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[Septem sunt gradus magnatum. Thys world ys born up by astates sevyn, Prynces ordeynyd to susteyn the ryght, Prestes to pray, the justyces to deme evyn, Marchauntes in sellyng to do trouthe in weyght, For comon profyte fyghte shal the knyght, Plowman in tylthe, the laborer in travayll. Artyfycers diligent day and nyght. The ryche her almes to parte with the porayll.      [Officia dictorum magnatum. Pryncys. To us longeth prestys to governe, Presthode. And we be bounde to lyve in parfytnes. Juges. Betwene ryght and wrong our office doth dyscerne. Merchantes. In bying and sellyng we shall do no falsnes. Knyghthode. We shull defende trouthe and ryghtwysnes. Plowman. Our occupacion to tyll and sowe the lond, Werkemen. And by our labour we voyden idylnes. Rycheman. We delyver our almes with our hond.      [Explicit.      [Septem Pagine sequntur sapiencie.      [Prima de Prudencia. Thynges passyd remembre and well dyvyde, Thynges present consider and well governe, For thynges commyng prudently provyde, Peyse matyrs or thou deme or dyscerne, Lat right in causes holde the lantern, Twene frende and foo stond evyn, and be egall, And for no mede be nat parciall.      [Secunda de Justicia. Furst in thy mesure loke ther be no lak, Of thy weyghtes hold justly the balaunce, Be trew in rekenyng, set no som abak, And in thy worde lat be no variaunce; Of chere be sad, demure of governaunce, Set folk at rest, and apese all trouble, Beware of flaterers and of tongys double.      [Tercia de Temperancia. By sapience tempre thou thy corage, Of hasty ire daunt the passion; Dyfer vengeance tyll thy wrathe aswage, Reverence the good for theyr condicion; Punyssh pacyently the transgression Of men disrewlyd, redressyng errour, Mercy preferryng or thou do rygour.      [Quarta de Discrecione. Discrecion, modyr and pryncesse, Of all vertues to governe hem and gye, And elumyneth with lyght of hygh noblesse Crownes of kynges, hold up theyr regaly, Conserveth reames, by prudent polycy, Causeth provinces and every gret cyté To contynew in long prosperyté.      [Quinta de Racione. Thys emperesse, verrey celestiall, Most aungelyk of contenaunce and chere, To rewle man he be nat bestiall, God gave hym reson, hys owne doughter dere, Princesse of princesses, most sovereyn and entere, To brydell in man the froward volunté That he not err by sensualyté.      [Sexta de Placencia et Bona Voluntate.1 Thys fayre lady, whyche callyd ys Plesaunce, And eke Good Wyll, her owne doughter dere, Beseke all folk, aftyr theyr suffysaunce, With all theyr hert, to make ryght good chere, With suche disport as they fynden here, And that hem lyst benygnely advertyse, Who that ys welcom hathe all that may suffyse.      [Septima de Fasetia et Nurturia. Thys goodly lady callyd Curtesy, And her sustyr, whos name ys Nurture, By theyr offyce longyng to gentry Lowly requyryd to every creature, As ferre as myght and power may endure, With hoole herte, body, wyll, and mynde, To be content with suche as they here fynde.      [Explicit.      [The fynders of the sevyn Sciences artificiall. Jubal was fadyr and fynder of song, Of consonantes, and of armony, By noyse and strooke of hamors that were strong. Fro Jubal came furst the melody Of sugryd musyk, and of mynstralsy, So procedyng down fro man to man Practyke of concorde, as I have told, began.      [Saturne. Saturne taught furst the tylthe of londe, Hys doughter Ceres made men ere and sowe. The goldyn worde he compassyd with his honde, Of sede and grayne the difference to knowe, Of trees, herbes, growyng hygh and lowe; Somer seson, there bawme above moste swote, And in cold wynter ther vertu in the rote.      [Mars. Though myghty Mars be callyd god of werres, Prudent Pallas founde out furst armure, Thys godde, thys goddes, syt among the sterres, Tubalcaym of stele founde the temprure, Forgyd plates, longe to endure, And thus these thre, by marciall apparayll, Be callyd in bokes patrones of batayll.      [Minerva. Crafte of wolles and of cloth wevyng Found Minerva, of spynnyng chief goddesse; And Delbora of lynen clothe makyng The practyke sought, bokes bere wytnesse; In all suche craft was a chief masteresse; But Semiranus, as bokes specyfy, Fonde out furst breche, myn auctor lyst nat ly.      [Diana. Lo, here Diana, princesse of venery, In forest walkyng lyke an hunteresse, Havyng her paleyce ferre above the sky, Callyd Lucina there shewyng her bryghtnes, Of huntyng, hawkyng, fysshyng, chefe goddesse, Every moneth her cours she dothe renew, Now full, now wane, now bryght, now pale of hewe.      [Mercurius. Mercury, callyd for mannys gret avayle God of eloquence, and merchandyse; Argon fond furst craft of shyp and sayle, And Neptunus the saylyng gan devyse To passe the see, in many sondry wyse, Whyche to merchauntes ys full necessary, Theyre stuff, theyr bales, fro londe to londe to cary.      [Phebus. Phebus fond furst craft of medicine, By touche of pounce veyne, and inspeccions. Esculapius taught the doctrine To knowe the qualytees of foure compleccions, Of letuaryes, drogges, and pocions; And among all there ys nothyng more mete To helthe of man then temperat diete.      [Explicit.      [The sevyn sciences callyd lyberall. Of sevyn sciences, callyd lyberall, Gramer techeth congruité and wrytyng, Philosophy in especiall Telleth natures of every maner thyng, Ars metryk craft of proporcionyng, Musyk concord, rethoryk eloquence, Astronomy by diurnall mevyng The world governeth, by hevenly influence.      [Auctors of sevyn sciences. Auctor of gramer was whilom Precian, Ewclyd excellyd in craft of geometry, Tully in rethoryk was a famous man, Hermogines fadyr of phylosophy, Boys wrote of musyk and of melody, Of methephysyk wrote Aristotyles, Albimazar of astronomy, Founders of sciences and vertuos encrese.      [Explicit.      [The Dysposicion of the sevyn planettes. Saturne disposeth a man to melancoly, Jubiter reyseth man to gret nobles, And sturdy Mars to stryfe, were, and envy, Phebus to wysdom and to hygh prowes, Mercurius to be changeable and dowbylnes, The moone mutable, now glad, and now drypyng, And gere Venus, full of new fangylnes, Makyn men unstable here in her lyvyng.      [Explicit.      [The dysposicion of the twelve sygnes. Aries ys hoot, and also coleryk And in the hede kepeth hys dominacion; Taurus in the throte, be man hoole or seke, That part hath he in supportacion; Geminus eke by revelucion Hathe in armes hys influence and werkyng, How shuld a man than be stedfast of lyvyng? Cancer hathe the brest in hys demayne, Of the hert lordshyp hathe the Lyon, Virgo the governaunce hathe of twayne, Of novell and wombe, and Libra lower downe. The membres of man governeth the Scorpioun, By thys reson the philsofyrs seyng Ys that man cannat be stedfast in lyvyng. Of all the sygnes rekenyd here toforn, The thyes of man governeth the Sagyttary And knees and legges hathe the Capricorn, Eke the calfe downeward perteyneth to Aquary And fro the feete, I wyll nat longer tary, Piscis hath theym in hys kepyng; Howe shuld a man than be stedefast of lyvyng?      [Explicit.      [The disposicion of the foure elementes. The world so wyde, the ayre so remevable, The sely man so lytell of stature, The greve and the ground of clothyng so mutable, The fyre so hote and subtyle of nature, Watyr never in oon, what creature Made of these foure, whyche be so flyttyng May stable be, here in hyr lyvyng? Man of the erthe hathe slouthe and hevynes, Flux and reflux by water made unstable, Kyndely of ayre he hath also swetnes, Be fyre made hasty, wode, and not tretable; To erthe agene, by processe comparable Selde or never in oon poynt abydyng, Howe shuld he than be stable in lyvyng? Fyre resolveth erthe to be watery, And watery thynges fyre turneth in eyre, Maketh harde thynges nesshe, and fyre eke naturally Maketh nesshe thynges harde by his soden repeyr, Though harde he