The Franklin's Tale
Folio 134v
15 of 18 folios
That in his hote / declinacioun
Shoon / as the burned gold / witħ stremes brigħt
540
But now in Capricorn / a doun he lygħt
Where as he shon ful pale / I dar wel seyn
The bittre frostes / witħ the Sleet and reyn
Destroyed hatħ the grene / in euery ȝerd
Ianus syt by the fyre / witħ double berd
545
And drynketħ of his bugle horn / the wyn
Biforn hī stant Brawn / of the tusked swyn
And nowel crietħ / euery lusty man
¶ Aurelius / in al that euere he can
Dotħ to this Maister / chiere and reuerence
550
And preietħ hī / to doon his diligence
To bryngen hī / out of theisehisetheisehise peynes smerte
Or witħ a swerd / that he wold slitte his herte
¶ This subtil Clerk / swicħ routhe had of this man
That nygħt and day / he spedde hī that he can
555
To wayten a tyme / of his conclusioun
This is to seyn / to make illusioun
By swicħ an apparence / or Iogelrie
I ne can no termes / of Astrologie
That she and euery wygħt / shulde wene and seye
560
That of Brytaigne / the Rokkes were a weye
Or elles they were sonken / vnder grounde
So at the laste / he hatħ his tyme I founde
To make his Iapes / and his wrechednesse
Of swicħ a supersticies / cursednesse
565
His tables tolletanes / fortħ he brougħt
Ful wel corrected / ne there lakked nougħt
Neither his collect / ne his expans ȝeres
Ne hise rootes / ne hise othere geres
As ben hise centris / and hise argumentez
570
And hise proporcionelles / conuenientez
For hise equaciouns / in euery thyng
And by his eighte Spere / in his werkyng
He knew ful wel / how fer alnatħ was shoue
Fro the hed / of thilk fixe Aries a boue
575
That in the .ix. spere / considered is
Ful subtilly / he kalculed al this
Whan he had founde / his first mansioun
He knewe the remenaunt / by proporcioun
And knew the a risyng / of his Mone wel
580
And in whos face and terme / and euerydel
And knew ful wele / the Mones mansioun
Acordaunt / to his operacioun
And knew also / hise othere obseruaunces