Prik of Conscience: Part One: Of Man and of his Wretchedness

by: James H. Morey (Editor)

from: Prik of Conscience  2012

[373] [372] 5 10 [384] 15 20 25 [400] 30 fol. 7v [404] 35 40 45 50 55 60 fol. 8r 65 [438] 70 [444] 75 80 85 90 fol. 8v 95 100 [475] 105 110 [484] 115 120 125 fol. 9r [500] 130 135 140 145 150 [525] 155 [528] fol. 9v 160 165 170 175 [552] 180 185 fol. 10r 190 [568] 195 200 [574] 205 210 215 [592] 220 fol. 10v 225 230 235 [610] 240 245 [620] 250 fol. 11r 255 260 [636] 265 270 275 280 [660] fol. 11v 286 [666] 290 295 300 305 [684] 310 315 fol. 12r 320 325 330 [708] [710] 335 340 345 fol. 12v 350 355 [738] 360 365 [750] 370 [752] 375 380 fol. 13r 385 [768] 390 395 400 405 410 [794] fol. 13v 415 420 [806] 425 430 435 440 fol. 14r 445 [830] 450 455 460 [843] 465 470 475 fol. 14v 480 [866] 485 490 [876] 495 [880] 500 505 fol. 15r 510 515 520 [904] 525 530 535 fol. 15v     541 [924] 545 [931]

