XXXV
Herein the needy man doth stand
Before his friend, and at his hand5010
Requires that of his goods he give
Fair share, that he in ease may live.
True friends open-handed
For one whose heart is strong and brave,
A bitter thing it is to crave
For alms: O many a cruel thought
Is his before his lips are brought
To ask a boon. Fear ties his tongue,
Lest in his anxious face are flung
His tremulous words. But hath he found
A friend with whom his life is bound5020
In long-tried friendship, then he may
(Casting base fear and shame away)
Pour forth to him the grief that bites
And wears his heart, for that unites
True friends the closer; who need fear
Reproach from such an one to hear?
And when his loving friend hath heard
His secret, he need fear no third
It passeth to; nor yet afraid
Need be lest he should be a-paid5030
With scornful words. To keep his tongue
A wise man knows, while oft is rung
A zany’s bell. A generous man
To give his aid is readier than
His friend to ask. And if so be
He lacketh opportunity
Or means to help, he grieveth more
Than he who needs assistance, for
Love worketh aye in earnest wise,
Though found in many a differing guise.
If love run strong betwixt the two,
Each hath his part in turn to do,
For this one suffereth that one’s pain,
And that one’s joy is this one’s gain.
Cicero on friendship
By friendship’s law, great Tully saith,
That when two men repose full faith
In one another, and request
Is made betwixt them, ’tis a test
Of mutual love; and asking made
With right and reason, to evade5050
Fulfilment were a thing unjust,
Save in two cases, which men must
Keep aye in mind. The first is this:
If it attaint man’s life, ywis,
Refuse to have concern therein;
Or secondly, if one would pin
Disgrace on some well-honoured name,
Scorn thou to aid an act of shame
And baseness. In each case, I trow,
Stern duty cries: Thou shalt not bow5060
Thy will to his, whose heart perverse
Injustice ’gainst his foe doth nurse.
Such love it is that thou shouldst give
Thine heart to, if thou fain wouldst live
In honour, but flee thou that blind,
False love that but obscures thy mind;
The one is virtue’s very breath,
The other draws men on to death.
Another Love will I describe,
An adverse love, whereat may gibe5070
Love for gain’s sake
All worthy men—a forgery
Of villain hearts, that foolis
hly
Torment themselves for base-earned gain.
Of such sort is this love, that vain
It finds its life so soon as e’er
It loses hope of profit where
It looked to find it, and away
’Tis gone and vanished in a day.
The true friend loveth not the pelf
His friend possesses, but himself;
And little true love moves that heart
Which of its friend but makes a mart
For chaffer.
This vile love doth wane
Or wax with Fortune, which amain
Suffers eclipse, as doth the moon
Whose brightness dims and fades so soon
As o’er it goes the gloomy shade
Of earth, but ere long is arrayed
More brightly as the sun ’gins cast
His beams again on her. So, fast5090
This fickle love doth ever range
From man to man as fortunes change,
Sometimes obscure, and sometimes bright.
But when by Poverty ’tis dight
In wretched gaberdine, or when
Fair Richesse’ beauty fails, O then
This sordid love doth disappear,
But once again ’twill shine forth clear
As Richesse gaineth strength and health;
Cupidity adoreth wealth;5100
When Richesse dies, it sinks to earth,
She rises, and it hath new birth.
Of this base love that I declare
A wealthy carle gets ample share,
And the vile miser more than all,
Who ne’er hath wisdom to let fall
From out his soul the wretched vice
Of hard-eyed, grasping avarice.
Churls win no friends
More simple than a wild deer is
A miser, who believes for this5110
He winneth love. Nay, proves it not
He’s nought above a doltish sot?
How shall a man who never gave
Love to his fellow hope to have
Return of love? O is not he
Counted a fool most worthily?
The branch-horned stag is not so poor
Of sense as this dull, drivelling boor.
Pardie! whoso will draw around
His hearth true friends must needs abound5120
In kindly words and deeds, but nought
A miser loves, in deed or thought.
Nay! if he wots his neighbour poor,
He draws his purse-strings tight, and door
Shuts in his face.
Yea! still his gold,
With fist fast gripped, he strives to hold
Till death’s sharp sickle clears the field,
For liefer than a scrap he’ll yield
Of pelf from out his darling hoard
Would he prefer to be by sword5130
Cleft limb from limb.
But little part
Hath he with love, for how in heart
So hard could friendship find fit place?
The miser knows how void of grace
He lives, and loving none, must die,
Unloved of all men, shamefully.
Friends in fortune
Dame Fortune next beneath our ken
Appears; and how she deals with men
Shall be set forth. My tongue shall tell
Strange tales of her, past parallel.5140
Thou doubt’st my word? I marvel not,
Yet thou in my discourse no blot
Of falsity shalt find. We see
That Fortune falleth, so that she
Oft-times brings richer blessings down
On men who live beneath her frown,
Than those on whom she smiles. And though
This seems a paradox, yet so
It many a time hath proved, that when
Fortune doth sweetly smile on men5150
She lies, and gives good cause to weep,
Yet lulls them into gentle sleep,
As nursing mother lulls her child,
And oft hath she man’s heart beguiled
With favours, honours, and richesse,
And dignity, and prosperousness,
And promise given these things shall last
For aye, though soon all overpast
Is worldly might. When Fortune’s wheel
Men mount upon, exalt they feel,516O
Assured of safety, and are raised
So high, their better wit is dazed.
And when she setteth them on high
She will provide them royally
With pleasant friends, who all about
Their steps still keep them, in and out,
Whereso they wend, and well-nigh break
Their backs for your great honour’s sake
As lord and seignior; loudly they
Declare them prone to cast away5170
Their lives in your defence, like dirt.
Vowing, each one, his very shirt
Is yours if so you will, and they
Will fight for you whate’er the way
False friends depart with wealth
Your arm shall lead them. Far too oft
Men swell with pride to hear these soft
But treacherous fawners, and believe
Their flattering words as they receive
The gospel’s holy truths, though not
More worth than those Iscariot5180
Used to betray his Lord, and this
They prove when riches fleet, ywis,
Past hope of bettering. Though five-score
Of friends they lately had, if more
Than one remain, they well may raise
Their vows to God in humble praise
For boon so great.
When Fortune makes
Her home with men, she lightly wakes
Their worser selves. Contrarily
When from their proud estate they be,5190
By turn of Fortune’s wheel, cast down,
From lordly seat to stool of clown,
Then she, as step-dame, doth apply
(Smarting sore hearts most recklessly)
No plaister mixed of eager wine,
But poverty that stings like brine.
She then makes plain, with rugged truth,
That no man, or in age or youth.
Who habiteth this changeful earth.5200
Should count prosperity of worth
Beyond the slippery hour.
Whene’er
A man, once wealthy, finds him bare
Of worldly garnishment, he then
Shall learn how many or few of men
Remain his friends. For those who came
In flocks around when wealth and fame
Smiled sweetly in his face, are shocked,
And sharply startled, when bemocked
By Fortune’s hand they see him; none
Remain to cheer, not half a one5210
Alas! is left; nor do they fly
In silence, but loud-voiced deny
Knowledge of him ’fore whom of late
They fell, with fawning voice, prostrate.
Nor stay they there, but loud proclaim
His thousand faults, and sharply blame
His folly, though scarce yet is cold
The breath with which his manifold
But true friends abide
Good deeds they chaunted. Still remain
Some few whose love no hope of gain5220
Or place inspired; they still defend
The man they once called ‘well-loved friend,’
For on his honoured self they set
Their hearts, devoid of hope to get
Advantage.
Goes not by the board
His love whose wilful hand the sword
Would draw against his friend?
The test of adversity
There are
Two points where friendship forms no bar
To quarrel: bitter wrath or pride
May end its term ; and woe betide5230
Old friendship if a man reveal
A secret given beneath the seal
Of confidence; or poisonous spite
Of base detraction puts to flight
Kind thought of olden days.
If one
True friend be found, ere life be done,
Among a thousand, happy he
Who proves him; for a man may be
Wealthy, and held in high repute,
But yet, forsooth, be destitute5240
Of one friend’s love.
It well was said,
A traveller on his road is sped
Better by friend than purse well lined.
When changeful Fortune proves unkind
To wealthy wights, by dole it is
She opes their eyes to see, ywis,
How they true faithful friends may know
From those who did but boast them so
In Fortune’s hour, and proves how vain
To win true friends is wealth mundane,5250
Showing adversity to be
More profit than prosperity;
Through one in ignorance we stay,
The other clears the mist away.
And whensoe’er it haps that poor
A man becomes, he may with sure
Unfailing test discover who
Among his friends are false or true.
