The Devonshire Manuscript/Tanglid I was yn loves snare
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| ←Mye love toke skorne my servise to retaine | lengre to muse→ |
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f. [79v]
1 Tanglid I was yn loves snare
2 opprest wich{w+t+} payne tormen{_e} te wich{w+t+} care
3 of grefe right sure of Ioye full f bare
4 clene in dispaire bye crueltye
5 but ha ha ha full well is me
6 for I am now at libretye
7 the wofull dayes so full of paine
8 the verye night all spent in vayne
9 the labor lost for so small gayne
f. [80r]
10 to wryt them all yt will not bee
11 but ha. ha. ha. &c
12 ----- 1
13 Everye thing that{{th}+t+} faire dothe sho
14 {p'}{_e} when prof is made yt previthe not soo
15 but tornithe mirthe to bittre woo.
16 wiche in this case full well I see
17 but ha. &c
18 ----- 2
19 To grete desire was my guide
20 and wanton{_o} will went bye my syde
21 hope rulid still. and made me byde
22 of loves craft thextremitye the extemity
23 but ha.
24 ----- 3
25 with{w+t+} faynid wordes{es} with{w+t+} ware but winde
26 to long delayes I was assind
27 her wylye lokes{es} my wittes{es} ded blinde
28 thus as she wolde I ded agree
29 but ha. c
30 ----- 4
31 was never birde tanglid yn lyme
32 that brake awaye yn bettre tyme
33 then I that Rotten bowis ded clyme
34 and had no hurte but scapid fre
35 now ha ha ha. full well is me
36 for I am nowe at libretye
fs
Notes & Glosses edit
1. The second line of the refrain is assumed to be here.
2. The second line of the refrain is assumed to be here.
3. The second line of the refrain is assumed to be here.
4. The second line of the refrain is assumed to be here.
Commentary edit
Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt,[1] this poem was entered by H8. The speaker rejoices because of his new-found freedom from the lady’s cruelty. Rebholz suggests that Serafino's Fui serrato nel dolore may have inspired Wyatt's laughing refrain and sense of entanglement.[2] The grafted and rotten bough image is a common image in courtly love poetry. For other examples of this image in the manuscript, see “Yff reason govern fantasye" (45v), “This rotyd greff will not but growe” (47v), and “Nowe fare well love and theye lawes forever” (75r).
After each stanza, H8 increasingly abbreviates the two-line chorus from the first four words (“but ha. ha. ha”) to the first two.
Works Cited edit