ys that shone bryght and feyre, Whyche element hathe in man gret workyng, How shuld he than be stable in lyvyng? Ayre of kynde geveth inspiracion To mannys hert thyng most temperatyf, And kyndly hete geveth respiracion, Of subtyll, rare, and a gret medegatyf, To tempre the spyrytes by vertew vegetatyf; And syth that ayre in man ys thus mevyng, How shuld he than be stedfast of lyvyng? Watyr somwhyle ys congeyled to crystall, Colde and moyst as of hys nature, Now ebbeth, now floweth, whyche in speciall The myght of the mone dothe her course recure, And syth thys element by recorde of scripture, Ys oon of the foure compact of our makyng, I wold enquere, what maner creature, Made of these foure, were stedfast of lyvyng?      [Explicit.      [The disposicion of the foure complexyons. The sanguyne man of blood hathe hardynes, Wrought to be lovyng, large of dyspence, The fleumatyk man slow, oppressyd with dulnes, Whyte of vysage, rude of elloquence, And syth ther ys in man suche difference, By complexions diversely workyng, Answere herto, concludyng thys sentence, How that man myght be stedfast of lyvyng. The coleryk man, subtyle and dyssevable, Sclender, lene, and cytryne of hys colour, Wrothe sodenly, wood, and nat tretable, And full of envy, malyce, and rancour, Dry, thursty, and gret wastour, Dysposyd to many a sondry thyng, With pompe and bost hasty to do rygour, Ben soche men stable here in theyr lyvyng? Melancolyk of hys complexioun, Dysposyd of kynde for to be fraudulent, Malicious, froward, and be decepcioun Forgyng discordes, double of hys entent; Whyche thynges peysyd by good avysement, I dar conclude, as to my felyng, By confirmacion as in sentement, Few men byn here stabyll in her lyvng.      [Explicit.      [The dysposicion of the foure tymes of the yere. Man hath in somer drynesse and hete, In theyr bok as auctors lyst expresse, And when Phebus entreth the Ariete Dygest humours upward done hem dresse, Porys opyn that seson, of swetnesse And exaltacions, diverse wyrkyng, How shuld man than be stable in lyvyng? Autumpne to Veer foundyn ys contrary, As Galien seyth in all hys qualytees, Disposying a man that season to vary, To many uncouthe straunge infirmitees, Of canyculer dayes takyng the propertees, By revelacion of manyfold changyng, How shuld man than be stable in lyvyng? Man hathe in wynter in this present lyfe, By disposicion, colde and humylyté, Whyche season ys to fleume nurtrytyfe, Spoyleth herbe and tre of ther fresshe beauté, Closeth, constreyneth, the poores, men may se, Causeth kyndly hete, inwarde to be wyrkyng, How shuld man then be stable in lyvyng? By Veere man hathe hete and eke moystour, Atwene bothe a maner of temperaunce, On whyche tweyne gret lust he doth recover, Yef colde not put hym in dystemperaunce. Thus meynt with drede ys mannys governance, Ay in no certeyn, by recorde of wrytyng, Howe shuld he than be stable in lyvyng?      [Explicit.      [The Dysposicion of the World. The monthes vary, everyche hath his sygne And harde hit ys all wedyrs for to know, The tyme somewhyle ys gracious and benygne, And uppon hilles and valeys that ben low The foure wyndes contrariosly do blow In every storme man ys here abydyng, Som to release, and som to overthrow, How shuld man than be stedfast of lyvyng? The worldly answer, fortune transmutable, Trust of lordshyp a feynt sekernes, Every seson varyeth, frendshyp ys unstable, Now myrthe, now sorow, now hele, now sekenes, Now ebbe of povert, now flodys of ryches, All stont in chaunge, now losse, now wynnyng, Tempest in see and wyndes sturdynes Maketh men unstable and ferefull of lyvyng. Tytan somwhyle fresshly dothe appere, Then commeth a storme and doth hys lyght deface, The soile of somer with floures glad of chere Wynters rasure dothe all awey rase; All erthely thynges sodenly do passe Whyche may have here no seker abydyng, Eke all astates false fortune doth manase, How shuld a man than be stedfast of lyvyng? Beholde and see