R.1 – PPEA

R.1.4KD.1.4 R.1.8KD.1.8 R.1.12KD.1.12 R.1.16KD.1.16 R.1.20KD.1.20 R.1.24KD.1.24 R.1.28KD.1.28 R.1.32KD.1.31α R.1.36KD.1.34 R.1.40KD.1.38 R.1.44KD.1.42 R.1.48KD.1.46 R.1.52KD.1.50 R.1.56KD.1.54 R.1.60KD.1.58 R.1.64KD.1.62 R.1.68KD.1.66 R.1.72KD.1.70 R.1.76KD.1.74 R.1.80KD.1.78 R.1.84KD.1.83 R.1.88KD.1.87 R.1.92KD.1.91 R.1.96KD.1.95 R.1.100KD.1.101 R.1.104KD.1.99 R.1.108KD.1.107 R.1.112KD.1.111 R.1.116KD.1.116 R.1.120KD.1.120 R.1.124KD.1.124 R.1.128KD.1.128 R.1.132KD.1.132 R.1.136KD.1.136 R.1.140KD.1.140

fol. 78v (cont.)

[P]assusC primus de visione petri plowman —

hat þis montayne by-meneth  and þe merke dale .C

[A]nd þe felde ful of folke  I schal ȝow fayre schewe .

A lufly lady of lere  in lynnen I-clothed .

[C]om doun from a castel  and cald me fayre .

[A]nd seyde sone slepestow  sest þow þis poeple .

[H]ow bysi þei ben  a-bouten þe mase .

[Þ]e moste partie of þis poeple  þat passeth on þis erthe .

[H]aue þe / þe[i] worchippe in þis worlde  þei willne no better .

[Of o]ther heuene þan here  holden þei no tale .

[¶ I] was aferd of here face  þeiȝ she faire were .

[A]nd seyde mercy madame  what is þis to mene

[¶ Þe] toure vp þe tofte quod sche  treuthe is þere-inne .

[An]d wolde þat ȝe wrouȝte  as his worde techeth .

[Fo]r he is fader of feyth  formede ȝow alle .

[Bo]the with fel and with face  and ȝaf ȝow fyue wittes .

[Fo]r to worchippe hym þere-with  þe while þat ȝe ben here .

[Þa]tT þerefore he hiȝtteT þe erthe  to helpe ȝow echone .

[Of] wollen of lynnen  of lyflode at nede .C

[In] mesurable manere  to make ȝow at ese .

[¶ And] comanded of his curteisye  in commoun thre thynges .

fol. 79r

Aren none nedful bute þo  and nempne hem I thenke .

And reken hem by resoun  reherse þou hem after .

Þat on {h}isLX vesture  fram chele þe to saue .

And mete at þe mele  for mysayse of thy-selue .

And drynk whan þow dryste  ac do nouȝte oute of resoun .

Þat þow worthe þe wors  whan þow werche schuldeste

¶ For loth in his lif-dayes  for lykyng of drinke .

Dede by his dowtres  þat þe deuel lykede .

Delyted hym in drynke  as þe deuel wolde .

And leccherye hym lauȝte  and lay by hem bothe .

And al he witte it wyn  þat wykked dede .C

¶ Inebriemus eum vino  dormiamusque cum eo .

Vt seruare possimus de patre nostro semen —

Þorȝ wyn and þorȝ wymmen  þere was loth a-combred .

And þere gat in glotonie  gerles þat were cherles .

¶ Forthi drede delytable drynke  and þow schalt do þe bettre .

Mesure is medicyne  þeiȝ þow muche ȝerne .

It is nouȝt al gode to þe goste  þat þe gut axeth .

Ne lyflode to þi licam  þat leef is þiT soule .

Lef nauȝt þi licame  for a lyeȝer hym techeth .

Þat is þe wrecched world  wold þe bytraye .

For þe fende and þi flesch  folwen þe to-gydere .

This and that suethT þi soule  and seith it in þin herte .

And for þow schuldest ben Iwar  I wisse þe þe beste .

¶ Ma-dame mercy quod I  me lyketh wel ȝoure wordes .

Ac þe monee of þis molde  þat men so fast kepeth .T

TellethT me ma-dame  to whomT þat tresour appendeth .

¶ Goo to þe gospelle quod sche  þat god seyde hym-selue .

Þo þe poeple hym apposede  with a peny in þe temple .

Wheither þei schulde þere-with  worchippe þe kyng sesar .

