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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=538535" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Vision Of Piers Plowman - Part 12</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">' I am Ymaginatif,' quod he, 'ydel was I nevere, <br>Though I sitte by myself, in siknesse nor in helthe. <br>I have folwed thee, in feith, thise fyve and fo <br>And manye tymes have meved thee to [mlyn[n]e on thyn ende, <br>And how fele fernyeres are faren, and so fewe to come<br>And of thi wilde wantownesse [whan] thow yong were, <br>To amende it in thi myddel age, lest myght the faille <br>In thyn olde elde, that yvele kan suffre <br>Poverte or penaunce, or preyeres bidde<br>Si non in prima vigilia nec in secunda &c. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Amende thee while thow myght; thow hast ben warned ofte <br>With poustees of pestilences, with poverte and with angres - <br>And with thise bittre baleises God beteth his deere children<br>Quem diligo, castigo. <br>And David in the Sauter seith, of swiche that loveth Jesus, <br>'' Virga tua et baculus tuus, ipsa me consolata sunt. <br>Although thow strike me with thi staf, with stikke or with yerde, <br>It is but murthe as for me to amende my soule.'' <br>And thow medlest thee with makynges - and myghtest go seye thi Sauter, <br>And bidde for hem that yyveth thee breed; for ther are bokes ynowe <br>To telle men what Dowel is, Dobet and Dobest bothe, <br>And prechours to preve what it is, of many a peire freres.' <br>I seigh wel he seide me sooth and, somwhat me to excuse, <br>Seide, 'Caton conforted his sone that, clerk though he were, <br>To solacen hym som tyme - a[lso] I do whan I make<br>Interpone tuis interdum gaudia curis. <br>'And of holy men I herde,' quod I, 'how thei outherwhile <br>Pleyden, the parfiter to ben, in [places manye]. <br>Ac if ther were any wight that wolde me telle <br>What were Dowel and Dobet and Dobest at the laste, <br>Wolde I nevere do werk, but wende to holi chirche <br>And there bidde my bedes but whan ich ete or slepe.' <br>'Poul in his pistle,' quod he, 'preveth what is Dowel<br>Fides, spes, caritas, et maior horum &c - <br>Feith, hope and charitee, and alle ben goode, <br>And saven men sondry tymes, ac noon so soone as charite. <br>For he dooth wel, withouten doute, that dooth as lewte techeth; <br>That is, if thow be man maryed, thi make thow lovye, <br>And lyve forth as lawe wole while ye lyven bothe. <br>' Right so, if thow be religious, ren thow nevere ferther <br>To Rome ne to Rochemador, but as thi rule techeth, </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And holde thee under obedience, that heigh wey is to hevene. <br>'And if thow be maiden to marye, and myght wel continue, <br>Seke thow nevere seint ferther for no soule helthe! <br>For what made Lucifer to lese the heighe hevene, <br>Or Salomon his sapience, or Sampson his strengthe? <br>job the Jew his joye deere he it aboughte; <br>Aristotle and othere mo, Ypocras and Virgile, <br>Alisaundre that al wan, elengliche ended. <br>Catel and kynde wit was combraunce to hem alle. <br>' Felice hir fairnesse fel hire al to sclaundre, <br>And Rosamounde right so reufulliche bisette <br>The beaute of hir body; in baddenesse she despended. <br>Of manye swiche I may rede - of men and or wommen - <br>That wise wordes wolde shewe and werche the contrarie<br>Sunt homines nequam bene de virtute loquentes. <br>'And riche renkes right so gaderen and sparen, <br>And tho men that thei moost haten mynistren it at the laste; <br>And for thei suffren and see so manye nedy folkes <br>And love hem noght as Oure Lord bit, lesen hir soules<br>Date et dabitur vobis. <br>So catel and kynde wit acombreth ful manye; <br>Wo is hym that hem weldeth but he hem wel despende<br>Scient [es] et nan facient [es] variis flagellis vapulab[un]t. <br>Sapience, seith the Bok, swelleth a mannes