The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Errata and Addenda
• Introduction
• I: The Testament of Love.
• Book I Prologue. [ ]
• Book II.
• Book III.
• II.: The Plowmans Tale.
• III.: Jack Upland.
• IV.: John Gower Unto the Worthy and Noble Kinge Henry the Fourth.
• V.: Thomas Hoccleve. the Letter of Cupid.
• VI.: To the Kinges Most Noble Grace; and to the Lordes and Knightes of the Garter.
• VII.: A Moral Balade.
• VIII.: John Lydgate. the Complaint of the Black Knight; Or, the Complaint of a Loveres Lyfe.
• IX.: The Flour of Curtesye.
• X.: A Balade; In Commendation of Our Lady.
• XI.: To My Soverain Lady.
• XII.: Ballad of Good Counsel.
• XIII.: Beware of Doubleness.
• XIV.: A Balade: Warning Men to Beware of Deceitful Women.
• XV.: Three Sayings.
• XVI.: La Belle Dame Sans Mercy. Translated Out of French By Sir Richard Ros.
• XVII.: The Testament of Cresseid.
• XVIII.: The Cuckoo and the Nightingale; Or the Book of Cupid, God of Love.
• XIX.: Envoy to Alison.
• XX.: The Flower and the Leaf.
• XXI.: The Assembly of Ladies.
• XXII.: A Goodly Balade.
• XXIII.: Go Forth, King.
• XXIV.: The Court of Love.
• XXV.: Virelai.
• XXVI.: Prosperity.
• XXVII.: Leaulte Vault Richesse.
• XXVIII.: Sayings Printed By Caxton.
• XXIX.: Balade In Praise of Chaucer.
• Notes.
• Glossarial Index.
• List of Subscribers.

VII.

A MORAL BALADE.

BY HENRY SCOGAN, SQUYER.

Title;from A. (which has folowethe nexst); Cx.has Here next foloweth a tretyse, whiche John Skogan sente vnto the lordes and gentilmen of the kynges hows, exortyng them to lose no tyme in theyr yougthe, but to vse vertues; Th.has Scogan vnto the lordes and gentylmen of the kynges house.

