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

                                
                                     [6-text p 445] 
                                  
                                  But tak no kepe of alle such vanyte
                                
                                  Defye theofrast and herkne me
                                
                                  A wyff is goddes ȝifte verrayly
                                
                                  Alle oþer maner ȝiftes hardily
                                  Line 1312 
                                
                                  As landes rentes pasture or comune
                                
                                  Oþer oþer ȝiftes þat moebles of fortune
                                
                                  þat passen as a schadewe on a wall
                                
                                  But drede nought if pleynly speke I schall
                                  Line 1316 
                                
                                  A wyf wil laste and in þin hous endure
                                
                                  Wel lenger þan þe luste to endure
                                
                                  mariage is a ful gret sacrament
                                
                                  he which haþ no wijf I holde him schent
                                  Line 1320 
                                
                                  he lyueþ helples and is al desolat
                                
                                  I speke of folk in seculer estat
                                
                                  And herkne why I say nouȝt þis for nouȝt
                                
                                  þe womman is for mannes help y-wrouȝt
                                  Line 1324 
                                
                                  þe hihe god when he hadde adam maked
                                
                                  And sawe him allone bely naked
                                
                                  God of his grete goodnesse sayde he þanne
                                
                                  lete vs now make an helpe to þis manne
                                  Line 1328 
                                
                                  ylike to himself and þen he made Eue
                                
                                  here may ȝe se and here-by ȝe preue
                                
                                  That wijf is mannes helpe and his comfort
                                
                                  his paradis terreste and his disport [folio 145b] 
                                  Line 1332 
                                
                                  So buxom and so vertuous is sche
                                
                                  þey mosten needes lyue in vnite
                                
                                  Of fleisshe þei ben and O fleisch as I gesse
                                
                                  nouȝt but on herte in wele and in distresse
                                  Line 1336 
                                
                                  A wyf; A seinte mary benedicite
                                
                                  how might a man han any aduersite
                                
                                  þat haþ a wyf certes I can nouȝt say
                                
                                  þe blisse þat is bitwexe hem tway
                                  Line 1340 
                                
                                  þer may no tonge telle or herte þynke
                                
                                  If he be pore sche helpeþ him to swynke
                                
                                  Sche keepiþ his good and wasteþ neuer a del
                                
                                  And al þat hire housband lust hir likeþ wel

                                  Line 1344

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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 323
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/agz8235.0001.001/350:7

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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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