I am Spes quod he A spyeT / and spyre after a knyght

That toke me a commaundement / vpon the mownt Synay

To rule all realmes with / I beare the writ here

Ys it ensealed quod I / may men se the letters

Nay he said I seke him / that hathe the seale to kepe

And that is crosse and xpcristendome / and Christ theron to hang

And when it is enseled so / I wot well the sothe

That Luciferes lordship / last shall no lengar

Lat se the letters quod I / we myght the lawe knowe

Then pulled he forthe a patent / A pece of an hard roche

This was the text trulie / I toke full good hede

The glose was gloriouslie writen / with a gilt penne

In hijs duobus mandatis , tota lex pendet et propheteT /

Be here all thy lordes lawes quod I / yea beleue meT he said

And who-so worketh after this writ / I will vndertake

Shall neuer deuyll him dere / nor deathe in soule greue

For though I say it myself / I haue saued with this charme

Of men and women / many skore thousandes

He saithe truthe said this heraulde / I haue it founde ofte

Lo here in my lappe / that trusted to that charme

Iosue and Iudithe / and Iudas Machabeus

Yea and syxtie thousand more / that be not sene here

Your wordes are wonderfull quod I / which of you is truest

And trustiest to trust toT / for lyfe and for soule

Abraham seyith he se / whoollie the Trinitie

Thre persones in parcelles / eche departable from other

And all thre but one god / thus Abraham me taught

And hath saued that beleued so / and sory for their synnes

He can not tell howe many / yet some are in his lappe

What neded it then a newe lawe to begynne

Sithe the first suffised / to saluacion and blisse

And now cometh Spes and speaketh / þat hathe esspied the lawe

And tellelthe / tellethe not of the Trinitie / that toke him his letters

To beleue and loue / in one lorde allmyghtie

And then euen as my-self / to loue all the people

The man that gothe with one staf / he semeth in better helth

Then he that gothe with ij / two staues / to sight of vs all

And euen so by the roode / Reason me shewethe

It is lighter to lewde men / on lesson to knowe

Then for to teache them ij / two / and to hard to lerne the least

It is full harde for any man / on Abraham to beleue

And well awaie wors yet / for to loue a shrewe

Yt is lyghter to beleue / in thre louely persones

Then for to loue and beleueT / aswell / as well foes as freendesT

Go thy gate quod I to Spes / for so me god helpe

They þat lerne thy lawe / full litill while do vse it

And as we went by the waie / thusT wording togithers

Than se we a Samaritan / sitting on A mule

Ryding well hastely / the right waye we went

Commyng from A countrey / that men callethT Ierico

To A IusticeLX in Iherusalem / he rode awaie fast

Bothe the Heraude and hope / And he met at ones

Where a man was woundid / and with theues taken

He might neyther steppe nor stande / nor stere foot nor hand

Nor helpe himself trulie / for semyviue he semed

And as naked as a nedle / and non helpe about him

Feyth had fyrst sight of him / but he fled asyde

And wold not come nere him / by nyne londes length

Hope came hipping after / that had so bosted

Howe he with Moises commaundement / had many men holpen

But when he Had sight him / Aside he did him drawe

Dredfully by this daye / as malard doth from fawcoun

But so sone as this Samaritan / had sight of this man /

He light adoune of Lyarde / and led him in his hand

And to the man he went / his woundes to beholde

And perceyued by his pul{c}se / he was in perill to die

And onlesse he had Helpe the rather / rise shulde he neuer

With wyne and with oile / his woundes he wasshed

Enbawmed Him and bounde his Head / & in his lappe him laid

And lad Him so forthe on liarde / to {l[.]} lex xpĩcristi / a graunge

Well six miles or seuen / beside the newe merket

Harborowed Him at an hostrie / and to the Hostiler called

And said Haue kepe this man / till I come from the Iustes

And lo here syluer he said / for salue to his woundes

And He toke Him too pens / to liuelode as it were

Saying what-so heT spendeth more / I make it good hereafter

For I maynot / may not tarie quod he / and lyard he bestridd

And Hastid him to Ierusalem-ward / the right waie to ride

Feyth folowed after fast / entending to mete him

And Spes spedelieT him hied / spede if he might

To ouertake Him and talke with Him / ere they to toune came

I seing this taried not behinde / but prepared me ronne

And sued that Samaritan that was so full of pitie

And graunted Him to be His grome / grauntmercy he said

But thy freend and thy felawe / þou fyndest me at nede

