Also þe lanterne in þe wynd þat sone is aqueynt, / Ase sparkle in þe se þat sone is adreynt, / Ase vom in þe strem þat sone is tothwith, / Ase smoke in þe lift þat passet oure sith.
Like a lantern in the wind that soon gets quenched, / Like a glimmer in the sea that soon gets drenched / Like foam in the water that soon is dispersed, / Like smoke in the sky that passes [in] our sight.
A sea; a large, continuous body of water.
1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “Here Bygynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunt́burẏ”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 7, verso: