Incipit Liber Septimus.

Incipit Liber Septimus.Omnibus in causis sapiens doctrina salutemConsequitur, nec habet quis nisi doctus opem.Naturam superat doctrina, viro quod et ortusIngenii docilis non dedit, ipsa dabit.Non ita discretus hominum per climata regnat,Quin magis ut sapiat, indiget ipse schole.I Genius the prest of love,Mi Sone, as thou hast preid aboveThat I the Scole schal declareOf Aristotle and ek the fareOf Alisandre, hou he was tauht,I am somdel therof destrauht;For it is noght to the matiereOf love, why we sitten hiereTo schryve, so as Venus bad.Bot natheles, for it is glad,    10So as thou seist, for thin apriseTo hiere of suche thinges wise,Wherof thou myht the time lisse,So as I can, I schal the wisse:For wisdom is at every throweAbove alle other thing to knoweIn loves cause and elleswhere.Forthi, my Sone, unto thin Ere,Though it be noght in the registreOf Venus, yit of that Calistre    20And Aristotle whylom writeTo Alisandre, thou schalt wite.Bot for the lores ben diverse,I thenke ferst to the reherceThe nature of Philosophie,Which Aristotle of his clergie,Wys and expert in the sciences,Declareth thilke intelligences,As of thre pointz in principal.Wherof the ferste in special    30Is Theorique, which is groundedOn him which al the world hath founded,Which comprehendeth al the lore.And forto loken overmore,Next of sciences the secondeIs Rethorique, whos facondeAbove alle othre is eloquent:To telle a tale in juggementSo wel can noman speke as he.The laste science of the thre    40It is Practique, whos officeThe vertu tryeth fro the vice,And techeth upon goode thewesTo fle the compaignie of schrewes,Which stant in disposicionOf mannes free eleccion.Practique enformeth ek the reule,Hou that a worthi king schal reuleHis Realme bothe in werre and pes.Lo, thus danz Aristotiles    50These thre sciences hath dividedAnd the nature also decided,Wherof that ech of hem schal serve.The ferste, which is the conserveAnd kepere of the remnant,As that which is most sufficantAnd chief of the Philosophie,If I therof schal specefieSo as the Philosophre tolde,Nou herkne, and kep that thou it holde.    60Of Theorique principalThe Philosophre in specialThe propretees hath determined,As thilke which is enluminedOf wisdom and of hih prudenceAbove alle othre in his science:And stant departed upon thre,The ferste of which in his degreIs cleped in PhilosophieThe science of Theologie,    70That other named is Phisique,The thridde is seid Mathematique.Theologie is that scienceWhich unto man yifth evidenceOf thing which is noght bodely,Wherof men knowe redelyThe hihe almyhti Trinite,Which is o god in uniteWithouten ende and beginnyngeAnd creatour of alle thinge,    80Of hevene, of erthe and ek of helle.Wherof, as olde bokes telle,The Philosophre in his resounWrot upon this conclusioun,And of his wrytinge in a clauseHe clepeth god the ferste cause,Which of himself is thilke good,Withoute whom nothing is good,Of which that every creatureHath his beinge and his nature.    90After the beinge of the thingesTher ben thre formes of beinges:Thing which began and ende schal,That thing is cleped temporal;Ther is also be other weieThing which began and schal noght deie.As Soules, that ben spiritiel,Here beinge is perpetuel:Bot ther is on above the Sonne,Whos time nevere was begonne,    100And endeles schal evere be;That is the god, whos magesteAlle othre thinges schal governe,And his beinge is sempiterne.The god, to whom that al honourBelongeth, he is creatour,And othre ben hise creatures:The god commandeth the naturesThat thei to him obeien alle;Withouten him, what so befalle,    110Her myht is non, and he mai al:The god was evere and evere schal,And thei begonne of his assent;The times alle be presentTo god, to hem and alle unknowe,Bot what him liketh that thei knowe:Thus bothe an angel and a man,The whiche of al that god beganBe chief, obeien goddes myht,And he stant endeles upriht.    120To this science ben priveThe clerkes of divinite,The whiche unto the poeple prechenThe feith of holi cherche and techen,Which in som cas upon believeStant more than thei conne prieveBe weie of Argument sensible:Bot natheles it is credible,And doth a man gret meede have,To him that thenkth himself to save.    130Theologie in such a wiseOf hih science and hih apriseAbove alle othre stant unlike,And is the ferste of Theorique.Phisique is after the secounde,Thurgh which the Philosophre hath foundeTo techen sondri knowlechingesUpon the bodiliche thinges.Of man, of beste, of herbe, of ston,Of fissch, of foughl, of everychon    140That ben of bodely substance,The nature and the circumstanceThurgh this science it is ful soght,Which vaileth and which vaileth noght.The thridde point of Theorique,Which cleped is Mathematique,Devided is in sondri wiseAnd stant upon diverse aprise.The ferste of whiche is Arsmetique,And the secounde is seid Musique,    150The thridde is ek Geometrie,Also the ferthe Astronomie.Of Arsmetique the matiereIs that of which a man mai liereWhat Algorisme in nombre amonteth,Whan that the wise man acomptethAfter the formel propreteOf Algorismes Abece:Be which multiplicaciounIs mad and diminucioun    160Of sommes be thexperienceOf this Art and of this science.The seconde of Mathematique,Which is the science of Musique,That techeth upon ArmonieA man to make melodieBe vois and soun of instrumentThurgh notes of acordement,The whiche men pronounce alofte,Nou scharpe notes and nou softe,    170Nou hihe notes and nou lowe,As be the gamme a man mai knowe,Which techeth the prolacionOf note and the condicion.Mathematique of his scienceHath yit the thridde intelligenceFull of wisdom and of clergieAnd cleped is Geometrie,Thurgh which a man hath thilke sleyhte,Of lengthe, of brede, of depthe, of heyhte    180To knowe the proporcionBe verrai calculacionOf this science: and in this wiseThese olde Philosophres wise,Of al this worldes erthe round,Hou large, hou thikke was the ground,Controeveden thexperience;The cercle and the circumferenceOf every thing unto the heveneThei setten point and mesure evene.    190Mathematique above thertheOf hyh science hath yit the ferthe,Which spekth upon AstronomieAnd techeth of the sterres hihe,Beginnynge upward fro the mone.Bot ferst, as it was forto done,This Aristotle in other thingUnto this worthi yonge kingThe kinde of every elementWhich stant under the firmament,    200Hou it is mad and in what wise,Fro point to point he gan devise.Tofore the creacionOf eny worldes stacion,Of hevene, of erthe, or eke of helle,So as these olde bokes telle,As soun tofore the song is setAnd yit thei ben togedre knet,Riht so the hihe pourveanceTho hadde under his ordinance    210A gret substance, a gret matiere,Of which he wolde in his manereThese othre thinges make and forme.For yit withouten eny formeWas that matiere universal,Which hihte Ylem in special.Of Ylem, as I    am enformed,These elementz ben mad and formed,Of Ylem elementz they hoteAfter the Scole of Aristote,    220Of whiche if more I schal reherce,Foure elementz ther ben diverse.The ferste of hem men erthe calle,Which is the lowest of hem alle,And in his forme is schape round,Substancial, strong, sadd and sound,As that which mad is sufficantTo bere up al the remenant.For as the point in a compasStant evene amiddes, riht so was    230This erthe set and schal abyde,That it may swerve to no side,And hath his centre after the laweOf kinde, and to that centre draweDesireth every worldes thing,If ther ne were no lettyng.Above therthe kepth his boundeThe water, which is the secoundeOf elementz, and al withouteIt environeth therthe aboute.    240Bot as it scheweth, noght forthiThis soubtil water myhtely,Thogh it be of himselve softe,The strengthe of therthe perceth ofte;For riht as veines ben of blodIn man, riht so the water flodTherthe of his cours makth ful of veines,Als wel the helles as the pleines.And that a man may sen at ije,For wher the hulles ben most hyhe,    250Ther mai men welle stremes finde:So proveth it be weie of kindeThe water heyher than the lond.And over this nou understond,Air is the thridde of elementz,Of whos kinde his aspirementzTakth every lifissh creature,The which schal upon erthe endure:For as the fissh, if it be dreie,Mot in defaute of water deie,    260Riht so withouten Air on lyveNo man ne beste myhte thryve,The which is mad of fleissh and bon;There is outake of alle non.This Air in Periferies threDivided is of such degre,Benethe is on and on amidde,To whiche above is set the thridde:And upon the divisionsThere ben diverse impressions    270Of moist and ek of drye also,Whiche of the Sonne bothe tuoBen drawe and haled upon hy,And maken cloudes in the Sky,As schewed is at mannes sihte;Wherof be day and ek be nyhteAfter the times of the yerAmong ous upon Erthe herIn sondri wise thinges falle.The ferste Periferie of alle    280Engendreth Myst and overmoreThe dewes and the Frostes hore,After thilke intersticionIn which thei take impression.Fro the seconde, as bokes sein,The moiste dropes of the reynDescenden into Middilerthe,And tempreth it to sed and Erthe,And doth to springe grass and flour.And ofte also the grete schour    290Out of such place it mai be take,That it the forme schal forsakeOf reyn, and into snow be torned;And ek it mai be so sojornedIn sondri places up alofte,That into hail it torneth ofte.The thridde of thair after the laweThurgh such matiere as up is draweOf dreie thing, as it is ofte,Among the cloudes upon lofte,    300And is so clos, it may noght oute,—Thanne is it chased sore aboute,Til it to fyr and leyt be falle,And thanne it brekth the cloudes alle,The whiche of so gret noyse craken,That thei the feerful thonder maken.The thonderstrok smit er it leyte,And yit men sen the fyr and leyte,The thonderstrok er that men hiere:So mai it wel be proeved hiere    310In thing which schewed is fro feer,A mannes yhe is there nerrThanne is the soun to mannes Ere.And natheles it is gret feereBothe of the strok and of the fyr,Of which is no recoverirIn place wher that thei descende,Bot if god wolde his grace sende.And forto speken over this,In this partie of thair it is    320That men fulofte sen be nyhteThe fyr in sondri forme alyhte.Somtime the fyrdrake it semeth,And so the lewed poeple it demeth;Somtime it semeth as it wereA Sterre, which that glydeth there:Bot it is nouther of the tuo,The Philosophre telleth so,And seith that of impressionsThurgh diverse exalacions    330Upon the cause and the matiereMen sen diverse forme appiereOf fyr, the which hath sondri name.Assub, he seith, is thilke same,The which in sondry place is founde,Whanne it is falle doun to grounde,So as the fyr it hath aneled,Lich unto slym which is congeled.Of exalacion I findeFyr kinled of the fame kinde,    340Bot it is of an other forme;Wherof, if that I schal conformeThe figure unto that it is,These olde clerkes tellen this,That it is lik a Got skippende,And for that it is such semende,It hatte Capra saliens.And ek these AstronomiensAn other fyr also, be nyhteWhich scheweth him to mannes syhte,    350Thei clepen Eges, the which brennethLik to the corrant fyr that rennethUpon a corde, as thou hast sein,Whan it with poudre is so beseinOf Sulphre and othre thinges mo.Ther is an other fyr also,Which semeth to a mannes yheBe nyhtes time as thogh ther flyheA dragon brennende in the Sky,And that is cleped proprely    360Daaly, wherof men sein fulofte,“Lo, wher the fyri drake alofteFleth up in thair!” and so thei demen.Bot why the fyres suche semenOf sondri formes to beholde,The wise Philosophre tolde,So as tofore it hath ben herd.Lo thus, my Sone, hou it hath ferd:Of Air the due propreteIn sondri wise thou myht se,    370And hou under the firmamentIt is ek the thridde element,Which environeth bothe tuo,The water and the lond also.And forto tellen overthisOf elementz which the ferthe is,That is the fyr in his degre,Which environeth thother threAnd is withoute moist al drye.Bot lest nou what seith the clergie;    380For upon hem that I have seidThe creatour hath set and leidThe kinde and the complexionOf alle mennes nacion.Foure elementz sondri ther be,Lich unto whiche of that degreAmong the men ther ben alsoComplexions foure and nomo,Wherof the Philosophre treteth,That he nothing behinde leteth,    390And seith hou that thei ben diverse,So as I schal to thee reherse.He which natureth every kinde,The myhti god, so as I finde,Of    man, which is his creature,Hath so devided the nature,That non til other wel acordeth:And be the cause it so discordeth,The lif which fieleth the seknesseMai stonde upon no sekernesse.    400Of therthe, which is cold and drye,The kinde of man MalencolieIs cleped, and that is the ferste,The most ungoodlich and the werste;For unto loves werk on nyhtHim lacketh bothe will and myht:No wonder is, in lusty placeOf love though he lese grace.What man hath that complexion,Full of ymaginacion    410Of dredes and of wrathful thoghtes,He fret himselven al to noghtes.The water, which is moyste and cold,Makth fleume, which is manyfoldForyetel, slou and wery soneOf every thing which is to done:He is of kinde sufficantTo holde love his covenant,Bot that him lacketh appetit,Which longeth unto such delit.    420What man that takth his kinde of thair,He schal be lyht, he schal be fair,For his complexion is blood.Of alle ther is non so good,For he hath bothe will and myhtTo plese and paie love his riht:Wher as he hath love undertake,Wrong is if that he be forsake.The fyr of his condicionAppropreth the complexion    430Which in a man is Colre hote,Whos propretes ben dreie and hote:It makth a man ben enginousAnd swift of fote and ek irous;Of contek and folhastifnesseHe hath a riht gret besinesse,To thenke of love and litel may:Though he behote wel a day,On nyht whan that he wole assaie,He may ful evele his dette paie.    440After the kinde of thelement,Thus stant a mannes kinde went,As touchende his complexion,Upon sondri divisionOf dreie, of moiste, of chele, of hete,And ech of hem his oghne seteAppropred hath withinne a man.And ferst to telle as I began,The Splen is to MalencolieAssigned for herbergerie:    450The moiste fleume with his coldHath in the lunges for his holdOrdeined him a propre stede,To duelle ther as he is bede:To the Sanguin complexionNature of hire inspeccionA propre hous hath in the livereFor his duellinge mad delivere:The dreie Colre with his heteBe weie of kinde his propre sete    460Hath in the galle, wher he duelleth,So as the Philosophre telleth.Nou over this is forto wite,As it is in Phisique writeOf livere, of lunge, of galle, of splen,Thei alle unto the herte benServantz, and ech in his officeEntendeth to don him service,As he which is chief lord above.The livere makth him forto love,    470The lunge yifth him weie of speche,The galle serveth to do wreche,The Splen doth him to lawhe and pleie,Whan al unclennesse is aweie:Lo, thus hath ech of hem his dede.And to sustienen hem and fedeIn time of recreacion,Nature hath in creacionThe Stomach for a comun CocOrdeined, so as seith the boc.    480The Stomach coc is for the halle,And builleth mete for hem alle,To make hem myghty forto serveThe herte, that he schal noght sterve:For as a king in his EmpireAbove alle othre is lord and Sire,So is the herte principal,To whom reson in specialIs yove as for the governance.And thus nature his pourveance    490Hath mad for man to liven hiere;Bot god, which hath the Soule diere,Hath formed it in other wise.That can noman pleinli devise;Bot as the clerkes ous enforme,That lich to god it hath a forme,Thurgh which figure and which liknesseThe Soule hath many an hyh noblesseAppropred to his oghne kinde.Bot ofte hir wittes be mad blinde    500Al onliche of this ilke point,That hir abydinge is conjointForth with the bodi forto duelle:That on desireth toward helle,That other upward to the hevene;So schul thei nevere stonde in evene,Bot if the fleissh be overcomeAnd that the Soule have holi nomeThe governance, and that is selde,Whil that the fleissh him mai bewelde.    