Alas, I am so faint I may not stand, My limbs under me do fold; Friends, let us not turn again to this land, Not for all the world’s gold, For into this cave must I creep And turn to the earth and there to sleep.

I will be as sure by thee As ever I did by Judas Maccabee.

twain.

. In the name of the Holy Trinity, My body sore punished shall be: Take this body for the sin of the flesh; Also thou delightest to go gay and fresh, And in the way of damnation thou did me bring; Therefore suffer now strokes and punishing. Now of penance I will wade the water clear, To save me from purgatory, that sharp fire.

Ask God mercy, and He will grant truly,

Then go you with your reckoning and your Good-Deeds together For to make you joyful at heart Before the blessed Trinity.

. Yea, sir, I may thank you of all; If ye had perfectly cheered me, Your book of account now full ready had be.

 O, to whom shall I make my moan For to go with me in that heavy journey? First Fellowship said he would with me gone; His words were very pleasant and gay, But afterward he left me alone. Then spake I to my kinsmen all in despair, And also they gave me words fair, They lacked no fair speaking, But all forsake me in the ending. Then went I to my Goods that I loved best, In hope to have comfort, but there had I least; For my Goods sharply did me tell That he bringeth many into hell. Then of myself I was ashamed, And so I am worthy to be blamed; Thus may I well myself hate. Of whom shall I now counsel take?

Weenest thou that I will follow thee? Nay, from this world, not verily.

It is another disease that grieveth me; In this world it is not, I tell thee so. I am sent for another way to go, To give a straight account general Before the highest Jupiter of all; And all my life I have had joy and pleasure in thee. Therefore I pray thee go with me, For, peradventure, thou mayst before God Almighty My reckoning help to clean and purify; For it is said ever among, That money maketh all right that is wrong.

Where art thou, my Goods and riches?

, ye be a merry man!

for saint charity

Fellowship. I wot well I say so truly; And yet if thou wilt eat, and drink, and make good cheer, Or haunt to women, the lusty company, I would not forsake you, while the day is clear, Trust me verily!

I may say Death giveth no warning: To think on thee, it maketh my heart sick

Here shall you see how Fellowship and Jollity, Both Strength, Pleasure, and Beauty, Will fade from thee as flower in May.

Will fade from thee as flower in May.

Ye think sin in the beginning full sweet, Which in the end causeth thy soul to weep,

As long as I live · for the Lord’s love of Heaven. And all manner of men · that by meat and drink live, Help ye them to work well · that win you your food.’

Some shall sew sacks,’ quoth Piers

Had I plowed this half acre · and sown it after, I would wend then with you · and show you the way

THIS were a wicked way · unless we had a guide That would show us each step’ · thus these folk complained.

bastards’

ishop’s letters and a bull!’ ‘By Christ!’ quoth a common woman · `thy company I’ll follow, Thou shalt say I’m thy sister · I know not where they’ve gone!’

No clerk should be constrained to do lower-class work.

`Mercy is a maiden there · hath might over all; She is cousin.to all sinners · and her Son also; Through help of them two · (hope not in none other) Thou might get grace there · if thou go betimes.’

Or are you perhaps lame in your legs or other limbs of your body, Or maimed through some misadventure, so that you might be excused?”

Amend-you

scythe

Grace is the gateward

For I wrote rhymes of those men as Reason taught me.

`Two stocks there standeth · but stay ye not there; They’re called Steal-not and Slay-not

Do well and have well · and God shall have thy soul; But do evil and have evil

English.

He beat them so both · that he near burst their ribs;

dole

hoary

`In the charnel at church · churls are hard to pick out, Or a knight from a knave · know this in thine heart.

knave

churls

again at a year’s end

presents and gifts, Take it not; for perchance · ye may not deserve it,

`By Christ!’ quoth a knight then · ‘he teaches the best; But on this theme truly · taught was I never. Teach me,’ quoth the knight · `and, by Christ, I will try!’

Some shall sew sacks,’ quoth Piers · ‘for sheltering the wheat; And ye, lovely ladies · with your long fingers,

THIS were a wicked way · unless we had a guide That would show us each step’ · thus these folk complained.

‘mine A B C taught m

Through their words I awoke · and looked about And saw the sun in the south · set at that time, Meatless and moneyless · on Malvern hills And musing on this vision · I went on my way.

