Some to wexe and wane sone,

As dooth the faire whyte mone,

And leet hem gon. Ther mighte I seen
Wenged wondres faste fleen,

Twenty thousand in a route,

As Eolus hem blew aboute.

And, lord this hous, in alle tymes,
Was ful of shipmen and pilgrymes,
With scrippes bret-ful of lesinges,
Entremedled with tydinges,
And eek alone by hem-selve.
O, many a thousand tymes twelve
Saugh I eek of these pardoneres,
Currours, and eek messangeres,
With boistes crammed ful of lyes
As ever vessel was with lyes.
And as I alther-fastest wente
Aboute, and dide al myn entente
Me for to pleye and for to lere,
And eek a tyding for to here,
That I had herd of som contree
That shal not now be told for me;-
For hit no nede is, redely;

Folk can singe hit bet than I;

For al mot out, other late or rathe,
Alle the sheves in the lathe ;-

I herde a gret noise withalle
In a corner of the halle,

Ther men of love tydings tolde,
And I gan thiderward beholde;

2115

(1030) 2120

2125

(1040) 2130

2135

(1050) 2140

And clamben up on othere faste,
And up the nose on hye caste,
And troden faste on othere heles

And stampe, as men don after eles.

Atte laste I saugh a man,

Which that I [nevene] naught ne can;
But he semed for to be

A man of greet auctoritee

(Unfinished.)

2151, 3. F. other; B. othir; read othere (oth're), plural.

2155

(1c68) 2158

2152. F.

noyse an highen (!); Th. noyse on hyghen (`; B. nose and yen; read on hye

(Koch).

2153. F. B. other; Th. others.
2156. I supply nevene.

add 12 spurious lines.

Th. stampe.

2154. F. B. stampen; 2158. Here F. B. end; Cx. Th.

THE Prologue to this Poem exists in two different versions, which differ widely from each other in many passages. The arrangement of the material is also different.

For the sake of clearness, the earlier version is here called 'Text A,' and the later version 'Text B.'

'Text A' exists in one MS. only, but this MS. is of early date and much importance. It is the MS. marked Gg. 4. 27 in the Cambridge University Library, and is here denoted by the letter 'C.' It is the same MS. as that denoted by the abbreviation 'Cm.' in the footnotes to the Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. This text is printed in the upper part of the following pages. The footnotes give the MS. spellings, where these are amended in the

text.

'Text B' occupies the lower part of the following pages. It follows the Fairfax MS. mainly, which is denoted by 'F.' In many places, the inferior spellings of this MS. are relegated to the footnotes, amended spellings being given in the text. Various readings are given from Tn. (Tanner MS. 346); T. (Trinity MS., R. 3. 19); A. (Arch. Seld. B. 24 in the Bodleian Library); Th. (Thynne's Edition, 1532); B. (Bodley MS. 638); P. (Pepys MS. 2006); and sometimes from C. (already mentioned) or Add. (Addit. 9832).

Lines which occur in one text only are marked (in either text) by a prefixed asterisk. Lines marked with a dagger (†) stand just the same in both texts. The blank space after A 60 (p. 70) shews that there is nothing in Text A corresponding to B 69-72. Where the corresponding matter is transposed to another place, one or other text has a portion printed in smaller type.

The prologe of .ix. goode Wimmen.

A THOUSAND sythes have I herd men telle,
†That ther is Ioye in heven, and peyne in helle;

The prologe of .ix. goode Wimmen.
A THOUSAND tymes have I herd men telle,
That ther is Ioye in heven, and peyne in helle;

B. 1. T. C. A. have I herd; rest I have herd. F. B. P. om. men; the rest have it.

2. F. B. (only) om. That.

F

And I acorde wel that hit be so;

But natheles, this wot I wel also,

That ther nis noon that dwelleth in this contree,
That either hath in helle or heven y-be,

5

†Ne may of hit non other weyes witen,

†But as he hath herd seyd, or founde hit writen;
For by assay ther may no man hit preve.
But goddes forbode, but men shulde leve
+Wel more thing then men han seen with yë!
†Men shal nat wenen every-thing a lyë

10

For that he seigh it nat of yore ago.
God wot, a thing is never the lesse so
†Thogh every wight ne may hit nat y-see.
†Bernard the monk ne saugh nat al, parde!

†Than mote we to bokes that we finde,
†Through which that olde thinges been in minde,

And I acorde wel that hit is so;

But natheles, yit wot I wel also,

15

That ther nis noon dwelling in this contree,
That either hath in heven or helle y-be,

5

†Ne may of hit non other weyes witen,

But as he hath herd seyd, or founde hit writen;
For by assay ther may no man hit preve.
But god forbede but men shulde leve
†Wel more thing then men han seen with yë!
Men shal nat wenen every-thing a lyë
But-if him-self hit seeth, or elles dooth;
For, god wot, thing is never the lasse sooth,
†Thogh every wight ne may hit nat y-see.
†Bernard the monk ne saugh nat al, parde!
†Than mote we to bokes that we finde,
†Through which that olde thinges been in minde,

10

15

†And to the doctrine of these olde wyse,
+Yeven credence, in every skilful wyse,

And trowen on these olde aproved stories
†Of holinesse, of regnes, of victories,
†Of love, of hate, of other sundry thinges,
†Of whiche I may not maken rehersinges.
†And if that olde bokes were a-weye,
†Y-loren were of remembraunce the keye.
Wel oghte us than on olde bokes leve,
Ther-as ther is non other assay by preve.

20

YRR.

25

And, as for me, though that my wit be lyte,

†On bokes for to rede I me delyte,

30

†And in myn herte have hem in reverence;

And to hem yeve swich lust and swich credence,
That ther is wel unethe game noon

That from my bokes make me to goon,

†And to the doctrine of these olde wyse,
†Yeve credence, in every skilful wyse,
That tellen of these olde appreved stories,
†Of holinesse, of regnes, of victories,
†Of love, of hate, of other sundry thinges,
†Of whiche I may not maken rehersinges.
+And if that olde bokes were a-weye,
†Y-loren were of remembraunce the keye.
Wel oghte us than honouren and beleve
These bokes, ther we han non other preve.
And as for me, thogh that I can but lyte,
†On bokes for to rede I me delyte,
And to hem yeve I feyth and ful credence,
†And in myn herte have hem in reverence
So hertely, that ther is game noon
That fro my bokes maketh me to goon,

20

25

30

T. A. om.

16. F. monke; all.

23.

8. F. seyde.
13. F. -selfe; dooth.
14. F. sooth.
18. F. ben. 20. C. Yeuyn (for Yeve).

27. F. ought; thanne.

F. sondry. 25. F. awey; C. Tn. A. aweye. 26. F. Y-lorne; C. I-loryn;

P. I-lore. F. key; C. Tn. A. keye. there; noon.

31. F. yiue; rest yeue. A. hertfully.

28. F.

29. F. though. A. Th. P. can; T. con; F. Tn. konne.
33. F. hertly; Tn. Th. B. hertely; T. hertyly;