I am spes aspie / a spie quod he / and spere aftur a knyȝte
{...?...}That toek me amaundement / a maundement / vppon þe mont of synay
To reule alle reumes þerwith in riȝhte and in resoun
That that y sey is soeth / se ho-so liketh
¶ Is hit asseled y saide / may men y-se thy lettres
Nay he saide y seke hym / þat hath þe seel to kepe
The which is Crist and cristendoem / and croes þer-an y-hanged
Were hit þer-with aseled / y woet wel þe sothe
That luciferes lordschipe / lowe sholde lygge
¶ Let se thy lettres quod y / we myhte þe lawe knowe
A LX pluhte forth a patente / a pece of an hard roche
Where-on was writen two wordes / and on this wyse y-glosed
¶ dilige deum & pro{.}ximum
This was the tyxt trewly / y toek ful good gome
The glose was gloriou{l}sly writen / with a gult penne
¶ In hijs duobus pependit · tota lex C & cetera
Is here al thy lordes lettres quod y · / ȝe leef me he saide
And ho worcheth aftur this writ / y wol vndertaken
Shal neuere deuel hym dere / ne deth in soule greue
For thogh y sey hit my-sulue / y haue saued with this charme
Of men and of wommen / meny score thousend
¶ He seyth soth saide fayth / y haue y-founde hit trewe
Lo here in my lappe quod fayth / þat leuede vpon þat lettre
Bothe Iosue and Ieudith · and Iudas Macabeus
And six thousand mo quod fayth · y nyl nat seyn here names
¶ Ȝoure wordes aren wonderfol quod y tho / where eny of ȝow{e} betrewe / be trewe
And lele to bileue on / for body or for soule
Abraham saith þat he seyh / holly þe trinitee
Thre persones parselemele deparable / depar[t]able fram oþere
And alle thre bote o god / thus abraham bereth witenesse
And hath y-saued þat bileued so / and sory for here synnes
He can no certeyn somme telle / and somme aren in his lappe
What nedede hit thanne · anewe / a newe lawe to brynge
Sethe the furste sufficede to bileue / and be saued
¶ And now cometh this spees / sp[e]s / that hath aspyed þe lawe
That of no trinite ne telleth / ne taketh mo persones
To godhede but o god / and on god almyhty
The which alle men aren holde / ouer al thyng to honoure
And seth to louye and to lene / for þat lordes sake
Alle manere men as moche as oure-sulue
And for to louye and bileue in o lord almyhty
Hit is liht for lewed / and for lered bothe
Ac for to bileue in o lord / þat lyueth in thre persones
And lereth þat we louye sholde / as wel lyares as lele
Tho þat lerneth thy lawe / wollen litel while hit vse
And as we wenten in þe way / thus wordyng of this matere
Thenne sey we a samaritaen / cam sittynge on {.}a muyle
rydynge ful raply / þe rihte way we ȝeden
Comynge fram a contraye / þat men callide Ierico
To ioust in Ierusalem / he Iaced a-way ful faste
Bothe abraham and spees / sp[e]s / and he mette at ones
In a wilde wildernesse / where theues hadde y-bounde
Aman / A man as me tho thouhte / to moche care they brouhte
For he ne myhte stepe ne stande / ne stere foet ne handes
Ne helpe hym-sulue sothly / for semyuief he semede
And as naked as an nedle / and noen helpe abouten
Fayth furst of hym siht / Ac he fleyh a-syde
And wolde nat neyhele hym / by nyne londes lenghe
Hope cam huppynge aftur / þat hadde so y-bosted
How he with Moyses maundement / hadde mony men y-holpe
Ac when he hadde sihte of this syke / a-syde he gan hym drawe
And dredfully with-drow hym tho / and durste go no nerre hym
¶ Ac so sone sothe / so the samaritaen / hadde sihte of this carfole
And to this wey a LX wente / his woundes to byholde
And parseued by his poues / he was in perel to deye
And bote if he hadde recouerer the raþer / þat ryse sholde he neuere
And vnbokelede his boteles / and bothe he atamede
With wyn and with oyle / his woundes he gan lihte
Enbaumed hym / and boend his heued / C and on bayard hym sette
Is syxe myle or seuene / bi-syde þe newe marcat
And lefte hym þere alechyng / to lyue yf he myhte
And toek two pans the hostiler / to take kepe to hym
And þat more goth for his medicyne / y make the good aȝeynward
For y may nat lette quod that lede / and lyard he by-strideth
And rapede hym to ryde / the rihte way to Ierusalem
Bothe fayth and his felawe / spes folewede faste aftur
Ac y sewede the samaritaen / and saide how they bothe
Were afered and flowe / fram þe man y-wounded
Ne no medicyne vnder molde / the man to hele brynge
