It is counsel for right many clerks and knights a thousand,
And eke it might amend a man, full oft,
For to learn lore of one letter, and his life save;
For too much of any thing was never wholesome.
Read oft on this roll, and rule thee thereafter.
Whoso be grieved in his ghost, govern him better;
Blame he not the bairn that this A B C made,
But wite[[22]] he his wicked will and his work after.
It shall never grieve a good man, though the guilty be mended,
Now hearken and hear how I begin.