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Title: The complete works of John Gower, volume 4
The Latin works
Author: John Gower
Editor: G. C. Macaulay
Release date: December 13, 2023 [eBook #72396]
Language: English
Credits: Ted Garvin, Stephen Rowland, Krista Zaleski and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN GOWER, VOLUME 4 ***
Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors in punctuation have been silently
corrected.
Italics are represented as _italic_. Wide spacing (used for notations
over erasure in the text) is represented as ~gesperrt~.
THE COMPLETE WORKS
OF
JOHN GOWER
_G. C. MACAULAY_
* * * *
THE LATIN WORKS
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
[Illustration]
LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK
[Illustration: MS. COTTON TIBERIUS A. IV., F. 9
(_Reduced in size_)]
THE COMPLETE WORKS
OF
JOHN GOWER
_EDITED FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS
WITH INTRODUCTIONS, NOTES, AND GLOSSARIES_
BY
G. C. MACAULAY, M.A.
FORMERLY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
* * * *
THE LATIN WORKS
De modicis igitur modicum dabo pauper, et inde
Malo valere parum quam valuisse nichil.
=Oxford=
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1902
OXFORD
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BY HORACE HART, M.A.
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION vii
EPISTOLA 1
VOX CLAMANTIS 3
CRONICA TRIPERTITA 314
REX CELI DEUS ETC. 343
H. AQUILE PULLUS ETC. 344
O RECOLENDE ETC. 345
CARMEN SUPER MULTIPLICI VICIORUM PESTILENCIA 346
TRACTATUS DE LUCIS SCRUTINIO 355
ECCE PATET TENSUS ETC. 358
EST AMOR ETC. 359
QUIA VNUSQUISQUE ETC. 360
ENEIDOS BUCOLIS ETC. 361
O DEUS IMMENSE ETC. 362
LAST POEMS 365
NOTES 369
GLOSSARY 421
INDEX TO THE NOTES 428
INTRODUCTION
LIFE OF GOWER.
To write anything like a biography of Gower, with the materials that
exist, is an impossibility. Almost the only authentic records of him,
apart from his writings, are his marriage-licence, his will, and his
tomb in St. Saviour’s Church; and it was this last which furnished
most of the material out of which the early accounts of the poet were
composed. A succession of writers from Leland down to Todd contribute
hardly anything except guesswork, and this is copied by each from his
predecessors with little or no pretence of criticism. Some of them,
as Berthelette and Stow, describe from their own observation the tomb
with its effigy and inscriptions, as it actually was in their time, and
these descriptions supply us with positive information of some value,
but the rest is almost entirely worthless.
Gower’s will was printed in Gough’s _Sepulchral Monuments_ (1796), and
in 1828 Sir Harris Nicolas, roused by the uncritical spirit of Todd,
published the article in the _Retrospective Review_[1] which has ever
since been regarded as the one source of authentic information on the
subject. It does not appear that Nicolas undertook any very extensive
searching of records, indeed he seems to have practically confined his
attention to the British Museum; for wherever he cites the Close Rolls
or other documents now in the Record Office, it is either from the
abstract of the Close Rolls given in MS. Harl. 1176 or as communicated
to him by some other person: but he was able to produce several more
or less interesting documents connected either with the poet or with
somebody who bore the same name and belonged to the same family, and he
placed the discussion for the first time upon a sound critical basis.
Pauli simply recapitulated the results arrived at by Nicolas with some
slight elucidations from the Close Rolls of 6 Ric. II on a matter
which had been already mentioned by Nicolas on the authority of Mr.
Petrie. As the result of a further examination of the Close Rolls and
other records I am able to place some of the transactions referred to
in a clearer light, while at the same time I find myself obliged to
cast serious doubt on the theory that all the documents in question
relate to the poet. In short, the conclusions at which I arrive, so far
as regards the records, are mostly of a negative character.
It may be taken as proved that the family to which John Gower the poet
belonged was of Kent. Caxton indeed says of him that he was born in
Wales, but this remark was probably suggested by the name of the ‘land
of Gower’ in Wales, and is as little to be trusted as the further
statement that his birth was in the reign of Richard II. There was
a natural tendency in the sixteenth century to connect him with the
well-known Gowers of Stitenham in Yorkshire, whence the present noble
family of Gower derives its origin, and Leland says definitely that the
poet was of Stitenham[2]. It is probable, however, that Leland had no
very certain information; for when we examine his autograph manuscript,
we find that he first wrote, following Caxton, ‘ex Cambria, ut ego
accepi, originem duxit,’ and afterwards altered this to ‘ex Stitenhamo,
villa Eboracensis prouinciae, originem ducens.’ It is probable that the
credit of connexion with the poet had been claimed by the Yorkshire
family, whose ‘proud tradition,’ as Todd says, ‘has been and still is
that he was of Stitenham,’ and we find reason to think that they had
identified him with a certain distinguished lawyer of their house.
This family tradition appears in Leland’s _Itinerarium_, vi. 13, ‘The
house of Gower the poete sumtyme chief iuge of the commune place’ (i.e.
Common Pleas) ‘yet remaineth at Stitenham yn Yorkshire, and diuerse of
them syns have been knights.’ He adds that there are Gowers also in
Richmondshire and Worcestershire (‘Wicestreshire,’ MS.). The statement
that this supposed judge was identical with the poet is afterwards
withdrawn; for on a later page Leland inserts a note, ‘Mr. Ferrares
told me that Gower the iuge could not be the man that write the booke
yn Englisch, for he said that Gower the iuge was about Edward the
secundes tyme.’[3]
All this seems to suggest that Leland had no very trustworthy evidence
on the matter. He continued to assert, however, as we have seen, that
the poet derived his origin from Stitenham, and to this he adds that
he was brought up and practised as a lawyer, ‘Coluit forum et patrias
leges lucri causa[4].’ It has not been noticed that the author’s
manuscript has here in the margin what is probably a reference to
authority for this statement: we find there a note in a contemporary
hand, ‘Goverus seruiens ad legem 30 Ed. 3.’ From this it is probable
that Leland is relying on the Year-book of 30 Ed. III, where we find
the name Gower, apparently as that of a serjeant-at-law who took part
in the proceedings. It is not likely that Leland had any good reasons
for identifying this Gower, who was in a fairly high position at the
bar in the year 1356, with John Gower the poet, who died in 1408[5].
Leland’s statements were copied by Bale and so became public
property. They did not, however, long pass unchallenged. Thynne in
his _Animadversions_ acutely criticises the suggestion of Yorkshire
origin, on the ground of the difference of arms:--‘Bale hath much
mistaken it, as he hath done infinite things in that book, being for
the most part the collections of Leland. For in truth the arms of Sir
John Gower being argent, on a cheveron azure three leopards’ heads or,
do prove that he came of a contrary house to the Gowers of Stytenham
in Yorkshire, who bare barruly of argent and gules, a cross paty flory
sable. Which difference of arms seemeth a difference of families,
unless you can prove that being of one family they altered their arms
upon some just occasion.’ The arms to which Thynne refers as those of
Gower the poet are those which are to be seen upon his tomb[6]; and the
argument is undoubtedly sound. Thynne proceeds to criticise Speght’s
statement that Chaucer and Gower were both lawyers of the Inner Temple:
‘You say, It seemeth that these learned men were of the Inner Temple,
for that many years since Master Buckley did see a record in the same
house, where Geffrey Chaucer was fined two shillings for beating a
Franciscan Friar in Fleet Street. This is a hard collection to prove
Gower of the Inner Temple, although he studied the law, for thus you
frame your argument: Mr. Buckley found a record in the Temple that
Chaucer was fined for beating the friar; ergo Gower and Chaucer were of
the Temple.’
A ‘hard collection’ it may be, but no harder than many others that
have been made by biographers, and Leland’s ‘vir equestris ordinis[7]’
must certainly go the way of his other statements, being sufficiently
refuted, as Stow remarks, by the ‘Armiger’ of Gower’s epitaph. Leland
in calling him a knight was probably misled by the gilt collar of SS
upon his recumbent effigy, and Fuller afterwards, on the strength of
the same decoration, fancifully revives the old theory that he was a
judge, and is copied of course by succeeding writers[8]. On the whole
it may be doubted whether there is anything but guesswork in the
statements made by Leland about our author, except so far as they are
derived from his writings or from his tomb.
That John Gower the poet was of a Kentish family is proved by definite
and positive evidence. The presumption raised by the fact that his
English writings certainly have some traces of the Kentish dialect,
is confirmed, first by the identity of the arms upon his tomb with
those of Sir Robert Gower, who had a tomb in Brabourne Church in Kent,
and with reference to whom Weever, writing in 1631, says, ‘From this
family John Gower the poet was descended[9],’ secondly, by the fact
that in the year 1382 a manor which we know to have been eventually in
the possession of the poet was granted to John Gower, who is expressly
called ‘Esquier de Kent,’ and thirdly, by the names of the executors
of the poet’s will, who are of Kentish families. It may be added
that several other persons of the name of Gower are mentioned in the
records of the time in connexion with the county of Kent. Referring
only to cases in which the Christian name also is the same as that of
the poet, we may note a John Gower among those complained of by the
Earl of Arundel in 1377, as having broken his closes at High Rothing
and elsewhere, fished in his fishery and assaulted his servants[10];
John Gower mentioned in connexion with the parishes of Throwley
and Stalesfield, Kent, in 1381-2[11]; John Gower who was killed by
Elias Taillour, apparently in 1385[12]; John Gower who was appointed
with others in 1386 to receive and distribute the stores at Dover
Castle[13]; none of whom can reasonably be identified with the poet.
Therefore it cannot be truly said, as it is said by Pauli, that the
surname Gower, or even the combination John Gower, is a very uncommon
one in the records of the county of Kent[14].
Before proceeding further, it may be well to set forth in order certain
business transactions recorded in the reign of Edward III, in which a
certain John Gower was concerned, who is identified by Nicolas with the
poet[15].
They are as follows:--
39 Ed. III (1365). An inquiry whether it will be to the prejudice of
the king to put John Gower in possession of half the manor of Aldyngton
in Kent, acquired by him without licence of the king from William de
Septvans, and if so, ‘ad quod damnum.’ This half of Aldyngton is held
of the king by the service of paying fourteen shillings a year to the
Warden of Rochester Castle on St. Andrew’s day[16].
Under date Feb. 15 of the same year it was reported that this would
not be to the prejudice of the king, and accordingly on March 9 John
Gower pays 53 shillings, which appears to be the annual value of the
property, and is pardoned for the offence committed by acquiring it
without licence[17].
39 Ed. III (June 23). William Sepvanus, son of William Sepvanus knight,
grants to John Gower ten pounds rent from the manor of Wygebergh
(Wigborough) in Essex and from other lands held by him in the county of
Essex[18].
By another deed, acknowledged in Chancery on June 25 of the same year,
the same William Sepvanus makes over to John Gower all his claims upon
the manor of Aldyngton, and also a rent of 14_s._ 6_d._, with one cock,
thirteen hens and 140 eggs from Maplecomb[19].
42 Ed. III (1368). Thomas Syward, pewterer and citizen of London, and
Joanna his wife, daughter of Sir Robert Gower, grant to John Gower and
his heirs the manor of Kentwell. Dated at Melford, Wednesday before the
Nativity of St. John Baptist[20].
43 Ed. III. Fine between John Gower on the one hand, and John
Spenythorn with Joan his wife on the other, by which they give up all
right to the Manor of Kentwell, Suffolk, except £10 rent, John Gower
paying 200 marks[21].
This was confirmed in the king’s court, 3 Ric. II.
By documents of previous date[22] it may be shown that the manor of
Kentwell had been held by Sir Rob. Gower, doubtless the same who is
buried in Brabourne Church, who died apparently in 1349; that it
was ultimately divided, with other property, between his heirs, two
daughters named Katherine and Joanna, of whom one, Katherine, died in
1366. Her moiety was then combined with the other in the possession of
her sister Joanna, ‘23 years old and upwards,’ then married to William
Neve of Wetyng, but apparently soon afterwards to Thomas Syward. As
to the transaction between John Gower and John Spenythorn with Joanna
his wife, we must be content to remain rather in the dark. John Gower
had in the year before acquired Kentwell in full possession for himself
and his heirs, and he must in the mean time have alienated it, and now
apparently acquired it again. It is hardly likely that the Joan who
is here mentioned is the same as Joan daughter of Sir Robert Gower,
who was married successively to William Neve and Thomas Syward. On the
other hand it must be regarded as probable that the John Gower of this
document is identical with the John Gower who acquired Kentwell from
Thomas Syward and his wife in 1368. The confirmation in the king’s
court, 3 Ric. II, was perhaps by way of verifying the title before the
grant of Kentwell by Sir J. Cobham to Sir T. Clopton, 4 Ric. II.
47 Ed. III (1373). John Gower grants his manor of Kentwell in Suffolk
to Sir John Cobham and his heirs; a deed executed at Otford in Kent,
Thurs. Sept. 29[23].
48 Ed. III (1374). Payment of 12 marks by Sir J. Cobham on acquisition
of Kentwell and half of Aldyngton from John Gower[24].
By this last document it seems pretty certain that the John Gower from
whom Sir J. Cobham received Kentwell was the same person as the John
Gower who acquired Aldyngton from William Septvans; and he is proved to
be a relation of the poet, as well as of Sir Robert Gower, by the fact
that the arms on the seal of John Gower, attached to the deed by which
Kentwell was alienated, are apparently the same as those which were
placed upon Sir Rob. Gower’s tomb at Brabourne, and those which we see
on the poet’s tomb in Southwark[25]. These persons, then, belonged to
the same family, so far as we can judge; but evidently it is not proved
merely by this fact that the John Gower mentioned in the above document
was identical with the poet. We have seen already that the name was
not uncommon in Kent, and there are some further considerations which
may lead us to hesitate before we identify John Gower the poet with
the John Gower who acquired land from William Septvans. This latter
transaction in fact had another side, to which attention has not
hitherto been called, though Sir H. Nicolas must have been to some
extent aware of it, since he has given a reference to the Rolls of
Parliament, where the affair is recorded.
It must be noted then in connexion with the deeds of 39 Ed. III, by
which John Gower acquired Aldyngton from William Septvans, son of
Sir William Septvans, that in the next year, 40 Ed. III, there is
record of a commission issued to Sir J. Cobham and others to inquire
into the circumstances of this alienation, it having been alleged
that William Septvans was not yet of age, and that he had obtained
release of his father’s property from the king’s hands by fraudulent
misrepresentation. The commission, having sat at Canterbury on the
Tuesday before St. George’s day, 1366, reported that this was so, that
William Septvans was in fact under twenty years old, and would not
attain the age of twenty till the feast of St. Augustine the Doctor
next to come (i.e. Aug. 28); that the alienations to John Gower and
others had been improperly made by means of a fraudulent proof of
age, and that his property ought to be reseized into the king’s hands
till he was of age. Moreover the report stated that John Gower had
given 24 marks only for property worth £12 a year, with a wood of the
value of £100, that after his enfeoffment the said John Gower was in
the company of William Septvans at Canterbury and elsewhere, until
Sept. 29, inducing him to part with land and other property to various
persons[26].
The property remained in the king’s hands till the year 1369, when
an order was issued to the escheator of the county of Essex to put
William Septvans in possession of his father’s lands, which had been
confiscated to the Crown, ‘since two years and more have elapsed from
the festival of St. Augustine, when he was twenty years old’ (Westm.
21 Feb.)[27]. Presumably John Gower then entered into possession of
the property which he had irregularly acquired in 1365, and possibly
with this may be connected a payment by John Gower of £20 at Michaelmas
in the year 1368 to Richard de Ravensere[28], who seems to have been
keeper of the hanaper in Chancery.
It is impossible without further proof to assume that the villainous
misleader of youth who is described to us in the report of the above
commission, as encouraging a young man to defraud the Crown by means of
perjury, in order that he may purchase his lands from him at a nominal
price, can be identical with the grave moralist of the _Speculum
Hominis_ and the _Vox Clamantis_. Gower humbly confesses that he has
been a great sinner, but he does not speak in the tone of a converted
libertine: we cannot reconcile our idea of him with the proceedings
of the disreputable character who for his own ends encouraged the
young William Septvans in his dishonesty and extravagance. The two men
apparently bore the same arms, and therefore they belonged to the same
family, but beyond this we cannot go. It may be observed moreover that
the picture suggested to Prof. Morley by the deed of 1373, executed at
Otford, of the poet’s residence in the pleasant valley of the Darent,
which he describes at some length[29], must in any case be dismissed as
baseless. Otford was a manor held by Sir John Cobham[30], and whether
the John Gower of this deed be the poet or no, it is pretty clear that
the deed in question was executed there principally for this reason,
and not because it was the residence of John Gower.
Dismissing all the above records as of doubtful relevancy to our
subject[31], we proceed to take note of some which seem actually to
refer to the poet. Of these none are earlier than the reign of Richard
II. They are as follows:
1 Ric. II. (May, 1378). A record that Geoffrey Chaucer has given
general power of attorney to John Gower and Richard Forester, to be
used during his absence abroad by licence of the king.[32] Considering
that Chaucer and Gower are known to have been personally acquainted
with one another, we may fairly suppose that this appointment relates
to John Gower the poet.[33]
6 Ric. II (Aug. 1382). Grant of the manors of Feltwell in Norfolk and
Multon in Suffolk to John Gower, Esquire, of Kent, and to his heirs, by
Guy de Rouclyf, clerk (Aug. 1), and release of warranty on the above
(Aug. 3)[34].
6 Ric. II (Aug. 1382). Grant of the manors of Feltwell and Multon by
John Gower to Thomas Blakelake, parson of St. Nicholas, Feltwell, and
others, for his life, at a rent of £40, to be paid quarterly in the
Abbey Church of Westminster[35]. This grant was repeated 7 Ric. II
(Feb. 1384)[36].
The mention of Multon in the will of John Gower the poet makes it
practically certain that the above documents have to do with him.
17 Ric. II (1393). Henry of Lancaster presented John Gower, Esquire,
with a collar. This was mentioned by Nicolas as communicated to him
by Mr. G. F. Beltz from a record in the Duchy of Lancaster Office. No
further reference was given, and I have had some difficulty in finding
the record. It is, however, among the accounts of the wardrobe of Henry
of Lancaster for the year mentioned[37], and though not dated, it
probably belongs to some time in the autumn of 1393, the neighbouring
documents in the same bundle being dated October or November. It proves
to be in fact an order, directed no doubt to William Loveney, clerk
of the Wardrobe to the earl of Derby, for delivery of 26s. 8d. to one
Richard Dancaster, for a collar, on account of another collar given
by the earl of Derby to ‘an Esquire John Gower’[38]. So elsewhere in
the household accounts of the earl of Derby we find a charge of 56_s._
8_d._ for a silver collar for John Payne, butler, ‘because my lord had
given his collar to another esquire beyond sea’[39]. This particular
collar given to John Gower was a comparatively cheap one, worth
apparently only 26_s._ 8_d._, while the silver collar to be given to
John Payne is valued at 56_s._ 8_d._, and a gold collar of SS for Henry
himself costs no less than £26 8_s._ 11_d._ The fact that Gower wears
a collar of SS on his tomb makes it probable enough that he is the
esquire mentioned in this document. It will afterwards be seen that we
cannot base any argument upon the fact that the collar upon the effigy
is now gilt, and apparently was so also in Leland’s time.
25 Jan. 1397-8. A licence from the bishop of Winchester for solemnizing
the marriage between John Gower and Agnes Groundolf, both parishioners
of St. Mary Magdalene, Southwark, without further publication of banns
and in a place outside their parish church, that is to say, in the
oratory of the said John Gower, within his lodging in the Priory of
Saint Mary Overey in Southwark. Dated at Highclere, 25 Jan. 1397[40].
At this time then Gower was living in the Priory of St. Mary Overey,
and no doubt he continued to do so until his death.
Finally, Aug. 15, 1408, the Will of John Gower, which was proved Oct.
24 of the same year[41]. His death therefore may be presumed to have
taken place in October, 1408.
This will has been printed more than once, in Gough’s Sepulchral
Monuments, by Todd in his _Illustrations of Gower and Chaucer_ and in
the _Retrospective Review_.
The testator bequeathes his soul to the Creator, and his body
to be buried in the church of the Canons of St. Mary Overes,
in the place specially appointed for this purpose (‘in loco ad
hoc specialiter deputato’). To the Prior of the said church he
bequeathes 40_s._, to the subprior 20_s._, to each Canon who is
a priest 13_s._ 4_d._, and to each of the other Canons 6_s._
8_d._, that they may all severally pray for him the more devoutly
at his funeral. To the servants of the Priory 2_s._ or 1_s._
each according to their position; to the church of St. Mary
Magdalene 40_s._ for lights and ornaments, to the parish priest
of that church 10_s._, ‘vt oret et orari faciat pro me’; to the
chief clerk of the same church 3_s._ and to the sub-clerk 2_s._
To the following four parish churches of Southwark, viz. St.
Margaret’s, St. George’s, St. Olave’s, and St. Mary Magdalene’s
near Bermondsey, 13_s._ 4_d._ each for ornaments and lights,
and to each parish priest or rector in charge of those churches
6_s._ 8_d._, ‘vt orent et orari pro me in suis parochiis faciant
et procurent.’ To the master of the hospital of St. Thomas in
Southwark 40_s._, to each priest serving there 6_s._ 8_d._ for
their prayers; to each sister professed in the said hospital
3_s._ 4_d._, to each attendant on the sick 20_d._, and to each
sick person in the hospital 12_d._, and the same to the sisters
(where there are sisters), nurses and patients in the hospitals
of St. Anthony, Elsingspitell, Bedlem without Bishopsgate, and
St. Maryspitell near Westminster; to every house for lepers in
the suburbs of London 10_s._, to be distributed amongst the
lepers, for their prayers: to the Prior of Elsingspitell 40s.,
and to each Canon priest there 6_s._ 8_d._
For the service of the altar in the chapel of St. John the
Baptist, ‘in qua corpus meum sepeliendum est,’ two vestments
of silk, one of blue and white baudkin and the other of white
silk, also a large new missal and a new chalice, all which are
to be kept for ever for the service of the said altar. Moreover
to the Prior and Convent the testator leaves a large book,
‘sumptibus meis nouiter compositum,’ called _Martilogium_, on the
understanding that the testator shall have a special mention of
himself recorded in it every day (‘sic quod in eodem specialem
memoriam scriptam secundum eorum promissa cotidie habere debeo,’
not ‘debes,’ as printed).
He leaves to his wife Agnes, £100 of lawful money, also three
cups, one ‘cooperculum,’ two salt-cellars and twelve spoons of
silver, all the testator’s beds and chests, with the furniture
of hall, pantry and kitchen and all their vessels and utensils.
One chalice and one vestment are left to the altar of the oratory
belonging to his apartments (‘pro altare quod est infra oratorium
hospicii mei’). He desires also that his wife Agnes, if she
survive him, shall have all rents due for his manors of Southwell
in the county of Northampton (?) and of Multoun in the county
of Suffolk, as he has more fully determined in certain other
writings given under his seal.
The executors of this will are to be as follows:--Agnes his wife,
Arnold Savage, knight, Roger, esquire, William Denne, Canon of
the king’s chapel, and John Burton, clerk. Dated in the Priory of
St. Mary Overes in Southwark, on the feast of the Assumption of
the Virgin, Mccccviii.
The will was proved, Oct. 24, 1408, at Lambeth before the Archbishop of
Canterbury (because the testator had property in more than one diocese
of the province of Canterbury), by Agnes the testator’s wife, and
administration of the property was granted to her on Nov. 7 of the same
year.
It may be observed with reference to this will that the testator
evidently stands already in the position of a considerable benefactor
to the Priory of St. Mary Overey, in virtue of which position he
has his apartments in the Priory and a place of honour assigned for
his tomb in the church. He must also have established by previous
arrangement the daily mass and the yearly obituary service which
Berthelette speaks of as still celebrated in his time. It is evident
that his benefactions were made chiefly in his life-time. There is
some slight difficulty as regards the manors which are mentioned in
the will. Multon in Suffolk we know already to have been in the poet’s
possession; but what is this ‘Southwell’? Certainly not the well-known
Southwell in Nottinghamshire, which cannot possibly have been in
the possession of a private person, belonging, as it did, to the
archiepiscopal see of York. Moreover, though ‘in Comitatu Nott.’ has
been hitherto printed as the reading of the will, the manuscript has
not this, but either ‘Notth.’ or ‘North.,’ more probably the latter.
There were apparently other manors of Southwell or Suthwell in the
county of Nottingham, and a manor of Suwell in Northamptonshire, but
there seems to be no connexion with the name of Gower in the case of
any of these. It is possible, but not very readily to be assumed, that
the scribe who made the copy of the will in the register carelessly
wrote ‘Southwell in Com. North.’ (or ‘Com. Notth.’) for ‘Feltwell in
Com. Norff.,’ the name which is found coupled with Multon in the other
records[42].
The one remaining record is the tomb in St. Saviour’s church. This
originally stood in the chapel of St. John the Baptist, on the north
side of the church, but in 1832, the nave and north aisle being in
ruins, the monument was removed to the south transept and restored at
the expense of Earl Gower. After the restoration of the church this
tomb was moved back to the north aisle in October 1894, and was placed
on the supposed site of the chapel of St. John the Baptist, where it
now stands[43].
In the course of nearly five centuries the tomb has undergone many
changes, and the present colouring and inscription are not original.
What we have now is a canopy of three arches over an altar tomb, on
which lies an effigy of the poet, habited in a long dark-coloured gown,
with a standing cape and buttoned down to his feet, wearing a gold
collar of SS, fastened in front with a device of a chained swan between
two portcullises. His head rests on a pile of three folio volumes
marked with the names of his three principal works, _Vox Clamantis_,
_Speculum Meditantis_, _Confessio Amantis_. He has a rather round face
with high cheek-bones, a moustache and a slightly forked beard, hair
long and curling upwards[44], and round his head a chaplet of four red
roses at intervals upon a band[45], with the words ‘merci ihs[46]’
(repeated) in the intervals between the roses: the hands are put
together and raised in prayer: at the feet there is a lion or mastiff
lying. The upper ledge of the tomb has this inscription, ‘Hic iacet I.
Gower Arm. Angl. poeta celeberrimus ac huic sacro edificio benefac.
insignis. Vixit temporibus Edw. III et Ric. II et Henr. IV.’ In front
of the tomb there are seven arched niches. Against the wall at the end
of the recess, above the feet of the figure, a shield is suspended
bearing arms, argent, on a chevron azure three leopards’ faces or,
crest a talbot (or lion) upon a chapeau. The wall behind the tomb under
the canopy is at present blank; the original painting of female figures
with scrolls has disappeared and has not been renewed, nor has the
inscription ‘Armigeri scutum,’ &c., been replaced.
This tomb has attracted much attention, and descriptions of it exist
from early times. Leland’s account may be thus translated: ‘He was
honourably buried in London in the church of the Marian canons on the
bank of the Thames, and his wife also is buried in the same place, but
in a lower tomb. He has here an effigy adorned with a gold chain and
a chaplet of ivy interspersed with roses, the first marking him as a
knight and the second as a poet. The reason why he established his
place of burial here, was, I believe, as follows. A large part of the
suburb adjacent to London Bridge was burnt down in the year 1212[47],
in the reign of King John. The monastery of the Marian canons was
much damaged in this fire and was not fully restored till the first
year of Richard II. At that time Gower, moved by the calamity, partly
through his friends, who were numerous and powerful, and partly at his
own expense, repaired the church and restored its ornaments, and the
Marian canons even now acknowledge the liberality of Gower towards
them, though not to such an extent as I declare it to have been. For
this reason it was, in my judgement, that he left his body for burial
to the canons of this house[48].’ Berthelette in the Preface to his
edition of the _Confessio Amantis_, 1532, gives an interesting account
of the tomb: ‘John Gower prepared for his bones a resting-place in the
monastery of St. Mary Overes, where somewhat after the old fashion he
lieth right sumptuously buried, with a garland on his head in token
that he in his life days flourished freshly in literature and science.
And the same moniment, in remembrance of him erected, is on the North
side of the foresaid church, in the chapel of St. John, where he hath
of his own foundation a mass daily sung: and moreover he hath an obit
yearly done for him within the same church on the Friday after the
feast of the blessed pope St. Gregory.
‘Beside on the wall, whereas he lieth, there be painted three virgins
with crowns on their heads, one of the which is written Charitie, and
she holdeth this device in her hand,
En toy qui es fitz de dieu le pere[49]
Sauvé soit que gist souz cest piere.
‘The second is written Mercye, which holdeth in her hand this device,
O bone Jesu, fait ta mercy
Al alme dont le corps gist icy[50].
‘The third of them is written Pite, which holdeth in her hand this
device following,
Pur ta pité, Jesu, regarde,
Et met cest alme in sauve garde.
‘And thereby hangeth a table, wherein appeareth that who so ever
prayeth for the soul of John Gower, he shall, so oft as he so doth,
have a thousand and five hundred days of pardon.’
Stow, writing about 1598, says, ‘This church was again newly rebuilt
in the reign of Richard II and king Henry IV. John Gower, a learned
gentleman and a famous poet, but no knight, as some have mistaken it,
was then an especial benefactor to that work, and was there buried in
the north side of the said church, in the chapel of St. John, where
he founded a chantry. He lieth under a tomb of stone with his image
also of stone being over him. The hair of his head brown, long to his
shoulders but curling up, collar of esses of gold about his neck;
under his head,’ &c.[51] The tomb is then further described as by
Berthelette, with addition of the epitaph in four Latin hexameters,
‘Armigeri scutum,’ &c. (see p. 367 of this volume).
In the _Annals of England_ (date about 1600) he again describes the
tomb, adding to his description of the painting of the three virgins
the important note, ‘All which is now washed out and the image defaced
by cutting off the nose and striking off the hands[52],’ from which it
would appear that we cannot depend even upon the features of the effigy
which now exists, as original.
The figures of the virgins were repainted in the course of the
seventeenth century apparently, for in Hatton’s _New View of London_
(date 1708) they are described as appearing with ‘ducal coronets[53].’
In Rawlinson’s _Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey_ (published
1719) the effigy is spoken of as having a ‘scarlet gown,’ the older
descriptions, e.g. Stow, giving it as ‘an habit of purple damasked,’
and it is said that there is upon the head ‘a chaplet or diadem of gold
about an inch broad, on which are set at equal distances four white
quaterfoyles.’[54] The writer argues also that the chain should be of
silver rather than of gold[55]. The arms are said to be ‘supported by
two angels,’ and ‘underneath is this inscription, “Hic iacet Iohannes
Gower Armiger Anglorum poeta celeberrimus ac huic sacro Edificio
Benefactor insignis temporibus Edw. III et Ric. II. Armigeri scutum,”’
&c. The following remark is added: ‘Our author Mr. John Aubrey gives
us an inscription which he says he saw on a limb of this monument,
something different from the foregoing, and therefore not unworthy a
place here, viz.
Johannes Gower, Princeps
Poetarum Angliae, vixit
temporibus Edwardi tertii
et Richardi secundi.’
Later, in 1765, Tyler describes the gown as purple and the arms as
pendent by the dexter corner. The figures of women have ducal coronets
and scrolls of gold, and below them is the epitaph ‘Armigeri scutum.’
Under the statue the inscription ‘Hic iacet,’ &c.[56] The monument, as
here described, is engraved in Gough’s _Sepulchral Monuments_ (date
1796), where there is a full description of it[57]. Blore, under whose
direction the position of the monument was changed, says in 1826 that
the inscription on the ledge of the tomb ‘Hic iacet,’ &c., was then
entirely gone.
Dollman says that there was a fire which injured the nave of the church
in the reign of Richard II, and that the windows of the nave and
aisles, which were finally removed in 1833, were of the time of Richard
II and Henry IV[58]. It is certain, however, that the church remained
long in an unfinished state during the period between 1207 (or 1212),
the date of the early fire, and the latter part of the fourteenth
century. Dollman observes that the remains which may have been
contained in the tomb ‘disappeared when the tomb was removed from the
north aisle in 1832.’[59] From what has been said it will be perceived
that the tomb has undergone a series of alterations and renovations
which have to some extent at least destroyed its original character.
A word must be said finally about Prof. Morley’s theory that Gower
was in holy orders and held the living of Great Braxted in Essex from
1390-7. This is founded on the fact that the parson of Great Braxted
for the period named was one John Gower, as Professor Morley learns
from Newcourt’s _Repertorium Parochiale_[60]. The original record
referred to by Newcourt is to be found in the Registry of the diocese
of London[61], and is to the effect that on February 23, 1390-1, the
bishop of London admitted and instituted John Gower, clerk, to the
parochial church of Great Braksted, vacant by the resignation of John
Broun, the late rector, the said John Gower having been duly presented
by the king, who at this time was patron of the living, the heir of the
late earl of Pembroke being under his wardship. Then later, under date
March 31, 1397, there is record of a new institution to the benefice,
which is vacant by the resignation of John Gower, late rector[62].
Professor Morley thought that the expression ‘John Gower, clerk’ might
indicate that the person referred to was in minor orders only, some of
the rectors inducted being called ‘priest’ (while others have no title
at all). He conceived that this John Gower held the rectory for six or
seven years without being admitted to priest’s orders at all, and that
he then resigned on his marriage[63], and he found confirmation of the
theory that this was Gower the poet from the fact that Great Braxted
is near to Wigborough, where, as we have seen, a person of this name,
supposed by Professor Morley to be the poet, had some claim to rent. We
have already seen reason to think that the John Gower who had a rent
of £10 from Wigborough was not the poet, and in any case it is evident
that the fact could have nothing to do with a presentation by the king
five and twenty years afterwards to the rectory of Great Braxted.
As to resignation with a view to marriage, it is very unlikely, if
not altogether out of the question, that a clergyman who had held an
important rectory for six or seven years should not only have been
permitted to marry, but should have had his marriage celebrated in
the Priory of St. Mary Overy and with the particular sanction of the
bishop of Winchester. Add to this the fact that John Gower the poet was
undoubtedly ‘Esquire,’ being called so not only on his tomb but also
in the documents of 1382 and 1393, the latter belonging to the period
when, according to this theory, he was holding the living of Great
Braxted. On the whole, the ‘minor orders’ theory must be dismissed as
entirely baseless, and the John Gower who was rector of Great Braxted
must be set down as another of the rather numerous persons of this name
who were to be found in Kent and Essex at this time. There is nothing
in Gower’s writings to suggest the idea that he was an ecclesiastic. He
distinctly calls himself a layman in the _Mirour de l’Omme_, and the
expression ‘borel clerk’ in the Prologue of the _Confessio Amantis_
must be taken to mean the same thing. The language which in the _Vox
Clamantis_ he uses about rectors who fail to perform the duties of
their office, makes it almost inconceivable that he should himself
have held a rectory without qualifying himself for the performance of
the service of the Church even by taking priest’s orders. Evidently
Professor Morley’s idea of the poet as an Essex rector must go the
way of his previous attempt to establish him as a country gentleman
at Otford. It is probable that he passed a considerable part of his
literary life in those lodgings within the Priory of St. Mary Overey
which are mentioned in his marriage licence and in his will[64].
To the information which we derive from records must be added that
which is to be drawn from the poet’s own writings. From the _Speculum
Meditantis_ we learn that in early life he composed love poems, which
he calls ‘fols ditz d’ amour’ (27340), and from two other passages (ll.
8794 and 17649) we may perhaps assume that he was already married at
the time when this work was composed. In the former, speaking of those
who tell tales to husbands about their wives’ misconduct, he says in
effect, ‘I for my part declare (‘Je di pour moi’) that I wish to hear
no such tales of my wife:’ in the second he speaks of those wives who
dislike servants and other persons simply because their husbands like
them, and he adds, ‘I do not say that mine does so’ (‘Ne di pas q’ensi
fait la moie’). If the inference be correct, his union with Agnes
Groundolf in his old age was a second marriage. We cannot come to any
definite conclusion from this poem about any profession or occupation
which he may have had besides literature. The statement of Leland that
he practised as a lawyer seems rather improbable, in view of the way
in which he here speaks of lawyers and their profession. Of all the
secular estates that of the law seems to him to be the worst (24085
ff.), and he condemns both advocates and judges in a more unqualified
manner than the members of any other calling. Especially the suggestion
of a special tax to be levied on lawyers’ gains (24337 ff.) is one that
could hardly have come from one who was himself a lawyer[65].
Again the way in which he speaks of physicians (24301, 25621 ff.) seems
almost equally to exclude him from the profession of medicine.
Of all the various ranks of society which he reviews, that of which he
speaks with most respect is the estate of Merchants. He takes pains to
point out, both in this poem and in the _Vox Clamantis_, the utility of
their occupation, and the justice of their claim to reasonably large
profits on successful ventures in consideration of the risks they run
(_Mirour_, 25177 ff.; _Vox Clam._ Lib. v. Cap. xi, _Heading_). He makes
a special apology to the honest members of the class for exposing the
abuses to which the occupation is liable, pleading that to blame the
bad is in effect to praise the good (25213 ff., 25975 ff.), and he is
more careful here than elsewhere to point out the fact that honest
members of the class exist. He speaks of ‘our City,’ and has strong
feelings about the interests of the city of London, and about the
proceedings of a certain bad citizen who stirs up strife and aims at
giving privileges in trade to strangers (_Mirour_, 26380 ff.; cp. _Vox
Clamantis_, v. 835 ff.): moreover, the jealousy of Lombards which he
expresses has every appearance of being a prejudice connected with
rivalry in commerce (25429 ff.). He has a special enthusiasm about
the wool-trade, as a national concern of the first importance, and
he has very definite opinions about the abuses of the staple (25360
ff.). At the same time there is no definite evidence that Gower was
a merchant, and his interest in trade and in the affairs of the city
of London may well have arisen from his residence in or near the city
and his personal acquaintance with merchants (cp. _Mir._ 25915 ff.).
His references to the dearness of labour and the unreasonable demands
of the labourer (24625 ff.) are what we might expect from a man who
had property in land; but again we have no sufficient evidence that
Gower was a land-owner in the ordinary sense of the word, for, though
he acquired the manors of Feltwell and Multon, he did not reside upon
either of them, but gave a lease of them at once.
He tells us that he is a man of simple tastes (26293 ff.), and we know
from the whole tone of his writings that he is a just and upright
man, who believes in the subordination of the various members of
society to one another, and who will not allow himself to be ruled in
his own household either by his wife or his servants. But, though a
thorough believer in the principle of gradation in human society, he
constantly emphasizes the equality of all men before God, and refuses
absolutely to admit the accident of birth as constituting any claim
to ‘gentilesce.’ The common descent of all from Adam is as conclusive
on this point for him as it was for John Ball. Considering that his
views on society are essentially the same as those of Wycliff, and
considering also his strong opinions about the corruption of the Church
and the misdeeds of the friars, it is curious to find how strongly he
denounces the Lollards in his later writings.
He has a just abhorrence of war, and draws a very clear distinction
between the debased chivalry of his own day and the true ideal of
knighthood. Above all he has a deep sense of religion, and is very
familiar with the Bible. He strongly believes in the moral government
of the world by Providence, and he feels sure, as others of his age
did also, that the final stage of corruption has almost come. Whatever
others may do, he at least intends to repent of his sins and prepare
himself to render a good account of his stewardship. In both his French
and his Latin work he shows himself a fearless rebuker of evil, even
in the highest places. The charge of time-serving timidity has been
sufficiently dealt with in the Introduction to the English Works.
From the _Vox Clamantis_ it is evident that the rising of the Peasants
produced a very powerful, indeed almost an overwhelming, impression
upon his mind. He describes the terror inspired by it among those of
his social standing in the most impressive manner. The progress of
his political development during the reign of Richard II is clearly
seen in his Latin works, with their successive revisions. He began,
it is evident, with full hope and confidence that the youthful king
would be a worthy representative of his father the Black Prince, both
in war and in peace. As time goes on, and the boy develops into an
ill-regulated young man, under evil influences of various kinds, the
poet begins to have doubts, and these gradually increase until they
amount to certainty, and rebuke and denunciation take the place of
the former favourable anticipations. In the latest version of the
_Confessio Amantis_, which is, no doubt, contemporary with some of
these changes in the text of the _Vox Clamantis_, we see the author’s
confidence transferred from the king to his cousin, not as yet regarded
as a successor to the throne, but thought of as representing a fair
ideal of chivalry and honesty. Finally, in the _Cronica Tripertita_,
he accepts the fall of Richard as the fatal consequence of a course of
evil government and treachery, and rejoices in the prospect of a new
order of things under his predestined hero.
We see here the picture of one who is not devoted to a particular
party, but looks to what he conceives as the common good, deeply
impressed with the sense that things are out of joint, and hoping
against hope that a saviour of society may arise, either in the person
of the young king, or of his vigorous and chivalrous cousin. There
is no sign of any liking for John of Gaunt or of any attachment to
the Lancastrian party generally; but he is stirred to very genuine
indignation at the unfair treatment of men whom he regards as honest
patriots, such as Gloucester, the Arundels, and Cobham. He himself
was evidently a most patriotic Englishman, loving his country and
proud of its former greatness. For this we may refer especially to
_Vox Clamantis_, vii. 1289 ff., but the same feeling is visible also
in many other passages. He is a citizen of the world no doubt, but an
Englishman first, and he cares intensely for the prosperity of his
native land. Even when he writes in French it is for England’s sake,
‘O gentile Engleterre, a toi j’escrits.’
When he decides that the _Confessio Amantis_ could no longer go forth
with Richard as its patron, it is to England that he dedicates his
poem, and for his country that he offers up the prayers which he can
no longer utter with sincerity on behalf of the worthless king (_Conf.
Am._ Prol. 24 and viii. 2987).
From the _Confessio Amantis_ we learn the circumstances under which
that work was undertaken, owing in part at least to a suggestion
from the king himself, who, meeting Gower upon the river, made him
come into his own barge and conversed with him familiarly on his
literary projects, urging him apparently to the composition of a poem
in English, and perhaps suggesting Love as the subject. We gather
also that in the year 1390 the author considered himself already an
old man, and that he had then suffered for some time from ill-health
(Prol. 79*, viii. 3042*), and from the Epistle to Archbishop Arundel
prefixed later to the _Vox Clamantis_, as well as from the Latin lines
beginning ‘Henrici Regis’ (or ‘Henrici quarti’) we learn that he was
blind during the last years of his life, probably from the year 1400.
We may reasonably suppose that he was born about the year 1330, or
possibly somewhat later. From the Latin statement about his books we
learn, what is tolerably obvious from their tenour, that his chief
aim in writing was edification, while at the same time we gather from
the opening of the first book of the _Confessio Amantis_ that he then
despaired of effecting anything by direct admonition, and preferred
finally to mingle amusement with instruction. The Latin lines at the
end of this volume, beginning ‘Dicunt scripture,’ express a principle
which he seems to have followed himself, namely that a man should give
away money for good purposes during his own life, rather than leave
such business to be attended to by his executors.
The literary side of his activity is sufficiently dealt with in the
introductions to his several works, and there also it is noted what
were the books with which he was acquainted. It is enough to say here
that he was a man of fairly wide general reading, and thoroughly
familiar with certain particular books, especially the Bible, all the
works of Ovid, and the _Aurora_ of Peter de Riga.
THE LATIN WORKS.
Of the works which are included in the present volume the _Vox
Clamantis_ is the most important. It is written in elegiac verse, more
or less after the model of Ovid, and consists of 10,265 lines, arranged
in seven books, of which the first, second and third have separate
prologues, and each is divided into a series of chapters with prose
headings. As to the date of composition, all that we can say is that
the work in its present form is later than the Peasants’ rising in the
summer of 1381, and yet it was evidently composed while the memory of
that event was fresh, and also before the young king had grown beyond
boyhood. The advice to the king with regard to fidelity in marriage
need not be taken to have special reference to the king’s actual
marriage at the end of the year 1382, but perhaps it is more natural to
suppose that it was written after that event than before.
The general plan of the author is to describe the condition of society
and of the various degrees of men, much as in the latter portion of
the _Speculum Meditantis_. This, however, is made subordinate to the
detailed account, given at the beginning, of the Peasants’ rising, and
that is in fact set down as the main subject of the work in the Latin
account of it given by the author: ‘Secundus enim liber sermone Latino
versibus exametri et pentametri compositus tractat super illo mirabili
euentu, qui in Anglia tempore domini Regis Ricardi secundi anno regni
sui quarto contigit, quando seruiles rustici impetuose contra nobiles
et ingenuos regni insurrexerunt. Innocenciam tamen dicti domini Regis
tunc minoris etatis causa inde excusabilem pronuncians, culpas aliunde,
ex quibus et non a fortuna talia inter homines contingunt enormia,
euidencius declarat. Titulusque voluminis huius, cuius ordo septem
continet paginas, Vox Clamantis nominatur.’
So the statement of contents ran in its earlier form. Afterwards the
excuses made for the king on the ground of his youth were withdrawn,
and in the final form of the statement the events of the _Cronica
Tripertita_ are brought into the reckoning, and the fall of Richard
seems to be represented as a moral consequence of the earlier
misfortunes of his reign.
Evidently what is quoted above is a very insufficient summary of the
_Vox Clamantis_, which in fact deals with the Peasants’ rising only
in its first book; and notwithstanding the fact that this event so
much overshadows the other subjects of the poem that the author in
describing his work afterwards treated it as the only theme, there is
some reason to question whether what we have is really the original
form of the poem, and even to conclude that the work may have been
originally composed altogether without this detailed narrative of the
insurrection. For this idea there is some manuscript authority. It
has not hitherto been noted that in one copy (MS. Laud 719) the _Vox
Clamantis_ appears with the omission of the whole of the first book
after the Prologue and first chapter[66]. At the same time the text
of this manuscript seems to be complete in itself, and the books are
numbered in accordance with the omission, so that there are six books
only, our second book being numbered as the first[67]. There is really
something to be said for this arrangement, apart from the fact that
it occurs in a single manuscript. The first book, with its detailed
account of the Peasants’ revolt, though in itself the most interesting
part of the work, has certainly something of the character of an
insertion. The plan of the remainder seems to be independent of it,
though the date, June, 1381, which is found also in the Laud MS.,
‘Contigit vt quarto Ricardi regis in anno,
Dum clamat mensem Iunius esse suum,’
was doubtless intended to suggest that portentous event as the occasion
of the review of society which the work contains. The prologue of the
second book, which introduces the teachings of the vision with an
invocation of God’s assistance, an apology for the deficiencies of the
work, and an appeal to the goodwill of the reader, and concludes with a
first announcement of the name of the succeeding poem, _Vox Clamantis_,
would certainly be much more in place at the beginning of the whole
work than here, after more than two thousand lines, and there is no
difficulty in supposing that the author may have introduced his account
of the Peasants’ revolt as an afterthought. The chief reason for
hesitating to accept the Laud MS. as representing an authentic form of
the poem, lies in the fact that the text of this MS. is rather closely
related to that of another copy, MS. Digby 138, which contains the
first book in its usual place; and it is perhaps more likely that the
original archetype of these two MSS. was one which included the first
book, and that this was omitted for some reason by the scribe of the
Laud MS., than that the copyist of the Digby MS. perceived the absence
of this book and supplied it from some other quarter.
One other matter affecting our estimate of the style of the composition
generally has perhaps been sufficiently illustrated in the Notes of
this edition, that is to say, the extent to which the author borrows in
the _Vox Clamantis_ from other writers. It is sufficiently obvious to
a casual reader that he has appropriated a good many lines from Ovid,
though the extent of this schoolboy plagiarism is hardly to be realised
without careful examination; but his very extensive obligations to
other writers have not hitherto been pointed out. He repeatedly takes
not lines or couplets only, but passages of eight, ten or even twenty
lines from the _Aurora_ of Peter Riga, from the poem of Alexander
Neckam _De Vita Monachorum_, from the _Speculum Stultorum_, or from the
_Pantheon_, so that in many places the composition is entirely made
up of such borrowed matter variously arranged and combined. This is
evidently a thing to be noted, because if the author, when describing
(for example) the vices of monasteries, is found to be merely quoting
from Alexander Neckam, we cannot attach much value to his account
as a picture of the manners of his own time. His knowledge of Ovid
seems to have been pretty complete, for he borrows from almost every
section of his works with the air of one who knows perfectly well
where to turn for what he wants; quite a large portion of Neckam’s
poem is appropriated without the smallest acknowledgement, and many
long passages are taken from the _Aurora_, with only one slight
mention of this source (iii. 1853). Most of the good Latin lines
for which Gower has got credit with critics are plagiarisms of this
kind, and if Professor Morley had realized to what extent the _Vox
Clamantis_ is a compilation, he would hardly have estimated the work
so highly as he has done. The extracts from medieval authors are to
some extent tolerable, because they are usually given in a connected
and intelligible shape, but the perpetual borrowing of isolated lines
or couplets from Ovid, often without regard to their appropriateness
or their original meaning, often makes the style, of the first book
especially, nearly as bad as it can be. I have taken the pains to point
out a considerable number of plagiarisms, but it is certain that there
must be many instances which have escaped my notice. In his later Latin
verse the author is very much less dependent upon others, and the
_Cronica Tripertita_, from the nature of the subject, is necessarily
original.
Gower’s own style of versification in Latin is somewhat less elegant
than that of Alexander Neckam or Peter Riga, but it stands upon much
the same level of correctness. If we take into account the fact that
the Latin is not classical but medieval, and that certain licences of
prosody were regularly admitted by medieval writers of Latin verse,
we shall not find the performance very bad. Such licences are, for
example, the lengthening of a short syllable at the caesura, the
position of final short vowels before ‘st,’ ‘sp,’ ‘sc’ at the beginning
of the succeeding word, and the use of polysyllabic words, or of two
dissyllables, at the end of the hexameter, so that lines such as these
are not to be taken as irregular:
‘Omnis et inde gradus a presule sanctificatus;’
‘Quo minor est culpa, si cadat inde rea;’
‘Et quia preuisa sic vota facit, puto culpa;’
‘Si bene conseruet ordinis ipse statum.’
In any case it is certain that Gower expressed himself in Latin with
great facility and with tolerable correctness. He may have imitated
the style of Ovid ‘studiosius quam felicius,’ as Leland observes, but
the comparison with other Latin verse-writers of his time sets his
performance in a fairly favourable light.
VOX CLAMANTIS. ANALYSIS.
PROLOGUS LIBRI PRIMI.
From the records of the past we derive examples; and though credit be
not commonly given to dreams, yet the writers of past time instruct
us otherwise. Daniel and Joseph were taught by visions, and a man’s
guardian angel often warns him in his sleep. Hence, as it seems to me,
my dreams should be recorded as signs of the times; and what my vision
was and at what time it came, ye may learn from this book.
If ye desire to know the writer’s name, add to _John_ the beginning of
_Godfrey_, the first letter of _Wales_ and the word _ter_ without its
head. But give no praise to the author, for I write not with a view to
fame. I shall write of strange things which my country has experienced,
and as my matter is woful, so also shall be my song. My pen is wet with
tears, and both my heart and my hand tremble; nor am I sufficient to
write all the troubles that belong to the time. I ask for indulgence
rather than praise: my will is good, though my powers fall short. I
pray that while I sing of those true visions which disturb my heart
with terror, he whose name I bear, to whom visions were revealed in
Patmos, may control my work.
LIBER PRIMUS.
CAP. I. It was in the fourth year of king Richard, when the month was
June: the moon had set and the morning-star had risen, when from the
West a strange light sprang, the dawn came from the region of the
setting sun and brought forth the day. The sun shone and all the earth
was bright; Phebus went forth in his glorious car, attended by the
four Seasons, Summer being nearest to him then and honoured by all
creatures. The meadows were bright with flowers and the flocks sported
in the fields, a perfect paradise of flowers and fruits was there, with
the songs of multitudinous birds. Such was the day on which I wandered
forth for my pleasure.
All things have an end, and at length that calm day had completed its
appointed hours; evening came and I lay down to rest. The night came
on, dark and gloomy as the day had been bright, and sleep did not visit
my eyes. My hair stood on end, my flesh and my heart trembled and my
senses were disturbed like water. I reflected what the cause might be
of my sudden terror, and my mind wandered by various paths. The night
went on, yet no sleep came, and terror of a coming evil oppressed me.
Thus I spent the hours of darkness, not knowing what was approaching,
seeing the past and fearing for the future; but at length, towards
dawn, sleep came upon my weary eyes, and I began to dream.
CAP. II. Methought I went out upon a Tuesday to gather flowers, and I
saw people in bands going abroad over the fields. Suddenly the curse of
God fell like lightning upon them, and they were changed into the forms
of beasts, various bands into various forms.
One band was changed into asses rebellious against the halter and the
burden, careering over the fields and demanding to be as horses; and
these had also horns in the middle of their foreheads, which were
stained with blood; they were swift as leopards in their leap, and had
tails like that of a lion, yet the stolid asinine mind was in them
still. I stood in terror and could advance no further.
CAP. III. With them came oxen, who refused any longer to be subject
to the yoke and who would no longer eat straw. These too were in
monstrous shape with feet like those of a bear and with the tails of
dragons; they breathed forth fire and smoke like the bulls of Colchos.
They devastated the fields and slew men: the plough, the rake and the
mattock lay idle. ‘Ah me!’ I said, ‘the cultivation of the fields will
cease and famine will come upon us.’
CAP. IV. A third band I saw transformed into swine, furious and
possessed by the devil. They followed one another, hog and hogling,
boar and little pig, the sow and her companion, and there was no
swine-herd to keep them away from the corn-fields. They wandered where
they would, and the pig ravaged like a wolf.
One boar there was, whom Kent produced, such as the whole earth might
not match. Flame came from his mouth and eyes, his tusks were like
those of an elephant; foam mixed with human blood flowed over his
flanks. He strikes down all those whom he meets and none can prevail
against him: no place except heaven is safe from his rage. From the
North comes another boar to meet him and to plan destruction.
These boars were greater and more furious than that of Tegea or that
which Meleager hunted. They are not content with acorns for their food
or water for their drink; they devour rich food in the city and drink
good wine, so that they lie in drunkenness as dead. They despise the
pig-stye and defile kings’ palaces with their filth: their grunting is
like the roaring of a lion.
CAP. V. A fourth band was turned into dogs, who are not content with
the food from their master’s table, but range in search of better, who
do not hunt hares or stags, but bark at the heels of men. Here are Cut
and Cur from their wretched kennels, the sheep-dog and the watch-dog,
the baker’s, the butcher’s, and the miller’s dog. The one-eyed is there
and the three-legged dog limps behind barking. These cannot be soothed
by stroking, but bare their teeth in anger against you. They tear all
whom they meet, and the more they devour the less they are satisfied.
Cerberus in hell hears their howl, and breaking away from his chains he
joins himself to their company and becomes their leader. More savage
were these than the hounds which tore Acteon or the beast which Diana
sent to destroy the Athenians. All trembled before them.
CAP. VI. Another band took the form of foxes and cats. They ran about
and searched every cavern and every hiding-place, and made their way
into secret chambers. There was venom in their bite. The caves of the
wood send forth the foxes, who rob by day without fear, and have a
treaty of peace with the dogs. The cats leave the barns and cease to
catch mice, and these do damage more than ever did the mice of Ekron.
CAP. VII. A sixth took the form of domestic fowls, but they claimed to
be birds of prey. The cock had the beak and claws of a falcon, and the
goose soared up to the heaven. Suddenly the cock becomes a carrion-crow
and the goose a kite, and they prey upon the carcasses of men. The cock
crows horribly and the hen follows him and moves him to evil. The goose
which formerly frightened only children with its hissing, now terrifies
grown men and threatens to tear them to pieces.
Owls join themselves to these and do by day the deeds of darkness,
sharpening their feathers with iron, in order that they may slay men.
CAP. VIII. The dream continued, and I saw another band in the form of
flies and of frogs. These were like those that plagued Egypt: the frogs
came into houses and shed their poison everywhere; the flies pursued
with their stings all those of gentle blood, and nothing could keep
them out. Their prince Belzebub was the leader of the host. The heat of
the summer produced them suddenly in swarms: the fly was more rapacious
than the hawk and prouder than the peacock; he contended with the lark,
the crane and the eagle in flight.
This was a day on which horses were overcome by asses, and lions by
oxen, a day in which the dog was stronger than the bear and the cat
than the leopard, a day in which the weak confounded the strong, a day
in which slaves were raised on high and nobles brought to the ground, a
day in which the terror of God’s wrath came upon all, such a day as no
chronicle records in time past. May such a day never come again in our
age!
CAP. IX. When all this multitude was gathered together like the sand
of the sea, one, a Jay skilled in speech, took the first place among
them and addressed them thus: ‘O wretched slaves, now comes the day in
which the peasant shall drive out the lord; let honour, law and virtue
perish, and let our court rule.’ They listen and approve, and though
they know not what ‘our court’ means, what he says has for them the
force of law: if he says ‘strike,’ they strike, if he says ‘kill,’ they
kill. Their sound was as the sound of the sea, and from terror I could
scarcely move my feet. They strike a mutual compact and declare that
all those of gentle blood who remain in the world shall be overthrown.
Then they advance all together; a dark cloud mingled with the furies of
hell rains down evil into their hearts; the earth is wetted with the
dew of the pit, so that no virtue can grow, but every vice increases.
Satan is loose and among them, the princes of Erebus draw the world
after them, and the more I gaze, the more I am terrified, not knowing
what the end will be.
CAP. X. Furious rage there was, they were greedy for slaughter like
hungry wolves. The seven races derived from Cain were added to them.
The prophets spoke of them, Gog and Magog is their name, they neither
fear man nor worship God. Moreover those companions of Ulysses, whom
Circe transformed, are associated with them: some have the heads of men
and others of brute beasts.
CAP. XI. There is Wat, Tom and Sim, Bet and Gib followed by Hick; Coll,
Geff and Will, Grigge, Dawe, Hobbe and Lorkin, Hudd, Judd, Tebb and
Jack, such are their names;[68] and Ball teaches them as a prophet,
himself having been taught by the devil.
Some bray like asses, others bellow like bulls, they grunt, they bark,
they howl, the geese cackle, the wasps buzz; the earth is terrified
with their sound and trembles at the name of the Jay.
CAP. XII. They appoint heralds and leaders, and they order that all who
do not favour them shall suffer death. They are armed with stakes and
poles, old bows and arrows, rusty sickles, mattocks and forks; some
have only clods and stones and branches of trees. They wet the earth
with the blood of their betters.
CAP. XIII. These come in their fury to the city of new Troy, which
opens its gates to them, and they surge in and invade the streets and
houses. It was Thursday, the festival of Corpus Christi, when this
fury attacked the city on all sides; they burnt the houses and slew
the citizens. The Savoy burns, and the house of the Baptist falls to
ruin in the flames. They rob and carry away the spoil, and that day is
closed with drunkenness everywhere.
The next day, Friday, is yet worse; no wisdom or courage avails against
them, they rage like a lioness robbed of her young. O, how degenerate
is the city which allows this, how disgraceful that armed knights
should give place to an unarmed mob! There is no Capaneus or Tydeus, no
Ajax or Agamemnon, no Hector or Achilles, to make defence or attack.
Ilion with its towers cannot keep men safe from the furies.
CAP. XIV. Helenus the chief priest, who kept the palladium of Troy, was
slain in spite of his exhortations. These were deeds worthy rather of
demons than of men. Piety and virtue perished and vice ran riot. They
said ‘Let his blood be upon our heads,’ and slew him without pity: the
curse of Christ shall fall upon them for this deed.
Simon had the same death as Thomas, but at the hands of greater numbers
and for a different cause. Vengeance came for the death of Thomas; for
Simon it daily threatens. It was midday when this blood was shed, the
shepherd was slain by his flock, the father by his children. He died
untimely; but though taken away from us, he lives in heaven. This is
the foulest of all the deeds done: these men are worse than Cain, who
only slew his brother. O cursed hand that struck the severed head! Wail
for this, all ye old and young, the evils prophesied by Cassandra come
down on this city. The king could not rescue Helenus, but he mourned
for him in his heart.
CAP. XV. The chief citizens also perished, there was death and sorrow
everywhere. If a son pleaded for his father, both were slain. No place
of safety can be found by those of gentle condition; they flee to the
forests in vain, and move vaguely hither and thither, neither city nor
field affords them protection. Death is everywhere, and spares not even
the women and the children. There is no remedy, and neither lamentation
nor prayers are of any avail.
CAP. XVI. When I saw all this, horror seized me and I fled. I left my
own house and wandered over the fields, I went from place to place in
search of safety; the enemy pressed after me; I hid in caves of the
woods, and was without hope at evening of what the morrow might bring.
My dreams terrified me and my heart melted like wax in the fire. I lay
hid during the day and trembled at every sound, the tears that I shed
were my sole subsistence. I was alone and in terror of the wrath of
God, my mind was sick and my body was wasted. Hardly ever did I meet a
companion, and those friends whom I had trusted in prosperity failed
me now. I dared scarcely speak a word, lest I should betray myself to
an enemy.
Then, when I saw nothing but death about me, I desired to die, and yet
I was unwilling to perish in so desolate a state. While I wept, lo,
Wisdom came to me and bade me stop my tears, for grief would at some
time cease. I stood amazed and in doubt; death was life to me and life
was death, and wondrous visions passed before me.
CAP. XVII. I saw not far off a Ship, and I ran towards it and climbed
up its side. In it were almost all those of gentle birth, crowded
together and terrified, seeking refuge from the furies. I prayed that
we might have a favourable voyage. The ship left the shore, but my
hopes were vain: the sky grew dark and the winds lashed the waves into
storm, the ship was driven before them amid thunder and rain. There was
confusion among the sailors, and the captain in vain endeavoured to
direct the ship’s course.
CAP. XVIII. At length the storm so increased that all were in despair
of safety. A huge monster of the sea, Scylla and Charybdis both in one,
appeared as if to destroy the ship and all who were in it. We prayed to
heaven for help.
(The Tower of London was like this ship, shaken by the storm, its walls
giving way to the fury of the mob. In vain it offered hopes of safety;
it was stained with foul parricide, and the den of the leopard was
captured by assault.)
When I saw these things I was terrified in my sleep, and I prayed to
God for help. ‘Thou Creator and Redeemer of the human race, thou who
didst save Paul from the sea, Peter from prison and Jonah from the
whale’s belly, hear my prayer, I entreat thee. Help me and grant that I
may be cast up on a favourable shore!’
As I prayed, the monster struck the ship, and it was almost swallowed
up by the fury of Scylla.
CAP. XIX. Yet our cries and tears were not unheard. When the storm
raged most furiously, there was one William, a Mayor, who was moved to
high deeds: he struck down that proud Jay, and with his death the storm
abated, Scylla restored its prey, and the ship once more rode upright
upon the water. The sailors regained their courage and hoisted a little
sail, peace returned and the sky became clear. I then with all the rest
gave thanks to Christ.
CAP. XX. Still my dream went on, and still I seemed to see that ship,
which now with broken oars was drifting in search of a landing-place.
It was driven to that port where all this evil raged; it had escaped
Scylla, but it came to an Island more dangerous than Scylla. I landed,
and asked one of those whom I met, ‘What island is this, and why is
there so great a concourse of people here?’ He replied: ‘This is called
the Island of Brute, and the men who dwell here are of fair form but of
savage condition. This people lays law and justice low by violence;
strife and bloodshed reign here ever. Yet if they could love one
another, no better people would there be from the rising to the setting
of the sun.’
I was saddened and terrified by his answer, I knew not whether sea
or land were more to be feared. The heavenly voice which I had heard
before said to me, ‘Lament not, but take heed to thyself. Thou hast
come to a place where wars abound, but do thou seek peace within by
God’s assistance. Be cautious and silent; but when thou hast leisure,
record these dreams of thine, for dreams often give a presage of the
future.’ The voice was heard no more, and at that moment the cock crew
and I awoke from my sleep, scarce knowing whether what I had seen was
within me or without.
CAP. XXI. Then I returned thanks to God for having preserved me upon
the sea and from the jaws of Scylla. The rustic goes back to his
labours, but in his heart there remains hatred of his lords; therefore
let us be forewarned and provide against future evils. As for me, God
has set me free from the danger, and for this I thank him; and I would
that my country, preserved from destruction, might render due thanks to
God. While the memory of these things is fresh in me, I will write that
which I experienced in my sleep, that waking slumber which brought to
me no mere vision but a dream of reality.
PROLOGUS LIBRI SECUNDI.
Many things did I see and note, which my pen shall write, but first
I invoke, not the Muses, but the true Spirit of God, and I will let
down my nets in the name of Christ and for his glory. The style and
the verses are poor, but the meaning is good. I will give that which
my poor faculties can attain to; and may he be my helper who produced
speech from the mouth of an ass. I prefer to do a little good than none.
The words which follow are not spoken from myself; they are gathered
from various sources, as honey from various flowers or bright shells
from various shores. The name of the book is _Vox Clamantis_, because
it is the utterance of a fresh sorrow.
LIBER SECUNDUS.
CAP. I. Tears shall be the ink with which I write. All is vanity except
the love of God, and man has cause for lamentation from his birth.
Yet if any people in the world could be happy, God granted this boon to
us; we were blessed above all other nations. Now our former glory is
extinguished and our prosperity is destroyed.
Why is our condition thus changed? Nothing on earth happens without a
cause, yet all deny that they are the cause of this and find fault with
Fortune, who turns all things upside down.
CAP. II. O thou who art called Fortune, why dost thou thus depress
those whom thou didst once exalt? Once our country was everywhere
honoured, all desired to be at peace with it: now our glory has
departed and enemies attack us from all quarters. Reply, Fortune, and
say if thou art the cause of this change. I think not, for I believe
in God and not in Fortune; yet I will describe thee, as men think that
thou art.
CAP. III. Fortune, hear what men say of thee, that thou hast a double
face, and goest by double paths, that nothing in thee is stable or
secure. No gifts may keep thee faithful, thou art lighter than the dead
leaves which fly before the wind: now thou art bright and fair, now
dark and lowering; thy love is more treacherous than that of a harlot,
the prosperity which thou givest is very near to disaster.
CAP. IV. Fortune gives no honey without gall, she changes like the
sphere of the moon. Her wheel is ever turning, and no tears or prayers
will move her. Citizen and husbandman, king and rustic, rich and poor,
all are alike to her. Ah! why was so much power given to such a one as
she is?
Thus men say, believing that Fortune can overthrow the decrees of God,
but in fact she is nothing, fate is nothing, chance has nothing to do
with the affairs of men. Each one makes for himself his own lot: if the
will is good, good fortune follows, if evil, it makes the fortune bad.
Virtue will lead you to the summit of the wheel, and vice will bring
you and your fortune down to the bottom.
CAP. V. God has said that the man who obeys his commands shall prosper
in wealth and peace: the very elements are subject to the righteous
man. Joshua caused the sun to stand still, Gregory stayed the plague,
Moses divided the sea, Elisha caused iron to swim, the three children
were unhurt by the fire, the earth rose to give a seat to Hilarius.
Wild animals, too, serve the just man, witness Daniel, Silvester, Moses
and Jonah.
CAP. VI. Again, the elements war against sinners: so it was in the case
of the plague caused by David’s sin, in the case of the Sodomites,
Korah, Dathan and Abiram, Lysias and others. The wicked man cannot
enjoy good fortune, nor can the good man be deprived of it. It was
guilt that caused the fall of Pharaoh and of Saul, the death of Ahab
and of Eli with his sons. The Jews always conquered while they were
obedient to God’s law, and were overcome when they transgressed it.
CAP. VII. It is God Omnipotent, the Three in One, who governs all
things here. As fire, heat and motion are three things combined in one,
so the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three persons but one Godhead.
CAP. VIII. Christ, the Son of the Father, became incarnate in man,
and yet remained what he was before, being less than the Father and
yet equal to him, perfect Man and perfect God. As the frailty of the
first Adam brought evil upon us all, so the strength of the second Adam
healed our wound and restored our fallen state.
CAP. IX. We must submit our mind to the faith, for man cannot
understand the things of God, and we must not examine too closely the
mystery which we cannot penetrate. This we know, that life is given to
all through the name of Jesus Christ.
CAP. X. The heathen bows down to figures of wood and stone, asking help
from that which his hands have made. Was not the world made for man and
all things placed in subjection to him? How then can these idols be of
any avail?
As for us, we use images differently, not giving to them the worship
that belongs to God, but by them assisting devotion; especially the
sign of the Cross is to be adored, by means of which we conquer the
powers of evil. Great is the virtue of the Cross, by which Christ
despoiled hell of its prey and ascended into heaven.
CAP. XI. God created the heaven and the earth, and all created things
ought to serve him. As he creates all things, so also he rules them
continually, and he gives his gifts according to men’s merit. Whatever
comes to pass in the world, whether it be good or evil, we are the
cause of it.
PROLOGUS LIBRI TERCII.
Since good and bad fortune are due to the merits and demerits of men,
I shall examine the various conditions of men and find out where the
fault lies. I shall utter not so much my own words as the common report
of others, and it must be remembered that he who finds fault with the
bad is in effect praising the good. May God assist me to carry out my
task! My abilities are small, and I do not affect high themes, but I
speak of the evils which the common voice of humanity bewails. Let no
envy or calumny attack my work; and do thou, O Christ, grant that I may
avoid falsehood and flattery. With this prayer I enter on my voyage.
LIBER TERCIUS.
CAP. I. The order of the world is in three degrees,--Clergy, Knighthood
and Peasantry. I shall deal first with the prelates of the Church,
whose practice is very far removed from the example of Christ. Riches
alone are valued by them, and the poor man is despised, whatever may be
his merits.
CAP. II. Prelates of the Church are now hirelings, whose desire is
to live in luxury and to indulge their appetites. Gluttony and lust
everywhere prevail.
CAP. III. The prelates of the Church aim at earthly honours instead
of heavenly: they desire rather to have the pre-eminence than to do
good. Powerful men escape without rebuke for their sins, and penance is
avoided by payment.
CAP. IV. As regards the ‘positive law,’ for breach of which
dispensations are granted, I ask first whether Christ gives indulgence
beforehand for sin, or prohibits that which is not sin. If these things
are sins, how can I be free to commit them on consideration of a money
payment; if not, why does the Church forbid them? This is merely a
device for bringing in money to the clergy.
CAP. V. The poison of temporal possessions is still working in the
Church. They no longer war on the pagan, but turn their swords against
their own brother Christians.
CAP. VI. Christ left peace with his disciples, but in our time avarice
and ambition cause prelates to take part in intestine strife, with
swords in their hands and the cross as their ensign. It is not the part
of a soldier to offer incense at the altar or of a priest to bear arms
in war.
CAP. VII. The priest should fight with other than material arms. David
was not permitted to build a house for the Lord, because he had been
a shedder of blood; and those who are stained with the slaughter of
their brethren cannot be the true servants of the altar. Brotherly love
should prevail, and this is opposed to strife and self-seeking ambition.
CAP. VIII. Worldly men may make wars, but the clergy should not take
part in them; their strength is in their words and prayers, and they
have no need of material arms. Too great prosperity and wealth is the
cause of these evils: they do not see what the end will be.
CAP. IX. The ring and the pastoral staff belong to the Pope, the
sceptre to the Emperor; the one must not usurp the rights of the other.
The Emperor should not claim spiritual power, nor the Pope temporal.
Christ is a lover of peace and his ministers must not appeal to the
sword, but must keep the command, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Let Christ
himself lay claim to what is his. Pride is the root of all evil.
The apostles conquered by prayers and by patience; Peter had neither
silver nor gold, but he healed the lame man; our clergy abound in
wealth, but do no works of healing, either spiritual or bodily. O thou
who art head of the Church, remember that forgiveness should be until
seventy times seven, and that Peter was commanded by Christ to put up
his sword.
CAP. X. The teaching and the writings of the clergy are in favour of
peace and love, and when I wondered why they waged wars, one answered
me in the person of the supreme pontiff and said: ‘Rule on earth is
given to us by divine decree and it pleases us to enjoy all the good
things of this world. Our way is different from that of Christ and his
apostles; we set up the cross as a sign of hatred and vengeance, we put
to death those who will not acknowledge our rule; the pastoral staff
is turned into a spear and the mitre into a helmet, we can slay with
sword as well as with word, and whereas Peter cut off the ears, we cut
off the head.’
CAP. XI. These claim the worship and honour which belong to God alone,
and the goods which they unjustly seize are never restored. The
shepherd preys like a wolf upon his own sheep.
CAP. XII. He who is promoted to dignity in the Church by simony is like
the thief who enters not by the door into the sheepfold. The Church is
a congregation of faithful men, and the clergy are no better than the
laity, except so far as they lead better lives. Yet they lay burdens
upon us which they will not bear themselves, and do not follow their
own precepts. They bear the keys of heaven, but they neither enter
themselves nor allow us to enter: they set no good example to their
flocks.
CAP. XIII. A prelate should be a light to guide his people by example,
and he should encourage them by his voice, and also reprove and
restrain. The oil with which he is anointed is a type of the qualities
that he ought to display.
CAP. XIV. At the Court of Rome nothing can be done without gifts: the
poor man is everywhere rejected. The spirit of Antichrist is opposite
to that of Christ, and there are many signs that he has already come.
CAP. XV. Our prelates aim at the mere outward show of sanctity and
refuse to bear the burden of Christ. O God, in thy mercy restore them
to the state which they have lost!
CAP. XVI. Rectors of parishes, too, err after the example of the
prelates. They are luxurious in their lives, and many desert their
spiritual cures, in order to frequent courts and great households, with
a view to promotion.
CAP. XVII. Another gets leave from the bishop to leave his parish on
the plea of study at the universities; but there he learns and teaches
only lessons of unchastity. The Church, which is his true bride, is
neglected, and harlots receive the tithe which belongs to God.
CAP. XVIII. A third rector resides in his parish, but spends his time
in sports, keeps well-fed horses and dogs, while the poor are not
relieved or the sick visited, makes his voice heard more in the fields
and woods than in the church. He lays snares too for the women of his
parish, and if their bodies be fair, he cares not how their souls are
defiled.
CAP. XIX. Another neglects his cure of souls and makes money by buying
and selling. He is liberal of his wealth to none but women; and if
benefices were inherited by the children of those who hold them, the
succession would seldom fail.
CAP. XX. The priests without benefices, who get their living by
‘annuals,’ are equally bad: the harlot and the tavern consume their
gains. Let none admit these to his house, who desires to keep his wife
chaste, anymore than he would admit pigeons to his bed-chamber, if he
wished to keep it clean.
CAP. XXI. These infect the laity by their bad example. The bishop ought
not to ordain such men; and he who might prevent an evil and does not,
is equally guilty with him who causes it.
CAP. XXII. The clergy deny the right of laymen to judge and punish
them; yet the sins of the clergy deeply affect the laity. We are all
brethren in Christ and we are bidden to rebuke our brethren, if they do
wrong, and to cast them out of the Church, if they will not amend.
CAP. XXIII. Priests say that in committing fornication they do not
sin more than other men who are guilty of this vice. But their sacred
condition and their vow of chastity makes the evil worse in them than
in a cobbler or a shepherd.
CAP. XXIV. If we consider the office of the priesthood, we shall find
that the vestments and ornaments of priests are all symbolical of the
virtues which they ought to possess.
CAP. XXV. The ceremonies of sacrifices under the old law were symbols
of the virtues required in priests under the new, and as under the old
dispensation the ministers of the altar ought to be without defect and
deformity of body, so the priests of the new law should be spiritually
free from blemish. Uzzah touched the ark with unclean hands and was
punished with death: so he who comes polluted to the service of the
altar is worthy of punishment.
CAP. XXVI. A man must be of mature age before he assumes the
priesthood; for youth is apt to yield to the temptations of the flesh.
The evil impulses cannot be wholly expelled, but they may be kept in
check, as is symbolized by the tonsure of the priest. Let the priest
avoid idleness, whence so many vices spring.
CAP. XXVII. The honour of priests is great, if they live worthily. They
administer to us the sacraments during our lives, they give us burial
when we are dead, they are the salt of the earth and the light of the
world. So much the worse is it when they are ignorant and bad; the
distinction between the good and the bad priest is like that between
the dove and the raven sent out of the ark.
CAP. XXVIII. The young scholars who are being trained for the
priesthood are in these days too often indolent and vicious. If they
are so in youth, they will hardly be good in their later age.
CAP. XXIX. They are induced to undertake the priesthood by desire to
escape from the control of the ordinary law, by dislike of labour,
and by love of good living, seldom by the higher motive, which once
prevailed, of contempt for worldly things and longing after the highest
good. Thus, since the clergy is without the light of virtue, we laymen
wander in the dark.
LIBER QUARTUS.
CAP. I. Men of Religious Orders are also of various conditions, some
good and others bad. Let each bear his own burden of blame: I write
only what common report tells me.
There are first those who hold temporal possessions, and some of these
live in gluttony and luxury.
CAP. II. Those who leave the world should give up worldly things; but
in these days the monk is known only by his garb. He indulges himself
with the richest food and the choicest drink, he makes haste when the
bell rings for a meal, but he rises very slowly and reluctantly for
midnight prayer. The monks of old were different; they dwelt in caves
and had no luxurious halls or kitchens, they were clothed in skins, fed
on herbs and drank water, and abstained from fleshly lusts. These men
truly renounced the world, but that blessed state has now perished.
CAP. III. The old monastic rule has given place to gluttony and
drunkenness, and those who live so can hardly be chaste. Pride, anger
and envy prevail among these men, in spite of the restrictions of their
rule.
CAP. IV. There is no brotherly love among them, and the vow of
individual poverty is also broken. They make money in various ways and
spend it on their pleasures and in enriching their children, whom they
call their nephews.
CAP. V. A monk wandering abroad from his cloister is like a fish out of
water; nor are those much better who stay within the walls and allow
their minds to dwell on worldly things.
CAP. VI. Some seek honour and dignity under the cover of the monastic
profession, even though they be of poor and low birth.
CAP. VII. Patience, Chastity and the rest who were once brothers of
religious orders, are now dead or departed, and their contrary vices
have taken their places.
CAP. VIII. So also the regular Canons for the most part neglect their
monastic rule and have only a show of sanctity.
CAP. IX. Monks who are untrue to their profession are of all men the
most unhappy. They have no real enjoyment of this world and they lose
also the joys of heaven.
CAP. X. Let all members of religious orders perform their vows and
repent of their past sins, of their pride, luxury, avarice, ambition,
gluttony, wrath, envy and strife.
CAP. XI. Above all let them avoid intercourse with women, who bring
death to their souls. Let them labour and study; for idleness is the
great incentive to evil.
CAP. XII. The monk who sets himself to observe his rule will live
hardly and fast often, praying continually and doing penance for sin.
He will submit himself humbly to his prior, and he will not grudge to
perform duties that are irksome. The prior should be gentle with his
younger brethren and not make the yoke too heavy for them.
CAP. XIII. As regards nuns, they too are under the rule of chastity;
but as women are more frail by nature than men, they must not be so
severely punished if they break it. They require meat often on Fridays
for their stomachs’ sake, and this is prepared for them by Genius the
priest of Venus.
CAP. XIV. Where Genius is the confessor of a convent, the laws of the
flesh prevail. The priest who visits nuns too often corrupts them, and
the woman very easily yields to temptation. A wife may deceive her
husband, but the bride of Christ cannot conceal her unfaithfulness from
him: therefore she above all others should be chaste.
CAP. XV. True virginity is above all praise, and this surpasses every
other condition, as a rose surpasses the thorns from which it springs.
The best kind of virginity is that which is vowed to God.
CAP. XVI. Not all whom Christ chose were faithful, and everywhere bad
and good are mingled together; but the fault of the bad is not a reason
for condemning the good. So when I speak of the evil deeds of Friars, I
condemn the bad only and absolve the good.
The number of mendicant friars is too great and their primitive rule
has been forgotten. They pretend to be poor, but in fact they possess
all things, and have power over the pope himself. Both life and death
bring in gains to them.
CAP. XVII. They preach hypocritically against sin in public, but in
private they encourage it by flattery and indulgence. They know that
their gains depend upon the sins which their penitents commit. Friars
do not often visit places where gain is not to be got. They have an
outward appearance of poverty and sanctity, without the reality. I do
not desire that they should be altogether suppressed, but that they
should be kept under due discipline.
CAP. XVIII. Some friars aim at dignity as masters in the schools, and
then they are exempted from their rule and obtain entry into great
houses. The influence of the friar is everywhere felt, and often he
supplies the place of the absent husband and is the father of his
children. Bees, when they wound, lose their stings and are afterwards
helpless: would it were so with the adulterous friar!
CAP. XIX. The order of friars is not necessary to the Church. Friars
appropriate spiritual rights which belong to others; and though this
may be by dispensation of the pope, yet we know that the pope does not
grant such dispensations of his own motion, and he may be deceived.
They ask for the cure of souls, but in fact they are demanding worldly
wealth: not so did Francis make petition, but he left all and endured
poverty.
CAP. XX. This multitude of friars is not necessary for the good of
society. David says of them that they neither take part in the labours
of men nor endure the rule of the law: they toil not, neither do they
spin, and yet the world feeds them. It is vain for them to plead the
merits of Francis, when they do not follow his example. All honour to
those who do as he did.
CAP. XXI. They draw into their order not grown men but mere boys.
Francis was not a boy when he assumed his work; but in these days mere
children are enrolled, caught like birds in a snare: and as they are
deceived themselves, so afterwards they deceive others.
CAP. XXII. The friar who transgresses the rule of his order is an
apostate and a follower of the apostate fiend. He finds entrance
everywhere, and everywhere he lays snares, encourages hatred, and
fosters impurity. Under a veil of virtuous simplicity he conceals a
treacherous heart. These are ministers of the Synagogue rather than of
the Church, children of Hagar, not of Sara.
CAP. XXIII. They are dispersed over the world like the Jews, and
everywhere they find ease and abundance. Their churches and their
houses are built in the most costly style and adorned with the richest
ornaments. No king has chambers more magnificent than theirs, and their
buildings are a mark of their worldly pride. Unless their souls are
fair within, this outward pomp of religion is of no avail.
CAP. XXIV. Friars differ from one another in the garb of their order,
but all equally neglect their rule. Only the order founded by brother
Burnel still maintains its former state. Two rules of this order I will
set forth, which are almost everywhere received. The first is that what
the flesh desires, that you may have; and the second that whatever the
flesh shrinks from, that you should avoid. So the new order of Burnel
is thought better than those of Benedict or Bernard.
Thus, if bad times come, I shall hold that the error of the Clergy is
the cause. The body is nothing without the spirit: we have darkness
instead of light, death instead of life, and the flock is scattered
abroad without a shepherd.
LIBER QUINTUS.
CAP. I. I will speak in the second place of the order of Knighthood.
This was established first to defend the Church, then for the good
of the community, and thirdly to support the cause of the widow and
orphan. If a knight performs these duties, he should have praise, but
not if he makes war merely for the sake of glory.
If a knight overcomes his enemies, but is overcome by the love of a
woman, he has no true glory, for he makes himself a slave instead of
free.
CAP. II. If the knight would reflect on the variety and uncertainty of
love, he would not allow himself so easily to be made captive.
CAP. III. But when he sees beauty in woman decked out with all its
charms, he thinks it divine and marvellous, and he can offer no
effectual resistance. Lovers are blind and are driven by every kind
of unreasonable impulse. Women deceive men, and men also deceive and
betray women.
CAP. IV. The knight has little need to fear bodily wounds, which may
easily be healed; but love is not to be cured by physicians, and this
deprives him both of reason and of honour.
CAP. V. Those who seek fame and worldly honours only, are hardly better
than those who are conquered by women.
CAP. VI. The good woman is one whose praise is above all things. The
bad is a subtle snare for the destruction of men. She paints her face
and uses every art to deceive. The world is treacherous, but woman is
more treacherous still.
CAP. VII. The good knight, who labours neither for gain nor for glory,
and is not conquered by love, obtains the victory over the enemies of
the Church and of his country, and gives us the blessing of peace.
CAP. VIII. The bad knight is the causer of many evils in the other
orders of society. He deserves to have Leah, not Rachel, as his bride.
Those who follow wars for the sake of the spoils are like vultures
that prey upon the corpses of the dead. Alas, in these days gold is
preferred to honour and the world to God.
CAP. IX. Another estate remains, that of the cultivators of the soil,
who provide sustenance for the human race in accordance with the divine
ordinance laid down for Adam. These at the present time are lazy and
grasping, as well as few in number; one peasant now asks more wages
than two did in past time, and one formerly did as much work as three
do now. We know from recent experience what evil the peasant is capable
of doing. God has ordained, however, that nothing is to be had without
toil; therefore the peasant must labour, and if he will not, he must be
compelled.
CAP. X. There are also the casual labourers, who go from one employment
to another and always find fault with the food that they get from
their masters. These are irrational like beasts, and they should be
disciplined by fear of punishment.
CAP XI. In cities there are chiefly two classes, the merchants and the
craftsmen. The former sin by not regarding festivals and holy days.
CAP. XII. Usury and Fraud are two sisters, daughters of Avarice, to
whom the dwellers in cities pay honour. Usury is forbidden of old, but
by a gloss on the text it is now approved.
CAP. XIII. Fraud is worse, because it is common to all places. From the
young apprentice to the master all practise it in selling.
CAP. XIV. Craftsmen, who make things, follow the laws of Fraud, and so
do those who sell articles of food, as meat, fish, bread, beer and so
on.
CAP. XV. It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest, and it is
shameful for a citizen to benefit strangers at the expense of his
fellow-citizens. It is an evil thing when one of low condition is
exalted to the highest place in the city. The evil man is a common
scourge; but though he be mounted on high, he shall fall and perish.
CAP. XVI. The man whose tongue is unrestrained is as a pestilence among
the people. The tongue causes strife and many evils; it breaks through
every guard and devours like a flame. None can say how many evils the
tongue of the talkative man brings about in the city: it causes discord
and hatred instead of peace and love; and where peace and love are not,
there God is not. The citizen who thus plagues his fellows should be
put to death or banished: it is expedient that one should die, lest the
whole people should perish.
Thou ruler of the city, labour to bring about harmony and peace, and
above all deal prudently. Great consequences often follow from small
things, and the fire which seems to be extinguished may blaze up again.
Justice and peace, which formerly reigned, must be restored, so that
the ruin which overtook Rome and Athens may be averted from our city.
LIBER SEXTUS.
CAP. I. Besides the three degrees of society above described, there
are those who are called ministers of the Law. Of these some labour
for true law and justice, and these I praise; but most practise an art
under the name of law which perverts justice. The advocate will plead
the cause of any man who pays him, and compels his rich neighbours
to give him gifts, for fear that evil should befall them. He has a
thousand ways of making his gains; the great and powerful break through
his snares, but the weak and defenceless are caught in them. Like the
bat or the owl he loves darkness rather than light: yet sometimes the
biter is bitten.
CAP. II. The advocate oppresses and plunders the poor, and rejoices in
discord as a physician in disease. He contrives every device to enrich
himself and his offspring; he joins house to house and field to field.
But his heir dissipates that which he has gathered together, and a
curse comes upon him at the last.
CAP. III. The land is ruined by the excessive number of lawyers.
As a straight stick appears crooked when plunged in water, so does
straightforward and simple law become distorted in the mind of the
lawyer. As clouds conceal the sun, so do advocates obscure the
clear light of the law. Conspiracy, they say, is unlawful, but they
themselves conspire to protect one another, and the law has no power
over these.
CAP. IV. They ascend by degrees from the rank of apprentice to that of
serjeant and so to the office of judge. The administration of justice
is disturbed chiefly by three things, gifts, favour, and fear. Those
who make friends with the judge will hardly lose their case.
CAP. V. O ye who sell justice for gain, learn what end awaits you. The
higher you rise, the greater will be your fall: the more wealth you
gather, the greater will be your misery. O thou judge who seekest after
wealth, why dost thou attend to all things else and neglect thyself?
Thou wilt gain the world, but lose heaven. All worldly power comes to
an end, and so, be sure, will thine.
CAP. VI. As regards the sheriffs, the bailiffs, and the jurymen at
assizes, they are ready to accept bribes and pervert justice. As the
toad cursed the harrow, so I curse these many masters, who are all
unjust.
CAP. VII. Laws, nevertheless, there must be, to punish the
transgressor; and if there are laws there must also be judges. The
worst of evils is when justice is not to be had, and this causes a land
to be divided against itself. Much depends upon the ruler: for the sins
of a bad king the people are punished as well as the king himself. The
higher a man’s place is, the worse is the effect of his evil-doing.
A law is nothing without people, or people without a king, or a king
without good counsel.
[69]Complaints are everywhere heard now of the injustice of the high
court, and the limbs suffer because the head is diseased. The king
is an undisciplined youth, who neglects all good habits, and chooses
unworthy companions, by whose influence he is made worse. At the same
time older men give way to him for gain and pervert the justice of the
king’s court. None can tell what the end will be: I can only mourn over
these evils and offer my counsel to the youthful king.
CAP. VIII. Every subject is bound to serve his king, and the king to
govern his people justly. Hence I shall endeavour to set forth a rule
of conduct for the honour of my king.
First then, I say, govern thyself according to the law, and enforce on
thyself the precepts that are fitting for others. A king is above all
others; he should endeavour to overcome and rise above himself. If thou
art above the laws, live the more justly. Be gentle in thy acts, for
thy wrath is death. Endeavour to practise virtue in thy youth and to
avoid evil communications.
CAP. IX. Avoid false friends and those who stir up war for the sake of
their own profit. Resist those who will tempt thee to evil, O king.
Take vengeance on wrong, and let justice be done without fear or favour.
CAP. X. Show mercy also, where mercy is fitting, and listen to the
prayer of the poor and helpless. Let fit men of proper age and
sufficient wisdom be appointed to administer justice.
CAP. XI. Be not exalted with vain glory, O king, or moved by sudden
wrath to violence. Be liberal to those who need thy help, and give alms
to the poor of that which God has given thee. Avoid gluttony and sloth.
CAP. XII. Above all things, O king, flee from the enticements of
fleshly lusts. Take example by the sin of David, and by that of the
Hebrews who were tempted by the counsel of Balaam. One consort is
sufficient for thee: be faithful to her.
CAP. XIII. O king, thou art the defender in arms of thy people.
Remember the deeds of thy father, whose praise is sounded everywhere
and whose prowess was above that of Hector. He was just and liberal; he
made prey of foreign lands, but he protected his own. France and Spain
both felt his might, and he broke through the ranks of his enemies like
a lion. The land was at rest under that great prince: the nation was
secure from its enemies. O king, endeavour to deserve the praise which
thy father won. Peace is the best of all things, but it must sometimes
give way to war.
CAP. XIV. A king must not prey upon his people; their love is his chief
glory. He should remember that true nobility does not come from noble
descent but from virtue. Study to know thyself and to love God.
CAP. XV. O young king, remember how Solomon in his youth asked for
wisdom to rule well, rather than wealth or long life, and how God
granted his prayer and added also the other blessings. Wisdom is above
everything for a king, and this makes him acceptable to God.
CAP. XVI. Whatever thou hast, O king, comes from God. He has given thee
beauty of body, and thou must see to it that there be virtue of the
soul corresponding to this. Worship and fear God, for earthly kingdoms
are as nothing compared with his.
CAP. XVII. Death makes all equal; rich and poor, king and subject, all
go one way. Prepare thyself, therefore, for thy journey, and adorn
thyself betimes with virtue. May God direct thee in the right way.
CAP. XVIII. [70]The king is honoured above all, so long as his acts are
good, but if the king be avaricious and proud, the people is grieved.
Not all that a king desires is expedient for him: he has a charge laid
upon him and must maintain law and do justice.
O king, do away the evils of thy reign, restore the laws and banish
crime: let thy people be subject to thee for love and not for fear.
CAP. XIX. All things change and die, the gems that were bright are
now dimmed, the Church herself has lost her virtue, and the Synagogue
becomes the spouse of Christ. The good men of old have passed away, and
the bad of old live again. Noah, Japhet, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses,
Aaron, Elijah, Micaiah, Elisha are gone; Nimrod, Ham, Belus, Ishmael,
Abiram, Korah, Dathan, Zedekiah, and Gehazi survive. Peter is dead, but
Tiberius lives; Paul is reconverted into Saul; the examples of Gregory,
Martin, Tobit, and Job are neglected. Benedict is dead, but Julian
lives: there is a new Arius, a new Jovinian, who spread their heresy.
CAP. XX. As the good men in the Church of God have passed away, so also
the men who were famed for prowess in the world are gone, as Trajan,
Justinian, Alexander, Constantine, Theodosius, Julius, Hannibal,
while the bad still survive, as Nero, Dionysius, Tarquin, Leo, and
Constantius. Solomon is dead and Rehoboam survives. The love of David
and Jonathan is gone, but the hatred of Saul still lives; the counsel
of Achitophel is followed and that of Hushai rejected; Cato is banished
and Pilate is made judge in his stead; Mordecai is hanged and Haman is
delivered; Christ is crucified and Barabbas is let go free.
CAP. XXI. Temperance and chastity also have disappeared. Socrates and
Diogenes are dead, Epicurus and Aristippus still live; Phirinus is
dead and Agladius survives; Troilus and Medea are dead, while Jason
and Criseida remain; Penelope and Lucretia have passed away, Circe and
Calipso still live. The laws of marriage are no longer kept in these
days, chaste love is all but unknown, and adultery everywhere prevails.
Women have no modesty, no chastity, and no patience: vice blooms and
flourishes, while the flower of virtue is trodden under foot.
LIBER SEPTIMUS.
CAP. I. Now the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue is gone, and
the feet of iron and clay remain: the world is in its final stage of
deterioration. There are principally two causes, lechery, which leads
to sloth, and avarice, which is ever unsatisfied.
CAP. II. The avaricious are merciless to the poor, and their hard
hearts are typified by the iron of the statue. He is wretched who is
ever desiring more, not he who has little and is content.
CAP. III. The fragile clay signifies the frailty of our flesh, which
shows itself in fornication and adultery. There is also hypocrisy
everywhere, which conceals the foulness within by a fair show without.
Yet it will not escape detection.
CAP. IV. Things that were good are now changed into the opposite forms,
truth into falsehood, wisdom into folly, love into lust, learned into
ignorant; servants are become masters and masters servants. Nothing
pleases now but flattery. Courts do not keep their former honour:
knights there are in plenty, but little valour. Weakness grows and
strength is depressed, there is much talk but little action, the
burdens of war without the advantages. Justice has departed and fraud
has taken its place; even those of one family feel envy and hatred
one against another. Friendship is treacherous and seeks gain like a
harlot: hatred is everywhere common, but love is as the phenix. There
is no faith anywhere, and the right hand cannot trust the left. All cry
out against the world and say that it is growing worse and worse.
CAP. V. The world is indeed full of evil and impurity, and this life is
a perpetual warfare, in which all that is good perishes and all that
is evil prevails. Even the elements of the world change and pass away,
and much more human things. No degree is exempted: the hearts of kings
are disturbed by fear of change, and terrors prevail in spite of royal
banquets and bodyguards.
CAP. VI. Man was created for the service of God, and the world was
given for his use. He was made in the image of God, and he learnt
gradually the purpose of his creation and to love his Creator.
CAP. VII. All things were put under his feet, and were made to minister
to him. He ought therefore to remember whence he is and who gave him
these things. Again, when by man’s sin the race of man was corrupted,
the Creator himself restored and redeemed it, taking the form of a
servant. Man ought therefore to confess him as Lord and follow his
precepts with a devout mind.
CAP. VIII. Man is a microcosm or lesser world, and according as he does
ill or well, the greater world is good or bad. Man ought therefore to
aim at high things, and not to submit himself to the rule of sin.
CAP. IX. When death comes, when the throat is dry and the face
bloodless, when the eyes are fixed and the tongue silent, when the
pulse beats no more and the feet can no longer move, what then will
the proud man say? The body in which he prided himself is now food
for worms, his strength is less than that of a fly, and his beauty is
turned into loathing. His wealth and his pomp avail him no longer, the
serpent is his attendant and the charnel-house is his bed-chamber.
CAP. X. The envious man, who once gnawed upon others, is now himself
devoured: he who laughed at the misfortunes of others, laughs now no
more; the heart that so much murmured now suffers putrefaction; the
sting of envy can pierce no more.
CAP. XI. He who was full of anger, now cannot move his head; he who
uttered furious words, now cannot make a sound; he who terrified others
by his threats, now does not scare away the worm which eats his heart.
CAP. XII. What can avarice do for him who has served her? He has no
chest but his coffin, no land but the seven feet of earth in which he
lies. He who preyed upon others, is himself the prey of death; he who
closed his purse against the poor, is now himself in want.
CAP. XIII. The slothful man who was given to sleep, has now abundance
of it, with the cold earth instead of his soft bed-coverings. He who
seldom came to the church, now never leaves it, but his time for prayer
is past.
CAP. XIV. Gluttony is no longer a pleasure; the body which delighted in
choice food and drink is now full of vileness and horror, the abode of
foul reptiles.
CAP. XV. The man who took pleasure in lechery, delights in it now no
more. His members are preyed upon by the serpent, and he can no longer
use his hands, his eyes, or his tongue in the service of lust. No
longer can he commit incest or violate the honour of virginity.
CAP. XVI. Answer, thou sinful man, what will thy pride do for thee
then, thy envy, thy anger, thy sloth, thy gluttony, thy lechery, or thy
avarice? All the glory of this world perishes and passes away.
CAP. XVII. Everything passes away, wealth, honour, beauty, power,
learning, and pleasure. Our flesh grows old as a garment and we perish.
He is happy and a true king who rules himself, he is a slave (though
called a king) who is subject to his own vices. Our life is so short
and death comes so soon, that we ought all to prepare for our journey
hence. Death comes when we least expect it, and takes away our wealth
and strength, nor can any man redeem himself with gold, or move with
gifts the Judge who judges all things justly.
CAP. XVIII. Death is common to all, but to the good it is a cause of
joy, to the evil of sorrow. The good will pass by means of death to a
place of perfect peace and perfect joy, such as cannot be described or
imagined.
CAP. XIX. The evil-doer has a twofold death, the death of the body and
the death of the soul. No words can tell the torment of that second
death, which is eternal. How terrible will the Judgement be and how
direful the sentence! Happy are they who shall escape such punishment.
CAP. XX. Let each man remember what his condition is, and let him
repent in time, turning himself to the service of his Creator. Let him
submit to punishment in this life, that he may escape that which is
eternal: for it is the property of God to forgive and to have mercy.
CAP. XXI. Almost everyone, however, follows the lusts of his flesh and
neglects the cause of his soul. The unrighteous have power everywhere,
and all vices flourish.
CAP. XXII. The days are coming which Christ foretold, and the signs
which he predicted are visible now. God’s sentence is still delayed, in
order that the sinner may have room for repentance. Hardly even a few
just men are found to save the world from destruction.
CAP. XXIII. Each one of the various degrees of society has departed
from its true virtue, and the deadly vices have rule over the whole.
Prelates are worldly, priests unchaste, scholars lazy, monks envious
and self-indulgent, knights are evil livers, merchants defraud,
peasants are disobedient and proud. The enticements of the world have
overcome them all.
CAP. XXIV. I love all the realms of Christendom, but most of all I
love this land in which I was born. From other lands I stand apart and
am not involved in their calamities; but this country of mine, which
brought me up from childhood and in which I dwell, cannot suffer evil
without affecting me: by its burdens I am weighed down; if it stands, I
stand, if it falls, I fall. Therefore it is that I bewail its present
divisions.
One thing above all things is needful, and that is justice, with which
is associated peace. If in other lands the sins of the flesh prevail,
yet there they are to some extent compensated; for there justice
prevails and all are equal before the law. Among us, however, not
only is there carnal vice, but justice is absent; so that a terrible
vengeance is being prepared for us by God.
We, who have always been favoured by fortune, are now brought low; this
land, which was once reputed so wealthy, is now poor both in virtue
and in possessions; my country, which was so strong, is made feeble by
unjust judgements; she who was so fertile, is now sown with salt; she
who had Fame for her sister, is now infamous, all her praise is taken
away and her glory is departed. Her lords are sunk in sloth, her clergy
is dissolute, her cities full of discord, her laws oppressive and
without justice, her people discontented.
O land barren of virtue, where is thy past fortune? omens appear which
presage thy fate, and all point to thee as an example. It is not by
fortune or by chance that this comes about, but by our sins; and the
grace of God even now may be found by repentance. I pray that God may
show us his mercy and accept our tears. We know that thou, O God, art
alone to be worshipped, that thou art the ruler of all things, and not
fortune. Show pity therefore, O God!
CAP. XXV. Such were the verses which came to me by inspiration in my
sleep. It is not I who speak them, but the common voice of all. Let him
who feels himself in fault amend his ways, and he who feels himself
free from fault may pass untouched. I accuse no man; let each examine
his own conscience.
The world is neither evil nor good: each man may make of it what he
will by his own life. [71]But this I say, that sin committed and not
purged by repentance receives at length its due reward.
The conclusion of the _Vox Clamantis_, as altered from the first
version, is doubtless intended as a fitting form of introduction for
the _Cronica Tripertita_, which comes in as an appendix added in later
years. It will be noted as regards the prose which forms a transition
to this, that Gower has in the end brought himself to think that the
misfortunes of the earlier part of Richard’s reign were intended as a
special warning to the youthful king, whom he formerly relieved from
responsibility on account of his tender age, and that the tyranny
of his later time sprang naturally out of his disregard of this
preliminary chastisement. This change of view is also to be traced in
the successive forms assumed by the paragraph relating to the _Vox
Clamantis_ in the author’s account of his books (‘Quia vnusquisque,’
&c.).
Of the contents of the _Cronica Tripertita_ it is unnecessary that more
should be said than is contained in the Notes to this edition. Of the
remaining pieces the _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_
is dated by the author as belonging to the twentieth year of Richard
II. The _Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_ is probably somewhat later, and
the poem ‘O deus immense,’ &c., is said in one of the titles prefixed
to have been composed near the end of Richard’s reign. Besides these
there is a group of Latin poems referring to the accession of Henry
IV, ‘Rex celi, deus,’ &c. adapted from the _Vox Clamantis_, ‘H. aquile
pullus,’ and ‘O recolende, bone,’ with several short occasional pieces
belonging to the last years of the author’s life. One of these has
reference to his blindness and to the end of his activity as an author
which was caused by it, and in connexion with this we have also the
epistle to Archbishop Arundel prefixed to the All Souls MS. of the _Vox
Clamantis_ and other Latin poems, and apparently meant to accompany the
presentation of this particular copy. To Arundel also is addressed the
short piece referring to the comet of March 1402, and finally we have
the lines in which allusion is made to the short-comings of executors.
It is probable also that the four lines which afterwards appeared upon
the poet’s tomb, ‘Armigeri scutum,’ &c., and which are given by the
Glasgow MS., were written by Gower himself.
Some reference ought perhaps to be made in conclusion to the list of
Gower’s works given by Bale and copied by others, with a view to the
question whether he was acquainted with any works of Gower which are
not known to us. In his _Scriptorum Illustrium Catalogus_, p. 524 (ed.
1559) he says that Gower wrote
‘_Speculum Meditantis_, Gallice, Lib. 10.
‘_Confessionem Amantis_, Anglice, Lib. 8, “Eorum qui ante nos
scripserunt.”
‘_Vocem Clamantis_, Latine, Lib. 7, “Scripture veteris capiunt
exempla.”
‘_De compunctione cordis_, Lib. 1.
‘_Chronicon Ricardi Secundi_, Lib. 3, “Opus humanum est
inquirere.”
‘_Chronicon tripertitum_, Lib. 3, “Tolle caput mundi C. ter et
sex.”
‘_Ad Henricum quartum_, Lib. 1, “Nobilis ac digne rex Henrice.”
‘_De eodem rege Henrico_, Lib. 1, “Rex celi deus et dominus.”
‘_De peste vitiorum_, Lib. 1, “Non excusatur qui verum non
fateatur.”
‘_Scrutinium lucis_, Lib. 1, “Heu quia per crebras humus est.”
‘_De coniugii dignitate_, Lib. 1, “Qualiter creator omnium rerum
Deus.”
‘_De regimine principum_, “O deus immense, sub quo dominatur.”
‘_Epigrammata quaedam_, Lib. 1, “Alta petens aquila volat
alitque.”
‘_De amoris varietate_, Lib. 1, “Est amor in glosa pax bellica.”
‘_Carmina diuersa_, Lib. 1, et alia plura.’
In regard to this list it may be observed first that in the two cases
where the beginning of the book or piece in question is not cited,
we may safely assume that Bale had not seen it. This applies to the
_Speculum Meditantis_ and the supposed piece _De compunctione cordis_,
of which I can give no account. It will be observed that he makes the
short prose preface to the _Cronica Tripertita_, ‘Opus humanum est
inquirere’ &c., into a separate work in three books. The other items
are all recognizable, except ‘Epigrammata quaedam, Lib. 1, “Alta petens
aquila volat alitque.”’ Here we may observe that the quotation is from
_Vox Clamantis_ vi. 985, ‘Alta petens aquila volat alite celsius omni,’
&c. (a passage taken from the _Aurora_); and on referring to Bale’s
unpublished papers[72] we find the description of this supposed book of
epigrams in the following form, ‘Ex suo libro et sanctifidensi chron.
Epigrammata edidit, li. 1, “Alta petens aquila volat alite,”’ whence we
should gather that the book referred to was a collection of quotations.
It is probable that Bale may have seen in some Gower MS. a selection
of sententious passages from the _Vox Clamantis_ and other places, such
as we actually have on one of the blank leaves of the Digby MS. (f.
160), beginning ‘Vulturis est hominum natura cadauera velle,’ again one
of those allegories of bird nature which were borrowed by Gower from
the _Aurora_.
It may be noted here that in the same passage of Bale’s unpublished
papers we have the following statement:
‘De triplici opere hoc carmen est super eius tumbam editum,
Quos viuens legi libro nunc offero regi,
Cuius habent legi secula cuncta regi.’
Also the following is given as the epitaph of his wife,
‘Quam bonitas, pietas, elemosina, casta voluntas,
Sobrietas que fides coluerunt, hic iacet Agnes.
Vxor amans, humilis Gower fuit illa Ioannis:
Donet ei summus celica regna Deus.’
These statements seem to be given by Bale on the authority of Nicholas
Brigham, to whom we owe the tomb of Chaucer in Westminster Abbey.
THE TEXT AND THE MANUSCRIPTS.
Gower’s principal Latin work, the _Vox Clamantis_, is found in ten
manuscripts altogether. Of these four are evidently contemporary with
the author and contain also the _Cronica Tripertita_ and most of the
other Latin poems printed in this volume. Some of these last are
found also in other MSS. of the _Vox Clamantis_, some Latin pieces
are contained in the Trentham MS. of the _Praise of Peace_ and the
_Cinkante Balades_ (described in vol. i. p. lxxix), and the _Cronica
Tripertita_ occurs separately in the Bodleian MS. Hatton 92. Copies of
the _Carmen de multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_ are contained in some
MSS. of the _Confessio Amantis_, viz. TBAP₂ of the second recension,
and FH₂K of the third, and with regard to these the reader is referred
to the account given of the manuscripts in the Introduction to the
second volume of this edition.
Of the four manuscripts of the _Vox Clamantis_ with other Latin poems,
which have been referred to as contemporary with the author, one is
at Oxford, in the library of All Souls College, one at Glasgow in the
Hunterian Museum, and two in London. They are proved to be original
copies, not only by the handwriting of the text, which in each case is
distinctly of the fourteenth century, but also by the fact that they
all have author’s corrections written over erasure, and in several
cases the same hand is recognizable throughout. The original text of
the _Vox Clamantis_ seems to be written in one and the same hand in
the All Souls and Glasgow MSS. and this hand is also that of the lines
supplied occasionally in the margin of the Harleian: the hand in which
the text of the _Cronica Tripertita_ is written in the All Souls MS.
appears also in all the other three, and the same is the case with some
of the correctors’ hands, as will be seen in the detailed accounts
which follow. Of the other manuscripts of the _Vox Clamantis_ two,
which are not themselves original copies, give the text in its first
(unrevised) form, the rest are more or less in agreement with the
revised text, but give it at second or third hand, with no alterations
made over erasure.
S. ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXF. 98. Contains, f. 1 v^o, Epistle to
Archbishop Arundel, ff. 2-116, _Vox Clamantis_, ff. 116-126 v^o,
_Cronica Tripertita_, ff. 126 v^o-127 v^o, ‘Rex celi deus,’ ‘H.
aquile pullus,’ ‘O recolende bone,’ ff. 127 v^o-131, _Carmen super
multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_, f. 131, _Tractatus de Lucis
Scrutinio_ (imperfect at the end owing to the loss of a leaf), ff.
132-135, _Traitié pour ensampler les Amantz marietz_, (imperfect at
the beginning), f. 135 v^o, ‘Quia vnusquisque,’ ff. 136, 137, ‘Eneidos
Bucolis,’ ‘O deus immense,’ ‘Quicquid homo scribat’ (f. 137 v^o blank).
Parchment, ff. 137 as numbered (and in addition several blank at the
beginning and end) measuring 12½ x 8¼ in. Well and regularly written
in single column, the _Vox Clamantis_ 48 lines on a page and the
succeeding poems 52. The original first quire begins with f. 2, but
before this a quire of four leaves (probably) was inserted, of which
the first two are blank, the third is cut away, and the fourth has on
its verso the Epistle to the Archbishop. The quire which ends with f.
116 has seven leaves only, and that ending with f. 137 six. After this
several leaves have been inserted, which remain blank. The book has on
f. 1 an ornamental initial S containing a miniature of Abp. Arundel in
his robes and mitre, and there are large coloured and gilt capitals
at the beginning of each book of the _Vox Clamantis_, and coloured
initials of various sizes for chapters and paragraphs. Original oak
binding.
Five leaves are lost (apart from blanks at the beginning and end), as
follows.
After f. 2 one leaf containing chapter-headings of _Vox Clamantis_ Lib.
ii. cap. ii-Lib. iii. cap. xxii. After f. 5 two leaves, containing
chapter-headings Lib. vii. cap. xix to the end, the lines ‘Ad mundum
mitto,’ probably with a picture of the author, and _Vox Clamantis_
Lib. i. Prologus, ll. 1-18. After f. 13 one leaf (_Vox Clamantis_ i.
766-856). After f. 131 one leaf (_De Lucis Scrutinio_ 93-103; probably
some other short piece, and the French _Traitié_, to iii. 3).
This MS. was certainly written and corrected under the direction
of the author, and remained for some time in his hands, receiving
addition from time to time. From the _Epistola_ at the beginning, which
occurs here only and seems to relate to this volume in particular, we
may gather that it was eventually presented to Abp. Arundel. It is
possible that it passed from him to his successor Chichele, and so to
the College of All Souls, where it now is, but there seems to be no
definite evidence to confirm this suggestion.
The text of S in the _Vox Clamantis_ agrees in the main as
regards revised passages with that of the other original
manuscripts C, H and G, but in some respects it is peculiar. In
Lib. iii. cap. i. S has a rewritten version which differs from
that of the other revised copies, and the same is the case with
regard to the lines ‘Quicquid homo scribat’ (p. 365). There are
also some places, as iv. 1072, 1197-1232, v. 450, where S retains
the original text in company with TH₂ or even with H₂ alone.
A few possibly right readings are peculiar to S, as in i. 1788,
2073, ii. 300, iii. 380 (margin), 1642, v. 325, vi. 555, while
some others are common to S with G alone, some few small mistakes
remain uncorrected, as in i. 106, 953, 1212, 1591, 1662, iii.
176, 989, 1214, 1541, 1695, iv. 273, 336 &c., and in some cases,
where the headings of chapters have been rewritten, as vi. cap.
xviii, xix, the original headings are left standing in the Table
of Chapters at the beginning.
At least five hands are distinguishable, as follows:
(1) the original text of the _Vox Clamantis_.
(2) the original text of the succeeding poems, French and Latin,
and the rewritten text or corrections on ff. 15 v^o (i. 1019), 90
v^o (vi. 545), 97 (vi. 1159), 115 v^o (vii. 1454 f., 1469 f.),
116 (last lines of _Vox Clamantis_).
(3) the original text and (probably) the corrections of the
_Epistola_, f. i, and the corrections or rewritten text on ff. 36
v^o (iii. 2 ff.), 39 (iii. cap. iv. heading), 97 v^o (vi. 1189),
98 (vi. 1219 ff.), 115 r^o (vii. 1409 ff.), 116 (first lines of
_Cron. Trip._), 126 v^o, 127 v^o, and the text of ‘Quicquid homo
scribat.’
(4) marginal note on f. 40 v^o, ‘Nota de bello Cleri’ &c. (iii.
375).
(5) marginal note on f. 66, ‘Nota quod Genius’ &c. (iv. 587).
In addition there are some marginal notes which are not quite
contemporary, as those on ff. 51 v^o, 52, 76 v^o, 77 (‘Contra
rectores Oxon.’ &c., ‘Nota de muliere bona’ &c.), and the heading
of the last piece on f. 137 seems to have been rewritten over a
hand different from any of the above, of which some words remain.
A few corrections are in doubtful hands, as vi. 1208.
Of the above hands the first, very regularly written in a
fourteenth century character, in brown ink, probably the same as
that of the _Vox Clamantis_ in G, and the same scribe apparently
wrote the lines which are supplied sometimes in the margin of
H, having been dropped out of the text by the first copyist.
The second (2) is also a very neat and regular hand, but of a
somewhat later type. It appears in the French and Latin poems
of MS. Fairfax 3, as well as in the substituted leaf at the
beginning of the _Confessio Amantis_ in that manuscript. It is
also used for the _Cronica Tripertita_, _Traitié_ and other
pieces in the Glasgow MS. (G), for the _Cron. Tripertita_ and
other Latin pieces in H, and for some of the rewritten passages
of the _Vox Clamantis_ in G, H, and C. The third (3) is a rather
rough hand, found also occasionally in corrections of G and H.
The fourth (4) is that in which the same marginal note is written
also in C, H and G.
G. GLASGOW HUNTERIAN MUSEUM T. 2, 17. Contains, ff. 1-108, _Vox
Clamantis_ preceded by the Table of Chapters, ff. 109-119, _Cronica
Tripertita_, ff. 119, 120, ‘H. aquile pullus,’ ‘O recolende,’ ‘Quia
vnusquisque,’ ‘Eneidos Bucolis,’ ff. 120 v^o-122, _Carmen super
multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_, ff. 123, 124, _Tractatus de Lucis
Scrutinio_, f. 124 v^o, _Traitié pour ensampler les Amantz marietz_
followed by _Carmen de variis in amore passionibus_, f. 129, ‘Orantibus
pro anima,’ with shield of arms and the lines ‘Armigeri scutum,’
and below this a bier with candle at head and foot, f. 129 v^o,
‘Epistola quam Iohannes Gower in laudem ... Henrici quarti statim post
coronacionem ... deuote composuit,’ f. 130 v^o, ‘O deus immense,’ f.
131 v^o, ‘Henrici regis,’ ‘Vnanimes esse,’ f. 132, ‘Presul, ouile
regis,’ ‘Cultor in ecclesia,’ ‘Dicunt scripture,’ f. 132 v^o blank.
Parchment, ff. 132 in quires of eight leaves (except the first, which
has six) with catchwords, measuring 11¾ x 7¾ in., 53 lines to the page
in the _Vox Clamantis_, then 52 or 51, regularly and well written with
passages erased and rewritten as in CH. On f. 6 v^o is a painting
like that in the Cotton MS. of a man in a brown hat, a blue coat with
brown lining, and with three arrows in his belt, shooting an arrow at
the globe (which has a threefold division corresponding to the three
elements of air, earth, and water), with the lines ‘Ad mundum mitto
mea iacula’ &c. There is a floreated page at the beginning of Lib. i.
(after the Prologue) and illuminated initials with decoration at the
beginning of the other books; large and small coloured capitals for
chapters and paragraphs.
I have to thank Dr. Young the Librarian of the Hunterian Museum, for
facilities given to me in using this MS. and for his kind help in
collating and describing it.
The text of G has, as might be expected, a close affinity with
that of S, but the peculiarities of S as regards revision in
certain passages, e.g. iii. 1 ff., iv. 1197 ff., are not shared
by this MS., which goes here with the other revised copies, C and
H. In one place at least G has a further touch of revision, viz.
in the heading of vi. cap. vii., where its reading is shared by
D. In a good many instances, however, G stands with S (sometimes
in company with D or L) in support of a probably true reading
which is not given by other MSS., as i. 465, 468, 979, 1454,
iv. 72, v. 789, vii. 684, 1342, or of an error, as i. 1525,
1870, iii. 1863, iv. 799. It may be noted that sometimes in G an
erasure has been made without the correction being supplied.
The following are some of the hands that may be distinguished in
this manuscript:
(1) Text of the _Vox Clamantis_. This seems to be the same as S
(1), H (2).
(2) Text of the _Cronica Tripertita_ and succeeding pieces to f.
131 r^o., passages rewritten over erasure in vi. 545 ff., 1159
ff. and in the conclusion of the _Vox Clamantis_. This is the
same as S (2), C (3), H (3).
(3) Corrections in vi. cap. xix., vii. cap. iii. and xxiv,
rewritten lines at the beginning and near the end of the _Cronica
Tripertita_, text of the poem ‘Henrici Regis’ with its heading,
f. 131. Perhaps the same as S (3).
(4) The marginal note at iii. 375: the same as S (4), C (6), H
(6).
(5) The text of ‘Vnanimes esse’ and the succeeding poems on ff.
131 v^o, 132.
C. COTTON. TIB. A. iv, British Museum. Contains, ff. 2-152 v^o, _Vox
Clamantis_, ff. 153-167 r^o, ‘Explicit libellus’ &c. and _Cronica
Tripertita_, f. 167, ‘Rex celi deus,’ ‘H. aquile pullus,’ ‘O recolende
bone,’ ff. 168-172, _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_, ff.
172 v^o-174, _Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_, ff. 174 v^o, 175, ‘Quia
vnusquisque,’ ‘Eneidos Bucolis,’ ‘Orate pro anima,’ ‘O deus immense,’
ff. 176, 177, ‘Henrici regis,’ ‘Vnanimes esse,’ ‘Presul, ouile regis,’
‘Cultor in ecclesia,’ ‘Dicunt scripture.’ Ends on 177 r^o. Parchment,
ff. 178, that is, 176 leaves of original text, preceded by two blanks,
on the second of which is Sir Robert Cotton’s Table of Contents, ending
‘Liber vt videtur ipsius autoris,’ the first leaf of the text being now
numbered f. 2. In quires of eight with catchwords, signed _a_, _b_,
_c_, &c. from f. 10 (where the text of the _Vox Clamantis_ begins) the
first quire, containing the chapter-headings &c., written in a hand
different from that of the main part of the text. Leaves measure about
10 x 6½ in. Written in single column, 38 lines to the page in the _Vox
Clamantis_, 40 or more in the _Cronica Tripertita_. The MS. has been
carefully corrected, and revised passages appear written over erasure
as in SGH. Capitals coloured and gilded at the beginning of the books,
coloured blue and red at the beginning of chapters and paragraphs. On
f. 9, the last of the first quire, a picture like that in the Glasgow
MS., of the author shooting at the world, as shown in the frontispiece
of this volume.
On f. 2 is written ‘Roberti Cotton liber ex dono doctissimi Patricii
Youngi generosi.’ The book suffered somewhat in the fire of 1731, but
it has been carefully and skilfully repaired, and though the writing
at the top of each page shows traces of the heat, no part of it is
illegible. The effect produced is clearly visible on the page of which
a facsimile is given.
The text of C is a very good one and unquestionably independent.
In regard to spelling it may be observed that the copyist of the
_Vox Clamantis_ frequently gives ‘u’ for ‘v’ at the beginning
of words, he writes ‘sed’ almost always for ‘set,’ and often
‘ti’ for ‘ci’ in words like ‘etiam,’ ‘ratio,’ ‘patiens’ and even
‘fatie’ (ii. 57), but also ‘eciam,’ ‘ambicio,’ ‘precium,’ &c.
The following are the hands, so far as they can be distinguished:
(1) Text of the _Vox Clamantis_, a small and somewhat irregular
but clear hand, of the fourteenth century.
(2) The eight leaves preceding this (containing the
chapter-headings), and also ff. 96, 97 and part of 140. This hand
has made corrections throughout, not revising the text, as the
author might, but setting right the mistakes of the scribe.
The (3) following passages as rewritten over erasure: i. 1019
ff., vi. 545-554, and also the prose heading of the first part
of the _Cronica Tripertita_. This is the ‘second hand’ of the
Fairfax MS., the same as S (2), G (2), H (3).
(4) The passage rewritten over erasure in iii. 1 ff., also the
heading of iii, cap. iv., corrections in iv. 1198 ff., and iv.
1221*-1232* rewritten over erasure. This is a neat round hand
used also in the same places of the Harleian MS.
(5) The passage ‘Rex puer,’ &c., vi. 555-580, and vi. cap.
xviii, with the heading of cap. xix., over erasure, a hand which
resembles (3), but does not seem to be identical with it.
(6) The marginal note at iii. 375 and perhaps also iv. 587, and
the marginal note at the end of the _Cronica Tripertita_; also f.
176 ‘Nota hic in fine--intendo,’ and the lines ‘Henrici regis,’
&c. This is the same as S (4), G (4), H (6).
(7) Corrections in vi. 1208, 1210: the same as H (7), and the
correction of vi. 1210 in S.
(8) Corrections in vi. 1219 ff., and vii. 187 ff.
(9) Text of _Cronica Tripertita_ and the succeeding pieces to f.
168: a rather rough and irregular hand in faded ink.
(10) Marginal notes of _Cronica Tripertita_ and text of _Carmen
super multiplici_ &c. from f. 169, ‘Ad fidei dampnum’ to the end
of ‘O deus immense,’ f. 176.
(11) The four smaller poems at the end (possibly with the
exception of ‘Cultor in ecclesia’). The same as H (9).
(12) The lines at the beginning and near the end of the _Cronica
Tripertita_ (over erasure).
Some other corrections are doubtful, as the concluding lines of
the _Vox Clamantis_.
H. HARLEIAN 6291, British Museum. Contains the same as C, except where
deficient from loss of leaves, with the addition of a second copy of
the last three poems. Parchment ff. 164, measuring 9 x 6 in., in quires
of eight with catchwords, 37 lines to the page, regularly and neatly
written. No decoration except coloured initials. Has lost probably
two whole quires, 16 leaves, at the beginning, and begins with _Vox
Clamantis_, i. 502. The first existing quire is lettered ‘b,’ and this
is also the lettering of the third quire of the Cotton MS., the first,
which has the Table of Chapters, not being counted in the lettering.
In addition to these, one leaf is lost after f. 1 (containing _Vox
Clamantis_, i. 571-644), two after f. 58 (iii. 1716-1854), one after f.
108 (vi. 951-1021), one after f. 133 (vii. 1399-1466). This last leaf
formed part of a quire of 12, which followed f. 124, at the end of the
_Vox Clamantis_. Of these the last three have been cut away, but only
one leaf of text is lost, f. 134 continuing at 1467, and the concluding
lines of the _Vox Clamantis_ being here given in the hand which copied
the _Cronica Tripertita_, &c. The last quire of that book, ff. 158-164
(one leaf lost at the end), has several blanks (162, 163, 164 v^o).
In a good many instances passages of from two to six lines are omitted
in the text and inserted in the margin, either across or at the bottom
of the page, in a hand which seems not to be that of the text, though
very similar, and is probably identical with S (1). This occurs on ff.
41, 74, 76, 78, &c.
The text of H is very correct, and in forms of spelling, &c.
it closely resembles that of S. There is little punctuation at
first, but more afterwards. In form of text it agrees nearly
with C, but (1) the marginal note at iv. 587 is omitted, (2) as
regards revision H parts company with C at vi. 1219, from which
point H has the unrevised text in agreement with EDTH₂ except in
the concluding lines of the _Vox Clamantis_ on f. 134, which, as
already remarked, are rewritten in a new hand.
The hands of H may be thus distinguished:
(1) Text of the _Vox Clamantis_, a good and regular
fourteenth-century hand.
(2) Passages added in the margin, probably the same as S (1).
(3) Rewritten text of i. 1019 ff., vi. 545-580, vi. cap. xviii
and heading of xix, last lines of _Vox Clamantis_, text of
_Cronica Tripertita_ and succeeding pieces to the end of ‘O deus
immense’ f. 159 v^o. This is the same as S (2), G (2), C (3).
(4) Rewritten text of iii. 1 ff., corrections of iv. 1212, 1214,
and rewritten text of 1221*-1232*; also f. 160, ‘Nota hic in
fine’ &c. to end of f. 161 r^o. This is the same as C (4).
(5) Correction of the heading of iii. cap. iv, the same as S (3).
(6) Marginal note at iii. 375, the same as S (4), G (4), C (6).
(7) Corrections of vi. 1208, 1210, and of _Cronica Tripertita_ i.
55 f. and some other places: the same as C (7).
(8) Rewritten passages at the beginning and near the end of the
_Cronica Tripertita_, the same as C (12).
(9) Second copy of the last poems (on f. 164), the same hand as C
(11).
E. At ECTON, near Northampton, in the possession of General Sotheby,
who very kindly sent it to the Bodleian Library for my use. Contains
_Vox Clamantis_, _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_,
_Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_, ‘O deus immense,’ ‘Cultor in ecclesia,’
‘Vnanimes esse,’ ‘Dicunt scripture.’ Parchment, ff. 191, measuring
about 9 x 6¼ in., in quires of eight with catch-words, the last quire
of seven leaves only (two blank). Neatly written in a good hand of the
end of the fourteenth century, in single column, 32 lines to a page.
On f. 10 a brightly coloured picture of an archer drawing a bow to
shoot at the world, with the lines ‘Ad mundum mitto,’ &c., as in the
Cotton and Glasgow MSS., but the figure and features are different,
and evidently the picture has less claim to be considered an authentic
portrait than those of the two MSS. above named. The headings of pages
and chapters are in red, and there are coloured initials and other
decorations throughout. The whole is written in one hand, and there are
no corrections or erasures such as might indicate that the book had
been in the hands of the author.
The manuscript seems to have been in the possession of the Sotheby
family since 1702, when it was ‘bought at Lord Burgley’s sale for £1
2_s._ 0_d._’ No leaves are lost, but two are transposed at the end of
the fourth and beginning of the fifth books.
The text is very fairly correct, and the MS. is closely related
to C both in text and spelling (for which see i. Prol. 37 f., i.
21, 95, 447, 1706, 1776, 2017, ii. 174, 311 &c.), but not derived
from it (see i. 41, 1626, 2094, iii. 1760 f., v. 785 f.). The
passages which in C and the other original copies are rewritten
over erasure, as iii. 1 ff., vi. 1161 ff., are usually given by
E in the revised form, but the marginal notes at iii. 375 and
iv. 587 are omitted. Occasionally too, where C has a correction,
E gives the original reading in company with H, as iii. 840, v.
785 f., and especially in the passages vi. 1219 ff. and vii. 182
ff., where H no longer agrees with SCG in corrections, we find
that E goes with H. In the final poems E shows some independence
as regards marginal notes, e.g. in the last piece, where instead
of ‘Nota contra mortuorum executores,’ we find the much more
pointed, though doubtfully grammatical, remark, ‘Nota quod bonum
est vnicuique esse executor sui ipsius.’ This is the only MS.
except CHG which contains the short pieces at the end, and the
omission from these of ‘Presul, ouile regis’ may be an indication
that the MS. was written before 1402.
As regards the picture in this MS., the features of the archer
are quite different from those represented in the Cotton MS. He
has a prominent pointed nose and a light-coloured moustache and
beard; the arrow, held between the fore-finger and the second and
aimed upwards, covers the mouth. The dress consists of a grey
fur cap with a hood under it of light crimson, covering also the
upper part of the body: below this a blue surcoat with brown
lining and wide sleeves thrown back so as to leave the arms bare:
a red belt with buckle and pendant, and red hose. The globe is
at a higher level and smaller in proportion than in the other
pictures. Like them it is divided into three, the left hand upper
division having a crescent moon and four stars: a red cross with
a banner stands at the summit of the globe.
D. DIGBY 138, Bodleian Library, Oxford. Contains _Vox Clamantis_
only, preceded by the Table of Chapter-headings. Parchment and paper,
ff. 158 originally, with other leaves inserted at the beginning and
end in the sixteenth century; about 10½ x 7¼ in., in quires of eight
with catchwords; neat writing of the second quarter of the fifteenth
century, about 37 lines to the page. No decoration except red and
blue initials, numbering of chapters in red, &c. The rubricator has
introduced some corrections here and there, but there are no passages
rewritten over erasure. There is some transposition of leaves in the
fourteenth quire, dating from before the rubricator’s numbering of
chapters. The name of a sixteenth-century owner, Roger Waller, occurs
on f. 158 v^o. and Kenelm Digby’s device, ‘Vindica te tibi, Kenelme
Digby,’ on f. 1.
The text of D is of a mixed character. Sometimes, in company with
TH₂ it reproduces the original form of a passage, as i. 1029
ff., vi. cap. xviii and xix, vii. 189 f., 1409 ff., 1454 ff.,
1479 ff. In other places, as iii. 1 ff., vi. 545, and elsewhere,
the readings of D are those of the revised MSS. It is peculiar
in the addition after vi. 522, where eight lines are introduced
from the original text of the altered passage which follows at
the end of the chapter. The text of D generally is much less
correct than that of the older copies, and it is derived from a
MS. which had lines missing here and there, as indicated by the
‘deficit versus in copia,’ which occurs sometimes in the margin.
In the numbering of the chapters the Prologues of Libb. ii. and
iii. are reckoned as cap. i. in each case. The corrections and
notes of the rubricator are not always sound, and sometimes we
find in the margin attempts to improve the author’s metre, in a
seventeenth-century hand, as ‘Et qui pauca tenet’ for ‘Qui tenet
et pauca’ (ii. 70), ‘Causa tamen credo’ for ‘Credo tamen causa’
(ii. 84). Some of these late alterations have been admitted
(strange to say) into Mr. Coxe’s text (e.g. ii. 70).
The book is made up of parchment and paper in equal proportions,
the outer and inner leaves of each quire being of parchment.
Sixteen leaves of paper have been inserted at the beginning
and twelve at the end of the book, easily distinguished by
the water-mark and chain-lines from the paper originally used
in the book itself. Most of these are blank, but some have
writing, mostly in sixteenth-century hands. There are medical
prescriptions and cooking recipes in English, selections of
gnomic and other passages from the _Vox Clamantis_, among which
are the lines ‘Ad mundum mitto,’ &c., which do not occur in the
Digby text, four Latin lines on the merits of the papal court
beginning ‘Pauperibus sua dat gratis,’ which when read backwards
convey an opposite sense, the stanzas by Queen Elizabeth ‘The
dowte of future force (_corr._ foes) Exiles my presente ioye, And
wytt me warnes to shonne suche snares As threten myne annoye’
(eight four-line stanzas).
With regard to the connexion between D and L see below on the
Laud MS.
L. LAUD 719, Bodleian Library, Oxford. Contains _Vox Clamantis_
(without Table of Chapters and with omission of Lib. i. 165-2150),
_Carmen super multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_, _Tractatus de Lucis
Scrutinio_, _Carmen de variis in amore passionibus_, ‘Lex docet
auctorum,’ ‘Quis sit vel qualis,’ ‘H. aquile pullus,’ and seven more
Latin lines of obscure meaning (‘Inter saxosum montem,’ &c.), which
are not found in other Gower MSS. Parchment and paper, ff. 170 (not
including four original blank leaves at the beginning and several
miscellaneous leaves at the end), in quires usually of fourteen leaves,
but the first of twelve and the second of six, measuring about 8½ x 5¾
in., about 27 lines to the page, moderately well written with a good
many contractions, in the same hand throughout with no corrections, of
the second quarter of the fifteenth century. There is a roughly drawn
picture of an archer aiming at the globe on f. 21, and the chapters
have red initial letters. Original oak binding.
The names ‘Thomas Eymis’ and ‘William Turner’ occur as those of
sixteenth-century owners. The note on the inside of the binding, ‘Henry
Beauchamp lyeing in St. John strete at the iii. Cuppes,’ can hardly be
taken to indicate ownership.
The most noticeable fact about the text of this MS. is one to
which no attention has hitherto been called, viz. the omission
of the whole history of the Peasants’ Revolt. After Lib. i. cap.
i. the whole of the remainder of the first book (nearly 2,000
lines) is omitted without any note of deficiency, and we pass on
to the Prologue of Lib. ii, not so named here, but standing as
the second chapter of Lib. i. (the chapters not being numbered
however in this MS.). After what we commonly call the second book
follows the heading of the Prologue of Lib. iii, but without any
indication that a new book is begun. Lib. iv. is marked by the
rubricator as ‘liber iii^{us},’ Lib. v. as ‘liber iiii^{us},’ and
so on to the end, making six books instead of seven; but there
are traces of another numbering, apparently by the scribe who
wrote the text, according to which Lib. v. was reckoned as ‘liber
iii^{us},’ Lib. iv. as ‘liber iiii^{us},’ and Lib. vii. as ‘liber
v^{us}.’ It has been already observed that there is internal
evidence to show that this arrangement in five (or six) books may
have been the original form of the text of the _Vox Clamantis_.
At the same time it must be noted that this form is given by no
other MS. except the Lincoln book, which is certainly copied from
L, and that the nature of the connexion between L and D seems
to indicate that these two MSS. are ultimately derived from the
same source. This connexion, established by a complete collation
of the two MSS., extends apparently throughout the whole of the
text of L. We have, for example, in both, i. Prol. 27, laudes,
58 Huius ergo, ii. 94 et ibi, 312 causat, 614 Ingenuitque, iii.
4 mundus, 296 ei, 407 amor (_for_ maior), 536 Hec, 750 timidus,
758 curremus, 882 iuris, 1026 Nil, 1223 mundus, 1228 bona, 1491
egras, 1584 racio, 1655 Inde vola, 1777 ibi, 1868 timet, 1906
seruet, 2075, 2080 qui, iv. 52 vrbe, 99 tegit, and so on. The
common source was not an immediate one, for words omitted by D
with a blank or ‘deficit’ as iii. 641, vii. 487 are found in L,
and the words ‘nescit,’ ‘deus,’ which are omitted with a blank
left in L at iii. 1574 and vi. 349 are found in D. If we suppose
a common source, we must assume either that the first book was
found in it entire and deliberately omitted, with alteration of
the numbering of the books, by the copyist of the MS. from which
L is more immediately derived, or that it was not found, and that
the copyist of the original of D supplied it from another source.
It should be noted that the MS. from which L is ultimately
derived must have had alternative versions of some of the revised
passages, for in vi. cap. xviii. and also vi. l. 1208 L gives
both the revised and the unrevised form. As a rule in the matter
of revision L agrees with D, but not in the corrections of vi.
1208-1226, where D has the uncorrected form and L the other. We
may note especially the reading of L in vi. 1224.
The following are the Latin lines which occur on f. 170 after
‘[H.] Aquile pullus,’ &c.
‘Inter saxosum montem campumque nodosum
Periit Anglica gens fraude sua propria.
Homo dicitur, Cristus, virgo, Sathan, non iniustus fragilisque,
Est peccator homo simpliciterque notat.
Vlcio, mandatum, cetus, tutela, potestas,
Pars incarnatus, presencia, vis memorandi,
Ista manus seruat infallax voce sub vna.’
The second of the parchment blanks at the beginning has a note
in the original hand of the MS. on the marriage of the devil and
the birth of his nine daughters, who were assigned to various
classes of human society, Simony to the prelates, Hypocrisy to
the religious orders, and so on. At the end of the book there are
two leaves with theological and other notes in the same hand, and
two cut for purposes of binding from leaves of an older MS. of
Latin hymns, &c. with music.
L₂. LINCOLN CATHEDRAL LIBRARY, A. 72, very obligingly placed at my
disposal in the Bodleian by the Librarian, with authority from the Dean
and Chapter. Contains the same as L, including the enigmatical lines
above quoted. Paper, ff. 184, measuring about 8 x 6 in. neatly written
in an early sixteenth-century hand, about 26 lines to the page. No
coloured initials, but space left for them and on f. 21 for a picture
corresponding to that on f. 21 of the Laud MS. Neither books nor
chapters numbered. Marked in pencil as ‘one of Dean Honywood’s, No. 53.’
Certainly copied from L, giving a precisely similar form of text
and agreeing almost always in the minutest details.
T. TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, D. 4, 6, kindly sent to the Bodleian for my
use by the Librarian, with the authority of the Provost and Fellows.
Contains _Vox Clamantis_ without Table of Chapters, followed by the
account of the author’s books, ‘Quia vnusquisque,’ &c. Parchment, ff.
144 (two blank) in seventeen quires, usually of eight leaves, but the
first and sixteenth of ten and the last of twelve; written in an early
fifteenth-century hand, 36-39 lines to the page, no passages erased or
rewritten. Coloured initials.
This, in agreement with the Hatfield book (H₂), gives the
original form of all the passages which were revised or
rewritten. It is apparently a careless copy of a good text, with
many mistakes, some of which are corrected. The scribe either
did not understand what he was writing or did not attend to the
meaning, and a good many lines and couplets have been carelessly
dropped out, as i. 873, 1360, 1749, 1800, ii. Prol. 24 f., ii.
561 f., iii. 281, 394 f., 943 f., 1154, 1767-1770, 1830, iv. 516
f., 684, v. 142-145, 528-530, vi. 829 f., vii. 688 f., 1099 f.
The blank leaf at the beginning, which is partly cut away, has in
an early hand the lines
‘In Kent alle car by gan, ibi pauci sunt sapientes,
In a Route thise Rebaudis ran sua trepida arma gerentes,’
for which cp. Wright’s _Political Poems_, Rolls Series, 14, vol.
i. p. 225.
H₂. HATFIELD HALL, in the possession of the Marquess of Salisbury, by
whose kind permission I was allowed to examine it. Contains the _Vox
Clamantis_, preceded by the Table of Chapters. Parchment, ff. 144 (not
counting blanks), about 9½ x 6¼ in., in eighteen quires of eight with
catchwords; neatly written in a hand of the first half of the fifteenth
century, 40 lines to the page. There is a richly illuminated border
round three sides of the page where the Prologue of the _Vox Clamantis_
begins, and also on the next, at the beginning of the first book,
and floreated decorations at the beginning of each succeeding book,
with illuminated capitals throughout. The catchwords are sometimes
ornamented with neat drawings.
The book has a certain additional interest derived from the fact that
it belonged to the celebrated Lord Burleigh, and was evidently read by
him with some interest, as is indicated by various notes.
This MS., of which the text is fairly correct, is written in
one hand throughout, and with T it represents, so far as we can
judge, the original form of the text in all the revised passages.
In some few cases, as iv. 1073, v. 450, H₂ seems to give the
original reading, where T agrees with the revised MSS.
