Hertextual note 1 biginneth a tretisHere treatise
Of threo messagers of deth, iwis.textual note 2three certainly
The mon that is of wommon ibore,man woman born
His lyf nis heere but a throwe.is not little while
So seithJobexplanatory note 1 us heer biforesays
Al in a bok that I wel knowe.
line5He hedde is muynde al of his deth;occupied his mind entirely with
Wel sore hetextual note 3 con grone and grunte,can groan (complain)
And seide his lyf nas bote a breth.explanatory note 2was not but a breath
Heer mou we none stounde stunte.never tarry briefly
From Deth may no mon be fre;free
line10For his righte wol he not lete.explanatory note 3will surrender
Now beoth ther messagers threthere are three
Among monkuynde for to meete:With mankind clash
Aventures,Seeknesse, and Elde,Chance (Accident) Sickness Old Age
Theos beoth messagers of Deth.These are
line15To hem we moten us alle yeldemust yield
And louten ther ur maystres geth.footnote
Whon Deth cometh that is so derk,dismal (wicked)
Ther may no mon him withstonde;
I take witnesse on a noble clerkappeal for reference to
line20That wrot theos vers with his honde:wrote hand
Mors vetattextual note 4 athletas;
Ego mortis nescio metas;
Intertextual note 5 res letas
Caveat sibi quelibettextual note 6 etas.footnote
line25Deth, he sleth this kempes kene,slays stalwart wrestlers
And kynges in heore worthly won,their splendid abode
Riche and pore alle bidene,together
Yong ne old, spareth he non.spares
Ther is on of this messagerstextual note 7one
line30That of no mon wol take mede.reward
He is so hardi and so fersbrave fierce
That alle men of him have drede.fear
The messager hette Aventours.is named Chance (Accident)
Ageynes him may beo no strif;
line35Whon he cometh to a monnes hous,man’s
He taketh bothe hosebonde and the wyf.both husband
He taketh the child in his cradel,
Theihtextual note 8 he beo bot otextual note 9 niht old;Though but one night
The kniht andtextual note 10 horse in his sadelsaddle
line40I-armed, beo he never so bold.
Of him beo uche mon iwareach vigilant
And mak him clene, ar he beo hent.himself guiltless, lest he be snatched
For ther nis no geyncharis no escape
Whon Aventures cometh to tornement.challenge
line45Mony mon lihth in dedly synneexplanatory note 4lies sin
And weneth that he beo not veyghe,explanatory note 5believes doomed
And Aventures cometh with his ginneexplanatory note 6
And hontuth til he have his preye.hunts has
In dedly sunne he is ifoundesin found
line50Withoutentextual note 11 schrift and repentaunce.confession
He geth in to helle grounde,goes grounds of hell
Ther to suffre his penaunce.
Seint Poul bit we schulden awakeexplanatory note 7 —bids should
This clerkes witen as wel as I —know
line55That we schulden us clene makemake ourselves pure (i.e., confess)
And of ur sinnes ben sori.our be repentant
And bote we ben, we schulen abugge;footnote
Ther schal no pledur plede that.advocate plead
Ther God us fynt, he wol us jugge —finds judge
line60Nou uche mon be war bi that.Now each mindful of that
For Aventures wol come as a thefwill thief
Be nihte, whon mon ben aslepe,By night
And taken awey that him is leef.that which pleases him
Nou awaketh, that ye mowetextual note 12 him kepe.you may ward off
line65Another messager ther is
Of Deth, whon Crist wol him sende —wishes to send him
Seknesse — ic have iherd ar thisheard before
The messager is swithe hende.explanatory note 8exceedingly skilled (crafty)
Whon Seeknesse cometh to a mon,
line70He may bewar yif he is sleih,clever
And greithen his in, yif that he con,make ready his home can
And thenken that Deth is swithe neih.think very nigh
For Seknesse cometh apertely;openly (without hesitation)
He ne dareth not in his den.lurk lair
line75Hit is ure lordes cortesyour
With Seknesse for to warne men.
Mony men, whon that heo beothtextual note 13 seke,they are sick
To Jhesu Crist a clepen and criyecall cry
And to his mylde mooder ekehis gentle mother also
line80And sigge: “Now thou help, Marie!say
Yif that we mowe be sound and savemay safe
And kevere, that we mowen habbentextual note 14 ur hele,delivered may have salvation
Al the good that we have
For Godes love we wolentextual note 15 hit dele.”distribute [as alms]
line85We love wel God in al ur thought
While we beo seeke and sore smerte.are sick in pain
Whon we beoth hol, we loven him nought,are healthy love
He nis no lengor in ure herte.longer our
Cum fero langorem,
line90Fero religionis amorem;
Expers langoris
Non sum memor huius amoris.footnote
Of Crist ne taketh he non hede;
He nath no more with him to donne.Nor has to do
line95To thonken him for his goode dede;thank
He thenketh no more theruppone.thinks
Suche men bentextual note 16 ofte alone iletare left
To pleye as the foul in the lift,textual note 17bird air
Til Aventures have with hem met,
line100Bereveth hem bothe hoselexplanatory note 9 and schrift.explanatory note 10Deprives Eucharist confession
Men oughten holden up bothe heoretextual note 18 hondentheir hands
To God, while heo ben hol and feere,they are hale and hearty
To sende, whon he wol hem fonden,wishes to find
Seeknesse to ben heore messagere.be their
line105Seynt Poul seith, ure Lordes kniht,explanatory note 11
In a pistel that he wrot,epistle
That he was strengest and most of mihtstrongest might
Whon God him with Seknesse smot.
