No More Learning

ilke
2818 _heued or elles_--H. hede or els
2820 _hyen_--H. hyen) to
_moste_--H. must]


[Headnote:
TRUTH INTUITIVE. ]

QUISQUIS P{RO}FUNDA MENTE.

[Sidenote: [The . 11. Met{ru}m. ]]

[Sidenote: He who seeks truth with deep research and is unwilling
to go wrong, should collect his slumbering thoughts, and turn the
inner light upon the soul itself. ]

++WHo so that sekith sot? by a deep thoght And
coueyteth nat to ben deseyuyd by no mys-weyes //
lat hym rollen {and} trenden w{i}t{h} Inne hym self / the Lyht
of his inward syhte // And lat hym gader{e} ayein enclynynge 2836
in to a compas the longe moeuynges of hys
thowhtes /

[Sidenote: The knowledge that he seeks without he will find
treasured up in the recesses of the mind. ]

And lat hym techen his corage that he hath
enclosed {and} hyd / in his tresors / al ? {a}t he compaseth or
sekith fro w{i}t{h} owte //

[Sidenote: The light of Truth will disperse Error's dark clouds,
and shine forth brighter than the sun. ]

And thanne thilke thing that the 2840
blake cloude of errour whilom hadde y-couered / shal
lyhten more clerly tha{n}ne pheb{us} hym self ne shyneth //

[Sidenote: [Chaucer's gloss. ]]

Glosa // who so wole seken the dep[e] grounde / of soth 2843
in his thowht / {and} wol nat be deceyuyd by false p{ro}posiciou{n}s /
that goon amys fro the trouthe // lat hym wel
examine / {and} rolle w{i}t{h} inne hym self the natur{e} {and}
the p{ro}pretes of the thing // and lat hym yit eft sones
examine {and} rollen his thowhtes by good deliberaciou{n} 2848
or that he deme // and lat hym techen his sowle that it [[pg 101]]
hat by naturel pryncyplis kyndeliche y-hyd w{i}t{h} in
it self alle the trowthe the whiche he ymagynith to ben
in thinges w{i}t{h} owte // And thanne alle the dyrknesse of 2852
his mysknowynge shal seen more euydently to [?
e]
syhte of his vndyrstondynge thanne the sonne ne semyth
to [? e] syhte w{i}t{h} owte forth /

[Sidenote: For when the body enclosed the soul and cast oblivion
o'er its powers it did wholly exterminate the heaven-born light. ]

For certes the body
bryngynge the weyhte of foryetynge / ne hath nat chasyd 2856
owt of yowr{e} thowhte al the clernesse of yowre knowyng //

[Sidenote: The germs of truth were latent within, and were fanned
into action by the gentle breath of learning. ]

For certeynly the seed of sooth haldith {and} clyueth
w{i}t{h} in yowr{e} corage / {and} it is a-waked {and} excited by
the wynde {and} by the blastes of doctryne //

[Sidenote: Were not truth implanted in the heart, how could man
distinguish right from wrong? ]

For wher{e} 2860
for elles demen ye of yowr{e} owne wyl the ryhtes whan
ye ben axed // but yif so wer{e} ? {a}t the noryssynges of
resou{n} ne lyuede . I. -plowngyd in the depthe of yowr{e}
herte // this [is] to seyn how sholden men demen ? e 2864
sooth of any thing ? {a}t weer{e} axed / yif ther neer{e} a
Roote of sothfastnesse ? {a}t weer{e} yplowngyd {and} hyd in
the natur{e}[l] pryncyplis / the whiche sothfastnesse
lyued w{i}t{h} in the depnesse of the thowght //

[Sidenote: So, if what Plato taught is true, 'to learn is no other
than to remember what had been before forgotten. ']

{and} yif 2868
so be ? {a}t the Muse {and} the doctryne of plato syngyth
sooth // al ? {a}t eu{er}y whyht lerneth / he ne doth no
thing elles tha{n}ne but recordeth as me{n} recordyn thinges
? {a}t ben foryetyn. 2872

[Linenotes:
2838 _his_--H.