The influence of Richard Rolle and of Julian of Norwich on the middle English lyrics 9783111343150, 9783110991659

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D E PROPRIETATIBUS L I T T E R A R U M edenda curat C. H. VAN S C H O O N E V E L D Indiana University

Series Practica, 51

THE INFLUENCE OF RICHARD ROLLE AND OF JULIAN OF NORWICH ON THE MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS

by

SISTER MARY ARTHUR KNOWLTON St. Michaers

College University of Toronto

1973

MOUTON THE HAGUE • PARIS

© Copyright 1972 in The Netherlands Mouton & Co. N. V., Publishers, The Hague No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 73-85244

Printed in Hungary

PREFACE

Lyric poetry in the vernacular had already established itself as a popular genre in England in the thirteenth century. In the secular lyric the influence of the French courtly love tradition mingled with the native English elements of the natural and social background to produce, at their best, delightful, spontaneous, and delicately-fresh love songs. The religious lyrics of the period commemorated the subjects popular in medieval devotion - the Passion, the joys of Our Lady, the transitoriness of this world. With the widespread popularity of Richard Rolle's writings in the latter half of the fourteenth century, there came a change in the tone and emphasis with which the traditional devotional themes were treated. The lyric intensity of Rolle's devotion to the Holy Name and to the Passion of Christ, and the ecstatic joy and effusiveness with which he poured out his love for God enkindled in the hearts of his admirers a flame which found natural expression in the lyrical poetry of the period. Julian of Norwich, who was only seven at the time of Rolle's death, shared his spirit of joy and confidence and his absorption with the love of God. Though her manner differed considerably from his in its restraint and its more intellectual approach, yet her serenity and trust made their impression, and it is possible to trace some slight evidences of her influence, now in conjunction with Rolle's, now independent of his, in the lyrical writings of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In conducting this investigation I have confined my search for indications of the influence of these two fourteenth-century mystics to the religious lyrics of the period. It is possible to point out exchanges which took place between the secular and the religious lyrics in diction and manner. Obviously, however, the principal influence of the mystics lies in the realm of the religious rather than the secular lyric and it is with these only that I have dealt. The selection of lyric poetry as the field of my research has excluded all purely narrative and descriptive poems, thus making possible an 5

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PREFACE

intensive study of those poems or portions of poems in which the underlying inspiration of the ideas expressed has been some personally-felt emotion. Poetry has been used here in its simplest meaning of a composition in verse form. The less successful lyric poems of the Middle English period are nothing more than uninspired attempts to express tedious sentiments or confused emotions in lines that rhyme; the best of them are marked by unity of intensely-felt emotion, by beauty of thought, by simplicity of diction and by melody of verse. Through the kindness of Father Edmund Colledge O.S.A., who has given me access to his manuscript of the provisional text for the forthcoming critical edition of Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love, I have been able to quote the passages from the Revelations in the original language. Acknowledgments are also due to the following publishers for permission to quote from copyrighted material: Ernest Benn Limited, London, and Barnes & Noble Inc., New York, for permission to quote from A Literary History of Rome by J. Wight Duff; Blackfriars Publications (Bloomsbury Publishing Company Limited) for permission to quote from The English Religious Heritage by Conrad Pepler; Basil Blackwell & Mott Ltd. for permission to quote from The Melos Amoris of Richard Rolle ed. E.J.F. Arnould; Bodleian Library, Oxford, for permission to quote from "Religious Lyrics in MS. Don. c. 13." by Beatrice Daw Brown in Bodleian Quarterly Record VII (1932-4); Henry Bradshaw Society for permission to quote from The Processional of the Nuns of Chester ed. J.W. Legg; Burns & Oates Limited for permission to quote from The Complete Works of St. John of the Cross ed. and translated by E. Allison Peers; J.M. Dent & Sons Limited, of London, England for permission to quote from The Life of Richard Rolle Together with an Edition of His English Lyrics by Frances M. Comper; Fordham University Press for permission to quote from "The Canticum Amoris of Richard Rolle" by Gabriel Li6gey in Traditio XII (1956); Manchester University Press for permission to quote from The Incendium Amoris of Richard Rolle of Hampole ed. Margaret Deanesly; Martin Seeker & Warburg Limited for permission to quote from The Lyric by John Drinkwater; Methuen & Co. Ltd. for permission to quote from The Fire of Love and The Mending of Life of Richard Rolle of Hampole ed. F.M.M. Comper, and from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare; Oxford University Press for permission to quote from English Lyrics of the XHIth Century ed. Carleton Brown, Religious Lyrics of the XIVth

PREFACE

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Century 2nd ed., ed. Carleton Brown, revised by G.V. Smithers, Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century ed. Carleton Brown, English Writings of Richard Rolle ed. H.E. Allen, The Poems of John Audelay ed. E.K. Whiting EETS OS 184, Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ ed. Charlotte D'Evelyn EETS OS 158, Religious Pieces in Prose & Verse Edited from the Thornton MS. ed. G.G. Perry EETS OS 26, and other EETS volumes; Revue d'Ascétique et de Mystique for permission to quote "The Canticum Amoris of Richard Rolle", ed. Dom André Wilmart in Vol XXI (1940); S.P.C.K. for permission to quote from Spiritual Songs from English MSS. of Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries ed. Frances M.M. Comper; University of Chicago Press for permission to quote from "Popular Prayers in Middle English Verse" by R.H. Robbins in Modern Philology XXXVI (1939) © University of Chicago 1939. All rights reserved, and from "Levation Prayers in Middle English Verse" by R.H. Robbins in Modern Philology XL (1942) ©University of Chicago 1942. All rights reserved; Publications of the Modern Language Association for permission to quote from "Speculum Misericordie" ed. R.H. Robbins, PMLA 54 (1939), and from "The Gurney Series of Religious Lyrics" by R.H. Robbins, PMLA 54 (1939); Modern Humanities Research Association for permission to quote from "On Richard Rolle's Lyrics" by H.E. Allen in Modem Language Review 14 (1919), "Two FourteenthCentury Mystical Poems" by R.H. Robbins, Modern Language Review 35 (1940), and from "A Middle English Paraphrase of John of Hoveden's 'Philomena' " by F.J.E. Raby in Modern Language Review 30 (1935).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface I. Richard Rolle II. Rolle's Lyrics III. Julian of Norwich IV. Lyrics on the Holy Name V. Lyrics on the Passion VI. Lyrics Treating of Divine Love VII. Lyrics on the Virgin Mary VIII. Lyrics of Penitence, Mercy and Death IX. Conclusion Appendix A Appendix B Bibliography Author-Subject Index

