15 When erth vp-on erth be-gy{n}nys to be wroth, [fol. 68, r^o.] Erth vpon erth swerys many a gret othe, 52 Erth berys p{r}ide in herte & i{n} cloth, When erth is layde i{n} erth þan xal it be loth. 16 Erthly coveytous makyth erth to be schent, Erth for this erth yeld{is} a gret rent, 56 If erth in thys erth levyd in good entent Than dar{e} erthe nevyr recke wher{e} that he went. 17 Erth vp-on erth is stronge as a mast, And erth wyth is erth fyghtys ful fast, 60 Ther{e} is non so stowte that in erth may hy{m} cast, And alle xal we be erth at the last. 18 Erthe bygyth hallys & erth bygith towres, When erth is layd in erth, blayke is his bo{ur}s; 64 If erth haue welth, he dwellyth in flowr{es}[9], And if erth haue mys don, he getyth scharpe sho{ur}s. 19 If erth wyste in erth q{ua}t that erth is, Ther wolde neu{er} erth in erth do a-mys. 68 God mad erth of erth, & namyd it for his, Adam of erth in erthly paradys. 20 God walkyd in erth as longe as he wolde, He had not in this erth but hong{er} & colde, 72 And in this erth also his body was solde, Her{e} in this erth, whan þ{a}t he was xxx^ti ȝer{e} olde. 21 God lytyd in erth, blyssed be that stou{n}de! [fol. 68, v^o.] He sauyd hijs herth w{i}t{h} many a scharpe wou{n}de, 76 Ffor to sawe erth owght of hell grou{n}de, He deyd in erth vpon þe rode w{i}t{h} many a blody vou{n}de[10]. 22 And God ros ovght of the est[11] this erth for to spede, And went into hell as was gret nede, 80 And toke erth from sorowe þ{us}[12] erth for to spede, The ryght wey to heuen blys Iesus Cryst vs lede! fine. (_The rest of the page is occupied by a coloured picture of a knight and a skeleton with Latin mottoes, v. Introduction, p. xiv._) [Footnote 1: or _towr{es}_, _owr{es}_, &c.] [Footnote 2: MS. _hove_ for _howe_.] [Footnote 3: ? error for _togh_.] [Footnote 4: Heuser _flogh_, but MS. appears to be _slogh_ as in l. 40.] [Footnote 5: MS. _was neuer non_ crossed out, _has neu{er} I nowe_ written above.] [Footnote 6: MS. _bu_, the last letter of the word has been erased.] [Footnote 7: These two lines form the missing half of v. 3, and are perhaps inserted here with the idea of forming a six-lined stanza.] [Footnote 8: better _has_.] [Footnote 9: or _flowr{is}_.] [Footnote 10: _wounde_.] [Footnote 11: MS. clearly _est_, perh. error for _erth_.] [Footnote 12: MS. _y^9_ = _þus_, perh. for _þis_.] NOTES.