The Ploughman's Tale

by: John M. Bowers (Editor)

from: The Canterbury Tales: Fifteenth-Century Continuations and Additions  1992

(Christ Church Oxford MS 152, fols. 228b-231a)

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The Prologe of the Ploughman   As the pylgrymys forth ded ryde, Owr Host began to loke aboute And seyd, "Felawys, we most provyde Hoo that best of alle thys route Kan telle hys tale, as lot comyth aboute. Ploughman Tylyer, drawe the nere And telle thy tale, and we wyl here."   "Syr," he seyde, "I shalle telle, as I can, A tale of Crystys modyr dere, Mary that bare bothe God and man, How to a monk she ded apere, That every day seyde here sautere, And hevene blysse had to his mede. Hoo servyth owr Lady, the better shalle spede.   "Whoso desyryth to gete and conquere The blysse of hevene, holsom ys a guyde Hym to condue and hym to brynge there; And so good knowe Y noon for mannys syde, As the rote of humblesse and fo to pryde - That Lady of whos tetys virginalle Sook owr redemptour, the maker of alle.   "Betwyxt God and man ys she meadiatrice For owr offences, mercy to purchace; She owr sheld ys agayns the malyce Of the Fende, that owr soulys wold enbrace And cary hem unto that horryble place Whereas peyne ay-duryng ys and turment, More than may be spoken of or ment.   "Now syn that Lady noble and gloryous To alle mankynde hath so grete cheerté That in thys slypyr lyf and peryllous Staff of comfort and help to man ys she, Convenyent ys that to that Lady fre We do servyce, honour, and plesaunce - And to that ende, here ys a remembraunce."   HERE BEGYNNYTH THE PLOUGHMANNYS TALE OF OWR LADY      There was whilom, as that seyth the scripture, In Fraunce a ryche man and a worthy That, God and Holy Churche to honure And plese, enforced hym ful bysyly; And unto Crystys modyr specyally, That noble Lady, that blessyd virgyne, For to worchype he dyde hys myght and pyne.   Hyt shop so that thys man had a yonge sone Unto whyche he yaf informacioun Every day to have in custome and wone For to sey, at hys excitacioun, The angelyk salutacioun Fifty sythys in worchyp and honoure Of Cristys modyr, of vertu myrroure.   By hys faderys wyl, a monk afterward In the abbey of Seint Gyle made was hee, Whereas he in penaunce sharp and hard Observyd wel hys ordres douté, Lyvyng in vertuous religiousté; And on a tyme, hym to play and solace, Hys fadyr made hym come home to hys place.   Now was there at oure Ladyes reverence A chapel in hyt made and edefyed, In the whyche the monk, when convenyence Of tyme he had awayted and espyed, Hys fadrys lore to fulfylle hym hied, And fifty sythys wyth devoute corage Seyd Ave Mary, as was hys usage.   And when he had y-endyd hys prayere, Owr Lady clothyd in a garnement Sleveles byfor hym he sey appere, Whereof the monk toke goode avysement, Mervaylyng hym what that thys myght have ment, And seyde, "Good Lady, by yowr leve, What garnement hys thys and hath no sleve?"   She answerd and seyd, "Thys clothyng Thow hast me gevyn, for thow every day Fifty sithe Ave Mary seying Honouryd hast me. Hensforth, Y the pray, Use to treble that by any way; To every tenthe Ave joyne also A Pater Noster, do ryght evene so.   "The first fifty wil Y that seyd be In the memory of the joy and honoure That I had when the aungel gret me, Which was ryght a wondyrful comfortoure To me when he seyd the redemptoure Of alle mankynd Y conceyve sholde: Grete was my joy when he so me tolde.   "Thow shalt eke seyn the secund fyfti In honour and in mynd of the gladnesse That Y had when Y bare of my body God and man withowtyn woo or duresse. The thirde fyfti in thyne hert enpresse, And sey it eek with good devocioun In the memorey of myne assumpcioun,   "When Y was crounyd Quene of Heven In whyche my sone regnyth and shal aye." Al thys was doon that I speke of and neven, As the book seyth, upon an halydaye; And then seyd owr Lady, that gloryous maye, "The nexte halyday wyl I resorte To thys place, the to glade and conforte."   And therwithalle fro thens departyd she, The monk in hys devociouns dwellyng. And every day suyng, her psalter he Seyde aftyr here doctryne and enformyng. And the next halyday aftyr folwyng, Owr Lady, fresshly arayd and welle, To the monk cam, beyng in the chapelle,   And to hym seyde shee, "Beholde nowe Howe good clothyng and how good apparaylle That, thys wyke, to me yevyn hast thowe: Sleves to my clothyng now not faylle - The thank I, and ful welle, for thy travaylle; Shalt thow be qwyt here in thys lyf present, And in that other whan thow hens art went.   "Walk now and goo hom to the abbey. When thow comyst, abbot chosyn shalt thow be, And to the covent teche thow for to sey My psalter, as byfore taught have I the. The peple also thow shalt in generalté The same lessoun unto myne honoure preche, And of here hurtys wil I ben here leche.   "Seven yere lyfe shalt thow for to doo Thys charge, and when the yerys be agoon, Thow passe shalt hens, and me come untoo, And hereof dowte have thow ryght noon. By my psalter shal there be many oon Saved and had up to eternall blysse That, yef that nere, sholdyn therof mysse."   When she had seyd what her lyked to sey, She up to heven ascendyd and stye, And sone after, abbot of that abbey He maad was, as that hym told owr Ladye. The covent and the peple devoutlye Thys monk enformyd and taughte her psalter, For to be seyd after that seven yere.   Thoo yerys past, hys soule was betaught To God - he Heven had unto hys mede. Who servyth owr Lady, lesyth ryght naughte; She sofficiently qwyteth every dede, And now hereaftyr the bettyr to spede, And in her grace cherly for to stonde, Her psalter for to sey let us fonde. Amen.   HERE ENDYTH THE PLOUGHMANNYS TALE

