To My Empty Purse

Geoffrey Chaucer 1343 (London) – 1400 (London)



To you, my purse, and to none other wight,
Complain I, for ye be my lady dere;
I am sorry now that ye be light,
For, certes, ye now make me heavy chere;
Me were as lefe be laid upon a bere,
For which unto your mercy thus I crie,
Be heavy againe, or els mote I die.
  
Now vouchsafe this day or it be night,
That I of you the blissful sowne may here,
Or see your color like the sunne bright,
That of yellowness had never pere;
Ye are my life, ye be my hertes stere,
Queen of comfort and of good companie,
Be heavy againe, or els mote I die.
  
Now purse, thou art to me my lives light,
And saviour, as downe in this world here,
Out of this towne helpe me by your might,
Sith that you will not be my treasure,
For I am slave as nere as any frere,
But I pray unto your curtesie,
Be heavy againe, or els mote I die.
  
Geoffrey Chaucer.
  
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on April 24, 2023

52 sec read
44

Quick analysis:

Scheme ababbbC ababbxC ababbxC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 813
Words 175
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. more…

All Geoffrey Chaucer poems | Geoffrey Chaucer Books

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    "To My Empty Purse" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55328/to-my-empty-purse>.

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