The Minor Poems of John Lydgate :: :: University of Virginia Library

Thys world ys born vp by astates seuyn,
Prynce[s] ordeynyd to susteyn [þe] ryght,
Prestes to pray, þe iustyces to deme euyn,
Marchauntes in sellyng to do trouþe in weyght,
For comon profyte fyght[e] shal þe knyght,
Plowman in tylþe, þe laborer in trauayll.
Artyfycers diligent day and nyght.
The ryche her almes to parte with þe porayll.

725

Officia dictorum magnatum.

Pryncys. To vs longeþ prestys to gouerne,
Presthode And we be bounde to lyue in parfytnes.
Iuges. Betwene ryght & wrong our office doþ dyscerne.
Merchantes. In bying & sellyng we shall do no falsnes.
Knyghthode. We shull defende trouþe & ryghtwysnes.
Plowman. Our occupacion to tyll & sowe þe lond,
Werkemen. And by our labour we voyden idylnes.
Rycheman. We delyuer our almes with our hond.

Explicit.

Septem Pagine sequntur sapiencie.

Prima de Prudencia.

Thynges passyd remembre & well dyuyde,
Thynges present consider & well gouerne,
For þynges commyng prudently prouyde,
Peyse matyrs or þou deme or dyscerne,
[Lat right in causes holde the lantern,]
Twene frende & foo stond euyn, & be egall,
And for no mede be nat parciall.

Secunda de Iusticia.

Furst in þy mesure loke þer be no lak,
Of þy weyghtes hold iustly þe balaunce,
Be trew in rekenyng, set no som abak,
And in þy worde lat be no variaunce;
Of chere be sad, demure of gouernaunce,
Set folk at rest, & apese all trouble,
Beware of flaterers & of tongys double.

Tercia de Temperancia.

By sapience tempre þou þy corage,
Of hasty ire daunt þe passion;
Dyffer vengeance tyll þy wraþe aswage,
Reuerence þe good for þeyr condicion;
Punyssh pacyently þe transgression

726

Of men disrewlyd, redressyng errour,
Mercy preferryng or þou do rygour.

Quarta de Discrecione.

Discrecion, modyr & pryncesse,
Of all vertues to gouerne hem & gye,
And elumyneþ with lyght of hygh noblesse
Crownes of kynges, hold vp þeyr regaly,
Conserueþ reames, by prudent polycy,
Causeþ prouinces & euery gret cyte
To contynew in long prosperyte.

Quinta de Racione.

Thys emperesse, verrey celestiall,
Most aungelyk of contenaunce and chere,
To rewle man he be nat bestiall,
God yaue hym reson, hys owne doughter dere,
Princesse of princesses, most souereyn & entere,
To brydell in man þe froward volunte
That he not err by sensualyte.

Sexta de Placencia & Bona Voluntate.

Thys fayre lady, whyche callyd ys Plesaunce,
And eke Good Wyll, her owne doughter dere,
Beseke all folk, aftyr theyr suffysaunce,
With all þeyr hert, to make ryght good chere,
With suche disport as þey fynde[n] here,
And þat hem lyst benygnely aduertyse,
Who þat ys welcom haþe all þat may suffyse.

Septima de Fasetia & Nurturia.

Thys goodly lady callyd Curtesy,
And her sustyr, whos name ys Nurture,
By þeyr offyce longyng to gentry
Lowly requyryd to euery creature,
As ferre as myght & power may endure,

727

With hoole hert[e], body, wyll, & mynde,
To be content with suche as þey here fynde.

Explicit.

The fynders of the vij. sciences artificiall.

I]ubal was fadyr & fynder of song,
Of consonantes, and of armony,
By noyse & strooke of hamors þat were strong.
Fro Iubal came furst þe melody
Of sugryd musyk, and of mynstralsy,
So procedyng down fro man to man
Practyke of concorde, as I haue told, began.

Saturne.

Saturne taught furst þe tylþe of londe,
Hys doughter Ceres made men ere & sowe,
The goldyn worde he compassyd with his honde,
Of sede and grayne þe difference to knowe,
Of trees, herbes, growyng hygh & lowe;
Somer seson, þere bawme aboue moste swote,
And in cold wynter þer vertu in the rote.

Mars.

Though myghty Mars be callyd god of werres,
Prudent Pallas founde out furst armure,
Thys godde, þys goddes, syt among þe sterres,
Tubalcaym of stele founde þe temprure,
Forgyd plates, long[e] to endure,
And þus these iij., by marciall apparayll,
Be callyd in bokes patrones of batayll.

Minerua.

Crafte of wolles & of cloth weuyng
Founde Minerua, of spynnyng chief goddesse;
And Delbora of lynen cloþe makyng
The practyke sought, bokes bere wytnesse;
In all suche craft was a chief masteresse;

728

But Semiranus, as bokes specyfy,
Fonde out furst breche, myn auctor lyst nat ly.

Diana.

