Art. 69, Mayden, moder milde

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¶ Mayden, moder milde,
Oiez cel oreysoun.
From shome thou me shilde,
E de ly mal feloun;
For love of thine childe,
Me menez de tresoun.
Ich wes wod ant wilde;
Ore su en prisoun.

Thou art feyr ant fre,
E plein de douçour.
Of the sprong the ble,
Ly soverein Creatour.
Mayde, byseche Y the
Vostre seint socour.
Meoke ant mylde, be with me
Pur le sue amour.

Tho Judas Jesum founde,
Donque ly beysa;
He wes bete ant bounde,
Que nous tous fourma.
Wyde were is wounde
Qe le Gyw ly dona.
He tholede harde stounde,
Me poi le greva.

On ston ase thou stode,
Pucele, tot pensaunt,
Thou restest the under rode:
Ton fitz veites pendant;
Thou seye is sides of blode,
L'alme de ly partaunt.
He ferede uch an fode
En mound que fust vivaunt.

Ys siden were sore;
Le sang de ly cora.
That lond was forlore,
Mes il le rechata.
Uch bern that wes ybore
En enfern descenda;
He tholede deth therfore,
En ciel puis mounta.

Tho Pilat herde the tydynge,
Molt fu joyous baroun;
He lette byfore him brynge
Jesu Nazaroun.
He was ycrouned kynge
Pur nostre redempcioun.
Whose wol me synge
Avera grant pardoun.

¶ Maiden, mother mild,
Hear this prayer.
Shield me from disgrace,
And from the evil villain;
For love of your child,
Lead me out of treachery.
I was mad and wayward;
Now I am in prison.

You are fair and gracious,
And full of gentleness.
From you sprang the radiance,
The sovereign Creator.
Maid, I ask of you
Your holy succor.
Meek and mild, be with me
For love of him.

When Judas found Jesus,
Then he kissed him;
He was beaten and bound,
Who created us all.
Wide were his wounds
That the Jews gave him.
He endured hard pangs,
But little did it grieve him.

On stone as you stood,
Virgin, all pensive,
You pause under cross:
You see your son hanging;
You see his bloody sides,
The soul parting from him.
He made whole each creature
Who was living on earth.

His sides were painful;
The blood flowed from him.
That land was forlorn,
But he redeemed it.
Each child that was born
Descended into hell;
He suffered death for them,
Then rose into heaven.

When Pilate heard the news,
He was indeed a joyous lord;
He ordered brought before him
Jesus of Nazareth.
He was crowned king
For our redemption.
Whoever will sing with me
Will have great pardon.

(t-note)

(t-note)

(see note)
(see note)

(see note); (t-note)

(see note)
(see note)

(t-note)

ART. 69, MAYDEN, MODER MILDE: EXPLANATORY NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: AND: Anglo-Norman Dictionary; ANL: Anglo-Norman Literature: A Guide to Texts and Manuscripts (R. Dean and Boulton); BL: British Library (London); Bodl.: Bodleian Library (Oxford); CCC: Corpus Christi College (Cambridge); CUL: Cambridge University Library (Cambridge); IMEV: The Index of Middle English Verse (Brown and Robbins); IMEV Suppl.: Supplement to the Index of Middle English Verse (Robbins and Cutler); MED: Middle English Dictionary; MWME: A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050–1500 (Severs et al.); NIMEV: A New Index of Middle English Verse (Boffey and Edwards); NLS: National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh).

11 ble. “Radiance”; see MED, ble (n.), sense 1(b). The word conveys a range of meanings, including “person” (sense 3(b)), cited for this line in the MED and chosen by Saupe (p. 135). Brook glosses it “noble person” (p. 92), and Jeffrey and Levy translate it “blossom” (p. 42). On the word as possibly meaning “corn, wheat, cornfield,” creating an allusion to the legend of the Instantaneous Harvest, see Breeze 1992, pp. 150–52.

12 Creatour. As Saupe notes (p. 254), the word means both “creator” and “creature.” The word soverein is either adjective or noun; Jeffrey and Levy gloss the phase “king of creation” (p. 42).

25 ston. The word in the manuscript is either ston or stou (“place”). Editors disagree on which word is written here, and both readings are reasonable in context. Both alliterate with stode in this line and with stounde in the preceding English line. Compare ston, a rhyme-word in a similar context, in I Sigh When I Sing (art 62), line 18.

31 ferede. “Healed, made whole”; see MED, feren (v.(4), fer (n.(3)), and fer (n.(4)). Others have read this verb as feren (v.(1)), “cause fear in.”

32 En mound que fust vivaunt. Jeffrey and Levy interpret this line as referring to Christ: “in the world where He had lived” (p. 42).

ART. 69, MAYDEN, MODER MILDE: TEXTUAL NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS: As: Aspin; Bö: Böddeker; Bos: Bossy; Br: Brook; BS: Bennett and Smithers; BZ: Brandl and Zippel; B13: Brown 1932; B14: Brown 1952; DB: Dunn and Byrnes; Deg: Degginger; Do: Dove 1969; Gr: Greene 1977; Ha: Halliwell; Hal: Hall; Hol: Holthausen; Hor¹: Horstmann 1878; Hor²: Horstmann 1896; Hu: Hulme; JL: Jeffrey and Levy; Ju: Jubinal; Kel: Keller; Ken: Kennedy; Le: Lerer 2008; Mc: McKnight; Mi: Millett; MR: Michelant and Raynaud; Mo: Morris and Skeat; MS: MS Harley 2253; Mu: H. M. R. Murray; Pa: Patterson; Pr: Pringle 2009; Rei: Reichl 1973; Rev¹: Revard 2004; Rev²: Revard 2005b; Ri¹: Ritson 1877; Ri²: Ritson 1885; Ro: Robbins 1959; Sa: Saupe; Si: Silverstein; St: Stemmler 1970; Tr: Treharne; Tu: Turville-Petre 1989; Ul: Ulrich; W¹: Wright 1839; W²: Wright 1841; W³: Wright 1842; W⁴: Wright 1844; WH: Wright and Halliwell.

1 Mayden. So MS, W³, B13, Br, Si, JL, Sa, Mi. Bö: Maiden.

3 shome. So MS, W³, B13, Br, Si, JL, Sa, Mi. Bö: shame.

25 ston. So MS, Bö, B13. W³, Br, Si, JL, Sa, Mi: stou.

47 me. So MS, W³, B13, Br, Si, JL, Sa, Mi. Bö: mo.