Chapter II

Rehersinge these thinges and many other, without tyme
or moment of rest, me semed, for anguisshe of disese, that
al-togider I was ravisshed, I can not telle how; but hoolly all my
passions and felinges weren lost, as it semed, for the tyme; and
sodainly a maner of drede lighte in me al at ones; nought suche 5
fere as folk have of an enemy, that were mighty and wolde hem
greve or don hem disese. For, I trowe, this is wel knowe to many
persones, that otherwhyle, if a man be in his soveraignes presence,
a maner of ferdnesse crepeth in his herte, not for harme, but of
goodly subjeccion; namely, as men reden that aungels ben aferde 10
of our saviour in heven. And pardè, there ne is, ne may no
passion of disese be; but it is to mene, that angels ben adradde,
not by +ferdnes of drede, sithen they ben perfitly blissed, [but]
as [by] affeccion of wonderfulnesse and by service of obedience.
Suche ferde also han these lovers in presence of their loves, and 15
subjectes aforn their soveraynes. Right so with ferdnesse myn
herte was caught. And I sodainly astonied, there entred in-to
the place there I was logged a lady, the semeliest and most
goodly to my sight that ever to-forn apered to any creature; and
trewly, in the blustringe of her looke, she yave gladnesse and 20
comfort sodaynly to al my wittes; and right so she doth to
every wight that cometh in her presence. And for she was so
goodly, as me thought, myn herte began somdele to be enbolded,
and wexte a litel hardy to speke; but yet, with a quakinge
voyce, as I durste, I salued her, and enquired what she was; 25
and why she, so worthy to sight, dayned to entre in-to so foule
a dongeon, and namely a prison, without leve of my kepers.
For certes, al-though the vertue of dedes of mercy strecchen to
visiten the poore prisoners, and hem, after that facultees ben had,
to comforte, me semed that I was so fer fallen in-to miserye and 30
wrecched hid caytifnesse, that me shulde no precious thing
neighe; and also, that for my sorowe every wight shulde ben
hevy, and wisshe my recovery. But whan this lady had somdele
apperceyved, as wel by my wordes as by my chere, what thought
besied me within, with a good womanly countenance she sayde 35
these wordes:--

'O my nory, wenest thou that my maner be, to foryete my
frendes or my servauntes? Nay,' quod she, 'it is my ful entente
to visyte and comforte al my frendshippes and allyes, as wel in
tyme of perturbacion as of moost propertee of blisse; in me shal 40
unkyndnesse never be founden: and also, sithen I have so fewe
especial trewe now in these dayes. Wherefore I may wel at more
leysar come to hem that me deserven; and if my cominge may
in any thinge avayle, wete wel, I wol come often.'

'Now, good lady,' quod I, 'that art so fayre on to loke, 45
reyninge hony by thy wordes, blisse of paradys arn thy lokinges,
joye and comfort are thy movinges. What is thy name? How
is it that in you is so mokel werkinge vertues enpight, as me
semeth, and in none other creature that ever saw I with myne
eyen?' 50

'My disciple,' quod she, 'me wondreth of thy wordes and on
thee, that for a litel disese hast foryeten my name. Wost thou
not wel that I am LOVE, that first thee brought to thy service?'

'O good lady,' quod I, 'is this worship to thee or to thyn
excellence, for to come in-to so foule a place? Pardè, somtyme, 55
tho I was in prosperitè and with forayne goodes envolved, I had
mokil to done to drawe thee to myn hostel; and yet many
werninges thou madest er thou liste fully to graunte, thyn home
to make at my dwelling-place; and now thou comest goodly by
thyn owne vyse, to comforte me with wordes; and so there-thorough 60
I ginne remembre on passed gladnesse. Trewly, lady,
I ne wot whether I shal say welcome or non, sithen thy coming
wol as moche do me tene and sorowe, as gladnesse and mirthe.
See why: for that me comforteth to thinke on passed gladnesse,
that me anoyeth efte to be in doinge. Thus thy cominge bothe 65
gladdeth and teneth, and that is cause of moche sorowe. Lo, lady,
how than I am comforted by your comminge'; and with that
I gan in teeres to distille, and tenderly wepe.

'Now, certes,' quod Love, 'I see wel, and that me over-thinketh,
that wit in thee fayleth, and [thou] art in pointe 70
to dote.'

'Trewly,' quod I, 'that have ye maked, and that ever wol
I rue.'

