The Harleian ms. 7334 of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall.

                                
                                     [6-text p 336] 
                                  
                                  By expres word I pray ȝow tellith me
                                
                                  Or wher comaunded he virginite
                                
                                  I wot as wel as ȝe it is no drede /
                                
                                  Thapostil whan he spekþ of maydenhede
                                  Line 64 
                                
                                  he sayd þat precept þer of had he noon
                                
                                  Men may counseil a womman to be oon
                                
                                  But counselyng nys no comaundement
                                
                                  He put it in our owne Iuggement /
                                  Line 68 
                                
                                  For hadde god comaundid maydenhede / [folio 87b] 
                                
                                  Than had he dampnyd weddyng with þe dede
                                
                                  And certes if þer were no seed I-sowe /
                                
                                  Virginite · wher-on schuld it growe
                                  Line 72 
                                
                                  Poul ne dorst not comaunde atte lest
                                
                                  A þing of which his maister ȝaf non hest
                                
                                  The dart is set vpon virginite
                                
                                  Cach who-so may who rennith best / let se
                                  Line 76 
                                
                                  But þis word is not taken of euery wight
                                
                                  But þer as god list ȝiue it of his might/
                                
                                  I wot wel þat þapostil was a mayde
                                
                                  But naþeles þough þat he wrot or sayde
                                  Line 80 
                                
                                  he wolde þat euery wight were such as he /
                                
                                  Al nys but counseil vnto virginite
                                
                                  And for to ben a wyf he ȝaf me leue
                                
                                  Of indigence . so nys it to repreue
                                  Line 84 
                                
                                  to wedde me if þat my make deye
                                
                                  withoute excepcioun of bigamye
                                
                                  Al were it good to womman for to touche
                                
                                  he mente in his bed or in his couche
                                  Line 88 
                                
                                  For peril is boþe fuyr an tow to assemble
                                
                                  Ȝe knowe what þis ensample wold resemble
                                
                                  This is al and som / he holdith virginite
                                
                                  More parfit þan weddyng in frelte
                                  Line 92 
                                
                                  Frelte clepe I · but if þat he and sche
                                
                                  wold leden al her lif in chastite
                                
                                  I graunt it wel I haue noon enuye
                                
                                  Though maidenhede preferre bygamye

                                  Line 96

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Title: The Harleian ms. 7334 of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall.
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Canvas: Page 196
Publication: London,: Pub. for the Chaucer society by N. Trübner & co.,; 1885.

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Collection: Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8246.0001.001
Link to this scan: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/agz8246.0001.001/208:5

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Full citation: "The Harleian ms. 7334 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/agz8246.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 7, 2025.

The Harleian ms. 7334 of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall.

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