Play 6, The Expulsion from the Garden

by: Clifford Davidson (Editor)

from: The York Corpus Christi Plays  2011

The Origenall Perteynyng to the Crafte of Armourers
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 155 160 165	ANGELUS   Alle creatures to me take tent, Fro God of heven now am I sent Unto the wrecchis that wronge has went Thaymself to woo; The joie of heven that thaym was lent Is lost thaym froo. Fro thaym is loste bothe game and glee. He badde that thei schuld maistirs be Over alle kynne thyng, oute tane a tree He taught them tille, And therto wente bothe she and he Agayne his wille. Agaynst his wille thus have they wrought To greeffe grete God gaffe they right noght, That wele wytt ye; And therfore syte is to thaym sought, As ye shalle see. The fooles that faithe is fallen fra, Take tente to me nowe or ye ga: Fro God of heven unto yow twa Sente am I nowe For to warne you what kynne wa Is wrought for you. ADAM   For us is wrought, so welaway, Doole endurand nyghte and day; The welthe we wende have wonnyd in ay Is loste us fra. For this myscheffe ful wele we may Ever mornyng ma. ANGELUS   Adam, thyselffe made al this syte, For to the tree thou wente full tyte And boldely on the frute gan byte My Lord forbed. ADAM   Yaa, allas, my wiffe that may I wite, For scho me red. ANGELUS   Adam, for thou trowyd hir tale, He sendis thee worde and sais thou shale Lyffe ay in sorowe, Abide and be in bittir bale Tille he thee borowe. ADAM   Allas, wrecchis, what have we wrought! To byggly blys we bothe wer brought; Whillis we wer thare We hadde inowe; nowe have we noghte. Allas, for care. EVE   Oure cares ar comen bothe kyne and colde, With fele fandyngis manyfolde; Allas, that tyraunte to me tolde Thurghoute his gyle That we shulde have alle welthis in walde, Wa worthe the whyle. ANGELUS   That while yee wrought unwittely Soo for to greve God Almyghty, And that mon ye full dere abye Or that ye ga; And to lyffe, as is worthy, In were and wa. Adam, have this, luke howe ye thynke And tille withalle thi meete and drynke For evermore. ADAM   Allas, for syte why myght I synke, So shames me sore. EVE   Soore may we shame with sorowes seere And felly fare we bothe in feere. Allas, that evyr we neghed it nere, That tree untill. With dole now mon we bye full dere Oure dedis ille. ANGELUS   Giffe, for thou beswyked hym swa, Travell herto shalle thou ta: Thy barnes to bere with mekill wa, This warne I thee. Buxum shalle thou and othir ma To man ay be. EVE   Allas, for doole, what shalle I doo? Now mon I never have rest ne roo. ADAM   Nay, lo, swilke a tole is taken me too To travaylle tyte. Nowe is shente both I and shoo, Allas, for syte. Allas, for syte and sorowe sadde, Mournynge makis me mased and madde To thynke in herte what helpe I hadde, And nowe has none. On grounde mon I nevyr goo gladde, My gamys ere gane. Gone ar my games withowten glee; Allas, in blisse kouthe we noght bee, For putte we were to grete plenté At prime of the day. Be tyme of none alle lost had wee, Sa welawaye. Sa welaway, for harde peyne, Alle bestis were to my biddyng bayne; Fisshe and fowle, they were fulle fayne With me to founde, And nowe is alle thynge me agayne That gois on grounde. On grounde ongaynely may I gange To suffre syte and peynes strange: Alle is for dede I have done wrange Thurgh wykkid wyle. On