The fyrst part of this book that es Of mon and of his wrechednes Mon of foulest matere God wrought When he maad alle thing of nought Of erthe for to skilles to holde: That oon is for that God so wolde Of fulthe hym maken in despyte Of Lucyfer whiche that fel so tyte To helle for his syn of pryde And of alle tho that fellen by syde, For they shulde have more shenship And the more sorowe when they toke kep That mon of suche matere shuld dwel In that place that they from felle. ¶That othur skil is to see For mon shulde here the meker be Ay when he thinketh in his thought Of howe foule matere he is wrought. God of his goodnes and his myght Say that place in heven bryght Voyde was maad by syn of pryde And wolde hit fylle on every syde Thorowe the vertue of mekenes That even contrarye to pryde es. Then may no mon thidur coom Bot he that meke is and buxom. As the gospelle us telleth ful ryght How to the aposteles seyde God almyght: Nisi efficiamini sicut parvulus iste non intrabitis regnum celorum.1 He seyth, “bot if yee be meke and mylde, That is to say as is this childe Ye shul not entre by no way To heven blys that lasteth ay.” Then byhoveth a mon to seke What may sounest make hym mek. Bot no thyng may meke hym more Then ofte to thinke as I sayde ore Howe he is maad of foule matere And is nought ellus bot erthe here. Thus seyth a clerke as I now sey, “What is mon bot erthe and cley And poudur that with wynde brekes?” Therfore Job thus to God spekes: Memento queso quod sicut lutum feceris me et in puluerem reduces me.2 “Lorde thinke,” he seyth, “thou madest me Foule erthe and clay here for to be, So shalt thou turne me ageyn To erthe and poudur incerteyn.” Then seyth oure Lorde God almyghty Ageyn to mon ryght skilfully: Memento homo quod cinis es et in cinerem reuerteris.3 “Think mon thou art askes nowe And into askes turne shalt thowe.” Then is mon no more to say Bot askes poudur erthe and clay. Of this shul uche mon ever ha mynde And knowe his wrechednes of kynde, That may be seen as I shew con In alle partyes of lyvyng moon. ¶The lyf of mon casten may be Sovereynly in tymes thre That ben to oure undurstondyng Bygynnyng, mydelage, and endyng. Thus moun thre spaces be toolde Of monnes lyvyng both yong and olde. The fyrste bygynnyng of monnes lyfe Is wrechednesse and wo and stryfe. Therfore wole I nowe er I cees Shewe yow what a mon fyrst es. Of monnes fyrst bygynnyng Som tyme was when mon was nought Er he were geten and forthe ibrought, Then was he geten as hit is knowen Of monnes seed with syn sowen. He is conceyved ryght synfully Within his own modur body; His herborow therin was dyght As David seyth thes wordus ryght: Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum, et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.4 “Lo,” he seyth, “as monkynde es I am conceyved in wickednes, My modur hath conceyved me In mychel synne and caytifte.” There dwelled mon in a dongyon In stede of foule fylth and corrupcyoun, Where he had noon othur foode Bot foule glet and lipered bloode And stynke and fylthe as I seyde ore Therwith was he norysshed thore. Aftur that when he forth coom A doungeoun his modur wombe from And was forthe borne to worldes lyght Had he nouther strength ny myght Nouthur to goo ny for to stonde Ny for to crepe with foot ny honde. ¶Thus hath mon las myght then beeste When he is boren so unhoneste, For beest when hit is boren may go And sone remeweth too and froo Bot man hath no myght ther too When he is boren so forto do; He may nouther gong ny crepe But lye and crye, crule and wepe. Unnethe is childe boren fully When he bygynneth to rore and crye. By that crye mon may knowe thon Whether hit be monn or wemon When hit is borne hit cryeth wa. Yif hit be mon hit cryeth “a,” That is the fyrst letter of the name Of oure formoure fadur Adame; And if the childe a woman be When hit is borne then seyth hit “e,” The fyrste lettre that is of Eve That bygon us fyrst to greve. Therfore were maad on this maner Thes versus that ben writen here: Dicentes E vel A quotquot nascuntur ab Eva; A dat Adam genitor E dedit Eua mater.5 “Al tho,” he seyth, “that comen of Eve That ben alle men as we byleve, When they be borne what so they be Thei shul seyn outher ‘a’ or ‘e.’” Then is this our bygynnyng Of oure lyf sorowe and wepyng. Oure wrechednes therto us styrus, Wherfore Innocent seyth ryght thus: Omnes nascimur eiulantes vt nature nostre miseriam exprimamus. He seyth, “we alle are bore wepand And makyng sorowful semblande To shewe the grete wrechednes Of oure kynde that in us es.” Thus atte the tyme of oure byrth We make alle sorowe and no myrth. Hidur we comen nakud and bare And pore so shul we hethen fare; On thes two shulde we thinke thonne For thus seyth Job the holy monne: Nudus egressus sum de utero matris mee: nudus revertar illuc.6 “Nakud,” he seyth, “fyrst oute I com Hidur my modur wombe from And nakud so shal I turne away.” So shal we alle at oure last day. Thus is mon at his fyrst comyng Nakud and bringeth with hym no thyng Bot a slow that is wlatsome Is his clothing at his first come. Hit is nought bot a blody skynne That he byfore was lapped inne While he in his modur wombe lay; That is foule thing for to say, And fouler to here seyth the bok And alther foulest on too look. Thus is mon borne as ye moun se In wrechednesse and caytyfté, Yitte to lyven here bot fewe dayes As Job here on this wyse sayes: Homo natus de muliere breui viuens tempore, repletur multis miseriis.7 He seyth, “mon borne of womanne Lyvyng shorte tyme fulfild is than Of many manere of wrechednesse.” As Job seyth and ful sothe hitte esse, For mon is borne to nought elles Bot to travayle as Job telles: Homo nascitur ad laborem sicut auis ad volatum.8 “Mon is borne to travayle ryght As the foule is maad to flyght.” Ful litul rest in this lyf es Bot greet travayle and bysynes; Also mon when he is borne Is fendes sone and fro God lorne Ay til he by grace may come To bapteme and to Cristendome. Thus moun men her bygynnynge se Of wrechednes and caytyftee. Of monnes mydel lyvyng The secounde part of lyf men calleth The myddelward that next aftur falleth And recheth from the bygynnyng Of monnes lyf to the laste endyng. His bygynnyng ryght as I toolde Is vyle and wrecched to behoolde, Bot how fule he is afturwarde Telleth a party seynt Bernarde: Homo nichil aliud est quam sperma feti- dum saccus stercorum et esca vermium. Seynt Bernarde in his book tellus How that “a mon is no thing ellus Bot a foule slyme wlathsome in tong And a sak ful of stynkyng dong And wormes foode that they wol have When he is deed and leyd in grave.” Som folke ther ben ful feyr to seme In syght withouten as men deme And that sheweth not bot a skyn, Bot who so myght see hem within Foulere careyne myght never be Then men myght then on hem see. ¶For certus whoso myght have syght Or had so clere yghen or bryght As hath a beest that men lynx calles That may se thorowe thicke ston walles, Then myght he se withouten doute As wel withinne men as withoute. Lytul lykyng shulde mon have thon To byholde aftur womonne. Yif he withinn syghe hire ryght Wlatsome were she to his syght. Thus foule withinne uche mon es As this boke here berith witnes. Thus may mon se on this manere How foule the kynde of hym is here. Therfore a mon is more worthie That here is proude of his bodye While he may thus hymself se What he is, was, and shal be. Bot proude mon to this ne taketh hede For skil hym fayleth that shuld hym lede. Whon he is yonge and loveth pleying And eke hath ese and his lykyng Or yif he be atte greet worsshepe What he is he taketh no kepe. Hymself then he knoweth leeste And fareth as an unskilful beest That his wille foloweth and nought ellus As David in the sauter thus tellus: Homo cum in honore esset, non intellexit. Comparatus est iumentis insipientibus et similis factus est illis.9 “Mon when he in honoure is brought, Ryght undurstondyng hath he nought. Wel may he be lykened thonne To a beest that noo skille conne.” Therfore he that have skil and mynde The wrechednesse thinketh of oure kynde That is foule and ful wlathsoome. For mon seeth of his body come Fro above and fro bynethe Miche fylthe and stynkyng brethe. More stynke is noon harde ny nessh Then the filthe of monnes flesshe That may a mon both se and fele Yif he beholde hymselven wele. How foule he is to monnes syght, Therfore seyth seynt Bernard ryght: Si consideres diligenter quid per os quid per nares ceterosque meatus corporis tui egreditur, vilius sterquilinium nunquam vidisti.10 He seyth, “yif thou the bysyly by se And undurstonde what cometh fro thee Thorow nese and mouthe contynuelye And other places of thi bodye, Fouler doungehul thou see nevere noon Then monnes bodye of flesshe and boon.” Alle the tyme that mon here lyveth Noon othur fruyt his body geveth, Though he lyve long or short whyle, Bot thing ful wlatsome and ful vyle As stynk, fulthe and no thing ellus As Innocent thus seyth and tellus: Herbas et arbores inquit investiga: ille de se producunt flores, frondes, et fructus, et tu de te lendes pediculos et lumbricos. Ille defundunt oleum vinum, et balsamum, et tu de te sputum, vrinam, et stercus. Ille de se spirant suavitatem odoris, et tu de te ab hominationem fetoris. Qualis arbor talis fructus eius. This grete clerke seyth in his book “Byholde,” he seyth, “and wisely looke Tho trees and herbes that here spryng And what fruyt they here forthe bryng: Herbes bryng forthe floures and seed And trees fruyt with braunches to spreed, And thow bryngest for thee of thi self here Nytes, fleen, lyus, and vermyn sere. Of