Delphi Poetry Anthology: The World's Greatest Poems (Delphi Poets Series Book 50) (47 page)

This Chanticleer his wings began to beat,
As man that could not his treason espy,
So was he ravish’d with his flattery.
Alas! ye lordes, many a false flattour
^1
1
flatterer
Is in your court, and many a losengeour,
^1
1
deceiver
That please you well more, by my faith,
Than he that soothfastness
¹
unto you saith.
¹
truth
Read in Ecclesiast’ of flattery;
Beware, ye lordes, of their treachery.
This Chanticleer stood high upon his toes,
Stretching his neck, and held his eyen close,
And gan to crowe loude for the nonce
And Dan Russel
 
the fox start up at once,
And
¹
by the gorge hente
¹
Chanticleer,
¹
seized by the throat
¹
And on his back toward the wood him bare.
For yet was there no man that him pursu’d.
O destiny, that may’st not be eschew’d!
^1
1
escaped
Alas, that Chanticleer flew from the beams!
Alas, his wife raughte
¹
nought of dreams!
¹
regarded
And on a Friday fell all this mischance.
O Venus, that art goddess of pleasance,
Since that thy servant was this Chanticleer
And in thy service did all his powere,
More for delight, than the world to multiply,
Why wilt thou suffer him on thy day to die?
O Gaufrid, deare master sovereign,
That, when thy worthy king Richard was slain
With shot, complainedest his death so sore,
Why n’had I now thy sentence and thy lore,
The Friday for to chiden, as did ye?
(For on a Friday, soothly, slain was he),
Then would I shew you how that I could plain
^1
1
lament
For Chanticleere’s dread, and for his pain.

Certes such cry nor lamentation
Was ne’er of ladies made, when Ilion
Was won, and Pyrrhus with his straighte sword,
When he had hent
¹
king Priam by the beard,
¹
seized
And slain him (as saith us Eneidos
¹
),
¹
The Aeneid
As maden all the hennes in the close,
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1
yard
When they had seen of Chanticleer the sight.
But sov’reignly
¹
Dame Partelote shright,
^2
1
above all others
Full louder than did Hasdrubale’s wife,
²
shrieked
When that her husband hadde lost his life,
And that the Romans had y-burnt Carthage;
She was so full of torment and of rage,
That wilfully into the fire she start,
And burnt herselfe with a steadfast heart.
O woeful hennes! right so cried ye,
As, when that Nero burned the city
Of Rome, cried the senatores’ wives,
For that their husbands losten all their lives;
Withoute guilt this Nero hath them slain.
Now will I turn unto my tale again;

The sely
¹
widow, and her daughters two,
¹
simple, honest
Hearde these hennes cry and make woe,
And at the doors out started they anon,
And saw the fox toward the wood is gone,
And bare upon his back the cock away:
They cried, “Out! harow! and well-away!
Aha! the fox!” and after him they ran,
And eke with staves many another man
Ran Coll our dog, and Talbot, and Garland;
And Malkin, with her distaff in her hand
Ran cow and calf, and eke the very hogges
So fear’d they were for barking of the dogges,
And shouting of the men and women eke.
They ranne so, them thought their hearts would break.
They yelled as the fiendes do in hell;
The duckes cried as men would them quell;
^1
1
kill, destroy
The geese for feare flewen o’er the trees,
Out of the hive came the swarm of bees,
So hideous was the noise, ben’dicite!
Certes he, Jacke Straw, and his meinie,
^1
1
followers
Ne made never shoutes half so shrill
When that they woulden any Fleming kill,
As thilke day was made upon the fox.
Of brass they broughte beames
¹
and of box,
¹
trumpets
Of horn and bone, in which they blew and pooped,
^1
2
tooted
And therewithal they shrieked and they hooped;
It seemed as the heaven shoulde fall

