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The war is mother of the wrongės allė;

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It sleeth the priest in holy church at massė,
Forlyth the mayde, and doth her flour to falle.
The war maketh the gretė citee lassé,3
And doth the law his reulės overpassė.
There is nothing, whereof mischief may growė
Which is not caused of the war, I trowė.

The war bringeth in povertė at his heelės,
Whereof the common people is sore grieved; 65
The war hath set his cart on thilke wheelės
Where that fortúnė may not be believed.
For when men wene best to have achevéd,
Full oft it is all newė to beginnė;

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The war hath nothing siker, though he winnė.

Therefore, my worthy prince, in Christės halvė,5
As for a part whose faith thou hast to guide,
Lay to this oldė sore a newė salvė,
And do the war away, what-so betíde.
Purchase peace, and set it by thy syde,
And suffre not thy people be devoured;

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So shall thy name ever after stand honoured!...

My worthy liege lord, Henry by name,
Which Engelond hast to govérn and rightė,
Men oughten well thy pity to proclamė,
Which openly, in all the worldés sightė,

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Is shewed, with the help of God Almightė,
To yeve us peace, which long hath be debated,
Whereof thy prys shal never be abated.

My lord, in whom hath ever yet be founde
Pity, withoutė spot of violence,

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Keep thilke peace alwáy, withinnė boundė,
Which God hath planted in thy conscience.
So shall the cronique of thy paciencė
Among the saints be taken in-to memórie

To the loenge of perdurable glorie.

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And to thine earthly prys, so as I can,
Which every man is holde to commendė,
I Gower, which am all thy liegė man,
This lettre unto thine excellence I sendė,
As I, which ever unto my lyvės endė
Will praye for the stat of thy personė,
In worship of thy sceptre and of thy thronė.
Not only to my king of peace I write,
But to these othrė princes Christen allé,
That each of them his owne heart endité
And cease the war, or more mescheef fallė.
Set eek the rightful pope upon his stallė;
Keep charité, and draw pite to hondė,
Maintainė law; and so the peace shall stondė.

William Langland

c. 1332-1400

PIERS THE PLOUGHMAN

PROLOGUE

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They feigned want of food, and fought o'er the ale-cups,

In gluttony, God wot, go they to beddė,
And rise up with ribaldry, these Robert's men.3
So sleeping and sloth pursue them forever.

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Pilgrims and palmers plighted them together 1 Toiling.

2 I might prove that St. Paul's words "if a man does not work neither shall he eat," apply to these children of Judas, but I dare not, because he who speaks evil (Qui turpiloquium loquiter) is Lucifer's servant.

3 Vagabonds.

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He would send not his seal for deceiving the people.

But 'tis not at the Bishop that the boy preaches,

For Pardoner and priest part between them the. silver,

4 The shrine of St. James the Great, at Santiago (i. e. St. James) de Compostella, a town in Spain, was sought for, by many pilgrims.

A town in Northern Suffolk, a famous resort for pilgrims. Marvels. 7 Earth. 8 Pardon. Blinded their eyes, i. e. Cheated them.

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Geoffrey Chaucer

c. 1340-1400

From THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN1

c. 1385

THE PROLOGUE

A thousande tymės I have herd men telle, That there is joy in hevene, and peyne in helle, And I accordé wel that it is so;

But, nathėles, yet wot I wel also,

That ther is noon dwellying in this countree, 5
That eythir hath in hevene or in helle y-be,
Ne may of hit noon other weyes witen,
But as he hath herd seyde, or founde it writen;
For by assay ther may no man it preve.

