On a dear day by a dale so deep
As I went through a wilderness,
To birds all round I took good keep
To hear them sing both more and less.

1.

Some with their song made me to weep
And some me healed of heaviness,
And some also sung me a sleep:
The nightingale was there i-wis,
Then specially for to express
A turtle true did sit and coo
She sang this song in soothfastness:
Fortis ut mors dilectio.

2.

To that turtle I took entent
Touching the text she told that tide;
Of it I mused long what it meant.
The bird was blithe, on bough did bide:
Then I me busked into a bent,
Under a tree all in that tide;
For I would know ere that I went
This clause expressed and specified:
The bird was eager, withouten pride,
And said: " For nothing flee me fro
Ere thou conceive this clause described " :
Fortis ut mors dilectio.

3.

Of this process for to proceed,
At Christ Himself I may begin:
From heaven to earth, hear and take heed
How he descended to cease our sin.
And afterwards yet would he bleed
His own Heart's blood till it would blin,
For no necessity nor for no need
Nor for no treasure that lay to win.
What caused Him to become thy kin?
Nothing but love He had thee to.
Then thus I have defined that dyne,
Fortis ut mors dilectio.