soule<br>Sapiencia inflat &c. <br>And richesse right so, but if the roote be trewe. <br>'Ac grace is a gras therfore, tho grevaunces to abate. <br>Ac grace ne groweth noght but amonges [gomes] lowe<br>Paciwnce and poverte the place is ther groweth, </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And in lele lyvynge men and in lif holy, <br>And thorugh the gifte of the Holy Goost, as the Gospel telleth<br>Spiritus ubi vult spirat. <br>'Clergie and kynde wit cometh of sighte and techyng, <br>As the Book bereth witnesse to burnes that kan rede<br>Quod scimus loquimur, quod vidimus testamur. <br>Of quod scimus cometh clergie, a konnynge of hevene, <br>And of quad vidimus cometh kynde wit, of sighte of diverse peple. <br>Ac grace is a gifte of God, and of greet love spryngeth; <br>Knew nevere clerk how it cometh forth, ne kynde wit the weyes<br>Nescit aliquis unde venit aut quo vadit &c. <br>'Ac yet is clergie to comende, and kynde wit bothe, <br>And namely clergie for Cristes love, that of clergie is roote. <br>For Moyses witnesseth that God wroot for to wisse the peple <br>In the Olde Lawe, as the lettre telleth, that was the lawe of Jewes, <br>That what womman were in avoutrye taken, were she riche or poore, <br>With stones men sholde hir strike. and stone hire to dethe. <br>A womman, as we fynden, was gilty of that dede; <br>Ac Crist of his curteisie thorugh clergie hir saved. <br>For thorugh caractes that Crist wroot, the Jewes knewe hemselve <br>Giltier as afore God and gretter in synne <br>Than the womman that there was, and wenten awey for shame. <br>The clergie that there was conforted the womman. <br>Holy Kirke knoweth this - that Cristes writyng saved; <br>So clergie is confort to creatures that repenten, <br>And to mansede men meschief at hire ende. <br>'For Goddes body myghte noght ben of breed withouten clergie, <br>The which body is bothe boote to the rightfulle, <br>And deeth and dampnacion to hem that deyeth yvele; <br>As Cristes caracte confortede and bothe coupable shewed <br>The womman that the Jewes broughte, that Jesus thoughte to save<br>Nolite iudicare et non iudicabimini. <br>Right so Goddes body, bretheren, but it be worthili taken, <br>Dampneth us at the day of dome as dide the caractes the Jewes. <br>'Forthi I counseille thee for Cristes sake. clergie that thow lovye, <br>For kynde wit is of his kyn and neighe cosynes bothe <br>To Oure Lord, leve me - forthi love hem, I rede. <br>For bothe ben as mirours to amenden oure det-autes, <br>And lederes for lewed men and for lettred bothe. <br>'Forthi lakke thow nevere logik, lawe ne hise custumes, <br>Ne countreplede clerkes - l counseille thee for evere! <br>For as a man may noght see that mysseth hise eighen. <br>Na moore kan no clerk but if he caughte it first thorugh bokes. <br>Although men made bokes, God was the maister, <br>And Seint Spirit the samplarie, and seide what men sholde write. <br>And right as sight serveth a man to se the heighe strete, <br>Right so lereth lettrure lewed men to reson. <br>And as a blynd man in bataille bereth wepne to fighte, <br>And hath noon hap with his ax his enemy to hitte, <br>Na moore kan a kynde witted man, but clerkes hym teche, <br>Come, for al his kynde wit, to Cristendom and be saved - <br>Which is the cofre of Cristes tresor, and clerkes kepe the keyes, <br>To unloken it at hir likyng, and to the lewed peple <br>Yyve mercy for hire mysdedes, if men it wole aske <br>Buxomliche and benigneliche, and bidden it of grace. <br>'Archa Dei in the Olde Lawe, Levites it kepten; <br>Hadde nevere lewed man leve to leggen hond on that cheste <br>But he were preest or preestes sone, patriark or prophete. