The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.

                                
                                     [6-text p 367] 
                                  
                                  To doon of gentillesse / the faire office
                                
                                  They myghte do / no vileynye or vice
                                
                                  ¶ Taak fyr / and ber it in the derkeste hous
                                
                                  Bitwix this / and the mount of Kaukasous
                                  Line 1140 
                                
                                  And lat men / shette the dores and go thenne
                                
                                  Yet wole the fyr / as faire lye and brenne
                                
                                  As twenty thousand men / myghte it biholde
                                
                                  His office natureel / ay wol it holde
                                  Line 1144 
                                
                                  Vp peril of my lyf / til that it dye
                                
                                  ¶ Heere may ye se wel / how þat genterye [¶ exemplum] 
                                
                                  Is nat annexed to possession
                                
                                  Sith folk / ne doon hir operacion
                                  Line 1148 
                                
                                  Alwey as dooth the fyr / lo in his kynde
                                
                                  ffor god it woot men may wel often fynde
                                
                                  A lordes sone / do shame and vileynye
                                
                                  And he þat wole / han pris of his gentrye
                                  Line 1152 
                                
                                  ffor he was born / of a gentil hous
                                
                                  And hadde hise eldres / nobel and vertuous
                                
                                  And nel hym seluen / do no gentil dedis
                                
                                  Ne folwen his gentil Auncestre þat deed is
                                  Line 1156 
                                
                                  He nys nat gentil / be he duc or Erl
                                
                                  ffor vileyns synful dedes / make a cherl
                                
                                  ffor gentillesse / nys but renomee
                                
                                  Of thyne auncestres / for hire heigh bountee
                                  Line 1160 
                                
                                  Which is a strange thyng to thy persone
                                
                                  Thy gentillesse / cometh fro god allone
                                
                                  Thanne comth / oure verray gentillesse of grace
                                
                                  It was no thyng / biquethe vs with oure place
                                  Line 1164 
                                
                                  ¶ Thenketh hou noble / as seith Valerius
                                
                                  Was thilke / Tullius Hostillius
                                
                                  That out of pouerte / roos to heigh noblesse
                                
                                  Reed senek / and redeth eek Boece
                                  Line 1168 
                                
                                  Ther shul ye seen expres / þat no drede is
                                
                                  That he is gentil / that dooth gentil dedis
                                
                                  And therfore leeue housbonde / I thus conclude
                                
                                  Al were it / that myne Auncestres weren rude

                                  Line 1172

Pages

Index

About this Item

Title: The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Canvas: Page 200
Publication: London :: Published for the Chaucer Society by N. Trübner,; 1868-1879.

Technical Details

Collection: Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8232.0001.001
Link to this scan: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/agz8232.0001.001/230:5

Rights and Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials are in the public domain. If you have questions about the collection, please contact [email protected]. If you have concerns about the inclusion of an item in this collection, please contact [email protected].

DPLA Rights Statement: No Copyright - United States

IIIF

Manifest: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/api/manifest/cme:agz8232.0001.001

Cite this Item

Full citation: "The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8232.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 19, 2025.

The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.

Annotations Tools

Actions

About this Item

Technical Details

Rights and Permissions

Related Links

IIIF

Cite this Item