<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=421827" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Colyn Cloute</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">Quis consurget mecum adversus malignantes ?<br>aut quis stabit mecum adversus operantes iniqui-<br>tatem ? Nemo, Domine !</div><div style="margin:10px 0"> W H A T can it auayle <br>To dryue forth a snayle, <br>Or to make a sayle <br>Of an herynges tayle ; <br>To ryme or to rayle, <br>To wryte or to indyte, <br>Eyther for delyte <br>Or elles for despyte ; <br>Or bokes to compyle <br>Of dyuers maner style, 10 <br>Vyce to reuyle <br>And synne to exyle ; <br>To teche or to preche, <br>As reason wyll reche ? <br>Say this, and say that, <br>His hed is so fat, <br>He wotteth neuer what <br>Nor wherof he speketh ; <br>He cryeth and he creketh, <br>He pryeth and he peketh, 20 <br>He chydes and he chatters, <br>He prates and he patters, <br>He clytters and he clatters, <br>He medles and he smatters, <br>He gloses and he flatters ; <br>Or yf he speake playne, <br>Than he lacketh brayne, <br>He is but a fole ; <br>Let hym go to scole, <br>On a thre foted stole 30 <br>That he may downe syt, <br>For he lacketh wyt ; <br>And yf that he hyt <br>The nayle on the hede, <br>It standeth in no stede ; <br>The deuyll, they say, is dede, <br>The deuell is dede. <br> It may well so be, <br>Or els they wolde se <br>Otherwyse, and fle 40 <br>From worldly vanyte, <br>And foule couetousnesse, <br>And other wretchednesse, <br>Fyckell falsenesse, <br>Varyablenesse, <br>With vnstablenesse. <br> And if ye stande in doubte <br>Who brought this ryme aboute, <br>My name is Colyn Cloute. <br>I purpose to shake oute 50 <br>All my connyng bagge, <br>Lyke a clerkely hagge ; <br>For though my ryme be ragged, <br>Tattered and iagged, <br>Rudely rayne beaten, <br>Rusty and moughte eaten, <br>If ye take well therwith, <br>It hath in it some pyth. <br>For, as farre as I can se, <br>It is wronge with eche degre : 60 <br>For the temporalte <br>Accuseth the spiritualte ; <br>The spirituall agayne <br>Dothe grudge and complayne <br>Vpon the temporall men : <br>Thus eche of other blother <br>The tone agayng the tother : <br>Alas, they make me shoder ! <br>For in hoder moder <br>The Churche is put in faute ; 70 <br>The prelates ben so haut, <br>They say, and loke so hy, <br>As though they wolde fly <br>Aboue the sterry skye. <br> Laye men say indede <br>How they take no hede <br>Theyr sely shepe to fede, <br>But plucke away and pull <br>The fleces of theyr wull, <br>Vnethes they leue a locke 80 <br>Of wull amonges theyr flocke ; <br>And as for theyr connynge, <br>A glommynge and a mummynge, <br>And make therof a iape ; <br>They gaspe and they gape <br>All to haue promocyon, <br>There is theyr deuocyon, <br>With money, if it wyll hap, <br>To catche the forked cap : <br>Forsothe they are so lewd 90 <br>To say so, all beshrewd ! <br> What trow ye they say more <br>Of the bysshoppes lore ? <br>How in matters they be rawe, <br>They lumber forth the lawe, <br>To herken Jacke and Gyll, <br>Whan they put vp a byll, <br>And iudge it as they wyll, <br>For other mennes skyll, <br>Expoundyng out theyr clauses, 100 <br>And leue theyr owne causes : <br>In theyr prouynciall cure <br>They make but lytell sure, <br>And meddels very lyght <br>In the Churches ryght ; <br>But ire and venire, <br>And solfa so alamyre, <br>That the premenyre <br>Is lyke to be set a fyre <br>In theyr iurisdictions 110 <br>Through temporall afflictions : <br>Men say they haue prescriptions <br>Agaynst spirituall contradictions, <br>Accomptynge them as fyctions. <br> And whyles the heedes do this, <br>The remenaunt is amys <br>Of the clergy all, <br>Bothe great and small. <br>I wot neuer how they warke, <br>But thus the people barke ;# 120 <br>And surely thus they say, <br>Bysshoppes, if they may, <br>Small houses wolde kepe, <br>But slumbre forth and slepe, <br>And assay to crepe <br>Within the noble walles <br>Of the kynges halles, <br>To fat theyr bodyes full, <br>Theyr soules lene and dull, <br>And haue full lytell care 130 <br>How euyll theyr shepe fare. <br> The temporalyte say playne, <br>How bysshoppes dysdayne <br>Sermons for to make, <br>Or suche laboure to take ; <br>And for to say trouth, <br>A great parte is for slouth, <br>But the greattest parte <br>Is for they haue but small arte <br>And ryght sklender connyng 140 <br>Within theyr heedes wonnyng. <br>But this reason they take <br>How they are able to make <br>With theyr golde and treasure <br>Clerkes out of measure, <br>And yet that is a pleasure. <br>How be it some there be, <br>Almost two or thre, <br>Of that dygnyte, <br>Full worshypfull clerkes, 150 <br>As appereth by theyr werkes, <br>Lyke Aaron and Ure, <br>The wolfe from the dore <br>To werryn and to kepe <br>From theyr goostly shepe, <br>And theyr spirituall lammes <br>Sequestred from rammes <br>And from the berded gotes <br>With theyr heery cotes ; <br>Set nought by golde ne