Project Gutenberg Book of English Verse | Page 5

Lord Tennyson's non-copyright poems; to the
proprietors of Mr. and Mrs. Browning's copyrights and to Messrs.
Smith, Elder & Co. for a similar favour, also for a copyright poem
by Mrs. Browning; to Mr. George Allen for extracts from Ruskin and
the author of Ionica; to Messrs. G. Bell & Sons for poems by
Thomas Ashe; to Messrs. Chatto & Windus for poems by Arthur
O'Shaughnessy and Dr. George MacDonald, and for confirming Mr.
Bret Harte's permission; to Mr. Elkin Mathews for a poem by Mr. Bliss
Carman; to Mr. John Lane for two poems by William Brighty Rands; to
the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge for two extracts from
Christina Rossetti's Verses; and to Mr. Bertram Dobell, who allows me
not only to select from James Thomson but to use a poem of Traherne's,
a seventeenth-century singer rediscovered by him. To mention all who
in other ways have furthered me is not possible in this short Preface;
which,
however, must not conclude without a word of special thanks
to Dr. W. Robertson Nicoll for many suggestions and some pains
kindly bestowed, and to Professor F. York Powell, whose help and wise
counsel have been as generously given as they were eagerly sought,
adding me to the number of those many who have found his learning to
be his friends' good fortune.
October 1900
A.T.Q.C.
Anonymous. c. 1250

0. Cuckoo Song
SUMER is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweth sed, and bloweth
med,
And springth the wude nu--
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteth after lomb,
Lhouth after calve cu;
Bulluc sterteth,
bucke verteth,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, well singes thu, cuccu:
Ne swike thu naver nu;
Sing
cuccu, nu, sing cuccu,
Sing cuccu, sing cuccu, nu!
lhude] loud. awe] ewe. lhouth] loweth. sterteth] leaps. swike] cease.
Anonymous. c. 1300
2. Alison
BYTUENE Mershe ant Averil
When spray biginneth to spring,
The
lutel foul hath hire wyl
On hyre lud to synge:
Ich libbe in
love-longinge
For semlokest of alle thynge,
He may me blisse
bringe,
Icham in hire bandoun.
An hendy hap ichabbe y-hent,

Ichot from hevene it is me sent,
From alle wymmen my love is lent

Ant lyht on Alisoun.
On heu hire her is fayr ynoh,
Hire browe broune, hire eye blake;

With lossum chere he on me loh;
With middel smal ant wel y-make;

Bote he me wolle to hire take
For to buen hire owen make,
Long
to lyven ichulle forsake
Ant feye fallen adoun.
An hendy hap, etc.
Nihtes when I wende and wake,
For-thi myn wonges waxeth won;

Levedi, al for thine sake
Longinge is y-lent me on.
In world his non
so wyter mon
That al hire bounte telle con;
Hire swyre is whittore
than the swon,
Ant feyrest may in toune.
An hendy hap, etc.
Icham for wowyng al for-wake,
Wery so water in wore;
Lest eny

reve me my make
Ichabbe y-yerned yore.
Betere is tholien whyle
sore
Then mournen evermore.
Geynest under gore,
Herkne to my
roun--
An hendy hap, etc.
on hyre lud] in her language. ich libbe] I live. semlokest] seemliest. he]
she. bandoun] thraldom. hendy] gracious. y-hent] seized, enjoyed. ichot]
I wot. lyht] alighted. hire her] her hair. lossum] lovesome. loh] laughed.
bote he] unless
she. buen] be. make] mate. feye] like to die. nihtes] at
night. wende] turn. for-thi] on that account. wonges waxeth won]
cheeks grow wan. levedi] lady. y-lent me on] arrived to me. so wyter
mon] so wise a man. swyre] neck. may] maid. for-wake] worn out with
vigils. so water in wore] as water in a weir. reve] rob. y-yerned yore]
long been distressed. tholien] to
endure. geynest under gore]
comeliest under woman's
apparel. roun] tale, lay.
Anonymous. c. 1300
3. Spring-tide
LENTEN ys come with love to toune,
With blosmen ant with briddes
roune,
That al this blisse bryngeth;
Dayes-eyes in this dales,

Notes suete of nyhtegales,
Vch foul song singeth;
The threstlecoc
him threteth oo,
Away is huere wynter wo,
When woderove
springeth;
This foules singeth ferly fele,
Ant wlyteth on huere
winter 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 ant the fille;
Wowes this wilde drakes,
Miles murgeth
huere makes;
Ase strem that striketh stille,
Mody meneth; so doth
mo
(Ichot ycham on of tho)
For loue that likes ille.
The mone mandeth hire lyht,
So doth the semly sonne bryht.
When
briddes singeth breme;
Deowes donketh the dounes,
Deores with
huere derne rounes
Domes forte 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.
to toune] in its turn. him threteth oo] is aye chiding
them. huere] their.
woderove] woodruff. ferly fele] marvellous many. wlyteth] whistle, or
look. rayleth hire rode] clothes herself in red. mandeth hire bleo] sends
forth her light. lossom to seo] lovesome to see. fille] thyme. wowes]
woo. miles] males. murgeth] make merry. makes] mates. striketh]
flows, trickles. mody meneth] the moody man makes moan. so doth mo]
so do many. on of tho] one of them. breme] lustily. deowes] dews.
donketh] make dank. deores] dears, lovers. huere