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Chapter I
Alas, Fortune, alas; I that somtyme in delycyous houres was
wont to enjoy blysful
stoundes am nowe dryve by unhappy hevynesse to bewayle my
sondrye yvels in tene.
Trewly, I leve in myn herte is writte of perdurable letters
al the entencyons of lamentacion
that nowe ben ynempned, for any maner disease outwarde in
sobbyng maner sheweth
sorowful yexynge from within. Thus from my comforte I gynne
to spylle syth she that
shulde me solace is ferre fro my presence. Certes, her
absence is to me an hell; my
sternyng dethe thus in wo it myneth that endelesse care is
throughout myne herte
clenched; blysse of my joye that ofte me murthed is turned
into galle to thynke on thyng
that may not at my wyl in armes me hent. Myrth is chaunged
into tene, whan swynke
is there contynually that reste was wont to sojourne and have
dwellynge place. Thus
wytlesse, thoughtful, syghtlesse lokynge, I endure my
penaunce in this derke prisone,
caytisned fro frendshippe and acquayntaunce, and forsaken of
al that any wode dare
speke. Straunge hath by waye of intrucyoun made his home
there me shulde be if
reason were herde as he shulde. Neverthelater, yet hertly,
lady precious Margarit have
mynde on thy servaunt and thynke on his disease how lyghtles
he lyveth, sithe the
beames brennende in love of thyn eyen arn so bewent that
worldes and cloudes atwene
us twey wol nat suffre my thoughtes of hem to be enlumyned.
Thynke that one vertue
of a Margarite precious is amonges many other the sorouful to
comforte, yet wyl of
that me sorouful to comforte is my luste to have nought els
at this tyme; dede ne dethe,
ne no maner traveyle hath no power myne herte so moche to
fade as shulde to here of
a twynckelynge in your disease. Ah, God forbede that; but yet
lette me dey, lette me
sterve withouten any measure of penaunce, rather than myne
hertely thynking comforte
in ought were diseased. What maye my servyce aveyle in
absence of her that my
servyce shulde accepte? Is this nat endlesse sorowe tothynke?
Yes, yes, God wote;
myne hert breaketh nygh asonder. Howe shulde the grounde
without kyndly noriture
bringen forthe any frutes? Howe shulde a shippe withouten a
sterne in the great see be
governed? Howe shulde I withouten my blysse, my herte, my
desyre, my joye, my
goodnesse endure in this contrarious prison, that thynke
every hour in the day an hun-
dred wynter? Wel may nowe Eve sayne to me, "Adam, in sorowe
fallen from welth,
driven arte thou out of paradise, with sweate thy sustenaunce
to beswynke." Depe in
this pynynge pytte with wo I lygge ystocked, with chaynes
lynked of care and of tene.
It is so hye from thens I lye and the commune erth, there ne
is cable in no lande maked,
that myght stretche to me to drawe me into blysse, ne steyers
to stey on is none, so that
without recover endlesse here to endure I wotte wel I
purveyde. O, where arte thou nowe,
frenshyppe, that somtyme with laughande chere madest bothe
face and countenaunce to
me wardes? Truely nowe arte thou went out of towne, but ever
me thynketh he weareth
his olde clothes and that the soule in the whiche the lyfe of
frendshyppe was in is
drawen out from his other spyrites. Nowe than farewel
frendshyp, and farewel felawes.
Me thynketh ye al han taken your leave; no force of you al at
ones. But lady of love ye
wote what I mene, yet thinke on thy servaunt, that for thy
love spylleth; al thynges have
I forsake to folowen thyn hestes. Rewarde me with a thought,
though ye do naught els.
Remembraunce of love lythe so sore under my brest that other
thought cometh not in
my mynde but gladnesse to thynke on your goodnesse and your
mery chere, ferdness
and sorowe to thynke on your wreche and your daunger from
whiche Christe me save.
My great joye it is to have in meditacion the bounties, the
vertues, the nobley in you
printed; sorowe and hel comen at ones to suppose that I be
veyned. Thus with care
sorowe and tene am I shapte, myn ende with dethe to make.
