The god of love, a![3] benedicite!
How mighty and how greet a lord is he![4]
For he can make of lowe hertes hye,
And of hye lowe, and lyke for to dye,[5]
And harde hertes he can maken free. 5
And he[6] can make, within a litel stounde
Of seke folk ful[7] hole, fresshe and sounde,
And of [the] hole[8], he can make seke;
And he can binden and unbinden eke[9]
What[10] he wol have bounden or unbounde. 10
To telle his might my wit may not suffyse;[11]
For he may do al that he wol[12] devyse.
For he can make of wyse folk[13] ful nyce,[14]
And [eke] in lyther folk distroyen vyce;[15]
And proude hertes he can make agryse. 15
How mighty and how greet a lord is he![4]
For he can make of lowe hertes hye,
And of hye lowe, and lyke for to dye,[5]
And harde hertes he can maken free. 5
And he[6] can make, within a litel stounde
Of seke folk ful[7] hole, fresshe and sounde,
And of [the] hole[8], he can make seke;
And he can binden and unbinden eke[9]
What[10] he wol have bounden or unbounde. 10
To telle his might my wit may not suffyse;[11]
For he may do al that he wol[12] devyse.
For he can make of wyse folk[13] ful nyce,[14]
And [eke] in lyther folk distroyen vyce;[15]
And proude hertes he can make agryse. 15
- ↑ From Th. (Thynne, ed. 1532); collated with F. (Fairfax 16); B. (Bodley 638); S. (Arch. Selden, B. 24); T. (Tanner 346); also in Ff. (Camb. Univ. Ff. 1. 6).
- ↑ Th. Of the C. and the N.; F. B. The boke of Cupide, god of loue.
- ↑ Th. ah; F. a; S. a. a.
- ↑ Th. Howe; gret; lorde.
- ↑ Th. of his; Ff. S. of hye; F. B. high hertis.
- ↑ F. B. S. Ff. And he; Th. om. And.
- ↑ Th. folke; om. ful.
- ↑ I supply the. S. hole folke.
- ↑ S. And he; rest om. And. Th. F. B. bynde; read binden.
- ↑ Th. T. That; F. B. Ff. What; S. Quhom.
- ↑ Th. tel; wytte.
- ↑ Th. Ff. wol; rest can.
- ↑ Th. folke.
- ↑ 12, 13. Th. T. transpose these lines.
- ↑ I supply eke. Th. T. om. in (S. has in-to). F. lyther; S. lidder; Th. Ff. lythy; T. leþi. Th. folke. Th. T. to distroyen; rest om. to.
