Go To The Assumption and Mary as Queen of Heaven

MARY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS: FOOTNOTES

1 Where false witnesses against him soon were found

2 Who gave him quoits and purple cloth for scorn (see note)

3 The sun darkened its light from the sixth hour to the ninth hour

4 You would do well to think about my son

5 God made (shaped) me as a shield, to shield from shame

6 In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

MARY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS: NOTES

          §31

Quhat dollour persit our ladyis hert. Index no. 3904. MS: BL Arundel 285, fol. 141b (late fifteenth or early sixteenth century). Editions: Karl Brunner, "Mittelenglischen Marienstunden," Englische Studien 70 (1935), 106-09; B15, no. 94; J. A. W. Bennett, Devotional Pieces in Verse and Prose, from MS. Arundel 285 and MS. Harleian 6919, STS third series no. 23 (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1949), pp. 234-36.

houris. The Breviary contains the liturgies of the Divine Office, including the canonical hours (consisting of psalms, antiphons, and hymns) to be recited daily. The hours include prime (usually around 6 a.m., the "first hour"), terce (the "third hour," or 9 a.m.), sext (noon), none (mid-afternoon, around 3 p.m.), evensong (around 6 p.m.), and compline (around 9 p.m.). The poem is an adaptation of the "Hours of the Cross" form, unusual for its focus on Mary; for additional examples of the form see B14, nos. 30, 34, and 55; and B15, no. 93. In the MS, this rubric and the hours heading each stanza appear centered, in red.

1 persit. A good example of affective piety. Through empathy, Mary (and thus the poet/meditator) is experiencing the Crucifixion in her heart. The line also recalls Simeon's prophecy; see note to §25, line 119.

3 Annas. After Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, he is taken to the high priest Caiaphas for questioning. According to the account in John 18:12-13, Jesus is first taken to Caiaphas' father-in-law, Annas. Annas and Caiaphas appear regularly as characters in medieval dramas. (See also Matthew 26:57-75; Mark 14:53-65; Luke 22:54.)

4 fals witnes agane him. See Mark 14:55-59.

5 Pilotis place. Jesus' trial takes place before Pilate, governor of Judea. See Matthew 27:2, 11-26; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-5 and 13-25; John 18:28-40.

9 Crucify him! Matthew 27:23; Mark 15:13-14; Luke 23:21-23; John 19:6 and 15.

10 quhit coit and purpour claith. His torturers mock Jesus as "King of the Jews" with a purple cloak (the color of royalty) and a crown of thorns (line 12). See Matthew 27:27-31; Mark 15:16-20; John 19:1-5. They also cast lots (play quoits) for his garments (Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24).

11 Thai scurgit him. John 19:1-16; Mark 15:15.

13 nalit on a tre. Accounts of Jesus' Crucifixion are given in Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33; John 19:17-18.

14 For drink thai gaif him bitter gall. Matthew 27:34 (fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 69:21).

16 The erd trimblit, and cragis begouth to fall. The earthquake, recorded in Matthew 27:51-54, comes at the moment of Jesus' death. (Mark 15:28 and Luke 23:45 also indicate that the curtain of the temple is torn in two at the moment of his death.)

17 he commendit his moder to Sanct Johnne. John 19:25-27. Compare §37.

19 The sone tynt licht fra the sext till none. Luke 23:44-45: "It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the curtain of the temple was torn in the middle." See also Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33-41; John 19:28-37.

20 His passioun betuix God and ws maid peace. I.e., Jesus paid for the sins of humankind with his death. In his account of the Passion, Jacobus de Voragine cites St. Augustine on humanity's debt of sin: "Eve borrowed sin from the devil and wrote a bill and provided a surety, and the interest on the debt was heaped upon posterity. She borrowed sin from the devil when, going against God's command, she consented to his wicked order or suggestion. She wrote the bill when she reached out her hand to the forbidden apple. She gave a surety when she made Adam consent to the sin. And so the interest on the debt of sin became posterity's burden" (The Golden Legend, 1:210). Christ's death redeems, or pays for, the debt of sin. §59 echoes this idea: "Marie, out of synne help thu me, / And out of dette, for charité" (lines 7-8).

20 ws. Brunner reads this as an abbreviation and expands to world.

21 his syd oppinnit with a speir. John 19:34: "but one of the soldiers opened his side with a lance, and immediately there came out blood and water."

25-27 The account of Jesus' burial is given in Matthew 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; and John 19:38-42.

28 allane. MS: all. Bennett and Brown complete the rhyme with allane. On the tradition that Mary alone remained faithful through the events of the Crucifixion, see the Fasciculus Morum, p. 619.

29 mercy. A word is crossed out with red ink before this word.

At the close of the piece, the MS reads: Heir endis the exercicioun for Setterday and begynnis the exercicioun for Sonday. The poem is a devotional "exercise" for Holy Week meditation.


          §32

Jesu Cristes milde moder. Index no. 1697. MS: BL Arundel 248, fols. 154b-55a, with music (thirteenth century). Editions: Martin Jacoby, Vier Mittelenglische Geistliche Gedichte aus dem 13. Jahrhundert (Berlin: Bernstein, 1890), p. 42; B13, no. 47. The music, an early example of English polyphony, appears in Woolridge, p. 308, and in Gustave Reese, Music in the Middle Ages, (New York: Norton, 1940) p. 389. Commentary: Weber, pp. 139-45.

The poem is a paraphrase of the sequence Stabat juxta Christi crucem (printed in B13, p. 8), but the music (which supplies a different melody and descant for each verse) appears to be unique to this MS. For another example of that tradition, see B13, no. 4 (MS Bodl. 9995, opening stanzas missing).

8 neverre. Jacoby transcribes nevere.

no. Added above line.

10 The brithe day went into nith. For literal interpretation, see §31, note to line 19. But the death of Jesus, his mother's "heart's light" (line 11), also brings a figurative darkness. John's gospel emphasizes imagery of light and darkness; see, for example, John 1:1-9, 12:46, and 13:35-36.

11 thin. MS: hin. Brown's emendation.

18 The story of Simeon's blessing and prophecy at the purification of the infant Jesus is recorded in Luke 2:22-35. He represents the old heritage waiting patiently for this ecstatic and excruciating moment.