Nowe good goodly thynke
on this. O wretched foole that I am fallen in to so lowe: the
heate of my brennyng tene
hath me al defased. How shulde ye, lady, sette prise on so
foule fylthe? My connynge
is thynne, my wytte is exiled. Lyke to a foole naturel am I
comparysoned. Trewly,
lady, but your mercy the more were, I wote wel al my labour
were in ydel; your
mercy than passeth right. God graunt that proposycion to be
verifyed in me, so that by
truste of good hope I mowe come to the haven of ease. And
sythe it is impossyble the
colours of your qualyties to chaunge, and, forsothe, I wote
wel wemme ne spotte maye
not abyde there so noble vertue haboundeth, so that the
defasyng to you is verily
unymagynable, as countenaunce of goodnesse with encresynge
vertue is so in you
knytte to abyde by necessary maner; yet, if the revers might
fal, which is ayenst kynde,
I wot wel myn herte ne shulde therfore naught flytte by the
leste poynt of gemetrye, so
sadly is it sonded that away from your servyce in love maye
he not departe. O love,
whan shal I ben pleased? O charyté, whan shal I ben
eased? O good goodly, whan shal
the dyce turne? O ful of vertue, do the chaunce of comforte
upwarde to fal. O love,
whan wolt thou thynke on thy servaunt? I can no more but
here, outcaste of al welfare,
abyde the daye of my dethe, or els to se the syght that might
al my wellynge sorowes
voyde and of the flodde make an ebbe. These diseases mowen
wel by duresse of
sorowe make my lyfe to unbodye and so for to dye; but certes
ye lady in a ful perfectyon
of love ben so knytte with my soule that dethe may not thilke
knotte unbynde ne departe,
so that ye and my soule togyther endelesse in blysse shulde
dwel, and there shal my
soule at the ful ben eased that he may have your presence to
shewe th'entent of his
desyres. Ah, dere God, that shal be a great joye. Nowe
erthely goddesse take regarde
of thy servant, though I be feble, for thou arte wonte to
prayse them better that wolde
conne serve in love, al be he ful mener than kynges or
princes that wol not have that
vertue in mynde. Nowe precious Margaryte that with thy noble
vertue haste drawen
me into love first, me wenynge therof to have blisse, as
galle and aloes are so moche
spronge, that savour of swetnesse may I not ataste. Alas,
that your benigne eyen in
whiche that mercy semeth to have al his noriture nyl, by no
waye, tourne the clerenesse
of mercy to mewardes. Alas, that your brennande vertues
shynyng amonges al folke
and enlumynynge al other people by habundaunce of encreasing
sheweth to me but
smoke and no light. These thynges to thinke in myn herte
maketh every day wepyng in
myn eyen to renne. These lyggenon my backe so sore that
importable burthen me
semeth on my backe to be charged; it maketh me backwarde to
meve whan my steppes
by comune course even forthe pretende. These thynges also on
right syde and lyft
have me so envolved with care that wanhope of helpe is
throughout me ronne. Trewly,
I leve that gracelesse is my fortune whiche that ever sheweth
it mewardes by a cloudy
disease, al redy to make stormes of tene, and the blysful
syde halte styl awayward, and
wol it not suffre to mewardes to turne; no force, yet wol I
not ben conquered.
O, alas that your nobley so moche among al
other creatures commended by flowynge
streme by al maner vertues, but ther ben wonderful, I not
whiche that let the flode to
come in to my soule; wherfore, purely mated with sorowe
thorough sought, myselfe I
crye on your goodnesse to have pyté on this caytife
that in the inrest degré of sorowe
and disease is lefte, and, without your goodly wyl, from any
helpe and recovery. These
sorowes maye I not sustene but if my sorowe shulde be tolde
and to you wardes shewed;
although moche space is bytwene us twayne, yet me thynketh
that by suche joleynynge
wordes my disease gynneth ebbe. Trewly me thynketh that the
sowne of my lamentacious
wepyng is right nowe flowe into your presence, and there
cryeth after mercy and
grace, to which thing me semeth thee lyst none answere to
yeve, but with a deynous
chere ye commaunden it to avoyde. But God forbyd that any
worde shuld of you
springe to have so lytel routh. Pardé, pyté and
mercy in every Margarite is closed by
kynde amonges many other vertues by qualites of comforte. But
comfort is to me right
naught worthe withouten mercy and pyté of you alone,
whiche thynges hastely God me
graunt for his mercy.