did   must determine Who; company (see note) Tiller; yourself; (see note)       Christ's mother bore   Who; her psalter reward Who; prosper     healthy; (see note) conduct I; man's part root; enemy breasts Suckled   intermediary   (see note) Devil   ever-lasting; (see note) conceived   since charity slippery   Appropriate; generous pleasure reminder       once; written source     exerted himself     pain   It happened gave habit spiritual exercise i.e., Ave Maria; (see note) times (see note)   father's Giles (St. Aegidius)   duty   relax       it; established     instruction; hurried times; spirit (see note)   ended garment Without sleeves; saw notice     is; that has     given   I thee Try to triple (see note)         (Gabriel) greeted           also say; (see note)     without woe imprint (see note)       forever name; (see note) holiday maid   thee to gladden       following; (see note) instruction (see note)         (see note) week; given   Thee; efforts rewarded i.e., when you die     (see note) chapter; say thee universally   their; physician     years; gone   (see note)     if that weren't   it pleased her climbed; (see note) soon (see note)         Those; entrusted reward; (see note) loses repays   joyously strive

Go To The Cook's Tale, introduction
Go To The Cook's Tale, text

Footnotes

THE PLOUGHMAN'S TALE: NOTES

Note on spelling. The scribe of this manuscript was prone to use -y- where Chaucer was likely to use -e- in the plural and possessive -es, the third-person -eth, and the past tense -ed. Examples in the first two stanzas include pylgrymys for "pilgrims," felawys for "fellows," comyth for "come," and Crystys modyr for "Christ's mother."

5 The Host's reference to the "lot" recalls the method for determining the order of tale-tellers initiated in the General Prologue (CT I, 835-45).

6 Chaucer gave the Plowman no name in the General Prologue (CT I, 529-41). Perhaps he is given the name Tylyer to avoid confusion with the more famous literary tiller, Piers Plowman.

16 holsom. HM (Huntington HM 744): needful.

24 owr sheld. HM: our seur sheeld.

27 peyne ay-duryng. HM: eternel peyne.

47 Gabriel's angelic salutation is recorded in Luke 1:28: Et ingressus angelus ad eam dixit: "Ave gratia pleta: Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus!" [And the angel being come in, said unto her: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women!" - Douay translation.]

49 Of Cristys modyr, of vertu myrroure. HM: Of goddes modir / of vertu the flour.

63 Known as the Rosary in modern times, Our Lady's Psalter was the prayerful recitation of Ave Marias, usually in multiples of 150, the number of psalms in the Psalter. Originating in the monasteries as a devotion for illiterate brothers who could not otherwise participate in the Divine Office, the practice spread beyond the monastic communities and became a popular form of lay piety. See Beverly Boyd, "Hoccleve's Miracle of the Virgin," Texas Studies in English 35 (1956), 116-22. Hoccleve's note in HM 744 (fol. 36a) that "Ce feust faite a linstance de T. Marleburgh" - the London stationer Thomas Marleburgh being master of the guild of Limners and Textwriters in 1423 - indicates his poem was intended for a lay readership.

76 Ave, as in HM; omitted in Ch.

85 Thow, as in HM; Ch: Though.

90 with, as in HM; Ch: which.

94 doon, as in HM; Ch doo. Note that Ch: and neven makes a better rhyme than HM: and meene, suggesting this text derives from a different version by Hoccleve himself.

101 suyng, her psalter. HM: Aue Maria.

103 folwyng. HM: suynge; this substitution to avoid repetition of the word suyng in line 101 again suggests authorial revision in Ch.

107 good apparaylle. HM: fressh apparaille.

114 chosyn shalt thow be. HM: shalt thow chosen be.

123 And hereof. HM: And of this. HM: thow, omitted in Ch.

128 HM: up, omitted in Ch.

130 HM: that, omitted in Ch.

135 unto, as in HM; Ch: to.