The Minor Poems of John Lydgate edited from all available mss. with an attempt to establish The Lydgate Canon: By Henry Noble MacCracken |
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The Minor Poems of John Lydgate | ||
1
Atween mydnyht and the fressh morwe grayNat yore ago, in herte ful pensiff,
Of thoughtful sihes my peyne to put away,
Caused by the trouble of this vnstabil liff,
Vnclosyd a book, that was contemplatiff;
Of fortune turnyng the book, I fond
A meditacioun which first cam to myn hond,
2
Tofor which was sett out in pictureOf Marie an ymage ful notable,
Lyke a pyte depeynt was the figure
With weepyng eyen, and cheer most lamentable:
Thouh the proporcioun by crafft was agreable,
Hir look doun cast with teerys al bereyned,—
Of hertly sorwe so soore she was constreyned.
3
Vpon the said meditacioun,Of aventure, so as I took heed,
By diligent and cleer inspeccioun,
I sauh Rubrisshis, departyd blak and Reed,
Of ech Chapitle a paraf in the heed,
Remembryd first Fifteene of her gladynessys,
And next in ordre were set hyr hevynessys.
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4
Off ech of them the noumbre was Fifteene,Bothe of hir Ioyes and her adversitees,
Ech after othir, and to that hevenlie queene
I sauh Oon kneele deuoutly on his knees;
A Pater-noster and ten tyme Auees
In ordre he sayde [at thende] of ech ballade
Cessyd nat, tyl he an eende made.
5
Folwyng the Ordre, as the picture stood,By and by in that hooly place,
To beholde it did myn herte good;
Of affeccioun turnyd nat my face,
But of entent, leiseer cauht and space,
Took a penne, and wroot in my maneere
The said balladys, as they stondyn heere.
Explicit prologus.
The Minor Poems of John Lydgate | ||