CHAUCER'S PROPHECY. <1>
WHEN priestes *failen in their saws,* . . . . . . *come short of their
And lordes turne Godde's laws . . . . . . . . . . . . profession*
Against the right;
And lechery is holden as *privy solace,* . . . . . . *secret delight*
And robbery as free purchase,
Beware then of ill!
Then shall the Land of Albion
Turne to confusion,
As sometime it befell.
Ora pro Anglia Sancta Maria, quod Thomas Cantuaria. <2>
Sweet Jesus, heaven's King,
Fair and best of all thing,
You bring us out of this mourning,
To come to thee at our ending!
Notes to Chaucer's Prophecy.
1. (Transcriber's note: Modern scholars believe that Chaucer
was not the author of this poem)
2. "Holy Mary, pray for England, as does Thomas of
Canterbury" (i.e. St Thomas a Beckett)
-THE END-
Geoffrey Chaucer's poem: Chaucer's Prophecy
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