20 After Jesus dies on the cross, a soldier pierces his side with a spear (John 19:34).

27 the. Added above line.

wel crossed out after herte.

31 yielde. MS: þielde. Brown emends the þ to 3.

35-36 That thu . . . withelde thar biforn. Perhaps an allusion to Mary and Joseph's flight into Egypt with the infant Jesus; see Matthew 2:13-23.

40 MS: nu the þiolden, with s added above the line. Brown emends to the's 3 iolden, "you have yielded."

40-42 Nu thes thiolden . . . quite and fre. Now she knows the pain other women experience in labor. On the traditional belief that Mary suffered no pain in giving birth to Jesus, see note to §15, line 3.

43-48 These lines recall imagery of lines 10-11: darkness is restored to light, literally and figuratively, as morning follows night and the sun/son (line 47) rises on Easter morning. For the accounts of Jesus' resurrection, see Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20.

46 wende. MS: wen. Brown emends to wende; Jacoby emends to wenten.

50 See 1 Peter 3:18-20.

aros. MS: tharos. Brown's emendation.

51 he. MS: the. As in §3, "Gabriel, fram evene kingh," I follow Brown's reading of h for initial Þ in the Arundel MS. So also at lines 52 and 55.

Thur the hole ston he glod. The line suggests a double sense: the miracle of Jesus' passing through a solid (whole) tombstone, but also perhaps a parturition metaphor as Jesus passes through the passageway (hole) of the tomb and death into life.

63 yvel. The sense seems to be "affliction" as well as "sin." The comment is on the human condition under sin and death which the Resurrection and Mary's experience have so eloquently addressed.

65 Word erased at beginning of line.

66 wit his. MS: wit þis.


          §33

Stond wel, Moder, under rode. Index no. 3211. MS: BL Royal 12.E.1, fols. 193a-94b, with music (early fourteenth century, East Midlands). Other MSS: BL Harley 2253, fol. 79a (early fourteenth century); Trinity Dublin 301, fol. 194 (early fourteenth century, North/Midlands). The first 54 lines also appear in Bodl. 1687 (Digby 86), fol. 127a-b (c. 1275, West Midlands). Lines 1-28 appear, with the Latin sequence set to music, in St. John's College Cambridge 111, fol. 106b (thirteenth century, Southeast); and the first stanza appears as a sermon quotation in BL Royal 8.F.2, fol. 180a (c. 1300). Editions of Royal 12.E.1: B13, no. 49b; Sisam, Oxford, no. 56 (incomplete). Editions of Harley: Wright, Specimens, pp. 80-83; Böddekker, pp. 205-08; Wülcker, 1:46-48; Bruce Dickins and R. M. Wilson, Early Middle English Texts (Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes, 1951), pp. 129-30; Brook, no. 20; Davies, no. 24; LH, no. 226; DH, no. 11. Editions of Digby: B13, no. 49a; Varnhagen, "Eine Marienklage," Anglia 2 (1879), 253-54; Furnivall, EETS o.s. 117, pp. 763-65; Kaiser, p. 260, Stevick, no. 19. Editions of St. John's Cambridge: B13, pp. 203-04. Edition of Royal 8: B13, p. 204.
Like §32, this poem is based on the Stabat juxta Christi crucem sequence which appears in the York Missal, c. 1390. Its music is adapted from the Latin hymn and uses the same meter, but the Latin source is not a dialogue. Crowne writes that this poem "was called by Wright 'Stabat Mater,' and was said by Böddekker to be unmistakably related to that poem. In reality, there is nothing in common between the Latin classic and this English Tenson or Debate, except the subject, the introductory words, and the metrical form" (p. 311); furthermore, "the 'Stabat Mater,' so popular throughout the Middle Ages, does not seem to have made a great impression in England. It influenced no extant Middle English poem, and, though found in late MSS., was not used in the office of the English Church." (Julian, p. 1082, supports this.)
The Royal MS represents a separate tradition from the other MSS. The Royal poet addresses Mary in an intimate tone absent in the other versions (the Harley version addresses Mary directly only once) and continues to address Mary where the other texts shift the focus to Christ (see notes below). In these stanzas, Royal translates its Latin source more closely than do the other MSS.
The earliest extant version of the poem is Digby (c. 1275). This version contains several unique variants, noted below, and ends at line 54. The Cambridge MS agrees with Royal on most variants, and probably shares a common source. Harley changes the order of stanzas. On the MSS, sources, variants, and music, see DH, pp. 153-60.
Wenzel discusses the various contexts in which this poem occurs and speculates on its origins (Preachers, pp. 48-53). For a theological analysis of the dialogue, see Weber, pp. 125-45. Weber discusses the poem as a counterpart to the dialogue in §25, "Als I lay upon a nith."

2 child. Harley: sone.

3 Blythe, Moder. Digby: Moder, blithe.

mittu. Cambridge: mai thu.

4 quu may. Harley: hou should y. Digby: hou may ich.

5 Hi se thin honden. Digby: and thine honde.

7 Moder, do wey. Cambridge: Do wai moder.

8 Hi thole this ded for mannes thinge. Digby: Ich tholie deth for monnes kuinde. Harley: y thole deth for monkynde. Cambridge: I thole this ded for mankende. Only Royal gives a rhyming line.

9 For owen gilte tholi non. Digby: Vor mine guiltes ne tholie non. Harley: For my gult thole y non.

13 reu upon thi bern. Digby: do wei thine teres. Harley: thou rewe al of thi bern. Cambridge: rewen of thi barne.

14 wasse. Digby: wip; Cambridge: vipe.

17 blodi flodes hernen. Digby: blodi woundes herne. Harley: blody stremes erne. Cam-bridge: blod on flod erne.

18 thin herte to min fet. Digby: thin herte to thi fot.

22 swngen. Cambridge: suingen; Harley: byswngen; Digby: iswonge.

23 Thi brest, thin hond, thi fot thur-stungen. Digby: Thine honde, thine fet, thi bodi istounge. Harley: Fet ant honden thourhout stongen. Cambridge: brest and hend ond fet thurtet sting.

