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Chaucer's Works, Volume 3 — The House of Fame; The Legend of Good Women; The Treatise on the Astrolabe; The Sources of the Canterbury TalesChaucer, Geoffrey

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Chaucer's Works, Volume 3 — The House of Fame; The Legend of Good Women; The Treatise on the Astrolabe; The Sources of the Canterbury Tales

Name: Chaucer's Works, Volume 3 — The House of Fame; The Legend of Good Women; The Treatise on the Astrolabe; The Sources of the Canterbury Tales
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey

Chaucer, Geoffrey

English poetry -- Middle English, 1100-1500

And us ay of our sorwes lighte!
    Whan I had seyen al this sighte
  In this noble temple thus,
  'A, Lord!' thoughte I, 'that madest us,                               470
  Yet saw I never swich noblesse
  Of images, ne swich richesse,
  As I saw graven in this chirche;
  But not woot I who dide hem wirche,
  Ne wher I am, ne in what contree.                                     475
  But now wol I go out and see,
  Right at the wiket, if I can
  See o-wher stering any man,
  That may me telle wher I am.'
    When I out at the dores cam,                                        480
  I faste aboute me beheld.
  Then saw I but a large feld,
  As fer as that I mighte see,
  Withouten toun, or hous, or tree,
  Or bush, or gras, or ered lond;                                       485
  For al the feld nas but of sond
  As smal as man may see yet lye
  In the desert of Libye;
  Ne I no maner creature,
  That is y-formed by nature,                                           490
  Ne saw, me [for] to rede or wisse.
  'O Crist,' thoughte I, 'that art in blisse,
  Fro fantom and illusioun
  Me save!' and with devocioun
  Myn yën to the heven I caste.                                         495
    Tho was I war, lo! at the laste,
  That faste by the sonne, as hyë
  As kenne mighte I with myn yë,
  Me thoughte I saw an egle sore,
  But that hit semed moche more                                         500
  Then I had any egle seyn.
  But this as sooth as deeth, certeyn,
  Hit was of golde, and shoon so bright,
  That never saw men such a sighte,
  But-if the heven hadde y-wonne                                        505
  Al newe of golde another sonne;
  So shoon the egles fethres brighte,
  And somwhat dounward gan hit lighte.

EXPLICIT LIBER PRIMUS.

_The authorities are_ F. (Fairfax 16); B. (Bodley 638); P. (Pepys 2006);
Cx. (Caxton's ed.); Th. (Thynne's ed. 1532). _I follow_ F. _mainly,
correcting the spelling._

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Chaucer's Works, Volume 3 — The House of Fame; The Legend of Good Women; The Treatise on the Astrolabe; The Sources of the Canterbury Tales

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