And god axed of hem  of whom spak þe lettre .

fol. 79v

And þe ymage Ilyk  þat þere-inne stondethC .

[¶] Cesaris þei seyden  we sen hym wel vchone .

[¶] Reddite cesari quod god  þat cesari byfalleth .

Et que sunt dei deo  or elles ȝe don ille .

For riȝtful resoun  schuld rewele ȝow alle .

And kende witt be wardeyn  ȝoure welthe to kepe .

And tutour of ȝoure tresor  and taken it ȝow at nede .

For housbondrye and heoLX T  halden to-gyderes .C

[¶ Þ]anne I frayned hireT  for hym þat hire made .

[Þ]at dong{o}en in þe dale  þat dredful is of siȝtte .

[W]hate may it be to mene  madame I ȝow by-seche .

[¶ Þ]at is a castelT of care  who-so cometh þere-Inne .

[M]ay banne þat he borne was  to body or to soule .

[Þ]ere-Inne wonyeth a wyȝth  þat wronge is I-hote .

[F]ader of falsed  and founded it hym-selue .

[A]dam and eue  he egged to Ille .

[C]onseyled caym  to cullen his brother .

[I]udas he Iapede  with Iewes siluer .

[A]nd sethen on an ellerne  honged hym after .

[He] is lettere of loue  and lyeth hem alle

[Þ]at tristeth on his tresor  bytrayed arenT sonneste .

[¶ Þa]nne haued I wonder in my witt  what womman scheT were .

[Þa]t suche wyse wordes  of holy wrytt schewed .

[¶ An]d haskedT hyre on þe hiȝe name  er heo þennes ȝode .

[Wh]at heLX were witterly  þat wissed me so faire .

[¶ Ho]ly cherche I am quod heLX  þow hauȝtest me to knowe .

[I v]nderfong þe ferst  and þe faith tauȝte .

[An]d brouȝtest me borwes  my byddyng to fulfille .

[An]d to loue lely meT  þe while þi lif dureth .

[Þan]ne I courbed on my knes  and cryed hire of grace .

fol. 80r

And preyed hire pytously  to preyeT for my synnes .

And also kenne me kendely  on cryst to byleue .T

Teche me to no tresor  bute telle me þis ilke .

How I may saue my soule  þat seint art I-holde .

¶ Whanne alle tresores aren tryed quod heLX  trewthe is þe beste .

I do it on deus caritas  to deme þe sothe .

Þat itT is as derworthe a drewery  as dere god hym-selue .

{¶}[¶] HeT is trewe of his tonge  and telleth non other .C

And doth þe werkes þere-with  and wilneth noman ille .

He is a god by þe gospel  a-grownde and a-lofte .

And I-lyke to oure lorde  by seint lukes wordes .

Þe clerkes þat knowe þis  schulde kennen it a-boute .

For cristene and vncristene  claymeth it vchone .

¶ Kynges and kniȝtes  schulde kepe it by resoun .

{B}Ryden and rappe adoun  in reumes aboute .

And taken transgressores  and teyȝen hem fast .

Til treweth hadde I-termined  here trespas to þende .

And þat is þe professioun apertelyche  þat appendeth forT kniȝt[es]

And nouȝt to fasten a friday  in fyue score winter .

But holden with him and wyth hire  þat wolden alle tr[ewthe]

NeT neuere leue hem for loue  ne for lacchynge of seluer

{¶}[¶] For dauid in his dayȝes  dubbede kniȝtes 

And dede hem swere on here swerdesT  to serue trewth [euere]

And who-soC passed þat poynt  was apostata in þa[t] [ordre]

¶ But crist kyngene kyngC  kniȝtede ten .

Cherubyn and seraphyn  suche seuene and othere .

And ȝaf hem miȝt in his maieste  þe murgur hem tho[uȝte]

And ouer his mene meyne  made hem archangeles

TauȝteC hem by þe trinite  trewthe to knowe .

AndT be buxum at his biddynge  he badde hem nauȝt ell[es]

Lucifer with legiouns  lerned it in heuene .

fol. 80v

Til he brak buxumnesse  his blisse gan he tyne

And fel froo þat felaschyppe  in a fendes lyknesse .

In-to a deepe derke helle  to dwelle þere fore euere .

And mo thousantes with hym  þan man couthe noumbre .

Loupen ouȝt with lucifer  in lothelyche forme .

For þei leueden vppon hym  þat lyede in þis manere .

Ponam pedem in aquilone &ceteraT .

[¶] And alle þat hopede it miȝt be so  none heuene miȝt hem holde .

