highte.
And yit my wil was good / if þat I mighte,
For lettynge of my manly cowardyse,
Þat ay of strookes impressid the wighte,
So þat I durste medlen in no wyse.
23
Wher was a gretter maister eek than y,Or bet aqweyntid at Westmynstre yate,
Among the tauerneres namely,
31
I pynchid nat at hem in myn acate,
But paied hem / as þat they axe wolde;
Wherfore I was the welcomere algate,
And for ‘a verray gentil man’ y-holde.
24
And if it happid on the Someres dayÞat I thus at the tauerne hadde be,
Whan I departe sholde / & go my way
Hoom to the priuee seel / so wowed me
Heete & vnlust and superfluitee
To walke vn-to the brigge / & take a boot /
Þat nat durste I contrarie hem all three,
But dide as þat they stired me / god woot.
25
And in the wyntir / for the way was deep,Vn-to the brigge I dressid me also,
And ther the bootmen took vp-on me keep,
For they my riot kneewen fern ago:
With hem was I I-tugged to and fro,
So wel was him / þat I with wolde fare;
For riot paieth largely / eueremo;
He styntith neuere / til his purs be bare.
26
Othir than ‘maistir’ / callid was I neuere,Among this meynee, in myn audience.
Me thoghte / I was y-maad a man for euere:
So tikelid me þat nyce reuerence,
þat it me made larger of despense
Than þat I thoght han been / o flaterie!
The guyse of thy traiterous diligence
Is, folk to mescheef haasten / & to hie.
27
Al be it þat my yeeres be but yonge /Yit haue I seen in folk of hy degree,
How þat the venym of faueles tonge
32
And broght hem in so sharp aduersitee
Þat it hir lyf hath also throwe a-doun.
And yit ther can no man in this contree
Vnnethe eschue this confusioun.
28
Many a seruant / vn-to his lord seith,‘Þat al the world spekith of him honour,’
Whan the contrarie of þat / is sooth in feith:
And lightly leeued is this losengeour:
His hony wordes / wrappid in errour,
Blyndly conceyued been / the more harm is!
O! thow, fauele, of lesynges Auctour,
Causist al day / thy lord to fare amis!
29
Tho combreworldes clept been ‘énchantours’In bookes / as þat I haue, or this, red,
That is to seye, sotil deceyuours,
By whom the peple is mis gyed & led,
And with plesance so fostred and fed,
Þat they forgete hem self, & can nat feele
The soothe of the condicion in hem bred,
No more / than hir wit were in hire heele.
30
Who-so þat list in ‘the book of natureOf beestes’ rede / ther-in he may see
(If he take heede vn-to the scripture,)
Where it spekith of meermaides in the See,
How þat so inly mirie syngith shee,
Þat the shipman ther-with fallith a sleepe,
And by hir aftir deuoured is he:
From al which song, is good, men hem to keepe.
31
Right so the feyned wordes of plesanceAnnoyen aftir / thogh they plese a tyme
To hem þat been vnwyse of gouernance,
33
If þat yee been enuolupid in cryme,
Yee may nat deeme / men speke of yow weel,
Thogh fauel peynte hir tale in prose or ryme:
Ful holsum is it / truste hir nat a deel.
32
Holcote seith vp-on the book alsoOf sapience / as it can testifie,
Whan þat Vlixes saillid to and fro
By meermaides / this was his policie,
Alle eres of men of his compaignie,
With wex he stoppe leet / for þat they noght
Hir song sholde heere / lest the armonye
Hem mighte vn-to swich deedly sleep han broght,
33
And bond him self / vn-to the shippes mast:Lo! thus hem alle, saued his prudence.
The wys man is, of peril sore agast.
O flaterie! o lurkyng pestilence!
If sum man dide his cure & diligence
To stoppe his eres fro thy poesie,
And nat wolde herkne a word of thy sentence,
Vn-to his greef it were a remedie.
34
As nay / al thogh thy tonge were ago,Yit canst thow glose in contenance & cheere;
Thow supportist with lookes eueremo
Thy lordes wordes in eche mateere,
Al-thogh þat they a myte be to deere;
And thus thy gyse is priuee and appert
With word and look / among our lordes heere
Preferred be / thogh ther be no dissert.
35
But whan the sobre / treewe, & weel auysid,With sad visage his lord enfourmeth pleyn,
How þat his gouernance is despysid
34
As man treewe oghte vn-to his souereyn,
Conseillynge him amende his gouernance,
The lordes herte swellith for desdeyn,
And bit him voide blyue with meschaunce.
36
Men setten nat by trouthe now adayes;Men loue it nat / men wole it nat cherice;
And yit is trouthe best at all assayes.
When þat fals fauel, soustenour of vice,
Nat wite shal how hire to cheuyce,
Ful boldely shal trouthe hir heed vp bere.
Lordes, lest fauel / yow fro wele tryce,
No lenger souffre hir nestlen in your ere!
37
Be as be may / no more of this as now;But to my mis reule wole I refeere.
Wher as I was at ese weel ynow,
Or excesse vn-to me leef was, & deere,
And, or I kneew his ernestful maneere,
My purs, of coyn had resonable wone;
But now, ther-in can ther but scant appeere:
Excesse hath ny exyled hem echone.
38
The feend and excesse been conuertible,As enditith to me my fantasie:
This is my skile / if it be admittible:
Excesse of mete & drynke is glotonye;
Glotonye awakith malencolie;
Malencolie engendrith werre & stryfe;
Stryf causith mortel hurt thurgh hir folie:
Thus may excesse reue a soule hir lyfe.
39
No force of al this / go we now to waccheBy nightirtale / out of al mesure;
For as in þat / fynde kowde I no macche
35
And to the cuppe ay took I heede & cure,
For þat the drynke apalle sholde noght.
But whan the pot emptid was of moisture,
To wake aftirward / can nat in my thoght.
40
But whan the cuppe had thus my neede sped,And sumdel more than necessitee,
With repleet spirit wente I to my bed,
And bathid there in superfluitee.
But on the morn / was wight of no degree
So looth as I / to twynne fro my cowche:
By aght I woot / abyde / let me see!
Of two / as looth / I am seur, kowde I towche.
41
I dar nat seyn Prentys and ArondelMe countrefete, & in swich wach go ny me;
But often they hir bed louen so wel,
Þat of the day / it drawith ny the pryme,
Or they ryse vp / nat tell I can the tyme
Whan they to bedde goon / it is so late.
O helthe, lord / thow seest hem in þat cryme!
And yit thee looth is / with hem to debate.
42
And why / I not / it sit nat vn-to me,Þat mirour am of riot & excesse,
To knowen of a goddes pryuetee;
But thus I ymagyne / and thus I gesse:
Thow meeued art, of tendre gentillesse,
Hem to forbere / and wilt hem nat chastyse,
For they, in merthe and vertuous gladnesse,
Lordes reconforten in sundry wyse.
43
But to my purpos / syn þat my seeknesse,As wel of purs as body, hath refreyned
Me fro Tauerne / & othir wantonnesse,
36
My greuous hurt ful litil is conpleyned,
But they, the lak compleyne of my despense.
Allas þat euere knyt I was, and cheyned
To excesse / or him dide obedience.
44
Despenses large enhaunce a mannes loosWhil they endure / & whan they be forbore,
His name is deed / men keepe hir mowthes cloos,
As nat a peny had he spent tofore.
My thank is qweynt / my purs, his stuf hath lore,
And my Carkeis repleet with heuynesse.
Be waar, Hoccleue / I rede thee therfore,
And to a mene reule / thow thee dresse!
45
Who-so, passynge mesure, desyrith,(As þat witnessen olde Clerkes wyse,)
Him self encombrith often sythe, & myrith;
And for-thy let the mene thee souffyse.
If swich a conceit in thyn herte ryse,
As thy profyt may hyndre, or thy renoun,
If it were execut in any wyse,
With manly resoun thriste thow it doun!
46
Thy rentes annuel / as thow wel woost,To scarse been, greet costes to susteene;
And in thy cofre, pardee, is cold roost,
And of thy manuel labour, as I weene,
Thy lucre is swich / þat it vnnethe is seene
Ne felt / of yiftes seye I eek the same;
And stele, for the guerdoun is so keene,
Ne darst thow nat / ne begge also for shame.
47
Than wolde it seeme / þat thow borwid haastMochil of þat þat thow haast thus despent
In outrage & excesse, and verray waast,
37
Of verray right / moot hoom ageyn be sent;
Thow ther-in haast no perpetuitee.
Thy dettes paie / lest þat thow be shent,
And or þat thow ther-to compellid be.
48
Sum folk in this cas dreeden more offenseOf man / for wyly wrenches of the lawe,
Than he dooth, eithir god or conscience;
For by hem two, he settith nat [an] hawe.
If thy conceit be swich / thow it withdrawe,
I rede / and voide it clene out of thyn herte;
And first of god, and syn of man, haue awe,
Lest þat they bothe / make thee to smerte.
49
Now lat this smert, warnynge to thee be;And if thow maist heere-aftir be releeued
Of body and purs / so thow gye thee
By wit / þat thow / no more thus be greeued.
What riot is / thow taasted haast, and preeued;
The fyr / men seyn / he dreedith þat is brent;
And if thow do so / thow art wel y-meeued:
Be now no lenger, fool / by myn assent!
50
Ey / what is me / þat to my self, thus longe,Clappid haue I / I trowe þat I raue.
A / nay / my poore purs / and peynes stronge
Han artid me speke as I spoken haue.
Who-so him shapith, mercy for to craue,
His lesson moot recorde in sundry wyse;
And whil my breeth may in my body waue,
To recorde it / vnnethe I may souffyse.
51
O god! o helthe! vn-to thyn ordenance,Weleful lord / meekly submitte I me.
I am contryt / & of ful repentance
38
As was displesaunt to thy deitee.
Now kythe on me thy mercy & thy grace!
It sit a god, been of his grace free;
Foryeue / & neuere wole I eft trespace!
52
My body and purs been at oones seeke;And for hem bothe / I to thyn hy noblesse,
As humblely as þat I can . byseeke
With herte vnfeyned / reewe on our distresse!
Pitee haue of myn harmful heuynesse!
Releeue the repentant in disese!
Despende on me a drope of thy largesse,
Right in this wyse / if it thee lyke & plese.
53
Lo, lat my lord the Fourneval, I preye,My noble lord / þat now is tresoreer,
From thyn Hynesse haue a tokne or tweye
To paie me þat due is for this yeer
Of my yeerly .x. li. in theschequeer,
Nat but for Michel terme þat was last:
I dar nat speke a word of ferne yeer,
So is my spirit symple and sore agast.
54
I kepte nat to be seen inportuneIn my pursuyte / I am ther-to ful looth;
And yit þat gyse / ryf is, and commune
Among the peple now, withouten ooth;
As the shamelees crauour wole / it gooth,
For estaat real / can nat al day werne,
But poore shamefast man ofte is wroth;
Therfore, for to craue, moot I lerne.
55
The prouerbe is / ‘the doumb man, no lond getith;’Who-so nat spekith / & with neede is bete,
And, thurgh arghnesse / his owne self forgetith,
39
Neede hath no lawe / as þat the Clerkes trete,
And thus to craue / artith me my neede;
And right wole eek þat I me entremete,
For þat I axe is due / as god me speede!
56
And þat that due is / thy magnificenceShameth to werne / as þat I byleeue.
As I saide / reewe on myn inpotence,
Þat likly am to sterue yit or eeue,
But if thow in this wy[s]e me releeue.
By coyn, I gete may swich medecyne
As may myn hurtes alle, þat me greeue,
Exyle cleene / & voide me of pyne.
[IV.] Ceste balade ensuyante feust faite au tres noble Roy .H. le. Ut., (que dieu pardoint!) le iour que les seigneurs de son Roialme lui firent lour homages a Kenyngtoun.
1
The Kyng of Kynges regnyng ouer al,Which stablisshid hath in eternitee
His hy might / þat nat varie he may ne shal,
So constant is his blisful deitee,
My lige lord / this grace yow graunte he,
That your estaat rial / which þat this day
Haath maad me lige to your souereyntee,
In reule vertuous continue may.
40
2
God dreede / & ficche in him your trust verray!Be clene in herte / & loue chastitee!
Be sobre / sad / iust / trouthe, obserue alway!
Good conseil take / & aftir it do yee!
Be humble in goost / of your tonge attempree;
Pitous & merciable in special;
Prudent / debonaire, in mesure free;
Nat ouer large / ne vn-to gold thral!
3
Be to your liges also sheeld & wal!Keepe and deffende hem from aduersitee!
Hir wele and wo / in your grace lyth al.
Gouerneth hem in lawe and equitee;
Conquere hir loue / & haue hem in cheertee!
Be holy chirches Champioun eek ay;
Susteene hir right / souffre no thyng doon be
In preiudice of hir, by no way!
4
Strengthe your modir / in chacyng awayTherrour / which sones of iniquitee
Han sowe ageyn the feith / it is no nay,
Yee ther to bownde been of duetee;
Your office is it / now, for your seurtee,
Souffreth nat Crystes feith to take a fal!
Vn-to his peple / and youres, cheerly see,
In conseruyng of your estat real!
5
Syn god hath sent yow wit substancial,And kynges might / vertu, putte in assay!
And, lige lord / thogh my conceit be smal,
And nat my wordes peynte fressh and gay,
But clappe and iangle foorth, as dooth a iay,
Good wil to yow shal ther noon faille in me,
Byseechyng vn-to god, þat, to his pay,
Yee may gouerne your hy dignitee.
41
[V. AND VI.] Cestes balades ensuyantes feurent faites au tresnoble Roy H. le quint, (que dieu pardoint!) & au treshonourable conpaignie du Iarter.
1
To yow, welle of honur and worthynesse,Our right cristen kyng / heir & Successour
Vn-to Iustinians deuout tendrenesse
In the feith of Ihesu, our Redemptour;
And to yow, lordes of the garter / ‘flour
Of Chiualrie’ / as men yow clepe & calle;
The lord of vertu, and of grace Auctour,
Graunte / the fruyt of your loos nat appalle!
2
O Lige lord, þat han eek the liknesseOf Constantyn, thensaumple and the mirour
To Princes alle, in loue & buxumnesse
To holy chirche / o verray sustenour
And piler of our feith, and werreyour
Ageyn the heresies bittir galle,
Do foorth / do foorth / continue your socour!
Holde vp Crystes Baner / lat it nat falle!
3
This yle, or this, had been but hethenesse,Nad been of your feith the force & vigour!
And yit, this day, the feendes fikilnesse
Weeneth fully to cacche a tyme & hour
To haue on vs, your liges, a sharp shour,
And to his seruiture / vs knytte and thralle.
42
On your constance we awayten alle.
4
Commandith þat no wight haue hardynesse,(Our worthy kyng and cristen Emperour!)
Of the feith to despute more or lesse
Openly among peple / where errour
Spryngith al day / & engendrith rumour.
Makith swich lawe / & for aght may befalle,
Obserue it wel / ther-to been yee dettour.
Dooth so / and god / in glorie shal yow stalle.
[VI. 1]
Yee lordes eek shynynge in noble fame,To whiche approped is the maintenance
Of Crystes cause ; In honour of his name
Shoue on / & putte his foos to the outraunce!
God wolde so / so wolde eek your ligeance:
To tho two prikkith yow your duetee:
Who-so nat keepith this double obseruance,
Of meryt & honour / nakid is he.
[VI. 2.]
Your style seith / þat yee been foos to shame.Now kythe of your feith / the perseuerance
In which an heep of vs arn halt & lame.
Our Cristen kyng of Engeland and France,
And yee, my lordes, with your alliance,
And othir feithful peple þat ther be,
Truste I to god, shul qwenche al this nusance,
And this land sette in hy prosperitee.
[VI. 3.]
Conqueste of hy prowesse is for to tameThe wylde woodnesse of this mescreance
Right to the roote / rype yee þat same!
Sleepe nat this / but for goddes plesance
And his modres / & in signifiance
Þat yee been of seint Georges liueree,
43
For Crystes cause is his / wel knowen yee!
[VI. 4]
Stif stande in þat / & yee shuln greeue & grameThe fo to pees / & norice of distaunce;
That now is ernest / torne it in-to game;
Dampnable fro feith were variance!
Lord lige / & lordes, haue in remembraunce,
Lord of al is the blissid Trinitee,
Of whos vertu / the mighty habundaunce
Yow herte & strengthe in feithful vnitee! Amen!
Cest tout.
[VII.] Ad beatam Uirginem.
1
Modir of lyf / o cause of al our welthe,Fyndere of grace and of our medecyne!
Where-as an appil refte our lyf and helthe,
And marie[de] vs vn-to ay lastyng pyne,
As sones of perdicion and ruyne;
That matrymoyne / thy virginitee
Dissolued / & vnbownden hath, virgyne,
And at our large / maad vs walke free!
2
O blessid be thow! vessel of clennesse,In whom our soules salue list habyte!
O tree of lyf / swettest of al swetnesse,
In thy fruyt yeue vs grace to delyte!
And thogh thy sone, cause haue vs to smyte
44
As thow hast euere doon / thow him excite
Vn-to mercy / for þat is thyn office.
3
My soule is stuffid so with stynk of synne,Þat ay it dreedith beforn thee appeere,
Lest for the filthe / which þat it is ynne,
Thow torne away thy merciable cheere,
And deyne nat accepte my preyeere.
And if my trespas heere / I nat confesse,
How shal I doon / o Crystes modir deere
Whan god shal iuge vs alle, more & lesse?
4
O why, my synnes / why, my wikkidnesses,With your venym / my soule slayn, han yee,
And put in it so desperat gastnesses,
Þat mercy may ne list beholde me?
Why oppressith your heuy aduersitee
The hope of myn exaudicioun,
And shame in yow, maad hath so large entree,
Þat yee the vois me reue of orisoun?
5
Allas thy shame, o thow filthy offenseIn the presence of shynynge holynesse!
O shenshipe of vnclene conscience
In the beholdynge of pured clennesse!
O caitif soule inuolued in dirknesse!
What wilt thow do / where is thy remedie?
Who may thy mescheef and thy greef redresse,
Syn of thy gilt / thow darst nat mercy crie?
6
Lo! blessid womman among wommen alle,Syn my spirit nat dar putte vp his bille,
Thy grace ne thy mercy for to calle,
But in his mazidnesse abydith stille,
My thristy soule / drynke may hir fille
45
Hir ferdful shame / hir shende wole, & spille,
For to hir helthe / nat shee dar hir dresse.
7
My synnes yernen þat thyn hy piteeFully hem kneew / for hir curacioun;
But they lothen appeere beforn thee
For hir cursid abhominacion.
O spryng and welle of our sauuacioun,
My dirke soule of thy grace enlumyne,
And keepe it fro the castigacioun
That it disserued hath in helle pyne!
8
If I confesse myn iniquitee,Lady / þat I wroght haue in thy presence,
Wilt thow me werne thy benignitee?
If þat my gilt / & my dampnable offense
Of giltes alle haue an excellence,
Shal thy mercy be lesse / than it oghte?
May nat thy mercy, with my gilt dispense,
And pardon gete of þat þat it mis wroghte?
9
The more þat my gilt passith mesure,And stynkith in thy sones sighte and thyn /
The gretter neede hath it, of his cure
And of thyn help / wherfore, lady myn,
My soule fro the net and fro thengyn
Of him þat waytith it to slee / thow keepe!
His sotil snares, and cacchynge twyn,
In my memorie ficchid been ful deepe.
10
Lady / thyn help / nat wole I me despeire,For in myn herte fully I conceyue
Þat thow to heuene / art the laddre & sterre
By which men clymben, blisse to receyue.
46
Þat I ne shal ay thee byseeche of grace.
Thy might, I woot wel, is my gilt to weyue,
And of my trespas . pardoun me purchace.
11
Thow, Crystes modir / sholdest neuere han be,Ne had our synnes causid it certayn;
For why / it had be no necessitee
But for thow qwikne shuldest vs agayn,
Þat for our gilt original wern slayn.
Thow art his modir / wherfore I thee preye
To saue me / haue thow no desdayn,
Þat of bountee & mercy art the keye!
12
Euene as the moone / a mene is verrailyBetwixt vs and the sonne / of whom hir light
Shee takith / & it vniuerselly
Yeueth vn-to the world whan it is nyght;
In swich a wyse / god, thy sone right,
The light of grace betook vn-to thee,
For to mynistre it vn-to euery wight
Þat ther-of list enlumyned to be.
13
Thyn humble goost, & maydens chastitee,For our behoue han so mochil wroght
In sundry wyse / as þat wel knowen we,
Þat thee to thanke / we souffyse noght.
Thow hast vs vn-to swich a plyt I-broght,
Þat he, þat lord was sum tyme of vengeance,
With his blood hath our synful soules boght,
And is now lord of mercy & souffrance.
14
Where is a streighter way vn-to man-kynde,To god, thy sone / our soules for to lede,
Than where as þat we may thy sone fynde
Beforn his fadir, with his wowndes rede,
47
Thy sone his body shewith al bybled;
And to thy sone also, thy maydenhede
Shewith the pappes / wher-with he was fed.
15
O blessid Ihesu! for thy modres loue;And modir! for the hy dileccion
Þat thow hast to thy sone in heuene aboue,
Haueth me, bothe, in your proteccion!
Plante in myn herte swich correccion,
Þat I, your grace / & your mercy may haue,
And fully stande in youre affeccion,
Or my body be clothid in his graue!
Cest tout.
[VIII.] Ceste balade ensuyante feust faite tost apres que les osses du Koy Richard feurent apportez a Westmouster.
1
Where-as þat this land wont was for to beOf sad byleeue & constant vnion;
And as þat holy chirche vs taghte / we
With herte buxum lerned our lesson;
Now han we changid our condicion!
Allas! an heep of vs, the feith werreye;
We waden so deepe in presumpcion,
Þat vs nat deyneth vn-to god obeye.
2
We rekken nat thogh Crystes lore deye;The feend hath maad vs dronke of the poisoun
48
Þat torne shal to our confusioun,
But if þat left be this abusioun.
And yit, seur confort haue I / thynkith me:
Our lige lord, the kyng, is Champioun
For holy chirche / Crystes knyght is he!
3
For why, o reuerent goostly fadres, yee,And we, your sones eek, han enchesoun
Right greet / to thanke god in Trinitee,
Þat of his grace / hath sent this Regioun
So noble an heed / looke vp, thow Albioun!
God thanke / & for thy cristen Prince preye,
Syn he, fo is to this Rebellioun:
He, of thy soules helthe, is lok and keye!
4
What mighten folk of good byleeue seye,If bent were our kynges affeccion
To the wrong part / who sholde hem help purueye?
A kyng set in þat wrong opinioun,
Mighte of our feith be the subuersioun;
But eterne god, in persones three,
Hath reyned dropes of conpassioun,
And sent vs our good kyng for our cheertee!
5
See eek how our Kynges benigniteeAnd louyng herte / his vertu can bywreye.
Our kyng Richard þat was / yee may wel see,
Is nat fled from his remembrance aweye.
My wit souffysith nat to peyse and weye
With what honour he broght is to this toun,
And with his queene at Westmynstre in thabbeye
Solempnely in Toumbe leid adoun.
6
Now god, byseeche I, in conclusioun,Henri the .V.e in ioie & hy nobleye
49
And where as þat men erren & forueye,
Walkynge blyndly in the dirk aleye
Of heresie / o lord god, preye I thee,
Enspire hem / þat no lenger they foleie!
To feithes path / hem lede thy pitee!
Amen!
[IX.] [Balade to my gracious Lord of York.]
[Father of Edward IV. about 1448 A. D.]
1
Go, little pamfilet, and streight thee dresseVn-to the noble rootid gentillesse
Of the myghty Prince of famous honour,
My gracious lord of york / to whos noblesse
Me recommande with hertes humblesse,
As he þat haue his grace & his fauour
Fownden alway / for which I am dettour
For him to preye / & so shal my symplesse
Hertily do / vn-to my dethes hour.
2
Remembre his worthynesse, I charge thee,How ones at London, desired he,
Of me þat am his seruant / & shal ay,
To haue of my balades swich plentee
As ther weren remeynynge vn-to me;
And for nat wole I / to his wil seyn nay,
But fulfille it / as ferfoorth as I may,
Be thow an owter of my nycetee,
For my good lordes lust, and game, & play.
50
3
My lord, byseeke eek in humble maneere,That he nat souffre thee for to appeere
In thonurable sighte, or the presence,
Of the noble Princesse & lady deere,
My gracious lady / my good lordes feere,
The mirour of wommanly excellence.
Thy cheer is naght / ne haast noon eloquence
To moustre thee before hir yen cleere:
For myn honour / were holsum thyn absence.
4
Yit ful fayn wolde I haue a messageerTo recommande me, with herte enteer,
To hir benigne & humble wommanhede;
And at the tyme / haue I noon othir heer
But thee / & smal am I, for thee, the neer.
And if thow do it nat / than shal þat dede
Be left / & þat nat kepte I / out of drede.
My Lord / nat I / shal haue of thee / poweer.
Axe him a licence / vp on him crie & grede!
5
Whan þat thow hast thus doon / than aftirwardByseeche thow þat worthy Prince Edward,
Þat he thee leye apart / for what may tyde,
Lest thee beholde my Maister Picard.
I warne thee / þat it shal be ful hard
For thee & me to halte on any syde,
But he espie vs / yit no force / abyde!
Let him looke on / his herte is to me ward
So freendly / þat our shame wole he hyde.
6
If þat I in my wrytynge foleye,As I do ofte, (I can it nat withseye,)
Meetrynge amis / or speke vnfittyngly,
Or nat by iust peys / my sentences weye,
And nat to the ordre of endytyng obeye,
51
With al myn herte wole I buxumly,
It to amende and to correcte, him preye;
For vndir his correccioun stande y.
7
Thow foul book, vn-to my lord seye also,Þat pryde is vn-to me so greet a fo,
Þat the spectacle, forbedith he me,
And hath y-doon of tyme yore ago;
And for my sighte blyue hastith me fro,
And lakkith þat þat sholde his confort be,
No wonder thogh thow haue no beautee.
Out vp-on pryde / causer of my wo!
My sighte is hurt thurgh hir aduersitee.
8
Now ende I thus / the holy Trinitee,And our lady / the blissid mayden free,
My lord & lady haue in gouernance!
And graunte hem ioie & hy prosperitee,
Nat to endure / oonly two yeer or thre,
But a .M.l! and if any plesance
Happe mighte, on my poore souffissance,
To his prowesse / & hir benignitee,
My lyues ioie it were, and sustenance!
Cest tout.
52
[X.] Ad beatam Uirginem.
1
Modir of god / and virgyne vndeffouled!O blisful queene / of queenes Emperice!
Preye for me / þat am in synne mowled,
To god thy sone / punyssher of vice,
Þat of his mercy / thogh þat I be nyce,
And negligent in keepyng of his lawe,
His hy mercy, my soule / vn-to him drawe.
2
Modir of mercy / wey of indulgence,Þat of al vertu art superlatyf,
Sauer of vs by thy beneuolence,
Humble lady / mayde / modir and wyf!
Causer of pees / feynter of wo & stryf!
My prayer vn-to thy sone presente,
Syn for my gilt I fully me repente.
3
Benigne confort of vs wrecches alle!Be at myn endyng / whan þat I shal deye!
O welle of pitee / vn-to thee I calle!
Ful of swetnesse / helpe me to weye
Ageyn the feend / þat with his handes tweye,
And his might, plukke wole / at the balance
To weye vs doun / keepe vs from his nusance!
