Art. 67, Ase Y me rod this ender day

by: Susanna Greer Fein (Editor)

from: The Complete Harley 2253 Manuscript, Volume 2  2014

81va] 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 81vb]    40 45 50 55 60

¶ Ase Y me rod this ender day By grene wode to seche play, Mid herte Y thohte al on a may,    Suetest of alle thinge. Lythe, ant Ich ou telle may    Al of that suete thinge. This maiden is suete ant fre of blod, Briht ant feyr, of milde mod — Alle heo mai don us god    Thurh hire bysechynge; Of hire he tok fleysh ant blod,    Jesu, hevene kynge. With al mi lif Y love that may; He is mi solas nyht ant day, My joie ant eke my beste play,    Ant eke my love-longynge. Al the betere me is that day    That Ich of hire synge! Of alle thinge Y love hire mest — My dayes blis, my nyhtes rest! Heo counseileth ant helpeth best    Bothe elde ant yynge. Nou Y may, yef Y wole,    The fif joyes mynge. The furst joie of that wymman: When Gabriel from hevene cam Ant seide God shulde bicome man    Ant of hire be bore, Ant bringe up of helle pyn    Monkyn that wes forlore. That other joie of that may Wes o Cristesmasse day: When God wes bore on thoro lay,    Ant brohte us lyhtnesse. The ster wes seie byfore day;    This, hirdes bereth wytnesse. The thridde joie of that levedy, That men clepeth the Epyphany: When the kynges come, wery,    To presente hyre sone With myrre, gold, ant encens,    That wes mon bicome. The furthe joie we telle mawen: On Ester morewe wen hit gon dawen,    Hyre sone that wes slawen    Aros in fleysh ant bon — More joie ne mai me haven,    Wyf ne mayden non! The fifte joie of that wymman: When hire body to hevene cam, The soule to the body nam,    Ase hit wes woned to bene. Crist, leve us alle, with that wymman,    That joie al forte sene! Preye we alle to Oure Levedy, Ant to the sontes that woneth hire by, That heo of us haven merci,    Ant that we ne misse In this world to ben holy,    Ant wynne hevene blysse.       Amen.

¶ As I rode out the other day To seek pleasure by the green wood, Fervently I thought wholly on a girl,    Sweetest of everything. Listen, and I may tell you    All about that sweet thing. This maiden is sweet and noble of birth, Beautiful and fair, of gentle manner — She may bring us only good    By our beseeching her; Of her he took flesh and blood,    Jesus, heaven’s king. With all my life I love that girl; She’s my solace night and day, My joy and also my best delight,    And also my love-longing. I always fare better on that day    When I sing about her! Of all things I love her most — My day’s bliss, my night’s rest! She counsels and helps best    Both old and young. Now I may, as I wish,    The five joys call to mind. The first joy of that woman: When Gabriel came from heaven And said God would become man    And of her be born, And raise up out of hell-pain    Mankind who was forlorn. The next joy of that maiden Occurred on Christmas day: When God was born in perfect light,    And brought us to enlightenment. The star was visible before day;    To this, shepherds bear witness. The third joy of that lady, Which men call the Epiphany: When the kings came, weary,    To present her son With myrrh, gold, and incense,    Who had become man. The fourth joy we may tell: On Easter morn when it began to dawn, Her son that was slain    Arose in flesh and bone — More joy may no man have,    Nor wife nor maiden either! The fifth joy of that woman: When her body came to heaven, The soul joined with the body,    Where it was accustomed to be. Christ, grant us all, with that woman,    To see that joy! Pray we all to Our Lady, And to the saints that dwell near her, That she have mercy on us,    And that we not fail In this world to be holy,    And win heaven’s bliss.       Amen.

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

Go To Art. 68, Herkne to my ron, introduction
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Footnotes

ART. 67, ASE Y ME ROD THIS ENDER DAY: 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).

33 thoro lay. “Perfect light”; see MED, thurgh (adj.), sense (e), and leie (n.(2)), sense (f).

34 lyhtnesse. “Enlightenment, spiritual insight”; see MED, lightnesse (n.(1)), sense 2.(b).

ART. 67, ASE Y ME ROD THIS ENDER DAY: 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.

5 Lythe. So MS, Bö, B14, Br, Sa, Mi. W³: Kythe.

12 Jesu. So MS (abbreviated ihc with stroke through h). W³: Jhesu. B14, Sa: ihesus. Br, Mi: Iesus. Bö: iesu crist.

14 He. So MS, W³, Bö, Br, Sa, Mi. B14: heo.

25 wymman. So Bö, B14, Br, Sa, Mi. MS, W³: wynman.

33 thoro. So MS, B14, Br, Sa, Mi. W³: thore. Bö: 3orwe.

35 The ster. So B14, Br, Sa, Mi. MS: 3e stri (ri abbreviated). W³, Bö: 3estri.

44 wen. So MS, W³, B14, Sa. Bö, Br, Mi: when.