64.swinkes lan: comp. ‘⁊ ta shall ure Laferrd Crist | Att ure lifess ende | Uss ȝifenn ure swinnkess læn | Wiþþ enngless eche blisse,’ Orm 111/3256-9; ‘lure ow is to leosen | ower swinkes lan,’ SK 804; ‘La receura chacon luer de sun labor,’ Guischart 311.lan: lyen E; lien e M; lean JTD: see 27/289.66.þe (mare): þe þe E e M; se ꝥ D. J rewrites, þe riche and þe poure boþe · ah nouht alle ilyche.muȝen: mai E; mei e; the others omit as T.67.Al se, just the same: e Eal se, omitting the nominative, like L, but He alse E; þe poure J; Al suo on D; Ase wel þon M.alse oðer: se þe oþer E e; alse þe oþer M; swo oþer D; þe riche J.68.cheþ: ware e J D T M; ȝare E, a case of letter substitution.69.mid—þonke: equivalent to ‘of gode wille,’ l. 73: see10/167 note.70.se þe þe: se þe E e; swo se D; so he M; J omits 69, 70.manke: the mancus was ‘not current coin but merely money of account,’ Grueber, Handbook of Coins, introd. p. ix: ‘fif penegas gemacjað ǽnne scylling and þrittig penega ǽnne mancus,’ Ælf. Gram. ed. Zupitza 296/15, 16. The word was in OE.mancus,g.-es.m.itspl. n.mancussas,pl. g.mancussa;s.mancs,pl.mancsas also occur (ES xxxix. 349). The Latin forms were mancusa, mancus, manca, from the last of which may have been derived an OE. *mancwithpl. a.*mancas= mancys, Kemble, Codex Dipl. ii. 380, andpl. g.*manca, the original of manke here. e reads marke.goldemay mean, in gold; OE.on golde, but more probably it is a mistake for goldes as in the other MSS. Forfelewith genitive see132/9 note.71.kon mare þonc, acknowledges, feels more thankful; like Fr. savoir gré.þen þe, to him who: ðan þe E e D; ye þat J; him þat M.73, 74 T: see 203, 204 T.74.ec leteappears to be a mistake for eðlete, of small account as in the other MSS.; ȝeþlete M: comp. Et lete 38/148, 153.of þan, of whom, of him whose; ðenne E e; þer J; þanne D; of him þat M. J rewrites ⁊ lutel he let on muchel wowe · þer þe heorte is ille; wherein ‘wowe’ is explained by Kock (Anglia xxv. 318) as = vowe, votive offering.76.houen fur, probably daylight; possibly lightning or the stars: heuene · ⁊ fur J; dai ⁊ fur E; dei ⁊ fur e; ⁊ alle sterren D; sterre ⁊ fur M.þestre: see 123/230. T omits this line and substitutes a new line at 80, not in the other MSS.79.þenkeð . . . doþ: doþ . . . queþeþ M.80.swich se, such as: swilc se E e; comp. ‘þa com þær heofonlic leoht . . . swilc swa hi ær ne gesawon,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 184/262; 76/29.swilchin T, with which the other MSS. agree, = such as; comp. 36/120; ‘Ðonne ic wæs mid Iudeum ic wæs suelc hie,’ Cura Past. 101/5. The fuller expression is seen in, ‘we ne magon . . . nan þing geseon swylc swilc hyt is,’ Blooms, ES xviii. 354/26.80 T is probably the scribe’s own attempt to remedy the omission ofl. 76:Boðeappears to refer to ‘crist’ and ‘drihte.’þe his bien, such as be his, his own.81.biloken: comp. 13/37.82.wettre . . . londe: a common formula: comp. 26/271 note; 40/194; ‘Vor hi bynomen him saulen · in water ⁊ in londe,’OEM56/682, 162/13; ‘a londe ⁊ a watere,’ L 550, 562, 17990. See KH 245 note.83.fuȝeles&c.: comp. 143/79.84.wit ⁊ waldeð: wit ⁊ walt E. Comp. 139/17.85.buten: abuten, in both places E e; al buten D: a buten ende represents OE.ā būtan ende, ever without end; by union of the first two words a false form abuten, without, grew up, as at 52/369, 371, 373, alongside abuten, OE.abūtan, onbūtan, around, about. J rewrites, He wes erest of alle þing · and euer byþ buten ende.86.wende&c., go where you will; so ‘Ga quar þou ga,’ CM 14072; ‘for wende woder þou wende;þine daȝes beoþ at þe ende,’ L 16110. Expressions of the same form are ‘comen þer heo comen,’ L 20667, 23021; ‘fare wha swa auere fare,’ id. 20849, 23223; 104/176; ‘likien swa me liken,’ L 22511, 30544; ‘wreaðe se þu wreaðe,’ 141/54; 143/84; 145/115.88.þe—wille: the MSS. have the order in T.uwer, anywhere: aihwar D (= OE.ǣhwǣr, everywhere); ichwer J; oueral M; but E e have eiðer, OE.ǣgðer, both; perhaps for eaðe, or eaðere, easily, more easily.90.Wi, alas; not in E e; wy J; wai D. Comp. 36/105; ‘wei þet he eure hit wule iþenche,’ OEH i. 21/28; ‘Awi leof ware þu me, Heu dilecta mihi,’ OEH ii. 183/7: Heu is translated by Aweilewei, id. 183/15.hwat—rede, what shall be to us for advisable? a common tag; see KH 825 note.91.gulteð, &c.: comp. 117/18.92.et—dome: comp. ‘at þanmuchele dome,’ L 23056; 16/136 note. D has at to heaȝe dome; M, atte heȝe dome.93-96 are omitted in D. J has them in the order 93, 96, 94, then a new line, Crist for his muchele myhte · hus helpe þenne and rede, 95, 97.94.engles: comp. 17/146; ‘Dunc tremblerunt li angle qui tant sunt beaus e clers | E nus que ferum dunc chaitif maleurez | Ki en peche uiuom,’ Guischart 446-8.95.beren biforen us: e, omitting us, has the right reading. The phrase is Fr. mettre avant, put forward, allege as a plea; comp. ‘Mes tu iés si engresse e fole, | qu’avant vuels metre ta parole,’ Marie de France, Fables, ed. Warnke, 305/15, 16. Gabrielson, Archiv cxxviii. 327, notes the similarity of the expression to ‘Mais eiez charite ke uus metez de uant,’Guischart 1896, but the metaphor there is that of interposing a shield against the darts of the devil.hom: wan E; hwan e J T; wham M: all the readings mean, what.96.þo, a mistake for we, which the other MSS. read.demeis object ofiquemen.99. The variantiseienis peculiar to T: it is evidently due to l. 98.101. Comp. 119/70, 72.103. Comp. ‘Quant ileoc tremblerunt martir e confessur | Dites mei que ferunt pariurie e traitur,’ Guischart 319, 20.þes wichenin T may be a false division of words, or it may be a deliberate variation, meaning, these witches (wicca,wicce).104.hwi: the other MSS. have the exclamation like T; a wei D; Awi M. The corruption in L has brought about the insertion of ⁊, which is also in D. ‘Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi,’ S. Matt. xxii. 14.105.wi hwi: comp. ‘Wei hwi beo we uule on þisse wrecche world,’ OEH i. 33/36; ‘Wi qui þan mak we us sa kene,’ CM 23845.to hwon: to hwi D; hwi J.107.bi clepie, accuse. D has biclepien, bitelle ⁊ deme.108. All MSS. except L have temen or teme. ForheJ has hit, which is probably object of temen, the subject of schal being that of the preceding line.110.ȝere, fully; OE.geare: the other MSS. have wel. For him J has, his þonk.112.bi seiþ, declares; withmest, has most to say about it. Comp. ‘Seó wearð gebróht and besǽd þám cyninge,’ B-T. suppl.s.v.besecgan; ‘elch sinne þare him seluen biseið,’ OEH ii. 173/6. he seið e J; the others seiþ only; seit E. Withstille, silent, comp. 135/105; ‘sedebit solitarius et tacebit, Me schal sitten him one ⁊ beon stille,’ AR 156/18.114.hal: vnhol J. M has Þe man þat saiþ þat he is lame, himself he wot þe smerte.115. ‘Igitur ex nostro iudicio iudicat nos Deus,’ Alcuin ii. 131.116. J agrees with L, but E e have oðer with T, and D aider: all meaning, either death or life.117.com to monne, was born; comp. 113/30.118. The original is preserved in swilc hit si abóc jwriten e, as if it were written in a book; similarly E; J has Al so he hit iseye; D swich hit were on boc iwrite, | isien he sel hit þanne.iþenchen, remember: OE.geþencan.119-121. Compare generally, ‘forðan ðe god ne besceawað na, hwilce we ær wæron, ac he besceawað, hwilce we beon, þonne we dælan sceolonsawle ⁊ lichaman. Þæt is to witanne, þæt god ne secð na þæs godan weorces angin, ac he secð þæne ænde, forðan ðe ælc man sceal beon demed be ðam geearnungum, þe he hæfð, þonne he of ðisum life hwyrfan sceal,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 149/138-43; Orm 111/3248-55. S. Bernard quotes as from Isidore, ‘Non iudicat Deus hominem de praeterita vita, sed de suo fine,’ Opera ii. 840: for further parallels see Alcuin ii. 141; Fecunda Ratis 4/8.119.efter: in accordance with: comp. 119/80.120.suilch, such as; comp. 34/80: swulc se E; swich se e; DM have iteald, iteld, estimated; J rewrites, Ah dom schal þolyen vych mon · after his endinge.121.ȝefeis probably due to ȝeue in the next line; ȝif E e; ȝef M; yef J; ef D. The inversion in T is peculiar to it. e reads for the last half of the line ⁊ gód ȝíf gód ís þenne.122.wite—lende: in T lende is probablypr. s. subj.of lenden, OE.lendan, to arrive, in the very rare causal use, bring to land (lǣnde,pt.oflǣnan, would, by rule, be lande in this text): the sense then may be, grant that he convey us to heaven, a forced meaning for lende; similarly J with, God yef vs vre ende gód · hwider þat he vs lende. On the other hand the scribe of D, regardless of the rhyme, can have meant onlylǣndein writing, wite whet he us lende, meaning, preserve what he has entrusted to us, i.e. our souls; the expression of a familiar idea as at 121/144; 127/339, 368, and similarly lenne in er. w.þenne, must be taken to representlǣne,pr. s. subj.oflǣnan. The meaning of L, with which E and M agree, is probably the same, but iflendemeans convey, thenwitemust have the rare sense of, see to it, provide, as in, ‘Wite ȝe þet ȝe ȝemen þenne halie sunnendei,’ OEH i. 11/28. It would seem that all the texts derive from a corrupt source; the author may have written ⁊ wite us þen we wende; comp. ‘For-þi er we wende. | Makie we us clene and skere. | Þat we englene ivere. | Mawe beon o buten ende,’ OEM 73/27-30; 21/116-17.123.uuel: mistake for nule, due to the persistence of uuel from 121.124. J reads, þat deþ cume to his dure.himis in L only: comp. 30/6.125. Comp. ‘Mult avient sovent, | quant li mals le prent, | qu’il ne puet parler, | penitence prendre | ne le suen despendre, | partir ne doner,’ Reimpredigt 32/64.itit: bilimpeð D.126.for þi: þi E e, with same meaning; D omits.bietis difficult; possibly it is a mistake for beiet, kneels; see 132/3; 143/84. Forbit ⁊ bet, prays for pardon and amends, comp. 86/120. The variations in the MSS. here look like attempts to mend a faulty source. E, like T, has bit ⁊ beȝit ⁊ bet, prays for pardon, obtains it and amends: e has beot ⁊ beat⁊ bit, the first verb probably from beoden, the second possibly for beȝat: þat bit ore J; þat ore bit M gives a good sense, but is plainly from the previous line. Finally the reading of D, ꝥ bit ⁊ bete ⁊ bet, suggests that the author wrote, þat beot bote ⁊ bet, that offers satisfaction and reforms; comp. 136/132, and for bet, 38/164.127T.þe deað: the article is often so prefixed in ME.; see NED. iii. 73 for examples.128.latheð: leted E; leteþ e J M; uorlet D: probably the scribe of L meant to write lateð as in T, he does not elsewhere use th.129, 130T. These lines, not in L, were added on the margin of e and then partially erased. They are not, in my opinion, original. J has, Bilef sunne hwil þu myht · and do bi godes lore. | And do to gode hwat þu myht · if þu wilt habben ore.nah: for naht; Sin leaves you and not you it, when you cannot commit it any longer.himshows confusion of genders,synnisfem.For him þan þu, e has hi þanne þus, E hire þanne þus (= þu es). With the sentiment comp. ‘Nulla igitur laus est non facere quod facere non possis,’ Lactantius 579; ‘Si enim tunc vis poenitentiam agere, quando peccare non potes; peccata te dimiserunt, non tu illa,’ Alcuin ii. 135; ‘Or l’estuet laissier, | ne puet mais pechier, | n’at mais a durer,’ Reimpredigt 36/71 (l’ = son pechié).130T.abit, puts off, delays.129, 130. Comp. ‘Ceo dit escriture: | Tant cum li huem dure | en sa poesté, | se dunc se repent: | a deu veirement | s’est ja acordé,’ Reimpredigt, 38/73. The reference is possibly to Isa. lv. 7.ꝥ: E e agree with T; For we hit ileueþ wel J; Swa ileuen we hit muȝen D.132.þer: probably a miswriting of er, previously, hitherto: her T; hier D, in this world.haueð to: scal E; sceal e.134.Ne—bet, ought I not rather to pray? In 136 T,bie ichmeans, may I be. Foralesed . . . of bende, see 52/394. D reads, ne recche ic bote bi ic alesd; and M similarly.135.scaweð, shows, is pointless: with T the other MSS. have icnaweð e; iknoweþ J D; knoweþ M; but icwoweð E, an error of anticipation.137-140. Comp. generally, ‘El mund n’ad nul home, tant eit de leaute, | S’il aveit par mort le siecle trespasse, | E en enfern un oret este | E sentu la puur e veu le oscurte, | S’il reveneit en vie e en prosperite, | Ke james feit mal, tant serreit effree,’ Archiv lxiii. 