The Devonshire Manuscript/howe shulde I

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The Devonshire Manuscript
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what shulde I saye Gyve place all ye that dothe reioise
The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 77r
The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 77v

f. [77r]

1    howe shulde I
2    be so plesunte
3    in mye semblaunt
4    as my fellowes bee

5    not long agoo
6    it chaunsed soo
7    as I ded walke alone
8    I harde aman
9    that nowe and than{_a}n
10    himsilf ded thus bemone

11    Alas he saide
12    I am betraide
13    and vttrelye ondone
14    whoom{_o} I dede trust
15    and think so iuste
16    {_a}{_o} another mann hath wonne

17    mye ser{{s}8}vise due
18    and herte so true
19    on her I ded bestowe
20    I never ment
21    for to repente
22    yn welthe nor yet in woo.

23    The westorne winde
24    hathe turnid his minde
25    and blowen it clene awaye
26    therebye my helthe my mirthe / welthe
27    my h mirthe & helthe
28    are dryvon to grete dekaye

29    ffortune ded smyle
30    a right shorte while
31    and never saide me naye
32    with{w+t+} plesaunte plais
33    and Ioyfull dayes
34    my tyme to passe awaye /

35    Alas ahlas
36    the tyme so was
37    so never shall it be
38    sins she is gone
39    and I alone []
40    armeles as ye maye see/

f. [77v] 

41    Where is the othe
42    where is the trothe
43    that she to me ded gyve
44    such fayned wordes{es}
45    with silie boordes{es}
46    lett no t wise man{_a}n beleve

47    ffor even as I
48    thus wofullye
49    vnto my silf 1com{_o}plaine
50    yf ye then truste
51    nedes{es} lerne ye muste
52    to sing my song in vayne /
53    how shulde I &c /

fs

Notes & Glosses

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     1. The word "silf" demonstrates the similarity between the scribe's renderings of e and i.

Commentary

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Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt,[1] this poem was entered by H8. The speaker recounts how he met a lamenting lover. In the end, the lover hopes the speaker will be more wary in his trust or else he will sing the same song. Rebholz notes that the poem belongs to the medieval French genre chanson à personnages (dramatic song) wherein the poet listens to a young woman's complaint.[2]

Works Cited

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