Morality play · c. 1495

Everyman

The Summoning of Everyman

by Anonymous (Middle English)

God, displeased that mankind has forgotten him in worldly prosperity, sends Death to summon Everyman to a reckoning. Abandoned in turn by Fellowship, Kindred and Goods, and later by Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five-Wits, Everyman is accompanied to the grave only by Good-Deeds. The best-known English morality play, in rhyming verse of the late fifteenth century.

Contents · 3 parts

• The Messenger's Prologue21 lines
• The Summoning of Everymanabout 880 lines
• The Doctor's Epilogue20 lines

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