The Devonshire Manuscript/thy promese was to loue me best

f. [40r]

1    thy [s]promese was to loue me best 2    and that thy hart with {w+t+} myn shold rest 3    and nat to brek thys thy behest 4    thy promese ^1was thy promese was

5    thy promese was nat to aquyt 6    my ffathffulnes with {w+t+} sech des t yt 7    but recompenset yf thow myght 8    thy promese was thy promese was

9    thy promese was I tel the pleyn 10    my ffayth shold nat be spent in wene 11    but to hawe mor shold be my gayne 12    thy promese was thy promese was

13    thy promese was to hawe obsarwed 14    my ffayth lyke as yt hath deserwed 15    and nat casles thys to asward have sweared 16    thy promese was thy promese was

17    thy promese was I dar a woe 18    but yt ys changyt I wot well how2 19    tho then wer then and now ys now 20    thy promese was thy promese was

21    but sens to change tho doos delyt 22    and that thy ffa t yh hath tayn hes fflythe 23    as thow desarwest I shall the quyt 24    I promese the I promese the

ffynys

Notes & Glosses
1.   Caret is downwards.

2.   Consider early modern pronunciation in the rhyme of "woe" and "now."

Commentary
Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt, this poem was entered by Margaret Douglas. She uses ruled lines, few capital letters, and smudges the page, which might indicate that she is left-handed. The page shows evidence of careful copying, with many insertions and deletions. Although the sentiment of this poem is difficult to relate to the known biographical details of the Douglas’s life, this song could possibly have been copied for entertainment purposes.