Passus quartus de dowel vbi prius
Y haue folewed the in fayth / mo then fourty wynter
And wissed the fol ofte / what dowel was to mene
And conseyled the for cristes sake / no creature to bygile
Noþer to lye ne to lacke / ne lere þat is defended
Ne to spille no speche / As for to speke an ydel
Ne no tyme to tyne / ne trewe thyng tene
Lowe the and leue forth / in þe lawe of holychirche / holy chirche
Clerkes þat conne al / y hope they can do no bettere
Ac hit soffiseth to be saued / and be such as y tauhte
Ac for to louye and to lene · and lyue wel and byleue
Is y-calde Caritas / kynde loue An engelysche
And þat is dobet yf eny suche be / ablessed / a blessed man þat helpeth
That pees be and pacience / and pore with-oute defaute
¶ Beacius est dare / quam petere
Ac catel and kynde wit / acombreth fol monye C
Wo is hym þat hem weldeth / but he hem wel despene
¶ Scienti & non facienti / varijs flagellis vapulabitur
Ac comunlyche connynge / and vnkynde ryche
As loreles to be lordes / and lewede men techares
And holychirche / holy chirche horen helpe / Auerours / Auerou[s] and coueytous
druyueth vp dowel / and distruyeth dobest
Ac grace ne groweth nat / til gode wil gyue reyne
C And waky thorw gode werkes / wikkede hertes
Ac Ar such a wil wexe / worcheth gode sulue
And sent forth the seynt espirit / to do loue sprynge
¶ Spiritus vbi vult spirat
So grace with-outen grace of god / and also gode werkes
May nat be þan syker / thogh we bidde euere
Ac clergie cometh bote of syhte / and kynde wit of sterres
As to be bore or by-gete / in such a constillacioun
That wit wexeth ther-of / and oþer wordes bothe
¶ Vultus huius seculi sunt subiecti vultibus T celestibus
So grace is a gifte of god / and kynde wit a chaunce
And clergie a connynge / of kynde wittes techyng
And ȝut is clergie to comende / for cristes loue more
Then eny connyng of kynde wit / but clergi hit reule
For moyses witnesseth þat god wroet / long ar crist were T
And crist cam and confermede / and holy kyrke made
And in soend a signe wroet / and saide to þe iewes
That seth hym-sulue synnelees / sese nat y hote
To strike with stoen or with staf / this strompet to dethe
¶ Quis vestrum sine peccato est
For-thy y conseile vch a creature clergie to honoure
For as aman / a man m{y}ay nat se / þat misseth his yes
No more can no clerk / but if hit come of bokes
God was here mayster and þe seynt spirit þe saumplarie T
And said what men sholde wryte
Riht so lereth lettrure / lewed men to resoun
And as a blynde man{i} {man} in bataile bereth wepene to fyhte
And hath non hap with his ax / his enemye to hutte
No more can a kynde witted man but clerkes hym teche
Come for al his kynde wit / thorw cristendoem to be saued
To vlouken / v[n]louken hit at here lykynge / the lewed and lered to helpe
To ȝeue mercy for mysdes / mys[de]des ȝif men hit wol aske
Buxumliche and benyngnelyche / and bidden hit of grace
¶ Arca dei in þe olde lawe leuytes hit kepte
Hadde neuere lewede leue / to legge hand on þat cheste
Bote hit were prestis or prestis sone / patriarke or pphete / p[ro]phete
Saul for he sacreficede / sorwe hym by-tydde
And his sones for his synnes / sorwe hem bytydde
And all lewede þat leide hand þer-on / loren lyf aftir
For-thy y conseyle all creatures / no clerk to despice
Ne sette shorte by here science / what so þei doen hem-sulue
Take we here wordes at worthe / for here wittenesses ben trewe
And medle we nat moche with hem / to meuen {m}eny wrathe
And do we as dauid techeth / for doute of godes veniance
¶ Nolite tangere christos meos & cetera
For clergy is cristes vycary / to conforte and to cure
bothe lewede and lerede / were lost yf clergie ne were
Kynde wittede men / han a clergie by hem-sulue
Of cloudes and of costumes / they contreuede mony thynges
And markede hit in here manere / and mused þer-on to knowe
For they helden hit for an hey science here sotiltees to knowe
