The Devonshire Manuscript/He Robyn gentyll robyn

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The Devonshire Manuscript
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←The knot which fyrst my hart dyd strayn

A wel I hawe at other lost→

f. [22v]

1    He Robyn gentyll robyn¹
2    tell me howe thy lady dothe
3    and thou shalte knowe of myn

4    My ladye is vnkynde per{p+}dye
5    allas why is she soo
6    She loves another Beter then I
7    and yet she wyll saye W²

Notes & Glosses

1. The flourish may be an imitation of the scribe's hand, possibly by Lady Margaret Douglas.
2. This ornamental flourish appears to be a majuscule W, possibly referring to Sir Thomas Wyatt.

Commentary

Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt,^[1] this poem was entered by H10. This poem is a seven-line excerpt of a twenty-six line poem that seems to have been written last on the page between an excerpt by H3 above and a possibly original poem by Mary Shelton below. H3 enters a complete and slightly different version of the poem on 24r-24v as "Hey Robyn loly Robyn tell me." Rebholz observes that this poem may be an expansion of a popular song: a slightly different version of the first three stanzas appears in Henry VIII's song-book^[2] and Feste sings another version of the poem in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (IV, 2, 78-9).^[3]

Works Cited

Textual Notes

Texts Collated

LDev038, LHen1, LEge02

Collation

1 He] Hey LDev038 A LHen1 He Robyn gentyll] A Robyn/ Ioly LEge02 Robyn] robyn LHen1 gentyll] gentyl LHen1 gentyll robyn/ tell me] Ioly Robyn tell me/ LDev038 robyn/] Robyn/ LEge02 tell] tel LHen1 howe] how LDev038 LEge02 LHen1 lady] leman LEge02 lemman LHen1 dothe/] dose LDev038 doeth/ LEge02 doth/ LHen1 thou] thow LHen1 shalte] shalt LDev038 shall LEge02 shal LHen1 knowe] know/ LDev038 know LHen1 of] off LHen1 myn] myne LHen1
1.1 ] A robyn gentil robyn gentyl LHen1
1.2 ] thy lemman doth LHen1
1.3 ] and thow shal know of myne LHen1
1.4 ] A robyn gentil robyn LHen1
1.5 ] tel me how thy lemman doth LHen1
1.6 ] and thow shalt know of myne LHen1
2 My] my LHen1 ladye] lady LDev038 LEge02 LHen1 is] us LHen1 is vnkynde] ys wnkynd LDev038 vnkynde] vnkynd LEge02 perdye] perdy LDev038 perde LEge02 I wis LHen1
3 allas] Alas LDev038 alac LHen1 allas why] alack whi LEge02 is] ys LDev038 soo] so LEge02 LHen1
4 She] she LDev038 She loves another Beter then I] she loveth an othre better then me LEge02 she louyth another better than me LHen1 loves] lowes LDev038 another] a nother LDev038 Beter] better LDev038
5 yet] yett LDev038 wyll] will LEge02 LHen1 saye] say LDev038 LEge02 LHen1 W] noo LDev038 no LEge02 LHen1
5.1 ] Responce LEge02 r robyn LHen1
6 ] I fynd no shech doblenes LDev038 I fynde no suche doublenes LEge02 I can not thynk such dobylnes LHen1
7 ] for I fynd women trew LDev038 I fynde women true LEge02 for I fynd wo men trew LHen1
8 ] my lady lovyth me dowtles LDev038 my lady loveth me dowtles LEge02 In faith my lady louith me well LHen1
9 ] and wyll chang for no new LDev038 and will chaunge for no newe LEge02 she will change for no new LHen1
9.1 ] le plaintif LEge02 A robyn LHen1
10 ] Thow art happy yf ytt doth last LDev038 Thou art happy while that doeth last LEge02
11 ] bot I say as I fynd LDev038 but I say as I fynd LEge02
12 ] that womens lou ys but A blast LDev038 that womens love is but a blast LEge02
13 ] and tornyth as the wynd LDev038 and torneth lik the wynde LEge02
14 ] Yf that be trew yett as thou sayst LDev038
15 ] that women turn their hart LDev038
16 ] then spek better of them thov mayst LDev038
17 ] In hop to hau thy partt LDev038
17.1 ] Responce LEge02
18 ] Such folke shal tak no hurt by louee LDev038 Suche folkes shall take no harme by love LEge02
19 ] that can abyd their torn LDev038 that can abide their torn LEge02
20 ] bot I Alas can no ways prou LDev038 But I alas can no way prove LEge02
21 ] In lou butt lak and mornn LDev038 in love but lake & morn LEge02
21.1 ] le plaintif LEge02
22 ] yet yff thow wylt Avoyd the harm LDev038 But if thou wilt avoyde thy harme LEge02
23 ] Lern thys leson off me LDev038 lerne this lessen of me LEge02
24 ] at others fyers thy self to Warn LDev038 in othre fieres thy self to warme LEge02
25 ] and lett them warn wyth the LDev038 and let theim warme with the LEge02

[1] R.A. Rebholz, ed., Sir Thomas Wyatt: The Complete Poems (London: Penguin, 1978), 175.

[2] K. Muir and P. Thomson, eds., Collected Poems of Sir Thomas Wyatt (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1969), 309.

[3] Rebholz, 432.

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