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Derived from: British Museum Additional MS. 10,340 collated with Cambridge University Library MS. Ii.3.21
Reprinted 1969.
All notes in the main text are those of the EETS editor, Richard Morris. Whole words appearing in brackets are generally supplied from the Cambridge MS. Morris also places the many unhistorical final -e's of the base (Additional) MS in brackets.
Chaucer's Translation of Boethius's
EDITED FROM BRITISH MUSEUM ADDITIONAL MS. 10,340 COLLATED WITH CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MS. Ii.3.21 BY RICHARD MORRIS
Published for THE EARLY ENGLISH TEXT SOCIETY by the OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS. LONDON ; EW YORK ; TORONTO :
Extra Series, No. 5
ORIGINALLY PRINTED BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS LTD., LONDON AND BUNGAY AND NOW REPRINTED LITHOGRAPHICALLY IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD BY VIVIAN RIDLER PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
WHEN master hands like those of Gibbon and Hallam have sketched the life of Boethius, it is well that no meaner man should attempt to mar their pictures. They drew, perhaps, the most touching scene in Middle-age literary history, —the just man in prison, awaiting death, consoled by the Philosophy that had been his light in life, and handing down to posterity for their comfort and strength the presence of her whose silver rays had been his guide as well under the stars of Fortune as the mirk of Fate. With Milton in his dark days, Boece in prison could say,—
For, indeed, the echoes of Boethius, Boethius, rang out loud from every corner of European Literature. An Alfred awoke them in England, a Chaucer, a Caxton would not let them die; an Elizabeth revived them among the glorious music of her reign.
No philosopher was so bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh of Middle-age writers as Boethius. Take up what writer you will, and you find not only the sentiments, but the very words of the distinguished old Roman. And surely we who read him in Chaucer's tongue, will not refuse to say that his full-circling meed of glory was other than deserved. Nor can we marvel that at the end of our great poet's life, he was glad that he had swelled the chorus of Boethius' praise; and 'of the translacioun of Boece de Consolacioun,' thanked 'oure Lord Ihesu Crist and his moder, and alle the seintes in heuen.'
The impression made by Boethius on Chaucer was evidently very deep. Not only did he translate him directly, as in the present work, but he read his beloved original over and over again, as witness the following list, incomplete of course, of passages from Chaucer's poems translated more or less literally from the
Wost thou nat wel the olde clerkes sawe, That who schal yeve a lover eny lawe, Love is a grettere lawe, by my pan, Then may be yeve to (of) eny erthly man?
But what is he þat may ȝeue a lawe to loueres. loue is a gretter lawe and a strengere to hym self þan any lawe þat men may ȝeuen.
Quis legem det amantibus? Major lex amor est sibi.
A dronke man wot wel he hath an hous, But he not The Harl. MS. reads which the righte wey is thider.not nat,to the confusion of the metre.
Ryȝt as a dronke man not nat= ne wot nat = knows not. by whiche paþe he may retourne home to hys house.
Sed velut ebrius, domum quo tramite revertatur, ignorat.
The firste moevere of the cause above, Whan he first made the fayre cheyne of love, Gret was theffect, and heigh was his entente Wel wist he why, and what therof he mente; For with that faire cheyne of love he bondThe fyr, the watir, the eyr, and eek the londIn certeyn boundes, that they may not flee.
That þe world with stable feith / varieth acordable chaungynges // þat the contraryos qualite of elementȝ holden amonge hem self aliaunce perdurable / þat phebus the sonne with his goldene chariet / bryngeth forth the rosene day / þat the mone hath commaundement ouer the nyhtes // whiche nyhtes hesperus the eue sterre hat[h] browt // þat þe se gredy to flowen constreyneth with a certeyn ende hise floodes / so þat it is nat l[e]ueful to strechche hise brode termes or bowndes vp-on the erthes // þat is to seyn to couere alle the erthe // Al this a-cordaunce of thinges is bownden with looue / þat gouerneth erthe and see / and [he] hath also commaundementȝ to the heuenes / and yif this looue slakede the brydelis / alle thinges þat now louen hem to-gederes / wolden maken a batayle contynuely and stryuen to fordoon the fasoun of this worlde / the which they now leden in acordable feith by fayre moeuynges // this looue halt to-gideres poeples / ioygned with an hooly bond / and knytteth sacrement of maryages of chaste looues // And loue enditeth lawes to trewe felawes // O weleful weere mankynde / yif thilke loue þat gouerneth heuene gouerned yowre corages /.
Chaucer's Boethius, bk. ii. met. 8.)
Quod mundus stabili fide Concordes variat vices, Quod pugnantia semina Fœdus perpetuum tenent, Quod Phœbus roseum diem Curru provehit aureo, Ut quas duxerit Hesperus Phœbe noctibus imperet, Ut fluctus avidum mare Certo fine coerceat, Ne terris liceat vagis Latos tundere terminos; Hanc rerum seriem ligat, Terras ac pelagus regens, Et cœlo imperitans amor. Hic si fræna remiserit ,Quicquid nunc amat invicem, Bellum continuo geret: Et quam nunc socia fide Pulcris motibus incitant, Certent solvere machinam. Hic sancto populos quoque Junctos fœdere continet, Hic et conjugii sacrum Castis nectit amoribus, Hic fidis etiam sua Dictat jura sodalibus. O felix hominum genus, Si vestros animos amor, Quo cælum regitur, regat.
Love, that of erth and se hath governaunce! Love, that his hestes hath in hevene hye! Love, that with an holsom alliaunce Halt peples joyned, as hym liste hem gye! Love, that knetteth law and compaignye, And couples doth in vertu for to dwelle!
That, that the world with faith, which that is stable Dyverseth so, his stoundes concordynge;— That elementz, that ben so discordable, Holden a bond, perpetualy durynge;— That Phebus mot his rosy carte forth brynge, And that the mone hath lordschip overe the nyghte;— Al this doth Love, ay heryed be his myght! That, that the se, that gredy is to flowen, Constreyneth to a certeyn ende so Hise flodes, that so fiersly they ne growen To drenchen erth and alle for everemo; And if that Love aught lete his brydel go, Al that now loveth asonder sholde lepe, And lost were al that Love halt now to kepe.
That same prynce and moevere cek, quod he, Hath stabled, in this wreeched world adonn, Certeyn dayes and duracioun To alle that er engendrid in this place, Over the whiche day they may nat pace, Al mowe they yit wel here dayes abregge; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Than may men wel by this ordre discerne That thilke moevere stabul is and eterne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And therfore of his wyse purveaunce He hath so wel biset his ordenaunce, That spices of thinges and progressiouns Schullen endure by successiouns And nat eterne be, withoute any lye.
Þe engendrynge of alle þinges quod she and alle þe progressiouns of muuable nature. and alle þat moeueþ in any manere takiþ hys causes. hys ordre. and hys formes. of þe stablenesse of þe deuyne þouȝt [and thilke deuyne thowht] þat is yset and put in þe toure. þat is to seyne in þe heyȝt of þe simplicite of god. stablisiþ many manere gyses to þinges þat ben to don.
Chaucer's Boethius, bk. iv. pr. 6, p. 134.)
Wel may men knowe, but it be a fool, That every partye dyryveth from his hool. For nature hath nat take his bygynnyng Of no partye ne cantel of a thing, But of a thing that parfyt is and stable, Descendyng so, til it be corumpable.
For al þing þat is cleped inperfit . is proued inperfit by þe amenusynge of perfeccioun . or of þing þat is perfit . and her-of comeþ it . þat in euery þing general . yif þat . þat men seen any þing þat is inperfit . certys in þilke general þer mot ben somme þing þat is perfit. For yif so be þat perfeccioun is don awey . men may nat þinke nor seye fro whennes þilke þing is þat is cleped inperfit . For þe nature of þinges ne token nat her bygynnyng of þinges amenused and inperfit . but it procediþ of þingus þat ben al hool . and absolut . and descendeþ so doune in-to outerest þinges and in-to þingus empty and wiþ-oute fruyt .
For gentilnesse nys but renomé Of thin auncestres, for her heigh bounté Which is a straunge thing to thy persone.
For if þe name of gentilesse be referred to renoun and clernesse of linage. þan is gentil name but a foreine þing.
Quœ [nobilitas], si ad claritudinem refertur, aliena est.
No teer out of his eyen for that sighte Ne cam; but sayde, a fair womman was sche. Gret wonder is how that he couthe or mighte Be domesman on hir dede beauté.
Ne no tere ne wette his face, but he was so hard-herted þat he myȝte ben domesman or iuge of hire dede beauté.
Ora non tinxit lacrymis, sed esse Censor extincti potuit decoris.
In 'Troylus and Cryseyde' we find the following long passage taken from Boethius, book v. prose 2, 3.
Book iv. st. 134, vol. iv. p. 339. Syn God seth every thynge, out of doutaunce, And hem disponeth, thorugh his ordinaunce, (1)In hire merites sothely for to be, As they shul comen by predesteyné 136 (2) For som men seyn if God seth al byforne, Ne God may not deseyved ben pardé! Than moot it fallen, theigh men hadde it sworne, That purveyaunce hath seyn befor to be, Wherfor I seye, that, from eterne, if he Hathe wiste byforn our thought ek as oure dede, We have no fre choys, as thise clerkes rede. 137 (3) For other thoughte, nor other dede also, Myghte nevere ben, but swich as purveyaunce, Which may nat ben deceyved nevere moo, Hath feled byforne, withouten ignoraunce; For if ther myghte ben a variaunce, To wrythen out fro Goddes purveyinge, Ther nere no prescience of thynge comynge; 138 (4) But it were rather an opinyon Uncertein, and no stedfast forseynge; And certes that were an abusyon That God shold han no parfit clere wetynge, More than we men, that han douteous wenynge, But swich an erroure upon God to gesse Were fals, and foule, and wikked corsednesse. 139 (5) They seyn right thus, that thynge is nat to come, For that the prescience hath seyne byfore That it shal come; but they seyn that therfore That it shal come, therfor the purveyaunce Woot it bifore, withouten ignorance. 140 (6) And in this manere this necessité Retourneth in his part contrarye agayn; For nedfully byhoveth it not to be, That thilke thynges fallen in certeyn That ben purveyed; but nedly, as they seyne, Bihoveth it that thynges, which that falle, That thei in certein ben purveied alle. 141 (7) I mene as though I labourede me in this, To enqueren which thynge cause of whiche thynge be;
(8) As, whether that the prescience of God is The certein cause of the necessité Of thynges that to comen ben, pardé! Or, if necessité of thynge comynge Be cause certein of the purveyinge. 142 (9) But now nenforce I me nat in shewynge How the ordre of causes stant; but wel woot That it bihoveth that the bifallynge Of thynges, wiste bifor certeinly, Be necessarie, al seme it nat therby That prescience put fallynge necessaire To thynge to come, al falle it foule or faire. 143 (10) For, if ther sit a man yonde on a see, [seat] Than by necessité bihoveth it, That certes thyn opinioun soth be, That wenest or conjectest that he sit; And, further over, now ayeinwarde yit, Lo right so is it on the part contrarie, As thus,—nowe herkene, for I wol nat tarie:— 144 (11) I sey, that if the opinion of the Be soth for that he sit, than seye I this, That he moot sitten by necessité; And thus necessité in either is, For in hym nede of sittynge is, ywis, And in the, nede of soth; and thus forsoth Ther mot necessité ben in yow bothe. 145 (12) But thow maist seyne, the man sit nat therfore, That thyn opinioun of his sittynge sothe is; But rather, for the man sat there byfore, Therfor is thyn opinioun soth, ywys; And I seye, though the cause of soth of this Cometh of his sittynge, yet necessité Is interchaunged both in hym and the. 146 (13) Thus in the same wyse, out of doutaunce, I may wel maken, as it semeth me, My resonynge of Goddes purveiaunce, And of the thynges that to comen be; . . . 147 (14) For although that for thynge shal come, ywys, Therfor it is purveyed certeynly, Nat that it cometh for it purveied is; Yet, natheles, bihoveth it nedfully, That thynge to come be purveied trewly; Or elles thynges that purveied be, That they bitiden by necessité. 148 (15) And this sufficeth right ynough, certeyn, For to distruye oure fre choys everydele.
(1)
Quæ tamen ille ab æterno cuncta prospiciens providentiæ cernit intuitus, et suis quæque meritis prædestinata disponit. . . . .( . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Boethius, lib. v. pr. 2.)(2)
Nam si cuncta prospicit Deus neque falli ullo modo potest, evenire necesse est, quod providentia futurum esse præviderit. Quare si ab æterno non facta hominum modo, sed etiam consilia voluntatesque prænoscit, nulla erit arbitrii libertas; (3)
Neque enim vel factum aliud ullum vel quælibet existere poterit voluntas, nisi quam nescia falli providentia divina præsenserit. Nam si res aliorsum, quam provisæ sunt detorqueri valent, non jam erit futuri firma præscientia; (4)
Sed opinio potius incerta; quod de Deo nefas credere judico. (5)
Aiunt enim non ideo quid esse eventurum quoniam id providentia futurum esse prospexerit; sed e contrario potius, quoniam quid futurum est, id divinam providentiam latere non possit. (6)
Eoque modo necessarium est hoc in contrariam relabi partem; neque enim necesse est contingere quæ providentur, sed necesse est quæ futura sunt provideri. (7)
Quasi vero quæ cujusque rei causa sit, (8)
Præscientiane futurorum necessitatis an futurorum necessitas providentiæ, laboretur. (9)
At nos illud demonstrare nitamur, quoquo modo sese habeat ordo causarum, necessarium esse eventum præscitarum rerum, etiam si præscientia futuris rebus eveniendi necessitatem non videatur inferre. (10)
Etenim si quispiam sedeat, opinionem quæ eum sedere conjectat veram esse necesse est: at e converso rursus, (11)
Si de quopiam vera sit opinio quoniam sedet eum sedere necesse est. In utroque igitur necessitas inest: in hoc quidem sedendi, at vero in altero veritatis (12)
Sed non idcirco quisque sedet, quoniam vera est opinio: sed hæc potius vera est, quoniam quempiam sedere præcessit. Ita cum causa veritatis ex altera parte procedat, inest tamen communis in utraque necessitas. (13)
Similia de providentia futurisque rebus ratiocinari patet. (14)
Nam etiam si idcirco, quoniam futura sunt, providentur: non vero ideo, quoniam providentur, eveniunt: nihilo minus tamen a Deo vel ventura provideri, vel provisa evenire necesse est: (15)
Quod ad perimendam arbitrii libertatem solum satis est.