Lo, here Diana, princesse of venery,
In forest walkyng lyke an hunteresse,
Hauyng her paleyce ferre aboue the sky,
Callyd Lucina there shewyng her bryghtnes,
Of huntyng, hawkyng, fysshyng, chefe goddesse,
Euery moneþ her cours she doþe renew,
Now full, now wane, now bryght, now pale of hewe.

Mercurius.

Mercury, callyd for mannys gret auayle
God of eloquence, and merchandyse;
Argon fond furst craft of shyp & sayle,
And Neptunus þe saylyng gan deuyse
To passe þe see, in many sondry wyse,
Whyche to merchauntes ys full necessary,
Theyr stuff, theyr bales, fro londe to londe to cary.

Phebus.

Phebus fond furst craft of medicine,
By touche of pounce, veyne, & inspeccions.
Esculapius taught þe doctrine
To knowe þe qualytees of .iiij. compleccions,
Of letuaryes, drogges, & pocions;
And among all þere ys noþyng more mete
To helthe of man þen temperat diete.

Explicit.

The .vij. sciences callyd lyberall.

O]f seuyn sciences, callyd lyberall,
Gramer techeþ congruite & wrytyng,
Philosophy in especiall
Telleþ natures of euery maner thyng,
Ars metryk craft of proporcionyng,

729

Musyk concord, rethoryk eloquence,
Astronomy by diurnall meuyng
The world gouerneth, by heuynly influence.

Auctors of seuyn sciences.

Auctor of gramer was whilom Precian,
Ewclyd excellyd in craft of geometry,
Tully in rethoryk was a famous man,
Hermogines fadyr of phylosophy,
Boys wrote of musyk & of melody,
Of methephysyk wrote Aristotyles,
Albimazar of astronomy,
Founders of sciences & vertuos encrese.

Explicit.

The Dysposicion of the .vij. planettes.

S]aturne disposeþ a man to melancoly,
Iubiter reyseþ man to gret nobles,
And sturdy Mars to stryfe werre & enuy,
Phebus to wysdom & to hygh prowes,
Mercurius to be changeable & dowbylnes,
The moone mutable, now glad, & now drypyng,
And Gere Venus, full of new fangylnes,
Makyn men vnstable here in her lyuyng.

Explicit.

The dysposicion of the xij. sygnes.

20

A]ries ys hoot, & also coleryk
And in þe hede kepeþ hys dominacion;
Taurus in þe þrote, be man hoole or seke,
That part haþ he in supportacion;
Geminus eke by reuelucion
Haþe in armes hys influence & werkyng,
How shuld a man þan be stedfast of lyuyng?

21

Cancer haþe the brest in hys demayne,
Of the hert lordshyp haþe þe Lyon,

730

Virgo þe gouernaunce haþe of twayne,
Of nouell & wombe, & Libra lower downe.
The membres of man gouerneþ þe Scorpioun,
By thys reson the philosofyrs seyng
Ys that man cannat be stedfast in lyuyng.

22

Of all the sygnes rekenyd here-to-forn,
The thyes of man gouerneþ þe Sagyttary
And knees & legges haþe þe Capricorn,
Eke þe calfe downeward perteyneþ to Aquary
And fro þe feete, I wyll nat long[er] tary,
Piscis haþ theym in hys kepyng;
Howe shuld a man þan be stedefast of lyuyng?

Explicit.

[Iohn Lidgat: Stow.]

The disposicion of þe iiij. elementes.

23

T]he world so wyde, the ayre so remeuable,
The ȝely man so lytell of stature,
The greue & þe ground of cloþyng so mutable,
The fyre so hote & subtyle of nature,
Watyr neuer in oon, what creature
Made of þese .iiij., whyche be so flyttyng
May stable be, here in hyr lyuyng?

24

Man of þe erþe haþe slouþe & heuynes,
Flux and reflux by water made vnstable,
Kyndely of ayre he haþ also swetnes,
Be fyre made hasty, wode, & not tretable;
To erþe ayene, by processe comparable,
Selde or neuer in oon poynt abydyng,
Howe shuld he þan be stable in lyuyng?

25

Fyre resolueth erthe to be watery,
And watery þynges fyre turneþ in eyre,
Makeþ harde þynges nesshe, and fyre eke naturall[y]
Makeþ nesshe þynges harde by his soden repeyr,
Though harde he ys þat shone bryght & feyre,

731

Whyche element haþe in man gret workyng,
How shuld he þan be stable in lyuyng?

26

Ayre of kynde yeueþ inspiracion
To mannys hert þyng most temperatyf,
And kyndly hete yeueþ respiracion,
Of subtyll, rare, & a gret medegatyf,
To tempre þe spyrytes by vertew vegetatyf;
And syþ þat ayre in man ys þus meuyng,
How shuld he þan be stedfast of lyuyng?

27

Watyr somwhyle ys congeylyd to crystall,
Colde & moyst as of hys nature,
Now ebbeþ, now floweþ, whyche in speciall
The myght of þe mone doþe her course recure,
And syþ þys element by recorde of scripture,
Ys oon of þe .iiij, compact of our makyng,
I wold enquere, what maner creature,
Made of þese .iiij, were stedfast of lyuyng?

