2The lines listing the attributes in Latin (Anima, Animus, Mens, Memoria, Racio, Sensus, Consciencia, Amor, Spiritus) are omitted. They are taken from Saint Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies Book xi Chapter 1.
3Isaiah xiv 14.
4Proverbs xxv 27. A line is then omitted to avoid repetition.
5Saint Bernard, Epistle cci Volume 1.
6Cf. Saint Augustine, De Baptismo, contra Donatistas Book 2 Chapter 5.
7Psalms xcvi 7 and iv 3 (KJV Psalms xcvii 7 and iv 2).
8Cf. James ii 1.
9The Latin quotation is taken from a set of Homilies by an unidentified author known as “Pseudo-Chrysostom.” Its opening line is omitted to avoid repetition.
10Matthew xviii 3.
11Long Will suggests both perseverance and a physical description. “Long” combined with “land” is probably a pun on “Langland,” although “land” may be a misreading of “London.”
121 Corinthians xiii 4–5.
131 Corinthians xiii 12.
14Matthew vi 10 and the Lord’s Prayer.
15Psalm xli 6 (KJV Psalm xlii 5).
16Psalm vi 7 (KJV Psalm vi 6).
17Psalm l (=50) 19 (KJV Psalm li 17).
18Matthew ix 4, cf. Luke xi 17.
19Piers is a diminutive of Peter, Peter is the Rock, and the Rock is Christ: see Matthew xvi 18 and 1 Corinthians x 4.
20Matthew vi 16.
21Ecclesiasticus xxxi 8. (Ecclesiasticus is regarded as Apocryphal in KJV.)
22Psalm iv 9 (KJV Psalm iv 8).
23Saint Giles, possibly French or Greek, was a popular patron saint because of his association with forests and deer-hunting, important features of English life.
24The third- to fourth-century Saint Antony was regarded as one of the founders of monasticism, having spent most of his long life in the Egyptian desert.
25Not the Apostle Paul but the fourth-century Paul of Thebes, who was taken as their model by the Augustinian Friars.
26The Apostle Paul was generally assumed to be a tent-maker. Paul of Thebes allegedly made baskets.
27She supposedly settled in Provence toward the end of her life.
28Job vi 5, followed by an unknown commentary.
29Psalm cxi 9 (KJV Psalm cxii 9).
30A line almost identical to line 334 is omitted here.
31From the writings of Peter Cantor.
32The thirteenth-century hymn Pange, lingua, gloriosi corporis mysterium (Sing out, my tongue, of the mystery of the glorious body) by Saint Thomas Aquinas.
33See Step V Note 3.
34Matthew vii 7.
35Matthew v 13.
36Matthew v 13.
37This Augustine is the missionary sent to England in AD 597, not Augustine of Hippo, who is cited elsewhere in the poem.
38Matthew xxii 4.
39Psalm cxxxi 6 (KJV Psalm cxxxii 6).
40Mark xvi 15.
41John x 11. Absentee bishops were appointed to these dioceses on the principle that the cities would one day be recovered for Christianity.
42Matthew xx 4.
43Matthew vii 7.
44Deuteronomy xxiii 25.
45This and the previous paragraph are placed later in Skeat, after the paragraph on Constantine.
46Galatians vi 14.
47The Order of the Knights Templar was suppressed in 1312.
48Luke i 52.
49Deuteronomy xii 6.
50Isaiah iii 7.
51Not Osee (KJV Hosea) but Malachias (KJV Malachi) iii 10.
52John xi 43.
53Not a quotation, but referring to Daniel ix 24.
54The first line of the Apostles’ Creed.
Step XVI
In which Soul speaks of Charity as a tree grown for Piers the Plowman, at the sound of whose name I sink into another dream within a dream. I see Piers himself explaining the meaning of the tree. The devil, waiting for the fruit to fall, can be overcome by free will, with the aid of Christ, whose Passion is described. Piers vanishes, my inner dream ends, and I see Faith, of the house of Abraham, who explains the Trinity. Although he has already welcomed God, he and the patriarchs clutched to his bosom are damned unless he finds Christ as well.
“On behalf of Haukin the Active Man
I’m indebted,” I said, “for so solid a survey,
Though what Charity means remains a muddle.”