See Chaucer's Boethius, pp. 154-6.
For, of fortunes scharp adversité, The worste kynde of infortune is this A man to han ben in prosperité, And it remembren, when it passed is.
Cf. Dante, Inferno, V. 121.Boethius, lib. ii. pr. 4.)
------Syciphus in Helle, Whos stomak fowles tyren everemo, That hyghten volturis.
Þe fowel þat hyȝt voltor þat etiþ þe stomak or þe giser of ticius.
For if hire (Fortune's) whiel stynte any thinge to torne Thanne cessed she Fortune anon to be.
If fortune bygan to dwelle stable. she cesed[e] þan to ben fortune.
( Chaucer's Boethius, p. 32.)
(Compare stanzas 120, 121, p. 142, and stanza 136, p. 146, of 'Troylus and Cryseyde' with pp. 31, 33, 35, and p. 34 of Chaucer's Boethius.)
Boethius, lib. ii. prose 1.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . Imedled is with many a bitternesse. Ful angwyshous than is, God woote, quod she, Condicion of veyn prosperité! For oyther joies comen nought yfeere, Or elles no wight hath hem alwey here.
Þe swetnesse of mannes welefulnesse is yspranid wiþ many[e] bitternesses.
Chaucer's Boethius, p. 42.)
—ful anguissous þing is þe condicioun of mans goodes. For eyþer it comeþ al to-gidre to a wyȝt. or ellys it lasteþ not perpetuely.
Boethius, lib. ii. prose 4.)
Ib.)
O, brotel wele of mannes joie unstable! With what wight so thow be, or how thow pleye, Oither he woot that thow joie art muable, Or woot it nought, it mot ben on of tweyen: Now if he woot it not, how may he seyen That he hath veray joie and selynesse, That is of ignoraunce ay in distresse? Now if he woote that joie is transitorie, As every joie of worldly thynge mot fle, Thanne every tyme he that hath in memorie, The drede of lesyng maketh hym that he May in no parfyte selynesse be: And if to lese his joie, he sette not a myte, Than semeth it, that joie is worth ful lite.
(1)What man þat þis toumblyng welefulnesse leediþ, eiþer he woot þat [it] is chaungeable. or ellis he woot it nat. And yif he woot it not. what blisful fortune may þer be in þe blyndenesse of ignoraunce.
(2) And yif he woot þat it is chaungeable. he mot alwey ben adrad þat he ne lese þat þing. þat he ne douteþ nat but þat he may leesen it.
. . . . . For whiche þe continuel drede þat he haþ ne suffriþ hym nat to ben weleful. Or ellys yif he leese it he wene[þ] to be dispised and forleten hit. Certis eke þat is a ful lytel goode þat is born wiþ euene hert[e] whan it is loost.
(1)
Quem caduca ista felicitas vehit, vel scit eam, vel nescit esse mutabilem. Si nescit, quænam beata sors esse potest ignorantiæ in cæcitate? (2)
Si scit, metuat necesse est, ne amittat, quod amitti posse non dubitat; quare continuus timor non sinit esse felicem. An vel si amiserit, negligendum putat? Sic quoque perexile bonum est, quod æquo animo feratur amissum.
------Fortune ... That semeth trewest when she wol bigyle, . . . . . . . . . . . . . And, when a wight is from hire whiel ithrowe, Than laugheth she, and maketh hym the mowe.
She (Fortune) vseþ ful flatryng familarité wiþ hem þat she enforceþ to bygyle.
Chaucer's Boethius, p. 30.)
. . . . . . . She lauȝeþ and scorneþ þe wepyng of hem þe whiche she haþ maked wepe wiþ hir free wille. . . . . Yif þat a wyȝt is seyn weleful and ouerþrowe in an houre.
Ib. p. 33.)
In book v., stanza 260, vol. v. p. 75, Chaucer describes how the soul of Hector, after his death, ascended 'up to the holughnesse of the seventhe spere.' In so doing he seems to have had before him met. 1, book 4, of Boethius, where the 'soul' is described as passing into the heaven's utmost sphere, and looking down on the world below. Chaucer's Boethius, p. 110, 111.
Hampole speaks of the wonderful sight of the Lynx; perhaps he was indebted to Boethius for the hint.Boethius, book 3, pr. 8, p. 81.)
I have seen the following elsewhere:
(1) Value not beauty, for it may be destroyed by a three days' fever.
(2) There is no greater plague than the enmity of thy familiar friend.
Chaucer did not English Boethius second-hand, through any early French version, as some have supposed, but made his translation with the Latin original before him.
Jean de Méung's version, the only early French translation, perhaps, accessible to Chaucer, is not always literal, while the present translation is seldom free or periphrastic, but conforms closely to the Latin, and is at times awkwardly literal. A few passages, taken haphazard, will make this sufficiently clear.
Þilke deeþ of men is welful þat ne comeþ not in ȝeres þat ben swete (i. mirie). but comeþ to wrecches often yclepid. (p. 4)
Many of the above examples are very bald renderings of the original, and are only quoted here to show that Chaucer did not make his translation from the French.
Chaucer is not always felicitous in his translations:—thus he translates keye and a stiere (p. 103), and abreggynge (abridging, curtailment), p. 151. Many terms make their appearance in English for the first time,—and most of them have become naturalized, and are such as we could ill spare. Some few are rather uncommon, as gouernaile (arbitre (inestimable (
Our translator evidently took note of various readings, for on p. 31 he notes a variation of the original. On p. 51 he uses armurers(= armures) to render arva.
There are numerous glosses and explanations of particular passages, which seem to be interpolated by Chaucer himself. Thus he explains what is meant by the heritage of Socrates (p. 10, 11); he gives the meaning of coemption (p. 15); of Euripus (p. 33); of theporch (p. 166)a dité of a prosperité for a tyme þat endiþ in wrechednesse' (p. 35). One would think that the following definition of Tragedian would be rather superfluous after this,—'a maker of dites þat hyȝten (are called) tregedies' (p. 77).
Homer wiþ þe hony mouþe, þat is to seyn. homer wiþ þe swete dites (p. 153).
The present translation of the oldest manuscript that exists in our public libraries. After it was all copied out and ready for press, Mr Bradshaw was kind enough to procure me, for the purpose of collation, the loan of the Camb. University MS. Ii. 3. 21, from which the various readings at the foot of the pages are taken.
Had I had an opportunity of examining the Cambridge MS. carefully throughout before the work was so far advanced, I should certainly have selected it in preference to the text now given to the reader. Though not so ancient as the British Museum MS., it is far more correct in its grammatical inflexions, and is no doubt a copy of an older and very accurate text.
The Additional MS. is written by a scribe who was unacquainted with the force of the final -e. Thus he adds it to the preterites of strong verbs, which do not require it; he omits it in the preterites of weak verbs where it is wanted, and attaches it to passive participles (of weak verbs), where it is superfluous. The scribe of the Cambridge MS. is careful to preserve the final -e where it is a sign (1) of the definite declension of the adjective; (2) of the plural adjective; (3) of the infinitive mood; (4) of the preterite of weak verbs; (5) of present participles;yngë.
The Addit. MS. has frequently thilk (singular and plural), and wrechednes, &c.;), when the Camb. MS. has thilkethilkë in the Canterbury Tales.-nesse.
For further differences the reader may consult the numerous collations at the foot of the page.
If the Chaucer Society obtains that amount of patronage from the literary public which it deserves, but unfortunately has yet not succeeded in getting, so that it may be enabled to go on with the great work which has been so successfully commenced, then the time may come when I shall have the opportunity of editing the Camb. MS. of Chaucer's Boethius for that Society, and lovers of Early English Literature will have two texts instead of one.
THE last of the ancients, and one who forms a link between the classical period of literature and that of the middle ages, in which he was a favourite author, is Boethius, a man of fine genius, and interesting both from his character and his death. It is well known that after filling the dignities of Consul and Senator in the court of Theodoric, he fell a victim to the jealousy of a sovereign, from whose memory, in many respects glorious, the stain of that blood has never been effaced. The Consolation of Philosophy, the chief work of Boethius, was written in his prison. Few books are more striking from the circumstances of their production. Last of the classic writers, in style not impure, though displaying too lavishly that poetic exuberance which had distinguished the two or three preceding centuries, in elevation of sentiment equal to any of the philesophers, and mingling a Christian sanctity with their lessons, he speaks from his prison in the swan-like tones of dying eloquence. The philosophy that consoled him in bonds, was soon required in the sufferings of a cruel death. Quenched in his blood, the lamp he had trimmed with a skilful hand gave no more light; the language of Tully and Virgil soon ceased to be spoken; and many ages were to pass away, before learned diligence restored its purity, and the union of genius with imitation taught a few modern writers to surpass in eloquence the Latinity of Boethius.Literature of Europe, i. 2, 4th ed. 1854.)
The Senator Boethius is the last of the Romans whom Cato or Tully could have acknowledged for their countryman. As a wealthy orphan, he inherited the patrimony and honours of the Anician family, a name ambitiously assumed by the kings and emperors of the age; and the appellation of Manlius asserted his genuine or fabulous descent from a race of consuls and dictators, who had repulsed the Gauls from the Capitol, and sacrificed their sons to the discipline of the Republic. In the youth of Boethius the studies of Rome were not totally abandoned; a Virgil is now extant, corrected by the hand of a consul; and the professors of grammar, rhetoric, and jurisprudence, were maintained in their privileges and pensions by the liberality of the Goths. But the erudition of the Latin language was insufficient to satiate his ardent curiosity; andindifference of three distinct though consubstantial persons. For the benefit of his Latin readers, his genius submitted to teach the first elements of the arts and sciences of Greece. The geometry of Euclid, the music of Pythagoras, the arithmetic of Nicomachus, the mechanics of Archimedes, the astronomy of Ptolemy, the theology of Plato, and the logic of Aristotle, with the commentary of Porphyry, were translated and illustrated by the indefatigable pen of the Roman senator. And he alone was esteemed capable of describing the wonders of art, a sun-dial, a water-clock, or a sphere which represented the motions of the planets. From these abstruse speculations, Boethius stooped, or, to speak more truly, he rose to the social duties of public and private life: the indigent were relieved by his liberality; and his eloquence, which flattery might compare to the voice of Demosthenes or Cicero, was uniformly exerted in the cause of innocence and humanity. Such conspicuous merit was felt and rewarded by a discerning prince: the dignity of Boethius was adorned with the titles of consul and patrician, and his talents were usefully employed in the important station of master of the offices. Notwithstanding the equal claims of the East and West, his two sons were created, in their tender youth, the consuls of the same year. On the memorable day of their inauguration, they proceeded in solemn pomp from their palace to the forum amidst the applause of the senate and people; and their joyful father, the true Consul of Rome, after pronouncing an oration in the praise of his royal benefactor, distributed a triumphal largess in the games of the circus. Prosperous in his fame and fortunes, in his public honours and private alliances, in the cultivation of science and the consciousness of virtue, Boethius might have been styled happy, if that precarious epithet could be safely applied before the last term of the life of man.
A philosopher, liberal of his wealth and parsimonious of his time, might be insensible to the common allurements of ambition, the thirst of gold and employment. And some credit may be due to the asseveration of Boethius, that he had reluctantly obeyed the divine Plato, who enjoins every virtuous citizen to rescue the state from the usurpation of vice and ignorance. For the integrity of his public conduct he appeals to thehoping, as it was said, the liberty of Rome.
"If Albinus be criminal," exclaimed the orator, "the senate and myself are all guilty of the same crime. If we are innocent, Albinus is equally entitled to the protection of the laws." These laws might not have punished the simple and barren wish of an unattainable blessing; but they would have shown less indulgence to the rash confession of Boethius, that, had he known of a conspiracy, the tyrant never should. The advocate of Albinus was soon involved in the danger and perhaps the guilt of his client; their signature (which they denied as a forgery) was affixed to the original address, inviting the emperor to deliver Italy from the Goths; and three witnesses of honourable rank, perhaps of infamous reputation, attested the treasonable designs of the Roman patrician. Yet his innocence must be presumed, since he was deprived by Theodoric of the means of justification, and rigorously confined in the tower of Pavia, while the senate, at the distance of five hundred miles, pronounced a sentence of confiscation and death against the most illustrious of its members. At the command of the Barbarians, the occult science of a philosopher was stigmatized with the names of sacrilege and magic. A devout and dutiful attachment to the senate was condemned as criminal by the trembling voices of the senators themselves; and their ingratitude deserved the wish or prediction of Boethius, that, after him, none should be found guilty of the same offence.