'Wottest thou not wel,' quod she, 'that every shepherde ought
by reson to seke his sperkelande sheep, that arn ronne in-to 75
wildernesse among busshes and perils, and hem to their pasture
ayen-bringe, and take on hem privy besy cure of keping? And
though the unconninge sheep scattred wolde ben lost, renning to
wildernesse, and to desertes drawe, or els wolden putte hem-selfe
to the swalowinge wolfe, yet shal the shepherde, by businesse and 80
travayle, so putte him forth, that he shal not lete hem be lost by
no waye. A good shepherde putteth rather his lyf to ben lost for
his sheep. But for thou shalt not wene me being of werse
condicion, trewly, for everich of my folke, and for al tho that to
me-ward be knit in any condicion, I wol rather dye than suffre 85
hem through errour to ben spilte. For me liste, and it me lyketh,
of al myne a shepherdesse to be cleped. Wost thou not wel,
I fayled never wight, but he me refused and wolde negligently go
with unkyndenesse? And yet, pardè, have I many such holpe
and releved, and they have ofte me begyled; but ever, at the ende, 90
it discendeth in their owne nekkes. Hast thou not rad how kinde
I was to Paris, Priamus sone of Troy? How Jason me falsed,
for al his false behest? How Cesars +swink, I lefte it for no tene
til he was troned in my blisse for his service? What!' quod she,
'most of al, maked I not a loveday bytwene god and mankynde, 95
and chees a mayde to be nompere, to putte the quarel at ende?
Lo! how I have travayled to have thank on al sydes, and yet list
me not to reste, and I might fynde on +whom I shulde werche.
But trewly, myn owne disciple, bycause I have thee founde, at al
assayes, in thy wil to be redy myn hestes to have folowed, and 100
hast ben trewe to that Margarite-perle that ones I thee shewed;
and she alwaye, ayenward, hath mad but daungerous chere;
I am come, in propre person, to putte thee out of errours, and
make thee gladde by wayes of reson; so that sorow ne disese shal
no more hereafter thee amaistry. Wherthrough I hope thou 105
shalt lightly come to the grace, that thou longe hast desyred, of
thilke jewel. Hast thou not herd many ensamples, how I have
comforted and releved the scholers of my lore? Who hath
worthyed kinges in the felde? Who hath honoured ladyes in
boure by a perpetuel mirrour of their tr[o]uthe in my service? 110
Who hath caused worthy folk to voyde vyce and shame? Who
hath holde cytees and realmes in prosperitè? If thee liste clepe
ayen thyn olde remembraunce, thou coudest every point of this
declare in especial; and say that I, thy maistresse, have be cause,
causing these thinges and many mo other.' 115

'Now, y-wis, madame,' quod I, 'al these thinges I knowe wel
my-selfe, and that thyn excellence passeth the understanding of
us beestes; and that no mannes wit erthely may comprehende thy
vertues.'

'Wel than,' quod she, 'for I see thee in disese and sorowe, 120
I wot wel thou art oon of my nories; I may not suffre thee so to
make sorowe, thyn owne selfe to shende. But I my-selfe come
to be thy fere, thyn hevy charge to make to seme the lesse. For wo
is him that is alone; and to the sorye, to ben moned by a sorouful
wight, it is greet gladnesse. Right so, with my sicke frendes I am 125
sicke; and with sorie I can not els but sorowe make, til whan
I have hem releved in suche wyse, that gladnesse, in a maner of
counterpaysing, shal restore as mokil in joye as the passed hevinesse
biforn did in tene. And also,' quod she, 'whan any of my
servauntes ben alone in solitary place, I have yet ever besied me 130
to be with hem, in comfort of their hertes, and taught hem to
make songes of playnte and of blisse, and to endyten letters of
rethorike in queynt understondinges, and to bethinke hem in what
wyse they might best their ladies in good service plese; and
also to lerne maner in countenaunce, in wordes, and in bering, 135
and to ben meke and lowly to every wight, his name and fame to
encrese; and to yeve gret yeftes and large, that his renomè may
springen. But thee therof have I excused; for thy losse and thy
grete costages, wherthrough thou art nedy, arn nothing to me
unknowen; but I hope to god somtyme it shal ben amended, as 140
thus I sayd. In norture have I taught al myne; and in curtesye
made hem expert, their ladies hertes to winne; and if any wolde
[b]en deynous or proude, or be envious or of wrecches acqueyntaunce,
hasteliche have I suche voyded out of my scole. For
al vyces trewly I hate; vertues and worthinesse in al my power 145
I avaunce.'

'Ah! worthy creature,' quod I, 'and by juste cause the name
of goddesse dignely ye mowe bere! In thee lyth the grace
thorough whiche any creature in this worlde hath any goodnesse.
Trewly, al maner of blisse and preciousnesse in vertue out of 150
thee springen and wellen, as brokes and rivers proceden from
their springes. And lyke as al waters by kynde drawen to the see,
so al kyndely thinges thresten, by ful appetyte of desyre, to drawe
after thy steppes, and to thy presence aproche as to their kyndely
perfeccion. How dare than beestes in this worlde aught forfete 155
ayenst thy devyne purveyaunce? Also, lady, ye knowen al the
privy thoughtes; in hertes no counsayl may ben hid from your
knowing. Wherfore I wot wel, lady, that ye knowe your-selfe that
I in my conscience am and have ben willinge to your service, al
coude I never do as I shulde; yet, forsothe, fayned I never to 160
love otherwyse than was in myn herte; and if I coude have made
chere to one and y-thought another, as many other doon alday
afore myn eyen, I trowe it wolde not me have vayled.'

