fol. 175rTheostextual note 1 Holy Gostes myhte
Us helpe and rede and dihte
And wisse us and theche
To wyten us wyth than Unwihte,
line5That bi daye and bi nyhte
Thencheth us to bipeche.
He maketh us don sunnen,
And habben of monkunne
Swithe muchel onde,
line10And thencheth us iwynne
And wunye us withinne
And us habben an honde.
Ac bidde we Crist yorne
That he that heom werne
line15For his holynesse,
For the that to heom turneth
In helle heo schulle forberne
On eche sorynesse.
Ah ich hit segge and swerie
line20If we ure Suppen herye
And luvyeth hyne swithe,
He us wille werye
That feondes us ne derye
That fulle beoth of nythe.
line25Ne schulle we nouht beo here
Swithe vale yere;
Forthi, er we wende,
Makie we us clene and skere
That we, englene ivere,
line30Mawe beon o buten ende.
That is in heovene blysse
Heo cumeth ther, myd iwisse,
That luvyeth Godes lore;
Hwo that, for lyve thisse,
line35Therof schal mysse
Hit schal him reowe sore.
Hit seyth in the godspelle
Ne may no tunge telleexplanatory note 1
The blisse that ther is evere,
line40Ne of thare pyne of helle —
Tharto we beoth to snelle —
Away heo ne endeth nevere.
In helle beoth the pynen
That maketh heorte chynen —
line45The stude is swithe unvele
Ther no lyht ne shineth;
Ne non other attryneth
To helpe ne to hele.
fol. 175vHer is chele and heteexplanatory note 2
line50And hunger unymete
And thurst elles to kene;
Wikede beoth the sete,
And the wurmes eke
That doth the saule teone.
line55Thar is wop and wonynge
And muche bymenynge
That heo ibore were,
And thar nys no yeyncherrynge,explanatory note 3
Ne thar nys non endynge
line60The enes cumeth there.explanatory note 4
Thi we auhte nyme gome
Her, er we thider come,textual note 2
And serve heovene Kinge,
Bisechen hym ilome
line65That he us at the
From thare pyne us brynge.
Ute we sunnen lete,
And nyme scryfttextual note 3 and betetextual note 4
Of ure misdede.
line70To donne he beoth swete;
Thy us is ethgeteexplanatory note 5
Helle that is unlede.
Theo seven heaued-sunne
That we ofte beoth inne
line75The saule willeth amerre.
Heo beoth of swikele kunne.
Ther-myd the Wytherwynneexplanatory note 6
Us alle thencheth bicharre.
Prude and modynesse,
line80Ne arhhedeexplanatory note 7 ne sorynesse,
And nythe and ek onde,
Wraththe and swikelnesse,
Hordom and yvernesse —
Theos we auhte understonde.
line85Theos beoth sunnen seoveneexplanatory note 8
That bryngeth ut of heovene
Swithe vele manne;
The weyes beoth unevene.
With wepynde stefne,
line90To helle he schulle thenne.
Nu weneth monye riche
To beon englene ilyche
For heore prude clathe;
Therfore heo schule siche
line95And in helle smyche
Acoryen hit ful wrathe.
fol. 176rHe weneth, for heore ayhte,
To heovene beo cuthlehthe;textual note 5
Ah bute heo hit ryht dele,
line100Of heovene heo beoth bipahte
And thane Veonde bycauhte
For heore muche weole.
Nu weneth, ek, thes wrecche
That he ne thurue recche
line105For he ayhte nabbeth,
Ac Sathanas the frecche
The saule wule drecche
Hwanne he agult habbeth.
The ryche, myd iwisse,
line110Wel myhte cume to blisse
If he hit wolde ofservie.
The poure may wel mysse,
Bute he his pouernesse
Mid mylde heorte tholye.
line115Thes munekes weneth summe
That gedereth gersummeexplanatory note 9
That heo hit schulle bruke;
Ah hwen Deth schal cume,
Al hit wurth heom binume,
line120And he bitauht the Puke.explanatory note 10
The preost that singeth masse
For his yvernesse
And for owe thinge —
Bute he do almesse,
line125In eche sorinesse
His saule he may brynge.
