The Devonshire Manuscript/Pacyence tho I have not

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The Devonshire Manuscript
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←What menythe thys when I lye alone

ys yt possyble→

f. [13v]

1    Pacyence tho I have not    and and thys>
2    the thyng that{{th}+t+} I desyryd
3    I must of force god wott
4    fforbere that{{th}+t+} I Requiryd¹
5    ffor no ways can I ffynd
6    to sayle Agaynst the wynd

7    Pacyence do what she wyll
8    to worke me woo or spyght
9    I shall content me styll
10    to thynk that{{th}+t+} ons I myght
11    to thynk & hold my pese
12    syns there ys no Redresse

13    Pacyence with{w+t+}owten blame
14    ffor I offendyd nowght
15    I know she knows the same
16    tho she have changyd her thowght
17    was euer thowght so movyd
18    to hate where yt hathe lovydd

19    Pacyence of all my harme
20    ffor fortune ys my ffoo
21    pacyence must be the charme
22    to ease me of my wo
23    pacyence with{w+t+}owt offence
24    ys A paynfull pacyence

fynys quod{q+d+} Wyatts

Notes & Glosses

1. There is a correction over the small r of "Requiryd."

Commentary

Attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt,^[1] this poem was entered by H2. This poem is an invocation to patience; according to the speaker, the lady hates him for no reason, yet he bears her unwarranted aversion patiently. The related poem, "Patiens for my devise" (71r) is about the Lady’s lament about the patience required by unfaithful men. The two poems taken together seem to be a humorous comment on the general trope of woman’s fickleness found throughout the manuscript.

In "Patiens for my devise," (71r) H8 makes a direct association between the poems with an annotation.

"Pacyence tho I have not" is also one of seventeen entries where Margaret Douglas marks “and thys.” Paul Remley has suggested that these annotations relate to another in-text annotation of hers, “lerne but to syng it" (81r), and may indicate a group of texts to be learned for entertaining.^[2]

Works Cited

Textual Notes

Texts Collated

AAH12, DBLa16, LEge29

Collation

0.1 ] pations off all my blame DBla16
0.2 ] for I offendyd nowght DBla16
0.3 ] I wishe she knoyth the same DBla16
0.4 ] thowgh she haue changyd her thowght DBla16
0.5 ] was euerthowght so movyd DBla16
0.6 ] to hate wher hyt hath lovyd DBla16
1 Pacyence tho] Pacience thoughe AAH12 patiens thowgh DBla16 Patience though LEge29
2 thyng] thing AAH12 LEge29
3 of force god] off fors good DBla16
4 fforbere] forbeare AAH12 forbere DBla16 LEge29
5 ffor] fo DBla16 for LEge29
6 sayle] saile LEge29
7 Pacyence] Patience AAH12 LEge29 pations DBla16
8 woo] woe AAH12
9 styll] still AAH12 LEge29
10 thynk] thinck AAH12 thynke DBla16 thyncke LEge29
11 to] To AAH12
12 syns there] Syns theare AAH12 sens ther DBla16
13 Pacyence withowten] patience without AAH12 Patience withouten LEge29
14 ffor] for LEge29
15 I know she knows the same] DBla16
16 tho] thoughe AAH12 though LEge29
17 was] Was AAH12
18 to hate where yt hathe lovydd] DBla16
19 Pacyence] Patience AAH12 LEge29 pations DBla16
20 ffor] seth DBla16 for LEge29
21 pacyence] Patience AAH12 pations DBla16 patience LEge29
22 ease] heale AAH12 hele DBla16 LEge29
23 pacyence] tience AAH12 pations DBla16 patience LEge29
24 ys] Ys AAH12 is LEge29

[1] R.A. Rebholz, ed., Sir Thomas Wyatt: The Complete Poems (London: Penguin, 1978), 108.

[2] Paul Remley, "Mary Shelton and Her Tudor Literary Milieu," in Rethinking the Henrician Era: Essays on Early Tudor Texts and Contexts, ed. Peter C. Herman (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), 40-77.

[1]

[2]