# Romance of the Rose (Ellis)/Chapter 63

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LXIII
False-Seeming doth the case relate Of mendicants and their estate.
What men may beg I’ll next set forth each special case Of all the mendicantine race: And first of those poor cattle who Too dull of wit are born to do12090 Aught for a living, they may go And beg where’er they will, I trow, Until some useful craft they learn Whereby they meat and drink may earn ​Lawful mendicancy Without reproach of loselry, How mean soe’er that craft may be. Then some through sickness or old age,
Or tender years, may not engage In labour, they no touch of shame Need feel if alms or doles they claim.12100 And then again some men we see, Who in their time too jollily Have lived, and now beside the way Must seek poor pittance day by day; Such men are suffered graciously To beg lest they of hunger die. Or if a man should go about To search some craft or science out, But all his industry and skill The work eludes, do what he will,12110 And no man doth employment give Whereby he earns the means to live, Then by mendicity may he Contend with dire necessity. Or some poor peasant carle, who drives The plough, and bowed by labour strives, His brow bedewed with sweat, to gain Sufficiency, but all in vain, Should not be blamed although he went Begging around to supplement12120 His scanty wage. Or those who spend Their lives and fortunes to defend The faith by force of arms, in heat Or cold, or in the justice seat, And then in old age find them poor, ’Tis well they be allowed to cure ​Their misery dire by alms, till they By handicraft their needs may stay. But doing so they must not shirk Hard labour, and seek ghostly work;12130 But I, by this, no figure mean, But true hand work. William St. Amour And thus I ween In these examples that I give, With reason, men may beg to live, But in rare other case, I wot, If good Saint-Amour lieth not, Who of the matter held dispute With men, deep read, of wit acute, At Paris, most profound divines; God starve me of good meats and wines12140 Unless his book in accord be With Paris University; Yea, and with all the world beside, Which hailed his preaching far and wide, And ne’er shall any who refuse His doctrine find with God excuse. Let those who scoff at him scoff still, And grumblers grumble as they will, For my part, I shall ever hold His name in honour, and with bold12150 Stout words support him, though thereby I lose my life, or cruelly Be cast in gaol like holy Paul, Or else be banished far from all My friends like William Saint-Amour, Who was, not many years before I write, by Dame Hypocrisy, My dam, exiled, all envious she. ​My mother drove him forth, forsooth, Most foully, for that he the truth12160 Upheld, and showed, all bald and bare, Hypocrisy, with subtle care Within his latest book, and said, ’Twere well that I no longer sped My life by begging, but should set My hands to labour, would I get My livelihood. Labour hateful to some He surely had Deemed me for either drunk or mad, For labour pleases me no whit, Nor have I any need for it. I find a more congenial way Of life, to patter beads and pray, And all my ribaldry to hide Beneath my mother’s mantle wide.
The God of Love.
Thou devil! dar’st thou then display Thy vileness thus in light of day?
False-Seeming.
What mean you ?
Love.
Scoundrel, hast thou got No fear of God?
False-Seeming.
Most surely not. No man to greatness can attain In these days if he count not vain12180 ​God’s holy fear. Miscreants thrive If men eschew All evil and uprightly do, Nought will they win of worldly good,
But must eftsoons for livelihood Beg alms of others and drink deep Of sorrow their poor lives to keep:
Such lot do I in horror hold. But see what goodly heaps of gold, Have usurers in their treasuries And other folk akin to these;12190 Base-coining knaves, and limitours, Provosts, catchpoles, and gold-chained mayors, Who fat on fraud and rapine grow, While the poor people bend alow Before them. They, like wolves, devour And rob all folk beneath their power;
For each and all of these in turn Despoil the poor of that they earn, And most ingeniously contrive To pluck their victims while alive.12200 The stronger rob the weaker ever, And, ’neath my simple cloak, so clever Am I, that cozeners by the dozen Who cozen others do I cozen Lightly, and robbers and robbed alike I rob, yet none know when I strike. By my chicanery I rake Together treasure none can take From out my hands, grand palaces, I build that I my fantasies12210 May please, and gather friends around
My tables, where rich meats abound. ​With jollity my heart grows warm When gold and silver thickly swarm Within my coffers, which ne’er fail; Count ye my schemes of no avail? To heap is ever my intent, And much my gain exceeds my rent. And though I beaten were or slain, Fear not I’d soon look in again.12220
Love.
