The Clothe Workers Playe

Ezechiell
Harken all that loven heale,
I am the prophette Ezechell;
What I sawe I will conseale,
But as me thoughte I will tell.
God his ghoste can with me deale,
That leade me longe with wordes leale,
Into a feilde wher bones fell,
All bare without fleshe or fell.
Then spake that ghoste unto me,
Sayde, Manes sonne, howe liketh thee?
Thinkeste thou not well this mighte be,
Thes bones mighte torne and live?
Then bade he me tell and prophesye,
That he woulde revive them sone in hye,
With fleshe and senowe and skyne theirby,
Which sone he can them geve.
After that ghoste he them gette,
Rise out their graves he them lette,
And made them stande uppon their feete,
Speake, goe, and see.
This sawe I righte in my sighte,
To knowe that he was God allmighte,
That heaven and eairth should deale and dighte,
And never shall ended be.

Expositor
Nowe that you shall expresslye knowe
Thes prophettes wordes uppon a roe,
What the doe signifie I will shoe,
That moehe maye doe you good.
By them understande maie I
The daye of dome skilfullye,
When men through Godes postie
Shall rise in fleshe and bloode.
Therfore this proffitte sayde full yare,
He sawe a feilde of bones bare,
And sone that ghoste can with them fare
Gave them fleshe and life.
Beleeve this fullye without en wene,
That all which dead and rotten bene,
In fleshe shall rise, as shalbe seene,
Man, mayde, and wife;
The that shalbe saved shalbe as brighte
As seven tymes the sonne is lighte,
The dampned [thester] shalbe in sighte,
Their dome to understande.
Bouth saved and dampned after that daie
Dye the maye not by no waie;
God geve you grace to doe so aye,
That blesse ye maie goe to!

Zacarias

Levari oculos meos, et vidi, et ecce quatuor quadrige egredientes de medio duorum montium. capitulo sexto.

I Zacarie, men, leeves you me,
Lifte up my eyes a sighte to see,
And as me thoughte, by my lewtye,
Fower charrettes came anon
Out of towe hilles, leve you me,
Selver hilles the were, as witten me;
Greate wounder I hade in my degree
Wheither that the woulde gone.
Rede horses in one were readelye,
Another blacke that wente them by;
The thirde was whytte, I wotte not why;
The fourth of divers hewes;
The were stifFe drawinge lightlye.
Then anon answered I
To that angell in my bodye,
Which toulde me wordes trewe;
I asked hym then what it mighte be,
And he answered anon to me,
Thes charrettes, he sayde, which thou doste se,
Fower wyndes the be i-wysse,
Which shall bloe and readye be,
Before Christ, that prince which is of postie,
Ther is non so fell ther fitte may flee,
Nor wyne ther will from this.

Expositor
Nowe for to morolizc arighte,
Which this prophette sawe in sighte,
I shall founde through my mighte,
To you in meke mannere;
And declare that sone in heighte,
More plainlye as I have tighte,
Lightens nowe, with hartes lighte,
This leason for to learne.
Fower charrettes this prophette se howe [they]
Out of towe hilles toke their waye,
The hilles of silver, the south to saye,
The horses of divers hewes;
Which hilles signifie maie
Enocke and Helye in good faye,
That as good silver shalbe aye,
Steadfaste men and trewe.
Fower charrettes he sawe, as thinkes me,
Of divers hewes that he can see,
Fower manner of sayntes in dignitie.
Licken them well maye I.
Martrisse, conffessors, ther be towe;
Men mysbelevinge converted also,
That torned shalbe from synne and woe
Through Enocke and Helye;
Vyrgens also bouth one and moe;
Here bene diveres hewes too,
That through Godes grace shall goe
For hym to suffer anoye.
Thes rede horses call I maye,
All manner of martrises in good faie;
For rede maye wel betocken aye
Manes blood sheedinge.
The whytte he saith betockeneth ther waie,
Above the eairth to goe astraye,
As suche as neither nighte nor daie
Dreaden death nothinge:
The blacke horses, which wente them by,
By them maie well signifie
Preachers of Godes worde trewlye,
That confessors shalbe.
The skewed horses, by myne intente,
The which into the south parte wente,
I maye well licken veramente
To Jewes and panymes eke:
But through harte, with faith fervente,
Shall torne to god amendmente.
When Enocke and Helye hath them kente,
Salvacion for to kepe.

