The Devonshire Manuscript/how shold I

f. [43r]

1    how shold I 2    be so plesent 3    in my semblent 4    as my ffelws be

5    not long ago 6    yt chancet so 7    as I walkyt alone 8    I hard a man that 1 9    that now and then 10    hym selff thys ded bemone

11    alas he sayd 12    I am betrayt2 13    and ovterly vndwne 14    hovm I ded trust 15    and thynk so Iust 16    another man has wone

17    my sarwes due3 18    and hart so tru 19    on her I ded bestow 20    I never ment 21    ffor to repent 22    in welth nor yet in wo

23    love ded asyen 24    her to be myn 25    and nat to love non nwe 26    but who can bynd 27    ther ffe [] ffeckell kynd 28    that never wyll be tru

29    the western wynd 30    has tovrnyt her myd4 31    and blone her clen away 32    wher be my welth 33    my merth my helth 34    ys turnd to gret decay

35    wher ys the trowth 36    wher ys ^5the owth 37    that ye to me ded geve 38    seche craffty words 39    and wyly bords 40    let no yovng man beleve

41    how shold I 42    be so plesent 43    in my semblent 44    as my ffelos be

ffynes

Notes & Glosses
1.   It is likely that the writer started the next line, realized the error, and crossed out the mistake.

2.   This phrase resonates with Henry VIII's "Heard a may most pitiously."

3.   Note the same spelling as that which Mary Shelton uses, for instance on her "undesired service" remark.

4.   There is no macron to supply the word "mynd."

5.   This is an inverse caret.

Commentary
Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt, this poem was entered by Margaret Douglas. The poem's genre derives from the medieval French chanson à personnages in which the speaker listens to the complaint of a young woman or male lover. In this case the speaker overhears a complaint about the fickleness and changeability of women. Two instances of this poem appear in the manuscript. The second version was entered into the manuscript by H8; it is nine lines longer and titled "howe shulde I" (77r).