24 selli. Harley, Digby: wonder.

25 if y dar. Harley: now y shal. Cambridge: wel I may.

26 Yif y ne deye. Cambridge: bot i deie.

26-27 Compare John 16:7, in which Jesus explains to his disciples, "But I speak the truth to you; it is expedient for you that I depart. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you."

27 thole this ded. Harley omits this. Cambridge: tholie det.

28 thu best me so minde. Digby: thou me bihest so milde. Harley: thou art so meke ant mynde.

29 With me nout; it is mi kinde. Digby: Icomen hit is of monnes kuinde. Harley: Ne wyt me naht; hit is my kynde.

30 for thee. Digby: sike and. Harley: for this.

31-36 Harley inserts this stanza after line 12 in the present text.

34 to rede. Digby: the stounde.

35 pined. Harley: pyneth; Digby: pinen.

to dede. Digby: to the grounde.

37 Moder, mitarst thi mith leren. Digby: Swete moder, nou thou fondest. Harley: moder nou thou might wel leren.

38 Wat pine tholen that childre beren. Digby: Of mi pine ther thou stondest. Harley: Whet sorewe haveth that children beren.

39 Wat sorwe haven that child forgon. Digby: Withhoute mi pine nere no mon. Harley: Whet sorewe hit is with childe gon.

40 Sune. Harley gives Sorewe, which breaks the pattern of "Mother"/ "Son" addresses.

41 the. Omitted in Harley.

43 reu of moder kare. Digby: of moder thus I fare.

44 Nu thu wost of moder fare. Digby: Nou thou wost wimmanes kare. Harley: For nou thou wost of moder fare.

44-45 See note to §32, lines 40-42.

45 Thou thu be clene mayden man. Digby: Thou art clene mayden on.

50 y fare. Digby: I go. Harley: y shal.

51 The thridde day y rise upon. Digby: I tholie this for thine sake.

52 y wyle withe funden. Digby: Iwis I wille founde.

53 Y deye ywis of thine wnden. Digby: I deye almest, I falle to grounde. Harley gives for in place of Royal's of.

54 The Digby MS ends with this line.

reuful. Digby: serwful; Harley: soreweful.

55 thi. Harley: hire. In the Royal MS, the speaker addresses Mary directly and personal-ly (see also note to line 58).

56 The. Harley: Hire.

57 Wen. Omitted in Harley.

58 Moder. Harley: Levedy. Only in this line does the Harley speaker address Mary directly, and less intimately than in the Royal version.

59 Bisech ure God, ure sinnes lesse. Harley: Bysech thi sone of sunnes lisse.

61 quen of hevene. Harley: ful of blysse.

62 Bring us ut of helle levene. Harley: Let us never hevene misse.

63 dere. Harley: suete.

64-66 Moder . . . Led us into hevene lith. While the speaker in Royal continues to address Mary, Harley reads Louerd, for that ilke blod / That thou sheddest on the rod, / Thou bryng us into hevene lyth. Trinity follows Harley.


          §34

Suete sone, reu on me. Index no. 3245. MS: National Library of Scotland Advocates 18.7.21, fol. 120a (Grimestone's commonplace book, 1372). Editions: B14, no. 64; LH, no. 225. Com-mentary: Weber, pp. 117-21.

The MS inscription above the poem reads: "Beda. Audi cum Maria quae dixit." Brown notes a general similarity between this poem and a meditation on Christ's Passion sometimes attributed to Bede (B14, p. 266; sermon in PL 94, col. 568).

3 honges. MS: honge; Brown's emendation.

7 tholen. The word suggests both "endure" and "outlive."

10 deth. MS: det3.


          §35

The angell sayde to thee that the fruyt off thi body sulde be blyssyde. Index no 427.5: At his burth thow hurdist angell syng. MS: Worcester Cathedral F.10, fol. 25a (early fifteenth century). Also in Balliol College Oxford 149 (262.D.3), fol. 12b (late fourteenth century). Both are sermon collections. In each MS, this poem and the next appear in a Latin sermon for Good Friday. Editions of Worcester: John Kestell Floyer, ed., rev. Sidney G. Hamilton, Catalogue of Manuscripts Preserved in the Chapter Library of Worcester Cathedral (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1906), pp. 5-7; William H. Hulme, review of Floyer and Hamilton, JEGP 8 (1909), 292; Owst, p. 541. Balliol: Coxe, p. 46, lines 3-6.

Floyer speculates that this English fragment might be part of a Passion play. It is introduced in the Worcester MS by the following: "A, blyssedful mayden and modyr! This is a wonderful change: the angell behette the that Kryst walde be thi sonne and dwel wyt the and now he takys the a new son and gosse fro the."

1 The angell sayde to thee . . . . In Balliol, a line precedes this one: O blesful mayden and moder thys his a wondirful thaunge / The angel bihete the . . . .

6 despyte. Balliol: spit.

7 thow wantyd womanes wo. I.e., did not suffer the pains of childbirth (see note to §15, line 3).

8 wel. Omitted in Balliol.

11 to. Balliol: at. So also at line 12.

12 bitter gall. See Matthew 27:32.

13 thou founde hym in the mydyl off the doctors in the temple. When Jesus was twelve years old, his parents found him conversing with the teachers in the temple. See Luke 2:42-52.


          §36

A Son! tak hede to me. Index no. 14. MS: Worcester Cathedral F.10, fol. 25a. Also in Balliol College Oxford 149 (262.D.3), fols. 12b-13a. Editions of Worcester: Floyer and Hamilton (see notes to §35 above), p. 6; William H. Hulme, review of Floyer and Hamilton, JEGP 8 (1909), 292; Owst, p. 542; B14, no. 128; Stevick, no. 45.

Brown (B14, p. 285) notes that while the lines are ascribed to Chrysostom, they are not found in Chrysostom's works, but instead appear to be from the Liber de Passione Christi et Doloribus et Planctibus Matris Eius, "doubtfully" attributed to St. Bernard, the text of which is found in PL 182, cols. 1134-42. A Middle English metrical translation of that work occurs in the Cursor Mundi, Part 4, ed. Richard Morris, EETS o.s. 66 (London: Oxford University Press, 1876): see the extensive dialogue between Jesus and Mary in the assumption section, lines 20217-20682. G. Kribel prints both English and Latin texts in "Studien zu Richard Rolle de Hampole," Englische Studien 8 (1885), 84-114. The Liber de Passione Christi also appears to be the source for §41.