81/152-7. In 138 Thitis a scribe’s mistake for hete.137.twa bare tide, merely two hours; comp. 221/227. After 138, J has Swiþe grimlych stench þer is · ⁊ wurþ wyþ vten ende | ⁊ hwo þe enes cumeþ þer · vt may he neuer þenne wende, which are not in any other MS.,followed by two lines corresponding to 42/221-2, which fit in better here.139.þa hit: þit E T = þe hit; ꝥ e; ꝥ hit D; heo hit J; & wite hit M. The allusion is to such legends as those of Owain and Tundale. Formid iwissen, see 32/40.140.wa wurð: so T M; but, uuel is E e; þer wurh D; þer þurh J.for, in exchange for.141.Inis a scribe’s mistake for Ent: wa wurð, or in E e uuel is, must be supplied from the preceding line. The secondþeis a superfluous repetition of the last word on the preceding recto. J avoidingforreads ⁊ for þe blysse þat ende haueþ;endeles is þe pyne.142.water drunch, water-drink; comp. ‘Alls iff þu drunnke waterr-drinnch,’ Ormii. 149/14482. The other MSS. avoid the compound; water to drinke E; weter í drunke e; wateres drung J; betere were drinke wori weter D; wateres drinch M.atter: comp. ‘God for ure secnesse dronc attri drunch o rode,’ AR 364/17.143.brede, roast meat; OE.brǣde: comp. ‘he nom his aȝe þeh | . . . þer of he makede brede. | he bredde heo an hiȝinge,’ L 30581, 3, 4.144. All too dear he buyeth it, who giveth his neck for it.145. ‘Plenus venter facile de ieiuniis disputat,’ S. Jerome, Epist. 158, 2.146is intelligible if of pine is understood aftercnauð. E has þe naht not · hu hi scullen ilesten; similarly e.147.stunde: hwile E.148.Et lete: see34/74 note. J reads ⁊ lete for crist beo wif.149, 150 are wanting in e M. Foroðerluker, see 125/270.151.wawe . . . wene: the combination is formal: comp. 142/77: but E has wa . . . pine, e, wa . . . wawe; D, wo . . . wope; J, Eure he wolde in bonen beon · ⁊ in godnesse wunye | Wiþ þat he myhte helle fur · euer fleon ⁊ schonye, and similarly M.152.Wið ꝥ þe, provided that, if only; wid þan þe E, wið þan ðe e M, =wīþ þǣm þe; Wiþ þat J; wið þet D. T J D M add he, unnecessarily, as it is in the principal clause.153. J reads, ⁊ lete sker al þes worldes weole, where ‘sker’, utterly, isOWScand.skǽrr, clean.154. L appears to mean, Because to attain to that great bliss is joy of a certainty. Butcumein T E e, come in D are subjunctives dependent on for, in order that he may come, the subject not being expressed because ofhimin the principal clause; see 6/18:for . . . cumenin L could have the same meaning, comp. ‘for lesen’ 40/180, 182, but a subject is needed foris.Forwith the subjunctive is not common, but see NED. iv. 412,col. 3; in this use it descends fromfor þǣm þæt. J has Wiþ þat he myhte to heouene cumen. In Teþis= þe is; D has þet is, E þat is heuenriche. Formid iwisse, see 32/40.155.ꝥ . . . of: see 1/3.157.eþe: so E e D; J M omit; sore T is isolated, but J reads ⁊ sore vs of-drede.158.he: in L only: the others agree with T:alis in L T only.159, 160.þer men, wherein men.stelen . . . helenchange places in T M only.wruȝen . . . ⁊ helen: the combination is formal; comp. ‘ase þe uikelares wreoð ⁊ helieð,’ AR 88/18; a reminiscence of ‘quoadusque veniat Dominus, qui et illuminabit abscondita tenebrarum et manifestabit consilia cordium’, 1 Cor. iv. 5.162.riche: so J only; heiȝe E; heȝe e D M.164 T.to þe: a mistake which has probably arisen out of an original þo: efning is constructed with wið.163-166. Not in J. After scal E has þei, e þeh, D þeð, T þeih, nevertheless.164.ofþincþ: see30/10 note. The subject ofbetis he, as implied by him preceding.165.scameþ . . . gromeð: comp. ‘Teonen þolien ⁊ gromen ⁊ schomen umbe stunde,’ HM 7/8, and for the corresponding nouns in the next line, ‘Þu vs hauest iwroht þes schome. | And alle þene eche grome,’ OEM 83/334, 5; ‘Me to sorge, scaðe and same,’ GE 302; OEH ii. 173/13, 14, 23.166.þo þre: so D þoðre, but þe oþre E e M.oft: e D M agree with T; but E has, þat sculle beon forlorene.167, 168. Comp. ‘Ia ne porrat nuls dire ke il seit enganez | En tant com li oil clot serrat li plaiz finez,’ Guischart 444, 5.168.mene, withhimreflexive, complain; comp. ‘þat he ne mahte nanes weis | meanen him of wohe,’ SK 1235, 6. D has bimene; comp. ‘Men hem bimenin of litel trewthe,’ Rel. Ant. ii. 121/11. At 196/663, 205/280 it has the more usual sense, with reflexive, of bemoan.strengþe . . . wronge: comp. 19/48-51, 32/48-50, 44/256: the perversion of justice by bribed or overawed judges is a common theme in the literature of the time; see Wright, Political Songs, pp. 224-30.strengþe, violence, has usually a determining adjective in this sense, as ‘nawt wið luðer strencðe,’ SK 1234; ‘liste ne luðer strengðe,’ id. 1516, but see 60/18.170.uuele holden, handled, treated, hardly; comp. ‘and heom heold swa harde;⁊ mid hærme heomigrette,’ L 29937, 8.redde: a mistakefor rerde, as in E; the others have arerde, set up, instituted; comp. 15/80, 85.171.ec: Ac E; End e; ech D; Euerich M. 171, 172 are not in J.176, 178.forð mid: see 1/19.177.habbeð doules were: nabbeð god idon E e: comp. 44/254.178.grunde: comp. 46/295; ‘alesde us of helle grunde,’ OEH i. 19/8; ‘al forloren into helle grunde,’ id. 21/35; see also 119/82. Forfaren forð mid, E e have, falle swiþe raþe.179.are: ore E J D. The text means, ever without mercy and without end, but Lewin confusing ore with orde as in ‘Wiþþutenn ord ⁊ ende,’ Orm 234/6775, translates ‘ohne Anfang und Ende.’ e reads á ⁊ buten ende.180.gate: dure E e J D; M omits.for lesen: for lese e; the others have to. The infinitive of purpose withforis uncommon, comp. 173/409.181.sullic, wonder.wa . . . uneade, OE.unēaðe, are historically adverbs, lit. though to them it be wofully and grievously; bet, wwrs, &c., are used in the same construction; see 46/289: comp. withuneade, ‘þer fore hire wes uneðe,’ L 4503; ‘an heorte him wes unneðe,’ id. 26730. J has, he mawe wunye eþe, they may easily remain there.182.for lesen: variants as in l. 180, but E for lesen. Comp. ‘Ki deu ne uolt conustre tut serrat cureicus | Il ne morrat ia meis ne por mei ne por uus,’ Guischart 223, 4.183.helle brec, harrowed hell. ‘The Gospel [of Nicodemus] probably reached the climax of its popularity in England during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,’ The ME. Harrowing of Hell, ed. Hulme, p. lxviii.184: Comp. ‘Tant cher nus achatað de sun sanc precius,’ Guischart 220; OEM 49/434, 187/20.hom: hi D; the others, us.185.mei . . . mei: comp. 30/29, where L has the usual pair, representing OE.mǣge, kinswoman,mǣg, kinsman: mouwe . . . mey E; maȝhe . . .mei e; moȝe . . . meie D; moȝe . . . mei M: but J Nolde hit nomon do for me.188.bendes: comp. 81/67.192 T.þar þat, of those who: comp. 1 Cor. vi. 2.192.ꝥ, because.uuele: harde J D M, meaning hardship; comp. ON. 459, 527.habbeð . . . on honde, have to do with, have to suffer: similar expressions are ‘sorhen heom com on honde,’ L 30428; ‘for al hit trukeð us an hond;ꝥ we to temden,’ id. 16799; ‘and eoden him luðere an hond,’ id. 31265: ‘him for ðissere worulde wel on hand eode,’ Ælf. Lives i. 488/13. For the matter, comp. 183/241, 193/551-2.193.honde: comp. 56/50: ande e.194.sake: in L only. It means here, guilt, as in ‘Þa lakess mihhtenn clennsenn hemm | Off sakess ⁊ off senness,’ Orm 36/1126, 7. Other similar combinations are ‘sorge, scaðe and same,’ GE 302; ‘sorge and sare,’ Ælf. Lives i. 266/90; ‘swinc and sorwe and deades strif,’ GE 268. With T comp. 42/204, 136/136; ‘on sorhge leofodon and on geswincum,’ Ælf. de Vet. Test. 3/10; ‘labor et dolor,’ Psalm lxxxix. 10. Fora watere, &c., see 34/82; on se ⁊ on londe D.195, 196. Comp. ‘Adam le (i.e. nostre pais) nus tolit e sa fole moiller | E nus ki deaus uenimes lauum conpare chier | En grant cheitiuison mult nus pot en nuier,’ Guischart 695-7.forme: formes E e; uormes D.197. Comp. 48/323; ‘þurst and hunger · chele and hete · þis beoð stronge pyne,’ OEM 37/9; ‘muchel hunger ⁊ hæte;at æuer ælche monnes ȝete,’ L 20441, 2.helde ⁊ unhelðe: comp. 20/72, 30/14, 48/323, 52/373. But, eche ⁊ al unelþe E; eche · ⁊ eal un helðe e; ache and vnhelþe J; ecðe (= eche) ⁊ al unhelðe D; eche ⁊ unhelþe M, show the original reading: OE.ece, æce, ache.198.uniselðe: comp. 52/374; 26/256 note. J has vnyselyhþe.199.unsele: vnhele J; vnvele D.200.a hele: on hele E e D; myd blysse and myd wele J.203, 204 Tare copied by mistake from ll. 73, 74. As in both cases the lines are at the top of a folio, it may be inferred that the scribe of T was copying a MS. exactly page by page, and that l. 202 completed a gathering in his original with an added catchword Litel; that he, after beginning f 5awith the catchword, laid aside his work, and on resuming it began at the wrong place. On discovering his mistake he started afresh.201.lutel—mon: so T J D, it seems a small matter to many a man; but E e omit hit, read iþenchð,iðencð, and hu for ac, many a man little thinks how great, &c.202.hwam: hwan e; whan M; whon J =for hwǣm,for hwon, why; vor hwy D =for hwȳ; E has for þan.horemust mean Adam and Eve; M reads adammes: but e reads þe, D þo, yet they begin the next line with Heore e, Here D, and J with heore in this line has Vre sunne and vre sor · vs may sore of þunche.203.ofþinche: see 30/10.204.sorȝe: see 40/194.206.eðe: sore E J M.208.an helle pine&c.: e M go with L; E with T; in pyne ⁊ on vnwunne J.209.ledden: the other MSS. have the present tense.mid unriht: comp. ‘Ne wurþ þer vnryht ne wrong,’ OEM 143/85.210.buten—do, unless God’s mercy intervene.longe: comp. 48/327, 169/342.212.bi þan ilke iwichte, by the same measure, i.e. as great as his might; comp. 53/384: ah al by one wyhte J; nis him no þing litlinde, | ac bi emliche wihte D (litlinde, decreasing, see 126/327; emliche, equal). In T 216 mihte is a mistake for milce.213. ‘Nuls ne pot tant pecher com deus pot parduner,’ Guischart 948.214.hit bigunne, made a beginning, took the first step, i.e. repentance,hitbeing indefinite; comp. ‘Li sires est tut prest certes de nus aider | Se il en fust alkun kil uosist comencer,’ Guischart 703, 4. Less probable is, began to show mercy, Einenkel, Anglia iv., Anz. 92. Morris takesbigunneas subjunctive of bigan, to seek for. E reads, it bidde gunne.218.wallinde: the other MSS. add pich, and have bed instead of bað: see 44/245, 120/104.219. Comp. ‘Ke plus fait sun servise, plus fait ke maleurous,’ Archiv lxiii. 81/171; ‘Ki plus fait sun plaisir a celui fait il pis,’ Guischart 59; ‘Ki kunques mielz le sert cil ad peines plus granz,’ id. 102; ‘Hec est natura Diaboli, qui semper malefacit amicis suis et non aliis; pessime remunerat illos qui ei seruiunt,’ Eudes de Cheriton 232/7.fulle, utter, deadly: comp. ‘þat is my fulle i-vo,’ OEM 42/174; ‘nawt ane to hare freond, ah to hare fulle fon,’ HM 31/3; 24/202. Forfrond, E e M have wines; D wine. J omits ll. 219-22.Wurstis adverbial.220.wih: wihd E; wið e D; fram M.221.hi= ih, I.222.þer—feche, might there procure for myself: but E e D M have for þer me, þerinne, þarinne, and D wende for mahte.223.