His ego nec metas rerum nec tempora pono: Imperium sine fine dedi.
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Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath Preluded those melodious bursts that fill The spacious times of great Elizabeth With sounds that echo still. TENNYSON
Whan that Apprill with his shouris sote And the droughte of marche hath pa'd [.y] rote And badid euery veyne in suche licour Of whiche vertu engendrid is the flour Whanne zepherus eke with his sote breth Enspirid hath in euery holte and heth The tendir croppis and the yong sonne Hath in the ram half his cours y conne And smale foulis make melodie That slepyn al nyght with opyn ye So prikith hem nature in her corage Than longyng folk to gon on pilgremage And palmers to seche straunge londis To serue halowis couthe in sondry londis And specially fro euery shiris ende Of yngelond to Cauntirbury thy wende The holy blisful martir for to seke That them hath holpyn when they were seke
And fil in that seson on a day In Suthwerk atte tabard as I lay Redy to wende on my pilgremage To Cauntirbury with deuout corage That nyght was come in to that hosterye Wel nyne & twenty in a companye Of sondry folk be auenture y falle In feleship as pilgrymys were they alle That toward Cauntirbury wolden ryde The chambris and the stablis were wyde And wel were they esid atte beste
This book is intituled confessio amantis / that is to saye in englysshe the confessyon of the louer maad and compyled by Johan Gower squyer borne in walys in the tyme of kyng richard the second which book treteth how he was confessyd to Genyus preest of venus vpon the causes of loue in his fyue wyttes and seuen dedely synnes / as in thys sayd book al alonge appyereth / and by cause there been comprysed therin dyuers hystoryes and fables towchyng euery matere / I haue ordeyned a table here folowyng of al suche hystoryes and fables where and in what book and leef they stande in as here after foloweth
¶ Fyrst the prologue how johan gower in the xvi yere of kyng rychard the second began to make thys book and dyrected to harry of lancastre thenne erle of derby folio ¶ ii
Of thestate of the royames temporally the sayd yere folio ¶ iii
Of thestate of the clergye the tyme of robert gylbonensis namyng hym self clemente thenne antipope folio ¶ iv