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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) FRAGMENT B. - The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. 1 (Romaunt of the Rose, Minor Poems)
FRAGMENT B. - Geoffrey Chaucer, The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. 1 (Romaunt of the Rose, Minor Poems) [1899]Edition used:The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, edited from numerous manuscripts by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat (2nd ed.) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899). 7 vols.
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FRAGMENT B.
-
- Whan I had smelled the savour swote,
- No wille hadde I fro thens yit go,
- But somdel neer it wente I tho,
- To take it; but myn hond, for drede,
- Ne dorste I to the rose bede,1710
- For sharpe, of many maneres,
- Netles, thornes, and hoked breres;
- muche they distourbled me,[ ]
- For sore I dradde to harmed be.
-
- The God of Love, with bowe bent,1715
- That al day set hadde his talent
- To pursuen and to spyen me,
- Was stonding by a fige-tree.
- And whan he sawe how that I
- Had chosen so ententifly1720
- The , more unto my pay[ ]
- Than any other that I say,
- He took an arowe ful sharply whet,
- And in his bowe whan it was set,
- He streight up to his ere drough1725
- The stronge bowe, that was so tough,
- And at me so wonder smerte,
- That through unto myn herte
- The takel smoot, and depe it wente.
- And ther-with-al such cold me hente,1730
- That, under clothes warme and softe,
- that day I have chevered ofte.
-
- Whan I was hurt thus in stounde,
- I fel doun plat unto the grounde.
- Myn herte failed and feynted ay,1735
- And long tyme a-swone I .
- But whan I com out of swoning,
- And hadde wit, and my feling,
- I was al maat, and wende ful wel
- Of blood have loren a ful gret del.1740
- But certes, the arowe that in me stood
- Of me ne drew no drope of blood,
- For-why I found my wounde al .
- Than took I with myn hondis tweye
- The arowe, and ful fast out it plight,1745
- And in the pulling sore I sight.
- So at the last the shaft of tree
- I drough out, with the fethers three.
- But the hoked heed, y-wis,
- The Beautee callid is,1750
- Gan so depe in myn herte passe,
- That I it mighte nought arace;
- But in myn herte stille it stood,
- Al bledde I not a drope of blood.
- I was bothe anguissous and trouble1755
- For the peril that I saw double;
- I niste what to seye or ,
-
- Ne gete a leche my woundis to;
- For neithir thurgh gras ne rote,
- Ne hadde I help of hope ne bote.1760
- But to the ever-mo
- Myn herte drew; for al my wo,
- My thought was in non other thing.
- For hadde it been in my keping,
- It wolde have brought my lyf agayn.1765
- For , I dar wel seyn,
- The sight only, and the savour,
- Alegged muche of my langour.
-
- Than gan I for to drawe me
- Toward the botoun fair to see;1770
- And Love hadde gete him, in throwe,
- Another arowe into his bowe,
- And for to shete gan him dresse;
- The arowis name was Simplesse.
- And whan that Love gan nyghe me nere,1775
- He drow it up, withouten were,[ ]
- And shet at me with al his might,
- So that this arowe anon-right
- Thourghout eigh, as it was founde,
- Into myn herte hath maad a wounde.1780
- Thanne I anoon dide al my crafte
- For to drawen out the shafte,
- And ther-with-al I sighed eft.
- But in myn herte the heed was left,
- Which ay encresid my desyre,1785
- Unto the drawe nere;
- And ever, mo that me was wo,
- The more desyr hadde I to go
- Unto the roser, where that grew
- The fresshe botoun so bright of hewe.1790
- Betir me have leten be;
- But it bihoved nedes me
- To don right as myn herte bad.
- For ever the body must be lad
- Aftir the herte; in wele and wo,1795
- Of force togidre they must go.
- But never this archer wolde
- To shete at me with alle his ,
- And for to make me to him mete.
-
- The thridde arowe he gan to shete,1800
- Whan best his tyme he mighte espye,
- The which was named Curtesye;
- Into myn herte it dide avale.
- A-swone I fel, bothe deed and pale;
- Long tyme I lay, and stired nought,1805
- Til I abraid out my thought.
- And faste than I avysed me
- To out the shafte of tree;
- But ever the heed was left bihinde
- For ought I couthe pulle or winde.1810
- So sore it whan I was hit,
- That by no craft I might it flit;
- But anguissous and ful of thought,
- I such wo, my wounde ay wrought,
- That somoned me alway to go1815
- Toward the rose, that plesed me so;
- But I ne durste in no manere,
- Bicause the archer was so nere.
- For evermore gladly, as I rede,
- Brent child of fyr hath muche drede.[ ]1820
- And, certis yit, for al my peyne,
- Though that I sigh yit arwis reyne,
- And grounde quarels sharpe of stele,
- Ne for no payne that I might fele,
- Yit might I not my-silf withholde1825
- The faire roser to biholde;
- For Love me yaf sich hardement
- For to fulfille his comaundement.
- Upon my feet I roos up than
- Feble, as a forwoundid man;1830
- And forth to gon [my] might I sette,
- And for the archer nolde I lette.
- Toward the roser fast I drow;
- But thornes sharpe mo than y-now
- Ther were, and also thistels thikke,1835
- And breres, brimme for to prikke,
- That I ne mighte gete grace
- The rowe thornes for to passe,
- To sene the roses fresshe of hewe.
- I must abide, though it me rewe,1840
- The hegge aboute so thikke was,
- That closid the roses in compas.
-
- But o thing lyked me right wele;
- I was so nygh, I mighte fele
- Of the the swote odour,1845
- And also see the fresshe colour;
- And that right gretly lyked me,
- That I so neer it see.
- Sich Ioye anoon therof hadde I,
- That I forgat my malady.1850
- To [it] hadde I sich delyt,
- Of sorwe and angre I was al quit,
- And of my woundes that I had ;[ ]
- For no-thing lyken me might
- Than dwellen by the roser ay,1855
- And never to passe away.
-
- But whan a whyle I had be ,
- The God of Love, which al to-shar
- Myn herte with his arwis kene,
- him to yeve me woundis grene.1860
- He shet at me ful hastily
- An arwe named Company,
- The takel is ful able
- To make these ladies merciable.
- Than I anoon gan chaungen hewe1865
- For grevaunce of my wounde newe,
- That I agayn fel in swoning,
- And sighed sore in compleyning.
- Sore I compleyned that my sore
- On me gan greven more and more.1870
- I had non hope of allegeaunce;[ ]
- So nigh I drow to desperaunce,
- I rought of ne of lyf,
- that love wolde me dryf.
- If me a martir wolde he make,1875
- I might his power nought forsake.
- And whyl for anger thus I wook,
- The God of Love an arowe took;
- Ful sharp it was and pugnaunt,
- And it was callid Fair-Semblaunt,1880
- The which in no wys wol consente,
- That any lover him repente
- To serve his love with herte and alle,
- For any peril that may bifalle.
- But though this arwe was kene grounde1885
- As any rasour that is founde,
- To cutte and kerve, at the poynt,
- The God of Love it hadde anoynt
- With a precious oynement,
- Somdel to yeve aleggement1890
- Upon the woundes that he had
- Through the body in my herte ,
- To helpe hir sores, and to cure,
- And that they may the bet endure.
- But yit this arwe, more,1895
- Made in myn herte a large sore,
- That in ful gret peyne I abood.
- But ay the oynement wente abrood;
- Throughout my woundes large and wyde
- It spredde aboute in every syde;1900
- Through whos vertu and whos might
- Myn herte Ioyful was and light.
- I had ben deed and al to-shent
- But for the precious oynement.
- The shaft I drow out of the arwe,1905
- Roking for wo right wondir narwe;[ ]
- But the heed, which made me smerte,
- Lefte bihinde in myn herte
- With other foure, I dar wel say,[ ]
- That never wol be take away;1910
- But the oynement halp me wele.
- And yit sich sorwe dide I fele,
-
- That al-day I chaunged hewe,
- Of my woundes fresshe and newe,
- As men might see in my visage.1915
- The arwis were so fulle of rage,
- So variaunt of diversitee,
- That men in everich mighte see
- Bothe gret anoy and eek swetnesse,
- And Ioye meynt with bittirnesse.1920
- Now were they esy, now were they wood,
- In I felte bothe harm and good;
- Now sore without aleggement,
- Now with oynement;
- It here, and there,1925
- Thus ese and anger togider were.
-
- The God of Love deliverly
- Com lepand to me hastily,
- And seide to me, in gret ,
- ‘Yeld thee, for thou may not escape!1930
- May no defence availe thee here;
- Therfore I rede mak no daungere.
- If thou wolt yelde thee ,
- Thou shalt rather have mercy.
- He is a fool in sikernesse,1935
- That with daunger or stoutnesse
- Rebellith ther that he shulde plese;
- In such folye is litel ese.
- Be meek, wher thou must nedis bowe;
- To stryve ageyn is nought thy prowe.1940
- Come at ones, and have y-do,
- For I wol that it be so.
- Than yeld thee here debonairly.’
- And I answerid ful humbly,
- ‘Gladly, sir; at your bidding,1945
- I wol me yelde in thing.
- To your servyse I wol me take;
- For god defende that I shulde make
- Ageyn your bidding resistence;
- I wol not doon so gret offence;1950
- For if I dide, it were no skile.
- Ye may do with me what ye wile,
- Save or spille, and also sloo;
- Fro you in no wyse may I go.
- My lyf, my deth, is in your honde,1955
- I may not laste out of your bonde.
- Pleyn at your list I yelde me,
- Hoping in herte, that sumtyme ye
- Comfort and ese shulle me sende;
- Or ellis shortly, this is the ende,1960
- Withouten helthe I moot ay dure,
- Bu -if ye take me to your cure.[ ]
- Comfort or helthe how shuld I have,
- Sith ye me hurte, but ye me save?
- The helthe of moot be founde1965
- Wher-as they token firste hir wounde.
- And if ye list of me to make
- Your prisoner, I wol it take
- Of herte and wil, fully at gree.
- Hoolly and pleyn I yelde me,1970
- feyning or feyntyse,
- To be governed by your empryse.
