Child, woldest þou telle me of þi gref To helpe þe me were lef.
How-be-it, benyficiall it is to begynne euery worke that thou woldest bryng aboute sone.
Or, at the leste, but thou woldest so, Yit woldestow but ones lete us mete, 760 Or ones that we mighte kissen swete, Than were we covered of our cares colde.
If that Criseyde allone were me laft, Nought roughte I whider thou woldest me stere; And hir, allas!
I pray god, lat this consayl never y-thee; But do me rather sterve anon-right here 440 Er I thus do as thou me woldest lere.
And this we know for suyrtie, that when thow preached in Dundye, and was charged be my Lord Governouris authoritie to desist, nevertheles thow woldest not obey, but persevered in the same.
Thou 110 woldest conclude me, if thou coudest, bycause I brought thee to service; and every of my servantes I helpe to come to this blisse, as I sayd here-beforn.
Now good (quod she); for how moche woldest thou somtyme have bought this verry knowing of thy frendes from the flatteringe flyes that thee glosed, 115 whan thou thought thy-selfe sely?
I trowe the strongest and the beste that may be founde wol not transverse thy wordes; 195 wherof than woldest thou drede?
Thou shalt have in thy power that thou woldest never lese, and that in no way may be taken fro thee; and thilke 150 thing is that is cause of this knot.
That shal I shew thee,' quod she, 'and thou woldestit lerne.
What might thou more have don than thou diddest, but-if thou woldest in a fals quarel have been a stinkinge martyr?
Not thowh thou woldestyeve me an C marke of florens, quod she, thou shalt not lye by me a nyght.
Thenne were thowhe, quod she, unkynde thatwoldest nat bidde that kniᵹte to mete, that so faire had savid the.
Thou saydest that thouwoldest surely do me good/ and woldest make mi seed as the sonde of the see which can not be nombred for multitude.
Thou English Captain, what woldest thou giue to ransome thy liffe which else must not liue?
Thou woldest neuer to vertue applye, But couetyd euer to clymme to hye, 35 And nowe haste thou trodden thy shoo awrye.
Now saye, English captaine, what woldest thou give To ransome thy selfe, which else must not live?
But woldestthou for Godes love Lerne me my Crede, 800 I shulde don for the wil, Whan I wele hadde.
But haddest thou knowen him beforn, Thou woldest on a boke have sworn, Whan thou him saugh in thilke aray That he, that whylom was so gay, And of the daunce Ioly Robin, 7455 Was tho become a Iacobin.
And never, for fals suspeccioun, Thou woldest finde occasioun For to gon unto hir hous.
Graunt mercy, goode frend,' quod he, 560 I thanke thee that thou woldest so, But hit may never the rather be do.
And why that oon theef on the cros Creaunt hym yald Rather than that oother theef, Though thow woldest appose, Alle the clerkes under Crist 7860 Ne kouthe the skile assoille.
A man that was ryght iolous on his wyfe, dreamed on a nyght as he laye a bed with her and slepte, that the dyuell aperd vnto him and sayde: woldest thou nat be gladde, that I shulde put the in suretie of thy wife?
If thou shuldest refuse to do any of these thynges, and woldest assaye to do some thing of more sadnes and prudence, they wyll esteme and count the vnmanerly, cloubbysshe, frowarde, and clene contrarye to all mennes myndes.
I had saluted the with my mouthe, thou woldest haue saluted me agayne; and nowe I grete the with that parte of my body, that by thyn owne sayenge is moste honourable, thou callest me knaue.
The kynge, perceyuinge his dissimulation, sayd to him: what, woldestthou make me a dogge?
Mi Sone, of that thou woldest so, I am noght wroth, bot over this I wol thee tellen hou it is.
Bot this I telle thee therfore, Thou miht upon my beneicoun Wel haten the condicioun 940 Of tho janglers, as thou me toldest, Bot furthermor, of that thou woldest Hem hindre in eny other wise, Such Hate is evere to despise.
And also if thou wolt pourchace To be beloved, thou most use Largesce, for if thou refuse To yive for thi loves sake, It is no reson that thou take Of love that thou woldest crave.
And thus thou miht wel understonde, Mi Sone, if thou art such in love, Thou miht noght come at thin above Of that thou woldest wel achieve.
Mi Sone, if that thou wistest al, What Cheste doth in special To love and to his welwillinge, Thou woldest flen his knowlechinge 600 And lerne to be debonaire.
For in the plit which I thee finde, So as mi court it hath awarded, Thou schalt be duely rewarded; And if thou woldest more crave, It is no riht that thou it have.
O wif schal wel to thee suffise, And thanne, if thou for covoitise Of love woldest axe more, Thou scholdest don ayein the lore 4660 Of alle hem that trewe be.
Bot if thou wistest of the wreche, 7190 Hou Sacrilege it hath aboght, Thou woldest betre ben bethoght; And for thou schalt the more amende, A tale I wole on the despende.
But, by my trouthe, if thou were seculer, 4640 Thou woldestbeen a trede-foul a-right.
I pray to god, yeve him confusioun That first thee broghte un-to religioun; Thou woldest han been a trede-foul aright.
Thou woldest make me kisse thyn old breech, (620) And swere it were a relik of a seint, Thogh it were with thy fundement depeint!
Wherfore I rede, do right so with thy cherl, as thou woldest that thy lord dide with thee, if thou were in his plyt.
And in dede thou shall love him in swich wyse, that thou shalt doon to him in charitee as thou woldest that it were doon to thyn owene persone.
Thomas, of me thou shalt nat been y-flatered; 1970 Thou woldest han our labour al for noght.
And now thou woldest falsly been aboute To love my lady, whom I love and serve, And ever shal, til that myn herte sterve.
Now whan thou were riche and weleful, as thee semede, with how mochel woldest thou han bought the fulle knowinge of this, that is to seyn, 30 the knowinge of thy verray freendes?
But for thou seyst that thou art so desirous to herkne hem, with how gret brenninge woldest thou glowen, yif thou wistest whider I wol leden thee!
Now yif thou saye a mous amonges other mys, that chalaunged to him-self-ward right and power over alle other mys, how greet scorn woldest thou han of it!
Certes, yit liveth in good point thilke precious honour of mankinde, Symacus, thy wyves fader, which that is 20 a man maked alle of sapience and of vertu; the whiche man thou woldest byen redely with the prys of thyn owne lyf.
But I wolde that thou woldest answere to this: remembrestow that thou art a man?
The best crafte for memorie, is thorowlye to vnderstande, and then to brynge into an order, last of al oftẽ to repete that thou woldest remember.
Thou woldest that I shulde shewe the those thynges that be meete for the inclinaciõ of that age, and whiche shuld by and by be taughte the lytle yongons.
Counte what thei haue done, and what thei haue suffered all theyr lyfe, whych haue gotten them by experience of thinges a sely small prudence & thinke whether y^u woldestwyshe so greate myschiues to thy sonne.
Woldest thou not driue them in to the contrey, & put the one to the backhouse, the other to the plowe.
If ther wer ani witch could wyth euyl craftes, and wold go about to turne thy sonne into a swyne or a wolfe, woldest thou not thynke that ther were no punyshemente to sore for her myscheuouse deede?
Yf [thou] entende to please god & woldest obteyne grace to fulfyll the same two thyng[es] ben to the necessary.
If eyther in battell or shypwracke a man by hys valiantnes had saued the, woldest thou not worshyp hym as God, and saye thou were neuer able to make hym amendes?
If a friend had redemed the out of prison w^t hys money, woldestthou not loue hym?
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "woldest" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