On the last leaf we find an interesting note about the decoration
of the book and the parchment used, written small in red below
the ‘Explicit,’ which I read as follows: ‘100 and li. 51 blew
letteris, 4 co. smale letteris and more, gold letteris 8: 18
quayers. price velom v s. vi d.’ There are in fact about 150 of
the larger blue initials with red lines round them, the smaller
letters, of which I understand the account reckons 400 and
more, being those at the beginning of paragraphs, blue and red
alternately. The eight gold letters are those at the beginning of
the first prologue and the seven books.
The following notes are in the hand of Lord Burleigh, as I am
informed by Mr. R. T. Gunton: ‘Vox Clamantis’ on the first page,
‘nomine Authoris’ and ‘Anno 4 Regis Ricardi’ in the margin of the
prologue to the first book, ‘Thomas arch., Simon arch.,’ opposite
i. 1055 f., ‘Amoris effectus’ near the beginning of Lib. v, ‘Laus
Edw. princ. patris Ricardi 2’ at Lib. vi. cap. xiii, and a few
more.
C₂. COTTON, TITUS, A, 13, British Museum. Contains on ff. 105-137 a
part of the _Vox Clamantis_, beginning with the Prologue of Lib. i. and
continuing to Lib. iii. l. 116, where it is left unfinished. Paper,
leaves measuring 8¼ x 6 in. written in a current sixteenth-century hand
with an irregular number of lines (about 38-70) to the page. Headed,
‘De populari tumultu et rebellione. Anno quarto Ricardi secundi.’
Text copied from D, as is shown by minute agreement in almost
every particular.
H₃. HATTON 92, Bodleian Library, Oxford. This contains, among other
things of a miscellaneous kind, Gower’s _Cronica Tripertita_, followed
by ‘[H.] aquile pullus,’ ‘O recolende,’ and ‘Rex celi deus,’
altogether occupying 21½ leaves of parchment, measuring 7¾ x 5½ in.
Neatly written in hands of the first half of the fifteenth century
about 28-30 lines to the page, the text in one hand and the margin in
another.
Begins, ‘Prologus. Opus humanum est--constituit.’
Then the seven lines, ‘Ista tripertita--vincit amor,’ followed by
‘Explicit prologus.’ After this,
‘Incipit cronica iohannis Gower de tempore Regis Ricardi secundi
vsque ad secundum annum Henrici quarti.
Incipit prohemium Cronice Iohannis Gower.
Postquam in quodam libello, qui vox clamantis dicitur, quem
Iohannes Gower nuper versificatum composuit super hoc quod
tempore Regis Ricardi secundi anno Regni sui quarto vulgaris in
anglia populus contra ipsum Regem quasi ex virga dei notabiliter
insurrexit manifestius tractatum existit, iam in hoc presenti
Cronica, que tripertita est, super quibusdam aliis infortuniis,’
&c.
Ends (after ‘sint tibi regna poli’), ‘Expliciunt carmina Iohannis
Gower, que scripta sunt vsque nunc, quod est in anno domini Regis
prenotati secundo, et quia confractus ego tam senectute quam
aliis infirmitatibus vlterius scribere discrete non sufficio,
Scribat qui veniet post me discrecior Alter, Amodo namque manus
et mea penna silent. Hoc tamen infine verborum queso meorum,
prospera quod statuat regna futura deus. Amen. Ihesus esto michi
ihesus.’
This conclusion seems to be made up out of the piece beginning
‘Henrici quarti’ in the Trentham MS. (see p. 365 of this volume)
combined with the prose heading of the corresponding lines as
given by CHG. It may be observed here that the Trentham version
of this piece is also given in MS. Cotton, Julius F. vii, f. 167,
with the heading ‘Epitaphium siue dictum Iohannis Gower Armigeri
et per ipsum compositum.’ It is followed by the lines ‘Electus
Cristi--sponte data,’ which are the heading of the _Praise of
Peace_.
FORMER EDITIONS. The _Vox Clamantis_ was printed for the Roxburghe Club
in the year 1850, edited by H. O. Coxe, Bodley’s Librarian. In the same
volume were included the _Cronica Tripertita_, the lines ‘Quicquid homo
scribat,’ &c., the complimentary verses of the ‘philosopher,’ ‘Eneidos
Bucolis,’ &c., and (in a note to the Introduction) the poem ‘O deus
immense,’ &c. In T. Wright’s _Political Poems_, Rolls Series, 14, vol.
i. the following pieces were printed: _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum
Pestilencia_, _De Lucis Scrutinio_, ‘O deus immense,’ &c., _Cronica
Tripertita_. In the Roxburghe edition of Gower’s _Cinkante Balades_
(1818) were printed also the pieces ‘Rex celi deus,’ and ‘Ecce patet
tensus,’ the lines ‘Henrici quarti,’ a variation of ‘Quicquid homo
scribat,’ &c. (see p. 365 of this edition). Finally the last poems
‘Vnanimes esse,’ ‘Presul, ouile regis,’ ‘Cultor in ecclesia,’ and
‘Dicunt scripture’ were printed by Karl Meyer in his dissertation _John
Gower’s Beziehungen zu Chaucer &c._ pp. 67, 68.
Of Coxe’s edition I wish to speak with all due respect. It has served
a very useful purpose, and it was perhaps on a level with the critical
requirements of the time when it was published. At the same time it
cannot be regarded as satisfactory. The editor tells us that his
text is that of the All Souls MS. ‘collated throughout word for word
with a MS. preserved among the Digby MSS. in the Bodleian, and here
and there with the Cotton MS. [Tib. A. iv.] sufficiently to show the
superiority of the All Souls MS.’ The inferior and late Digby MS. was
thus uncritically placed on a level with those of first authority,
and even preferred to the Cotton MS. It would require a great deal of
very careful collation to convince an editor that the text of the All
Souls MS. is superior in correctness to that of the Cotton MS., and it
is doubtful whether after all he would come to any such conclusion.
As regards correctness they stand in fact very nearly on the same
level: each might set the other right in a few trifling points. It
is not, however, from the Cotton MS. that the Roxburghe editor takes
his corrections, when he thinks that any are needed. In such cases
he silently adopts readings from the Digby MS., and in a much larger
number of instances he gives the text of the All Souls MS. incorrectly,
from insufficient care in copying or correcting. The most serious
results of the undue appreciation of the Digby MS. are seen in those
passages where S is defective, as in the Prologue of the first book,
and in the well-known passage i. 783 ff., where the text of D is taken
as the sole authority, and accordingly errors abound, which might have
been avoided by reference to C or any other good copy[73]. The editor
seems not to have been acquainted with the Harleian MS., and he makes
no mention even of the second copy of the _Vox Clamantis_ which he had
in his own library, MS. Laud 719.
The same uncritical spirit which we have noted in this editor’s choice
of manuscripts for collation appears also in his manner of dealing with
the revised passages. When he prints variations, it is only because he
happens to find them in the Digby MS., and he makes only one definite
statement about the differences of handwriting in his authority, which
moreover is grossly incorrect. Not being acquainted with Dublin or the
Hatfield MSS., he could not give the original text of such passages
as _Vox Clamantis_, iii. 1-28 or vi. 545-80, but he might at least
have indicated the lines which he found written over erasure, and in
different hands from the original text, in the All Souls and Cotton
MSS. Dr. Karl Meyer again, who afterwards paid some attention to the
handwriting and called attention to Coxe’s misstatement on the subject,
was preoccupied with the theory that the revision took place altogether
after the accession of Henry IV, and failed to note the evidence
afforded by the differences of handwriting for the conclusion that the
revision was a gradual one, made in accordance with the development of
political events.
I think it well to indicate the chief differences of text between the
Roxburghe edition of the _Vox Clamantis_ and the present. The readings
in the following list are those of the Roxburghe edition. In cases
where the Roxburghe editor has followed the All Souls or Digby MS. that
fact is noted by the letters S or D; but the variations are for the
most part mere mistakes. It should be noted also that the sense is very
often obscured in the Roxburghe edition by bad punctuation, and that
the medieval spelling is usually not preserved.
_Epistola_ 37 orgine _Heading to Prol._ 3 somnum
_Prologus_ 21 Godefri, des atque D 25 ascribens D 27 nil
ut laudes D 32 Sicque D 36 sentiat D 37 Sæpeque sunt
lachrymis de D 38 Humida fit lachrymis sæpeque penna meis D
44 favent D 49 confracto D 50 At 58 Hujus ergo D
_Heading to_ LIB. I. 1 _om._ eciam D 3 contingebant D
4 terræ illius D 7 etiam (_for_ et) D LIB. I. 12.
quisque 26 celsitonantes 40 Fertilis occultam invenit SD
61 Horta 88 sorte 92 et (_for_ ex) Cap. ii. _Heading_
dicet prima 199 geminatis 209 possint D 280 crabs
326 elephantinus 359 segistram 395 Culteque Curræ
396 Linquendo S 455 Thalia D 474 arces 479 nemora
551 pertenui 585 Hæc 603 Tormis bruchiis 743 Cumque
763 alitrixque D 771 dominos superos nec D 784 Recteque
D 789 Cebbe D 797 Sæpe 799 Quidem 803 Frendet
perspumans D 811 earum D 817 sonitum quoque verberat
821 Congestat D 822 Obstrepuere 824 in (_for_ a) D
827 stupefactus 835 eorum non fortificet 837 furorum D
846 conchos D _om._ sibi D 855 roserat atra rubedo D
863 romphæa 873 gerunt 947 rapit (for stetit) D
953 igne S 1173 viris (_for_ iuris) 1174 aut (_for_ siue)
1241 et (_for_ vt) S 1302 sibi tuta 1312 scit SD
1334 Cantus 1338 ipse 1361 internis D 1390 Reddidit
1425 mutantia 1431 fuit 1440 Poenis 1461 deprimere
1525 statim S 1531 subito D 1587 per longum 1654 in
medio 1656 nimis 1662 patebit S 1695 rubens pingit
gemmis 1792 dixi (_for_ dedi) 1794 nichil (_for_ nil
vel) 1855 coniuncta 1870 imbuet S 1910 tempore
1927 et (_for_ vt) 1941 Claudit 1974 parat 1985 _om._
numen 2009 tunc 2017 inde 2118 ulla
LIB. II. _Prol._ 10 ora 39 ore 40 fugam iste
LIB. II. 9 obstat D 65 Desuper D 70 Et qui pauca tenet
84 Causa tamen credo 175 continuo 191 migratrix 205 Et
(_for_ Atque) 253 cum 271 Jonah 303 jam (_for_ tam)
352 ut 401 lecto 461 monent 545 morte (_for_ monte)
570 prædicat 608 fæcundari 628 Dicit
LIB. III. _Prol._ 9 sed et increpo 77 oro 90 potuit (for
ponit)
LIB. III. 4* exempla D mundus (_for_ humus) D 18* ei D
27* poterint D 41 sensus 59 cum (_for_ eum)
76 Dicunt 141 possit (_for_ poscit) 176 onus (_for_
ouis) S 191 magnates 207 nimium (_for_ nummi)
209 luxuriatio D 225 expugnareque 333 capiunt
382 ad (_for_ in) 383 teli (_for_ tali) 469 _om._
est _after_ amor 535 Quem (_for_ Quam) 595 terram
SD 701 Sublime 845 manu 891 Sic (_for_ Sicque)
933 vertatur 954 nostra 969 portamus nomen 971 nobis
data D 976 renovare 989 sic (_for_ sit) S 1214 et
1234 attulerat 1265 fallit S 1357 mundus habet 1376 et
(_for_ vt) S 1454 _om._ est 1455 Est; (_for_ Et)
1487 intendit 1538 ibi est 1541 Durius 1546 crebro
1695 sua (_for_ si) S 1747 vovit SD 1759 et sutorem
1863 vulnere SD 1936 intrat 1960 de se 1962 Nam
2049 ese 2085 agunt
LIB. IV. 26 callidis 67 vivens (_for_ niueus) 72 esse
(_for_ ipse) S 259 Sæpe (_for_ Sepeque) 273 et (_for_ vt)
S 294 perdant 295 bona qui sibi D 336 non (_for_ iam)
S 435 quid tibi 451 Ac 453 cupiensque 531 at (_for_
et) 565 ex (_for_ hee) 567 Simplicitur 583 teneræ
588 præparat 593 ibi S 600 thalamus 610 claustra
662 patet SD 675 Credo 769 In terra 785 ut
799 putabat S 811 et (_for_ ad) S 863 sed nec (_for_ non
set) 865 quem fur quasi 958 possit 1000 fratris (_for_
patris) 1038 Livorem 1081 adoptio S 1127 fallat
1214 vanis 1222* Usurpet ipsa
LIB. V. 1 sic D 18 ei (_for_ ita) D 101 cernis
104 atque 159 par est 178 fuit (_for_ sitit) 217 senos
(_for_ seuos) 262 Carnis 281 si S 290 sonet
321 valet (_for_ decet) 338 vanis 375 ille 420 Pretia
(_for_ Recia) 461 At 486 redemit (_for_ redeunt) 501 non
(_for_ nos) S 508 geret 668 Si 672 Maxime
745 foras (_for_ foris) 805 etenim (_for_ eciam) S 928 est
(_for_ et) 936 semine 937 pacis (_for_ piscis) 955 ubi
(_for_ sibi) S
LIB. VI. 54 renuere 132 ipsa 133 locuples 212 ocius
(_for_ cicius) 245 ibi (_for_ sibi) 319 Sæpe (_for_
Sepius) 405 in ‘æque’ (_for_ ineque) 411 descendat
476 quem S 488 Cesset 530 populus, væ (_for_ populus
ve) 548 ipse D 646 ruat 679 legit S 746 Num
755 Nam (_for_ Dum) 789 majus (_for_ inanis) 816 Credo
971 Rex (_for_ Pax) 1016 gemmes 1033 quid (_for_ quod)
1041 Hæc (_for_ Hic) 1132 fide (_for_ fine) 1156 minuat
D 1171* detangere (_for_ te tangere) D 1172* hæc
D 1182* foras D 1197 veteris (_for_ verteris)
1210* Subditus 1224 _om._ carnem 1225* decens (_for_
docens) D lega 1241 Hic (_for_ Dic) 1251 defunctus D
1260 ab hoc 1281 est ille pius (_for_ ille pius est)
1327 nunc moritur
LIB. VII. 9 magnatum S 93 magnates D 96 nummis (_for_
minimis) 109 Antea 149 sic sunt 185 Virtutem
290 Aucta (_for_ Acta) 339 honorifica 350 credit S
409 servus cap. vi. _heading_ l. 4 sinit (_for_ sunt)
555 vultum 562 ff. Quid (_for_ Quod) 601 quam 602 adesse
(_for_ ad esse) 635 Præceptum (_for_ Preceptumque)
665 agnoscit 707 enim (_for_ eum) cap. ix. _heading om._
postea 736 decus (_for_ pecus) 750 ille (_for_ ipse)
cap. xi. _heading_ dicitur (_for_ loquitur) 798 capit (_for_
rapit) 828 etiam (_for_ iam) 903 _om._ nil 918 est
(_for_ et) S 977 benefecit D 1043 frigor 1129 qui non
jussa Dei servat 1178 eam 1278 opes S 1310 Vix (_for_
Vis) 1369 digna 1454 hic (_for_ hinc) 1474 bona
1479* ipsa
It will be seen that most of the above variants are due to mere
oversight. It is surprising, however, that so many mistakes
seriously affecting sense and metre should have escaped the
correction of the editor.
In the matter of spelling the variation is considerable, but all that
need be said is that the Roxburghe editor preferred the classical to
the medieval forms. On the other hand it is to be regretted that no
attempt is made by him to mark the paragraph divisions of the original.
A minor inconvenience, which is felt by all readers who have to refer
to the Roxburghe text, arises from the fact that the book-numbering is
not set at the head of the page.
In the case of the _Cronica Tripertita_ we have the text printed by
Wright in the Rolls Series as well as that of the Roxburghe edition.
The latter is from the All Souls MS., while the former professes to
be based upon the Cotton MS., so that the two texts ought to be quite
independent. As a matter of fact, however, several of the mistakes or
misprints of the Roxburghe text are reproduced in the Rolls edition,
which was printed probably from a copy of the Roxburghe text collated
with the Cotton MS.
The following are the variations of the Roxburghe text from that of the
present edition.
_Introduction, margin_ 2 prosequi (_for_ persequi).
I. 1 _om._ et per (_for_ fer) 7 bene non 15 consilium
sibi 71 fraudis 93 cum (_for_ dum) 132 hos (_for_ os)
161 _marg. om._ qui S 173 ausam S 182 Sic (_for_ Hic)
199 clientem 204 cepit (_for_ cessat) 209 Regem (_for_ Legem)
219 Qui est (_for_ est qui)
II. 9 sociatus (_for_ associatus) 61 manu tentum 85 _marg._
quia (_for_ qui) 114 de pondere 156 sepulchrum 180 maledictum
220 Transulit 223 omne scelus 237 ipsum 266 Pontifice
271 malefecit 315 _marg._ derisu 330 _marg._ Consulat
333 adeo.
III. 109 prius S 131 viles S 177 conjunctus 188 sceleris
235 mane 239 nunc S 242 freta (_for_ fata) 250 ponere
263 Exilia 285 _marg._ præter (_for_ personaliter) 287 Nec
288 stanno 333 conquescat 341 auget 372 eo (_for_ et)
422 _marg._ fidelissime 428 prius S
Of the above errors several, as we have said, are reproduced by
Wright with no authority from his MS.[74], but otherwise his text is
a tolerably correct representation of that given by the Cotton MS.,
and the same may be said with regard to the other poems _Carmen super
multiplici Viciorum Pestilencia_, _De Lucis Scrutinio_[75], &c.
THE PRESENT EDITION. The text is in the main that of S, which is
supplemented, where it is defective, by C. The Cotton MS. is also the
leading authority for those pieces which are not contained in S, as the
four last poems.
For the _Vox Clamantis_ four manuscripts have been collated with S
word for word throughout, viz. CHDL, and two more, viz. GE, have been
collated generally and examined for every doubtful passage. TH₂ have
been carefully examined and taken as authorities for the original text
of some of the revised passages.
As regards the record of the results of these rather extensive
collations, it may be stated generally that all material variations
of C and H from the text of S have been recorded in the critical
notes[76]. The readings of E, D and L have been printed regularly for
those passages in which material variations of other MSS. are recorded,
and in such cases, if they are not mentioned, it may be assumed that
they agree with S; but otherwise they are mentioned only when they seem
to deserve attention. The readings of G are recorded in a large number
of instances, but they must not be assumed _ex silentio_, and those
of T and H₂ are as a rule only given in passages where they have a
different version of the text.
A trifling liberty has been taken with the text of the MSS. in regard
to the position of the conjunction ‘que’ (and). This is frequently
used by our author like ‘et,’ standing at the beginning of a clause or
between the words which it combines, as
‘Sic lecto vigilans meditabar plura, que mentem
Effudi,’
or
‘Cutte que Curre simul rapidi per deuia currunt,’
but it is also very often used in the correct classical manner. The
MSS. make no distinction between these two uses, but sometimes join the
conjunction to the preceding word and sometimes separate it, apparently
in a quite arbitrary manner. For the sake of clearness the conjunction
is separated in this edition regularly when the sense requires that it
should be taken independently of the preceding word, and the variations
of the manuscripts with regard to this are not recorded.
Again, some freedom has been used in the matter of capital letters,
which have been supplied, where they were wanting, in the case of
proper names and at the beginning of sentences.
The spelling is in every particular the same as that of the MS.
The practice of altering the medieval orthography, which is fairly
consistent and intelligible, so as to make it accord with classical
or conventional usage, has little or nothing to be said for it, and
conceals the evidence which the forms of spelling might give with
regard to the prevalent pronunciation.
The principal differences in our text from the classical
orthography are as follows:
_e_ regularly for the diphthongs _ae_, _oe_.
_i_ for _e_ in _periunt_, _rediat_, _nequio_, &c. (but also
_pereunt_, &c.).
_y_ for _i_ in _ymus_, _ymago_, &c.
_i_ for _y_, e.g. _mirrha_, _ciclus_, _limpha_.
_v_ for _u_ or _v_ regularly as initial letter of words,
elsewhere _u_.
vowels doubled in _hii_, _hee_, _hiis_ (monosyllables).
_u_ for _uu_ after _q_, e.g. _equs_, _iniqus_, _sequntur_.
initial _h_ omitted in _ara_ (hăra), _edus_ (haedus), _ortus_,
_yemps_, &c.
initial _h_ added in _habundat_, _heremus_, _Herebus_, &c.
_ch_ for _h_ in _michi_, _nichil_.
_ch_ for _c_ in _archa_, _archanum_, _inchola_, _choruscat_, &c.
(but _Cristus_, when fully written, for ‘Christus’).
_ci_ for _ti_ regularly before a vowel e.g. _accio_, _alcius_,
_cercius_, _distinccio_, _gracia_, _sentencia_, _vicium_.
_c_ for _s_ or _sc_, in _ancer_, _cerpo_, _ceptrum_, _rocidus_,
_Cilla_.
_s_ for _c_ or _sc_, in _secus_ (occasionally for ‘caecus’),
_sintilla_, &c.
single for double consonants in _apropriat_, _suplet_,
_agredior_, _resurexit_, &c. (also _appropriat_, &c.).
_ph_ for _f_ in _scropha_, _nephas_, _nephandus_, _prophanus_,
&c.
_p_ inserted in _dampnum_, _sompnus_, &c.
_set_ usually in the best MSS. for _sed_ (conjunction), but in
the Cotton MS. usually ‘sed.’
It has been thought better to print the elegiac couplet without
indentation for the pentameter, partly because that is the regular
usage in the MSS. and must of course have been the practice of the
author, but still more in order to mark more clearly the division into
paragraphs, to which the author evidently attached some importance.
Spaces of varying width are used to show the larger divisions. It is
impossible that there should not be some errors in the printed text,
but the editor can at least claim to have taken great pains to ensure
correctness, and all the proof-sheets have been carefully compared with
the text of the manuscripts.
For convenience of reference the lines are numbered as in the Roxburghe
edition, though perhaps it would be more satisfactory to combine the
prologues, as regards numbering, with the books to which they belong.
In regard to the Notes there are no doubt many deficiencies. The chief
objects aimed at have been to explain difficulties of language, to
illustrate the matter or the style by reference to the works of the
author in French and in English, and to trace as far as possible the
origin of those parts of his work which are borrowed. In addition to
this, the historical record contained in the _Cronica Tripertita_ has
been carefully compared with the evidence given by others with regard
to the events described, and possibly this part of the editor’s work,
being based entirely upon the original authorities, may be thought to
have some small value as a contribution to the history of a singularly
perplexing political situation.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] 2nd Series, vol. ii. pp. 103-117.
[2] _Script. Brit._ i. 414.
[3] _Itin._ vi. 55. From Foss, _Tabulae Curiales_, it would seem that
there was no judge named Gower in the 14th century.
[4] _Script. Brit._ i. 414. This statement also appears as a later
addition in the manuscript.
[5] ‘Gower’ appears in Tottil’s publication of the Year-books (1585)
both in 29 and 30 Ed. III, e.g. 29 Ed. III, Easter term, ff. 20, 27,
33, 46, and 30 Ed. III, Michaelmas term, ff. 16, 18, 20 v^o. He appears
usually as counsel, but on some occasions he speaks apparently as a
judge. The Year-books of the succeeding years, 31-36 Ed. III, have not
been published.
[6] These arms appear also in the Glasgow MS. of the _Vox Clamantis_.
[7] _Worthies_, ed. 1662, pt. 3, p. 207.
[8] e.g. Winstanley, Jacob, Cibber and others.
[9] _Ancient Funeral Monuments_, p. 270. This Sir Rob. Gower had
property in Suffolk, as we shall see, but the fact that his tomb was at
Brabourne shows that he resided in Kent. The arms which were upon his
tomb are pictured (without colours) in MS. Harl. 3917, f. 77.
[10] _Rot. Pat._ dated Nov. 27, 1377.
[11] _Rot. Claus._ 4 Ric. II. m. 15 d.
[12] _Rot. Pat._ dated Dec. 23, 1385.
[13] _Rot. Pat._ dated Aug. 12, Dec. 23, 1386.
[14] It may here be noted that the poet apparently pronounced his
name ‘Gowér,’ in two syllables with accent on the second, as in the
Dedication to the _Balades_, i. 3, ‘Vostre Gower, q’est trestout vos
soubgitz.’ The final syllable bears the rhyme in two passages of
the _Confessio Amantis_ (viii. 2320, 2908), rhyming with the latter
syllables of ‘pouer’ and ‘reposer’. (The rhyme in viii. 2320, ‘Gower:
pouer,’ is not a dissyllabic one, as is assumed in the _Dict. of Nat.
Biogr._ and elsewhere, but of the final syllables only.) In the _Praise
of Peace_, 373, ‘I, Gower, which am al the liege man,’ an almost
literal translation of the French above quoted, the accent is thrown
rather on the first syllable.
[15] See _Retrospective Review_, 2nd Series, vol. ii, pp. 103-117
(1828). Sir H. Nicolas cites the Close Rolls always at second hand
and the _Inquisitiones Post Mortem_ only from the Calendar. Hence the
purport of the documents is sometimes incorrectly or insufficiently
given by him. In the statement here following every document is cited
from the original, and the inaccuracies of previous writers are
corrected, but for the most part silently.
[16] _Inquis. Post Mortem_, &c. 39 Ed. III. 36 (2nd number). This is in
fact an ‘Inquisitio ad quod damnum.’ The two classes of Inquisitions
are given without distinction in the Calendar, and the fact leads to
such statements as that ‘John Gower died seized of half the manor of
Aldyngton, 39 Ed. III,’ or ‘John Gower died seized of the manor of
Kentwell, 42 Ed. III.’
[17] _Rot. Orig._ 39 Ed. III. 27.
[18] _Rot. Claus._ 39 Ed. III. m. 21 d.
[19] _Rot. Claus._ 39 Ed. III. m. 21 d.
[20] _Harl. Charters_, 56 G. 42. See also _Rot. Orig._ 42 Ed. III. 33
and _Harl. Charters_, 56 G. 41.
[21] _Harl. Charters_, 50 I. 13.
[22] See _Rot. Orig._ 23 Ed. III. 22, 40 Ed. III. 10, 20, _Inquis. Post
Mortem_, 40 Ed. III. 13, _Rot. Claus._ 40 Ed. III. m. 21.
[23] _Harl. Charters_, 50 I. 14. The deed is given in full by Nicolas
in the _Retrospective Review_.
[24] _Rot. Orig._ 48 Ed. III. 31.
[25] The tinctures are not indicated either upon the drawing of Sir R.
Gower’s coat of arms in MS. Harl. 3917 or on the seal, but the coat
seems to be the same, three leopards’ faces upon a chevron. The seal
has a diaper pattern on the shield that bears the chevron, but this is
probably only ornamental.
[26] ‘Et dicunt quod post predictum feoffamentum, factum predicto
Iohanni Gower, dictus Willelmus filius Willelmi continue morabatur in
comitiva Ricardi de Hurst et eiusdem Iohannis Gower apud Cantuar, et
alibi usque ad festum Sancti Michaelis ultimo preteritum, et per totum
tempus predictum idem Willelmus fil. Will. ibidem per ipsos deductus
fuit et consiliatus ad alienationem de terris et tenementis suis
faciendam.’ _Rot. Parl._ ii. 292.
[27] _Rot. Claus._ 43 Ed. III. m. 30.
[28] _Rot. Claus._ 42 Ed. III. m. 13 d.
[29] _English Writers_, vol. iv. pp. 150 ff.
[30] See _Calendar of Post Mortem Inquisitions_, vol. ii. pp. 300, 302.
[31] So also the deeds of 1 Ric. II releasing lands to Sir J. Frebody
and John Gower (Hasted’s _History of Kent_, iii. 425), and of 4 Ric. II
in which Isabella daughter of Walter de Huntyngfeld gives up to John
Gower and John Bowland all her rights in the parishes of Throwley and
Stalesfield, Kent (_Rot. Claus._ 4 Ric. II. m. 15 d), and again another
in which the same lady remits to John Gower all actions, plaints, &c.,
which may have arisen between them (_Rot. Claus._ 8 Ric. II. m. 5 d).
[32] _Rot. Franc._ 1 Ric. II. pt. 2, m. 6.
[33] See also Sir N. Harris Nicolas, _Life of Chaucer_, pp. 27, 125.
[34] _Rot. Claus._ 6 Ric. II. m. 27 d, and 24 d.
[35] _Rot. Claus._ 6 Ric. II. pt. 1, m. 23 d.
[36] _Rot. Claus._ 7 Ric. II. m. 17 d.
[37] _Duchy of Lancaster, Miscellanea_, Bundle X, No. 43 (now in the
Record Office).
[38] ‘Liverez a Richard Dancastre pour un Coler a luy doné par
monseigneur le Conte de Derby par cause d’une autre Coler doné par
monditseigneur a un Esquier John Gower, vynt et sys soldz oyt deniers.’
[39] _Duchy of Lancaster, Household Accounts_, 17 Ric. II (July to
Feb.).
[40] _Register of William of Wykeham_, ii. f. 299b. The record was
kindly verified for me by the Registrar of the diocese of Winchester.
The expression used about the place is ‘in Oratorio ipsius Iohannis
Gower infra hospicium suum’ (not ‘cum’ as previously printed) ‘in
Prioratu Beate Marie de Overee in Southwerke predicta situatum.’ It
should be noted that ‘infra’ in these documents means not ‘below,’ as
translated by Prof. Morley, but ‘within.’ So also in Gower’s will.
[41] Lambeth Library, _Register of Abp. Arundel_, ff. 256-7.
[42] The remark of Nicolas about the omission of Kentwell from the
will is hardly appropriate. Even if Gower the poet were identical with
the John Gower who possessed Kentwell, this manor could not have been
mentioned in his will, because it was disposed of absolutely to Sir J.
Cobham in the year 1373. Hence there is no reason to conclude from this
that there was other landed property besides that which is dealt with
by the will.
[43] I am indebted for some of the facts to Canon Thompson of St.
Saviour’s, Southwark, who has been kind enough to answer several
questions which I addressed to him.
[44] The features are quite different, it seems to me, from those
represented in the Cotton and Glasgow MSS., and I think it more likely
that the latter give us a true contemporary portrait. Gower certainly
died in advanced age, yet the effigy on his tomb shows us a man in the
flower of life. This then is either an ideal representation or must
have been executed from rather distant memory, whereas the miniatures
in the MSS., which closely resemble each other, were probably from
life, and also preserve their original colouring. The miniatures in
MSS. of the _Confessio Amantis_, which represent the Confession, show
the penitent usually as a conventional young lover. The picture in the
Fairfax MS. is too much damaged to give us much guidance, but it does
not seem to be a portrait, in spite of the collar of SS added later.
The miniature in MS. Bodley 902, however, represents an aged man, while
that of the Cambridge MS. Mm. 2. 21 rather recalls the effigy on the
tomb and may have been suggested by it.
[45] We may note that the effigy of Sir Robert Gower in brass above his
tomb in Brabourne church is represented as having a similar chaplet
round his helmet. See the drawing in MS. Harl. 3917, f. 77.
[46] So I read them. They are given by Gough and others as ‘merci ihi.’
[47] Perhaps rather 1207 or 1208.
[48] _Script. Brit._ i. 415: so also _Ant. Coll._ iv. 79, where the
three books are mentioned. The statement that the chaplet was partly of
ivy must be a mistake, as is pointed out by Stow and others.
[49] Read rather ‘En toy qu’es fitz de dieu le pere.’
[50] Read ‘O bon Jesu, fai ta mercy’ and in the second line ‘dont le
corps gist cy.’
[51] _Survey of London_, p. 450 (ed. 1633). In the margin there is
the note, ‘John Gower no knight, neither had he any garland of ivy
and roses, but a chaplet of four roses only,’ referring to Bale, who
repeats Leland’s description.
[52] p. 326 (ed. 1615). Stow does not say that the inscription
‘Armigeri scutum,’ &c.; was defaced in his time.
[53] vol. ii. p. 542.
[54] vol. v. pp. 202-4. The description is no doubt from Aubrey.
[55] On this subject the reader may be referred to Selden, _Titles of
Honour_, p. 835 f. (ed. 1631).
[56] _Antiquities of St. Saviour’s, Southwark_, 1765.
[57] vol. ii. p. 24.
[58] _Priory Church of St. Mary Overie_, 1881.
[59] Canon Thompson writes to me, ‘The old sexton used to show visitors
a bone, which he said was taken from the tomb in 1832. I tried to have
this buried in the tomb on the occasion of the last removal, but I was
told it had disappeared.’
[60] vol. ii. p. 91.
[61] _Bp. Braybrooke’s Register_, f. 84.
[62] _Braybrooke Register_, f. 151.
[63] The date of the resignation by John Gower of the rectory of Great
Braxted is nearly a year earlier than the marriage of Gower the poet.
[64] I do not know on what authority Rendle states that ‘His apartment
seems to have been in what was afterwards known as Montague Close,
between the church of St. Mary Overey and the river,’ _Old Southwark_,
p. 182.
[65] At the same time I am disposed to attach some weight to the
expression in _Mir._ 21774, where the author says that some may blame
him for handling sacred subjects, because he is no ‘clerk,’
‘Ainz ai vestu la raye manche.’
This may possibly mean only to indicate the dress of a layman, but on
the other hand it seems clear that some lawyers, perhaps especially
the ‘apprenticii ad legem,’ were distinguished by stripes upon their
sleeves; see for example the painting reproduced in Pulling’s _Order of
the Coif_ (ed. 1897); and serjeants-at-law are referred to in _Piers
Plowman_, A text, Pass. iii. 277, as wearing a ‘ray robe with rich
pelure.’ We must admit, therefore, the possibility that Gower was bred
to the law, though he may not have practised it for a living.
[66] The Lincoln MS. has the same feature, but it is evidently copied
from Laud 719.
[67] There seems also to have been an alternative numbering, which
proceeded on the principle of making five books, beginning with the
third, the second being treated as a general prologue to the whole
poem. In connexion with this we may take the special invocation of
divine assistance in the prologue of the third book, which ends with
the couplet,
‘His tibi libatis nouus intro nauta profundum,
Sacrum pneuma rogans vt mea vela regas.’
[68] Fuller’s spirited translation of these lines is well known, but
may here be quoted again:
‘Tom comes thereat, when called by Wat, and Simm as forward we find,
Bet calls as quick to Gibb and to Hykk, that neither would tarry
behind.
Gibb, a good whelp of that litter, doth help mad Coll more mischief
to do,
And Will he does vow, the time is come now, he’ll join in their
company too.
Davie complains, whiles Grigg gets the gains, and Hobb with them
does partake,
Lorkin aloud in the midst of the crowd conceiveth as deep is his
stake.
Hudde doth spoil whom Judde doth foil, and Tebb lends his helping
hand,
But Jack the mad patch men and houses does snatch, and kills all
at his command.’
_Church History_, Book iv. (p. 139).
[69] In the first version, ‘Complaints are heard now of the injustice
of the high court: flatterers have power over it, and those who speak
the truth are not permitted to come near to the king’s side. The boy
himself is blameless, but his councillors are in fault. If the king
were of mature age, he would redress the balance of justice, but he
is too young as yet to be held responsible for choice of advisers: it
is not from the boy but from his elders that the evil springs which
overruns the world.’
[70] In the first version as follows, ‘O king of heaven, who didst
create all things, I pray thee preserve my young king, and let him live
long and see good days. O king, mayest thou ever hold thy sceptre with
honour and triumph, as Augustus did at Rome. May he who gave thee the
power confirm it to thee in the future.
For the glory of thy rule I have written these lines with humble
heart. O flower of boyhood, according to thy worthiness I wish thee
prosperity.’
[71] In the first version, ‘I am myself the worst of sinners, but may
God grant me relief by his Spirit.’
[72] Communicated to me by Miss Bateson.
[73] It is even the case in one instance (i. 846) that a blank is left
in the line for a word omitted in D which might have been supplied by
reference to any other MS. which contained the passage. So difficult
was communication between Oxford and London in those days.
[74] e.g. i. 209 Regem 219 Qui est ii. 9 sociatus 114 de pondere
266 Pontifice.
[75] A few errors may be noted in the poem _De Lucis Scrutinio_, viz.
l. 15 manifestus 36 oculis 66 similatam 89 Ominis (_for_ O nimis): also
in ‘O deus immense,’ l. 28 se (_for_ te) 104 sub (_for_ sue).
[76] Trifling differences of spelling are as a rule not recorded.
Examples of such variations are the following in C: i. 1 ut 11 uidet
23 choruschat 120 talamum 137 sydera 139 themone 141 &c. sed (_for_
set) 196 &c. amodo 234 prohdolor 311 Immundos 586 Egiptus 1056 Symonis
1219 Ocupat 1295 suppremis 1505 loquturus 1514 Obstetit 1755 opprobrium
1832 littora 1947 litora 2094 patiens ii. _Prol._ 11 etiam ii. 57 fatie
261 Moise 494 synagoga iii. 291 redditus, &c. Variation in the use of
capital letters or in regard to the separation of ‘que,’ ‘ve,’ &c. from
the words which they follow is usually not recorded. The spelling of H
and G is almost identical with that of S.
EPISTOLA[77]
=Hanc Epistolam subscriptam corde deuoto misit senex et cecus Iohannes
Gower Reuerendissimo in Cristo Patri ac domino suo precipuo, domino
Thome de Arundell, Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo, tocius Anglie Primati et
apostolice sedis legato. Cuius statum ad ecclesie sue regimen dirigat
et feliciter conseruet filius virginis gloriose, dominus noster Ihesus
Cristus, qui cum deo patre et spiritu sancto viuit et regnat deus per
omnia secula seculorum. Amen.=
Successor Thome, Thomas, humilem tibi do me,
Hunc et presentem librum tibi scribo sequentem:
Q~uod~ tibi presento ~scriptum~[78] retinere memento,
Vt contempletur super hoc quo ~mens stimuletur~.
Curia diuisa que Rome stat modo visa,
Dum se peruertit, in luctum gaudia vertit:
Et quia lex Cristi dolet isto tempore tristi,
Hoc ad ~plangendum~ librum tibi mitto legendum.
~Set tu, diuine qui lumen habes medicine,~
~Gaudeat vt tristis, confer medicamen in istis:~ 10
~Dummodo lux cessit, alibique fides tenebrescit~,
Tu noster Phebus nostris da lumina rebus,
Et quod splendescas, virtute tuaque calescas,
Hoc magis ad lumen tibi scriptum dono volumen.
~In speculo~ tali de pectore iudiciali
Si videas plane, puto non erit illud inane.
Cecus ego ~mere~, nequio licet acta videre,
~Te tamen~ in mente ~memorabor~ corde vidente.
Corpore defectus, quamuis michi curua ~sen~ectus
~Torquet, adhuc mentem studio sinit esse manentem~, 20
Et sic cum Cristo persto studiosus in isto,
Quo mundi gesta tibi scribam iam manifesta.
Hinc, pater, exoro, scripturis dumque laboro,
Ad requiem ~mentis animam disp~one studentis;
Semper speraui, que patrem te semper amaui,
~Quo michi finalis tua gracia sit specialis.~
~Nunc quia diuisus meus est a corpore visus,~
~Lux tua que lucet anime vestigia ducet,~
~Corpus et egrotum, vetus et miserabile totum,~
~Ne conturbetur, te defensore iuuetur;~ 30
~Et sic viuentem custos simul et morientem~
~Suscipe me cecum tua per suffragia tecum.~
~Lux tua morosa de stirpe micans generosa~
~Condita sub cinere non debet in orbe latere.~
Claret Arundella quasi Sol de luce nouella,
Que te produxit, que te prius vbere succit.
Es quia totus Mas vocitaris origine Thomas,
Vnde deo totus sis ab omni labe remotus;
Et sic prelatus nunc Cristi lege sacratus
Legem conseruas, qua te sine labe reseruas. 40
Stat modo secura tua ~lux~, sine crimine pura,
~Claraque lucescit, quod eam nil turpe repressit:~
Anglia letetur, ~lumen quia tale meretur~,
Quo bene viuentes tua sint exempla sequentes.
Per te succedet amor omnis, et ira recedet,
Subque tua cura sunt prospera cuncta futura:
Et quia sic creuit tua lux, terramque repleuit,
Det deus vt talis tibi lux sit perpetualis.
Hec Gower querit, qui tuus est et erit.
FOOTNOTES:
[77] _This Epistle is found in the All Souls_ MS. _only._
[78] _Words written over erasure in the_ MS. _are printed in spaced
type._
VOX CLAMANTIS[79]
In huius opusculi principio intendit compositor describere qualiter
seruiles rustici impetuose contra ingenuos et nobiles regni
insurrexerunt. Et quia res huiusmodi velut[80] monstrum detestabilis
fuit et horribilis, fingit[81] se per sompnium vidisse diuersas vulgi
turmas in diuersas ~species bestiarum~ domesticarum transmutatas: dicit
tamen quod ille bestie domestice, a sua deuiantes natura, crudelitates
ferarum sibi presumpserunt. De causis vero, ex quibus inter homines
talia contingunt enormia, tractat vlterius secundum distincciones
libelli istius, qui in septem diuiditur partes, prout inferius locis
suis euidencius apparebit.
=Sequitur prologus.=
=Capitula libri Primi.=
Cap^m. i. Hic declarat in primis sub cuius Regis imperio, in
quibus eciam[82] mense et anno, ista sibi accidencia, cuius
tenor subsequitur, contingebat. Commendat insuper, secundum
illud quod esse solebat, fertilitatem terre illius vbi ipse tunc
fuerat, in qua, vt dicit, omnium quasi rerum delicie pariter
conveniunt, et loquitur vlterius de amenitate temporis, necnon et
de diei serenitate, que tunc tamen[83] sompnium nimis horribile
precedebant.
Cap^m. ii. Hic incipit sompnium, vbi quodam die Martis dicit
se varias vulgi turmas vidisse, quarum primam in similitudinem
asinorum mutari subito speculabatur.
Cap^m. iii. Hic dicit se per sompnium quandam vulgi turmam in
boues vidisse mutatam.
Cap^m. iiii. Hic dicit se per sompnium quandam vulgi turmam in
porcos vidisse mutatam.
Cap^m. v. Hic dicit se per sompnium quandam vulgi turmam in canes
vidisse mutatam.
Cap^m. vi. Hic dicit se per sompnium quandam vulgi turmam in
murelegos et vulpes vidisse mutatam: dicit murelegos vt seruos
domesticos; dicit vulpes, quia fures ruptis vbique Gaiolis liberi
tunc eos comitabantur.[84]
Cap^m. vii. Hic dicit se per sompnium quandam vulgi turmam in
aues domesticas vidisse mutatam, quibus dicit ~quod~ bubones quasi
predones commixti associebantur.[85]
Cap^m. viii. Hic dicit se per sompnium quandam vulgi turmam in
muscas et ranas vidisse mutatam.
Cap^m. ix. Hic dicit se per sompnium vidisse quod, quando omnes
predicte furie in vnum extiterant congregate, quidam Graculus
auis, Anglice Gay,[86] qui vulgariter vocatur Watte, presumpsit
sibi statum regiminis aliorum, et in rei veritate ille Watte fuit
dux eorum.
Cap^m. x. Hic dicit se per sompnium vidisse progenies Chaym
maledictas vna cum multitudine seruorum nuper Regis Vluxis, quos
Circes in bestias mutauit, furiis supradictis associari.
Cap^m. xi. Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii qualiter audiuit
nomina et eorum voces diuersas et horribiles. Dicit eciam de
Iohanne Balle presbitero, qui eos ad omne scelus instigabat, et
quasi propheta inter eos reputabatur.
Cap^m. xii. Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii qualiter furie
supradicte precones sibi et tribunos constituebant, et quomodo
senes et iuuenes eorum fuerunt armati.
Cap^m. xiii. Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii qualiter
et quando dicte furie, instigante diabolo, Nouam Troiam, id
est ciuitatem Londoniarum, ingresse sunt: nam sicut Troia
nuper desolata extitit, ita ista Ciuitas protunc quasi omni
consolatione destituta pre dolore penitus ignominiosa permansit.
Cap^m. xiiii. Hic tractat secundum visionem sompnii quasi per
figuram de morte Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi.
Cap^m. xv. Hic tractat vlterius secundum visionem sompnii de
diuersa persecucione et occisione, quas in dicta Ciuitate
quodammodo absque vlla pro tunc defensione furie supradicte,
prodolor! faciebant, et qualiter huiusmodi fama vicinas
perterruit ciuitates.
Cap^m. xvi. Hic plangit secundum visionem sompnii quasi in
propria persona dolores eorum, qui in siluis et speluncis pre
timore temporis illius latitando se munierunt.
Cap^m. xvii. Hic eciam secundum visionem sompnii describit quasi
in persona propria angustias varias que contingebant hiis qui
tunc pro securitate optinenda in Turrim Londoniarum se miserunt,
et de ruptura eiusdem turris; figurat enim dictam turrim similem
esse naui prope voraginem Cille periclitanti.
Cap^m. xviii. Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii qualiter tanta
superhabundauit tempestas quod de certo remedio absque manu
diuina omnes in dicta naui hesitarunt, et deum super hoc precipue
quilibet sexus ingenui deuocius exorabat.
Cap^m. xix. Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii de quadam voce
diuina in excelsis clamante, et quomodo deus placatus tandem
precibus tempestates sedauit, et quomodo quasi in holocaustum pro
delicto occisus fuit ille Graculus, id est Walterus, furiarum
dictarum Capitaneus.
Cap^m. xx. Hic loquitur adhuc de naui visa in sompnis, id est de
mente sua adhuc turbata, vt si ipse mentaliter sompniando, quasi
per nauem variis ventis sine gubernaculo agitatam, omnes mundi
partes pro pace mentis scrutanda inuestigasset, et tandem in
partes Britannie Maioris, vbi raro pax est, dicit se applicuisse.
Dicit eciam qualiter vox in sompnis sibi iniunxit quod ipse
omnino scriberet ea que de mundo in illo scrutinio vidisset et
audisset; et ita terminatur sompnium.
Cap^m. xxi. Hic reddit vigilans gracias deo, qui eum in sompnis a
pelago liberauit.
=Expliciunt Capitula libri primi.=
=Incipiunt Capitula libri Secundi. =
Prologus. Hic dicit quod ipse iam vigilans, secundum vocem quam
in sompnis acceperat, intendit scribere ea que de mundo vidit et
audiuit, et vocat libellum istum Vox Clamantis, quia de voce et
clamore quasi omnium conceptus est; vnde in huius operis auxilium
spiritum sanctum inuocat.
Cap^m. i. Hic dicit, secundum quod de clamore communi audiuit,
qualiter status et ordo mundi precipue in partibus istis
multipliciter in peius variatur, et quomodo vnusquisque super hoc
fortunam accusat.
Cap^m. ii. Hic corripit fortunam et sui euentus inconstanciam
deplangit.
Cap^m. iii. Hic describit fortunam secundum aliquos, qui sortem
fortune dicunt esse et[87] casum.
Cap^m. iiii.[88] Hic tractat vlterius de mutacione fortune
secundum quod dicunt: concludit tamen in fine, quod neque sorte
aut casu, set ex meritis vel demeritis, sunt ea que hominibus
contingunt.
Cap^m. v.[89] Hic dicit secundum scripturas et allegat, qualiter
omnes creature homini iusto seruientes obediunt.
Cap^m. vi. Hic tractat secundum scripturas et allegat, qualiter
omnes creature homini peccatori aduersantes inobediunt.
Cap^m. vii. Hic loquitur de deo summo Creatore, qui est trinus et
vnus, in cuius scientia et disposicione omnia creata reguntur.
Cap^m. viii. Hic loquitur de filio dei incarnato domino nostro
Ihesu Cristo, per quem de malo in bonum reformamur.
Cap^m. ix. Hic dicit quod quilibet debet firmiter credere, nec
vltra quam decet argumenta fidei inuestigare.
Cap^m. x. Hic tractat quod in re sculptili vel conflatili non est
confidendum, nec eciam talia adorari debent, set quod ex illis in
ecclesia visis mens remorsa ad solum deum contemplandum cicius
commoueatur.
Cap^m. xi. Hic dicit quod exquo solus deus omnia creauit, solus
est a creaturis adorandus, et est eciam magne racionis vt ipse
omnia gubernet, et secundum merita et demerita hominum solus in
sua voluntate iudicet.
=Expliciunt Capitula libri secundi.=
=Incipiunt Capitula libri Tercii.=
Prologus. Hic dicit quod, exquo non a fortuna set meritis et
demeritis ea que nos in mundo prospera et aduersa vocamus digno
dei iudicio hominibus contingunt, intendit consequenter scribere
de statu hominum, qualiter se ad presens habent, secundum hoc
quod per sompnium superius dictum vidit et audiuit.
Cap^m. i. Hic tractat qualiter status et ordo mundi in tribus
consistit gradibus: sunt enim, vt dicit, Clerus, Milicies, et
Agricultores, de quorum errore mundi infortunia nobis contingunt.
Vnde pre aliis videndum est de errore Cleri, precipue in ordine
prelatorum, qui potenciores aliis existunt; et primo dicet de
illis qui Cristi scolam dogmatizant et eius contrarium operantur.
Cap^m. ii. Hic loquitur de prelatis illis, qui carnalia
appetentes vltra modum delicate viuunt.
Cap^m. iii. Hic loquitur de prelatis illis, qui lucris terrenis
inhiant, honore prelacie gaudent, et non vt prosint sed vt
presint episcopatum desiderant.
Cap^m. iiii. Hic loquitur de legibus eorum positiuis, que
quamuis ad cultum anime necessarie non sunt, infinitas tamen
constituciones quasi cotidie ad eorum lucrum nobis grauiter
imponunt.[90]
Cap^m. v. Hic loquitur de prelatis illis,[91] qui bona mundi
temporalia possidentes spiritualia omittunt.
Cap^m. vi. Hic loquitur[92] qualiter Cristus pacem suis
discipulis dedit et reliquit: dicit[93] tamen quod modo propter
bona terrena guerras saltem contra Cristianos prelati legibus
suis positiuis instituunt et prosequntur.
Cap^m. vii. Hic loquitur[94] qualiter clerus in amore dei et
proximi deberet pius et paciens existere, et non bellicosus.
Cap^m. viii. Hic tractat eciam[95] qualiter non decet prelatos
ex impaciencia contra populum Cristianum aliqualiter[96] bella
mouere; set tantum ex precibus absque impetu ire omnem deo
adiuuante mundi deuincant maliciam.
Cap^m. ix. Hic tractat quod, sicut non decet dominos temporales
usurpare sibi regimen in spiritualibus, ita nec decet cleri
prelatos attemptare sibi guerras et huiusmodi temporalia, que
mundi superbia et auaricia inducunt.
Cap^m. x. Hic querit quod, exquo prelati scribunt et docent ea
que sunt pacis, quomodo in contrarium ea que sunt belli procurant
et operantur. Ad quam tamen questionem ipse subsequenter
respondet.
Cap^m. xi. Hic loquitur de prelatis illis, qui nomen sanctum
sibi presumunt, apropriant tamen sibi terrena, nec aliis inde
participando ex caritate subueniunt.
Cap^m. xii. Hic loquitur de Simonia prelatorum, et qualiter hii
delicati, dicentes se esse ecclesiam, aliis grauiora imponunt,
et multociens de censura horribili laicos pro modico impetuose
torquent et infestant.
Cap^m. xiii. Hic loquitur qualiter prelatus non solum doctrina
set etiam bonis actibus populo sibi commisso lucere deberet.
Cap^m. xiiii. Hic loquitur qualiter signa Anticristi in Curia
Romana precipue ex auaricia secundum quosdam apparuerunt.
Cap^m. xv. Hic loquitur secundum commune dictum, qualiter[97]
honores et non onera prelacie plures affectant, quo magis in
ecclesia cessant virtutes, et vicia multipliciter accrescunt.
Cap^m. xvi. Postquam dictum est de illis qui errant in statu
prelacie, dicendum est de errore curatorum, qui sub prelatis
constituti, parochiarum curas sub animarum suarum periculo
admittentes, negligenter omittunt: et primo intendit dicere de
curatis illis qui suas curas omittentes ad seruiendum magnatum
curiis adherent.
Cap^m. xvii. Hic loquitur de rectoribus illis, qui ab episcopo
licentiati se fingunt ire scolas, vt sub nomine virtutis vicia
corporalia frequentent.
Cap^m. xviii. Hic loquitur de rectoribus illis, qui in curis
residentes, curas tamen negligentes, venacionibus precipue et
voluptatibus penitus intendunt.
Cap^m. xix. Hic loquitur de rectoribus in curis residentibus, qui
tamen curas animarum omittentes, quasi seculi mercatores singula
de die in diem temporalia ementes et vendentes, mundi huius
diuicias adquirunt.
Cap^m. xx. Postquam dictum est de errore illorum qui in
ecclesia beneficiati existunt, iam dicendum est de presbiteris
stipendiariis; de talibus saltem, qui non propter mundiciam et
ordinis honestatem, set propter mundi ocia gradum presbiteratus
appetunt et assumunt. Et primo dicit de illis qui pro diuinis
celebrandis excessiue se vendunt.
Cap^m. xxi. Hic loquitur de consueta presbiterorum voluptate, et
qualiter hii stipendia plebis ex conuencione sumentes, indeuote
pro mortuis orando non se debite ad suffragia mortuorum exonerant.
Cap^m. xxii. Hic tractat causam, quare accidit quod laici, quasi
iuris amici, luxurie [98]presbiterorum consuetudinem abhorrentes,
eam multociens castigantes grauiter affligunt.
Cap^m. xxiii. Hic scribit contra hoc quod aliqui presbiteri
dicunt, qualiter ipsi in carnis luxuriam committendo non grauius
hominibus laicis deum offendunt.
Cap^m. xxiiii. Hic describit qualiter omnia et singula que
sacerdocii concernunt officium magne virtutis misteria designant.
Et primo dicet de vestibus sacerdotalibus ex vtraque lege ob
diuinam reuerenciam competenter dispositis.
Cap^m. xxv. Hic loquitur qualiter sacrificia de veteri lege
altari debita fuerunt in figura ad exemplum nunc noue legis
presbiterorum: dicit ~vlterius~ qualiter ~eciam ex~ vtraque lege
sacrificantes altari debent esse sine macula.
Cap^m. xxvi. Hic loquitur quod etas sufficiens, priusquam
gradum sacerdocii sibi assumat, in homine requiritur: loquitur
eciam de suorum rasura pilorum, et dicit quod talia in signum
mundicie et sanctitatis specialiter presbiteris conveniunt. Dicit
vlterius quod presbiteri a bonis non debent esse operibus ociosi.
Cap^m. xxvii.[99] Hic loquitur de presbiterorum dignitate spirituali,
et qualiter hii, si bene agant sua officia, plus aliis
proficiunt; sinautem, de suis malis exemplis delinquendi magis
ministrant occasiones.
Cap^m. xxviii. Postquam dixit de errore illorum qui inter
seculares sacerdocii ministerium sibi assumpserunt, intendit
dicere secundum tempus nunc de errore scolarium, qui ecclesie
plantule dicuntur.
Cap^m. xxix. Hic querit causam, que scolarium animos ad ordinem
presbiteratus suscipiendum inducit: tres enim causas precipue
allegat; tractat eciam de quarta causa, que raro ad presens
contingit.
=Expliciunt Capitula libri tercii.=
=Incipiunt Capitula libri Quarti.=
Cap^m. i. Exquo tractauit de errore Cleri, ad quem precipue
nostrarum spectat regimen animarum, iam intendit tractare de
errore virorum Religiosorum. Et primo dicet de Monachis et aliis
bonorum temporalium possessionem optinentibus: ordinis vero
illorum sanctitatem commendans, illos precipue qui contraria
faciunt opera redarguit.
Cap^m. ii. Hic loquitur de Monachis illis, qui contra primi
ordinis statuta abstinencie virtutem linquentes delicacias sibi
corporales multipliciter assumunt.
Cap^m. iii. Hic loquitur qualiter modus[100] et regula, qui a
fundatoribus ordinis primitus fuerant constituti, iam nouiter a
viciorum consuetudine in quampluribus ~subuertuntur~.
Cap^m. iiii. Hic loquitur de Monachis illis, qui contra primitiua
ordinis sui statuta mundi diuicias ad vsus malos, suo nesciente
preposito, apropriare sibi clanculo presumunt.
Cap^m. v. Hic loquitur qualiter monachi extra claustrum vagare
non debent.
Cap^m. vi. Hic loquitur de monachis illis, qui non pro diuino
seruicio, sel magis pro huius mundi honore et voluptate, habitum
sibi religionis assumunt.
Cap^m. vii. Hic loquitur qualiter paciencia vna cum ceteris
virtutibus a quibusdam claustris, viciis supervenientibus, se
transtulerunt.
Cap^m. viii. Hic loquitur quod sicut monachi ita et errantes
canonici a suis sunt excessibus culpandi.
Cap^m. ix. Hic loquitur qualiter religiosi male viuentes omnibus
aliis infelicissimi existunt.
Cap^m. x. Hic loquitur qualiter vnusquisque qui religionis
ingredi voluerit professionem, cuncta mundi vicia penitus
abnegare et anime virtutes adquirere et obseruare tenetur.
Cap^m. xi. Hic loquitur qualiter religiosi consorcia mulierum
specialiter euitare debent.
Cap^m. xii. Hic tractat quasi sub compendio super hiis que in
religionis professione secundum fundatorum sancciones districcius
obseruanda finaliter existunt.
Cap^m. xiii. Hic loquitur vlterius de mulieribus illis, que
in habitu Moniali sub sacre religionis velo professionem
suscipientes ordinis sui continenciam non obseruant.
Cap^m. xiiii. Hic loquitur qualiter ordinarii ex sua visitacione,
qua mulieres religione velatas se dicunt corrigere, ipsas
multociens efficiunt deteriores.
Cap^m. xv.[101] Hic loquitur de castitatis commendacione, que
maxime in religione mulieribus convenit professis.
Cap^m. xvi. Postquam tractauit de illis qui in religione
possessoria sui ordinis professionem offendunt, dicendum est iam
de illis qui errant in ordine fratrum mendicancium; et primo
dicet de hiis qui sub ficte paupertatis vmbra terrena lucra
conspirantes quasi tocius mundi dominium subiugarunt.
Cap^m. xvii. Hic loquitur de fratribus illis, qui per ypocrisim
predicando populi peccata publice redarguentes, blandiciis tamen
et voluptatibus clanculo deseruiunt.
Cap^m. xviii. Hic loquitur de fratribus illis, qui propter huius
mundi famam, et quod ipsi eciam, quasi ab ordinis sui iugo
exempti, ad confessiones audiendas digniores efficiantur, summas
in studio scole cathedras affectant.
Cap^m. xix. Hic loquitur qualiter isti fratres inordinate
viuentes ad ecclesie Cristi regimen non sunt aliqualiter
necessarii.
Cap^m. xx. Hic loquitur qualiter isti fratres inordinate
viuentes[102] ad commune bonum vtiles aliqualiter[103] non
existunt.
Cap^m. xxi. Hic loquitur de fratribus illis, qui incautos pueros
etatis discrecionem non habentes in sui ordinis professionem
attractando colloquiis blandis multipliciter illaqueant.
Cap^m. xxii. Hic loquitur de Apostazia fratrum ordinis
mendicancium, precipue de his qui sub ficta ypocrisis
simplicitate quasi vniuersorum Curias magnatum subuertunt, et
inestimabiles suis ficticiis sepissime causant errores.
Cap^m. xxiii. Hic loquitur qualiter isti fratres mendicantes
mundum circuiendo[104] amplioresque querendo delicias de loco in
locum cum ocio se transferunt. Loquitur eciam de superfluis eorum
edificiis, que quasi ab huius seculi potencioribus vltra modum
delicate construuntur.
Cap^m. xxiiii. Hic loquitur qualiter, non solum in ordine fratrum
mendicancium set eciam in singulis cleri gradibus, ea que
virtutis esse solebant a viciis quasi generaliter subuertuntur.
Dicit tamen quod secundum quasdam Burnelli constituciones istis
precipue diebus modus et regula specialius obseruantur.
=Expliciunt Capitula libri quarti.=
=Incipiunt Capitula libri Quinti.=
Cap^m. i. Postquam dictum est de illis qui in statu Cleri regere
spiritualia deberent, dicendum est iam de hiis qui in statu
Milicie temporalia defendere et supportare tenentur. Et primo
distinguit causas, ex quibus ordo Militaris cepit originem.
Cap^m. ii. Hic loquitur qualiter miles, qui in mulieris amorem
exardescens ex concupiscencia armorum se implicat exercicio,
vere laudis honorem ob hoc nullatenus meretur. Describit eciam
infirmitates amoris illius, cuius passiones variis adinuicem
motibus maxime contrariantur.
Cap^m. iii. Hic describit formam mulieris speciose, ex cuius
concupiscencia illaqueata militum corda racionis iudicio
sepissime destituuntur.
Cap^m. iiii. Hic loquitur quod, vbi in milite mulierum dominatur
amoris voluptas, omnem in eo vere probitatis miliciam extinguit.
Cap^m. v. Hic loquitur de militibus illis, quorum vnus propter
mulieris amorem, alter propter inanem mundi famam, armorum
labores exercet; finis tamen vtriusque absque diuine laudis
merito vacuus pertransit.
Cap^m. vi. Hic loquitur interim de commendacione mulieris
bone, cuius condicionis virtus approbata omnes mundi delicias
transcendit: loquitur eciam de muliere mala, cuius cautelis vix
sapiens resistit.
Cap^m. vii. Hic loquitur qualiter milicia bene disposita
omnibus aliis gradibus quibuscumque commune securitatis prestat
emolumentum.
Cap^m. viii.[105] Hic loquitur qualiter milicie improbitas alios
gradus quoscumque sua ledit importunitate et offendit.
Cap^m. ix. Postquam dictum est de illis qui in statu militari
rem publicam[106] seruare debent illesam, dicendum est iam de
istis qui ad cibos et potus pro generis humani sustentacione
perquirendos agriculture labores subire tenentur.
Cap^m. x.[107] Hic loquitur vlterius de diuersis vulgi
laborariis, qui sub aliorum regimine conducti, variis debent pro
bono communi operibus subiugari.
Cap^m. xi. Quia varias rerum proprietates vsui humano necessarias
nulla de se prouincia sola parturit vniuersas, inter alios mundi
coadiutores Ciuium Mercatores instituuntur, per quos singularum
bona regionum alternatim communicantur, de quorum iam actibus
scribere consequenter intendit. Et primo dicit quod in mutuo
conciuium amore policia magis gaudet, quam omnium malorum radix
auaricia ad presens, prodolor! extirpare presumpsit.
Cap^m. xii. Hic loquitur de duabus auaricie filiabus, scilicet
vsura et fraude, que in ciuitate orientes ad ciuium negociaciones
secretum prestant obsequium. Set primo dicet de condicione vsure,
que vrbis potencioribus sua iura specialius ministrat.
Cap^m. xiii. Postquam dixit de potencia vsure, iam de fraudis
subtilitate dicere intendit, que de communi consilio quasi
omnibus et singulis in emendo et vendendo ea que sunt agenda
procurat et subtiliter disponit.
Cap^m. xiiii. Hic loquitur vlterius quomodo fraus singula
artificia necnon et vrbis victualia vbicumque sua subtili
diposicione gubernat.
Cap^m. xv. Hic loquitur de Ciue illo maliuolo et impetuoso, qui
Maioris ministerium sibi adoptans in conciues suam accendit
maliciam, quo magis sanum ciuitatis regimen sua importunitate
perturbat et extinguit.
Cap^m. xvi. Hic loquitur eciam de ciue illo, qui linguosus et
Susurro inter conciues seminator discordiarum existit. Loquitur
de variis eciam periculis occasione male lingue contingentibus.
=Expliciunt Capitula libri quinti.=
=Incipiunt Capitula libri Sexti.=
Cap^m. i. Exquo de errore in singulis temporalium gradibus
existente tractatum est, iam quia vnumquemque sub legis iusticia
gubernari oportet, tractare vlterius intendit de illis qui
iuris ministri dicuntur, quamuis tamen ipsi omnem suis cautelis
iusticiam confundunt, et propter mundi lucrum multipliciter
eneruant.[108] Set primo dicet de illis qui magis practicam cum
fallaciis in iuris confusionem exercent.
Cap^m. ii. Hic loquitur de causidicis et aduocatis illis,
qui vicinum populum depredantes, ex bonisque alienis ditati,
largissimas sibi possessiones adquirunt: de quibus tamen, vt
dicitur, vix gaudet tercius heres.
Cap^m. iii. Hic loquitur de causidicis et Aduocatis illis, qui
quanto plures sunt in numero, tanto magis lucra sicientes patriam
deuorant, et iuris colore[109] subtilia plectentes, suis cautelis
innocentem populum formidantem illaqueant.
Cap^m. iiii. Hic loquitur qualiter isti causidici et iuris
Aduocati in sua gradatim ascendentes facultate, Iudicisque
aspirantes officium, iudicialis solii tandem cacumen attingunt;
vbi quasi in Cathedra pestelencie sedentes, maioris auaricie
cecitate percussi, peioris quam antea condicionis existunt.
Cap^m. v. Hic loquitur quasi per epistolam Iudicibus illis
directam, qui in caduca suarum diuiciarum multitudine sperantes
deum adiutorem suum ponere nullatenus dignantur.
Cap^m. vi. Hic loquitur de errore Vicecomitum, Balliuorum, necnon
et in assisis iuratorum, qui singuli auro conducti diuitum causas
iniustas supportantes, pauperes absque iusticia calumpniantur et
opprimunt.
Cap^m. vii.[110] Hic loquitur quod sicut homines esse super
terram necessario expedit, ita leges ad eorum regimen institui
oportet, dummodo tamen legis custodes verum a falso discernentes
vnicuique quod suum est equo pondere distribuant. De erroribus
tamen et iniuriis modo contingentibus innocenciam Regis nostri,
minoris etatis causa, quantum ad presens excusat.[111]
Cap^m. viii. Hic loquitur quod, exquo omnes quicumque mundi
status sub regie maiestatis iusticia moderantur, intendit ad
presens excellentissimo iam Regi nostro quandam epistolam in
eius honore[112] editam scribere consequenter, ex qua ille rex
noster, qui modo in sua puerili constituitur etate, cum vberiores
postea sumpserit annos, gracia mediante diuina, in suis regalibus
exercendis euidencius instruatur. Et primo dicit quod, quamuis
regalis potencia quodammodo supra leges extollatur, regiam
tamen decet clemenciam, quod ipse bonis moribus inherendo, quasi
liber sub iusticie legibus se et suos in aspectu Regis altissimi
assidue gubernet.
Cap^m. ix. Hic loquitur qualiter rex sibi male consulentes
caucius euitare, proditoresque regni sui penitus extinguere,
suorum eciam condiciones ministrorum diligencius inuestigare, et
quos extra iusticiam errantes inuenerit, debita pena corrigere
debet et districcius castigare.
Cap^m. x. Hic dicit quod rex sano consilio adhereat, ecclesie
iura supportet et erigat, equs in iudiciis et pietosus existat,
suamque famam cunctis mundi opibus preponat.
Cap^m. xi. Hic loquitur qualiter regiam libertatem in viciorum
nullatenus decet incidere seruitutem, set sicut coram populo
alios excellit potencia, ita coram deo pre ceteris ampliori
virtutum clarescat habundancia.
Cap^m. xii. Hic loquitur qualiter rex a sue carnis voluptate
illicebra[113] specialiter se debet abstinere, et sub sacre legis
constitucione propter diuinam offensam sue coniugis tantum licito
fruatur consorcio.
Cap^m. xiii. Hic loquitur et ponit magnifico iam Regi nostro
Iuueni nuper serenissimi Principis patris sui exempla, dicens
quod, vbi et quando necessitatis illud exigit facultas, rex
contra suos hostes armorum probitates audacter exerceat, et quod
ille nulla aduersitate sui vultus constanciam videntibus aliis
amittat.
Cap^m. xiiii. Hic loquitur quod absque iusticie experta causa rex
bellare non debet. Dicit insuper quod regie congruit dignitati,
discreto tamen prouiso regimine, magis amore quam austeritatis
rigore suos subditos tractare.
Cap^m. xv. Hic loquitur secundum Salomonis experienciam, quod
ceteris virtutibus ad regni gubernaculum preualet sapiencia, que
deo et hominibus regem magis reddit acceptabilem.
Cap^m. xvi. Hic loquitur qualiter celi deus, qui est rex regum et
dominus dominancium, a regibus terre pura mente precipue colendus
est et super omnia metuendus.
Cap^m. xvii. Hic loquitur qualiter rex in caritate dei et proximi
viuens, contra superuenientem mortem, que nullo parcit regi, omni
se debet diligencia prouidere.
Cap^m. xviii. Hic loquitur in fine istius epistole, vbi pro statu
regis deuocius exorat, vt deus ipsius etatem iam floridam in
omni prosperitate conseruet, et ad laudem dei suique et sibi
commisse plebis vtilitatem feliciter perducat in euum.
Cap^m. xix. Hic recapitulat quodammodo sub figuris et exemplis
tam veteris quam noui testamenti, in quibus pretendit quod eorum
loco qui in omni sanctitate legem dei et fidem Cristi primitus
augmentantes ecclesiam colebant, et a diu[114] mortui sunt, iam
resurgunt alii precipue de clero, qui illam omnium viciorum
multitudine suffocantes corrumpunt.
Cap^m. xx. Hic tractat vlterius quod, sicut virtuosis nuper in
ecclesia existentibus succedunt viciosi, sic et mundi proceribus
omnis milicie nuper de probitate famosis succedunt modo alii, qui
neque diuine neque humane laudis digni efficiuntur.
Cap^m. xxi. Hic loquitur adhuc vlterius super eodem, qualiter
loco eorum qui nuper casti fuerunt et constantes, surrexerunt
modo alii, qui huius seculi vanitatem concupiscentes pudoris
constanciam penitus amiserunt.
=Expliciunt Capitula libri sexti.=
=Incipiunt Capitula libri Septimi.=
Cap^m. i. Postquam de singulis gradibus, per quos tam in
spiritualibus quam in temporalibus error quasi vbique
diffunditur, tractatum hactenus existit, iam secundum
quorundam opiniones tractare intendit de pedibus statue quam
Nabugodonosor[115] viderat in sompnis, quorum videlicet pedum
quedam pars ferrea, quedam fictilis, in figura deterioracionis
huius mundi extiterat, in quam nos ad presens tempus, quod est
quodammodo in fine seculi, euidencius deuenimus. Et primo ferri
significacionem[116] declarabit.
Cap^m. ii. Hic loquitur contra istos auaros omni ferro in hoc
saltem tempore duriores, quorum diuicie nisi participentur,
nullius, vt dicit, possunt esse valoris.
Cap^m. iii. Hic loquitur de statue secunda parte pedum, que
fictilis et fragilis erat, et de eiusdem partis significacione.
Cap^m. iiii. Hic loquitur adhuc vlterius de miseriis que in
pedum statue diuersitate nouissimo iam tempore eueniendis
figurabantur: dicit enim quod ea que nuper condicionis humane
virtuosa fuerant, in suum modo contrarium singula diuertuntur.
Cap^m. v. Quia vnusquisque ad presens de mundi conqueritur
fallaciis, intendit hic de statu et condicione mundi, necnon et
de miseria condicionis humane, tractare consequenter.
Cap^m. vi. Hic loquitur de principio creacionis humane: declarat
eciam qualiter mundus ad vsum hominis, et homo ad cultum dei
creatus extitit; ita quod, si homo deum suum[117] debite non
colat, mundus que sua sunt homini debita officia vlterius reddere
non teneatur.
Cap^m. vii. Hic loquitur quod, exquo creator omnium deus singulas
huius mundi delicias vsui subdidit humano, dignum est quod, sicut
homo deliciis secundum corpus fruitur, ita secundum spiritum deo
creatori suo gratum obsequium[118] cum graciarum accione toto
corde rependat.
Cap^m. viii. Hic tractat qualiter homo dicitur minor mundus; ita
quod secundum hoc quod homo bene vel male agit, mundus bonus vel
malus per consequens existit.
Cap^m. ix. Hic loquitur qualiter homo, qui minor mundus
dicitur, a mundo secundum corpus in mortem transibit; et
sicut ipse corporis sui peccato huius mundi corrupcionis, dum
viuit, causat euentum, ita in corpore mortuo postea putredinis
subire corrupcionem cogetur. Et primo dicet de mortui corporis
corrupcione secundum Superbiam.
Cap^m. x. Hic loquitur de ~corporis mortui~ corrupcione secundum
Inuidiam.
Cap^m. xi. Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum
Iram.
Cap^m. xii. Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum
Auariciam.
Cap^m. xiii. Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum
Accidiam.
Cap^m. xiiii. Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione
secundum Gulam.
Cap^m. xv. Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum
Luxuriam.
Cap^m. xvi. Exquo tractauit qualiter variis peccati deliciis
humanum corpus in hoc mundo[119] putredine consumitur, interrogat
vlterius de homine peccatore, quomodo mundi voluptates tam
fallibiles in sui preiudicium ita ardenter sibi appetit et
conspirat.
Cap^m. xvii. Hic loquitur qualiter omnia et singula mundi huius
sicut vestimentum veterascunt, et quasi sompnifera in ictu oculi
clauduntur: loquitur eciam[120] de mortis memoria et eiusdem
nominis significacione.
Cap^m. xviii. Hic loquitur quod, quamuis[121] iustis et iniustis
vnus sit naturaliter interitus, mors tamen iusti omnes exsoluens
miserias eius spiritum glorie reddit sempiterne.
Cap^m. xix. Hic loquitur de dupplici morte peccatoris, vna ex qua
corpus hic [122]resoluitur, alia ex qua digno dei iudicio penis
perpetuis anima cruciatur.
Cap^m. xx. Postquam de gaudiis et penis que bonis et malis
debentur tractauit, consulit vlterius quod vnusquisque ad bonos
mores se conuertat, et de hiis que negligenter omisit, absque
desperacione contritus indulgenciam a deo confidenter imploret.
Cap^m. xxi. Hic loquitur quod sunt modo pauci, qui aut propter
celi affectum aut gehenne metum huius vite voluptatibus
renunciant; set quecunque caro concupiscit, omni postposita
racione ardencius perficere conantur.
Cap^m. xxii. Hic loquitur de variis vindictis occasione peccati
in hoc seculo iam quasi cotidie contingentibus, que absque
iustorum virorum meritis et oracionibus nullatenus sedari
poterunt.
Cap^m. xxiii. Hic loquitur sub compendio recapitulando finaliter
de singulis mundi gradibus, qui singillatim a debito deuiantes
ordine virtutes diminuendo extingunt, et ea que viciorum sunt
augmentando multipliciter exercent.[123]
Cap^m. xxiiii. Iam in fine libri loquitur magis in speciali de
patria illa in qua ipse[124] natus fuerat, vbi quasi plangendo
conqueritur qualiter honores et virtutes veteres a variis ibidem
erroribus superuenientibus, vt dicitur, ad presens multipliciter
eneruantur.[125]
Cap^m. xxv. Hic loquitur qualiter ea que in hoc presenti libello
quasi sompniando de mundi scripsit erroribus, non ex se tantum,
set ex plebis voce communi concepit. Consulit tamen finaliter
quod, siquis inde se culpabilem senciat, priusquam nobis peiora
succedant tempora, suam ex humili corde culpam penitens[126]
emendet.
AD MUNDUM MITTO MEA IACULA, DUMQUE SAGITTO;
AT VBI IUSTUS ERIT, NULLA SAGITTA FERIT.
SED MALE VIUENTES HOS VULNERO TRANSGREDIENTES;
CONSCIUS ERGO SIBI SE SPECULETUR IBI.[126a]
FOOTNOTES:
[79] _The_ MSS. _used for the_ Vox Clamantis _are the following_:--
S (_All Souls College, Oxford_, 98), C (_Cotton, Tiberius_, A. iv), E
(_Ecton Hall_), H (_Harleian_ 6291), G (_Glasgow, Hunterian Museum_, T.
2. 17), D (_Bodleian Library, Digby_ 138), L (_Bodleian Library, Laud_
719), T (_Trinity College, Dublin_, D. 4. 6), H₂ (_Hatfield Hall_), L₂
(_Lincoln Cathedral Library_ A. 7. 2). _The text is based on_ S.
_Table of Contents not found in_ HLTL₂ (H _defective_)
[80] 3 velud C
[81] 4 fingit SGD narrat CE
[82] Lib. I i. 2 eciam _om._ D
[83] i. 7 tamen _om._ D
[84] vi. 4 comitabantur E comitebantur SCG committebant_ur_ D
[85] vii. 3 associabantur E
[86] ix. 3 Geay D Iay E
[87] iii. 2 et _om._ D
[88] iiii. S _has lost a leaf_ (Lib. II. iiii-Lib. III. xxii, luxurie).
Text _follows_ C
[89] v. _This heading om._ D
[90] iiii. Hic loquit_ur_ quo_modo_ diligentib_us_ positiuis q_uas_i
quotidie noua instituu_n_t_ur_ nobis p_e_c_ca_ta q_ui_b_us_ t_ame_n p_ri_us
fiu_n_t p_re_lati p_ro_pt_er_ luc_rum_ dispensa_n_t _et_ ea fieri liberi
p_ro_pt_er_ auru_m_ p_er_mittu_n_t D
[91] v. 1 illis _om._ D
[92] vi. 1 loquitur _om._ D
[93] vi. 2 dicit E dicitur CGD
[94] vii. 1 loquitur _om._ D
[95] viii. 1 eciam _om._ D
[96] viii. 2 aliqualiter _om._ D
[97] xv. 1 qualiter] finalit_er_ q_uo_d ED
[98] xxii. 2 S _resumes_
[99] _After_ Cap. xxvii _no space_ CEGD
[100] iii. 1 qualiter modus] de modo D
[101] _After_ Cap. xv _no space_ CEGD
[102] xix. f. ad ecclesie--viuentes _om._ D
[103] xx. 2 aqualiter S
[104] xxiii. 1 circuieundo C c_ir_cu_m_eu_n_do D
[105] _After_ Cap. viii _no space_ CEGD
[106] ix. 1 rem bublicam S
[107] _After_ Cap. x _no space_ CEGD
[108] i. 6 enaruant C
[109] iii. 3 colore _om._ C
[110] _After_ Cap. vii _no space_ CEGD
[111] vii. 5 f. innocenciam--excusat _nearly erased_ G
[112] viii. 3 f. in _and_ honore _partly erased_ G
[113] xii. 1 illecebra CED
[114] xix. 4 adiu C
[115] Lib. VII. i. 4 Nabugonosor C
[116] i. 8 significac_i_o_n_em ferri D
[117] vi. 3 suum CEGD sum S
[118] vii. 4 gratum] cong_ru_u_m_ D
[119] xvi. 3 mundi _om._ C
[120] xvii. 3 eciam S eciam in speciali CED
[121] xviii. 1 quod quamuis] quo_modo_ D
[122] xix. 2 S _has lost two leaves_ (resoluitur--Lib. I. i. 18). _Text
follows_ C
[123] xxiii. 4 excercent CE
[124] xxiiii. 2 ipse] ille D
[125] xxiiii. 4 enaruantur C
[126] xxv. 5 penitus CE
[126a] _These four lines (with picture below) are found here in_ CEG. L
_has them later_, Lib. III. cap. i.
=Incipit Cronica que Vox Clamantis dicitur.=[127]
=In huius opusculi principio intendit compositor describere qualiter
seruiles rustici impetuose contra ingenuos et nobiles regni
insurrexerunt. Et quia res huiusmodi velut monstrum detestabilis fuit
et horribilis, ~narrat~[128] se per sompnium vidisse diuersas vulgi
turmas in diuersas species bestiarum[129] domesticarum transmutatas:
dicit tamen quod ille bestie domestice, a sua deuiantes natura,
crudelitates ferarum sibi presumpserunt.[130] De causis vero, ex quibus
inter homines talia contingunt enormia, tractat vlterius secundum
distincciones libelli istius, qui in septem diuiditur partes, prout
inferius locis suis euidencius apparebit.=
=Incipit prologus libri Primi.=[131]
Scripture veteris capiunt exempla futuri,
Nam dabit experta res magis esse fidem.
Vox licet hoc teneat vulgaris, quod sibi nullum
Sompnia propositum credulitatis habent,
Nos tamen econtra de tempore preteritorum
Cercius instructos littera scripta facit.
Ex Daniele patet quid sompnia significarunt,
Nec fuit in sompnis visio vana Ioseph:
Angelus immo bonus, qui custos interioris
Est hominis, vigili semper amore fauet; 10
Et licet exterius corpus sopor occupet, ille
Visitat interius mentis et auget opem;
Sepeque sompnifero monstrat prenostica visu,
Quo magis in causis tempora noscat homo.
Hinc puto que vidi quod sompnia tempore noctis
Signa rei certe commemoranda ferunt.
Visio qualis erat, quo tempore, cuius et anno
Regis, in hiis scriptis singula scire potes.
Scribentis nomen si queras, ecce loquela
Sub tribus implicita versibus inde latet. 20
[Sidenote: Nota de nomine Iohannis Gower.[132]]
Primos sume pedes Godefridi desque Iohanni,[133]
Principiumque sui Wallia iungat eis:
Ter caput amittens det cetera membra, que tali
Carmine compositi nominis ordo patet.
Tu tamen ad scribe laudem nil pone, sed illam[134]
Concipe materiam quam tibi scripta dabunt.
Nam nichil vt lauder scribam, curamque futuri[135]
Nominis vt queram non meus actus habet.
Quos mea terra dedit casus nouitatis adibo,
Nam pius est patrie facta referre labor. 30
Quod michi flere licet scribam lacrimabile tempus,
Sic quod in exemplum posteritatis eat.[136]
Flebilis vt noster status est, ita flebile carmen,
Materie scripto conueniente sue.
Omne quod est huius operis lacrimabile, lector
Scriptum de lacrimis censeat esse meis:[137]
~Penna madet~ lacrimis hec me scribente profusis,[138]
~Dumque feror studiis, cor tremit atque manus.~[139]
Scribere cumque volo, michi pondere pressa laboris
Est manus, et vires subtrahit inde timor. 40
Qui magis inspiciet opus istud, tempus et instans,
Inueniet toto carmine dulce nichil.
Si vox in fragili michi pectore firmior esset,
Pluraque cum linguis pluribus ora forent,[140]
Hec tamen ad presens mala, que sunt temporis huius,
Non michi possibile dicere cuncta foret.
Pectora sic mea sunt limo viciata malorum,
Quod carmen vena pauperiore fluet.
Poplice contracto restat grandis via Rome,[141]
Et modico sensu grande libellus opus. 50
Sic veniam pro laude peto, mea namque voluntas
Est bona, sit quamuis sensus ad acta minor.
Adde recollectis seriem, mea musa, Latinis,
Daque magistra tuo congrua verba libro.
Sompnia vera quidem, quorum sentencia cordis
Intima conturbat, plena timore canam:[142]
Insula quem Pathmos suscepit in Apocalipsi,
Cuius ego nomen gesto, gubernet opus.[143]
FOOTNOTES:
[127] _Title_ Incipit--dicitur CE _om._ GDL
[128] 4 narrat CE fingit GD
[129] 5 bestiarum species GD
[130] 7 sumpserunt E
[131] Prol. _Heading om._ L
[132] _margin_ No_ta_ de no_m_i_n_e Ioh_ann_is Gower CE No_ta_ nomen L
Nomen compilatoris est Ioh_ann_es Gower vt p_atet_ in his t_ri_bus
v_er_sib_us_ T _om._ GD
[133] 21 Godefri des atq_ue_ D
[134] 25 adscribe EL ascribens D
[135] 27 nil vt laudes D nichil vt laudes L
[136] 32 Sicq_ue_ DL
[137] 36 censeat C sensiat GEH₂ senceat T senciat D(_p. m._)L
[138] 37 Penna madet C (_ras._) E Sepeque sunt GDLTH₂ hec] de D
[139] 38 _Text_ C (_ras._) E Humida fit lacrimis sepeque penna meis
GDLTH₂
[140] 44 fauent DH₂
[141] 49 confracto DLH₂
[142] 56 conturbat D conturbant CEGLT
[143] 58 Huius ergo DL
=Hic declarat in primis sub cuius regis imperio, in quibus eciam[144]
mense et anno, ista sibi accidencia, cuius tenor subsequitur,
contingebat.[145] Commendat insuper, secundum illud quod esse solebat,
fertilitatem illius terre[146] vbi ipse tunc fuerat, in qua, vt dicit,
omnium quasi[147] rerum delicie pariter conueniunt. Et loquitur
vlterius de amenitate temporis, necnon et de diei serenitate, que tunc
tamen sompnium nimis[148] horribile precedebant.=
=Incipit liber Primus.=
Cap^m. i.
Contigit vt quarto Ricardi regis in anno,
Dum clamat mensem Iunius esse suum,
Luna polum linquens sub humo sua lumina condit,
Sponsus et Aurore Lucifer ortus erat;
Surgit ab occasu noua lux, Aurora refulget
Orbis ab occidua parte, paritque diem;
Luce diem reparat mirandaque lumina prebet,
Dum fuga dat noctem, luxque reuersa diem.
Clara repercusso radiabant lumina Phebo,
Et facies celi leta refulsit humo: 10
Splendida mane videt pulsis Aurora tenebris,
Quam spectans hilarem quisquis in orbe colit:[149]
Purpureas splendore fores et plena rosarum
Atria glorificat de nouitate sua.
In curru Phebus claris rutilante smaragdis
Estuat in Cancro feruidus igne nouo.
Omnia fecundat, nutrit, fouet, auget, habundat,
Cunctaque viuificat, que mare, terra creat.
Que melius poterant ornant redolencia currum,[150]
Gloria, lux renitens, splendor et omne decus. 20
Aureus axis erat, nec temo fit alter ab auro,[151]
Splendet et in curuis aurea pompa rotis.
Per iuga gemmatus argenteus ordo choruscat,
Crisolitis radios prebuit vnde suos;
Ignitique suum currum post terga vehentes
Aera discurrunt celsitonantis equi.
Purpurea residens velatus veste refulsit,
Cuius in aspectu secula cuncta patent.
Ante suum solium gradiuntur quatuor anni
Tempora, que variis compta diebus erant: 30
Tunc tamen a dextris stetit alba propinquior estas
Serta gerens, et eam cuncta creata colunt.
Omnia tunc florent, tunc est noua temporis etas,
Ludit et in pratis luxuriando pecus.
Tunc fecundus ager, pecorum tunc hora creandi,
Tunc renouatque suos reptile quodque iocos;
Prataque pubescunt variorum flore colorum,
Indocilique loquax gutture cantat auis;
Queque diu latuit tunc se qua tollat in auras
Inuenit occultam fertilis herba viam;[152] 40
Tuncque pruinosos mollitur Lucifer agros,[153]
Inque suos pullos concitat ales opus.
Tunc glacialis yemps canos hirsuta capillos
Deserit, et placidi redditus orbis erat:
Quicquid yemps operit gelido de frigore cedit,
Et periunt lapse sole tepente niues.
Arboribus redeunt detonse frigore frondes,
Regnat et estatis pompa per omne nemus:
Rore refudit humum, dat terre gramina, siluis
Frondes, arboribus pomaque grata satis: 50
Mille fuit variis florum renouata coronis,
Herbifer in cuius lege virescit ager.
Flos sua regna petit, florumque coloribus amplus
Ludit ager, que suus gaudia vultus habet.
Iam legit ingenua violas sibi compta puella
Rustica, quas nullo terra serente vehit.
Tot fuerant illuc quot habet natura colores,
Pictaque dissimili flore superbit humus:
O quia digestos volui numerare colores,
Nec potui, numero copia maior erat. 60
Orta fragrant clausis sicut paradisus in ortis
Candida cum rubeis lilia mixta rosis:
Deforis in campis stat primula cincta ligustris,
Omnis et hec herba quam medicina probat:
Herbarum vires fuerant, que semine, succo,
Seu radice queunt ferre salutis opem:
Purpureum viridi genuit de cespite florem,
Quam natura suis legibus ornat, humus:
Balsama, pigmentum, cum nardo cassia, mirra
Cum gutta sedes hic statuere suas. 70
Purpuree viole, rosa rocida, candida semper
Lilia certabant hunc habitare locum.
Ille locus solus sibi vendicat omne quod aer,
Quod mare, quod tellus, nutrit habetque bonum:
Hic decus est orbis, flos mundi, gloria rerum,
Delicias omnes, quas petit vsus, habet;
Insitus arboribus, herbis plantatus, et omni
Munere prepollens, que sibi poscit homo.
Est alter paradisus ibi, nam quicquid habere[154]
Mens humana cupit, terra beata parit, 80
Fontibus irriguis fecundus, semine plenus,[155]
Floribus insignis fructiferisque bonis;
Terraque cum rore dulces commixta vigores
Concipit, et varia gramina nata fouet.
Frondibus inde nemus vestitur, floribus ortus,
Graminibus campus, seminibusque solum;
Siluaque fronde suo renouatur, et omne virescit
Pratum, quod lutea sorde subegit yemps.
Mulcebant zephiri natos sine semine flores,
Et calor a superis lucidus ornat humum. 90
Tempus et in volucres cantum fundebat, et altis
Vocibus ex variis personat omne nemus:
Semper idem repetens cuculus de gutture plano
Clamat, et est testis temporis ipse noui:
Nuncius Aurore modulans volutabat Alauda[156]
Desuper, et summi cantat in aure dei;
Turtur et ex viridi congaudens tempore fidum
In maris obsequium cor vouet ipsa suum;
Amissamque sue suplet Philomena loquele
Naturam, que suis predicat acta notis:[157] 100
Concinit et Progne de virginitate sororis[158]
Lesa, dum tanti sunt in amore doli.
Milia mille sonant volucrum velut organa cantus,
Et totidem flores lata per arua fragrant:
Inter eos certant, ferat vtrum cantus ad aures
Aut odor ad nares de bonitate magis:[159]
Lis tamen ipsa ~pia fuit et discordia concors~,
Dum meriti parilis fulsit vterque status.
Cum natura sue legis dulcedine siluas
Replet, et ex omni parte resultat auis; 110
Cum decus et florum vastos sic induit agros,
Ac herbosa coma florida prata colit;
Flat leuis in ramis resonans quam dulciter Eurus,[160]
Dulcis et in ripa murmure plaudit aqua;
Omneque sic animal placido de tempore gaudet,
Piscis et ob solem fluminis alta petit;
Non fuit hoc viuens, cui non renouata voluptas[161]
Temporis ex aura dulciter huius erat.
Talia cumque videns oculus letatur, et illa
In thalamum cordis ducit ad yma viri; 120
Auris et auditu cordis suspiria pulsat,
Quo Venus in iuuene poscit amoris opem.
Ecce dies talis fuit, in qua tempus amenum
Me dabat in lusum girouagare meum.[162]
Omnia finis habet: aderat sic vespere tandem
Cum solet occasus intitulare diem:
Illa quieta dies solitas compleuerat horas,
Dulcibus atque silent organa clausa notis:
Merserat in tenebris nox feruida lumina solis,
Et sopor ad lectum strinxerat ire virum: 130
Deficiente die tunc flexi corpus ad ymum,
Quo lassata solet membra fouere quies.
Tristia post leta, post Phebum nebula, morbi
Tempora post sana sepe venire solent:
Non ita clara dies fuerat transacta per ante,
Quin magis obscura noctis ymago venit.
Ecce tegunt nigre latitancia sidera nubes,
Aurea luna fugit, nox caret igne suo.
Flexerat obliquo plaustrum temone Boetes,
Nec via directa tunc fuit acta poli; 140
Infortunata set constellacio centrum
Dissoluens rabide tartara misit humo.
Prima quies aberat, nec adhuc mea lumina mulcet
Sompnus, quem timide mentis origo fugat:
En coma sponte riget, tremit et caro, cordis et antrum[163]
Soluitur, et sensus fertur ad instar aque;
Sic magis assidua iactatus mente reuolui,
Quid michi tam subiti causa timoris erat:
Sic lecto vigilans meditabar plura, que mentem
Effudi, variis corde vagante modis. 150
Tempus erat quo cuncta silent, quo mente sopita
In vaga nonnulla sompnia corda ruunt;
Set neque sompnus adhuc neque sompnia me laquearunt,
Dum pauor ex subito spondet adesse malum.
Noctis erat medium, grauis et palpebra querelas
Ponderat ex oculis, set mora tardat opem.
Sic vigil in curis consumpsi tempora noctis,
Nescius ex quali sorte propinquat opus:
Tempora preterita vidi, metuique futura;
Tandem sic oculos clauserat vmbra meos. 160
Sic, vbi decepte pars est michi maxima noctis
Acta, subit subito lumina fessa ~sopor~:
Exiguam subii requiem, dum Lucifer ignem[164]
Prouocat Aurore, sompnia tuncque fero.
=Hic incipit sompnium, vbi quodam die Martis dicit se varias vulgi
turmas vidisse, quarum primam in similitudinem asinorum mutari subito
speculabatur.=
Cap^m. ii.
[165]Dumque piger sompnus inmotos fixerat artus,[166]
Iam fuerat raptus spiritus ipse meus:
Vt flores legerem me campis ire putabam,
Quando suam propriam Mars colit ipse diem.
Nec michi longa via fuerat, dum proxima vidi
Innumerabilia monstra timenda nimis, 170
Diuersas plebis sortes vulgaris iniquas
Innumeris turmis ire per arua vagas:
Dumque mei turbas oculi sic intuerentur,
Miror et in tanta rusticitate magis,
Ecce dei subito malediccio fulsit in illos,
Et mutans formas fecerat esse feras.
Qui fuerant homines prius innate racionis,
Brutorum species irracionis habent:
Diuersas turmas diuersaque forma figurat,
Quamlibet et propria condicione notat. 180
Sompnia pondus habent, hinc est quod mira reuoluam,
Vnde magis vigilans sum timefactus adhuc.
Elatos asinos subita nouitate rebelles
Vidi, nec frenis quis moderauit eos;
Viscera namque sua repleta furore leonum
Extiterant predas in repetendo suas.
Perdidit officium capitis sine lege capistrum,
Dum saltant asini cuncta per arua vagi;
Terruit en cunctos sua sternutacio ciues,
Dum geminant solita voce frequenter yha. 190
Sunt onagrique rudes asini violenter, et omnis
Que fuit vtilitas vtilitate caret.
Amplius ad villam saccos portare recusant,
Nec curuare sua pondere dorsa volunt;
Set neque rurales curant in montibus herbas,
Ammodo set querunt deliciosa magis;
A domibus alios expellunt, ius et equorum
Iniuste cupiunt appropriare sibi.
Presumunt asini gemmatis ammodo fungi
Sellis, et comptas semper habere comas: 200
Vt vetus ipse suam curtam Burnellus inepte
Caudam longari de nouitate cupit,
Sic isti miseri noua tergaque longa requirunt,
Vt leo de cauda sint et Asellus idem.
Pelle leonina tectum se pinxit Asellus,
Et sua transcendit gloria vana modum:
Cauda suo capiti quia se conferre nequibat,
Contra naturam sorte requirit opem.
Attemptant igitur fatui, poterint vt aselli[167]
Quod natura vetat amplificare sibi: 210
Quam sibi plantauit caudam qui contulit aures
Non curant, set eam vilius esse putant.
Voluere plura solet animi meditacio stulta,
Que magis impediunt quam sua vota ferunt:
Omnes stulticia stultis innata dolores
Parturit, et finem prestat habere malum.
Magnos magna decent et paruos parua, set illi,
Qui sunt de minimis, grandia ferre volunt.
Mens oritur subito, diuturnos que parat actus,
Incipit et leuiter que sine fine grauant: 220
Sic asini fatui, quos fastus concitat, omni
Postposita lege condita iura negant.
Hos intemperies sic aeris inficiebat,
Quod transformati sunt quasi monstra michi:
Auribus in longis potui quos noscere dudum
In frontis medio cornua longa gerunt.
Ille biceps gladius non scindit forcius illis,
Vulneris atque noui fusa cruore madent.
Qui de natura pigri tardare solebant,
Precurrunt ceruis de leuitate magis. 230
Nonne leui saltu vincit Leopardus Asellum?[168]
Tunc tamen ad saltum vicit Asellus eum.[169]
Longior in cauda fuerat tunc vilis Asellus
Quam fuit insignis, prodolor! ipse leo.
Quicquid velle iubet asinorum legis habebat
Vires, et nouitas ius vetus omne fugat.
Vt stolidos tamen atque rudes hos mos asininus
Signabat, quod eis nil racionis erat:
Et quia sic fatuos vidi timui magis ipsos,
Nec dabat vlterius pes michi fidus iter. 240
=Hic dicit se per sompnium secundam vulgi turmam in boues vidisse
mutatam.=
Cap^m. iii.
Cum quibus ecce boues veniunt quos cuspide nullus
Pungere tunc ausit, immo timebat eos:
Contra iura bouis bos spernit habere bubulcum,
Ammodo nec duci de nouitate sinit.
Cornutando furit hodie bos qui fuit heri
Per cornu leuiter ductus vt arua colat:
Qui fuerant domiti nuper, modo fronte minaci
Cornibus elatis debita iura negant:
Amplius ex aratro se dicunt nolle iugari,
Colla set erecta libera ferre volunt: 250
Ammodo non comedunt paleas neque stramina grossa,
Est vbi set granum de meliore petunt.
Sic transformatas formas natura reliquit,
Et monstris similes fecerat esse boues;
Vrsinosque pedes caudas similesque draconum
Gestant, quo pauidus omnis abhorret eos:
Sulphureas flammas emittunt oris ab antro,
Quas, vbi disperse sunt, aqua nulla fugat:
Sit lapis aut lignum, fuerit set quicquid ab estu[170]
Tactum, comminuens ignea flamma vorat. 260
Hec armenta nequit aliquis defendere pastor,
Quin magis in dampnum ruris et vrbis agunt.
In Colchos thauri, quos vicit dextra Iasonis,[171]
Non ita sulphureis ignibus ora fremunt,
Quin magis igne boues isti crepitancia tecta
Incendunt, que suis flatibus illa cremant.
Non Minos taurus, quem Neptunus dedit illi,
Sic nocuit campis, dum furibundus erat,
Quin magis arua boues isti vastant, et in vrbe
Horrida rite suo dampna furore parant. 270
Nessus et in tauri specimen mutatus et armis
Victus ab Eacide, dum sibi bella mouet,
Tam neque Centauri nec et ipse ferox Minotaurus
Hoc metuenda viris tempore bella dabant,
Quin magis ecce boues isti violenter aratra
Linquentes, hominum constituere necem.
Arma sui vacuos operis dispersa per agros
Linqunt, nec solitum ius sibi vomer habet;
Ecce iacent rastri, sic sarcula sicque ligones,
Buris, trabs, crapulus sunt neque restis eis;[172] 280
Nil iuga, nil torquis, nichil aut retinacula prosunt,
Nil sibi paxillus, temo vel ansa iuuant:
Vsus abest aratri, vacat et dentale relictum,
Nec sua tunc crates debita ferre sinunt:
Currus et auriga cessant, cessatque carecta,
Que nichil vlterius vtilitatis habent:
Agricoleque bonis iter vnum legibus absque
Restat, et indomiti sunt racionis idem.
Sic, vbicumque vides, campi cultore carentes,
Vastaque, que nemo vendicat, arua iacent: 290
Expectant frustra promissas horrea messes,
Annua si talis regula seruet agros.
Bos leo, bos pardus, bos vrsus, set bouis ipsum
Constat naturam non meminisse suam.
Sic ego pestiferos errare boues quia vidi
Indomitos sulco, mens mea mota fuit.
Prodolor! o! dixi, cessabit cultus agrorum,
Quo michi temporibus est metuenda fames.
=Hic dicit se per sompnium terciam vulgi turmam in porcos vidisse
transmutatam.=
Cap^m. iiii.
Sompnus adhuc creuit, et lassos occupat artus,
Auget et vlterius sompnia plura michi. 300
Cristatos porcos, furiosos, demone plenos,
Post ea percepi stare frequenter ibi:[173]
Associata simul fuit horum concio multa,
Aera stercoribus inficiendo suis.
Porculus en porcum furiens et aperculus aprum
Consequitur, nec eos amplius artat ara.
Federa cum socio dat verres iuncta nefrendo,
Vt magis euertant congradiuntur humum;
Scropha que Sus sociam porcam sibi consociarunt,
Que magis vt noceant, plura maligna mouent. 310
Inmundos porcos sic vidi ledere mundum,
Vix quod erat mundus tutus vt obstet eis:
Non erat aque bladis hominum porcarius vllus,
Qui tunc de solito more fugauit eos;
Non erat in nares torques qui posset eorum
Ponere, quin faciunt fossa timenda nimis;
Nullus et hirsuta nexus constringere colla
Tunc potuit, set eis omne licebat iter.
Deuia natura sic errat ab ordine, mores
Porcus quod porci non habet, immo lupi. 320
Inter eos aper vnus erat quem Kancia duxit;[174]
Terra sibi similem ducere nulla potest.
Emicat ex oculis, spirat quoque pectore flammas,
Cuius ab igne procul vix fuit vna domus:
Fulmen ab ore volat, vrbis afflatibus ardet,[175]
Ac elephantinis dentibus arma parat:
Feruida cum rauco latos stridore per armos
Spuma, set humano sanguine mixta, fluit;
Stridentemque nouo spumam cum sanguine fundit,
Quem fera de iugulo plebis in arua ruit: 330
Que ferit ex capite fortissima subruit ipse,
Preualet insultus vincere nemo suos:
Erigit ad bellum se signifer horrida ceruix,
Inque furore suo tigridis instar habet;
Et sete rigidis similes hastilibus horrent,
Que magis inferni noxia signa gerunt.
Sicut onusta carecta fremit, seu frendet aquarum
Cursus, sicque suus murmura passus habet:
Hec fera crescentes segetes proculcat in herba,
Et cererem paleas triuerat inque leues. 340
Creuit aper quod eo maiores herbida monstro
Educat agrestes pascua nulla feras.
Non locus est tutus in quem fera tanta minatur,
Sit nisi celestis, quo mala ferre nequit.
Ira fere mota furias excedit abissi,
Cuius in aduentu patria tota fremit:
Ex aquilone tamen verres venit alter, et apro
Conuenit, vt pariter fossa parare queant.
Tegia silua ferum talem non protulit aprum,[176]
Quamuis in Archadia maximus ille fuit: 350
Non ita commouit in montibus Herculis iram,
Gentibus aut aliis obstitit ipse viis,
Quin magis hii porci, per sompnia quos ego vidi,
Dampna ferunt variis milia mille modis.
Non aper ille ferox, agitabat quem Meleager
In nemorum latebris, tam violentus erat,
Quin magis in porcis furit et violencius istis
Ira nocet, que suis dentibus arma parat.
Nil sedimen vel amurca placet, nichil atque segistrum
Confert, vt dictis sint alimenta feris; 360
Non siliquas silue quercinas aut sibi glandes
Querunt, set rapiunt que meliora vident;
Spisse nil feces, aqua nec communis eorum
Sufficit ad potum, set bona vina vorant.
Rustica natura, dum fert incognita vina,
Mortuus vt truncus ebrietate iacet:
Sic gula porcorum viguit, quod in vrbe quietos
Vix poterat proprios diues habere cibos.
Amplius hospicium porcorum non ara fertur,
Sordidus aut puluis lectus habendus eis: 370
Immo sua sorde calcarunt regia tecta,
Vrbis et in medio nobiliora petunt.
Nuper deformes modo transformantur, et illos
Qui fuerant porci forma superba colit:
Vt leo qui rugit fuerat grunnitus eorum,
Ad quorum sonitus concutit Eccho nemus.
Hii fuerant porci, maledictus spiritus in quos
Intravit, sicut leccio sancta refert.
=Hic dicit se per sompnium quartam vulgi turmam in canes vidisse
mutatam.=
Cap^m. v.
Post vidique canes stantes quasi millia dena[177]
Latrantes, que suis vocibus arua tremunt. 380
En dederat cantus lucis prenuncius ales,
Aera iam furiens verberat ira canum.
Mica set a mensa dominorum que cadit esca
Non fuit hiis canibus, ossa nec ulla placent;
Faucibus immo suis meliora cibaria poscunt,
Ac vbi perueniunt singula crassa vorant.
Gentiles tamen ecce canes hiis associati
Non sunt, set viles quos scola nulla docet:
Hii neque venatu spaciantur, set neque gaudent
De cornu, nec eis quid nisi vile manet: 390
Non nemus vt leporem capiant transcurrere querunt,
Nec ceruos agitant de leuitate sua;
Set magis ad talos retro latrare virorum
Affectant, et eis tedia multa ferunt.
Cutte que Curre simul rapidi per deuia currunt,
Linquentes miseras degenerando casas:[178]
En pastoris adest canis, et qui nocte latrando
Atria conseruat, hii duo sepe grauant:
Omnis pistrine proprium pariterque coquine
Rupta cathena suum laxat abire canem: 400
Carnificum grandes vidique venire molosos,
Atque molendini nec manet ipse domi;
Nec stabulum veteres poterat retinere latrantes,
Quin veniunt sociis et sociantur eis.
Est ibi monoculus, set et ille tripes quasi furtim
Claudicat a retro, latrat et ipse comes:
Voce sua rauca tunc rinx ringendo fimumque
Deserit, atque loca spirat habere noua.
Hii sunt quos dorsa nullus planare valebit,
Tangere nec caudas, nec retinere caput; 410
Irati semper denudant nam tibi dentes,
Nec sua rusticitas quicquid amoris habet.
Omnes conueniunt iuuenes que senes, et in vnum
Concurrunt, que sua morsibus ora parant:
Erectis caudis gradiuntur more superbo,
Est nichil hiis sanum quod lacerare queunt.
Aprini dentes deformant ora canina,
Est quorum morsus pestifer atque grauis:
Quanto plus escas sumunt minus hii saturantur,
Insaciata fames semper inheret eis. 420
Hii quibus in nocte solito fimus extitit hospes,
Mollibus in lectis sordida membra fouent.
Copia tanta fuit, quod eorum nullus habebat
Respectum proprii quomodocumque status.
O tunc si quis eos audisset, quomodo mundus
Vocibus attonitus hic et vbique fremit,
Dicere tunc posset similes quod eis vlulatus
Auribus audiuit nullus ab ante status.
Cumque canum strepitus Sathane descendit in aures,
Gaudet et infernus de nouitate soni, 430
Cerberus ecce canis baratri custosque gehenne[179]
Prebuit auditum letus et inde furit;
Aque suo collo, quibus extitit ipse ligatus,
Ignea disrupit vincla furore suo;
Exiliensque statim centri penetrauit abissos,
Promptus et in terras accelerauit iter.
Sic socius sociis, sic par paribus sociatur,
Prefuit et canibus dux malus ipse malis;
Dux ita tartareus violens violencius omne
Vertit, et ex homine conficit ipse canem. 440
Dumque canis rabidi sumpsit mutata figuram,
Ipsa dolens Hecuba non ita seua fuit,
Quin magis in canibus istis furit ira, que morsus
Figere quo poterant singula membra terunt.
Tale canes, Cadmi qui dilaniare nepotem
Acteon instabant, non coluere nephas.
Ille gigas Gereon ingens, Hispannia dudum[180]
Quem genuit, capita trina canina gerens,
Non ita sanguineos dentes de morte virorum
Exacuit, nec ita pestifer ille fuit, 450
Quin magis humana strages madefacta cruore
Fertur ab hiis canibus de quibus ipse loquor.
Bestia pestifera, nuper quam misit Athenas,
Destruat vt ciues, mota Diana palam
Vrbis in exilium, neque talia bella parauit,
Nec sub ea tanti procubuere viri:
Nec Cephali canis ipse, feram qui prorsus ab vrbe
Depulit, in nullo robore talis erat,
Sicut erant isti, de quorum morsibus omnis
Ciuis et ingenuus contremuere magis. 460
=Hic dicit se per sompnium quintam vulgi turmam in murelegos et vulpes
vidisse mutatam: dicit murelegos, vt seruos domesticos; dicit vulpes,
quia fures ruptis vbique Gaiolis liberi tunc eos comitabantur.=
Cap^m vi.
Taliter in sompnis cum me vidisse putassem,
Visio discurrens en noua monstra dabat.
Vulpes, murelegos, numero sine post venientes
Vidi, qui canibus se tribuere pares.
Quod super est terram nichil aut quod subtus eisdem[181]
Occultum latuit, set magis omne vident:
Discurrunt campis, scrutantur et inde cauernas,
Et nemus et pratum quid sit vbique petunt:[182]
Vrbs neque castellum lapidum nec in ordine murus
Denegat introitum, quando venire volunt: 470
Hii penetrant cameras fortes, sine claueque cistas
Intrant, vt preda stet patefacta sua.
Dentibus ex ferro longis que ferocibus omnes
Corrodunt artes, quod nichil obstat eis.
Hoc tamen in morsu viuens quod virus eorum
Leserat, ad vitam non medicina iuuat:
Mortis habent morsum, nec scorpio plus grauat illis;
Quo veniunt tales, mors venit ipsa comes.
En statuunt cani nemoris dimittere vulpes[183]
Antra, que gentiles vrbis adire domos: 480
Que nocturna solent latitanter furta parari,
Illa dies clara tunc manifesta parat.
Ammodo quid sibi sunt nec ouis nec ~pauper~ ouile,
Nec sibi de predis pullus et agna placent,
Que tamen existunt maioris in vrbe valoris,
Hec rapiunt, nec eis lex aliqualis obest.
Qui suberat terra seruilis vulpis in aulas
Scandit, et hospicium liber vbique petit:
Qui prius extiterant canibus vulpes inimici,
Mutua concordes federa pacis habent: 490
Fit lupus, atque fere rapidus vestigia seruat,
Qui solet ante magis esse bidente pius.
Hiis quoque murelegus sociatur, et horrea linquens
Nititur in vetitum rusticus ipse malum.
Ammodo murelegus desistit prendere mures,
Nec natura suum curat habere modum:
Qui solet a domibus expellere rite nociua,
Tunc nocet, et nocuas prouocat esse domos.
Non ita mordebant mures, qui nuper in vrbem
Accharon intrarunt, quo fuit archa dei, 500
Illa nec hos rabies sic terruit Accharonitas,
Hoc neque vindicta tempore talis erat,[184]
Quin furor ex istis que vidi lurida monstris,
Plus grauat et ciues terret vbique magis.
=Hic dicit se per sompnium sextam vulgi turmam in aues domesticas
vidisse mutatam, quibus dicit quod bubones, id est[185] predones,
commixti associebantur.=[186]
Cap^m. vii.
Res michi mira fuit, dum talia prospiciebam,
Et stupor in mente cordis ad yma ruit.
Non erat ex brutis animal quodcunque creatum,
Quod de seruili condicione fuit,
Quin genus in campis vidi de talibus omne,
Mixtaque sic pariter sunt metuenda magis. 510
Per iuga, per colles, per deuia queque locorum
Diruptis stabulis soluitur omne pecus:
Ex omni genere venit incola rusticitatis,
Maior et est subito quam seges orta solo.
Nunc huc nunc illuc trepidus dum lumina volui,
Aspiciendo suis singula monstra locis,
Affuit en auium mutata domestica turba,
Quorum ductores gallus et ancer erant.
Qui residere domi que fimum calcare solebant,
Presumunt aquile sumere iura sibi: 520
Falconis rostrum rapuit sibi gallus et vngues,
Ancer et ex alis sidera tacta cupit:
Et sic de bassis succumbunt alta, que cara
Vilibus ex causis exule lege cadunt:
Nam quo non poterant animalia figere gressus,
Vt predas capiant, ~hii super~ omne volant.
Mutatos subito vidi variare colores
Anceris et galli, quos noua forma rapit:
Transformat ~corui~ noua penna nigredine gallum,
Ancer et in Miluum vertitur ecce statim. 530
Non tantum pennas sibi sumunt sic alienas,
Immo modos similes condicione pares:
Quos natura prius pascebat ad horrea granis
Contentos minimis, alterat error eos;
Nam magis vt comedant sibi grossa cadauera poscunt
Corporis humani, que sibi sola placent.
Qui patuere pii dudum cuicumque vocanti,
Spectabantque manus que tribuere cibos,
Hii magis ecce feri falconibus atque rapaces
Pretendunt predas vi rapuisse suas. 540
Qui solet in nocte gallus cantare, quod omnes
Eius in auditu gaudia ferre solent,
Clamat vt infernus, superatque tonitrua vocis
Horrida terribilis eius ab ore sonus;
Multociensque suum fera Coppa pedisseca gallum
Prouocat ad varia que putat esse mala;
Quod nequit in factis ex dictis garrula suplet,
Ad commune nephas milleque sola mouet.
Ancer et ipse suam, cum qua se miscuit, aucam
Linquit, et in predam spirat vbique nouam: 550
Sibula per tenua nuper qui terruit ancer
Infantes tantum simplicitate sua,
Nunc nimis horribili sonitu perterret adultos,
Atque magis fortes dilacerare cupit.
Nuper et hec volucrum bubones que solet ira
Spernere, cessat, et est tunc amor inter eos.
Esse dies licitos statuunt, quibus atra frequenter
Furtiuas dederat noctis ymago vias:
Conuolat vt socius auium de carcere bubo,
Liber et in campis associatur eis. 560
Hoc fuerat tempus, quo bubo per aera pennas
Colligat, vt predas tuta mouere potest:
Ista tamen turma pennata suas acuebat
Pennas cum ferro, quo moreretur homo.
=Hic dicit se per sompnium septimam vulgi turmam in muscas et ranas
vidisse mutatam.=
Cap^m. viii.
Sompnus continuus mea sompnia continuauit,
Et dabat vlterius plura videre noua.
Amplior vt rabies monstrorum multiplicetur,
Et quod iniqua magis sit manus aucta malis,
En venit omne genus muscarum, que lacerare
Morsibus et stimulis omne salubre vouent; 570
En redeunt vaspe que nuper Vaspasianum
Torquebant, varia dantque nouata mala.
Horrida muscarum furiens tunc copia tanta
Creuit, vt a stimulo vix latitauit homo:
Vt furit infernus, agitant hinc inde dolores,
Omnia prestimulant, omnia lesa dolent.[187]
Rana quidem musce plures sociata pervrget,
Hec volat ad facinus, saltat et illa sequens.
Verterat in ranas quos Latona turba colonum
Ecce redit, que nouo dampna furore parat. 580
Vlcio ranarum fuit horrida valde nouarum,
Omnibus in domibus non nocuere parum:
Omnia fercula, cuncta cibaria rana comedit,
Fudit et in variis dira venena locis.
Hee fuerant rane, sterilis quas nuper abhorret
Egiptus, que pari iam grauitate nocent:
Non erat in terra sapiens illesus ab istis,
Plangunt philosophi vulnera facta sibi.
Rana grauat, set musca magis, violencia cuius
Spergitur et cuncta torquet vbique loca. 590
O vindicta grauis, grauior ~qua nulla~ perante
Contigit, vnde viri plus doluere boni!
Non fuit horridior Egipti musca nociua,
Nec magis ingenuos terruit ipsa viros,
Quin magis hee furie penetralia cuncta volantes
Scrutantur que viris dant nocumenta probis.
Nil seruile tamen ledunt, set ledere querunt[188]
Quos magis ingenuus ornat in orbe status:
Sic similis similem, sic rustica rusticitatem
Turba iuuat, quod eis sint mala mixta malis. 600
Conueniunt musce, vaspe glomerantur in vnum,
Aera conturbant improbitate sua.
Toruus oester adest, ciniphesque, cynomia, bruchus,
Est quibus vt noceat ipsa locusta comes.
Vrbibus et villis volutant sine lege vagantes,
Obstabantque suis recia nulla viis:
A musca carnes tunc servans non fuit olla,
Vas ita nec clausum, quin noua rima patet,
Muscarum veniens princeps excercitus huius[189]
Belzebub accessit, heeque sequntur eum:[190] 610
Ex vario genere muscarum tunc variatur
Pena, que diuersis dant nocumenta modis:
Hec ferit, illa rapit, hec mordet et altera pungit,
Hec saltat que sua de pugione nocet.
Musca grauis pestis, qua nulla nociuior vnquam
Extitit, aut mundo plus violenta lues:
Tanta fuit rabies tantus feruorque diei,
Tutus vt in nullo quis valet esse loco.
Ex nimio musce subito feruore calescunt,
Quas prius oppressit cana pruina gelu: 620
Sic calor estatis subito feruore per agros
Spersit, yemps modica quas retinere solet.[191]
O res mira nimis, vaga dumque locusta labores
Formice proprios vendicat esse suos!
O res mira nimis, cum musca rapacior omni
Niso de predis feruet vbique suis!
O res mira nimis, pennati quando superbe
Pauonis fastum sordida musca tulit!
O res mira nimis, cum sit velocior alis
Musca volans minimis, quam sit Alauda suis! 630
O res mira nimis, dum viribus atque volatu
Debilis attemptat vincere musca gruem!
O res mira nimis, aquilam dum musca supremam
Precellit, que suum spirat habere gradum!
Hec erat illa dies, que muscas dente caninas
Misit, et ex viciis conviciauit humum:
Hec erat illa dies, qua vix fortuna iuuabat,
Vel loca que musca tangere nulla potest:
Hec erat illa dies, asino dextrarius in qua
Succubuit, que suo victus honore caret: 640
Hec erat illa dies, in qua fera corda leonum
Subduntur, que boum pressa vigore pauent:
Hec erat illa dies, qua porcus sordidus omnes
Sorde sua mundos commaculauit agros:
Hec erat illa dies, canis in qua forcior vrso
Fit, neque murelego pardus obesse potest:
Hec erat illa dies, mediis qua liber in aruis
Ad predas rapidus errat vbique lupus.
Hec erat illa dies, fortem qua debilis, altum
Infimus, et magnum paruus vbique terit: 650
Hec erat illa dies, subito qua maxima quercus
A modico leuiter stramine vulsa cadit:
Hec erat illa dies, fragilis qua tegula vires
Marmoreas vicit viribus illa suis:
Ecce dies, in qua sua stramina stramen habebat,
Que nullo precio grana valere putant:
Hec erat illa dies, qua libertate dolente,
Gaudet rusticitas rusticitate sua:
Hec erat illa dies, seruos que duxit in altum,
Subdidit et proceres, nec sinit esse pares: 660
Hec erat illa dies, virtutum dira nouerca
Que fuit et cuncti mater in orbe mali:
Hec erat illa dies, qua preteriisse futuram
Est qui vir sapiens omnis in orbe cupit.
Hec erat illa dies, manifestam numinis iram
Qua pro peccatis quisque venire timet:[192]
Hec erat illa dies, que sola tremenda per orbem
Tanquam iudicii plena timoris erat:
Hec erat illa dies, de qua, si vera fatemur,
Cronica consimilem nulla per ante docet. 670
Heu quam terribilis! heu quam tristis vel amara!
Quam districta malis tunc fuit illa dies!
Vlcio celestis grauis et velox et aperta
Destruat hos per quos sic furit illa dies.
Tarda sit illa dies, nostro redeat nec in euo,
Absit et hec causa qua reditura foret:
Si prius est aliquid nobis hac luce petendum,
In loca ne redeat amplius ista rogo.
=Hic dicit se per sompnium vidisse, quod, quando omnes predicte furie
in vnum extiterant congregate, quidam Graculus[193] auis, anglice
Gay,[194] qui vulgariter vocatur Watte, presumpsit sibi statum
regiminis aliorum, et in rei veritate ille Watte fuit dux eorum.=
Cap^m. ix.
Copia dum tanta monstrorum more ferarum
Extitit vnita, sicut arena maris, 680
Graculus vnus erat edoctus in arte loquendi,
Quem retinere domi nulla catasta potest.
Hic, licet indignus, cunctis cernentibus, alis
Expansis, primum clamat habere statum.
Prepositus baratri velut est demon legioni,
Sic malus in vulgo prefuit iste malo.
Vox fera, trux vultus, verissima mortis ymago,
Eius in effigiem tanta dedere notam.
Murmura compressit, tenuere silencia cuncti,
Eius vt auditus sit magis ore sonus: 690
Arboris in summum conscendit, et oris aperti
Voce suis paribus talia verba refert:
‘O seruile genus miserorum, quos sibi mundus
Subdidit a longo tempore lege sua,
Iam venit ecce dies, qua rusticitas superabit,
Ingenuosque suis coget abire locis.
Desinat omnis honor, periat ius, nullaque virtus,
Que prius extiterat, duret in orbe magis.
Subdere que dudum lex nos de iure solebat,
Cesset, et vlterius curia nostra regat.’ 700
Singula turba silet, notat et sibi verba loquentis,
Et placet edictum quicquid ab ore tulit:
Vocibus ambiguis deceptam prebuit aurem
Vulgus et in finem nulla futura videt.
Exaltatus enim cum sic de plebe fuisset,
Ad se confestim traxerat omne solum:
Nam sine consilio cum plebs sibi colla dedisset,
Conuocat hic populum iussaque verba dedit.
Vt solet ex magno fluctus languescere flatu,
Et velut a vento turbinis vnda tumet, 710
Vocis in excessu reliquos sic commouet omnes
Graculus, et mentes plebis ad arma trahit:
Stultaque pars populi que sit sua curia nescit,
Que tamen ipse iubet iura vigoris habent.
Dixerat ille, ‘Feri,’ ferit ille;--‘Neca,’ necat alter;--
‘Solue nephas,’ soluit, quis neque fata vetat.
Auribus extensis quemcumque vocat furor ille
Audit, et ad vocem concitus vrget iter:
Sic homo tunc multus suadente furore coactus
Sepe suam posuit mestus in igne manum. 720
Omnes, ‘Fiat ita,’ proclamant vocibus altis;
Est maris vt sonitus, sic fuit ille sonus.
Ex nimio strepitu concussus vocis eorum
Vix potui tremulos ammodo ferre pedes;
Attamen a longe prospexi qualiter ipsi[195]
Complexis manibus mutua pacta ferunt.
Hoc etenim dicunt, quod quicquid perstat in orbe
Ingenui sexus rustica turba ruet.
Hiis dictis pariter omnes gradiuntur in vnum,
Ductor et inferni ducit iniqus iter.[196] 730
Nubes nigra venit furiis commixta gehenne,[197]
Cordibus infusum que scelus omne pluit;
Roreque sic baratri fuerat tellus madefacta,[198]
Crescere quod virtus ammodo nulla potest:
Omne tamen vicium, quod homo perfectus abhorret,
Crescit, et ex illo tempore corda replet.
Fecerat incursus tunc demon meridianus,
Inque dolente die torta sagitta volat:
Ipse solutus adest Sathanas omnisque caterua
Pauperis inferni preuaricata simul. 740
Perditur ecce pudor indocti cordis, et vltra
Criminis aut culpe nulla verenda timet:
Dumque duces Herebi sic vidi ducere mundum,
Celica nullius iura valoris erant.
Cum magis hos vidi, magis hos reor esse timendos,
Ignorans qualis finis habendus erit.
=Hic dicit se per sompnium vidisse progenies Chaym maledictas vna cum
multitudine seruorum nuper regis Vluxis,[199] quos Circes in bestias
mutauit, furiis supradictis associari.=
Cap^m. x.
Estus erat nimius, rabies fera, turmaque magna,[200]
Dum furit infernus associatus humo.
Sicut arena maris, monstrorum concio feda
Vndique progrediens innumeranda fuit. 750
Demonis ex stirpe furiens fuit illa propago,
Horrida facta viris et violenta deo;
Contemptrix superum, seueque auidissima cedis,
Vt lupus est, ouium dum furit ipse fame.
Protinus irrupit vene peioris habundans
Omne nephas, que viros inficit aura probos.
Septem progenies, quas ipse Chaÿm generauit,[201]
Cum furiis socii connumerantur ibi.
Terribilis, fedus, celer ad scelus, ad bona tardus,
Quilibet arte sua deteriora parat. 760
Praua creatura spernit metuenda futura,
Omne quod imponunt sub paritate ferunt:
Semper amans crimen fuit hec, actrixque ruine,
Moreque carnificis aspera cede furit.
Narrat Ysaïas, Ysidorus, Apocalipsis,[202]
Tangit et in titulis magna Sybilla suis:[203]
Gog erat atque Magog dictum cognomen eorum,
Actibus in quorum stat magis omne scelus.
Quid sit rex vel lex furiis nescitur ab illis,
Regula nulla ligat ordo nec vllus eos: 770
Non homines metuunt, superos cultu nec adorant,[204]
Sed quod habet mundus turpius illud agunt.
Carnibus humanis solet hec gens sordida vesci,
Taleque dat populo vita ferina forum:
Turpia sunt plura quibus vtitur atra figura,
Quo capit exemplum turba maligna malum.
Hec etenim rabies furiens connexa malignis
Conuenit hiis furiis, de quibus ante loquor:
Conueniunt eciam socii quos nuper Vluxis[205]
Mutauit Circes, et sociantur eis: 780
Nunc facies hominum, nunc transformata ferarum
Gestabant capita, que racione carent.
=Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii qualiter audiuit nomina et eorum
voces diuersas et horribiles. Dicit eciam de Iohanne Balle, qui eos
ad omne scelus tunc[206] instigabat, et quasi propheta inter eos
reputabatur.=
Cap^m. xi.
Watte vocat, cui Thomme venit, neque Symme retardat,
Bette que Gibbe simul Hykke venire iubent:[207]
Colle furit, quem Geffe iuuat, nocumenta parantes,
Cum quibus ad dampnum Wille coire vouet.
Grigge rapit, dum Dawe strepit, comes est quibus Hobbe,
Lorkyn et in medio non minor esse putat:[208]
Hudde ferit, quos Iudde terit, dum Tebbe minatur,[209]
Iakke domos que viros vellit et ense necat:[210] 790
Hogge suam pompam vibrat, dum se putat omni
Maiorem Rege nobilitate fore:[211]
Balle propheta docet, quem spiritus ante malignus
Edocuit, que sua tunc fuit alta scola.
Talia quam plures furias per nomina noui,[212]
Que fuerant alia pauca recordor ego:
Sepius exclamant monstrorum vocibus altis,
Atque modis variis dant variare tonos.
Quidam sternutant asinorum more ferino,
Mugitus quidam personuere boum; 800
Quidam porcorum grunnitus horridiores
Emittunt, que suo murmure terra tremit:
Frendet aper spumans, magnos facit atque tumultus,
Et quiritat verres auget et ipse sonos;
Latratusque ferus vrbis compresserat auras,
Dumque canum discors vox furibunda volat.
Vulpis egens vlulat, lupus et versutus in altum
Conclamat, que suos conuocat ipse pares;
Nec minus in sonitu concussit garrulus ancer
Aures, que subito fossa dolore pauent: 810
Bombizant vaspe, sonus est horrendus eorum,[213]
Nullus et examen dinumerare potest:
Conclamant pariter hirsuti more leonis,
Omneque fit peius quod fuit ante malum.
Ecce rudis clangor, sonus altus, fedaque rixa,
Vox ita terribilis non fuit vlla prius:
Murmure saxa sonant, sonitum que reuerberat aer,[214]
Responsumque soni vendicat Eccho sibi:
Inde fragore grauis strepitus loca proxima terret,
Quo timet euentum quisquis adire malum. 820
Contigerat plures infamia temporis huius,[215]
Que velut ex monstris obstipuere magis.[216]
Terruerat magnas nimio pre turbine gentes
Graculus, a cuius nomine terra tremit.[217]
Rumor it et proceres sermonibus occupat omnes,
Consilium sapiens nec sapientis erat.
Casus inauditus stupefactas ponderat aures,
Et venit ad sensus durus ab aure pauor.
Attemptant medicare, sed inmedicabile dampnum,
Absque manu medici curaque cessat ibi. 830
=Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii qualiter furie supradicte precones
sibi et tribunos constituebant, et quomodo senes et iuuenes eorum
fuerunt armati.=
Cap^m. xii.
Inter eos statuunt precones atque tribunos,
Et pro lege suum velle licere iubent.
Hoc sua iura ferunt preconis voce, quod omnis
Sit domus exusta que maledicit eis:
Qui scelus illorum non fortificat sceleratus,
Decapitatus erit, et domus igne perit.
Constituunt socios sceleris comitesque furoris,[218]
Ex quorum manibus pendeat istud opus.
Hac quoque de causa vidi quam plurima dampna,
Dum preco fatui clamat in aure fori: 840
Rusticus intonuit, datus est celer ignis in edes,
Fitque repente sonus, plena fit igne domus.
Hec sibi rusticitas furiens statuebat, vt omnis
Et vetus et iuuenis que valet arma ferat:
Hii palos veteres gestant, qui sunt veterani,
Aut contos cicius quam sibi desit onus.[219]
Membra leuant baculis fessique senilibus annis,
Quos, velut est ouium, tussis eundo notat.
Rusticus hic veniens fert euersamque pharetram,
Hic fractos arcus, hic sine luce facem; 850
Quique colum baiulat non se reputauit inermem,
Debilis armatus sic furit ipse senex.
Rusticitate tamen iuuenilis quos furit etas
Quicquid adest manibus asperiora gerunt;
Ascia, falx, fede quos roderat atra rubigo,[220]
Gestantur, que suo cuspide colla secant.
Quem vagina tegit ensem vix dimidiata,[221]
Gestat et ingenuos rusticus inde ferit:
Est ibi vanga loco gladii, baculus velut hasta
Vibratur, que simul prompta securis adest: 860
Arcus ibi multus fumo que etate retortus,
Et sine tunc pennis multa sagitta volat:
Tribula, furcula tunc quasi rumphea rite feruntur,
Fertur et vt gladius malleus ipse ferus.
Dixerat, ‘Ista decent humeros gestamina nostros,’
Rusticus, et tali murmure transit iter.
Sic saltant iuuenes catulorum more per arua,
Et transire feras de leuitate putant.[222]
Est ibi funda manu lapides quoque limpidiores,
Vnde dedit varias rusticus ipse minas. 870
Hii glebas, hii direptos et ab arbore ramos,
Est vbi nil aliud, de feritate ferunt:[223]
Pars gerit et silices, ne desint tela furori,
Menteque mortifera dant fera bella sua:
Perfusam multo sapientum sanguine terram
Hoc genus insipiens inmaduisse ferunt.
Hii gradibusque suis iter arripuere gradatim,
Quo sibi non racio velle set ire iubet.
=Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii qualiter et quando dicte furie
instigante diabolo, nouam Troiam, id est[224] ciuitatem Londoniarum,
ingresse sunt: nam sicut Troia nuper desolata extitit, ita ista ciuitas
protunc[225] quasi omni consolacione destituta pre dolore penitus
ignominiosa permansit.=
Cap^m. xiii.
A dextrisque nouam me tunc vidisse putabam
Troiam, que vidue languida more fuit: 880
Que solet ex muris cingi patuit sine muro,
Nec potuit seras claudere porta suas.[226]
Mille lupi mixtique lupis vrsi gradientes
A siluis statuunt vrbis adire domos:
Non erat in terris monstrosum quicquid abortum,
Seu genus, vnde furor ledere posset humum,
Quin venit et creuit, spersus velut imber ab austro,
Qualibet ex parte parsque furoris adest.
Tunc in aperta loca que monstra prius latuerunt
Accedunt, paribus suntque recepta suis: 890
Belua vasta, ferox, siluis que palustribus exit,
Qui tantum rabie non furit, immo fame;
Plus tamen ex rabie dispersam seuit in urbem,[227]
Que stupet ignotum tale venire malum.
Agresti furia iurat siluestris, vt vno
Legibus excussis iura furore ruent:
Tantus adest numerus seruorum perdicionis,
Cingere quod murus vix valet vllus eos.
Cum furor vrget opus, remanet moderacio nulla,
Set magis in vetitum quodlibet ipse ruit: 900
Sponte sua properant, nichil est prohibere volentes,
Sic valet inceptam tollere nemo viam:
Omnia traduntur, postes reserauimus hosti,
Et fit in infida prodicione fides.
Vt fremit acer equs, qui bellicus ere sonoro
Saltat, et ignorat proximiora mala,
Sic fera rusticitas incircumspecta malorum
Incipit, et finem non videt inde suum:
Victricem repetit dextre coniungere dextram
Concio seruilis, quam furor omnis habet. 910
Sic adeunt vrbem turbe violenter agrestes,
Et maris vt fluctus ingrediuntur eam.
O quam magna nimis res et spectabile mirum
Creuit in introitu de nouitate mali!
Aula palentina grandis mutatur in vrbe,
Omnis et in formam vertitur ipsa case;
Atque casas minimas subito mutauit in aulas
Sors, que iudiciis tunc fuit egra magis.
Ecce Iouis festiua dies de Corpore Cristi,
Cum furor accinxit vrbis vtrumque latus:[228] 920
Precedens alios Capitaneus excitat vnus
Rusticus, vt cuncti consequerentur eum.
Ipse viris multis prefultus conterit vrbem,
Ense necat ciues, concremat igne domos:
Non solus cecinit, set secum milia traxit,
Involuitque malo milia multa suo;
Colligit os rabiem seueque cupidine cedis
Auribus in vulgi concinit, ‘Vre, feri.’
Que via salua fuit, furit ignibus impetuosa,
Quo longum castrum ductile nescit iter; 930
Baptisteque domus, sponso viduata, per ensem
Corruit, et flammis mox fuit illa cinis;
Flagrabant sancte sceleratis ignibus edes,
Mixtaque fit flamme flamma proterua pie.
Attoniti flebant trepido de corde ministri,
Abstulerat vires corporis ipse timor.
Qui fera terribili iaculatur fulmina dextra,
Iussit vt igne polus torqueat orbis humum.
Si qua domus mansit poteratque resistere tanto
Indeiecta malo, dat pia vota deo. 940
Est nichil vt queram dominans si vulgus in vrbis
Spirat opes et eo tempore furta parat:
Vt multe gracili terrena sub horrea ferre
Limite formice grana reperta solent,
Sic vehit examen furiarum furta per vrbem,
Nec valet in numero quis recitare forum.
Hic tenet, iste trahit, stetit ille que circuit alter,[229]
Fit cito per multas predaque lecta manus.[230]
Hos Bachus attingens tandem precordia vino
Mersit, et in finem clauserat ipse Iouem: 950
Nox erat, et vinis oculi mentesque natabant,
Membra mouent, nec habent quo sibi ferre pedes.
Postera sidereos Aurora fugauerat ignes,[231]
En dolor excrescens iam noua dampna parat.
Si prius ira Iouis nocuit violenta, sequenter
Mota Venus duplo facta furoris agit.
Discurrunt agiles furie, quasi fulgur ab austro;
Sunt, vbi perueniunt, prodolor, heuque! pares.
Tunc simul vnanimes lupus et canis vrsus in vrbe
Depredant, que suas constituere moras. 960
Ecce senem Calcas, cuius sapiencia maior
Omnibus est, nullum tunc sapuisse modum:
Anthenor ex pactis componere federa pacis
Tunc nequit, immo furor omne resoluit opus:
A vecorde probum non tunc distancia nouit,
Fit cor Tersitis et Diomedis idem:
Lingue composite verbis nil rethor Vluxes[232]
Tunc valuit, nec ei sermo beatus erat:
Et quoniam tantis fatum conatibus obstat,
Quisque sua sorti frena relaxat homo. 970
Tunc neque bella iuuant, nec tela, nec vsus equorum,
Nec probitas veteris quid probitatis habet:
Vt lactante furit catulo priuata Leena,
Et ruit in pecora proximiora sibi,
Sic fera rusticitas iuris priuata salute
Irruit in proceres de feritate magis.
Omnibus est casus communis, non tamen vnum
Omnibus attribuit vna ruina locum.
O denaturans vrbis natura prioris,[233]
Que vulgi furias arma mouere sinis! 980
O quam retrograda res est, quod miles inermis[234]
Expauit, que ferus vulgus ad arma vacat!
Prelia Thebarum, Cartaginis, illaque Rome
Non fuerant istis plena furore magis.
Non hic Capanëus valuit, nec et ille Tidëus,
Non facit excursus iste vel ille ferox:
Non hic Palamades superat, neque nobilis Aiax,
Nec regimen gladius Agamenontis habet.
Subdita Troiana cecidit victoria victa,
Troiaque preda fero fit velut agna lupo. 990
Rusticus agreditur, miles nec in vrbe resistit,
Hectore Troia caret, Argos Achille suo:
Hectoris aut Troili nil tunc audacia vicit,
Quin magis hii victi rem sine corde sinunt;
Nec solito Priamus fulsit tunc liber honore,
Set patitur dominus quid sibi seruus agat.
Vix Hecube thalami poterant tunc esse quieti,
Quin dolor interius languida corda mouet;
Set neque tunc poterat in turribus Ilion altis[235]
A furiis clausum fortificare virum. 1000
=Hic tractat secundum visionem sompnii, quasi per figuram, de morte
Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi.=
Cap^m. xiiii.
O qui palladium Troie seruabat ab ara,
Helenus Antistes raptus in ense perit:
Predicat ipse satis prius vt sibi vita daretur,
Nec tamen in melius corda ferina mouet.
Est satis hoc quod ait, si gracia tangeret aures,
Set sua pro nullo pondere verba ferunt:
Quicquid in exemplis ibi dixit ab aure recessit,
Et magis in facinus credula turba fuit.
Tunc resonat murmur ingensque tumultus ad horam
Tollitur, et multum sedicionis habet: 1010
Litibus agreditur virtutes plebs viciorum,
Conturbatque sacrum sordida turba forum:
Bella mouet cum fraude fides, cum crimine virtus,
Cum pietate scelus, cum racione furor:
Affectus de corde pios non suscipit hospes
Impietas, mentem deserit exul amor.
Scit deus hos homines siluestres igne perhenni
Dignos et reprobos a racione vagos.
~O dolor in gestis, O gesta nephanda doloris!~[236]
~Sunt magis hec baratri quam malefacta viri.~ 1020
~Non fuit humanum scelus hoc, quod demon agendum~
~Duxit ab inferno tam violenter humo.~
~Plebs furit in tanto, Cristi quod amore relicto~
Turba rudis patrem nescit habere deum.
Deficit hic virtus, viciorum copia surgit,
Et quem deseruit hec, rapit illa locum:
Inde cadit bonitas, pietas perit, omnis honestas
Exulat, atque fugam consulit omne bonum:
Hinc amor et requies, pax et concordia mentis,
Spesque fidesque suas deseruere domos: 1030
Sobrietatis amans modus et moderacio rerum
Et pudor a longe constituere moram:
Transtulit ad sedem paciencia se meliorem,
Mens humilis sequitur eius vbique comes:
Agmine virtutum sublato surgit in illum
Plebs inimica, manus impia, turba grauis.
Undique concursus ingens conuentus, ad istum
Conflictum mortis plurima turba ruit:
Qui simul astabant spectantes vltima cause
Longius, ex illis vnus et alter ait, 1040
‘Hic reus est mortis, sentencia sit capitalis,
Sit cruor in nobis inque perhenne suus.’
Verbaque dicuntur dictis contraria verbis,
Mutua vox tandem garrula dampnat eum.
Presulis in mortem, violatis numinis aris,
Prosiliunt hostes, et latus omne tenent:
Clamant carnifices nulla pietate miserti,
‘Hic manibus nostris interimendus erit.’
