And many tymes haued moued the to thenk on thyn ende

And how fel fernyers · an / a[r] faren · and so fewe to comen

And of thy wilde wantonnesse · tho thow yonge were

To amende it in thy mydel age · lest myght the faille

In thyn olde elde · that so yuel kan suffre

Pouerte or penaunce  or prayers bidde

Si non in prima vigilia nec in secunda & cetera.

¶ Amende the while thow myghte · thow haste be warned ofte

With poustees and pestilence · with pouert and with angres

And wit this bittire baleises · god betes hise dere childerne

Quem diligo castigo.

And dauid in the sauter saith · of swich that loue Ihesus

Virga tua & baculus tuus ipse me consolata sunt &cetera

¶ Al-though thow strike me with thy staf · with stikke other yerde

It is bot murthe as for me · to amende my soule

And thow medlest the with maistries · and miȝtest go sey thy sauter

And bidde for hem that geues tho bred · for ther ar bookes ynowe

To telle men what do wel · do-bet and do-best bothe

And prechours to proue what it is · of many paire freres

¶ I seigh wel he sayde me soth · and somwhat me to excuse

Saide caton to conforte his sone · that clerc though he were

To solacen hym som-tyme · as I do whan I make

Interpone tuis interdum gaudia curis & cetera.

And of haly men I hard quod I · how thay other-while

Plaiden the parfiter to ben · in many places

And if ther were any wight · that walde me telle

What were {?}do-wel and do-bet · and do-best at the laste

Walde I neuere wyrke · bot wende to haly chirche

And ther bid my bedes · but whan I ete or slepe

Poule in his pistile quod he · proues what is dowel

Fides spes caritas & maior horum & cetera.

¶ Faith hope and charite · and alle ben goode

And sauen men sondry tymes · and noon so soon as charite

For he does wel with-outen doute · that doth as leaute teches

That is if he be man maried · thy make thow louye

And lyue forth as lawe wol · while ye lyuen here

¶ Right so if thow be religious · renne thow neuer ferther

To rome ne to Rochemadour · bot as thy reule teches

And halde the vndir obedience that heigh way is to heuene

And if þou be maiden to marie · and might wel continue

Seke thow neuere saynt · ferther for thy saule helthe

For what mad lucifer · to lese the heigh heuene

Or salamon his sapience · or sampson his strengtheT

Aristotle and other mo · ypocras and virgile

Alexander that al wltnne · elengelich endid

¶ Catel and kynde wit was · combraunce to hem alle

Felice hir fairnesse · fel hir al to sclaundire

And rosomond right · so reufully bisette

The bewte of hir body · In badnesse she dispendide

Of many swiche I miȝte rede · of men and of wommen

That wise wordes can say · and werche the contrarie

Sunt homines nequam de virtute bene loquentes

¶ And riche renkes right so · gadderand and sparyng

And to men that thay moost haten · ministren it at the leste

And for thay suffren and see · so many nedy folkes

And louen hem nou{t}ght as god bit · lesen hir soules

¶ Date & dabitur vobis & ceteraT

And riche right so · bot if the rote be trewe

And grace is a gras ther-of · the greuance to abate

And grace ne groweth nought · bot am{o}anges lawe

Pacience and pouertee the place is · ther it growees

And in lele lyuyng {place} men · and in lif-holye

And thorugh the gyfte of the holy gost · as the gospel tellesC

¶ Spiritus vbi vult spirat &cetera.

