Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400. The Canterbury tales :
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The Prioress' Tale
488: Ther was in asye, in a greet citee,
489: Amonges cristene folk, a jewerye,
490: Sustened by a lord of that contree
491: For foule usure and lucre of vileynye,
492: Hateful to crist and to his compaignye;
493: And thurgh the strete men myghte ride or wende,
494: For it was free and open at eyther ende.
495: A litel scole of cristen folk ther stood
496: Doun at the ferther ende, in which ther were
497: Children an heep, ycomen of cristen blood,
498: That lerned in that scole yeer by yere
499: Swich manere doctrine as men used there,
500: This is to seyn, to syngen and to rede,
501: As smale children doon in hire childhede.
502: Among thise children was a wydwes sone,
503: A litel clergeon, seven yeer of age,
504: That day by day to scole was his wone,
505: And eek also, where as he saugh th' ymage
506: Of cristes mooder, hadde he in usage,
507: As hym was taught, to knele adoun and seye
508: His ave marie, as he goth by the weye.
509: Thus hath this wydwe hir litel sone ytaught
510: Oure blisful lady, cristes mooder deere,
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511: To worshipe ay, and he forgat it naught,
512: For sely child wol alday soone leere.
513: But ay, whan I remembre on this mateere,
514: Seint nicholas stant evere in my presence,
515: For he so yong to crist dide reverence.
516: This litel child, his litel book lernynge,
517: As he sat in the scole at his prymer,
518: He alma redemptoris herde synge,
519: As children lerned hire antiphoner;
520: And as he dorste, he drough hym ner and ner,
521: And herkned ay the wordes and the noote,
522: Til he the firste vers koude al by rote.
523: Noght wiste he what this latyn was to seye,
524: For he so yong and tendre was of age.
525: But on a day his felawe gan he preye
526: T' expounden hym this song in his langage,
527: Or telle hym why this song was in usage;
528: This preyde he hym to construe and declare
529: Ful often tyme upon his knowes bare.
530: His felawe, which that elder was than he,
531: Answerde hym thus: this song, I have herd seye,
532: Was maked of our blisful lady free,
533: Hire to salue, and eek hire for to preye
534: Fo been oure help and socour whan we deye.
535: I kan namoore expounde in this mateere;
536: I lerne song, I kan but smal grammeere.
537: And is this song maked in reverence
538: Of cristes mooder? seyde this innocent.
539: Now, certes, I wol do my diligence
540: To konne it al er cristemasse be went.
541: Though that I for my prymer shal be shent,
542: And shall be beten thries in an houre,
543: I wol it konne oure lady for to honoure!
544: His felawe taughte hym homward prively,
545: For day to day, til he koude it by rote,
546: And thanne he song it wel and boldely,
547: Fro word to word, acordynge with the note.
548: Twies a day it passed thurgh his throte,
549: To scoleward and homward whan he wente;
550: On cristes mooder set was his entente.
551: As I have seyd, thurghout the juerie,
552: This litel child, as he cam to and fro,
553: Ful murily than wolde he synge and crie
554: O alma redemptoris everemo.
555: The swetnesse hath his herte perced so
556: Of cristes mooder that, to hire to preye,
557: He kan nat stynte of syngyng by the weye.
558: Oure firste foo, the serpent sathanas,
559: That hath in jues herte his waspes nest,
560: Up swal, and seide, o hebrayk peple, allas!
561: Is this to yow a thyng that is honest,
562: That swich a boy shal walken as hym lest
563: In youre despit, and synge of swich sentence,
564: Which is agayn youre lawes reverence?
565: Fro thennes forth the jues han conspired
566: This innocent out of this world to chace.
567: And homycide therto han they hyred,
568: That in an aleye hadde a privee place;
569: And as the child gan forby for to pace,
570: This cursed jew hym hente, and heeld hym faste,
571: And kitte his throute, and in a pit hym caste.
572: I seye that in a wardrobe they hym threwe
573: Where as thise jewes purgen hire entraille.
574: O cursed folk of herodes al newe,
575: What may youre yvel entente yow availle?
576: Mordre wol out, certeyn, it wol nat faille,
577: And namely ther th' onour of God shal sprede;
578: The blood out crieth on youre cursed dede.
579: O martir, sowded to virginitee,
580: Now maystow syngen, folwynge evere in oon
581: The white lamb celestial -- quod she --
582: Of which the grete evaungelist, seint john,
583: In pathmos wroot, which seith that they that goon
584: Biforn this lamb, and synge a song al newe,
585: That nevere, flesshly, wommen they ne knewe.
