 | The poems of John Audelay |  |
36
In die sanctorum Innocencium.
With al þe reuer[en]s þat we may,
Worchip we Childermasday.
Worchip we Childermasday.
Crist crid in cradil, ‘moder baba;’
Þe childer of Iral cridyn, ‘wa wa,’
Fore here merþ hit was aga,
When Erod fersly cowþ hem fray.
Þe childer of Iral cridyn, ‘wa wa,’
Fore here merþ hit was aga,
When Erod fersly cowþ hem fray.
Al knaue-childer with ij ȝere
Of age, in Bedlem fere or nere,
Þai chedyn here blod with swerd and spere,
Alas þer was a rewful aray.
Of age, in Bedlem fere or nere,
Þai chedyn here blod with swerd and spere,
Alas þer was a rewful aray.
190
An hunderd and fourte þousand þer were;
Crist ham cristynd al in-fere,
In [h]or blod, and were martere,
Al clene vergyns hit is no nay.
Crist ham cristynd al in-fere,
In [h]or blod, and were martere,
Al clene vergyns hit is no nay.
Þe crisum-childer to Crist con cry,
‘We beþ slayne fore gret enuy;
Lord, venge our blod fore þi mercy,
And take our soulis to þe we pray.’
‘We beþ slayne fore gret enuy;
Lord, venge our blod fore þi mercy,
And take our soulis to þe we pray.’
An heuenle voys answerd aȝayn,
‘Abyd awyle and sofer ȝour payn
Hent þe nowmbir be e-slayn
Of ȝour breder, as I ȝou say.
‘Abyd awyle and sofer ȝour payn
Hent þe nowmbir be e-slayn
Of ȝour breder, as I ȝou say.
‘Fore ȝe han sofird marterdom
For Cristis sake, al and sum,
He wil ȝoue crowne in his kyngdam,
And folou þe lomb in ioy for ay.’
For Cristis sake, al and sum,
He wil ȝoue crowne in his kyngdam,
And folou þe lomb in ioy for ay.’
| The poems of John Audelay | |