5 11 49 71 87 103 123 143 155 177 185 191 197 207

I RICHARD ROLLE

Very little is known of the events of Richard Rolle's life. It is generally conceded that he was born about 1300 in the village of Thornton in Yorkshire. The Officium, prepared after his death in anticipation of his canonization, is our principal source of information about his short career.1 As a youth he was assisted financially by a certain Thomas de Neville, Archdeacon of Durham, to attend Oxford. In his nineteenth year, without completing his course of studies, "being mindful of his latter end lest he should be caught in the snares of sinners",2 he withdrew from Oxford and returned to his home. Soon he left his father's house and, adopting a make-shift costume, took up the life of a hermit. For a time he was under the protection of John de Dalton. While there, the Officium tells us, "he began with all diligence, by day and night, to seek how to perfect his life, and to take every opportunity he could to advance in contemplative life and to be fervent in divine love". 3 During this time he began writing his epistles "for the profit and edification of others". 4 Following the period spent under John de Dalton's patronage, Richard, continuing to live as a solitary, "betook himself to other parts, doubtless through the providence of God so that dwelling in many places he might benefit many unto salvation, and sometimes also that he might escape impediments to contemplation". 5 One of the places of residence mentioned in the Officium is Richmondshire.6 During these years he gave assistance and advice to those who came to him for spiritual guidance, 1 Frances M. Comper includes in her modernized translation of Rolle's Incendium Amoris and Emendatio Vitae, published under the title, The Fire of Love and The Mending of Life ... of Richard Rolle, a translation of the "Legenda" composed for the Officium de Sancto Ricardo de Hampote. The facts and quotations used here are drawn from this source. 2 The Fire of Love and The Mending of Life, tr. Comper, xlv. 3 The Fire of Love and The Mending of Life, tr. Comper, xlviii. 4 The Fire of Love and The Mending of Life, tr. Comper, xlviii. 6 The Fire ofLove and The Mending of Life tr. Comper, lii. 6 The Fire of Love and The Mending of Life, tr. Comper, liii.

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and composed his numerous Latin and English treatises. His final residence he took up at Hampole where he died in 1349.7 Certain autobiographical passages in his writings concerned with the difficulties and misunderstandings he experienced and the ideals he cherished supplement this brief outline but they add little factual information about his career. The misunderstandings have been pointed out and discussed by Miss Hope Emily Allen in the second part of her study, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, Hermit of Hampole and Materials for His Biography. Since the sufferings and persecutions he endured have no bearing on the influence he exerted on the literature of his time, I shall not discuss them here. The ideals constantly expressed in his writings do bear an intimate relationship to the lyric poetry composed in the years following his death and will be discussed fully in their appropriate place. The high reputation for sanctity Rolle enjoyed during his lifetime and in the years following his death is attested by the composition of the Officium in the hope of his canonization; and the great popularity of his writings is demonstrated by the extremely large number of manuscripts dating from the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries which include copies of his works. 8 R. W. Chambers, in his essay On the Continuity of English Prose, assigns Rolle a prominent place among his contemporaries: In English or in Latin h e was, during the latter half of the Fourteenth Century and the w h o l e of the Fifteenth, probably the m o s t widely read in England of all English writers. Investigation of English wills and of d o c u m e n t s bearing o n the ownership of b o o k s seems to s h o w a d o z e n owners of manuscripts o f Rolle for one or t w o of the Canterbury Tales.9

As early as 1434-35 translations into English were made by Richard Misyn of two of Rolle's Latin compositions, Incendium Amoris and Emendatio Vitae. Miss H. E. Allen, writing of the incorporation of passages from Rolle's Latin works in English lyrics of the period, also points out his contemporary popularity: Whatever the origin o f the paraphrases under discussion they are of distinct interest in showing the circulation, in English form, of parts of Rolle's Latin 7 Miss Hope Emily Allen in Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle and Materials for His Biography says, on page 430, that innumerable manuscripts fix Rolle's death at 1349. 8 H. E. Allen cites 258 manuscripts containing works by Rolle in Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle. • This essay appears as the Introduction to Nicholas Harpsfield's Life and Death of Sir Thomas More. For quotation see p. ci.

RICHARD ROLLE

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work. The English translations that have come down to us of some of his Latin works are an interesting indication that the popular influence of the hermit's writings did not emanate only from the comparatively few works which he wrote in English. A medium by which some of his most characteristic passages were current in an English translation was the immensely popular compilation known as the "Poor Caitiff" which included anonymous translations from several of Rolle's writings. The paraphrases under discussion are interesting evidence of the vulgar popularity of his work. 10

But the facts remain that Rolle never was canonized and that most of his writings were not published when printing was introduced into England. Miss Margaret Deanesly in her edition of The Incendium Amoris of Richard Rolle of Hampole (pp. V-VII) suggests three reasons for the apathy displayed towards Rolle's Latin works, an apathy extending from the sixteenth century to the twentieth. The first of these reasons - the limited group capable of reading Latin and the narrow range of subject matter treated - may have had some bearing on the question but it does not explain in any satisfactory way why the English works were also neglected. Miss Deanesly implies that the English works in their wider appeal received more attention, but such was not the case. Until the latter half of the nineteenth century only one edition, and that a very incomplete one, of any of Rolle's English works had appeared.11 Furthermore, a greater number of manuscripts of the Emendatio Vitae and of the Incendium Amoris have come down to us than of any of Rolle's English works.12 The second reason Miss Deanesly advances has more validity, and explains not only why interest waned in Rolle's Latin writings, but also why the cause of his canonization did not advance. Rolle's works fell under suspicion by reason of the interpolation by the Lollards of various passages directed towards the popularization of their own discontent. These insertions undoubtedly threw a cloud over Rolle's reputation among the orthodox and limited the popular approval of his works. Miss Deanesly's third reason is probably true but vital only in relation to the second point. She considers that had Rolle been a member of an established religious order his confreres would have taken an interest in having his works preserved and published. At least we may grant that, if he had been a member of a religious order, his companions would have exercised zeal in seeing that 10

H. E. Allen, "On Richard Rolle's Lyrics", Modern Language Review 14 (1919), 320-321. 11 Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 11. 12 Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 176, 222, 240, 262.

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his works were preserved in uncorrupted form. His independence of any regular group denied him this service and permitted the distribution of debased texts with the consequent loss of confidence in his message and eclipse of his popularity. There still remains the question of the total neglect shown Richard Rolle until the end of the nineteenth century as an important English and mystical writer. This is partly explained by the long association of his name with The Prick of Conscience, a lengthy poem in Middle English, which, as Miss H. E. Allen pointed out in 1910 in her article, "The Authorship of The Prick of Conscience" ,•13 has none of the characteristic features of Rolle's authentic work. Miss Allen observed that the poem belongs to the type of theological narrative or history, not to mystical writing, as Rolle's works do; that it is written for the general Christian public, not for those interested in contemplation; that its style, structure and extensive use of authorities, its elementary religious subject matter and its total neglect of any treatment of the mystical life throw it into sharp contrast with Rolle's manner, methods and almost exclusive concern with the mystical life. In her article, Miss Allen convincingly argued against the ascription of this work to Rolle, and since that time her decision has been generally accepted. Meanwhile the important mystical aspect of Rolle's writings had been obscured by his false reputation as author of a completely non-mystical work. The revival of interest in Rolle, and an indication of the real nature of his message, came with the publication of the results of Dr. Carl Horstman's valuable research. In the two volumes he published in 1895 and 189614 he printed transcripts of all Rolle's English writings with the exception of the English Psalter. Regrettably Dr. Horstman did not carry out his original intention of publishing Rolle's Latin treatises.15 In our century, Miss Hope Emily Allen has devoted many years to the study of writings generally attributed to Richard Rolle and has established the canon of his works in her scholarly publication in 1927, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, Hermit of Hampole and Materials for His Biography. Editions are now available of all Rolle's English writings and of some of his Latin writings. The Latin text of the Incendium Amoris was edited by Miss Margaret Deanesly in 1915. More 13 H. E. Allen, The Authorship of the "Prick of Conscience", (=Studies in English and Comparative Literature, Radcliffe College Monographs, No. 15), 137-153. 14 Horstman, ed., Yorkshire Writers: Richard Rolle of Hampole and His Followers, 2 vols. 15 Horstman, ed., Yorkshire Writers: Richard Rolle of Hampole and His Followers II, xxxvi, note 2.

