The Devonshire Manuscript, Alas what shuld yt be to yow preiudyce

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The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 90r (Image: DMSEG, CC BY-SA 3.0) |

f. [90r]

1    Alas what shuld yt be to yow preiudyce
2    yff that a man do loue yow faythfully
3    to yowr worshyp eschewyng euery vyce
4    so am I yowrs and wylbe ueryly
5    I chalenge nowght of ryght / and reason why
6    for I am hole submyt vnto yowr servyce
7    ryght as ye lyst yt be ryght so wyll I
8    to bynd myself were I was at lyberty

Commentary

Transcribed by TH2, this entry is an excerpt (lines 229-36) from Richard Roos’ adaptation of La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Alain Chartier. The speaker in this passage promises steadfastness, service, and submission to the lady. TH2 enters another excerpt from the same poem above this selection "O marble herte and yet more harde perde" (90r(2)); TH2 most likely copied both passages from Thynne’s edition of Chaucer (c. 1532).

Other medieval and Chaucerian excerpts in the manuscript, possibly copied from Thynne's edition, include selections from Hoccleve ("Womans harte vnto no creweltye" 89v(1) and "ys thys afayre avaunte / ys thys honor" (89v(2)), verses from Troilus and Criseyde (see: "O very lord / o loue / o god alas" (29v(1)), "O ye louers that hygh vpon the whele" (30r), "for thylke grownde that bearyth the wedes wycke" (59v), "Wo worthe the fayre gemme vertulesse" (91v(1)), "for loue ys yet the moste stormy lyfe" (91v(2)), "Also wyckyd tonges byn so prest") (91v(3)), "And who that sayth for to love ys vyce" (92r), and "but now helpe god to quenche all thys sorow" (93r)); the Chaucerian "Remedy of Love" first printed in Thynne's edition ("yff all the erthe were parchment scrybable" (90r), and Chaucer's Anelida and Arcite ("for thowgh I had yow to morow to agayne" (91r)).

TH2 separates the passages on the page with flourishes.

Textual Notes

Texts Collated

T5068.01

Collation

1 Alas what] Alas/what T5068.01 shuld] shulde T5068.01 yt] it T5068.01 yow] you T5068.01
2 yff] If T5068.01 yow] you T5068.01
3 to] To T5068.01 yowr] your T5068.01 worshyp eschewyng] worshyp/eschewynge T5068.01
4 so] So T5068.01 yowrs and] yours/and T5068.01 wylbe] wyl be T5068.01 ueryly] veryly T5068.01
5 nowght] nought T5068.01 ryght / and] right/and T5068.01
6 for] For T5068.01 yowr] your T5068.01 servyce] seruyce T5068.01
7 ryght] Right T5068.01 yt be ryght] it be/right T5068.01 wyll] wyl T5068.01
8 to] To T5068.01 bynd] bynde T5068.01 myself were] my selfe/where T5068.01 at lyberty] in fraunchise T5068.01

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