fol. 54r (cont.)I
passus
xjus
Passus
xjusx[i]jusundecimus[duo]decimus
de visione vt supra
—
—
—
And howe fele ferneres beR.12.5:
Beta has fernȝeres are; F omits the line. faren and
so fewe to comen .
fol. 54vI
Amende þe ye[]R.12.11:
R's ye is a unique addition to the text of Bx.
while þow miȝt þow hast ben warned ofte .
Quem diligo castigo
—
R.12.14: Alpha
omits two lines attested in beta at this point (KD12.13-13α):
And dauid in þe sauter seith of suche þat loueth Ihesus
Virga tua & baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt &c.
And dauid in þe sauter seith of suche þat loueth Ihesus
Virga tua & baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt &c.
And þow medlest þe with makyngeR.12.17:
Though M supports alpha's singular, the other beta copies read makynges or
mastryes. and miȝtest go sey þi
sauter .
¶ I seiȝ wel he seide me soth acR.12.21:
This is a unique reading in R; all the other manuscripts have and.
somwhat me to excuse .
AndR.12.22:
Alpha seems to have been uncomfortable with the enjambment of Bx here,
but alpha's extra conjunction (And), instead of smoothing, actually breaks
the syntactic pattern of the statement. seide catoun conforted his sone
þat clerk þouȝ he were
To solasen hym sum-tyme andR.12.23:
R's and is shared uniquely with F, but F rewrites the following half-line
completely; beta has as. I do whan ich make .
AndR.12.25: Most other B manuscripts here read, of holy men; R shares the omission of the preposition
with Hm (and, originally, with C) by convergence. holy men I here quod I how þei otherwile .
Pleiden þe parfiter to be in many a place .R.12.26: For R's a place, beta has places. Both
versions of the b-verse are obviously corrupt, causing F to rewrite it totally: in here prayeres after.
ȜifR.12.27:
The evidence of both beta and F indicates that R has here dropped a word; F begins the line
Nou if, while beta begins it Ac if.
þere were any witR.12.27:
This is a unique form in R; most of the other manuscripts have wight.
However, R's wit probably does not represent a substantive difference from
the majority reading. OED2, s. v.
wight, documents wyt(e) for the fifteenth century and
wite for the fourteenth century as variant spellings of wight. MED, s. v.
wight, also lists wit(e) as a variant spelling but
offers only one example, from the thirteenth century. þat wolde me telle
.
¶ With poule in his pistlesR.12.31:
R is unique in reading the plural pistles, but the serious error of this
line, the addition of the preposition With at line head, must reflect a
problem in alpha, since F's See Poulis also reads Paul's name as the
line's second word. quod he preueth what is
dowel .
Feith hope and charite R.12.33: Reflecting the difference
with alpha in the Latin citation from the previous line, beta has and
before alle.
alle ben goed .
R.12.40KD.12.37
And holde þe vnder obedience þat heiȝ waye is to
heuene .R.12.40: A new strophe is marked by the usual cc in the margin next
to R12.41, but the scribe did not skip a line between 12.40 and 41. This is frequently his
habit when the last line of a page begins a new paragraph.
¶ And if ȝþow be mayde & toR.12.41:: Beta reads maiden to for
R's mayde & to; F's Mayde meeke & confirms
that alpha also read mayde. marie and miȝt wel
contynewe .
fol. 55rI
R.12.44KD.12.41
Or salomon his sapience otherR.12.44:
R's other is unique; F and beta read or. sampson
his strengthe .
Þe beaute of hire body in badd vseR.12.51:
For alpha's badd vse, beta has badnesse she.
despended .
R.12.52KD.12.49
Of many suche men
may IR.12.52:
R's men is a unique addition to the text of Bx. Beta
transposes alpha's phrase, may I, to I may /
myght. rede of men & of wommen
And loue hem nauȝt as oure lorde bit
lesen ȝoureR.12.58:
For R's ȝoure (a unique reading), F reads here
owen and beta has her. soules .
R.12.60KD.12.55
So catel and kende wit acombreth ful many . The first half-line in R (12.60a) differs
considerably from the text of F, which reads & þerfore catel & vnkynde
wit. The beta manuscripts entirely omit R12.60 (= KD12.55) and the four following
lines. The C manuscripts include the first three of these alpha
lines.