586: This poure wydwe awaiteth al that nyght
587: After hir litel child, but he cam noght;
588: For which, as soone as it was dayes lyght,
589: With face pale of drede and bisy thoght,
590: She hath at scole and elleswhere hym soght,
591: Til finally she gan so fer espie
592: That he last seyn was in the juerie.
593: With moodres pitee in hir brest enclosed,
594: She gooth, as she were half out of hir mynde,
595: To every place where she hath supposed
596: By liklihede hir litel child to fynde;
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597: And evere on cristes mooder meeke and kynde
598: She cride, and atte laste thus she wroghte:
599: Among the cursed jues she hym soghte.
600: She frayneth and she preyeth pitously
601: To every jew that dwelte in thilke place,
602: To telle hire if hir child wente oght forby.
603: They seyde nay; but jhesu, of his grace,
604: Yaf in hir thoght, inwith a litel space,
605: That in that place after hir sone she cryde,
606: Where he was casten in a pit bisyde.
607: O grete god, that parfournest thy laude
608: By mouth of innocentz, lo, heere thy myght!
609: This gemme of chastite, this emeraude,
610: And eek of martirdom the ruby bright,
611: Ther he with throte ykorven lay upright,
612: He alma redemptoris gan to synge
613: So loude that al the place gan to rynge.
614: The cristene folk that thurgh the strete wente
615: In coomen for to wondre upon this thyng,
616: And hastily they for the provost sente;
617: He cam anon withouten tariyng,
618: And herieth crist that is of hevene kyng,
619: And eek his mooder, honour of mankynde,
620: And after that the jewes leet he bynde.
621: This child with pitous lamentacioun
622: Up taken was, syngynge his song alway,
623: And with honour of greet processioun
624: They carien hym unto the nexte abbay.
625: His mooder swownynge by the beere lay;
626: Unnethe myghte the peple that was theere
627: This newe rachel brynge fro his beere.
628: With torment and with shameful deeth echon
629: This provost dooth thise jewes for to sterve
630: That of this mordre wiste, and that anon.
631: He nolde no swich cursednesse observe.
632: Yvele shal have that yvele wol deserve;
633: Therfore with wilde hors he dide hem drawe,
634: And after that he heng hem by the lawe.
635: Upon this beere ay lith this innocent
636: Biforn the chief auter, whil masse laste;
637: And after that, the abbot with his covent
638: Han sped hem for to burien hym ful faste;
639: And whan they hooly water on hym caste,
640: Yet spak this child, whan spreynd was hooly water,
641: And song o alma redemptoris mater!
642: This abbot, which that was an hooly man,
643: As monkes been -- or elles oghte be --
644: This yonge child to conjure he bigan,
645: And seyde, o deere child, I halse thee,
646: In vertu of the hooly trinitee,
647: Tel me what is thy cause for to synge,
648: Sith that thy throte is kut to my semynge?
649: My throte is kut unto my nekke boon,
650: Seyde this child, and, as by wey of kynde,
651: I sholde have dyed, ye, longe tyme agon.
652: But jesu crist, as ye in bookes fynde,
653: Wil that his glorie laste and be in mynde,
654: And for the worship of his mooder deere
655: Yet may I synge o alma loude and cleere.
656: This welle of mercy, cristes mooder sweete,
657: I loved alwey, as after my konnynge;
658: And whan that I my lyf sholde forlete,
659: To me she cam, and bad me for to synge
660: This anthem verraily in my deyynge,
661: As ye han herd, and whan that I hadde songe,
662: Me thoughte she leyde a greyn upon my tonge.
663: Wherfore I synge, and synge moot certeyn,
664: In honour of that blisful mayden free,
665: Til fro my tonge of taken is the greyn;
666: And after that thus seyde she to me;
667: -- My litel child, now wol I fecche thee,
668: Whan that the greyn is fro thy tonge ytake.
669: Be nat agast, I wol thee nat forsake. --
670: This hooly monk, this abbot, hym meene I,
671: His tonge out caughte, and took awey the greyn,
672: And he yaf up the goost ful softely.
673: And whan this abbot hadde this wonder seyn,
674: His salte teeris trikled doun as reyn,
675: And gruf he fil al plat upon the grounde,
676: And stille he lay as he had ben ybounde.
677: The covent eek lay on the pavement
678: Wepynge, and herying cristes mooder deere,
679: And after that they ryse, and forth been went,
680: And tooken awey this martir from his beere;
681: And in a tombe of marbul stones cleere
682: Enclosen they his litel body sweete.
683: Ther he is now, God leve us for to meete!
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684: O yonge hugh of lyncoln, slayn also
685: With cursed jewes, as it is notable,
686: For it is but a litel while ago,
687: Preye eek for us, we synful folk unstable,
688: That, of his mercy, God so merciable
689: On us his grete mercy multiplie,
690: For reverence of his mooder marie. Amen