RICHARD ROLLE

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recently the Canticum Amoris and the Melos Amoris have been edited. Certain Latin Scriptural commentaries have not been printed since 1536; a few selections from the Comment on the Canticles and the Emendatio Vitae were reprinted as late as 1677 by M. de La Bigne; three Scriptural commentaries and four Latin treatises are still in manuscript. Having in some measure accounted for the lack of interest in Richard Rolle from the sixteenth to the late nineteenth century, I shall endeavour to prepare the ground for the real work of this thesis, namely, to demonstrate how greatly Rolle's writings influenced the religious thought in lyrical compositions of the one hundred and fifty years following his death. I shall try first to show whence he drew his inspiration and then to trace the ideas and spirit which inform his work and which profoundly influenced his contemporaries and followers. Though Rolle is the first of the English mystics to write in English and is distinguished by his ecstatic love of Christ and his rapturous devotion to the Holy Name, there is behind him both on the Continent and in England a tradition of intense and fervent devotion to the sacred humanity of Christ, to his passion, and to his Holy Name. Dom Cuthbert Butler in his study, Western Mysticism, writing of St. Bernard's tender devotion to the humanity of Our Lord and to his passion (pp. 172-173), quotes the following beautiful passage written by St. Bernard in the early years of the twelfth century: T o meditate o n [the life and sufferings of Jesus Christ] I have called w i s d o m ; in these I have placed the perfection o f righteousness for m e , the fullness o f knowledge, the abundance of merits, the riches of salvation. There is a m o n g them for m e sometimes a draught o f salutary bitterness, sometimes, again, a sweet unction of consolation. I n adversities they raise m e up, and in prosperity repress by exuberant delight. . . . It is for these reasons that I have t h e m frequently in m y m o u t h , as y o u know, and always in m y heart, as G o d k n o w e t h . . . . In a word, m y philosophy is this, and it is the loftiest in the world, to k n o w Jesus and H i m crucified. (Cant, xliii. 4.)

Evelyn Underhill in The Mystics of the Church draws attention to the fact that the "beautiful cult of the Holy Name, which became prominent in English mysticism" finds its literary sources in St. Bernard's fifteenth sermon on the Canticles. Miss Comper thinks the credit for the inception of the devotion belongs to St. Anselm.16 16

Underhill, The Mystics of the Church, 88. At the time Miss F. M. Comper wrote The Life of Richard Rolle (1928), she agreed (p. 142) with this statement made by Miss Underhill. But eight years later Miss Comper had moderated her view somewhat. In the Introduction to Spiritual Songs from English MSS of Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries,

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St. Bernard may share the honours with St. Anselm as literary source for Rolle in his love for the Holy Name, but this devotion did not originate with either of them. Its roots go back to earliest Christian times. In the Gospels we find Christ himself instructing the apostles and disciples on the power of his name, "If you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23), and from the evidence of the Acts of the Apostles we know that these instructions were followed. St. Peter commands the cripple, "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk", and the following day before the priests and people, he explicitly attributes the miracle to the power of the name of Jesus, "By the name of Jesus Christ . . . this man standeth here before you whole" (Acts 3:6; 4:10).17 Respect for the Holy Name, identified always with the person of Christ, was carried into the writings of the Fathers of the Church. 18 Saints Damasus, Paulinus of Nola, Ambrose and Augustine in the fourth century wrote of the Holy Name with tenderness, confidence and piety. This tradition was maintained by St. Peter Chrysologus in the fifth century who wrote a passage on the power of the Holy Name, a passage cited by Alcuin, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas Aquinas. In the Middle Ages, devotion to the Holy Name was one of the principal expressions of the rapidly expanding devotion to the sacred humanity of Christ. St. Anselm (1033-1109) composed a prayer of petition for mercy in the name of Jesus that became very widespread in the period. The hymn, Dulcis Jesu Memoria, composed at this time, had a tremendous popularity. St Bernard in his commentary on the phrase in the Canticle of Canticle, "Oleum effusum nomen tuum", declared that Jesus is "mel in ore, in aure melos, in corde jubilus", 19 sentiments that we find repeated in almost identical words in Rolle's commentary on the same text of the Canticle, "Est autem

she writes (p. xvii): "And we also owe to Anselm the inception of the devotion to the Holy Name. There is a prayer in one of the Prymers on the Name of Jesus ascribed to him which might almost be said to have been the foundation of the many hymns and songs on that theme. It is remarkable that every one of the titles in that prayer, except 'Jhesu, my founder', was repeated in the verses by Richard Rolle. Saint Bernard (1091-1153) nearly a century later, in his sermons on the Canticles (especially in the fifteenth and twentieth sermon) gave great impetus to this devotion, but he cannot be said to have originated it." 17 I. H. Dalmais, O.P., "Un N o m au-Dessus de Tout Nom", La Vie Spirituelle 86 (1952), 81. 18 The history of the devotion to the Holy Name summarized here is taken from André Cabassut, O.S.B., "La Dévotion au N o m de Jésus dans l'Eglise d'Occident", La Vie Spirituelle 86 (1952), 50-65: 19 St. Bernard, Sermones in Cantica, Sermo XV, in J.P. Migne, ed. (—Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Vol CLXXXIII), 847.

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Jesus in mente mea cantus iubilaeus, in aure mea sonus coelicus, in ore meo dulcor mellifluus."20 St. Francis of Assisi, St. Bonaventure and Gilbert of Tournai spread the devotion in the thirteenth century. At the same time the Friars Preachers were especially commissioned to preach to the faithful exterior respect for the Holy Name. In the fourteenth century there was a great flowering of the devotion through the impetus given it in England by Richard Rolle, on the Continent by Henry Suso, John Colombini of Sienna and Ludolph of Saxony. The devotion reached its peak in the fifteenth century with the preaching of St. Bernardine of Sienna and St. John of Capistran. In the sixteenth century a solemn feast of the Holy Name was authorized for the Order of St. Francis; in 1721 the feast was extended to the universal Church. The other important aspect of medieval devotion to the sacred humanity of Christ, signified in the passage from St. Bernard, already quoted, was that of devotion to the passion, "My philosophy is this . . . . to know Jesus and him crucified."21 This devotion, too, dates back to apostolic times. St. Paul asserted that the apostles preached "Christ crucified" (1 Cor. 1:23). A realistic and emotional presentation of the sufferings of Christ appears in the liturgy and literature of the East earlier than it does in the West, but by the fourth century we find similar evidences of the devotion in the West in the writings of St. Jerome.22 St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great and St. Anselm are witnesses to the benefits of contemplation on the suffering Saviour. But it was St. Bernard who was the great advocate of devotion to the suffering humanity of Christ.23 This devotion to the passion of Christ, given impetus by St. Bernard and probably also by the preaching of the Crusades,24 reached its highest expression in the life of St. Francis of Assisi. The richness and warmth of Franciscan devotion to the humanity of Christ owed nothing to "learned tradition or metaphysical ideas" but sprang directly "from the heart and from personal experience".25 The compassionate and ecstatic love of Christ so characteristic of St. Francis pervades the writings of Richard 20

Rolle, Comment on the Canticles, in M. de LaBigne, ed., ( = Maxima Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, Vol. XXVI), 627. 21 Butler, Western Mysticism, 173. 22 Herbert Thurston, S.J., "Devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ", Catholic Encyclopedia XI (1911), 527-530. 23 Edouard Dumoutet, Le Christ selon la Chair et la Vie Liturgique au Moyen-Age, 8-58. 24 See note 22. 25 Dawson, Mediaeval Religion and Other Essays, 48.

