Would men but follow what the sex advise,
All things would prosper, all the world
'Twas by Rebecca's aid that Jacob won
His father's blessing from an elder son :
Abusive Nabal ow'd his forfeit life
To the wise conduct of a prudent wife :
Heroic Judith, as old Hebrews shew,
Preserv'd the Jews, and slew th' Assyrian foe:
At Esther's suit, the persecuting sword
Was sheath'd, and Israel liv'd to bless the Lord.
These weighty motives, January the sage
Maturely ponder'd in his riper age;
And charm'd with virtuous joys, and sober life,
Would try that Christian comfort, call'd a wife. 80
His friends were summon'd on a point so nice,
To pass their judgment, and to give advice;
But fix'd before, and well resolv'd was he;
(As men that ask advice are wont to be.)
Thy good to kepe, than doth thin owen wif,
For she wol claimen half past al hise lif,
And if that thou be sike, so God me save,
Thy veray frendes or a trewe knave
Wol kepe thee bet than she, that waiteth ay
After thy good, and hath don many a day.
This sentence, and an hundred thinges werse
Writeth this man ther God his bones curse.
But take no kepe of al swiche vanitee,
Defieth Theophrast, and herkeneth me.
A wif is goddes yefte veraily :
All other maner yeftes hardely,
As londes, rentes, pasture, or commune,
Or mebles, all ben yeftes of fortune,
That passen as a shadow on the wall;
But drede thou not, if plainly speke I shal,
My friends (he cry'd, and cast a mournful look Around the room, and sigh'd before he spoke), Beneath the weight of threescore years I bend, And worn with cares, am hast'ning to my end; How I have liv'd, alas! you know too well, In worldly follies, which I blush to tell; But gracious heav'n has ope'd my eyes at last, With due regret I view my vices past, And as the precept of the church decrees, Will take a wife, and live in holy ease.
But since by counsel all things should be done, 95
And many heads are wiser still than one;
Choose you for me, who best shall be content
When my desire's approv'd by your consent.
One caution yet is needful to be told,
To guide your choice; this wife must not be old:
A wif wol last and in thin hous endure,
Wel lenger than thee list peraventure.
Mariage is a ful gret sacrament;
He which that hath no wif I hold him shent;
He liveth helples, and all desolat:
(I speke of folk in secular estat)
And herkneth why, I say not this for nought,
That woman is for mannes helpe ywrought.
The highe God, whan he had Adam maked,
And saw him al alone belly naked,
God of his grete goodnesse saide then,
Let us now make an helpe unto this man
Like to himself, and than he made him Eve.
Here may ye see, and hereby may ye preve,
That a wif is mannes helpe and his comfort,
His paradis terrestre and his disport:
So buxom and so vertuous is she,
They mosten nedes live in unitee:
There goes a saying, and 'twas shrewdly said, Old fish at table, but young flesh in bed. My soul abhors the tasteless, dry embrace Of a stale virgin with a winter face: In that cold season Love but treats his guest With bean-straw and tough forage at the best. No crafty widows shall approach my bed; Those are too wise for bachelors to wed. As subtle clerks by many schools are made, Twice marry'd dames are mistresses o' th' trade. But young and tender virgins, rul'd with ease, 111 We form like wax, and mould them as we please. Conceive me, Sirs, nor take my sense amiss; 'Tis what concerns my soul's eternal bliss ; Since if I found no pleasure in my spouse, As flesh is frail, and who (God help me) knows?
O flesh they ben, and O flesh, as I gesse,
Hath but on herte in wele and in distresse.
A wif? a! Seinte Marie, benedicite,
How might a man have any adversite
That hath a wif? Certes I cannot seye.
The blisse the which that is betwix hem teweye
Ther may no tonge telle or herte thinke.
If he be poure, she helpeth him to swinke;
She keepeth his good, and wasteth never a del;
All that her husbond doth, hire liketh wel;
She saith not ones nay, whan he saith ye;
Do this, saith he; al redy, Sire, saith she.
O blisful ordre, O wedlock precious,
Thou art so merry, and eke so vertuous,
And so commended, and approved eke,
That every man that holt him worth a leke,
Upon his bare knees ought all his lif
Thanken his God, that him hath sent a wif,
VOL. II.
Then should I live in lewd adultery,
And sink downright to Satan when I die.
Or were I curs'd with an unfruitful bed,
The righteous end were lost for which I wed; 120
To raise up seed to bless the pow'rs above,
And not for pleasure only, or for love.
Think not I dote; 'tis time to take a wife,
When vigorous blood forbids a chaster life :
Those that are blest with store of grace divine, 125
May live like saints, by heav'n's consent, and mine.
And since I speak of wedlock, let me say
(As, thank my stars, in modest truth I may),
My limbs are active, still I'm sound at heart,
And a new vigour springs in ev'ry part.
Think not my virtue lost, tho' time has shed
These rev'rend honours on my hoary head:
Or elles pray to God him for to send
A wif, to last unto his lives end.
For than his lif is set in sikernesse,
He may not be deceived, as I gesse,
So that he werche after his wives rede;
Than may he boldly beren up his hede,
They ben so trewe, and therwithal so wise.
For which, if thou wilt werchen as the wise,
Do alway so, as women wol thee rede.
Lo how that Jacob, as thise clerkes rede,
By good conseil of his mother Rebekke
Bound the kiddes skin about his nekke ;
For which his fadres benison he wan.
Lo Judith, as the storie eke tell can,
By good conseil she Goddes peple kept,
And slow him Holofernes while he slept.
Lo Abigal, by good conseil how she
Saved hire husband Nabal, whan that he
Thus trees are crown'd with blossoms white as snow, The vital sap then rising from below.
Old as I am, my lusty limbs appear
Like winter greens, that flourish all the year.
Now, Sirs, you know to what I stand inclin'd,
Let ev'ry friend with freedom speak his mind.
He said; the rest in diff'rent parts divide:
The knotty point was urg'd on either side:
Marriage, the theme on which they all declaim'd,
Some prais'd with wit, and some with reason blam'd.
Till, what with proofs, objections, and replies,
Each wondrous positive, and wondrous wise,
There fell between his brothers a debate,
Placebo this was call'd, and Justin that.
First to the Knight Placebo thus begun (Mild were his looks, and pleasing was his tone), Such prudence, Sir, in all your words appears, As plainly proves, experience dwells with years!
Shuld han be slain. And loke, Hester also
By good conseil delivered out of wo
The peple of God, and made him Mardochæ
Of Assuere enhaunsed for to be.
Ther n'is no thing in gree superlatif
(As saith Senek) above an humble wif.
Suffer thy wives tonge, as Caton bit,
She shal command, and thou shalt suffren it,
And yet she wol obey of curtesie.
A wif is keper of thin husbondrie:
Wel may the sike man bewaile and wepe,
I warne thee, if wisely thou wilt werche,
Love wel thy wif, as Christ loveth his Cherche :
If thou lovest thyself, love thou thy wif.
No man hateth his flesh, but in his lif
He fostreth it, and therefore bid I thee
Cherish thy wif, or thou shalt never the.
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