O then he finds how base and mean
Are those whom he but late hath seen5260
Bowing before him, offering all
That they of worldly good could call
Their own, to serve him. Prithee say
What sum think you ’twere worth to pay
Hereof to be forewarned? Much less,
Perchance, had been the readiness
Wherewith he was deceived if he
Had known the wit you learn from me.
Suffisance better than plenty
The stroke of poverty had been5270
To this man better far, I ween.
Than riches, for he then had turned
His back on vanity, and learned
Wisdom. That man is never rich
Who sets his heart on treasure which
Leaves void within his soul; enough
Of simple goods and household stuff
Doth far more happiness confer
Than wealth unbounded; joy doth stir
More freely hearts of peasants fed
On hard-earned crusts of barley bread,5280
Than of rich men whose barns contain
A hundred moddes of golden grain.
Hearken, while I essay to paint
The tribulations that attaint
Rich merchants, who but live to gain
More wealth: what miseries are they fain
To undergo with will to pile
Riches on riches; avarice vile
Hath seized their hearts; and fierce desire
To have, which nought can stay or tire,5290
Corrupts their every thought; they want
The more, the more they get, and pant
For increase still, though when ’tis got
Small joy it gives their hearts, I wot.
Poverty hath advantages
But happy lives the man who ne’er
Suffers the thought of carking care
To rack his heart, while day by day
With hardy hand he holds at bay
The wolf of hunger, and provides
Whatso he needs, yet never chides5300
The stroke of Fortune. Well content
He rests with what kind Heaven hath sent,
So long as fails he not to gain
Raiment and food.
If racked with pain
And sickness lieth he abed,
And loatheth in his wearihead
His meat, he wisely looks around
To seek what issue may be found
Therefrom, and Nature saith that good
And prudent ’tis that he all food5310
Foregoes the while.
If so it fall
He passeth to the hospital,
There shall his sorrows comfort find.
But oft it haps the poor man’s mind
Cares little for the morrow’s need,
And all the woes hard want doth breed.
But if he thinks thereon, declares
There’s time enough for that, nor spares
One denier from his daily gain
To ward the risk of future pain5320
By timely foresight; cold and heat
Alike with constant heart he’ll meet;
And if gaunt famine face him, he
Welcomes his end right manfully.
For all the sooner that he knows
The stroke of death, the sooner goes
His soul to paradise, where God
Grants heaven in change for earth’s dull sod.
Pythagoras and Boethius
Pythagoras hath said the same
Within that noble book men name5330
‘The Golden Verses,’ fair and bright
They shine throughout the ages’ night.
‘When of thy body thou art quit.
Forthwith to heaven thy soul shall flit,
And freed from human grossness be
Absorbed within the Deity.’
Wretched the fool who dreams that this
Poor earth our only city is.
Let one demand of some wise clerk,
Well versed in that most noble work5340
‘Of Consolation,’ ’foretime writ
By great Boethius, for in it
Are stored and hidden most profound
And learned lessons: ’twould redound
Greatly to that man’s praise who should
Translate that book with masterhood.
Thrice happy he who knows to live
On that which kindly Heaven doth give
To feed his wants, nor strives for more
In hope to gather needless store;5350
For, saith our master, none need be
Caitiff, whatever his degree,
except he deem him so; the king,
Proud knight, or beggar, in this thing
Fare all alike.
Poverty lighthearted
Light-heart and gay
Goes many a beggar by the way,
But little heeding though his back
Be bent beneath a charcoal sack.
They labour patiently, and sing,
And dance, and laugh at whatso thing5360
Befalls; for havings care they nought,
But feed on scraps and chitlings bought
Beside St. Marcel’s, and dispend
Their gains for wassail, then, straight wend
Once more to work, not grumblingly,
But light of heart as bird on tree
Winning their bread without desire
To fleece their neighbours. Nought they tire
Of this their round, but week by week
In mirth and work contentment seek;5370
Returning when their work is done
Once more to swill the jovial tun.
