Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Anglo-Irish poems of the Middle Ages: The Kildare Poems (Author: [unknown])
Poem 8
Ten Commandments
{MS fol 31v}
- 1] Nou, Jesus, for thi derworth blode
That thou schaddist for mankyn,
Yif vs grace to wirch workis gode,
To heuen that we mot entir inn.
- 5] Man and womman, Ich red, be-ware,
Yure gret othis that ye be-leue,
And bot ye nul, God nel you spare.
Bothe lif and catel He wol you reue.
- 9] Hit nis no wonder for-soth, i-wisse,
That gret wreche ne fallith ther-fore,
For we ne leuith of al is limmes
That we ne habbith ham for-swore.
- 13] Man is wors than eni hunde,
Other he is to wild and wode,
That we ssold edwite is worthi wound
That He tholid for vre gode.
- 17] Be aware, whose euer wol!
Al quelme and sorow that euir is,
At then end so find we sulle
That for man is sin it is.
- 21] Ich rede that euch be-ware, i-wis,
In as moch as the is man;
Whan ye swerith gret othis
In rode thou piltist Him apan.
- 25] God commandid to Ysay
That he ssold wend and prech
That was in the hil of Syna
Hou he ssold the folk tech,
- 29] And to ssow ham God is defens,
Both to yung and to olde,
Of the ten commandemens.
Whos wold be sauid, ham ssold hold.
- 33] The first comondement is this:
O God we ssul honuri,
The heigh king of heuen blis,
His name with wirssip to worthi.
- 37] Loue thou Him as He doth the,
With al thi might and thi thoght;
We aught ful wel, for hit was He
That vs wrecchis so dere boght.
- 41] More harm is, we doth noght so.
We louid the ful dritte of grund.
Alas! wrecchis, whi do we so?
Hit mai noght hold vre lif a stunde.
- 45] Ye, beth hi the deuil be-taught
That liuith op goddis mo than one,
And makith goddis throgh wichcraft.
Thai ssul al to the deuil gone.
- 49] The secunde so is this:
Sundai wel that ye holde
To serve God thilk dai wis,
Bothe yung and ek olde.
- 53] And now the Sundai opunlich
Men holt al har cheping.
Wonder that Gode ne sent wreech
Al an erthe vp mankyn.
- 57] The thrid is: fader, moder to honuri
For euch man aght ful wel.
Moch ten suffrid hi,
Her hi might bring the wrecche to wel. {MS fol 32r}
- 61] Hit fallith bi children that beth quede
As farith bi been in hiue:
Whan fader yiuef ham londe and leed
The yung wol the old ut driue.
- 65] The verth: loue thi neighbore as thine owe bodi
Non other thou him wil.
The fift: wit the fram lecheri.
The sixt is: no gode of man thou ne stel.
- 69] The sefthe: manslaght thou ne be,
Ne coueit noght neuer a del,
Thogh thou be stuter than is he,
No is wif no is catel.
- 73] Fals witnes thou ne ber,
Forto deserti pouer no riche
Sore and bitter the soule sal der,
For hit benimeth heuen riche.
- 77] Besech we Him mild of mode,
That sok the milk of Maid is brest,
That boght vs with is der blod,
Yiue vs euer in heuen rest. Amen.