grotes, 160 <br>Theyr names if I durst tell. <br> But they are loth to mell, <br>And loth to hang the bell <br>Aboute the cattes necke, <br>For drede to haue a checke ; <br>They ar fayne to play deuz decke, <br>They ar made for the becke. <br>How be it they are good men, <br>Moche herted lyke an hen : <br>Theyr lessons forgotten they haue 170 <br>That Becket them gaue : <br>Thomas manum mittit ad fortia, <br>Spernit damna, spernit opprobria, <br>Nulla Thomam frangit injuria. <br>But nowe euery spirituall father, <br>Men say, they had rather <br>Spende moche of theyr share <br>Than to be combred with care : <br>Spende ! nay, nay, but spare ; <br>For let se who that dare 180 <br>Sho the mockysshe mare ; <br>They make her wynche and keke, <br>But it is not worth a leke : <br>Boldnesse is to seke <br>The Churche for to defend. <br>Take me as I intende, <br>For lothe I am to offende <br>In this that I haue pende : <br>I tell you as men say ; <br>Amende whan ye may, 190 <br>For, usque ad montem Sare,# <br>Men say ye can not appare ; <br>For some say ye hunte in parkes, <br>And hauke on hobby larkes, <br>And other wanton warkes, <br>Whan the nyght darkes. <br> What hath lay men to do <br>The gray gose for to sho ? <br>Lyke houndes of hell, <br>They crye and they yell, 200 <br>Howe that ye sell <br>The grace of the Holy Gost : <br>Thus they make theyr bost <br>Through owte euery cost, <br>Howe some of you do eate <br>In Lenton season fleshe mete, <br>Fesauntes, partryche, and cranes ; <br>Men call you therfore prophanes ; <br>Ye pycke no shrympes nor pranes, <br>Saltfysshe, stocfysshe, nor heryng, 210 <br>It is not for your werynge ; <br>Nor in holy Lenton season <br>Ye wyll netheyr benes ne peason, <br>But ye loke to be let lose <br>To a pygge or to a gose, <br>Your gorge not endewed <br>Without a capon stewed, <br>Or a stewed cocke, <br>To knowe whate ys a clocke <br>Vnder her surfled smocke, 220 <br>And her wanton wodicocke. <br> And how whan ye gyue orders <br>In your prouinciall borders, <br>As at Sitientes, <br>Some are insufficientes, <br>Some parum sapientes <br>Some nihil intelligentes, <br>Some valde negligentes, <br>Some nullum sensum habentes, <br>But bestiall and vntaught ; 230 <br>But whan thei haue ones caught <br>Dominus vobiscum by the hede, <br>Than renne they in euery stede, <br>God wot, with dronken nolles ; <br>Yet take they cure of soules, <br>And woteth neuer what thei rede, <br>Paternoster, Ave, nor Crede ; <br>Construe not worth a whystle <br>Nether Gospell nor Pystle ; <br>Theyr mattyns madly sayde, 240 <br>Nothynge deuoutly prayde ; <br>Theyr lernynge is so small, <br>Theyr prymes and houres fall <br>And lepe out of theyr lyppes <br>Lyke sawdust or drye chyppes. <br>I speke not nowe of all, <br>But the moost parte in generall. <br>Of suche vagabundus <br>Speketh totus mundus ; <br>Howe some synge Lætabundus 250 <br>At euery ale stake, <br>With, welcome hake and make ! <br>By the brede that God brake, <br>I am sory for your sake. <br>I speke not of the good wyfe, <br>But of theyr apostles lyfe ; <br>Cum ipsis vel illis <br>Qui manent in villis <br>Est uxor vel ancilla, <br>Welcome Jacke and Gylla ! 260 <br>My prety Petronylla, <br>And you wyll be stylla, <br>You shall haue your wylla. <br>Of suche Paternoster pekes <br>All the worlde spekes. <br> In you the faute is supposed, <br>For that they are not apposed <br>By iust examinacyon <br>In connyng and conuersacyon ; <br>They haue none instructyon 270 <br>To make a true constructyon : <br>A preest without a letter, <br>Without his vertue be gretter, <br>Doutlesse were moche better <br>Vpon hym for to take <br>A mattocke or a rake. <br>Alas, for very shame ! <br>Some can not declyne their name ; <br>Some can not scarsly rede, <br>And yet he wyll not drede 280 <br>For to kepe a cure, <br>And in nothyng is sure ; <br>This Dominus vobiscum, <br>As wyse as Tom a thrum, <br>A chaplayne of trust <br>Layth all in the dust. <br> Thus I, Colyn Cloute, <br>As I go aboute, <br>And wandrynge as I walke, <br>I here the people talke. 290 <br>Men say, for syluer and golde <br>Myters are bought and solde ; <br>There shall no clergy appose <br>A myter nor a crose, <br>But a full purse : <br>A strawe for Goddes curse ! <br>What are they the worse ? <br>For a symonyake <br>Is but a hermoniake ; <br>And no more ye make 300 <br>Of symony, men say, <br>But a chyldes play. <br> Ouer this, the foresayd laye <br>Reporte howe the Pope may <br>An holy anker call <br>Out of the stony wall, <br>And hym a bysshopp make, <br>If he on hym dare take <br>To kepe so harde a rule, <br>To ryde vpon a mule 310 <br>With golde all betrapped, <br>In purple and paule belapped ; <br>Some hatted and some capped, <br>Rychely and warme bewrapped, <br>God wot to theyr great paynes, <br>In rotchettes of fyne Raynes, <br>Whyte as morowes mylke ; <br>Theyr tabertes of fyne silke, <br>Theyr styrops of myxt gold begared ; <br>There may no cost be spared ; 320 <br>Theyr moyles golde