As for example the first two
verses of the book run upon 's,' as thus:
'In a somer season whan sette was the sunne
I shope me into shrobbes as I a shepe were.'
The next runneth upon 'h,' as thus:
'In habite as an Hermite unholy of workes.'
This thing being noted, the metre shall be very pleasant to read.
The English is according to the time it was written in, and the
sense somewhat dark, but not so hard but that it may be
understood of such as will not stick to break the shell of the
nut for the kernel's sake."
This printer also says in his preface that the book was first
written in the time of King Edward III, "In whose time it pleased
God to open the eyes of many to see his truth, giving them
boldness of heart to open their mouths and cry out against the
works of darkness. . . . There is no manner of vice that reigneth
in any estate of man which this writer hath not godly, learnedly,
and wittily rebuked."*
*R. Crowley is his preface to Piers Ploughman, printed in 1550.
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