| | And whan that he was passid lx . yeer | |
| | Were it for holinesse or for dotage | |
| 10 | I can not say but suche a gret corage | |
| | Hadde this knyght to be a weddid man | |
| | That day and nyght he doth al that he can | |
| | To aspye where he myghte weddid be | |
| | Prayyng our lord grauntinge that he | |
| 15 | Myghte onys knowe that blisful lif | |
| | That is betwix an husbonde and his wyf | |
| | And forto lyue vnder the holy bond | |
| | With whiche god first man and woman bond | |
| | Non other lif sayde he is worth a bene | |
| 20 | For wedlok is so esy and so clene | |
| | That in this worlde it is a paradise | |
| | Thus sayde this olde knyght that was so wyse | |
| | And certeinly as soth as god is kyng | |
| | To take a wyf it is a glorious thing | |
| 25 | And namely whan a man is old and hoor | |
| | Then is a wyf the fruyt of his tresoor | |
| | Than sholde he take a yong wyf & a feir | |
| | On whiche he myghte engendre hym an heir | |
| | And lede his lif in ioye and in solace | |
| 30 | Where as thyse bachelers syngen allas | |
| | When that they fynde ony aduersite | |
| | In loue whiche that is but childis vanite | |
| | And trewly it sit wel to be so | |
| | That bachelers haue ofte peyne and woo | |
| 35 | On brotil ground they bilde brotilnesse | |
| | They fynde freelte whan they wene sikirnesse | |