While Boethius, oppressed with fetters, expected each moment the sentence or the stroke of death, he composed in the tower of Pavia theConsolation of Philosophy; a golden volume not unworthy of the leisure of Plato or Tully, but which claims incomparable merit from the barbarism of the times and the situation of the author. The celestial guide, whom he had so long invoked at Rome and Athens, now condescended to illumine his dungeon, to revive his courage, and to pour into his wounds her salutary balm. She taught him to compare his long prosperity and his recent distress, and to conceive new hopes from the inconstancy of fortune. Reason had informed him of the precarious condition of her gifts; experience had satisfied him of their real value; he had enjoyed them without guilt; he might resign them without a sigh, and calmly disdain the impotent malice of his enemies, who had left him happiness, since they had left him virtue. From the earth, Boethius ascended to heaven in search of the SUPREME GOOD; explored the metaphysical labyrinth of chance and destiny, of prescience and free-will, of time and eternity; and generously attempted to reconcile the perfect attributes of the Deity with the apparent disorders of his moral and physical government. Such topics of consolation, so obvious, so vague, or so abstruse, are ineffectual to subdue the feelings of human nature. Yet the sense of misfortune may be diverted by the labour of thought; and the sage who could artfully combine in the same work the various riches of philosophy, poetry, and eloquence, must already have possessed the intrepid calmness which he affected to seek. Suspense, the worst of evils, was at length determined by the ministers of death, who executed, and perhaps exceeded, the inhuman mandate of Theodoric. A strong cord was fastened round the head of Boethius, and forcibly tightened till his eyes almost started from their sockets; and some mercy may be discovered in the milder torture of beating him with clubs till he expired. But his genius survived to diffuse a ray of knowledge over the darkest ages of the Latin world; the writings of the philosopher were translated by the most glorious of the English kings, and the third emperor of the name of Otho removed to a more honourable tomb the bones of a Catholic saint, who, from his Arian persecutors, had acquired the honours of martyrdom and the fame of miracles. In the last hours of Boethius, he derived some comfort from the safety of his two sons, of his wife, and of his father-in-law, the venerable Symmachus. But the grief of Symmachus was indiscreet, and perhaps disrespectful; he had presumed to lament, he might dare to revenge, the death of an injured friend. He was dragged in chains from Rome to the palace of Ravenna; and the suspicions of Theodoric could only be appeased by the blood of an innocent and aged senator.Decline and Fall, 1838, vol. vii. p. 45—52 (without the notes).
Allas I wepyng am constreined to bygynne vers of sorouful matere. ¶ Þat whilom in florysching studie made delitable ditees. For loo rendyng muses of poetes enditen to me þinges to be writen. and drery vers of wrecchednes weten my face wiþ verray teers. ¶ At þe leest no drede ne myȝt[e] ouer-come þo muses. þat þei ne weren felawes and folweden my wey. þat is to seyne when I was exiled. þei þat weren glorie of my youȝth whilom weleful and grene conforten now þe sorouful werdes of me olde man. for elde is comen vnwarly vpon me hasted by þe harmes þat I haue. and sorou haþ comaunded his age to be in me. ¶ Heeres hore ben schad ouertymelyche vpon myne heued. and þe slak[e] skyn trembleþ vpon myn emty body. þilk[e] deeþ of men is welful þat ne comeþ not in ȝeres þat ben swete (.i. mirie.) but comeþ to wrecches often yclepid.
¶ Allas allas wiþ how deef an eere deeþ cruel tourneþ awey fro wrecches and naieþ to closen wepyng eyen. ¶ While fortune vnfeiþful fauored[e] me wiþ lyȝte goodes (.s. temporels.) þe sorouful houre þat is to seyne þe deeþ had[de] almost dreynt myne heued. ¶ But now for fortune clowdy haþ chaunged hir disceyuable chere to me warde. myn vnpitouse lijf draweþ a long vnagreable dwellynges in me. ¶ O ȝe my
In þe mene while þat I stille recorded[e] þise þinges wiþ my self. and markede my wepli compleynte wiþ office of poyntel. I saw stondyng aboue þe heyȝt of my heued a woman of ful greet reuerence by semblaunt hir eyen brennyng and clere seing ouer þe comune myȝt of men. wiþ a lijfly colour and wiþ swiche vigoure and strenkeþ þat it ne myȝt[e] not be emptid. ¶ Al were it so þat sche was ful of so greet age. þat men ne wolde not trowe in no manere þat sche were of oure elde. þe stature of hir was of a doutous iugement. for sumtyme sche constreyned[e] and schronk hir seluen lyche to þe comune mesure of men. and sumtyme it semed[e] þat sche touched[e] þe heuene wiþ þe heyȝte of hir heued. and when sche hef hir heued heyer sche perced[e] þe selue heuene. so þat þe syȝt of men lokyng was in ydel. ¶ Hir cloþes weren maked of ryȝt delye þredes and subtil crafte of perdurable matere. þe wyche cloþes sche hadde wouen wiþ hir owen hondes: as I knew wel aftir by hir selfe. declaryng and schewyng to me þe beaute. þe wiche cloþes a derkenes of a forleten and dispised elde had[de] duskid and dirkid as it is wont to dirken by-smoked ymages. ¶ In þe neþerest[e]
Allas how þe þouȝt of man dreint in ouer þrowyng depnesse dulleþ and forletiþ hys propre clerenesse. myntynge to gone in to foreyne derknesses as ofte as hys anoious bisines wexiþ wiþ-outen mesure.
Bvt tyme is now quod sche of medicine more þen of compleynte. ¶ Forsoþe þen sche entendyng to me warde wiþ al þe lokyng of hir eyen saide. ¶ Art not þou he quod sche þat sumtyme I-norschid wiþ my mylke and fostre[d] wiþ my meetes were ascaped and comen to corage of a perfit man. ¶ Certys I ȝaf þe
Þus when þat nyȝt was discussed and chased awey. derknesses forleften me. and to myn eyen repeyre aȝeyne her firste strenkeþ. and ryȝt by ensample as þe sonne is hid when þe sterres ben clustred. þat is to sey when sterres ben couered wiþ cloudes by a swifte wynde þat hyȝt chorus. and þat þe firmament stont derked by wete ploungy cloudes. and þat þe sterres not apperen vpon heuene. ¶ So þat þe nyȝt semeþ sprad vpon erþe. ¶ Yif þan þe wynde þat hyȝt borias
Ryȝt so and none oþer wyse þe cloudes of sorowe dissolued and don awey. ¶ I took heuene. and receyuede mynde to knowe þe face of my fyciscien. ¶ So þat I sette myne eyen on hir and festned[e] my lokyng. I byholde my norice philosophie. in whos houses I hadde conuersed and haunted fro my ȝouþe. and I seide þus. ¶ O þou maistresse of alle uertues descendid fro þe souereyne sete. Whi art þou comen in to þis solitarie place of myn exil. ¶ Art þou comen for þou art mad coupable wiþ me of fals[e] blames. ¶ O quod sche my norry scholde I forsake þe now. and scholde I not parte wiþ þe by comune trauaille þe charge þat þou hast suffred for envie of my name. ¶ Certis it nar[e] not leueful ne sittyng to philosophie to leten wiþ-outen compaignie þe wey of hym þat is innocent. ¶ Scholde I þan redoute my blame and agrisen as þouȝ þer were byfallen a newe þing. q. d. non. ¶ For trowest þou þat philosophi be now alþerfirst assailed in perils by folk of wicked[e] maneres. ¶ Haue I not stryuen wiþ ful greet strife in olde tyme byfore þe age of my plato aȝeins þe foolhardines of foly and eke þe same plato lyuyng. hys maistre socrates deserued[e] victorie of vnryȝtful deeþ in my presence. ¶ Þe heritage of wyche socrates. þe heritage is to seyne
Who so it be þat is clere of vertue sad and wel ordinat of lyuyng. þat haþ put vnderfote þe prowed[e] wierdes and lokiþ vpryȝt vpon eyþer fortune. he may holde hys chiere vndiscomfited. ¶ Þe rage ne þe manace of þe commoeuyng or chasyng vpwarde hete fro þe botme. ne schal not moeue þat man. ne þe vnstable mountaigne þat hyȝt veseuus. þat wircheþ oute þoruȝ hys broken[e] chemineys smokyng fires. ¶ Ne þe wey of þonder lyȝt þat is wont to smyte heyȝe toures ne schal not mouene þat man. ¶ Wherto þen wrecches drede ȝe tyrauntes þat ben wode and felownes wiþ-outen ony strenkeþ. ¶ Hope after no þing ne drede nat. and
FElest þou quod sche þise þinges and entren þei ouȝt in þi corage. ¶ Art þou like an asse to þe harpe. Whi wepest þou whi spillest þou teres. ¶ Yif þou abidest after helpe of þi leche. þe byhoueþ discouere þi wounde. ¶ Þo .I. þat hadde gadered strenkeþ in my corage answered[e] and seide. and nedeþ it ȝitte quod .I. of rehersyng or of amonicioun. and scheweþ it not ynouȝ by hym self þe scharpnes of fortune þat wexeþ woode aȝeynes me. ¶ Ne moeueþ it nat þe to seen þe face or þe manere of þis place (.i. prisoun.). ¶ Is þis þe librarie wyche þat þou haddest chosen for a ryȝt certeyne sege to þe in myne house. ¶ Þere as þou desputest of[te] wiþ me of þe sciences of þinges touching diuinitee and touchyng mankynde. ¶ Was þan myn habit swiche as it is now. was þan my face or my chere swiche as now
Oþou maker of þe whele þat bereþ þe sterres. whiche þat art fastned to þi perdurable chayere. and
Whan I hadde wiþ a continuel sorwe sobbed or broken out þise þinges sche wiþ hir chere peisible and no þing amoeued. wiþ my compleyntes seide þus. whan I say þe quod sche sorweful and wepyng I wist[e] on-one þat þou were a wrecche and exiled. but I wist[e] neuer how fer þine exile was: ȝif þi tale ne hadde schewed it to me. but certys al be þou fer fro þi contre. þou nart
Whan þat þe heuy sterre of þe cancre eschaufeþ by þe beme of phebus. þat is to seyne whan þat phebus þe sonne is in þe signe of þe Cancre. Who so ȝeueþ þan largely hys sedes to þe feldes þat refuse to receiuen hem. lete hym gon bygyled of trust þat he hadde to hys corn. to acorns or okes. yif þou wilt gadre violettȝ. ne go þou not to þe purper wode whan þe felde chirkynge agriseþ of colde by þe felnesse of þe wynde þat hyȝt aquilon ¶ Yif þou desirest or
FIrst wolt þou suffre me to touche and assaie þe stat of þi þouȝt by a fewe demaundes. so þat I may vnderstonde what be þe manere of þi curacioun. ¶ Axe me quod .I. atte þi wille what þou wilt. and I schal answere. ¶ Þo saide sche þus. wheþer wenest þou quod sche þat þis worlde be gouerned by foolisshe happes and fortunes. or elles wenest þou þat þer be in it any gouernement of resoun. Certes quod .I. ne trowe not in no manere þat so certeyne þinges scholde be moeued by fortunouse fortune. but I wot wel þat god maker and mayster is gouernour of þis werk. Ne neuer nas ȝit day þat myȝt[e] putte me oute of þe soþenesse of þat sentence. ¶ So is it quod sche. for þe same þing songe þou a lytel here byforne and byweyledest and byweptest. þat only men weren put oute of þe cure of god. ¶ For of alle oþer þinges þou ne doutest nat þat þei nere gouerned by reson. but how (.i. pape.). I wondre gretly certes whi þat þou art seek. siþen þou art put in to so holesom a sentence. but lat vs sekenBoice. ¶ Whi scholde I nat remembre þat quod .I. Philosophie. ¶ Maiste þou not telle me þan quod sche what þing is a man. ¶ Axest not me quod I. wheþir þat be a resonable best mortel. I wot wel and I confesse wel þat I am it. ¶ Wistest þou neuer ȝit þat þou were ony oþer þing quod she.
ÞE sterres couered wiþ blak[e] cloudes ne mowen geten a doun no lyȝt. Ȝif þe trouble wynde þat hyȝt auster stormynge and walwyng þe see medleþ þe heete þat is to seyne þe boylyng vp from þe botme ¶ Þe wawes þat somtyme weren clere as glas and lyke to þe fair[e] bryȝt[e] dayes wiþstant anon þe syȝtes of men. by þe filþe and ordure þat is resolued. and þe fletyng streme þat royleþ doun dyuersely fro heyȝe mountaignes is arestid and resisted ofte tyme by þe encountrynge of a stoon þat is departid and fallen from some roche. ¶ And forþi yif þou wilt loken and demen soþe wiþ clere lyȝt. and holde þe weye wiþ a ryȝt paþe. ¶ Weyue þou ioie. drif fro þe drede. fleme þou hope. ne lat no sorwe aproche. þat is to sein lat noon of þise four passiouns ouer come þe. or blynde þe. for cloudy and dirke is þilk þouȝt and bounde with bridles. where as þise þinges regnen.
After þis she stynte a litel. and after þat she hadde gadred by atempre stillenesse myn attencioun she seide þus. ¶ As who so myȝt[e] seye þus. After þise þinges she stynt[e] a lytel. and whanne she aperceiued[e] by atempre stillenesse þat I was ententif to herkene hire. she bygan to speke in þis wyse. ¶ YifGlose. ¶ But naþeles some bookes han þe text þus. For soþe she haþ forsaken þe ne þer nis no man syker þat she ne haþ not forsaken. ¶ Holdest þou þan þilke welefulnesse preciouse to þe þat shal passen. and is present fortune derworþi to þe. whiche þat nis not feiþful forto dwelle. and whan she goþ aweye þat she bryngeþ a wyȝt in sorwe ¶ For syn she may nat be wiþholden at a mans wille. she makeþ hym a wrecche when she departeþ fro hym. ¶ What oþer þing is
Whan fortune wiþ a proude ryȝt hande haþ turnid hir chaungyng stoundes she fareþ lyke þe maners of þe boillyng eurippe. Glose . Eurippe is an arme of þe see þat ebbith and flowiþ. and somtyme þe streme is on one syde and somtyme on þat oþer.Texte¶ She cruel fortune kasteþ adoune kynges þat somtyme weren ydred. and she deceiuable enhaunseth vp þe humble chere of hym þat is discomfited. and she neyþer hereþ ne reccheþ of wrecched[e] wepynges. and she is so harde þat she lauȝeþ and scorneþ þe wepyng of hem þe whiche she haþ maked wepe wiþ hir free wille. ¶ Þus she pleyeþ and þus she preueþ hir strengþe and sheweþ a grete wondre to alle hir seruauntȝ. ¶ Yif þat a wyȝt is seyn weleful and ouerþrowe in an houre.
