Hoccleve's Works. I. The minor poems in the Phillipps Ms. 8151 (Cheltenham) and the Durham Ms. III. 9.: Edited by Frederick J. Furnivall |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. | [III.] Cy ensuyt la male regle de T. Hoccleue. |
| IV. |
| V, VI. |
| VII. |
| IV. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
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| XX. |
| XXIV. |
 | Hoccleve's Works. I. |  |
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.
| Hoccleve's Works. I. | |