- Of you I here so much prys,
- I wol ben hool at your devys
- For to fulfille your lyking1975
- And repente for no-thing,
- Hoping to have yit in som tyde
- Mercy, of that [that] I abyde.’
- And with that covenaunt yeld I me,
- Anoon doun kneling upon my knee,1980
- Profering for to kisse his feet;
- But for no-thing he wolde lete,
- And seide, ‘I love thee bothe and preyse,
- that thyn answer doth me ese,
- For thou answerid so curteisly.1985
- For now I wot wel uttirly,
- That thou art gentil, by thy speche.
- For though a man fer wolde seche,
- He shulde not finden, in certeyn,
- No sich answer of no vileyn;1990
- For sich a word ne mighte nought
- Isse out of a vilayns thought.
- Thou shalt not lesen of thy speche,
- For thy helping wol I eche,
- And eek encresen that I may.1995
- But first I wol that thou obay
- Fully, for thyn avauntage,
- Anon to do me here homage.
- And kisse thou shalt my mouth,[ ]
- Which to no vilayn was never couth2000
- For to aproche it, ne for to touche;
- For sauf cherlis I ne vouche[ ]
- That they shulle never neigh it nere.
- For curteys, and of fair manere,
- Wel taught, and ful of gentilnesse2005
- He ben, that shal me ,
- And also of ful high fraunchyse,
- That shal atteyne to that empryse.
-
- And first of o thing warne I thee,
- That peyne and gret adversitee2010
- He mot endure, and eek travaile,
- That shal me serve, faile.
- But ther-ageyns, thee to comforte,
- And with thy servise to desporte,
- Thou mayst ful glad and Ioyful be2015
- So good a maister to have as me,
- And lord of so high renoun.[ ]
- I bere of Love the ,
- Of Curtesye the banere;
- For I am of the silf manere,2020
- Gentil, curteys, meek and free;
- That who ever ententif be
- Me to honoure, doute, and serve,
- And also that he him observe
- Fro trespas and fro vilanye,2025
- And him governe in curtesye
- With wil and with entencioun;
- For whan he first in my prisoun
- Is caught, than muste he uttirly,
- Fro ful bisily,2030
- Caste him gentil for to be,
- If he desyre helpe of me.’
-
- Anoon more delay,
- Withouten daunger or affray,
- I bicom his man anoon,2035
- And gave him thankes many a oon,
- And kneled doun with hondis Ioynt,[ ]
- And made it in my port ful ;
- The Ioye wente to myn herte rote.
- Whan I had kissed his mouth so swote,2040
- I had sich mirthe and sich lyking,
- It cured me of languisshing.
- He askid of me than hostages:—
- ‘I have,’ he seide, ‘ fele homages[ ]
- Of oon and other, where I have been2045
- ofte, withouten wene.[ ]
- These felouns, fulle of falsitee,
- Have many sythes bigyled me,
- And falshede hir lust acheved,
- Wherof I repente and am agreved.2050
- And I hem gete in my daungere,[ ]
- Hir falshed shulle they bye ful dere.
- But for I love thee, I seye thee pleyn,
- I wol of thee be more certeyn;
- For thee so sore I wol now binde,2055
- That thou away ne shalt not winde
- For to denyen the covenaunt,
- Or doon that is not avenaunt.
- That thou were fals it were gret reuthe,
- Sith thou semest so ful of treuthe.’2060
-
- ‘Sire, if thee list to undirstande,
- I merveile thee asking this demande.
- For-why or wherfore shulde ye[ ]
- Ostages or borwis aske of me,
- Or any other sikirnesse,2065
- Sith ye , in sothfastnesse,
- That ye have me so,
- And hool myn herte me fro,
- That it wol do for me no-thing
- But-if it be at your bidding?2070
- Myn herte is yours, and myn right nought,
- As it bihoveth, in dede and thought,
- Redy in alle to worche your wille,
- Whether so turne to good or ille.
- So sore it lustith you to plese,2075
- No man therof may you .[ ]
- Ye have theron set sich Iustise,
- That it is werreyd in many wise.
- And if ye doute it nolde obeye,
- Ye may therof do make a keye,2080
- And holde it with you for ostage.’
- ‘Now certis, this is noon outrage,’
- Quoth Love, ‘and fully I accord;
- For of the body he is ful lord
- That hath the herte in his ;2085
- Outrage it were to asken more.’
-
- Than of his he drough[ ]
- A litel keye, fetys y-nough,
- Which was of gold polisshed clere,
- And seide to me, ‘With this keye here2090
- Thyn herte to me now wol I shette;
- For al my Iowellis loke and knette[ ]
- I binde under this litel keye,
- That no wight may carye aweye;
- This keye is ful of gret poeste.’2095
- With which anoon he touchid me
- Undir the syde ful softely,
- That he myn herte sodeynly
- Without anoy had spered,[ ]
- That yit right nought it hath me dered.2100
- Whan he had doon his wil al-out,
- And I had put him out of dout,
- ‘Sire,’ I seide, ‘I have right gret wille
- Your lust and plesaunce to fulfille.
- Loke ye my servise take gree,2105
- By thilke feith ye owe to me.
- I seye nought for recreaundyse,
- For I nought doute of your servyse.
- the servaunt traveileth in vayne,
- That for to serven doth his payne2110
- Unto that lord, which in no wyse
- Can him no thank for his servyse.’
-
- Love seide, ‘Dismaye thee nought,
- Sin thou for sucour hast me sought,
- In thank thy servise wol I take,2115
- And high of I wol thee make,
- If wikkidnesse ne hindre thee;
- But, as I hope, it shal nought be.
- To worship no wight by aventure
- May come, but-if he peyne endure.2120
- Abyde and suffre thy distresse;
- That hurtith now, it shal be lesse;
- I wot my-silf what may thee save,
- What medicyne thou woldist have.
- And if thy trouthe to me thou kepe,2125
- I shal unto thyn helping eke,
- To cure thy woundes and make hem clene,
- Wher-so they be olde or grene;
- Thou shalt be holpen, at wordisfewe.
- For certeynly thou shalt wel shewe2130
- Wher that thou servest with good wille,
- For to and fulfille
- My comaundementis, day and night,
- Whiche I to lovers yeve of right.’
-
- ‘Ah, sire, for goddis love,’ seide I,2135
- ‘Er ye passe hens, ententifly
- Your comaundementis to me ye say,
- And I shal kepe hem, if I may;
- For hem to kepen is al my thought.
- And if so be I wot hem nought,2140
- Than may I unwitingly.[ ]
- Wherfore I pray you ,
- With al myn herte, me to lere,
- That I trespasse in no manere.’
-
- The god of love than chargid me2145
- Anoon, as ye shal here and see,
- Word by word, by right empryse,
- So as the Romance shal devyse.
-
- The maister lesith his tyme to lere,
- the disciple wol not here.2150
- It is but veyn on him to swinke,
- That on his lerning wol not thinke.
- Who-so lust love, let him entende,
- For now the Romance .[ ]
- Now is good to here, in fay,2155
- If any be that can it say,
- And poynte it as the resoun is
- Set; for other-gate, y-wis,
- It shal nought wel in alle thing
- Be brought to good undirstonding:2160
- For a reder that poyntith ille[ ]
- A good sentence may ofte spille.
- The book is good at the ending,
- Maad of newe and lusty thing;
- For who-so wol the ending here,2165
- The crafte of love he shal now lere,
- If that wol so long abyde,
- Til I this Romance may unhyde,
- And undo the signifiaunce
- Of this dreme into Romaunce.[ ]2170
- The sothfastnesse that now is hid,
- Without coverture shal be kid,
- Whan I undon have this dreming,
- Wherin no word is of lesing.
-
- ‘Vilany, at the biginning,2175
- I wol,’ Love, ‘over alle thing,
- Thou leve, if thou wolt [not] be
- Fals, and trespasse me.
- I curse and blame generally
- Alle hem that loven vilany;2180
- For vilany makith vilayn,
- And by his dedis a cherle is seyn.
- Thise vilayns arn pitee,
- Frendshipe, love, and al bounte.
- I nil my servyse2185
- Hem that ben vilayns of empryse.
-
- ‘But undirstonde in thyn entent,
- That this is not myn entendement,
- To clepe no wight in no ages
- Only gentil for his linages.[ ]2190
- But who-so is vertuous,
- And in his port nought outrageous,
- Whan sich oon thou seest thee biforn,
- Though he be not gentil born,
- Thou mayst wel seyn, this is soth,2195
- That he is gentil, bicause he doth
- As longeth to a gentilman;
- Of hem non other deme I can.
- For certeynly, withouten drede,
- A cherl is demed by his dede,2200
- Of hye or lowe, as ye may see,
- Or of what kinrede that he be.
- Ne say nought, for noon yvel wille,[ ]
- Thing that is to holden stille;
- It is no worship to misseye.2205
- Thou mayst ensample take of Keye,[ ]
- That was somtyme, for misseying,
- Hated bothe of olde and ;
- As fer as Gaweyn, the worthy,
- Was preysed for his curtesy,2210
- Keye was hated, for he was fel,
- Of word dispitous and cruel.
- Wherfore be wyse and aqueyntable,
- Goodly of word, and resonable
- Bothe to lesse and eek to .2215
- And whan thou comest ther men ar,
- Loke that thou have in custom ay
- First to salue , if thou may:
- And if it falle, that of hem
- Salue thee first, be not ,2220
- But quyte him curteisly anoon
- Without abiding, er they goon.
-
- ‘For no-thing eek thy tunge applye
- To speke wordis of .
- To vilayn speche in no degree2225
- Lat never thy lippe unbounden be.
- For I nought holde him, in good feith,
- Curteys, that foule wordis seith.
- And alle wimmen serve and preyse,
- And to thy power hir honour reyse.2230
- And if that any missayere
- Dispyse wimmen, that thou mayst here,
- Blame him, and bidde him holde him stille.
- And thy might and al thy wille
- Wimmen and ladies for to plese,2235
- And to do thing that may hem ese,
- That they ever speke good of thee,
- For so thou mayst best preysed be.
-
- ‘Loke fro pryde thou kepe thee wele;
- For thou mayst bothe perceyve and fele,2240
- That pryde is bothe foly and sinne;
- And he that pryde hath, him withinne,
- Ne may his herte, in no wyse,
- Meken ne souplen to servyse.
