The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 2

Name: The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 2
Author: Langland, William

Langland, William

Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Poetry

Ac whiche be the braunches
  That bryngeth me to sleuthe,
  Ys wanne a man mourneth nat
  For hus mysdedes;
  The penaunce that the prest enjoyneth
  Parfourmeth uvele;
  Doth non almys-dedes,
  And drat nat of synne:
  Lyveth ayens the byleyve,
  And no lawe kepeth;
  And hath no lykynge to lerne,
  Ne of houre Lord hure,
  Bote harlotrie other horedom,
  Other elles of som wynnyng.
  Wan men carpen of Crist
  Other of clennesse of soule,
  He wext wroth, and wol not huyre
  Bote wordes of murthe,
  Penaunce and povre men,
  The passion of seyntes,
  He hateth to huyre therof
  And alle that therof carpen.
  Thuse beth the braunches, be war,
  That bryngeth man to wanhope.
  Ye lordes and ladyes,
  And legates of holy churche,
  That feden fool sages,
  Flaterers and lyers,
  And han lykynge to lythen hem,
  In hope to do yow lawe--
  _Væ! vobis qui ridetis, etc._
  And geveth suche mede an mete,
  And povre men refusen;
  In youre deth deynge,
  Ich drede me sore
  Lest tho maner men
  To moche sorwe yow brynge.
  _Consensientes et agentes pari pæna punientur._
  Patriarkes and prophetes,
  Prechours of Godes wordes,
  Saven thorgh here sermons
  Mannes soule fro helle:
  Ryght so flaterers and foles
  Aren the fendes procuratores,
  Entysen men thorgh here tales
  To synne and to harlotrie.
  Clerkus that knowen this,
  Sholde kennen lordes
  What David seide of suche men,
  As the Sauter telleth:
  _Non habitabit in medio domus meæ qui
      facit superbiam, qui loquitur
      iniquum._
  Sholde non harlot have audience
  In halle ne in chaumbre,
  Ther that wys men were.
  Whitnesse of Godes wordes;
  Nother a mys-prout man
  Among lordes alouwed.
  Clerkus and knyghtes
  Wolcometh kynges mynstrales,
  For love of here lordes
  Lithen hem at festes:
  Muche more, me thenketh,
  Riche men auhte
  Have beggers byfore hem,
  Wiche beth Godes mynstreles,
  As he seith hymself,
  Seynt Johan berith whittnesse:
  _Qui vos spernit, me etiam spernit._
  Therfor ich rede yow, riche,
  Reveles when ye maken,
  For to solace youre soules,
  Suche mynstrales to have,
  The povre for a foul sage
  Syttynge at thy table,
  Whith a lered man to lere the
  What oure Lord suffrede,
  For to savy thy saule
  Fram Satan thyn enemye,
  And fitayle the withoute flateryng
  Of Good Friday the feste:
  And a blynde man for a bordiour,
  Other a bed-reden womman
  To crye a largesse byfor oure Lord,
  Youre good loos to shewe.
  Thuse thre manere mynstrales
  Maken a man to lauhe;
  In hus deth deyng
  Thei don hym gret comfort,
  That by hus lyfe loveth hem,
  And loveth hem to huyre.
  Thuse solaceth the soule,
  Til hymself be falle
  In a wele good hope, for he wroghte so,
  Among worthy seyntes,
  Ther flaterers and foles
  Whith here foule wordes
  Leden tho that lithen hem
  To Luciferes feste,
  With _Turpiloquio_, a lay of sorwe,
  And Lucifers fitele,
  To perpetual peyne
  Other purgatorye as wykke,
  For he litheth and loveth

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

Opening the text

The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 2Langland, William

General

The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 2

Langland, William

Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Poetry

Ac whiche be the braunches
  That bryngeth me to sleuthe,
  Ys wanne a man mourneth nat
  For hus mysdedes;
  The penaunce that the prest enjoyneth
  Parfourmeth uvele;
  Doth non almys-dedes,
  And drat nat of synne:
  Lyveth ayens the byleyve,
  And no lawe kepeth;
  And hath no lykynge to lerne,
  Ne of houre Lord hure,
  Bote harlotrie other horedom,
  Other elles of som wynnyng.
  Wan men carpen of Crist
  Other of clennesse of soule,
  He wext wroth, and wol not huyre
  Bote wordes of murthe,
  Penaunce and povre men,
  The passion of seyntes,
  He hateth to huyre therof
  And alle that therof carpen.
  Thuse beth the braunches, be war,
  That bryngeth man to wanhope.
  Ye lordes and ladyes,
  And legates of holy churche,
  That feden fool sages,
  Flaterers and lyers,
  And han lykynge to lythen hem,
  In hope to do yow lawe--
  _Væ! vobis qui ridetis, etc._
  And geveth suche mede an mete,
  And povre men refusen;
  In youre deth deynge,
  Ich drede me sore
  Lest tho maner men
  To moche sorwe yow brynge.
  _Consensientes et agentes pari pæna punientur._
  Patriarkes and prophetes,
  Prechours of Godes wordes,
  Saven thorgh here sermons
  Mannes soule fro helle:
  Ryght so flaterers and foles
  Aren the fendes procuratores,
  Entysen men thorgh here tales
  To synne and to harlotrie.
  Clerkus that knowen this,
  Sholde kennen lordes
  What David seide of suche men,
  As the Sauter telleth:
  _Non habitabit in medio domus meæ qui
      facit superbiam, qui loquitur
      iniquum._
  Sholde non harlot have audience
  In halle ne in chaumbre,
  Ther that wys men were.
  Whitnesse of Godes wordes;
  Nother a mys-prout man
  Among lordes alouwed.
  Clerkus and knyghtes
  Wolcometh kynges mynstrales,
  For love of here lordes
  Lithen hem at festes:
  Muche more, me thenketh,
  Riche men auhte
  Have beggers byfore hem,
  Wiche beth Godes mynstreles,
  As he seith hymself,
  Seynt Johan berith whittnesse:
  _Qui vos spernit, me etiam spernit._
  Therfor ich rede yow, riche,
  Reveles when ye maken,
  For to solace youre soules,
  Suche mynstrales to have,
  The povre for a foul sage
  Syttynge at thy table,
  Whith a lered man to lere the
  What oure Lord suffrede,
  For to savy thy saule
  Fram Satan thyn enemye,
  And fitayle the withoute flateryng
  Of Good Friday the feste:
  And a blynde man for a bordiour,
  Other a bed-reden womman
  To crye a largesse byfor oure Lord,
  Youre good loos to shewe.
  Thuse thre manere mynstrales
  Maken a man to lauhe;
  In hus deth deyng
  Thei don hym gret comfort,
  That by hus lyfe loveth hem,
  And loveth hem to huyre.
  Thuse solaceth the soule,
  Til hymself be falle
  In a wele good hope, for he wroghte so,
  Among worthy seyntes,
  Ther flaterers and foles
  Whith here foule wordes
  Leden tho that lithen hem
  To Luciferes feste,
  With _Turpiloquio_, a lay of sorwe,
  And Lucifers fitele,
  To perpetual peyne
  Other purgatorye as wykke,
  For he litheth and loveth

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

The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 2

The Vision and Creed of Piers Ploughman, Volume 2

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