Sapience seith þe bokeR.12.63:
R's a-verse phrasing differs markedly from F's, which reads Þe book seiþ þat
sapyence. swelleth a mannes soule .
Ac grace is a graceR.12.66:
R's redundancy appears to derive from alpha; F notices the problem but his grate simply substitutes nonsense for the original error. Beta agrees with Cx, reading grasse.
þereforeR.12.66:
R's þerefore is shared exclusively with F; beta has þerof. Cx agrees with alpha. þo greuaunces to
abate .
growith
Ac grace ne greuethR.12.67: Hand2 has supplied the appropriate reading in
the right margin, implying that greueth should be cancelled, but the
original reading was never marked as cancelled, either by striking through or by
subpuncting. nauȝt but amonges lowe .
R.12.68KD.12.61
Of pacienceR.12.68:
Of is a unique reading in R; F omits the entire line, and beta begins the
line with Pacience. and pouerte þe place is
þere it groweth .
And þurȝ gifteR.12.70:
Before gifte, R uniquely omits a determiner; F has þat
while beta has þe. of þe holy goste as þe gospel telleth
.
fol. 55vI
Knewe neuere clerke how it cometh forth ne
kend wit hisR.12.78:
F reads the possessive as witys for R's wit his. Beta
has witte þe. weyes .
In þe olde lawe as þe lettre telleth R.12.83: Manuscript
G reads the opening of the b-verse exactly as R does, but beta shows þat
was at the head of the b-verse; F rewrites the entire b-verse, reading þe
lawe so was to þe Iewis. was þe lawe of iewes .
R.12.84KD.12.74
Þat what womman were in deuoutrieR.12.84:
R's form is unique here (beta and F attest auoutrie). But cf. KD 2.176,
where R's deuoutrie is accepted for alliterative reasons over the beta
reading, auoutrie. Since F agrees with R at this point, and since the same
base form shows as archetypal at C2.187 (deuoutours),
there seems no reason to doubt that it represents an example of contemporary usage.
MED, s. v.
devoutrie, and OED2, s. v.
devoutour, both cite only Piers Plowman, labelling the form
as a variation / corruption of auoutrie. taken
were
heR.12.84:
R's form for the third-person singular feminine pronoun here is the one commonly preferred by
this scribe and is, as usual, unique. F and beta agree on she.
riche or pore .
With stones men schulde hire striken and stonen
hire to dede .R.12.85: R's to dede is unique but not ungrammatical or
substantially different in meaning from the other B manuscripts, which
read to deth. Cf. R.3.262:
(KD3.267), where R's phrasing is paralleled by many beta manuscripts: brenne
hem to dede. Alpha omits the following line from Bx:
A womman as we fynden was gulty of þat dede.
A womman as we fynden was gulty of þat dede.
Ac crist of his curteisie andR.12.86:
R's and is unique; beta omits the conjunction while F completely rewrites
the b-verse. þoruȝ clergie hire saued .
For þoruȝ cristes carectusR.12.87:
For alpha's cristes carectus, beta reads carectus þat cryst
wrot . þe iewes knewe hem-seluen .
Holi chercheR.12.91:
Though Hm and B agree with alpha's cherche, beta itself here reads kirke. knoweth þis þat cristes writynge saued
.
AcR.12.97:
R's Ac is unique; cf. F's But and beta's As. cristes carette conforted and bothe coupable
schewed .
For as a man may nauȝt se þat misseth his siȝtes .R.12.109: Beta reads eyghen, which is also the reading of Cx; F has the singular syghte.R.12.109: The final <s> of siȝtes
appears to have been written over an erasure; it is, moreover, the tall <s>, which this
scribe almost never deploys in word terminal position (cf. the same word at R12.146). Its
form also seems abbreviated, with the descender entirely absent. Nevertheless, the ink
appears indistinguishable from that used by the scribal hand.
R.12.112KD.12.102
And seynt spiriȝt þe saumplarie & seyde what
manR.12.112: With the exception of OC2, which agree with alpha, the
beta manuscripts here show men. Cx agrees with
beta. scholde write .
fol. 56rI
Riȝt so lerethR.12.114: Beta has ledeth at this point. Cx,
however, agrees with alpha. letterure lewed men to reson .