510Al erthli thing which god beganWas only mad to serve man;Bot he the Soule al only madeHimselven forto serve and glade.Alle othre bestes that men findeThei serve unto here oghne kinde,Bot to reson the Soule serveth;Wherof the man his thonk deservethAnd get him with hise werkes goodeThe perdurable lyves foode.    520Of what matiere it schal be told,A tale lyketh manyfoldThe betre, if it be spoke plein:Thus thinke I forto torne ayeinAnd telle plenerly therforeOf therthe, wherof nou toforeI spak, and of the water eke,So as these olde clerkes spieke,And sette proprely the boundeAfter the forme of Mappemounde,    530Thurgh which the ground be pourpartiesDeparted is in thre parties,That is Asie, Aufrique, Europe,The whiche under the hevene cope,Als ferr as streccheth eny ground,Begripeth al this Erthe round.Bot after that the hihe wriecheThe water weies let out secheAnd overgo the helles hye,Which every kinde made dye    540That upon Middelerthe stod,Outake Noë and his blod,His Sones and his doughtres thre,Thei were sauf and so was he;—Here names who that rede rihte,Sem, Cam, Japhet the brethren hihte;—And whanne thilke almyhty hondWithdrouh the water fro the lond,And al the rage was aweie,And Erthe was the mannes weie,    550The Sones thre, of whiche I tolde,Riht after that hemselve wolde,This world departe thei begonne.Asie, which lay to the SonneUpon the Marche of orient,Was graunted be comun assentTo Sem, which was the Sone eldeste;For that partie was the besteAnd double as moche as othre tuo.And was that time bounded so;    560Wher as the flod which men Nil callethDeparteth fro his cours and fallethInto the See Alexandrine,Ther takth Asie ferst seisineToward the West, and over thisOf Canahim wher the flod isInto the grete See rennende,Fro that into the worldes endeEstward, Asie it is algates,Til that men come unto the gates    570Of Paradis, and there ho.And schortly for to speke it so,Of Orient in generalWithinne his bounde Asie hath al.And thanne upon that other sydeWestward, as it fell thilke tyde,The brother which was hote ChamUpon his part Aufrique nam.Japhet Europe tho tok he,Thus parten thei the world on thre.    580Bot yit ther ben of londes feleIn occident as for the chele,In orient as for the hete,Which of the poeple be forleteAs lond desert that is unable,For it mai noght ben habitable.The water eke hath sondri bounde,After the lond wher it is founde,And takth his name of thilke londesWher that it renneth on the strondes:    590Bot thilke See which hath no waneIs cleped the gret Occeane,Out of the which arise and comeThe hyhe flodes alle and some;Is non so litel welle spring,Which ther ne takth his beginnyng,And lich a man that haleth brethBe weie of kinde, so it gethOut of the See and in ayein,The water, as the bokes sein.    600Of Elementz the propretesHou that they stonden be degres,As I have told, nou myht thou hiere,Mi goode Sone, al the matiereOf Erthe, of water, Air and fyr.And for thou saist that thi desirIs forto witen overmoreThe forme of Aristotles lore,He seith in his entendement,That yit ther is an Element    610Above the foure, and is the fifte,Set of the hihe goddes yifte,The which that Orbis cleped is.And therupon he telleth this,That as the schelle hol and soundEncloseth al aboute roundWhat thing withinne an Ey belongeth,Riht so this Orbis underfongethThese elementz alle everychon,Which I have spoke of on and on.    620Bot overthis nou tak good hiede,Mi Sone, for I wol procedeTo speke upon Mathematique,Which grounded is on Theorique.The science of AstronomieI thinke forto specefie,Withoute which, to telle plein,Alle othre science is in veinToward the scole of erthli thinges:For as an Egle with his winges    630Fleth above alle that men finde,So doth this science in his kinde.Benethe upon this Erthe hiereOf alle thinges the matiere,As tellen ous thei that ben lerned,Of thing above it stant governed,That is to sein of the Planetes.The cheles bothe and ek the hetes,The chances of the world also,That we fortune clepen so,    640Among the mennes nacionAl is thurgh constellacion,Wherof that som man hath the wele,And som man hath deseses feleIn love als wel as othre thinges;The stat of realmes and of kingesIn time of pes, in time of werreIt is conceived of the Sterre:And thus seith the naturienWhich is an Astronomien.    650Bot the divin seith otherwise,That if men weren goode and wiseAnd plesant unto the godhede,Thei scholden noght the sterres drede;For o man, if him wel befalle,Is more worth than ben thei alleTowardes him that weldeth al.Bot yit the lawe original,Which he hath set in the natures,Mot worchen in the creatures,    660That therof mai be non obstacle,Bot if it stonde upon miracleThurgh preiere of som holy man.And forthi, so as I beganTo speke upon Astronomie,As it is write in the clergie,To telle hou the planetes fare,Som part I thenke to declare,Mi Sone, unto thin Audience.Astronomie is the science    670Of wisdom and of hih connynge,Which makth a man have knowlechingeOf Sterres in the firmament,Figure, cercle and moevementOf ech of hem in sondri place,And what betwen hem is of space,Hou so thei moeve or stonde faste,Al this it telleth to the laste.Assembled with AstronomieIs ek that ilke Astrologie    680The which in juggementz acomptethTheffect, what every sterre amonteth,And hou thei causen many a wonderTo tho climatz that stonde hem under.And forto telle it more plein,These olde philosphres seinThat Orbis, which I spak of err,Is that which we fro therthe a ferrBeholde, and firmament it calle,In which the sterres stonden alle,    690Among the whiche in specialPlanetes sefne principalTher ben, that mannes sihte demeth,Bot thorizonte, as to ous semeth.And also ther ben signes tuelve,Whiche have her cercles be hemselveCompassed in the zodiaque,In which thei have here places take.And as thei stonden in degre,Here cercles more or lasse be,    700Mad after the proporcionOf therthe, whos condicionIs set to be the foundementTo sustiene up the firmament.And be this skile a man mai knowe,The more that thei stonden lowe,The more ben the cercles lasse;That causeth why that some passeHere due cours tofore an other.Bot nou, mi lieve dere brother,    710As thou desirest forto witeWhat I finde in the bokes write,To telle of the planetes sevene,Hou that thei stonde upon the heveneAnd in what point that thei ben inne,Tak hiede, for I wol beginne,So as the Philosophre tauhteTo Alisandre and it betauhte,Wherof that he was fulli tawhtOf wisdom, which was him betawht.    720Benethe alle othre stant the Mone,The which hath with the See to done:Of flodes hihe and ebbes loweUpon his change it schal be knowe;And every fissh which hath a schelleMot in his governance duelle,To wexe and wane in his degre,As be the Mone a man mai se;And al that stant upon the groundeOf his moisture it mot be founde.    730Alle othre sterres, as men finde,Be schynende of here oghne kindeOutake only the monelyht,Which is noght of himselve bright,Bot as he takth it of the Sonne.And yit he hath noght al fulwonneHis lyht, that he nys somdiel derk;Bot what the lette is of that werkIn Almageste it telleth this:The Mones cercle so lowe is,    740Wherof the Sonne out of his stageNe seth him noght with full visage,For he is with the ground beschaded,So that the Mone is somdiel fadedAnd may noght fully schyne cler.Bot what man under his pouerIs bore, he schal his places changeAnd seche manye londes strange:And as of this condicionThe Mones disposicion    750Upon the lond of AlemaigneIs set, and ek upon Bretaigne,Which nou is cleped Engelond;For thei travaile in every lond.Of the Planetes the secoundeAbove the Mone hath take his bounde,Mercurie, and his nature is this,That under him who that bore is,In boke he schal be studiousAnd in wrytinge curious,    760And slouh and lustles to travaileIn thing which elles myhte availe:He loveth ese, he loveth reste,So is he noght the worthieste;Bot yit with somdiel besinesseHis herte is set upon richesse.And as in this condicion,Theffect and disposicionOf this Planete and of his chanceIs most in Burgoigne and in France.    770Next to Mercurie, as wol befalle,Stant that Planete which men calleVenus, whos constellacionGoverneth al the nacionOf lovers, wher thei spiede or non,Of whiche I trowe thou be on:Bot whiderward thin happes wende,Schal this planete schewe at ende,As it hath do to many mo,To some wel, to some wo.    780And natheles of this PlaneteThe moste part is softe and swete;For who that therof takth his berthe,He schal desire joie and merthe,Gentil, courteis and debonaire,To speke his wordes softe and faire,Such schal he be be weie of kinde,And overal wher he may findePlesance of love, his herte bowethWith al his myht and there he woweth.    790He is so ferforth Amourous,He not what thing is viciousTouchende love, for that laweTher mai no maner man withdrawe,The which venerien is boreBe weie of kinde, and thereforeVenus of love the goddesseIs cleped: bot of wantounesseThe climat of hir lecherieIs most commun in Lombardie.    800Next unto this Planete of loveThe brighte Sonne stant above,Which is the hindrere of the nyhtAnd forthrere of the daies lyht,As he which is the worldes ije,Thurgh whom the lusti compaignieOf foules be the morwe singe,The freisshe floures sprede and springe,The hihe tre the ground beschadeth,And every mannes herte gladeth.    810And for it is the hed Planete,Hou that he sitteth in his sete,Of what richesse, of what nobleie,These bokes telle, and thus thei seie.Of gold glistrende Spoke and whielThe Sonne his carte hath faire and wiel,In which he sitt, and is coronedWith brighte stones environed;Of whiche if that I speke schal,Ther be tofore in special    820Set in the front of his coroneThre Stones, whiche no personeHath upon Erthe, and the ferste isBe name cleped Licuchis;That othre tuo be cleped thus,Astrices and Ceramius.In his corone also behinde,Be olde bokes as I finde,Ther ben of worthi Stones threSet ech of hem in his degre:    830Wherof a Cristall is that on,Which that corone is set upon;The seconde is an Adamant;The thridde is noble and avenant,Which cleped is Ydriades.And over this yit nathelesUpon the sydes of the werk,After the wrytinge of the clerk,Ther sitten fyve Stones mo:The smaragdine is on of tho,    840Jaspis and ElitropiusAnd Dendides and Jacinctus.Lo, thus the corone is beset,Wherof it schyneth wel the bet;And in such wise his liht to spredeSit with his Diademe on hedeThe Sonne schynende in his carte.And forto lede him swithe and smarteAfter the bryhte daies lawe,Ther ben ordeined forto drawe    850Foure hors his Char and him withal,Wherof the names telle I schal:Eritheüs the ferste is hote,The which is red and schyneth hote,The seconde Acteos the bryhte,Lampes the thridde coursier hihte,And Philogeus is the ferthe,That bringen lyht unto this erthe,And gon so swift upon the hevene,In foure and twenty houres evene    860The carte with the bryhte SonneThei drawe, so that overronneThei have under the cercles hiheAl Middelerthe in such an hye.And thus the Sonne is overalThe chief Planete imperial,Above him and benethe him thre:And thus betwen hem regneth he,As he that hath the middel placeAmong the Sevene, and of his face    870Be glade alle erthly creatures,And taken after the naturesHere ese and recreacion.And in his constellacionWho that is bore in special,Of good will and of liberalHe schal be founde in alle place,And also stonde in mochel graceToward the lordes forto serveAnd gret profit and thonk deserve.    880And over that it causeth yitA man to be soubtil of witTo worche in gold, and to be wysIn every thing which is of pris.Bot forto speken in what costOf al this erthe he regneth mostAs for wisdom, it is in Grece,Wher is apropred thilke spiece.Mars the Planete bataillousNext to the Sonne glorious    890Above stant, and doth mervailesUpon the fortune of batailes.The conquerours be daies oldeWere unto this planete holde:Bot who that his nativiteHath take upon the propreteOf Martes disposiciounBe weie of constellacioun,He schal be fiers and folhastifAnd desirous of werre and strif.    900Bot forto telle redelyIn what climat most comunlyThat this planete hath his effect,Seid is that he hath his aspectUpon the holi lond so cast,That there is no pes stedefast.Above Mars upon the hevene,The sexte Planete of the sevene,Stant Jupiter the delicat,Which causeth pes and no debat.    910For he is cleped that PlaneteWhich of his kinde softe and sweteAttempreth al that to him longeth;And whom this planete underfongethTo stonde upon his regiment,He schal be meke and pacientAnd fortunat to MarchandieAnd lusti to delicacieIn every thing which he schal do.This Jupiter is cause also    920Of the science of lyhte werkes,And in this wise tellen clerkesHe is the Planete of delices.Bot in Egipte of his officesHe regneth most in special:For ther be lustes overalOf al that to this lif befalleth;For ther no stormy weder falleth,Which myhte grieve man or beste,And ek the lond is so honeste    930That it is plentevous and plein,Ther is non ydel ground in vein;And upon such feliciteStant Jupiter in his degre.The heyeste and aboven alleStant that planete which men calleSaturnus, whos complexionIs cold, and his condicionCauseth malice and crualteTo him the whos nativite    940Is set under his governance.For alle hise werkes ben grevanceAnd enemy to mannes hele,In what degre that he schal dele.His climat is in Orient,Wher that he is most violent.Of the Planetes by and by,Hou that thei stonde upon the Sky,Fro point to point as thou myht hiere,Was Alisandre mad to liere.    950Bot overthis touchende his lore,Of thing that thei him tawhte moreUpon the scoles of clergieNow herkne the Philosophie.He which departeth dai fro nyht,That on derk and that other lyht,Of sevene daies made a weke,A Monthe of foure wekes ekeHe hath ordeigned in his lawe,Of Monthes tuelve and ek forthdrawe    960He hath also the longe yeer.And as he sette of his pouerAcordant to the daies sevenePlanetes Sevene upon the hevene,As thou tofore hast herd devise,To speke riht in such a wise,To every Monthe be himselveUpon the hevene of Signes tuelveHe hath after his OrdinalAssigned on in special,    970Wherof, so as I schal rehersen,The tydes of the yer diversen.Bot pleinly forto make it knoweHou that the Signes sitte arowe,Ech after other be degreIn substance and in propreteThe zodiaque comprehendethWithinne his cercle, as it appendeth.The ferste of whiche nathelesBe name is cleped Aries,    980Which lich a wether of statureResembled is in his figure.And as it seith in Almageste,Of Sterres tuelve upon this besteBen set, wherof in his degreThe wombe hath tuo, the heved hath thre,The Tail hath sevene, and in this wise,As thou myht hiere me divise,Stant Aries, which hot and dryeIs of himself, and in partie    990He is the receipte and the housOf myhty Mars the bataillous.And overmore ek, as I finde,The creatour of alle kindeUpon this Signe ferst beganThe world, whan that he made man.And of this constellaciounThe verray operaciounAvaileth, if a man therinneThe pourpos of his werk beginne;    1000For thanne he hath of propreteGood sped and gret felicite.The tuelve Monthes of the yeerAttitled under the pouerOf these tuelve Signes stonde;Wherof that thou schalt understondeThis Aries on of the tuelveHath March attitled for himselve,Whan every bridd schal chese his make,And every neddre and every Snake    1010And every Reptil which mai moeve,His myht assaieth forto proeve,To crepen out ayein the Sonne,Whan Ver his Seson hath begonne.Taurus the seconde after thisOf Signes, which figured isUnto a Bole, is dreie and cold;And as it is in bokes told,He is the hous appourtienantTo Venus, somdiel descordant.    1020This Bole is ek with sterres set,Thurgh whiche he hath hise hornes knetUnto the tail of Aries,So is he noght ther sterreles.Upon his brest ek eyhtetieneHe hath, and ek, as it is sene,Upon his tail stonde othre tuo.His Monthe assigned ek alsoIs Averil, which of his schouresMinistreth weie unto the floures.    