Omnia scire putat, sed se presumptio nescit,
Nec sibi consimile quem putat esse parem.
Qui magis astutus reputat se vincere bellum,
In laqueos Veneris forcius ipse cadit.
Sepe (cupido virum, sibi qui presumit, amantem
Fallit, et in vacuas spes redit ipsa vias.
fie loquitur de tercia species suberbie, que presumpcio dicitur, cuius naturam primo secundum vitium confessor simpliciter declarat.
SURQUEDRIE is thilke vice
Of pride, whiche the thirde office
Hath in his courte, and will not knowe
The trouth, till it ouerthrowe
Upon his fortune and his grace
Cometh, Had I wiste, full ofte a place.
For he doth all his thynge by gesse,
And voideth all sikernesse.
None other counsell good hym semeth
But suche, as him selfe demeth.
For in suche wise as he compasseth,
His witte alone all other passeth,
And is with pride so through sought,
That he all other set at nought,
And weneth of him seluen so,
That suche as he is, there be no mo.
And thus he wolde beare a price
So faire, so semely, nor so wise
Abouen all other, and nought for thy
He saith not ones graunt mercy
To god, whiche all grace sendeth:
So that his wittes he despendeth
Upon him selfe as though there were
No god, whiche might auaile there :
But all vpon his owne witte
He stant, till he fall in the pitte
So ferre, that he maie not arise.
TOUCHEND as of enuious brood
I wote not one of all good.
But netheles suche as thei bee,
Yet there is one, and that is hee,
Whiche cleped is Detraction,
And to confirme his action,
He hath withholde Malebouche,
Whose tonge nother pill ne crouche
Maie hire, so that he pronounce
A pleine good worde without frounce:
Where behynde a mans backe
For though he preise, he fint some lacke,
Whiche of his tale is ay the laste,
That all the price shall ouercaste.
And though there be no cause why,
Yet woll he iangle, not for thy
As he whiche hath the herauldie
Of hem, that vsen for to lie.
Hic tractat Confessor super quarta specie inuidie, que Dissimulacio dicitur, cuius vultus quanto maioris amicicie apparenciam osten. dit, tanto subtilioris doli fallacias ad decipiendum mens magina
Or fals Semblant I shall tell,
Aboue all other it is the well,
Out of the whiche deceite floweth.
There is no man so wise, that knoweth,
Of thilke floode, whiche is the tide,
Ne howe he shulde hym seluen guide
To take saufe passage there :
And yet the wynde to mans ere
Is softe, and as it semeth oute,
It maketh clere weder all aboute.
But though it seme, it is not so.
For fals Semblant hath euer mo
Of his counsaile in companie
The derke vntrewe hypocrisie,
Whose worde discordeth to his thought.
For thy thei ben to gyder brought
Of one couine, of one housholde,
As it shall after this be tolde.
Of fals Semblant it nedeth nought
To tell of olde ensamples ought.
For all daie in experience
A man maie see thilke euidence
Of fayre wordes, whiche he hereth:
But yet the barge enuie stereth,
VOL. I.
And halt it euer fro the londe,
Whiche fals Semblant with ore in honde
It roweth, and woll not arriue
But let it on the waues driue
In great tempest, and great debate,
Wherof that loue and his estate
Empeireth: And therfore I rede
My sonne that thou flee and drede
This vice and what that other seyn
Let thy semblant be trewe and plein.
For fals Semblant is thilke vice,
Whiche neuer was without office,
Where that enuie thinketh to gile
He shall be for that ilke while
Of priue counsayle messagere.
For whan his semblant is moste clere,
Than is he moste derke in his thought:
Though men him se thei know him nought,
But as it sheweth in the glas
Thynge, whiche therin neuer was:
So sheweth it in his visage,
That neuer was in his courage.
Hic tractat Confessor super secunda specie ire, que Lis dicitur, ex cuius contumeliis innumerosa dolorum occasio, tam in amoris causa quam aliter, in quem pluribus sepissime exorta est.
Of wrath the second is chest,
Whiche hath the wyndes of tempest
To kepe, and many a sodeine blast
He bloweth, wherof ben agast
Thei, that desiren pes and reste :
He is that ilke vngoodlyeste,
Whiche many a lustie loue hath twynned,
For he beareth euer his mouth vnpinned :
So that his lippes ben vnloke,
And his courage is all to broke,
That euery thyng, whiche he can tell,
It springeth vp as doth a welle,
Whiche maie no man of his stremes hide,
But renneth out on euery side:
So boylen vp the foule sawes,
That cheste wote of his felawes.
For as a siue kepeth Ale,
Right so can cheste kepe a tale.
All that he wote, he woll disclose,
And speke er any man oppose.
As a citee without walle,
Where men maie gon out oueralle,
Withouten any resistence :
So with his croked eloquence
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