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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE PROVERBS OF HENDYNGE, by HENDYNGE First Line: Who would learn of wisdom's rede / let him take to hendynge heed Last Line: Grant us good ending. Subject(s): Proverbs; Maxims; Adages | |||
WHO would learn of Wisdom's rede Let him take to Hendynge heed, Marcolf's son was he; Laws and customs, not a few, Did he teach to many a shrew, As his wise should be. Jesu Christ, Our Help in thrall, Who hath died to save us all Nailed to the Tree, Teach us Wisdom's way to wend That we serve thee to the end, Amen, par Charitie. "Good beginning maketh good ending," quoth Hendynge. Wit and Wisdom learn full fain, See none other thee restrain, Be in Wisdom free; Better walk in Wisdom's way Than go clad in rich array Wheresoe'er thou be. "Wit and Wisdom be a good garrison," quoth Hendynge. Here on earth is ne'er a man, Let him try as try he can, If he bide at home, Who such knowledge may attain As that man, for learning fain, Who afar doth roam. "So many Folk, so many Fashions," quoth Hendynge. Tho' the child be dear, I wis An it doeth aught amiss, Spare the rod for naught; An its way it goeth free, Willy, nilly, it shall be But a good-for-naught. "Lief child behoveth lore," quoth Hendynge. Wisdom thou shalt win to thee From what thou dost hear and see Man, in this thy youth, Thou in age shalt surely follow, Both at eve, and on the morrow, Thine it is, in sooth. "What thou young dost hold, thou shalt lose not old," quoth Hendynge. If thou list a sin to do, And thy thoughts be turned thereto, Good 't is to refrain; For when heat be overcome, And thy wit again hast won, Thou shalt count it gain. "Let lust overgo, liking shall follow," quoth Hendynge. Art thou light of thought withal, That thou should'st thro' weakness fall In a wicked sin, Be that fault so rarely told That in sin thou grow not old, Nor shalt die therein. "Better be eye-sore than blind," quoth Hendynge. Men may teach a simple child Teachable of mood, and mild, With but little lore; But an ye would further go Pain and trouble shall ye know Ere ye teach him more. "The simple son is taught right soon," quoth Hendynge. Would'st from fleshly lusts be free Thou must fight, and swiftly flee Both with eye and heart. Fleshly lust, it bringeth shame, What the Body thinketh game Makes the Soul to smart. "He fights well who flees well," quoth Hendynge. Wise men ne'er of words are free, For they will begin no glee Ere they tune their pipe; Fools be fools, as may be seen By their words, they speak them green, Ere that they be ripe. "A Fool's bolt is soon shot," quoth Hendynge. See thou ne'er thy foeman tell Shame or loss that thee befell, Nor thy care nor woe; He will try, an so he may, Both by night, and eke by day One woe to make two. "Tell never thy foe if thy foot acheth," quoth Hendynge. Hast of bread and ale no lack Put it not all in thy sack, Deal it freely out; If thy meals dost freely share Then where men have meat to spare, Thou go'st not without. "Better an apple given than eaten," quoth Hendynge. Yet, the while I lived on earth, I have deemed of little worth Wine from other's store; That which I may call mine own, Wine and water, stock and stone, That doth please me more. "Best be our own Brand," quoth Hendynge. If thou lackest meat or cloth Be not for that cause too wroth Tho' thy debtor stay; He that still hath his good plough And of worldly good enow, Knoweth no care alway. "Good-less is greedy," quoth Hendynge. Art thou rich in house and hold Be not thou for that too bold, Nor wax wood and wild; Measure shew in everything, That shall sure a blessing bring, Be thou meek and mild. "Full cup needs steady hand," quoth Hendynge. If an old man thou shalt be Take no young maid unto thee For to be thy spouse, Tho' thou shew her love, I trow, She shall flout thee oft enow E'en in thine own house. "Oft a man doth sing When he home doth bring His young wife; Did he know what he brought He had wept, methought, The rest of his life," quoth Hendynge. Tho' thou thinkest much, withal, Guard thy tongue as with a wall, Speak not all thy rede; He who swallows down his speech Ere unto his lips it reach, Findeth friends at need. "The tongue breaketh bone, tho' itself it hath none," quoth Hendynge. Many a knave, I trow, there be, Who, if men but little fee Give him, wrath doth show, I say: 'He doth well by me Who doth give a little fee When he naught doth owe.' "Who little doth give is fain I should live," quoth Hendynge. If it please thee to do ill When the world is at thy will, Then of this take heed, If from thine estate thou fall That which thou hast brewed withal, Shalt thou drink at need. "The better thou be, the better thee be-see," quoth