But now is he in prison in a cave,
Where as they made him at the quernë4063 grind.
O noble Sampson, strongest of mankind!
O whilom judge in glory and richéss!
Now may’st thou weepë with thine eyen blind,
Since thou from weal art fall’n to wretchedness.
Th’ end of this caitiff4064 was as I shall say;
His foemen made a feast upon a day,
And made him as their fool before them play;
And this was in a temple of great array.
But at the last he made a foul affray,
For he two pillars shook, and made them fall,
And down fell temple and all, and there it lay,
And slew himself and eke his foemen all;
This is to say, the princes every one;
And eke three thousand bodies were there slain
With falling of the great temple of stone.
Of Sampson now will I no morë sayn;
Beware by this example old and plain,
That no man tell his counsel to his wife
Of such thing as he would have secret fain,
If that it touch his limbës or his life.
Of Hercules the sov’reign conqueroúr
Singë his workës’ land and high renown;
For in his time of strength he bare the flow’r.
He slew and reft the skin of the lioún
He of the Centaurs laid the boast adown;
He Harpies4065 slew, the cruel birdës fell;
He golden apples reft from the dragón
He drew out Cerberus the hound of hell.
He slew the cruel tyrant Busirus.4066
And made his horse to fret4067 him flesh and bone;
He slew the fiery serpent venomous;
Of Achelous’ two hornës brake he one.
And he slew Cacus in a cave of stone;
He slew the giant Antaeus the strong;
He slew the grisly boar, and that anon;
And bare the heav’n upon his neckë long.4068
Was never wight, since that the world began,
That slew so many monsters as did he;
Throughout the widë world his namë ran,
What for his strength, and for his high bounté;
And every realmë went he for to see;
He was so strong that no man might him let;
At both the worldë’s ends, as saith Trophee,4069
Instead of boundës he a pillar set.
A leman had this noble champión,
That hightë Dejanira, fresh as May;
And, as these clerkës makë mentión,
She hath him sent a shirtë fresh and gay;
Alas! this shirt, alas and well-away!
Envenomed was subtilly withal,
That ere that he had worn it half a day,
It made his flesh all from his bonës fall.
But natheless some clerkës her excuse
By one, that hightë Nessus, that it maked;
Be as he may, I will not her accuse;
But on his back this shirt he wore all naked,
Till that his flesh was for the venom blaked.4070
And when he saw none other remedy,
In hotë coals he hath himselfë raked,
For with no venom deigned he to die.
Thus starf4071 this worthy mighty Hercules.
Lo, who may trust on Fortune any throw?4072
For him that followeth all this world of pres,4073
Ere he be ware, is often laid full low;
Full wise is he that can himselfë know.
Beware, for when that Fortune list to glose
Then waiteth she her man to overthrow,
By such a way as he would least suppose.
The mighty throne, the precious treasór,
The glorious sceptre, and royal majesty,
That had the king Nabuchodonosor
With tongue unnethës4074 may described be.
He twice won Jerusalem the citý,
The vessels of the temple he with him lad;4075
At Babylonë was his sov’reign see,4076
In which his glory and delight he had.
The fairest children of the blood royál
Of Israel he did do4077 geld anon,
And maked each of them to be his thrall.4078
Amongës others Daniel was one,
That was the wisest child of every one;
For he the dreamës of the king expounded,
Where in Chaldaea clerkë was there none
That wistë to what fine4079 his dreamës sounded.
This proudë king let make a statue of gold
Sixty cubitës long, and seven in bread’,
To which imagë bothë young and old
Commanded he to lout,4080 and have in dread,
Or in a furnace, full of flamës red,
He should be burnt that wouldë not obey:
But never would assentë to that deed
Daniel, nor his youngë fellows tway.
This king of kingës proud was and elate;
He ween’d4081 that God, that sits in majesty,
Mightë him not bereave of his estate;
But suddenly he lost his dignity,
And like a beast he seemed for to be,
And ate hay as an ox, and lay thereout
In rain, with wildë beastës walked he,
Till certain time was y-come about.
And like an eagle’s feathers wax’d his hairs,
His nailës like a birdë’s clawës were,
Till God released him at certain years,
And gave him wit; and then with many a tear
He thanked God, and ever his life in fear
Was he to do amiss, or more trespace:
And till that time he laid was on his bier,
He knew that God was full of might and grace.
His sonë, which that hightë Balthasar,
That held the regne4082 after his father’s day,
He by his father couldë not beware,
For proud he was of heart and of array;
And eke an idolaster was he aye.
His high estate assured4083 him in pride;
But Fortune cast him down, and there he lay,
And suddenly his regnë gan divide.
A feast he made unto his lordës all
Upon a time, and made them blithë be,
And then his officérës gan he call;
“Go, bringë forth the vessels,” saidë he,
“Which that my father in his prosperity
Out of the temple of Jerusalem reft,
And to our highë goddës thankë we
Of honour, that our elders4084 with us left.”
His wife, his lordës, and his concubines
Aye drankë, while their appetites did last,
Out of these noble vessels sundry wines.
And on a wall this king his eyen cast,
And saw an hand, armless, that wrote full fast;
For fear of which he quaked, and sighed sore.
This hand, that Balthasar so sore aghast,4085
Wrote Mane, tekel, phares, and no more.
In all that land magician was there none
That could expoundë what this letter meant.
But Daniel expounded it anon,
And said, “O King, God