• • MY noble sones , and eek my lordes dere,
  • I, your fader called, unworthily ,
  • Sende un-to you this litel tretys here
  • Writen with myn owne hand full rudëly;
  • Although it be that I not reverently5
  • Have writen to your estats, yet I you praye,
  • Myn unconning taketh benignëly
  • For goddes sake, andherken what I seye.
• • I complayn sore, whan I remembre me
  • The sodeyn age that is upon me falle ;10
  • More I complayn my mispent juventè
  • The whiche is impossible ayein to calle .
  • But certainly , the most complaynte of alle
  • Is for to thinke, that I have been so nyce
  • That I ne wolde no virtue to me calle15
  • In al my youthe, but vyces ay cheryce.
• • Of whiche I aske mercy of thee, lord ,
  • That art almighty god in majestè,
  • Beseking thee, to make so even accord
  • Betwix thee and my soule, that vanitè20
  • Of worldly lust, ne blynd prosperitè
  • Have no lordship over my flesshe so frele .
  • Thou lord of reste and parfit unitè,
  • Put fro me vyce, and keep my soules hele.
• • And yeve me might, whyl I have lyf and space,25
  • Me to conforme fully to thy plesaunce;
  • Shewe upon me th’abundaunce of thy grace,
  • In gode werkes graunt me perséveraunce.
  • Of al my youthe forget the ignoraunce;
  • Yeve me good wil, to serve thee ay to queme ;30
  • Set al my lyf after thyn ordinaunce,
  • And able me to mercy, or thou deme!
• • My lordes dere, why I this complaint wryte
  • To you, alle whom I love entierly ,
  • Is for to warne you, as I can endyte,35
  • That tyme y-lost in youthe folily
  • Greveth a wight goostly and bodily ,
  • I mene hem that to lust and vyce entende.
  • Wherfore, I pray you, lordes , specially,
  • Your youthe in vertue shapeth to dispende.40
• • Planteth the rote of youthe in suche a wyse
  • That in vertue your growing be alway;
  • Loke ay , goodnesse be in your exercyse,
  • That shal you mighty make, at eche assay,
  • The feend for to withstonde at eche affray.45
  • Passeth wysly this perilous pilgrimage,
  • Thinke on this word, and werke it every day;
  • That shal you yeve a parfit floured age.
• • Taketh also hede, how that these noble clerkes
  • Write in hir bokes of gret sapience,50
  • Saying, that fayth is deed withouten werkes;[ ]
  • So is estat withoute intelligence
  • Of vertue; and therfore, with diligence,
  • Shapeth of vertue so to plante the rote,
  • That ye therof have ful experience,55
  • To worship of your lyfe and soules bote.[ ]
• • Taketh also hede, that lordship ne estat,
  • Withoute vertue, may not longe endure;
  • Thinketh eek how vyce and vertue at debat
  • Have been, and shal, whyles the world may dure;60
  • And ay the vicious, by aventure,
  • Is overthrowe; and thinketh evermore
  • That god is lord of vertue and figure
  • Of al goodnesse; and therfore folowe his lore.
• • My mayster Chaucer, god his soulë have!65[ ]
  • That in his langage was so curious.
  • He sayde, the fader whiche is deed and grave,[ ]
  • Biquath nothing his vertue with his hous
  • Unto his sone; therfore laborious
  • Ought ye to be, beseching god, of grace,70
  • To yeve you might for to be vertuous,
  • Through which ye might have part of his fayr place.
• • Here may ye see that vertuous noblesse
  • Cometh not to you by way of auncestrye,
  • But it cometh thorugh leefful besinesse75
  • Of honest lyfe, and not by slogardrye.
  • Wherfore in youthe I rede you edefye
  • The hous of vertue in so wys manere
  • That in your age it may you kepe and gye
  • Fro the tempest of worldly wawes here.80
• • Thinkethhow, betwixë vertue and estat
  • There is a parfit blessed mariage;
  • Vertue is cause of pees, vyce of debat
  • In mannes soule; for which, with ful corage,
  • Cherissheth vertue , vyces to outrage:85
  • Dryveth hem away; let hem have no wonning
  • In your soules; leseth not the heritage
  • Which god hath yeve to vertuous living.
• • Taketh hede also, how men of povre degree
  • Through vertue have be set in greet honour,90
  • And ever have lived in greet prosperitee
  • Through cherisshing of vertuous labour.
  • Thinketh also, how many a governour
  • Called to estat, hath oft be set ful lowe
  • Through misusing of right, and for errour,95