1030The thridde signe is Gemini,Which is figured redelyLich to tuo twinnes of mankinde,That naked stonde; and as I finde,Thei be with Sterres wel bego:The heved hath part of thilke tuoThat schyne upon the boles tail,So be thei bothe of o parail;But on the wombe of GeminiBen fyve sterres noght forthi,    1040And ek upon the feet be tweie,So as these olde bokes seie,That wise Tholomeus wrot.His propre Monthe wel I wotAssigned is the lusti Maii,Whanne every brid upon his layAmong the griene leves singeth,And love of his pointure stingethAfter the lawes of natureThe youthe of every creature.    1050Cancer after the reule and spaceOf Signes halt the ferthe place.Like to the crabbe he hath semblance,And hath unto his retienanceSextiene sterres, wherof ten,So as these olde wise menDescrive, he berth on him tofore,And in the middel tuo be bore,And foure he hath upon his ende.Thus goth he sterred in his kende,    1060And of himself is moiste and cold,And is the propre hous and holdWhich appartieneth to the Mone,And doth what longeth him to done.The Monthe of Juin unto this SigneThou schalt after the reule assigne.The fifte Signe is Leo hote,Whos kinde is schape dreie and hote,In whom the Sonne hath herbergage.And the semblance of his ymage    1070Is a leoun, which in baillieOf sterres hath his pourpartie:The foure, which as Cancer hathUpon his ende, Leo tathUpon his heved, and thanne nestHe hath ek foure upon his brest,And on upon his tail behinde,In olde bokes as we finde.His propre Monthe is Juyl be name,In which men pleien many a game.    1080After Leo Virgo the nexteOf Signes cleped is the sexte,Wherof the figure is a Maide;And as the Philosophre saide,Sche is the welthe and the risinge,The lust, the joie and the likingeUnto Mercurie: and soth to seieSche is with sterres wel beseie,Wherof Leo hath lent hire on,Which sit on hih hir heved upon,    1090Hire wombe hath fyve, hir feet alsoHave other fyve: and overmoTouchende as of complexion,Be kindly disposicionOf dreie and cold this Maiden is.And forto tellen over thisHir Monthe, thou schalt understonde,Whan every feld hath corn in hondeAnd many a man his bak hath plied,Unto this Signe is Augst applied.    1100After Virgo to reknen eveneLibra sit in the nombre of sevene,Which hath figure and resemblanceUnto a man which a balanceBerth in his hond as forto weie:In boke and as it mai be seie,Diverse sterres to him longeth,Wherof on hevede he underfongethFerst thre, and ek his wombe hath tuo,And doun benethe eighte othre mo.    1110This Signe is hot and moiste bothe,The whiche thinges be noght lotheUnto Venus, so that alofteSche resteth in his hous fulofte,And ek Saturnus often hyedIs in this Signe and magnefied.His propre Monthe is seid Septembre,Which yifth men cause to remembre,If eny Sor be left behindeOf thing which grieve mai to kinde.    1120Among the Signes upon heighteThe Signe which is nombred eighteIs Scorpio, which as felounFigured is a Scorpioun.Bot for al that yit nathelesIs Scorpio noght sterreles;For Libra granteth him his endeOf eighte sterres, wher he wende,The whiche upon his heved assisedHe berth, and ek ther ben divised    1130Upon his wombe sterres thre,And eighte upon his tail hath he.Which of his kinde is moiste and coldAnd unbehovely manyfold;He harmeth Venus and empeireth,Bot Mars unto his hous repeireth,Bot war whan thei togedre duellen.His propre Monthe is, as men tellen,Octobre, which bringth the kalendeOf wynter, that comth next suiende.    1140The nynthe Signe in nombre also,Which folweth after Scorpio,Is cleped Sagittarius,The whos figure is marked thus,A Monstre with a bowe on honde:On whom that sondri sterres stonde,Thilke eighte of whiche I spak tofore,The whiche upon the tail ben boreOf Scorpio, the heved al faireBespreden of the Sagittaire;    1150And eighte of othre stonden eveneUpon his wombe, and othre seveneTher stonde upon his tail behinde.And he is hot and dreie of kinde:To Jupiter his hous is fre,Bot to Mercurie in his degre,For thei ben noght of on assent,He worcheth gret empeirement.This Signe hath of his propreteA Monthe, which of duete    1160After the sesoun that befallethThe Plowed Oxe in wynter stalleth;And fyr into the halle he bringeth,And thilke drinke of which men singeth,He torneth must into the wyn;Thanne is the larder of the swyn;That is Novembre which I meene,Whan that the lef hath lost his greene.The tenthe Signe dreie and cold,The which is Capricornus told,    1170Unto a Got hath resemblance:For whos love and whos aqueintanceWithinne hise houses to sojorneIt liketh wel unto Satorne,Bot to the Mone it liketh noght,For no profit is there wroght.This Signe as of his propreteUpon his heved hath sterres thre,And ek upon his wombe tuo,And tweie upon his tail also.    1180Decembre after the yeeres forme,So as the bokes ous enforme,With daies schorte and nyhtes longeThis ilke Signe hath underfonge.Of tho that sitte upon the heveneOf Signes in the nombre elleveneAquarius hath take his place,And stant wel in Satornes grace,Which duelleth in his herbergage,Bot to the Sonne he doth oultrage.    1190This Signe is verraily resembledLich to a man which halt assembledIn eyther hand a water spoute,Wherof the stremes rennen oute.He is of kinde moiste and hot,And he that of the sterres wotSeith that he hath of sterres tuoUpon his heved, and ben of thoThat Capricorn hath on his ende;And as the bokes maken mende,    1200That Tholomeus made himselve,He hath ek on his wombe tuelve,And tweie upon his ende stonde.Thou schalt also this understonde,The frosti colde Janever,Whan comen is the newe yeer,That Janus with his double faceIn his chaiere hath take his placeAnd loketh upon bothe sides,Somdiel toward the wynter tydes,    1210Somdiel toward the yeer suiende,That is the Monthe belongendeUnto this Signe, and of his doleHe yifth the ferste Primerole.The tuelfthe, which is last of alleOf Signes, Piscis men it calle,The which, as telleth the scripture,Berth of tuo fisshes the figure.So is he cold and moiste of kinde,And ek with sterres, as I finde,    1220Beset in sondri wise, as thus:Tuo of his ende AquariusHath lent unto his heved, and tuoThis Signe hath of his oghne alsoUpon his wombe, and over thisUpon his ende also ther isA nombre of twenty sterres bryghte,Which is to sen a wonder sighte.Toward this Signe into his housComth Jupiter the glorious,    1230And Venus ek with him acordethTo duellen, as the bok recordeth.The Monthe unto this Signe ordeinedIs Februer, which is bereined,And with londflodes in his rageAt Fordes letteth the passage.Nou hast thou herd the propreteOf Signes, bot in his degreAlbumazar yit over thisSeith, so as therthe parted is    1240In foure, riht so ben divisedThe Signes tuelve and stonde assised,That ech of hem for his partieHath his climat to justefie.Wherof the ferste regimentToward the part of OrientFrom Antioche and that contreGoverned is of Signes thre,That is Cancer, Virgo, Leo:And toward Occident also    1250From Armenie, as I am lerned,Of Capricorn it stant governed,Of Pisces and Aquarius:And after hem I finde thus,Southward from Alisandre forthTho Signes whiche most ben worthIn governance of that doaire,Libra thei ben and SagittaireWith Scorpio, which is conjointWith hem to stonde upon that point:    1260Constantinople the Cite,So as the bokes tellen me,The laste of this divisionStant untoward Septemtrion,Wher as be weie of pourveanceHath Aries the governanceForth with Taurus and Gemini.Thus ben the Signes propreliDivided, as it is reherced,Wherof the londes ben diversed.    1270Lo thus, mi Sone, as thou myht hiere,Was Alisandre mad to liereOf hem that weren for his lore.But nou to loken overmore,Of othre sterres hou thei fareI thenke hierafter to declare,So as king Alisandre in youtheOf him that suche thinges coutheEnformed was tofore his yheBe nyhte upon the sterres hihe.    1280Upon sondri creacionStant sondri operacion,Som worcheth this, som worcheth that;The fyr is hot in his astatAnd brenneth what he mai atteigne,The water mai the fyr restreigne,The which is cold and moist also.Of other thing it farth riht soUpon this erthe among ous here;And forto speke in this manere,    1290Upon the hevene, as men mai finde,The sterres ben of sondri kindeAnd worchen manye sondri thingesTo ous, that ben here underlinges.Among the whiche forth withalNectanabus in special,Which was an AstronomienAnd ek a gret Magicien,And undertake hath thilke empriseTo Alisandre in his aprise    1300As of Magique naturelTo knowe, enformeth him somdelOf certein sterres what thei mene;Of whiche, he seith, ther ben fiftene,And sondrily to everich onA gras belongeth and a Ston,Wherof men worchen many a wonderTo sette thing bothe up and under.To telle riht as he began,The ferste sterre Aldeboran,    1310The cliereste and the moste of alle,Be rihte name men it calle;Which lich is of condicionTo Mars, and of complexionTo Venus, and hath theruponCarbunculum his propre Ston:His herbe is Anabulla named,Which is of gret vertu proclamed.The seconde is noght vertules;Clota or elles Pliades    1320It hatte, and of the mones kindeHe is, and also this I finde,He takth of Mars complexion:And lich to such condicionHis Ston appropred is Cristall,And ek his herbe in specialThe vertuous Fenele it is.The thridde, which comth after this,Is hote Algol the clere rede,Which of Satorne, as I may rede,    1330His kinde takth, and ek of JoveComplexion to his behove.His propre Ston is Dyamant,Which is to him most acordant;His herbe, which is him betake,Is hote Eleborum the blake.So as it falleth upon lot,The ferthe sterre is Alhaiot,Which in the wise as I seide erOf Satorne and of Jupiter    1340Hath take his kinde; and theruponThe Saphir is his propre Ston,Marrubium his herbe also,The whiche acorden bothe tuo.And Canis maior in his likeThe fifte sterre is of Magique,The whos kinde is venerien,As seith this Astronomien.His propre Ston is seid Berille,Bot forto worche and to fulfille    1350Thing which to this science falleth,Ther is an herbe which men callethSaveine, and that behoveth nedeTo him that wole his pourpos spede.The sexte suiende after thisBe name Canis minor is;The which sterre is MercurialBe weie of kinde, and forth withal,As it is writen in the carte,Complexion he takth of Marte.    1360His Ston and herbe, as seith the Scole,Ben Achates and Primerole.The sefnthe sterre in specialOf this science is Arial,Which sondri nature underfongeth.The Ston which propre unto him longeth,Gorgonza proprely it hihte:His herbe also, which he schal rihteUpon the worchinge as I mene,Is Celidoine freissh and grene.    1370Sterre Ala Corvi upon heihteHath take his place in nombre of eighte,Which of his kinde mot parforneThe will of Marte and of Satorne:To whom Lapacia the greteIs herbe, bot of no beyete;His Ston is Honochinus hote,Thurgh which men worchen gret riote.The nynthe sterre faire and welBe name is hote Alaezel,    1380Which takth his propre kinde thusBothe of Mercurie and of Venus.His Ston is the grene Amyraude,To whom is yoven many a laude:Salge is his herbe appourtenantAboven al the rememant.The tenthe sterre is Almareth,Which upon lif and upon dethThurgh kinde of Jupiter and MartHe doth what longeth to his part.    1390His Ston is Jaspe, and of PlanteineHe hath his herbe sovereine.The sterre ellefthe is Venenas,The whos nature is as it wasTake of Venus and of the Mone,In thing which he hath forto done.Of Adamant is that perrieIn which he worcheth his maistrie;Thilke herbe also which him befalleth,Cicorea the bok it calleth.    1400Alpheta in the nombre sit,And is the twelfthe sterre yit;Of Scorpio which is governed,And takth his kinde, as I am lerned;And hath his vertu in the StonWhich cleped is Topazion:His herbe propre is Rosmarine,Which schapen is for his covine.Of these sterres, whiche I mene,Cor Scorpionis is thritiene;    1410The whos nature Mart and JoveHave yoven unto his behove.His herbe is Aristologie,Which folweth his Astronomie:The Ston which that this sterre alloweth,Is Sardis, which unto him boweth.The sterre which stant next the laste,Nature on him this name casteAnd clepeth him Botercadent;Which of his kinde obedient    1420Is to Mercurie and to Venus.His Ston is seid Crisolitus,His herbe is cleped Satureie,So as these olde bokes seie.Bot nou the laste sterre of alleThe tail of Scorpio men calle,Which to Mercurie and to SatorneBe weie of kinde mot retorneAfter the preparacionOf due constellacion.    1430The Calcedoine unto him longeth,Which for his Ston he underfongeth;Of Majorane his herbe is grounded.Thus have I seid hou thei be founded,Of every sterre in special,Which hath his herbe and Ston withal,As Hermes in his bokes oldeWitnesse berth of that I tolde.The science of Astronomie,Which principal is of clergie    1440To dieme betwen wo and welIn thinges that be naturel,Thei hadde a gret travail on hondeThat made it ferst ben understonde;And thei also which overmoreHere studie sette upon this lore,Thei weren gracious and wysAnd worthi forto bere a pris.And whom it liketh forto witeOf hem that this science write,    1450On of the ferste which it wrotAfter Noë, it was Nembrot,To his disciple YchonithonAnd made a bok forth theruponThe which Megaster cleped was.An other Auctor in this casIs Arachel, the which men note;His bok is Abbategnyh hote.Danz Tholome is noght the leste,Which makth the bok of Almageste;    1460And Alfraganus doth the same,Whos bok is Chatemuz be name.Gebuz and Alpetragus ekeOf Planisperie, which men seke,The bokes made: and over thisFul many a worthi clerc ther is,That writen upon this clergieThe bokes of Altemetrie,Planemetrie and ek also,Whiche as belongen bothe tuo,    1470So as thei ben naturiens,Unto these Astronomiens.Men sein that Habraham was on;Bot whether that he wrot or non,That finde I noght; and MoisesEk was an other: bot HermesAbove alle othre in this scienceHe hadde a gret experience;Thurgh him was many a sterre assised,Whos bokes yit ben auctorized.    