The Devonshire Manuscript, What thyng shold cawse me to be sad

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

f. [27r]

1    What thyng shold cawse me to be sad
2    as longe ye reyoyce wyth hart
3    my part yt ys for to be glad
4    syns yow haue takyn me to yowr part
5    ye do relese my pene and smart
6    wych wold me uery sore Insue
7    but that for yow my trust so trew

8    yff I shuld wryte and make report
9    what faythfulnes in yow I fynd
10    the terme of lyfe yt were to short
11    wyth penne yn letters yt to bynd
12    wherefor wher as as ye be so kynd
13    as for my part yt ys but dewe
14    lyke case to yow to be as true

15    My loue truly shall not decay
16    for thretnyng nor for punysment
17    for let them thynke and let them say
18    toward yow alone I am full bent
19    therfore I wyl be dylygent
20    owr faythful loue for to renew
21    and styll to kepe me trusty & trw

22    Thus fare ye well my worldly tresor
23    desyryng god that off hys grace
24    to send no tyme hys wyll and plesor
25    and shortly to get hus owt off thys place
26    then shal I be yn as good case
27    as a hawke that getes{es} owt off hys mue
28    and strayt doth seke hys trust so trwe

fynis

Commentary

Attributed to Lord Thomas Howard,1] this poem was entered into the manuscript by [TH2. In the poem, the speaker professes his steadfastness in love despite the possibility of experiencing pain and punishment. Typical of courtly love poetry in the early Tudor court, this sentiment also appears elsewhere in the Devonshire Manuscript, such as in “Alas that men be so vngent” (27v) and “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), 242.

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