  • Therfore I counsaile you, vertue to knowe.
• • Thus ‘by your eldres may ye nothing clayme,’[ ]
  • As that my mayster Chaucer sayth expresse,
  • ‘But temporel thing, that man may hurte and mayme’;
  • Than is god stocke of vertuous noblesse;100[ ]
  • And sith that he is lord of blessednesse ,
  • And made us alle , and for us alle deyde,
  • Folowe his vertue with ful besinesse,
  • And of this thing herke how my mayster seyde:—
• • The firste stok, fader ofgentilesse ,105[ ]
  • What man that claymeth gentil for to be
  • Must folowe his trace, and alle his wittes dresse
  • Vertu to sewe, and vyces for to flee.
  • For unto vertu longeth dignitee,
  • And noght the revers, saufly dar I deme,110
  • Al were he mytre, croune, or diademe.
• • This firste stok was ful of rightwisnesse,
  • Trewe of his word, sobre, pitous, and free,
  • Clene of his goste, and loved besinesse
  • Ageinst the vyce of slouthe, in honestee;115
  • And, but his heir love vertu, as dide he,
  • He is noght gentil, though he riche seme,
  • Al were he mytre, croune, or diademe.
• • Vyce may wel be heir to old richesse;
  • But ther may no man, as men may wel see,120
  • Bequethe his heir his vertuous noblesse;
  • That is appropred unto no degree,
  • But to the firste fader in magestee
  • That maketh him his heir, that can him queme,
  • Al were he mytre, croune, or diademe.125
• • Lo here, this noble poete of Bretayne
  • How hyely he , in vertuous sentence,
  • The losse in youthe of vertue can complayne;
  • Wherfore I pray you, dooth your diligence,
  • For your estats and goddes reverence,130
  • T’enprintë vertue fully in your mynde,
  • That, whan ye come in your juges presence,
  • Ye be not set as vertules behynde.
• • Ye lordes have a maner now-a-dayes ,
  • Though oon shewe you a vertuous matere ,135
  • Your fervent youthe is of so false alayes
  • That of that art ye have no joy to here.
  • But, as a ship that is withouten stere
  • Dryveth up and doun, withouten governaunce,
  • Wening that calm wol lastë, yeer by yere ,140
  • Right so fare ye , for very ignoraunce.
• • For very shamë, knowe ye nat, by réson
  • That, after an ebbe, ther cometh a flood ful rage?[ ]
  • In the same wyse, whan youth passeth his séson,
  • Cometh croked and unweldy palled age;145
  • Sone after comenkalends of dotage;
  • And if your youth no vertue have provyded,
  • Al men wol saye, fy on your vassalage!
  • Thus hath your slouth fro worship you devyded.
• • Boëce the clerk, as men may rede and see,150[ ]
  • Saith, in his Boke of Consolacioun,
  • What man desyreth †have of vyne or tree
  • Plentee of fruit , in the ryping sesoun,
  • Must ay eschewe to doon oppressioun
  • Unto the rote, whyle it is yong and grene;155
  • Ye may wel see, by this conclusioun ,
  • That youthë vertulees doth mochel tene.
• • Seeth , there-ayenst, how vertuous noblesse
  • Roted in youthe , with good perséveraunce,
  • Dryveth away al vyce and wrecchednesse,160
  • As slogardrye, ryote and distaunce!
  • Seeth eek how vertue causeth suffisaunce,
  • And suffisaunce exyleth coveityse![ ]
  • And who hath vertue hath al abundaunce
  • Of wele, as fer as reson can devyse.165
• • Taketh hede of Tullius Hostilius,[ ]
  • That cam fro povertee to hy degree;
  • Through vertue redeth eek of Julius[ ]
  • The conquerour, how povre a man was he;
  • Yet, through his vertue and humanitee ,170
  • Of many a countree had he governaunce.
  • Thus vertue bringeth unto greet degree
  • Eche wight that list to do him entendaunce .
• • Rede, here-ayenst, of Nero vertulees;[ ]
  • Taketh hede also of proude Balthasar;175
  • They hated vertue, equitee, and pees.
  • Loke how Antiochus fil fro his char ,
  • That he his skin and bones al to-tar !
  • Loke what meschauncë they had for hir vyces!
  • Who-so that wol not by these signes be war ,180
  • I dar wel say, infortunat or nyce is.
• • I can no more ; but here-by may ye see
  • How vertue causeth parfit sikernesse,
  • And vyces doon exyle prosperitee;
  • The best is, ech to chesen , as I gesse.185
  • Doth as you list, I me excuse expresse;
  • I wolde be sory , if that ye mischese.[ ]
  • God you conferme in vertuous noblesse,
  • So that through negligence ye nothing lese!189

