Description
Book SynopsisThrough its contextualizing introduction, notes, and gloss, this classroom-friendly edition of Middle English lyric poetry makes the wide variety of Marian poems available to students of all levels. The poems selected for this volume provide a sampling of the rich tradition of Marian devotion as expressed in Middle English. They range widely in form, tone, and aesthetic quality in how they relate the iconic moments from Mary's life—the Annunciation, Nativity, and her experience of Christ's passion, for instance—as well as in their variety of praises for the Queen of Heaven. Taken together, the poems express the full range of a people's effort to voice anxieties and joys through Mary. This collection will spark an excellent discussion on English spirituality, Marian devotion, and Middle English lyrical poetry.
Table of ContentsList of Plates
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Select Bibliography
The Annunciation1 In that time, als was ful wel
2 From heovene into eorthe, God gretynge he sende
3 Gabriel, fram evene kingh
4 The angel to the vergyn said
5 Nowel el el (Mary moder, meke and mylde)
6 Unto Marie he that love hath (Thus seide Mary of grete honoure)
7 Nowel, nowel, nowel (Under a tre / In sportyng me)
8 Edi beo thu, hevene quene
9 Heyl, levedy, se-stoerre bryht
10 Blessed Mary, moder virginall
11 Hayle mayden of maydyns, thorgth worde consaywyng
12 Hayle, glorious lady and hevenly quene
13 I syng of a myden / That is makeles
14 At a spryng wel under a thorn
The Nativity15 Blissid be that lady bryght (Goddys Sonne is borne)
16 Nu this fules singet and maket hure blisse
17 Alleluya! (Now wel may we merthis make)
18 Mary so myelde of hert and myende
19 My Fader above, beholdying thy mekenesse
20 Ther is no rose of swych vertu
21 Holy moder, that bere Cryst
22 Syng we, syng we (Holy maydyn, blyssid thu be)
23 Lullay, myn lykyng (I saw a fayr maydyn syttyn and synge)
24 Ler to loven as I love thee
25 Lullay, lullay, la, lullay (Als I lay upon a nith)
26 Modyr, whyt os lyly flowr (As I up ros in a mornyng)
27 Lullay, my fader, lullay, my brother (Ye ben my fader)
28 I passud thoru a garden grene
29 Als I lay upon a nith / I lokede upon a stronde
30
Ecce quod natura mutat sua iura (Beholde and see)
Mary at the Foot of the Cross31 Quhat dollour persit our ladyis hert
32 Jesu Cristes milde moder
33 Stond wel, Moder, under rode
34 Suete sone, reu on me, and brest out of thi bondis
35 The angell sayde to thee that the fruyt off thi body sulde be blyssyde
36 A Son! tak hede to me whas sone thou was
37 Womman, Jon I take to thee (Allas, wo sal myn herte slaken?)
38 Nou goth sonne under wod
39 Sodenly afraide, half waking, half slepyng (With favoure in hir face)
40 Thou synfull man of resoun that walkest here up and downe
41 Why have ye no reuthe on my child?
42 Of alle women that ever were borne
43 O litel whyle lesteneth to me
44 Upon my ryght syde y me leye
45 M and A and R and I (It wern fowre letterys of purposy)
46 Mary myelde made grete mone (When fals Judas her son had solde)
47 I syke when y singe
48 Maiden and moder, cum and se
The Assumption and Mary as Queen of Heaven49 Com, my swete, com, my flour
50 The infinite power essenciall
51 Hayle, luminary and benigne lanterne
52 Lefdy blisful, of muchel might
53 Haill, quene of hevin and steren of blis
Mary Mediatrix54 I pray thee, lady, the moder of Crist
55
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis (O moder mylde)
56
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis (O tryclyn of the Trinité)
57 Sainte Marie, virgine
58
Ave maris stella, the sterre on the see
59 Marie moder, wel thee be
60 Thou wommon boute vere
61 Marie, yow quen, yow moder, yow mayden briht
62 Levedie, ic thonke thee
63 Blessed beo thu, lavedi, ful of hovene blisse (Egerton)
64 Blessed be thou, levedy, ful of heovene blisse (Harley 2253)
65 Mary, modur of grace, we cry to thee
Penitential Poems66 Hayl Mari, / Hic am sori
67 On hire is al mi lif ilong
68 Worsshipful maiden to the world, Marie
69 Hayl, oure patron and lady of erthe
70 Mayden moder milde, /
Oiez cel oreysounThe Joys of Mary71 Mary, for thine joys fyve
72 Be glad, of al maydens flourre
73 Heyle be thou, ladye so bryght
74 Haile be thu, Mari maiden bright
75 Heyl be thou, Marie, milde quene of hevene
76 Levedy, for thare blisse
Chansons d'Aventure and Love Quests77 Ase y me rod this ender day
78 Nou skrinketh rose ant lylie flour
79 In a tabernacle of a toure
80 Upon a lady my love ys lente
81 Maiden in the mor lay
82 Lulley, lulley (He bare hym up, he bare him down)
83 Of on that is so fayr and bright
Poems in Celebration of Mary84 Adam lay ibowndyn, bowndyn in a bond
85 Swete and benygne moder and may
86 O hie emperice and quene celestiall
87 Glade us, maiden, moder milde
88 Marye, mayde mylde and fre
89 Ros Mary, most of vertewe virginall
90 All haile, lady, mother, and virgin immaculate
91 Hale, sterne superne; hale, in eterne
Notes
Appendices: Chaucer's Marian Lyrics
A An ABC
B The Proheme of The Prioresse Tale
C Invocacio ad Mariam, from The Second Nun's Prologue
Index of First Lines