1480I mai noght knowen alle thoThat writen in the time thoOf this science; bot I finde,Of jugement be weie of kindeThat in o point thei alle acorden:Of sterres whiche thei recordenThat men mai sen upon the hevene,Ther ben a thousend sterres eveneAnd tuo and twenty, to the syhteWhiche aren of hemself so bryhte,    1490That men mai dieme what thei be,The nature and the proprete.Nou hast thou herd, in which a wiseThese noble Philosophres wiseEnformeden this yonge king,And made him have a knowlechingOf thing which ferst to the partieBelongeth of Philosophie,Which Theorique cleped is,As thou tofore hast herd er this.    1500Bot nou to speke of the secounde,Which Aristotle hath also founde,And techeth hou to speke faire,Which is a thing full necessaireTo contrepeise the balance,Wher lacketh other sufficance.Above alle erthli creaturesThe hihe makere of naturesThe word to man hath yove alone,So that the speche of his persone,    1510Or forto lese or forto winne,The hertes thoght which is withinneMai schewe, what it wolde mene;And that is noghwhere elles seneOf kinde with non other beste.So scholde he be the more honeste,To whom god yaf so gret a yifte,And loke wel that he ne schifteHise wordes to no wicked us;For word the techer of vertus    1520Is cleped in Philosophie.Wherof touchende this partie,Is Rethorique the scienceAppropred to the reverenceOf wordes that ben resonable:And for this art schal be vailableWith goodli wordes forto like,It hath Gramaire, it hath Logiqe,That serven bothe unto the speche.Gramaire ferste hath forto teche    1530To speke upon congruite:Logique hath eke in his degreBetwen the trouthe and the falshodeThe pleine wordes forto schode,So that nothing schal go beside,That he the riht ne schal decide.Wherof full many a gret debatReformed is to good astat,And pes sustiened up alofteWith esy wordes and with softe,    1540Wher strengthe scholde lete it falle.The Philosophre amonges alleForthi commendeth this science,Which hath the reule of eloquence.In Ston and gras vertu ther is,Bot yit the bokes tellen this,That word above alle erthli thingesIs vertuous in his doinges,Wher so it be to evele or goode.For if the wordes semen goode    1550And ben wel spoke at mannes Ere,Whan that ther is no trouthe there,Thei don fulofte gret deceipte;For whan the word to the conceipteDescordeth in so double a wise,Such Rethorique is to despiseIn every place, and forto drede.For of Uluxes thus I rede,As in the bok of Troie is founde,His eloquence and his facounde    1560Of goodly wordes whiche he tolde,Hath mad that Anthenor him soldeThe toun, which he with tresoun wan.Word hath beguiled many a man;With word the wilde beste is daunted,With word the Serpent is enchaunted,Of word among the men of ArmesBen woundes heeled with the charmes,Wher lacketh other medicine;Word hath under his discipline    1570Of Sorcerie the karectes.The wordes ben of sondri sectes,Of evele and eke of goode also;The wordes maken frend of fo,And fo of frend, and pes of werre,And werre of pes, and out of herreThe word this worldes cause entriketh,And reconsileth whan him liketh.The word under the coupe of heveneSet every thing or odde or evene;    1580With word the hihe god is plesed,With word the wordes ben appesed,The softe word the loude stilleth;Wher lacketh good, the word fulfilleth,To make amendes for the wrong;Whan wordes medlen with the song,It doth plesance wel the more.Bot forto loke upon the loreHou Tullius his RethoriqueComponeth, ther a man mai pike    1590Hou that he schal hise wordes sette,Hou he schal lose, hou he schal knette,And in what wise he schal pronounceHis tale plein withoute frounce.Wherof ensample if thou wolt seche,Tak hiede and red whilom the specheOf Julius and Cithero,Which consul was of Rome tho,Of Catoun eke and of Cillene,Behold the wordes hem betwene,    1600Whan the tresoun of CatelineDescoevered was, and the covineOf hem that were of his assentWas knowe and spoke in parlement,And axed hou and in what wiseMen scholde don hem to juise.Cillenus ferst his tale tolde,To trouthe and as he was beholde,The comun profit forto save,He seide hou tresoun scholde have    1610A cruel deth; and thus thei spieke,The Consul bothe and Catoun eke,And seiden that for such a wrongTher mai no peine be to strong.Bot Julius with wordes wiseHis tale tolde al otherwise,As he which wolde her deth respite,And fondeth hou he mihte exciteThe jugges thurgh his eloquenceFro deth to torne the sentence    1620And sette here hertes to pite.Nou tolden thei, nou tolde he;Thei spieken plein after the lawe,Bot he the wordes of his saweColoureth in an other weieSpekende, and thus betwen the tweie,To trete upon this juggement,Made ech of hem his Argument.Wherof the tales forto hiere,Ther mai a man the Scole liere    1630Of Rethoriqes eloquences,Which is the secounde of sciencesTouchende to Philosophie;Wherof a man schal justifieHise wordes in disputeisoun,And knette upon conclusiounHis Argument in such a forme,Which mai the pleine trouthe enformeAnd the soubtil cautele abate,Which every trewman schal debate.    1640The ferste, which is Theorique,And the secounde Rethorique,Sciences of Philosophie,I have hem told as in partie,So as the Philosophre it toldeTo Alisandre: and nou I woldeTelle of the thridde what it is,The which Practique cleped is.Practique stant upon thre thingesToward the governance of kinges;    1650Wherof the ferst Etique is named,The whos science stant proclamedTo teche of vertu thilke reule,Hou that a king himself schal reuleOf his moral condicionWith worthi disposicionOf good livinge in his persone,Which is the chief of his corone.It makth a king also to lerneHou he his bodi schal governe,    1660Hou he schal wake, hou he schal slepe,Hou that he schal his hele kepeIn mete, in drinke, in clothinge eke:Ther is no wisdom forto sekeAs for the reule of his persone,The which that this science al oneNe techeth as be weie of kinde,That ther is nothing left behinde.That other point which to PractiqueBelongeth is Iconomique,    1670Which techeth thilke honesteteThurgh which a king in his degreHis wif and child schal reule and guie,So forth with al the companieWhich in his houshold schal abyde,And his astat on every sydeIn such manere forto lede,That he his houshold ne mislede.Practique hath yit the thridde aprise,Which techeth hou and in what wise    1680Thurgh hih pourveied ordinanceA king schal sette in governanceHis Realme, and that is Policie,Which longeth unto RegalieIn time of werre, in time of pes,To worschipe and to good encressOf clerk, of kniht and of Marchant,And so forth of the remenantOf al the comun poeple aboute,Withinne Burgh and ek withoute,    1690Of hem that ben Artificiers,Whiche usen craftes and mestiers,Whos Art is cleped Mechanique.And though thei ben noght alle like,Yit natheles, hou so it falle,O lawe mot governe hem alle,Or that thei lese or that thei winne,After thastat that thei ben inne.Lo, thus this worthi yonge kingWas fulli tauht of every thing,    1700Which mihte yive entendementOf good reule and good regimentTo such a worthi Prince as he.Bot of verray necessiteThe Philosophre him hath betakeFyf pointz, whiche he hath undertakeTo kepe and holde in observance,As for the worthi governanceWhich longeth to his Regalie,After the reule of Policie.    1710To every man behoveth lore,Bot to noman belongeth moreThan to a king, which hath to ledeThe poeple; for of his kinghedeHe mai hem bothe save and spille.And for it stant upon his wille,It sit him wel to ben avised,And the vertus whiche are assissedUnto a kinges Regiment,To take in his entendement:    1720Wherof to tellen, as thei stonde,Hierafterward nou woll I fonde.Among the vertus on is chief,And that is trouthe, which is liefTo god and ek to man also.And for it hath ben evere so,Tawhte Aristotle, as he wel couthe,To Alisandre, hou in his youtheHe scholde of trouthe thilke graceWith al his hole herte embrace,    1730So that his word be trewe and plein,Toward the world and so certeinThat in him be no double speche:For if men scholde trouthe secheAnd founde it noght withinne a king,It were an unsittende thing.The word is tokne of that withinne,Ther schal a worthi king beginneTo kepe his tunge and to be trewe,So schal his pris ben evere newe.    1740Avise him every man tofore,And be wel war, er he be swore,For afterward it is to late,If that he wole his word debate.For as a king in specialAbove alle othre is principalOf his pouer, so scholde he beMost vertuous in his degre;And that mai wel be signefiedBe his corone and specified.    1750The gold betokneth excellence,That men schull don him reverenceAs to here liege soverein.The Stones, as the bokes sein,Commended ben in treble wise:Ferst thei ben harde, and thilke assisseBetokneth in a king Constance,So that ther schal no varianceBe founde in his condicion;And also be descripcion    1760The vertu which is in the stonesA verrai Signe is for the nonesOf that a king schal ben honesteAnd holde trewly his behesteOf thing which longeth to kinghede:The bryhte colour, as I rede,Which in the stones is schynende,Is in figure betoknendeThe Cronique of this worldes fame,Which stant upon his goode name.    1770The cercle which is round abouteIs tokne of al the lond withoute,Which stant under his Gerarchie,That he it schal wel kepe and guye.And for that trouthe, hou so it falle,Is the vertu soverein of alle,That longeth unto regiment,A tale, which is evidentOf trouthe in comendacioun,Toward thin enformacion,    1780Mi Sone, hierafter thou schalt hiereOf a Cronique in this matiere.As the Cronique it doth reherce,A Soldan whilom was of Perce,Which Daires hihte, and YtaspisHis fader was; and soth it isThat thurgh wisdom and hih prudenceMor than for eny reverenceOf his lignage as be descenteThe regne of thilke empire he hente:    1790And as he was himselve wys,The wisemen he hield in prisAnd soghte hem oute on every side,That toward him thei scholde abide.Among the whiche thre ther wereThat most service unto him bere,As thei which in his chambre lyhenAnd al his conseil herde and syhen.Here names ben of strange note,Arpaghes was the ferste hote,    1800And Manachaz was the secounde,Zorobabel, as it is foundeIn the Cronique, was the thridde.This Soldan, what so him betidde,To hem he triste most of alle,Wherof the cas is so befalle:This lord, which hath conceiptes depe,Upon a nyht whan he hath slepe,As he which hath his wit desposed,Touchende a point hem hath opposed.    1810The kinges question was this;Of thinges thre which strengest is,The wyn, the womman or the king:And that thei scholde upon this thingOf here ansuere avised be,He yaf hem fulli daies thre,And hath behote hem be his feithThat who the beste reson seith,He schal receive a worthi mede.Upon this thing thei token hiede    1820And stoden in desputeison,That be diverse opinionOf Argumentz that thei have holdeArpaghes ferst his tale tolde,And seide hou that the strengthe of kingesIs myhtiest of alle thinges.For king hath pouer over man,And man is he which reson can,As he which is of his natureThe moste noble creature    1830Of alle tho that god hath wroght:And be that skile it semeth noght,He seith, that eny erthly thingMai be so myhty as a king.A king mai spille, a king mai save,A king mai make of lord a knaveAnd of a knave a lord also:The pouer of a king stant so,That he the lawes overpasseth;What he wol make lasse, he lasseth,    1840What he wol make more, he moreth;And as the gentil faucon soreth,He fleth, that noman him reclameth;Bot he al one alle othre tameth,And stant himself of lawe fre.Lo, thus a kinges myht, seith he,So as his reson can argue,Is strengest and of most value.Bot Manachaz seide otherwise,That wyn is of the more emprise;    1850And that he scheweth be this weie.The wyn fulofte takth aweieThe reson fro the mannes herte;The wyn can make a krepel sterte,And a delivere man unwelde;It makth a blind man to behelde,And a bryht yhed seme derk;It makth a lewed man a clerk,And fro the clerkes the clergieIt takth aweie, and couardie    1860It torneth into hardiesse;Of Avarice it makth largesse.The wyn makth ek the goode blod,In which the Soule which is goodHath chosen hire a resting place,Whil that the lif hir wole embrace.And be this skile ManachasAnsuered hath upon this cas,And seith that wyn be weie of kindeIs thing which mai the hertes binde    1870Wel more than the regalie.Zorobabel for his partieSeide, as him thoghte for the beste,That wommen ben the myhtieste.The king and the vinour alsoOf wommen comen bothe tuo;And ek he seide hou that manhedeThurgh strengthe unto the wommanhedeOf love, wher he wole or non,Obeie schal; and therupon,    1880To schewe of wommen the maistrie,A tale which he syh with yheAs for ensample he tolde this,—Hou Apemen, of BesazisWhich dowhter was, in the paleisSittende upon his hihe deis,Whan he was hotest in his ireToward the grete of his empire,Cirus the king tirant sche tok,And only with hire goodly lok    1890Sche made him debonaire and meke,And be the chyn and be the chekeSche luggeth him riht as hir liste,That nou sche japeth, nou sche kiste,And doth with him what evere hir liketh;Whan that sche loureth, thanne he siketh,And whan sche gladeth, he is glad:And thus this king was overladWith hire which his lemman was.Among the men is no solas,    1900If that ther be no womman there;For bot if that the wommen were,This worldes joie were aweie:Thurgh hem men finden out the weieTo knihthode and to worldes fame;Thei make a man to drede schame,And honour forto be desired:Thurgh the beaute of hem is fyredThe Dart of which Cupide throweth,Wherof the jolif peine groweth,    1910Which al the world hath under fote.A womman is the mannes bote,His lif, his deth, his wo, his wel;And this thing mai be schewed wel,Hou that wommen ben goode and kinde,For in ensample this I finde.Whan that the duk Ametus laySek in his bedd, that every dayMen waiten whan he scholde deie,Alceste his wif goth forto preie,    1920As sche which wolde thonk deserve,With Sacrifice unto Minerve,To wite ansuere of the goddesseHou that hir lord of his seknesse,Wherof he was so wo besein,Recovere myhte his hele ayein.Lo, thus sche cride and thus sche preide,Til ate laste a vois hir seide,That if sche wolde for his sakeThe maladie soffre and take,    1930And deie hirself, he scholde live.Of this ansuere Alceste hath yiveUnto Minerve gret thonkinge,So that hir deth and his livingeSche ches with al hire hole entente,And thus acorded hom sche wente.Into the chambre and whan sche cam,Hire housebonde anon sche namIn bothe hire Armes and him kiste,And spak unto him what hire liste;    1940And therupon withinne a throweThis goode wif was overthroweAnd deide, and he was hool in haste.So mai a man be reson taste,Hou next after the god aboveThe trouthe of wommen and the love,In whom that alle grace is founde,Is myhtiest upon this groundeAnd most behovely manyfold.Lo, thus Zorobabel hath told    1950The tale of his opinion:Bot for final conclusionWhat strengest is of erthli thinges,The wyn, the wommen or the kinges,He seith that trouthe above hem alleIs myhtiest, hou evere it falle.The trouthe, hou so it evere come,Mai for nothing ben overcome;It mai wel soffre for a throwe,Bot ate laste it schal be knowe.    1960The proverbe is, who that is trewe,Him schal his while nevere rewe:For hou so that the cause wende,The trouthe is schameles ate ende,Bot what thing that is troutheles,It mai noght wel be schameles,And schame hindreth every wyht:So proveth it, ther is no myhtWithoute trouthe in no degre.And thus for trouthe of his decre    1970Zorobabel was most commended,Wherof the question was ended,And he resceived hath his medeFor trouthe, which to mannes nedeIs most behoveliche overal.Forthi was trouthe in specialThe ferste point in observanceBetake unto the governanceOf Alisandre, as it is seid:For therupon the ground is leid    1980Of every kinges regiment,As thing which most convenientIs forto sette a king in eveneBothe in this world and ek in hevene.Next after trouthe the secounde,In Policie as it is founde,Which serveth to the worldes fameIn worschipe of a kinges name,Largesse it is, whos privileggeTher mai non Avarice abregge.    1990The worldes good was ferst comune,Bot afterward upon fortuneWas thilke comun profit cessed:For whan the poeple stod encrescedAnd the lignages woxen grete,Anon for singulier beyeteDrouh every man to his partie;Wherof cam in the ferste envieWith gret debat and werres stronge,And laste among the men so longe,    2000Til noman wiste who was who,Ne which was frend ne which was fo.Til ate laste in every londWithinne hemself the poeple fondThat it was good to make a king,Which mihte appesen al this thingAnd yive riht to the lignagesIn partinge of here heritagesAnd ek of al here other good;And thus above hem alle stod    2010The king upon his Regalie,As he which hath to justifieThe worldes good fro covoitise.So sit it wel in alle wiseA king betwen the more and lesseTo sette his herte upon largesseToward himself and ek alsoToward his poeple; and if noght so,That is to sein, if that he beToward himselven large and fre    2020And of his poeple take and pile,Largesse be no weie of skileIt mai be seid, bot Avarice,Which in a king is a gret vice.A king behoveth ek to fleThe vice of Prodegalite,That he mesure in his expenceSo kepe, that of indigenceHe mai be sauf: for who that nedeth,In al his werk the worse he spedeth.    2030As Aristotle upon ChaldeeEnsample of gret AuctoriteUnto king Alisandre tauhteOf thilke folk that were unsauhteToward here king for his pilage:Wherof he bad, in his corageThat he unto thre pointz entende,Wher that he wolde his good despende.Ferst scholde he loke, hou that it stod,That al were of his oghne good    2040The yiftes whiche he wolde yive;So myhte he wel the betre live:And ek he moste taken hiedeIf ther be cause of eny nede,Which oghte forto be defended,Er that his goodes be despended:He mot ek, as it is befalle,Amonges othre thinges alleSe the decertes of his men;And after that thei ben of ken    2050And of astat and of merite,He schal hem largeliche aquite,Or for the werre, or for the pes,That non honour falle in descres,Which mihte torne into defame,Bot that he kepe his goode name,So that he be noght holde unkinde.For in Cronique a tale I finde,Which spekth somdiel of this matiere,Hierafterward as thou schalt hiere.    2060

