Confessio Amantis | Page 4

every halve,
Men sen the sor
withoute salve,
Which al the world hath overtake.
Ther is no regne
of alle outtake,
For every climat hath his diel
After the tornynge of
the whiel,
Which blinde fortune overthroweth;
Wherof the certain

noman knoweth: 140
The hevene wot what is to done,
Bot we that
duelle under the mone
Stonde in this world upon a weer,
And
namely bot the pouer
Of hem that ben the worldes guides
With
good consail on alle sides
Be kept upriht in such a wyse,
That hate
breke noght thassise
Of love, which is al the chief
To kepe a regne
out of meschief. 150
For alle resoun wolde this,
That unto him
which the heved is
The membres buxom scholden bowe,
And he
scholde ek her trowthe allowe,
With al his herte and make hem chiere,

For good consail is good to hiere.
Althogh a man be wys himselve,

Yit is the wisdom more of tuelve;
And if thei stoden bothe in on,

To hope it were thanne anon 160
That god his grace wolde sende

To make of thilke werre an ende,
Which every day now groweth
newe:
And that is gretly forto rewe
In special for Cristes sake,

Which wolde his oghne lif forsake
Among the men to yeve pes.
But
now men tellen natheles
That love is fro the world departed,
So
stant the pes unevene parted 170
With hem that liven now adaies.

Bot forto loke at alle assaies,
To him that wolde resoun seche
After
the comun worldes speche
It is to wondre of thilke werre,
In which
non wot who hath the werre;
For every lond himself deceyveth
And
of desese his part receyveth,
And yet ne take men no kepe.
Bot
thilke lord which al may kepe, 180
To whom no consail may ben hid,

Upon the world which is betid,
Amende that wherof men pleigne


With trewe hertes and with pleine,
And reconcile love ayeyn,
As he
which is king sovereign
Of al the worldes governaunce,
And of his
hyhe porveaunce
Afferme pes betwen the londes
And take her
cause into hise hondes, 190
So that the world may stonde apppesed

And his godhede also be plesed.
To thenke upon the daies olde,
The
lif of clerkes to beholde,
Men sein how that thei weren tho

Ensample and reule of alle tho
Whiche of wisdom the vertu soughten.

Unto the god ferst thei besoughten
As to the substaunce of her
Scole,
That thei ne scholden noght befole 200
Her wit upon none
erthly werkes,
Which were ayein thestat of clerkes,
And that thei
myhten fle the vice
Which Simon hath in his office,
Wherof he

takth the gold in honde.
For thilke tyme I understonde
The
Lumbard made non eschange
The bisschopriches forto change,
Ne
yet a lettre for to sende
For dignite ne for Provende, 210
Or cured
or withoute cure.
The cherche keye in aventure
Of armes and of
brygantaille
Stod nothing thanne upon bataille;
To fyhte or for to
make cheste
It thoghte hem thanne noght honeste;
Bot of simplesce
and pacience
Thei maden thanne no defence:
The Court of worldly
regalie
To hem was thanne no baillie; 220
The vein honour was
noght desired,
Which hath the proude herte fyred;
Humilite was tho
withholde,
And Pride was a vice holde.
Of holy cherche the
largesse
Yaf thanne and dede gret almesse
To povere men that
hadden nede:
Thei were ek chaste in word and dede,
Wherof the
poeple ensample tok;
Her lust was al upon the bok, 230
Or forto
preche or forto preie,
To wisse men the ryhte weie
Of suche as
stode of trowthe unliered.
Lo, thus was Petres barge stiered
Of hem
that thilke tyme were,
And thus cam ferst to mannes Ere
The feith
of Crist and alle goode
Thurgh hem that thanne weren goode
And
sobre and chaste and large and wyse.
Bot now men sein is otherwise,
240
Simon the cause hath undertake,
The worldes swerd on honde
is take;
And that is wonder natheles,
Whan Crist him self hath bode
pes
And set it in his testament,

How now that holy cherche is went,

Of that here lawe positif
Hath set to make werre and strif
For
worldes good, which may noght laste.
God wot the cause to the laste
250
Of every right and wrong also;
But whil the lawe is reuled so

That clerkes to the werre entende,
I not how that thei scholde amende

The woful world in othre thinges,
To make pes betwen the kynges

After the lawe of charite,
Which is the propre duete
Belongende
unto the presthode.
Bot as it thenkth to the manhode, 260
The
hevene is ferr, the world is nyh,
And veine gloire is ek so slyh,

Which coveitise hath now withholde,
That thei non other thing
beholde,
Bot only that thei myhten winne.
And thus the werres thei
beginne,
Wherof the holi cherche is taxed,
That in the point as it is
axed
The disme goth to the bataille,
As thogh Crist myhte noght

availe 270
To don hem riht be other weie.
In to the swerd the
cherche keie
Is torned, and the holy bede
Into cursinge, and every
stede
Which scholde stonde upon the feith
And to this cause an Ere
leyth,
Astoned is of the querele.
That scholde be the worldes hele

Is now, men sein, the pestilence
Which hath exiled pacience 280

Fro the clergie in special:
And that is schewed overal,
In eny thing
whan thei ben grieved.
Bot if Gregoire be believed,
As it is in the
bokes write,
He doth ous somdel forto wite
The cause of thilke
prelacie,
Wher god is noght of compaignie:
For every werk