58r Li Diz de la voie de Tunes

A coward will never enter
heavenly paradise,
but there is no one so cowardly
that he does not wish to be there.
But they so dread discomfort
and abandonning their way of life,
that they turn their backs on God
and leave Him aside.

From the moment a man is born,
he has little time to live.
When he is 40 years old
there is even less time on the ledger.
When he ought to serve God
he drinks too much and gets drunk.
He will never be mindful
until death delivers him.

Now he is dead, and what has he accomplished,
he who was in this world for so long?
He has destroyed the goods
that God lent him.
He never remembers God,
neither in winter nor in summer.
He will gain paradise
if only he strives for it.

He is a fool who believes
he has found a defense against death.
Death feeds on the
the handsome, strong, and wise.
Death bit Absolom,
and Solomon, and Samson.
He easily holds all things in contempt
who thinks endlessly about death.

And you, what do you think about,
you who have no tomorrow,
you who do not wish to lift a finger
to do the slightest good?
If another man goes to church
you say, I am staying home.
In serving God with what is yours,
you are a true Roman. ^{1In this case, Zink, following Faral and Bastin, suggests that "droit Romain" could mean "are you being stingy," referencing the supposed avarice of the Romans. This expression is also a pun on "droit roman" or Roman law, see Bastin and Faral, Oeuvres complètes, p. 467n112.}

If someone goes to church,
you don't want anything to do with that place,
it is not built of one single piece,
so it could easily injure you. ^{1The poet here imagines excuses to avoid going to church becuase the building is not complete and could fall down injuring or killing those inside. This is an excuse offered by a negligent Christian for not attending church. See Zink, 890n1.}.
To those who attend, you say
you have business elsewhere:
Even without hearing mass,
there are many beautiful stags at Bierre.^{1according to Zink, this refers to the the forest of Fontainbleu, which was well known as a place to hunt stag, especially among vavassors and bachelors.}.

You mock God
until the moment of death.
Then you cry out for mercy
as death bites you,
and an awareness
seizes and gnaws at you.
And thus no one remembers this
until death has him in her maw.

Look where you came from
and where you will return.
God does wrong to no one.
There is no Judge who is as just.
He is the lord of laws
and the master of justice.
Every day and everywhere
you will find him to be a fair Judge.
The time has come
when He will need friends.
Despite how much He has given you,
He seeks only your heart.
Whoever gives and
promises Him his heart,