The Temple of Glas

 

From: The Temple of Glas

By John Lydgate 1370-1451

For thought, constraint, and grievous hevines,
For pensifhede, and for heigh distress,
To bed I went now this other nyght,
Whan that Lucina with her pale light
Was Ioyned last with Phebus in aquaria
Amyd decembre, when of Ianuarie
Ther be kalendes of the new yere,
And derk Diane, ihorned, nothing clere,
Had hid hir bemys undir a mysty cloude:
Within my bed for sore I gan me shroude,
Al desolate for consteint of my wo
The longe nyght waloing to and fro,
Til ate last, er I gan taken kepe,
Me did opresse a sodein dedeli slepe,
With-in the which me thought that I was
Ravysshid in spirit in a temple of glas–
I nyste how, as bilyklinesse,
Not opon stele, but on a craggy roche,
Like ise Ifrore. And as I did approche,
Again the sonne that shone, me thought, so clere
As eny cristal, and ever nere and nere
As I gan neigh this grisly, dredful place,
I we astonyed: the light so in my face
Bigan to smyte, so persing ever in one
On evere part, where that I gan gone
That I ne might nothing, as I would,
Abouten me consider and behold,
The wonder estres, for brightnes of the sonne;
Til ate last certain skyes donne,
With wind Ichaced, have her cours Iwent
To-fore the stremes of Titan and Iblent,
So that I might, with-in and with-oute,
Where so I walk, biholden me aboute,
Forto report the fasoun and manere
Of al this place, that was circulere
In compaswise, Round bentaile wrought.
And whan that I hade long gone and sought,

I fond a wiket, and entrid in as fast
Into the temple, and myn eyen cast
On evere side, now lowe & eft aloft.
And right anone, as I gan walken soft,
If I the soth aright reporte shal,
I saughe depeynt upon evere wal,
From est to west, fuol many a faire Image
Of sondri lovers, lich as thei were trwe,
With lifli colours wonder fresh of hwe.
A,as me thought, I saughe somme sit and stoned,
An some kneling with billis in hir honed,
And some with complaint, woful and pitous,
With doleful chere to putten to Venus,
So as she sate fleting in the se,
Upon hire wo forto have pite.

This poem is glossed in the margins of The Early Englysse Texte Society edition as follows:

In heaviness
and distress
I went to bed
the other
night,

A long while
restless,
I at last fell
into a deep
sleep,

In which I
was carried in
spirit into a
Temple of
glass,
far in a wil-
derness, on a
craggy rock,
frozen like
ice.

As I ap-
proached,
methought
the Temple
shone clear
as crystal
against the
sun:
the light
shone so
dazzlingly in
my face,

That I could
perceive
nothing,

Till at last
some dark
clouds drifted
before the
sun,

So that I
could see all
around me.

This place
was circular,
round in
shape.
After I had
long sought,
I found a
wicket, and
entered
quickly.
I cast my eyes
on every side,

And saw pic-
tured on the
walls images
of sundry
lovers.

Some sat,
some stood,
some knelt,
with ‘bills’ in
their hands,
with com-
plaints to lay
before Venus.

Among those presenting billes of compleynte is an unnamed ladi:

But alderlast as I walk & bihelde
Beside Pallas with hir crystal sheld,
Tofore the statue of venus set on height.
How that ther knelid a ladi in my sight
Tofore the goddess, which right as the sonne
Passeth the sterres & doth her stremes donne,
And Lucifer, to voide the nyghtes sorrow,
In clereness passeth erli bi the morrow,
And so as Mai hath the sovereinte
Of evere moneth, of fairness & beaute,
And as the rose in swetnes & odoure
Surmounteth floures, and bawme of all licour
Haveth the pris, & as the rubie bright
Of al stones in beaute & in sight,
As it is know, hath the regalie:
Right so this ladi with hir goodli eighe,
And with the stremes of hir loke so bright,
Surmounteth al thurugh beaute in my sight,
Forto tell hir gret semelines,
Hir womanhed, hir port, & hir fairness,
It was a mervaile, hou ever that nature
Coude in hir werkis make a creature
So aungellike, so goodli on to se,
So femynyn or passing of beaute,
Whos sonnyssh here, brighter than gold were,
Lich Phebus bemys shynyng in his spere—
The goodlihed eke of hir fresshli face,
So replenysshid of beaute and of grace,
So wel ennvyd bi nature & depeint,
That Rose and lilies togedir were so meint,
So egalli bi good proporcioun
I gan mervaile, hou God, or werk of kind,
Mighten of beaute such a tresour find,
To yeven hir so passing excellence.
For in goode fath, thurugh hir heigh presence
The tempil was enlumynd enviroun,
And forto speke of condicioun,
She was the best that myghte ben on lyve:
For ther was noon that with hir myghte strive,
To speke of bounte, or of gentiles,
Of womanhed, or of lowlynes,
Of curtesie, or of goodlihed,
Of speech, of chere, or of semlyhed,
Of port benygne, & of daliaunce,
The beste taught, & therto of pleasaunce
She was the wel, and eke of oneste
An exemplary, & mirror eke was she
Of serenes, of trouth, of faythfulnes,
And to al other ladi and maistres,
To sue vertu, whoso list to lere.
And so this ladi, benign and humble of chere,
Kneling I saugh, al clad in grene and white,
Tofore Venus, goddess of al delite,
Enbrouded al with stones & perre
So richeli, that ioi it was to se,
With sondri rolles on hir garnement,
Forto expoune the trouth of hir entent,
And shew fulli, that for her humbilles,
And for hir vertu, and hir stabilnes,
That she was rote of womanly plesaunce.
Therfore hir woord without variaunce
Enbrouded was, as men myghte se:
‘De mieulx en mieulx,’ with stones and perre:
This is to sein that she, this benigne,
From bettir to bettir hir herte dorth resigne,
And al hir wil, to Venus the goddess,
Whan that hir list hir harmes to redresse.

Glossed:

Last of all I
saw, beside
Pallas, before
the staue of
Venus,

A lady kneel-
ing,
and, as the
Sun outshines
all stars,

As May is the
fairest of all
months,

As the rose
surpasses all
flowers, balm
all liquors,
and the ruby
all stones:

So this lady
with her
radiant looks
surpassed all
in beauty.

It was a
marvel how
Nature could
make so
angelic a
creature:

Her sunny
hair was
brighter than
goldwire,

In her fresh
face roses and
lilies seemed
to mingle

And alto-
gether she
was of such
passing
beauty and
excellence,

That the whole
Temple was
illumined by
her high pre-
sence.

No one could
compare with
her in
womanly
charms and
virtues:

she was a
model and
mirror,
lady and mis-
tress to all of
her sex.

I saw this
lady kneeling
before Venus,
clad in green
and white,

With broider-
ies of precious
stones, and
sundry
‘rolls,’

Setting forth
her motto:
‘De mieux en
mieux.’

This is to
say: she
resigns her
heart and
will, from

Better to bet-
ter, unto
Venus.