hem spryngeth baume ful good And oyle and wyne for monnes food, Of the cometh alle foule thyngge As urine ordure and spyttyngge Of hem comen ful swete floures, Of the stynke and evel savoures. Suche as the tree is with the bowes Such ben alle the fruyt that on hem growes.” Evel tree may no good fruyt bere As God seyth the good gardinere. ¶Mon is tree that stondeth not harde Of whom the crop is turned dounwarde, The rote towarde the firmament As seyth the greet clerk Innocent: Quid est homo secundum formam, nisi quedam arbor eversa? Cuius radices sunt crines, truncus est caput cum collo, stirpes est pectus cum alvo, rami sunt ulne cum tibiis, frondes sunt digiti cum articulis. Hoc est lignum quod a vento ra- pitur, et stipulaque a sole siccatur. He seyth, “Monnes shap is bot a tre Turned dounward that up shuld be, Of whom the rote that oute springeth Is the heer that on hym hengeth, The stok that nexte hym is growand The heed with the necke to undurstand, The goben of that tree sykurlye Is the brest with the hoole bodye; The bowes ben armes and hondes With legges that on his feet stondes, The braunches men may kyndly cal The toos sothely with fyngres alle. This is the tree that stondeth not fast Blowen up with the wyndes blast, And the body of this ilke tree With the sonne may dryghed be.” For mon that is both yong and lyght Be he never so strong and wyght And of face bryght and feyre, Tene and sekenes may sone hym apeyre His feyrnes and myght to abate And make hym in ful symple staate To chaunge alle fayre coloure And make hym fade as doth the floure. A floure that semeth feyre and bryght With stormes fadeth and leseth myght, Also eveles and greet mischeves Comen to mon that here leves, As dropesye, fever, and jaundyse, Tysyke, goute, and sere maladyse That doth hym myght and strengthe tyne As stormes maken floures dwyne. Wherfore a mon may lykened bee To a fresshe floure on a tree, That when hit is forthe ibrought Weleweth and fadeth til hit be nought. This shulde be then ensaumple to us For Job in his book seyth thus: Homo quasi flos egreditur et conteritur et fugit velud vmbra, et nunquam in eodem statu permanet.11 “A mon,” he seyth, “as a floure bryght Cometh forthe first unto oure syght And fleeth sone passyng away, As schadowe doth on someres day.” Of this Davyd berith wittenes In the sauter where writen es: Mane sicut herba transeat, mane floreat et transeat, vespere decidat indurat et arescat.12 The prophete seyth and soth hit es, “Erly passeth mon as the gres, Erly atte bygynnyng of the day He florysshet and passeth away; By hit be even hit is doune brought Fadeth and falleth and turneth to nought.” At the fyrste bygynnyng of mon Nyne hundred wynter lyved he thon As clerkes in her bokes beren wittenes, Bot sythen wex monnes lyvyng lees. God wolde that hit shulde so bee For unto Noe thus seyde he: Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine in eternum, quia caro est, erunt que dies eius centum vigintorum annorum.13 “My gooste,” seyth he, “shal not ay dwel In mone for he is flesshe and felle, His dayes shul be to dwellen here An hundred and twenty yeere.” Bot so greet elde may noon now bere. Monnes lyf may becomen shortere For the complectioun of every mon Is febeler now then hit was thon. Bot for hit is nowe worse to se Monnes lyvyng mot shortere be. The lenger he lyveth thou trewly leve The more his lyf shal here hym greve, The lesse this lyf shal hym think swete As in a psalme seyth the prophete: Si autem in potentatibus octoginta anni, amplius eorum labor et dolor.14 “Inne myghtes gyf fourescore yeer fal, Her swynke is more and sorow with al.” A mon ful ceeldom of that eelde Hath hele or may hym selven welde. Now bee mennes dayghes shortere As Job telleth and wel smertere: Nunquid paucitas dierum meorum finietur breui.15 He seyth, “my fewe dayes sere Shul ende nowe in shorte tyme here.” Fewe now fourty yeere con passe, Fewer fiftye as som tyme was, Bot sone when mon waxeth oolde His kynde wexeth feble and coolde. Then chaungeth his complectioun His maneres and his condicioun His herte is harde and eke hevy His heede feble es and ful dusy His goost then waxeth seke and sore His face wrynkeleth more and more His mynde is shorte when he thinketh His nese droppeth his breth stynketh His syght dymmeth he wexeth lothe His backe croketh, stoupyng he goth; Fyngres and toos of foot and hand And alle his touches ben terembland. Werke forfareth that he bygynnes, His here mouten, his yghen rennes His eres wex deef and hard to here His touches fayleth to speke clere His mouth draveleth his teeth roteth His witte fayleth and ofte he doteth. Lyght to greve and waxeth frowarde Hym to turne fro wrath is ful harde. He spieth and leveth sone a thing, Looth to turne fro that trowyng, Coveytouse and hard