Now, goode men, I pray you hearken all;
Lo, how Fortune turneth suddenly
The hope and pride eke of her enemy.
This cock, that lay upon the fox’s back,
In all his dread unto the fox he spake,
And saide, “Sir, if that I were as ye,
Yet would I say (as wisly
¹
God help me),
¹
surely
‘Turn ye again, ye proude churles all;
A very pestilence upon you fall.
Now am I come unto the woode’s side,
Maugre your head, the cock shall here abide;
I will him eat, in faith, and that anon.’”
The fox answer’d, “In faith it shall be done:”
And, as he spake the word, all suddenly
The cock brake from his mouth deliverly,
^1
1
nimbly
And high upon a tree he flew anon.
And when the fox saw that the cock was gone,
“Alas!” quoth he, “O Chanticleer, alas!
I have,” quoth he, “y-done to you trespass,
^1
1
offence
Inasmuch as I maked you afear’d,
When I you hent,
¹
and brought out of your yard;
¹
took
But, Sir, I did it in no wick’ intent;
Come down, and I shall tell you what I meant.
I shall say sooth to you, God help me so.”
“Nay then,” quoth he, “I shrew
¹
us both the two,
¹
curse
And first I shrew myself, both blood and bones,
If thou beguile me oftener than once.
Thou shalt no more through thy flattery
Do
¹
me to sing and winke with mine eye;
¹
cause
For he that winketh when he shoulde see,
All wilfully, God let him never the.”
^1
1
thrive
“Nay,” quoth the fox; “but God give him mischance
That is so indiscreet of governance,
That jangleth
¹
when that he should hold his peace.”
¹
chatters

Lo, what it is for to be reckeless
And negligent, and trust on flattery.
But ye that holde this tale a folly,
As of a fox, or of a cock or hen,
Take the morality thereof, good men.
For Saint Paul saith, That all that written is,
¹
To our doctrine it written is y-wis.
^1
 
1
is surely written for
Take the fruit, and let the chaff be still. our instruction
¹

Now goode God, if that it be thy will,
As saith my Lord,
 
so make us all good men;
And bring us all to thy high bliss. Amen.

THE EPILOGU
E

“Sir Nunne’s Priest,” our hoste said anon,
“Y-blessed be thy breech, and every stone;
This was a merry tale of Chanticleer.
But by my truth, if thou wert seculere,
^1
1
a layman
Thou wouldest be a treadefowl
¹
aright;
¹
cock
For if thou have courage as thou hast might,
Thee were need of hennes, as I ween,
Yea more than seven times seventeen.
See, whate brawnes
¹
hath this gentle priest,
¹
muscles, sinews
So great a neck, and such a large breast
He looketh as a sperhawk with his eyen
Him needeth not his colour for to dyen
With Brazil, nor with grain of Portugale.
But, Sir, faire fall you for your tale’.”
And, after that, he with full merry cheer
Said to another, as ye shall hear.

List of Poems in Alphabetical Order

List of Poets in Alphabetical Order

Troilus and C
riseyde: Opening of Book II

Owt of thise blake wawes for to saylle,
 O wynd, o wynd, the weder gynneth clere;
 For in this see the boot hath swych travaylle,
 Of my connyng, that unneth I it steere.
 This see clepe I the tempestous matere
 Of disespeir that Troilus was inne;
 But now of hope the kalendes bygynne.
 O lady myn, that called art Cleo,
 Thow be my speed fro this forth, and my Muse,
10
 To ryme wel this book til I have do;
 Me nedeth here noon other art to use.
 Forwhi to every lovere I me excuse,
 That of no sentement I this endite,
 But out of Latyn in my tonge it write.
 Wherfore I nyl have neither thank ne blame
 Of al this werk, but prey yow mekely,
 Disblameth me if any word be lame,
 For as myn auctour seyde, so sey I.
 Ek though I speeke of love unfelyngly,
20
 