Hunger ate all in haste · and asked after more. Then poor folk for fear · fed Hunger quickly; With green leeks and pease · to poison him they sought. By that it nighed near harvest · new corn came to market; Then were folk fain · and fed Hunger with the best, With good ale, as Glutton taught · and made Hunger go sleep.

lecherous

And wrung him so by the belly · that both his eyes watered; The Breton he buffeted · about the cheeks That he looked lantern-jawed · all his life after. He beat them so both · that he near burst their ribs; Had not Piers with a pease-loaf · prayed Hunger to cease They had been buried both

Hunger in haste then

‘I was not wont to work,

`My wife shall have my · honest gains and no more, To share with my daughters · and my dear children. For should I today die · all my debts are quit; I bore back what I borrowed ·

Save Jack the juggler · and Janet of the stews, Daniel the dicer · and Denot the bawd, All lying friars · and folk of their order, And Robin the ribald · for his smutty words —

let Mercy be taxer And Meekness thy master

Mercy is a maiden there · hath might over all; She is cousin.to all sinners

That ye love our lord God · the best of all things; And then your neighbours next

Conscience

In bindweed wise · wound about. A bowl and a bag · he bare by his side; An hundred ampullas · on his hat set, Signs of Sinai · and shells of Galicia, Many a cross on his cloak ·

And for to know it by nature

‘dull are thy wits; Too little Latin thou learnest

Taught them by the Trinity

truth is the best

Tell me, madam, to whom that treasure belongeth?’

For he is Father of Faith · formed you all Both with flesh and with face and gave you fine wits To worship him therewith ·

Laymen believed him · welcomed his words, And came up on their knees · to kiss his seals; He cozened them with his brevet · dimmed their eyes, And with his parchment · got his rings and brooches: Thus they gave their gold ·

by gluttony destroy.

.

They’re called Steal-not and Slay-not

And then your neighbours next · in no wise use Otherwise than thou wouldest · be wrought to thyself.

`! woould not take a farthing · for Saint Tbomas’s shrine!

Father · that formed us all, Looked on us with love and · let his Son die

Till Truth had determined · the tale of their trespass.

How may I save my soul

`Holy Church I am,’ quoth she · ‘thou oughtest me to know.

Adam and Eve · he egged on to ill; Counselled Cain · to kill his brother; Judas he jockeyed · with Jewish silver,

`Go to the Gospel,’ quoth she · `that God spoke himself,

The first one is vesture · to save thee from chill; And meat for meals · to save thee misease And drink when thou art dry · but do naught out of reason Lest thy worth be wanting · when thou shouldest work.

vesture

as the Devil wished

And not for Love of our Lord once unloosed their lips

Laymen

gree better together, Great mischief on earth · is mounting up fast.

their tongue turned to lies More than to tell truth · it seemed by their speech.

gluttony

mirth

Such as anchorites and hermits · that kept them in their cells, And desired not the country · around to roam;

ey sweated right hard And won that which wasters · by gluttony destroy.

unholy in works, And went wide in the world

dungeon

mischance

espionage

infliction

tithes

fornication

witchcraft

Unto the Devil rough and black of hue Give I your body and my pan also!”

 “Pay me,” he cried, “or by the sweet Saint Anne 350 I’ll take away with me your brand-new pan For debt that you have owed to me of old, When you did make your husband a cuckold; I paid at home that fine to save citation.”

They saw a cart that loaded was with hay, The which a carter drove along the way. Deep was the mire; for which the cart now stood.

You shall in all ways learn our proper shape; You shall hereafter come, my brother dear, Where you’ll not need to ask of me, as here. For you shall, of your own experience, In a red chair have much more evidence

Sometimes we feign them, sometimes we arise In bodies that are dead, in various ways,

Well, sometimes we are God’s own instruments 220 And means to do his orders and intents, When so he pleases, upon all his creatures, In divers ways and shapes, and divers features.

Stomach nor any conscience have I, none;

“’tis my intent To ride, sir, to collect a bit of rent Pertaining to my lord’s temporality.

This summoner, ever lurking for his prey,

He was, if I’m to give him proper laud, 90 A thief, and more, a summoner, and a bawd.

But unto lechers gave he greatest woe; They should lament if they were apprehended;

archdeacon

“Nay,” said the summoner, “let him say to me What pleases him; when it falls to my lot, By God I’ll then repay him, every jot. I’ll then make plain to him what great honour 30 It is to be a flattering limiter;

Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote

yeddynges

He gave for that text not a plucked hen Which holds that hunters are not holy men; Nor that a monk, when he is cloisterless, 180 Is like unto a fish that’s waterless; That is to say, a monk out of his cloister. But this same text he held not worth an oyster;

He could make songs and words thereto indite, Joust, and dance too, as well as sketch and write.

Then folk do long to go on pilgrimage,

pricks

When in April the sweet showers fall That pierce March’s drought to the root and all And bathed every vein in liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; 5 When Zephyr also has with his sweet breath, Filled again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and leaves, and the young sun His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run, And many little birds make melody 10 That sleep through all the night with open eye

His tale straightway, and said as you may hear.

There was no other man so virtuous

ecclesiast.

Also, to fasten his hood under his chin,

er upper lip was always wiped so clean That on her cup no speck or spot was seen

.

zest.

A lover and a lively bachelor, With locks well curled, as if they’d laid in press.

young SQUIRE,

And honoured everywhere for worthiness.

when the sun had gone to rest,

compeer

But Christ’s own law, and His apostles’ twelve 530 He taught, but first he followed it himselve.