holdande. His chere is dryghe and his semblande Swyfte to speke on his manere And loth and slow is for to here. He preyseth oolde and haldeth hem wyse And yong men hym lust wel despise. He loueth oolde that er have bene And lacketh tho that now are sene. Seke he is and ofte gronyng Oft grucchyng and ay pleynyng. To oolde men thes kyndely fallen — Propurtees of eelde clerkes hem callen — Yute ben there moo then I have told That fallen to men when thay are olde. Thus may men se whoso con kenne What maneres been of oolde menne. Of monnes lyvyng The ende of monnes lyf is harde When he draweth to dethwarde, When he is seke and alle doun lyse And so feble he may not ryse. Thenne are men alle uncerteyne Whether he shal dyghe or ryse ageyn. Bot yitte knowen som that ben slyghe Yif he shal of that yvel dyghe By certeyn tokenes as ye shul here That byfallen when deth is nere. His fronnt bygynneth doun to falle And his browes goon doune with alle; His lyfte yghe semeth welle lesse And narower then the ryght yghe esse. His nese cop is sharpe with alle, Then bygynneth his chin to falle, His pouns ben stille with out styryng, His feet gyn coolde his body gyn clyng, And yif ny deth is a yong monne He waketh and may nought slepe thon. Bot an oolde mon to deth drawynge May not wake bot is ay slepyng. Men sayen that alle thes tokenes sere Ben of a mon when deth is nere. While mon lyveth he is lyke monne, When he is deed what is he thonne? Thenne moun men her lyckenes see Chaunged as hit had never ben hee. When monnes lyf is atte the ende On this maner shal he weende: As he com naked and ful porely The fyrste day from his modur body, Nought he brought with hym that day Ny no thyng schalle he bere away Bot a wyndyng cloth oonly That shal be wrappe his body. Wrecchedly endeth the lyf of mon Yif he byholde what he is thon When that his lyf is wente away Then is he nought bot erthe and clay. To more corrupcyoun turneth he ageyn Then any othur stynkyng careyn. The foule corrupcyoun of his body Yif hit shulde longe on erthe lye Hit myght the eyre so corupte make That men therof her deth myght take, So vile hit is and violent. Therfore the greet clerke Innocent Seyth in his booke thus openly Of the wrechednes of monnes body, Quid enim fetidius humano cadauere? Quid enim horribilius homine mortuo? He seyth, “What may stynkynger be Thenne monnes careyn in onne to se? No thyng here es more uggelye Then is a monnes dede bodye.” When he is leyde in erthe den Hit alle to gnawe shul wormes then Tyl flesshe be fro the bones byten For thus fynde we in bokes wryten, Cum autem morietur, homo here- ditabunt vermes et serpentes terre.16 The book seyth that “when a mon Dyeth ther shul come to hym thon Wormes and neddres ugly in syght That flesshe of mon shul ha by ryght.” Therfore in erthe mon shul sleepe Among wormes on hym to crepe And gnawe on that stynkyng carcays That wryten es in book that seys, Omnes enim in pulvere dormient et vermes operient eos.17 “In poudur shal slepe everyche mon And mony wormes shulde cover hem thon.” For here is no mon so wyttye So wit so feyre ny so myghtye, Emperoure, duk, kyng, ny caysere Ny noon that berith so greet state here, Lerid ny lewed bond ny free Nor ryche nor pore what so they be Bot he shal turne at his laste day To erthe and poudur alle away. Wormes shul ryve hym al to sondur And therfore have I myche wondur That any mon unnethe wol see What he was is, and shal bee. Whoso wole in herte caaste What he was and shal be at laste And what he is while he is here He shulde have ful lytul matere Joy to make while he here dwelleth, As a verfioure in metre telleth: Si quis centiret quo tendit et unde veniret nunquam gauderet set in omni tempore fleret. “Whoso wole undurstonde and se Whethen he coom and whidur shuld he, He shulde not joy bot hit forsaake And ever wepe and sorowe make.” Whi is mon here then so myrye And so tendre of his foule body That shal be gnawen with wormes kene And is so uglye then to be seen? Whoso of hym thenne had a syght When that wormes han hym dyght And he alle bare is to the boon So grisly syght say he never noon As he myght seen on that careyn. Wherof Seynt Bernard here wol seyn: Post hominem vermis, post vermem fetor et horror, sic in non hominem vertitur omnis homo. “Aftur mon,” seyth he, “wormes he es, Aftur wormes stynk and oglynes, So shal uche mon turned be thon Fro mon as nought unto un mon.” Thus may uche mon thus wel se What he is, was, and shal be, What he is while [he] here lyveth And what fruyt his kynde gyveth Here may men see as wryten es Mychel of monnes wrechednes, And myche more yit myght men telle Bot heron wole I no lenger dwel, For forthermore nowe wole I loke To the secounde part of this booke In whiche there is undurstondynge Of the worlde and worldly thinge.

