The Cambridge ms. Dd. 4. 24. of Chaucer's Canterbury tales, completed by the Egerton ms. 2726 (the Haistwell ms) Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall ...

                                  
                                       [6-text p 317] 
                                    
                                    But though my self / be gilty in that synne
                                  
                                    Ȝet kan I maken / othere folk to twynne
                                  
                                    ffrom Auarice / and sore to repente
                                  
                                    But that is nat / my principal entente
                                    Line 432 
                                  
                                    I preche no thyng / but for coueitise
                                  
                                    Of this matere / it oughte I-now suffise
                                  
                                    ¶ Thanne telle I hem / ensaumples many oon
                                  
                                    Of olde stories / longe tyme a-goon
                                    Line 436 
                                  
                                    ffor lewede peeple / louen tales olde
                                  
                                    Swich thynges konne they / wel reporte & holde
                                  
                                    What trowe ȝe / that whiles I may preche
                                  
                                    And wynne gold and siluer / for I teche
                                    Line 440 
                                  
                                    That I wol lyue / in pouertee wilfully
                                  
                                    Nay nay / I thought it neuere trewely
                                  
                                    ffor I wol preche / and begge in sondry londes
                                  
                                    I wol nought do no labour / with myne hondes
                                    Line 444 
                                  
                                    Ne make baskettes / and lyue ther-by
                                  
                                    By cause / I wol nat beggen ydelly
                                  
                                    I wol noone of the Apostles / countrefete
                                  
                                    I wol haue moneye / wolle / Chese and whete
                                    Line 448 
                                  
                                    Al were it ȝeuen / of the poorest page
                                  
                                    Or of the poorest wydewe / in a village
                                  
                                    Al shulde hire children sterue / for famyne
                                  
                                    Nay I wol drynke licour / of the vyne
                                    Line 452 
                                  
                                    And haue a ioly wenche / in euery toun
                                  
                                    But herkeneth lordynges / in conclusioun
                                  
                                    Ȝoure likyng is / that I shall telle a tale
                                  
                                    Nowe haue I dronke / a draughte of corny Ale
                                    Line 456 
                                  
                                    By god I hope / I shal ȝow telle a thyng
                                  
                                    That shal by reson / ben at ȝoure likyng
                                  
                                    ffor though my self / be a ful vicious man
                                  
                                    A moral tale / ȝet I ȝow telle can
                                    Line 460 
                                  
                                    Which I am wont to preche / for to wynne
                                  
                                    Now holde ȝoure pees / my tale I wol bigynne

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Title: The Cambridge ms. Dd. 4. 24. of Chaucer's Canterbury tales, completed by the Egerton ms. 2726 (the Haistwell ms) Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall ...
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Canvas: Page 373
Publication: London,: Pub. for the Chaucer Society by K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.,; 1902.

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Collection: Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ash3725.0001.001
Link to this scan: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/ash3725.0001.001/395

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Full citation: "The Cambridge ms. Dd. 4. 24. of Chaucer's Canterbury tales, completed by the Egerton ms. 2726 (the Haistwell ms) Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall ..." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ash3725.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 18, 2025.

The Cambridge ms. Dd. 4. 24. of Chaucer's Canterbury tales, completed by the Egerton ms. 2726 (the Haistwell ms) Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall ...

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