CErtis I wolde plete wiþ þee a fewe þinges vsynge þe wordes of fortune tak heede now þi self. yif þat she axeþ ryȝtGlose. Tragedie is to seyne a dite of a prosperite for a tyme þat endiþ in wrechednesse. Lernedest nat þou in grek whan þou were ȝonge þat in þe entre or in þe seler of Iuppiter þer ben couched two tunnes. þat on is ful of good þat oþer is ful of harme. ¶ What ryȝt hast þou to pleyne. yif þou hast taken more plenteuously of þe goode syde þat is to seyne of my rycchesse and prosperites. and what eke. yif I be nat departed fro þe. What eke. yif my mutabilitee ȝiueþ þe ryȝtful cause of hope to han ȝit better þinges. ¶ Naþeles desmaie þe nat in þi þouȝt. and þou þat art put in comune realme of alle: ne desijr[e] nat to lyue by þine oonly propre ryȝt.
Þouȝ plentee þat is goddesse of rycches hielde adoun wiþ ful horn. and wiþdraweþ nat hir hand. ¶ As many recches as þe see turneþ vpwardes sandes whan it
Þerfore yif þat fortune spake wiþ þe for hir self in þis manere. For soþe þou ne haddest [nat] what þou myȝtest answere. and if þou hast any þing wherwiþ. þou mayist ryȝtfully tellen þi compleynt. ¶ It byhoueþ þe to shewen it. and .I. wol ȝeue þe space to tellen it. ¶ Certeynely quod I þan þise ben faire þinges and enoyntid wiþ hony swetnesse of rethorike and musike. and only while þei ben herd þei ben deliciouse. ¶ But to wrecches is a deppere felyng of harme. þis is to seyn þat wrecches felen þe harmes þat þei suffren more greuously þan þe remedies or þe delites of þise wordes mowe gladen or comforten hem. so þat
Whan phebus þe sonne bygynneþ to spreden his clerenesse with rosene chariettes. þan þe sterre ydimmyd paleþ hir white cheres. by þe flamus of þe sonne þat ouer comeþ þe sterre lyȝt. ¶ Þis is to seyn whan þe sonne is risen þe day sterre wexiþ pale and lesiþ hir lyȝt for þe grete bryȝtnesse of þe sonne. ¶ Whan þe wode wexeþ redy of rosene floures in þe first somer sesoun þoruȝ þe breþe of þe wynde Zephirus þat wexeþ warme. ¶ Yif þe cloudy wynde auster blowe felliche. þan goþ awey þe fayrnesse of þornes. Ofte þe see is clere and calme wiþoute moeuyng floodes. And ofte þe horrible wynde aquilon moeueþ boylyng tempestes and ouer whelweþ þe see. ¶ Yif þe forme of þis worlde is so [ȝeelde] stable. and yif it tourniþ by so many entrechaungynges. wilt þou þan trusten in þe trublynge fortunes of men. wilt þou trowen in flittyng goodes. It is certeyne and establissed by lawe perdurable þat no þing þat is engendred nys stedfast no stable.
Þanne seide I þus. O norice of alle uertues þou seist ful soþe. ¶ Ne I may nat forsake þe ryȝt[e] swifte cours of my prosperitee. þat is to seine. þat prosperitee ne be comen to me wondir swiftly and soone. but þis is a þing þat gretly smertiþ me whan it remembreþ me. ¶ For in alle aduersitees of fortune þe most vnsely kynde of contrariouse fortune is to han ben weleful. ¶ But þat þou quod she abaist þus þe tourment of þi fals[e] opinioun þat maist þou not ryȝtfully
And aȝeinewarde al fortune is blisful to a man by þe agreablete or by þe egalite of hym þat suffreþ it. ¶ What man is þat. þat is so weleful þat nolde chaungen his estat whan he haþ lorn pacience. þe swetnesse of mannes welefulnesse is yspranid wiþ many[e] bitternesses.
What maner man stable and war þat wil founden hym a perdurable sete and ne wil not be cast doune wiþ þe loude blastes of þe wynde Eurus. and wil dispise þe see manassynge wiþ floodes ¶ Lat hym eschewe to bilde on þe cop of þe mountayngne. or in þe moyste sandes. ¶ For þe fel[le] wynde auster tourmenteþ þe cop of þe mountayngne wiþ alle his strengþes. ¶ and þe
But for as moche as þe noryssinges of my resouns descenden now in to þe. I trowe it were tyme to vsen a litel strenger medicynes. ¶ Now vndirstonde here al were it so þat þe ȝiftis of fortune nar[e] nat brutel ne transitorie. what is þer in hem þat may be þineBoyce . ¶ Whi sholde it nat deliten vs. syn þat it is a ryȝt fayr porcioun of þe ryȝt fair werk. þat is to seyn of þis worlde. ¶ And ryȝt so ben we gladed somtyme of þe face of þe see whan it is clere. And also merueylen we on þe heuene andPhilosophie. ¶ Apperteineþ quod she any of þilke þinges to þe. whi darst þou glorifie þe in þe shynynge of any swiche þinges. Art þou distingwed and embelised by þe spryngyng floures of þe first somer sesoun. or swelliþ þi plente in fruytes of somer. whi art þou rauyshed wiþ ydel ioies. why enbracest þou straunge goodes as þei weren þine. Fortune shal neuer maken þat swiche þinges ben þine þat nature of þinges maked foreyne fro þe. ¶ Syche is þat wiþ-outen doute þe fruytes of þe erþe owen to ben on þe norssinge of bestes. ¶ And if þou wilt fulfille þi nede after þat it suffiseþ to nature þan is it no nede þat þou seke after þe superfluite of fortune. ¶ For wiþ ful fewe þinges and with ful lytel þing nature halt hire appaied. and yif þou wilt achoken þe fulfillyng of nature wiþ superfluites ¶ Certys þilke þinges þat þou wilt þresten or pouren in to nature shullen ben vnicyeful to þe or ellis anoies. ¶ Wenest þou eke þat it be a fair þinge to shine wiþ dyuerse cloþing. of whiche cloþing yif þe beaute be agreable to loken vpon. I wol merueylen on þe nature of þe matere of þilke cloþes. or ellys on þe werkeman þat wrouȝt[e] hem. but al so a longe route of meyne. makiþ þat a blisful
Blysful was þe first age of men. þei helden hem apaied wiþ þe metes þat þe trewe erþes brouȝten furþe. ¶ þei ne destroyed[e] ne desceyued[e] not hem self wiþ outerage. ¶ þei weren wont lyȝtly to slaken her hunger at euene wiþ acornes of okes ¶ þei ne couþe nat medle þe ȝift of bacus to þe clere hony. þat is to seyn. þei couþe make no piment of clarre. ne þei couþe nat medle þe briȝt[e] flies of þe contre of siriens wiþ þe venym of tirie. þis is to seyne. þei couþe nat dien white flies of sirien contre wiþ þe blode of a manar shelfysshe. þat men fynden in tyrie. wiþ whiche blode men deien purper. ¶ þei slepen holesom slepes vpon þe gras. and dronken of þe rynnyng watres. and laien vndir þe shadowe of þe heyȝe pyne trees. ¶ Ne no gest ne no straunger [ne] karf ȝit þe heye see wiþ oores or wiþ shippes. ne þei ne
But what shal I seyne of dignitees and of powers. þe whiche [ye] men þat neiþer knowen verray dignitee ne verray power areysen hem as heye as þe heuene. þe whiche dignitees and powers yif þei come to any wicked man þei don [as] greet[e] damages and distruccioun as doþ þe flamme of þe Mountaigne Ethna whan þe flamme wit walwiþ vp ne no deluge ne doþ so cruel harmes. ¶ Certys ye remembriþ wel as I trowe þat þilke dignitee þat men clepiþ þe emperie of consulers þe whiche þat somtyme was bygynnyng of fredom. ¶ Ȝoure eldres coueiteden to han don a-wey þat dignitee for þe pride of þe conseilers.
We han wel knowen how many greet[e] harmes and destrucciouns weren don̄ by þe Emperoure Nero. ¶ He letee brenne þe citee of Rome and made slen þe senatours. and he cruel somtyme slouȝ hys broþer. and he was maked moyst wiþ þe blood of hys modir. þat is to seyn he let sleen and slitten þe body of his modir to seen where he was conceiued. and he loked[e] on euery half vpon hir colde dede body. ne no tere ne wette his face. but he was so hard herted þat he myȝt[e] ben domesman or Iuge of hire dede beaute. ¶ And ȝitte neuerþeles gouerned[e] þis Nero by Ceptre al þe peoples þat phebus þe sonne may seen comyng from his outerest arysyng til he hidde his bemes vndir þe wawes. ¶ þat is to seyne. he gouerned[e] alle þe peoples by Ceptre imperial þat þe sonne goþ aboute from est to west ¶ And eke þis Nero goueyrende by Ceptre. alle þe peoples þat ben vndir þe colde sterres þat hyȝten þe seuene triones. þis is to seyn he gouerned[e] alle þe poeples þat ben vndir þe parties of þe norþe. ¶ And eke Nero gouerned[e] alle þe poeples þat þe violent wynde Nothus scorchiþ and bakiþ þe brennynge sandes by his drie hete. þat is to seyne. alle þe poeples in þe souþe. [but yit ne myhte nat al his heye power torne the woodnesse of this wykkyd nero / Allas it is greuous fortune it is]. as ofte as wicked swerde is ioygned to cruel venym. þat is to sein. venimous cruelte to lordshipe.
Þanne seide I þus. þou wost wel þiself þat þe couetise of mortal þinges ne hadden neuer lordshipe of me. but I haue wel desired matere of þinges to done. as who seiþ. I desired[e] to han matere of gouernaunce ouer comunalites. ¶ For vertue stille ne sholde not elden. þat is to seyn. þat list þat or he wex olde ¶ His uertue þat lay now ful stille. ne sholde nat perisshe vnexcercised in gouernaunce of comune. ¶ For whiche men myȝten speke or writen of his goode gouernement. ¶ Philosophie. ¶ For soþe quod she. and þat is a þing þat may drawen to gouernaunce swiche hertes as ben worþi and noble of hir nature. but naþeles it may nat drawen or tollen swiche hertes as ben y-brouȝt to þe ful[le] perfeccioun of vertue. þat is to seyn couetyse of glorie and renoun to han wel administred þe comune þinges. or doon goode decertes to profit of þe comune. for se now and considere how litel and how voide of al prise is þilke glorie. ¶ Certeine þing is as þou hast lerned by demonstracioun of astronomye þat al þe envyronynge of þe erþe aboute ne halt but þe resoun of a prykke at regard of þe gretnesse of heuene. þat is to seye. þat yif þat þer were maked comparisoun of þe erþe to þe gretnesse of heuene. men wolde Iugen in alle þat erþe [ne] helde no space ¶ Of þe whiche litel regioun of þis worlde þe ferþe partie is enhabitid wiþ lyuyng beestes þat we knowen. as þou hast þi self lerned by tholome þat prouitℏ it. ¶ yif þou haddest wiþ drawen and abated in þi þouȝte fro þilke ferþe partie as myche space as þe see and [the] mareys contenen and ouergon and as myche space as þe regioun of droughte ouerstreccheþ.
Who so þat wiþ ouerþrowyng þouȝt only sekeþ glorie of fame. and weniþ þat it be souereyne good ¶ Lete hym loke vpon þe brode shewyng contreys of þe heuen. and vpon þe streite sete of þis erþe. and he shal be ashamed of þe encres of his name. þat may nat fulfille þe litel compas of þe erþe. ¶ O what coueiten proude folke to liften vpon hire nekkes in ydel and dedely ȝok of þis worlde. ¶ For al þouȝ [þat] renoune y-spradde passynge to ferne poeples goþ by dyuerse tonges. and al þouȝ grete houses and kynredes shyne wiþ clere titles of honours. ȝit naþeles deeþ dispiseþ al heye glorie of fame. and deeþ wrappeþ to gidre þe heye heuedes and þe lowe and makeþ egal and euene þe heyest[e] to þe lowest[e]. ¶ where wonen now þe bones of trewe fabricius. what is now brutus or stiern Caton þe þinne fame ȝit lastynge of hir ydel names is markid wiþ a fewe lettres. but al þouȝ we han knowen þe faire wordes of þe fames of hem. it is nat ȝeuen to knowe hem þat ben dede and consumpt. Liggiþ þanne stille al vtterly vnknowable ne fame ne makeþ ȝow nat knowe. and yif ȝe wene to lyuen þe lenger for wynde of ȝoure mortal name. whan o cruel day shal rauyshe ȝow. þan is þe secunde deeþ dwellyng in ȝow.
