The workes of Geffray Chaucer newlye printed, wyth dyuers workes whych were neuer in print before: as in the table more playnly doth appere. Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum.

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Title: The workes of Geffray Chaucer newlye printed, wyth dyuers workes whych were neuer in print before: as in the table more playnly doth appere. Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum.
Author: Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Publication: [London] :: Printed by [Richard Grafton for] Wyllyam Bonham, dwellynge at the sygne of the Kynges armes in Pauls Church-yarde,; 1542.
Rights/Permissions: To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
Cite this Item: "The workes of Geffray Chaucer newlye printed, wyth dyuers workes whych were neuer in print before: as in the table more playnly doth appere. Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A18528.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 2, 2024.

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Carmina qui quondam studio flo∣rente peregi Flebilis heu mestos cogor inire mo∣dos.

ALas, I wepynge am constrayned to begyn vers of soroufull ma∣ter, that whylom in flourisshynge studye made delitable dytees For lo, rendynge mu∣ses of poetes, endyten to me thynges to be written, and drery teeres. At last no drede ne myght ouercome tho muses, that they ne we∣ren felowes and folouden my way, that is to say: whan I was exiled, they that weren of my youthe whylom weleful and grene, com∣forten nowe soroufull wyerdes of me olde man: for elde is comen vnwarely vpon me, hasted by y^e harmes that I haue, and sorowe hath cōmaunded hys age to be in me. Heeres hore arne shadde ouertymelyche vpon my heed▪ and the slacke skynne trembleth of myn empted body. Thylke dethe of men is wele∣ful, that ne cometh nat in yeres that beswete but cometh to wretches often ycleped. Alas, alas, with howe deefe an eere dethe cruel tur¦neth awaye fro wretches, and nayeth for to close wepynge eyen. Whyle fortune vnfayth¦full fauoured me wyth lyght goodes, the so∣roufull houre, that is to saye, the dethe, had almoste dreynt myn heed: But nowe for For∣tune cloudy hathe chaunged her deceyuable chere to mewarde, myne vnpytous lyfe dra∣weth alonge vnagreable dwellynges. O ye my frendes, what or wherto auaunted ye me to ben welefull? for he that hath fallen, stode in no stedfast degre.