Chapter XIV: Front Matter (14)

[1331] 4160 is on] but oon (on &c.) AM ... B₂

[1332] 4161 oonly (only) AM ... B₂

[1333] 4174 bot] and AM ... B₂

[1334] 4183 How him were leuere AdBT

[1335] 4185 an hondred AM ... B₂

[1336] 4186 þus AdBT, W

[1337] 4194 good] god F

[1338] 4208 ferste (first &c.) AM ... B₂ fist Ad

[1339] 4212 þenk C, S, F þenke AJ, B

[1340] 4222 good] at home S ... Δ

[1341] 4239 firste (ferst &c.) H₁ ... B₂, W fist(e) M, Ad

[1342] 4245 hihe (hye) AJC, S, F hih B

[1343] 4262 set A, S, F sette C, B

[1344] 4266 wommen AM ... B₂, W

[1345] 4269 womman J, AdBT, W

[1346] 4277 it _om._ AdBTΔ (_ins._ S)

[1347] 4312 I] men S ... Δ

[1348] 4314 Sardanapallus E, Δ, W

[1349] 4316 _marg._ Sardanapallus ER, Δ, W

[1350] 4317 _marg._ mulieri A ... B₂ (_except_ E)

[1351] 4322 _marg._ voluptati H₁ ... B₂

[1352] 4321 waxþ (waxeþ, wexeþ) A ... B₂, Δ, W

[1353] 4331 þer as ... þer as AM

[1354] 4336 how þat þe king AMLB₂ how þe k. H₁ ... C

[1355] 4357 many JC, SB manye A, F

[1356] 4362 that] it AM ... B₂

[1357] 4365 _margin_ viuatur AM vincit W

[1358] 4367 _margin_ mirum H₁ ... B₂

[1359] 4372 _marg._ stabilire A ... B₂

[1360] 4375 _marg._ tempore B₂, BT

[1361] 4378 _marg._ indefenbiles F

[1362] 4381 betidd S, F betidde AC, B be tid J

[1363] 4395 fleyssly F

[1364] 4402 put AJ, S, F putte C, B

[1365] 4408 _margin_ hic _om._ BT

[1366] 4415 ff. _margin_ contaminati--ceciderunt] contaminati sunt (_om._ graciam--ceciderunt) BT