lyve methynkith I lyffe to lange, Allas the whille. A, Lord, I thynke what thynge is this That me is ordayned for my mysse, Gyffe I wirke wronge whom shulde me wys Be any waye? How beste wille be, so have I blisse, I shalle assaye. Allas, for bale, what may this bee, In worlde unwisely wrought have wee; This erthe it trembelys for this tree And dyns ilke dele. Alle this worlde is wrothe with mee, This wote I wele. Full wele I wote my welthe is gone, Erthe, elementis, everilkane, For my synne has sorowe tane, This wele I see. Was nevere wrecchis so wylle of wane As nowe ar wee. EVE   We are fulle wele worthy, iwis, To have this myscheffe for oure mys, For broght we were to byggely blys, Ever in to be. Now my sadde sorowe certis is this, Mysilfe to see. ADAM   To see it is a sytfull syghte: We bothe that were in blis so brighte, We mon go nakid every ilke a nyghte And dayes bydene. Allas, what womans witte was light, That was wele sene. EVE   Sethyn it was so me knyth it sore, Bot sen that woman witteles ware, Mans maistrie shulde have bene more Agayns the gilte. ADAM   Nay, at my speche wolde thou never spare; That has us spilte. EVE   Iff I hadde spoken youe oughte to spill, Ye shulde have taken gode tent theretyll And turnyd my thought. ADAM   Do way, woman, and neme it noght, For at my biddyng wolde thou not be, And therfore my woo wyte I thee. Thurgh ille counsaille thus casten ar we In bittir bale. Nowe God late never man aftir me Triste woman tale. For certis me rewes fulle sare That evere I shulde lerne at thi lare, Thy counsaille has casten me in care, That thou me kende. EVE   Be stille, Adam, and nemen it na mare, It may not mende. For wele I wate I have done wrange, And therfore evere I morne emange. ADAM   Allas, the whille I leve so lange Dede wolde I be. On grounde mon I never gladde gange Withowten glee. Withowten glee I ga, This sorowe wille me sla, This tree unto me wille I ta That me is sende. He that us wrought wisse us fro wa, Wharesom we wende.	give attention; (t-note) precipitated woe From natural things, except Against grieve; gave know sorrow from go two type of woe Sadness (Sorrow) thought to have lived in always from mourning make sorrow quickly forbid blame counseled trusted shall Live redeem matchless While enough sharp many temptations; (see note) the world Woe mindlessly dearly abide go live misery and woe (see note) till [the soil] for; food sorrow many with sin burdened; together approached must we purchase deeds bad If; deceived; so; (t-note) Travail; take (have); (see note) children Obedient; more may; or peace such a tool; given quickly guilty; she sorrow confused; mad may [Even] my recreation is gone joys could beginning; (see note) noon obedient eagerly against goes uneasily; go sorrow [a] deed; wrong wile (trickery) live too long error If; who; assist By trembles makes noise in every manner angry know I well know my well being everything taken well (clearly) at a loss (distraught) sin great sorrowful sight might [in the garden]; (see note) indeed mind was weak well seen Since; I regret it greatly since; were guilt brought us to grief attention changed my mind name blame Through let Trust repent; sore lore made known name it no more know; wrong mourn always live so long; (t-note) Dead; (see note) must; go kill take [to] me keep; woe Wherever; wander

