#  The Lovers' Mass 

 



*For words not glossed here see the glossary to the Riverside Chaucer*

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Introibo (Introit)   
   
   
 With all min whol herte enter  
 To-fore the famous riche auter  
 Of the mighty God of Love   
 Which that stondeth high above   
 In the Chapel of Cytheron  
 I will with gret devocion   
 Go knele and make sacrifise   
 Like as the custom doth devise   
 A-fore God praye and wake   
 Of intent I may be take   
 To his servise and ther assure   
 As longe as my lif may dure,   
 To continue as I best kan   
 While I live to ben his man.   
   
   
 Confiteor (Confession)   
   
   
 I am aknowe and wot right well  
 I speke pleinly as I fele   
 Touchinge the grete tendernesse   
 Of my youth and my symplesse   
 Of min unkoning and grene age  
 Will lete me han noon avantage   
 To serve love I kan so lite  
 And yet min hert doth delite   
 Of his servauntes forto here   
 To folowe the way of ther servise   
 Yif I had konning to devise   
 That I might a serbant be   
 Amonges other in my degre   
 Having ful gret repentaunce   
 In loves court my self to offre   
 And my servise for to proffre   
 For fer of my tender youth   
 Nouther by East ne by South,   
 Lest Daunger put me a-bake  
 And Disdain to make wrake  
 Wold hindre me in mun entente,   
 Of al this thing I me repente,   
 As my onscience kan recorde,   
 I say lowly Misericorde.  
   
   
 Misereatur (Have Mercy)   
   
   
 By god of Loves ordunaunce   
 Folkes that have repentaunce   
 Sorowful in herte and no thing right   
 Which he ha not spent his time aright  
 But wasted it in idlenesse   
 Only for lakke of lustinesse   
 In slep, slugardye, and Slouthe  
 Of whom is Pity and gret routhe.   
 But when they repente hem again,   
 Of al ther time spent in vain,   
 The god of Love throgh his might  
 Sith that Mercy passeth right,   
 Thee mot accepted be to grace  
 And put Dauunger out of place.   
 This the will of Dame Venus  
 And of her Bisshop Genius.   
   
   
 Officium (The Office)   
   
   
 In honour of the god Cupide   
 First that he may be my guide   
 In worskip eke of the princesse   
 Which is lady and maistresse,  
 By grace they may for me provide,   
 Humble of herte, devoide of pride,   
 Envy and rancour set aside,   
 With-oute change or doublenesse,   
 In honour of thee  
 First that he   
 Joy and welfare in every tide   
 Be yove to hem, whereso they bide  
 And yive to hem grace on my distresse   
 To have pite of ther highnesse,   
 For in what place I go or ride   
 In honour of thee   
 First that he   
   
   
 Kyrie (Have mercy)   
   
   
 Mercy; Mercy; continually; I crye;   
 In gret disjoint; upon the point; to deye  
 For that Pite; Is unto me; contraire;  
 Daunger my fo; Disdain also; whilk tweye  
 Causen min herte; of mortal smert; dispaire  
 For that she is; fairest iwis; of fair;   
 Hath gladnesse; of my seknesse; to playe   
 Thus my trouble; double and double; doth repaire.   
   
   
 Criste (Christ \[have mercy\])   
   
 Repaireth ay; which night nor day; ne cesseth nought.   
 Now hope, now dred,; now pensifhede; now thought --   
 Al thise yfere; palen min chere; and hewe.  
 Yet to her grace; ech hour and space; I ha besought.  
 Her list not here; for her daunger; doth ay renewe   
 Towardes me; for certes she; list not rewe  
 Upon my paine; and thus my chain; is wrought,   
 Which hath me bounde; never to be founde; untrewe,  
   
   
 Kyrie (Have Mercy)   
   
   
 Untrewe? Nay; to see that day; God forbede.   
 Voide Slouthe; kepe my trouthe; in dede.   
 Eve and morowe; for joy or sorow; I have behight   
 Til I sterve; ever to serve; her wommanhede.  
 In erthe living; ther is no thing; maketh me so light.   
 For I shal die; ne but were her Mercy; mor than right  
 Of no desertes; but Mercy certes; my journey spede.   
 Adieu al play; thus may I say; I, woful wight:   
   
   
 Gloria in excelsis (Glory \[to God\] on high)   
   
   
 Worship to that lord above   
 That called is the god of Love;   
 Pes to his servantes everichon  
 Trewe of hert, stable as ston   
 That faihful be;   
   
 To hertes trewe of ther corage   
 That list chaunge for no rage,   
 But kep hem in their hestes stille,  
 In all maner wedres ille  
 Pes, concord, and unitee.   
   
 God send hem soon their desires   
 And reles of their hot fires  
 That brenneth at their herte sore   
 And encresseth more and more   
 This my prayere.   
   
 And after winter with his showres   
 God send hem comfort of May flowres;   
 After gret wind and stormes kene   
 The glad sonne with bemes shene  
 May appere,   
   
 To yive hem light after dirknesse,  
 Joy eke after hevynesse  
 And after dool and ther wepinge  
 To here the somer fowlles singe  
 God yive grace.   
   
 For ofte sithe men ha seyn  
 A ful bright day after gret reyn  
 And til the storm be laid aside,   
 The herdes under bush abide  
 And taketh place.   
   
 After also the derke night  
 Voide of the Mone and sterre light,  
 And after the nightes dool and sorowe  
 Foloweth oft a ful glad morowe   
 Of Aventure.  
   
