Analysis of The Vision Of Piers Plowman - Part 17



'I am Spes, a spie,' quod he, 'and spire after a knyght
That took me a maundement upon the mount of Synay
To rule alle reames therewith - l bere the writ here.'
'Is it asseled?' I seide. 'May men see thi lettres?'
'Nay.' he seide. 'I seke hym that hath the seel to kepe -
And that is cros and Cristendom, and Crist theron to honge.
And whan it is asseled so, I woot wel the sothe -
That Luciferis lordshipe laste shal no lenger!'
' Lat se thi lettres,' quod I, 'we myghte the lawe knowe.'
He plukkede forth a patente, a pece of an hard roche,
Whereon was writen two wordes on this wise yglosed;

Dilige Deum et proximum tuum -
This was the tixte trewely - I took ful good yeme.
The glose was gloriously writen with a gilt penne
In hiis duobus mandatis tota lex penhet et prophete.
' Is here alle thi lordes lawes?' quod I. ' Ye, leve me,' he seide.
'And whoso wet cheth after this writ, I wol undertaken,
Shal nevere devel hym dere, ne deeth in soule greve.
For though I seye it myself, I have saved with this charme
Of men and of wommen many score thousand.'
' He seith sooth,' seide this heraud, ' I have yfounde it ofte.
Lo! here in my lappe that leeved on that charme -
Josue and Judith and Judas Macabeus,
Ye, and sixti thousand biside forth that ben noght seyen here!'
' Youre wordes arn wonderfulle,' quod I tho. ' Which of yow is trewest,
And lelest to leve on for lif and for soule?
Abraham seith that he seigh hoolly the Trinite,
Thre persones in parcelles departable fro oother,
And alle thre but o God - thus Abraham me taughte -
And hath saved that bileved so and sory for hir synnes,
He kan noght siggen the somme, and some arn in his lappe.
What neded it thanne a newe lawe to brynge,
Sith the firste suffiseth to savacion and to blisse?
And now cometh Spes and speketh, that hath aspied the lawe,
And telleth noght of the Trinite that took hym hise lettres -
To bileeve and lovye in o Lord almyghty,
And siththe right as myself so lovye alle peple.
'The gorne thit gooth with o staf - he semeth in gretter heele
Than he that gooth with two staves, to sighte of us alle.
And right so, bi the roode, reson me sheweth
It is lighter to lewed men o lesson to knowe
Than for to techen hem two, and to hard to lerne the leeste!
It is ful hard for any man on Abraham bileve,

And wel awey worse yit for to love a sherewe.
In pace in is lighter to leeve in thre lovely persones
Than for to lovye and lene as wel lorels as lele.
Go thi gate, 'quod I to Spes; 'so me God helpe,
Tho that lernen thi lawe wol litel while usen it!'
And as we wenten thus in the wey, wordynge togideres,
Thanne seighe we a Samaritan sittynge on a mule,
Ridynge ful rapely the righte wey we yeden,
Comynge from a contree that men called Jerico -
To a justes in Jerusalem he [j]aced awey faste.
Bothe the heraud and Hope and he mette atones
Where a man was, wounded, and with theves taken.
He myghte neither steppe ne stande, ne stere foot ne handes,
Ne helpe hymself soothly, for semyvif he semed,
And as naked as a nedle, and noon help abouten.
Feith hadde first sighte of hym, ac he fleigh aside,
And nolde noght neghen hym by nyne londes lengthe.
Hope cam hippynge after, that hadde so ybosted
How he with Moyses maundement hadde many men yholpe;
Ac whan he hadde sighte of that segge, aside he gan hym drawe
Dredfully, bi this day, as doke dooth fram the faucon!
Ac so soone so the Samaritan hadde sighte of this leode,
He lighte adown of lyard and ladde hym in his handes,
And to the wye he wente hise woundes to biholde,
And parceyved by his pous he was in peril to dye,
And but he hadde recoverer the rather, that rise sholde he nevere;
And breide to hise boteles, and bothe he atamede.
With wyn and with oille hise woundes he wasshed,
Enbawmed hym and bond his heed, and in his lappe hym leide,
And ladde hym so forth on lyard to Lex Christi, a graunge
Wel sixe mile or sevene biside the newe market;
Herberwed hym at an hostrie and to the hostiler called,

And [quod], ' Have, kepe this man, til I come fro the justes,
And lo here silver,' he seide, 'for salve to hise woundes.'
And he took hym two pens to liflode as it weere,
And seide, 'What he [moore spendeth] I make thee good herafter,
For I may noght lette,' quod that leode - and lyard he bistrideth,
And raped hym to Jerusalemward the righte wey to ryde.
Feith folwede after faste, and fondede to mete hym,
And Spes spakliche hym spedde, spede if he myghte
To overtaken hym and talke to hym er thei to towne coome.
And whan I seigh


Scheme ABCDEFGXHXA IIBAABJIAAIDCAKACADEFDHDAKKKGHAJ HDKEADXBXADBDABAGAEHBADAXCAAAFAA DDCCGAIAIJ
Poetic Form
Metre 1110111011001 11101010111 1111111011 1111111111 111111110111 011101011011 01111111101 11111110 11111111011 11101011111 111111111 11111 1101111111 011100011011 0111101111 1111111111111 0111101111100 1111111011 111111111111 1101110110 11111111111 1101111111 10100101 101101111111 111111111111 0111111011 101111101 1101111 01111111011 01111101111 111101011011 111101111 101111011 011010111101 01110111111 11010111 011111111 011111111011 111111111111 011101111 111011111011 1111110111101 111111011101 0111111101 0101101101101 11110111111 11111111111 1111111111 0111100111 111001001101 11101111 11011111 101001001111 101010111 10111001110 111011111111 11111111 01101010111 111111111101 011111111 111101111 1111111011 111111111011111 1111111101 111110010011111 11111011011 0101111111 011111101011 0111101011111 011110111 110111111 110111001111 0111111111001 1111110110 1111101011 011111111101 011101111111 01111111111 01111111111 111111110111 0111101111 1110101111 011111111 11001011101111 0111
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 4,478
Words 889
Sentences 39
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 11, 32, 32, 10
Lines Amount 85
Letters per line (avg) 40
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 859
Words per stanza (avg) 218
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

4:19 min read
83

William Langland

William Langland is the conjectured author of the 14th-century English dream-vision Piers Plowman. more…

All William Langland poems | William Langland Books

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    The repetition of vowel sounds is an example of _______.
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