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The Wheatley Manuscript


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I [AN ORISON ON THE PASSION]
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II [A PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN]
  
III [HYMN TO ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.]
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IV. [THE SEVEN PENITENTIAL PSALMS]
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12

Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates, & quorum tecta sunt peccata.

Blissed be thei whos werkes wrong
Be forgiuen and synnes hydde,
For [thei] þat God hath vndirfong
In heuen blys ben couth and kydde;
But thei þat ben in lustes long,
And doon no better than beest or bridde,
Thei may be sekir of stormes strong;
Thoo wrecches are ful woo bytidde.

13

Beatus uir cui non imputauit Dominus peccatum, nec est in spiritu eius dolus.

Blissed be he to whom God re[tt]ith
No synne, ne hath in goost no gyle;
For at grete prys [the gode Lord] settith
The man þat meneth neythir wrong ne wyle.
Bot he þat conscience vnknittiht
And yeuith no force it to defyle,
Ayens hym God his wepyn whettith
To wrekyn hym a litel while.
24

14

Quoniam tacui, inueterauerunt ossa mea, dum clamarem tota die.

I heelde my pees, þerfore my bones
Eldyd while I schuld cry al day;
I cry, and yit mooste more þanne ones,
To gete forȝifnes if that I may;
I haue mister to make mones,
That haue doon many a wylde outray;
I cry the mercy, Kyng of Thrones,
I haue trespassed, I say not nay.

15

Quoniam die ac nocte grauata est super me manus tua, conuersus sum in erumpna mea, dum configitur spina.

For [b]othe by day and by nyght also
On me thy honde w[ei]s heuely,
And I am turned i[n] my woo,
Whiles thornes prykke[n] perlously.
Ther prykke[n] me perlously thornes two
Of synne and pyne, þis fele wele I;
And therfore, Lord, sithen it is soo,
I putt me al in thy mercy.

16

Delictum meum cognitum tibi feci, & iniusticiam meam non abscondi.

My gylt haue I made to þe knowen,
I haue noght hydde fro the my wrong;
In shrift shal I be alle a-knowen
Alle my mysdede, and morne among.
For certys, Lord, we trist and trowen
The welle of grace with stremys strong
Oute of thy faire flessh gan flowen,
When blood oute of thy hert[e] sprong.
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17

Dixi: Confitebor aduersum me in-iusticiam meam Domino; & tu remisisti impietatem peccati mei.

“To God I schal,” I seide, “knowlech
Agayns my-self my wrong with-inne,”
And thow, Lord, as louely lech,
Forg[a]f the trespas of my synne.
Þanne spedith it noght to spare speche,
To cry on Crist wil I not blynne
That he ne take on me no wreche
For wordes ne werkes þat I begynne.

18

Pro hac orabit ad te omnis sanctus in tempore oportuno.

Therfore byseke schal euery seynt
In tyme þat [is þer-to] conable;
For þei be trewe & I am ateynt,
Thei ben stedfast and I am vnstable.
Ther frenschip fonde I neuer feynt;
Thanne wil I pray, as thei ben able,
That thei wille mouthe my compleynt
To God þat is so merciable.

19

Verunptamen in diluuio aquarum multarum, ad eum non approximabunt.

Bot in the floode of waters fele
To hym schal [thei] noght neghe nere,
Them nedith noght þat ben in wele
The water þat [vs wasches] here;
Bot we that alle day fro hym stele,
And wrath[en] hym that hath no pere,
If he wil vs fro harmes hele,
Vs nedith to [w]epe water clere.
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20

Tu es refugium meum a tribulacione que circumdedit me; exultacio mea, erue me a circumd[antibus me].

Thow art my refute in my wo
That hath envyrounde me aboute;
[Mi ioye, delyvere me of thoo
That me biclippyn al aboute!]
The feendes fleen to and fro
To dampne me, this is no dowte;
But, Lord, when I schal hennys goo,
Kepe me fro that rewly rowte!

21

Intellectum tibi dabo, & instruam te in uia hac qua gradieris; firmabo super te oculos [meos].

Vndirstondyng I shal the sende,
And I schal teche the with-alle,
And, in the way that thou schalt wende,
On the myn eghen festyn I schal.
I am thy God, haue me in mynde,
I made the fre there thow were thralle;
That no dedely synne the schende,
Lat witte and wisdom be thi walle.

22

Nolite fieri sicut equus & mulus, quibus non est intellectus.

Ne farith noght as mule or hoors,
In whiche noon vndirstondyng is;
For so fare thei that ȝyuen no foors
If they doo neuer soo mykil mys.
Thenk that thy coruptible coors
Is noght but wormes mete i-wys;
Therfore in myrth haue thow remoors,
And euer among thenk wele on this.
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23

In chamo & freno maxillas eorum constringe, qui non approximant ad te.

In bernacle or bridell thow constreyne
[The] chekes of hem þat neghes þe noght!
For certys, Lord, bot thow refreyne,
We schul do synne in euery thoght.
The world is noght but synne and peyne
And wrecchednesse þat men han wroght;
Of this meschief I me compleyne
To Ihesu that hath me dere boght.

24

Multa flagella peccatoris; sperantem autem in Domino misericordia circumdabit.

Manyon is þe sadde betyng
That to the synful schal be-tyde,
Bot he that is in God trostyng
Shal mercy kepe on euery syde;
Whan wrecches schul ther hondes wryng,
That were so ful of pompe and pryde,
Than schul the sauyd soules synge
For blys that they schul in abyde.

25

Letamini in Domino, & exultate, iusti; & gloriamini, omnes recti corde.

In oure Lord be mery and gladde,
Ȝe that of ryghtful hert[e] be,
For he þat was on the rode spradde
Now sitteth in his fadres see.
In sight of hym schul we be [c]ladde
As aungels that bee bright [of] blee;
Ihesu, graunt vs to be ladde
So that we may that sight[e] see!
Amen.
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