Noþer faith ne fyn hope so festred aren his woundes
With-oute þe bloed of abarn / a barn / he beth nat y-saued
The which barn mote nedes be born of amayde / a mayde
And with þe bloed of þat barn / enbaumed and y-baptised
And thouh he stande and steppe / riȝt stronge worth he neuere
Til he haue eten al þat barn / and his bloed dronken
And ȝut he plasterud with pacience / when fondynges hym priketh
For wente neuere man this way / þat he ne was here y-ruyfled
Saue my-sulue soethly and such as y louede
And ȝut bote they loue lelly vpon þat litel baby
That his lycame shal lechen / at þe laste vs alle
¶ A sire y saide shal nat we bileue
As faith and his felawe / spes enfourmede me bothe
And alle thre bote o god / thus abraham me tauhte
And hope afturward of o god / more me toelde
And lered me for his loue / to louye al mankynde
And hym aboue alle / and hem as my-sulue
Noþer lacke ne alose / ne leue þat þer were
Eny wikkedere in þe worlde / then y were my-sulue
And moest inparfyt {a}of alle persones / and pacientliche soffre
Alle manere men / and thogh y myhte venge
Y sholde tholye and thonken hem / þat me euel wolden
And as Abraham þe olde / of · o · god the tauhte
Loke thow louye and bileue / al thy lyf-tyme
And yf kynde wit carpe here-aȝen / or eny kyne thouhtes
For god þat albygan / al bygan in bigynnynge of the worlde
Ferde furste as a fu{r}ste C / and ȝut is as y leue
¶ Mundum pugillo continens
As with a fuste with-oute a {fynd} fynger / yfolde to-gyderes
And profered hit forth as with the paume / to what place hit sholde
The paume is the pethe of the hand / and profereth the fyngeres
To ministre and to make / þat myhte of hand knoweth
And bitokeneth trewly / telle ho-so liketh
The holy goest of heuene / he is as þe paume
The fyngres þat fre ben / to folde and to cluche
Bitokneth soethly the sone / þat sente was til erthe
Seynte marie amayden / a mayden / and mankynde lauhte
¶ Natus est ex maria virgine
The fader is thenne as þe fuste / with fynger and with paume
To huyde and to holde / as holy writ telleth
¶ Omnia traham ad me ipsum
And þat the fynger gropeth he grypeth / bote yf hit greue þe paume
Thus are they alle bote oen / as hit an hand were
A fuste with a fynger / and a fol paume
And as þe fuste is a ful hand / y-folde to-gyderes
{A}So is þe fader a fol god / the fu{r}ste of hem alle
¶ Tu fabricator omnium
And al þe myhte with hym is / was and worth euere
The fyngeres is a fol hand / for failed they or thombe
Portrey ne peynte / parfitliche y leue
Riht so failed þe sone / the syre be ne myhte
Ne holde ne helpe / ne hente þat he louede
¶ dextere dei tu digitus
The paume is puyrliche the hand and hath power by hym-sulue
For þe paume hath power to pulte out þe ioyntes
And to vnfolde þe fust / for hym hit bilongeth
And receue þat the fyngeres recheth / and refuse yf hem liketh
A{nd}lle þat þe fyngeres and þe fust feleth and toucheth
Bote he be greued with here grype / the holy goost lat falle
And thus is the holy goste god / noyther grettore ne lassore
Then is the syre or the sone / and of þe same myhte
And alle thre is bote o god / as myn hoend and my fyngeres
Vnfolden or folden / a LX fuste wyse or elles
Al is hit bote oen hoend / how-so y turne hit
Ac ho is herte in the hand / euene in þe myddes
He may resceyue riht nauhte resoun hit sheweth
For þe fyngeres þat folde sholde / and þe fust make
For peyne of þe paume power hem fayleth
To cluche or to clawe / to clippe or to holde
Were þe myddel of myn hand / with-oute male-ese
In many kyne manere / y myhte my-sulfe helpe
Bothe meue and amende / thogh alle my fyngeres oke
Bi this simile he saide / y se an euydence
That ho-so synegeth in þe seynt spirit / assoiled worth he neuere
Noþer here ne elles-where / as y herde telle
¶ Qui peccat in spiritu sancto & cetera
For he priketh god as in his paume that peccat in spiritum sanctum T
For {.}so the fader is as þe fust / þe sone is as þe fynger
The holy gost of heuene / he is as þe paume
So ho-so synegeth aȝeyn þe seynt spirit / hit semeth þat he greueth
God þer-with he gripeth / and wolde his grace quenche
For to a torche or to a taper þe trinite is likned
As wexe and a weke were twyned to-gyderes
And thenne flaumynge fuyr / forth of hem bothe
And as wex and weke / and warm fuyr to-gyderes