2 set me uppe wyt thee on i crosse. Balliol: set me with the opon thi crosse.

3 thus hense go. Balliol: hennys thus go.

4 wo. Balliol: endeles wo.

6 ever was god. Balliol: were ever godliche.

10 hyt. Balliol: this.

the. Balliol: thus.

11 in thoghte. Balliol: in thi thoughe.

14 Jone, thi kosyne, sall be thi sone. See §37, note to lines 1-2.


          §37

Womman, Jon I take to thee. Index no. 162: Allas wo sal myn herte slaken. MS: National Library of Scotland Advocates 18.7.21, fol. 121b (Grimestone's commonplace book, 1372). Edition: R. H. Robbins, "The Earliest Carols and the Franciscans," Modern Language Notes 53 (1938), 244.

1-2 John 19:25-27: "Now there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, thy son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, thy mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home."

5 forwaken. Robbins' reading of MS. Perhaps a scribal error for forsaken? Mary has kept vigil fastidiously to the point of exhaustion; thus, she is for-waken. Or perhaps the sense is simply that she is exhausted by sleeplessness.


          §38

Nou goth sonne under wod. Possibly by St. Edmund of Abingdon. Index no. 2320. MS: Bodl. 3462 (Arch. Selden supra 74), fol. 55b, col. 2 (late thirteenth century). This poem appears in St. Edmund's Speculum ecclesie (composed in the early thirteenth century), which survives in more than forty French, English, and Latin MSS. For a more complete listing of MSS and editions, consult the Index and Supplement. Editions of this French MS: B13, no. 1; Sisam, Oxford, no. 269; Bennett and Smithers, second ed. (1968), p. 129; Davies, no. 6; Stevick, no. 4; LH, no. 190; Wilhelm, no. 269. Editions of Bodl. 1621 (Digby 20), fol 155a: B13, p. 166; J. E. Wells, First Supplement to A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050-1400 (New Haven: Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1923), p. 988. Editions of Cambridge University Ii. 6.40: Henry Wolcott Robbins, "An English Version of St. Edmund's Speculum, Ascribed to Richard Rolle," PMLA 40 (1925), 250. Edition of BL Royal 7.A.1: Helen P. For-shaw, ed. Edmund of Abingdon: Speculum Religiosorum and Speculum Ecclesie (London: Oxford University Press, 1973), p. 93.

Criticism: John L. Cutler, "Nou Goth Sonne Vnder Wod," Explicator 4 (1945), item 7; George Kane, Middle English Literature (London: Methuen, 1951), p. 140; C. G. Thayer, Explicator 11 (1953), item 25; Manning, pp. 80-84 (on spatial and temporal movement in the poem); W. B. Lockwood. "A Note on the Middle English 'Sunset on Calvary,'" Zeitschrift fur Anglistik und Amerikanistik 9 (1961), 410-12; Stevick, "The Criticism of Middle English Lyrics," Modern Philology 64 (1966), 115; Dronke, pp. 64-65; Peck, pp. 461-68.

In the MS, the poem follows an account of Jesus' giving Mary to John. In several MSS, the poem is preceded by a reference to Canticles 1:5 (RSV Song of Solomon 1:6): "Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath altered my colour." In Digby (a French MS), the poem is introduced by two biblical passages (given here in the Douay translation): Ruth 1:20, "But she said to them: Call me not Noemi (that is, beautiful), but call me Mara (that is, bitter), for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness," and Canticles 1:15, "Behold thou art fair, my beloved, and comely."

1 sonne. As Reiss (pp. 15-17) observes, the pun on son/sun suggests a solar eclipse.

2 rode. Peck observes a pun, where the meaning of rode shifts from "countenance" to "cross" as the sun is eclipsed at the Crucifixion and the sense shifts from love conventions in praise of a woman to the speaker's anguish for the mother and son at the Crucifixion (p. 467).


          §39

Sodenly afraide, half waking, half slepyng. Index no. 4189: With favoure in hir face ferr passyng my reason. MS: Manchester Rylands Library 18932 (Latin 395), fol. 120a-b (late fifteenth century). Also in Trinity College Cambridge 1450 (O.9.38), fols. 63b-64a (late fifteenth century). Editions of Rylands MS: Joseph Haslewood, Censura Literaria 10 (1809),186-87; B15, no. 9; Sisam, Oxford, no. 227; EEC, no. 161; Stevick, no. 86; Reiss, pp. 145-46 (commentary, pp. 146-50). Editions of Trinity: F. J. Furnivall, Hymns to the Virgin and Christ, pp. 126-27; CS, no. 79; Segar, pp. 61-62.

A much longer poem with the same refrain, "Who can not wepe com lerne att me," which survives in the fifteenth-century MS Harl. 2274, fols. 35a-46b, tells the story of Mary's life from birth to Assumption. It is edited by Robert Max Garrett in "De Arte Lacrimandi," Anglia 32 (1909), 270-94. The line also recalls the Liber de Passione Christi et Doloribus et Planctibus Matris Eius (see note to §36), in which Bernard appeals to Mary to teach him to relate her feelings so he may share them: "Ladi, the teres, that thou ther gef, / Graunte me summe! he seide tho" (G. Kribel, "Studien zu Richard Rolle de Hampole," Englische Studien 8 [1885], 91, lines 135-36).

1-2 Sisam's punctuation and gloss suggest that the speaker is "Sodenly afraide . . . and gretly dismayde" to discover the weeping woman. Reiss acknowledges that the participles may refer to Mary or to the speaker and, implicitly, to the reader (Reiss, p. 146).

11 at. Trinity: of.

13 with wordys shortly. Trinity: schortly with wordys.

14 Lo. Omitted in Trinity.

thee. Greene reads the.

16 Trinity: Jesus so my sone ys bobbed.

18 "To weep," notes Reiss, "is to have contrition, and contrition is the first step toward salvation. To weep is also to go beyond words, to let action be acknowledgment, and to go beyond reason" (p. 147).

