III. Didactic, Moral and Allegorical Poems.
81. To dy, to dy! what haue I
Offendit þat deth is so hasty!
1
O marcyfull God, maker of all mankynd,
What meneth dethe in his mynd,
& I so yonge of age—
Now deth is vnkynd;
For he seyth: “Man! stop thy wynde,”
Þus he doth rage.
2
✗ So dye shall then
All Crystyn men;
No man wottith his tyme, ne when,
Wherfor thow may,
Yf þou be hye,
Thynk non oþer but þou shalt dye.
[Death and the Four Ages of Man.]
1
In XXti yere of age, remembre we euerychon,
Þat deth will not be strange, to taste vs by on & on,
With siknes grevows, which makith man to grone,
Deth biddith beware, þis day a man, to-morow non.
2
In XL yere of age, whan man is stowt & stronge,
Trow ye þat deth dare stryk hym or do hym any wrong?
Yes, for-soth, with worldly deth he vill not spare among,
& seyth: “Man, beware! þou shalt not tary long.”
3
In LX yere of age, then tyme is cum to thynk—
How he will cum to þe hows, & sit on þe bynke,
Comaundyng man to stowpe toward þe pittis brynk;
Than farewell, worldis joy, whan deth shall bid a man drynk.
4
The last age of mankynd is called ‘decrepitus,’
Whan man lakkith reason, than deth biddith hym thus:
Owt of þis world his lyf to pas with mercy of Jhesus;
Deth strykith with sword / & seyth: “Man! it shal be thus.”
Explicit.