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Saul, for he sacrificed, sorwe hym bitidde, <br>And his sones also for that synne mischeved, <br>And manye mo other men that were no Levites, <br>That with archa Dei yeden, in reverence and in worship, <br>And leiden hond theron to liften it up - and loren hir lif after. <br>'Forthi I conseille alle creatures no clergie to dispise, <br>Ne sette short by hir science, whatso thei don hemselve. <br>Take we hir wordes at worth, for hire witnesses be trewe, <br>And medle we noght muche with hem to meven any wrathe, <br>Lest cheste cha[f]en us to choppe ech man other<br>Nolite tangere christos meos &c. <br>' For clergie is kepere under Crist of hevene; <br>[Com] ther nevere no knyght but clergie hym made. <br>Ac kynde wit cometh of alle kynnes sightes - <br>Of briddes and of beestes, [of blisse and of sorwe], <br>Of tastes of truthe and [oft] of deceites. <br>'[Olde] lyveris toforn us useden to marke <br>The selkouthes that thei seighen, hir sones for to teche, <br>And helden it an heigh science hir wittes to knowe. <br>Ac thorugh hir science soothly was nevere no soule ysaved, <br>Ne broght by hir bokes to blisse ne to joye; <br>For alle hir kynde knowyng com but of diverse sightes. <br>' Patriarkes and prophetes repreveden hir science, <br>And seiden hir wordes ne hir wisdomes was but a folye; <br>As to the clergie of Crist, counted it but a trufle<br>Sapiencia huius mundi stultitia est apud Deum. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">'For the heighe Holy Goost hevene shal tocleve, <br>And love shal lepe out after into this lowe erthe, <br>And clennesse shal cacchen it and clerkes shullen it fynde<br>Pastores loquebantur ad invicem. <br>' He speketh there of riche men right noght, ne of right witty, <br>Ne of lordes that were lewed men, but of the hyeste lettred oute<br>Ibant magi ab oriente. <br>(If any frere were founde there, I yyve thee fyve shillynges!) <br>Ne in none beggers cote was that barn born, <br>But in a burgeises place, of Bethlem the beste<br>Sed non erat ei locus in diversorio - et pauper non habet diversorium. <br>'To pastours and to poetes appered the aungel, <br>And bad hem go to Bethlem Goddes burthe to honoure, <br>And songe a song of solas, Gloria in excelsis Deo.! <br>Riche men rutte tho and in hir reste were, <br>Tho it shon to shepherdes, a shewer of blisse. <br>Clerkes knewen it wel and comen with hir presents, <br>And diden hir homage nurably to hym that was almyghty. <br>'Why I have told thee I this - I took ful good hede <br>How thow contrariedest lergie with crabbede wordes, <br>How that lewed men lightloker than lettrede were saved, <br>Than clerkes or kynde witted men, of Cristene peple. <br>And thow seidest sooth of somme - ac se in what manere. <br>'Tak two stronge men and in Themese cast hem, <br>And bothe naked as a nedle, hir noon sikerer than other; <br>That oon hath konnynge and kan swymmen and dyven, <br>That oother is lewed of that labour, lerned nevere swymme. <br>Which trowestow of tho two in Themese is in moost drede - <br>He that nevere ne dyved ne noght kan of symmyng <br>Or the swymmere that is saff by so hymself like, <br>Ther his felawe fleteth forthas the flood liketh, </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And is in drede to drenche, that nevere dide swymme?' <br>'That swymme kan noght,' I seide, 'it semeth to my wittes.' <br>' Right so,' quod the renk, ' reson it sheweth, <br>That he that knoweth clergie kan sonner arise <br>Out of synne and be saaf, though he synne ofte, <br>If hym liketh and lest, than any lewed, leelly. <br>For if the clerk be konnynge, he knoweth what is synne, <br>And how contricion withoute confession conforteth the soule, <br>As thow seest in the Sauter in salmes oon or tweyne, <br>How contricion is comended for it cacheth awey synne<br>Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates et quorum tecta sunt peccata. <br>And this conforteth ech a clerk and kevereth hym fro wanhope, <br>In which flood the fend fondeth a man hardest; <br>Ther the lewed lith stille and loketh after Lente, <br>And hath no contricion er he come to shrifte - and thanne kan he litel telle, <br>But as his