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But God forbedė but men shuldė leve2 Wel more thing than men han seen with eye! Men shal not wenen everything a lye But-if hymselfe it seeth, or elles dooth; For, God wot, thing is never the lasse sooth, Thogh every wight ne may it not y-see. Bernarde, the monke, ne saugh nat al, parde! Than mote we to bokes that we fynde,Thurgh which that oldė thingės ben in mynde, And to the doctrine of these oldė wyse, Yevé credénce, in every skylful wise, That tellen of these olde appreved stories, Of holynesse, of regnes, of victóries,

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Of love, of hate, of other sondry thynges
Of whiche I may not maken rehersýnges.
And if that oldė bokės were awey,
Y-lorne were of rémembraunce the key.
Wel ought us, thanne, honóuren and beleve
These bokės, ther we han noon other preve.
And as for me, though that I konne but lyte,
On bokes for to rede I me delyte,
And to hem yive I feyth and ful credénce,
And in myn herte have hem in reverence
So hertély, that ther is game noon

That from my bokės maketh me to goon, But it be seldom on the holyday,

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Save, certeynly, whan that the month of May
Is comen, and that I here the foulės" synge,
And that the flourės gynnen for to sprynge,-
Farewel my boke, and my devocion!

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Now have I thanne suche a condicion, Thát of alle the floures in the mede, Than love I most thise floures white and rede, Suche as men callen daysyes in our toun. To hem have I so grete affeccioun, As I seyde erst, whan comen is the May, That in my bed ther daweth me no day, That I nam up and walkyng in the mede, To seen this floure agein the sonnė sprede,

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1 This poem (like its greater successor, The Canterbury Tales), consists of a number of separate stories, introduced by a Prologue. In the Legend, however, all the stories are of women who have been victims or martyrs to love. Chaucer apparently intended to tell the legends of nineteen good women, but the poem is unfinished. 2 Believe

Bernard of Clairvaux (1091–1153). Even St. Bernard, holy and wise as he was, did not see everything. The passage is founded on a Latin proverb "Bernardus monachus non videt omnia."

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Whan it uprysith erly by the morwe;
That blisful sightė softneth al my sorwe,
So glad am I, whan that I have presence
Of it, to doon it alle reverence,

As she that is of alle floures flour,
Fulfilled of al vertu and honour,

And evere ilike' faire, and fresshe of hewe.
And I love it, and evere ylikė newe,
And ever shal, til that myn hertė dye;
Al swere I nat, of this I wol nat lye;
Ther loved no wight hotter in his lyve.

And whan that it is eve, I rennė blyve,
As sone as evere the sonné gynneth weste,
To seen this flour, how it wol go to reste,
For fere of nyght, so hateth she derknesse!
Hir chere' is pleynly sprad in the brightnesse
Of the sonne, for ther it wol unclose.
Allas, that I ne had Englyssh, ryme or prose
Súffisant this flour to preyse aright!

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But wherfore that I spake to yive credénce To oldė stories, and doon hem reverence, And that men mosten more thyng beleve Then they may seen at eye or elles preve, That shal I seyn, whanne that I see my tyme— I may nat al attonės18 speke in ryme. My besy1 gost, that thursteth alwey newe, To seen this flour so yong, so fresshe of hewe, Constreyned me with so gledy20 desire, That in myn herte I feelė yet the fire, That made me to ryse er it wer day, And this was now the firstė morwe of May, 8 Quickly.

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With dredful21 hert, and glad devocion For to ben at the resurreccion

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Of this flour, whan that it shulde unclose
Agayne the sonne, that roos as rede as rose,
That in the brest was of the beste,22 that day,
That Agenorės doghtre23 ladde away.
And doun on knes anon-ryght I me sette, 115
And as I koude, this fresshe flour I grette,
Knelyng alwey, til it unclosed was,
Upon the smalė, softė, swotė24 gras,

That was with floures swote enbrouded 25 al, 119
Of swich swetnesse, and swich odóur over-al,
That for to speke of gomme, 28 or herbe, or tree,
Comparisoun may noon y-maked be;
For it surmounteth pleynly alle odoures,
And of riche beauté alle floures.
Forgeten had the erthe his pore estate

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Of wyntir, that him naked made and mate,27
And with his swerd of colde so sore greved;
Now hath the atemprésonnes al that releved
That naked was, and clad it new agayne.
The smale foulės, of the sesoun fayne,29
That of the panter30 and the nette ben scaped,
Upon the foweler, that hem made a-whaped31
In wynter, and distroyed hadde hire broode,
In his dispite hem thoghte it did hem goode
To synge of hym, and in hir songe dispise 135
The foule cherle, that, for his coveytise,
Had hem betrayed with his sophistrye.