Ego Dartyell videbam in visione mea node, et ecce quatuor venti pugnabant in magno mari, et quatuor bestie grandes ascendebant de mare, capit. septimo. dicat

Daniell
I, Danyell, as I laye on a nighte,
Me thoughte I sawe a wounderous sighte,
Fower wyndes togeither the can feighte,
Above the sea upon hye;
Fower beastes out of that sea yeade;
To the fourth beaste I toke good heade,
For that to speake of nowe is nede,
The other all nowe I will leve.
That beaste was wounderous stiffe and stronge,
Of teeth and nayles sharpe and longe,
Eatinge over all that he coulde fonge,
The remnante he fore-treade.
Unlike he was to anye leade,
Tenne homes he hade upon his heade,
In the meideste on littill home can spreade
Above all other on hie:
That horne hade mouth to speake and [eyes] to see,
And spake greate wordes, leve you me;
But of the tene the firste three
Sone were consumed awaie.
That on horne hade suche greate postie,
The remnante meke to hym to be,
That heiste was in that degree,
And indewered so manye a daie.
Then was it toulde me righte theire,
That tenne homes tene kinges were,
But all that on shoulde feare,
That sprange upwarde so faste;
And that he shoulde worcke againste that kinge,
That of naughte made all thinge,
But littill while without leasinge,
That kinge his mighte shoulde laste.

Expositor
By this beaste understande I maye,
The worlde to come nexte domes daye;
And by that home, in good faye,
In medeste the ten can springe,
Antichriste I maie understande,
That then greate lorde shalbe in lande,
And all the world have in his hande,
Three yeaires and a halfe deweringe.
Tradentur in manu ejus usque ad tempus et tempora et
dimidium temporis, et usque ad unum annum duos
annos et dimidium anni. Danielis capitulo septimo.
Ten homes ten kinges in lande shalbe,
Of wich Antichriste shall slea three,
The other sevone this case shall see,
And put them to his grace;
This shal befalle wittcrlye,
By the understandinge that have I
Of Danyelles prophescye,
That here rehearsed was.

Dabo daobus testibus meis, et prophetabunt diabus mille ducentis et sexaginta amicti saccis. Apocalipseos undecimo.

Johannes Evangeliste
I, John, Christes owine darlinge,
As I laye in greate longinge,
Uppon my maisters breste slepinge,
Wounders sawe I manye one.
My ghoste was ravished, without leasinge,
To heaven before that higheste kinge,
Ther sawe I manye a wounderous thinge:
One will T tell you anon.
Ther harde I God greatlye commende
Towe wittnesses which he thoughte for to sende,
False faithes for to defende,
That raysed were by his foe;
He sayde the shoulde prophescye
A thousande daies, witterlye,
Towe hundreth and sixtie
In sackes clade the shoulde goe;
He called them chaundlers of great lighte,
Borninge before Godes sighte,
Fier out of their mouthes the shoulde feighte
Ther enemyes for to destroye;
Whosoever them harmed, as saith he,
Dead behovede hym for to be,
To lett the raigne the hade postie
In tyme of their prophescye;
He sayde the shoulde have power good
To torne the watter into blude,
And overcome ther enemyes that were wood,
And maister them through their power;
And when the had done their vower,
A beaste shoulde come of greate power,
From beneath, withouten were:
Again ste them he shoulde feighte,
And slea them also shoulde he,
In medeste of the holye cittie,
Wher Christe was nayled on a tree,
For south, as I you tell:
But after three daies and halfe one,
The shall rise, speake, and gone,
And into heaven be tacken anon,
In joye ever more to dwell.