You seem a saintly one!
False-Seeming.
Privileges of friars Quite true, For dowered am I with orders due: Curate to all the world am I, And all men hail me joyfully, For all their souls have I in cure, And none without my aid endure. Full oft I preach and counsel give, Yet by no handicraft I live; But from the Pope a bull I’ve got, For he, good man, suspects me not.12230 With restless diligence I press, And seek out chances to confess An emperor, baron, count, or king, But nought I love the houseling Of needy folk; not my affair Are they but on occasion rare. Nought care I for their mean distresses: But emperors and great princesses, ​Profitable penitents The wives of noble palatines, Rich abbesses and sleek beguines,12240 Fat bailies’ spouses, knight-wed dames, Spruce burgesses, whom nothing shames, And nuns and highborn damsels fair, Richly attired or mother-bare, To me it matters not one pin. Gladly I shrive their souls of sin. Then diligently I inquire Of lord and lady, maid and squire, What goods they have, what lives they lead, And, shriving them, I take good heed12250 To point out that their parish priest Is dull and doltish as a beast Compared with me and my confreres, (A jovial crew that nothing scares), To whom the secrets I reveal Of all these geese, nor aught conceal, And they likewise disclose to me Whate’er they’ve learned, right merrily. And that you may these rascals know, Who go about deceiving so12260 The people, I may duly quote The gospel holy Matthew wrote. In chapter twenty-three we read: In Moses’ chair now sit indeed (The chair is by the glossing seen The Ancient Testament to mean). Blind scribes and stiff-necked Pharisees (Cursed hypocrites our Lord called these) Who say: Do that we preach to you, But practise not the things we do.12270 ​Right ready are the knaves with speech, But slow to follow that they teach; Burdens on poor men’s backs will they With cheery heart and lightsome lay, But scorn to help them e’en so much As might they with a finger’s touch.
Love.
Why not?
False-Seeming.
Friars like to Pharisees Will lacks, and so they don’t. They know that wretched folk are wont, O’erburdened, oft to sink beneath The load, and trouble shun like death;12280 And if some worthy work they do, Be sure ’tis well within the view Of others. Their phylacteries And hems they broaden to men’s eyes, And at the tables highest seats They choose, anigh the choicest meats, While in the synagogues with pride They thrust poor humble men aside, And dearly love in open street Salutes to win from all they meet,12290 Nor are they anywise ashamed To hear themselves as ‘Master’ named. Yet these things Scripture hath forbid, And suchlike ways and customs chid.
Behold another potent plan We use against all those who ban ​Friars hang together Our order, and contemn our laws: Against them make we common cause; He whom one hates, with hate profound We all detest, together bound12300 By equal ties, and if we see The way by which successfully Our foe hopes land or rent to gain, And honourable state maintain, We strive to know the means and mode By which he travelleth the road Thereto, and straightway set about Scandals, which cause his friends to doubt His honour and good faith, and thus The steps whereby he climbs, by us12310 Are cut away, and he adrift Is cast, as best he may to shift, Alone and destitute of friends, And thus do we attain our ends, Yet nought our foe perceives by whom It is that on him falls his doom. For if he knew to whom he owed His downfall, surely would it goad Him on to his revenge and he Would turn on us ferociously.12320
If one of us have done some good We amplify its magnitude, Although, pardee, ’tis oft but feigned; Or if that one of us hath deigned To vaunt some good he ne’er hath done To this or that, as we were one With him we cry aloud that we Helped such good work right royally, ​In hope the love and confidence To gain of wealthy men. Pretence12320 We make and thereby parchments get Wherein our virtues forth are set In suchwise that the world will bless And praise our names for holiness. The direst poverty we feign, But howsoever we complain, We yet are those who, having nought, Have more, forsooth, than poor men ought.