But fellen outȝ in fendes lyknesse  nyne dayes to-gyderes .

Til god of his goodenesse  gan stable and stynte .

And garte þe heuene to stekye  and stonden in quiete .

[¶] Whanne þis wykkede wente ouȝt  wonderwyse þei fellen .

[S]omme in erthe somme in eyreT  and somme in helle deepe .

[A]c lucifer lowest  lyth of hem alle .

For pruyde þat he peltT ouȝt  his peyne hath none ende .

[¶ A]nd alle þat worche with wronge  wende þei schulle .

[A]fter here deth-day . toT dwelle with þat schrewe

[¶ A]c þoo þat werche wel  as holy writt telleth .

[A]nd enden as I oer / [e]r seyde  in trewthe þat is þe beste .

[M]owe be siker  þat here soule  schal wende to heuene .

[Þ]ere trewthe is in trinite  for to saueT hem alle .

[¶ F]or-þi I seye as I seyde  ere by þis tixtes .T

[W]han alle tresores benT Itried  trewthe is þeC beste .

[¶ Le]rethT this lewed men  for lettrede men it knoweth .

[Þa]t trewthe is tresor  þe triest on eerthe .

[¶ I] haueT no kende knowyng quatz I  ȝette mote I lerneT bettre .

[By] what craft in my corps  it comseth and where .

[¶ Þo]w dotede daffe quatz sche  dulle arn þi wittes .C

◂

Const fol. 80.

▸

d d d e

R.1.0: The <P> of Passus in the heading is partially visible, but its specific identity is clear only from context. ↩

It is clear that the initials of line 1 and line 3 were oversized, and that they were executed in blue and red respectively. But their specific identities are inferrable only from context; hence, they are bracketed and marked as supplied.↩

R.1.17: The cropping of R here makes any reading speculative, but it is obvious from the surviving <t> that R's reading was unique; we conjecture Þat, but no other manuscript, including those of the A version (which attests the same line), shows this reading.↩

R.1.17: Or hiȝcte? In either case the form is unique in the manuscript, and the scribe does not steadily distinguish these graphies.↩

An old ownership stamp for the British Library (in red) is found in the right margin opposite these lines.↩

R.1.23: Compare this erasure to a similar instance at RP.89, where her was changed to er.↩

In the space between these strophes, there is red offset from the passus rubric on 78v.↩

R.1.39: R's reading here is unique among the B copies; the others attest is to þi. Ax agrees with the B majority (only Bodley 851 agrees with R) , but Cx is uncertain. Though a majority of C witnesses also supports the predominant reading, a significant minority of X family manuscripts (XICotBmBoUc) agrees with R in omitting to.↩

R.1.43: Cf. F's sewe and beta's seeþ. Although three C witnesses (P2UcDc) support the alpha verb, it seems clear that Cx had the same reading as beta.↩

R.1.46: For alpha's kepeth or kepe (= F), beta reads holdeth. Beta agrees here with the A version while alpha agrees with the C version.↩

R.1.47: R's verb inflection, Telleth, is unique among the B copies (F and beta agree on Tel(le)). However, both Ax and Cx agree with R's form.↩

R.1.47: F omits madame from the a-verse phrase, while beta transposes the phrase and reads to whom Madame. F's reading agrees with that found in the other two versions of the poem.↩

The rubricating scribe failed to touch line-initial letters in red on this opening.↩

R.1.59: Heo, "she."↩

R.1.59: Beta reads hij for alpha's he(o). However, both Ax and Cx support F's version of alpha's lection (= he).↩

An old ownership stamp, in black ink, runs vertically downwards in the right margin opposite these lines; the label says MVSEVM BRITTANICVM.↩

R.1.60: R uniquely omits faire at the end of the a-verse. ↩

R.1.63: Both F and beta read þe castel. This is also the reading of both Ax and Cx. Among the B manuscripts, only H agrees with R on this lection.↩

R.1.72: Beta copies show considerable variation in this phrase, but beta itself probably read bitrayeþ he. This is a simple reversal of the archetypal C reading, which is he bytrayeth. By contrast, alpha's reading here is identical to that of Ax.↩

R.1.73: For alpha's sche, beta reads it. Beta's lection agrees exactly with Ax, but the alpha reading is semantically the same as that of C, which is he.↩

