Ancrene Wisse

"Of lutel muchel waxeð."

"Hope halt te heorte hal, hwet-se þe flesch drehe; as me seið, "Ȝef hope nere, heorte tobreke.""

"Hwet is word bute wind?"

"Of þis boc redeð hwen ȝe beoð eise euche dei leasse oðer mare. Ich hopie þet hit | schal beon ow, ȝef ȝe hit redeð ofte, swiðe biheue…elles Ich hefde uuele bitohe mi muchele hwile. Me were leouere, Godd hit wite, do me toward Rome þen forte biginnen hit eft forte donne."

"The most important prose work of its period and moreover one of the most charming pieces in the whole of M[iddle] E[nglish] literature, the Riwle must certainly be read."

"The unknown author writes with a fresh and simple style, with a natural gift for description and character-drawing. It enjoyed for three centuries an immense popularity; almost at once it became available in Latin and French translations; it became a classic."