4
And, for thow art ensaumple of chastitee,And of virgynes / worsship and honour,
Among all wommen blessid thow be!
Now speke and preye to our Sauueour,
53
Þat al the hete of brennyng Leccherie
He qwenche in me, blessid maiden Marie!
5
O blessid lady / the cleer light of day!Temple of our lord / and roote of al goodnesse!
Þat by prayere wypest cleene away
The filthes of our synful wikkidnesse,
Thyn hand foorth putte / & helpe my distresse,
And fro temptacioun deliure me
Of wikkid thoght / thurgh thy benignitee,
6
So þat the wil fulfild be of thy sone,And þat of the holy goost he menlumyne.
Preye for vs, as ay hath be thy wone!
Lady / alle swiche emprises been thyne.
Swich an aduocatrice, who can dyuyne,
As thow / right noon / our greeues to redresse:
In thy refuyt is al our sikirnesse.
7
Thow shapen art by goddes ordenance,Mene for vs, flour of humilitee:
Ficche þat, lady, in thy remembraunce,
Lest our fo, the feend, thurgh his sotiltee,
Þat in awayt lyth for to cacche me,
Me ouercome with his treecherie.
Vn-to my soules helthe thow me gye!
8
Thow art the way of our Redempcioun,For cryst of thee hath deyned for to take
Flessh and eek blood / for this entencioun,
Vp on a crois to die for our sake:
His precious deeth made the feendes qwake,
And cristen folk for to reioisen euere.
From his mercy / helpe / vs we nat disseuere!
54
9
Tendrely remembre on the wo & peyneÞat thow souffridist in his passioun,
Whan watir & blood, out of thyn yen tweyne,
For sorwe of him, ran by this cheekes doun!
And syn thow knowest þat the enchesoun
Of his deeth was / for to saue al man kynde,
Modir of mercy, þat haue in thy mynde!
10
Wel oghten we thee worshipe & honure,Paleys of Cryst / flour of virginitee!
Syn vp on thee / was leid the charge & cure,
The lord to bere, of heuene & eerthe & see,
And alle thynges þat ther ynne be.
Of heuenes kyng, thow art predestinat
To hele our soules of hir seek estat.
11
Thy maidens wombe, in which our lord lay,Thy tetes / whiche him yaf to sowke also
To our sauynge / be they blessid ay!
The birthe of Cryst / our thraldom putte vs fro,
Ioie & honour / be now & eueremo
To him and thee / þat vn-to libertee,
Fro thraldam, han vs qwit / blessid be yee!
12
By thee, lady, y-makid is the peesBetwixt Angels and men / it is no doute.
Blessid be god, þat swich a modir chees!
Thy gracious bountee spredith al aboute.
Thogh þat oure hertes steerne been, & stoute,
Thow to thy sone canst be swich a mene,
That all our giltes he foryeueth clene.
13
Paradys yates opned been by thee,And broken been the yates eek of helle!
By thee / the world restored is pardee!
55
By thee, al bountee / shortly for to telle,
In heuene & eerthe, by thyn ordenance
Parforned is / our soules sustenance!
14
Now, syn thow art of swich auctoritee,Lady pitous, virgyne wemmelees,
Þat our lord god nat list to werne thee
Of thy requeste / I wot wel / doutelees
Than spare nat / foorth thee to putte in prees
To preye for vs, Crystes modir deere!
Benygnely wole he, thyn axyng heere.
15
Apostle, and freend familier of Cryst,And his y-chosen virgyne / seint Ion /
Shynynge apostle / & euangelyst,
And best beloved among hem echon!
With our lady, preye I thee to been oon,
Þat vn-to Cryst shal for vs alle preye:
Do thus for vs / Crystes derlyng, I seye!
16
Marie & Ion, heuenely gemmes tweyne!O lightes two, shynynge in the presence
Of our lord god / now do your bysy peyne
To wasshe away our cloudeful offense,
So þat we mowen make resistence
Ageyn the feend / & make him to bewaille
Þat your preyere may so moche auaille.
17
Yee been the two, I knowe verraily,In which the fadir god gan edifie
(By his sone oonlygeten specially)
To him an hows / wherfore I to yow crye,
‘Beeth leches of our synful maladie!
Preyeth to god / lord of misericorde,
Oure olde giltes / þat he nat recorde!’
56
18
‘Be yee oure help and our proteccioun,Syn, for meryt of your virginitee,
The priuilege of his dileccioun
In yow confermed god, vp on a tree
Hangyng / and vn-to oon of yow seide he
Right in this wyse / as I reherce can,
“Beholde! heere, lo / thy sone, womman!”’
19
‘And to þat othir / “heer thy modir, lo!”’Than preye I thee / þat for the greet swetnesse
Of the hy loue / þat god, twixt yow two,
With his mowth made / and of his noblesse
Conioyned hath yow / thurgh his blisfulnesse,
As modir and sone, helpe vs in our neede!
And, for our giltes, make oure hertes bleede!
20
Vn-to yow tweyne / I my soule commende,Marie and Iohn, for my sauuacioun!
Helpith me þat I may my lyf amende!
Helpith now / þat the habitacioun
Of the holy goost, our recreacioun,
Be in myn herte now and eueremore!
And of my soule / wasshe away the sore!
Amen!
[XI.] Ce feust mys en le liure de monseigneur Iohan, lors nommez / ore Regent de France & Duc de Bedford.
1
Vn-to the rial egles excellence,I, humble Clerc, with al hertes humblesse,
57
Byseeche I pardon and foryeuenesse,
Þat, of myn ignorance & lewdenesse,
Nat haue I write it in so goodly wyse
As þat me oghte vn-to your worthynesse.
Myn yen / hath custumed bysynesse
So daswed / þat I may no bet souffyse.
2
I dreede lest þat my maister Massy,Þat is of fructuous intelligence,
Whan he beholdith how vnconnyngly
My book is metrid / how raw my sentence
How feeble eek been my colours ; his prudence
Shal sore encombrid been of my folie;
But yit truste I / þat his beneuolence
Compleyne wole myn insipience
Secreetly / & what is mis / rectifie.
3
Thow book / by licence of my lordes grace,To thee speke I / and this I to thee seye:
I charge thee / to shewe thow thy face
Beforn my seid Maistir / & to him preye
On my behalue / þat he peise and weye
What myn entente is, þat I speke in thee,
For rethorik hath hid fro me the keye
Of his tresor / nat deyneth hir nobleye
Dele with noon so ignorant as me!
Cest tout.
58
[XII.] [Balade to my Lord the Chancellor.]
1
Fadir in god, benigne and reuerent,My lord the Chanceller / with al humblesse
I, your seruant at your commandement,
Byseche vn-to your excellent noblesse,
Þat my patente bere may witnesse
That myne arrerages been granted me:
Right as your staf / your warant wole expresse /
Byseeche I, y, yow so my patente be.
2
I truste in yow / for euere or this han yeeBe my good lord / and now to stynte / I gesse,
Applied is nat your benignitee,
Specially / syn my poore symplesse
Nat hath offendid your hy worthynesse
Wityngly; but myn herte is euere bent
To sheete at yow good wil / in soothfastnesse,
Ther-in am I ful hoot & ful feruent.
3
O my lord gracious, wys, and prudent!To me, your Clerc / beeth of your grace free!
Let see now cacche a lust and a talent
Me to haue in your fauour & cheertee.
Ther-on wayte I / I wayte on your bountee,
That to so manye han shewid gentillesse.
Let me no stepchyld been / for I am he
That hope haue in yow, confort & gladnesse.
Cest tout.
59
[XIII.] Cestes Balade & chanceon ensuyantes feurent faites a mon Meistre. H. Somer, quant il estoit Souztresorer.
1
The Sonne, with his bemes of brightnesse,To man so kyndly is, & norisshynge,
Þat lakkyng it / day nere but dirknesse:
To day he yeueth his enlumynynge,
And causith al fruyt for to wexe & sprynge:
Now, syn þat sonne may so moche auaill,
And moost with Somer is his soiournynge,
That sesoun bounteuous we wole assaill.
2
Glad cheerid Somer / to your gouernailleAnd grace / we submitte al our willynge!
To whom yee freendly been / he may nat faille
But he shal haue his resonable axynge:
Aftir your good lust, be the sesonynge
Of our fruytes / this laste Mighelmesse,
The tyme of yeer was of our seed ynnynge,
The lak of which / is our greet heuynesse.
3
We truste vp-on your freendly gentillesse,Ye wole vs helpe / and been our suppo[rt]aille.
Now yeue vs cause ageyn this cristemesse
For to be glad / o lord / whethir our taille
Shal soone make vs with our shippes saille
To port salut ; if yow list / we may synge,
60
Til your fauour vs sende releeuynge.
4
We, your seruantes, Hoccleue & Baillay,Hethe & Offorde, yow beseeche & preye,
‘Haasteth our heruest / as soone as yee may!’
For fere of stormes / our wit is aweye;
Were our seed Inned / wel we mighten pleye,
And vs desporte / & synge / & make game,
And yit this rowndel shul we synge & seye
In trust of yow / & honour of your name.
[5] [Rowndel, or Chanceon to Somer.]
[Burden.]
Somer, þat rypest mannes sustenanceWith holsum hete of the Sonnes warmnesse,
Al kynde of man thee holden is to blesse!
2
Ay thankid be thy freendly gouernance,And thy fressh look of mirthe & of gladnesse!
Somer &c
3
To heuy folk / of thee the remembraunceIs salue & oynement to hir seeknesse.
For why / we thus shul synge in Cristemesse,
Somer &c
61
[XIV.] Ceste balade ensuyante feust mise en le fin du liure del Regiment des Princes.
1
O litil book / who yaf thee hardynesseThy wordes to pronounce in the presence
Of kynges ympe and Princes worthynesse,
Syn thow al nakid art of eloquence?
And why approchist thow his excellence,
Vnclothid, sauf thy kirtil bare also?
I am right seur, his humble pacience
Thee yeueth hardynesse to do so.
2
But o thyng woot I wel; go wher thow go,I am so pryuee vn-to thy sentence,
Thow haast, and art / and wilt been eueremo,
To his hynesse of swich beneuolence!
Thogh thow nat do him due reuerence
In wordes / thy cheertee nat is the lesse.
And if lust be, to his magnificence,
Do by thy reed / his welthe it shal witnesse!
3
Byseeche him, of his gracious noblesse,Thee holde excusid of thyn innocence
Of endytynge / and with hertes humblesse,
If any thyng thee passe of negligence,
Byseeche him of mercy and indulgence,
And þat, for thy good wil / he be nat fo
To thee / þat al seist of loues feruence!
Þat knowith god / whom no thyng is hid fro.
Cest tout.
62
[XV.] Etem au Roy, que dieu pardoint!
1
Victorious Kyng, our lord ful gracious,We, humble lige men to your hynesse,
Meekly byseechen yow (o kyng pitous!)
Tendre pitee haue on our sharp distresse;
For, but the flood of your rial largesse
Flowe vp on vs / gold hath vs in swich hate,
Þat of his loue and cheertee the scantnesse
Wole arte vs three to trotte vn-to Newgate.
2
Benigne lige lord! o hauene & yateOf our confort! let your hy worthynesse
Oure indigences softne / & abate!
In yow lyth al / yee may our greef redresse!
The somme þat we in our bill expresse,
Is nat excessif ne outrageous;
Our long seruice also berith witnesse,
We han for it be ful laborious.
3
O lige lord, þat han be plenteuousVn-to your Liges / of your grace algate,
Styntith nat now for to be bounteuous
To vs, your seruantz of the olde date!
God woot we han been ay, eerly & late,
Louynge lige men to your noblesse.
Lat nat the strook of indigence vs mate,
O worthy Prince! mirour of prowesse!
Cest tout.
63
[XVI.] [Balade to my maister Carpenter.]
1
See heer, my maister Carpenter, I yow preye,How many chalenges ageyn me be;
And I may nat deliure hem by no weye,
So me werreyeth coynes scarsetee,
That ny Cousin is to necessitee.
For why, vn-to yow seeke I for refut,
Which þat of confort am ny destitut.
2
Tho men / whos names I aboue expresse,Fayn wolden þat they and I euene were:
And so wolde I / god take I to witnesse!
I woot wel, I moot heere / or elles where
Rekne of my dettes / & of hem answere.
Myn herte, for the dreede of god & awe,
Fayn wolde it qwyte / & for constreynt of lawe.
3
But, by my trouthe / nat wole it betyde!And therfore, as faire as I can & may,
With aspen herte / I preye hem abyde,
And me respyte / to sum lenger day.
Some of hem grante / and some of hem seyn ‘nay!’
And I so sore ay dreede an aftir clap,
That it me reueth many a sleep & nap.
4
If þat it lykid / vn-to your goodnesse,To be betwixt [hem] and me, swich a mene
64
Myn heuy thoghtes wolde it voide clene.
As your good plesance is / this thyng demene!
How wel þat yee doon / & how soone also,
I suffre may in qwenchynge of my wo.
Cest tout.
[XVII.] Ceste balade ensuyante feust, par la Court de bone conpaignie, enuoiee a lonure sire Henri Sommer, Chaunceller de leschequer, & vn de la dicte Court.
1
Worshipful sir, and our freend special,And felawe, in this cas / we calle yow.
Your letre sent vn-to vs / cleerly / al
We haue red / & vndirstanden how
It is no wit to your conceit, as now,
Vse the rule foorth as we been Inne;
But al an othir rule to begynne:
2
Rehercynge how, in the place of honour,The Temple / for solace / & for gladnesse,
Wher as nat oghte vsid been errour
Of ouer mochil waast or of excesse,
First wern we fowndid to vse largesse
In our despenses / but for to exceede
Reson / we han espyed / yee nat beede.
65
3
Yee allegge eek / how a rule hath be keptOr this / which was good / as yee haue herd seyn;
But it now late / cessid hath, & slept;
Which good yow thynkith / were vp take ageyn:
And but if it so be / our Court certeyn,
Nat likly any whyle is to endure;
As hath in mowthe, many a creature.
4
Yee wolden, þat in conseruaciounOf our honour / & eek for our profyt,
Þat thentente of our old fundacioun
Obserued mighte been / & to þat plyt
Be broght as it was first / & passe al qwyt
Out of the daunger of outrageous waast,
Lest with scorn & repreef, feede vs swich taast.
5
Vn-to þat ende, .vje. shippes grete,To yeue vs han yee grauntid & behight,
To bye ageyn our dyner, flour or whete;
And besyde it / as reson wole, & right,
Paie your lagh / as dooth an othir wight,
þat by mesure rulith him, and gyeth,
And nat as he / whom outrage maistrieth.
6
In your letre / contened is also,Þat if vs list to chaunge in no maneere
Our newe gyse, ne twynne ther-fro ;
The firste day of May, yee wole appeere,
(Þat day yee sette be with vs in feere,)
66
This is theffect of your letre soothly.
7
To the whiche, in this wyse we answere:Excesse for to do / be yee nat bownde,
Ne noon of vs / but do as we may bere:
Vp-on swich rule, we nat vs ne grownde.
Yee been discreet / thogh yee in good habownde
Dooth as yow thinkith for your honestee!
Yee, and we all, arn at our libertee.
8
At our laste dyner / wel knowen yeeBy our Stywardes limitacioun,
(As custume of our Court axith to be,)
And ay at our congregacion
Obserued / left al excusacion,
Warned yee wern / for the dyner arraye
Ageyn thorsday next, & nat it delaye.
9
Be yow nat holde auysid in swich wyseAs for to make vs destitut, þat day,
Of our dyner / take on yow þat empryse,
If your lust be / dryueth excesse away.
Of wyse men / mochil / folk lerne may:
Discrecion mesurith euery thyng:
Despende aftir your plesance & lykyng!
10
Ensaumpleth vs / let seen / & vs miroure;As þat it seemeth good to your prudence,
Reule þat day / for the thank shal be youre;
Dooth as yow list be drawe in consequence;
We trusten in your wys experience;
But keepith wel your tourn / how so befalle,
On thorsday next / on which we awayte alle.
Cest tout.
67
[XVIII.] Ceste balade ensuyante feust translatee au commandement de mon Meistre Robert Chichele.
1
As þat I walkid in the monthe of MayBesyde a groue in an heuy musynge,
Floures dyuerse I sy, right fressh and gay,
And briddes herde I eek lustyly synge,
Þat to myn herte yaf a confortynge.
But euere o thoght me stang vn-to the herte,
Þat dye I sholde / & hadde no knowynge
Whanne, ne whidir, I sholde hennes sterte.
2
Thynkynge thus / byfore me I sayA crois depeynted with a fair ymage.
I thoghte I nas but asshes and foul clay:
Lyf passith as a shadwe in euery age;
And my body yeueth no better wage
Than synne / which the soule annoyeth sore.
I preyde god / mercy of myn outrage,
And shoop me / him to offende no more.
3
On god to thynke / it yeueth a delyt,Wel for to doon / & froo synne withdrawe;
But for to putte a good deede in respyt /
Harmeth / swich delay is nat worth an hawe.
Wolde god, by my speeche and my sawe,
I mighte him and his modir do plesance,
68
And of mercy, housbonde a purueance!
4
Modir of Ihesu, (verray god and man,Þat by his deeth / victorie of the feend gat,)
Haue it in mynde / thow blessid womman,
For the wo / which vn-to thyn herte sat
In thy sones torment / forgeete it nat!
Grante me grace / to vertu me take,
Synne despyse, & for to hate al that
That may thy sone & thee displesid make!
5
Mercyful lord Ihesu / me heere, I preye,Þat right vnkynde / & fals am vn-to thee!
I am right swich; I may it nat withseye.
With salte teeres craue I thy pitee,
And herte contryt / mercy haue on me
Þat am thy recreant caytif traitour!
By my dissertes, oghte I dampned be;
But ay thy mercy heetith me socour.
6
Lady benigne / our souereyn refuyt!Seur trust haue I, to han, by thy prayeere,
Of strength / & confort, so vertuous fruyt,
That I shal sauf be, Crystes modir deere!
My soules ship, gouerne thow, & steere!
Let me nat slippe out of thy remembrance,
Lest, whan þat I am rype vn-to my beere,
The feend me assaille, & haue at the outrance.
7
To thanke thee, lord / hyly holde I am,For my gilt / nat for thyn / þat woldest die,
Who souffred euere swich a martirdam.
Yit thy deeth gat of the feend the maistrie,
69
O! blessid be thy loue charitable,
Þat list so deere our synful soules bie,
To make vs sauf / wher we weren dampnable.
8
Now thy socour / o Heuenes Emperice,Fro me, wrecche, torne thow nat thy face!
Ther as I deepe wrappid am in vice,
Gretter neede haue I / thyn help to purchace!
Vn-to the souerain leche, preye of grace,
Þat he my wowndes / vouchesauf to cure,
So þat the feend my soule nat embrace,
Al thogh I haue agilt ouer mesure.
9
Wel oghten we thee thanke, gracious lord,Þat thee haast humbled, for to been allied
To vs! auctour of pees and of concord,
On the crois was thy skin in-to blood died!
Allas! why haue I me to synne applied?
Why is my soule encombrid so with synne?
Lord, in al þat I haue me mis gyed,
Foryeue / & of my trespas wole I blynne.
10
Lady / wardeyn of peple fro ruyne,Þat sauedest Theoffe and many mo!
Of thy grace, myn herte enlumyne!
For, as I trowe, & woot it wel also,
Thy might is me to warisshe of my wo.
Of thy benigne sone, mercy craue,
Of þat forueyed haue I, & mis go.
His wil is thyn / my soule keepe & saue!
11
Lord Ihesu Cryst / I axe of thee pardoun!I yilde me to thee, lord souereyn!
My gilt confesse I / lord / make vnioun
Betwixt thee & my soule / for in veyn
70
Some of the dropes of thy precious blood
Þat the crois made as weet as is the reyn,
Despende on me, lord merciable & good!
12
Lady! þat clept art ‘modir of mercy,’Noble saphir / to me þat am ful lame
Of vertu, and am ther-to enemy,
Thy welle of pitee, in thy sones name,
Lete on me flowe / to pourge my blame,
Lest in to Despeir þat I slippe & falle!
For my seurtee to keepe me fro blame,
Of pitee, mirour, I vn-to thee calle!
13
Synne, þat is to euery vertu fo,Betwixt god & me / maad hath swich debat,
Þat my soule is dampnyd for eueremo,
But if þat mercy / which hath maad thacat
Of mannes soule, þat was violat
By likerous lust & disobedience,
For which our lord Ihesu was incarnat,
Me helpe make the feend resistence!
14
Lady! þat art of grace spryng & sours,Port in peril / solas in heuynesse!
Of thy wont bontee, keepe alway the cours!
Lat nat the feend, at my deeth me oppresse!
Torne the crois to me, noble Princesse,
Which vn-to euery soor is the triacle!
Thogh my dissert be naght / of thy goodnesse,
Ageyn the feendes wrenches, make obstacle!
15
Lord, on thy grace & pitee / myn herte ayAwaitith / to purchace thy mercy.
Allas! I caytif / wel I mourne may,
Syn the feend serued often sythe haue y.
71
For I purpose to stynte of my synnes.
What ageyn thee / mis take hath my body,
My soule keepe fro the feendes gynnes!
16
Blessid virgyne, ensample of al vertu,Þat peere hast non / of wommanhode flour!
For the loue of thy sone, our Lord Ihesu,
Strengthe vs to doon him seruice & honour!
Lady! be mene vn-to our Sauueour,
Þat our soules þat the feend waytith ay
To hente / & wolde of hem be possessour,
Ne sese hem nat in the vengeable day!
17
The flessh / the world / & eek the feend my fo,My wittes alle han at hir retenance:
They to my soule doon annoy & wo.
For why, Lord, dreede I me of thy vengeance.
With mercy, my soule in-to blisse enhance!
Worthy marchant! saue thy marchandie,
Which þat thow boghtest with dethes penance!
Lat nat the feend haue of vs the maistrie!
18
Excellent lady! in thy thoght impresseHow & why thy chyld souffrid his tormente!
Preye him to haue on vs swich tendrenesse,
Þat in the feendes net we be nat hent!
At the day of his steerne iugement,
Lat nat him leese þat he by deeth boghte!
I woot wel / ther-to hath he no talent:
Mynge him ther-on / for thee so to doon / oghte!
19
Whan in a man, synne growith & rypith,The fruyt of it is ful of bittirnesse;
But penitence cleene away it wypith,
And to the soule yeueth greet swetnesse.
72
Medle thy mercy / and shewe vs fauour!
Vn-to our soules, maad to thy liknesse,
Graunte pardoun of our stynkyng errour!
20
O glorious qweene / to the repentauntÞat art refuyt / socour and medecyne!
Lat nat the foule feend make his auaunt,
Þat he hath thee byreft any of thyne!
Thurgh thy prayere, thow thy sone enclyne
His merciable grace / on vs to reyne!
Be tendre of vs / o thow blissid virgyne!
For if thee list / we shuln to blisse atteyne.
Cest tout.
[End of the Phillipps MS.]
93
HOCCLEVE'S COMPLAINT, &c.
DURHAM MS. Collated in part with MS. Arch. Seld. Supra 53 (Bodleian Library).
95
XX. Thomas Hocclive['s Complaint.]
[The Prolog.]
1
After that hervest Inned had his sheves,and that the broune season of myhelmesse
was come, and gan the trees robbe of ther leves
That grene had bene / and in lusty fresshnesse,
and them in-to colowre / of yelownesse
hadd dyen / and doune throwne vndar foote,
that chaunge sank / into myne herte roote.
2
for freshely browght it / to my remembraunce,that stablenes in this worlde is there none;
there is no thinge / but chaunge and variaunce;
how welthye a man be / or well be-gone,
endure it shall not / he shall it for-gon.
deathe vnder fote / shall hym thrist adowne:
that is every wites / conclusyon.
3
whiche for to weyue / is in no mannes myght,how riche he be / stronge, lusty, freshe, and gay.
and in the ende / of novembar, vpon a nyght,
96
for this and othar thowghts / whiche many a day
before I toke / sleape cam none in myne eye,
so vexyd me / the thowghtfull maladye.
4
I see well, sythen I with sycknes lastwas scourged / clowdy hath bene the favoure
that shone [on] me / full bright in tymes past;
the sonne abatid / and the derke showre
hildyd downe right on me / and in langour
he made [me] swyme / so that my wite
to lyve / no lust hadd, ne [no] delyte.
5
The grefe abowte / my harte so [sore] swaland bolned evar / to and to so sore,
that nedes / oute I must[e] there-with-all;
I thowght I nolde it kepe cloos no more,
ne lett it in me / for to olde and hore;
and for to preve / I cam of a woman,
I brast oute on the morowe / and thus began.
here endythe my prologe . and folowythe my complaynt.
[The Complaint.]
6
All myghty god / as lykethe his goodnes,visytethe folks alday / as men may se,
with lose of good / and bodily sikenese,
and amonge othar / he forgat not me;
witnes vppon the wyld infirmytie
which that I had / as many a man well knewe,
and whiche me owt of my selfe / cast and threw.
97
7
It was so knowen to the people / and kouthe,that cownsell was it none / ne none be myght[e];
how it with me stode / was in every mans mowthe,
and that full sore / my fryndes affright[e];
they for myne helthe / pilgrimages hight[e],
and sowght them / some on hors and some on foote,—
god yelde it them /—to get[en] me [my] bote.
8
but althowghe the substaunce / of my memorywent[e] to pley / as for a certayne space,
yet the lorde of vertew / the kynge of glory,
of his highe myght / and [his] benynge grace,
made it to returne / in-to the place
when[ne]s it cam / whiche at all hallwe messe,
was five yeere / neyther more ne lesse.
9
And evere sythen /—thanked be god owr lord,of his good reconsiliacion,—
my wyt and I / have bene of suche accorde
as we were / or the alteracion
of it was / but by my savacion,
[Sith] that tyme have I be / sore sett on fire,
and lyved in great torment / and martire;
10
for thowgh that my wit / were home come agayne,men wolde it not so vnderstond or take;
with me to dealë / hadden they dysdayne;
a ryotows person I was / and forsake;
myn olde ffrindshipe / was all ovarshake;
no wyte withe me lyst make daliance;
the worlde me made a straunge continance,
98
11
whiche that myne herte / sore gan torment[e];for ofte whan I / in westmynster hall[e],
and eke in london / amonge the prese went[e],
I se the chere / abaten and apalle
of them that weren wonte me for to calle
to companye / her heed they caste a-wry[e],
when I them mette / as they not me sye.
12
As seide is in the sauter / might I say,they that me sye / fledden a-wey fro me;
forgeten I was / all owte of mynde a-way,
as he that dede was / from hertes cherte;
to a loste vessell / lickened myght I be;
for many a wyght / abowte me dwellynge,
herd I me blame / and putte in dispreisinge.
13
Thus spake many one / and seyde by me:‘all-thowghe from hym / his siknesse savage
with-drawne and passyd / as for a tyme be,
Resorte it wole / namely in suche age
as he is of’ / and thanne my visage
bygan to glowe / for the woo and fere;
Tho wordis, them vnwar / cam to myn ere.
14
‘whane passinge hete is,’ quod they, ‘trustyth this,assaile hym wole agayne that maladie;’
and yet parde / they token them amise;
none effect at all / toke there prophecie;
manie someres ben past / sithen remedye
of that, god of his grace me purveide:
thanked be god / it shope noūght as they seide.