R.1.75: Cf. F's halsede and beta's asked. Though both variants are available in the A tradition, Ax almost certainly agreed with F's reading. The same is true for Cx, though a third variant, hanslede, is generated in some copies—apparently by metathesis—from a variant spelling of the original (= halsnede) still found in manuscripts EcQSc. The evidence in the B tradition seems easiest to explain on the supposition that R's verb form, hasked, was that of Bx and that beta merely normalized its spelling while F corrected the reading itself through his habitual use of an A manuscript for proofing.↩

R.1.76: He, "she."↩

R.1.77: He, "she."↩

R.1.80: Beta transposes alpha's lely me as me lelly. Beta's word order is also that of the A version.↩

R.1.82: For alpha's to preye, beta reads simply prey. Alpha's reading is supported by that of Ax.↩

R.1.83: Alpha omits the following line found in beta:
That I miȝte worchen his wille þat wrouȝte me to man. The line is not present in the C version but is attested in the A version.↩

R.1.86: He, "she."↩

R.1.88: For alpha's Þat it, , beta and the other two versional archetypes read It.↩

R.1.89: R's He is unique; F reads He þat while beta reads Whoso. The A-version reading agrees with beta's. The C-version has a revised b-verse, but for this variant the manuscripts divide into the two large families usually seen, with the P family supporting R (For he) while the X family is closer to beta (For who).↩

R.1.89: Ordinarily, throughout this manuscript, the scribe indicated where rubricated paraph markers should be inserted—alternately blue and red—by leaving a small cc in the margin. Many of these survive in the latter part of the manuscript, where very few rubricated paraphs were ever completed, but some have been erased, as is the case on fol. 80, where only the blank line between strophes attests scribal intentions.↩

R.1.99: Most B copies, including F, read to knyȝtes. The latter reading is also that of the A and C version.↩

R.1.102: Ne is an alpha variant; beta reads And. Beta's reading here is also that of Ax and Cx.↩

R.1.104: The plural form is unique to R; the other B witnesses show swerde. Although three copies from the A tradition and one from C agree with R's plural, it is clear that the archetype in both of the other versions agreed with the B majority.↩

At this point there was an original diagonal tear in the parchment (repaired by stitching). The scribe has written around the tear, which also affects the spacing of R1.106 between crist and kyngene.↩

R.1.106: A partially erased <h> is visible, occupying the space between the <g> of king and the punctus elevatus. The <h> in question may connect with a partially erased ampersand above kyngene earlier in the line and indicate the occurrence of a fairly extensive erasure / correction in this passage.↩

R.1.110: The <e> of Tauȝte has been partially rubbed out but is still legible.↩

R.1.111: For alpha's And, beta reads To, which is also the reading of the A version.↩

R.1.119: R uniquely omits the end of this tag, as represented by the other B witnesses, as well as by C: et similis ero altissimo.↩

R.1.125: Most beta copies (M being a notable exception) transpose the order of alpha's elements to Somme in eyre somme in erthe. This is also the order of Ax. However, Cx agrees with alpha's phrasing.↩

R.1.127: R's pelt is unique in spelling but substantively the same as the reading of Cr and L (= pult). F has pitte. Beta reads putte, which is also the reading of A.↩

R.1.129: For alpha's to, beta reads and, which is also the reading of the A and C versions.↩

R.1.133: In place of alpha's relatively vague saue(n), beta shows the properly alliterating troneth. The entire b-verse in beta (and troneth hem alle) is identical to that found in the A version . Although the C version is revised at this point, the appearance of trone in the P sub-archetype of its cognate line (X = tour) also suggests beta's superiority here. R's for to preceding the verb in question is unique; F has þat shal while beta reads and.↩

R.1.134: Evidently, alpha had dropped the third stave of this line, producing a short b-verse; beta, which agrees exactly with Ax here, reads bi siȝte of þise textis.↩

R.1.135: Beta reads arn(e), which is also the probable reading of Ax. The C version is revised at this point.↩

R.1.135: The scribe has allocated a long space (approx. 1.8 cm.) between þe and beste to accommodate the original tear in the parchment described at R1.105. ↩

R.1.136: Beta adds it after Lereth. This is also the reading of the A and C archetypes.↩

R.1.138: For alpha's I haue, beta reads Ȝet haue I, which is also the reading of Ax. However, the reading of alpha agrees with that of Cx.↩

R.1.138: Once more, R's (and alpha's) third stave was defective in alliteration; cf. beta's b-verse, which offers ȝet mote ȝe kenne me to R's ȝette mote I lerne. Beta's reading agrees with that of the other two versions.↩

R.1.140: Hereafter, R's text is lost for KD1.141 through KD2.40.↩