The language I have learnt these forty years,
My native English, now I must forgo;
And now read more

The language I have learnt these forty years,
My native English, now I must forgo;
And now my tongue's use is to me no more
Than an unstringed viol or a harp,
Or like a cunning instrument cased up
Or, being open, put into his hands
That knows no touch to tune the harmony.

The tongue is the vile slave's vilest part.
[Lat., Lingua mali pars pessima servi.]

The tongue is the vile slave's vilest part.
[Lat., Lingua mali pars pessima servi.]

Since word is thrall, and thought is free,
Keep well thy tongue, I counsel thee.

Since word is thrall, and thought is free,
Keep well thy tongue, I counsel thee.

I should think your tongue has broken its chain.

I should think your tongue has broken its chain.

Better the feet slip then the tongue.
[Better the feet slip than the tongue.]

Better the feet slip then the tongue.
[Better the feet slip than the tongue.]

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of
things in the sea, is tamed, read more

For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of
things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison.

Tongues I'll hang on every tree
That shall civil sayings show. . . .

Tongues I'll hang on every tree
That shall civil sayings show. . . .

The first vertue, sone, if thou wilt lerne,
Is to restreyne and kepen wel thy tonge.

The first vertue, sone, if thou wilt lerne,
Is to restreyne and kepen wel thy tonge.