Impositis manibus collum cum falce secabant,
Nulla fides Cristi iura veretur ibi; 1050
Ipse tamen facinus pacienter sustulit omne,
Cum mala tanta ferat, ipse quietus erat.
Non ignorat eos malediccio debita Cristi,
Qui cum sint membra, sic coluere caput.
Quatuor in mortem spirarunt federa Thome,
Simonis et centum mille dedere necem:
De vita Thome rex motus corde dolebat,
Simonis extremum rex dolet atque diem:
Ira fuit regis mors Thome, mors set ab omni
Vulgari furia Simonis acta fuit: 1060
Disparilis causa manet et mors vna duobus,
Inmerito patitur iustus vterque tamen.
Illeso collo gladiis periit caput vnum,
Quod magis acceptum suscipit ara dei;
Alterius capite sano fert vulnera collum,
Cuius erat medio passio facta foro:
Miles precipue reus est in sanguine Thome,
Simonis inque necem rusticus arma dedit:
Ecclesiam Cristi proceres qui non timuerunt,
Martirii Thome causa fuere necis; 1070
Iusticie regni seruile genusque repugnans[237]
Simonis extremum causat in vrbe diem:
Corruit in gremio matris Thomas, medioque
Natorum turba Simon in ense cadit:
Thomam rex potuit saluasse, set illa potestas
Simonis ad vitam regia posse caret:
Vlta fuit Thome mors, et nunc vlcio mortis[238]
Simonis ante fores cotidiana grauat.
Fecerat exiguas iam sol altissimus vmbras,
Fitque die media sanguine tinctus Ephot: 1080
Candida sic paciens collum percussa securi
Victima purpureo sanguine pulsat humum.
Qui pater est anime, viduatur corporis expers,
Pastor et a pecude cesus abhorret agros:
Qui custos anime fuerat, custode carebat,
Huncque necant nati, quos colit ipse pater.
Qui fuerat crucifer que patrum Primas in honore,
Hic magis abiectus et cruciatus erat:
Qui fuerat doctor legum, sine lege peribat,
Cesus et atteritur pastor ab ore gregis. 1090
Ante diem moritur sine culpis et sine causa,
Quo tam natura quam Deus ambo dolent:
Sit licet ex falsa seruorum lege subactus,
Liber perpetuas ambulat ipse vias.
Fortitudo quidem virtus, licet exteriora
Perdidit, affirmat interiora deo;
Temperiesque sibi, quicquid furor egerit extra,
Interius patitur simplicitate sua.
Tollitur a mundo quamuis sapiencia, virtus
Prouidet in celo cum sapiente locum: 1100
Obruta iusticia quamuis videatur, ad astra
Se leuat et summum permanet ante deum.
Viuere fecerunt quem mortificare putarunt,
Quem tollunt mundo, non potuere deo.
O probra transacto quis tempore talia nouit,[239]
Que necis in speculo presulis acta patent?
Multa per ante bona communia fecerat vltro,[240]
Sponteque pro meritis vulgus abhorret eum.
Tale patrasse malum non norunt Nestoris anni,
Fitque magis mira res, quia raro cadit. 1110
Non michi tam grauia sunt que prius acta fuerunt,
Set magis ad presens cogniciora grauant;
Nam quod adesse meo iam vidi tempore dampnum
Horrida maioris facta doloris habet.
O quid agit vicium de longo continuatum,
Hoc docet in vulgo res patefacta modo.
Hii sunt credo Chaÿm peiores, hic nisi tantum[241]
Occidit fratrem, set pater iste fuit.
Nescio quis laudem facinus per tale meretur,
Hoc scio quod crimen diruta Troia sinit: 1120
Iste iuuat quod et ille facit, consentit et alter,
Vt malus et peior pessimus inde forent:
Iura volunt quod homo facinus qui mittit, et alter
Qui consentit ei, sint in agone pares.
O tibi commissos vrbs que lapidare prophetas
Audes, quo doleas est tibi causa satis.
Agrestes tamen hoc facinus specialius omni
Plebe dabant furie, dum mala prima mouent.
O maledicta manus caput abscisum ferientis!
Culpa fit horribilis, pena perhennis erit. 1130
O qui tale deo crimen prohibente parasti,
Perfide, qua pena, qua nece dignus eris?
O furor insane, gens rustica, plebs violenta,
Quam tua fraus sceleris est super omne scelus!
Dic qua fronte potes discrimina tanta patrare;
Equiperat fraudem, perfida, nemo tuam.[242]
Huc properate senes, huc florida confluat etas,
Cernite que sceleris rusticus arma tulit.
Tundite pectus, fundite fletus, plangite funus,
Cuius inaudita mors perhibetur ita: 1140
Vtque salire solet mutulati cauda colubri,[243]
Palpitat et moritur qui solet esse caput.
Mors etenim sacris fuit, heu! furiosior aris,
Et minor a pecude presulis extat honor.
Venturi memores estote, que temporis huius
Casus inauditus instruat omne solum:
Exemplo caueant qui spiritualia seruant,
Ne simul officium det sibi terra suum.
Que Cassandra solet predicere more prophete,
Eueniunt vrbi pondere valde graui. 1150
Hec manus alma dei mala permittendo sinebat,
Que tamen inde fuit causa scit ipse deus.
Insolita cuncti tali de morte stupebant,
Saltem quos racio stringit amore dei.
Non Heleno potuit Priamus succurrere, Regis
Imperii set eo tempore iura silent;
Rex tamen vt sciuit quod sic fuit ordine rerum,
Plangit et hinc doluit cordis amore sui:
Rex doluit factum, nec habet quo frangere fatum,[244]
Iura nec ecclesie debita ferre sacre.[245] 1160
Ante sacras vidi proiecta cadauera postes,
Nec locus est in quo desinit esse nephas.
=Hic tractat vlterius secundum visionem sompnii de diuersa persecucione
et occisione, quas in dicta ciuitate quodammodo absque vlla
protunc[246] defensione furie supradicte, prodolor! faciebant, et
qualiter huiusmodi[247] fama vicinas perterruit ciuitates.=
Cap^m. xv.
Quique magis celebres fuerant hoc tempore ciues,
Sicut oues mortis procubuere manu.
Corpora missa neci nullo de more feruntur,
Immo iacent patulis vndique spersa viis:
Et quod nulla viris, rabies, monumenta manerent,
Mortua membratim corpora scissa terit:
Corpora cesorum muris suspensa reponunt,
Brutaque brutorum more sepulta negant.[248] 1170
Horrida plaga fuit dum sanguine terra madescit,
Fons vbicumque tumet, sanguinitate rubet:
Mors furit in foribus, mors pulsat ad ostia iuris,[249]
Viuere siue mori rusticus ipse iubet.
Quicquid erat forte manibus succumbit eorum,
Vrbs que summa fuit, cede repressa ruit:
Turribus euersis inuenta cibaria vastant,
Omnia diripiunt que meliora sciunt.
Fit nouus ergo dolor, fit planctus, luctus invndat,
Deuiat a cultu regis iniqus homo: 1180
Annos per centum veteres quos duxerat etas,
Flebant de casu quem dedit vna dies.
Plus quam piscis aquam rabies cupit ipsa cruorem,
Pacis in auxilium nec miserere iuuat:
Pro nato genitor si verba precancia dixit,
Corruit ex verbo cesus vterque simul:
Si veniam peteres, fleres et ad hoc maris vndas,
Non tamen hee lacryme pondera vocis habent.
Tunc magis indomitas ardescit vulgus in iras,
Vt rediat pietas nil valuere preces:[250] 1190
Consumptis precibus furiens violencior extat
Rusticus, et peius quod valet ipse facit.
Sic nec aper media silua tam seuus in ira
Fulmineo rapidos conrotat ore canes;
Quin cicius verbo, furiis quod dixeris, vno
Sensisses lesum in caput arma tuum.
Confusum tanto subite terrore ruine,
Vix genus ingenuum scit genus esse suum.
Diffugit ingenuus, vagat, et nec menibus vrbis[251]
Aut nemorum latebris fert loca tuta satis: 1200
Mille domos adiit sortem repetendo salutis,
Set potuit nullo ferre quieta loco:
Nunc huc, nunc illuc, quasi mocio nubis aquose,
Se mouet ingenuus, fit neque firma salus:
Vir cubat in puteis, latebras magis optat Auerni,
Quam periturus erat, dum latitare queat.[252]
A siluis silue, set ab aruis arua timescunt,
Vrbs et ab vrbe, locus nescit habere loca.
Quam subito positas aspergit sanguine mensas[253]
Ille furor, cuius horruit acta deus! 1210
Spersaque sanguineis maduerunt pabula guttis,
Nec locus aut thalamus dat loca salua viris.[254]
Tunc nisi sub centro res aut super ethera nulla
Salua potest fieri proprietate loci.
Aduena preda fuit, quam rusticus inchola mortis
Morsibus exagitans ensis in ore terit.
O dolor in sponsa mortis cum viderit ensem,
Quo caderet sponsus, nec fuit ipse reus!
Occupat amplexu lacrimasque per oscula siccat,
‘O pariter celi summa petamus,’ ait: 1220
Accipiunt lacrymas spersi per colla capilli,
Oraque singultu concuciente sonant.
Sic magis orbatas quam sepe rigare maritis
Femineas vidi corde dolente genas;
Sepe manus stringi, dirumpere sepeque crines,
Vngues et propriam dilaniare cutem.
Qui tamen est omnis auctor feritatis, ob ipsos
Gaudia fert luctus et magis auget eos;
Monstraque sic hominum calido de sanguine gaudent,
Quod nichil impietas de pietate sapit. 1230
Sperserat ambiguas huius vaga fama per vrbes
Rumoris sonitum, cordaque firma mouet;
Euentuque graui recitatur publica clades,
Nec de fortuna quo cadet ipse sapit.
Sic magis ecce viros perterruit impius ensis,
Cuius non redimunt aurea dona manum:
Vrget amara sitis, que torrida viscera torquet,
Dum timor exsiccat pectoris antra viri:
Inuictumque virum potuit quem nullus ab ante
Vincere, tunc vicit de grauitate pauor: 1240
Ymber vt ipse cruor rubefactaque sanguine tellus[255]
Tunc magis audacis interiora mouet.
Set tamen vt curet morbum lex nulla medetur,[256]
Nec sibi pre manibus quis properauit opem:
Auxilium nullus rebus prestabat amaris,
Lance suam reputat quisque tenere necem:
Est inmota manus procerum nec temporis obstat
Ire, set paciens sustulit omne malum:
Nulla potentis erat hominis tunc salua potestas,
Deprimit immo suum cauda maligna caput: 1250
Tunc sua cuique domus homini funesta videtur,
Nec fuit a mortis vlcere certus homo.
In nimio tinxit elatos sanguine cultros,
Dum sua ruralis rusticus arma gerit:
Parcere nec pueris vult impius aut mulieri,
Vastat cunctorum res, loca, iura, forum.
Nemo potest veniam sub ea feritate mereri,
Impetus illorum terruit omne solum:
Omnis enim vulgi furiis tunc turba fauebat,
Nec fuit ingenuus vnus vt obstet eis: 1260
Non fuit in toto gladius vel lancea regno
Militis in manibus, quo tueatur opus:
Dum furor excrescit, dum rustica turba tumescit,
Miles vt ambiguus fit magis inde pius.
Milicies cessit paciensque locum dedit ire,
Dum terit improbitas que probitatis erant:
Occupat en talus loca cordis, iuris et error,
Nec medicus morbo quis reputauit opem.
Sic neque nobilium scutum vel lancea quicquam[257]
Obstitit, vnde vetus fortificetur honor; 1270
Cassaque iusticia cessat, nec cordis agresti[258]
Amplius indomiti debita iura tenet.
Spacia nulla sinunt medicamina ferre furori,[259]
Set furit ebrietas maior ad omne scelus:
Hec mala corripere qui vellent nec potuerunt,
Hii lacrimas animi signa dedere sui:
Quisque suas lacrymas alto de corde petitas
Edidit, et finem spectat adesse suum.
Lumina que fuerant prius arida letaque risu,
Erumpunt lacrime more fluentis aque; 1280
Qui prius ex nullo casu deflere solebant,
Vt flerent oculos erudiere suos:
Flebat auus flebatque soror flebantque gemelli,
Que videant oculi nil nisi triste ferunt.
Vox fuit ‘Heu! ve! ve!’ sunt, prodolor! omnia luctus,
Omnia solliciti plena timoris erant;
Omnis habens lacrimas, ‘Quis me manet exitus?’ inquit,
Nescius ad mane que sibi sero foret.
‘Fer, precor,’ inquit, ‘opem, nostroque medere timori,
Egraque sors abeat, o deus!’ omnis ait. 1290
Rusticus ingenuis, ‘Stat magna potencia nobis,’
Dixerat, ‘et vester ammodo cesset honor.’
O genus attonitum gelide formidine mortis,
Quam variata tibi sors dedit ista mali!
Est in thesauris abscondita causa supremis,
Cur ruit ingenuos tanta procella viros.
Pax perit atque quies, animalia namque pusilla
Intrepido corde bella tremenda ferunt:
Que fuerant prede nuper, sibi querere predas
Vidi, set preda nulla resistit eis. 1300
Vidi nam catulos minimos agitare leonem,
Nec loca tuta sibi tunc leopardus habet:
Aspera grex ouium pastori cornua tendunt,
Cordis et effuso sanguine tincta madent:
Postpositaque fide Cristi, furientibus illis,
Ecclesiam reputant atque lupanar idem.
Perfida stulticia tunc temporis omne negauit,
Quod natura sibi vel deus ipse petit:[260]
Non timet ipsa deum neque mundi iura veretur,
Set statuit licitum criminis omne malum: 1310
Ordine retrogrado sic quilibet ordo recessit,
Nec status ipse sapit quid sit habere statum.[261]
Frumenti spicas tribulus vastauit, et ipsas
Cardo supercreuit et viciauit agros.
Loth capitur, pastor rapitur, locus expoliatur,
Et qui cuncta videt secula ceca sinit.
Tunc pro peccatis populi fit pena beatis,
Cunctaque sacra furor esse nephanda putat:
Demonibus homines subici culpis meruerunt,
Tunc quia non hominem nec timuere deum. 1320
Murmurat ex more plebs improba digna dolore,
Murmur et in populo iurgia multa mouet:
Iura sacerdotum presumentes, et honores
Tollentes, iram commeruere dei.
Fulgurat interius dolor huius turbine pestis,
Intonat exterius horrida turba sonis:
Conclamant furie, respondet flebile tellus,
Heu, quod in hoc fient tempore tanta mala!
Leticie facies tunc nulla videtur in vrbe,
Compatitur vultus cordis amara sui: 1330
Nulla quies mentis lese nullumque iuuamen
Extitit, vt sanum tempus habere queat.
Sic amor ecce vetus Troie mutatur in iram,
Cantus et ex planctu victus vbique silet:
In lacrimas risus, in dedecus est honor omnis
Versus, et in nichilum quod fuit ante satis.
Ora rigant fletus, tremit et formidine pectus,
Gaudia que fuerant deuorat ipsa dolor:
Aspiceres alios flentes terraque iacentes,
Quos dolor alterius proprius atque dolet, 1340
Et sua multociens ad celum brachia tendunt,
Si magis ex superis sit medicina malis.
Qui bonus extiterat magis est bonitate remorsus,
Planctus erat celebris, meror vbique nouus.
‘Omnia perdidimus,’ dicunt, quia nullus in vrbe,
Quem status expectat, quicquid honoris habet.
Qui de lege magis florebant tunc sapientes,
Impositis gladiis colla secantur eis:
Quos magis et furie reputabant esse peritos,
Vulneribus paribus corpora cesa ruunt. 1350
Garrula culpa volat, timidasque perhorruit aures,
Nec sciuit sapiens quid sibi iura valent:
Floruit omne scelus, bonitas perit, egraque iura
Deveniunt, que regens non habet vnde regat.
Hec et plura ferox rabies, que nullus ab ante
Viderat, insolita fecit in vrbe mala:
Vrbes non tantum generaliter, immo per omnem
Iste furor patriam subpeditauit humum.
=Hic plangit secundum visionem sompnii quasi in propria persona
dolores illorum, qui in siluis et speluncis pre timore temporis illius
latitando se munierunt.=
Cap^m. xvi.
Hec ita cum vidi, me luridus occupat horror,
Et quasi mortifera stat michi vita mea; 1360
Semper in interius precordia mortis ymago[262]
Pungit, et vt gladius viscera tota mouet.
Iamque dies medius tenues contraxerat vmbras,
Iamque pari spacio vesper et ortus erat:
Ter quater affligi sociorum corpora terre
Vidi, datque sua mors michi signa mori.
Aspiciens vultus aliorum cede madentes,
De propria timui morte remorsus ego;
Crudelesque manus, orbem sine lumine iuris[263]
Percipiens dixi, ‘Iam cadit ordo viri’; 1370
Bestia cum regimen hominum rapuisset et arma,
Et quod nulla suis legibus equa forent.
Hoc michi solliciti certissima causa timoris
Extitit et sortis peior origo mee;
Nam quia sic proceres vidi succumbere seruis,
Spes magis in fatis nulla salutis erat.
Est michi rupta domus per eos, quos rupta gehenna[264]
Miserat, vt leges perderet ordo suas:
Sic fugiens abii subite contagia cladis,
Non ausus lese limen adire domus. 1380
Tuncque domum propriam linquens aliena per arua
Transcurri, que feris saltibus hospes eram.
Morsus ego linguis a dorso sepe ruebar,
Et reus absque meo crimine sepe fui:
Sic reus infelix agor absens, et mea cum sit
Optima, non vllo causa tuente perit.[265]
Inde ferens lassos aduerso tramite passus,
Quesiui tutam solus habere viam:
Attamen ad tantam rabiem pedibus timor alas
Addidit, et volucris in fugiendo fui. 1390
Sic vagus hic et ibi, quo sors ducebat euntem,
Temptaui varia cum grauitate loca:[266]
Pes vagat osque silet, oculus stupet et dolet auris,
Cor timet et rigide diriguere come.
Sicut aper, quem turba canum circumsona terret,[267]
Territus extrema rebar adire loca.
Ha, quociens certam ~sum me~ mentitus habere
Horam, proposito que foret apta meo!
Si qua parte michi magis expediens foret ire,
Perstetit in media pes michi sepe via: 1400
Excidit omne decus michi tristi, nulla tuebar
Rura, nec in precio fertilis ortus erat.
Mens agitur, que diu pugnat sentencia mecum,
Quis locus ad vitam fert pociora meam;
Vixque michi credens solo quasi vota momento
Millesies varians corde vagante tuli.
Si loca tuta forent, loca tuta libenter adissem,
Set quo non potui corpore, mente feror;
Cumque domum volui quandoque redire diebus,
Vt me prepediat, occupat hostis iter. 1410
Si progressus eram, caperer ne nocte timebam;
Sic michi de nullo tempore tempus erat:
Hostis adest dextra, surgit de parteque leua,
Vicinoque metu terret vtrumque latus.
Ha, quociens furiis visis cessi, que sub vmbris
Auris ad extrema semper aperta fuit!
Ha, quociens siluis latui vix ausus in antris,
Desperans sero quid michi mane daret!
Ha, quociens mentem pauor incutit hec michi dicens,
‘Quid fugis? hic paruo tempore viuus eris!’[268] 1420
Ha, quociens fuerat mea mens oblita quid essem,
Dum status anterior posteriora tenet!
Sepius inque die dum sol clarissimus esset,
Nox oculis pauidis venit aborta meis.
Sompnia me terrent veros imitancia casus,
Et vigilant sensus in mea dampna mei:
Sic mea sompniferis liquefiunt pectora curis,
Ignibus appositis vt noua cera solet:
Aut nisi restituar melioris ymagine sompni,
Aspicio patrie tecta relicta mee. 1430
Concaua vallis vbi fuerat nemorosa, per vmbras
Vt lepus obliquas sepe viator eram:
Purus ab arboribus spectabilis vndique campus
Tunc michi pro nullo tempore fidus erat;
Silua vetus densa nulla violata securi
Fit magis ecclesiis tunc michi tuta domus.
Tunc labor insolitus sic me lassauit, vt egros
Vix passus potui ferre vel hic vel ibi:
Sic fugiendo domos proprias mens horruit antra;
Peius vt effugiat, sustinet ipsa malum. 1440
Absque supercilio michi nubis sub tegumento
Copula cum foliis prebuit herba thorum.
Si potui, volui sub eodem cortice condi,
Nulla superficies tunc quia tuta fuit;
Perque dies aliquot latitans, omnemque tremescens
Ad strepitum, fugi visa pericla cauens.
Glande famem pellens mixta quoque frondibus herba
Corpus ego texi, nec manus vna mouet:
Cura dolor menti fuerat, lacrimeque rigantes
In fundo stomachi sunt alimenta quasi. 1450
Tunc cibus herba fuit, tunc latis currere siluis
Impetus est, castra tunc quia nulla iuuant:
Rore meo lacrimisque meis ieiunia paui,
Fert satis ad victum langor in ore meum.
Plura dolens timui tunc temporis, et super omne
Ira dei magni causa timoris erat:
Tristis eram, quia solus, egens solamine, cogor
Tunc magis ignotas vt vagus ire vias:
Sic loca secretos augent secreta dolores,
Vt releuet luctus quisque sodalis abest: 1460
Fert tamen, vt possum mestos depromere vultus,[269]
Solus in exilio gaudia magna dolor.
Sic lacrime lacrimis, sic luctus luctibus assunt,
Dum queror, et non est qui medicamen agat;
Pectoribus lacrimeque genis labuntur aborte,
Dum fuerat fati spes inimica michi.
Fine carent lacrime, nisi cum stupor obstitit illis,
Aut similis morti pectora torpor habet:
Tunc pariter lacrimas vocemque introrsus abortas,
Extasis exemplo comprimit ipse metus. 1470
Brachia porrexi tendens ad lumina solis,
Et, quod lingua nequit promere, signa ferunt;
Cumque ferus lacrimas animi siccauerat ardor,
Singultus reliquas clamat habere vices.
Pallidiora gerens exhorruit equoris instar
Multa per interius mens agitata malis;
Discolor in facie macies monstrauerat extra,[270]
Que magis obtruse mentis ad yma latent:
Nam pauor et terror, trepidoque insania vultu,
Me magis ignotum constituere michi. 1480
Dum mens egra fuit, dolet accio corporis, in quo
Ossa tegit macies, nec iuuat ora cibus:
Iam michi subducta facies humana videtur,
Pallor et in vultu signa reportat humi;
Sanguis abit mentemque color corpusque reliquit,[271]
Pulcrior est et eo terra colore meo.
Sic magis a longo passum quod corpus habebam,
Vix habuit tenuem qua tegat ossa cutem;
Sicque diu pauidus pariter cum mente colorem
Perdideram, que fui sic nouus alter ego. 1490
Vix fuerat quod ego solida me mente recepi,
Dum bona promisit sors michi nulla fidem:
Non michi libertas cuiquam secreta loquendi
Tunc fuit, immo silens os sua verba tenet.
Si michi quem casus socium transduxerat illuc,
Miscuimus lacrimas mestus vterque simul:
Raro fuit quod ego verbis solabar amicis,
Vix quia tunc fidus vnus amicus erat:
Illud erat tempus dubium, quo nullus amicum
Certum certus habet, sicut habere solet. 1500
Qui prius attulerat verum michi semper amorem,
Tunc tamen aduerso tempore cessat amor:
Querebam fratres tunc fidos, non tamen ipsos
Quos suus optaret non genuisse pater.
Memet in insidiis semper locuturus habebam,
Verbaque sum spectans pauca locutus humum:
Tempora cum blandis absumpsi vanaque verbis,
Dum mea sors cuiquam cogerat vlla loqui.
Iram multociens frangit responsio mollis,
Dulcibus ex verbis tunc fuit ipsa salus; 1510
Sepeque cum volui conatus verba proferre,
Torpuerat gelido lingua retenta metu.
Non meus vt querat noua sermo quosque fatigat,
Obstitit auspiciis lingua retenta malis;
Sepe meam mentem volui dixisse, set hosti
Prodere me timui, linguaque tardat ibi.
Heu! miserum tristis fortuna tenaciter vrget,
Nec venit in fatis mollior hora meis.
Si genus est mortis male viuere, credo quod illo
Tempore vita mea morsque fuere pares. 1520
Sic vbi respexi, nichil est nisi mortis ymago,
Quam reputo nullum tollere posse virum:
Sepe mori volui ne quicquid tale viderem,
Seu quod ab hiis monstris tutus in orbe forem;
Velle mori statui, quia scribitur, ‘Omnia soluit[272]
Mors et ab instanti liberat ipsa malo.’
‘Fortune,’ dixi, ‘dolor, vndique parce dolenti,
Da michi vel plene viuere siue mori.’
Set michi pro fine spem tantum mortis habebam,
Plusque nec ausus eram limen adire domus. 1530
Murmura tunc subite subeunt habitacula mentis,[273]
Talia pro luctu sepeque verba ferunt:
‘O tibi quem presens spectabile non sinit ortus
Cernere, quam melior sors tua sorte mea est!
Heu! mea consueto quia mors nec erit michi lecto,
Depositum nec me qui fleat vllus erit:
Spiritus ipse meus si nunc exibit in auras,
Non positos artus vnget amica manus.
Si tamen impleuit mea sors quos debuit annos,
Et michi viuendi tam cito finis adest, 1540
Ecce, deus, tu scis quia non tua fata recuso;
Dum feris, en pacior que meruisse reor.’
Cumque mei luctus torrens michi maior invndat,
Et magis ex sterili sorte volutus eram,
Ecce Sophia meis compassa doloribus inquit,
‘Siste, precor, lacrimas et pacienter age.
Sic tibi fata volunt non crimina, crede set illud
Quo deus offensus te reparando vocat.
Non merito penam pateris set numinis iram:
Ne timeas, finem nam dolor omnis habet.’ 1550
Talibus exemplis aliis quoque rebus vt essem
Absque metu paciens sepe Sophia monet;[274]
Conscia mensque michi fuerat, culpe licet expers,
Spes tamen ambigue nulla salutis adest.
Non fuerant artes tanti que numinis iram
A me tollentes tempora leta ferunt.
Tanta mee lasse fuerat discordia mentis,
Quod potui sensus vix retinere meos.
Quid michi tunc animi fuit aut quid debuit esse,
Cum michi rem certam mors neque vita tulit? 1560
Nunc id, nunc aliud, dubitata mente reuolui,
Quo michi nulla quies fit neque leta dies.
Cum fuit in sompnis mea desperacio maior,
Exiguo dixi talia verba sono:
‘Crudeles sompni, cur me tenuistis inermem?
Quin prius instanti morte premendus eram.’
Arguit ergo meos ita mens quam sepe dolores,
‘Quid fles hic paruo tempore,’ dixit, ‘eris.’
Sic tenuant vigiles corpus miserabile cure,
Quas vigili mente sompnia ferre dabant: 1570
Me timor inuasit, stabam sine lumine mestus,
Et color in vultu linquit habere genas:
Attonitus tanto miserarum turbine rerum,
Vt lapis a mente sepe remotus eram.
Mens tamen vt rediit, pariter redi~ere~ dolores,[275]
Mortem dum menti vita negare nequit:
Sic mortem cupiens timui presagia mortis,
Nec fore quid melius mens michi fida refert.
Verbis planxissem, set viscera plena dolore
Obsistunt, nec eo tempore verba sinunt; 1580
Obice singultu vocis stetit impetus horrens
Aduentum lacrime, lingua refrenat iter.
Est michi vita mori, mors viuere, mors michi vita
Dulcior est, redolet viuere mortis amor:
Solus, inops, expes, vite peneque relictus,
Attendi si que sors mea certa foret.
Talia mira nimis longum narranda per annum,
Que modo vix recolo, tunc paciebar ego.[276]
Scire meos casus si quis desiderat omnes,
Quo loquar hos finem non breue tempus habet: 1590
Sic tamen in variis mea lassa doloribus ipse[277]
Tempora continuans asperiora tuli.
=Hic eciam secundum visionem sompnii describit quasi in propria
persona[278] angustias varias que contingebant hiis qui tunc pro
securitate optinenda in Turrim Londoniarum se miserunt, et de ruptura
eiusdem turris: figurat enim dictam turrim similem esse naui prope
voraginem Cille periclitanti.=
Cap^m. xvii.
Amplius vt vidi quia lex non nouerat orbem,
~Creuit et ex~ variis rumor vbique malis,
En stupor in sompnis magis ac magis inde timorem
Prouocat, et dubias fert michi sepe vias:
Quid facerem metuens, aut quid michi cercius esset
Ignorans, oculos sperserat ira meos.
Haud procul aspexi nauem, properansque cucurri,
Sors mea si forte tucior esset ibi; 1600
Ecceque scala michi patuit, qua scansus in altum,
Intraui, que pius dat michi nauta locum.
Ingenui sexus alios conscendere nauem
Vidi quam plures, quos timor omnis habet:
Vix fuit a planta capiti gradus vllus eorum
Qui tunc de stirpe nobilitatis erant,
Quin maris in medio pauidus conscenderat ille
Classem, quo requiem, si foret vlla, petat.
Set quid agant alii, semper michi cura remansit
Vna, quod a furiis tutus abire queam.[279] 1610
Nauis in ingressu pauida de mente rogaui,
Vt michi det faciles vtilis aura vias:
Quem mare quemque colunt venti, per vota reclamo,
Vt michi det placidum per mare Cristus iter:
‘Tu michi, stella maris, sis preuia, quo ferar vndis;
Sit tibi cura mei, te duce tutus ero.’
Cum maris vnda procul a litore nos rapuisset,
Nauis et optato flumine carpsit iter,
A furiis terre tunc amplius esse quietum
Me dixi, set in hoc spes mea vana fuit; 1620
Nam mea quando fuit spes maior vt ipse salutem
Consequerer, subito causa doloris adest.
Terribilem picea tectus caligine vultum
Ether ab excelso commouet arma fretis:
Quatuor ora fremunt ventorum sic, quod inermem
Anchora non poterat vlla iuuare ratem.[280]
Extra se positus madidis Nothus euolat alis,
Cuius enim gutte dampna furoris agunt:
Quas sibi non poterat terre comprendere virtus,
Pendula celestes libra mouebat aquas; 1630
Sic defrenato voluuntur in equora cursu,
Quo maris vnda nimis aucta subegit humum.
Seuiit in nauem ventis discordibus aura,
Et maris in remos vnda coacta ruit;
Fit fragor, et densi funduntur ab ethere nimbi,
Nauis et est variis exagitata malis.
Nuncia Iunonis varios tumefacta colores
Induit, et vario more refudit aquas:
Nulla set est gutta dulcis quam fuderat, immo
Turpis, amara, rudis, vilis, acerba, grauis; 1640
Nil valet ad gustum liquor hic, qui corda bibentum
Perforat, et quassat viscera tota simul.
O felix, tales qui tunc euaserat ymbres,
Qui sunt Stige magis et Flegetonte graves!
Ipse tamen naui turbatus semper adhesi,
Quam furiens pelagi merserat ira quasi.
Huius aque fluuio bubo natat inter alaudas,
Nat lupus inter oues, inter honesta nephas.
Huius aque subite magis insulcata carina
Forcia que subiit tecta que castra ruit. 1650
Pre nimia rabie timuerunt grandia cete,
Dum magis atque magis aucta fit ira maris.
Ecce cadunt largi resolutis nubibus ymbres,
Aeris et medio fulminis ira tonat;
Inque fretum credas totum descendere celum,
Terruit et terras Iris vbique minis;
Inque plagas celi tumefactus scandit et equor,
Vt si de proprio vellet abire loco.
Sternitur interdum spumisque sonantibus albet,
Et redit in subtus quod fuit ante super; 1660
Et modo cum fuluas ex ymo vertit arenas,
Tincta superficies fulua patebat aquis.[281]
Que freta seu venti poterant tormenta parare,
Fluctibus et grauibus flatibus illa parant:
Equoree miscentur aque celestibus auris,
Mixtaque cum pluuia salsa tumescit aqua.
Vela madent nimbis, tegumenta nec vlla iuuabant,
Vnus vt in sicco contegat inde caput;
Pugnaque ventorum spumantes mouerat vndas[282]
Vertit et in variis fluctibus Auster eas. 1670
Desuper emissi tenuerunt equora venti,
Est ita naualis regula ceca magis;
Tetraque nox premitur, tenebrisque micancia lumen
Fulmina fulmineis ignibus ipsa dabant.
Cum mare sub noctem tumidis albescere cepit[283]
Fluctibus, et preceps Eurus ad arma furit,
‘Ardua iam dudum dimittite cornua nauis,’
Clamat, ‘et ad velum currite,’ rector ait.
Hic iubet, impediunt aduerse iussa procelle,
Nec fragor auditum tunc sinit esse maris; 1680
Sponte tamen properant alii subducere remos,
Pars munire latus quisque labore suo.
Egerit hic fluctus equorque refundit in equor,
Hic rapit antemnas, que sine lege vagant:
Bella gerunt venti fretaque indignancia miscent,
Cassus et vlterius fit labor ille viris.
Tanta mali moles classem compresserat audax,
Vt vecors animum laxat abire vagum;
Ipse pauet nec se quis sit status ipse fatetur,
Dum timor ex mentis frigore corda gelat. 1690
Quippe sonant clamore viri, stridore rudentes,
Rector et in remis fert nichil ipse magis.
Omnia pontus erat, deerant quoque litora ponto,[284]
Regis et ad solium fert sua monstra fretum.
=Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii qualiter tanta superhabundauit
tempestas, quod de certo absque manu diuina[285] remedio omnes in dicta
naui hesitarunt, et deum super hoc precipue quilibet sexus ingenui
deuocius exorabat.=
Cap^m. xviii.
Ceruleus, rubeus, pingit geminus color arcum,
Et furor ethereus vndique spersus adest;
Desuper ira tonat, subtus rumpuntur abissi,
Et de visceribus terra fluenta vomit;
Insolitas pluuias nubes effundit et vndas,
Sustinet innumeras vndique nauis eas. 1700
Nescia sicque vagans nauis qua sorte fruatur,
Equoris et pluuie sic natat inter aquas;
Et mare terribili confundit murmure mentes,
Quod timor ex solo terret vbique sono.
Tristius et celum tenebris obducitur atris,
Vix videt ex oculis iste vel ille manus.[286]
De celo veniunt tunc signa minancia mortem,
Omnis et expectat quid sibi fata volunt:
Desuper impletur flammis vltricibus aer,
Et furor ex omni parte perurget aquas: 1710
Ignea tunc sonitus diffundit flamma feroces,
Et scintilla quasi fulmina spersa volat.
Igniuomus fluuius sic nos torquebat, vt omnis
Submisso capite mutus in ore silet:
Deficit ars animique cadunt viresque fatescunt,
Nec fuit vlterius spes aliqualis eis.
En super hoc veniens inmensus belua ponto
Eminet, ex cuius naribus vnda tonat:
Ipse velut nauis prefixus concita rostro
Sulcat aquas, et eum cuncta propinqua timent: 1720
Ipse ferox latum sub pectore possidet equor,
Et propriata sibi iura marina petit:
Frater erat Cille, furiens magis ipse Caribdi,
Et velut os Herebi, que voret ipse petit.[287]
Perdidit hiis visis audacior intima cordis
Robora, que subito surripit ille pauor;
Iamque gubernator, tollens ad sidera palmas,
Exposcit votis inmemor artis opem:
Vincitur ars vento, neque iam moderator habenis
Vtitur, immo vaga per freta nauis arat. 1730
Tunc quasi febricitans os omnes horruit escas,
Mensque vomit sensus absque salute suos:
Brachia cum palmis, oculos cum menteque tristi
In celum tendens, postulat omnis opem:
Non tenet hic lacrimas, stupet hic, vocat ille beatos,
Proque salute sua numina quisque vocat.
Rector cuncta deo commendans talia dixit,
‘Celestis celerem det michi rector opem.’
Rima patet, que viam prebet letalibus vndis,
Nec stat qui mortis non reputaret iter.
Visa michi Cilla fuit et tunc visa Caribdis, 1740
Deuoret vt nauem spirat vtrumque latus.
O quam tunc similis huic naui Londoniarum
Turris erat, quod eam seua procella quatit;
Turris egens muris, vbi sumpsit petra papiri
Formam, quam penetrans sordida musca terit;
Turris, vbi porta sibi seras ferre recusat,
Quo patitur thalamus ingredientis onus;
Turris, vbi patula furiis via restat, et omnis
Rusticus ingrediens res rapit atque loca; 1750
Turris, vbi vires succumbunt debilitati,
Turris, vbi virtus non iuuat vlla viros;
Turris in auxilium spirans, custode remoto,
Et sine consilio sola relicta sibi;
Turris in obprobrium patricida que sanguine feda,
Cuius ineternum fama remorsa volat;
Turris, vbi rupta spelunca fuit leopardi,
Ipseque compulsus vt pius agnus abit;
Turris, vbi pressit vi tegula feda coronam,
Quo cecidit fragili sub pede forte caput; 1760
Turris, non thuris olefacta salute set egra,
Lugens non ludens, tedia queque ferens;
Turris diuisa linguis Babilonis ad instar,
Turris, vt est nauis Tharsis in ore maris.
Sic patitur pressa vicii sub gurgite turris,
Nescia qua morum parte par~are~ viam.
Quisque dolet, set non vt ego, dum talis amarum
Spectat ad interitum naufraga Cilla meum.
Hec ita sompnifero vigilans quasi lumine signa
Vidi, quo timui dampna futura rei. 1770
Nimirum quod ego, dum talia ferre putabam,
Territus in sompnis et timefactus eram:
Ductus in ambiguis dixi quam sepe periclis,
Quod michi naue mea tucius equor erat.
Sic ego concussus Euros Zephirosque timebam,
Et gelidum Boream precipitemque Nothum:[288]
Quatuor hii venti partes per quatuor orbis
Flant, nec obesse suis flatibus vlla queunt.
Nostra per aduersas agitur fortuna procellas,
Sorte nec vlla mea tristior esse potest. 1780
Talia fingebam misero michi fata parari,
Demeritoque meo rebar adesse malum.
Sic mecum meditans, tacito sub murmure dixi,
‘Hec modo que pacior propria culpa tulit.’
Non latuit quicquam culparum cordis in antro,
Quin magis ad mentem singula facta refert:
Cor michi commemorat scelerum commissa meorum,
Vt magis exacuat cordis ymago preces.[289]
Non fuit ex sanctis quem non mea lingua precatur,
Dum maris interitum preuia signa parant: 1790
Accensam summi precibus mulcere paratus
Iram, cum lacrimis sic mea verba dedi.
‘Conditor O generis humani, Criste redemptor,
Est sine quo melius nil vel in orbe bonum,
Dixisti, que tuo sunt omnia condita verbo,
Mandasti, que statim cuncta creata patent;
Inque tuo verbo celi formantur, et omnem
Spiritus ornatum fecerat inde tuus.
Per te sunt et aque, certus quoque terminus illis,
Est per te piscis et maris omne genus: 1800
Aera cum genere volucrum sermone creasti,
Quatuor et vento partibus ora dabas:
Cunctipotensque tuo fundasti numine terram,
Fixit quam stabilem prouidus ordo tuus:
Cunctaque terrigena viuunt animalia per te,
Subque tua lege reptile quodque mouet.
Sicut ymago tua tandem fuit et racionis
Factus homo, quod opus sit super omne tuum;
Qui precepta tua veteri serpente subactus
Preterit, et pomi mors sibi morsus erat. 1810
Set pietate tibi quod eum de morte resumas,
Virginis ex carne tu caro factus eras;
Sicque parens nostri generis de carnis amore
Efficeris, nobis gracior vnde fores.
Vt te credo deum sic esse meumque parentem,
Micius, oro, pater, tu mea fata rege!
Vt de morte crucis te non pudet esse cruentum,
Hoc ita, Criste meis tempore parce malis!
Qui Paulum pelago, Petrum de carcere, Ionam
Eripis a piscis ventre, memento mei! 1820
Nescit abesse deus in se sperantibus, egros
Visitat, elisos erigit, auget opem.
Peccaui, redeo, miserere precor miserendi!
Tempus adest, miseros te refouere decet.
Parce, precor, fulmenque tuum tua tela reconde,
Que michi nunc misero tristia tanta parant.
‘O! cui fundo preces, te deprecor, intret in aures
Hec mea diuinas vox lacrimosa tuas!
Iam prope depositus sum mundo, frigidus, eger,
Seruatus per te, si modo seruer, ego. 1830
O superi, fractis,’ dixi, ‘succurrite remis,
Et date naufragio litora tuta meo!
Que genus humanum curauit origine Cristi,
Materiam cure prebeat illa mee!
Te precor, alme deus, sit vt illa michi mediatrix,
Que peperit florem flore manente suo.
Cur mala que pacior nullo michi tempore soluis?
Ecce simul morimur, respice, plaga monet!’
Cum magis in precibus prostratus proxima dampna
Expectans timui speque salutis egens, 1840
Impetus en subito ruit, et concussit ad ymum
Nauem, quam Cille deuorat ira prope:
Vis tamen alma precum sitibunda voraginis ora
Obstruxit, nec ea fit saciata vice.
Semper in incerto fuimus quid fata pararent,
Nec spes pro nobis, nec timor equs adest.
Micius ille perit subitis qui mergitur vndis,
Quam sua qui timidis brachia iactat aquis.[290]
Absque quiete tamen rogat omnis votaque suplex
Impendit, que pias fundit ad alta preces. 1850
=Hic fingit secundum visionem sompnii de quadam voce diuina in excelsis
clamante, et quomodo deus placatus tandem precibus tempestates sedauit,
et quomodo quasi in holocaustum pro delicto occisus fuit ille Graculus,
id est Walterus, furiarum Capitaneus.=
Cap^m. xix.
Clamor in excelsis, lacrime gemitusque frequentes,
Non veniam cassi preteriere dei;
Attamen ipse maris Neptunus qui deus extat,
At mare pacificet, tunc holocausta petit.
Dona valent precibus commixta, per hec deus audit
Micius, et votis annuit ipse precum:
Cum magis ergo furit tumidi maris aucta procella,
Et magis in mortem visa pericla patent,
Vnus erat Maior Guillelmus, quem probitatis[291]
Spiritus in mente cordis ad alta mouet; 1860
Iste tenens gladium quo graculus ille superbus
Corruit, ex et eo pacificauit opus.
Vna peribat auis, quo milia mille reviuunt,
Et furibunda deus obstruit ora maris.
Sit licet hoc tarde, tunc nauis post scelus actum
Induit infelix arma coacta dolor.
Graculus en moritur! sic non moriuntur invlti,
Quos prius ex rostro lesit ad arma suo:
Qui ferit ex gladio periit gladiator in illo,
Et magis infelix imbuet auctor opus:[292] 1870
In scelus addendum scelus est, in funera funus,
Sic luet exactor quod tulit ante malum;
Inque leues abiit morientis spiritus auras,
Si petat inferius antra scit ipse deus.[293]
Sic quia miliciam transumpsit ymagine monstri,
Irrita decepti vota colonis erant.
Cum magis est quicquid superi voluere peractum,
Desinit a furiis sors maledicta suis:
Forsitan illa dies erroris summa fuisset,
Si deus in tali morte negasset opus. 1880
O michi quanta tulit tantus solacia victor,
Obruta qui tante sortis ad alta leuat!
O benedicta manus, tam sufficiens holocaustum
Que dedit, vnde maris victa procella silet!
Nam deus vt voluit, plus dum furit equoris vnda,
Grata superveniens hora salutis adest.
Quod deus ipse suam pro tempore distulit iram,
Vocis ab excelso protulit ista sonus;
Aeris e medio diuina voce relatum
Tunc erat et nostris auribus ista refert: 1890
Dixit, ‘Adhuc modicum restat michi tempus, et ecce
Differo iudicium cum pietate meum.’
Cilla per hoc verbum paciens restrinxit hiatum,
Quod prius exhausit protinus illa vomit;
Sicque iubente deo nauis, quam seua vorago
Sorbuit, erigitur equoris alta tenens:
Sic prius austerus stat sub moderamine motus,
Tantus celesti venit ab ore vigor:
Et iam deficiens sic ad sua verba reuixi,
Vt solet infuso vena redire mero. 1900
Conclamant naute, surgunt pariter properantque
Quilibet officium fortificare suum:
Sic inter medium vite mortisque reformant
Cursum, quo breuiter tucius ire putant:
Exiguam veli, que tunc tamen integra mansit,
Extollunt partem, ducat vt ipsa ratem.
Tanta fit ingluuies et aquarum fluxus habundans,
Vix quod sedatas terra resumpsit aquas:
Set mare qui pedibus calcauit in orbe misertus,
Horrida compescens tempora leta dedit: 1910
Equora constrinxit celique foramina clausit,
Et minus iratas cedere iussit aquas:
Nebula deiecit nimbis aquilone remotis,
Nec fragor vlterius voce tonante furit:
Equoris arcet aquas, iubet vt sit terminus illis,
Ne maris infirmam plus terat ira ratem.
Tunc celo terras ostendit et ethera terris,
Et pelagi furias pescuit ipse feras:
Tunc loca concrescunt, quia decrescentibus vndis
Pax redit, atque probis fit renouata salus. 1920
Fusca repurgato fugiebant numina celo,
Fulsit et optata clarior illa dies;
Ortaque lux radiis solidum patefecerat orbem,
Cessit et anterior sors tenebrosa malis.
Sic mare litus habet, plenos capit alueus ampnes,
Legibus atque noue tunc patuere vie:
Sic, deus vt voluit, cum sit moderacior vnda,
Leticie mixti convaluere metus.
Omnes tunc Cristum laudant, quod ab ore procelle
Non sinit extinctos, set reparauit eos. 1930
Tunc ego, deflexis genibus set ad ethera palmis
Tensis, sic dixi: ‘Gloria, Criste, tibi!’
Hoc iterans gelida formidine frena resolui,
Leticieque noue spes michi mulcet iter.
Dum mare pacatum, dum ventus amicior esset,
Spes redit et nautis corda subacta leuat.
Viribus ergo suis pauidus sibi nauta resumptis
Nauigat, vt portum pacis adire queat.
Carbasa mota sonant, iubet ~vti~ nauita ventis,[294]
Subque noue sortis spe noua vela dari. 1940
=Hic loquitur adhuc de naui visa in sompnis, id est[295] de mente sua
adhuc turbata, vt si ipse mentaliter sompniando, quasi per nauem variis
ventis sine gubernaculo agitatam, omnes partes mundi pro pace mentis
scrutanda investigasset, et tandem in partes Britannie maioris, vbi
raro pax est, dicit se applicuisse. Dicit eciam qualiter vox in sompnis
sibi iniunxit quod ipse omnino scriberet ea que de mundo in illo
scrutinio[296] vidisset et audisset; et ita terminatur sompnium.=
Cap^m. xx.
Clausit adhuc oculos sompnus, quo sompnia nauem
Semper pretendunt, que loco tuta petit,
Nec timor ambigue poterat cito cedere menti,
Quam prius ad portum salua venire queat.
Deficiunt remi iam ventis vndique fracti,
Ac vbi sors duxit nauis habebat iter:
Littora pacifica scrutans temptabat in omnem
Partem, nec poterat pacis habere locum;
Turbo set equoreis hanc tandem, prodolor! vndis
Expulit in portum quo furit omne malum. 1950
Sic Cillam fugiens minus est nec lesa periclis,
Dum Cilla grauior Insula cepit eam.
Insula lata quidem fuit hec vallata rotundo,
Que maris Occiani cincta redundat aquis.[297]
Ad portum veniens de naui concito litus
Egressus pecii, turbaque magna michi
Plebis in occursum iam venerat, ex quibus vnum
Pre reliquis dignum contigit esse virum:
A quo quesiui, ‘Dic, Insula qualis, et vnde
Tantus adest populus, quis sit et inde modus?’ 1960
Ecce senex ille, portu qui stabat in illo,
Reddidit ista meis horrida verba sonis.
‘Exulis hec dici nuper solet Insula Bruti,
Quam sibi compaciens ipsa Diana dabat.
Huius enim terre gens hec est inchola, ritus[298]
Cuius amore procul dissona plura tenet.
Nam quia gens variis hec est de gentibus orta,
Errores varie condicionis habet:
Egregie forme sunt hii, set condicione
Ecce lupis seue plus feritatis habent. 1970
Non metuunt leges, sternunt sub viribus equm,
Victaque pugnaci iura sub ense cadunt:
Legibus inculta fraudes, scelus, arma, furores,
Pluraque pestifera plebs nocumenta parit:
Que gestant homines terre de partibus huius
Pectora, sunt ipso turbidiora mari.
Hec humus est illa vario de germine nata,
Quam cruor et cedes bellaque semper habent:
Tristia deformes pariunt absinthia campi,
Terraque de fructu quam sit amara docet. 1980
Non magis esse probos ad finem solis ab ortu
Estimo, si populi mutuus esset amor.’
Pluribus auditis que singula displicuerunt,
Heu! michi corda dolor iam renouatus agit:
Dulcius ipse michi numen nunc quando putabam,
Fortune species obstat acerba mee.
Cum video quam sunt mea fata tenacia, frangor,
Spesque leuis magno victa timore silet:
Sic ego fortune telis confixus iniquis
Pectore concipio nil nisi triste meo: 1990
~Attigeram portum~, portu terrebar ab ipso,
Plus habet infesta terra timoris aqua.
Sic magis in terris dubiis iactatus et vndis,
Nescio quo possum tutus habere fugam:[299]
Sic simul insidiis hominum pelagique laboro,
Et faciunt geminos ensis et vnda metus.
Cur ego tot gladios fugii, tociensque minata
Obruit infelix nulla procella caput?
Iam mea spes periit, tali dum sors mea portu,
Est vbi nulla quies, duxit habere moram. 2000
Fugerat ore color, macies subduxerat artus,
Sumebant minimos ora subacta cibos;
Vtque leui Zephiro graciles vibrantur ariste,
Frigida populeas vt quatit aura comas,
Pergere cum volui, tremulus magis ipse iacebam,
Et dolor in corde parturientis erat:
Sic ego dumque queror, lacrime mea verba sequntur,
Deque meis oculis terra recepit aquam.
Viderit ista deus qui nunc mea pectora versat;
Nescio quid terris mens mea maius agat:[300] 2010
Sic iterum corde nouiter spasmatus ab infra
In terram cecidi mortis ad instar ego.
Tandem cumque leuans oculos et corpus ab ymo
Erexi, vidi post et vtrumque latus,
Ecce nichil penitus fuerat, velut vmbra set omnis
Turba que nauis abest, solus et ipse fui.
Cum me perpendi solum, magis vnde dolebam,[301]
Fit contristatus spiritus atque meus,
Ipsa michi subito vox celica, quam prius ipse
Audieram, verbi more sequentis ait. 2020
‘Nil tibi tristicia confert; si dampna per orbem
Circuiendo mare te timuisse liquet,[302]
Immo tibi pocius modo prouideas, quia discors
Insula te cepit, pax vbi raro manet.
Te minus ergo decet mundanos ferre labores,
Munera nam mundus nulla quietis habet:
Si tibi guerra foris pateat, tamen interiori
Pace, iuuante deo, te pacienter habe.
Dum furor incurrit, currenti cede furori,
Difficiles aditus impetus omnis habet; 2030
Desine luctari, referant tua carbasa venti,
Vtque iubent fluctus sic tibi remus eat.
Siue die laxatur humus seu frigida lucent
Sidera, prospicias que freta ventus agit:
Tempora sicut erunt sic te circumspice, nulla,
Sint nisi pre manibus, secula visa cape:
Ludit in humanis diuina potencia rebus,
Et certam presens vix habet hora fidem.
Semper agas timidus, et que tibi leta videntur,
Dum loqueris fieri tristia posse putes: 2040
Qui silet est firmus, loquitur qui plura repente,
Probra satis fieri postulat ipse sibi.
Ocia corpus alunt, corpus quoque pascitur illis,
Excessusque tui dampna laboris habent:
Gaudet de modico natura, set illud habundans
Quod nimis est hominem semper egere facit:
Te tamen admoneo, tibi cum dent ocia tempus,
Quicquid in hoc sompno visus et auris habent,
Scribere festines, nam sompnia sepe futurum
Indicium reddunt.’ Vocis et ecce sonus 2050
Amplius hiis dictis non est auditus, et illo
Contigit vt gallus tempore more suo
Lucis in aurora cantum dedit, vnde remoto
Euigilans sompno sic stupefactus eram,
Vix ego quod potui cognoscere si fuit extra
Corpus quod vidi, seu quod abintus erat.
Nunc quia set vigilo viuens terrore remoto,
Est mea cum domino spes magis aucta meo.
=Hic reddit vigilans gracias deo, qui eum in sompnis a pelago
liberauit.=
Cap^m. xxi.
Clarius aspiciens oculis vigilantibus orbem,
Nubeque depulsa convaluisse diem, 2060
Percipiens furias veteri de lege repressas,
Et noua quod fractum lex reparasset iter,
Illesosque mei nunc palpans corporis artus,
Exultans humeros sustinuisse caput,
Creuit amicicia vetus et fugit impetus ire,
Et renouantur eo tempore iura viri.
Tunc prius ad dominum cordis nouitate reviuens
Cantica celsithrono laudis honore dedi:
Non tamen ad plenum fateor mea corda redisse,
Qui mala tam subito tanta per ante tuli.[303] 2070
Qui semel est lesus fallaci piscis ab hamo,
Sepe putat reliquis arma subesse cibis;
Vix satis est hodie tutus qui corruit heri,[304]
Tranquillas eciam naufragus horret aquas:
Sic ego dum recolo steteram quibus ipse periclis,
Dampna priora michi posteriora timent:
In pelago positus sic me meminisse procellam
Nosco, quod a mentis non cadet ipsa viis.
Me miserum! quanto cogor meminisse dolore
Temporis illius, quo dolor omnis erat! 2080
Nunc tamen euasus, quia viuo furore remoto,
Cum laudis iubilo cantica soluo deo.[305]
Stella Maria maris, michi que mulcebat amaros
Fluctus ne periam, laudo quietus eam.
Gaudeo pre cunctis quia non me Cilla vorauit,
In cuius positus gutture totus eram:
Hostibus in mediis interque pericula versor,
Set pietate dei sum modo liber ego:
Sic ego transiui latebras horrenda ferarum
Oraque, nec mortis morsus habebar eis. 2090
Vt rosa per spinas non nouit acumine pungi,
Eripior gladio sic ferientis ego.
Sic cum rusticitas fuerat religata cathenis,
Et paciens nostro subiacet illa pede,[306]
Ad iuga bos rediit, que sub aruis semen aratis
Creuit, et a bello rusticus ipse silet.
Sic ope diuina Sathane iacet obruta virtus,
Que tamen indomita rusticitate latet;
Semper ad interitum nam rusticus insidiatur,
Si genus ingenuum subdere forte queat. 2100
Nam fera rusticitas nullo moderatur amore,
Corde set aduerso semper amara gerit:
Subditus ipse timet nec amat seruilis arator,
Fedat et hunc cicius qui magis ornat eum.
Forcius ergo timor stimulans acuatur in ipsos,
Et premat hos grauitas quos furit illa quies:
Qui premunitur non fallitur ingeniosus,
Per mala preterita dampna futura cauet.
Dextra tamen domini virtutem fecit, vt illa
A me transiret plena furore dies: 2110
Contritus laqueus est, a quo liber abiui,
Et velut a sompno sum renouatus homo.
Vt cecidi subito, subiti releuamina casus
Dat deus, et lapsum subleuat ipse pedem:
Viuere nunc video michi sompnum, nunc puto vitam
Esse meam, nouitas cor michi tanta tenet:
Me polus absoluit, quamuis sua fulmina misit,
Terret nec nocuit illa procella michi.
Qui michi consilium viuendi mite dedisti,
Cum foret in misero pectore mortis amor, 2120
Est michi, quod viuens tibi iam pro munere laudes
Reddo, quod vlterius sis michi vita deus:
Gaudia posco michi renoues, deus, est quia longo[307]
Tempore leticie ianua clausa mee.
O mea si tellus, quam non absorbuit equor,
Debita sciret eo reddere vota deo!
Castigauit eam dominus, nec in vlcera mortis
Tunc tradidit, set adhuc distulit ira manum.
Quicquid agant laudis alii, non ipse tacebo,
Quem deus in furiis vulsit ab ore maris: 2130
Set quia tunc variis tumidis iactabar in vndis,
Que mea mens hausit, iam resoluta vomet.
Me licet vnda maris rapuit, mea numina laudo,
Fluctibus ingenium non cecidisse meum.
Dum mea mens memor est, scribens memoranda notabit,
In specie sompni que vigilando quasi
Concepi pauidus, nec dum tamen inde quietus
Persto, set absconso singula corde fero.
Non dedimus sompno quas sompnus postulat horas,
Tale licet sompnis fingo videre malum. 2140
O vigiles sompni, per quos michi visio nulla
Sompniferi generis set vigilantis erat!
O vigiles sompni, qui sompnia vera tulistis,
In quibus exemplum quisque futurus habet!
O vigiles sompni, quorum sentencia scriptis
Ammodo difficilis est recitanda meis!
Vt michi vox alias que vidi scribere iussit,
Amplius ex toto corde vacare volo:
Quod solet esse michi vetus hoc opus ammodo cedat,
Sit prior et cura cura repulsa noua. 2150
FOOTNOTES:
[144] Cap. i. _Heading_ 1 eciam _om._ D
[145] 3 contingebant DL
[146] 4 terre illius D
[147] 5 omnium E quod omnium CGDLT
[148] 7 nimis horribile _om._ L
[149] Cap. i. 12 hilarem D hillarem CEL
[150] 19 S _resumes here_
[151] 21 themo CE
[152] 40 _Text_ CEGT ffertilis occultam inuenit herba viam SD ffertilis
inuenit occulta_m_ herba via_m_ L
[153] 41 pruinosos _om._ E (_blank_)
[154] 79 _No paragraph_ CE
[155] 81 irriguis S irriguus CEGDL
[156] 95 uolitabat CE
[157] 100 sue ... vocis D
[158] 101 Progne _om._ D
[159] 106 ad] aut S
[160] 113 quam] qui DH₂
[161] 117 veniens D cui] cum DH₂ voluptas _om._ D
[162] 124 girovagando D girouogare L
[163] 145 in antrum D
[164] 163 _om._ L
[165] 165-2150 _om._ L
[166] 165 Cumque DT
[167] 209 possint D
[168] 231 Non leuit_er_ D
[169] 232 vincit D
[170] 259 Sic DH₂
[171] 263 thauri SH₂ tauri CEGDT
[172] 280 crapulus SCEGTH₂ ^{c}apul_us_ D
[173] 302 Postea CED
[174] 321 cancia EH₂ ffrancia D (_rubricator_)
[175] 325 vrbis S urbes (vrbes) CEGDT
[176] 349 Regia EDH₂
[177] 379 vidique] vidi D
[178] 396 Linquendo S
[179] 431 Iehenne C
[180] 447 hyspania CE
[181] 465 super est S superest CED
[182] 468 sit CEDH₂ sic SGT
[183] 479 caui (?) C canis D
[184] 502 MS. Harl. 6291 (H) _begins here_
[185] Cap. vii. _Heading_ 2 idest HGD
[186] 3 associebantur SGH associabantur CED associantur T
[187] 576 prestimulant S p_er_stimulant CED
[188] 597 ludunt sed ludere D
[189] 609 exercitus huius C exercitus eius D
[190] 610 Beelzebub C
[191] 622 hyemps C
[192] 666 viuere quisque D
[193] Cap. ix. _Heading._ 2 _After_ Graculus H₂ _has_ sibi statum
regiminis presumpsit aliorum et in rei veritate ille Graculus fuit dux
eorum, qui Graculus angilice vocatus est a gaye et secundum vulgare
dictum appellatur Watte.
[194] Cap. ix. _Heading_ 3 Gay SH Geay CT a Geay D Iay E
[195] 725 alonge CE
[196] 730 iniquus CED
[197] 731 Iehenne C
[198] 733 Rore quidem baratri D
[199] Cap. x. _Heading_ 2 Vlixis CED
[200] 747 turbaq_ue_ CE
[201] 757 Caym HDT
[202] 766 S _has lost one leaf containing_ ll. 766-856. _Text follows_ C
[203] 766 _sybilla_ C sibilla EHD
[204] 771 dominos sup_er_os nec adorant D
[205] 779 Vluxis HT Vlixis CE Alixis D
[206] Cap. xi. _Heading_ 3 tunc _om._ T
[207] 784 Betteq_ue_ CEHG Recteq_ue_ DT hykke C hikke E hicke HGD
[208] 788 Lorkin HGD
[209] 789 Cebbe D
[210] 790 Iacke HGD
[211] 792 fore] sua E
[212] 795 quamplures HGD
[213] 811 eorum CEHGT earum D
[214] 817 sonitum quoq_ue_ v_er_berat D
[215] 821 Congestat D
[216] 822 obstupuere C
[217] 824 in cuius DT
[218] 837 celeris C furorum D
[219] 846 conchos D sibi _om._ D (_marg. rubr._ Defic_it_ in copia)
[220] 855 roderat CEHGTH₂ roserat D rubedo D
[221] 857 S _resumes_
[222] 868 de S se CEHD
[223] 872 ibi ED
[224] Cap. xiii. _Heading_ 2 idest HD
[225] 4 pro tunc CEH
[226] 882 poterat C
[227] 893 _om._ D (_marg._ defic_it_ v_er_s_us_ in copia)
[228] 920 vtrumque latus] vbiq_ue_ loca D
[229] 947 stetit] rapit D
[230] 948 preda p_er_acta D
[231] 953 igne S
[232] 967 retor CEHG
[233] 979 vrbis S orbis CEHD
[234] 981 _om._ D (_margin_ defic_it_ v_er_s_us_ in cop_ia_) retro
grada C
[235] 999 ylion CE Olion (_rubr._ ylion) D
[236] 1019-1023 _Text over erasure_ SCHG _without erasure_ E _As
follows in_ D
Non pungens ramn_us_, sed oliua nitens, s_ed_ adornans
Ficus, sed blanda vitis, abhorret e_o_s: 1020*
Non sum_m_us dominus regit hos, non sp_irit_us almus,
Nec lex nec C_ris_tus tunc dominatur eis;
Namq_ue_ creatorem nullo venerant_ur_ honore,
TH₂ _also have this text, but in_ l. 1021 _these read_
Summus demon enim regit hos nam spiritus almus
[237] 1071 repugnans CED repungnans SHGTH₂
[238] 1077 _margin_ No_ta_ C
[239] 1105 Reproba D
[240] 1107 perante HD
[241] 1117 Caym HD
[242] 1136 perfida SCHGDTH₂ perfide E
[243] 1141 mutulati SHD mutilati CE
[244] 1159 frangeret actum D
[245] 1160 subdita _C_
[246] Cap. xv. _Heading_ 3 pro tunc CED
[247] 4 huius ED
[248] 1170 sepulcra D
[249] 1173 hostia CE
[250] 1190 redeat C
[251] 1199 vagus D
[252] 1206 Quem D
[253] 1209 mensas] mammas D
[254] 1212 locus S thorus CEHGD
[255] 1241 vt (ut) CEHD et S
[256] 1243 Eius enim nulla morbo medicina medet_ur_ D
[257] 1269 vel] nec C
[258] 1271 cessat CEHDTH₂ cessit SG
[259] 1273 Nulla sumunt spacia D
[260] 1308 dedit D
[261] 1312 sit CE scit SHD
[262] 1361 internis D
[263] 1369 limine S
[264] 1377 Iehenna C
[265] 1386 ullo _om._ D (_marg._ defic_it_)
[266] 1392 Giraui D
[267] 1395 turma D
[268] 1420 hic] en D
[269] 1461 possum SHD possim CE
[270] 1477 monstauerat S
[271] 1485 corpusque reliquit _om._ D (_marg._ defic_it_)
[272] 1525 statui CEHD statim SGH₂
[273] 1531 subito D
[274] 1552 mouet D
[275] 1575 redire EHD
[276] 1588 Que modo SGD Quo modo H Quomodo CE
[277] 1591 Si S
[278] Cap. xvii. _Heading_ 2 persona propria CHDT
[279] 1610 tutus] cautus D
[280] 1626 potuit C
[281] 1662 patebit S
[282] 1669 Pugnaq_ue_ CEDH₂ Pungnaq_ue_ SHGT
[283] 1675 tumidus EH
[284] 1693 erant ED
[285] Cap. xviii. _Heading_ 2 de certo remedio absque manu diuina CEHD
[286] 1706 ille vel iste CE
[287] 1724 quem D
[288] 1776 boriam CE notum C
[289] 1788 cordis S mentis CEHGDTH₂
[290] 1848 timidis SCEHGH₂ timidus T tumidis D (_corr._)
[291] 1859 Will_el_m_us_ D
[292] 1870 imbuet SG imbuit CEH incidet D
[293] 1874 infernis E infernus D
[294] _Between 1939 and 1940_ D _inserts_ Nauigat vt portum queat
habere bonu_m_ (_marg._ Defic_it_ v_er_s_us_ i_n_ cop_ia_).
[295] Cap. xx. _Heading_ 1 idest H _et_ D
[296] 7 scrutineo CE
[297] 1954 Occiani (occiani) SGHT occeani CED
[298] 1965 inchola S incola CEHGDT
[299] 1994 possim D
[300] 2010 magis EDT
[301] 2017 inde CE
[302] 2022 Circuiendo SHT Circueundo CED
[303] 2070 p_er_ante H
[304] 2073 hodie tutus S tutus hodie CEHGDT
[305] 2082 soluo] psallo D
[306] 2094 ipsa C
[307] 2123 renoues est _et_ quia D
[308]=Hic dicit quod ipse iam vigilans, secundum vocem[309] quam in
sompnis acceperat,[310] intendit scribere ea que de mundo vidit et
audiuit, et vocat libellum istum Vox Clamantis, quia de voce et clamore
quasi omnium conceptus est; vnde in huius operis auxilium spiritum
sanctum inuocat.=
=Incipit prologus libri Secundi.=[311]
Multa quidem vidi diuersaque multa notaui,
Que tibi vult meminens scribere penna sequens:
Non tamen inceptis ego musas inuoco, nec diis
Immolo, set solo sacrificabo deo.
Spiritus alme deus, accendens pectore sensus,
Intima tu serui pectoris vre tui:
Inque tuo, Criste, laxabo nomine rethe,
Vt mea mens capiat que sibi grata petit.
Inceptum per te perfecto fine fruatur
Hoc opus ad laudem nominis, oro, tui. 10
Qui legis hec eciam, te supplico, vir, quod honeste
Scripta feras, viciis nec memor esto meis:
Rem non personam, mentem non corpus in ista
Suscipe materia, sum miser ipse quia.
Res preciosa tamen in vili sepe Minera
Restat, et extracta commoditate placet:
Hoc quod in hiis scriptis tibi dat virtutis honestas
Carpe, nec vlla tumens vlteriora pete.
Si te perstimulet stilus hic stillatus in aure,
Sit racio medicus mulceat inde graue:[312] 20
Et si compositis verbis non vtar, vt illis
Metra perornentur, cerne quid ipsa notant:
Et rudis ipse rude si quid tractauero, culpe
Qui legis hoc parce, quod latet intus habe:
Et si metra meis incongrua versibus errent,
Que sibi vult animus congrua vota cape.
Rethorice folia quamuis formalia desint,
Materie fructus non erit inde minor:
Sint licet hii versus modice virtutis ad extra,[313]
Interior virtus ordine maior erit. 30
Quamuis sensus hebes obstet, tamen absque rubore
Que mea simplicitas sufficit illa dabo.
In sene scire parum multum solet esse pudori
Temporis amissi pre grauitate sui;
Set modo siqua sapit docet aut prouisa senectus,
Vix tamen hec grata vox iuuenilis habet.
Que scribunt veteres, licet ex feruore studentes,
Raro solent pueris dicta placere satis;
Obloquioque suo quamuis tamen ora canina
Latrent, non fugiam quin magis ista canam. 40
De saxis oleum, de petra mel tibi sugge,
Deque rudi dociles carmine sume notas.
Quicquid ad interius morum scriptura propinat,
Doctrine causa debet habere locum:
Verba per os asini qui protulit, hic mea spes est,
Eius vt ad laudem cercius ore loquar.
Ergo recede mee detractor simplicitati,
Nec mea scripta queat rodere liuor edax:
Lite vacent aures lectoris et obuia cedant
Murmura, differ opus, invida turba, tuum. 50
Si tamen incendat Sinon Excetraque sufflet,[314]
Non minus inceptum tendo parare stilum.
Est oculus cecus, aurisque manet quasi surda,
Qui nichil vt sapiat cordis ad yma ferunt;
Et si cor sapiat quod non docet, est quasi pruna
Ignea, sub cinere dummodo tecta latet.
Nil fert sub modio lucens candela reconsa,
Pectoris aut sensus ore negante loqui.
Quid si pauca sciam, numquid michi scribere pauce
Competit, immo iuuat alter vt illa sciat. 60
De modicis igitur modicum dabo pauper, et inde
Malo valere parum quam valuisse nichil.
Non miser est talis, aliquid qui non dare possit;
Si dare non possum munera, verba dabo.
Attamen in domino credenti nulla facultas
Est impossibilis, dum bene sentit opus.
Gracia quem Cristi ditat, non indiget ille;
Quem deus augmentat possidet immo satis:
Grandia de modico sensu quandoque parantur,
Paruaque sepe manus predia magna facit: 70
Sepius ingentes lux pellit parua tenebras,
Riuulus et dulces sepe ministrat aquas.
Constat difficile iustum nichil esse volenti;
Vt volo, sic verbum det deus ergo meum.
Non tamen ex propriis dicam que verba sequntur,
Set velut instructus nuncius illa fero.
Lectus vt est variis florum de germine fauus,
Lectaque diuerso litore concha venit,
Sic michi diuersa tribuerunt hoc opus ora,
Et visus varii sunt michi causa libri: 80
Doctorum veterum mea carmina fortificando
Pluribus exemplis scripta fuisse reor.
Vox clamantis erit nomenque voluminis huius,
Quod sibi scripta noui verba doloris habet.
=Hic dicit, secundum quod de clamore communi audiuit, qualiter status
et ordo mundi precipue in partibus istis in peius multipliciter
variantur; et quomodo super hoc vnusquisque fortunam accusat.=
=Incipit liber Secundus.=
Cap^m i.
Incausti specie lacrimas dabo, de quibus ipse
Scribam cum calamo de grauitate nouo.
Esse virum vanum Salomon dat et omnia vana,
Datque nichil firmum preter amare deum.
Quotquot nascuntur vox illis prima doloris,
Incipit a fletu viuere quisquis homo:
Omnes post lauacrum temptacio multa fatigat,
Demonis ars, carnis pugna, cupido grauis:[315]
Nunc stat et abstat homo, flat et efflat, floret et aret,[316]
Nec manet vllus ei firmus in orbe gradus. 10
Incipit ecce mori vir, cum iam fuderit aluo
Mater eum, quem post terminat hora breuis:
Infantem fletus, puerum scola, luxus adultum,
Ambicioque virum vexat auara senem;
Sola nec vna dies homini tam leta ministrat,
Quin dolor ex aliqua parte nocebit ei.
Si tamen esse potest quod felix esset in orbe,
Dudum felices nos dedit esse deus:
Quicquid summa manus potuit conferre creatis,
Contulit hoc nobis prosperitatis opus. 20
Huius erat vite, si que sit, gloria summe,
Nobis pre reliquis amplificata magis.
Tuncque fuisse deum nobis specialius omni
Conuersum plebe clamor vbique fuit:
Famaque sic mundi, nobisque beacius omni
Tempus erat populo nuper; et ecce modo
Turpiter extincta sunt nostra beata vetusta
Tempora, nam presens torquet amara dies.
Quam cito venerunt sortis melioris honores,
Tam cito decasum prosperitatis habent: 30
Nos cito floruimus, set flos erat ille caducus,
Flammaque de stipula nostra fit illa breuis;
Set labor et cure fortunaque moribus impar,
Quod fuit excelsum iam sine lege ruunt.
Nostra per inmensas ibant preconia gentes,
Que modo mutata sorte pericla ferunt.
Querunt propterea plures cur tempus et aura
Stat modo deterius quam solet esse prius:
Querunt cur tanta nobis quasi cotidiana
Assunt insolita nunc grauiora mala: 40
Nam nichil in terra contingens fit sine causa,
Sicut Iob docuit, qui mala multa tulit.
Se tamen inmunes cause communiter omnes
Dicunt, vt si quis non foret inde reus;
Accusant etenim fortunam iam variatam,
Dicentes quod ea stat magis inde rea.
Fortunam reprobat nunc omnis homo, quia mutat
Et vertit subito quod fuit ante retro;
Hocque potest speculo quisquis discernere nostro,
Que fuerat dulcis nunc fit amara nimis. 50
=Hic corripit fortunam et sui euentus inconstanciam deplangit.=
Cap^m. ii.
O tibi que nomen fortune concipis, illos
Quos prius exaltas cur violenta premis?
Hiis quibus extiteras pia mater dira nouerca
Efficeris, vario preuaricata dolo:
Quos conformasti tua sors dissoluit in iram,
Quos magis vnisti spergis in omne malum.[317]
Si pudor in facie fallente tua foret vllus,
Te quibus associas non inimica fores.
Dudum flore rosa fueras, set mole perurens
Nunc vrtica grauas quos refouere soles: 60
Mobilis est tua rota nimis, subito quoque motu
Diuitis ac inopis alterat ipsa status.
Malo set a fundo conscendere summa rotarum,
Quam quod ab excelso lapsus ad yma cadam:
De super in subtus absit, de sub michi supra[318]
Adueniat, namque prospera lapsa nocent.
Est nam felicem puto maxima pena fuisse,
Quam miser in vita posset habere sua.
Est o quam verum, quod habenti multa dabuntur,
Qui tenet et pauca perdere debet ea! 70
Hoc patet in nobis, quibus olim magnificatis
Gens quasi tota simul subdita colla dabat.
Patria nulla fuit, vbi nos in honore locati
Non fuimus, set nunc laus vetus exul abest:
Omnis enim terra nobis querebat habere
Pacem, nunc guerras hostis vbique petit.
Qui plana fronte dudum comparuit, ecce
Cornua pretendens obuius ipse venit;
Et qui cornutus fuerat, nunc fronte reflexa,
Cornibus amissis, vix loca tutus habet. 80
Que fuerat terra bene fortunata per omne,
Dicunt fortunam iam periisse suam.
Dic set, fortuna, si tu culpabilis extas;
Credo tamen causa nulla sit inde tua:
Det quamuis variam popularis vox tibi famam,
Attamen ore meo te nichil esse puto.
Quicquid agant alii, non possum credere sorti,
Saltem dumque deus sit super omne potens.
Non te fortunam quicquid michi ponere credam,
Vt gens que sortem murmurat esse tuam: 90
Hac tamen in carta, que sit sibi ficta figura,
Scribere decreui, set nichil inde michi.
=Hic describit fortunam secundum aliquos, qui sortem fortune dicunt
esse et casum.=
Cap^m. iii.
O fortuna, tibi quod aperte dicitur audi,
Inconstans animi, que nec es hic nec ibi:
Es facie bina, quarum deformiter vna
Respicit, ex et ea fulminat ira tua;
Altera felici vultu candescit, et ipsi
Hanc qui conspiciunt, prospera cuncta gerunt.
Sic odiosa tua facies et amabilis illa
Anxia corda leuat sepeque leta ruit: 100
Ex oculo primo ploras, ridesque secundo,
Ac econuerso, te neque noscet homo.
Dum geris aspectum duplum variata per orbem,
Non te simplicibus constat inire viis.
Prosperitate tua stetero si letus in orbe,
Dum puto securo stare, repente cado;
Et timet incerta cor sepe doloris in vmbra,
Cum michi leticia cras venit ecce noua.
Omnia suntque tuo tenui pendencia filo,
Qui plus credit eis fallitur atque magis; 110
Sique leues oculi sint ictus, sunt leuiora
Ordine precipiti pendula fata tua.
Munera nulla iuuant vt te possint retinere,
Nec domus est certa que stat in orbe tua.
Tu grauior saxis, leuior tu quam leuis aura,
Asperior spinis, mollior atque rosis:
Tu leuior foliis tunc cum sine pondere siccis
Mobilibus ventis arida facta volant;
Et minus est in te, quam summa pondus arista,
Que leuis assiduis solibus vsta riget. 120
Tu modo clara dies, modo nox terrore repleta;
Tu modo pacifica, cras petis arma tua:
Nunc tua deliciis sors fulget, nunc et amaris
Pallet, vt incerta des bona desque mala:
Parca que larga manu tu singula premia confers,
Ac aufers cui vis, sic tua fata geris.
Non Iris tot diuersos in nube colores,
Marcius aut varia tempora Mensis habet,
Quin magis in mille partes tua tempora scindis,
Omnia dissimili tincta colore gerens. 130
Est meretrice tuus amor et fallacior omni,
Et velut vnda maris sic venis atque redis:
Nemo sciet sero que sit tua mane voluntas,
Nam tua mens centri nescit habere locum:
Omne genus lustras, nec in vllo firma recumbis,
Turbinis et vento te facis esse parem.
Non tua conceptam michi firmant oscula pacem,
Nam tua principia finis habere negat:
Est sine radice tua plantula, nec diuturni
Floris habet laudem, namque repente cadit. 140
Quod sibi permaneat tua nil sapiencia confert,
Set sunt ambigua singula dona tua:
Est tua prosperitas aduersis proxima dampnis,
Et tua, si que sit, gloria rite breuis.
=Hic tractat vlterius de mutacione fortune secundum quod dicunt:
concludit tamen in fine, quod neque sorte aut casu, set ex meritis vel
demeritis sunt, ea que hominibus contingunt.=
Cap^m. iiii.
Frustrantur cuncti querentes gaudia mundi,
Nam fortuna nequit mel sine felle dare:
Invidie comes est melior fortuna, nec vmquam
Fida satis cuiquam, mobilis immo manet.
Quis miser ignarus fortune nesciat actus?
Quod dat idem tollit, infima summa facit. 150
Fert vt luna suam fortuna perambula speram,
Decrescit subito, crescit et illa cito:[319]
Crescit, decrescit, stabilis nec in ordine sistit,[320]
Est nunc subtus ea, nunc et in orbe supra.
Regnabo, regno, regnaui, sum sine regno,
Omnes sic breuiter decipit illud iter.
Motibus innumeris variare momenta dierum,
Omne quod instituunt fata perire sinunt.
Quando fauet fortuna caue, rota namque rotunda
Vertit, et inferius que tulit alta premit: 160
Quos vocat eicit, erigit, obruit, omnia voluit,
Esse suum proprium vendicat ipsa dolum.
Passibus ambiguis fortuna volubilis errat,
Et manet in nullo cotidiana loco:
En rapuit quodcumque dedit fortuna beatum,
Fit macer et subito qui modo crassus erat.
Dum iuuat et vultu ridet fortuna sereno,
Prospera tunc cuncta regna sequntur opes:[321]
Cum fugit illa, simul fugiunt, nec noscitur ille
Agminibus comitum qui modo cinctus erat. 170
Monstrat in exemplis anni mutabile tempus,
Quam fortuna suis stat varianda modis.
Non est fortuna talis quin fallat amica,
Dum mentita sue lex regit acta rote.[322]
Hec rota continue per girum de leuitate
Vertitur, et nullo tempore fixa manet:
Hec rota personas mundi non excipit vllas;
Hec rota castigat, soluit, et omne ligat.
Non illam flectis precibus, non munere mulces,
Non nullis lacrimis nemo mouebit eam: 180
Non sexus, non condicio, non ordo vel etas,
Nil compellit eam cum pietate pati.
Ciuis et agricola, rex, rusticus, albus et ater,
Doctus et insipiens, diues inopsque simul,
Mitis et impaciens, pius, atrox, equs, iniqus,
Sunt in iudicio, iudice sorte, pares.
Hos premit, hos releuat, leuat hos vt ad yma retrudat,
Interutrumque iocat quos ad vtrumque vocat:
Ludit et illudit rebus, cum lubricus axis
Labitur et secum lubrica queque facit. 190
Hec rota nugatrix sic girovagatur eodem
Motu, ne possit rebus inesse quies.
Impetus euertit quicquid fortuna ministrat
Prospera, nec stabilem contulit ipsa statum.
Heu! cur tanta fuit concessa potencia tali,
Cui nichil est iure iuris in orbe datum?
Si quid iuris habet, surrepcio dicitur esse,
Nam de iure nichil quo dominetur habet.
Sic dicunt homines, qui credunt omnia casu
Quod deus extruxit ipsa mouere potest: 200
Set fortuna tamen nichil est, neque sors, neque fatum,
Rebus in humanis nil quoque casus habet:
Set sibi quisque suam sortem facit, et sibi casum
Vt libet incurrit, et sibi fata creat;
Atque voluntatis mens libera quod facit actum
Pro variis meritis nomine sortis habet.
Debet enim semper sors esse pedisseca mentis,
Ex qua sortitur quod sibi nomen erit:
Si bene vis, sequitur bona sors; si vis male, sortem
Pro motu mentis efficis esse malam. 210
Si super astra leues virtutum culmine mentem,
Te fortuna sue ducit ad alta rote:
Set si subrueris viciorum mole, repente
Tecum fortunam ducis ad yma tuam.
Expedit vt sortem declines deteriorem,
Dum tuus est animus liber vtrumque sequi.
=Hic dicit secundum scripturas et allegat, qualiter omnes creature
homini iusto seruientes obediunt.=
Cap^m. v.
Dixerat ista deus, si que preceperit ipse
Quis seruare velit, prospera reddet ei,
Campos frugiferos, botris vinetaque plena,
Temperiem solis et pluuialis aque; 220
Sidera compescet, Saturnum reddet amenum,
Qui fuerat pestis tunc erit ipse salus;
Inque suas metas gladius non transiet, immo
De virtute sua singula bella fugat.
Sic pax, sic corpus sanum, sic copia rerum
Sunt homini iusto, dum timet ipse deum:
Tempore quo iustus steterit, stant prospera secum,
Sique cadat iustus, prospera iure cadent;
Nam retrouersantur peruersi prospera iusti,
Cumque malus fuerit, carpet et ipse mala. 230
Sic deus ex meritis disponit tempora nostris,
Vt patet exemplis, si memoranda legis.
Angelus hic cecum Raphael sanare Tobiam
Euolat e celis pronus in orbe viris:
Imperio iusti nequeunt obstare subacti
Tortores baratri, set famulantur ei:
Ac elementorum celestia corpora iustum
Subdita iure colunt, et sua vota ferunt.
In virtute dei sapiens dominabitur astra,[323]
Totaque consequitur vis orizontis eum: 240
Circulus et ciclus, omnis quoque spera suprema
Sub pede sunt hominis quem iuuat ipse deus.
Sol stetit in Gabaon iusto Iosue rogitante,
Nec poterat gressus continuare suos;
Imperio Iosue solis rota non fuit ausa
Currere, set cursus nescia fixa stetit:
Stella quidem natum patefecit nuncia Cristum,
Quo pacem iustis reddidit ipse deus.
Aeream pestem legimus sanasseque sanctum
Gregorium Rome, subueniente prece. 250
Diuisit Moyses mare virga percuciente,
Quo poterat populus siccus inire pedes:
Firma fides Petri dum cepit credere Cristi
Verba, viam pedibus prebuit vnda maris:
Propter Heliseum limpharum gurgite mersum
Ferrum transiliit desuper atque redit.
Ignea tres pueros fornax suscepit Hebreos,
Flamma set illesis victa pepercit eis.
Terra set Hillario, que plana fuit prius, almo
Se leuat, et sedes alta recepit eum: 260
Ex duris Moyse saxis heremique iubente
Dum saliunt fluctus, gens bibit atque pecus:
Montes rex Macedum diuisos consolidauit;
Ex precibus iustis sic dedit esse deus.
Omnis in orbe fera iusti virtute subacta
Est, draco sicque leo, quos sibi subdit homo:[324]
Namque per hoc iustum nouit Babilon Danielem,
Romaque Siluestrum senserat esse sacrum.
Aeris et volucres iussu Moysi ceciderunt,
Inque cibos populi subiacuere dei: 270
Et piscis triduo Ione seruiuit in vndis,
Dum Niniue portu ventre refudit eum.
Omnia sic iusto patet vt diuina creata
Subueniunt homini, subdita sunt et ei.
O quam diues homo, quam magno munere felix,
Cui totus soli subditur orbis honor!
Felix pre cunctis, cui quicquid fabrica mundi
Continet, assurgit et sua iussa facit.
Si tamen econtra iustus sua verterit acta,[325]
Illico peruersum senciet inde malum. 280
=Hic tractat secundum scripturas et allegat, qualiter omnes creature
homini peccatori aduersantes inobediunt.=
Cap^m. vi.
Dum Dauid ipse scelus commisit, in aere pestis
Congelat, et gentem sternit vbique suam:
Et pro peccatis Sodomam combusserat ignis,
Estque Chore culpis eius adusta domus:
Propter peccatum torrens peruenit aquarum,
In moriendo quibus condolet omne genus:
Et terre solida viciis fuerant liquefacta,
Dum Dathan ac Abiron scissa cauerna vorat:
Angelus et domini Sirie turmas dedit ensi,
Lisiamque ducem fecit inire fugam: 290
Septem nocte viros Sarre iugulauit iniquos
Demon et Asmodeus, vult ita namque deus.
Nil fortuna potest iniusto ferre salutis,
Namque creans obstant atque creata simul:[326]
Nil valet auferre iusto fortuna valoris,
Nam deus ipse iuuat, et sibi fata nichil.
Vires Sampsoni, vel sensum quis Salomoni,
Absolon aut speciem contulit? Ecce quidem
Corpora natura dedit, et sic exiget illa,
Virtutes anime gracia sola dei:[327] 300
Sic patet vt fortuna nichil valet addere nobis,
Tollere seu quicquid, cum nichil ipsa dedit.
Cum tam pacificum rexit Salomon sibi regnum,[328]
Tot quoque diuicie quando fuere sue,
Cumque Philisteum constat vicisse gigantem
Funda manu Dauid, num deus ista tulit?
Cumque dies fuerant Ezechie morientis
Sic elongati, mors quoque cessit ei,
Set cum de culpa fuit excusata Susanna,
Hester et in populo glorificata suo, 310
Dic que fortuna tunc prospera contulit ipsis?[329]
Nulla, puto, neque iam quis rogo causet eam.
In recolente deum non est fortuna colenda,
Nec faciente malum sors valet esse bona.
Quid Pharao poterat fortunam corripuisse,
Cumque furore sui tot periere viri?
Aut Nabugodonosor sua quod mutata figura
In pecus extiterat, quid nisi culpa dabat?
Aut quid et ille Saül, qui regnum perdidit et se,
Num quia precepti fit reus ipse dei? 320
Non Azariam lepra candida sorte subegit,
Vsurpans templi presulis acta sibi?
Set quid Achab dicet? Naboth dum tolleret agrum,
Eius auaricia fit sibi causa necis.
Aut Roboas? quoniam senium bona dogmata spreuit,
Diuisum regnum plangit habere suum.
Aut Phinees et Ophni, quos belli strauerat ensis,
Archaque capta fuit? preuia culpa tulit.
Aut quid Hely, qui retrocadens sibi vertice fracto
Corruit a Sella, dum stupet inde noua? 330
Non sors fortune poterat sibi talia ferre,
Set pro peccatis contigit illud eis.
Qui male fecerunt mala premia fine tulerunt,
Namque malos iuste perdidit ipse male.
Cum simulacra colens populus peccasset Hebreus,
Illum tradebat hostibus ira dei:
Cum prece pulsaret celum simulacra relinquens,
Hostes terga dabant, illud agente deo.
Iudei reges valuerunt tunc super omnes,
Dum non iura sui preteriere dei; 340
Hostiles acies populus Iudeus in armis
Semper deuicit, dum bonus ipse fuit:
Set cum transgressi fuerant, tunc hostis vbique
Victos, captiuos, sternere cepit eos.
Ex meritis vel demeritis sic contigit omne,
Humano generi quicquid adesse solet:
Sic vario casu versabitur alea mundi,
Dum solet in rebus ludere summa manus.
=Hic loquitur de deo summo Creatore, qui est trinus et vnus, in cuius
sciencia et disposicione omnia creata reguntur.=
Cap^m. vii.
Est deus omnipotens solus qui cuncta gubernat,
Omnia preuidit totus vbique manens; 350
Omnia ventura sibi sunt presencia semper,
Quam prius et fiant, hec quasi facta videt.
Ante creaturam genitor deus, et genitura
Prima creatura, causaque prima mouens.
Omne quod est esse certum sibi tempus habebat,
Ante quidem tempus set deus omne fuit:
Omne quod est, quod erat, quod erit, quod ducit ad esse,
Est deus, et nec ei temporis esse datur:
Nulla coeua deo poterunt se tempora ferre,
Sic patet est dominus iure priore deus. 360
Est pater, est natus deus, est et spiritus almus,
Tres ita personas nomina trina sonant:
Quelibet hic persona deus dominusque vocatur,
Est deus et dominus solus et vnus idem.
Hee sunt persone tres, set substancia simplex,
Hee tres sunt vnum, non tria, tres set idem:
Hiis tribus vna manet essencia, tres deus vnus,
Hic nichil aut maius aut minus esse potest:
Vna tribus mens, vna trium substancia simplex,
Vna tribus bonitas, vna Sophia trium. 370
Est ignis, calor et motus tria, sicque videntur;
Hec tria sic semper feruidus ignis habet:
Sic pater et natus et spiritus in deitate
Tres sunt, et solum cum paritate notant.
Cum dominus dicat, ‘Hominem faciamus,’ in illo
Clarius insinuat que sit habenda fides:
Hic persona triplex auctore notatur in vno,[330]
Cum maneat simplex in deitate sua.
=Hic loquitur de filio dei incarnato domino nostro Ihesu Cristo, per
quem de malo in bonum reformamur.=
Cap^m. viii.
Nunc incarnatum decet et nos credere natum,
Quem colimus Cristum credulitate Ihesum. 380
Sic opus incepit natus, de corde paterno,
De gremio patris venit ad yma deus.
De patre processit, set non de patre recessit,
Ad mundi veniens yma, set astra tenens;
Semper enim de patre fuit, fuit in patre semper,
Semper apud patrem, cum patre semper idem:
Assumpsit carnem factus caro, nec tamen illam
Desiit assumens esse quod ante fuit:
Vnitur caro sic verbo, quod sint in eadem
Hec duo persona, verus vbique deus: 390
Quod fuit, hoc semper mansit, quod non fuit, illud
Virginis in carne sumpsit, et illud erat.
Par opus huic operi nusquam monstratur, honori
Nullus par potuit esse, Maria, tuo.
Infirmus carne, set robustus deitate,
Carne minor patre, par deitate manens:
Hinc alit, hinc alitur, hinc pascit, pascitur inde,
Hinc regit, hinc regitur, hinc nequit, inde potest:
Hinc iacet in cunis et postulat vbera matris,
Hinc testatur eum celicus ordo deum: 400
Hinc presepe tenet artum sub paupere tecto,
Hinc ad eum reges preuia stella trahit:
Hinc sitis, esuries, lacrime, labor atque dolores,
Et tandem potuit sustinuisse mori.
Ponitur in precio res impreciabilis, ipse
Proditur et modico venditur ere deus:
Postque salus, vita, seui predacio claustri;
Inde resurexit regna paterna petens:[331]
Iudicioque suo, finis cum venerit orbis,
Attribuet cunctis que meruere prius. 410
Sic homo perfectus, sic perfectus deus idem,
Exsequitur plene quicquid vtrumque decet.
Suggerit hoc verum mortale quod vbera suggit,
Quod noua stella gerit suggerit esse deum:
Quod presepe tenet, hominis; quod tres tribus vnum
Muneribus laudant, cernitur esse dei.
Vt sit inops diues, deus infans, rex sine lecto,
Lactis opem poscit pascere cuncta potens,
Hospicium presepe tenens, cui fabrica mundi
Est domus, et thalamus ardua tecta poli. 420
Venit vt esuriat panis, requiesque laboret,
Fons siciat, penas possit habere salus,
Lux obscurari tenebris, sol luce carere,
Et contristari gloria, vita mori.
Hec ita sponte tulit proprio commotus amore,
Vt deus in nostra carne maneret homo.
Sicut Adam fragilis fit primi causa doloris,
Ille deus fortis letificauit opus:
Culpa prioris Ade nascentes vulnerat omnes,
Donec sanet eos vnda sequentis Ade. 430
Primus Adam pecudi, volucri dominatur et angui,
Sub pede noster habet cuncta secundus Adam.
Tempore descensus veteri fuit ad loca flendi,
Ad loca gaudendi lex noua fecit iter.
Vt sic credat homo fore qui vult saluus oportet,
Nec sciat vlterius quam sibi scire licet.
=Hic dicit quod quilibet debet firmiter credere, nec vltra quam decet
argumenta fidei inuestigare.=
Cap^m. ix.
Cum deus ex nichilo produxit ad esse creata,
Ipse deus solus et sine teste fuit.
Vt solus facere voluit, sic scire volebat
Solus, et hoc nulli participauit opus. 440
Materies nulla, subtilis forma, perhennis
Compago nostre nil racionis habet.
Subde tuam fidei mentem, quia mortis ymago
Iudicis eterni mistica scire nequit:
Letitiam luctus, mors vitam, gaudia fletus,
Non norunt, nec que sunt deitatis homo:
Non tenebre solem capiunt, non lumina cecus,
Infima mens hominis nec capit alta dei.
Nempe sacri flatus archanum nobile nunquam
Scrutari debes, quod penetrare nequis. 450
Cum non sit nostrum vel mundi tempora nosse,[332]
Vnde creaturas nosse laborat homo?
Nos sentire fidem nostra racione probatam,
Non foret humanis viribus illud opus.
Humanum non est opus vt transcendat ad astra,
Quod mortalis homo non racione capit:
Ingenium tante transit virtutis in altum,
Transcurrit superos, in deitate manet.
Qui sapienter agit, sapiat moderanter in istis,
Postulet vt rectam possit habere fidem. 460
Ingenium mala sepe mouent; non nosse virorum[333]
Est quid in excelsis construit ipse deus:
Multa viros nescire iuuat; pars maxima rerum
Offendit sensus; sobrius ergo sciat:
Committat fidei quod non poterit racioni,
Quod non dat racio det sibi firma fides.
Adde fidem, nam vera fides, quod non videt, audit,
Credit, sperat, et hec est via, vita, salus.
Argumenta fides dat rerum que neque sciri
Nec possunt mente nec racione capi: 470
Vera fides quicquid petit impetrat, omne meretur,
Quicquid possibile creditur ipsa potest.
Lingua silet, non os loquitur, mens deficit, auris
Non audit, nichil est hic nisi sola fides.
Vna quid ad solem sintilla valet, vel ad equor
Gutta, vel ad celum quid cinis esse potest?
Vult tamen a modicis inmensus, summus ab ymis,
Vult deus a nobis mentis amore coli.
Hunc in amando modus discedat, terminus absit;
Nam velut est dignus, nullus amauit eum. 480
Ille docet quodcumque decet, set et aspera planat,
Curat fracta, fugat noxia, lapsa leuat:
Nam crux et roseo perfusi sanguine claui,
Expulso Sathana, nostra fuere salus.
Quisque Ihesum meditans intendere debet vt actus
Deponat veteres et meliora colat.
Vita per hoc nomen datur omnibus, et benedicti
Absque Ihesu solo nomine nemo potest.
Non est sanctus vt hic dominus, qui solus ab omni
Labe fuit mundus, sanctificansque reos. 490
Et nisi tu non est alius, quia ~sunt~ nichil omnes
Hii quos mentitur aurea forma deos.
Sic beat ecclesia nos per te larga bonorum,
Et Sinagoga suis est viduata bonis.
=Hic tractat quod in re sculptili vel conflatili non est confidendum,
nec eciam talia adorari debent; set quod ex illis in ecclesia visis
mens remorsa ad solum deum contemplandum cicius commoueatur.=
Cap^m. x.
O maledicta deo gens perfida, nempe pagani,
Quos incredulitas non sinit esse sacros;
Recta fides Cristi quos horret, nam sine recto
Iure creatoris ligna creata colunt.
Incuruatur homo, sese prosternit, adorat
Ligna, creatoris inmemor ipse sui.[334] 500
Ligna sibi, lapides, que cernit ymagine sculpta,
Quodlibet ipse suum iactitat esse deum.
Quem deus erexit, pronus iacet ante fauillam,
Et sculptam statuam stipitis orat homo;
Orat opem, petit auxilium, nec muta refantur,
Postulat et manibus quos creat ipsa manus.
Quam vacui sensus est et racionis egeni,
Quod dominus rerum res facit esse deos!
O perturbate mentis reminiscere pensa,
Cuius erat primo condicionis homo: 510
Ad mentem reuoca titulum, quo te deus olim
Insignem fecit, cum dedit esse tibi.
Nonne fuit primo totus tibi conditus orbis,
Subiecteque tuis nutibus eius opes?
Non fuit ad cultum, factus fuit orbis ad vsum,
Esse tuus seruus, non deus esse tuus.
Que iubet ergo tibi racio, quod vel faber igne
Conflat vel ligno leuigat, esse deum?
O miser, vnde deos tibi dices ydola vana,
Tuque deo similis ad simulacra iaces? 520
Omnibus, heu! viciis hec est insania maior,
Numina muta coli, dum nichil ipsa sciunt.
Que nec habent gressum, tactum, gustum neque visum,
Numquid ymaginibus sit reputanda salus?
Ad racionale quid brutum, quid minus illud
Ad vitale genus, quod neque viuit, erit?
Arboris est vna pars sulcus, pars et ymago,
Pars pulmenta coquit, arbor et vna fuit:
Ecce duas partes calco, set tercia sculpta
Nescio deberet qua racione coli. 530
‘Fiat eis similis ea qui componit, et ille
Qui confidit eis’: sic iubet ipse deus.
Dignior est sculptor sculpto: concluditur ergo
Quod nimis est fatuus qui colit actor opus.
Nos set ymaginibus aliter fruimur, puto, sculptis,
Non ad culturam ius minuendo dei;[335]
Nos set habemus eas, memores quibus amplius esse
Possumus, vt sanctis intima vota demus.
Credimus esse deum, non esse deos, neque ritus
Nos gentilis habet: absit ab orbe procul! 540
Set cum causa lucri statuas componit et illas
Ornat, vt ex plebe carpere dona putet,
Qui sic fingit opus saltem deuotus ad aurum,
Nescio quid meriti fabrica talis habet.
Cumque deus Moysi fuerat de monte locutus,
Visa dei populo nulla figura fuit;
Nam si quam speciem populus vidisset, eadem
Forma fecisset sculptile forsan opus.
Set deus ex tali sculpto qui spernit honorem,
Noluit effigiem quamque notare suam; 550
Est set ymago dei, puto, iuncta caro racioni,
Ex qua culturam vendicat ipse suam.
Vndique signa crucis in honore Ihesu crucifixi
Mentibus impressa sunt adoranda satis.
Vis crucis infernum vicit, veterisque ruine,
Demone deiecto, crux reparauit opus:
Crux est vera salus, crux est venerabile lignum,[336]
Mors mortis, vite porta, perhenne decus:
Pectora purificat, mentemque rubigine mundat,[337]
Clarificat corda, corpora casta facit; 560
Dat sensus, auget vires, tollitque timorem[338]
Mortis, et ad martem corda parata facit.
In cruce libertas redit, et perit illa potestas,
Hoste triumphato, que dedit ante mori:
In cruce religio, ritus cultusque venuste
Gentis concludunt omnia sacra simul:
In cruce porta patet paradisi, flammeus ensis
Custos secreti desiit esse loci:
Ecce vides quantis prefulgeat illa figuris,
Pagina quam pulcre predicet omnis eam. 570
Mira quidem crucis est virtus, qua tractus ab alto
Vnicus est patris, vt pateretur homo.
Vi crucis infernum Cristus spoliauit, et illam,
Perdita que fuerat, inde reuexit ouem:
Vi crucis in celum conscendit, et astra paterni
Luminis ingrediens ad sua regna redit:
Glorificata caro, que sustulit in cruce penas,
Presidet in celo sede locata dei.
Sic virtute pie crucis et celestis amoris
Surgit in ecclesia gracia lege noua. 580
=Hic dicit quod, exquo solus deus omnia creauit, solus est a creaturis
adorandus, et est eciam magne racionis vt ipse omnia gubernet et
secundum merita et demerita hominum in sua voluntate solus iudicet.=
Cap^m. xi.
Semper id est quod erat et erit, trinus deus vnus;
Nec sibi principium, nec sibi finis adest:
Principium tamen et finem dedit omnibus esse,
Omnia per quem sunt, et sine quo nichil est.
Que vult illa potest vt sufficiens in idipsum;
Iussit, et illico sunt que iubet ipse fore:
Cuius ad imperium famulantur cuncta creata,
Hunc volo, credo meum celitus esse deum.
Dum sit aperta dei manus omnia replet habunde,
Auertenteque se, vertitur omne retro. 590
Singula iudicio sapiens sic diuidit equo,
Fallere seu falli quod nequit ipse deus.
Res est equa nimis, deus exquo cuncta creauit,
Sint vt in arbitrio subdita cuncta suo.
Cum solo causante deo sint cuncta creata,
Num fortuna dei soluere possit opus?
Que nil principiis valuit, nec fine valebit,
Estimo quod mediis nil valet ipsa suis.
Quis terre molem celique volubile culmen,
Quis ve mouere dedit sidera? Nonne deus? 600
Quis ve saporauit in dulcia flumina fontes,
Vel quis amara dedit equora? Nonne deus?
Conditor orbis ad hoc quod condidit esse volebat,
Vt deseruiret fabrica tota deo.
Terram vestiuit herbis et floribus herbas,
Flores in fructus multiplicare dedit:
Invigilat summo studio ditescere terram,
Et fecundare fertilitate sua:
Nec satis est mundus quod flumine, fontibus, ortis,
Floribus et tanto germine diues erat; 610
Res animare nouas, varias formare figuras,
Et speciebus eas diuaricare parat.
Diuersi generis animancia terra recepit,
Ingemuitque nouo pondere pressa suo;[339]
Distribuitque locos ad eorum proprietates,
Iuxta quod proprium cuilibet esse dedit,
Montibus hiis, illis convallibus, hiis nemorosis,
Pluribus in planis dans habitare locis:
Aera sumpsit auis, piscis sibi vendicat vndas,
Planiciem pecudes, deuia queque fere. 620
Ars operi dictat formas, opifexque figurat,
Artificis sequitur fabrica tota manum.
Fortune nichil attribuit, set solus vt ipse
Cuncta creat, solus cuncta creata regit:
Est nichil infelix, nichil aut de sorte beatum,
Immo viri meritis dat sua dona deus.
Quicquid adest igitur, sapiens qui scripta reuoluit
Dicet fortunam non habuisse ream:
Hoc fateor vere, quicquid contingit in orbe,
Nos sumus in causa, sint bona siue mala. 630
FOOTNOTES:
[308] _Heading_ L _resumes here_
[309] 1 vocem] visionem DH₂
[310] 2 accep_er_at _et_ ex plebis voce co_mmun_i concepit L
[311] Incipit prologus &c. _om._ L
[312] 20 Sic EDL Set T
[313] 29 Sunt C
[314] 51 Symon excetraq_ue_ L si non excecraq_ue_ D
[315] Cap. i. 8 pugna CEDL pu_n_gna S pungna H
[316] 9 obstat ED
[317] 56 spargis CED
[318] 65 Desuper EDLT
[319] 152 Crescit decrescit/crescit D
[320] 153 Crescit, decrescit] Decrescit subito D
[321] 168 cunta C
[322] 174 tegit CE
[323] 239 _No paragr. here_ CE
[324] 266 dracho C
[325] 279 Attamen econtra si iustus D
[326] 294 obstat CGDL
[327] 300 anime CEHGDL animi S
[328] 303 _Paragraph here_ HDL
[329] 311 illis CE
[330] 377 Hic SCEHG Hec DLH₂
[331] 408 resurexit SHT resurrexit CEDL
[332] 451 f. nosce CE
[333] 461 nosce CE
[334] 500, 501 Lingua H
[335] 536 muniendo (?) C
[336] 557 signu_m_ D
[337] 559 mentesq_ue_ CEH
[338] 561 f. _two lines om._ T
[339] 614 Ingenuitq_ue_ DL
=Hic dicit quod, exquo[340] non a fortuna, set meritis et demeritis,
ea que nos in mundo prospera et aduersa vocamus digno dei iudicio
hominibus contingunt, intendit consequenter scribere de statu hominum,
qualiter se ad presens habent, secundum hoc quod per sompnium superius
dictum vidit et audiuit.=
=Incipit prologus libri tercii.=
Cum bona siue mala sit nobis sors tribuenda
Ex propriis meritis, hiis magis hiisque minus,
Fit mundique status in tres diuisio partes,
Omnibus vnde viris stat quasi sortis opus,
Et modo per vicia quia sors magis astat iniqua,
Ponderet in causis quilibet acta suis:
In quocumque gradu sit homo, videatur in orbe
Que sibi sunt facta, sors cadit vnde rea.
Non ego personas culpabo, set increpo culpas,[341]
Quas in personis cernimus esse reas. 10
A me non ipso loquor hec, set que michi plebis
Vox dedit, et sortem plangit vbique malam:
Vt loquitur vulgus loquor, et scribendo loquelam[342]
Plango, quod est sanctus nullus vt ante status.
Quisque suum tangat pectus videatque sequenter
Si sit in hoc talis vnde quietus erit.[343]
Nescio quis purum se dicet, plebs quia tota
Clamat iam lesum quemlibet esse statum.
Culpa quidem lata, non culpa leuis, maculauit
Tempora cum causis, nos quoque nostra loca: 20
Nil generale tamen concludam sub speciali,
Nec gero propositum ledere quemque statum.
Nouimus esse status tres, sub quibus omnis in orbe
More suo viuit atque ministrat eis.
Non status in culpa reus est, set transgredientes
A virtute status, culpa repugnat eis.
Quod dicunt alii scribam, quia nolo quod vlli
Sumant istud opus de nouitate mea.
Qui culpat vicia virtutes laudat, vt inde
Stet magis ipse bonus in bonitate sua: 30
Vt patet oppositum nigris manifestius album,
Sic bona cum viciis sunt patefacta magis:
Ne grauet ergo bonos, tangat si scriptor iniquos,
Ponderet hoc cordis lanx pacientis onus:
Vera negant pingi, quia vera relacio scribi
Debet, non blandi falsa loquela doli.
Si qua michi sintilla foret sensus, precor illam
Ad cumulum fructus augeat ille deus:
Si qua boni scriptura tenet, hoc fons bonitatis
Stillet detque deus que bona scribat homo: 40
Fructificet deus in famulo que scripta iuuabunt,
Digna ministret homo semina, grana deus.
Mole rei victus fateor succumbo, set ipsam
Spes michi promittit claudere fine bono:
Quod spes promittit, amor amplexatur, vtrique
Auxiliumque fides consiliumque facit;[344]
Suggerit, instigat, suadet, fructumque laboris
Spondet, et exclamat, ‘Incipe, fiet opus.’
Quo minor est sensus meus, adde tuum, deus, et da,
Oro, pios vultus ad mea vota tuos: 50
Vt nichil abrupte ~sibi pre~sumat stilus iste,
Da veniam cepto, te, deus, oro, meo.
Non ego sidereas affecto tangere sedes,
Scribere nec summi mistica quero poli;
Set magis, humana que vox communis ad extra
Plangit in hac terra, scribo moderna mala:
Vtilis aduerso quia confert tempore sermo,
Promere tendo mala iam bona verba die.[345]
Nulla Susurro queat imponere scandala, per que
Auris in auditu negligat ora libri: 60
Non malus interpres aliquam michi concitet iram,
Quid nisi transgressis dum loquar ipse reis.
Erigat, oro, pia tenuem manus ergo carectam,
Vt mea sincero currat in axe rota:
Scribentem iuuet ipse fauor minuatque laborem,
Cum magis in pauido pectore ~per~stat opus:
Omnia peruersas poterunt corrumpere mentes,
Stant tamen illa suis singula tuta locis:
Vt magis ipse queam, reliqui poterintque valere,[346]
Scit deus, ista mei vota laboris erunt. 70
Aspice, quique leges ex ipsis concipe verbis,
Hoc michi non odium scribere suadet opus.
Si liber iste suis mordebitur ex inimicis,
Hoc peto ne possint hunc lacerare tamen:
Vade, liber, seruos sub eo qui liberat omnes,
Nec mala possit iter rumpere lingua tuum;
Si, liber, ora queas transire per inuida liber,
Imponent alii scandala nulla tibi.
Non erit in dubio ~mea vox~ clamans, erit omnis
Namque fides huius maxima vocis homo. 80
Si michi tam sepe liquet excusacio facta,
Ignoscas, timeo naufragus omne fretum.
O sapiens, sine quo nichil est sapiencia mundi,
Cuius in obsequium me mea vota ferunt,
Te precor instanti da tempore, Criste, misertus,
Vt metra que pecii prompta parare queam;
Turgida deuitet, falsum mea penna recuset
Scribere, set scribat que modo vera videt.
In primis caueat ne fluctuet, immo decenter
Quod primo po~nit~ carmine seruet opus:[347] 90
Hic nichil offendat lectorem, sit nisi verum
Aut veri simile, quod mea scripta dabunt.
In te qui es verus mea sit sentencia vera,
Non ibi figmentum cernere possit homo:
Conueniatque rei verbum sensumque ministret,
Dulce sit et quicquam commoditatis habens:
Absit adulari, nec sit michi fabula blesa,
Nec michi laus meriti sit sine laude tua.
Da loquar vt vicium minuatur et ammodo virtus
Crescat, vt in mundo mundior extet homo: 100
Tu gressus dispone meos, tu pectus adauge,
Tu sensus aperi, tu plue verba michi;
Et quia sub trino mundi status ordine fertur,
Sub trina serie tu mea scripta foue.
Hiis tibi libatis nouus intro nauta profundum,
Sacrum pneuma rogans vt mea vela regas.
=Hic tractat qualiter status et ordo mundi in tribus consistit
gradibus, sunt enim, vt dicit, Clerus, Milicies, et Agricultores, de
quorum errore mundi infortunia nobis contingunt. Vnde primo videndum
est de errore cleri precipue in ordine prelatorum, qui potenciores
aliis existunt; et primo dicet de prelatis illis qui Cristi scolam
dogmatizant et eius contrarium operantur.=
=Incipit liber tercius.=[348]
Cap^m. i.
Sunt Clerus, Miles, Cultor, tres trina gerentes,
~Set de prelatis scribere tendo prius.~
~Scisma patens hodie monstrat quod sunt duo pape,~
~Vnus scismaticus, alter et ille bonus:~
~Francia scismaticum colit et statuit venerandum,~
~Anglia set rectam seruat vbique fidem.~
~Ergo meis scriptis super hoc vbicumque legendis~
~Sint bona dicta bonis, et mala linquo malis.~
~Inter prelatos dum Cristi quero sequaces,~
~Regula nulla manet, que prius esse solet.~ 10
~Cristus erat~ pauper, ~illi~ cumulantur in auro;
Hic pacem dederat, hii ~modo~ bella ~mouent~:
~Cristus erat~ largus, hii sunt velut archa tenaces;
Hunc labor inuasit, hos fouet aucta quies:
~Cristus erat~ mitis, hii sunt ~tamen impetuosi~;
Hic humilis subiit, hii superesse volunt:
~Cristus erat miserans~, hii vindictamque sequntur;
Sustulit hic penas, hos timor inde fugat:
~Cristus erat~ virgo, ~sunt illi raro pudici~;
Hic bonus est pastor, hii set ouile vorant: 20
~Cristus erat~ verax, hii blandaque verba requirunt;
~Cristus erat~ iustus, hii nisi velle vident:
~Cristus erat~ constans, hii vento mobiliores;
Obstitit ipse malis, hii magis ~illa~ sinunt:
Hii pleno stomacho laudant ieiunia Cristi;
~Cristus aquam~ peciit, hii bona vina bibunt:
* * * * *
_As follows in_ CHGEDL,
*Cap^m. i.
Sunt Clerus, Miles, Cultor, tres trina gerentes;
Hic docet, hic pugnat, alter et arua colit.
Quid sibi sit Clerus primo videamus, et ecce
Eius in exemplis iam stupet omnis humus.[349]
Scisma patens hodie monstrat quod sunt duo pape,
Vnus scismaticus, alter et ille bonus:
Francia scismaticum colit et statuit venerandum,
Anglia sed rectam seruat vbique fidem.
Ergo meis scriptis super hoc vbicumque legendis
Sint bona dicta bonis, et mala linquo malis. 10*
Delicias mundi negat omnis regula Cristi,
Sed modo prelati preuaricantur ibi.
Cristus erat pauper, illi cumulantur in auro;
Hic humilis subiit, hii superesse volunt:
Cristus erat mitis, hos pompa superbit inanis;
Hic pacem dederat, hii modo bella ferunt:
Cristus erat miserans, hii vindictamque sequntur;
Mulcet eum pietas, hos mouet ira frequens:[350]
Cristus erat verax, hii blandaque verba requirunt;
Cristus erat iustus, hii nisi velle vident: 20*
Cristus erat constans, hii vento mobiliores;
Obstitit ille malis, hii mala stare sinunt:[351]
Cristus erat virgo, sunt illi raro pudici;
Hic bonus est pastor, hii sed ouile vorant:
Hii pleno stomacho laudant ieiunia Cristi;
Mollibus induti, nudus et ipse pedes:
Et que plus poterunt sibi fercula lauta parari,[352]
Ad festum Bachi dant holocausta quasi. 28*
Esca placens ventri, &c. _as_ 29 ff.
* * * * *
_As follows in_ TH₂,
**Cap^m. i.
Sunt clerus, miles, cultor, tres trina gerentes;[353]
Hic docet, hic pugnat, alter et arua colit.
Quid sibi sit clerus primo videamus, et ecce
De reliquis fugiens mundus adheret eis.[354]
Primo prelatos constat preferre sequendos,
Nam via doctorum tucior illa foret.
Morigeris verbis modo sunt quam plura docentes,
Facta tamen dictis dissona cerno suis.
Ipse Ihesus facere bene cepit, postque docere,
Set modo prelatis non manet ille modus. 10**
Ille fuit pauper, isti cumulantur in auro;
Hic pacem dederat, hii quoque bella ferunt:
Ille fuit largus, hii sunt velut archa tenaces;
Hunc labor inuasit, hos fouet aucta quies:
Ille fuit mitis, hii sunt magis igne furentes;
Hic humilis subiit, hii superesse volunt:
Ille misertus erat, hii vindictamque sequntur;
Sustulit hic penas, hos timor inde fugat:
Ille fuit virgo, vix vnus castus eorum;
Hic bonus est pastor, hii set ouile vorant: 20**
Ille fuit verax, hii blandaque verba requirunt;
Ille fuit iustus, hii nisi velle vident:
Ille fuit constans, hii vento mobiliores;
Obstitit ipse malis, hii magis ipsa sinunt:[355]
Hii pleno stomacho laudant ieiunia Cristi;
Hic limpham peciit, hii bona vina bibunt: 26**
Et quotquot poterit &c., _as_ 27 ff.
* * * * *
Et quotquot poterit mens escas premeditari
Lautas, pro stomacho dant renouare suo.
Esca placens ventri, sic est et venter ad escas,
Vt Venus a latere stet bene pasta gule. 30
Respuit in monte sibi Cristus singula regna,
Hiis nisi mundana gloria sola placet.
Moribus assuetus olim simplex fuit, et nunc
Presul opes mores deputat esse suos.
Creuerunt set opes et opum furiosa cupido,
Et cum possideant plurima, plura petunt.
Sunt in lege dei nuper magis hii meditati,
Numen eis vultum prestitit vnde suum:
Nunc magis intrauit animos suspectus honorum,
Fit precium dignis, sunt neque cuncta satis. 40
In precio precium nunc est, dat census honores,
Omneque pauperies subdita crimen habet.
Cum loquitur diues, omnis tunc audiet auris,
Pauperis ore tamen nulla loquela valet:
Si careat censu, sensus nichil est sapienti,
Census in orbe modo sensibus ora premit.
Pauper erit stultus, loquitur licet ore Catonis;
Diues erit sapiens, nil licet ipse sciat:
Est in conspectu paupertas vilis eorum
Cuiuscumque viri, sit licet ipse bonus; 50
Sit licet et diues peruerse condicionis,
Horum iudiciis non erit ipse malus.
Nil artes, nil pacta fides, nil gracia lingue,
Nil fons ingenii, nil probitas, sine re:
Nullus inops sapiens; vbi res, ibi copia sensus;
Si sapiat pauper, nil nisi pauper erit.
Quem mundus reprobat, en nos reprobamus eundem,
Vtque perit pereat perdicionis opus;[356]
Nos set eum laude nostra dignum reputamus,
Copia quem mundi duxit ad orbis opes: 60
Et sic prelatis mundus prefertur ab intus,
Hiis tamen exterius fingitur ipse deus.
Laudamus veteres, nostris tamen vtimur annis,
Nec vetus in nobis regula seruat iter:
Non tunc iusticiam facinus mortale fugarat,
Que nunc ad superos rapta reliquit humum.
Felices anime mundum renuere, set intus
Cura domos superas scandere tota fuit;
Non venus aut vinum sublimia pectora fregit,
Que magis interius concupiere deum. 70
Plura videre potes modo set nouitatis ad instans,
Que procul a Cristi laude superba gerunt:
Nunc magis illesa seruant sua corpora leta,
Set non sunt ista gaudia nata fide:
Sufficit hiis sola ficte pietatis in vmbra,
Dicant pomposi, quam pius ordo dei.
Pro fidei meritis prelati tot paciuntur,
Vnde viros sanctos nos reputamus eos.
=Hic loquitur de prelatis illis qui carnalia appetentes vltra modum
delicate viuunt.=
Cap^m. ii.
Permanet ecce status Thome, cessit tamen actus,
Normaque Martini deperit alma quasi; 80
Sic qui pastor erat, nunc Mercenarius extat,[357]
Quo fugiente lupus spergit vbique gregem.
Non caput in gladio iam vincit, nec valet arto
Vincere cilicio deliciosa caro:
Ollarum carnes preponit fercula, porros,
Gebas pro manna presul habere petit.[358]
Prodolor! en tales sinus ecclesie modo nutrit,
Qui pro diuinis terrea vana petunt.
Ollarum carnes carnalia facta figurant,
Que velut in cleri carne libido coquit. 90
Est carni cognata venus, iactancia, fastus,
Ambicio, liuor, crapula, rixa, dolus.
Ventre saginato veneris suspirat ad vsum
Carnis amica caro, carnea membra petens:
Et sic non poterunt virtutum tangere culmen,
Dum dominatur eis ventris iniqus amor.
Subuertunt Sodomam tumor, ocia, copia panis,
Impietasque tenax: presul, ad ista caue.
Set modo prelati dicant michi quicquid ad aures,
Lex tamen ex proprio velle gubernat eos: 100
Si mundo placeant carnique placencia reddant,
Ex anima virtus raro placebit eis.
Bachus adest festo patulo diffusus in auro,
Precellit calices maior honore ciphus;
Glorificans mensam non aurea vasa recondit,
Quo poterit vano vanus honore frui.
Aula patet cunctis oneratque cibaria mensas,
Indulgetque nimis potibus atque cibis:
Vestibus et facie longus nitet ordo clientum,
Ad domini nutus turba parata leues: 110
Sic modico ventri vastus vix sufficit orbis,
Atque ministrorum vocibus aula fremit.
Tantum diuitibus, aliis non festa parantur,
Nec valet in festo pauper habere locum;
Vanaque sic pietas stat victa cupidine ventris;
Dum sit honor nobis, nil reputatur onus.
Sicque famem Cristi presul laudare gulosus
Presumit, simile nec sibi quicquid agit;
Quicquid et ad vicium mare nutrit, terra vel aer,
Querit habetque sibi luxuriosa fames: 120
Esuriens anima maceratur, et ipsa voluptas
Carnis ad excessum crassat in ore gulam.
Sic epulis largis est pleno ventre beatus
Luce, set in scortis gaudia noctis habet;
Cumque genas bibulas Bachus rubefecerit ambas,
Erigit ex stimulis cornua ceca Venus:
Sic preclara viri virtus, sic vita beata
Deliciis pastus cum meretrice cubat.
Frigida nulla timet Acherontis, quem calefactum
Confouet incesti lectus amore sui; 130
Sicque voluptatum varia dulcedine gaudet,
Et desideriis seruit vbique suis;
Sicque ioco, venere, vino sompnoque beatus,
Expendit vite tempora vana sue.
Nescit perpetuo quod torrem nutriat igni
Corpus, quod tantis nutrit alitque modis.
=Hic loquitur de prelatis illis qui lucris terrenis inhiant, honore
prelacie gaudent, et non vt prosint set vt presint, episcopatum
desiderant.=
Cap^m. iii.
Nemo potest verus dominis seruire duobus,
Presul in officio fert tamen illa duo:
Eterni regis seruum se dicit, et ipse
Terreno regi seruit et astat ei: 140
Clauiger ethereus Petrus extitit, isteque poscit[359]
Claues thesauri regis habere sibi.
Sic est deuotus cupidus, mitisque superbus,
Celicus et qui plus sollicitatur humo:
Sic mundum sic et Cristum retinebit vtrumque,
Mundus amicicior, Cristus amicus, erit.
Inter eos, maior quis sit, lis sepe mouetur,
Set quis erit melior, questio nulla sonat:
Si tamen ad mundi visum facies bonitatis
Eminet, hoc raro viscera cordis habent. 150
Hoc deus esse pium statuit quodcunque iuuaret,
Nos tamen ad nocuas prouocat ira manus:
Vti iusticia volo, set conuertor in iram,
Principiumque bonum destruit ira sequens:
Carnem castigo, miseros sustento, set inde
Nascens furatur gloria vana bonum.
Istud fermentum mundane laudis et ire
Absque lucro meriti respuit ira dei:
In vicium virtus sic vertitur, vt sibi mundus
Gaudeat et Cristus transeat absque lucris. 160
Vt presul prosit dudum sic ordo petebat,
Set modo que presit mitra colenda placet.
Presulis ex precibus populo peccante solebat
Ira dei minui nec meminisse mali;
Nuncque manus Moyses non erigit in prece noster,
Nos Amalech ideo vexat in ense suo.
Moyse leuante manus Iosue victoria cedit,
Dumque remittit eas, victus ab hoste redit:
Sic pro plebe manu, lacrimis, prece, sidera pulsans
Presul ab instanti munit ab hoste suos; 170
Ac, si dormitet victus torpore sacerdos,
Subdita plebs viciis de leuitate cadit.
Quos habeat fructus suplex deuocio iusti,
In precibus Moysi quisque notare potest.
Qui bonus est pastor gregis ex pietate mouetur,
Et propriis humeris fert sibi pondus ouis;[360]
Qui licet inmunis sit ab omni labe, suorum
Membrorum culpas imputat ipse sibi.
Non in se Cristus crimen transisse fatetur,
Set reus in membris dicitur esse suis: 180
Non facit hic populum delinquere, set tamen eius
Suscepit culpas vt remoueret eas.
Nunc tamen, vt ~dicunt, est presul talis~ in orbe,
Qui docet hoc factum, nec tamen illud agit:
Nam qui de proprio se ledit crimine, raro
Efficitur curis hic aliena salus:
Non valet ille deo conferre salubria voto,
Ad mundi cultum qui dedit omne suum.
Presul in orbe gregem curare tenetur egentem,
Ipse videns maculas vngere debet eas: 190
Set si magnatos presul noscat maculatos,
Illos non audet vngere, namque timet.
Si reliqui peccent, quid ob hoc dum soluere possunt?[361]
Torquentur bursa sic reus atque rea:
Ipse gregis loculos mulget, trahit in tribulosque
Cause quo lana vulsa manebit ei.
Quod corpus peccat peccantis bursa relaxat:
Hec statuunt iura presulis ecce noua.
Sic iteranda modo venus affert lucra registro;
Dum patitur bursa, sunt residiua mala: 200
Dum loculus pregnat satis, impregnare licebit;
Dat partus loculi iura subacta tibi.
Sic timor et lucrum sunt qui peccata relaxant,
Sub quorum manibus omne recumbit opus:
Sic lucri causa presul mulcet sua iura,
Annuit et nostris fas adhibere malis:
Mammona sic nummi nobis dispensat iniqui,
Non tamen eternas prestat habere domos.
Nunc furit en Iudex, si luxuracio simplex
Fiat, et incestum nescit habere reum: 210
Si coheat laicus resolutus cum resoluta,
Clamat in ecclesia clerus et horret ea;
Clerus et in cohitu si peccet, nil reputatur,
Dum Iudex cause parsque sit ipse sue.
Sic modo dii gentis subuertunt cunctipotentis
Iura, que dant michi ius, sum magis vnde reus;
Sicque grauant alios duro sub pondere pressos,
Inque suis humeris quam leue fertur onus.
Vxor adulterio deprensa remittitur, in quo
Exemplum venie Cristus habere docet; 220
Tale tamen crimen non aurea bursa redemit,
Set contrita magis mens medicamen habet.
Non tamen est lacrima modo que delere valebit
Crimen, si bursa nesciat inde forum:
Bursa valet culpam, valet expurgareque penam,
Bursa valet quantum curia nostra valet.
=Hic loquitur de ~legibus eorum positiuis, que quamuis ad cultum anime
necessarie non sunt, infinitas tamen constituciones quasi cotidie ad
eorum lucrum nobis grauiter imponunt~.=[362]
Cap^m. iiii.
Num dat pre manibus sceleris veniam michi Cristus?
Non puto, set facto post miseretur eo:
Aut quod peccatum non est, numquid prohibendum[363]
Hoc Cristus statuit? talia nulla facit. 230
Nunc set, que Moysi neque lex prohibet neque Cristi,
Plurima decretis dant prohibenda nouis;
Set michi que statuunt hodie peccata, remittunt
Cras, sibi si dedero: de quibus ergo peto.
Aut est quod proprie res peccatum gerit in se,
Aut nisi sit vetita, non foret ipsa mala.
Est si peccatum, tunc cur, quam sit prius actum,
Prestat idem nummis posse licere meis?
Est si res licita, tunc cur sua lex positiua
Hanc fore dampnandam striccius artat eam? 240
Hoc de iusticia puto non venit, immo voluntas
Taliter vt fiat lucra petendo iubet:
Exequitur iuste rem iustam, qui bene causas
Non zelo nummi iudicat, immo dei.
Legibus ecclesie quicquid sit in orbe ligatum
Ex iusta causa, credo ligare decet:
Set nichil iniustum deus accipit, vnde nec alter
Affirmare potest quod deus ipse negat.
Alcius ecce Simon temptat renouare volatum,
Ne cadat ipse nouo plura timere potest. 250
Non laqueare venit iter humanum pius ille
Cristus, set planam dirigit ipse viam;
Nos tamen ex plano componimus aspera, durum
Ex molli, que scelus pro pietate damus.
Lex etenim Cristi fuit hec quam gracia mulcet,
Nostra set ex penis lex positiua riget.
Lex Cristi simplex sub paucis condita verbis
Clauditur, vnde iugum suaue ministrat onus:[364]
Infinita tamen legis sentencia nostre
Aggravat, et finem vix habet ipsa suum. 260
Libera lex Cristi satis est, fit legeque nostra
Absque lucro gratis gracia nulla viris.
Omne fit ex causa; sic est quod lex positiua,
Quam fundat clerus, grande figurat opus.
In quanto volucres petit auceps carpere plures,
Vult tanto laqueos amplificare suos:
In quanto leges auget clerus positiuas,
Fit magis hiis stricta gentis in orbe via:
Cum magis in stricto gradimur, cicius pede lapso
Sternimur, et clero subpeditamur eo: 270
Cum sibi plus mundum teneat clerusque subactum,
Tum magis ecclesia gestat in orbe ~lucra~:
Dum magis est clerus diues, magis inde superbus[365]
Astat, et ex velle dat sua iura fore.
Sol notat ecclesiam, Sinagogam luna figurat,
Set modo custodes ista nec illa ferunt:
Sunt qui nec legis veteris precepta reseruant,
Nec que Cristus eis addidit ipse noua.
Nuper erat firmus presul sine crimine sanctus,
Vtilis in populo, dignior ante deum; 280
Set modo si mundum poterit complectere vanum,
Est sibi nil populi laus vel ab ore dei.
=Hic loquitur de prelatis qui bona mundi temporalia possidentes
spiritualia omittunt.=
Cap^m. v.
Hec vox angelica, que nuper in ethere Romam
Terruit, en nostro iam patet orbe nouo.
Tempore Siluestri, dum Constantinus eidem
Contulit ecclesie terrea dona sue,
‘Virus in ecclesia seritur nunc,’ angelus inquit,
‘Terrea dum mundi fit domus ipsa dei.’
Sic fuit vt dixit, postquam possessio creuit
In proprium cleri, virus adhesit ei: 290
Sic reditus iam quisque suos amat, et sibi quid sit
Vtile sollicitis computat ipse viis.
Ecclesie iura sibi nil sunt, dummodo castra
Curant cum ~terris~ amplificare suis.
Esuriunt mundum semper, set in ordine solum
Nomen ab ecclesiis sufficit illud eis.
Ordinis angelici fertur quod sunt dominati
Atque potestates, sic et in orbe vides;
Nam quia clerus ibi nequit ipsis assimilari,
Ferre gerarchiam dat sibi terra suam:[366] 300
Sic quia prelatus dubitat quid carpere celis,
Huius vult mundi certus honore frui.
Dixit Pilato Cristus, quod in hoc sibi mundo
Non fuerat regnum: iam neque presul eum
Consequitur, set ei contraria sumere cuncti
Regna volunt, et in hiis bella mouere viris.
Pro fidei causis nolunt dare bella paganis,
Solum nec verba pandere lege sacra;
Set pro terrenis si contradixerit ipsis
Saltem Cristicola, dant ibi bella fera. 310
Sic quia mundana sine Cristo iam capit arma
Clerus in ecclesia, iure carebit ea.
‘Cognoscetis eos,’ Cristus, ‘de fructibus horum,’
Dicit, et est illa regula vera satis.
Quomodocumque suam clerus legem positiuam
Laruat, erit testis cultus ad acta foris.
Egros vmbra Petri sanauit, lux neque nostra
Nec vox nec votum ferre meretur opem.
Subdita decurrit pedibus super equora siccis
Petrus, iam nostram mergit et vnda fidem. 320
Qui nos prosequitur, Cristi de lege iubemur
Illum per nostras rectificare preces;
Nos tamen absque deo de iure nouo positiuo
Vindictam gladii ferre monemus ibi.
Sic hos destruimus quos edificare tenemur,
Perdimus et Cristi quod tulit ipse lucri.
‘Sit michi vindicta,’ deus inquit, set quia papa
Est deus in terris, vindicat ipse prius.
=Hic loquitur qualiter Cristus pacem suis discipulis dedit et reliquit:
dicit tamen[367] quod modo propter bona terrena guerras saltem contra
Cristianos prelati legibus suis positiuis instituunt et prosequntur.=
Cap^m. vi.
Ante sue mortis tempus dedit atque reliquit
Pacem discipulis Cristus habere suis; 330
Et quia tunc solum cupiebant nil nisi Cristum,
In Cristi pace cuncta tulere pie.
Set quia nunc mundum cupiunt tantummodo vanum,
Que sibi sunt mundus bella ministrat eis;
Et quia belligeram ducit clerus modo vitam,
Auctor eos pacis non iuuat ipse deus.
Dixerat ad Petrum Cristus, ‘Quicumque virorum
Percutit in gladio, fine peribit eo’:
Nec poterit falli fateor sentencia Cristi,
Quamuis sit cleri mortifer ensis ibi. 340
Percuciunt ense; si quisque repercutit, inde
Dampnat eum libri lex positiua noui.
Predicat en Petrus, set pugnat papa modernus,
Hic animas, alius querit auarus opes:
Hic fuit occisus pro iure dei, tamen alter
Occidit, neque ius sic habet ipse deus:
Simplicitate fidem non viribus excitat vnus,
Alter et in pompis prouocat arma magis.
Vult Deus vt non sit temeraria nostra querela,
Set mala que patimur vindicet illa deus: 350
Hostiles acies inimicaque vinximus ora,[368]
Cum vindex nostras nesciat ira vias.
Mollibus in rebus non se probat accio Cristi,
Tempore set duro se probat alta fides:
Militat in Cristo pia que pacientia tristi
Materiam vere tempore laudis habet.
Cristus erat paciens, probra dum tulit omnia, set nos
De facto minimo commouet ira modo.
Omne vigebat opus, dum cleri nobiliores
Cuncta sub arbitrio deseruere dei; 360
Ipsa vetus pietas plantare fidem dabat, et nunc
Extirpat vindex ira superba patrum.
‘Non gladius saluat, et qui sperabit in arcu
Non saluatur eo,’ testificante Dauid:
Set nos Dauiticam variamus tradicionem,
Dumque sacerdotis sit gladiata manus.
Archa vetus Moysi valuit, nobisque valebit
Arcus qui populum tensus in orbe ferit.
In celo posuit deus arcum, sit quod ibidem
Federis in signum pacis ad omne genus; 370
Nos tamen in terris nostrum dum tendimus arcum,
Pacis in exilium signa cruoris habet.
Adiuuet ipse deus quos vult, set noster in armis
Saluus erit clerus militis acta tenens.
[Sidenote:[369]Nota hic[370] de bello Cleri tempore Regis
Ricardi in Flandria, quia tunc non solum seculares set eciam
regulares presbiteri in guerris[371] ibidem mortalibus quasi
Laici spoliantes[372] insisterunt.]
Criste, tua forti Sathanam virtute ligasti,
Quem nos de clero soluimus ecce nouo;
Ipse solutus enim soluit quoscumque ligatos,
Quo sua vota deo soluere nemo venit.
Abbatem monachus nescit, nec claustra priorem[373]
Ordinis in forma iam retinere queunt; 380
A dextro latere meretricem dumque sacerdos
Et gladium leua promptus ad arma tenet.
Quis tali melius est consignatus in orbe,
Forcior armatus, vt bene bella ferat?
Tempore quo cohitum natura mouet, pecus omne
Prouocat ex facili bella furore suo:
Set si causa sit hec, sumat qua presbiter arma,
Longior a pace pugna perhennis erit.
Militis officium non aris thurificare
Est, neque presbiteri publica bella sequi. 390
Si valet in bello clerus sibi ferre triumphum,
Ammodo quid validi militis acta valent?
Quem decet orare clerum pugnare videmus,
Curam de bellis, non animabus habent.
Quid si vulneribus superaddat homo tibi vulnus,
Num dici medicus debeat ipse tuus?
Num decet aut medicum morbo superaddere morbum,
Quo fugit interius longius ipsa salus?
Hoc experta docet natura, quod omnis in orbe
Qua magis infirmor, est medicina mala. 400
Quos reperare decet pacem, si bella frequentent,[374]
Nescio quo pacis tutus inire viam.
Dicitur vt fortuna rei de fine notatur,
Rebus et in dubiis exitus acta probat:
Qualis erit finis, seu que fortuna sequetur
In cleri bellis scit magis ipse deus.
=Hic loquitur qualiter clerus in amore dei et proximi deberet pius et
paciens existere et non bellicosus.=
Cap^m. vii.
Semper in aduersis est virtus maior, et ecce
Lumen in obscuro clarius esse solet.
Nobile vincendi genus est paciencia; vincit
Qui patitur; si vis vincere, disce pati. 410
Armiger ipse tuus et signifer est tibi Cristus,
Si simplex fueris et pacienter agas.
Ense manu, iaculis, aliis pugnare iubetur,
Nos pugnare fide, spe, pietate decet.
In seruum domini nichil hostis iuris habebit,
Ordine seruato causa fauebit ei:
Sic cum doctrinis fueris completus honestis,
Tunc hostes poteris inde fugare tuos.
Vt sis sublimis meritis accinctus in hostes,
Scripture iaculis hostica tela fugas. 420
Pro nobis pugnet Ysaïas cum Ieremia,
Cum Daniele Iohel, cum Samuele Dauid;
Lex euangelii, vox Pauli, sermo prophete,
Tres michi sunt testes, nostra stat vnde salus.
Cogitat ecce Dauid domino fundare, set audit
A domino, templum, ‘Non fabricator eris:
Es vir sanguineus, ideo dignum michi templum
Sanguine fedatus tu fabricare nequis.’
Sanguinis effusor, amplectens crimina mundi,
Ex bellis templum non valet esse dei: 430
Ecclesie sancte talis non erigit edem,
Nec sacre fidei collocat ipse domum.
Est nam mors odium, sicut scriptura fatetur;
Qui fratres odit est homicida sui:
Quomodo nos igitur, plebis de sanguine tincti,
Altaris famuli possumus esse dei?
Peccantis Cristus vult vitam, nec moriatur,
Set conuertatur, viuat vt ipse deo:
Et nos pro mundi rebus iugulamus in ense,
Quos Cristi sanguis viuere fecit, eos. 440
Quas statuit Cristus leges fuerant pietatis,
Nec peciit mundi quid nisi corda sibi;
Non cordis carnem, set quam dileccio mentem
Prestat, et has leges vendicat esse suas:
Nos tamen econtra cum sanguine carnea corda
Poscimus, vt nostra sit magis ira fera.
Nescio si mundum sub guerra vincere tali
Possumus; hoc reputo, displicet illa deo:
Namque malignantis deus ecclesiam magis odit,
Subque manu tali prospera nulla sinit. 450
Virtutem dat eis, qui mundum vincere norunt,
Ipsa fides Cristi fratris et intus amor.
Fratris amor pacem confirmat, federa seruat,
Stringit amicicias continuatque fidem:[375]
Fratris amor nescit aliena sitire, nec vmquam
Que sua sunt querit, nec scit habere suum:
Fratris amor ledi non vult nec ledere querit,
Nec queritur, nec dat vnde queratur homo.
Augens merorem male vindicat ipse dolorem,
Dum pugnat clerus obstat et ipse deus: 460
Nam mundanus amor premit omni tempore quosque,
Set diuina manus seruat ab hoste suos.[376]
Prima dei timor est sapiencia, prima salutis
Est via, lux prima premia prima parans:
Federe perpetuo timor amplexatur amorem,
Quem sibi consimili federe iungit amor.
Vna nequit virtus alia virtute carere,
Nam timor est et amor connumeratus idem:
Est pater, hinc amor est; est iudex, inde timetur;
Et timor hic et amor comoda multa ferunt. 470
Non timor est serui set nati, suppliciumque
Non parit, immo parat premia magna viro.
Omnis amans Cristum timet illum; qui timet ipse
Non facit excessum, prouocet vnde ~deum~:
Hic amor inspirat hominem discernere celum,
Iudicat et mundi gaudia vana fore.