[1367] 4411 Irael (Irahel) J, S, FK _rest_ Israel

[1368] 4415 of ȝong age B

[1369] 4424 aboughte MH₁GE, AdBΔ

[1370] 4435 god _om._ A

[1371] 4471 þastat (þe astate) AdBT

[1372] 4492 of which B _om._ Ad

[1373] 4525 kut (kutt) AJC, S, F cutte B

[1374] 4526 toward] vnto AdBT

[1375] 4557 f. As more ... is told AdB As more ... tolde T

[1376] 4559 _margin_ Aristotiles _om._ B

[1377] 4572 fille H₁ ... B₂ fulle AM

[1378] 4573 tho] þe H₁ ... B₂, AdΔ, W

[1379] 4574 Anthonie AJ, F Antonie S antoigne B

[1380] 4581 Antonie S Anthonie A Antoine J, B, F

[1381] 4595 _margin_ nuper Rome] rome nuper BT nup_er_ A _om._ M

[1382] 4610 he hadde AM ... B₂

[1383] 4611 a] þe LB₂, Δ _om._ AM, T

[1384] 4628 ye me] I me AdBT

[1385] 4641 Whan þe lordes AM

[1386] 4646 The B₂, AdBT

[1387] 4662 þo he AdBT

[1388] 4688 told C, SB, F tolde A

[1389] 4737 ground F therthe] þer he AdBT þere (þer) H₁YXGERC, Λ

[1390] 4746 the] þat S ... Δ

[1391] 4754 _Paragraph in MSS. at_ 4757

[1392] 4772 ther] þus B

[1393] 4780 Wher of (Wherof) AdBT, K

[1394] 4795 the _om._ A

[1395] 4796 þis ladyes B þeis ladis Ad þise lady (s _erased_) T

[1396] 4803 him AXGCR

[1397] 4810 were X, AdBT

[1398] 4812 seide B

[1399] 4814 swerd] schield (shelde) H₁, B

[1400] 4825 schulde (scholde) M, AdBT

[1401] 4832 dewe droppe AM, W

[1402] 4880 let GEC, AdBT

[1403] 4881 hir _om._ B her(e) H₁XR

[1404] 4886 liked SAdBT

[1405] 4887 in the dede] in dede AMXLB₂

[1406] 4914 And he AdBT

[1407] 4918 he lighte AdBT

[1408] 4920 he _om._ AdBT

[1409] 4929 þis wise AdBT

[1410] 4940 he _om._ AM

[1411] 4944 the _om._ AM a H₁

[1412] 4971 In to AdBT

[1413] 5043 f. minte ... stinte J, SB, F mente ... stente AEC

[1414] 5101 vnto X ... B₂

[1415] 5104 mannes herte trembled H₁ ... B₂, W manne herte trembled AM

[1416] 5113 fadre S, F fader AJC, B

[1417] 5130 olde ensample C, F old (oold) ensample AJ, B olde ensamples SΔ

[1418] 5133 _margin_ super eodem _om._ B

[1419] 5140 _margin_ tunc _om._ BT

[1420] 5135 and þus FWKMagd

[1421] 5161 þis Mariage SBTΔ

[1422] 5171 þe weie GB₂, S ... Δ

[1423] 5182 somo_u_ned (_or_ som_m_oned) AJ, F somoned C, SB

[1424] 5184 stood (stode) H₁ ... B₂ stante W

[1425] 5201 schorte J, S, F schort AC, B

[1426] 5206 And þoughte to be þer þerfore H₁ ... B₂

[1427] 5220 torned AM ... B₂

[1428] 5239 fro] for J, AdBT

[1429] 5247 take (taake) AC, S, F tak J, B

[1430] 5251 aschamed ALM, Δ

[1431] 5263 Al with ... of blood T Al wiþ ... al blod B Wiþ ... al blode Ad

[1432] 5267 seide AJ, SB seid F

[1433] 5268 þis AMB₂

[1434] 5275 And for AdBT Or of W

[1435] 5279 haþ him AM, W

[1436] 5293 ffor þey B

[1437] 5327 withinne] which in AdBT

[1438] 5336 serued B

[1439] 5337 in such CRB₂

[1440] 5341 wriþe AJC, SB wriþ F

[1441] 5345 of] for AdBT

[1442] 5348 hise bondes J, S, FK his hondes H₁ ... B₂, AdTBΔ, WMagd hondes (_om._ his) AM

[1443] 5366 Of which AdBT, W O such H₁

[1444] 5379 cause AdBT

[1445] 5380 _marg._ Nota A, F _om._ C, B

[1446] 5383 put AJ, SB pit F

[1447] 5388 honeste H₁ ... B₂, Δ, WK

[1448] 5392 the _om._ AM

[1449] 5407 which I AdBT

[1450] 5411 so̅u̅n̅en F

[1451] 5417 S _has lost two leaves_ (5417-viii. 336)

[1452] 5422 al _om._ H₁ ... B₂, AdBT

[1453] 5426 in to (into) AMB₂

Incipit Liber Octavus.

