The Wife of Bath's Prologue
Folio 72v
4 of 20 folios
The transcription of the Wife of Bath's Prologue was created by Orietta Da Rold and has no relationship to the transcription which appears on the Cambridge University Press CD-ROM.
A likerous moutħ / must han a likerous tail
In womman vynolent / is no diffence
This knowen lecchours / by experience
But lord crist / whan that it remembretħ me
470
Vp on my ȝouthe / and on my Iolyte
It tikeletħ me / a boute myn hert rote
Vn to this day / it dootħ myn herte bote
That I haue had my world / as in my tyme
But age allas / that al wyl envenyme
475
Hatħ me byraft / my beaute and my pitħ
Late go fare wel / the deuele goo there witħ
The flour is goon / there is nomore to telle
The bren as I beest can / now mot I selle
But ȝet to be rigħt merye / wol I fonde
480
¶ Now fortħ to telle / of my secund husbonde
I sey I had / in hert greet despit
That he of any other / had delit
But he was quyt / be god and be Seynt Ioce
I mad hī of the same wode / a Croce
485
Nat of my body / in no foul manere
But certeynly / I made folk swicħ chere
That in his owen grees / I mad hī frie
For anger / and for verrey Ielusie
By god / in erthe / I was his purgatorie
490
For whiche I hope / his soule be in glorie
For god it woot / he sat ful ofte and songe
Whan that his shoo / ful bitterly hī wronge
For there was no wygħt / saue god and he þt wyst
In manye wyses / how sore I hī twist
495
He deyed / whan I come / fro Ierusalem
And litħ in graue / vnder the roode Bem
Al is his toumbe / nougħt so curious
As was the sepulcre / of hī Darius
Whiche that Appollus / wrougħt so sotelly
500
It nys but waast / b b to bery hī preciously
Lat hī fare wel / god ȝeue his soule good reest
He is now in his gaue / and ded in his chest
¶ Now of my thridde husbonde / wol I telle
God lat his soule / neuere come in helle
505
And ȝet was he to me / the moost shrewe
That fele I now on my ribbes / al by rewe
And euere shal / vn to myn endyng day
But in oure bed / he was ful fressħ and gay
¶ And there witħ also / wel coude he me gloose
510
Whan that he wolde / han my beal chose¶ That thougħ he had.