I thankyd him then / and after I him told

How that feyth fled awaie / and Spes his felawe bothe

For sight of the sorowfull man / that robbed was with theues

haue them excused quod he / their helpe may litill availe

May no medicyne on moulde / the man to helthe bring

Neyther feyth nor fyne hope / so festred be his woundes

Without the bloude of a barne / borne of a maide

Yf he beT bathed in that bloude / baptyzed as it were

And then plaistred with penaunce / and passion of that child

he shuld stande and steppe / but strong were he neuer

Till he haue eaten all the barne / and his bloud drounke

For neuer went man in this world / through þat wildernesse

But he was robbed / or ryfled / whether he did go or ryde

Saue feythe and his felawe Spes and my-self

And thy-self nowe / and such as folowe our workes

For outlawes in the wood / & vnder bankesT lurketh

And may se euery man / and good marke take

Who is behynde and who before / and who be on horse

For he holdeth him hardyer on horseback / tha{t}n him þat is on fote

For he se me that am Samaritan / folowe feythe and his felawe

On my Capull that hight Caro / of mankynde I toke it

he was vnhardy that harlot / and hidd hym in Inferno /

But ere this day thre dayes / I dare vndertake

That felon shalbe / shall be fettred / fast with cheynes

And neuer after greue man / that goth by this waye

And then shall feythe be fosterLX here / and in this Frith walke

And knowe out comone men / that knowe not the countrie

Which is the wey that I went / euen forthT to Ierusalem

And hope the Hostileres man shalbe / shall be / there the man lythe in healyng

And all that feble and feynt be / that feyth maynot / may not teache

Hope shall lede them for loue / as his lore telleth

And Hostle and heale them / through Holy churchesT beleue

Till I haue salue for all sike / and than shall I returne

And come agayne by this countrie / and confort all sike

That craueth it or coveteith it / and crie therafter

For the barne was borne in bethleme / þat with His blood shuld saue

All that lyue in feythe / and folowe his felawes teaching

Ah swete syr said I then / whether shall I beleue

{And} as feyth and his felowe / enformed me bothe

In thre persones departable / þat perpetuall were euer

And all thre but one god / thus Abraham me taught

And Hope afterwarde / he badd me to loue

One god with all my good / and all men after

Loue them like my-self / but our lorde aboue all

After Abraham quod he / that heraude of armes

Set fast thy feythe / and fyrme beleue

And as hope willid the / I also will thou loue

Thine euenchristen euermore / euen as thy-self

TOr heretikes with argumentes / thine hand thou themT shewe

For god is as an hande / here nowe and knowe it

The father was first as a fist / with one fynger folding

Till he louid and list / to vnlose hise finger

And profredT it forth as with a pawme / to what place it shuld

The pawme is properlie the Hande / and profreth forth the fynger

To mynistre and to make / that might of hande knoweth

And betokeneth trulie / telle who-so liketh

The holy ghoost of heauen / he is as the pawme

The fyngers that be free / to folde and to serue

Betokeneth sothely the son / that sent was to erthe

That towched and tasted / at teaching of the pawme

Saynt Mary a mayd and mankynd laught

The father is then as a fist / with fynger to towche

All that the pawme / perceyueth profytable to fele

Than are they all but one / as it an hand were

And thre sondrie sightes / in one shewing

The pawme for he putteth forth fyngers and fist bothe

Right so ridely / Reason it shewethe

He thatT is holy ghoost / father and son proveth

And as the hand holde harde / and all thing fast

Through foure fyngers / and a thombe / forth with the pawme

Right so the father and the son / and saynt spyrit the third

Within them thre / the wide world they holdeT

Bothe theyT elementLX and wynde / water and erthe

Heauen and Helle / and all that therin isT

Thus hit is lat noman / no man / thynke the contrary

That thre thinges belongeth / to oure lorde in heauen

And are serelepes by them-self / a-sonder were they neuer

No more then my Hand maye / moue without my fyngers

And as my fist is full hande / folden togithers

So is the father a full god / fourmer and shaper

And as that poure with Him / is in making of thinges

The fyngers forme a full Hand / to portrey and to peynt

Kerving and compassing / is crafte of the fyngers

Euen so is the son / the Science of the father

And full god as the father / nouther lesse nor more

