The Devonshire Manuscript/Dyvers dothe vse as I have hard & kno

f. [77v]

1    Dyvers dothe vse as I have hard &amp; kno 2    {es} {{th}'} {_u} {{th}+t+} {_a} whanthat to chaunge1 their lades do beginne 3    to morne &amp; waile &amp; neuer {u'} for to lynne2 4    hoping there {{th}'} bye to pease their {{th}'} painefull woo. 5    {_a} {{th}+t+} {{th}'} {_i} And soimm there be that whan it chansithe soo 6    {_a} {{th}+t+} that woman change &amp; hate where love hath bene 7    {es} {w+t+} {_e} thei call them fals &amp; think with wordesto wynne 8    {w+c+} {_e} {es} the hartes of themwhich other where dothe gro. 9    {_a} {{th}+t+} But as for me though that by channse in dede 10    {{th}+t+} {{th}+e+} change hathe out worne the favorthat I had 11    I will not wayle / lamen {_e} t no y r yet be sad 12    {{th}+t+} nor call her fals that falsley ded me fede 13    but let it passe &amp; thin {_i} k it is of kinde 14    {_i} {_a} {_u} {_e} that oftenn3 chaunnge doth plese a womans4 minde

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Notes & Glosses
1.   See Petti. A macron shaped with a curve and a dot beneath is an older form still in use in the 15th century.

2.   The meaning of "to lynne" is "to cease."

3.   The word "oftenn" is an example of a seemingly unnecessary indication of a supplied nasal.

4.   See Petti. A macron shaped as an ascending hook or curl is an ornamental form used in the 15th century.

Commentary
Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt, this poem was entered by H8. In contrast to the common courtly love trope, the speaker refuses to complain about the fickleness of the lady, and justifies his refusal by remarking that womens' fickleness represents a part of "kinde" -- that is, a natural attribute of a woman's temperament. For another example describing this perspective concerning womens' fickleness, see the poem “Spight hathe no powre to make me sadde” (78r). Petrarch also touched on this theme of fickleness; in Rime 183, for instance, he writes: "Woman is by nature a changeable thing; whence I know well that a loving condition in the heart of woman lasts a very short time" (II, 12-14).

This poem has the largest number of abbreviations in the entire manuscript.