The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 1

Name: The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 1
Author: Langland, William

Langland, William

Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Poetry

"_Contra_," quod Ymaginatif thoo,
  And comsed for to loure;
  And seide "_Salvabitur
  Vix justus in die judicii.
  Ergo salvabitur_," quod he,
  And seide na-moore Latyn.                               7990

    "Trojanus was a trewe knyght,
  And took nevere Cristendom,
  And he is saaf, so seith the book,
  And his soule in hevene.
  For ther is fullynge of font,
  And fullynge in blood shedyng,
  And thorugh fir is fullyng,
  And that is ferme bileve.
  {245}
  _Advenit ignis divinus non comburens,
      sed illuminans, etc._                               8000

    "Ac Truthe that trespased nevere,
  Ne traversed ayeins his lawe,
  But lyveth as his lawe techeth,
  And leveth ther be no bettre;
  And if ther were, he wolde amende,
  And in swich wille deieth,
  Ne wolde nevere trewe god,
  But truthe were allowed,
  And wheither it be worth or noght worth,
  The bileve is gret of truthe,                           8010
  And an hope hangynge therinne
  To have a mede for his truthe.
  For _Deus dicitur quasi dans vitam
      æternam suis, hoc est fidelibus.
      Et alibi: Si ambulavero in
      medio umbræ mortis._

    "The glose graunteth upon that vers
  A greet mede to Truthe,
  And wit and wisdom," quod that wye,
  "Was som tyme tresor                                    8020
  To kepe with a commune,
  No catel was holde bettre,
  And muche murthe and manhod;"
  And right with that he vanysshed.                       8024

       *       *       *       *       *

{246}

          _Passus Decimus Tertius, etc._

  And I awaked therwith                                   8025
  Wit-lees ner-hande,
  And as a freke that fre were
  Forth gan I walke
  In manere of a mendinaunt
  Many a yer after,                                       8030
  And of this metyng many tyme
  Muche thought I hadde.

    First how Fortune me failed
  At my mooste nede;
  And how that Elde manaced me,
  Myghte we evere mete;
  And how that freres folwede
  Folk that was riche,
  And folk that was povere
  At litel pris thei sette;                               8040
  And no corps in hir kirk-yerde
  Nor in his kirk was buryed,
  But quik he biquethe aught
  To quyte with hir dettes;
  And how this Coveitise over-com
  Clerkes and preestes;
  And how that lewed men ben lad,
  But oure Lord hem helpe,
  {247}
  Thorugh un-konnynge curatours,
  To incurable peynes.                                    8050

    And how that Ymaginatif
  In dremels me tolde
  Of Kynde and of his konnynge,
  And how curteis he is to bestes,
  And how lovynge he is to briddes
  On londe and on watre.
  Leneth he no lif
  Lasse ne moore.
  The creatures that crepen
  Of kynde ben engendred.                                 8060
  And sithen how Ymaginatif seide,
  _Vix salvabitur_;
  And whan he hadde seid so,
  How sodeynliche he passed.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 1Langland, William

General

The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 1

Langland, William

Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Poetry

"_Contra_," quod Ymaginatif thoo,
  And comsed for to loure;
  And seide "_Salvabitur
  Vix justus in die judicii.
  Ergo salvabitur_," quod he,
  And seide na-moore Latyn.                               7990

    "Trojanus was a trewe knyght,
  And took nevere Cristendom,
  And he is saaf, so seith the book,
  And his soule in hevene.
  For ther is fullynge of font,
  And fullynge in blood shedyng,
  And thorugh fir is fullyng,
  And that is ferme bileve.
  {245}
  _Advenit ignis divinus non comburens,
      sed illuminans, etc._                               8000

    "Ac Truthe that trespased nevere,
  Ne traversed ayeins his lawe,
  But lyveth as his lawe techeth,
  And leveth ther be no bettre;
  And if ther were, he wolde amende,
  And in swich wille deieth,
  Ne wolde nevere trewe god,
  But truthe were allowed,
  And wheither it be worth or noght worth,
  The bileve is gret of truthe,                           8010
  And an hope hangynge therinne
  To have a mede for his truthe.
  For _Deus dicitur quasi dans vitam
      æternam suis, hoc est fidelibus.
      Et alibi: Si ambulavero in
      medio umbræ mortis._

    "The glose graunteth upon that vers
  A greet mede to Truthe,
  And wit and wisdom," quod that wye,
  "Was som tyme tresor                                    8020
  To kepe with a commune,
  No catel was holde bettre,
  And muche murthe and manhod;"
  And right with that he vanysshed.                       8024

       *       *       *       *       *

{246}

          _Passus Decimus Tertius, etc._

  And I awaked therwith                                   8025
  Wit-lees ner-hande,
  And as a freke that fre were
  Forth gan I walke
  In manere of a mendinaunt
  Many a yer after,                                       8030
  And of this metyng many tyme
  Muche thought I hadde.

    First how Fortune me failed
  At my mooste nede;
  And how that Elde manaced me,
  Myghte we evere mete;
  And how that freres folwede
  Folk that was riche,
  And folk that was povere
  At litel pris thei sette;                               8040
  And no corps in hir kirk-yerde
  Nor in his kirk was buryed,
  But quik he biquethe aught
  To quyte with hir dettes;
  And how this Coveitise over-com
  Clerkes and preestes;
  And how that lewed men ben lad,
  But oure Lord hem helpe,
  {247}
  Thorugh un-konnynge curatours,
  To incurable peynes.                                    8050

    And how that Ymaginatif
  In dremels me tolde
  Of Kynde and of his konnynge,
  And how curteis he is to bestes,
  And how lovynge he is to briddes
  On londe and on watre.
  Leneth he no lif
  Lasse ne moore.
  The creatures that crepen
  Of kynde ben engendred.                                 8060
  And sithen how Ymaginatif seide,
  _Vix salvabitur_;
  And whan he hadde seid so,
  How sodeynliche he passed.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 1

The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 1

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