This tretyse is of loue and spekyth of iiij of the most specyall louys that ben in the worlde and shewyth veryly and perfitely bi gret resons and causis, how the meruelous [and] bounteuous loue that our lord Ihesu cryste had to mannys soule excedyth to ferre alle other loues ... Whiche tretyse was translatid out of frenshe into englyshe, the yere of our lord M cccc lxxxxiij, by a persone that is vnperfight insuche werke ...

WHan he had taasted he wold not drynke / but sayd all is fulfylled / Thenne myght he wel haue sait alas / now am I out¦rageously seruyd / y^t for al the com¦panye that I haue had wyth them and for all the honoures that I ha¦ue shewed to theym / they yelde me now thus shrewedly my seruyse. that in soo grete disease as / I am now in / and in soo grete defawte they wylle not gyue me a lityl wa¦ter to drynke. Now am I outrage¦ously seruyd / For truly this same dyde more harme than many other of the paynes that he suffryd· And noo merueyle / for he had lon¦ge laboured for to teche theym for to saue their soules▪ and to drawe theyr loue towarde hym / And for all this grete loue yet at the laste they dyde hym this grete vilanye Wherof he pleyneth hym by Iherom the prophete sayeng /

¶Recordare paupertatis & tran¦gressionis mee absinthij & fellis / Fayre frende remembre you of the pouertee that I suffred for you / And remembre of the grete disp¦tes that was done to me· whā they gaaf me to drynke so euyll a dryn¦ke for your loue / wherof sayth sa∣ynt bernarde / ¶Sitiui salutē ves¦tram / I haue thurst sayd our lor∣de / and not oonly for drynke / but oonly for your sauacyon / O good lorde mercy / who had euer in hym soo ferme loue as he / whan he was in soo paynfull caas / that he felte the feuers of his harde deth pricke soo sore his pyteuous soule / Yet sa¦yd he not alas / the harde crosse des∣troyeth my seke body. But he sayd I haue grete thurste that my loue may be deliuerde from helle / He say¦de not how thyse thornes rase myn wooful hede / Nor alas how my hō¦des & fete ben broken & perced wyth grete nayles. Nor alas that I shol¦de suffre soo many grete paynes wythout deserte / But he sayd I ha¦ue desire that my loue were sauyd▪ as saynt bernarde sayth. ¶Tantū me dilexisti o bone Ih̄u quod inmemor fuisti doloris / & nō inmemor mee salutis. dixisti scicō non dixisti doleo / Soo moche thou hast louyd me o good Ih̄u. that y^u hast not remembryd thy sorowe / & yet thou haddest y^e remembraunce of my saluacōn / whā thou saydest I thurst after your saluacyon / and sayd not I haue grete sorowe for my paynes / But all otherwyse to¦ke it the felon Iewes / and therfore they dyde him suche a noye / that thei most bytter eysell and galle gaaf hym to drynke /

¶The fifth defaute that was ful grete / was whan euery frende fay¦led

to his comforte / soo as hymself pleyneth hym by dauyd / ¶Sin∣gulariter sum ego donec transeam I am lefte allone wythoute com∣forte. tyll that I be passed oute of this mortall lyf / Wherof he sayth by ysaye. ¶Circumspexi et non erat auxiliator. I behelde all about me. and there is none that of ony thynge helpeth me / or wyll comfor¦te me / And syth sayth he by ysaye ¶Torcular calcaui solus / & non erat de gentibus vir mecum / I haue troden in the vylayn pres∣sours all alone / and of all the fol¦kes in the worlde I haue not one man wyth me Wherof sayth ysaye ¶Quare ergo est rubium indu∣mentum tuum et vestimenta tua sicut calcancium in torculari / ¶But fayre lorde god wherfore was thenne thy vestyment soo re¦de / as they that haue pressed wyne at the pressour. Ye for trouth the vestyment that he was clothyd in was his clene skyn / that was alle redde of his blessed blode as he had pressid redde wyne all alone with out comforte and wythout helpe / ¶But fayr frende ye wolde saye perauenture. that allone wythoute comforte was he not / For he had his dere moder ful nere hym for to comforte hym. It is trouth his so∣rowfull moder was nere hym: but he was more payned of the com∣pascōn of his piteous moder than of his owne pascyon / And thys maye ye here by a lamentacyon of our lady / y^t saynt bernard writeth that begyn̄eth thus / as herafter fo∣loweth /