[Sidenote: [LECHERY.]]
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 275=]

i. _Que fauet ad vicium vetus hec modo regula confert,_
_Nec nouus econtra qui docet ordo placet._
_Cecus amor dudum nondum sua lumina cepit,_
_Quo Venus impositum deuia fallit iter._

The myhti god, which unbegunne
Stant of himself and hath begunne
[Sidenote: Postquam ad instanciam Amantis confessi
Confessor Genius super hiis que Aristotiles Regem
Alexandrum edocuit, vna cum aliarum Cronicarum exemplis
seriose tractauit, iam vltimo in isto octauo volumine ad
confessionem in amoris causa regrediens tractare proponit
super hoc, quod nonnulli primordia nature ad libitum
voluptuose consequentes, nullo humane racionis arbitrio
seu ecclesie legum imposicione a suis excessibus debite
refrenantur. Vnde quatenus amorem concernit Amantis
conscienciam pro finali sue confessionis materia Genius
rimari conatur.]
Alle othre thinges at his wille,
The hevene him liste to fulfille
Of alle joie, where as he
Sit inthronized in his See,
And hath hise Angles him to serve,
Suche as him liketh to preserve,
So that thei mowe noght forsueie:
Bot Lucifer he putte aweie, 10
With al the route apostazied
Of hem that ben to him allied,
Whiche out of hevene into the helle[1454]
From Angles into fendes felle;
Wher that ther is no joie of lyht,
Bot more derk than eny nyht
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 276=]
The peine schal ben endeles;
And yit of fyres natheles
Ther is plente, bot thei ben blake,
Wherof no syhte mai be take. 20
Thus whan the thinges ben befalle,
That Luciferes court was falle
Wher dedly Pride hem hath conveied,
Anon forthwith it was pourveied
Thurgh him which alle thinges may;
[Sidenote: [THE ORIGIN OF MANKIND.]]
He made Adam the sexte day
In Paradis, and to his make
Him liketh Eve also to make,
And bad hem cresce and multiplie.
For of the mannes Progenie, 30
Which of the womman schal be bore,
The nombre of Angles which was lore,
Whan thei out fro the blisse felle,
He thoghte to restore, and felle
In hevene thilke holy place
Which stod tho voide upon his grace.
Bot as it is wel wiste and knowe,[1455]
Adam and Eve bot a throwe,
So as it scholde of hem betyde,
In Paradis at thilke tyde 40
Ne duelten, and the cause why,
Write in the bok of Genesi,
As who seith, alle men have herd,
Hou Raphael the fyri swerd
In honde tok and drof hem oute,
To gete here lyves fode aboute
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 277=]
Upon this wofull Erthe hiere.
Metodre seith to this matiere,[1456]
As he be revelacion
It hadde upon avision, 50
Hou that Adam and Eve also
Virgines comen bothe tuo
Into the world and were aschamed,
Til that nature hem hath reclamed
To love, and tauht hem thilke lore,
That ferst thei keste, and overmore
Thei don that is to kinde due,
Wherof thei hadden fair issue.
A Sone was the ferste of alle,
And Chain be name thei him calle;[1457] 60
Abel was after the secounde,
And in the geste as it is founde,
Nature so the cause ladde,
Tuo douhtres ek Dame Eve hadde,
The ferste cleped Calmana
Was, and that other Delbora.
[Sidenote: [LAWS OF MARRIAGE.]]
Thus was mankinde to beginne;
Forthi that time it was no Sinne
The Soster forto take hire brother,
Whan that ther was of chois non other: 70
To Chain was Calmana betake,[1458]
And Delboram hath Abel take,[1459]
In whom was gete natheles
Of worldes folk the ferste encres.
Men sein that nede hath no lawe,
And so it was be thilke dawe
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 278=]
And laste into the Secounde Age,[1460]
Til that the grete water rage,
Of Noë which was seid the flod,[1461]
The world, which thanne in Senne stod, 80
Hath dreint, outake lyves Eyhte.
Tho was mankinde of litel weyhte;
Sem, Cham, Japhet, of these thre,
That ben the Sones of Noë,
The world of mannes nacion
Into multiplicacion
Was tho restored newe ayein
So ferforth, as the bokes sein,
That of hem thre and here issue
Ther was so large a retenue, 90
Of naciouns seventy and tuo;
In sondri place ech on of tho
The wyde world have enhabited.
Bot as nature hem hath excited,
Thei token thanne litel hiede,
The brother of the Sosterhiede
To wedde wyves, til it cam
Into the time of Habraham.[1462]
Whan the thridde Age was begunne,
The nede tho was overrunne,[1463] 100
For ther was poeple ynouh in londe:
Thanne ate ferste it cam to honde,
That Sosterhode of mariage
Was torned into cousinage,
So that after the rihte lyne
The Cousin weddeth the cousine.
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 279=]
For Habraham, er that he deide,
This charge upon his servant leide,
To him and in this wise spak,
That he his Sone Isaäc 110
Do wedde for no worldes good,
Bot only to his oghne blod:
Wherof this Servant, as he bad,
Whan he was ded, his Sone hath lad
To Bathuel, wher he Rebecke
Hath wedded with the whyte necke;
For sche, he wiste wel and syh,
Was to the child cousine nyh.
And thus as Habraham hath tawht,
Whan Isaäc was god betawht, 120
His Sone Jacob dede also,
And of Laban the dowhtres tuo,
Which was his Em, he tok to wyve,
And gat upon hem in his lyve,
Of hire ferst which hihte Lie,
Sex Sones of his Progenie,
And of Rachel tuo Sones eke:
The remenant was forto seke,
That is to sein of foure mo,
Wherof he gat on Bala tuo, 130
And of Zelpha he hadde ek tweie.
And these tuelve, as I thee seie,
Thurgh providence of god himselve
Ben seid the Patriarkes tuelve;
Of whom, as afterward befell,
The tribes tuelve of Irahel[1464]
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 280=]
Engendred were, and ben the same
That of Hebreus tho hadden name,
Which of Sibrede in alliance
For evere kepten thilke usance 140
Most comunly, til Crist was bore.
Bot afterward it was forbore
Amonges ous that ben baptized;
For of the lawe canonized
The Pope hath bede to the men,[1465]
That non schal wedden of his ken
Ne the seconde ne the thridde.
Bot thogh that holy cherche it bidde,[1466]
So to restreigne Mariage,
Ther ben yit upon loves Rage 150
Full manye of suche nou aday
That taken wher thei take may.
For love, which is unbesein
Of alle reson, as men sein,
Thurgh sotie and thurgh nycete,
Of his voluptuosite
He spareth no condicion
Of ken ne yit religion,
Bot as a cock among the Hennes,
Or as a Stalon in the Fennes, 160
Which goth amonges al the Stod,
Riht so can he nomore good,
Bot takth what thing comth next to honde.
[Sidenote: Confessor.]
Mi Sone, thou schalt understonde,
That such delit is forto blame.
Forthi if thou hast be the same
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 281=]
To love in eny such manere,
Tell forth therof and schrif thee hiere.
[Sidenote: Amans.]
Mi fader, nay, god wot the sothe,
Mi feire is noght of such a bothe,[1467] 170
So wylde a man yit was I nevere,
That of mi ken or lief or levere
Me liste love in such a wise:
And ek I not for what emprise
I scholde assote upon a Nonne,
For thogh I hadde hir love wonne,
It myhte into no pris amonte,[1468]
So therof sette I non acompte.
Ye mai wel axe of this and that,
Bot sothli forto telle plat, 180
In al this world ther is bot on
The which myn herte hath overgon;
I am toward alle othre fre.
Full wel, mi Sone, nou I see
[Sidenote: Confessor.]
Thi word stant evere upon o place,[1469]
Bot yit therof thou hast a grace,
That thou thee myht so wel excuse
Of love such as som men use,[1470]
So as I spak of now tofore.
For al such time of love is lore, 190
And lich unto the bitterswete;
For thogh it thenke a man ferst swete,
He schal wel fielen ate laste
That it is sour and may noght laste.
For as a morsell envenimed,
So hath such love his lust mistimed,
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 282=]
And grete ensamples manyon
A man mai finde therupon.

[Sidenote: [EXAMPLES OF INCEST. CALIGULA.]]
At Rome ferst if we beginne,
Ther schal I finde hou of this sinne 200
[Sidenote: Hic loquitur contra illos, quos Venus sui
desiderii feruore inflammans ita incestuosos efficit, vt
neque propriis Sororibus parcunt. Et narrat exemplum,
qualiter pro eo quod Gayus Caligula tres sorores suas
virgines coitu illicito opressit, deus tanti sceleris
peccatum impune[1471] non ferens ipsum non solum ab imperio
set a vita iusticia vindice priuauit.[1472]
Narrat eciam aliud exemplum super eodem, qualiter Amon
filius Dauid fatui amoris concupiscencia preuentus,
sororem suam Thamar a sue virginitatis pudicicia inuitam
deflorauit, propter quod et ipse a fratre suo Absolon
postea interfectus, peccatum sue mortis precio inuitus
redemit.]
An Emperour was forto blame,
Gayus Caligula be name,
Which of his oghne Sostres thre
Berefte the virginite:
And whanne he hadde hem so forlein,[1473]
As he the which was al vilein,
He dede hem out of londe exile.
Bot afterward withinne a while
God hath beraft him in his ire
His lif and ek his large empire: 210
And thus for likinge of a throwe
For evere his lust was overthrowe.
Of this sotie also I finde,
[Sidenote: [AMMON.]]
Amon his Soster ayein kinde,
Which hihte Thamar, he forlay;
Bot he that lust an other day
Aboghte, whan that Absolon
His oghne brother therupon,
Of that he hadde his Soster schent,
Tok of that Senne vengement 220
And slowh him with his oghne hond:
And thus thunkinde unkinde fond.

