And if perchance it comes about
That thou receivest cuff and clout
To recompense thy deeds accurst,
I doubt they scarce will be the first.
False-Seeming.
Great lord, if ’twere your pleasure I
Should shortly be condemned to die,11490
I’d calmly lay my head upon
The block and cry: ’Tis rightly done.
The Author.
False-Seeming then delayed no more,
But, standing forth, thus spake before
The great assembly:
False-Seeming.
False-Seeming’s confession
All and each
Of ye, O barons, list my speech:
Whoso False-Seeming would behold,
Must seek him in the cloistered fold
As much as in the open street,
And trow I ye will scarcely meet11500
With me elsewhere, but far above
The world the convent hath my love.
In short, I much prefer to be
Where I may work most secretly;
And ’neath a simple vesture find
That I most readily may blind
Men’s eyes, more secret is the way
Of holy cloister folk than lay.