Fostren forth a flaume / and a feyr lye
That serueth this swynkares to by a-nyhtes
So doth þe sire and þe sone / and seynt spirit to-gyderes
Fostren forth amonges folke / fyn loue and bileue
That alle kyne cristen // clanseth of synne
And as thow seest som-tyme sodeynliche of a torche
The blase be y-blowen out / ȝut brenneth þe weke
With-outen leye and lihte / lith fuyr in þe mache
So is þe holigost / holi gost god / and grace with-outen mercy
To alle vnkynde creatures / þat coueyten to destruye
Leel lycame and lyf / þat oure lord shupte
And as glowyng gledes / gladeth nat this werkmen
That worchen and waken in wynteres nyhtes
¶ No more doth sire ne þe sone ne seynt spirit to-gyderes
Til þat the holy goest / gynne to glowe and blase
So þat the holy gost gloweth but as a glede
Til þat loue and bileue / leliche to hym blowe
And thenne flaumeth he as fuyr / on fader and on filius
Isekeles in euesynges / thorwe hete of the sonne
Melteth in a mynt-while / to myst and to water
So grace of þe holigost / holi gost / the grete myhte of þe trinite
Melteth al to mercy / to merciable and to non oþere
And as wex with-outen more / vpo a warm glede
Wol brennen and blasen / be they to-gyderes
And solacen þat mowen nat se sittynge in derkenesses
¶ So wol þe fader forȝeue / folke of mylde hertes
That reufulliche repenten / and restitucion make
In as moche as they mowen / amenden and payen
And yf hit sufficeth nat for a sech / [as]e[t]h / þat in suche a will deyeth
Mercy for his mekenesse / wol maky good þe remenaunt
And as þe wyke and warm fuyr wol make a fayre flaume
For to murthe men with / þat in merke sitten
So wol Crist of his cortesye / and men crien hym mercy
Bothe forȝeue and forȝete / and ȝut bidde for vs
To þe fader of heuene forȝenesse / forȝe[ue]nesse to haue
Ac hewe fuyr at a flynt / foure hundret wynter
Bote thow haue tasch to take hit with / tender and broches
Al thy labor is loste / and al thy longe trauaile
For may no fuyr flaume make · faile hit his kynde
So is þe holy gost god and grace / with-outen mercy
To alle vnkynde creatures / as Crist hym-sulue witnesseth
¶ Amen dico vobis nescio vos
Be vnkynde to thy emcristene / and al þat thow canst bidde
dele and do penaunce / day and nyht euere
And purchase al the pardoun · of pampilon and of Rome
And indulgences ynowe / and be ingrates LX to thy kynde
The holy goest hereth the nat ne helpeth the be thow certeyne
For vnkyndenesse quencheth hym / þat he can nat shine
Ne brenne ne blase clere / for blowynge of vnkyndenesse
Paul the apostel / preueth where y lye / si linguis hominum loquor / loq[ua]r & cetera
For-thy beth y-war ȝe wyse men / þat with the world deleth
That riche ben and resoun knoweth / reule wel ȝoure soules
Beth nat vnkynde y conseyle ȝow / to ȝoure emcristene
For mony of ȝow riche men / by my soule y lye nat
Ȝe brenneth ac ȝe blaseth nat / and þat is ablynde / a blynde bekne
¶ Non omnis qui dicit domine domine intrabit in regnum celorum · T & cetera
Minne ȝe nat riche men / to which a myschaunce
That diues deyede / and dampned / for his vnkyndenesse
Of his mete and his mone / to men þat hit nedede
Ȝut wan he nat with wrong / ne with queynte sleythes
Bute riȝtfulliche as men þat / [r]at / al his richesse cam hym
And on hym-sulue as sayth the boek / sotiled how he myhte
Moste lordliche lyue / and ȝut his lycame werie
Clothes of moest cost / as clerkes bereth witnesse
¶ Epulabatur splendide / & induebatur bisso & cetera
And for he was a nygard / and a nythynge to the nedfol pore
For godes tretor he is cald / for al his trewe catel
And sethe he with-oute wyles wan / and wel myhte atymye
Lordliche for to lyue / and ly{n}kyngliche be clothed
And is in helle for al þat / how wol riche no{h}uthe
Excuse hem þat ben vnkynde / and ȝut here y-wonne
With wyles and with luyther whites / and ȝut wollen nat atymye
To go semeliche ne sitte / seth holy writ techeth T
Facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis
Vch a riche y rede / reward herof take
And gyueth ȝoure goed to þat god þat grace of aryseth
For þat ben vnkynde to hise hope ȝe noen oþer
Bote they dwelle there diues is / dayes with-outen ende
Thus is vnkyndenesse / and quencheth as hit were
The grace of the holy goest / godes owene kynde