Chapter II
Rehersynge these thynges and many other without tyme or
moment of rest me
semed for anguysshe of disease that altogyder I was
ravysshed, I can not tel howe; but
holy al my passyons and felynges weren loste as it semed for
the tyme and sodainly a
maner of drede light in me al at ones. Nought suche feare as
folke have of an enemy that
were myghty and wolde hem greve or done hem disease. For I
trowe this is wel knowe
to many persones that otherwhyle, if a man be in his
soveraignes presence, a maner of
ferdenesse crepeth in his herte not for harme but of goodly
subjection, namely as men
reden that aungels ben aferde of our savyour in heven. And
pardé, there ne is ne maye
no passyon of disease be, but it is to meane that angels ben
adradde not by ferdnes of
drede, sythen they ben perfytely blyssed as affection of
wonderfulnesse and by servyce
of obedyence; suche ferde also han these lovers in presence
of their loves and subjectes
aforne their soveraynes. Right so with ferdenesse myn herte
was caught. And, I sodainly
astonyed, there entred into the place there I was lodged a
lady, the semelyest and moste
goodly to my syght that ever toforne apered to any creature,
and trewly in the blustrynge
of her looke she yave gladnesse and comforte sodaynely to al
my wyttes, and ryght so
she dothe to every wyght that cometh in her presence. And for
she was so goodly (as
me thought) myne herte beganne somdele to be enbolded and
wexte a lytel hardy to
speke, but yet with a quakynge voyce as I durste, I salved
her and enquired what she
was, and why she, so worthy to syght, dayned to entre into so
foule a dongeon, and
namely a prisone without leave of my kepers. For certes,
althoughe the vertue of dedes
of mercy stretchen to vysyten the poore prisoners, and hem
after that faculties ben had
to comforte, me semed that I was so ferre fallen into myserye
and wretched hyd
caytifnesse, that me shulde no precyous thynge neyghe; and
also, that for my sorowe
every wyght shulde ben heavy and wysshe my recovery. But whan
this lady had somdele
apperceyved as wel by my wordes as by my chere what thought
besyed me within,
with a good womanly countenaunce she sayde these wordes:
"O my nory, wenyst thou that my maner be to
foryet my frendes or my servauntes?
Naye," quod she, "it is my ful entente to vysyte and comforte
al my frenshippes and
alyes as wel in tyme of perturbation as of moost propertye of
blysse. In me shal
unkyndnesse never be founden. And also, sithen I have so fewe
especial trewe nowe in
these dayes, wherfore I maye wel at more leysar come to hem
that me deserven. And
if my comynge maye in any thynge avayle, wete wel I wol come
often."
"Nowe, good lady," quod I, "that art so
fayre on to loke, reynynge honny by thy
wordes, blysse of paradise arn thy lokynges, joye and
comforte are thy movynges.
What is thy name? Howe is it that in you is so mokel werkynge
vertues enpight, as me
semeth, and in none other creature that ever sawe I with myne
eyen?" "My disciple,"
quod she, "me wondreth of thy wordes and on thee that for a
lytel disease haste foryeten
my name: Woste thou not wel that I am Love, that first thee
brought to thy servyce?"
"O good lady," quod I, "is this worshyppe to thee or to
thyne excellence for to come
into so foule a place? Pardé, somtyme tho I was in
prosperyté and with forayne goodes
envolved, I had mokyl to done to drawe thee to myn hostel;
and yet many wernynges
thou madest er thou lyste fully to graunt thyne home to make
at my dwellyng place;
and nowe thou comest goodly by thyne owne vyse to comforte me
with wordes, and
so there thoroughe I gynne remembre on passed gladnesse.
Trewly, lady, I ne wotte
whether I shal say welcome or none sythen thy comyng wol as
moche do me teneand
sorowe as gladnesse and myrthe. Se why. For that me
comforteth to thynke on passed
gladnesse that me anoyeth efte to be in doynge. Thus thy
comynge bothe gladdeth and
teneth, and that is cause of moche sorowe: Lo, lady howe than
I am comforted by your
commynge?" And with that I gan in teeres to distylle and
tenderly wepe. "Nowe certes,"
quod Love, "I se wel, and that me overthynketh, that wytte in
thee fayleth and arte in
poynte to dote."