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Rolle. Conrad Pepler, O. P., sums up these ideas in The English Religious Heritage: This piety, in spite of the corruption within the Church, was fairly widespread among the common people, and it was warm-blooded, almost passionate. It had first been nourished by the friars, and in particular the Franciscan friars, in the preceding century. The attention of the devout had become centred on two points of deep spiritual feeling, the Passion of Our Lord, and his Holy Name. This particular type of spirituality had been set in motion largely by St. Bernard, though his influence on these English writers was not direct. The humanity of Christ, and especially his suffering humanity, had become the object of a strong personal worship of the Incarnate W o r d ; one might almost call it a 'photographic' devotion, in so far as the emphasis lay on the human nature as manifested in the historic figure of Christ and his dramatic deeds. Richard Rolle is most expressive of this warm-hearted love of the man Christ, (p. 32)

From St. Bonaventure, Rolle seems to have adopted the idea of the suitability of contemplation on the passion for the second degree of love. In De Triplici Via St. Bonaventure notes that the most characteristic mark of the illuminative way is reflection on the sufferings of Christ.26 Rolle incorporates this recommendation in his discussion of the second degree of love in the Ego DormioP In England itself, before Rolle's appearance, religious writings which centred around the person of Christ and his passion had been produced. The prose pieces, pe Wohunge of Ure Lauerd and On Oreisun of IJre Louerde,28 and the very popular poem which begins, "Jesu suete is ^e loue of^e" - an extended imitation of the Dulcis Jesu Memoria - show the same tender feeling towards the humanity of Christ and his passion and the Holy Name as had been exhibited by St. Bernard and St. Francis.29 There is an injunction in the Ancrene Riwle to call upon the name of Jesus and to invoke the aid of his passion in time of temptation.30 There are also numerous recommendations to the recluses, addressed in that work, to honour the Cross in their prayers and to meditate on the sufferings of 26

St. Bonaventure, De Triplici Via, in A.C. Peltier, ed., S. Bonaventurae Omnia Opera 12 (1868), 35. 27 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 67. 28 H. E. Allen, on page 80 of Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, points out that A Talking of the Love of God, printed by Horstman in Yorkshire Writers: Richard Rolle and His Followers, II, 345-366, from the Vernon MS. as "an imitation of Rolle's manner", is merely a modernized version of these two very early Middle English alliterative rhapsodies. 29 Underhill, The Mystics of the Church, 111. 30 The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle, ed. Mabel Day, 131.

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Christ, but there is little or no compassion in the prayers suggested and seldom any detailed presentation of the sufferings of the passion. In one passage31 both these elements appear to some extent, but even here the writing is factual rather than emotional, and no personal conviction of tenderness or compassion, such as we find in Rolle's work, is conveyed. There is, however, in this passage a very slight anticipation of Rolle's recognition of the interior sufferings of Christ in the passion in addition to the exterior pains he endured. One Englishman whose name we know, also anticipated this spirit which found its fullest expression in England in Richard Rolle. 32 He is John of Hoveden, chaplain to Queen Eleanor, mother of Edward I, a poet dedicated to the passion of Christ and of his Mother. Many passages in Rolle's work bear a striking resemblance to the ideas and expressions presented in Hoveden's Latin poem, PhilomenaP This is not intended to be an exhaustive study of the influences on Richard Rolle. A considerable amount of research has been devoted to this problem already but much specific work remains to be done.34 Here 31

The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle, ed. Mabel Day, 83. " O u r alle oj^er Jjouhtes in alle ower passiuns. J>enchec5 euer inwardliche u p o godes pinen. jaet te worldes wel-dinde wolde uor his J^relles. fiolien swuche schendlakes. &hokeres. buffetes. spotlunge. blindfellunge. jpornene crununge. f>et set him idet heaued. so £>et f>e blodi streames urnen adun. & bileaueden his swete bodi ibunden naked to f>e herde pilere. ant ibeaten so. |oet tet deoruwurde blod orn adun on eueriche halue. ]pet attri drunc t>et me 5ef him. ^ e o him f>urste orode. &hore hefden sturiunge u p on him. fjeo on hokerunge 3eieden so lude. lo he her ¡set healede oeruppe ou lufe Jais name Jhesu, and thynk it in jsi hert, sa Jsat 45 JDOU forget it never." Again in The Commandment we find: "Forgete noght t>is name Jhesu, bot thynk it in hert, nyght and day." 46 Fidelity to devotion to the Holy Name, Rolle tells us in The Form of Living, raises a man to the heights of love, to that state where his mind is filled with joy and song: If ]pou wil be wele with G o d , and have grace to rewle jsi lyf, and c o m til fie joy of luf, Jsis name Jhesu, fest it swa fast in {si hert, J)at it c o m never owt of JDX thoght. And when Jsou spekes til hym, and says 'Jhesu', thurgh custom it sal be in pi ere joy, in pi mouth hony, and in pi hert melody. For pe sail thynk joy to here Jsat name be nevened, swetnes to speke it, myrth and sang to thynk it. If Jsou thynk Jhesu contynuly, and halde it stabely, it purges Jai syn, and kyndels ]si hert; . . . it opens heven, and makes a contemplatif man. 4 7 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

Ed. Arnould, 165. English Writings of Richard Ed. Arnould, 16. Ed. Deanesly, 190. Ed. M. de LaBigne, 615. English Writings of Richard English Writings of Richard English Writings of Richard

Rolle, ed. Allen, 67.

Rolle, ed. Allen, 66. Rolle, ed. Allen, 81. Rolle, ed. Allen, 108.