Hendynge. Tho', forsooth, 't would please thee well In a goodly house to dwell Thou must need abide; Best within a hut to be Till thou feel that thou art free From all taint of pride. "Neath a bush may ye hide, and the storm abide," quoth Hendynge. No man wretched do I hold Tho' unto his lot be told That which makes him smart; When man goeth most in fear God, I trow, the prayer shall hear Offered from true heart. "When Bale is highest, Boot is nighest," quoth Hendynge. Draw thy hand back with all speed When they do thee an ill deed, Whom didst help with store; So that child withdraws his hand From the fire, and from the brand, Who was burnt afore. "A burnt child dreads the fire," quoth Hendynge. To some men I've lent my cloth Who have made me feel right wroth Ere it came again; He that served me so, i-fay, Tho' such loan right oft he pray, He shall lose his pain! "Seldom comes loan laughing home," quoth Hendynge. If thou trust to borrowing Thou shalt lack for many a thing, Tho' thou like it ne'er; But if thou thine own hast won All thy woe is overcome, Thou hast no more care. "A man's ain is his ain, another's, but blame," quoth Hendynge. This world's love I hold not dear, Little reck I who may hear What I speak on high; Well I see that oft one brother Careth little for the other, Be he out of eye. "Far from eye, far from heart," quoth Hendynge. That man who betrayeth me And of my goods maketh free His own fame to win, For the veriest cur I take Who at board the bread shall break His own hall within. "Of unbought hide ye may make thongs wide," quoth Hendynge. Many say: "An rich I were No man should with me compare For my gifts so free; But when he much goods hath gotten, This free hand is all forgotten, And laid under knee. "He is free of his horse who never had none," quoth Hendynge. Many a man of poor estate Doth his daughter lightly mate Nor is better sped, Who, if he a wise man were, Might, with but a little care, Have her better wed. "Lightly won is lightly held," quoth Hendynge. Riches, hard to get they be, And their going ill to see, Wise man, think on this; All too dear is bought the ware That may never, free from care, Please man's heart, I wis. "Dear is bought the honey that is licked off the thorn," quoth Hendynge. Ye who fain would cross the flood If the wind be wild and wood Bide ye quiet and still; Bide thee still, if so thou may, Thou shalt have, another day, Weather to thy will. "He abideth well who waiteth well," quoth Hendynge. But an ill hap his shall be Who a-ship shall set to sea When the wind is wood; Be he come unto the deep He may wring his hands and weep In right dreary mood. "Rashness oft rueth," quoth Hendynge. Trow ye well, an evil man May do wonders, an he can, All the world affright; Yet he fares as doth the knave Whom men with a trusty stave Ever smartly smite. "Tho' the thief master be he hangs highest on tree," quoth Hendynge. Wicked man, and wicked wife, If they led a sinful life, Ever evil wrought, Never they such road might wend But they needs must, at the end, Show their inmost thought. "An ill-spun web aye ravels out," quoth Hendynge. Better is the rich man sped Who doth a good woman wed Tho' her purse be bare, Than to bring into his house A proud maiden for his spouse Who is false as fair. "For land and name many wed them to shame," quoth Hendynge. Let no man trust child or wife When he needs must leave this life, Nigh to death be brought; When his bones be laid in mold They will take to them his gold, Of his soul reck naught. "Friendless is the dead," quoth Hendynge. When the glutton finds good ale He to drink it shall not fail, And for naught will stay -- Drink he will with one and all -- Seeks his home when night doth fall, Lies dead by the way. "Drink less alway, and go home by day," quoth Hendynge. Rich and poor, and young and old, While that wit to you is told, Seek ye your soul's bliss; For when ye shall hope the best To rejoice in peace and rest The tree falls, I wis. "Hope of long life beguiles many good-wife," quoth Hendynge. Mickle sooth he spake, Hendynge -- Jesu Christ, of Heaven the King Us to gladness bring; And for His sweet Mother's love, Who doth sit in Heaven above Grant us good ending. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN ANCIENT PROVERB by WILLIAM BLAKE A DUTCH PROVERB by MATTHEW PRIOR AN OLD SAW NEWLY RENDERED by LEVI BISHOP TANKA OF THE WISE by HENRY HARRISON WAN LO TANKA by HENRY HARRISON PROVERBS OF THE MIDLE WORLD by THOMAS MCGRATH DOROTHY Q; A FAMILY PORTRAIT by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES AT HOME IN HEAVEN by JAMES MONTGOMERY AT FREDERICKSBURG [DECEMBER 13, 1862] by JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY |
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