The Devonshire Manuscript/Farewell all my wellfare

f. [9v]

1    3# Ffarewell all my wellfare 2    my shwe ys trode awry 3    and thys now may I karke &amp; care 4    to syng lullay by by 5    Alas what shall I do there do to 6    there ys no shyffte to helpe me now

7    Who made hytt suche a fence 8    to love for love agayn 9 {p'} {{th}+t+}    god wott that my pretence 10    was but to ease hys payn 11    ffor I had ruthe to se hys wo 12    alas more fole why dyd I so

13    Ffor he frome me ys gone 14    &amp; makes {es} there at a game 15    &amp; hathe leffte me Alone 16    to suffer sorow &amp; shame 17    alas he ys vnkynd dowtles 18    to leve me thus all comfortles

f. [10r]

19    Hytt ys A grevows smarte 20    to suffer paynes {es} &amp; sorowe 21    but most grevyd my hart 22    he leyde hys feythe to borow 23    &amp; falshode hathe hys feythe &amp; trowthe 24    &amp; he forsworne by many a nothe an oath

25    All ye lovers perde 26    hathe cawse to blame hys dede 27    Whyche shall example be 28    to lett yow off yowre spede 29    let neuer {u'} woman A gayn 30    trust to suche wordes {es} as men can fayn

31    Ffor I vnto my coste 32    am warnyng to yow all 33    that {{th}+t+} they whom you trust most 34    sonest dysceyve yow shall 35    But complaynt cannot redresse 36    of my gret greff the gret excesse

fynys s

Commentary
Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt, this poem was entered by H2. This poem was written from a woman’s perspective. Rebholz notes that the speaker may be lamenting an unfaithful lover; in particular, line 4 -- that is, "To sing lullay by by" -- denotes her dilemma by alluding to the lullabies she sings to her illegitimate child.

H2 paid particular attention to the presentation of this poem: it begins on the verso of f.9 and continues on the recto of f.10 (facing pages). The stanzas are evenly spaced for the maximum visual effect of balance. "Farewell all my wellfare" is one of seventeen entries in which Margaret Douglas marks: “and thys.” Paul Remley suggests that these annotations relate to another in-text annotation of hers, “lerne but to syng it” (81r), and may indicate a group of texts to be learned for entertaining.