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Rolle very often in his reflections on the Holy Name expresses himself in ecstatic outbursts of love and admiration. In such a transport he writes in the Comment on the Canticles: O b o n u m n o m e n , o dulce n o m e n , o n o m e n glorificum, o n o m e n mirificum, o n o m e n salutiferum, o n o m e n gloriosum, o n o m e n desiderabile. Ibi utique n o n possunt maligni spiritus nocere, ubi perpendunt n o m e n Iesu iugiter nominari mente aut ore. 4 8

This love becomes so overpowering that it compels him to sing: O b o n e Ihesu ligasti cor m e u m in cogitacione nominis tui, et illud iam n o n canere n o n valeo ! 4 9

The association of song and melody with devotion to the Holy Name provides the link for its adoption into the lyrics written by Rolle and his followers. This is clearly expressed in his comment on verse ii, Psalm LVI, "Ihesu be thou my ioy, all melody and swetnes, and lere me forto synge the sange of thi lovynge."50 It is this disposition of heart which expresses itself in lyric poetry. We find, then, both in Rolle's lyrics and in those of his imitators, the overflow of tender love and confidence in the sweet name of Jesus. 2. THE PASSION

Concurrent with Rolle's great love for the Holy Name was his ardent devotion to the passion of Christ. Not only was Rolle filled with great compassion for the physical sufferings Christ endured in his passion but he had also a keen appreciation of and sympathy for the interior and mental pain heaped upon his Saviour. The insults and blasphemies and contempt inflicted upon Christ by his enemies and executioners in addition to the mental anguish Christ suffered from unrequited love and man's unrepented sin afflicted Rolle deeply, and he appeals to ungrateful men to behold what Christ has suffered for them and to turn their hearts to him in loving contrition and compassion. In the Incendium Amoris he urges his readers to a conversion of life through the consideration of the physical torments of the passion: 18

Ed. M. de LaBigne, 628. Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 278. 60 The Psalter or Psalms of David and Certain Canticles. With a Translation and Exposition in English by Richard Rolle of Hampole, ed. Bramley, 204.

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Respicite in eum, et videbitis caput divinum spinis coronatum, faciem consputam, oculos preclaros pre inopia languentes, dorsum flagellatum, nudum pectus cruentatum, venerabiles manus perforatas, latus dulcissimum lancea sauciatum, pedes confossos, per totam teneram carnem infixa vulnera, sicut scriptum est, et planta pedis usque ad verticem capitis non est in eo sanitas. Egredimini ergo ab illicebris et concupiscenciis vestris, et videte quid pro vobis sustulit Christus, ut penitus eiciantur scelera, et ad incendium amoris erudiantur corda.51 In the Meditations on the Passion he includes in his expression of gratitude and compassion both the physical and the mental sufferings of the passion : A, Lord, Jjat peyne Jsat lyther Jues, so cruel and so kene, at Jse mownt of Calvarye withowten ony mercy pynyd J)e with ! J)ei cast Jje cros down flat on fje grounde, and with stronge ropys kynt to jsine handys and to ]?i feet, and layde Jje J)ereonne. jsei drow and streynyd Jse streyte on brede and on lenkthe, by handys and by feet, and dryve in £>e nayles.52 I thanke J>e, swete lord Jhesu Cryst, of alle peynes and tormentys and scornynges and sclawndrynges & schamys £>at men dyde & seyde to Jse ]pat ny5t in J?at harde prisoun J>at Jsei helde Jse Inne . . . . Swete lord Jhesu Cryst, I thanke J)e of ]se peynes and schamys ]sat JJOU thorow |>i swete wylle soffred for us whan Jsou were clad in purpre for to schame jse, and j^e corowne with thornys for to pyne with swete hed, and J^ei on knelyng on skorn callyd ]pe, lord, kyng and mayster, and with al Jaat on Jai swete face spytted so fouly, and so fouly engleymede ]pi fayre face with Jse foule styngynge spyttynge of ]ae foule cursyd lues, & bofetede & smyten and betyn on jsi swete hed with Inne.53 God is not outdone in generosity. The rewards of tender devotion to Christ's passion and wounds are great delight and sweetness, help against our enemies, and detachment from earthly things to enjoy the solace of heavenly comfort: Alssa festen in Jai hert Jse mynd of his passyon and of his woundes: grete delyte and swetnes sal {sou fele, if Jsou halde J)i thoght in mynde of f>e pyne Jsat Crist suffered for jse. If £>ou traveyle right in his lufe, and desyre hym brennandly, all temptacyons and dredes of ill ]JOU sail overcom, and deful under J)i fote, thorow his grace. For al ]sat he sees in gode will to lufe hym, he helpes jsam agaynes all Jsar enmys, and rayses J>ar thought aboven all erthly thyng, swa {jat J)ai may have savoure and solace in ]se swetnes of heven. Purches jse J>e welle of gretyng, and cees noght till J)ou have hym.54 61 52 53 64

Ed. Deanesly, 221-222. In English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 24. In Yorkshire Writers: Richard Rolle, ed. Horstman, I, 83-84. The Commandment, in English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 80.

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In the Melos Amoris there is a sustained complaint of Christ from the Cross. In moving terms Christ points out what he has done for man and how poor has been man's return : Clamat ad te Christus in cruce, pendensque in penis se preparai ad pacem, loquitur languens ut assumas amorem Qui cuncta creavit: 'O homo [qui es] humus, te [erigis] in altum! En ego Excelsus perforar in plagis et sponte supplicium subii quod cernis, pro culpa quam commisisti. Innocens sum, nemini nocens, et turbor tormentis gravissimis, sed gratis, nam amor quam habeo ad te ab eterno me crucem scandere coegit ne caderes in chaos captivorum. En ego Eternus per tempus terminor ut tibi eternitas tradatur; Vita morior ut te mortuum vivificem. Considera, charissime, quod ego immensus Conditor carnem michi copulavi, quod nasci potui de muliere; qui Deus sum, pauperibus me socium prebui, humilem matrem elegi, cum publicanis comedi, peccatores non abhorrui, persecutores sustinui, flagella sentivi, usque ad mortem crucis me humiliavi. Quid facere debui et non feci? Ad lanceam latus aperui, manus et pedes perforari permisi: cruentam carnem meam cur non conspicis? Capud inclinatum quare non attendis? Cum dampnatis deputari non dedignatus sum, et ecce defungor in doloribus pro te ut tu viveres pro me. Si teipsum parvipendis nec nitersi resurgere a rethibus ruinosis, saltern pro me nunc resipisce qui tam preciosum pigmentum sanguinis mei pro te expendi. Cerne me morientem et restringe te peccantem: [peccare desine qui tam care redimeris]. Pro te incarnatus, pro te sum et natus, pro te circumcisus, pro te baptizatus, [exprobratus] iniuriis illatis, obprobriis saturatus, captus, ligatus, consputus, velatus, flagell a t e , vulneratus, cruci affixus, aceto potatus, et demum pro te immolatus. Latus meum apertum est: cape cor meum. Curre, complectere collum meum: ostendo tibi osculum. Emi te in hereditatem meam, ne sis possessio alterius. Redde michi te totum quia me totum dedi pro te. Noli perire: proprie vite mee non peperei, ut tibi parcam; posui animam meam inter pungentes et pessimos peccatores et decorem meum a dampnabilibus dissipari non dolui, ut animam tuam non trucidarent tormenta tempestuoso turbine et species spiritualis perenniter in apparerei.' 55 Both in his prose writings and in his lyrics Rolle lays great stress on the physical sufferings Christ endured in his passion. He renders them in vivid realistic words stamping a pitiful and painful picture in the mind of his readers. His account is permeated with tender love and compassion, and in the Meditations on the Passion there is a sympathetic understanding of the mental and spiritual pains Christ suffered in addition to his physical tortures.

55

Ed. Arnould, 96-97.

