Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 2.pdf/189

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I leave Saint John, the Baptist hight,

His couches green, and sandhills white,

His dwelling was too far away,

In towns and burgs I liefer stay,

And build fair palaces and halls

And safely dwell behind strong walls.

I oft declare that I renounce

The world, yet would not lose an ounce

Thereof; good Lord! the world to me

Is, as to fish, the brimming sea.

Servant of Antichrist am I,

Of whom saith Scripture truthfully,

That, while of holiness he wears

The cloak, within his heart he bears

Iniquity. Like lambkins we

Appear outside, but inwardly

Are ravening wolves; we overrun

The earth, and under every sun

Bring strife, and fain would hold command

O’er lives of men in every land.

And if within a city wall

I find some wretch unnatural

(And ’tis reported that Milan

At one time lay beneath this ban),

Or one who as a usurer sits,

And sells long terms and post obits,

Fulfilled of all rapacity;

Or steeped in luxury one be,

Or prelate living jovial life,

Or priest who leman hath as wife;

Provost or officer in chief,

Who is but a disloyal thief,