Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/285

To those who strictly keep the tongue
’Neath bridle; ‘Be not found among
Such folk as let their tongues run wild
In foolish, brutal speech, but filed
And polished be thy words:’ much good
Christians may learn from paganhood.

A daughter of the Deity On one thing will I make remark,
Although it be without a spark
Of hatred, blame or bitterness.
Saving thy grace, thou dost express7440
Thyself in terms which but reveal
That thou within thy heart dost feel
Displeasure great ’gainst me, and why?
My Father, who beyond the sky
Rules o’er the angels and no less
Is than the type of nobleness
To those on earth, most graciously
Hath in all good instructed me,
I by his precepts guide my speech,
Nor hesitate to give to each7450
Created thing its proper name,
Free from all gloss; but if you claim
That when God made all things ’twas not
From him they names distinctive got,
I answer that herein forsooth
Your words are not divorced from truth,
Though had it pleased him, well he might
Have done so when the world he dight.
But his good pleasure ’twas that I
Should name all things distinctively,7460
And indicate their use and sense
To further man’s intelligence,