Humankind; (see note) two reasons filth quickly disgrace realized second reason meeker always Saw thither Unless; obedient [it] requires before (see note) ashes ashes have man may be cast Completely (see note) (see note) Before (Ere) dwelling; shaped (see note) great (mickle); wretchedness; (see note) [a] place slime; clotted previously (t-note) nor than beast repulsively moves grumble and weep Scarcely woe first (see note) All those stirs (see note) semblance nature Hither hence caul; disgusting skin hear foulest of all to look on trouble fiend’s son; lost always captivity in part (see note) disgusting in tongue (“so to say”) (t-note) who seem very fair In outward appearance as men judge carrion (see note) eyes afterwards saw Loathsome each nature reason; should him lead ease irrational nothing else; (t-note) (t-note) (t-note) disgusting soft feel well (see note) dunghill (see note) spread from you Nits, fleas, lice, and various vermin balm boughs (see note) top sky (see note) trunk piece (gobbet); assuredly toes same dried active Vexation; afflict mischiefs lives dropsy, fever, and jaundice Phthisic, gout; various maladies lose Withers (t-note) grass By the time it is evening (see note) since waxed (t-note) skin constitution (mixture of humors) you truly believe grieve In [the] mighty if work seldom; age health; wield (t-note) various nature constitution dizzy spirit; sick goes to ruin hair molts, his eyes run grow deaf; (see note) drivels grows deranged Easy to grieve; petulant sees and believes at once belief (i.e., reluctant to give up) expression is dry; semblance loath; hear old men likes well to despise praises; formerly criticizes; seen these [things] naturally happen Yet; more than; (see note) observe (understand) falls completely down die wise evil forehead left eye; smaller eye is nose tip; (see note) pulse shrivel (waste away) near various must; their likeness go (wend) with nothing (full poorly) carrion (see note) Than; to look upon adders have carcass powder wise (see note) learned tear; all asunder scarcely versifier (see note) Whence; whither merry taken control saw carrion (see note) (see note) nature will (t-note)

