Chaucerian and Other Pieces: Being a Supplement to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer
General
Chaucerian and Other Pieces: Being a Supplement to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400
Who sayth, that some of hem may sinne,
He shal be +demed to be deed;
Some of hem woll gladly winne
All ayenst that which god forbed; 200
"All-holyest" they clepen hir heed,
That of hir rulë is regall;
Alas! that ever they eten breed;
For all such falshed woll foul fall.
Hir heed loveth all honour, 205
And to be worshipped in worde and dede;
Kinges mot to hem knele and coure;
To the apostles, that Christ forbede;
To popes hestes such taketh more hede
Than to kepe Christes commaundëment; 210
Of gold and silver mot ben hir wede,
They holdeth him hole omnipotent.
He ordayneth by his ordinaunce
To parish-preestes a powére;
To another a greter avaunce, 215
A greter poynt to his mystere;
But for he is hyghest in erth here,
To him reserveth he many a poynt;
But to Christ, that hath no pere,
Reserveth he neither opin ne joynt. 220
So semeth he above[n] all,
And Christ aboven him nothing;
Whan he sitteth in his stall,
Dampneth and saveth as him think.
Such pryde tofore god doth stink; 225
An angell bad John to him nat knele,
But only to god do his bowing;
Such willers of worship must evil fele.
They ne clepen Christ but _sanctus deus_,
And clepen her heed _Sanctissimus_; 230
They that such a sect[ë] sewis,
I trowe, they taken hem amisse.
In erth[ë] here they have hir blisse,
Hir hye master is Belial;
+Christ his people from hem wisse! 235
For all such falsë will foul fall!
They mowë both[ë] binde and lose,
And all is for hir holy lyf;
To save or dampne they mowë chose,
Betwene hem now [ther] is gret stryf. 240
Many a man is killed with knyf,
To wete which of hem have lordship shall;
For such, Christ suffred woundes fyve;
For all such falshed will foul fall.
Christ sayd: _Qui gladio percutit_ 245
With swerdë shall [he surely] dye;
He bad his preestes pees and grith,
And bad hem not drede for to dye;
And bad them be both simple and slye,
And carkë not for no cattall, 250
And +truste on god that sitteth on hye;
For all [such] falsë shull foul fall.
These wollen makë men to swere
Ayenst Christes commaundëment;
And Christes membres all to-tere 255
On rode as he wer newe y-rent.
Suche lawes they make by commun assent,
Ech on it choweth as a ball;
Thus the pore be fully shent,
But ever falshed foule it +fall! 260
They usen [never] no symonye,
But sellen churches and prioryes;
Ne [yet] they usen no envye,
But cursen all hem contraryes;
And hyreth men by dayes and yeres 265
With strength to holde hem in hir stall;
And culleth all hir adversaryes;
Therefor, falshed! foul thou fall!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account