99
15
what fall[e] shall / what men so deme or gesse,to hym that wott [well] every mans secre,
reservyd is / it is a lew[e]dnesse,
men wyser them pretende / then they be;
and no wight knoweth / be it he or she,
whom, how ne whan / god wole hym visete;
It happethe ofte / whan men wene it lite.
16
Some tyme I wend / as lite as any man,for to have fall / in-to that wildenesse
but god, whan [that] hym list / may, wole and can,
helthe with-drawe / and send a wyght sycknesse;
Thowghe man be well this day / no sykernesse
to hym bihight is / that it shall endure;
god hurte now can / and nowe hele and cure.
17
he suffrith longe / [but] at the laste he smit;whane that a man is / in prosperite,
To drede a fall comynge / it is a wit;
who so that takethe hede / ofte may se
This worldis change / and mūtabilite
In sondry wyse / howe nedeth not expresse:
To my mater / streit wole I me dresse.
18
Men seyden, I loked / as a wilde steer,and so my loke abowt I gan to throwe;
myne heed to hie / a-nother seide I beer,
ful bukkyshe is his brayne / well may I trowe;
and seyde the thirde / and apt is in the rowe
to site of them / that a resounles reed
Can geve / no sadnesse is in his heed.
100
19
Chaungid had I my pas / some seiden eke,for here and there / forthe stirte I as a Roo,
none abode / none arrest, but all brain-seke.
A-nother spake / and of me seide also,
my feete weren aye / wavynge to and fro
whane that I stonde shulde / and withe men talke,
and that myne eyne / sowghten every halke.
20
I leide an ere aye to / as I by wente,and herde all / and thus in myne herte I cast:
of longe abydynge here / I may repent[e];
leste, of hastinesse / I at the last[e]
answere a-myse / best is hens hye fast[e];
for yf I in this preace / a-mysse me gye,
to harme will it me turne / and to folly[e].
21
And this I demyd well / and knew well eke,what-so-evar I shuld answere or sey,
they wold[en] not have holde it worthe a leke;
for why / as I hadd lost my tonges key,
Kepte I me cloos / and trussyd me my wey,
drowpynge and hevye / and all woo bystad;
small cawse had I / me thowght[e], to be glade.
22
My sprites / laboryd [euere] bysylyto peinte countinaunce / chere and loke,
for that men spake of me / so wonderingly,
and for the very shame / and fere I qwoke;
thowghe myne herte had be / dypped in ye broke,
It wete and moyste I-now was of my swot,
whiche was nowe frostye colde / now firy hoot.
101
23
And in my chamber at home when I wasmy selfe alone / I in this wyse wrowght:
I streite vnto my myrrowr / and my glas,
to loke how that me / of my chere thowght[e],
yf any [other] were it / than it owght[e];
for fayne wolde I / yf it had not be right,
amendyd it / to my kunynge and myght.
24
Many a sawte made I to this myrrowre,thinkynge, “yf that I loke in this manere
amonge folke / as I now do, none errowr
of suspecte loke / may in my face appere,
this countinance, I am svre, and this chere,
If I forthe vse / is no thinge reprevable
to them that have / conseytes resonable.”
25
And there-with-all / I thowght[e] thus anon:“men in theyr owne case / bene blynd alday,
as I haue hard say / many a day agon,
and in that [same] plyght / I stonde may;
how shall I doo / which is the best[e] way,
my trowbled spirit / for to bringe at rest[e]?
yf I wist howe / fayne wolde I do the best[e].”
26
Sythen I recoveryd was / have I full ofteCawse had of angre / and ympacience,
where I borne have it / esely and softe,
sufferynge wronge be done to me, and offence,
and nowght answeryd ageyn / but kept sylence,
lest that men of me / deme would, and seyne,
‘se how this man / is fallen in agayne.’
102
27
As that I ones / fro westmynstar cam,vexid full grevously / withe thowghtfull hete,
thus thowght I / “a great fole I am,
this pavyment / a dayes thus to bete,
and in and out / labour[e] fast and swete,
wonderinge / and hevynes to purchace,
sythen I stand out / of all favour and grace.”
28
And then thowght I / on that othar syde:“If that I not be sene / amonge the prees,
men deme wele / that I myne heade hyde,
and am werse than I am / it is no lees.”
O lorde, so my spirite / was rest[e]les,
I sowght[e] reste / and I not it found,
but aye was trouble / redy at myn hond.
29
I may not lett a man / to ymagineferre above the mone / yf that hym lyst;
there-by the sowthe / he may not determyn[e],
but by the prefe / bene thing[e]s knowne & wiste;
many a dome / is wrappyd in the myst;
man by his dedes / and not by his lokes,
shall knowne be / as it is writen in bokes.
30
by taste of frewte / men may well wete and knowewhat that it is / othar prefe is there none;
every man wott well that / as that I trowe,
right so they / that demen my witt is gone,
as yet this day / there demythe many a one
I am not well / may, as I by them goo,
taste and assay / yf it be so or noo.
103
31
Vpon a looke / is harde, men them to growndewhat a man is / there-by the sothe is hid;
whither his wittes / seke bene or sounde,
by cowntynaunce / it is not wist ne kyd;
thowghe a man harde / have ones bene bityde,
God shilde it shuld / on hym contynue alway;
by comunynge / is the best assay.
32
I mene to comon of thing[e]s mene,for I am but right lewde / dowt[e]les,
and ygnoraunte / my cunnynge is full lene,
yet homly reason / know I nevartheles;
not hope I founden be / so resonles
as men demen / marie, christ forbede!
I can no more / preve may the dede.
33
If a man ones / fall in dronkenesse,shall he contynewe / there-in evar mo?
nay, thowghe a man doo / in drinkynge excesse
so ferforthe / that not speake he ne can, ne goo,
and his wittes / welny ben refte hym froo,
and buryed in the Cuppe / he aftarward
Comythe to hym selfe agayne / ellis were it hard;
34
Right so / thowghe my witt / were a pilgrime,and went[e] fer fro home / he cam agayne;
God me voydyd / of this grevous venyme
that had enfectyd / and wildyd my brayne.
se how the curtese leche moste sovereyne,
vnto the sycke / gevythe medisyne
in nede / and hym relevythe of his peyne.
104
35
Now let this passe / god wott, many a mansemythe full wyse / by cowntenaunce and chere,
whiche, and he tastyd were what he can,
men myghten licken hym / to a fooles pere;
and some man lokethe / in foltyshe maner[e]
as to the outward dome / and Iudgement,
that at the prese / descrete is and prudent.
36
but algates, howe so be / my countynaunce,debate is now none / bytwyxt me and my wit,
all-thowghe there were / a dysseveraunce
as for a tyme / betwyxt me and it;
the greater harme is myne, that nevar yet
was I well lettered / prudent and discrete,
there nevar stode yet / wyse man on my fete.
37
The sothe is this / suche conceit as I had,and vndarstondynge / all were it but small,
byfore that my wytt[e]s / wearen vnsad,
(thanked be owr lorde Ihesu christ of all!)
suche have I now / but blowe is ny ovar all
the reverse / where-thorwghe is the mornynge
whiche cawsethe me / thus syghe in complaynynge.
38
sythen my good fortune / hathe changed his chere,hye time is me / to crepe in-to my grave,
to lyve Ioy[e]les / what do I here?
I in myne herte / can no gladnes have;
I may but small sey / but yf men deme I rave,
sythen othar thinge the[n] woo / may I none grype,
vnto my sepulture / ame I nowe ripe.
105
39
My well, adwe / farwell, my good fortune!out of yowr tables / me playned have ye;
sythen well ny eny wyght / for to comune
with me lothe is / farwell prosperitie!
I am no lengar / of your lyverye;
ye have me put / out of yowr remembraunce;
adewe, my good adventure / and good chaunce!
40
And as swithe after / thus by-thowght I me:yf that I in this wyse / me despeyre,
It is purchase / of more advarsytye;
what nedethe it / my feble wit appeire;
sythe god hathe made / myne helthe home repayre
blessed be he / and what men deme or speke,
suffre it, thinke I / and me not on me wreke.
41
but some dele had I / reioysynge amonge,and gladnese also / in my spirite,
that thowghe the people / toke them mis & wronge,
me demynge / of my syck[e]nesse not quite,
yet for they / compleyned / the hevy plite
that they had sene me in / with tendernesse
of hertes cherte / my grefe was the lesse.
42
In them put I no defawlte but one;that I was hole / they not ne deme kowlde,
and day by day / they se me by them gon
In heate and colde / and neythar still nor lowde
knew they me do suspectly / a dirke clowde
theyr syght obscuryd / with-in and with-out[e],
and for all that / were they in suche a dowt[e].
106
43
Axid have they / full ofte sythe, and freinedof my fellaw[e]s / of the prive seale,
and preyed them to tell them / with hert vnfeynyd,
how it stode wyth me / whither yll or well.
and they the sothe / told them every dell,
but they helden / ther word[e]s not but les;
they myghten as well / have holden ther pes.
44
This troubly lyfe / hathe all to longe enduryd,not have I wyst / how in my skynne to turne;
but now my selfe / to my selfe have ensured,
for no suche wondrynge / aftar this to morne;
as longe as my lyfe / shall in me soiorne,
of suche ymaginynge / I not ne reche;
lat them drem as them lyst / and speke & dreche.
45
This othar day / a lamentacionof a wofull man / in a boke I sye,
to whome word[e]s / of consolation
Reason gave / spekynge effectually;
and well easyd / myn herte was ther-by;
for when I had a while / in the boke red,
with the speche of Reason / was I well fed.
46
The hevy man / wofull and angwysshiows,compleyned in this wyse / and thus seyd he:
‘my lyfe is vnto me / full enconberows;
for whithar / or vn-to what place I flye,
my wyckednesses / evar followe me,
as men may se / the shadow a body swe,
and in no maner / I may them eschwe.
107
47
‘vexation of spirite / and tormentlake I right none / I have of them plente;
wondarly byttar / is my taa[s]t and sent;
wo be the tyme / of my natyvyte,
vnhappy man / that evar shuld it be!
O deathe, thy strooke / a salve is of swetnes
to them that lyven / in suche wrechednes.
48
‘Gretar plesaunce / were it me to dye,by many folde / than for to lyve soo;
sorows so many / in me multiplye,
that my lyfe is / to me a wery foo;
comfortyd / may I not be of my woo;
of my distrese / se none end I can,
no force how sone / I stinte to be a man.’
49
Than spake Reason / ‘what menythe all this fare?thowghe welthe be not frindly to the yet,
out of thyn herte / voyde wo and care!’
‘by what skyll / how / and by what rede and wit,’
seyd[e] this wofull man / ‘myght I done it?’
‘wrastle,’ qwode Reason / ‘a-gayne hevynesses
of the worlde / troubles, suffring and duresses.
50
‘beholde how many a man / suffrethe desseas[e]as great as thow / and all a way greatar;
and thowghe it them pinche / sharply and sese,
yet paciently / they it suffar and bere:
thynke here-on / and the lesse it shall the dere:
suche sufferaunce is / of mans gylt clensynge,
and them inablethe / to Ioye everlastinge.
108
51
‘woo, hevynes / and tribulation,comon are to men all / & profitable.
thowghe grevows be / mann[e]s temptacion,
It sleythe man not / to them that ben sufferable,
and to whom god[de]s stroke / is acceptable,
purveyed Ioye is / for god woundythe tho
that he ordeyned hathe / to blysse to goo /
52
‘Gold purgyd is / thou seyst, in the furneis,for the fyner and clenner / it shall be;
of thy disease / the weyght and the peis
bere lyghtly / for god, to prove the,
scorgyd the hathe / with sharpe adversitie;
not gruche and sey / “why susteyn I this?”
for yf thow do / thow the takest amis;
53
‘but thus thow shuldest / thinke in thyn herte,and sey, “to the, lorde god / I have a-gylte
so sore: I moot / for myn offensis smerte
as I am worthy / O lorde, I am spilt,
but thow to me / thy mercy graunt[e] wilt.
I am full swre / thow maist it not denye;
lord, I me repent / and I the mercy crye.”’
54
lenger I thowght[e] / red haue in this boke,but so it shope / that I ne myght[e] nowght;
he that it owght / agayne it to hym toke,
me of his haste vnware / yet have I cawght
sume of the doctryne / by reason tawght
to the man / as a-bove have I sayde,
where-of I hold[e] me / full well apayde.
109
55
for evar sythen / set haue I the lesseby the peoples / ymagination,
talkynge this and that / of my sycknesse,
whiche came of god[de]s visytacion;
myght I have be found / in probation,
not grutchynge / but have take it in soffraunce,
holsome and wyse / had be my governaunce.
56
farwell my sorow / I caste it to the cok.with pacience / I hens-forthe thinke vnpike
of suche thowghtfull dissease and woo / the lok,
and let them out / that have me made to sike;
here-aftar owr lorde god / may, yf hym lyke,
make all myne olde affection resorte;
and in hope of that / woll I me comforte.
57
Thrwghe gods iust dome / and his iudgement,and for my best[e] / now I take and deme,
gave that good lorde / me my punishement:
in welthe I toke of hym / none hede or yeme,
hym for to please / and hym honoure and queme,
and he me gave a bone / on for to knaw[e],
me to correcte / and of hym to have awe.
58
he gave me wit / and he toke it awaywhen that he se / that I it mys dyspent[e],
and gave agayne / when it was to his pay,
he grauntyd me / my giltes to repent[e],
and hens-forwarde / to set myne entent[e],
vnto his deitie / to do plesaunce,
and to amend / my synfull governaunce.
110
59
lawde and honore / and thanke vnto the be,lorde god / that salve art / to all hevynes!
thanke of my welthe / and myne adversyte,
thanke of myne elde / and of my sek[e]nese;
and thanke be / to thyne Infinite goodnese
for thy gyftes and benefices all[e],
and vnto thy mercye and grace I call[e].
XXI. [Dialogus cum Amico.]
[Thomas Hoccleve (in Stowe's hand).]
1
And, endyd my ‘complaynt’ / in this manere,one knocked / at my chambre dore sore,
and cryed a-lowde / ‘howe, hoccleve! arte thow here?
open thy dore / me thinkethe [it] full yore
sythen I the se / what, man, for god[de]s ore
come out / for this quartar I not the sy,
by owght I wot’ / and out to hym cam I.
2
This man was my good frynde / of farn a-gon,that I speke of / and thus he to me seyde:
‘Thomas / as thow me lovest, tell a-non
what dydist thow / when I knocked and leyde
so fast upon thy dore’ / And I obeyde
vnto his will / “come in,” quod I, “and se.”
and so he dyd / he streyght went in with me.
3
To my good frind / not thowght I to make it queinte,ne my labowre / from hym to hyde or leyne;
and right anon / I redd hym my ‘complaynt’;
and that done / thus he seyde, ‘sen we twayne
bene here / and no mo folke / for god[de]s peyne,
111
for the to offend[e] / were me full lothe.
4
‘That I shall saye / shall be of good entent[e]:hast thow made this complaynte / forthe to goo
amonge the people’ / “ye, friend;” so I ment[e];
what ells / ‘Nay, Thomas, ware, do not soo!
yf thou be wyse / of that mattar hoo,
reherse thow it not / ne it a-wake;
kepe all that cloos / for thyn honours sake.
5
‘how it stode with the / leyde is all a-slepe;men haue forget it / it is owt of mynd;
that thou towche there-of / I not ne kepe;
let be; that rede I / for I can not finde
O man to speake of it / in as good a kynde
as thow hast stonde / amonge men or this day,
stondyst thow nowe’ / “A, nay,” quod I, “nay, nay!
6
“Thowghe I be lewde / I not so fere-forthe dote;I wott what men haue seyde / and seyne of me;
ther word[e]s have I not / as yet forgote;
but greate marvayle have I / of yow, that ye
no bet of my ‘compleynte’ / avysed be,
sythen, mafey / I not redd it vnto yow
so longe a-gone / for it was but right now.
7
“If ye toke hede / it makethe mentionthat men of me speke / in myne audience
full hevely / of your entencion
I thanke you / for of benevolence,
wott I full well / procedith yowr sentence;
but certis, good frinde / that thinge that I here,
can I witnesse / and vnto it refere.
112
8
“And where as that ye / me counseile and rede,that for myne honore / showlde I by no weye
any thinge mynge / or towche of my wildhede,
I vnto that / annswere thus and saye:
of god[de]s stroke / how so it peyse or waye,
owght no man to thinke / reprefe or shame;
his chastisynge / hurtithe no mans name.
9
“An othar thinge / ther mevithe me also;sythen my syck[e]nesse / sprad was so wyde
that men knew well / how it stode with me tho,
so would I now / vpon that othar syde
wist were / how our lord Ihesu, which is gyde
to all relefe / and may all hertes cure,
relevyd hathe me / synfull creature.
10
“had I be for an homysede yknowe,or an extorcioner / or a robbowr,
or for a coin clypper / as wyde y-blowe
as was my syckenese / or a werriowr
a-gayne the faythe / or a falce mayntaynowr
of cawsys / thowghe I had a-mendyd me,
them to have mynged / [would] have been nicete;
11
“And why / for tho proceden of frailtieof man hym selfe / he brewythe all[e] tho;
for sythen god to man / gyven hathe libertie,
which chese may / for to do well or no,
yf he myse-chese / he is his owne foo;
and to reherse his gilt / whiche hym accusethe,
honor saythe nay / there he scilence excusithe.
113
12
“but this is / all a-nothar case sothelye:this was the stroke of god / he gave me this;
and sythe he hathe / withe-drawe it curteisly,
am I not holden [tell] it owt / O yes;
but yf god had this thanke / it wer amyse.
In feythe, frinde / [I thenke] make an open shryfte,
and hyd[e] not / what I had of his gyfte.
13
“If that a leche / curyd had me so,—as they lacken all / that science and myght,—
a name he shulde / have had for evar mo,
what cure he had done / to so seke a wight.
and yet my purs / he wolde have made full lyght;
but curteys Ihesu / of his grace pacient,
axith not / but of gilte amendement.
14
“The benefice of god / not hyd be shuld[e]:sythen of myne hele / he gave me triacle,
It to confese / and thanke hym, am I hold[e],
for he in me hathe shewyd his myracle;
his vysytacion is a spectacle
in whiche that I / beholde may and se,
bet then I dyd / how great a lorde is he.
15
“but, frind, amonge the vises that right nowrehersed I, one of them, dare I saye,
hathe hurt me sore / and I wot well ynow
so hathe it mo / which is feble moneye:
many a man this day / but they gold wey[e],
of men / not wole it take ne receyve,
and yf it lake his peis / they woll it weive.
114
16
“how may it holde his peise / when it is waisheso that it lackethe / somewhat in thiknese?
the falce people / no thinge them abashe
to clyp it eke / in brede and in rowndnese,
in that it shulde be / alweye the lesse:
the pore man / amonge all othar is
full sore anoyed / and grevyd in this.
17
“If it be golde and hole / that men hym profrefor his labowre / or his chaffar lent,
take it yf him lyst / and put it in his coffre,
for wasshinge or clyppynge / hold hym content
or leve / he got none othar payment;
it semythe but small / othar is there;
trewthe is absent / but falshed is not fer.
18
“how shall the pore do / yf in his holdeno more money / he ne have at all,
par cas / but a noble / or halfpeny of golde,
and it so thin is / and so narowe and smale,
that men the eschaunge eschewen ovar all?
not will it goo / but moche he there-one lese;
he mote do so / he may none other chese.
19
“I myselfe in this case / bene have, or this,wherefore I know it / a grete dell the bett.
he that in falsynge of coyne / gilty is,
hathe great wronge / that he nere on a gebet;
It is pitie / that he there-from is let,
sythen he there-to hathe / so great title and right:
Reigne Iustice / and preve on them thy myght!
115
20
“when I this wrote / many me dyd amyse;they weyed gold / vnhad aucthoritie;
no statute [made] was then / as [þat] now is;
but sythen golde to wey / chargid now ben we,
Reason axith / that it obeyed be;
now tyme it is / unto weight[e]s vs draw[e],
sythen that the parlyament / hathe made it a lawe.
21
“yet othar shrewes / done a worse gyn;and tho bene they / that the coyne countarfete,
and they that with gold / coper, cloth and tyn,
to make all seme gold / they swinke and swete
In hell[e] for to purchace / them a sete:
If thethar lede them / theyr falce covetise,
that purchas made was / in a foltyshe wyse.
22
“what cawsethe, trowe ye / all this mischance?what comforte gyven is / to this vntrwthe?
In feythe, men seyne / it is the mayntynance
of great[e] folke / whiche is great harme & ruthe.
god graunt here-aftar / that ther be no slowthe,
of this treason / punishement to do,
ryght such as that is / partinent ther-to.
23
“they that consenten / to do that falshede,as well as the werkars / withe peyne egall
punished owght to be / as that I rede.
now, manyteynors / be ware now of a fall!
I speke of no parson / in especiall;
In contries dyvers / is there many one
of yow / and hathe bene / many a day a-gon.
116
24
“Alas / that to owr Kyng[e]s preiudice,and harme to all / his lige people trew[e],
Continue shall / this fowle and cursed vice
of falsynge of coyne / not begone of new[e],
whiche / and it forthe goo / many one shall it rew[e].
God and our Kynge / remedye all this grefe,
for to the people / it is a foule mischefe.
25
“by common harme / is not small to set[te];that venom / ovar wyde and brod[e] spredethe:
grete merit were it / suche thinge stope and let[te],
as that the comon / in-to myschefe ledythe.
the voyce of the people / vengaunce on yow gredithe,
ye cursed men / ye false moneyours,
and on yowre outeris / and yowr maynteynours!
26
“O, this I drede alweye / this heviethe memany a sythe / that punishement
none fall[e] shall / on this cursed meynye;
how trewe so be / ther enditement,
owr lyge lorde / shall be so Innocent,
that vnto hym / shall hyd be ye notice;
vnwasshen gold / shall wasshe a-way that vice.
27
“Enformed shalbe / his hie excellenceby menes / whom that the lady moneye
hath rowned with / and shewyd evidence
In plate / that all wronge is that men seye
of that false folke / my sowle dare I laye,
tho mens shullen have / no defectyve plate;
here receyte shall be / good and fyne algate.
117
28
“Nowe in good faythe / I drede there shall besuche multitude / of that falce secte
with-in this two yere / or ellis thre,
but yf this stynkynge errowr / be correcte,
that so myche of this land / shall be infecte
there-with, that trewthe shall a-downe be throw[e],
and that cursed falshed / it overgrow[e].
29
“lo, frinde / nowe haue I myne entent vnrekeof my longe tale / displese yow nowght.”
‘nay, Thomas, nay / but late me to the speke:
when thy compleynt / was to the end ybrowght,
cam it owght in thy purpos / and thy thowght,
owght ell[e]s ther-with / to have made than that?’
“ye, certayne, frind” / ‘O nowe, good Thomas, what?’
30
“frinde, that I shall you tell / as blyve, y-wys:in latyn have I sene / a small tretis[e],
whiche ‘lerne for to dye’ / I-callyd is:
a bettar restreynte / know I none fro vice:
for whan that deathe / shall men from hence trice,
but he that lesson / lerned have or than,
war that / for deathe comethe, wot ther no wyght whan.
31
“And that have I purposed to translate,If god his grace / lyst ther-to me lene,
sythen he of helthe / hathe openyd me the gate;
for where my sowle is / of vertwe all lene,
and thrwghe my bodyes gilt / fowle & vnclene,
to clens it / some-what by translation
of it, shall be / myne occupation.
118
32
“for I not only / but, as that I hope,many an othar wight / eke there-by shall
his consyence / [ful] tenderly grope,
and withe hym selfe acompte, & reken of all
that he hathe in his lyfe / wrowght, great & small,
while he tyme hathe / & freshe wit and vigowr,
and not abyde / vnto his dethes howr.
33
“man may in this tretis / here-aftarward,yf that hym lyke / rede and beholde,
consyder and se well / that it is full hard
delay accompts / tyll lyfe begyne to colde;
short tyme is then / of his offencis olde
to make a iust / and trew[e] rekenynge;
sharpnes of peyne / is there-to great hindringe.
34
“Not hath me stiryd / my devocionto do this labour / ye shullan vndarstond[e],
but at the exitynge / and monicion
of a devout man / take I here on hond[e]
this labowr / and as I cane, wole I fond[e]
his reade, thrwghe gods grace, to parforme,
thowghe I be bare / of intellecte and forme.
35
“And whan that endyd is / I nevar thinke,more in englyshe aftar / be occupied;
I may not labowr / as I dyd, and swinke;
my lust is not there-to / so well applied
as it hathe bene / it is ny mortyfied;
wherefore I cesse thinke / be this done,
the night approchethe / it is fer past none.
119
36
“Of age am I fifty winter and thre;Ripenesse of dethe / fast vpon me hastethe;
my lymes sumdell / now vnweldy be;
all my syght apperithe faste, and wastithe,
and my conceyte / a dayes now / not tastethe
as it hathe done / in yeres precedent;
now all a-nother is my sentement.
37
“More am I heuy now vp-on a day,Than I sum tyme was in dayes fyue;
Thynge þat or this me thoghte game & play,
Is ernest now / the hony fro the hyue
Of my spirit withdrawith wondir blyue;
Whan al is doon / al this worldes swetnesse
At ende torneth in-to bittirnesse.
38
“The fool, thurgh loue of this lyf present,Deceyued is / but the wys man woot weel
How ful this world of sorwe is, and torment;
Wherfore in it / he trustith nat a deel:
Thogh a man this day / sitte hye on the wheel,
To morwe he may be tryced from his sete;
This hath be seen often / among the grete.
39
“How fair thyng / or how precious it beÞat in the world is / it is lyk a flour,
To whom / nature yeuen hath beautee
Of fressh heewe / and of ful plesant colour;
With soote smellynge also, and odour;
But as soone as it is bicomen drye,
ffarwel colour / and the smel gynneth dye.
120
40
“Rial might and eerthely magestee,Welthe of the world / and longe & faire dayes,
Passen / as dooth the shadwe of a tree;
Whan deeth is come / ther be no delayes;
The worldes trust is brotil at assayes;
The wyse men / wel knowen this is sooth,
They knowen / what deceit to man it dooth.
41
“Lond / rente / cattel / gold / honour / richesse,Þat for a tyme lent been to been ouris,
fforgo we shole / sonner than we gesse.
Paleses / Maners / Castels grete & touris
Shal vs bireft be / by deeth þat ful sour is;
Shee is the rogh besom / which shal vs all
Sweepe out of this world / whan god list it fall.
42
“And syn þat shee shal of vs make an ende,Holsum is, hir haue ofte in remembrance,
Or shee hir messager seeknesse vs sende.
Now, my freend / so good yeue yow good chaunce,
Is it nat good to make a purueance
Ageyn the comynge of þat messageer,
That we may stande in conscience cleer?”
43
‘yis, Thomas, yis / thow hast a good entente,But thy werk / hard is to parfourme, I dreede;
Thy brayn, par cas / ther-to nat wole assente,
And wel thow woost / it moot assente neede
Or thow aboute brynge swich a deede:
Now in good feith / I rede as for the beste,
Þat purpos caste out of thy myndes cheste.
121
44
‘Thy bisy studie aboute swich mateereHath causid thee / to stirte in-to the plyt
That thow were in / as fer as I can heere;
And thogh thow deeme / thow be there-of qwyt /
Abyde / and thy purpos putte in respyt
Til þat right wel stablisshid be thy brayn;
And ther-to thanne / I wole assente fayn.