Bvt for-as-mochel as thow shalt nat wenen quod she þat I bere vntretable batayle ayenis fortune // yit som-tyme it by-falleth þat she desseyuable desserueth to han ryht good thank of men // And þat is whan she hire self opneth / and whan she descouereth hir frownt / and sheweth hir maneres par-auenture yit vndirstondesthow nat þat .I. shal seye // it is a wondyr þat .I. desyre to telle / and forthi vnnethe may I. vnpleyten my sentense with wordes for I. deme þat contraryos fortune profiteth more to men than fortune debonayre // For al-wey whan fortune semeth debonayre than she lyeth falsly in by-hetynge the hope of welefulnesse // but forsothe contraryos fortune is alwey sothfast / whan she sheweth hir self vnstable thorw hyr chaungynge // the amyable fortune desseyueth folk / the contrarye fortune techeth // the amyable fortune byndeth with the beaute of false goodys the hertes of folk þat vsen hem / the contrarye fortune vnbyndeth hem by þe knowynge of freele welefulnesse // the amyable fortune maysthow sen alwey wyndynge and flowynge / and euere mysknowynge of hir self // the contrarye fortune is a-tempre and restreynyd and wys thorw excersyse of hir aduersyte // at the laste amyable fortune with hir flaterynges draweth mys wandrynge men fro the souereyne good // the contraryos fortune ledith ofte folk ayein to sothfast goodes / and haleth hem ayein as with an hooke / weenesthow thanne þat thow owhtest to leten this a lytel thing / þat this aspre and horible fortune hath discoueryd to the / the thowhtes of thy trewe frendes // For-why this ilke fortune
That þe world with stable feith / varieth acordable chaungynges // þat the contraryos qualite of elementȝ holden amonge hem self aliaunce perdurable / þat phebus the sonne with his goldene chariet / bryngeth forth the rosene day / þat the mone hath commaundement ouer the nyhtes // whiche nyhtes hesperus the eue sterre hat browt // þat þe se gredy to flowen constreyneth with a certeyn ende hise floodes / so þat it is nat l[e]ueful to strechche hise brode termes or bowndes vp-on the erthes // þat is to seyn to couere alle the erthe // Al this a-cordaunce of thinges is bownden with looue / þat gouerneth erthe and see / and hath also commaundementȝ to the heuenes / and yif this looue slakede the brydelis / alle thinges þat now louen hem to gederes / wolden maken a batayle contynuely and stryuen to fordoon the fasoun of this worlde / the which they now leden in acordable feith by fayre moeuynges // this looue halt to gideres poeples Ioygned with an hooly bond / and knytteth sacrement of maryages of chaste looues // And loue enditeth lawes to trewe felawes // O weleful weere mankynde / yif thilke loue þat gouerneth heuene gouerned[e] yowre corages /
By this she hadde endid hire songe / whan the swetnesse of hire ditee hadde thorw perced me þat was desirous of herkninge / and .I. astoned hadde yit streyhte myn Eres / þat is to seyn to herkne the bet / what she wolde seye // so þat a litel here after .I. seyde thus // O thow þat art souereyn comfort of Angwissos corages // So thow hast remounted and norysshed me with the weyhte of thy sentenses and with delit of thy syngynge // so þat.I. trowe nat now þat .I. be vnparygal to the strokes of fortune / as who seyth. I. dar wel now suffren al the assautes of fortune and wel deffende me fro hyr // and tho remedies whyche þat thow seydest hire byforn weren ryht sharpe Nat oonly þat .I. am nat agrysen of hem now // but .I. desiros of herynge axe gretely to heeren tho remedyes // than seyde she thus // þat feelede .I. ful wel quod she // whan þat thow ententyf and stylle rauysshedest my wordes // and .I. abood til þat thow haddest swych habyte of thy thowght as thow hast now // or elles tyl þat .I. my self had[de] maked to the the same habyt / which þat is a moore verray thinge // And certes the remenaunt of thinges þat ben yit to seye / ben swyche // þat fyrst whan men tasten hem they ben bytynge / but whan they ben resseyuyd with-inne a whyht than ben they swete // but for thow seyst þat thow art so desirous to herkne hem // wit[h] how gret brennynge woldesthow glowen / yif thow wystest whyder .I. wol leden the // whydyre is þat quod .I. // to thilke verray welefulnesse quod she // of whyche thynge herte dremeth // but for as moche as thy syhte is ocupied and distorbed / by Imagynasyon of herthely thynges / thow mayst nat yit sen thilke selue welefulnesse // do quod .I. and shewe
¶ Who so wil sowe a felde plentiuous. lat hym first delyuer it of þornes and kerue asondre wiþ his hooke þe bushes and þe ferne so þat þe corne may comen heuy of eres and of greins. hony is þe more swete yif mouþes han firste tastid sauoures þat ben wikke. ¶ þe sterres shynen more agreably whan þe wynde Nothus letiþ his ploungy blastes. and aftir þat lucifer þe day sterre haþ chased awey þe derke nyȝt. þe day þe feirer lediþ þe rosene horse of þe sonne. ¶ Ryȝt so þou byholdyng first þe fals[e] goodes. bygynne to wiþdrawe þi nek[ke] fro þe ȝok of erþely affecciouns. and afterwarde þe verrey goodes shollen entre in to þi corage.
Þo fastned[e] she a lytel þe syȝt of hir eyen and wiþdrow hir ryȝt as it were in to þe streite sete of hir þouȝt. and bygan to speke ryȝt þus. Alle þe cures quod she of mortal folk whiche þat trauaylen hem in many manere studies gon certys by diuerse weies.
¶ But naþeles þei enforced hem
It likeþ me to shew[e] by subtil songe wiþ slakke and delitable soun of strenges how þat nature myȝty enclineþ and flitteþ gouernementȝ of þinges ¶ and by whiche lawes she purueiable kepiþ þe grete worlde. and how she bindynge restreineþ alle þingus by a bonde þat may nat be vnbounden. ¶ Al be it so þat þe liouns of þe contree of pene beren þe fair[e] cheines. and taken metes of þe handes of folk þat ȝeuen it hem. and dreden her sturdy maystres of whiche þei ben wont to suffren [betinges]. yif þat hir horrible mouþes ben bibled. þat is to sein of bestes devoured. ¶ Hir corage of tyme passeþ þat haþ ben ydel and rested. repaireþ aȝein þat þei roren greuously. and remembren on hir nature. and slaken hir nekkes from hir cheins vnbounden. and hir maistre first to-teren wiþ blody toþe assaieþ þe woode wraþþes of hem. ¶ þis is to sein þei freten hir maister. ¶ And þe Iangland brid þat syngiþ on þe heye braunches. þis is to sein in þe wode and after is inclosed in a streit cage. ¶ al þouȝ [þat] þe pleiyng besines of men ȝeueþ hem honied[e] drinkes and large metes. wiþ swete studie. ¶ ȝit naþeles yif þilke brid skippynge oute of hir streite cage seeþ þe agreable shadewes of þe wodes. she defouleþ wiþ hir fete hir metes yshad and sekeþ mournyng oonly þe wode and twitriþ desirynge þe wode wiþ hir swete voys. ¶ þe ȝerde of a tree þat is haled adoun by myȝty
Al were it so þat a ryche couetous man hadde riuer fletynge alle of golde ȝitte sholde it neuer staunche hys couetise. ¶ And þouȝ he hadde his nekke I-charged wiþ preciouse stones of þe rede see. and þouȝ he do erye his feldes plentiuous wiþ an hundreþ oxen neuere ne shal his bytyng bysynesse forleten hym while he
Bvt dignitees to whom þei ben comen make þei hym honorable and reuerent. han þei nat so grete strengþe þat þei may putte vertues in þe hertis of folk. þat vsen þe lordshipes of hem. or ellys may þei don awey þe vices. Certys þei [ne] ben nat wont to don awey wikkednesses. but þei ben wont raþer to shew[en] wikkednesses. and þer of comeþ it þat I haue ryȝt grete desdeyne. þat dignites ben ȝeuen ofte to wicked men. ¶ For whiche þing catullus clepid a consul of Rome þat hyȝt nonius postum. or boch. as who seiþ he clepiþ hym a congregacioun of uices in his brest as a postum is ful of corrupcioun. al were þis nonius set in a chayere of dignitee. Sest þou nat þan how gret vylenye dignitees don to wikked men. ¶ Certys vnworþines of wikked men sholde ben þe lasse ysen yif þei nere renomed of none honours. ¶ Certys þou þi self ne myȝtest nat ben brouȝt wiþ as many perils as þou myȝtest suffren þat þou woldest bere þi magistrat wiþ decorat. þat is to seyn. þat for no peril þat myȝt[e] bifallen þe by þe offence of þe kyng theodorik þou noldest nat ben felawe in gouernaunce with decorat. whanne þou say[e] þat he had[de] wikkid corage of a likerous shrewe and of an acusor. ¶ Ne I ne may nat for swiche honours Iugen hem worþi of reuerence þat I deme and holde vnworþi to han þilke same honours. ¶ Now yif þou saie a man þat were fulfilled of wisdom. certys þou
Al be it so þat þe proude nero wiþ al his woode luxurie kembed hym and apparailed hym wiþ faire purpers of Tirie and wiþ white perles. Algates ȝitte throf he
Bvt regnes and familarites of kynges may þei maken a man to ben myȝty. how ellys. ¶ whanne hir blysfulnesse dureþ perpetuely but certys þe olde age of tyme passeþ. and eke of present tyme now is ful of ensaumples how þat kynges þat han chaunged in to wrechednesse out of hir welefulnesse. ¶ O a noble þing and a cler þing is power þat is nat founden myȝty to kepe it self. ¶ And yif þat power of realmes be auctour and maker of blisfulnesse. yif þilke power lakkeþ on any side. amenusiþ it nat þilke blisfulnesse and bryngeþ in wrechednesse. but yif al be it so þat realmes of mankynde stretchen broode. ȝit mot þer nede ben myche folk ouer whiche þat euery kyng ne haþ no lordshipe ne comaundement ¶ and certys vpon þilke syde þat power failleþ whiche þat makiþ folk blisful. ryȝt on þat same side nounpower entriþ vndirneþ þat makeþ hem wreches. ¶ In þis manere þanne moten kynges han more porcioun of wrechednesse þan of welefulnesse. ¶ A tyraunt þat was kyng of sisile þat had[de] assaied þe peril of his estat shewid[e] by similitude þe dredes of realmes by gastnesse of a swerde þat heng ouer þe heued of his familier. what þing is þan þis power þat
Who so wolde ben myȝty he mot daunten hys cruel corage. ne put[te] nat his nekke ouercomen vndir þe foule reines of lecherie. for al be it so þat þi lordship[e] strecche so fer þat þe contre Inde quakiþ at þi comaundement. or at þi lawes. and þat þe leest isle in þe see þat hyȝt tile be þral to þe ¶ ȝit yif þou mayst nat puten awey þi foule derk[e] desijres and dryuen oute fro þe wreched compleyntes. Certis it nis no power þat þou hast.
Bvt glorie how deceiuable and how foule is it ofte. for whiche þing nat vnskilfully a tregedien þat is to sein a maker of dites þat hyȝten tregedies cried[e] and seide. ¶ O glorie glorie quod he. þou nart no þing ellys to þousandes of folkes. but a gret sweller of eres. for many[e] han had ful gret renoun by þe fals[e] oppinioun of poeple. and what þing may ben þouȝt fouler þen swiche preisynge for þilk[e] folk þat ben preised falsly. þei moten nedes han shame of hir preisynges. and yif þat folk han geten hem þank or preysyng by her desertes. what þing haþ þilk pris echid or encresed to þe conscience of wise folk þat mesuren hire good. not by þe rumour of þe poeple. but by þe soþefastnesse of conscience. and yif it seme a fair þing a man to han encresid and sprad his name. þan folweþ
Al þe linage of men þat ben in erþe ben of semblable burþe. On al one is fadir of þinges. On alone minyst[r]eþ alle þinges. ¶ He ȝaf to þe sonne hys bemes. he ȝaf to þe moone hir hornes. he ȝaf þe men to þe erþe. he ȝaf þe sterres to þe heuene. ¶ he encloseþ
But what shal I seie of delices of body. of whic[h]e delices þe desiringes ben ful of anguisse. and þe fulfillinges of hem ben ful of penaunce. ¶ How grete sekenesse and how grete sorwes vnsuffrable ryȝt as a manere fruit of wickednesse ben þilke delices wont to bryngen to þe bo[d]ies of folk þat vsen hem. ¶ Of whiche delices I not what ioye may ben had of hir moeuyng. ¶ But þis woot I wel þat who so euere wil remembren hym of hys luxuries. he shal wel vndirstonde. þat þe issues of delices ben sorowful and sory. ¶ And yif þilke delices mowen make folk blisful. þan by þe same cause moten þise bestes ben clepid blisful. ¶ Of whiche bestes al þe entencioun hasteþ to fulfille hire bodyly iolyte. and þe gladnesse of wijf [and] children were [an] honest þing. but it haþ ben seid. þat it is ouer myche aȝeins kynde þat children han ben founden tormentours to hir fadres I not how many. ¶ Of whiche children how bitynge is euery condicioun. It nedeþ nat to tellen it þe þat hast or þis tyme assaied it. and art ȝit now anguyssous. In þis approue I þe sentence of my disciple Euridippus. þat seide þat he þat haþ no children is weleful by infortune.
Euery delit haþ þis. þat it anguisseþ hem wiþ prikkes þat vsen it. ¶ It resembliþ to þise flying flyes þat we clepen been. þat aftre þat þe bee haþ shed hys agreable honies he fleeþ awey and styngeþ þe hertes of hem þat ben ysmyte wiþ bytynge ouer longe holdynge.
Now nis it no doute þan þat þise weyes ne ben a maner mysledyng to blisfulnesse. ne þat þei ne mowe nat leden folke þider as þei byheten to leden
hem. ¶ But wiþ how grete harmes þise
Allas whiche folie and whiche ignoraunce myslediþ wandryng wrecches fro þe paþe of verrey good. ¶ Certis ȝe ne seken no golde in grene trees. ne ȝe ne
It suffisiþ þat I haue shewed hider to þe forme of false wilfulnesse. so þat yif þou look[e] now clerely þe ordre of myn entencioun requeriþ from hennes forþe to shewen þe verray wilfulnesse. ¶ For quod .I. (b)[I.] se wel now þat suffisaunce may nat comen by richesse. ne power by realmes. ne reuerence by dignitees. ne gentilesse by glorie. ne ioye by delices. and (p) hast þou wel knowen quod she þe cause whi it is. Certis me semeþboice. I may nat quod I denye it. ¶ But I mot graunten as it is. þat þis þing be ryȝt celebrable by clernesse of renoun and noblesse. ¶ þan folweþ it quod she þat we adden clernesse of renoun to þe þre forseide þinges. so þat þer ne be amonges hem no difference. and þis is a consequente quod .I. þis þing þan quod she þat ne haþ no nede of no foreine þing. and þat may don alle þinges by his strengþes. and þat is noble and honourable. nis nat þat a myrie þing and a ioyful. boice. but wenest quod I þat any sorow myȝt[e] comen to þis þing þat is swiche. ¶ Certys I may nat þinke. P. ¶ þanne moten we graunt[e] quod she þat þis þing be ful of gladnesse yif þe forseide þinges be soþe. ¶ And also certys mote we graunten. þat suffisaunce power noblesse reuerence and gladnesse ben only dyuerse bynames. but hir substaunce haþ no diuersite. Boice. It mot nedely be so quod .I. P. þilke þinge þan quod she þat is oon and simple in his nature.