"Trewly," quod I, "that have ye maked and
that ever wol I rue." "Wottest thou not
wel," quod she, "that every shepeherde ought by reson to seke
his sperkelande shepe
that arne ronne into wyldernesse amonge busshes and peryls
and hem to their pasture
ayen bringe and take on hem privy besy cure of kepyng? And
tho the unconnynge
shepe scattred wolde ben loste rennyng to wyldernesse and to
desertes drawe, or els
wolden put hem selfe to the swalowyng wolfe, yet shal the
shepeherde by busynesse
and travayle so put him forthe that he shal not let hem be
loste by no waye. A good
shepeherde putteth rather hys lyfe to ben loste for his
shepe. But for thou shalte not
wene me beyng of werse condycion, trewly, for everych of my
folke, and for al tho
that to mewarde be knyt in any condycion, I wol rather dye
than suffre hem throughe
errour to ben spylte. For me lyste and it me lyketh of al
myne a shepherdesse to be
cleped. Wost thou not wel I fayled never wight but he me
refused and wolde neglygently
go with unkyndenesse? And yet, pardé, have I many such
holpe and releved, and they
have ofte me begyled; but ever at the ende, it discendeth in
their owne neckes. Haste
thou not radde howe kynde I was to Paris, Priamus sonne of
Troy? How Jason me
falsed, for al his false behest? Howe Sesars swonke, I lefte
it for no tene tyl he was
troned in my blysse for his servyce? What," quod she, "most
of al maked I not a
lovedaye bytwene God and mankynde, and chese a mayde to be
nompere to put the
quarel at ende? Lo, howe I have travayled to have thanke on
al sydes, and yet lyst me not
to rest and I might fynde on whome I shulde werche. But
trewly myn owne disciple
bycause I have thee founde at al assayes in thy wyl to be
redy myn hestes to have
folowed and haste ben trewe to that Margaryte perle that ones
I thee shewed and she
alwaye ayenwarde hath made but daungerous chere, I am come in
propre person to put
thee out of errours and make thee gladde by wayes of reason,
so that sorow ne disease
shal no more hereafter thee amaistry. Wherthrough I hope thou
shalte lyghtly come
to the grace that thou longe haste desyred of thylke jewel.
Haste thou not herde
many ensamples howe I have comforted and releved the scholers
of my lore? Who
hath worthyed kynges in the felde? Who hath honoured ladyes
in boure by a perpetuel
myrrour of their truthe in my servyce? Who hath caused worthy
folke to voyde
vyce and shame? Who hath holde cyties and realmes in
prosperyté? If thee lyste
cleape ayen thyn olde remembraunce, thou coudest every poynte
of this declare in
especial and say that I thy maystresse have be cause, causyng
these thynges and
many mo other." "Nowe, iwys, madame," quod I, "al these
thynges I knowe wel my
selfe and that thyn excellence passeth the understandyng of
us beestes, and that no
mannes wytte erthely may comprehende thy vertues." "Wel
than,"
quod she, "for I se
thee in disease and sorowe I wote wel thou arte one of myn
nories. I maye not
suffre thee so to make sorowe thyn owne selfe to shende; but
I myselfe come to be
thy fere, thyne hevy charge to make to seme the lesse. For wo
is him that is alone; and
to the sorye, to ben moned by a sorouful wight it is great
gladnesse. Right so, with my
sycke frendes I am sicke, and with sorie I can not els but
sorowe make tyl whan I have
hem releved in suche wyse that gladnesse in a maner of
counterpaysyng shal restore as
mokyl in joye as the passed hevynesse byforne dyd in tene.
And also," quod she, "whan
any of my servauntes ben alone in solytary place, I have yet
ever besyed me to be with
hem in comforte of their hertes, and taught hem to make
songes of playnte and of
blysse, and to endyten letters of rethorike in queynt
understondynges, and to bethynke
hem in what wyse they might best their ladyes in good servyce
please, and also to lerne
maner in countenaunce in wordes and in bearyng, and to ben
meke and lowly to every
wight, his name and fame to encrease, and to yeve gret yeftes
and large, that his renome
maye springen. But thee therof have I excused, for thy losse
and thy great costages
wherthroughe thou arte nedy arne nothinge to me unknowen, but
I hope to God somtyme
it shal ben amended, as thus as I sayd. In norture have I
taught al myne and in curtesye
made hem expert their ladyes hertes to wynne, and if any
wolde ben deynous or proude,
or be envyous or of wretches acqueyntaunce, hastelyche have
I suche voyded out of
my schole. For al vyces trewly I hate; vertues and
worthynesse in al my power I
avaunce." "Ah, worthy creature," quod I, "and by juste cause
the name of Goddesse
dignely ye mowe beare. In thee lythe the grace thorough
whiche any creature in this
worlde hath any goodnesse. Trewly, al maner of blysse and
preciousnesse in vertue out
of thee springen and wellen as brokes and ryvers proceden
from their springes, and like
as al waters by kynde drawen to the see, so al kyndely
thynges thresten by ful appetyte
of desyre to drawe after thy steppes and to thy presence
aproche as to their kyndely
perfection: howe dare than beestes in this worlde aught
forfete ayenst thy devyne
purveyaunce? Also, lady, ye knowen al the privy thoughtes: in
hertes no counsayle
maye ben hydde from your knowyng. Wherfore I wote wel, lady,
that ye knowe your
selfe that I in my conscience am and have ben wyllynge to
your servyce, al coude I
never do as I shulde, yet, forsothe, fayned I never to love
otherwyse than was in myn
herte; and if I coude have made chere to one and ythought
another as many other doone
aldaye afore myn eyen, I trowe it wolde not me have vayled."
