And as I wente by the way Wepynge for sorowe, I seigh a sely man me by, Opon the plough hongen.
This man lokede opon me, And leet the plough stonden; And seyde, "Sely man, Whi syghest thou so harde?
Why dispisest thou thus Thise sely pore freres, 1340 None other men so mychel, Monkes ne prestes, Chanons ne charthous That in chirche serveth?
The sely olde man was so sore agreued that, as he sat and rested hym on a ryuers syde, he threwe his asse in to the water; and so whan he had drowned his asse he tourned home agayne.
And so the good sely man spake and made the pese betwene them both; yea, and farther he gaue them a gallon of wyne, addynge to his wiues aduoutry the losse of his wine.
As bird [that] flyeth up in the ayr, And liveth by birdes that ben meke, 1310 So these be flowe up in dispayr, And shenden sely soules eke.
And if that Margarite denyeth now nat 120 to suffre her vertues shyne to thee-wardes with spredinge bemes, as far or farther than if thou were sely in worldly joye, trewly, I saye nat els but she is somdel to blame.
But tho gan sely Troilus for to quake As though men sholde han lad him in-to helle, And seyde, 'allas!
Ne me ne list this selywomman chyde Ferther than the story wol devyse.
And also blisful Venus, wel arayed, 680 Sat in hir seventhe hous of hevene tho, Disposed wel, and with aspectes payed, To helpen sely Troilus of his wo.
What mighte or may the sely larke seye, Whan that the sparhauk hath it in his foot?
Wery and weet, as beste is in the reyn, Comth sely Iohn, and with him comth Aleyn.
Now wher-with sholde he make his payement, If he ne used his sely instrument?
This sely clerkes han ful faste y-ronne 4090 To-ward the fen, bothe Aleyn and eek Iohn.
Quod tho this sely man, 'I nam no labbe, Ne, though I seye, I nam nat lief to gabbe.
This sely Absolon herde every deel, And on his lippe he gan for anger byte; 3745 And to him-self he seyde, 'I shal thee quyte!
Been ther none othere maner resemblances That ye may lykne your parables to, But-if a sely wyf be oon of tho?
The "sely carpenter" of the Milleres Tale provides plenty of incident well suited to tickle the most elementary sense of the comic.
The "sely widwe" and her daughters who own the hen-yard Herden thise hennes cry and maken wo, And out at dores steten they anoon, with the result that Chauntecleer is saved.
But tho gan sely Troilus for to quake As though men sholde han led him in-to helle, And seyde, `Allas!
What mighte or may the sely larke seye, Whan that the sperhauk hath it in his foot?
But in the "Legend of Good Women" it has another meaning: "O sely woman, full of innocence.
A sely milksop, Sir, that cannot look a goose in the face!
Leonor is not one, methinks; nor assuredly is Rosada, neither this my poor sely maiden Maria; but I should find it hard to write a fourth within this palace.
Now certes, yif ye wolde have in memorie, 2530 Hit oghte be to yow but litel glorie To have a sely mayde thus betrayed!
O sely womman, ful of innocence, Ful of pitee, of trouthe, and conscience, 1255 What maked yow to men to trusten so?
Sely shepardes,' moreover, are put upon by any rich upstart and have no redress.
A second shepherd appears with another grumble: 'We sely wedmen dre mekyll wo.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "sely" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