þe wikkednesse of men departiþ it.b.In whiche manere quod .I. p. þilke man quod she þat sekeþ rychesse to fleen pouerte. he ne trauayleþ hym nat to for to gete power for he haþ leuer ben dirk and vile. and eke wiþdraweþ from hym selfe many naturel delitȝ for he nolde lesen þe moneye þat he haþ assembled.Boice . ¶ what seist þou þan yif þat a man coueiteþ to geten alle þise þinges to gider. P. Certys quod she .I. wolde seie þat he wolde geten hym souereyne blisfulnes. but þat shal he nat fynde in þo þinges þat .I. haue shewed þat ne mowe nat ȝeuen þat þei byheten. boice. Certys no quod .I. ¶ þan quod she ne sholden men nat by no weye seken blysfulnesse in swiche þinges as men wenen þat þei ne mowe ȝeuen but o þing senglely of alle þat men seken. I graunt[e] wel quod .I. ne no soþer þing ne may nat ben said. P. ¶ Now hast þou þan quod she þe forme and þe causes of false welefulnesse. ¶ Now turne and flitte þe eyen of þi þouȝt. for þere shalt þou seen an oon þilk verray blysfulnesse þat I haue byhyȝt þee. b.Certys quod .I. it is cler and opyn. þouȝ þat it were to a blynde man. and þat shewedest þou me [ful wel] aP.O my nurry quod she by þis oppinioun quod she I sey[e] þat þou art blisful yif þou putte þis þer to þat I shal seine. what is þat quod .I ¶ Trowest þou þat þer be any þing in þis erþely mortal toumblyng þinges þat may bryngen þis estat. Certys quod I trowe it nat. and þou hast shewed me wel þat ouer þilke goode þer is no þing more to ben desired. P. þise þinges þan quod she. þat is to seyne erþely suffisaunce and power. and swiche þinges eyþer þei semen likenesse of verray goode. or ellys it semeþ þat þei ȝeuen to mortal folk a maner of goodes þat ne ben nat perfit. ¶ But þilke goode þat is verray and perfit. þat may þei nat ȝeuen. boice. I. accorde me wel quod .I. þan quod she for as moche as þou hast knowen whiche is þilke verray blisfulnesse. and eke whiche þilke þinges ben þat lien falsly blisfulnesse. þat is to seyne. þat by desceit semen verray goodes. ¶ Now byhoueþ þe to knowen B. ¶ Certys quod .I. I. deme þat we shulle clepen to þe fadir of alle goodes. ¶ For wiþ outen hym nis þer no þing founden aryȝt. þou seist a-ryȝt quod she. and bygan on-one to syngen ryȝt þus.
O þou fadir creatour of heuene and of erþes þat gouernest þis worlde by perdurable resoun þat comaundist þe tymes for to gon from tyme þat age had[de] bygynnyng. þou þat dwellest þi self ay stedfast and stable and ȝiuest alle oþer þinges to ben moeued. ne forein causes necesseden þe neuer to compoune werke of floterynge mater. but only þe forme of souereyne goode y-set wiþ inne [þe] wiþ outen envie þat moeued[e] þe frely. þou þat art alþerfairest beryng þe faire worlde in þi þouȝt. formedest þis worlde to þe likkenesse semblable of þat faire worlde in þi þouȝt. þou drawest alle þinges of þi souereyne ensampler. and comaundedist þat þis worlde perfitlyche ymaked haue frely and absolut hyse perfit parties. ¶ þou byndest þe elementȝ by noumbres proporcionables. þat þe colde þinges mowen accorde wiþ þe hote þinges. and þe drye þinges wiþ þe moyst þinges. þat þe fire þat is purest ne fleye nat ouer heye. ne þat þe heuynesse ne drawe nat adoun ouer lowe þe erþes þat ben plounged in þe watres. ¶ þou knyttest to-gidre þe mene soule of treble kynde moeuyng alle þinges. and diuidest it by membres accordynge. ¶ And whan it is þus diuided it haþ assembled a moeuyng in two roundes. ¶ It goþ to tourneGlose.
FOr as moche þan as þou hast seyn. whiche is þe forme of goode þat nys nat perfit. and whiche is þe forme of goode þat is perfit. now trowe I þat it were goode to shewe in what þis perfeccioun of blisfulnesse is set. and in þis þing I trowe þat we sholden first enquere forto witen yif þat any swiche manere goode as þilke goode þat þou hast diffinissed a lytel her byforne. þat is to seine souereyne goode may be founden in þe nature of þinges. For þat veyne ymaginacioun of þouȝt ne desceiue vs nat. and putte vs oute of þe soþefastnesse of þilke þinge þat is summyttid to vs. þis is to seyne. but it may nat ben denoyed þat þilke goode ne is. ¶ and þat it nis ryȝt as a welle of alle goodes. ¶ For
P. But considere also quod she in wham þis blisfulnesse enhabiteþ. þe commune acordaunce and conceite of þe corages of men proueþ and graunteþ þat god prince of alle þingus is good. ¶ For so as no þing ne may ben þouȝt bettre þan god. it may nat ben douted þan þat [he þat] no þing is bettre. þat he nys good. ¶ Certys resoun sheweþ þat god is so goode þat it proueþ by verray force þat perfit goode is in hym. ¶ For yif god ne is swiche. he ne may nat ben prince of alle þinges. for certis som þing possessyng in hym self perfit goode sholde ben more þan god. and [it] sholde seme þat þilke þing were first and elder þan god. ¶ For we han shewed apertly þat alle þinges þat ben perfit. ben first or þinges þat ben inperfit. ¶ And for þi for as moche as [that] my resoun or my proces ne go nat awey wiþoute an ende. we ouȝt[e] to graunten þat þe souereyne god is ryȝt ful ofB. þis take I wel quod .I. ne þis ne may nat be wiþseid in no manere. ¶ But I preie þe quod she see now how þou mayst preuen holily and wiþ-outen corrupcioun þis þat I haue seid. þat þe souereyne god is ryȝt ful of souereyne goode. [In whych manere quod I.] wenest þou ouȝt quod she þat þis prince of alle þinges haue ytake þilke souereyne good any where þan of hym self. ¶ of whiche souereyne goode men proueþ þat he is ful ryȝt as þou myȝtest þinken. þat god þat haþ blisfulnesse in hym self. and þat ilke blisfulnesse þat is in hym were diuers in substaunce. ¶ For yif þou wene þat god haue receyued þilke good oute of hym self. þou mayst wene þat he þat ȝaf þilke good to god. be more goode þan is god. ¶ But I am byknowen and confesse and þat ryȝt dignely þat god is ryȝt worþi abouen alle þinges. ¶ And yif so be þat þis good be in hym by nature. but þat it is diuers from [hym] by wenyng resoun. syn we speke of god prince of alle þinges feyne who so feyne may. who was he þat [hath] conioigned þise diuers þinges to-gidre. and eke at þe last[e] se wel þat o þing þat is diuers from any þing. þat þilke þing nis nat þat same þing. fro whiche it is vndirstonden to ben diuers. þan folweþ it. þat þilke þing þat by hys nature is dyuers from souereyne good. þat þat þing nys nat souereyne good. but certys þat were a felonous corsednesse to þinken þat of hym. þat no þing nis more worþe. For alwey of alle þinges. þe natureB. þou hast seid ryȝtfully quod .I. P. But we han graunted quod she þat souereyne good is blysfulnes. þat is soþe quod .I. þan quod she mote we nedes graunten and confessen þat þilke same souereyne goode be god. ¶ Certys P. vpon þise þinges þan quod she. ryȝt as þise geometriens whan þei han shewed her proposiciouns ben wont to bryngen in þinges þat þei clepen porismes or declaraciouns of forseide þinges. ryȝt so wil I ȝeue þe here as a corolarie or a mede of coroune. For whi. for as moche as by þe getynge of blisfulnesse men ben maked blysful. and blisfulnesse is diuinite. ¶ þan is it manifest and open þat by þe getyng of diuinite men ben makid blisful. ryȝt as by þe getynge of iustice . . .b. I vndirstonde wel quod .I. what þou purposest to seke. but I desijr[e] to herkene þat þou shewe it me. p. Take now þus þe discressioun of þis questioun quod she. yif al þise þinges quod she weren membris to felicite. þan weren þei diuerse þat oon fro þat oþer. ¶ And swiche is þe nature of parties or of membris. þat dyuerse membris compounen a body. ¶ Certis quod I it haþ wel ben shewed her byforne. þat alle þise þinges ben alle on þing. þan ben þei none membris quod she. for ellys it sholde seme þat blisfulnesse were conioigned p. and we han shewed þat god and verrey blysfulnesse is al oon þing ¶ þat is soþe quod .I. þan mowe we conclude sikerly þat þe substaunce of god is set in þilke same good and in noon oþer place.
O Comeþ alle to-gidre now ȝe þat ben ycauȝt and ybounde wiþ wicked[e] cheines by þe deceiuable delit of erþely þinges inhabytynge in ȝoure þouȝt. here shal ben þe reste of ȝoure laboures. here is þe hauene stable in peisible quiete. þis al oone is þe open refut to wreches.
I assent[e] me quod .I. For alle þise þinges ben strongly bounden wiþ ryȝt ferme resouns. how mychel wilt þou preisen it quod she. yif þat þou knowe what þilke goode is. I wol preise it quod I by price wiþ outen ende. ¶ yif it shal bytyde me to knowe also to-gidre god þat is good. ¶ certys quod she þat shal I do þe by verray resoun. yif þat þo þinges þat I haue conclude[d] a litel her by Boice. þei dwellen graunted to þe quod .I. þis is to seyne as who seiþ .I. graunt þi forseide conclusiouns. ¶ Haue I nat shewed þe quod she þat þe þinges þat ben requered of many folke. ne ben nat verray goodes ne perfit. for þei ben diuerse þat oon fro þat oþer. and so as eche of hem is lakkyng to oþer. þei ne han no power to bryngen a good þat is ful and absolute. ¶ But þan atte arst ben þei verray good whan þei ben gadred to-gidre al in to a forme and in to oon wirchyng. so þat þilke þing þat is suffisaunce. þilk same be power and reuerence. and noblesse and mirþe. ¶ And forsoþe but alle þise þinges ben alle o same þing þei ne han nat wher by þat þei mowen ben put in þe noumbre of þinges. þat auȝten ben requered or desired. b. ¶ It is shewed quod .I. ne her of may þer no man douten. p. þe þinges þan quod she þat neb. so it semeþ quod .I. but alle þing þat is good quod she grauntest þou þat it be good by participacioun of good or no. ¶ I graunt[e] it quod .I. ¶ þan mayst þou graunt[en] it quod she by sembleable resoun þat oon and good ben o same þing. ¶ For of þinges [of] whiche þat þe effect nis nat naturely diuerse nedys þe substaunce mot ben o same þinge I ne may nat denye it quod I. ¶ Hast þou nat knowen wel quod she. þat al þing þat is haþ so longe his dwellyng and his substaunce. as longe is it oone. ¶ but whan it forletiþ to ben oone it mot nedis dien and corrumpe to-gidre. ¶ In whiche manere quod .I. ¶ Ryȝt as in beestes quod she. whan þe soule and þe body ben conioigned in oon and dwellen to-gidre it is cleped a beest. and whan hire vnite is destroied by disseueraunce þat oon fram þat oþir. þan sheweþ it wel þat it is a dede þing. and þat it is no lenger no beste. and þe body of a wyȝt while it dwelleþ in oon forme by coniunccioun of membris it is wel seyn þat it is a figure of mankynde. and yif þe partyes of þe body ben [so] diuide[d] and disseuered þat oon fro þat oþir þat þei destroien vnite. þe body forletiþ to ben þat it was byforne. ¶ And who so wolde renne in þe same manere by alle þinges he sholde seen þat wiþ outen doute euery þinge is in his substaunce as longe as it is oon. and whan it forletiþ to ben oon it dieþ and perissiþ. boice. whan I considre quod I many þinges I see noon oþer. ¶ Is þer any þing þanne quod she þat in as moche as it lyueþ naturely. þat forletiþ þe appetit or talent ofb. but certys I doute me of herbes and of trees. þat is to seyn þat I am in a doute of swiche þinges as herbes or trees þat ne han no felyng soule. ne no naturel wirchynges seruyng to appetite as beestes han wheþer þei han appetite to dwellen and to duren. ¶ Certis quod she ne þer of þar þe nat doute. ¶ Now look vpon þise herbes and þise trees. þei waxen firste in swiche place as ben couenable to hem. in whiche place þei ne mowen nat sone dien ne dryen as longe as hire nature may defenden hem. ¶ For some of hem waxen in feldes and some in mountaignes. and oþir waxen in mareis.