- For pryde is founde, in every part,2245
- Contrarie unto Loves art.
- And he that loveth
- Shulde him contene Iolily,
- pryde in sondry wyse,
- And him disgysen in queyntyse.2250
- For queynt array, drede,
- Is no-thing proud, who takith hede;
- For fresh array, as men may see,
- pryde may ofte be.
-
- ‘Mayntene thy-silf aftir thy rent,2255
- Of robe and eek of garnement;
- For many sythe fair clothing
- A man amendith in mich thing.
- And loke alwey that they be shape,
- What garnement that thou shalt make.2260
- Of him that can beste do,
- With al that perteyneth therto.
- Poyntis and sleves be wel sittand,
- Right and the hand.
- Of shoon and botes, newe and faire,2265
- Loke at the leest thou have a paire;
- And that they sitte so fetisly,
- That these may uttirly
- Merveyle, sith that they sitte so pleyn,
- How they come on or of ageyn.2270
- Were gloves, with [ ]
- Of silk; and alwey with good chere
- Thou yeve, if thou have richesse;
- And if thou have nought, spend the lesse.
- Alwey be mery, if thou may,2275
- But waste not thy good alway.
- Have hat of floures fresh as May,
- Chapelet of roses of ;[ ]
- For sich array ne but lyte.[ ]
- Thyn hondis wasshe, thy teeth make whyte,[ ]2280
- And let no filthe upon thee be.
- Thy nailes blak if thou mayst see,
- Voide it awey deliverly,
- And kembe thyn heed right Iolily.
- not thy visage in no wyse,[ ]2285
- For that of love is not thempryse;
- For love doth haten, as I finde,
- A beaute that cometh not of kinde.
- Alwey in herte I rede thee
- Glad and mery for to be,2290
- And be as Ioyful as thou can;
- Love hath no Ioye of sorowful man.
- That yvel is ful of curtesye
- That in his maladye;[ ]
- For ever of love the siknesse2295
- Is meynd with swete and bitternesse.[ ]
- The sore of love is merveilous;
- For now the lover [is] Ioyous,
- Now can he pleyne, now can he grone,
- Now can he singen, now maken mone.2300
- To-day he pleyneth for hevinesse,[ ]
- To-morowe he pleyeth for .
- The lyf of love is ful contrarie,
- Which stoundemele can ofte varie.
- But if thou canst mirthis make,2305
- That men in gree wole gladly take,
- Do it goodly, I comaunde thee;
- For men sholde, wher-so-ever they be,
- Do thing that hem sitting is,[ ]
- For therof cometh good loos and pris.2310
- Wher-of that thou be vertuous,
- Ne be not straunge ne daungerous.
- For if that thou good rider be,
- Prike gladly, that men may se.
- In armes also if thou conne,2315
- Pursue, thou a name hast wonne.
- And if thy voice be fair and clere,
- Thou shalt maken gret daungere[ ]
- Whan to singe they goodly preye;
- It is thy worship for to obeye.2320
- Also to you it longith ay
- To harpe and giterne, daunce and play;
- For if he can wel foote and daunce,
- It may him greetly do avaunce.
- Among eek, for thy lady sake,2325
- Songes and complayntes that thou make;
- For that wol [hem] in hir herte,[ ]
- Whan they reden of thy smerte.
- Loke that no man for scarce thee holde,
- For that may greve thee manyfolde.2330
- Resoun wol that a lover be
- In his yiftes more large and free
- Than cherles that been not of loving.
- For who ther-of can any thing,
- He shal be leef ay for to yeve,2335
- In lore who so wolde leve;[ ]
- For he that, through a sodeyn sight,
- Or for a kissing, anon-right
- Yaf hool his herte in wille and thought,
- And to him-silf kepith right nought,2340
- Aftir , good resoun,[ ]
- He yeve his good in abandoun.
-
- ‘Now wol I shortly here reherce,
- Of that I have seid in verse,
- Al the sentence by and by,2345
- In wordis fewe compendiously,
- That thou the mayst on hem thinke,
- Whether-so it be thou wake or winke;
- For [that] the wordis litel greve
- A man to kepe, whanne it is breve.2350
-
- ‘Who-so with Love wol goon or ryde
- He mot be curteys, and void of pryde,
- Mery and fulle of Iolite,
- And of largesse alosed be.[ ]
-
- ‘First I Ioyne thee, in penaunce,2355
- That ever, withoute repentaunce,
- Thou set thy thought in thy loving,
- To laste withoute repenting;
- And thenke upon thy mirthis swete,
- That shal folowe aftir whan ye mete.2360
-
- ‘And for thou trewe to love shalt be,
- I wol, and comaunde thee,
- That in oo place thou sette, al hool,
- Thyn herte, withouten halfen dool,
- For trecherie, sikernesse;[ ]2365
- For I lovede never doublenesse.
- To many his herte that wol ,
- Everiche shal have but litel .
- But of him drede I me right nought,
- That in oo place settith his thought.2370
- Therefore in oo place it ,
- And lat it never thennes .
- For if thou yevest it in lening,
- I holde it but a wrecchid thing:
- Therefore yeve it hool and quyte,2375
- And thou shalt have the more merite.
- If it be lent, than aftir soon,
- The bountee and the thank is doon;
- But, in love, free yeven thing
- Requyrith a gret guerdoning.2380
- Yeve it in yift al quit fully,
- And make thy yift debonairly;
- For men that yift holde more dere
- That yeven with gladsome chere.
- That yift nought to preisen is2385
- That man yeveth, maugre his.[ ]
- Whan thou hast yeven thyn herte, as I
- Have seid thee here openly,
- Than aventures shulle thee falle,
- Which harde and hevy been withalle.2390
- For ofte whan thou bithenkist thee
- Of thy loving, wher-so thou be,
- Fro folk thou must depart in hy,
- That noon perceyve thy malady,
-
2395-2442. Not inG.; fromTh.
- But hyde thyn harm thou must alone,2395
- And go forth sole, and make thy mone.
- Thou shalt no whyl be in oo stat,
- But whylom cold and whylom hat;
- Now reed as rose, now yelowe and fade.
- Such sorowe, I trowe, thou never hade;2400
- Cotidien, ne quarteyne,
- It is nat so ful of peyne.
- For ofte tymes it shal
- In love, among thy peynes ,
- That thou thy-self, al ,2405
- Foryeten shalt so utterly,
- That many tymes thou shalt be
- Stille as an image of tree,
- Dom as a stoon, without stering
- Of foot or hond, without speking.2410
- Than, sone after al thy peyne,
- To memorie shalt thou come ageyn,
- man abasshed wondre sore,
- And after sighen more and more.
- For wit thou wel, withouten wene,2415
- In swich astat ful oft have been
- That have the yvel of love assayd,
- Wher-through thou art so dismayd.
-
- ‘After, a thought shal take thee so,
- That thy love is to fer thee fro:2420
- Thou shalt say, “God, what may this be,
- That I ne may my lady see?
- Myne herte aloon is to her go,
- And I abyde al sole in wo,
- Departed fro myn owne thought,2425
- And with myne eyen see right nought.
-
- ‘ “Alas, myn eyen I ne may,
- My careful herte to convay!
- Myn hertes gyde but they be,
- I praise no-thing what ever they see.2430
- Shul they abyde thanne? nay;
- But without delay
- That myn herte desyreth so.
- For certeynly, but-if they go,
- A fool my-self I may wel holde,2435
- Whan I ne see what myn herte wolde.
- Wherfore I wol gon her to ,
- Or esed shal I never ,
- But I have som tokening.”
- Then gost thou forth without dwelling;2440
- But ofte thou faylest of thy desyre,
- Er thou mayst come hir any nere,
-
- And wastest in vayn thy passage.
- Than fallest thou in a newe rage;
- For want of sight thou ginnest morne,2445
- And homward pensif retorne.
- In greet mischeef than shalt thou be,
- For than agayn shal come to thee
- Sighes and pleyntes, with newe wo,
- That no icching prikketh so.2450
- Who wot it nought, he may go lere
- Of hem that byen love so dere.
-
- ‘No-thing thyn herte appesen may,
- That oft thou goon and assay,
- If thou mayst seen, by aventure,2455
- Thy lyves joy, thyn hertis cure;[ ]
- So that, by grace if thou might
- Atteyne of hir to have a sight,
- Than shalt thou doon non other dede
- But with that sight thyn eyen fede.2460
- That faire fresh whan thou mayst see,
- Thyn herte shal so ravisshed be,
- That never thou woldest, thy thankis, lete,[ ]
- Ne remove, for to see that swete.
- The more thou seest in sothfastnesse,2465
- The more thou coveytest that swetnesse;
- The more thyn herte brenneth in fyr,
- The more thyn herte&
[Here, at l. 4070 of the French text, ends the work of G. de Lorris; and begins the work of Jean de Meun.]
-
- Allas, in wanhope?—nay, pardee!
- For I wol never dispeired be.
- If Hope me faile, than am I4435
- Ungracious and unworthy;
- In Hope I wol comforted be,
- For Love, whan he bitaught hir me,
- Seide, that Hope, wher-so I go,
- Shulde ay be to my wo.4440
-
- But what and she my bete,
- And be to me curteis and swete?
- She is in no-thing ful certeyn.
- Lovers she put in ful gret peyn,
- And makith hem with wo to dele.4445
- Hir fair biheest disceyveth fele,
- For she wol bihote, sikirly,
- And failen aftir .
- A! that is a ful noyous thing!
- For many a lover, in loving,4450
- Hangeth upon hir, and trusteth fast,
- Whiche lese hir at the last.
- Of thing to comen she woot right nought;
- Therfore, if it be wysly sought,
- Hir counseille, foly is to take.4455
- For many tymes, whan she wol make
- A ful good silogisme, I drede
- That aftirward ther shal in dede
- Folwe an evel conclusioun;
- This me in confusioun.4460
- For many tymes I have it seen,
- That many have bigyled been,
- For trust that they have set in Hope,
- Which fel hem aftirward a-slope.[ ]
-
- But , gladly she wolde,4465
- That he, that wol him with hir holde,
- Hadde alle tymes purpos clere,
- Withoute deceyte, or any were.