Est igitur mirum, modo quod discordia cleri
Non se pacificat huius amoris ope.
Litera sacra docet, virtus quod amor placet omnis,
Et non mundanus ambiciosus honor; 480
Namque suos mundus dilectores magis arcet,
Et minus in fine commoditatis habent.
In veteri lege nullas habuere Leuite
Terras, nec mundus sollicitauit eos;
Immo deo soli plebis pro pace vacare
Est et non alia sollicitudo sua.
Non est ergo bonum mundanas sumere guerras,
Cum deus est mitis et bona pacis amat.
=Hic tractat eciam qualiter non decet prelatos contra populum
Cristianum ex impaciencia aliqualiter bella mouere; set tantum ex
precibus, deo mediante, absque ire impetu omnem mundi deuincant[377]
maliciam.=
Cap^m. viii.
Inuoluens mentem meditando me stupor angit,
Cristi doctrina quam pietosa fuit; 490
Omne quod est pacis instruxit regula Cristi,
Quicquid et est belli nostra cupido mouet.
Ponit et opponit racio michi de racione,
Qualiter ex clero bellicus vnus erit.
Plures sunt cause, quod non ita fiat, et inde
Cristus in exemplum plurima verba docet:
Et si pro mundo fiat, sapiencia mundi
Arguit econtra, si videatur opus:
Nam dum pacifici fuerant nec honoris auari,
Omnis tunc requies glorificabat eos. 500
Si mundana decet mundanos bellica pugna,
Longius a clero sit tamen ille furor:
Que prosunt aliis, aliis nocuisse probantur,
~Quod~ facit hunc stare, corruet alter eo:
Non bene conueniunt laicis misteria cleri,
Nec clero laici conuenit arma sequi.
Bella gerant alii, regat et paciencia clerum,
Quique tubis resonant, nos tacuisse decet.
Quo leuius cessit cuiquam victoria belli,
Victoris tanto gloria maior erit. 510
Non hiis, qui poterunt ex verbo cuncta ligare,
Expedit vt ponant quomodocumque manus:
Non opus est armis, vbi vox benedicta triumphat;
Qui vincit precibus, est sibi guerra nichil:
Quem deus in tanto promouit munere clerum,
Sollempnes satis est voce mouere preces.[378]
Qui sibi vult pacem, paciens in pace quiescat;
Non grauat hunc mundus quem iuuat ipse deus:
Quo casu queris, tibi respondere tenebor:
Qui bellator erit, bella parantur ei. 520
O quam perduros habet impaciencia fines,
Vnde solet preceps exitus esse grauis.
Impetus, vt memini, grauis est deformiter illis,
Quos sine iure dei propria iura regunt;
Stultaque multociens nocuit vexacio stulto,
Qui proprio capiti fine refundit onus:
Cumque suas vires quis vult preponere Cristi
Viribus, et bellum vincere credit eis,
Tanto debilior erit, et cum sic superare
Se putat, en victus subditur ille prius. 530
Vult implere viam Balaam, set trita flagellis
Et diuina videns tardat asella viam:
Quod sibi sic hominis habet impetuosa voluntas,
Denegat effectus commoditatis opus.
Quam variis vicibus humane res variantur,
Hoc docet expertus finis vbique rei:[379]
Quam minima causa magnum discrimen oriri
Possit, ab effectu res manifesta docet.
Rebus in aduersis opus est moderamine multo,
Nec decet in grauibus precipitare gradum: 540
Micius in duris sapiens Cato mandat agendum,
Nam nimis accelerans tardius acta facit:
Rebus in ambiguis quociens fortuna laborat,
Plus faciet paciens quam furor ille potest.
Talia rite docet, aliis dum predicat, ecce
Clerus, et econtra sic quasi cecus agit.[380]
Turpia doctorem fedant, cui culpa repugnat,
Nec sibi quid longo tempore laudis erit.
Nos nisi prosperitas nichil excusare valebit,
Quam constat nimiam nos tenuisse diu: 550
Extitit in letis minor et sollercia nobis,
Cernere nec cecos nostra cupido sinit.
Copia multociens hominem defraudat inanem,
Atque magis plenum causat habere famem.
Quam fuerat requies nuper sine crimine clero
Dulcis, amara modo sollicitudo docet.
Casibus in letis magis est metuenda voluptas,
Sepius in vicium que vaga corda ruit:
Casibus in letis quam sit vicina ruina,
Et lapsus facilis, nemo videre potest. 560
Non reputet modicum modico contenta voluntas,[381]
Res de postfacto que fuit ante docet:
Nec magnum reputet quisquam, quin tempore quouis
Fortuito casu perdere possit idem.
Discant precipites et quos mora nulla retardat,
Ne nimis accelerent in sua dampna manus:
Hoc docet in clero magis experiencia facti,
Quod mundana nichil cura valoris habet.
Est homo iumentis similis, qui fulget honore
Vanus, et ignorat quid sit honoris onus. 570
Est honor ille deo, puto, quando superbia mentem
Non grauat, immo dei debita iura tenet.
‘Qui mecum non est, hic contra me reputatur,
Collector sine me spersor inanis erit’:
Hec sunt verba dei, cuius de pondere legis
Addit vel minuit lex positiua nichil.
=Hic tractat quod, sicut non decet dominos temporales vsurpare sibi
regimen in spiritualibus, ita non decet[382] cleri prelatos attemptare
sibi guerras et huiusmodi temporalia, que mundi superbia et auaricia
inducunt.=
Cap^m. ix.
Anulus et baculus sunt ius papale sequentes,
Quos velut in signum spirituale tenet;
Cesaris et ceptrum mundi sibi signat honorem,[383]
Quo quasi mundane res famulantur ei. 580
Papa colens animas has dampnat viuificatque,
Corpora set Cesar subdita iure regit.
Non licet vt Cesar animas torquere valebit,
Nec de posse suo res tenet illa sibi;
Nec decet ex guerris hominum quod papa fatiget
Corpora, namque sibi non tenet illud opus:
Quisque suum faciat factum, pro quo venit ille,
Saltem qui pondus tam capitale gerit.
Qui tenet hic animas sub cura, celsior extat,
Et gradus anterior glorificabit eum. 590
Quicquid agit papa, licet, vt status ille fatetur,
Errat persona, non status ille tamen:
Nam sacer ille status mundum transcendit, et eius
Celorum claues dextera palma gerit.
Hinc aperitque polum, tetram quoque claudit abissum,[384]
Que super aut subtus sunt, sua iura colunt;
Quod ligat est firmum, quod soluit eritque solutum,
Posse suum nostris sic animabus habet.
Cesaris hec que sunt, lex vt reddantur eidem
Vult, et vt illa dei sint tribuenda deo. 600
Cesaris est vt ei caput inclines, animamque
Pape, sic proprium reddis vtrique suum:
Cesar habere statum pape nequit, aut sibi papa
Cesaris imperium non propriare potest.
Cesaris hoc non est vt spiritualia temptet,
Nec decet vt papa Cesaris arma gerat:
Papa suum teneat Cesarque suum, quod vtrique
Iura coequata stent racione rata.
Si sibi presumat Cesar papalia iura,
Hoc non papa sinit, immo resistit ei: 610
Ergo quid est bellum pape quod Cesaris extat?
Nam deus ecclesie pacis amator erat.
Set quia papa suis mundum scrutatur in armis,
Inueniet similem quem petit inde modum:
Opponis mundo, mundus respondet, et illam
Quam sibi preponis rem dabit ipse tibi.
Quos prius ecclesia fundauerat ipsa fideles,[385]
Nunc magis impaciens dura per arma necat.
Rusticus agricolam, miles fera bella gerentem,
Rectorem dubie nauita puppis amat: 620
Cristus amat pacem, pax vendicat et sibi clerum,
Clerus et ergo suos debet habere pios.
Turpe referre pedem nec passu stare tenaci,
Turpe laborantem deseruisse ratem;
Turpius est Cristi pro mundo iura fugare,
Qui statuunt bellum pacis adesse loco.
Omnia regna quasi, Cristi que nomen invndat,
Bella gerunt reprobis horridiora Gethis.
Sufficeret tamen hoc, quod bella forent laicorum,
Si non quod proprio clerus in ense ferat: 630
Quicquid agant laici, minus excusare valebo
Clerum, quem Cristi regula pacis habet.
Set bona que mundi fugitiua sunt velut vmbra,[386]
Postposito Cristo, bella nephanda mouent.
Quicquid in humanis sit spiritualiter actum,
Clerus in officio clamat habere suo:
Est et mundanis que maior gloria rebus,
Vendicat hoc gladii proprietate sui.
Sic modo fert clerus geminas quibus euolat alas,
Illa tamen mundi plus placet ala sibi. 640
Sic piper vrtice mordacis semina miscent,[387]
Dum clerus mundi sponsus adheret ei;
Dumque tumens mundo clerus se miscet auaro,
Quo doleat populus, fit magis egra salus.
Non satis est illis populum vexare quietum,
Set magnum bello sollicitare deum.
Est ‘Non occides’ scriptum, set in orbe manentem
Preualet hoc certum nullus habere locum.
Est vbi dic ergo ius nostrum, nonne caducis
Talibus in rebus quas retinere nequis? 650
Linea natalis matris de iure fatetur
Heredem Cristum, qua fuit ortus, humi:
Si quid in hoc mundo nobis proprium magis esset,
Pars foret hoc Cristi que titulatur ei:
Hanc tenet intrusor modo set paganus, ab illa
Thesauris nostris nulla tributa feret.
Nos neque personas neque res repetendo mouemus
Bella viris istis, lex ibi nostra silet:
Non ibi bulla monet, ibi nec sentencia lata
Aggrauat, aut gladius prelia noster agit: 660
Que sua sunt Cristus ibi, si vult, vendicet ipse,
Proque sua bellum proprietate ferat.
Nos ita longinquis non frangimus ocia guerris,
It neque pro Cristi dote legatus ibi;
Set magis in fratres, signat quos vnda renatos,
Pro mundi rebus publica bella damus.
Mandatum Cristi clerus quod predicet extat,
Et sibi sic lucrum spirituale gerat;
Non lego quod mundi pro lucro clerus ad arma
Procedat, set ibi parcat amore dei. 670
Sermo tamen cleri paganos nescit, vt illos
Conuertat, nec eo se iuuat ipse lucro:
Castra sibi que domos pocius lucratur et vrbes,
Pro quibus, vt vincat, forcius arma mouet.
Est sibi quod proprium, sic spirituale recusat,
Torpet et improprie quo foret ipse vigil;
Que tamen impropria Cristus sibi dixerat, ~illa~
Mundi terrena propriat ipse sua:
Sic magis impropria propriat, propriisque repugnans
Dispropriat clerus, que dedit acta deus. 680
Venit enim princeps huius mundi, famulatum
Optinet et nostrum, fert quia grande lucrum.
Cristi pauperiem mens nostra perhorret auara,
Ocia ne nostri corporis ipsa premat;
Nec sua cor mulcet humilis paciencia nostrum,[388]
Hoc etenim nostra pompa superba negat:
Nullus nos cinget nisi libera nostra voluntas,
Cuius habet tenera ducere frena caro.
Conditor est iuris qui spernere iura videtur,
Nec tenet ipse vias, quas docet esse suas; 690
Crimina condempnat qui crimine primus habetur,
Corripiens alios deteriora facit.
Ipse suas maculas, qui noscere vult aliorum,
Noscat, et emendet que sua culpa parat:
Qui claues Petri gestaret vt ostia celi
Panderet, illa viris claudit in orbe prius.
Cum magis hoc penso, magis obstupefactus in illo
Sum, nam lux quicquid predicat vmbra fugat:
Vnius gustus infecit milia multa,
Commaculantur eo cuncta sapore malo. 700
Sublimo residens dux prima superbia curru,
Multa minans vultu, lumine, voce, manu:
Subsequitur liuor, turba comitatus acerba,
Pallida res, atra pestis, amara lues;
Que solet et pietas peccata remittere vindex,
Extat auaricia lucra caduca petens.
Quam grauis est pestis, quam triste superbia nomen,
Radix peccati, fons et origo mali!
Fons fuit hec sceleris, tocius causa doloris,
Virtutum morbus, saltus ad yma cadens, 710
Hospes auaricie, paupertas prodiga, fraudis
Principium, fallax sensus, iniqus amor,
Irrequies mentis, lis proxima, mortis amica,
Perfida mens, racio deuia, vanus honor.
Hec quasi de proprio sunt apropriata superbo,
Heres et baratri primus habetur ibi:
Hoc capitale malum quo regnat egens caput omne
Conficit, et caude par facit esse sue.
Hoc caput est rerum viciis seruire coactum,
Liber homo didicit hoc graue ferre iugum; 720
Non illud domini, quod dicitur esse suaue,
Immo quod imposuit invidus hostis ei;
Non quo libertas perquiritur illa salutis,
Set quod seruili condicione premit.
Fabrica prima, decus primum, primatis honore
Preditus, est prime perdicionis opus.
Prodolor, heu! tante dic que sit causa ruine:
Elate mentis motus origo fuit.
O mens elata, presumpcio dira, superni
Regis habere locum, iudicis esse parem, 730
Equarique suo factori, non imitari,
Equiperare deum nec bonitate sequi!
Expedit exemplis vt talibus euacuetur
Fastus, et ex humili corde paretur opus.
Incertum dimitte, tene certum, quia Cristi
Actus erat pacis, bella nec vlla mouet.
Si caput ecclesie delinquat ab ordine sacro,
Ecce nephas capitis membra nephanda parat.
Ordo sacerdotum pro Cristi nomine guerras
Non dedit, immo pati cum pietate solet. 740
Fustibus hii torti quemquam torquere recusant,
Cunctaque sic vincunt, dum pacienter agunt;
Inque bono vicere malum, quia Cristus eorum
Dux fuit, et iustis iusta petita dabat.
Quesiuit precibus bona spiritualia Petrus,
Vicit et egregie sic sua bella prece:
Hec fuit excelsi dextre victoria, cuius
Viribus efficitur quicquid adesse cupit.
Omnia namque pie moderatur, et omnia iusto
Pondere perpendit, dum sua vota dedit: 750
Sic qui prospiceret Cristi meditans pietatem,
Non tumidus fieret nec leuitate fluens.
Non fuit argentum sibi dixit Petrus et aurum,
Set preciosa magis dat sibi dona deus:
Dixerat hic claudo quod surgat, surgit et ille,
Ambulet et vadat, vadit et ipse statim.
Nunc quid erit nobis? nam si vir postulet omnis
Vt sic curemus, absque salute sumus.
Non habet elatus animus, quo digna precetur,
Molle cor; ad timidas dat deus immo preces. 760
Qui fuerat dulcis salibus viciatur amaris,
Floriger et veris floribus extat inops.
Auro magnifici sumus et virtutis egeni,
Nam que sunt auri duximus illa sequi:
Aurum si quis habet, satis ipsum constat habere,
Est et in hoc mundo sic benedictus homo.
Influit in cleri totus quasi mundus hiatum,
Inque suas fauces aurea queque vorat:
Vt tamen inde iuuet inopes, non paruula gutta
Refluit, immo tenax propriat omne sibi. 770
Se dedit in precium Cristus pro munere plebi,
Nos tamen ingrati nostra negamus ei.
O caput ecclesie, reminiscere tempora Cristi,
Si dedit exemplis talia sicut agis.
Ipse redemit oues, a morteque viuificauit,
Quas pietatis inops tu cruciando necas.
Precipit ipse, vices per septem septuagenas
Dimittat Petrus, parcat et ipse reis;
Tu tamen ad primam gladio cum vindice culpam
Percutis, et nullo parcis amore viro. 780
Ecce Rachel plorat nec habet solamina tristis,
Dum genus ex proprio ventre reliquit eam.
O genus electum, gens sancta, quid est quod auara
Scandala iudiciis ponis in orbe tuis?
Prodolor! ecclesie bona, que debentur egenis,
Dissipat in bellis qui dominatur eis.
Prodolor! a clero, pietatis iure remoto,
Cauda fit ecclesie qui solet esse caput;
Fitque salus morbus, fit vitaque mors, releuamen
Lapsus, lex error, hostis et ipse pater. 790
=Hic querit quod, exquo prelati scribunt et docent ea que sunt pacis,
quomodo in contrarium[389] ea que sunt belli procurant et operantur. Ad
quam tamen questionem ipse subsequenter respondet.=
Cap^m. x.
In libris cleri Rome sic scribere vidi:
‘Vt melius viuas, hec mea scripta legas.
Vis seruire deo, vis noscere qualia querit?
Hec lege, tuncque scies qualiter illud erit.
Dilige mente deum, pete, crede, stude reuereri:’
Teste libro cleri, sic iubet ipse geri.
‘Est quia vita breuis, fuge luxus corporis omnes,
Preponens anime celica dona tue:
Iusticiam serua, tua sit lex omnibus equa;
Hoc facias alii, quod cupis ipse tibi: 800
Ex toto corde dominum tu dilige, tota
Ex animaque simul sit tibi fratris amor:
Gignit nempe dei dileccio fratris amorem,
Et diuinus amor fratris amore viget.
Munera fer miseris, que Cristo ferre teneris,
Arma quibus noceas, bella nec vlla geras:
Sis pius et paciens, tua sitque modestia cunctis
Exemplum pacis, duret vt illa magis.’
Hec ita cum legi, confestim me stupor vrget,
Qualiter in clero bella videre queo: 810
Querere sic volui de clero, quis foret ille;
Qui michi responsum de racione daret.
Questio mota fuit, qua sumpta clericus vnus
Astat et oppositis prompserat ista meis;
Supponens primis quod ei sit culmen honoris
Pontificis summi, talia dixit ibi.
‘Diuidit imperium terrena potencia mecum,
Iureque celicolo subdita regna colo;
Set quia terra prope nos est celumque remotum,
Que magis est nobis terra propinqua placet. 820
Aula michi grandis, sublimis et arte decora,
Nobilis est thalamus, mollis et ipse thorus:
Vt placeant ori que postulo, de meliori
Fercula lauta cibo sunt michi, vina bibo:
Ex auium genere, de piscibus omne salubre,
Vt magis est placitum, dant michi ferre cibum:
Singula que genera vini dat potibus vua
Optineo, quod in hiis sit michi nulla sitis.
Sunt michi carmina consona, timpana, letaque musa,
Histrio dat variis cantica plena iocis: 830
Que mare, terra parit, meliora vel aera format,
Sunt michi prompta foro, sicut habere volo.
Est michi vinea, sunt viridaria fonte reclusa,
Que peto de mundo cuncta tenere queo:
Est michi fecundus dotalibus ortus in agris,
Pompaque castrorum, summus et vrbis honor:
Silua feras, volucres aer suscepit habendas,
Et mare quam vario pisce repleuit aquas.
Set loca non tantum nobis, nec et illa creata
Sufficiunt, auri sint nisi dona ~lucri~.[390] 840
‘Ecce fores large, quas seruat ianitor arte,
Sic vt in has pauper nullus habebit iter:
Curia quos reprobat isto sermone repellit,
“State foras, vacui, flebitis ante fores.”
Que non dona manum presentat ianitor illam
Excludat, nostras nec sciat ipsa vias:
Qui tamen occulto cupit vt sit noster amicus,
Aurum det, sine quo victima nulla placet:
Que manus est plena, magis inuitabitur illa,
Stet foris et vacua, nec veneretur ita. 850
Omnia soluo, ligo, summo diademate regno,
Orbis ego dominus: quid michi velle magis?
Me dominum clamat, me viuens omnis adorat,
Omne solum calco sic deus alter ego.
Est thronus excelsus, quo possumus omnibus vna
Et benedicta manu, sic maledicta dare:
Sicque potestate nostra reuerenter vbique
Magnus in ecclesia, maior in orbe sumus.
‘Dicimus, et facta iam sunt, mandamus, et ecce
Accrescunt subiti dona creata lucri. 860
Que Cristus renuit suscepimus omnia regna
Mundi, que dominans gloria vana dedit:
Sic exaltati de terra traximus ad nos
Omnia deliciis amplificata magis.
Sic status assumptus quales sumus approbat, vt nos
Ocia plectentes qui cruciamus humum.
Suaue iugum, leue Cristus onus nobis dedit, et nos
Pondera que mundi sunt grauiora damus:
Iura damus populis, set nos non lege tenemur,
Que michi lex placuit iuris habebit onus. 870
Iudiciis hominum non stat quod pecco per orbem,
Sic michi cuncta licent, que magis acta placent;
Et si mundus in hiis fiat michi forte rebellis,
Est mea de guerris forcior ecce manus.
Hiis quoque de causis respondeo papa, quod omnes
Per mea terrigenos bella retrudo viros.
‘Inter discipulos fuerat discordia facta,
Norma set infantis pacificauit opus:
Nos tamen ad veram nullo moderamine pacem
Flectere quis poterit, hoc neque pompa sinit. 880
In cruce confixus patitur sua funera Cristus,
Et fuit illa viris passio vera salus:
Omnibus exemplum fuit hec paciencia Cristi,
Alterutrum socii simus vt inde pii.
Nos tamen in signum vindicte ponimus illam,
Plebis et in mortem ferre iubemus eam:
Sicque pium signum diuertimus a pietate,
Que fuit et vita, nunc noua pestis erit.
Sic modo sunt mortis nuper vexilla salutis,
Que tulit et pacem crux modo bella gerit: 890
Sicque crucem domini baiulamus, mente set vlla
Non sequimur dominum, qua tulit ipse crucem.
Quod nequit hoc virtus, supplebunt ammodo vires,
Non mos set mortis pugna parabit iter:
Nostra sinistra teret quicquid fundauerat olim
Dextra, que sic humilis non parit oua fides.
Quam collegerunt alii dispergere messem
Tendimus, et feritas nostra vorabit humum:
Vinea sic domini nostros inculta labores
Non habet, estque magis bellica facta manus: 900
Sic magis, extrahere quem de pietate tenemur,
Sternimus in puteum de feritate bouem.
‘Quod tulerat Petrus lucrum Iudea fatetur,
Quas tulit et Paulus gens manifestat opes:
Nos neque cum vacuis manibus veniemus in auro,
Quod tamen est lucrum spirituale nichil.
Postera quicquid agat etas, iam nulla veremur
Crimina, dum mundus noster amicus erit:
Vt sit enim nomen nostrum nomen super omne,
Est vbi rarus honor, pugna iuuabit opus. 910
Ense peribit homo iuxta leges Machometi,
Eius qui nomen spernit habere sacrum:
Nos ita decretum iam ponimus ense volutum,
Nomen vt hinc nostrum presit in omne solum.
Cesaris imperio qui contradicit, amicus
Eius in hoc mundo non reputatur homo:
Sic homo, qui nomen nostrum non preficit altum,
Filius est mortis, ensis in ore reus.
‘Mittere sic gladium non pacem venimus orbi,
Et noua iam facimus omnia, dampna tamen. 920
Sic caput in membra iam seuit, et aggrauat illos,
Quos minus officio lederet ipse suo:
Sic pater in natos nunc fit magis ipse Saturnus,
Quos sua deberet lexque fouere, necat:
Sic et pastor oues, quas pascere iure tenetur
Iam vorat, et proprium predat ouile suum:
Sic ferus vt iudex agitamus secla per ignem,
Purgatique magis eris habemus opes.
Vendat enim tunicam sibi clerus et hinc emat ensem,
Cesset et a sacris quilibet ordo suis: 930
Nomen et in terris sic nostrum magnificemus,
Vt timeant alii bella futura sibi.
Iam pastoralis baculus vertetur in hastam,
Mitra fit in galeam, pax ruit inque necem:[391]
Qui prodesse velit prosit, nam nos super omnes
Preferri volumus, gestet et alter onus.
‘Sic nos, qui summi portamus nomina cleri,
Corde magis ceci duximus arma sequi:
Quicquid agant anime, nos subdere corpora mundi
Tendimus, et nobis lex positiua fauet; 940
Nam licet ex glosa gladium quod sumat vtrumque,
Quo ferat extenta bellica, nostra manus.
Ergo magis paueant omnes dedicere nobis,
In quorum bellis os ferit atque manus.
Attamen ad pacem nostram suscepimus omnes
Barbaricas gentes, ne cruciemur eis:
Contra Cristicolas pretendimus arma mouere,
Qui modo sunt ausi vix sua iura loqui.
Auriculam Petrus abscidit, vulnus et illud
Sanum restituit Cristus vt ante fuit; 950
Nostra set ira caput aufert, quo vulnere nullum
Nouimus in sanum post reuenire statum.
Est igitur Petri maior sentencia nostra,
Et gladius noster forcior ense suo.’
Sic differt Clemens nunc a clemente vocatus,
Errat et Acephalo nomine nomen habens.
=Hic loquitur de prelatis illis, qui nomen sanctum sibi presumunt,
appropriant tamen sibi terrena, nec aliis inde participando ex caritate
subueniunt.=
Cap^m. xi.
Angelus, vt legitur, sancto quandoque Iohanni
Dixit, cumque cadens alter adorat eum,
‘Tu michi, serue dei, videas ne feceris illud,
Immo deum toto cordis honore cole.’ 960
‘Quem tamen in terris celestis ciuis honorem
Respuit, hunc repetit curia nostra sibi;
Flectitur inde genu, que pedes post oscula nostros
Mulcent, vt Cristi pes foret alter ibi.’
Precipit hoc Cristus, eius quod discipulorum
Nemo patris nomen querat habere sibi:
In celo sancti proclamant ‘Sanctus’ vt illi
Qui sedet in solio dignus honore suo.
‘Nos tamen in gente nomen portamus vtrumque,
“O pater, o sancte,” quisque salutat, “aue!” 970
Extitit a Cristo data nobis magna potestas,
Vndique quam mundus amplificare studet.
Hoc sit vt esse potest: celum quicumque ligabit,
Scimus nos mundum posse ligare satis:
Nam modo lex posita bellorum ponit auara
Quod valet ecclesia vi reuocare sua.
Set quicquid clerus rapit et tenet ex alienis,
Hoc valet a clero tollere nullus homo.’
Quicquid habet clerus proprios hoc vertit in vsus,
De laicis partem vult set habere suam. 980
Hic bona cuncta sua fore dicit sanctificata,
Nec licet vt laicus mittat ad illa manus;
Partem sed laici petit ipse per omnia lucri,
Nec vult cum dampno participare suo.
Si communis amor fuerit, commune sit omne,
Quod liquet alterutrum posse iuuare virum:
Set quia iam clerus non est communis amoris,
Quicquid habet soli vult retinere sibi.
Ex veteri lege raptum sit quicquid ab hoste,[392]
Non valet illud homo sanctificare deo; 990
Nostra set ecclesia clerus vicinia rapta
Predat, et hec propria dicit habere sacra.
Sic multat laicum clerus, multare set ipsum
Nemo potest, et ita stant modo iura noua:
Sic non pastor oues pascit, set pastus ab ipsis
Lac vorat et vellus, alter vt ipse lupus:
Sic libras siciens libros non appetit, immo
Marcam pro Marco construit ipse libro:
Summas non summa memoratur, et optima vina
Plusquam diuina computat esse sacra: 1000
Virtutis morem non, set mulieris amorem
Querit, et hoc solo temptat arare solo.
Sic honor ex onere non est, nam fulget honore
Corpore, set corpus non digitabit onus.
=Hic loquitur de Simonia prelatorum, et qualiter hii delicati, dicentes
se esse ecclesiam, aliis grauiora imponunt, et vlterius de censura
horribili laicos pro modico impetuose infestant.=
Cap^m. xii.
Ecce, deo teste, vir qui non intrat ouile
Per portam, latro furque notatur eo.
Sic et in ecclesiam promotus per Simoniam
Clerus, furtiuo se gerit inde modo;
Nec bona de furto conferre placencia Cristo
Quis valet, immo deus pellit ab inde manus. 1010
Ergo valet fiscus que non vult carpere Cristus;
Sunt quia mundana, mundus habebit ea:
Namque suo iure dum clerus abutitur, inde
Priuari dignum iura fatentur eum.
Se vocat ecclesiam clerus, quasi diceret, illam
Non tanget laicus, est honor immo suus:
Sic fastus cleri communi iustificari
Non vult iusticia, set latitante via.
Se leuat et reliquos subdit predatque subactos
Legis composite de nouitate sue: 1020
Sic modo sub specie diuina cerno latere
Has pompas mundi, stant neque iura dei.
Sancta quid ecclesia est hominum nisi turma fidelis?
Sic patet vt laicus, quem colit ipsa fides,
Est pars ecclesie, melior nec clericus ipse,
Ni melius viuat. Quis michi tale negat?
Vna fides, vnum baptisma, deus manet vnus,
Sic nos ecclesia iungit et vna tenet;
Et veluti multa tegit vna cortice grana,
Sic populos plures colligit vna fides. 1030
Ecclesie sancte cur tunc sibi nomen habere
Vult tantum clerus, alter vt ipse deus?
Appendit legis pondus collis alienis,
Set non vult humeris quid graue ferre suis
Omnia dat licita sibimet, michi set prohibenda;
Ille quiescit, ego sudo labore meo.
Sic iter ex factis viciis prebet faciendis,
Verba set econtra dicet in aure tua:
Hinc plebs attonita dubitat, si credere dictis,
An cleri factis debeat ipsa prius. 1040
Set prohibens michi rem, dum sit culpandus eadem,
Vix credo verba, sunt quia facta rea:
Tollere sicque nouos de clero cerno superbos,
Per veteres humiles quod ~dedit~ ipsa fides.
Precipiunt isti maxillam percucienti
Subdere, sic vt eo stet pacienter homo:
Intuleris set eis si quid graue, mox tibi mortis
Censuris anime dant maledicta tue.
Qui necat hic animam sub pena mortis, eadem,
Si posset, corpus perderet ipse prius. 1050
Sic magis ipse lupo fert pastor dampna maligno
In iugulando suas, quas medicaret, oues.
Hii gestant celi claues, intrant nec et ipsi,
Nos nec inire sinunt, quos sine lege regunt:
Nec populi mentes doctrine vomere sulcant,
Nec faciunt operis id quod oportet opus.
Ad dextram Cristi vellent residere beati,
Set nollent calicem sumere, Criste, tuam.
Hii piscatores laxant sua recia lucris,
Vt capiant mundum, non animabus opem. 1060
Sic male viuentes laicis exempla ministrant,
Qui velut instructi more sequntur eos:
Sic ouis ex maculis pastoris fit maculosa,
Et cadit in foueam cecus vterque simul.
=Hic loquitur qualiter prelatus non solum doctrina set eciam bonis
actibus populo sibi commisso lucere deberet.=
Cap^m. xiii.
In tenebris pergens nescit quo vadat, vt ille
Qui non discernit que sit habenda via;
Cumque caret populus doctrina, nec videt ipsum
Qui suus est presul iura tenere dei,
Cum neque scripta docet, neque facta facit pietatis,
Immo sui vicii dedita culpa patet, 1070
Cum de nocte sua pereat sine luce lucerna,
Et virtutis habent presulis acta nichil,
Tunc errare facit plebem, sine luceque cecus
Cecum consequitur, vnde ruina venit.
Ergo suas luces accendant clarius illi
Qui sunt ductores, vt videamus iter.
Igne lucerna micans tria dat, splendet, calet, vrit;
Hec tria presul habet sub racione trium:
Vita splendorem demon~strat, amore~ calorem,
Et quia peccantes arguit, vrit eos. 1080
Cum populum sibi corde ligat, precibusque beatis
Seruat et auget oues, tunc placet ipse deo.
Vt sit sollicitus quicumque pauore tenetur,
Ne lupus ille Sathan intret ouile suum:
Pascat oues presul exemplaque sancta ministret,
Vt sapiant dulces mellis in ore fauos.
Sepius assueuit Tubicen prodesse, suosque
Dux bene pugnantes concitat ore viros:
Te magis, o presul, qui dux es spiritualis,
Promere lege dei consona verba decet. 1090
Solue tuam vocem sicut tuba ductilis altam,
Osque tuum verbis instruat acta gregis:
Clama, ne cesses, populo dic crimen eorum,
Preuius exemplis tu tamen esto bonus.
Dum sapor assidua remanens sit dulcis in vnda,
Gracius ex ipso fonte bibuntur aque:
Cum magis in Cristo sit cleri vita beata,
Quem docet ille magis, sermo beatus erit.
Sermo dei numquam vacuus redit, immo lucrata
Conferet emissus dupla talenta lucri: 1100
Sermo dei purus, mens quem sincera ministrat,
Claustra poli penetrans dona reportat humo.
Curatos anima tales que possidet egra,
Inueniet, si vult, sana salutis iter.
Qui nil terrenum sapiunt, set celica querunt,
Et solum siciunt esuriuntque deum;
Quos non librarum pascit nitor, immo librorum,
Non facies auri, set cibat ara dei;
Hii, cum sint propria digni mercede laboris,
Permansura serunt que sine fine metunt. 1110
Sic qui recta docet, facit et super hoc quod oportet,
Expedit vt facias quod tibi dictat opus:
Tunc bene fortis equs reserato carcere currit,
Cum quos pretereat quosque sequetur habet.
Legis enim veteris scripture sunt memorande,
Quo bonus exemplum pastor habere queat.
Commemoranda satis fuit hec sapiencia, quando
Ante gregem virgas ordinat ille Iacob:
Partim nudat eas ablato cortice, partim
Corticis indutas veste relinquit eas. 1120
In virgis splendet sublato cortice candor,
Cum de scripturis splendida verba trahit;
Cortex saluatur, cum litera sola tenetur,
Et pastor sensu simplice pascit oues.[393]
Set quid pastores dicent exempla negantes?
Vt sibi proficiant ista nec illa tenent.
Cuius nec vita bona seu doctrina iuuabit,
Instruat vt populum, nil reputamus eum.
Indiscreta tamen sunt qui documenta parantes
Scismatis in plebem magna pericla mouent. 1130
Indocti causa doctoris sepe scolares
Virtutis capiunt commoda nulla scole:
Sic importuni prelati, quamuis habundent
Dogmata, si desint acta, vigore carent.
Quidam corripiunt magis ignibus impetuosi,
Et velut vrsus oues de feritate premunt;
Talis enim doctor, cum durius increpat vllum,
Ledit eum cuius debuit esse salus;
Vulnerat ipse reos, set vulnera nulla medetur;
Prouocat in peius quod fuit ante malum: 1140
Sic nos prelati nequit os curare superbi,
Cum viciosus homo moribus auctor erit.
Est et prelatus, qui corripiens quasi blando
De sermone fauet, nec reus inde cauet:
Corripiebat Hely pueros dulcedine patris,
Non vice pastoris, non grauitate soni;
Pro quorum culpa dampnatur Hely, quia valde
Impius in pueris per pia verba fuit.
Sic pastor qui subiectos non corripit, iram[394]
Summi patris emens carcere dignus erit. 1150
Ista solent scribi, ‘Medium tenuere beati,
Non nimis alta petas, nec nimis yma geras.’
Non nimis ex duro presul nos iure fatiget,
Nec nimis ex molli simplicitate sinat.
Si non leua manus equitis moderacior extet,
Oppositis frenis sepe repugnat equs.
Eripit interdum, modo dat medicina salutem,
Nil prodest quod non ledere possit idem.
Set qui frena tenet, prouiso tempore, presul,
Quo magis est sanum ducet honestus iter: 1160
Sepius ex dulci peccans sermone reviuit,
Qui magis impaciens verba per acra foret.
Expedit interdum tamen absque fauore rebelles
Equa quod inuitos presulis ira premat:
Sepe ferus morbus herbis mitescit amaris,
Namque feret molles aspera spina rosas:
Dura vides quod humus stimulantibus obruta sulcis
Sepius ad placitum molle cacumen habet.
Vnctus erit presul oleo, quod plura figurat,
Precipueque sibi conuenit illa sequi: 1170
Quatuor ista facit, penetrat, lucet, cibat, vngit,
Que sibi mitratus debet habere bonus.
Nil penetrare potest nisi cum virtute vigoris,
Ista tamen virtus in penetrando iuuat;
Nam cum mollicies fuerit coniuncta vigori,
Mitis et austerus presulis actus erit.
Fermento careat, oleo spergatur, vt absit
Culpa nocens, et eum sanctus inungat amor:
Vox ita doctoris, quanto sublimius intus
Corda ferit, tanto forcius illa mouet: 1180
Sic olei virtus virtutes ponderat eque,
Forcia dum penetrat, micius acta regit.
Lux cecis, cibus est ieiunis, vnccio morbis;
Hiis iubar infundit, hos cibat, hosque fouet:
Lux est exemplo, cibus est dum pascit egenos,
Vnccio dum populis dulcia verba serit.
Hoc oleo, testante Dauid, Cristus fuit vnctus,
Vnguine leticie cum pater vnxit eum:
Non vnguntur eo qui culpam Simonis equant,
Qui vendunt vel emunt, nec sacra gratis habent: 1190
Exulat hic de plebe dei qui peccat in istis,
Tales nam pellit Cristus ab ede sua.
=Hic loquitur qualiter signa Anticristi in Curia Romana precipue ex
auaricia secundum quosdam apparuerunt.=
Cap^m. xiiii.
Plura locutura mens deficit ipsa timore,
Labitur exanguis et tremefacta silet;
Huius enim vicii michi tangere si licet vlla,
Testis erit Cristus Romaque tota simul.
Roma manus rodit non dantes, spernit et odit,
Donum pro dono sic capit omnis homo.
Non est acceptor personarum deus, immo
Gracior intendit actibus ipse viri; 1200
Gracia set nostra tantum quos mundus in auro
Ditat, non alios accipit illa viros.
Qui precium ponit diues preciata reportat
Munera, nam tali curia tota fauet:
Assumens oleum secum non intrat ibidem,
Aurea ni valeat vngere gutta manum:
Copia nil morum confert vbi deficit aurum,
Nam virtus inopum nulla meretur opem.
Auro si pulses, intrabis, et illud habebis
Quod petis, et donum fert tibi dona tuum: 1210
Si tibi vis detur large, da munera larga,
Nam si pauca seras, premia pauca metes.
Quid faciet sapiens? stultus de munere gaudet.
Dicat ad hec clerus, qui sapit ista magis.[395]
Munera, crede michi, capiunt hominesque deosque,
Placatur donis maior in orbe datis:
Set cum pro mundo tribuat sua munera Simon,
Promotus Cristi non erit inde sui.
Vt veniant ad aquas sicientes sponte citauit
Cristus, et ecce suo fonte cibauit eos; 1220
Fontibus et nostris siciens non hauriet vllus
Absque lucri pretio, quod dabit ipse prius.
Vendere quid pro quo modus est quem curia nostra
Seruat, et auxilio Simonis ipsa viget:
Curia nostra virum nouit sine munere nullum,
Set redit in vacuis euacuata manus.
Dum dare vult laicus, precellit Theologiam;
Si des dona michi, dona rependo tibi:
Marcus, Matheus, Lucas, si nulla, Iohannes,
Dona ferant, perdunt que sibi dona petunt: 1230
Si veniat famulus mundi, viget ipse receptus,
Si famulus Cristi, nemo ministrat ei.
Si veniat pauper, musis comitatus Homeri,
Et nichil attulerit, pauper vt ante redit:
Si nouus Augustinus ibi peteret, nec haberet
Quod daret ipse prius, transiet ipse vagus.
Construit atque legit laicus, bene cantat, in auro;
Si dare sufficiat, stat bene quicquid agit.
Qualis enim pietas hec est discernite vosmet,
Aut si iusticia iura tenebit ita. 1240
Si labat ecclesia declinans forte per istos,
Summus eam releuet de pietate sua,
Confundens hereses et que sunt scismata tollat,
Ne quis Cristicolas perdere possit oues:
Vnanimes redeant tibi, te miserante, redemptor,
Quos pax, quos pietas, quos liget vna fides.
Anticristus aget que sunt contraria Cristo,
Mores subuertens et viciosa fouens:
Nescio si forte mundo iam venerat iste,
Eius enim video plurima signa modo. 1250
Petri que titubat nauem prius erige, Criste,
Quam pereat, nec eam fastus in orbe voret.
=Hic loquitur secundum commune dictum, qualiter honores et non onera
prelacie plures affectant, quo magis in ecclesia cessant virtutes, et
vicia multipliciter accrescunt.=
Cap^m. xv.
O deus, omne patet tibi cor loquiturque voluntas,
Et secreta tuo lumine nulla latent:
Tu nosti, domine, quod quantum distat ab ortu
Solis in occasum regula prima fugit.
Ipsa fides operans, quam tu plantare volebas
Est quasi de clero preuaricata modo:
Ius quod erat Cristi mundus sine iure resoluit,
Prelatosque nouos vendicat ipse suos. 1260
Nomen enim sancti sanctum non efficit, immo
Efficitur sanctus quem probat ipse deus.
Nos tamen a plebe si nomine glorificemur,
Et laudet mundus, laus placet illa satis:
Laruata facie sic fallitur ordo paternus,[396]
Quo furtiuus honor expoliauit onus.
Vox populi cum voce dei concordat, vt ipsa
In rebus dubiis sit metuenda magis:
Hec ego que dicam dictum commune docebat,
Nec mea verba sibi quid nouitatis habent. 1270
In cathedram Moysi nunc ascendunt Pharisei,
Et scribe scribunt dogma, nec illud agunt.
Nam constans, humilis, largus, castus que modestus,
Fit quibus ecclesiis regula culta prius,
Nunc vanos, cupidos, elatos, luxuriosos,
Raptoresque suo substituere loco.
Pacificos ira mitesque superbia vicit,
Nummus habet iustos et Venus illa sacros.
Sic non iusticia causas regit, immo voluntas
Obfuscata malis que racione carent: 1280
Sic modo terra deos colit et laceratur ab ipsis,
Est dum lex cleri nescia lege dei.
Nudis iam verbis vani tua iura figurant,
Et nichil aut modicum pondere iuris agunt;
Exemplis operum te raro, Criste, sequntur,
Perfectumque tue legis inane tenent.
Que tua precepta ponunt, deponere curant
A propriis humeris, que michi ferre iubent;
Hec precepta tamen que gloria ponit inanis,
A me tollentes propria ferre volunt. 1290
De fundamento non curant, immo columpne
Effigiem laruant, se quoque templa vocant.
Nuper erat celum corruptum, sicque superbus
Corruit ex altis, lapsus et yma tenet;
Proque suo vicio sic Adam de paradiso,
Sic Iudasque suum perdidit ipse gradum:
Non faciunt hominem status aut locus esse beatum,
Quin magis hos sternunt qui superesse volunt.
O deus, ecclesiam fecisti quam tibi sanctam,
Sanctos prelatos fac simul inde tuos: 1300
Corrigat, oro, deus, tua iam clemencia tales,
Nos quibus vt sanctis subdere colla iubes:
Esse duces nostros quos lege tua statuisti,
Fac magis vt recta semita ducat eos;
Et licet instabilis vanus sit et actus eorum,
Da populo stabilem semper habere fidem:
Da, deus, et clero, verbo quod possit et actu
Sic reuocare malum, nos vt in orbe iuuet.
Exoptata diu dulcis medicina dolorum,
Sero licet veniat, grata venire solet: 1310
Sique boni fiant de clero, nos meliores
Tunc erimus, que dei laus ita maior erit.
=Postquam dictum est de illis qui errant in statu prelacie, dicendum
est de errore curatorum, qui sub prelatis constituti, parochiarum
curas in animarum suarum periculo admittentes negligenter omittunt: et
primo intendit dicere de curatis illis qui suas curas omittentes ad
seruiendum magnatum curiis adherent.=
Cap^m. xvi.
Presulis incauti, sicut de voce recepi,
Errores scripsi, pennaque cessat ibi.
Sunt tamen, in curis anime qui iura ministrant,
Rectores alii non sine labe doli.
Quo status ille modo se tendit scribere tendo,
Si sit ibi mundus vel magis ipse deus.
Ad tempus presens rectorum facta reuoluens,
Inuenio mundi quod solet esse dei. 1320
Presulis errore, curarum qui caput extat,
Errat curatus, presulis ipse manus.
Iam sine prebenda de Simonis arte creata
Nil putat ecclesiam quomodocumque bonam:
Hec prebenda tamen inopem non, set meretricem
Pascit, sicque deum non colit, immo deam.
Tales nec caste curant neque viuere caute,
De quibus exempla sunt modo sepe mala:
Vestis habet pompam, cibus vsum deliciarum,
Et thorus incestum clamat habere suum. 1330
Ex Cristi poteris nuper cognoscere verbis
Discipulos tunicas non habuisse duas;
Set quia discipuli non sunt, in talibus isti
Nolunt impositum sic retinere modum.
Non tantum vestes geminant set condiciones,
Quas magis errantes regula nulla sapit:
En venit incastos aurum precingere lumbos,
Denotet vt vanos comptus inanis eos;
Militis effigie, nisi solum calcar abesse,
Cernimus hos pompis degenerare suis. 1340
Cuius honor, sit onus; qui lucris participare
Vult, sic de dampnis participaret eis:
Sic iubet equa fides, sic lex decreuit ad omnes,
Set modo qui curant ipsa statuta negant.
Curas admittunt pingues et pinguia sumunt,
Set nolunt cure pondera ferre sue.
Si viciis residere nequit curatus in ista
Cura, tunc aliam querit habere nouam;
Inficiens primam, post polluit ipse secundam,
Sic loca non vicia mutat et ipse sua. 1350
Litera dispensat curato presulis empta,
Et sic curati cura relicta manet;
Presbiterum laicum retinet sibi substituendum,
Curia magnatum dum retinebit eum.
Est vt apes ibi sollicitus dum spirat honores,
Set piger in cura tardat agenda sua.
Quicquid habet mundus fictum, tunc fingit et ille,
Curia quo dignum credere possit eum:
Verba dabit blanda, set nec canis aptus ad arcum,
Sic humili vultu flectit ad yma genu. 1360
Alter vt ille Iacob socios supplantat, et omne
Quo poterit mundi lucra tenere facit.
Absit eum quicquam tamen absque iuuamine docti
Simonis incipere, qui suus actor erit:
Ostia si clausa fuerint, sic intrat ouile,
Ac aliunde suum carpit auarus iter.
De curis anime nil curat, dummodo terre
Curia magnatis sit sibi culta lucris:
Fert sibi nil virtus anime set corporis actus,
Munus non meritum dat sibi ferre statum. 1370
Qui nichil est per se, nec habet quo tendat in altum,
Expedit alterius vt releuetur ope:
Est tamen absurdum, cum quilibet ex alieno
Intumet vlterius quam tumuisse decet.[397]
Littera dum Regis Papales supplicat aures,
Simon et est medius, vngat vt ipse manus,[398]
En ~laicus~ noster fit clericus aptus vt omnes
Simone consultus scandat in orbe gradus.
Hic qui pauper heri fuerat quasi nudus et omni
Laude carens, nec eum patris habebat honor, 1380
Cuius erat tunica vilis, non larga set arta,
Vix sibi que tetigit simplicitate genu,
Hunc polimita modo vestis circumdat, et eius
Alludens pedibus fimbria lambit humum:
Vestis que medium non nouit poplicis olim,
Iam colit hec talos oscula dando pedi.
Si mundi speculum scruteris in huius amictu,
Plurima rectoris cernere vana potes.
Presulis ipse gradum si non dum scandere possit,
Ecce tamen vestes comparat ipse pares. 1390
Cuius erat solus nuper catulus domicellus,
En sequitur totus nunc quasi mundus eum;
Cuius erat baculus nuper palfridus, ad eius
Sellam cum loris subditur altus equs.
Sic viget in curis diues, set moribus expers
Indiget, et vano more gubernat opes.
Compotus in mundi rebus quod fiat habunde
Perstudet, vt domino det sua iura suo:
Computet vt Cristo set de curis animarum,
Turpiter absque lucro fossa talenta latent. 1400
Curia sic Cristi tollit mundana clientem,
Qui venit ad laqueum, dum sitit ipse lucrum.
=Hic loquitur de rectoribus illis, qui ab episcopo licenciati
se fingunt ire scolas, vt sub nomine virtutis vicia corporalia
frequentent.=
Cap^m. xvii.
Alter adest rector, causam designat et ipse,
Dicit enim sacras quod cupit ire scolas:
Vt vagus astet ibi prece ruffi presul et albi
Annuit, vt dominis quos ~amat ipse nimis~.
Sic rector sibi sub specie virtutis adoptat,
Vt queat in viciis rite studere vagus.
Nil decreta placent sibi nec sacra theologia,
Ars sibi nature sufficit immo sue: 1410
Ipsa magistra docet res plures, discit et ille,
Scribit et in nocte que studet ipse die.
Et propter formam tandem petit ipse cathedram,
Vt sit ad hoc ductus, plura dat ipse prius:
Sic est curatus doctoris sede locatus,
Datque legenda suis mistica iura scolis.
‘Ve soli,’ legimus ex scripturis Salomonis,
Namque virum solum nemo requirit eum:
Qua racione scole mos est, quod quisque studere
Debet cum socia doctus in arte sua. 1420
Ipse deus sociam fecit per secula primam,
Vt iuuet hec hominem, sicque creauit eam:
Masculus in primo factus fuit, atque secundo
Femina, sic vt in hiis det deus esse genus:
Istaque principia discretus rector agenda
Perstudet, et vota prebet in arte pia.
Quis laterisque sui costam quam sentit abesse
Non cuperet, per quam perficeretur homo?
Prima viri costa mulier fuit ipsa creata,
Vult igitur costam rector habere suam. 1430
Nam deus humanam precepit crescere gentem,
Cuius precepto multiplicabit homo:
Sic sibi multiplicat rector, dum semen habundat,
Vt sit mandati non reus ipse dei.
Causas per tales rector probat et raciones,
Quod sibi sint socie, dum stat in arte scole.
Primo materiam conceptus tractat, et illam,
Vt veniat partus, stat repetendo magis;
Sic legit et textum, legit et glosam super illum,
Vt scola discipulis sit patefacta suis: 1440
Verberat ipse regens pro forma sepe scolares,
Vt vigili virga sit vigil ipsa scola.
Quanto formalis magis extat in arte legendo,
Est opus in tanto materiale minus.
Non labor excusat, doceat quin nocte dieque,
Quo sibi dat vacuum sollicitudo caput:
Questio namque sua, quam disputat esse profundam,
Sentit et in casu plura profunda mouet.
Responsalis ei respondet ad omnia, quare,
Nec sinit a logica quicquid abire sua; 1450
Sepeque doctori concluditur, ipseque tantum
Confusus cathedra linquit inesse sua.
Leccio lecta nocet, decies repetita nocebit;
Dum legit inde magis, ~plus sibi sensus hebes est~.[399]
Et sic ars nostrum curatum reddit inertem,
De longo studio fert nichil ipse domum:
Stultus ibi venit, set stulcior inde redibit,
Dum repetendo scolis sit magis ipse frequens.
Hec est illa scola, studet in qua clerus, vt yma
Nature iura scribat in arte sua: 1460
Practica discipulo bene conuenit atque magistro,
Vt speculatiuum construat ipse suum.
Hec est illa scola super omnes labe colenda,
Qua socius sociam ~gaudet~ habere suam:
Attamen illa scola, dum sit socie sociata,
Fine dabit socium plangere gesta reum.
Sic scola cum socia confirmat in arte scolarem,
Fiet quod laicus, quando magister erit.
Heu! grauis est socia, grauis est scola iuncta sodali,
Ista vorat corpus, illaque tollit opes: 1470
Est inhonesta deo res, et mirabile plebi,
Quando magister erit atque ribaldus idem.
Ecclesia sponsa nuda, vestitur amica;
Sponsa relicta perit, altera cara viget:
Sic desponsata clamare fide sibi fracta
Nunc venit ecclesia iura petendo sua.
Set quia lux periit, perit hinc ius, sicque recedit
Curati sponsa stans quasi tota vaga.
Sic rector viciis studium non moribus aptans,
Dat decimam Veneri, que solet esse dei: 1480
Sic sibi consimilem generat curatus, vt artem
Nature solitam compleat ipse suam:
Sic viget in studio laici curatus ad instar
Corporis, vt sexum multiplicare queat:
Sic scola, que morum mater magis esse solebat,
Efficitur viciis stulta nouerca suis.
=Hic loquitur de rectoribus illis, qui in curis residentes, curas tamen
negligentes, venacionibus precipue et voluptatibus penitus intendunt.=
Cap^m. xviii.
Tercius est rector, animum qui tendit ad orbem,
In cura residens dum manet ipse domi:
Nuda sue folia cure sine fructibus affert,
Dum sine luce regens stultus obumbrat eam. 1490
Predicat ipse nichil animas saluare, nec egros
Visitat, aut inopes tactus amore iuuat:
Est sibi crassus equs, restatque sciencia macra,
Sella decora que mens feda perornat eum.
Ad latus et cornu sufflans gerit, vnde redundant
Mons, nemus, vnde lepus visa pericla fugit;
Oris in ecclesia set vox sua muta quiescit,
Ne fugat a viciis sordida corda gregis.[400]
Sic canis, ad questum qui clamat in ore fideli,
Certus habebit eo quicquid habere velit; 1500
Set miser, ad portas qui clamat et indiget escis,
Heu! neque mica datur nec liquor vllus ei.
O deus, in quanta talis tibi laude meretur,
Dans alimenta cani, que negat ipse viro!
Vix sibi festa dies sacra vel ieiunia tollunt,
Quin nemus in canibus circuit ipse suis:
Clamor in ore canum, dum vociferantur in vnum,
Est sibi campana, psallitur vnde deo.
Stat sibi missa breuis, deuocio longaque campis,
Quo sibi cantores deputat esse canes: 1510
Sic lepus et vulpis sunt quos magis ipse requirit;
Dum sonat ore deum, stat sibi mente lepus.
Sic agitat vulpis vulpem similis similemque
Querit, dum iuuenem deuorat ipse gregem;
Nam vagus explorat vbi sunt pulchre mulieres
Etatis tenere, pascat vt inde famem:
Talis enim rector mulieribus insidiatur,
More lupi clausas circuientis oues.[401]
Dum videt ipse senem sponsum sponsam iuuenemque,
Tales sub cura visitat ipse sua; 1520
Suplet ibi rector regimen sponsi, que decore
Persoluit sponse debita iura sue.
Sic capit in cura rector sibi corpora pulcra,
Et fedas animas linquit abire vagas.
=Hic loquitur de rectoribus in curis residentibus, qui tamen curas
animarum omittentes, quasi seculi mercatores singula temporalia de die
in diem ementes et vendentes, mundi diuicias adquirunt.=
Cap^m. xix.
Quartus adhuc rector curam residendo sinistrat,
Ipseque mercator circuit omne genus.
Est sibi missa: forum meditatur et inde tabernam,
Ad socii dampnum dum petit ipse lucrum.
Ecclesie meritum perdit, lucratur et aurum;
Vt teneat mundum, deserit ipse deum. 1530
Computat ipse diem cassam, qua vel sibi lucrum,
Corporis aut luxum non capit ipse nouum:
Est et auaricia sibi custos, sic vt in illis[402]
Partem diuiciis pauper habere nequit.
Masculus in nullo casu partitur egenus,
Dupplice nam claui cista resistit ei;
Set pietas aliter se continet ad mulierem,
Vt iubet ipsa Venus, est ibi larga manus.
Expansis genibus expanditur aurea cista;
Femina si veniat, dat sibi clauis iter: 1540
Durior est ferro, quem nullus mollificabit,[403]
Vincit feminea set caro mollis eum.
Dans ita quid pro quo merces mercede locabit
Rector, in impropriis dum vacat ipse lucris.
Omne quod vna manus sibi congregat, altera spergit,
Dum sua dat cribro balsama stultus homo:
Stultaque sic stultum predat, quod fine dierum
Nil nisi sit rasa barba manebit ei.
O si curatis nati succedere possent,
Ecclesie titulo ferreque iura patrum, 1550
Tunc sibi Romipetas, mortis quibus est aliene
Spes, nichil aut modicum posse valere puto.[404]
Talis in ecclesia nunc est deuocio mota
Curatis nostris: iudicet inde deus.
=Postquam[405] dictum est de errore illorum qui in ecclesia beneficiati
existunt, iam[406] dicendum est de presbiteris stipendiariis; de
talibus saltem, qui non propter mundiciam et ordinis honestatem, set
propter mundi ocia, gradum presbiteratus appetunt et assumunt.=
Cap^m. xx.
Si de presbiteris dicam qui sunt sine curis,
Hos viciis aliis cernimus esse pares.
Si tamen ecclesiam non optinet iste sacerdos,
Annua servicia sunt velut ecclesia:
Plus quam tres dudum nunc exigit vnus habendum,
Strictus auaricia plus cupit ipse quia. 1560
Hos velut artifices cerno peditare per vrbes,
Conductos precio sicut asella foro.
Dignus mercede tamen est operarius omnis,
Iuxta condignum quod labor ille petit:
Set tamen vt vendat nulli diuina licebit,
Sic poterit vendi missa nec vlla tibi.
Credimus vt sancta Cristus sacratus in ara
Non plus vult vendi venditus ipse semel.
Se sine dat precio, dare qui iussit sacra gratis:
Presbiter, ergo tibi quid petis inde lucri? 1570
Cum tibi vestitus, aptus fuerit quoque victus,
Vnde deo viuas, cur tibi plura petis?
Si tibi plus superest de lucro, nil tibi prodest,
Nam male quesitum nescit habere modum.
Aut Romam perges mercatum Simonis auro,
Qui te promotum reddet, et inde tuum
Argentum tollet collectum per prius, et sic
Quod tibi missa dedit Simon habere petit;
Aut meretrix bursam, te luxuriante, repletam
Sugget, et in vacuam quam cito reddet eam. 1580
Quod dedit ecclesia tollit meretrix que taberna:
Hec tria dum iungunt, turpia plura gerunt.
Hec ita cum videam, mundi noua monstra putarem,
Si foret hoc raro quod speculamur eo;
Set quia cotidie potero predicta videre,
Sepe michi visa nil modo miror ea.
Mergulus inmergit fluuio sua membra frequenter,
Et longas gignit in latitando moras;
Isteque signat eos quos carnis fluxa voluptas
Funditus exercet et retinendo premit. 1590
Est apud antiquos ‘hic et hec’ dixisse ‘sacerdos,’
Dicere sic et nos possumus ‘has et eos:’
Hii modo namque sua mundum replent genitura;
Si pietas sit ibi, sunt modo valde pii.
Nox et amor, vinum, nullum moderabile suadent,
Que tria presbiteris sunt modo nota satis.
Stat breuis ordo precum, dum postulat ipse vicissim
Oscula per longas iungere pressa moras,
‘O sacer,’ hec dicens, ‘quam longum tempus ad illud
Vt tua sint collo brachia nexa meo?’ 1600
Qui vult vxorem seruare sibi modo castam,
Et mundas cameras querit habere suas,
Longius a camera sit presbiter atque columba,
Stercora fundit ea, fundit et ipse stupra.
Sobrius a mensa, de lecto siue pudicus
Consurgit raro presbiter ipse deo:
Cantat in excelsis sua vox agitata tabernis,
Est set in ecclesiis vox ta~citurna~ nimis:
Doctus et a vino colit ipse lupanar, et illuc
Exorando diu flectit vtrumque genu. 1610
Sic vetus expurgat fermentum, dum noua spergit,
Non tamen vt Paulus iusserat ipse prius:
Sic altare Baal modo thurificare sacerdos
Vult, per quem viui feda fit ara dei.
Sufficit vna michi mulier, bis sex tamen ipsi,
Vt iuueni gallo, cerno subire modo.
Sic sacra presbiteri celebrant solempnia Bachi,[407]
Ebrietasque magis sanctificatur eis.
Gentilis ritus vetus incipit esse modernus,
Talibus et Cristi lex perit ipsa quasi: 1620
Sic modo templorum cultores suntque deorum,
Plus in honore quibus stat dea summa Venus.
=Hic loquitur de consueta presbiterorum voluptate, et qualiter hii
stipendia plebis ex conuencione sumentes, indeuote pro mortuis orando
non se debite ad suffragia mortuorum exonerant.=
Cap^m. xxi.
Ignis edax terram vorat et nascencia terre;
Quo furit illius impetus, omne terit;
Sic et in incastis exemplis presbiterorum
Indoctis laicis feda libido nocet.
Nil commune gerunt luxus sibi cum racione,
Corporeos sensus quinque libido cremat:
Quos talis maculat nota talis pena sequetur,
Illorum pene sulphur et ignis erunt. 1630
Consuetudo tamen solet attenuare pudorem,
Reddit et audacem quem mora longa trahit.
Non peccare putant quod sepius oscula iungant,
Oscula nam pacis signa parare solent;
Estque parare piam pacem meritoria causa,
Nec sine pace diu stat pietatis amor:
Sic in presbiteris amor est de pace creatus,
Oscula nam solito more frequenter agunt.
Altera natura solitus reputabitur vsus,
Vsus et a longo tempore iura parit; 1640
Immoque nature si nos de iure loquamur,
Hoc in presbiteris splendet vbique magis:[408]
Et si sub forma tali sint iura creanda,
Legis quod vires longior vsus habet,
Tunc puto presbiteros ex vsu condere leges,
Oscula dum crebro dant in amore suo.
~Ecclesie~ gremium notat ordo presbiterorum,
Quo debent animas rite fouere bonas;
Quomodo set proprias qui non curant, alienas
Curabunt? non est hoc racionis opus. 1650
Nescio quid meriti poterunt tales michi ferre,
Qui sibi nil proprie commoditatis habent:
Nam peccatores scitur quod non deus audit,
Est inhonesta deo laus set ab ore mali:
Indeuota deo qui verba precancia confert,
Iudicii proprii dampna futura petit.
Qui dampnum causat, hic dampna dedisse videtur,
Ledit qui patitur que reuocare potest:
Infligit mortem languenti, qui valet illam
Nec vult auferre, set sinit esse malum: 1660
Presul qui laicos, cum non sint ordine digni,
Ordinat ad sacra, scandala plura mouet.
Tales si quis emit lucro, frustrabitur inde,
Aut si perdet in hiis scit magis ipse deus.
Hoc scio, quod panem qui fregerit esurienti,
Cuius debilitas est sine fraude patens,
Qui nudos operit, infirmos visitat, illi
Debentur merita pro bonitate sua:
Set qui sunt fortes, vanaque sub ordinis vmbra
Conspirant requiem quam sibi mundus habet, 1670
Errat eos presul sacrans, et quosque locando
Tales de merito perdere dona puto.
=Hic tractat causam, quare accidit quod laici, quasi iuris amici,
luxurie presbiterorum consuetudinem abhorrentes, eam multociens
castigantes grauiter affligunt.=
Cap^m. xxii.
Hoc dicit clerus, quod, quamuis crimine plenus
Sit, non est laici ponere crimen ei;
Alter et alterius cleri peccata fauore
Excusat, quod in hiis stat sine lege reus.
Non accusari vult a laicis, tamen illos
Accusat, que sibi libera frena petit.
Libera sunt ideo peccata placencia clero,
Sit nisi quod laici iura ferantur ibi. 1680
Presbiter insipiens populum facit insipientem,
Et mala multa parit qui bona pauca sapit:
Clerus lege carens populum dat lege carentem,
Sic parat et causam presbiter ipse suam:
Nam quia lege caret laicus, sine lege ~manentem~
Ignorat clerum, quem videt esse reum.
Si foret et sapiens clerus, sapiencia plebis
Staret, vt in lege perstet vterque simul;
Set quia iam fatui patet insipiencia cleri,
Despicitur vita desipientis ita. 1690
Pluribus exemplis natura iuuat racionem,
Doccius vnde suum iudiciale regat.
Hinc est quod latitans bubo lucis iubar odit,
Escam vestigat nocte, veretur aues:
In quam forte greges auium si lumina figant,[409]
Conclamando volant et laniando secant.
Presbiteros notat iste reos, qui corpore fedi
Que sunt luxurie feda latenter agunt;
Hos laici quasi lucis aues restringere querunt,
Zelo succensi legis, amore dei. 1700
Preuaricatus enim Iudas non amplius inde
Seruorum Cristi dignus honore fuit.
Dum iuga luxurie supportat presbiter, ipsum
Si pungant laici, computet ~inde sibi~.
Iusto iudicio lex vult, quod iuris abusor
Amittat vicio quod sibi iura dabant.
Ecclesie fratres in Cristo nos sumus omnes,
Semper et alterius indiget alter ope:
Lex tamen hoc dicit, frater quod si tuus erret,
Corripe, sic et eum fac reuenire deo: 1710
Si te non audit, dic ecclesie, set et illam
Si non audire vult, nec adheret ei,
Amplius ille tibi velut Ethnicus est reputandus,
Quo sibi de culpa parcere nullus habet.
Presbiter ergo suis assistens cotidianis
Peccatis nullo debet honore frui:
Non erit exemptus, nam qui neque iura veretur,
Non est iusticie quod quis honoret eum:
Qui contra legem vetitis presumpserit vti,
Debet concessis lege carere bonis. 1720
Omne quod occultum latet, vlteriore patebit
Fine, nec excusat ordo vel ille status.
Dic, sibi quid valuit tunc excusacio ficta,
Dum foliis fici se male texit Adam?
Quid valet aut, culpam carnis si presbiter vmbra
Contegat ipse sui fultus honore status?
=Hic scribit contra hoc quod aliqui presbiteri dicunt, qualiter ipsi
in carnis luxuriam committendo non grauius hominibus laicis deum
offendunt.=
Cap^m xxiii.
Dicunt presbiteri, non te peccant magis ipsi,
Dum carnis vicio fit sua victa caro:
Sicut sunt alii fragili de carne creati,
Dicit quod membra sic habet ipse sua. 1730
‘Sum velut alter homo,’ dicit ‘cur tunc mulieres,
Sicut habent alii, non retinebo michi?’
Argumenta sui sic criminis ipse refingit,
Liber et est vicio, dicit, vt alter homo.
Hec tamen, vt credo, fingit contraria vero,
Nam magis est sanctus omnibus ille status.
Ex improuiso sumi reliqus valet ordo,
Quo minor est culpa, si cadat inde rea;
Assumi subito set presbiteri sacer ordo
Non valet, immo suas spectat habere vices. 1740
Nam per quinque gradus scandit prius, estque probatus,
Quolibet vnde suum preuidet ipse statum:
Omnis et inde gradus a presule sanctificatus
Est et non alio, sanccior vt sit eo.
Per caput atque manus est crismate presbiter vnctus,
Vt sit ob hoc aliis dignus in orbe magis;
Accipiensque iugum votum vouet ammodo castum,[410]
Quo faciat munda mundior acta sua:
Et quia preuisa sic vota facit, puto culpa,
Dum facit econtra, fert grauiora mala: 1750
Qui daret exemplum virtutis et est viciosus,
Errat plus ducto ductor in ore meo.
Hiis circumspectis michi sic per singula causis,
Estimo presbiteros te magis esse reos.
Se licet excuset fingens sibi verba sacerdos,
Nulla sue mentis interiora iuuat;
Inmemor immo sacri quem ceperat ordinis, vltro
Scandala sic facti querit in orbe sui.
Non puto presbitero sutorem quod status vnit,
Culpa nec in simili lance coequat eos:[411] 1760
Presbiter et laicus non sunt Bercarius vnum,
Nec scelus in simili condicione grauat.
Castum se vouit sibi cum fuit vncta corona,
Stringitur et voto quis~que~ fidelis homo.
Non foret hic tanti mercede locatus honoris,
Sit nisi quod maius inde subiret onus:
Nam nequit hoc facere rex est qui maior in orbe,
Quod minor in Cristo presbiter ipse potest:
Sic, quia de iure reliquis prefertur honore,
Ledit eum grauius crimine iuris onus. 1770
Heu! quod iniqua manus mulierum feda pudendis
Debet in altari tangere sacra dei!
Qui corpus domini tractabit, et est meretrici
Turpiter attractus, Cristus abhorret opus.
Qui fierent Cristi serui, sunt dumque ministri
Demonis, heu! nostram quis reparabit opem?
=Hic describit qualiter omnia et singula que sacerdocii concernunt
officium magne virtutis misteria designant: et primo dicet de vestibus
sacerdotalibus ex vtraque lege competenter dispositis.=
Cap^m. xxiiii.
O bene si penset que sunt sibi iura sacerdos,
Quid sit honor, quid onus, quid vel honoris opus,
Singula qui iuste sibi ponderat, instat et eque,
Res est mira nimis, si male gestet onus. 1780
Omne quod ille status sibi vendicat esse beatum
Cernitur, vt sancti sint magis inde viri.
Non est tam modicum quod misse spectat ad vsum,
Lege sacerdotum quin decet esse sacrum.
Ornatus varii, quibus vtitur ipse sacerdos,
Virtutis varie mistica signa gerunt.
Poderis est vestis, aliter que dicitur alba,
Presbiteri corpus que tegit vsque pedes:
Vt foris est albus, fieret sic albior intus
Presbiter, vt mores gestet in orbe bonos. 1790
Cinctus ephot Samuel domini studet esse minister,
Cui paruam tunicam texuit Anna parens:
In tunica tenui fidei doctrina notatur,
Qua tenues animos gracia mater alit:
Ex lino factum per ephot signatur honestas
Carnis, quam mundam presbiter ipse geret.
Balteus est eciam, tunicam qui stringit honeste,
Ne femur in luxu facta pudenda sciat:
Fert humerale decens, vt nostras presbiter egras
Confortans animas ad meliora ferat: 1800
Et ligat in summo sapiens capitale sacerdos,
Vt capitis sensus non sinat ire vagos.
Infula vestit eum circumdata, que nitet auro,
Quod virtute sua cuncta metalla regit;
Splendet et in simili forma virtute sacerdos,
Si bene conseruet ordinis ipse statum:
Aurum veste gerit sanctus, cum splendet in illo
Pre reliquis rutilans clara sophia dei.
Ne tunice leuiter possit ruptura minari,
Nobilis in giro texilis ora micat: 1810
Se nec et ipse bonus disrumpat in orbe sacerdos,
Ne pateat rima criminis vlla sui.
Hac se mundicia precinctus presbiter ornat,
Vt totus mundus munera munda sacret.
Aron et electis vestes texuntur, vt horum[412]
Quisque sacerdotis possit honore frui:
Sic modo presbiteri, seu summi siue minores,
Efficiunt Cristi corpus idemque sacrant.
Nam nos cum vinum panemque sacramus in ara,
Hoc verus sanguis vna fit atque caro: 1820
Qui Cristi carnem matris confecit in aluo,
Corpus in altari conficit ille sacrum.
Quadra fit altaris species, vt quatuor orbis
Partibus ecclesie sit solidata fides.
Vestibus ornatus qui sic et moribus extat
Dignus, non aliter, presbiterandus erit.
Quos tante vestes, quos gloria tanta perornat,
Sint magis vt sancti causa requirit eos:
Dedecus ecclesie presul qui talia prestat
Presbiteris laicis, iure negante, parit. 1830
Quos sinus ecclesie recipit, noscat sinus aptos
Esse deo, reliquos euomat ipsa foris.
=Hic loquitur qualiter sacrificia de veteri lege altari debita fuerunt
in figura ad exemplum nunc noue legis presbiterorum: dicit vlterius
qualiter ex vtraque lege sacrificantes altari debent esse sine macula.=
Cap^m. xxv.
Lex vetus instituit animalia, de quibus olim
Immolat altari plebs holocausta deo;
Semper et ex omni mactato sic animali
Debita presbitero porcio certa fuit.
Hoc tamen ad Cristi legem latitante figura
Presbiteris nostris mistica iura notat.
Illa sacerdoti que spectat pars holocausti,
Curatis nostris est memoranda satis: 1840
Heeque sacerdotis sunt partes, pectus et armus
Diuisus dexter, lege iubente sacra.
Pectus doctrine locus est, nam quisque sacerdos
Debet subiectos recta docere suos:
Forcior est armus dexter, signatque quod eius
Actus sit fortis, nulla sinistra gerens:
Armus diuisus docet vt viuendo sacerdos
Excedat populum, nil populare gerens.
Non est tam modicum quid in ordine presbiterorum,
Grande ministerii quin sibi pondus habet; 1850
Nam lex iuncta vetus cum lege noua manifestant
Vndique presbiteros quod decet esse sacros.
Petrus in Aurora que scribam scripsit, et ille
Testis in hac causa verus et auctor erit.
Lex vetus ista iubet, noua que confirmat, vt omnis
Sacrificans aris inmaculatus erit;
Absque sui macula sit corporis actus et eius,
Displicet vnde deo, feda nec vlla gerat:
Non habeat maculam, nec sit mixtura reatus,
Ne purum maculet accio praua bonum. 1860
Que tamen hee macule dicuntur in ordine dicam,
Presbiter vt lector sit magis inde memor.
Dicitur hic cecus, qui mundi puluere plenus[413]
Ad lumen vite carpere nescit iter:
Est lippus, cuius mens ingenio micat intus,
Set carnale tamen eius opacat opus:
Albugo cecat oculos, et denotat illum
Qui tumet, ascribens candida facta sibi:
Est paruo naso qui nec discernere parua
Sufficit, et quod agit perficit absque sale: 1870
Est nimio naso, qui non intelligit illud
Quod legit, et doctum se tamen ipse facit:
Est torto naso, qui dulce fatetur amarum,
Et sanctos actus iudicat esse malos:
Est claudus, qui nouit iter, set currere tardus
Heret in hoc mundo, carne ligante pedem:
Fractus pes et fracta manus reputatur in illo,
Qui claudo peior tardat ad omne bonum:
Hic est gibbosus, quem mundi sarcina curuat,
Lumina nec cordis summa videre sinit: 1880
Corporis in scabie succensa libido notatur,
Que corrupta suo crimine plura facit.
Predictis viciis si quis se senciat egrum,
Lex iubet vt panem non sacret ille deo.
Oza manus tendens accessit vt erigat archam,
Set nimis audacem mors fuit vlta manum:
Hinc ideo dicunt meruisse necem, quia nocte
Transacta cohitu coniugis vsus erat.
Declaratur in hoc, quod qui pollutus ad aram
Accedat, mortis vulnere dignus erit:[414] 1890
Experimenta docent, quod ab hoc detergere sordes
Feda manus nescit, dum tenet illa lutum.
Presbiter est dictus prebens aliis iter, et si
Erret, tunc errant ducere quosque putat.
Dans sacra siue docens, notat ista loquela, sacerdos
Si malus est, alii sunt magis inde mali.
Non sine stat cura quicumque professus in huius
Ordinis est opere, si bene seruet opus:
Ergo prius videas qui scandere vis, et in illum
Si scandas, facias que iubet ordo tuus: 1900
Non solum faciem, mores set confer et artes,
Proficias curis ex quibus ipse tuis.
=Hic loquitur quod etas sufficiens, priusquam gradum sacerdocii sibi
assumat, in homine requiritur: loquitur eciam de suorum rasura pilorum,
et dicit quod talia in signum mundicie et sanctitatis specialiter
presbiteris conueniunt: dicit vlterius quod presbiteri a bonis non
debent esse operibus ociosi.=[415]
Cap^m. xxvi.
Quam prius assumat, matura requiritur etas,
Presbiter officium, plenus vt ipse regat:
Nam flos etatis temptanti congruit hosti;
Carnis et etatis feruet vterque calor:
Iam quos vexat ad huc tenere lasciuia carnis[416]
Improba, pastores non decet esse gregis.
Vt regnare deo possint, sibi rasa corona
Restat, et vt facta nobiliora gerant. 1910
Radices non extirpat rasura pilorum,
Set rasi crescunt multiplicando magis:
Sic licet expellas omnes de pectore motus,
Non tamen hec penitus cuncta fugare potes:
Non ita rasus eris, quin semper habet caro pugnam;[417]
Intus habes cum quo prelia semper agas.
Si quando mundum fugias, a puluere mundi
Perfecte purus non potes esse tamen:
Nam, licet eniteas summis virtutibus, omnes
Ex animo culpas non resecare vales. 1920
Fit tamen ex minimis hec quam retines tibi culpa,
Ne tua mens tumeat, dum bona multa geris:[418]
Ex tali culpa tibi soluitur ergo tributum,
Vt tua mens paueat labe remorsa breui.
Sepe cadit iustus, fragilis quia vir manet omnis,
Ne nimis exaltet gloria vana virum:
Qui leuiter cecidit, vt surgat forcius, ille
Casum felicem suscipit ante deum.
Lux estis mundi, set non penitus sine fumo,
Nam sine peccato viuere nullus habet: 1930
Sepe boni fructus post temptamenta sequntur,
Mercedemque suam prelia carnis habent.
Vtile nempe foret seuas extinguere flammas,
Et sanum vicii pectus habere tuum:
Ne videant oculi per quod temptentur, et aures
Obtura, vicii ne sonus intret ibi.
Tucius est aptumque magis discedere pace,
Ponere quam bellum, vincere quale nequis:
Integer est melior nitidus gladiator in armis,
Quam cum tela suo sanguine tincta madent: 1940
Inque dei missis nitidus sine labe sacerdos
Victor in hoc placidum fert sibi lucra deum.
Quale sit hoc quod amas celeri circumspice mente,
Et tua lesuro subtrahe colla iugo:
Debet homo sapiens nascentes pellere morbos,
Inueniet tardam ne sibi lentus opem:
Opprime, dum noua sunt, subiti mala semina morbi,
Et tuus incipiens ire resistat equs;
Nam mora dat vires, teneras mora conficit vuas,
Et validas segetes quod fuit herba facit. 1950
Si Venus agreditur, tibi sit magis aspera vita,
Flamma recens modica sepe retardat aqua.
Vt corpus redimas, ferrum pacieris et ignem,
Quantum fert anime plus medicina tue.
Ocia si tollas, periere Cupidinis arcus,
Extincteque iacent et sine luce faces.
Vt non delinquas, debes imponere culpe
Frena, vagos gressus, ocia queque fugans.
Presbiteros opere de re sibi que sit honesta,
Aut se de precibus sollicitare decet: 1960
Fecit enim sportas, vt frangeret ocia, Paulus,
Namque vagans aliquo noluit esse modo.
Ex requie cerpit pestis seuissima luxus,[419]
Armiger et fame prodigus hostis honor:
Ex requie sequitur infortunata voluptas,
Pauperies anime, criminis omne nephas.
Luxuriant animi varia sub ymagine moti,
Saltem virtutis dum caro nescit opus:
Vtile nempe dabit deus omne viris operosis,
Debet mercedis pondera ferre labor. 1970
Sollicitudo decet animam discreta, labores
Dum subit, vt vicia carne domare queat:
Sollicitudo iuuat corpus, perquirat vt illa
Victum, quo licitis viuat in orbe modis:
Ocia dumque caro petit et torpet labor exul,
In scelus ex solito more paratur iter.
Demon femineos et molles diligit actus,
Quando viri virtus omne virile negat;
Ocia quippe nocent in talibus absque labore,
Quorum Cristicolis non valet esse salus. 1980
Culpa quidem longe facit esse deo, prope virtus;
Displicet ista deo, placat et illa deum.
=Hic loquitur de presbiterorum dignitate spirituali, et qualiter hii,
si bene agant sua officia, plus aliis proficiunt: sinautem, de suis
malis exemplis delinquendi magis ministrant occasiones.=
Cap^m. xxvii.
Presbiteri fit magnus honor maiorque potestas,
Si procul a viciis sit pius atque bonus.
Hii sacramenti manibus misteria summi
Tractant, quo verbo fit caro iuncta deo:
Hiique scelus lauacro baptismi tollere sancto
Possunt, quo primus corruit ipse parens:
Hii quoque lege noua celebrant sponsalia nostra,
Et si iura petunt cassaque nulla ferunt: 1990
Hii quoque confessis veniam prestant residiuis,[420]
Errantique viro dant remeare deo:
Hii quoque celestem nobis dant sumere panem,
Post et in extremis vnccio spectat eis:
Hii quoque defunctis debent conferre sepultis,
Inque sua missa reddere vota pia.
Hii sunt sal terre, quo nos condimur in orbe,
Absque sapore suo vix salietur homo.
In sale, quod misit in aquas, Heliseus easdem[421]
Sanat, nec remanet gustus amarus eis: 2000
In sale signatur prudens discrecio iusti,
Vt discretus homo condiat inde suos.
Hii sunt lux mundi, quapropter si tenebrosi
Sint, tunc nos ceci stamus in orbe vagi.
Dans offendiculum ceco quo leditur vllum
Vt deus instituit, hic maledictus erit:
Ceco preponit obstacula, qui maledicta
Peccandi prebet per sua facta viam.
Hii sunt scala Iacob tangens celestia summa,[422]
Plena satis gradibus, vnde patebit iter: 2010
Hii sunt mons sanctus, per quos conscendere debet
Virtutum culmen quisque fidelis homo:
Hii sunt consilium nostrum, via recta superne,
Legis doctores, et noua nostra salus:
Hii claudunt celum populo, reserant et apertum,
Possunt hiique boni subdere cuncta sibi.
‘Crescite,’ dicitur hiis, ‘et multum reddite fructum’;
Pertinet ad mores ista loquela bonos:
Dicitur hiis, ‘Terram replete’; nota tibi dictum:
Plenus in ecclesia fructibus esto bonis. 2020
Ante deum vacuus nemo veniet, quia nullus
Expers virtutis debet adesse deo.
Sic placare deo iustosque reosque sacerdos
Debet, et ad celos fundere thura precum:
Oret ne iustus a iusticia cadat, oret
Vt prauus surgat et mala prima fleat.
O quam res vilis, dum presbiter est vt asellus,
Moribus indoctus, et sine lege rudis!
In numero sunt presbiteri celi quasi stelle,
Vix tamen ex mille si duo luce micant: 2030
Scripta legunt nec scripta sciunt, tonsi tamen ipsi
A vulgo distant, quod satis esse putant.
Sunt tales; et sunt alii quos ardua virtus
Ornat in ecclesia, qui bona multa ferunt.
Emittit coruum Noe, non redit ille; columbam
Emittit, reditum missa columba facit:
Sic et in ecclesia sunt corui suntque columbe,
Sunt cum felle mali, sunt sine felle boni.
Cras primam cantant, cum se conuertere tardant,
Set tollit tales sepe suprema dies: 2040
Tales sunt pigri, quos mundi vincula nectunt,
Nec promissa dei regna sitire volunt.
Ordinis ipse sui qui seruat iura sacerdos,
Rebus et exemplis dogmata sancta docens,
Non honor est tantus, quo non sit in ordine dignus,
Laus sibi nec populi sufficit, immo dei:
In clero fateor, quos approbat ardua virtus,
Illorum merito gracia maior erit.
=Postquam dixit de errore illorum qui inter seculares sacerdocii
ministerium sibi assumpserunt, intendit dicere secundum tempus nunc de
errore scolarium, qui ecclesie plantule dicuntur.=
Cap^m. xxviii.
Nomine sub cleri cognouimus esse scolares,
Ecclesie plantas quos vocat ipse deus. 2050
Orti diuini bonus extat planta scolaris,
Ecclesie fructus que facit esse bonos.
Qui studet in morum causis et non viciorum,
Qui sibi nec mundum computat, immo deum,
Clericus ipse dei super hoc reputatur, et eius
Principium fine clauditur inde bono.
Summi doctoris virtutum regula iusta
Discipulos dociles de racione fouet:
Qui studiis herent, cor ad alta leuant et in altis
Figunt, hii vera sunt holocausta deo. 2060
Nunc tamen inter eos puto multos esse vocatos,
Electos paucos condicione probos:
Moribus hii dudum studii virtute vacabant,
Nunc viciis studia dant vigilare sua.
Vix pro materia si nunc studet vnus habenda,
Solum set forme sufficit vmbra sue.
Clericus ire scolas animo paciente solebat,
Gloria nunc mundi statque magistra sibi,
Discurrensque vagus potator et accidiosus,
Deditus et veneri, circuit hic et ibi. 2070
Ex planta sterili non fiet fertilis arbor,
Nec faciet fructus arbor iniqua bonos:
Sepe senecta tenet, tenuit quodcumque iuuentus;
Si malus est iuuenis, vix bonus ipse vetus.
Est bona que radix bonitatis germina profert,
De radice mala germinat omne malum.
Quisque suos igitur pueros castiget, vt illa
Virgula non licite mentis agenda fugat:
Qui virtutis habet iuuenis cum flore magistrum,
Discat et ipse pie que probitatis erunt, 2080
Proficiet talis; set quem doctor viciosus
Instruit, hic raro fructificabit homo.
=Hic querit causam que scolarium animos ad ordinem presbiteratus
suscipiendum inducit: tres enim causas precipue allegat; tractat eciam
de quarta causa, que raro ad presens contingit.=
Cap^m. xxix.
Sunt aliqui, studio modo qui perstant animoso,
Nescio que causa sit tamen inde rea.
Quicquid agant homines, intencio iudicat omnes;
Corde quod interius est capit ipse deus:
Istis prepositis, verum michi pande, scolaris,
Dic que sit studii condita causa tui:
Muniri primo cum te facis ordine sacro,
Cum te principiis presbiterare venis, 2090
O que mente tua fuerit tunc mocio summa,
Hoc vel pro mundi sit vel amore dei?
Aut tu certa tue michi dic primordia cause,
Aut tibi que sapio dicere vera volo.
‘Sunt plures cause, per quas communis in orbe[423]
Est sacer hic ordo carus vt ecce modo:
In prima causa fugio mundana flagella
Legis communis, que dat amara viris:
Vlterius video quod non sudore laboro,
Ocia que quero sic et habere queo: 2100
~Tercia~ causa meum dat vestitum quoque victum;
Sicque meo placito persto quietus ego.
Ex hiis causata mea stat deuocio tota,
Qua poterit cerni rasa corona michi:
Hec est causa scole, ciuilia iura studere
Que facit, et logicam me docet arte suam.
Ipsa scoleque gradus michi dat conscendere summos,
Sic et in ecclesiam scandere quero bonam:
Nam si fama viget, puto quod prebenda vigebit,
Sicque vacare libris est labor ipse leuis. 2110
Sic sacer ordo michi placet, et sic litera cleri
Confert, dum studio pinguia lucra gero.
Nunc causas dixi, constat quibus ordo scolari,
Sic propter mundum me reor esse reum;
Nam michi nil melius, dum sufficit ipsa facultas,
Estimo, quam mundi gaudia ferre michi.’
Est set adhuc causa melior tamen omnibus, illa
Qua scola discipulum gaudet habere bonum.
Hec solet antiquis, non nostris stare diebus,
Que de virtute concipit acta scole. 2120
Nuper erant mundi qui contempsere beati
Pompas, et summum concupiere bonum;
Et quia scire scolas acuit mentes fore sanctas,
Scripture studiis se tribuere piis.
Non hos ambicio, non hos amor vrget habendi,
Set studio mores conuenienter eunt:
Hii contemplantes celum terrena negabant,
Causa voluptatis nulla remouit eos:
Hii neque serviciis optabant regis inesse,
Nec foris in plebe nomen habere Rabi: 2130
Hos neque precellens superabat comptus inanis
Nec vini luxus, nec mulieris amor:
Moribus experti dederant exempla futuris,
Que sibi discipulus debet habere scolis.
Nunc tamen in ~vicium virtus conuertitur, et~ que
Nuper erant mores turpia plura gerunt:
Que modo scripta dei dicunt se discere laudi,
In laudem mundi vertit auarus honor.
O res mira nimis! legit et studet ipse scolaris
Mores, dum vicia sunt magis acta sua: 2140
Sic quia stat cecus morum sine lumine clerus,
Erramus laici nos sine luce vagi.
FOOTNOTES:
[340] _Heading_ Hic incipit exquo L Incipit prologus libri tercii _om._
L
[341] 9 set et S (et _in later hand_)
[342] 13 vulgus] p_o_p_u_lus (_ras._) C
[343] 16 Vt sit D Sit sic L
[344] 46 conciliumq_ue_ H
[345] 58 malo C
[346] 69 pot_er_untq_ue_ C
[347] 90 Quodq_ue_ prius D Quod p_ri_us L
[348] _In place of_ Incipit &c., L _has here the four lines_ ‘Ad mundum
mitto,’ _with picture below: see p._ 19.
[349] 4* exempla D humus] mundus DL
[350] 18* eum] ei D eni_m_ L
[351] 22* ille CD ipse HGEL
[352] 27* pot_er_int D
[353] 1** regentes H₂
[354] 4** mundit T
[355] 24** ipse] ille H₂
[356] 58 periat HCGL
[357] 81 Marcenarius G m_er_cennarius E
[358] 86 Glebas D
[359] 141 ip_s_eq_ue_ D
[360] 176 ouis CEHGDLH₂ onus ST
[361] 193 possint D
[362] _Heading_ Hic loquitur quomodo de legibus positiuis quasi cotidie
noua instituuntur nobis peccata, quibus tamen priusquam fiant prelati
propter lucrum dispensant, et ea fieri libere propter aurum permittunt
LTH₂ (Hic quom_odo_ diligentib_us_ positiuis ... p_ri_us fiant &c. L
liberi LT)
[363] 229 numq_uam_ L vnq_ua_m D
[364] 258 iugum] suum C
[365] 273 Dum S Cum CEHDL
[366] 300 gerarchiam SHT Ierarchiam CL ierarchiam ED
[367] _Heading_ 2 dicit_ur_ tamen nunc D dicit_ur_ t_ame_n L
[368] 351 vinximus SDL vincimus CEHG
[369] 375 ff. _marginal note om._ ELTH₂L₂
[370] 375 _margin_ hic _om._ S
[371] _margin_ in guerris S guerris CHGD
[372] 380 _margin_ spoliantes S _om._ CHGD
[373] 379 neq_ue_ C
[374] 401 reperare S reparare CED
[375] 454 cotinuatq_ue_ H
[376] 462 saruat H
[377] _Heading_ deuincant EL deuincat SCHD
[378] 516 Solennes CEL Solemnes D
[379] 536 Hec DL
[380] 546 sit CE
[381] 561 _No paragraph_ S
[382] Cap. ix _Heading_ 2 nec decet CEDL
[383] 579 sceptrum C
[384] 595 tetram CEH terram SGDL
[385] 617 _No paragr._ CE
[386] 633 sunt vmbra velud (velut) fugitiua CEG sunt fugitiua velut
vmbra L
[387] 641 piper vrtice _om._ D (_blank_)
[388] 685 Ne C
[389] _Heading_ 2 incontrarium S
[390] 840 lucri] dei EHT
[391] 934 ruet CH
[392] 989 sit] sic S
[393] 1124 Et CEGDL Est SHTH₂
[394] 1149 subectos S
[395] 1214 ad hec CEHGDTH₂ ad hoc L et hec S
[396] 1265 fallit S
[397] 1374 timuisse EHL
[398] 1376 vngat vt D vngat et SCEHGL
[399] 1454 plus sibi sensus hebes est SGDL fit sibi sensus hebes CEHTH₂
[400] 1498 Nec CE
[401] 1518 circueu_n_tis C
[402] 1533 Est et S Est sed (set) CEHGL Est _set et_ D
[403] 1541 Durior CEHGDLT Durius S
[404] 1552 modicicum S
[405] _Heading_ 1 Qostq_ua_m S
[406] 2 iam _om._ S
[407] 1617 solennia CEDL
[408] 1642 Hoc S Hec CEHGDL
[409] 1695 si CEHGDLTH₂ sua S
[410] 1747 vouet CEHGT vouit SDLH₂
[411] 1760 n_e_c i_n_ simili conditione grauat (_om._ ll. 1761 f.) C
[412] 1815 Aaron CED
[413] 1863 puluere CEH vulnere SGDL
[414] 1890 Accedat SL Accedit CEHGD
[415] _Heading_ 5 f. a bonis non debent operibus esse CE a bonis
op_er_ib_us_ no_n_ debe_n_t esse L a bonis op_er_ibus non esse D
[416] 1907 ad huc SGT adhuc CEHDL
[417] 1915 pugnam CEHL pu_n_gnam SGT pingua_m_ D
[418] 1922 Nec C timeat EDL
[419] 1963 serpit CE
[420] 1991 residiuis SET recidiuis CHDL
[421] 1999 Helizeus C Helyseus EL
[422] 2009 _No paragr._ S
[423] 2095 _No paragr._ S
=Exquo tractauit de errore cleri, ad quem precipue nostrarum spectat
regimen animarum, iam intendit tractare de errore virorum Religiosorum:
et primo dicet de Monachis, et aliis bonorum temporalium possessionem
optinentibus; ordinis vero illorum sanctitatem commendans, illos
precipue qui contraria faciunt opera redarguit.=
=Incipit liber Quartus.=
Cap^m. i.
Sunt et Claustrales diuerse condicionis,
De quibus vt sapio scribere pauca volo.
Actus vt ipse probat, quosdam possessio signat,
Quosdam pauperies, set similata nimis.
Est bona religio de se, set religionem
Qui fallunt, tales dicimus esse malos:
Qui bene sub claustro viuunt fore credo beatos,
Quos mundanus amor nescit habere reos;
Quique manus aratro mittunt nec respicientes
Retro, viros sanctos ordo notabit eos. 10
Est deus in monachis, sunt et commercia celi
Hiis, sine qui mundo claustra subire volunt.
Cum quis amare duo pariter contraria sumit,
Alterius vires subtrahit alter amor:[424]
Sic qui presumunt facies laruare sub vmbra
Ordinis, et mundi crimina subtus agunt,
Talibus ipse mea fero scripta, nec alter ab ipsis
Leditur, immo suum quisque reportet onus.
Est nichil ex sensu proprio quod scribo, set ora
Que michi vox populi contulit, illa loquar. 20
Sunt etenim monachi, possessio quos titulauit,
Quidam, quos nullis moribus ordo ligat;
Nam possessores aliqui sic ocia querunt
Ordinis, vt nequeunt vlla nociua pati:
Ferre famem fugiunt, vinoque sitim supervndant,
Pellicibus calidis frigus et omne fugant:
Sic gravitas ventris noctis non surgit in horis,
Nec vox rauca cipho concinit alta choro.
Deuoret in mensa talis nisi fercula plura,
Euacuet plures potibus atque ciphos, 30
Tunc infirmari se credit, et hinc recreari
Postulat, et ludis sic vacat ipse suis.
Est nam vix fessus a potibus ille professus,
Sic cupit in vino dompnus adesse deo:
Vinum dumque geres, ad se trahit hoc mulieres,
Dant simul ista duo claustra relicta modo.
Si celum poterit calefacta veste lucrari,
Et gula cum superis possit habere locum,
Tunc puto quod monachus causa signatus vtraque
Conciuis Petri stabit in arce poli. 40
=Hic loquitur de monachis illis, qui contra primi ordinis statuta
abstinencie virtutem linquentes, delicacias sibi corporales
multipliciter assumunt.=
Cap^m. ii.
Mortua cum viuis nulla racione coherent,
Orbem nec renuens orbis ad acta redit:
Nil tonsura iuuat, nichil aut vilissima vestis,
Si lupus est, quamuis esse videtur ouis.
Nam falli possunt homines, set fallere Cristum,
Qui nullum fallit, fallere nemo potest:
Ille quidem fucum similate religionis
Dampnat, et ad nichilum computat illud opus.
Veste tamen sola monachus iam cedit ab orbe,
Et putat in forma sufficit ordo sibi; 50
Materiamque sui curat nichil ordinis vltra,
Vestis erit Monachus, mens et in orbe vagat.[425]
Talis enim monachus, quia scit quod in ordine ventris
Ex tenui victu corpora raro vigent,
Postulat oris opem, quas et magis appetit escas
Sumit, vt ex ore gaudia venter agat.
Immemor ipse patris, humeris qui ferre solebat,
Vina suo monachus optima ventre gerit;
Haurit et in stomachum talis velut amphora Bachum,
Est dare nec vacuum ventre tumente locum. 60
Pluribus ex causis monachus vitare Lieum
Debet, ex est vna, ne caro stupra petat;
Nec bona confratrum vastet, nec in ebrietate
Desideat, nec eo febricitetur homo.
Attamen ipse nichil curat, quin replet inane
Corpus, et est anime cotidiana fames.
Nunc niueus panis monachis subtileque vinum
Et carnes festa cotidiana parant;
Nunc cocus ecce coquit, assat, gelat atque resoluit,
Et terit et stringit, colat et acta probat. 70
Si poterit monachus ventrem crassare gulosus,
Sit labor vt sacris nil putat esse libris:[426]
Despiciens manna plebs ista nigras petit ollas,
Preponit vicia moribus atque sua.
Ne macerare fames crassos queat, en gula plene
Languentes stomachos ventris amica replet:
Quid sit honorari nescit, set ventre beari,
Hoc, dicit monachus, est via, vita, salus.
Accelerans currit cito, cum pulsatur ad ollam,[427]
Preterit a mensa mica nec vna sibi; 80
Set pede spondaico lentus de nocte resurgens,
Cum venit ad laudes, vltimus esse petit.
Ordinis in primo monachis domus antra fuere,
Aulaque nunc grandis marmoris ornat eos:
Nulla coquina sibi fuerat fumosa, nec igne
Deliciosa cocus cocta vel assa tulit;
Non cibus excoctus neque fercula carne repensa
In primo monachis tempore crassa dabant;
Corporis ingluuies animas non pressit eorum,
Nec calefacta caro callida stupra petit: 90
Vesteque pellicea sua corpora nuda tegebant,
Qui modo de lana mollius ipsa tegunt:
Herba dabat victum, fons potum, turpeque vestem
Cilicium, nec eo tempore murmur erat.
Non erat invidia claustralis tunc neque pompa;
Qui fuerat maior, seruit vt ipse minor:
Non erat argenti pondus neque circulus auri,
Que poterant sanctum tunc violare statum:
Non tetigit loculos nummus neque vina palatum,
Nec furit in lumbis carnea flamma suis: 100
Hiis fuerat sancta mens propositum bene seruans,
Perdurans in idem quod bene cepit opus.
Hii fuerant homines iusti, mundum fugientes,[428]
Quos peccatorum nullus onustat amor:
Mundus non retrahit illos a tramite recto,
Illos nec reuocat ad mala feda caro:
Omnia postponunt que mundus vana ministrat,
Et celi solum concupiere deum.
Tunc pudor in stipula nec erat cepisse quietem,
Nec fenum capiti supposuisse suo: 110
Silua domus fuerat, cibus herba, cubicula frondes,
Que tellus nulla sollicitate dabat.
In magno Corulus precio tunc floruit illis,
Duraque magnificas quercus habebat opes:
Arbuteos fetus montanaque fragra legebant,
Que condita sale nec speciebus erant:
Si que deciderant patule Iouis arbore glandes,
Sumebant, et in hiis convaluere cibis.
Contenti modicis natura sponte creatis,
Soluebant summo vota pudica deo. 120
Hii tunc iusticie perfecti grana serentes,
Fructus centenos nunc sine fine metunt:
Set vetus illa salus animarum, religionis
Que fuit, infirma carne subacta perit.
=Hic loquitur qualiter modus et regula, qui a fundatoribus ordinis
primitus fuerant constituti, iam nouiter a viciorum consuetudine in
quampluribus subuertuntur.=
Cap^m. iii.
In noua multociens animus mutatur, et inde
Testis erit monachi regula mota michi.
Fit modo curtata monachorum regula prima,
Est nam re dempta, sic manet ipsa gula;
Et modus a modio largissima vina bibendo
Dicitur in monacho, qui vorat absque modo. 130
Vt non lingua loquax dentes turbare gulosos
Possit, dum prandet, ordo silere iubet:
Ne pes deficiat ventris sub pondere pressus,
Quando bibit monachus persedet ipse prius:
Expedit et monacho rasum caput esse rotundo,
Ne coma perpediat pendula quando bibit:
Mutua pacta ferunt monachi, quod, si quis eorum
Prebibat, in fundo nil remanere sinet;
Vasaque sic plena vacuant que replent vacuata,
Vt faciant Bachi propria festa loci: 140
Sic confert monacho vestis largissima pleno,
Ne pateat grossi ventris ymago sui.
In monacho tali semper furit ardor edendi,
Dant cibus et sompnus que cupit ipse magis:
Quod pontus, quod terra parit, quod et educat aer,
Ex auidis auidus faucibus ipse vorat;
Vtque fretum recipit de tota flumina terra,
Et tamen aucta maris crapula semper hiat,
Gurges et vt putei peregrinos suscipit ampnes,
Quantumcunque fluunt, nec saciatur aquis, 150
Vt cremat inmensas pluresque faces calor ignis,
Et sibi, quo magis est copia, plura petit,
Sic epulas varias consumit ab ore prophano
Ingluuies monachi ventris amore sui;
Sic gerit ille grauem maturo pondere ventrem
Et levis a Cristo mens vacuata redit.
Potibus assumptus sacer hic non mobilis extat,
Firmiter et sumpto stat grauis ipse loco;
Sic sumpto vino monachorum torpet inane
Pectus, et a claustri pondere cedit onus; 160
Sic magis impleta pia gaudent viscera fuso,
Que fouet afflata spiritus ille, mero;
Sic sancti faciunt longos medicamina sompnos,
Sumptaque vina nimis causa soporis erunt.
Rite bibens vinum sit castus nescio, namque
Sic Venus in vinis ignis vt igne furit:
Tucius ergo Venus latitans sub veste dolenti
Gaudet, subque sacra fronte nephanda gerit.
Murmurat inuidia monachi sub pectoris antro,
Os silet exterius, mens tamen intus agit; 170
Et quia lingua tacet, manus est que conscia signis
Fabulat in digitis turpia plura satis;
Sicque loquax digitus redimendo silencia verbi
Dictat, et in rixis plus meretrice furit:
Ora tument ira, nigrescunt sanguine vene,
Lumina commota lenius igne micant.
Sepe suum feruens oculis dabit ira colorem,[429]
In quibus alterius mortis ymago patet:
Non minus in vultu dampnosa superbia tali est,
Quam si de iugulo sterneret ense suo. 180
Sic quamuis ordo prohibet bellare loquendo,
Pugnat, et in mente discutit ense caput:
Dum nequit ipse loqui, sub cordis ymagine raucum
Fratris in invidiam clanculo murmur agit:
Iram vultus habet, pro verbis murmura reddit,
Et necat in mente, quem manus ipsa nequit.
Tunc pallor vultus, suspiria pectoris, horror
Aspectus mote nuncia mentis erunt;
Quicquid homo patitur nam sensus exteriores
Interior motus ad sua signa mouet. 190
Allegat vultus affectum mentis, et iram
Pectoris accensi de grauitate notat:
Nullus enim mentis, vt se sine voce loquatur,
Index quam vultus cercior esse potest.
Quicquid habet vestis nigredo simplicitatis,
Quid latet interius experimenta docent.
Prepositum monacho monachus postponit amore,
Inuidet hos omnes, quos nequit ipse sequi.
Conuolat ad pulsum campane quisquis in vnum,
Ordinis et forma cetera vana ferunt: 200
Vox canit ipsa choro foris, et mens murmurat intus,
Os petit in celo, mens set in orbe, locum.
Sic non materiam seruant set in ordine formam;
Fructibus ablatis corpus inane fouent:
Sic patet exterius labor et sapiencia, set quid
Stulcior interius occupat actus eos.
=Hic loquitur de monachis illis qui contra primitiua sui ordinis
statuta mundi diuicias ad vsus malos, suo nesciente preposito,
apropriare sibi clanculo presumunt.=
Cap^m. iiii.
Nulla vouere iuuat cicius quam frangere votum,
Est nam mendaci laus tribuenda nichil.
Fraternalis amor deberet mutuus esse,
Inter eos saltem quos pius ordo ligat. 210
Non tamen hoc patitur hodierna dies, set in iram
Prouocat invidia quicquid amoris erat:
Vt bos campestris, rursum qui ruminat herbas,
Detrahit in claustro sic semidemon homo.
Si non corrodi vis, tu corrodia nulla
Inter eos sumas, est vbi raro fides:[430]
Dum tua deposcunt, tunc te reuerenter adorant,
Set vix si memores amplius esse volunt.
Nil sibi quod dederat confert fundacio prima,
Sit nisi quod querant cotidiana lucra. 220
Denegat hoc racio, quod homo possessor vterque
Et mendicus erit, ordo nec illud habet:
Nunc tamen hos vanos monachos nichil implet in orbe,
Est quibus vna fames semper et vna sitis.
Hoc de Ieronimo legitur simul et Benedicto,
Vt magis exemplis consequeremur eos;
Ornamenta sui vendunt altaris, et illa
Pauperis in licitos distribuere cibos.
Ecclesie bona sunt inopum, que religiosis
Quando necesse vident non retinere licet. 230
Si monacho dare vis, sibi possidet omne quod offers,
Nil set habet proprium, si quid ab inde petas.
Hii sunt vnanimes, hoc est animo quod eodem
Quisque suum proprium solus habere cupit.
Sic quecumque prius vetus ordo statuta colebat,
Mutatis vicibus inficit ordo nouus.
Ingenuos raro monachari cernimus, immo
Ordine rurales, sunt magis ergo rudes;
Quos tamen in sanctos sanctus creat ordo professos,
Hii satis ingenui sunt et honore probi: 240
Quid dicam set eis, dignos quos ordo nec ortus
Approbat? immo suum tempus inane ferunt.
Si Benedictus eos fundauit qui maledicti
Sunt, deus a parte non benedicit eis:
Quos magis attraxit mundus quam Cristus, aratro
Et retro respiciunt, hos mea scripta notant.
Cur, queso, cupiat quicquam qui cuncta reliquit?
Ad mala cur redeat qui bona facta vouet?
Terram contempnas qui celum queris habere;
Si mansura petas, hec fugitiua fuge. 250
Numquid habent monachi proprium de iure creati?
Nescio de iure, tu tamen acta vide.
Si feretri custos, poterit dum carpere nummos,
Quid proprium querit, hic michi testis erit;
Seu quod in officiis monachus quandoque regendis
Propria conseruat, exitus acta probat.
Nam cum congeries sibi sit, tunc inde nepotes
Ditat, et en claustra sic parat ipse noua;
Sepeque quos natos gignit vocat ipse nepotes,
Ad laudem Veneris, quam colit ipse pius: 260
Eius enim nati sunt ficto nomine versi,
Versaque sic pietas ceca iuuabit eos.
Sic viget in claustris elemosina ficta sinistris,
Dum monachus genitis dat sua dona suis:
Sic floret pietas mundo secreta monilis,
Talia dumque dari fingit amore dei.
Cum furtum licitum fuerit, tunc dicere possum
Quod licet ex dono talia ferre deo;
Set qui sic proprios communia vertit in vsus,
Ex merito doni fert maledicta dei: 270
Talibus in donis curuantur claustra ruinis,
Horrea cum granis compaciuntur eis.
Centum claustrales macerantur, vt hii duo vel tres,[431]
Officiis dum stant, pinguia labra gerant.
‘Omnia sunt nostra,’ dicunt, lanx non tamen equa
Pendet, dum solus plus capit ipse tribus.
=Hic loquitur qualiter monachi extra claustrum vagare non debent.=
Cap^m. v.
Est mare viuentis habitacio congrua piscis,
Et claustrum monachi stat domus apta sibi:
Vt mare defunctos retinere negat sibi pisces,
Sic claustrum monachos euomit inde malos. 280
Non foris a claustris monachus, nec aqua fore piscis
Debet, tu nisi sis, ordo, reuersus eis.
Si fuerit piscis, qui postpositis maris undis
Pascua de terra querat habere sua,
Est nimis improprium piscis sibi ponere nomen,
Debeo set monstri ponere nomen ei.
Sic ego claustrali dicam, qui gaudia mundi
Appetit et claustrum deserit inde suum,
Non erit hic monachus set apostata iure vocandus,
Aut monstrum templi quod notat ira dei. 290
Qui tamen in claustro resident, et mente vagantes
Respiciunt mundum cordis amore nouo,
In visu domini tales trangressio fedat,
Quo perdunt claustri premia digna sui.
Non est hic sapiens sibi qui bona pluribus annis[432]
Colligit, et solo dissipat illa die;
Qui villas monachus et campos circuit, illud
Sepius incurrit quo reus ipse cadit:
Sunt tamen ad presens pauci, qui mente vel actu
Non vaga deliciis corda dedere suis. 300
Dixerat hec Salomon, hominis quod inanis amictus,
Qui patet exterius, interiora docet:
Set licet ex humili monachus se veste figuret,
Nunc tamen a latere plura superba vides.
=Hic loquitur de monachis illis qui non pro diuino seruicio, set magis
pro huius mundi honore et voluptate, habitum sibi religionis[433]
assumunt.=
Cap^m. vi.
Est nigra coruus auis predoque cadaueris, ipsum
Quem male denigrat ceca libido notans:
Sub volucrum specie descripsit legifer ipsos,
Quos mundanus amor religione tegit:
Hunc eciam tangit quem religionis amictus
Laruat, vt hinc cicius possit honore frui. 310
Turpe pecus monstrum, turpis sine gramine campus,
Et sine fronde frutex, et sine crine caput:
Turpior est monachus, habitum qui religionis
Sumpserit, et monachi condicione caret.
Vt fugiant mundum iubet ordo vetus monachorum,[434]
Dicunt quod fugiunt, set fugiendo petunt.
Pauper, quem sulco genuit natiua propago,
Vult, licet indignus, esse Priore prior:
Quem sibi non dederat mundus, scrutatur honorem
In claustro, veteris immemor ipse status: 320
Sic quos iure patris humiles natura creauit,
Cum monachi fiant, ordo superbit eos:
Non dompni set et hii domini nomen sibi querunt,
Et faciunt largam que fuit arta viam.
Nil graue tangit eos, reputant neque posse grauare,
Vix nichil ergo sciunt vnde rogare deum.
=Hic loquitur qualiter paciencia vna cum ceteris virtutibus a quibusdam
claustris, viciis superuenientibus, se transtulerunt.=
Cap^m. vii.
Mortuus est dompnus Paciens, viuitque professus
Murmur, et in claustris pax nequit esse suis:
Mortuus est eciam modo dompnus Castus, et ipsi
Successit Luxus, vastat et ipse domos: 330
Dompnus et Inconstans Constanti claustra negauit,
Que residens Odium vendicat esse sua:
Dompnus et Ypocrisis dompnum copulat sibi Fictum,
Dum sibi Fraus magnum spirat habere statum.
Quos monachi veteres plantabant nuper amoris,
Invidie fructus iam nouus ordo parit.[435]
Nil modo Bernardi sancti vel regula Mauri
Confert commonachis, displicet immo, nouis:
Obstat avarus eis que superbus et invidus alter,
Ordinis exemplum qui modo ferre negant. 340
Expulit a claustris maledictus sic Benedictum,
Sic gula temperiem, sic dolus atque fidem:
Mollis adest Abbas, quem mollia claustra sequntur,
Vanaque sic vanos ordinis vmbra tegit.
Spiritus hoc quod erat, nunc extat corpus inane,
Et dompnus Mundus omne gubernat opus.
=Hic loquitur quod sicut monachi ita et errantes Canonici a suis sunt
excessibus culpandi.=
Cap^m. viii.
In re consimili, sicut decreta fatentur,
Iudicium simile de racione dabis:
Quotquot in ecclesia signantur religiosi,
Si possessores sint, reputantur idem. 350
Vt monachos, sic canonicos quos deuiat error,
In casu simili culpa coequat eos.
Nunc tamen, vt fertur, plures sua iura recidunt,
Apocapata nouo que quasi iure silent:
Hunc rigidum textum, quem scripserat auctor eorum,
Mollificant glosis de nouitate suis.
Sufficit, vt credunt, signari nomine sancti
Ordinis, et facere quod petit ordo parum.
Nomen Canonici si sit de canone sumptum,
Illud in effectu res tibi raro probat: 360
Hii tamen ad visum gestant in plebe figuram
Sanctorum, set in hoc regula sepe cadit.
Subtus habent vestes albas, set desuper ipsas
Nigra superficies candida queque tegit;
Actus et econtra se demonstrabit eorum,
Fingunt alba foris, nigra set intus agunt.
Non sic dico tamen hiis, ~qui sua claustra frequentant~
Ad con~templ~andum simplicitate sua:
Talibus immo loquor, quibus est scrutatus ab infra
Mundus, et exterius celica signa gerunt. 370
=Hic loquitur qualiter religiosi male viuentes omnibus aliis
quibuscumque hominibus infelicissimi existunt=.
Cap^m. ix.
Estimo claustrales magis infelicibus horis
Pre reliquis nasci, sint nisi forte boni:
Mundo nam monachus moritur viuendo professus,
Quod nequit in mundo, sic velut alter homo,
Exterius gaudere bonis, et si quid ab intus
Sit cupidus mundi, perdit amena poli.
Sic nec presentem vitam nec habere futuram
Constat eum, quo bis est miser ipse magis:
Mortuus hac vita moritur, dum morte secunda
Comp~utet~ amissum tempus vtrumque suum. 380
Et quia sic mundo moritur, quod viuus ab illo
Ordinis ex iure gaudia nulla capit,
Et nisi corde deum solum meditetur et inde
Gaudeat, in celo pars sibi nulla manet,
Nescio quis stultus claustrali stulcior extat,
Qui se sic proprio priuat vtroque bono.
Tempus inane perit cui presens vita negauit
Gaudia, nec celum vita secunda tenet.
=Hic loquitur qualiter vnusquisque qui religionis ingredi voluerit
professionem, cuncta mundi vicia penitus abnegare et anime virtutes
adquirere et obseruare tenetur.=
Cap^m. x.
O comites claustri sub religione professi,
Concludam breuibus, quid sit et ad quid onus. 390
Informatus ego sanctorum scripta reuolui,
Que magis in vestram sunt memoranda scolam:
Sancta valent verba plus, cum plus sint patefacta;
Vos igitur, monachi, cernite quid sit ibi.
Vouistis, fratres, vouistis; vota tenete,
Et quod spondistis perficiatis opus:
Vouistis domino vestros conuertere mores,
Vos deus elegit, stetis amore dei.
Propositum vite monachi seruare rigorem
Debent, nec pigeat tempore dura pati: 400
Exiguus labor est, set merces magna laboris;
Preterit ille cito, premia fine carent.
Hinc monachi sancti mentis conamine toto
Preteritas culpas flendo, ghemendo, lauent.[436]
Nunc humilis viuat, qui vixerat ante superbus,
Sit castus quisquis luxuriosus erat:
Querebat census quidam, temptabat honores;
Ammodo vilescat omnis inanis honor:
Gaudebat dapibus, gaudebat diuite mensa,
Nunc tenuem victum sobria cena dabit; 410
Et mundi, quamuis delectent, vana cauebit,
Nam certe gustu dulcia sepe nocent.
Ille suis letus excessibus esse solebat,
Nunc lacrimis culpas diluat ipse suas:
Verbosus taceat, mitescat feruidus ira,
Invidus invidie dira venena vomat;
Cuique prius gladius placuit, placuere rapine,
Nunc pius et mitis pacis amator erit.
Quisquis adulantum ventosa laude tumebat,
Nunc hominum laudes estimet esse nichil; 420
Et qui rite solet aliis feritate nocere,
Nunc eciam lesus discat amara pati:
Ad lites facilis fuit hic, ad iurgia preceps,
Fortiter alterius nunc maledicta ferat.
Que modo pugnarunt, iungunt sua rostra columbe,
Nec prior vlterius ira manebit eis.
Sic sine peccato foret ira breuis, quod in vllo
Nesciat interius mentis agenda furor.
Hec veniam, fratres, conuersio vera meretur,
Hec valet offensum pacificare deum. 430
=Hic loquitur qualiter religiosi consorcia mulierum specialiter euitare
debent.=
Cap^m. xi.
Femineum fuge colloquium, vir sancte, caueto
Ne te confidas igne furente nimis;
Nam que femineo mens capta ligatur amore
Numquam virtutum culmen habere potest.
Harum colloquium tibi quid fert vtilitatis?
Venisti monachus, turpis adulter abis.
Ergo virosum nisi declinaueris anguem,
Cum minus esse putas, inficieris ea.
Accendit mulier quecumque libidinis ignem,
Si quis eam tangat, vritur inde statim: 440
Si veterum libros et patrum scripta revoluas,
Condoleas sanctos sic cecidisse viros.
Numquid non hominem mulier de sede beata
Expulit, et nostre mortis origo fuit?
Qui bonus est igitur pastor vigilet, que rapaces
Eminus a claustris pellat vbique lupas.
Depositum serua: tibi que responsa valebunt,
Pastor, qui rapide linquis ouile lupe?
Sepe sequens agnum lupa stat de voce retenta,
Sepeque pastoris ore tacente perit. 450
Ad plures lupa tendit oues, pastoreque lento
Sepius insidiis fedat ouile suis:
Vtque rapax stimulante fame cupidusque cruoris
Incustoditum captat ouile lupus,
Sic vetus hic serpens, paradisum qui violauit,
Claustra magis sancta deuiolare cupit.
Pellat et ergo lupas pastor, ne grex in earum
Decidat ingluuiem, quam saturare nequit:
Pastores, vigilate lupas, seruetur ouile,
Ne maculare gregis sanguine claustra queant. 460
Occidunt animas, pluresque ad tartara mittunt;
Est monachis pestis nulla timenda magis.
Femina, mors anime, monachis accedere numquam
Debeat, a sacro sit procul ipsa choro;
Sit procul a cetu sanctorum femina, namque,
Et si non poterit vincere, bella mouet.
O caueant igitur monachi, ne carnea culpa
Virtutes anime de leuitate terat.
Cum quid turpe facit, qui me spectante ruberet,
Cur, spectante deo, non magis inde rubet? 470
Si patrie Iudex sciret sua facta, timeret;
Scit dominus rerum, cur nichil ergo timet?
Funestum monacho cum sic male suggerit hostis,
Et conatur eum fallere mille modis,
Esse deum credat presentem semper vbique,
Nec se, si peccet, posse latere putet.
Cuncta scit atque videt, nec quicquam preterit illum,
Omnia sunt oculis semper aperta suis:
Si tacet et differt et non dum crimina punit,
Puniet, et meritis arbiter equs erit. 480
Non igitur monachos breuis hec et vana voluptas
Occupet, immo dei debita iura colant:
Ad quod venerunt faciant, sua votaque soluant,
Nec queat in claustris hostis habere locum:
Distinctis vicibusque legant, operentur et orent,
A studiis sacris tempora nulla vacent:
Vtilibus semper studeant et rebus honestis,
Res est segnicies perniciosa nimis;
Luxurie fomes, res incentiua malorum,[437]
Spiritibus nequam preparat ipsa locum. 490
=Hic tractat quasi[438] sub compendio super hiis que in religionis
professione secundum fundatorum sancciones districcius obseruanda
finaliter existunt.=
Cap^m. xii.
Hoc qui dogma vetus sanctorum claudit in antro
Cordis, et intendit ordinis acta prius,
Scit bene quod mundus est in claustro fugiendus,
Quo tamen ad presens vendicat ipse locum.
O bone claustralis, mundum qui linquis, eidem
Non redeas iterum, que docet immo fuge:
Quo caro nutritur, ne queras molle cubile,
Sit claustrum cultus, et liber ille iocus.
Cor doleat, sit larga manus, ieiunia crebra,
Non incastus amor sit neque vanus honor: 500
Sit tibi potus aqua, cibus aridus, aspera vestis,
Dorso virga, breuis sompnus, acuta quies:
Flecte genu, tunde pectus, nudus caput ora,
Quere deum, mundum sperne, relinque malum:
Hereat os terre, mens celo, lingua loquatur
De plano corde, planaque verba sonet.
Litus arat sterile deuoto qui sine corde
Verba serit precibus, sunt sine namque lucris:
Non vox set votum, non musica cordula set cor,
Non clamans set amans, cantat in aure dei. 510
Mens humilis, simplex oculus, caro munda, pium cor,
Recta fides, firma spes tibi prestet iter:
Si gustare velis modulamina dulcia celi,
Est tibi mundana mirra bibenda prius:
Ex humilique tuo te subdas corde Priori,
Ordine pacificus murmuris absque nota.
Summa quidem virtus monachi parere Priori,
Ferre iugum norme seque negare sibi:
Non vilis vestis, non te locus vltimus angat,
Sepe tui stultos ordinis ista mouent. 520
Qui sibi vilescit et se putat esse minorem,
Et timet et mundi labilis alta fugit,
Hic est et sapiens et celo proximus iste,
Non sine re monachi nomen inane gerit.
Sit tibi lex domini requies, caro victima, mundus
Exilium, celum patria, vita deus:
Iussa molesta data fer, fac et suscipe grata,
Sic eris in domino religiosus homo:
Que tibi prepositus quamuis vilissima suadet,
Dum tamen hec licita sint, pacienter age; 530
Nec tibi turpe putes, et si ~sit~ turpe placebit,
Cum tuus in Cristo spiritus albus erit.
Vt subeunt iuuenes veteris mandata Prioris,
Et nichil econtra pondere iuris agunt,
Sic Prior in licitis iuuenes tractare modeste
Debet, et ex humili vincere corde malum.
Aspicis vt pressos ledunt iuga prima iuuencos,
Et noua velocem cingula ledit equm;
Sic importunus iuuenum rector grauat, et dat
Causam, quo solita murmura pectus agit. 540
Hec tibi scripta tene mentis per claustra, que caste
Mortuus a mundo viue, professe, deo:
Paruo perpetuam mercare labore quietem,
Et reuoca fletu gaudia longa breui:
Nam si nulla tibi fuerit nunc sarcina carnis,
Tunc sine fine quies paxque perhennis erit.
=Hic loquitur vlterius de mulieribus, que in habitu moniali sub sacre
religionis velo professionem suscipientes ordinis sui continenciam non
obseruant.=
Cap^m. xiii.
Errantis Monachi culpas scribendo reliqui,
Et tibi velatam religione canam.
Conuenit ordo viris, dum conuersantur honeste,
Quo procul a mundo celica regna petant; 550
Conueniens eciam castis mulieribus extat
Soluere sub velo vota pudica deo:
Sic ligat ordo sacer monachos, ligat et moniales,
Vnde deo meritis fulget vterque suis.
Si tamen in claustris fragiles errent mulieres,
Non condigna viris culpa repugnat eis;
Nam pes femineus nequit vt pes stare virilis,
Gressus nec firmos consolidare suos;
Nec scola nec sensus, constancia, nullaque virtus,
Sicut habent homines, in muliere vigent: 560
Set tam materia fragili quam condicione
Femineos mores sepe mouere vides.
Quas magis ordo putat sapientes, sepius ipsas
Cernimus ex fatuis actibus esse graues;
Et que scripta sciunt, magis omnibus hee laicali
Ex indiscreto crimine sepe cadunt.
Simpliciter textum dum sepe legunt, neque glosam
Concernunt, vt agant scripta licere putant:
Leccio scripture docet illas cuncta probare,
Sic, quia cuncta legunt, cuncta probare volunt. 570
Crescere nature sunt iura que multiplicare,
Que deus in primo scripsit ab ore suo;
Hecque dei scripta seruare volunt, quoque iura
Nature solita reddere mente pia.
Nititur in vetitum mulier, set quod licet ipsa
Hoc sine mentali murmure raro facit;
Set magis hiis scriptis perfecte sunt moniales,
Et pacienter agunt que sibi scripta iubent.
Scribitur, hec grana que non capiet bona terra,
Nil sibi fructificant, set peritura iacent: 580
Que tamen et qualis sit terra patet monialis,
Est ibi nam decies multiplicata Ceres:
Et quia sic teneres subeunt pondus mulieres,
Ocia quandoque de racione petunt.
Accidit in Veneris quod sumunt ergo diebus
Carnes pro stomachi debilitate sui:
[Sidenote: Nota quod Genius secundum poetas Sacerdos Dee
Veneris nuncupatus est.[439]]
Nam Venus ingenuis Genio committit alumpnis
Fercula quod nimphis preparet ipse sui.
Set gula sepe grauat nimiumque repleta tumescit,
Dum dolet oppressa de grauitate cibi. 590
Est nimis offa grauis, ventrem que tincta veneno
Toxicat, et ~dubium mortis~ inesse dabit:
Esca set occulto que sumitur, est vbi nulla[440]
Lux, nocet et morbos sepe dat esse graues.
=Hic loquitur qualiter ordinarii ex sua visitacione, qua mulieres
religione velatas se dicunt corrigere, ipsas multociens efficiunt
deteriores.=
Cap^m. xiiii.
Quas Venus et Genius cellas modo rite gubernant,
Carnis non claustri iura tenere docent:
Conuentus custos Genius confessor et extat,
Et quandoque locum presulis ipse tenet:
Sub specie iuris in claustro visitat ipsas,
Quas veniens thalamis, iure negante, regit. 600
Sit licet in capa furrata, dura docet ipse,
Nuda tamen valde iura ministrat eis:
Iudicio Genii pro culpis sunt lapidate,
Set neque mortalis aggrauat ictus eas.
O virtus cleri cum sit custos animarum,
Quanta sacerdotis gesta beata patent!
Alter vt ipse deus, quas percutit, ipse medetur,
Ne foris a cella sermo volare queat.
Si pater est sanctus, sic mater sancta, set infans
Sanccior, ex claustro fit quia natus homo. 610
Hoc genus incesti dampnabile grande putarem,
Sit nisi quod mulier de leuitate cadit.
Non temptabis eas igitur, scis namque quod vnam
Rem poterit fragilem frangere causa leuis;
Femina nam iuuenis nisi preseruata frequenter
Extat eo fragilis quod genus esse docet:
Dum nouus in viridi iuuenescit cortice ramus,
Concuciens tenerum quelibet aura ruet.
In quibus est claustris sapiens discrecio custos,
Clauditur ex altis sepibus ista seges. 620
Facta fuit fragilis de limo carnis origo,
Sedibus e superis spiritus ille venit:
Spiritus est promptus, infirma caro; magis ergo
Noli cum sola solus habere locum:
Non debet sola cum solo virgo manere,
Famaque, non tacto corpore, crimen habet.
Sicut et est claustris, ita sit custodia campis,
Ludus erit licitus et labor aptus eis:
Hiis sine labe iocis liceat monialibus vti,
Que pudor et leges et sua iura sinunt. 630
Velatas ideo fragilis ne subruat error,
Sub moderante manu frena pudica iuuant.
Quid michi, si fallat vxor de fraude maritum,
Qui nichil vxoris scit neque facta videt?
Set de fraude sua miror que decipit ipsum,[441]
Cuius in aspectu secula cuncta patent.
Si sacra sint hominum, quid plus sponsalia Cristi
Debent more sacro casta manere deo.
Vestibus in nigris prius est induta puella,
Crinibus abscisis, cum monialis erit; 640
Deformat corpus foris, vt sit spiritus intus
Pulcher, et albescat plenus amore dei.
Dum foris est nigra, fieret si nigrior intra,
Non vt amica dei, feda reiecta foret;
Set dum casta manet, omnis nigredo perextra[442]
Mentem candoris signat habere magis.
=Hic loquitur de castitatis commendacione, que maxime in religione
mulieribus conuenit professis.=
Cap^m. xv.
O quam virginitas prior omni laude refulget,
Agnum que sequitur cuncta per arua poli;
Splendet et in terris deitati nupta, relinquens
Corporis humani que genus acta docet. 650
Fetet vt incasta, fragrat sine labe pudica,
Ista deum retinet, illa cadauer habet.
Centeno trina fructu cumulata perornant
Virginis ante deum florida serta caput:
Angelicas turmas transcendit virginis ordo,
Quam magis in celo trina corona colit.
Iura sequens aquile mens virginis alta cupiscens
Celsius ante deum, teste Iohanne, volat.
Vt rosa de spinis oriens supereminet illas,
Sic superat reliquos virginis ille status; 660
Vt margarita placet alba magis preciosa,
Sic placet in claustro virgo professa deo.[443]
Talis enim claustris monialis dignior extat
Sanccior et meritis, dum sua vota tenet.
Set quecumque tamen sub velo claustra requirit,
Regula quam seruat sanctificabit eam:
Si fuerit mulier bona, reddit eam meliorem,
Moribus et mores addit vbique magis;
Si polluta prius sit quam velata, que caste
Ammodo viuat, erit preuia culpa nichil. 670
Non licet ergo viris monachas violare sacratas,
Velum namque sacrum signa pudica gerit.
Alterius sponsam presumens deuiolare,
Quam graue iudiciis perpetrat ipse scelus!
Crede tamen grauius peccat, qui claustra resoluens
Presumit sponsam deuiolare dei.
=Postquam tractauit de illis qui in religione possessoria sui ordinis
professionem offendunt, dicendum est iam de hiis qui errant in ordine
fratrum mendicancium; et primo dicet de illis qui sub ficte paupertatis
vmbra terrena lucra conspirantes, quasi tocius mundi dominium
subiugarunt.=
Cap^m. xvi.
Dum fuit in terris, non omnes quos sibi legit
Cristus, erant fidi, lege nouante dei:
Non tamen est equm, quod crimen preuaricantis
Ledat eos rectam qui coluere fidem. 680
Sic sterilis locus est nullus, quod non sit in illo
Mixta reprobatis vtilis herba malis;
Nec fecundus ita locus est, quo non reprobata
Mixta sit vtilibus herba nociua bonis:
Tam neque iustorum stat concio lata virorum,
Est quibus iniusti mixtio nulla viri.
Sic excusandos, quos sanctos approbat ordo,
Fratres consimili iure fatetur opus:
Non volo pro paucis diffundere crimen in omnes,
Spectetur meritis quilibet immo suis; 690
Quos tamen error agit, veniens ego nuncius illis,
Que michi vox tribuit verba loquenda fero.
Sicut pastor oues, sic segregat istud ab edis
Quos opus a reprobis senserit ordo probos:
Que magis huius habet vocis sentencia scribam
Hiis quos transgressos plus notat ordo reos.
Crimina que Iudas commisit ponere Petro
Nolo, ferat proprium pondus vterque suum.
Ordinis officia fateor primi fore sancta,
Eius et auctores primitus esse pios; 700
Hos qui consequitur frater manet ille beatus,
Qui mundum renuens querit habere deum,
Qui sibi pauperiem claustralis adoptat, et vltro
Hanc gerit, et paciens ordinis acta subit:
Talis enim meritis extat laudabilis altis,
Eius nam precibus viuificatur humus.
Set sine materia qui laruat in ordine formam,
Predicat exterius, spirat et intus opes,
Talibus iste liber profert sua verba modernis,
Vt sibi vox populi contulit illa loqui. 710
Ordine mendico supervndat concio fratrum,
De quibus exvndans regula prima fugit:
Molles deveniunt tales, qui dura solebant
Ordinis ex voto ferre placenda deo.
Acephalum nomen si~bi dant~ primo statuendum,
Seque vocant inopes fert quibus omnis opem:
Cristi discipulos affirmant se fore fratres,
Eius et exempli singula iura sequi:
Hoc mentita fides dicit, tamen hoc satis illis
Conuenit, vt dicunt qui sacra scripta sciunt. 720
Sunt quasi nunc gentes nil proprietatis habentes,
Et tamen in forma pauperis omne tenent.
Gracia si fuerit aut fatum fratribus istis
Nescio, set mundus totus habundat eis.
In manibus retinent papam, qui dura relaxat
Ordinis et statuit plura licere modo;
Et si quas causas pape negat ipsa potestas,
Clam faciet licitas ordo sinister eas.
Nec rex nec princeps nec magnas talis in orbe est,
Qui sua secreta non fateatur eis. 730
Et sic mendici dominos superant, et ab orbe
Vsurpant tacite quod negat ordo palam.
Non hos discipulos, magis immo deos fore dicam,
Mors quibus et vita dedita lucra ferunt:
Mortua namque sibi, quibus hic confessor adhesit,
Corpora, si fuerint digna, sepulta petit;
Set si corpus inops fuerit, nil vendicat ipse,
Nam sua nil pietas, sint nisi lucra, sapit.
Baptizare fidem nolunt, quia res sine lucro
Non erit in manibus culta vel acta suis. 740
Vt sibi mercator emit omne genus specierum,
Lucra quod ex multis multa tenere queat;
Sic omnes mundi causas amplectit auarus
Frater, vt in variis gaudeat ipse lucris.
Hii sunt quos retinens mundus non horruit, immo
Diligit, hiisque statum tradidit ipse suum:
Istos conuersos set peruersos magis esse
Constat, vt ex factis nomina vera trahant.
Transtulit a vite se palmes sic pharisea,
Eius et in gustu fructus acerbus olet. 750
=Hic loquitur de fratribus illis, qui per ypocrisim predicando populi
peccata publice redarguentes, blandiciis tamen et voluptatibus clanculo
deseruiunt.=
Cap^m. xvii.
Seminat ypocrisis sermones dedita fratris,
Messis vt inde sui crescat in orbe lucri.
Horrida verba tonat, dum publica per loca dampnat
Vsum peccandi seruus vt ipse dei;
Seruus et vt Sathane, priuatis cum residere
Venerit in thalamis, glosa remittit eis;
Et quos alta prius stimulabat vox reboantis,
Postera blandicies vnget in aure leuis:
Et sic peccator aliis peccata ministrat,
Namque fouens vicium percipit inde lucrum. 760
Hoc bene scit frater, peccatum cum moriatur,
Tunc moritur lucrum tempus in omne suum.
Dic vbi ter veniet frater, nisi lucra reportet,
Est vbi sors vacua, non redit ipse via.
De fundamentis fratrum si crimina tollas,
Sic domus alta diu corruet absque manu.
O quam prophete iam verificantur Osee
Sermones, qui sic vera locutus ait:
‘In terris quedam gens surget, que populorum
Peccatum comedet et mala multa sciet.’ 770
Hancque propheciam nostris venisse diebus
Cernimus, atque notam fratribus inde damus,
Ad quorum victum, fuerit quod~cumque necesse~,
Sors de peccatis omne ministrat eis.
Delicie tales non sunt, que fratribus escam,
Si confessores sint, aliquando negant.
Aspicis vt veniunt ad candida tecta columbe,
Nec capiet tales sordida turris aues:
Sic nisi magnatum dat curia nulla modernis
Fratribus hospicium quo remanere volunt. 780
Horrea formice tendunt ad inania numquam,
Nec vagus amissas frater adibit opes:
Immemores florum gestaminis anterioris,
Contempnunt spinam cum cecidere rose;
Sic et amicicie fratres benefacta prioris
Diuitis aspernunt, cum dare plura nequit.
Nomine sunt plures, pauci tamen ordine fratres;
Vt dicunt aliqui, Pseudo prophetat ibi.
Est facies tunice pauper, stat cistaque diues,
Sub verbis sanctis turpia facta latent: 790
Sic sine pauperie pauper, sanctus sine Cristo,
Eminet ille bonus, qui bonitate caret.
Ore deum clamant isti, venerantur et aurum
Corde, viam cuius vndique scire volunt.
Omnia sub pedibus demon subiecit eorum,
Ficta set ypocrisis nil retinere docet:
Sic mundana tenet qui spernit in ordine mundum,
Dum tegit hostilem vestis ouina lupum;
Et sic ficticiis plebs incantata putabit[444]
Sanctos exterius, quos dolus intus habet. 800
Vix est alterius fraudem qui corripit vnus,
Set magis vt fallant auget vterque dolos:
Sic magis infecti morbo iactantur eodem,
Inficiuntque suis fraudibus omne solum.
Comprimat hos dominus saltem, quos nouit in isto
Tempore primeuam preuaricare fidem.
Non peto quod periant, set fracti consolidentur,[445]
Et subeant primum quem dedit ordo statum.
=Hic loquitur de fratribus illis, qui propter huius mundi famam, et
vt ipsi eciam, quasi ab ordinis sui iugo exempti, ad confessiones
audiendum digniores efficiantur, summas in studio scole cathedras
affectant.=
Cap^m. xviii.
Est qui precessor fiat velut ipse minister,
Cuius in exemplum Cristus agebat idem: 810
Set qui discipulum Cristi se dicit, ad altum[446]
Cum venit ipse statum, non tenet inde modum.
Quamuis signa tenet mendici pauperis, ecce
Frater honore suum spirat habere locum:
Appetit ipse scolis nomen sibi ferre magistri,
Quem post exemptum regula nulla ligat:
Solus habet cameram, propriat commune, que nullum
Tunc sibi claustralem computat esse parem.
Vt latriam statuis claustrales ferre magistris
Debent et pedibus flectere colla suis: 820
Sic tumor et pompa latitant sub theologia,
Ducere nec duci dum fauet ordo sibi.
Tunc thalamos penetrat sublimes, curia nulla
Est cuius porta clauditur ante virum.
Aspiciens varias species variatur et ipse
Camelion, et tot signa coloris habet:
Frater ei similis, perpendens velle virorum,
Vult in consimili par sit vt ipse pari;
Et quia sic similem sibi sentit curia fratrem,
Eius in aduentu presulis acta vacant. 830
Circuit exterius, explorat et interiora,
Non opus occultum nec locus extat ei:
Nunc medicus, nunc confessor, nunc est mediator,
Et super et subtus mittit ad omne manum.
Spiritus vt domini, sic frater spirat vbique,
Et venit ad lectum quando maritus abest:
Sic absente viro temerarius intrat adulter
Frater, et alterius propriat acta sibi:
Sic venit ad strati capitata cubicula lecti,
Sepius et prima sorte futurus erit. 840
Sic genitus Salomon est hac que nupsit Vrie,
Dum pius intrusor occupat inde locum:
Sponsi defectus suplet deuocio fratris,
Et genus amplificans atria plena facit.
Verberat iste vepres, volucrem capit alter; et iste
Seminat in fundum, set metet alter agrum:
In stadio currunt ambo, brauium tamen vnus
Accipit iniuste longius ipse retro:
Sic intrat sponsus aliorum sepe labores,
Ac vbi non soluit in lucra, vana tamen. 850
Credit et exultat prolem genuisse maritus,
Vngula nec prolis pertinet vna sibi.
Predicat ypocrita cum sponso carmina sancta,
Vt deus ex verbo staret in ore suo:
Cum sponsa Veneris laudes decantat, et eius
Officium summe suplet honore dee:
Sic opus in basso tenementum construit altum,
Cuius egens nocte fabrica poscit opem.
O pietas fratris, que circuit et iuuat omnes,
Et gerit alterius sic pacienter onus: 860
O qui non animas tantum, set corpora nostra,
In sudore suo sanctificare venit.
Hic est confessor domini non, set dominarum,[447]
Qui magis est blandus quam Titiuillus eis:
Hic est confessor quasi fur quem furca fatetur,
Sic quia ius nostrum de muliere rapit.
Hic est confessor in peius qui male vertit,
Sordida namque lauans sordidiora facit:
Pellem pro pelle, quod habet sibi frater et omne
Pro nostri sponsa, se dabit atque sua. 870
O condigna viro tali quis premia reddet,
Aut deus aut demon? vltima verba ligant.
Peccati finis fert namque stipendia mortis,
Est dum culpa vetus plena pudore nouo:
Horum, viuentes qui tot miracula prestant,
In libro mortis nomina scripta manent.
Inter apes statuit natura quod esse notandum
Sencio, quo poterit frater habere notam.
Nam si pungat apis, pungenti culpa repugnat,
Amplius vt stimulum non habet ipse suum; 880
Postque domi latebras tenet et non euolat vltra,
Floribus vt campi mellificare queat.