Clergie and kynde wit · comes of sighte and techyng

And the book beres witnesse · to barnes that konne rede

Quod scimus loquimur quod vidimus testamur

Of quod scimus cometh clergie · and konnyng of heuen

And quod vidimus comes kynde wit of sight of diuerse pepileCN

And grace is a gyfte of god · and of gret loue sprynges

know neuere clerc how it comes forth · ne kynde wit þe waies

¶ Nescit aliquis vnde venit aut quo vadit

¶ And yet is clergie to comende · and kynde wit bothe

And namly clergie for cristes loue · that of clergie is rote

For Moises witnesse þat god wroot · for to wisse the pepile

In þe olde lawe as þe letter telles · that was the lawe of Iewes

That what womman were in auoutrie · taken riche other pouere

With staues men schulde hir strike · and stonye hir to dethe

A womman as we fynden was gilty of that dede

And crist of his curteisie · thorugh clergie hir saued

For thorugh carrectis þat crist wrouȝte · the Iewes knewe hem-selueC

Giltyer as a-fore god · and gretter in synne

Than the womman that ther was · and wente away for shame

The clergie that ther was · conforted the womman

Haly kirke knoweth this · that cristes writyng saued

So clergie is conforth to creatures · that repenten

And to mased men · myschef at hir ende

¶ For goddes body miȝte nouȝt be · of breed with-outen clergie

The which body is · bathe boote to the rightful

And deth and dampnacioun · to hem that dyen yuel

As cri{e}stes carrectes conforted · and bothe coupile shewed

The womman that the Iewes brouȝte that Ihesu thouȝt to saueC

¶ Nolite iudicare & non iudicabimini & cetera

¶ Right so goddes body brethren · but it be worthily taken

dampneth vs at þe day of dome · as the carrectes dide þe Iewes

For-thy I conseille the for cristes sake clergie to louye

For kynde wit is of his kynne · and neigh cosyns bothe

To oure lord leue me · for-thy loue hym I rede

For bothe ben as myrours · to amende oure defautes

And leders for lewed men · and for lettred bothe

¶ For-thy lakke thow neuere logik lawe ne hise customes

Ne conterplede clerkes · I conseil the for euere

For as a man may nought see · that mysses hise eighen

Na more kan no clerc · bot he kaughte it first thurgh bookes

Al-thoug men made bokes · god was the maistre

And saynt spirit his samplarie · and saide what men shulde write

And right as sight serues a man · to se the heigh strete

Righte sa ledeth clergie · lewed men to reson

As as / As a blynde man in bataille · bere{?}s wepen to fighte

And has na hape with axe · his enmy to hitte

Namore kan a kynde witted man · but clergie hym teche

Come for al his kynde wit · to cristendome and be saued

Wich is the cofire of cristes tresore · and clerkes kepe the keyes

To vnloken it at hir likyng · and to the lewed pipile

Gyfe mercy for hir mysdes · if men it wol aske

Buxomlich and beniglich · and biden it of grace

Arc{a}ha dei in the olde lawe · leuites it kepten

Had neuer lewed m{e}an leue · to lygge hande on the kyste

Bot he were prest or prestes sone · patriarke or propheteT

¶ For clergie is keper · vndir criste of heuene

Was there neuere no knyȝt · bot clergie hym made

A kynde wit comes · of alkynnes sightes

Of briddes and of bestes · of treuthe and of deceytes

¶ lyuyers to-forn vs · vseden to marke

The selcouthe that thay seighen · hir soons for to teche

And helde it and heigh science · hir wittes to knowe

And thorugh hir science sothly · was neuer saule saued

Ne brought by hir bookes · to blisse ne to Ioie

For al hir kynde knowyng · come but of diuerse sightes

Patriarkes and prophetes reproued hir sightes

And sayden hir wordes ne hir wisdomes · nas but a folye

As to the clergie of crist · counted but a trufele

¶ Sapiencia huius mundi stulticia est apud deum

For the heigh holy goost  heuen shal to-cleue

And loue schal lepe out after · in-to this lawe erthe

And clennes shal catchen it · and clerkes schal it fynde

¶ Pastores loquebantur ad inuicem &cetera

¶ he spekes ther of riche men nouȝt · ne of right witty

Ne of lordes that were lewedemen / lewede men · bot of þe heighest lettirde outeC

Ibant magi ab oriente & cetera.