  
No wondre is, for it nothyng of newe is.
 A blynd man kan nat juggen wel in hewis.
 Ye knowe ek that in forme of speche is chaunge
 Withinne a thousand yeer, and wordes tho
 That hadden pris, now wonder nyce and straunge
 Us thinketh hem, and yet thei spake hem so,
 And spedde as wel in love as men now do;
 Ek for to wynnen love in sondry ages,
 In sondry londes, sondry ben usages.
 And forthi if it happe in any wyse,
30
 
 
That here be any lovere in this place
 That herkneth, as the storie wol devise,
 How Troilus com to his lady grace,
 And thenketh, “So nold I nat love purchace,”
 Or wondreth on his speche or his doynge,
 I noot; but it is me no wonderynge.
 For every wight which that to Rome went
 Halt nat o path, or alwey o manere;
 Ek in som lond were al the game shent,
 If that they ferde in love as men don here,
40
 As thus, in opyn doyng or in chere,
 In visityng in forme, or seyde hire sawes;
 Forthi men seyn, “Ecch contree hath his lawes.”
 Ek scarsly ben ther in this place thre
 That have in love seid lik, and don, in al;
 For to thi purpos this may liken the,
 And the right nought; yet al is seid or schal;
 Ek som men grave in tree, some in ston wal,
 As it bitit. But syn I have bigonne,
 Myn auctour shal I folwen, if I konne.
50
  In May, that moder is of monthes glade,
 That fresshe floures, blew and white and rede,
 Ben quike agayn, that wynter dede made,
 And ful of bawme is fletyng every mede,
 Whan Phebus doth his bryghte bemes sprede
 Right in the white Bole, it so bitidde,
 As I shal synge, on Mayes day the thrydde,
 That Pandarus, for al his wise speche,
 Felt ek his part of loves shotes keene,
 That, koude he nevere so wel of lovyng preche,
60
  It made his hewe a-day ful ofte greene.

List of Poems in Alphabetical Order

List of Poets in Alphabetical Order

John Gower

List of Poems in Alphabetical Order

List of Poets in Alphabetical Order

Concerning the Philosophers Stone

John Gower (c. 1330-1408)