Thes knyhtes beoth so bolde
Hwenne heo habbeth aquolde
Heore Crystene ivere,textual note 6
line130Ah Sathanas the olde
The saule wule atholde
And makie heo unfere.
Theos playdursexplanatory note 11 beoth wel kene,
That werieth red and greneexplanatory note 12
line135And al this unriht demeth;
Ho schule, thah heo ne wene,
In helle habben teone
Ther as feondes remeth.
Thes chapmen, monye bi strete,
line140Beoth swithe unymete;
Ne reccheth hwat hi swerie
Bute heo habben biyete.textual note 7
Thi, Sathanas the kete
The saule wule derye.
fol. 176vOf alle men alonde,
line146Mest swynketh the bondeexplanatory note 13
And mest biyet myd ryhte;
If he hit cuthe understonde
And theothe ryht under his honde,
line150To heovene he cume myhte.explanatory note 14
Ah for al his sore swynke,
In helle he may adrynke
If he steleth Cristes theothinge.explanatory note 15
Sur hit schal him thinche
line155Deop in helle stunche
His saule he may bringe.
Theos prude levedies
That luvyeth dryworiesexplanatory note 16
And breketh spusynge —
line160For heore lecherye,
Nulleth here sermonye
Of none gode thinge.
Heo draweth heore wede
Mid seolkene threde,
line165Ilaced and ibunde;
Ah he that beoth nu leathe.
Remen heo schule and grede
Deope in helle-grunde.
Munekes and nunnen
line170That heom wyte ne kunnen
From sucche lecherye —
Heo schule to helle cume;
Alle heore clothes buve
Ne schule heom warantye.explanatory note 17
line175Sothliche, betere heom were
That heo ibore neretextual note 8
Thenne thider schulen wende.textual note 9
Soth is that ich eu lere:textual note 10
Hwoso enes cumeth there,
line180He wrth ther buten ende.
Ah we weneth lyvie
And longe sunegie,
And eft, at thon ende,
Alle ure sunnen endye,
line185Biwepen and bireusye,
And so to heoven wende.
Ah ne beo nouht to thryste
Ne therto nouht ne truste,
Theruppon ich eu lere,
line190For nes non that wiste,
Bute himseolve Criste,
Hwenne his ende-day were.explanatory note 18
Sothliche, hwenne we beoth dede,
fol. 177rEverych schal vo the mede
line195After his ernynge;
Bute we us birede,
The gost hit schal ivrede
And fareth to pynynge.
Hwenne bali me byndeth
line200On hereexplanatory note 19 me hyne biwindeth,
And bryngeth hine on eorthe,
The wurmes hine ifyndeth;
To axe heo hyne gryndeth —
Tharto we schule iwurthe.
line205He lyth and roteth lowe,
Naveth he that beo his owe,
Of ayhte ne of londe.
Ne naveth he mey ne mowe
That durre one throwe
line210Bi hym sitte ne stonde.
Sothliche, nakede and bare,
With wope and with kare,
We come to thisse lyve;
Al so we schule fare,
line215And al ure prude thare
Vorleten and bileven.explanatory note 20
Herof we owe thenche,
And ure sunnen aquenche
Mid beden and myd almesse,
line220And cunnen atblenche
From Sathanases wrenche
And from his swikelnesse.
Thah we beon falle in sunne,
Ne ligge we noht therinnne,
line225Ah ute we up aryse
And schenden ure Wytherwineexplanatory note 21
That thencheth us to bigynne —
Thenne doth we as the wise.
Ute we leten us schryve
line230And thene Veond ut of us dryve.
Ne tharf us noht schomye —
Ne beoth noht on thisse lyve
Wymmen ne wapmen fyve
That ofte ne sunegie.
line235Ah thes modie gume
And theos levedies, at the frume,
Heo dyhteth heom unwreste;
And theos gedelynges summe,
Hwenne heo to schrifte come,
line240Heo beoth schomevaste.
Nule heo the sothe telle
Thah me scholde heom aquelle,
Ne unwreo heore misdede;
fol. 177vForthi, heo schule in helle
line245Ever schrinke and swelleexplanatory note 22
And fo ther luthre mede.
Hwo nule hyne her rede
And unwreo his misdede
To the preoste one,
line250He schal eft lude grede —
The quike and ek the dede,
Iheren hi schulen uychone.
