Lenten ys come with love to toune,
With blosmen and with briddes roune,
That al this blisse bryngeth;
Dayes-eyes in this dales,
Notes suete of nyhtegales,
Uch foul song singeth;
The threstelcoc him threth oo,
Away is huere wynter wo,
When woderove springeth;
Thise foules singeth ferly fele,
Ant wlyteth on huere wunne wele,
That al the wode ryngeth.
The rose rayleth hire rode,
The leves on the lyhte wode
Waxen al with wille;
The mone mandeth hire bleo,
The lilie is lossom to seo,
The fenyl and the fille;
Wowes thise wilde drakes,
Miles murgeth huere makes
Ase strem that striketh stille.
Mody meneth; so doth mo
(Ichot ych am on of tho)
For loue that likes ille.
The mone mandeth hire lyht,
So doth the semly sonne bryht,
When briddes singeth breme;
Deawes donketh the dounes,
Deores with huere derne rounes
Domes for to deme;
Wormes woweth under cloude,
Wymmen waxeth wounder proude,
So wel hit wol hem seme,
Yef me shal wonte wille of on,
This wunne weole y wole forgon
Ant wyht in wode be fleme.
This is another poem about spring. As a bonus it is almost readable. For those of us who were raised in the modern era, there is this translation. The poet notices the recession of winter by observing the birds, flowers, and other animals at play. I rather like the fact that the poet then turns to himself, noting that he is "crossed in love" and if he does not find a woman he is going to "run into the woods".
I wonder if the poets condition is one caused by lust or love.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Page 3: Bytuene Mersh and Averil
Bytuen{.e} Mersh and Averil,
When spray biginneth to spring{.e},
The lutel foul hath hir{.e} wyl
On hyr{.e} lud to syng{.e}.
Ich libbe in love longing{.e}
For semlokest of all{.e} thing{.e}.
He may me bliss{.e} bring{.e};
Icham in hire baundoun.
On heu hire her is fayr ynoh,
Hire brow{.e} broune, hire ey{.e} blak{.e};
With lossum chere he on me loh;
With middel smal, and wel ymak{.e}.
Bote he me woll{.e} to hire tak{.e},
Fort{.e} buen hire owen mak{.e},
Longe to lyven ichulle forsak{.e},
And fey{.e} fallen adoun.
Niht{.e}s when y wende and wak{.e},
Forthi myn wong{.e}s waxeth won;
Levedi, al for thin{.e} sak{.e}
Longinge is ylent me on.
In world nis non so wyter mon,
That al hire bounté tell{.e} con.
Hire swyre is whittore then the swon,
And feyrest may in toune.
Icham for wowyng al forwake,
Wery so water in wor{.e}.
Lest eny rev{.e} me my mak{.e},
Ychabbe y-yern{.e}d yor{.e}.
Betere is tholien whyl{.e} sor{.e}
Then mournen evermor{.e}.
Geynest under gor{.e},
Herkn{.e} to my roun.
An hendy hap ichabbe yhent;
Ichot, from hevene it is me sent;
From alle wymmen mi loue is lent,
And lyght on Alysoun.
So this is the third poem. Somewhat modified (instead of typing it out of the book I found it listed on the Internet), the only significant difference is the {.e}, which probably serves as a punctuation guide. We are now in the 14th century, and as you can see this is almost something resembling modern English.
Another poem referencing the beginning of spring. At this time they followed the Julian calender and so "between March and April" is around April 15th in today's, you know, sun centric calender.
The poet notes all of her beautiful features (including a reference to under her skirt) and longs for this very attractive lady. This is one of the first (surviving) time that a lady is mentioned by name. Allison must have been quite the looker.
Once again, the translation is so removed from what I speak, that it is difficult to pull out the subtle nature of the poem.
When spray biginneth to spring{.e},
The lutel foul hath hir{.e} wyl
On hyr{.e} lud to syng{.e}.
Ich libbe in love longing{.e}
For semlokest of all{.e} thing{.e}.
He may me bliss{.e} bring{.e};
Icham in hire baundoun.
On heu hire her is fayr ynoh,
Hire brow{.e} broune, hire ey{.e} blak{.e};
With lossum chere he on me loh;
With middel smal, and wel ymak{.e}.
Bote he me woll{.e} to hire tak{.e},
Fort{.e} buen hire owen mak{.e},
Longe to lyven ichulle forsak{.e},
And fey{.e} fallen adoun.
Niht{.e}s when y wende and wak{.e},
Forthi myn wong{.e}s waxeth won;
Levedi, al for thin{.e} sak{.e}
Longinge is ylent me on.
In world nis non so wyter mon,
That al hire bounté tell{.e} con.
Hire swyre is whittore then the swon,
And feyrest may in toune.
Icham for wowyng al forwake,
Wery so water in wor{.e}.
Lest eny rev{.e} me my mak{.e},
Ychabbe y-yern{.e}d yor{.e}.
Betere is tholien whyl{.e} sor{.e}
Then mournen evermor{.e}.
Geynest under gor{.e},
Herkn{.e} to my roun.
An hendy hap ichabbe yhent;
Ichot, from hevene it is me sent;
From alle wymmen mi loue is lent,
And lyght on Alysoun.
So this is the third poem. Somewhat modified (instead of typing it out of the book I found it listed on the Internet), the only significant difference is the {.e}, which probably serves as a punctuation guide. We are now in the 14th century, and as you can see this is almost something resembling modern English.
