"Ac my rightwisnesse and right Shul rulen al helle, And mercy al mankynde 12880 Bifore me in hevene. For I were an unkynde kyng, But I my kynde helpe, And nameliche at swich a nede. Ther nedes help bihoveth. _Non intres in judicium cum servo tuo._ =
"Thus by lawe," quod oure Lord, "Lede I wole fro hennes Tho that me lovede 12890 And leved in my comynge. And for thi lesynge, Lucifer, That thow leighe til Eve, Thow shalt abyen it bittre;"-- And bond hym with cheynes. Astroth and al the route Hidden hem in hernes; They dorste noght loke on oure Lord, The boldeste of hem alle, But leten hym lede forth whom hym liked, 12900 And lete whom hym liste. { 394}
Manye hundred of aungeles Harpeden and songen, _Culpat caro, purgat caro, Regnat Deus Dei caro._
Thanne pipede Pees Of Poesie a note, _Clarior est solito post maxima nebula Phoebus, = Post inimicitias, etc._ 12910
"After sharpe shoures," quod Pees, "Moost shene is the sonne; Is no weder warmer Than after watry cloudes; Ne no love levere, Ne lever frendes, Than after werre and wo, Whan Love and Pees ben maistres. Was nevere werre in this world, Ne wikkednesse so kene, 12920 That ne Love, and hym liste, To laughynge ne broughte, And pees thorugh pacience Alle perils stoppeth."
"Trewes," quod Truthe; "Thow tellest us sooth, by Jhesus! Clippe we in covenaunt, And ech of us clippe oother." "And leteth no peple," quod Pees, "Perceyve that we chidde. 12930 For inpossible is no thyng To hym that is almyghty."
"Thow seist sooth," quod Rightwisnesse; And reverentliche hire kiste. { 395} "Pees and pees here! _Per sæcula sæculorum._" _Misericordia et veritas obviaverunt sibi, justitia et pax osculatæ sunt._
Truthe trumpede tho, And song _Te Deum laudamus_; 12940 And thanne lutede, In a loud note, _Ecce quam bonum et quam jocundum, etc._
Til the day dawed Thise damyseles dauncede, That men rongen to the resurexion. And right with that I wakede, And callede Kytte my wif, And Calote my doghter; And bad hem rise and reverence 12950 Goddes resurexion; And crepe to the cros on knees, And kisse it for a juwel, For Goddes blissede body It bar for oure boote; And it a-fereth the fend, For swich is the myghte, May no grisly goost Glide there it walketh. 12959