Expositor
Nowe, lordinges, what thes thinges maye be,
I praye you harcken all to me,
And expressive in certentie,
As I have mighte and grace:
And I shall expounde this same thinge,
Which saynte John sawe this slepinge,
Through helpe of Jesu heavenlye kinge,
Anon righte in this place.
These towe wittnesses witterlye,
He sayde the shoulde come and prophesye,
The one is Enocke, the other Helye,
Shall have greate mighte and mayne,
That when Antichriste comes in hie,
Godes people for to destroye,
That he deceaived full falslye
The shall converte againe.
Manye signes the shall shewe,
Which the people shall well knowe,
And in their tocken trewlye trowe,
And leive it steadfastlye;
And all that torne, leve you me,
Antichriste will slea through his postie,
But vereye martrises the shalbe,
And come to heaven on hie.
The beaste that John spake of heare,
Is Antichriste, withouten were,
Which shall have the devilles power,
And with thes good men meete;
And at the laste witterlye.
He shall slea Enocke and Helye,
In Jerusalem, as reade I,
Even in medeste of the streete.
Nowe that you shall knowe and seene
What men Enocke and Helye bene,
While that I have tyme:
The are towe good men, leeve you me,
To Parradise, through Godes postie,
Were ravished bouth, and ther shalbe
Ever tell the daie shall come.
The on was taken for he was good,
Longe before Noyes floode,
And ther he lives in fleshe and blood,
As fullye leven yea;
The other was taken, withouten weare,
After that manye a hundreth yeaire,
And ther togeither the bene in feare,
Untell that tyme shalbe.

Signa quindecim magna que secundum opiniones doctorum extremurn precedent judicium ab antiquis Hebreorum codicibus selecta a doctore hujus pagine recitanda.

Signa 15

Nowe xv. signes, while I have space,
I shall declare by Godes grace,
Of which sainte Jerome mencion mase,
To fal before the daie of dome;
The which were wrytten on a roe,
He found in boke of Ebrewe,
Nowe will I tell, in wordes fewe,
A while yf you will dwell.
The firste daie, I wrytten fynde,
The sea shall rise againste kinde,
And as a walle againste the wyiide,
Above all hilles on hie
Fourtie cubetes, as rede we.
The secounde daie so loe slialbe,
That scarslye a man the sea shall see,
Stande he never so nie.
The thirde daye after, as rede I,
Greate fishes above the sea shall lye,
Yell and rore so headiouslye,
That onlye God shall he are.
The fourth daie nexte after then,
Sea and watter all shall brene
Againste kinde, that men maye kene,
The ende as though it were.
The fifte daye, as rede we,
All manner erbes, and also tree,
Of bluddye dewe all full slialbe,
Foules shall gather them, as I fynde,
To feildes, eichon in their kinde,
To eate and drinke shall have no mynde,
But stande all madde and mased.
The sixte daye in the worlde over all,
Builded thinges to grounde shall falle,
Churshe, cittie, howse, and wall,
And men in graves dare;
Layte and fier also verament,
From the sonne to the firmamente
Up and downe shall stricke and glente,
And all ni^hte so fowle fare.
The seventh daye bouth roccke and stonne
Shall breake in sunder and feighte as fonne;
The sounde whereof shall heare no man,
But onlye God allmighte.
The eighte daie earthquake slialbe,
That men and beaste, beleeve you me,
To stande or goe shall faile postie,
But falle to ground all righte.
The ninth daie, as our bookes sayen, 9
Hilles shall fall and waxe all plaine,
Stonne torne to sande through Godes mayne,
So strette men shalbe stadde.
The tenth daye men that hyde have bene, 10
Out of ther caves the shall fleye.
To speake togeither have no postie,
But goe as the were madde.
The leventh daie, from morowe to even, 11
All buryalles in the worlde open shalbene,
That deade maye rise withouten wene
Above the eairth standinge.
The twelffte daye starres shall fall in hie, 12
Of fier shotte from them hediouslye,
All manner of beastes shall rore and crye,
And nether eate nor drinke.
The xiij^th daie shall dye all men, 13
And rise againe anon rio-hte then.
The xiiij^th daye all shall brene, 14
Bouth eirth and eke heaven.
The xv^th daye made shalbe, 15
Newe eairth, newe heaven, through Gods postie,
Which heaven God graunte us in to be,
For his names seven.
Nowe have I toulde you, in good faye,
The tockens to come before domesdaie;
God geve you grace to doe so aye,
That you then worthy be,
To come to the blesse that lasteth aye,
As moche as we heare and our plaie.
Of Antichristes signes you shall assaie
He comes sone you shall see.