Poem from medieval times, Carnal love is folly! [View all]

I read this poem the other day on Poets.org and it got me thinking, there was so much repression and moral teachings against the pleasures of sex, and yet they never mention for instance the moral problems of having too many children. Lust, one of the 7 deadly sins.


Carnal love is folly!
He who wishes to love wisely
Avoids it because life’s brevity
Doesn't allow it to endure long.
Never did flesh exist or flourish
That didn't descend to rottenness.
Lechery is a brief pleasure,
But torment lasts without end.


The principal scribe was a Ludlow-area man who worked as a legal scrivener. The scribe had training in religion and law, to judge from his known library. Scholars think it likely that he served as chaplain for a well-to-do household and that he held among his general duties, besides being spiritual counselor, the education of boys (that is, young heirs in a French-speaking English household) and the planning of entertainments for mixed-gender social events.

Harley Lyrics is a collection of lyrics in Middle English, Anglo Norman (Middle French), and Latin found in Harley MS 2253, a manuscript dated ca. 1340

https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/fein-harley2253-volume-2-article-24a

https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-372884342/the-four-scribes-of-ms-harley-2253



7 deadly sins
pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth

7 heavenly virtues
prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope and charity