For right thus was his argument alway:
He said he was but lorne,* well-away! *lost, ruined
“For all that comes, comes by necessity;
Thus, to be lorn,* it is my destiny. *lost, ruined
“For certainly this wot I well,” he said,
“That foresight of the divine purveyance* *providence
Hath seen alway me to forgo* Cresseide, *lose
Since God sees ev’ry thing, *out of doubtance,* *without doubt*
And them disposeth, through his ordinance,
In their merites soothly for to be,
As they should come by predestiny.
“But natheless, alas! whom shall I ’lieve?
For there be greate clerkes* many one *scholars
That destiny through argumentes preve, *prove
And some say that needly* there is none, *necessarily
But that free choice is giv’n us ev’ry one;
O well-away! so sly are clerkes old,
That I n’ot* whose opinion I may hold. <76> *know not
“For some men say, if God sees all beforn,
Godde may not deceived be, pardie!
Then must it fallen,* though men had it sworn, *befall, happen
That purveyance hath seen before to be;
Wherefore I say, that from etern* if he *eternity
Hath wist* before our thought eke as our deed, *known
We have no free choice, as these clerkes read.* *maintain
“For other thought, nor other deed also,
Might never be, but such as purveyance,
Which may not be deceived never mo’,
Hath feeled* before, without ignorance; *perceived
For if there mighte be a variance,
To writhen out from Godde’s purveying,
There were no prescience of thing coming,
“But it were rather an opinion
Uncertain, and no steadfast foreseeing;
And, certes, that were an abusion,* *illusion
That God should have no perfect clear weeting,* *knowledge
More than we men, that have *doubtous weening;* *dubious opinion*
But such an error *upon God to guess,* *to impute to God*
Were false, and foul, and wicked cursedness.* *impiety
“Eke this is an opinion of some
That have their top full high and smooth y-shore, <77>
They say right thus, that thing is not to come,
For* that the prescience hath seen before *because
That it shall come; but they say, that therefore
That it shall come, therefore the purveyance
Wot it before, withouten ignorance.
“And, in this manner, this necessity
*Returneth in his part contrary again;* *reacts in the opposite
For needfully behoves it not to be, direction*
That thilke thinges *fallen in certain,* *certainly happen*
That be purvey’d; but needly, as they sayn,
Behoveth it that thinges, which that fall,
That they in certain be purveyed all.
“I mean as though I labour’d me in this
To inquire which thing cause of which thing be;
As, whether that the prescience of God is
The certain cause of the necessity
Of thinges that to come be, pardie!
Or if necessity of thing coming
Be cause certain of the purveying.
“But now *enforce I me not* in shewing *I do not lay stress*
How th’order of causes stands; but well wot I,
That it behoveth, that the befalling
Of thinges wiste* before certainly, *known
Be necessary, *all seem it not* thereby, *though it does not appear*
That prescience put falling necessair
To thing to come, all fall it foul or fair.