Omnibus in causis sapiens doctrina salutemConsequitur, nec habet quis nisi doctus opem.Naturam superat doctrina, viro quod et ortusIngenii docilis non dedit, ipsa dabit.Non ita discretus hominum per climata regnat,Quin magis ut sapiat, indiget ipse schole.

I Genius the prest of love,Mi Sone, as thou hast preid aboveThat I the Scole schal declareOf Aristotle and ek the fareOf Alisandre, hou he was tauht,I am somdel therof destrauht;For it is noght to the matiereOf love, why we sitten hiereTo schryve, so as Venus bad.Bot natheles, for it is glad,    10So as thou seist, for thin apriseTo hiere of suche thinges wise,Wherof thou myht the time lisse,So as I can, I schal the wisse:For wisdom is at every throweAbove alle other thing to knoweIn loves cause and elleswhere.Forthi, my Sone, unto thin Ere,Though it be noght in the registreOf Venus, yit of that Calistre    20And Aristotle whylom writeTo Alisandre, thou schalt wite.

Bot for the lores ben diverse,I thenke ferst to the reherceThe nature of Philosophie,Which Aristotle of his clergie,Wys and expert in the sciences,Declareth thilke intelligences,As of thre pointz in principal.

Wherof the ferste in special    30Is Theorique, which is groundedOn him which al the world hath founded,Which comprehendeth al the lore.

And forto loken overmore,Next of sciences the secondeIs Rethorique, whos facondeAbove alle othre is eloquent:To telle a tale in juggementSo wel can noman speke as he.

The laste science of the thre    40It is Practique, whos officeThe vertu tryeth fro the vice,And techeth upon goode thewesTo fle the compaignie of schrewes,Which stant in disposicionOf mannes free eleccion.Practique enformeth ek the reule,Hou that a worthi king schal reuleHis Realme bothe in werre and pes.

Lo, thus danz Aristotiles    50These thre sciences hath dividedAnd the nature also decided,Wherof that ech of hem schal serve.

The ferste, which is the conserveAnd kepere of the remnant,As that which is most sufficantAnd chief of the Philosophie,If I therof schal specefieSo as the Philosophre tolde,Nou herkne, and kep that thou it holde.    60

Of Theorique principalThe Philosophre in specialThe propretees hath determined,As thilke which is enluminedOf wisdom and of hih prudenceAbove alle othre in his science:And stant departed upon thre,The ferste of which in his degreIs cleped in PhilosophieThe science of Theologie,    70That other named is Phisique,The thridde is seid Mathematique.

Theologie is that scienceWhich unto man yifth evidenceOf thing which is noght bodely,Wherof men knowe redelyThe hihe almyhti Trinite,Which is o god in uniteWithouten ende and beginnyngeAnd creatour of alle thinge,    80Of hevene, of erthe and ek of helle.Wherof, as olde bokes telle,The Philosophre in his resounWrot upon this conclusioun,And of his wrytinge in a clauseHe clepeth god the ferste cause,Which of himself is thilke good,Withoute whom nothing is good,Of which that every creatureHath his beinge and his nature.    90After the beinge of the thingesTher ben thre formes of beinges:Thing which began and ende schal,That thing is cleped temporal;Ther is also be other weieThing which began and schal noght deie.As Soules, that ben spiritiel,Here beinge is perpetuel:Bot ther is on above the Sonne,Whos time nevere was begonne,    100And endeles schal evere be;That is the god, whos magesteAlle othre thinges schal governe,And his beinge is sempiterne.The god, to whom that al honourBelongeth, he is creatour,And othre ben hise creatures:The god commandeth the naturesThat thei to him obeien alle;Withouten him, what so befalle,    110Her myht is non, and he mai al:The god was evere and evere schal,And thei begonne of his assent;The times alle be presentTo god, to hem and alle unknowe,Bot what him liketh that thei knowe:Thus bothe an angel and a man,The whiche of al that god beganBe chief, obeien goddes myht,And he stant endeles upriht.    120To this science ben priveThe clerkes of divinite,The whiche unto the poeple prechenThe feith of holi cherche and techen,Which in som cas upon believeStant more than thei conne prieveBe weie of Argument sensible:Bot natheles it is credible,And doth a man gret meede have,To him that thenkth himself to save.    130Theologie in such a wiseOf hih science and hih apriseAbove alle othre stant unlike,And is the ferste of Theorique.

Phisique is after the secounde,Thurgh which the Philosophre hath foundeTo techen sondri knowlechingesUpon the bodiliche thinges.Of man, of beste, of herbe, of ston,Of fissch, of foughl, of everychon    140That ben of bodely substance,The nature and the circumstanceThurgh this science it is ful soght,Which vaileth and which vaileth noght.

The thridde point of Theorique,Which cleped is Mathematique,Devided is in sondri wiseAnd stant upon diverse aprise.The ferste of whiche is Arsmetique,And the secounde is seid Musique,    150The thridde is ek Geometrie,Also the ferthe Astronomie.

Of Arsmetique the matiereIs that of which a man mai liereWhat Algorisme in nombre amonteth,Whan that the wise man acomptethAfter the formel propreteOf Algorismes Abece:Be which multiplicaciounIs mad and diminucioun    160Of sommes be thexperienceOf this Art and of this science.

The seconde of Mathematique,Which is the science of Musique,That techeth upon ArmonieA man to make melodieBe vois and soun of instrumentThurgh notes of acordement,The whiche men pronounce alofte,Nou scharpe notes and nou softe,    170Nou hihe notes and nou lowe,As be the gamme a man mai knowe,Which techeth the prolacionOf note and the condicion.

Mathematique of his scienceHath yit the thridde intelligenceFull of wisdom and of clergieAnd cleped is Geometrie,Thurgh which a man hath thilke sleyhte,Of lengthe, of brede, of depthe, of heyhte    180To knowe the proporcionBe verrai calculacionOf this science: and in this wiseThese olde Philosophres wise,Of al this worldes erthe round,Hou large, hou thikke was the ground,Controeveden thexperience;The cercle and the circumferenceOf every thing unto the heveneThei setten point and mesure evene.    190

Mathematique above thertheOf hyh science hath yit the ferthe,Which spekth upon AstronomieAnd techeth of the sterres hihe,Beginnynge upward fro the mone.Bot ferst, as it was forto done,This Aristotle in other thingUnto this worthi yonge kingThe kinde of every elementWhich stant under the firmament,    200Hou it is mad and in what wise,Fro point to point he gan devise.

Tofore the creacionOf eny worldes stacion,Of hevene, of erthe, or eke of helle,So as these olde bokes telle,As soun tofore the song is setAnd yit thei ben togedre knet,Riht so the hihe pourveanceTho hadde under his ordinance    210A gret substance, a gret matiere,Of which he wolde in his manereThese othre thinges make and forme.For yit withouten eny formeWas that matiere universal,Which hihte Ylem in special.Of Ylem, as I    am enformed,These elementz ben mad and formed,Of Ylem elementz they hoteAfter the Scole of Aristote,    220Of whiche if more I schal reherce,Foure elementz ther ben diverse.

The ferste of hem men erthe calle,Which is the lowest of hem alle,And in his forme is schape round,Substancial, strong, sadd and sound,As that which mad is sufficantTo bere up al the remenant.For as the point in a compasStant evene amiddes, riht so was    230This erthe set and schal abyde,That it may swerve to no side,And hath his centre after the laweOf kinde, and to that centre draweDesireth every worldes thing,If ther ne were no lettyng.

Above therthe kepth his boundeThe water, which is the secoundeOf elementz, and al withouteIt environeth therthe aboute.    240Bot as it scheweth, noght forthiThis soubtil water myhtely,Thogh it be of himselve softe,The strengthe of therthe perceth ofte;For riht as veines ben of blodIn man, riht so the water flodTherthe of his cours makth ful of veines,Als wel the helles as the pleines.And that a man may sen at ije,For wher the hulles ben most hyhe,    250Ther mai men welle stremes finde:So proveth it be weie of kindeThe water heyher than the lond.

And over this nou understond,Air is the thridde of elementz,Of whos kinde his aspirementzTakth every lifissh creature,The which schal upon erthe endure:For as the fissh, if it be dreie,Mot in defaute of water deie,    260Riht so withouten Air on lyveNo man ne beste myhte thryve,The which is mad of fleissh and bon;There is outake of alle non.

This Air in Periferies threDivided is of such degre,Benethe is on and on amidde,To whiche above is set the thridde:And upon the divisionsThere ben diverse impressions    270Of moist and ek of drye also,Whiche of the Sonne bothe tuoBen drawe and haled upon hy,And maken cloudes in the Sky,As schewed is at mannes sihte;Wherof be day and ek be nyhteAfter the times of the yerAmong ous upon Erthe herIn sondri wise thinges falle.

The ferste Periferie of alle    280Engendreth Myst and overmoreThe dewes and the Frostes hore,After thilke intersticionIn which thei take impression.

Fro the seconde, as bokes sein,The moiste dropes of the reynDescenden into Middilerthe,And tempreth it to sed and Erthe,And doth to springe grass and flour.And ofte also the grete schour    290Out of such place it mai be take,That it the forme schal forsakeOf reyn, and into snow be torned;And ek it mai be so sojornedIn sondri places up alofte,That into hail it torneth ofte.

The thridde of thair after the laweThurgh such matiere as up is draweOf dreie thing, as it is ofte,Among the cloudes upon lofte,    300And is so clos, it may noght oute,—Thanne is it chased sore aboute,Til it to fyr and leyt be falle,And thanne it brekth the cloudes alle,The whiche of so gret noyse craken,That thei the feerful thonder maken.The thonderstrok smit er it leyte,And yit men sen the fyr and leyte,The thonderstrok er that men hiere:So mai it wel be proeved hiere    310In thing which schewed is fro feer,A mannes yhe is there nerrThanne is the soun to mannes Ere.And natheles it is gret feereBothe of the strok and of the fyr,Of which is no recoverirIn place wher that thei descende,Bot if god wolde his grace sende.

And forto speken over this,In this partie of thair it is    320That men fulofte sen be nyhteThe fyr in sondri forme alyhte.Somtime the fyrdrake it semeth,And so the lewed poeple it demeth;Somtime it semeth as it wereA Sterre, which that glydeth there:Bot it is nouther of the tuo,The Philosophre telleth so,And seith that of impressionsThurgh diverse exalacions    330Upon the cause and the matiereMen sen diverse forme appiereOf fyr, the which hath sondri name.

Assub, he seith, is thilke same,The which in sondry place is founde,Whanne it is falle doun to grounde,So as the fyr it hath aneled,Lich unto slym which is congeled.

Of exalacion I findeFyr kinled of the fame kinde,    340Bot it is of an other forme;Wherof, if that I schal conformeThe figure unto that it is,These olde clerkes tellen this,That it is lik a Got skippende,And for that it is such semende,It hatte Capra saliens.

And ek these AstronomiensAn other fyr also, be nyhteWhich scheweth him to mannes syhte,    350Thei clepen Eges, the which brennethLik to the corrant fyr that rennethUpon a corde, as thou hast sein,Whan it with poudre is so beseinOf Sulphre and othre thinges mo.

Ther is an other fyr also,Which semeth to a mannes yheBe nyhtes time as thogh ther flyheA dragon brennende in the Sky,And that is cleped proprely    360Daaly, wherof men sein fulofte,“Lo, wher the fyri drake alofteFleth up in thair!” and so thei demen.Bot why the fyres suche semenOf sondri formes to beholde,The wise Philosophre tolde,So as tofore it hath ben herd.

Lo thus, my Sone, hou it hath ferd:Of Air the due propreteIn sondri wise thou myht se,    370And hou under the firmamentIt is ek the thridde element,Which environeth bothe tuo,The water and the lond also.

And forto tellen overthisOf elementz which the ferthe is,That is the fyr in his degre,Which environeth thother threAnd is withoute moist al drye.Bot lest nou what seith the clergie;    380For upon hem that I have seidThe creatour hath set and leidThe kinde and the complexionOf alle mennes nacion.Foure elementz sondri ther be,Lich unto whiche of that degreAmong the men ther ben alsoComplexions foure and nomo,Wherof the Philosophre treteth,That he nothing behinde leteth,    390And seith hou that thei ben diverse,So as I schal to thee reherse.

He which natureth every kinde,The myhti god, so as I finde,Of    man, which is his creature,Hath so devided the nature,That non til other wel acordeth:And be the cause it so discordeth,The lif which fieleth the seknesseMai stonde upon no sekernesse.    400

Of therthe, which is cold and drye,The kinde of man MalencolieIs cleped, and that is the ferste,The most ungoodlich and the werste;For unto loves werk on nyhtHim lacketh bothe will and myht:No wonder is, in lusty placeOf love though he lese grace.What man hath that complexion,Full of ymaginacion    410Of dredes and of wrathful thoghtes,He fret himselven al to noghtes.

The water, which is moyste and cold,Makth fleume, which is manyfoldForyetel, slou and wery soneOf every thing which is to done:He is of kinde sufficantTo holde love his covenant,Bot that him lacketh appetit,Which longeth unto such delit.    420

What man that takth his kinde of thair,He schal be lyht, he schal be fair,For his complexion is blood.Of alle ther is non so good,For he hath bothe will and myhtTo plese and paie love his riht:Wher as he hath love undertake,Wrong is if that he be forsake.

The fyr of his condicionAppropreth the complexion    430Which in a man is Colre hote,Whos propretes ben dreie and hote:It makth a man ben enginousAnd swift of fote and ek irous;Of contek and folhastifnesseHe hath a riht gret besinesse,To thenke of love and litel may:Though he behote wel a day,On nyht whan that he wole assaie,He may ful evele his dette paie.    440

After the kinde of thelement,Thus stant a mannes kinde went,As touchende his complexion,Upon sondri divisionOf dreie, of moiste, of chele, of hete,And ech of hem his oghne seteAppropred hath withinne a man.And ferst to telle as I began,

The Splen is to MalencolieAssigned for herbergerie:    450

The moiste fleume with his coldHath in the lunges for his holdOrdeined him a propre stede,To duelle ther as he is bede:

To the Sanguin complexionNature of hire inspeccionA propre hous hath in the livereFor his duellinge mad delivere:

The dreie Colre with his heteBe weie of kinde his propre sete    460Hath in the galle, wher he duelleth,So as the Philosophre telleth.

Nou over this is forto wite,As it is in Phisique writeOf livere, of lunge, of galle, of splen,Thei alle unto the herte benServantz, and ech in his officeEntendeth to don him service,As he which is chief lord above.The livere makth him forto love,    470The lunge yifth him weie of speche,The galle serveth to do wreche,The Splen doth him to lawhe and pleie,Whan al unclennesse is aweie:Lo, thus hath ech of hem his dede.And to sustienen hem and fedeIn time of recreacion,Nature hath in creacionThe Stomach for a comun CocOrdeined, so as seith the boc.    480The Stomach coc is for the halle,And builleth mete for hem alle,To make hem myghty forto serveThe herte, that he schal noght sterve:For as a king in his EmpireAbove alle othre is lord and Sire,So is the herte principal,To whom reson in specialIs yove as for the governance.

