(139. Hoccleve.)
¶ "He þat neuere knewe þe swetnesse of wele,
Line 967
Thogh he it lakke ay, lesse hym greue it schal,
Than hym þat hath ben weleful yeerës fele,
And in effect hath felt no greef at al.
O pouert! god me sheldë fro thy fal!
Line 971
O deth! thy strok yit is more agreáble
To me, þan lyue a lyf so miseráble.
Line 973
(140. Hoccleve.)
¶ "VI marc, yeerly, and no more þan þat,
Line 974
ffadir, to me, me thynkyth is ful lyte,
Consideryng, how þat I am nat [I suppose this line to be deliberately made of 9 syllables,—'how' serving, with a pause, for the usual 2,—to correspond with the 9-syllable line 974 which it rymes with, and in which 'Six,' with a pause, represents a measure or 'foot.']
In housbondryë, lerned worth a myte;
Scarsely cowde I [knowe I to R.] charre a-way þe kyte
Line 978
That me bireuë woldë my pullaille;
And more axith housbondly [husbonderye R.] gouernaylle.
Line 980
(141. Hoccleve.)
¶ "With plow can I nat medlen, ne with harwe, [folio 18b]
Line 981
Ne wot nat what lond, good is for what corne;
And for to lade a cart or fille a barwe,—
To which I neuer vsed vas [was R.] to-forne,—
My bak vnbuxum hath swich thyng forsworne,
Line 985
At instance of writyng, his Werreyour,
That stowpyng hath hym spilt with his labour.
(142. Hoccleve.)
¶ "Many men, fadir, wenen þat writynge
Line 988
No trauaile is; þei hold it but a game:
Aart hath no foo but swich folk vnkonynge: [¶ Ars non habet inimi|cum nisi ignorantem.]
But who so list disport hym in þat same,
Let hym continue, and he schal fynd it grame;
Line 992
It is wel gretter labour þan it seemeth;
Þe blyndë man of coloures al wrong deemeth. [¶ Cecus non iúdicat [R. continues: de coloribus; et nota hic de scriptoribus.] &c.]
Line 994
