38 Ne may no tunge telle. On the inexpressibility topos, intended to heighten joy or horror, compare Poema Morale (art. 3), lines 143–44, 271–88; Death (art. 14), lines 29–30; and The Eleven Pains of Hell (art. 28), lines 265–70.↩back to note source

49 Her is chele and hete. One of the pains of hell is to suffer sudden shifts of extreme heat and extreme cold; see note to line 245, below. This form of infernal punishment is also recounted in Poema Morale (art. 3), lines 228–30, and suggested in The Eleven Pains of Hell (art. 28), lines 47, 149–50.↩back to note source

58 yeyncherrynge. “returning.” See MED, yencharinge (ger.), “an averting of some consequence, an escape,” where this line is the only example cited.↩back to note source

43–60 In helle beoth . . . enes cumeth there. The description of hell’s afflictions in Saws is brief yet detailed: pain, darkness, extreme hot and cold, hunger and thirst. It may be compared to fuller descriptions in Poema Morale (art. 3), lines 223–45, 271–88, and in The Eleven Pains of Hell (art. 28).↩back to note source

71 ethgete. “easily receive.” See MED, eth-yete (adj.), from OE ēaþ-gēte. The word was rare in Middle English; the MED provides only three instances, with the other two dated 1100 and 1225.↩back to note source

77 Wytherwynne. “Adversary, the Devil.” See MED, wither-win(e) (n.), sense 1c, a term for Satan (derived from OE wiþer-winna). Compare line 226.↩back to note source

80 arhhede. I translate this noun as “sloth” because the context is a listing of traditional sins. The word is attested only in this poem; see MED, arghhede (n.), “cowardice.”↩back to note source

79–85 Prude and modynesse . . . beoth sunnen seovene. The Seven Deadly Sins are rattled off in a very casual fashion: Pride/Arrogance (“prude and modynesse”), Sloth/Despair (“arhhede and soryness”), Envy/Malice (“nythe and ek onde”), Ire (“wraththe”), Lechery (“hordom”), and Avarice (“yvernesse”). Missing is Gluttony, which has been replaced by Deceit (“swikelnesse”). Compare The Owl and the Nightingale (art. 2), lines 1395–1408 (note).↩back to note source

116 gersumme. “treasure.” See MED, gersum(e) (n.), sense 1b (a word of Old Norse and Old English origin).↩back to note source

120 Puke. “the Devil, Evil Spirit.” See MED, pouk(e) (n.), sense 1a (from OE puca).↩back to note source

133 playdurs. “pleaders, orators, lawyers.” See MED, pledour (n.), sense 1a.↩back to note source

134 That werieth red and grene. The colors appear to be specific to the orators’ (? lawyers’) profession. On the wearing of red and green, compare On Serving Christ (art. 18), line 69.↩back to note source

146 bonde. “husbandman, plowman, farmer.” The word indicates someone under another’s domination, and so, among the estates, it has a range of possible specific meanings, all connoting submission and obedience. See MED, bond(e) (n.(1)), sense 1a, “a customary tenant,” such as farmers, plowmen, serfs, servants, or vassals; and Clanchy, England and Its Rulers, pp. 273–77. Compare thral in Ten Abuses (art. 15), line 10 (a work also ascribed to Bede).↩back to note source

145–50 Of alle men alonde . . . he cume myhte. The modest husbandman (farmer or plowman) may gain salvation by means of his humble labor, so long as he tithes. This idealization of the honest, devout laborer reflects a medieval Christian attitude informing the later Harley Song of the Husbandman (CHMS, 2:128–31) and William Langland’s Piers Plowman. The poet, however, adds a stern warning about the necessity of tithing; without that, the husbandman’s soul is endangered.↩back to note source

153 theothinge. “tithing.” Contributing one-tenth of one’s goods to the Church (i.e., tithing) was considered the obligation of every good Christian. A humble, hard-working, impoverished husbandman (i.e., farmer) would seem to represent a virtuous estate, but should he fail to tithe, the poet warns, he will go to hell. On the practice of tithing, see MED, tithen (v.(2)).↩back to note source

158 drywories. “illicit affairs.” See MED, druerie (n.), sense 1b, “love-making, flirtation” (from OF druerie). The spelling is unusual but similar to that of the Digby 86 version: driweries.↩back to note source

91–174 Nu weneth monye . . . schule heom warantye. This listing of the different estates heading off to hell approaches comedy in how each group is satirized and provided a deft hint of contrapasso. The rich thought they would have the high status of angels; the poor thought they were immune through poverty; the monks planned to keep their treasures; the priest accepting money to sing Mass should have given alms; and so on. The estates satire in Saws is the most extended and vibrant of the Jesus 29 lyrics. For other examples, see When Holy Church Is Under Foot (art. 12), lines 27–32; Ten Abuses (art. 15), lines 2–11; and A Little Sooth Sermon (art. 16), lines 17–24.↩back to note source

190–92 For nes non . . . his ende-day were. Not knowing the time of one’s death is frequently lamented in the Jesus 29 lyrics. Compare Death’s Wither-Clench (art. 7), lines 1–2; Three Sorrowful Tidings (art. 23), line 4; and The Proverbs of Alfred (art. 24), lines 103–12.↩back to note source

200 On here. “In a haircloth,” that is, as a gesture of humility and Christian penance. For burial in a coarse cloth, see MED, here (n.(2)), sense 3a, and compare Signs of Death (art. 22), line 10.↩back to note source

211–16 Sothliche, nakede and . . . Vorleten and bileven. For a variation of this oft-repeated truism — naked do we enter the world and naked do we depart — compare Death (art. 14), lines 13–20.↩back to note source

226 Wytherwine. “Adversary, the Devil.” See note to line 77, above.↩back to note source

245 Ever schrinke and swelle. “Forever to cramp and swell,” perhaps as a result of being subjected to extreme cold and heat. See note to line 49, above.↩back to note source

271–318 “Loke,” seyde God . . . “beoth ful lothe.” The description of the Last Judgment in Saws is enlivened by a direct dialogue between God and the judged, when Christ questions them about the Seven Works of Mercy (Matthew 25:31–46). This conception of the Last Day is standard, although it does not appear in other representations in Jesus 29. Compare the brief addresses from God to the souls appearing in Doomsday (art. 13), lines 33–40. Compare, too, the later poetry of John Audelay: God carries out this Doomsday inquisition in True Living, lines 162–79, and addresses the living in God’s Address to Sinful Men, lines 164–71 (Audelay, Poems and Carols, ed. Fein, pp. 29, 131).↩back to note source

331–36 The saule seyth . . . schal ever smerte! The poet inserts here a miniature recrimination of the soul against the body, at the moment of their final judgment. While the event is familiar from body-soul debates, the Saws poet adds this bit of direct speech to enliven the lesson, just as the poem is to conclude.↩back to note source

337–42 The gode, the . . . tharto nyme gome. The poet adds a stern coda to the fate of the damned. On Doomsday the righteous souls will bear no compassion for them. The doctrine seems to be that all saved souls will be in accord with the judgment of God, but this detail of virtuous human mercilessness seems harsh to the extreme.↩back to note source

349 Bidde we. In the Jesus sequence of poems, many closing stanzas open with this phrase, which signals a final prayer. Because the first letter B is always a red colored capital, these standard endings are quite noticeable to a reader of the manuscript. Compare The Passion of Jesus Christ (art. 1), line 547; Poema Morale (art. 3), line 389; The Annunciation (art. 10), line 4; Doomsday (art. 13), line 41; and Fire and Ice (art. 21), line 2.↩back to note source