And thus nature his pourveance    490Hath mad for man to liven hiere;Bot god, which hath the Soule diere,Hath formed it in other wise.That can noman pleinli devise;Bot as the clerkes ous enforme,That lich to god it hath a forme,Thurgh which figure and which liknesseThe Soule hath many an hyh noblesseAppropred to his oghne kinde.Bot ofte hir wittes be mad blinde    500Al onliche of this ilke point,That hir abydinge is conjointForth with the bodi forto duelle:That on desireth toward helle,That other upward to the hevene;So schul thei nevere stonde in evene,Bot if the fleissh be overcomeAnd that the Soule have holi nomeThe governance, and that is selde,Whil that the fleissh him mai bewelde.    510Al erthli thing which god beganWas only mad to serve man;Bot he the Soule al only madeHimselven forto serve and glade.Alle othre bestes that men findeThei serve unto here oghne kinde,Bot to reson the Soule serveth;Wherof the man his thonk deservethAnd get him with hise werkes goodeThe perdurable lyves foode.    520

Of what matiere it schal be told,A tale lyketh manyfoldThe betre, if it be spoke plein:Thus thinke I forto torne ayeinAnd telle plenerly therforeOf therthe, wherof nou toforeI spak, and of the water eke,So as these olde clerkes spieke,And sette proprely the boundeAfter the forme of Mappemounde,    530Thurgh which the ground be pourpartiesDeparted is in thre parties,That is Asie, Aufrique, Europe,The whiche under the hevene cope,Als ferr as streccheth eny ground,Begripeth al this Erthe round.Bot after that the hihe wriecheThe water weies let out secheAnd overgo the helles hye,Which every kinde made dye    540That upon Middelerthe stod,Outake Noë and his blod,His Sones and his doughtres thre,Thei were sauf and so was he;—Here names who that rede rihte,Sem, Cam, Japhet the brethren hihte;—And whanne thilke almyhty hondWithdrouh the water fro the lond,And al the rage was aweie,And Erthe was the mannes weie,    550The Sones thre, of whiche I tolde,Riht after that hemselve wolde,This world departe thei begonne.

Asie, which lay to the SonneUpon the Marche of orient,Was graunted be comun assentTo Sem, which was the Sone eldeste;For that partie was the besteAnd double as moche as othre tuo.And was that time bounded so;    560Wher as the flod which men Nil callethDeparteth fro his cours and fallethInto the See Alexandrine,Ther takth Asie ferst seisineToward the West, and over thisOf Canahim wher the flod isInto the grete See rennende,Fro that into the worldes endeEstward, Asie it is algates,Til that men come unto the gates    570Of Paradis, and there ho.And schortly for to speke it so,Of Orient in generalWithinne his bounde Asie hath al.

And thanne upon that other sydeWestward, as it fell thilke tyde,The brother which was hote ChamUpon his part Aufrique nam.Japhet Europe tho tok he,Thus parten thei the world on thre.    580Bot yit ther ben of londes feleIn occident as for the chele,In orient as for the hete,Which of the poeple be forleteAs lond desert that is unable,For it mai noght ben habitable.

The water eke hath sondri bounde,After the lond wher it is founde,And takth his name of thilke londesWher that it renneth on the strondes:    590Bot thilke See which hath no waneIs cleped the gret Occeane,Out of the which arise and comeThe hyhe flodes alle and some;Is non so litel welle spring,Which ther ne takth his beginnyng,And lich a man that haleth brethBe weie of kinde, so it gethOut of the See and in ayein,The water, as the bokes sein.    600

Of Elementz the propretesHou that they stonden be degres,As I have told, nou myht thou hiere,Mi goode Sone, al the matiereOf Erthe, of water, Air and fyr.And for thou saist that thi desirIs forto witen overmoreThe forme of Aristotles lore,He seith in his entendement,That yit ther is an Element    610Above the foure, and is the fifte,Set of the hihe goddes yifte,The which that Orbis cleped is.And therupon he telleth this,That as the schelle hol and soundEncloseth al aboute roundWhat thing withinne an Ey belongeth,Riht so this Orbis underfongethThese elementz alle everychon,Which I have spoke of on and on.    620

Bot overthis nou tak good hiede,Mi Sone, for I wol procedeTo speke upon Mathematique,Which grounded is on Theorique.The science of AstronomieI thinke forto specefie,Withoute which, to telle plein,Alle othre science is in veinToward the scole of erthli thinges:For as an Egle with his winges    630Fleth above alle that men finde,So doth this science in his kinde.

Benethe upon this Erthe hiereOf alle thinges the matiere,As tellen ous thei that ben lerned,Of thing above it stant governed,That is to sein of the Planetes.The cheles bothe and ek the hetes,The chances of the world also,That we fortune clepen so,    640Among the mennes nacionAl is thurgh constellacion,Wherof that som man hath the wele,And som man hath deseses feleIn love als wel as othre thinges;The stat of realmes and of kingesIn time of pes, in time of werreIt is conceived of the Sterre:And thus seith the naturienWhich is an Astronomien.    650Bot the divin seith otherwise,That if men weren goode and wiseAnd plesant unto the godhede,Thei scholden noght the sterres drede;For o man, if him wel befalle,Is more worth than ben thei alleTowardes him that weldeth al.Bot yit the lawe original,Which he hath set in the natures,Mot worchen in the creatures,    660That therof mai be non obstacle,Bot if it stonde upon miracleThurgh preiere of som holy man.And forthi, so as I beganTo speke upon Astronomie,As it is write in the clergie,To telle hou the planetes fare,Som part I thenke to declare,Mi Sone, unto thin Audience.

Astronomie is the science    670Of wisdom and of hih connynge,Which makth a man have knowlechingeOf Sterres in the firmament,Figure, cercle and moevementOf ech of hem in sondri place,And what betwen hem is of space,Hou so thei moeve or stonde faste,Al this it telleth to the laste.

Assembled with AstronomieIs ek that ilke Astrologie    680The which in juggementz acomptethTheffect, what every sterre amonteth,And hou thei causen many a wonderTo tho climatz that stonde hem under.

And forto telle it more plein,These olde philosphres seinThat Orbis, which I spak of err,Is that which we fro therthe a ferrBeholde, and firmament it calle,In which the sterres stonden alle,    690Among the whiche in specialPlanetes sefne principalTher ben, that mannes sihte demeth,Bot thorizonte, as to ous semeth.And also ther ben signes tuelve,Whiche have her cercles be hemselveCompassed in the zodiaque,In which thei have here places take.And as thei stonden in degre,Here cercles more or lasse be,    700Mad after the proporcionOf therthe, whos condicionIs set to be the foundementTo sustiene up the firmament.And be this skile a man mai knowe,The more that thei stonden lowe,The more ben the cercles lasse;That causeth why that some passeHere due cours tofore an other.Bot nou, mi lieve dere brother,    710As thou desirest forto witeWhat I finde in the bokes write,To telle of the planetes sevene,Hou that thei stonde upon the heveneAnd in what point that thei ben inne,Tak hiede, for I wol beginne,So as the Philosophre tauhteTo Alisandre and it betauhte,Wherof that he was fulli tawhtOf wisdom, which was him betawht.    720

Benethe alle othre stant the Mone,The which hath with the See to done:Of flodes hihe and ebbes loweUpon his change it schal be knowe;And every fissh which hath a schelleMot in his governance duelle,To wexe and wane in his degre,As be the Mone a man mai se;And al that stant upon the groundeOf his moisture it mot be founde.    730Alle othre sterres, as men finde,Be schynende of here oghne kindeOutake only the monelyht,Which is noght of himselve bright,Bot as he takth it of the Sonne.And yit he hath noght al fulwonneHis lyht, that he nys somdiel derk;Bot what the lette is of that werkIn Almageste it telleth this:The Mones cercle so lowe is,    740Wherof the Sonne out of his stageNe seth him noght with full visage,For he is with the ground beschaded,So that the Mone is somdiel fadedAnd may noght fully schyne cler.Bot what man under his pouerIs bore, he schal his places changeAnd seche manye londes strange:And as of this condicionThe Mones disposicion    750Upon the lond of AlemaigneIs set, and ek upon Bretaigne,Which nou is cleped Engelond;For thei travaile in every lond.

Of the Planetes the secoundeAbove the Mone hath take his bounde,Mercurie, and his nature is this,That under him who that bore is,In boke he schal be studiousAnd in wrytinge curious,    760And slouh and lustles to travaileIn thing which elles myhte availe:He loveth ese, he loveth reste,So is he noght the worthieste;Bot yit with somdiel besinesseHis herte is set upon richesse.And as in this condicion,Theffect and disposicionOf this Planete and of his chanceIs most in Burgoigne and in France.    770

Next to Mercurie, as wol befalle,Stant that Planete which men calleVenus, whos constellacionGoverneth al the nacionOf lovers, wher thei spiede or non,Of whiche I trowe thou be on:Bot whiderward thin happes wende,Schal this planete schewe at ende,As it hath do to many mo,To some wel, to some wo.    780And natheles of this PlaneteThe moste part is softe and swete;For who that therof takth his berthe,He schal desire joie and merthe,Gentil, courteis and debonaire,To speke his wordes softe and faire,Such schal he be be weie of kinde,And overal wher he may findePlesance of love, his herte bowethWith al his myht and there he woweth.    790He is so ferforth Amourous,He not what thing is viciousTouchende love, for that laweTher mai no maner man withdrawe,The which venerien is boreBe weie of kinde, and thereforeVenus of love the goddesseIs cleped: bot of wantounesseThe climat of hir lecherieIs most commun in Lombardie.    800

Next unto this Planete of loveThe brighte Sonne stant above,Which is the hindrere of the nyhtAnd forthrere of the daies lyht,As he which is the worldes ije,Thurgh whom the lusti compaignieOf foules be the morwe singe,The freisshe floures sprede and springe,The hihe tre the ground beschadeth,And every mannes herte gladeth.    810And for it is the hed Planete,Hou that he sitteth in his sete,Of what richesse, of what nobleie,These bokes telle, and thus thei seie.

Of gold glistrende Spoke and whielThe Sonne his carte hath faire and wiel,In which he sitt, and is coronedWith brighte stones environed;Of whiche if that I speke schal,Ther be tofore in special    820Set in the front of his coroneThre Stones, whiche no personeHath upon Erthe, and the ferste isBe name cleped Licuchis;That othre tuo be cleped thus,Astrices and Ceramius.In his corone also behinde,Be olde bokes as I finde,Ther ben of worthi Stones threSet ech of hem in his degre:    830Wherof a Cristall is that on,Which that corone is set upon;The seconde is an Adamant;The thridde is noble and avenant,Which cleped is Ydriades.And over this yit nathelesUpon the sydes of the werk,After the wrytinge of the clerk,Ther sitten fyve Stones mo:The smaragdine is on of tho,    840Jaspis and ElitropiusAnd Dendides and Jacinctus.Lo, thus the corone is beset,Wherof it schyneth wel the bet;And in such wise his liht to spredeSit with his Diademe on hedeThe Sonne schynende in his carte.And forto lede him swithe and smarteAfter the bryhte daies lawe,Ther ben ordeined forto drawe    850Foure hors his Char and him withal,Wherof the names telle I schal:Eritheüs the ferste is hote,The which is red and schyneth hote,The seconde Acteos the bryhte,Lampes the thridde coursier hihte,And Philogeus is the ferthe,That bringen lyht unto this erthe,And gon so swift upon the hevene,In foure and twenty houres evene    860The carte with the bryhte SonneThei drawe, so that overronneThei have under the cercles hiheAl Middelerthe in such an hye.And thus the Sonne is overalThe chief Planete imperial,Above him and benethe him thre:And thus betwen hem regneth he,As he that hath the middel placeAmong the Sevene, and of his face    870Be glade alle erthly creatures,And taken after the naturesHere ese and recreacion.And in his constellacionWho that is bore in special,Of good will and of liberalHe schal be founde in alle place,And also stonde in mochel graceToward the lordes forto serveAnd gret profit and thonk deserve.    880And over that it causeth yitA man to be soubtil of witTo worche in gold, and to be wysIn every thing which is of pris.Bot forto speken in what costOf al this erthe he regneth mostAs for wisdom, it is in Grece,Wher is apropred thilke spiece.

Mars the Planete bataillousNext to the Sonne glorious    890Above stant, and doth mervailesUpon the fortune of batailes.The conquerours be daies oldeWere unto this planete holde:Bot who that his nativiteHath take upon the propreteOf Martes disposiciounBe weie of constellacioun,He schal be fiers and folhastifAnd desirous of werre and strif.    900Bot forto telle redelyIn what climat most comunlyThat this planete hath his effect,Seid is that he hath his aspectUpon the holi lond so cast,That there is no pes stedefast.

Above Mars upon the hevene,The sexte Planete of the sevene,Stant Jupiter the delicat,Which causeth pes and no debat.    910For he is cleped that PlaneteWhich of his kinde softe and sweteAttempreth al that to him longeth;And whom this planete underfongethTo stonde upon his regiment,He schal be meke and pacientAnd fortunat to MarchandieAnd lusti to delicacieIn every thing which he schal do.This Jupiter is cause also    920Of the science of lyhte werkes,And in this wise tellen clerkesHe is the Planete of delices.Bot in Egipte of his officesHe regneth most in special:For ther be lustes overalOf al that to this lif befalleth;For ther no stormy weder falleth,Which myhte grieve man or beste,And ek the lond is so honeste    930That it is plentevous and plein,Ther is non ydel ground in vein;And upon such feliciteStant Jupiter in his degre.

The heyeste and aboven alleStant that planete which men calleSaturnus, whos complexionIs cold, and his condicionCauseth malice and crualteTo him the whos nativite    940Is set under his governance.For alle hise werkes ben grevanceAnd enemy to mannes hele,In what degre that he schal dele.His climat is in Orient,Wher that he is most violent.

Of the Planetes by and by,Hou that thei stonde upon the Sky,Fro point to point as thou myht hiere,Was Alisandre mad to liere.    950Bot overthis touchende his lore,Of thing that thei him tawhte moreUpon the scoles of clergieNow herkne the Philosophie.

He which departeth dai fro nyht,That on derk and that other lyht,Of sevene daies made a weke,A Monthe of foure wekes ekeHe hath ordeigned in his lawe,Of Monthes tuelve and ek forthdrawe    960He hath also the longe yeer.And as he sette of his pouerAcordant to the daies sevenePlanetes Sevene upon the hevene,As thou tofore hast herd devise,To speke riht in such a wise,To every Monthe be himselveUpon the hevene of Signes tuelveHe hath after his OrdinalAssigned on in special,    970Wherof, so as I schal rehersen,The tydes of the yer diversen.Bot pleinly forto make it knoweHou that the Signes sitte arowe,Ech after other be degreIn substance and in propreteThe zodiaque comprehendethWithinne his cercle, as it appendeth.

The ferste of whiche nathelesBe name is cleped Aries,    980Which lich a wether of statureResembled is in his figure.And as it seith in Almageste,Of Sterres tuelve upon this besteBen set, wherof in his degreThe wombe hath tuo, the heved hath thre,The Tail hath sevene, and in this wise,As thou myht hiere me divise,Stant Aries, which hot and dryeIs of himself, and in partie    990He is the receipte and the housOf myhty Mars the bataillous.And overmore ek, as I finde,The creatour of alle kindeUpon this Signe ferst beganThe world, whan that he made man.And of this constellaciounThe verray operaciounAvaileth, if a man therinneThe pourpos of his werk beginne;    1000For thanne he hath of propreteGood sped and gret felicite.

The tuelve Monthes of the yeerAttitled under the pouerOf these tuelve Signes stonde;Wherof that thou schalt understondeThis Aries on of the tuelveHath March attitled for himselve,Whan every bridd schal chese his make,And every neddre and every Snake    1010And every Reptil which mai moeve,His myht assaieth forto proeve,To crepen out ayein the Sonne,Whan Ver his Seson hath begonne.

Taurus the seconde after thisOf Signes, which figured isUnto a Bole, is dreie and cold;And as it is in bokes told,He is the hous appourtienantTo Venus, somdiel descordant.    1020This Bole is ek with sterres set,Thurgh whiche he hath hise hornes knetUnto the tail of Aries,So is he noght ther sterreles.Upon his brest ek eyhtetieneHe hath, and ek, as it is sene,Upon his tail stonde othre tuo.His Monthe assigned ek alsoIs Averil, which of his schouresMinistreth weie unto the floures.    1030

The thridde signe is Gemini,Which is figured redelyLich to tuo twinnes of mankinde,That naked stonde; and as I finde,Thei be with Sterres wel bego:The heved hath part of thilke tuoThat schyne upon the boles tail,So be thei bothe of o parail;But on the wombe of GeminiBen fyve sterres noght forthi,    1040And ek upon the feet be tweie,So as these olde bokes seie,That wise Tholomeus wrot.His propre Monthe wel I wotAssigned is the lusti Maii,Whanne every brid upon his layAmong the griene leves singeth,And love of his pointure stingethAfter the lawes of natureThe youthe of every creature.    1050

Cancer after the reule and spaceOf Signes halt the ferthe place.Like to the crabbe he hath semblance,And hath unto his retienanceSextiene sterres, wherof ten,So as these olde wise menDescrive, he berth on him tofore,And in the middel tuo be bore,And foure he hath upon his ende.Thus goth he sterred in his kende,    1060And of himself is moiste and cold,And is the propre hous and holdWhich appartieneth to the Mone,And doth what longeth him to done.The Monthe of Juin unto this SigneThou schalt after the reule assigne.

