[Sidenote: [The sixte Met{ur}.]]
[Sidenote: We know what ruin Nero did.]
++WE han wel knowen how many g{r}eet[e] harmes {and}
destrucc{i}ou{n}s weren doñ by þe Emp{er}oure Nero.
[Sidenote: He burnt Rome, he slew the conscript fathers, murdered
his brother, and spilt his mother’s blood.]
¶ He letee brenne þe citee of Rome {and} made slen þe 1460
senato{ur}s. and he cruel somtyme slouȝ hys broþer. {and}
he was maked moyst wiþ þe blood of hys modir. þat is
to seyn he let sleen {and} slitte{n} þe body of his modir to
seen where he was conceiued.
[Sidenote: He looked unmoved upon his mother’s corpse, and passed
judgment upon her beauty.]
{and} he loked[e] on euery 1464
half vpon hir colde dede body. ne no tere ne wette
his face. but he was so hard herted þat he myȝt[e] ben
domesman or Iuge of hire dede beaute.
[Sidenote: Yet this parricide ruled over all lands, illumined by
the sun in his diurnal course, and controlled the frozen regions
of the pole.]
¶ And ȝitte
neuerþeles gouerned[e] þis Nero by Ceptre al þe peoples 1468
þat phebus þe sonne may seen comyng from his outerest
arysyng til he hidde his bemes vndir þe wawes. ¶ þat
is to seyne. he gouerned[e] alle þe peoples by Ceptre imp{er}ial
þat þe so{n}ne goþ aboute from est to west ¶ And 1472
eke þis Nero goueyrende by Ceptre. alle þe peoples þat
ben vndir þe colde sterres þat hyȝten þe seuene triones.
þis is to seyn he gouerned[e] alle þe poeples þat ben vndir
þe p{ar}ties of þe norþe.
[Sidenote: He governed, too, the people in the torrid zone.]
¶ And eke Nero gouerned[e] 1476
alle þe poeples þat þe violent wynde Nothus scorchiþ
{and} bakiþ þe brennynge sandes by his drie hete. þat
is to seyne. alle þe poeples in þe souþe.
[Sidenote: But yet Nero’s power could not tame his ferocious
mind.]
[but yit ne
myhte nat al his heye power torne the woodnesse of 1480
this wykkyd nero /
[Sidenote: It is a grievous thing when power strengthens the arm
of him whose will prompts him to deeds of cruelty.]
Allas it is greuous fortune it is]. as
ofte as wicked swerde is ioygned to cruel venym. þat is
to sein. venimous cruelte to lordshipe.
[Linenotes:
1458 _greet[e]_--grete
1460 _letee_--let
1461 _somtyme slouȝ_--whilom slow
1463 _let_--lette
1464 _where_--wher
1465 _half_--halue
1466 _myȝt[e]_--myhte
1467 _hire_--hyr
1468 _neuerþeles_--natheles
_gouerned[e]_--gou{er}nede
_al_--alle
1469 _from_--fram
_outerest_--owtereste
1470 _hidde_--hide
1471 _seyne_--seyn
1472 _goþ_--MS. goþe, C. goth
1473 _goueyrende_--gou{er}nyd
1474 _triones_--tyryones
1475 _gouerned[e]_--gou{er}nede
1476 _parties_--p{ar}ty
_norþe_--north
_gouerned[e]_--gou{er}nede
1477 _wynde_--wynd
_scorchiþ_--scorklith
1479 _seyne_--seyn
_souþe_--sowth
1479-81 [_but----it is_]--MS. _has_: but ne how greuous fortune is
1482 _swerde_--swerd]
[[pg 56]]
[Headnote:
THE LOVE OF GLORY.]