IC Am ymaginatyf quod he / Idul was y neuere
Þauh y sete by my-self / suche is my grace /
Y haue folowed þe in faith / mo þan forty wyntur
And wissched þe fol ofte / wat Dowel was to mene
And consailled þe for cristesake / no creature to by-gyle
Noþur to lye ne to lakke / ne lere þat is defended
Ne to spille speche / as to speke on ydul
And no tyme to tyme / ne trewe þing to teonen
Lowe þe and to lyue forþe / in þe lawe of holychurche
Þan dost þow wel with-oute drede / ho can dobet no force
Clerkes þan connen al / y hope þei can do betere
Ac hit sufficit to beo saue{t}d / and beo suche as y tauhte
And for to louye and lene / and lyue wel and by-leoue
Is y-cald Caritas kynde loue in englissche
¶ And þat is dobet ȝif eny such beo / y-blesset man þat helpeþ
Þat pees beo and pacience / and poure wiþ-oute defaute
Beacius est dare quam petere /
Ac catel and kyndewit / encombreþ fol monye
Wo is hym þat hem weldeþ / but he hem wel dispene
Scientes et non facientes varijs flagellis vapulabunt
¶ ¶ Ac Comunilyche connynge / and vnkynde rychesse
As lorelles to beo lordes / and lewede men techeres
And holychurche horen help / auerous and couetous
Droweþ vp dowel / and destrueþ dobest
¶ Ac grace is a gras þer-fore / to don hem eft growe
Ac grace groweþ nat / tyl good wyl gynne reyne
And woky þorgh goode werkes / wyckede hertes .
¶ Ac er suche a wil wexe / god hym-self worcheþ
And sent forth seynt espurit / to don loue sprynge
Spiritus ubi wlt spiratN
So grace wiþ-oute grace of god and goode werkes
May not beo / beo þow syker / thauh we bydde euere .
¶ Cleregie comeþ but of syht / and kynde wit of sterres
As to beo bore oþur by-gete / in suche constellacioun
Þat wit waxit þer-of / and oþer wirdes boþe .
Wltus huius seculi sunt subiecti vultibus celestibus .
Sa grace is a gyft of god / and kynde wit a chaunce
And clergie a connynge / of kyndeswit techynge
¶ And ȝut is clergie to comende / for cristes loue more
Þan eny connynge of kyndewit / but clergie hit rewle
¶ For moyses witnesseþ þat god wrouht / in ston wiþ his fyngur
Lawe of loue oure lord wrouht / longe er cryst were
And cryst cam and confermede / and holykirke made
¶ And in sond a signe wrot / and seyde to þe iewes
Þat seoþ hym-self synneles / cesse nat y hote
Quis vestrum sine peccato est et cetera .
¶ For-þi y counsail al cristene / clergie to honoure
For as a man may not seo / þat misseþ his eyen
No more can no clerkes / but if hit beo of bokes
¶ Al-thauh men maden bokes / god was here magister .
And seint espurit þe saumplarie / and seyde wat men scholde write
And riȝht as siht serueþ a man / to seo þe hye strete
Ryht so lereþ lettrure / lewede men to reson .
¶ And as a blynd mon in bataille / bereþ wepne to fihte
And hathe non happe wiþ his axe / his enymy to hitte /
No more can a kyndewittede man / but clerkes him teche
Come for alle his kynde wittes / þorgh cristondam to beo saued
Þe wuche is cofre of cristes tresour / and clerkes kepuþ þe keyes
To vn-louke hit at here lykyng / þe lewede and lered to helpe
¶ To ȝeue mercy for mysdedes / if men wolde hit aske
Buxomliche and benyngliche / and bydden hit of grace
// Archa dei in þe olde lawe / leuites hit kepten .
Hadde neuere lewede man leue / to legge hond on þat cheste
But hit were preost or preostes sone / patriark or prophete
Saul for he sacryfisede / sorowe him by-tyded
And his sones for his synnes / sorwe þei hadden
¶ For-þi y consaille al creatours / no clerk to dispyse
Ne sette schort by here science / what so þei don hem-selue
¶ Take we here wordes a worth / for here witnesses beoþ trewe
And medle we nat muche wiþ hem / to meouen eny wrathe
Lest chest chauf vs so / and chop eche mon oþer
And do we as dauid techeþ / for doute of godes veniaunce
Nolite tangere cristos meos / & cetera
¶ For clergye is cristes vicory / to conforte and to curen
Boþe lered and lewed were lost / if clergie ne were
¶ Kyndewitted men han / a clergie by hem-selue /
Of cloudes and of custumes / þei contreuede mony þinges
And markede hit in heore maneres / and musede þer-on to knowe
And of þe selcouþes þat þei seyhen / here sones þer-of þei tauhte
¶ Thei heolden hit For a hy science / heore sotylites to knowe
Ac þrow here science sothly / was neuere soule y-saued
Ne brouht þrow here bokes / to blisse ne to ioye .
