Or tellen any of alle my peynes smerte,
I fonde Pitee dede and buryed in an herte.1
And downe I felle whan I sogh the herse
Dede as stoone whiles that the swoughe last;
But up I roos with coloure wel dyverse,
And pytous y on hir myn eyghen I cast,
And nerre the corse I came to pressen fast,
And for the soule I shoope me for to preye;
Me thought me lorne, ther was noon other weye.
Thus am I slayne sith that Pitee is dede;
Ellas, the day that ever hit sholde falle!
What maner man dar nowe heve up his hede?
To whame shalle any sorowful herte calle?
Nowe Cruwelte hathe cast to sleen us alle
In ydelle hope we lyve redelesse of peyne;
Sith she is dede, to whame shoulde we us pleyne?
But yit encresith me this wonder newe,
That no wight wot her dede oonly but I,
So many a man that in hir tyme her knewe;
And yit she dyede nought so sodaynly;
For I have soughte hir ful besely,
Sith first I hadde witte or mannes mynde;
But she was dede er that I couthe hir fynde.
Aboute hir heerse there stooden loustily
Withouten making dool, as thoughte me,
Bountee, parfyte weel arrayed and rychely,
And fresshe Beaute, Loust and Jolyte,
Assured-Maner, Thoughte, and Honestee,
Wisdam, Estate, Drede, and Gouvernance
Confedred boothe by hande and assurance.
A compleynt hade I wryten in myn honde,
For to have putte to Pitee, as a bille,
But whane I al this companye ther fonde,
That rather wolden al my cause spille
Thane do me helpe, I heeld my compleynt stille : For to thoo folke, withouten any faille, Withouten Pitee ne may no bille avaylle.
Thanne leve I alle thees vertues, saf Pitee,
Keping the heerse as ye have herde me seyne,
Confedred alle by bonde of Cruweltie,
And been assented that I shal be sleyne.
So I thanne putte my compleynt up ageyne,
For to my foomen my bille I durst not shewe;
Theffect of the matere was this wordes fewe.
THE COMPLEYNTE IN THE BILLE
'Humbleste of hert, hygheste of reverence,
Benigne floure, corone of vertues alle!
Shewethe unto your souvereyne excellence
Your servaunt, if I dourst myself so calle,
His mortel harme, which he is inne falle,
And nought al oonly for his yvel fare,
But for your renome, as I shal declare.
'Hit stondethe thus :-your contraire Cruweltie
Alyed is ayenst your ryaltye
Under the colour of womanly beautee,
(For men shoulde not, loo! know her tyranny)
With Bountee, Gentillesse, and Courteysye,
And hath deprived yow nowe of your place
That heyghte beautie, appourtenaunt to your grace.
For kindely, by youre heritage and right
Ye beothe annexed ever to Bountie,
And verrayly ye oughten do your myght
To helpe Trouthe in his adversite;
Yee beothe also the corone of beautee;
And certes, if yee want in thise tweye
The worlde is lorne, ther is no more to seye.
'Eke what availethe manere or gentilesse
Withoute yow, benigne and feyre creature?
Shal Cruweltie be now oure gouverneresse?
Ellas, what herte may that longe endure?
Wherfore but yee the rather taken cure
To breke of, yea, parforce, allyaunce,
Ye sleene hem that been of your obeyssaunce.
'And furtherover, if yee suffre this,
Youre renome is fordone; than in a throw1
There shal no wight wite what pite is.
Ellas, that youre renome shoulde be so lowe!
Ye been thanne frome your heritage ythrowe
By Cruweltee, that occupiethe youre place,
And we dispayred that seechen to youre grace.
'Have mercy on me, yee vertuouse2 qweene,
That you have sought so trwely and so yore,
Let the streme of youre light on me be seene,
That love the and drede the ay lenger more;
The soothe to seye, I bere the hevy sore,3
And though I bee not konning for to pleyne,
For Goddes love have mercy on my peyne.
'My peyne is this, that what so I desyre,
That have I nought, ne nought that lythe therto;
And ever setteth Desyre myn hert on fyre
Eke on that other syde, where so I go.
What maner thing that may encresse woo,
That have I redy, unsought, every where;
Me lackethe but my deth, and thanne my beere.