- That she desireth sikirly;
- Whan I hir blamed, I did foly.4470
- But what avayleth hir good wille,
- Whan she may staunche my stounde ille?[ ]
- That helpith litel, that she may do,
- Outake biheest unto my wo.
- And heeste certeyn, in no wyse,4475
- Withoute yift, is not to .
-
- Whan heest and deed varie,
- They doon a gret contrarie.
- Thus am I possed up and doun
- With dool, thought, and confusioun;4480
- Of my disese ther is no noumbre.
- Daunger and Shame me encumbre,
- also, and Ielousye,
- And Wikked-Tunge, ful of envye,
- Of whiche the sharpe and cruel ire4485
- Ful oft me in gret martire.
- They han my Ioye fully let,
- Sith Bialacoil they have bishet
- Fro me in prisoun wikkidly,
- Whom I love so entirely,4490
- That it wol my bane be,
- But I the may him see.
- And yit moreover, wurst of alle,
- Ther is set to kepe, foule hir bifalle!
- A rimpled vekke, ronne in age,4495
- Frowning and yelowe in hir visage,
- Which in awayte lyth day and night,
- That noon of hem may have a sight.
- Now moot my sorwe enforced be;[ ]
- Ful soth it is, that Love yaf me4500
- Three wonder yiftes of his grace,
- Which I have lorn now in this place,
- Sith they ne may, withoute drede
- Helpen but litel, who taketh hede.
- For here availeth no Swete-Thought,4505
- And Swete-Speche helpith right nought.
- The thridde was called Swete-Loking,
- That now is lorn, without lesing.
- yiftes were fair, but not forthy
- They helpe me but ,[ ]4510
- But Bialacoil loosed be,
- To gon at large and to be free.
- For him my lyf lyth al in ,
- But-if he come the rather .
- Allas! I trowe it wol not been!4515
- For how shuld I evermore him seen?
- He may not out, and that is wrong,
- Bicause the tour is so strong.
- How shulde he out? by whos prowesse,
- Out of so strong a forteresse?4520
- By me, certeyn, it nil be do;
- God woot, I have no wit therto!
- But wel I woot I was in rage,
- Whan I to Love dide homage.
- Who was in cause, in sothfastnesse,[ ]4525
- But hir-silf, dame Idelnesse,
- Which me conveyed, thurgh fair prayere,
- To entre into that fair ?
- She was to blame me to leve,
- The which now doth me sore greve.4530
- A foolis word is nought to trowe,
- Ne worth an appel for to lowe;[ ]
- Men shulde him snibbe bittirly,
- At pryme temps of his foly.
- I was a fool, and she me leved,4535
- Thurgh whom I am right nought releved.
- accomplisshed al my wil,
- That now me greveth wondir il.
- Resoun me seide what shulde falle.
- A fool my-silf I may wel calle,4540
- That love I had not leyde,
- And trowed that dame Resoun seyde.
- Resoun had bothe skile and right,
- Whan she me blamed, with al hir might,
- To medle of love, that hath me shent;4545
- But certeyn now I wol repent.
-
- ‘And shulde I repent? Nay, parde!
- A fals traitour than shulde I be.
- The develles wolde me take,[ ]
- If I my wolde forsake,4550
- Or Bialacoil falsly bitraye.
- Shulde I at mischeef hate him? nay,
- Sith he now, for his curtesye,
- Is in prisoun of Ielousye.
- Curtesye certeyn dide he me,4555
- So , it may not yolden be,[ ]
- Whan he the hay passen me ,
- To kisse the rose, faire and swete;
- Shulde I therfore cunne him maugree?[ ]
- Nay, certeynly, it shal not be;4560
- For Love shal never, ,
- Here of me, thurgh word or wil,
- Offence or complaynt, more or lesse,
- Neither of Hope nor Idilnesse;
- For certis, it were wrong that I4565
- Hated hem for hir curtesye.
- Ther is not ellis, but suffre and ,
- And waken whan I shulde winke;[ ]
- Abyde in hope, til Love, thurgh chaunce,
- Sende me socour or allegeaunce,4570
- Expectant ay til I may mete
- To geten mercy of that swete.
-
- ‘Whylom I thinke how Love to me
- Seyde he wolde atte gree[ ]
- My servise, if unpacience4575
- Caused me to doon offence.
- He seyde, “In thank I shal it take,
- And high maister eek thee make,
- If wikkednesse ne reve it thee;
- But sone, I trowe, that shal not be.”4580
- These were his wordis by and by;
- It semed he loved me trewly.
- Now is ther not but serve him wele,
- If that I his thank to fele.
- My good, myn harm, lyth hool in me;4585
- In Love may no defaute be;
- For trewe Love failid never man.
- Sothly, the faute mot nedis than
- (As God forbede!) be founde in me,
- And how it cometh, I can not see.4590
- Now lat it goon as it may go;
- Whether Love wol socoure me or slo,
- He may do hool on me his wil.
- I am so sore bounde him til,
- From his servyse I may not fleen;4595
- For lyf and deth, withouten wene,
- Is in his hand; I may not chese;
- He may me do bothe winne and lese.
- And sith so sore he doth me greve,
- Yit, if my lust he wolde acheve4600
- To Bialacoil goodly to be,
- I yeve no force what felle on me.
- For though I dye, as I mot nede,
- I praye Love, of his goodlihede,
- To Bialacoil do gentilnesse,4605
- For whom I live in such distresse,
- That I mote deyen for penaunce.
- But first, withoute repentaunce,
- I wol me confesse in good entent,
- And make in haste my testament,4610
- As lovers doon that felen smerte:—
- To Bialacoil leve I myn herte
- Al hool, withoute departing,
- doublenesse of repenting.’
- Coment Raisoun vient a L’amant.
-
-
- Thus as I made my passage4615
- In compleynt, and in cruel rage,
- And I wher to finde a leche[ ]
- That couthe unto myn helping eche,
- Sodeynly agayn comen doun
- Out of hir tour I saugh Resoun,4620
- Discrete and , and ful plesaunt,
- And of hir porte ful avenaunt.
- The wey she took to me,
- Which stood in greet perplexite,
- That was posshed in everyside,4625
- That I nist where I might abyde,
- Til she, demurely sad of chere,
- Seide to me as she nere:—
-
- ‘Myn owne freend, art thou yit greved?
- How is this quarel yit acheved4630
- Of Loves syde? Anoon me telle;
- Hast thou not yit of love thy fille?
- Art thou not wery of thy servyse
- That thee hath in sich wyse?[ ]
- What Ioye hast thou in thy loving?4635
- Is it swete or bitter thing?
- Canst thou yit chese, lat me see,
- What best thy socour be?
-
- ‘Thou servest a ful noble lord,
- That maketh thee thral for thy reward,4640
- Which ay renewith thy turment,
- With foly so he hath thee blent.
- Thou felle in mischeef thilke day,
- Whan thou didest, the sothe to say,
- Obeysaunce and eek homage;4645
- Thou wroughtest no-thing as the sage.[ ]
- Whan thou bicam his man,
- Thou didist a gret foly than;
- Thou wistest not what fel therto,
- With what lord thou haddist to do.4650
- If thou haddist him wel knowe,
- Thou haddist nought be brought so lowe;
- For if thou wistest what it were,
- Thou noldist serve him half a yeer,
- Not a weke, nor half a day,4655
- Ne yit an hour withoute delay,
- Ne never [han] paramours,
- His lordship is so ful of shoures.
- Knowest him ought?’
L’Amaunt.
‘Ye, dame, parde!’
Raisoun.
‘Nay, nay.’
4659 (ends at parde); misnumbered 4660 inM.Th. Ye; G. Yhe.
L’Amaunt.
‘Yes, I.’
4660. Th. Yes; G. Yhis.
Raisoun.
‘Wherof, lat see?’4660
L’Amaunt.
‘Of that he seyde I shulde be
Glad to have sich lord as he,
And maister of sich seignory.’
Raisoun.
‘Knowist him no more?’
L’Amaunt.
- ‘Nay, certis, I,
- Save that he yaf me rewles there,4665
- And wente his wey, I niste where,
-
4667. misnumbered 4670 inM.
- And I abood bounde in balaunce.’
Raisoun.- ‘Lo, there a noble conisaunce![ ]
- But I wil that thou knowe him now
- Ginning and ende, sith that thou4670
- Art so anguisshous and mate,
- Disfigured out of ;
- Ther may no wrecche have more of wo,
- Ne caitif noon enduren so.
- It were to every man sitting4675
- Of his lord have knowleching.
- For if thou knewe him, out of dout,
- Lightly thou shulde escapen out
- Of the prisoun that marreth thee.’
L’Amaunt.- ‘ , dame! sith my lord is he,4680
- And I his man, maad with myn honde,[ ]
- I wolde right fayn undirstonde
- To of what kinde he be,
- If wolde enforme me.’
Raisoun.
-
- ‘I wolde,’ seid Resoun, ‘thee lere,4685
- Sith thou to lerne hast sich desire,
- And shewe thee, withouten fable,
- A thing that is not demonstrable.
- Thou shalt science,[ ]
- And knowe, experience,4690
- The thing that may not knowen be,
- Ne wist ne shewid in no degree.
- Thou mayst the sothe of it not witen,
- Though in thee it were writen.
- Thou shalt not knowe therof more4695
- Whyle thou art reuled by his lore;
- But unto him that love wol flee,[ ]
- The knotte may unclosed be,
- Which hath to thee, as it is founde,
- So long be and not unbounde.4700
- Now sette wel thyn entencioun,
- To here of love discripcioun.
-
- ‘Love, it is an hateful pees,
- A free acquitaunce, without relees,
- , full of falshede,[ ]
- A sikernesse, al set in drede;4706
- In herte is a dispeiring hope,
- And fulle of hope, it is wanhope;
- Wyse woodnesse, and resoun,
- A swete , in to droune,4710
- An hevy birthen, light to bere,
- A wikked wawe awey to .[ ]
- It is perilous,[ ]
- Disagreable and gracious.
