Study Desk

so yt they be nether loued, hated ner envyed: nether haue they eny more parte in ye worlde, in all yt is done 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.

So I turned me vnto other thinges vnder ye Sonne, and I sawe, that in runnynge, it helpeth not to be swift: in batayll, it helpeth not to be stronge: to fedynge, it helpeth not to be wyse: to riches, it helpeth not to be sutyll: to be had in fauoure, it helpeth not to be connynge: but that all lyeth in tyme & fortune.

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.

There was a litle cite, & a few me within it: so there came a greate kynge & beseged it, & made greate bulworkes agaynst it.

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 he yt dyggeth vp a pytt, shall fall therin himself: & who so breaketh downe the hedge, a serpent shal byte him.

Who so remoueth stones, shall haue trauayle withall: and he that heweth wod, shalbe hurt therwith.

When an yron is blont, and ye poynt not sharpened, it must be whett againe, and that with might: Euen so doth wi?dome folowe diligence.

A foole is so full of wordes, that a man can not tell what ende he wyll make: who wyl then warne him to make a conclucion?

Sende thy vytayles ouer the waters, and so shalt thou fynde the after many yeares.

Whe the cloudes are full, they poure out rayne vpon the earth. And whe ye tre falleth, (whether it be towarde the south or north) in what place so euer it fall, there it lyeth.

Now like as thou knowest not the waye of the wynde, ner how ye bones are fylled in a mothers wombe: Euen so thou knowest not the workes of God, which is the workemaster of all.

when the kepers of the house shall tremble, and when the stronge men shal bowe them selues: when the Myllers stonde still because they be so fewe, and when the sight of the wyndowes shal waxe dymme:

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.

as the rose amonge the thornes, so is my loue amonge the daughters.

Like as the aple tre amonge the trees of the wodd, so is my beloued amonge the sonnes. My delite is to sitt vnder his shadowe, for his frute is swete vnto my throte.

So whan I was a litle past them, I foude him whom my soule loueth. I haue gotten holde vpon him, and wyl not let him go, vntill I brynge him into my mothers house, and in to hir chambre that bare me.

so that I stode vp to open vnto my beloued. My hades dropped wt Myrre, & the Myrre ranne downe my fyngers vpon ye lock.

Neuerthelesse wha I had opened vnto my beloued, he was departed, and gone his waye. Now like as afore tyme whan he spake, my hert coude no longer refrayne: Euen so now I sought hi, but I coude not fynde him: I cried vpon him, neuerthelesse he gaue me no answere.