 Now, lorde, that knowest hertes alle   
 Of lovers that for helpe calle,   
 On her trouthe of mercy rewe,   
 Namly on swiche as be trewe,   
 Helpe to recure.  
 Amen   
   
 The Orison   
   
   
 Most mighty and most dredful lord,   
 That knowest hertes fals and trewe  
 As wel ther thinking as ther word   
 Both of lovers old and new   
 Of pity and of mercy rewe  
 On thy servaunts that be stable   
 And make ther joye to renewe   
 Swich as will never be chaungable.   
   
   
   
 The Epistel in Prose   
   
 From the party of the poor plaintif in love with many yers of probacion professed to be trewe, to all the holy Fraternity and Confrary of the same brotherhood and to all Hospitalleres and religious not spotted nor made foul with no crime of apostasy, nouther noted nor attaint with no double face or simulation nor constrained countenaunce of ypocrisy; To alle swich children of stableness with-oute \[ 150 \] variaunce of corage or of herte joye Helth and long prosperitee with perfection of perseveraunce, in their trouthe perpetually t'abide:   
   
 Experience techeth that pilgrimes and folkes custoumable to vyage \[i.e., travel\] when they underfange \[undertake\] any long weye which that is laborious, somwhile of consuetude \[habit\] and custom they use a maner to rest on ther way, of entente to wipe and wash away the soot off ther visages; and sum also usen to lie adown the hevy fardelles \[burdens\] off ther bak for to alleggen \[ease\] ther wery lemmes \[limbs\] of ther gret burthen; and somme other usen to gadren \[gather\] wine and somme to drinken other water or wine of their botell or goordes \[gourds\] to assuage the gret drynesse of ther gredy thirst; and somme of hem somwhile rekne \[reckon\] and accounten how muche they ha \[have\] \[ 160 \] passed of ther journee and sodenly turne again ther bakkes towardes som notable citees \[cities\] which they of newe be partid fro. And therwith al recorden and remembren hem of Citees, castelles, and towns which they ha passed by and not forgete hilles ne valeys digne \[worthy\] to be put in remembraunce of hit for a memorial. Somme entitlen \[enter\] hem in smalle bookes of report or in tables \[tablets\] to callen hem to minde when they seen her time. And somme ought callen to minde gret rivers and smalle and perilles of the see that they ha passed by; and when they han alle accounted and again related the parties passed of her journee, of newe they take to hem force, vigor, and strengthe, mightily, without feintise \[deception\] to perform and manly to accomplish the residue and remnant of her \[170\] labour.   
   
 And thus I, in semblabe wise \[similar manner\], al the time of my lif from my grene tendre youth and time that I hadde yeres of discrecion, being and continuing as an errring \[wandering\] pilrgrim in the servise of the mighty and dredful god of Love how many perilous \[assages and wayes that I ha passed by. How ofte in complaining I have setten down to wipen away the soot of my importable \[insupportable\] labour \[ 175 \] And dronken ever of my botell and goordes and bitter drinkes of dreryness; and oft sithes assayed to casten down the importable fardel \[burden\] of min hevy thoughtes; and amonges all thise thinges looked bakwrd to considren and seen the fin and end of my worthy bretheren and predecessours in love that ha passed the same pilgrimage toforn.   
   
 And ther I ha founden and seen \[ 180 \] the grete trouthe of Troilus, perseverant to his lives ende; The trewe stable mening of Penelope; the clenness of Polycene; the kindnesse of Dido, queen of Carthage; And rad also often in my contemplatif meditacions The Holy Legende of Martyrs of Cupido \[Chaucer's LGW\], the secree trouthe of Tristram and Ysoude, and the smalle gerdouns \[rewards\] of woful Palimides.   
   
 All these and an hundred thousand mo called \[ 185 \] to mind, me semeth amonges all I am on of the most forsake and ferthest set behind of grace, and most hindered to the mercy of my lady dere. Not withstondinge the grete party of my pilgrimage that I ha done, but that I shal ever for life or deth continue and perservere trewe to my lives ende.   
   
 Besechinge full lowly to alle you my brethere un\_to whom this littel Epistle is direct, \[ 190\] that it like you of pitee among your devout observaunces to han me recommended with som especial memorye in your prayers, that yet or \[ere\] I die, I may some mercy finde, Or that the God of love enspire \[breathe into\] my ladyes herte of his grace what I endure for her sake.



  
   
   
 **entire**  
 **altar**  
   
   
 **Venus (Citherea)**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **acknoledged**  
   
   
   
 **lack of cunning**  
   
 **little**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **back**  
 **vengeance**  
   
   
   
 **Have mercy**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **ha = have**  
   
   
 **laziness and Sloth**  
   
   
   
 **through**  
   
 **You must be acceppted**  
   
 **This = This is**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **mistress**  
   
   
   
   
 **thee (i.e. Cupid)**  
   
   
 **given to them**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **die**  
 **Pit**  
 **Which two**  
 **pain**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **togethe**  
 **ha = have**  
   
 **rue**  
   
 **untrue**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **die**  
   
 **were not her Mercy greater than Justice**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **Peace**  
   
   
   
   
   
 **promises**  
 **evil weathers (hard times)**  
   
   
   
 **release**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **sun with bright rays**  
   
   
 **darkness**  
 **sorrow**  
 **sadness**  
 **hear**  
   
   
 **many times**  
 **rain**  
   
 **herdsmen**  
   
   
 **dark**  
 **devoid of the Moon**  
 **sadness**  
   
 **by chance**  
   
   
   
   
   
 **recover**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
 **true**  
   
   
 **rue (have mercy)**  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   






**Adapted for beginning readers of Middle English from the edition of MS Fairfax 16, fol. 314 by Eleanor P. Hammond, JEGP VII (1908), 95-104; reprinted, with useful introduction and notes in her English Verse Between Chaucer and Surrey,pp. 207-13 (Widener 10494.224.5)**.