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

                                
                                     [6-text p 465] 
                                  
                                  he hadde a gardyn walled al wiþ stoon
                                
                                  So fair a gardyn wot I nowher noon
                                
                                  ffor out of doute I verrayly suppose
                                
                                  þat he þat wroot þe romance of þe rose
                                  Line 2032 
                                
                                  Ne couþe of it þe beaute wel deuyse
                                
                                  ne pryapus ne mighte nat suffise
                                
                                  þouȝ he be god of gardyns for to telle
                                
                                  The beaute of þe gardyn and of þe welle
                                  Line 2036 
                                
                                  þat stood vnder a laurer alway greene
                                
                                  fful often tyme king Pluto and his queene
                                
                                  Preserpyna and alle hire fayerie
                                
                                  Disporten hem and maken melodye
                                  Line 2040 
                                
                                  aboute þat welle and daunced as men tolde
                                
                                  þis noble knight þis Ianuare þe olde
                                
                                  Suche deynte haþ in it to walken and to pleye
                                
                                  þat he wol suffre no wight to bere þe keye
                                  Line 2044 
                                
                                  Saue he himself or of þe smale wiket
                                
                                  he bar alwey of siluer a clyket
                                
                                  Wiþ þe whiche whan þat him lust vnschette
                                
                                  And whan þat he wolde paye his wijf his dette
                                  Line 2048 
                                
                                  In somer seson þider wolde he go
                                
                                  And may his wijf and no wight but þay tuo
                                
                                  A þinges whiche þat were nouȝt don a bedde
                                
                                  þey in þe gardyn parformed han and spedde
                                  Line 2052 
                                
                                  And in þis wise many a mery day
                                
                                  lyuede þis Ianuare and freissche may
                                
                                  But worldly ioye may nouȝt alwey endure
                                
                                  To Ianuare ne to no worldly creature [folio 155b] 
                                  Line 2056 
                                
                                  O sodeyn happ O þou fortune vnstable /
                                
                                  I-like to þe scorpion vnstable /
                                
                                  That flaterest wiþ þin heed whan þou wolt stynge
                                
                                  Thyn tayl is deþ þoruȝ þin enuenemynge
                                  Line 2060 
                                
                                  O brutel ioye O swete poyson queynte
                                
                                  O mustier þat sotilly canst peynte
                                
                                  þine ȝiftes vnder þe hewe of stedefastnesse
                                
                                  þat þou disceyuedest boþe more and lesse

                                  Line 2064

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About this Item

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 343
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/agz8235.0001.001/370:7

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DPLA Rights Statement: No Copyright - United States

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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 4, 2025.

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

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