: But me was told, not longe time agon is, 5595 Locherke eke, which a fharp word for the nones, Befide a welle Jefu God and man Spake in reprete of the Samaritan; Thou haft yhadde five hufbonds, fayde he, And thilke man that now hath wedded thee 5600 Upon this noumbre diffinitioun ; Men may devine and glofen up and doun. 5605 God had us for to wex and multiplie; 5610 That gentil text can I wel understond: Eke wel I wot he fayd that min husbond Shuld leve fader and moder and take to me; Of bigamie or of odlogamie; 5615 Why fhuld men than fpeke of it vilanie? I trow he hadde wives mo than on, (As wolde God it leful were to me To be refreshed half fo oft as he) 0.5620 Which a gift of God had he for alle his wives? No man hath swiche that in this world on live is. The firfte night had many a mery fitte With eche of hem, fo wel was him on live. 5625 Bleffed be God that I have wedded five; Welcome the fixthe whan that ever he shall; For fith I wol not kepe me chafte in all, Whan min hufbond is fro the world ygone For than the apostle faith that I am fre 5630 To wedde a' Goddes half wher it liketh me; Better is to be wedded than to brinne. What rekketh me though folk fay vilanie. 5635 Offhrewed Lamech and his bigamie? .5626. I have wedded five] After this verfe the fix following are in mif. C. 1, HA. C. 2, and in edit. Ca. 2; Of whiche I have pyked out the befte Bothe of here nether purs and of here chefte. And diverse prachyk in many fondry werkes Of five hubondes fcoleryng am I; If these lines are not Chaucer's they are certainly more in his manner than the generality of the imitations of him. Perhaps he wrote them, and afterwards blotted them out. They come in but awkwardly here, and he has ufed the principal idea in another place, March. T. ver. 9301. I wot wel Abraham was an holy man, And Jacob eke, as fer as ever I can, And eche of hem had wives mo than two, And many another holy man alfo. 5640 Wher can ye feen in any maner age That highe God defended mariage By expreffe word? I pray you telleth me, Or wher commanded he virginitee? I wot as wel as ye, it is no drede, 5645 The apoftle, whan he spake of maidenhede, He faid that precept therof had he non; For hadde God commanded maidenhede, Poule dorfte not commanden at the left 5650 3655 5660 And for to ben a wif he yaf me leve, 5665 To wedden me, if that my make die, Withoute exception of bigamie; All were it good no woman for to touche, (He ment as in his bed or in his couche) 5670 For peril is both fire and tow to assemble; 5675 Wold lede hir lives all in chastitee) I graunt it wel, I have of non envie Who maidenhed preferre to bigamie; It liketh hem to be clene in body and gost: 5680 For wel ye know a lord in his houfhold .5677. Igraunt it wel, I have non envie-Though maidenbel preferre bigamie] So these two verfes ftand, without any material difference, in all the mff. If they are right we muft understand preferre to fignify the fame as be preferred to. Knowing no example of fuch a conftruction I have ventured at an alteration of the text. It might have been as well, perhaps, to have left the first line untouched, and to have con rected the fecond only thus; Though maidenhed be preferr'd to bigamie. .5681. a lord in bis boufboldj See 2 Tim. ii. 20. And everich hath of God a propre gift, Som this, fom that, as that him liketh shift. 5685 And continence eke with devotion; Ne bade not every wight he shuld go felle 5690 5695 In th' actes and the fruit of mariage. Tell me alfo to what conclufion Were membres made of generation, And of fo parfit wife a wight ywrought? 5699 Trusteth me wel they were nat made for nought. Glofe who fo wol, and fay bothe up and doun, Of urine, and of other thinges fmale, And eke to know a female from a male: 5705 5710 |