5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80

Clericus "Damishel, reste wel!" Puella "Sir, welcum, by Saynt Michel!" Clericus "Wer es ty sire, wer es ty dame?" Puella "By Gode, es nother her at hame." Clericus "Wel wor suilc a man to life That suilc a may mihte have to wyfe." Puella "Do way, by Crist and Leonard, No wil Y lufe na clerc fayllard, Ne kep I herbherg, clerc, in huse, no y flore,    Bot his hers ly wituten dore. Go forth thi way, god sire, For her hastu losyd al thi wile." Clericus "Nu, nu, by Crist and by Sant Jhon; In al this land ne wis hi none, Mayden, that I luf mor than thee, Hif me micht ever the bether be. For thee hy sory nicht and day, Y may say, hay waylevay! Y luf thee mar than mi lif, Thu hates me mar than gayt dos chnief. That es nouct for mysgilt, Certhes, for thi luf ham hi spilt. A, suythe mayden, reu of me, That es ty luf hand ay sal be, For the luf of the moder of efne, Thu mend thi mode and her my stevene!" Puella "By Crist of hevene and Sant Jone, Clerc of scole ne kep I non, For many god wymman haf thai don scam - By Crist, thu michtis haf ben at hame!" Clericus "Synt it nothir gat may be, Jesu Christ bytech Y thee, And send neulic bot tharinne, That Yi be lesit of al my pyne." Puella "Go nu, truan, go nu, go, For mikel canstu of sory and wo!" Clericus "God te blis, Mome Helwis!" Mome Elwis "Son, welcum, by San Dinis!" Clericus "Hic am comin to thee, mome, Thu hel me noth, thu say me sone. Hic am a clerc that hauntes scole, Y lydy my life wyt mikel dole. Me wor lever to be dedh, Than led the lif that hyc ledh For ay mayden with and schen, Fayrer ho lond haw Y non syen. Yo hat mayden Malkyn, Y wene. Nu thu wost quam Y mene. Yo wonys at the tounes ende, That suyt lif so fayr and hende. Bot if yo wil hir mod amende, Neuly Crist my ded me send! Men kend me hyder, uytuten fayle, To haf thi help an ty cunsalye; Tharfor am Y cummen here, That thu salt be my herand-bere, To mac me and that mayden sayct, And hi sal gef thee of my nayct, So that hever al thi lyf Saltu be the better wyf. So help me Crist, and hy may spede, Riche saltu haf thi mede." Mome Elwis "A, son, wat saystu? Benedicité! Lift hup thi hand and blis thee! For it es boyt syn and scam, That thu on me hafs layt thys blam, For hic am an ald quyne and a lam, Y led my lyf wit Godis love, Wit my roc Y me fede, Can I do non othir dede, Bot my Pater Noster and my Crede, To say Crist for missedede, And myn Avy Mary - For my scynnes hic am sory - And my De profundis For al that yn sin lys; For can I me non othir think - That wot Crist, of hevene kync. Jesu Crist of hevene hey, Gef that thay may heng hey, And gef that hy may se, That thay be henged on a tre, That this ley as leyit onne me. For aly wyman am I on."

Damsel St. Michael; (see note) Where is your father; mother neither is here at home; (see note) Well-off would such a man [be in] life; (see note) such a maid might [St.] Leonard; (see note) I will not love a good-for-nothing clerk Nor; lodging; house; on floor Except that; arse; outside door; (see note) good sir here you have lost all your desire; (see note) St. John know I none; (see note) love more (see note) I sorrow [both] night; (see note) alas alas I love you more; life more; goat; [the] knife because of my having done amiss Truly; I Ah, wonderful; take pity on your love and ever shall be love; mother of heaven; (see note) change your mind; hear; plea (voice) St. John [to] many good; have they done shame might [as well] have stayed home Since commend; (see note) quickly (newly) remedy; (see note) released; pain now, beggar much do you know; (see note) bless you, Dame Eloise; (see note) St. Denis; (see note) I [If] you cannot heal me, tell me at once (see note) I lead; much sorrow; (see note) I would rather be dead lead white and shining Fairer in land have She was called; I think; (see note) you know whom I mean She lives sweet Unless she; mood (mind) change Swiftly; death sent; without fail and your go-between (errand bearer) make; reconciled possessions You shall be if I may prosper Richly; reward; (see note) what did you say; (see note) up your; bless yourself is but; shame blame (task) an old woman; am lame; (see note) distaff Know; occupation Except confess [to] Christ for [my] sins Ave Maria sins I; sorry "Out of the depths"; (see note) lies; (see note) high; (see note) hang high; (see note) (see note) lie; laid on me; (see note) holy woman; one

Interludium de clerico et puella, Select Bibliography

Manuscript

British Library MS Additional 23986, vellum roll, verso side (early fourteenth century).


Editions

Bennett, J. A. W., and G. V. Smithers, eds. Early Middle English Verse and Prose. Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968. Pp. 196-200.

Chambers, E. K. The Mediaeval Stage. 2 vols. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1903. Pp. 324-26.

Cook, Albert Stanburrough, ed. A Literary Middle English Reader. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1915; rpt. 1943. Pp. 476-80. [Cook entitles the play "The Cleric and the Maiden" and adds scene divisions and stage directions.]

Dickins, B., and R. M. Wilson. Early Middle English Texts. London: Bowes & Bowes, 1956. Pp. 121-22.

Wright, Thomas, and James Orchard Halliwell, eds. Reliquiae Antiquae. Scraps From Ancient Manuscripts, Illustrating Chiefly Early English Literature and the English Language. 2 vols. London: John Russell Smith, 1845. Vol. 1, pp. 145-47.


Related Studies

Axton, Richard. "Popular Modes in the Earliest Plays." In Medieval Drama. Ed. Neville Denny. London: Edward Arnold, 1973. Pp. 13-39.

---. European Drama of the Early Middle Ages. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1975.

Busby, Keith. "Dame Sirith and De Clerico et Puella." In Companion to Early Middle English Literature. Ed. N. H. G. E. Veldhoen and H. Aertsen. Amsterdam: Free University Press, 1988. Pp. 69-81.

Gayley, Charles M. Representative English Comedies. London: Macmillan Co., 1903. Pp. xiii-xviii.

Heuser, W. "Das Interludium de Clerico et Puella und das Fabliau von Dame Siriz." Anglia 30 (1907), 306-19.

Miller, B. D. H. "Further Notes on Interludium de Clerico et Puella." Notes and Queries 208 [n.s. 10] (1963), 248-89.

Moore, Bruce. "The Narrator within the Performance: Problems with Two Medieval 'Plays.'" In Drama in the Middle Ages: Comparative and Critical Essays: Second Series. Ed. Clifford Davidson and John H. Stroupe. New York: AMS Press, 1991. Pp. 152-67.

Nicoll, Allardyce. Masks, Mimes, and Miracles: Studies in the Popular Theatre. London: Cooper Square, 1963. Pp. 171-75.

Richardson, Frances E. "Notes on the Text and Language of Interludium de Clerico et Puella." Note and Queries 207 [n.s. 9] (1962), 133-34.