A compendious dittie wherin the state of mans lyfe is briefely touchid. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A20510 of text S105383 in the English Short Title Catalog (STC 6920). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 6 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 3 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2018 A20510 STC 6920 ESTC S105383 99841112 99841112 5671 2240866488

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. Searching, reading, printing, or downloading EEBO-TCP texts is reserved for the authorized users of these project partner institutions. Permission must be granted for subsequent distribution, in print or electronically, of this EEBO-TCP Phase II text, in whole or in part.

 Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 2, no. A20510) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 5671) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; 61:27) A compendious dittie wherin the state of mans lyfe is briefely touchid. [8] p. [Printed by Thomas Berthelet], Londini : an. M.D.XLVII. [1547; 3 Jan.] In verse. Colophon reads: Imprinted at London in Fletestrete, by Thomas Berthelet, printer to the kynges highnesse, the thyrde of Ianuary .. Signatures: A⁴. The last leaf is blank. First line: No wyght in this worlde that welthe can attayne,. Earlier published in STC 26054. Reproduction of the original in the Bodleian Library. Lacking title page. eng Conduct of life -- Poetry -- Early works to 1800. eebo A compendious dittie. wherin the state of mans lyfe is briefely touchid. [no entry] 1547 6 980 12 0 0 0 4 0 530.61 F The rate of 530.61 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the F category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2009-04 Assigned for keying and markup 2009-05 Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2009-06 Sampled and proofread 2009-06 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-09 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion
A COMPENDIORS DITTIE . NO wyght in this worlde that welthe can attayne , Onelesse he beleue , that all is but vayne , And looke howe it cometh , so leaue it to goe , As tydes vse theyr tymes to ebbe and to floe . This mucke on the molde , that men so desyre , Doeth worke them much wo , and moueth them to ire . With grefe it is gotte , with care it is kept , With sorowe soone loste that longe hath ben rept . And wo woorth that man , that fyrste dolue the molde , To fynde out the myne of syluer and golde . For whan it laie hyd , and to vs vnknowen , Of strife and debate the sede was not sowen . Than lyued men well , and helde theim content , With meate , drinke , and clothe , without any reu● . Theyr houses but poore to shroude theim selues in : For castelles and towres were than to begyn . No towne had his wall , they feared 'to warre , Nor cunemies hoste to seeke theim afarre . So ledde they theyr lyues in quiete and reste , Tyll hourde began hate from east vnto wefte . And golde for to growe a lorde of great price , Whiche chaunged the worlde from vertue to vice , And tourned all thyng so farre from his kynde , That howe it shoulde be , is worne out of mynde . For rychesse beareth nowe the fame and the brute , And onely the cause of all our pursute , Whiche maketh amonge vs muche mischiefe to reigne , And shall tyll we seeke the ryght waie ageyne , Whan mariage was made for vertue and loue , Than was no diuorse goddis knotte to remoue . Whan iudges woulde suffre no brybes in their syght , Their iudgement was than accordyng to ryght . Whan prelates had not possessions nor rent , Thei preached the trouthe , and truely thei went . Whan men did not flatter for fauour nor mede , Than kynges herd the trouth , & how the world yede . And men vnto honour thorough vertue did tyse , But all this is nowe tourned contrary wyse . For money maketh all , and ruleth as a god , Wiche ought not to be , for Christe it forbod , And bad , that we shoulde take nothyng in hande , But for the lordes loue and welthe of the lande . And wylles vs full oft , that we shoulde refrayne From wrastyng his will to make our owne gayne . For couetous folke of euery astate , As hardly shall entre within heuen gate As though perfect blis●● shoulde that waie arise . But if thei wolde suffre to synke in their brest , What trouble of mynde , what vnquiete rest , What mischiefe , what hate this money doeth brynge , Thei woulde not so toyle for so vyle a thyng , For thei that haue muche , are euer in care , Whiche waie to wyune , and howe for to spare . Theyr slepes be vnsounde for feare of the theefe , The losse of a litell doeth worke them muche greefe . In sekyng their lacke thei want that the haue , And subiecte to that whiche shoulde be their slaue . Thei neuer doo knowe , whiles rychesse dooeth reigne , A frende of effect from hym that dooeth feigne . For flatterers seeke where fortune dooeth dwell , And whan that she lowreth , thei bid theim farewell . The poore doeth theim curse as ofte as thei want . In hauyng so muche to make it so scant . Their children sometymes doo wisshe theim in graue , That thei myght possesse that rychesse thei haue . And that whiche thei wyn with trauayle and stryfe , Oftentymes ( as we see ) doeth coste theim their life . Lo these bee the fruites that rychesse bryngeth foorth , With many other mo , whiche be no more woorth . For moneie is cause of murder and thefte , Of batayle and bloudshed , whiche wold god wer left , Of rauine , of wronge , of false wytnesse bearyng , Of treason conspired , and eke of forswearyng . And for to be shorte and knyt vp the knot , Fe●● 〈◊〉 ●●eues at all that mo●e●e maketh not . 〈…〉 it bee yll , whan it is abused , 〈…〉 vsed . As priestes shoulde not take promocions in hande , To lyue at their ease lylie lordes of the lande , But onely to feede goddis flocke with the trouthe , To preache and to teache without any slouthe . Nor folkes shulde not neede great rychesse to wynue , But godly to lyue , and for to flee synne . His will for to worke that is theyr soules helthe , And than maie thei thynke , thei lyue in much welthe . For in this vayue worlde that we be nowe in , Is nothyng but misery , mischiefe , and syn , Temptaciou , vntrouthe , contencion , and stryfe : Than lette vs not sette by so vile a lyfe , But lyfte vp our eyes , and looke thorough our faithe , Beholdyng his mercies , that many tymes faithe , The iuste men shall lyue by their good belefe , And shall haue a place where can be no greefe , But gladnesse and myrthe that none can amende , Vnspeakable ioyes , whiche neuer shall ende , With pleasures that passe all that we haue sought , Fe●●●ters suche as can not be thought ●●●●he place the● shall haue that 〈◊〉