dothe eate, <br>Theyr neyghbours dye for meate. <br> What care they though Gil sweate, <br>Or Jacke of the Noke ? <br>The pore people they yoke <br>With sommons and citacyons <br>And excommunycacyons, <br>About churches and market : <br>The bysshop on his carpet <br>At home full softe dothe syt. 330 <br>This is a farly fyt, <br>To here the people iangle, <br>Howe warely they wrangle : <br>Alas, why do ye not handle <br>And them all to-mangle ? <br>Full falsely on you they lye, <br>And shamefully you ascrye, <br>And say as vntruely, <br>As the butterflye <br>A man myght saye in mocke 340 <br>Ware the# wethercocke <br>Of the steple of Poules ; <br>And thus they hurte theyr soules <br>In sclaunderyng you for truthe : <br>Alas, it is great ruthe ! <br>Some say ye syt in trones, <br>Lyke prynces aquilonis, <br>And shryne your rotten bones <br>With perles and precyous stones ; <br>But how the commons grones, 350 <br>And the people mones <br>For prestes and for lones <br>Lent and neuer payd, <br>But from day to day delayde, <br>The commune welth decayde, <br>Men say ye are tonge tayde, <br>And therof speke nothynge <br>Byt dyssymulyng and glosyng. <br>Wherfore men be supposyng <br>The ye gyue shrewd counsell 360 <br>Agaynst the commune well, <br>By poollynge and pyllage <br>In cytyes and vyllage, <br>By taxyng and tollage, <br>Ye make monkes to haue the culerage <br>For couerynge of an olde cottage, <br>That commytted is a collage <br>In the charter of dottage, <br>Tenure par seruyce de sottage, <br>And not par seruyce de socage, 370 <br>After olde seygnyours, <br>And the lerning of Lytelton tenours : <br>Ye haue so ouerthwarted, <br>That good lawes are subuerted, <br>And good reason peruerted. <br> Relygous men are fayne <br>For to tourne agayne <br>In secula seculorum, <br>And to forsake theyr corum, <br>And vagabundare per forum, 380 <br>And take a fyne meritorum, <br>Contra regulam morum, <br>Aut blacke monachorum, <br>Aut canonicorum, <br>Aut Bernardinorum, <br>Aut crucifixorum, <br>And to synge from place to place, <br>Lyke apostataas. <br> And the selfe same game <br>Begone ys now with shame 390 <br>Amongest the sely nonnes : <br>My lady nowe she ronnes, <br>Dame Sybly our abbesse, <br>Dame Dorothe and lady Besse, <br>Dame Sare our pryoresse, <br>Out of theyr cloyster and quere <br>With an heuy chere, <br>Must cast vp theyr blacke vayles, <br>And set vp theyr fucke sayles, <br>To catche wynde with their ventales— 400 <br>What, Colyne, there thou shales ! <br>Yet thus with yll hayles <br>The lay fee people rayles. <br> And all the fawte they lay <br>On you, prelates, and say <br>Ye do them wrong and no ryght <br>To put them thus to flyght ; <br>No matyns at mydnyght, <br>Boke and chalys gone quyte ; <br>And plucke awaye the leedes 410 <br>Evyn ouer theyr heedes, <br>And sell away theyr belles, <br>And all that they haue elles : <br>Thus the people telles, <br>Rayles lyke rebelles, <br>Redys shrewdly and spelles, <br>And with foundacyons melles, <br>And talkys lyke tytyuelles, <br>How ye brake the dedes wylles, <br>Turne monasteris into water milles, 420 <br>Of an abbay ye make a graunge ; <br>Your workes, they saye, are straunge ; <br>So that theyr founders soules <br>Haue lost theyr beade rolles, <br>The mony for theyr masses <br>Spent amonge wanton lasses ; <br>The Diriges are forgotten ; <br>Theyr founders lye theyr rotten, <br>But where theyr soules dwell, <br>Therwith I wyll not mell. 430 <br>What coulde the Turke do more <br>With all his false lore, <br>Turke, Sarazyn, or Jew ? <br>I reporte me to you, <br>O mercyfull Jesu, <br>You supporte and rescue, <br>My style for to dyrecte, <br>It may take some effecte ! <br>For I abhorre to wryte <br>Howe the lay fee dyspyte 440 <br>You prelates, that of ryght <br>Shulde be lanternes of lyght. <br>Ye lyue, they say, in delyte, <br>Drowned in deliciis, <br>In gloria et divitiis, <br>In admirabili honore, <br>In gloria, et splendore <br>Fulgurantis hastæ, <br>Viventes parum caste : <br>Yet swete meate hath soure sauce, 450 <br>For after gloria, laus, <br>Chryst by cruelte <br>Was nayled vpon a tre ; <br>He payed a bytter pencyon <br>For mannes redemcyon, <br>He dranke eysell and gall <br>To redeme vs withall ; <br>But swete ypocras ye drynke, <br>With, Let the cat wynke ! <br>Iche wot what yche other thynk ; 460 <br>Howe be it per assimile <br>Some men thynke that ye <br>Shall haue penalte <br>For your iniquyte. <br>Nota what I say, <br>And bere it well away ; <br>If it please not theologys, <br>It is good for astrologys ; <br>For Ptholome tolde me <br>The sonne somtyme to be 470 <br>In Ariete, <br>Ascendent a degre,# <br>Whan Scorpion descendynge, <br>Was so then pretendynge <br>A fatall fall of one <br>That shuld syt on a trone, <br>And rule all thynges alone. <br>Your teth whet on this bone <br>Amongest you euerychone, <br>And let Collyn Cloute haue none # 480 <br>Maner of cause to mone : <br>Lay salue to your owne sore, <br>For els, as I sayd before, <br>After gloria, laus, <br>May come a soure sauce ; <br>Sory therfore am I, <br>But trouth can neuer lye. <br> With language thus poluted <br>Holy Churche is bruted <br>And shamfully confuted. 