To tent so deep into the mercy of the Lord.
What, that ye should with the fiend be at accord!
Such crimes in confession I have not heard tell!
And furthermore by your wiles ye have sent pell-mell
So many the way their life they should lose!
I may scarce know what penance to choose
Heavy enough for such mortal sin.
To dwell with the fiend was but a bestial life to be in.
O Godhead, whereof doth not begin or end the grace,
Wilt Thou guide me as in this case,
Beneath the which my wit doth bow and bend!
O Judge enthroned in justice, do Thou send
Thine inspiration from on high!
Hola, my course I clear descry;
Me were full loath that damned ye be.
The priest was with you, summon hither to me.
Your penance ye shall hear without all doubt.
EMMA
Where be ye, eme?
THE UNCLE
I stand here without,
And full of care till it doth appear
How it shall go with her.
THE POPE
Now ye my judgment hear:
It were a thing right pitiful to see
That any should be damned, if cure there be,
Nor doth God unmoved behold such things.
See, here be three iron rings;
The greatest ye shall her neck lock round,
The other two, without sigh or sound,
Lock on her arms, both fast and strong.
And let her bear them how so long
It be that they wear away and fall.
1080 Then shall her sins be forgiven all.
Nor till then shall she be of them quit.
THE UNCLE
’Twill be full long, as to my wit,
Ere of themselves they fall to ground,
For they be of weight so many a pound
That in an hundred year they will wear never
A farthing thickness.
THE POPE
Yet may she so persever
Heartily in a state of penitence
That the rings will of themselves fall hence
From neck and arms and leave them bare.
But see ye lock them fast.
THE UNCLE
Father, I swear
They shall be locked so stout and stark,
If they come off ’twill be God’s mark.
O priest and clerk above each earthly state,
With your good favor we will take our leave straight,
And go again our gate back to the land
Whence we be come.
THE POPE
May He whose hand
Dispenseth mercy soften your affliction.
EMMA
Adieu, holy Father.
THE POPE
Daughter, go in God’s protection,
And keep ye wholly in penitence,
For above with the Highest Excellence
Is pure penitence held more dear
Than ought that we may read or hear.
Thus hath Emma received her penance from the Pope. And her eme
straightway let make the rings so fast about her neck and arms that in
her lifedays they might not be done off but by the will and the miracle
of our dear Lord.
¶ How Emma journeyed from Rome and how she became a nun at the cloister
of Converted Sinners at Maestricht.
Whenas Emma hath put on the rings like as ye have heard she departed her
with her eme from Rome the city and they two journeyed so long until they
were come to Maestricht where Emma was holpen of her uncle to be a nun in
the cloister of the Converted Sinners. And after he had thereto holpen
her he took his leave of her and journeyed to his own country where he
lived yet twenty-four year after he had holpen his niece to come into the
cloister, the which he visited each year so long as he lived.
¶ How the angel of God did off the rings from Emma’s neck and hands.
Emma dwelling in the aforesaid cloister lived so holily and did such
strong penance that the merciful Christ forgave her utterly her sins,
sending his angel to her where she lay and slept, the which did off the
rings, whereat Emma rejoiced greatly, saying:
Long nights are little to him lief
Who lieth sorrowful of heart;
His sleep is great unrest or greater grief,
With fearsome dreams and other such mischief.
Even thus I now feel sorrow’s smart.
Who will the meaning to me impart
Of this my dream wherein I lay?
Meseemed from hell-pit I did start
And heavenwards was borne away.
There many white doves I met in the way,
The which my bonds struck with their wings.
O merciful God, what see I? Stay!
To Thine high grace have I won for aye?
Ah yea, ’tis true; there be my rings
Beside me lying. King of kings,
What cure art Thou for all misease!
No thanks suffice Thee for to please
In any stound.
O man, in whom all sin is found,
Hereby may ye ensample take;
And to His worth that knows no bound
Let everlasting laud and praise resound,
Even such as your faint voice may wake:
Praise ye the Lord in His temple for the Lord His sake,
_EPILOGUE_
Even thus, O ye whom God loves well,
In days of yore these things befell
All truly, though some hold it for a fable.
But go ye to Maestricht, an ye be able,
And in the Converted Sinners shall ye see
The grave of Emma, and there all three
The rings be hung above her grave.
Thereunto stands writ in goodly stave
Her way of life and her penance
And how and when all this did chance.
By these tokens I hold its truth for clear.
She lived the space of two full year,
Sithens the rings were fallen away,
Faithful in penance, as I heard say,
Ever to pleasure the Highest King.—
Take all in gree, without grutching,
This simple tale: ’twas writ for love,
That we may win to heavenly glory above.
¶ AMEN
¶ This Book hath been examined and approved by a learned man thereto
appointed.