Ther was also a Nonne, a Prioresse,
That of hire smiling was full simple and coy;
Hire gretest othe n'as but by Seint Eloy;
And she was cleped Madame Eglentine.
Ful wel she sange the service devine,
Entuned in hire nose ful swetely;
And Frenche she spake ful fayre and fetisly,
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,
For Frenche of Paris was to hire unknowe.
At mete was she wele ytaughte withalle;
She lette no morsel from her lippes falle,
Ne wette hire fingres in hir sauce depe.
Wel coude she carie a morsel, and wel kepe,
Thatte no drope ne fell upon hire brest.
In curtesie was sette ful muche hire lest.
Hire over-lippe wiped she so clene,
That in her cuppe was no ferthing sene
Of grese, whan she dronked hadde hire draught.
Ful semely after hire mete she raught.
And sikerly she was of grete disport,
And ful plesant, and amiable of port,
And peined hire to contrefeten chere
Of court, and ben estatelich of manere,
And to ben holden digne of reverence.
But for to speken of hire conscience,
She was so charitable and so pitous,
She wolde wepe if that she saw a mous
Caughte in a trappe, if it were ded or bledde.
Of smale houndes hadde she, that she fedde
With rosted flesh, and milk, and wastel brede.
But sore wept she if on of hem were dede,
Or if men smote it with a yerde smerte:
And all was conscience and tendre herte.
Ful semely hire wimple ypinched was,
Hire nose tretis; hire eyen grey as glas;
Hire mouth ful smale, and thereto soft and red;
But sikerly she hadde a fayre forehed.
It was almost a spanne brode I trowe;
For hardily she was not undergrowe,
Ful fetise was hire cloke, as I was ware.
Of smale corall aboute hire arm she bare
A pair of bedes, gauded all with grene;
And thereon heng a broche of gold ful shene,
On whiche was first ywriten a crouned A,
And after, Amor vincit omnia.
Another Nonne also with hire hadde she,
That was hire chapelleine, and Preestes thre.
[217]: Description du temple de Mars d'après la Théséide de Stace.
[218]: En parlant de Cressida, il dit: «Aussi vrai que notre première lettre est maintenant un A, on ne vit jamais chose digne d'être plus chèrement louée, ni sous un noir nuage d'étoile si brillante.»
[219]: Sous Proclus et sous Hégel. Duns Scott, à trente et un ans, meurt, laissant, outre ses sermons et ses commentaires, douze volumes in-folio en petit caractère serré, en style de Hégel, sur le même sujet que Proclus. Voyez aussi saint Thomas et toute la file des scolastiques. On n'a pas l'idée de ce travail avant de les avoir maniés.
[220]: Pierre le Lombard, Manuel des sentences. C'est le livre classique du moyen âge.
[221]: Duns Scott, éd. 1639.
Utrum angelus diligat se ipsum dilectione naturali vel electiva?
Utrum in statu innocentiæ fuerit generatio per coitum? Utrum omnes fuissent nati in sexu masculino?
Utrum cognitio angeli posset dici matutina et vespertina?
Utrum martyribus aureola debeatur?
Utrum virgo Maria fuerit virgo in concipiendo?
Utrum remanserit virgo post partum?
Le lecteur fera bien d'aller chercher dans le texte la réponse à ces deux dernières questions.
(Saint Thomas, Summa Theologica, édition de 1677.)
[223]: History of english poetry, t. II.