For þat kynde doth / vnkynde for-doth
T As this corsede theues vnkynde cristene men / for coueytise and enuye
Sleth aman / a man for his mebles / with mouthe or with handes
For that the holy goest hath to kepe / tho harlotes distruyeth
The which is lyf and loue / the leye of mannes body
For euery manere goed man / may be likned to atorche / a torche
Or elles a taper to reuerense with the trinite
¶ And who-so morthereth a goed man / me thynketh bi myn inwit
A LX fordoth the lihte þat oure lord / loketh to haue worshipe of
And ȝut in mo maneres / men affenden þe holygost / holy gost
Ac this is the worste wyse þat eny wiht myhte
S{n}ynegen aȝen þe seynte spirit / assente to destruye
For coueytise of eny kyne thynge þat Crist dere bouhte
How myhte he aske mercy / or eny mercy hym defende
That wikkedliche and wilfulliche / wolde mercy anyente
Innocence is next god / and nyht and day hit crieth
Veniaunce veniaunce / forȝeue be hit neuere
That shent vs and shedde oure bloed / for-schupte vs as hit semede
¶ Vindicta / Vindic[a] sanguinem iustorum
Thus veniaunce veniaunce verray charite asketh
And sethe Charite þat holy churche is chargeth this so sore
Leue y neuere þat oure lord at þe laste ende
Wol louye þat lyf / þat loue and Charite destruyeth
Y pose y hadde syneged so quod y / and sholde nouthe deye
And now am y sory þat y so · the seynte spirit agulte
Confesse me and crye his grace / god þat al made
And myldeliche his mercy aske / myhte y nat be saued
¶ Ȝus saide þe þe / [þe] samaritaen / so thow myhtest repente
That rihtwisnesse thorw repentaunce / to reuthe myhte turne
Ac hit is bote selde y-seyen / there sothnesse bereth witnesse
Eny creature be coupable / bifore a kynges iustice
Be y-raunsomed for his repentaunce / þer alle resoun hym dampneth
The / The[r] þat partye pursueth / the apeel is so huge
That may no kynge mercy graunte / til bothe men acorde
That eyþer partye haue equitee / as holy writ witnesseth
¶ Nunquam dimittitur peccatum & cetera
Thus hit fareth bi such folk / þat folewen here owene will
That euele lyuen and leten nat / to hem forsake
Som drede of disparacion / thenne dryueth grace
That mercy in here mynde / may nat thenne falle
For goed hope that helpe thenne / scholde to wanhope þer turneth
And nat of þe nown-power of god / þat he ne is ful of myhte
To amende al þat amys is / and his mercy grettore
¶ Misericordia eius super omnia opera eius
Ac ar this rihtwisnesse to reuthe turne / restuticou / rest[it]u[ci]ou[n] hit maketh
As sorwe of herte is satisfaccioun / for suche þat may nat paye
Ac thre thynges ther ben / þat doth aman / a man to sterte
Out of his oune house as holy writ sheweth
That is a wikkede wyf / þat wol nat be chasted
Here fore / fere fleeth here / for fere of here tonge
And if his hous be vnheled / and reyne on his bedde
A LX seketh and seketh / til he slepe druye
Til he be b{r}lereyede or blynde / and þe borre in his throte
Coueth and corseth / þat Crist ȝeue hym sorwe
That sholde brynge in bettere wode / or blowen hit til hit brente
Thise thre that y telle of / thus ben vnderstande
The wyf is oure wikkede flesche / wol nat be chasted
For kynde cleueth on hym euere / to contrarie þe soule
And thogh he falle he fynte skiles / þat that freelete hit made
And þat is lihtliche forȝeue / and forȝete bothe
To man þat mercy asketh / and amende thenketh
¶ The rayne þat rayneth / þere we reste sholde
Been seeknesses and oþere sorwes / þat we soffren ouhte
As Paul þe apostel / in his episteles techeth
Virtus in infirmitate perficitur
And thogh that men make moche deul in here anger
And be inpacient in here penaunces puyr resoun knoweth
That they haen cause to contrarien bi kynde of here seknesses
And lihtliche oure lord at here lyues ende
Haeth mercy on suche men / þat euele may soffre
Ac þe smoke and þe smolder / þat smyt in oure yes
That is coueytise and vnkyndenesse / whiche quencheth godes mercy
¶ For vnkyndenesse is þe contrarie / of alle kyne resoun
For þer ne is sike ne sory ne non so moche wrecche
That he ne may louye and hym lyke / and lene of his herte
Goed wil goed word / bothe wischen and wilnen
Alle manere men mercy / and forȝeuenesse
Y may no lengore lette quod he / and lyard a LX prikede
And wente a-way as wynd / and þer-with y a-wakede