Go To Play 7, Sacrificium Cayme et Abell

Footnotes

Play 6, THE EXPULSION FROM THE GARDEN: EXPLANATORY NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: AV: Authorized (“King James”) Version; Meditations: Meditations on the Life of Christ, trans. Ragusa and Green; MED: Middle English Dictionary; OED: Oxford English Dictionary; RB: Richard Beadle, ed., York Plays; REED: Records of Early English Drama; YA: Davidson and O’Connor, York Art; York Breviary: Breviarium ad usum insignis ecclesie Eboracensis; York Missal: Missale ad usum insignis ecclesiae Eboracensis.

References to the Ordo paginarum are to REED: York, 1:16–27.

At the conclusion of the previous pageant, Adam and Eve have already been expelled from the garden. To be sure, a different angel must play the angel of the Expulsion here. Since in this case the angel, identified in the biblical account (Genesis 3:24) as a cherubim, traditionally holds a flaming sword, as in another panel in the East Window of the Minster (French, York Minster: The Great East Window, p. 51), the Armorers, or Furbishers, would seem to have been a logical choice for producers of this pageant, especially since over time this craft gravitated more toward weaponry than protective gear. However, while the Ordo paginarum says nothing about the sword, it does have the angel supplying Adam and Eve with a spade and spindle with which they are to begin their work. The Armorers’ most prosperous period was the early fifteenth century, though by 1444 they were pleading for aid for themselves and their pageant (REED: York: 1:62). The play is written in six-line stanzas, also including irregular stanzas of five lines.

47 fele fandyngis manyfolde. Middle earth, to which Adam and Eve have been banished, is a place of temptation that will mark the race from henceforth, even affecting St. Peter immediately after the Crucifixion when he denies his Lord three times.

58 Adam, have this. The angel hands the spade to Adam with an admonition that this will be needed for earning his living. The spade is generally taken to be Adam’s identifying symbol in the iconography of the later Middle Ages; see May, “Medieval Stage Property.”

70–74 Travell herto shalle thou ta . . . To man ay be. The point at which Eve presumably must receive the spindle from the angel. This seems verified by the following lines in which she laments that she can no longer have the kind of tranquility that she enjoyed in the garden but must work. Adam also refers to the tool that has been given him in line 77. For a typical depiction of Eve, seated outside and spinning at the left, and Adam working with his spade “in the sweat of his brow” to break up the hard ground at the right, see the Speculum humanae salvationis (Wilson and Wilson, Medieval Mirror, p. 145).

90–91 At prime of the day. / Be tyme of none alle lost had wee. The creation of the first parents took place at the beginning of the day (specifically at prime, the second of the canonical hours), and already by noon the Fall had taken place. The rapidity of the Fall is a medieval commonplace.

131 We mon go nakid. So in the garden, but now they cannot do this on account of their awareness of their bodies, of which they are ashamed. The biblical account has them dressed in skins (Genesis 3:21).

160 Dede wolde I be. A sign of despair, though in Adam’s case it will not be a sickness unto death, for he will be rescued from Limbo along with Eve by the second Adam, Jesus Christ, at the Harrowing. The despair here is not the remorse of Judas but of a penitent now that he has finished his blaming of Eve for his deed. Traditional gestures are beating one’s breast and wringing one’s hands, which would have been appropriate for Adam and Eve as they wend forth at the end of the pageant, presumably as they set off toward the next station where the pageant will be repeated.

Play 6, THE EXPULSION FROM THE GARDEN: TEXTUAL NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: Bevington: David Bevington, ed., Medieval Drama (1975); Köbling: E. Köbling, “Beiträge zur Erklärung und Textkritik der York Plays”; LTS: Lucy Toulmin Smith, ed., The York Plays (1885); RB: Richard Beadle, ed., The York Plays (1972) (incorporating numerous emendations from other sources); RB²: Richard Beadle, “Corrections to The York Plays,” in Gerald Byron Kinneavy, A Concordance to the York Plays (1986), pp. xxxi–xxxii; s.d.: stage direction; Sykes: A. C. Cawley, ed., “The Sykes MS of the York Scriveners’ Play”; Towneley: Martin Stevens and A. C. Cawley, eds., The Towneley Plays.

The base text for this edition is London, British Library, MS. Add. 35290, called the “Register” in the York civic records and here identified by the abbreviation Reg. Some variations in lineation from the manuscript are not noted here; see RB and Beadle and Meredith’s The York Play: A Facsimile. In most cases the line numbering in the present text is consistent with RB. Lineation of alliterative verse throughout is based on Reg, with line numbering adjusted accordingly to account for half lines. Scribes are identified as follows: Scribe A; Scribe B: main scribe; JC: John Clerke; LH: later scribal hand (unidentified).

1 Alle. Space provided for large capital A, not added in Reg. This omission is a characteristic of texts entered by Scribe B.

69 Reg: added above line by JC as correction: “Eve for that thou begylyd hym so.”

159 ADAM. This edition; LTS and RB insert speech heading for Adam at line 161 following emendation by LH.