The Devonshire Manuscript/To yowr gentyll letters an answere to resyte

f. [29r]

1    To yowr gentyll letters an answere to resyte 2    both I and my penne there to wyll aply 3    and thowgh that I can not yor goodnes aquyte 4    In ryme and myter elegantly 5    yet do I meane as faythfully 6    As euer dyd louer for hys part 7    I take god to record whych knowyth my hart

8    And where as ye wyll contynew myne 9    To reporte for me ye may be bold 10    That yff I had lyves as argus had yne 11    yet soner all them lyse I wold 12    then to be tempte for fere or for gold 13    yow to refuse or to forsake 14    wych ys my faythful and louyng make

15    Wych faythfullnes ye dyd euer pretend 16    and gentylnes as now I see 17    off me wych was yowr pore old frend 18    yowr louyng husband now to be 19    synce1 ye desende from yor degre 20    take ye thys vnto yowr part 21    my faythful / trwe and louyng hart

22    for terme off lyfe thys gyft ye haue 23    Thus now adwe my none swete wyfe2 24    from T. h. wych nowght doth crave3,4 25    but yow the stay off all my lyfe 26    and the that wold other bate or stryfe 26    to be tyed wyth yn yo ower louyng bandys 27    I wold the were on goodwyn sandys5

finis

Notes & Glosses
1.   This is an unusual spelling.

2.   This phrase is repeated.

3.   Presumably, the initials refer to Lord Thomas Howard.

4.   The space in the text was created and the initials were added later, not unlike the gaps on "O very lord / o loue / o god alas" (29v).

5.   The Goodwin Sands are notorious shoals off the coast of Dover.

Commentary
Attributed to Lady Margaret Douglas, this poem denotes her feelings for her husband, Lord Thomas Howard. "To yowr gentyll letters an answere to resyte," entered by TH2, follows the same ruled page format as the preceding poem. Helen Baron observes that "I may well say with Ioyfull harte" (28v) and "To yowr gentyll letters an answere to resyte" follow an epistolary formulae: "I may well say with Ioyfull harte" ends with the hope that the two will meet again (line 24), and this poem responds to the plea, beginning: "To yowr gentyll letters an answere to resyte / both I and my penne there to wyll aply" (lines 1-2). While E.A. Bond argues that this relation shows internal evidence that the lovers exchanged letters during imprisonment in the Tower, Baron notes that no existing evidence supports the theory that Margaret wrote in the manuscript while at the Tower.