O deus, in simili forma si frater adulter
Perderet inflatum, dum stimularet, acum,
Amplius vt flores non colligat in muliere,
Nec vagus a domibus pergat in orbe suis!
Causa cessante quia tunc cessaret ab ipsis
Effectus, quo nunc plura pericla latent.
=Hic loquitur qualiter isti fratres inordinate viuentes ad ecclesie
Cristi regimen non sunt aliqualiter necessarii.=
Cap^m. xix.
Vna michi mira res est, quam mente reuoluens
Nescio finali qua racione foret. 890
Quam prius ordo fuit fratrum, quoscumque necesse
Congruit ecclesie fertur inesse gradus.
Papa fuit princeps, alios qui substituebat,
Vt plebem regerent singula iura dedit:
Ius sibi presul habet, sub eo curatus, et ille
Admittens curas pondera plebis agit:
Proprietarius est presul qui proprietatem
Curato tribuit, qua sua iura regat:
Presulis inde loco curatus iurat, vt ipse
Tempore iudicii que tulit acta dabit. 900
Est igitur racio que vel tibi causa videtur,
Alterius proprium quod sibi frater habet?
Inter aues albas vetitur consistere coruum,
Quem notat ingratum quodlibet esse pecus;
Inter et ecclesie ciues consistere fratrem,
Qui negat eius onus, omnia iura vetant.
Caucius in rebus dubiis est semper agendum,
Causa nec est mundi talis vt ipsa dei:
Si tamen vsurpet mundi quis iura, refrenant
Legis eum vires nec variare sinunt. 910
Que mea sunt propria mundo si tolleret alter,
Taliter iniustum lex reputabit eum:
In preiudicium partis lex non sinit equa,
Possit vt alterius alter habere locum:
Que bona corporea sunt alterius, nequit alter
Tollere, ni legum condita iura neget:
Set que sunt anime frater rapiens aliena,
Nescio qua lege iustificabit opus.
Si di~cat~, ‘Papa dispensat,’ tunc videamus,
Est sibi suggestum, sponte vel illud agit. 920
Papa mero motu scimus quod talia numquam
Concessit, set ea supplicat ordo frequens:
Papa potest falli, set qui videt interiora,
Est hoc pro lucri scit vel amore dei.
Lingua petit curas anime, mens postulat aurum,
Bina sicque manu propria nostra rapit:
Defraudans animas, talis rapit inde salutem,
Et super hoc nostras tollere temptat opes.
Non ita Franciscus peciit, set singula linquens
Mundi pauperiem simplicitate tulit. 930
Gignit humus tribulos, vbi torpet cultor in agris,
Quo minus ad messes fert sua lucra Ceres:
Pungitur ecclesia, fratrum quos sentit abortos
Inuidie stimulis lesa per omne latus.
Quilibet ergo bonus tribulos extirpet arator,
Ne pharisea sacrum polluat herba locum.
=Hic loquitur qualiter isti fratres inordinate viuentes ad commune
bonum vtiles aliqualiter non existunt.=
Cap^m. xx.
Fratribus vt redimant celum non est labor Ade,
Quo sibi vel reliquis vina vel arua colunt;
Corporis immo quies, quam querunt forcius, illos
Iam fouet, et mundi tedia nulla grauant: 940
Hiis neque perspicuus armorum pertinet actus,
Publica quo seruant iura vigore suo:
Sic neque milicies neque terre cultus adornat
Hos, set in orbe vagos linquit vterque status.
Nec sunt de clero fratres, quamuis sibi temptent
Vsurpare statum, quem sinit vmbra scole:
Non onus admittunt fratres cleri set honorem,
In cathedra primi quo residere petunt.
Non curant animas populi neque corpora pascunt:
Ad commune bonum quid magis ergo valent? 950
Vt neque ramosa numerabis in ilice glandes,
Tu fratrum numerum dinumerare nequis:
Immo, velut torrens vndis pluuialibus auctus,
Aut niue, que zephiro victa tepente fluit,
Ordo supercreuit habitu, set ab ordine virtus
Cessit, et in primis desinit ire viis.
Si racio fieret, famulorum poscit egestas
Tales quod sulcus posset habere suos.
Hos Dauid affirmat hominum nec inesse labore,
Nec posite legis vlla flagella pati. 960
Regia ~iura nichil~ aut presulis acta valebunt,
Excessus fratrum quo moderare queant.
Que sua sunt mundus ea diligit, fratribus ergo
Attulit vt caris prospera queque suis:
Non sulcant neque nent, falcant nec in horrea ponunt;
Pascit eos mundus non tamen inde minus.
Pectora sic gaudent, nec sunt attrita dolore,
Anterior celo dum reputatur humus:
Cordis in affectum sic transit frater, et illum
Quem querit cursum complet in orbe suum. 970
Dic quid honoris habet, si filius Hectoris arma
Deserit et vecors predicat acta patris?
Aut quid et ipse valet, si frater Apostata sanctum
Clamat Franciscum, quem negat ipse sequi?
Fictis set verbis mundi sine lumine sensum
Obfuscant, que sua sic maledicta tegunt:
Sic vbi non ordo, manet error in ordinis vmbra,
Et quasi laruatus stat sacer ordo nouus.
Hiis qui Francisci seruant tamen ordine iusto
Debita mandata, debitus extat honor. 980
=Hic loquitur de fratribus illis, qui incautos pueros etatis
discrecionem non habentes in sui ordinis professionem attractando
colloquiis blandis multipliciter illaqueant.=
Cap^m. xxi.
Est michi suspectum de fratribus hoc, quod eorum
Reddere se primo nullus adultus adest:
Non sic Franciscum puerilis traxerat etas
Ordinis ad votum, quando recepit eum:
Sic nec eum pueri primo coluere sequaces,
Nec blande lingue fabula traxit eos.
Estimo maturos Franciscus sumpserat annos,
Dum per discreta viscera cepit opus;
Et puto quod similes sua dogmata sponte sequentes
Nec prece nec precio reddidit ordo deo. 990
Set vetus vsus abest, nam circumvencio facta
Nunc trahit infantes, qui nichil inde sciunt;
Et sic de teneri tener ordo mollia querit,
Vmbraque sola manet atque nouerca quasi.
Vt vocat ad laqueos volucrem dum fistulat auceps,
Sic trahit infantes fratris ab ore sonus:
Vt laqueatur auis laqueorum nescia fraudis,
Sic puer in fratrem fraude latente cadit:
Et cum sic poterit puerum vetus illaqueare,
Debet ob hoc frater nomen habere patris. 1000
Sic generata dolis patrem sequitur sua proles,
Addit et ad patrios facta dolosa dolos;
Solaque sic radix centenos inficit ex se
Ramos, qui fructus fraudis in orbe ferunt.
Nam puer a veteri deceptus fratre per illud
Decipit exemplum, quando senecta venit:
Sic post decipiunt qui primo decipiuntur,
Et fraus de fraude multiplicata viget:
Sic crescit numerus fratrum, fit et ordo minutus,
Dum miser in miseris gaudet habere pares. 1010
‘Ve, qui proselitum vobis faciatis vt vnum,
Mundum circuitis,’ dixerat ipse deus:[448]
Illud erat dictum phariseis, et modo possum
Fratribus hec verba dicere lege noua.
=Hic loquitur de apostazia fratrum ordinis mendicancium, precipue de
hiis qui sub ficta ypocrisis simplicitate quasi vniuersorum curias
magnatum subuertunt, et inestimabiles suis ficticiis sepissime causant
errores.=
Cap^m. xxii.
Vt bona multa bonum fratrem quocumque sequntur,
Sic mala multa malum constat vbique sequi.
Sunt etenim domini tres, quorum quilibet vni
Seruit homo, per quem se petit ipse regi:
Est deus, est mundus, est demon apostata, cuius
Ordine transgressus fert sibi frater onus. 1020
Regula namque dei non nouit eum, neque mundi
Dat sibi milicies libera nulla statum:
Non habet ipse deum, nec habere valet sibi mundum,
Demonis vt proprium sic subit ipse iugum:
Omnis enim vicii viciosus apostata motor
Aut fautor nutrit quod videt esse malum.
Testis erit Salomon, vir talis invtilis extat,
Et peiora sue crimina mentis agit:
Arte vel ingenio, quo talis in orbe frequentat,
Ducit in effectum plura timenda satis. 1030
Non obstat paries illi, non clausa resistunt,
Invia consistunt peruia queque sibi:
Per mare, per terras, per totum circuit orbem;
Vt sibi plus placeat, cernere cuncta potest.
Nititur in fraudes, componit verba dolosa,
Auget et accumulat multiplicatque dolos;
Proponit lites, rixas accendit in iram,
Liuores nutrit invidiamque fouet;
Vincula disrumpit pacis, socialis amoris
Federa perturbat, dissociatque fidem; 1040
Suggerit incestum, suadet violare pudorem,
Soluere coniugium, commaculare thorum;
Vsurpando fidem vultum mentitur honestum,
Caucius vt fraudem palleat ipse suam.
In dampnis dandis promissor vbique fidelis,
Comoda si dederit, disce subesse dolum:
Sub grossa lana linum subtile tenetur,
Simplicitas vultus corda dolosa tegit;
Lingua venenato dum verba subornat in ore,
Mellificat virus melque venena facit. 1050
Vt sub virtutum specie lateat viciorum
Actus, et vt turpis Simea fiat homo;
Ipse tumens humilem mentitur sepe professum,
Quem fugit occulto spiritus ille dei.
Ordinis ipse sacri quicquid Franciscus honeste
Virtutis statuit, hic viciare studet:
Cuncta colore tamen operit, facieque decora
Fallit, dumque latent viscera plena dolo.
Invenies scriptum quod pennas strucio gestat
Herodii pennis ancipitrisque pares; 1060
Set non tam celeri viget eius penna volatu,
Ypocritamque notat, qui similando volat.
Aurea facta foras similans ypocrita fingit,
Set mala mens intus plumbea vota gerit:
Sunt etenim multi tales qui verba colorant,
Qui pascunt aures, aurea verba sonant,
Verbis frondescunt, set non est fructus in actu,
Simplicium mentes dulce loquendo mouent:
Set templum domini tales excludit, abhorret
Verborum phaleras, verba polita fugit. 1070
Scripta poetarum, que sermo pictus inaurat,
Aurea dicuntur lingua, set illa caue:[449]
Est simplex verbum fidei bonus vnde meretur,
Set duplex animo predicat absque deo.
Despicit eloquia deus omnia, quando polita
Tecta sub eloquii melle venena fouent:
Qui bona verba serit, agit et male, turpiter errat,
Nam post verba solet accio sancta sequi.
Quos magis alta scola colit, hii sermone polito
Scandala subtili picta colore serunt. 1080
Sepius aut lucrum vel honoris adepcio vani[450]
Fratrum sermones dat magis esse reos:
Sub tritici specie zizannia sepe refundunt,
Dum doctrina tumens laudis amore studet:
Sepe suis meritis ascribere facta, mouere
Scisma, peritorum mens studiosa solet.
Phiton siue Magus est scismaticus, quia turbat
Verum quod credis et dubitanda mouet;
Set contra voces incantantis sapienter
Aures obtura, ne cor adheret eis. 1090
Non sunt hii fratres recti nec amore fideles
Ecclesie Cristi, sicut habetur ibi;
Inperfecta magis Sinagoga notabit eorum
Doctrinam, plene que neque vera docet:
Multociens igitur aliis nocet illa superba
Copia librorum quos Sinagoga tenet.
Non sunt ecclesie recti ciues, Agar immo
Parturit ancilla, perfida mater, eos:
Ergo recedat Agar, pariat quoque Sarra fidelem
Ecclesie clerum, det Sinagoga locum. 1100
Plantauit pietas et amor primordia fratrum,
Quos furor ad presens ambiciosus agit:
Frater adest Odium, qui federa pacis abhorret,
Cuius ab inferno cepit origo viam;
Ille professus enim claustralia iura resoluit,
Nec fore concordes quos sinit ipse pares.
Qui tamen in culpa frater se sentit, et illam
Non delet, tali talia verba loquor:
‘Culpa mali laudem non debet tollere iusto,
Nam lux in tenebris fulget honore magis: 1110
Quisque suum portabit onus, culpetur iniqus,
Laudeturque suis actibus ipse bonus.’
=Hic loquitur qualiter isti fratres mendicantes mundum circuiendo
amplioresque querendo delicias de loco in locum cum ocio se
transferunt: loquitur eciam de superfluis eorum edificiis, que quasi ab
huius seculi potencioribus vltra modum delicate construuntur.=
Cap^m. xxiii.
Iudeos spersos fratrum dispersio signat,
Quos modo per mundum deuius error agit;
Iste nec ille loco stabilis manet, immo vicissim
Se mouet, et varia mutat vbique loca.
Sic in circuitu nunc ambulat impius orbis,
Nec domus est in qua non petit ipse locum;
Pauperis in specie sibi sic elemosina predas
Prebet, et ora lupi vellere laruat ouis: 1120
Absque labore suo bona nemo meretur, et ergo
Omne solum lustrant, idque piamen habent.
Nescio si supera sibi clauserit ostia celum;
Dat mare, dant ampnes, totaque terra viam.
Hoc lego, quod raro crescit que sepe mouetur
Planta, set ex sterili sorte frequenter eget:
Non tamen est aliqua quin regula fallit in orbe,
Mocio nam fratris crescere causat eum;
Nam quocumque suos mouet ille per arida gressus,
Mundus eum sequitur et famulatur ei. 1130
Vt pila facta pilis solito dum voluitur ipsis
Crescit, et ex modico magnificatur opus,
Sic, vbi se voluit frater, sibi mundus habundat,
Quicquid et ipse manu tangit adheret ei:
Federa cum mundo sua frater apostata stringit,
Sic vt in occulto sint quasi semper idem.
Multis set quedam virtutes esse videntur,
Qui nil virtutis nec bonitatis habent;
Ista dabunt vocem, set erunt deformia mente,
Multaque dum fiunt absque salute placent. 1140
Ad decus ecclesie deuocio seruit eorum,
Et veluti quedam signa salutis habent:
Eminet ecclesia constructa sibi super omnes,
Edificant petras sculptaque ligna fouent;
Porticibus valuas operosis, atria, quales
Quotque putas thalamos hic laberintus habet:
Ostia multa quidem, varie sunt mille fenestre,
Mille columpnarum marmore fulta domus.
Fabrica lata domus erit, alta decoraque muris,
Picturis variis splendet et omne decus; 1150
Omnis enim cella, manet in qua frater inanis,
Sculpture vario compta decore nitet:
Postibus insculpunt longum mansura per euum
Signa, quibus populi corda ligare putant.
Fingentes Cristum mundum querunt, et in eius
Conspirant laudem clamque sequntur eum:
Talis sub facie deuocio sancta figure
Fingitur, et testis fit magis inde domus:
Qui tamen omne videt, rimatur et intima cordis,
Scit quia pro mundo tale paratur opus. 1160
Set docet exemplis historia Parisiensis,
Quod contentus homo sit breuiore domo.
Non sibi de propriis habet vlla potencia regis
Illorum thalamis tecta polita magis:
Non ita fit vestis fratrum nota simplicitatis,
Quin magis in domibus pompa notabit eos.
In fabrice studio vigilat conuentus eorum
Ecclesie, prompti corpore, mente pigri:
Sic patet exterius fratrum deuocio sancta,
Vana set interius cordis ymago latet: 1170
Sunt similes vlno tales, qui sunt sine fructu,
In quibus impietas plurima, pauca fides.
Dic, tibi quid, frater, confert, tantas quod honestas
Cum feda mente construis ipse domos?
Esto domus domini, quam sacris moribus orna,
Virtutem cultor religionis ama.
Omnia fine patent, tibi fingere nil valet extra,
Per quod ab interius premia nulla feres:
Si tibi laus mundi maneat furtiua diebus,
Cum celum perdis, laus erit illa pudor. 1180
Ordinis es, norma tibi sit, nec ab ordine cedas,
Est aliter cassum quicquid ab inde geris.
=Hic loquitur qualiter, non solum in ordine fratrum mendicancium set
eciam in singulis cleri gradibus, ea que virtutis esse solebant a
viciis quasi generaliter subuertuntur: dicit tamen quod secundum
quasdam Burnelli constituciones istis precipue diebus modus et regula
specialius[451] obseruantur.=
Cap^m. xxiiii.
Diuersat fratres tantummodo vestis eorum,
Hii tamen existunt condicione pares:
Regula nulla manet, fuerat que facta per ante,
Set nouus ordo nouum iam facit omne forum.
Sicut enim fratrum nunc ordo resoluitur, ecce
Ecclesie norma fit quasi tota noua;
Set sacer ordo tamen remanet, quem sanxerat olim
Frater Burnellus, crescit et ille magis. 1190
Hec decreta modo, Burnellus que statuebat,
Omnia non resero nec reserare volo;
Set duo iam tantum que iussit in ordine dicam,
Et sunt presenti tempore iura quasi.
Mandatum primum tibi contulit, omne iocosum,
Quicquid in orbe placet, illud habere licet:
Si vis mercari, sis mercenarius, autem[452]
Si vis mechari, dat tibi, mechus eris:[453]
Que magis vlla caro desiderat, illa beato
Sunt fratri nostro debita iura modo. 1200
Precipiens vltra statuit de lege secunda,
Quod nocuum carni sit procul omne tibi:
Omne quod est anime reputatur in ordine vile,
Et caro delicias debet habere suas:
Cor dissolue tuum, te nullus namque ligabit,
Quo vis vade tuas liber vbique vias.
Mollibus ornatus sic dignior ordo nouellus
Restat Burnelli, vult quia velle viri.
Nil michi Bernardus, nichil ammodo seu Benedictus[454]
Sint, set Burnellus sit Prior ipse meus; 1210
Quo viget en carnis requies, quo lingua precantis
A prece torpescens fit quasi tota silens:[455]
Ordoque sic precibus dum vult succurrere nobis,
Linquo choax ranis et nichil inde magis:[456]
Si veniantque michi mala tempora, credo quod isti[457]
De clero causam dant nimis inde grauem;
Quis poterit namque nobis bona tempora ferre,
Ordine claustrali dum perit ordo dei,
Et fugit a reliquo deuocio celica clero?
Sic fugit a nobis vndique nostra salus. 1220
Nam quia sic medii fallunt discorditer ipsi,
Ignaui populi stamus in orbe vagi.
Quid sibi corpus habet in eo, nisi spiritus extet,
Quid nisi nos clerus suplet in orbe pius?
A planta capiti set qui discernere cleri
Vult genus aut speciem, vix sciet inde bonum.
Sic vbi lux, tenebre, sic mors, vbi normula vite
Instrueret sanam gentibus ire viam.
Vt dicunt alii de clero, sic ego dixi,
Quo creuit reliquis error in orbe magis: 1230
Nam sine pastore grex est dispersus, et ecce
Pascua peccati querit vbique noui.
* * * * *
1221-1232. _Text_ STH₂ _As follows in_ CEHGDL,
Nunc quia sic Cleri sors errat ab ordine Cristi,
Vsurpat mundus que negat ipse deus.
Dum tua, Burnelle, scola sit communis in orbe,
A planta capiti fallitur omnis ibi:
Sed cum Gregorii scola fulsit in orbe beati,[458]
Vera fides viguit, cunctaque pace tulit.
Nunc tamen est Arius nouus, est quasi Iouinianus,
Doctor in ecclesiis scisma mouendo scolis.
Sic vbi lux, tenebre, sic mors, vbi regula vite
Instrueret rectam gentibus ire viam. 1230*
Quilibet ergo bonus, sit miles siue Colonus,
Orans pro Clero det sua vota deo.
FOOTNOTES:
[424] 14 subtrahet CE
[425] 52 erat ... vrbe DL
[426] 72 esse SG ipse CEHDL
[427] 79 du_m_ CE
[428] 103 _No paragr._ S
[429] 177 oculis T oculus SCEHGDLH₂
[430] 216 rara CE
[431] 273 vt (ut) CEHGDLT et S
[432] 295 sibi _om._ S (_p. m._) vir _inserted later_ bona qui sibi D
[433] Cap. vi. _Heading_ 2 f. religionis sibi CE
[434] 315 _No paragr._ S
[435] 336 iam CEHGDLTH₂ non S
[436] 404 ghemendo SH gemendo CEDL
[437] 489 fomes est res C fomes res e_st_ L
[438] _Heading_ 1 quasi _om._ D
[439] 587 _Marginal note ins._ SCG _om._ EHDLH₂ Nota quod Genius
secundum Ouidium dicitur sacerdos Veneris G
[440] 593 ibi SE
[441] 635 qui CE
[442] 645 p_er_extra SHGTL p_er_ extra CED
[443] 662 placet CEH patet SGDL
[444] 799 putabit CEHD putabat SGL
[445] 807 pereant CEL
[446] 811 ad CEHGDL et S
[447] 863 sed non D
[448] 1012 _margin_ No_ta_ C
[449] 1072 lingua SH₂ verba CEHGDLT
[450] 1081 adepcio CEHGDL adopcio S
[451] _Heading_ 5 specialiter S
[452] 1197 autem STH₂ et si CEHGDL
[453] 1198 _Text_ STH₂ Mechari cupias dat tibi GDL Mechari cupias
ordine CEH
[454] 1209 seu] u_e_l C
[455] 1212 _Text_ STH₂ Auribus alma sonat menteque vana petit CEHGDL
[456] 1214 _Text_ STH₂ Folia non fructus percipit inde deus CEHGDL
[457] 1215 _Text_ STH₂ Si veniant mundi CEHGDL
[458] 1225* fulscit HG
=Postquam dictum est de illis qui in statu cleri regere spiritualia
deberent, dicendum est iam de hiis qui in statu milicie temporalia
defendere et supportare tenentur.=
=Incipit liber Quintus.=
Cap^m. i.
Quid sit de clero dixi, dicamque secundo
Quomodo Militibus competit ordo vetus.
Primo milicia magno fit honore parata;
Est tribus ex causis ipsa statuta prius.
Ecclesie prima debet defendere iura,
Et commune bonum causa secunda fouet;
Tercia pupilli ius supportabit egeni,
Et causam vidue consolidabit ope:
Istis namque modis lex vult quod miles in armis
Sit semper bellum promptus adire suum. 10
Sic etenim miles dudum superauerat hostes,
Vnde sibi fama viuit in orbe noua:
Non propter famam miles tamen arma gerebat,
Set pro iusticia protulit acta sua.
Ordinis ipse modum miles qui seruat eundem,
Debet ob hoc laudes dignus habere suas;
Set si pro laude miles debellet inani,
Est laus iniusta, si tribuatur ita.[459]
Dic michi nunc aliud: quid honoris victor habebit,
Si mulieris amor vincere possit eum? 20
Nescio quid mundus michi respondebit ad istud;
Hoc scio, quod Cristi nil sibi laudis erit.
Si quis honore frui cupiat, sibi causet honorem,
Gestet et illud opus, quod sibi suadet onus:
Nil nisi stulticiam pariet sibi finis habendam,
Cui Venus inceptam ducit ad arma viam.
Non decet vt rutili plumbum miscebitur auro,
Nec Venus vt validi mili~tis~ acta sciat.
Quem laqueat mulier non laxat abire frequenter,
Immo magis fatuo voluit amore suo: 30
Qui prius est liber, facit et se sponte subactum,
Stulcior est stulto sic reputandus homo.
Bella quibus miles fieret captiuus, ab illis
Expedit vt fugiat, vincere quando nequit.
Non vada quo mergi liquet est sapientis vt intret,
Set magis a visa morte refrenet iter.
=Hic loquitur qualiter miles, qui in mulieris amorem[460] exardescens
ex concupiscencia armorum se implicat exercicio, vere laudis honorem
ob hoc nullatenus meretur. Describit eciam infirmitates amoris illius,
cuius passiones variis adinuicem motibus maxime contrariantur.=
Cap^m. ii.
O si mutatas miles pensaret amoris
Tam subito formas, non pateretur eas.
Non amor vnicolor est set contrarius in se,
Qui sine temperie temperat esse vices;[461] 40
Detegit atque tegit, disiungit amor que reiungit,
Letaque corda suo sepe dolore furit.
Est amor iniustus iudex, aduersa maritans
Rerum naturas degenerare facit:
Consonat Architesis in amore, sciencia nescit,[462]
Ira iocatur, honor sordet, habundat egens;
Leta dolent, reprobat laus, desperacio sperat,
Spes metuit, prosunt noxia, lucra nocent;
Anxietas in amore sapit, dulcescit amarum,
Vernat yemps, sudant frigora, morbus alit. 50
Sic magis vt caueas, miles, tibi visa pericla,
Has lege quas formas morbus amoris habet.
Est amor egra salus, vexata quies, pius error,
Bellica pax, vulnus dulce, suaue malum,
Anxia leticia, via deuia, lux tenebrosa,
Asperitas mollis, plumbea massa leuis,
Florescens et yemps et ver sine floribus arens,
Vrticata rosa, lex sine iure vaga,
Flens risus, ridens fletus, modus inmoderatus,
Hostilis socius, hostis et ipse pius, 60
Instabilis constancia, velle sibique repugnans,
Spes sibi desperans et dubitata fides,
Albedo nigra, nigredo splendida, melque
Acre, que fel sapidum, carcer amena ferens,
Irracionalis racio, discrecio stulta,
Ambiguus iudex, inscius omne putans,
Numquam digestus cibus et semper sitibundus
Potus, mentalis insaciata fames,
Mors viuens, vita moriens, discordia concors,
Garrula mens, mutus sermo, secreta febris, 70
Prosperitas pauper, paupertas prospera, princeps
Seruus, regina subdita, rex et egens,
Ebrea sobrietas, demens clemencia, portus[463]
Cille, pestifera cura, salutis iter:
Mulcebris anguis amor est, agna ferox, leo mitis,
Ancipiter pauidus atque columba rapax,
Infatuata scola reddens magis infatuatum
Discipulum, cuius mens studet inde magis.
=Hic describit formam mulieris speciose, ex cuius concupiscencia
illaqueata militum corda racionis iudicio sepissime destituuntur.=
Cap^m. iii.
Cum pauidus miratur amans candore repletam,
In cuius facie stat rubor ille rose, 80
Aurigeros crines, aures patulas mediocres,
Planiciem frontis, que nitet alba satis,
Impubesque genas, oculos qui solis ad instar
Lucent, et stabilis vultus honestat eos,
Nasum directum naresque decenter apertas,
Labraque melliflua, fragrat et oris odor,
Equales lacte sibi dentes candidiores,
Et formam menti conuenientis ei;
Splendor et a facie dat eburnea colla nitere,
Gutture cristalli concomitante sibi, 90
Et niue candidior nitet eius pectore candor,
Candida poma cui sunt duo fixa quasi.
Brachia longa videt pauce crassata rotundo,
Amplexus quorum celica regna putat,
Et videt ornatos splendere manus digitosque,
Lanaque nec mollis mollior astat eis;
Cernit et insolitos humeros ad onus pueriles,
Nec patet os in eis, sic stupet inde magis:
Per latus et gracilem videt elongare staturam,
Linea nec recta reccior astat ea; 100
Eius et incessus cernit peditare choreis,
Passus mensuram denotat atque suam;
Nil sibi Sirenes equantur voce canentes,
Nec vox angelica vix sonat vtque sua.
Et caput amplecti cernit gemmisque nitere,
Ac vestis pompam que magis aptat eam:
Compta venit nimium, que vult formosa videri,
Vnde stupore magis sit semiraptus amans.
Omnia membra sibi reputantur in ordine tali,
Vt deus in superis fecerat illud opus; 110
Discrimen capitis, frons libera, lactea colla,
Ora, labella, rubor, lumina clara placent;
Vertex, frons, oculi, nasus, dens, os, gena, mentum,
Colla, manus, pectus, pes sine labe nitent,
Vnam nec maculam solam natura reliquit,
Ad caput a planta transuolat iste decor:
Humanam speciem transcendit forma puelle,
Excedens hominem numinis instar habet;
Pre cunctis aliis, quas ornat gracia forme,
Felix et fenix ista fit absque pare. 120
Splendida vestis erit, precinctum flore caputque,
Flaua verecundus cingit et ora rubor;
Forma placet niueusque color flauique capilli,
Estque micans nulla factus ab arte decor:
Vix erit aspiciens qui non capietur ab illa,
Pronus vt in terram vir sua vota ferat;
Ipsa suo vultu si quem concernat amantem,
Heret in opposita lumina fixus homo.
Qui cum tam dulcem videt ornatam que decoram
Femineam speciem, set magis angelicam, 130
Hanc putat esse deam, manibus sub cuius adeptam
Dat vite sortem mortis et esse suam:
Dum tam mirificam voluit sibi mente figuram,
Ipse volutus ea non reuolutus abit;
Non capit exterius quid preter eam sibi visus,
Corque per interius pungit amoris acus.
Vt sibi stat saxum non mobile, sic stat et ipse,
Nec mouet a visu, qui velut extasis est;
Sic oculus cordis carnis caligine cecus
Languet, et in dampnum decidit ipse suum. 140
Quod videt, hoc nescit, set quod videt, vritur illo;
Sic furit a ceco cecus amore suo:
Frigidior glacie, feruencior igne cremante,
Sic et in igne gelat, vritur inque gelu:
Sicut auis visco volutans se voluitur illo,
Sic se defendens ardet amore magis.
Sic amor omne domat, quicquid natura creauit,
Et tamen indomitus ipse per omne manet;
Carcerat et redimit, ligat atque ligata resoluit,
Subdit et omne sibi, liber et omnibus est; 150
Naturam stringit, mulcet, minuit que reformat,
Plangit et hoc per eum, nec sine gaudet eo:
Militat in cunctis, nullum vix excipit eius
Regula, nam sanctos sepe dat esse reos;
Legibus aque suis non est transire quietus
Qui valet, ipse tamen cuncta quieta gerit.
Nam quem non poterit probitas, prudencia fallit,
Nec stat vitalis tutus vt obstet eis:
Non amor in penis est par pene Talionis;
Vulnerat omne genus, nec sibi vulnus habet: 160
Sic quia vulnifico fixurus pectora telo
Vibrat amor, caute longius inde fuge.
Est nichil armorum quod prelia vincit amoris,
Nec sua quis firme federa pacis habet.
Credula res amor est subito collapsa dolore,
Nec sciet inceptor quis sibi finis erit.
Non sine stat bello miles qui dicit ad infra,
‘O quam me tacitum conscius vrit amor!’
Artibus innumeris mens exagitatur amantis,
Vt lapis equoreis vndique pressus aquis; 170
Nobilitas sub amore iacet, que sepe resurgit,
Sepius et nescit nobile quid sit iter:
Semper in incerta varians sub ymagine mentis,
Nunc leuat interius cordaque versat amor:
Cecus amor fatuos cecos sic ducit amantes,
Quod sibi quid deceat non videt vllus amans.
Impetus in furia, dic, quid non audet amoris?
Dum sitit amplexus, scit nichil vnde timet;
Non frondem siluis nec aperto gramina campo
Mollia, nec pleno flumine cernit aquas;[464] 180
Immo quasi cecus sic commoda, sic sibi dampna,
Impetus vt mentem cogit amare, facit.
Non polus aut tellus, Acheron, mare, sydus et ether,
Possunt vi ceptis rebus obesse suis;
Sepe ferens ymbrem celesti nube solutum
Frigidus in nuda sepe iacebit humo:
Nox et yemps longeque vie seuique dolores
Sunt ea que fatuis premia prestat amor.
Murmura quot seruis, tot sunt in amore dolores,
Sunt furor et pietas eius in orbe pares; 190
Sentit amans dampna, feruens tamen astat in illis,
Materiam pene prosequiturque sue.
O, quia per nullas amor est medicabilis herbas,
Nec vis nec sensus effugit eius onus;
Nullus ab innato valet hoc evadere morbo,
Sit nisi quod sola gracia curet eum.
O natura viri quam sit grauis, unde coactum
Eius ad interitum cogit amare virum!
O natura viri, poterit quam tollere nemo,
Nec tamen excusat quod facit ipsa malum! 200
O natura viri, duo que contraria mixta
Continet, amborum nec licet acta sequi!
Bella pudicicie carnis mouet illa voluptas;
Que sibi vult corpus, spiritus illa vetat.
O natura viri, que naturatur eodem,
Quod vitare nequit, nec licet illud agi!
O natura viri, fragilis que vim racionis
Dirimit, et bruti crimen ad instar habet!
Nil prosunt artes, furit inmedicabile vulnus;
Sit cum plus sapiens, vir furit inde magis; 210
Sique suam vellet flammam compescere quisquam,
Artem prevideat quam prius ipse cadat.
Dum freta mitescunt et amor dum temporat vsum,[465]
Tunc inter medium sit cuperanda salus.
Vinces si fugias, vinceris sique resistas;
Ne leo vincaris, tu lepus ergo fuge.
Femina nec flammas nec seuos effugit arcus;
Quo magis est fragilis, acrior ignis erit:
Vtque viros mulier fallit, sic vir mulieres,
Dum vulpinus amor verba lupina canit. 220
Fallere credentem non est laudanda puellam
Gloria, set false condicionis opus.
Est ars nulla viri Veneris subtilior arte,
Qua sua iura petat arte perhennat amor.
=Hic loquitur quod, vbi in milite mulierum dominatur amoris voluptas,
omnem in eo vere probitatis miliciam extinguit.=
Cap^m. iiii.
Non sibi vulnus habet miles probitate timere
Corporis, vt mundi laus sit habenda sibi,
Vulnera sed mentis timeat, quam ceca voluptas
Tela per ignita non medicanda ferit.
Vulnera corporea sanantur, set quis amore
Languet, eum sanum non Galienus aget: 230
Femineos mores teneat si miles, abibit
Orphanus a stirpe nobilitatis honor.
Dum sapiens miles quasi stultus et infatuatus
Incidit in speciem, fama relinquit eum:
Dum carnalis amor animum tenet illaqueatum,
Sensati racio fit racionis egens:
Dum iubar humani sensus fuscatur in umbra
Carnis, et in carnem mens racionis abit,
Stans hominis racio calcata per omnia carni
Seruit, et ancille vix tenet ipsa locum. 240
Set tamen in lance non ponderat omnibus eque,
~Nec~ dat condigna premia cecus amor:
Pellit ab officio sine causa sepe fideles,
Infidosque suo sepe dat esse loco:
Denegat ipse michi donum quandoque merenti,
Absque nota meriti quod dabit ipse tibi:
Sicut habes varios sine lumine scire colores,
Sic amor vt cecus dat sua iura viris.
Nunc tamen omnis ei miles quasi seruit, et eius
Ad portas sortem spectat habere suam. 250
=Hic loquitur de militibus illis, quorum vnus propter mulieris amorem,
alter propter inanem mundi famam, armorum labores exercet; finis tamen
vtriusque absque diuine laudis merito vacuus pertransit.=
Cap^m. v.
Milicie pars vna petit mulieris amorem,
Altera quod mundi laus sonet alta sibi.
Miles vbique nouum spirat temptatque fauorem
Munere lucrari, fama quod astet ei:
Scit tamen inde deus, quo iure cupit venerari,
Si dabit hoc mundus seu mulieris amor.
Si laudem mundi cupiat, tunc copia Cresi
Defluit, vt donis laus sonet alta suis:
Tunc aurum, vestes, gemmas et equos quasi grana
Seminat, vt laudis crescat in aure seges. 260
Set sibi femineum si miles adoptet amorem,
Carius hunc precio tunc luet ipse suo:[466]
Quod sibi natura, sibi vel deus attulit omne,
Corpus, res, animam, tot dabit inde bona.
Cum tamen ipse sui perfecerit acta laboris,
Laus et vtraque simul perfida fallat eum,
Cum nec fama loquax mundi peruenit ad aures,
Nec sibi castus amor reddit amoris opem,
Tunc deceptus ait, ‘Heu, quam fortuna sinistrat!
Cum labor a longo tempore cassus abit.’ 270
Tardius ipse venit, qui sic sibi plangit inepte,
Cum sibi non alius causa sit ipse doli.
Fert mundus grauia, fert femina set grauiora;
Hic mouet, illa ruit, hic ferit, illa necat.
Cum vicisse putet miles sibi vim mulieris,
Hec et amore pio cuncta petita fauet,
Vincitur ipse magis tunc quando magis superesse
Se putat, et mulier victa revincit eum.
Aut eciam mundi famam si miles adoptet,
Numquid et ipsa breui tempore vana perit. 280
O, cur sic miles mundi sibi querit honores,[467]
Cuius honor mundi stat sine laude dei,
Vulgi vaniloqui sermones miles honorem
Credit, et hos precio mortis habere cupit?
Nil tamen ipse cauet dum vincitur a muliere,
Quo reus ante deum perdit honoris opem.
Quid sibi vult igitur audacia sic animosa
Militis in vacuum, que racione caret?
Laus canitur frustra, nisi laudis sit deus auctor;
Dedecus est et honor qui sonat absque deo. 290
Nescio quid laudis cupit aut sibi miles honoris,
Dum deus indignum scit fore laudis eum.
=Hic loquitur interim de commendacione mulieris bone, cuius condicionis
virtus approbata omnes mundi delicias transcendit: loquitur eciam de
muliere mala, cuius cautelis vix sapiens resistit.=
Cap^m. vi.
Vna fuit per quam mulier deus altus ad yma
Venit, et ex eius carne fit ipse caro,
Cuius honore magis laudande sunt mulieres
Hee quibus est merito laudis agendus honor.
De muliere bona bona singula progrediuntur,
Cuius honestus amor prebet amoris opem:
Preualet argento mulier bona, preualet auro,
Condignum precii nilque valebit ei; 300
Lingua referre nequit aut scribere penna valorem
Eius, quam bonitas plena decore notat.
Nobilis in portis reuerendus vir sedet eius,
Hospiciumque suum continet omne bonum:
Vestibus ornantur famuli, quas ordine duplo
Eius in actiuis fert operosa manus:
Ocia nulla suos temptant discurrere sensus,
Quos muliebris ope seruat vbique pudor.
Sic laudanda bona meritis est laude perhenni,
Quam mala lingua loquax demere nulla potest. 310
Que tamen econtra mulier sua gesserit acta,
Non ideo reliquas polluit ipsa bonas:
Sunt nichil illa probo cum de vecorde loquamur,
Improba nec iustos scandala furis habent.
Sit licet absurdum nomen meretricis, ab illo
Quam pudor obseruat femina nulla capit;
Sit licet infamis meretrix, tamen illa pudicas
Non fedat fedo nomine feda suo.
Hic bonus, ille malus est angelus vnus et alter,
Nec valet vlla mali culpa nocere bono; 320
Nec decet infamis nomen mulieris honeste
Ledere, vel laudem tollere posse suam.
Fetida dumque rose se miscet invtilis herba,
Non tamen est alia quam fuit ante rosa:
Semper erat quod erit, vbi culpa patens manifestat[468]
Crimina, quale vident hoc opus ora canunt.
Quod tamen hic scribam, sit saluo semper honore
Hiis quibus obseruat gesta pudoris honor:
Ergo quod hic agitur, culpandas culpa figurat,
Quo laus laudandis sit tribuenda magis. 330
Scire malum prodest, pocius vitemus vt illud,
Labile pre manibus et caueamus iter.
De muliere mala mala queque venire solebant,
Est etenim pestis illa secunda viris:
Femina dulce malum mentem, decus ipsa virile,
Frangit, blandiciis insidiosa suis;
Sensus, diuicias, virtutes, robora, famam
Et pacem variis fraudibus ipsa ruit.
Mille modis fallit, subtiles milleque tendit
Insidias, vnus vt capiatur homo. 340
Femina talis enim gemmis radiantibus, auro,
Vestibus, vt possit fallere, compta venit:
Aptantur vestes, restringitur orta mamilla,
Dilatat collum pectoris ordo suum;
Crinibus et velis tinctis caput ornat, et eius
Aurea cum gemmis pompa decorat opus:
Vt magis exacuat oculos furientis in illam,
Anulus in digitis vnus et alter erit.
Non erit huius opus lanam mollire trahendo,
Set magis vt possit prendere compta viros: 350
Se quoque dat populo mulier speciosa videndam;
Quem trahit e multis forsitan vnus erit.
Ha quociens fictis verbis exardet amator,
Dum temptat forme subdola lingua bone!
In vicio decor est, mulier si verba placendi
Non habet, vt fatuos prouocet inde viros;
Crebraque complexis manibus suspiria mittit,
Nec sibi pollicito pondere verba carent:
Sepe sonat raucum quoddam, set amabile ridet,
Blesaque fit bleso lingua coacta sono. 360
Quo non ars poterit? discit lacrimare decenter,
Fallat vt hos vultu quos neque sermo trahit;
Vultibus et lacrimis in falsa cadentibus ora
Decipit et fingit vix sibi posse loqui;
Et quociens opus est, fallax egrotat amica,
Vultus et exterius absque dolore dolet.
Monstra maris Sirenes erant, que voce canora
Quaslibet admissas detenuere rates;[469]
Sic qui blandicias audit solito muliebres,
Non valet a lapsu saluus abire pedem. 370
Pingere sicut habet multas manus vna figuras,
Que variis formis diuaricabit opus,
Sola sibi varios mulier sic auget amantes,
Quos Venus in fatuam credere cogit opem.
Quod natura sibi sapiens dedit, illa reformat,
Et placet in blesis subdola lingua suis;
Eius enim plures fatuos facundia torquet,
Dum modo ridendo, nunc quoque flendo placet.
Sic fragili pingit totas in corpore partes,
Addit et ad formam quam deus ipse dedit. 380
Huius ego crimen detestor ferre loquele,
Quam magis expertus alter ab ante tulit;
Codice nempe suo referam que carmina vates
Rettulit Ouidius, nec michi verba tenent.
Vtque suum iuuenis mulier seruare decorem
Temptat et in variis amplificare studet,
Sic vetus amissi speciem renouare coloris
Spirat, et vnguentis sollicitabit opus.
Horrida sicut yemps agit vt neque lilia florent,[470]
Set riget amissa spina relicta rosa,[471] 390
Sic rapit a forma veteres etas mulieres,
Maior et est ruga quo solet esse rubor.
Dextra senectutis, tunc cum sit discolor etas,
Protegit antiquas picta colore genas:
Nam modus est tali casu quod femina vultum
Comat, vt vnguentis splendeat ipsa magis.
Arte supercilia mensurat, labraque rubro,
Gracius vt placeant, mixta colore iuuat;
Sepeque caniciem medicantibus ornat in herbis,
Et melior primo queritur arte color; 400
Sepeque precedit densissima crinibus empta,
Proque suis alios efficit esse suos;
Sicque venit rutilis humeros protecta capillis,
Et vultum iuuenis arte requirit anus.
Sepe crocum sumit, croceo velatur amictu,
Quo minus ex proprio lesa colore patet.
Quot noua terra parit flores in vere tepenti,
Tot habet ad curas femina feda suas.
Non omnes vna pulcras se pingere forma[472]
Crede, set est vsa quelibet arte sua; 410
Ista petit roseum, niueum cupit illa decorem,
Ista suos vultus pingit, et illa lauat;
Altera ieiunat misere minuitque cruorem,
Et prorsus quare palleat ipsa facit;
Nam que non pallet sibi rustica queque putatur,
‘Hic decet, hic color est verus amantis,’ ait.
Mille modis nostras impugnat femina mentes,[473]
Si tibi non videas, illico captus eris.
Feminei sensum virus tibi tollit amoris,
Recia cuius enim gracia sola fugit. 420
Ista dat amplexus dulces et mollia figit
Oscula, set tacito corde venena premit:
Fraudibus vxorum multi periere virorum,
Femina nil horret, cuncta licere putat;
Audet quicquid eam iubet imperiosa libido,
Et metus et racio cedit et ipse pudor:
Sepius esse solet quia pugnat forma pudori,
Raro de pulcris esse pudica potest.
Ve cui stulta comes sociali federe nupsit!
Non erit illius absque dolore thorus: 430
Federa seruasset, si non formosa fuisset,
Sponsa, que multociens res docet ista patens.
Quam Venus inspirat seruat custodia nulla,
Ad fatuam nullus limes agendus erit:
Cum Venus et mulier tempus que locum sibi spirant,
Non caret effectu quod voluere duo:
Frustratur custos mulieris, dum tamen ipsa
Se non custodit, si foret ipse Cato.
Tunc prius incipient turres vitare columbe,
Antra fere, pecudes gramina, mergus aquas, 440
Femina cum Veneris fatuum scrutetur amantem,
Et non inveniat ad sua facta locum.
Littora quot conchas, quot amena rosaria flores,
Quotque soporifera grana papauer habet,
Silua feras quot alit, quot piscibus vnda natatur,
Et tener ex pennis aera pulsat auis,
Non faciunt summam talem, que dicitur eque
Ad mala que mulier insidiosa parat.
Est mundus fallax, mulier fallacior ipso,
Senciit infidam nam paradisus eam:[474] 450
Est lupus ecce latens agni sub vellere mundus,
Quo lambit primo, fine remordet eo.
Hoc tamen est extra, set serpentina columba
Prouocat in thalamis dampna propinqua magis;[475]
Hec etenim serpens est, que per mille meandros
Decipit, et pungens corda quieta ferit.
Quis fortis manet aut sapiens illesus ab ipsa,
Celicus est, set eam vincere terra nequit:
Sampsonis vires gladius neque Dauid in ipsam
Quid laudis, sensus aut Salomonis habent. 460
Vt quid ad huc miles temptat superare modernus,
Vincere quod tanti non potuere viri?
Non est quem faciunt transacta pericula cautum,
Set magis in laqueos quos videt ipse cadit.
Quis vetat a magnis ad res exempla minores
Sumere? set noster non sinit illud amor.
Impetuosus agit pugnam gladiator, et idem
Immemor antiqui vulneris arma capit.
=Hic loquitur qualiter milicia bene disposita omnibus aliis gradibus
quibuscumque commune securitatis prestat emolumentum.=
Cap^m. vii.
O quam milicia terra consistit in ista
Audax, preclara, si bene viuat ea![476] 470
Si non pro mundi lucro neque laude laboret,[477]
Indomitus nec amor ferrea corda domet,
Miles perpetue laudis tunc vincet honore,
Nomen et eternum nobilitabit eum.
Si bona milicia fuerit, deus astat in illa,
Vincat vt invicto miles in ense suo:
Si bona milicia fuerit, vigilat bona fama,[478]
Que iacet in lecto victa sopore modo:
Si bona milicia fuerit, tum pace reviua
Sponsus cum sponsa preparat acta sua: 480
Si bona milicia fuerit, tunc hostis ab illa
Sternitur ecclesie, crescit et ipsa fide:
Si bona milicia fuerit, taxacio dura
Que sonat in patria tunc erit absque nota:
Si bona milicia, tunc non tardabit adesse
Pax, cum qua redeunt prospera cuncta simul.
Qui bonus est miles nequit exercere pauorem,
Nec tepide mentis intima lesa gerat:
Qui bonus est miles mundi terit omne superbum,
Vincit et ex humili corde maligna ferus: 490
Qui bonus est miles pro Cristi nomine certat,
Et rem communem protegit ipse manu:
Qui bonus est miles probat et bene scit quod in orbe
De belli fine pacis origo venit;
Talis enim miles de vera laude meretur
Quicquid in hoc mundo regula laudis habet.
=Hic loquitur qualiter milicie improbitas alios gradus quoscumque sua
ledit importunitate et offendit.=
Cap^m. viii.
Si tamen econtra miles sua gesserit arma,
Euenient plura dampna timenda mala:
Si mala milicia, nichil est scutum, nichil hasta,
Nec manus in gladio fulget honore suo: 500
Si malus est miles, quis nos defendet in armis?[479]
Si mollis fuerit, aspera nostra dabit:
Si mala milicia, quid clerus vel sibi cultor
Possunt, dum foribus guerra patebit eis?
Si mala milicia fuerit, tunc hostis agenda
Dat renouare ferus, qui solet esse pius.
Sic bonus ille bona, malus aut mala fert metuenda,[480]
Qui gerit in manibus nostra tuenda suis.
Munda manus mire probitatis conferet ictus,
Dum polluta suis sordibus arua fugit: 510
Conscius ipse sibi, mala dum meditabitur acta,
Hesitat, et varia mente vacillat opus.
Moribus arma vigent, aliter fortuna recedit,
Stat probitas viciis proxima nulla diu.
Moribus ergo stude, miles, viciisque resiste
Belliger, et valide publica iura foue.
Est michi nil cunctas terrarum vincere turmas,
Dum solo vicio vincor inermis ego:
Nec magis in culpa quid obest quam miles ad arma
Tardus, et assissis promptus inesse lucris. 520
Hostibus vt perdix vicinis ancipiterque
Miles dum steterit, res sibi vilis erit.
Non valet hic dignus amplexibus esse Rachelis,
Inclita quem Martis arma beare negant:
Que speciosa viro tali concedit amorem,
Errat et ignorat quid sit amoris honor.
Lya magis feda pro coniuge congruit immo
Tali, qui minime gesta valoris habet:
Tales ad Lyam redeant et eam sibi iungant,[481]
Lya sit hic pauidus, qui nequit esse Rachel. 530
Nullus ametur homo qui non est dignus amore,
Sit set amoris egens qui negat eius onus:
Non sine sollicito septenni temporis actu
Captus amore Iacob colla Rachelis habet.
Set quem causa lucri mouet vt procedat ad arma,
Miles honore suo nil probitatis habet.
Vulturis est hominum natura cadauera velle,
Vt cibus occurrat bellica castra sequi;
Sunt similes qui bella volunt, qui castra sequntur,
Qui spoliis inhiant esuriendo lucrum: 540
Horret auis rapidum quia predat proxima nisum,
Et pecus austerum quodlibet esse lupum.
Qui tibi delicias, miles, preponis, et arma
Deseris, et requiem queris habere domi,
Pauperis et spolia depredans more leonis,
Quo maceras alios, tu tibi crassa rapis,
Que tibi torpor agit, que deliciosa voluptas
Suadet, auaricie pelleque lucra simul:
Suscipe sanguinei trepidancia munera belli,
Credoque quod vicia iam tibi terga dabunt. 550
Ante suum lucrum miles preponat honorem,
Dans sua vota deo cunctaque vincet eo:
Heu! modo set video quod honor postponitur auro,
Preferturque deo mundus et ipsa caro.
Milicie numerus crescit, decrescit et actus;
Sic honor est vacuus, dum vacuatur onus.
=Postquam dictum est de illis qui in statu militari rem publicam
seruare debent illesam, dicendum est iam de istis qui ad cibos et potus
pro generis humani sustentacione perquirendos agriculture labores
subire tenentur.=
Cap^m. ix.
Que sit milicia iam vos audistis, et vltra
Dicam de reliquis, regula que sit eis.
Nam post miliciam restat status vnus agrestis,
In quo rurales grana que vina colunt. 560
Hii sunt qui nobis magni sudore laboris
Perquirunt victus, iussit vt ipse deus:
Est et eis iure nostri primi patris Ade
Regula, quam summi cepit ab ore dei.
Nam deus inquit ei, dum corruit a Paradisi
Floribus, in terram cepit et ire viam:
‘O transgresse, labor mundi tibi sint quoque sudor,
In quibus vteris panibus ipse tuis.’
Vnde dei seriem cultor si seruet eundem,
Ac opus in cultu sic gerat ipse manu, 570
Tunc pariet fructus quam fertilis ordine campus,
Vuaque temporibus stabit habunda suis.
Nunc tamen illud opus vix querit habere colonus,
Set magis in viciis torpet vbique suis.
Inter quos plebis magis errat iniqua voluntas,
Sulcorum famulos estimo sepe reos.
Sunt etenim tardi, sunt rari, sunt et auari,
Ex minimo quod agunt premia plura petunt:
Nunc venit hic usus, petit en plus rusticus vnus,
Tempore preterito quam peciere duo; 580
Et dudum solus plus contulit vtilitatis
Nunc tribus, vt dicunt qui bene facta sciunt.
Sicut enim vulpis resonantibus vndique siluis
De fouea foueam querit et intrat eam,
Sic famulus sulci contrarius ammodo legi
De patria patriam querit habere moram.
Ocia magnatum cupiunt hii, nil tamen vnde
Se nutrire queunt, ni famulentur, habent:
Hos seruire deus naturaque disposuerunt,
Ille vel illa tamen hos moderare nequit: 590
Quisque tenens terras has plangit in ordine gentes,
Indiget omnis eis, nec reget vllus eas.
Non impune deum veteres spreuere coloni,
Nec mundi procerum surripuere statum;
Set seruile deus opus imponebat eisdem,
Quo sibi rusticitas corda superba domet:
Mansit et ingenuis libertas salua, que seruis
Prefuit atque sua lege subegit eos.
Nos magis hesterna facit experiencia doctos,
Quid sibi perfidie seruus iniqus habet; 600
Vt blada cardo nocens minuit, si non minuatur,
Sic grauat indomitus rusticus ipse probos.
Vngentem pungit pungentem rusticus vngit,
Regula nec fallit quam vetus ordo docet:
Vulgi cardones lex amputet ergo nociuos,
Ne blada pungentes nobiliora terant.
Nobile quicquid habent seu dignum, rustica proles
Ledit in ingenuis, sit nisi lesa prius:
Quod sit rusticitas vilis, docet actus ad extra,
Que minus ingenuos propter honesta colit; 610
Vtque labant curue iusto sine pondere naues,
Sic, nisi sit pressus, rusticus ipse ferus.
Contulit et tribuit deus et labor omnia nobis,
Commoda sunt hominis absque labore nichil;
Rusticus ergo sua committat membra labori,
Ocia postponens, sicut oportet agi.
Horrea sicut ager sterilis sub vomere cultus
Fallit, et autumpno fert lucra nulla domum,
Sic miser ipse, tuo cum plus sit cultus amore,
Rusticus in dampnum fallit agitque tuum. 620
Nulla ferunt sponte serui seruilia iura,
Nec sibi pro lege quid bonitatis habent:
Quicquid agit paciens corpus seruile subactum,
Mens agit interius semper in omne malum.
Contra naturam fiunt miracula, vires
Nature deitas frangere sola potest:
Non est hoc hominis, aliquis quod condicionis
Seruorum generis rectificare queat.
=Hic loquitur eciam de diuersis vulgi laborariis, qui sub aliorum
regimine conducti, variis debent pro bono communi operibus subiugari.=
Cap^m. x.
Gens et adhuc alia cultoribus est sociata,
Que stat communis, ordo nec vllus eis: 630
Hii sunt qui cuiquam nolunt seruire per annum,
Hos vix si solo mense tenebit homo;
Set conventiciis tales conduco dietis,
Nunc hic, nunc alibi, nunc michi nuncque tibi.
Horum de mille vix est operarius ille
Qui tibi vult pacto fidus inesse suo.
Hec est gens illa que denaturat in aula,[482]
Potibus atque cibis dum manet ipsa tuis:
Dum commensalis conductus sit tibi talis,
Omnes communes reprobat ipse cibos: 640
Omnia salsa nocent, tantum neque cocta placebunt,
Ni sibi des assum, murmurat ipse statim;
Nil sibi ceruisia tenuis neque cisera confert,[483]
Nec rediet tibi cras, ni meliora paras.
O cur sic potum petit hic sibi deliciosum,
Quem fouet ex ortu limpha petita lacu?
Pauperis ex stirpe natus, quoque pauper et ipse,
Vt dominus stomacho poscit habere suo.
Nil sibi lex posita prodest, nam regula nulla
Talibus est, nec quis prouidet inde malis: 650
Hec est gens racione carens vt bestia, namque
Non amat hec hominem, nec putat esse deum.
Hiis, nisi iusticia fuerit terrore parata,
Succumbent domini tempore credo breui.
=Quia varias rerum proprietates vsui humano necessarias nulla de se
prouincia sola parturit vniuersas, inter alios mundi coadiutores Ciuium
Mercatores instituuntur, per quos singularum bona regionum alternatim
communicantur, de quorum iam actibus scribere consequenter intendit.=
Cap^m. xi.
Si mea nobilibus vrbanis scripta revoluam,
Quid dicam, set eis est honor est et onus?
Est honor vt tantas teneat Ciuis sibi gasas,
Est onus vt lucra querit habere mala:
Est honor officium maioris prendere ciuem,
Est onus officii iura tenere sui: 660
Transit honor set perstat onus, quod si male gessit,
Hoc scio, quod pondus non leuiabit honor.
Vrbs stat communis de gentibus ecce duabus,
Sunt Mercatores, sunt simul artifices:
Indiget alterius sic alter habere iuuamen,
Vt sit communis sic amor inter eos;
Vincula namque duo sibi stringunt forcius vno,
Sic duo cum socii sint in amore probi.
Inter maiores dum firmus amorque minores
Permanet, vrbs gaudet et policia viget: 670
Crescere rem minimam gentis concordia prestat,
Maxima res discors labitur inque nichil.
Vnio dum gentis durat, durabit et vrbis
Mutua iusticia, plaudit et omnis ea;
Si sit et econtra, tunc vrbes mutua dampna
Vexant, et rara sunt magis inde lucra.
Sicut et audiui, sic possum testificari,
Vix sedet in Banco regula iusta modo:
Non sapit ille deum qui totus inheret habendum
Has pompas mundi, nomen vt addat ei. 680
In specie nullos statuo neque culpo, set illos
Qui propter mundum preteriere deum:
Set qui iudicium cordis vult reddere iustum,
Credo quod ante deum se dabit inde reum.
Omnes namque lucris sic tendimus omnibus horis,
Quod iam festa deo vix manet vna dies.
O quam Iudeus domini sacra sabbata seruat,
Non vendens nec emens, nec sibi lucra petens!
Lex diuina iubet, quod homo sua sabbata sacret,
Sanctificetque diem, quo colat ipse deum. 690
Cum plueret manna per desertum deus olim,
Quod fecit populus tunc modo signa notat:
Duppla die sexta tollebant facta, laborem
Ostendunt, quia lux septima nescit opus.
Omnia set licita sunt nobis lege moderna:
Respectu lucri quid sacra festa michi?
Nil modo curatur, qua forma quisque lucratur,
Dum tamen ipse suum possit habere lucrum.
Dic michi quis socius est aut tibi carus amicus,
Cuius amicicia fert tibi nulla lucra. 700
Dic modo quis ciuis manet expers fraudis in vrbe:
Si fuerit talis, vrbs mea vix scit eum.
=Hic loquitur de binis Auaricie filiabus, scilicet Vsura et Fraude,
que in ciuitate orientes ad ciuium negociaciones secretum prestant
obsequium. Set primo dicet de condicione Vsure, que vrbis potencioribus
sua iura specialius ministrat.=
Cap^m. xii.
O quam subtiles Fraus ac Vsura sorores
Sunt, quibus vrbani dant sua iura quasi!
Hee fuerant genite diuersis patribus vrbe,
Quas peperit sola mater Auaricia;
Est pater Vsure magnus diuesque monete,
Est Fraus et vulgo degenerata stupro:
Sic soror Vsura stat nobilior genitura,
Quam clamat natam diues habere suam. 710
Nititur hec magnas sub claue recondere summas,
Ex quibus insidias perficit ipsa suas:
Ista soror dampno solum viget ex alieno,
Alterius dampna dant sibi ferre lucra:
Est soror ista potens, aulas que struxit in vrbe,
Et tamen agrestes dissipat ipsa domos;
Ista soror ciuem ditat, set militis aurum
Aufert et terras vendicat ipsa suas.
Vsuram dominus defendit lege perhenni,
Vnde satis clare scripta legenda patent. 720
Nonne foret sapiens qui posset ponere glosam
Hunc contra textum, quem dedit ipse deus?
Hoc scit mercator instanti tempore ciuis,
Qui probat vsuram posse licere suam:
Omnia nuda patent, quapropter vestibus ipsam
Induit, vt ficto fallat operta dolo.
Sic latet Vsure facies depicta colore
Fraudis, vt hinc extra pulcra pateret ea;
Si tamen inde genus sic vertat fraude dolosus,
Vsure species stat velut ipsa prius. 730
Nonne deum fallit cautelis institor ipse,
Talia dum scelera celat in arte sua?
Est deus aut cecus, qui singula cernit vbique?
Vsure tunicam cernit et odit eam.
=Postquam dixit de potencia Vsure, iam de Fraudis subtilitate dicere
intendit, que de communi consilio quasi omnibus et singulis in emendo
et vendendo ea que sunt agenda procurat et subtiliter disponit.=
Cap^m. xiii.
Ista soror grauia parat, altera set grauiora,
Nam stat communis omnibus ipsa locis:
Quo tamen Vsura pergit Fraus vadit et illa,
Vna viam querit, altera complet opus.
Vrbibus Vsura tantum manet hiis sociata
Quorum thesaurus nescit habere pares; 740
Set Fraus ciuiles perstat communis ad omnes,
Consulit et cunctis viribus ipsa suis:
Clam sua facta facit, nam quem plus decipit ipsa,
Ipse prius sentit quam videt inde malum.
Stans foris ante fores proclamat Fraus iuuenilis
Merces diuersas, quicquid habere velis.
Quot celi stelle, tot dicet nomina rerum,
Huius et istius, et trahit atque vocat:
Quos nequit ex verbis, tractu compellit inire,
‘Hic,’ ait, ‘est quod vos queritis, ecce veni.’ 750
Sic apprenticius plebem clamore reducit,
Ad secreta doli quando magister adest:
Dum Fraus namque vetus componit verba dolosa,
Incircumventus nullus abire potest:
Si sapiens intrat, Fraus est sapiencior illo,
Et si stultus init, stulcior inde redit.
Ad precium duplum Fraus ponit singula, dicens
Sic, ‘Ita Parisius Flandria siue dedit.’
Quod minus est in re suplent iurancia verba,
Propter denarium vulnerat ipsa deum; 760
Nam nichil in Cristo membrorum tunc remanebit,
Dum iuramentis Fraus sua lucra petit.
Hac set in arte tamen nos sepe domos fore plenas
Cernimus, et proprium nil domus ipsa tenet:
Sicque per ypocrisim ciuis perquirit honorem,
Quo genuflexa procul plebs valedicat ei:
Accidit vnde sibi quasi furtim maior vt ipse
Astat in vrbe sua, qui minor omnibus est.
Set cum tempus erit quo singula nuda patebunt,
Dedecus euertit quod decus ante fuit; 770
Nam cum quisque suum repetit, tunc coruus amictus
Alterius pennis nudus vt ante volat.
Fraus et ab vrbe venit campestres querere lanas,
Ex quibus in stapula post parat acta sua.
Numquid vina petit Fraus que Vasconia gignit?[484]
Hoc dicunt populi rite nocere sibi:
Fraus manet in doleo, trahit et vult vendere vinum,
Sepeque de veteri conficit ipsa nouum.
Fraus eciam pannos vendet, quos lumine fusco
Cernere te faciet, tu magis inde caue: 780
Discernat tactus, vbi fallunt lumina visus,
Ne te pannificus fraudet in arte dolus.
Absit enim species quis vendat Fraude negante,
Dumque suis mixtis dat veterata nouis;
Decimat in lance sibi, partem sepeque sextam[485]
Pondere subtili Fraus capit ipsa sibi.[486]
=Hic loquitur vlterius quomodo Fraus singula artificia necnon et vrbis
victualia vbicunque sua subtili disposicione gubernat.=
Cap^m. xiiii.
Nolunt artifices Fraudis deponere leges,
Cuius in arbitrio dant sua facta modo:
Fabricat ista ciphos, argentum purgat et aurum,[487]
Set capit ex puro purius ipsa tuo; 790
Conficit ex vitris gemmas oculo preciosas,
Nomen et addit eis, fallat vt inde magis.
Si quid habes panni, de quo tibi vis fore vestem,
Fraus tibi scindit eam, pars manet vna sibi;
Quamuis nil sit opus vestis mensuraque fallit,
Plus capit ex opere quam valet omne tibi.
Set quid pellicibus albis, nigris, quoque grisis
Dicam? numquid eis Fraus iuuat ipsa prius?
Fraus prima facie trahit in longum satis apte,[488]
Quod trahit hoc hodie, cras caret inde pede: 800
Fraus quoque debilia vendens care facit arma,
Contractos et equos Fraus facit armigeros:
Fluxum candele Fraus de pinguedine facte
Prouocat, hinc fluxus sit sibi perpetuus:
Fraus eciam sellas, ocreas facit et sotulares;[489]
Omnem nunc artem Fraus facit esse suam.
Fraus etenim carnes populo vendit, quoque pisces,
Condolet hinc gustus dum sapit inde prius:
Fraus facit ob panes pistores scandere clatas,
Furca tamen furis iustior esset eis:[490] 810
Ceruisie domina Fraus est, testante lagena,
Qua vix per seriem scit Thethis esse Cerem:[491]
Fraus cocus et cocta componit et ordinat assa,
Inque cibos horum conuocat ipsa forum:
Vt furit absque modo clamor constanter abisso,
Sic Fraus assa sibi clamat in aure fori.
Hospes in hospiciis Fraus gaudet de peregrinis,
Set peregrinus eam plangit habere malam:
Sincopat in modio, decaudat fraus minuendo
Fena per apocapen, lucra colendo tamen. 820
Dum curat minima, Fraus pullos vendit et oua,
Est nichil inque foro, quin regit ipsa dolo:
Fraus procurator communis in vrbe notatur;
Dum causas iungit, semper id vna luit.
Vt numeranda maris consistunt litora nobis,
Sunt infiniti fraudis in ore doli.
Fraus facit et facta vendit, quoque iudicat acta,
Ambicione sua statque per omne rea.
Non commune bonum Fraus cum sit rector agendum
Auget, set proprium spectat habere lucrum. 830
Sic patet in fine, nunc transiit exul ab vrbe
Ipsa Fides sterilis, Fraus parit atque magis.
Hoc ego non dico, quod Fraus dominatur in omnes,
Iusto nam ciui Fraus nichil addit ibi.
=Hic loquitur de ciue illo[492] maliuolo et impetuoso, qui maioris
ministerium[493] sibi adoptans in conciues suam accendit maliciam, quo
magis sanum ciuitatis regimen sua importunitate perturbat et extinguit.=
Cap^m. xv.
Turpiter errat auis, proprium que stercore nidum,
Cuius erit custos, contaminare studet:
Dedecus est ciui sociis qui tollit honorem,
Quo campestris habet ciue priora loca.
Est inter populum furiosus vbique timendus,
Saltem dum gladium possidet ipse manu; 840
Est set in vrbe magis hominis metuenda potestas,
Iudicis officio dum furit ipse suo.
Vtpote sola domum poterit sintilla cremare,
Sic malus indigena solus in vrbe grauat.
Mutatis subito rebus natura gemescit,
Et magis insolita de nouitate dolet,
Sorte repentina dum pauper in vrbe leuatur,
Et licet indignus culmen honoris habet.
Vrbis nobilitas poterit tunc dampna timere,
Cum noua stultorum gloria laudat eum. 850
Arridet stultus stulto, vir iniqus iniquo,
Gaudet sensatus cum sapiente viro.
Asperius nichil est humili cum surgit in altum,
Saltem cum seruus nascitur ipse prius;
Mens antiqua manet serui de condicione,
Det quamuis summum sors sibi ferre statum.
Si cursoris equi sella sit Asellus opertus,
Non tamen in cursu fit magis inde celer:
Indoctus que rudis nec homo mutatur honore,
Rusticitate sua quin magis asper erit. 860
Coruum perfidie dampnant animalia queque,
Sic est de ciue qui stat in vrbe male:
Quamuis sors fallax hominem sine moribus vrbe
Preponat, quis sit vltima fama dabit.
Vir malus est hominum multorum sepe flagellum,
Quem deus ad tempus plura mouere sinit:
Fine tamen proprio capiti mala cuncta refundit,
Que foris in populo fecerat ipse prius.
Mille cados olei premit vncia sola veneni,
Solus millenos vir malus atque bonos: 870
Ignitus carbo plures producit in ignem,
Sic mala multa facit, quo manet ipse, malus:
Talis enim summam fuerit cum scansus in arcem,
Spirat et imperio subdere cuncta suo,
Vertitur ecce rota, prius et qui celsior vrbis
Extitit, inferior omnibus ipse cadit.[494]
Fraus florere potest, set fructificare nequibit,
Nec sua radices plantula firmat humo:
Res probat in fine, cum quis tumefactus auare
Se dabit in precium, non fore grande lucrum. 880
Quisque valet speculo satis ista videre moderno,[495]
Vix tamen est sapiens, qui cauet acta videns.
=Hic loquitur eciam de ciue illo, qui linguosus et Susurro inter
conciues seminator discordiarum existit. Loquitur de variis eciam[496]
periculis occasione lingue male contingentibus.=
Cap^m. xvi.
Dum Susurro manet et vir linguosus in vrbe,
Plebis in obprobrium scandala plura mouet;
Nam linguosus homo reliquos velut altera pestis
Ledit, et vt turbo sepe repente nocet.
Set quia lingua mala mundo scelus omne ministrat,
Que sibi sunt vires dicere tendo graues.
Lingua mouet lites, lis prelia, prelia plebem,
Plebs gladios, gladii scismata, scisma necem; 890
Extirpat regnis, dat flammis, depopulatur
Lingua duces, lingua predia, lingua domos:
Lingua maritorum nexus dissoluet, et vnum
Quod deus instituit, efficit esse duo;
Lite fugantque viros nupte, nuptasque mariti,
Inque malum dicunt res sibi semper agi.
Corporis exigua pars nulli parcere nouit,
Fallax et facilis fasque nephasque loqui:
Fermentum modicum totum corrumpit aceruum;
Exacuens mentem singula membra mouet. 900
Non nichil est quod eam duplex custodia seruat,
Ne fluat in verbis impetuosa suis:
Dentibus obstruxit prudens natura palatum,
Vt claustro residens clausa silere queat;
Talis eam custos stimulis castigat acutis,
Vt nichil abrupte queque licenter agat:
Exterius datur alter ei custos labiorum,
Vt duplex duplici ianua claudat iter:
Osseus ordo prior excessus corrigit, alter
Carneus et madidus micia verba facit. 910
Hos tamen erumpit aditus quandoque latenter,
Et ruit in verba que reuocare nequit:
Impetus huius habet rerum discrimina mille,
Que velut ignis edax prospera queque vorant.
Dicere qui poterit quot in ethere lumina lucent,
Paruaque quot siccus corpora puluis habet,
Vix satis est sapiens homo talis vt omnia dicat
Semina pestifera que mala lingua serit.
Nemo referre potest mala que linguosus in vrbe
Parturit, et duplo prouocat ore dolos. 920
Res mala lingua loquax, res peior, pessima res est,
Que quamuis careat ossibus, ossa terit:
Non locus est pacis vbi regnat lingua loquacis;
Qui nec habet pacem, non habet ipse deum:
Qui sine pace dei discordat, habere salutem
Non valet, est et opus absque salute nichil:
Omne quod adquirit sibi pax, discordia tollit,
Quicquid et ista leuans erigit, illa ruit.
Est vbi regnat amor deus; est vbi nullus amator,
Dirigat vt causas nescit adesse deus: 930
Est grauior plumbi massa sic garrula lingua,
Pondere sub cuius corruit vrbis honor.
Qui mala vult vrbi conciuis nesciat vrbem,
Ianua fallaci nec sit aperta viro:
Ore licet duplex talis canat vrbis honorem,
Corde silens tacite semina fraudis habet:
Sicut aqua piscis gaudet, letatur iniqus
Dum videt alterius dampna patere magis.
Fontem dum solus communem toxicat vnus,
Plebs perit et pestis magna repente venit: 940
Ciuis qui ciues conturbat et opprimit omnes,
Exulis aut mortis sit sibi pena prius.
Dum dens solus olet, totum caput inficit ille,
Si foris extrahitur, cessat ab inde dolor;
Sic prius extractus sit ciuis in vrbe malignus,
Quam ciuilis honor perdat in vrbe locum.
Expedit vnus enim moriatur, ne quasi tota
Gens pereat lesa de grauitate sua.
Vrbis rector, age quod sit concordia, que dat[497]
Pacem: pax etenim prospera cuncta parit. 950
Non sonet in populis sermo tuus impetuosus;
Dulcibus est verbis vrbis alendus amor.
Obsequium tigresque domat tumidosque leones,
Rustica paulatim taurus aratra subit;
Sic sibi quod nequeunt, valet hoc prudencia, vires,[498]
Comptaque de facili pondere complet opus.
Non satis vna tenet agitatas anchora puppes,
Nec satis est liquidis vnicus hamus aquis;
Sola nec vna viri persona potest sine plebis
Auxilio cunctas vrbis habere vices. 960
Principiis obsta, si tu potes, aut sapienter
Discute paulatim quod nequis ipse simul:
Tempora dum veteris queris temeraria dampni,
Sepe magis morbum quam medicamen habent:
Curando fieri quedam maiora videmus
Vulnera, que melius non tetigisse fuit.
Flumina magna vides paruis de fontibus orta,
Flumina collectis multiplicantur aquis:
Sepius, in primo quod erat sanabile vulnus,
Dilatum longo tempore nescit opem. 970
Ad vomitum scelus est reuocabile fitque nouatum
Vulnus, et infirmis causa pusilla nocet:
Vulnus in antiqum rediet mala sana cicatrix;
Defectus cure causa prioris erat.
Vt vix extinctum cinerem sub sulphure tangas,[499]
Viuit, et ex minimo maximus ignis erit;
Sic indiscrete veterem qui corripit iram,
Commouet ex facili ferre quod ipse nequit:
Quelibet extinctos iniuria suscitat ignes,
Quo prius oblita forcius ira redit. 980
Ira subit, deforme malum, lucrique cupido;
Est vbi nullus amor, vrbs habet omne nephas:
Crimina dicuntur, resonat clamoribus ether,
Inuocat iratum sic sibi quisque deum.
Pertinet ad ciues rabidos compescere mores
Candida pax homines, trux decet ira feras:
Nulla fides, vbi nullus amor, set amore remoto
Ignorat proprium quisquis in vrbe gradum.
Dum diuisa manet plebs a sapientibus vrbis,
Consilium multe calliditatis init: 990
Ignis, aqua dominans duo sunt pietate carentes,
Vulgus et indomitus peior habetur eis.
Nuper iusticia pax et concordia ciues
Rebus et in causis rectificare solet.
Nunc vbi sunt? dicas. Non hic. Cur tunc abierunt?
Liuor et argenti lamina causa fuit.
Quod dolus adquirit, lucrum durabile non est,
Invidie nec amor durat in vrbe comes.
Ablue preteriti periuria temporis, oro;
Ablue preterita perfida verba die. 1000
Sic plus quam credi poterit fortuna reviuet,
Surget et in precium quod modo vile cadit.
Assolet interdum fieri placabile numen,
Nube solet pulsa clarior esse dies:
Pax datur in terris quibus extat honesta voluntas;
Vir malus omne quod est pacis ab vrbe fugat.
Roma caput mundi fuit omni tempore, saltem
Dum communis amor rexit in vrbe forum:
Set diuisa statim viduata recessit honore,
Eius et imperium perdidit omne decus. 1010
Non honor Athenis decessit, dummodo ciues
Vnanimes odium non habuere simul;
Postea quando grauis vrbem diuisio spersit,
Ammodo de veteri sumpsit honore nichil.
Sors tamen illa deo mediante recedat ab vrbe
Nostra, que magno fulsit honore diu.
FOOTNOTES:
[459] 18 ita] ei D
[460] _Heading_ 1 amore DLT
[461] 40 Qui] Oui S
[462] 45 Architesis (architesis) CEHGDL Archtesis S archtesis T
[463] 73 Ebria CE
[464] 180 Molia S
[465] 213 temporat SGD temꝑat CEHL
[466] 262 Carnis EL
[467] 281 sic CEHGDL si S
[468] 325 quod erit S et erit CEHGDL
[469] 368 detinuere CE
[470] 389 hyemps C
[471] 390 Sic C
[472] 409 _Paragr. here_ CEHT
[473] 417 impugnat ED impu_n_gnat SHL
[474] 450 _Text_ SH₂ Illa quidem fatuos que ligat arte viros CEHGTDL
[475] 454 in thalamis S interius CEHGDL
[476] 470 viuit C
[477] 471 laborat CE
[478] 487 f. _Two lines om._ DL _No paragr._ CEHT
[479] 501 nos CEGDL non SHTH₂
[480] 507 Si CE
[481] 529 Liam SL
[482] 637 _No paragr._ SD
[483] 643 seruisia CE
[484] 775 gignit CEDL gingnit SH
[485] 785 sibi SEHH₂ fraus CGDL
[486] 786 fraus capit SEHH₂ surripit CGDL
[487] 789 ista SG ipsa CEHD ip_s_e L
[488] 799 Stans C
[489] 805 eciam CEHDLT etenim S sellas] cellas CEL
[490] 810 ffurta EDLT
[491] 812 Thethis (thethis) SCEHGT Thetis D tethis L
[492] Cap. xv. _Heading_ 1 ciue illo S illo ciue CEHGDLT
[493] 2 ministerium] officium CE
[494] 876 cadet CE
[495] 881 Quis valet in speculo D Quisq_ui_s valet spec_u_lo L
[496] Cap. xvi. _Heading_ 2 f. eciam de variis EDL
[497] 949 _Ordinary paragraph_ CEDL
[498] 955 sibi CEHGDLH₂ vbi S
[499] 975 _No paragr._ CEHTD
=Exquo de errore in singulis temporalium gradibus existente tractatum
est, iam quia vnumquemque sub legis iusticia gubernari oportet,
tractare vlterius intendit de illis qui iuris ministri dicuntur,
quamuis tamen ipsi omnem suis cautelis iusticiam confundunt, et propter
mundi lucrum multipliciter eneruant.=
=Incipit liber Sextus.=
Cap^m. i.
Sunt modo quam plures nomen de lege gerentes,
Qui tamen in parte nomen habent sine re:
Hii sine lege dei sub lege viri quasi fictum
Vsurpant nomen legis habere suum;
Est quibus omnis amor extraneus, omnis et error
Proximus et proprii causa creata lucri:
Hic labor, hoc opus est primo cum munere iungi,
Est sine quo lingue muta loquela sue.
Qui tamen ad veras leges vacat, et sine fraude
Iusticiam querule proximitatis agit, 10
Vt psalmista canit, est vir magis ille beatus;
Paucos set tales iam sibi tempus habet.
Aurea pugna nouo sic conterit vlcere leges,
Lesa quod vlterius iura salute carent.
Hoc ego quod plebis vox clamat clamo, nec vllos,
Sint nisi quos crimen denotat, ipse noto.
Talibus in specie, quos deuiat error auare,
Non aliis ideo scripta sequenter ago.
Legis sub clamide latet ars, qua lex sine iure
Vertit vt est velle quolibet acta die; 20
Causidici talem poterunt dum plectere legem,
Transformant verbis iura creata suis.
Iuris in effigie sunt omnia picta colore,
Quo magis occultum fert sibi lucra forum:
Iusta vel iniusta non curant quomodo causa
Stat, set vt illa lucris fertilis astet eis.
Nunc cum causidicus aduerse ius fore partis
Scit, tunc cautelas prouocat ipse suas:
Quod nequit ex lege, cautelis derogat ipse,
Cum nequeat causam vincere, vexat eam: 30
Si tamen hanc vincat, mos exigit et modo prestat[500]
Legis sensati nomen habere sibi:
Nam nisi cautelis laruare sciat sibi leges,
Tunc dicent alii, deficit actus ei.
Sic actus falsi leges confundere veri
Preualet, et lucro plus capit inde suo;
Sic cum causidicus fuerit sapiencior, auctis
Legem cautelis opprimit ipse suis.
Sic lex pro forma patet, et cautela perita
Stat pro materia iuraque vincit ea. 40
Hec est linguosa gens, que vult litigiosa
In falsis causis vociferare magis.
Vult sibi causidicus seruare modum meretricis,
Que nisi sit donum nescit amare virum,
Est et, vt ipse vides, semper venalis ad omnes;
Aurum si sibi des, corpus habere potes.
Cuius enim generis aut ordinis est homo nusquam
Curat, dum poterit quicquid habere lucri.
Vt via communis astat Rome peregrinis,
Qui veniunt sanctis reddere vota locis; 50
Est ita vulgaris domibus via causidicorum,
Qua graditur populus donaque reddit eis.
Nam velut antiqui iustos strinxere tiranni,
Qui renuerunt diis reddere thura suis,
Sic modo causidicus vicinos stringit auarus,
Qui sunt inviti ferre tributa sibi,
Sic video populos modo sacrificare coactos
Causidico legis, ne male fiat eis.
Diuerse gentes, vt sufficit ipsa facultas,
Munera diuersa dant sibi sepe noua: 60
Conuenit immo tibi, donum si deficit auri,
Munus vt argenti des reuerenter ei;
Si tamen argentum non est, exennia prebe
Illi, quem saciat est quod in orbe nichil.
Singula que terra bona gignit, et ether in alto,[501]
Seu mare, de dono querit habere tuo;
Ex omni parte, sic post, sic congregat ante;
Dum tamen omne capit, nil tibi retro dabit.
Non vno volucres laqueo set pluribus auceps
Carpit, nec pisces vnicus hamus habet; 70
Lex in non leges iam transmutata nec vnum
Rethe, set in lucrum recia mille parat.[502]
Vndique casus adest legis, quo pendulus hamus
Aurea de burse gurgite dona capit;
Non via talis erit qua non scrutabitur auri
Arte vel ingenio, vi vel amore, lucrum.
Contextat tenues subtilis aranea telas,
Possit vt hiis predas illaqueare suas;
Si veniat musca volutans, cadit ipsa retenta,[503]
Nisus et a medio transiet absque malo; 80
Quod volat ex alis euadet fortibus illud,
Voluitur et laqueis debile quicquid adest.
Causidicus cupidus pauidos de lege propinquos
Voluit et illaqueat condicione pari;
Ignauum populum, cuius defensio nulla est,
Opprimit, et legis rethe coartat eos;
Plebs cadit in telas simplex, hominique potenti
Recia causidici dant lacerata viam.
Vespere pronus humi vespertilio volat, vti
Pennis pro pedibus in gradiendo solet; 90
Sic cuius mentem terrena sciencia ditem
Efficit, huic volucri se facit esse parem;
Iste velut circa terram volutat, quia veri[504]
Luminis ignarus terrea sola rapit.
Dicitur in noctem subtilis noctua visu
Esse, nitente die luce minore frui;
Hanc imitantur auem legis qui sunt sapientes,
Vt mala noctis agant, nec bona lucis habent.
Sepius illa tamen quam preda rapit sibi mors est,
Dum latet occulto finis habendus ei: 100
Improuisus adest cum pullos tollere miluus,
Esurit, et fraude fraus sua sepe cadit:
Sic capiens capitur, sic qui vorat ipse voratur,
Infelix hamum quo capietur amat.
=Hic loquitur de causidicis et aduocatis illis, qui vicinum populum
depredantes, ex bonisque alienis ditati, largissimas sibi possessiones
adquirunt: de quibus tamen, vt dicitur, vix gaudet tercius heres.=
Cap^m. ii.
Plusquam Cilla maris rapiens sibi deuorat vndas,
Causidicus patriam deuorat ipse suam;
Plus cane qui siluis predam sibi querit in amplis,
Causidicus lucrum querit habere suum;
Nec canis hic predam plus stringit, dum capit illam
Dentibus, vt carnes deuoret ipse suas, 110
Quin plus causidicus stringit de lege clientem,
Munus vt argenti possit habere sibi.
Vt solet ancipiter trepidas vrgere columbas,
Causidicus gentes vrget et angit eas:
Vt tremit agna pauens, nouiter que saucia canis
Est euasa lupis, nec bene tuta manens;
Vtque columba suo madefactis sanguine plumis
Horret adhuc vngues, heserat illa quibus;
Sic pauet a laqueis oppressus causidicorum
Pauper, et inde sui clamat in aure dei. 120
Vulnera plebeia medicus desiderat, vt sic
Det dolor alterius munera leta sibi;
Gentes causidicus discordes optat, vt ipse
Prospera de lite gentis habere queat.
Ex hoc quod perdis lucratur, sique lucreris,
Hinc tecum partem querit habere suam;
Cum plenam dextram teneat, tunc ipse sinistram
Tendit, que sibimet insaciata manet.
Sic quacumque via furit Eurus, semper in aura
Velum tranquillum gestat ad omne fretum: 130
Sic viget ex auro loculus pregnans alieno;
Quod male concepit, peius id ipse parit:
Nam modus est legis cito cum locuplex fore nummis
Possit, tunc terras appetit ipse nouas.
Vt constricta fame lupa more suo catulorum
Querit habere suos lata per arua cibos,
Sic cum causidico sit proles aucta, per omnes
Machinat insidias, de quibus auget opes.
O sine tunc requie conspirans nocte dieque,
Vt capiat lucrum, temptat vbique forum; 140
Tuncque domos domibus, campos iungit quoque campis,
Vellet vt hiis per se solus in orbe fore:
Sic rapiens oua fouet vt perdix aliena,
Set de fine patet quid sibi iuris habet.
Que pater in studio quesiuit vix sibi magno,
Dissipat in vicio filius ipse cito;
Et que fraude sua sapiens mundi cumulata
Strinxerat, hec stultus laxat abire vagus;
Sic male quesitis non gaudet tercius heres,[505]
Set rapit hec mundus que dedit ipse prius. 150
Causidico fore ve patet ex dictis Ysaïe,
Namque domum vidue dissipat ille male.
=Hic loquitur de causidicis et aduocatis illis, qui quanto plures
sunt in numero, tanto magis lucra sicientes patriam deuorant, et
iuris colore subtilia plectentes, suis cautelis innocentem populum
formidantem illaqueant.=
Cap^m. iii.
Cum fuerint tribuli summe maioris aborti,
Sunt blada depresso facta minora solo;
Cum magis atque suis Sus fuderit vbera natis,
Est macies lateris macrior acta Suis.
Cum magis et numerum lex auget causidicorum,
Tum gemit in patriis plebs spoliata magis.
Vt blada que mersa torrens supervndat aquarum,
Vellit et extirpat quicquid adheret humo, 160
Concio lege rapax sic multiplicata virorum
Lucra, superficies que tenet orbis, habet.
Non valet esse salus, medicus dum vulnerat egros,
Addit et ad dampnum dampna furore suo;
Sic, vbi causidici causas sine iure revoluunt,
Esse quies longo tempore certa nequit.
Sunt ita continua presentibus ista diebus,
Vix vt ab hoc morbo sanus abibit homo.
Aurea dum leges lanx ponderat, equa statera
Non erit, hoc et opus iura moderna docent. 170
Scribitur, os auri Crisostomus ipse gerebat;
Sub sermone latens illa figura fuit:
Aurea de facto gestant tamen ora potentes
Causidici, qui nunc aurea cuncta vorant.
Pondere subtili species venduntur, vt emptor
Circumventus eo nesciat inde forum;
Est tamen ecce modo pondus subtilius, in quo
Venduntur verba legis in arte sua.
Quicquid agant leges, hominis lex interioris
Gestat ab interius iudicis illud onus: 180
Omnia dat gratis dominus, set legis auarus
Sermonem nullum dat nisi vendat eum.
Si bene promittant, totidem promittere verbis
Ius foret, et pactis pacta referre suis:
Hii tamen ante manum, quicquid de fine sequetur,
Sepius inmerito premia ferre petunt.
Sic magis obliqua lanx nescit pondera iuris,[506]
Quo ruit in tortam, que foret equa, viam;
Sic solet iniustum fieri sub nomine iusto,
Quod foret et fidum, fit magis absque fide: 190
Causidici legem proponunt esse beatam,
Concludunt set eam facta per ipsa malam.
De ligno quicquid rectum si vir sibi sumat,
Ad visum claris subdet et illud aquis,[507]
Apparet tortum sibi quod fuit ordine rectum;
Sic ad propositum lex agit ecce meum.
Nam si causidico modo dicam ius manifestum,
Quod michi iusticia nulla negare potest,
Ipse suum lucrum conspirans quicquid ad ipsum
Dixero subuertet, multa pericla mouens; 200
Conficit ex mellis dulcedine fellis amarum,
Vrtice similem fingit et esse rosam,
Et velut ex flatu Basiliscus toxicat oris
Aera, quo peste proxima vita perit,
Est quod plus sanum, sic ius vir iuris ad aures
Inficit ex verbis, plenus in ore dolis:
Et sic vulpis ouem terret predoque viantem
Predat, sicque dolus cogit abire fidem.
Micius est lapso digitum supponere mento,
Mergere quam liquidis ora natantis aquis: 210
Miror eo, causas inopum qui lege tueri
Deberet, cicius aggrauat auctor opus.
Sompnia perturbant quam sepe viros sine causa,
Non res set sompno visa figura rei;
Sic tibi causidicus fingens quam sepe pericla,
Est vbi plus rectum, diuaricabit iter:
Mente tibi loquitur dubia, nam nemo dolose
Mentis securis vocibus esse potest;
Questio precedit, racionem fallere pergit,
De quo non dubitat te dubitare facit: 220
Incutit ipse tibi ficta sic lege timorem,
Vertat vt in brutum de racione virum:
Ex oculis primum dabis, vt retinere secundum
Possis, dum causam lex regit ipsa tuam.
Causidici nubes sunt ethera qui tenebrescunt,[508]
Lucem quo solis nemo videre potest:
Obfuscant etenim legis clarissima iura,
Et sua nox tetra vendicat esse diem;
Istis inque viris perdit sua lumina splendor,
Verum mentitur, fraus negat esse fidem. 230
Lex furit et pietas dormit, sapiencia fallit,
Pax grauat, et lites commoda queque ferunt:
Et sic lex legis a ledo ledis in isto,
Et ius a iurgo, tempore iura legit.
Vnio set populi firmo si staret amore,
Causidici vanus tunc foret ille status.
Est bona lex in se fateor, tamen eius inique
Rectores video flectere iura modo.
Non licet, vt dicunt, quod conspiracio fiat,
Non tamen hoc faciunt quod sua iura docent: 240
Contra causidicum si quid michi lex det agendum,
Et peto consilium iuris habere meum,
Tunc dicunt alii, nolunt obstare sodali;
Sic ledunt, set eos ledere nemo potest.
Sic sibi causidicus mundi perquirit honores,
Subuertens lingue iura vigore sue:
Castiget reliquos lex quos vult, non tamen ipsos,
Quos deus aut mundus nescit habere probos.
=Hic loquitur qualiter isti causidici et iuris aduocati, in sua
gradatim ascendentes facultate, Iudicisque aspirantes officium,
iudicialis solii tandem cacumen attingunt; vbi quasi in cathedra
pestelencie[509] sedentes, maioris auaricie cecitate percussi, peioris
quam antea condicionis existunt.=
Cap^m. iiii.
Est Apprenticius, Sergantus post et Adultus,
Iudicis officium fine notabit eum. 250
Si cupit in primo, multo magis ipse secundo,
Tercius atque gradus est super omne reus;
Et sic lex grauibus auri moderatur habenis,
Quod modo per iustas non valet ire vias.
Libera qualis erat lex non est, immo ligatam
Carcere nummorum ceca cupido tenet:
Aurea ni clauis dissoluerit ostia clausa,
Eius ad introitum nullus habebit iter.
Nil manus in pulsu, nil vox clamore iuuabunt
Te cum lege loqui, qui sine claue venis: 260
Dux tibi si nummus non sit, conducat et ipse
Custodes legis, cassus abire potes.
Et sic causidicus causam, iudex neque iustum
Iudicium cernit, dux nisi nummus erit.
Sunt tria precipue, quibus est turbacio legis,
Vnde sui iuris perdit vbique locum;
Munus, amicicia, timor, hec tria iure negante
Pacta ferunt, quod eis obstat in orbe nichil.
Dicit enim Salomon oculos quod Iudicis aurum
Cecat, et est racio contaminata lucro; 270
Scimus et hoc omnes, qui iudicis extat amicus,
Perdere iudicio nil valet ipse suo.
Nouimus hoc eciam, tangat si causa potentem,
Cernere iusticiam dat timor inde fugam;
Horrendasque minas iudex non sustinet ipsas,
Sepius et precibus flectitur absque minis:
Litera magnatis dum pulsat iudicis aures,
Tollit vis calami debita iura sequi.
Set super omne modo sibi ve, qui pauper egendo
Quid petit in lege, dum nequit ipse dare! 280
Publica sunt ista nobis, quod lege moderna
Pauperis in causa ius negat acta sua.
Sic ego non video mea que sunt, set dubitando
Auribus attonitis quero cauenda malis.
Ecce dies in qua, fuerat que iuris amica,
Nunc magis econtra lex gerit acta sua:
Larua tegit faciem, confundit glosaque textum,
Vertit et in logicam lex variata scolam;
Absque tamen numero sunt legis in orbe scolares,
Plurima sunt folia, fructus et inde minor. 290
Nomine sub iusto quam sepe nephanda parantur,
Subque dolus facie plurima iuris agit:
Qui magis in causis discernunt talibus orbem,
Crimina sunt cautis ista timenda viris.
Grandia per multos tenuantur flumina riuos,
Alueus et sterilis sic vacuatur aquis:
Pluribus expensis patitur thesaurus eclipsim,
Fit, nisi preuideat, sepeque diues inops:
Sic humus ista breui ditissima tempore pauper,
Excessus legum ni moderetur, erit. 300
Tollere nodosam nescit medicina podagram,
Sic nec auaricie lex medicamen habet.
Est mea bursa potens, lex inde subacta silebit,[510]
Preueniens auro singula iura fugo:
Aut si magnatis michi curia sit specialis,
Nil opus est legum viribus, ipse loquor.
Continuata diu sic vlcerat illa cicatrix,
Non habet vlterius iam noua plaga locum.
=Hic loquitur quasi per epistolam Iudicibus illis directam, qui in
caduca suarum diuiciarum multitudine sperantes, deum adiutorem suum
ponere nullatenus dignantur.=
Cap^m. v.
O qui iudicia vite mortis quoque rerum
Clauditis in manibus appreciata lucris, 310
De qua iusticia vosmet saluare putatis,
Cum sit lex aliis vendita vestra dolis?
O dilectores mundi falsique potentes,
Terre quique deos esse putatis opes,
O qui mundanos sic affectatis honores,
Est quibus assidua sollicitudo comes,
Discite precipitem quia sepius ardua casum
Expectant que leui mobilitate cadunt.
Sepius alta cadit ventorum flatibus arbor,
Planta satis placido permanet atque gradu: 320
Aerias alpes niuibus candescere scimus,
Quas subito torquent frigus et omne gelu;
Est ibi ventorum rabies seuissima, dumque
Temperiem gratam proxima vallis habet.
Sic vobis numquam desunt aduersa, potentes,
Nec pax est vobis certa nec vlla quies.
Dic michi diuitibus si quando defuit hostis:
Quin magis hos quassat sepe ruina grauis.
Non dat securos nec ebur nec purpura sompnos,
Paupertas vili stramine tuta iacet: 330
Perdere quo possunt, torquet timor omnis auaros,
Vanaque sollicitis incutit vmbra metus.
Auri possessor formidat semper, et omnem
Ad strepitum fures estimat esse prope;
Arma, venena timet, furtum timet atque rapinas,
Fiduciam certam diues habere nequit.
Hunc, dum querit opes, cruciat miseranda cupido,
Cum iam quesitas cepit habere, timor.
Sic igitur miser est, dum pauper querit habere,
Et miser est diues, perdere dumque timet. 340
Dum iacet in plumis, vigilans mens aspera sentit,
Feruet enim variis exagitata dolis:
Dicit, ‘Habere volo vicini pauperis agrum,
Est etenim campus proximus ille meis.’[511]
Sic fugat a domibus pupillos iste paternis,
Insequitur viduas iudiciisque premit:
Deliciis fruitur de rebus pauperis iste,
Dampna set alterius computat esse nichil.
Si posset mundum lucrari, quis deus esset,
Vlterius scire nollet in orbe deum. 350
Iudex, nonne tui fulgor tibi sufficit auri,
Vt careat tenebris mens tua ceca tuis?
Aproprias aurum tibi fertile, nec tamen vmquam[512]
Ad sterilem vitam respicis ipse tuam.
Iusticie montes Iudex vix ardua purus
Scandit, dum mundi rebus onustus erit.
Agrorum fines longos extendere queris,
Nec reputas vite tempora curta tue.
Quid petis argentum tibi? spem quid ponis in aurum?
Sunt nam communes omnibus orbis opes. 360
Sepius ista dei data conspicis hostibus esse,
Ante deum nulla laus et habetur eis:
Ista paganus habet, Iudeus, latro cruentus;
Crede quod iratus sepe dat ista deus.
Parua puto, quecumque malos contingit habere,
Non est prauorum copia grande bonum.
O quociens vir iustus eget, scelerosus habundat,
Hic set non alibi, ius quia regnat ibi.
Dilectus domini moritur, dum viuit adulter,
Non tamen hii Cristi sunt in amore pares: 370
Egrotat iustus, dum sanus floret iniqus,
Fine tamen proprium quisque reportat onus.
Si tamen in mundo iudex sibi ferre salutem
Possit, non curat quid sibi finis erit.
O qui cuncta cupis, cur temet deseris? Omne
Est quod in orbe tenes, set neque temet habes.
O qui scis alios non te, tu notus ad omnes,
Non tibi quid prodest illa sciencia, nil.
Te noscas igitur primo, me nosce secundo,
Rectum iudicium sic sapienter age. 380
Omnia que mundi sunt diligis, omnia Cristi
Linquis, et ex nichilo credis habere satis:
Tu celum perdis, mundum lucraris, inane
Corpus supportas, spiritus vnde cadit.
Est tibi perfectum vanum, tibi mobile firmum,
Talis enim iudex non bene sentit opus:
Edificas turres, thalamos nouitate politos,
Quicquid et est orbis plus deitate colis:
Edificas ampla, fossa clauderis in arta,
Quo medium frontis ostia clausa prement. 390
Quid vestes referam, lectos vel iudicis edes,
Quorum luxuries nescit habere pares?
Qui modo prospiceret habitacula queque fuerunt,
Alterius nouiter diceret illa Iouis.
Gloria nonne tuis erit aut tibi pompa perhennis,
Quas facis in domibus, dum tua lucra rapis?
En cecidit Babilon, cecidit quoque maxima Troia,
Romaque mundipotens vix tenet illa locum.
Omnis habet subitum mundana potencia finem,
Atque fuga celeri deserit ipsa suos: 400
Iudex, ergo time, magnos qui scandis honores,
Teque ruinoso stare memento loco.
Omne quod est mundi tibi carum transiet a te,
Inque tuis meritis iudicat ipse deus:
Equaque lex domini tunc que modo cernis ineque[513]
Discernet, que tibi pondera iusta dabit.
Cum te terribilis exactor missus ab equo
Iudice sulphurei merget in yma laci,
Prodolor! infelix tunc, quamuis sero, dolebis,
Talibus in falsis spem posuisse bonis: 410
Gemma vel argentum nec ibi descendet et aurum,
Nec fragilis mundi gloria lapsa breui.
Iudicibus populi vanum tamen est quod in ista
Materia scripsi; perdita verba dedi:
Que nam iusticia, que vel sit Iudicis equa
Condicio, non est tempore visa modo:
Iusticiarius est; sub tali nomine fallit,
Qui sine iusticia nomen inane gerit.
=Hic loquitur de errore Vicecomitum, Balliuorum, necnon et in
assisis iuratorum, qui singuli auro conducti diuitum causas iniustas
supportantes, pauperes absque iusticia calumpniantur et opprimunt.=
Cap^m. vi.
Nunc eciam vicecomitibus quid dicere possum?
Numquid in assisis dant nocumenta viris? 420
Macra fit hec causa, de qua viget vnccio nulla
Distillans, vt eis vncta sit inde manus:
Legis in assisa si sint tua dona recisa,
Ius perit et causa scinditur inde tua;
Si tamen assessa sint pre manibus tua dona,
Tunc potes assisis sumere lucra tuis.
Vtque bouem, precio qui stat conductus aratro,
Sic tibi iuratos munere ferre vales:
Hii tibi proque tuis vendent periuria nummis,
Sic aurum iura vincit in vrbe mea:[514] 430
Diuitis iniustam causam sic cerno quietam,
Et iustam causam pauperis esse ream.
Non comes a vice, set vicio comes accipit ortum,
Iuris auaricie fert tamen ipse vices.
Sic dico vicecomitibus, quod munere victi
Communi populo dant nocumenta modo:
Nec sibi iurati sapiunt quid, sit nisi lucri,
De sale conditum quod dabis ante manum:
Causidici lanam rapiunt, isti quoque pellem
Tollunt, sic inopi nil remanebit oui. 440
Sic ego legiferis concludens vltima primis,
Dico quod ex bursa lex viget ecce noua;
Vt margaritas si porcus sumat in escas,
Sumunt legiferi sic modo iura sibi.
Vendere iusticiam quid id est nisi vendere Cristum,[515]
Quem Iudas cupido vendidit ipse dolo?
Numquid adhuc Iude similis quis viuit in orbe?
Immo sibi plures viuere credo pares.
Namque semel Iudam talem committere culpam
Nouimus, hunc et eo penituisse lego; 450
Nunc tamen vt merces vendunt communiter omnes,
Gaudentes lucrum sic habuisse suum.
Rettulit hoc precium Iudas quod cepit iniqum,
Nec liquet hinc veniam promeruisse suam:
Nunc erit ergo quid hiis, vendunt qui iura sinistris,
Est quibus hora fori cotidiana quasi?[516]
Vt vorat et stricte tenet ipsa vorago gehenne,
Nec redit vllus homo liber ab ore suo,
Sic modo qui vendunt leges que premia carpunt,
Hec valet a manibus tollere nemo suis; 460
Et quia sic similes inferno suntque tenaces,
Credo quod infernus fine tenebit eos.
Quid seu Balliuis dicam, qui sunt Acherontis
Vt rapide furie? Tu magis inde caue.
Quo portas intrant, prenostica dampna figurant,
Cunctis namque viis ve comitatur eis.
Vt Crati bufo maledixit, sic maledico
Tot legum dominis et sine lege magis.
=Hic loquitur quod sicut homines esse super terram necessario expedit,
ita leges ad eorum regimen institui oportet, dummodo tamen legis
custodes verum a falso discernentes vnicuique quod suum est equo
pondere distribuant. De erroribus tamen et iniuriis modo contingentibus
innocenciam Regis nostri, minoris etatis causa, quantum ad presens
excusat.=[517]
Cap^m. vii.
Pro transgressore fuerant leges situate,
Quilibet vt merita posset habere sua: 470
Nunc tamen iste bonus punitur, et alter iniqus,
Dum viget ex auro, iustificatur eo.
Omnia tempus habent et habet sua tempora tempus,
Causaque sic causas debet habere suas.
Quid mare conferret, altis dum fluctuat vndis,
Sit nisi nauis ei quam vehit vnda fluens?[518]
Set quid fert nauis nisi nauta regens sit in illa?
Quid valet aut nauta, si sibi remus abest?
Quid mare, quid nauis, quid nauta, vel est sibi remus,
Sit nisi portus aquis ventus et aptus eis? 480
Gens sine lege quid est, aut lex sine iudice quid nam,
Aut quid si iudex sit sine iusticia?
In patria nostra si quis circumspicit acta,
Hec tria cernet ibi sepe timenda michi.
Omnia dampna grauant, set nulla tamen grauiora,
Quam cum iusticiam iustus habere nequit.
Ex iniusticia discordia crescit, et inde
Cessat amor solitus, murmurat atque domus:
Murmur si veniat, venit et diuisio secum,
Terraque diuisa non bene stabit ea; 490
Et quodcumque sit hoc per se quod stare nequibit,
Ve sibi, nam subito corruet absque modo.
Testis enim deus est, dicens quod regna peribunt[519]
In se diuisa, credoque dicta sua.
Ergo videre queunt quotquot qui regna gubernant,
Nostre pars sortis maxima spectat eis.
Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achiui,
Nam caput infirmum membra dolere facit:
Dux si perdat iter, errant de plebe sequentes,
Et via qua redient est dubitanda magis. 500
Propter peccatum regis populi perierunt,
Quicquid et econtra litera raro docet;
Regia set bonitas fert plebi gaudia pacis,
Nam deus ad sancti regis agenda fauet:
Si viciosus enim sit rex, quia lex nequit, ipsum
Vult punire deus, qui super omne potest.
Expediens populo foret vt bene viueret omnis
Rex, iacet in manibus sors quia bina suis:
Vna salus populi rex qui bene viuit habetur,
Plebis et in pestem rex malus acta parit; 510
Eius enim scelera constat magis esse nociua,
Cuius habent populi condita iura sequi.
Cum sit maior homo, sunt plus sua crimina tanto;
Dum cadit ex altis, leditur inde magis.
Plures cerno reos, magis attamen omnibus ipsos,
Legiferi qui sunt et sine lege manent.
Cum sine lege furit regni viciata potestas,
Esse nichil toto tristius orbe potest:
Sanccius esse pecus animoque capacius ipso
Estimo, qui iura dat neque seruat ea. 520
Imperium Regis non solum bella triumphis
Ornant, set leges seruet vbique bonas.[520]
Nonne domus poterit componere se sine lignis;
Set sibi quid ligna, si nec acuta foret?
Set quid acuta valet, nisi persistens operantis
Vnitis causis sit manus artificis?
Hec sibi si fuerint coniuncta, per omne iuuabunt,
Et si diuisa, pars sibi nulla iuuat.
Terra quid est sola, populus nisi sistat in illa?
Quid populus ve sibi, rex nisi regnet ibi? 530
Est quid rex, nisi consilium fuerit sibi sanum?
Sunt quid consilia, rex nisi credat ea?
Attamen in nostra sic stat diuisio terra,
Quod sibi quisque suam iam legit ire viam:
Conciues hodie discordia vexat in vrbe,
Extinguit quod ius quilibet alterius;[521]
Nec lex campestris est iam memorata magistris,
Set qui plus poterit, ipse magister erit.
Nunc clerus populum, populus culpat quoque clerum,
Et tamen in culpa perstat vterque sua: 540
Invidus alterius nunc culpat quemlibet alter,
Parsque suum proprium nulla reformat iter.
Si videas vtrumque statum, dices quia certe
In magnis lesi rebus vterque sumus.
Nunc magis ~in specie vox plebis clamat vbique~
~Pectore sub timido que metuenda fero.~
~Curia que maior defendere iura tenetur,~
~Nunc magis iniustas ambulat ipsa vias:~
~Infirmo capite priuantur membra salute,~
~Non tamen est medicus qui modo curat opus.~ 550
~Est ita magnificus viciorum morbus abortus,~
~Quod valet excessus tollere nulla manus:~
~Sic oritur pestis, per quam iacet obruta virtus,~
~Surgit et in vicium qui regit omne forum.~
~Rex, puer indoctus, morales negligit actus,~[522]
~In quibus a puero crescere possit homo:~
~Sic etenim puerum iuuenilis concio ducit,~
~Quod nichil expediens, sit nisi velle, sapit.~
~Que vult ille, volunt iuuenes sibi consociati,~
~Ille subintrat iter, hiique sequntur eum:~ 560
~Vanus honor vanos iuuenes facit esse sodales,~
~Vnde magis vane regia tecta colunt.~
~Hii puerum regem puerili more subornant,~
~Pondera virtutum quo minus ipse gerit.~
~Sunt eciam veteres cupidi, qui lucra sequentes~
~Ad pueri placitum plura nephanda sinunt:~[523]
~Cedunt morigeri, veniunt qui sunt viciosi,~
~Quicquid et est vicii Curia Regis habet.~
~Error ad omne latus pueri consurgit, et ille,~
~Qui satis est docilis, concipit omne malum:~ 570
~Non dolus immo iocus, non fraus set gloria ludi~
~Sunt pueris, set ei sors stat aborta doli.~
~Sunt tamen occulte cause, quas nullus in orbe~
~Scire potest, set eas scit magis ipse deus:~
~Nescit enim mater nato que fata parantur,~
~Fine set occultum clarius omne patet.~
~Talia vox populi conclamat vbique moderni~
~In dubio positi pre grauitate mali:~
~Sic ego condoleo super hiis que tedia cerno,~
~Quo Regi puero scripta sequenda fero.~ 580
* * * * *
545-580 _Text_ SCEHGDL _As follows in_ TH₂
Nunc magis ecce refert verbi clamantis ad aures[524]
Vox, et in hoc dicit tempore plura grauant.
Crimen et, vt clamat, fert maius curia maior,
Que foret instructor, legibus extat egens.
Ad commune bonum non est lingua locuta,[525]
Immo petit proprii commoda quisque lucri. 550*
Agmen adulantum media procedit in aula,
Quodque iubet fieri, curia cedit eis:[526]
Set qui vera loqui presumunt, curia tales
Pellit, et ad regis non sinit esse latus.
Stat puer immunis culpe, set qui puerile
Instruerent regimen, non sine labe manent:
Sic non rex set consilium sunt causa doloris,
Quo quasi communi murmure plangit humus.
Tempora matura si rex etatis haberet,
Equaret libram que modo iure caret: 560*
Regis namque modus alios moderatur, et omnis[527]
Iuris ad officium dicitur esse caput.
Si bonus esse velit rex, hii qui sunt bonitatis
Sunt magis edocti condicione bona:[528]
Si malus esse velit, simili rex sorte clientes,
Vt sibi complaciant, eligit, ornat, amat:[529]
Hoc set eum tangit discretum quem probat etas,
Non puerum, quia tunc fit sibi culpa minor
Non est nature lex nec racionis, vt illud
Quod mundum ledit sit puerile malum; 570*
Non dolus, immo iocus, non fraus set gloria ludi,
Sunt pueris, nec ibi restat origo mali.
Dixit enim Daniel, quod de senioribus orta
Exiit impietas, quam furor orbis habet:
Omne quod est mundi vicium plantant veterani,
Et quasi de peste spersa venena serunt.[530]
Horum namque scelus fertur maculare figuras
Tocius mundi, quo furit ira dei.
Iamque supercreuit dolus et defecit honestas,[531]
Sentit et opprobrium quod fuit ante decus. 580*
* * * * *
=Hic loquitur quod, exquo omnes quicumque mundi status sub regie
magestatis iusticia moderantur, intendit ad presens ~regnaturo[532]
iam~ Regi nostro quandam epistolam ~doctrine causa~[533] editam
scribere consequenter, ex qua ille rex noster, qui modo in sua puerili
constituitur etate, cum vberiores postea sumpserit annos, gracia
mediante diuina, in suis regalibus exercendis euidencius instruatur.
Et primo dicit quod, quamuis regalis potencia quodammodo supra leges
extollatur, regiam tamen decet clemenciam, quod ipse bonis moribus
inherendo, quasi liber sub iusticie legibus se et suos in aspectu Regis
altissimi assidue gubernet.=
Cap^m. viii.
Cumque sui Regis legi sit legius omnis
Subditus, et toto corpore seruit ei,
Est ita conueniens quod eum de corde fideli
Mentis in affectu legius omnis amet:
Regis et est proprium, commissam quod sibi plebem
Dirigat, et iusta lege gubernet eam.
Hinc est, quod normam scriptis de pluribus ortam
Regis ego laudi scribere tendo mei.
O pie rex, audi que sit tua regula regni,
Concordans legi mixtaque iure dei. 590
Legum frena tenens freno te forcius arce;
Dum nullum metuis, sis metus ipse tibi:
Namque timor, virtus humilis, fugit omne superbum,
Et quasi virtutum clauiger esse solet.
Est tibi, rex, melius quod te de lege gubernes,
Subdere quam mundi singula regna tibi:
Est propter mundum tibi subdita sors aliorum,
Tu propter celum subditus esto deo.
Vt tibi deseruit populus de lege subactus,
Cristi seruiciis temet ad instar habe: 600
Vincere te studeas, alios qui vincis, et omnes
Excessus animi subdere disce tui:
Iustificans alios cupias te iustificare,
Iuraque dans plebi, des ita iura tibi.
Qui superas alios, temet superare labora;
Si rex esse velis, te rege, rex et eris.
Qua fore se regem poterit racione fateri,
Mentis qui proprie non regit acta sue?
Non valet hoc regimen aliis conferre salutem,
Dum sibi non fuerit rector, vt esse decet. 610
Dum tibi cuncta licent, ne queras cuncta licere,
Res etenim licite noxia sepe ferunt:
Tu super es iura, iustus set viue sub illis,[534]
Spesque tui nobis causa salutis erit.
Est mors ira tua, potes id quod non licet, et te
Prestita vota tamen ducere iuris habent:
Quod licet illesa mentis precordia seruat,
Omne tamen licitum non probat esse probum:
Quod licet est tutum, set que potes illa sub arto
Discute iudicio fultus honore tuo. 620
Micius acta regas, aliter nisi causa requirat;
Asperitas odium seuaque bella mouet.
Non te pretereat populi fortuna potentis
Publica, set sapiens talia fata caue.
Vita Pharaonis et gesta maligna Neronis,
Que iusto regi sunt fugienda docent.
O bone rex iuuenis, fac quod bonitate iuuentus
Sit tua morigeris dedita rite modis.
Quid tibi forma iuuat vel nobile nomen Auorum,
Si viciis seruus factus es ipse tuis? 630
Doctor Alexandri Magni prauos sibi mores
Primitus edocuit, dum puer ipse fuit:
Rex puer hec didicit, que post dum dedidicisse
Temptauit, primus obstat abusus ei:
Vicit Alexander Darium simul et Babilonem,
Set nequit impressum vincere corde malum.
Nuper in exemplis scripserunt sic sapientes,
Quod prius imbuerit, testa tenere solet:
Rex, igitur cicius viciosos pelle remotos,
Nam vix turpe vetus nescit abire foras. 640
Plaude bonis, fuge prauorum consorcia, labem
De pice tractata contrahit egra manus.
=Hic loquitur qualiter rex[535] sibi male consulentes caucius euitare,
proditoresque regni sui penitus extinguere, suorum eciam conditiones
ministrorum diligencius inuestigare, et quos extra iusticiam errantes
inuenerit, debita pena corrigere debet et districcius castigare.=
Cap^m. ix.
Sordibus implicitos falsosque cauebis amicos,
Qui tua deposcunt, te nec amare volunt:
Blanda dolosorum fugias per verba leuari,
Ne speciale tuum nomen ad yma ruant:
Verba nimis leuiter audire que credere dicta
Sepe supervacuos cogit inire metus.
Vir qui bella mouet, qui predas consulit, et qui
Conspirat taxas plebis habere tue, 650
O rex, oro tuas quod claudas talibus aures,
Ne tua nobilitas lesa fatiscat eis.[536]
Consilium regale tuum vir nullus auarus
Tangat, set tales mortis ad instar habe.
Illud in orbe malum non est, ~quod cordis auari~
Non latet in cella, dum sitit inde lucrum:
Ambulat in tenebris, opus exercet tenebrarum,
Odit et impugnat nil nisi pacis opus.[537]
Qui mel in ore gerens, set habens in corde venenum,
Pacis habet verbum, mente notando malum, 660
Hic est versutus, inimicis regis amicus,
Semper venalis, dum vacat ipse lucris;
Vipereum genus et vanum plenumque veneno,[538]
Fraudibus, insidiis, artibus arma parat:
Semper in insidiis sedet incautisque nocere
Temptat, et occulto fabricat ipse dolos.
Hic rimans animos hominum secreta reuelat,
Et similis Iude fabricat acta sua.
Qui te sollicitat, rex, et subuertere temptat,
Qui te persuadet soluere iussa dei, 670
Quis sit et ipse vide, qualis vel condicionis,
Aut tibi si vera dicere verba velit.
Discute mente prius animum temptantis, et audi
Si vel constanter vel dubitanter agat,
Si tibi preponat dubium, mendacia fingens:
Semper deprendi verba dolosa timent.
Cum sit causa doli, pie rex, tu credere noli,
Si quis agat praue, tu sua facta caue.
Multus non credit, nisi cum res noxia ledit;[539]
Ante manum sapiens prouidet acta regens: 680
Decipiuntur aues per cantus sepe suaues;
Blande, rex, lingue mellea verba fuge.
Rex, bona digna bonis da premia, rex, et iniquis
Que sua promeruit premia culpa dabis:
Latro bonus veniam Cristo miserante meretur,
Penam promeruit in cruce latro malus.
Obsequium prauum trahit e manibus graue donum,
Que sunt facta suo fine notabit homo.
Si scelus vlcisci racio certissima poscit,
Iustus in hoc casu quod decet illud age. 690
Ficta tibi pietas non mulceat aspera iuris,
Vlcio iudicium compleat immo tuum:
Sepe pericla fera fert iudicis vlcio tarda,
Destruit ille bonos qui sinit esse malos.
Diuersas penas diuersis addito culpis,
Mille mali species, mille salutis erunt.
Iudicii signum gladius monstrare videtur,
Proditor vt periat, rex tenet arma secus:[540]
Rex iubeat tales laqueo super alta leuari,
Ne periat Regis legis et ille status.[541] 700
Rex, age, ne plebis furiens discordia dicat,
‘Lex caruit rege iura paterna regens’:
Absit et hoc vulgo ne dicat, iure remoto,
Quod nichil auxilii principis vmbra facit.
Fraus cum fraude sua periat de morte remorsa,[541]
Vt stet iusticia regia laude tua:
Sic dicant populi, ‘Sit semper gloria regi,
Quo bona pax viguit, quo reus acta luit.’
Precipitur gladius vibratus semper haberi,
Prompcius vt crimen iudiciale ferat: 710
Ense quiescente, compescere non valet orbem;
Qui regnare cupit sanguine iura colat.
Arma ferunt pacem, compescunt arma rapacem,
Vt reus hec timeat, rex probus arma gerat;
Nomine subque tuo ledant ne forte quirites,
Plebem te tenero corde videre decet:
Si vis namque tuos non castigare ministros,
Crimen habet culpe regia culpa sue.
Euolat ancipiter ad predas, lucra suisque
Deseruit dominis in rapiendo cibos: 720
Sic sunt qui regi famulando suos et ad vsus
Tollunt pauperibus dampna ferendo nimis.
In prece pondus habet pauper qui clamat egenus
Ad dominum, memor est pauperis ipse sui.
Sicut enim presul, qui custos est animarum,
Pondus in officio debet habere suo;
Compotus vtque suus, sic stabit et vltima merces,
Gloria vel pena perpetuatur ei;
Rex ita qui nostrum moderaris legibus orbem,
Dona tuis meritis conferet equa deus. 730
Posse tuum grande, rex, est, que potencior ille,
Omne tuum cuius dextera librat opus.
=Hic dicit quod rex sano consilio adhereat, ecclesie iura supportet
et erigat,[542] equs in iudiciis et pietosus existat, suamque famam
cunctis mundi opibus preponat.=
Cap^m. x.
Sperne malos, cole prudentes, compesce rebelles,
Da miseris, sontes respue, parce reis.
Quicquid agas, vicio numquam mergatur honestum;
Fama lucro, rebus preficiatur opus.
Nil tibi, rex, fingas pro mundo, quo reputeris
Iustus apud proceres et reus ante deum:
Ecclesiam studeas multa pietate fouere,
Cuius enim precibus vult diadema geri. 740
Pauperis et vidue dum cernis adesse querelas,
Iudicium miseris cum pietate geras.
Expedit interdum sanccita remittere legum,[543]
Ne periat pietas de feritate tua:
Indulgere tuis tua sic dignetur honestas,
Nam puto sepe deum viuere velle reum.
Par quoque portet onus sic nobilis atque colonus,
Et nichil archanum polluat ante manum.
Ardua si causa tibi sit, videas, quia certe
Tarda solet magnis rebus inesse fides. 750
Rebus in ambiguis tu certum ponere noli,
Fallitur augurio spes bona sepe suo:
Est magis humani generis iactura dolori,
Nescit principium quid sibi finis aget.
Dum tibi suadet opus tractare negocia regni,
Consilium regat hoc cum seniore senex.
Ibit in occasum quicquid dicemus ad ortum,
Lingua loquax habitum nesciat ergo tuum.
Consilium prauum regalem turbat honorem,
Prouocat inque scelus que bona pacis erant. 760
Iura dabit populo senior, discretaque iustis
Legibus est etas vnde petatur honor.
Est satis ille senex, cuius sapiencia sensum
Firmat in etate, sit licet ipse minor.
Non stabiles animos veteres fatuam ve iuuentam[544]
Comprobo, non etas sic sua iura dedit:
In sene multociens stat condicio iuuenilis,
Dum iuuenis mores obtinet ipse senis.
Caucius ergo statum videas, pie rex, ad vtrumque;
Vnde legas homines, tu prius acta proba. 770
Qui tibi seruicium prebet nec invtilis aurum
Appetit, hic seruus debeat esse tuus:
Dulcius est mercede labor qui regis honorem
Spectat, et in tali spem tibi ferre potes.
Est qui pacificus, est vir qui iuris amicus,
Liber auaricie, largus ad omne bonum,
Vtere consilio tali, pie rex, vt habundet
Cronica perpetue laudis in orbe tue.
Fama volans gratis, nullo soluente cathenas,[545]
Proclamat meritis ista vel illa tuis: 780
Nomen, crede, bonum gasas precellit, honorem
Conseruat, remouet scandala, laude viget:
Tange bonum florem, dulcem prestabit odorem,
Sic virtusque viri fragrat vbique boni.
Consule doctores legis, discede malorum
A conventiculis, concomitare bonos:
Vt granum de messe tibi, de fonte salubri
Pocula, de docto dogmata mente legas.
=Hic loquitur qualiter regiam libertatem in viciorum nullatenus decet
incidere seruitutem, set sicut coram populo alios excellit potencia,
ita coram deo pre ceteris ampliori virtutum clarescat habundancia.=
Cap^m. xi.
Gloria nulla, precor, te, rex, extollat inanis,
Tedia nam populis vita superba parit. 790
Musca nocet modica, modicis sis prouidus ergo,[546]
Non faciunt tutos regia ceptra suos:[547]
Exiguus magnum vicit Dauid ille Goliam,
Nam virtus humilis corda superba domat.
Cristus amans humiles leuat, et de corde superbos
Obruit, ergo pie, rex, tua regna rege.
Sit tibi credibilis sermo consultaque verba,
Quo, quibus et quando, sicut oportet agi:
Vt scriptura fidem tuus addat sermo per aures,
Verba minus certi ficta timoris habent. 800
Mocio, rex, in te subito non irruat ire;
Causas iusticie set moderanter age:
Ira mouens animum tollit sibi vim racionis,
Et discreta sue mentis agenda negat.
Mors et vita tuis manibus de lege feruntur,
Prouidus in causis te decet esse magis:
Nulla cupido tuam valeat corrumpere famam,
Immo tuis donis gaudeat omnis humus.
Seruus auaricie non debet nobilis esse
Rex, set erit regis liber vbique status. 810
Larga tuis meritis inopes elemosina curet,
Qua poteris regem pacificare deum:
Fac bona queque potes modico dum tempore viuis;
Multa metes, si nunc semina pauca seris.
Da tua non parce, cui des tamen aspice caute;
Crede, satis res est ingeniosa dare:
Non perit hec probitas que dona rependit honeste,
Namque piam laudem res data dantis habet.
Sepe iuuat, nec eo minor est substancia ponti,
Qui modicam pleno flumine sumit aquam: 820
Sic tua rite iuuet miseros elemosina sumpta,
Nec erit argenti sic tua summa minor.
Si quis amore dei miseris sua dona ministrat,
Munera tempus habent, fama perhennis erit.
Scindantur vestes, gemme frangantur et aurum,
Porrige pauperibus que dedit ante deus.
Est ancilla dei simplex elemosina, mortis
Antitodum, venie porta, salutis iter:
Disputat aduersus dantis peccata, perorat
Auctori, redimit probra, precatur opem. 830
Peccatum mors est anime, mors debita pena
Peccato, set in hoc mens pia delet eam.
Absit culpa gule tibi, rex, nam regis honestas
Omnis mundicie debet honore frui:
Illud enim vicium primeuum labe parentem
Dampnauit, fragilis quo cadit ipse reus:
Hostis in hoc vicio Cristum temptauit, et ipse,
Qui rex est verus, respuit illud opus:
Ecce Saül pugnare volens ieiunia cunctis
Imposuit, donec hostica tela domet. 840
Rex, tibi pigriciem pellas et motibus obsta
Carnis, et ad mores arripe fortis iter:
Regius vtque status plebem supereminet omnem,
Nobilis in gestu sic magis ille foret.
O tener annorum, dolus in quo nullus habetur,
Simplex nobilitas, perfida tela caue:
Etas namque doli non te sinit esse capacem,
Non te vultque tuum degenerare genus.
Sunt tibi forma, genus, honor, ordo, decus que potestas;[548]
Contulit hec ortus libera dona tuus: 850
Teque sequantur ita laus, virtus, gracia morum,
Et sic plenus homo, rex pie, viue deo.
=Hic loquitur qualiter rex a sue carnis voluptate illicebra[549]
specialiter se debet abstinere, et sub sacre legis constitucione
propter diuinam offensam sue coniugis tantum licito fruatur consorcio.=
Cap^m. xii.
O super omne fuge, pie rex, ne ceca voluptas
Carnis ad illicebra prouocet acta tua;
Sponsus set propria de legibus vtere sponsa,
Nec spolies sacrum laudis honore thorum.
Nulla vetus scriptura docet regum quod ab euo
Stant Venus et regnum pacificata simul:
Intendat Veneri quod homo simul et racioni,
Numquam possibile creditur illud opus. 860
Pluribus exemplis tibi luxus erit fugiendus;
Biblia que docuit, respice facta Dauid:
Involuit regem processu temporis error,
Eius dum rapuit cor mulieris amor:
Quis dolor inde fuit, seu que vindicta secuta,
Terret adhuc animum qui legit illa viri.
Sit tibi culpa Dauid speculum, speculeris in illo,
Casus vt alterius te super alta leuet:
Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum,
Precauet vnde vias quas videt ante manum. 870
Respice, dum populum fraus nulla valebat Hebreum
Vincere, femineus vicit amore dolus.
Exemplis Balaam docearis, quomodo regem[550]
Ipse Balak docuit, qualiter ecce fuit.
Consilium dedit ipse Balak, qua turbet Hebreos
Arte, quibus frangat hostica bella dolis.
‘Accipe, rex,’ inquit, ‘quo consilio potes vti:
Non vincit populus viribus ille suis;
Immo colendo deum corpusque gerendo pudicum,
Vincere semper habet ille per ista duo. 880
Vt superes illum non Marte set arte, puellas
Elige, quas ornat vestis et oris honor;
Que manibus plaudant, pede ludant, noctibus ignem
Spirant, plectra gerant, astra decore premant:
Non rigor armorum set lusus pugnet amorum,
Non acuum ferrum, set muliebre forum:
Sic species vincat acies, sic arma virorum
Forma puellarum sub pede victa terat.
Celestis sic ira dei consurget in illos,
Sic victor populi leta trophea feres.’[551] 890
Rex hoc consilium credens dedit esse, puellas
Preparat insignes sidereasque genas:
Prelia mira parat, arcu non arcet Hebreos,
Non ferit hos ferro nec feriendo fugat:[552]
Pugnat non equitum loricis, set nec equorum
Loris, immo liris femineisque choris.
Hec canit, hec ludit, hec adiuuat arte decorem,
Vt gemino vultu fallat in ore decor;
Per faciem iacit ista facem, vomit hec per ocellos[553]
Sintillas, profert illa per ora fauos: 900
Hee species animos predantur plebis Hebree;
Peccant, peccantes opprimit ira dei.
Rex tibi sume notam, quam te docet experimentum,
Et vetus exemplum det tibi scire modum.
Rex, et in exemplis regis concerne Saülis,
Femina dum superest, qualia mira potest:
Demonis arte potens Maga suscitat illa prophetam,
Regis et ad nutum stare coegit eum.
Corpora que poterat sibi subdere mortua, viuos
Arte magis facili subderet illa viros. 910
Qui premunitur non fallitur, ergo cauendum
Est tibi, rex, corpus vt sine labe regas.
Rex es, regina satis est tibi sufficit vna;
Hanc tibi consocies, sic docet alma fides:
Rex, ita si fugias viciorum pondera, mores
Et teneas, poteris quicquid habere velis.
=Hic loquitur et ponit magnifico iam regi nostro Iuueni nuper
Serenissimi Principis patris sui exempla, dicens quod, vbi et quando
necessitatis illud exigit facultas, rex contra suos hostes armorum
probitates audacter exerceat,[554] et quod ille nulla aduersitate
constanciam sui vultus videntibus aliis amittat.=
Cap^m. xiii.
Est tibi, rex, aliud, quod sis defensor in armis
Plebis; et vt iura de probitate tegas,
Huius in exemplum reminiscere facta paterna,
Cuius adhuc vigilans laus vbicumque sonat. 920
Numquam de terra nomen delebitur eius,
Precellunt armis Hectoris arma sua;
Inque suam laudem que tuam mea scripta reuoluo,
Vt probitate memor sit tibi patris honor.
Iustus erat iustos, probus vnde probos sibi legit,
Nec sinit vrticas commaculare rosam:
Confluit in donis non parce dona merenti,
De largo corde fit sibi larga manus:
Extera depredat loca, set sua propria seruat,
Et sibi commisse prospera plebis agit. 930
Eius enim laudes si nos cantabimus omnes,
Omnia sunt meritis ora minora suis:
Nulla suum meritum poterit complectere fama,
Vox minor est omnis laude ferenda sua.
Vt breuitate loquar, tantus princeps fuit ille,
Laudantum poterit quantus ab ore cani.
Francia sentit eum, recolens Hispannia vires,
Vnde subegit eam de probitate, timet.
Turbans hostiles turmas mediosque per hostes
Irruit, et rumpit more leonis iter: 940
Vt lupus ipse fame strictus dispergit ouile,
Hos premit, hos perimit, hos secat hosque necat.
Sobrius in gestis semper fuit ille, set hostis
Sanguine sepe suus ebrius ensis erat:
Pugnat et impugnat expugnans acriter hostes,[555]
Vaginam siccus mucro subire negat:
Fit satur hostilis hostili sanguine mucro,
Armorum pascit sanguinis vnda sitim
Intra vaginam mucro torpere recusat,
Euomitur gladius eius ab ore foras. 950
Sicut aper querulis siluis latratibus actus
Letifero celeres conterit ore canes,
Sic magis audaces prope se quos attigit hostes,
Fulmineo gladii triuit in ore sui.
Singula perdomuit fera prelia more leonis;
Depopulans populos forcia castra ruit:
Vt predas raperet, audax descendit in hostes,
Hostica sunt eius colla subacta manu:
Colla superborum premit eius dextra per orbem;
Sic leopardus eo dicitur esse leo. 960
Terra quieta fuit sub tali principe magno,
Non terret gladius quos tegit illa manus:
Sub ficu, sub vite sua, sub fronde, sub vmbra,
Quisque manet tutus nobilis ense ducis:
Sic robusta sua virtus plus surgit in altum,
Plus viget hoste suo, plus probitatis habet.
O rex, facta tui retine tibi patris, vt illa
Laus, quam promeruit, sit tribuenda tibi.
Audaces fortuna iuuans consummat in actum
Que sibi vult animus, et pociora dabit. 970
Pax super omne bonum scandit, set quando probata
Bellum iura petunt, illud oportet agi:
Est tempus belli, sic sunt et tempora pacis,
Actibus in cunctis tu moderamen habe.
Hector, Alexander, fuerant dum nobiliores,
Sistere disparibus non potuere rotis:
Acta patris vince, maiorque vocaberis illo,
Totaque vox clamet laudis honore tue.
Rebus in aduersis ne laxes frena timori,[556]
Si dolor in mente sit, sine teste dole: 980
Si dolor incurrat animum, similacio vultum
Erigat, et facies contegat inde metum:
Vultus iocundus timor hostibus est et amicis
Gloria, nam facies nuncia mentis erit.
=Hic loquitur, quod absque iusticie experta causa rex bellare non
debet. Dicit insuper quod regie congruit dignitati, discreto tamen
prouiso regimine, magis amore quam austeritatis rigore suos subditos
tractare.=
Cap^m. xiiii.
Alta petens aquila volat alite celsius omni,
Et regem mundum corde figurat ea.
Vt sacra testantur citharistea scripta prophete,[557]
In celum tales cor posuere suum.
Pennatum Griphes animal pedibusque quaternis
Invitos homines carpit et horret equos: 990
Designatur in hoc facinus crudele potentum,
Qui mortes hominum cum feritate vorant.
Est igitur melius aquile tibi sumere formam,[558]
Rex, vt amore pio regna quieta regas,
Griphis quam specie populum terrere pauore,
Semper enim superat acta timoris amor.
Non omnis qui timet amat, set amans timet omnis;
Plebs in amore manens plectit vtrumque simul.
Omnia vincit amor, amor est defensio regis,
Gloria plebis amor, laus et in orbe deo: 1000
Plebs est regis ager, rex cultor qui colit agrum;[559]
Si male, fert tribulos, si bene, grana parit.
Qui bene regis agit regimen, rex est, set inique
Qui regit in viciis, ipse tirannus erit.
Si rex de predis viuat, malediccio plebis
Murmurat, et regi mota fit ira dei.
Lucratur populum que deum rex iustus vtrumque,
Statque per hoc regni firma corona sui.
Tange tuum pectus, pie rex, quo sumere possis
Regis ad imperium que meliora parant: 1010
Si te nobilitas generosaque nomina tangunt,
In genus exemplum fer magis ipse tuum:
Nomine perspicuo cum sis generosus auorum,
Equipares stirpis moribus acta tuis.
Hoc in honore dei communi voce precamur,
Vt gemines animi nobilitate genus.
Pars sit in aspectu tibi quem deus equiparauit
Natura, precio, condicione pari:
Disceque cunctorum quod sit communis origo,
Ortus et occasus vnus, et vna caro. 1020
Nobilis est mentis quisquis virtute refulget,
Degener est solus cui mala vita placet;
Mores namque bonos veneratur curia celi,
Et celum iustus, non generosus, habet.
Esto memor, quod fratris amor tibi cuncta ministrat,
Datque tibi solus omnia fratris amor:
Fratris amor transit terrena, superna resumptis
Viribus ascendit, astra polumque petit:
Noticiamque dei dum querit, ad astra volare
Non timet, vt videat quis deus ipse Syon, 1030
Quis rex inmensus et que sit visio pacis,
Quis ve locus celi, gloria quanta dei.
Ista decent regem meditari, sit quod in illis
Apcior vt reddat debita iura deo.
Noscere te studeas et amare deum, duo namque
Hec sunt, que tibi, rex, scire necesse iubet.
Hec est condicio sub qua tibi contulit esse
Viuendique modum conditor ipse tuus.
=Hic loquitur secundum Salomonis experienciam, quod ceteris virtutibus
ad regni gubernaculum preualet sapiencia, que deo et hominibus regem
magis reddit acceptabilem.=
Cap^m. xv.
O pie rex iuuenis, iuuenili quid Salomoni
Contigit intende, sis memor vnde tui: 1040
Hic bis sex puer annorum cum sacra dedisset
Dona deo, meruit nocte videre deum:
Quem deus alloquitur, ‘Pete quod vis munus,’ et inquit
Ille, ‘Peto sensum, quo mea regna regam.’
Regia diuino placuerunt verba fauori,
Responsumque deus reddidit istud ei:
‘Non plures annos nec opes nec ab hoste triumphos
Quesisti, dentur que petis ergo tibi:
Non solum sapiens, set diues eris super omnes,
Quos habuit mundus, quos vel habere potest.’ 1050
O bene si speculo, rex, te speculeris in isto,
Quid magis expediens sit tibi scire potes.
Hiis tamen exemplis patet vt sapiencia regis
Ad regimen plebis est adhibenda prius.
Annus et annus abit, semper sapiencia stabit;
Stans super hanc petram non cadet vlla domus.
Res est grata senem iuueniliter esse iocosum,
Gracior est iuuenem moribus esse senem.
Qui gressu morum sequitur quo vult deus, illum
Precedit que suas firmat vbique vias. 1060
Mane precare deum, quod leta dies tibi plaudat,
Vespere, quod tutus tempora noctis agas:
Nam rex qui summo se vult submittere regi,
Optinet in regno cuncta petita suo.
In manibus regum regalia ceptra tenentur,
Vt quasi per virgam cuncta nociua fugat.
O rex, ergo tue tua legi debita solue,
Corporis ac anime quod sit honoris age:
Sume bonos, depelle malos, sis iuris amator,
Sis pius et populum dirige lege tuum: 1070
Set lex vt prosit, accedat gracia legi
Per Cristum, sine quo lex bona nulla datur:
Sit tibi iuris honor, timor excicii, pudor almus,[560]
Simplicitas animi, proximitatis amor.
Rex, ita si sapiens sapias sapienter ad omnes,
Tunc sapis in Cristo regna sapore bono.
=Hic loquitur qualiter celi deus, qui est rex regum et dominus
dominancium, a regibus terre pura mente precipue colendus est et super
omnia metuendus.=
Cap^m. xvi.
O rex, quicquid habes dedit hoc deus, et nichil a te
Est quod habes proprium, vel quod habere potes:
Esse creaturam te nosce dei, nec ab eius
Tu discede viis, si bene stare velis. 1080
Nobile corpus habes et singula membra decora,
Sit virtus animi sic magis illa tibi:
Vt foris est forma tibi splendida, splendeat intra
Mens tua, quod tibi, rex, sit decor ille duplex.
Labile forma bonum, species inimica pudoris
Vtile virtutum sepe retardat iter:
Forma dei munus, forma pars multa superbit,
Non tamen in sanctis stat viciata viris:
Non tibi forma deum set mens sincera meretur,
Iusticie soli vita beata datur. 1090
Non decet in rege quod mens contraria forme
Sit, set ab interius exteriora regas.
Qui tibi regna tulit, alii quo te venerantur,
Rex, in honore dei da tua vota deo.
Qui pius est Cristo, regi nichil ingruit hostis,
Subdita fortune sors magis immo fauet.
Si cupis vt timeant hostes tua ceptra, superni
Ceptra dei timeas, tuque timendus eris:
Sit tibi celsithronus metuendus ab arce polorum,
Cuius ad imperium flectitur omne genu. 1100
Hic ruit, exaltat, infirmat, firmat et orbem,
Singula fertque sua regia corda manu:
Hic est rex in quo regnant per secula reges,
Hic est rex sine quo regna subacta cadunt,
Hic est rex per quem mors fine suo rapit omnes
Reges, reddit eos actibus atque suis.
Magnus erat Cesar totoque potencior orbe,
Nunc quem nec mundus ceperat, vrna capit.
Sic et Alexander fortissimus ille Macedo
Clauditur angusto, puluis et ossa, loco: 1110
Maior erat magno mundo, modo nobile corpus
Exulis et victi vilis arena tegit.
Ecce diu res nulla manet mortalibus, ecce
Nullus honor prohibet, gloria nulla mori:
Non prosunt quicquam preconia vana sepultis,
Torquent famosos tartara sepe reos.
O de preteritis, pie rex, memorare futura,
Et reputa firmum quod sit in orbe nichil:
Cumque tibi spacium vite conceditur huius,
Semper ad omne bonum viue paratus opus. 1120
Subditus esto deo, si tu vis vincere mundum:
Qui Cristo seruit, optima regna regit.
