Part 33

Ther is an other fyr also, Which semeth to a mannes yhe Be nyhtes time as thogh ther flyhe A dragon brennende in the Sky, And that is cleped proprely 360 Daaly, wherof men sein fulofte, “Lo, wher the fyri drake alofte Fleth up in thair!” and so thei demen. Bot why the fyres suche semen Of sondri formes to beholde, The wise Philosophre tolde, So as tofore it hath ben herd.

Lo thus, my Sone, hou it hath ferd: Of Air the due proprete In sondri wise thou myht se, 370 And hou under the firmament It is ek the thridde element, Which environeth bothe tuo, The water and the lond also.

And forto tellen overthis Of elementz which the ferthe is, That is the fyr in his degre, Which environeth thother thre And is withoute moist al drye. Bot lest nou what seith the clergie; 380 For upon hem that I have seid The creatour hath set and leid The kinde and the complexion Of alle mennes nacion. Foure elementz sondri ther be, Lich unto whiche of that degre Among the men ther ben also Complexions foure and nomo, Wherof the Philosophre treteth, That he nothing behinde leteth, 390 And seith hou that thei ben diverse, So as I schal to thee reherse.

He which natureth every kinde, The myhti god, so as I finde, Of man, which is his creature, Hath so devided the nature, That non til other wel acordeth: And be the cause it so discordeth, The lif which fieleth the seknesse Mai stonde upon no sekernesse. 400

Of therthe, which is cold and drye, The kinde of man Malencolie Is cleped, and that is the ferste, The most ungoodlich and the werste; For unto loves werk on nyht Him lacketh bothe will and myht: No wonder is, in lusty place Of love though he lese grace. What man hath that complexion, Full of ymaginacion 410 Of dredes and of wrathful thoghtes, He fret himselven al to noghtes.

The water, which is moyste and cold, Makth fleume, which is manyfold Foryetel, slou and wery sone Of every thing which is to done: He is of kinde sufficant To holde love his covenant, Bot that him lacketh appetit, Which longeth unto such delit. 420

What man that takth his kinde of thair, He schal be lyht, he schal be fair, For his complexion is blood. Of alle ther is non so good, For he hath bothe will and myht To plese and paie love his riht: Wher as he hath love undertake, Wrong is if that he be forsake.

The fyr of his condicion Appropreth the complexion 430 Which in a man is Colre hote, Whos propretes ben dreie and hote: It makth a man ben enginous And swift of fote and ek irous; Of contek and folhastifnesse He hath a riht gret besinesse, To thenke of love and litel may: Though he behote wel a day, On nyht whan that he wole assaie, He may ful evele his dette paie. 440

After the kinde of thelement, Thus stant a mannes kinde went, As touchende his complexion, Upon sondri division Of dreie, of moiste, of chele, of hete, And ech of hem his oghne sete Appropred hath withinne a man. And ferst to telle as I began,

The Splen is to Malencolie Assigned for herbergerie: 450

The moiste fleume with his cold Hath in the lunges for his hold Ordeined him a propre stede, To duelle ther as he is bede:

To the Sanguin complexion Nature of hire inspeccion A propre hous hath in the livere For his duellinge mad delivere:

The dreie Colre with his hete Be weie of kinde his propre sete 460 Hath in the galle, wher he duelleth, So as the Philosophre telleth.

Nou over this is forto wite, As it is in Phisique write Of livere, of lunge, of galle, of splen, Thei alle unto the herte ben Servantz, and ech in his office Entendeth to don him service, As he which is chief lord above. The livere makth him forto love, 470 The lunge yifth him weie of speche, The galle serveth to do wreche, The Splen doth him to lawhe and pleie, Whan al unclennesse is aweie: Lo, thus hath ech of hem his dede. And to sustienen hem and fede In time of recreacion, Nature hath in creacion The Stomach for a comun Coc Ordeined, so as seith the boc. 480 The Stomach coc is for the halle, And builleth mete for hem alle, To make hem myghty forto serve The herte, that he schal noght sterve: For as a king in his Empire Above alle othre is lord and Sire, So is the herte principal, To whom reson in special Is yove as for the governance.