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3. DIVINE LOVE

In The Form of Living Rolle asks the question, "What is lufe?" In reply he gives not one definition of love but a series of solid statements of what love is. Love is "a byrnand gernyng in God"; it is "a lyf copuland togedyr Jse lufand and Jse lufed . . . lufe makes us ane with God"; it is "fayrhede of al vertues"; it is "desyre of ^e hert, ay thynkand til J>at Jiat it lufes"; it is "a stiryng of ^e saule for to luf God for hymself, and all other thyng for God"; it is a "ryghtwis turnyng fra al ertly thynges, and es joynd til God withouten departyng." The answer to the next question, "Whare es lufe?", strengthens the conviction that grows from the definitions of love just given, that love of God is not a soft, sentimental feeling, but a hard-won, strong disposition of heart and will. "Lufe", he says, "es in jae hert and in J^e will of mane . . . . When he forsakes {se worlde anly for Goddes lufe, and settes al his thoght on God, and lufes al men als hymself . . . ]mn he lufes God." 56 When, then, we read in the Incendium Amoris: "Amor Christi in tribus consistit: in fervore, in canore et in dulcore;" 57 we are not to think that one can drug oneself into a sensuous experience of "heat, song and sweetness"58 and imagine that he is enjoying divine love. These two, namely "fervor" and "canor", Rolle says, "non in ocio percipiuntur, sed in summa devocione" and the "dulcor" accompanies them. 57 These three "signa perfectissimi amoris" 57 - fervor, canor, dulcor - are, however, extremely important in Rolle's account of divine love as manifested in the soul of man. The soul that has reached the summit of love by self-discipline, renunciation, prayer and meditation may be granted, by God's special favour, the privilege of experiencing in his heart and mind these three "tokens" 58 of God's presence. Rolle explains carefully what he means by each. "Fervor", frequently referred to as "ardor" or "calor", 59 is the condition in which the mind is enkindled with eternal love and the heart is really felt to burn in like manner. "Canor", variously spoken of as "melos amoris", "iubilus", 60 "melos angelicum", "celice melodie", "sonus melifluus in mente", 61 "angelice melodie",62 is the gift which turns thought into song 56

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 109-110. Ed. Deanesly, 185. 58 As translated by Richard Misyn in 1435. The Fire of Love and The Mending of Life of Richard Rolle. English by Richard Misyn, ed. Harvey, 33. 59 Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 189. 60 Emendatio Vitae, ed. M. de LaBigne, 617. 61 Comment on the Canticles, MS. Bodleian 861, fol. 89. 62 Contra Amatores Mundi, MS. Bodleian 861, fol. 99. 57

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and fills the mind with sweet melody. The "dulcor" or "dulcedo" is the sweetness which may follow or precede the other two tokens of divine love.63 In his account of his own reception of these gifts, Rolle makes it clear that the heat, sweetness and song were not granted to him at the beginning of his conversion but only after some years of devoted service. Towards the close of the third year of his changed life he experienced, as it were, an opening of the heavenly door which permitted the eye of his heart to contemplate heavenly things. Nearly a year later, when engaged in prayer or meditation, he felt the "calor", the joyful and hitherto unfamiliar, sensible heat of love. Almost nine months later he was visited by the sweetness of the "soni celestis vel spiritualis", the "canor" or heavenly melody which changed his thoughts into a continual song. From the beginning of his change of soul "usque ad supremum amoris Christi gradum . . . in quo gradu cum canoro iubilo divinas laudes personarem: quattuor annos et circa tres menses habui." 64 In The Form of Living Rolle again presses home his teaching that the gifts of heat, sweetness and song are rewards reserved for those who have already proved themselves God's true lovers by renunciation of the world and fidelity of heart: Jae godenes of G o d it es, Jsat he comfortes j)am wondyrfully, Jaat has n o cornforth of £>e worlde, if Jsai gyf J?air hert enterly till hym, and covayts noght, ne sekes, bot hym; Jsen he gyves hymself till £>aime in swetnes and delyte, in byrnyng of luf, and in joy and melody, and dwelles ay with J>am in thaire saule, so j^at Jse comforth of hym departes never fra Jsam.65

References to heat, sweetness and song as accompaniments of divine love are frequent in Rolle's works. He extols the purifying quality of the fire of love,66 the comforting nature of the sweetness that floods the soul of the lover,67 and the joyful fulfilment of the heavenly melody. 68 Song is the most important of these three gifts - for Rolle it is the peak of the life of love on this earth because it is a participation in the joyous chant of praise of the angels in heaven. 69 In the Emendatio 63

Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 185. Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 189-190. 65 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 90. 66 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 66, 67. 67 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 73. 68 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 70. 69 Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 237. "Est enim angelica suavitatis quam in animam accipit et eadem oda, etsi non eisdem verbis laudes Deo resonabitur." 64

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Vitae he says it is the "finis orationis perfectae et devotionis summae in via". 70 In the Ego Bormio71 and The Form of Living72 Rolle, describing the third and highest degree of love, says that it is in this state that thought turns into song and melody. At this point in both compositions Rolle breaks from prose and pours out the fullness of his love and his longing for union with his Beloved in melodious lyrical verses that served as a pattern for his imitators and followers in the poetry of love-longing in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The verse lyrics are matched in the Latin prose works by passages of great lyrical intensity expressing the same longing for union with the Beloved. 73 In the Emendatio Vitae, the Ego Dormio, The Commandment and The Form of Living, Rolle specifies a three-fold division of the degrees of love. In the Ego Dormto he describes the three stages without assigning to them the names he uses in the other three works. The first degree he calls "insuperable" ; love is insuperable when "na thyng J>at es contrary til Gods lufe overcomes it"; 74 this corresponds to the first degree recorded in the Ego Dormio, "when a man wil noght for any erthly thyng wreth God, bot trewly standes en his servyce".75 The second degree is 70

Ed. M. de LaBigne, 617. Evelyn Underhill points out in her essay, "Ricardus Heremita", Dublin Review 183 (1928), 185, that for Ruysbroeck the "iubilus" is "the first and lowest mode whereby God inwardly declares Himself in the contemplative life". Rolle says it is "the end of perfect prayer and of the highest devotion that may be here". 71 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 69. 72 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 106. 73 In the Emendatio Vitae, ed. M. de LaBigne, 616, Rolle writes: " O anima mea desine ab amore saeculi, et tota liquesce in amorem Christi, ut semper tibi sit dulce et suave de Christo legere, loqui, scribere, ipsum cogitare et orare, ipsum incessanter laudare. Anima mea sibi devotam Deus te videre desiderai, ad te ex longinquo clamat, in te ardet, amore tuo languet. Devicisti enim me, o amor indefìciens, vulnerasti me perennis dulcedo et pulchritudo: et jam victus et vulneratus succumbo, vix vivo prae gaudio et pene morior, quia non sufficio in carne corruptibili tantae majestatis perferre suavitatem." In the Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 245-246, we find one of many such lyrical longings of love: " O amor meus! O mei meum! O cithara mea! O psalterium meum et canticum tota die! Quando medeberis merori meo? O radix cordis mei, quando venies ad me ut assumas tecum suscipientem tibi spiritum meum? Vides enim quod vulneror vitaliter specie preclara, et langor non relaxatur; immo magis ac magis in augmentum erigitur, ac premunt me penalitates presentes et pungunt, ut properem ad te, a quo solo spero me solacium remediumque visurum. Interea quis mihi modulabitur finem erumpne mee, ac terminum in tranquilitate? Immo et quis mihi annunciabit gaudii mei plenitudinem, ac cantici consumacionem, ut ex hiis eciam acciperem consolacionem et iubilarem cum iocunditate, eo quod agnoscerem quam prope sit ilia perfeccio et finis infelicitatis mee?" 74 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 104. 75 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 63.