¶ For al here kyndeknowyng cam / but of diuerse syhtes
Of bryddes and of bestes / of blisse and of sorowe
¶ Patriarches and prophetes / repreuede here science /
And seyde here wordes and wysdomes / ne was but a folye
As to þe cleregie of crist / thei countede hit but a tryfle
Sapiencia huius mundi / stulticia est apud deum .
¶ For þe hye holygost / schal heuene to-cleue
And loue schal leope out aftur / in-to þis lowe eorthe
And clannesse schal cachen hit / and clerkes schul hit fynde
Pastores loquebantur ad inuicem & cetera .
¶ Hit spekeþ of richemen / riche men rith nouht / ne of riche lordes
But of clennesse and of clerkes / and keperes of bestes
Ibunt magi ab oriente /C
¶ If eny Frere found were þere / ich ȝeue fyue schillinges
Nothur in cote ne in a caytif hous / was crest y-bore
But in a Borgeyses hous / þe best of al þe toune
¶ To pastours and to poetes / aperede þe aungel
And bad hem go to bethleem / godes burthe to honoure
And sungen a songe of solas Gloria in excelsis deo
¶ Richemen / Riche men routten þo / and in here reste weren
Þo hit schon to þe schepherdes / a scwewere of blisse .
¶ Clerkes knewen þe Comete and comen myd here presentes
And dude here homage honorably / to hym þat was al-myhty
¶ Why y haue tolde þe al this / y took fol good hede
Hou þow contrariedest clergye / with crabbede wordes
That is how lewede men and luthere / lithlocour were saued
Þan connynge clerkes / of kunde vndurstondyng
And þow seydest soþe of somme / ac y seye in wat manere .
¶ Tak two stronge men / and in temese cast hem
And boþe naked as a nedle / here non heuegour þan oþur
¶ Þat on hath connynge and can / swymmen and dyuon
Þat oþer is lewede of þat labour / & lernede neuere swymme
Wuche is trowest þou of þo two / in temse most in drede /
¶ He þat can not swymme y seyde / hit semeþ to al wittes /
¶ Riht so quaþ þat renk / reson hit scheweþ
Þat he þat knoweþ clergie / can sannere a-ryse
Out of synne and beo saf / þauh he synege ofte
If hym likeþ and lust / þan eny lewede sothly
¶ For if þe clerk beo connynge / and knoweþ wat is synne
And hou contricioun wiþ-oute confessioun / conforteþ þe soule
As we seon in þe sauter in psalmes / on or tweye .
Hou contricion is comended / for hit cacheþ a-weye synne
Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates
¶ And þat conforteþ eche clerk / and keuereþ fro wanhope
In whut flod þe fend / fondeþ men hardest
¶ Þer þe lewede lithe stille / and lokeþ aftur lente
And hath non contricioun / ar he come to schrifte
And þenne can he litul telle / of on or of oþer
but as his lores-man leres hym / he by-leoueþ & troweþ
And þat is aftur person or parsch preost / & parauntur boþe beoþ lewed
For to lere lewede men / as luk bereþ witnesse
dum cecus ducit cecum .C
¶ For muche wo was him market / þat wade schal wiþ þe lewede
Wel may þe barn blesse / þat hym to boke sette
Þat lyuynge aftur lettrure / sauede him lyf and soule .
¶ dominus pars hereditatis mee / is a murye verset
Hit haþ y-take fro tyborne / twenty stronge þeoues
¶ Þer lewede þeoues beon lollede vp / loke hou þei beon saued
¶ Þe þeof þat hadde þe grace of god / a godefryday / gode fryday as þou toldest
Was for he ȝelded him creaunt to crist / and his gr{c}ace askede
And god is ay gracious / to alle þat gredeþ to hym
He wol no wykkede mon beo lost / but if he wol him-self
Nolo mortem peccatoris sea ut magis & cetera .
¶ Ac þauh þe þeof hadde heuene / he had non hye blisse
As seint Iohan and oþerer seyntes / þat han a-serued beterre
¶ Riht as some men ȝyueþ me mete / & sette me a-mydde þe flor
I haue mete more þenne y-nouh / ac nat wiþ so muche worschip
As þo þat sitten at þe heye or syd table / or wiþ þe souereyns in halle
But as a beggare bord-les / by my-seelf on þe grounde
¶ So hit ferde by þe felon / þat a good fryday was seued
He sit noþur myd seint Iohan wiþ Symon ne wiþ Iude
Ne with maydones ne wiþ martyres / ne wiþ mylde wydues
But as a solayn by him-self / and serued vpon þe grounde
¶ For he þat is ones a þeef / is euere-more in daunger
And as þe lawe likeþ / to lyue or to dye
de peccato propiciato noli esse sine metu .
¶ And for to seruen a seynt / and suche a þeof to-gederes
Hit were no reson ne ryht / to rewarde boþe liche
¶ Ryht as Troianus þe trewe knyht / tulde nat deop in helle
Þat oure lord ne hadde him litliche out / so leoue y of þat þeof in heuene .
