Of tepe tenfully togeder, to teche hym be quoynt.'
Thus comparisunez Kryst þe kyndom of heven
To pis frelych feste þat fele arn to called;
For alle arn laped luflyly, þe luper and þe better,
Þat ever wern fulzed in font þat fest to have.
Bot war þe wel, if þou wylt, þy wedez ben clene,
And honest for þe halyday, lest þou harme lache,
For aproch pou to þat Prynce of parage noble-
He hates helle no more þen hem þat ar sowle.
Wich arn þenne by wedez pou wrappez þe inne,
Þat schal schewe hem so schene schrowde of be best?
Hit arn þy werkez, wyterly, þat þou wrozt havez,
And lyved wyth þe lykyng þat lyze in þyn hert,
Þat þo be frely and fresch fonde in þy lyve,
And fetyse of a fayr forme, to fote and to honde,
And syben alle þyn oþer lymez lapped ful clene;
Þenne may pou se by Savior and his sete ryche,
For fele fautez may a freke forfete his blysse,
Þat he be Soverayn ne se-pen for slaupe one,
As for bobaunce and bost, and bolnande pryde,
Proly into be develez prote man þryngez bylyve;
For covetyse, and colwarde and croked dedez,
For mon-sworne, and men-sclagt, and to much
drynk,
For þefte, and for þrepyng, unþonk may mon have;
For roborrye, and riboudrye, and resounez untrwe,
And dysheriete and depryve dowrie of wydoez,
For marryng of maryagez, and mayntnaunce of
schrewez,
For traysoun and trichcherye, and tyrauntyre bope,
And for fals famacions and fayned lawez-
Man may mysse þe myrþe þat much is to prayse
161 MS., M. heveñ.168 MS., M. sowle; M. note fowle (?); Fi. soudly. — 179 MS., M. priyde, but this is merely the scribe's error in adding y after he had already made the abbreviation. — 187 M. suggests lope (?) for bobe.
For such unpewez as pise, and pole much payne,
And in þe Creatores cort com never more,
Ne never see hym with sy3t for such sour tornez.
III. GOD'S VENGEANCE ON LUCIFER AND ON ADAM
Bot I have herkned and herde of mony hyze clerkez,
And als in resounez of ry3t red hit myselven,
Þat þat ilk proper Prynce þat paradys weldez
Is displesed at uch a poynt þat plyes to scape.
Bot never get in no boke breved I herde
Þat ever he wrek so wyperly on werk þat he made,
Ne venged for no vilte of vice ne synne,
Ne so hastyfly watz hot for hatel of his wylle,
Ne never so sodenly sogt unsoundely to weng[e],
As for fylpe of be flesch þat foles han used.
For, as I fynde, per he forget alle his fre bewez,
And wex wod to be wrache for wrath at his hert.
For þe fyrste felonye þe falce fende wrozt,
Whyl he watz hyze in þe heven hoven upon lofte,
Of alle byse apel aungelez attled þe fayrest;
And he unkyndely as a karle kydde a reward.
He sez no3t bot hymself how semly he were,
Bot his Soverayn he forsoke, and sade þyse wordez:
'I schal telde up my trone in þe tramountayne,
And by lyke to þat Lorde þat þe lyft made.'
With his worde þat he warp, þe wrake on hym lyzt,
Dryztyn wyth his dere dom hym drof to be abyme,
In þe mesure of his mode, his metz never þe lasse;
Bot þer he tynt þe type dool of his tour ryche.
Þaz þe feloun were so fers for his fayre wedez
And his glorious glem þat glent so brygt,
As sone as Dryзtynez dome drof to hymselven,
201 MS., M. weng.-203 MS. þewez; M. þewes.-208 MS., M. areward; NED. a reward. -211 MS., M. tramountayne, M.2 tra mountayne. — 215 MS., M., G. metz; B. meth (see note).
Þikke bowsandez pro prwen þeroute, .
Fellen fro þe fyrmament fendez ful blake,
[S]weved at pe fyrst swap as be snaw pikke, Hurled into helle-hole as pe hyve swarmez.
Fy[lt]er fenden folk forty dayez lencþe,
Er þat styngande storme stynt ne my3t;
Bot as smylt mele under smal sive smokez forþikke,
So fro heven to helle þat hatel schor laste,
On uche syde of þe worlde aywhere ilyche.
Þis hit watz a brem brest and a byge wrache;
And get wrathed not þe Wy3, ne be wrech sagtled,
Ne never wolde for wyl[fulnes] his worby God knawe,
Ne pray hym for no pite, so proud watz his wylle. 232
Forþy þaz þe rape were rank, þe rawpe watz lyttel;
Þaz he be kest into kare, he kepes no better.
