I herde a gret noise withalle
In a corner of the halle,

Ther men of love tydings tolde,
And I gan thiderward beholde ;
For I saugh renninge every wight,

As faste as that they hadden might;

And everich cryed, 'What thing is that?'
And som seyde, 'I not never what.'
And whan they were alle on an hepe,
Tho behynde gonne up lepe,

And clamben up on other faste,
And up the nose and eyen caste,
And troden faste on otheres heles,
And stampe, as men don after eles.
Atte laste I saugh a man,

Whiche that I [nevene] noght ne kan;
But he semed for to be

A man of greet auctorite

(Unfinished.)

2150. Th. gonne; B. bigonne; F. begunne.

highen (!); Th. noyse on hyghen (!); B. nose and yen.

2145

(1060) 2150

2155

(1068) 2158

2152. F. noyse an

2153. F. B.

other; Th. others. 2154. F. B. stampen; Th. stampe. 2156. I supply nevene. Th. naught; F. B. nat.

incomplete.

Th., is spurious.]

2158. Here F. and B. end,

[Here the original poem ceases; the rest, as in Cx. and

X. THE FORMER AGE.

A BLISFUL lyf, a paisible and a swete
Ledden the peples in the former age;
They helde hem payed of fruites, that they ete,
Which that the feldes yave hem by usage;
They ne were nat forpampred with outrage;
Unknowen was the quern and eek the melle;
They eten mast, hawes, and swich pounage,
And dronken water of the colde welle.

Yit nas the ground nat wounded with the plough,
But corn up-sprong, unsowe of mannes hond,
The which they gnodded, and eete nat half y-nough.
No man yit knew the forwes of his lond;
No man the fyr out of the flint yit fond;
Un-korven and un-grobbed lay the vyne;
No man yit in the morter spyces grond
To clarre, ne to sause of galantyne.

No mader, welde, or wood no litestere
Ne knew; the flees was of his former hewe;
No flesh ne wiste offence of egge or spere;

No coyn ne knew man which was fals or trewe;

5

ΙΟ

15

20

6. I.

From MS. I (= Ii. 3. 21, Camb. Univ. Library); also in Hh (= Hh. 4. 12, Camb. Univ. Library.) I note every variation from I. 1. I. Blysful; paysyble. 2. I. poeples; Hh. peplis. 3. I. paied of the; Hh. paied with the (but omit the). I. fructes; Hh. frutes. 4. I. Whiche. 5. I. weere; Hh. were. I. Hh. owtrage. Onknowyn. I. quyerne; Hh. qwerne. I. ek. 7. I. swych pownage. 9. I. grownd; wownded; plowh. 11. I. gnodded; Hh. knoddyd. I. I-nowh. 12. I. knewe; Hh. knew. 13. I owt; flynt; fonde. 15. I. spices. 16. I. sawse; Hh. sause. I. galentyne; Hh. galantine. 17. I. madyr; Hh. madder. Hh. wellyd (wrongly). I. wod; Hh. woode. 18. I. knewh. I. fles; Hh. flese (for flees). I. is (for his); Hh. hys. 19. I. flessh; wyste. 20. I. knewh. Hh. was; I. is.

No ship yit karf the wawes grene and blewe;
No marchaunt yit ne fette outlandish ware;
No trompes for the werres folk ne knewe,
No toures heye, and walles rounde or square.

What sholde it han avayled to werreye?
Ther lay no profit, ther was no richesse.
But cursed was the tyme, I dar wel seye,
That men first dide hir swety bysinesse
To grobbe up metal, lurkinge in derknesse,
And in the riveres first gemmes soghte.
Allas! than sprong up al the cursednesse
Of covetyse, that first our sorwe broghte!

Thise tyraunts put hem gladly nat in pres,
No wildnesse, ne no busshes for to winne
Ther poverte is, as seith Diogenes,

Ther as vitaile is eek so skars and thinne
That noght but mast or apples is ther-inne.
But, ther as bagges ben and fat vitaile,
Ther wol they gon, and spare for no sinne
With al hir ost the cite for tassaile.

Yit were no paleis-chaumbres, ne non halles;
In caves and [in] wodes softe and swete
Slepten this blissed folk with-oute walles,
On gras or leves in parfit quiete.