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This was hir songe, "The foweler we deffye, And al his crafte," And somme songen clere Layes of love, that joye it was to here, In worshipynge and in preysing of hir make;32 And, for the newė blisful somers sake, Upon the braunches ful of blosmės softe, In hire delyt, they turned hem ful ofte, And songen, “Blessed be Seynt Valentyne! 145 For on his day I chees you to be myne, Withouten répentyng myne herte swete!" And therewithal hire bekės gonnen meete.

...

And tho33 that hadde don unkyndėnesse,As doth the tydif,34 for newfangelnesse,— Besoghtė mercy of hir trespassynge, And humblely songen hir répentynge, And sworen on the blosmės to be trewe, So that hire makes wolde upon hem rewe,35 And at the lastė maden hir acorde.

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Al founde they Daunger36 for a tyme a lord, 160
Yet Pitee, thurgh his strongè gentil myght,
Foryaf, and made Mercy passen Ryght,
Thurgh Innocence, and ruled Curtesye.
But I ne clepe it innocence folye,
Ne fals pitee, for vertue is the mene;37
As Ethike seith, in swich maner I mene.
And thus thise fowelės, voide of al malíce,
Acordeden to love, and laften vice
Of hate, and songen alle of oon acorde,
'Welcome, Somer, oure governour and lorde.'
And Zepherus and Flora gentilly

Yaf to the flourés, softe and tenderly.

21 Reverent.

23 Europa.

25 Embroidered.

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His swootės breth, and made hem for to sprede,
As god and goddesse of the floury mede.
In whiche me thoght I myghtė, day by day,
Dwellen alwey, the joly month of May,
Withouten slepe, withouten mete or drynke.
Adoun ful softely I gan to synke,

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And lenynge on myn elbowe and my syde,
The longe day, I shoop3 me for to abide,
For nothing ellis, and I shal nat lye,
But for to loke upon the dayėsie,
That men by resoun wel it calle may
The dayésie, or elles the ÿe of day,
The emperice, and floure of floures alle.
I pray to God that faire mote she falle,40
And alle that loven flourės, for hire sake!
But, nathėles, ne wene nat that I make11
In preysing of the Flour agayn the Leef,
No more than of the corne agayn the sheef;
For as to me nys lever noon, ne lother,
I nam witholden yit with never nother.
Ne I not who serveth Leef, ne who the Flour.
Wel browken43 they hir service or labour!
For this thing is al of another tonne,44
Of oldė storye, er swiche thinge was begonne.
Whan that the sonne out of the southe gan
weste,

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And that this flour gan close, and goon to reste, For derknesse of the nyght, the which she dredde,

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Home to myn house full swiftly I me spedde
To goon to reste, and erly for to ryse,
To seen this flour to-sprede, as I devyse.
And in a litel herber45 that I have,
That benchéd was on turves fressh y-grave,
I bad men sholdė me my couché make;
For deyntee of the newe someres sake,
I had hem strawen floures on my bed.
Whan I was leyde, and hadde myn eyen hed,47
I fel on slepe, in-with an houre or two.
Me mette's how I lay in the medewė tho,
To seen this flour that I love so and drede;49
And from a-fer come walkyng in the mede
The god of Love, and in his hand a quene,
And she was clad in real50 habite grene;
A fret51 of gold she hadde next her heer.
And upon that a white crowne she beer,
With flourouns52 smale, and I shal nat lye,
For al the worlde ryght as a daÿesye
Y-córouned is with white levės lyte,
So were the flourouns of hire córoune white;
For of o53 perle, fyne, órientál,
Hire white córoune was i-maked al,

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28 Mild temperature.

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or herbage.

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1 Frightened.

14 Titmouse.

ss Love's dominion.

