The Devonshire Manuscript, Alas that men be so vngent

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The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 27v (Image: DMSEG, CC BY-SA 3.0) |

f. [27v]

1    Alas that men be so vngent
2    to order me so creuelly
3    off ryght they shold them self repent
4    yff they regard there honesty

5    They know my hart ys set so sure
6 {es}{{th}+t+}     that all ther wordes can not prevayle
7    Tho that the thynke me to allure
8    wyth doubyll tonge and flaterynge tayle

9    alas me thynke the do me wronge
10    That they wold haue me to resyne
11    my tytly tytle wych ys good and stronge
12    that{{th}+t+} I am yowrs1 and yow ar myne

13    I thynke the wold that I shold swere
14    your company for to forsake
15    but ons ther ys no worldly fere
16    shal cawse me such anothe to make

17    ffor I do trust ere yt be longe
18    that{{th}+t+} god off hys benyngnyte
19    wyll send us ryght where we haue wrong
20    for servyng hym thus faythfulye

21    Now fayre ye well my none swete wyfe
22    Thu Trustyng that shortely I shall here
23    from yow the stay off all my lyfe2
24    whose helth alone ys all my chere

finis

Notes & Glosses

1. This phrase connects to "That tyme that myrthe dyd stere my shypp"(17v) and "am el mem"(67v).
2. This phrasing is resonant.

Commentary

Attributed to Lord Thomas Howard,1] this poem was entered into the manuscript by [TH2. Similar to the speaker's declaration of steadfastness in the previous poem, here the speaker assures his loyalty to his lover despite pressures from others to forsake his beloved. The speaker calls his love “my none swete wyfe” (line 21), a sentiment which also appears as “my none” in the following poem, "Who hath more cawse for to complayne" (28r).

Works Cited

• ↑ William A. Ringler, Jr., Michael Rudick, and Susan J. Rigler, Bibliography and Index of English Verse in Manuscript, 1501-1558 (London: Manswell, 1992), 63.

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