45
‘Thogh a strong fyr / þat was in an herth late,Withdrawen be / and swept away ful cleene /
yit aftirward / bothe the herth and plate
Been of the fyr warm / thogh no fyr be seene
There as þat it was / and right so I meene:
Al-thogh past be the grete of thy seeknesse /
yit lurke in thee may sum of hir warmnesse.’
46
“O, what is yow, freend / benedicitee?Right now, whan I yow redde my ‘conpleynte,’
Made it nat mynde / it standith wel with me?
Myn herte with your speeche gynneth feynte.
Shuld we be now / al neewe to aqweynte,
Þat han so wel aqweynted be ful yore?
What / han yee now lerned a neewe lore?
47
“Han yee lerned / your freend for to mis-trusteAnd to his wordes / yeue no credence?
If your frendshipe cancre so and ruste,
Sore wole it trouble myn innocence,
Þat ay yow holden haue in existence
A verray freend / certes, sore am I greeued,
That yee nat leeue / how god me hath releeued.
122
48
“Who so nat leeueth / what þat a man seith,Is signe þat he trustith him but lyte.
A verray freend yeueth credence & feith
Vn-to his freend / what so he speke & wryte.
ffrendshipes lawe / nat worth wer a myte,
If þat vntrust / vn-to it wer annexid;
Vntrust hath many a wight ful sore vexid.
49
“I with my seluen made foreward,Whan with the knotte of frendshipe I me knytte
Vn-to yow, þat I neuere aftirward
Fro þat hy bond departe wolde, or flitte;
Which keepe I wole ay / o, your wordes sitte
Ny to myn herte / and thogh yee me nat loue,
My loue fro yow / shal ther no wight shoue.
50
“Tullius seith / þat frendshipe verrayEndurith euere / how-so men it assaill;
ffrendshipe is noon / to loue wel this day,
Or yeeres outhir / and aftirward faill.
A freend to freend / his peyne & his trauaill
Dooth ay / frendshipe to keepe & conserue
Til dethes strook þat bond a-sondir kerue.
51
“To this matir accordith Salomon—yee knowe it bet than I by many fold:
Ones freend / and holde euere ther vp-on.
In your frendshipe wer a slipir hold,
If it abate wolde and wexe cold,
Þat vn-to now hath been bothe hoot & warm;
To yow wer it repreef / and to me harm.
123
52
“If þat me list in this mateere dwell,And it along / for to drawe and dilate,
Auctoritees an heep, kowde I yow tell
Of frendshipe / but stynte I moot algate,
Or elles wole it be ful longe & late
Or I haue endid my purposid werk,
ffor feeble is my conceit, & dul & derk.
53
“But as þat I seide eer / and sooth it is,My sclendre wit feele I as sad and stable
As euere it was at any tyme or this:
Thankid be our lord Ihesu merciable!”
‘Yit, Thomas, herkne a word, and be souffrable,
And take nat my speeche in displesance;
In me shalt thow fynde no variance.
54
‘I am thy freend / as þat I haue ay been,And euere wole / doute it nat al,
But truste wel, it is but seelden seen
Þat any wight / þat caght hath swich a fal
As thy seeknesse was / þat aftir shal
Be of swich disposicioun and might
As he was erst / and so seith euery wight.
55
‘Of studie was engendred thy seeknesse,And þat was hard / woldest [thow] now agayn
Entre into þat laborious bisynesse,
Syn it thy mynde and eek thy wit had slayn?
Thy conceit is nat worth a payndemayn:
Let be / let be / bisye thee so no more,
Lest thee repente / and reewe it ouersore.
124
56
‘My reed proceedith nat of froward wil,But it is seid of verray freendly-hede
ffor if so-causid seeknesse on me fil
As dide on the: right euene as I thee rede,
So wolde I do my self / it is no drede;
And Salomon bit / aftir conseil do;
And good is it / conforme thee ther-to.
57
‘He þat hath ones in swich plyt y-fall,But he wol rule him / may in slippen eft:
This rede I thee / for aght þat may befall,
Syn þat seeknesse god hath thee byreft,
The cause eschue / for it is good left,
Namely, thyng of thoghtful studie kaght,
Perillous is / as þat hath me been taght.
58
‘Right as a theef þat hath eschapid onesThe roop / no dreede hath eft his art to vse,
Til þat the trees him weye vp, body and bones,
So looth is him / his sory craft refuse /
Sa farest thow / ioie hastow for to muse
Vp-on thy book / and ther-in stare & poure,
Til þat it thy wit / consume and deuoure.
59
‘I can no more / the latter errourWers is, rede I / than þat þat was beforn;
The smert of studie / oghte be mirour
To thee / let yit thy studie be forborn.
Haue of my wordes / no desdeyn or scorn;
ffor þat I seye / of freendly tendernesse
I seye it al / as wisly god me blesse.
125
60
‘If thee nat list vp-on thy self to reewe,Thomas, who shal reewe vpon thee, I preye?
Now do foorth, let see / and thyn harm reneewe;
And heuyer / shal it peise and weye
Than it dide eer / ther-to my lyf I leye,
Which thee wolde ouer mochil harme & greeue.’
“ffreend, as to þat / answer I shal by leeue.
61
“Where-as þat yee deemen of me, and troweThat y of studie my disese took,—
Which conceit eek / among the peple is sowe /—
Trustith right wel / þat neuere studie in book
Was cause / why my mynde me forsook
But it was causid of my long seeknesse,
And othir wyse nat / in soothfastnesse.
62
“And for-thy neuere aftir this / preye y yow,Deemeth no more so / ne nat it mynge.
That men kneew I had seeknesse / is ynow,
Thogh they make of the cause no serchynge;
Ther cometh but smal fruyt of swich deemynge.
To yow told haue I treewely the cause;
Now let vs stynten heer / & make a pause.
63
“In this keepe I no replicacioun;It is nat worth / the labour is in veyn;
Shal no stirynge or excitacioun
Lette me of this labour, in certeyn.
Trustith wel this pourpos is nat sodeyn;
Vp-on my wittes stithie hath it be bete
Many a day / of this no lenger trete.
126
64
“I haue a tyme resonable abideOr that I thoghte in this laboure me;
And al to preeue my self, I so dide:
A man in his conceit / may serchee & see
In .ve. yeer / what he do may, pardee,
And aftir þat take vp-on him, and do
Or leve / reson accordith heer-to.”
65
‘O Thomas, holdist thow it a prudence,Reed, weyue, and wirke aftir thyn owne wit?
Seide y nat eer / þat Salomons sentence
To do by reed / and by Conseil, men bit;
And thow desdeynest / for to folwen it.
What art thow now / presumptuous become,
And list nat of thy mis / been vndirnome?’
66
“Nay, freend / nat so / yee woot well, elles-whereSalomon bit / ‘oon be thy Conseillour
Among a .Ml.’ and if þat yee were
As constant as yee han been or this hour,
By yow wolde I be red / but swich errour
In your conceit I feele now, sanz faille,
That in this cas yee can nat wel consaill.
67
“ffor god woot / a blynd Counseillour is heWhich þat conseille shal in a mateere,
If of a soothe / him list nat lerned be;
And euene swich oon fynde I now nowheere.
I pleynly told yow haue, the maneere
How þat it with me standen hath / and stant;
But of your trust to me ward, be ye scant.
127
68
“Han yee aght herd of me in communynge,Wherthurgh yee oghten deeme of me amis?
Haue I nat seid reson / to your thynkygne?”
‘ffor soothe, Thomas / to my conceit / yis;
But euere I am agast, & dreede this,
Thy wit is nat so mighty to susteene
That labour / as thow thy self woldest weene.’
69
“ffreend, as to þat, he lyueth nat þat canKnowe / how it standith with an othir wight,
So wel as him self / al-thogh many a man
Take on him more / than lyth in his might
To knowe / þat man is nat ruled right
Þat so presumeth in his iugement:
Beforn the doom / good wer auisament.”
70
‘Now, Thomas / by the feith I to god owe,Had I nat taastid thee / as þat I now
Doon haue / it had been hard, maad me to trowe
The good plyt / which I feele wel þat thow
Art in / I woot wel thow art wel ynow,
What-so men of thee ymagyne or clappe,
Now haue I god, me thynkith, by the lappe.
71
‘But al so hertly / as I can or may,Syn þat thow wilt to þat labour thee dresse,
I preye thee / in al maneere way
Thy wittes to conserue / in hir fresshnesse;
Whan thow ther-to goost / take of hem the lesse;
To muse longe / in an hard mateere,
The wit of man abieth it ful deere.’
128
72
“ffreend, I nat medle of matires grete;Ther-to nat strecche may myn intellect;
I neuere yit was brent with studies hete;
Let no man holde me ther-in suspect:
If I lightly / nat cacche may theffect
Of thyng in which / laboure I me purpose,
A dieu my studie / anoon my book I close.
73
“By stirtes / whan þat a fressh lust me takith,Wole I me bisye now and now a lyte;
But whan þat my lust dullith and asslakith,
I stynte wole / and no lenger wryte;
And pardee, freend / þat may nat hyndre a myte,
As þat it seemeth to my symple auys;
Iugeth your self / yee been prudent and wys.”
74
‘Sikir, Thomas / if thow do in swich wyseAs þat thow seist / I am ful wel content
Þat thow vp-on thee take þat empryse
Which þat thow has purposed and y-ment;
Vn-to þat ende / yeue y myn assent,
Go now ther-to / in Ihesu Crystes name;
And as thow haast me seid / do thou þat same.
75
‘I am seur þat thy disposiciounIs swich / þat thow maist more take on hoonde
Than I first wende in myn oppinioun,
By many fold / thankid be goddes soonde!
Do foorth in goddes name / & nat ne woonde
To make and wryte / what thyng þat thee list:
Þat I nat eer kneew / now is to me wist.
129
76
‘And of o thyng / now wel I me remembre,Why thow purposist in this book trauaill:
I trowe þat in the monthe of Septembre
Now last, or nat fer from / it is no faill,—
No force of the time / it shal nat auaill
To my mateer / ne it hyndre or lette,—
Thow seidist / of a book thow wer in dette
77
‘Vn-to my lord / þat now is lieutenant,My lord of Gloucestre / is it nat so?’
“Yis soothly, freend / and as by couenant
He sholde han had it many a day ago;
But seeknesse and vnlust / and othir mo
Han be the causes of impediment.”
‘Thomas / than this book haast thow to him ment?’
78
“Yee sikir, freend, ful treewe is your deemynge;ffor him it is / þat I this book shal make.
As blyue as þat I herde of his comynge
ffro ffrance / I penne and ynke gan to take,
And my spirit I made to awake,
Þat longe lurkid hath in ydilnesse
ffor any swich labour or bisynesse.
79
“But of sum othir thyng / fayn trete I wolde,My noble lordes herte / with / to glade,
As ther-to bownden am I deepe, & holde;
On swich mateere / by god þat me made,
Wolde I bestowe many a balade,
Wiste I what / good freend / tell on what is best,
Me for to make / and folwe it am I prest.
130
80
“Next our lord lige, our kyng victorious,In al this wyde world / lord is ther noon
Vn-to me so good ne so gracious,
And haath been swich / yeeres ful many oon:
God yilde it him / as sad as any stoon
His herte set is / and nat change can
ffro me, his humble seruant & his man.
81
“ffor him I thoghte han translated VegeceWhich tretith of the art of Chiualrie,
But I see his Knyghthode so encrece,
Þat no thyng my labour sholde edifie,
ffor he þat art / wel can for the maistrie.
Beyonde, he preeued hath his worthynesse,
And among othre / Chirburgh to witnesse.
82
“This worthy Prynce lay before þat holdWhich was ful strong / at seege many a day,
And thens for to departe hath he nat wold,
But knyghtly ther abood / vp-on his pray
Til he by force it wan / it is no nay.
Duc henri, þat so worthy was and good,
ffolwith this Prince / as wel in deede as blood.
83
“Or he to Chirburgh cam / in iourneyynge,Of Constantyn he wan the cloos and yle,
ffor which / laude and honur and hy preysynge
Rewarden him / and qwyten him his whyle.
Thogh he beforn þat had a worthy style,
yit of noble renoun is þat encrees:
He is a famous Prince / doutelees!
131
84
“ffor to reherce or tell in specialEuery act þat his swerd / in steel wroot there,
And many a place / elles I woot nat al;
And thogh euery act come had to myn ere,
To yepresse hem / my spirit wolde han fere,
Lest I his thank par chaunce mighte abregge
Thurgh vnkonnynge / if I hem sholde allegge.
85
“But this I seye / he callid is HumfreyConueniently, as þat it seemeth me,
ffor this conceit is in myn herte al-wey,
Bataillous Mars / in his natiuitee
Vn-to þat name / of verray specialtee
Titled him / makynge him ther-by promesse
Þat strecche he sholde in-to hy worthynesse;
86
“ffor humfrey / as vn-to myn intellect,‘Man, make I shal’ / in englissh is to seye;
And þat byheeste / hath taken treewe effect,
As the commune fame / can bywreye:
Who-so his worthy knyghthode / can weye
Duely in his conceites balaunce,
Ynow hath / wher-of his renoun enhaunce.
87
“To cronicle his actes / wer a good deede,ffor they ensaumple mighte, and encorage
fful many a man / for to taken heede
How for to gouerne hem in the vsage
Of armes / it is a greet auauntage
132
Ther-in to see the path vn-to honour.
88
“O lord / whan he cam to the seege of Roonffro Chirburgh / whether fere or cowardyse,
So ny the walles / made him for to goon
Of the town / as he dide? I nat souffyse
To telle yow / in how knyghtly a wyse
He logged him ther / and how worthyly
He baar him / what / he is al knyght soothly.
89
“Now, good freend / shoue at the cart, I yow preye;What thyng may I make vn-to his plesance?
Withouten your reed / noot I what to seye.”
‘O / no, pardee, Thomas / o. no, ascannce.’
“No, certein, freend / as now no cheuissance
Can I; your conseil is to me holsum;
As I truste in yow, mynystreth me sum.”
90
‘Wel Thomas / trowest thow his hy noblesseNat rekke / what mateere þat it be
Þat thow shalt make of?’ “no, freend, as I gesse,
So þat it be mateere of honestee.”
‘Thomas, and thanne I wole auyse me;
ffor who-so reed & conseil yeue shal,
May nat on heed / foorth renne ther-with-al.
91
‘And þat so noble a Prince, namely,So excellent / worthy and honurable,
Shal haue / needith good auys soothly,
Þat it may be plesant and agreable
To his noblesse / it is nat couenable
To wryte to a prince so famous,
But it be good mateer and vertuous.
133
92
‘Thow woost wel / who shal an hous edifie,Gooth nat ther-to withoute auisament,
If he be wys, for with his mental ye
ffirst is it seen / pourposid / cast & ment,
How it shal wroght been / elles al is shent.
Certes, for the deffaute of good forsighte,
Mis-tyden thynges / þat wel tyde mighte.
93
‘This may been vn-to thee / in thy makyngeA good mirour / thow wilt nat haaste, I trowe,
Vn-to thy penne / and ther-with wirke heedlynge,
Or thow auysed be wel / and wel knowe
What thow shalt wryte / o, Thomas / many a throwe
Smertith the fool / for lak of good auys;
But no wight hath it smerted þat is wys;
94
‘ffor wel is he waar / or he wryte or speke,What is to do or leue / Who by prudence
Rule him shal / no thinge shal out from him breke
Hastily ne of rakil negligence.’
“ffreend, þat is sooth / o / now your assistence
And help / what I shal make, I now byseeche;
In your wys conceit / serche yee & seeche.”
95
He a long tyme in a studie stood,And aftir þat, thus tolde he his entente:
‘Thomas, sauf bettre auys, I holde it good,
Syn now the holy seson is of lente
In which it sit euery man him repente
Of his offense / and of his wikkidnesse /
Be heuy of thy gilt / and the confesse,
134
96
‘And satisfaccion do thow for it.Thow woost wel / on wommen, greet wyt & lak
Ofte haast thow put / be waar / lest thow be qwit.
Thy wordes fille wolde a quarter sak,
Which thow in whyt / depeynted haast with blak;
In hir repreef, mochil thyng haast thow write,
That they nat foryeue haue / ne foryite.
97
‘Sumwhat now wryte in honour & preysyngeOf hem / so maist thow do correccioun
Sumdel of thyn offense and mis-berynge.
Thow art cleene out of hir affeccioun;
Now syn it is in thyn eleccioun
Whethir thee list / hir loue ageyn purchace,
Or stonde as thow doost / out of loue & grace /
98
‘Bewar, rede I / cheese the bettre part.Truste wel this / wommen been fell and wyse;
Hem for to plese / lyth greet craft & art.
Wher no fyr maad is / may no smoke aryse;
But thow haast ofte / if thow thee wel auyse,
Maad smoky brondes / and for al þat gilt,
yit maist thow stonde in grace / if þat thow wilt.
99
‘By buxum herte & by submissionTo hir graces / yildinge thee coupable /
Thow pardon maist haue, & remission̄
And do vn-to hem plesance greable.
To make partie / art thow nothyng able;
Humble thy goost / be nat sturdy of herte;
Bettre than thow art / han they maad to smerte.
135
100
‘The wyf of Bathe, take I for auctriceÞat wommen han no ioie ne deyntee
Þat men sholde vp-on hem putte any vice;
I woot wel so / or lyk to þat, seith shee.
By wordes writen / Thomas, yilde thee;
Euene as thow by scripture hem haast offendid,
Right so / let it be by wrytynge amendid.’
101
“ffreend / thogh I do so / what lust or pleisirShal my lord haue in þat / noon / thynkith me.”
‘Yis, Thomas, yis / his lust and his desir
Is / as it wel sit / to his hy degree,
ffor his desport / & mirthe in honestee,
With ladyes / to haue daliance:
And this book / wole he shewen hem par chance.
102
‘And syn he thy good lord is / he be mayffor thee swich mene / þat the lightlyere
Shuln they foryeue thee / putte in assay
My conseil / let see / nat shal it thee dere;
So wolde I doon / if in thy plyt I were.
Leye hond on thy breest / if thow wilt so do,
Or leue / I can no more seyn ther-to.
103
‘But thogh to wommen thow thyn herte bowe,Axynge hir graces / with greet repentance
ffor thy giltes / thee wole I nat allowe
To take on thee swich rule and gouernance
As they thee rede wolde / for greuance
So greet / ther folwe mighte of it, par cas,
That thow repente it sholdest ay, Thomas.
136
104
‘Adam begyled was with Eeues reed,And sikir so was shee by the Serpent,
To whom god seide / “this womman thyn heed
Breke shal / for thurgh thyn enticement
Shee hath y-broken my commandement.”
Now, syn womman had of the feend swich might;
To breke a mannes heed / it seemeth light.
105
‘ffor why, let noon housbonde / thynke it shameNe repreef vn-to him / ne vilenye,
Thogh his wyf do to him þat selue same.
Hir reson axith haue of men maistrie
Thogh holy writ witnesse and testifie
Men sholde of hem han dominacioun,
It is the reuers in probacioun.
106
‘Hange vp his hachet / & sette him adoun;ffor wommen wole assente in no maneere
Vn-to þat poynt / ne þat conclusioun.
Thomas / how is it twixt thee & thy feere?
“Wel, wel, quod I / what list yow ther-of heere?
My wyf mighte haue hokir & greet desdeyn
If I sholde in swich cas / pleye a soleyn.”
107
‘Now Thomas / if thee list to lyue in ese,Prolle aftir wommennes beneuolence.
Thogh it be dangerous / good is hem plese,
ffor hard is it / to renne in hir offense.
What so they seyn / take al in pacience.
Bettre art thow nat / than thy fadres before,
Thomas, han been / be right wel waar therfore.’
137
108
“ffreend, hard it is / wommen to greeue, I grante;But what haue I agilt / for him þat dyde,
Nat haue I doon why / dar I me auante,
Out of wommennes graces slippe or slyde.”
‘Yis, Thomas, yis / in thepistle of Cupyde
Thow haast of hem / so largeliche said,
That they been swart wrooth / & ful euele apaid.’
109
“ffreend / doutelees sumwhat ther is ther-inÞat sowneth but right smal to hir honour;
But as to þat / now, for your fadir kyn,
Considereth / ther-of / was I noon Auctour;
I nas in þat cas / but a reportour
Of folkes tales / as they seide / I wroot:
I nat affermed it on hem / god woot!
110
“Who so þat shal reherce a mannes sawe,As þat he seith / moot he seyn & nat varie,
ffor, and he do / he dooth ageyn the lawe
Of trouthe / he may tho wordes nat contrarie.
Who-so þat seith ‘I am hir Aduersarie,
And dispreise hir condicions and port,
ffor þat I made of hem swich a report,’ /
111
“He mis-auysed is / and eek to blame.Whan I it spak / I spak conpleynyngly;
I to hem thoghte no repreef ne shame.
What world is this / how vndirstande am I?
Looke in the same book / what stikith by?
Who so lookith aright / ther-in may see
Þat they me oghten haue in greet cheertee,
138
112
“And elles / woot I neuere what is what.The book concludith for hem / is no nay,
Vertuously / my good freend / dooth it nat?”
‘Thomas, I noot / for neuere it yit I say.’
“No, freend?” ‘no, Thomas’ / “Wel trowe I, in fay;
ffor had yee red it fully to the ende,
yee wolde seyn / it is nat as yee wende.”
113
‘Thomas / how so it be / do as I seide:Syn it displesith hem / amendes make.
If þat some of hem thee ther-of vpbreide,
Thow shalt be bisy ynow, I vndirtake,
Thy kut to keepe / now I thee bytake
To god / for I moot needes fro thee weende:
The love and thank of wommen / god thee seende!
114
‘Among, I thynke thee for to visyteOr þat thy book fully finisshid be,
ffor looth me were / thow sholdest aght wryte
Wherthurgh / thow mightest gete any maugree;
And for þat cause / I wole it ouersee;
And, Thomas / now a dieu & fare weel;
Thow fynde me shalt / al so treewe as steel.’
115
Whan he was goon / I in myn herte dreddeStonde out of wommennes beneuolence;
And to fulfille þat / þat he me redde,
I shoop me do my peyne and diligence
To wynne hir loue by obedience.
Thogh I my wordes can nat wel portreye /
Lo, heer the fourme / how I hem obeye.
139
116
My ladyes all / as wisly god me blesse,Why þat yee meeued been / can I nat knowe;
My gilt cam neuere yit to the ripnesse,
Al-thogh yee for your fo / me deeme & trowe;
But I your freend be / byte me the crowe!
I am al othir to yow / than yee weene;
By my wrytynge / hath it, & shal be, seene.
117
But nathelees / I lowly me submitteTo your bontees / as fer as they han place
In yow / vn-to me, wrecche, it may wel sitte
To axe pardoun / thogh I nat trespace;
Leuer is me / with pitous cheere & face,
And meek spirit, do so / than open werre
yee make me / & me putte atte werre.
118
A tale eek / which I in the Romayn deedisNow late sy / in honur & plesance
Of yow, my ladyes /—as I moot needis,
Or take my way / for fere in-to ffrance,—
Thogh I nat shapen be / to prike or prance,—
Wole I translate / and þat shal pourge, I hope,
My gilt / as cleene / as keuerchiefs dooth sope.
140
XXII. ffabula de quadam Emperatrice Romana.
1
In the Romain actes writen is thus:Whilom an Emperour in the Citee
Of Roome regned, clept Iereslaus,
Which, his noble estat & hy dignitee
Gouerned wysly; & weddid had he
The doghtir of the kyng of Vngarie,
A fair lady / to euery mannes ye.
2
And for þat beautee in womman, alloneWithouten bontee, is nat commendable,
Shee was ther-to / a vertuous persone,
And specially pitous & merciable
In all hir wirkes / which ful couenable
And pertinent is / vn-to wommanhede:
Mercy causith / good renon̄ fer to sprede.
3
Now in my tale foorth wole I proceede:As þat this Emperour in his bed lay
Vp-on a nyght / a thoght gan in him breede,
Vn-to the holy land / to take his way;
And on the morwe / left lenger delay,
His wyf and his brothir / he made appeere
Before him / and hem seide in this maneere:
4
“My deere wyf / myn hertes ioie and hele,Þat thyng þat stablisshid in myn herte is,
I can nat hyde fro thee / ne concele,
Ne nat ne wole / and shortly it is this:
Vn-to the holy lond / I wole ywis;
141
Of al thempyre / me absent / ‘lady,’
5
“Bytakynge and committynge vn-to thee,Of peple and land / the charge special;
And vndir thee / my brothir heer shal be
Steward of it / to rule & gouerne al
That to me and my peple, greet & smal,
Profitable is / by Conseil & assent
Algate of thee / and thyn auysament.
6
“Al-thogh thee thynke / this purpos sodeyn,Yit be nat heuy / but in gree it take.
With goddes grace / my comynge ageyn
Shal nat be longe to / I, for thy sake,
Wole the shorter abood / there make.
Truste me weel / as blyue as þat I may,
Haaste I me wole / fro thennes away.”
7
To whom / with spirit of humilitee,She seide / “syn it is your good plesance
To departe hens / & / go to þat Contree,
I take moot algates, in souffrance,
Your wil / and shal, with hertes obeissance,
As treewe as turtle / þat lakkith hir feere
In your absence / I shal be / my lord deere.
8
“fful sore I am agast, & greetly dreedeÞat neuere yee shuln thennes with your lyf
Retorne / almighty god yow saue & speede!”
he [to] hir yaf wordes confortatyf,
And kiste hir / and seide, “farewel, wyf!
Be nat abassht / ne nat dreedith, I preye;”
And foorth he hastith him in his iourneye.
142
9
The sorwe of herte / and cheer of heuynesseWhich this good lady at his departynge
Made / the book nat can telle or expresse;
Wherfore / of þat haue I no knowlechynge;
Eek kepe I nat / the belle of sorwe out rynge,
Thogh þat I kneew wel euery circumstance
Of hir wo / & hir heuy contenance.
10
But whan this Emperour was thus agoon,His brothirs herte was so eleuat
And so prowd / þat by wight ne sette he noon;
Him self forgat he / for his hy estat;
The pore & simple folk / this potestat
Oppressid sore / and dide hem greet duresse;
The riche / he robbid eek of hir richesse.
11
And yit this wikkid man / this Seneschal,Meeued was werse / and to fulfill it / thoghte;
he dide his might / and his peyne total,
And alle weyes / serchid he & soghte,
And to brynge it aboute he faste wroghte;
Al-thogh he faillid / at preef and assay,
He was knyt vp / with a wommanly nay.
12
He day by day lay / on this EmpericeTo make hir vn-to him flesshly consente;
But shee answerde / “it wer ouer greet vice
To me / if I ther-to myn herte bente.
Nay, brothir, nay / god woot, I neuere it mente,
143
Yee goon wrong / yee mis-chosen han your place.
13
“In al your lyf / yee neuere, ne noon othir,Shal make me consente to þat synne.
ffor shame, fy / þat yee, my lordes brothir,
And whom þat he right feithful trust hath Inne,
Sholde any swich tale / to me begynne,
Which wer ageyn his / and your honestee,
And myn / þat am his wyf, wel knowen yee.
14
“A treewe wyf / I lyue wole & dye;his wole I be / to whom þat I am bownde
Whyle he lyueth and I / withouten lye;
Trustith wel / it noon othir shal be fownde.”
But for al this / at euery tyme & stownde
he stired hire / whan he fond hir soul,
Vn-to this deede vicious and foul.