And thus nature his pourveance 490 Hath mad for man to liven hiere; Bot god, which hath the Soule diere, Hath formed it in other wise. That can noman pleinli devise; Bot as the clerkes ous enforme, That lich to god it hath a forme, Thurgh which figure and which liknesse The Soule hath many an hyh noblesse Appropred to his oghne kinde. Bot ofte hir wittes be mad blinde 500 Al onliche of this ilke point, That hir abydinge is conjoint Forth with the bodi forto duelle: That on desireth toward helle, That other upward to the hevene; So schul thei nevere stonde in evene, Bot if the fleissh be overcome And that the Soule have holi nome The governance, and that is selde, Whil that the fleissh him mai bewelde. 510 Al erthli thing which god began Was only mad to serve man; Bot he the Soule al only made Himselven forto serve and glade. Alle othre bestes that men finde Thei serve unto here oghne kinde, Bot to reson the Soule serveth; Wherof the man his thonk deserveth And get him with hise werkes goode The perdurable lyves foode. 520

Of what matiere it schal be told, A tale lyketh manyfold The betre, if it be spoke plein: Thus thinke I forto torne ayein And telle plenerly therfore Of therthe, wherof nou tofore I spak, and of the water eke, So as these olde clerkes spieke, And sette proprely the bounde After the forme of Mappemounde, 530 Thurgh which the ground be pourparties Departed is in thre parties, That is Asie, Aufrique, Europe, The whiche under the hevene cope, Als ferr as streccheth eny ground, Begripeth al this Erthe round. Bot after that the hihe wrieche The water weies let out seche And overgo the helles hye, Which every kinde made dye 540 That upon Middelerthe stod, Outake Noë and his blod, His Sones and his doughtres thre, Thei were sauf and so was he;— Here names who that rede rihte, Sem, Cam, Japhet the brethren hihte;— And whanne thilke almyhty hond Withdrouh the water fro the lond, And al the rage was aweie, And Erthe was the mannes weie, 550 The Sones thre, of whiche I tolde, Riht after that hemselve wolde, This world departe thei begonne.

Asie, which lay to the Sonne Upon the Marche of orient, Was graunted be comun assent To Sem, which was the Sone eldeste; For that partie was the beste And double as moche as othre tuo. And was that time bounded so; 560 Wher as the flod which men Nil calleth Departeth fro his cours and falleth Into the See Alexandrine, Ther takth Asie ferst seisine Toward the West, and over this Of Canahim wher the flod is Into the grete See rennende, Fro that into the worldes ende Estward, Asie it is algates, Til that men come unto the gates 570 Of Paradis, and there ho. And schortly for to speke it so, Of Orient in general Withinne his bounde Asie hath al.

And thanne upon that other syde Westward, as it fell thilke tyde, The brother which was hote Cham Upon his part Aufrique nam. Japhet Europe tho tok he, Thus parten thei the world on thre. 580 Bot yit ther ben of londes fele In occident as for the chele, In orient as for the hete, Which of the poeple be forlete As lond desert that is unable, For it mai noght ben habitable.

The water eke hath sondri bounde, After the lond wher it is founde, And takth his name of thilke londes Wher that it renneth on the strondes: 590 Bot thilke See which hath no wane Is cleped the gret Occeane, Out of the which arise and come The hyhe flodes alle and some; Is non so litel welle spring, Which ther ne takth his beginnyng, And lich a man that haleth breth Be weie of kinde, so it geth Out of the See and in ayein, The water, as the bokes sein. 600

Of Elementz the propretes Hou that they stonden be degres, As I have told, nou myht thou hiere, Mi goode Sone, al the matiere Of Erthe, of water, Air and fyr. And for thou saist that thi desir Is forto witen overmore The forme of Aristotles lore, He seith in his entendement, That yit ther is an Element 610 Above the foure, and is the fifte, Set of the hihe goddes yifte, The which that Orbis cleped is. And therupon he telleth this, That as the schelle hol and sound Encloseth al aboute round What thing withinne an Ey belongeth, Riht so this Orbis underfongeth These elementz alle everychon, Which I have spoke of on and on. 620

Bot overthis nou tak good hiede, Mi Sone, for I wol procede To speke upon Mathematique, Which grounded is on Theorique. The science of Astronomie I thinke forto specefie, Withoute which, to telle plein, Alle othre science is in vein Toward the scole of erthli thinges: For as an Egle with his winges 630 Fleth above alle that men finde, So doth this science in his kinde.

Benethe upon this Erthe hiere Of alle thinges the matiere, As tellen ous thei that ben lerned, Of thing above it stant governed, That is to sein of the Planetes. The cheles bothe and ek the hetes, The chances of the world also, That we fortune clepen so, 640 Among the mennes nacion Al is thurgh constellacion, Wherof that som man hath the wele, And som man hath deseses fele In love als wel as othre thinges; The stat of realmes and of kinges In time of pes, in time of werre It is conceived of the Sterre: And thus seith the naturien Which is an Astronomien. 650 Bot the divin seith otherwise, That if men weren goode and wise And plesant unto the godhede, Thei scholden noght the sterres drede; For o man, if him wel befalle, Is more worth than ben thei alle Towardes him that weldeth al. Bot yit the lawe original, Which he hath set in the natures, Mot worchen in the creatures, 660 That therof mai be non obstacle, Bot if it stonde upon miracle Thurgh preiere of som holy man. And forthi, so as I began To speke upon Astronomie, As it is write in the clergie, To telle hou the planetes fare, Som part I thenke to declare, Mi Sone, unto thin Audience.