And also with great diligence,
Thei fonde thilke Experience:
Which cleped is Alconomie,
Whereof the Silver multiplie;
Thei made, and eke the Gold also.
And for to telle howe itt is so:
Of bodies seven in Speciall,
With fowre Spirites joynt withall;
Stant the substance of this matere,
The bodies which I speke of here,
Of the Plannets ben begonne,
The Gold is titled to the Sonne:
The Moone of Silver hath hi part,
And Iron that stonde uppon Mart:
The Leed after Saturne groweth,
And Jupiter the Brasse bestoweth;
The Copper sette is to Venus:
And to his part Mercurius
Hath the Quicksilver, as it falleth,
The which after the Boke it calleth,
Is first of thilke foure named
Of Spirits, which be proclymed,
And the Spirite which is seconde,
In Sal Armoniake is founde:
The third Spirite Sulphur is,
The fourth Sewende after this,
Arcennium by name is hotte
With blowyng, and with fires hote:
In these things which I say,
Thei worchen by divers waye.
For as the Philosopher tolde,
Of Gold and Sylver thei ben holde,
Two Principall extremitees,
To which all other by degrees,
Of the mettals ben accordant,
And so through kinde resemblant:
That what man couth awaie take,
The rust, of which they waxen blake,
And And the favour of the hardnes;
Thei shulden take the likeness;
Of Gold or Silver parfectly,
Bot for to worche it sykerly;
Between the Corps and the Spirite,
Er that the Metall be parfite,
In seven forms itt is sette
Of all, and if one be lette,
The remnant may not avayle,
But otherwise it maie nought fayle;
For thei by whome this Arte was founde,
To every poynt a certayne bounde,
Ordeinen that a man may finde,
This Craft is wrought by wey of kinde;
So that there is no fallace in;
But what man that this werke begyn;
He mote awaite at every tyde,
So that nothynge be left asyde.
Fyrst of Distillacion,
Forth with the Cogelacion,
Solucion, Disscencion,
And kepe in his entencion,
The poynt of Sublimacion,
And forthwith Calcinacion,
Of very Approbacion,
So that there be Fixacion,
With temperate hetes of fyer,
Tyll he the perfite Elixer,
Of thilke Philosophers Stone,
Maie gette, of which that many one
Of Philosophers, whilome write,
Of thilke Stone with other two,
Which as the Clerkes maden tho;
So as the Bokes itt recorden,
The kinde of hem I shall recorden.
These old Philosophers wise,
By wey of kynde in sondry wise;
Thre Stones made through Clergie,
The fyrst I shall specifie,
Was cleped Vegetabilis;
Of which the proper vertue is,
To mans heale to serve,
As for to keepe, and to preserve,
The body fro sickness all,
Till death of kinde upon hym fall.
The second Stone I the behote,
Is Lapis Animalis hote:
The whose vertue, is proper and couth,
For Eare and Eye, Nose and Mouth;
Whereof a man may here, and see,
And smell and tast, in his degree,
And for to feele and for to goe,
Itt helpeth a man of both two:
The witts five he undersongeth
To keepe, as it to hym belongeth.
The third Stone in speciall
by name is cleped Minerall,
Which the Mettalls of every myne,
Attempreth, till that thei ben fyne;
And pureth hem by such a wey,
That all the vice goth awey,
Of Rust, of Stynke, and of Hardnes:
And when they ben of such clennes,
This minerall so as I fynde,
Transformeth all the fyrst kynde,
And maketh hem able to conceive,
Through his vertue and receive
Both in substance and in figure,
Of Gold and Silver the nature.
For thei two ben the extremitees,
To which after the propertees,
Hath every mettall his desire,
With helpe and comforte of the fyre.
Forth with this Stone as it is said,
Which to the Sonne and Moone is laide:
For to the Red, and to the White,
This Stone hath power to profite;
It maketh Multiplicacion
Of Gold and the fixacion,
It causeth and of this babite,
He doth the werke to be parfite:
Of thilke Elixer which me call
Alconomy, as is befalle
To hem, that whilome were wise;
But now it stant all otherwise:
Thei speken fast of thilke Stone,
But how to make it now wote none.
After the sooth Experience,
And nathles greate diligence,
Thei setten up thilke dede,
And spillen more then thei spede;
For alwey thei fynde a lette,
Which bringeth in povertee and Dette;
To hem that rich were to fore,
The Losse is had the Lucre is lore:
To gette a pound thei spendeth five,
I not how such a Craft shall thrive:
In the manner as it is used,
It were better be refused,
Then for to worchen upon wene,
In thinge which stant not ast thei wene:
But not for thy who that it knew,
The Science of himselfe is trew:
Uppon the forme as it was founded,
Whereof the names yett be grounded;
Of hem, that first it founden out:
And thus the fame goth all about,
To such as soughten besines,
Of vertue and worthines,
Of whom if I the names call,
Hermes was one the first of all,
To whom this Art is most applied,
Geber thereof was magnified,
And Ortolane and Morien,
Among the which is Avicen.
Which founde and wrote and greate partie,
The practicke of Alconomie,
Whose bokes plainlie as thei stonde,
Uppon this Craft few understonde.
But yet to put hem in assay,
There be full manie now a day,
That knowen litle that thei mene,
It is not one to wite and wene,
In forme of words thei it trete;
But yet thei failen of beyet.
For of to much, or of to lite,
There is algate found a wite:
So that thei follow not the line,
Of the perfect Medicine,
Which grounded is upon nature;
But thei that written the Scripture;
Of Greke, Arabe, and Caldee,
Thei were of such Auctoritee,
That thei firste founden out the wey,
Of all that thou hast herd me sey,
Whereof the Cronicke of her Lore,
Shall stonde in price for evermore.

List of Poems in Alphabetical Order

List of Poets in Alphabetical Order