"Certes," quod she,
"haddest thou so done, I wolde not nowe have thee here
vysited." "Ye wete wel, lady,
eke," quod I, "that I have not playde raket nettyl in docke
out and with the wethercocke
waved, and trewly there ye me sette by acorde of my
conscience I wolde not flye tyl ye
and reason by aperte strength maden myn herte to tourne." "In
good faythe," quod she,
"I have knowe thee ever of tho condycions, and sythen thou
woldest (in as moch as in
thee was) a made me privy of thy counsayle and juge of thy
conscience, though I
forsoke it in tho dayes tyl I saw better my tyme, wolde never
God that I shuld nowe
fayle, but ever I wol be redy wytnessyng thy sothe in what
place that ever I shal ayenst
al tho that wol the contrary susteyne. And for as moche as to
me is naught unknowen
ne hyd of thy privy hert but al hast thou tho thynges made to
me open at the ful, that hath
caused my comynge into this prison to voyde the webbes of
thyne eyen to make thee
clerely to se the errours thou hast ben in. And bycause that
men ben of dyvers condycions,
some a dradde to saye a sothe, and some for a sothe anone
redy to fyght, and also that
I maye not myselfe ben in place to withsay thilke men that of
thee speken otherwyse
than the sothe, I wol, and I charge thee, in vertue of
obedyence that thou to me owest,
to writen my wordes and sette hem in writynges that they mowe
as my witnessynge
ben noted amonge the people. For bookes written neyther
dreden ne shamen ne stryve
conne, but onely shewen the entente of the writer and yeve
remembraunce to the herer;
and if any wol in thy presence saye any thynge to tho
writers, loke boldely: truste on
Mars to answere at the ful. For certes, I shal hym enfourme
of al the trouthe in thy love
with thy conscience, so that of his helpe thou shalte not
varye at thy nede. I trowe the
strongest and the beste that maye be founde wol not transvers
thy wordes, wherof than
woldest thou drede."
Chapter III
Gretly was I tho gladed of these wordes,
and, as who sayth, wexen somdele light in
herte, both for the auctorité of witnesse, and also
for sykernesse of helpe of the forsayd
beheste. And sayd: "Trewly, lady, nowe am I wel gladded
through comforte of your
wordes. Be it nowe lykynge unto your nobley to shewe whiche
folke diffame your
servauntes sythe your servyce ought above al other thynges to
ben commended." "Yet,"
quod she, "I se wel thy soule is not al out of the amased
cloude. Thee were better to here
thyng that thee myght light out of thyn hevy charge and after
knowyng of thyn owne
helpe than to styrre swete wordes and such resons to here.
For in a thoughtful soule
(and namely suche one as thou arte) wol not yet suche thynges
synken. Come of,
therfore, and let me sene thy hevy charge that I may the
lyghtlyer for thy comforte purvey."
