Flee fro the prees, and dwelle with sothfastnesse, Suffyce unto thy good, though hit be smal; For hord[73] hath hate, and climbing tikelnesse, Prees[74] hath envye, and wele[75] blent[76] overal; Savour no more than thee bihovë shal; Werk[77] wel thyself, that other folk canst rede; And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede. Tempest[78] thee noght al croked to redresse, In trust of hir[79] that turneth as a bal: Gret reste stant in litel besinesse; And eek be war to sporne[80] ageyn an al[81]; Stryve noght, as doth the crokke with the wal. Daunte[82] thyself, that dauntest otheres dede; And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede. That thee is sent, receyve in buxumnesse, The wrastling for this worlde axeth a fal. Her nis non hoom, her nis but wildernesse: Forth, pilgrim, forth! Forth, beste, out of thy stall, Know thy contree, look up, thank God of al; Hold the hye wey, and lat thy gost thee lede: And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede. WORKS OF CHAUCER, FIRST PERIOD. The works of Chaucer are roughly divided into three classes, corresponding to the three periods of his life. It should be remembered, however, that it is impossible to fix exact dates for most of his works. Some of his _Canterbury Tales_ were written earlier than the English period, and were only grouped with the others in his final arrangement. The best known, though not the best, poem of the first period is the _Romaunt of the Rose_,[83] a translation from the French _Roman de la Rose_, the most popular poem of the Middle Ages,--a graceful but exceedingly tiresome allegory of the whole course of love. The Rose growing in its mystic garden is typical of the lady Beauty. Gathering the Rose represents the lover's attempt to win his lady's favor; and the different feelings aroused--Love, Hate, Envy, Jealousy, Idleness, Sweet Looks--are the allegorical persons of the poet's drama. Chaucer translated this universal favorite, putting in some original English touches; but of the present _Romaunt_ only the first seventeen hundred lines are believed to be Chaucer's own work. Perhaps the best poem of this period is the "Dethe of Blanche the Duchesse," better known, as the "Boke of the Duchesse," a poem of considerable dramatic and emotional power, written after the death of Blanche, wife of Chaucer's patron, John of Gaunt. Additional poems are the "Compleynte to Pite," a graceful love poem; the "A B C," a prayer to the Virgin, translated from the French of a Cistercian monk, its verses beginning with the successive letters of the alphabet; and a number of what Chaucer calls "ballads, roundels, and virelays," with which, says his friend Gower, "the land was filled." The latter were imitations of the prevailing French love ditties.