Ac thorw here science sothly / was neuere soule y-saued
Ne brouhte by here bokes / to blisse ne to ioye
For al here kynde knowyng / cam bote of diuerse syhtes
Of briddes and of bestes / of blisse and of sorwe
Patriarkes and prophetus / repreuede here science
And saide here wordes ne here wysdomes / was but a folye
As to þe clergie of crist / thei counted hit but atryfle / a tryfle
¶ Sapiencia huius mundi stul{s}ticia P est apud deum
For the hey holigost / holi gost / heuene shal to-cleue
And loue shal lepe out aftur / in-to þis lowe erthe
And clennesse shal cach hit / and clerkes shollen hit fynde
¶ Pastores loquebantur adinuicem / ad inuicem & cetera
Hit speketh þer of ryche men riht nouht ne of ryche lordes
Bote of clennesse of clerkes / and kepares of bestes
¶ Ibunt magi ab Oriente & cetera
Yf eny frere we founde þere y ȝeue the fyue shillynges
Ne in no cote ne Caytfys hous T / the beste of þe toune
To pastours and to poetes / Appered þe Angel
And bad hem go to Bedlem / goddes berthe to honoure
And song a song of solace / Gloria in excelcis deo
Ryche men rotte tho / and in here reste were
Tho hit shoen to þe shepherdes a sheware of blisse
Clerkes knowe here comet and comen with here presentes
And deden here homage honerably / to hym þat was almyhty
Why y haue tolde al þis / y toek ful gode hede
How þou contraidest / contra[r]idest clergie / with crabbed wordes
That is how lewede men and luythere lyhtloker were y-saued
The / The[n] connynge clerkes of kynde vnderstondynge
And thow saidest sothe of somme / Ac y-se in what manere
Take two stronge men / and in temese cast hem
That oen hath connyng and can swymmen and dyuen
That oþer is lewed as of þat labour / and lerned neuere to swymme
Which trowest of tho two / in temese in moste drede
He þat can nat swymmen / y sayde hit semeth to alle wittes
Riht so quod þat renk P resoun hit sheweth
Þat he þat knoweth clergie / conne sonnore aryse
Out of synne and be saef / thogh he synege ofte
Yf hym liketh and luste / then eny lewede sothly
For yf þe clerke be connynge / and knoweth what is synne
And how contricion with-oute confessioun / conforteth þe soule
As we seen in þe sauter / in psalmes oen or tweyne
How contricioun is comended / for hit cacheth awey synne
¶ Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates & cetera
And þat conforteth vch aclerk / a clerk / and keuereth fro wanhope
In whiche floed þe fende / fondeth man hardest
There þe lewede lyth stille / and loketh aftur lente
And hath no contricion / ar he come to shrifte
And thenne can he lytel telle / but as his loresman hym lereth
Byleueth and troweth / and þat is aftur his parson
Other his parsche preest and parauntur bothe lewede
To lere lewede men / As luk P bereth witnesse
¶ Dum secus ducit secum & cetera
Fol muchel wo was hym marked þat wade shal with þe lewede
Wel may þe barne blesse / þat hym to boek sette
That lyuynge Aftur lettrure / saued hy / hy[m] lyf and soule
Hit hath take fro tybourne twenty stronge theues
There lewede theues ben lolled vp / loke how þei ben saued
The thef þat hadde grace of god · a LX gode fryday As thow toldest
Was for A LX ȝeld hym creaunt to crist / and his grace askede
And god is ay gracious / to alle þat gredeth to hym
And wol no wikkede man lost / bote if he wol hym-sulue
¶ Nolo mortem peccatoris & cetera
Ac thogh the theef hadde heuene / he hadde noen hey blisse
Ac seynt Iohon / Ioh[a]n and oþer seyntes / þat haen serued bettere
Riht As sum man ȝeueth me mete / and sette me Amydde þe flore
Ich haue mete more then y-now / Ac nat with muche worschi{t}pe
As tho þat sitten at þe syde table / or with þe souereyns in halle
Bote as a beggare bordles be my-sulue on þe grounde
So hit ferde by þe feloun / þat a LX goed fryday was saued
Ne with maydenes ne with martires / ne with mylde weddewes
Bote as a soleyn by hym-sulue / y-serued vppon þe grounde