loresman lereth hyrn bileveth and troweth, <br>And that is after person or parissh preest, and paraventure bothe unkonnynge <br>To lere lewed men, as Luc bereth witnesse<br>Dum cecus ducit cecum &c. <br>'Wo was hym marked that wade moot with the lewed! <br>Wel may the barn blesse that hym to book sette, <br>That lyvynge after lettrure saved hym lif and soule. <br>Dominus pars hereditatis mee is a murye verset <br>That hath take fro Tybourne twenty stronge theves, <br>Ther lewed theves ben lolled up - loke how thei be saved! <br>'The thef that hadde grace of God on Good Fryday as thow speke, </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Was for he yald hym creaunt to Crist on the cros and knewliched hym gilty, <br>And grace asked of God, that to graunten is evere redy <br>To hem that buxomliche biddeth it, and ben in wille to amenden hem. <br>Ac though that theef hadde hevene, he hadde noon heigh blisse, <br>As Seint Johan and othere seintes that deserved hadde bettre. <br>Right as som man yeve me mete and sette me amydde the floor<br>I hadde mete moore than ynough. ac noght so muche worshipe <br>As tho that seten at the syde table or with the sovereynes of the halle, <br>But sete as a beggere bordlees by myself on the grounde. <br>So it fareth by that felon that a Good Friday was saved<br>He sit neither with Seint Johan, Symond ne Jude, <br>Ne with maydenes ne with martires ne confessours ne wydewes, <br>But by hymself as a soleyn, and served on the erthe. <br>For he that is ones a thef is everemoore in daunger, <br>And as lawe liketh to lyve or to deye<br>De peccato propiciato noli esse sine metu. <br>And for to serven a seint and swich a thef togideres - <br>It were neither reson ne right to rewarde both yliche. <br>'And right as Troianus the trewe knyght tilde noght depe in helle <br>That Oure Lord ne hadde hym lightly out, so leve I [by] the thef in hevene<br>For he is in the loweste of hevene, if oure bileve be trewe, </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And wel losely he lolleth there, by the lawe of Holy Chirche, <br>Quia reddit unicuique iuxta opera sua. <br>'Ac why that oon theef on the cros creaunt hym yald <br>Rather than that oother theef, though thow woldest appose, <br>Alle the clerkes under Crist ne kouthe the skile assoille<br>Quare placuit ? Quia voluit. <br>And so I seye by thee, that sekest after the whyes, -<br>And aresonedest Reson, a rebukynge as it were, <br>And willest of briddes and of beestes and of hir bredyng knowe, <br>Why some be alough and some aloft, thi likyng it were; <br>And of the floures in the fryth and of hire faire hewes - <br>Wherof thei cacche hir colours so clere and so brighte, <br>And of the stones and of the sterres - thow studiest, as I leve, <br>How evere beest outher brid hath so breme wittes . . . <br>'Clergie ne Kynde Wit ne knew nevere the cause, <br>Ac Kynde knoweth the cause hymself and no creature ellis. <br>He is the pies patron and putteth it in hir ere <br>That there the thorn is thikkest to buylden and brede. <br>And Kynde kenned the pecok to cauken in swich a kynde, <br>And Kynde kenned Adam to knowe his pryve membres, <br>And taughte hym and Eve to helien hem with leves. <br>' Lewed men many tymes maistres thei apposen, . <br>Whi Adam ne hiled noght first his mouth that eet the appul, <br>Rather than his likame alogh? - lewed asken thus clerkes. <br>Kynde knoweth whi he dide so, ac no clerk ellis! <br>'Ac of briddes and of beestes men by olde tyme <br>Ensamples token and termes, as telleth thise poetes, <br>And that the faireste fowel foulest engendreth, <br>And feblest fowel of flight is that fleeth or swymmeth. <br>And that is the pecok and the pehen - proude riche men thei bitokneth <br>For the pecok and men pursue hym may noght flee heighe</div><div style="margin:10px 0">For the trailynge of his tail overtaken is he soone. <br>And his flessh is foul flessh, and his feet bothe, <br>And