And as a blinde man in bataile bereR.12.115: R's verb form is unique; Bx and Cx
read bereth. wepne to fiȝte .
Na more can a kende wedded manR.12.117: R's almost nonsensical kende wedded man (in place of
beta's kyndewitted man) reflects alpha corruption, while F's omitting kynde and substituting lewid man represents an attempt to
make sense of the half-line. but clerkes hym teche .
Whiche is þe coffre of cristes tresor and clerkes kenpeR.12.119: Either the scribe or an
early reader caught an error here (kene for kepe) and
added a light descender in the same ink as that of the scribe. The shape of the descender
matches that of the scribe's authentic <p>. þe keyes .
ForR.12.121: R is clearly defective here syntactically; but F's grammar seems equally
elliptical, and one must conclude that both are responding to some confusion in alpha. Once
again, the source of confusion may lie in the fact that this line is enjambed from the
previous one. Cf. R's For and F's completely different &
graunteþ to beta's Ȝyue. At this point C
supports beta, reading To ȝeue. mercy for her
mysdedes if men it wole aske .
¶ Saul for he sacrifised sorwe hym be-tydde . These lines are
omitted by the beta manuscripts. F's rendering of these lines is sufficiently different from
R's that F's lines should be cited here in their entirety (cf. Appendix 1, R12.126-36, for
details and any cross-references to the C version):
Saul for his mys-sacrifyse / sorwe hym by-tydde.
& hise sones also / for þat synne myschevedyn
& manye mo oþire men / þat weryn none levites.
þat with archa dei wentyn / with worchepeful reuerencis.
& leyde on hond / & lyfte it vp / & lurn here lyf after.
For-þy ; y conseyle alle creatures / no clergye ȝee dispise.
Ne settiþ lyght be here scyence / what so þei do hem-selue.
Tak here wordis at worþ / here wytnesses be trewe.
& medle not meche with hem / to meve hem to wratthe.
Leest Charyte be chased owt / þan ech man choppeth oþir.
[N]olite tangere Cristos meos.
Saul for his mys-sacrifyse / sorwe hym by-tydde.
& hise sones also / for þat synne myschevedyn
& manye mo oþire men / þat weryn none levites.
þat with archa dei wentyn / with worchepeful reuerencis.
& leyde on hond / & lyfte it vp / & lurn here lyf after.
For-þy ; y conseyle alle creatures / no clergye ȝee dispise.
Ne settiþ lyght be here scyence / what so þei do hem-selue.
Tak here wordis at worþ / here wytnesses be trewe.
& medle not meche with hem / to meve hem to wratthe.
Leest Charyte be chased owt / þan ech man choppeth oþir.
[N]olite tangere Cristos meos.
nota
¶ For clergie is kynge and kepereR.12.137: For alpha's compounded phrase, beta reads simply kepere. Alpha's exact reading here is uncertain; cf. F's keye &
kepere. vnder crist of heuene .
¶ Liueres to-foren vs
vsede to make .R.12.141: Alpha and Cr read make, which makes no sense; cf. beta's
marke.
fol. 56vI
Ne bouȝteR.12.145: The error here, bouȝte for brouȝte, is found in both R and F and derives from alpha. be
here bokes to blisse ne to ioye .
Patriarkes and prophetes repreuethR.12.147: R's repreueth is unique; F has a different form of the
plural with repreven, while beta reads repreued(en).
Though two C copies affirm a present-tense verb here, it is obvious that
Cx agrees with beta's preterite. R's tense marking may not, however,
represent a difference of intention from beta's. Cf. the Introduction III.2.2.10. here science .
R.12.148KD.12.137
And seide here wordes ne here
wisdomeR.12.148: Beta has the plural wisdomes; F reads scyence. Though four C copies support R's singular, the vast
majority of C manuscripts agrees with beta. was but a folie .
