God woot that worldly joye is soone ago.
Modern English:
God knows that worldly joy is swift to go.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. The Nun’s Priest interrupts own tale to tell us that the cocksure Chauntecleer’s joyful walk with his wives in the farmyard is about to change for the worse – with the arrival of the Fox.