The pawme that is purely the hand / hathe powre by himself

Otherwise then the{n} wrethen fist / or workemanship of fyngers

For the pawme hathe poure / to put out all the ioyntes

And to vnfolde the folden fist / at the fyngers will

So is the holie ghoost / god / neither more nor lesse

Then is the father and son / and of the same might

And all they Are but one god / as is myn hand and fyngers

Vnfolden and folden / my fist and my pawme

All is but one hande / how-so I tvrne itT

But who-so is Hurt on the hande / euen in the myddes

He may receyue right nought / reason it sheweth

For the fyngers that folde shulde / and the fist make

for peyne of the pawme / poure them failethe

To cracheLX or to clawe / to clippe , or to holde

Be the myddell of the hand / maymed or perished

I shulde receyue right nought / of that I reache myght

But though my thombe and fingers / bothe were hurt

And the myddell of my hand / without any gref

In diuerse and sondrie maneres / I might my-self Helpe

Bothe moue and amende / though all my fyngers did ake

By this skill me thinke / I se an euidence

That who-so synneth in the Holie goost / assoiled is he neuer

Neither Here nor elliswhere / as I here telle /

for he pricketh god as in the p{.}awme / peccatT in spiritum sanctum

For the father is a fist / the son is a Fynger

The Holie ghoost of Heauen / is as it were the pawme

So who-so synneth in the Holy ghoost / it semeth that he greueth

God that He grypeth with / and wold His grace quenche

And to a torche or tapre / the trinitie is likened

As wex and weake / were twynned togithers

TAnd bring forth a slamme / [f]lamme / and a feyre leye

So done the father and the son / and also Spiritus sanctus /

Bring forth Among folke / loue and beleue

And all manere xpcristian / clenseth of all synnes

And as thou seest sometyme / sodeynly a torche

The blaze therof blowen out / yet brenneth the weeke

Without leye or light / þat the mach brenneth

So is the Holie goost god / and grace without mercy

To all vnkynde creatures / that covet to destroye

True loue or lyfe / that our lord made

And as glowing gleedes / gladeth not these workemen

That wake and worke / in wynter nyghtes

As dothe A kix or candle / þat Hathe caught fyre and brenne

Nomore / No more doth father nor son / nor the Holy goost togithers

Graunte no grace / nor forgyuenesse of synnes

Till the Holy goost begynne / to glowe and to blase

So that the Holy ghoost / gloweth but as a glede

Till that true loue / lie on Him and blowe

Then flammeth he as fyre / on father and son

And melteth their might into mercy / as men may se in wynter

Isykles in evesesP / through Heate of the sonne

Melt in A mynute while / to mist and to water

So grace of the Holy ghoost / the great might of the trinitie

Melteth to mercie / to merciable and non other

And as wax without more / on a warme cole

Will brenne / and blase alltogithers

And solace them that may se / and sitt in derkenes

So the father forgyueth / folke of myld hertes

That rufully repent / and restitucion make

In-asmuch as they may / Amende and paye

And if that suffiseth notT / yet He that in such will dieth

Mercie for his mekenesse / will make good the rest

And as the weke and fyre / will make a warme flamme

For to confort men with / that in the derke sitt

So will Christ of his curtesie / if men crye Him mercie

Bothe forgyue and forgett / and yet pray for vs

To the father of Heauen / Forgyuenesse to haue

But Hewe fyre at the flynt / foure hundered wynter

Onlesse thou Haest tow{e}heLG to take it with / tunder or broches

All thy labour is lost / and thy long travaile

For may no fyre flamme make / Failethe it the kynde

So is the Holy ghoost god / and grace without mercie

To all vnkynde creatures / Christ Himself witnesseth

Be vnkynde to thine euencristen / and all þat þou canst pray

Dele and do penaunce / day and night euer

And purchase all the pardon / of Pampilon and Rome

And Indulgences ynowe / and be vnkynde to thy kynde

The holy ghoost Hereth the not / nor may the Helpe by reason

For vnkyndnesse quencheth Hym / that He cannot shine

Nor borneLX no blase clere / for burnyngLG of vnkyndenes

Paule the apostle / proueth whether I lye

Beware ye wise men / that with the worlde dealeth

That rich bene and reason knoweth / rule well your soule

Be not vnkynde I counsaile you / to your euencristen

For many of you riche men / by my soule men telleth

Ye burne but ye blase not / that is a blynde beken

Dives died dampned / for His vnkyndenes

Of his meat and money / to men that it neded

Euery riche man I rede / regarde at him take

