Study Desk

Go thou yi waye then, eate thy bred with ioye, & drynke yi wyne wt gladnesse, for thy workes please God.

Vse thy self to lyue ioyfully wt thy wife whom thou louest, all ye daies of thy life (which is but vayne) yt God hath geue the vnder the Sonne, all ye dayes of thy vanite: for yt is thy porcion in this life, of all thy labor & trauayle yt thou takest vnder the Sonne.

What so euer thou takest in hande to do, that do with all thy power: for amoge the deed (where as thou goest vnto) there is nether worke, councell, knowlege ner wy?dome.

For a man knoweth not his tyme, but like as the fyshe are take with the angle, and as the byrdes are catched wt the snare: Eue so are men taken in the perilous tyme, when it commeth sodenly vpon them.

For wy?dome is better then harnesse: but one vnthrift alone destroyeth moch good.

Yf a principall sprete be geue the to beare rule, be not negliget the in thine office: for so shal greate wickednesse be put downe, as it were wt a medecyne.

But well is the (O thou realme and londe) whose kinge is come of nobles, and whose prynces eate in due season, for strength and not for lust.

Wysh the kynge no euell in yi thought, and speake no hurte of ye ryche in thy preuy chambre: for a byrde of the ayre shal betraye thy voyce, and wt hir fethers shal she bewraye thy wordes.

Geue it awaye amonge seuen or eight, for thou knowest not what misery shal come vpo earth.

Cease not thou therfore with thy handes to sowe thy sede, whether it be in ye mornynge or in the euenynge: for thou knowest not whether this or that shall prospere, & yf they both take, it is the better.

The light is swete, & a pleasaunt thinge is it for the eyes to loke vpon the Sonne.

Be glad then (O thou yonge man) in thy youth, and lat thine hert be mery in thy yonge dayes: folowe the wayes of thine owne hert, and the lust of thine eyes: but be thou sure, that God shal bringe the in to iudgment for all these thinges.

Pvt awaye displeasure out of yi hert, & remoue euell from thy body: for childehode and youth is but vanite.

For the wordes of ye wyse are like prickes and nales that go thorow, wherwith men are kepte together: for they are geuen of one shepherde onely.

Lat vs heare the conclucion of all thinges: Feare God, and kepe his comaundementes, for that toucheth all men:

For God shall iudge all workes and secrete thinges, whether they be good or euell.

O that thy mouth wolde geue me a kysse, for yi brestes are more pleasaunt then wyne,

but yet am I faire & welfauoured withal. Maruell not at me yt I am so black, & why? ye Sonne hath shyned vpo me. For whan my mothers childre had euell wil at me, they made me ye keper of the vynyarde. Thus was I fayne to kepe a vynyarde, which was not myne owne.

There wil I tary for the (my loue) wt myne hoost & with my charettes, which shalbe no fewer then Pharaos.

for a bodell of Myrre (o my beloued) lyeth betwixte my brestes.