15
And whan shee sy / shee mighte haue no reste,—Nat wolde he stynte of his iniquitee,—
Shee aftir three / or foure / of the gretteste
Of al thempire sente / and thus spake shee:
“Sires / the cause / þat hath meeued me
ffor yow to sende / is this / as I shal seyn,
Of which / I sore encombred am / certeyn:
16
“yee woot wel / þat my lord the Emperour,In his absence / hath maad me principal
Of thempire / and his brothir gouernour
And Steward vndir me / for to rule al,
With this addicion / þat he nat shal
Wirke / my Conseil and assent vnhad:
This was my lordes wil / and thus he bad;
144
17
“And nathelees / the poore he hath oppressid,And robbid ryche folk / yee woot, I trowe;
And werse thyng / which shal nat been expressid
As now / he wolde han doon / my self it knowe;
Wherfore / vp-on the feith / which þat ye owe
To my lord / and on his part, I yow charge
Enprisone him / let him nat goon at large;
18
ffettreth him faste” / and they answerden thus:“Ma dame / he hath doon many a wikkid deede
Syn our lord wente / it wel knowe is to vs.
To your commandement / as we moot neede /
We wole obeie / but withoute dreede
yee muste in this / warrante vs and allowe,
Lest our lord / whan he comth / vs disallowe.”
19
“What, Sires,” quod shee / “doutith yow right noght;ffor if my lord kneew / as mochil as I,
That he hath doon / sholde be deere boght.
Þat I yow charge / wole I stande by.”
They made anoon areest on his body,
And in-to prison / they him threew & caste,
And fettred him in yren bondes faste,
20
Wher he abood / til þat word comen was,How þat the Emperour was hoom comynge.
Thanne he thus thoghte / “how shal I doon / allas,
Now knowe shal my lord, by enquerynge,
The verray cause of myn enprisonynge,
145
Or per cas / my lyf / I ne shal nat cheese;
21
“In feith if I may / it shal nat be so.”A messager / as blyue ordeyned he,
And made him / to the Emperice go,
And byseeche hir / of hir hy[e] bontee,
Syn shee had ay been of hir grace free,
Þat shee so mochil grace / wolde him do,
As come / and speke a word with him or two.
22
Vn-to the dore / of his prison / shee cam;Withouten danger / shee ther-to obeide:
“What is your wil,” quod shee / “lo, heer I am.”
He lookid pitously // and meekly preide,
“O gracious lady / reewe on me,” he seide;
“If þat my lord me fynde heer in prison,
My deeth wole it been, & confusion.
23
“My gentil lady / what shal yow profyteTo do me of a mescheuous deeth sterue?
If þat I lyue may / wole I me qwyte
Treewely to yow / and your thank disserue.
What yow list me commande / I wole obserue,
And do as humblely as any man
Þat in this world lyneth / do may or can.”
24
And shee anoon right, meeued of pitee,Seide / “if [þat] I wiste þat of thy folie
Thow stynte woldest, & amende thee
Hens-foorth / and thee vn-to vertu applie,
My grace wolde I nat to thee denye.”
He seide and swoor / al þat he cowde swere,
Amende he wolde / and wel aftir him bere.
146
25
O noble lady / symple and Innocent,Trustynge vp-on his ooth and his promesse,
fful wo is me / for thy wo consequent!
Often happith / wommannes tendrenesse
Torneth hir vn-to harm / and to duresse:
This Emperice fond it so by preef,
Whom þat forsworn man / greet harm dide, & greef.
26
This man shee took out of the prison hous,And made him bathid been, and fresshly shaue,
And dide him clothe in clothes precious,
And a fressh Courser / eek shee made him haue,
And seide, “now, brothir / so god yow saue!
Takith your hors / and ryde foorth with me
Toward my lord” / and foorth with hir rood he.
27
And as they riden / right in the hy wayNy a fforeste / an hert before hem ran:
Ther nas but “ryde on, ryde / and hay, dogge, hay!”
Euery man dooth his peyne / in what he can,
The hert to suë / ther leftë no man
With this good lady / sauf this wikkid wight,
This Steward / which brak al þat he had hight.
28
Par auenture / men wole han meruaill,That damoisele / with hir had shee noon:
No force of þat / the book withouten faill
Makith no mynde / as mochil as of oon;
This chaunce shoop / many a yeer agoon;
That tyme par cas / was no swich array
As þat in sundry Contrees is this day.
147
29
Whan this knyght sy / ther was noon but they two,To themperice / he seide in this maneere:
“It is ago fern / syn I spak yow to
Of loue / come on now, my lady deere,
With me / in-to this priuee foreste heere,
That y of yow / may haue my talent!
Now shal be doon / þat I longe haue ment.”
30
“What, fool / took I thee nat out of prison,No lenger hens / than yistirday,” quod shee,
In trust and hope / of thy correccion,
As thow swoor / and behightest vn-to me;
And now to thy folie and nycetee
Retourne woldest thow / nay, doutelees
It shal nat be / stynte and holde thy pees!
31
“Ther neuere shal man / do with me þat deede,Sauf my lord themperour / which þat of right
Licenced is ther-to / o, god forbeede,
Þat by myn honestee / sette I so light!
Peyne thee nat ther-to / for in thy might
Shal it nat be / thy wil for to perfourme;
By no way wole I me ther-to confourme.”
32
And he answerde / and spak vnreuerently:“But if þat thow / consente wilt to me
In this foreste / as swythe right wole y
Hange thee by thyn heer / vp-on a tree,
Wher no wight shal thee fynde / and so,” quod he,
Of wikkid deeth / thow sterue shalt & die;
Truste on noon help at al, ne remedie.”
148
33
“By thy manaces / sette I nat a myte,”Shee seide / “of hem haue I no dreede at al.
Thogh thow me thretne / myn heed of to smyte,
And do me what torment thow canst / I shal
Thee werne ay þat / this for answer final
Take if thee list / for, to þat poynt me dryue,
Thow neuere shalt / whyles I am on lyue.
34
“Thow woost wel / in effect / thus seide I eer.”He strypid hir anoon / left al delay,
Vn-to hir smok / and heng hir by hir heer
Vp-on an ook / and by hir, hir palfray
He stonde leet / and foorth on deuel way
Rood this tirant / this man malicious,
This cruel-herted man enuenymous.
35
And whan he had his felawshipe atake,He bleew and blustred / and made heuy cheere;
And a strong lesyng / he gan to hem make;
He seide, “allas / þat I nere on my beere,
So wo is me / for þat my lordes feere,
My lady, is me reft / by force of men.”
God yeue him sorwe // and all swiche [Amen]!
36
O false lyer / o thow cofre and chesteOf vnclennesse / o stynkynge Aduoutour
In wil, seye I / and willy to inceste;
O false man to god / and thow traitour
To thy lord and brothir, the Emperour;
O enemy to wyfly chastitee,
And in thy wirkes ful of crueltee;
149
37
O cursid feendly wrecche / why hast thowDeceyued & betrayed Innocence?
What wilt thow seye / & how wilt thow looke, how,
Whan thow comest / to thy Lordes presence,
And art opposid by his excellence,
How þat it with his lady hath betid[de]?
I am seur / þat the trouthe shal been [hidde].
38
ffor as wel as þat to thy conpaignieThow lyedist / whan thow hem ouertook /
As lowde wilt thow / vn-to thy lord lye,
I woot wel / and with bolde face and look.
Nathelees / of this tretith nat the book;
Wherforë to my talë wole I go,
Of this lady / and foorth tell of hir wo.
39
Whan þat shee so had hanged dayes three,By þat forestë / rood ther on huntynge
An Erl / þat was of a strangë contree;
Beforn whos howndes was a fox rennynge,
And they aftir it blyuë folewynge;
And as þat they ran / they hadden a sent
Of the lady / and thidir be they went;
40
And there as shee heeng / they stood at a bay.This Erl, of þat meruaillynge him greetly,
Thidir him hyeth / in al þat he may;
And whan he hire / there hangynge sy,
He seidë / “womman / what art thow, & why
Hangest thow in this wyse vp-on the tree?”
“A strange womman / sire, am I” / quod shee,
150
41
“Of fer[re] parties / how in-to this placeI cam / god woot” / shee wolde by no way
Deskeuere what shee was / ne what fallace
Was doon to hire / cloos she kepte hire ay,
And tolde nat o word of hire affray.
Than axed hire the Erl / “whos hors is this
Þat by thee standith?” // quod shee, “myn it is;”
42
Wherby the Erl anoon right vndirstoodÞat it noon othir wyse mighte be,
But shee sum gentil womman was of blood;
And in his herte / routhe of hire had he,
And seide to hire / “if it lyke thee,
Vn-to my wil / thee confourme and enclyne /
Deliure wole I thee / out of thy pyne.
43
“Lo, this I meene / this is myn entente;A yong doghtir / haue I in soothfastnesse,
Of which I wolde / if þat thee list assente,
Thow tooke on thee to be gouerneresse,
And teche hire / as longith to a Maistresse
Þat Lordes children han in gouernaill;
And wel wole I thee qwyte thy trauaill;
44
“Myn entente is þat / and othir right noon.”“Sire,” quod shee / gladly wole I obeye
To yow in þat” / and shee was take anoon
Doun fro the tree / & shortly for to seye,
With him to his Castel / shee rood hir weye;
And of the chyld / shee tooke the gouernance,
Which torned hire aftir to greet nusance.
151
45
Shee with this yong chyld in the Chambre layEuery nyght / wher lay therl and the Contesse,
Betwixt whos beddes brente a lampe alway;
And wel beloued / for hire hy goodnesse,
Of euery wight was / bothe more and lesse,
This Emperice / til vp-on a nyght,
Giltlees, hir good loos / refte a wikkid wight.
46
Ther was a Styward / in this Erles hous,Þat to hire ofte had spoke of flesshly loue;
To whom seide ay this lady gracious,
“Maad haue I an avow to god aboue,
Loueres alle / fro myn herte shoue,
Sauf oonly him / whom, of goddes precept,
To Loue / I holde am / and þat shal be kept.
47
“I truste in god / myn herte shal nat changeffro þat, whil my lyf shal soiourne in me.”
“O / wilt thow so / wilt thow make it so strange;
Wilt thow noon othir wyse do,” quod he.
“Þat I seid haue / I wole holde,” quod shee.
And whan he sy / noon othir remedie,
He wroothly wente / out of hir conpaignie.
48
And fro thens foorth / conpassid in his wit,How to be venged / vp-on hire, & wroken.
And on a nyght / vnhappyly shoop it,
Left was the Erles Chambre dore vnstoken;
To which he com / and fond it was nat loken,
152
Where as he fond hem slepynge euerychone.
49
And he espyde / by the lampes light,The bed / where as þat lay the Emperice
With therles doghtir / and as blyue right
This feendly man his purposid malice
Thoghte for to fulfill and accomplice;
And so he dide / a long knyf he out drow,
And ther-with-al / the mayden chyld he slow.
50
Hir throte with þat knyf / on two he kutte;And as this Emperice / lay slepynge,
In-to hire hand / this bloody knyf he putte,
ffor men sholde haue noon othir demynge,
But shee had gilty been / of this murdrynge.
And whan þat he / had wroght this cursidnesse,
Anoon out of the Chambre / he gan him dresse.
51
The Contesse aftir / of hir sleep awakid,To themperices bed gan caste hir look,
And sy the bloody knyf in hire hond nakid,
And for the fere / shee tremblid and qwook
And rogged on hir lord / and him awook,
Preyynge him / to the bed he looke wolde,
And there a meruaillous thyng / seen he sholde.
52
Whan he was wel awakid of his sleep,He lookid ther-to / as shee him besoghte,
And it byheeld / and of it took good keep,
And of þat meschief / him sore forthoghte
Demynge þat this cursid deede wroghte
This Emperice / as þat it was ful lyk
To been / and vp he threew an heuy syk,
153
53
And hire awook / and thus to hire he cryde,“Womman! what is þat in thyn hand I see?
What hast thow doon, womman? for him þat dyde,
What wikkid spirit / hath trauaillid thee?”
And as soone / as þat adawid was shee,
The knyf fil out of hire hond in the bed[de],
And shee byheeld the clothes al bybled[de] /
54
And the chyld deed ; “Allas!” shee cryde, “allas!How may this be / god woot al / I noot how;
I am nat pryuee to this heuy cas;
The gilt is nat myn / I the chyld nat slow.”
To which spak the contesse / “what seist thow?
Excuse the nat / thow maist nat seyn nay;
The knyf al bloody / in thyn hand I say.”
55
And thus / vn-to hir lord / shee cryde anoon:“Slee this cursid feend / þat our chyld hath slayn!
Lat hire no lengere [now] on lyue goon!
Þat y neuere had hire seen / wolde I ful fayn,
But or shee heer cam / þat shee had be flayn!
ffor so greet wo / cam neuere to myn herte:
Slee hire as blyue / lat nat hire asterte!”
56
Al-thogh þat shee were in this cas vengeable,ffor causes two / me thynkith it smal vice,
Shee was in þat in partie excusable:
Oon is / shee wende / þat the Emperice
Hire chyld had slayn of purposid malice;
And so it seemed / as by liklyhede,
Al be it / þat nat were it so in dede.
154
57
Þat othir cause / as woot euery man:In [al] the world / so louynge tendrenesse
Is noon / as is the loue of a womman
To hir chyld namëly / & as I gesse,
To hire housbonde also / where-of / witnesse
We weddid men may bere / if þat vs lyke,
And so byhoueth / a thank vs to pyke.
58
Now foorth / how the erl to themperice him hadde,And how þat he gouerned þat mateere,
Herkneth / with heuy cheere & wordes sadde,
To hire he spak / and seide in this maneere:
“Womman / with my swerd / slee wolde I thee heere,
Sauf for awe of god / at whos reuerence
Þat deede wole I putte in abstinence.
59
“Thow haue shalt for me noon harm at al;But who-so trustith on the curtesie
Of thee / ful soone he deceyued be shal.
Whan þat thow were / on a tree hangid hye,
Where as thow likly haddest been to dye,
Thow woost wel / ther-from I deliured thee,
And with my Doghtres deeth / thow qwit hast me!
60
“Vnkynde womman / walke on foorth thy way;Hye thee hens / and neuere see my face;
ffor it þat I / heere-aftir thee see may,—
Outhir in this / or eny othir place
Of my lordshipe /—thow noon othir grace
Shalt han / but die a deeth ful villenous,
Thow wikkid womman, fals and traiterous!
61
This Innocent lady / no word ageynSpak / for shee spoken had ynow beforn,
155
ffor whan þat shee had al y-seyd and sworn,
Shee with the Erl and his wyf / was doun born;
And sikirly / where as þat no credence
May been had / wysdam conseillith silence.
62
What leeue þat shee took / ne woot I nat,Or þat shee fro þat place was y-went;—
The booke maketh no mencion of that;—
But hire palfray / shee hire self hath hent,
And so foorth roode toward the orient.
O Emperice / our lord god gye thee,
ffor yit thee folwith more aduersitee.
63
As shee rood, on hir right hand / shee espydeA galwe tree / to which men a theef ledde,
Hanged to been / and to hire horses syde
The spore gooth / shee faste hire thidir spedde,
ffor verray routhe hir thoghte hire herte bledde,
And to the Officers / meekly shee preide
In this wyse / and right thus shee to hem seide:
64
“Sires, if yow list / this mannes lyf saueI reedy am / to yeue yow good meede.”
“We wole wel,” quod they / “what shul we haue?
What lykith yow / for his lyf vs to beede?
Paieth therfore wel / and yee shul speede.”
They of the paiement / accordid were;
Shee paide / and this man / foorth shee took with here.
156
65
“Be to me treewe” / now quod shee, “my freend,Syn fro thy deeth / deliured haue y thee.”
“Yis, certes, lady / elles to the feend,
Body and soule bytake y,” seide he;
“Noon othir wolde I / for al cristientee,
Been vn-to yow” / and foorth shee rood hir way,
And on his foot / this man hire folwith ay,
66
Til þat they drow / vn-to a Citee ny,Whidir beforn / shee bad him for to go
And take hire In / so þat shee honestly
Mighte Inned been / and he dide right so,
And taried nat his lady longe fro,
But ageyn hire / as blyue right this man,
To brynge hire thidir / faste wente & ran.
67
Shee cam in-to hir In / and abood thereDayes dyuerse / for hire ese and reste;
And in the Citee / fame wydewhere
Sprang / how a lady / the womanlyeste
Of cheere / port / shap / and eek the faireste
That any wight beholde mighte or see,
Was come / and Inned hire in the Citee.
68
Many a lusty man / in loues artExpert and sotil / drow hem to hire In,
Weenynge han geten þat / of which no part
157
To thententes corrupt / þat they were In,
Shee wolde for no thyng / bowe & enclyne;
Hire hertes Castel / kowde they nat myne.
69
As fer as the boundes of honesteeRequeren / shee made hem disport and cheere;
But passynge it / for al hir sotiltee,
ffor profre of meede / ne for faire preyeere,
Shee change nolde hir vertuous maneere;
The lessons þat they in Ouyde had red,
Halp hem right noght / they wenten thens vnsped.
70
O. yee þat seyn / wommen be variant,And can nat sad been / if they been assaillid:
Yee been ful vnkonnynge and ignorant,
And of the soothe / foule yee han faillid;
Constance is vn-to wommanhode entaillid;
Out of þat fee / they nat be dryue may;
Swich hir nature is / thogh sum men seyn nay,
71
They stidefast been / as fer as y woot,But it be / wher they take han a purpos
Þat naght is / which, be it neuere so hoot,
They change / lest it hurte mighte hir loos,
And keepen it secree / couert & cloos,
Vnexecut / thogh of hem nat a fewe
The reuers doon / what / the feend is a shrewe.
72
Let al this passe / ther cam to the portOf this Citee / a ship with marchandyse
Charged / where-of hir man made report
To his lady / shee bad him in al wyse
Go thidir, and see / and him wel auyse
158
Withoute any delay or taryynge.
73
He thidir wente / & clothes precious,Amonges othir thynges / there he fond;
fful ryche was the stuf, and plenteuous,
Of the ship / and the maistir, by the hond
he took / and seide / “ga we to the lond,
[Vn]To my ladyes In / shee wolde bye,
If þat yow list / sum of your marchandie.”
74
“I wole gladly” / seide the Shipman;And to the ladyes In / they bothe two
Goon / but before dressith him hir man,
And reported hire / as him oghte do,
What he had in the ship seen / and ther-to,
That the Shipman was comen / he hir tolde,
Axynge hire / if shee with him speke wolde.
75
“Yis,” quod shee / “let him in come, I the preye.”He entred / and vn-to him thus spak shee:
“Sire / yee han in your ship heere, y seye,
Dyuerse precious clothes / and if yee
Wolden some of hem brynge hidir to me,
As þat we mighte accorde, wolde y paye
In honde / and nat your paiement delaye.”
76
“Ma dame, I grante,” he seide / and took his leeue;And with him / hir seruant to the ship wente,
To whom / the shipman by the way gan meeue:
“ffreend, I am set / on a certein entente,
Vn-to the whiche / if þat thow wilt assente,
And do thy deuer / and my Conseil hyde,
That thow me kneew / thow blisse shalt the tyde.
159
77
“O, may I truste / may I truste in thee?Thow helpe me maist / and no wight but thow.
If thow wilt so / in this necessitee,
Gold and siluer wole I thee yeue ynow.”
“Yis,” quod this seruant, “that I make avow
To god / if þat it in my power lye,
Myn help to thee / ne wole y nat denye.
78
“If thow heere-aftir / fynde þat I gabbe,Of my promesse / thanne dokke me;
I neuere was yit / of my tonge a labbe;
Þat thyng / þat me told is in priuetee,
Keepe I can wel / be in noon aweertee,
But anoon to me telle out al thy gole,
ffor treewe and trusty / be to thee y wole.”
79
“Grant mercy,” seide the Shipman; “I-wis,Now feele I confort / now dar y bywreye
To thee myn hertes secree / which is this:
Swich excellence of beautee is, y seye,
In thy lady / þat but if thow purueye
ffor me / þat y hir loue may obteene,
fful shorte shuln my dayes been / y weene.”
80
Quod this seruant / “looke how y may profyteIn this, let see / and me sette in the way
How y shal do / and so shal y me qwyte,
Þat y thy thank / disserue shal for ay;
Al shal be doon right to thyn owne pay;
Telle on / how wilt thow þat I me gouerne.”
The Shipman seide / “and þat I wole as yerne:
160
81
“On my behalue / to thy lady weende,And to hire seye / þat in no maneere,
Clothes out of my ship may I hire seende;
If hir good lust be, in my ship appeere,
Shee shal seen what hir list / with ful good cheere;
But out of my ship / wole y nothyng selle:
Right euene thus / vn-to hir seye and telle;
82
“But of o thyng / thow must thee wel auyse,—Good heede ther-of take / and nat ne faill,—
Be thow wel waar / in al maneere wyse
Þat the wynd thanne / be good, hens to saill;
Al þat thow doost elles / may nat auaill;
ffor lede hire hoom / wole y to my contree:
Lo, this is al / þat y desire of thee.”
83
fful sooth is seid / the fals and coueitousBeen soone accordid / allas! this onhede
Synful shal be / wikkid and treecherous.
O / Emperice / god the gye and lede!
Thow haast, or this, had trouble greet & drede,
And yit a sharp storm is vn-to thee shape;
But, thankid be god / al thow shalt eschape.
84
Now to purpos / than seide this seruantTo the Shipman / “come of, yeue me meede,
ffor heere y swere / and make couenaunt,
This shal be doon / haue there-of no dreede.”
He had[de], y not what / the deuel him speede
ffor his labour / to be doon in this caas;
And to his lady / dressith he his paas.
161
85
He tolde hire / how the Shipman wolde naghtDeliure clothes / out of his vessel;
But if it lykid hire / to bye[n] aght /
Thidir shee muste come / and he ful wel
With hire wolde do / shee kneew no del
Of the treson / purposid twixt hem two,
And seide / “in goddes name / it shal be do;
86
“I reedy am to go / whan þat y shal,Syn þat thow seist / it may noon othir be,
But outhir moot y goon / or leuen al.
Let vs go thidir as swythe,” quod shee.
“A / nay, madame / it may nat be” / seide he,
“Swich occupacioun hath he this day,
That he vn-to yow / nat entende may.
87
“Ma dame / vs muste abyden his leisir;There-on I wole awayte bysyly;
And whan tyme is / yee shuln han your pleisir.
Often vp-on him awayte moot y,
To wite and knowe / wel and redily,
The tyme / whan we shal vs thidir dresse:
Ma dame / for yow / this best is, y gesse.”
88
This humble lamb / this lady Innocent,Of al this treson no notice hauynge,
Seide / “as þat thow doost / holde y me content.”
Thus hir seruant delayed hir goynge
Til þat the wynd wel stood / the ship to brynge
Out of the port / and thidir he hir spedde,
And þat in haaste, he to the ship hire ledde.
162
89
Whan shee withyn the Shipbord entred was,Vp gooth the sail / to the top of the mast.
Hire man, of purpos / lefte on londe / allas.
Quod Shee / “nat was y waar of this forcast;”
And ther-with-al / out to weepe shee brast,
And seide, “what treson / doost thow, Shipman,
To me?” “nay,” quod he, “no treson / womman,
90
“Nat meene I, but thus / lo / thus wole I do,fflesshly the knowe / and aftir wedde thee.”
“A vow,” quod shee / “maad haue I god vn-to,
Þat neuere so / shal ther man do to me,
ffor thyng in this world / outake oonly he
To whom y am y-bownden to / and knyt;
The labour is in vein / to speke of it.”
91
“Keepe in thy wordes / womman, I thee rede,”Quod he / “considere and thynke wel, þat thow
Of thy lyf standist in peril and drede,
ffor in middes of the See been we now.
To me conforme / it shal be for thy prow,
Elles in-to the See wole I thee caste;
Truste me wel / so wole y do as faste.”
92
“Now wel,” quod shee / “syn y may nat asterteMy deeth / but y your entente fulfille,
Al-thogh it be greetly ageyn myn herte:
Yit rather than þat yee me sle or kille,
Wole y assente / so it be your wille,
In the ende of the ship / for to ordeyne
An honest place / and pryuee / for vs tweyne.
163
93
“It is nat / as I hope / your ententeIn open sighte of folk / do with me so:
Hard were it make me / ther-to consente,
ffor þat / a greet encrees were of my wo;
Yit leuer were it me / my lyf forgo.
A pryuee place, as I seide / purueye
ffor vs / þat folk see nat / how we foleye.”
94
He in the ship / where as was his plesance,A place ordeyned / curtyned aboute,
In-to the which / with heuy contenance,
Whyles he speek with his meynee withoute,
Shee entred hath / and anoon gan to loute
To god / right on hir knees she hir prayeere
Made / as I to yow shal rehercen heere:
95
“O god, our Lord, Ihesu, our Saueour,Þat fro my youthe / haast kept me to this day,
Curteys Ihesu / me keepe now this hour
ffrom al pollucion / so þat y may,
With herte cleene / in this woful affray,
My soule yilde to thy deitee;
Mercyful lord / of this byseeche y thee!”
96
Nat endid was hire orison vnnethes,But swich a tempest / aroos in the See,
Þat the ship brast / and there took hire dethes
They þat ther in weren / the hool meynee,
Sauf oonly this maistir shipman / and shee:
By oon of the bordes / shee faste hire heeld,
Which from hire deeth was hire deffense & sheeld,
164
97
And broghte hire vp / vn-to the land saufly.To an othir bord / this maister shipman
Eek claf / and was sauf / this fil wondirly:
Many maistries our lord god do can;
And þat this lady, this noble womman
Was sauf / this maistir shipman kneew no deel,
Ne shee / þat he fortuned had so weel.
98
Of this shipman / speke y no more as now;But this lady / vn-to a Nonnerie
Þat was but there faste by / hir drow,
Wher the ladyes / of hir conpaignie
Were ful glad, & of hir genterie
Receyued hire / al thogh þat no notice
They hadde / of hire estat of Emperice.
99
And there abood shee / a long tymes spaceIn holy lyf / and vertuous clennesse;
Vn-to whom god yaf / and shoop swich a grace,
Þat shee kowde hele folk of hir seeknesse,
What so it were / and thidir gan hem dresse
ffrom euery part / and euery Contree,
They þat felten any infirmitee.
100
Than shoop it / he þat to the EmperourWas brothir / which this lady on a tree
By hire heer vp heeng / þat cursid traitour,
Mirour of malice and iniquitee,
As foul a leepre was / as mighte be:
Lo, thogh god him / to wreke a whyle abyde,
The fals and wikkid, qwytith he sum tyde.
165
101
The knyght eek which the Erles doghtir slow—The Emperice & shee / bothe sleepynge,
As I before told haue / vn-to yow—
Was blynd and deef / and also the tremblynge
Of palesie / sore gan him wrynge:
No force how sore / swich a wreeche smerte,
That to wommen / so cruel is of herte.
102
The theef / which to the maistir of the shipBetrayed themperice, his lady, als
ffrom harm ne greef / kowde nat make a skip—
God sheelde he sholde / he þat was so fals
To hire / þat from the roop[e] kepte his hals—
Potagre and gowty / & halt he was eek,
And was in othir sundry wyse seek.
103
The Shipman had also the franesie,Þat with this Emperice / hadde ment
ffulfillid his foul lust of aduoutrie,
Which was in him / ful hoot and ful feruent:
See how all hem / þat to this Innocent,
This noble lady / had y-doon greuance,
Our lord god qwitte / with strooke of vengeance.