490 <br>My penne nowe wyll I sharpe, <br>And wrest vp my harpe <br>With sharpe twynkyng trebelles, <br>Agaynst all suche rebelles <br>That laboure to confounde <br>And bryng the Churche to the grounde ; <br>As ye may dayly se <br>How the lay fee <br>Of one affynyte <br>Consent and agre 500 <br>Agaynst the Churche to be, <br>And the dygnyte <br>Of the bysshoppes see. <br> And eyther ye be to bad, <br>Or els they ar mad <br>Of this to reporte : <br>But, vnder your supporte, <br>Tyll my dyenge day <br>I shall bothe wryte and say, <br>And ye shall do the same, 510 <br>Howe they are to blame <br>You thus to dyffame : <br>For it maketh me sad <br>Howe that people are glad <br>The Churche to depraue ; <br>And some there are that raue, <br>Presumynge on theyr wyt, <br>Whan there is neuer a whyt, <br>To mayntayne argumentes <br>Agaynst the sacramentes. 520 <br> Some make epylogacyon <br>Of hyghe predestynacyon ; <br>And of resydeuacyon <br>They make interpretacyon <br>Of an aquarde facyon ; <br>And of the prescience <br>Of dyuyne essence ; <br>And what ipostacis <br>Of Christes manhode is. <br>Suche logyke men wyll chop, 530 <br>And in theyr fury hop, <br>When the good ale sop <br>Dothe daunce in theyr fore top ; <br>Bothe women and men, <br>Suche ye may well knowe and ken, <br>That agaynst preesthode <br>Theyr malyce sprede abrode, <br>Raylynge haynously <br>And dysdaynously <br>Of preestly dygnytes, 540 <br>But theyr malygnytes. <br> And some haue a smacke <br>Of Luthers sacke, <br>And a brennyng sparke <br>Of Luthers warke, <br>And are somewhat suspecte <br>In Luthers secte ; <br>And some of them barke, <br>Clatter and carpe <br>Of that heresy arte 550 <br>Called Wicleuista, <br>The deuelysshe dogmatista ; <br>And some be Hussyans, <br>And some be Arryans, <br>And some be Pollegians, <br>And make moche varyans <br>Bytwene the clergye <br>And the temporaltye, <br>Howe the Church# hath to mykel, <br>And they haue to lytell, 560 <br>And bryng in materialites <br>And qualyfyed qualytes ; <br>Of pluralytes, <br>Of tryalytes, <br>And of tot quottes, <br>They commune lyke sottes, <br>As commeth to theyr lottes ; <br>Of prebendaries and deanes, <br>Howe some of them gleanes <br>And gathereth vp the store 570 <br>For to catche more and more ; <br>Of persons and vycaryes <br>They make many outcryes ; <br>They cannot kepe theyr wyues <br>From them for theyr lyues ; <br>And thus the loselles stryues, <br>And lewdely sayes by Christ <br>Agaynst the sely preest. <br>Alas, and well away, <br>What ayles them thus to say ? 580 <br>They mought be better aduysed <br>Then to be so dysgysed : <br>But they haue enterprysed, <br>And shamfully surmysed, <br>Howe prelacy is solde and bought, <br>And come vp of nought ; <br>And where the prelates be <br>Come of lowe degre, <br>And set in maieste <br>And spirituall dyngnyte, 590 <br>Farwell benygnyte, <br>Farwell symplicite, <br>Farwell humylyte, <br>Farwell good charyte ! <br> Ye are so puffed wyth pryde, <br>That no man may abyde <br>Your hygh and lordely lokes : <br>Ye cast vp then your bokes, <br>And vertue is forgotten ; <br>For then ye wyll be wroken 600 <br>Of euery lyght quarell, <br>And call a lorde a iauell, <br>A knyght a knaue ye make ; <br>Ye bost, ye face, ye crake, <br>And vpon you ye take <br>To rule bothe kynge and kayser ; <br>And yf ye may haue layser, <br>Ye wyll brynge all to nought, <br>And that is all your thought : <br>For the lordes temporall, 610 <br>Theyr rule is very small, <br>Almost nothyng at all. <br>Men saye howe ye appall <br>The noble blode royall : <br>In ernest and in game, <br>Ye are the lesse to blame, <br>For lordes of noble blode, <br>If they well vnderstode <br>How connyng myght them auaunce, <br>They wold pype you another daunce : 620 <br>But noble men borne <br>To lerne they haue scorne, <br>But hunt and blowe an horne, <br>Lepe ouer lakes and dykes, <br>Set nothyng by polytykes ; <br>Therfore ye kepe them bace, <br>And mocke them to theyr face : <br>This is a pyteous case, <br>To you that ouer the whele <br>Grete lordes must crouche and knele, 630 <br>And breke theyr hose at the kne, <br>As dayly men may se, <br>And to remembraunce call, <br>Fortune so turneth the ball <br>And ruleth so ouer all, <br>That honoure hath a great fall. <br> Shall I tell you more ? ye, shall. <br>I am loth to tell all ; <br>But the communalte yow call <br>Ydolles of Babylon, 640 <br>De terra Zabulon <br>De terra Neptalym ; <br>For ye loue to go trym, <br>Brought vp of poore estate, <br>With pryde inordinate, <br>Sodaynly vpstarte <br>From the donge carte, <br>The mattocke and the shule, <br>To reygne and to rule ; <br>And haue no grace to thynke 650 <br>Howe ye were wonte to drynke <br>Of a lether bottell <br>With a knauysshe stoppell, <br>Whan mamockes was