the transmutacion, Howe the seson of grene lusty age, Force of Juventus, strong, hardy as a lyoun, Tyme of manhode, wysdom, sad of corage, And howe Decrepitus turnyth to dotage, Cast all in a balance, and forgete nothyng, And thow shalt fynd this lyfe a pylgremage, In whyche ther ys no stedfast abydyng. Then lyft up thyne ey unto the hevyn, And pray thy Lord, whyche ys eternall, That syt so ferr above the sterres sevyn, In his palace most imperyall, To graunt thee grace, here in thys lyfe mortall, Contricion, shryft, and howsyll at thy departyng, And, er thou passe hense, remyssion finall Towarde the lyfe, where joy ys everlasting.      [Amen.      [Explicit.

There are seven levels of magnates seven estates; (see note) (t-note) judge impartially weigh honestly common profit; (see note); (t-note) tilling Craftsmen their; share with the poor Duties of the said magnates belongs [the right]; (see note) perfection righteousness avoid hand Here follow seven pageants on wisdom; (see note) The first is about Prudence past; (see note); (t-note) Ponder matters before you judge (t-note) Between; foe reward (i.e., bribe) The second is about Justice look; lack (see note) Be honest in accounting; sum demeanor; serious appease The third is about Temperance desire Defer; anger passes disobedient before you act harshly The fourth is about Discretion mother them; guide illuminate sovereignty realms The fifth is about Reason truly manner perfect bridle; willful desire according to their ability (t-note) graciously show The seventh is about Courtesy and Nurture (see note) sister belonging far (see note); (t-note) inventors father; inventor; (see note); (t-note) harmony hammers (t-note) from Craft of harmony cultivation; (see note) plow; (see note) world (i.e., of the golden age) seed balm; sweet root wars; (see note) discovered; armor; (see note) stars steel; temper; (see note) (t-note) martial battle wool (see note) (see note) method; books (see note) breeches; my source doesn’t lie; (see note) hunting; (see note) palace far chief month hue man’s great help; (see note) discovered; sail began to design; (see note) sea; different ways from (see note) artery (see note); examinations (see note) medicines fitting health (see note) (see note); (t-note) correctness Arithmetic daily movement grammar; (see note) Euclid; (see note) (see note) (see note) Boethius; (see note) metaphysics; (see note) (see note) beneficial knowledge (see note); (t-note) raises; nobility war deceitfulness misty (dripping) fickle; changeability signs [of the zodiac] hot; quick-tempered; (see note); (t-note) healthy or sick revolution domain Lion (i.e., Leo) navel thighs; Sagittarius Aquarius (t-note) Pisces (see note) changeable; (see note) virtuous; (t-note) constant changeable sloth instability [of human nature] Thanks to air fire; mad; reasonable Seldom then earth fiery; air soft; (t-note) sudden return (t-note) Air by nature gives breath man’s heart; beneficent natural heat palliative by promoting vigor since; at work sometimes; ice moon; regain one; elements (see note) (t-note) generous in spending phlegmatic choleric; cunning; deceitful; (t-note) Slender, lean, and yellowish Becomes angry spendthrift boast; act harshly such Predisposed by nature unruly; by deceitful in his intent considered thoughtfully in my opinion in effect; (t-note) their (see note) heat; (t-note) as authors say enters Aries (i.e., March to April) Digestive Pores open giving off of heat (t-note) Spring exists in opposition dog days (July to September) productive of phlegm pores natural heat moisture Between; moderation; (t-note) out of balance kept in uncertainty is man’s (see note) [zodiacal] sign; (t-note) weather (t-note) futile security health; sickness poverty; floods stands; (t-note) Titan (i.e., the sun) (t-note) erasure certain menace (i.e., Youth), strong; (t-note) sober of heart (t-note) far; (see note) (t-note) good luck hence; forgiveness of sin (see note)