A Selection From The Minor Poems Of Dan John Lydgate Volume 2

A Selection from the Minor Poems of Dan John Lydgate Volume 2

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1840 edition. Excerpt: ...nat contrayre. Ful scarce, God wote! is hir vitaile, Humble wyfes she fynt so fewe, For alweys at the countre-taile Theyr tunge clappithe and dothe hewe; Suche meke wyfes I be-shrewe, That neyther can at bedde ne boorde Theyr husbondes nat forbere oon woorde. But my foode and my cherisshynge, To telle plainly and nat to varye, Is of suche folke whiche theyr livynge Dare to theyr wyfes be nat contrarye, Ne from theyr lustis dare nat varye, Nor withe hem holde no champartye, Al suche my stomack wil defye. Than shal be portrayed a company of men comyng towardis this beste By corne, and sey these foure baladis. Felawes, takethe heede, and ye may see How Bycorne castithe hym to devoure Alle humble men, bothe yow and me, Ther is no gayne may us socoure: Woo be therfor, in halle and boure, To al these husbandes whiche theyr lives Maken maystresses of theyr wyfes. Who that so dothe, this is the lawe, That this Bycorne wil hym oppresse, And devouren in his mawe, That of his wife makithe his maystresse; This wil us bryng in grete distresse, For we, for oure humylite, Of Bycorne shal devoured be. We stonden plainly in suche case, That they to us maystressis be; We may wele syng, and seyn, allas! 2 That we gaf hem the soveraote; For we ben thralle and they be free; Wherfor Bycorn, this cruel beste, Wil us devouren at the lest. But who that can be soverayne, And his wife teche and chastise, That she dare nat a worde gayn-seyn, Nor disobeye in no manner wise; Of suche a man I can devise, He stant under protectioune, From Bycornes jurisdiccioune. Than shal ther be a tvomman devoured in the mowthe of Chichevache, cryeng to alle wyfes, and sey these balad: O noble wyves, bethe wele ware, Takithe ensample now by me; Or ellis afferme wele...

A Selection from the Minor Poems of Dan John Lydgate

Lydgate Matters

This collection re-evaluates the work of fifteenth-century poet John Lydgate in light of medieval material culture. Top scholars in the field unite here with critical newcomers to offer fresh perspectives on the function of poetry on the cusp of the modern age, and in particular on the way that poetry speaks to the heightened relevance of material goods and possessions to the formation of late medieval identity and literary taste. Advancing in provocative ways the emerging fields of fifteenth-century literary and cultural study, the volume as a whole explores the role of the aesthetic not only in late medieval society but also in our own.