Confessio Amantis | Page 5

thilke astat ben made, 300?Noght for the merite of the charge,?Bot for thei wolde hemself descharge?Of poverte and become grete;?And thus for Pompe and for beyete?The Scribe and ek the Pharisee?Of Moises upon the See?In the chaiere on hyh ben set;?Wherof the feith is ofte let,?Which is betaken hem to kepe.?In Cristes cause alday thei slepe, 310?Bot of the world is noght foryete;?For wel is him that now may gete?Office in Court to ben honoured.?The stronge coffre hath al devoured?Under the keye of avarice?The tresor of the benefice,?Wherof the povere schulden clothe?And ete and drinke and house bothe;?The charite goth al unknowe,?For thei no grein of Pite sowe: 320?And slouthe kepeth the libraire?Which longeth to the Saintuaire;?To studie upon the worldes lore?Sufficeth now withoute more;?Delicacie his swete toth?Hath fostred so that it fordoth?Of abstinence al that ther is.?And forto loken over this,?If Ethna brenne in the clergie,?Al openly to mannes ije 330?At Avynoun thexperience?Therof hath yove an evidence,?Of that men sen hem so divided.?And yit the cause is noght decided;?Bot it is seid and evere schal,?Betwen tuo Stoles lyth the fal,?Whan that men wenen best to sitte:?In holy cherche of such a slitte?Is for to rewe un to ous alle;?God grante it mote wel befalle 340?Towardes him which hath the trowthe.?Bot ofte is sen that mochel slowthe,?Whan men ben drunken of the cuppe,?Doth mochel harm, whan fyr is uppe,?Bot if somwho the flamme stanche;?And so to speke upon this branche,?Which proud Envie hath mad to springe,?Of Scisme, causeth forto bringe?This newe Secte of Lollardie,?And also many an heresie 350?Among the clerkes in hemselve.?It were betre dike and delve?And stonde upon the ryhte feith,?Than knowe al that the bible seith?And erre as somme clerkes do.?Upon the hond to were a Schoo?And sette upon the fot a Glove?Acordeth noght to the behove?Of resonable mannes us:?If men behielden the vertus 360?That Crist in Erthe taghte here,?Thei scholden noght in such manere,?Among hem that ben holden wise,?The Papacie so desguise?Upon diverse eleccioun,?Which stant after thaffeccioun?Of sondry londes al aboute:?Bot whan god wole, it schal were oute,?For trowthe mot stonde ate laste.?Bot yet thei argumenten faste 370?Upon the Pope and his astat,?Wherof thei falle in gret debat;?This clerk seith yee, that other nay,?And thus thei dryve forth the day,?And ech of hem himself amendeth?Of worldes good, bot non entendeth?To that which comun profit were.?Thei sein that god is myhti there,?And schal ordeine what he wile,?Ther make thei non other skile 380?Where is the peril of the feith,?Bot every clerk his herte leith?To kepe his world in special,?And of the cause general,?Which unto holy cherche longeth,?Is non of hem that underfongeth?To schapen eny resistence:?And thus the riht hath no defence,?Bot ther I love, ther I holde.?Lo, thus tobroke is Cristes folde, 390?Wherof the flock withoute guide?Devoured is on every side,?In lacke of hem that ben unware?Schepherdes, whiche her wit beware?Upon the world in other halve.?The scharpe pricke in stede of salve?Thei usen now, wherof the hele?Thei hurte of that thei scholden hele;?And what Schep that is full of wulle?Upon his back, thei toose and pulle, 400?Whil ther is eny thing to pile:?And thogh ther be non other skile?Bot only for thei wolden wynne,?Thei leve noght, whan thei begynne,?Upon her acte to procede,?Which is no good schepherdes dede.?And upon this also men sein,?That fro the leese which is plein?Into the breres thei forcacche?Her Orf, for that thei wolden lacche 410?With such duresce, and so bereve?That schal upon the thornes leve?Of wulle, which the brere hath tore;?Wherof the Schep ben al totore?Of that the hierdes make hem lese.?Lo, how thei feignen chalk for chese,?For though thei speke and teche wel,?Thei don hemself therof no del:?For if the wolf come in the weie,?Her gostly Staf is thanne aweie, 420?Wherof thei scholde her flock defende;?Bot if the povere Schep offende?In eny thing, thogh it be lyte,?They ben al redy forto smyte;?And thus, how evere that thei tale,?The strokes falle upon the smale,?And upon othre that ben grete?Hem lacketh herte forto bete.?So that under the clerkes lawe?Men sen the Merel al mysdrawe, 430?I wol noght seie in general,?For ther ben somme in special?In whom that alle vertu duelleth,?And tho ben, as thapostel telleth,?That god of his eleccioun?Hath cleped to perfeccioun?In the manere as Aaron was:?Thei ben nothing in thilke cas?Of Simon, which the foldes gate?Hath lete, and goth in othergate, 440?Bot thei gon in the rihte weie.?Ther ben also somme, as men seie,?That folwen Simon ate hieles,?Whos carte goth upon the whieles?Of coveitise and worldes Pride,?And holy cherche goth beside,?Which scheweth outward a visage?Of that is noght in the corage.?For if men loke in holy cherche,?Betwen the word and that thei werche 450?Ther is a full gret difference:?Thei prechen ous in audience?That noman schal his soule empeire,?For al is bot a chirie feire?This worldes good, so as thei telle;?Also thei sein