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called "inseparable"; love is inseparable "when al]pi thoght and ]ai myght es swa haly, swa enterely, and swa perfytely festend . . . in Jhesu Cryste, {sat {si thoght comes never of hym" ; 76 in the Ego Dormio the second degree is that in which the soul forsakes the world and follows Christ in poverty. "Sett ¡si thoght in Criste", Rolle admonishes, "J>at Jsi thoght be ay havand hym in mynde". 77 The third degree of love is called "singular"; love is singular "when all comforth and solace es closed owt of jsi hert, bot of Jhesu Cryste alane". 78 In this degree, Rolle says in The Form of Living, the lover feels "jr>e fyre of lufe byrnand in Jjaire saule" and "thoght turnes intil sang and intil melody". 78 This third degree of love is described in similar terms in the Ego Dormio. The soul experiences "great delyte and comforth". It feels "Jse bernyng of lufe" and great "joy and sweetness". "Prayers turnes intil joyful sange, and . . . thoghtes to melody." 79 This degree is called, he says, contemplative life.The terms, "insuperable", "inseparable", and "singular", are not original with Rolle. Richard of St. Victor lists four degrees of love in his Tractatus de Quatuor Gradibus Violentae.60 They are "insuperabilis", "inseparabilis", "singularis" and "insatiabilis". The distinctions which Richard of St. Victor makes in describing the first three degrees are the foundation for Rolle's identification of the same degrees; In primo itaque gradu a m o r est insuperabilis, in secundo inseparabilis, in tertio singularis, in quarto insatiabilis. Insuperabilis est qui alii affectui n o n cedit; inseparabilis, qui a m e m o r i a n u m q u a m recedit; singularis, qui socium n o n recepit; insatiabilis, c u m ei satisfied n o n possit.

The three degrees of love as described by Rolle correspond to the traditional degrees of the mystical life - the purgative way, the illuminative way and the unitive way. The purgative way has been defined as the way or state of beginners. The chief concern of the soul in this state is to resist and avoid sin. The illuminative way is that of those who are in the state of progress. The fundamental virtue of this state is constant attention of the mind and heart on God. The unitive way is that of the perfect, that is the way of those who have their minds so drawn away from temporal things that they enjoy great peace. It is a 76

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 105. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 66, 67. 78 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 105-106. 79 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 69. 80 Richard of St. Victor, Tractatus de Quatuor Gradibus Violentae Charitatis in J. P. Migne, ed. (=Patrologiae Cursus Completus 196) (1880), 1213-1215. 77

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state of union with God by love.81 It is in this state that the gift of contemplation may be imparted to the soul. A glance at St. Thomas Aquinas' summary of the three states reveals how accurate is Rolle's account of them : N a m primo quidem incumbit homini Studium principale ad recendendum a peccato et resistendum concupiscentiis eius, quae in contrarium caritatis movent. Et hoc pertinet ad incipientes, in quibus Caritas est nutrienda vel fovenda ne corrumpatur. Secundum autem Studium succedit ut homo principaliter intendat ad hoc quod in bono proficiat. Et hoc Studium pertinet ad proficientes, qui ad hoc principaliter intendunt ut in eis Caritas per augumentum roboretur. Tertium autem Studium est ut homo ad hoc principaliter intendat ut D e o inhaereat et eo fruatur. Et hoc pertinet ad perfectos, qui "cupiunt dissolvi et esse cum Christo." 82

The third degree of love, Rolle specifically says in the Ego Dormio, is called contemplative life.83 Contemplation, often spoken of as mysticism, is generally taken to mean an experimental perception of God's presence and being, in conjunction with a union of love with God. 84 Rolle's description of contemplation in Ego Dormio and in The Form of Living agrees in essentials with this fundamental definition. When one enters this state, he says, all other interests but God's love drop away and the soul is given a partial spiritual vision of the bliss of heaven, the fulness of which can only be realized after the death of the body. 85 In the Emendatio Vitae Rolle specifically states what he means by the bliss of heaven; it is the complete vision, the perfect knowledge and love of God, and the sharing in the heavenly hymn of praise; "Deum videre, perfecte cognoscere, perfecte diligere, et in splendore maiestatis suae ipsum videre et cum ineffabili iubilatione et melodia ipsum aeternaliter laudare." 86 Hence, a partial vision of the bliss of heaven would indicate an incomplete or experimental perception of God's presence and being, and a measure of union with God in love, as required by the definition. Rolle is in perfect accord with St. Gregory the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas in his recognition of the impossibility of a complete vision of 81 Garrigou-Lagrange, Perfection Chrétienne et Contemplation, I, 175. For a full account of the historical tradition of the three degrees of the spiritual life see GarrigouLagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life, trans. M. T. Doyle, I. 228-238. 82 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II—II, Q. 24, art, 9. 83 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed Allen, 69. 84 Butler, Western Mysticism, 4, and Knowles, The English Mystical Tradition, 2. 85 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 118-119. 86 Ed. M. de LaBigne, 618.

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God in this life, and in his conception of contemplation as a foretaste of heaven, the joy of which exceeds every other human delight.87 In this imperfect foretaste of the vision of God, Rolle continues in the passage in the Ego Dormio, the soul experiences a burning of love which lifts the thoughts to God, and such joy and sweetness that no anguish or shame can grieve it; in this ecstasy of joy, prayer turns into song and thought into melody. The soul wishes for nothing but God; in him is all its delight, all its joy, all its solace, all its comfort and all its rest. 88 The glimpse of heaven granted in the contemplative state is accompanied by heat, sweetness and song in Rolle's description of the experience. In the works of writers earlier than Rolle, we can find authority in St. Augustine for the symbolism of sweetness and song in connection with the act of contemplation, and in St. Gregory the Great for the symbolism of sweetness and heat. In St. John of the Cross, writing two centuries after Rolle, we find the experience described in the very figures Rolle uses, namely heat or fire, sweetness and song. A degree of the vision of God, surpassing joy, sweetness, the inward sound of music and separation from the tumult of the world are the essentials of the contemplative experience as described by St. Augustine. In his commentary on Psalm XLI he gives an exposition of the doctrine of contemplation. He pictures the soul at the threshold of the house of God; q u a m d a m dulcedinem sequendo, interiorem nescio q u a m et occultam voluptatem t a m q u a m de d o m o D e i sonaret suaviter aliquod o r g a n u m : et c u m ille ambularet in tabernacule, audito q u o d a m interiore s o n o , ductus dulcedine, sequens q u o d sonabat, abstrahens se a b o m n i strepitu carnis et sanguinis, pervenit usque ad d o m u m D e i . . . . I n d o m o D e i festivitas sempiterna est. N o n e n i m aliquid ibi celebratur et transit. Festum sempiternum, chorus angelorum: vultus praesens D e i , laetitia sine defectu. . . . D e ilia aeterna et perpetua festivitate sonat nescio quid c a n o r u m et dulce auribus cordis: sed si n o n perstrepat m u n d u s . 8 9

Though Rolle's manner of expressing himself is very different from St. Augustine's, nevertheless his account of the contemplative experience accords in essentials with that of the great doctor of the Church. We 87

St. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Ezechielem, I. v. 12, and Moralium Libri, XVIII, 88, in J. P. Migne, ed. ( ( = Patrologiae Cursus Completus 76) (1849), 825-826, 91.) St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, Q. 180, art. 5, 7. 88 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 69-70. 89 St. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, in J. P. Migne, ed. ( = Patrologiae Cursus Completus 26) (1861), 470.

