The Devonshire Manuscript, Pacyence of all my smart

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The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 21r (Image: DMSEG, CC BY-SA 3.0) |

f. [21r]

1    #3 Pacyence of all my smart
2    ffor fortune ys tornyd awry
3    pacyence must ese my hart
4    that mornes{es} contynually
5    pacyence to suffer Wrong
6    ys a pacyence to long

7    pacyence to have A nay
8    of that{{th}+t+} I most Desyre
9    pacyence to haue allway
10    & euer{u'} burne lyke fyre
11    pacyence with{w+t+}owt Desart
12    ys grownder of my smart

13    Who can with{w+t+} mery hart
14    set forthe sum plesant song
15    that Allways felys but smart
16    and neuer{u'} hathe but wrong
17    yet pacyence euermore
18    must hele the wownd & sore

19    pacyence to be content
20   {es}{w+t+}  withith froward fortunes trayn
21    pacyence to the intent
22    ssumwhat to slake my payn
23    I se no Remedy
24    But suffer pacyently

25    To playn wher ys none ere
26    my chawnce ys chawnsyd so
27    ffor yt dothe well apere
28    my frend ys tornyd my foo
29    But syns there ys no defence
30    I must take pacyence

Commentary

Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt,1] this poem was entered by [H2. The poem describes the speaker's suffering due to a friend-turned-foe and his or her enduring patience. The poems “What nedythe lyff when I requyer”(43r-44r) and “Greting to you bothe yn hertye wyse” (79r-79v) depict similar themes: the former recounts how lovers become enemies while the latter includes a warning about false friends.

Rebholz notes that this poem may belong to a group of Wyatt's poems inspired by Serafino's Canzona de la Patientia.[2] Lines 1-2 of "Pacyence of all my smart" translate the first two lines of Serafino's poem.

Works Cited

• ↑ R.A. Rebholz, ed., Sir Thomas Wyatt: The Complete Poems (London: Penguin, 1978), 233-34.
• ↑ Rebholz, 502.

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