Sapiencia huius mundi
stulticia apud .R.12.150: One might construe R's script at the end of this citation as
agreeing with the other witnesses if <ap> were taken as ap(ud) and <d>+backslash were seen as an abbreviation for d(eum). Neither Kane-Donaldson nor I read it that way, however. The R
scribe never elsewhere uses such an abbreviation for deum
and, in fact, no such abbreviation is recognized by Capelli (Dizionario di
Abbreviature latine ed italiane) nor by Walther (Lexicon Diplomaticum). Instead R customarily spells the form as
deu(m) (six times out of seven—the seventh form is
d(eu)m). Moreover, Capelli recognizes the actual form
written by R, apd, as a late
fourteenth-century form for apud.
&cetera .R.12.150: Here alpha omits eleven lines present in
beta (and also found in a revised form in Cx):
For þe heihe holigoste heuene shal to-cleue
And loue shal lepe out after into þis lowe erthe
And clennesse shal cacchen it and clerkes shullen it fynde
Pastores loquebantur ad inuicem
He speketh þere of riche men riȝt nouȝt ne of riȝt witty
Ne of lordes þat were lewed men but of þe hexte lettred oute
Ibant magi ab oriente &c.
If any frere were founde þere Ich ȝif þe fyue shillynges
Ne in none beggares cote was þat barne borne
But in a burgeys place of bethlem þe best
Set non erat ei locus in diuersorio & pauper non habet diuersorium.
For þe heihe holigoste heuene shal to-cleue
And loue shal lepe out after into þis lowe erthe
And clennesse shal cacchen it and clerkes shullen it fynde
Pastores loquebantur ad inuicem
He speketh þere of riche men riȝt nouȝt ne of riȝt witty
Ne of lordes þat were lewed men but of þe hexte lettred oute
Ibant magi ab oriente &c.
If any frere were founde þere Ich ȝif þe fyue shillynges
Ne in none beggares cote was þat barne borne
But in a burgeys place of bethlem þe best
Set non erat ei locus in diuersorio & pauper non habet diuersorium.
¶ To pastoures and to poetes appered anR.12.151: Beta has þe in place of alpha's an.
Cx agrees with beta. angel .
And syngenR.12.153: R's infinitive (or present tense) syngen is unique among
the B copies; F and beta have song(en). However, the
C manuscripts are divided by major groups on this reading, with the X
family supporting F/beta while the P family agrees with R. a songe of solace
gloria in excelsis deo .
Þo it schon to schepherdesR.12.155: R and F differ here (F = Whan to shepperdis a sterre
shon), but R's version of this phrase agrees with that found in the C manuscripts. a schewer of blisse .
R.12.156KD.12.153
AndR.12.156: Beta omits And. Cx agrees with
beta. clerkes knewe it wel and comen with here
presentes .
And deden here homage honourabely to hym
þat was almiȝti .R.12.157: There is red offset from R12.91 (fol. 57r) partially covering
the last word of this line.
¶ And þow seydest soth of somme ac se in
whanere .R.12.162: The correct reading is beta's what manere; R here
presumably mirrors a loss of text in alpha while F (an ensample) attempts
to guess at a suitable correction.
R.12.164KD.12.161
And bothe naked as a nedele her non sikerR.12.164: Most beta
witnesses read sikerer, but L agrees with R's form (as did M until
"corrected" into conformity with the CrW family). þan other .
And is in drede to drenche þat neuere
dede swymme .R.12.171: Immediately hereafter, alpha omitted a line found in beta:
Þat swymme can nouȝt I seide it semeth to my wittes.
Þat swymme can nouȝt I seide it semeth to my wittes.
Þat he þat knoweth clergie can sannoreR.12.173:
Sannore, "sooner," <OE sāna. This form appears
in the Z text and it, sanere, and sannour appear in the
C version. See Joseph S. Wittig, Piers Plowman: Concordance.
Will's Visions of Piers Plowman, Do-Well, do-better and do-best: A Lemmatized Analysis of
the English Vocabulary of the A, B and C Versions as Presented in the Athlone Editions, with
Supplementary Concordances of the Latin and French Macaronics. (London and New York:
Athlone Press, 2001), s. v.
soone, p. 609. arise .
Out of synne and heR.12.174: Though Cr agrees with R's reading, beta
omits he (F rewrites the entire phrase as to be saf).