'Certes,' quod she, 'haddest thou so don, I wolde not now
have thee here visited.' 165

'Ye wete wel, lady, eke,' quod I, 'that I have not played raket,
"nettil in, docke out," and with the wethercocke waved; and
trewly, there ye me sette, by acorde of my conscience I wolde
not flye, til ye and reson, by apert strength, maden myn herte to
tourne.' 170

'In good fayth,' quod she, 'I have knowe thee ever of tho
condicions; and sithen thou woldest (in as moch as in thee was)
a made me privy of thy counsayl and juge of thy conscience
(though I forsook it in tho dayes til I saw better my tyme), wolde
never god that I shuld now fayle; but ever I wol be redy 175
witnessing thy sothe, in what place that ever I shal, ayenst al tho
that wol the contrary susteyne. And for as moche as to me is
naught unknowen ne hid of thy privy herte, but al hast thou tho
thinges mad to me open at the ful, that hath caused my cominge
in-to this prison, to voyde the webbes of thyne eyen, to make thee 180
clerely to see the errours thou hast ben in. And bycause that
men ben of dyvers condicions, some adradde to saye a sothe, and
some for a sothe anon redy to fighte, and also that I may not my-selfe
ben in place to withsaye thilke men that of thee speken
otherwyse than the sothe, I wol and I charge thee, in vertue of 185
obedience that thou to me owest, to wryten my wordes and sette
hem in wrytinges, that they mowe, as my witnessinge, ben
noted among the people. For bookes written neyther dreden ne
shamen, ne stryve conne; but only shewen the entente of the
wryter, and yeve remembraunce to the herer; and if any wol in 190
thy presence saye any-thing to tho wryters, loke boldely; truste on
Mars to answere at the ful. For certes, I shal him enfourme of
al the trouthe in thy love, with thy conscience; so that of his
helpe thou shalt not varye at thy nede. I trowe the strongest and
the beste that may be founde wol not transverse thy wordes; 195
wherof than woldest thou drede?'

CH. II. 2. disease. 3. tel howe. holy. 4. loste. 5. light. 6. feare. folke. 7. done. disease. 9. ferdenesse. 10. subiection. 11. maye. 12. disease. meane. 13. frendes; _read_ ferdnes; _see_ l. 16. perfytely. _I supply_ but _and_ by. 14. affection. 16. aforne. ferdenesse. 18. lodged. moste. 19. to-forne. 21. comforte sodaynely. dothe. 23. myne. beganne. 27. prisone. leaue. 28. al-thoughe. stretchen. 29. faculties. 30. ferre. 31. wretched hyd. thynge. 33. heauy.

37. wenyst. foryet. 38. naye. 39. frenshippes. alyes. 40. propertye. 42. nowe. 42, 43. maye. 45. Nowe. 46. honny. paradise. 47. comforte. howe. 49. sawe. 52. the. disease haste. Woste. 53. the. 54. worshyppe. the. thyne. 57. the. 58. graunt thyne. 59. nowe. 60. thyne. 61. thoroughe. 62. wotte. none. 64. se. 67. howe. 69. Nowe. se.

70. wytte in the. _I supply_ thou. arte. 74. shepeherde. 75. shepe. arne. 76. amonge. 78. tho. shepe. loste. 79. put. 80. shepeherde. 81. put. forthe. let. loste. 82. shepeherde. lyfe. loste. 83. shepe. shalte. 85. mewarde. 86. throughe. 91. Haste. radde howe. 92. so_n_ne. 93. _For_ false _read_ faire. howe Sesars sonke (_sic_); _corrupt_. 95. louedaye. 96. chese. put. 97. howe. thanke. 98. rest. home; _read_ whom. 99. the. 101. haste. the. 102. ayenwarde. made. 103. put the. 104. the. reason. disease.

105. the. 106. shalte. haste. 107. Haste. herde. howe. 111. folke. 112. cyties. the. cleape. 113. poynte. 116. Nowe. 118. wytte. 120. se the in disease. 121. wote. arte one. maye. the. 123. thyne. 125. great. 129. byforne. 131. comforte. 134. please. 135. bearyng. 137. encrease. maye. 138. the. 139. great. wherthroughe. arte. arne no-thinge.

141. thus as I; _om._ as. 143. endeynous; _read_ ben deynous. wretches. 144. schole. 148. beare. the lythe. 151. the. 155. perfection. Howe. 157. counsayle maye. hydde. 158. wote. 162. doone aldaye. 164. done. nowe. 165. the. 166. playde. 169. reason. aperte. 171. faythe. the. 172. the. 173. counsayle. 174. forsoke. 175. nowe.

178. hert. 179. made. 180. the. 181. se. 183. anone. fyght. maye. 184. withsay. the. 185. the. 188. amonge. 189. onely. 191. -thynge. 194. shalte. 195. maye. transuers.