ꝥ hisis a misreading of an original þeh ic, andonis for ou.wise men: comp. ‘De ceo ke io dirrai asez en ai garanz | Les mielz de seinte glise e tuz les plus uaillanz,’ Guischart 9, 10.224.aboken: comp. ‘Hit is write in þe bok · þer me hit may rede,’ OEM 41/131.226.unfrome, detriment: unfreme e; unureme M; hearme E; harme J; unwines D.227.edi men ⁊ arme: comp. ‘Arme ⁊ edie ledin,’ Prov. of Alfred, ed. Skeat 7/39; ‘ne ermne ne eadine,’ OEH i. 115/19. For arme M reads strangely areȝe. ‘Entendez ca uers mei les petiz e les granz,’ Guischart 1.229.twa uuele: uuele twa e, and similarly the other MSS.iferenin T is certainly the noun, companions, so iueren D and probablyiuerein L: in the othersifere, in company.230.maket niþinges, made worthless men, a reading due to the misunderstanding of the compound, as in T and the other MSS., stingy in giving away food: comp. ‘mete custi,’ L 19266. M has, þat were niþinges here.231. Forwaning, D has sorinesse; forwow, all MSS. wop; comp. ‘þær nan stefne styreð butan stearc-heard | wop and waning, na wiht elles,’ Be Domes Dæge, 14/200; 2/10.efter eche streche, at every stride, on every hand; comp. 29/14; ‘bið swa mihtles on his modes streche,’ OEH i. 111/25, for the verb, ‘bot inwyth not a fote, | To strech in the strete þou hatȝ no vygour,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 29/969. The other MSS. agree with T:after ache strate, along each road: foraftercomp. ‘Ðonne licggeað ða giemmas toworpne æfter strætum’ (= dispersi per plateas), Cura Past. 135/4; ‘Al þat verden æfter wæi,’ L 13776. M reads in eueriche strete.With 232-4 comp. 120/100-2.from hete to hetemay mean from one degree of heat to another, but the MSS. agree with T. The last half of the line which is peculiar to L does not mean, ‘and nearly freeze the wretches,’ as Morris translates, but, and each (change) for comfort to the wretches. The construction is probably the same as at 86/125; see176/24 note: ifto frureis adat. inf., it is the only one in L without finaln.233.blisse: J has here and l. 235, lisse, rest, respite; a word often associated with blisse, as ‘Blisse ⁊ lisse ic sende uppon monnen’, OEH i. 15/2.234.of—misse, they feel the privation of heat. The verb is also constructed with of, ‘Hwo þat for lyue þisse | þer-of schal mysse,’ OEM 73/34, 5, 87/7, 8; Minot ix. 13 note.235.hi, heat and cold; the MSS. agree with T. The omission of the subject to nabbeð T 239 is grammatically correct, but the metre requires hie.lisse: T, so E e J M.236. D reads Niteð hi hwer hi wonieð mest, they know not where they lament most. Formid—wisse, see 32/40.237.walkeð: not ‘rolls’ as at 2/12; the place in the writer’s mind is ‘Cum immundus spiritus exierit de homine, ambulat per loca inaquosa, quaerens requiem; et non inveniens dicit,’ &c., S. Luke xi. 24.238. See 32/35.239.for þi: so J; for hi D; ⁊ hi M, but E has ac þi; e þi, therefore; comp. ‘Ich rede þi þat man bo ȝare,’ ON 860, 1548: ‘þi bileafden heo heore timbrunge,’ OEH i. 93/23.240, 241. Suggested by ‘Qui enim haesitat similis est fluctui maris, quia vento movetur et circumfertur,’ S. James i. 6; ‘Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis,’ id. i. 8.walkeðhere seems to mean, rolls, tosses; see 2/12.weri: comp. ‘wery so water in wore,’ Bödd., AE. Dicht. 148/32, said however of stagnant water. ForweriJ substitutes þar boþe.241.a þanke: comp. ‘stif he wes on þonke,’ L 2110. Forboð, D has seden, for senden. For the last three words J substitutes Mid hwom me heold feste; Morris, thinking it corrupt, conjectures, hwom me ne heold feste, or, me heold vnfeste, whom men considered unsteadfast. But the scribe of J has deliberately substituted for the men of infirm purpose those who fare sumptuously. These are they who in this world were those with whom men feasted.242.⁊ þa þe: e reads ⁊ to, which gives the best sense.heste, not often in the sense of promise: auht E; aht e. In T 246, naht has dropped out beforeilaste.243.ful enden: fulendi D; OE.fullendian, finish.244.witen, went; OE.gewītan: the other MSS. have weren E e D; were J M.245. e reads, þere is pich ðe æure wealð · þer sculle baðie inne, and so the others, but for þer—inne J has, ꝥ heo schulle habbe þere, and M, þat sculle þe beo inne. See 42/218 and comp. ‘In a bytter baþ | ich schal baþe naked. | Of pych and of brunston | wallynde is i-maked,’ OEM 181/209-12.246.here: vuel E; uuel e.in werre ⁊ in winne, in war and in strife: the combination is at least rare. M has, mid werre ⁊ mid ywinne.unwinnein T 250, meaning distress, is also a rare word; comp. ‘Sinne me hauiþ in care ibroȝt | broȝt in mochil vnwinne,’ E. E. Poems, 21/5, 6: e has, in feoht end in iginne, where iginne is miswritten for iwinne; E in feoh (= feoht) end in iginne (= iwinne), in fighting and strife; comp. ‘ne bilæfde he næuer nænne;þat heold feht and iwin,’ L 9042, 4, 11522. D reads, in wele ⁊ in senne; J vnwreste · and eke false were.247. E has ll. 249, 250 before 247, 248. In 251 Tþis= þe is.248.uersc, fresh water; OE.adj.ferscused exclusively of fresh as opposed to salt water. The other MSS. agree with T: nauene strien ne sture E; nauene striem ne sture e; ne auene strém · ne sture J; Hauene stream ne Sture D. There are two places where rivers called Avon and Stour meet, in Warwickshire near Stratford-on-Avon, and in Hampshire near Christchurch.249.nawiht: nomon J; no þing D.250.þa þe—lof, those to whom it was too pleasing, those who took toomuch delight in: ll. 250, 251 may be a reminiscence of the Anarchy; see 7/49, 6/44.252. Those who had the power to do evil, (and) those (without the power) to whom it was sweet to contemplate it. But the other MSS., except T D, and M which omits the line, agree with E, þo þe ne mihte euel don · ⁊ lef was it to þenche. In T 256þedoes double duty asnom.to mihten, and asdat.to lief; comp. 118/28.254. ⁊ á · on ðes deofles weorc · bliðeliche swunche e; comp. 40/177; ‘qui laetantur cum malefecerint, et exultant in rebus pessimis,’ Prov. ii. 14.255. ‘Or ne set lum ki creire tant est fel e muanz,’ Guischart 13. Comp. 7/47.256.Medierne, greedy of bribes. Comp. 32/48.257.ꝥ: so þe E e, meaning, he to whom; comp. 161/187: Þe þat J; þo ꝥ D: wes has fallen out afterwif.258.ete: méte J; comp. ‘Inne mete ⁊ inne drinke ic habbe ibeo ouerdede,’ OEM 193/41. A variant is, ‘on hete and on wete,’ OEH i. 101/24; ‘on æte oððe on wæte,’ Ælf. Lives i. 354/270.drukenin T 262 is miswritten for drunke (drynce) through confusion with druken 257 (druncen).259. Who took from the poor man his property, and added it to his store. See 7/51, and comp. ‘leggeþ ine hord,’ OEM 47/364; ‘Vych mon hit scholde legge on hord,’ ON 1224.260.lutel let of, held in small esteem; comp. 113/45; 143/99; ‘Ac se kyngc let lihtlice of oð ꝥ he com to Englalande,’ AS. Chron. D 211/16; ‘ne lete he nout wel of þet he is Godes ȝerde,’ AR 184/21; ‘þat prophet | þat drightin of sa mikel let,’ CM 9149; ‘þat of his wordus lette pure liht,’ AE Legenden, ed. Horstman, 44/206; ‘he let lutel to þe,’ HM 33/14. For similar expressions see 8/84, 124/264, 129/32, 173/417.borde: comp. 48/307: bode E J D; bibode e; hest M.261.⁊—aȝen: End te his aȝen e, and to his own relatives, and similarly in L T D, though the preposition be wanting. J has þeo þat almes, adding as next line, Ne his poure kunesmen · at him ne myhte nouht spede. E has And of his owen nolde ȝiuen.262.sonde: so E J; sande e: but D agrees with T. In the second half of the line L stands alone, with an easy phrase, when he heard it announced. But E e have preserved the original, þer he sette his beode, nor would listen to God’s messenger, when He spread His table; the reference being to the parable of the marriage feast, S. Matt. xxii. 4, as expounded at 85/84-7. The OE. wordbēod, bīedoccurs in ‘Þu gearwodest beforan me swiðe bradne beod’ = ‘Parasti in conspectu meo mensam,’ Psalm xxii. 5. The readings of T, of D, þer he set (= sat) at his biede, andof J, þar he sat at his borde, are all corruptions of that original with identical meaning, as in ‘Noldest þu nefre helpen þam orlease wrec[che]n; | Ac þu sete on þine benche, underleid mid þine bolstre,’ Worcest. Frag. C. 25, 26.263.ꝥdoes double duty asdat., to whom, to loure, and asnom., who, to weren in the next line; similarly T: see 44/252.hit: him M; leuere þan beon schulde J.265.þon þe: þam þe e, both meaning, to those towhom.E has ȝam, miswritten for þam, to whom. J rewrites, ⁊ luueden vntrewnesse · þat heo schulden beon holde; Morris translates þat, in which; it is a mistake for þar, which M reads. Comp. ‘treowe and holde,’ OEM 38/48: the offence is in OE.hlāford-swīcung, Morsbach’s Studien, l. 167. D omits ll. 263-6: J adds after 265, Heo schulleþ wunyen in helle · þe ueondes onwolde.267.weren . . . abuten, were bent on; see74/229 note. The other MSS. agree generally with T: ȝysceres E; ȝetseres D; ȝeseres M; gaderares J; witteres e = knowing, wise.268.hechte to ⁊ tachte, bid and taught (them) to do: hem tihte ⁊ ec tauhte E; heom tihte ⁊ to tehte e; heom tycede and tahte J; ham tichede to ⁊ taðte D; tiȝte do ⁊ tehte M. The original was probably tuhte to ⁊ tehte, instigated and taught. Comp. 127/365; ‘Þe deofel heom tuhte to þan werke,’ OEH i. 121/33.269.þen: so E e; it = þe en (40/196), in; ꝥ anie wise D; þat in alle wise M; And alle þeo þe myd dusye wise J, in foolish fashion.270.fordon&c.: comp. ‘fordon ⁊ fordemed,’ SK 427; ‘fordude ant fordemde,’ SM 2/32. Here the Lambeth MS. ends.271.of ðufte: see 30/10.273. Comp. generally 76/27-32; 120/95-7.frute, toads: frude E; fruden J D: akin to OWScand. frauðr (Björkman, 76). Frod is a child’s name for a frog in Yorkshire, EDD. ii. 504. NED. iv. 570 quotes from Dives and Pauper, ‘Some man hadde leuer for to mete with a froude or a frogge in the waye than to mete with a knyght or a squyre.’274.speke: speken E; spekeð J D.niðfulle: ondfulle D.276.hate: so M; but hete E J D; OE.hete, enmity.eorre: ȝeorre E; herre D; erre M.277.uuel: muchel J M.278.swierte leie: comp. 76/17; 119/86-8: þiester leie D.280.ꝥ beoð þa: comp. 1/10.281.ateliche . . . eisliche: comp. ‘swo eiseliche and swo ateliche,’ OEH ii. 171/24: J reads ateliche ueondes ⁊ grysliche wyhtes.282.ifon, seize: the other MSS. agree with T: ison E.ðurh sihte: bi sihtes J; mid isiȝte M. NED. explains bi sihtes, by looks or glances. The context rather requires, with open eyes, knowingly, wilfully, but I know no parallel. Comp. Heb. x. 26.283. Comp. 134/93; ‘sathanas þe cwed,’ OEM 180/213.ealde: ‘serpentem antiquum, qui est diabolus et Satanas,’ Apocal. xx. 2: comp. ‘Se ealde deofol þe is mid andan afylled,’ Ælf. Lives ii. 180/183; ‘For to beon yuonded · of sathanas þen olde,’ OEM 38/28, 76/130; OEH i. 75/30; SK 1184; HM 15/14.belzebud: belsebuc E; belzebuc M: ‘est finalis litera b,’ Catholicon.285. A common formula; comp. 119/85, 133/48; OEM 173/57-60; AR 144/21.287.Wið, as regards: it has apparently the same meaning in ‘god heom aredde wið heore ifan,’ OEH i. 87/18, for aredden usually takes of or ut of. E T have of, about: comp. 187/350; J For al.288.gamen ⁊ gleo, a favourite combination: comp. ‘Iluued ich habbe gomen and gleo,’ OEM 160/33; Minot iv. 57 note.292 T.of þat, as concerns what; so far as what one may suffer here is concerned.289, 90. ‘Tut est desespere iceo les par confund | Ke il seuent tres bien ia merci nen aurunt,’ Guischart, 125, 6; CM 23261-4.deð—wa, affects them so wofully, causes them such sorrow: see 40/181: such uses of don are very extensive in ME.; comp. 34/69; ‘don us mare wa on,’ SJ 43/8.naht: noþing J.290.ꝥ, as that: bute þat E; Ase ꝥ J; swo ꝥ D.292.þe, to whom. The use of þe as oblique relative is not common in OE.; comp. ‘he sealde his dohtor . . . þæm cyninge . . . þe he ær Æpira rice geseald hæfde,’ Orosius 118/27, whereþeis preceded by another dative. It occurs more frequently in EME.: for þe = to whom, see 9/116, 12/13, 139/15; = in which, 113/36; with which, 88/4. Similarly þat is used in various relationships, with which 8/108, possibly 26/259; to whom, Orm 118/3439, HM 5/24; for whom, 21/92, 195/634; against which, 201/144, 218/147. E reads þe heom, to whom; the personal pronoun is given a relative force by the addition of the relative þe; comp. ‘þe holie man iob þe non ne was his efning on eorðe,’ OEH ii. 69/32, whose equal was not on earth: þet . . . hire 117/10 is analogous. J reads þet = to whom; comp. 143/84; D þer naht of godes bode, a hopeless corruption.þe nes naht of, who heeded not: see8/84 note.293-6. ‘Quant fustes baptizez de funz regenerez | Ke dunkes premisistes gardez ne li mentez | Ki or nirrad a lui il ert deseritez | Come fele traitre pus en ert apelez | En destreit serrat mis e a tel ert liurez | Ki nel rendrat pas pus por mil mars dor pesez,’ Guischart 554-9.294.cristen dom, baptismal vow.heolde, kept; see 48/310.295.on—grunde: comp. 40/178. J reads anyþe helle grunde: a nyþe is found only here. It may be a preposition formed froman+neoþan(comp. anunder), like beneoþan and with the same meaning; but probably it is for a niþer as in T and D in niþerhelle grunde.296.ut: so D: but E J vp. ‘Ne porrat morir | n’a merci venir, | senz fin i serat,’ Reimpredigt 34/67.marke: see 34/67, and comp. ‘myd markes and myd punde,’ OEM 89/18.297.ibede: bene D.298. D, vor naht hi solden bidde þer | ore ne ȝeuenesse, in agreement with T, in which hi must be supplied from hem in 301: see 6/18. ‘Almones ne ben faiz ne lur profiterunt | Messes ne ureisuns ia certes nes garrunt,’ Guischart 127, 8.299.of: so E; but T J D M have wiþ, which is normal, as at 304, and for schilden 50/346, 82/121; biwerien 50/334; werien 50/335; biwiten 117/5, 149/168; witen 82/118, 149/170, 178. Less usual are ‘misdon wið’ 6/23 note; ‘loki wit’ 153/56.of, in respect of, as regards; a rare use for, against; comp. ‘uor to warnie wummen of hore fol eien,’ AR 54/26: and notewiðinterchanging withof, 46/287.300.