Confessio Amantis | Page 8

take
Over the Montz of
Lombardie;
Of Rome and al the tirandie
With blodi swerd he
overcom,
And the Cite with strengthe nom;
In such a wise and there
he wroghte,
That holy cherche ayein he broghte 760
Into franchise,
and doth restore
The Popes lost, and yaf him more:
And thus whan
he his god hath served,
He tok, as he wel hath deserved,
The
Diademe and was coroned.
Of Rome and thus was abandoned

Thempire, which cam nevere ayein
Into the hond of no Romein;

Bot a long time it stod so stille
Under the Frensche kynges wille, 770

Til that fortune hir whiel so ladde,
That afterward Lombardz it
hadde,
Noght be the swerd, bot be soffrance
Of him that tho was
kyng of France,
Which Karle Calvus cleped was;
And he resigneth
in this cas
Thempire of Rome unto Lowis
His Cousin, which a
Lombard is.

And so hit laste into the yeer
Of Albert and of
Berenger; 780
Bot thanne upon dissencioun
Thei felle, and in
divisioun
Among hemself that were grete,
So that thei loste the
beyete
Of worschipe and of worldes pes.
Bot in proverbe natheles

Men sein, ful selden is that welthe
Can soffre his oghne astat in
helthe;
And that was on the Lombardz sene,
Such comun strif was
hem betwene 790
Thurgh coveitise and thurgh Envie,
That every
man drowh his partie,
Which myhte leden eny route,
Withinne
Burgh and ek withoute:
The comun ryht hath no felawe,
So that the
governance of lawe
Was lost, and for necessite,
Of that thei stode in
such degre
Al only thurgh divisioun,
Hem nedeth in conclusioun
800
Of strange londes help beside.
And thus for thei hemself divide


And stonden out of reule unevene,
Of Alemaine Princes sevene

Thei chose in this condicioun,
That upon here eleccioun
Thempire
of Rome scholde stonde.
And thus thei lefte it out of honde
For
lacke of grace, and it forsoke,
That Alemans upon hem toke: 810

And to confermen here astat,
Of that thei founden in debat
Thei
token the possessioun
After the composicioun
Among hemself, and
therupon
Thei made an Emperour anon,
Whos name as the
Cronique telleth
Was Othes; and so forth it duelleth,
Fro thilke day
yit unto this
Thempire of Rome hath ben and is 820
To thalemans.
And in this wise,
As ye tofore have herd divise
How Daniel the
swevene expondeth
Of that ymage, on whom he foundeth
The
world which after scholde falle,
Come is the laste tokne of alle;

Upon the feet of Erthe and Stiel
So stant this world now everydiel

Departed; which began riht tho,
Whan Rome was divided so: 830

And that is forto rewe sore,
For alway siththe more and more
The
world empeireth every day.
Wherof the sothe schewe may,
At
Rome ferst if we beginne:
The wall and al the Cit withinne
Stant in
ruine and in decas,
The feld is wher the Paleis was,
The toun is wast;
and overthat,
If we beholde thilke astat 840
Which whilom was of
the Romeins,
Of knyhthode and of Citezeins,
To peise now with
that beforn,
The chaf is take for the corn,
As forto speke of Romes
myht:
Unethes stant ther oght upryht
Of worschipe or of worldes
good,
As it before tyme stod.
And why the worschipe is aweie,
If
that a man the sothe seie, 850
The cause hath ben divisioun,
Which
moder of confusioun
Is wher sche cometh overal,
Noght only of the
temporal
Bot of the spirital also.
The dede proeveth it is so,
And
hath do many day er this,
Thurgh venym which that medled is
In
holy cherche of erthly thing:
For Crist himself makth knowleching
860
That noman may togedre serve
God and the world, bot if he
swerve
Froward that on and stonde unstable;
And Cristes word may
noght be fable.
The thing so open is at ije,
It nedeth noght to
specefie
Or speke oght more in this matiere;
Bot in this wise a man
mai lere
Hou that the world is gon aboute,
The which welnyh is

wered oute, 870
After the forme of that figure
Which Daniel in his
scripture
Expondeth, as tofore is told.
Of Bras, of Selver and of
Gold
The world is passed and agon,
And now upon his olde ton
It
stant of brutel Erthe and Stiel,
The whiche acorden nevere a diel;
So
mot it nedes swerve aside
As thing the which men sen divide. 880

Thapostel writ unto ous alle
And seith that upon ous is falle
Thende
of the world; so may we knowe,
This ymage is nyh overthrowe,
Be
which this world was signified,
That whilom was so magnefied,

And now is old and fieble and vil,
Full of meschief and of peril,

And stant divided ek also
Lich to the feet that were so, 890
As I
tolde of the Statue above.
And this men sen, thurgh lacke of love

Where as the lond divided is,
It mot algate fare amis:
And now to
loke on every side,
A man may se the world divide,
The werres ben
so general
Among the cristene overal,
That every man now secheth
wreche,
And yet these clerkes alday preche 900
And sein, good
dede may non be
Which stant noght upon charite:
I not hou charite
may stonde,
Wher dedly werre is take on honde.
Bot al this wo is
cause of man,
The which that wit and reson can,
And that in tokne
and in witnesse
That ilke ymage bar liknesse
Of man and of non
other beste.
For ferst unto the mannes heste 910
Was every creature
ordeined,
Bot afterward it was restreigned:

Whan that he fell, thei
fellen eke,
Whan he wax sek,