For he was instructed in astronomy. He cared for and saved a patient many times By natural science and studying astrological signs. Well could he calculate the planetary position 420 To improve the state his patient is in.

dais

mew

So great a land-buyer there was none. All was fee simple to him, in effect, Wherefore his claims could never be suspect. Nowhere a man so busy of his class, And yet he seemed much busier than he was. 325 He knew all convictions, common and crime Recorded since King William’s time. And he could write a contract so explicit Not any man could trace a fault in it; And every law he knew entirely by rote.

Nor he was worldly to accept secular office. 295 For he would rather have at his bed’s head Some twenty books, all bound in black or red,

He knew how to deal foreign currencies, buy and sell.

high on horse he sat

Therefore he was a rider day and night; 190 Greyhounds he had, as fast as a bird in flight. Since riding and the hunting of the hare Were all his love, for no cost would he spare. I saw his sleeves were made with fur at the hand With fine grey fur, the finest in the land;

But, to speak about her moral sense, She was so charitable and solicitous That she would weep if she but saw a mouse 145 Caught in a trap, whether it were dead or bled.

At table her manners were well taught withall, And never let morsels from her lips fall, Nor dipped her fingers deep in sauce, but ate 130 With so much care the food upon her plate That no drop could fall upon her breast.

Intoning through her nose

He could make songs and words thereto indite, Joust, and dance too, as well as sketch and write.

His steeds were good, but he was not gaily dressed. 75 A tunic of simple cloth he possesed Discoloured and stained by his habergeon;

Though so strong and brave, he was very wise And of temper as meekly as a maid. 70 He never yet had any vileness said, In all his life, to whatsoever wight. He was a truly perfect, noble knight.

he’d fought for our faith

cleave

o willeth He that we do, as a meek child saying thus: My kind Mother, my Gracious Mother, my dearworthy Mother, have mercy on me:

He comforteth our soul, He lighteneth our heart, and giveth us, in part,

so it is had, by grace; for in faith, with hope and charity, our life is grounded.

The great drops of blood fell down from under the Garland like pellots

and it pleaseth Him that we rest in Him;

He is our clothing that for love wrappeth us, claspeth us, and all encloseth us for tender love, that He may never leave us

It 

Trinity filled my heart

love would be a mortal man: and therefore I desired to suffer with Him.

or my eyes were set uprightward unto Heaven

God sent me a bodily sickness, in which I lay three days and three nights;

prescience

One man desires only that great wealth Which may but cause his death or long ill-health. One who from prison gladly would be free, 400 At home by his own servants slain might be.

guise

His neck was under pledge

Venus

He cast his eyes upon Emilia, 220 And thereupon he blenched

donjon

donjon,

Her yellow hair was braided in one tress Behind her back, a full yard long, I guess.

anon

Mars

abode

Of all our husbands, lying among the slain, Has piled the bodies in a heap, amain, And will not suffer them, nor give consent, To buried be, or burned, nor will relent, But sets his dogs to eat them, out of spite.”

King Capaneus

weal

For see, lord, there is no one of us all 65 That has not been a duchess or a queen; Now we are captives, as may well be seen: Thanks be to Fortune and her treacherous wheel,

beseech

drear

Full of his wrath and all iniquity,

I, wretched woman

And tell me, why are you clothed thus, in black?”

Come, tell me whether it may be amended;

Or who has wronged you now, or who offended?

The remnant of the tale is long enough.

And in his time was such a conqueror

  “Teehee!”

But kiss me, since you’ll do no more, my pet, For Jesus’ love and for the love of me.” 610       “And will you go, then, on your way?” asked she,       “Yes truly, darling,” said this Absalom.       “Then make you ready,” said she, “and I’ll come!”

Go on your way, or I’ll stone you therefrom, 605 And let me sleep, the fiends take you away!”

And dressed him gay and all at point-device, But first he chewed some licorice and spice So he’d smell sweet, ere he had combed his hair.

woebegone

You are so wise it needs not that I teach; Go, save our lives, and that I do beseech.”

Procured these kneading-tubs, or beer-vats, three, Then you shall hang them near the roof-tree high,

And if you’ll act as counselled and not fail, I undertake, without a mast or sail, 425 To save us all, aye you and her and me. Haven’t you heard of, Noah, how saved was he, Because Our Lord had warned him how to keep Out of the flood that covered earth so deep?”

And to that hole he stooped, and through did peep, 335 And finally he ranged him in his sight.

And softer than the wool is on a wether.

And she had become eighteen years of age. Jealous he was and held her close in cage.

Many good wives there are, as women run, And ever a thousand good to one that’s bad, As well you know yourself, unless you’re mad.

“I am as good as dead, unless I can tell, truly, What thing it is that women most desire; Could you inform me, I’d pay well your hire.”

“Dear mother,

When what he went for he could not find out, That is, the thing that women love the best, Most saddened was the spirit in his breast; But home he goes, he could no more delay. The day was come when home he turned his way;

Here may you see, though for a while we bide, Yet out it must; no secret can we hide.

What thing it is that women most desire.

“You stand yet,” said she, “in such poor a way That for your life you’ve no security. 910 I’ll grant you life if you can tell to me

Sufficient answer in this grave concern.