The Devonshire Manuscript/wan I be thyng my wontyd was

f. [59r]

1  ways wan I be thyng think my wontyd was 2   how I anon hawe spent my tym 3   and se how now my gay dekas 4   and ffrom my welth how I or myn 5   such be leffe believe my ffryndes that swch assais 6   doth ka a me plan not off the spelen spleen 7   pot but morn I may thys wery das 8   that har apoyntyd to be myn

Commentary
Written in Mary Shelton's hand, this poem remains unattributed. Margaret Douglas also enters another version of this poem on 58r. Notably, both authors use different word choices: Douglas's version, for instance, uses “or thys,” “joy,” and “declyn,” while Shelton's version uses “anon,” “gay,” and “or myn” (see lines 2,3, and 4). Taken together, Mary Shelton’s and Margaret Douglas’s verses (on folios 58r to 59r, and again on 65r to 68v) appear as if they support one another in similar themes: lamenting former happier times (“When I bethink my wontet days” (58r and 59r); professing steadfast love in the face of adversity (“My hart is set not to remove” (58v and 65r) and “Lo in thy hat thow hast be gone” (59r)); and concealing actual feelings (“I am not she be prowess off syt” (65r) and “Myght I as well within my song be lay” (65v)). In the case of this particular set of two poems (58r and 59r), Margaret and Mary may have been echoing one another’s poignant sorrow over the loss of happier times and the “wery days/ that [were] apoyntyt to be” theirs.

Texts Collated
LDev084

Collation
0.1     ] when I bethynk my ways LDev084 1     wan] when LDev084     be thyngthynk my wontyd wasways] bethynk my wontet ways LDev084 2     how] who LDev084     anon] or thys LDev084 3     how] who LDev084     gay dekas] yyoIIoy decays LDev084 4     welth] whelth LDev084     how] who LDev084     or myn] declyn LDev084 5     be leffebelieve] be leve LDev084     ffryndes] fFrynds LDev084     swchsuch assais] suche affrays LDev084 6     kaas] case LDev084     plan] playn LDev084     not] nat LDev084     spelenspleen] splen LDev084 7     potbut] but moren LDev084     morn] moren LDev084     thys] thous LDev084     das] days LDev084 8     har apoyntyd] ar a poyntytappointed LDev084