No doun of fetheres, ne no bleched shete
Was kid to hem, but in seurtee they slepte;

22. I. owt-. 23. I. inserts batails (Hh. batayllys) after No.

26. I. profyt; rychesse.

25

30

35

40

45

24. I. towres; rownde. 27. I. corsed; Hh. cursyd. 28. I. fyrst; Hh. first. I. bysynesse. 29. I. lurkynge. Hh. derknesse; I. dirkenesse. 30. I. Ryuerys fyrst gemmys sowhte. 31. I. cursydnesse. 32. Hh. couetyse; I. coueytyse. I. fyrst owr; browhte. 33. I. Thyse tyrauntz. 34. I. inserts places (Hh. place of) after No. I. wynne. 36. I. vitayle; ek. 37. I. nat (for noght); Hh. nowt. 39. I. synne. 40. I. Cyte. I. forto asayle; Hh. for to asayle. 41. Hh. were; I. was. 42. I. kaues. I. Hh. om. and in; which I supply. 43. I. Sleptin; blyssed; with owte. 44. I. parfyt Ioye reste and quiete (!); Hh. parfite Íoy and quiete (!). 45. I. down. 46. I. kyd. I. surte; Hh. surt.

Hir hertes were al oon, with-oute galles,
Everich of hem his feith to other kepte.

Unforged was the hauberk and the plate;
The lambish peple, voyd of alle vyce,
Hadden no fantasye to debate,

But ech of hem wolde other wel cheryce;

No pryde, non envye, non avaryce,

No lord, no taylage by no tyrannye.

Humblesse and pees, good feith, the emperice,
[Fulfilled erthe of olde curtesye.]

Yit was not Iupiter the likerous,
That first was fader of delicacye,

Come in this world; ne Nembrot, desirous
To reynen, had nat maad his toures hye.
Allas, allas! now may men wepe and crye!
For in our dayes nis but covetyse

60

[And] doublenesse, and tresoun and envye, Poysoun, manslauhtre, and mordre in sondry wyse.

I.

64

49. I. hawberke. voyded. Hh. 53. I. pride. I. pes.

56.

47. I. weere; on; -owte. 48. I. Euerych; oother. 50. I. lambyssh. I. poeple; Hh. pepyl. Hh. voyd; vice; I. vyse. 51. I. fantesye. 52. I. eche; oother. 54. I. tyranye. 55. Hh. Humblesse; I. Vmblesse. Not in the MSS.; I supply it. Koch suggests-Yit hadden in this worlde the maistrye. 57. I. Iuppiter; Hh. Iupiter. I. lykerous. 58. I. fyrst; fadyr; delicasie. 59. I. desyrous. 60. I. regne; towres. 61. Hh. men; which I. omits. 62. I. owre. 63. I. Hh. omit first 64. I. Poyson and manslawtre; Hh. Poysonne manslawtyr. Finit, &c.; in Hh. only.

And, which I supply. I. Hh. Dowblenesse.

XI. FORTUNE.

Balades de visage sanz peinture.

I. Le Pleintif countre Fortune.

THIS Wrecched worldes transmutacioun,

As wele or wo, now povre and now honour,
With-outen ordre or wys discrecioun

Governed is by Fortunes errour,

But natheles, the lak of hir favour

Ne may nat don me singen, though I dye,
'Tay tout perdu mon temps et mon labour :'
For fynally, Fortune, I thee defye!

Yit is me left the light of my resoun,
To knowen frend fro fo in thy mirour.

So muche hath yit thy whirling up and doun
Y-taught me for to knowen in an hour.
But trewely, no force of thy reddour

To him that over him-self hath the maystrye!
My suffisaunce shal be my socour:
For fynally, Fortune, I thee defye!

O Socrates, thou stedfast champioun,
She never mighte be thy tormentour;
Thou never dreddest hir oppressioun,
Ne in hir chere founde thou no savour.

The spelling is conformed to that of the preceding poems; the alterations though numerous are slight; as y for i, au for aw, &c. The text mainly follows MS. I. (Ii. 3. 21, Camb. Univ. Library). Other MSS. are A. (Ashmole 59); T. (Trin. Coll. Camb.); F. (Fairfax 16); B. (Bodley 638); H. (Harl. 2251). 2. F. pouerte; rest poure (poore, pore, poeere). 8, 16. I. fynaly; deffye. the rest muche, moche. 13. I. fors; thi reddowr. chaumpyoun. 18. I. myht; thi tormentowr.

11. I. mochel; 17. I. stidfast 20. I. fownde thow.