Now ichulle siggen ou of Elde;I wish to speak to you
line110Of messagerstextual note 19 he is the thridde.third
Whon monnes hed biginneth to elde,When man’s attention (head) to grow old
He may not do but beodes bidde.recite prayers
And he leoneth uppon his crucche,leans
Whon Deth him bekneth,textual note 20 comen he mot.beckons must
line115Hit helpeth nought thauh he grucche,though he grumbles
He schal withstonde never a fot.not even a foot
Also farethElde as doth a sweynbehaves servant
That stondeth at his lordes yategate
And mot not wenden in ageyn,may not walk
line120For the portertextual note 21 that is therate.Because of right there
For no yiftes that he may yiven,gifts give
Ne feire wordes that he mai speken,fair speak
He worth out atte yatetextual note 22 idriven;shall at [the] gate be driven out
Anon the yate for him is steken.shut
line125Yif a mon may libben heerIf live here
And ben of pouwer for to gobe power to reach
The elde of fourescore yer,old age eighty years
That other del is serwe and wo.remainder [of his life] sorrow
For hose wole his lyf beholdehe who wishes to
line130From biginnynge to the ende,
Wel ofte may his herte coldegrow cold [with fear]
That not what wey he schal wende.does not know way
Wel we witen we schule be ded;know shall
Ur dwellyng her nis bote a while.here is not but
line135Jhesu Crist us wisse and rede,instructs teaches
That never the Fend ne do us gyle.[So] that the Devil never can deceive us
Nou is Deth a wonder thingNow strange
And grislich for to thenken on.horrible think
He ne spareth emperour ne kyng,spares
line140Ne pope for al the good that he con.knows
Wher ben heo that biforen us weoren,are they who were before us
That weoretextual note 23 so mihti in heore deden?their deeds
Houndes ladden and haukes beerenled hawks bore
Antextual note 24 hontyng heighe uppon heore steeden?explanatory note 12hunting loftily their steeds
line145Deth hit hath hem al byraft,it them all snatched away
With hem ther nis no more pley.action (activity)
And al that bereth monnes schaft,bear human shape
Schal go that ilke selve wey.very same
Uche mon may be sore aferdafraid
line150That hath a soule for to save,
Whon he geth bi a chirche yerdgoes yard
And seoth wher dede men beth igrave.sees dead are buried
Riche men habbeth riche stones,have elaborate gravestones
That alle men mouwe biholde:So that may
line155Therunder liggeth foule bones,lie
Ibeddet al in cloth of colde.footnote
Wel pore halle ther is imakedVery poor made
Withouten eny worldes winne;any worldly wealth
Save a clout, men beoth al naked,
line160Whon Deth is comen, icast therinne.footnote
The halle roof is cast ful lowe,
Ther beoth none chaumbres wyde;are no
Me may reche the helewoweexplanatory note 13Men touch (reckon) end wall
And the wal on uche a syde.each
line165Heore bodies that weoren so softe ibathenTheir were so gently bathed
And ibrought forth with mete and drynk,reared
Ther hit schal crepe ful of mathen —creep maggots
In al this world nis foulore stynk.there is no fouler
A mon that such a bodi seye,sees
line170Whon wormes hit hath thorwsouht,dug through
He oughte wepe with his eyeweep
And evere have himexplanatory note 14 in his thouht.always thought
Ther nis non so luyte ne so muche,is no one so slender or so big
That is of flesch, blod, and bon,
line175That we ne schule ben alle suche,all the same
Whon we ben huled under a ston.are kept
Hou may eny mon be proudHow any
For eny thing that he may gete,get
Whon he is huled under a schroud,kept shroud
line180That thing that is wormes mete?explanatory note 15meat
That thing that is ur moste fo —our greatest foe
Therfore we don a gret folyedo folly
To love that thing that doth ustextual note 25 wo,causes us woe
And eke ur dedliche enemye.also [is] our mortal
line185Yif a mon may libben heerlive here
As longe as dude Matussaléexplanatory note 16 —did Methuselah
Nighene hundred and nyne and sixti yerNine
So longe on eorthe livede he —
That nis not also muche tymeis not as much
line190Ageynes the tyme that cometh afterwardIn comparison with
As fro the sonne rysing to prime:explanatory note 17the time between six and nine a.m.
To sunfol men that is ful hard.sinful difficult
That, I schal seye, nou taketh kepe,So that take heed
I drawe to witnesse seynt Austyn:explanatory note 18Augustine
line195That a mon schal more wepeweep
That damned is to helle pynpains of hell
Then is water under the sonne,Than [there is] sun
And he wepe uche day a ter.each tear
Aviseth ow now, yif that ye cunne,Contemplate if you can
line200And doth that ye ne come not ther.act so that
A mon that dampned is to helle,
His peyne may not ben forbought,punishment redeemed
Ac endeles he schall ther dwelle;But rather
Almes dede helpeth him nouht.Alms-giving not at all
line205Thei alle mentextual note 26 that libbeth noutheEven if live now
Weore prestes masses to synge,textual note 27Were to sing priests’ Masses
And duden al that thei ever couthe,did could
Ne scholden him of pyne bringe.footnoteexplanatory note 19
That ilke soule that is dryvensame driven
line210With fendes in atte helletextual note 28 yate,fiends hell’s gate
And his juggement be him yiven,is given to him
To bidde merci hit is to late.it too
Hevene hit is ure heritage,it (Heaven) our inheritance
To ure bihove hit is diht.sake prepared
line215We han do feuté and homagehave done fealty
To ure Lord, as hit is riht.our right
Synful mon, yif that he falleth,textual note 29falls
Arys up and mak thi pees,make your peace
And cum to Crist, whon that he callethcalls
line220To joye that is endeles.
He that is almihti kyng,almighty
That heighe sitteth in Trinité,explanatory note 20sits aloft
Graunt us alle his blessyng.
Amen, Amen, par charité.by charity