19 the. Trinity: thys.

she seid to me. Trinity: seyng to the.

20 may lerne at thee. Trinity: com lern at me.

22 Jewlye. Trinity: fuly ("foully").

23 me. Omitted in Trinity.

24 lygh. Omitted in Trinity.

25 Ever. Greene reads Evu in MS, emends and expands to Ever. Brown reads ever in MS and emends to Ay.

26 soon. MS: soone.

28 thee. Trinity: these.

30 said. Trinity: and seyd.

32 In sownyng. Trinity: And swonyng.

35 So. Trinity: how.

37 was. Trinity: ys.

38 word. Trinity: wordys.


          §40

Thou synfull man of resoun that walkest here up and downe. Index no. 3692. MS: Bodl. 6777 (Ashmole 189), fol. 109a (fifteenth century). Edition: B15, no. 8.

This poem combines the Planctus Mariae tradition with that of Christ's admonitions from the cross. The opening lines seem at first to be spoken by Jesus (compare Index no. 497, "Beholde me, I pray the," and Index no. 2150, "Men rent me on rode," both printed by Gray in Selection, nos. 27 and 28). The confusion emphasizes Mary's empathy for her son's suffering; we are to "learn to weep" with her as she has learned to weep with her son. Mary appeals first to the least selfish instincts of the listener, to pity for a stranger. She then moves progressively closer to the sinner's own heart, from appealing to feelings for a mother and child relationship (with which, perhaps, the listener can sympathize), then to Christ, who suffers for the sake of the listener, and finally to the most selfish instinct, to the sinful listener's own well-being. But the poem is not simply a call for pity. From inward examination, the listener is directed to move outward again, finding comfort and support in Christ and Mary. Thus the poem offers a model for meditation on the Passion, for understanding both the personal and the universal signifi-cance of the events.

4 chased. The verb employs connotations of hunting as well as dismissal and expulsion, all of which are metaphors laden with appropriate typology contingent on Mary's dismal situation.

5 swerd. See note to §25, line 119.

9 The visual image projected here, that of the Pietà, focuses dramatic attention on the darkest moment of Mary's agony as she, guided by faith and love alone, exemplifies the power of blind faith as she would have others "lerne to wepe wyth me" (lines 7 and 14).

21 come dwell wyth me. The refrain (lines 7 and 14) changes from an invitation to "lerne" to an invitation to "dwell," thus marking the progress of the plot as the exemplum addresses humankind's errant yearning for stability.


          §41

Why have ye no reuthe on my child? Index no. 4159. MS: National Library of Scotland Advocates 18.7.21, fol. 24a (Grimestone's commonplace book, 1372). Editions: B14, no. 60; Davies, no. 44; Gray, Selection, no. 22, LH, no. 223. Commentary: Weber, pp. 110-17.

The MS attributes these verse to "B"; Brown notes that the verses are based on St. Bernard's Liber de Passione Christi et Doloridus et Planctibus Matris Eius. See note to §36.

2 murning. MS: murnig.


          §42

Of alle women that ever were borne. Index no. 2619. MS: Cambridge University Ff.5.48, fols. 73a-74b (fifteenth century). Also in Cambridge University Ff.2.38, fol. 55b and Manchester Chetham Library 8009, fol. 119b. Edition based on Chetham MS: B15, no. 7; Wright and Halliwell, 2:213-15. Editions of Ff.2.38: Wright, The Chester Plays (London: Shakespeare Society, 1847), 2:207-09; Davies, no. 112. Edition of Chetham: Max Förster, "Kleinere Mittelenglische Texte," Anglia 42 (1918), 167-72.

Compare Index no. 1447, which prefaces a similar monologue with a chanson d'aventure setting in which the poet observes the vision while kneeling in church (printed in Helen Sandison, The "Chanson d'aventure" in Middle English [Bryn Mawr: Bryn Mawr College, 1913], pp. 104-09; and in Rose Cords, "Fünf me. Gedichte aus den Hss. Rawlinson Poetry 36 und Rawlinson C. 86," Archiv 135 [1916], 300-02).

4 kne. Chetham, Cambridge Ff.2.38: skyrte.

10 dose. Chetham: settist.Cambridge Ff.2.38: castyst.

11 ble. "Appearance" is perhaps too neutral a gloss; "skin color," "youthful glow," "cheerful vitality" would perhaps come closer to the effect.

18 dose. Chetham: doth. Cambridge Ff.2.38: dere.

19 with gret solas. Chetham, Cambridge Ff.2.38: gret ioy thou mas.

28 gret gap is. Chetham: many gappis.

34 stroke. The mother uses "stroke" in the sense of caress or playful cuff, but there is a pun on the more violent strokes (blows, slashes) Mary's son has received on the cross.

36 layke. Cambridge Ff.2.38: laghe.

38 speyre. Chetham, Cambridge Ff.2.38: sere.

43 Ye fele ther fete, so fete are thay. MS: He fele therfor fittys or day. Emended by Brown from Chetham and Cambridge Ff.2.38.

45 any hande. Chetham, Cambridge Ff.2.38: my hand.

49 town. MS: towm. Brown's emendation.

63 be holdyne. Chetham: were holdyn. Cambridge Ff.2.38: were wele holden.

81-82 I may no more / For drede of deth reherse his payne. Here, as in Bernard's dialogue, Mary's suffering is so intense that she fears she may die if she continues to tell about it.


          §43

O litel whyle lesteneth to me. Index no. 2481. MS: BL Royal 18.A.10, fol. 126b (early fifteenth century). A longer text, lacking opening stanzas, Index no. 2718, occurs in Bodl. 3938 (Eng. Poet a.1, the Vernon MS), fol. 315b, and in BL Addit. 22283 (Simeon), fol. 124b. Edition of Royal: Morris, Legends of the Holy Rood, Symbols of the Passion and Cross-Poems, EETS o.s. 46 (London: N. Trübner, 1871), pp. 197-209. Editions of Vernon: Morris, EETS o.s. 46, pp. 131-49; F. J. Furnivall, EETS o.s. 117, pp. 612-26; Susanna Greer Fein, ed., Moral Love Songs and Laments (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 1998), pp. 87-160.