Who so that sekith sotℏ by a deep thoght And coueyteth nat to ben deseyuyd by no mys-weyes // lat hym rollen and trenden with Inne hym self / the Lyht of his inward syhte // And lat hym gadere ayein enclynynge in to a compas the longe moeuynges of hys thowhtes / And lat hym techen his corage that he hath enclosed and hyd / in his tresors / al þat he compaseth or sekith fro with owte // And thanne thilke thing that the blake cloude of errour whilom hadde y-couered / shal lyhten more clerly thanne phebus hym self ne shyneth //
Thanne seide I thus // I acorde me gretly to plato / for thow remenbrist and recordist me thise thinges yit] p. þou hast wel herd quod she þe fables of þe poetes. how þe geauntes assailden þe heuene wiþ þe goddes. but for soþe þe debonaire force of god disposed[e] hem so as it was worþi. þat is to seyne distroied[e] þe geauntes. as it was worþi. ¶ But wilt þou þat we ioygnen togedre þilke same resouns. for perauenture of swiche coniunccioun may sterten vp some faire sperkele of soþe ¶ Do quod I as þe list. wenest þou quod she
Blisful is þat man þat may seen þe clere welle of good. blisful is he þat may vnbynde hym fro þe bonde of heuy erþe. ¶ þe poete of trace [orpheus] þat somtyme hadde ryȝt greet sorowe for þe deeþ of hys wijf. aftir þat he hadde maked by hys wepely songes þe wodes meueable to rennen. and hadde ymaked þe ryueres to stonden stille. and maked þe hertys and hyndes to ioignen dredles hir sides to cruel lyouns to herkene his songe. and had[de] maked þat þe hare was nat agast of þe hounde whiche þat was plesed by hys songe. so þat whane þe most[e] ardaunt loue of hys wijf brende þe
Whanne philosophie hadde songen softly and delitably þe forseide þinges kepynge þe dignitee of hir choere in þe weyȝte of hir wordes. I þan þat ne hadde nat al outerly forȝeten þe wepyng and mournyng þat was set in myne herte for-brek þe entencioun of hir þat entended[e] ȝitte to seyne oþer þinges. ¶ Se quod I. þou þat art gideresse of verray lyȝte þe þinges þat þou
I Haue for soþe swifte feþeres þat surmounten þe heyȝt of þe heuene whan þe swifte þouȝt haþ cloþed it self. in þo feþeres it dispiseþ þe hat[e]ful erþes. and surmounteþ þe heyȝenesse of þe greet[e] eyir. and it seiþ þe cloudes by-hynde hir bak and passeþ þe heyȝt of þe regioun of þe fire þat eschaufiþ by þe swifte moeuyng of þe firmament. til þat she a-reisiþ hir in til þe houses þat
ÞAnne seide I þus. [owh] I wondre me þat þou by-hetest me so grete þinges. ne I ne doute nat þat þou ne mayst wel performe þat þou by-hetest. but I preie þe oonly þis. þat þou ne tarie nat to telle me þilke þinges þat þou hast meoued. first quod she þou most nedes knowen. þat good[e] folk ben al wey strong[e] and myȝty. and þe shrewes ben feble and desert and naked of alle strengþes. and of þise þinges certys eueryche of hem is declared and shewed by oþer. ¶ For so as good and yuel ben two contraries. yif so be þat goode be stedfast. þan sheweþ þe fieblesse of yuel al openly. and yif þou knowe clerely þe freelnesse of yuel. þe stedfastnesse of goode is knowen. but for as moche as þe fey of my sentence shal be þe more ferme and haboundaunt. I wil goon by þat oon wey and by þat oþer and I wil conferme þe þinges þat ben purposed now on þis side and now on þat syde. ¶ Two þinges þer ben in whiche þe effect of alle þe dedes of man kynde standiþ. þat is to seyn. wil and power. and yif þat oon of þise two fayleþ þere nis no þing þat may be don. for yif þat wil lakkeþ þere nys no wyȝt þat vndirtakeþ to done þat he wol not don. and yif power fayleþ þe wille nis but in ydel and stant for nauȝt. and þer of comeþ it þat yif þou se a wyȝt þat wolde geten þat he may nat geten. þou mayst nat douten þat power ne fayleþ hym to hauen þat he wolde. ¶ þis is open and clere quod I. ne it may nat ben denyed in no manere. and yif þou se a wyȝt quod she. þat haþ don þat he wolde don þou nilt nat douten þat he ne haþ had power to done it. no quod. I. and in þat. þat euery wyȝt may. in þat þat men may holden
Who so þat þe couertures of her veyn apparailes myȝt[e] strepen of þise proude kynges þat þou seest sitten on heyȝe in her chayeres glyterynge in shynynge purpre envyroned wiþ sorweful armures manasyng wiþ cruel mouþe. blowyng by woodnesse of herte. ¶ He sholde se þan þat ilke lordes beren wiþ inne hir corages ful streyte cheynes for leccherye tormentiþ hem on þat oon syde wiþ gredy venyms and troublable Ire þat araiseþ in hem þe floodes of troublynges tourmentiþ vpon þat oþer side hir þouȝt. or sorwe halt hem wery or ycauȝt. or slidyng and disseyuyng hope tourmentiþ hem. And þerfore syn þou seest on heed. þat is to seyne oon tyraunt bere so many[e] tyrauntis. þan ne doþ þilk tyraunt nat þat he desiriþ. syn he is cast doune wiþ so many[e] wicked lordes. þat is to seyn wiþ so many[e] vices. þat han so wicked lordshipes ouer hym.
Seest þou nat þan in how gret filþe þise shrewes ben ywrapped. and wiþ whiche cleernesse þise good folk shynen. In þis sheweþ it wel þat to good folk ne lakkeþ neuer mo hir medes. ne shrewes ne lakken neuer mo tourmentis. for of alle þinges þat ben ydon þilke þing for whiche any þing is doon. it semeþ as by ryȝt þat þilke þing be þe mede of þat. as þus. ¶ yif a man renneþ in þe stadie or in þe forlonge for þe corone. þan lieþ þe mede in þe corone for whiche he renneþ. ¶ And I haue shewed þat blisfulnesse is þilke same good for whiche þat alle þingus ben don. þan is þilke same good purposed to þe werkes of mankynde ryȝt as a comune mede. whiche mede ne may ben disseuered fro good folk. for no wyȝt as by ryȝt fro þennes forþe þat hym lakkiþ goodnesse ne shal ben cleped good. For whiche þing folk of good[e] maneres her medes ne forsaken hem neuer mo. For al be it so þat sherewes waxen as wood as hem list aȝeynes good[e] folk. ȝitte neuer þe les þe corone of wise men ne shal nat fallen ne faden. ¶ For foreine shrewednesse ne bynymeþ nat fro þe corages of good[e] folk hire propre honoure. but yif þat any wyȝt reioiseþ hem of goodnesse þat þei had[de] taken fro wiþoute. as who seiþ yif [þat] any wyȝt had[de] hys goodnesse of any oþer man þan of hym self. certys he þat ȝaf hym þilke goodnesse or ellys som oþer wyȝt myȝt[e] bynym[e] it hym. but for as moche as to euery wyȝt hys owen propre bounte ȝeueþ hym hys mede. þan at arst shal he faylen of mede whan he forletiþ to ben good. and at þe laste so as alle medes ben requered for men wenen þat þei ben
Evrus þe wynde aryueþ þe sayles of vlixes duc of þe contre of narice. and hys wandryng shippes by þe see in to þe isle þere as Circe þe fayre goddesse douȝter of þe sonne dwelleþ þat medlyþ to hir newe gestes drynkes þat ben touched and maked wiþ enchauntmentȝ. and after þat hir hande myȝty of þe herbes had[de] chaunged hir gestes in to dyuerse maneres. þat oon of hem is couered his face wiþ forme of a boor. þat oþer is chaunged in to a lyoun of þe contre of marmorike. and his nayles and his teþe wexen. ¶ þat oþer of hem is newliche chaunged in to a wolf. and howeliþ whan he wolde wepe. þat oþer goþ debonairly in þe house as a tigre of Inde. but al be it so þat þe godhed of mercurie þat is cleped þe bride of arcadie haþ had mercie of þe duc vlixes byseged wiþ diuerse yueles and haþ vnbounden hym fro þe pestilence of hys oosteresse algates þe rowers and þe maryners hadden by þis ydrawen in to hir mouþes and dronken þe wicked[e]
Þan seide I þus I confesse and am aknowe quod I. ne I ne se nat þat men may seyn as by ryȝt. þat shrewes ne ben nat chaunged in to beestes by þe qualite of hir soules. ¶ Al be it so þat þei kepen ȝitte þe forme of þe body of mankynde. but I nolde nat of shrewes of whiche þe þouȝt cruel woodeþ alwey in to destruccioun of good[e] men. þat it were leueful to hem to done þat. ¶ Certys quod she ne it nis nat leueful to hem as I shal wel shewen þe in couenable place. ¶ But naþeles yif so were þat þilke þat men wenen ben
What deliteþ it ȝow to exciten so grete moewynges of hatredes and to hasten and bisien [the] fatal disposicioun of ȝoure deeþ wiþ ȝoure propre handes. þat is to seyn by batailes or [by] contek. for yif ȝe axen þe
Þus see I wel quod I. eyþer what blisfulnesse or ellys what vnselinesse is estab[l]issed in þe desertys of goode men and of shrewes. ¶ but in þis ilke fortune of poeple I see somwhat of goode. and somwhat of yuel. for no wise man haþ nat leuer ben exiled pore and nedy and nameles. þan forto dwellen in hys Citee and flouren of rychesses. and be redoutable by honoure. and stronge of power for in þis wise more clerely and more witnesfully is þe office of wise men ytretid whan þe blisfulnes and [the] pouste of gouernours is as it were yshad amonges poeples þat ben neyȝboures and subgitȝ. syn þat namely prisoun lawe and þise oþer tourmentȝ of lawful peynes ben raþer owed to felonous Citeȝeins. for þe whiche felonous Citeȝeins þo peynes ben establissed. þan for goode folk. ¶ þan I merueile me gretly quod I. whi [þat] þe þinges ben so mys entrechaunged. þat tourmentȝ of felounes pressen and confounden goode folk. and shrewes rauyssen medes of
Who so þat ne knowe nat þe sterres of arctour ytourned neye to þe souereyne contre or point. þat is to seyne ytourned neye to þe souereyne pool of þe firmament and woot nat whi þe sterre boetes passeþ or gaderiþ his wey[n]es. and drencheþ his late flaumbes in þe see. and whi þat boetes þe sterre vnfoldiþ his ouer swifte arisynges. þan shal he wondren of þe lawe of þe heye eyre. and eke if þat he ne knowe nat why þat þe hornes of þe ful[le] moene waxen pale and infect by þe boundes of þe derke nyȝt ¶ and how þe moene dirk
Þvs is it quod I. but so as þou hast ȝeuen or byhyȝt me to vnwrappen þe hidde causes of þinges ¶ and to discoueren me þe resouns couered with dirknesses I preye þe þat þou diuise and Iuge me of þis matere. and þat þou do me to vndrestonden it. ¶ For þis miracle or þis wondre troubleþ me ryȝt gretely. and þan she a htel [what] smylyng seide. ¶ þou clepest me quod she to telle þing. þat is grettest of alle þinges þat mowen ben axed. ¶ And to þe whiche questioun vnneþ[e]s is þere auȝt ynow to lauen it. as who seiþ. vnneþes is þer suffisauntly any þing to answere perfitly to þi questioun.
Yif þou wolt demen in þi pure þouȝt þe ryȝtes or þe lawes of þe heye þund[ere]re. þat is to seyne of god. loke þou and bihold þe heyȝtes of souereyne heuene. ¶ þere kepen þe sterres by ryȝtful alliaunee of þinges hir olde pees. þe sonne ymoeued by hys rody fire. ne destourbiþ nat þe colde cercle of þe moone. ¶ Ne þe sterre yclepid þe bere. þat encliniþ hys rauyssynge courses abouten þe souereyne heyȝt of þe worlde. ne þe same sterre vrsa nis neuer mo wasshen in þe depe westerne see. ne coueitiþ nat to dyȝen hys flaumbes in þe see of [the] occian. al þouȝ he see oþer sterres yplounged in to þe see. ¶ And hesperus þe sterre bodiþ and telliþ alwey þe late nyȝtes. And lucifer þe sterre bryngeþ aȝeyne þe clere day. ¶ And þus makiþ loue enterchaungeable þe perdurable courses. and þus is discordable bataile yput oute of þe contre of þe sterres. þis accordaunce attempreþ by euene-lyke manere[s] þe elementes. þat þe moyste þinges striuen nat wiþ þe drye þinges. but ȝiuen place by stoundes. and þat þe colde þinges ioynen hem by feiþ to þe hote þinges. and þat þe lyȝt[e] fyre arist in to heyȝte. and þe heuy erþes aualen by her weyȝtes. ¶ by þise same cause þe floury yere ȝeldeþ swote smellys in þe fyrste somer sesoun warmynge. and þe hote somer dryeþ þe cornes. and
Sest þou nat þan what þing folweþ alle þe þinges þat I haue seid. what þing quod I. ¶ Certys quod she outerly þat al fortune is good. and how may þat be quod .I. ¶ Now vndirstand quod she so as [alle fortune wheyther so it be Ioyeful fortune / or aspre] fortune is ȝiuen eiþer by cause of gerdonynge or ellys of exercisynge of goode folk or ellys by cause to punissen.