104
Yee men, whos vsage is, wommen to greeue,And falsely deceyue hem and bytraye,
No wondir is / thogh yee mis happe & cheeue:
God qwyte yow wole / and your wages paye
In swich[e] wyse / þat it yow shal affraye.
Let goddes wreches hens-foorth yow miroure,
ffor, but if yee do / yee shul bye it soure.
166
105
Now to the Emperour, tornë wole y,Which, whan he herde / þat in an Abbeye
Of Nonnes / was a womman so holy,
And ther-to so konnynge, he herd[e] seye,
That voide kowde shee / and dryue aweye
Seeknesses all / of what kynde or nature
They weren / and hem hele wel & cure,
106
Right thus vn-to his brothir seide he tho:“To this holy womman / best is þat we,
As faste as we may make vs reedy, go,
Syn, so good / and so gracious is shee,
Þat of thy leepre / shee may cure thee.”
This was assentid / they hem haaste & hye
In what they may / vn-to þat Nonnerie.
107
Knowen vn-to thabbesse & hir CouentHow þat the Emperour / was ny comynge,
Ageyn him in procession / arn they went,
His seruice ful deuoutly syngynge,
And dide al / þat was to swich cas longynge.
And whan he in thabbeye was alight,
Thus of thabbesse / he axid anoon right:
108
“Is ther any swich womman in this hous,As folkes hele can of hir seeknesse?
Men seyn, heere is a womman merueillous:
Shal it be fownden soo” / he seide, “Abbesse?”
And shee answerde / “Sire, in soothfastnesse
A good womman / dwellynge is / with vs heere,
Which in vertu / we knowen noon hir peere.”
167
109
She dide hir come anoon / to his presence;But with hir veil / hir face hid had shee,
To been vnknowe / and dide him reuerence,
As longid vn-to his hy Dignitee.
And right as blyue / of hire axid he,
“Can yee my brothir / of his maladie
Of leepre, cure, and of meselrie?
110
“If þat yee can / now tell on, y yow preye,ffor your labour / ful wel qwyte wole y.”
But or þat shee / aght wolde answere & seye,
She caste hir look about[en] / and there sy
The Emperoures brothir stande by,
Þat leepre was / and eek tho othir three
Þat had hir doon so greet aduersitee,
111
That is to seyn / the knyght, theef, and shipman;And thanne shee spak / and seide in this wyse:
“Sire / noon þat is heere, y cure can;
I may nat take vp-on me þat empryse—
Ther-to may nat my konnynge souffyse—
But if þat they / an open shrifte make
Of hire offenses dirke & synnes blake.”
112
To his brothir / than spak this Emperour:“Among all vs / thee openly confesse;
Spare nat to deskeuere thyn errour,
Syn þat thow ther-by / maist, of thy seeknesse
Cured be / telle out al thy wikkidnesse;
Be nat abassht / it manly is to synne,
But feendly is / longe lye ther-ynne.”
168
113
ffor forme / a confession made he,Swich as it was / but how the Emperice,
his lordes wyf / he heeng vp-on a tree
By hire heer / tolde he nat / þat cursid vice,
ffor torne it sholde him / in-to preiudice
And harm also / deskeuere kepte he noght,
Yit aftirward / he ther-to was y-broght.
114
Whan þat his lewde shrifte was y-do,“Sire,” quod shee / “laboure y sholde in veyn,
If aght I leide / your brothir vn-to,
ffor he maad haath / noon hool[e] shrifte, ne pleyn.”
This Emperour vn-to him spak ageyn:
“Woost thow nat weel / thow art a foul mesel?
Telle out, let see / shryue thee cleene and wel,
115
“Or truste me weel / for þat enchesonThow voide shalt / out of my conpaignie.”
“O Lord” he seide / “but if your pardon
Yee me promette / I dar nat specifie
O word of my gilt / I yow mercy crye.”
Quod themperour / “what, haast thow agilt me?”
“Certes, right greeuously / my lord,” seide he.
116
“Now,” quod the Emperour / “and haast thow so?”And of the Emperice / he thoghte nat,
But weenynge / shee many a day ago,
Deed had been / seide / “what offense is that?
Be nat aferd / but tell on plein & plat,
ffor what so þat it be / y foryeue al;
Truste wel / þat y seye, y holde shal.”
169
117
Ther-with, al was his brothir herted weel:Al how the Emperice had he betrayed,
Before hem all / he tolde out euerydeel;
Where-of / the Emperour was sore affrayed.
His brothres reward / had nat been vnpayed,
Nad promesse of the Emperour him bownde
To pardon / for which wo was him þat stownde;
118
Almoost he was / out of him self certeyn;—So seith the book / and þat was no meruaill.
What lord is þat / if swich a word sodeyn
To him cam of his wyf / whos gouernaill
Was hires lyk / but ny to sholde him faill
his wit and his good disposicion
ffor the sodeyn woful impression?
119
ffor falle anoon sholde in his remembranceHir vertuous manere and wommanhede,
hir beautee / shap / good cheere & daliance:
Al this considered / withouten drede,
Out of the weye of ioie / him wolde lede,
The mis / of so vertuous a persone;
And yit nt for þat encheson allone:
120
But also the vnkyndely tresonOf his brothir / þat him to him had qwit
So falsely / me thynkith by reson
Stike right ny / vn-to his herte oghte it,
And causen him / ful many an heuy fit;
But nathelees / wit axith, & prudence,
Al thyng þat fallith / take in pacience.
170
121
Now to my purpos / themperour tho spakTo his brothir / and thus he to him seide:
“Thow cursid wrecche / thow demoniak!
Þat our lord god / which for vs alle deide,
The strook of his vengeance / vp-on thee leide,
No wondir is / had y this beforn wist,
Thy body sholde han the grownd swept & kist;
122
“And ther-to eek / as sharp[e] punisshementAs þat dyuyse ther kowde any wight,
Thow sholdest han y-preeued by the sent;
But holde wole y / þat y thee haue hight.”
And thanne confesse him / began the knyght
Þat the Erles doghtir slow / “as shee sleep,”—
lo, thus he seide / takith now good keep—
123
“Notice noon,” seide he, “ne knowlechyngehaue y of þat lady / ne who it is,
But as my lord the Erl rood on huntynge
In a foreste ones / wel woot y this,
A fair lady he fond hangynge Iwis
On a tree by hire heer / and of pitee
And routhe meeued / hire adoun took he,
124
“And to his Castel / with him hire he ladde,And the charge / bytook to hire, and cure,
To keepe a yong Doghtir / which þat he hadde,
Hire to teche and to lerne norture.
But to me shoop ther / a mis-auenture;
I bisyed me / to haue by hire leyn;
And al my labour / ydil was and veyn.
171
125
“ffor any craft / þat euere kowde y do,To me shee wolde assente by no way;
I kowde in no wyse / brynge hire ther-to;
hire answere was euere oon / & that was ‘nay,’
Which was nothyng / vn-to my lust and pay;
Wherfore meued was y, nat a lyte,
But ful greetly / and hire y thoghte qwyte,
126
“And in hir bed / as shee lay on a nyght,This yonge maide / and shee sleepynge faste,
I kilde the chyld / and ther-with, foorth-right
The bloody knyf / in-to the hand y thraste
Of the lady / for þat men sholde caste
And suppose / how þat no wight but shee
Mighte of this slaghtre and murdre gilty be,
127
“And thens / my lord maade hire voyde anoon;But wher shee becam / am y nat priuee;
God woot / þat knowleche / haue y ther-of noon.”
Than spak the theef / “y noot whom meene yee,
But a lady of excellent beautee
Allone and soul / cam by the way rydynge,
Whan for my gilt / y led was to hangynge;
128
“And whan þat this lady benigne & good,Had hir look toward me cast, and espyed
ffrom a-fer / in what mescheef þat y stood,
hire herte anoon / of pitee was applyed,
Me to socoure and helpe / and hath hire hyed
Vn-to the place / wher deed sholde y be,
And payde for my lyf / and saued me;
172
129
“And aftirward, I, as a fals traitourAgeyn hir gentillesse and hy bontee,
To a shipman / which was a foul lecchour,
Betrayed hire / and to his Contree
him shoop lede hire / this man delauee,
And fer in-to the See y saw hem saill;
But what fil aftir / woot y nat sanz faill.”
130
“Swich a fair lady, certein y receyuedIn-to my ship” / seide the Shipman tho,
“And thoghte haue hire deffoulid & deceyued
Amiddes the See / but shee preide so
To god / þat my desyr was y put fro;
I mighte nat acheeue my purpoos.
Whan shee had preid / an hidous storm aroos,
131
“And shortly / of this for to speke and telle,The wynd ful sore / in the sail bleew & haf,
And the wawes began to bolne & swelle,
And our taklynge brast / and the ship claf
In two / of seurtee loste y ny the staf;
Vndir the watir / wenten euerychone;
My self except / knowe I no sauf persone.
132
“By a bord of the ship, heeld y me faste;And as þat my fortune shoop þat tyde,
The wawes me sauf vp-on the land caste.”
This Emperice list no lengere hyde
What þat shee was / but spak / and sumdel cryde
On hy / and to hem seide in this maneere:
“Now been yee cleene shryuen / freendes deere;
173
133
“Now shul yee all haue of me medecyne.”Shee dide hire art / & helid euery wight
Of his seeknesse / & voidid al his pyne;
And from hire heed / shee hath hir veil y-plight,
And hem hir face shewid anoon right.
And as swythe / as the Emperour hir sy,
Þat shee his wyf was / kneew he verraily;
134
And withoutë delay / to hire he sterte,And hire embraced in his armes tweyne,
And kiste hire often / with vnfeyned herte;
But fro weepynge / he kowde him nat restreyne,
Thogh it nat causid were of greef & peyne,
But of the inward ioie which þat stownde
He took, by-cause he had his wyfe y-fownde.
135
O / many a wrecche is in this lond, y weene /Þat thogh his wyf lengere had been him fro,
No kus / but if it had been of the spleene,
Shee sholde han had / & forthermore also,
ffyndynge of hire / had been to him but wo,
ffor him wolde han thoght þat swich a fyndynge,
To los sholde han him torned, and harmynge.
136
No force of þat / my tale I now thus eende:Hoom vn-to his Paleys this Emperour
And his good lady themperice weende,
And lyueden in ioie and hy honour
Til þat the tyme of deeth cam, and his hour,
Which þat no wight eschue may, ne flee;
And whan god list / also dye shul we.
Explicit fabula de quadam Imperatrice Romana.
174
1
My freend, aftir, I trowe, a wike or twoThat this tale endid was / hoom to me cam,
And seide / “Thomas / hastow almoost do?
To see thy werk / hidir comen y am.”
My tale anoon y fette / and he it nam
In-to his hand / and it al ouersy;
And aftirward / he seide thus therby:
2
“Thomas, it is wel vn-to my lykyng;But is ther aght þat thow purposist seye
More on this tale?” “nay, my freend / no thyng.”
“Thomas / heere is a greet substance aweye:
Where is the moralizynge / y yow preye,
Bycome heere-of / was ther noon in the book
Out of the which / þat thow this tale took?”
3
“No certes, freend / ther-in ne was ther noon.”“Sikirly, Thomas / there-of I meruaill;
Hoom wole y walke / and retourne anoon;
Nat spare wole y / for so smal trauaill,
And looke in my book / there y shal nat faill
To fynde it / of þat tale it is parcel,
ffor y seen haue it ofte / & knowe it wel.”
4
He cam ther-with / and it vn-to me redde,Leuynge it with me / & hoom wente ageyn;
And to this moralyzynge I me spedde,
In prose wrytynge it / hoomly and pleyn,
ffor he conseillid me / do so / certeyn;
And lo / in this wyse and maneere it seith,
Which to þat tale is good be knyt, in feith:
178
XXIII. incipit ars vtillissima sciendi mori .. Cum omnes homines naturaliter scire desiderant & c' . .
1
Syn alle men naturelly desyreTo konne / o. eterne sapience,
O vniuersel Prince / Lord & Syre,
Auctour of nature / in whos excellence
Been hid alle the tresors of science,
Makere of al / and þat al seest & woost,
This axe y thee / thow lord of mightes moost,
2
Thy tresor of wisdam / & the konnyngeOf seintes / opne thow to me, y preye,
Þat y ther-of / may haue a knowlechynge;
Enforme eek me / and vn-to me by-wreye—
Syn thow of al science berst the keye—
Sotil matires right profownde & greete,
Of whiche / y feruently desire trete.
3
“O sone myn / sauoure nat so hye,But dreede / herkne / and y shal teche thee
Thyng þat shal to thy soule fructifie;
179
My lore / eternel lyf shal to thee be,
The dreede of god / which the begynnynge is
Of wisdam / shalt thow lerne / & it is this:
4
“Now herkne a doctrine substancial,ffirst, how Lerne Dye / telle wole y;
The .ij.de how þat a man lyue shal;
The iij.de how a man sacramentally
Receyue me shal / wel and worthyly;
The .iiij.e how with an herte cleene & pure
That a man loue me shal and honure.”
5
“Tho thynges .iiij.o good lord, haue y euereDesired for to knowe / and hem to leere;
Vn-to myn herte ther is nothyng leuere;
A bettir thyng / can y nat wisshen heere;
But tellith me this / this fayn wolde y heere
What may profyte the lore of dyynge,
Syn deeth noon hauynge is / but a pryuynge?
6
“ffor shee, man reueth of lyf the swetnesse.”“Sone, the art to lerne for to dye
Is to the soule an excellent swetnesse,
To which y rede / thow thyn herte applie;
Ther is noon art / þat man can specifie
So profitable / ne worthy to be
Preferred artes all / as þat is shee.
7
“To wite and knowe / þat man is mortel,It is commune / vn-to folkes alle;
Þat man shal nat lyue ay heer / woot he wel;
No trust at al / may in his herte falle,
That he eschape or flee may dethes galle,
180
It is the yifte of god / best þat may been.
8
“To lerne for to die / is to han ayBothe herte and soule / redy hens to go,
That whan deeth cometh / for to cacche hir pray,
Man rype be / the lyf to twynne fro,
And hire to take / and receyue also
As he that the comynge of his felawe
Desirith / and is ther-of glad & fawe.
9
“But more harm is / ful many oon shalt thow fynde,Þat ageyn deeth / maken no purueance;
Hem lothen / deeth for to haue in hir mynde;
Þat thoght / they holden thoght of encombrance;
worldly swetnesse / sleeth swich remembrance;
And syn to die / nat lerned han they,
ffro the world twynne / they wolde in no way.
10
“They mochil of hir tyme / han despendedIn synne / and for-thy / whan, vnwaarly, deeth
Vp-on hem fallith / and they nat amendid,
And shal from hem byreue wynd and breeth,
ffor shee vnreedy fynt hem / whan shee sleeth /
To helle goon tho soules miserable,
There to dwelle in peyne perdurable.
11
“Deeth wolde han ofte a brydil put on thee,And thee with hire / led away shee wolde,
Nadde the hand of goddes mercy be.
Thow art ful mochil / vn-to þat lord holde,
Þat, for thow wrappid were in synnes olde,
he spared thee / thy synnes now forsake,
And vn-to my doctrine / thow thee take!
181
12
“More to thee profyte shal my loreThan chosen gold / or the bookes echone
Of Philosophres / and for þat the more
Feruently / sholde it stire thy persone
Vndir sensible ensaumple thee to one
To god / and thee the bettre for to thewe,
The misterie of my lore / y shal the shewe.
13
“Beholde now the liknesse and figureOf a man dyynge and talkyng with thee.”
The disciple, of þat speeche took good cure,
And in his conceit / bysyly soghte he,
And ther-with-al / considere he gan, & see
In him self put / the figure & liknesse
Of a yong man of excellent fairnesse,
14
Whom deeth so ny ransakid had, & soght,Þat he withynne a whyle sholde dye.
And for his soules helthe / had he right noght
disposid / al vnreedy hens to hye
Was he / and therfore he began to crye
With lamentable vois / in this maneere,
Þat sorwe and pitee greet / was it to heere:
15
“Environd han me, dethes waymentynges,Sorwes of helle han conpaced me;
Allas, eternel god! .o. kyng of kynges,
Wher-to was y born / in this world to be;
O. allas / why in my natiuitee
182
Of my lyf was with sorwe & with weepynge,
16
“And now myn ende comth / hens moot y goWith sorwe / waylynge and greet heuynesse.
O. deeth, thy mynde is full of bittir wo;
Vn to an herte wont vn-to gladnesse,
And norisshid in delicat swetnesse,
Horrible is thy presence / and ful greeuable
To him þat vong is / strong and prosperable.
17
“Litil wende y so soone to han deid:O cruel deeth / thy comynge is sodeyn;
fful vnwaar was y / of thy theefly breid;
Thow haast as in awayt / vp-on me leyn;
Thy comynge vn-to me / was vncerteyn;
Thow haast vp-on me stolen / and me bownde;
Eschape y may nat now / my mortel wownde.
18
“Thow me with thee drawist in yren cheynes,As a man dampned / wont is to be drawe
To his torment / outrageous been my peynes.
A, now for sorwe / and fere of thee & awe,
With handes clight / y crye / and wolde fawe
Wite the place whidir for to flee;
But swich oon / fynde can y noon / ne see.
19
“I looke on euery syde bisyly,But help is noon / help and confort been dede;
A vois horrible of deeth / sownynge heere y,
Þat seith me thus / which encressith my drede:
‘Thow dye shalt / reson noon / ne kynrede,
183
May thee deliure / out of dethes duresse.
20
“‘Thyn eende is comen / comen is thyn eende,It is decreed / ther is no resistence.’
lord god / shal y now die / and hennes weende?
Whethir not changed may be this sentence;
O. lord, may it nat put been in suspense?
Shal y out of this world so soone go?
Allas / wole it noon othir be than so?
21
“O deeth, o deeth, greet is thy crueltee!Thyn office al to sodeynly doost thow.
Is ther no grace? lakkist thow pitee?
Spare my youthe / of age rype ynow
To dye / am y nat yit / spare me now!
How cruel þat thow art / on me nat kythe!
Take me nat out of this world so swythe!”
22
Whan the disciple this complaynte had herd,He thoghte al þat he spak / nas but folie,
And in this wyse / he hath him answerd:
“Thy wordes, freend / withouten any lye,
Þat thow haast but smal lerned / testifie;
Euene to all / is dethes iugement;
Thurgh-out the world / strecchith hir paiement.
23
“Deeth / fauorable is to no maner wight;To all / hir self / shee delith equally;
Shee dredith hem nat / þat been of greet might,
Ne of the olde and yonge / hath no mercy;
184
She sesith / shee sparith right noon estaat;
Al þat lyf berith / with hir chek is maat.
24
“Ful many a wight / in youthe takith shee,And many an othir eek in middil age,
And some nat / til they right olde be:
Wendist thow han been / at swich auantage
Þat shee nat durste / han paied thee thy wage,
But oonly han thee spared & forborn,
And the prophetes deid han heer-beforn?”
25
Than spak thymage / answerynge in this wyse:“Soothly thow art an heuy confortour;
Thow vndirstandist me nat / as the wyse:
They þat continued han in hir errour,
Lyuynge in synne / vn-to hir dethes hour,
Worthy be dampned for þat they han wroght;
And how ny deeth is / they ne dreede noght.
26
“Tho men ful blynde been, & bestial.Of þat shal folwe / aftir this lyf present,
fforsighte / swiche folk han noon / at al.
I nat bewaille dethes iugement;
But this is al the cause of my torment;
The harm of vndisposid deeth / y weepe;
I am nat reedy / in the grownd to creepe,
185
27
“I keepe nat / þat y shal hennes twyne,But of my dayes / I the harm bewaill,
ffruytlees past / sauf with bitter fruyt of synne;
I wroghte in hem nothyng / þat mighte auaill
To soules helthe / y dide no trauaill
To lyue wel / but lened to the staf
Of worldly lustes / to hem y me gaf.
28
“The way of trouthe y lefte / & drow to wronge;On me nat shoon the light of rightwisnesse;
The sonne of intellect / nat in me spronge;
y am weery of my wroght wikkidnesse;
y walkid haue, weyes of hardnesse
And of perdicion / nat kowde y knowe
The way of god / wikkid seed haue y sowe.
29
“Allas, what hath pryde profytid me,Or what am y bet / for riche richesse hepynge?
All they as a shadwe passid be,
And as a messager faste rennynge,
And also / as a ship þat is sayllynge
In the wawes / & floodes of the See,
Whos kerfe nat fownden is / whan past is shee.
30
“Or as a brid / which in the eir þat fleeth,No preef fownde is / of the cours of his flight;
No man espie can it / ne it seeth,
186
He betith / and cuttith their / by the might
Of swiche stirynge / & foorth he fleeth his way;
And tookne aftir þat / no man see ther may.
31
“Or as an arwe / shot out of a bowe,Twynneth the eir / which þat continuelly
Agayn is closyd / þat man may nat knowe
Where þat it paste / no wight the way sy:
Right so / syn þat y born was / fare haue y
Continuelly / y stynted for to be,
And tokne of vertu / shewid noon in me.
32
“I am consumed in my wikkidnesse;Myn hope is / as it were a wolle-loke
Which the wynd / vp reisith / for his lightnesse,
Or small foom / þat desparplid is, and broke
With tempest / or as with wynd waastith smoke,
Or as mynde of an oost / þat but a day
Abit / and aftir passith foorth his way.
33
“ffor why my speeche is now in bittirnesse,And my wordes / been ful of sorwe & wo;
Myn herte is plunged deepe in heuynesse,
Myn yen been al dymme and dirke also.
Who may me grante / þat y may be so
As I was / whan y beautee hadde, & strengthe,
And had beforn me / many a dayes lengthe,
34
“In wiche y the harm mighte han seen beforn,Þat now is on me fall / I yaf no charge
Of the good precious tyme / y haue it lorn;
But as the worldly wynd / bleew in my barge,
ffoorth droof y ther-with / and leet goon at large
187
And ageyn vertu / made y resistence.
35
“My dayes I despente in vanitee;Noon heede y tooke of hem / but leet hem passe,
Nothyng considerynge hir precioustee,
But heeld my self free born as a wylde asse
Of thaftirclap / insighte had no man lasse;
I ouer blynd was / y nat sy ne dredde,
With what wo / deeth wolde haaste me to bedde.
36
“And now as fisshes been with hookes kaght,And as þat briddes / been take in a snare,
Deth hath me hent / eschape may y naght;
This vnwaar woful hour / me makith bare
Of my custumed ioie / and my welfare;
The tyme is past / the tyme is goon for ay;
No man reuoke / or calle ageyn it may.
37
“So short was not the tyme / þat is goon,But y, of goostly lucres / & wynnynges,
Aughte haue in it purchaced many oon,
Exceedynge in value / all eerthly thynges
Inconparablely / but to his wynges
The tyme hath take him / & no purueance
There-in made I / my soule to auance.
38
“Allas, I, caytif / for angwissh & sorwe,My teeres trikelen / by my cheekes doun;
No salt watir / me needith begge or borwe;
188
Allas / this is a sharp conclusioun,
Thogh y the tyme past / conpleyne & mourne;
ffor al my care / wole it nat retourne.
39
“O my lord god / how laach and negligentHaue y been / why haue I put in delay
And taryynge myn amendement?
Wher-to haue y dissumuled / welaway
Allas / so many a fair and gracious day
Haue y lost / & arn from me goon & ronne,
Þat mighte in hem / my soules helthe han wonne.
40
“Myn hertes woful waymentacions,Who can hem telle / who can hem expresse?
Now fallen on me accusacions
Wondirly thikke / of my wroght wikkidnesse.
In flesshly lust / and ydil bysynesse,
Leet y my dayes / dryue foorth and slippe,
And nat was beten / with penances whippe.
41
“Why sette y so myn herte in Vanitee?O, why ne had y lerned for to die?
Why was y nat ferd of goddes maugree?
What eilid me / to bathe in swich folie?
Why nadde reson / goten the maistrie
Of me / why? for my spirit was rebel,
And list nat vndirstonde / to do wel.
189
42
“O, alle yee þat heere been present,Yee þat floure in Youthes lusty grennesse,
And seen / how deeth / his bowe hath for me bent,
And tyme couenable han / to redresse
Þat youre vnruly youthes wantonnesse
Offendid hath / considereth my miserie,
The stormy seson / folwith dayes merie.
43
“Let me be your ensaumple and your mirour,Lest ye slippe in-to my plyt miserable.
With God, despende of your youthe the flour;
If yee me folwe / in-to peril semblable,
Yee entre shuln / to god yee yow enable;
In holy wirkes your tyme occupie,
And whyle it tyme is / vices mortifie.
44
“Allas, o youthe / how art thow fro me slipt!O. god eterne / y vn-to thee conpleyne
The wrecchidnesses / in whiche y am clipt;
Lost is my youthe / y smerte in euery veyne,
The gilt / þat wroght hath my synful careyne.
O youthe / thy fresshenesse and iolitee
Hatith thy soothes / be told vn-to thee.
45
“No lust had y to doon as y was taght,Ther-of had y right greet desdeyn & hokir;
190
Nat so moche / as by an old boote or cokir
Sette y ther-by / in-to myn hertes lokir
Entre mighte / noon holsum disciplyne;
No wil had y / to good conseil enclyne.
46
“Lord god, now / in a deep dych am y fall;In-to the snare of deeth / entred am y;
Bet had it been / than thus had it befall,
Neuere han be born of my modres body,
But there-in han perisshid vttirly,
ffor y despente in pryde and in bobance
The tyme grantid me / to do penance.”
47
To which answerde the disciple tho:“Lo / we die alle / and as watir we slyde
In-to the eerthe / which þat neuere mo
Retourne shal / but on a sikir syde
We standen alle / for god nat wole hyde
His mercy fro man / who-so list it craue,
Be repentant / and mercy axe & haue.
48
“God haastith nat / the gilt of man to wreke,But curteisly / abydith repentance.
Heere me now / what y shal to thee speke:
ffor þat thow hast offendid / do penance;
Torne vn-to god / with hertes obeissance;
Axe him mercy / þat is al merciable,
And saued shalt thow been / it is no fable.”
191
49
Thymage of deeth answerde anoon to þat:“How spekist thow, man / shal y me repente,
Shal y me torne / o man, ne seest thow nat,
Ne takist thow noon heede ne entente
Of dethes angwisshes / þat me tormente
And oppressen / so greuously and sharpe
That y not what to do / or thynke or carpe.
50
“As a partrich / þat with the hawk is hentAnd streyned with his clees / so is agast
Þat his lyf ny from him is goon and wente/
Right so / my wit is cleene fro me past,
And in my mynde / is ther no thoght ne cast
Othir than serche a way / how deeth eschape
But y in veyn / ther-aftir looke and cape.
51
“Nat wole it be / for deeth me doun oppressith;The twynnynge of my lyf / ful bittir is,
Þat hurtith me greuously / and distressith;
fful holsum had it be / to me or this,
Penance han doon / for þat y wroghte amis
Whyles my tyme / was in his rypnesse,
ffor þat had been / the way of sikirnesse;
52
“But he þat late / to penance him takith,Whethir he verraily or feynyngly
Repente / he noot / vncertain it him makith.
Wo is me / þat my lyf so synfully
I ledde / and to correcte it / lachid y;
Ageyn my soules helthe haue y werreied,
Þat for it haue no bettre purueied.
53
“Allas, to longe hath be the taryyngeAnd the delay of my correccion!
192
Good wil / withouten operacion,
Good promesse / and noon execucion,
ffoorth dryue amendes / fro morwe to morwe,
And neuere doon / þat causith al my sorwe.