For he þat is ones a thef / is euere-more in daunger
And as þe lawe lyketh / to lyue oþer to dye
¶ de peccato propiciato noli esse sine metu
And for to seruen a seynt and suche a thef to-gyderes
Hit were no resoun ne riht / to rewarde bothe y-lyche
For he is in þe loweste of heuene / yf oure byleue be trewe
And wel lofliche he lolleth / þere as by þe lawe of holychurche / holy churche
¶ Et reddet vnicuieque / vnicu[i]que iuxta opera sua
Rather then þat oþer thogh thow woldest apose
Alle þe Clerkes vnder Crist / ne couthe hit assoille
¶ Quare placuit / qui / qui[a] voluit / & cetera
And so y sey by þe / þat sekest aftur þe whyes
How creatures han kynde wit / and how clerkes come to bokes
And how þe floures in þe fryth / cometh to fayre hewes
Was neuere creature vnder crist / þat knewe wel þe bygynnyng
Bote kynde þat contreuede hit furst / of his corteyse wille
He tauhte þe tortle to trete T / the pocok to cauke
And Adam and Eue / and alle othere bestes
A cantel of kynde wyt / here kynde to saue
Of goed and of wykke / kynde was þe furste
Sey hit and soffred hit / And saide hit be sholde
¶ dixit & facta sunt
Ac why a LX wolde þat wykke were / y wene and y leue
Was neuere man vppon molde / þat myhte hit aspie
Ac longe lybbynge men / lykened men lyuynge
To briddes and to bestes / As here bokes telleth
Þat þe fayrest foul / foulest engendreth
That is þe pocok and þe popeiay / with here proude fetheres
Bytokenen riht ryche men / þat reygne here on erthe
For pursue a pocok / or a pohen to cacche P
For þey may nat fle fer / ne ful hey neyther
For here fetheres þat fayre beth to fle fer hem letteth
His lethene T is vnloueliche / and lothliche his careyne
Ac for his peynted pennes / þe pecok is honoured
More þan for his fayre flesch / or for his merye note
Riht so men reuerenced more / þe ryche for here mebles
Then for eny kyn he come of / or for his kynde wittes
And þe ryche man for his rentes / or for his rychesse in his shoppes
The larke þat is alasse / a lasse foul is louelokest of ledene
And swettore of sauour / and swyftore of wenges
To lowe lyuynge men þe larke is resembled
And to lele and lyf-holy / þat louyeth alle treuthe
Thus porfirie and plato / and poetes monye
Likneth in here logik / þe leste foul outen
And wher he be saef or nat saef / þe sothe woet no clergie
Ne of sortes ne of salamon / ne scripture can telle
Wher þat þey ben in hell or in heuene / or Aristotel þe wyse
Ac god is so gode y hope / þat seth he gaf hem wittes
To wissen vs weyes þerwith / þat wenen to be saued
And þe bettere for here bokes / to bidden we ben yholde
That god for his grace gyue here soules reste
For letrede men were as lewede men ȝut / ne were þe lore of tho clerkes
Alle thise clerkes quod y tho / þat in crist leuen
Segen with-oute here sarmons / þat noþer saresynes ne iewes
With-oute bapteme As by here bokes / beth nat y-saued
Contra quod ymagynatif tho and comesed to loure
And saide vix saluabitur iustus in die iudicij
¶ Ergo saluabitur quod he and saide no more latyn
Troianes was atrewe / a trewe knyhte / and toek neuere cristendoem
And he is saef saith the boek / and his soule in heuene
And thorw fuyr is fullyng / and al is ferme bileue
¶ Auenit LG ignis diuinus non comburens / set illuminans & cetera
Ac truth þat trespassed neuere / ne trauersede aȝens his lawe
Bote lyuede as his lawe tauhte / and leueth þer be no bettere
Ne wolde neuere trewe god / bote trewe treuthe were alloued
And wher hit worth or worth nat / the bileue is gret of treuthe
And hope hangeth ay þeron / to haue þat treuthe deserueth
¶ Quia super pauca fuisti fidelis & cetera
And þat is loue and large huyre / yf þe lord be trewe
And acortesye / a cortesye more þen couenant was / what so clerkes carpe
For al worth as god wol / and þerwith he vanschede
// Grace wyt-oute grace
is noȝt
is noȝt
corrigitur
ymagenynge