Indented lines indicate a change of speaker.

1-13 Vernon omits this stanza. Apocrifum (line 12) is "a writing or statement of doubtful authorship or authenticity" (OED), though the root of the term simply designates a "hidden meaning." The Royal scribe is perhaps aware of Wycliffite attitudes toward fiction; he is careful to label the story spurious in order not to mislead his audience, yet he believes the use of fiction in the service of truth and teaching is justified. Compare lines 343-55, also omitted from Vernon.

10 expouned. To "expound" is to set forth, present, interpret, translate, paraphrase, render, comment upon, or gloss.

11 bryght. The luminosity of the example connotes moral resonance. See MED adj.4.

14 In margin: Maria.

20-21 Vernon reverses these lines.

24 fle. Probably a form of flen, "to flay" (MED v.2). Vernon reads fleo, which could either be a form of flen or of flouen, "to flow."

26 Tre. Vernon: Cros.

32 gode. Vernon: fayre.

34 unfyled. MS: unfyle. Morris emends for rhyme and sense.

35-38 Child . . . werkis wylde. Mary briefly addresses her son as he hangs on the cross.

37-38 As grete thevys that were gramed, / That. . . . Vernon: Grete Iewes [Jews] thus were gramed / And. . . .

40-43 Vernon: In mournyng I may melte / Mi fruit that is so holi halwed / In a feeld is fouled and falwed /With grete Jewes he is galwed / And dyeth for Monnes gelte.

48 deep. Vernon: deth, which may be a preferable reading.

50 breyde. The MED suggests the following meanings: attack, blow, affliction, torment, deceptive act, or insult (see breid, n.1 and n.2). In any case, the sense is that the Cross acts intentionally to harm Jesus.

51 stont in stroke and stryfe. Vernon: stont nou in a strong stryf.

53-56 Here Vernon uses the lines found at lines 40-43 of Royal.

55 briddes. The word brid can refer to a young bird, a baby, or a child (MED brid, 3.a), or it can be used as a term of endearment (brid, 3.b). The brid metaphor here and in lines 66, 85, 110, and 120 may be glossed as "bird," suggesting painfully the unnatural nesting place for this one of God's creatures (see note to lines 100-05); but it also suggests "bride" in the sense of spouse or virginal loved one, to whom Mary is so devoted, in which case the blood is virtually a sign of rape. See OED bride, sb.2.

56 Droppynge as dewe on ryssche. Perhaps an allusion to Proverbs 19:12, which compares the cheerfulness of a king to dew upon the grass; thus a suggestion that Christ's suffering is a blessing. But Mary does not realize this yet. Dew is often a biblical symbol of blessing.

57 The jugement have thei joyned. Vernon: Thorw Jugement thou art enjoynet.

61 twyned. Vernon: teynet.

62 fenne. Thieves lurk in fens, where hiding is easy. The metaphor does not suit well the image of Golgotha as a hill, but it works superbly with the notion that truth is hidden amidst the muck.

63 feet. Vernon: limes.

66 brid. Vernon: fruit.

67 this tree. Vernon: a theoves tre.

69 hert now hath a wounde. Vernon: holi herte hath wounde.

81 The goode hangeth among the wikke. This might be read as a gloss on Apocrifum (lines 12 and 347), that fictive statement in which the message (the good, the connotation) is obscured by the fictive (wicked, the literal, with its criminal designations) - a sense Mary, in her grief, seems not yet to have allowed.

83 Cros. Vernon: Tre.

85 bridde. Vernon: fruit.

86 fruyt. Vernon: flour.

falle. MS: fall.

88 eysell and galle. Though this alludes to the soldiers who offered the thirsting Jesus vinegar (Luke 23:36) or gall (Matthew 27:42), Mary seems more concerned with the figurative bitterness of Jesus' suffering.

89 white rose. A symbol of purity, often used to describe Mary herself as well as Jesus.

90 floryssched. Vernon: fostred (fostered).

96 hys leir. Vernon: the eyr.

96-99 Mary juxtaposes her confining of the infant Jesus by binding him in the cradle with swaddling clothes so that his hands be not hurt with the Cross' binding him to its frame. There may be a pun on wynde in line 99, implying a kind of aery winding sheet binding his nakedness which harms rather than protects his hands in a wild, irresponsible way.

100-05 Fowles formen her nest . . . My sones hed hath reste none. Compare Jesus' words in Matthew 8:20: "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air nests: but the son of man hath nowhere to lay his head."

101 Foxes. Vernon: Wolves.

103 holdeth. Vernon: leoneth.

thornes. See John 19:2.

105 My sones. Vernon: Godes.

107 the panne. Vernon: his flesch.

108 Thys. Vernon: His.

112 Hys faire feet. Vernon: Mi fruites feet.

113 putte. Vernon: pulte (thrust out).

114 Hys feet to kys. Vernon gives a full line: To cusse his feet, Soth thing hit is.

122 In margin: sta crux.

124 palme. The palm leaf is a symbol of victory, glory, or reward.

125 of. Vernon: thorw.

126 Thy trye fruyt I to-tere. Vernon: Thi feire fruit on me ginneth tere.

128 as thou mayst here. Vernon: that lay in lure.

132 waltereth. Vernon: swelte.

137 fruit. Vernon: son.

138 tyndes towe. Vernon: teone inouh.

139 body . . . ny the tharmes. Vernon: flesch . . . with dethes tharmes.

140 swemely swow. Swemely is a form of swimble, meaning "a swaying motion"; OED cites Harley CT, The Knight's Tale, lines 1126-27: "Then ran a swymbul and a swough, / As though a storm shodde bresten every bough."

141 armes. Vernon: swarmes.

143 goode. Vernon: leove.

144-47 Isayas spak . . . . See Isaias 25:8.

147 Vernon inserts a stanza not found in Royal:

The stipre that is under the vyne set            support
May not bringe forth the grape;
Theih the fruit on me beo knet,
His scharpe schour have I not schape:
Til grapes to the presse beo set
Ther renneth no red wyn in rape;
Nevere presse pressed bet,
I presse wyn for kniht and knape               servant
Upon a blodi brinke
I presse a grape, with strok and stryf,
The rede wyn renneth ryf:
In Samaritane God gaf a wyf
That leof licour to drynke.                         precious

148 dothe thee alegge. Vernon: doth the to alegge.