And he who that he holds esteems
Enough, is rich beyond the dreams
Of many a dreary usurer,
And lives his life-days happier far;
For nought it signifies what gains
The wretched usurer makes, the pains
Of poverty afflict him yet
Who having, struggleth still to get.5380
’Tis truth (though some ’twill little please
To hear the trader knows no ease;
The misery of avarice
For ever is his soul a prey
To anxious care of how he may
Amass more wealth: this mad desire
Doth all his thought and actions fire,
Devising means whereby to stuff
His barns and coffers, for ‘enough’
He ne’er can have, but hungereth yet
His neighbours’ goods and gold to get.5390
It is as though for thirst he fain
Would quaff the volume of the Seine
At one full draught, and yet should fail
To find its waters of avail
To quench his longing. What distress,
What anguish, wrath, and bitterness
Devour the wretch! fell rage and spite
Possess his spirit day and night,
And tear his heart; the fear of want
Pursues him like a spectre gaunt.5400
The more he hath, a wider mouth
He opes, no draught can quench his drouth.
The lawyer likewise, and the leech,
One brush hath tarred them both, for each
Will eagerly for lucre sell
His soul, and both deserve right well
The gibbet. Such foul greed for gain
The one devoureth, that he fain
For one sick man would have two-score,
And t’other longs that thirty more5410
Were tacked to every cause he pleads;
Nay, multiplied by tens, their needs
Were yet unsatisfied, so bold
Their lust and hunger is for gold.
Of evil priests
And then divines who all the earth
O’errun that they may gather worth
Of worldly goods, and power and place,
Foremost in vice, and last in grace:
Most evil lives these preachers lead.
Treading in their unholy greed5420
Vainglory’s treacherous path, and eke
Thereby their souls’ damnation seek.
Their very selves do they deceive,
For through their preaching they receive
No vantage, though perchance their word
By others be with profit heard,
For if their sermonising be
Attaint with culpability,
Nought shall the preachers gain, but they,
Preaching, themselves are cast away,5430
And though the hearers virtue learn,
The teachers God’s damnation earn.
But let us leave the priests awhile,
And turn again unto the vile
Gold grubbers. Reverence, love, or fear
Of God they know not, but hold dear
Their pence alone: the trembling poor
They leave to starve beside their door,
Till God stretch forth His arm and show
How crime doth unto judgment grow.5440
Three cruel vengeances pursue
These miserable wretches who
Hoard up their worthless wealth: great toil
Is theirs to win it; then their spoil
They fear to lose; and lastly, grieve
Most bitterly that they must leave
Their hoards behind them. Cursed they die
Who living, lived but wretchedly;
For no man, if he lack of love,
Hath peace below or joy above.5460
True use of wealth
If those who heap up wealth would show
Fair love to others, they would go
Through life beloved, and thus would reign
Sweet happy days. If they were fain.
Who hold much good, to shower around
Their bounty unto those they found
In need thereof, and nobly lent
Their money, free from measurement
Of usury (yet gave it not
To idle gangrel men), I wot5460
That then throughout the land were seen
No pauper carl or starveling quean.
But lust of wealth doth so abase
Man’s heart, that even love’s sweet grace
Bows down before it; men but love
Their neighbours that their love may prove
A profit, and both bought and sold
Are friendships at the price of gold.
Nay, shameless women set to hire
Their bodies, heedless of hell-fire!5470
Thus fraud and baratry have spoiled
The pleasant earth, which all who toiled
Once owned with all her foison, now
Her fruits are held in fee, I trow,
By few, who are themselves not free,
But bound by their cupidity
Hoarders are slaves
To work as hoppled slaves of gold,
Which they in iron-bound coffers hold
Imprisoned; nay! by it are held
In bondage, all their joyance quelled;5480
Wretchedly live they as a toad
That writhes beneath the harrow’s goad.
What else should be the aim and end
Of gathering than the pelf to spend?
Alas! to this clear truth are blind
These graspers, though they needs behind
Must leave their riches when they’re dead,
To be once more out-scattered
By heirs and kindred, and small good
Will have of their vile niggardhood.5490
Moreover, ’tis in nowise sure
That through their own short day will dure
Their much-loved hoard, for who can say
What chance may snatch their wealth away?
Those men to Riches do great wrong
Who kill the uses that belong
To them by Nature’s gift. Distress
’Tis theirs to aid; their usefulness
Should not lie dead, for God hath sent
Earth’s wealth for mankind’s betterment.5500
But Riches do not love to be
Diverted from their destiny,
And signal vengeance take on those
Whose folly holds them hard and close.
They follow surely on their track
As sleuth-hounds, nor their vengeance slack
Till they have pierced their hearts with three
Sharp swords of dire malignity:
The first, hard labour is, to gain;
The second, fear to lose amain5510
The pelf amassed with carking care.
