The Middle English Poem, Erthe Upon Erthe

by Unknown

Earth says to Earth, ‘We are but mould’;

Earth builds upon Earth castles and towers,

Earth says to Earth, ‘All is ours’!

[28.] Printed from Grein-Wülcker, Bibliothek der ags. Poesie, iii. 212.—(I know of a most noble guest in the dwellings, hidden from men, whom fierce hunger cannot torment, nor burning thirst, nor age, nor sickness [nor close-pressing death], if the servant who shall [bear him company] in his course serves him honourably: they, prospering, shall find abundance and bliss, countless joys, allotted to them at home, but (they shall find) sorrow, if the servant obeys his lord and master ill upon their journey, and will not show him reverence, the one brother to the other: that shall afflict them both, when they two depart, hastening hence, from the bosom of their common kinswoman, mother and sister.)

[29.] Grein-Wülcker, iii. 105.—(The worm whose jaws are sharper than needles, who first of all the worms in the grave forces his way to him.)

THE MIDDLE ENGLISH POEM
ERTHE UPON ERTHE.

[I.]
A VERSION.

[1.]
MS. Harleian 2253. c. 1307.

[fol. 57, v^o.]