455




460




465




470




475




480




485




490




495




500




505




510




515




520




525




530




535




540




545




550




555




560




565




570




575




580




585




590




595




600




605




610




615




620




625




630

Bot hou that metall cam a-place 
Thurgh mannes wit and goddes grace 
The route of Philosophres wise
Controeveden be sondri wise,
Ferst forto gete it out of Myne, 
And after forto trie and fyne.
And also with gret diligence 
Thei founden thilke experience, 
Which cleped is Alconomie,
Wherof the Selver multeplie 
Thei made and ek the gold also. 
And forto telle hou it is so, 
Of bodies sevene in special 
With foure spiritz joynt withal
Stant the substance of this matiere. 
The bodies whiche I speke of hiere 
Of the Planetes ben begonne: 
The gold is titled to the Sonne, 
The mone of Selver hath his part,
And Iren that stant upon Mart,
The Led after Satorne groweth,
And Jupiter the Bras bestoweth, 
The Coper set is to Venus,
And to his part Mercurius 
Hath the quikselver, as it falleth,
The which, after the bok it calleth, 
Is ferst of thilke fowre named 
Of Spiritz, whiche ben proclamed; 
And the spirit which is secounde 
In Sal Armoniak is founde: 
The thridde spirit Sulphur is; 
The ferthe suiende after this
Arcennicum be name is hote. 
With blowinge and with fyres hote 
In these thinges, whiche I seie, 
Thei worchen be diverse weie.
For as the philosophre tolde 
Of gold and selver, thei ben holde 
Tuo principal extremites,
To whiche alle othre be degres
Of the metalls ben acordant, 
And so thurgh kinde resemblant,
That what man couthe aweie take 
The rust, of which thei waxen blake, 
And the savour and the hardnesse, 
Thei scholden take the liknesse 
Of gold or Selver parfitly. 
Bot forto worche it sikirly,
Betwen the corps and the spirit,
Er that the metall be parfit, 
In sevene formes it is set; 
Of alle and if that on be let,
The remenant mai noght availe, 
Bot otherwise it mai noght faile. 
For thei be whom this art was founde
To every point a certain bounde 
Ordeignen, that a man mai finde
This craft is wroght be weie of kinde, 
So that ther is no fallas inne.
Bot what man that this werk beginne, 
He mot awaite at every tyde,
So that nothing be left aside, 
Ferst of the distillacion, 
Forth with the congelacion, 
Solucion, descencion, 
And kepe in his entencion 
The point of sublimacion, 
And forth with calcinacion 
Of veray approbacion 
Do that ther be fixacion 
With tempred hetes of the fyr,
Til he the parfit Elixir 
Of thilke philosophres Ston 
Mai gete, of which that many on
Of Philosophres whilom write. 
And if thou wolt the names wite
Of thilke Ston with othre tuo, 
Whiche as the clerkes maden tho,
So as the bokes it recorden, 
The kinde of hem I schal recorden. 
These olde Philosophres wyse 
Be weie of kinde in sondri wise 
Thre Stones maden thurgh clergie. 
The ferste, if I schal specefie, 
Was lapis vegetabilis,
Of which the propre vertu is
To mannes hele forto serve,
As forto kepe and to preserve 
The bodi fro siknesses alle, 
Til deth of kinde upon him falle. 
The Ston seconde I thee behote
Is lapis animalis hote,
The whos vertu is propre and cowth
For Ere and yhe and nase and mouth,
Wherof a man mai hiere and se 
And smelle and taste in his degre, 
And forto fiele and forto go
It helpeth man of bothe tuo: 
The wittes fyve he underfongeth
To kepe, as it to him belongeth. 
The thridde Ston in special 
Be name is cleped Minerall, 
Which the metalls of every Mine 
Attempreth, til that thei ben fyne,
And pureth hem be such a weie,
That al the vice goth aweie 
Of rust, of stink and of hardnesse: 
And whan thei ben of such clennesse, 
This Mineral, so as I finde, 
Transformeth al the ferste kynde 
And makth hem able to conceive
Thurgh his vertu, and to receive 
Bothe in substance and in figure 
Of gold and selver the nature. 
For thei tuo ben th' extremetes, 
To whiche after the propretes 
Hath every metal his desir,
With help and confort of the fyr 
Forth with this Ston, as it is seid, 
Which to the Sonne and Mone is leid;
For to the rede and to the whyte 
This Ston hath pouer to profite. 
It makth multiplicacioun 
Of gold, and the fixacioun 
It causeth, and of his habit 
He doth the werk to be parfit 
Of thilke Elixer which men calle 
Alconomie, as is befalle
To hem that whilom weren wise.
Bot now it stant al otherwise; 
Thei speken faste of thilke Ston, 
Bot hou to make it, nou wot non
After the sothe experience. 
And natheles gret diligence 
Thei setten upon thilke dede, 
And spille more than thei spede;
For allewey thei finde a lette,
Which bringeth in poverte and dette 
To hem that riche were afore: 
The lost is had, the lucre is lore,
To gete a pound thei spenden fyve; 
I not hou such a craft schal thryve
In the manere as it is used: 
It were betre be refused 
Than forto worchen upon weene
In thing which stant noght as thei weene. 
Bot noght forthi, who that it knewe, 
The science of himself is trewe 
Upon the forme as it was founded, 
Wherof the names yit ben grounded 
Of hem that ferste it founden oute; 
And thus the fame goth aboute 
To suche as soghten besinesse 
Of vertu and of worthinesse. 
Of whom if I the names calle, 
Hermes was on the ferste of alle, 
To whom this art is most applied; 
Geber therof was magnefied, 
And Ortolan and Morien, 
Among the whiche is Avicen, 
Which fond and wrot a gret partie 
The practique of Alconomie; 
Whos bokes, pleinli as thei stonde 
Upon this craft, fewe understonde; 
Bot yit to put hem in assai 
Ther ben full manye now aday, 
That knowen litel what thei meene. 
It is noght on to wite and weene; 
In forme of wordes thei it trete, 
Bot yit they failen of beyete,
For of tomoche or of tolyte
Ther is algate founde a wyte,
So that thei folwe noght the lyne 
Of the parfite medicine, 
Which grounded is upon nature. 
Bot thei that writen the scripture 
Of Grek, Arabe and of Caldee,
Thei were of such Auctorite 
That thei ferst founden out the weie 
Of al that thou hast herd me seie; 
Wherof the Cronique of her lore 
Schal stonde in pris for everemore. 

company 
contrived 

assay and refine 


alchemy 




joined 




moon 
iron; Mars 
lead 

copper 

mercury 






following 



work 


two 
by 

natural resemblance 





truly 
body 


one be hindered 


by 

establish 

fallacy 

each hour 









heats 


many a one 

know 

then 






vegetable stone 
power 
well-being 



promise 
animal stone 
known 
ear; eye; nose 


feel 

undertakes 




tempers; refined 
purifies 





reproduce 





i.e., all metals want to be gold or silver 


sun and moon 







alchemy 
them 


no one now knows 



lose; succeed 
hindrance 


money 

I do not know 


work on speculation 
























attainment 
too much or of too little 
defect, something to reproach 




Chaldean