Art. 52, Wynter wakeneth al my care

by: Susanna Greer Fein (Editor)

from: The Complete Harley 2253 Manuscript, Volume 2  2014

75vb]    5 10 15

¶ Wynter wakeneth al my care; Nou this leves waxeth bare. Ofte Y sike ant mourne sare    When hit cometh in my thoht       Of this worldes joie:          Hou hit geth al to noht! Nou hit is, ant nou hit nys, Also hit ner nere, ywys! That moni mon seith, soth hit ys:    Al goth bote Godes wille;       Alle we shule deye,          Thath us like ylle. Al that gren me graveth grene;      Nou hit faleweth al bydene. Jesu, help that hit be sene,    Ant shild us from helle,       For Y not whider Y shal,          Ne hou longe her duelle.

¶ Winter awakens all my sorrow; Now these leaves grow barren. Often I sigh and sadly mourn    When it enters into my thought       Regarding this world’s joy:          How it goes all to nought! Now it is, and now it isn’t, As if it had never been, indeed! What many a man says, true it is:    All passes except God’s will;       We all shall die,          Though we dislike it. All that seed men bury unripe;      Now it withers all at once. Jesus, help that this be known,    And shield us from hell,       For I know not whither I’ll go,          Nor how long here dwell.

(t-note) (see note); (t-note)

Go To Art. 53, When Y se blosmes springe, introduction
Go To Art. 53, When Y se blosmes springe, text

Footnotes

ART. 52, WYNTER WAKENETH AL MY CARE: EXPLANATORY NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: AND: Anglo-Norman Dictionary; ANL: Anglo-Norman Literature: A Guide to Texts and Manuscripts (R. Dean and Boulton); BL: British Library (London); Bodl.: Bodleian Library (Oxford); CCC: Corpus Christi College (Cambridge); CUL: Cambridge University Library (Cambridge); IMEV: The Index of Middle English Verse (Brown and Robbins); IMEV Suppl.: Supplement to the Index of Middle English Verse (Robbins and Cutler); MED: Middle English Dictionary; MWME: A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050–1500 (Severs et al.); NIMEV: A New Index of Middle English Verse (Boffey and Edwards); NLS: National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh).

13 Al that gren me graveth grene. “All that seed men bury unripe.” This line is compressed in sense and somewhat difficult. For graveth, see MED, graven (v.(1)), sense 1.(b), “to put something under the ground, cover with earth; bury; plant.” There is no MED gloss for gren, a much-discussed crux, sometimes emended to grein, “grain, seed” (suggestive of John 12:24–25: “Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling to the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”). This reading is accepted here; emendation is unnecessary.

ART. 52, WYNTER WAKENETH AL MY CARE: TEXTUAL NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: As: Aspin; Bö: Böddeker; Bos: Bossy; Br: Brook; BS: Bennett and Smithers; BZ: Brandl and Zippel; B13: Brown 1932; B14: Brown 1952; DB: Dunn and Byrnes; Deg: Degginger; Do: Dove 1969; Gr: Greene 1977; Ha: Halliwell; Hal: Hall; Hol: Holthausen; Hor¹: Horstmann 1878; Hor²: Horstmann 1896; Hu: Hulme; JL: Jeffrey and Levy; Ju: Jubinal; Kel: Keller; Ken: Kennedy; Le: Lerer 2008; Mc: McKnight; Mi: Millett; MR: Michelant and Raynaud; Mo: Morris and Skeat; MS: MS Harley 2253; Mu: H. M. R. Murray; Pa: Patterson; Pr: Pringle 2009; Rei: Reichl 1973; Rev¹: Revard 2004; Rev²: Revard 2005b; Ri¹: Ritson 1877; Ri²: Ritson 1885; Ro: Robbins 1959; Sa: Saupe; Si: Silverstein; St: Stemmler 1970; Tr: Treharne; Tu: Turville-Petre 1989; Ul: Ulrich; W¹: Wright 1839; W²: Wright 1841; W³: Wright 1842; W⁴: Wright 1844; WH: Wright and Halliwell.

12 Thath. So MS (3a3), W³. Ri¹, Bö, B14, Br: 3ah. Si: That.

13 gren. So MS, W³, Ri¹, Bö. B14, Br, Si: grein.