The Devonshire Manuscript/Myn vnhappy chaunce / to home shall I playn

f. [60v]

1    Myn vnhappy chaunce / to home shall I playn 2    for wher as / I love no grace do I fynd 3    displesur I haue / with {w+t+} woo and payn 4    tormented I am I wot not wher to wynde 5    shall it be my fortune / thus to be assynd / 6    that wher as I vulde be faynest beloved 7    to be with {w+t+} disdayn / Cruelly rewardid /

8    Offt haue I shoyd / my lovyng hert / 9    {es} {w+t+} with wordes vnfayned and eke by lett 10    {p+} {_n} by message all so / sent onn my part 11    and all to cause / her love the gretter {t'} 12    but yet of nowght I am the better {t'} 13    for the more I sho to be beloved 14    the more with {w+t+} disdayn I am rewardyd

15    My truth nor yet my lowynge chere 16    my harty mynd nor stedfastnes / 17    my woofull lyff whiche I haue here 18    with {w+t+} all my payf paynfull hewynes 19    cannot not her cause for to redresse 20    my hart whiche is to her vnfayned 21    but with {w+t+} disdayn to be rewardyd

Causeles

Commentary
Transcribed by H7, the poem remains unattributed and is unique to this manuscript. While George F. Nott suggests that the last line of the poem, "Causeles," is actually a signature for “C. Lanselles,” readers can also interpret the word as “causeless” and the final line of the poem. Similar to other courtly love lyrics, the speaker's beloved disdains him. Thus, he finds only cruelty in her demeanor toward him. If readers interpret the final line as “causeless,” then the speaker would be indicating his position as undeserving of the lady's disdain for him.