þer wið, against it, i.e. hell pine: see 1/3.habbe: wille D; wulle M. WithidoT 304 comp. 122/185 note.302.sceal, must.leche: comp. ‘Of vre louerd ihesu crist · þat is soule leche,’ OEM 51/508. From this place it has been inferred that the writer was a priest with some knowledge of medicine. Perhaps he is only asserting the claim of Christianity to benefit the body as well as the soul, as in 1 Thess. v. 23, and often in Missal and Breviary, ‘mente et corpore pariter expediti,’ &c.304.we ꝥ: wel, swo D.306.emcristen: euen cristen J; nexte M; see 26/265. Aftereal, se has probably dropped out: alse E; as J; swo D; al suo M.307. Every thing we hear in the services of the Church: comp. ‘Al þet me ret and singeð . . . in halie chirche,’ OEH i. 125/27; ‘al þet holi chirche redeð ant singeð,’ AR 268/9; OEM 91/43.bifore godes borde, at the altar.308.hanget ⁊ bihalt bi, derive their authority from and depend on. S. Matt. xxii. 40.311.earueðhealde, difficult to keep; see 12/3. J rewrites, Ah soþ ich hit eu segge · ofte we agulteþ alle.312.strang: see 21/94.lange: veste D.liht, easy: comp. 72/178; ‘All þiss to shæwenn niss nohht lihht | Shorrtliȝ wiþþ fæwe wordess,’ Orm 99/13032, 3: so lihtliche, 50/343, readily.314.unne: lete J; leue M.bote: see80/58 note.315.wele: ayhte J.316.eal: mest leggeþ vre swynk J; leggeð almest D; muchel M. Comp. 32/57.318.of: for oft: ofte J D M; E omits.bicherd, misled.bi kehte, ensnared, deceived. But J reads for the latter, vuele by þouhte, saddened by remembrance of our sins: comp. ‘þe man kið him seluen mildhertnesse þe biðencheð on his sinnen,’ OEH ii. 189/5.319.erminges, miserable mortals: mostly an adj. in ME. as at 76/22, 31. Morris suggested erninges, gains.320.en: of E J.her ⁊: oþer E J D M.321-3. Comp. 40/197, 8.324.of þere, of that: J has þer of.325.ofte&c.: see 32/47.327.lange: comp. 42/210; 168/342.328. J substitutes ⁊ after gode wel wurche · þenne ne þuruue noht kare, and be vigorous in pursuit of good: comp. 30/21, 32/61.330. Unless we are on our guard, this world will make us drunk: the meaning offordrencheis fixed by drinche l. 331. adrenche D M, drown. Withwurðe . . . iwer, comp. 9/122; withus, 13/34.331.scenche, draught; OE.scencan, to pour out; comp. KH 369 note.deofles: M reads, of one duole scenche, of a stupefying draught.332. A man must know how to protect himself well, if it (i.e. the drink) is not to trip him up. See B-T.s.v.screncan. J is defective here; D omits ll. 331, 2.333.Mid: Vor D. Foralmihtin, 337 T, see 79/17.334.ꝥ: þe J; see 13/28.he: he ne E; heo . . . ne J; hi ne D.335.werie . . . wið: see 48/299.336.bi ȝiten: in e only; ȝiuen alle mancunne E; and similarly in the other MSS. The text may mean, acquired for mankind.337.bene, pleasant, agreeable: ‘spatiosa via . . . quae ducit ad perditionem,’ S. Matt. vii. 13. J reads grene, rejecting, as often, the unusual word: comp. ‘the broad way and the green’ of Milton’s sonnet.338.niȝeðe del, nine-tenths, the great majority: niȝende del D.339.wei grene: the path to heaven is compared to what is still in some parts called a ‘green road’ or a ‘green way,’ ‘a road over turfbetween hedges,’ EDD., the ‘unmetalled road’ of the Ordnance maps, because, unlike the highway, it is used by few. J has, þene wey so schene, and in the next line, and þat is wel eþ-sene; M, ⁊ þat is þe worlde on-sene. The last half of T 344 appears to be corrupt.341.us lað: comp. ‘lað þah him were,’ L 244; 145/106.342.eal, wholly; but M al hare wil.343.mid—hulde, along the lower (downward) slope: nuðer E; niðer helde D M. J omits ll. 343-4.mid, in the same direction as, like the modern ‘with the stream.’344.godliese: gutlease D: the earliest quotation for godless, impious, in NED. is under 1528; words before that time are ranged under goodless, comfortless, worthless. But Mätzner puts examples from SK and HM under the former. Are the cheerless wood and the bare field Virgilian? Aeneas passes by the ‘descensus Averni’ ‘per tacitum nemus’ to the ‘lugentes campi’.bare: brode D.345.hese: hes E; heste J M; hesne D.ðer: þat J, cognateacc.; comp. ‘I am a man farand þe way,’ CM 3295.346.ꝥ beoð ða: see 1/10.sculdeð . . . wið: see 48/299: silten D (for silden, shielded); schedeþ wel J, possibly, separate themselves completely, but scheden requires from, 159/153, and in the presence of wið the reading may be regarded as a mistake for schildeþ.347.ȝeanes: to ȝeanes E; ayeyn J; aȝenes M; D omits ll. 347, 8. Not, ‘along the cliffs,’ but, breasting the steep slope, up the high hill; comp. Milton’s ‘labour up the hill with heavenly truth.’348. J reads, þeos leteþ awei al heore wil; comp. 157/133.fulle, perform; OE.fyllan: M has felle.352.ne ðincð&c.: comp. 12/11 (piece v). J substitutes, Wel edy wurþ þilke mon · þat þer byþ vnderuonge.353. þe lest haueþ murehþe J; Se ꝥ lest haueð blisce D.354.for ðas, for the bliss of this world.355.uuel: pyne J; hunger M.358. In accordance with their deeds here, in proportion to the severity of their effort.359.este: comp. 17/159.360. Comp. ‘giueð hem to medes eche lif · ⁊ blisse · ⁊ heuene mid him seluen,’ OEH ii. 67/25; 74/233.361.fah ne græi: fou ne grei E; fou ne grey J; foȝ ne grei M; D omits ll. 361-2. For the association of the words comp. ‘Ne hedde he none robe · of fowe · ne of gray,’ OEM 39/66; ‘gold · ne seoluer · vouh · ne gray,’ id. 94/28; ‘Monye of þisse riche. | þat werede fouh and grey,’id. 165/27, 8. In French they are vair (L.varius) and gris, as in ‘jamais ne vestirai vair ne gris ne hermine | n’afulerai mantiel ourle de sabeline, | ne coucerai en lit covert de marterine,’ Le Chevalier au Cygne, in Bartsch &Horning, 349/14-16. OE.fāȝ, fāh, variegated, coloured, is also in ME. an adj., as at 81/82; ‘fah clað,’ L 24653. As a noun it means a variegated or shaded fur, as distinct from one of uniform colour, likegræi, which is badger.kuning, rabbit fur, butcuniculusis glossed marderis, i.e. marten, in Fecunda Ratis 450, where it is associated with migale, ermine, which would go better with the general idea of sumptuosity. But marten is in the next line. konyng J; cunig EM.362.aquierne, squirrel: OE.ācwern, in oldest formācweorna, Sweet, Oldest E. Texts, 590: ocquerne E; Okerne M; Ne oter ne acquerne J.martres cheole, marten’s throat, explained by Mätzner as throat-piece, collar or boa of marten; but the expression, found here only, is a bad attempt at translating F. gole martrine, fur dyed red, as in ‘ses mantels fu riches et chiers | et fu toz faiz a eschaquiers; | l’uns tavels ert de blanc hermine | et l’altre ert de gole martrine,’ Eneas, 4029-32; a chess-board pattern in white and red. The pelisson of the period was a tunic of fur enclosed between cloths which permitted the red-dyed fur to be seen only at the front edges of the garment. These borders were called goules; comp. ‘Lermes li moillent le menton | E les goles del peliçon,’ Roman de Troie, ed. Constans, 15543-4; ‘Goules de martre, ne vos vuel plus porter,’ Raoul de Cambrai, 6227: the resemblance to the French word for throat has led to the translation here, as to the erroneous explanation of goules, gole, by ‘collet’ in Florence de Rome, 1959; Roman de Thebes, 6375-6. M has simply martrin, OF. martrine, marten’s fur.metheschelein T is for merðes chele, the first element being OE.mearð, marten; it is equivalent to the reading of E e.beuer, &c.: Beuveyr ne sablyne J.363.sciet: sced E; scete D descend from OE.scīete, scēte, cloth, but scat T; schat M from OE.sceatt, property, money; as in ‘srud and sat,’ GE 795, 881, ‘srud or sat,’ id. 3169. J has, Ne þer ne wurþ ful iwis · worldes wele none.scrud, dress; not ‘shroud.’365. See 125/291.367, 368. D omits.na wið uten: noþing ȝit vten E; nowiht wiþ vte J: the latter and T appear to mean, there is nothing wanting to him: e is probably a corruption of na wiht uten, and ȝit in E is miswritten for wit = wið, as ȝihte 380 for wihte.368.wane: T has the usual construction, as ‘deest mihi pecunia, mê ys fêos wana,’ Ælf. Gram. 202/11; ‘He nis naht fulliche cristene þat (= towhom) is ani wane of þese þrie,’ OEH ii. 15/22; 19/35; in E ewaneis an adj. as in ‘ic eom wana of ðâm getele,’ Ælf. Gram. 202/11; 129/23. J has Nis heom nones godes wone.369.gane, miswritten for wane, misery, the reading of D T; J has wone; E grame.370.of ðinche: see 30/10. e ends with this line; what follows is from E.371.treȝe: so D: J has the often-associated teone; comp. 133/61; 24/208 note. ‘La est uie senz mort ki tut tens li durreit,’ Guischart 1255.373.ulde . . . vnhelðe: see 40/197.374.sorewe . . . sor: comp. 147/137; ‘mid seorwen and mid seore,’ L 6885; ‘to forswelten isar ⁊ isorhe eauer,’ SJ 79/7; ‘iseien sor ⁊ seoruwe,’ AR 190/15; SK 1164: so too, ‘sorwȝe and sariness,’ VV 19/2; ‘seoruhful ⁊ sori,’ AR 88/12.375. Seoþþe me dryhten iseo. So J, which cannot mean, ‘Afterwards one shall see the Lord’: probably in Seoþþe lurk Swo þer, and schal has fallen out, as it has in T.swa, even as, more fully in T, swo se; comp. 34/80: D reads, swo ase he is. For omission of the subject in T comp. 6/18 note.mid iwisse: see 32/40. Comp. ‘Kar deus sicum il est tuz tens senz fin uerunt,’ Guischart 117; ‘En l’un qui serat | dampne deu verrat | toztens en present,’ Reimpredigt 54/107.377-80 are wanting in J.And ðeh, and yet.378.ði, because. The reading of T, which is supported by D M, gives a better sense.380.ȝihte, miswritten for wihte; comp. 52/367 note: wiȝte M; rihte D. See 42/212.381.seon: wite M.382.icnawen ⁊ iwiten, understand and get to know: iseon and iwyten J; iknowen ⁊ isien D; biknowe ⁊ yseo M. Formihte, J has Milce; M milse.383.to: þer to D; may luste J. The usual preposition isafter, as ‘þa lisste himm affterr fode,’ Orm ii. 39/11333; ‘Aȝȝ lisste himm affterr mare,’ id. i. 356/10220: but comp. 158/168; ‘Hi sete adoun ⁊ ete faste: for hem luste wel þerto,’ Legendary, 223/127.hlestein 387 T is explained in Specimens as a noun, desire: it can only be OE.hlystan, listen, suggested by ‘isien’ in the next line.384.hali boc: in liue boc D; on lyues bec(MS. bee) iseon J.385.alle&c.: to alle derlinges J.386.he: so J D: foroþereJ has wordliche.387.wealded: haueð on wealde D, has in his power, under his rule: see 22/122, 198/40 for the synonymous ‘owen a wold.’388.of him to sene, of seeing him; comp. 124/239 note.sed: so D. OE.sæd, sated, appears to be used here as a noun, for satiety. The adj. is common enough, ‘Ich nam noht giet sad of mine sinnes,’ OEH ii. 75/8; ‘for selden y am sad þet semly forte se,’ Bödd., AE. Dicht. 149/5. ‘Mult porreit estre liez quant deu senz fin uerreit,’ Guischart 1256. J has, Him to seonne murie hit is. In the second half of the line J D agree with T.389.mere: OE.mǣre, glorious: swete J.391.oþer: oþre D, both meaning, to another; Ne may nomon hit segge · ne witen myd iwysse J.392.godes: heuene J. Here D adds, Vten eftin þiderward | mid aldre ȝernuolnesse | ⁊ vorsien þisne midelard | mid his wouernesse. || Ef we vorsieð þis loþe lif | vor heuenriche blisce, | þanne selð us Crist ꝥ eche lif | to medes on ecnesse. Zupitza notes that eftin is for efstin (that is, hasten, OE.efestan), and wouernesse is OE.wǣfernes, pomp, show.393.rixlet: rixeð D; ricscleþ M; lesteþ J.abuten: buten J D; ay bute M: see 34/85.394.of: comp. 38/134; 112/11; 132/15: but ‘alesede hem eche deaðe,’ OEH ii. 5/26. Lines 393-4 are echoed in ‘And yef þat eche lif · þat neuere ne haueþ ende. | Hwanne vre soule vnbynd · of lykamlyche bende,’ OEM 53/551, 2.licames: J D M agree with T.395.ȝyue: lete J; leue M.swilc: swichne D; suicchne M.396. After this J adds, Bidde we nu leoue freond · yonge and ek olde. | þat he þat þis wryt wrot · his saule beo þer atholde. Amen.; which I take to be a prayer for the scribe himself, not for the composer of the Moral Ode.
64.swinkes lan: comp. ‘⁊ ta shall ure Laferrd Crist | Att ure lifess ende | Uss ȝifenn ure swinnkess læn | Wiþþ enngless eche blisse,’ Orm 111/3256-9; ‘lure ow is to leosen | ower swinkes lan,’ SK 804; ‘La receura chacon luer de sun labor,’ Guischart 311.lan: lyen E; lien e M; lean JTD: see 27/289.