Go To Part 2 Of the World's Unstableness

Footnotes

PART ONE: FOOTNOTES

1 Lines 27–28: Unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

2 Lines 43–44: Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay, and thou wilt bring me into dust again. Job 10:9

3 For dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. Genesis 3:19. See note.

4 Lines 78–79: For behold I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me. Psalm 50:7. See note.

5 Lines 118–19: All those who are born of Eve say E or A; Adam the procreator gives A, Eve the mother gives E

6 Lines 140–41: Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither. Job 1:21

7 Lines 160–61: Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries. Job 14:1

8 Man is born to labour and the bird to fly. Job 5:7

9 Lines 229–30: And man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them. Psalm 48:13

10 Lines 247–48: If you consider carefully what comes out from the mouth, nose, and other passages of your body, you will never have seen a more vile dunghill

11 Lines 333–34: Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state. Job 14:2

12 Lines 341–42: In the morning man shall grow up like grass; in the morning he shall flourish and pass away: in the evening he shall fall, grow dry, and wither. Psalm 89:6

13 Lines 355–56: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. Genesis 6:3

14 Lines 371–72: But if in the strong they be fourscore years: and what is more of them is labour and sorrow. Psalm 89:10

15 Shall not the fewness of my days be ended shortly? Job 10:20

16 Lines 484–85: Compare Ecclesiasticus 19:3 [And he that joineth himself to harlots, will be wicked. Rottenness and worms shall inherit him, and he shall be lifted up for a greater example, and his soul shall be taken away out of the number.]

17 Lines 494–95: And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them. Job 21:26

PART ONE: EXPLANATORY NOTES

Abbreviations: CT: Chaucer, Canterbury Tales; MED: Middle English Dictionary; OED: Oxford English Dictionary; PL: Patrologia Latina, ed. Migne.

1–12 A recollection of the second creation story from Genesis 2:7, where Adam is created “de limo terrae” (“from the slime of the earth”; the Wycliffite Bible [c. 1384] reads “The Lord God thanne fourmede man of the slyme of the erthe”). Apocryphal traditions associated with Irenaeus, Cyprian, and the Life of Adam and Eve construe this as a calculated insult to Lucifer, in that creatures of such a low order replace the fallen angels, or that Lucifer was required to worship such creatures and thus became envious of them (Kelly, Satan, pp. 180–84). The use of the words “earth,” “clay,” “ashes,” and “powder” in the following lines give a somewhat more flattering picture and anticipate the “dust” of the Great Bible (1540), the Bishops’ Bible (1568), the Geneva Bible (1587), and the King James version (1611). William Tyndale (1530) and Miles Coverdale (1535) read “moulde.” The Douay-Rheims Bible (1610) returns to the more literal “slime.” See Genesis 3:19 and line 51 below.

51 Genesis 3:19, with “pulvis” for “cinis.” Compare Job 34:15, Psalm 102:14–15, Ecclesiasticus 17:31. The idea appears more familiarly in the order for the burial of the dead as it became known in the Book of Common Prayer, 1559 (ed. Booty, p. 310): “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

63 Bygynnyng, mydelage, and endyng. The three ages of man is another common organizing principle, as old as the riddle of the Sphinx. “Mydel age” is spaced in the manuscript.

64–178 These lines appear on leaves 276v–277r of the Thornton Manuscript (Lincoln Cathedral Library 91; Horstmann edits the lines in >i, 1:372–73).

78–79 Psalm 50:7, and a statement of the doctrine known as Original Sin whereby sin entered the world by means of Adam and Eve and has since been passed to succeeding generations (compare Romans 5:12–21, 1 Corinthians 15:22).

83 caytifte. Perhaps “captivity” would be the best gloss (see line 91 on the “doungeoun [of] his modur wombe”), though “slime,” “wretchedness,” and “iniquity” are all connotations of the term. MED cites “wretchedness” as the appropriate gloss for the term in this line. See also line 178.

118–19 From ancient through medieval times many significances were attached to initial letters and to orthographical sequences in general. These correspondences can be found in Innocent III’s De miseria 1.6 (ed. Lewis, p. 103; PL 217:705b), in the Genesis portion of Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica (ed. Sylwan, p. 38; PL 198:1071b; compare his twelfth sermon [PL 198:1757b]) and in one of Odo of Cheriton’s sermons (Hervieux, Les fabulistes latins, 4:351).

128–29 Innocent III, De miseria (ed. Lewis, p. 103; PL 217:705b). This work was widely known in the Middle Ages (in the Legend of Good Women Chaucer claims to have translated “Of the Wreched Engendrynge of Mankynde, / As man may in Pope Innocent yfynde” [G.414–15]). See also the Prologue to the Man of Law’s Tale, CT II(B1)99–121. Innocent III convened the Fourth Lateran Council (see the Introduction, pp. 4–5) and was one of the most influential medieval popes.