151 beest of horde. Vernon: of godes hord.

153 The bak. Vernon: His bodi.

155 one. Vernon: of.

161 hys figour. Vernon: in his figour.

161-62 And Moyses fourmed . . . noon other beest. See Exodus 12 on the rites of Passover, which specify that an unblemished lamb be eaten, with no bone broken.

163 He sacred so oure savyour. Vernon: Schulde be sacred ur saveour.

165 in honour. Vernon: chargeour.

167 creatour. Vernon: saveour.

168 Hys flessche fedeth. Vernon: He fedeth bothe.

172 Whan flessche and veynes. Vernon: Til feet and hondes.

174 this resoun rad. Vernon: in rule hath rad.

175 The line in Vernon reads We schulde ete ur lomb in sour vergeous.

176 saws. Vernon: vergeous.

178 fende. Vernon: devel.

184 take. Vernon: cake.

185 devyll. Vernon: feond.

187 is schewed with a scryne. Vernon: scheweth be a shrine.

187-99 Whan pardoun is schewed with a scryne . . . . Your boke was bounde in blode. Christ's body is compared to a sign declaring pardon, his body the board, his blood the ink with which the decree is written. Compare §60, line 23 and note.

189 blyne. Vernon: be lyne.

190 me. Vernon: men.

191 My. Vernon: Ur.

195 rede in hys rode. Vernon: red upon the rood. Although the intended meaning for rode here is probably "countenance" (MED rode, n.1), there are several possible puns, both on rede (read, counseled) and rode, as "redness," or "cross" (as the Vernon reading suggests), or "reckoning," or "account" (MED rode, n.4); or, given Jesus' mount at the Crucifixion (n.5), perhaps even on rode as "journey" (n.3).

196 Youre. Vernon: Ur.

boke. Vernon: brede.

199 Vernon adds two stanzas (16 and 17 in Morris, p. 138, and Fein, pp. 112-13) after this line; their content is repeated elsewhere in the poem.

202 good scheperde. John 10:11, 14.

207 draf. Chaff, waste; both a thrashing/judgment metaphor as well as a term of rhetoric, where the good reader separates the hidden sense from the literal to arrive at the nourishing fruit.

210 bande. MS: hande.

215-18 Thus seyde Poule . . . Thei bete a lambe withoute lothe. Possibly a reference to 1 Corinthians 5:7, which simply says, "for Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed." Christ is thus compared to the lamb sacrificed at the Passover feast.

216 fikell Jewes, withoute othe. Vernon: feolle Jewes, with false othe.

222 mylk. Vernon: eny.

225 brisseden. Vernon: wolden ha broken.

Vernon inserts a stanza here (19 in Morris and in Fein); again, the sense is redundant.

232 The Cros seyde. Vernon: Ladi.

234 Sithe. Vernon: Til.

235 yelde hys goost with voys. Matthew 27:50; Mark 19:30.

236 Men chose me a relyk choys. Vernon: I was chose a relik chois.

249-51 Compare Jesus' final words according to John 19:30: "It is consummated"; note also his prayer during the Last Supper: "I have glorified thee on earth; I have accomplished the work that thou hast given me to do" (John 17:4).

252 The Vernon MS inserts a somewhat redundant stanza here, followed by the lines found at lines 200-12 in Royal. Vernon then inserts nine stanzas in which Mary describes three Jews who were sorrowful after witnessing Jesus' Crucifixion; and if the Jews were sorrowful, she says, then it behove Mary to grieve with the sorrow of both mother and father. Mary then describes the cosmic disorder that followed Jesus' death: planets going out of orbit and birds falling out of their flight.

255 faunt. MS: faint.

256 schelde of scrifte. I.e., no man had the protection of confession. Old Testament law required confession and restitution; Leviticus 5:5 specifies the sacrifice of a lamb, commonly interpreted as an anticipation of Christ's sacrifice, the ultimate "shield."

257 lyoun raumpaunt. The lion is sometimes identified with the devil through Psalm 90:13 (RSV 91:13): "Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon." The passage is interpreted as referring to Christ defeating Satan (variously represented by each of the creatures named).

272 Hys. MS: Hy.

278 Nichodemus. See John 3:3 ff.

299 God. Vernon: Jhesu.

311 Truyt and treget. Compare line 41.

313 hys. MS: hy.

flessch trewe. Vernon: fleschly trene. The Vernon scribe describes Mary as a tree branch, alluding to the tree of Jesse (see note to §8, line 17) and, of course, drawing a parallel between Mary and the Cross.

314 lele and newe. Vernon: leothi and lene.

315-16 It is right the Rode to Eve helpe schewe, / Man, woman, and chylde. Because Eve sinned by means of the tree that bore forbidden fruit, it is fitting that a tree should play some part in Eve's redemption. See note to §9, line 8. In Vernon, this sense is lost: Hit is riht the Roode helpe to arene / Wrecches that wratthe thi chylde.

321-24 These lines are missing in the MS; they have been supplied from the Vernon MS (pp. 147-48 in Morris).

331 sorwe to seighe. Vernon: wo to wite.

332 As he had see in scharp schour. Vernon: He saih himself that harde stour.

333 Cristes. Vernon: Godes.

rune. Slandered, as in oaths sworn by "Goddes armes." See Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale with its admonition against such swearing:

Hir othes been so grete and so dampnable
That it is grisly for to heere hem swere.
Oure blissed Lordes body they totere -
Hem thoughte that Jewes rent hym noght ynough. (lines 472-75)

But "sweryng is a thyng abhominable" (line 631), the Pardoner declares and warns that if you swear "By Goddes armes, if thou falsly pleye, / This daggere shal thurgh-out thyn herte go" (lines 654-55).

336 This tale florrissched with a faire flour. "Flourish" suggests rhetorical embellishment as well as a pun on "flourishing" and "flowering."

343-55 Not found in Vernon.