Thenne schal him schome sore;
The schome him thyncheth more
line255Than muchel of his pyne.
Bute he do bi preostes lore
And yeorne bidde Godes ore,
Ne schal him no god attryne.
At the Munte of Olyvete
line260We schulle us eft alle ymete,
The gode and the unwreste;
The day wurth mylde and swete,
And bytter heom that lete
To donne Godes heste.
line265Ther cumeth God myd his rode,
His honde and his syde al ablode,
And scheweth hu he us bouhte.
Offerd thenne beoth the gode,
And wo is thenne the overmode,
line270That er tharof ne rouhte.
“Loke,” seyde God nuthe,
“Hwat ich for ou outhe,
And hwat ich gon tholye.
Lutel thonk ye me cuthe —
line275Mid heorte ne myd muthe
Nolde ye me thonkie.”
He seyde thenne to his gode,
A spek myd milde mode:
“Mine god, ye me fedde
line280. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .textual note 11
And schrudden and wel bihedden,
And leyden in softe bedde
line285Tho ic among eu eode.
Forthi, ich eu wulle aredde
From Sathanas the unledde,
For her ye habbeth neode.”
The gode seyth thenne:
line290“Louerd, hwer and hwenne
Dude we the god dede?”textual note 12
“Tho ye yeve thene pouere monne,
Tho he help nedde nenne
Bute as he for me bed.”
line295He seyth thenne to the wrecchen:
fol. 178r“Ye nolden of me recchen
For hunger ich swal tharute;
Ye nolden me in vacchen —
Ye weren euseolve wrecchen,textual note 13
line300So modi and so prute.”
He gredeth thanne heye,
The wrecches and the unsleye
That luvede the unredes:
“Louerd, myd ure eye
line305Never we the ne yseyen
Hwenne thu neode heddest.”
Hetextual note 14 seyth thenne: “Myne
Poure, unhole hyne
To eure dure come;
line310For chele hy gunne hwyne;
For hunger hi hedde pyne;
Ye nolden nyme gome.”
“Therof ye nolde hede
Ne yeven of eure brede,
line315Of drenche ne of clothe.
To day ye schuleth yfrede
And underfo luthre mede,
For ye me beoth ful lothe.”explanatory note 23
“Myne gode,” he sayth myd iwisse,
line320“Today ye schulle myd blysse
To heveryche wende.
And ye to thesternesse
And to eche sorynesse,
And ther beo buten ende.”
line325He yeorreth and heo gredeth;
The feondes heom forth ledeth —
Bothe lychom and saule —
And beteth heom and schredeth,
And luthre heom biledeth
line330Mid pykes and myd eaule.
The saule seyth to the lychome:
“Acursed wurthe thi nome,
Thin heaued, and thin heorte!
Thu us havest iwroht thes schome!
line335And alle thene eche grome
Us schal ever smerte!”explanatory note 24
The gode, the milde, and the clene —
Thah heo iseon alle ymene
Al that kun that we of come —
line340Nulleth heo never ene
Byreusy ne bimene
Ne tharto nyme gome.explanatory note 25textual note 15
Ahtextual note 16 wolde we us wel dihte
fol. 178vAnd leden ure lyf myd rihte
line345The hwiles we beoth here,
Ich hit eu segge and plyhte,
A we myhte
Beon engles ivere.textual note 17
Bidde weexplanatory note 26 ure Dryhte
line350That day scop and nyhte,
That do ure saule bote,
That we, in hevene lyhte
Among than englen bryhte,
Wunyen and beo mote. Amen.
fol. 175rMay the Holy Ghost’s power
Help and advise and guide us
And direct and teach us
To protect us from the Enemy,
line5Who by day and by night
Plots to deceive us.
He causes us to sin,
And has of mankind
Such great envy,
line10And plots to conquer us
And dwell within us
And control us.
But we pray sincerely to Christ
That he ward him off
line15By his holiness,
For whoever turns to him
Shall burn in hell
In eternal sorrow.
But I say it and affirm
line20That if we praise our Creator
And love him deeply,
He will defend us
So that we’re unharmed by fiends
Full of envy.
line25We won’t be here
For very many years;
Therefore, before we go,
Let’s make ourselves clean and pure
So that, together with angels, we
line30May dwell without end.