- It is discordaunce that can accorde,4715
- And accordaunce to discorde.
- It is cunning withoute science,
- Wisdom withoute sapience,
- Wit withoute discrecioun,
- Havoir, withoute possessioun.[ ]4720
- It is hele and hool ,
- A drowned [in] dronkenesse,[ ]
- An ful of maladye,
- And charitee ful of envye,
- An ful of habundaunce,4725
- And a gredy suffisaunce;
- Delyt right ful of hevinesse,
- And ful of gladnesse;[ ]
- Bitter swetnesse and swete errour,
- Right evel savoured good savour;4730
- that pardoun hath withinne,
- And pardoun spotted without sinne;[ ]
- A peyne also it is, Ioyous,
- And felonye right pitous;
- Also pley that selde is stable,4735
- And stedefast [stat], right mevable;
- A strengthe, weyked to stonde upright,
- And feblenesse, ful of might;
- Wit unavysed, sage folye,
- And Ioye ful of turmentrye;4740
- A laughter it is, weping ay,
- Rest, that traveyleth night and day;
- Also a swete helle it is,
- And a sorowful Paradys;
- A plesaunt gayl and esy prisoun,4745
- And, ful of froste, somer sesoun;
- Pryme temps, ful of frostes whyte,[ ]
- And May, devoide of al delyte,
- With seer braunches, blossoms ungrene;
- And newe fruyt, fillid with winter tene.4750
- It is a slowe, may not forbere[ ]
- Ragges, ribaned with gold, to were;
- For al-so wel wol love be set
- Under ragges as riche rochet;
- And eek as wel amourettes[ ]4755
- In mourning blak, as bright burnettes.
- For noon is of so mochel prys,
- Ne no man founden so wys,
- Ne noon so high is of parage,
- Ne no man founde of wit so sage,4760
- No man so hardy ne so wight,
- Ne no man of so might,
- Noon so fulfilled of bounte,
- he with love may daunted be.[ ]
- Al the world holdith this way;4765
- Love makith alle to goon miswey,
- But it be they of yvel lyf,
- Whom Genius cursith, man and wyf,[ ]
- That wrongly werke ageyn nature.
- Noon suche I love, ne have no cure4770
- Of suche as Loves servaunts ,
- And wol not by my counsel fleen.
- For I ne preyse that loving,
- Wher-thurgh man, at the laste ending,
- Shal calle hem wrecchis fulle of wo,4775
- Love greveth hem and shendith so.
- But if thou wolt wel Love eschewe.
- For to escape out of his mewe,
- And make al hool thy sorwe to slake,
- No bettir counsel mayst thou take,4780
- Than thinke to fleen wel, y-wis;
- May nought helpe elles; for wite thou this:—
- If thou flee it, it shal flee thee;
- Folowe it, and folowen shal it thee.’
L’Amaunt.
-
- Whan I hadde herd al Resoun seyn,4785
- Which hadde spilt hir speche in veyn:
- ‘Dame,’ seyde I, ‘I dar wel sey
- Of this avaunt me wel I may
- That from your scole so deviaunt
- I am, that never the more avaunt[ ]4790
- Right nought am I, thurgh your doctryne;
- I dulle under your disciplyne;
- I wot no more than wist ,[ ]
- To me so contrarie and so fer
- Is every thing that ye me lere;4795
- And yit I can it .[ ]
- Myn herte foryetith therof right nought,
- It is so writen in my thought;
- And depe it is so tendir
- That al by herte I can it rendre,4800
- And rede it over comunely;
- But to my-silf am I.
-
- ‘But sith ye love discreven so,
- And and preise it, bothe two,
- Defyneth it into this letter,4805
- That I may thenke on it the better;
- For I herde never ,
- And wilfully I wolde it lere.’
Raisoun.
-
- ‘If love be serched wel and sought,
- It is a sykenesse of the thought4810
- Annexed and tweyne,
- [Which] male and female, oo cheyne,
- So byndith, they twinne,
- Whether so therof they lese or winne.
- The roote springith, thurgh hoot brenning,4815
- Into disordinat desiring
- For to kissen and enbrace,
- And at her lust them to solace.
- Of other thing love recchith nought,
- But setteth hir herte and al hir thought4820
- More for delectacioun
- Than any procreacioun
- Of other fruyt by ;
- Which love to god is not plesing;
- For of hir body fruyt to get4825
- They yeve no force, they are so set
- Upon delyt, to pley in-fere.
- And somme have also this manere,
- To feynen hem for love seke;
- Sich love I preise not a leke.4830
- For paramours they do but feyne;[ ]
- To love truly they disdeyne.
- They falsen ladies traitoursly,
- And hem othes utterly,
- With many a lesing, and many a fable,4835
- And al they finden deceyvable.
- And, whan they geten,
- The hoote ernes they al foryeten.
- Wimmen, the harm byen ful sore;
- But men this thenken evermore,4840
- That lasse harm is, so mote I thee,
- Disceyve them, than disceyved be;
- And namely, wher they ne may
- Finde non other mene wey.
- For I wot wel, in sothfastnesse,4845
- That doth now his bisynesse
- With any womman for to dele,
- For any lust that he may fele,
- But-if it be for engendrure,
- He doth trespasse, I you ensure.4850
- For he shulde setten al his wil
- To geten a likly thing him til,
- And to sustene[n], if he might,
- And kepe forth, by kindes right,
- His owne lyknesse and semblable,4855
-
- For bicause al is corumpable,
- And faile shulde successioun,
- Ne were generacioun
- Our sectis strene for to save.[ ]
- Whan fader or moder arn in grave,4860
- Hir children shulde, whan they ben deede,
- Ful diligent ben, in hir steede,
- To use that werke on such a wyse,
- That oon may thurgh another ryse.
- Therfore Kinde therin delyt,4865
- For men therin shulde hem delyte,
- And of that dede be not erke,
- But ofte sythes haunt that werke.
- For noon wolde drawe therof a draught
- Ne were delyt, which hath him caught.4870
- This hadde sotil dame Nature;
- For noon goth right, I thee ensure,
- Ne hath entent hool ne ;
- For hir desir is for delyt,
- The which fortened and eke[ ]4875
- The pley of love for-ofte seke,
- And thralle hem-silf, they be so nyce,
- Unto the prince of every .
- For of ech sinne it is the rote,
- Unlefulle lust, though it be sote,4880
- And of al yvel the racyne,
- As can determyne,[ ]
- Which in his tyme was ful sage,
- In a boke he made of Age,
- Wher that more he preyseth Elde,4885
- Though he be croked and unwelde,
- And more of commendacioun,
- Than Youthe in his discripcioun.
- For Youthe bothe man and wyf
- In al perel of soule and lyf;4890
- And is, but men have grace,
- The [tyme] of youthe for to pace,
- Withoute any deth or distresse,
- It is so ful of wildenesse;
- So ofte it doth shame or damage4895
- To him or to his linage.
- It ledith man now up, now doun,
- In mochel dissolucioun,
- And makith him love yvel company,
- And lede his lyf disrewlily,4900
- And halt him payed with noon estate.[ ]
- Within him-silf is such debate,
- He chaungith purpos and entent,
- And into som covent,[ ]
- To liven aftir her empryse,4905
- And lesith fredom and fraunchyse,
- That Nature in him hadde set,
- The which ageyn he may not get,
- If he there make his mansioun
- For to abyde professioun.[ ]4910
- Though for a tyme his herte absente,
- It may not fayle, he shal repente,
- And eke abyde thilke day
- To leve his abit, and goon his way,
- And lesith his worship and his name,4915
- And dar not come ageyn for shame;
- But al his lyf he doth so mourne,
- Bicause he dar not hoom retourne.
- Fredom of kinde so lost hath he
- That never may recured be,4920
- god him graunte grace
- That he may, er he hennes pace,
- Conteyne undir obedience[ ]
- Thurgh the vertu of pacience.
- For Youthe set man in al folye,4925
- In unthrift and ribaudye,
- In leccherye, and in outrage,
- So ofte it chaungith of corage.
- Youthe ginneth ofte sich bargeyn,
- That may not ende withouten peyn.4930
- In gret perel is set ,
- Delyt so doth his bridil lede.
- Delyt hangith, drede thee nought,
- Bothe mannis body and his thought,
- Only thurgh ,4935
- That to don yvel is ,
- And of nought elles taketh hede
- But only folkes for to lede
- Into disporte and wildenesse,4939
- So is froward from sadnesse.
-
- ‘But Elde drawith hem therfro;
- Who wot it nought, he may wel go
- [Demand] hem that now arn olde,[ ]
- That whylom Youthe hadde in holde,
- Which yit of tendir age,4945
- How it hem brought in many a rage,
- And many a foly therin wrought.
- But now that Elde hath thurgh-sought,
- They repente hem of her folye,
- That Youthe hem putte in ,4950
- In perel and in wo,
- And made hem ofte amis to do,
- And suen yvel companye,
- Riot and .
-
- ‘But Elde ageyn restreyne4955
- From foly, and refreyne,
- And set men, by hir ordinaunce,
- In good reule and in governaunce.
- But yvel she spendith hir servyse,
- For no man wol hir love, ;4960
- She is hated, this wot I wele.
- Hir acqueyntaunce wolde no man fele,
- Ne han of Elde companye,
- Men hate to be of hir alye.
- For no man wolde bicomen olde,4965
- Ne dye, whan he is yong and bolde.
- And Elde merveilith right gretly,
- Whan they remembre hem inwardly
- Of many a perelous empryse,
- Whiche that they wrought in sondry wyse,4970
- How ever they might, withoute blame,
- Escape awey withoute shame,
- In youthe, withoute[n] damage
- Or repreef of her linage,
- Losse of membre, sheding of blode,4975
- Perel of deth, or losse of good.
-
- ‘Wost thou nought where Youthe abit,
- That men so preisen in her wit?
- With Delyt she halt soiour,
- For bothe they dwellen in oo tour.4980
- As longe as Youthe is in sesoun,
- They dwellen in oon mansioun.
- Delyt of Youthe wol have servyse
- To do what so he wol devyse;
- And Youthe is redy evermore4985
- For to obey, for smerte of sore,
- Unto Delyt, and him to yive
- Hir servise, whyl that she may live.