For he is in lowest heuene / if oure by-leue beo trewe
And wel lofliche lolleþ þere / as by þe lawe of holy churche
Et reddit vnicuique secundum opera sua
Ac why þe þeof vpon þe crois / creaunt him ȝeelde
Raþer þenne þat oþur / þauh þow woldest appose
Al þe clerkes vndurcrist / vndur crist / {.}ne couthe þis assoille
Quare placuit quia uoluit
& cetera .C
¶ And so y seye by þe / þat sekest aftur weyes
Hou creatours and kyndewit / and clerkes comen to bokes
And hou þe floures in þe frith / comeþ to faire hewes .
¶ Was neuere creature vndur crist / þat knew wel þe by-gynnyng
But kunde þat contreued hit furst / of corteyse wil .
¶ He tauhte þe tortle to trede / þe pecok ta cauke
And adam and eue / and oþere bestes alle
¶ A cantel of kynde wit / here kynde to saue
Of goode and of wik / kynde was þe furste
He seyh hit and suffred hit / and seyde hit beo scholde
dixit & facta sunt .C
¶ Ac whi he wolde þat wikkede were / y wene and y leoue
Was neuere man vpon molde / þat myhte hit aspie
Ac longe libbynge men / lyknede mennes lyuynge
To bryddes and to bestes / as here bokes telleþ .
Þat þe fayrest foul / foulest engendreþ
And feblest foul of flyht is / þat flucþ oþer swymmeþ
¶ That is þe pecok and þe popyiay / wiþ here proude feþeres
By-tokeneþ riht richemen / riche men / þat regnen here on eorþe
¶ For pursue a pecok / or a po hen to cacche
And haue hem in haste / at þin owene wil
¶ For þei may not fleo fer / ne ful hye noþur
CFor heore federes þat faire beon / to fleo fer hem letteþ .
His leodene is vnlouelyche / and lothliche his caroyne
Ac For his peynted feþeres / þe pecok is honoured
More þenne for his faire fleisch / or for his mury note
¶ Riht so menne reuerenseþ more þe riche / for his muche meoble
Þan for þe kyn þat he cam of / or for his kynde wittes
¶ Thus þe poete preyseþ / þe pecok for his feþeres
And þe riche for his rentes / or richesse in his schoppe
¶ Þe larke þat is a lasse foul / is louelokour of leodene
And swetterour of sauour / and swuftor of wynge
¶ To lowe lyuynge men / þe larke is resembled
And to lelle and to lyf-holy / þat louon al treuthe
¶ Thus Pofirie and Plato / and poetes monye
Lykneþ in here Logik / þe lest foul oute
¶ And weþur hy beo saf or not saf / þe soþe wot nat clergie
Ne of Sortes ne of Salamon / / no scripture can telle
Wheþer þei beoþ in heuene oþur in helle / or Aristotle þe wyse
¶ Ac god is so good y hope / sith he gaf hem wyttes
To wisson vs weyes þer-with / þat wenon to be saued
And þe betere for here bokes / to bidden we beoþ holde
Þat god for his grace / gyue here soules reste .
for letred men were but lewedmen / lewed men ȝut / ne were þe lore of þo clerkes .
¶ Al theos clerkes quod y þo / þat on crist by-leouen
Seggen in here sarmons / þat noþer sarasyns ne Iewes
Wiþ-oute baptisme as by here bokes / beoþ nat y-saued
¶ Contra quaþ ymaginatif þo / and comsode to loure
And seyde vix saluabitur iustus / in die Iudicij
Ergo saluabitur quath he / and seyde no more latyn
Troianus was a trewe knyht / and tok neuere cristondom
¶ And he is saf seith þe boke / and his soule in heuene
¶ Þer is follyng of font / and follynge in blod-schedyng
And throw fuyr is follyng / and al is ferm by-leoue
Aduenit ignis diuinus non comburens sed illuminans /
¶ Ac treuthe þat trespasseþ neuure / ne transuersede a-ȝeinst þe lawe
But leouede as his lawe tauhte / and leoueþ þer beo no bettere
And ȝif þer were he wolde / and in such a wil deyeþ /
Wolde neuere trewe god / but trewe treuþe were a-lowed
¶ And were hit worþe or not worþe / þe by-leoue is gret of treuþe
And hope hongeþ ay þer-on / to haue þat treuþe deserueþ
Quia super pauca fidelis fuisti / supra multa te constituam
And þat is loue and large huyre / ȝif þe lord beo trewe
And a cortesye more þenne couenaunt was / what so clerkes carpon
For al worþ as god wolo / and þer-wiþ he vanyschede /
Hic explicit passus quintus /
Lucam 2o / secundo .
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quia beacius est predicare quam audire
ad corinthios
lucam secundo
neque crux neue
apostoli ibi erantC
apostoli ibi erantC
opinio ..borum est