The fifte Signe is Leo hote,Whos kinde is schape dreie and hote,In whom the Sonne hath herbergage.And the semblance of his ymage    1070Is a leoun, which in baillieOf sterres hath his pourpartie:The foure, which as Cancer hathUpon his ende, Leo tathUpon his heved, and thanne nestHe hath ek foure upon his brest,And on upon his tail behinde,In olde bokes as we finde.His propre Monthe is Juyl be name,In which men pleien many a game.    1080

After Leo Virgo the nexteOf Signes cleped is the sexte,Wherof the figure is a Maide;And as the Philosophre saide,Sche is the welthe and the risinge,The lust, the joie and the likingeUnto Mercurie: and soth to seieSche is with sterres wel beseie,Wherof Leo hath lent hire on,Which sit on hih hir heved upon,    1090Hire wombe hath fyve, hir feet alsoHave other fyve: and overmoTouchende as of complexion,Be kindly disposicionOf dreie and cold this Maiden is.And forto tellen over thisHir Monthe, thou schalt understonde,Whan every feld hath corn in hondeAnd many a man his bak hath plied,Unto this Signe is Augst applied.    1100

After Virgo to reknen eveneLibra sit in the nombre of sevene,Which hath figure and resemblanceUnto a man which a balanceBerth in his hond as forto weie:In boke and as it mai be seie,Diverse sterres to him longeth,Wherof on hevede he underfongethFerst thre, and ek his wombe hath tuo,And doun benethe eighte othre mo.    1110This Signe is hot and moiste bothe,The whiche thinges be noght lotheUnto Venus, so that alofteSche resteth in his hous fulofte,And ek Saturnus often hyedIs in this Signe and magnefied.His propre Monthe is seid Septembre,Which yifth men cause to remembre,If eny Sor be left behindeOf thing which grieve mai to kinde.    1120

Among the Signes upon heighteThe Signe which is nombred eighteIs Scorpio, which as felounFigured is a Scorpioun.Bot for al that yit nathelesIs Scorpio noght sterreles;For Libra granteth him his endeOf eighte sterres, wher he wende,The whiche upon his heved assisedHe berth, and ek ther ben divised    1130Upon his wombe sterres thre,And eighte upon his tail hath he.Which of his kinde is moiste and coldAnd unbehovely manyfold;He harmeth Venus and empeireth,Bot Mars unto his hous repeireth,Bot war whan thei togedre duellen.His propre Monthe is, as men tellen,Octobre, which bringth the kalendeOf wynter, that comth next suiende.    1140

The nynthe Signe in nombre also,Which folweth after Scorpio,Is cleped Sagittarius,The whos figure is marked thus,A Monstre with a bowe on honde:On whom that sondri sterres stonde,Thilke eighte of whiche I spak tofore,The whiche upon the tail ben boreOf Scorpio, the heved al faireBespreden of the Sagittaire;    1150And eighte of othre stonden eveneUpon his wombe, and othre seveneTher stonde upon his tail behinde.And he is hot and dreie of kinde:To Jupiter his hous is fre,Bot to Mercurie in his degre,For thei ben noght of on assent,He worcheth gret empeirement.This Signe hath of his propreteA Monthe, which of duete    1160After the sesoun that befallethThe Plowed Oxe in wynter stalleth;And fyr into the halle he bringeth,And thilke drinke of which men singeth,He torneth must into the wyn;Thanne is the larder of the swyn;That is Novembre which I meene,Whan that the lef hath lost his greene.

The tenthe Signe dreie and cold,The which is Capricornus told,    1170Unto a Got hath resemblance:For whos love and whos aqueintanceWithinne hise houses to sojorneIt liketh wel unto Satorne,Bot to the Mone it liketh noght,For no profit is there wroght.This Signe as of his propreteUpon his heved hath sterres thre,And ek upon his wombe tuo,And tweie upon his tail also.    1180Decembre after the yeeres forme,So as the bokes ous enforme,With daies schorte and nyhtes longeThis ilke Signe hath underfonge.

Of tho that sitte upon the heveneOf Signes in the nombre elleveneAquarius hath take his place,And stant wel in Satornes grace,Which duelleth in his herbergage,Bot to the Sonne he doth oultrage.    1190This Signe is verraily resembledLich to a man which halt assembledIn eyther hand a water spoute,Wherof the stremes rennen oute.He is of kinde moiste and hot,And he that of the sterres wotSeith that he hath of sterres tuoUpon his heved, and ben of thoThat Capricorn hath on his ende;And as the bokes maken mende,    1200That Tholomeus made himselve,He hath ek on his wombe tuelve,And tweie upon his ende stonde.Thou schalt also this understonde,The frosti colde Janever,Whan comen is the newe yeer,That Janus with his double faceIn his chaiere hath take his placeAnd loketh upon bothe sides,Somdiel toward the wynter tydes,    1210Somdiel toward the yeer suiende,That is the Monthe belongendeUnto this Signe, and of his doleHe yifth the ferste Primerole.

The tuelfthe, which is last of alleOf Signes, Piscis men it calle,The which, as telleth the scripture,Berth of tuo fisshes the figure.So is he cold and moiste of kinde,And ek with sterres, as I finde,    1220Beset in sondri wise, as thus:Tuo of his ende AquariusHath lent unto his heved, and tuoThis Signe hath of his oghne alsoUpon his wombe, and over thisUpon his ende also ther isA nombre of twenty sterres bryghte,Which is to sen a wonder sighte.Toward this Signe into his housComth Jupiter the glorious,    1230And Venus ek with him acordethTo duellen, as the bok recordeth.The Monthe unto this Signe ordeinedIs Februer, which is bereined,And with londflodes in his rageAt Fordes letteth the passage.

Nou hast thou herd the propreteOf Signes, bot in his degreAlbumazar yit over thisSeith, so as therthe parted is    1240In foure, riht so ben divisedThe Signes tuelve and stonde assised,That ech of hem for his partieHath his climat to justefie.Wherof the ferste regimentToward the part of OrientFrom Antioche and that contreGoverned is of Signes thre,That is Cancer, Virgo, Leo:And toward Occident also    1250From Armenie, as I am lerned,Of Capricorn it stant governed,Of Pisces and Aquarius:And after hem I finde thus,Southward from Alisandre forthTho Signes whiche most ben worthIn governance of that doaire,Libra thei ben and SagittaireWith Scorpio, which is conjointWith hem to stonde upon that point:    1260Constantinople the Cite,So as the bokes tellen me,The laste of this divisionStant untoward Septemtrion,Wher as be weie of pourveanceHath Aries the governanceForth with Taurus and Gemini.Thus ben the Signes propreliDivided, as it is reherced,Wherof the londes ben diversed.    1270

Lo thus, mi Sone, as thou myht hiere,Was Alisandre mad to liereOf hem that weren for his lore.But nou to loken overmore,Of othre sterres hou thei fareI thenke hierafter to declare,So as king Alisandre in youtheOf him that suche thinges coutheEnformed was tofore his yheBe nyhte upon the sterres hihe.    1280

Upon sondri creacionStant sondri operacion,Som worcheth this, som worcheth that;The fyr is hot in his astatAnd brenneth what he mai atteigne,The water mai the fyr restreigne,The which is cold and moist also.Of other thing it farth riht soUpon this erthe among ous here;And forto speke in this manere,    1290Upon the hevene, as men mai finde,The sterres ben of sondri kindeAnd worchen manye sondri thingesTo ous, that ben here underlinges.Among the whiche forth withalNectanabus in special,Which was an AstronomienAnd ek a gret Magicien,And undertake hath thilke empriseTo Alisandre in his aprise    1300As of Magique naturelTo knowe, enformeth him somdelOf certein sterres what thei mene;Of whiche, he seith, ther ben fiftene,And sondrily to everich onA gras belongeth and a Ston,Wherof men worchen many a wonderTo sette thing bothe up and under.

To telle riht as he began,The ferste sterre Aldeboran,    1310The cliereste and the moste of alle,Be rihte name men it calle;Which lich is of condicionTo Mars, and of complexionTo Venus, and hath theruponCarbunculum his propre Ston:His herbe is Anabulla named,Which is of gret vertu proclamed.

The seconde is noght vertules;Clota or elles Pliades    1320It hatte, and of the mones kindeHe is, and also this I finde,He takth of Mars complexion:And lich to such condicionHis Ston appropred is Cristall,And ek his herbe in specialThe vertuous Fenele it is.

The thridde, which comth after this,Is hote Algol the clere rede,Which of Satorne, as I may rede,    1330His kinde takth, and ek of JoveComplexion to his behove.His propre Ston is Dyamant,Which is to him most acordant;His herbe, which is him betake,Is hote Eleborum the blake.

So as it falleth upon lot,The ferthe sterre is Alhaiot,Which in the wise as I seide erOf Satorne and of Jupiter    1340Hath take his kinde; and theruponThe Saphir is his propre Ston,Marrubium his herbe also,The whiche acorden bothe tuo.

And Canis maior in his likeThe fifte sterre is of Magique,The whos kinde is venerien,As seith this Astronomien.His propre Ston is seid Berille,Bot forto worche and to fulfille    1350Thing which to this science falleth,Ther is an herbe which men callethSaveine, and that behoveth nedeTo him that wole his pourpos spede.

The sexte suiende after thisBe name Canis minor is;The which sterre is MercurialBe weie of kinde, and forth withal,As it is writen in the carte,Complexion he takth of Marte.    1360His Ston and herbe, as seith the Scole,Ben Achates and Primerole.

The sefnthe sterre in specialOf this science is Arial,Which sondri nature underfongeth.The Ston which propre unto him longeth,Gorgonza proprely it hihte:His herbe also, which he schal rihteUpon the worchinge as I mene,Is Celidoine freissh and grene.    1370

Sterre Ala Corvi upon heihteHath take his place in nombre of eighte,Which of his kinde mot parforneThe will of Marte and of Satorne:To whom Lapacia the greteIs herbe, bot of no beyete;His Ston is Honochinus hote,Thurgh which men worchen gret riote.

The nynthe sterre faire and welBe name is hote Alaezel,    1380Which takth his propre kinde thusBothe of Mercurie and of Venus.His Ston is the grene Amyraude,To whom is yoven many a laude:Salge is his herbe appourtenantAboven al the rememant.

The tenthe sterre is Almareth,Which upon lif and upon dethThurgh kinde of Jupiter and MartHe doth what longeth to his part.    1390His Ston is Jaspe, and of PlanteineHe hath his herbe sovereine.

The sterre ellefthe is Venenas,The whos nature is as it wasTake of Venus and of the Mone,In thing which he hath forto done.Of Adamant is that perrieIn which he worcheth his maistrie;Thilke herbe also which him befalleth,Cicorea the bok it calleth.    1400

Alpheta in the nombre sit,And is the twelfthe sterre yit;Of Scorpio which is governed,And takth his kinde, as I am lerned;And hath his vertu in the StonWhich cleped is Topazion:His herbe propre is Rosmarine,Which schapen is for his covine.

Of these sterres, whiche I mene,Cor Scorpionis is thritiene;    1410The whos nature Mart and JoveHave yoven unto his behove.His herbe is Aristologie,Which folweth his Astronomie:The Ston which that this sterre alloweth,Is Sardis, which unto him boweth.

The sterre which stant next the laste,Nature on him this name casteAnd clepeth him Botercadent;Which of his kinde obedient    1420Is to Mercurie and to Venus.His Ston is seid Crisolitus,His herbe is cleped Satureie,So as these olde bokes seie.

Bot nou the laste sterre of alleThe tail of Scorpio men calle,Which to Mercurie and to SatorneBe weie of kinde mot retorneAfter the preparacionOf due constellacion.    1430The Calcedoine unto him longeth,Which for his Ston he underfongeth;Of Majorane his herbe is grounded.Thus have I seid hou thei be founded,Of every sterre in special,Which hath his herbe and Ston withal,As Hermes in his bokes oldeWitnesse berth of that I tolde.

The science of Astronomie,Which principal is of clergie    1440To dieme betwen wo and welIn thinges that be naturel,Thei hadde a gret travail on hondeThat made it ferst ben understonde;And thei also which overmoreHere studie sette upon this lore,Thei weren gracious and wysAnd worthi forto bere a pris.And whom it liketh forto witeOf hem that this science write,    1450On of the ferste which it wrotAfter Noë, it was Nembrot,To his disciple YchonithonAnd made a bok forth theruponThe which Megaster cleped was.An other Auctor in this casIs Arachel, the which men note;His bok is Abbategnyh hote.Danz Tholome is noght the leste,Which makth the bok of Almageste;    1460And Alfraganus doth the same,Whos bok is Chatemuz be name.Gebuz and Alpetragus ekeOf Planisperie, which men seke,The bokes made: and over thisFul many a worthi clerc ther is,That writen upon this clergieThe bokes of Altemetrie,Planemetrie and ek also,Whiche as belongen bothe tuo,    1470So as thei ben naturiens,Unto these Astronomiens.Men sein that Habraham was on;Bot whether that he wrot or non,That finde I noght; and MoisesEk was an other: bot HermesAbove alle othre in this scienceHe hadde a gret experience;Thurgh him was many a sterre assised,Whos bokes yit ben auctorized.    1480I mai noght knowen alle thoThat writen in the time thoOf this science; bot I finde,Of jugement be weie of kindeThat in o point thei alle acorden:Of sterres whiche thei recordenThat men mai sen upon the hevene,Ther ben a thousend sterres eveneAnd tuo and twenty, to the syhteWhiche aren of hemself so bryhte,    1490That men mai dieme what thei be,The nature and the proprete.

Nou hast thou herd, in which a wiseThese noble Philosophres wiseEnformeden this yonge king,And made him have a knowlechingOf thing which ferst to the partieBelongeth of Philosophie,Which Theorique cleped is,As thou tofore hast herd er this.    1500Bot nou to speke of the secounde,Which Aristotle hath also founde,And techeth hou to speke faire,Which is a thing full necessaireTo contrepeise the balance,Wher lacketh other sufficance.

Above alle erthli creaturesThe hihe makere of naturesThe word to man hath yove alone,So that the speche of his persone,    1510Or forto lese or forto winne,The hertes thoght which is withinneMai schewe, what it wolde mene;And that is noghwhere elles seneOf kinde with non other beste.So scholde he be the more honeste,To whom god yaf so gret a yifte,And loke wel that he ne schifteHise wordes to no wicked us;For word the techer of vertus    1520Is cleped in Philosophie.Wherof touchende this partie,Is Rethorique the scienceAppropred to the reverenceOf wordes that ben resonable:And for this art schal be vailableWith goodli wordes forto like,It hath Gramaire, it hath Logiqe,That serven bothe unto the speche.Gramaire ferste hath forto teche    1530To speke upon congruite:Logique hath eke in his degreBetwen the trouthe and the falshodeThe pleine wordes forto schode,So that nothing schal go beside,That he the riht ne schal decide.Wherof full many a gret debatReformed is to good astat,And pes sustiened up alofteWith esy wordes and with softe,    1540Wher strengthe scholde lete it falle.The Philosophre amonges alleForthi commendeth this science,Which hath the reule of eloquence.