"Nowe, certes, lady," quod I, "the moste
comforte I myght have were utterly to wete
me be sure in herte of that Margaryte I serve, and so I
thinke to don with al mightes
whyle my lyfe dureth." "Than," quod she, "mayste thou
therafter in suche wyse that
mysplesaunce ne entre?" "In good fayth," quod I, "there shal
no misplesaunce be caused
through trespace on my syde." "And I do thee to weten," quod
she, "I set never yet
person to serve in no place (but if he caused the contrary in
defautes and trespaces) that
he ne spedde of his servyce." "Myn owne erthly lady," quod I
tho, "and yet remembre
to your worthynesse howe long sythen by many revolvyng of
yeres in tyme whan
Octobre his leave gynneth take and Novembre sheweth hym to
syght whan bernes ben
ful of goodes as is the nutte on every halke, and than good
londe tyllers gynne shape for
the erthe with great travayle to bringe forthe more corne to
mannes sustenaunce ayenst
the nexte yeres folowyng. In suche tyme of plentie he that
hath an home and is wyse
lyste not to wander mervayles to seche, but he be constrayned
or excited. Oft the lothe
thyng is doone by excytacion of other mannes opynyon whiche
wolden fayne have
myn abydynge take in herte of luste to travayle, and se the
wyndyng of the erthe in that
tyme of wynter — by woodes that large stretes werne in,
by smale pathes that swyne
and hogges hadden made as lanes with ladels their maste to
seche. I walked thynkynge
alone a wonder great whyle, and the great beestes that the
woode haunten and adorneth
al maner forestes and heerdes gone to wylde. Than, er I was
ware, I neyghed to a see
banke and, for ferde of the beestes, `shypcrafte,' I cryde.
For lady, I trowe ye wete wel
yourselfe nothyng is werse than the beestes that shulden ben
tame, if they catche her
wyldenesse and gynne ayen waxe ramage. Thus, forsothe, was I
aferde and to shyppe
me hyed. Than were there ynowe to lache myn handes and drawe
me to shyppe of
whiche many I knewe wel the names. Syght was the first, Lust
was a nother, Thought
was the thirde, and Wyl eke was there a mayster: these
broughten me within borde of
this shyppe of traveyle. So whan the sayle was sprad and this
shyppe gan to move the
wynde and water gan for to ryse and overthwartly to turne the
welken; the wawes
semeden as they kyste togyder, but often under colour of
kyssynge is mokel olde hate
prively closed and kepte. The storme so straungely and in a
devouring maner gan so
faste us assayle that I supposed the date of my deth shulde
have made there his gynnyng.
Nowe up, nowe downe, nowe under the wawe, and nowe aboven was
my shyppe a
great whyle. And so by mokel duresse of wethers and of
stormes and with great avowyng
pylgrimages, I was driven to an yle where utterly I wende
first to have be rescowed,
but trewly, as the first gynnyng, it semed me so peryllous
the haven to catche that but
thorowe grace I had ben comforted of lyfe I was ful
dispayred. Trewly, lady, if ye
remembre a right, of al maner thynges yourselfe came hastely
to sene us see driven and
to weten what we weren. But first ye were deynous of chere,
after whiche ye gonne
better alyght, and ever, as me thought, ye lyved in great
drede of disease — it semed so
by your chere. And whan I was certifyed of your name, the
lenger I loked in you the
more I you goodly dradde and ever myn herte on you opened the
more, and so in a lytel
tyme my shyppe was out of mynde. But, lady, as ye me lad I
was
ware bothe of beestes
and of fysshes a great nombre throngyng togyder: amonge
whiche a muskel in a blewe
shel had enclosed a Margaryte perle, the moste precious and
best that ever to forne
came in my syght, and ye tolden your selfe that ylke jewel in
his kynde was so good and
so vertuous that her better shulde I never fynde al sought I
therafter to the worldes
ende. And with that I helde my peace a great whyle; and ever
sythen I have me bethought
on the man that sought the precious Margarytes, and whan he
had founden one to his
lykyng he solde al his good to bye that jewel. Iwys, thought
I, and yet so I thynke, nowe
have I founden the jewel that myne herte desyreth, wherto
shulde I seche further?
Trewly nowe wol I stynte and on this Margaryte I sette me for
ever. Nowe than also,
sythen I wyste wel it was your wyl that I shulde so suche a
servyce me take, and so to
desyre that thing of whiche I never have blisse, there lyveth
none but he hath disease.
Your might than that brought me to suche servyce that to me
is cause of sorowe and of
joye, I wonder of your worde that ye sayne to bringen men in
to joye, and, pardé, ye
wete wel that defaut ne trespace may not reasonably ben put
to me wardes as ferre as
my conscience knoweth. But of my disease me lyst now a whyle
to speke and to
enforme you in what maner of blysse ye have me thronge. For
truly I wene that al
gladnesse al joye and al myrthe is beshet under locke and the
keye throwe in suche place
that it may not be founde; my brennyng wo hath altred al my
hewe. Whan I shulde
slepe, I walowe and I thynke and me disporte. Thus combred I
seme that al folke had
me mased. Also, lady, myne desyre hath longe dured some
speking to have, or els at the
lest have ben enmoysed with syght, and for wantynge of these
thinges my mouthe
wolde, and he durst, pleyne right sore sythen yvels for my
goodnesse arne manyfolde
to me yolden. I wonder, lady, trewly, save evermore your
reverence, howe ye mowe
for shame suche thynges suffre on your servaunt to be so
multyplied. Wherfore, knelyng
with a lowe herte I pray you to rue on this caytife that of
nothyng now may serve.