Long dolorous days, and scanty fare;
The third sword is the drivelling fear
Of death as old age draws anear,
When, as aforesaid, graspers see
Their self-inflicted misery.
Pecunia punishes her gaolers
Pecunia, queen-like, hath the wit
To scourge the fools who benefit
Nought of her favours, but would keep
Her prisoned fast. She lies asleep
In peace the while these dotards wake,
Swink hard and ’neath her ruling quake
Whate’er may hap; in honour she
Doth live, while they but shamefully
Bow them before her vengeful rod,
And writhe beneath her foot steel shod.
But small and scant her thanks will be
To him who curbs her liberty,
Seeing he must, or soon or late,
Forego her when he meets his fate,
Though while he lived he did not dare
To harness her or let her fare.
But bold courageous men attack
This dame, and mounting on her back,
With spur and rein entreat her so
As quickly gives her cause to know
Her lords for men of valiant heart;
For e’en as Daedalus by art
Most rare and wondrous, fashioned wings
For Icarus, as Ovid sings,5540
To pass the sea, so merrily
Do free hearts make Pecunia fly.
And they would kill themselves, God wot!
Unless through her some joy they got.
Great souls know not the hideous vice
Of sordid, grasping avarice.
But ever love, with largess grand
And free, to sound from land to land
Their noble deeds, their proud success,
Their valour, might, and gentleness;5550
God hates niggards
For unto God a generous heart
Is grateful, but nor lot nor part
Hath Avarice with him; like to a foul
Rank stench he hates a niggard soul;
For when he made the world, with wealth
He plenished it for joy and health
Of man, and therefore loveth he
Freehanded generosity.
But pinching, stinting, griping curs
God damns with vile idolaters,5560
Poor caitiff hounds, insatiable,
Extortionate and miserable,
Who rove the world with whining cry.
That riches only set they by
That they may have, when cometh age,
Sufficing food and harbourage.
But say, sweet Riches, are ye then
So soft of heart ye love the men
With gentle tenderness who cast
Ye into bondage, hard and fast?
Terrors of rich men
Nay! nay! The more of you they keep
Imprisoned, all the less sweet sleep
Enjoy they, terror and affright
Pursue them, and in wretched plight
Are they whose hearts are aye oppressed
With anxious care, unsoothed by rest.
Perchance a many may be stirred
To hastily condemn my word
Hereof, reciting how great kings
Have shown that riches are the springs5580
Of glory, when, as saith the crowd,
To strengthen and maintain their proud
And noble state they hire of men
Five hundred or five thousand: then
The commons cry: ‘Doth not then this
Show forth their glorious life, ywis?’
But God knows well that ’tis not so,
For all this valiance doth but show
They live their lives in mortal fear.
Far more of happiness doth cheer5590
The very beggar of the street.
Who feels no terror lest he meet
Thieves in his daily round; but kings,
In furred robes set with jewellings
And gold, atremble live, lest they
To wandering robbers fall a prey,
Who would no scruple feel to kill
Their king moreover, lest he spill
Their blood in vengeance of the crime;
For he alive, they know their time5600
Would wax but short ere on the tree
He’d surely hang them; nay, not he,
But those who serve him; wondrous weak
A king would find him should he seek
To match him ’gainst a caitiff wretch
Who standeth begging, palm astretch
For alms! The men who serve him? Nay!
Kings are but slaves
Base lie it were if I should say
‘They serve him,’ for by Heaven, I trow.
Though to his seigniory they bow,5610
’Tis he serves them; though he defends
Their liberties, his power depends
Upon his servants’ will; if they
Deny their aid to him, away
Goes all his kingly might, and left
Is he, of all he had, bereft:
For not to him belongs of right
The people’s valour, wit, or might,
Their bodies, work, or property;
No single thing of theirs can be5620
His, for great Nature gave them not
To him, and Fortune’s self no jot
Can give to any man unless
Dame Nature in her bounteousness
Saw fit his life with wealth to leaven.”
The Lover.
“Ah! Madam, by the Lord of heaven!
I beg you teach me then what can
Solely belong to any man.
Can you not show me what may be
One’s own in its entirety?”5630
Reason.
Happiness is in oneself
“Right well,” quoth she, “but understand,
I mean not lordly house or land,
Nor costly robes or garnishment,
Or jewels, or incoming rent,
Nor household goods and furniture,
But something better and more sure.