=Hic loquitur qualiter rex in[561] caritate dei et proximi viuens,
contra superuenientem mortem, que nulli parcit regi, omni se debet
diligencia prouidere.=
Cap^m. xvii.
Omnes de morte statuit natura timere,
Sub cuius lege terminat omne genus:
Doctus et indoctus, pauper que potens moriuntur,
Omnes fine pari mors facit esse pares.
Vnccio nil valet hic, nichil hic insignia rerum
Regia, non sanant nec medicamen habent:
Gloria nulla potest in mundi rebus haberi,
Nec quo se mundus tunc tueatur habet. 1130
Disce quod omnis honor oneri coniunctus adheret,
Est onus in fine maius honore tamen:
Cum magis excelsus fueris, magis adde timorem,
Ardua nam preceps gloria vadit iter.
Est hominis vita quasi milicies reputata,
Bella super terram nam tria semper agit:
Rex qui per medium belli transibit inermis,
Sepius incaute stulcior ipse cadit.
O rex, ergo tibi bene prouideas, quod iturus
Es, set vbi nescis, alta vel yma petens. 1140
Omnia leta vale tibi sunt dictura memento,
Pauperis et regis exitus vnus erit;[562]
Nam nemo per se subsistere, nemo supremum
Securo poterit claudere fine diem.
Vt te de mundo moueas, bonus esse viator
Incipias, Cristi te sacra scripta monent:
Vt fugias hiemem scelerum, te floribus orna
Morum, virtutum luce choruscus eas.[563]
Motus ab Egipto veluti tentoria tendis,
Ad patriam vite dum properare studes. 1150
Esto memor quod sis factus factoris ymago:
Cur? vt ei similis iure sequaris eum.
Expedit ergo tibi, totis vt viribus illum,
Qui te formauit teque redemit, ames.
Tanti regis opem, rex, ora, quod tibi vitam
Supleat et mortem muniat ipse tuam.[564]
Fac ea que tibi vis, bona vel mala, sic et habebis,
Te tamen in melius dirigat oro deus.
=~Hic in fine regis epistolam breuiter concludit, dicens quod, sicut
rex ex sue libertatis priuilegio sublimari et inde coram populo
dominari magnificus affectabit, ita ad onus sui regiminis cum omni
iusticia supportandum coram deo iustum et humilem se presentabit. Non
aliter stabit regnum quod rex variabit.~=
Cap^m. xviii.
~Regia maiestas veneracior est super omnes,~
~Dum probus in regno rex regit acta suo.~ 1160
~Ipse deum primo placat, populique secundo~
~Corda trahit, mundum sic habet ipse bonum:~
~In terra pacem scrutatur et inuenit illam,~
~Quo celi regnum possidet ante deum:~
~Sic magnus mundo viuus, set maior olimpo~
~Mortuus, in Cristo regnat vtroque loco.~
~Ista bono regi bona de bonitate superni~
~Adueniunt; aliter non ita stabit iter.~
~Si rex sit vanus, sit auarus, sitque superbus,~
~Quo regnum torquet, terra subacta dolet.~ 1170
~Omne quod est regi placitum non expedit illi,~
~Que sibi iura volunt, absque rigore licent:~
~Mira potest regis pro tempore ferre potestas,~
~Vana tamen finis comprobat acta satis.~
~Si positum lance sit onus cum regis honore,~
~Non honor est tantus sicut habetur onus.~
~Rex sibi commissas regni componere leges~
~Debet, et a nullo tollere iura viro:~
~Nunc tamen in plebe vox est, quod deficiente~
~Lege dolus iura vendicat esse sua:~ 1180
~Sic bona iusticie fraus compta subintrat, et inde~
~Inficit occultam lex hodierna fidem.~
~Quo lex decessit, error sibi regna repressit,~
~Vnde decet regem ponere iuris opem.~
~O rex, ergo tui detergas crimina regni,~
~Et rege discretus que tibi suadet opus:~
~Perdita restaures communia iura, que leges~
~Ad regnum reuoca, crimen et omne fuga.~
~Si tibi subiectum cupias conuertere regnum,~[565]
~Te prius in Cristo fac revenire deo:~[566] 1190
~Postque tuum populum stabilem tibi pacificatum~
~Non vice terroris fac set amore magis.~
~Corda tue plebis ita dum pacienter habebis,~
~Nobilis in regno stabis vbique tuo:~
~Dumque tuas leges mixtas pietate gubernes,~
~Cuncta tue laudi gesta feruntur ibi.~
~Si tamen econtra rigidus tua verteris acta,~
~Vertet se populus qui solet esse tuus.~
~Hec tibi, rex, scribo pro tempore nunc que futuro;~
~Semper in ambiguo sors variatur humo.~ 1200
* * * * *
_The chapter stands as above in_ SCEHG (_over erasure in all except_
E): _the original form is given by_ DTH₂, _and both forms_ (_the
original first_) _by_ LL₂.
=Hic loquitur in fine istius Epistole, vbi pro statu Regis devocius
exorat, vt deus ipsius etatem iam floridam in omni prosperitate
conseruet, et ad laudem dei suique et sibi commisse plebis vtilitatem
feliciter perducat in euum.=
Cap^m. xviii*.
Rex celi deus et dominus, qui tempora solus
Condidit, et solus condita cuncta regit; 1160*
Qui rerum causas ex se produxit, et vnum
In se principium rebus inesse dedit;
Qui dedit vt stabili motu consisteret orbis
Fixus ineternum mobilitate sua;
Quique potens verbi produxit ad esse creata,[567]
Quique sue mentis lege ligauit ea;
Ipse meum Iuuenem conseruet supplico Regem,
Quem videant sanum prospera Regna senem;
Ipse iuuentutem regat et producat in euum,
Semper et in melius dirigat acta deus. 1170*
Consilium nullum te tangere possit iniquum,[568]
Rex nec in hac terra proditor esse tua;
Omne malum cedat, ne ledere possit, et omne
Est quod in orbe bonum, det deus esse tuum.
O tibi, Rex, euo detur, fortissime, nostro
Semper honorata ceptra tenere manu;
Assit et illa dies, qua tu, pulcherrime Regum,
Quatuor in niueis aureus ibis equis.[569]
Qualis et Augusti nuper preconia Rome
Extiterant laudis sint renouanda tibi.[570] 1180*
Augeat imperium nostri ducis, augeat annos,
Protegat et nostras aucta corona fores:[571]
Stes magis, o pie Rex, domito sublimis in orbe,
Cunctaque sint humeris inferiora tuis.
Que magis eterne sunt laudis summus ab alto
Aurea det dextre fulgida ceptra tue:
Qui tibi prima dedit, confirmet Regna futuri,
Vt poteris magno magnus honore frui.
Sic tua processus habeat fortuna perhennes,[572]
Vt recolant laudes secula cuncta tuas. 1190*
Ad decus imperii, Rex, ista tui metra scripsi
Seruus ego Regni promptus honore tibi.
Hec tibi que, pie Rex, humili de corde paraui,
Scripta tue laudi suscipe dona dei:
Non est ista mea tantum doctrina, sed eius
Qui docet, et dociles solus ab ore creat.
O iuuenile decus, laus Regia, flos puerorum,
Vt valor est in te, sic tibi dico vale.
* * * * *
=~Quia, prout de communi voce audistis, modernorum condiciones
per vniuersum orbem erroribus vbique mutantur, nunc de illorum
condicionibus qui nos precesserunt, precipue in ecclesia, que
iam diuisa est, diuersitatem sub exemplis figuratam consequenter
videamus.~=[573]
Cap^m. xix.
Poma cadunt ramis, agitantur ab Ilice glandes,
Marcescunt flores, defluit orta seges:
Proles granifera desistit reddere grana,
Irrita thura deo templa geruntque modo:
Qui color albus erat, nunc est contrarius albo,
Pallet et hec gemma que renitere solet.
Nunc est quod Babilon super vrbes nobilitatur,
~Nec manus est fidei talis vt obstet ei~;[574]
Ecclesieque nouis virtus iacet obruta sompnis,
Et Synagoga quasi ~fit modo sponsa dei~.[575] 1210
Nunc iustos veteres constat nec habere sequaces,
Omnes set morti preteriere boni:
Sique mali fuerant tunc temporis, ecce reviuunt,
Dummodo consimilis mos sit in orbe malis.
Decidit in mortem Noë iustus, surgit et ille
Nembrot in arce Babel, spernit et ipse deum:[576]
Mortuus estque Iaphet, operit patris ipse pudenda,
Set modo deridens Cham patefecit ea.
Mortuus est Abraham fidei ~primordia querens~,[577]
Belus adest, ~que deos fabricat ipse nouos~.[578] 1220
Mortuus est Ysaac, ~oritur genus vnde beatum,~[579]
~Set modo degenerans Hismael obstat ei~:[580]
Mortuus estque Ioseph, erat ille pudicus, et ~Oza~[581]
~Nunc sequitur carnem luxus amore suam~.
Mortuus est ~Moyses veteri~ de lege refulgens,[582]
~Transgrediens Abiron viuit in orbe tamen~.[583]
Quem deus elegit Aron mors morte subegit,
Fomes et inuidie dat thimiama Chore.
Mortuus est curru celum qui scandit Helias,
Infera ~qui meruit~ viuit et ipse Dathan.[584] 1230
Micheas moritur, viuit nec in orbe secundus,
Qui modo veridicus audet obesse malis;
Nam Sedechias super omnes esse prophetas
Vendicat, et cuncti nunc famulantur ei.
Est nec Heliseus, Naaman neque fit modo sanus,
Vult tamen en Giesi sumere dona sibi.
Euolat ex archa modo nec redit ipsa columba,
Cuius enim coruus iam regit ipse vices.
Sic capit exempla nullus de lege vetusta,
Quo testamentum defluit ecce nouum. 1240
Dic vbi sunt illi qui nuper in ordine Cristi
Rebus et exemplis dogmata sancta dabant.
Mortuus est Petrus, stat Liberius modo, cuius
Custodit portas Simon in arte Magus.
Nuper conuersum de Saulo sencio Paulum,
Saulum de Paulo nuncque redire scio.
Gregorii scripta verbis seruanda iubemus,
Nostris set factis ipsa neganda damus.
Martini legimus donum, set diuitis aures
Nos surdas gerimus, quo bona nulla damus. 1250
Dic vbi defunctis alter sit in orbe Thobias,[585]
Dic vbi vel pietas corda moderna mouet.
Aduerso paciens, conuerso tempore mitis,
Iob fuit, et stabili mente remansit idem:
Nunc tamen econtra de prosperitate superbit
Omnis, et aduerso tempore murmur agit.
Ordinis instructor nunc mortuus est Benedictus,
Set Iulianus adhuc viuit et obstat ei.
Fallit sal terre, non est in quo salietur,
Fetet ob hoc anima crimine carnis olens. 1260
Non moritur granum, manet in se set modo solum,
Occupat et terram cardo que vastat eam:
Non manet in vite modo palmes, sic neque fructus
Fert ea, set sterilis sicca cremanda iacet.
Lux perit a Phebo stellarum lumine verso,
Et sinit eclipsim subdita luna suam.
Nunc nouus est Arius, nouus est quasi Iouinianus;
Dum plantant heresim, dant dubitare fidem:
Ecce diem noctem dicunt, tenebras quoque lucem,
Iniustum rectum; sic perit omne bonum. 1270
=Hic tractat quod, sicut virtuosis nuper in ecclesia existentibus
succedunt viciosi, sic et mundi proceribus omnis milicie nuper de
probitate famosis succedunt modo alii, qui neque diuine neque humane
laudis digni efficiuntur.=
Cap^m. xx.
Legis diuine si cultores abiere,
Sic proceres mundi nunc abiere probi.
Mortuus est iustus Troianus, et ecce tirannus
Iusta statuta modo deprimit ipse Nero:
Conditor et legum nunc Iustinianus abiuit,
Set Dionisius has dampnat habere suas.
Mortuus est castus probus atque Valentinianus,
Tarquinus ceptri iam regit acta sui.
Largus Alexander moritur rex nuper opimus,
Et modo successit Cresus auarus ei. 1280
Mortuus ille pius est Constantinus, et ecce
Antonius solio iam sedet ipse suo.
Ecclesie cultor Theodosius ipse recessit,
Successitque Leo, soluere vult et eam:
Insultor fidei Constancius acta prophanat,
Tiberiique modo deperit alma fides.
Mortuus est Iulius, qui regna subegit in armis,
Et Romam statuit omnibus esse caput.
Mortuus est Hanibal, per quem Cartago vigebat,
Iam neque Cartago, set neque Roma viget. 1290
Hector, in ense suo qui nuper erat metuendus,
Nunc magis est Heleno bella timente pauens:
Corruit Eacides, pro quo surrexit inermis
Tersites, que suus indiget ensis ope.
Mortuus est sapiens Salomon Roboasque reviuit,
Quo superant iuuenes prouida dicta senum.
Distat amor Ionathe que Dauid modo dissociatus,
Ex odioque furit invidus ipse Saül:
Consulit hic eciam modo Phitonem mulierem,
Dumque dei vacuum gracia linquit eum. 1300
Nunc induratum persistit cor Pharaonis;
Sentit amara dei, nec timet inde deum:
Sic redit in vulnus nullo medicante cicatrix,
Que prius et tenuit sors mala, peior habet.
Consilium prauum nunc creditur Achitofellis,
Consulit et Cusay, quis neque credit ei:
Inuidiaque Ioab inmunem iam necat Abner,
Nec sibi cum rege quem sinit esse parem.
Qui fuerat iudex Cato iustus ab vrbe recessit,
Pilatusque loco iudicat ecce suo. 1310
Nunc occisus Abel iustus fratris perit ense,
Approbat hoc licitum lex tamen esse modum:[586]
Nunc Mardocheum suspensum cerno, set Aman[587]
Eripitur laqueo, lex sinit ista modo.
Nunc iterum Cristus sine culpa fit crucifixus,
Et Barabas latro liber abibit eo.
Sic cadit et stratum ius nescit noscere iustum,
Nec virtus animi iam regit acta viri.
=Hic loquitur adhuc[588] vlterius super eodem, qualiter loco eorum qui
nuper casti fuerunt et constantes, surrexerunt modo alii, qui huius
seculi vanitatem concupiscentes pudoris constanciam penitus amiserunt.=
Cap^m. xxi.
Mortuus est vicia Socrates virtute restringens,
Dispensare quibus nunc Epicurus adest: 1320
Vana relinquendo nunc mortuus est Dyogenes,
Vanus et hunc mundum nunc Arisippus habet.
Mortuus est corpus castigans virgo Phirinus,
Mechus et Agladius viuit in vrbe nouus.
Mortuus est Troilus constanter amore fidelis,
Iamque Iasonis amor nescit habere fidem:
Solo contenta moritur nunc fida Medea,
Fictaque Crisaida gaudet amare duos.
Estuat in lumbis incasta Semiramis, et nunc
Vix si Cassandra casta manere queat: 1330
Mortua Penolope, sic est Lucrecia Rome,
Et regnant Circes atque Calipsa pares.
Ammodo Iustina, luxus que spreuit iniquos,
Transiit, et Thaisis fit resupina magis.[589]
Nunc amor est Paridis communis in orbe quietus,
Vt sine nunc bello quisque fruatur eo.
Non Hymeneus in hiis conseruat pacta diebus,
Set Venus in thalamis reddit agenda suis:
Aurum sponsatur, vultuque decora paratur
Ad thalamum Veneris pluribus apta viris. 1340
Mutua cura duos et amor socialis habebat
Nuper, et vna tamen nunc sibi quinque trahit:
Vt duo sint carne simul vna lex dedit olim,
Ad minus inque tribus nunc manet ordo nouus.
Nunc iubet ipsa Venus et habet sua castra Cupido,
Castus et ad presens tempus abiuit amor.
Ales habet quod amet; cum quo sua gaudia iungat,
Invenit in media femina piscis aqua:
Cerua parem sequitur, serpens serpente tenetur:
Femina virque thoro sunt magis vna caro. 1350
Heus, vbi pacta fides? vbi connubialia iura?
Responsis careo, que ferat alter homo.
Ferrea frons laus est, nescit que signa pudoris,
Et pudor a vicio desinit esse pudor:
Quam solet inque genis ornare rubor muliebris,
Absque pudore malo plus furit ipsa viro.
Graculus ipsa quasi tacet, et quasi casta columba
Se gerit, et paciens est tibi spina rosans:
Vt laticem cribro, sic in muliere recondo
Consilium, set eo scire potes quod amo. 1360
Dum Iesabel regnat blando sermone pervngens,
Qui fuerat Iosue, vertitur hic in Achab.
Dum caput inclinat viciis, sibi subdita membra
Succumbunt ipsis vi vel amore malis:
Comptaque sic viciis stat florigerata voluptas,
Est quoque virtutis flos pede trita viris.
FOOTNOTES:
[500] 31 mos SCEHGT mox DLH₂
[501] 65 gignit CEDL gingnit SHG gingit T
[502] 72 rethia CE
[503] 79 volitans CE
[504] 93 volitat CE
[505] 149 non] vix CD
[506] 187 S_et_ C
[507] 194 subdet SH subdat CEGDL
[508] 225 que L
[509] _Heading_ 4 pestelencie SH pestilencie CEDL
[510] 303 sub acta C
[511] 344 campis C (_corr._)
[512] 353 Aproprias SC Approprias EHGDL
[513] 405 que tunc modo C
[514] 430 orbe CE
[515] 445 id _erased in_ C
[516] 456 ora CE
[517] Cap. vii. _Heading_ 5 ff. innocenciam--excusat] omnipotens qui
cuncta discernit causas melius nouit G (_ras._) D (_Heading om._ L)
[518] 476 quem S
[519] 493 _No paragr._ S
[520] _After_ 522 D _has the following_:--
Regis namq_ue_ modus alios moderat_ur_, _et_ omnis
Iuris ad officium dicitur esse caput.
Si bonus esse velit Rex, hii qui sunt bonitatis
Sunt magis edocti condicione sua:
Si malus esse velit, simili Rex sorte clientes,
Vt sibi complaciant, eligit, ornat, amat.
Iamq_ue_ supercreuit dolus _et_ defecit honestas,
Sentit _et_ opprobrium, quod fuit ante decus.
_Then_ l. 522 (_repeated_) _and_ 523 ff.
[521] 536 vlterius SH (v _nearly erased in_ S)
[522] 555 negligit S respuit CEHGDL
[523] 564 virtum H
[524] 545* magis _om._ T
[525] 549* modo _om._ TH₂
[526] 552* iubent H₂
[527] 561* omnes TH₂
[528] 564* magis _om._ T
[529] 566* complaceant H₂
[530] 576* de peste H₂ depiste T
[531] 579* supercernit T deficit T
[532] Cap. viii. _Heading_ 3 regnaturo] excelentissimo T (_text over
erasure_ SCHG)
[533] 3 doctrine causa] in eius honore T (_text over erasure_ SCHG)
[534] 613 super es SGDL superes CEHT
[535] Cap. ix. _Heading_ 1 rex _om._ C
[536] 652 fatescat H
[537] 658 impungnat S
[538] 663 Viperium CE
[539] 679 legit S
[540] 698 periat SHT pereat CEDL
[541] 700, 705 periat SHT pereat CEDL
[542] Cap. x. _Heading_ 2 supportet erigat _et_ defendat D
[543] 743 sanctita DT sancciata L
[544] 765 fatuos ve C statuam ve E
[545] 779 soluente CEH iubente SGDL
[546] 791 sis] sic CE
[547] 792 septra C sceptra E
[548] 849 decorq_ue_ C
[549] Cap. xii. _Heading_ 1 illecebra CE (_so also below_)
[550] 873 Exemplo C
[551] 890 leta] victa C
[552] 894 fugat] furit CEH
[553] 899 iacet SD
[554] Cap. xiii _Heading_ 4 excerceat C excerciat L
[555] 945 Pugnat et impugnat expugnans CEDL Pungnat et impu_n_gnat
expugnans S Pungnat et impu_n_gnat expu_n_gnans HGT
[556] 979 ne] nil C
[557] 987 cytharistea CE citheristea D citheristia L
[558] 993 aliquile S
[559] 1001 agrum] illum C
[560] 1073 excicii SEHGDLT exicii (_corr._) C
[561] Cap. xvii. _Heading_ 1 in _om._ C
[562] 1142 et SL vt (ut) CEHGD
[563] 1148 choruscus SD coruschus E coruscus CHT coruscas L
[564] 1156 Supleat SEG Suppleat CHDL
[565] 1189 O qui subiectum poteris tibi flectere regnum H O q_ua_m
subiectum poteris tibi flectere regnum CE
[566] 1190 Si prius in mundo sis pius ipse deo C
[567] 1165* adesse DL
[568] 1171* te tangere T detangere DL
[569] 1178* aureis D
[570] 1180* sunt D
[571] 1182* foras D
[572] 1189* p_er_ennes D
[573] Cap. xix. _Heading_ Hic recapitulat quodammodo sub figuris et
exemplis tam veteris quam noui testamenti, in quibus pretendit quod
eorum loco qui in omni sanctitate legem dei et fidem Cristi primitus
augmentantes Ecclesiam colebant, et a diu mortui sunt, iam resurgunt
alii precipue de Clero, qui illam omni viciorum multitudine suffocantes
corrumpunt DLTH₂ (_but_ multitudinem _for_ multitudine)
[574] 1208 _Text_ SCEHG Subditur ecce sibi vrbsque beata dei DTH₂ _Both
forms given in_ LL₂
[575] 1210 fit modo sponsa dei SCEHGL peruigil obstat ei DTH₂
[576] 1216 Nembroth CED
[577] 1219 primordia querens SCGL scrutator et ecce EHDTH₂
[578] 1220 _Text_ SCGL qui diis dat thimiama suis EHDTH₂ (q_ue_ E)
[579] 1221 cui rite deus benedixit EHDTH₂
[580] 1222 Nunc maledictus enim viuit et ipse Caym EHDTH₂
[581] 1223 f. et alter Qui facit econtra regna moderna regit EHDTH₂ et
alter Nunc sequitur carnem nilque pudoris habet LL₂
[582] 1225 Mortuus estque docens Moyses EHDTH₂ (decens D)
[583] 1226 Ac Abiron murmur cum grauitate datur EHDTH₂
[584] 1230 Infera descendens EHDLTH₂
[585] 1251 defunctus DT
[586] 1312 esse] ecce CE
[587] 1313 Mardocheum S (_corr._) CED Madocheum HGLT
[588] Cap. xxi. _Heading_ 1 adhuc _om._ CE
[589] 1334 Taysis CE
=Postquam de singulis gradibus, per quos tam in spiritualibus quam in
temporalibus error vbique diffunditur, tractatum hactenus existit,
iam secundum quorundam opinionem tractare intendit de pedibus statue,
quam Nabugodonosor viderat in sompnis, quorum videlicet pedum quedam
pars ferrea, quedam fictilis, in figura deterioracionis huius mundi
extiterat, in quam nos ad presens tempus, quod est quodammodo in
fine seculi, euidencius devenimus. Et primo ferri significacionem
declarabit.=
=Incipit liber Septimus.=
Cap^m. i.
Quod solet antiquis nuper latitare figuris,
Possumus ex nostris verificare malis:
Quod veteres fusca sompni timuere sub vmbra,
Iam monstrat casus peruigil ecce nouus.
Nunc caput a statua Nabugod prescinditur auri,
Fictilis et ferri stant duo iamque pedes:
Nobilis a mundo nunc desinit aurea proles,
Pauperies ferri nascitur atque sibi.
Non modo magnanimi volat inclita fama per orbem,[590]
Cuius honor mundo congruit atque deo: 10
Non modo pauperibus spergit sua munera largus,
Nec fouet in mensa vix modo diues eos:
Vix pietate modo nudos quis vestit egenos,
Nec capit hospicio quos scit egere vagos.
Non manet obtrusis qui carcere vult misereri,
Sana nec infirmos que iuuat vlla manus:
Inter discordes antiqum fedus amoris
Non est ad presens qui reparare venit.
Nunc tamen esse duas specialius estimo causas,
Ex quibus hic mundus desinit esse bonus. 20
Harum luxuria reperitur in ordine prima,
Ex qua torpor hebes nascitur atque quies.
Sic causatur ea miles modo tardus ad arma,
Quem mulier thalamis mulcet amore suis;
Et clauduntur ea cleri communiter ora,
Quod nequit ipse modo psallere vota deo.
Concilium Balaam nos vicit per mulieres,[591]
Vnde deo moto plebs sua quassa perit.
Altera set causa nunc temporis astat auara,
Que fouet invidiam semper in orbe nouam. 30
Hec predat, pugnat, occidit iuraque falsat,
Quod nequit a bello pax reuenire suo:
Exterius domini tractant bona pacis auari,
Set tamen interius stant sibi bella prius.
Dum poterit guerra plus pace recondere lucra,
Nescit auaricia pacis amare bona:
Nec sinit invidia tua te michi ferre quieta,
Lacrima namque mea ridet in aure tua.
Nil tibi si populus plangat sua dampna subactus,
Dum commune malum dat tibi ferre lucrum. 40
Sic et auaricia procerum se subdere corda
Dicit, et hii dicunt subdere iura volunt:
Sic honor ingenuus descessit victus ab auro,[592]
Ad loca iusticie nec revenire studet:
Sic patet ydropicus nummorum gustus auari;
Dum bibit, inde sitis appetit ipsa magis:
Sic census non diues habet, set habetur ab ipsis,
Sic dominus seruo seruit et ipse suo:
Sic viget ipse foris diues, tamen intus egenus;
Sic habet ipse nichil, dum nichil omne putat. 50
Saxea duricies mentisque liquescere nescit,
Nec pietatis ope soluitur inde gelu:
Pauperis in lacrimis deridet, vultque labore
Pauperis oppressi ferre quieta sibi.
Sic etenim nummis animus sepelitur auari;
Hos habet ipse deos, nec scit habere deum.
=Hic loquitur contra istos auaros omni ferro in hoc precipue tempore
duriores, quorum diuicie, nisi participentur, nullius, vt dicit,
possunt esse valoris.=
Cap^m. ii.
Heu! quid opes opibus cumulat qui propria querit,
Cum se nemo queat appropriare sibi?
Nil possessus habet, quia quisquis habetur habere
Nulla potest; se non possidet, ergo nichil. 60
Seruit habens habitis, nec habet set habetur, auarum
Census habet, domino predominantur opes.
Cum nequeas tuus esse, tuum nichil est; suus esse
Nemo potest, igitur est nichil hoc quod habes.
Si quis enim dominum rerum sibi subdit, et ipsa
Res serui domini dicitur esse sui:
Euicto seruo sequitur possessio seruum,
Et cedunt domino seruus et eius opes:
Adquirit domino, nil adquirit sibi seruus;
Quicquid habet, dominum constat habere suum. 70
Seruus auaricie sibi non dominatur, abutens
Arbitrio proprio proprietate caret.
Cum proprium nichil esse scias, est danda facultas,
Queque retenta nocent, particulata iuuant.
Nullus enim poterit veraciter esse beatus,
Qui sua cum socio participare nequit.
Qui dare nulla potest, satis ipsum constat egere;
Cum desit cui det, diues egenus erit;
Diues in hoc quod habet, set semper egenus in illo,
Quod non sit cum quo participabit opes. 80
Si tibi sit rerum possessio larga, nec vllus
Sit tua cui dones, copia nulla tibi:
Si tibi sit facies, sit honor, sit forma, sit alta
Mens tibi, si tamen hoc nesciat alter, eges.
Dispensa quod habes, vt consulit vsus, ad vsum,
Non ad auaricie pabula confer opes:
Da nudis, da pauperibus de pinguibus vti;[593]
Pingit amiciciam commoditatis amor.
Cum bona cuncta regas, vel ad esum sunt vel ad vsum;
Velle tuum rebus vtere sicut habes. 90
Instat auaricia set tanta modo, quod ad aures
Diuitis est nichilum quod mea scripta ferunt.
Non modo magnates tantum fore constat auaros,
Hos set vulgares nouimus esse reos.
Vt gallina suum granis iecur implet habundum,
De minimis magnum sumit et ipsa cibum,
Striccius hic nummos imbursat et auget auarus,
Nil sibi tam modicum, quin dat habere lucrum.
Iniungit proprio talis ieiunia ventri,
Vt pariat loculus fercula plura suus. 100
Ferreus ille tenax sua seruat corde tenaci
Propria, quod nullus participabit eis;
Perdidit et cordis clauem, qua vult pietatis
Officium claudi, ne deus intret ibi.
Sic nequit ipse suis sibi sumere gaudia questis;
Omnia dumque tenet, nec sibi quicquid habet.
Pectora sic ferri gestant homines quasi cuncti,
Dum caput a statua decidit ecce sua.
Aurea que fuerant iam ferrea tempora constant;
Ferrea condicio sic manet inque viro: 110
Aureus atque modus probitatis, quem coluerunt
Patres, nunc cupido deperit ecce modo.
Plus cupiens miser est, non qui minus optinet; immo
Qui sibi contentus est, habet ipse satis.
Diuitis autem diuicias non dampno, set illas
Approbo, si dentur quando requirit opus:
Non quia diues habet nummos, culpabitur, immo
Se quia nec fratres non iuuat inde suos.
Si sibi larga manus foret, vnde pararet egenti
Partem, tunc laude mammona digna foret: 120
Se tamen vnde iuuet alios vel, diues in orbe
Vix hodie viuit, qui sibi seruat opes.
Sermo, ‘Tene quod habes,’ qui scribitur Apocalipsi,
Iam sua completi iura vigoris habet:
Iam noua sunt silicis circum precordia vene,[594]
Et rigidum ferri semina pectus habet.
Pauperis ex clamore sonos non percipit, immo
Diues in auditu fingitur esse lapis.
Tempus erit quo tu, qui nunc excludis egentes,
Ibis in extrema pauper egendo loca. 130
Ad ferrum, secla, iam vos venistis ab auro,
Et magis est vile, nobile quicquid erat:
Posterior partes superatque cupido priores,
Nec scit honor solium, quod solet esse suum.
=Hic loquitur de statue secunda parte pedum, que fictilis et fragilis
erat, et de eiusdem partis significacione.=
Cap^m. iii.
Vltima per terras superest modo fictilis etas,
Vnde pedes statue dant michi signa fore.
Non cicius figuli fragilis nam fictilis olla
Rupta fit in testas, dum lapis angit eas,
Quin plus condicio fragilis temptata virorum
Rupta iacet vicii de grauitate sui. 140
Fictilis est laicus, set fictilior modo clerus
Eius in exemplis causat agenda malis:
Sic sacra scripta caro conscribitur vndique mundo,
Littera quod Cristi nulla videtur ibi.
Qui iubet vt carnem vincamus, cernere victum
Possumus, et doctum spernere dogma suum.
Clerus habet voce sibi nomen spirituale,
Spiritus in carnem vertitur ipse tamen:
Carnis enim vicia sunt sic communiter acta,
Quod de continuis vix pudet vsus eis. 150
Fit quasi nunc mulier hominis dominus que magister,
Vir fit et ancilla subdita, prona, pia:
Debilis in fortem ruit et vecordia vincit,
Qui foret et sapiens, fictilis ipse cadit.
Preuia dum clerus Veneris vexilla subibit,
Iam Venus a tota gente tributa petit.
Gallica peccata, nuper quibus hii ceciderunt,
Clamant iam nostras intitulare domos:
Nunc licet alterius sponsam quod quisque frequentet
Est status ingenui, dicitur illud amor.[595] 160
Non erit hoc laicis vicium set gracia magna,
Dum sit adulterio magnificatus homo,
Dummodo sponsa stuprum perquirit adultera donis:
Soluet ob hoc sponsus, qui luet illud opus.
Sic se nunc homines vendunt, quasi sint meretrices,
Prospera dum Veneris larga sit illa manus:
Sic sub mendaci specie grossantur amoris,[596]
Perque nephas tale lucra pudenda petunt.
Set qui de clero sponsam promotus adoptat,
Plura dabit Veneri, sit quod adulter ibi: 170
Pauper enim frater capit hic quod ibi dabit, et sic
Aut dans aut capiens proficit ille magis.
In causa fragili sic causat fictilis etas,
Quo nunc de facili frangitur omnis homo.
Ficta set ypocrisis fraudes celare latentes
Temptat, et occulto turpia plura facit:
Sic viget in facie ficti palloris honore,
Macrior vt vultus sordida facta tegat:
Set neque iusticia maxillas mentis adornat,
Immo placens mundo fert maledicta deo. 180
Sic vrtica rose faciem furatur, et ~auri~
Sub specie plumbum dat latitare ~dolum~:[597]
Sic latet iniustum sub iusto, sic maledictum
Sub sancto, que ~scel~us sub recolente fidem:[598]
Virtutum clamidem foris induit, interiorem
Contegat vt culpam, ne quis abhorret eam.
Sic foris apparet ~rutilans albedo~, set intus[599]
Omnis spurcicie tecta nigredo latet:
Sic ~quasi vox pacis odium blanditur ad aures~,[600]
~Os dat amicicias mensque timenda minas~; 190
Sicque columbinis stat pennis coruus amictus,
Turturis ~et falco~ fingit ~habere modum~:[601]
Sic animus Sathane gerit aspectum Gabrielis,
Est caput ancille, cauda set anguis erit:
Sic mellita bona visu tibi monstrat aperta,
Que si gustabis, sunt tibi mirra magis.
Disce quod ypocrisis est demonis archa, reclusum
Sub qua peccati continet omne nephas.
Non acus abscondi valet in sacco, set ad extra
Feruidus ex stimulo quod videatur agit; 200
Nec latet ypocrisis ita quod non se manifestat,
Et sua quod virtus non viciata patet;
Hocque sui vicium vicii vult pandere glosam,
Dum furit impaciens, ira reuelat eum:
Mendacisque diu pietatis fallitur vmbra,
Tam cito, cum grauius quid sibi ferre velis.
Sic lupus agnelli tectus sub vellere dentes
Nudat, et infecta pandit operta mala:
Sub vicii taxa sic virtus victa laborat,
Liber et a seruo nil modo iuris habet. 210
Ad placitum viciis laxantur frena pudoris,
Vt tollant gratam moribus ire viam.
Sic ego concludo breuiter, virtus quod vbique
Subiacet, et vicium scanna priora tenet:
Omnis et econtra fallit modo regula versa,
Sunt et in orbe nouo cuncta referta dolo.
=Hic loquitur adhuc vlterius de miseriis que in pedum statue
diuersitate nouissimis iam temporibus eueniendis figurabantur: dicit
enim quod ea que nuper condicionis humane virtuosa fuerant, in suum
modo contrarium singula diuertuntur.=
Cap^m. iiii.
Res fit amara modo dulcis, fit dulcis amara,
Fedaque fit pulcra, deficit ordo quia:[602]
Fit scola nunc heresis, fiunt peccataque mores,
Fit dolus ingenium, raptaque preda lucrum: 220
Fit sacer ordo vagus, fingens ypocrita sanctus,
Magniloqus sapiens, stultus et ipse silens:
Confessor mollis peccator fit residiuus,
Verba satis sancta, facta set ipsa mala.
Custodit vulpis modo pullos et lupus agnos,
Perdices nisus lignaque sicca focus.
Doctores vicia mendacia ~suntque prophete~;
Fabula ficta placet, litera sacra nichil:
Displicet expediens doctrina, set illa voluptas
Dictorum Veneris gaudet in aure satis. 230
Nunc amor est luxus, et adulterium modo nubit,
Et iubet incestus iura pudica michi:
In vulgum clerus conuertitur, et modo ~vulgus~
In forma cleri disputat acta dei.
Sunt serui domini, sunt et domini modo serui;
Qui nichil et didicit, omnia scire putat:
Rusticus ingenui se moribus assimilari[603]
Fingit, et in veste dat sua signa fore;
Isteque se miserum transfert gentilis in illum,
Vultque sui vicii rusticitate frui. 240
Sic modus est pompa, probitas iactancia, risus
Scurrilitas, ludus vanus et absque deo.
Nunc fautor scelerum specialis habetur, et obstans
Alterius viciis est inimicus ei:
Nunc magis est carus vir blandus in aure pervngens,
Et duplex lingua rethor habetur ea.
Nunc puer impubes sapiencior est Citherone
Regis in aspectu, plusque Catone placet:
Blandicieque sue nunc gestant premia lingue,
Quas mundi proceres magnificare vides. 250
Absit honor cunctis nisi lingue, que velut Eccho
Auribus in regis consona verba sonat.
Quod culpas culpat, quod laudas laudat et ipse,
Quod dicis dicit, quod colis ipse colit.
Rides, arridet: fles, flebit: semper et equas
Imponet leges vultibus ipse tuis.[604]
Premia iudicium Philemonis nulla meretur,
Dum tamen hoc verum sit quod ab ore refert.
Quem prius infantem texit pastoria pellis,
Iam subito blanda sindone verba tegunt. 260
Curia nulla suum veterem conseruat honorem,
Vrbs neque iusticiam, terra nec vlla fidem.
Sunt magis arma forum quam nobilitas, quibus ille
Garcio sutoris nunc galeatus adest:
Fuluus iam talus nimis est communis, eoque
Non honor est armis vt solet esse prius:
Namque superbus inops, dum non habet vnde superbe
Se regat, ex predis viuit vbique suis.
Debilitas regni surgit, vires requiescunt,[605]
Sic paleas multas granaque pauca vides: 270
Corda latent leporum, panduntur et ora leonum,
Aurea nunc verba plumbeus actus habet.
Nuncque solent homines consumere larga loquendo
Tempora, sermoni deficiente die;
Et bona, que regnum concernunt, vtiliora
Discordes animo posteriora sinunt.
Factis de nostris hodie conuertitur in cras,
Dicuntur facta que peragenda manent.
Nunc aliena sibi vult regna superbia subdi,
Que vix in proprio stat semituta solo. 280
Bella tonat valide thalamis audacia lingue,
Vecors set campis non mouet illa manus:
Sub facie guerre nos multant vndique taxe,
Vniusque lucro milia dampna scio.
Libertas solita nuper modo fertur auara,
Et magis ingrata condicione grauat:
Omnia pre manibus promittit premia seruis,
Nec memoratur eo, cum bene fecit homo.
Nil vetus exemplo nunc regula sufficit, immo
Acta loco iuris ammodo velle reget. 290
Est modo fel mellis, et liuor amoris ad instar;[606]
Quod patet exterius, hoc nichil intus habet.
Vox leuis illa Iacob, Esau manus hispida nuper
Fallebant, set ob hoc signa futura dabant:
Quicquid verba ferunt modo nam bonitatis ad aures,
Cum probat illud opus actus, iniqua gerit.
Cessit iusticia cessitque fides sociata,
Fraus, dolus atque suum iam subiere locum.
Nunc socii luctus socio velut organa plaudunt;
Vnus si presit, invidet alter ei. 300
Ex dampno fratris frater sua commoda querit,
Et soror ad laudem raro sororis agit:
Filius in matre iam sentit habere nouercam,
Sentit et hec nati plurima facta doli:
Filia maternos actus detractat, et ipsa
Mater iam natam spernit et odit eam.
Filius ante diem patrios iam spectat in annos,
Nec videt ex oculis ceca cupido suis:
Sit licet ipse parens, natis minus impius ipse
Non est, nec cordis viscera suplet eis: 310
Nullus amor parcit cuiquam quem ledere possit;
Quod voluere duo, tercius esse negat.
Plebs sine iure manet, non est qui iura tuetur,
Non est qui dicat, ‘Iura tenere decet.’
Viuitur ex rapto, vix hospes ab hospite tutus,
Nec socer a genero, dum vacat ipse lucro.
Tempore nunc plures odio remanente salutant,
Tempus et ad vomitum ruminat ira suum:
Facta mouent odium, facies exorat amorem,
Oscula pretendit os, manus atque ferit. 320
Pectoribus mores tot sunt quot in orbe figure,
Nec longum stabile quid bonitatis habent:
Vtque leues Protheus sese tenuauit in vndas,
Nunc leo, nunc arbor, nunc erat hircus, aper,
Sic modus ad presens hominum mutabilis extat,
Nec scio quo possum firmus adire gradum.
Vacca sit an taurus non est cognoscere promptum,
Pars prior apparet, posteriora latent:
Sic prima facie non est cognoscere verbum;
Qui nichil occultat, pondera finis habet. 330
Dum fueris felix, plures numerantur amici,
Aspera si fuerint tempora, solus eris:
Vt lepus in variis fugiens se munit in aruis,
Errat et in nulla sede moratur amor.
Tempore creuit amor antiquo, set resolutus
Vix vltra quo nunc progrediatur habet:
Illud amicicie quondam venerabile nomen
Cessit, et in questu pro meretrice sedet.
Orbis honorifici periunt exempla prioris,
Et nichil est de quo iam sit habenda fides. 340
Nunc amor est solus, nec sentit habere secundum,
Stans odioque tibi diligit ipse tua.
Sic est quod non est lepus et leporarius vnum;
Nescio quod video, sum neque cecus ego.
Est odium commune modo, set amor quasi fenix
Per loca deserta solus in orbe latet.
Est nocuum ferrum ferroque nocencius aurum,
Cuius nunc bello sternitur omnis homo.
Quid modo, cumque manus mentitur dextra sinistre,
Dicam, numquid homo credet id ipse sibi?[607] 350
Omnibus in causis, vbi commoda sunt ve voluptas,
Nunc modus est que fides non habuisse fidem:
Sicque pedum statue duplex variata figura
Quam varios hominum signat in orbe dolos.
Vndique dampna fluunt, quod in isto tempore liber
Nescio pacificis quo fruar ipse viis.
Expers invidie paupertas sola manebit,
Quam supplantare nullus in orbe studet.
O miser et felix pauper, qui liber vbique
Cum requie mentis absque pauore manes! 360
‘O mundus, mundus,’ dicunt, ‘O ve tibi, mundus,
Qui magis atque magis deteriora paris!’
Quid sibi sit mundus igitur, que forma vel eius,
Que vel condicio, singula scire volo.
=Quia vnusquisque ad presens de mundi fallaciis conqueritur, intendit
hic de statu et condicione mundi, necnon et de miseria condicionis
humane, tractare consequenter.=
Cap^m. v.
Mundus enim sibi dat nomen, set mundus haberi
Ex inmundiciis de racione nequit:
Sordibus est plenus, viciorum germine plenus,
Plenus peccatis, plenus vbique dolis.
Tempora mutantur mutantur condiciones,
Mutanturque status, nec manet ordo diu. 370
Discite quam prope sit et quam vicina ruina,
Talis enim nullum que releuamen habet:
Discite quam nichil est quicquid peritura voluptas
Possidet et false vendicat esse suum.
Vita quid est presens? temptacio, pugna molesta;
Hic acies semper, semper et hostis adest:
Fur opibus, guerra paci, morbusque saluti
Inuidet, et corpus nostra senecta premit:
Sicque perit placite paulatim gracia forme,
Nullaque de multis que placuere manent. 380
Nam gustata minus sapiunt, vix sentit odores,
Vix quoque clamosos percipit aure sonos:
Caligant oculi, de toto sola supersunt
Vix cutis et neruis ossa ligata suis.
Estates odit, hyemes et frigora culpat,
Nec querulo possunt vlla placere seni:
Frigore nunc nimio, nimio nunc leditur estu,
Et stabili numquam permanet ille statu.
Dens dolet aut ceruix, aut forsan lingua ligatur,
Splen tumet, egrotat pulmo, laborat epar; 390
Cor marcet, renes paciuntur, soluitur aluus,
Brachia vix possunt, languida crura dolent.
Longius in curis viciatum corpus amaris
Non patitur vires langor habere suas:
Singula non paucis pars est obnoxia morbis,
Et patet infelix ad mala totus homo;
Ingratusque suis morbis confectus et annis,
Conqueritur vite tempora longa sue.
Omnis enim virtus, qua gaudet corpus inane,
Desinit et vario pressa dolore perit. 400
Es sapiens? marcet sapiencia morte. Redundas
Diuiciis? lapsu mobiliore fluunt.
Es probus? expirat probitas. Es honestus? honestas
Labitur. Es fortis? forcia morte iacent.
Set cum te viciis victum succumbere cernis,
Miror te fortem dicis et esse putas.
Bella libido mouet; primos tu cedis ad ictus,
Et tua das fedo colla premenda iugo:
Sic et auaricie seruis, sic m~otibus ire~,[608]
Sic facis ardentis iussa pudenda gule. 410
Sic vbicumque tuam faciem cum mente revoluas,
Corporis et mundi singula vana scies.
Si corpus penses, ex omni parte videbis
Naturam fragilem, que remanere nequit:
Si mundum penses, ex omni parte volutum
Rebus in incertis fraude videbis eum.
Excussas aliquis deplorat grandine vites,
Iste mari magno deperiisse rates:
Istum luxuries illumque superbia vastat,
Hunc et tristicie seua procella quatit. 420
Et sic de variis mundus variatur, et ipsum
Quem prius exaltat forcius ipse ruit:
Labilis ille locus satis est, et more fluentis
Et refluentis aque fluminis instar habet.
Si cui blanditur, fallit, nec creditur illi;
Eius quo doleas gaudia semper habent.
Rebus in humanis semper quid deficit, et sic
Ista nichil plenum fertile vita tenet.
Quam prius in finem mundi deuenerit huius,
Nulla potest certo munere vita frui. 430
Si te nobilium prouexit sanguis auorum,
Hinc est quod doleas, degenerare potes:
Prospera si dederit tibi sors, et sorte recedunt;
Si mala succedunt, deteriora time.
Si tibi persuadet vxorem fama pudicam,
Hinc eciam doleas, fallere queque solet:
Hic gemit incestum corrupte coniugis, alter
Delusus falsa suspicione timet:
In quam suspirant multorum vota timebis
Perdere, vel soli ne sit habenda tibi; 440
Sic illam metuis ne quis corrumpat adulter,
Et pariat quorum non eris ipse pater.
Si tamen illorum succrescit turba bonorum,
Hinc iterum doleas, mors tibi tollit eos:
Si tibi diuicie modicam famulantur ad horam,
Has, vt plus doleas, auferet vna dies.
Tempora si viridis promittit longa iuuentus,
Fallit, et vt doleas Attropos occat eam.
Si tibi perspicue pollet sapiencia mentis,
Vt merito doleas, in Salomone vide. 450
Si facies niuea rubicundo spersa colore
Splendeat, hinc doleas, curua senecta venit.
Non habet hic requiem tua mens, set et intus et extra
Prelia cum multis irrequieta geris.
Dum potes, amissum tempus suple, quia Cristus
Heu nimium tardo tempore dampnat opus.
Vltima qui vite peiora prioribus egit,
Si perdat, caueat, qui malus emptor erat.
Discat homo iuuenis, celeri pede labitur etas,
Nec bona tam sequitur quam bona prima fuit: 460
Non que preteriit iterum revocabitur vnda,
Nec que preteriit hora redire potest:
Stare putas, et eo procedunt tempora tarde,
Et peragit lentis passibus annus iter.
Ancipitrem metuens pennis trepidantibus ales
Audet ad humanos fessa venire sinus;
O vetus in viciis, Sathanas quem spectat in ymis,
Quid fugis, et pro quo non venis ipse deo?
Ecce senilis yemps tremulo venit horrida passu,
Pulcher et etatis flos iuuenilis abit:[609] 470
Labitur occulte fallitque volatilis etas,
Et celer annorum cursus vt vmbra fugit.
Hec quoque nec perstant que nos elementa vocamus,
Immo gerunt varias diuaricata vices:
Corpora vertuntur, nec quod fuimus ve sumus nos
Cras erimus, set idem se neque tempus habet:
Nil equidem durare potest forma sub eadem,
Mutari subito quin magis omne liquet.
Cerne, fretum quod erat, nunc est solidissima tellus,
Quod fuit et tellus, iam maris vnda tegit: 480
Nunc fluit, interdum suppressis fluctibus aret
Fons, nec et ipse statu permanet ecce suo.
Conteritur ferrum, silices tenuantur ab vsu:
Numquid homo fragilis rumpitur ipse magis?
Qui nunc sub Phebo ducibusque palacia fulgent,
Nuper araturis pascua bobus erant:
Nuper erant rura, quo nunc sunt castra, que culti
Quo nunc sunt campi, castra fuere prius:
Frondibus ornabant que nunc capitolia gemmis,
Pascebatque suas ipse senator oues.[610] 490
Et si regna loquar hominum, scimus quia nullum
Principis imperium perstat in orbe diu.
Hec que preteritum tempus dedit, illa futurum
Post dabit, estque nouus nullus in orbe status.
Dicere quis poterit, ‘Ego persto quietus in orbe?’
Et quis non causas mille doloris habet?
Quo se vertit homo, dolor aut metus incutit ipsum;
Excipitur nullus qui sit in orbe gradus.
O quantos regum paciuntur corda tumultus,
Quamque procellosis motibus ipsa fremunt! 500
Inter regales epulas variosque paratus
Tabescunt vario sollicitata metu:
Mille satellitibus cinctus telisque suorum
Non valet e trepido pellere corde metus.
Sic inmunda suis de fraudibus omnia mundus
Polluit, et nullo tempore munda facit:
Iste per antifrasim nomen sibi vendicat vnum,
Quo nullo pacto participare potest.
=Hic loquitur de principio creacionis humane. Declarat eciam qualiter
mundus ad vsum hominis, et homo ad cultum dei creatus extitit; ita
quod, si homo deum suum debite non colat, mundus que sua sunt homini
debita officia vlterius reddere non teneatur.=
Cap^m. vi.
O si vera loquar, quicquid sibi mundus iniqum
Gestat, homo solus est magis inde reus. 510
Scripta docent Genesis, primo cum conditor orbem
Fecerat, hec dicens ipse creauit Adam:
‘Nos faciamus,’ ait, ‘hominem, qui nos imitari
Possit; et vt nobis seruiat atque colat,
Inspiremus ei sensum racionis, amorem,
Vim discretiuam, quid sit et vnde venit:
Inspiremus ei factoris cognicionem,
Vnde creatorem noscat ametque suum,
Quis suus est auctor, quis ei dedit esse vel vnde:
Mundus eum sequitur et famulatur ei. 520
Solus rimetur mentis secreta superne,
Et perscrutetur singula solus homo:
Singula scrutetur, set quod sibi postulat vsus,
Vtile vel credat, quod ve necesse putet.’
O sublime decus, honor eximius, decor altus,
Vt sit homo terra tectus ymago dei!
Vt sit ad exemplum factoris fabrica facta,
Resque creatori consimilata suo!
Cetera queque deus solo sermone creauit,
Hoc formauit opus apposuitque manum. 530
Terrula suscipitur, formatur massa pusilla,
Fit corpus solidum, quod fuit ante solum:
Ossa medullata neruis compegit in vnum,
Firmauit gressus composuitque gradum:
Hiis super induxit venas set sanguine plenas,[611]
Carnes vestiuit pellibus atque pilis:
Visceribus plenis fudit spiracula vite,
Ex quibus officiis singula membra vacant:
Os loquitur, manus exercet, pes currit, et aures
Ascultant, oculus sidera solus habet. 540
Viuificatur homo, surgit factura biformis,
Stat caro, statque comes spiritus, vnus homo.
Hec caro que carnis sunt sentit, spiritus alta
Sidera suspirat et sua iura petit.
Stat formatas homo, miratur seque suosque
Gestus, et nescit quid sit et ad quid homo:
Corporis officium miratur, membra moueri,
Artificesque manus articulosque pedum.
Artus distendit, dissoluit brachia, palmis
Corporis attractat singula membra sui: 550
In se quid cernit sese miratur, et ipsam
Quam gerit effigiem non videt esse suam:
Miratur faciem terre variasque figuras,
Et quia non nouit nomina, nescit eas.
Erexit vultus, os sublimauit in altum,
Se rapit ad superos, spiritus vnde fuit:
Miratur celi speciem formamque rotundam,
Sidereos motus stelliferasque domos:
Stat nouus attonitus hospes secumque revoluit,
Quid sibi que cernit corpora tanta velint. 560
Noticiamque tamen illi natura ministrat;
Quod sit homo, quod sunt ista creata videt:[612]
Quod sit ad humanos vsus hic conditus orbis,
Quod sit ei proprius mundus, et ipse dei.
Ardet in auctoris illius sensus amorem,
Iamque recognouit quid sit amare deum.
=Hic loquitur quod, exquo creator omnium deus singulas huius mundi
delicias vsui subdidit humano, dignum est quod, sicut homo deliciis
secundum corpus fruitur, ita secundum spiritum deo creatori suo gratum
obsequium cum graciarum accione toto corde rependat.=
Cap^m. vii.
Dic, Adam, dic, Eua parens, dic vnus et alter,
Dic tibi si desit gracia plena dei.
Cuncta tuis pedibus subiecit, ouesque bouesque,
Et volucres celi pisciculosque maris: 570
En, elementa tibi, sol, aer, sidera, tellus,
Diuitis vnda maris, cetera queque fauent.
Auctor enim rerum sic res decreuit, vt orbis
Queque creatura consequeretur eum;
Vt seruiret ei factura, suumque vicissim
Factorem solum consequeretur homo.
Erige sublime caput et circumspice mundum,
Collige cuncta, sue dant tibi queque manus:
Omnia subiecta tibi sunt, tibi cuncta ministrant,
Omnia respondent obsequiumque parant. 580
Qui tibi tanta tulit, qui pro te tanta peregit,
Qui pro te mundum duxit ad esse suum,
Qui dedit ex nichilo tantarum semina rerum,
Confusumque chaos ordine stare suo,
Sortes distribuens per partes quatuor equas,
Iratos motus temperat arte sua:
Sidere depingens celum, septemque planetas,
Et si nitantur, ad sua puncta vocans,
Signifer accessu solis signis duodenis
Tempora per totidem dat variare vices. 590
Qui totum mundum, postquam decreuerat illum,
Ornauit vario multiplicique bono,
Esse feras siluis, in montibus esse leones,
In planis pecudes, rupibus esse capras.
Pluma tegit volucres et oues sua lana decorat,
Inque tuos vsus est tamen hoc quod habent.
Respice delicias mundi, quas flumina dotes,
Quas tibi donat opes diuitis vnda maris;
Arboribusque sitis, herbis, radicibus ortos,[613]
Floribus et foliis fructiferisque bonis. 600
Pre cunctis recolat tua mens, quem te quoque fecit,
Et de quam nichilo traxit ad esse bonum;
Nam tuus illius est spiritus, et tuus eius
Est sensus, racio de racione sua.
Te caput esse dedit rerum, rebusque locatis
Nomina te cunctis queque vocare dedit:
Qui tibi spem prolis dedit in mulieris amore,
Consortemque parem coniugiique fidem.
Te sibi pene parem fecit, te pene secundum,
Dicere si possem, prestitit esse deum: 610
Contulit in celum sese, tibi tradidit orbem,[614]
Et mundi tecum dimidiauit opes.
Celum sole tibi, sol lumine seruit, et aer
Flatibus, vnda cibis, terraque mille bonis.
Set quod es vnde tibi? quod habes quis prebet? Vtrumque
Sponte facit pietas dulcis et ampla dei:
Qui tibi te tribuens sese promisit, eoque
Non habuit melius quod daret ipse deus.
Nonne superbire quemcumque virum decet ergo
Contra mandata que dedit ipse deus? 620
Celum deiecit set et odit terra superbum,
Solus et inferni fit locus aptus ei.
Hoc etenim vicio tactum fuit et viciatum,
Quod genitor primus protulit, omne genus:
In radice fuit omnis viciata propago,
Quo mundum quicquam mundus habere nequit.
Non fuit in mundo qui mundum mundificaret,
Nec quod in hoc venie posset habere locum:
Set pietate prius qui condidit omnia solus,
Ille reformauit et reparauit opus. 630
Accepit serui formam seruosque redemit,
Demonis et quod erat fecerat esse dei:
Hunc igitur superest deuota mente sequaris,
Vtque tuum dominum confitearis eum;
Preceptumque leue, vetitum non tangere crimen,
Si toto sequeris corde, beatus eris.
=Hic tractat qualiter homo dicitur minor mundus; ita quod secundum hoc
quod homo bene vel male agit, mundus bonus vel malus per consequens
existit.=
Cap^m. viii.
O pietas domini, qualisque potencia, quanta
Gracia, que tantum fecerat esse virum!
Vir sapit angelicis cum cetibus, vnde supremum
Esse creatorem noscit in orbe deum: 640
Sentit et audit homo, gustat, videt, ambulat, vnde
Nature speciem fert animalis homo:
Cum tamen arboribus homo crescit, et optinet esse
In lapidum forma proprietate sua:
Sic minor est mundus homo, qui fert singula solus,
Soli solus homo dat sacra vota deo.
Est homo qui mundus de iure suo sibi mundum
Subdit, et in melius dirigit inde status:
Si tamen inmundus est, que sunt singula mundi
Ledit, et in peius omne refundit opus: 650
Vt vult ipse suum proprio regit ordine mundum,
Si bonus ipse, bonum, si malus ipse, malum.
Qui minor est mundus, fert mundo maxima dampna,
Ex inmundiciis si cadat ipse reus:
Qui minor est mundus, si non inmunda recidat,
Cuncta suo mundi crimine lesa grauat:
Qui minor est mundus homo, si colat omnipotentem,
Rebus in humanis singula munda parit:
Qui minor est mundus, si iura dei meditetur,
Grande sibi regnum possidet ipse poli. 660
Conuenit ergo satis, humili quod corde rependat
Digna creatori dona creatus homo:
Restat vt ipse sui factoris querat amorem,
Restat vt ipse sciat quid sit et vnde venit:
Restat vt agnoscat, quo nominis ordine solus
Pre cunctis mundus dicitur esse minor.
Si minor est mundus, quo mundi machina constat
Ordine si querat, est meminisse sui:
Si minor est mundus, que sunt primordia mundi
Si meditetur, agit vnde sit et quid homo: 670
Si se nesciret, nec eum cognosceret, a quo
Vel per quem factus est, nec amaret eum.
Et tamen est illi substancia facta biformis,
Quo compegit eum, spiritus atque caro;
Vt deseruiret factori spiritus eius,
Et mundus carni spirituique caro.
Est ancilla caro fragilis, cuius dominatrix
Desuper est anima de racione dei;
Nunc tamen a mundo caro victa negat racionem,
Linquit et hec anime iura subire sue. 680
Sic seruit dominans, sic regula fallit, et extra
Deuiat illa deo, que foret intus homo.
Stulcior o stulto, commutans celica mundo,
Postponens aurum queris habere lutum.[615]
Cur dominus rerum, quare deitatis ymago
Parua cupis? Cupias maxima magnus homo.
Orbis terrarum tuus est, et quicquid ab illo
Clauditur, arbitrio subditur omne tuo:
Nempe parens rerum celo dimissus ab alto
Ad tua descendens est tibi factus homo. 690
Noli te regno peccati subdere, noli[616]
Que cicius fugiunt ista caduca sequi:
Set satagas humiles animo transcendere terras,
Desuper in celis arripe fortis iter.
Tu si magna petis, deus est super omnia magnus,
Si bona, quam bonus est dicere nemo potest.
Nil genus aut sexus tibi, nil vel comptus inanis
Mortis ad excessus vtilitatis habent.
Quid penetrasse iuuat studiis archana Platonem,
Natureque suos composuisse libros? 700
Solis iter celique plagas luneque meatus,
Et vaga vel summo sidera fixa polo,
Multaque preter ea satis ardua nouerat; et nunc
Philosophus cinis est, nomen inane perit.
Dum res et rerum causas vestigat Ypocras,
Dum medicinali corpora seruat ope,
Talis eum poterat sapiencia nulla mederi,[617]
Quin medico mortis lex subienda foret.
Sic patet, est hominis natura potencior arte,
Et ruit in mortem quos sua causa petit. 710
Est tibi nil melius igitur, quam prouidus illam
Prospicias mortem, que tibi finis erit.
Semper iturus ades, accedis ad vltima vite,
Nec scis quo fine, quando vel illud erit:
Celo longa via, restantque dies tibi pauci;
Tardat iter mundi qui sibi sumit onus.
=Hic loquitur qualiter homo, qui minor mundus dicitur, a mundo secundum
corpus in mortem transibit, et sicut ipse corporis sui peccato huius
mundi corrupcionis, dum viuit, causat euentum, ita in corpore mortuo
postea putredinis subire corrupcionem cogetur. Et primo dicit de mortui
corporis corrupcione secundum Superbiam.=
Cap^m. ix.
O tibi quid dices, cum non mouet aura capillos,
Arent et fauces, nec via vocis inest,
Et color in vultu sine sanguine, lumina mestis
Sunt inmota genis osque madere nequit, 720
Atque per interius cum duro lingua palato[618]
Congelat, et pulsum vena mouere negat,
Nec flecti ceruix nec brachia plectere quicquid
Possunt, nec passus pes valet ire suos?
Quid modo respondet homo mortuus ille superbus?
Dicat nunc quid ei gloria vana dabit.
Eius enim, nuper alios qui despiciebat,
Corporis exanimi iam perit omnis honor:
Et quia se corpus dudum tollebat in altum,
Vermibus esca modo subditur ipsa caro. 730
Non modo palpebra quasi dedignando leuatur,
Nec manus in longum planat vtrumque latus:
Quas vires habuit mortalis vis superauit,
Est musce spina forcior ecce sua.
Si decor aut species nuper florebat in illo,
Eius turpedo iam fugat omne pecus:
Si fuerat sapiens, modo differt a sapiente,
Est sibi conclusum quo nichil ipse sapit:
Que magis in studio peciit subtilia longo,
Mors ea dissoluit de breuitate cito. 740
Artibus in variis fuerat licet ipse peritus,
Iam cecidit prudens artis in arte sua:
Desinit ingenii racio sine iam racione,
Mors ruit in vacuum que racionis erant:
Littera quem docuit magis est indoctus asello,
Pectore nec remanet iota vel vnus apex.
Non sibi mentalis presumpcio iudicat vllos,
Se neque iactare mortua causa sinit:
Qui solet ypocrisi ficte virtutis honorem
Tollere, nunc monstrat quid fuit ipse palam. 750
Nil sibi quod genera linguarum nouerat olim
Confert, qui muto mortuus ore silet:
Organa nulla sibi nota vel citharistea plaudunt,
Quo perit auditus, musica nulla placet.
Nil valet ingenuas corpus coluisse per artes,
Qui modo nature perdidit omne decus:
Nil vestis pompa, nichil aut ascensus equorum,
Corpus iam rigidum magnificare queunt.
Nil sibi pulcra domus aut seruicium famulorum;
Nunc foris in populo nemo salutat eum: 760
Nunc serpens famulus puteusque vocabitur aula,
Nuncque loco thalami tetra cauerna datur.
Sic quia nuper eum fallebat gloria vana,
Nunc sibi nil remanet vnde superbus erit.
=Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum Inuidiam.=
Cap^m. x.
Ecce per invidiam qui roserat ore canino,
Iam canis aut vermis rodere debet eum.
Alterius famam spernens que leserat olim,[619]
Ammodo corrupta lingua dolosa tacet:
Alterius dampna risit, quoque prospera fleuit,
Nunc ridere nequit ore carente labris. 770
Murmure cor plenum nuper modo fit putrefactum,
Et via iam rupta cordis ad yma patet:
Iam nequit ambicio socii postponere laudem,
Nec preferre suam, qui sine laude iacet.
Tunc fel sub melle condens nunc conditur ipse,
Quo sine mente caro nil similare potest:
Amplius invidie mens ignea plena veneno
Liuoris stimulo pungere quosque nequit.
=Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum Iram.=
Cap^m. xi.
Feruida viuentem quem nuper torruit ira,
Amplius impaciens non mouet ille caput: 780
Lite sua dudum qui vicinos agitabat,
Mutus ad interitum non habet ipse sonum:
Nuper linguosus nequit amplius esse susurro;
Mors vocat, ipse tacet, nilque refatur ei.
Qui terrere solet inopem terrore minarum,
Contra vermiculum iam valet ipse nichil:
Non suus ad bellum furor ammodo prouocat ipsum,
Qui neque cum verme federa pacis habet:
Eius enim gladius iam non erit ecce timendus,
Qui patitur vermem cor lacerare suum: 790
Corporis ex odio non inficiet racionem,
Ammodo vitali qui racione caret.
=Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum Auariciam.=
Cap^m. xii.
O quid auaricia nuper modo prestat auaro?
Sola sibi stricta lignea cista manet.
Terra sibi fuerat nimio quesita labore,
Septem nuncque pedes, non magis, inde tenet.
Qui dudum fuerat raptor predans aliena,
Ipsum nunc predam mors quasi predo rapit:
Qui nuper fatuis tendit sua recia lucris,
Nunc capitur rethe quo remouere nequit. 800
Diuicias multas vniuit et arcius illas
Seruabat, set nunc dissipat alter opes:
Que quasi fine carens fuerat possessio larga,
Transiit et subito nulla remansit ei.
Gaudet enim coniux sponsi nouitate secundi,
Nec sibi cor meminens anterioris habet;
Immemor et patris letatur filius heres,
Nec sibi qui moritur vnus amicus adest.
Sic qui res rebus agros et agris sociauit,
Ammodo de questis fert nichil ipse suis: 810
Abstulit vna dies quicquid sibi contulit annus,
Et labor a longo tempore cassus abit:
Pauperibus bursam qui clauserat, indiget ille,
Nec valet argenti copia tota sibi.
Nil dolus aut furtum, nil circumvencio corpus,
Iam neque periura falsa cupido iuuat.[620]
=Hic loquitur de corporis mortui[621] corrupcione secundum Accidiam.=
Cap^m. xiii.
Amplius accidia sibi qui fuit accidiosus
Corporis ad placitum membra fouere negat.
Deditus hic sompno nuper nunc sompnit habunde,
De longo sompno quo vigilare nequit: 820
Mollia qui dudum quesiuit stramina lecto,
Anguibus aspersa frigida terra subest:
Ocia qui peciit nuper fugiendo labores,
Nunc nichil est quod agat, vnde meretur opem.
Si didicisse bonum potuisset, iam scola nulla
Reddit eum doctum, quo magis ipse sapit
Quid sit de rerum dampno: valet ipse dierum
Perdita iam flere tempora longa nimis.
Nuper in ecclesia rogitauit raro, set inde
Iam nequit auferri, nil tamen ipse rogat. 830
Semina qui parce spersit, parce metet ipse;
Quod nuper potuit, vult modo, quando nequit.
=Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum Gulam.=
Cap^m. xiiii.
Nil gula, que dudum fuerat sibi cotidiana,
Amplius in ventre, set nec in ore placet:
Viscera que pressa fuerant grauitate ciborum,
Euacuata modo nil retinere queunt.
Gustauit species et dulcia vina bibebat,
Horum suntque loco stercora mixta luto:
Eius in vmbiculo, sua quo pinguedo latebat,
Iam latitat serpens, qui sua crassa vorat: 840
Olla sui ventris, que parturit ebrietatem,
Rumpitur, et bufo gutturis antra tenet.
Esca sibi dudum redolens nichil ammodo confert,[622]
Occupat en nares feda putredo suas:
Crapula, que nuper ieiunia nulla subiuit,
Iam rupto stomacho sentit in ore nichil.
=Hic loquitur de corporis mortui corrupcione secundum Luxuriam.=
Cap^m. xv.
O qui luxurie vicium tam dulce putabat,
Iam sugget serpens membra pudenda sua.
Amplius incaste non circuit ille lupanar,
Nec manus in tactu feda placere valet: 850
Non valet ex oculis vultu similare procaci,
Prouocet vt fatuam, quo magis ipsa fauet.
Cantica composita Veneris sermone dolosa
Cum iuramentis ammodo nulla iuuant;
Est sibi nil cantus, nichil aut peditare coreis,
Nam sibi guttur abest, pes neque substat ei.
Non facit incestum, neque virginitatis honorem
Mortuus in carne iam violare potest:
Est modo putredo quicquid fuit ante voluptas,
Et calor in coitu frigiditate gelat. 860
Sic quod erat dudum corpus, nunc ecce cadauer;
Et redit in cinerem quod fuit ante cinis.
=Exquo tractauit qualiter variis peccati deliciis humanum corpus mortis
putredine in hoc mundo consumitur, interrogat vlterius de homine
peccatore, quomodo mundi voluptates tam fallibiles in sui preiudicium
ita ardenter sibi appetit et conspirat.=
Cap^m. xvi.
O michi responde, fert quid tibi pompa, superbe,
Cum teret in terra membra putredo tua?
Dic tibi, tu serico, gemmis vestitus et auro,
Quid cum mors veniat gloria vana dabit?
Quid victor gaudes? hec te victoria linquet,
Sit nisi quod vicii vincere bella queas.
Quid tibi liuor aget, vrentis filius Ethne,
Cum mors cor que labra soluerit ipsa tua? 870
Quid tibi siue furor aut ira valere putatur,
Cumque furore mali mors furit ipsa tibi?
Tempora siue tua tibi quid dant accidiosa,
Cum mors sit perstans absque quiete nocens?
Quid tibi delicie poterunt conferre gulose,
Cum morsus mortis fine perhennis eris?
Quid ve putas Venus ipsa dabit tibi fine laboris,
Cum calor in membris desinit esse tuis?
Aurea quid prodest tibi, diues, pompa monete?
Vltimus in terram finis vtrumque vorat: 880
Que tibi sollicitus longeuus contulit annus,
Cuncta simul rapiet hora repente breuis.
Quid reges vincis, quid subdis regna, tiranne?
Est deus invictus, qui tibi bella parat.
Quid tibi fama volans, honor, aut quid comptus inanis?
Omnis enim mundi gloria vana perit.
Occupat extrema stultorum gaudia luctus,
Et risum lacrima plena dolore madet.
Corporis in forma, quid vel de stirpe superbis,
Qui cinis in cineres vermibus esca redis? 890
Quid tibi si fortis poteris superare leones,
Numquid te poterit inquietare pulex?
Quid nisi stulticiam tibi fert sapiencia mundi?
Ergo nichil sapiens quod sapit absque deo.
Est tibi de limo formatum corpus inane,
Pronaque natura carnis ad omne malum;
Incipit in luctu finitque dolore: quid ergo
Queris vt hic tale glorificetur opus?
Cum nichil ex mundo sit corpore glorificatum,
Est tibi nil corpus glorificare tuum. 900
Nil tibi plus remanet aut corporis aut tibi rerum,
Sola nisi merita, sint bona siue mala:
Cum venit illa dies, que nil nisi corporis huius[623]
Ius habet, inueniet tunc homo facta sua.
Non hic iure locum valet vllus habere manentem,
Mortis ad incertas transiet immo vias.
=Hic loquitur qualiter omnia mundi huius sicut vestimentum veterascunt,
et quasi sompnifera in ictu oculi clauduntur: loquitur eciam in
speciali de mortis memoria et eiusdem nominis significacione.=
Cap^m. xvii.
Omnia quam cicius oculi clauduntur in ictu,
Et quasi per sompnum preterit omnis homo:
Gaudia perpetuos pariunt mundana dolores
Tollit et eternum viuere vita breuis. 910
Omnia que possunt amitti nulla videntur,
Nec longum quicquid desinit esse reor.
Dic quid honor, quid opes, quid gloria, quid ve iuuentus,
Forma, genus, vires, femina, vestis, ager,
Gemma vel argentum, quid septrum, regna vel aurum,
Purpura, quid latus fundus et ampla domus,
Magna potencia, multa sciencia, vana voluptas,
Vita quid, et nostri corporis ipsa salus.[624]
Quod caro mortalis tanquam vestis veterascit
Et celeri lapsu curua senecta venit, 920
Quod nostre semper minuuntur tempora vite,[625]
Quodque dies hominis fumus et vmbra fugit,
Quod sit vita breuis, quod mors incerta, quod omni
Tempore nos queuis causa molesta premit,
Alterutrum poterunt homines exemplificari;
Res etenim tales experimenta docent.
Rex est quisque sui, bene qui regit acta, beatus;
Qui regit acta male, seruus ineptus erit:
Rex appellaris: quid inani nomine gaudes,
Qui viciis pulsus seruus vbique iaces? 930
Cur viciis seruit qui regnis imperat, et non[626]
Mancipium vile corporis esse pudet?
Dum viciis sordes, nil prodest fulgida vestis,
Absterget maculas purpura nulla tuas.
Expediens igitur foret, vt sic quisque viator
Quam leuius poterit exoneratus eat.
Singula de nobis anni predantur euntes,
Morsque superveniens prospera queque rapit:
Regreditur cinis in cinerem, resolucio carnis
Monstrat principii materiale lutum. 940
Scit deus hoc anime quod fiet in orbe futuro,
Integra seu lesa, quanta que qualis erit:
Ista sciunt homines, mundo quod corpus in isto
Nil sibi perdurans vtile carnis habet.
Est caro corrupta viuens, plus mortua cunctis
Atque creaturis vile cadauer habet.
O speculum mortis! quotquot speculantur in illo,
Si bene se videant, gloria nulla patet:
Aduerse mortis sic ordo retrogradus extat,
Quod statuit caudas ad caput esse pares. 950
A morsu vetito mors dicitur; omnia mordens
Nominis exponit significata sui.
Rebus in incertis nihil est incercius hora
Mortis, morte nichil cercius esse potest.
Dum minus esse putat, hominem mors fallit, et ipse
Qui magis est sanus clanculo celat eam:
Non erit astrologus, medicus seu, de medicina
Qui prolongatum possit habere diem.
Sic homo, sic animal pariter moriuntur, et ambo
In terram redeunt condicione pari. 960
Est nichil exceptum: quicquid fit in orbe creatum,[627]
Sicut habet vitam, constat habere necem.
Clam veniens thalamis mors furtiuis volat alis,
Subuertens subito quod fuit ante retro:
Predat opes, vires nichilat, disiungit amicos,
Auro nec redimi quomodocumque potest:
Tollit agenda viris, reddit tamen actibus ipsos,
Compotus vt fiat iudicis ante pedes.
Ille quidem Iudex, qui singula iudicat eque,
Munera quem mundi flectere nulla queunt: 970
Iudicioque suo capiet vir digna laboris
Premia pro meritis absque fauore suis.
=Hic loquitur quod, quamuis iustis et iniustis vnus sit naturaliter
interitus, mors tamen iusti omnes exsoluens miserias eius spiritum
glorie reddit sempiterne.=
Cap^m. xviii.
Iustus et iniustus per mortem transit vterque,
Terraque sorte pari corpus vtrumque vorat:
Disparilis meriti restat tamen exitus horum,
Est nam leta bonis mors et amara malis.
Est igitur felix homo qui viuens bene fecit,
Quo moriens poterit sumere dona dei;
Dona quidem celi, quo gaudia cuncta refulgent,
Quo sine tristicia vita perhennis erit. 980
Mors aberit, morbus, labor, hostis, curua senectus,
Non habet hec felix illa superna domus:
Spiritibus summis equabit gracia regis,
Pro quibus est vltro passus amara crucis.
Hic est ille locus pacis que potentis honoris,
Quo tenebre nulle, quo sine nocte dies;
Quo deus absterget lacrimam luctumque, nec illuc
Amplius aut clamor aut dolor vllus erit:
Nec mors nec morbus, sitis, esuries nec egestas,
Set neque casus habet hunc habitare locum. 990
Lux ibi continua, pax iugis, gloria perpes,
Vita beata, salus vera, perhennis amor:
Est ibi spes que fides, bonitas, laus, gracia, virtus,
Sensus, amor, pietas, gloria, forma, decus.
Est sine sorde caro iuuenilis, et absque senecta
Etas, diuicie sunt sine labe doli:
Est pax absque metu, honor omnis et absque superbo;[628]
Absque labore quies, absque dolore salus.
Consummata manent ibi gaudia, passio nulla
Est et ibi, set habet omne quod optat homo: 1000
Vita perhennis ibi viget, et patet illa beata,
Que super omne valet, visio clara dei.
Vis tibi describam paucis quid sit locus ille?
Plus est quam quiuis dicere possit homo:
Plus est quam possit mentis racione doceri,
Vel plus quam cordis cella tenere queat.
Quam felix locus est, quam digna laude colendus,
In quo conveniunt gaudia cuncta simul!
Sic, quia non finit ibi gloria, non ego possum
Finem condigne ponere laudis ei. 1010
Hic erit angelici cetus, quam perdidit olim,
Suppleto numero gloria plena suo:
Hic erit humano generi laus summa, resumpto
Corpore cum fuerit glorificata caro:
Hic erit in domino cunctis gaudere per euum,
Omnia cum fuerit omnibus ipse deus:
Et sic mors iusti tollit sibi cuncta nociua
Corporis, ac anime celica regna parat.
Cum moritur iustus, tunc viuens incipit esse;
Hec mors vitalis, que moriendo iuuat; 1020
Hec mors non oneri set plus conducit honori,
Possidet in requiem mortuus vnde deum.
=Hic loquitur de duplici[629] morte peccatoris, vna ex qua corpus
hic resoluitur, alia ex qua digno dei iudicio penis perpetuis anima
cruciatur.=
Cap^m. xix.
Heu! nimis infelix qui se viuens male gessit,
Quo grauis in morte pena vorabit eum:
Mors etenim duplex homini debetur iniquo;
Est mors prima grauis, altera feda magis.
Prima necans corpus de mundo segregat illud,
Nec valet vlterius quid sibi ferre mali;
Altera set grauior animam deducit ad yma,
Reddit et hanc Sathane, que solet esse dei: 1030
Ponit in ambiguum que sit mundana voluptas,
Et fore dat certum pena quod omnis adest,
Pena quidem baratri, dolor omnis quo vegetabit,
Quo semper moritur, nec valet ipse mori.
Non vox vlla valet miseras edicere penas,
Quorum tormenta languida fine carent:
Hinc timor atque tremor, labor et dolor inde sequetur,
Perpetue pene mors furit absque mori:
Iugi morte mori, seu iugi viuere morte,
Nil differt dicas, viuere siue mori. 1040
Heu! mortem repeto tociens, quia nil nisi mortis
Effigiem miseris inferet ille locus,
Ille locus quem dira fames, quem frigus et ardor,
Quem tenebre, quem nox, noctis et vmbra tegit.
Vermis ibi mentes corrodit, et ignis ab estu
Corpora consumet, pena timenda nimis:
Tortor ibi, qui semper habet torquere nec vnquam
Deficiet, tortum torrida pena teret.
Quicquid erat placitum carni subuertitur omne,
Quod fuit et dulce torquet amara lues: 1050
Quod fuerat pulcrum fedat turpissima forma,
Quod fuerat sanum, pena resoluit opus:
Quod fuerat forte tunc viribus expoliatur;
Est sapiens stultus, est ibi diues inops:
Quod fuerat luxus prius, est ibi vermis et ignis,
Fit, gula que fuerat, insaciata fames.
Sunt tenebre visus pungens et scorpio tactus,
Gressus et in laqueos mortis habebit iter:
Aures torquentur strepitu fetoreque nares,
Et que sunt pene gustus amara sapit: 1060
Est ibi flens oculus, dens stridens, omneque membrum
Soluitur in luctum, quo sine fine dolet.
Quod fuerat vita mors est, quod corpus eratque
Vt fax comburens semper in igne coquit.
Heu, set ymago dei nuper tam pura creata
Illa dolens anima demonis instar habet.
Non Thetis extinguit ibi fulmina, set neque morsus[630]
Vipereos medici compta medela iuuat:
Stans ibi continuus dolor est vt parturientis,
Tempora nec venie spectat habere locus. 1070
Perpetuum pene tormentum nemo gehenne
Mente capit, set ibi stat dolor absque pari:
Cor de mente tremit, de corde caro, quod in ista
Scribere materia plus nequit egra manus.
Quo vultu, vel qua facie, vel quo comitatu
Tunc apparebit iudicialis apex?
Terribilis vultus, facies quasi sit furibundi,
Horridus aspectus aspera queque minans:
Iudicis ille furor breuis, ira set absque remissa
Pena, nil venie nil pietatis habens. 1080
Mater et angelicus cetus, necnon duodenus
Iudicium faciens ordo sequetur eum:
Angelus hic et homo pariter tormenta subibunt,
Penam pro meritis soluet vterque suis;
Efficientque pares pene, quos nuper iniqus
Peccandi pariles efficiebat amor.
Distinguetur ibi malus et bonus, ille sinistram,
Ille tenens dextram, iudiciumque ferent.
O, quam tristis erit miseris sentencia danda,
Perpetue mortis perdicione mori. 1090
Hec erit illa dies domini, qua luce patebunt
Clarius occulta, que modo clausa latent:
Hec erit illa dies ire, lux illa tremenda,
Qua non subsistet angelus absque metu.
Cum vix si iustus puncto saluandus in illo,[631]
Impie, quo fugies? quae fuga? Nulla quidem.
Est igitur mentis prudentis, mentis honeste,
Mentis discrete tale timere malum.
O nimium felix, tales euadere clades
Qui valet, et meriti viuere laude sui! 1100
O nimium felix, o secla per omnia felix,
O preseruatus, oque beatus homo,
Qui poterit mortis tantas euadere penas,
Celica cumque deo gaudia ferre suo!
Nunc igitur sedeat sapiens et computet actus,
Quam prius adueniat iudicis illa dies.
=Postquam de gaudiis et penis que bonis et malis debentur tractauit,
consulit vlterius quod unusquisque ad bonos mores se conuertat, et de
hiis que negligenter omisit, absque desperacione contritus indulgenciam
a deo confidenter imploret.=
Cap^m. xx.
Cumque repentinum casum breuis hora minatur,[632]
Dum tenuem flatum suscitat aura leuis,
Care, memento tui, quis sis, cur, vnde vel ad quid,
Vel cuius factus condicionis eras; 1110
Quod caro sit fragilis, fallax facilisque moueri,
Prona sit ad peius, pessima prompta sequi.
Spiritus hunc mundum spernat speretque futura,
Semper in auctoris fixus amore sui:
Quod caro spiritui subdatur eumque sequatur,
Spiritus auctori seruiat ipse suo;
Quod motus carnis moderetur, commemoranda
Est mors et pena mortis habenda malis.
Non poterit melius hominis caro viua domari,
Quam quod mente gerat mortua qualis erit. 1120
Fletibus assiduis, est dum data gracia flendi,
Penituisse iuuat estque salubre satis:
Nec deus ethereus hec crimina vendicat vlli,
Que confessa dolens non residiua facit.
Qui reus est igitur homo, penam temporis huius
Sustineat, donec diluat omne malum;
Vt sic purgatus, cum iudex venerit, illam
Effugiat penam, que sine fine manet:
Nam qui iussa dei non seruat et vltima vite
Spectat, ad infernum cogitur ille trahi. 1130
Scripture fallunt, aut certe noscere debes
Quod redit ad veniam vix animalis homo;
Victus enim vicio vicii fit seruus, et in se
Non habet admissum soluere posse iugum:
Ergo perpes ei debetur pena necesse,
Qui sibi peccandi velle perhenne facit.
Parcere nempe deo proprium tamen et misereri est,
Vnde, licet sero, te reuocare stude.
Figmentum nostrum nouit, set et ipse medetur
Tandem contritum, qui petit eius opem. 1140
Non te desperes, pius est deus, immo deumque
Qui negat esse pium, denegat esse deum:
Hic quasi fons viuus patet omnibus, et vacuari
Vt fons nescit aquis, hic pietate nequit.
Set quia spem nimiam presumpcio sepe fatigat,
Tu tibi spem pone sicut oportet agi:
Vt sapiens speres, tibi sit tua spes moderanda,
Eius habent sancto frena timore regi.
Non timor excedat, quo desperacio mentem
Polluat, immo deum mentis amore time: 1150
Nec spes presumat, set amet commixta timore,[633]
Sic timor est virtus spes et vterque salus.
Set meditando tamen tua mens de fine remorsa,
Semper amara timens speret habere bona:
Sanccius vt viuas, memorare nouissima semper,
Ledunt nam iacula visa perante minus.
Respice cotidie, mortis quia tempus adesse
Festinat, que simul prospera cuncta ruet.
=Hic loquitur quod sunt modo pauci, qui aut propter celi affectum aut
gehenne metum huius vite voluptatibus renunciant; set quecumque caro
concupiscit, omni postposita racione, ardencius perficere conantur.=
Cap^m. xxi.
Qui sibi commemorans, puto, singula ponderat eque,
Senciet a fine gaudia vana fore: 1160
Nunc tamen a viciis est quilibet infatuatus,
Quod de fine suo vix memoratur homo.
Quisque suum corpus colit, et de carnis amore
Gaudet, et est anime causa relicta sue:
Gloria nec celi mentes neque pena gehenne
A mundi labe iam reuocare queunt.
Sic caro, sic demon, sic mundus vbique modernos
Deuiat, vt Cristi vix sciat vnus iter:
Est caro que fragilis, demon versutus, iniqus
Mundus, in hoc hominum tempore regna colunt: 1170
Et sic bruta quasi perit humane racionis
Virtus, dum vicium corporis acta regit.
Est homo nunc animal dicam, set non racionis,
Dum viuit bruti condicione pari.
Nescia scripture brutum natura gubernat,
Iudicis arbitrium nec racionis habet:
Est igitur brutis homo peior, quando voluntas
Preter naturam sola gubernat eum.
Corporis, heu! virtus per singula membra revoluens
Naturam viciis seruit ad acta foris; 1180
Ac anime racio carnis viciata vigore
De virtute nichil interiore sapit.
Morigeri cicius modo sunt derisio plebis,
Et scola peccati iustificabit opus:
Que solet illa viros veteri de more beare,
Iam noua virtuti frena libido mouet.[634]
Inter eos mundi quibus est donata potestas,
‘Sic volo, sic iubeo,’ sunt quasi iura modo.
Succumbunt iusti clamantes, ‘Ve! quod in orbe
Impia pars hominum singula regna terit.’ 1190
Vis prohibet leges, euertunt crimina mores,
Virtus peccati turbine quassa perit:
Mundus turbatur, rerum confunditur ordo,
Involuitque simul omnia grande chaos.
Squalidus in terra sic stat genitor genitusque,
Quod natura suo vix stat in orbe loco.
Liuor et ambicio, gula, fraus, metuenda libido,
Ira, tumor mentis, scismata, laudis amor,
Ambiciosus honor, amor et sceleratus habendi,
Ipse voluptatis vsus et ecce malus, 1200
Furta, rapina, dolus, metus et periuria, testes
Sunt mundi quod erit ammodo nulla fides.
=Hic loquitur de variis vindictis occasione peccati in hoc seculo iam
quasi cotidie[635] contingentibus, que absque iustorum virorum meritis
et oracionibus nullatenus sedari poterunt.=
Cap^m. xxii.
Ecce dies veniunt, predixit quos fore Cristus,
Et patuere diu verba timenda dei.
Precessere fames, pestis, motus quoque terre,
Signaque de celo, stat quoque guerra modo:
Nititur aduersus regnum consurgere regnum,
Gens contra gentem, sic patet omne malum.
Vt pecoris sic est hominis fusus modo sanguis,
Victa iacet pietas, et sinit ista deus: 1210
Est et adhuc vindex extenta manus ferientis
Continuans plagas, nec timet vllus eas.
Longanimis domini sentencia sepe moratur,
Vir bonus inmunis nec malus vllus erit.
Quem deus ille ferit, nullo valet orbe tueri,
Si non contritum culpa relinquat eum.
Mortem peccantis non vult deus, immo misertus
Vult vt vertatur, quo sibi vita datur:
Est pius ipse deus, scripturis sicut habemus,
Pro Sodomis Abrahe dixerat ipse pie: 1220
‘Inter iniquorum tot milia tu populorum
Redde decem iustos, et miserebor eis.
Est michi nam soli proprium miseris misereri,
Multis pro paucis parcere curo libens.’
O deus, ergo tibi quid dicam, quomodo nostri
Luctus continui sunt tibi nuga quasi?
Nonne decem iusti modo sunt, meritis vt eorum
Stellifer ipse dies curet in orbe malos?
Aut deus oblitus est immemor ad miserandum,
Dormit vel fingit, aut sibi facta latent. 1230
Verius vt dicam, deus est accensus, et ignis
Fulminat inde Iacob, iraque lata furit:
Sic et plasma suum plasmator abhorret, et ipsum
Torquet pro factis que videt ipse malis.
O, qui mentali videt ex oculo mala nostra
Omnibus in gradibus continuare dies,
Dicere tunc poterit quod talia nullus ab euo
Impunita diu crimina vidit homo.
Quis status ille modo, quin sit transgressus, et ordo,
Quem iustum dicam, deficit vnde sciam. 1240
Hoc nisi gratis emat, dubito prope quod generalis
Decasus nostre prosperitatis adest:
Set quia de summis gradibus mala progrediuntur,
Est qui summus eos corrigat ipse deus.
=Hic loquitur sub compendio recapitulando finaliter de singulis mundi
gradibus, qui singillatim a debito deuiantes ordine virtutes diminuendo
extingunt, et ea que viciorum sunt augmentando multipliciter exercent.=
Cap^m. xxiii.
Dudum prelatus solum diuina gerebat,
Nunc propter mundum nescit habere deum:
Curatus cure dudum seruiuit, et ipse
Nunc vagus exterius circuit omne genus:
Dudum presbiteri casti, nunc luxuriosi;
Ocia que querunt plurima dampna fouent: 1250
Ex studio mores dudum didicere scolares,
Nunc tamen econtra stat viciata scola:
Indiuisus amor monachos sibi strinxit vt ardor,
Nunc petit inuidia claustra tenere sua:
Asperitas dudum fratres in carne domabat,
Regula set mollis ammodo parcet eis:[636]
Dudum milicia fuit et sibi gracia prompta,
Gracia nunc tarda stat, quia vita mala:
Mercator dudum iustum peciit sibi lucrum,
Nunc quoque fraude sua querit habere lucra: 1260
Simplicitas animi fuerat sociata coloni,
Nunc magis indomitum cor gerit ipse ferum:
Lex dudum iusta nulli parcebat amica,
Quam vigor argenti subdit vbique sibi.
Par status imparibus est actibus attenuatus,
Exceditque suum quisque viator iter.
Sic pietas humilis teritur, que superbia regnat;
Liuor adest agilis, torpet et omnis amor:
Permanet ira ferox, et abit paciencia suplex,
Viuit et accidia, sollicitudo perit: 1270
Ebrietas, non sobrietas, tenet ammodo mensas,
Feruet et in viciis crapula plena cibis:
Casta pudicicia dudum precingere lumbos
Affuit, et modo vult soluere luxus eos:
Nuper larga manus inopi sua munera spersit,
Nunc cupit et bursam claudit auara tenax.
Dic modo quot viciis modo sola superbia mundum
Ad varii sceleris precipitauit opus:[637]
Dic quot liuor edax acies sua signa sequentes
Subdidit imperio vique metuque suo: 1280
Dic quot auaricie manibus vel mente rapaci
Intendunt populi iura negando dei;
Quot gula deliciis torpet, quot torpor inanes
Carnis adulterio fedat in orbe suo.
Singula nempe vorat anime caro, sic quod vbique
Subdidit inmundam crimine mundus eam:
Singula fallacis mundi dulcedo subegit,
Nos tamen inmundos mundificare nequit.
=Iam in fine libri loquitur magis in speciali de patria illa in qua
natus fuerat, vbi quasi plangendo conqueritur, qualiter honores et
virtutes veteres a variis ibidem erroribus superuenientibus, vt
dicitur, ad presens multipliciter eneruantur.=
Cap^m. xxiiii.
Singula que dominus statuit sibi regna per orbem,
Que magis in Cristi nomine signa gerunt, 1290
Diligo, set propriam super omnia diligo terram,
In qua principium duxit origo meum.
Quicquid agant alie terre, non subruor inde,
Dum tamen ipse foris sisto remotus eis;
Patria set iuuenem que me suscepit alumpnum,
Partibus in cuius semper adhero manens,
Hec si quid patitur, mea viscera compaciuntur,
Nec sine me dampna ferre valebit ea:
Eius in aduersis de pondere sum quasi versus;
Si perstet, persto, si cadat illa, cado. 1300
Que magis ergo grauant presenti tempore, saltem
Vt dicunt alii, scismata plango michi.
Vna meo sensu res est, que pessima cunctis
Iam poterit dici fons et origo mali.
Heu! quia iusticia procul abcessit fugitiua,
Cessit et est alibi pax sociata sibi:
Pax, que iusticie dudum solet oscula ferre,
Nunc fugit a terra, ius perit ecce quia.
Plures iam nocui sumunt sibi regna magistri,
Vis iubet et velle, iura nec vlla videt: 1310
Nunc vbi se vertit magnas, sine iure sequntur
Leges, set populus inde subibit onus:
Corpore sicque meo non tantum torqueor, immo
Sunt michi pro minimo res quibus vtar ego.
Non est de modicis quod adulterium modo ledit;
Que caro deposcit omnia namque licent.
In terris aliis Venus et si predominetur,
Exsoluunt meritis hoc aliunde suis;
Est ibi nam posita lex, que communis ad omnes
Iudicat, et causas terminat absque dolo: 1320
Non status aut sexus, non dona, preces, timor aut quid
Possunt a minimo tollere iura viro:
Et sic iusticia redimit quodammodo culpam
Carnis, que fragili condicione cadit.
Set nos in patria non solum vincimur ista
Ex carnis stimulo, quo stimulatur homo;
Immo suas metas lex transit nescia iuris,
Sicque per obliquas patria nostra vias
Deuiat in tanto, quod, dicunt, amplius ordo
Non erit in nostris partibus: vnde deus 1330
Visitat has partes vindicta, qualis ab euo
In nullo mundi tempore visa fuit.
Non tamen est terra que gaudet in omnibus vna,
Set magis in nostra fit modo virga fera:
Clamor vbique, vide, non solus conqueror ipse;
Culpas tam patulas est reticere nephas:
Sic fleo cum flente, lex fallit, fallor et ipse;
Stat mea nam grauibus patria plena malis.
Nos, quibus assueuit numquam crudeliter vti
Fatum, iam pressos sternit vbique reos. 1340
Que fuerat tellus omni preciosa metallo,
Iam nequit ex plumbo pondus habere suum;[638]
Dignior argento, fuluo quoque dignior auro,
Nobile que genuit, vix valet esse quadrans.
Nuper dixerunt quicumque venire solebant,
‘Venimus ad portus, vbera terra, tuos.’
Nunc tamen vt sterilis reputaris et es, quia mores
Nunc neque diuicie sunt aliquando tue.
Quo ferar, vnde petam mestis solacia rebus?
Anchora iam nostram non tenet vlla ratem. 1350
Sic mea, que stabilis fuit, infirmatur iniquis
Patria iudiciis, iura negando viris:
Sic gentis domina, quasi iam viduata, tributa
Reddit peccato, statque remota deo.
Sic que morigera fuerat, nunc est viciosa;
Dudum legifera, nunc sine lege fera:
Sic ea que larga fuerat, nunc tollit egena;
Que fuerat sancta, fit Venus ipsa dea:
Est sale iam spersa, fuerat que fructibus ampla,
Et velut vrtica, que solet esse rosa: 1360
Que fuerat pulcra, quasi monstrum stat reputata;
Fit caput in caudam, sic terit omnis eam.
Scandala feda parit nouiter transgressa nouerca,
Omnis que laudis mater et hospes erat:
Que fuit angelica nuper, nunc angulus extat,
Languet et in tenebris sorde repressa magis.
Patria, quam famam dicunt habuisse sororem,
Est magis infamis omnibus ipsa locis:
Que fuerat digne super omnes celsior orbe,
Nunc deus est alibi, subditur ipsa quasi: 1370
Ordine retrogrado quicquid sibi laudis habebat
Cedit, et instabilis vndique spreta iacet.
Firma mouet, ruit alta, terit modo forcia discors
Error, et innumera spergit vbique mala:
Torpescunt proceres, clerus dissoluitur, vrbes
Discordant, leges sunt sine iure graues:
Murmurat indomitus vulgus, concrescit abvsus
Peccati solitus; sic dolet omnis humus.
Hinc puto quod seuit pes terreus in caput auri,
Et lupus agnorum cornua vana timet.[639] 1380
In meritis hominum solum deus aspicit orbem,
Et sua de facto tempora causat homo.
O sterilis terra morum, sani viduata
Consilii, lesa nec medicamen habens,
Dic vbi fortuna latitat modo, qua reputabas
Nuper in orbe tuum non habuisse parem.
Si Lachesis sortem tibi contulit esse dolosam,
Iam venit ipsa tui ~reddere~ pacta doli:[640]
Nunc palletque tuis nigris Aurora venenis,
Cuius lux aliis fulsit in orbe magis; 1390
Nuncque iuuentutis flos que tibi creuit habunde
Aret, et a viciis inveterata peris;
Fedaque nunc volucris, venturi nuncia luctus,
Concinit in fatis bubo propheta tuis.
Scit deus hanc causam specialius esse notandam,
Qua locus iste modo distat honore suo:
Hoc scio, quod cunctis locus in prouerbia crescit,
Et quasi nunc speculum denotat omnis eum.
Talia per terras fatali lege geruntur,
Vt reputant, set ego non ita stare puto: 1400
Non est fortuna, que talia causat habenda,
Nec sors, set merita nostra per acta mala.
Qui tamen hanc stare modo credit et hanc reuocare
Vult, purget crimen, sic reuocabit eam:
Gracia prompta dei querentibus inuenietur,
Nam sibi conuersis vertitur ipse deus.
Dum pia pro pace cecinit processio terre,
Firmaque iusticia fecerat acta sua,
Dumque fides steterat et amor ~sine labe manebat~,[641]
~Tunc, quia pax viguit, sors bona cuncta tulit~. 1410
~Nunc~ igitur nostra ~sit vita deo~ renouata,[642]
Ne sors fortuita plus queat esse mala:
Vota vetusta precum redeant domino dominorum,
Vt redeat dominus cum pietate suis;
Per quem pax et honor et tempora sana redibunt,
Que pro peccato sunt fugitiua modo.
Prospera qui veteris vult temporis esse renata,
Reddat et emendet facta priora nouis.
Est deus ipse piis pius et seuerus iniquis,
Sic valet ob meritum quisquis habere deum. 1420
Nos igitur, domine, tua gracia, que solet olim
Ferre reis veniam, te miserante iuuet:
Anticipet pietas tua nos, ne dicat eorum
Gens, ‘Vbi sit dominus, qui solet esse pius?’
Da, precor, accessum lacrimis, mitissime, nostris,
Nam sine te nullum scis quod habemus opem:
Nunc tua pro lapsis nitatur gracia rebus,
Nostra nec anterior sit tibi culpa memor:
Numquam pigra fuit causis tua gracia nostris:
Est vbi nunc illa, que solet esse salus? 1430
Nos peccatores sumus, et tu plus miserator,
Scit bonitasque tua nos opus esse tuum:
Si plus peccaret vir, plura remittere posses,
Materiam venie sors tibi nostra dedit.
Si quociens homines peccant, tua fulmina mittas,
Exiguo presens tempore mundus erit:
A te pendentem sic cum circumspicis orbem,
Auctor, pacificum fac opus esse tuum.
Nos, deus alme, tui serui, quamuis modo tardi,
Te, non fortunam, credimus esse deum: 1440
Scimus te solum super omnes esse colendum;
Sic nostri solus tu miserere, deus!
=Hic loquitur qualiter ea que in hoc presenti libello quasi sompniando
de mundi scripsit erroribus, non ex se tantum, set ex plebis voce
communi concepit. Consulit tamen finaliter quod, si quis inde se
culpabilem senciat, priusquam nobis peiora succedant tempora, suam ex
humili corde culpam penitens emendet.=
Cap^m. xxv.
Hos ego compegi versus, quos fuderat in me
Spiritus in sompnis: nox erat illa grauis.
Hec set vt auctor ego non scripsi metra libello,
Que tamen audiui trado legenda tibi:
Non tumor ex capite proprio me scribere fecit
Ista, set vt voces plebis in aure dabant.
Quem sua mens mordet, de voce sit ille remorsus,
Curet vt in melius que tulit egra prius: 1450
Qui tamen inmunem se sentit, ab inde quietus[643]
Transeat, et meritis sic stet vterque suis.
Quem non culpa grauat mea non sentencia culpat,
~Leditur hinc nullus~, sit nisi forte reus:[644]
~Ne grauet ergo tibi~, gibbosus namque panelli[645]
Et non sanus equs ferre recusat onus.
Non tamen in specie quemquam de pondere culpe
Accuso, set eo se probet intus homo:
Non ego mordaci distrinxi crimine quemquam,
Nec meus vllius crimina versus habet. 1460
Que sompno cepi, vigilans mea scripta peregi,
Sint bona dicta bonis, et mala linquo malis:
Omnis enim mundum gemit esse dei laceratum
Vindicta nostri pro grauitate mali.
Ergo suam culpam contrito corde, priusquam
Consumpti simus, corrigat ipse malus.
Corrigit hic mundum, qui cor retinet sibi mundum:
Cor magis vnde regat, hec sibi scripta legat.
Quod scripsi plebis vox est, ~set et ista videbis~,[646]
~Quo clamat populus, est ibi sepe deus~. 1470
Qui bonus est audit bona, set peruersus obaudit,
Ad bona set pronus audiat ista bonus.
Hec ita scripta sciat malus, vt bonus ammodo fiat,
Et bonus hec querat, vt meliora gerat.
Mundus non ledit iustum, bene dummodo credit,
Quando set excedit, mundus ad arma redit:
Mundus erit talis, fuerit viuens homo qualis;
Obstet vitalis quilibet ergo malis.
~Culpa quidem lata, qua virtus stat viciata,~[647]
~Cum non purgata fuerit set continuata,~ 1480
~Que meruit fata sunt sibi fine data.~
[648]=Explicit libellus qui intitulatur Vox Clamantis, editus
precipue super articulo primi infortunii, quod infortunato Ricardo
secundo in primordiis regni sui, vt audistis, quasi ex dei virga[649]
notabiliter in Anglia contingebat. Et nunc vlterius, quia ipse non inde
remorsus, immo magis ad modum tiranni induratus, regnum suum assiduis
oppressionibus incessanter flagellare non desistit, diuine vindicte
flagellum vsque in sue deposicionis exterminium non inmerito assecutus
est. Tres namque tunc regni nobiles super hoc specialius moti, scilicet
Thomas Dux Glouernie, qui vulgariter dictus est Cignus, Ricardus
Comes Arundellie, qui dicitur Equs, Thomas Comes de Warrewyk,[650]
cuius nomen Vrsus, hii vero vnanimes cum quibusdam aliis proceribus
sibi adherentibus, vt regie malicie fautores delerent, ad dei laudem
regnique commodum in manu forti iusto animo viriliter insurrexerunt,
prout in hac consequenti cronica, que tripertita est, scriptor
manifestius declarare intendit.=
FOOTNOTES:
[590] 9 magnanimi CEHDL magnatum S
[591] 27 Consilium CEHDL
[592] 43 descessit SHG descescit L decessit CED
[593] 87 da pinguibus CE
[594] 125 circumprecordia SG
[595] 160 Est S Et CEHDL
[596] 167 grossantur S grassantur HDLT crassantur CEG
[597] 182 dolum SCGDL suum EHT
[598] 184 scelus] dolus EH
[599] 187 rutilans albedo set SCGDL albus paries tamen EHT
[600] 189f.
Sic foris ex auro tumulus splendescit, et intro
Fetet putredo, vermibus esca caro. EHT
DL _have both this couplet and that in the text_
[601] 192 falco SCGDL nisus EHT
[602] 218 pulchra C
[603] 237 ingenii H (_corr._) Ingenuu_m_ L assimulari CE
[604] 256 ipse SL ille CEHD
[605] 269 _Ordinary paragr. in_ CDL, _no paragr._ E
[606] 291 _Ordinary paragr._ CEDL
[607] 350 credet CEHGDL credit S
[608] 409 seruus CE
[609] 470 estatis C (_ras._)
[610] 490 Passebatq_ue_ S
[611] 535 set] et CEL
[612] 562 sunt] sint CE
[613] 599 sitis] satis D
[614] 611 tradidit] contulit CE
[615] 684 queris SGL mauis (mavis) CEHD
[616] 691 regno peccato EHL Regni peccato D
[617] 707 eum CEHDH₂ enim SGLT
[618] 721 perinterius GLT
[619] 767 spernens famam C fama_m_ serpens L
[620] 816 iuuat S iuuant EGDLTH₂
[621] Cap. xiii. _Heading_ 1 mortui corporis CH
[622] 843 redolens dudum CEHD
[623] 903 nisi] sibi C
[624] 918 et] est S
[625] 921 nostre D nostri SCEHGL
[626] 931 imparat C
[627] 961 fit S sit CEHGDL
[628] 997 et _om._ S
[629] Cap. xix. _Heading_ 1 duplici CEGL dupplici SHT duplice D
[630] 1067 Tethis D
[631] 1095 si SGL sit CEHD
[632] 1107 Cumq_ue_ ST Dumq_ue_ CEHGDL
[633] 1151 comixta H
[634] 1186 mouet] tenet EDLT
[635] Cap. xxii. _Heading_ 2 quotidie CED
[636] 1256 parcit CE
[637] 1278 opes S
[638] 1342 suum SG suo CEHDL
[639] 1380 Et lupus SHDL Pastor et CG (_ras._) Lupus et E
[640] 1388 reddere SEHG soluere CDLT
[641] 1409 f. commune regebat Perstitit in nobis tunc honor atque salus
EDLTH₂ (gerebat E)
[642] 1411 Sint igitur nostra bona facta deo renouata EDLTH₂ (reuocata
L)
[643] 1451 inmunen S
[644] 1454 _Text_ SCEG Sic precor vt nullus DLT
[645] 1455 _Text_ SCEG Detrahet inde michi DL Se trahit inde michi T
[646] 1469 f. _Text_ SCEHG (in ista E) per scripta cauebis Que mala
sunt, ideo te dabis atque deo DLTH₂ (perscripta D)
[647] 1479-81 DLTH₂ _have two lines only, as follows_:--
Omnibus ipse tamen peior sum, sed releuamen
Det michi per flamen conditor orbis. Amen. 1480*
[648] EXPLICIT, &c. Explicit libellus qui intitulatur Vox Clamantis
(_omitting the rest_) EDTH₂ Explicit liber intitulatus Vox clamantis
(_omitting the rest_) L
[649] 4 virga dei CHG
[650] 12 Warwyk CH
CRONICA TRIPERTITA[651]
[Sidenote: Opus humanum est inquirere pacem et persequi eam.
Hoc enim fecerunt hii tres proceres de quibus infra fit
mencio, vbi fides interfuit.
Opus inferni est pacem turbare, iustosque regni interficere.
Hoc enim Ricardus ~capitosus~[652] dolosa circumvencione
facere non timuit.
Opus in Cristo est deponere superbos de sede et exal~tare
humiles. Hoc enim~ deus fecit; ~odios~um ~Ricar~dum de Solio
suo proiecit, et pium Henricum omni dileccione gratissimum
cum gloria sublimari constituit.]
Ista tripertita, sequitur que, mente perita
Cronica seruetur; nam pars que prima videtur
Est opus humanum, pars illa secunda prophanum
Est opus inferni, pars tercia iure superni
Est opus in Cristo. Vir qui bene sentit in isto
Scire potest mira, quid amor sit, quid sit et ira:
Est tamen hoc clamor, ‘Omnia vincit Amor.’
[Sidenote: Hic in prima parte[653] cronice com~positor~ tempora
distinguens,[654] causas vnde regnum fuit in se diuisum,
postmodum per singula tractabit.]
TOLLE caput mundi, C ter et sex lustra fer illi,
Et decies quinque cum septem post super adde:
Tempus tale nota, qui tunc fuit Anglia mota.
~Dum stat commotus Ricardus amore remotus,~
~Principio Regis oritur transgressio legis,~
~Quo fortuna cadit et humus retrogreda vadit.~
~Quomodo surrexit populus, quem non bene rexit,~
~Tempus adhuc plangit super hoc, quod cronica tangit.~
~Libro testante, stat cronica scripta per ante;~
~Est alibi dicta, transit nec ab aure relicta:~ 10
~Audistis mira, vulgaris que tulit ira:~
~Omnibus in villis timuit vir iustus ab illis.~
[Sidenote: Qualiter infortunatus rex Ricardus, virgam dei non
metuens, de malo in peius suam semper maliciam continuauit.]
Rex induratum cor semper habet, neque fatum
Tale remordebat ipsum, qui iure carebat:[655]
Stultorum vile sibi consilium iuuenile
Legerat, et sectam senium dedit esse reiectam:
Consilio iuuenum spirauerat ille venenum,
Quo bona predaret procerum, quos mortificaret:
Sic malus ipse malis adhesit, eisque sodalis
Efficitur, tota regis pietate remota. 20
Tunc accusare quosdam presumpsit auare,
Vnde catallorum gazas spoliaret eorum.
Tres sunt antiqui proceres, quos regis iniqui
Ira magis nouit, et eos occidere vouit:
Et sic qui cati pellem cupit excoriati,
[Sidenote: Nota de iudicibus illis, qui vt regis errorem
precipue contra illos tres proceres quos occidere vellet
iustificarent, literas sub eorum sigillis scriptas erronice
composuerunt.]
Fingebat causas fallaci pectore clausas.
Caucius vt factum sibi possit habere subactum,
Leges conduxit, pro parte suaque reduxit:
Munere corrupti suadente timoreque rupti
Legis in errorem regi tribuere fauorem: 30
Hii tunc legiste, quicquid rex dixerat iste,
Federa componunt, que sigilla sub ordine ponunt.
Tunc rex letatur, super hoc quod fortificatur,
Quo magis ad plenum diffundat ille venenum:[656]
Tunc aderant tales iuuenes, qui sunt speciales,
Laudantes regem, quia vertit sic sibi legem.
[Sidenote: Qualiter tres proceres predicti de regis malicia
secrecius premuniti in sui defensionem roborati sunt.]
Hoc concernentes alii, que dolos metuentes,
Ad defendendum statuunt cito quid sit agendum.
Tunc rex festinat, et ad hoc sua iussa propinat,
Vt tres querantur vbi sunt, et ibi capiantur. 40
Tunc tres, qui iusti fuerant et ad arma robusti,
Factum disponunt et ad hoc sua robora ponunt.
Qui fuerant isti proceres, in nomine Cristi
Expedit vt dicam referens, et eis benedicam.
Si non directe procerum cognomina recte,
Hec tamen obscura referam, latitante figura:
Scribere que tendo si mistica verba legendo
Auribus apportant, verum tamen illa reportant.
[Sidenote: Nota de nominibus trium procerum predictorum sub
figura. Comes Marescallus. Strenuissimus Comes Derbeie.]
Sunt Olor, Vrsus, Equs, stat eorum quilibet equs,
Non hii diuisi, set in vnum sunt quasi visi: 50
Penna coronata tribus hiis fuit associata:
Qui gerit S tandem turmam comitatur eandem,
Nobilis ille quidem probus et iuuenis fuit idem,
Sic quasi de celis interfuit ille fidelis:
[Sidenote: Comes Northumbrie, cuius Signum fuit luna
crescens.]
Hac sub fortuna presens aquilonica luna[657]
Non fuit ad sortem, sequitur set mente cohortem.[658]
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex, cuius Signum Sol erat, ciues
Londonienses pro auxilio ab eis contra dictos tres proceres
optinendo requisiuit; set illi regis maliciam perplectentes
eidem nullatenus consensierunt.]
Qui solem gessit tenebrosus lumina nescit,
In Troie metas dum vendicat ipse dietas.
Troia fuit prima, per quem sol tendit ad yma;
Pallet in eclipsi populus quia non fauet ipsi:
Obsistunt turbe Phebo, ne scandat in vrbe, 60
Dumque suis alis Cignus fuit imperialis.
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex Comitem Oxonie, qui per aprum
designatur, vt ipse contra tres proceres antedictos gentes
bellatrices secum duceret, in partes Cestrie vna cum regio
vexillo destinauit.]
Fraus tamen obliquas nubes commouit iniquas,
Extera dum rebus temptauit lumina Phebus:
Cestria surrexit, Aper in qua lumina rexit,
Regis vexillum fatue signauerat illum.
Set conspiranti deus obstat et insidianti,
Quo dolus exosos inuoluit fine dolosos:
Auxilio Cigni, regis pro parte maligni[659]
Si vis queratur, contraria vis operatur. 70
Querit Aper latebras, fraudes mortisque tenebras,[660]
Quo regnum periat regisque superbia fiat;
Cignus et expresse super hiis que cernit adesse
Prouidet, et curam regni colit ipse futuram:
Ducit Aper gentes, quas concitat arma gerentes,
Liber vt hiis pergat proceresque per omnia spergat.
[Sidenote: Qualiter quodam die Veneris Comes Oxonie cum suis
sequentibus in conspectu ducis Glouernie, qui tunc vulpis
caudam in lancea gessit, prope villam Oxonie in fugam se
vertit, et castra, que ipse familie sue pro signo gestanda
attribuerat, ad terram absque releuamine finaliter proiecta
sunt. Nam et ipse Comes, vt securiori modo vitam seruaret,
profugus vltra mare nauigio transiit.]
Cignus vt hoc sciuit, venientibus obuius iuit,
Belliger et purgat regnum, quo vita resurgat:
Cum Venus incepit lucem, sors bella recepit.
Stat Tetis a parte, cecidit dum Cestria Marte;[661] 80
Thamisie fluctus capiunt de sanguine luctus:
Vicit Olor pennis, sit ei quo vita perhennis.
Tunc Aper Oxonie cecidit de sede sophie;
Cum prope stat villam, maledixerat impius illam:
Non ibi permansit fugiens set Aper vada transit,[662]
Infortunatus fit ibi de fonte renatus.
De vulpis cauda velox Aper est vt alauda,
Cauda ruit castra, que sunt numero velut astra:
Sic quia deliquit, vacuus sua castra reliquit,
Pauper et exposcit foueam, qua viuere possit. 90
Set neque castrorum iuuat Aprum pompa suorum,
Nec sibi fossa datur, dum profugus inde fugatur:
Hec ita dum vidit, quod eum fortuna rescidit,[663]
Per mare transiuit, alibi quo viuere quiuit.
Sic Aper in leporem mutatus perdit honorem,
Amplius et certus locus est sibi nullus apertus.
[Sidenote: Qualiter statim post fugam dicti Comitis Oxonie
Alexander de Nevill tunc Eboracensis archiepiscopus, qui
eciam cum rege in suis erroribus particeps erat, tunc metu
ductus consimili fuga per mare reus euasit.]
Nil odor incensi tunc profuit Eboracensi,
Set nec mitra choris nec opes nec culmen honoris;
Ad regale latus cum plus sit ad alta leuatus,
Corruit a sede, sic transit presul ab ede. 100
Cure mercator primas fuit et spoliator,
Pauper et abcessit, quem preuia culpa repressit:
Sic fugit hic predo cleri Noua villa Macedo,
Quem, quia sic vixit, pater ecclesie maledixit.
[Sidenote: Qualiter Michael de la Pole, Comes Suffolcie, qui
tunc regis Cancellarius erat, dum se culpabilem senciit,
trans mare eciam nauigando ad salutem[664] alibi se muniuit.]
Est Comes elatus, fallax, cupidus, sceleratus;
Fraudes per Mille stat Cancellarius ille:
Hic proceres odit et eorum nomina rodit
Morsibus a tergo, fit tandem profugus ergo.
Sic deus in celis mala de puteo Michaelis
Acriter expurgat, ne plus comes ille resurgat. 110
[Sidenote: Qualiter eciam episcopus Cicestrie, tunc regis
confessor, conscius culpe extera loca petens propria fugiendo
reliquit.]
Alter et est talis, sub regis qui cubat alis,
Mollis confessor, blandus scelerisque professor:
Extitit hic frater, qui stat foris intus et ater,
Cuius nigredo fedat loca regia, credo.
Hic fuit obliqus procerum latitans inimicus,
Semper in augendo magis iram quam minuendo:
Hic tamen in fine fugit, et de sorte ruine
Que mala spondebat aliis prius ipse luebat.
Sunt ita predicti cordis formidine victi,
De propria viui terra quod sunt fugitiui. 120
[Sidenote: Qualiter tres proceres de querela antedicti
Londonias pariter aduenientes, cum rege, tunc apud Turrim
existente, pro remedio in premissis optinendo, seruata
regis reuerencia, colloquium pacificum habuerunt: vnde de
regis consensu parliamentum infra breue Londoniis tenendum
optinuerunt.]
Tunc tres persone, qui pleni sunt racione,
Iusticiam querunt, regem super hoc adierunt.
Rex fuit ad muros Turris proceresque futuros
Vidit, et ex visu cognouit se sine risu.
Armatis turbis portas intrantibus vrbis,
Intrant audaces proceres in pace sequaces;
Turrim ceperunt, vbi regis honore steterunt.
Eius vt a latere vicium poterint remouere,
Est iter inuentum, statuunt quo parliamentum,
Vt sic purgarent regnique statum repararent. 130
[Sidenote: Qualiter in principio parliamenti concordatum
est, quod absencia tunc illorum qui, vt premittitur, a regno
sponte fugierunt, in perpetuum exilium absque redempcione
iudicaretur.]
Terra covnata fuerat de lege vocata;
Rex sedet, et tutum fuit os commune locutum.
Dicit enim, tales qui regis collaterales[665]
Extiterant gentes, super hoc quod sunt fugientes,
Iudicium tale fuit exilium generale:
De terra dempti sic sunt, non ense perempti;
Est ita dilata procerum sentencia lata.
[Sidenote: Qualiter parliamentum gradatim processit, precipue
contra illos qui regis iniqui fautores iniqui fuerunt, quorum
Simon de Burle[666] miles, tunc regis Camerarius, in iudicio
conuictus mortis sentencia decollatus est.]
Hoc facto querunt alios, qui tunc latuerunt,
Quorum regalis Camerarius est capitalis.
Corruit in fata gladii vestis stragulata; 140
Stat quia non recta, magis est culpanda senecta:
Lacrima Regine dum poscit opem medicine,
Obrutus amittit caput et sua funera mittit.
Ecce Senescalli non tantum lucra catalli,
Que mala quesiuit, sceleris fortuna sitiuit,
[Sidenote: Qualiter etiam Iohannes Beauchamp miles, tunc
regis hospicii Senescallus, quem rex Baronem de Briggenorth
vocari constituit, amisso capite de Curia recessit.]
Set magis in mortem decreuit curia sortem:
Dum caput inclinat, gladius sibi iura propinat.
Ille quidem Cignum despexit, Aprumque malignum
Semper laudauit, cor regis et infatuauit;
Fallax, versutus, quasi vulpis fraude volutus, 150
Inuidus et paci lingua fuit ille loquaci.
Nomen Baronis cecidit sic Pons Aquilonis;
Hoc rex erroris posuit sibi nomen honoris.
[Sidenote: Qualiter Nicholaus Brembel, qui ciuis et Maior
Londoniarum fuerat, ad furcas tractus et ibi suspensus suam
vrbis libertatem turpiter amisit.]
Maior erat ville, Tribulus dictus fuit ille,
Qui proceres pungit regisque dolos magis vngit:
Hunc quasi consortem dilexit rex, quia sortem
Consilii cepit, quo mortem fine recepit:
Furcis pendebat, quem primo terra trahebat,
Ictum sic ensis non sentit Londoniensis.
[Sidenote: Qualiter eciam Robertus Tresilian miles, qui[667]
tunc de Banco regis iudex capitalis extitit, sub eadem
furcarum pena diem vite sue iudicialiter clausit extremum.]
In banco regis qui librat pondera legis, 160
Iuraque cognouit, aliis plus iura remouit,
Cornubiensis erat: si quis sua crimina querat,
Peior eo nullus, nec eo fallacior vllus.
Hic scelus instigat proceres, quos sepe fatigat,
Vnde fatigatus tandem perit hic sceleratus:
Crimine prestante super hoc quod fecerat ante,
Ad furcas tractus fit ibi pendendo subactus.
Pendula sors tristis morientibus accidit istis,
In manibus quorum pendebant iura virorum.
[Sidenote: Qualiter iudices alii, qui originales regis
excessus, vt prefertur, sigillis suis contra proceres
roborarunt, ad instanciam prelatorum absque mortis iudicio in
partes Hibernie exules ab Anglia transierunt.]
Iudicibus reliquis falsisque scienter amicis,[668] 170
Vt patet ante nota, conclamat curia tota:
Vrbs, ager et villa damnarunt falsa sigilla,
Que dederant causam sceleris regi, magis ansam.[669]
Non fuit hec pena, delictis que fore plena
Posset, et hoc certe vox plebis dixit aperte;[670]
Set nimis ornate penam ficta pietate
Pontifices regis moderantur ab ordine legis:
Sic non ense cadunt, set in exilium mare vadunt,
Quos inconsultos suscepit Hibernia stultos.
Legiferi tales super omnes sunt speciales, 180
Regis ad errorem qui plus tribuere fauorem.
Hic non sorte pari statuit sors fata parari,[671]
Vt reus incepit, sic de mercede recepit:
Exulat iste status, fuit alter decapitatus,
Hii, cum ceduntur, ad funera fune trahuntur.
Dispar erat munus, fuerat tamen exitus vnus;[672]
Quicquid homo voluit, tandem mors omnia soluit.
[Sidenote: Qualiter diuersi fratres, diuersarum curiarum tunc
confessores, vna cum aliis ministris quampluribus, quasi
palee invtiles per loca disperguntur.]
Vt rex purgetur, vt regnum clarificetur,
Restat adhuc queri, poterit quo culpa mederi.
Absque deo fratres fuerant hoc tempore patres, 190
Nec sibi confessa per eos est culpa repressa:[673]
In viciis arent, vicium qui mundificarent;
Morum more carent, mores qui multiplicarent.
Fraudis in exemplum sic errat ab ordine templum,
Nec cauet ille status solita de sorde reatus:
Sunt ita transgressi fratres ad sacra professi,
Quod personarum deus extitit vltor earum.
Ad regale latus non est status inmaculatus,
Quo plus quam Centum remouentur abinde clientum:
Lugent cantores, perdunt quia cantus honores, 200
Plangunt scriptores scriptos de fraude rigores:
Transit adulator, sceleratus et insidiator,
Consilii fautor, inuentor et inuidus auctor.
[Sidenote: Qualiter proceres predicti de querela principales,
si precibus aut donis flecti possent, sepissime blandiuntur;
set illi tanquam vere iusticie executores, vsque in sue
querele consummacionem vnanimes constanter astiterunt.]
Stat manus extenta, nec cessat Curia tenta,
Donec purgetur dolus omnis et euacuetur.
Falsi temptarunt iustos, set non superarunt,
Nec prece nec dono, Cristo mediante patrono.
Tempore quo stabant hii tres, regnum solidabant,
Legem firmabant viciataque iura fugabant:
Sic emendatum Regem faciunt renouatum, 210
Cercius vt credunt, et sic cum laude recedunt.
Concinit omne forum benefactaque laudat eorum,
Talia dicentes sunt vndique laude canentes.[674]
[Sidenote: Hic in fine compositor gesta dictorum trium
procerum laudabiliter commendans, pro eis apud altissimum
deuocius exorat.]
In Cristi signo sit semper gloria Cigno,
Laus et in hoc mundo sit Equo, quem signat hirundo,
Vrsus et ex ore populi fungatur honore.
Hii tres Anglorum fuerant exempla bonorum;
Regnum supportant alienaque pondera portant:
Reddat eis munus tribus est qui trinus et vnus. Amen.[675]
FOOTNOTES:
[651] CRONICA TRIPERTITA. _The_ MSS. _are_ SCHG, _as for the_ Vox
Clamantis, _and also the Bodleian_ MS. _Hatton_ 92 (H₃).
[652] PREFACE _margin_ capitosus] obstinatus H₃
[653] 1 _margin_ In hac prima parte CHH₃
[654] 2 _margin_ p_rim_o tempora distinguens H p_ri_mo distingue_n_s
temp_or_a H₃
[655] 14 ipsum qui iure carebat] semper mala quin faciebat H H₃ mala
semper qui_n_ faciebat C
[656] 34 diffundat vbiq_ue_ CHH₃
[657] 55 presens] fallax H (_ras._)
[658] 56 Eclipsata dolis sequitur consorcia Solis H (_ras._)
[659] 69 parte CHH₃ parce SG
[660] 71 fraudis HH₃
[661] 80 tetis SH thetis CGH₃
[662] 85 t_ra_ncit C
[663] 93 dum] cum CH
[664] 109 _margin_ ad sui salutem CHH₃
[665] 133 legis H collat_er_ ales C
[666] 141 _margin_ Burlee CHH₃
[667] 161 _margin_ qui _om._ S
[668] 170 amicis] iniquis CHH₃
[669] 173 ausam (?) MSS.
[670] 175 Possit C
[671] 182 Sic CHH₃
[672] 186 munus] nimius C
[673] 191 sibi] ibi H
[674] 213 laude] verba CHH₃
[675] 219 eis] ei H
=Explicit prima Pars Cronice et Incipit Secunda.=
=Hic in Secunda parte Cronice declarat qualiter rex, sub vmbra
ficte concordie pacem dissimilans, tres proceres predictos dolose
circumuenit; ita quod vnum ex istis iugulari, alium decollari
fecit,[676] tercium vero vna cum domino de Cobham, qui regni verus
amicus semper extitit, in exilium mancipari tirannica potestate,
prothdolor! destinauit. Insuper et, quod detestabile fuit, idem
crudelissimus rex reuerendum in Cristo patrem Thomam Arundellie,[677]
tunc Cantuariensem Archiepiscopum, de Sede sua penitus expulit,
~ipsumque pro perpetuo in exilium delegari crudel~issime constituit.=
O DOLOR in mente, set prothdolor ore loquente!
[Sidenote: In hac secunda parte cronice compositor primo
ea que post sequntur dolorosa infortunia doloroso corde
deplangit.]
Heuque mee penne, scribam quia facta gehenne!
Obice singultu, lacrimis pallenteque vultu,
Vix mea penna sonat hec que michi Cronica donat.[678]
Vt prius audistis, hii tres, quibus Anglia tristis
Plus delectatur, magis hos fortuna minatur:
Rex facie bina fallax, latitante ruina,
Omnia fingebat, que dolos sub fraude tegebat.
Ad regale latus, quasi frater et associatus,
[Sidenote: Qualiter, vt hii tres proceres, de quibus
audistis, cum rege, quem dolosum sciebant, pacem securiorem
habere possent, cartas concordie ab ipso impetratas
optinuerunt.]
Cignus erat factus, et eos quos vult facit actus: 10
Taliter est et Equs regis de carmine cecus,
Quod non discernit ea que fallacia cernit:
Est incantatus eciam quasi magnificatus
Vrsus, et ignorat finem, qua sorte laborat.
Set magis vt tuti maneant de lege statuti,[679]
Hii regis querunt cartas, quas optinuerunt:
Sic se conformant, sic se cum rege reformant,
Quod viuunt more quasi grex pastoris amore.
Hoc credunt plane, set transit tempus inane;
Cum se stare putant, subito sua tempora mutant. 20
Ecce scelus magnum, latitans quasi vulpis in agnum,
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex, vt ipse sub dissimilate pacis
concordia proceres decipiat, vulpe fallacior continua
circumuencione dolos machinatur.]
Sic dolus expectat, quos ira tirannica spectat.[680]
O fraus, o que dolus, quos rex ~sub ymagine~ solus,
Dum scelus exhausit, tam longo tempore clausit!
Set magis ad plenum tunc fuderat ille venenum,
Quo prius inflatus quamsepe dolet sceleratus:
Turbinis vt ventus, sic irruit acra iuuentus
In Cignum spretum, dum se putat esse quietum.
O quam fortuna stabilis non permanet vna!
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex sui pectoris odium, quod adiu
latuit, ad expressam vindictam primo contra ducem Glouernie,
qui Cignus dicitur, in oculis omnium fulmine plus subito
produxit. Nam et ipse rex in propria persona dictum ducem
apud Plescy improuisum manu forti cepit, et eum sic captum
Calisias indilate produci, et ibi sub arta custodia striccius
incarcerari constituit.]
Exemplum cuius stat in ordine carminis huius. 30
Rex agit et Cignus patitur de corde benignus,
Illeque prostratus non est de rege leuatus:
Ad Plescy captus tunc est velut hostia raptus,
Rex iubet arma geri, nec eo voluit misereri.
Cum sponsa nati lugent quasi morte grauati,
Plusque lupo seuit rex, dummodo femina fleuit:
Nil pietas munit, quem tunc manus inuida punit;
Rex stetit obliqus, nec erat tunc vnus amicus.[681]
O regale genus! princeps quasi pauper egenus
Turpiter attractus iacet et sine iure subactus. 40
Sunt ibi fautores regis de sorte priores,
Qui Cignum prendunt, vbi captum ducere tendunt:
Sic ducendo Ducem perdit sine lumine lucem
Anglia, que tota tenebrescit luce remota:
Trans mare natauit, regnum qui semper amauit,
Flent Centum Mille, quia Cignus preterit ille.
Calisie portus petit, vnde dolus latet ortus,
Error quem regis genuit putredine legis:
Carcere conclusus subito fuit ille reclusus;
Nescit quo fine, sit vite siue ruine. 50
Tunc rex elatum sumpsit quasi falco volatum,
Vnde suas gentes perdit custode carentes.
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex, qui per mille meandros procerum
corda exagitans inquietauit, Ricardum Comitem Arundellie[682]
qui dicitur Equs, fraudulenter decepit. Erat enim tunc frater
dicti Comitis Thomas, Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, cui rex
sub iuramento fidem prestitit, quod, si dictus Comes ad
sui regis presenciam obediens sponte veniret, liber extunc
absque calumpnia, vbicumque transire vellet, cum firma regis
amicicia fiducialiter permaneret: et sic veniens probus Comes
ab improbo rege decipitur.]
Amoto Cigno, rex feruens corde maligno
Prendere querit Equm, super hocque reuoluere secum
Caucius in mente conspirat fraude latente.
Periurans Cristum Comitem sic decipit istum:
Ipse libro tacto iurat, firmanteque pacto
Promisit certe que fidem donauit aperte,
Dicens quod tutus nulla de fraude volutus
Liber transiret, ad eum si quando veniret. 60
Hoc iuramentum frater Comitis manutentum
Primas feruore regis suscepit ab ore:
Presul letus erat, sub tali federe sperat,
Et sic cautelis captus fuit ille fidelis.
Vrsus vt audiuit, non ergo remotus abiuit;
Signans se Cristo mentem stabiliuit in isto:
Non facit excursus paciens que piissimus Vrsus,
Set magis attendit mala que fortuna rependit:
[Sidenote: Qualiter Thomas, alio nomine Vrsus, tunc Comes de
Warwyk, a regis satellitibus Londoniis captus et in carcerem
missus inmunis culpe paciens succubuit. Super quo suum
parliamentum apud Westmonasterium in proximo pronunciandum
rex tirannus decreuit.]
Londoniis mansit, nec ab vrbis cardine transit,
Quo captiuatus fuit hic sine labe reatus. 70
Sic tres persone vi set non iure corone
Carceribus stricti remanent velut vmbra relicti.
Celsius in scanno tunc creuit pompa tiranno,
Nulli parcebat, sibi dum fortuna fauebat:[683]
Stat scelus extentum statuit quo parliamentum,
Vt sit finalis sic vlcio iudicialis.
Tunc appellantes fuerant octo dominantes,
Qui tres appellant, vt eos a luce repellant.
[Sidenote: Qualiter pronunciato parliamento octo tunc
appellantes contra dictos tres proceres ad eorum perdicionem
promptissimi interfuerunt, et quia rex propter metum populi
ducem Glouernie coram eo personaliter in parliamento
comparere noluit, subtili mendacio finxit eum in lecto
mortuum fuisse, qui adhuc superstes in carcere Calisie sub
claue tenebatur; et sic ducem absentem absque responsione rex
pestifer falsissime condempnauit.]
O, quis pensare posset quin fleret amare,
Dum scelus explorat, per quod magis Anglia plorat? 80
Ecce dies mortis aderant, qua pompa cohortis
Regem pomposum statuit magis esse dolosum.
Pro regis parte subtili fingitur arte,
Cignum tam purum sine response moriturum:
Cum magis expresse rex nouit eum superesse,
Finxit eum lecto transisse sub ordine recto.
Sic non inuento Cigno, nil parliamento
Pro se respondit, quem rex sub claue recondit:
Cum non apparet, vt se de lege iuuaret,
Hunc condempnarunt subito, quem post spoliarunt. 90
O scelus inferni, poterunt quo flere moderni,
De iugulo Cigni quod constituere maligni!
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex, cum ipse se ducem prenotatum
cautelose, sicut audistis, condempnari spirauerat, postea
infra tempus quosdam tortores sibi quasi ab inferno
confederatos Calisias, vbi dux adhuc viuus incarceratus est,
transmisit, qui illuc aduenientes, ad regis preceptum de
iugulo pre manibus excogitato, ducem improuisum clanculo de
nocte sub pondere lecti plumalis mortaliter depressum absque
pietate subito suffocarunt.]
Occulte querunt quod aperte non potuerunt,
Dumque timent gentes, clam sunt ~sua facta~ gerentes.
Assunt tortores de nocteque feruidiores
Cignum prostratum iugulant quasi mar~tirizatum~:
Calisiis actum sceleris fuit hoc malefactum,
Regis precepto, iugulo qui gaudet adepto.
Sic nece deuictum, sic corpus ab hoste relictum,
Clam de conclaui susceperat Anglia naui; 100
Per mare regreditur corpus, nec adhuc sepelitur,
Namque sepulturam defendit Rex sibi puram:
Desuper a latere patris loca iusta tenere
Dummodo quesiuit, vix bassa sepulcra subiuit.
O que nephas tale, quod nec ius imperiale,
Set neque lex Cristi proceri sic contulit isti!
Eius enim vita periit sine iure sopita,
Et mors eius ita negat esse sepulcra petita.
Heu! quia iam viuit, vnquam qui talia sciuit,
Sic regis natum per regem mortificatum? 110
Heu! quia regalis stirps Anglica tam specialis
Regis precepto periit sine crimine cepto.
Heu! quia tortorum quidam de sorte malorum
Sic ducis electi plumarum pondere lecti
Corpus quassatum iugulant que necant iugulatum;
Quod nimis ingratum dolet Anglia tota relatum.
Det deus hoc fatum, sit adhuc quod corpus humatum,
Spiritus atque statum teneat sine fine beatum![684]
[Sidenote: Qualiter Comes Arundellie ab impio rege in
parliamento accusatus, ad ea que sibi obiciuntur intrepidus
respondit; et primo singula que per ipsum fiebant, secundum
sue intencionis propositum ad regis honorem facta fuisse
claro sermone iustificauit; secundo enim regis cartas super
hoc pacem et concordiam specialiter testificantes in auribus
omnium manifestius pronunciauit: set ille, coram quo nullum
ius procedit, rex impius Comitis responsa non acceptans, ex
propria malicia ipsum mortali sentencia dampnatum, in impetu
furoris apud montem Turris Londoniarum decollari fecit,
vbi fratres Augustinenses corpus cum capite secum ad eorum
ecclesiam cum psalmis deferentes in loco congruo deuote
sepelierunt.]
Est recitandus Equs, Cignus quia preterit equs:
Non hos morte pari voluit sors equiparari. 120
Rex sedet, et cuncti fautores tunc sibi iuncti
Sunt ibi presentes ad Equm mala plura loquentes;
Isteque solus erat, que deum solummodo sperat,
Quo pius et fortis permansit ad vltima mortis.
Rex prius accusat, et Equs scelus omne recusat,
Pretendens regisque sigilla sub ordine legis
Cartam monstrauit, qua tucior esse putauit:
Non fuit absque nota, prius est concordia nota.
Set rex cautelis Comitis responsa fidelis
Caucius extinxit, que dolos sub fraude refinxit. 130
Tunc conspirati cum rege que magnificati[685]
Regis predicta firmarunt omnia dicta.
Heu! nimis ingrata tunc est sentencia lata,
Horrida, mortalis, quia pena fuit capitalis.
Per loca, per vicos ductus respexit amicos,
Qui magis occulta dederant suspiria multa:
Vndique tunc flebant qui talia fata videbant,
Cum prece deuota facientes plurima vota.
Sunt et fallaces alii, pro rege sequaces
Qui veniunt equites, neque iusti set neque mites; 140
Hii penam talem proclamant tunc capitalem,
Ad loca signataque iubent procedere fata.
Tunc Comes ad Cristum sermonem dixerat istum:
‘Omnia tu nosti: moriar, quia sic placet hosti;
Hostibus exactus perio, sine iure subactus;
Inmunis pergo, miserere michi, precor, ergo.’
Expansis palmis que sonantibus vndique psalmis,
Sic patitur tandem, penamque subintrat eandem:
Quin caput amittit sibi gracia nulla remittit,
Milia quo Centum maledicunt parliamentum. 150
Corpus ad ima cadit, dum saluus ad ethera vadit
Spiritus in celis, vbi viuit amore fidelis:
Augustinenses fratres tunc Londonienses
Hunc magis extollunt, que caput cum corpore tollunt;
Vix tamen audebant hoc ponere quo cupiebant,
Set magis occultum condunt pro rege sepultum.
Det deus hoc sciri, poterit quod adhuc sepeliri,
Eius et heredes proprias habeant sibi sedes.
Iam refrenato violenter Equo que grauato,
[Sidenote: Qualiter Comes de Warwyk,[686] ex regis
collusione circumventus, in parliamento se culpabilem
recognouit, sperans per hoc certissimam regis veniam,
vt sibi promittebatur, infallibiliter promeruisse. Set
rex omni fallacie intendens, qui per talem re~cogni~cionem
alios de querela convicisse putauit, dicto Comiti mala pro
bonis retribuens, ipsum pro mercede exheredatum in partes
longinquas, vt ibi in carcere seruaretur, exulem pro perpetuo
mancipauit.]
Vrsum querebant, quem tunc agitare volebant; 160
Pestiferique canes aderant tunc regis inanes,
Vndique latrando pacem nec habent aliquando.
Ad latus omne terunt, set ad hoc quod plus potuerunt
Non magis attendit, quin rex sua recia tendit.
O! quam subtilis oritur tunc fraus iuuenilis,
Per quam tunc fraudem nequit Vrsus carpere laudem.
Hoc rex testatur, Vrsus quod si fateatur[687]
Quod reus existat, nec ad illa relata resistat,
Rex sibi prestabit veniam, qua curia stabit,
Et sic transibit sine morteque liber abibit; 170
Sique recognoscat aliter, sibi iuraque poscat,
Incidet in mortem: trahat hanc quam vult sibi sortem.
Qui cum rege pares fuerant tunc consiliares,
Vrsum temptarunt, eius quoque velle probarunt:
Hic vitam portat, alius mortemque reportat;
Hic consolatur, alius quandoque minatur;
Quisque dolos fingit, quibus Vrsi pectora stringit,
Quo minus agnoscit quid regi dicere possit.
Sicque fatigatus tandem de labe reatus
Se fore conuictum reddit: fuit hoc male dictum: 180
Tali sermone concrescunt iura corone,
Rex tres deuicit, vnus quia talia dicit.