Another poem referencing the beginning of spring. At this time they followed the Julian calender and so "between March and April" is around April 15th in today's, you know, sun centric calender.
The poet notes all of her beautiful features (including a reference to under her skirt) and longs for this very attractive lady. This is one of the first (surviving) time that a lady is mentioned by name. Allison must have been quite the looker.
Once again, the translation is so removed from what I speak, that it is difficult to pull out the subtle nature of the poem.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Page 2: Sing Cuccu
(from Wikipedia)
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wde nu,
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteþ after lomb,
Lhouþ after calue cu.
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu cuccu;
Ne swik þu nauer nu.
Pes:
Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
This can only get better right? This is a very traditional Middle English song dealing with the return spring from winter. There are several detailed alagories of spring: Fields in bloom, the growth of trees, the ewe bleating after the lamb, and the stag farting (not kidding). I suppose that this would be important if I were an actual farmer, as my lively hood would be very dependent on the seasons. Spring and summer were a time to celebrate the fertility of the land and hope that you grew enough food to pay your land rent and still have enough to not starve over the winter.
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wde nu,
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteþ after lomb,
Lhouþ after calue cu.
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu cuccu;
Ne swik þu nauer nu.
Pes:
Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
This can only get better right? This is a very traditional Middle English song dealing with the return spring from winter. There are several detailed alagories of spring: Fields in bloom, the growth of trees, the ewe bleating after the lamb, and the stag farting (not kidding). I suppose that this would be important if I were an actual farmer, as my lively hood would be very dependent on the seasons. Spring and summer were a time to celebrate the fertility of the land and hope that you grew enough food to pay your land rent and still have enough to not starve over the winter.
Page 1: The beginning of Beowulf
The books starts with the beginning lines of the epic poem of Beowulf. I honestly had a hard time understanding the content even though this was a translation. I had to look else where for a basic literal modern English translation.
So. The poem is essentially recounting the early Kings of the Danish culture. Strangely enough the first king mentioned is found an orphan. Becomes a king (by the various appropriate methods), has children, and then promptly dies at the God appointed hour. It is noted that he was a good king.
The last stanza is a note that though he was found an orphan, he leaves the Danes tied to a mast in a Viking boat that is filled to the brim with gold, armor, and weapons. The peasants morn.
So. The poem is essentially recounting the early Kings of the Danish culture. Strangely enough the first king mentioned is found an orphan. Becomes a king (by the various appropriate methods), has children, and then promptly dies at the God appointed hour. It is noted that he was a good king.
The last stanza is a note that though he was found an orphan, he leaves the Danes tied to a mast in a Viking boat that is filled to the brim with gold, armor, and weapons. The peasants morn.
Introduction
This is my attempt to chronicle my reading of The Viking Book of Poetry of the English Speaking World (4th edition) published in 1946. This edition has a few nice features:
1. The poems go chronologically starting with the first real recognizable English poem; Beowulf (you know, that guy that was in that move with Angelina Jolie). This is kind of cool as I can see the English language develop and watch history happen in eras about which I do not know enough.
2. The poetry ends somewhere right before 1923, thus they are all out of copyright. This means that they can be all found on the web, or if I want to I can reprint the poems with reckless abandon.
3. There is less than 30 pages of Shakespeare.
The goal is to actually COMPLETE the book, while reading each poem. The problem I have with reading is that unless people are fighting zombies or referring to studies in economics, I tend to skip around a bit. This is completely unacceptable in poetry, as each line has been crafted, fine tuned, and (in some cases) stood the test of time to be delivered to me without context in a nice anthology.
Plus this works as a great academic exercise in a semi-forgotten art. I mean "poetry" hasn't been forgotten, but anything that isn't super modern or considered a "classic" hasn't been read by my current generation. We are all too busy reading Jewel's book or some modern equivalent.
Besides, this is all considered part of a proper education, toward which I have constantly worked. My primary line of study was in philosophy, math, and Latin and just because I have to get a marketable skill does not mean I should stop my classical refinement.
Furthermore, to ensure that I understand what I am reading I am going to write a reflection paragraph on EACH POEM IN THE BOOK*.
So, class, turn to page one and let us begin.
*Come to think of it, this is a really bad idea.
1. The poems go chronologically starting with the first real recognizable English poem; Beowulf (you know, that guy that was in that move with Angelina Jolie). This is kind of cool as I can see the English language develop and watch history happen in eras about which I do not know enough.
2. The poetry ends somewhere right before 1923, thus they are all out of copyright. This means that they can be all found on the web, or if I want to I can reprint the poems with reckless abandon.
3. There is less than 30 pages of Shakespeare.
The goal is to actually COMPLETE the book, while reading each poem. The problem I have with reading is that unless people are fighting zombies or referring to studies in economics, I tend to skip around a bit. This is completely unacceptable in poetry, as each line has been crafted, fine tuned, and (in some cases) stood the test of time to be delivered to me without context in a nice anthology.
Plus this works as a great academic exercise in a semi-forgotten art. I mean "poetry" hasn't been forgotten, but anything that isn't super modern or considered a "classic" hasn't been read by my current generation. We are all too busy reading Jewel's book or some modern equivalent.
Besides, this is all considered part of a proper education, toward which I have constantly worked. My primary line of study was in philosophy, math, and Latin and just because I have to get a marketable skill does not mean I should stop my classical refinement.
Furthermore, to ensure that I understand what I am reading I am going to write a reflection paragraph on EACH POEM IN THE BOOK*.
So, class, turn to page one and let us begin.
*Come to think of it, this is a really bad idea.
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