lif and soule

thonne bith that wræcche lif. iended al mid sori sith.

 

Then is that wretched life

ended all with sad departure;

then is the body

banished to the floor;

 

he is stretched eastward;

he is soon stiff;

he hardens like clay;

it is of kin to him.

 

They measure him with a yard,

and that dust, thenceforth,

may not of the earth have any more than that right measured rightly teacheth.

 

from The Departing Soul's Address to the Body: A Fragment of a Semi-Saxon Poem, Discovered Among the Archives of Worcester Cathedral.

Done