ENGLISH POETRY.

ECCLESIASTICAL CHARACTERS OF ENGLAND, IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

THER was alsò a Nonne, a Prioresse,
That of hire smiling was full simple and coy ;
Hire gretest othe n'as but by Seint Eloy ;
And she was cleped1 Madame Eglantine.
Ful wel she sangè the service devine,
Entuned in hire nose ful swetely;

And Frenche she spake ful fayre and fetisly,2
After the schole of Stratford attè Bowe,
For Frenche of Paris was to hire unknowe.
At metè was she wel ytaughte withalle;
She lette no morsel from her lippès fall,
Ne wette hire fingres in hire saucè depe.
Wel coude she carie a morsel, and wel kepe,
Thattè no drope ne fell upon hire brest.
In curtesie was sette ful moche hire lest.3
Hire over lippè wiped she so clene,
That in hire cuppè was no ferthing sene
Of gresè, when she dronken hadde hire draught.
Ful semèly after her mete she raught.5

And sikerly she was of grete disport,
And ful plèsant, and amiable of port,
And peined1 hire to contrefeten2 chere
Of court, and ben estatelich of manère,
And to ben holden digne3 of reverence.

But for to speken of hire conscience,
She was so charitable and so piteoùs,
She wolde wepe if that she saw a mous
Caughte in a trappe, if it were ded or bledde.
Of smalè houndès hadde she, that she fedde
With rosted flesh, and milk, and wastel brede.
But sore wept she if on of hem were dede,
Or if men smote it with a yerdè1 smert,5
And all was conscience and tendre herte.

Ful semely hire wimple ypinched was;
Hire nose tretìs; hire eyen grey as glass;
Hire mouth ful smale, and therto soft and red;
But sikerly she hadde a fayre forehèd.
It was almost a spannè brode I trowe;
For hardily she was not undergrowe.7
Ful fetise was hire cloke, as I was ware.
Of smale coràll about hire arm she bare
A pair of bedès, gauded all with grene;
And thereon heng a broche of gold ful shene,
On whiche was first ywritten a crouned A,
And after, Amor vincit omnia.

Another Nonne also with hire hadde she,
That was hire chapelleine, and Preestès thre.

A Monk ther was, a fayre for the maistrìe,
An outrider, that loved venerie ;9
A manly man, to ben an abbot able.
Ful many a deintè hors hadde he in stable:
And whan he rode, men might his bridel here
Gingèling in a whistling wind as clere,