Explicit.

Colophon.Cx. Thus endeth the traytye wiche John Skogan sent to the lordes and estates of the kynges hous.

[1. ]Th. A. sonnes.

[2. ]Th. A. vnworthely.

[3. ]Th. lytel treatyse; A. balade folowing.

[4. ]Th. with; A. H. of.

[5. ]Th. H. Although; Cx. And though; A. Yitte howe.

[6. ]Th. A. estates. A. yet; H. Th. Cx. om.

[8. ]Cx. herkne (better).

[9. ]Th. me sore; A.H. om. me.

[10. ]A. H. falle; Th. fal.

[11. ]Th. But more; A. H. Cx. om. But. Th. iuuentute.

[12. ]Th. ayen for; A. ageine. A. H. calle; Th. cal.

[13. ]Th. H. certainly; A. comvnely. Th. A. moste. A. H. alle; Th. al.

[14. ]A. H. for; Th. om. A. beon; Th. be.

[15. ]A. H. no; Th. om. A. vertue; Th. vertues. A. calle; Th. cal.

[16. ]A. ay; Th. aye.

[17. ]A. thee; Th. the. Th. lorde.

[18. ]Th. H. god; A. lorde.

[20. ]Th. Betwyxe; A. Bytwene.

[21. ]A. H. Of; Th. Cx. om. Th. blynde.

[22. ]A. so freel; Th. H. to frele.

[23. ]Th. lorde; perfyte.

[24. ]A. H. Cx. soules; Th. soule.

[25. ]Th. whyle; lyfe.

[26. ]A. H. confourme; Th. confyrme (!).

[27. ]A. H. vpon; Th. to.

[28. ]Th. And in; A. H. om. And.

[30. ]A. thee; Th. the.

[31. ]Th. lyfe. A. H. thy governaunce.

[34. ]A. alle whome; Cx. whom that; Th. whom. Th. moste entyrely; Cx. A. entierly.

[36. ]A. eloste; Th. loste; H. Cx. lost.

[37. ]A. H. goostely and bodely; Th. Cx. bodily and gostly.

[38. ]Th. meane.

[39. ]A. I prey you lordes; Th. lordes I pray you. A. tendrely.

[41. ]Cx. transposes 41–80 and 81–125. A. Plantethe; Th. Cx. Plante.

[43. ]A. ay; Th. alway.

[45. ]Cx. The frende (!) for to withstonde; A. For to withstonde the feonde; Th. The fende to withstande.

[46. ]Th. peryllous; H. perilous.

[47. ]H. Th. Cx. werke; A. vse.

[48. ]Th. parfyte.

[50. ]Th. Writen; A. Wrote. Th. her. Th. great; H. grete; A. noble.

[52. ]So A.; Th. And right so is estate with negligence.

[57. ]A. Then kepe also that.

[58. ]Cx. A. Withoute; Th. Without.

[59. ]Cx. vice; A. H. Th. vices.

[60. ]A. whiles; Th. while. Th. worlde.

[61. ]A. H. ay; Th. Cx. euer.

[63. ]Th. lorde of al; H. A. lord of.

[67. ]Th. sayd that the; A. saide that the; H. Cx. om. that. Th. father; A. H. fader.

[68. ]H. A. Beqwath; Th. Byqueth. Th. house.

[69. ]So A. Cx.; Th. children and therefore laborouse.

[70. ]H. Th. Ought; A. Aught; Cx. Owe. Th. om. to. Th. besekyng; A. beseching.

[72. ]Th. haue; A. H. gete. Th. parte. A. feyre; Th. H. om.

[74. ]A. Comþe.

[75. ]A. thorugh; Cx. thurgh; Th. by. A. leofful; Th. leful; H. leeful.

[77. ]Th. you ye; A. H. om. ye.

[78. ]Th. house. A. soo wyse; Th. H. suche a.

[79. ]Th. om. it.

[80. ]H. A. worldly; Th. worldes.

[81. ]Th. howe betwyxe; A. howe bytwene.

[82. ]Th. parfyte.

[84. ]H. A. for whiche with full; Th. the whiche be ful of.

[85. ]Th. than vertue; A. om. than.

[86. ]A. Cx. om. 1st hem.

[87. ]A. leese; H. lesith.

[89. ]Th. howe. A. poure; Th. poore.

[90, 91. ]Th. great.