Whoever’s in heaven’s bliss
Comes there, truly,
By loving God’s lore;
Whoever, on account of this life,
line35Misses out on that
Will regret it sorely.
It says in the gospel
That no tongue may express
The joy that’s always there,
line40Nor the pain of hell —
There we’ll go too soon —
It never ever abates.
In hell there’s the pain
That cleaves a heart —
line45The place is so unholy
That no light may shine there;
No one approaches anyone else
To help or bring remedy.
fol. 175vHere is cold and heat
line50And immeasurable hunger
And also keen thirst;
The setting is wicked,
And so are the worms
That torture the soul.
line55There’s weeping and lamentation
And much bemoaning
That they were born,
And there’s no returning,
Nor any respite
line60For those who come there.
Thus we ought to take heed
Here, before we go thither,
And serve heaven’s King,
Beseech him often
line65That he may at the Doom
Deliver us from that pain.
Let us forsake sins,
And take schrift and repent
Our misdeeds.
line70It’s sweet to commit sin;
Thus we easily receive
Miserable hell.
The seven-headed sin
That we’re frequently in
line75Will ruin the soul.
Its nature is deceitful.
By its means the Adversary
Plots to beguile all of us.
Pride and arrogance,
line80Sloth and despair,
Malice and envy,
Wrath and deceit,
Lechery and greed —
These we must understand.
line85These are the seven sins
That exclude from heaven
Very many a man;
The ways are crooked.
With a weeping voice,
line90He’ll go to hell then.
Now many rich folk expect
To be like angels
In their proud clothes;
Therefore they’ll sigh
line95And in hell-smoke
Pay for it wretchedly.
fol. 176rThey think, for their possessions,
To be famous in heaven;
But unless they act virtuously,
line100They’ll be tricked out of heaven
And then seized by the Fiend
To their great sorrow.
Now the poor think, too,
They needn’t fear anything
line105Because they have nothing,
But fierce Satan
Will harrass the soul
When it transgresses.
The rich man, indeed,
line110Might well come to bliss
If he merits it.
The poor man might well lose,
Unless he his poverty
Endures humbly.
line115Some of these monks
Who gather treasure
Think they’ll enjoy it;
But when Death comes,
It’s all taken from them,
line120And they’re delivered to the Devil.
The priest who sings mass
Motivated by his greed
And selfishness —
Unless he gives alms,
line125Into eternal sorrow
He’ll bring his soul.
These knights are so powerful
Whenever they’ve killed
Their Christian fellows,
line130But ancient Satan
Will take hold of the soul
And make it feeble.
These orators are very eloquent,
Who wear red and green
line135And judge all injustice;
They will, but don’t know it,
Have torture in hell
Where devils roar.
These merchants, many in town,
line140Are very extravagant;
They don’t care what they promise
So long as they make a profit.
For this, unyielding Satan
Will injure the soul.
fol. 176vAmong all men on earth,
line146The husbandman works hardest
And profits most justly;
If he can understand it
And commits to tithing,
line150He may come to heaven.
But despite his hard work,
He may drown in hell
If he steals Christ’s tithing.
It’ll seem bitter to him
line155When deep in hell’s stench
He’s brought his soul.
These proud ladies
Who love illicit affairs
And break marriage vows —
line160Because of their lechery,
They won’t listen to sermons
About anything good.
They sew their clothes
With silken threads,
line165Laced and bound;
But now they’re hideous.
They’ll call out and cry
Deep in hell-pit.
Monks and nuns
line170Failing to guard themselves
From such lechery —
They’ll come to hell;
All their garments above
Won’t protect them.
line175Truly, it’d be better for them
Never to have been born
Than to go there.
What I teach you is true:
Whoever comes there once,
line180He’ll dwell there forever.
But we expect to live
And sin a long while,
And later, at the end,
To cease all our sinning,
line185Weep and repent,
And so go to heaven.
But don’t be too confident
Nor trust in that at all,
As I teach you about it,
line190For no one knows,
Except Christ himself,
When his death-day is.