Þe wrekere attrides ¶ þat is to seyne agamenon þat wrouȝt[e] and continued[e] þe batailes by ten ȝere recouered[e] and purged[e] in wrekyng by þe destruccioun of troie þe loste chambres of mariage of hys broþer þis is to seyn þat [he] agamenon wan aȝein Eleine þat was Menelaus wif his broþer. In þe mene while þat þilke agamenon desired[e] to ȝeuen sailes to þe grekysshe nauye and bouȝt[e] aȝein þe wyndes by blode. he vncloþed[e] hym of pite as fader. and þe sory prest ȝiueþ in sacrifiynge þe wreched kuyttyng of þrote of þe douȝter. ¶ þat is to sein þat agamenon lete kuytten þe þrote of hys douȝter by þe prest. to maken alliaunce wiþ hys goddes. and for to haue wynde wiþ whiche he myȝt[e] wende to troie. ¶ Itakus þat is to sein vlixies bywept[e] hys felawes ylorn þe whiche felawes þe fiers[e] pholifemus ligginge in his grete Caue had[de] freten and dreint in hys empty wombe. but naþeles polifemus wood for his blinde visage ȝeld to vlixies ioye by hys sorowful teres. þis is to seyn þat vlixes smot oute þe eye of poliphemus þat stod in hys forhede. for whiche vlixes hadde ioie whan he saw poliphemus wepyng and blynde. ¶ Hercules is celebrable for hys hard[e] trauaile he dawntede þe proude Centauris half hors half man. and he rafte þe despoylynge fro þe
She hadde seid and tourned[e] þe cours of hir resoun to somme oþer þinges to ben tretid and to ben ysped. þan seide I. Certys ryȝtful is þin amonestyng and ful digne by auctorite. but þat þou seidest som tyme þat þe questioun of þe deuyne purueaunce is enlaced wiþ many oþer questiouns. I vndir-stonde wel and proue it by þe same þinge. but I axe yif þat þou wenest þat hap be any þing in any weys. and if þou wenest þat hap be any [thing] what is it. þan quod she. I haste me to ȝelden and assoilen þe to þe dette of my byheste and to shewen and opnen þe wey by whiche wey þou maist come aȝein to þi contre. ¶ but al be it so þat þe þinges whiche þat þou axest ben ryȝt profitable to knowe. ȝitte ben þei diuers somwhat fro þe paþe of my purpos. And it is to douten þat þou ne be maked weery by mysweys so þat þou ne mayst nat suffise to mesuren þe ryȝt weye. ¶ Ne doute þe þer-of no þing quod I. for forto knowen þilke þinges to-gidre in þe whiche þinges I delite me gretly. þat shal ben to me in stede of reste. Syn it nis nat to douten of þe þinges folwynge whan euery side of þi disputisoun shal be stedfast to me by vndoutous feiþ. þan seide she. þat manere wol I don
TIgris [and] eufrates resoluen and spryngen of a welle in þe kragges of þe roche of þe contre of achemenye þere as þe fleenge [batayle] ficchiþ hire dartes retournid in þe brestes of hem þat folwen hem. ¶ And sone aftre þe same ryueres tigris and eufrates vnioygnen and departen
Þis vndirstonde I wel quod I. and accorde wel þat it is ryȝt as þou seist. but I axe yif þer be any liberte or fre wil in þis ordre of causes þat cliuen þus to-gidre in hem self. ¶ or ellys I wolde witen yif þat þe destinal cheine constreiniþ þe moeueuynge of þe corages of men. yis quod she þer is liberte of fre wille. ne þer ne was neuer no nature of resoun þat it ne hadde liberte of fre wille. ¶ For euery þing þat may naturely vsen resoun. it haþ doom by whiche it discerniþ and demiþ euery þing. ¶ þan knoweþ it by it self þinges þat ben to fleen. and þinges þat ben to desiren. and þilk þing þat any wyȝt demeþ to ben desired þat axeþ or desireþ he and fleeþ [thilke] þing þat he troueþ ben to fleen. ¶ wher-fore in alle þinges þat resoun is. in hem also is libertee of willyng and of nillynge. ¶ But I ne ordeyne nat. as who seiþ. I ne graunte nat þat þis libertee be euene like in alle þinges. forwhi in þe souereyns deuynes
substaunces. þat is to
HOmer wiþ þe hony mouþe. þat is to seyn. homer wiþ þe swete dites syngeþ þat þe sonne is cleer by pure lyȝt. naþeles ȝit ne may it nat by þe inferme lyȝt of hys bemes breken or percen þe inwarde entrailes of þe erþe. or ellys of þe see. ¶ so ne seeþ nat god makere of þe grete worlde to hym þat lokeþ alle þinges from on heye ne wiþstandiþ nat no þinges by heuynesses of erþe. ne þe nyȝt ne wiþstondeþ nat to hym by þe blake cloudes. ¶ þilke god seeþ in o strook of þouȝt alle þinges þat ben or weren or schullen come. ¶ and þilke
Þan seide I now am I confounded by a more harde doute þan I was. what doute is þat quod she. ¶ For certys I coniecte now by whiche þinges þou art troubled. It semeþ quod I to repugnen and to contrarien gretly þat god knoweþ byforn alle þinges. and þat þer is any fredom of liberte. for yif so be þat god lokeþ alle þinges byforn. ne god ne may nat ben desseiuid in no manere. þan mot it nedes ben þat alle þinges bytyden þe whiche þat þe purueaunce of god haþ sein byforn to comen. ¶ For whiche yif þat god knoweþ by-forn nat oonly þe werkes of men. but also hir conseils and hir willes. þan ne shal þer be no liberte of arbitre. ne certys þer ne may ben noon oþer dede ne no wille but þilke whiche þe deuyne purueaunce þat ne may nat ben desseiued haþ feled byforn ¶ For yif þat þei myȝten wryþen awey in oþer manere þan þei ben purueyed. þan ne sholde þer ben no stedfast prescience of þinge to comen but raþer an vncerteyn oppinioun. þe whiche þinge to trowen on god I deme it felonie and vnleueful. ¶ Ne I ne proeue nat þilk same resoun. as who seiþ I ne allowe nat. or I ne preise nat þilke same resoun by whiche þat som men wenen þat þei mowen assoilen and vnknytten þe knot of þis questioun. ¶ For certys þei seyn þat þing nis nat to come for þat þe purueaunce of god haþ seyn it byforne. þat is to comen but raþer þe contrarie. ¶ And þat is þis þat for þat þe þing is to comen þat þerfore ne may it nat ben hyd fro þe purueaunce of god.
What discordable cause haþ to-rent and vnioigned þe byndyng or þe alliaunce of þinges. þat is to seyne þe coniunccioun of god and of man. ¶ whiche god haþ establissed so grete bataile bitwixen þise two soþefast or verray þinges. þat is to sein bytwixen þe purueaunce of god and fre wille. þat þei ben synguler and diuided. ne þat þei ne wolen nat ben medeled ne coupled to-gidre. but þer nis no discorde to [tho] verray þinges. but þei cleuen certeyne al wey to hem self. but þe þouȝt of man confounded and ouerþrowen by þe dirke membris of þe body ne may nat by fir of his dirk[ed] lokynge. þat is to seyn by þe vigour of hys insyȝt while þe soule is in þe body knowen þe þinne subtil knyttynges of þinges. ¶ But wherfore eschaufiþ it so by so grete loue to fynden þilke note[s] of soþe y-couered. (
Þanne seide she. þis is quod she þe olde questioun of þe purueaunce of god. and marcus tulius whan he deuided[e] þe deuinaciouns. þat is to sein in hys booke þat he wroot of deuinaciouns. he moeued[e] gretly þis questioun. and þou þi self hast souȝt it mochel and outerly and long[e]. but ȝit ne haþ it nat ben determined ne yspedd fermely and diligently of any of yow. ¶ And þe cause of þis derkenesse and [of this] difficulte is for þat þe moeuynge of þe resoun of mankynde ne may nat moeuen to. þat is to sein applien or ioygnen to þe simplicite of þe deuyne prescience. ¶ þe whiche symplicite of þe deuyne prescience ȝif þat men [myhten thinken it in any manere/þat is to seyn/þat yif men] myȝte þinken and comprehenden þe þinges as god seeþ hem. þan ne sholde þer dwellen outerly no doute. þe whiche resoun and cause of difficulte I shal assaie at þe laste to shewen and to speden. ¶ whan I haue Boicius. nay quod I. þan aȝeinward quod she. I suppose þat þere be prescience but þat ne putteþ no necessite to þinges. þan trowe I þat þilk self fredom of wille shal dwellen al hool and absolut and vnbounden. but þou wolt sein þat al be it so þat prescience nis nat cause of þe necessite of bitidynge to þinges to comen. ¶ Algates ȝitte it is a signe þat þe þinges ben to bytiden by necessite. by þis manere þan al þouȝ þe prescience ne hadde neuer yben. ȝit algate or at þe lest[e] wey. it is certeyne þing þat þe endys and þe bitydynges of þinges to comen sholde ben necessarie. ¶ For euery sygne sheweþ and signifieþ oonly what þe þing is ¶ but it ne makiþ nat þe þing þat it signifieþ. ¶ For whiche it byhoueþ firste to shewen þat no þing ne bitidiþ [þat it ne bytydith] by necessite. so þat it may apere þat þe prescience is signe of þis necessite ¶ or ellys yif þere nere no necessite. certys þilke prescience ne myȝt[e] nat ben signe of þinge þat nis nat. ¶ But certys it is nowe certeyne þat þe preue of þis susteniþ by stedfast resoun ne shal nat ben ladd ne proued by signes ne by argumentys ytaken fro wiþ oute. but by causes couenable and necessarie ¶ But þou mayst sein how may it be þat þe þinges ne bitiden natb. nay quod I ¶ For in ydel and in veyne were alle þe effect of crafte yif þat alle þinges weren moeued by constreynynge. þat is to seyn by constreynynge of oure eyen or of oure syȝt. P. þise þingus þan quod she þat whan men don hem ne han non necessite þat men don hem. eke þo same þinges first or þei be don. þei ben to comen wiþ out necessite. for whi þer ben somme þinges to bytide of whiche þe endys and þe bitidynges of hem ben absolut
ÞE porche þat is to sein a gate of þe toune of athenis þer as philosophres hadde hir congregacioun to dispoyten. and þilke porche brouȝt[e] somtyme olde men ful derke in hire sentences. þat is to sein philosophers þat hyȝten stoiciens. þat wenden þat ymages [and] sensibilites þat is to sein sensible ymaginaciouns. or ellys ymaginacioun of sensible þinges weren inprentid in to soules fro bodies wiþ oute forþe. ¶ As who seiþ þat þilke stoiciens wenden þat þe soule hadde ben naked of it self. as a mirour or a clene parchemyn. so þat alle fygures mosten [fyrst] comen fro þinges fro wiþ oute in to soules. and ben inprentid in to soules.
But what [yif] þat in bodies to ben feelid þat is to sein in þe takynge of knowelechinge of bodyly þinges. and al be it so þat þe qualites of bodies þat ben obiect fro wiþ oute forþe moeuen and entalenten þe instrumentes of þe wittes. and al be it so þat þe passioun of þe body þat is to seyn þe witte [or the] suffraunce [goth to-forn the strengthe of the workynge corage / the which passioun or suffraunce] clepiþ furþe þe dede of þe þouȝt in hym self. and moeueþ and exiteþ in þis mene while þe formes þat resten wiþ in forþe. and yif þat in sensible bodies as I haue seid oure corage nis nat ytauȝt or enprentid by passioun to knowe þise þinges. but demiþ and knoweþ of hys owen strengþe þe passioun or suffraunce subiect to þe body. Moche more þan þoo þinges þat ben absolut and quit fram alle talentȝ or affecciouns of bodies. as god or hys aungels ne folwen nat in discernynge þinges obiect from wiþ oute forþe. but þei accomplissen and speden þe dede of hir þouȝt by þis resoun. ¶ þan þere comen many manere knowynges to dyuerse and differyng substaunces. for þe wit of þe body þe whiche witte is naked and despoyled of alle oþer knowynges. þilke witte comeþ to bestes þat ne mowen nat moeuen hem self here ne þere. as oystres and muscles and oþer swiche shelle fysshe of þe see. þat cliuen and ben norissed to roches. but þe ymaginacioun comeþ to remuable bestes þat semen to han talent to fleen or to desiren any þinge. but resoun is al only to þe lynage of mankynde ryȝt as intelligence is oonly þe deuyne nature. of whiche it folweþ þat þilke knowyng is more worþe þan [th]is[e] oþer. syn it knoweþ by hys
ÞE bestes passen by þe erþes by ful dyuerse figures for somme of hem han hir bodies strauȝt and crepen in þe dust and drawen after hem a trais or a forghe contynued. þat is to sein as addres or snakes. and oþer bestes by [the] wandryng lyȝtnesse of hir wenges beten þe wyndes and ouer-swymmen þe spaces of þe longe eyer by moist flee[y]nge. and oþer bestes gladen hem to diggen her traas or her stappes in þe erþe wiþ hir goynge or wiþ her feet. or to gone eyþe[r] by þe grene feldes or [elles] to walken vnder þe wodes.
ÞEr-fore þan as I haue shewed a litel her byforne þat al þinge þat is ywist nis nat knowen by hys nature propre. but by þe nature of hem þat comprehenden it. ¶ Lat vs loke now in as moche as it is leueful to vs. as who seiþ lat vs loken now as we mowen whiche þat þe estat is of þe deuyne substaunce so þat we mowen [ek] knowen what his science is. þe comune iugement of alle creatures resonables þan is þis þat god is eterne. lat vs considere þan what is eternite. For certys þat shal shewen vs to-gidre þe deuyne nature and þe deuyne science ¶ Eternite þan is perfit possessioun and al togidre of lijf interminable and þat sheweþ more clerely by þe comparisoun or collacioun of temporel þinges. for al þing þat lyueþ in tyme it is present and procediþ fro preteritȝ in to futures. þat is to sein. fro tyme passed in to tyme comynge. ne þer nis no þing establissed in tyme þat may enbracen to-gidre al þe space of hys lijf. for certys ȝit ne haþ it nat taken þe tyme of þe morwe. and it haþ lost þat of ȝister-day. and certys in þe lijfp.Certys þan yif men myȝte maken any digne comparisoun or collacioun of þe presence diuine. and of þe presence of mankynde. ryȝt so as ȝe seen somme þinges in þis temporel presente. ryȝt so seeþ god alle þinges by hys eterne present. ¶ wherfore þis dyuyne prescience ne chaungeþ nat þe nature ne þe proprete of þinges but byholdeþ swyche þinges present to hym ward. as þei shollen bytiden to ȝow ward in tyme to come. ne it ne confoundeþ nat þe Iugementȝ of þinges but by of syȝt of hys þouȝt he knoweþ þe þinges to comen as wel necessarie as nat necessarie. ryȝt so as whan ȝe seen togidre a man walke on þe erþe and þe sonne arysen in [the] heuene. al be it so þat ȝe seen and byholden þatBoece. what is þis to seyn þan quod I. þat þinges ne ben nat necessarie by hire propre nature. so as þei comen in alle maneres in þe lykenesse of necessite by þe condicioun of þe deuyne science. Philosophie. þis is þe difference quod she. þat þo þinges þat I purposed[e] þe a litel here byforn. þat is to seyn þe sonne arysynge and þe man walkynge þat þerwhiles þat þilke þinges ben ydon. þei ne myȝten nat ben vndon. naþeles þat oon of hem or it was ydon it byhoued[e] by necessite þat it was ydon. but nat þat oþer. ryȝt so it is here þat þe þinges þat god haþ present.