Their learning is so small,
Their primes and hours[1] fall
And leap out of their lips
Like saw-dust or dry chips.
I speak not now of all,
But the most part in general,
Of such vagabundus
Speaketh totus mundus;
How some sing lætabundus
At every ale stake,
With welcome hake[2] and make![3]
I speak not of the good wife,
But of their apostle's life,
Cum ipsis vel illis
Qui manent in villis
Est uxor vel ancilla,
Welcome Jack and Gilla!
My pretty Petronilla,
And you will be stilla
You shall have your willa
Of such Paternoster pekes,[4]
All the world speaks."
The chief satires of our poet are "The Bowge of Courte," "Colyn Cloute," and "Why come ye not to Court?" The first is an allegorical poem in which a variety of characters are introduced, touched with great powers of discrimination. The second is a denunciation of the corruptions of the Church: and the fearless way in which he assailed the most glaring abuses of the time, shows a strength of mind and a courage rare in that age of universal obsequiousness to the powerful. "Why come ye not to Court?" is a personal satire on Wolsey. The attack is unsparing, and in places scurrilous, though in commenting upon the extravagant pomp and the insolent demeanour of the grasping Cardinal, even satire itself could but speak the simple truth.
His "Philip Sparrow" is a fanciful piece occasioned by
