THE MIDDLE ENGLISH RELIGIOUS LYRIC 95 
“« Amend thee man whilst thou may.’’* Poems of a very similar nature, 
most of them characterized by almost the same refrain, are abundant 
in the general body of lyric poetry of the day;? they too have their 
Latin prototype. Within this lyric another form makes its appearance— 
a form which the verse homilist is fond of using when preaching his 
sermons of the frightening sort. It reads here, ““Thynk thou on the 
dredefull day,” and, “‘Thynke thou farys as dothe the wynde.”’$ Similar 
passages occur in many poems of the day.4 In the Lazarus also the 
poet follows the body of man after death and describes it in detail.* The 
passage calls to mind scores of poems which treat the same theme, from 
some of which it very probably borrowed many a phrase and line. The 
most remarkable line which has worked its way into this passage is, 
“The Royfe of your hall,/your naked nose shall touche,” which is 
present in almost all of the Body and Soul poems, and sometimes in the 
Long Life poems.° 
The judgment-plays, among the very latest developments of the 
English cyclic plays, afford on the whole the most interesting examples 
of the influence of the independent poems upon the upbuilding of the 
cyclic dramas. It is impossible, perhaps, to arrive at a just estimate of 
their origin and development without entering into a thoroughgoing 
1 Town., p. 3092, ll. 174 ff. 
2 Polit., Relig. and Love Poems, pp. 215 ff.; An Old Eng. Misc., pp. 62, 78; Minor Poems of V. MS, 
Vol. II, pp. 668, 672, 725 ff., 727 ff., 730 ff.; Twenty-six Polit. and Other Poems, pp. 6o}ff.; Anglia, Vol. I, 
p. 411; Vol. II, p. 71; Vol. XXVI, p. 233; Minor Poems of Lydgate (Percy Soc., Vol. II), pp. 228 ff.; the 
poem is far too similar to other poems of this type to be called Lydgate’s in any proper sense; Religious Songs 
(P. Soc., Vol. XI), pp. 63 ff.; Songs and Carols (P. Soc., Vol. XXIII), pp. 4, 29, 37, 45; Bann. MS, Vol. I, 
PP. 97, 103, 127, 129, 133, 138, 145, 201, 203; Rich. Rolle of Hampole, Vol. I, pp. 73, 76; Herrigs Archiv, 
Vol. CVI, pp 275 ff. For Latin poems of somewhat similar refrain, see Hymni Latini (Mone), Vol. I, pp. 
395 £.; Cantiones (Klemming), pp. 16 ff. See Appendix, pp. 32 ff., for parallel passages. 
3 LI. 176, 178. 3 
4 Spec. of Lyric Poetry (Percy Soc., Vol. VI); Religious Songs (P. Soc., Vol. XI), p. 71; printed also 
in An Old Eng. Misc., p. 170; Minor Poems of the V. MS, Vol. Il, p. 477; Rich. Rolle of Hamp., Vol. I, 
p. 156; Pricke of Cons., p. 73; Rel. Ant., Vol. I, p. 139. For Latin form, see Latin Hymns (March), p. 121. 
See Appendix, pp. 33 ff., for parallel passages. 
s Town., pp. 301 ff. 
6 Especially is it noticeable in the Anglo-Saxon specimen printed in Anglia, Vol. V, p. 289; Eng. Stud., 
Vol. XIV, p. 184, ll. 153 ff. For other passages very similar to the Lazarus description of what we come to 
after death, see Rel. Ant., Vol. I, p. 130; The Poet. Works of Skelton (ed. Dyce), Vol. I, p. 19; Anglia, Vol. 
XXVII, p. 300; Rich. Rolle of Hamp., Vol. 1, pp. 73, 367 ff., 372; Pricke of Cons., pp. 13 ff.; Wm. of Shore- 
ham, p. 32; An Old Eng. Misc., pp. 78, 92, 172 ff., 178; Minor P. of V. MS, Vol. I, pp. 270,, 335 343; Vol. 
Il, pp. 511 ff. Similar passages may be found in almost any of the Body and Soul poems. See for parallel 
passages, Appendix, p. 33. 
