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

                                
                                     [6-text p 337] 
                                  
                                  It likeþ hem to be clene in body and gost
                                
                                  Of myn estate I wole make no boost
                                
                                  ffor wel ȝe knowe a lord in his houshold
                                
                                  haþ not euery vessele of golde /
                                  Line 100 
                                
                                  Some ben of tree / and doon here lord seruise
                                
                                  God clepeþ folk to him in sondry wise
                                
                                  And euerich haþ of god a propre ȝifte /
                                
                                  Some þis some þat as him likeþ schifte
                                  Line 104 
                                
                                  virginite is gret perfection
                                
                                  And conscience eek with deuocion
                                
                                  But crist þat of perfection is welle
                                
                                  Bad nought euery wight he schulde selle
                                  Line 108 
                                
                                  Al þat he hadde and ȝiue it to þe pore
                                
                                  And in swich wise folwe him and his lore [folio 101b] 
                                
                                  he spak to hem þat wolde lyue parfitly [¶ Mathei xixo. Dixit autem ihesus vade & vende omnia que habes & da pauperibus] 
                                
                                  And lordynges by ȝoure leue þat am not I
                                
                                  I wole bystowe þe flour of alle myn age
                                  Line 113 
                                
                                  In charite and fruyt of maryage
                                
                                  Telle me also to what conclusion
                                
                                  Were membres maade of generacion
                                  Line 116 
                                
                                  And of so parfyt wise and why y-wrought
                                
                                  Tristeþ right wel þey were not made for nought
                                
                                  Glose who so wile and seye boþe vp and doun
                                
                                  That þey were made for purgacioun
                                  Line 120 
                                
                                  Of vryne and oure boþe þinges smale
                                
                                  Were eek to knowe a femal from a male
                                
                                  And for non oþer cause what seye ȝe no;
                                
                                  The experience woot it is nouȝt so
                                  Line 124 
                                
                                  So þat þe clerkes be not with me wroþe
                                
                                  I seye þis þat þey maked be for boþe
                                
                                  This is to seyn for office and for eese
                                
                                  Of engendrynge þare we not god displese
                                  Line 128 
                                
                                  Why schulden men elles in here bokes sette
                                
                                  That man schal yelde to his wijf his dette
                                
                                  Now wher-wiþ scholde he paye his payement
                                
                                  yf þat he ne vsed his seely instrument

                                  Line 132

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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 216
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/agz8235.0001.001/244:6

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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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