your meate, <br>With moldy brede to eate ; <br>Ye cowde none other gete <br>To chewe and to gnawe, <br>To fyll therwith your mawe ; <br>Loggyng in fayre strawe, <br>Couchyng your drousy heddes 660 <br>Somtyme in lousy beddes. <br>Alas, this is out of mynde ! <br>Ye growe nowe out of kynde : <br>Many one ye haue vntwynde, <br>And made the commons blynde. <br>But qui se existimat stare, <br>Let hym well beware <br>Lest that his fote slyp, <br>And haue suche a tryp, <br>And falle in suche dekay, 670 <br>That all the worlde may say, <br>Come downe, in the deuyll way ! <br> Yet, ouer all that, <br>Of bysshops they chat, <br>That though ye round your hear <br>An ynche aboue your ear, <br>And haue aures patentes <br>And parum intendentes, <br>And your tonsors be croppyd, <br>Your eares they be stopped ; 680 <br>For maister Adulator, <br>And doctour Assentator, <br>And Blandior blandiris, <br>With Mentior mentiris, <br>They folowe your desyres, <br>And so they blere your eyes, <br>That ye can not espye <br>How the male dothe wrye. <br> Alas, for Goddes wyll, <br>Why syt ye, prelates, styll, 690 <br>And suffre all this yll ? <br>Ye bysshops of estates <br>Shulde open the brode gates <br>Of your spirituall charge, <br>And com forthe at large, <br>Lyke lanternes of lyght, <br>In the peoples syght, <br>In pullpettes awtentyke, <br>For the wele publyke <br>Of preesthode in this case ; 700 <br>And alwayes to chase <br>Suche maner of sysmatykes <br>And halfe heretykes, <br>That wolde intoxicate, <br>That wolde conquinate, <br>That wolde contaminate, <br>And that wolde vyolate, <br>And that wolde derogate, <br>And that wolde abrogate <br>The Churchis hygh estates, 710 <br>After this maner rates, <br>The which shulde be <br>Both franke and free, <br>And haue theyr lyberte, <br>As of antiquyte <br>It was ratefyed, <br>And also gratifyed, <br>By holy synodalles <br>And bulles papalles, <br>As it is res certa 720 <br>Conteyned in Magna Charta. <br> But maister Damyan, <br>Or some other man, <br>That clerkely is and can <br>Well scrypture expounde <br>And hys textes grounde, <br>His benefyce worthe ten pounde, <br>Or skante worth twenty marke, <br>And yet a noble clerke, <br>He must do this werke ; 730 <br>As I knowe a parte, <br>Some maisters of arte, <br>Some doctours of lawe, <br>Some lernde in other sawe, <br>As in dyuynyte, <br>That hath no dygnyte <br>But the pore degre <br>Of the vnyuersyte ; <br>Or els frere Frederycke, <br>Or els frere Dominike, 740 <br>Or frere Hugulinus, <br>Or frere Augustinus, <br>Or frere Carmelus, <br>That gostly can heale vs ; <br>Or els yf we may <br>Get a frere graye, <br>Or els of the order <br>Vpon Grenewyche border, <br>Called Obseruance, <br>Or a frere of Fraunce ; 750 <br>Or else the poore Scot, <br>It must come to his lot <br>To shote forthe his shot ; <br>Or of Babuell besyde Bery, <br>To postell vpon a kyry, <br>That wolde it shulde be noted <br>Howe scripture shulde be coted, <br>And so clerkley promoted ; <br>And yet the frere doted. <br> But men sey your awtoryte, 760 <br>And your noble se, <br>And your dygnyte, <br>Shulde be imprynted better <br>Then all the freres letter ; <br>For if ye wolde take payne <br>To preche a worde or twayne, <br>Though it were neuer so playne, <br>With clauses two or thre, <br>So as they myght be <br>Compendyously conueyde, 770 <br>These wordes shuld be more weyd, <br>And better perceyued, <br>And thankfullerlye receyued, <br>And better shulde remayne <br>Amonge the people playne, <br>That wold your wordes retayne <br>And reherce them agayne, <br>Than a thousand thousande other, <br>That blaber, barke, and blother, <br>And make a Walshmans hose 780 <br>Of the texte and of the glose. <br> For protestatyon made, <br>That I wyll not wade <br>Farther in this broke, <br>Nor farther for to loke <br>In deuysynge of this boke, <br>But answere that I may <br>For my selfe alway, <br>Eyther analogice <br>Or els categorice, 790 <br>So that in diuinite <br>Doctors that lerned be, <br>Nor bachelers of that faculte <br>That hath taken degre <br>In the vniversite, <br>Shall not be obiecte at by me. <br> But doctour Bullatus, <br>Parum litteratus, <br>Dominus doctoratus <br>At the brode gatus, 800 <br>Doctour Daupatus, <br>And bacheler bacheleratus, <br>Dronken as a mouse, <br>At the ale house, <br>Taketh his pyllyon and his cap <br>At the good ale tap, <br>For lacke of good wyne ; <br>As wyse as Robyn swyne, <br>Vnder a notaryes sygne <br>Was made a dyuyne ; 810 <br>As wyse as Waltoms calfe, <br>Must preche, a Goddes halfe, <br>In the pulpyt solempnely ; <br>More mete in the pyllory, <br>For, by saynt Hyllary, <br>He can nothyng smatter <br>Of logyke nor scole matter, <br>Neyther syllogisare, <br>Nor enthymemare, <br>Nor knoweth his elenkes, 820 <br>Nor his predicamens ; <br>And yet he wyll mell <br>To amend the gospell, <br>And wyll preche and tell <br>What they do in hell ; <br>And he dare not well neuen <br>What they do in heuen, <br>Nor how farre Temple