104. Maugree thyn heed, in spite of all you can do; lit. despite thy head; see Knightes Tale, A. 1169, 2618, D. 887.
105. Or ... or = either ... or; an early example of this construction.—M.
108. neighebour is a trisyllable; observe that e in the middle of a word is frequently sounded; cf. l. 115. wytest, blamest.
110. 'By my faith, sayest thou, he will have to account for it hereafter, when his tail shall burn in the fire (lit. glowing coal), because he helps not the needy in their necessity.'
114. 'It is better (for thee) to die than be in need.' Tyrwhitt says—'This saying of Solomon is quoted in the Romaunt of the Rose,
l. 8573—Mieux vault mourir que pauvres estre'; [l. 8216, ed. Méon.] The quotation is not from Solomon, but from Jesus, son of Sirach; see Ecclus. xl. 28, where the Vulgate has—'Melius est enim mori quam indigere.' Cf. B. 2761.
115. Thy selve neighebor, thy very neighbour, even thy next neighbour. See note to l. 108.
118. In Prov. xv. 15, the Vulgate version has—'Omnes dies pauperis mali'; where the A. V. has 'the afflicted.'
119. The reading to makes the line harsh, as the final e in come should be sounded, and therefore needs elision. in that prikke, into that point, into that condition; cf. l. 1028.
120. Cf. Prov. xiv. 20—'the poor is hated even of his neighbour'; or, in the Vulgate, 'Etiam proximo suo pauper odiosus erit.' Also Prov. xix. 7—'all the brethren of the poor do hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him'; or, in the Vulgate, 'Fratres hominis pauperis oderunt eum; insuper et amici procul recesserunt ab eo.' So too Ovid, Trist. i. 9. 5:—