The Devonshire Manuscript, Who hath more cawse for to complayne

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The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 28r (Image: DMSEG, CC BY-SA 3.0) |

f. [28r]

1    Who hath more cawse for to complayne
2    or to lament hys sorow and payne
3    Then I wych louys and louyd agayne
4    yet can not optayne

5    I can not optayne that{{th}+t+} ys my none
6    Wych cawsyth me styll to make great mone
7    To se thus ryght with{w+t+} wronge ouerthrowne
8    as not vnknowne

9    It ys not vnknowen how wrongfully
10    The wyll me hyr for to deny
11    whom I wyll loue moste hartely
12    vntyll I dye

13    vntyll I dye I wyll not lett
14    To ss1 seke her owt in cold and het
15    wych hath my hart as fermly set
16    as tonge or pen{_e}ne can yt repet

finis

Notes & Glosses

1. The crossout is indistinct.

Commentary

Attributed to Lord Thomas Howard,1] this poem was entered into the Devonshire Manuscript by [TH2. Lines 8-9 allude to the injustice of the speaker’s situation and his entourage's knowledge of his plight. The phrase “my none” resonates with “my none swete wyfe” in the preceding poem, “Alas that men be so vngent” (27v).

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), 252.

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