barre is <br>From the seuen starrys. <br> Nowe wyll I go 830 <br>And tell of other mo, <br>Semper protestando <br>De non impugnando <br>The foure ordores of fryers, <br>Though some of them be lyers ; <br>As Lymyters at large <br>Wyll charge and dyscharge ; <br>As many a frere, God wote, <br>Preches for his grote, <br>Flatterynge for a newe cote 840 <br>And for to haue his fees ; <br>Some to gather chese ; <br>Loth they are to lese <br>Eyther corne or malte ; <br>Somtyme meale and salte, <br>Somtyme a bacon flycke, <br>That is thre fyngers thycke <br>Of larde and of greace, <br>Theyr couent to encreace. <br> I put you out of doute, 850 <br>This can not be rought aboutw <br>But they theyr tonges fyle, And make a plesaunt style <br>To Margery and to Maude, <br>Howe they haue no fraude ; <br>And somtyme they prouoke <br>Bothe Gyll and Jacke at Noke <br>Their dewtyes to withdrawe, <br>That they ought by the lawe <br>Theyr curates to content 860 <br>In open tyme and in Lent : <br>God wot, they take great payne <br>To flatter and to fayne ; <br>But it is an olde sayd sawe, <br>That nede hath no lawe. <br>Some walke aboute in melottes, <br>In gray russet and heery cotes ; <br>Some wyl neyther golde ne grotes ; <br>Some plucke a partrych in remotes, <br>And by the barres of her tayle 870 <br>Wyll knowe a rauen from a rayle, <br>A quayle, the raile, and the olde rauen <br>Sed libera nos a malo ! Amen. <br>And by Dudum, theyr Clementine, <br>Agaynst curates they repyne ; <br>And say propreli they ar sacerdotes, <br>To shryue, assoyle, and reles <br>Dame Margeries soule out of hell : <br>But when the freare fell in the well, <br>He coud not syng himselfe therout 880 <br>But by the helpe of Christyan Clout. <br>Another Clementyne also,# <br>How frere Fabian, with other mo, <br>Exivit de Paradiso ; <br>Whan they agayn theder shal come, <br>De hoc petimus consilium : <br>And through all the world they go <br>With Dirige and Placebo. <br> But nowe my mynd ye vnderstand, <br>For they must take in hande 890 <br>To prech, and to withstande <br>Al maner of abiectioons ; <br>For bysshops haue protections, <br>They say, to do corrections, <br>But they haue no affections <br>To take the sayd dyrections ; <br>In such maner of cases, <br>Men say, they bere no faces <br>To occupye suche places, <br>To sowe the sede of graces : 900 <br>Theyr hertes are so faynted, <br>And they be so attaynted <br>With coueytous and ambycyon, <br>And other superstycyon, <br>That they be deef and dum, <br>And play scylens and glum, <br>Can say nothynge but mum. <br> They occupye them so <br>With syngyng Placebo, <br>They wyll no farther go : 910 <br>They had leuer to please, <br>And take their worldly ease, <br>Than to take on hande <br>Worsshepfully to withstande <br>Such temporall warre and bate, <br>As nowe is made of late <br>Agaynst holy Church estate, <br>Or to mayntayne good quarelles. <br>The lay men call them barrelles <br>Full of glotony 920 <br>And of hypocrysy, <br>That counterfaytes and payntes <br>As they were very sayntes : <br>In matters that them lyke <br>They shewe them polytyke, <br>Pretendyng grauyte <br>And sygnyoryte, <br>With all solempnyte, <br>For theyr indempnyte ; <br>For they wyll haue no losse 930 <br>Of a peny nor of a crosse <br>Of theyr predyall landes, <br>That cometh to theyr handes, <br>And as farre as they dare set, <br>All is fysshe that cometh to net : <br>Buyldyng royally <br>Theyr mancyons curyously, <br>With turrettes and with toures, <br>With halles and with boures, <br>Stretchynge to the starres, 940 <br>With glasse wyndowes and barres ; <br>Hangynge aboute the walles <br>Clothes of golde and palles, <br>Arras of ryche aray, <br>Fresshe as flours in May ; <br>Wyth dame Dyana naked ; <br>Howe lusty Venus quaked, <br>And howe Cupyde shaked <br>His darte, and bent his bowe <br>For to shote a crowe 950 <br>At her tyrly tyrlowe ; <br>And howe Parys of Troy <br>Daunced a lege de moy, <br>Made lusty sporte and ioy <br>With dame Helyn the quene ; <br>With suche storyes bydene <br>Their chambres well besene ; <br>With triumphes of Cesar, <br>And of Pompeyus war, <br>Of renowne and of fame 960 <br>By them to get a name : <br>Nowe all the worlde stares, <br>How they ryde in goodly chares, <br>Conueyed by olyphantes, <br>With lauryat garlantes, <br>And by vnycornes <br>With their semely hornes ; <br>Vpon these beestes rydynge, <br>Naked boyes strydynge, <br>With wanton wenches winkyng. 