Cx agrees with beta. be safe þouȝ he senegeR.12.174: R's unique senege is not an error but, according to
OED2, s. v.
sin and MED, s. v.
sinnen, a legitimate thirteenth and fourteenth-century variant for sin. Cx shows the same form as R at this point. Cf.
similar forms at R.17.242: and . ofte .
As þow seest in þe
sauterR.12.177: A black ink stain partially obscures the <s> of sauter.
fol. 57rI
As þow seest in þe sauter in psalme on or tweyne .R.12.178: At the top right margin of this page, there is a smudged word
written in black, beginning with what may be a <D>.
R.12.180KD.12.177α
Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates
& quorum tecta sunt peccata .R.12.180: Though Hm supports alpha, beta itself omits the last word of this citation,
peccata.
And þis conforteth vch a clerke and kennethR.12.181: The beta reading is also that of Cx. hym fram wanhope .
R.12.184KD.12.181
And hath no contricion ar he come to schrifte
and canR.12.184: R's phrase manifests a unique omission; cf. F's for þereof ne
can and beta's & þanne can. Although the C
copies show a number of variations here, the predominant reading is that of beta. he
litel telle .
And þat is after person or parisch preste
and par-auenter bothe .R.12.186: Beta omits bothe. There appears to have been a
line-division problem at this point in Bx, and Kane-Donaldson recast the
first word of the next line of Bx (Vnconnynge) as the
final stave word of this line.
R.12.188KD.12.185
Dum cecus ducit cecum
&cetera .R.12.188: Hereafter alpha omits a line found in beta:
Wo was hym marked þat wade mote with þe lewed.
Wo was hym marked þat wade mote with þe lewed.
nota
/
¶ Wel may þe barne blisse þat hym sette to scole .R.12.189: F reads this b-verse as þat sette hym fyrst to skole.
Beta has þat hym to boke sette. The beta reading, which alliterates
correctly, is also that of Cx.
Þe thef þat hadde grace of god a gode
friday as þu speke .R.12.194: A black ink blot intervenes between the final word of this line
and the punctus.
Was for he ȝelde hym recreantR.12.195: M here agrees with R on
the stave word (recreant), but the beta majority's reading, supported by
Cx, is creaunt. F omits the term entirely. to
crist & vpon a crosR.12.195: In place of R's vpon a cros, beta has on þe
crosse &. F omits the entire phrase. Though the end of the b-verse is different in
C, its version of this line parallels B up to this
point and reads Was for A ȝeld hym creaunt to crist.
knowlechedR.12.195: R uniquely omits hym before gulty. gulty .R.12.195: Hereafter alpha omits a line preserved in beta:
And grace axed of god and he is euer redy.
And grace axed of god and he is euer redy.
¶ Ac þouȝ þat thef hadde heuene he hadde non
heiȝR.12.197: A red smudge partially covers heiȝ; the same red
smudge appears on the facing page, partially obscuring the to of R12.163.
No boxing occurs nearby either, so the probable cause is mere spillage of a drop of the
rubricator's ink. blisse .
As Seint Iohan and other seintes þat
asseruedR.12.198: R shares this form with L alone; F and beta agree on deserued. The C tradition is divided, but the surviving
evidence suggests that that P subarchetype read as RL while the X subarchetype had either serued or deserued. hadde bettere
.
Riȝt as som man ȝeue meR.12.199:
There is a superfluous loop above the <m> of me, in a darker ink
than the text hand. mete and sette me amydde þe flore .
R.12.204KD.12.203
He sitt noither with Iohan neR.12.204: R's ne(1) is unique among the B
copies; beta omits the word, while F rewrites the line completely. The C
manuscripts are split, the X family agreeing with R while the P family supports beta's
omission. Symond ne Iude .
Ne with maidenes ne with martires neR.12.205: R's ne confessoures is a unique reading, the negative
being omitted by beta (F has ne with Maydenys). The b-verse of the cognate
C line has been revised, but it still begins with ne, as with alpha. confessoures ne widewes .
R.12.208KD.12.207
And as lawe liketh to lyue or to deyeR.12.208:
Immediately below this line, and above R12.209, there is a scribally cancelled line which
reads And reddite vnicuique iuxta
opera sua. .
