7 childthinge. “childbearing.” See MED, childinge (ger.), sense 1a, which cites this line from TCC, MS B.14.39, where the spelling is childinke. Jesus 29 and Cotton Caligula A.ix agree in the unusual spelling with th (a thorn in Jesus, an eth in Cotton), which must reflect how the d was pronounced.↩back to note source

20 So wel thu myht. Compare The Five Joys of Our Lady Saint Mary (art. 11): “for wel thu miht” (line 28).↩back to note source

23 we. This word (omitted in Jesus 29) is adopted from Cotton Caligula A.ix for better sense. In Middle English, forgon is a transitive verb requiring an object. Compare The Five Joys of Our Lady Saint Mary (art. 11): “hwenne we schulle this lif forgon” (line 24).↩back to note source

28 nys wurth a slo. “not worth a sloe (the fruit of a blackthorn tree),” that is, worthless. See Whiting S389. This idiomatic reading is adopted from Cotton Caligula A.ix. Poorer in sense, Jesus 29 reads þis lyues blysse nys wurþ al so. Compare The Eleven Pains of Hell (art. 28): “Ne helph heom wurth o slo” (line 274).↩back to note source