Friars are meddlesome Then am I great at agencies, Old feuds arrange, and marriages,12340 Executorships I take on me, And further deeds of warrantry, Inquests as pursuivant I make, Whereat some honest men might quake. ’Tis pleasure, wherewith nought compares To mix in other men’s affairs. And lastly should you be concerned In things to which my hand I’ve turned, Speak forth—no sooner said than done, With your commands my will shall run.12350 But who my chastisement should try, Would find he’d done but foolishly; For little I love the man who’d show To me the path I’m bound to go, And though to others I may give Correction, none will I receive.
For forests have I little taste, Or hermit’s huts, or deserts waste, ​I leave Saint John, the Baptist hight, His couches green, and sandhills white,12360 His dwelling was too far away, In towns and burgs I liefer stay, And build fair palaces and halls And safely dwell behind strong walls. I oft declare that I renounce The world, yet would not lose an ounce Thereof; good Lord! the world to me Is, as to fish, the brimming sea.
Servant of Antichrist Servant of Antichrist am I, Of whom saith Scripture truthfully,12370 That, while of holiness he wears The cloak, within his heart he bears Iniquity. Like lambkins we Appear outside, but inwardly Are ravening wolves; we overrun The earth, and under every sun Bring strife, and fain would hold command
O’er lives of men in every land. And if within a city wall I find some wretch unnatural12380 (And ’tis reported that Milan At one time lay beneath this ban), Or one who as a usurer sits, And sells long terms and post obits,
Fulfilled of all rapacity; Or steeped in luxury one be, Or prelate living jovial life, Or priest who leman hath as wife; Provost or officer in chief, Who is but a disloyal thief,12390 ​Or some vile wretch who keeps a stew, Or procuress, to hell-fire due, Or ribald wretch, who, worn and spent With vice, but waits due chastisement: What friars love Though all the saints he should invoke. He nowise can forefend my stroke; Except by some delicious dish, Eel, salmon, pike, or other fish, Tarts, custards, delicate cream cheese (Which pleasantly our gullets grease),12400 Sweet apple, and soft melting pear, Fat goose and sucking-pig’s rich fare; Or other delicacies tasty As highly savoured roebuck pasty, Or capon fat, sweet dainty bit, To please me, round his neck I’ll fit A cord and drag him to the stake
E’en though his howls the city shake, Or in deep cell will have him cast To languish till his life be past.12410 Unless he deigns to feed us well, We’ll make his life a very hell, For if one earn our hate, his crimes He overpays a hundred times.
But if he hath the wit on high To build a castle speedily, (No matter of what sort of stone, Or if with square and compass done, Or whether it be of turf or wood, So that the walls are stout and good),12420 And plentifully garnish it With wares that jolly life befit, ​Doles and bribery And on the battlement contrive An engine formed to cast and drive As well behind, as eke before, Such precious stones from out his store As thou heard at full related, And pleasantly enumerated, Good wines in barrels, casks and tuns, And heavy bags, not scanty ones,12430 Stuffed well with bezants, crowns, and marks, Then nought he need to heed our barks Or fear our bites. But doth he not Possess such stores ’twere well I wot Their worth he gave us, nor with lies, Excuses vain, or fallacies. Attempt our cozening, or we’ll bring Against him such a grievous string Of crimes that if not burned alive, He will but wretchedly survive,12440 Beneath a penance of a kind That heavier tax than doles he’ll find.