54
“O morwe, morwe / thow haast me begilt!O / whethir this miserie / nat exceede
Al worldly wrecchidnesse / allas, my gilt!
Wel worthy is it / þat myn herte bleede,
And with angwissh and wo / me fostre & feede.
See how my dayes all / arn slipt me fro;
xxxti. yeer of myn age / a-way been go.
55
“fful wrecchidly, god woot / y haue hem lost,And al myn owne self / is it to wyte;
So good a piler / was y neuere, or post
Vn-to my soule / as o day me delyte
In vertu / or aght wel to god me qwyte,
As þat y mighte haue doon or oghte;
By aght y woot / y neuere aftir þat soghte.
56
“Lord god, how shamefully stande y shalAt the doom beforn thee and seintes all,
Where y shal arted be to rekne of al
That y doon haue & left / whom shal y call
To helpe me / o, how shal it befall?
My torment and my wo / me haaste and hye,
Hens for to / twynne / as blyue shal y dye.
193
57
“O now this hour / gretter ioie & gladnesseI wolde haue of a litil orisoun
By me seyd / with hertes deuout sadnesse,
As the angelyk salutacioun/
Than y wolde haue / of many a milioun
Of gold and siluer / foule haue y me born,
And synfully / þat sy nat this beforn.
58
“Whan y mighte haue it seen / than wolde y noght;How many houres haue y lost / þat neuere
Retorne shuln / how mochil haue y wroght
Ageyn my self / my lust was to perseuere
In vicious lyf / & from it nat disseuere;
I lefte þat good was, & necessarie
Vn-to my soule / and dide the contrarie.
59
“More than was neede or expedient,Vn-to the help of many an othir wight
Entendid y / y was ful inprudent;
I tooke noon heede / to my self aright;
By soules profyt / sette y nat but light;
Whan tyme was / fynde kowde y no tyme,
Me to correcte / of myn offense and cryme.
60
But now feele y / þat vn-to the gretnesseOf merites celestial / had been bet
My wittes han kept / with soules clennesse,
Than þat left / with herte corruptly set,
And ageyn deedes vertuous y-whet /
Helpe me mighte / any mannes preyere,
Thogh .xxxti. yeer / he preid had for me heere.
194
61
“O, herkneth now / herkneth now alle yeeÞat heere been / and seen my wrecchidnesse!
The tyme as þat yee seen / now faillith me;
My freendes preide y / þat they sum almesse
Of thabundance of hir goostly richesse
And wirkes goode / wolden to me dele
In my greet neede / for my soules hele;
62
“And eeke in releef and amendementOf my giltes / but hire answer was ‘nay’;
They seiden, ‘ther-to yeuen oure assent,
Wole we nat in no maneere way
Lest it vs and yow nat souffyse may.’
On euery part / thus am y destitut;
ffynde can y no socour ne refut.
63
“O god benigne / o fadir merciable,Beholde and reewe vp-on thy pacient!
To me, thyn handwerke / be thow socourable!
Þat y greetly haue erred and mis-went,
Me wel remembrith this tyme present.
Allas / why stood y in myn owne light
So foule / o. lord, me now helpe of thy might!
195
64
“How grete richesses spirituelAnd heuenely tresors / had y been wys,
Mighte y han gadered / and nat dide a del.
O good lord god / o lord of paradys,
fful leef to me now were / and of greet prys
Of satisfaccioun / the leeste deede
Right dereworthe / were it in this neede.
65
“O / now the leeste crommes / þat ther fallffro the lordes bordes / and tables doun,
Refresshe wolden me ful wel with-all,
But noon fynde y / of swich condicioun
Þat yeue me wole any porcioun.
Y haue espyd / the frendshipe is ful streit
Of this world / it is mirour of deceit.
66
“Reewe eek on me, yee all / and pitee haue!And whyles your force and vigour may laste,
And tyme han eeke / or yee be ny your graue,
In-to bernes of heuene gadereth faste
Tresors celestial / þat at the laste
Yee may receyue / whan þat yee shul twynne
ffrom hens / the blisse þat shal neuere blynne.
67
“And beeth nat voide of vertu, ne empty,Whan þat the deeth / an othir day to yow
Approche shal / as yee may see þat y
Am voide of deedes vertuous right now.”
“ffreend,” quod the disciple / “y see wel ynow
Thy torment and thy greuous passioun,
Of which / myn herte hath greet conpassioun;
68
“And by almighty god / I thee coniureÞat thow me yeue reed / how me to gye,
Lest þat heere-aftir / y, par auenture,
196
Of vndisposid sodein deeth / and drye
The wo / which y considere / þat thee vexith,
wherthurgh / myn herte sore agrysid wexith.”
69
Than spak thymage / “the best purueance,And wit is / han verray contricioun
In strengthe & hele / of the mis-gouernance
Of thy lyf / and plener confessioun
Make of thy gilt / and satisfaccioun,
And asseeth do / and all vices leue
Þat thee mighten the blisse of heuene reue.
70
“And so / with al thyn herte / it is the beste,Keepe thee foorth / as þat thow this day right,
Or to-morwe / or this wike atte fertheste,
Sholdist departe fro this worldes light,
And ther-with-al / enforce thow thy might,
As y shal seyn / in thyn herte to thynke,
And thow shalt it nat reewe ne forthynke.
71
“Caste in thyn herte / as now thy soule wereIn purgatorie / and hadde pyned be
.x. yeer in a fourneys brennynge there,
And this oonly yeer were grantid thee
ffor thyn help / so beholde often & see
Thy soule / in the flaumbes of fyr brennynge,
With a wrecchid vois / thus to thee cryynge:
197
72
“Of alle freendes / thow, the derwortheste,Do to thy wrecchid soule help and socour,
Þat is al desolat / purchace it reste.
See how y brenne / o, reewe on my langour;
Be for me so freendly a purueyour,
Þat in this hoot prison / y no lengere
Tormentid be / lat it nat thus me dere!
73
“The worldes fauour / cleene is fro me went;fforsake y am / frendshipe y can noon fynde;
Ther is no wight / þat to the indigent
Puttith his helply hand / slipt out of mynde
I am / in peynes sharpe y walwe & wynde;
And of my wo / ther is no wight þat recchith;
Nat knowe y frendshipe / or to whom it strecchith.
74
“Men seeken thynges / þat to hem self longe,And me leuen in the flaumbes vengeable.
O good freend / lat me nat thus pyne longe!”
To which the disciple, with cheere stable
Seide / “thy lore were profitable,
Who-so it hadde by experience
As thow haast / ther-to yeue y may credence;
75
“But thogh thy wordes sharpe & stirynge seeme,To many a man / profyten they but lyte;
They looke a-part / and list take no yeeme
Vn-to the ende / which mighte hem profyte.
Yen they haan / and seen nat worth a myte;
198
They weenen longe for to lyuen heere.
76
“And for they, vndisposid deeth nat dreede,fforsighte at al / ne haan tho wrecches noon
Of the harm / which ther-of moot folwe neede,
They deemen stonde as sikir as a stoon;
But weel y see / by thee / so moot y goon,
They shuln haan cause / it for to dreede & doute,
Or þat hir lyues light / be fully oute.
77
“Whan dethes messager comth / sharp seeknesse,ffreendes and felawes hem haaste & hye,
The seeke man to conforte of his feblesse,
And al thyng þat good is / they prophecie;
They seyn / “thogh thow seeke in thy bed now lye,
Be nat agast / no dethes euel haast thow,
ffor this / thow shalt eschape wel ynow.”
78
“Thus bodyes freendes been maad enemysTo the soule / for whyl seeknesse greeueth
The man continuelly / yit so vnwys
Is he / þat his enformours he wel leeueth;
He hopith to been hool / and he mischeeueth
where as he wende han recouered be;
Vndisposid to dye / sterueth he.
79
“Right so thyn herkners and thyn Auditours,Tho þat greet trust han in mannes prudence,
Nat list hir peynes putte, or hir labours,
199
Thow mightist as wel keepe thy silence;
They by thy wordes yeuen nat a leeke.”
To which, thymage thus answerde & speeke:
80
“ffor thy, whan they in dethes net been hent,Whan sodein wrecchidnesse hem shal assaill,
Whan deeth, as tempest sharp & violent,
With woful trouble hem shal vexe & trauaill,
They shuln crie aftir help / and ther-of faill,
ffor they in hate / sapience hadde,
And despysed my reed / & heeld it badde.
81
“And right as now ther been but fewe fownde,Þat of my wordes conpunct wole hir lyf
Correcte / ne amende in no stownde,
Nat may to hem auaille my motyf,
But they / hir synnes vsen ay foorth ryf,
And han no lust / fro synnes hem withdrawe,
No more / than they neuere had herd my sawe:
82
“Right so for the malice of tyme / and lakOf goostly loue / and for the iniquitee
Of the world / vertu gooth so faste a-bak,
Þat fewe to the deeth disposid be
So weel / þat list this worldes vanitee
Leue / and for desir of lyf / þat shal euere
Endure / coueiten hens to disseuere.
83
“But whan deeth on hem stelith with hir darte,They vnreedy / wowndid in conscience,
Nat oonly goon hens / whan they hens departe /
200
Been hent away / so þat ful greet prudence
They wolde han hold it / han deid as a man
And nat as a beest / þat no reson can.
84
“If of this commun peril, thenchesonThee lyke knowe / y wole it now expresse:
The desir of honours out of reson,
The body bathynge in worldly swetnesse,
Eerthely loue / and to greet greedynesse
In muk-hepynge / blynden many an herte,
And causen men in-to tho perils sterte.
85
“If thow desire / the perils to fleeOf vndisposed deeth / my Conseil heere:
This heuy plyt / in which thow seest now me,
Reuolue ofte in thy mynde / & by me leere
ffor to be waar / if thow in this maneere
Wilt do / it shal be thy greet auantage,
And ese thee at thy laste passage;
86
“It shal vn-to thee profyte in þat hour,Þat nat oonly dye it shal nat thee gaste,
But deeth / eek as eende of worldly labour,
And begynnynge of blisse / ay þat shal laste /
Abyde thow shalt / and desire faste
With al thyn herte / it to take & receyue,
And al worldly lust leye a-part & weyue.
201
87
“Euery day haue of me deep remembrance;In-to thyn herte / let my wordes synke;
The sorwe and angwissh & greuous penance
Which thow haast seen in me / considere / & thynke
That of peril / thogh art ful ny the brynke;
Remembre on my doom / for swich shal thyn be;
Myn yistirday / and this day vn-to thee.
88
“Looke vp-on me / & thynke on this nyght ayWhyles thow lyuest / o how good & blessid
Art thow Arsenius / which þat alway
This ilke hour haddest in thyn herte impressid,
Þat man / as in holy writ is witnessid,
Which whan god comth and knokkith at the yate,
Wakynge him fynt / he blessid is algate;
89
Blessid is he þat thanne founden isReedy to passe / for he blissfully
Departe shal / and truste right wel this,
Thogh deeth assaill and vexe greuously
The rightwys man / or slee him sodeynly,
How so he dye / he shal go to þat place
Where-as confort is / refresshynge & grace.
90
He shal be pourged cleene & purified,And disposid the glorie of god to see;
Angels shuln keepe him / & he shal be gyed
202
And to the Court of heuene vp taken be;
And of his spirit / shal be the issynge,
In-to eternel blisse / the entrynge.
91
But allas / where shal my wrecchid goostThis nyght become / whidir shal it go?
What herbergh shal it haue / or in what coost
Shal it arryue / who shal receyue it / who?
O! what frendshipe / shal it haue tho?
O soule abiect / desolat & forsake,
Greet cause haast thow / for fere & wo to qwake.
92
“Wherfore y, hauynge of my self pitee,Amonges heuy wordes / y out shede
Teres / in greet habundance & plentee;
But nat auaillith me / it is no drede.
Hens-foorth compleyne / weepe & crye & grede,
ffor in no wyse / changed it be may;
Al man-kyndes fo / stoppid hath my way.
93
“In hidles, in awayt as a LeounHe hath leyn / & my soule led hath he
In-to the pit of deeth al deepe adoun.
O my lord god / this sharp aduersitee,
To stynte of speeche / now conpellith me:
y may no more hens-foorth / speke & bewaill,
My tonge and eeke my wit / now so me faill.
94
“Ther is noon othir / y see wel ynowThe tyme is come / as blyue y shal be deed;
203
And my look ful dym / & heuy as leed;
Myn yen synke eeke / deepe in-to myn heed,
And torne vp so doun / and myn hondes two
Wexen al stif and starke / & may nat do;
95
“Prikkynges of deeth me, wrecche, conpace;Stirtemeel gooth my pows / and elles naght;
Mortel pressures / sharply me menace,
My breeth begynneth faill / and eeke the draght
Of it fro fer is fet / & deepe caght;
No lengere y now see this worldes light;
Myn yen lost han hir office & might.
96
“But now y see with myn yen mentalThestat of al an-othir world than this;
I am ny goon / as faste passe y shal;
O my lord god / a gastful sighte it is!
Now of confort haue y greet lak & mis;
Horrible feendes and innumerable
Awayte vp-on my soule miserable;
97
“The blake-faced ethiopiensMe enuyrone / and aftir it abyde
To hente it / whan þat it shal passen hens,
If þat par auenture it so betyde
Þat the lot ther-of / fall vp-on hir syde;
hir viserly faces, grim & hydous,
Me putte in thoghtful dreedes encombrous.
204
98
“O streit and steerne Iuge & domesman.Thow weyest moche / in deemynge me, wrecche,
Tho thynges whiche fewe folkes can
But smal by sette / or of hem charge or recche;
Lo / deethes strooke haastith me hens to fecche;
My membres, shee so thirlith & distressith,
That nature ouercome is / shee witnessith.
99
“O gastful is the iust Iuges lookyngeVn-to me, now present / thurgh fere & dreede,
which sodeynly shal come / him self sheewynge.
ffar-wel, freendes & felawes / for neede
Moot y vnclothe me of lyues weede;
To purgatorie y shal as streight as lyne,
ffor myn offenses / ther to suffre pyne;
100
“And thens twynne y nat / til maad haue y greeOf the leeste ferthyng þat y men shal;
In whiche place y beholde and see
Affliccioun and sorwe ynow at al;
There y no ioie see, but wo oueral;
The fyry flaumbes vp-on heighte ryse,
In which / the soules brenne in woodly wyse.
101
“They vp now possid been / & now doun throwe,Right as sparcles of fyr / aboute sprede,
Whan þat a greet toun / set is on a lowe,
And al is fyred / bothe in lengthe & brede.
Wo been tho soules / in tho brondes rede,
ffor peyne of which torment / ful lowde & hye
They in this wyse / ful pitously crye:
205
102
“Now, mercy haue on our captiuitee;To yow our freendes / namely we preye;
Wher is your help now / wher is your chiertee?
Whidir been the promesses goon to pleye
Of yow, our Cousins eeke / can yee portreye
Your wordes so gayly / and effect noon
ffolwith / but al as deed is as a stoon?
103
“By youre desires inordinat,And eeke of othir mo / our self han we
Broght in-to this plyt and wrecchid estat;
Ioie han we noon / but of wo greet plentee.
Allas / why nat vp-on vs reewen yee?
We dide al our might / to do yow plesance;
And yee no routhe han / on our sharp greuance.
104
“fful euele we rewarded been of yow;We brenne / and yee the fyr nat qwenche a deel.
Allas! we nadden for our self or now
Y-doon / we were auysid no thyng weel;
Worldly trust is / as slipir as an eel;
Al is nat trewe / þat the world promettith;
fful wys is he / þat ther-by litil settith.
105
“The leeste torment of this purgatorieÞat we souffren / exceedith in sharpnesse
Tormentes all of the world transitorie.
Heere, of torment / more is the bittirnesse
In an hour / then the worldes wikkidnesse
May hurte or greeue in an .C. yeer:
Greet is thaffliccioun þat we han heer.
206
106
“But aboue alle kyndes of tormentis,Of goddes blissid face the absence
Greeueth most / þat lak, our moost wofull sentis:
ffor a memorie / leue y this sentence
To thee / and heere y die in thy presence.”
Whan the disciple sy þat he was past
And deed / he tremblid and was sore agast;
107
Aboute he torned him / and thus seide he:“Wher art thow now / o sapience eterne?
O / good lord, haast thow now forsaken me?
Wilt thow thy grace me denye and werne?
Thow seidest / ‘sapience y sholde lerne;’
And now y am broght to the deeth almoost,
So troublid is my spirit & my goost.
108
“This sighte of deeth so sore me astoneth,Þat wite y can vnnethe in soothfastnesse,
But am in doute / wher the soothe woneth,
That is to meene / if this be in liknesse
Or in deede / swich is my mazidnesse;
But how it be / lord, y byseeche thee,
Be my confort in this perplexitee!
109
“Neuere the perils of deeth vndisposidIn my lyf kneew I, as y do now right;
Withyn myn herte been they deepe enclosid,
And so sadly / ther-in picchid and pight,
Þat hem foryete / lyth nat in my myght.
That gastful sighte / y hope shal profyte
Vn-to my soules helthe / nat a lyte.
110
“Dwellynge place / y haue espyd, and see,Han we noon / in this wrecchid world changeable.
207
which nat may varie / but is permanable,
Shape y me streeche / o lord god merciable,
Y mercy axe / vp-on me, wrecche, reewe!
Hens forward / wole y lede a lyf al neewe.
111
“Now lerne for to die / y me purpose;Hens-foorth / penance wole y nat delaye;
My lyf to amende wole y me dispose;
ffor syn thoghtes of deeth / so me esmaye /
Wel more y am seur / deeth me shal affraye
Whan þat eschue / y shal nat hir presence;
O, ther thyn help / eterne sapience!
112
“Now wole y voide fethirbeddes softe,The pilwes nesshe / and esy materas
On whiche my careyne / hath tymes ofte
Walkid and leyn / now stande I in swich cas
Þat me thynkith / al greet folie it was.
Of clothynge eeke, fy on the precioustee,
And slouthe of sleep also lettynge me.
113
“Syn y tormentid am so greuouslyWith thynges smale / how sorwes so grete
Souffre mighte y, if now die sholde y,
Þat neuere or this / my synnes kowde lete?
O. what matire / of helle fyr / the hete
Mighte in me thanne fynde / certes greet,
ffor which / my body of cold swoot is al weet.
114
“Now woot I weel / what thyng þat may auaillMy soule / and it keepe fro perisshynge:
By souffrance of greet labour & trauaill,
And exercyse of vertuous lyuynge,
208
Þat in swich an houres extremitee,
No peyne / but reste, fynde may shee.
115
“O holy and mercyful Sauueour,Of so bitter deeth / souffre me nat dye,
Thogh y be thikke wrappid in errour ;
See / beforn thee / plat on the grownd y lye,
Weepynge / for myn excessyf folye;
And, curteys lord / of thy benignitee,
This grace vouche-sauf to grante me,
116
“Aftir thy lust / be my punysshementWhyle y am heere / and, good lord, nat reserue
To othir place / the chastisement
Which þat y, wrecche / heere in this world disserue!
let me abye it heere / or þat y sterue,
ffor in þat place horrible / is swich sharpnesse
Of peyne / þat no wight can it expresse.
117
“O how vnwys or this haue y been ay,Syn þat deeth vndisposid and the peyne
Of purgatorie / y kowde by no way
Considere / ne how it kowde distreyne.
Set was myn herte in othir thoghtes veyne,
Þat yaf me lettynge and impediment
To thynke vp-on the perils consequent;
118
‘But now, thurgh fadirly amonestynge,My myndes yen þat cloos were and shit /
I opne / and of tho perils am dredynge.”
And sapience ansueerde anoon to it:
“My sone / to do so / it is greet wit,
Whiles thow yong art / & haast strengthe & force;
Thy lyf for to correcte / thee enforce.
209
119
“Whan þat deeth cometh / which cruel and fel is,Whom thow nat maist withstonde ne withsitte /
Help ne refuyt / is ther for thee noon ellis /
But to the mercy of god / thee committe,
By no way / þat nat leue ne ommitte;
My passioun putte eeke / twixt my doom & thee,
Lest more than neede is / adrad thow be.
120
“My rightwisnesse nat so mochil dreedeÞat thow fro trust and hope of mercy twynne;
Contrytly mercy axe / and thow shalt speede.
Now restfullere in thy goost be withynne,
Þat ouer ferd art / thee pourge of thy synne,
Scourge thy self / with repentances rod;
Begynnynge of wisdam / is dreede of god.
121
“Scriptures serche / & by hem shalt thow leereÞat vn-to man is it greet auantage,
Deeth to haue ofte in mynde, in this lyf heere.
If yeeres manye / and vn-to good age
Man lyue / and in all hem glad & sauage
Be / good is, the dirke hour & dayes wikke
Remembre / or þat he come to the prikke;
122
“ffor whan þat tyme is comen, and þat hour,Repreeued shal be the past vanitee;
Remembre therfore on thy Creatour
In thy fressh youthe & lusty iolitee,
Or tyme come of sharp aduersitee,
And or þat yeeres approche of disese,
In whiche thow wilt seyn / they nat thee plese.
210
123
And, or asshen in-to hir eerthe alsoWhere-of they were / ageyn hem thidir dresse,
And thy spirit to god / whens it cam fro
Retourne / god, with al thyn herte blisse,
Thanke him / shewe vn-to him thy kyndenesse;
ffor he to thee now opned hath the way
Wherthurgh thow maist be saued, is no nay.
124
“fful fewe been / þat so with hertes ere,Konne apparceyue thinstabilitee
Of the world / and konne of the deeth han fere,
Which þat alway lyth in awayt pryuee,
Ne þat of the ioie and felicitee
Of heuene / which ay shal laste & endure,
Take any manere heede at al / or cure.
125
“Lifte vp thyn yen / looke aboute & seeDiligently / how many folkes blynde
In hir conceites now a dayes be;
They close & shitte the yen of hir mynde;
They nat keepe, in hir conceit serche & fynde
Vn-to what ende / needes they shuln drawe,
And al for lak of dreede of god, and awe.
126
“They stoppe hire eres / for they nat ne keepeHeere how conuerted be / and receyue helthe;
Correccion is noon / they let it sleepe;
They been so dronken of this worldes welthe,
That deeth, or they be waar / right in a stelthe
ffallith up-on hem / which condicioun
Hem cause shal hastyf perdicioun.
211
127
“The peple now let seen innumerableÞat for deeth vndisposid / lost han be /
Considere / and if thy wit be ther-to able /
Noumbre of hir multitude the plentee
Eeke of hem þat in thy tyme with thee
Dwelt han / looke how þat they been take away:
Thow seest wel / they from hens been past for ay;
128
“And as they heere han do / so shuln they haue.What multitude in yeeres fewe ago,
Thee yit lyuynge / han leid been in hir graue!
What brethren / Cousins / felawes and mo
Of thy knowleche / beholde alle tho!
Thyne eeke, with hem / hire olde synne goon is;
Touche vn-to hem / speke and axe hem of this,
129
“And they with wepynge and with waymentyngeShuln to thee seye / and thus ageyn answere:
‘Blessid is he / þat can see the endynge,
And synnes / þat the soule hurte & dere,
Eschue can / and hem flee and forbere;’
And þat in my Conseil hath good sauour,
Disposynge him alway vn-to þat hour.
130
“And therfore / alle vicious thynges left,Weel thee dispose / and reedy make thee
To dye / lest the tyme be thee reft
Or þat thow be waar / for no certeintee
Haast thow ther-of / thow art no thyng pryuee
Ther-to / deeth is nat fer / right atte yate
Shee is / be reedy for to dye algate!
212
131
“Right as a Marchant stondynge in a port,his ship þat charged is with marchandyse
To go to fer parties / for confort
Of him self / lookeþ / þat it in sauf wyse
Passe out / Right so, if thou wirke as the wyse,
See to thy soule so / or thow hens weende,
Þat it may han the lyf þat haath noon eende.
Amen!”
Explicit illa pars / per quam sciendum est mori.
132
The othir .iij. partes which in this bookeOf the tretice of deeth expressid be,
Touche y nat dar / þat labour y forsooke,
ffor so greet thyng / to swich a fool as me
Ouer chargeable is, by my leautee,
To medle with / ynow the firste part
ffor my smal konnynge is / and symple art;
133
But as the .ixe. lesson which is radIn holy chirche / vp-on all halwen day
witnessith / syn it ioieful is and glad
ffor hem þat hens shuln wel departe away,
And to the blisse go þat lastith ay,
Translate wole y / nat in rym, but prose,
ffor so it best is / as þat y suppose,
134
How greet ioie and blisse / is shapen to hemÞat so shuln passe hens / vp to the Citee
Callid celestial, Ierusalem.
Aftir our might and possibilitee
Let vs considere / al thogh it so be,
That for to comprehende þat gladnesse,
Verraily / no wit may, ne tonge expresse.
215
XXIV. Hic additur alia fabula ad instanciam amici mei predilecti assiduam
[Prolog.]
1
This booke thus to han endid had y thoght,But my freend made me change my cast;
Cleene out of þat purpos hath he me broght:
216
I redde a tale / which y am agast
To preye thee, for the laboures sake
That thow haast had / for to translate & make;
2
“And yit ful fayn wolde y þat it maad were;Thensaumple of it / to yonge men mighte auaille,
And par cas / cause hem riot to forbere
The rathere / and be bettre of gouernaill;
Youthe in no wyse / wole his thankes faill,
fflessh for to chepe, femel and venal,
Payyng for it / more than worth is al.
3
“Þat thyng is deere and ouer deere boght,That soule sleeth / and the body destroieth,
And the purs emptith, leuynge in it noght
Or smal / swich chaffare often sythe annoieth,
And yonge folke encombrith and accloieth,
Lettynge hem to purchace hem good renoun,
And haastynge hem to hir confusioun.
4
“ffor this is þat y speke / and to this ende:A sone haue y .xv. yeer of age,
ffor whom it is as wisly, god mamende,
Þat y desire, in-to our langage
Þat tale be translated / for Sauage
And wylde is he / and likly to foleye
In swich cas / now helpe if thow maist, y preye.
5
“Nat fer the tale fro / which thow maad haastOf themperice / this tale is, y trowe,
And is of a womman / þat was vnchaast
217
By þat the lyues / thow red haue on rowe.
Brynge y shal thee / the copie verray
There-of / if thee list / seye on yee or nay.”
6
“ffreend, looth me were nay seye vn-to yow,But y suppose / it may noon othir be,
Lest wommen vn-to Magge, the good kow,
Me likne / and thus seye / ‘o, beholde & see
The double man / o, yondir, lo, gooth he
That hony first yaf / and now yeueth galle:
He fo in herte is / vn-to wommen alle;
7
“‘Til he of wommen oute wordes wikke,He fastynge is / him seemeth; al the day,
Out of his mowth / lesynges swarmen thikke;
On wommen / no good word / affoorthe he may;
And if he wel speke / or wryte / is no nay,
He nat meueth / as he spekith or writ:
O lewde dotepol / straw for his wit!’
8
“This þat yee me now reede is al contrarieVn-to þat yee me red han heer-before;
Yee senden / syn y many an aduersarie
Had of wommen / for y mis had me bore
To hem or this / yee redden me therfore
Humble me to hem / and of grace hem preye;
But this reed haldith al an othir weye.
9
“Sholde y a neewe smoke now vp reyse,And y so mochil rered haue or now
By your sawe than were y nat to preise.”
