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

                                
                                     [6-text p 366] 
                                  
                                  And ther-to comen / of so lowe a kynde
                                
                                  That litel wonder is / thogh I walwe and wynde
                                
                                  So wolde god / myn herte wolde breste
                                
                                  ¶ Is this quod she / the cause of youre vnreste
                                  Line 1104 
                                
                                  ¶ Ye certeynly quod he / no wonder is
                                
                                  ¶ Now sire quod she / I koude amende al this
                                
                                  If that me liste / er it were dayes thre
                                
                                  So wel ye myghte / bere yow vn-to me
                                  Line 1108 
                                
                                  ¶ But for ye speken of swich gentillesse [¶ Nota bene.] 
                                
                                  As is descended / out of old richesse
                                
                                  That therfore / sholden ye be gentil men
                                
                                  Swich errogance / is nat worth an hen
                                  Line 1112 
                                
                                  Looke who þat is / moost vertuous alway
                                
                                  Pryuee and apert and moost entendeth ay
                                
                                  To do / the gentil dedes / þat he kan
                                
                                  Taak hym / for the gentileste man
                                  Line 1116 
                                
                                  Crist / wol we clayme of hym oure gentilesse
                                
                                  Nat of oure eldres / for hir old richesse
                                
                                  ffor thogh they yeue vs / al hir heritage
                                
                                  ffor which we clame / to been of hir parage
                                  Line 1120 
                                
                                  Yet may they nat biquethe / for no thyng
                                
                                  To noon of vs / hir vertuous lyuyng
                                
                                  That made hem / gentil men ycalled be
                                
                                  And bad vs / folwen hem in swich degree
                                  Line 1124 
                                
                                  ¶ Wel kan / the wise poete of fflorence
                                
                                  That highte Dant speken in this sentence
                                
                                  Lo / in swich manere rym / is Dantes tale
                                
                                  fful selde vp riseth / by his branches smale
                                  Line 1128 
                                
                                  Prowesse of man / for god of his prowesse
                                
                                  Wole /. that of hym / we clayme oure gentilesse
                                
                                  ffor of oure eldres / may we no thyng clayme
                                
                                  But temporel thyng that man may hurte and mayme
                                  Line 1132 
                                
                                  Eek euery wight woot this as wel I [folio 72a] 
                                
                                  If gentilesse / were planted naturelly
                                
                                  Vn-to a certeyn lynage / doun the lyne
                                
                                  Pryuee and apert thanne wolde they neuere fyne

                                  Line 1136

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Title: The Hengwrt ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Canvas: Page 161
Publication: London :: Published for the Chaucer Society by N. Trübner,; 1868-1879.

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Collection: Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8233.0001.001
Link to this scan: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/agz8233.0001.001/187:4

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Full citation: "The Hengwrt 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/agz8233.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 16, 2025.

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

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