-
- ‘Where Elde abit, I wol thee telle
- Shortly, and no whyle dwelle,4990
- For thider bihoveth thee to go.
- If Deth in youthe thee not slo,
- Of this journey thou maist not faile.
- With hir Labour and Travaile
- Logged been, with Sorwe and Wo,4995
- That never out of hir go.
- Peyne and Distresse, Syknesse and Ire,
- And Malencoly, that angry sire,
- Ben of hir paleys senatours;
- Groning and Grucching, hir ,5000
- The day and night, hir to turment,
- With cruel Deth they hir present,
- And tellen hir, erliche and late,
- That armed at hir gate.
- Than bringe they to hir remembraunce5005
- The foly dedis of hir infaunce,
- Which causen hir to mourne in wo
- That Youthe hath hir bigiled so,
- Which sodeynly awey is hasted.
- She the tyme that she hath wasted,5010
- Compleyning of the preterit,
- And the present, that not abit,
- And of hir olde vanitee,
- That, but aforn hir she may see[ ]
- In the future som socour,5015
- To leggen hir of hir dolour,
- To graunt hir tyme of repentaunce,
- For hir sinnes to do penaunce,
- And at the laste so hir governe
- To winne the Ioy that is eterne,5020
- Fro which go backward Youthe made,
- In vanitee to droune and wade.
- For present tyme abidith nought,
- It is more swift than any thought;
- So litel whyle it doth endure5025
- That ther nis compte ne mesure.
-
- ‘But how that ever the game go,
- Who and mirth also[ ]
- Of love, be it he or she,
- High or lowe, who it be,5030
- In fruyt they shulde hem delyte;
- Her part they may not elles quyte,
- To save hem-silf in honestee.
- And yit ful many oon I see
- Of wimmen, sothly for to seyne,5035
- That desire and wolde fayne
- The pley of love, they be so wilde,
- And not coveite to go with childe.
- And if with child they be perchaunce,
- They wole it holde a gret mischaunce;5040
- But what-som-ever wo they fele,
- They wol not pleyne, but concele;
- But-if it be any fool or nyce,
- In whom that shame hath no Iustyce.
- For to delyt echon they drawe,5045
- That haunte this werk, bothe high and lawe,
- Save sich that ar[e]n worth right nought,[ ]
- That for money wol be bought.
- Such love I preise in no wyse,
- Whan it is for coveitise.5050
- I preise no womman, though be wood,[ ]
- That yeveth hir-silf for any good.
- For litel shulde a man telle
- Of hir, that wol hir body selle,
- Be she mayde, be she wyf,5055
- That quik wol selle hir, by hir lyf.
- How faire chere that ever she make,
- He is a wrecche, I undirtake,
- That such one, for swete or sour,
- Though she him calle hir paramour,5060
- And laugheth on him, and makith him feeste.
- For certeynly no beeste
- To be loved is not worthy,
- Or bere the name of .[ ]
- Noon shulde hir please, but he were wood,5065
- That wol dispoile him of his good.
- Yit nevertheles, I wol not sey
- she, for solace and for pley,
- May a Iewel or other thing
- Take of her loves free yeving;5070
- But that she aske it in no wyse,
- For drede of shame of coveityse.
- And she of hirs may him, certeyn,
- Withoute sclaundre, yeven ageyn,
- And ioyne her hertes togidre so5075
- In love, and take and yeve also.
- Trowe not that I wolde hem twinne,
- Whan in her love ther is no sinne;
- I wol that they togedre go,
- And doon al that they han ado,[ ]5080
- As curteis shulde and debonaire,
- And in her love beren hem faire,
- Withoute vyce, bothe he and she;
- So that alwey, in honestee,5084
- Fro foly love kepe hem clere[ ]
- That brenneth hertis with his fere;
- And that her love, in any wyse,
- Be devoid of coveityse.
- Good love shulde engendrid be
- Of trewe herte, iust, and secree,5090
- And not of such as sette her thought
- To have her lust, and ellis nought,
- So are they caught in Loves lace,
- Truly, for bodily solace.
- Fleshly delyt is so present5095
- With thee, that sette al thyn entent,
- Withoute more (what shulde I glose?)
- For to gete and have the Rose;
- Which makith so mate and wood
- That thou desirest noon other good.5100
- But thou art not an inche the nerre,
- Eut ever abydest in sorwe and werre,
- As in thy face it is sene;
- It makith thee bothe pale and lene;
- Thy might, thy vertu goth away.
- A sory gest, in goode fay,5106
- Thou in thyn inne,[ ]
- The God of Love whan thou let inne!
- Wherfore I rede, thou shette him out,
- Or he shal greve thee, out of doute;5110
- For to thy it wol turne,
- If he nomore with thee soiourne.
- In gret mischeef and sorwe sonken
- Ben hertis, that of love arn dronken,
- As thou peraventure knowen shal,5115
- Whan thou hast lost tyme al,
- And spent in ydilnesse,
- In waste, and woful lustinesse;
- If thou maist live the tyme to see
- Of love for to delivered be,5120
- Thy tyme thou shalt biwepe sore
- The whiche never thou maist restore.
- (For tyme lost, as men may see,[ ]
- For no-thing may be).[ ]
- And if thou scape yit, atte laste,
- Fro Love, that hath thee so faste5126
- Knit and bounden in his lace,
- Certeyn, I holde it but a grace.
- For many oon, as it is seyn,
- Have lost, and spent also in veyn,5130
- In his servyse, withoute socour,
- Body and soule, good, and tresour,
- Wit, and strengthe, and eek richesse,
- Of which they hadde never redresse.’
-
- Thus taught and preched hath Resoun,5135
- But Love spilte hir sermoun,
- That was so imped in my thought,[ ]
- That hir doctrine I sette at nought.
- And yit ne seide she never a dele,
- That I ne understode it wele,5140
- Word by word, the mater al.
- But unto Love I was so thral,
- Which callith over-al his pray,
- He chasith so my thought ,
- And holdith myn herte undir his sele,5145
- As trust and trew as any stele;
- So that no devocioun
- Ne hadde I in the sermoun
- Of dame Resoun, ne of hir rede;
- It toke no soiour in myn hede.5150
- For alle yede out at oon ere
- That in that other she dide lere;
- Fully on me she lost hir lore,
- Hir speche me greved wondir sore.
-
- unto hir for ire I seide,
- For anger, as I dide abraide:5156
- ‘Dame, and is it your wille algate,
- That I not love, but that I hate
- Alle men, as ye me teche?
- For if I do aftir your speche,5160
- Sith that ye seyn love is not good,
- Than must I nedis with mood,[ ]
- If I it leve, in hatrede ay
- Liven, and voide love away
- From me, a sinful wrecche,5165
- Hated of all that tecche.
- I may not go noon other gate,
- For must I love or hate.
- And if I hate men of-newe
- More than love, it wol me rewe,5170
- As by your preching semeth me,
- For Love no-thing ne preisith thee.
- Ye yeve good counseil, sikirly,
- That prechith me al-day, that I
- Shulde not Loves lore alowe;5175
- He were a fool, wolde you not trowe![ ]
- In speche also ye han me taught
- Another love, that knowen is naught,
- Which I have herd you not repreve,
- To love ech other; by your leve,5180
- If ye wolde diffyne it me,
- I wolde gladly here, to see,
- At the leest, if I may lere
- Of sondry loves the manere.’
Raison.
-
- ‘Certis, freend, a fool art thou5185
- Whan that thou no-thing wolt allowe[ ]
- That I for thy profit say.
- Yit wol I sey thee more, in fay;
- For I am redy, at the leste,
- To accomplisshe thy requeste,5190
- But I not wher it wol avayle;[ ]
- In veyne, perauntre, I shal travayle.
- Love ther is in sondry wyse,
- As I shal thee here devyse.
- For som love leful is and good;5195
- I mene not that which makith thee wood,
- And bringith thee in many a fit,
- And ravisshith fro thee al thy wit,
- It is so merveilous and queynt;
- With such love be no more aqueynt.5200
Rubric.Both Aunsete (for Amistie).
- Comment Raisoun diffinist Amistie.
-
- ‘Love of Frendshipe also ther is,
- Which makith no man doon amis,
- Of wille knit bitwixe two,
- That wol not breke for wele ne wo;
- Which long is lykly to contune,5205
- Whan wille and goodis ben in comune;
- Grounded by goddis ordinaunce,
- Hool, withoute discordaunce;
- With hem holding comuntee
- Of al her goode in charitee,5210
- That ther be noon excepcioun
- Thurgh chaunging of entencioun;
- That ech helpe other at hir neede,
- And wysly hele bothe word and dede;
- Trewe of mening, devoid of slouthe,5215
- For wit is nought withoute trouthe;
- So that the ton dar al his thought
- Seyn to his freend, and spare nought,
- As to him-silf, without dreding
- To be discovered by wreying.5220
- For glad is that coniunccioun,
- Whan ther is noon suspecioun
- , whom they wolde prove[ ]
- That trew and parfit weren in love.
- For no man may be amiable,5225
- But-if he be so ferme and stable,
- That fortune chaunge him not, ne blinde,
- But that his freend alwey him finde,
- Bothe pore and riche, in .
- For if his freend, thurgh any gate,5230
- Wol compleyne of his povertee,
- He shulde not byde so long, til he
- Of his helping him requere;
- For good deed, done thurgh prayere,
- Is sold, and bought to dere, y-wis,5235
- To hert that of gret valour is.
- For hert fulfilled of gentilnesse
- Can yvel demene his distresse.
- And man that worthy is of name
- To asken often hath gret shame.
- A good man brenneth in his thought5241
- For shame, whan he axeth ought.
- He hath gret thought, and dredith ay
- For his disese, whan he shal pray
- His freend, lest that he warned be,5245
- Til that he preve his stabiltee.
- But whan that he hath founden oon
- That trusty is and trew as stone,
- And assayed him at al,
- And found him stedefast as a wal,5250
- And of his freendship be certeyne,
- He shal him shewe bothe Ioye and peyne,
- And al that dar thinke or sey,
- Withoute shame, as he wel may.