“Charity is a tree,” Soul told me, “whose title
5 Is Humble Patience and Poor Simple Heart.
Its core is clemency, its flowers a fair visage,
And its root is mercy and mildness of manner.
Its leaves are loyalty and the law of the Church,
And its fruit can grow thanks to good men and God.”
10 “I would travel,” I told him, “two thousand miles
And forsake other food to feed on its fruit.
But can anyone hazard a guess where it grows?”
“It grows in a garden that God himself made,
For its roots lie right in the midst of man.
15 The heart is its bed, its home and its arbor,
And Free Will the gardener who furrows and forks
And plants and weeds it for Piers the Plowman.”
“Piers the Plowman,” I repeated, so ecstatic
That his name was referred to that I fell into a faint
20 And lay for long in a reverie till at last
It seemed as if Piers himself were signing
To the tree and telling me to examine it exactly,
And soon I perceived that three props sustained it.
“Piers,” I said, “what’s the purpose of the props?”
25 “To prevent it falling in the fury of the wind,
Whose strength would strip it of flowers in the spring:
When he shall fall, he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth his hand under him.1
The world is a wind that whips at the faithful,
Allowing Covetousness to lick at the leaves
And forage for the fruit with his promises of fortune,
30 So the prop I first placed is the Power of God.
“The flesh blows a foul wind fiercely too
When the tree is young, with tempting treats
Of lechery, lust and lascivious sights,
And sensuous words that are snakes of sin
35 Which bite off the blossoms and leave the leaves bare.
That is why I have wedged it with the Wisdom of God,
Thus protecting the tree till the fruit have taken
Through prayers and penance,” said Piers, “and reflection
On the Passion and power of our princely Jesus.
40 “For Satan still seeks to destroy the fruit
With his tricks and enticements, by tugging at the root
And telling his cut-throats to attack the crop.
They toss up brickbats and back-bite and brawl,
And lean up ladders with rungs made of lies,
45 And sometimes they steal the flowers in my sight.
But Free Will I gave to foil and defeat him,
The third prop I placed to protect the tree:
But he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, and
To sin through free will is not to strive against sin.2
For when the devil makes one with
the world
And the flesh against me to fetch in the fruit,
50 Free Will can fight and vanquish the devil,
By seizing and swinging the third prop I set
Through the gift of grace and the Holy Ghost.”
“I’m sincerely grateful,” I said, “that you describe
The purpose and power of the props so well,
55 But dear Piers, there are plenty of puzzles still,
Such as where they grow, in what kind of wood,
For they look all alike, all equal in length,
And they seem to have sprung from a single root,
And to have the same size and a similar hue.”
60 “It is probable that is the truth,” said Piers.
“You have truly been told the name of the tree,
Which betokens the Trinity, and now I shall name
The ground where it grows, which is known as Goodness.”
He eyed me so keenly that I could not in conscience
65 Question him further but requested him kindly
To describe the swags of succulent fruit.
“At the bottom,” he said, “if I sense it’s essential,
Is the moist and emollient fruit called marriage.
Then higher up hang the hard Cailloux pears3
70 Of widowed continence, and closest to the crown
Is angelic virginity, which rapidly ripens,
Is sweet without swelling and never is sour.”
I asked Piers if he pleased to pull down an apple
And allow me to test it and try how it tasted.
75 He tossed up a stick, which set the fruit screaming,
He waggled at widowhood, making it weep,
And marriage set up such a mournful lament
When Piers approached that I felt only pity.
But as fast as they fell, the devil would find them
80 And gather them together, the great and the small,
Adam and Abraham, and Isaiah the prophet,
The saint John the Baptist, and Samuel and Sampson,
And bear them off boldly, with nobody to block him,
And add them to his horde in the limbo of hell,
85 Which is dark and dreadful, and its master is the devil.
Then Piers, enraged, picked up a prop
And hit out heedless of what might happen.
With the Son of the Father, strengthened by the Spirit,
He seized from Satan the fruit he had stolen.
90 In the guise of Gabriel the Holy Ghost greeted
A meek little maiden called Mary, and told her
That the son of Justice, Jesus, would enjoy
The protection of her womb till the time was attained.
Then Piers’ tree would flower and its fruit would fall,
95 And Jesus the Just by judgment of arms
Would decide whether Satan or he would receive it.
