The Devonshire Manuscript/Grudge on who liste this ys my lott

f. [78v]

1    Grudge on who liste this ys my lott 2    no thing to want if it ware not

3    my yeris be yong even as ye see 4    all thinges {es} thereto dothe well agre 5    yn faithe in face in iche degre 6    no thing dothe wante as semithe me 7    if yt ware not

8    {es} {{th}+t+} {_e} Some men dothe saye that frindes be skace 9    but I have founde as in this cace 10    afrinde wiche gyvith to no man {_a} 1 place 11    {u'} {{th}+t+} but makis me happiest that euer was 12    yf &amp;c

13    Groudge on who list this is my lot 14    no thing to wan {_a} t if yt ware not 15    a hart I have besidis all this 16    that hathe my herte &amp; I have his 17    if he dothe well yt is my blis 18    and when we mete no lak there is / 19    yf &amp; c

20    {_a} {{th}+t+} {_a} Yf he can finde that can me please 21    athinckes {es} he dois his owne hertes {es} ease 22    and likewise I coulde well apease 23    the chefest cause of his misease 24    yf &amp;c

25    Groudge on &amp;c 26    nothing to wan {_a} te &amp;c 27    A master {t'} eke god hathe me sente 28    to hom my will is hollye ben {_e} te 29    {_e} {{th}+t+} {{s}8} to serue &amp; love for that intente 30    both we {_e} {_o} that bothe/we2 might be well contente / 31    yf c

32    And here an ende yt dothe suffise 33    {{th}+e+} {es} to speke fewe wordes among the wise / 34    yet take this note before yor eyes 35    my mirthe shulde doble ons or twise / 36    yf yt ware not Groudge on who liste &amp;c /

fs

Notes & Glosses
1.   See Petti. This form of macron is an ornamental variant.

2.   The division line between the words may have been a retroactive addition/clarification, since there is no space between the words.

Commentary
Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt, this poem was entered by H8. Rebholz notes that this poem could be considered a modified carol since the "burden" appears as a refrain. Other versions of this poem are titled "My yeris be yong even as ye see.” Wyatt rarely employs a female speaker in his poetry; this particular female speaker expresses a similar sentiment of acceptance of fate as in the previous poem, “Spight hathe no powre to make me sadde” (77r). An interpretation of the poem as politicized verse depends on the meaning of “it” in the burden, “if it were not.” “Grudge not” was also one of Anne Boleyn’s early mottoes, which she had taken from the Burgundian court. A few other traces of Anne Boleyn's mottoes appear in the manuscript: “Ye know my herte my ladye dere” (73v) contains Boleyn’s motto, “Me and Myne,” and the anagram “Am el mem” (67v) is possibly a reply by Anne Boleyn to Wyatt’s riddle “What word is that that changeth not though it be turned.”