970 <br>Nowe truly, to my thynkynge, <br>That is a speculacyon <br>And a mete meditacyon <br>For prelates of estate, <br>Their courage to abate <br>From worldly wantonnesse, <br>Theyr chambres thus to dresse <br>With suche parfetnesse <br>And all suche holynesse ; <br>How be it they let downe fall 980 <br>Their churches cathedrall. <br> Squyre, knyght, and lorde, <br>Thus the Churche remorde ; <br>With all temporall people <br>They rune agaynst the steple, <br>Thus talkynge and tellyng <br>How some of you are mellyng ; <br>Yet softe and fayre for swellyng, <br>Beware of a quenes yellyng. <br>It is a besy thyng 990 <br>For one man to rule a kyng <br>Alone and make rekenyng, <br>To gouerne ouer all <br>And rule a realme royall <br>By one mannes verrey wyt ; <br>Fortune may chaunce to flyt, <br>And whan he weneth to syt, <br>Yet may he mysse the quysshon : <br>For I rede a preposycyon, <br>Cum regibus amicare, 1000 <br>Et omnibus dominari, <br>Et supra te pravare ; <br>Wherfore he hathe good vre <br>That can hymselfe assure <br>Howe fortune wyll endure. <br>For the communalte dothe reporte <br>That they haue great wonder <br>That ye kepe them so vnder ; <br>Yet they meruayle so moche lesse, 1010 <br>For ye play so at the chesse, <br>As they suppose and gesse, <br>That some of you but late <br>Hath played so checkemate <br>With lordes of great estate, <br>After suche a rate, <br>That they shall mell nor make, <br>Nor vpon them take, <br>For kynge nor kayser sake, <br>But at the playsure of one 1020 <br>That ruleth the roste alone. <br> Helas, I say, Helas ! <br>Howe may this come to passe, <br>That a man shall here a masse, <br>And not so hardy on his hede, <br>To loke on God in forme of brede, <br>But that the parysshe clerke <br>There vpon must herke, <br>And graunt hym at his askyng <br>For to se the sacryng ? 1030 <br> And howe may this accorde, <br>No man to our souerayne lorde <br>So hardy to make sute, <br>Nor yet to execute <br>His commaundement, <br>Without the assent <br>Of our presydent, <br>Nor to expresse to his person, <br>Without your consentatyon <br>Graunt hym his lycence 1040 <br>To preas to his presence, <br>Nor to speke to hym secretly, <br>Openly nor preuyly, <br>Without his presydent be by, <br>Or els his substytute <br>Whom he wyll depute ? <br>Neyther erle ne duke <br>Permytted ? by saynt Luke, <br>And by swete saynt Marke, <br>This is a wonderous warke ! 1050 <br>That the people talke this, <br>Somewhat there is amysse : <br>The deuil cannot stop their mouthes, <br>But they wyl talke of such vncouthes, <br>All that euer they ken <br>Agaynst all spirituall men. <br> Whether it be wrong or ryght, <br>Or els for dyspyght, <br>Or howe euer it hap, <br>Theyr tonges thus do clap, 1060 <br>And through suche detractyon <br>They put you to your actyon ; <br>And whether they say trewly <br>As they may abyde therby, <br>Or els that they do lye, <br>Ye knowe better then I. <br>But nowe debetis scire, <br>And groundly audire, <br>In your convenire, <br>Of this premenire, 1070 <br>Or els in the myre <br>They saye they wyll you cast ; <br>Therfore stande sure and fast. <br> Stande sure, and take good fotyng, <br>And let be all your motyng, <br>Your gasyng and your totyng, <br>And your parcyall promotyng <br>Of those that stande in your grace ; <br>But olde seruantes ye chase, <br>And put them out of theyr place. 1080 <br>Make ye no murmuracyon, <br>Though I wryte after this facion ; <br>Though I, Colin Cloute, <br>Among the hole route <br>Of you that clerkes be, <br>Take nowe vpon me <br>Thus copyously to wryte, <br>I do it for no despyte. <br>Wherfore take no dysdayne <br>At my style rude and playne ; 1090 <br>For I rebuke no man <br>That vertuous is : why than <br>Wreke ye your anger on me ? <br>For those that vertuous be <br>Haue no cause to say <br>That I speke out of the way. <br> Of no good bysshop speke I, <br>Nor good preest I escrye, <br>Good frere, nor good chanon, <br>Good nonne, nor good canon, 1100 <br>Good monke, nor good clercke, <br>Nor yette of no good werke : <br>But my recountyng is <br>Of them that do amys, <br>In speking and rebellyng, <br>In hynderyng and dysauaylyng <br>Holy Churche, our mother, <br>One agaynst another ; <br>To vse suche despytyng <br>Is all my hole wrytyng ; 1110 <br>To hynder no man, <br>As nere I can, <br>For no man haue I named : <br>Wherfore sholde I be blamed ? <br>Ye ought to be ashamed, <br>Agaynst me to be gramed, <br>And can tell no cause why, <br>But that I wryte trewly. <br> Then yf any there be <br>Of hygh or lowe degre 1120 <br>Of the spiritualte, <br>Or of the temporalte <br>That dothe thynke or wene <br>That his conscyence be not clene, <br>And feleth hymselfe sycke, <br>Or touched on the quycke, <br>Suche grace God them sende <br>Themselfe to amende, <br>For I wyll not pretende <br>Any man to offende. 