Ye ben a-basshed / hit semeth and yn drede
Sire Cardynal / hit sheweth be 3owre chere
But yit for-thi / 3e folow shul yn dede
With other folke / my daunce for to lere 3owre grete a-rai / al shal be-leue here 3owre hatte of rede / 3owre vesture of grete coste
All these thinges / rekened well I-fere
In grete honowre / gode avise is loste.
hit semeth: it seems 3owre chere: your face / mien
lere: learn
3owre hatte of rede: your red hat
The Cardynal answereth
I haue grete cause / certis this is no faile
To be a-basshed / and gretli drede me
Sithen dethe is come / me sodeynli to assaile
That I shal neuer / here after clothed be
In gris ner hermyn / like to my degre
Mi hatte of rede / leve eke yn distresse
Bi whiche I haue / [lerned] wel and se
How that al ioye / endeth yn heuynesse.
Sithen: since
gris: costly grey fur, hermyn: ermine eke: also
ioye: happiness, heuynesse: heaviness
Dethe to the Kynge
0 noble Kynge / moste worthi of renown
Come forth a-noon / for al 3owre worthinesse
That somme-tyme had / a-bowte yow envroun
Grete [r]ialte / and passynge hye noblesse
But right a-noon / al 3owre grete hyenesse
Sool fro 3owre men / yn haste 3e schul hit lete
Who most haboundeth / here yn grete richesse
Shal bere with him / but a sengle shete.
a-noon: at once somme-tyme: formerly rialte: royalty
sool: sole, alone, fro: from, hit: it haboundeth: abounds, is wealthy
The Kynge answereth
I haue not lerned / here-a-forne to daunce
No daunce in sothe / of fotynge so sauage
Where-fore I see / be clere demonstraunce
What pride is worth / force or hye lynage
Deth al fordoth / this is his vsage
Grete and smale / that yn this worlde soiourne
Who is moste meke / I holde he is moste sage
For [w]e shalle al / to dede asshes turne.
Medieval dances of death
St. Paul's, London