Good lady, if ye lyste, nowe your helpe to me shewe that am
of your privyest servantes
at al assayes in this tyme and under your wynges of
protection. No helpe to me wardes
is shapen: howe shal than straungers in any wyse after
socoure loke, whan I that am so
privy yet of helpe I do fayle? Further maye I not but thus in
this prison abyde: what
bondes and chaynes me holden, lady, ye se wel yourselfe? A
renyant forjuged hath not
halfe the care. But thus syghyng and sobbyng I wayle here
alone, and nere it for comforte
of your presence, right here wolde I sterve. And yet a lytel
am I gladed that so goodly
suche grace and none hap have I hente graciously to fynde the
precious Margarite that,
al other lefte, men shulde bye if they shulde therfore sel al
her substaunce. Wo is me that
so many let games and purpose brekers ben maked wayters,
suche prisoners as I am
evermore to overloke and to hynder, and for suche lettours it
is harde any suche jewel
to wynne. Is this, lady, an honour to thy deytie? Me thynketh
by right suche people
shulde have no maistrye ne ben overlokers over none of thy
servauntes. Trewly, were
it leful unto you to al the Goddes wolde I playne that ye
rule your devyne purveyaunce
amonges your servantes nothyng as ye shulde. Also, lady, my
moeble is insuffysaunt to
countervayle the price of this jewel, or els to make
th'eschange. Eke no wight is worthy
suche perles to weare but kynges or princes or els their
peres. This jewel for vertue
wold adorne and make fayre al a realme; the nobley of vertue
is so moche that her
goodnesse overal is commended. Who is it that wolde not wayle
but he might suche
rychesse have at his wyl? The vertue therof out of this
prison may me delyver and
naught els. And if I be not ther thorowe holpen, I se myselfe
withouten recovery: Although
I might hence voyde, yet wolde I not. I wolde abyde the daye
that destenye hath me
ordeyned, whiche I suppose is without amendement. So sore is
myn herte bounden that
I maye thynken none other. Thus strayte, lady, hath sir
Daunger laced me in stockes, I
leve it be not your wyl; and for I se you taken so lytel hede
as me thynketh and wol not
maken by your might the vertue in mercy of the Margaryte on
me for to stretche, so as
ye mowe wel in case that you lyste, my blysse and my mirthe
arne feld. Sicknesse and
sorowe ben alwaye redy. The cope of tene is wounde aboute al
my body that stondyng
is me best; unneth maye I lygge for pure miseasy sorowe, and
yet al this is lytel ynoughe
to be the ernest sylver in forwarde of this bargayne; for
treblefolde so mokel muste I
suffer er tyme come of myn ease. For he is worthy no welthe
that maye no wo suffer.
And certes I am hevy to thynke on these thynges. But who shal
yeve me water ynough
to drinke lest myn eyen drie for rennyng stremes of teares?
Who shal waylen with me
myne owne happy hevynesse? Who shal counsaile me nowe in my
lykyng tene, and in
my goodly harse? I not. For ever the more I brenne the more
I coveyte; the more that
I sorow the more thrist I in gladnesse. Who shal than yeve me
a contraryous drinke to
stanche the thurste of my blysful bytternesse? Lo, thus I
brenne and I drenche. I shyver
and I sweate. To this reversed yvel was never yet ordeyned
salve: for soth, al lyches ben
unconnyng save the Margaryte alone any suche remedye to
purvey."
Chapter IV
And with these wordes I brast out to wepe
that every teere of myne eyen for greatnesse
semed they boren out the bal of my syght and that al the
water had ben out ronne. Than
thought me that Love gan a lytel to heavy for miscomfort of
my chere and gan soberly
and in easy maner speke, wel avysinge what she sayd. Comenly
the wyse speken easyly
and softe for many skylles: One is their wordes are the
better byleved; and also, in easy
speakynge, avysement men may catche what to put forthe and
what to holden in. And
also the |