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Therefrom, for shouldst thou let it stray,

That crime shall store an evil day.

But he who wholly doth accord

His heart in one great gift, reward

Doth merit, and each gift shall bring

The donor bounteous guerdoning.

But give it freely, singly, clear,

With joyous face and pleasant cheer,

For greatly doth the manner make

An offering welcome, none will take

A gift bestowed with grudging mien,

Above the worth of one poor bean.

When thou thy heart hast freely given,

As my fair sermoning hath striven

To teach thee, then thou next shall know

The toils and griefs those undergo,

Whose shoulders bear the lover’s yoke.

Thy love adventures must thou cloke

From eyes of other men, lest they

Perceive the miseries that play

Around thy heart; thou all alone,

Content must be to make thy moan.

Then sighs, and woeful plaints, and tears,

And trembling hopes, and shivering fears,

Within thy breast wilt thou enfold;

Now parched with heat, now pinched with cold,

And now vermilion red, and now

Wan as a spectre shalt thou grow:

No fevers ever troubled man,

Nor tertian, nor quotidian,

Worse than the throes that lovers feel.

And many a time will love so deal