187–88 From Bernard of Clairvaux’s Meditationes Piissimae de Cognitione humanae conditionis (PL 184:490a–b; authorship disputed). The association of worms with mortality is very common: see Acts 12:23 and the selection of Middle English Lyrics, “When the turuf is thy tour” (ed. Luria and Hoffman, 223–45). See also Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV, 5.iv.86–87; Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” line 27; and the numerous medieval debates of the body and soul.

201–04 The powers of sight attributed to the lynx can be found in bestiaries. It is not the animal known by that name today but a fabulous beast, half wolf and half panther. Bestiaries were known in England from the twelfth century. They were often illustrated, and they derive ultimately from the Greek Physiologus (fourth century). Wirtjes edits the Middle English version, but it does not include the lynx. Moralizing Christian glosses are added to the observations made on the characteristics of each beast; the lynx, like Christ, is all-seeing (Hebrews 4:13 and Charbonneau-Lassay, Le Bestiaire du Christ, pp. 298–301). The Ayenbite of Inwyt uses the same image of the lynx seeing through surfaces to the foul body beneath (ed. Morris, p. 81) as does Roman de la Rose citing Boethius and Aristotle (line 8901), and Chaucer in his Boece, III.pr.8, 41–43. In the corresponding discussion of how the body is to be despised, Boethius cites the powers of the sharp-eyed Lynceus, one of the Argonauts (Consolation III pr. 8). See Halna-Klein, “Sur les Traces,” and Whiting, Proverbs L596, for other appearances of the lynx in medieval literature. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (see below, 2.36 note) reports the other principal characteristic of the lynx, that its urine turns to precious stones that it buries lest humans make use of them.

247–48 Bernard’s Meditationes Piissimae (PL 184:489d).

261–66 Innocent III, De miseria 1.8 (ed. Lewis, pp. 105–07; PL 217:705). See Matthew 7:18.

283 Matthew 12:33. An unusual instance of a biblical verse in English with no Latin lemma.

289–94 Innocent III, De miseria (ed. Lewis, p. 107; PL 217:706a), which echoes Job 13:25. C. S. Lewis uses the image in The Magician’s Nephew, chapter 11. See below, 6.709–10.

350 Nyne hundred wynter. Adam lived to be 930 years old (Genesis 5:5). Ages in that range are the norm for the earliest patriarchs, with Methuselah living to a record 969 years (Genesis 5:27).

401 Speaking touches is an interesting example of synesthesia.

421–23 The allegorical tradition of “Elde,” old age, also appears in Langland’s Piers Plowman C.23.95 and C.23.166 ff, and in The Parlement of the Thre Ages.

438 His nese cop is sharpe with alle. See Mistress Quickly’s account of the death of Sir John Falstaff: “I knew that there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen” (Henry V, 2.iii.16).

474–75 Innocent III, De miseria 3.1 (ed. Lewis, p. 207; PL 217:737b).

499 “Wit” is hard to construe here as an adjective, and it creates a tautology with the previous line. Cotton Galba E.ix reads “Swa fair, swa strang, ne swa myghty” (line 881).

516–17 See Walther, Proverbia Sententiaeque 29074 (in Harley 3362, fol. 5; Camb. Hh.III.15, 54v; Rylands 394, 23v).

532–33 Bernard, Meditationes Piissimae (PL 184:490b).

536–37 Compare the fate of the deputy director in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength, chapter 12, section 2.

PART ONE: TEXTUAL NOTES

Abbreviations: see Explanatory Notes

90 forth. The manuscript reads for.

194 grave. The “a” is written above the line.

227 nought. The “t” is written above the line.

231 brought. The “o” is written above the line.

235 he is inserted by a caret.

331 be is inserted by a caret.

355 spiritus is omitted in the manuscript.

378 and is an ampersand written above the line.

548 In. The manuscript reads I.