Ad regis vota fuit Vrsi diccio tota,
Omneque respondet verbum, quod rex sibi spondet:
Set cum sic vere regi putat ipse placere,
Regis et ad nutum sperabat se fore tutum,
Tunc magis amisit que rex sibi federa misit;
Nam quod promisit rex pactum denique risit,
Et sic delusus fuit Vrsus ab ore reclusus,
Vnde pium verbum gustu magis extat acerbum. 190
Heu, quam res tristis! heu, quam fuit error in istis,
Quando suum pactum rex non produxit in actum!
Fingit et ignorat que rex tunc fraude colorat,
De quibus extentum finis docet experimentum.
Vrsus poscebat, quod rex non perficiebat,
Nec pudet hoc gestum, fraudis quod erat manifestum.
Vrsum contemptum, nulla pietate redemptum,
Exilio demptum statuit rex esse peremptum:
Insula tunc hominis longinqua que plena ruinis
Carcere concludit Vrsum, quem pena retrudit. 200
Quod sic ledebat, regi non sufficiebat,
Set capit ex toto terras herede remoto,
Nec sibi dimissam solam fouet hic Comitissam,
Set magis amouit, inopem quam Curia nouit.
Sic rex deleuit, quem tota prouincia fleuit;
Ne plures ledat, moriens prius ipse recedat.
Restat adhuc dira mons Ethna latente sub ira
Regis, ~dumque~ faces magis obtinet ~inde~ voraces.[688]
Quem rex iratus, ~quamuis sine labe reatus~,[689]
~Tangit in ardore~, subito perit ille dolore. 210
Cum plus morosus sit homo, magis est viciosus,
Regi qui seuit pestis quo pessima creuit.
Vnus erat dignus, paciens, pius atque benignus,
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex, omnes quoscunque ledere posset
querens, tandem innocentem dominum de Cobham, qui per prius
seculo renuncians in domo Cartusiensi tunc moram traxit,
eciam in iudicium parliamenti produxit. Set ille, nullo
minarum terrore aut blandimentorum exhortacione locum
tiranno prebens, in omnibus suis responsionibus fidelissimus
inveniebatur: vnde rex quasi confusus, eius constanciam
abhorrens, ipsum pre verecundia absque mortis sententia in
exilium longius ab Anglia destinauit.]
Prouidus et iustus, morum virtute robustus,
Non erat obliqus, regni set verus amicus:
Hunc rex odiuit, in quo bona talia sciuit;
Vt dicunt Mille, dominus Cobham fuit ille,
Cronica quos lesit, quibus ille fidelis adhesit.[690]
Cristo set vere voluit quia fine placere
Transtulit ad sedem se Cartusiensis ad edem: 220
Sic cepit Cristus, voluit quem tollere fiscus;[691]
Quem Cristus duxit, fiscus sine iure reduxit.
Rex scelus accusat, Cobham scelus omne recusat,
Iustificans factum; sic res processit in actum:
Que sapit hec loqitur, nec in hoc vecors reperitur,
Immo quod est certum regi manifestat apertum.
Sic, quia veridicus tribus est constanter amicus,
Rex condempnauit Cobham, set non maculauit:
Sic non conuictus gladii non senciit ictus,[692]
Exilii lora subiit tamen exteriora. 230
Hinc rogo quod purus redeat cum laude futurus,
Vt sic felici reditu letentur amici.
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex, qui nec deum timet nec hominem
veretur, contra reuerendissimum in Cristo patrem Thomam
Arundellie, tunc Cantuariensem Archiepiscopum, dum inter eos
maior putabatur dileccio, occasiones discordie importabiles
ductus auaricia fingere non erubuit. Vnde idem Thomas, de
Archiepiscopo in non Archiepiscopum[694] subito mutatus, omnia
bona sua tam temporalia quam spiritualia dolosa regis
circumvencione penitus amisit; expulsusque insuper absque
vllo mundi releuamine, solum deum reclamans exul et pauper ab
Anglia recessit.]
Heu! mea penna madet lacrimis, dum scribere suadet
Infortunata sceleris quibus horreo fata.
Non satis est regem mundi deflectere legem,
Vt pereant gentes sub eo sine lege manentes,[693]
Set magis in Cristum seuit, quapropter ad istum
Casum deflendum non est michi credo tacendum.
Anglorum Primas, suppremo culmine primas
Qui tenuit sedes, melius dum sperat in edes, 240
Hunc rex compellit et eum de Sede repellit,
Dum Simon Rome supplantat federa Thome.
Hic Thomas natus Comitis fuit intitulatus,
Clericus aptatus, doctor de iure creatus,[695]
Legibus ornatus, facundus, morigeratus,
Cum Cristo gratus in plebeque magnificatus.
O quam prelatus tam purus et immaculatus
Ad regale latus tandem fuit illaqueatus!
Tramite subtili latitans plus vulpe senili
Rex studet in fine Thomam prostrare ruine. 250
De tribus audistis, cum rex scelus intulit istis,
[Sidenote: Hic declarat aliqualiter figmenta causarum, per
quas pontifex supradictus a parliamento tunc absens contra
omnem iusticiam, vt audistis, exilii sentenciam ab improuiso
quasi nescius incurrebat.]
Presul vt adiutor fuit hiis quodammodo tutor,
Non contra legem, set ab ira flectere regem
Nomine pastoris temptauerat omnibus horis:
Semper erat talis, restat dum spes aliqualis,
Si contra mortem poterat saluasse cohortem.
Rex tulit hoc triste, quia Cancellarius iste
Tempore quo stabat hos tres constanter amabat;
Sic procurator pius extitit et mediator,
Cartas quod Regis habuerunt munere legis. 260
Pontificis more summi pro regis amore
Sic pacem mittit, mortis gladiumque remittit:
Hec ita fecisset, pactum si rex tenuisset,
Set que iurauit hodie, cras verba negauit.
Cernite pro quali culpa magis in speciali
Pontifici tali sine causa materiali
Rex fuit iratus, set et altera causa reatus
Est plus secreta, tunc Rome quando moneta
Simonis ex parte papam concludit in arte.
Ecce per has causas sub regis pectore clausas 270
Hoc scelus obiecit Thome, qui nil male fecit.
Regis fautores super hoc tamen anteriores
Fraudibus obtentum concludunt parliamentum;
Sic de finali rex pondere iudiciali
Exilio demit Thomam, nec amore redemit:
Sic pater absque pare, quem rex spoliauit auare,
Partes ignotas tunc querit habere remotas.
Tunc pius Antistes casus pro tempore tristes[696]
Sustinet, et curam sperat reuocare futuram:
Cristus eum ducat, saluet que salute reducat, 280
Sic vt vterque status sit ei cum laude beatus.
O dolor, hoc anno quo creuit pompa tiranno!
[Sidenote: Hic narrat qualiter vix vnus aut de morte aut de
exilio, precipue[697] trium procerum supradictorum, aliquod
verbum lamentabile in aperto proferre tunc audebat; set
pocius scandalum quam laudem pre timore regis ~ad inuicem
confabulati sunt~.]
Qui ferus, vt dicit, voluit quos vincere, vicit.
Dum scelus hoc restat, super omnes tres manifestat,
De quibus in gente stat vox variata repente:[698]
Quidam constricti, quidam de munere victi
Ad mala ducuntur, quia multi multa loquntur.[699]
Tunc Olor, Vrsus, Equs, non vnus dicitur equs;
Heri laudati fuerant, nunc vituperati:
Fama fugit prima, quia sors descendit ad ima, 290
Sorteque cessante, cessat laus omnis ab ante:
Vertitur obliqus amor, est ibi nullus amicus,
Quo tres predicti periunt velut vmbra relicti.
Tunc consanguinitas aufert de sanguine vitas,
Denegat et sexus procerum dissoluere nexus;
Nil genus obstabat, racio nec eos reparabat.
Sic transformata fuit illa dies scelerata;
Stirps extirpatur, flos arboris euacuatur,
Quo maneat nomen, heres non percipit omen;
Vt pater intrauit, ita solus ab orbe migrauit. 300
Sic vice iam versa spergens fuit vnio spersa,
Heri rectores, hodie magis inferiores,
Et sic derisi fuerant quodammodo visi.
Portas clauserunt, vbi claues non habuerunt,
Nec tamen exclusus fuerat tunc regis abusus:
Non se conuertit, in peius qui male vertit;
Dum mala queruntur, in eo peiora sequntur;
Tres interfecit proceres, dum pessima fecit,
Quo nimis elatum sumpsit sua pompa volatum.
Tunc delusores, quos curia turbidiores 310
Nouit, ridebant super hiis que gesta videbant;
Friuola componunt tribus et tria scandala ponunt;
Tale fuit dictum, nec adhuc stat ab ore relictum:
‘Non Olor in pennis, nec Equs stat crine perhennis,
[Sidenote: Canticum, quod composuere maligni in derisum
procerum tirannice interfectorum.]
Iam depennatus Olor est, Equs excoriatus,
Vrsus non mordet, quem stricta cathena remordet.’
Sic fatue turbe vox conclamabat in vrbe:
Omnia que dici poterant dicunt inimici,
Pluraque fingentes mendacia sunt parientes.
Grene, Scrop, Bussy, cordis sine lumine fusci,[700] 320
Omne nephas querunt, quo ledere plus potuerunt:
Rex fuit instructus per eos, et ad omnia ductus
Que mala post gessit, quibus Anglia tota pauescit.
Intra se flebat populus, qui dampna videbat;
Cum non audebat vocem proferre, tacebat.
[Sidenote: Hic circa finem probitates ducis Glouernie necnon
Comitis Arundellie magis in speciali commemorans, eorum gesta
laudabiliter commendat. Consulit insuper, quod per ea que
preterita sunt presentes vtinam discreto pectore sibi contra
futura prouidere nullatenus omittant.[702]]
O Dux inmense, tu Gallica regna sub ense
Militis ex more bellasti regis honore.
O Comes, inque mari pro rege tuo superari
Classem fecisti Francorum, quos domuisti.
Heu, rex, qui tales fraudasti collaterales, 330
Sit tibi de fine vindex fortuna ruine!
Principio rerum placido quamsepe dierum
Finis adest tristis; ideo speculemur in istis:[701]
Estque fides rara modo, quam mens nescit auara.
Dum fauet os fraudis, ne credas omne quod audis:
Fingere fingenti scola nuper erat sapienti;
Talis vt hesterna fuit, est scola nunc hodierna:
Fallitur incertum, set quando videbis apertum
Finem cum cauda, tunc demum tempora lauda.
Anno bis deno primo de sanguine pleno 340
Septembris mense feritas dominatur in ense:[703]
Tristis vt audiui, carmen scribendo subiui:
Plangite, vos viui, quia planctus ~sunt residiui~.
Doctoris verba sunt hec que miror acerba;
‘Dum melius fecisse putes, latet anguis in herba.’
Quicquid homo fatur, quicquid facit aut meditatur,
Stat fortuna rei semper in ore dei.
FOOTNOTES:
[676] _Heading_ 4 fecit _om._ CHH₃
[677] _Heading_ 8 Arundellie CHH₃ Arundeƚƚ S
[678] 4 penna] lingua CHH₃
[679] 15 de] do C
[680] 22 dolor H
[681] 38 vnus] vllus H
[682] 56 _margin_ Arundeƚƚ MSS., _and so later_, 119, 236, &c.
[683] 75 statuu_n_t H
[684] 118 fine] labe H
[685] 131 magnificate C
[686] 160 _margin_ Warewyk CH
[687] 167 fatiatur C
[688] 208 dumque] qui HH₃ inde] ille HH₃
[689] 209 f. quamuis sine labe reatus Tangit] tetigit de face reatus
Eius HH₃
[690] 218 lecit C
[691] 221 sepit C
[692] 229 ictis C
[693] 236 periant CHH₃
[694] 243 _margin_ nonarchiepiscopum CH
[695] 244 optatus C
[696] 278 Tunc] Sic CHH₃
[697] 284 _margin_ precipue _om._ CH
[698] 285 variate C
[699] 287 dicuntur C
[700] 320 Scrōp SCHG Buscy G
[701] 333 idio C
[702] 334 _margin_ omittant CH₃ ommittant SHG
[703] 341 Semptembris S
=Explicit secunda pars Cronice et Incipit Tercia.=
=Hic in tercia parte Cronice finaliter scribit qualiter rex antedictus,
vtroque dei et hominum iure postposito, Strenuissimum Principem Dominum
Henricum, tunc Derbeie[704] Comitem, patre suo Duce Lancastrie adhuc
viuente, per decennium capitose in exilium delegauit. Postea vero,
patre defuncto filioque in partibus Francie tunc existente, idem rex
omnis malicie plenus, quasi per infinitas doli circumvenciones, tam
in ipsius absentis personam quam in eius hereditatem, occasiones
maliciose fulminari decreuit. Set qui verum a falso discernit summus
iudex, tantas malicie abhominaciones impune non ferens, dictum
dominum Henricum, tunc post obitum patris sui Ducem Lancastrie, in
Angliam sua diuina prouidencia, inuito rege, remeare fecit: ob cuius
aduentum vniuersi regni fideles, tam proceres quam communes, deum quasi
ex vno ore collaudantes pestiferum Ricardum suis ex demeritis regno
renunciantem penitus a gradu suo deposuerunt, gratissimumque Ducem
dominum Henricum prenotatum in Solium regie magestatis[705] regnaturum
coronantes cum gaudio sublimarunt, terciodecimo die mensis Octobris,
Anno domini Millesimo tricentesimo nonagesimo nono.=
[Sidenote: Hic in tercia parte cronice compositor in
principio finem premeditans sub spe glorie future letatur.]
TRISTIA post leta, post tristia sepe quieta,
Si bene pensemus, satis hec manifesta videmus.
Regnum confractum regis feritate subactum
Nuper defleui, lacrimas set abinde quieui;
Regnum purgatum probitate ducis renouatum
Amodo ridebo, nec ab eius laude tacebo.
O res laudanda, o res sine fine notanda,
Ad laudem Cristi, qui nos de carcere tristi
R. tunc custodis, quasi sit regnantis Herodis,
Gracius eduxit et ad inclita regna reduxit! 10
Nouit enim mundus, Ricardus quando secundus
[Sidenote: Qualiter ad modum talpe, que semper terram
effodiens eam continue subuertit, rex Ricardus, vt suum
regnum tirannice disperdat, assiduis ymaginacionibus ad
populi destruccionem omnes suas cautelas indesinenter
coniectat.]
Iustos deleuit proceres, quos Anglia fleuit,
Ipse superbire sic spirat et alcius ire,
Quod dedignatur proprium regnumque minatur:
Amplius ex more solito latitante furore
Seuit, et oppressit populum cui parcere nescit.
Sicut humum fodit euertens talpa que rodit,
Vnde caret requie, sic alter nocte dieque,
Vt magis euertat regnum quod demere certat,
Sic scelus apponit et ad hoc sua robora ponit; 20
Vt princeps baratri furiens regit acta theatri.
Pondera prebebat, populum quibus ipse premebat:
Vtpote salsarum furiosa caribdis aquarum
Gurgite feruoris bibit, euomit, omnibus horis,
Sic sibi collectum facinus sub pectore tectum
Rex vomit in gentem, ve, ve! sine lege manentem.
Per prius optentum semper sibi parliamentum
[Sidenote: Nota qualiter rex subtili fraude concessum sibi
optinuit, quod vbicumque sedere vellet cum certis personis
sibi assignatis, per prius inceptum continuare posset
parliamentum.]
Per loca conseruat, in quo mala queque reseruat;
Est vbi persona regis residente corona,
Corpore presenti stat ibi vis parliamenti: 30
Sic, vbicumque sedet presencia regia, ledet,
Quod nullus sciuit sceleris que facta subiuit.
Hoc factum regis fuit abhominacio legis,
Quo fremuit certe populus, set nullus aperte:
Sic tamen vt staret et tempora continuaret,
Rex sibi papales bullas habuit speciales;
Si quis in extento prius aut post parliamento
Quid contradicit, in eum sentencia vicit.
Ad scelus implendum tunc rex habet omne timendum,
Excepte Cristo, qui non fuit auctor in isto; 40
Quicquid enim dicit clerus, populus maledicit,
Inuocat et Cristi vindictam pectore tristi.
Inde set oblitus rex pestifer hos sibi ritus,
Quos prius elegit, maledicto fine peregit;
Consensu, tactu, visu que ferocior actu
In regnum seuit, qui post sua crimina fleuit:
Que ~non audiuit auris~, nec cor mala sciuit,
Tristia coniectat, populum quo perdere spectat.
Carte scribuntur et in omni parte leguntur,
[Sidenote: Nota de primis cartis, quas scriptas ex regis
compulsione tam clerus quam populus formidans sigillauit:
tali enim subtilitate rex varias regni sui patrias spoliando
destruxit.]
Hasque sigillari iubet omnibus et venerari: 50
Perficit hoc clerus, si debeo dicere verus
Nescio, set gentes sua sunt exempla sequentes;
Nescia plebs legis, dum sperat premia regis,
Vt dicebatur, ad regia iussa paratur.
Vrbs, ager et villa cartis posuere sigilla,
Quo magis ad plenum conspergitur omne venenum:
Fallitur ex illo quisquis, cum firma sigillo
Culpa recordetur, qua proditor omnis habetur.
Cum sic quisque status sit in hiis cartis viciatus,
Vt veniam portet sibi soluere quicquid oportet; 60
Tunc exactores baratro magis auidiores
Absoluunt gentes, pacem quasi sint redimentes.
Hec set cautela nichil est nisi ficta medela,
Nam magis insanus stat morbus cotidianus;
Rex populum pressit, et ab inde quiescere nescit,
Semper turbatur, semper sua regna minatur.
Post primas cartas alias statuit magis artas,
[Sidenote: Nota de secundis cartis que blanche-chartres
vulgariter nuncupantur.]
Set de scriptura patuit non vna figura.
Has eciam villis iubet affirmare sigillis;[706]
Qualis finis erit quisquis sub murmure querit; 70
Et sic velata facie plebs illaqueata,
Quod facit ignorat, ita dum fortuna laborat.
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex Ricardus omnis malicie plenus
strenuissimum dominum Henricum, tunc Derbeie Comitem Ducisque
Lancastrie filium et heredem, sola ex inuidia, vt ipsum
perderet, in exilium proiecit.]
Accidit interea, dum terra fuit pharisea,
Est noua lis mota, quam nouerat Anglia tota.
Nobilis Henricus, omnis probitatis amicus,
Hic tunc florebat super omnes plusque valebat;
Vt rosa flos florum, melior fuit ille bonorum,
Custos Anglorum, per quem lux fulsit eorum,
Exemplar morum que probacior ille proborum:
Ad loca bellorum leo conterit arma luporum; 80
Eius cognomen venerabile percipit omen,
Quod numquam victum rutilat Lancastria dictum.
Hunc patre viuente de sorte superueniente
Rex delegauit et eum sine labe fugauit;
Rex etenim nouit, ad eum quod patria vouit,
Vnde timens sortem dolet eius habere cohortem:
Inuidus hanc causam gestat sub pectore clausam,
Donec disperdat iustum sine iureque perdat.
Hic tamen ex more solito pro regis honore
Semper promptus erat, aliter quo premia sperat; 90
Sic nichil offendit, quo rex sibi dampna rependit,
Set quia cunctorum rex oderat acta proborum.
Singula non scripsi, que dux bona contulit ipsi;
Si meritum detur, tunc dux mala nulla meretur:
Exilium tortum gremio de regis abortum[707]
Hoc pro finali mercede datur speciali.
Purus ad omne latus sic exulat inmaculatus,
[Sidenote: Qualiter nobilis Henricus antedictus in partes
Francie, vt ibi tempore exilii moraretur, animo constanti
viriliter se transtulit.]
Et quem decepit rex Anglus Francia cepit:
Stans ibi preclarus regno fuit vndique carus,
Quo sibi concreuit requies, set non requieuit. 100
Dum genus exquirit in quo sibi iura requirit,
Quem deus absoluit patri mors omnia soluit;
Sic, patre defuncto, de consilio sibi iuncto
Est tunc querendum, melius sibi quid sit agendum:
Et sic consultus velut heres Miles adultus,
Que sua cognoscit post patrem propria poscit.
Hos per rumores adeunt ambassiatores
Regem querentes, legem super hocque petentes;
Set qui cuncta vorat non audit quod pius orat,[708]
Exheredatum set eum iubet esse fugatum. 110
Et sic nec regem iustum iustam neque legem
Dux probus inuenit, dum vox sibi nuncia venit.
Tunc confiscatus rapitur sine iure ducatus,
Quo se confortat dux commoda nulla reportat;
Pulli coruorum, pascit quos mater eorum,
Non ita proclamant, quin plus sibi castra reclamant
Regis fautores, terras que ducatus honores:
Rex bona dispergit, qui non sine crimine pergit,
Distribuens sortes, ditescat vt inde cohortes.
Quod sic decreuit rex fama perambula creuit, 120
Per mundum totum scelus hoc erit amodo notum.
[Sidenote: Nota qualiter post obitum patris sui ducis
Lancastrie nobilissimus filius suus Comes antedictus, tunc
de iure dux, vt ipse hereditatem suam vendicaret, de partibus
Francie prouiso sapienter itinere Calisias adiit, vbi cum
domino Thoma Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo, necnon Thoma filio
et herede Ricardi Comitis Arundellie, vt prefertur, defuncti,
vt in Angliam transfretaret, Cristo se commendans nauem
ascendit.]
O quam plura sinit deus, et cum tempora finit,
Omnia tunc certe que sunt demonstrat aperte!
Dux inspiratus tandem, quasi sit renouatus,
Singula compensat perfecto cordeque pensat:
Tortorem regem tortam creuisseque legem
Cernit, et errores in vtroque statu grauiores:
Signans se Cristo quesiuit opem super isto,
Qui, bene dum sperat, iubet vt sua propria querat.
Ex subito more, saluo sibi semper honore, 130
Partes subtiles Francorum dux quasi miles[709]
Cum paucis transit, nec ibi tardando remansit:
Calisias iuit, vbi propria regna petiuit;
Cum modica classe sic magnanimum remeasse
Constat, et in naui dux ducitur inde suaui.
Primas Anglorum, tunc exul fraude malorum,
Thomas deuote stat ibi, comitante nepote:
Hos dux regalis, veluti gallina sub alis,
Secum votiua saluos duxit comitiua.
Dux, Comes, Antistes, pariter solamina tristes 140
[Sidenote: Qualiter nobilis Henricus, tunc Dux Lancastrie,
per mare nauigando portum querens tandem prope Grymmesby,
Cristo mediante, littora pacifica sortitus est.]
Querunt sperantes, vbi venti sunt agitantes:
Vela petunt portum quem sors prope contulit ortum;
Vt dux concepit, Aquilonica littora cepit.
Tunc magis audaci vultu cum plebe sequaci
Exultans dicit, quod in hoc quasi prelia vicit.
Ex animo forti dederat bona corda cohorti,[710]
Quod bene sperarent, quicquid sibi fata pararent.
Sic congaudentes sub spe que nichil metuentes,
Quo melius querunt, naues simul applicuerunt:
Dux prius egressus disponit humo sibi gressus, 150
Primitus exorat que deum genuflexus adorat
Votis sincere mentis, quod possit habere
Victoris palmas, extendit ad ethera palmas;
Vtque scelus guerre superet, dedit oscula terre,
Pluraque deuota dux fecit ibi pia vota.
De prece surrexit, surgendoque se cruce texit,
[Sidenote: Qualiter ad seruicium nobilis ducis quasi vniuersa
terra gratanter se optulit.]
Et tunc quam letas incepit adire dietas:
Patria cum sciret quod saluus dux reueniret,
Totus ei mundus occurrit vbique iocundus.
Tunc rex Ricardus lepus est et non leopardus; 160
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex Ricardus tempore quo nobilis dux
Henricus applicuit, in partibus Hibernie invtiles dies ad sui
confusionem infortunate consumpsit.]
Quem timor astrinxit, alibi sua robora finxit:
Hic ducis aduentum presciuit ab ore scientum,
Quo celer exiuit et Hibernica regna petiuit.
Sepe silens plangit, quem tunc vecordia tangit,
Ex quo singultus plures rex cepit adultus.
Sic redit absente dux noster rege timente,
Nec quid presumit, sua propria dumque resumit.
Dux probus audaci vultu cum plebe sequaci
[Sidenote: Qualiter apud Bristolliam capti et decapitati
fuerunt tres precipue regis fautores, qui in mortis articulo
dicti regis condiciones multipliciter accusarunt.]
Regnum scrutatur, si proditor inueniatur;
Sic tres exosos magis omnibus ambiciosos 170
Regni tortores inuenerat ipse priores:
Ense repercussi periunt Scrop, Grene que Bussy;[711]
Hii quasi regales fuerant cum rege sodales.
Scrop Comes et Miles, eius Bristollia viles
Actus declarat, quo mors sua fata pararat;
Greneque sorte pari statuit dux decapitari,
Bussy conuictus similes quoque sustinet ictus:
Vnanimes mente pariter mors vna repente
Hos tres prostrauit, gladius quos fine vorauit,
Sicut et egerunt aliis, sic hii ceciderunt; 180
Quo dux laudatur regnumque per omne iocatur.
Sunt tamen Henrici quamplures tunc inimici,
Tales qui querunt obsistere, nec potuerunt:
Sepius effantur et eum post terga minantur,
Set non audebant, faciem cum respiciebant.
Tempore sic stante stat rex vbi stabat ab ante,
[Sidenote: Qualiter Ricardus rex de partibus Hibernie rediens
Wallie littora cepit.]
Donec commota tremit eius concio tota:
Sic magis ignari sceleres fiunt quasi rari,[712]
Omnes sorte pari dubitant qua parte iuuari.
Tunc fortuna rotam diuertit ab inde remotam, 190
Cecaque permansit, dum rex super equora transit.
Quos laqueos fecit in eos, sua culpa reiecit,
Qui laqueatus erit, patrie dum littora querit.
Hoc non obstante, vento tamen exagitante,
Portum fatalem sors reddit ei specialem;
Inque suas claues cepit fera Wallia naues,
Quas cito dissoluit, regis cum facta reuoluit.[713]
Rex mittens sortes mandauit habere cohortes,
Set nichil inuenit, vbi gracia nulla reuenit.
Hoc ita cumque vident, quidam sub murmure rident, 200
Et quidam flentes fuerant de corde dolentes:
Prospera que nescit, tunc regia pompa recessit,
Quisque viam vertit subito, nec ad arma reuertit.
Tunc rex, vt dicit, sua fata dolens maledicit,
Nec timet hinc Cristum, mundum nec abhorruit istum,
Non est contritus, nec vult dimittere ritus,
Vt prius errauit, sic semper continuauit;
Sic furit ipse malis semper sine lege feralis,
Principio qualis steterat, stat fineque talis.
Cautus vt inuadit agnos, quos ledere vadit, 210
Vulpis, in occulto sic rex a tempore multo,
Pectore subtili iuuenis sub fraude senili,
Omne scelus poscit, regnum quo perdere possit:
Tunc super omne tamen conspirat habere leuamen,
Vnde ducis sortem fallat fugiatque cohortem.
Hinc perscrutatur dolus et fraus continuatur,
Si quid prodesse poterit cogente necesse:
Est ibi vis nulla, velut os perit absque medulla,
Rex qui posse caret pro tunc sine viribus aret:[714]
Per loca, per castra fugit, et si tunc super astra 220
Scandere sciuisset, transcendere tunc voluisset.
Sic tumor elatus nuper tam magnificatus
Est timor effectus, latitans quasi talpa reiectus.
Quem non preseruat Cristus, se non homo seruat,
Et quamuis tarde de te loquor ista, Ricarde.
[Sidenote: Qualiter rex Ricardus cum suis fautoribus nobili
duci Henrico eisdem in Wallia occurrenti se reddiderunt.]
Peruigil a sompnis quod dicitur audiat omnis,
Et quod dicetur regnis exemplificetur.
Est rota fortune quodamodo regula lune,
Que prius albescit de nocte que post tenebrescit;
Sic de quo scripsi Ricardo contigit ipsi: 230
Dum stetit ad plenum, steterat sibi tempus amenum,
Set cum decrescit, lucem tunc nebula nescit;
Cum se peruertit, sua spera retrograda vertit.
Nil sibi de bellis, quia stat sibi terra rebellis,
Nec mare succurrit, fugiens quia nauta recurrit;
Spes sibi collata non est, set et vndique fata
Ipsum torquebant, et ad ima repente ruebant:
Non ita secreta loca sunt neque castra quieta,
Que tunc secura fuerant pro sorte futura.[715]
Finis adest actus, capitur rex fitque subactus, 240
Et reliqui tales, sibi sunt qui collaterales,
Caute ducuntur capti, qui fata sequntur:
Sic rex preuentus ducis est virtute retentus.
Augusti mensis dedit hoc, quo Londoniensis
[Sidenote: Qualiter nobilis Henricus vna cum rege Ricardo et
aliis Londonias veniunt, vbi dictus rex in turrim positus per
aliquod tempus sub custodia remansit.]
Vrbs congaudebat, que ducem cum laude canebat.
Sicut arena maris, occursus adest popularis,
Tanti victoris benedicens gesta vigoris.
In Turrim transit R., sub custode remansit;
Sic caput Anglorum minimus iacet ipse minorum.
Vt sit opus planum, nichil et de pondere vanum, 250
[Sidenote: Qualiter nobilis dux Henricus proceres quoscumque
per regem Ricardum in exilium delegatos ad propria mitissime
reuocauit.]
Apponendo manum dux purgat ad horrea granum;
Iustos laudauit, iniustos vituperauit,
Hos confirmauit, hos deprimit, hos releuauit.
Regni primatem, crudelem per feritatem
Quem rex explantat, dux ex pietate replantat:
Humfredum natum patre defuncto spoliatum,
Quem rex transduxit, hunc dux probitate reduxit.
Nil tibi desperes, Arundell profugus heres,[716]
Prospera namque ducis fatis tua fata reducis.
Warwici Comitem, cuius sine crimine litem 260
Dux pius agnouit, saluum de carcere mouit:
Cobham sorte pari dux fecit et hunc reuocari;
Exilio demptus iustus redit ille redemptus
Nec prece nec dono, Cristo mediante patrono.
Tanta tulit gratis primordia dux bonitatis:
Vt bona tam grata super hoc sint continuata,
Cristus adhuc mentem ducis efficit esse manentem.
[Sidenote: Qualiter assignatum fuit parliamentum tenendum
apud Westmonasterium ad festum Sancti Michaelis tunc proximi.
Et interim Humfredus filius et heres ducis Glouernie vna cum
matre sua corporis infirmitate mortui sunt.]
Londoniis festo Michaelis tunc manifesto,
Stent vt ibi tuta, sunt parliamenta statuta:
Quilibet attendit que sors sibi fata rependit, 270
Semper et in gente fit murmur rege regente.
Interea transit moriens nec in orbe remansit
Humfredus dictus, ~redit ille deo benedictus~:
Defuncto nato, cito post de fine beato
Mater transiuit, nati dum funera sciuit:
Primo decessit Cignus, dolor vnde repressit
Matrem cum pullo, sibi mors nec parcit in vllo.
Est apud antiquos dictum, ‘Defunctus amicos
Vix habet,’ a tergo caueat sibi quilibet ergo:
Quisque suum pectus tangat viuens homo rectus, 280
Nec sic gaudebit, quia singula vana videbit.
Scribere iam restat, que mundus adhuc manifestat,
Vt sit opus tale cunctis speculum generale.
Tunc prius incepta sunt parliamenta recepta,
[Sidenote: Qualiter primo die parliamenti rex Ricardus
personaliter non comparuit, set alibi existens titulo corone
sue sub forma magis auctentica penitus renunciauit; super quo
nobilis Henricus, vniuerso populo in eius laudem conclamante
vt rex efficiatur, electus est.]
De quibus abstractus Ricardi desinit actus.
Ecce dies Martis, nec adest presentia partis,
Non sedet in sede, quem culpa repellit ab ede;
Denegat in scanno loca tunc fortuna tiranno,
A visu gentis quem terruit accio mentis.
R. non comparet, alibi set dummodo staret, 290
Causas assignat, quibus H. sua sceptra resignat:[717]
Substituit aliquos proceres tunc iuris amicos,
Ad quos confessus proprio fuit ore repressus.
Hiis circumspectis aliisque sub ordine lectis,
R., qui deliquit, hunc curia tota reliquit;
Hunc deponebant, plenum quem labe sciebant,
Nec quis eum purgat, iterum ne forte resurgat:
Tunc decus Anglorum, set et optimus ille bonorum,
H. fuit electus regno, magis est quia rectus.
Sola dies tentum tulit istud parliamentum, 300
Nec magis expressit pro tunc, set ab inde recessit:
H. tamen extenti noua tempora parliamenti
Proxima decreuit, quo regni gloria creuit.
Quando coronatus foret et de fine leuatus,
Tunc processus erit super hoc quod curia querit;
Interea gentes viuunt sub spe recolentes,
Quod nouus errores rex conteret anteriores.
[Sidenote: Qualiter parliamentum continuatur[718] vsque post
coronacionem.]
Sexta dies stabat Octobris, quando parabat
Rex nouus optata sua parliamenta nouata:
Curia verbalis fuit et non iudicialis, 310
Ad tempus restat nichil et de pondere prestat:
Dicitur expletum quod nil valet esse quietum,
Donec persona regis sit operta corona;
Sicque coronari, quem Cristus vult venerari,
Corditer exultat plebs omnis et inde resultat.
[Sidenote: Qualiter in die solempni nobilis Henricus in
Solium regie maiestatis[719] sublimatus cum omni gaudio
coronatur.]
Qui res disponit et eisdem tempora ponit,
Ille diem fixit, Henricum quo benedixit:
Predestinauit deus illum quem titulauit,
Vt rex regnaret sua regnaque iustificaret.
Quem deus elegit, regali laude peregit, 320
[Sidenote: Nota, qualiter iura corone serenissimo iam
regi nostro Henrico quarto tribus modis accrescunt:
Primo Successione:
Secundo eleccione:
Tercio conquestu sine sanguinis effusione.]
Vnde coronatur in honoreque magnificatur:
Tempore felici poterunt sollempnia dici,
Que tam sacratis horis patuere beatis;[720]
Edwardi festa Confessoris manifesta
Henrici festum Regis testantur honestum.
Plebs canit in mente que resultat in ore loquente,
Quisque colit Christum, quia regem suscitat istum;
Vix homo pensare poterit seu dinumerare,
Que tunc fulserunt sollempnia quanta fuerunt:
Omnis terra deum laudat que canit iubileum, 330
Henricum iustum que pium que ferum que robustum.
Vnde coronatur trino de iure probatur,
Regnum conquestat, que per hoc sibi ius manifestat;
Regno succedit heres, nec ab inde recedit;
Insuper eligitur a plebe que sic stabilitur:
Vt sit compactum, iuris nil defuit actum;
Singula respondent Henrici iuraque spondent.
[Sidenote: Qualiter parliamentum adhuc fuit continuatum.]
Fama volans creuit, que climata cuncta repleuit,
Quo laus vexilli super omnes prefuit illi:
Sic regnat magnus reprobis leo, mitibus agnus,[721] 340
Hostes antiquos qui terret et augit amicos.
Luna diem donat, qua Regem terra coronat,
Marsque sequens terre dat parliamenta referre:
Rex sedet et cuncti proceres resident sibi iuncti,
Stant et presentes communes plus sapientes;
Tempus erat tale communeque iudiciale.
Quod bene prouisum nichil est a iure re~scis~um;[722]
Est quia protectus, letatur sic homo rectus,
Et metuunt reliqui sua dampna dolenter iniqui.
[Sidenote: Qualiter Henricus, Regis tunc Henrici
primogenitus, statum que nomen Principis de consensu omnium
gloriose adeptus est.]
Set quia plus dignum prius est recitare benignum, 350
Que sunt maiora scribens recitabo priora:
Henrici natus Henricus, honore beatus,
Est confirmatus heres Princepsque vocatus:
Sic pars abscisa, summo de iudice visa,
Arboris est vncta veteri stipitique reiuncta.
Istud fatatum fuit a sanctisque relatum,
Quod tunc compleuit deus, ex quo terra quieuit:
Hoc facto leta stupet Anglia laude repleta,
Cordeque letatur, quia stirps de stirpe leuatur.
Tunc de consensu Regis procerum quoque sensu, 360
[Sidenote: Qualiter ea que nuper in parliamento tempore
Ricardi per ducem Glouernie et socios suos gesta fuerunt,
presens parliamentum confirmauit; et ea que Ricardus in
vltimo suo parliamento constituit, presens eciam parliamentum
penitus cassauit.]
Plebe reclamante, stant parliamenta per ante;
Sic procedebant super hiis que gesta videbant
Ad commune bonum, recolentes gesta baronum.
Que prius Vrsus, Equs et Olor, qui dicitur equs,
Nuper fecerunt, firmissima constituerunt;
Et que pomposa peruersaque fraude dolosa
Ricardus fecit, hec curia tota reiecit.
Et tunc tractatum fuit illud opus sceleratum,
Quo dudum Cignus periit sine ~iure~ benignus;[723]
Iusticie vere vindictam clamat habere 370
Omnis ob hoc funus populus, quasi vir foret vnus:
Sic communis amor popularis et vndique clamor
Extitit acceptus a Rege que lege receptus.
Infortunatus Ricardus, plus sceleratus,
[Sidenote: Qualiter Ricardo suis ex demeritis iudicialiter
condempnato, ceteri qui cum eo accusati erant, tantummodo ex
mera regis pietate quieti permanserunt.]
Omnibus ingratus, fuit vndique tunc maculatus;
Sic quasi dampnatus abiit pre labe reatus,
Quo stetit elatus sub carcere magnificatus.
Eius fautores, qui sunt de sorte priores,
Tunc accusati sunt ad responsa vocati:
Hi responsales submittunt se speciales 380
Iudicio Regis, per quem silet vlcio legis.
Regia nam pietas sic temperat vndique metas,
Quod nil mortale datur illis iudiciale;
Est tamen ablatum, quod eis fuit ante beatum,
Vocibus Anglorum venerabile nomen eorum;
Corpora stant tuta, cecidit set fama minuta,
Dux redit in Comitem, quatit et sic curia litem,
Labitur exosus Bagot, quem rex pietosus
Erigit, et mite prolongat tempora vite.
Sic pius Henricus, inimico non inimicus, 390
Gracius, vt debet, pro dampno commoda prebet;
Ipse pium frenum laxat, quia tempus amenum
Appetit, et Cristo placuisse putauit in isto.
Non tamen in gente placet hoc, set in ore loquente
Publica vox dicit, leges quod mammona vicit;
Iusticiam queri plebs vult, rex vult misereri,
Et sic fortuna pro tempore non fuit vna:
Rex excusatur, nam dicunt quod variatur
Consilio tali, quo res latet in speciali.
[Sidenote: Qualiter, finito parliamento, infra breue post
quidam impii instigante diabolo, vt ipsi pium Regem Henricum
cum sua progenie a terra delerent, proditorie conspirantes
insurrexerunt, quos ira dei preueniens in villa de Circestria
per manus vulgi interfectos miraculose destruxit.]
Quatuor auctores sceleris, Iuda nequiores, 400
Ore dabant laudes, tacito sub cordeque fraudes;
Holand, Kent, Sarum, Spenser, quasi fellis amarum,
Federa strinxerunt, quibus H. seducere querunt.
Viuere quos fecit pius H., nec eis male fecit,[724]
Hii mala coniectant in eum, quem perdere spectant;
H. etenim pacem dedit illis, hiique minacem
Eius spirantes mortem sunt arma parantes:
Sic nimis ingrati mala retribuunt bonitati,
In caput illorum tamen est vindicta malorum.
Nam, qui cunctorum cognoscit corda virorum, 410
Detegit occulta, quibus accidit vlcio multa:
Cum magis instabant subitoque nocere putabant,
Ex improuiso periunt discrimine viso.
Per loca diuersa fuit horum concio spersa,
Quos deus extinxit, nec in hoc miracula finxit;
De populo patrie, nato comitante Marie,
Quatuor elati perierunt decapitati.
Ecce dei munus! populus quasi vir foret vnus,
Surgit ad omne latus, sit vt H. ita fortificatus.
Quod satis est carum, conciues Londoniarum 420
[Sidenote: Qualiter regis nati in custodia tunc Maioris
Londoniarum pro securitate secundum tempus fidissime
seruabantur.]
Nobilis Henrici steterant constanter amici:
Rex iubet et prompti fuerant armis cito compti,
Eius et in sortem magnam tribuere cohortem.
Vrbs fuit adiutrix, que Regis tunc quasi nutrix
Natos seruauit, et eos quasi mater amauit;
Regis enim camera fuit vrbs hoc tempore vera,
In qua confisus multum fuit ille gauisus:
Sic pius in Cristo pietatem sentit in isto,[725]
Quo preseruatur et regnum clarificatur.
Anglicus a sompnis quasi surgens vir canit omnis, 430
R. cadit, H. regnat, quo regnum gaudia pregnat.[726]
Tempore quo facta sunt hec Ricardus ad acta
[Sidenote: Qualiter Ricardus, cum ipse noua de morte illorum
qui apud Circestriam, vt predictum est, interierunt audisset,
seipsum[727] omni cibo renunciantem pre doloris angustia
morientem extinxit.]
Non foris exiuit, qui quando pericula sciuit,
Quod sors falsorum destructa fuit sociorum,
Fortunam spreuit et eorum funera fleuit.
Tunc bene videbat, quod ei fraus nulla valebat,
Quo contristatus doluit quasi morte grauatus:
Ecce dolor talis suus est, quod spes aliqualis[728]
Amodo viuentem nequiit conuertere flentem.
Qui tamen astabant custodes sepe iuuabant, 440
Ne desperaret, dum tristia continuaret;
Set neque verborum solamina cepit eorum,
Dum lacrimas spersit, sibimet nec amore pepercit:
Sic se consumit, quod vix si prandia sumit,
Aut si sponte bibit vinum, quo viuere quibit;
Semper enim plorat, semper de sorte laborat,
Qua cadit, et tales memorat periisse sodales:
Solam deposcit mortem, ne viuere possit
Amplius, est et ita moriens sua pompa sopita.
Anglia gaudebat, quia quem plebs plus metuebat 450
Cristus deleuit, quo libera terra quieuit:
Set probus Henricus, pietatis semper amicus,
Ad Cristi cultum corpus dedit esse sepultum
Sollempni more, quamuis sine laudis honore.
Langele testatur quod ibi Ricardus humatur;
Ipse loco tali magis omnibus in speciali
Corpus donauit, quod mundus habere negauit.
Sic bona proque malis H. mitis et imperialis
Reddit ei mite, qui clauserat vltima vite:
Mortuus R. transit, viuens probus H. que remansit, 460
Quem deus extollit, et ab R. sua prospera tollit.
O quam pensando mores variosque notando,
[Sidenote: Nota hic secundum commune dictum de pietate
serenissimi regis Henrici, necnon de impietate qua
crudelissimus Ricardus regnum, dum potuit, tirannice vexauit.]
Si bene scrutetur, R. ab H. distare videtur!
Clarus sermone, tenebrosus et intus agone,
R. pacem fingit, dum mortis federa stringit:
Duplex cautelis fuit R., pius H. que fidelis;
R. pestem mittit, mortem pius H. que remittit;
R. seruitutem statuit, pius H. que salutem;[729]
R. plebem taxat, taxas pius H. que relaxat;
R. proceres odit et eorum predia rodit, 470
H. fouet, heredesque suas restaurat in edes;
R. regnum vastat vindex et in omnibus astat,
Mulset terrorem pius H., que reducit amorem.[730]
O deus, Henrico, quem diligo, quem benedico,
Da regnum tutum nulla grauitate volutum:
Vite presentis pariter viteque sequentis
Da sibi quodcumque felicius est ad vtrumque.
~Cronica Ricardi, qui sceptra tulit leopardi,~[732]
[Sidenote: Hic in exemplum aliorum Ricardi demerita
commemorans finaliter recapitulat.[731]]
~Vt patet, est dicta populo set non benedicta:~[733]
~Vt speculum mundi, quo lux nequit vlla refundi,~ 480
~Sic vacuus transit, sibi nil nisi culpa remansit.~
~Vnde superbus erat, modo si preconia querat,~
~Eius honor sordet, laus culpat, gloria mordet.~
~Hoc concernentes caueant qui sunt sapientes,~
~Nam male viuentes deus odit in orbe regentes:~
Est qui peccator, non esse potest dominator;
~Ricardo teste, finis probat hoc manifeste:~
~Post sua demerita periit sua pompa sopita;~[734]
~Qualis erat vita, cronica stabit ita.~
=Explicit Cronica presentibus que futuris vigili corde Regibus[735]
commemoranda.=
FOOTNOTES:
[704] _Heading_ 3 Derbei H
[705] _Heading_ 18 maiestatis CH₃
[706] 69 affimare C
[707] 95 abhortum CH
[708] 109 pius] CHGH₃ prius S
[709] 131 miles CHH₃ viles S
[710] 145 quasi] sua H
[711] 172 Scrōp SCH Buscy G
[712] 188 sceleres SHGH₃ celeres C (_corr._)
[713] 197 fata C
[714] 219 protunc CH₃
[715] 239 tunc CGH₃ nunc SH
[716] 258 Arundeƚƚ MSS.
[717] 291 quibus SG et ad CHH₃
[718] 309 _margin_ continuatum fuit CH fu_it_ _con_ti_nu_atu_m_ H₃
[719] 318 _margin_ magestatis CHH₃
[720] 323 sacratus C
[721] 340 regnant C
[722] 347 recisum CH₃
[723] 369 iure SG labe CHH₃
[724] 404 malefecit C
[725] 428 pius CHH₃ prius SG
[726] 431 p_re_gnant C
[727] 436 _margin_ se ipsum CH
[728] 438 suus CHH₃ suis SG
[729] 468 _line om._ C
[730] 473 Mulcet GH₃
[731] 479 ff. _margin Text_ SG Hic in fine cronicam Regis Ricardi
secundum sua demerita breuiter determinet CH H_ic_ det_er_mi_n_at_ur_
de dem_er_it_is_ Reg_is_ Ric_ard_i H₃
[732] 478-483 As follows in G,
O speculum mundi, quod debet in ante refundi,
Ex quo prouisum sapiens acuat sibi visum,
Cronica Ricardi, ~qui regna tulit leopardi~, 480*
~Vt patet, est dicta, populo sed non benedicta~.
Quicquid erat primo, modo cum sors fertur in ymo,
Eius honor sordet, laus culpat, gloria mordet.
[733] 479 populo set non benedicta SC violenta grauis maledicta HH₃
[734] 488 f.
Sic diffinita stat regia sors stabilita;
Regis vt est vita, cronica stabit ita. G
[735] EXPLICIT. 2 Regibus SG iugiter CHH₃
REX CELI DEUS ETC.
=Sequitur carmen vnde magnificus Rex noster Henricus prenotatus apud
deum et homines cum omni benediccione glorificetur.=
[736]REX celi deus et dominus, qui tempora solus
Condidit, et solus condita cuncta regit,
Qui rerum causas ex se produxit, et vnum
In se principium rebus inesse dedit,
Qui dedit vt stabili motu consisteret orbis,
Fixus ineternum mobilitate sua,
Quique potens verbi produxit ad esse creata,
Quique sue mentis lege ligauit ea,
Ipse caput regum, reges quo rectificantur,
Te que tuum regnum, Rex pie, queso regat. 10
Grata superueniens te misit gracia nobis,
O sine labe salus nulla per ante fuit:[737]
Sic tuus aduentus noua gaudia sponte reduxit,
Quo prius in luctu lacrima maior erat.
Nos tua milicia pauidos releuauit ab ymo,[738]
Quos prius oppressit ponderis omne malum:
Ex probitate tua, quo mors latitabat in vmbra,
Vita resurrexit clara que regna regit:
Sic tua sors sortem mediante deo renouatam
Sanat et emendat, que prius egra fuit. 20
O pie rex, Cristum per te laudamus, et ipsum
Qui tibi nos tribuit terra reviua colit:
Sancta sit illa dies, qua tu tibi regna petisti,
Sanctus et ille deus, qui tibi regna dedit!
Qui tibi prima tulit, confirmet regna futura,
Quo poteris magno magnus honore frui:
Sit tibi progenies ita multiplicata per euum,
Quod genus inde pium repleat omne solum:
Quicquid in orbe boni fuerit, tibi summus ab alto
Donet, vt in terris rex in honore regas: 30
Omne quod est turpe vacuum discedat, et omne
Est quod honorificum det deus esse tuum.
Consilium nullum, pie rex, te tangat iniqum,
In quibus occultum scit deus esse dolum:
Absit auaricia, ne tangat regia corda,
Nec queat in terra proditor esse tua:
Sic tua processus habeat fortuna perhennes,
Quo recolant laudes secula cuncta tuas;
Nuper vt Augusti fuerant preconia Rome,
Concinat in gestis Anglia leta tuis. 40
O tibi, rex, euo detur, fortissime, nostro
Semper honorata sceptra tenere manu:
Stes ita magnanimus, quod vbi tua regna gubernas,
Terreat has partes hostica nulla manus:
Augeat Imperium tibi Cristus et augeat annos,
Protegat et nostras aucta corona fores:
Sit tibi pax finis, domito domineris in orbe,
Cunctaque sint humeris inferiora tuis:
Sic honor et virtus, laus, gloria, pax que potestas
Te que tuum regnum magnificare queant. 50
Cordis amore tibi, pie Rex, mea vota paraui,[739]
Est qui seruicii nil nisi velle mihi:[740]
Ergo tue laudi que tuo genuflexus honori
Verba loco doni pauper habenda tuli.
Est tamen ista mei, pie rex, sentencia verbi,
Fine tui regni sint tibi regna poli!
FOOTNOTES:
[736] REX CELI, &c. _The_ MSS. _referred to for this and the two
succeeding pieces are_ SCHGH₃ _and_ (_for this piece and the next_)
_the Trentham_ MS. (T).
[737] 12 Quo T
[738] 15 milicia S (_corr._) milicies CHH₃T
[739] 51 tibi] boni T
[740] 52 Corpore cum nequii seruio mente tibi T
=Prophecia.=
H. aquile pullus, quo nunquam gracior vllus,
Hostes confregit, que tirannica colla[741] subegit.
H. aquile cepit oleum, quo regna recepit,
Sic veteri iuncta stipiti noua stirps redit vncta.
FOOTNOTES:
[741] PROPHECIA. 2 colla CHH₃T bella S
O RECOLENDE ETC.
=Epistola breuis, vnde virtutes regie morales ad sanum regimen ampliori
memoria dirigantur.=[742]
O ~recolende~, bone, pie rex, Henrice, patrone,
Ad bona dispone quos eripis a Pharaone:
Noxia depone, quibus est humus hec in agone,
Regni persone quo viuant sub racione.[743]
Pacem compone, vires moderare corone,
Legibus impone frenum sine condicione,
Firmaque sermone iura tenere mone.
Rex confirmatus, licet vndique magnificatus,
Sub Cristo gratus viuas tamen inmaculatus.
Est tibi prelatus, comes et baro, villa, Senatus, 10
Miles et armatus sub lege tua moderatus:[744]
Dirige quosque status, maneas quo pacificatus;
Inuidus, elatus nec auarus erit sociatus;
Sic eris ornatus, purus ad omne latus.
Hec, vt amans quibit, Gower, pie Rex, tibi scribit:
Quo pietas ibit, ibi gracia nulla peribit:
~Qui bene describit semet, mala nulla subibit,~[745]
~Set pius exibit, que dei pietate redibit:~[746]
~Sic qui transibit opus et pietatis adibit,~
~Hunc deus ascribit, quod ab hoste perire nequibit;~ 20
~Et sic finibit qui pia vota bibit.~[747]
~Quanto regalis honor est tibi plus~ generalis[748]
~Tanto~ moralis virtus tibi sit specialis:[749]
Sit tibi carnalis in mundo regula, qualis
Est tibi mentalis in Cristo spiritualis.[750]
Si fueris talis, tua Cronica perpetualis
Tunc erit equalis perfectaque materialis:
Rex inmortalis te regat absque malis!
FOOTNOTES:
[742] O RECOLENDE, &c. _Title_ Epistola--dirigantur _om._ GH₃
[743] 4 _margin_ No_ta_ de iusticia C
[744] 11 _margin_ No_ta_ de regimine C
[745] 17-21 _Over erasure in_ SCG, _as follows in_ HH₃,
Dum pia vota bibit, tua fama sitire nequibit,
Plena set exibit, cum laudeque plena redibit:
Non sic transibit, vbicumque tirannus abibit;
Cum nimis ascribit sibi magna, minora subibit;
Vt meritum querit, sors sua fata gerit.
[746] 18 _margin_ No_ta_ de pietate C
[747] 21 pia] pita S
[748] 22 Vt tibi regalis, pie rex, honor est generalis HH₃
[749] 23 Sic rogo HH₃
[750] 25 _margin_ No_ta_ de contemplac_i_o_n_e C
CARMEN SUPER MULTIPLICI VICIORUM PESTILENCIA[751]
[752]=Nota consequenter[753] carmen super multiplici viciorum
pestilencia, vnde tempore Ricardi Secundi partes nostre specialius
inficiebantur.=
Non excusatur qui verum non fateatur,
Vt sic ponatur modus, vnde fides recolatur:
Qui magis ornatur sensu, sua verba loquatur,
Ne lex frangatur, qua Cristus sanctificatur.
Hoc res testatur, virtus ita nunc viciatur,
Quod vix firmatur aliquis quin transgrediatur:
Hinc contristatur mea mens, que sepe grauatur,
Dum contemplatur vicium quod continuatur;
Set quia speratur quod vera fides operatur,
Quod deus hortatur, michi scribere penna paratur, 10
Vt describatur cur mundus sic variatur:
Ecce malignatur que modo causa datur.
[754]=Putruerunt et corrupte sunt cicatrices a facie insipiencie, set
priusquam mors ex morbo finem repente concludat, sapiencie medicinam
detectis plagis cum omni diligencia sapienter investigare debemus. Vnde
ego, non medicus set medicine procurator, qui tanti periculi grauitatem
deplangens intime contristor, quedam vulnera maiori corrupcione putrida
euidenti distinccione, vt inde medicos pro salute interpellam,[755]
consequenter declarare propono. Anno[756] regni Regis Ricardi Secundi
vicesimo.=
=Contra demonis astuciam in causa Lollardie.=
Quod patet ad limen instanti tempore crimen[757]
Describam primo, quo pallent alta sub ymo.
Nescio quid signat, plebs celica iura resignat,
Dum laicus clausas fidei vult soluere causas,
Que deus incepit et homo seruanda recepit:
Iam magis eneruant populi quam scripta reseruant,
Vnde magis clarum scribere tendo parum.
Lollia messis habens granum perturbat et ipsum, 20
Talia qui patitur horrea sepe grauat:
Semina perfidie sacros dispersa per agros
Ecclesie turbant subdola sicque fidem.
Inuentor sceleris sceleratus apostata primus
Angelicas turmas polluit ipse prius;
Postque ruit nostros paradisi sede parentes,
Morteque vitales fecerat esse reos:
Callidus hic serpens nec adhuc desistit in orbe,
Quin magis in Cristi lollia messe serit.
Ecce nouam sectam, mittit que plebis in aures, 30
Ad fidei dampnum scandala plura canit:
Sic vetus insurgit heresis quasi Iouiniani,
Vnde moderna fides commaculata dolet:
Vsurpando fidem vultum mentitur honestum,
Caucius vt fraudem palliet inde suam:[758]
Sub grossa lana linum subtile tenetur,
Simplicitas vultus corda dolosa tegit.
Fermento veteri talis corrumpit aceruum,
Qui noua conspergit et dubitanda mouet:
Dum magis incantat, obtura tu magis aures, 40
Forcius et cordis ostia claude tui:
Simplicitate tua ne credas omne quod audis;
Que docet ambiguus auctor aborta caue:
Nil nouitatis habens tua mens fantastica cedat;
Vt pater ante tuus credidit, acta cole.
Vera fides Cristi non hesitat, immo fideles
Efficit vt credant cordis amore sui:
Nil valet illa fides vbi res dabit experimentum,
Spes tamen in Cristo sola requirit eum:
Recta fides quicquid rectum petit, omne meretur, 50
Quicquid possibile creditur, ipsa potest.
Argumenta fides dat rerum que neque sciri,
Nec possunt verbo nec racione capi:
Subde tuam fidei mentem, quia mortis ymago
Iudicis eterni mistica scire nequit:
Vt solus facere voluit, sic scire volebat
Solus, et hoc nulli participauit opus.
Vna quid ad solem sintilla valet, vel ad equor[759]
Gutta, vel ad celum quid cinis esse potest?
Leticiam luctus, mors vitam, gaudia fletus 60
Non norunt, nec que sunt deitatis homo:
Non tenebre solem capiunt, non lumina cecus,[760]
Infima mens hominis nec capit alta dei:[761]
Nempe sacri flatus archanum nobile nunquam
Scrutari debes, quod penetrare nequis.
Cum non sit nostrum vel mundi tempora nosse,
Vnde creaturas nosse laborat homo?
Nos sentire fidem nostra racione probatam
Non foret humanis viribus illud opus;
Humanum non est opus vt transcendat ad astra, 70
Quod mortalis homo non racione capit:
Ingenium tante transit virtutis in altum,
Transcurrit superos, in deitate manet.
Qui sapienter agit, sapiat moderanter in istis,
Postulet vt rectam possit habere fidem:
Committat fidei quod non poterit racioni,
Quod non dat racio, det tibi firma fides.
Quod docet ecclesia tu tantum crede, nec vltra
Quam tibi scire datur quomodocumque stude:
Sufficit vt credas, est ars vbi nulla sciendi, 80
Quanta potest dominus scire nec vllus habet.
Est deus omnipotens, et qui negat omnipotenti
Credere posse, suum denegat esse deum;
Sic incarnatum tu debes credere Cristum
Virginis ex vtero, qui deus est et homo.
Vis saluus fieri? ~pete~, crede, ~stude~ reuereri;[762]
Absque magis queri lex iubet ista geri.
~Has~ fantasias aliter ~que~ dant heresias[763]
Dampnat Messias, sobrius ergo scias.
Tempore Ricardi, super hiis que fata tulerunt,[764] 90
Scismata lollardi de nouitate serunt:
Obstet principiis tribulos purgareque vadat
Cultor in ecclesiis, ne rosa forte cadat.
=Contra mentis Seuiciam in causa Superbie.=
Deficit in verbo sensus, quo cuncta superbo
Scribere delicta nequeo, que sunt michi dicta.
Radix peccati fuit ille prius scelerati,
Ex quo dampnati perierunt preuaricati:
Desuper a celis deiecit eum Michaelis
Ensis ad inferni tenebras de luce superni;
Nec paradisus ei prebere locum requiei 100
Spondet, vbi vere sibi gaudia posset habere:
Sic, quia deceptus alibi nequit esse receptus,
Mundum deposcit, vt in illo viuere possit:
Sic adhibendo moram venit ille superbus ad horam,
Quem mea mens tristis in partibus asserit istis.
Hunc vbi ponemus, hostem quem semper habemus?
Nam magis infecta veniens facit omnia tecta.
Laus ibi non lucet, vbi vana superbia ducet
Regna superborum; docet hoc vestitus eorum:
Cum valet ornatum sibi vanus habere paratum, 110
Non quasi mortalis, set vt angelus euolat alis.
Militis ad formam modo pauper habet sibi normam,
Vana sit vt vestis erit inde superbia testis,
Exterius signum cor signat habere malignum,
Cordis et errore fortuna carebit honore.
Nos igitur talem non consociare sodalem
Expedit, vt tuti reddamur in orbe saluti.
Quod deus odiuit reprobos Dauid hoc bene sciuit,
Ipseque psalmista scripsit de talibus ista:
‘Elatas mentes posuit de sede potentes, 120
Et sublimauit humiles, quos semper amauit.’
Vanus non durat, quem vana superbia curat,
Hec set eum ducit vbi gracia nulla reducit;
Culpa quidem fontis latices dabit hec Acherontis,
Vnde bibunt vani mortem quasi cotidiani.
Omne quod est natum stat ab hoc vicio viciatum,[765]
Quo magis inmundum vir vanus habet sibi mundum;
Set qui mentali de pondere iudiciali
Istud libraret, puto quod meliora pararet.
Hoc nam mortale vicium stat sic generale, 130
Quod mundum fregit, vbi singula regna subegit;
Hec etenim cedes nostras, vt dicitur, edes
Vertit, et insana dat tempora cotidiana.
O deus eterne, culpe miserere moderne,
Facque pias mentes sub lege tua penitentes!
Corpus, opes, vires sapiens non sic stabilires,
Dumque superbires, subita quin sorte perires:
Sunt que maiores humilis paciencia mores[766]
Nutrit, et errores vicii facit esse minores:
Ergo tuam vera mentem moderare statera; 140
Sit laus vel labes, pectore pondus habes.
=Contra carnis lasciuiam in causa Concupiscencie.=
O sexus fragilis, ex quo natura virilis
Carnea procedit, anime que robora ledit![767]
O natura viri carnalis, que stabiliri
Non valet, vt pura carnalia sint sibi iura!
Federa sponsorum que sunt sacrata virorum,
Heu, caro dissoluit, nec ibi sua debita soluit:
Tempore presenti de carne quasi furienti
Turpia sunt plura, que signant dampna futura:
Hec desponsatis sunt metuenda satis. 150
Philosophus quidam carnis de labe remorsus
Plebis in exemplum talia verba refert:
‘Vnam de variis penam sortitur adulter,
Eius vt amplexus omnis in orbe luat;[768]
Aut membrum perdet, aut carceris antra subibit,
Aut cadet insanus non reputandus homo,
Aut sibi pauperies infortunata resistet,
Aut moriens subito transit ab orbe reus.’
Et sic luxuries fatuis sua dona refundit,[769]
Vertit et econtra quicquid ab ante tulit. 160
Quod prius est dulce, demonstrat finis amarum,
Quo caro non tantum, spiritus immo cadit:
Sic oculus cordis carnis caligine cecus
Errat, et in dampnum decidit ipse suum:
Sic iubar humani sensus fuscatur in vmbra
Carnis, et in carnem mens racionis abit.
Dum carnalis amor animum tenet illaqueatum,
Sensati racio fit racionis egens;
Stans hominis racio calcata per omnia carni
Seruit, et ancille vix tenet ipsa locum. 170
Non locus est in quo maneant consueta libido
Et racio pariter, quin magis vna vacat:
Bella libido mouet, fauet et vecordia carnis,
Et sua dat fedo colla premenda iugo;
Libera set racio mentem de morte remordet
Carnis in obsequio, statque pudica deo.
Nil commune gerunt luxus sibi cum racione;
Ista deum retinet, illa cadauer habet:
Sic patet vt nichil est quicquid peritura voluptas
Appetit in carne, que velut vmbra fugit. 180
Pluribus exemplis tibi luxus erit fugiendus;
Biblea que docuit, respice facta Dauid:
Consilio Balaam luxus decepit Hebreos,
Quos caro commaculat, carnea culpa premit.
Discat homo iuuenis, celeri pede labitur etas,
Nuncia dum mortis curua senecta venit:
Ecce senilis yemps tremulo venit horrida passu,
Et rapit a iuvene quod reparare nequit:
Vir sapiens igitur sua tempora mente reuoluat,
Erigat et currum, quam prius inde cadat.[770] 190
Heu, set in hoc vicio plebis quasi tota propago
Carnis in obsequio stat viciata modo:
Ex causa fragili causatur fictilis etas,
Quo nunc de facili frangitur omnis homo.
Carnis enim vicia sunt sic communiter acta,
Quod de continuis vix pudet vsus eis:
Cecus amor fatuos cecos sic ducit amantes,
Quod sibi quid deceat non videt vllus amans.
Pendula res amor est subito collapsa dolore,
Ordine precipiti miraque facta parat;[771] 200
Sique tuam velles flammam compescere tutus,
Artem preuideas, quam prius inde cadas.
Cum viciis aliis pugna, iubet hec tibi Paulus,[772]
Carnis et a bello tu fuge solus homo;
Et quia vulnifico fixurus pectora telo
Vibrat amor, caute longius inde fuge:
Vinces si fugias, vinceris sique resistas;
Ne leo vincaris, tu lepus ergo fuge.
Mente tui cordis memorare nouissima carnis,
Et speculo mortis respice qualis eris:[773] 210
Oscula fetor erunt, amplexus vermis, et omne
Quod fuerat placidum, pena resoluet opus.
Occupat extrema stultorum gaudia luctus,
Et risum lacrima plena dolore madet:
Vana salus hominis, quam terminat egra voluptas,
Tollit et eternum viuere vita breuis.
Crede, satis tutum tenet hoc natura statutum,[774]
Quo caro pollutum reddet ad yma lutum;
Cum fera mors stabit et terram terra vorabit,
Tunc homo gustabit quid sibi culpa dabit. 220
Est vbi mundicia carnis sine labe reatus,
Casta pudicicia gaudet ad omne latus:
Stat nota bina solo quo luxus non dominatur,
Pax manet absque dolo, longaque vita datur.
=Contra mundi fallaciam in causa Periurii et Auaricie.=
Sunt duo cognati viciorum consociati,
Orbem qui ledunt pariter, nec ab orbe recedunt:
Iste fidem raram periurat, et alter auaram
Causam custodit; socios tales deus odit.
Primo periurum describam, postque futurum,
Est vbi ius rarum, scriptura remordet auaram: 230
Ex vicio tali fertur origo mali.
Nemo dei nomen assumere debet inane,
Falsa nec vt iuret, os perhibere malo:
Lex vetus hoc statuit, set, prothdolor, ecce modernus[775]
Munere corruptos iam nouus error agit.
Nil nisi dona videt dum se periurat Auarus,
Eius enim sensum census vbique regit;
Sic non liber homo librum sine pondere librat,
Seruit et ad libras quas sua libra trahit.
Set quia periurus defraudat iura superni, 240
Iurat eum dominus iure perire suo:
Sic lucrum siciens laqueos incurrit, et eius
Lingua prius mendax premia mortis habet;
Sic vendens et emens vacuus non transiet, immo
Munera que capiet sulphur et ignis erunt.
Vendere iusticiam nichil est nisi vendere Cristum,
Expectat dampnum qui facit inde forum:
Testis erit Iudas quid erit sibi fine doloris;
Dum crepuit medius, culpa subibat onus.
Penituit culpam, que semel nisi fecerat illam, 250
Quod tulit et lucrum reddidit ipse statim;[776]
Set nec eo veniam meruit nec habere salutem,[777]
Iam valet exemplum tale mouere virum.
Vendidit ipse semel iustum, nos cotidianum
Ob lucri precium vendimus omne malum:
Ille restaurauit, set nos restringimus aurum;
Penituit, set nos absque pauore sumus.
Sic et auaricia tanta feritate perurget
Corda viri, quod ab hoc vix homo liber abit:
Cessat iusticia, cessatque fides sociata, 260
Fraus dolus atque suum iam subiere locum:
Plebs sine iure manet, non est qui iura tuetur,
Non est qui dicat, iura tenere decet:
Omnibus in causis, vbi gentes commoda querunt,
Nunc modus est que fides non habuisse fidem.[778]
Vox leuis illa Iacob, Esau manus hispida nuper,
Que foret ista dies, signa futura dabant:
Alterius casu stat supplantator, et eius
Qui fuerat socius fraude subintrat opes:
Ex dampno fratris frater sua commoda querit; 270
Vnus si presit, inuidet alter ei:
Filius ante diem patruos iam spectat in annos,
Nec videt ex oculis ceca cupido suis:
Nunc amor est solus, nec sentit habere secundum,
Stans odioque tibi diligit ipse tua.
Quid modo, cumque manus mentitur dextra sinistre,
Dicam? set caueat qui sapienter agit.
Viuitur ex velle, non amplius est via tuta,
Cuncta licent cupido, dum vacat ipse lucro;
Arma, rapina, dolus, amor ambiciosus habendi, 280
Amplius ad proprium velle sequntur iter:
Lex silet et nummus loquitur, ius dormit et aurum
Peruigil insidiis vincit vbique suis:
Hasta nocet ferri, gladius set plus nocet auri;
Regna terit mundi, nilque resistit ei.
Set quia mors dubium concludit ad omnia finem,
Est nichil hic certum preter amare deum:
Rebus in humanis semper quid deficit, et sic
Ista nichil plenum fertile vita tenet:
Quod tibi dat proprium mundus, tibi tollit id ipsum, 290
Deridensque tuum linquit inane forum:
Quam prius in finem mundi deuenerit huius,
Nulla potest certo munere vita frui.
Heu, quid opes opibus cumulas, qui propria queris,
Cum se nemo queat appropriare sibi?
Hunc igitur mundum quia perdes, quere futurum;
Est aliter vacuum tempus vtrumque tuum.
Mammona transibit et auara cupido peribit,
In cineres ibit, mors tua fata bibit,
Pauper ab hac vita, sic princeps, sic heremita, 300
Mortuus ad merita transiet omnis ita.
[Sidenote: Salomon: Memorare nouissima, et ineternum non
peccabis.]
Quicquid homo voluit, mors mundi cuncta reuoluit,
Nemoque dissoluit, quin morti debita soluit:
Hec qui mente capit gaudia, raro sapit.
[Sidenote: Idem: Omnia fac cum consilio, et ineternum non
penitebis.]
Set sibi viuenti qui consilio sapienti
Prouidet, ingenti merito placet omnipotenti.
Tempore presenti que sunt mala proxima genti,[779]
Ex oculo flenti Gower canit ista legenti:
Quisque sue menti qui concipit aure patenti
Mittat, et argenti det munera largus egenti; 310
Stat nam mortalis terra repleta malis.[780]
Hoc ego bis deno Ricardi regis in anno
Compaciens animo carmen lacrimabile scribo.[781]
Vox sonat in populo, fidei iam deficit ordo,
Vnde magis solito cessat laus debita Cristo,
Quem peperit virgo genitum de flamine sacro.
Hic deus est et homo, perfecta salus manet in quo,
Eius ab imperio processit pacis origo,
Que dabitur iusto, paciens qui credit in ipso.
Vir qui vult ideo pacem componere mundo, 320
Pacificet primo iura tenenda deo.
FOOTNOTES:
[751] CARMEN SUPER MULTIPLICI, &c. _The_ MSS. _referred to are_ SCEHL
_with Fairfax_ 3 (F) _and Bodley_ 294 (B).
[752] _Title and Preface_ ll. 1-12 _om._ EL
[753] _Title and Preface_ consequenter] hic p_re_cipue F
[754] _Title and Preface_ ‘Putruerunt,’ &c. _om._ E
[755] _Title and Preface_ pro salute interpellam] p_ro_ salute
efficacius interpellem F
[756] Anno] In Anno F
[757] l. 13 ad _om._ S
[758] 35 palliet F (_corr._) palleat SCHLB paleat E
[759] 58 scintilla CEL
[760] 62 non] nec F
[761] 63 nec] non CEH
[762] 86 _No paragr. here_ FL stude SCEHLB time F
[763] 88 Que fantasias aliter tibi FB
[764] 90 _Paragr._ FL
[765] 126 stat _om._ S
[766] 138 f. _Two lines om._ FL _The section_ ll. 142-224 _is omitted
here in_ E _and inserted after_ l. 321
[767] 143 legit C
[768] 154 omnis SFLB viuus CEH
[769] 159 fatuis _om._ F
[770] 190 inde] ille FL
[771] 200 fata EHLB
[772] 203 hoc EH
[773] 210 mortis] cordis S
[774] 217 statum S
[775] 234 modernus SFLB modernos CEH
[776] 251 Quot C
[777] 252 Sic CEH
[778] 265 est qui CEH
[779] 307 _Paragr._ SE _no paragr._ CHFLB
[780] _After_ 311 _one line space_ F
[781] 312-321 _Ten lines om._ L
TRACTATUS DE LUCIS SCRUTINIO[782]
=Incipit tractatus de lucis Scrutinio quam a diu viciorum tenebre,
prothdolor, suffocarunt,[783] secundum illud in euangelio, Qui ambulat
in tenebris nescit quo vadat.=
[Sidenote: Nota quod eorum lucerna minime, clarescit quos in
ecclesia per Antipapam Auaricia promotos ditescit.]
Heu, quia per crebras humus est viciata tenebras,
Vix iter humanum locus vllus habet sibi planum.
Si Romam pergas, vt ibi tua lumina tergas,
Lumina mira cape, quia Rome sunt duo pape;
Et si plus cleri iam debent lumina queri,
Sub modio tecta latitat lucerna reiecta:
Presulis officia mundus tegit absque sophia,
Stat sua lux nulla, dum Simonis est ibi bulla;
Est iter hoc vile, qui taliter intrat ouile,
Nec bene discernit lucem qui lumina spernit. 10
Sic caput obscurum de membris nil fore purum[784]
Efficit, et secum sic cecus habet sibi cecum.[785]
[Sidenote: De luce ordinis professi.]
Aut si vis gressus claros, non ordo professus
Hos tibi prestabit, quos caucius vmbra fugabit.
Ordine claustrali manifestius in speciali[786]
Lux ibi pallescit, quam mens magis inuida nescit:
Lux et moralis tenebrescit presbiteralis,
Clara dies transit, nec eis lucerna remansit;
Sunt ibi lucerne, iocus, ocia, scorta, taberne,
Quorum velamen viciis fert sepe iuuamen. 20
Sic perit exemplum lucis, quo turbida templum
Nebula perfudit, que lumina queque recludit:[787]
Sic vice pastorum quos Cristus ab ante bonorum
Legerat, ecce chorum statuit iam mundus eorum.
[Sidenote: Nota quod, si regum lucerna in manu caritatis
deuocius gestaretur, ecclesia nunc diuisa eorum auxilio
discrecius reformaretur, eciam et incursus paganorum a Cristi
finibus eorum probitate eminus expelleretur.]
Si lux presentum scrutetur in orbe regentum,
Horum de guerra pallet sine lumine terra:
Ne periant leges, iam Roma petit sibi reges,
Noscat vt ille pater que sit sibi credula mater.
Scisma modernorum patrum nouitate duorum
Reges delerent, si Cristi iura viderent; 30
Lux ita regalis decet ecclesiam specialis,
Qua domus alma dei maneat sub spe requiei.
Teste paganorum bello furiente deorum,
Raro fides crescit vbi regia lux tenebrescit:
Hec tamen audimus, set et hec verissima scimus[788]
Nec capit hec mentis oculus de luce regentis.
Vlterius quere, cupias si lumen habere,
Lumina namque Dauid sibi ceca magis titulauit.
[Sidenote: De luce procerum.]
Si regni proceres aliter pro lumine queres,
Aspice quod plenum non est ibi tempus amenum, 40
Dumque putas stare, palpabis iter, quia clare
Nemo videt, quando veniet de turbine grando,
Diuicie cece fallunt sine lumine sese;
Quam prius ille cadat, vix cernit habens vbi vadat:
Sic via secura procerum non est sine cura.
Stans honor ex onere sibi conuenit acta videre;
Qui tamen extentum modo viderit experimentum,
De procerum spera non surgunt lumina vera.
[Sidenote: De luce Militum et aliorum qui bella sequntur.]
Si bellatorum lucem scrutabor eorum,
Lucerne lator tenebrosus adest gladiator, 50
Sunt ibi doctrina luxus, iactura, rapina,
Que non splendorem querunt set habere cruorem;
Et sic armatus lucem pre labe reatus
Non videt, vnde status suus errat in orbe grauatus.
[Sidenote: De luce legistarum.]
Si lex scrutetur, ibi lux ~non inuenietur~,
Quin vis aut velle ius concitat esse rebelle:
Non populo lucet index quem mammona ducet,
Efficit et cecum quo sepe reflectitur equm.
Ius sine iure datur, si nummus in aure loquatur,
Auri splendore tenebrescit lumen in ore, 60
Omnis legista viuit quasi lege sub ista,
Quo magis ex glosa loculi fit lex tenebrosa.
[Sidenote: De luce Mercatorum.]
Si Mercatorum querantur lumina morum,
Lux non fulgebit, vbi fraus cum ciue manebit.
Contegit vsure subtilis forma figure
Vultum laruatum, quem diues ~habet similatum~.
Si dolus in villa tua possit habere sigilla,
Vix reddes clarus bona que tibi prestat auarus;
Et sic maiores fallunt quamsepe minores,
Vnde dolent turbe sub murmure plebis in vrbe. 70
Sic inter ciues errat sine lumine diues,
Dumque fidem nescit, lux pacis ab vrbe recessit.
[Sidenote: De luce vulgari, que patriam conseruat.]
Si patriam quero, nec ibi michi lumina spero;
Nam via vulgaris tenebris viciatur amaris:
Plebs racione carens hec est sine moribus arens,[789]
Cuius subiectam vix Cristus habet sibi sectam.
Sunt aliqui tales, quos mundus habet speciales,
Fures, raptores, homicide, turbidiores:
Sunt et conducti quidam pro munere ducti,
Quos facit assisa periuros luce rescisa.[790] 80
Rustica ruralis non est ibi spes aliqualis,
Quo nimis obscura pallent sine lumine rura:
Sic magis illicebras mundanas quisque tenebras[791]
Nunc petit, et vota non sunt ad lumina mota.
Sic prior est mundus, et si deus esse secundus
Posset, adhuc talis foret in spe lux aliqualis:
Set quasi nunc totus deus est a plebe remotus;[792]
Sic absente duce perit orbis iter sine luce.
[Sidenote: Hic in fine[793] tenebras deplangens pro luce
optinenda deum exorat.]
O nimis orbatus varii de labe reatus,
Omnis in orbe status modo stat quasi preuaricatus. 90
Cum tamen errantes alios sine lege vagantes[794]
Cecos deplango, mea propria viscera tango:[795]
Cecus vt ignorat quo pergere, dumque laborat,[796]
Sic iter explorat mea mens, que flebilis orat:
Et quia perpendo quod lucis ad vltima tendo,
Nunc iter attendo quo perfruar in moriendo.
Tu, qui formasti lucem tenebrasque creasti,
Crimina condones, et sic tua lumina dones:
In terram sero tunc quando cubicula quero,
Confer candelam, potero qua ferre medelam. 100
Hec Gower scribit, lucem dum querere quibit;
Sub spe transibit, vbi gaudia lucis adibit:
Lucis solamen det sibi Cristus. Amen.
FOOTNOTES:
[782] _Text of_ S _collated with_ CEHL
[783] _Title_ 2 Suoffocarunt S
[784] 11 oscurum CH
[785] 12 cecus] secus C
[786] 15 manifestus L
[787] 22 Nebula] Lumina L
[788] 35 et hec] p_er_ hec L
[789] 75 hec _om._ L
[790] 80 rescisa SEHL recisa C (_corr._)
[791] 83 illecebras EL
[792] 87 a plebe] a luce CEH
[793] 89 _margin_ Hic in fine] No_ta_ q_uo_d Ioh_ann_es Gower auctor
huius libr hic in fine E
[794] 91 sine luce L
[795] 92 de plango C
[796] 93 S _has here lost a leaf_
ECCE PATET TENSUS ETC.[797]
Ecce patet tensus ceci Cupidinis arcus,
Vnde sagitta volans ardor amoris erit.
Omnia vincit amor, cecus tamen errat vbique,
Quo sibi directum carpere nescit iter.
Ille suos famulos ita cecos ducit amantes,
Quod sibi quid deceat non videt vllus amans:
Sic oculus cordis carnis caligine cecus
Decidit, et racio nil racionis habet.
Sic amor ex velle viuit, quem ceca voluptas
Nutrit, et ad placitum cuncta ministrat ei; 10
Subque suis alis mundus requiescit in vmbra,
Et sua precepta quisquis vbique facit.
Ipse coronatus inopes simul atque potentes
Omnes lege pari conficit esse pares.
Sic amor omne domat, quicquid natura creauit,
Et tamen indomitus ipse per omne manet:
Carcerat et redimit, ligat atque ligata resoluit,
Vulnerat omne genus, nec sibi vulnus habet.
Non manet in terris qui prelia vincit amoris,
Nec sibi quis firme federa pacis habet: 20
Sampsonis vires, gladius neque Dauid in istis
Quid laudis, sensus aut Salomonis, habent.
O natura viri, poterit quam tollere nemo,
Nec tamen excusat quod facit ipsa malum!
O natura viri, que naturatur eodem
Quod vitare nequit, nec licet illud agi!
O natura viri, duo que contraria mixta
Continet, amborum nec licet acta sequi!
O natura viri, que semper habet sibi bellum
Corporis ac anime, que sua iura petunt! 30
Sic magis igne suo Cupido perurit amantum
Et quasi de bello corda subacta tenet.
Qui vult ergo sue carnis compescere flammam,
Arcum preuideat vnde sagitta volat.
Nullus ab innato valet hoc euadere morbo,
Sit nisi quod sola gracia curet eum.
* * * * *
_The_ MS. _has here lost a leaf._
FOOTNOTES:
[797] ‘Ecce patet tensus’ &c. _This follows the_ Cinkante Balades _in
the Trentham_ MS.
EST AMOR ETC.[798]
=Carmen quod Iohannes Gower super amoris multiplici varietate sub
compendio metrice composuit.=[799]
Est amor in glosa pax bellica, lis pietosa,
Accio famosa, vaga sors, vis imperiosa,
Pugna quietosa, victoria perniciosa,
Regula viscosa, scola deuia, lex capitosa,
Cura molestosa, grauis ars, virtus viciosa,
Gloria dampnosa, flens risus et ira iocosa,
Musa dolorosa, mors leta, febris preciosa,
Esca venenosa, fel dulce, fames animosa,
Vitis acetosa, sitis ebria, mens furiosa,
Flamma pruinosa, nox clara, dies tenebrosa,[800] 10
Res dedignosa, socialis et ambiciosa,
Garrula, verbosa, secreta, silens, studiosa,
Fabula formosa, sapiencia prestigiosa,
Causa ruinosa, rota versa, quies operosa,
Vrticata rosa, spes stulta fidesque dolosa.
Magnus in exiguis variatus vt est tibi clamor,
Fixus in ambiguis motibus errat amor.
Instruat audita tibi leccio sic repetita;
Mors, amor et vita participantur ita.
Lex docet auctorum quod iter carnale bonorum
Tucius est, quorum sunt federa coniugiorum:
Fragrat vt ortorum rosa plus quam germen agrorum,
Ordo maritorum caput est et finis amorum.
Hec est nuptorum carnis quasi regula morum, 5
Que saluandorum sacratur in orbe virorum.
Hinc vetus annorum Gower sub spe meritorum
Ordine sponsorum tutus adhibo thorum.
FOOTNOTES:
[798] _Text of_ S, _collated with_ F _See also_ vol. i. p. 392
[799] _Title_ Carmen de variis in amore passionib_us_ breuiter
compilatum F
[800] 10 tenobrosa S
QUIA VNUSQUISQUE ETC.[801]
=Quia vnusquisque, prout a deo accepit, aliis impartiri tenetur,
Iohannes Gower super hiis que deus sibi sensualiter donauit
villicacionis sue racionem[802] secundum aliquid alleuiare cupiens,
tres precipue libros per ipsum, dum vixit, doctrine causa compositos ad
aliorum noticiam in lucem seriose produxit.=[803]
=Primus liber Gallico sermone editus in decem diuiditur partes, et
tractans de viciis et virtutibus, necnon et de variis huius seculi
gradibus, viam qua peccator transgressus ad sui creatoris agnicionem
redire debet, recto tramite docere conatur. Titulusque libelli istius
Speculum Meditantis nuncupatus est.=
=Secundus enim liber sermone Latino metrice compositus tractat
de variis infortuniis tempore regis Ricardi secundi in Anglia
contingentibus: vnde non solum regni proceres et communes tormenta
passi sunt, set et ipse crudelissimus rex, suis ex demeritis ab alto
corruens, in foueam quam fecit finaliter proiectus est. Nomenque
voluminis huius Vox Clamantis intitulatur.=
=Tercius vero[804] liber, qui ob reuerenciam strenuissimi domini sui
domini Henrici de Lancastria, tunc Derbeie Comitis, Anglico sermone
conficitur, secundum Danielis propheciam super huius mundi regnorum
mutacione a tempore regis Nabugodonosor vsque nunc tempora distinguit.
Tractat eciam secundum Aristotilem super hiis quibus rex Alexander tam
in sui regimen quam aliter eius disciplina edoctus fuit. Principalis
tamen huius operis materia super amorem et infatuatas Amantum passiones
fundamentum habet: nomenque sibi appropriatum Confessio Amantis
specialiter sortitus est.=
FOOTNOTES:
[801] ‘Quia vnusquisque’ &c. _Text of_ S, _collated with_ CHGF. _See
also_ vol. iii. p. 479 f.
[802] 3 racionem SCH racionem, dum tempus instat, GF
[803] 4 ff. tres--produxit] inter labores et ocia ad aliorum noticiam
tres libros doctrine causa forma subsequenti propterea composuit GF
[804] 18 vero] iste F
ENEIDOS BUCOLIS ETC.[805]
=Carmen, quod quidam Philosophus in memoriam Iohannis Gower super
consummacione suorum trium librorum forma subsequenti[806] composuit,
et eidem gratanter transmisit.=[807]
Eneidos Bucolis que Georgica metra perhennis
Virgilio laudis serta dedere scolis;
Hiis tribus ille libris prefertur honore poetis,
Romaque precipuis laudibus instat eis.
Gower, sicque tuis tribus est dotata libellis
Anglia, morigeris quo tua scripta seris.
Illeque Latinis tantum sua metra loquelis
Scripsit, vt Italicis sint recolenda notis;
Te tua set trinis tria scribere carmina linguis
Constat, vt inde viris sit scola lata magis: 10
Gallica lingua prius, Latina secunda, set ortus
Lingua tui pocius Anglica complet opus.[808]
Ille quidem vanis Romanas obstupet aures,
Ludit et in studiis musa pagana suis;
Set tua Cristicolis fulget scriptura renatis,
Quo tibi celicolis laus sit habenda locis.
FOOTNOTES:
[805] ‘Eneidos Bucolis’ &c. _Text of_ S, _collated with_ CHGF
[806] forma subsequenti] versificatum F
[807] _Title_ Epistola cuiusdam Philosophi Iohanni Gower super
consummacione suorum trium librorum, prout inferius patet, gratanter
transmissa G
[808] 12 Anglia F
O DEUS IMMENSE ETC.[809]
=Carmen quod Iohannes Gower adhuc viuens super principum regimine
vltimo composuit.=[810]
O deus immense, sub quo dominantur in ense
Quidam morosi Reges, quidam viciosi,
Disparibus meritis sic pax sic mocio litis
Publica regnorum manifestant gesta suorum:
Quicquid delirant Reges, plectuntur Achiui,
Quo mala respirant, vbi mores sunt fugitiui.
Laus et honor Regum foret obseruacio legum,
Ad quas iurati sunt prima sorte vocati:
Vt celeste bonum puto concilium fore donum,
Quo prius in terris pax contulit oscula guerris: 10
Consilium dignum Regem facit esse benignum,
Est aliter signum quo spergitur omne malignum.
In bonitate pares sumat sibi consiliares
Rex bonus, et cuncta venient sibi prospera iuncta:
Qui regit optentum de consilio sapientum
Regnum, non ledit set ab omni labe recedit:
Consilium tortum scelus omne refundit abortum
Regis in errorem, regni quo perdit amorem.
‘Ve qui predaris,’ ~Ysaias~ clamat auaris;
Sic verbis claris loquitur tibi qui dominaris. 20
Rex qui plus aurum populi quam corda thesaurum
Computat, a mente populi cadit ipse repente.
Os vbi vulgare non audet verba sonare,
Stat magis obscura sub murmure mens loqutura:
Que stupet in villa cicius plebs murmurat illa,
Vnde malum crescit, sapiens quo sepe pauescit.
Est tibi credendum murmur satis esse timendum;
Cum sit commune, tunc te super omnia mune.[811]
Lingua nequit fari mala, cor nec premeditari,
Que parat obliqus sub fraude dolosus amicus: 30
Mundus erit testis, vir talis vt altera pestis
Inficit occulto regnum de crimine multo.
Blandus adulator et auarus consiliator,
Quamuis non velles, plures facit esse rebelles:
Sepius ex herbis morbus curatur acerbis,
Sepe loquela grauis iuuat et nocet illa suauis.
Qui falsum pingunt sub fraudeque vera refingunt,
Hii sunt qui blando sermone nocent aliquando:
Rex qui conducit tales, sibi scandala ducit,
Nomen et abducit quod nobile raro reducit: 40
Quod viguit mane, sibi vespere transit inane,
Dummodo creduntur que verba dolosa loquntur.
Consilio tali regnum magis in speciali
Vndique turbatur, quo Regis honor variatur:
Nunc ita sicut heri poterit res ista videri,
Vnde magis plangit populus, quem lesio tangit.
Set premunitus non fallitur inde peritus;
Quod videt ante manum, fugit omne notabile vanum:
Cum laqueatur auis, cauet altera, sicque suauis
Rex pius in cura semper timet ipse futura. 50
Rex insensatus nullos putat esse reatus,
Quam prius ante fores casus sibi sint grauiores;
Set qui prescire vult causas, expedit ire,
Plebis et audire voces per easque redire:
Si sit in errore Regis vel in eius honore,
Hoc de clamore populi prefertur ab ore.
Est qui morosus, Rex non erit ambiciosus,
Set sub eo tutum regni manet omne statutum:
Nomine preclarus nunquam fuit vllus auarus,
Larga manus nomen cum laude meretur et omen: 60
Nomen regale populi vox dat tibi, quale
Sit, bene siue male, deus illud habet speciale.
[Sidenote: Nota.]
Rex qui tutus eris, si temet noscere queris,
Ad vocem plebis aures sapienter habebis:
Culpe vel laudis ex plebe creatur, vt audis,
~Fama ferens verba que~ dulcia sunt et acerba.
Fama cito crescit, subito tamen illa vanescit,
Saltem fortuna stabilis quia non manet vna:
Principio scire fortunam seu stabilire,
Non est humanum super hoc quid ponere planum; 70
Fine set expertum valet omnis dicere certum,
Qualia sunt facta, quia tunc probat exitus acta.
Rex qui laudari cupit et de fine beari,
Sint sua facta bona, recoletur vt inde corona.
Regia precedant benefacta que crimina cedant,
Viuat vt eterno sic Rex cum Rege superno:
Absque deo vana cum sit tibi cotidiana
Pompa, recorderis, sine laude dei morieris.
Rex sibi qui mundum prefert Cristumque secundum
Linquit, adherebit vbi finis laude carebit: 80
Regis enim vita cum sit sine laude sopita,
Nomen erat quale, dabit vltima cronica tale.
Et sic concludo breuiter de carmine nudo,
Ordine quo regnant Reges, sua nomina pregnant.
Quo caput infirmum, nichil est de corpore firmum,
Plebs neque firmatur, vbi virtus non dominatur.
Rex qui securam laudis vult carpere curam,
Cristum preponat, Reges qui laude coronat:
Nam qui presumit de se, cum plus sibi sumit,
Fine carens laude stat fama retrograda caude. 90
Omni viuenti scola pertinet ista regenti,
Displicet hic genti qui non placet omnipotenti,
Gracia succedit, meritis vbi culpa recedit:
Qui sic non credit, sua Rex regalia ledit.
Non ex fatali casu set iudiciali
Pondere regali stat medicina mali.
Plebs vt ouile gregis, mors vitaque, regula legis,
Sub manibus Regis sunt ea quanta legis.
Tanta licet pronus pro tempore det tibi thronus;
Sit nisi fine bonus, non honor est set onus. 100
Rex igitur videat cum curru quomodo vadat,
Et sibi prouideat, ne rota versa cadat.
Celorum Regi pateant que scripta peregi,
Namque sue legi res nequit vlla tegi.
FOOTNOTES:
[809] ‘O deus immense’ &c. _Text of_ S, _collated with_ CH
[810] _Title_ Carmen quod Iohannes Gower tempore regis Ricardi, dum
vixit, vltimo composuit CHG
[811] 28 comune S
LAST POEMS
=Hic in fine notandum est qualiter ab illa Cronica que Vox clamantis
dicitur vsque in finem istius Cronice que tripertita est, Ego inter
alios scribentes super hiis que medio tempore in Anglia contingebant,
secundum varias rerum accidencias varia carmina, prout patet, que
ad legendum necessaria sunt, notabiliter conscripsi. Sed nunc, quia
vlterius scribere non sufficio, excusacionis mee causam scriptis
subsequentibus plenius declarabo.=
Quicquid homo scribat, finem natura ministrat,
Que velut vmbra fugit, nec fugiendo redit;
Illa michi finem posuit, quo scribere quicquam
Vlterius nequio, sum quia cecus ego.
Posse meum transit, quamuis michi velle remansit;
Amplius vt scribat hoc michi posse negat.
Carmina, dum potui, studiosus plurima scripsi;
Pars tenet hec mundum, pars tenet illa deum:
Vana tamen mundi mundo scribenda reliqui,
Scriboque mentali carmine verba dei. 10
Quamuis ad exterius scribendi deficit actus,
Mens tamen interius scribit et ornat opus:
Sic quia de manibus nichil amodo scribo valoris,
Scribam de precibus que nequit illa manus.
Hoc ego, vir cecus, presentibus oro diebus,
Prospera quod statuas regna futura, deus,
Daque michi sanctum lumen habere tuum. Amen.
* * * * *
S _as above_: _in_ CHG _as follows_:
=Nota hic in fine qualiter a principio illius Cronice que Vox
clamantis dicitur, vna cum sequenti Cronica que tripertita est, tam de
tempore Regis Ricardi secundi vsque in ipsius deposicionem, quam de
coronacione Illustrissimi domini Regis Henrici quarti vsque in annum
Regni sui secundum, Ego licet indignus inter alios scribentes scriptor
a diu solicitus, precipue super hiis que medio tempore in Anglia
contingebant, secundum varias rerum accidencias varia carmina, que ad
legendum necessaria sunt, sub compendio breuiter conscripsi. Et nunc,
quia tam grauitate senectutis quam aliarum infirmitatum multipliciter
depressus vlterius de cronicis scribere discrete non sufficio,
excusacionem meam necessariam, prout patet, consequenter declarare
intendo.=
Henrici Regis annus fuit ille secundus,
Scribere dum cesso, sum quia cecus ego,
Vltra posse nichil, quamuis michi velle ministrat,
Amplius vt scribam non meus actus habet.
Scribere dum potui, studiosus plurima scripsi;
Pars tenet hec mundum, pars tenet illa deum:
Vana tamen mundi mundo scribenda reliqui,
Scriboque finali carmine vado mori.
Scribat qui veniet post me discrecior alter,
Ammodo namque manus et mea penna silent. 10*
Sic quia nil manibus potero conferre valoris,
Est michi de precibus ferre laboris onus.
Deprecor ergo meis lacrimis, viuens ego cecus,
Prospera quod statuas regna futura, deus,
Daque michi sanctum lumen habere tuum. Amen.
* * * * *
_In the Trentham_ MS. _as follows_ (_without heading_),
Henrici quarti primus Regni fuit annus,
Quo michi defecit visus ad acta mea.
Omnia tempus habent, finem natura ministrat,
Quem virtute sua frangere nemo potest.
Vltra posse nichil, quamuis michi velle remansit,
Amplius vt scribam non michi posse manet.
Dum potui scripsi, set nunc quia curua senectus
Turbauit sensus, scripta relinquo scolis.
Scribat qui veniet post me discrecior alter,
Ammodo namque manus et mea penna silent. 10**
Hoc tamen in fine verborum queso meorum,
Prospera quod statuat Regna futura deus. Amen.
=Orate pro anima Iohannis Gower. Quicumque enim pro anima ipsius
Iohannis deuote orauerit, tociens quociens Mille quingentos dies
indulgencie ab ecclesia rite concessos misericorditer in domino
possidebit.=
* * * * *
CH _as above_: G _as follows_:
=Orantibus pro anima Iohannis Gower mille quingenti dies indulgencie
misericorditer in domino conceduntur.=
(_Shield of arms borne by two angels._)
Armigeri scutum nichil ammodo fert sibi tutum,
Reddidit immo lutum morti generale tributum.
Spiritus exutum se gaudeat esse solutum,
Est vbi virtutum regnum sine labe statutum.
(_A bier, with candle at head and foot._)
[812]Vnanimes esse qui secula duxit ad esse
Nos iubet expresse, quia debet amor superesse;
Lex cum iure datur, pax gaudet, plebs gratulatur,
Regnum firmatur, vbi verus amor dominatur:
Sicut yemps florem, diuisio quassat amorem,[813]
Nutrit et errorem quasi pestis agitque dolorem.
Quod precessit heri docet ista pericla timeri,
Vt discant veri sapientes secla mederi.
Filius ipse dei, manet in quo spes requiei,[814]
Ex meritis fidei dirigat acta rei. 10
=Diligamus invicem.=
[815]Presul, ouile regis, vbi morbus adest macularum,
[Sidenote: Nota de primordiis Stelle Comate in Anglia.]
Lumina dumque tegis, tenebrescit pestis earum.
Mune pericla gregis, patuit quia stella minarum,
Vnde viam Regis turbat genus insidiarum.
Velle loco legis mundum nunc ducit auarum,
Sic vbicumque legis, nichil est nisi cordis amarum,
Quod maneat clarum, stat modo dulce parum.
Cultor in ecclesia qui deficiente sophia
Semina vana serit, Messor inanis erit.
Hii set cultores, sunt quorum semina mores
Ad messem Cristi, plura lucrantur ibi.[816]
Qui cupit ergo bonus celorum lucra colonus,
Vnde lucrum querat, semina sancta serat.
Qui pastor Cristi iusto cupit ordine sisti,
Non sit cum Cristo Symon mediator in isto:
Querat pasturam Pastor sine crimine puram,
Nam nimis est vile, pascat si Symon ouile. 10
Per loca deserta, quo nulla patet via certa,
Symon oues ducit, quas Cristo raro reducit.
Dicunt scripture memorare nouissima vite;
[Sidenote: Nota contra mortuorum executores.[817]]
Pauper ab hoc mundo transiet omnis homo.
Dat fortuna status varios, natura set omnes
Fine suo claudit, cunctaque morte rapit.
Post mortem pauci, qui nunc reputantur amici,
Sunt memores anime, sis memor ergo tue:
Da, dum tempus habes, tibi propria sit manus heres;[818]
Auferet hoc nemo, quod dabis ipse deo.
FOOTNOTES:
[812] ‘Vnanimes esse’ &c. _This and the three remaining pieces are
found in_ CHG, _and, except the second, also in_ E
[813] 5 _margin_ No_ta_ pro amore E
[814] 9 ipse] ille E Diligamus invicem _om._ E
[815] ‘Presul’ &c. 1 Regis MSS.
[816] ‘Cultor in ecclesia’ &c. 4 ff. _margin_ No_ta_ q_ui_d pastores
eccl_es_ie debe_n_t esse et q_uo_modo debe_n_t intrare &c. E
[817] ‘Dicunt scripture’ &c. 2 ff. _margin_ Nota--executores] No_ta_
q_uo_d bonu_m_ est vnicuiq_ue_ esse executor sui ipsius E
[818] 7 Dum tua tempus habes EH
NOTES
EPISTOLA.
This Epistle, written apparently on the occasion of sending a copy
of the book to the archbishop, is found only in the All Souls MS.,
and it is reasonable to suppose that this was the copy in question.
The statement of Mr. Coxe in the Roxburghe edition, that ‘the preface
to archbishop Arundel ... is also in the original hand’ of the book
(Introduction, p. lix) is a surprising one, and must have been due to
some deception of memory. The hand here is quite a different one from
that of the text which follows, and has a distinctly later character.
The piece is full of erasures, which are indicated in this edition by
spaced type, but the corrections are in the same hand as the rest.
Having no other copy of it, we cannot tell what the original form of
the erased passages may have been, but it is noticeable that the most
important of them (ll. 26-34) has reference almost entirely to the
blindness of the author, and nearly every one contains something which
may be regarded as alluding to this, either some mention of light and
darkness, or some allusion to the fact that his only perceptions now
are those of the mind. We may perhaps conclude that the Epistle was
inscribed here before the author quite lost his eyesight, and that the
book then remained by him for some time before it was presented. The
illuminated capital S with which this composition begins is combined
with a miniature painting of the archbishop.
2. _tibi scribo_, ‘I dedicate to thee.’
3. _Quod ... scriptum_: written over erasure; perhaps originally ‘Quem
... librum,’ altered to avoid the repetition of ‘librum’ from the
preceding line.
4. _contempletur_: apparently in a passive impersonal sense.
17. _Cecus ego mere._ The word ‘mere’ alone is over erasure here, but
if we suppose that the original word was ‘fere,’ we may regard this
as referring originally to a gradual failure of the eyesight, not to
complete blindness.
19. _Corpore defectus_, ‘the failure in my body,’ as subject of ‘sinit.’
23. _dumque_: equivalent to ‘dum’ in our author’s language; cp. i. 165,
2007, &c.
33. _morosa_: this word has a good meaning in Gower’s language; cp. ‘O
deus immense,’ l. 2, where ‘morosi’ is opposed to ‘viciosi.’
VOX CLAMANTIS
CAPITULA.
LIB. I. Cap. iii. _quandam vulgi turmam._ It may be noted that these
headings do not always exactly correspond with those placed at the
head of the chapters afterwards. For example here the actual heading
of the chapter has ‘secundam vulgi turmam,’ and for the succeeding
chapters ‘terciam,’ ‘quartam,’ ‘quintam,’ &c. Usually the differences
are very trifling, as ‘illius terre’ for ‘terre illius’ above, but
sometimes they proceed from the fact that alterations have been made
in the chapter headings, which the corrector has neglected to make in
this Table of Chapters. This is the case for example as regards Lib.
VI. Capp. xviii. and xix. Slight variations of the kind first mentioned
will be found in Lib. III. Capp. i, v, viii, xii, xvi, xix, xx.
LIB. III. Cap. iiii. The form which we have here in D corresponds to
the heading of the chapter given by LTH₂ (but not by D itself) in
the text later. G has the text here after ‘loquitur’ written over an
erasure.
LIB. VII. Cap. xix. Here S has lost two leaves (the sixth and seventh
of the first full quire) to Lib. I. Cap. i. l. 18. The verso of the
former of these leaves had no doubt the four lines ‘Ad mundum mitto’
&c. with picture, as in the Cotton MS.
LIB. I. PROLOGUS.
3 f. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, iv. 2921 f.,
‘Al be it so, that som men sein
That swevenes ben of no credence.’
‘propositum credulitatis’ seems to mean ‘true ground of belief.’
12. _interius mentis_: cp. i. 1361.
15. That is, ‘hinc puto quod sompnia que vidi,’ &c.
21 ff. We are here told to add to ‘John’ the first letters of
‘Godfrey,’ the beginning of ‘Wales,’ and the word ‘Ter’ without its
head: that is, ‘John Gower.’
23. _que tali._ The use of ‘que’ in this manner, standing independently
at the beginning of the clause, is very common in Gower.
33 f. Taken from Ovid, _Tristia_, v. 1. 5 f.
36. Cp. _Tristia_, i. 1. 14, ‘De lacrimis factas sentiet esse meis,’
which, so far as it goes, is in favour of the reading ‘senciat’ here.
37 f. This couplet was originally _Tristia_, iv. 1. 95 f.,
‘Saepe etiam lacrimae me sunt scribente profusae,
Humidaque est fletu litera facta meo.’
The first line however was altered so as to lose its grammatical
construction, and the couplet was subsequently emended.
43 f. Cp. Ovid, _Tristia_, i. 5. 53 f.
47 f. Cp. _Pont._ iv. 2. 19, where the comparison to a spring choked
with mud is more clearly brought out.
49. The original reading here was ‘confracto,’ but it has been altered
to ‘contracto’ in C and G, while E gives ‘contracto’ from the first
hand. The general meaning seems to be that as the long pilgrimage to
Rome is to one with crippled knee, so is this work to the author, with
his limited powers of intellect.
56. The reading ‘conturbant’ in all the best MSS. seems to be a mistake.
57 f. The author is about to denounce the evils of the world and
proclaim the woes which are to follow, like the writer of the
Apocalypse, whose name he bears. Perhaps he may also have some thought
of the formula ‘seint John to borwe’ by which travellers committed
themselves to the protection of the saint on their setting forth: cp.
_Conf. Amantis_, v. 3416.
LIB. I.
1. The fourth year of Richard II is from June 22, 1380 to the same date
of 1381. The writer here speaks of the last month of that regnal year,
during which the Peasants’ rising occurred.
4. Cp. Ovid, _Her._ xvii. 112, ‘Praevius Aurorae Lucifer ortus erat.’
7 f. Godfrey of Viterbo, _Pantheon_, p. 24 (ed. 1584), has
‘Luce diem reparat, mirandaque lumina praestat,
Sic fuga dat noctem, luxque reversa diem.’
He is speaking of the Sun generally, and the second line means ‘Thus
his departure produces the night and his returning light the day.’ As
introduced here this line is meaningless.
9. Adapted from Ovid, _Metam._ ii. 110.
11. Cp. _Metam._ vii. 703, but here ‘mane’ is made into the object of
the verb instead of an adverb.
13. Cp. _Metam._ ii. 113.
15. Cp. _Metam._ ii. 24.
17 f. From Godfrey of Viterbo, _Pantheon_, p. 24 (ed. 1584).
21 ff. Cp. _Metam._ ii. 107 ff.,
‘Aureus axis erat, temo aureus, aurea summae
Curvatura rotae, radiorum argenteus ordo.
Per iuga chrysolithi positaeque ex ordine gemmae
Clara repercusso reddebant lumina Phoebo.’
‘alter ab auro’ seems to mean ‘different from gold.’
27. Cp. _Metam._ ii. 23.
33-60. This passage is largely from Ovid: see especially _Fasti_, i.
151 ff. and iii. 235-242, iv. 429 f., v. 213 f., _Metam._ ii. 30,
_Tristia_, iii. 12. 5-8.
40. In Ovid (_Fasti_, iii. 240) it is ‘Fertilis occultas invenit herba
vias.’ The metrical fault produced by reading ‘occultam ... viam’
seems to have been corrected by the author, and in G the alteration has
been made by erasure, apparently in the first hand.
44. _redditus_: apparently a substantive and practically equivalent to
‘reditus.’
59. Ovid, _Fasti_, v. 213 f., where however we have ‘Saepeque
digestos.’ It is difficult to say exactly what our author meant by ‘O
quia.’
67. Cp. _Metam._ xiii. 395.
79 f. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 47, ll. 9 f. (ed. Wright, Rolls Series,
59, vol. i.).
81. _irriguis._ Perhaps rather ‘Fontibus irriguus, fecundus,’ as given
by most of the MSS.
131. _ad ymum_, ‘to that low place,’ i.e. his bed.
135. _Non ita ... Quin magis_: cp. ll. 264 ff., 351 ff., 442 ff., 499
ff, &c. This form of sentence is a very common one with our author and
appears also in his French and English: cp. _Mirour_, 18589, _Balades_,
vii. 4, xviii. 2, xxx. 2, _Conf. Amantis_, i. 718, 1259, 1319, &c.
For example, _Bal._ xviii. 2,
‘Tiel esperver crieis unqes ne fu,
Qe jeo ne crie plus en ma maniere.’
_Conf. Amantis_, i. 718 ff.,
‘So lowe cowthe I nevere bowe
To feigne humilite withoute,
That me ne leste betre loute
With alle the thoghtes of myn herte.’
It is most frequent in Latin, however, and the French and English forms
seem to be translations of this idiom with ‘quin.’
152. ‘Dreams cast the soul into wanderings’: ‘ruunt’ is transitive, as
very commonly, and apparently we must take ‘vaga nonnulla’ together.
155. _grauis et palpebra_, &c., ‘and my heavy eyelid unclosed pondered
over troubles, but no help came.’ This is the best translation I can
give, but the explanation of ‘ex oculis’ as ‘away from the eyes’ must
be regarded as doubtful.
168. That is, on a Tuesday. It would be apparently Tuesday, June 11,
1381. The festival of Corpus Christi referred to afterwards (see l.
919), when the insurgents entered London, fell on June 13.
201. _Burnellus_: a reference to the _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 13 (Rolls
Series, 59, vol. i).
205 ff. Cp. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 13, whence several of these lines
are taken.
211 f. ‘They care not for the tail which He who gave them their ears
implanted in them, but think it a vile thing.’ The former line of the
couplet is from _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 15, l. 17.
213 f. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 15, ll. 23 f.
255. _caudas similesque draconum_, ‘and tails like those of dragons.’
267. _Minos taurus_, ‘the bull of Minos,’ sent from the sea in answer
to his prayer.
271. There is some confusion here in the author’s mind between
different stories, and it is difficult to say exactly what he was
thinking of.
277 f. Cp. Ovid, _Metam._ xi. 34 ff.
280. _crapulus._ I do not know what this is, unless it is equivalent to
‘capulus,’ which is rather doubtfully given by D. That would mean the
‘handle’ of the plough, but we have ‘ansa’ in l. 282.
289 f. Cp. _Pont._ i. 3. 55 f.
291. _Metam._ viii. 293.
325 ff. For this passage compare _Metam._ viii. 284 ff.
335. _Metam._ viii. 285. The Digby MS. has a rubricator’s note here in
the margin, ‘sete. a bristell.’
341. _quod_: consecutive, ‘so that’; cp. ‘sic ... quod,’ ll. 223, 311,
&c. In the next line ‘pascua’ seems to be singular.
351 ff. See note on l. 135.
381. _Fasti_, ii. 767.
395. _Cutte que Curre_, ‘Cut and Cur,’ names for mongrel dogs.
396. As a note on ‘casas’ the Digby MS. has ‘i.e. kenell’ in the margin.
402. ‘Neither does he of the mill remain at home.’
405. The rubricator of the Digby MS. has written in the margin, ‘i.e.
threefoted dog commyng after halting.’
407. Digby MS. rubric, ‘i.e. Rig þe Teydog.’ Note the position of
‘que,’ which should properly be attached to the first word of the line:
cp. l. 847.
455. As a note on ‘thalia’ here (for ‘talia’) the Digby MS. has
‘Thelea i.e. dea belli’ written by the rubricator. It is difficult to
conjecture what he was thinking of.
457. The Digby MS. rubricator, as a note on ‘Cephali canis’ has in the
margin, ‘i.e. stella in firmamento.’
465. ‘super est’ is the reading of the Glasgow MS. also.
474. _artes._ This seems to be the reading of all the MSS., though in S
the word might possibly be ‘arces.’ I take it to mean ‘devices,’ in the
way of traps, or ingenious hiding-places.
479. ‘The grey foxes determine to leave the caverns of the wood’:
‘vulpes’ (or rather ‘vulpis’) is masculine in Gower.
483. ‘Henceforth neither the sheep nor the poor sheepfold are anything
to them.’ For this use of ‘quid’ with a negative cp. l. 184.
492. _solet._ The present of this verb seems often to be used by our
author as equivalent to the imperfect: cp. l. 541, iii. 705, 740, &c.
Also ‘solebat,’ i. 699, iii. 1485; cp. v. 333, where ‘solebant’ seems
to stand for ‘solent.’ In other cases also the present is sometimes
used for the imperfect, e.g. l. 585 ‘quas nuper abhorret Egiptus.’
499 ff. See 1 Sam. v. The plague of mice is distinctly mentioned in the
Vulgate version, while in our translation from the Hebrew it is implied
in ch. vi. 5. ‘Accharon’ is Ekron.
541. _solent_: see note on l. 492.
545. _Coppa_: used as a familiar name for a hen in the _Speculum
Stultorum_, pp. 55, 58, and evidently connected with ‘Coppen’ or
‘Coppe,’ which is the name of one of Chantecleer’s daughters in the
Low-German and English _Reynard_.
557 f. ‘They determine that days are lawful for those things for which
the dark form of night had often given furtive ways.’
568. _quod_: equivalent to ‘vt’; cp. ll. 600, 1610.
576. G reads ‘perstimulant’ with CED.
579 f. See Ovid, _Metam._ vi. 366 ff. Apparently ‘colonum’ is for
‘colonorum.’
603. _Toruus oester_: cp. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 25.
615 f. Cp. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 24, l. 21 f.
635. Cp. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 25, l. 15.
637 f. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 26,
‘Haec est illa dies qua nil nisi cauda iuvabit,
Vel loca quae musca tangere nulla potest.’
652. _stramine_: probably an allusion to the name of Jack Strawe, as
‘tegula’ in the next couplet to Wat Tyler.
Cap. ix. _Heading_, l. 3. It seems to be implied that the jay,
which must often have been kept as a cage-bird and taught to talk,
was commonly called ‘Wat,’ as the daw was called ‘Jack,’ and this
name together with the bird’s faculty of speech has suggested the
transformation adopted for Wat Tyler.
716. There is no punctuation in S, but those MSS. which have stops,
as CD, punctuate after ‘nephas’ and ‘soluit.’ The line is suggested
by Ovid, _Fasti_, ii. 44, ‘Solve nefas, dixit; solvit et ille nefas.’
There it is quite intelligible, but here it is without any clear
meaning.
It may be observed here that the passage of Ovid in which this line
occurs, _Fasti_, ii. 35-46, is evidently one of the sources of
_Confessio Amantis_, v. 2547 ff.
749. _Sicut arena maris_: cp. Rev. xx. 8, to which reference is made
below, ll. 765 ff.
762. ‘All that they lay upon us, they equally bear themselves.’
Apparently this is the meaning, referring to the universal ruin which
is likely to ensue.
765-776. These twelve lines are taken with some alterations of wording
and order from Godfrey of Viterbo, _Pantheon_, p. 228 (ed. 1584). In l.
765 the reference to the Apocalypse is to Rev. xx.
774. _forum_: apparently ‘law.’
783 ff: This well-known chapter was very incorrectly printed in the
Roxburghe edition, owing to the fact that a leaf has here been cut
out of S, and the editor followed D. Fuller, whose translation of the
opening lines has often been quoted, had a better text before him,
probably that of the Cotton MS.
810. It is difficult to see how this line is to be translated, unless
we suppose that ‘fossa’ is a grammatical oversight.
821. Cp. Ovid, _Metam._ i. 211, ‘Contigerat nostras infamia temporis
aures.’
849 f. Adapted from _Amores_, iii. 9. 7 f., but not very happily.
855 ff. With this passage we may compare the description in Walsingham,
vol. i. p. 454, ‘quorum quidam tantum baculos, quidam rubigine obductos
gladios, quidam bipennes solummodo, nonnulli arcus prae vetustate
factos a fumo rubicundiores ebore antiquo, cum singulis sagittis,
quorum plures contentae erant una pluma, ad regnum conquaerendum
convenere.’
868. The reading ‘de leuitate’ is given also by G.
869. _limpidiores._ The epithet is evidently derived from 1 Sam. xvii.
40, where the Vulgate has ‘et elegit sibi quinque limpidissimos lapides
de torrente.’
876. ‘These fools boast that the earth has been wetted,’ &c.
871 ff. Cp. _Metam._ xi. 29 f.
879 f. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 37*. One of the charges against Sir
Nicholas Brembre in 1388 was that he had designed to change the name of
London to ‘New Troy.’
891. _siluis que palustribus_, ‘from the woods and marshes.’
904. Cp. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ iii. 577 f.
909. Cp. _Metam._ viii. 421.
919. Corpus Christi day, that is Thursday, June 13.
929 f. _via salua_: apparently meaning ‘Savoye,’ the palace of the duke
of Lancaster in the Strand. In the next line ‘longum castrum’ looks
like ‘Lancaster,’ but it is difficult to say exactly what the meaning
is.
931. _Baptisteque domus._ This is the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem
at Clerkenwell, which was burnt by the insurgents because of their
hostility to Robert Hales, the Master of the Hospital, then Treasurer
of the kingdom. Walsingham says that the fire continued here for seven
days.
933-936. Ovid, _Fasti_, vi. 439 ff., where the reference is to the
burning of the temple of Vesta. Hence the mention of sacred fires,
which is not appropriate here.
937. _Metam._ ii. 61.
939 f. _Metam._ i. 288 f.
941 ff. This accusation, which Gower brings apparently without thinking
it necessary to examine into its truth (‘Est nichil vt queram,’ &c.),
is in direct contradiction to the statements of the chroniclers, e.g.
Walsingham, i. 456 f., Knighton, ii. 135; but it is certain that
dishonest persons must have taken advantage of the disorder to some
extent for their own private ends, however strict the commands of the
leaders may have been, and it is probable that the control which was
exercised at first did not long continue. The chroniclers agree with
Gower as to the drunkenness.
943 f. Ovid, _Trist._ v. 6. 39 f.
951. Ovid, _Fasti_, vi. 673.
953. _Metam._ xv. 665.
955 f. That is, the deeds of Friday (dies Veneris) were more atrocious
than those of Thursday.
961 f. The construction of accusative with infinitive is here used
after ‘Ecce,’ as if it were a verb, and ‘Calcas’ is evidently meant for
an accusative case. It is probable that the names here given, Calchas,
Antenor, Thersites, Diomede, Ulysses, as well as those which follow
in ll. 985 ff., are meant to stand for general types, rather than for
particular persons connected with the government. In any case we could
hardly identify them.
997. _Vix Hecube thalami_, &c. This looks like an allusion to the
princess of Wales, the king’s mother, whose apartments in the Tower
were in fact invaded by the mob. Similarly in the lines that follow
‘Helenus’ stands for the archbishop of Canterbury.
1019 ff. The text of these five lines, as we find it in DTH₂, that is
in its earlier form, was taken for the most part from the _Aurora_ of
Petrus (de) Riga, (MS. Bodley 822) f. 88 v^o,
‘Non rannus pungens, set oliua uirens, set odora
Ficus, set blanda uitis abhorret eos.
Anticristus enim regit hos, nam spiritus almus,
Nam lex, nam Cristus, non dominatur eis.’
He is speaking of the parable of Jotham in the Book of Judges.
1046. _Fasti_, ii. 228.
1073. _medioque_: written apparently for ‘mediaque.’
1076. _posse caret_, ‘is without effect.’
1081. Cp. _Tristia_, iv. 2. 5 f.
1094. Cp. _Fasti_, i. 122.
1141. _Metam._ vi. 559.
1143. Cp. _Metam._ vii. 603.
1161. _Metam._ vii. 602. Considering that the line is borrowed from
Ovid, we cannot attach much importance to it as indicating what was
done with the body of the archbishop.
1173. _ostia iuris_: cp. Walsingham, i. 457, ‘locum qui vocatur “Temple
Barre,” in quo apprenticii iuris morabantur nobiliores, diruerunt.’
1188. Cp. Ovid, _Her._ iii. 4.
1189. _Metam._ v. 41.
1193 f. Cp. _Ars Amat._ ii. 373 f., where, however, we have ‘cum
rotat,’ not ‘conrotat.’
1206. _Quam periturus erat_, ‘rather than that he should perish,’
apparently.
1209. Cp. _Metam._ v. 40.
1211. _Metam._ xiv. 408.
1215 f. A reference probably to the massacre of the Flemings.
1219 f. _Fasti_, iii. 509 f.
1221 f. Ovid, _Amores_, iii. 9. 11 f.
1224. Cp. _Her._ v. 68.
1253. Cp. _Metam._ vii. 599, ‘Exiguo tinxit subiectos sanguine cultros.’
1271. Perhaps ‘cessit’ is right, as in l. 1265, but the reading of C is
the result of a correction, and the corrections of this manuscript are
usually sound.
1279 f. If there is any construction here, it must be ‘Erumpunt
lacrimae luminibus, que lumina,’ &c. For this kind of ellipse cp. l.
1501.
1283. Cp. _Her._ viii. 77.
1289. _Metam._ ix. 775.
Cap. xvi. _Heading_, l. 1. _quasi in propria persona_: cf. _Conf.
Amantis_, i. 60, _margin_, ‘Hic quasi in persona aliorum quos amor
alligat, fingens se auctor esse Amantem,’ &c. The author takes care
to guard his readers against a too personal application of his
descriptions.
1359. Cp. Ovid, _Metam._ xiv. 198. In the lines that follow our author
has rather ingeniously appropriated several other expressions from the
same story of Ulysses and Polyphemus.
1363 f. _Ars Amat._ iii. 723 f.
1365. _Metam._ xiv. 206.
1369. _Metam._ xiv. 200.
1379 f. Cp. _Tristia_, v. 4. 33 f.
1385 f. _Her._ xx. 91 f.
1387. Cp. _Metam._ xiv. 120.
1395. Cp. _Metam._ iv. 723.
1397 f. Cp. _Tristia_, i. 3. 53 f.
1401 f. Cp. _Fasti_, v. 315 f.
1403. Cp. _Metam._ xv. 27.
1413 f. _Pont._ i. 3. 57 f.
1420. Cp. _Her._ iii. 24, used here with a change of meaning.
1424. Cp. _Ars Amat._ ii. 88, ‘Nox oculis pavido venit oborta metu.’
1425 f. _Pont._ i. 2. 45 f.
1429 f. Cp. _Pont._ i. 2. 49 f.
1433. _Metam._ iii. 709.
1442. Cp. _Her._ v. 14, where we have ‘Mixtaque’ instead of ‘Copula.’
1445 ff. Cp. _Metam._ xiv. 214-216.
1453. Adapted from _Metam._ iv. 263, ‘Rore mero lacrimisque suis
ieiunia pavit.’ The change of ‘mero’ to ‘meo’ involves a tasteless
alteration of the sense, while the sound is preserved.
1459. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 581.
1465. _Metam._ ii. 656. Our author has borrowed the line without
supplying an appropriate context, and the result is nonsense. Ovid has
‘Suspirat ab imis
Pectoribus, lacrimaeque genis labuntur obortae.’
1467 f. _Pont._ i. 2. 29 f.
1469. Cp. _Metam._ xiii. 539.
1473. Ovid, _Metam._ viii. 469.
1475. _Metam._ iv. 135, borrowed without much regard to the context.
1485. From Ovid, _Her._ xiv. 37, where however we have ‘calor,’ not
‘color,’ a material difference.
1496. _Her._ v. 46.
1497. The expression ‘verbis solabar amicis’ is from Ovid (_Fasti_, v.
237), but here ‘solabar’ seems to be made passive in sense.
1501 f. i.e. ‘cessat amor eius qui prius,’ &c., with a rather harsh
ellipse of the antecedent. The couplet is a parody of Ovid, _Pont._ iv.
6. 23 f.,
‘Nam cum praestiteris verum mihi semper amorem,
Hic tamen adverso tempore crevit amor.’
1503 f. Cp. _Tristia_, iii. i. 65 f.,
‘Quaerebam fratres, exceptis scilicet illis,
Quos suus optaret non genuisse pater.’
1506. _Fasti_, i. 148, not very appropriate here.
1512. _Her._ xi. 82.
1514. Cp. _Her._ xiii. 86, ‘Substitit auspicii lingua timore mali.’
1517 f. Cp. _Her._ iii. 43 f.
1519. Cp. _Pont._ iii. 4. 75.
1521. Cp. _Tristia_, i. 11. 23.
1534. Cp. _Tristia_, v. 4. 4, ‘Heu quanto melior sors tua sorte mea
est.’
1535 ff. Cp. _Tristia_, iii. 3. 39 ff.
1539 f. _Tristia_, iii. 3. 29 f.
1541. _scis quia_: ‘quia’ for ‘quod,’ cp. l. 1593; ‘puto quod,’ i.
Prol. 15, &c.
1549. Cp. _Fasti_, i. 483.
1564. _Her._ xiv. 52.
1565 f. Cp. _Her._ x. 113 f. The lines are not very appropriate here.
1568. See note on l. 1420.
1569. Cp. _Metam._ iii. 396.
1571. Cp. _Metam._ xiv. 210.
1573. Cp. _Metam._ vii. 614.
1575. Cp. _Metam._ ix. 583.
1581. _Obice singultu_, that is, ‘Impediente singultu’: cp. _Cronica
Tripertita_, ii. 3.
1585. _Metam._ xiv. 217.
1589. _Tristia_, i. 5. 45.
1593. _vidi quia_: cp. l. 1541.
1609. _quid agant alii_, ‘whatever others may do.’
1612. Cp. _Her._ xix. 52.
1615 f. It seems probable that this is a prayer to the Virgin Mary,
whose name ‘Star of the Sea’ was used long before the fourteenth
century, e.g.
‘Praevia stella maris de mundo redde procella
Tutos: succurre, praevia stella maris,’
in an address to the Virgin by Eberhard (date 1212) in Leyser, _Poet.
Med. Aevi_, p. 834, and the name occurs also in Peter Damian’s hymns
(xi. cent.). For Gower’s use of the expression cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_,
29925, ‘O de la mer estoille pure,’ and later in this book, l. 2033,
‘Stella, Maria, maris.’ Here, however, we might translate, ‘Be thou a
star of the sea going before me,’ taking it as a prayer to Christ.
1623. _Metam._ i. 265.
1627. _Extra se positus_, ‘beside himself.’
1630. _Fasti_, iv. 386.
1631. Cp. _Metam._ i. 282.
1635. Cp. _Metam._ i. 269.
1637. Cp. _Metam._ i. 270.
1653 ff. From this point to the end of the chapter the description is
mostly taken from Ovid, _Metam._ xi. 480-523, many hexameters being
appropriated without material change, e.g. ll. 480, 482, 484, 486, 488,
491, 492, 495, 499, 501, 516, 517, 519 f.
1689. The line is taken away from its context, and consequently gives
no sense. In Ovid it is,
‘Ipse pavet, nec se qui sit status ipse fatetur
Scire ratis rector.’--_Metam._ xi. 492.
1693. _Metam._ i. 292.
1695. From Peter Riga, _Aurora_, (MS. Bodley 822) f. 16 v^o.
1697-1700. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 15 v^o,
‘Fontes ingresso Noe corrumpuntur abyssi,
Et de uisceribus terra fluenta uomit.
Effundunt nubes pluuias, deciesque quaternis
Sustinet inmensas archa diebus aquas.’
1717 f. Cp. Ovid, _Metam._ iv. 689 f.
1719. Cp. _Metam._ iv. 706 f. Ovid has ‘praefixo,’ which is more
satisfactory.
1721. Cp. _Metam._ iv. 690.
1727 f. _Tristia_, i. 11. 21 f.
1729. _Fasti_, iii. 593.
1735. _Metam._ xi. 539.
1739. Cp. _Metam._ xi. 515, ‘Rima patet, praebetque viam letalibus
undis.’
1774. Cp. _Fasti_, ii. 98.
1775 f. Cp. _Amores_, ii. 11. 9 f.
1779 f. _Tristia_, v. 12. 5 f.
1781. _Metam._ xiv. 213.
1825. Cp. _Tristia_, ii. 179.
1832. _Tristia_, i. 5. 36.
1847 f. Cp. Ovid, _Pont._ iii. 7. 27 f. In the second line Ovid has
‘tumidis,’ for which there is no authority in Gower. Our author perhaps
read ‘timidis’ in his copy of Ovid, or made the change himself, taking
‘timidis’ to mean ‘fearful.’
1879. ‘Perhaps that day would have been the last of confusion, even
if,’ &c. This, by the context, would seem to be the meaning.
1898. Ovid, _Fasti_, iv. 542.
1899 f. Cp. _Pont._ i. 3. 9 f.
1907 f. From Godfrey of Viterbo, _Pantheon_, p. 82 (ed. 1584).
1909. ‘But he who walked upon the sea,’ &c., that is, Christ.
1913. Cp. _Metam._ i. 328, ‘Nubila disiecit, nimbisque Aquilone
remotis.’
1917. _Metam._ i. 329.
1919. Cp. _Metam._ i. 345.
1921. Cp. _Metam._ v. 286, where we have ‘nubila,’ as the sense
requires. Here the MSS. give ‘numina’ without variation.
1923. Cp. _Metam._ ix. 795.
1925. _Metam._ i. 344.
1935. _Metam._ xiii. 440.
1939. _Metam._ xiii. 419.
1944. _Quam prius_: for ‘prius quam,’ as often.
1963 f. This alludes to the supposed reply made to Brutus (son of
Silvius), when he consulted the oracle of Diana in the island of
Leogecia, ‘Brute, sub occasum solis,’ &c., as told by Geoffrey of
Monmouth.
1979 f. Ovid, _Pont._ iii. 8. 15 f.
1991 ff. Cp. _Tristia_, i. 11. 25 ff.
1997 f. _Tristia_, iii. 2. 25 f.
2001 f. Cp. _Her._ xi. 27 f.
2003 f. _Her._ xiv. 39 f.
2029 f. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 119 f.
2031 f. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 531 f.
2033 f. Cp. _Her._ ii. 123 f.
2037 f. _Pont._ iv. 3. 49 f.
2043. Cp. _Pont._ i. 4. 21. In Ovid we read ‘animus quoque pascitur
illis,’ and this probably was what Gower intended to write.
2071 f. Cp. _Pont._ ii. 7. 9 f.
2074. _Pont._ ii. 7. 8.
2091. Cp. _Hist. Apollonii Tyrii_, xli, ‘Sicut rosa in spinis nescit
compungi mucrone.’
2139. Cp. _Pont._ i. 5. 47.
2150. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 484.
LIB. II. PROLOGUS.
15. Cp. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 11, l. 41 (Rolls Series, 59, vol. i.).
41. Deut. xxxii. 13, ‘ut sugeret mel de petra oleumque de saxo
durissimo.’
49 f. Cp. _Fasti_, i. 73 f.
51. The supposed mischief-maker is compared to Sinon, who gave a signal
by fire which led to the destruction of Troy: cp. _Conf. Amantis_, i.
1172. I cannot satisfactorily explain ‘Excetra.’
57 f. From Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 175 (ed. Wright, Rolls
Series, 59, vol. ii.).
61. _De modicis ... modicum_: cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 16532.
64. Cp. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ ii. 166.
LIB. II.
With the general drift of what follows cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 529
ff.
1. _Incausti specie_, cp. _Conf. Amantis_, viii. 2212.
18. _nos_: meaning the people of England, as compared with those of
other countries.
31 f. Cp. Ovid, _Tristia_, v. 8. 19 f.
33. _Tristia_, v. 5. 47.
41. Job v. 6, ‘Nihil in terra sine causa fit’: cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_,
26857.
59. This is the usual opposition of rose and nettle, based perhaps
originally on Ovid, _Rem. Amoris_, 46: cp. _Conf. Amantis_, ii. 401 ff.
67 f. Cp. Boethius, _Consol. Phil._ 2 Pr. 4, ‘in omni adversitate
fortunae infelicissimum genus est infortunii fuisse felicem.’ So Dante,
_Inf._ v. 121 ff.,
‘Nessun maggior dolore,
Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria.’
117 ff. Cp. Ovid, _Her._ v. 109 ff. In l. 117 ‘siccis’ is substituted,
not very happily, for ‘suci.’
138. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Latin Verses after ii. 1878,
‘Quod patet esse fides in eo fraus est, que politi
Principium pacti finis habere negat.’
163 f. Cp. Ovid, _Tristia_, v. 8. 15 f.
167 ff. Cp. _Tristia_, i. 5. 27 ff.
199 f. There seems to be no grammatical construction here.
239 ff. With this passage cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 27013 ff., where
nearly the same examples are given. The classification is according to
the nature of the things affected, first the heavenly bodies, then the
elements of air, water, fire and earth, and finally living creatures.
This arrangement is more clearly brought out in the _Mirour_.
259. Cp. _Mirour_, 27031, and note.
261. ‘And from the hard rocks of the desert,’ the conjunction being out
of its proper place, as in i. 407, 847, ii. 249, &c.
267 f. Cp. _Mirour_, 27049 ff.
281 ff. See _Mirour de l’Omme_, 27073 ff.
282. _Congelat_, ‘took form.’ Probably the author had in his mind the
phrase ‘congelat aere tacto,’ Ovid, _Metam._ xv. 415.
306. ‘num’ is here for ‘nonne’; cp. l. 320.
316. _Cumque_, for ‘Cum’: cp. l. 545, iii. 958, &c.
353 f. Cp. Godfrey of Viterbo, _Pantheon_, p. 9 (ed. 1584).
‘Ante creaturam genitor deus et genitura,
Primaque natura, novit statuitque futura.’
357-359. These three lines are from the _Pantheon_, p. 9.
371-374. Taken with slight change from the _Pantheon_, p. 10.
377 f. From _Aurora_, (MS. Bodley 822) f. 7 v^o.
414. ‘That which the new star brings argues that he is God.’
423. That is, ‘Lux venit, vt obscurari possit tenebris,’ &c.
485. ‘Every one who thinks upon Jesus ought to resolve to lay aside,’
&c.
487. The MSS. give ‘benedicti,’ but it seems probable that ‘benedici’
was meant. The verb is commonly transitive in later Latin.
495 ff. Cp. Isaiah, xliv. 9-20.
531 f. Psalms, cxiii. 8.
619 ff. Cp. Ovid, _Metam._ i. 74 ff.
LIB. III. PROLOGUS.
11 ff. The author characteristically takes care to point out that
in his criticism of the Church he is expressing not his own private
opinion, but the ‘commune dictum,’ the report which went abroad among
the people, and the ‘vox populi’ has for him always a high authority.
Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 18445 ff., 19057 ff., and see below, l. 1267
ff, iv. 19 f., 709 f.
With what is said in this Book of the condition of the Church and the
clergy we may compare the author’s _Mirour de l’Omme_, 18421-20832.
25 f. Compare with this the author’s note on _Mirour de l’Omme_,
21266-78.
61. Cp. Ovid, _Pont._ iv. 14. 41.
64. Cp. _Pont._ iv. 9. 10.
67 f. Cp. _Tristia_, ii. 301 f.
82. Cp. _Pont._ ii. 2. 128.
LIB. III.
1-28. The form of these lines which stood originally in S is given by
the Trinity College, Dublin, and the Hatfield MSS. The passage has been
rewritten over erasure in CHG, and it must be left doubtful what text
they had originally. From the fact that the erasure in G begins with
the second line, it may seem more probable that the original text of
this manuscript agreed with that which we have now in S, rather than
with TH₂: for in the latter case there would have been no need to begin
the erasure before l. 4. In CH the whole passage has been recopied
(the same hand appearing here in the two MSS.) so that we can draw no
conclusion about the point where divergence actually began. EDL have
the same text by first hand. It will be noted that the lines as given
by TH₂ make no mention of the schism of the Papacy.
11 ff. With this we may compare _Mirour de l’Omme_, 18769 ff.
22. _nisi_, for ‘nil nisi’: cp. l. 32.
41. Cp. Ovid, _Amores_, iii. 8. 55.
63. _Fasti_, i. 225.
65 f. Cp. _Fasti_, i. 249 f.
85-90. Chiefly from the _Aurora_ of Petrus (de) Riga, (MS. Bodley 822)
f. 71,
‘Ollarum carnes, peponum fercula, porros,
Cepas pro manna turba gulosa petit.
Quosdam consimiles sinus ecclesie modo nutrit,
Qui pro diuinis terrea uana petunt.
. . . . . .
Carnes ollarum carnalia facta figurant
Que uelut in nostra carne libido coquit.’
It would seem that Gower read ‘Gebas’ (which has no meaning) for
‘Cepas’ and ‘preponunt,’ as in MS. Univ. Coll. 143, for ‘peponum,’
which is the true reading, meaning ‘melons’ or ‘pumpkins.’
115. Cp. _Metam._ xv. 173.
Cap. iii. _Heading_. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 288 (margin), where
this is given as a quotation from Gregory.
141 f. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 18553.
167 f. From _Aurora_, f. 37.
175. _gregis ex pietate mouetur_, ‘is moved by pity for his flock.’
193 ff. With this passage compare _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 407-413, and
_Mirour de l’Omme_, 20161 ff. In all these places a distinct charge is
brought against the clergy, to the effect that they encourage vice,
in order to profit by it themselves in money and in influence: ‘the
prostitute is more profitable to them than the nun,’ as our author
significantly says in the _Mirour_ (20149).
209 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 20113 ff.
227 ff. For this attack on the ‘positive law’ of the Church cp. _Conf.
Amantis_, Prol. 247, _Mirour_, 18469 ff. The ‘lex positiva’ is that
which is enjoined not as of inherent moral obligation, but as imposed
by Church discipline.
249 f. Cp. _Mirour_, 18997 ff. Apparently ‘nouo’ is an adverb, meaning
‘anew,’ ‘again’: cp. 284, 376.
265 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 18505 ff.
283 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 18637, _Conf. Amantis_, ii. 3486.
329 ff. With this chapter compare _Mirour_, 18649-18732.
375. The note which we find here in the margin of SCHGD refers to the
crusade of the bishop of Norwich in Flanders in the year 1383, which
probably took place soon after the completion of our author’s book. It
is added in SCHG in what appears to be one and the same hand, possibly
that of the author himself. If we may judge by the manner in which the
campaign in question is referred to by contemporary chroniclers, it
seems to have been considered a public scandal by many others besides
Gower.
419. Gower uses ‘sublimo’ as an ablat. sing, in l. 701; therefore
‘sublimis’ may here be an ablative plural agreeing with ‘meritis.’
425 ff. Cp. _Aurora_, (MS. Bodley 822) f. 103,
‘Cogitat inde domum domino fundare, sed audit
A domino, “Templi non fabricator eris.
Es uir sanguineus, ideo templum mihi dignum
Non fabricare potes, filius immo tuus.”
Sanguineus uir signat eum qui, crimina carnis
Amplectens, templum non ualet esse dei.
Ecclesie sancte talis non erigit edem,
Nec sacre fidei collocat ille domum.’
508. ‘And whosoever may sound trumpets, we ought to be silent’; cp. i.
1609.
531 f. _Aurora_, f. 75 v^o.
619 f. Ovid, _Pont._ ii. 5. 61 f.
623 f. _Pont._ ii. 6. 21 f.
641. See _Ars Amat._ ii. 417, where we find ‘semine,’ a reading which
is required by the sense, but not given in the Gower MSS.
651. ‘The line of descent by right of his mother proclaims Christ to be
heir of that land in which he was born.’ The author argues for crusades
to recover the Holy Land, if there must be wars, instead of wars
against fellow Christians, waged by one pope against the other under
the name of crusades: cp. below, 945 ff.
676. _quo foret ipse vigil_, ‘where it ought to be watchful,’ a common
use of the imperfect subjunctive in our author’s Latin: cp. ‘gestaret,’
695, ‘lederet,’ 922, ‘medicaret,’ 1052.
815. What follows is spoken as in the person of the supreme pontiff:
cp. _Mirour_, 18505-18792, where somewhat similar avowals are put into
the mouth of a member of the Roman Court.
819 f. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 261,
‘The hevene is ferr, the world is nyh.’
835. Ovid, _Fasti_, v. 209.
955 f. I take this concluding couplet as a remark made by the author on
the sentiments which he has just heard expressed by the representative
of the Pope. It practically means that ‘Clemens’ is not a proper name
for the Pope: it is in fact a ‘headless name’ and should rather be
‘Inclemens.’ Compare the address to Innocent III at the beginning of
Geoffrey de Vinsauf’s _Poetria Nova_:
‘Papa, stupor mundi, si dixero Papa _nocenti_,
Acephalum nomen tribuam tibi: si caput addam,
Hostis erit metri,’ &c.