A thing ’tis, hid in each man’s soul,
More precious to him than the whole
Of worldly wealth, for ’twill endure
When things are gone you deemed for sure,5640
And ne’er from thee can it be ta’en,
Another’s heart to ease and fain,
Nor ever can be reft from thee
Henceforward through eternity.
External goods have no more worth
Than some poor horse’s outworn girth,
And neither thou nor any man
Can own throughout a long life’s span
The value of a garden leek.
Only within us must we seek5650
That which we dare to call our own,
All else that in the world is known
Belongs to Fortune, and her breath
Hither and thither scattereth
All worldly wealth, and then again
Recalls it, whensoever fain
She is thereto, which makes fools cry
And laugh by turns; but utterly
Wise men Dame Fortune’s gifts despise.
And when to move their hearts she tries5660
By moving round her wheel, no sigh
Or laugh from them evokes thereby.
Fortune to be disdained
For all her gifts one well may dread,
Seeing how they are chequerèd
With good and ill, and ne’er should stir
A wise man’s heart for love of her,
One moment bright, and then again
Eclipsed, to nought she falls amain.
List patiently the word I say,
And forthwith tear thine heart away5670
From such a love as this; ’twould foul,
Sully, and stain thy very soul.
If thou hereafter shouldst herein
Toward others in such fashion sin
That, having called thyself their friend,
Didst yet, by chicane, in the end
Seek thine advantage, thou wouldst be
By good men held disdainfully.
This love, whereof I have rehearsed
The nature, flee as thing accursed.5680
Put thou unholy love away.
List thou my speech nor make delay.
But many a thing thou need’st as yet
To learn, since thou believ’st I set
Thee on to hatred: prithee show
Thy meaning, that I fain would know.”
The Lover.
“You have not ceased to urge on me
To cast my Lord off utterly
For some strange wilding love you dight.
Though one should travel day and night5690
To Carthage, then from East to West
Should journey round, until oppressed
With age he’d lost his every tooth,
Yet still with all the zest of youth
Press[errata 1]
Pressed onward vigorously, his skirt
For speed around his waistband girt,
And brimmed with ardour still stride forth
From sultry south to freezing north,
Till all the earth he’d scoured around,
Much doubt I if he yet had found5700
This wondrous love that you recite.
The gods fled the earth
The world, meseems, thereof was quite
Delivered when the old Gods fled
By giants overmastered,
And Chastity, Good-Faith, and Law
Alarmed, did also hence withdraw,
For then, I trow, this love was tost
Aside, and earth the treasure lost.
E’en ponderous Justice, who was cast
In stronger mould, retired at last.5710
All left this world, outworn with war,
And sought beyond the skies afar
A fairer home, and since have shown
Themselves by miracles alone
To those on earth. ’Twas Fraud that sent
Them hence, who since that time hath bent
Earth ’neath her yoke.
E’en Tully’s wit,
Which searched through all that e’er was writ,
Could never find throughout the store
Of ages more than three or four5720
Examples, since the world was made,
That this most perfect love betrayed;
Nay fewer e’en than this I trow,
Who did by word of mouth avow
Themselves such friends.
And am I then
Wiser than Tully? Surely men
Would call me fool if I should try
To find such love as certainly
Dwells not on earth? Where should one go
For love that lives not here below?5730
Deem you that I dare soar as high
As cranes, or seek to pierce the sky
Of thought with Plato? Nay, I tire
Of speaking, and have small desire
The Gods should think of me as one
Who’d storm their heaven, and cast adown
Dread thunder on me as on those
Old giants of whom the story goes.
You’d scarce desire such fate should be
For self-same cause dealt out to me,5740
Thereof have I no shade of doubt.”
Reason.
No love perfect
“Fair friend,” quoth Reason, “hear me out.
To fly aloft would suit thee not,
But flight of thought and will, I wot,
May all men compass. Set delay
Aside, and list me when I say,
If thou esteemest all too high
The love I tell of, possibly
The fault is thine. Thou yet shalt know
From me another love—but no—5750
’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
Foul sins to others, whether it be
Or secretwise or openly.
Such people needs must be chastised.”
The Lover.
“Pardee! I fain would be advised
Concerning this famed Justice, who
Is held in such esteem by you.
Wilt thou then kindly indicate
Her nature, manners, and estate?”5790
Reason.
“Say how.”
The Lover.