In Ston and gras vertu ther is,Bot yit the bokes tellen this,That word above alle erthli thingesIs vertuous in his doinges,Wher so it be to evele or goode.For if the wordes semen goode    1550And ben wel spoke at mannes Ere,Whan that ther is no trouthe there,Thei don fulofte gret deceipte;For whan the word to the conceipteDescordeth in so double a wise,Such Rethorique is to despiseIn every place, and forto drede.For of Uluxes thus I rede,As in the bok of Troie is founde,His eloquence and his facounde    1560Of goodly wordes whiche he tolde,Hath mad that Anthenor him soldeThe toun, which he with tresoun wan.Word hath beguiled many a man;With word the wilde beste is daunted,With word the Serpent is enchaunted,Of word among the men of ArmesBen woundes heeled with the charmes,Wher lacketh other medicine;Word hath under his discipline    1570Of Sorcerie the karectes.The wordes ben of sondri sectes,Of evele and eke of goode also;The wordes maken frend of fo,And fo of frend, and pes of werre,And werre of pes, and out of herreThe word this worldes cause entriketh,And reconsileth whan him liketh.The word under the coupe of heveneSet every thing or odde or evene;    1580With word the hihe god is plesed,With word the wordes ben appesed,The softe word the loude stilleth;Wher lacketh good, the word fulfilleth,To make amendes for the wrong;Whan wordes medlen with the song,It doth plesance wel the more.

Bot forto loke upon the loreHou Tullius his RethoriqueComponeth, ther a man mai pike    1590Hou that he schal hise wordes sette,Hou he schal lose, hou he schal knette,And in what wise he schal pronounceHis tale plein withoute frounce.Wherof ensample if thou wolt seche,Tak hiede and red whilom the specheOf Julius and Cithero,Which consul was of Rome tho,Of Catoun eke and of Cillene,Behold the wordes hem betwene,    1600Whan the tresoun of CatelineDescoevered was, and the covineOf hem that were of his assentWas knowe and spoke in parlement,And axed hou and in what wiseMen scholde don hem to juise.Cillenus ferst his tale tolde,To trouthe and as he was beholde,The comun profit forto save,He seide hou tresoun scholde have    1610A cruel deth; and thus thei spieke,The Consul bothe and Catoun eke,And seiden that for such a wrongTher mai no peine be to strong.Bot Julius with wordes wiseHis tale tolde al otherwise,As he which wolde her deth respite,And fondeth hou he mihte exciteThe jugges thurgh his eloquenceFro deth to torne the sentence    1620And sette here hertes to pite.Nou tolden thei, nou tolde he;Thei spieken plein after the lawe,Bot he the wordes of his saweColoureth in an other weieSpekende, and thus betwen the tweie,To trete upon this juggement,Made ech of hem his Argument.Wherof the tales forto hiere,Ther mai a man the Scole liere    1630Of Rethoriqes eloquences,Which is the secounde of sciencesTouchende to Philosophie;Wherof a man schal justifieHise wordes in disputeisoun,And knette upon conclusiounHis Argument in such a forme,Which mai the pleine trouthe enformeAnd the soubtil cautele abate,Which every trewman schal debate.    1640

The ferste, which is Theorique,And the secounde Rethorique,Sciences of Philosophie,I have hem told as in partie,So as the Philosophre it toldeTo Alisandre: and nou I woldeTelle of the thridde what it is,The which Practique cleped is.

Practique stant upon thre thingesToward the governance of kinges;    1650Wherof the ferst Etique is named,The whos science stant proclamedTo teche of vertu thilke reule,Hou that a king himself schal reuleOf his moral condicionWith worthi disposicionOf good livinge in his persone,Which is the chief of his corone.It makth a king also to lerneHou he his bodi schal governe,    1660Hou he schal wake, hou he schal slepe,Hou that he schal his hele kepeIn mete, in drinke, in clothinge eke:Ther is no wisdom forto sekeAs for the reule of his persone,The which that this science al oneNe techeth as be weie of kinde,That ther is nothing left behinde.

That other point which to PractiqueBelongeth is Iconomique,    1670Which techeth thilke honesteteThurgh which a king in his degreHis wif and child schal reule and guie,So forth with al the companieWhich in his houshold schal abyde,And his astat on every sydeIn such manere forto lede,That he his houshold ne mislede.

Practique hath yit the thridde aprise,Which techeth hou and in what wise    1680Thurgh hih pourveied ordinanceA king schal sette in governanceHis Realme, and that is Policie,Which longeth unto RegalieIn time of werre, in time of pes,To worschipe and to good encressOf clerk, of kniht and of Marchant,And so forth of the remenantOf al the comun poeple aboute,Withinne Burgh and ek withoute,    1690Of hem that ben Artificiers,Whiche usen craftes and mestiers,Whos Art is cleped Mechanique.And though thei ben noght alle like,Yit natheles, hou so it falle,O lawe mot governe hem alle,Or that thei lese or that thei winne,After thastat that thei ben inne.

Lo, thus this worthi yonge kingWas fulli tauht of every thing,    1700Which mihte yive entendementOf good reule and good regimentTo such a worthi Prince as he.Bot of verray necessiteThe Philosophre him hath betakeFyf pointz, whiche he hath undertakeTo kepe and holde in observance,As for the worthi governanceWhich longeth to his Regalie,After the reule of Policie.    1710

To every man behoveth lore,Bot to noman belongeth moreThan to a king, which hath to ledeThe poeple; for of his kinghedeHe mai hem bothe save and spille.And for it stant upon his wille,It sit him wel to ben avised,And the vertus whiche are assissedUnto a kinges Regiment,To take in his entendement:    1720Wherof to tellen, as thei stonde,Hierafterward nou woll I fonde.

Among the vertus on is chief,And that is trouthe, which is liefTo god and ek to man also.And for it hath ben evere so,Tawhte Aristotle, as he wel couthe,To Alisandre, hou in his youtheHe scholde of trouthe thilke graceWith al his hole herte embrace,    1730So that his word be trewe and plein,Toward the world and so certeinThat in him be no double speche:For if men scholde trouthe secheAnd founde it noght withinne a king,It were an unsittende thing.The word is tokne of that withinne,Ther schal a worthi king beginneTo kepe his tunge and to be trewe,So schal his pris ben evere newe.    1740Avise him every man tofore,And be wel war, er he be swore,For afterward it is to late,If that he wole his word debate.For as a king in specialAbove alle othre is principalOf his pouer, so scholde he beMost vertuous in his degre;And that mai wel be signefiedBe his corone and specified.    1750

The gold betokneth excellence,That men schull don him reverenceAs to here liege soverein.The Stones, as the bokes sein,Commended ben in treble wise:Ferst thei ben harde, and thilke assisseBetokneth in a king Constance,So that ther schal no varianceBe founde in his condicion;And also be descripcion    1760The vertu which is in the stonesA verrai Signe is for the nonesOf that a king schal ben honesteAnd holde trewly his behesteOf thing which longeth to kinghede:The bryhte colour, as I rede,Which in the stones is schynende,Is in figure betoknendeThe Cronique of this worldes fame,Which stant upon his goode name.    1770The cercle which is round abouteIs tokne of al the lond withoute,Which stant under his Gerarchie,That he it schal wel kepe and guye.

And for that trouthe, hou so it falle,Is the vertu soverein of alle,That longeth unto regiment,A tale, which is evidentOf trouthe in comendacioun,Toward thin enformacion,    1780Mi Sone, hierafter thou schalt hiereOf a Cronique in this matiere.

As the Cronique it doth reherce,A Soldan whilom was of Perce,Which Daires hihte, and YtaspisHis fader was; and soth it isThat thurgh wisdom and hih prudenceMor than for eny reverenceOf his lignage as be descenteThe regne of thilke empire he hente:    1790And as he was himselve wys,The wisemen he hield in prisAnd soghte hem oute on every side,That toward him thei scholde abide.Among the whiche thre ther wereThat most service unto him bere,As thei which in his chambre lyhenAnd al his conseil herde and syhen.Here names ben of strange note,Arpaghes was the ferste hote,    1800And Manachaz was the secounde,Zorobabel, as it is foundeIn the Cronique, was the thridde.This Soldan, what so him betidde,To hem he triste most of alle,Wherof the cas is so befalle:This lord, which hath conceiptes depe,Upon a nyht whan he hath slepe,As he which hath his wit desposed,Touchende a point hem hath opposed.    1810

The kinges question was this;Of thinges thre which strengest is,The wyn, the womman or the king:And that thei scholde upon this thingOf here ansuere avised be,He yaf hem fulli daies thre,And hath behote hem be his feithThat who the beste reson seith,He schal receive a worthi mede.

Upon this thing thei token hiede    1820And stoden in desputeison,That be diverse opinionOf Argumentz that thei have holdeArpaghes ferst his tale tolde,And seide hou that the strengthe of kingesIs myhtiest of alle thinges.For king hath pouer over man,And man is he which reson can,As he which is of his natureThe moste noble creature    1830Of alle tho that god hath wroght:And be that skile it semeth noght,He seith, that eny erthly thingMai be so myhty as a king.A king mai spille, a king mai save,A king mai make of lord a knaveAnd of a knave a lord also:The pouer of a king stant so,That he the lawes overpasseth;What he wol make lasse, he lasseth,    1840What he wol make more, he moreth;And as the gentil faucon soreth,He fleth, that noman him reclameth;Bot he al one alle othre tameth,And stant himself of lawe fre.Lo, thus a kinges myht, seith he,So as his reson can argue,Is strengest and of most value.

Bot Manachaz seide otherwise,That wyn is of the more emprise;    1850And that he scheweth be this weie.The wyn fulofte takth aweieThe reson fro the mannes herte;The wyn can make a krepel sterte,And a delivere man unwelde;It makth a blind man to behelde,And a bryht yhed seme derk;It makth a lewed man a clerk,And fro the clerkes the clergieIt takth aweie, and couardie    1860It torneth into hardiesse;Of Avarice it makth largesse.The wyn makth ek the goode blod,In which the Soule which is goodHath chosen hire a resting place,Whil that the lif hir wole embrace.And be this skile ManachasAnsuered hath upon this cas,And seith that wyn be weie of kindeIs thing which mai the hertes binde    1870Wel more than the regalie.

Zorobabel for his partieSeide, as him thoghte for the beste,That wommen ben the myhtieste.The king and the vinour alsoOf wommen comen bothe tuo;And ek he seide hou that manhedeThurgh strengthe unto the wommanhedeOf love, wher he wole or non,Obeie schal; and therupon,    1880To schewe of wommen the maistrie,A tale which he syh with yheAs for ensample he tolde this,—

Hou Apemen, of BesazisWhich dowhter was, in the paleisSittende upon his hihe deis,Whan he was hotest in his ireToward the grete of his empire,Cirus the king tirant sche tok,And only with hire goodly lok    1890Sche made him debonaire and meke,And be the chyn and be the chekeSche luggeth him riht as hir liste,That nou sche japeth, nou sche kiste,And doth with him what evere hir liketh;Whan that sche loureth, thanne he siketh,And whan sche gladeth, he is glad:And thus this king was overladWith hire which his lemman was.Among the men is no solas,    1900If that ther be no womman there;For bot if that the wommen were,This worldes joie were aweie:Thurgh hem men finden out the weieTo knihthode and to worldes fame;Thei make a man to drede schame,And honour forto be desired:Thurgh the beaute of hem is fyredThe Dart of which Cupide throweth,Wherof the jolif peine groweth,    1910Which al the world hath under fote.A womman is the mannes bote,His lif, his deth, his wo, his wel;And this thing mai be schewed wel,Hou that wommen ben goode and kinde,For in ensample this I finde.

Whan that the duk Ametus laySek in his bedd, that every dayMen waiten whan he scholde deie,Alceste his wif goth forto preie,    1920As sche which wolde thonk deserve,With Sacrifice unto Minerve,To wite ansuere of the goddesseHou that hir lord of his seknesse,Wherof he was so wo besein,Recovere myhte his hele ayein.Lo, thus sche cride and thus sche preide,Til ate laste a vois hir seide,That if sche wolde for his sakeThe maladie soffre and take,    1930And deie hirself, he scholde live.Of this ansuere Alceste hath yiveUnto Minerve gret thonkinge,So that hir deth and his livingeSche ches with al hire hole entente,And thus acorded hom sche wente.Into the chambre and whan sche cam,Hire housebonde anon sche namIn bothe hire Armes and him kiste,And spak unto him what hire liste;    1940And therupon withinne a throweThis goode wif was overthroweAnd deide, and he was hool in haste.So mai a man be reson taste,Hou next after the god aboveThe trouthe of wommen and the love,In whom that alle grace is founde,Is myhtiest upon this groundeAnd most behovely manyfold.

Lo, thus Zorobabel hath told    1950The tale of his opinion:Bot for final conclusionWhat strengest is of erthli thinges,The wyn, the wommen or the kinges,He seith that trouthe above hem alleIs myhtiest, hou evere it falle.The trouthe, hou so it evere come,Mai for nothing ben overcome;It mai wel soffre for a throwe,Bot ate laste it schal be knowe.    1960The proverbe is, who that is trewe,Him schal his while nevere rewe:For hou so that the cause wende,The trouthe is schameles ate ende,Bot what thing that is troutheles,It mai noght wel be schameles,And schame hindreth every wyht:So proveth it, ther is no myhtWithoute trouthe in no degre.And thus for trouthe of his decre    1970Zorobabel was most commended,Wherof the question was ended,And he resceived hath his medeFor trouthe, which to mannes nedeIs most behoveliche overal.Forthi was trouthe in specialThe ferste point in observanceBetake unto the governanceOf Alisandre, as it is seid:For therupon the ground is leid    1980Of every kinges regiment,As thing which most convenientIs forto sette a king in eveneBothe in this world and ek in hevene.

Next after trouthe the secounde,In Policie as it is founde,Which serveth to the worldes fameIn worschipe of a kinges name,Largesse it is, whos privileggeTher mai non Avarice abregge.    1990The worldes good was ferst comune,Bot afterward upon fortuneWas thilke comun profit cessed:For whan the poeple stod encrescedAnd the lignages woxen grete,Anon for singulier beyeteDrouh every man to his partie;Wherof cam in the ferste envieWith gret debat and werres stronge,And laste among the men so longe,    2000Til noman wiste who was who,Ne which was frend ne which was fo.Til ate laste in every londWithinne hemself the poeple fondThat it was good to make a king,Which mihte appesen al this thingAnd yive riht to the lignagesIn partinge of here heritagesAnd ek of al here other good;And thus above hem alle stod    2010The king upon his Regalie,As he which hath to justifieThe worldes good fro covoitise.So sit it wel in alle wiseA king betwen the more and lesseTo sette his herte upon largesseToward himself and ek alsoToward his poeple; and if noght so,That is to sein, if that he beToward himselven large and fre    2020And of his poeple take and pile,Largesse be no weie of skileIt mai be seid, bot Avarice,Which in a king is a gret vice.

A king behoveth ek to fleThe vice of Prodegalite,That he mesure in his expenceSo kepe, that of indigenceHe mai be sauf: for who that nedeth,In al his werk the worse he spedeth.    2030As Aristotle upon ChaldeeEnsample of gret AuctoriteUnto king Alisandre tauhteOf thilke folk that were unsauhteToward here king for his pilage:Wherof he bad, in his corageThat he unto thre pointz entende,Wher that he wolde his good despende.Ferst scholde he loke, hou that it stod,That al were of his oghne good    2040The yiftes whiche he wolde yive;So myhte he wel the betre live:And ek he moste taken hiedeIf ther be cause of eny nede,Which oghte forto be defended,Er that his goodes be despended:He mot ek, as it is befalle,Amonges othre thinges alleSe the decertes of his men;And after that thei ben of ken    2050And of astat and of merite,He schal hem largeliche aquite,Or for the werre, or for the pes,That non honour falle in descres,Which mihte torne into defame,Bot that he kepe his goode name,So that he be noght holde unkinde.For in Cronique a tale I finde,Which spekth somdiel of this matiere,Hierafterward as thou schalt hiere.    2060

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