So of that beggares brol · a [bychop[64]] shal worthen,
Among the peres of the lond · prese to sytten,
And lordes sones[65] lowly · to tho losels alowte,
Knyghtes crouketh hem to · and cruccheth ful lowe;
And his syre a soutere · y-suled in grees,
His teeth with toylyng of lether · tatered as a sawe.
Here I might stop the quotation, but I go on, for justice has never yet been done[66] to this noble Crede and William’s Vision as pictures of the life of their times,—chiefly from the profound ignorance of us English of our own language; partly from the grace, the freshness, and the brilliance of Chaucer’s easier and inimitable verse:—
Lords
Alaas! that lordes of the londe · leveth swiche wreechen,
And leveth swych lorels · for her lowe wordes.