[IAM CANTUM ILLA FINIERAT.]
By this she Philosophy now ended her song. hadde endid hire songe / whan the swetnesse [1700]
of hire ditee hadde thorw perced me þat was desirous
of herkninge / I was so charmed that I kept a listening as if she were still speaking. and .I. astoned hadde yit streyhte myn
Eres / þat is to seyn to herkne the bet / what she wolde
seye // At last I said, O sovereign comforter of dejected minds, how much hast thou refreshed me with the energy of thy discourse, so that I now think myself almost an equal match for Fortune and able to resist her blows. so þat a litel here after .I. seyde thus // O thow [1704]
þat art souereyn comfort of Angwissos corages // So thow
hast remounted and norysshed me with the weyhte of thy
sentenses and with delit of thy syngynge // so þat .I. trowe
nat now þat .I. be vnparygal to the strokes of fortune / as [1708]
who seyth. I. dar wel now suffren al the assautes of fortune
and wel deffende me fro hyr // I fear not, therefore, thy remedies, but earnestly desire to hear what they are. and tho remedies
whyche þat thow seydest hire byforn weren ryht sharpe
Nat oonly pat .I. am nat agrysen of hem now // but .I. desiros [1712]
of herynge axe gretely to heeren tho remedyes //
P. When I perceived that, silent and attentive, you received my words, I expected to find such a state of mind in you, or rather, I created in you such an one. than seyde she thus // þat feelede .I. ful wel quod she //
whan þat thow ententyf and stylle rauysshedest my
wordes // and .I. abood til þat thow haddest swych habyte [1716]
of thy thowght as thow hast now // or elles tyl þat .I.
my self had[de] maked to the the same habyt / which
þat is a moore verray thinge // What remains to be said is of such a nature that when it is first tasted it is pungent and unpleasant, but when once swallowed it turns sweet, and is grateful to the stomach. And certes the remenaunt
of thinges þat ben yit to seye / ben swyche // þat fyrst [1720]
whan men tasten hem they ben bytynge / but whan
they ben resseyuyd with-inne a whyht than ben they
swete // But because you say you would now gladly hear, with what desire would you burn if you could imagine whither I am going to lead you? but for thow seyst þat thow art so desirous to
herkne hem // wit[h] how gret brennynge woldesthow [1724]
glowen / yif thow wystest whyder .I. wol leden the //
B. Whither is that, I pray? whydyre is þat quod .I. // P. To that true felicity, of which you seem to have but a faint foretaste. to thilke verray welefulnesse
quod she // of whyche thynge herte dremeth // But your sight is clouded with false forms, so that it cannot yet behold this same felicity. but
for as moche as thy syhte is ocupied and distorbed / by [1728]
Imagynasyon of herthely thynges / thow mayst nat yit
sen thilke selue welefulnesse // B. Show me, I pray, that true happiness without delay. do quod .I. and shewe
me / what is thilke verray welefulnesse / .I. preye the
with-howte tarynge // P. I will gladly do so at your desire, but I will first describe that false cause (of happiness), so that you may be better able to comprehend the exact model. þat wole .I. gladly don quod she / [1732]
for the cause of the // but .I. wol fyrst marken the by
wordes / and I wol enforcen me to enformen the //
thilke false cause of blysfulnesse þat thow more knowest /
so þat whan thow hast fully by-holden thilke false [1736]
goodes and torned thyne eyen to þat oother syde / thow
mowe knowe the clernesse of verray blysfulnesse //]
1702 streyhte—H. strenghed
1712 am nat—H. nam nought
1718 had[de]—H. hade
1734 wol—H. shalle
1739 wil—wole
felde—feeld
AWAY WITH FALSE FELICITY!
[*QUI SERERE INGENIUM.]
He who would sow seed must first clear the ground of useless weeds, so that he may reap an abundant harvest. ¶ Who so wil sowe a felde plentiuous. lat hym first
delyuer it of þornes and kerue asondre wiþ his hooke [1740]
þe bushes and þe ferne so þat þe corne may comen heuy
of eres and of greins. Honey tastes all the sweeter to a palate disgusted by offensive flavours. hony is þe more swete yif mouþes
han firste tastid sauoures þat ben wikke. The stars shine all the clearer when the southern showery blasts cease to blow. ¶ þe sterres
shynen more agreably whan þe wynde Nothus letiþ his [1744]
ploungy blastes. When Lucifer has chased away the dark night, then Phœbus mounts his gay chariot. and aftir þat lucifer þe day sterre haþ
chased awey þe derke nyȝt. þe day þe feirer lediþ þe
rosene horse of þe sonne. So you, beholding the false felicity, and withdrawing your neck from the yoke of earthly affections, will soon see the sovereign good. ¶ Ryȝt so þou byholdyng
first þe fals[e] goodes. bygynne to wiþdrawe þi nek[ke] [1748]
fro þe ȝok of erþely affecciouns. and afterwarde þe
verrey goodes shollen entre in to þi corage.