66.þe (mare): þe þe E e M; se ꝥ D. J rewrites, þe riche and þe poure boþe · ah nouht alle ilyche.muȝen: mai E; mei e; the others omit as T.
67.Al se, just the same: e Eal se, omitting the nominative, like L, but He alse E; þe poure J; Al suo on D; Ase wel þon M.alse oðer: se þe oþer E e; alse þe oþer M; swo oþer D; þe riche J.
68.cheþ: ware e J D T M; ȝare E, a case of letter substitution.
69.mid—þonke: equivalent to ‘of gode wille,’ l. 73: see10/167 note.
70.se þe þe: se þe E e; swo se D; so he M; J omits 69, 70.manke: the mancus was ‘not current coin but merely money of account,’ Grueber, Handbook of Coins, introd. p. ix: ‘fif penegas gemacjað ǽnne scylling and þrittig penega ǽnne mancus,’ Ælf. Gram. ed. Zupitza 296/15, 16. The word was in OE.mancus,g.-es.m.itspl. n.mancussas,pl. g.mancussa;s.mancs,pl.mancsas also occur (ES xxxix. 349). The Latin forms were mancusa, mancus, manca, from the last of which may have been derived an OE. *mancwithpl. a.*mancas= mancys, Kemble, Codex Dipl. ii. 380, andpl. g.*manca, the original of manke here. e reads marke.goldemay mean, in gold; OE.on golde, but more probably it is a mistake for goldes as in the other MSS. Forfelewith genitive see132/9 note.
71.kon mare þonc, acknowledges, feels more thankful; like Fr. savoir gré.þen þe, to him who: ðan þe E e D; ye þat J; him þat M.
73, 74 T: see 203, 204 T.
74.ec leteappears to be a mistake for eðlete, of small account as in the other MSS.; ȝeþlete M: comp. Et lete 38/148, 153.of þan, of whom, of him whose; ðenne E e; þer J; þanne D; of him þat M. J rewrites ⁊ lutel he let on muchel wowe · þer þe heorte is ille; wherein ‘wowe’ is explained by Kock (Anglia xxv. 318) as = vowe, votive offering.
76.houen fur, probably daylight; possibly lightning or the stars: heuene · ⁊ fur J; dai ⁊ fur E; dei ⁊ fur e; ⁊ alle sterren D; sterre ⁊ fur M.þestre: see 123/230. T omits this line and substitutes a new line at 80, not in the other MSS.
79.þenkeð . . . doþ: doþ . . . queþeþ M.
80.swich se, such as: swilc se E e; comp. ‘þa com þær heofonlic leoht . . . swilc swa hi ær ne gesawon,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 184/262; 76/29.swilchin T, with which the other MSS. agree, = such as; comp. 36/120; ‘Ðonne ic wæs mid Iudeum ic wæs suelc hie,’ Cura Past. 101/5. The fuller expression is seen in, ‘we ne magon . . . nan þing geseon swylc swilc hyt is,’ Blooms, ES xviii. 354/26.
80 T is probably the scribe’s own attempt to remedy the omission ofl. 76:Boðeappears to refer to ‘crist’ and ‘drihte.’þe his bien, such as be his, his own.
81.biloken: comp. 13/37.
82.wettre . . . londe: a common formula: comp. 26/271 note; 40/194; ‘Vor hi bynomen him saulen · in water ⁊ in londe,’OEM56/682, 162/13; ‘a londe ⁊ a watere,’ L 550, 562, 17990. See KH 245 note.
83.fuȝeles&c.: comp. 143/79.
84.wit ⁊ waldeð: wit ⁊ walt E. Comp. 139/17.
85.buten: abuten, in both places E e; al buten D: a buten ende represents OE.ā būtan ende, ever without end; by union of the first two words a false form abuten, without, grew up, as at 52/369, 371, 373, alongside abuten, OE.abūtan, onbūtan, around, about. J rewrites, He wes erest of alle þing · and euer byþ buten ende.
86.wende&c., go where you will; so ‘Ga quar þou ga,’ CM 14072; ‘for wende woder þou wende;þine daȝes beoþ at þe ende,’ L 16110. Expressions of the same form are ‘comen þer heo comen,’ L 20667, 23021; ‘fare wha swa auere fare,’ id. 20849, 23223; 104/176; ‘likien swa me liken,’ L 22511, 30544; ‘wreaðe se þu wreaðe,’ 141/54; 143/84; 145/115.
88.þe—wille: the MSS. have the order in T.uwer, anywhere: aihwar D (= OE.ǣhwǣr, everywhere); ichwer J; oueral M; but E e have eiðer, OE.ǣgðer, both; perhaps for eaðe, or eaðere, easily, more easily.
90.Wi, alas; not in E e; wy J; wai D. Comp. 36/105; ‘wei þet he eure hit wule iþenche,’ OEH i. 21/28; ‘Awi leof ware þu me, Heu dilecta mihi,’ OEH ii. 183/7: Heu is translated by Aweilewei, id. 183/15.hwat—rede, what shall be to us for advisable? a common tag; see KH 825 note.
91.gulteð, &c.: comp. 117/18.
92.et—dome: comp. ‘at þanmuchele dome,’ L 23056; 16/136 note. D has at to heaȝe dome; M, atte heȝe dome.
93-96 are omitted in D. J has them in the order 93, 96, 94, then a new line, Crist for his muchele myhte · hus helpe þenne and rede, 95, 97.
94.engles: comp. 17/146; ‘Dunc tremblerunt li angle qui tant sunt beaus e clers | E nus que ferum dunc chaitif maleurez | Ki en peche uiuom,’ Guischart 446-8.
95.beren biforen us: e, omitting us, has the right reading. The phrase is Fr. mettre avant, put forward, allege as a plea; comp. ‘Mes tu iés si engresse e fole, | qu’avant vuels metre ta parole,’ Marie de France, Fables, ed. Warnke, 305/15, 16. Gabrielson, Archiv cxxviii. 327, notes the similarity of the expression to ‘Mais eiez charite ke uus metez de uant,’Guischart 1896, but the metaphor there is that of interposing a shield against the darts of the devil.hom: wan E; hwan e J T; wham M: all the readings mean, what.
96.þo, a mistake for we, which the other MSS. read.demeis object ofiquemen.
99. The variantiseienis peculiar to T: it is evidently due to l. 98.
101. Comp. 119/70, 72.
103. Comp. ‘Quant ileoc tremblerunt martir e confessur | Dites mei que ferunt pariurie e traitur,’ Guischart 319, 20.þes wichenin T may be a false division of words, or it may be a deliberate variation, meaning, these witches (wicca,wicce).
104.hwi: the other MSS. have the exclamation like T; a wei D; Awi M. The corruption in L has brought about the insertion of ⁊, which is also in D. ‘Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi,’ S. Matt. xxii. 14.
105.wi hwi: comp. ‘Wei hwi beo we uule on þisse wrecche world,’ OEH i. 33/36; ‘Wi qui þan mak we us sa kene,’ CM 23845.to hwon: to hwi D; hwi J.
107.bi clepie, accuse. D has biclepien, bitelle ⁊ deme.
108. All MSS. except L have temen or teme. ForheJ has hit, which is probably object of temen, the subject of schal being that of the preceding line.
110.ȝere, fully; OE.geare: the other MSS. have wel. For him J has, his þonk.
112.bi seiþ, declares; withmest, has most to say about it. Comp. ‘Seó wearð gebróht and besǽd þám cyninge,’ B-T. suppl.s.v.besecgan; ‘elch sinne þare him seluen biseið,’ OEH ii. 173/6. he seið e J; the others seiþ only; seit E. Withstille, silent, comp. 135/105; ‘sedebit solitarius et tacebit, Me schal sitten him one ⁊ beon stille,’ AR 156/18.
114.hal: vnhol J. M has Þe man þat saiþ þat he is lame, himself he wot þe smerte.
115. ‘Igitur ex nostro iudicio iudicat nos Deus,’ Alcuin ii. 131.
116. J agrees with L, but E e have oðer with T, and D aider: all meaning, either death or life.
117.com to monne, was born; comp. 113/30.
118. The original is preserved in swilc hit si abóc jwriten e, as if it were written in a book; similarly E; J has Al so he hit iseye; D swich hit were on boc iwrite, | isien he sel hit þanne.iþenchen, remember: OE.geþencan.
119-121. Compare generally, ‘forðan ðe god ne besceawað na, hwilce we ær wæron, ac he besceawað, hwilce we beon, þonne we dælan sceolonsawle ⁊ lichaman. Þæt is to witanne, þæt god ne secð na þæs godan weorces angin, ac he secð þæne ænde, forðan ðe ælc man sceal beon demed be ðam geearnungum, þe he hæfð, þonne he of ðisum life hwyrfan sceal,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 149/138-43; Orm 111/3248-55. S. Bernard quotes as from Isidore, ‘Non iudicat Deus hominem de praeterita vita, sed de suo fine,’ Opera ii. 840: for further parallels see Alcuin ii. 141; Fecunda Ratis 4/8.
119.efter: in accordance with: comp. 119/80.
120.suilch, such as; comp. 34/80: swulc se E; swich se e; DM have iteald, iteld, estimated; J rewrites, Ah dom schal þolyen vych mon · after his endinge.
121.ȝefeis probably due to ȝeue in the next line; ȝif E e; ȝef M; yef J; ef D. The inversion in T is peculiar to it. e reads for the last half of the line ⁊ gód ȝíf gód ís þenne.
122.wite—lende: in T lende is probablypr. s. subj.of lenden, OE.lendan, to arrive, in the very rare causal use, bring to land (lǣnde,pt.oflǣnan, would, by rule, be lande in this text): the sense then may be, grant that he convey us to heaven, a forced meaning for lende; similarly J with, God yef vs vre ende gód · hwider þat he vs lende. On the other hand the scribe of D, regardless of the rhyme, can have meant onlylǣndein writing, wite whet he us lende, meaning, preserve what he has entrusted to us, i.e. our souls; the expression of a familiar idea as at 121/144; 127/339, 368, and similarly lenne in er. w.þenne, must be taken to representlǣne,pr. s. subj.oflǣnan. The meaning of L, with which E and M agree, is probably the same, but iflendemeans convey, thenwitemust have the rare sense of, see to it, provide, as in, ‘Wite ȝe þet ȝe ȝemen þenne halie sunnendei,’ OEH i. 11/28. It would seem that all the texts derive from a corrupt source; the author may have written ⁊ wite us þen we wende; comp. ‘For-þi er we wende. | Makie we us clene and skere. | Þat we englene ivere. | Mawe beon o buten ende,’ OEM 73/27-30; 21/116-17.
123.uuel: mistake for nule, due to the persistence of uuel from 121.
124. J reads, þat deþ cume to his dure.himis in L only: comp. 30/6.
125. Comp. ‘Mult avient sovent, | quant li mals le prent, | qu’il ne puet parler, | penitence prendre | ne le suen despendre, | partir ne doner,’ Reimpredigt 32/64.itit: bilimpeð D.
126.for þi: þi E e, with same meaning; D omits.bietis difficult; possibly it is a mistake for beiet, kneels; see 132/3; 143/84. Forbit ⁊ bet, prays for pardon and amends, comp. 86/120. The variations in the MSS. here look like attempts to mend a faulty source. E, like T, has bit ⁊ beȝit ⁊ bet, prays for pardon, obtains it and amends: e has beot ⁊ beat⁊ bit, the first verb probably from beoden, the second possibly for beȝat: þat bit ore J; þat ore bit M gives a good sense, but is plainly from the previous line. Finally the reading of D, ꝥ bit ⁊ bete ⁊ bet, suggests that the author wrote, þat beot bote ⁊ bet, that offers satisfaction and reforms; comp. 136/132, and for bet, 38/164.
127T.þe deað: the article is often so prefixed in ME.; see NED. iii. 73 for examples.
128.latheð: leted E; leteþ e J M; uorlet D: probably the scribe of L meant to write lateð as in T, he does not elsewhere use th.
129, 130T. These lines, not in L, were added on the margin of e and then partially erased. They are not, in my opinion, original. J has, Bilef sunne hwil þu myht · and do bi godes lore. | And do to gode hwat þu myht · if þu wilt habben ore.nah: for naht; Sin leaves you and not you it, when you cannot commit it any longer.himshows confusion of genders,synnisfem.For him þan þu, e has hi þanne þus, E hire þanne þus (= þu es). With the sentiment comp. ‘Nulla igitur laus est non facere quod facere non possis,’ Lactantius 579; ‘Si enim tunc vis poenitentiam agere, quando peccare non potes; peccata te dimiserunt, non tu illa,’ Alcuin ii. 135; ‘Or l’estuet laissier, | ne puet mais pechier, | n’at mais a durer,’ Reimpredigt 36/71 (l’ = son pechié).
130T.abit, puts off, delays.
129, 130. Comp. ‘Ceo dit escriture: | Tant cum li huem dure | en sa poesté, | se dunc se repent: | a deu veirement | s’est ja acordé,’ Reimpredigt, 38/73. The reference is possibly to Isa. lv. 7.ꝥ: E e agree with T; For we hit ileueþ wel J; Swa ileuen we hit muȝen D.
132.þer: probably a miswriting of er, previously, hitherto: her T; hier D, in this world.haueð to: scal E; sceal e.
134.Ne—bet, ought I not rather to pray? In 136 T,bie ichmeans, may I be. Foralesed . . . of bende, see 52/394. D reads, ne recche ic bote bi ic alesd; and M similarly.
135.scaweð, shows, is pointless: with T the other MSS. have icnaweð e; iknoweþ J D; knoweþ M; but icwoweð E, an error of anticipation.
137-140. Comp. generally, ‘El mund n’ad nul home, tant eit de leaute, | S’il aveit par mort le siecle trespasse, | E en enfern un oret este | E sentu la puur e veu le oscurte, | S’il reveneit en vie e en prosperite, | Ke james feit mal, tant serreit effree,’ Archiv lxiii. 81/152-7. In 138 Thitis a scribe’s mistake for hete.
137.twa bare tide, merely two hours; comp. 221/227. After 138, J has Swiþe grimlych stench þer is · ⁊ wurþ wyþ vten ende | ⁊ hwo þe enes cumeþ þer · vt may he neuer þenne wende, which are not in any other MS.,followed by two lines corresponding to 42/221-2, which fit in better here.