957 ff. It seems best to take what follows as, in part at least, a
dialogue between the author and the representative of the pope, who
has just spoken. Soon however the speech passes again entirely to the
author. The Biblical reference here is to Revelation, xxii. 8 f. The
same use is made of it in the _Mirour_, 18736 ff.
1077-1080. These four lines are from the _Aurora_, f. 44 v^o.
1113 f. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ iii. 595 f. (where we have ‘sequatur’). The
original application is to the effects of rivalry in stimulating the
passion of lovers. For the use of ‘sequetur’ here, apparently as a
subjunctive, compare l. 1946, ‘Inueniet tardam ne sibi lentus opem.’
1118-1124. These lines are almost entirely borrowed from the _Aurora_,
(MS. Bodley 822) f. 21 v^o.
1124. In the Glasgow MS. ‘Est’ has been here altered to ‘Et.’
1145-1150. Almost verbatim from _Aurora_, f. 93 v^o.
1169. S has here in the margin in a somewhat later hand than that of
the text, ‘No_ta_ h_ic_ _quattu_or n_e_cc_essar_ia ep_iscop_o.’
1171 f. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 44 v^o,
‘Est olei natura triplex, lucet, cybat, unguit;
Hec tria mitratum debet habere capud.’
1183 f. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 44 v^o,
‘Lux est exemplo, cibus est dum pascit egenos,
Vnctio dum populis dulcia uerba ferit.’
Gower is right in reading ‘serit,’ which is given in MS. Univ. Coll.
143, f. 13.
1206. Cp. l. 1376.
1213. Cp. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ iii. 655.
1215 f. Cp. _Ars Amat._ iii. 653 f.
1233. Cp. _Ars Amat._ ii. 279.
1247 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 18793 ff.
1267. _Vox populi_, &c.: cp. _Speculum Stultorum_, p. 100, l. 4, and
see also the note on iii. Prol. 11.
1271. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 304 ff. and _Mirour_, 18805.
1313. With the remainder of this Book, treating of the secular clergy,
we may compare _Mirour de l’Omme_, 20209-20832.
1341. Cp. _Mirour_, 18889 ff.
1342. _participaret_, ‘he ought to share’: see note on l. 676.
1359 f. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, i. 1258 ff.
1375 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 20287 ff.
1376. The reading ‘vngat vt’ is given by the Digby MS. and seems almost
necessary: cp. l. 1206.
1405. _prece ruffi ... et albi_, ‘by reason of the petition of the
red and the white,’ that is, presumably, by the influence of gold and
silver, ‘dominis’ in the next line being in a loose kind of apposition
to a dative case suggested by ‘Annuit.’
1407. S has here in the margin, in a rather later hand, ‘contra
rectores Oxon.’
1417. Eccles. iv. 10, ‘Vae soli, quia cum ceciderit, non habet
sublevantem se.’
1432. The margin of S has here, in the same hand as at 1407, ‘Nota
rectores et studentes Oxon.’
1443. _formalis_, that is, ‘eminent,’ from ‘forma’ meaning ‘rank’ or
‘dignity,’ but here also opposed to ‘materialis.’
1454. Originally the line was ‘Dum legit, inde magis fit sibi sensus
hebes,’ but this was altered to ‘plus sibi sensus hebes est,’ with
the idea apparently of taking ‘magis’ with ‘legit.’ This involves an
awkward metrical licence, ‘hebes est’ equivalent to ‘hebest,’ and the
original text stands in CEH as well as in TH₂. The expedient of the
Roxburghe editor is quite inexcusable.
1493 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 20314. The sporting parson was quite a
recognized figure in the fourteenth century. Readers of Froissart will
remember how when the capture of Terry in Albigeois was effected by
stratagem, the blowing of the horn to summon the company in ambush was
attributed by those at the gate to a priest going out into the fields,
‘Ah that is true, it was sir Francis our priest; gladly he goeth a
mornings to seek for an hare.’
1498. _fugat_: used apparently as subjunctive also in l. 2078, but it
is possible that ‘Nec fugat’ may be the true reading here.
1509 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 20313 ff.
1527. _Est sibi missa_, ‘his mass is over.’
1546. Apparently a proverbial expression used of wasting valuable
things.
1549. If benefices went from father to son, little or nothing would be
gained by those who go to Rome to seek preferment, for an heir would
seldom fail.
1555 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 20497 ff. The priests here spoken of
are the ‘annuelers,’ who get their living by singing masses for the
dead, the ‘Annua seruicia’ spoken of below:
‘Et si n’ont autre benefice,
Chantont par auns et par quartiers
Pour la gent mort.’ _Mirour_, 20499.
1559. In the _Mirour_,
‘Plus que ne firont quatre ainçois’ (20527).
1587-1590. Taken with slight change from _Aurora_, (MS. Bodley 822) f.
65 v^o.
1591. ‘With the ancients it is possible to say “hic et hec sacerdos,”’
that is, ‘sacerdos’ is both masculine and feminine.
1693-1700. Adapted from _Aurora_, f. 65,
‘Omen in urbe malum bubo solis iubar odit,
Escam uestigat nocte, ueretur aues:
In quem forte gregis auium si lumina figant,
Et clamando uolant et laniando secant.
Incestus notat iste reos, qui corpore fedi
Contra nature iura latenter agunt:
Hos iusti quasi lucis aues discerpere querunt,
Zelo succensi uerba seuera serunt.’
(‘Conclamando’ for ‘Et clamando’ in MS. Univ. Coll. 143.)
1727 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 20713 ff.
1759 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 20725 ff.,
‘Ne sont pas un, je suis certeins,
Ly berchiers et ly chapelleins,
Ne leur pecché n’est pas egal,
L’un poise plus et l’autre meinz,’ &c.
1775. _fierent_, ‘ought to become’: cp. l. 1789.
1791-1794 are from _Aurora_, f. 93 v^o, and the succeeding couplet is
adapted from the same source, where we have,
‘De lino que fit per ephot caro munda notatur,
Nam tales seruos Cristus habere cupit.’
1797. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 46 v^o,
‘Balteus ex bysso tunicam constringit honeste.’
1799 f. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 45 v^o.
1801 f.
‘In medio tunice capitale ligat sibi presul,
Vt capitis sensus non sinat ire uagos.’ _Aurora_, f. 46.
1807 f.
‘Aurum ueste gerit presul, cum splendet in illo
Pre cunctis rutilans clara sophia patris.’ _Aurora_, f. 45.
1809 ff.
‘Ne tunice leuiter possit ruptura minari,
Illius in gyro texilis ora micat:
A grege ne presul se disrumpat, set honestus
Ad finem mores pertrahat, ista notant.’ _Aurora_, f. 46.
1813 f. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 46 v^o.
1815-1818.
‘Aaron et natis uestes texuntur, ut horum
Quisque sacerdotis possit honore frui.
Nam modo presbiteri, seu summi siue minores,
Conficiunt Cristi corpus idemque sacrant.’ _Aurora_, f. 45.
1823 f. _Aurora_, f. 43 v^o.
1841-1848. These eight lines are taken with insignificant changes from
the _Aurora_, f. 63 v^o.
1853. The reference here given by Gower to the _Aurora_ of Petrus
(de) Riga has led to the tracing of a good many passages of the _Vox
Clamantis_, besides the present one, to that source.
1863-1884. These lines are almost entirely from _Aurora_, ff. 66 v^o,
67. The arrangement of the couplets is somewhat different, and there
are a few slight variations, which are noted below as they occur.
1866. _eius_: ‘illud,’ _Aurora_, f. 67.
1868. _tumet_: ‘timet,’ _Aurora_. (MS. Bodley 822), but Gower’s reading
is doubtless the more correct.
1871. _nimio_: ‘magno,’ _Aurora_.
1872. _ipse_: ‘esse,’ _Aurora_.
1876. _ligante_: ‘trahente,’ _Aurora_, f. 66 v^o.
1878. _tardat ad omne bonum_: ‘ad bona nulla ualet,’ _Aurora_.
1880. _Lumina nec_: ‘Nec faciem,’ _Aurora_, f. 67.
1881 f.
‘Per pinguem scabiem succensa libido notatur;
Feruet vel fetet corpus utroque malo.’ _Aurora_, f. 67.
1885 ff. Our author still borrows from the same source, though from a
different part of it. We find these lines nearly in the same form in
the _Aurora_, f. 103,
‘Oza manus tendens accessit ut erigat archam,
Set mox punita est arida facta manus.
Hinc ideo dicunt meruisse necem, quia nocte
Transacta cohitu coniugis usus erat.
Declaratur in hoc quod si pollutus ad aram
Accedas, mortis uulnere dignus eris.’
1891 f.
‘Namque superiectas sordes detergere pure
Nescit nostra manus, si tenet illa lutum.’ _Aurora_, f. 103.
1905-1908. These two couplets are from _Aurora_, f. 69 v^o, where
however they are separated by four lines not here given.
1911 ff. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 69 v^o,
‘Radices non extirpat rasura pilorum,
Set rasi crescunt fructificantque pyli.
Sic licet expellas omnes de pectore motus,
Non potes hinc penitus cuncta fugare tamen.
Hec de carne trahis, quia semper alit caro pugnans;
Intus habes cum quo prelia semper agas.’
Gower’s reading ‘pugnam’ in l. 1915 is probably right.
1937. Ovid, _Rem. Amoris_, 669.
1939. _Tristia_, iv. 6. 33 f.
1943 f. _Rem. Amoris_, 89 f.
1945 f. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 115 f.
1946. _Inueniet_: apparently meant for subjunctive; cp. l. 1114.
1947-1950. _Rem. Amoris_, 81-84.
1952. Cp. _Her._ xvii. 190.
1953. _Rem. Amoris_, 229.
1955 f. _Rem. Amoris_, 139 f.
1999 f.
‘Cum sale uas mittens in aquas Helyseus, easdem
Sanat, nec remanet gustus amarus aquis.’ _Aurora_, f. 140.
2001. _Aurora_, f. 60 v^o.
2017-2020. From _Aurora_, f. 8.
2035-2040. From _Aurora_, f. 15 v^o, but one couplet is omitted, and
so the sense is obscured. After ‘sunt sine felle boni’ (l. 2038), the
original has,
‘Cras canit hinc coruus, hodie canit inde columba;
Hec vox peruersis, congruit illa bonis.
Cras prauum cantant, dum se conuertere tardant,
Set tales tollit sepe suprema dies.’
The meaning is that the bad priests cry ‘Cras,’ like crows, and
encourage men to put off repentance, while the others sing ‘Hodie,’
like doves, the words ‘cras’ and ‘hodie’ being imitations of the notes
of the two birds. The expression ‘Cras primam cantant,’ in l. 2039,
is not intelligible, and probably Gower missed the full sense of the
passage.
2045. ‘sit’ has been altered in S from ‘fit.’
2049 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 20785 ff.
2071. Cp. _Mirour_, 20798.
2078. _fugat_: cp. l. 1498.
2097 f. Cp. iv. 959 and note.
LIB. IV.
The matter of this book corresponds to that of the _Mirour de l’Omme_,
ll. 20833-21780.
19 f. Cp. Lib. iii. Prol. 11.
34. ‘dompnus’ or ‘domnus’ was the form of ‘dominus’ which was properly
applied as a title to ecclesiastical dignitaries, and it seems to have
been especially used in monasteries. Ducange quotes John of Genoa as
follows: ‘Domnus et Domna per syncopen proprie convenit claustralibus;
sed Dominus, Domina mundanis.’ Cp. l. 323 of this book and also 327 ff.
57. _humeris qui ferre solebat_, ‘who used to bear burdens,’ as a
labourer.
87. Cp. Godfrey of Viterbo, _Pantheon_, p. 74 (ed. 1584).
91. _Pantheon_, p. 74.
109 f. Cp. Ovid, _Fasti_, i. 205 f.
111. _Ars Amat._ ii. 475, but Ovid has ‘cubilia.’
112. Cp. _Fasti_, iv. 396, ‘Quas tellus nullo sollicitante dabat.’
Gower has not improved the line by his changes.
114. _Fasti_, iv. 400.
115. _Metam._ i. 104, but Ovid has of course ‘fraga.’
117. Cp. _Metam._ i. 106, ‘Et quae deciderant patula Iovis arbore
glandes’: ‘patule glandes’ is nonsense.
119. Cp. _Metam._ i. 103.
128. A play on the word ‘regula’: ‘re’ has been taken away and there
remains only ‘gula.’
145. Cp. _Metam._ viii. 830.
147. _Metam._ viii. 835.
151 ff. Cp. _Metam._ viii. 837 ff.
163. Cp. _Ars Amat._ iii. 647.
165 f. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 473 ff.
175. _Ars Amat._ iii. 503 f., but Ovid has ‘Gorgoneo saevius,’ for
‘commota lenius.’
177. Cp. _Metam._ viii. 465, ‘Saepe suum fervens oculis dabat ira
ruborem.’ The reading ‘oculis’ is necessary to the sense and appears in
one manuscript.
179. Cp. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ iii. 509.
215. ‘corrodium’ (or ‘corredium’) is the allowance made from the
funds of a religious house for the sustentation of a member of it or
of someone else outside the house: see Ducange under ‘conredium’ and
_New Engl. Dict._ ‘corrody.’ Gower himself perhaps had in his later
life a corrody in the Priory of Saint Mary Overey, of which he was a
benefactor.
302. The reference is to Ecclus. xix. 27, ‘Amictus corporis et risus
dentium et ingressus hominis enunciant de eo.’ Cp. _Confessio Amantis_,
i. 2705, margin.
305-310. _Aurora_, (MS. Bodley 822) f. 65,
‘Est nigra coruus auis et predo cadaueris, illum
Quem male denigrat ceca cupido notans.
. . . . . .
Sub uolucrum specie descripsit legifer illos,
Quos mundanus honos ad scelus omne trahit.
Hunc aliquem tangit qui religionis amictum
Se tegit, ut cicius possit honore frui.’
(MS. Univ. Coll. 143: ‘libido’ for ‘cupido,’ ‘amictu’ for ‘amictum,’
‘maius’ for ‘cicius’).
311. Cp. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ iii. 249, ‘Turpe pecus mutilum,’ &c. The
word ‘monstrum’ in Gower came probably from a corruption in his copy of
Ovid.
327 ff. With this chapter compare _Mirour de l’Omme_, 21133 ff. The
capital letters of ‘Paciens,’ ‘Castus,’ ‘Luxus,’ &c. are supplied by
the editor, being clearly required by the sense.
354. _Apocapata_, ‘cut short’: cp. ‘per apocapen,’ v. 820.
363 f. The habit described is that of the Canons of the order of St.
Augustine.
395. Cp. Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 175 (Rolls Series, 59, vol.
ii),
‘Vovistis, fratres, vovistis; vestra, rogamus,
Vivite solliciti reddere vota deo.
397. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 176.
401. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 178.
403 f. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 177.
405-430. Most of this is taken from Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, p.
176.
425. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ ii. 465.
427. _foret_, ‘should be,’ i.e. ‘ought to be.’
431-446. Taken with slight alterations from _De Vita Monachorum_, pp.
187, 188.
442 f. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 188.
449 Cp. Ovid, _Fasti_, ii. 85,
‘Saepe sequens agnam lupus est a voce retentus.’
Our author has interchanged the sexes for the purpose of his argument,
the man being represented as a helpless victim.
450. The subject to be supplied must be ‘agnus.’
451. Cp. _Ars Amat._ iii. 419.
453 f. _Tristia_, i. 6. 9 f.
461-466. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 188.
469-490. Nearly the whole of this is taken from Neckam, p. 178.
537 f. Cp. Ovid, _Rem. Amoris_, 235 f.,
‘Adspicis ut prensos urant iuga prima iuvencos,
Et nova velocem cingula laedat equum?’
575. Cp. _Amores_, iii. 4. 17.
587. ‘Genius’ is here introduced as the priest of Venus and in l.
597 in the character of a confessor, as afterwards in the _Confessio
Amantis_. The reference to the ‘poets’ in the marginal note can hardly
be merely to the _Roman de la Rose_, where Genius is the priest and
confessor of Nature, but the variation ‘secundum Ouidium’ of the
Glasgow MS. does not seem to be justified by any passage of Ovid. The
connexion with Venus obviously has to do with the classical idea of
Genius as a god who presides over the begetting of children: cp. Isid.
_Etym._ viii. 88. The marginal note in S is written in a hand probably
different from that of the text, but contemporary.
617 f. Cp. _Ars Amat._ ii. 649 f.,
‘Dum novus in viridi coalescit cortice ramus,
Concutiat tenerum quaelibet aura, cadet.’
623. _Spiritus est promptus_, &c. Gower apparently took this text to
mean, ‘the spirit is ready to do evil, _and_ the flesh is weak’: cp.
_Mirour_, 14165.
624. Cp. _Mirour_, 16768.
637. For this use of ‘quid’ cp. that of ‘numquid,’ ii. Prol. 59, and v.
279.
648. Rev. xiv. 4, ‘Hi sequuntur agnum ... quocunque ierit.’
657 f. Apparently referring to Rev. xii. 14.
659. Cp. the Latin Verses after _Confessio Amantis_, v. 6358.
681 f. Cp. Ovid, _Pont._ iv. 4. 3 f.
689 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 21266, margin.
699. _fore_: used here and elsewhere by our author for ‘esse’; see
below, l. 717, and v. 763.
715. _Acephalum._ This name was applied in early times to ecclesiastics
who were exempt from the authority of the bishop: see Ducange. The word
is differently used in iii. 956, and by comparison with that passage
we might be led to suppose that there was some reference here to the
‘inopes’ and ‘opem’ of the next line.
723 ff. Compare with this the contemporary accounts of the controversy
between FitzRalph, archbishop of Armagh, and the Mendicant Friars,
who are said to have bribed the Pope to confirm their privileges
(Walsingham, i. 285), and the somewhat prejudiced account of their
faults in Walsingham, ii. 13. The influence of the Dominican Rushook,
as the king’s confessor was the subject of much jealousy in the reign
of Richard II.
735 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 21469 ff.
736. _sepulta_: used elsewhere by Gower for ‘funeral rites,’ e.g. i.
1170. The meaning is that the friar claims to perform the funeral
services for the dead bodies of those whose confessor he has been
before death. Perhaps however we should take ‘sepulta’ here as
equivalent to ‘sepelienda.’
769. Hos. iv. 8: cp. _Mirour_, 21397, where the saying is attributed to
Zephaniah.
777 f. Cp. Ovid, _Tristia_, i. 9. 7 f.
781. _Tristia_, i. 9. 9.
784. Cp. _Fasti_, v. 354.
788. See _Mirour_, 21625 ff. and note.
795. ‘Prioris’ in S, but it is evidently an adjective here.
813 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 21499 ff.
847. The wording is suggested by 1 Cor. ix. 24, ‘ii qui in stadio
currunt, omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bravium.’
864. _Titiuillus_: see note in Dyce’s edition of Skelton, vol. ii. pp.
284 f.
869. Cp. Job ii. 4, ‘Pellem pro pelle, et cuncta quae habet homo, dabit
pro anima sua.’
872. _vltima verba ligant._ As in a bargain the last words are those
that are binding, so here the last word mentioned, namely ‘demon,’ is
the true answer to the question.
874. ‘Men sein, Old Senne newe schame,’ _Conf. Amantis_, iii. 2033.
903. Cp. Ovid, _Metam._ ii. 632, ‘Inter aves albas vetuit consistere
corvum.’ Gower’s line seems to have neither accidence nor syntax.
953 f. _Fasti_, ii. 219 f.
959. A reference to Ps. lxxii. 5, ‘In labore hominum non sunt, et
cum hominibus non flagellabuntur.’ The same passage is alluded to in
Walsingham’s chronicle (i. 324), where reference is made to the fact
that the friars were exempted from the poll-tax. The first half of
this psalm seems to have been accepted in some quarters as a prophetic
description of the Mendicants.
963. There is no variation of reading here in the MSS., but the metre
cannot be regarded as satisfactory. A fifteenth (or sixteenth) century
reader has raised a slight protest against it in the margin of S, ‘at
metrum quomodo fiet.’
969. Cp. Ps. lxxii. 7, ‘Prodiit quasi ex adipe iniquitas eorum:
transierunt in affectum cordis.’
971 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 21517 ff.,
‘Mal fils ne tret son pris avant,
Par ce qant il fait son avant
Q’il ad bon piere,’ &c.
981 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 21553 ff.
1059-1064. These six lines are taken without change from _Aurora_, (MS.
Bodley 822) f. 65.
1072. ‘lingua’ was here the original reading, but was altered to
‘verba’ in most of the copies. H and G have ‘verba’ over an erasure.
1081. In G we have ‘adepcio’ by correction from ‘adopcio.’
1090. _adheret_: meant apparently for pres. subj. as if from a verb
‘adherare.’
1099 f. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 19 v^o,
‘Sarra parit, discedit Agar; pariente fideles
Ecclesia populos, dat synagoga locum.’
1103. _Odium_: written thus with a capital letter in H, but not in the
other MSS.
1143 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 21403 ff. and note.
1145 ff. These lines are partly from Neckam’s _Vita Monachorum_, p. 192:
‘Porticibus vallas operosis atria, quales
Quotque putas thalamos haec labyrinthus habet.
. . . . . .
Ostia multa quidem, variae sunt mille fenestrae,
Mille columnarum est marmore fulta domus.’
Gower alters the first sentence by substituting ‘valuas’ for the verb
‘vallas.’ ‘It has folding-doors, halls, and bed-chambers as various and
as many as the labyrinth.’
1161. ‘historia parisiensis’ in the MSS. I cannot supply a reference.
1175 f. From _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 193.
1189 ff. The reference is to the _Speculum Stultorum_, where Burnel the
Ass, after examining the rules of all the existing orders and finding
them in various ways unsatisfactory to him, comes to the conclusion
that he must found an order of his own, the rules of which shall
combine the advantages of all the other orders. Members of it shall
be allowed to ride easily like the Templars, to tell lies like the
Hospitallers, to eat meat on Saturday like the Benedictines of Cluny,
to talk freely like the brothers of Grandmont, to go to one mass a
month, or at most two, like the Carthusians, to dress comfortably like
the Praemonstratensians, and so on. What is said here by our author
expresses the spirit of these rules rather than the letter.
1197 f. The text here gives the original reading, found in TH₂ and
remaining unaltered in S. CHG have ‘et si’ written over an erasure,
and in the next line ‘Mechari cupias’ is written over erasure in G,
‘Mechari cupias ordine’ in C, and ‘ordine’ alone in H. The other MSS.
have no erasures.
1212. CHG have this line written over an erasure.
1214. Written over erasure in CHG, the word ‘magis’ being still
visible in G as the last word of the line in the earlier text. The
expression ‘Linquo coax ranis’ is said to have been used by Serlo on
his renunciation of the schools: see Leyser, _Hist. Poet._ p. 443.
1215. The word ‘mundi’ is over erasure in CHG.
1221*-1232*. These lines are written over erasure in CHG.
1225. _A planta capiti_, ‘from foot to head’: more correctly, v. 116,
‘Ad caput a planta.’
LIB. V.
45. _Architesis._ It must be assumed that this word means ‘discord,’
the passage being a series of oppositions.
53. _Est amor egra salus_, &c. Compare the lines which follow our
author’s _Traitié_, ‘Est amor in glosa pax bellica, lis pietosa,’ &c.,
and Alanus de Insulis, _De Planctu Naturae_, p. 472 (Rolls Series, 59,
vol ii).
79 ff. There is not much construction here; but we must suppose that
after this loose and rambling description the general sense is resumed
at l. 129.
98. _Nec patet os in eis_: cp. Chaucer, _Book of the Duchess_, 942.
104. _Nec ... vix_: cp. l. 153 and vii. 12.
121 f. Cp. Ovid, _Her._ iv. 71 f.
123 f. Cp. _Fasti_, ii. 763.
165. From _Metam._ vii. 826, but quoted without much regard to the
sense. In the original there is a stop after ‘est,’ and ‘subito
collapsa dolore’ is the beginning of a new sentence of the narrative.
169 f. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 691 f.
171. Cp. _Her._ iv. 161.
193. Cp. _Her._ v. 149. For ‘O, quia’ cp. i. 59.
209. Cp. _Metam._ x. 189.
213. Cp. _Her._ vii. 179. We have here a curious example of the manner
in which our author adapts lines to his use without regard to the
original sense.
221. Cp. _Her._ ii. 63.
257 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 23920, _Conf. Amantis_, iv. 1634.
280. _Numquid._ This seems to be used here and in some other passages
to introduce a statement: cp. ii. Prol. 59, iv. 637. Rather perhaps it
should be regarded as equivalent to ‘Nonne’ and the clause printed as a
question: so vii. 484, 892, &c. For ‘num’ used instead of ‘nonne’ cp.
ii. 306.
299. S has in the margin in a later hand, ‘Nota de muliere bona.’ The
description is taken of course from Prov. xxxi.
333. In the margin of S, as before, ‘Nota de muliere mala et eius
condicionibus.’
341 ff. Cp. Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 186.
359 f. Cp. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ iii. 289, 294. Presumably ‘bleso’ in l.
360 is a mistake for ‘iusso.’
361. Cp. _Ars Amat._ iii. 291.
367 f. _Ars Amat._ iii. 311 f.
376. Cp. _Ars Amat._ i. 598.
383 f. This reference to Ovid seems to be with regard to what follows
about the art of preserving and improving beauty. Some of it is from
the _Ars Amatoria_, and some from Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_. For
‘tenent,’ meaning ‘belong,’ cp. iii. 584.
399-402. Taken with slight changes from _Ars Amat._ iii. 163-166.
403. Cp. _Metam._ ii. 635.
405. Cp. _Ars Amat._ iii. 179.
407. Cp. _Ars Amat._ iii. 185.
413-416. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 186.
421-428. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 189.
450. The line (in the form ‘Illa quidem fatuos,’ &c.) is written over
an erasure in the Glasgow MS.
454. ‘interius’ is written over an erasure in HG.
461. _Vt quid_, ‘Why.’
501. The reading ‘nos,’ which is evidently right, appears in CG as a
correction of ‘non.’
510. ‘While one that is stained with its own filth flies from the
field.’
520. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 23701 ff.
556. The neglect of the burden of a charge, while the honour of it is
retained, is a constant theme of denunciation by our author: cp. iii.
116, and below, ll. 655 ff.
557 ff. With this account of the labourers cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_,
26425 ff. It is noticeable that there is nothing here about the
insurrection.
593. Cp. _Metam._ vi. 318.
597. H punctuates here ‘salua. que.’
613. A quotation from _Pamphilus_: cp. _Mirour_, 14449.
659. _maioris_, ‘of mayor.’
693 f. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 36,
‘Dupla die sexta colleccio facta labore
Ostendit quia lux septima nescit opus.’
703. The capitals which mark the personification of ‘Fraus’ and ‘Vsura’
are due to the editor. ‘Fraus’ corresponds to ‘Triche’ in the _Mirour
de l’Omme_: see ll. 25237 ff.
731. _Nonne_, used for ‘Num,’ as also in other passages, e.g. vi. 351,
523, vii. 619.
745 ff. Cp. _Mirour de l’Omme_, 25741 ff.
In l. 745 SG have the reading ‘foris’ as a correction from ‘foras.’
760 ff. Cp. Chaucer, _Cant. Tales_, C 472 ff.
775. See note on l. 280.
785 f. The readings ‘fraus’ for ‘sibi’ and ‘surripit’ for ‘fraus capit’
are over erasure in CG.
812. ‘Thethis,’ (‘Thetis,’ or ‘Tethis’) stands several times for
‘water’ (properly ‘Tethys’): cp. vii. 1067. The line means that the
water is so abundant in the jar that it hardly admits the presence of
any malt (‘Cerem’ for ‘Cererem’).
835 ff. It is difficult to say who is the bad mayor of London to
whom allusion is here made. The rival leaders in City politics were
Nicholas Brembre and John of Northampton. The former was lord mayor in
the years 1377, 1378, and again in 1383 and 1384, when he was elected
against his rival (who had held the office in 1381, 1382) in a forcible
and unconstitutional manner which evoked many protests. Brembre, who
belonged to the Grocers’ company, represented the interests of the
greater companies and was of the Court party, a special favourite
with the king, while John of Northampton, a draper, engaged himself
in bitter controversy with the Fishmongers, who were supported by the
Grocers, and was popular with the poorer classes. In the _Cronica
Tripertita_ Gower bitterly attacks Brembre (who was executed by
sentence of the so-called ‘Merciless Parliament’ in 1388), and we
might naturally suppose that he was the person referred to here; but
that passage was written before the political events which led to
that invective and in all probability not later than 1382, and the
references to the low origin of the mayor in question, ll. 845-860,
do not agree with the circumstances of Nicholas Brembre. Political
passion in the City ran high from the year 1376 onwards, and the
person referred to may have been either John of Northampton or one of
the other mayors, who had in some way incurred Gower’s dislike: cp.
_Mirour_, 26365 ff.
877. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, v. 7626,
‘It floureth, bot it schal not greine
Unto the fruit of rihtwisnesse.’
915 f. Ovid, _Tristia_, i. 5. 47 f.
922. Cp. Prov. xxv. 15, ‘lingua mollis confringet duritiam,’ and the
verses at the beginning of the _Confessio Amantis_,
‘Ossibus ergo carens que conterit ossa loquelis Absit.’
953 f. _Ars Amat._ ii. 183 f., but Ovid has ‘Numidasque leones.’
957 f. _Rem. Amoris_, 447 f. (but ‘ceratas’ for ‘agitatas’).
965 f. _Pont._ iii. 7. 25 f.
967 f. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 97 f.
969 f. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 101 f.
971 f. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 729 f., ‘Admonitus refricatur amor,’ &c.
973. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 623.
975 f. Cp. _Rem. Amoris_, 731 f., ‘Ut pene extinctum cinerem si sulfure
tangas, Vivet,’ &c. The reading ‘sub’ must be a mistake on the part of
our author for ‘si.’
979. Cp. _Ars Amat._ iii. 597.
981. _Ars Amat._ iii. 373.
983 f. _Ars Amat._ iii. 375 f., but Ovid has ‘iratos et sibi quisque
deos.’
985 f. Cp. _Ars Amat._ iii. 501 f.
990. _Fasti_, iii. 380, absurdly introduced here.
991 f. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Latin Verses before Prol. 499.
1003 f. Cp. _Tristia_, ii. 141 f.
LIB. VI.
1-468. With this section of the work compare _Mirour_, 24181 ff.
11. Ps. xiv. 3.
89-94. From _Aurora_, (MS. Bodley 822) f. 66, where however the reading
is ‘sapit’ in l. 94 (for ‘rapit’).
95-98. _Aurora_, f. 65, where we find ‘in nocte’ for ‘in noctem’ and
‘reprobi’ for ‘legis’ (l. 97).
101 f. Cp. _Aurora_, 64 f.,
‘Inprouisus adest cum pullos tollere miluus
Esurit, in predam non sine fraude ruit.’
This is adapted by our author to his own purpose, but as his meaning is
altogether different, some obscurity results, and he does not make it
clear to us how the biter is bit.
113. _Metam._ v. 606.
115-118. Cp. _Metam._ vi. 527 ff.
133. In the Glasgow MS. ‘locuplex’ has been altered to the more
familiar ‘locuples.’
141 f. Is. v. 8, ‘Vae qui coniungitis domum ad domum et agrum agro
copulatis usque ad terminum loci: numquid habitabitis vos soli in medio
terrae?’ The same text is quoted in the _Mirour_, 24541 ff.
144. By comparison with _Mirour_, 24580 ff. we may see that the
dissipation of the property by the son is here alleged as a proof that
it has been ill acquired:
‘Qu’ils font pourchas a la senestre
Le fin demoustre la verrour.’
176. _forum_, i.e. the market price.
188. _que foret equa_, ‘(the balance) which should be fair’: so also
‘foret’ below, l. 190.
203. _Basiliscus_: cp. _Mirour_, 3748 ff.
209 f. Ovid, _Pont._ ii. 3. 39 f. (but ‘lasso’ for ‘lapso’).
217. _nam nemo dolose Mentis_, &c. ‘for no man of a crafty mind can
have sure speech.’
225. _tenebrescunt_, ‘darken.’ So other inceptives are used
transitively, e.g. ‘ditescere,’ ii. 607, _Cron. Trip._ iii. 119.
233 f. ‘And this _lex, legis_, from _ledo, ledis_, as _ius_ from
_iurgo_, administers justice at this present time.’ It is meant
that the administration of law, as we see it, suggests the above
etymologies. The use of ‘isto’ for ‘hoc’ is quite regular.
241 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 24253 ff.
249 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 24349 ff., and see Pulling, _Order of the Coif_,
ch. iv.
269. The reference is to Ecclus. xx. 31, ‘Xenia et dona excaecant
oculos iudicum.’
274. ‘Fear puts to flight the discernment of justice.’
313-326. These fourteen lines are taken with some alterations (not much
for the better) from Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, pp. 180 f.
327 f. Cp. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 182,
‘Sic mihi, divitibus si quando defuit hostis;
Hos terit et quassat saepe ruina gravis.’
Where, it would seem, we ought to read ‘Dic mihi.’
329 ff. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 181. Most of the lines 329-348 are
borrowed.
351. ‘Nonne’ for ‘Num,’ as often: cp. v. 731.
355 f. Cp. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 182,
‘Iustitiae montes virtutumque ardua nullus
Scandet, dum mundi rebus onustus erit.’
357. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 190.
359-372. Most of these lines are borrowed with slight alterations from
_De Vita Monachorum_, p. 191.
387 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 24733 ff.
389. Cp. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 192, ‘Cur ampla aedificas busto
claudendus in arcto?’
397. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 193,
‘Et cecidit Babylon, cecidit quoque maxima Troia
Olim mundipotens, aspice, Roma iacet.’
419 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 24817-25176.
421 f. For the idea contained in ‘vnccio’ and ‘vncta’ cp. iii. 1376.
433. ‘The word _comes_ receives its beginning not from _vice_ but from
_vicium_.’ That is, apparently, the prefix which makes ‘comes’ into
‘vicecomes’ is to be derived from ‘vicium.’
439 f. Cp. _Mirour_, 25166 ff.
445 ff. With this compare the corresponding lines in the _Carmen super
multiplici viciorum Pestilencia_, under the head of ‘Avarice’ (246 ff.),
‘Vendere iusticiam nichil est nisi vendere Cristum,’ &c.
463 f. Cp. _Mirour_, 24973 ff.
467 f. _Vt Crati bufo_, &c.: cp. _Mirour_, 24962 f.
498. Cp. _Mirour_, 22835 f.
522. The insertion which is found after this line in the Digby MS.
(and in no other) consists of eight lines taken from the original text
of the passage 545-580, which was rewritten by the author: see ll.
561*-566* and 579* f.
523 ff. ‘Can a house be built without timber? But of what use is timber
to the builder if it be not hewn?’ ‘Nonne’ for ‘Num,’ as frequently:
see note on v. 731. It seems that ‘sibi’ refers to the builder rather
than to the house; in any case, it has no reflexive sense. Finally
‘ligna’ is here used as a singular feminine: all the MSS. have ‘foret’
in l. 524 and ‘valet’ in 525.
The idea of the passage seems to be that good laws are as the material,
and the ruler as the builder of the house.
529 ff. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, vii. 2695 ff.
545-580. It is certain that the passage preserved to us in the Dublin
and Hatfield MSS. is that which was originally written in those
books which now exhibit an erasure; for in several places words are
legible underneath the present text of these latter MSS. For example
in S ‘maior’ is visible as the last word of the original l. 547, and
‘locuta,’ ‘aula,’ similarly in ll. 549, 551. The chief difference
introduced is in the direction of throwing more responsibility on the
king, who however is still spoken of as a boy. Thus instead of ‘Stat
puer immunis culpe,’ we have ‘Rex puer indoctus morales negligit actus’
(or more strongly still ‘respuit’).
The text of 545*-580* follows the Dublin MS. (T) with corrections from
H₂. Neither text is very correct: both omit a word in l. 549*, which I
supply by conjecture, and both read ‘omnes’ in l. 561*. There are some
obvious errors in T, as ‘sinis’ for ‘sinit’ in l. 554*, ‘Tempe’ for
‘Tempora’ in l. 559*, which have been passed over without notice.
Cap. viii. _Heading_. The ensuing Epistle to the young king, which
extends as far as l. 1200, assumes a more severely moral form owing
to the alteration of the preceding passage, the exclusion of all
compliment (‘regnaturo’ in this heading for ‘excellentissimo’) and the
substitution of ‘doctrine causa’ for ‘in eius honore.’ (The readings
‘excellentissimo,’ ‘in eius honore’ no doubt are to be found in the
Hatfield MS., but I have accidentally omitted to take note of them.)
629 f. Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 185,
‘Quid tibi nobilitas et clarum nomen avorum,
Si vitiis servus factus es ipse tuis?’
640. ‘vix’ is sometimes used by our author (apparently) in the sense of
‘paene.’
696. Ovid, _Rem. Amoris_, 526.
710. _iudiciale_, ‘judgement,’ used as a substantive: cp. iii. 1692.
718. _culpe ... sue_, ‘for their fault,’ i.e. the fault of his
ministers.
719-722. Cp. _Aurora_, (MS. Bodley 822) f. 65,
‘Euolat ancipiter ad prede lucra, suisque
Deseruit dominis in rapiendo cybum.
Sic multi dominis famulando suis, ad eorum
Nutum pauperibus dampna ferendo nocent.’
725. _presul_, ‘the bishop.’
740. The expression ‘Cuius enim’ for ‘Eius enim’ occurs more than
once, e.g. l. 1238: cp. vii. 372. It is found also in the _Confessio
Amantis_, Latin Verses after vii. 1984, but was there corrected in the
third recension.
765. _stabiles_: apparently used in a bad sense.
793 f. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 96 v^o,
‘Exiguus magnum vicit puer ille Golyam,
Nam virtus humilis corda superba domat.’
816. Ovid, _Amores_, i. 8. 62, ‘Crede mihi, res est ingeniosa dare.’
839 f. Cp. _Aurora_, f. 95 v^o.
846. _Fasti_, ii. 226.
875-902. This passage of twenty-six lines is taken with few alterations
from the _Aurora_, f. 76.
876. _bella_: in the original ‘corda’ (or ‘colla’ MS. Univ. Coll. 143).
883. _noctibus_: in the original ‘nutibus.’
884. _Spirant_: so in the original according to MS. Bodley 822, but
‘Spirent’ in MS. Univ. Coll. 143.
886. _acuum ferrum_: in the original ‘minitans ferrum.’ Apparently our
author took ‘acus’ to mean a spear or javelin. The choice of the word
in this passage is unfortunate.
887 ff. ‘vincit,’ ‘tenet’ (or ‘teret,’ MS. Univ. Coll. 143),
‘consurgit’ in the original.
891. In the original, ‘Rex hoc consilium grata bibit aure, puellas
Preparat,’ &c.
892. ‘genis’ in the original.
894. ‘furit’ for ‘fugat’ is the reading of the original, and we find
this in several MSS. of our text, but in the Glasgow MS. this has been
corrected to ‘fugat,’ which is the reading of S.
898. In the original, ‘Vultus que geminus ridet in ore decor,’ (or
‘Vultus et geminus,’ &c., MS. Univ. Coll. 143).
907. _Aurora_, f. 100.
947-950. Taken from the description of Saul at the battle of Gilboa,
_Aurora_, f. 100 v^o.
971 ff. Cp. _Praise of Peace_, 78 ff.
985-992. From _Aurora_, f. 64 v^o,
‘Alta petens aquila uolat alite celsius omni,
Quisque potens, tumidus corde, notatur ea:
Vt sacra testantur cythariste scripta prophete,
In celum tales os posuere suum.
Pennatum griphes animal, pedibusque quaternis
Inuitos homines carpit, abhorret equos:
Designatur in his facinus crudele potentum,
Qui mortes hominum cum feritate bibunt.’
986. Our author no doubt read ‘mundus corde’ here in the _Aurora_.
987. _citharistea_: properly no doubt ‘cithariste,’ to be taken with
‘prophete,’ as in the _Aurora_.
990. ‘horret equos’ seems to represent the ‘equis vehementer infesti’
of Isidore, _Etym._ xii. 2.
1019-1024. From Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 185, with slight
variations.
1037. _esse_: as substantive, ‘existence.’
1041-1050. Taken with slight changes from _Aurora_, f. 108.
1066. _fugat_: used as subjunctive; so also iii. 1498, 2078.
1085 f. From _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 184.
1107-1112. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 193.
1115 f. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 183.
1159* ff. That this was the text which stood originally in S is
proved partly by the fact that the original heading of the chapter
stands still as given here in the Table of Chapters, f. 5, and also
by the traces of original coloured initials at ll. 1175 and 1199. A
considerable part of the erased chapter reappears in the poem ‘Rex celi
deus,’ &c., addressed to Henry IV: see p. 343.
1189 f. _Si tibi ... cupias conuertere ... Te._ These words appear in
S as a correction of the rewritten text by a second erasure and in
another hand.
Cap. xix. _Heading._ The original form, as given by DLTH₂, is still to
be found in the Table of Chapters in S.
1201. Cp. Ovid, _Metam._ vii. 585 f.,
‘veluti cum putria motis
Poma cadunt ramis agitataque ilice glandes.’
1204 ff. Note the repeated use of ‘modo’ in the sense of ‘now’: cp.
1210, 1218, 1222, 1232, 1235, 1243, 1263, 1280, &c. The usual word for
‘formerly’ is ‘nuper’; see 1241, 1245, 1279, &c.
1205. _Metam._ ii. 541.
1223. _Oza_, that is Uzzah (2 Sam. vi.), who is selected as a type
of carnal lust, apparently on the strength of the quite gratuitous
assumption adopted in Lib. III. 1885 ff. Apparently ‘luxus’ in the next
line is genitive, in spite of the metre: cp. ‘excercitus,’ i. 609,
‘ducatus,’ _Cron. Trip._ iii. 117.
1236. _Giesi_, i.e. Gehazi.
1238. _Cuius enim_: cp. note on l. 740.
1243. _Liberius_: pope from 352-366 A. D. He is mentioned here as a
type of unfaithfulness to his charge, because he was induced to condemn
Athanasius.
1251. _defunctis_, ‘for the dead,’ that is, to bury them charitably, as
Tobit did.
1261. Cp. John xii. 24.
1267. Perhaps an allusion to Wycliffe, who seems to be referred to as a
new Jovinianus in a later poem, p. 347.
1268. _dant dubitare_, ‘cause men to doubt.’
1273. _Troianus_: i.e. Trajan, whose name is so spelt regularly by our
author.
1277. _Valentinianus_: cp. _Conf. Amantis_, v. 6398 ff.
1284. _Leo_: cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 739.
1286. _Tiberii_: i.e. Tiberius Constantinus; cp. _Conf. Amantis_, ii.
587 ff.
1306. _quis_, for ‘quisquam’: so also ‘quem’ in l. 1308; cp. i. 184.
1321 f. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, vii. 2217 ff.: ‘relinquendo’ is used for
‘relinquens,’ as i. 304, 516, &c.
1323. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, v. 6372 ff., _Mirour_, 18301 ff.
1330. _Vix si_: cp. iv. 218, _Cron. Trip._ iii. 444.
1345. Cp. Ovid, _Amores_, i. 9. 1.
1357 f. ‘She is silent as a jackdaw, chaste as a pigeon, and gentle as
a thorn.’
1361 f. Perhaps an allusion to the case of Edward III and Alice Perrers.
LIB. VII.
5. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 595 ff.
9. _modo_, ‘now’: cp. note on vi. 1204.
12. _nec ... vix._ For this combination of ‘vix’ with a negative cp. v.
104, 153.
42. _dicunt ... volunt_, ‘say that they wish’: cp. ii. 200 f.
47 f. Cp. _Conf. Amantis_, v. 49 ff.; so below, ll. 61 ff.
123. Rev. ii. 25, ‘id quod habetis tenete, donec veniam.’
125 f. Ovid, _Tristia_, i. 8. 41 f.,
‘Et tua sunt silicis circum praecordia venae,
Et rigidum ferri semina pectus habet.’
159 f. It is difficult to construe this couplet satisfactorily, and
the reading ‘Est’ seems quite as good as ‘Et.’ The Glasgow MS. has ‘Et
status’ erased, as if for correction.
163 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 8921 ff.
167. The original reading seems to have been ‘grassantur,’ for which
S gives ‘grossantur’ (‘o’ written over erasure), and CG ‘crassantur,’
also by correction.
182 ff. I have no record of the readings of H₂ in this passage, but I
have no doubt that it agrees with EHT.
184. No record of the reading of T.
186. _abhorret_: apparently subjunctive; so we have ‘adhero’ for
‘adhereo,’ l. 1296.
192. _habere modum_: a first-hand correction in S, whereas the others
in ll. 182-192 are in a different hand.
194. _caput ancille_: an allusion to the form in which Satan is
supposed to have appeared in the garden of Eden.
243. _specialis_, subst., ‘a friend.’
255 f. Cp. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ ii. 201 f.,
‘Riserit, adride; si flebit, flere memento:
Imponat leges vultibus illa tuis.’
In adapting the couplet to his purpose our author has contrived to make
it unintelligible.
265. _Fuluus ... talus_: referring to the gilded spur of knighthood;
gold is ‘metallum fuluum.’
273 f. Cp. _Tristia_, v. 13. 27 f.
315 f. Cp. _Metam._ i. 144 f.
323 f. Cp. _Ars Amat._ i. 761 f.
327 f. _Fasti_, iv. 717 f. The application belongs to our author.
331 f. Cp. Ovid, _Tristia_, i. 9. 5 f.
334. _Ars Amat._ iii. 436.
340. Cp. _Tristia_, i. 8. 8.
347. Cp. _Metam._ i. 141.
349. _cumque_, for ‘cum’: cp. ii. 302, &c., and l. 872, below.
361 ff. Cp. _Mirour_, 26590 ff.
372. _Talis enim_, ‘such, indeed,’: for this use of ‘enim’ cp. vi. 740.
375 f. From Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 177.
379-383. Taken with slight change from _De Vita Monachorum_, pp. 183 f.
387. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 195.
389-392. Taken with slight change from _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 197,
and so also 395 f.
417-420. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 196.
437 f. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 196.
440. _ne sit_, for ‘ne non sit.’
441 f. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 189.
459 f. Cp. Ovid, _Ars Amat._ iii. 65 f.
463 f. Cp. _Tristia_, v. 10. 5 f., ‘Stare putes, adeo procedunt tempora
tarde,’ &c. The couplet has neither sense nor appropriateness as given
here.
465 f. _Pont._ ii. 2. 37 f.
484. _Numquid_, for ‘Nonne’: cp. l. 892 and note on v. 280.
485 f. _Ars Amat._ iii. 119 f.,
‘Quae nunc sub Phoebo ducibusque Palatia fulgent,
Quid nisi araturis pascua bubus erant?’
‘Qui’ is evidently a mistake for ‘Que.’
489 f. _Fasti_, i. 203 f.
499-504. From _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 181.
509 f. Cp. _Mirour_, 26605 ff. and _Conf. Amantis_, Prol. 910 ff.
519. This seems to be dependent on ‘noscat’ in the line above. The
indicative in dependent question is quite usual, though not invariably
found: cp. l. 516, where subjunctive and indicative are combined.
574. _consequeretur eum_, ‘should follow him,’ i.e. should be subject
to man.
599. _Arboribusque sitis._ There must be something wrong here, but the
variant given by D does not help us.
619. _Nonne_, used for ‘Num’: cp. v. 731.
639 ff. This quotation from Gregory appears also in the _Mirour de
l’Omme_, 26869 ff., and the _Confessio Amantis_, Prol. 945 ff.
645. _minor est mundus homo_, ‘man is a microcosm’: cp. _Mirour_, 26929
ff.
647 ff. _Mirour_, 26953 ff.
684. The Glasgow MS. has ‘queris’ written over an erasure.
685-694. From Neckam, _De Vita Monachorum_, pp. 197 f.
699-708. With slight changes from _De Vita Monachorum_, pp. 193 f.
793. _nuper_ to be taken with ‘auaricia,’ ‘the avarice of former
times’; ‘modo’ with ‘prestat.’
872. _Cumque_, for ‘Cum’: cp. l. 349.
892. _Numquid_, for ‘Nonne’: cp. l. 484, and see note on v. 280. For
the idea cp. _Mirour_, 1784 ff. It is originally from Augustine.
909 f. From _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 178.
911-918. From _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 179, with slight variations.
919-924. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 180.
921. The reading ‘nostre,’ though it has small authority, is necessary
to the sense and is given in the original passage.
929-932. _De Vita Monachorum_, p. 180.
955 f. Cp. _Mirour_, 11404 ff., where the often-quoted lines of
Helinand’s _Vers de Mort_ are given.
990. _habet ... habitare_, used perhaps for the future, ‘will inhabit’:
so ‘habet torquere,’ l. 1047. On the other hand in l. 1148 ‘habent
regi’ means ‘must be guided,’ and the same meaning of ‘must’ or ‘ought’
may be applied to all the passages.
1067. _Thetis_, used for ‘water’ or ‘sea’: cp. v. 812. All the copies
here give ‘thetis’ (or ‘Thetis’) except D, which cannot be depended on
to reproduce the original form in a case like this. On the other hand
in the _Cronica Tripertita_, i. 80, S and H have ‘tetis.’
1079. _furor breuis, ira set_: the words are suggested by the common
expression ‘ira furor breuis,’ but the sense is different. This is
frequently the case with our author’s borrowings, e.g. v. 213, vi. 101.
1095. _vix si_: cp. vi. 1330; but perhaps ‘vix sit’ is the true reading
here.
1106. _Quam prius_, as usual, for ‘prius quam’: cp. i. 1944.
1148. _habent_: see note on l. 990.
1185. _Que_: the antecedent must be ‘virtuti,’ in the next line:
‘solet’ is of course for ‘solebat’; see note on i. 492.
1215. _tueri_: apparently passive.
1240. _deficit vnde sciam_, ‘I do not know.’
1305 f. ‘Because justice has departed, therefore peace, who is joined
with her, is also gone.’ The reference here and in the next lines is to
the Psalms, lxxxiv. 11.
1342. An allusion apparently to the debasement of the coinage. The
reading ‘suum’ in G is over an erasure.
1344. _Nobile que genuit_, ‘she who produced the noble,’ i.e. the gold
coin of that name, called so originally because of its purity.
1356. _sine lege fera_: for this kind of play upon words cp. iv. 128,
215, 243, 509, &c.
1409 ff. It may be noted that the Harleian MS. is defective for ll.
1399-1466. Its readings here would probably agree with those of EDL,
&c. SCG have the text written over erasure.
1436. _Exiguo ... tempore_: for the ablative cp. i. 1568.
1455 f. It is the galled horse that winces at the load; that which is
sound feels no hurt. Thus, if the reader is not guilty of the faults
spoken of, he will pass untouched by the reproof.
1470. ‘Vox populi, vox dei’: a sentiment repeated by our author in
various forms; cp. note on iii. Prol. 11.
1479 ff. These last three lines are over erasure in SCHG. They seem to
have been substituted for the original couplet in order to point more
clearly the moral of the _Cronica Tripertita_, which is intended for a
practical illustration of the divine punishment of sin.
Explicit, &c. It will be seen that in these later years Gower has
almost brought himself to believe that the events of the earlier part
of the reign were intended for a special warning to the youthful king,
whom he conceives as having then already begun a course of tyrannical
government. At the time, however, our author acquitted him of all
responsibility, on account of his youth.
11 ff. The swan was used as a badge by the duke of Gloucester and also
(perhaps not till after his death) by Henry of Lancaster. For the horse
and the bear as cognizances of Arundel and Warwick see _Annales Ricardi
II_ (Rolls Series, 28. 3), p. 206.
CRONICA TRIPERTITA
1. _Ista tripertita_, &c. These seven lines must be regarded as a
metrical preface to the Chronicle which follows. In the Hatton MS.
these lines with their marginal note are placed before the prose of
the preceding page (which is given in a somewhat different form) and
entitled ‘Prologus.’
PRIMA PARS
1. Take the first letter of ‘mundus’ and add to it C three times
repeated and six periods of five years, plus ten times five and
seven. The date thus indicated is MCCC + 30 + 57, i.e. 1387. For a
similar mode of expression cp. Richard of Maidstone’s poem on the
_Reconciliation of Richard II_ (Rolls Series, 14. 1),
‘M. cape, ter quoque C. deciesque novem, duo iunge.’
4-12. These lines are written over an erasure in SCHG. The original
version of them is not extant, so far as I am aware.
51. _Penna coronata._ This, as the margin tells us, is the Earl
Marshall, that is Thomas Mowbray, earl of Nottingham, afterwards duke
of Norfolk.
52. _Qui gerit S_: the earl of Derby, from whose badge of S, standing
probably for ‘Soverein,’ came the device of the well-known collar of
SS. His tomb has the word ‘Soverayne’ repeated several times on the
canopy.
55. _aquilonica luna_, ‘the northern moon,’ that is, the earl of
Northumberland. The variation of the text in the Harleian MS., written
over an erasure, arises no doubt from the later disagreement between
Henry IV and Northumberland.
58. _Troie_, i.e. London.
65. The earl of Oxford, lately created duke of Ireland, whose badge was
a boar’s head, was Chief Justice of Chester in this year, and there
raised forces for the king, with the assistance of Thomas Molyneux,
Constable of Chester, ‘cuius nutum tota illa provincia expectabat,’
Walsingham, ii. p. 167 (Rolls Series, 28. 2).
80. _Tetis_: see note on _Vox Clamantis_, vii. 1067: _a parte_ means
apparently ‘on one side,’ or perhaps ‘on the side of the victors.’
The place where this affair happened is not very well described by
the authorities, but it seems clear that the first attempt of the
earl of Oxford (or duke of Ireland) to cross the river was made at
Radcot (Knighton, Rolls Series, ii. 253). Here he found the bridge
partly broken, so that one horseman only could cross it at a time, and
guarded by men-at-arms and archers set there by the earl of Derby.
At the same time he was threatened with attack by the earl of Derby
himself on the one side and the duke of Gloucester on the other, both
apparently on the northern bank of the river. Walsingham says that he
went on to another bridge, and, finding this also guarded, plunged in
on horseback and escaped by swimming over the river. Knighton gives us
to understand that he was prevented by the appearance of the duke of
Gloucester’s force from making his way along the northern bank, and at
once plunged in and swam the stream, ‘et sic mirabili ausu evasit ab
eis.’ Walsingham adds that he was not pursued, because darkness had
come on (it was nearly the shortest day of the year) and they did not
know the country. This chronicler does not mention Radcot Bridge, but
refers to the place vaguely as ‘iuxta Burford, prope Babbelake.’ It
is impossible, however, that either the fight, such as it was, or the
escape of the earl of Oxford can have taken place at Bablock Hythe.
No doubt the lords returned to Oxford after the affair by this ferry,
which was probably the shortest way. The earl of Oxford seems to have
made his way to London, and after an interview with the king to have
embarked at Queenborough for the Continent (Malverne, in Rolls Series,
41. 9, p. 112).
89 ff. The marginal note speaks of the ‘castra, que ipse [Comes Oxonie]
familie sue pro signo gestanda attribuerat.’ The cognizance referred,
no doubt, to the city of Chester. The same note tells us that the duke
of Gloucester bore a fox-tail on his spear as an ensign: cp. Harding’s
Chronicle, p. 341:
‘The foxe taile he bare ay on his spere,
Where so he rode in peace or elles in warre.’
103. _Noua villa Macedo_, i.e. Alexander Neville: a very bad attempt on
the part of our author.
104. _maledixit._ The particular form of curse in this case was
translation to the see of S. Andrew, which he could not occupy because
Scotland was Clementine.
107. _Hic proceres odit_, &c. He is said to have especially urged the
king to take strong measures against Warwick (Malverne, p. 105).
109. _de puteo Michaelis_, ‘of Michael de la Pool.’ The same view of
the meaning of the name is taken in Shakspere, 2 _Henry VI_, iv. l.
70, by the murderer of William, duke of Suffolk, son of this Michael,
‘Pole, Pool, sir Pool, lord! Ay, kennel, puddle, sink.’
111 ff. This is Thomas Rushook, a Dominican, who was translated from
Llandaff to Chichester by the king’s special desire in 1385. He had
incurred much suspicion and odium as the king’s confessor and supposed
private adviser. Walsingham says, ‘ipse sibi conscius fugam iniit’
(ii. 172); but he certainly appeared at the bar of Parliament and was
sentenced to forfeiture of his goods (_Rot. Parl._ iii. 241, Malverne,
p. 156).
113. _ater_: alluding to his Dominican habit.
121 ff. Cp. Knighton, ii. 255 f. All the five Appellants seem to have
entered the Tower, but the three spoken of here are of course the three
leaders, referred to in l. 41 and afterwards. Knighton says that the
king invited the five to stay for the night, but only the earls of
Derby and Nottingham accepted the invitation. The fact that Gower here
assigns no political action to his hero the earl of Derby (who was
under twenty years old), but gives all the credit to the three leaders,
shows clearly that the young Henry played a very subordinate part.
131. _covnata_: that is, ‘co-unata,’ meaning ‘assembled.’
133 ff. Cp. Knighton, ii. 292.
141. _senecta._ Burley was then fifty-six years old.
142. This evidently means that the queen interceded for him; cp.
_Chronique de la Traïson_, p. 9. Walsingham tells us only that the
earl of Derby tried to save Simon Burley and quarrelled with his uncle
Gloucester on the subject. Burley had been the principal negotiator of
the marriage of Richard with Anne of Bohemia.
150. Walsingham says of him that he was ‘ab antiquo fallax et
fraudulentus.’
152. _Pons Aquilonis_, ‘Bridgenorth.’ Beauchamp was keeper of
Bridgenorth Castle (_Rot. Pat._, 10 Rich. II. pt. 2. m. 15), but it
does not appear from other sources that he had the title here given him
by Gower of ‘baron Bridgenorth.’ In 1387 he was made a peer by patent
(the first instance of this) under the title of lord Beauchamp of
Kidderminster.
154. _Tribulus_: i.e. Nicholas Brembel (so called by Gower), called
Brembul or Brembyl by Knighton, Brambre by Walsingham and Brembre or
de Brembre in the Patent Rolls and Rolls of Parliament. Presumably
he was of Brembre (Bramber), in the county of Sussex. He had been
Mayor of London last in 1386. Knighton says of him ‘quem saepius rex
fecerat maiorem praeter et contra voluntatem multorum ciuium’ (ii.
272), and Walsingham declares that he had planned a proscription of his
opponents, with a view to making himself absolute ruler of London with
the title of duke (ii. 174).
158 f. Though he was a knight, he was not dignified with the nobler
form of execution, being a citizen of London.
162. _Cornubiensis_: Sir Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice.
172. _falsa sigilla_: that is, the seals set by the judges to the
questions and replies submitted to them at Nottingham. ‘In quorum
omnium testimonium Iusticiarii et Serviens predicti sigilla sua
presentibus apposuerunt’ (_Rot. Parl._ iii. 233; cp. Knighton, ii.
237). They all pleaded that they had set their seals to these replies
under the influence of threats from the archbishop of York, the duke of
Ireland, and the earl of Suffolk.
173. _magis ansam_, ‘or rather a handle’ (i.e. a pretext). The reading
of the MSS. is doubtful (S apparently ‘ausam,’ but with a stop after
‘regi’). The form of expression is not unusual with our author.
174 f. ‘There was no punishment which would have been sufficient,’ &c.
176. _ficta pietate_: that is, what our author in the _Conf. Amantis_
calls ‘pite feigned,’ i.e. false or misplaced clemency.
176 ff. Knighton says that the queen interceded for them with the
prelates (ii. 295). For the intervention of the prelates see _Rot.
Parl._ iii. 241.
178 f. For the terms of their exile see _Rot. Parl._ iii. 244,
Knighton, ii. 295 f.
183. The sense of the preceding negative seems to be extended to this
line also.
188 ff. I do not know of any other authority for this expulsion of
friars.
200. _cantus_: apparently genitive in spite of the metre; so ‘ducatus,’
iii. 117, ‘excercitus,’ ‘luxus,’ _Vox Clamantis_, i. 609, vi. 1224.
215. _hirundo_: a reference to the name Arundel.
SECUNDA PARS
There is an interval of nearly ten years between the first and the
second part of the Chronicle. Our author proceeds to the events of
1397. He assumes that the king carried out a long-meditated plan of
vengeance, cp. ll. 23 ff., but this was of course an after-thought by
way of accounting for what happened.
15. A pardon was granted to all three in the Parliament of 1387-88,
‘par estatut’ (see _Rot. Parl._ iii. 350), and a special charter of
pardon was granted to the earl of Arundel at Windsor, April 30, 1394
(_Rot. Parl._ iii. 351; cp. _Ann. Ric. II_, p. 211). See below, ll.
259 f., where the charters of pardon are said to have been procured by
archbishop Arundel who was then Chancellor. It seems to be implied that
the other two had similar charters, but nothing is said of this in the
Rolls of Parliament; cp. _Eulog. Hist._ iii. 374.
56. Cp. _Ann. Ric. II_, p. 202 (Rolls Series, 28. 3) ‘iurans suo solito
iuramento, per sanctum Iohannem Baptistam, quod nihil mali pateretur in
corpore, si se pacifice reddere voluisset.’
69 f. In the _Annales Ricardi II_ it is definitely stated that
Warwick came to the king’s banquet and was arrested after it (p.
202). According to Gower’s account there was no banquet at all,
and Gloucester was arrested before Warwick; and this agrees with
the accounts given in the _Chronique de la Traïson_, p. 9, and by
Froissart, vol. xvi. p. 73 (ed. Lettenhove).
85 ff. From this account we should gather that the king officially
announced the death of the duke of Gloucester to parliament before it
had occurred; but this was not so. Parliament met on Sept. 17, and
on Sept. 21 a writ was sent in the king’s name to Calais, ordering
the earl of Nottingham to produce his prisoner. This was replied to,
under date Sept. 24, with the announcement that he was dead (_Rot.
Parl._ iii. 378). It is certain, however, that a report of the duke of
Gloucester’s death was circulated and generally believed in the month
of August, and equally certain that this was done with the connivance
of the king, who probably wished to try what effect the news would
produce upon the public mind. Sir William Rickhill, the justice who
was sent over to extract a confession from the duke of Gloucester,
received on Sept. 5 a commission from the king to proceed to Calais, no
purpose stated, the date of the commission being Aug. 17. On arrival
he was presented by the earl of Nottingham with another commission
from the king, also with date Aug. 17, directing him to examine the
duke of Gloucester. He expressed surprise, saying that the duke was
dead and that his death had been ‘notified’ to the people both at
Calais and in England. On the next day he saw the duke and received his
so-called confession (_Rot. Parl._ iii. 431). When this confession was
communicated to parliament, the date of it was suppressed, and things
were so arranged as to favour the opinion that the interview with
Rickhill took place between the 17th and 25th of August, the latter
being the accepted date of Gloucester’s death; cp. the article by Mr.
James Tait in the _Dict. of National Biography_, vol. lvi. pp. 157 f.
It is probable enough that the duke of Gloucester was still living when
parliament met, as Gower seems to imply. Unfortunately John Halle, who
confessed that he was present at the murder of the duke (_Rot. Parl._
iii. 453), gave no precise date. The statement of Gower that the king
waited until he had secured his condemnation, may mean only that he
satisfied himself of the temper of Parliament before taking the final
and irrevocable step.
101 ff. The body seems first to have been laid in the Priory of
Bermondsey: then it was buried by Richard’s command in Westminster
Abbey, but apart from the royal burial-place. Afterwards the body was
transferred by Henry IV to the place chosen by Gloucester himself,
between the tomb of Edward the Confessor and that of Edward III (Adam
of Usk, p. 39).
121 f. For the insults levelled against the earl of Arundel see _Ann.
Ric. II_, p. 215, Adam of Usk, p. 13.
With regard to the events of this parliament generally, it is worth
while here to observe that Adam of Usk must certainly be regarded as
a first-hand authority and his account as a contemporary one. It has
usually been assumed that, though he says himself that he was present
at the parliament (‘In quo parliemento omni die presensium compilator
interfuit’), he actually borrowed his account of it from the Monk of
Evesham. This assumption rests entirely on the statement of the editor
of Adam of Usk’s Chronicle, that he must have written later than 1415,
a statement which is repeated without question by Potthast, Gross, and
others. It may be observed, however, that the evidence adduced for this
late date is absolutely worthless. It is alleged first that Adam of
Usk near the beginning of his Chronicle alludes to the Lollard rising
in Henry V’s reign, whereas what he actually says is that the Lollards
planned an attack on Convocation, but were deterred by the resolute
measures of the archbishop of Canterbury, at the time of the second
parliament of Henry IV, that is the year 1401, when Convocation was
engaged in an endeavour to suppress the Lollards and the archbishop
procured the execution of William Sawtree; secondly we are told that
the chronicler refers (p. 55) to the death of the dauphin Louis, which
happened in 1415, whereas actually his reference is obviously to the
death of the dauphin Charles, which took place at the beginning of the
year 1402. Mr. James Tait in the _Dict. of National Biography_, vol.
xlviii. p. 157, has already indicated that an earlier date than 1415
is necessary, by his reference to p. 21 of the Chronicle, where the
chronicler speaks of Edmund earl of March as a boy not yet arrived at
puberty, which points to a date not later than 1405. It seems probable
that the Monk of Evesham had before him Adam of Usk’s journal of the
parliament of 1397, to which he made some slight additions from other
sources, introducing into his account a political colour rather more
favourable to Richard II. The close correspondence between them is
confined to the proceedings of this parliament at Westminster. It may
be added that the account given by Adam of Usk is full of graphic
details which suggest an eye-witness.
129. The pardon pleaded by the earl of Arundel had already been revoked
by parliament, therefore the plea was not accepted. From the attempts
made by the king to recover Arundel’s charter of pardon, even after his
execution (_Rot. Claus._ 21 Ric. II. pt 2, m. 18 d.), we may perhaps
gather that some scruples were felt about the revocation of it.
135 ff. Cp. _Annales Ric. II_, pp. 216 f.
155 f. _Annales Ric. II_, p. 219.
179 ff. _Rot. Parl._ iii. 380, _Annales Ric. II_, p. 220.
199 f. ‘Qu’il demureroit en perpetuel prison hors du Roialme en l’isle
de Man par terme de sa vie’ (_Rot. Parl._ iii. 380).
201 f. By the sentence upon the earl of Warwick all his property
was confiscated, but it is stated in the _Annales Ric. II_ (p. 220)
that a promise was made that he and his wife should have honourable
maintenance from the forfeited revenues, and that this promise was not
kept. Adam of Usk says that an income of 500 marks was granted to him
and his wife, but was never paid (p. 16).
217 f. It seems impossible to construe this, and I suspect that a line
has dropped out.
230. His sentence of death was commuted for that of exile to the isle
of Jersey (_Rot. Parl._ iii. 382).
231 f. So also below, l. 280, our author expresses a hope for the safe
return of the archbishop of Canterbury, who came back in company with
Henry of Lancaster; cp. 330 f., where a hope is expressed for future
vengeance on the king. Yet we can hardly suppose that this second part
of the Chronicle was actually written before the events of the third
part had come to pass. All that we can say is that the writer gives
to his narrative the semblance of having been composed as the events
happened. The return of Cobham is mentioned by him afterwards (iii.
262).
233 ff. Our author reserves the case of the archbishop to the last, as
a climax of the evil. He was actually sentenced on Sept. 25, before the
trial of the earl of Warwick (_Rot. Parl._ iii. 351). Sir John Cobham,
whose sentence is mentioned above, was not put on his trial till Jan.
28, when parliament was sitting at Shrewsbury.
242. That is, the court of Rome was bribed to consent to his
translation.
243. The title of his father, who was the second earl of Arundel, was
used by him as a surname.
267 ff. This seems to mean that other private reasons were alleged to
the Pope.
280. See note on l. 231.
326 f. An allusion to the campaign of 1380.
328 f. Referring especially to the very popular naval victory of
Arundel in 1387 (Walsingham, ii. 154).
340. That is, in the twenty-first year of the reign (1397).
TERCIA PARS
17. This comparison of Richard’s proceedings to the work of a mole
under the ground (see also l. 12, _margin_) is appropriate enough as a
description of the plot which he undoubtedly laid against the liberties
of the kingdom, but the comparison is perhaps chiefly intended to
suggest that Richard, and not Henry, was the ‘talpa ore dei maledicta’
of prophecy (Glendower’s ‘mould-warp’), cp. _Archaeologia_, xx. p. 258.
27 ff. This refers to the appointment of a committee with full powers
to deal with the petitions and other matters left unfinished in this
parliament. The committee consisted of twelve lords, of whom six
should be a quorum, and six commons, three to be a quorum: see _Rot.
Parl._ iii. 368, _Annales Ric. II_, p. 222[819]. The latter authority
accuses the king of altering the Rolls of Parliament ‘contra effectum
concessionis praedictae.’
35 ff. Cp. _Annales Ric. II_, p. 225.
47. _Que non audiuit auris_, &c. The same expression is used by Adam of
Usk about the king’s proceedings in this parliament at Shrewsbury (p.
17).
49 ff. These transactions are related, but not very intelligibly, in
the continuation of the _Eulogium Historiarum_, iii. 378. It seems
that the king summoned the archbishop and bishops to his Council
at Nottingham, and used their influence to obtain from the city of
London and the seventeen counties adjacent acknowledgements of guilt
and payments of money to procure pardon. After this the king ordered
that the archbishops, bishops, abbots, &c., and also the individual
citizens of towns, should set their seals to blank parchments, wherein
afterwards a promise to keep the statutes of the last parliament was
inscribed, to which it was supposed that the king intended to add
acknowledgements placing the persons in question and their property
at his own disposal: cp. Monk of Evesham, p. 147. These last are
the ‘blanche-chartres’ spoken of below called ‘blanke chartours’ in
Gregory’s Chronicle, p. 101, where the form of submission sent in by
the city of London, ‘in plesauns of the kynge and by conselle and helpe
of Syr Roger Walden, Archebischoppe of Cauntyrbury ande Syr Robert
Braybroke, Byschoppe of London,’ is given in full, pp. 98-100. See
also _Rot. Parl._ iii. 426, 432, where they are referred to as ‘les
Remembrances appellez Raggemans ou blanches Chartres.’
73. _pharisea_: that is, hypocritically submissive to the king.
77. _melior_: comparative for superlative; so ‘probacior,’ l. 79.
85 f. Gower attributes Henry’s exile to what was probably the true
cause, namely the king’s jealousy of his popularity and fear that he
might take the lead in opposition to the newly established arbitrary
system of government. The very occasion of the quarrel with the duke of
Norfolk, an allegation on the part of Henry that the duke of Norfolk
had warned him of danger from Richard and had said that the king could
not be trusted to keep his oaths, made it difficult to take more
summary measures against him at that moment. Indeed it seems probable
that the conversation was reported to the king with a view to obtain a
contradiction of the design imputed to him. Adam of Usk says definitely
that the king’s object in appointing the duel at Coventry was to get
rid of Henry, and that Richard had been assured by astrologers that the
duke of Norfolk would win; but that on seeing them in the lists he was
convinced that Henry would be the victor, and therefore he broke off
the duel and banished both, intending shortly to recall the duke of
Norfolk (p. 23). It is noteworthy that Gower makes no mention whatever
of the duke of Norfolk here.
128 (_margin_). It cannot of course be supposed that Henry embarked at
Calais. Probably he sailed from Boulogne. Froissart says that his port
of departure was Vannes in Brittany, but he expresses some uncertainty
about the matter, and his whole account here is hopelessly inaccurate
(xvii. 171, ed. Kervyn de Lettenhove).
137. _nepote_: that is Thomas, son of the late earl of Arundel; see l.
130, _margin_.
160 ff. The suggestion here that Richard foresaw the coming of Henry
and went to Ireland through fear of it, is of course absurd. At the
same time it is certain that he received warnings, and that in view of
these his expedition to Ireland was very ill-timed. The statement in
the margin, that he fatally wasted time in Ireland, is supported both
by the English annalists and by Creton. In the _Annales Ric. II_ we
read that a week was wasted by Richard’s hesitation as to the port from
which he should sail (p. 248), and Creton says that Richard was delayed
by the treacherous advice of the duke of Aumerle, who induced him to
leave the levying of troops in Wales to the earl of Salisbury and to
embark at his leisure at Waterford (_Archaeologia_, xx. 312). Nothing
is said of unfavourable winds in any of these authorities, except that
Creton observes that the news of Henry’s landing was delayed by the bad
weather (p. 309). Henry landed July 4, and Richard was in Wales before
the end of the month.
188. There is no authority for reading ‘sceleris’ in this line, as the
former editors have done. Presumably ‘sceleres’ is for ‘celeres,’ and
this form of spelling is found occasionally elsewhere in the MSS.,
as conversely ‘ceptrum’ frequently for ‘sceptrum.’ It is not easy to
translate the line, whatever reading we may adopt. It seems to mean
‘So in their ignorance they hesitate,’ (‘few show themselves quick in
action’).
205. _mundum nec abhorruit istum_, ‘nor renounced this world’: ‘istum,’
as usual, for ‘hunc.’
244. _Augusti mensis._ Richard left Flint on Aug. 19, and arrived in
London Sept. 2 (_Annales Ric. II_, p. 251).
256. _Humfredum natum_: that is Humphrey, the young son of the duke of
Gloucester. Richard had taken him to Ireland, and on hearing of the
landing of Henry had ordered him to be confined, together with young
Henry of Lancaster, in Trim castle (Walsingham, ii. 233).
272. _transit moriens._ He died apparently on the way back from
Ireland, in Anglesea according to Adam of Usk, who says that he was
poisoned (p. 28). Walsingham says that he died of ‘pestilence’ (ii.
242): cp. _Annales Henrici IV_, p. 321 (Rolls Series, 28. 3).
276. _Cignus_: apparently the young duke of Gloucester is here meant,
and it is not intended to state that he was killed by grief for the
loss of his father, but that his mother died of grief for him: cp.
_Annales Henrici IV_, p. 321.
286. _dies Martis_, Tuesday, Sept. 30. Richard’s renunciation was made
on Sept. 29 (_Rot. Parl._ iii. 416 ff.).
300 ff. The demise of the crown made new writs necessary, but the same
parliament met again six days later (Oct. 6).
310. _verbalis ... non iudicialis._ This appears to mean that the
proceedings were confined to a recital of the circumstances connected
with the deposition of Richard, and that no parliamentary business was
done until after the coronation, which took place on the next Monday,
Oct. 13.
332 ff. The threefold right is stated here by Gower in the same way as
by Chaucer:
‘O conquerour of Brutes Albioun,
Which that by lyne and free eleccioun
Ben verray kyng,’ &c.
In the margin, however, Gower places the right by conquest last, and
tempers the idea of it by the addition ‘sine sanguinis effusione.’
Henry’s challenge claimed the realm by descent through ‘right line of
blood’ (that is, apparently, setting aside descent through females, cp.
_Eulog. Hist. contin._ iii. 383) and by ‘that right which God of his
grace hath sent me ... to recover it’ (that is, by conquest). To these
was added the right conferred by parliamentary election. It is not at
all necessary to suppose that he relied on the legend about Edmund
Crouchback, which had been officially examined and rejected (Adam of
Usk, p. 30). His reference to Henry III may have been occasioned only
by the fact that he was himself of the same name, and would come to the
throne as Henry IV.
324. That is Oct. 13, the Translation of Edward the Confessor.
341. _augit._ This form is given by all the MSS.
352 ff. _Rot. Parl._ iii. 426.
364 ff. _Rot. Parl._ iii. 425.
368 ff. _Rot. Parl._ iii. 430 ff.
378 ff. _Rot. Parl._ iii. 449 ff.
384 ff. This refers to the fact that the dukes of Aumerle, Surrey,
and Exeter, the marquis of Dorset, and the earl of Gloucester, were
condemned to lose the titles of duke, marquis, and earl respectively.
The case of the earl of Salisbury was reserved for future decision by
combat with lord de Morley.
388 f. This seems clearly to imply that Bagot was eventually pardoned,
and this conclusion is confirmed by _Rot. Parl._ iii. 458 (overlooked
by the author of Bagot’s life in the _Dict. of National Biography_),
where there is record of a petition presented by the Commons for the
restoration of his lands (Feb. 1401), which seems to have been granted
by the king.
394 ff. This is confirmed by Walsingham, ii. 242, and _Annales Henrici
IV_, p. 320.
402 f. Holland and Kent are the former dukes of Exeter and Surrey, now
earls of Huntingdon and Kent. Spenser is the former earl of Gloucester.
417 f. Kent and Salisbury were put to death by the populace at
Cirencester, and Despenser at Bristol. The earl of Huntingdon was
captured and irregularly executed in Essex.
420 ff. For the feeling in London cp. _Chronique de la Traïson_, pp.
92, 93.
432 ff. The statement here is not that Richard deliberately starved
himself to death on hearing of the failure of the rising and the death
of his associates, but that he lost hope and courage and could not eat,
‘quod vix si prandia sumit, Aut si sponte bibit vinum,’ and that he
desired the death which came to him. This is not an incredible account,
and it is fairly in accordance with the best evidence. Most of the
contemporary authorities give starvation as the cause, or one of the
causes, of death, and the account of it given in our text agrees with
that of Walsingham (ii. 245), _Annales Henrici IV_, p. 330, _Eulog.
Hist. contin._ iii. 387. The Monk of Evesham mentions this commonly
accepted story, but thinks it more probable that he was starved
involuntarily: ‘Aliter tamen dicitur et verius, quod ibidem fame
miserabiliter interiit,’ and this is also the assertion of the Percies’
proclamation (Harding’s Chronicle, ed. Ellis, p. 352). Creton says,
‘Apres le roy de ces nouvelles,
Qui ne furent bonnes ne belles,
En son cuer print de courroux tant,
Que depuis celle heure en avant
Oncques ne menga ne ne but,
Ains covint que la mort recut,
Comme ilz dient; maiz vrayement
Je ne croy pas ensement:’
and he proceeds to say that he rather believes that Richard is
still alive in prison (_Archaeologia_, xx. p. 408). Adam of Usk (p.
41) says that Richard was brought almost to death by grief and the
disappointment of his hopes, but that his death was partly caused
by the scantiness of the food supplied to him. The _Chronique de la
Traïson_ tells the story about Piers Exton, which was afterwards
commonly accepted by historians, but this was certainly not current at
the time in England.
462 ff. The epithet ‘pius,’ which Gower attaches to Henry’s name in
this passage, means in his mouth ‘merciful,’ and in the margin the
‘pietas’ of the new king is contrasted with the ‘cruelty’ of Richard,
the vice to which Gower chiefly attributes his fall. There is no doubt
that the execution of Arundel and the murder of Gloucester (or the
popular opinion that he had been murdered) produced a very sinister
impression, and caused a general feeling of insecurity which was very
favourable to Henry’s enterprise. It is true also that Henry showed
himself scrupulously moderate at first in his dealings with political
opponents. Gower expresses the state of things pretty accurately, when
he says below:
‘R. proceres odit et eorum predia rodit,
H. fouet, heredesque suas restaurat in edes;
R. regnum vastat vindex et in omnibus astat,
Mulset terrorem pius H., que reducit amorem.’
486. This is a perilously near approach to the Wycliffite doctrine.
REX CELI ETC. (p. 343)
This piece is here connected by its heading with the _Cronica
Tripertita_, but it occurs also in the Glasgow MS. independently and
in the Trentham MS. as a sequel to the poem _In Praise of Peace_, with
the following in place of the present heading, ‘Explicit carmen de
pacis commendacione.... Et nunc sequitur epistola, in qua idem Iohannes
pro statu et salute dicti domini sui apud altissimum deuocius exorat.’
The poem itself is an adaptation of the original version of _Vox
Clamantis_, vi. cap. 18: see vol. iii. p. 554.
H. AQUILE PULLUS ETC. (p. 344)
The word ‘Prophecia’ in the margin seems to be intended to recall the
supposed prophecy of Merlin about the ‘filius (or pullus) aquilae’
(_Archaeol._ xx. p. 257, Adam of Usk’s Chronicle, p. 133).
These four lines immediately follow the _Cronica Tripertita_ in the
Glasgow and Hatton MSS., and are themselves followed by two quotations
from the Psalms (lxxxviii. 23, xl. 3):
‘Nichil proficiet inimicus in eo, et filius iniquitatis non apponet
nocere ei.’
‘Dominus conseruet eum, et viuificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in
terra, et non tradat cum in animam inimicorum eius.’
In the Trentham MS. we have the lines ‘H. aquile pullus,’ and the above
quotations, subjoined to the first eight lines of ‘O recolende,’ as
part of the dedication of the _Cinkante Balades_: see vol. i. p. 336.
1. _aquile pullus_: Henry is called so because his father was named
John and used the eagle as one of his cognisances: cp. Adam of Usk,
p. 24, ‘pullus aquile, quia filius Iohannis.’ The reference is to a
prophecy, one form of which is quoted by the editor of Adam of Usk’s
Chronicle, p. 133. For the use of the eagle by John of Gaunt see
Sandford’s _Genealogical History_, p. 249.
2. _colla._ The reading of S may be supported by reference to _Vox
Clamantis_, vi. 876, where our author in borrowing from the _Aurora_
substitutes ‘bella’ for ‘corda’ or ‘colla.’
3. _aquile ... oleum_: this is the oil produced for Henry’s coronation,
which was said to have been miraculously delivered to Thomas à Becket
in a vial enclosed within an eagle of gold, and deposited by him in
the church of St. Gregory at Poitiers. It was said to have been
brought to England by Henry, first duke of Lancaster, and to have been
delivered by him to the Black Prince. Thus it came into the possession
of Richard II, who is said to have worn it constantly about his neck.
He had desired to be re-anointed with this oil, but archbishop Arundel
had refused to perform the ceremony (_Annales Henrici IV_, pp. 297-300,
_Eulog. Hist. contin._ iii. 380).
O RECOLENDE, ETC. (p. 345)
The first eight lines of this appear in the Trentham MS. in combination
with ‘H. aquile pullus’ as part of the dedication of the _Cinkante
Balades_.
16 ff. For ‘pietas,’ ‘pius,’ see note on _Cronica Tripertita_, iii. 462.
CARMEN SUPER MULTIPLICI VICIORUM PESTILENCIA (p. 346)
‘Putruerunt et corrupte sunt,’ &c. This is in fact a quotation from
the Psalms, ‘Putruerunt et corruptae sunt cicatrices meae a facie
insipientiae meae,’ xxxvii. 6. (xxxviii. 5).
32. _quasi Iouiniani._ Already in the _Vox Clamantis_ we have had
reference to the ‘new Jovinian’ who is a sower of heresy (vi. 1267),
and the person meant is no doubt Wycliffe. Jovinian, the opponent of
Jerome on the marriage question, is taken as a type of the ecclesiastic
of lax principles. Milman calls Jovinian and Vigilantius ‘premature
Protestants’ (_History of Christianity_, Bk. III. ch. iv).
36. _sub grossa lana_: an allusion perhaps to the simple russet garb of
Wycliffe’s poor priests.
52 ff. Cp. _Vox Clamantis_, ii. 437 ff., whence many of these lines are
taken, e.g. 54-57, 60-77.
54. _mortis ymago_: that is, the mortal creature.
86. ‘time’ was probably written originally for ‘stude’ in SCH, as
well as in F, but it was perceived perhaps that ‘reuereri,’ which was
required for the rhyme, would not stand as an imperative. Similarly in
line 88 ‘Que fantasias aliter tibi dant’ stood no doubt originally in
SCH, and was altered for grammatical reasons.
181 f. This couplet is repeated from _Vox Clamantis_, vi. 861 f.
190. _quam prius_, for ‘prius quam,’ as frequently: cp. ll. 202, 292.
199. This line is from Ovid, _Metam._ vii. 826, ‘Credula res amor est,’
&c., and is quite without sense as it stands here: cp. _Vox Clamantis_,
v. 165.
203 f. 1 Cor. vi. 18.
246 ff. Cp. _Vox Clamantis_, vi. 445 ff.
250. _semel nisi_, i.e. ‘once only’ for ‘non nisi semel’: cp. _Vox
Clamantis_, iii. 22.
312. _bis deno Ricardi regis in anno._ The twentieth year of Richard II
is from June 22, 1396 to the same date of 1397. The arrests of Arundel
and Gloucester took place in the first few days of the twenty-first
year.
DE LUCIS SCRUTINIO (p. 355)
The Ecton MS. (E) gives a different form of the marginal notes, as
follows: 6. Nota de luce prelatorum et curatorum. 18. Nota
de luce professorum. 30. Nota de luce regum. 44. Nota de
luce procerum. 51. Nota de luce militum. 58. Nota de luce
legistarum et causidicorum. 67. Nota de luce mercatorum.
79. Nota de luce vulgari in patria. 89. Nota quod Iohannes Gower
auctor huius libri hic in fine tenebras deplangens pro luce optinenda
deum exorat.
25 ff. See _Praise of Peace_, 225 ff.
64 f. Cp. _Vox Clamantis_, v. 703.
91 ff. The language is of course figurative: we must not assume that
the author is referring to any physical blindness.
ECCE PATET TENSUS ETC. (p. 358)
This piece is found in the Trentham MS. f. 33 v^o, following the
_Cinkante Balades_. It is probably imperfect at the end, the manuscript
having lost the next leaf.
25. _que naturatur_, &c., ‘which is irresistibly disposed to that
which is unlawful.’ This seems to be the meaning, but it is awkwardly
expressed.
EST AMOR ETC. (p. 359)
This piece occurs also in combination with the _Traitié_: see vol. i.
p. 392. For the substance of it cp. _Vox Clamantis_, v. 53 ff.
QUIA VNUSQUISQUE ETC. (p. 360)
The form given by G is practically identical with that of the Fairfax
MS. That of the text, as given by SCH, varies from it in the first
paragraph, where it adopts the wording found in the second recension
copies, BTA. See vol. iii. pp. 479 and 550.
10. The word ‘meditantis’ is written over an erasure in G.
11 ff. This paragraph, as finally rewritten, seems intended to
include the _Cronica Tripertita_ as a sequel to the _Vox Clamantis_:
cp. p. 313, where in the note which connects the two works language
is used very similar to that which we have here. The author in his
retrospective view of Richard’s reign has brought himself to feel that
the earlier calamities were a divine warning, by the neglect of which
the later evils and the final catastrophe had been brought about. It
has already been pointed out (vol. iii. p. 550) that in the Fairfax MS.
this account of the author’s books is completely separated from the
text of the _Confessio Amantis_ and is written in a later hand, the
same in fact which we have here in the All Souls MS.
ENEIDOS BUCOLIS ETC. (p. 361)
These lines, which Gower says were kindly sent to him by ‘a certain
philosopher’ (not ‘quidam Philippus,’ as printed by the Roxburghe
editor) on the completion of his three books, are found also at the end
of the Fairfax MS. The author is probably the same as that of the four
lines ‘Quam cinxere freta,’ &c., appended to the _Confessio Amantis_,
which are called ‘Epistola super huius opusculi sui complementum
Iohanni Gower a quodam philosopho transmissa.’ I have ventured on the
conjecture that this philosopher was in fact Ralph Strode, whom Chaucer
couples with Gower in the last stanza of _Troilus_ with the epithet
‘philosophical,’ and of whom we know by tradition that he wrote elegiac
verse.
O DEUS IMMENSE ETC. (p. 362)
There is no reason why the heading should not be from the hand of
the author, though added of course somewhat later than the date of
composition. The phrase ‘adhuc viuens’ or ‘dum vixit’ does not seem to
be any objection to this. It is used with a view to future generations,
and occurs also in the author’s account of his books (p. 360, l. 4).
2. _morosi_: opposed here to ‘viciosi’; cp. l. 57 and _Epistola_ (p.
1), l. 33.
7. _foret_, ‘ought to be.’
19. Isaiah xxxiii. 1.
49. Cp. _Traitié_, xv. 7, &c.
62. _habet speciale_, ‘keeps as a secret.’
74. _recoletur_: apparently meant for subjunctive.
QUICQUID HOMO SCRIBAT, ETC. (p. 365)
Of the three forms given here we must suppose that of the Trentham MS.
to be the earliest. It is decidedly shorter than the others, it has
no prose heading, and it names the first year of Henry IV in such a
manner that we may probably assign it to that year. The poet’s eyesight
had then failed to such an extent that it was difficult for him any
longer to write; but complete blindness probably had not yet come on,
and he does not yet use the word ‘cecus.’ Of the other two forms it
is probable that that given by S is the later, if only because the
precise date is omitted and the very diffuse heading restrained within
reasonable limits. S, it is true, ends with this piece, while CHG have
the later pieces; but these were probably added as they were composed,
and the All Souls book may have been presented to archbishop Arundel
before the last poems were written.
This concluding piece is written in S in the same hand as the
_Epistola_ at the beginning of the book, the heading apparently
over the writing of another hand, some parts as ‘dicitur,’ l. 2,
‘tripertita--tempore,’ 2, 3, being obviously over erasure. The
original hand remains for ‘est qualiter ab illa Cronica que,’ ‘in
Anglia--rerum,’ ‘varia carmina--quia.’
ORATE PRO ANIMA ETC. (p. 367)
I have no doubt that this exhortation was set down by Gower himself,
who had probably arranged before his death for the promised indulgence,
following the principle laid down in the last poem of the collection,
of being his own executor in such matters. The verses ‘Armigeri
scutum,’ &c., which are appended in the Glasgow MS. were originally
upon his tomb, and they have every appearance of being his own
composition: cp. p. 352, ll. 217 ff. Berthelette after describing the
tomb says, ‘And there by hongeth a table, wherin appereth that who so
euer praith for the soule of John Gower, he shall, so oft as he so
dothe, haue a thousande and fyue hundred dayes of pardon.’
PRESUL, OUILE REGIS, ETC. (p. 368)
This is evidently addressed to archbishop Arundel. The comet referred
to is no doubt that of March, 1402. The evils complained of are the
conspiracies against the king, and we are told by the chroniclers that
the appearance of this comet in the north was taken as a presage of the
troubles in Wales and in Northumberland: cp. Walsingham, ii. 248. Adam
of Usk, who saw it when on the Continent, says it was visible by day as
well as by night, and that it probably prefigured the death of the duke
of Milan, whose arms were also seen in the sky (p. 73).
DICUNT SCRIPTURE ETC. (p. 368)
5. The neglect complained of is of prayers for the soul of the
departed. Gower seems to have followed his own precept and made
arrangements for some of the prayers in his lifetime, though others are
provided for by his will. Berthelette in his preface to the _Confessio
Amantis_ (1532) speaks of Gower’s place of burial as having been
prepared by himself in the church of St. Mary Overes, ‘where he hath of
his owne foundation a masse dayly songe. And more ouer he hath an obyte
yerely done for hym within the same churche, on fryday after the feaste
of the blessed pope saynte Gregory.’ St. Gregory’s day is March 12.
FOOTNOTE:
[819] Dr. Stubbs says that the earls of Worcester and Wiltshire
were appointed to represent the clergy on this commission, as on
that mentioned _Rot. Parl._ iii. 360, which consists of the same
persons; but the official record is as given above, and the commission
afterwards acted on its powers without requiring the presence of either
of these two lords (_Rot. Parl._ iii. 369).
GLOSSARY
The Glossary is not intended as a complete record of Gower’s Latin
vocabulary. It is a list of words which are unclassical in form or
usage, or seem to present some difficulty, with select references and
occasional explanations. Regular differences of spelling, such as _e_
for _ae_ and _ci_ for _ti_ are passed over without notice. The Roman
numbers without letters prefixed indicate books of the _Vox Clamantis_,
Ep. stands for the _Epistola_ at the beginning of the volume, C. T.
for _Cronica Tripertita_, V. P. for _Carmen super multiplici Viciorum
Pestilencia_, L. S. for _Tractatus de Lucis Scrutinio_, and the other
pieces are represented by their opening words. A few references only
are given, and common usages are illustrated chiefly from the first
book of the _Vox Clamantis_.
A
=abbas=, _s._ iii. 379.
=abhominacio=, _s._ C. T. iii. 33.
=abhorreo=, _v. a._ i. 1084, shrink from, i. 1020*, be repulsive to;
=abhorret= _as subj._ vii. 186.
=abinde=, _adv._ C. T. i. 199, iii. 4.
=abintus=, _adv._ i. 2056.
=abissus=, _s._ i. 345.
=abortus=, &c. _for_ ‘obortus,’ &c. i. 885.
=absto=, _v._ ii. 9, cease to exist.
=accidia=, _s._ vii. 817, sloth.
=accidiosus=, _a._ iii. 2069, vii. 817 ff., slothful.
=Acephalus=, iii. 956, iv. 715.
=acra=, _a. f. sing._ and _n. pl._, iii. 1162, C. T. ii. 27.
=Actĕon=, i. 446.
=actrix=, _s._ i. 763.
=adhero=, _v._ vii. 1296.
=aera=, _s. nom. sing._, iii. 831 (_also_ =aer=, e.g. iii. 837).
=Āgamĕnon=, i. 988.
=agon=, _s._ i. 1124, C. T. iii. 464, contest, action.
=alba=, _s._ iii. 1787, alb.
=aliqualis=, _a._ i. 486, (not) any.
=aliquis=, _for_ ‘quisquam,’ i. 261.
=alter= (= different) i. 21.
=altero=, _v. a._ i. 534, change.
=ambassiător=, _s._ C. T. iii. 107.
=ammodo= (=amodo=), _adv._ i. 196, 495, 2146, henceforth, now.
=amurca=, _s._ i. 359, scum.
=ancer=, _for_ ‘anser,’ i. 518.
=angelicus=, _a._ iii. 283.
=ab ante=, _adv._ i. 1355.
=Anthĕnor=, i. 963.
=antifrasis= _s._ vii. 507, contradiction.
=antitodum=, _s._ vi. 828, antidote.
=aperculus=, _s._ i. 305.
=apex=, _s._ vii. 746, letter, vii. 1076, crown.
=āpocapatus=, _a._ iv. 354, cut short.
=āpocapē=, _s._ v. 820, cutting short.
=apostata=, _s._ iv. 289, 973.
=appello=, _v._ C. T. ii. 77 ff., accuse.
=approprio= (=aproprio=), _v. a._ i. 198.
=aproprio=, _see_ =approprio=.
=aquilonicus=, _a._ C. T. i. 55, northern.
=ăra=, _for_ ‘hara,’ i. 306, 369.
=arătrum=, _s._ i. 249, 283.
=archanum=, _for_ ‘arcanum,’ V. P. 64.
=architesis=, _s._ v. 45, (?).
=ardeo=, _v. a._ i. 325.
=artes=, i. 474, _see Notes_.
=assessus=, _pp._ vi. 425, prepared.
=assisa=, _s._ vi. 426, assise.
=asto=, _v._ v. 96, 100, vi. 26, be.
=Āthenis=, _abl. pl._ v. 1011.
=auca=, _s_ i. 549, goose.
=augo=, _v. a._ C. T. iii. 341 (_also_ =augeo=, as ‘Rex celi’ &c. 45).
=Augustīnensis=, _a._ C. T. ii. 153.
B
=Bachus=, _for_ ‘Bacchus,’ i. 949.
=bāro=, _s._ C. T. 152, =băro=, ‘O recolende’ &c. 10.
=bassus=, _a._ i. 523, C. T. ii. 104, low.
=bercarius=, _s._ iii. 1761, shepherd.
=biblea=, _s._ V. P. 182 (_also_ =biblia=, vi. 862).
=biceps=, _a._ i. 227, two-edged.
=blădum=, _s._ i. 318, corn-crop.
=Boētes=, _for_ ‘Boōtes,’ i. 139.
=bombizo=, _v._ i. 811, buzz.
=botrus=, _s._ ii. 219, bunch of grapes.
=brauium=, _s._ iv. 847, prize.
=bruchus=, _s._ i. 603, caterpillar.
C
=Cālĭsia=, C. T. ii. 47, =Calisie= (_pl._), C. T. iii. 133, Calais.
=Cāmĕlion=, _s._ iv. 826.
=camera=, _s._ i. 471, chamber.
=cānon=, _s._ iv. 359, rule.
=cānonicus=, _s._ iv. 359.
=Cāpanĕus=, i. 985.
=capitale=, _s._ iii. 1801, head-dress.
=capitaneus=, _s._ i. 921, captain.
=capitatus=, _a._ iv. 839, (?).
=capitosus=, _a._ ‘Est amor’ &c. 4, headstrong.
=capitulum=, _s._ chapter.
=captiuo=, _v._ C. T. ii. 70, arrest.
=carecta=, i. 285, cart.
=caribdis=, _for_ ‘Charybdis,’ C. T. iii. 23.
=carta=, _s._ C. T. ii. 16, charter.
=catallum=, _s._ C. T. i. 144, _pl._ C. T. i. 22, property.
=catasta=, _s._ i. 682, cage.
=cathena=, _for_ ‘catena,’ i. 400.
=cātus=, _s._ C. T. i. 25, cat.
=causo=, _v._ i. 1072.
=cautela=, _s._ vi. 29, trick.
=celsithronus=, i. 2068.
=celsitonans=, i. 26.
=ceptrum=, _for_ ‘sceptrum,’ iii. 579.
=Cerem=, _for_ ‘Cererem,’ v. 812.
=cerpo=, _for_ ‘serpo,’ iii. 1963.
=cessit=, _for_ ‘cessat,’ Ep. 11.
=Chaÿm=, i. 1117, Cain.
=choruscho=, _for_ ‘corusco,’ i. 23.
=cicius=, _adv._ i. 846, iv. 207, rather.
=ciclus=, _s._ ii. 241, cycle.
=Cilla=, _for_ ‘Scylla,’ i. 1951.
=ciniphes=, _s._ i. 603, (?).
=citharistĕus=, _a._ vii. 753, of the harp.
=clamo=, i. 2, iv. 1330, claim.
=clarifico=, _v._ ii. 560, C. T. i. 188.
=clata=, _s._ v. 809, pillory (?).
=claustralis=, _s._ iv. 273, 828, monk;
_a._ L. S. 15.
=claustrum=, _s._ iii. 379, cloister.
=clerus=, _s._ iii. 1.
=cognicior=, _a. comp._ i. 1112.
=colonis=, _s._ i. 1876, vii. 1261.
=comitissa=, _s._ C. T. ii. 203, countess.
=comitiua=, _s._ C. T. iii. 139, company.
=compacior=, _v._ i. 1330, 1545, iv. 272, sympathize (with).
=compotus=, _s._ iii. 1397, account.
=concerno=, _v._ v. 127, look at.
=concito=, _adv._ i. 1955, quickly.
=concomitor=, _v._ vi. 786.
=condignum=, _s._ iii. 1564, desert.
=condignus=, _a._ iv. 556, suitable.
=confero=, _v. n._ i. 360, ii. 311, be of use;
_refl._ i. 207, suit.
=confrater=, _s._ iv. 63, brother in religion.
=congaudeo=, i. 97, C. T. iii. 148, 245.
=congradior=, _for_ ‘congredior,’ i. 308.
=conroto=, _v._ i. 1194, whirl about.
=consiliaris=, _s._ ‘O deus’ &c. 13.
=consiliator=, _s._ ‘O deus’ &c. 33.
=constellacio=, _s._ i. 141.
=construo=, iii. 998, 1237.
=contemplor=, _v. pass._ Ep. 4.
=contritus=, _a._ C. T. iii. 206.
=coppa=, _s._ i. 545, hen.
=corditer=, _adv._ C. T. iii. 315, heartily.
=cordula=, _s._ iv. 509, string (of a musical instrument).
=cornuto=, _v._ i. 245, push with horns.
=corona=, iii. 1763, 2104, tonsure.
=corrodium=, _s._ iv. 215, _see Notes_.
=cōtĭdianus=, _a._ ii. 164.
=co-vnatus=, _a._ C. T. i. 131, assembled.
=crapulus=, _s._ i. 280, _see Notes_.
=crasso=, _v._ iii. 122, iv. 71, fatten.
=Cristicola=, iii. 310, Christian.
=crōnica=, _s._ i. 670, C. T. iii. 489, chronicle, record.
=crucifer=, _s._ i. 1087, cross-bearer.
=cumque=, _for_ ‘cum,’ i. 119, iii. 545, 958, vii. 872.
=cupero=, _v._ for ‘recupero,’ v. 214.
=cura=, _s._ iii. 1315 ff. cure of souls.
=curatus=, _s._ iii. 1322, parish priest.
=curo=, _v._ iii. 1344, have a cure of souls.
=cy̆nōmia=, _s._ i. 1603, dog-fly (κυνόμυια) (?).
D
=Dauiticus=, _a._ iii. 365, of David.
=de=, _prep._ Ep. 35, i. 14, 101, 115, 202, 230, 244, 392, 430, 523,
614, 868, 872, 1240, &c. with, by reason of, for the sake of.
=decapito=, _v._ i. 836, C. T. i. 184.
=decasus=, ii. 30, vii. 1242, fall.
=decaudo=, _v._ v. 819, curtail.
=dēcimo=, _v._ v. 785, take tithe.
=decōro=, _v._ vii. 595.
=dedico=, _v._ iii. 943, refuse.
=dedignosus=, _a._ ‘Est amor’ &c. 11.
=defendo=, _v._ v. 719, forbid.
=deforis=, _adv._ i. 63, outside.
=deliciosus=, _a._ i. 196.
=demon=, _s._ i. 301.
=denărius=, _s._ v. 760.
=denaturo=, _v._ i. 979, v. 637, degenerate, misbehave.
=dentale=, _s._ i. 283, ploughshare.
=depenno=, _v._ C. T. ii. 315.
=derogo=, _v._ vi. 29, obtain.
=desuper=, _adv._ i. 96, vii. 678. &c. on high.
=deuiolo=, _v._ iv. 676.
=dextrarius=, _s._ i. 639, steed.
=a dextris=, i. 31.
=dieta=, _s._ C. T. i. 58, iii. 157.
=digito=, _v. a._ iii. 1004, lay finger to.
=disproprio=, _v._ iii. 680, cast aside.
=dissoluo=, _v._ vii. 549, spread out.
=distancia=, _s._ i. 965, difference.
=ditescere=, _v. a._ ii. 607, C. T. iii. 119, enrich.
=diuarico=, _v. a._ ii. 612, vii. 474, vary.
=diŭturnus=, _a._ i. 219.
=doleum=, _s._ _for_ ‘dolium,’ v. 777.
=dominati=, _s. pl._ iii. 297, ‘dominions.’
=dompnus=, _s._ iv. 34, 323 ff., _see Notes_.
=dorsa=, _s._ i. 409, back.
=dubitatus=, _a._ i. 1561, doubtful.
=ducatus=, _s._ C. T. iii. 117, dukedom.
=ductilis=, _a._ iii. 1091, guiding; cp. i. 930.
=dummodo=, _for_ ‘dum,’ Ep. 11.
=dumque=, _for_ ‘dum,’ Ep. 23, i. 165, 806, iii. 366, iv. 266.
E
=eccho=, _for_ ‘echo,’ i. 376.
=ecclĕsia=, _s._ iii. 293, C. T. i. 104.
=eclipsis=, _s._ C. T. i. 60.
=econtra=, _adv._ i. Prol. 5, on the other hand.
=econuerso=, _adv._ ii. 102.
=edus=, _for_ ‘haedus,’ iv. 693.
=elemōsyna=, _s._ iv. 263, alms.
=elongo=, _v._ ii. 308, v. 99.
=enim=, _with relat. pron._ vi. 740, 1238, cp. vii. 372, indeed.
=ephot=, _s._ i. 1080.
=esse=, _inf. as subst._ ii. 437, 512, ‘Rex celi’ &c. 7.
=Ethna=, C. T. ii. 207.
=euinco=, _v._ vii. 67, acquire (?).
=ex=, _prep._ i. 97, 156, 522, 881, 1334, because of, by means of,
by, away from.
=excercitus=, _for_ ‘exercitus,’ i. 609.
=excetra=, ii. Prol. 51, serpent (?).
=executor=, _s._ p. 368 _marg._, executor of the dead.
=exemplicor=, _v._ vii. 925, warn by example.
=exennia=, _s. pl._ vi. 63, gifts.
=exilium=, _s._ i. 455, destruction.
=explanto=, _v._ C. T. iii. 255, root out.
=expresse=, _adv._ ‘Vnanimes esse’ &c. 2.
=exquo=, _conj._ ii. cap. xi. (_heading_), since.
=extasis=, _s._ i. 1470, v. 138.
=extenta=, iii. 942, (?).
=exto=, _v._ i. 421, 433, be.
F
=falco=, _s._ i. 521, C. T. ii. 51.
=fatatus=, _pp._ C. T. iii. 356, fated.
=fāuus=, _s._ ii. Prol. 77 (_but_ =făuus=, vi. 900).
=febricitor=, _v._ iv. 64, be fevered.
=fero=, _v._ i. 164, 365, 724, 1200, 1202, find, obtain, experience,
direct.
=fīdŭcia=, _s._ vi. 336.
=figmentum=, _s._ vii. 1139, formation.
=florigeratus=, _a._ vi. 1365, flowery.
=forma=, _s._ iii. 1413, dignity.
=formalis=, _a._ iii. 1443, dignified.
=fortifico=, _v._ ii. Prol. 81.
=fortītudo=, _s._ i. 1095.
=fossum=, _s._ i. 348, pitfall.
=frăgro=, _v._ i. 61.
=frendeo=, _v._ i. 337, roar.
=fugat=, _subj. for_ ‘fuget,’ iii. 1498, vi. 1066.
=furiens=, _for_ ‘furens,’ i. 777, 843, 1190.
=furo=, _v. a._ i. 853, 2106, stir up, infuriate
(_also v. n._ i. 245, &c.).
G
=gaiolis=, _s._ (_abl. pl._) i. cap. vi. (_heading_), gaols.
=garcio=, _s._ vii. 264, apprentice.
=geba=, _s._ iii. 86, _see Notes_.
=gehenna=, _s._ i. 431, 1377, C. T. ii. 2.
=genuflexus=, _a._ ‘Rex celi’ &c. 53.
=gerarchīa=, _s._ iii. 300, hierarchy.
=Gereon=, _for_ ‘Geryon,’ i. 447.
=gibbosus=, _a._ vii. 1455.
=girovago=, _v._ i. 124, wander about.
=gladiatus=, _pp._ iii. 366, armed with a sword.
=glosa=, _s._ iii. 941, ‘Est amor’ &c. 1, comment, explanation.
=graculus=, _s._ i. 681, jay.
=grauo=, _v._ n. vii. 1455, be an offence.
=grisus=, _a._ v. 797, grey.
=grossor=, _v._ _perh. for_ ‘grassor,’ vii. 167.
=grossus=, _a._ i. 251, coarse.
=guerra=, _s._ i. 2027, ii. 76, war.
=gutta=, i. 70, gum.
H
=habeo=, _v._ vii. 990, 1047, 1148, must, ought.
=habundo=, _v. n._ i. 17, increase.
=Hănibal=, vi. 1289.
=Hēlĕnus, Hĕlĕnus=, i. 1002, 1153.
=Herebus=, _for_ ‘Erebus,’ i. 741.
=herĕmis=, _s._ ii. 261, desert.
=heremita=, _s._ V. P. 300, hermit.
=heresis=, _s._ V. P. 32.
=hēri=, _adv._ i. 245, yesterday, (=hĕri=, iii.
1379).
=hic=, _for_ ‘is’ _or_ ‘ille,’ i. 475, 501, 676.
=Hispannia=, i. 447.
=holocaustum=, _s._ i. 1854, sacrifice.
=humerale=, _s._ iii. 1799, vestment worn on the shoulders.
I
=Iăsōnis=, _genit._ i. 263.
=idipsum=, ii. 585.
=igniuomus=, _a._ i. 1713.
=Ihĕsus=, ii. 485, &c.
=illiceber=, _a._ vi. cap. xii. (_heading_), alluring.
=illicebrum=, _s. for_ ‘illecebra,’ vi. 854, allurement.
=illuc=, _for_ ‘illic,’ i. 57.
=imperialis=, _a._ C. T. iii. 458, royal.
=incantatus=, _pp._ iv. 799, C. T. ii. 13, charmed, deluded.
=incaustum=, _s._ ii. 1, ink.
=inchola=, _for_ ‘incola,’ i. 1215.
=incircumspectus=, _a._ i. 907, incautious.
=ineternum=, _adv._ i. 1756, ‘Rex celi’ &c. 6.
=infernus=, _s._ i. 430, 748, hell.
=inficio=, _v._ iv. 236, unmake (_also_ taint, pollute, iv. 438, &c.).
=infra=, _prep._ C. T. ii. 95 (_marg._), iii. 401 (_marg._), within:
=ab infra=, =ad infra=, i. 2011, v. 167.
=ingluuies=, _s._ i. 1907, flow, (?).
=inmunis=, _a._ vi. 1307, innocent.
=inquiĕto=, _v._ vii. 892.
=insulcatus=, _pp._ i. 1649, (?).
=interius=, _comp. n. as subst._ i. Prol. 12, 1361.
=interuter=, _a._ ii. 188, each in turn (?).
=intitulo=, _v._ i. 126, vii. 158, take possession of (?).
=ioco=, _v. a._ ii. 188, C. T. ii. 181, mock at, greet with smiles.
=iota=, _s._ vii. 746.
=ipse=, _for_ ‘ille,’ i. 94, 239, 754;
_redundant_, i. 852, 864.
=irracio=, _s._ i. 178, unreason.
=iste=, _for_ ‘hic,’ Ep. 7, i. 357, 838, 1118.
=iūbeo=, _v._ vi. 779 (_also_ =iŭbeo=).
=iubileum=, _s._ C. T. iii. 330.
=iudiciale=, _s._ iii. 1692, vi. 710, judgement.
=iugulum=, _s._ C. T. ii. 98, murder.
=iustifico=, _v._ C. T. ii. 223.
L
=laicus=, _a. and s._ iii. 505, 1761.
=latitanter=, _adv._ i. 481, secretly.
=Latŏna=, i. 579.
=latria=, _s._ iv. 819, service.
=lauăcrum=, _s._ ii. 7, baptism.
=lĕgatus=, _s._ iii. 664.
=legista=, _s._ C. T. i. 31, L. S. 61.
=legius=, _s._ vi. 581, subject.
=leopardus=, _s._ i. 232, 1757.
=leuio=, _v._ v. 662, lighter.
=ligna=, _s. f._ vi. 524.
=limpha=, _for_ ‘lympha,’ ii. 255.
=linquo=, _v. n._ i. 1572, cease.
=locuplex=, _for_ ‘locuples,’ vi. 133.
=Londonie= (_pl._), =Londonienses=, C. T. ii. 153, iii. 244, 268, 420.
=a longe=, _adv._ i. 725, 1032.
=lŭcerna=, _s._ iii. 1077 (_also_ =lūcerna=, e.g. L. S. 6).
=luxuracio=, _s._ iii. 209, wantonness.
=Lȳsīas=, ii. 290.
M
=Macēdo=, vi. 1109.
=maculo=, _v._ C. T. iii. 375, blame.
=madeo=, _v. a._ vii. 888, make wet.
=maior=, _s._ i. 1861, mayor.
=maius=, _adv._ i. 2010, any longer.
=malediccio=, _s._ i. 177, curse.
=maligno=, _v._ V. P. 12.
=Mammona=, _s._ iii. 207, vii. 120, V. P. 298.
=manus=, _in phrases_, =ante manum=, vi. 438, 680,
=pre manibus=, i. 1244, iii. 227.
=manutentus=, _pp._ C. T. ii. 61, (of an oath) taken.
=margārita=, _s._ iv. 661.
=martirĭzatus=, _pp._ C. T. ii. 96.
=meminens=, _pres. part._ ii. Prol. 2.
=memor=, _a._ vi. 924, vii. 1428, remembered.
=memoror=, _v. dep._ Ep. 18, vi. 1117, vii. 1162.
=mentalis=, _a._ ‘O recolende’ &c. 25.
=mērĭdianus=, _a._ i. 737.
=miles=, _s._ i. 1067, knight.
=milicia=, _s._ v. 3, knighthood.
=milicies=, _s._ i. 1265, knighthood.
=millesies=, _adv._ i. 1406.
=Mĭnŏtaurus=, i. 273.
=ad minus=, vi. 1344, at least.
=misticus=, _for_ ‘mysticus,’ ii. 444, iii. 1838.
=mitto=, _v._ i. 1123, commit.
=mocio=, _s._ iii. 2091, motive.
=modernus=, _a._ iii. Prol. 56, V. P. 33, 134, of the present time.
=modo=, _adv._ Ep. 40, iii. 276 ff., 1258, now, at the present time.
=molendinum=, _s._ i. 402, mill.
=mollior=, _v. dep._ i. 41, soften.
=molosus=, _s._ for ‘molossus,’ i. 400, mastiff.
=mŏmentum=, _s._ i. 1405, ii. 152.
=monachus=, _s._ iii. 379.
=monialis=, _s._ iv. 553 ff., nun.
=monilis=, _a._ iv. 265.
=mōnoculus=, _a._ i. 405, one-eyed.
=moriger=, _a._ vi. 567, vii. 1183, 1355, good.
=morosus=, _a._ Ep. 33, ‘O deus’ &c. 2.
=mortifico=, _v._ C. T. ii. 110, kill.
=mulcĕbris=, _a._ v. 75, soothing.
=mulier=, _genit._ =muliēris=, i. 1255, iii. 1517.
=multiplico=, _v. n._ ii. 606.
=multociens=, _adv._ i. 1341, iv. 1095.
=mundifico=, _v. a._ vii. 627, C. T. i. 192, cleanse.
=mundipotens=, _a._ vi. 398.
=murelegus=, _s._ i. 463, cat.
N
=nāto=, _v._ C. T. ii. 45.
=naturo=, _v. a._ v. 205.
=nēbula=, _s._ i. 133, L. S. 22.
=necesse=, _s._ C. T. iii. 217, necessity.
=nefrendus=, _s._ i. 307, young pig.
=nephas, nephandus=, _for_ ‘nefas,’ ‘nefandus,’ i. 446, 1318.
=nequio=, _for_ ‘nequeo,’ Ep. 17.
=nigredo=, _s._ i. 529, C. T. i. 114.
=nisi=, _conj._ iii. Prol. 62, iii. 22, V. P. 250, (_used for_
‘non nisi’) only.
=nisus=, vii. 226, hawk.
=non=, _for_ ‘ne,’ iii. 1152, 1434, iv. 131.
=nonne=, _for_ ‘num,’ v. 721, vi. 523, vii. 619, _for_ ‘non,’ vi. 351.
=nota=, _s._ i. 128, note of music.
=nouiter=, _adv._ i. 2011, anew.
=nouo=, _v. n._ iv. 678, be renewed.
=nouo=, _adv._ iii. 250, 284, 376, anew.
=nullatenus=, _adv._ vi. cap. v. (_heading_).
=num=, _for_ ‘nonne,’ ii. 306, 320.
=numquid=, _for_ ‘nonne,’ ii. Prol. 59, v. 280, vii. 484, 892, surely.
=nuper=, _adv._ i. 443, iii. 279 ff., formerly.
O
=obaudio=, _v._ vii. 1471, (?).
=ōbex=, _s._ C. T. ii. 3, hindrance.
=occianus=, _for_ ‘oceanus,’ i. 1954.
=occo=, _v._ vii. 448, cut off.
=ŏester=, i. 603, gad-fly.
=oppono=, _v._ iii. 615, put questions.
=organa=, _s._ i. 103, vii. 299, musical instrument.
=origo=, _s._ i. 144, (?).
=orĭzon=, _s._ ii. 240, sky.
=orphanus=, _s._ v. 232.
=ortus=, _for_ ‘hortus,’ i. 61.
=Oxŏnia=, C. T. i. 63.
P
=păganus=, _s._ ii. 495, iii. 307.
=Pălamădes=, i. 987.
=palentinus=, _a._ i. 915.
=panellus=, vii. 1455, saddle.
=pannificus=, _a._ v. 782, of cloth-makers.
=paritas=, _s._ i. 763.
=parliamentum=, _s._ C. T. i. 129, iii. 284.
=pascua=, _s. fem._ i. 342, pasture.
=pauce=, _adv._ v. 93.
=pedito=, _v._ iii. 1561, v. 101.
=peniteo=, _v. n._ V. P. 135, 250, repent.
=penna=, _s._ i. Prol. 37, pen.
=perambulus=, _a._ C. T. iii. 120, going about.
=perante, per ante=, _adv._ i. 135, 591, 670, 1107.
=perextra=, _adv._ iv. 645.
=perio=, _for_ ‘pereo,’ iv. 807, C. T. ii. 145.
=perpetualis=, _a._ Ep. 48, ‘O recolende’ &c. 25, lasting.
=phariseus=, _a._ iv. 936, C. T. iii. 73;
_s._ iv. 1013.
=Philomena=, i. 99.
=phīlosophus=, _s._ i. 588.
=pietas=, _s._ i. 1190, vi. 744, C. T. iii. 452, mercy, pity.
=pietosus=, _a._ C. T. iii. 388, merciful.
=pius=, _a._ i. 1264, vii. 1141, C. T. iii. 466 ff., merciful, gentle.
=placenda=, _s. pl._ iv. 714, acceptable offerings.
=placitus=, _a._ vii. 379, pleasing.
=plano=, _v._ i. 409, ii. 481, smoothe, stroke.
=plasma=, _s._ vii. 1233, creature.
=plasmator=, _s._ vii. 1233, creator.
=plaudo=, _v._ vii. 299, 753, be pleasing.
=pneuma=, _s._ iii. Prol. 106.
=pōderis=, _s._ iii. 1787, surplice _or_ alb.
=policīa=, _s._ v. 670.
=polimitus=, _for_ ‘polymitus,’ _a._ iii. 1383, closely woven.
=pomposus=, _a._ iii. 76, C. T. ii. 82, iii. 366, arrogant.
=porcarius=, _s._ i. 313, swineherd.
=posse=, _inf. as subst._ i. 1176, iii. 582, power.
=posteă=, _adv._ v. 1013.
(=de=) =postfacto=, iii. 562, afterwards.
=practica=, _s._ iii. 1461, practice.
=prebenda=, _s._ iii. 1323, prebend.
=prelatus=, _s._ Ep. 41.
=prenosticum=, _s._ i. Prol. 13, presage.
=presbiter=, _s._ iii. 390, 1790, priest.
=presbiteralis=, _a._ L. S. 17, of the priesthood.
=presbitero=, _v. a._ iii. 1826, 2090, ordain priest.
=prestigiosus=, _a._ ‘Est amor’ &c. 13, full of tricks.
=prestimulo=, _v._ i. 576, sting (_but read rather_ ‘perstimulo’).
=presto=, _v._ v. 671, cause (_with inf._).
=presul=, _s._ iii. 34, prelate.
=preuarico=, _v. a._ iv. 679, 806, falsify.
=preuaricor=, _v. n._ i. 740, iii. 12*, 1701, L. S. 90, transgress.
=primas=, _s._ C. T. ii. 239, primate.
=prior=, _s._ iv. 318, prior (of a monastery).
=probitas=, _s._ vi. 938, prowess.
=prōfugus=, _a._ C. T. i. 92, 108.
=Progne=, _for_ ‘Procne,’ i. 101.
=prophanus=, _for_ ‘profanus,’ C. T. Prol. 3.
=prophecīa=, _s._ iv. 771, prophecy.
=propheta=, _s._ iv. 767.
=proprietarius=, _s._ iv. 897.
=proprio=, _v._ iii. 770, iv. 817, 838, appropriate.
=prōsĕlĭtus=, _s._ iv. 1011, proselyte.
=prothdolor=, _for_ ‘prohdolor,’ V. P. 234, C. T. ii. 1 (_also_
‘prodolor,’ i. 234, &c.).
=protunc=, _adv._ i. cap. xiii. (_heading_) (_also_ ‘pro tunc’).
=proximior=, _a. comp._ i. 906, 974, nearer.
=psalmista=, _s._ V. P. 119.
=Pseudo=, iv. 788.
Q
=quam=, _for_ ‘quanto,’ i. 1534.
=quam prius=, _for_ ‘prius quam,’ i. 1944, vii. 429, 1106, V. P. 190,
202, &c.
=quamuĭs=, _conj._ i. 350.
=que=, _conj._ (_standing alone_) Ep. 25, i. Prol. 23, i. 54, 100,
149, 395, &c., (_enclitic_) i. 53, 179, 407, &c.
=quia=, _for_ ‘quod,’ i, 1593, =O quia=, i. 59, v. 193.
=quicquid=, _for_ ‘quicquam,’ i. 412, 885, 1346.
=quid=, _for_ ‘quicquid,’ i. 1609, vii. 551.
=quiesco=, _v. a._ C. T. iii. 4, restrain.
=quin magis= (_with indic._), i. 135, 262, 595, 994, _so_ =quin=,
i. 509, 608, 1607.
=quĭrĭto=, _v._ i. 804, cry out (like a boar).
=quis=, _for_ ‘quisquam,’ i. 184, 617, 716; =quid pro quo=, iii. 1223.
=quisque=, _for_ ‘quicunque,’ vi. 813, vii. 578.
=quo=, _conj. for_ ‘qua,’ i. 500, vii. 487,
_for_ ‘vnde,’ vii. 800, 820.
=quod=, _conj._ i. 223, 541, so that, i. Prol. 22, i. 568, in order that.
=quōdammodo=, _adv._ vii. 1323.
=quodcunque=, _with negative_, i. 507.
=quoque=, _conj._ iii. Prol. 20, and.
R
=ramnus=, _s._ i. 1019*, bramble (?).
=reatus=, _s._ vi. 432, C. T. ii. 179, L. S. 89, guilt.
=rector=, _s._ iii. 1319, rector (of a parish).
=redditus=, _s. for_ ‘reditus,’ i. 44.
=redio=, _for_ ‘redeo,’ i. 1190.
=refor=, _v._ ii. 505, reply.
=refundo=, _v._ i. 49, sprinkle.
=rĕiectus=, _pp._ L. S. 6.
=releuamen=, _s._ i. 2113.
=rĕliquus=, _a._ i. 1474.
=remordeo=, _v._ i. 1756, V. P. 175, remind, call to mind (?).
=replanto=, _v._ C. T. iii. 255.
=reprobus=, _a._ i. 1018, reprobate.
=reptile=, _s._ i. 36.
=rĕscīdo=, _v._ (_for_ ‘recīdo’), C. T. i. 93, iii. 347, L. S. 80
(_also_ ‘recisa,’ vi. 423).
=residiuus=, _for_ ‘recidiuus,’ vii. 1124, C. T. ii. 343.
=responsalis=, _a._ C. T. iii. 380.
=rĕstauro=, _v._ V. P. 256.
=retrocado=, _v._ ii. 329, fall back.
=retrogradus=, _a._ i. 1311, ‘O deus’ &c. 90.
=retrouersor=, _v._ ii. 229, be reversed.
=reviuus=, _a._ ‘Rex celi’ &c. 22.
=ribaldus=, _s._ iii. 1472, profligate person.
=Rinx=, i. 407 (name of a dog).
=rōbustus=, _a._ C. T. i. 41.
=Romipeta=, iii. 1551.
=rosans=, _pres. part._ vi. 1358, rose-bearing.
=rōta=, _s._ ii. 61 (_but_ rŏta, i. 1163).
=rotundo=, _adv._ i. 1953, around.
=rumphea=, _for_ ‘rumpia,’ i. 863, sword.
=rusticitas=, _s._ i. 174, 513, country-people, country.
=rutilis=, _a._ v. 27.
S
=sanccitum=, _s._ vi. 743, sentence.
=sanguinitas=, _s._ i. 1172, bloodiness.
=saporo=, _v. a._ ii. 601.
=Săturnus=, iii. 923.
=scansus=, _s._ i. 1601.
=sceleres=, _for_ ‘celeres’ (?), C. T. iii. 188.
=scisma=, _s._ L. S. 29.
=scropha=, _for_ ‘scrofa,’ i. 309.
=scrutor=, _v. pass._ iv. 369.
=se, sibi=, &c. _for_ ‘eum,’ ‘ei,’ &c. i. 271, 322, C. T. iii. 231.
=sedimen=, _s._ i. 359, dregs.
=segistrum=, _s._ i. 359 (?).
=sēmidemon=, _s._ iv. 214.
=sĕmitutus=, _a._ vii. 280.
=sepultum=, _s._ i. 1170, C. T. ii. 156, burial.
=sēra=, _s._ i. 882, bar.
=series=, _s._ v. 569, 812 (?).
=seruītus=, _s._ C. T. iii. 468.
=sexus=, _s._ i. 728, class.
=sibulus=, _a. for_ ‘sibilus,’ i. 551.
=sic quod=, i. Prol. 32, in order that.
=sicque=, _for_ ‘sic,’ i. 338.
=significatum=, _s._ vii. 952, meaning.
=similo=, _for_ ‘simulo,’ iv. 4.
=sinagoga=, _s._ ii. 494, iv. 1093.
=sinautem=, _conj._ iii. cap. xxvii. (_heading_), otherwise.
=sincopo=, _v. a._ v. 819, diminish.
=sinistro=, _v. n._ iii. 1525, do wrong.
=sintilla=, _for_ ‘scintilla,’ ii. 475.
=sollicitas=, _s._ iv. 112, labour.
=solor=, _v. pass._ i. 1497.
=sophīa=, _s._ ii. 370, wisdom.
=sŏpitus=, _pp._ i. 151, ‘O deus’ &c. 81.
=sors=, _s._ i. 171, C. T. ii. 113, company.
=sotulares=, _s._ v. 805, shoes (?).
=spācium=, _s._ i. 1273.
=spasmatus=, _pp._ i. 2011, seized with convulsions.
=specialis=, _a. as s._ vii. 243, L. S. 77, friend;
=speciale=, ‘O deus’ &c. 62, secret.
=speculatiuum=, _s._ iii. 1462, theory.
=spera=, _for_ ‘sphaera,’ ii. 151.
=spergo=, _for_ ‘spargo,’ i. 590.
=spiritualis=, _a._ v. 605, 668.
=spiritualiter=, _adv._ iii. 635.
=spiro=, _v._ i. 408, 550, v. 435, desire.
=spondaicus=, _a._ iv. 81, slow.
=sporta=, _s._ iii. 1961, basket.
=stapula=, _s._ v. 773, the staple (of wool).
=sternutacio=, _s._ i. 189, braying.
=sternuto=, _v._ i. 797, bray.
=stragulatus=, _a._ C. T. i. 140.
=stringo=, _v._ (_with inf._) i. 130, compel.
=subite=, _adv._ i. 1531.
=sublimus=, _a._ iii. 419, 701
(=sublimis=, iii. 821).
=succo=, _v._ Ep. 36, suckle.
=suffragium=, _s._ Ep. 32, prayer.
=suggo=, _v. for_ ‘sugo,’ ii. 413.
=superbio=, _v. a._ iv. 322, make proud.
=supersum=, _v._ iii. 16, 1298, surpass.
=suus=, _for_ ‘eius,’ ‘eorum,’ i. 54, 189, 206, 332, 338, 634.
T
=taxa=, _s._ vi. 650, vii. 209, 283, C. T. iii. 469, tax, blame.
=taxo=, _v._ C. T. iii. 469, tax.
=Tēgia=, _for_ ‘Tegeaea,’ _a._ i. 349.
=temporibus=, _as adv._ i. 298, after a time.
=temporo=, _for_ ‘tempero,’ v. 213.
=tenebresco=, _v. n._ Ep. 11; _v. a._ vi. 225.
=teneo=, _v._ iii. 584 ff., v. 384, belong.
=tener=, _a. abl._ =teneri=, iv. 993, _pl._ =teneres=, iv. 583.
=tenuus=, _for_ ‘tenuis,’ i. 551.
=terreus=, _a._ iii. 88, 288, earthly.
=terrula=, _s._ vii. 531, a little earth.
=Thāmisia=, C. T. i. 81.
=thēologīa=, _s._ iv. 821.
=thĕsaurus=, _s._ ‘O deus’ &c. 81.
=Thĕtis=, =Thĕthis=, =Tĕtis=, v. 812. vii. 1067, C. T. i. 80.
=Tĭdēus=, i. 985.
=tīmeo=, _vi._ 997 (_usu._ =tĭmeo=).
=timidus=, _a._ i. 1848, fearful.
=tirannicus=, _a._ C. T. ii. 22.
=trădidit=, i. 2128.
=trībula=, _s._ i. 863, three-pronged fork.
=Troianus=, _for_ ‘Traianus,’ vi. 1273.
=tueor=, _v. pass._ vii. 1215.
V
=vago=, _v._ i. 1199, wander.
=valdĕ=, _adv._ i. 581, iii. 1594.
=valedico=, _v._ v. 766, give salutation.
=vanga=, _s._ i. 859, mattock.
=vario=, _v._ iv. 910, transgress.
=vaspa=, _s._ i. 571, wasp.
=Vaspasianus=, i. 571.
=vber=, _fem._ =vbera=, vii. 346.
=vegeto=, _v._ vii. 1033, flourish.
=velle=, _inf. as subst._ i. 235, 832, iii. 22, will, desire.
=vendico=, _v._ vi. 228, claim.
=vertor=, _v. a._ vi. 1197.
=veteratus=, _a._ v. 784, old.
=vetitur=, _for_ ‘vetatur,’ iv. 903.
=vicecōmes=, _s._ vi. 419, sheriff.
=vicinium=, _s._ iii. 991.
=vīdebat=, _for_ ‘vĭdebat,’ C. T. iii. 436.
=villa=, _s._ C. T. iii. 55 ff., town.
=vitalis=, _a._ V. P. 27, (?).
=vix=, _adv. with neg._ v. 104, 153, vii. 12;
=vix si=, iv. 218, vi. 1330;
_for_ ‘paene,’ vi. 640.
=Vluxes=, i. 779, 967.
=vnio=, _s._ v. 673, unity.
=voluto=, _for_ ‘volito,’ i. 95, 605.
=volutus=, _pp._ from ‘volo, volui,’ iii. 913.
=vrticatus=, _a._ ‘Est amor’ &c. 15.
=vt quid=, v. 461, why.
=vtpote=, _for_ ‘vt,’ v. 843, as.
=vtque=, _for_ ‘vt,’ v. 104, 385.
=vulpis=, _for_ ‘vulpes,’ i. 487.
Y
=ydŏlum=, _s._ ii. 519.
=yemps=, _for_ ‘hiemps,’ i. 43.
=yha=, _interj._ i. 190.
=ymago=, _for_ ‘imago,’ i. 1429.
=ymus=, _for_ ‘imus,’ i. 131.
=Ysaias=, i. 765.
=Ysidorus=, i. 765.
INDEX TO THE NOTES
The form of reference is the same as in the Glossary, except that the
shorter pieces are mostly referred to by pages of this edition.
‘Acephalus,’ iii. 955, iv. 715.
Adam of Usk’s Chronicle referred to, C. T. ii. 121, iii. 47, 85, 272,
432, pp. 416, 420.
Alanus de Insulis, v. 53.
_Annales Ricardi II_. referred to, _Vox Clam._ Expl. 11, C. T. ii. 15 ff.,
121, 135, 155, 179, iii. 35, 160, 244,
_Ann. Henr. IV._ C. T. iii. 276, 394, 432.
‘annuelers,’ iii. 1555.
Appellants, C. T. i. 121.
‘aquile pullus,’ p. 416.
_architesis_, v. 45.
Arundel, earl of, C. T. ii. 121 ff.
Arundel, archbishop, p. 369, C. T. ii. 15, 231 ff., p. 420.
_Aurora_ (of Peter Riga) referred to, i. 1019, 1695 ff., ii. 377,
iii. 85, 167, 425, 531, 1077, 1118, 1145 ff., 1587, 1693, 1791 ff.,
1853-1911, 1999-2035, iv. 305, 1059, v. 693, vi. 89 ff., 719, 793,
839, 875 ff., 985 ff., 1041: mentioned by Gower, iii. 1853.
badges (swan, horse, &c.), _Vox Clam._ Expl. 11, C. T. i. 51 ff., 89,
p. 416.
Bagot, C. T. iii. 388.
_Balades_ referred to, i. 135.
Bible referred to, i. 499, 749, 869, ii. Prol. 41, ii. 41, iii. 957,
iv. 302, 648 ff., 769, 847, 869, 959, 969, v. 922, vi. 141, 269,
1223, 1261, vii. 123, 639, 1305, pp. 417, 419.
‘blanches chartres,’ C. T. iii. 49.
blindness of the author, pp. 369, 418, 419.
Boethius quoted, ii. 67.
Brembre, Nicholas, iv. 835, C. T. i. 154.
Burley, Simon, C. T. i. 141 f.
Burnellus, order of, iv. 1189: see also _Speculum Stultorum_.
castle as badge, C. T. i. 89.
Chaucer referred to, v. 98, 760, C. T. iii. 332, p. 419.
_Chronique de la Traïson_ referred to, C. T. i. 142, ii. 69,
iii. 420, 432.
Cobham, St. John, C. T. ii. 233.
‘commune dictum,’ iii. Prol. 11.
_Confessio Amantis_ referred to, i. Prol. 3, 57, i. 135, 716, 879,
ii. 1, 59, 138, iii. 193, 227, 283, 819, 1271, 1359, iv. 165,
587, 874, v. 257, 877, 922, 991, vi. 529, 1277 ff., vii. 5, 47,
509, 639, p. 419.
‘Coppa,’ i. 545.
coronation oil, pp. 416 f.
_corrodium_, iv. 215.
_crapulus_, i. 280.
‘cras’ and ‘hodie,’ iii. 2035.
Créton referred to, iii. 160, 432.
crusades, iii. 375, 651.
Dante quoted, ii. 67.
dates, method of expressing, C. T. i. 1.
Derby, earl of, C. T. i. 52,
his exile, C. T. iii. 85,
his claim to the throne, C. T. iii. 432.
_dompnus_, iv. 34.
eagle as cognisance, p. 416.
erasures in the manuscripts, p. 369, i. Prol. 49, iii. 1, iv. 1072,
1197, 1212 ff., 1221 ff., vi. 545, 1159*, 1189, vii. 167, 1409,
1479, p. 420.
_Eulogium Historiarum_ referred to, ii. 15, iii. 49, 332, 432.
Evesham, monk of, C. T. iii. 432.
fox-tail as cognisance, C. T. i. 89.
Froissart referred to, C. T. ii. 85, iii. 128.
Genius, iv. 587.
Geoffrey of Monmouth referred to, i. 1963.
Geoffrey de Vinsauf referred to, iii. 955.
Gloucester, duke of, C. T. i. 80, ii. 85, 101.
Godfrey of Viterbo, see _Pantheon_.
Gower’s books, pp. 418 f.,
his burial, p. 420.
Gregory quoted, vii. 639.
Gregory’s Chronicle referred to, C. T. iii. 49.
_habeo_, vii. 990.
Harding’s Chronicle quoted, C. T. iii. 432.
Helinand, _Vers de Mort_, vii. 955.
Humphrey, son of the duke of Gloucester, C. T. iii. 256, 272 ff.
Jovinianus, vi. 1267, V. P. 32.
Knighton’s Chronicle referred to, i. 941, C. T. i. 80, 121, 133,
154, 176.
Liberius, vi. 1243.
marginal notes in S, iii. 1407, 1432, v. 299, 333;
in D, i. 335-457;
in E, p. 418.
Mayor of London, v. 835.
_Mirour de l’Omme_ referred to, i. 135, ii. Prol. 61, ii. 239 ff.,
iii. Prol. 11 ff., 141, 209, 249 ff., 815, 957, 1247, 1313 ff.,
1493, 1509, 1555 ff., 1727, 1759, 2049, 2071, iv. 327, 624, 689,
735, 769, 788, 971 ff., v. 257, 520, 557, 613, 703, 745, vi. 1 ff.,
144, 203, 241, 249, 419, 439, 463, 1323, vii. 163, 361, 509, 639,
892, 955.
_modo_, vi. 1204.
_morosus_, Ep. 33.
Neckham, _De Vita Monachorum_, referred to, ii. Prol. 57, iv. 395 ff.,
461 ff., 1145, 1175, v. 341, 383, 413 ff., vi. 313 ff., 629, 1019,
1085 ff., vii. 375 ff., 499, 685 ff., 909 ff., 929.
Neville, archbishop, C. T. i. 103.
Norfolk, duke of, C. T. i. 51, iii. 85.
Northumberland, duke of, C. T. i. 55.
Norwich, bishop of, iii. 375.
Nottingham, the judges at, C. T. i. 172.
‘numquid,’ use of, v. 280.
Ovid referred to, i. 33 ff. and _passim_.
Oxford, earl of, i. 65.
_Pamphilus_, v. 613.
_Pantheon_ (of Godfrey of Viterbo) referred to, i. 7, 17, 765, 1907,
ii. 353 ff., iv. 87.
Peter Riga, iii. 1853, see _Aurora_.
philosopher, lines by, p. 419.
_pius_, _pietas_, C. T. iii. 432.
plays on words, iv. 128, 1356.
Pole, Michael de la, C. T. i. 109.
‘Pons Aquilonis’ (Bridgenorth), C. T. i. 152.
_Praise of Peace_ referred to, vi. 971.
Radcot Bridge, affair of, C. T. i. 81.
Richard II, death of, iii. 432.
_Rolls of Parliament_ referred to, C. T. i. 172, 176, 178, ii. 15,
179, 199, iii. 27, 49, 286, 352 ff., 388.
Rushook, C. T. i. 111.
S. badge, C. T. i. 52.
Savoy, i. 929.
_sepulta_, iv. 736.
solet, _for_ ‘solebat,’ i. 492.
_Speculum Stultorum_, i. 79, 201 ff., 603 ff., ii. Prol. 15, 1267,
iv. 1189.
sporting parsons, iii. 1493.
‘Star of the Sea,’ i. 1615.
Strode, Ralph, p. 419.
subjunctive mood, use of, iii. 676, vii. 519.
swan as cognisance, _Vox Clam._ Expl. 11.
Tait, Mr. James, in _Dict. of Nat. Biogr._, C. T. ii. 85, 121.
‘talpa maledicta,’ C. T. iii. 17.
‘Thetis,’ v. 812, vii. 1067, C. T. i. 80.
Titiuillus, iv. 864.
Tresilian, Robert, C. T. i. 162.
Tribulus (Nicholas Brembre), C. T. i. 154.
‘Troianus,’ vi. 1273.
_vicecomes_, vi. 433.
_Vox Clamantis_ referred to, V. P. 52, 181, 246
Walsingham’s Chronicle referred to, i. 855, 941, 1173, iv. 723, 959,
C. T. i. 65, 80, 142, 150, 154, iii. 256, 394, 432.
Warwick, earl of, C. T. ii. 201 ff.
Wycliffe, vi. 1267, V. P. 32, 36.
THE END
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