• What needethe it shewe parcelles of my peyne,
Sith every woo, that herte may bethenke,
I souffre; and yit I dar nought to you pleyne,
For weel I wot, although I wake or wynke,
Ye recchen nought whether I flete or synke.
1 In a throw means in a short time.
2 Instead of yee vertuouse, the printed copies read thou Herenus.
3 In the MS. sore is scratched out, and peyne written in the margin; but the rhyme demands the restoration of sore. The meaning is, I suffer a sore affliction."
Yit neverthelesse my trouth I shal susteene
Unto my dethe, and that shal wele be seene.
This is to seye, I wol be youres ever;
Thoughe yee me slee by Cruweltee, your foo,
Algates my spiryt shal never dissever
Frome youre servyse, for any peyne or woo.
Nowe Pitee that I have sought so yoore agoo!
Thus for youre dethe I may weel weepe
and pleyne
With herte sore, al ful of besy peyne.'
BLISFUL lyf, a paisible and a swete,
Ledden the peples in the former age;
They helde hem payd of fruites that they ete
Which that the feldes yaue hem by vsage;
They ne were nat for-pampred with outrage.
Vnknowen was the querne and eek the melle,
They eten mast, hawes, and swich panage,
And dronken water of the colde welle.
Yit nas the ground nat wounded with the plow,
But corn vp-sprong, vnsowe of mannes hond,
The which thei knode and ete nat half ynow.
No man yit knew the forwes of his lond;
No man the fyr out of the flint yit fond.
Vncoruen and vngrobbed lay the vine.
No man yit in the morter spices grond
To clarrè, ne to sawse of galentine.
Line 1. Paisible, Old Fr. for peaceable. 3. MS. A, of the fructes; MS. B, with the frutes; but the is best omitted. 7. Both MSS. have pownage; but there is no such word; it is a corruption of O. F. panage, surviving as pannage in English, a derivative of O. F. pan, bread. It meant (1) mast, beech-nuts, acorns, and such wild fruits as were eaten by pigs, and (2) the money paid for the right of allowing pigs to feed in the woods. It is exactly the word required. II. Knode, kneaded; miswritten knoddyd, gnodded, in the MSS. But the A. S. cnedan is a strong verb, and could not take a final d; the p. p. knodden is still in use in the North; see Halliwell's Dictionary. 16. Galentine, a dish of sopped bread and spices; see Halliwell.
No madder welled, or wood no litestere
Ne knew; the flees was of his former hewe;
No flesh ne wiste offence of egge or spere;
No coin ne knew man which was fals or trewe;
No ship yit carf the wawes grene and blewe;
No marchand yit ne fet outlandish ware;
No trompes for the werres folk ne knewe,
Ne toures hye, and walles rounde or square.
What sholde it han auayled to werreye;
Ther lay no profit ther was no richesse;
But cursed was the tyme, I dar wel seye,
That men first dede her swety bisinesse
To grobbe vp metal lurking in derknesse,
And in the riueres first gemmes soughte.
Alas! than sprong vp al the cursednesse
Of couetyse, that first our sorwe broughte!
Thise tyraunts putte hem gladly nat in pres
No wildernes ne busshes for to winne
Ther pouerte is, as saith Diogenes,
Ther as vitaille eek is so skars and thinne
That nought but mast or apples is ther-inne;
But ther as bagges been and fat vitaille,
Ther wol they gon, and spare for no sinne
With al her host the cite for to assayle.
Yit were no paleis chaumbres, ne non halles,
In caues and in wodes softe and swete-
Slepten this blessed folk withoute walles,
On gras, in parfit joye, reste, and quiete.
Line 17. i.e. 'No madder flowed, nor did any dyer (litësterë) know any woad.' 23. The MSS. insert batails before trompes, making the line too long, and not required for the sense. It is obviously an alternative reading for werres, at first written in the margin, and afterwards admitted into the text. 34. Corrupt in both MSS.; the readings are: No places wyldnesse ne no busshes for to wynne, A; and, No place of wildnesse ne no busshys for to wynne, B; both lines being much too long. Apparently place of wildnesse is a gloss upon wildernes. For ne no, it is sufficient to read ne. 43. Both MSS. omit in before wodes. 44. Both MSS. insert or leues (or leaves) after gras, making the line too long. The prose version has gras only.
|