The maid gave the messenger her modest consent
And humbly answered, “I am his handmaid
And am willing to work his will without sin”:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.4
100 He was forty weeks in the womb of that wench,
Then a child who studied the several subjects
Required in due course to combat the devil.
And Piers was apprised of the time of that trial,
And instructed him in skills that would save his life
105 By healing himself if his enemy hurt him,
And told him to try out those skills on the sick,
Improving his practice to prepare for the fight.
So he sought out sinners and sick folk alike
And cured them both, and the crippled and blind,
110 And converted to virtue fallen women:
They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill.5
He relieved many lepers and likewise the dumb
And women with the flux, without fanfare or fuss,
And then lifted up Lazarus, who had lain in the grave,
And admitted to the miracle of making him walk
115 After four days dead; though before he performed it,
Folk saw that he wept and was sorrowful and sad.6
Then some folk styled him “Physician of Life”
And hailed him as the Lord of heaven on high,
But the Jews objected and issued judgments
120 Condemning him for witchcraft and dealing with the devil:
Thou hast a devil; who seeketh to kill thee?7
“Then you and your children are churls who have chosen
Satan as your savior,” Jesus said, “for you’ve seen
I have saved both you and your sons besides,
And restored your bodies, and the blind, even beasts,
125 And fed you a feast with two fish and five loaves,
Leaving several baskets of scraps to be scavenged.”
He rebuked them and threatened to beat and lambaste them
With a knout in the Temple, overturning and tearing
At the merchants’ and money-changers’ mercenary stalls,
130 Proclaiming to all so that everyone could hear,
“I shall tear down this temple, and three days hence
I shall build it anew, more beautiful and better
In every aspect than ever it was,
And just as wide, which is why I warn you
135 To call this a place of purity and prayer:
My house shall be called the house of prayer.”8
But the Jews were inhabited by ill-will and envy,
And they plotted and planned and prepared to kill him,
Watching and waiting, day after day,
Till one Friday before the Passover feast.
140 On the Thursday he’d said to his assembled disciples,
Sitting at the supper which he had then served,
“Someone among you will sell me for silver
And be sorry he sold his Savior for wealth.”
When Judas objected, Jesus told him
145 The suspect was himself, for “Thou hast spoken.”9
Then the wicked man went away to the Jews
And arranged how to recognize Jesus and arrest him
By a sign that is still often seen to this day,
Kissing and callously seeming to smile,
150 Which is just how Judas identified Jesus.
“Hail Rabbi,” he said, going right to his side10
And kissing him, letting him be captured and caught.
Then Jesus said to both Judas and the Jews,
&nbs
p; “I can see deception in your soft-spoken speech,
155 And guile in your gladness and gall in your laughter.
You’ll be seen the world over as a symbol of deceit,
And your evil will rebound on your heads for ever:
For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh!11
Though I’m taken by treason as you plainly intend,
Permit my apostles to depart in peace.”
160 And thus on a Thursday in the threatening dusk,
Jesus was seized by Judas and the Jews,
And the Friday following in Jerusalem he fought,
Generously jousting to bring us joy.
Then he carried the battle to Calvary’s cross,
165 Destroying the strength of death and the devil,
Not dying though dying, turning night into day.
I was roused from my reverie, rubbed at my eyes
And peered about for Piers the Plowman.
Eastwards and westwards I went and wandered
170 From place to place in my quest for Piers,
Seeking and searching like a madman possessed,
Till I met with a man, one mid–Lent Sunday,
As hoary as hawthorn, Abraham by name.
I asked first of all what area he came from,
175 Where was his home and where he was heading.
“I am Faith,” said the fellow, “so I’m loath to lie.
I’m a herald of arms from Abraham’s house,
And I’m looking high and low for a lad I once saw,
A bold young brave whose blazon I know.”
180 “What’s depicted on his arms?” I asked, “if you please?”
“Three men in one body, each broadly built
And alike in length and likewise in strength.
What each does, they all do, but each acts alone.
The first is the Maker, immense and mighty,
185 The primal person, properly called Father.
The second is his Son, who is steadfast and true,
Original, infinite, caring for all.
The Holy Ghost is equally primordial,
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