The Minor Poems of John Lydgate edited from all available mss. with an attempt to establish The Lydgate Canon: By Henry Noble MacCracken |
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| 47, 48. |
| 49. |
| 50. |
| 51. |
| 52. |
| 53. |
| 54. |
The dysposicion of þe .iiij. tymes of þe yere. |
| 54B. |
| 55. |
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 | The Minor Poems of John Lydgate |  |
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 Minor Poems of John Lydgate | |