Bot þat oper wrake þat wex, on wyzez hit lyzt
Þurz þe faut of a freke þat fayled in trawpe,
Adam inobedyent, ordaynt to blysse,
Þer pryvely in paradys his place watz devised,
To lyve þer in lykyng þe lenpe of a terme,
And þenne enherite þat home þat aungelez forgart;
220 M.1 Thikke; M.2 [þi]kke, but the þ and i are both distinguishable, the i very plainly in the offset; many of the words beginning the lines of this fol. are hardly decipherable, and some are partly 'offset' on the opposite page (see Introd., p. viii).—222 MS. (?), M. weued; M. note wened (?); Fi. (p. 46) sweyed; G. reads sweued, saying that the first letter, though blurred, can still be read. I cannot see this s. -224 MS. fy..er; M. fylter; M.2 fyltyr, but -er fairly plain and confirmed by offset, lt very indistinct; E. fylter[ed].—225 er, r blurred, but clear in offset. — 226 bot blurred, but confirmed by offset: MS. smokez; M. smokes. — 228 MS., M. worlde; Sch. erbe for allit. (but see note).-229 MS., M. pis, upper part of p indistinct in MS.; M. note zis(?) adopted by Fi. 230 G. suggests wroth. -231 MS., M. wylnesful; Gollancz (Athen. 1894. 2. 646), Fi. wilfulnes. — 233 MS. lyttlel—237 MS. M. in obedyent; M. note obedience(?), accepted by Fi.; but M. in notes in-obedyent(?), so Sk.
Bot þurz be eggyng of Eve he ete of an apple
Þat enpoysened alle peplez þat parted fro hem bope,
For a defence þat watz dy3t of Dryztyn selven,
And a payne peron put and pertly halden.
Þe defence watz þe fryt þat þe freke towched,
And pe dom is pe depe pat drepez uus alle.
Al in mesure and mepe watz mad þe veng[a]unce,
And efte amended wyth a mayden þat make had never. 248
IV. GOD'S WARNING TO NOAH
Bot in þe pryd watz forþrast al þat þryve schuld:
Þer watz malys mercyles and mawgre much scheued,
Þat watz for fylþe upon folde þat þe folk used,
Þat þen wonyed in þe worlde wythouten any may-
Hit wern þe fayrest of forme and of face als,
Þe most and be myriest þat maked wern ever,
Þe styfest, þe stalworpest þat stod ever on fete,
And lengest lyf in hem lent of ledez alle oper;
For hit was be forme-foster þat þe folde bred,
Þe apel aunceterez sunez þat Adam watz called,
To wham God hade geven alle þat gayn were,
Alle be blysse boute blame þat bodi my3t have,
And pose lykkest to be lede þat lyved next after;
245 MS. towched retraced like the rest of the last words in ll. 245-52 by second hand (see Introd., pp. viii-ix).—247 MS. (second hand), M. vengiaunce; the crowding of the second stroke of u before c, and the extension of the line over u (abbrev. for n) seem to show that the corrector has made iau out of the scribe's original au, cf. scribe's spelling in other instances, 744, 1013; Pat. 284.248 MS. (second hand), M1. had; M2. hade.-252 M. [b]at, but þ seems to me as legible as initial þ in two lines preceding, all extremely faint.-257 MS. ffor, the r resembles a modern x, and is unlike either of the scribe's r's (cf. broþer, 924, and see Introd., p. ix); MS., M., Sk. forme-foster; M. note, Fi. forme-fosterez. - 261 MS., M., Sk. lede; M. in notes ledes (?), accepted by Fi.
Forby so semly to see sypen wern none.
Þer watz no law to hem layd bot loke to kynde,
And kepe to hit, and alle hit cors clanly fulfylle.
And þenne founden þay fylþe in fleschlych dedez,
And controeved agayn kynde contrare werkez,
And used hem unþryftyly uch on on oper,
And als with oper, wylsfully, upon a wrange wyse.
So ferly fowled her flesch þat þe fende loked
How þe dezter of þe doupe wern derelych fayre,
And fallen in felagschyp wyth hem on folken wyse,
And engendered on hem jeauntez wyth her japez ille. 272
Þose wern men meþelez and magty on urbe,
Þat for her lodlych laykez alosed pay were.
He watz famed for fre þat fezt loved best,
And ay be bigest in bale þe best watz halden.
And þenne evelez on erpe ernestly grewen,
And multyplyed monyfolde inmongez mankynde;
For þat þe magty on molde so marre pise oper,
Þat þe Wyze þat al wrozt ful wroply bygynnez.
When he knew uche contre coruppte in hitselven,
And uch.freke forloyned fro þe ryzt wayez,
Felle temptande tene towched his hert;
As wyze, wo hym withinne werp to hymselven: 'Me forbynkez ful much þat ever I mon made,
Bot I schal delyver and do away þat doten on bis molde,
And fleme out of þe folde al þat flesch werez,
Fro þe burne to be best, fro bryddez to fyschez;
Al schal doun and be ded and dryven out of erþe
Þat ever I sette saule inne, and sore hit me rwez
Þat ever I made hem myself; bot if I may herafter,
I schal wayte to be war her wrenchez to kepe.'
Þenne in worlde watz a wyze wonyande on lyve,
269 MS., M. fende; Sk., E. fende[z].-275 MS., M., Sk. famed; M. note fained (?). — 279 MS., M. marre; Sk. marre[d].—281 MS. coruppte; M., Sk. corupte.
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