1130 <br> Wherfore, as thynketh me, <br>Great ydeottes they be, <br>And lytell grace they haue, <br>This treatyse to depraue ; <br>Nor wyll here no prechyng, <br>Nor no vertuous techyng, <br>Nor wyll haue no resytyng <br>Of any vertuous wrytyng ; <br>Wyll knowe none intellygence <br>To refourme theyr neglygence, 1140 <br>But lyue styll out of of facyon, <br>To theyr owne dampnacyon. <br>To do shame they haue no shame, <br>But they wold no man shulde them blame : <br>They haue an euyl name, <br>But yet they wyll occupy the same. <br> With them the worde of God <br>Is counted for no rod ; <br>They counte it for a raylyng, <br>That nothyng is auaylyng ; 1150 <br>The prechers with euyll hayling : <br>Shall they daunt vs prelates, <br>That be theyr prymates ? <br>Not so hardy on theyr pates ! <br>Herke, howe the losell prates, <br>With a wyde wesaunt ! <br>Auaunt, syr Guy of Gaunt ! <br>Auaunt, lewde preest, auaunt ! <br>Auaunt, syr doctour Deuyas ! <br>Prate of thy matyns and thy masse, 1160 <br>And let our maters passe : <br>Howe darest thou, daucocke, mell ? <br>Howe darest thou, losell, <br>Allygate the gospell <br>Agaynst vs of the counsell ? <br>Auaunt to the deuyll of hell ! <br>Take hym, wardeyne of the Flete, <br>Set hym fast by the fete ! <br>I say, lyeutenaunt of the Toure, <br>Make this lurdeyne for to loure ; 1170 <br>Lodge hym in Lytell Ease, <br>Fede hym with beanes and pease ! <br>The Kynges Benche or Marshalsy, <br>Haue hym thyder by and by ! <br>The vyllayne precheth openly, <br>And declareth our vyllany ; <br>And of our fre symplenesse <br>He sayes that we are rechelesse, <br>And full of wylfulnesse, <br>Shameles and mercylesse, 1180 <br>Incorrigible and insaciate ; <br>And after this rate <br>Agaynst vs dothe prate. <br> At Poules Crosse or els where, <br>Openly at Westmynstere, <br>And Saynt Mary Spyttell, <br>They set not by vs a whystell : <br>At the Austen fryers <br>They count vs for lyers : <br>And at Saynt Thomas of Akers 1190 <br>They carpe vs lyke crakers, <br>Howe we wyll rule al at wyll <br>Without good reason or skyll ; <br>And say how that we be <br>Full of parcyalyte ; <br>And howe at a pronge <br>We tourne ryght into wronge, <br>Delay causes so longe <br>That ryght no man can fonge ; <br>They say many matters be born 1200 <br>By the ryght of a rambes horne. <br>Is not this a samfull scorne, <br>To be teared thus and torne. <br> How may we thys indure ? <br>Wherfore we make you sure, <br>Ye prechers shall be yawde ; <br>And some shall be sawde, <br>As noble Isaias, <br>The holy prophet, was ; <br>And some of you shall dye, 1210 <br>Lyke holy Jeremy ; <br>Some hanged, some slayne, <br>Some beaten to the brayne ; <br>And we wyll rule and rayne, <br>And our matters mayntayne <br>Who dare say there agayne, <br>Or who dare dysdayne <br>At our pleasure and wyll : <br>For, be it good or be it yll, <br>As it is, it shall be styll, 1220 <br>For all master doctour of Cyuyll, <br>Or of Diuine, or doctour Dryuyll, <br>Let hym cough, rough, or sneuyll ; <br>Renne God, renne deuyll, <br>Renne who may renne best, <br>And let take all the rest ! <br>We set not a nut shell <br>The way to heuen or to hell. <br> Lo, this is the gyse now a dayes ! <br>It is to drede, men sayes, 1230 <br>Lest they be Saduces, <br>As they be sayd sayne <br>Whiche determyned playne <br>We shulde not ryse agayne <br>At dredefull domis day ; <br>And so it semeth they play, <br>Whiche hate to be corrected <br>Whan they be infected, <br>Nor wyll suffre this boke <br>By hoke ne by croke 1240 <br>Prynted for to be, <br>For that no man shulde se <br>Nor rede in any scrolles <br>Of theyr dronken nolles, <br>Nor of theyr noddy polles, <br>Nor of theyr sely soules, <br>Nor of some wytles pates <br>Of dyuers great estates, <br>As well as other men. <br> Now to withdrawe my pen, 1250 <br>And now a whyle to rest, <br>Me semeth it for the best. <br> The forecastell of my shyp <br>Shall glyde, and smothely slyp <br>Out of the wawes wod <br>Of the stormy flod ; <br>Shote anker, and lye at rode, <br>And sayle not farre abrode, <br>Tyll the cost be clere, <br>And the lode starre appere : 1260 <br>My shyp nowe wyll I stere <br>Towarde the porte salu <br>Of our Sauyour Jesu, <br>Suche grace that he vs sende, <br>To rectyfye and amende <br>Thynges that are amys, <br>Whan that his pleasure is. <br> Amen ! <br>In opere imperfecto, <br>In opere semper perfecto, <br>Et in opere plusquam perfecto ! 1270 <br>Colinus Cloutus, quanquam mea carmina multis <br>Sordescunt stultis, sed puevinate sunt rare cultis, <br>Pue vinatis altisem divino flamine flatis. <br>Unde meâ refert tanto minus, invida quamvis <br>Lingua nocere parat, quia, quanquam rustica canto, <br>Undique cantabor tamen et celebrabor ubique, <br>Inclita dum maneat gens Anglica. Laurus honoris, <br>Quondam regnorum regina et gloria regum, <br>Heu, modo marcescit, tabescit, languida torpet ! <br>Ah pudet, ah miseret ! vetor hic ego pandere plura <br>Pro gemitu et lacrimis : præstet peto præmia pæna.**</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=John+Skelton">John Skelton</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=421827" data-title="Colyn Cloute de John Skelton" data-description="Quis consurget mecum adversus malignantes ? aut quis stabit mecum adversus operantes iniqui- tatem ? Nemo, Domine ! W H A T can it auayle To dryue forth a snayle, Or to make a sayle Of an herynges tayle ; To ryme or to rayle, To wryte or t..."></div> </div> </div>

solid border dashed border dotted border double border groove border ridge border inset border outset border no border blue green red purple cyan gold silver black