[Sidenote: [LOT AND HIS DAUGHTERS.]]
And forto se more of this thing,
The bible makth a knowleching,
[Sidenote: Hic narrat, qualiter Loth duas filias suas ipsis
consencientibus carnali copula cognouit, duosque ex eis
filios, scilicet Moab et Amon, progenuit, quorum postea
generacio praua et exasperans contra populum dei in terra
saltim promissionis vario grauamine quam sepius insultabat.]
Wherof thou miht take evidence
Upon the sothe experience.
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 283=]
Whan Lothes wif was overgon
And schape into the salte Ston,[1474]
As it is spoke into this day,
Be bothe hise dowhtres thanne he lay, 230
With childe and made hem bothe grete,[1475]
Til that nature hem wolde lete,
And so the cause aboute ladde
That ech of hem a Sone hadde,
Moab the ferste, and the seconde
Amon, of whiche, as it is founde,
Cam afterward to gret encres[1476]
Tuo nacions: and natheles,
For that the stockes were ungoode,[1477]
The branches mihten noght be goode; 240
For of the false Moabites
Forth with the strengthe of Amonites,
Of that thei weren ferst misgete,
The poeple of god was ofte upsete
In Irahel and in Judee,[1478]
As in the bible a man mai se.
[Sidenote: Confessor.]
Lo thus, my Sone, as I thee seie,
Thou miht thiselve be beseie
Of that thou hast of othre herd:
[Sidenote: [INCEST.]]
For evere yit it hath so ferd, 250
Of loves lust if so befalle
That it in other place falle
Than it is of the lawe set,
He which his love hath so beset
Mote afterward repente him sore.
And every man is othres lore;
[Sidenote: =P. iii. 284=]
Of that befell in time er this[1479]
The present time which now is
May ben enformed hou it stod,
And take that him thenketh good, 260
And leve that which is noght so.
Bot forto loke of time go,[1480]
Hou lust of love excedeth lawe,
It oghte forto be withdrawe;
For every man it scholde drede,
And nameliche in his Sibrede,
Which torneth ofte to vengance:
Wherof a tale in remembrance,
Which is a long process to hiere,
I thenke forto tellen hiere. 270

[Sidenote: [APOLLONIUS OF TYRE.]]
ii. _Omnibus est communis amor, set et immoderatos_
_Qui facit excessus, non reputatur amans._
_Sors tamen vnde Venus attractat corda, videre_
_Que racionis erunt, non racione sinit._