[92. ]Th. H. Through; A. By.

[94. ]Th. H. Called; A. Calde. A. offt; H. Th. Cx. om.

[95. ]A. for; Th. H. Cx. of.

[96. ]Th. And therfore; rest om. And.

[97. ]A. By auncetrye thus; Th. H. Thus by your auncestres; Cx. Thus by your eldres.

[99. ]Th. men (for man).

[100. ]Cx. Than god is.

[101. ]Th. sythe; lorde. Th. blyssednesse; A. blessednesse.

[102. ]A. That (for And). A. H. alle; Th. al (1). Cx. alle; Th. al (2). For us alle A. has mankynde that.

[103. ]So A.; Th. H. Foloweth hym in vertue.

[105–125. ]Chaucer’s poem of Gentilesse is here quoted; see vol. i. p. 392.

[127. ]A. Howe hyely he; Th. Howe lightly.

[128. ]A. lease (!); Th. losse. A. H. in; Th. on.

[129. ]A. Wherfore; Th. And therefore. A. doothe; Th. with (!).

[130. ]A. estates; Th. profyte.

[131. ]A. Tenprynte; Th. Tempereth (!). A. H. vertue fully; Th. fully vertue.

[132. ]Cx. in; A. H. in-to; Th. to.

[133. ]A. H. sette as vertulesse; Th. vertulesse than.

[134. ]H. Cx. Ye; A. For yee; Th. Many. Th. A. nowe.

[135. ]Cx. H. you; Th. hem. A. Thaughe one of you here of a gode matere.

[136. ]Cx. H. Your feruent; Th. Her feruent; A. Your vnsure.

[137. ]Th. arte. Cx. H. ye; Th. they. A. That of suche artes you liste not to.

[138. ]Cx. A. withouten; Th. without a.

[139. ]A. withouten; Th. without.

[140. ]Th. calme. A. wol laste you; Th. wolde last. Th. yere by yere.

[141. ]Cx. A. H. ye; Th. they.

[142. ]Cx. A. H. ye; Th. they.

[143. ]A. Cx. om. ful.

[144. ]A. Right euen so whane.

[145. ]A. Comthe.

[146. ]A. Soone; Th. And sone. Th. comen the; Cx. come; A. comthe.

[147. ]Th. if that; Cx. A. H. om. that. Cx. A. your; Th. her. A. H. no vertue haue; Cx. no vertue hath; Th. haue no vertue.

[148. ]Th. fye. Cx. A. your; Th. her.

[149. ]A. H. your; Th. her. Cx. H. you; Th. hem. A. has Thus hathe youre youthe and slouthe you al misgyded.

[152. ]Cx. A. H. to haue; Th. om. (read haue).

[153. ]A. Plenty of; Cx. Plentyuous; Th. Plentous. Th. fruite. A. H. Cx. the; Th. om. A. H. Cx. riping; Th. reapyng.

[154. ]A. H. Cx. ay; Th. euer. A. doon; Th. do.

[156. ]A. H. Cx. Yee may; Th. Thus may ye. A. H. wele see; Cx. see; Th. se wel. A. H. this; Th. that. A. Cx. conclusion; Th. inclusyon (!).

[157. ]A. youthe; Th. youth. A. Th. vertulesse. Th. moche; Cx. ofte muche; A. ay michil (read mochel).

[158. ]Th. Nowe seeth; A. H. Cx. om. Nowe. Th. howe; A. that.

[159. ]A. youthe; Th. youth.

[160. ]A. Cx. vyce; H. vice; Th. vyces.

[161. ]A. Al (for As). A. al ryote; H. Cx. Th. om. al.

[162. ]Th. eke howe.

[163. ]So A. Cx.; H. om; Th. has Seeth eke howe vertue voydeth al vyce (!).

[164. ]Th. H. Cx. whoso; A. om. so.

[165. ]Th. ferre; A. far. Th. reason.

[167. ]A. came frome pouertee; Th. fro pouert came. Th. hygh; A. hye.

