Living
Proverbs
From Short Poems
Living
What shul thise clothes many-fold,
Lo! this hote somers day?--
After greet heet cometh cold;
No man caste his pilche away.
Of al this world the wyde compas
Hit wol not in myn armes tweyne.--
Who-so mochel wol embrace
Litel therof he shal distreyne.
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Codex Note
Two four-line proverbs ascribed to Chaucer in the manuscripts, one on summer heat and the cold that follows, one on over-reaching: ‘Who-so mochel wol embrace / Litel therof he shal distreyne’. Text from W. W. Skeat’s Oxford edition (1899).
Cite this poem
MLA
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “Proverbs.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/chaucer/9/.
Chicago
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “Proverbs.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/chaucer/9/.
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