- For how shulde he ashamed be5255
- Of sich oon as I tolde thee?
- For whan he woot his secree thought,
- The thridde shal knowe ther-of right nought;
- For tweyn nombre is bet than three
- In every counsel and secree.5260
- Repreve he never a del,
- Who that biset his wordis wel;
- For every wys man, out of drede,
- Can kepe his tunge til he see nede;
- And fooles can not holde hir tunge;5265
- A fooles belle is sone runge.[ ]
- Yit shal a trewe freend do more
- To helpe his felowe of his sore,
- And socoure him, whan he hath nede,5269
- In al that he may doon in dede;
- And gladder that he him plesith
- Than his felowe that he esith.
- And if he do not his requeste,
- He shal as mochel him moleste[ ]
- As his felow, for that he5275
- May not fulfille his voluntee
- fully as he hath .
- If bothe the hertis Love hath fered,[ ]
- Joy and wo they shul depart,
- And take evenly ech his part.5280
- Half his anoy he shal have ay,
- And comfort what that he may;
- And of blisse parte shal he,
- If love wol departed be.
-
- ‘And whilom of this [ ]5285
- Spak in a ditee;[ ]
- shulde maken his request
- Unto his freend, that is honest;
- And he goodly shulde it fulfille,
- But it the more were out of skile,5290
- And otherwise not graunt therto,
- Except only in two:[ ]
- If men his freend to deth wolde dryve,
- Lat him be bisy to save his lyve.
- Also if men wolen him assayle,5295
- Of his wurship to make him faile,
- And hindren him of his renoun,
- Lat him, with ful entencioun,
- His dever doon in ech degree
- That his freend ne shamed be,5300
- In this two with his might,
- Taking no kepe to skile nor right,
- As ferre as love may him excuse;
- This no man to refuse.”
- This love that I have told to thee5305
- Is no-thing contrarie to me;
- This wol I that thou folowe wel,
- And leve the tother everydel.
- This love to vertu al attendith,
- The tothir fooles blent and shendith.5310
-
- ‘Another love also there is,
- That is contrarie unto this,
- Which desyre is so constreyned
- That is but wille feyned;5314
- Awey fro trouthe it doth so varie,
- That to good love it is contrarie;
- For it maymeth, in many wyse,
- Syke hertis with coveityse;
- Al in winning and in profyt
- Sich love settith his delyt.5320
- This love so hangeth in balaunce
- That, if it lese his hope, perchaunce,
- Of lucre, that he is set upon,
- It wol faile, and quenche anon;
- For no man may be ,5325
- Ne in his living vertuous,
- he love more, in mood,
- Men for hem-silf than for hir good.
- For love that profit doth abyde
- Is fals, and not in no tyde.[ ]5330
- love cometh of dame Fortune,
- That litel whyle wol contune;
- For it shal chaungen wonder sone,
- And take eclips right as the mone,
- Whan is from us [y]-let5335
- Thurgh erthe, that bitwixe is set
- The sonne and hir, as it may falle,
- Be it in party, or in alle;
- The shadowe maketh her bemis merke,5339
- And hir hornes to shewe derke,
- That part where she hath lost hir lyght[ ]
- Of Phebus fully, and the sight;
- Til, whan the shadowe is overpast,
- She is enlumined ageyn as faste,
- brightnesse of the sonne bemes5345
- That yeveth to hir ageyn hir lemes.
- That love is right of sich nature;
- Now is fair, and now obscure,
- Now bright, now clipsy of manere,
- And whylom dim, and whylom clere.5350
- As sone as Poverte ginneth take,
- With mantel and wedis blake
- hidith of Love the light awey,[ ]
- That into night it turneth day;
- It may not see Richesse shyne5355
- Til the shadowes fyne.
- For, whan Richesse shyneth bright,
- Love recovereth ageyn his light;
- And whan it failith, he wol flit,
- And as she it.5360
-
- ‘Of this love, here what I sey:—
- The riche men are loved ay,
- And namely tho that sparand bene,
- That wol not wasshe hir hertes clene
- Of the filthe, nor of the vyce5365
- Of gredy brenning avaryce.
- The riche man ful is, y-wis,
- That weneth that he loved is.
- If that his herte it undirstood,
- It is not he, it is his good;5370
- He may wel witen in his thought,
- His good is loved, and he right nought.
- For if he be a nigard eke,
- Men wole not sette by him a leke,
- But haten him; this is the .5375
- Lo, what profit catel doth!
- Of every man that may him see,
- It geteth him nought but enmitee.
- But he amende of that vyce,
- And knowe him-silf, he is not wys.5380
-
- ‘Certis, he shulde ay freendly be,
- To gete him love also ben free,
- Or ellis he is not wyse ne sage
- No more than is a gote ramage.[ ]
- That he not loveth, his dede proveth,5385
- Whan he his richesse so wel loveth,
- That he wol hyde it ay and spare,
- His pore freendis seen forfare;
- To purpose,
- Til for drede his close,5390
- And til a wikked deth him take;
- Him hadde lever asondre shake,
- And late asondre ryve,
- Than leve his richesse in his lyve.
- He thenkith parte it with no man;5395
- Certayn, no love is in him than,
- How shulde love within him be,
- Whan in his herte is no pite?
- That he trespasseth, wel I ,
- For ech man knowith his ;5400
- For wel him oughte be reproved
- That loveth nought, ne is not loved.
-
- ‘But we arn to Fortune comen,
- And our sermoun of hir nomen,
- A wondir wil I telle thee now,5405
- Thou herdist never sich oon, I trow.
- I not wher thou me leven shal,
- Though sothfastnesse it be al,
- As it is writen, and is sooth,5409
- That unto men more profit doth
- The froward Fortune and contraire,
- Than the swote and debonaire:
- And if thee thinke it is doutable,
- It is thurgh argument provable.
- For the debonaire and softe5415
- Falsith and bigylith ofte;
- For liche a moder she can cherishe
- And milken as doth a norys;
- And of hir goode to deles,
- And yeveth part of her Ioweles,5420
- With grete richesse and dignitee;
- And hem she hoteth stabilitee
- In a state that is not stable,
- But chaunging ay and variable;
- And fedith with ,5425
- And worldly blisse noncerteyne.
- Whan she settith on hir whele,
- Than wene they to be right wele,
- And in so stable state withalle,
- That never they wene for to falle.5430
- And whan they set so be,
- They wene to have in certeintee
- Of hertly frendis gret noumbre,
- That no-thing mighte her stat encombre;
- They truste hem so on every syde,5435
- Wening with hem they wolde abyde
- In every perel and mischaunce,
- Withoute chaunge or variaunce,
- Bothe of catel and of good;5439
- And also for to spende hir blood
- And alle hir membris for to spille,
- Only to fulfille hir wille.
- They maken it hole in many wyse,[ ]
- And hoten hem hir ful servyse,
- How sore that it do hem smerte,5445
- Into hir naked sherte!
- Herte and al, so hole they yeve,
- For the tyme that they may live,
- So that, with her flaterye,
- They maken foolis glorifye5450
- Of hir wordis speking,
- And han a reioysing,[ ]
- And trowe hem as the Evangyle;
- And it is al falsheed and gyle,
- As they shal see,5455
- Whan they arn falle in povertee,
- And been of good and catel bare;
- Than shulde they seen who freendis ware.
- For of an hundred, certeynly,
- Nor of a thousand ful scarsly,5460
- Ne shal they fynde unnethis oon,
- Whan povertee is comen upon.
- For Fortune that I of telle,
- With men whan hir lust to dwelle,
- Makith to lese hir conisaunce,5465
- And nourishith hem in ignoraunce.
-
- ‘But froward Fortune and perverse,
- Whan high estatis she doth reverse,
- And maketh hem to tumble doun
- hir whele, sodeyn tourn,[ ]5470
- And from hir richesse doth hem flee,
- And plongeth hem in povertee,
- As a stepmoder envyous,
- And leyeth a plastre dolorous
- Unto her hertis, wounded egre,5475
- Which is not tempred with vinegre,
- But with poverte and indigence,
- For to ,
- That she is Fortune verely
- In whom no man shulde affy,5480
- Nor in hir yeftis have fiaunce,
- She is so ful of variaunce.
- Thus can she maken high and lowe,
- Whan they from richesse ar[e]n throwe,[ ]
- Fully to knowen, were,5485
- Freend of , and freend of chere;[ ]
- And which in love weren trew and stable,
- And whiche also weren variable,
- After Fortune, hir ,
- In poverte, outher in richesse;5490
- ,[ ]
- Unhappe bereveth it in dede;
- For Infortune not oon
- Of freendis, whan Fortune is goon;
- I mene tho freendis that wol flee5495
- Anoon as entreth povertee.
- And yit they wol not leve hem so,
- But in ech place where they go
- They calle hem “wrecche,” scorne and blame,
- And of hir mishappe hem diffame,5500
- And, namely, siche as in richesse
- Pretendith most of stablenesse,
- Whan that sawe him set on-lofte,
- And weren of him socoured ofte,
- And most in al hir nede:5505
- But now they take no maner hede,
- But seyn, in voice of flaterye,[ ]
- That now apperith hir folye,
- Over-al where-so they fare,
- And singe, “Go, farewel .”[ ]5510
- Alle suche freendis I beshrewe,
- For of trewe ther be to fewe;
- But sothfast freendis, what so bityde,[ ]
- In every fortune wolen abyde;
- They han hir hertis in suche noblesse5515
- That they nil love for no richesse;
- Nor, for that Fortune may hem sende,
- They wolen hem socoure and defende;
- And chaunge for softe ne for sore,
- For who is freend, loveth evermore.5520
- Though men drawe swerd his freend to slo,
- He may not hewe hir love a-two.
- But, in case that I shal sey,[ ]
- For pride and ire lese it he may,
- And for reprove by nycetee,5525
- And discovering of privitee,
- With tonge wounding, as feloun,
- Thurgh venemous detraccioun.
- Frend in this case wol gon his way,
- For no-thing greve him more ne may;5530
- And for nought ellis wol he flee,
- If that he love in stabilitee.
- And certeyn, he is wel bigoon
- Among a thousand that fyndith oon.