It is not by external show Of weed you may these traitors know, But whoso from their toils would be Preserved, must mark their jugglery; For Christ’s most holy faith were marred But for the careful watch and ward Of Paris University, E’en as I now relate to ye.12450 Twelve hundred years and fifty-five Had fled since Christ stood forth alive On earth for men, when first was seen (None will naysay my words, I ween) ​The new gospel The prime exemplar of a book So vile that by the devil’s crook It well were written, and about ’Twas set for clerks to copy out
And circulate when duly dight; The everlasting Gospel hight12460 This trash and friars avouched its merit, As writ by God’s most Holy Spirit. Right worthy was it to be burned, But many a crown the scholars earned Before the Church of Notre Dame, For men and women oiled the palm, Of those who set themselves to write Out fair, that vile misleading light. Therein one finds all clearly done This blasphemous comparison:12470 “E’en as before the sun doth fail The moon, and show but faint and pale, And as she nowise can compete With him in brilliancy or heat, And as a kernel to its shell (Nay do not smile at what I tell, For this have I seen writ, I swear) So doth this wondrous book compare With Christ’s Four Gospels, and surpass Their value utterly.”—Alas!12480 I wish me dead, if even than these You find not bolder similes.
The University till then Had been asleep, but roused it when This blasphemy assailed its ears, Wakened at once by wrath and fears. ​Straightway, its arms and armour dight, It sallied forth with will to fight This hydra, and deliver o’er The book to judgment; but before12490 It could with the dread monster close, The knaves, from out whose brain it rose, Secured and hid it suddenly, For well they knew that ne’er could be Sustained, the lies and follies writ Therein. What since became of it None know, for those of whom ’twas born Have hid it until time be worn, Hoping perchance, some future day, Its blasphemies to gloze away.12500
Antichrist looked for And now we Antichrist abide, With will to range us on his side Whene’er he comes, who do not so Small chance of life will have I trow. For soon shall we an army raise Against them, by our devious ways, And none who in their folly strive To curb us shall be left alive, Whether they by the sword are slain, Or meet their death through worser pain.12510 And whither deem ye then must lead These words which in this book we read?
“The while that Peter towers on high It needs that John alow must lie.” But this perceive ye is the husk, Within, the sense lies, all a-dusk, And thence will I the marrow draw To show these men’s unholy law. ​Peter and John Peter, our holy Father is, The Pope, and secular clerks, ywis,12520 Defenders of the law of Christ. And John, the Friars, and those enticed Within their toils, who boldly say, The ‘Eternal Gospel’ is the way By which men may ascend to heaven, And by the Holy Ghost ’tis given. The power of John these recreants teach To be the gospel that they preach To call back sinners gone astray From out the path of God’s highway.12530 And many a wicked devilry Straightly commanded may one see Within this book of froth and foam, Against the holy law of Rome; For Antichrist doth dwell within The covers of this book of sin. Men are exhorted there to slay All those who Peter’s rule obey; But howsoever they assail His law, hell gates shall not prevail12540 Against it, but it still shall stand, A beacon unto every land, And those who hold it fast shall be God’s people everlastingly; While their law, miscalled John’s, shall fall Deserted and accurst of all. But of this matter will I stay My words—too much there is to say. But if that book had taken root, Most marvellously well ’twould suit12550 ​My practice, for in any case With hosts of people find I grace.