“Thomas, to wikkid wommen wel maist thow
Yeue hir pars / & wryte of hem euele ynow;
218
Al thogh þat thow / vnhonest wommen blame;
10
“ffor, Thomas / thow shalt vndirstonde this,No womman wole / to thee ward maligne,
But swich oon / as hath trode hir shoo amis;
ffor who so dooth / ful suspect is the signe;
The vertuous womman / good and benigne,
Noon encheson but good / may han to thee
ffor this tale / wryte on par charitee!
11
“Nat oonly for my sones tendrenesseCoueite y / þat this tale were makid /
But to rebuke also / the wantonnesse
Of lyf of many a womman / þat is nakid
Of honestee / and with deshonour blakid;
Eeke to miroure wommen vertuous/
What ende takith swich lyf vicious?”
12
“On goddes half, freend / than let the copieOf þat tale / whan yow list, be me sent;
And with good wil / wole y ther-to me hye
Whan y there-of / take haue auisament.”
He glad was ther-with-al / & wel content.
The copie on the morwe sente he me/
And thus y wroot as yee may heere see.
Explicit prologus, & incipit
fabula de quadam muliere mala.
219
13
Whilom an Emperour prudent & wysRegned in Rome / and hadde sones three,
whiche he hadde in greet chiertee & greet prys;
And whan it shoop so / þat thinfirmitee
Of deeth / which no wight may eschue or flee,
Him threew down in his bed / he leet do call
His sones / and before him they cam all;
14
And to the firste / he seide in this maneere:“Al theritage which at the dyynge
Of my fadir he me lefte / al in feere
leue y thee and al þat of my byynge
was / with my peny / al my purchacynge,
My second sone / byqwethe y to thee.”
And to the .iijde. sone / thus seide he:
15
“Vnmeeble good right noon, withouten ooth,Thee yeue y may / but y to thee dyuyse
Iewelles .iije. a ryng / brooch & a clooth,
with whiche / and thow be gyed as the wyse,
Thow maist gete al þat oghte thee souffyse.
who-so þat the ryng vsith for to were,
Of alle folke the loue he shal conquere;
16
“And who so the brooch berith on his brest,It is eek of swich vertu and swich kynde,
That thynke vp-on what thyng him lykith best,
And he as blyue shal it haue & fynde.
My wordes, sone, enprynte wel in mynde;
The clooth eeke hath a merueillous nature,
which þat committed shal be to thy cure:
17
“Who-so sit on it / if he wisshe whereIn al the world to been / he sodeynly
220
Sone, tho three Iewelles byqwethe y
To thee / vn-to this effect certeynly,
Þat to the studie of the vniuersitee
Thow go / and þat y bidde and charge thee.”
18
Whan he had thus seid / the vexaciounOf deeth so haastid him, þat his spiryt
Anoon forsooke his habitacioun
In his body / deeth wolde no respyt
him yeue at al / he was of his lyf qwyt,
And biried was with swich solempnitee
As fil to his imperial dignitee.
19
Of the yongeste sone I telle shal,And speke no more of his brethren two,
ffor with hem haue y nat to do at al.
Thus spak the modir, Ionathas vn-to:
“Syn god his wil hath of thy fadir do,
To thy fadres wil / wole y me confourme,
And trewely / his testament parfourme:
20
“He .iij. Iewelles / as thow knowest weel,A ryng / a brooch & a clooth, thee byqweeth,
Whos vertues / he thee tolde euerydeel
Or þat he paste hens / & yald vp the breeth.
O goode god / his departynge, his deeth
fful greuously stikith vn-to myn herte;
But souffred moot been al / how sore it smerte.”
21
In þat cas wommen han swich heuynesse,Þat it nat lyth in my konnynge aright
Yow telle of so greet sorwe the excesse,
But wyse wommen konne take it light,
And in short whyle putte vn-to the flight
221
Now to my tale make y my resort.
22
“Thy fadres wil, my sone, as y seide eer,wole y parfourme / haue heer the rynge, and go
To studie anoon / and whan þat thow art theer,
As thy fadir thee bad / do euene so;
And as thow wilt, my blessyng haue also.”
Shee vn-to him as swythe tooke the ryng,
And bad him keepe it weel / for any thyng.
23
He wente vn-to the studie general,Wher he gat loue ynow, and aqueyntance
Right good and freendly / the ryng causynge al.
And on a day / to him befil this chance:
With a womman, a morsel of plesance,
By the streetes of the vniuersitee
As he was in his walkynge, mette he;
24
And right as blyue he with hire had a tale,And ther-with-al / sore in hir loue he brente:
Gay / fressh and pykid was shee to the sale,
ffor to þat ende and to þat entente
Shee thidir cam / and bothe foorth they wente,
And he a pistle rowned in hire ere:
Nat woot y what / for y ne cam nat there.
25
Shee was his paramour, shortley to seye.This man to folkes alle was so leef,
Þat they him yaf habundance of moneye.
he feestid folke / and stood at hy boncheef;
Of the lake of good / he felte no greef,
222
But faylynge it / his frendshipe gan sadde.
26
His paramour, which þat / y-callid wasffellicula / meruailled right greetly
Of the despenses of this Ionathas,
Syn shee no peny at al with him sy;
And on a nyght / as þat shee lay him by
In the bed / thus shee to him spake & seide,
And this peticion assoill him preyde:
27
“O reuerent sire / vn-to whom,” quod shee,“Obeye y wole ay with hertes humblesse,
Syn / þat yee han had my virginitee,
yow y byseeche, of your hy gentillesse,
Tellith me whens comth the good & richesse
That yee with feesten folke / and han no stoor,
By aght y see can / ne gold ne tresor.”
28
“If y telle it,” quod he / “par auentureThow wilt deskeuere it / & out it publisshe:
Swich is wommannes inconstant nature,
They can nat keepe conseil worth a risshe;
Bettre is, my tonge keepe / than to wisshe
Þat y had kept cloos þat is goon at large,
And repentance is thyng þat y moot charge.”
29
“Nay, goode sire / haldith me nat suspect;Doutith nothyng; y can be right secree.
wel worthy were it me to been abiect
ffrom al good conpaignie / if y,” quod shee,
“Vn-to yow sholde so mis take me;
Beeth nat adrad your Conseil me to shewe.”
“wel,” seide he / “thus it is, at wordes fewe:
223
30
“My fadir, the ryng which þat thow maist seeOn my fyngir / me at his dyyng day
Byqweeth / which this vertu & propretee
hath / þat the loue of men, he shal haue ay
Þat werith it / and ther shal be no nay,
Of what thyng þat him lykith axe & craue,
But with good wil / he shal as blyue it haue
31
“Thurgh þat rynges vertuous excellence:Thus am y ryche, and haue euere ynow.”
“Now, sire, yit a word, by your licence,
Suffrith me for to seye and speke now:
Is it wysdam / as þat it seemeth yow,
were it on your fyngir continuelly?”
“what woldest thow mene,” quod he, “ther-by?
32
“What peril ther-of mighte ther befall?”“Right greet,” quod she / “as yee in conpaignye
walke often / fro your fyngir mighte it fall,
Or plukkid of been in a ragerie,
And so be lost / and þat were folie.
Take it me / let me been of it wardeyn;
ffor as my lyf, keepe it wole y certeyn.”
33
This Ionathas / this innocent yong man,Yeuynge vn-to hir wordes / ful credence,—
As youthe nat auysed best be can /—
The ryng hir tooke, of his insipience.
Whan this was doon / the hete & the feruence
224
Was qweynt / & loues knotte was vnlaced.
34
Men of hir yiftes for to stynte gan:“A,” thoghte he / “for the ryng y nat ne bere,
ffaillith my loue / fecche me, womman,”
Seide he, “my ryng / anoon y wole it were.”
She roos / and in-to Chambre dressith here;
And whan shee there-in / hadde been a whyle,
“Allas,” quod shee / “out on falshode and gyle,
35
“The chiste is broken / and the ryng take out.”And whan he herde hir conplaynte and cry,
He was astoned sore / and made a shout,
And seide / “cursid be þat day þat y
The mette first, or with myn yen sy.”
She wepte, and shewid outward cheere of wo,
But in hire herte / was it no thyng so;
36
The ryng was sauf ynow / and in hir chesteIt was / al þat shee seide was lesyng,
As sum womman / othir whyle atte beste
Can lye and weepe / whan is hir lykyng.
This man sy hir wo / and seide, “derlyng,
Weepe no more / goddes help is ny;”
To him vnwist / how fals shee was and sly.
225
37
He twynned thens / and hoom to his Contree,Vn-to his modir, the streight way he wente.
And whan shee sy / thidir comen was he,
“My sone,” quod shee / “what was thyn entente,
Thee fro the scoole / now for to absente?
What causid thee / fro scoole hidir to hye?”
“Modir, right this,” seide he / “nat wole y lye:
38
“ffor soothe, modir / my ryng is ago;My paramour, to keepe y betooke it,
And it is lost / for which y am ful wo;
Sorwefully vn-to myn herte it sit.”
“Sone / often haue y warned thee / & yit
ffor thy profyt y warne thee, my sone;
Vnhonest wommen / thow heere-aftir shone.
39
“Thy brooch anoon right wole y to thee fette.”Shee broghte it him / and charged him ful deepe—
Whan he it tooke / and on his brest it sette,—
Bet than he dide his ryng / he sholde it keepe,
lest he the los / bewaille sholde and weepe.”
To the vniuersitee / shortly to seyn,
In what he kowde / he haastid him ageyn.
40
And whan he comen was / his paramourHim mette anoon / and vn-to hire him tooke,
As þat he dide erst / this yong reuelour;
Hir conpaignie he nat a deel forsooke,
Thogh he cause hadde / but, as with the hooke
Of hir sleighte / he beforn was caght & hent /
Right so he was deceyued eft & blent.
226
41
And as thurgh vertu of the ryng before,Of good he hadde habundance & plentee,
while it was with him / or he hadde it lore /
Right so / thurgh vertu of the brooch, had he
What good him list / shee thoghte, “how may this be?
Sum pryuee thyng / now causith this richesse /
As dide the ryng / heer-before, y gesse.”
42
Wondrynge heer-on / shee preide him, and besoghteBysyly nyght and day / þat telle he wolde
The cause of this / but he an othir thoghte;
He mente / it cloos for him / it kept be sholde;
And a long tyme it was / or he it tolde.
Shee kepte ay to and to / and seide, “allas
The tyme and hour / þat euere y bore was!
43
“Truste yee nat on me, sire?” she seide;“leuer me were be slayn in this place
By þat good lord / þat for vs alle deide,
Than purpose ageyn yow any fallace.
Vn-to yow wole y be, my lyues space,
As treewe as any womman in eerthe is
Vn-to a man / doutith no thyng of this.”
44
Smal may shee do / þat can nat wel byheete,Thogh nat parfourmed be swich a promesse.
This Ionathas thoghte hir wordes so sweete,
Þat he was dronke of the plesant swetnesse
Of hem / and of his foolissh tendrenesse,
Thus vn-to hire he spak and seide tho:
“Be of good confort / why weepist thow so?”
227
45
And shee ther-to answerde thus / sobbynge:“Sire,” quod shee / “myn heuynesse and dreede
Is this / y am adrad of the leesynge
Of your brooch / as almighty god forbeede
It happid so” // “now, what so, god thee speede,”
Seide he, “woldist thow in this cas consaille?”
Quod shee, “þat y keepe mighte it, sanz faille.”
46
He seide, “y haue a fere & dreede algate,If y so dide, thow woldest it leese,
As thow lostist my ryng / now goon but late.”
“ffirst, god preye y,” quod shee / “þat y nat cheese
But þat myn herte / as the cold frost may freese,
Or elles be it brent / with wylde fyr;
Nay / seurly it to keepe / is my desyr.”
47
To hir wordes / credence he yaf pleneer,And the brooch tooke hire / and aftir anoon,
Where-as he was beforn ful leef & cheer
To folke / and hadde good / al was agoon:
Good and frendshipe him lakkid / ther was noon.
“Womman / me fecche the brooch,” quod he, “swythe
In-to thy chambre for it go / now hy the!”
48
Shee in-to Chambre wente / as þat he bad,But she nat broghte / þat he sente hir fore;
Shee mente it nat / but as shee had be mad,
hir clothes hath shee al to-rent & tore,
And cryde, “allas / the brooch away is bore!
ffor which y wole anoon right, with my knyf
My self slee / y am weery of my lyfe.”
228
49
This noyse he herde / & blyue he to hir ran,weenynge shee wolde han doon as shee spak;
And the knyf, in al haaste þat he can,
ffrom hire tooke / & threew it behynde his bak,
And seide / “for the los / ne for the lak
Of the brooch / sorwe nat / y foryeue al;
I truste in god / þat yit vs helpe he shal.”
50
To themperice his modir / this yong manAgeyn him dressith / he wente hire vn-to.
And whan shee sy him / shee to wondre gan;
Shee thoghte / ‘now sumwhat ther is mis-do’;
And seide / “y dreede thy Iewelles two
Been lost now / per cas the brooch with the ryng.”
“Modir,” he seide / “yee / by heuene kyng.”
51
“Sone, thow woost wel / no Iewel is leftVn-to thee now / but the clooth precious,
Which y thee take shal / thee chargyng eft,
The conpaignie of wommen riotous
Thow flee / lest it be to thee so greuous
That thow it nat susteene shalt, ne bere:
Swich conpaignie, on my blessynge, forbere!”
52
The clooth shee fette / and it hath him take,And of his lady his modir, his leeue
229
“Modir,” seide he / “trustith this weel, & leeue
Þat y shal seyn / for sooth yee shul it preeue:
If y leese this clooth / neuere y your face
Hens-foorth se wole / ne yow preye of grace.
53
“With goddes help / y shal do wel ynow.”Hir blessyng he tooke / and to studie is go;
And as beforn told haue y vn-to yow,
his paramour / his priuee mortel fo,
Was wont for to meete him / right euene so
Shee dide thanne / & made him plesant cheere:
They clippe and kisse / and walke homward in feere.
54
Whan they were entred in the hows / he spraddeThis clooth vp-on the ground / and ther-on sit,
And bad his paramour, this womman badde,
To sitte also / by him adoun on it.
Shee dooth as þat he commandith and bit.
had shee his thoght / and vertu of the clooth
wist / to han sete on it / had shee been looth.
55
Shee for a whyle was ful sore affesid.This Ionathas wisshe in his herte gan:
“wolde god þat y mighte thus been esid,
That as on this clooth y and this womman
Sitte here / as fer were, as þat neuere man
Or this cam” / and vnnethe had he so thoght,
But they with the clooth thidir weren broght
56
Right to the worldes ende, as þat it were.Whan apparceyued had shee this / shee cryde
230
“Harrow / allas þat euere shoop this tyde!
How cam we hidir” / “nay,” he seide / “abyde;
Wers is comynge / heer, soul wole y thee leue;
Wylde beestes thee shuln deuoure or eue,
57
“ffor thow my ryng and brooch haast fro me holden.”“O reuerent Sire, haue vp-on me pitee,”
Quod shee / “if yee this grace do me wolden,
As me brynge hoom ageyn to the Citee
Where as y this day was / but if þat yee
hem haue ageyn / of foul deeth do me dye;
Your bontee on me kythe / y mercy crye.”
58
This Ionathas kowde no thyng be waar,Ne take ensample of the deceites tweyne
Þat shee dide him beforn / but feith him baar,
And hire he comanded, on dethes peyne,
ffro swiche offenses / thens-foorth hir restreyne.
Shee swoor, and made ther-to foreward;
But herkneth how shee baar hire aftirward:
59
Whan shee sy and kneew þat the wratthe & ireÞat he to hire had born / was goon & past,
And al was wel / shee thoghte him eft to fyre;
In hir malice ay stood shee stidefast,
And to enquere of him / was nat agast,
In so short tyme / how þat it mighte be
That they cam thidir out of hir contree.
60
“Swich vertu hath this clooth on which we sitte,”Seide he / “þat where / in this world vs be list,
Sodeynly with the thoght shuln thidir flitte,
231
As thyng fro fer / vnknowen in the mist.”
And ther-with / to this womman fraudulent,
“To sleepe,” he seide / “haue I good talent;
61
“Let see,” quod he / “strecche out anoon thy lappe,In which wole I myn heed doun leye and reste.”
So was it doon / and he anoon gan nappe:
Nappe / nay / he sleep / right wel atte beste.
What dooth this womman / oon the fikileste
Of wommen alle / but þat clooth þat lay
Vndir him / shee drow lyte & lyte away.
62
Whan shee it had al / “wolde god,” quod shee,“I were as I was this day morwenynge.”
And ther-with / this roote of iniquitee
Had hir wissh / and soul lefte him ther slepynge.
“O. Ionathas, lyke to thy perisshynge
Art thow / thy paramour maad hath thy berd;
Whan thow wakist / cause hast thow to be ferd;
63
“But thow shalt do ful wel / thow shalt obteeneVictorie on hire / thow haast doon sum deede
Plesant to thy modir / wel can I weene,
ffor which our lord god / qwyte shal thy meede,
And thee deliure out of thy woful dreede.
The chyld / whom þat the modir vsith blesse,
fful often sythe is esid in distresse.”
64
Whan he awook / and neithir he ne fondWomman ne clooth / he wepte bittirly,
And seide, “allas / now is ther in no lond
Man werse, I trowe, begoon / than am y!”
On euery syde his looke he caste, and sy
232
And wylde beestes / aboute him rennynge.
65
Of whos sighte / he ful sore was agrysid:He thoghte / “al this wel disserued y haue.
What eilid me to be so euel auysid,
That my Conseil / kowde I nat keepe & saue?
Who can fool pleye / who can madde or raue,
But he þat to a womman his secree
Deskeuereth / the smert cleueth now on me.”
66
He thens departed / as god wolde harmlees,And foorth of auenture his way is went,
But whidirward he drow / he conceitlees
Was / he nat kneew / to what place he was bent.
He paste a watir / which was so feruent
Þat flessh vp-on his feet / lefte it him noon;
Al cleene was departid fro the boon.
67
It shoop so þat he had a lytil glas,Which, with þat watir / anoon filled he;
And whan he ferthere in his way goon was,
Before him he beheeld and sy a tree
Þat fair fruyt baar / and þat in greet plentee:
He eet ther-of / the taast him lykid wel,
But he ther-thurgh becam a foul mesel;
68
ffor which, vn-to the ground, for sorwe & woHe fil / and seide / “cursid be þat day
Þat I was born / and tyme and hour also
Þat my modir conceyued me / for ay
Now am I lost / allas and weleaway!”
And whan sumdel slakid his heuynesse,
He roos / and on his way he gan him dresse.
233
69
An othir watir before him he sy,Which for to comen in he was adrad;
But nathelees / syn ther by / othir way,
Ne aboute it / ther kowde noon been had /
He thoghte / “so streytly am I bystad,
Þat thogh it sore me affese or gaste,
Assaye it wole I” / and thurgh it he paste.
70
And right as the firste watir his flesshDeparted from his feet / so the secownde
Restored it / and made al hool and fressh.
And glad was he, and ioieful þat stownde
Whan he felte his feet hoole were and sownde.
A viole of the watir of þat brooke
He filde / & fruyt of the tree with him tooke.
71
ffoorth his iourneye this Ionathas heeld;And as þat he his looke aboute him caste,
An-othir tree from a-fer he byheeld,
To which he haastid and him hyed faste:
Hungry he was / and of the fruyt he thraste
In-to his mowth / and eet of it sadly,
And of the leepre / he pourged was ther-by.
72
Of þat fruyt more he raghte / & thens is goon;And a fair Castel from a-fer sy he,
In compas of which / heedes many oon
Of men ther heeng / as he mighte wel see;
But nat for þat / he shone nolde or flee;
He thidirward him dressith the streight way,
In al þat euere þat he can or may.
234
73
Walkynge so / two men cam him ageyn,And seiden thus / “deere freend, we yow preye,
What man be yee” “Sires,” quod he certeyn,
A leeche I am / and thogh myself it seye,
Can for the helthe of seeke folke wel purueye.”
They seide him / “of yondir Castel, the kyng
A leepre is / and can hool be for no thyng.
74
“With him ther hath been many a sundry leecheÞat vndertooke / him for to cure and hele
On peyne of hire heedes / but al to seeche
Hire art was / waar / þat thow nat with him dele,
But if thow canst the chartre of helthe ensele,
Lest þat thow thyn heed leese / as diden they.
But thow be wys / thow fynde it shalt no pley.”
75
“Sires,” seide he / “yow thanke I of your reed,ffor gentilly yee han yow to me qwit;
But I nat dreede to leese myn heed;
By goddes help / ful sauf keepe I wole it,
God, of his grace, swich konnynge & wit
hath lent me / þat I hope I shal him cure;
fful wel dar I me putte in auenture.”
76
They to the kynges presence han him lad;And him, of the fruyt of the second tree
He yaf to ete / & bad him to be glad,
And seide anoon / “your helthe han shul yee.”
Eeke of the second watir, him, yaf he
To drynke / and whan he tho two had receyued,
His leepre from him / voided was & weyued.
235
77
The kyng / as vn-to his hy digniteeConuenient was / yaf him largely,
And to him seide: “if þat it lyke thee,
Abyden heere / I more habundantly
Thee yeue wole” “my lord, sikirly,”
Quod he / “fayn wolde I your pleisir fulfill,
And in your hy presence abyde stille;
78
But I no whyle may with yow abyde,So mochil haue I to doone elles where.”
Ionathas euery day to the See syde
Which was ny / wente / to looke & enquere
If any ship drawynge thidir were,
Which him hoom to his Contree lede mighte.
And on a day, of shippes had he sighte,
79
Wel / a xxxti. toward the Castel drawe;And atte tyme of euen-song they all
Arryueden / of which he was ful fawe;
And to the Shipmen crie he gan & call,
And seide / “if it so happe mighte & fall
Þat some of yow, me hoom to my Contree
Me brynge wolde / wel qwit sholde he be;”
80
And tolde hem whidir / þat they sholden go.Oon of the shipmen foorth stirte atte laste,
And to him seide / “my ship, and no mo
Of hem þat heere been / hem shape & caste
Thidir to weende / Let see / tell on faste,”
Quod the Shipman / “þat thou for my trauaill
Me yeue wilt / if þat I thidir saill.”
236
81
They were accorded / Ionathas foorth goothVn-to the kyng / to axe of him licence
To twynne thens / to which the kyng was looth;
And nathelees, with his beneuolence,
This Ionathas from his magnificence
Departed is / and foorth to the Shipman
his way he takith / as swythe as he can.
82
In-to the ship he entrith / & as blyueAs wynd and wedir, good shoop for to be,
Thidir as he purposid him arryue,
They saillid foorth / & cam to the Citee
In which this serpentyn womman was / shee
That had him terned with false deceitis;
But where no remedie folwith / streit is;
83
Tornes been qwit / al be they goode or badde,Sumtyme / thogh they put been in delay.
But to my purpos / shee deemed he hadde
Been deuoured with beestes many a day
Goon / shee thoghte / he deliured was for ay.
ffolke of the Citee / kneew nat Ionathas,
So many a yeer was past / þat he ther was;
84
Mislykynge & thoght / changed eek his face.Abouten he gooth / and for his dwellynge
In the Citee / he hyred him a place,
And ther-in excercysid his konnynge
Of phisyke / to whom weren repeirynge
Many a seeke wight / and all were helid;
wel was the seek man / þat with him hath delid!
237
85
Now shoop it thus / þat this Fellicula—The welle of deceyuable doublenesse,
ffolwere of the steppes of dalida—
Was thanne exaltat vn-to hy richesse,
But shee was fallen in-to greet seeknesse,
And herde seyn / for nat mighte it been hid,
How maistreful a leche he had him kid:
86
Messages solempne to him she sente,Preyynge him to do so mochil labour
As come and seen hire / and he thidir wente.
Whan he hir sy / þat shee his paramour
had been, he wel kneew / and for þat, dettour
To hire he was / hire he thoghte to qwyte
Or he wente / & no lengere it respyte;
87
But what þat he was / shee ne wiste nat.He sy hire vryne / & eeke felte hir pous,
And seide / “the soothe is this, pleyn & plat:
A seeknesse han yee strange & merueillous,
Which for to voide / is wondir dangerous;
To hele yow / ther is no way but oon;
Leche in this world / othir can fynde noon:
88
“Auysith yow / whethir yow list it takeOr nat / for y told haue yow my wit.”
“A, Sire,” seide shee / “for goddes sake,
Þat way me shewe / and y shal folwen it,
What-euere it be / for this seeknesse sit
So ny myn herte / þat y woot nat how
Me to demene / telle on, preye y yow.”
238
89
“Lady, yee muste openly yow confesse;And if ageyn good conscience & right,
Any good han yee take, more or lesse,
Beforn this hour of any maner wight,
yilde it anoon / elles nat in the might
Of man is it / to yeue a medecyne
Þat yow may hele of your seeknesse & pyne.
90
“If any swich thyng be / telle out, y rede;And yee shul been al hool, y yow byheete;
Elles myn art is naght, withouten dreede.”
“O lord,” shee thoghte / helthe is a thyng ful sweete;
Therwith desire y souerainly to meete.
Syn y it by confessioun may rekeuere,
A fool am I, but I my gilt deskeuere.”
91
How falsly to the sone of themperourIonathas / had shee doon / before hem all,
As yee han herd aboue / al þat errour
Bykneew shee / o Fellicula, thee call
Wel may y so / for of the bittir gall
Thow takist the begynnynge of thy name,
Thow roote of malice / and mirour of shame!
92
Than seide Ionathas / “where arn tho threeIewelles / þat yee fro the Clerk withdrow?”
“Sire, in a Cofre / at my beddes feet yee
Shul fynde hem / opne it / and see, preye y yow.”
He thoghte nat to make it qweynte and tow,
And seye nay / and streyne courtesie,
But with right good wil / thidir he gan hye.
239
93
The Cofre he opned / and hem there fond.Who was a glad man but Ionathas, who?
The ryng vp-on a fyngir of his hond
he putte / and the brooch on his brest also;
The clooth eeke vndir his arm heeld he tho,
And to hire him dressith / to doon his cure,
Cure mortel / way to hir sepulture.
94
he thoghte, reewe shee sholde, and forthynkeÞat shee hire hadde vn-to him mis bore;
And of þat watir hire he yaf to drynke,
Which þat his flessh / from his bones before
had twynned / wherthurgh he was almoost lore,
Nad he releeued been / as yee aboue
Han herd / and this he dide eeke for hir leue.
95
Of the fruyt of the tree he yaf hire ete,Which þat him made in-to the leepre sterte;
And as blyue in hir wombe gan they frete
And gnawe so / þat change gan hire herte.
Now herkneth / how it hire made smerte:
Hir wombe opned / and out fil eche entraille
That in hire was / thus seith the booke sanz faill.
96
Thus wrecchidly, lo / this gyle [wo]man dyde;And Ionathas, with tho Iewelles three,
No lengere there thoghte to abyde,
240
Where as in ioie and in prosperitee
his lyf ledde he / to his dyynge day:
And so god vs graunte þat we do may!
Amen.
242
[Go, smal book / to the noble excellence]
Go, smal book / to the noble excellenceOf my lady / of Westmerland / and seye,
Hir humble seruant / with al reuerence
Him recommandith vn-to hir nobleye;
And byseeche hire / on my behalue, & preye,
Thee to receyue / for hire owne right;
And looke thow / in al manere weye
To plese hir wommanhede / do thy might.
Humble seruant to your gracious noblesse
T: Hoccleue.
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