Dam Fortone and hir Whele.— 1. 1273.
Bot with the world comes dam fortone
Þat aythir hand may ohaunge[e] sone;
For sho turns about ay hir whele,
Up and doune, als many may fele;
When sho hir whele lates about ga,
Sho turnes sum doune fra wele to wa,
And, eft, agaynward, fra wa to wele;
Þus turnes sho oft obout hir whele,
Þe whilk thir clerkes noght elles calles
Bot happe or chaunce þat sodanli falles
And þat men haldes here noght elles,
Bot welthe and angre in whilk men duelles.
Þarfor worldly happe es ay in dout
Whilles dam fortune turnes hir whele about.
The broad and the narrow way.— 1. 1394.
Þis world es pe way and passage
Þurgh whilk lyes our pilgrymage
By þis way by-hoves us al gang,
Bot be we war we ga noght wrang;
For in pis world liggis twa ways
Als men may fynd þat þam assays
Þe tane es way of pe dede calde,
Þe tother es way of lyfe to halde
Þe way of dede semes large and eesy
And þat may lede us ouer-lightly,
Un-til þe grysly land of mirknes
par sorow and pyn ever-mare es.
pe way of lyfe semes narow and harde
pat ledes us til our contré-warde
pat es pe kyngdom of heven bright
Whare we sal won ay in Goddes sight
And Goddes awen sons þan be calde
If we þe way of lyfe here halde.
Here the orthography of the adjacent Midland English has caused the substitution of wh for quh, in most cases, although instances of the latter also occur, e.g. lines 1165, 1354,
He says þe world es na thyng elles
Bot ane hard exil in qwilk men duelles.
Þe quilk als says wyse men and witty
Onence God is bot folly.
This MS. also uses the more modern sh for the older sch, which occurs in other MSS. of the same work, and in the following, which is also in other respects more characteristically northern.