Explicit.

[Iohn Lidgatt: Stow.]

The disposicion of þe iiij. complexyons.

28

T]he sanguyne man of blood haþe hardynes,
Wrought to be louyng, large of dyspence,
The fleumatyk man slow, oppressyd with dulnes,
Whyte of vysage, rude of elloquence,
And syþ þer ys in man suche difference,
By complexions diuersely workyng,
Answere herto, concludyng þys sentence,
How þat man myght be stedfast of lyuyng.

29

The coleryk man, subtyle & dysseuable,
Sclender, lene, & cytryne of hys colour,
Wroþe sodenly, wood, & nat tretable,
And full of envy, malyce, & rancour,
Dry, þursty, & a gret wastour,

732

Dysposyd to many a sondry thyng,
With pompe & bost hasty to do rygour,
Ben soche men stable here in þeyr lyuyng?

30

Melancolyk of hys complexioun,
Dysposyd of kynde for to be fraudulent,
Malicious, froward, & be decepcioun
Forgyng discordes, double of hys entent;
Whyche þynges peysyd by good avysement,
I dar conclude, as to my felyng,
By confirmacion as in sentement,
Few men byn here stabyll in her lyuyng.

Explicit.

[Iohn Lydgatt: Stow.]

The dysposicion of þe .iiij. tymes of þe yere.

31

M]an haþ in somer drynesse & hete,
In theyr bok as auctors lyst expresse,
And when Phebus entreþ þe Ariete
Dygest humours vpward done hem dresse,
Porys opyn þat seson, of swetnesse
And exaltacions, diuerse wyrkyng,
How shuld man [þan] be stable in lyuyng?

32

Autumpne to Veer foundyn ys contrary,
As Galien seyþ in all hys qualytees,
Disposyng a man þat season to vary,
To many vncouþe straunge infirmitees,
Of canyculer dayes takyng þe propertees,
By reuelacion of manyfold changyng,
How shuld man þan be stable in lyuyng?

33

Man haþe in wynter in þis present lyfe,
By dysposicion, colde and humylyte,
Whyche season ys to fleume nutrytyfe,
Spoyleþ herbe and tre of þer fresshe beaute,
Closeþ, constreyneþ, the poores, men may se,
Causeþ kyndly hete, inwarde to be wyrkyng,
How shuld man þen be stable in lyuyng?

733

34

By Veere man haþe hete and eke moystour,
A-twene boþe a man[er] of temperaunce,
On whyche tweyne gret lust he doþ recouer,
Yef colde not put hym in dystemperaunce.
Thus meynt with drede ys mannys gouernance,
Ay in no certeyn, by recorde of wrytyng,
Howe shuld he than be stable in lyuyng?

Explicit.

The Dysposicion of þe World.

[by Lydgatt: Stow.]

T]he monþes vary, eueryche haþ his sygne
And harde hit ys all wedyrs for to know,
The tyme somewhyle ys gracious & benygne,
And vppon hilles and valeys þat ben low
The iiij. wyndes contrariosly do blow
In every storme man ys here abydyng,
Som to release, & som to overthrow,
How shuld man þan be stedfast of lyuyng?

36

The worldly answer, fortune transmutable,
Trust of lordshyp a feynt sekernes,
Euery seson varyeth, frendshyp ys vnstable,
Now myrthe, now sorow, now hele, now sekenes,
Now ebbe of pouert, now flodys of ryches,
All stont in chaunge, now losse, now wynnyng,
Tempest in see & wyndes sturdynes
Makeþ men vnstable & ferefull of lyuyng.

37

Tytan somwhyle fresshly doþe appere,
Then commeþ a storme & doþ hys lyght deface,
The soile of somer with floures glad of chere
Wynters rasure doþe all awey rase;
All erþely þynges sodenly do passe
Whyche may haue here no seker abydyng,
Eke all astates false fortune doth manase,
How shuld a man þan be stedfast of lyuyng?

734

38

Beholde & see þe transmutacion,
Howe þe seson of grene lusty age,
Force of Iuuentus, strong, hardy as a lyoun,
Tyme of manhode, wysdom, sad of corage,
And howe Decrepitus turnyth to dotage,
Cast all in a balance, & foryete noþyng,
And thow shalt fynd þis lyfe a pylgremage,
In whyche þer ys no stedfast abydyng.

39

Then lyft vp thyne ey vnto [þe] heuyn,
And pray þy Lord, whyche ys eternall,
That syt so ferr aboue þe sterres seuyn,
In hys p[a]lace most imperyall,
To graunt þe grace, here in þys lyfe mortall,
Contricion, shryft, & howsyll at þy departyng,
And, er þou passe hens, remyssion finall
Towarde þe lyfe, where ioy ys euerlastyng.

Explicit.

Amen.

[Iohn Lydgat: Stow.]