The Devonshire Manuscript, Tanglid I was yn loves snare

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The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 79v (Image: DMSEG, CC BY-SA 3.0) |
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The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 80r (Image: DMSEG, CC BY-SA 3.0) |
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f. [79v]

1    Tanglid I was yn loves snare
2    opprest wich{w+t+} payne tormen{_e} te wich{w+t+}  care
3    of grefe right sure of Ioye full f bare
4    clene in dispaire bye crueltye
5    but ha ha ha full well is me
6    for I am now at libretye

7    the wofull dayes so full of paine
8    the verye night all spent in vayne
9    the labor lost for so small gayne

f. [80r]

10    to wryt them all yt will not bee
11    but ha. ha. ha. &c
12    ----- 1

13    Everye thing that{{th}+t+} faire dothe sho
14    {p'}{_e} when prof is made yt previthe not soo
15    but tornithe mirthe to bittre woo.
16    wiche in this case full well I see
17    but ha. &c
18    ----- 2

19    To grete desire was my guide
20    and wanton{_o} will went bye my syde
21    hope rulid still. and made me byde
22    of loves craft thextremitye the extemity
23    but ha.
24    ----- 3

25    with{w+t+} faynid wordes{es} with{w+t+}  ware but winde
26    to long delayes I was assind
27    her wylye lokes{es} my wittes{es}  ded blinde
28    thus as she wolde I ded agree
29    but ha. c
30    ----- 4

31    was never birde tanglid yn lyme
32    that brake awaye yn bettre tyme
33    then I that Rotten bowis ded clyme
34    and had no hurte but scapid fre
35    now ha ha ha. full well is me
36    for I am nowe at libretye

fs

Notes & Glosses

1. The second line of the refrain is assumed to be here.
2. The second line of the refrain is assumed to be here.
3. The second line of the refrain is assumed to be here.
4. The second line of the refrain is assumed to be here.

Commentary

Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt,1] this poem was entered by [H8. The speaker rejoices because of his new-found freedom from the lady’s cruelty. Rebholz suggests that Serafino's Fui serrato nel dolore may have inspired Wyatt's laughing refrain and sense of entanglement.2] The grafted and rotten bough image is a common image in courtly love poetry. For other examples of this image in the manuscript, see [“Yff reason govern fantasye" (45v), “This rotyd greff will not but growe” (47v), and “Nowe fare well love and theye lawes forever” (75r).

After each stanza, H8 increasingly abbreviates the two-line chorus from the first four words (“but ha. ha. ha”) to the first two.

Works Cited

• ↑ R.A. Rebholz, ed. Sir Thomas Wyatt: The Complete Poems. London: Penguin, 1978. 262-63.
• ↑ ibid., 515.

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