139.þa hit: þit E T = þe hit; ꝥ e; ꝥ hit D; heo hit J; & wite hit M. The allusion is to such legends as those of Owain and Tundale. Formid iwissen, see 32/40.
140.wa wurð: so T M; but, uuel is E e; þer wurh D; þer þurh J.for, in exchange for.
141.Inis a scribe’s mistake for Ent: wa wurð, or in E e uuel is, must be supplied from the preceding line. The secondþeis a superfluous repetition of the last word on the preceding recto. J avoidingforreads ⁊ for þe blysse þat ende haueþ;endeles is þe pyne.
142.water drunch, water-drink; comp. ‘Alls iff þu drunnke waterr-drinnch,’ Ormii. 149/14482. The other MSS. avoid the compound; water to drinke E; weter í drunke e; wateres drung J; betere were drinke wori weter D; wateres drinch M.atter: comp. ‘God for ure secnesse dronc attri drunch o rode,’ AR 364/17.
143.brede, roast meat; OE.brǣde: comp. ‘he nom his aȝe þeh | . . . þer of he makede brede. | he bredde heo an hiȝinge,’ L 30581, 3, 4.
144. All too dear he buyeth it, who giveth his neck for it.
145. ‘Plenus venter facile de ieiuniis disputat,’ S. Jerome, Epist. 158, 2.
146is intelligible if of pine is understood aftercnauð. E has þe naht not · hu hi scullen ilesten; similarly e.
147.stunde: hwile E.
148.Et lete: see34/74 note. J reads ⁊ lete for crist beo wif.
149, 150 are wanting in e M. Foroðerluker, see 125/270.
151.wawe . . . wene: the combination is formal: comp. 142/77: but E has wa . . . pine, e, wa . . . wawe; D, wo . . . wope; J, Eure he wolde in bonen beon · ⁊ in godnesse wunye | Wiþ þat he myhte helle fur · euer fleon ⁊ schonye, and similarly M.
152.Wið ꝥ þe, provided that, if only; wid þan þe E, wið þan ðe e M, =wīþ þǣm þe; Wiþ þat J; wið þet D. T J D M add he, unnecessarily, as it is in the principal clause.
153. J reads, ⁊ lete sker al þes worldes weole, where ‘sker’, utterly, isOWScand.skǽrr, clean.
154. L appears to mean, Because to attain to that great bliss is joy of a certainty. Butcumein T E e, come in D are subjunctives dependent on for, in order that he may come, the subject not being expressed because ofhimin the principal clause; see 6/18:for . . . cumenin L could have the same meaning, comp. ‘for lesen’ 40/180, 182, but a subject is needed foris.Forwith the subjunctive is not common, but see NED. iv. 412,col. 3; in this use it descends fromfor þǣm þæt. J has Wiþ þat he myhte to heouene cumen. In Teþis= þe is; D has þet is, E þat is heuenriche. Formid iwisse, see 32/40.
155.ꝥ . . . of: see 1/3.
157.eþe: so E e D; J M omit; sore T is isolated, but J reads ⁊ sore vs of-drede.
158.he: in L only: the others agree with T:alis in L T only.
159, 160.þer men, wherein men.stelen . . . helenchange places in T M only.wruȝen . . . ⁊ helen: the combination is formal; comp. ‘ase þe uikelares wreoð ⁊ helieð,’ AR 88/18; a reminiscence of ‘quoadusque veniat Dominus, qui et illuminabit abscondita tenebrarum et manifestabit consilia cordium’, 1 Cor. iv. 5.
162.riche: so J only; heiȝe E; heȝe e D M.
164 T.to þe: a mistake which has probably arisen out of an original þo: efning is constructed with wið.
163-166. Not in J. After scal E has þei, e þeh, D þeð, T þeih, nevertheless.
164.ofþincþ: see30/10 note. The subject ofbetis he, as implied by him preceding.
165.scameþ . . . gromeð: comp. ‘Teonen þolien ⁊ gromen ⁊ schomen umbe stunde,’ HM 7/8, and for the corresponding nouns in the next line, ‘Þu vs hauest iwroht þes schome. | And alle þene eche grome,’ OEM 83/334, 5; ‘Me to sorge, scaðe and same,’ GE 302; OEH ii. 173/13, 14, 23.
166.þo þre: so D þoðre, but þe oþre E e M.oft: e D M agree with T; but E has, þat sculle beon forlorene.
167, 168. Comp. ‘Ia ne porrat nuls dire ke il seit enganez | En tant com li oil clot serrat li plaiz finez,’ Guischart 444, 5.
168.mene, withhimreflexive, complain; comp. ‘þat he ne mahte nanes weis | meanen him of wohe,’ SK 1235, 6. D has bimene; comp. ‘Men hem bimenin of litel trewthe,’ Rel. Ant. ii. 121/11. At 196/663, 205/280 it has the more usual sense, with reflexive, of bemoan.strengþe . . . wronge: comp. 19/48-51, 32/48-50, 44/256: the perversion of justice by bribed or overawed judges is a common theme in the literature of the time; see Wright, Political Songs, pp. 224-30.strengþe, violence, has usually a determining adjective in this sense, as ‘nawt wið luðer strencðe,’ SK 1234; ‘liste ne luðer strengðe,’ id. 1516, but see 60/18.
170.uuele holden, handled, treated, hardly; comp. ‘and heom heold swa harde;⁊ mid hærme heomigrette,’ L 29937, 8.redde: a mistakefor rerde, as in E; the others have arerde, set up, instituted; comp. 15/80, 85.
171.ec: Ac E; End e; ech D; Euerich M. 171, 172 are not in J.
176, 178.forð mid: see 1/19.
177.habbeð doules were: nabbeð god idon E e: comp. 44/254.
178.grunde: comp. 46/295; ‘alesde us of helle grunde,’ OEH i. 19/8; ‘al forloren into helle grunde,’ id. 21/35; see also 119/82. Forfaren forð mid, E e have, falle swiþe raþe.
179.are: ore E J D. The text means, ever without mercy and without end, but Lewin confusing ore with orde as in ‘Wiþþutenn ord ⁊ ende,’ Orm 234/6775, translates ‘ohne Anfang und Ende.’ e reads á ⁊ buten ende.
180.gate: dure E e J D; M omits.for lesen: for lese e; the others have to. The infinitive of purpose withforis uncommon, comp. 173/409.
181.sullic, wonder.wa . . . uneade, OE.unēaðe, are historically adverbs, lit. though to them it be wofully and grievously; bet, wwrs, &c., are used in the same construction; see 46/289: comp. withuneade, ‘þer fore hire wes uneðe,’ L 4503; ‘an heorte him wes unneðe,’ id. 26730. J has, he mawe wunye eþe, they may easily remain there.
182.for lesen: variants as in l. 180, but E for lesen. Comp. ‘Ki deu ne uolt conustre tut serrat cureicus | Il ne morrat ia meis ne por mei ne por uus,’ Guischart 223, 4.
183.helle brec, harrowed hell. ‘The Gospel [of Nicodemus] probably reached the climax of its popularity in England during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,’ The ME. Harrowing of Hell, ed. Hulme, p. lxviii.
184: Comp. ‘Tant cher nus achatað de sun sanc precius,’ Guischart 220; OEM 49/434, 187/20.hom: hi D; the others, us.
185.mei . . . mei: comp. 30/29, where L has the usual pair, representing OE.mǣge, kinswoman,mǣg, kinsman: mouwe . . . mey E; maȝhe . . .mei e; moȝe . . . meie D; moȝe . . . mei M: but J Nolde hit nomon do for me.
188.bendes: comp. 81/67.
192 T.þar þat, of those who: comp. 1 Cor. vi. 2.
192.ꝥ, because.uuele: harde J D M, meaning hardship; comp. ON. 459, 527.habbeð . . . on honde, have to do with, have to suffer: similar expressions are ‘sorhen heom com on honde,’ L 30428; ‘for al hit trukeð us an hond;ꝥ we to temden,’ id. 16799; ‘and eoden him luðere an hond,’ id. 31265: ‘him for ðissere worulde wel on hand eode,’ Ælf. Lives i. 488/13. For the matter, comp. 183/241, 193/551-2.
193.honde: comp. 56/50: ande e.
194.sake: in L only. It means here, guilt, as in ‘Þa lakess mihhtenn clennsenn hemm | Off sakess ⁊ off senness,’ Orm 36/1126, 7. Other similar combinations are ‘sorge, scaðe and same,’ GE 302; ‘sorge and sare,’ Ælf. Lives i. 266/90; ‘swinc and sorwe and deades strif,’ GE 268. With T comp. 42/204, 136/136; ‘on sorhge leofodon and on geswincum,’ Ælf. de Vet. Test. 3/10; ‘labor et dolor,’ Psalm lxxxix. 10. Fora watere, &c., see 34/82; on se ⁊ on londe D.
195, 196. Comp. ‘Adam le (i.e. nostre pais) nus tolit e sa fole moiller | E nus ki deaus uenimes lauum conpare chier | En grant cheitiuison mult nus pot en nuier,’ Guischart 695-7.forme: formes E e; uormes D.
197. Comp. 48/323; ‘þurst and hunger · chele and hete · þis beoð stronge pyne,’ OEM 37/9; ‘muchel hunger ⁊ hæte;at æuer ælche monnes ȝete,’ L 20441, 2.helde ⁊ unhelðe: comp. 20/72, 30/14, 48/323, 52/373. But, eche ⁊ al unelþe E; eche · ⁊ eal un helðe e; ache and vnhelþe J; ecðe (= eche) ⁊ al unhelðe D; eche ⁊ unhelþe M, show the original reading: OE.ece, æce, ache.
198.uniselðe: comp. 52/374; 26/256 note. J has vnyselyhþe.
199.unsele: vnhele J; vnvele D.
200.a hele: on hele E e D; myd blysse and myd wele J.
203, 204 Tare copied by mistake from ll. 73, 74. As in both cases the lines are at the top of a folio, it may be inferred that the scribe of T was copying a MS. exactly page by page, and that l. 202 completed a gathering in his original with an added catchword Litel; that he, after beginning f 5awith the catchword, laid aside his work, and on resuming it began at the wrong place. On discovering his mistake he started afresh.
201.lutel—mon: so T J D, it seems a small matter to many a man; but E e omit hit, read iþenchð,iðencð, and hu for ac, many a man little thinks how great, &c.
202.hwam: hwan e; whan M; whon J =for hwǣm,for hwon, why; vor hwy D =for hwȳ; E has for þan.horemust mean Adam and Eve; M reads adammes: but e reads þe, D þo, yet they begin the next line with Heore e, Here D, and J with heore in this line has Vre sunne and vre sor · vs may sore of þunche.
203.ofþinche: see 30/10.
204.sorȝe: see 40/194.
206.eðe: sore E J M.
208.an helle pine&c.: e M go with L; E with T; in pyne ⁊ on vnwunne J.
209.ledden: the other MSS. have the present tense.mid unriht: comp. ‘Ne wurþ þer vnryht ne wrong,’ OEM 143/85.
210.buten—do, unless God’s mercy intervene.longe: comp. 48/327, 169/342.
212.bi þan ilke iwichte, by the same measure, i.e. as great as his might; comp. 53/384: ah al by one wyhte J; nis him no þing litlinde, | ac bi emliche wihte D (litlinde, decreasing, see 126/327; emliche, equal). In T 216 mihte is a mistake for milce.
213. ‘Nuls ne pot tant pecher com deus pot parduner,’ Guischart 948.
214.hit bigunne, made a beginning, took the first step, i.e. repentance,hitbeing indefinite; comp. ‘Li sires est tut prest certes de nus aider | Se il en fust alkun kil uosist comencer,’ Guischart 703, 4. Less probable is, began to show mercy, Einenkel, Anglia iv., Anz. 92. Morris takesbigunneas subjunctive of bigan, to seek for. E reads, it bidde gunne.
218.wallinde: the other MSS. add pich, and have bed instead of bað: see 44/245, 120/104.
219. Comp. ‘Ke plus fait sun servise, plus fait ke maleurous,’ Archiv lxiii. 81/171; ‘Ki plus fait sun plaisir a celui fait il pis,’ Guischart 59; ‘Ki kunques mielz le sert cil ad peines plus granz,’ id. 102; ‘Hec est natura Diaboli, qui semper malefacit amicis suis et non aliis; pessime remunerat illos qui ei seruiunt,’ Eudes de Cheriton 232/7.fulle, utter, deadly: comp. ‘þat is my fulle i-vo,’ OEM 42/174; ‘nawt ane to hare freond, ah to hare fulle fon,’ HM 31/3; 24/202. Forfrond, E e M have wines; D wine. J omits ll. 219-22.Wurstis adverbial.
220.wih: wihd E; wið e D; fram M.
221.hi= ih, I.
222.þer—feche, might there procure for myself: but E e D M have for þer me, þerinne, þarinne, and D wende for mahte.
223.ꝥ hisis a misreading of an original þeh ic, andonis for ou.wise men: comp. ‘De ceo ke io dirrai asez en ai garanz | Les mielz de seinte glise e tuz les plus uaillanz,’ Guischart 9, 10.
224.aboken: comp. ‘Hit is write in þe bok · þer me hit may rede,’ OEM 41/131.
226.unfrome, detriment: unfreme e; unureme M; hearme E; harme J; unwines D.
227.edi men ⁊ arme: comp. ‘Arme ⁊ edie ledin,’ Prov. of Alfred, ed. Skeat 7/39; ‘ne ermne ne eadine,’ OEH i. 115/19. For arme M reads strangely areȝe. ‘Entendez ca uers mei les petiz e les granz,’ Guischart 1.
229.twa uuele: uuele twa e, and similarly the other MSS.iferenin T is certainly the noun, companions, so iueren D and probablyiuerein L: in the othersifere, in company.
230.maket niþinges, made worthless men, a reading due to the misunderstanding of the compound, as in T and the other MSS., stingy in giving away food: comp. ‘mete custi,’ L 19266. M has, þat were niþinges here.
231. Forwaning, D has sorinesse; forwow, all MSS. wop; comp. ‘þær nan stefne styreð butan stearc-heard | wop and waning, na wiht elles,’ Be Domes Dæge, 14/200; 2/10.efter eche streche, at every stride, on every hand; comp. 29/14; ‘bið swa mihtles on his modes streche,’ OEH i. 111/25, for the verb, ‘bot inwyth not a fote, | To strech in the strete þou hatȝ no vygour,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 29/969. The other MSS. agree with T:after ache strate, along each road: foraftercomp. ‘Ðonne licggeað ða giemmas toworpne æfter strætum’ (= dispersi per plateas), Cura Past. 135/4; ‘Al þat verden æfter wæi,’ L 13776. M reads in eueriche strete.
