Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition

Anglo-Irish poems of the Middle Ages (Author: [unknown])

Poem 12

Seven Sins

1] May the King of heaven be with us, and the fiend of hell depart from us, today and ever more! Grant me today a good beginning, to adore the King of heaven and to declare his teaching,
7] And grant that you may understand this sermon - in order greatly to shame and disgrace the devil - and that you may obey it, as a great remedy for body and soul, and for salvation.
13] We are all dirt and maw, and sown from the same foul earth. This world's wealth is only misery, whoever wishes to understand it. This wretched life is only a brief period of time. It is passing away constantly.
19] Man, be you never so powerful, consider whom you resemble when you are entirely naked. Realise that which you shall turn into, and rot to ashes and dust from which you are made.
25] Cleanse yourself of wrongdoing, learn to lead your life well while you are alive. Have trust in no friend, child nor wife, but in one Jesus Christ.
31] My dear friends, I beg you, young, old, poor and rich, give heed to God's word. Today I will teach you to amend your sinful life in the name of God and Blessed Mary.
37] And that He may grant me to speak so well today as to break the devil's staff, and with him thus to fight, I beg of you in charity an Our Father and a Hail Mary for it, in the name of God Almighty.
43] May that peace that is in God's house be amongst us today, through his holy grace; may that give life and good ending to me, and give to you great happiness in this same place!
49] God Himself says in His Gospel: ‘My beloved friends, I wish to tell you, take heed to me! I will not lie one word to you, of the bliss of heaven nor of the torment of hell, nor of mighty judgment,’
55] And of the seven principal sins, on account of which men lose heaven. I wish to mention them all, and I will teach you their names, and how they desire to deceive men and make them fall.
61] First I will begin with Pride, for it is the source of all sin - I will cause you to know Lucifer - it is written in the Holy Book who was so glorious, who was the most beautiful of all beings. Apart from God, there was none so fair as he was. There was never found
70] one so ugly as when he lies fettered in hell.
He had no greater sin for which he was thrust from heaven. A little pride had come to him, therefore God has taken away from him
75] heavenly happiness which shall last for ever, and he is thrown into hell. There he must dwell for ever more, and pay very bitterly for his pride. Alas! man, why are you proud?
80] Where does your beautiful clothing come from with which you are wrapped around? Not at all from yourself, man, certainly! You wear your own disgrace upon you, which covers your flesh and your bone.
85] I desire that you know well that it is only a corrupt skin that is your own proper garment. Consider, man, and be fearful!
90] Man and woman, understand this: let each one - who is so completely deceived by it - give up his most favourite thing, linen, woollen, gloves or shoes, which you are so proud of, you must not allow yourself a shred of clothing.
95] Therefore, man, I warn you against worldly pride in thought and deed; and [command you] to lead your life according to God's counsel, to love God and have reverence [for Him], so
100] that you may be God's son and please Him at the Last Judgment.
Covetousness is the second, listen now, dear brother! There is many a man deluded, the devil has so bound them.
105] The man who is covetous will never come to God's house.
There are all too many like that who love this world's wealth
110] more than God, who has made them from dust, and has redeemed them at so high a price. He does not wish to expend his property wastefully, but he always guards it securely.
115] He wishes that there might not be anyone alive as rich as he, and always, as he possesses more, he gathers the faster to store for the future.
And he will always Eve his life thus, in
120] great sorrow and fear. He will never have repose, in order to guard securely his vast wealth, so that sleep cannot come to him in case his property is taken from him. He would rather give of his blood to any man than of his goods.
125] He will not take heed of another thing, but will feed his foul body with his silver and his gold, not his soul which he ought to nourish. He sits upon his dung-heap of wealth.
130] He who acts like this with his property does not imagine his end - that he must depart out of this world - and he will not understand what he is nor whither he must go.
135] He hopes to guard his property well, but he will not think about his own soul. He always thinks his life secure with his silver and his gold. When he hopes to live well, he must fall
140] down dead.
The devil takes away his life's breath, then he causes him much grief. On account of his wealth the devil torments him, and he carries off his soul to hell.
145] The devil is the executor of his gold and his treasure which he trusted to so much. Look, now, how it has passed away!
150] Therefore, man, in every way I forbid you covetousness. Have no trust in the world's prosperity. It goes away like the mist - it is here, and it is gone - worldly happiness fares in this way.
155] Be he never so prosperous, when he lies a cold corpse, he can be proud if he has an old piece of cloth with which he can be
160] covered, so that no man see him stripped naked of what he amassed and was his. Is this not a shame? Alas, alas!
The third sin thus is envy, that is much in the land at the
165] present time - and they always please the devil in hell - I will tell you in what manner. Dear bretheren, listen now, and I will tell you how!
170] The world's prosperity comes unequally, and not to each man alike. There are some who are not able to live, some who have the amity of friends, and there are some who toil hard, to gain property in order to have more to sustain themselves properly, and they are for ever unsatisfied.
175] And there are some, dear brother, who have more than another, and greater love of property, man.
180] Because of that the other will stir up discord.The MS text breaks off here.