- For ther may be no richesse,5535
- Ageyns frendship, of worthinesse;
- For it ne may so high atteigne
- As may the valoure, sooth to seyne,[ ]
- Of him that loveth trew and wel;
- Frendship is more than is catel.5540
- For freend in court ay better is[ ]
- Than peny in purs, certis;
- And Fortune, mishapping,
- Whan upon men she is ,
- Thurgh misturning of hir chaunce,5545
- And hem oute of balaunce,
- She makith, thurgh hir adversitee,
- Men ful cleerly for to see
- Him that is freend in existence
- From him that is by apparence.5550
- For Infortune makith anoon
- To knowe thy freendis fro thy foon,
- By experience, right as it is;
- The which is more to preyse, y-wis,
- Than miche richesse and tresour;5555
- For more profit and valour
- Poverte, and such adversitee,
- Bifore than doth prosperitee;
- For the toon yeveth conisaunce,
- And the tother ignoraunce.5560
-
- ‘And thus in poverte is in dede
- Trouthe declared fro falsehede;
- For feynte frendis it wol declare,
- And trewe also, what wey they fare.
- For whan he was in his richesse,5565
- These freendis, ful of doublenesse,
- Offrid him in many wyse
- Hert and body, and servyse.
- What wolde he than ha to ha bought[ ]
- To knowen openly her thought,5570
- That he now hath so clerly seen?
- The lasse bigyled he sholde have been
- And he hadde than perceyved it,
- But richesse nold not late him wit.
- Wel more avauntage doth him than,5575
- Sith that it makith him a wys man,
- The greet mischeef that he ,
- Than doth richesse that him deceyveth.
- Richesse riche ne makith nought
- Him that on tresour set his thought;5580
- For richesse stont in suffisaunce
- And no-thing in habundaunce;
- For suffisaunce al-only
- Makith men to live richely.
- For he that hath miches tweyne,[ ]5585
- Ne value in his demeigne,
- Liveth more at ese, and more is riche,
- Than doth he that is chiche,
- And in his bern hath, soth to seyn,
- An hundred of whete greyn,[ ]5590
- Though he be chapman or marchaunt,
- And have of golde many besaunt.
- For in the geting he hath such wo,
- And in the keping drede also,
- And set evermore his bisynesse5595
- For to encrese, and not to lesse,
- For to and multiply.
- And though on hepis lye him by,[ ]
- Yit never shal make his richesse
- Asseth unto his gredinesse.[ ]5600
- But the povre that recchith nought,
- Save of his lyflode, in his thought,
- Which that he getith with his travaile,
- He dredith nought that it shal faile,
- Though he have lytel worldis good,5605
- Mete and drinke, and esy food,
- Upon his travel and living,
- And also suffisaunt clothing.
- Or if in syknesse that he falle,
- And lothe mete and drink withalle,5610
- Though he have , his mete to by,
- He shal bithinke him ,
- To putte him out of al daunger.
- That he of mete hath no mister;
- Or that he may with litel eke5615
- Be founden, whyl that he is seke;
- Or that men shul him in hast,
- To live, til his syknesse be past,
- To somme maysondewe bisyde;[ ]
- He cast nought what shal him bityde.5620
- He thenkith nought that ever he shal
- Into any syknesse falle.
-
- ‘And though it falle, as it may be,
- That al betyme spare shal he
- As mochel as shal to him suffyce,5625
- Whyl he is syke in any wyse,
- He doth , for that he wol be
- Content with his povertee
- Withoute nede of any man.
- So miche in litel have he can,5630
- He is apayed with his fortune;
- And for he nil be importune
- Unto no , ne ,
- Nor of hir goodes coveitous;
- Therfore he spareth, it may wel been,5635
- His pore estat for to sustene.
-
- ‘Or if him lust not for to spare,
- But suffrith forth, as nought ne ware,
- Atte last it hapneth, as it may,
- Right unto his day,5640
- And the world as it wolde be;
- For ever in herte thenkith he,
- The soner that deeth him slo,
- To paradys the soner go
- He shal, there for to live in blisse,5645
- Where that he shal no good misse.
- Thider he hopith god shal him sende
- Aftir his wrecchid lyves ende.
- himsilf reherses,[ ]
- In a book that the Golden Verses5650
- Is clepid, for the nobilitee
- Of the honourable ditee:—
- “Than, whan thou gost thy body fro,
- Free in the eir thou shalt up go,
- And leven al humanitee,5655
- And purely live in deitee.”—
- He is a fool, withouten were,
- That trowith have his countre here.
- “In erthe is not our countree,”
- That may these clerkis seyn and see5660
- In of Consolacioun,[ ]
- Where it is maked mencioun
- Of our countree pleyn at the eye,
- By teching of philosophye,
- Where lewid men might lere wit,5665
- Who-so that wolde translaten it.
- If he be sich that can wel live
- Aftir his may him yive,[ ]
- And not desyreth more to have,
- That may fro povertee him save:5670
- A wys man seide, as we may seen,
- Is no man wrecched, but he it wene,
- Be he king, knight, or ribaud.[ ]
- And many a ribaud is mery and baud,
- That , and berith, bothe day and night,5675
- Many a burthen of gret might,
- The whiche doth him lasse offense,
- For he suffrith in pacience.
- They laugh and daunce, trippe and singe,
- And ley not up for her living,5680
- But in the tavern al dispendith
- The winning that god hem sendith.
- Than goth he, for to bere,[ ]
- With as good chere as he dide ere;
- To swinke and traveile he not ,5685
- For for to robben he ;
- But right anoon, aftir his swinke,
- He goth to tavern for to drinke.
- Alle these ar riche in abundaunce,
- That can thus have suffisaunce5690
- Wel more than can an usurere,
- As god wel knowith, withoute were.
- For an usurer, so god me see,
- Shal never for richesse riche bee,
- But evermore pore and indigent,5695
- Scarce, and gredy in his entent.
-
- ‘For soth it is, whom it displese,
- Ther may no marchaunt live at ese,
- His herte in sich a is set,[ ]
- That it quik brenneth to get,[ ]5700
- Ne never ;
- Though he have gold in gerners yeten,[ ]
- For to be nedy he dredith sore.
- Wherfore to geten more and more
- He set his herte and his desire;5705
- So hote he brennith in the fire
- Of coveitise, that makith him wood
- To purchase other mennes good.
- He undirfongith a gret peyne,
- That undirtakith to drinke up Seyne;[ ]5710
- For the more he drinkith, ay
- The more he leveth, the soth to say.
- thurst of fals geting,
- That last ever in coveiting,
- And the anguisshe and distresse5715
- With the fire of gredinesse.
- She fighteth with him ay, and stryveth,
- That his herte asondre ryveth;
- Such gredinesse him assaylith,
- That whan he most hath, most he faylith.5720
-
- Phisiciens and advocates
- Gon right by the same yates;
- They selle hir science for winning,
- And haunte hir crafte for greet geting.
- Hir winning is of such swetnesse,5725
- That if a man falle in sikenesse,
- They are ful glad, for encrese;
- For by hir wille, withoute lees,
- Everiche man shulde be seke,
- And though they dye, they set not a leke.5730
- After, whan they the gold have take,
- Ful litel care for hem they make.
- They wolde that fourty were seke at onis,
- , two hundred, in flesh and bonis,
- And yit two thousand, as I gesse,5735
- For to encresen her richesse.
- They wol not worchen, in no wyse,
- But for lucre and coveityse;
- For fysyk ginneth first by fy,[ ]
- The also sothely;5740
- And sithen it goth fro ;
- To truste on hem, is foly;
- For they nil, in no maner gree,
- Do right nought for charitee.
-
- ‘Eke in the same secte are set5745
- Alle tho that prechen for to get
- Worshipes, honour, and richesse.
- Her hertis arn in greet distresse,
- That folk live not holily.[ ]
- But aboven al, specialy,5750
- Sich as prechen veynglorie,
- And toward god have no memorie,
- But forth as ypocrites trace,
- And to her soules deth purchace,
- And outward holynesse,5755
- Though they be fulle of cursidnesse.
- Not liche to the apostles twelve,
- They deceyve other and hem-selve;
- Bigyled is the gyler than.[ ]
- For preching of a cursed man,5760
- Though to other may profyte,
- availeth not a myte;
- For good predicacioun
- Cometh of evel entencioun.
- To him not vailith his preching,5765
- Al helpe he other with his teching;
- For where they good ensaumple take,
- There is he with veynglorie shake.
-
- ‘But lat us leven these prechoures,
- And speke of hem that in her toures5770
- Hepe up her gold, and shette,
- And sore theron her herte sette.
- They neither love god, ne drede;
- They kepe more than it is nede,
- And in her bagges sore it binde,5775
- Out of the sonne, and of the winde;
- They putte up more than nede ware,
- Whan they seen pore folk forfare,
- For hunger dye, and for cold quake;
- God can wel vengeaunce therof take.5780
- gret mischeves hem assailith,
- And thus in gadring ay travaylith;
- With peyne they winne richesse;
- And drede hem holdith in distresse,
- To kepe that they gadre faste;5785
- With sorwe they leve it at the laste;
- With sorwe they bothe dye and live,
- That to richesse her hertis yive,
- And defaute of love it is,
- As it shewith ful wel, y-wis.5790
- For if gredy, the sothe to seyn,
- Loveden, and were loved ageyn,
- And love regned over-alle,
- Such wikkidnesse ne shulde falle;
- But he shulde yeve that most good had5795
- To hem that weren in nede bistad,
- And live withoute fals usure,
- For charitee ful clene and pure.
- If they hem yeve to goodnesse,[ ]
- Defending hem from ydelnesse,5800
- In al this world than pore noon
- We shulde finde, I trowe, not oon.
- But chaunged is this world unstable;
- For love is over-al vendable.
- We see that no man loveth now5805
- But for winning and for prow;
- And love is thralled in servage
- Whan it is sold for avauntage;
- Yit wommen wol hir bodies selle;
- Suche soules goth to the devel of helle.’[ ]5810
[Here ends l. 5170 of the F. text. A great gap follows. The next line answers to l. 10717 of the same.]
- ‘Si sauras tantost, sans science,
- Et congnoistras, sans congnoissance.’
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