And gyue your goodes to your {good} god / þat grace of Aryseth

For they þat be vnkynde to hise / I hope non other

But they dwell with diues / day without ende

Thus is vnkyndenes the contrarie / þat quencheth as it were

The grace of the Holy ghoost / goddes oune kynde

for that kynde doth vnkyndenes fordoo / as do these cursed theues

Vnkynde xpcristen men / for couetise and Envie

Slea a man for his goodes / with mouthe or hand

For that þe Holie ghoost hathe to kepe / tho harlottes do destroy

The which is lyfe and loue / the leye of mannes bodie

For euery manere good man / may be likened to a torche

Orelles / Or elles to A tapre / reuerence the Trinitie /

And he that murthereth a good man / me think by myn inwitt

he fordothe the lefest light / that oure lorde loueth

But yet in many more maners / men offende the Holie ghoost

But this is the worst wise / that any man maye

Synne against the Holy ghoost / to Assent to destroye

For couetise of Any thing / that Christ dere bought

How may he ask mercie / or any mercie Him helpe

That wickedly and willfully / wold mercie refuseLX

Innocency is next god / and night and daye criethe

Vengeaunce vengeaunce / forgyuen be it neuer

That shent vs and HadT our blood / forshapt vs as it were

Thus vengeaunce vengeaunce / very charitie asketh

And sith Holy chirche and charitie / chargeth this so sore

Beleue I neuer that our lorde / will loue that charite lacketh

Nor haue pitie for any prayere / there as he pleyneth

Suppose I Had synned so / And now shulde die

And am sory that I so / the holy ghoost haue offendid

Confesse and aske grace / of god that all made

And mekely His mercie ask / might I not be saued ?T

Yes said this Samaritan / so well thou maist repent

That righwisnes through repentaunce / to ruthe might turne

But it is but se{.}lden sene / Sothenesse beareth witnes

Any creature that is culpable / before A kynges Iustice

Be quyt for his repentaunce / there ReasonT Him dampneth

For there the partie pursueth / the plea is Huge

That the kyng may do no mercie / till bothe men accorde

And eyther haue equytie / As sayth S AugustineT

Thus it fareth by such folke / that falslie all their lyues

Euill lyue and beleue euillT / till lyfe them forsake

Good Hope that Helpe shulde / to dispayre turnethe

Not for the nonpoure of god / that he is not mightfull

To Amende all þat is amisse / and His mercie greatter

Then all oure wicked workes / as holy writ telleth

Misericordia eius super omnia opera eius /

But ere His rightousnes to ruthe turne / some restitucion behoueth

his sorowe is satisfaccion / for him that maynot / may not paye

Thre thinges therbe / there be / that do a man of force

To flee his oune house / as holy writ sheweth

The one is a wicked wife / þat willnot / will not be chastised

hir husbond fliethLG from her / for fere of hyr tong

And if His house be vncouered / and it reyne on his head

He sekith and sekith / tyll he may slepe drie

And whan smoke and smolder / smyghtP in his eyes

It greueth Him worse then His wife / or wete to slepe

For Smoke and smolder / smyteth in His eyen

Till he be blereeyed or blynde / and hoorce in the throte

He cowgheth and curseth / that Christ him sorowe

That shuld bring in better wood / or blowe it till it burne

Thise iij / thre that I tell of / be thus to vnderstande

The wyfe is oure wicked flesh / þat wilnot / will not be chastised

For kynde clyveth on him euer / to contrarie the soule

And though it fall it fynde skilles / þat frailtie it caused

And that is lightly forgyuen / and forgoton bothe

To man that asketh mercy / And thinketh to amende

The reyne that reyneth / there we rest shulde

Be sikenesses and sorowes / that we suffre oft

As paule the Apostle / to the people taught

And though that men make / moch sorowe in their Angre

And be inpacient in penaunce / pure reason knoweth

That they haue cause to contrarie / by kynde of theyr sikenes

And lightlie our lorde / at their lyves ende

hathe mercy on such men / that so euill may suffre

And the Smoke and smolder / þat smight in our eyen

That is couetise and vnkyndenesse / which quencheth goddes mercie

For vnkyndnes is the contrarie / of all manere reason

for there is neither sike nor sory / nor non somuch / so much wrech

But he may loue if he like / and beleueLX with His hart

Good will and good worde / both wishe and will

All manere of mercie / and of forgyuenesse

And loue Him like him-self / and his lyfe amende

I may no lenger let quod he / and lyard He pricked

And went awaie as wynde / and þerwith I awaked /