Introduction | Contributors | Textual Introduction |
←What helpythe hope of happy hape | Hartte aprest with dessperott thoughtes→ |
![]() The Devonshire Manuscript facsimile 47v |
Notes & Glosses
1. Presumably, these initials refer to Lord Thomas Howard.
Commentary
Written in TH1's hand, this poem is attributed in the text to Thomas Howard, indicated by the initials “T.H.” The speaker describes his continual sorrow that will not leave the mind. This short poem might be a comment on the preceding poem “What helpythe hope of happy hape” (46v-47r). The grafted and rotten bough is a common image in courtly love poetry. For other examples of this image in the manuscript, see “Yff reason govern fantasye” "Yff reason govern fantasye" (45v), “Nowe fare well love and theye lawes forever” (75r), and “Tanglid I was yn loves snare” (79v-80r).