1. (Transcriber’s Note: Modern scholars believe that Chaucer’s
may have been the author of the first stanza of this poem, but
was not the author of the second and third).
2. These foure: that is, the four elements, of which man was
believed to be composed.
3. The lighter leave, the lother for to wend: The more easy
(through age) for me to depart, the less willing I am to go.