[168. ]Th. eke.

[169. ]Th. howe poore.

[170. ]A. H. Cx. humanite; Th. his humylite.

[171. ]Th. om. a.

[172. ]A. unto gret; Cx. to hye; Th. a man to great.

[173. ]A. Cx. list; Th. H. lust. Th. entendaunce; rest attendaunce.

[174. ]Th. nowe of; A. H. Cx. om. nowe.

[177. ]Th. And loke; rest om. And. Th. howe; chare.

[178. ]Th. tare.

[179. ]A. meschaunces.

[180. ]Th. H. Cx. om. that. Th. ware.

[181. ]A. Th. infortunate. A. H. Cx. or; Th. and.

[182. ]Th. no more nowe say; Cx. no more say; H. no more; A. more (!). Th. herby; se.

[183. ]A. Th. Howe. A. Th. perfyte.

[184. ]A. done exyle; Th. H. exylen al; Cx. exyles al.

[185. ]Th. eche man to; Cx. man to; A. dethe to (dethe is put for eche). A. cheesen; Th. chose.

[186. ]Th. A. Dothe.

[187. ]A. Cx. will (for wolde). Th. right sorie; A. H. Cx. om. right.

[188. ]A. you conferme; Th. confyrme you.

[189. ]A. no thing; Cx. H. nothing; Th. not it.

[3.]Sende; that is, he did not come and recite the poem himself.

[8.]This reminds us of the Knight’s appeal: ‘Now late us ryde, and herkneth what I seye’; C. T., A 855.

[30.]to queme, according to your pleasure. Queme is here a substantive; see Stratmann. Cf. to pay in Chaucer.

[49.]Tak’th is monosyllabic, as in l. 57. So also Think’th, in l. 59.

[51.]From James, ii. 17.

[56.]‘To the honour of your life and the benefit of your soul.’

[65.]The exclamation shews that Chaucer was then dead.

[67.]The quotation is inexact; cf. ll. 120, 121 below. The reference is to the Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1121:—

• ‘Yet may they [our eldres] nat biquethe us, for no-thing,
• To noon of us hir virtuous living.’

[81.]Read Think’th; so also Dryv’th in l. 86; Tak’th in l. 89.

[97.]Here the quotation, again from the Wyf of Bathes Tale (D 1131), is very close:—

• ‘For of our eldres may we no-thing clayme
• But temporel thing, that man may hurte and mayme.’

[100.]‘Therefore God is the source of virtuous nobleness.’ This depends on a passage in Boethius, bk. iii. met. 6. l. 2; see notes to poem XIV, in vol. i. pp. 553–5.

[105.]See this poem of Chaucer’s in vol. i. p. 392.

[143.]ful rage, very fierce. But I know of no other example of rage as an adjective.

[146.]kalends, the beginning; as in Troil. v. 1634.

[150.]The passage in Boethius is in Book i. met. 6. 11–15. Cf. Ch. vol. ii. p. 19.

• ‘Nec quaeras auida manu Vernos stringere palmites,
• Vuis si libeat frui: Autumno potius sua
• Bacchus munera contulit.’

[166.]From Chaucer, Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1165:—

• ‘Thenketh how noble, as seith Valerius,
• Was thilke Tullius Hostilius,
• That out of povert roos to heigh noblesse.’

And Chaucer found it in Valerius Maximus, iii. 4; see vol. v. p. 320.

[168.]From Chaucer, Monkes Tale, B 3862. But it may be doubted if Caesar’s alleged poverty is an historical fact. Cf. p. 24, l. 128 (above).

[174.]Read the story of Nero in the Monkes Tale, B 3653; that of Balthasar (Belshazzar) in the same, B 3373; and that of Antiochus in the same, B 3765. Compare the lines in B 3800–1:—

• ‘For he so sore fil out of his char
• That it his limes and his skin to-tar.’

[187.]‘I should be sorry, if ye choose amiss.’