88 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 
Jesus are recounted in detail as cause for lamentation.’ No single 
motive in the devotional poetry of the day seems to have been turned 
to literary uses so frequently and no motive enables the writers of the 
time to rise to more fervid and more moving heights of lyric poetry. It 
would seem that this motive has been taken over from the Testament 
of Christ poems, which will be considered at some length below. An 
exceptionally conventional form of these lyrical prayers is characterized 
both in the plays and in the independent lyrics by the initial phrase 
“When I think.’ Another very conventional passage which occurs in 
these prayers to Jesus and has made its way from the lyric over to the 
drama is characterized by the constant repetition of the phrase “ Mercy 
Jesus.’’3 
Perhaps the most highly conventional of all the conventional forms 
of address to Christ is the Hail Jesus, a prayer in which oftentimes 
almost every line begins with this formula, followed by synonyms indi- 
cating in a fashion the different qualities and characteristics of the Savior. 
There are numerous examples of this form in the drama; it appears 
most frequently in the Christmas plays and constitutes a very large 
portion of the body of the play in Chester, York and Towneley.* It 
Vol. I, pp. 261 ff.; Vol. II, pp. r19 ff., 190 ff., 226; Anglia, Vol. XXVI, pp. 157, 160. The cries of lost souls 
who are being carried away to hell might very well be considered in connection with the prayers of the repentant 
sinners, but more fittingly deserve consideration in connection with the many lyrical poems which have found 
their way into the judgment-plays, which I consider below. 
: In the plays these lyrics in the majority of cases are characterized by some one of the stanzas or lines 
beginning with the word ‘‘Alas!’’ Sometimes also this is the case with the independent lyrics. See further, 
Chester, Vol. II, pp. 53, 95, 101; York, pp. 260, 341 ff., 406 ff., 410, 421 ff., 456, 480ff.; Town., pp. 277, 316 fi. 
325 ff., 358; Cov., pp. 316, 331, 355 ff., 360; Minor Poems of the V. MS, Vol.1, pp. 20, 37, 47, 302, 384, 
404, 425 ff.; Vol. II, pp. 452 ff., 471 ff.; Legends of the Holy Rood (EETS), pp. 150, 194 ff., 217 ff., 222; Rich. 
R. of Hampole, Vol. I, pp. 76 ff., 369 ff.; William of Shoreham’s Poems (EETS), pp. 79 ff.; Spec. of Lyric 
Poetry (Percy Soc., Vol. IV), pp. 62 ff., 83, 86, x11 ff.; Eng. Stud., Vol. VI, pp. 454, 468; Vol. IX, p. 453 
Anglia, Vol. XII, pp. 505 ff.; Vol. XXVI, pp. 263 ff.; An Old Eng. Misc., pp. 38, 140, 197; The Bann. MS, 
Vol. I, pp. 77, 85, 90, 103, 106. Especially interesting is the passage of this kind to be found in The Lamen- 
tation of Mary Magdalene (ed. Bertha M. Skeat), as the same kind of passage is so frequently put into her 
mouth in the miracle-plays. See further Hymni Latini (Mone), Vol. I, pp. 121 ff., 131 ff., 302 ff. 
2 York, p. 452, 1. 116; Town., pp. 316, 327, 328; Spec. of Lyric Poetry (Percy Soc., Vol. IV), p. 83, 
Rich. R. of Hampole, Vol. 1, p. 78; Hymni Latini (Mone), Vol. I, pp. 415 ff. For parallels, see Appendix, 
pp. 17 f. 
3 York, pp. 424, 480; Town., p. 351; Herrigs Archiv, Vol. CVI, pp. 60f. For parallel passages, see 
Appendix, pp. 29 f. 
4 Chester, Vol. I, pp. 104 ff., 167 ff.; York, pp. 114 ff., 135 ff., 216 ff., 444 ff.; Town., pp. 114 ff., 130 ff., 
157 ff.; Cov., pp. 158 ff., 168 ff. See also Rich. R. of Hampole, Vol. I, pp. 78 ff.; Minor Poems of the V. MS, 
Vol. I, pp. 24 ff.; Lydgate’s Nightingale and Other Poems (ed. Glauning, EETS), pp. 26 ff.; The Bann. 
MS, Vol. I, pp. 72 ff., 84 ff. See further, Hymni Latini (Mone), Vol. I, pp. 156 ff. See Appendix, p. 18. 
