38 



UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



Ihesu es lufe tat lastes ay : til hym es owre langyng; 

 Ihesu pe nyght turnes to te day, t)e dawyng in til 



spryng. 

 Ihesu, thynk on vs, now & ay : for te we halde oure 



keyng; 

 Ihesu, gyf vs grace, as tou wel may, to luf pe with- 



owten endyng. 



Ihesu is t)e loue I)at lastil) ay, 



To him is oure longinge. 

 Ihesu t>e nyjt turnet to day. 



And derknes in-to day spryng. 

 Ihesu! tinke on us now and ay. 



For tee we holde oure kyng! 

 Ihesu, Jeue us grace tat weel may. 



To loue t>e with oute eendynge ! — 

 A-M-E-N. 



280 



The most remarkable lines in the poems, Cambr. IX, lines 37 and 

 38, Lamb., lines 209-212, have their origin in the Meditation ofSt. Augus- 

 tine. They very obviously correspond to the lines edited by Furnivall 

 with the following remarks: ^ 



"In the 1866 issue of the stereotyped edition of Mr. Craik's Com- 

 pendious History of the English Language, v. i, p. 193, is the following 

 passage quoted from Sir Frederic Madden's Preface to Havelok: 

 'Between the years 1244 and 1258, we know, was written the versifica- 

 tion of part of a meditation of St. Augustine, as proved by the age of the 

 prior who gave the MS. to the Durham Library, MS. Eccl. Dun. A. iii. 

 12, and Bodl. 42.' On my applying to the Librarian at Durham for 

 further information about this piece of verse, the Rev. W. Greenwell 

 answered: 'It is upon a small piece of vellum, inserted, and forms no 

 part of the original volume. I send you a correct copy.' The Rev. 

 H. O. Coxe, Bodleian Librarian, has also kindly sent me a copy of the 

 Bodleian version, which I print side by side with the Durham one. Mr* 

 Coxe dates the Oxford copy at from 1300 to 1320 A. D. 



"MS. Eccl. Dun. A. iii. 12. 



'Wyth was his halude brest 

 and red of blod his syde 

 Bleye was his fair handled 

 his wund dop ant wide 



And his arms ystreith 



hey up-hon e rode 

 On fif studes on his body 



Pe stremes ran o blode. 



"MS. Bodl. 42, fol. 250. 



'Wit was his nakede brest 

 and red of blod his side 



Blod was his faire neb 

 his wnden depe an uide. 



Starke waren his armes 

 Hi-spred open t>e rode 



In fif sfeden in his bodi 

 Stremes hurne of blode." 



» Polit., Relig., and Love Poems, E. E. T. S., p. 243. 



