The Corpus ms (Corpus Christi coll., Oxford) of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall.

                                
                                     [6-text p 335] 
                                  
                                  Vppon þis nombre diffinicioun
                                
                                  Men may deuyne and glosen vp and doun
                                
                                  But wel I woot expresse wiþouten lye
                                
                                  God bad vs for to wexe and multiplye
                                  Line 28 
                                
                                  That gentil text can I wel vnderstonde
                                
                                  Eke wel I woot he seyde myn housebonde
                                
                                  Schulde lete fader & mooder and take to me [¶ Relinquet homo patrem & matrem & adherebit &c/] 
                                
                                  But of noon nombre mension made he /
                                
                                  Of Bigamye or of Octogamye
                                  Line 33 
                                
                                  Why schulde men þenne haue it in vilanye /
                                
                                  loke here þe wise man king Salomon
                                
                                  I trowe he hadde wyues moo þan on [¶ Genesis ijo. Quamobrem] 
                                
                                  Now wolde god it leeful were to me /
                                  Line 37 
                                
                                  To be refreisshed half so ofte as he [folio 100b] 
                                
                                  Which ȝifte of god hadde he for alle his wyues
                                
                                  No man haþ such þat in þis world a lyue is
                                  Line 40 
                                
                                  God wot þis noble king as to my witte
                                
                                  The firste night hadde many a mery fitte
                                
                                  Wiþ iche of hem so wel was him alyue
                                
                                  Blissed be god þat I haue wedded fyue
                                  Line 44 
                                
                                  Welcome þe sixte whan þat euer he schal
                                
                                  ffor siþþe I wille nought kepe chaste in al
                                
                                  Whan myn housebonde is fro þe world y-gon
                                
                                  Som crystne man schal wedde me anon
                                  Line 48 
                                
                                  ffor þan þe apostle seiþ þat I am free
                                
                                  To wedde a goddes half wher it likeþ me
                                
                                  he seiþ þat to be wedded is no senne [¶ Melius est nubere quam vri] 
                                
                                  Betre is it to be wedded þan to brenne
                                  Line 52 
                                
                                  What rekkeþ me þough folk sey vylanye
                                
                                  Of schrewed lameth and his Bygamye /
                                
                                  I woot wel Abraham was an holy man
                                
                                  And Iacob eek as fer as euer I can
                                  Line 56 
                                
                                  And ech of hem hadde wyues mo þan tuo
                                
                                  And many anoþer holy man also
                                
                                  Wher can ȝe say in any maner age
                                
                                  That vs god defended mariage

                                  Line 60

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Title: The Corpus ms (Corpus Christi coll., Oxford) of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall.
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Canvas: Page 214
Publication: London,: Pub. for the Chaucer society by N. Trübner & co.,; 1868-[1869]

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Collection: Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8235.0001.001
Link to this scan: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/agz8235.0001.001/242:6

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Full citation: "The Corpus ms (Corpus Christi coll., Oxford) of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8235.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 5, 2025.

The Corpus ms (Corpus Christi coll., Oxford) of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall.

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