1 "Palmer," quoth he, "death is an equal doom 2 To good and bad, the common inn of rest; 3 But after death the trial is to come, 4 When best shall be to them that lived best: 5 But both alike, when death has both suppressed,
both > [?to both: see next line] suppressed > pressed down; hence: laid low
6 Religious reverence does burial teem,
does burial > [burial does] teem > produce, bear (as offspring); hence: ?yield (this assumes that the spelling has been forced by the rhyme. Another interpretation, suggested by Roche (1978), retains the given spelling, but assumes that "buriall teene" is a misprint for "bury all teene" (teen = grief, woe))
7 Which whoso wants, wants so much of his rest:
whoso > whosoever wants > lacks
8 For all so great shame after death, I ween,
all so > [it is an] equally ween > think
9 As self to die bad, unburied bidden to been."
As self to die bad, unburied bidden to been > [To have died badly as to be left unburied; "bide" (pa. ppl. "bidden") = "to remain in some state or condition">[