87 Average.

46 For the sake of enjoying. 48 Dreamt. 49 Revere.

52 Small flowers.

40 Good may befall.

42 Ne wot, not know. 44 Cask.

plot covered with grass

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His giltė here was corowned with a sonne
In stede of golde, for hevynesse and wyghte;
Therwith me thoght his face shon so brighte
That wel unnethės55 myght I him beholde;
And in his hande me thoght I saugh him holde
Two firy dartes as the gledes rede,
And aungelyke his wyngės saugh I sprede.
And, al be that men seyn that blynd is he,
Algate57 me thoghte that he myghtė se;
For sternély on me he gan byholde,
So that his loking doth myn herte colde.
And by the hande he helde this noble quene,
Crowned with white, and clothed al in grene,
So womanly, so bénigne, and so meke,
That in this world, thogh that men woldė seke,
Hálf hire beutė shuldė men nat fynde
In creäture that formed is by Kynde.58
And therfore may I seyn, as thynketh me,
This song in preysyng of this lady fre.
Hyde Absalon, thy giltė tresses clere;
Ester, ley thou thy mekenesse al adoun;
Hyde, Jonathas, al thy frendly manére;
Penalopee, and Marcia Catoun,
Make of youre wifhode no comparysoun;
Hyde ye youre beautés, Ysoude and Eleyne;
My lady comith, that al this may disteyne.59
Thy faire body lat it nat appere,
Lavyne; and thou Lucresse of Rome toun
And Polixene, that boghten love so dere,
And Cloepatre, with all thy passyoun,
Hyde ye your trouthe of love, and your renoun,
And thou, Tesbė, that hast of love suche peyne;
My lady comith, that al this may disteyne.
Hero, Dido, Laudómia, alle yfere,60
And Phillis, hangying for thy Demophon,
And Canacé, espied by thy chere,
Ysiphilie, betraysed with Jason,
Maketh of your trouthe neythir boost ne soun,
Nor Ypermystre, or Adriane, ye tweyne;
My lady cometh, that al thys may dysteyne.

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This balade may ful wel y-songen be, As I have seyde erst, by my lady free; For certeynly al thise mowe nat suffice To apperen wyth my lady in no wyse. For as the sonne wole the fire disteyne, So passeth al my lady sovereyne, That is so good, so faire, so debonayre, I prey to God that ever falle hire faire. For nadde comfort ben of hire presence, I hadde ben dede, withouten any defence, For drede of Loves wordės, and his chere, 280 As, when tyme is, herafter ye shal here.

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Of which vertú engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus3 eek with his swetė breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppės" and the yongé sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfé cours y-ronne,
And smalė fowelės maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open eye
(So priketh hem Natúre in hir coráges,)"
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondés,
To ferne halwės, kowthe" in sondry londes;
And specially, from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blissful10 martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were
seeke.11

Bifil that in that seson on a day,
In Southwerk at the Tabard 12 as I lay,
Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage
To Čaunterbury with ful devout corage,13
At nyght were come into that hostelrye
Wel nyne-and-twenty in a compaignye,
Of sondry folk, by aventure14 y-falle

In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle,
That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde.
The chambres and the stables weren wyde,
And wel we weren esed15 attė beste.

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And shortly, whan the sonné was to reste, 30
So hadde I spoken with hem everychon,
That I was of hir felaweshipe anon,

And made forward 16 erly for to ryse,

To take oure wey, ther as I yow devyse.

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But natheless, whil I have tyme and space, Er that I ferther in this talė pacė, Me thynketh it accordaunt to resóun To telle yow al the condicioun Of ech of hem, so as it semèd me, And whiche they weren, and of what degree, And eek in what array that they were inne; And at a Knyght than wol I first begynne. 42

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3 The west wind, noted for its mild and life-giving influence. Cf. Eng. Zephyr. Sprouts.

4 Wood. Aries, the first of the signs of the zodiac. The young sun (i. e. the sun just beginning its annual course), passed through the Ram from March 12th to April 11th. Hence, during April, half the sun's course was "in the Ram." To say that this half course was completed, is equivalent to saying that the time was after April 11th. 7 Hearts. 8 Distant Saints. 10 Thomas à Becket.

• Known. 11 Sick.

12 A famous Inn in Southwark, across the Thames from London. 13 Heart. 14 By chance. 16 Agreement.

18 i. e. "he had been placed table (bord) of state."

15 Entertained.

17 Alexandria in Egypt. at the head of the dais, or 19 Prussia.

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