The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.

                                
                                     [6-text p 361] 
                                  
                                  To lerne / what thyng wommen louen moost
                                
                                  But he ne koude / arryuen in no coost
                                
                                  Wher as he myghte fynde / in this mateere
                                
                                  Two creatures / accordynge in feere
                                  Line 924 
                                
                                  ¶ Somme seyde / wommen / louen best richesse
                                
                                  Somme seyde honour / somme seyde Iolynesse
                                
                                  Somme riche array / somme seyden lust abedd
                                
                                  And ofte tyme / to be wydwe and wedde
                                  Line 928 
                                
                                  ¶ Somme seyde / þat oure hertes / been moost esed
                                
                                  Whan that we been / yflatered and yplesed
                                
                                  ¶ He gooth ful ny the sothe / I wol nat lye
                                
                                  A man / shal wynne vs best with flaterye
                                  Line 932 
                                
                                  And with attendance / and with bisynesse
                                
                                  Been we ylymed / bothe moore and lesse
                                
                                  ¶ And somme seyn / that we louen best [folio 77a] 
                                
                                  ffor to be free / and do right as vs lest
                                  Line 936 
                                
                                  And that no man / repreue vs of oure vice
                                
                                  But seye þat we be wise / and no thyng nyce
                                
                                  ffor trewely / ther is noon of vs alle
                                
                                  If any wight / wol clawe vs on the galle
                                  Line 940 
                                
                                  That we nel kike / for he seith vs sooth
                                
                                  Assay / and he shal fynde it þat so dooth
                                
                                  ffor be we / neuer so vicious with-Inne
                                
                                  We wol been holden wise / and clene of synne
                                  Line 944 
                                
                                  ¶ And somme seyn / that greet delit han we
                                
                                  ffor to been holden stable / and eke secree
                                
                                  And in o purpos / stedefastly to dwelle
                                
                                  And nat biwreye thyng that men vs telle
                                  Line 948 
                                
                                  But that tale / is nat worth a rake stele
                                
                                  Pardee we wommen / konne no thyng hele
                                
                                  Witnesse on Myda / wol ye heere the tale
                                
                                  ¶ Ouyde / amonges othere thynges smale
                                  Line 952 
                                
                                  Seyde / Myda hadde vnder his longe heres
                                
                                  Growynge vp-on his heed / two Asses eres
                                
                                  The which vice he hydde / as he best myghte
                                
                                  fful subtilly / from euery mannes sighte

                                  Line 956

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Title: The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Canvas: Page 194
Publication: London :: Published for the Chaucer Society by N. Trübner,; 1868-1879.

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Collection: Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8232.0001.001
Link to this scan: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/agz8232.0001.001/224

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Full citation: "The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8232.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 19, 2025.

The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.

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