Ȝe, þouȝ þou be of feble fame,
Bere good visage, þy nouȝt aspye,
Make þerof but iape and game
In fleschly lustis bodylye.
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(9)
¶ At masse, at matyns, rule ȝow so:
Leue dewe deuocioun ȝow byhynde.
Speke no good of frend ne foo,
Lete non skorneles fro ȝow wende;
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Loke no man be thy frende;
Lete no man thryue, but do hem nye;
Kepe hem pore, and to þe bende:
Þen wole þey drede þe bodylye.
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VII. Man, know thy self, and lerne to dye.
[Digby 102, leaf 104, back.] [15 stanzas of 8, abab, bcbc.]
(1)
Mannys soule is sotyl and queynt,
Shal neuere ende þouȝ he dede gynne.
The flesch is fals[e], frele, and feynt,
Þe world alone wolde wynne;
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Is wormes mete, and sek of synne;
He nys neuere filt of glotonye;
His cloþyng is a dedly skynne.
Man, knowe þy self, and lerne to dye!
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(2)
¶ Lerne to dye, and go to skole,
Siþ þou fro deþ may not fle.
Lete not þy werkys preue þe fool.
Whan deþ wole assaile þe,
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Sende warnestor to þy soule to be;
Þy vices fro þy vertues triȝe.
Ȝe sette ȝoure soule in kynges gre,
Þat lerneþ wisely for to diȝe.
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