¶ If any frere were founde ther · I gyfe þe fyue shillynges

Ne in noon beggers cote was that barne borne

But in a burgeis place · of Bethelem the beste

Set non erat in diuersorio & pauper non habit diuersorium

¶ To pastours and to poyetes · apiered the aungel

And bad hem go to bethelem · goddes burthe to honour

And sange a songe of salace · Gloria in excelsis deoT

Clerkes knew it wel · and comen with hir presentes

And dyde hir homage honurably · to hym that was alm{u}yghti

And goddes sone that sittes in heuene and shal saue vs alleC

¶ Why I haue tolde þe al this · I took ful good hede

How thow contrariest clergie · with crabbed wordes

How that lewedmen / lewed men lightloker : than lettred were saued

Than clerkes or kynde wittedmen / witted men of cristen pepile

¶ And thow saidest soth of some · and se yit in what manere

Tak two two / two strange men · and in Themise caste hem

And both naked as a nedile · er noon sikerer than other

That oon has konnyng · and kan swymmen an dyuen

That other is lewed of that labour · lernede neuer to swymme

Which trewestow of hem two · in themise is moostP drede

He that neuere ne dyuedP · ne nouȝt kan of swymmyng

Or the swymer that is sauf · by so hym-self like

Ther his felaw flette forth · as the flood likes

And is in dred to drench that neuere did swymme

That swymme kan nouȝt I saide · it semes to wittes

¶ Ryght so quod that renk · reson it shewes

That he that knowes clergie · kan sonner arise

Out of synne and be saf · though he synne ofte

If hym likes and list · than any lewed lely

For if the clerc be konnyng · he knowe what {w} is synne

And how contricioun with-oute confession · confortes the saule

And thow seest in thy sauter · in psalmes oon or twayne

How contricioun is comended · for it cacches away synne

Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates & quorum tecta &cetera.

¶ And this conforteth ech a clerc · and keuereth hym fra wanhopeCN

In which flood the fende · fondes a man hardest

Ther the lewed lith stille · and loketh after leaut

And has no contricioun er her he come to schrifte & þan kan

And as is loresman leres hym · bileueth and troweth

And that is after parson or parisshe prest and parauenture

vnkonnyng to lere lewed men as luc beres witnesse

Dum cecus ducit cecum & cetera

¶ Wo was hym marked that wade moet with þe lewed

Wel may the barne blisse · that hym to book sette

That lyuyng after lettrure · saued hym lyf and soule

Dominis pars hereditatis mee & cetera is a myrie versete

That has taken fra tiburne twenti strange theues

Ther lewed theues ben lolled vp · loke how thaN be saued

The thief þat had grace of god on good fraday / fr[i]day as thow spake

Was for he yelde hym creaunt to crist on the cros · and know hym giltyC

And grace axed of god · and he is euere redy

That buxomly bid it · and be in wille to amende hem

And though that heuen · he had no heigh blisse

As saynt Iohan and other seyntes · that deserued had better

Ryght as som men gyf me meet · and sette me amiddes þe floreC

I haue meet more than ynough · and nouȝt so muche worship

As tho that sitten at the table · or with souereignes of the halle

But sit as beggers bordles · by my-self on the grounde

So it fares by that feloun · that on good friday was saued

He sit neither by saynt Iohan / Simond ne Iude

Ne with maidens ne martirs · confessours ne widewes

By hym-self as a solayn · and serued on the erthe

For he that is ones a thif · is euere more in daunger

And as law likes · to lyue or to dye.

de peccato proiciato noli esse sine metu

And to seruen a seynt · and swich a thef togiders

It war nouther reson ne right · rewarde hem bothe yliche

And right as Troianus the trewe knyȝt tild nouȝt depe in helle

That oure lord ne had hym lightlich oute · so leue I þe thef be in heuen

For he is in the lowest heuene · if oure bileue be trewe

And wel lowselich he lolles ther · by the law of haly chirche

Quia reddit vnicuique iuxta opera sua.

¶ And why that oon thef on the cros · creaunt hym gylty

Rather than that other thef · though thow walde appose

Alle the clerkes vndir crist · ne kouthe the skile assoille

Quare placuit quia voluit

¶ And so I say by the · that sikest after the whaies

And resonedest reson · a rebukyng as it were

And of þe floures in the frithe · and of faire hewes

Wherof thay caughte hir colours · so clere and so bright

And willest of briddes and beestes · and of hir bredyng knowe

Whi som so lowe and some aloft · thy likyng it were

And of the stones and of the sterres · þou studiest as I leue

Howeuer best or bridd · has sa breme wittes

¶ Clergie ne kynde wit · ne knewe neuere the cause

And kynde knoweth the cause and no creature elles

he hisLX þe pyes patrone · and puttes in hir ere

That the thorn is thikkest · to byggen and to brede

And kynde kenneth the pakok · to kauken in swich a kynde

And kenned adam to knowe · his priue membres.