And reddite vnicuique iuxta opera sua
And reddite vnicuique iuxta opera sua
It were nother reson ne riȝt to rewardeR.12.211: Nearly all the other B copies (including F) attest rewarde hem at this point, but Cx agrees with R in
omitting hem. bothe I-liche .
j ius
fol. 57vI
Þat oure lorde ne hadde hym liȝtliche oute
so leue I þe be in heuene .R.12.213: Alpha was clearly missing the key word of the b-verse,
thef, a fact which F, as is his custom, attempts to cover over (so leve y it be in hevene). Beta reads this b-verse precisely as does R, with
one addition: so leue I þe thef be in heuene.
¶ Ac whi þat on thef vponR.12.217: In this a-verse, R's Ac and vpon are
unique among the B copies. For the former, F has But
while beta reads And. For the latter, F and beta concur in reading on. Though eight C manuscripts support the latter
reading, it seems likely that Cx agreed on both variants with R.
þe cros creaunt hym ȝelde .
And of stonesR.12.227: R uniquely omits þe before stones. and of þe sterres þow studiest as I leue .
R.12.232KD.12.228
Þat þere þe thorne is thikkest þereR.12.232: Beta omits alpha's þere(2). to buylde and brede
.
fol. 58rI
For þe pecok and men pursuen hym neR.12.245: R's ne seems to be a unique addition to the text
witnessed by the other B manuscripts, but it may in fact be the alpha
lection, if F misread his exemplar's ne as he.
may nouȝt fle heye .
¶ Riȝt so þe riche if he his ricchesse kepeth .R.12.249: R's kepeth is an alpha form (F = kepiþ); cf. beta's kepe.
R.12.260KD.12.258
And alle þe othere þere it lith enuenymedR.12.260: Both L
and Cr concur in this verb form; F and most beta manuscripts read enuenymeþ. þoruȝ his atter .
By þe po feet is vnderstondedR.12.261: R's vnderstonded is a unique form. Most of the other B manuscripts have vnderstonde. as I
haue lerned in auynet .
Þat was writen and þei witnessesR.12.263: R's explicit plural marking here is unique, but the other B manuscripts,
attesting "witnesse," are presumably intending the same meaning as R, using an unmarked
plural of the noun, as is found at R2.108. to werche riȝt as heR.12.263: Beta reads it. wolde .
Þus he likeneth in his glosingeR.12.271: R's non-alliterating stave, glosinge, is descended from
alpha. Cf. F's glose and beta's logyk. Although the
line is partially revised in the C version, the key term, logyk, agrees with beta's stave word. þe lest foule oute .
Þat god for his grace gyue here
souleR.12.277: R's soule is an alpha variant (cf. F's sowle). Beta reads a plural, soules, the same reading found in Cx. reste .
j ijus
fol. 58vI
And seyde saluabitur vix iustus in die iudicij
.R.12.283: The left side of this boxed line is left open,
unconnected.
AcR.12.287: Cf. F's But and beta's For. Among the
C copies, UcTChNc agree with F's reading and most the of the P family
simply omit the opening conjunction, but most of the X family manuscripts support R's Ac. þere is fullynge of fonte and
fullynge in blode schedynge .
¶ Ac treutheR.12.290: Here alpha omitted an essential relative pronoun; cf. beta's trewth þat trespassed. Beta's reading is also that of C. trespased neuere ne
transuersed aȝen his lawe .
But lyued as his lawe tauȝteR.12.291: Beta's version of this a-verse shows present-tense verb forms: lyueth and techeth. Though a few copies of C
agree with beta on these tenses, the preponderance of evidence from the C manuscripts supports the originality of R's readings. and leueth
þere be no bettere .
Ne wolde neuere trewe god but treweR.12.293: Beta omits trewe, presumably because it was sensed as
redundant with the following noun. F strikes the entire phrase (i.e., trewe
treuthe) and replaces it with his wil. Cx
agrees with R. treuthe were alowed .
And wit The scribe has skipped approximately
five spaces here to allow for a diagonal tear in the parchment; it extends down into the next
line, where extra spaces are allowed between kepe and with. Cf. note at , which
describes the textual position of the same imperfection on the opposite side of this
sheet. and wisdom quod þat weyeR.12.299:
Weye, "person, being, man." was sum-tyme tresor .