Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/227

’Tis not another, but the same,
Though paler mayst thou deem the flame,
And less intense. Of fairer hope
Thou’lt find this love, and wider scope,
For, leaving special loves, thy mind
Shall clasp the whole of human-kind
In large embrace. No one apart
Should claim the fulness of thy heart,
Love of one’s fellows But every living man should be
Joined in one vast fraternity,5760
Loving the human race as one,
Yet giving special love to none.
Mete out such measure as ye fain
From others would receive again:
Pursue thy fellow in such guise
Alone, as thou in equal wise
Wouldst be pursued, and freely give
Quittance of debt, if thou wouldst live
By all beloved—such love should sway
The lives of men from day to day.5770

It is because unrighteous folk
Refuse to bear the gentle yoke
Of this fair love that it hath been
Needful to set the judge as screen
To shield the weak against the strong,
Uphold the right and quell the wrong,
To reprimand and punish those
Who rob their neighbours and dispose
Their hands to evil, and so shame
This love I tell of, and defame5780
Good men with foul detracting speech,
And (founts of ill example) teach