Astronomie is the science 670 Of wisdom and of hih connynge, Which makth a man have knowlechinge Of Sterres in the firmament, Figure, cercle and moevement Of ech of hem in sondri place, And what betwen hem is of space, Hou so thei moeve or stonde faste, Al this it telleth to the laste.

Assembled with Astronomie Is ek that ilke Astrologie 680 The which in juggementz acompteth Theffect, what every sterre amonteth, And hou thei causen many a wonder To tho climatz that stonde hem under.

And forto telle it more plein, These olde philosphres sein That Orbis, which I spak of err, Is that which we fro therthe a ferr Beholde, and firmament it calle, In which the sterres stonden alle, 690 Among the whiche in special Planetes sefne principal Ther ben, that mannes sihte demeth, Bot thorizonte, as to ous semeth. And also ther ben signes tuelve, Whiche have her cercles be hemselve Compassed in the zodiaque, In which thei have here places take. And as thei stonden in degre, Here cercles more or lasse be, 700 Mad after the proporcion Of therthe, whos condicion Is set to be the foundement To sustiene up the firmament. And be this skile a man mai knowe, The more that thei stonden lowe, The more ben the cercles lasse; That causeth why that some passe Here due cours tofore an other. Bot nou, mi lieve dere brother, 710 As thou desirest forto wite What I finde in the bokes write, To telle of the planetes sevene, Hou that thei stonde upon the hevene And in what point that thei ben inne, Tak hiede, for I wol beginne, So as the Philosophre tauhte To Alisandre and it betauhte, Wherof that he was fulli tawht Of wisdom, which was him betawht. 720

Benethe alle othre stant the Mone, The which hath with the See to done: Of flodes hihe and ebbes lowe Upon his change it schal be knowe; And every fissh which hath a schelle Mot in his governance duelle, To wexe and wane in his degre, As be the Mone a man mai se; And al that stant upon the grounde Of his moisture it mot be founde. 730 Alle othre sterres, as men finde, Be schynende of here oghne kinde Outake only the monelyht, Which is noght of himselve bright, Bot as he takth it of the Sonne. And yit he hath noght al fulwonne His lyht, that he nys somdiel derk; Bot what the lette is of that werk In Almageste it telleth this: The Mones cercle so lowe is, 740 Wherof the Sonne out of his stage Ne seth him noght with full visage, For he is with the ground beschaded, So that the Mone is somdiel faded And may noght fully schyne cler. Bot what man under his pouer Is bore, he schal his places change And seche manye londes strange: And as of this condicion The Mones disposicion 750 Upon the lond of Alemaigne Is set, and ek upon Bretaigne, Which nou is cleped Engelond; For thei travaile in every lond.

Of the Planetes the secounde Above the Mone hath take his bounde, Mercurie, and his nature is this, That under him who that bore is, In boke he schal be studious And in wrytinge curious, 760 And slouh and lustles to travaile In thing which elles myhte availe: He loveth ese, he loveth reste, So is he noght the worthieste; Bot yit with somdiel besinesse His herte is set upon richesse. And as in this condicion, Theffect and disposicion Of this Planete and of his chance Is most in Burgoigne and in France. 770

Next to Mercurie, as wol befalle, Stant that Planete which men calle Venus, whos constellacion Governeth al the nacion Of lovers, wher thei spiede or non, Of whiche I trowe thou be on: Bot whiderward thin happes wende, Schal this planete schewe at ende, As it hath do to many mo, To some wel, to some wo. 780 And natheles of this Planete The moste part is softe and swete; For who that therof takth his berthe, He schal desire joie and merthe, Gentil, courteis and debonaire, To speke his wordes softe and faire, Such schal he be be weie of kinde, And overal wher he may finde Plesance of love, his herte boweth With al his myht and there he woweth. 790 He is so ferforth Amourous, He not what thing is vicious Touchende love, for that lawe Ther mai no maner man withdrawe, The which venerien is bore Be weie of kinde, and therefore Venus of love the goddesse Is cleped: bot of wantounesse The climat of hir lecherie Is most commun in Lombardie. 800