The father of lies My father, who as emperor Rules all the world, is barrator And prince of lies; the empress is My mother; and through them, ywis, Whate’er the Holy Ghost may do, Our lineage all the earth doth strew. And that is only as should be, For ever at our will do we12560 So throughly cozen men that none Perceive the way our tricks are done, Or, e’en perceiving, dare not speak, Lest we on them our vengeance wreak. But those men God comes not anear Who hold my brethren in more fear Than Him; the Faith’s weak champions they Who dare not such vile crimes naysay, But, coward-like, the risks refuse, When they foul treason might accuse.12570 God will not list their cry for grace, But from them turn one day His face, And lay on them sharp chastisement. But nothing fear we to be shent, Since we of men are so esteemed, And of such worth and honour deemed, That howsoe’er censorious We be, no man dare censure us. To whom but us should people pay Honour, who never cease to pray12580 In sight of men conspicuously, Whate’er our secret practice be? ​But is this greater foolishness, Esteem you, than that men should bless High chivalry, and call those great Who don fair weed and keep grand state? But if it prove that well agreed Is noble life with lordly weed, Should it not greatly be deplored That bodies fair, with virtue stored,12590 Belong not to the hypocrites? A curse such fools right well befits! Beloved of us, as light of bats! Beguins described But Beguins crowned with flapping hats, O’er longdrawn bloodless faces blank, And gowns unwashed to wrap their lank Lean figures (to which vermin are No strangers, for in truth from far They’re odorous), while foul crumpled hose Surmount their ugly sandalled shoes,12600 Which much resemble traps for quails; Through such as these no wise prince fails To govern, whether in war or peace, Himself and land, and good increase Of honour thence shall surely grow To him and his. Right well I know That neath such show they hide foul sin, But none the less men’s reverence win. Therefore with them I cast my lot To lie, trick, swindle and what not.12610 Yet were it neither just nor wise A wretched garment to despise, Unless it be a cloak for pride. Nor should our love be turned aside ​False-Seeming concludes From one whose dress is spoiled by flaws. But God esteemeth not two straws The word of one who saith that he Hath left the world, yet luxury Doth wallow in. The hypocrite Who cries that he the world hath quit,12620 And yet indulgeth all he can The flesh, like any world-wise man. Nor aught of pleasure doth refuse; Should we his cant and lies excuse? Resembleth he the dog who fain Unto his vomit turns again. But unto you I dare not lie; Though had I not unerringly Perceived that you saw clearly through
My falsity, I straight should you12630 Have plied with cozenage, for I ne’er, Seeing a chance, a victim spare. I know my role, and this I tell, A traitor am I, guard you well.
The Author.
The God bestowed on this strange tale A smile, nor did the barons fail To laugh, and cried: A subtle youth,
And one in whom to trust, forsooth!
The God of Love.
False-Seeming, then said Love, I pray, Since thou so great apart shalt play12640 Within my court, for there shalt thou Be king of ribalds, tell me now,
False-Seeming.
Yea, by the gods I swear to you, That ne’er your ancestors nor sire Had slave whose love was more entire.
Love.
Nay! That thy nature would deny.
False-Seeming.
E’en take your chance thereof and try; And if some caution you demand. No surer were you though your hand12650 Held warrant, written oath, or pledge. With confidence I dare allege That though a wolf you beat within An inch of life, he still his skin Retains, and therefrom issueth not. And ’tis the same with me I wot: Though ’neath a simple vestment I Am hid, I practise treachery. Suppose you I for virtue care Because the outward guise looks fair12660 Neath which I do the devil’s work? No crime, by God, I blink or shirk; And if I coy and simple seem. Have I then changed my life d’ye deem ? Nay, thereto make I no pretence. False-Seemings’s leman My dear, Constrained-Abstinence, Hath need of all my carefulness; She had been long since dead, I guess. Had I not been at hand to stay Her weary steps on life’s hard way;12670
Love.
So be it, thy desire fulfil.
The Author.
And so the rascal held his place. He had a very traitor’s face, Without, pure white, within, black hell: Before Love on his knees he fell And worshipped him with plenteous thanks. Cried Love then, looking round his ranks: Forward at once! let every man Arm him forthwith as best he can.12680
The host makes ready Then made him ready for the fight Each one, with arms and armour dight. And forth they sallied one and all, Loud shouting, towards the castle wall, Right manfully resolved that they Would dearly sell their lives that day, Or from the battlements would cry In token of glad victory. Then in four battles they divide, Of which each marcheth towards the side12690 To it assigned, and thus the gates Assail they, though before each waits A stalwart guard prepared to fight Nor yield to aught save death’s dark night; Not weakly, sick, or slothful they, But strong, and eager for the fray.