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

Whan thei drawen on to deye,
  And indulgences wolde have,
  Hir pardon is ful petit
  At hir partyng hennes,
  That any mede of mene men
  For hir motyng taketh.
  Ye legistres and lawieres,
  Holdeth this for truthe,
  That if that I lye,
  Mathew is to blame,                                     4590
  {142}
  For he bad me make yow this,
  And this proverbe me tolde,
  _Quodcunque vultis ut faciant vobis
      homines, facite eis._

    Alle libbynge laborers
  That lyven with hir hondes,
  That treweliche taken,
  And treweliche wynnen,
  And lyven in love and in lawe,
  For hir lowe hertes                                     4600
  Haveth the same absolucion
  That sent was to Piers.

    Beggeres ne bidderes
  Ne beth noght in the bulle,
  But if the suggestion be sooth
  That shapeth hem to begge.
  For he that beggeth or bit,
  But if he have nede,
  He is fals with the feend,
  And defraudeth the nedy;                                4610
  And also he bi-gileth the gyvere,
  Ageynes his wille;
  For if he wiste he were noght nedy,
  He wolde gyve that another
  That were moore nedy than he,
  So the nedieste sholde be holpe.
  Caton kenneth me thus,
  And the clerc of stories;
  _Cui des videto_,
  Is Catons techyng.                                      4620

    And in the stories he techeth
  To bistowe thyn almesse.
  _Sit elemosina tua in manu tua,
      donec studes cui des._
  {143}

    Ac Gregory was a good man,
  And bad us gyven alle
  That asketh for his love
  That us al leneth.
  _Non eligas cui miserearis, ne forte
      prætereas illum qui meretur                         4630
      accipere. Quia incertum est
      pro quo Deo magis placeas._

    For wite ye nevere who is worthi,
  Ac God woot who hath nede;
  In hym that taketh is the trecherie,
  If any treson walke.
  For he that yeveth, yeldeth,
  And yarketh hym to reste;
  And he that biddeth, borweth,
  And bryngeth hymself in dette.                          4640
  For beggeres borwen evere mo,
  And hir borgh is God almyghty,
  To yelden hem that yeveth hem,
  And yet usure moore.
  _Quare non dedisti pecuniam meam
      ad mensam, ut ego veniam cum
      usuris exigere?_

    For-thi biddeth noght, ye beggeres,
  But if ye have gret nede;
  For who so hath to buggen hym breed,                    4650
  The book bereth witnesse,
  He hath y-nough that hath breed y-nough,
  Though he have noght ellis.
  _Satis dives est, qui non indiget pane._

    Lat usage be youre solas,
  Of seintes lyves redyng,
  The book banneth beggerie,
  {144}
  And blameth hem in this manere:
  _Junior fui, et jam senui, et non vidi
      justum derelictum, nec semen                        4660
      ejus, etc._

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

Whan thei drawen on to deye,
  And indulgences wolde have,
  Hir pardon is ful petit
  At hir partyng hennes,
  That any mede of mene men
  For hir motyng taketh.
  Ye legistres and lawieres,
  Holdeth this for truthe,
  That if that I lye,
  Mathew is to blame,                                     4590
  {142}
  For he bad me make yow this,
  And this proverbe me tolde,
  _Quodcunque vultis ut faciant vobis
      homines, facite eis._

    Alle libbynge laborers
  That lyven with hir hondes,
  That treweliche taken,
  And treweliche wynnen,
  And lyven in love and in lawe,
  For hir lowe hertes                                     4600
  Haveth the same absolucion
  That sent was to Piers.

    Beggeres ne bidderes
  Ne beth noght in the bulle,
  But if the suggestion be sooth
  That shapeth hem to begge.
  For he that beggeth or bit,
  But if he have nede,
  He is fals with the feend,
  And defraudeth the nedy;                                4610
  And also he bi-gileth the gyvere,
  Ageynes his wille;
  For if he wiste he were noght nedy,
  He wolde gyve that another
  That were moore nedy than he,
  So the nedieste sholde be holpe.
  Caton kenneth me thus,
  And the clerc of stories;
  _Cui des videto_,
  Is Catons techyng.                                      4620

    And in the stories he techeth
  To bistowe thyn almesse.
  _Sit elemosina tua in manu tua,
      donec studes cui des._
  {143}

    Ac Gregory was a good man,
  And bad us gyven alle
  That asketh for his love
  That us al leneth.
  _Non eligas cui miserearis, ne forte
      prætereas illum qui meretur                         4630
      accipere. Quia incertum est
      pro quo Deo magis placeas._

    For wite ye nevere who is worthi,
  Ac God woot who hath nede;
  In hym that taketh is the trecherie,
  If any treson walke.
  For he that yeveth, yeldeth,
  And yarketh hym to reste;
  And he that biddeth, borweth,
  And bryngeth hymself in dette.                          4640
  For beggeres borwen evere mo,
  And hir borgh is God almyghty,
  To yelden hem that yeveth hem,
  And yet usure moore.
  _Quare non dedisti pecuniam meam
      ad mensam, ut ego veniam cum
      usuris exigere?_

    For-thi biddeth noght, ye beggeres,
  But if ye have gret nede;
  For who so hath to buggen hym breed,                    4650
  The book bereth witnesse,
  He hath y-nough that hath breed y-nough,
  Though he have noght ellis.
  _Satis dives est, qui non indiget pane._

    Lat usage be youre solas,
  Of seintes lyves redyng,
  The book banneth beggerie,
  {144}
  And blameth hem in this manere:
  _Junior fui, et jam senui, et non vidi
      justum derelictum, nec semen                        4660
      ejus, etc._

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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