THE CUCKOO AND THE NIGHTINGALE (c. 1405)

The god of love, a benedicite!
How mighty and how great a lord is he!
Yo he can make of lowé heartės hye,
And of hye low, and like for to dye,
And harde heartes he can maken free.
And he can make, within a little stoundė1
Of sexe fox full whole, fresh and soundė,

And of the whole, he can makė seke;
And he can binden and unbinden eke
What he will have bounden or unboundė.

To tell his might my wit may not suffyse;
For he may do all that he will devyse

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For he can make of wise folk full nice, And eke in lyther' folk destroyen vice; And proude heartés he can make agrysė.1 Shortly, all that e'er he wills he may; Agendas him there dare no wight say nay. For he can glad and grieve whom him liketh; And whom he will, he laugheth or he syketh;" And most his might he showeth ever in May. 20 For every trewé gentle heartė free That with him is, or thinketh for to be,

Agrines May now shall have some stirring, Father to joy, or allés to mourning,

In no webun so great, as thinketh me.

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To whom be yeve3 praise, honour, and glorie.
Of well saying firstė in our language;
Chief Registrer in this our pilgrimage,
All that he told, forgetting naught at all,
Not feigned tales, nor thing historical,
With many proverbs, diverse and uncouth,1
By the rehearsing of his sugared mouth.
Of eachè thingė keeping in substance
The sentence whole withoutė variánce,
Voiding the chaff, soothly for to sain,"
Illumining the true picked grain,
By crafty writing of his sawes sweet.

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Tarry no longer towards thine heritage:
Haste on thy way and be of right good cheer;
Go each day onward on thy pilgrimage,
Think how short time thou shalt abide here!
Thy place is built above the starrės clear,
No earthly palace wrought in stately wise. 895
Come on, my friend, my brother most entere,1
For thee I shed my blood in sacrifice."

Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve

c. 1370-c. 1450

THOMAS HOCCLEVE'S COMPLAINT
THE PROLOGUE

After that Harvest gathered had his sheaves,
And that the brown sesóun of Michaelmessé1
Was come, and gan the trees rob of their leavės
That green had been and in lustý freshnessė,
4 Unfamiliar.
Say. 6 Sayings.

Given.

1 Entire, complete.

1 The feast of St. Michael and All Angels, or Michaelmas, which falls on Sept. 29th.

Through God's just doom and through His judgement,

393

And for my beste now I take and deem, Gave that good Lord to me my punishment; 395 In wealth I took of Him no heed or yeme, Him for to please and Him honour and queme,7

And me He gave a bones on which to gnaw,
Me to correct and of Him to have awe.

He gave me wit, and wit He took away
When that He saw that I it sore misspent,
And gave again, when it was His to pay
And granted me my guiltės to repent,
And then henceforth to set all mine intent
Unto His Deity to do pleasaunce,
And to amend my sinful governaunce.

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405

Laud and honour and thanks unto Thee be,
Lord God that salve art to all my heaviness!
Thanks for my wealth and mine adversitie,
Thanks for mine age and for my sickėness,
And thanks be to Thine infinite goodnéss 411
For all Thy gifts and benefices all,
And to Thy mercy and Thy grace I call.

1958

A LAMENT FOR CHAUCER (From The Regimen of Princes,1 c. 1412) But welaway! so is my hearte woe That the honour of English tongue is deed,2 Of whom I used to have counsel and rede." O master dear, and father reverent! My master Chaucer, flower of eloquence, Mirror of fructuous entendement,4

O, universal father in sciénce!

Alas! that thou thine excellent prudénce 1965 On thy bed mortal mightest not bequeathe! What ailed death? alas! why would he slay thee?

O death! thou didest not harm singular 5

In slaying him, but all this land it smarteth; But ne'ertheless, thou hast not any power

1970

His name to slay; his high virtúe upstarteth Unslain by thee, which aye us lively hearteth

With bookes of his ornate índiting,

. 1974

2073

2075

That are to all this land illumining. Simple my spirit, scarce my letterure 7 Unto your excelléncy for to write Mine inward love, and yet, in aventure I put myself, although I can but lyte. My dearė master-(God his soul requite!) And father, Chaucer, fain would have me taught;

But I was dull, and little learned or naught. 7 Appease.

6 Care.

8 Possibly an allusion to the proverb: "He that gives thee a bone would not have thee die."

1 A long didactic poem dedicated to Prince Henry, the future Henry V. The Prologue contains many autobiographical confessions, as well as the familiar passage on Chaucer, given above. 2 Dead.

3 Instruction.

A single injury.

5 Security.

7 Learning.

4 Understanding.

6 Hearteneth i. e. cheers.

8 Know but little.

4 Short time.

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The sense is, For (i. e. because) the world's trash, refuse (wrack), without ("but") spiritual well-being (welfare) avails nothing. $ Have. • Care. 7 The passage is thus paraphrased by Hailes:"What riches give us, let us then explore; Meat, drink, and clothes; what else? a sight of more." 8 Scroll.

1 Mahomet, here the devil. In the Middle Ages, Mahomet and other false prophets were confused or identified with Satan.

2 Fastens or fastings even, Shrove Tuesday, the evening preceding the fast of Lent. It was a season of riotous festivity.