With 232-4 comp. 120/100-2.from hete to hetemay mean from one degree of heat to another, but the MSS. agree with T. The last half of the line which is peculiar to L does not mean, ‘and nearly freeze the wretches,’ as Morris translates, but, and each (change) for comfort to the wretches. The construction is probably the same as at 86/125; see176/24 note: ifto frureis adat. inf., it is the only one in L without finaln.
233.blisse: J has here and l. 235, lisse, rest, respite; a word often associated with blisse, as ‘Blisse ⁊ lisse ic sende uppon monnen’, OEH i. 15/2.
234.of—misse, they feel the privation of heat. The verb is also constructed with of, ‘Hwo þat for lyue þisse | þer-of schal mysse,’ OEM 73/34, 5, 87/7, 8; Minot ix. 13 note.
235.hi, heat and cold; the MSS. agree with T. The omission of the subject to nabbeð T 239 is grammatically correct, but the metre requires hie.lisse: T, so E e J M.
236. D reads Niteð hi hwer hi wonieð mest, they know not where they lament most. Formid—wisse, see 32/40.
237.walkeð: not ‘rolls’ as at 2/12; the place in the writer’s mind is ‘Cum immundus spiritus exierit de homine, ambulat per loca inaquosa, quaerens requiem; et non inveniens dicit,’ &c., S. Luke xi. 24.
238. See 32/35.
239.for þi: so J; for hi D; ⁊ hi M, but E has ac þi; e þi, therefore; comp. ‘Ich rede þi þat man bo ȝare,’ ON 860, 1548: ‘þi bileafden heo heore timbrunge,’ OEH i. 93/23.
240, 241. Suggested by ‘Qui enim haesitat similis est fluctui maris, quia vento movetur et circumfertur,’ S. James i. 6; ‘Vir duplex animo inconstans est in omnibus viis suis,’ id. i. 8.walkeðhere seems to mean, rolls, tosses; see 2/12.weri: comp. ‘wery so water in wore,’ Bödd., AE. Dicht. 148/32, said however of stagnant water. ForweriJ substitutes þar boþe.
241.a þanke: comp. ‘stif he wes on þonke,’ L 2110. Forboð, D has seden, for senden. For the last three words J substitutes Mid hwom me heold feste; Morris, thinking it corrupt, conjectures, hwom me ne heold feste, or, me heold vnfeste, whom men considered unsteadfast. But the scribe of J has deliberately substituted for the men of infirm purpose those who fare sumptuously. These are they who in this world were those with whom men feasted.
242.⁊ þa þe: e reads ⁊ to, which gives the best sense.heste, not often in the sense of promise: auht E; aht e. In T 246, naht has dropped out beforeilaste.
243.ful enden: fulendi D; OE.fullendian, finish.
244.witen, went; OE.gewītan: the other MSS. have weren E e D; were J M.
245. e reads, þere is pich ðe æure wealð · þer sculle baðie inne, and so the others, but for þer—inne J has, ꝥ heo schulle habbe þere, and M, þat sculle þe beo inne. See 42/218 and comp. ‘In a bytter baþ | ich schal baþe naked. | Of pych and of brunston | wallynde is i-maked,’ OEM 181/209-12.
246.here: vuel E; uuel e.in werre ⁊ in winne, in war and in strife: the combination is at least rare. M has, mid werre ⁊ mid ywinne.unwinnein T 250, meaning distress, is also a rare word; comp. ‘Sinne me hauiþ in care ibroȝt | broȝt in mochil vnwinne,’ E. E. Poems, 21/5, 6: e has, in feoht end in iginne, where iginne is miswritten for iwinne; E in feoh (= feoht) end in iginne (= iwinne), in fighting and strife; comp. ‘ne bilæfde he næuer nænne;þat heold feht and iwin,’ L 9042, 4, 11522. D reads, in wele ⁊ in senne; J vnwreste · and eke false were.
247. E has ll. 249, 250 before 247, 248. In 251 Tþis= þe is.
248.uersc, fresh water; OE.adj.ferscused exclusively of fresh as opposed to salt water. The other MSS. agree with T: nauene strien ne sture E; nauene striem ne sture e; ne auene strém · ne sture J; Hauene stream ne Sture D. There are two places where rivers called Avon and Stour meet, in Warwickshire near Stratford-on-Avon, and in Hampshire near Christchurch.
249.nawiht: nomon J; no þing D.
250.þa þe—lof, those to whom it was too pleasing, those who took toomuch delight in: ll. 250, 251 may be a reminiscence of the Anarchy; see 7/49, 6/44.
252. Those who had the power to do evil, (and) those (without the power) to whom it was sweet to contemplate it. But the other MSS., except T D, and M which omits the line, agree with E, þo þe ne mihte euel don · ⁊ lef was it to þenche. In T 256þedoes double duty asnom.to mihten, and asdat.to lief; comp. 118/28.
254. ⁊ á · on ðes deofles weorc · bliðeliche swunche e; comp. 40/177; ‘qui laetantur cum malefecerint, et exultant in rebus pessimis,’ Prov. ii. 14.
255. ‘Or ne set lum ki creire tant est fel e muanz,’ Guischart 13. Comp. 7/47.
256.Medierne, greedy of bribes. Comp. 32/48.
257.ꝥ: so þe E e, meaning, he to whom; comp. 161/187: Þe þat J; þo ꝥ D: wes has fallen out afterwif.
258.ete: méte J; comp. ‘Inne mete ⁊ inne drinke ic habbe ibeo ouerdede,’ OEM 193/41. A variant is, ‘on hete and on wete,’ OEH i. 101/24; ‘on æte oððe on wæte,’ Ælf. Lives i. 354/270.drukenin T 262 is miswritten for drunke (drynce) through confusion with druken 257 (druncen).
259. Who took from the poor man his property, and added it to his store. See 7/51, and comp. ‘leggeþ ine hord,’ OEM 47/364; ‘Vych mon hit scholde legge on hord,’ ON 1224.
260.lutel let of, held in small esteem; comp. 113/45; 143/99; ‘Ac se kyngc let lihtlice of oð ꝥ he com to Englalande,’ AS. Chron. D 211/16; ‘ne lete he nout wel of þet he is Godes ȝerde,’ AR 184/21; ‘þat prophet | þat drightin of sa mikel let,’ CM 9149; ‘þat of his wordus lette pure liht,’ AE Legenden, ed. Horstman, 44/206; ‘he let lutel to þe,’ HM 33/14. For similar expressions see 8/84, 124/264, 129/32, 173/417.borde: comp. 48/307: bode E J D; bibode e; hest M.
261.⁊—aȝen: End te his aȝen e, and to his own relatives, and similarly in L T D, though the preposition be wanting. J has þeo þat almes, adding as next line, Ne his poure kunesmen · at him ne myhte nouht spede. E has And of his owen nolde ȝiuen.
262.sonde: so E J; sande e: but D agrees with T. In the second half of the line L stands alone, with an easy phrase, when he heard it announced. But E e have preserved the original, þer he sette his beode, nor would listen to God’s messenger, when He spread His table; the reference being to the parable of the marriage feast, S. Matt. xxii. 4, as expounded at 85/84-7. The OE. wordbēod, bīedoccurs in ‘Þu gearwodest beforan me swiðe bradne beod’ = ‘Parasti in conspectu meo mensam,’ Psalm xxii. 5. The readings of T, of D, þer he set (= sat) at his biede, andof J, þar he sat at his borde, are all corruptions of that original with identical meaning, as in ‘Noldest þu nefre helpen þam orlease wrec[che]n; | Ac þu sete on þine benche, underleid mid þine bolstre,’ Worcest. Frag. C. 25, 26.
263.ꝥdoes double duty asdat., to whom, to loure, and asnom., who, to weren in the next line; similarly T: see 44/252.hit: him M; leuere þan beon schulde J.
265.þon þe: þam þe e, both meaning, to those towhom.E has ȝam, miswritten for þam, to whom. J rewrites, ⁊ luueden vntrewnesse · þat heo schulden beon holde; Morris translates þat, in which; it is a mistake for þar, which M reads. Comp. ‘treowe and holde,’ OEM 38/48: the offence is in OE.hlāford-swīcung, Morsbach’s Studien, l. 167. D omits ll. 263-6: J adds after 265, Heo schulleþ wunyen in helle · þe ueondes onwolde.
267.weren . . . abuten, were bent on; see74/229 note. The other MSS. agree generally with T: ȝysceres E; ȝetseres D; ȝeseres M; gaderares J; witteres e = knowing, wise.
268.hechte to ⁊ tachte, bid and taught (them) to do: hem tihte ⁊ ec tauhte E; heom tihte ⁊ to tehte e; heom tycede and tahte J; ham tichede to ⁊ taðte D; tiȝte do ⁊ tehte M. The original was probably tuhte to ⁊ tehte, instigated and taught. Comp. 127/365; ‘Þe deofel heom tuhte to þan werke,’ OEH i. 121/33.
269.þen: so E e; it = þe en (40/196), in; ꝥ anie wise D; þat in alle wise M; And alle þeo þe myd dusye wise J, in foolish fashion.
270.fordon&c.: comp. ‘fordon ⁊ fordemed,’ SK 427; ‘fordude ant fordemde,’ SM 2/32. Here the Lambeth MS. ends.
271.of ðufte: see 30/10.
273. Comp. generally 76/27-32; 120/95-7.frute, toads: frude E; fruden J D: akin to OWScand. frauðr (Björkman, 76). Frod is a child’s name for a frog in Yorkshire, EDD. ii. 504. NED. iv. 570 quotes from Dives and Pauper, ‘Some man hadde leuer for to mete with a froude or a frogge in the waye than to mete with a knyght or a squyre.’
274.speke: speken E; spekeð J D.niðfulle: ondfulle D.
276.hate: so M; but hete E J D; OE.hete, enmity.eorre: ȝeorre E; herre D; erre M.
277.uuel: muchel J M.
278.swierte leie: comp. 76/17; 119/86-8: þiester leie D.
280.ꝥ beoð þa: comp. 1/10.
281.ateliche . . . eisliche: comp. ‘swo eiseliche and swo ateliche,’ OEH ii. 171/24: J reads ateliche ueondes ⁊ grysliche wyhtes.
282.ifon, seize: the other MSS. agree with T: ison E.ðurh sihte: bi sihtes J; mid isiȝte M. NED. explains bi sihtes, by looks or glances. The context rather requires, with open eyes, knowingly, wilfully, but I know no parallel. Comp. Heb. x. 26.
283. Comp. 134/93; ‘sathanas þe cwed,’ OEM 180/213.ealde: ‘serpentem antiquum, qui est diabolus et Satanas,’ Apocal. xx. 2: comp. ‘Se ealde deofol þe is mid andan afylled,’ Ælf. Lives ii. 180/183; ‘For to beon yuonded · of sathanas þen olde,’ OEM 38/28, 76/130; OEH i. 75/30; SK 1184; HM 15/14.belzebud: belsebuc E; belzebuc M: ‘est finalis litera b,’ Catholicon.
285. A common formula; comp. 119/85, 133/48; OEM 173/57-60; AR 144/21.
287.Wið, as regards: it has apparently the same meaning in ‘god heom aredde wið heore ifan,’ OEH i. 87/18, for aredden usually takes of or ut of. E T have of, about: comp. 187/350; J For al.
288.gamen ⁊ gleo, a favourite combination: comp. ‘Iluued ich habbe gomen and gleo,’ OEM 160/33; Minot iv. 57 note.
292 T.of þat, as concerns what; so far as what one may suffer here is concerned.
289, 90. ‘Tut est desespere iceo les par confund | Ke il seuent tres bien ia merci nen aurunt,’ Guischart, 125, 6; CM 23261-4.deð—wa, affects them so wofully, causes them such sorrow: see 40/181: such uses of don are very extensive in ME.; comp. 34/69; ‘don us mare wa on,’ SJ 43/8.naht: noþing J.
290.ꝥ, as that: bute þat E; Ase ꝥ J; swo ꝥ D.
292.þe, to whom. The use of þe as oblique relative is not common in OE.; comp. ‘he sealde his dohtor . . . þæm cyninge . . . þe he ær Æpira rice geseald hæfde,’ Orosius 118/27, whereþeis preceded by another dative. It occurs more frequently in EME.: for þe = to whom, see 9/116, 12/13, 139/15; = in which, 113/36; with which, 88/4. Similarly þat is used in various relationships, with which 8/108, possibly 26/259; to whom, Orm 118/3439, HM 5/24; for whom, 21/92, 195/634; against which, 201/144, 218/147. E reads þe heom, to whom; the personal pronoun is given a relative force by the addition of the relative þe; comp. ‘þe holie man iob þe non ne was his efning on eorðe,’ OEH ii. 69/32, whose equal was not on earth: þet . . . hire 117/10 is analogous. J reads þet = to whom; comp. 143/84; D þer naht of godes bode, a hopeless corruption.þe nes naht of, who heeded not: see8/84 note.
293-6. ‘Quant fustes baptizez de funz regenerez | Ke dunkes premisistes gardez ne li mentez | Ki or nirrad a lui il ert deseritez | Come fele traitre pus en ert apelez | En destreit serrat mis e a tel ert liurez | Ki nel rendrat pas pus por mil mars dor pesez,’ Guischart 554-9.
294.cristen dom, baptismal vow.heolde, kept; see 48/310.
295.on—grunde: comp. 40/178. J reads anyþe helle grunde: a nyþe is found only here. It may be a preposition formed froman+neoþan(comp. anunder), like beneoþan and with the same meaning; but probably it is for a niþer as in T and D in niþerhelle grunde.
296.ut: so D: but E J vp. ‘Ne porrat morir | n’a merci venir, | senz fin i serat,’ Reimpredigt 34/67.marke: see 34/67, and comp. ‘myd markes and myd punde,’ OEM 89/18.
297.ibede: bene D.
298. D, vor naht hi solden bidde þer | ore ne ȝeuenesse, in agreement with T, in which hi must be supplied from hem in 301: see 6/18. ‘Almones ne ben faiz ne lur profiterunt | Messes ne ureisuns ia certes nes garrunt,’ Guischart 127, 8.