348 In swich a lay dar thee naght dere. This may be read in several ways: daren (or durren) may mean "to dare" (or "to risk"), "to fear," or "to lurk." So the line might be read "In such a poem fear you no harm" or "In such a poem you risk no harm."

352 lombe. I gloss as "lamb" (compare line 234), which suggests both a member of the Christian flock (MED lomb, n.2), and a gentle or kind person. However, Morris glosses the word as "? clerk" (possibly thinking of "loom" as an "implement or tool" [OED sb.1, 1.a]).

363-64 roode . . . rede . . . rede. Compare the word-play in line 195 (see note, above).


          §44

Upon my ryght syde y me leye. Index no. 3844. MS: BL Harley 541, fol. 228b (late fifteenth century). Editions: B15, no. 127; Gentleman's Magazine 69 (1799), 33; John Brand, Obser-vations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, rev. Sir Henry Ellis (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855), 3:131.

1 me. So MS. Brand transcribes as may.

8 frwte. So MS. Brand reads freute.

8-9 Owre Lorde is the frwte . . . Blessed be the blossome that sprange. An allusion to the tree of Jesse; see §8, note to line 17.


          §45

M and A and R and I. Index no. 1650. MS: BL Sloane 2593, fol. 24b (fifteenth century). Also in Bodl. 29734 (Eng. Poet e.1), fol. 25a. Editions of Sloane: EEC, no. 180B; Wright, Songs (Warton Club), 69-70; Fehr, Archiv 109, 64; Rickert, p. 7. Editions of Eng. Poet: Wright, Songs (Percy Society), p. 31; Greene EEC, no. 180a; Greene, Selection, no. 48; Davies, no. 74.

For additional examples of carols on initial letters, see EEC nos. 83 and 139.

1 M and A and R and I. Bodleian: Of M, A, R, I.

3 It wern fowre letterys of purposy. Bodleian: Of thes iiii letters purpose I.

5-6 Tho wern letteris of Mary / Of hom al our joye sprong. Bodleian: Thei betokyn mayd Mary; / All owr joy of hyr it sprong.

6 The Bodleian MS inserts a stanza after this line:

Withoughten wem of hyr body,
M and A, R and I,
Of hyr was borne a Kyng truly
The Jewys dedyn to deth with wrong.

9 bryte. The MED suggests "radiant," "morally pure," and "untarnished." Bodleian: bar ("bare").

13 with here ey. Bodleian: ful bytterly.

14 alwey the blod folwyd among. The image of Mary's weeping tears of blood and water recalls John 19:34, where water and blood flow from the wound in Jesus' side after his death. Compare §46, line 17. In the Liber de Passione Christi et Doloribus, Mary is so overcome by sorrow that she weeps tears of blood (see note to §36, and Kribel, pp. 88-89). Bodleian: And terys of blod ever among.

15-18 Not found in Bodleian.


          §46

Mary myelde made grete mone. By James Ryman. Index no. 3944. MS: Cambridge University Ee.1.12, fol. 77a (late fifteenth century). Editions: Zupitza, Archiv 89 (1892), 277-78; EEC, no. 159.

3 fals Judas. See Matthew 26:14-15; Mark 14:10; Luke 22:3-6.

7 Cayphas and An. See §31, note to line 3.

17 watre and bloode. See §45, note to line 14.

22 alone. Omitted in MS.


          §47

I syke when y singe. Index no. 1365. MS: BL Harley 2253, fol. 80a (West Midlands, early fourteenth century). Also in Bodl. 1603 (Digby 2), fol. 6a (late thirteenth century). Editions of Harley: Wright, Specimens, pp. 85-87; Böddekker, pp. 210-12; Cook, Reader, pp. 455-57; Kaiser, p. 293; Davies, no. 22; Brook, no. 22; LH, no. 228. Editions of Digby: Furnivall, Archiv 97 p. 308; Furnivall, Minor Poems of the Vernon Manuscript, vol. 2 (EETS o.s. 117), p. 753; B13, no. 64; Sisam, Oxford, no. 18.

1 when. Digby: al wan.

5 Ant. Digby: hi (I).

9 stille ant mete. A formula rich in connotations. Stille: silently, gently, perpetually; mete: fittingly, appropriately, copiously, equitably.

9-10 Digby: Marie, milde and sute / thu haf merci of me.

10 reweth. Brook suggests an impersonal construction: "Mary, it grieves thee."

13 from uch toune. Digby: wyt hute the tune.

15 is. Digby: was.

15-20 The poet creates an image for the reader to contemplate; such imagistic devices characterize poetry of Mary at the Cross and parallel iconographic representation in medieval art and drama, which is likewise directed toward the eye as preceptor for meditation.

16 His. The Cross'. Personification of the cross is common in medieval poetry, the most famous example being the Anglo-Saxon Dream of the Rood. Compare §43.

aren. Digby: werin al.

19 Marie stont hire one. Digby: Mari hir selfe al hon.

20 Ant seith "Weylaway!" Digby: Hir songe was wayle.

21 thee. Digby: him.

22 eyghen bryhte. Digby: hey and herte.

31-50 These two stanzas are transposed in Digby.

38 Johan. John with a above line.

41 The introspective conclusion completes the contemplative journey that began with Mary as companion and model, in empathy, and ends with the opening of the dreamer's (viewer's) heart and the awakening into a redemptive mood.

48-50 smerte . . . gon. Brook reads these as infinitives depending on y se in line 45.


          §48

Maiden and moder, cum and se. Index no. 2036. MS: National Library of Scotland Advocates 18.7.21, fol. 121a, col. 2 (Grimestone's commonplace book, 1372). Editions: B14, no. 67; EEC, no. 157D; Edward Bliss Reed, Christmas Carols Printed in the Sixteenth Century (Cam-bridge: Harvard University Press, 1932), p. 82. The poem forms the basis for a later carol; see EEC nos. 157a-c (Index nos. 1219, 1211, and 3575); EEC no. 158 is similar.

1-8 In the carol found in BL Sloane 2593 (EEC 157c), these lines are attributed to John.

21 falle. The sense seems to be "fallen," in opposition to the notion of the "risen" flesh of the Resurrection.