2.'Sire, shall I bid the noble,
That banquets in his state,
With purple and fine linen,
With gold and silver plate?'
'Nay, bid me not the noble,
For he hath got enow;
But bring me in the country man,
That liveth by the plow.'
3.Sire, shall I bid in Divès,
For iti s very plain,
If ye give him a banquet,
He'll banquet you again?'
'Nay, bid not hither Divès,
For it shall ne'er be thus,
But go among the alley-lanes,
And fetch in Lazarus.'
4.'Sire, shall I bid the merchant,
That hath upon the seas
His fleets of caravellas,
And right great argosies?'
'Nay, bid me not the merchant,
But go and fetch the clerk,
That with the bandog goes to rest,
And riseth with the lark.'
5.'And wherefore must I turn me
From noble and from rich?
And wherefore seek the poor man,
That dwells in lane and ditch?'
'Man, lay to heart the reason,
Because the King of all,
Though rich, grew poor, for mortal sake,
And born was in a stall.