299.of: so E; but T J D M have wiþ, which is normal, as at 304, and for schilden 50/346, 82/121; biwerien 50/334; werien 50/335; biwiten 117/5, 149/168; witen 82/118, 149/170, 178. Less usual are ‘misdon wið’ 6/23 note; ‘loki wit’ 153/56.of, in respect of, as regards; a rare use for, against; comp. ‘uor to warnie wummen of hore fol eien,’ AR 54/26: and notewiðinterchanging withof, 46/287.
300.þer wið, against it, i.e. hell pine: see 1/3.habbe: wille D; wulle M. WithidoT 304 comp. 122/185 note.
302.sceal, must.leche: comp. ‘Of vre louerd ihesu crist · þat is soule leche,’ OEM 51/508. From this place it has been inferred that the writer was a priest with some knowledge of medicine. Perhaps he is only asserting the claim of Christianity to benefit the body as well as the soul, as in 1 Thess. v. 23, and often in Missal and Breviary, ‘mente et corpore pariter expediti,’ &c.
304.we ꝥ: wel, swo D.
306.emcristen: euen cristen J; nexte M; see 26/265. Aftereal, se has probably dropped out: alse E; as J; swo D; al suo M.
307. Every thing we hear in the services of the Church: comp. ‘Al þet me ret and singeð . . . in halie chirche,’ OEH i. 125/27; ‘al þet holi chirche redeð ant singeð,’ AR 268/9; OEM 91/43.bifore godes borde, at the altar.
308.hanget ⁊ bihalt bi, derive their authority from and depend on. S. Matt. xxii. 40.
311.earueðhealde, difficult to keep; see 12/3. J rewrites, Ah soþ ich hit eu segge · ofte we agulteþ alle.
312.strang: see 21/94.lange: veste D.liht, easy: comp. 72/178; ‘All þiss to shæwenn niss nohht lihht | Shorrtliȝ wiþþ fæwe wordess,’ Orm 99/13032, 3: so lihtliche, 50/343, readily.
314.unne: lete J; leue M.bote: see80/58 note.
315.wele: ayhte J.
316.eal: mest leggeþ vre swynk J; leggeð almest D; muchel M. Comp. 32/57.
318.of: for oft: ofte J D M; E omits.bicherd, misled.bi kehte, ensnared, deceived. But J reads for the latter, vuele by þouhte, saddened by remembrance of our sins: comp. ‘þe man kið him seluen mildhertnesse þe biðencheð on his sinnen,’ OEH ii. 189/5.
319.erminges, miserable mortals: mostly an adj. in ME. as at 76/22, 31. Morris suggested erninges, gains.
320.en: of E J.her ⁊: oþer E J D M.
321-3. Comp. 40/197, 8.
324.of þere, of that: J has þer of.
325.ofte&c.: see 32/47.
327.lange: comp. 42/210; 168/342.
328. J substitutes ⁊ after gode wel wurche · þenne ne þuruue noht kare, and be vigorous in pursuit of good: comp. 30/21, 32/61.
330. Unless we are on our guard, this world will make us drunk: the meaning offordrencheis fixed by drinche l. 331. adrenche D M, drown. Withwurðe . . . iwer, comp. 9/122; withus, 13/34.
331.scenche, draught; OE.scencan, to pour out; comp. KH 369 note.deofles: M reads, of one duole scenche, of a stupefying draught.
332. A man must know how to protect himself well, if it (i.e. the drink) is not to trip him up. See B-T.s.v.screncan. J is defective here; D omits ll. 331, 2.
333.Mid: Vor D. Foralmihtin, 337 T, see 79/17.
334.ꝥ: þe J; see 13/28.he: he ne E; heo . . . ne J; hi ne D.
335.werie . . . wið: see 48/299.
336.bi ȝiten: in e only; ȝiuen alle mancunne E; and similarly in the other MSS. The text may mean, acquired for mankind.
337.bene, pleasant, agreeable: ‘spatiosa via . . . quae ducit ad perditionem,’ S. Matt. vii. 13. J reads grene, rejecting, as often, the unusual word: comp. ‘the broad way and the green’ of Milton’s sonnet.
338.niȝeðe del, nine-tenths, the great majority: niȝende del D.
339.wei grene: the path to heaven is compared to what is still in some parts called a ‘green road’ or a ‘green way,’ ‘a road over turfbetween hedges,’ EDD., the ‘unmetalled road’ of the Ordnance maps, because, unlike the highway, it is used by few. J has, þene wey so schene, and in the next line, and þat is wel eþ-sene; M, ⁊ þat is þe worlde on-sene. The last half of T 344 appears to be corrupt.
341.us lað: comp. ‘lað þah him were,’ L 244; 145/106.
342.eal, wholly; but M al hare wil.
343.mid—hulde, along the lower (downward) slope: nuðer E; niðer helde D M. J omits ll. 343-4.mid, in the same direction as, like the modern ‘with the stream.’
344.godliese: gutlease D: the earliest quotation for godless, impious, in NED. is under 1528; words before that time are ranged under goodless, comfortless, worthless. But Mätzner puts examples from SK and HM under the former. Are the cheerless wood and the bare field Virgilian? Aeneas passes by the ‘descensus Averni’ ‘per tacitum nemus’ to the ‘lugentes campi’.bare: brode D.
345.hese: hes E; heste J M; hesne D.ðer: þat J, cognateacc.; comp. ‘I am a man farand þe way,’ CM 3295.
346.ꝥ beoð ða: see 1/10.sculdeð . . . wið: see 48/299: silten D (for silden, shielded); schedeþ wel J, possibly, separate themselves completely, but scheden requires from, 159/153, and in the presence of wið the reading may be regarded as a mistake for schildeþ.
347.ȝeanes: to ȝeanes E; ayeyn J; aȝenes M; D omits ll. 347, 8. Not, ‘along the cliffs,’ but, breasting the steep slope, up the high hill; comp. Milton’s ‘labour up the hill with heavenly truth.’
348. J reads, þeos leteþ awei al heore wil; comp. 157/133.fulle, perform; OE.fyllan: M has felle.
352.ne ðincð&c.: comp. 12/11 (piece v). J substitutes, Wel edy wurþ þilke mon · þat þer byþ vnderuonge.
353. þe lest haueþ murehþe J; Se ꝥ lest haueð blisce D.
354.for ðas, for the bliss of this world.
355.uuel: pyne J; hunger M.
358. In accordance with their deeds here, in proportion to the severity of their effort.
359.este: comp. 17/159.
360. Comp. ‘giueð hem to medes eche lif · ⁊ blisse · ⁊ heuene mid him seluen,’ OEH ii. 67/25; 74/233.
361.fah ne græi: fou ne grei E; fou ne grey J; foȝ ne grei M; D omits ll. 361-2. For the association of the words comp. ‘Ne hedde he none robe · of fowe · ne of gray,’ OEM 39/66; ‘gold · ne seoluer · vouh · ne gray,’ id. 94/28; ‘Monye of þisse riche. | þat werede fouh and grey,’id. 165/27, 8. In French they are vair (L.varius) and gris, as in ‘jamais ne vestirai vair ne gris ne hermine | n’afulerai mantiel ourle de sabeline, | ne coucerai en lit covert de marterine,’ Le Chevalier au Cygne, in Bartsch &Horning, 349/14-16. OE.fāȝ, fāh, variegated, coloured, is also in ME. an adj., as at 81/82; ‘fah clað,’ L 24653. As a noun it means a variegated or shaded fur, as distinct from one of uniform colour, likegræi, which is badger.kuning, rabbit fur, butcuniculusis glossed marderis, i.e. marten, in Fecunda Ratis 450, where it is associated with migale, ermine, which would go better with the general idea of sumptuosity. But marten is in the next line. konyng J; cunig EM.
362.aquierne, squirrel: OE.ācwern, in oldest formācweorna, Sweet, Oldest E. Texts, 590: ocquerne E; Okerne M; Ne oter ne acquerne J.martres cheole, marten’s throat, explained by Mätzner as throat-piece, collar or boa of marten; but the expression, found here only, is a bad attempt at translating F. gole martrine, fur dyed red, as in ‘ses mantels fu riches et chiers | et fu toz faiz a eschaquiers; | l’uns tavels ert de blanc hermine | et l’altre ert de gole martrine,’ Eneas, 4029-32; a chess-board pattern in white and red. The pelisson of the period was a tunic of fur enclosed between cloths which permitted the red-dyed fur to be seen only at the front edges of the garment. These borders were called goules; comp. ‘Lermes li moillent le menton | E les goles del peliçon,’ Roman de Troie, ed. Constans, 15543-4; ‘Goules de martre, ne vos vuel plus porter,’ Raoul de Cambrai, 6227: the resemblance to the French word for throat has led to the translation here, as to the erroneous explanation of goules, gole, by ‘collet’ in Florence de Rome, 1959; Roman de Thebes, 6375-6. M has simply martrin, OF. martrine, marten’s fur.metheschelein T is for merðes chele, the first element being OE.mearð, marten; it is equivalent to the reading of E e.beuer, &c.: Beuveyr ne sablyne J.
363.sciet: sced E; scete D descend from OE.scīete, scēte, cloth, but scat T; schat M from OE.sceatt, property, money; as in ‘srud and sat,’ GE 795, 881, ‘srud or sat,’ id. 3169. J has, Ne þer ne wurþ ful iwis · worldes wele none.scrud, dress; not ‘shroud.’
365. See 125/291.
367, 368. D omits.na wið uten: noþing ȝit vten E; nowiht wiþ vte J: the latter and T appear to mean, there is nothing wanting to him: e is probably a corruption of na wiht uten, and ȝit in E is miswritten for wit = wið, as ȝihte 380 for wihte.
368.wane: T has the usual construction, as ‘deest mihi pecunia, mê ys fêos wana,’ Ælf. Gram. 202/11; ‘He nis naht fulliche cristene þat (= towhom) is ani wane of þese þrie,’ OEH ii. 15/22; 19/35; in E ewaneis an adj. as in ‘ic eom wana of ðâm getele,’ Ælf. Gram. 202/11; 129/23. J has Nis heom nones godes wone.
369.gane, miswritten for wane, misery, the reading of D T; J has wone; E grame.
370.of ðinche: see 30/10. e ends with this line; what follows is from E.
371.treȝe: so D: J has the often-associated teone; comp. 133/61; 24/208 note. ‘La est uie senz mort ki tut tens li durreit,’ Guischart 1255.
373.ulde . . . vnhelðe: see 40/197.
374.sorewe . . . sor: comp. 147/137; ‘mid seorwen and mid seore,’ L 6885; ‘to forswelten isar ⁊ isorhe eauer,’ SJ 79/7; ‘iseien sor ⁊ seoruwe,’ AR 190/15; SK 1164: so too, ‘sorwȝe and sariness,’ VV 19/2; ‘seoruhful ⁊ sori,’ AR 88/12.
375. Seoþþe me dryhten iseo. So J, which cannot mean, ‘Afterwards one shall see the Lord’: probably in Seoþþe lurk Swo þer, and schal has fallen out, as it has in T.swa, even as, more fully in T, swo se; comp. 34/80: D reads, swo ase he is. For omission of the subject in T comp. 6/18 note.mid iwisse: see 32/40. Comp. ‘Kar deus sicum il est tuz tens senz fin uerunt,’ Guischart 117; ‘En l’un qui serat | dampne deu verrat | toztens en present,’ Reimpredigt 54/107.
377-80 are wanting in J.And ðeh, and yet.
378.ði, because. The reading of T, which is supported by D M, gives a better sense.
380.ȝihte, miswritten for wihte; comp. 52/367 note: wiȝte M; rihte D. See 42/212.
381.seon: wite M.
382.icnawen ⁊ iwiten, understand and get to know: iseon and iwyten J; iknowen ⁊ isien D; biknowe ⁊ yseo M. Formihte, J has Milce; M milse.
383.to: þer to D; may luste J. The usual preposition isafter, as ‘þa lisste himm affterr fode,’ Orm ii. 39/11333; ‘Aȝȝ lisste himm affterr mare,’ id. i. 356/10220: but comp. 158/168; ‘Hi sete adoun ⁊ ete faste: for hem luste wel þerto,’ Legendary, 223/127.hlestein 387 T is explained in Specimens as a noun, desire: it can only be OE.hlystan, listen, suggested by ‘isien’ in the next line.
384.hali boc: in liue boc D; on lyues bec(MS. bee) iseon J.
385.alle&c.: to alle derlinges J.
386.he: so J D: foroþereJ has wordliche.
387.wealded: haueð on wealde D, has in his power, under his rule: see 22/122, 198/40 for the synonymous ‘owen a wold.’
388.of him to sene, of seeing him; comp. 124/239 note.sed: so D. OE.sæd, sated, appears to be used here as a noun, for satiety. The adj. is common enough, ‘Ich nam noht giet sad of mine sinnes,’ OEH ii. 75/8; ‘for selden y am sad þet semly forte se,’ Bödd., AE. Dicht. 149/5. ‘Mult porreit estre liez quant deu senz fin uerreit,’ Guischart 1256. J has, Him to seonne murie hit is. In the second half of the line J D agree with T.
389.mere: OE.mǣre, glorious: swete J.
391.oþer: oþre D, both meaning, to another; Ne may nomon hit segge · ne witen myd iwysse J.
392.godes: heuene J. Here D adds, Vten eftin þiderward | mid aldre ȝernuolnesse | ⁊ vorsien þisne midelard | mid his wouernesse. || Ef we vorsieð þis loþe lif | vor heuenriche blisce, | þanne selð us Crist ꝥ eche lif | to medes on ecnesse. Zupitza notes that eftin is for efstin (that is, hasten, OE.efestan), and wouernesse is OE.wǣfernes, pomp, show.
393.rixlet: rixeð D; ricscleþ M; lesteþ J.abuten: buten J D; ay bute M: see 34/85.
394.of: comp. 38/134; 112/11; 132/15: but ‘alesede hem eche deaðe,’ OEH ii. 5/26. Lines 393-4 are echoed in ‘And yef þat eche lif · þat neuere ne haueþ ende. | Hwanne vre soule vnbynd · of lykamlyche bende,’ OEM 53/551, 2.licames: J D M agree with T.
395.ȝyue: lete J; leue M.swilc: swichne D; suicchne M.
396. After this J adds, Bidde we nu leoue freond · yonge and ek olde. | þat he þat þis wryt wrot · his saule beo þer atholde. Amen.; which I take to be a prayer for the scribe himself, not for the composer of the Moral Ode.