And tauȝte hym and Eue to helyen hem with leues

¶ Lewede men many tymes · maisters apposen

Why Adam hilled nouȝt first · his mouthe that ete the appel

Rather than his likham a-low · lew / lew[ed] axen thus clerkes

Kynd knowes why he dide so · and no clerk elles

And of briddes and of bestes · men by olde tyme

Ensampiles token · and termes · as telles thise poetes

And that the fairest foule · foulest engenders

And fieblest foule of flight is · that flieth or swymmes

And that is the pacok and þe pohenne · riche men thay bitoknee

For the pacok andLX men pursue hym · may nouȝt flee heighe

For the traillyng of his tail · ouer-taken is he sone

And his flesshe is foule flessch · and is feet bothe

And vnloueliche of cryeng · and loth for the here

¶ Right sa the riche · if he is richesse kepe

And deles it nouȝt til his deth-day · the tail of al sorwe

Right so the pennes of þe pacok · peyned hym in his flighte

So is possessioun peyne · of pens or of nobles

To alle hem that it holdeth · til hir tail be plukked

And though the riche repent thanne · and birewe the tyme

That euere he gadered so grete · and gaf ther-of so litel

Though he crye to crist þanne · with clen wille I leue

His leden is in oure lordes ere · lyke a pyes

And whan is caroyne schal come · in graue to be buried

I leue it flambe ful foule · the folde al a-boute

Alle the other ther it lieth · enuenymes thurgh his atter

¶ By the poo feet is vndirstonde · as I lerned in auynette

Executours false frendes · to worche as it wolde

Thus the poet proues þat the pecok · for hise fetheres is reuerenced

Right so is the riche · by reson of hise goodes.

The larke that is a lesse foule · is more louelich of leden

And wel a-way of wynge swifter · than the pecok

And of flessh by fele folde · fatter and swetter

To lawe libbynge men · the larke is resembled

¶ Aristole the grete clerc swich tales telles

Thus he liknes in his logik the lest foule {of} oute

And where he be saue or nouȝt · the sothe woot no clergie

N{o}e of sortes ne salamon na scripture kan telle

And good is so good · I hope þat sith he gaue hem wittes

To wissen vs wayes ther-with · that wissen vs to be saued

And þe better for hir bookes · to bidden we be holden

That god for his grace · gyue hir soules reste

For lettred men wer lewed yit · nere lore of hir bokes

Al this clerkes quod I tho · that on crist leuen

Sayand in hir sermons · that no sarazyns ne Iewes

Ne no creature of cristes liknesse · with-outen cristendom worþ saued

¶ Contra quod ymagynatif tho · and bygane for to loure

And saide · saluabitur vix iustus in die Iudicij.

Ergo saluabitur quod he · and saide na more latyn

Troianus was a trewe knyght · and took neuer cristendom

And he is sauf as saies the book · and his saule in heuene

For ther is fullyng of founte · and fullyng in blood shedyng

And thurgh fire is fullyng · and that is ferme bileue

Aduenit ignis diuinus non comburens set illuminans & cetera .

¶ And treuthe that trespassed neuere · ne trauersed ayeins his lawe

Bot lyues as his lawe teches · and leues ther be no better

And if ther were he walde amende · and in swich wille deyes

Ne wolde neuer trewe god · but treuthe were alowed

And were it worth or nouȝt · the bileue is gret of treuthe

And an hope hangyng ther-Inne · to haue mede for his treuthe

Quia deus dicitur quasi dans vitam eternam suis hoc est fidelibus

Et alibi si ambulauero in medio vmbre mortis & cetera.

¶ The glose grauntes vp-on that vers · a greet mede to treuthe

And wit and wisdom quod that wye · was som tym tresore

To kepe with a comune · no catel was holden better

And muche myrthe and manhed · and riȝt with þat he vanysshed