unlovelich of ledene and looth for to here. <br>'Right so the riche, if he his richesse kepe <br>And deleth it noght til his deeth day, the tail of alle is sorwe. <br>Right as the pennes of the pecok peyneth hym in his flight, <br>So is possession peyne of pens and of nobles <br>To alle hem that it holdeth til hir tail be plukked. <br>And though the riche repente thanne and birewe the tyme <br>That evere he gadered so grete and gaf therof so litel, <br>Though he crye to Crist thanne with kene wil, I leve <br>His ledene be in Oure Lordes ere lik a pies chiteryng; <br>And whan his caroyne shal come in cave to be buryed, <br>I leve it flawme ful foule the fold al aboute, <br>And alle the othere ther it lith envenymeth thorugh his attre. <br>By the po feet is understande, as I have lerned in Avynet, <br>Executours - false frendes that fulfille noght his wille <br>That was writen, and thei witnesse to werche right as it wolde. <br>Thus the poete preveth that the pecok for his fetheres is reverenced; <br>Right so is the riche by reson of hise goodes. <br>'The larke, that is a lasse fowel, is moore lovelich of ledene, <br>And wel awey of wynge swifter than the pecok, <br>And of flessh by felefold fatter and swetter; <br>To lowe libbynge men the larke is resembled. <br>['Swiche tales he telleth, Aristotle the grete clerk]; <br>Thus he likneth in his logik the leeste fowel oute. <br>And wheither he be saaf or noght saaf, the sothe woot no clergie, <br>Ne of Sortes ne of Salamon no seripture kan telle. <br>Ac God is so good, I hope that siththe he gaf hem wittes <br>To wissen us wyes therwith, that wisshen to be saved, <br>(And the bettre for hir bokes to bidden we ben holden) </div><div style="margin:10px 0">That God for his grace gyve hir soules reste - <br>For lettred men were lewed yet, ne were loore of hir bokes.' <br>'Alle thise clerkes,' quod I tho, 'that on Crist leven. <br>Seyen in hir sermons that neither Sarsens ne Jewes <br>Ne no creature of Cristes liknesse withouten Cristendom worth saved.' <br>' Contra.! quod Ymaginatif thoo,and comsed for to loure, <br>And seide, ' Salvabitur vix iustus in die iudicii, <br>Ergo - salvabitur!' quod he, and seide no moore Latyn. <br>'Troianus was a trewe knyght and took nevere Cristendom, <br>And he is saaf, so seith the book, and his soule in hevene. <br>Ac ther is fullynge of font and fullynge in blood shedyng, <br>And thorugh fir is fullyng, and that is ferme bileve<br>Advenit ignis divinus, non comburens set illuminans &c. <br>'Ac truthe that trespased nevere ne traversed ayeins his lawe, <br>But lyveth as his lawe techeth and leveth ther be no bettre, <br>(And if ther were, he wolde amende) and in swich wille deieth - <br>Ne wolde nevere trewe God but trewe truthe were allowed. <br>And wheither it worth or noght worth, the bileve is gret of truthe, <br>And an hope hangynge therinne to have a mede for his truthe; <br>For Deus dicitur quasi dans vitam eternam suis, hoc est fidelibus. <br>Et alibi, Si ambulavero in medio umbre mortis &c. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The glose graunteth upon that vers a greet mede to truthe. <br>And wit and wisdom,' quod that wye, ' was som tyme tresor <br>To kepe with a commune - no catel was holde bettre - <br>And muche murthe and manhod' - and right with that he vanysshed.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=William+Langland">William Langland</a><div class=q>
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<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=538535" data-title="The Vision Of Piers Plowman - Part 12 de William Langland" data-description="' I am Ymaginatif,' quod he, 'ydel was I nevere, 
Though I sitte by myself, in siknesse nor in helthe. 
I have folwed thee, in feith, thise fyve and fo 
And manye tymes have meved thee to [mlyn[n]e on thyn ende, 
And how fele fernyeres are faren, ..."></div>
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