No More Learning

e heye see wi? oores or wi? shippes. ne ? ei ne
hadden seyne ? itte none newe strondes to leden merchaundyse [[pg 51]]
in to dyuerse co{n}tres.

[Sidenote: The warlike trumpet was hushed and still. ]

? ? o weren ? e cruel 1340
clariou{n}s ful whist {and} ful stille.

[Sidenote: Bloodshed had not yet arisen through hateful quarrels. ]

ne blode yshed by
egre hate ne hadde nat deied ? it armurers.

[Sidenote: Nothing could stimulate their rage to engage in war,
when they saw that wounds and scars were the only meeds.
]

for wherto
or whiche woodenesse of enmys wolde first moeuen
armes. whan ? ei seien cruel woundes ne none medes 1344
ben of blood yshad

[Sidenote: O that those days would come again! ]

? I wolde ? at oure tymes sholde
turne a? eyne to ? e oolde maneres.

[Sidenote: The thirst of wealth torments all; it rages more
fiercely than AEtna's fires. ]

? But ? e anguissous
loue of hauyng brenne? in folke moore cruely ? an ? e
fijr of ? e Mou{n}taigne of Ethna ?