Love and Justice
“Most willingly. Show forth,
I prithee, which hath more of worth.
Or Love or Justice? Pray declare
Which of the twain you judge most fair.”
Reason.
“What love then speak’st thou of?”
The Lover.
“Why this
Whereof thou told’st but now, ywis,
For that sweet love which fills my soul
No judgment needs, ’tis pure and whole.”
Reason.
The best form of love
“Poor fool! Believe so if ye will,”
But if ye ask my sentence, still5800
Broad love is better.”
The Lover.
“Show me proof.”
Reason.
“Right willingly. For one’s behoof,
If two things are agreed to be
Needful and fair, it seems to me,
That needed most, must be the better.”
The Lover.
“I own that true unto the letter.”
Reason.
“Incline thine ear, while I pursue
The differing nature of the two:
Each one is good within its sphere,
And both great benefits confer.”5810
The Lover.
“’Tis true.”
Reason.
“And you will not contest
But things which profit most are best.”
The Lover.
“Well, well, that freely I concede.”
Reason.
Love higher than justice
“Then that between us is agreed.
Now Love, that springs of Charity,
More needful is, it seems to me,
Than Justice.”
The Lover.
“ Make that clear, I pray.
Ere from the point you go astray.”
Reason.
“With right good will. I this maintain:
The thing that’s good in every vein5820
Must be of worthier metal made
Than that which needs extraneous aid.
Tills point beyond all question is,
I doubt not thou wilt grant me this.”
The Lover.
“The matter make more plain to me.
Who knows but what some catch may be?
I fain would some example hear,
Perhaps thereby ’twere made more clear.”
Reason.
The proof thereof
“I’faith, when thou example askest
For proof, my power thou sorely taskest,5830
Natheless, some instance will I find
To soothe and satisfy thy mind.
The man who should a vessel guide
Unaided o’er a trackless tide
(A thing thou scarce couldst do, I trow),
Were he not better skilled than thou?”
The Lover.
“Why clearly, he would know each rope.”
Reason.
“List then, and thou shalt see the scope
Of mine intent. If Justice sped
From off the earth, or lay stark dead,5840
Love only would be still enough
(That Love whereat ye rashly scoff)
By which a perfect life to lead,
For Justice’ help Love nought would need.
But Justice reft of Love? ah no!
Therefore doth Love more virtue show.”
The Lover.
“Give proof thereof.”
Reason.
Justice once supreme
“With pleasure, but
Prithee, thy lips meanwhile keep shut.
Justic held undivided sway
O’er all the earth in Saturn’s day.5850
Saturn, whose son, as Ovid sings,
Cut off, as they were chitterlings,
His father’s cullions, and the sea
Consigned them to most cruelly,
And thence was fair Queen Venus born
(Unless old histories be forsworn).
If Justice came again on earth,
And mankind recognised her worth
Once more as in the age of gold,
Sweet brotherhood should then infold5860
All sons of men, ’neath Justice’ eye,
Dwelling together peaceably;
For Love once dead or fled away,
Ruthless would be stern Justice’ sway.
But if mankind were joined in one
Great brotherhood of love, then none
Would wrong his fellow, and vice sped
Were not all call for Justice dead?”
The Lover.
“Past doubt it then were needed nought.”
Reason.
“Well say’st thou, for in Love’s school taught5870
All men would live in peaceful rest,
Neither by kings nor lords oppressed.
No provostship or bailiehood
Would people need if all were good;
No judge would then be set above
His fellow-man, and therefore Love
Should before Justice be preferred,
Although ’tis true her voice is heard
Restraining evil, which hath been
Wellspring of all earth’s lords, I ween.5880
In whom is freedom lost. For ne’er
Except for Crime and Sin, vile pair,
Had kings been known in any land,
Nor Justice shown her iron hand.
For judges, even from the first,
Bewray themselves as men accurst,
But they their own souls should discern,
In hope the world’s respect to earn
As men, fair, careful, and upright,
Not giving sentence in despite5890
Of truth; not false, with palms that itch
For bribes, alike from poor and rich.
Corrupt judges
But judgment set they at a price,
And ancient usage in a trice
Upset to serve their turn; they clip
And gather, grasp and pare and snip;
And poor and helpless men beguile
Of land or chattels; many a while
The judge who hangs the thief is he
Who ought to deck the gallows tree,
If only he were doomed aright
For all the crimes his hands have dight.”
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