Truly, when we’re dead,
fol. 177rEach will receive a reward
line195According to his merit;
Unless we take counsel,
The soul will suffer it
And travel to pain.
When men bind the body
line200And shroud it in a haircloth,
And give it to the earth,
The worms find it;
To ashes they grind it —
Thus will we become.
line205He lies and rots below,
And has nothing of his own,
No property or land.
He has no kinsman or kinswoman
Who dares for a second
line210Sit or stand by him.
Truly, naked and bare,
With weeping and with care,
We come into this life;
Just so shall we go forth,
line215With all our pride there
Forsaken and left behind.
Here we must reflect,
And subdue our sins
With prayer and alms,
line220And learn how to escape
From Satan’s guile
And from his deceit.
Though we be fallen in sin,
We mustn’t lie therein,
line225But instead rise out of it
And thwart our Adversary
Who plots to ensnare us —
Then do we act wisely.
Let us make confession
line230And then drive the Fiend from us.
We needn’t be ashamed —
In this life there aren’t
Even five women or men
Who don’t commit sin often.
line235But these proud men
And these ladies, above all,
They’re poorly prepared;
And some of these rascals,
When they come to shrift,
line240They’re ashamed.
They won’t tell the truth
Even if threatened to die,
Nor expose their misdeeds;
fol. 177vFor that, they’ll go to hell
line245Forever to cramp and swell
And take painful rewards there.
Whoever won’t take counsel
And expose his misdeeds
Alone to the priest,
line250He’ll later cry out loudly —
The quick and even the dead,
They shall all hear.
He’ll then be utterly ashamed;
He’ll think more about the shame
line255Than about his pain.
Unless he follows the priest’s counsel
And eagerly prays for God’s mercy,
No good will come to him.
At the Mount of Olives
line260We shall all meet again,
The good and the wicked;
The day will be mild and sweet,
And bitter for those who fail
To do God’s command.
line265God will come there with his cross,
His hands and side all bloody,
Showing how he bought us.
The fearful will be the good ones,
And woeful will be the over-proud ones,
line270Who before didn’t care.
“Look,” God says now,
“What I did for you,
And what I suffered.
You showed me little gratitude —
line275With neither heart nor mouth
Would you thank me.”
He said then to his good ones,
And spoke in a gentle manner:
“My good ones, you fed me
line280. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
And clothed and tended me well,
And placed me in a soft bed
line285When I walked among you.
For that, I will deliver you
From wicked Satan,
For you have need of this.”
The good ones will then say:
line290“Lord, where and when
Did we do you a good deed?”
“When you gave to the poor man,
When he had no help
Except as he asked through me.”
line295He’ll then say to the wretched ones:
fol. 178r“You wouldn’t attend to me
When I suffered hunger;
You wouldn’t take me in —
You yourselves were wretched,
line300So arrogant and so proud.”
They’ll then cry out loudly,
The wretches and the fools
Who loved bad counsel:
“Lord, with our eyes
line305Never did we see you
When you had need.”
He will say then: “My
Poor, infirm servants
Came to your door;
line310They moaned for the cold;
They felt pain for hunger;
You didn’t care.”
“You didn’t attend to them
Or give of your bread,
line315Nor of drink or clothes.
Today you’ll take note
And receive evil reward,
For you’re hateful to me.”
“My good ones,” he’ll say indeed,
line320“Today you’ll joyfully
Go to heaven.
And you to darkness
And eternal sorrow,
And be there forever.”
line325They will yell and cry out;
The fiends will lead them forth —
Both body and soul —
And beat them and shred them,
And torture them foully
line330With spikes and with awls.
The soul will say to the body:
“Cursed be your name,
Your head, and your heart!
You’ve caused us this shame!
line335And all this eternal torture
Will make us hurt forever!”
The good, the gentle, and the pure —
Although they see all together
All the kind we come from —
line340They’ll never at all
Feel sorry or have pity
Nor have any care there.
If we prepare ourselves well
fol. 178vAnd lead our lives righteously
line345While we’re here,
I say it to you and affirm,
On Doomsday we may
Be together with angels.
Let us pray to our Lord
line350Who created day and night,
To remedy our souls,
So that we may, in heaven’s light
Among the bright angels,
Dwell and be joined. Amen.