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remark in Rolle the same concept of contemplation as a degree of vision of God accompanied by great joy, sweetness, and the interior melody, the "canor", which sounds in the heart. St. Augustine, however, makes no mention of "Jse bernyng of lufe" which forms part of Rolle's description. This latter we find, however, in St. Gregory the Great. In his concept, the contemplative act is a degree of vision of God accompanied by great inward sweetness and the fire of love. Again, one element of the three associated with Rolle's experience is lacking. St. Gregory does not include song in his account, but he provides the authority for the symbolism of heat or fire. He writes: A d se relapsa, e u m arctius diligit, cujus miram dulcedinem ferre n o n velens, vix hanc sub incerta visione gustavit. . . . C u m q u e internam dulcedinem degustat, amore aestuat. 9 0

Two centuries after Rolle we find a great mystical writer, St. John of the Cross, employing all three figures of fire, sweetness and song in his description of one of the higher grades of contemplation: In this way [the perfect state of the spiritual life] the soul is . . . withdrawn f r o m all that is secular and temporal and freed f r o m that which belongs to its o w n unruly nature, so that it is brought into the cellars of the King, where it rejoices and is glad in its Beloved . . . Wherefore, o h burning o f the fire that infinitely burnest above all fires else, the m o r e t h o u burnest m e the sweeter thou art to m e ! . . . In this state of life, perfect as it is, the soul is, as it were, keeping festival, and has in its m o u t h a great s o n g of j o y to G o d , and, as it were, a song n e w and ever new, turned into j o y and love. 9 1

It can be seen that the terms in which Rolle describes the experience of contemplation closely approximate those used by St. Augustine and St. Gregory the Great. Neither of these early authorities, however, associates all three figures of heat, sweetness and song with the experience as Rolle does. St. Augustine relates the experience in terms of sweetness and inward music and song; St. Gregory, in terms of sweetness and fire. But we do find all three figures of fire, sweetness and song in St. John of the Cross, a later recognized authority on the mystical life. Furthermore, the preparation demanded by Rolle for this state of union 90 St. Gregory the Great, Expositio in Librum B. Job, V. 53, 58, in J. P. Migne, ed. (= Patrologiae Cursus Completus, 75) (1902), 708, 711. 91 St. John of the Cross, The Living Flame, ed. E. Allison Peers, 57-58.

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with God is sound and traditional. There is, as remote preparation, first, the determined renunciation of sin, and secondly, the separation from the vanities and affections of this world, and the following of Christ in voluntary poverty.92 As immediate preparation, reading, devout prayer and meditation are required, 93 the soul, thus carefully made ready, may then be granted the gift of contemplation. In that state the mind is filled with thought of God and is vouchsafed the wonderful joy of a glimpse of the bliss of heaven. God completely satisfies the soul, and it wishes for nothing but what God wishes.94 It seems to me, then, impossible to dismiss Rolle lightly as one having, as a mystic, "little or nothing to teach", as Dom David Knowles does in his recent book, The English Mystical Tradition (p. 54). We have shown that Rolle's definition of contemplation is in accord with the traditional teaching of the Church, that he demands careful and rigorous preparation of heart and mind before the final grace may be hoped for, that the heat, sweetness and song are not the essence of his experience of contemplation, as Dom David Knowles claims, 95 but the final gifts or marks that accompany it. We have also been able to show that Rolle has authority for the use of these symbols in describing the contemplative state in the writings of St. Augustine and St. Gregory the Great, two recognized masters in the spiritual life. It is true that in the Emendatio Vitae Rolle says that contemplation seems to him to be the "iubilus divini amoris, suscepta in mente suavitate laudis angelicae".96 Exception may be taken to a definition of contemplation as "song", but surely Rolle is describing a state of soul in which a man is lifted out of himself and shares in some degree in the glorious privilege of the angels - to sing the praises of God. It is worth recalling that the definition of the bliss of heaven which we have already quoted included the wonderful joy of "cum ineffabili iubilatione et melodia ipsum aeternaliter laudare". 97 Rolle's account of the mystical experience is not expressed in systematic scientific terms. His great distinction as a mystical writer is that he made available for the first time in the vernacular specific instruction on the preparation necessary for a participation in the contemplative life, and supplied a simple statement of its meaning. He was not writing 92 93 94 95 96

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 63-64. Emendatio Vitae, ed. M. de LaBigne, 617. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 69-70. Knowles, The English Mystical Tradition, 56. Ed. M. de LaBigne, 617. Ed. M. de LaBigne, 618.

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for the learned; for them, it is true, he had nothing to teach, but for the less-well-instructed whom he was addressing, the "rudibus et indoctis" specified as his audience in the Incendium Amoris, 98 he had an important and inspiring message stated in language geared to their intellectual level. His enthusiastic expression of the joy and fulfilment that accompany love of God and union with Him was well calculated to accomplish the purpose which he states in the Incendium, "universos excito ad amorem". 99 Rolle is less attractive in his controversies on the superiority of the contemplative life over the active and of the solitary life over the cenobitical. On both issues he is on the side of authority and tradition, but his arguments are frequently carried on in personal and acrimonious terms. St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas affirm the pre-eminence of the contemplative life over the active.100 Rolle then, is perfectly orthodox when he asserts in the Comment on the Canticles101 and in the Emendatio Vitae102 that "vitam contemplativam digniorem esse et magis meritoriam quam activa vita" and in the Incendium Amoris that "optimi contemplativi superiores sunt optimis activis".103 But he is not content to leave his statement there; his usual practice is to extend it to an argument in favour of the solitary life. In the passage just quoted from the Emendatio Vitae Rolle continues the discussion of the relative merits of the contemplative and active lives with a comment on the value of solitude for the true contemplative. But his fullest treatments of the advantages of solitude are found in the Comment on the Canticles, the Melos Amoris and the Incendium Amoris. In the two latter works especially he is vindicating his own way of life against the attacks of his critics and the tone is often sharp. In the Incendium Rolle cites the examples of St. Cuthbert and St. Maglorius who retired from their bishoprics to adopt the eremitical life.104 In the Comment on the Canticles and in the Melos Amoris he specifically rejects what be believed to be the opinion of St. Anselm on the relative merits of the two ways of life, though E . J . F. Arnould thinks him 98

Ed. Deanesly, 147. Ed. Deanesly, 147. 100 St. Augustine, De Trinitate XIII, 1, in J.P. Migne, ed. ( = Patrologiae Cursus Computus Vol. XLII), 1013. St. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Ezechielem, I. iii. 9, in J.P. Migne, ed., ibid., Vol. LXXVI, 809. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theoiogiae, II—II, Q. 182, art. 2. 101 MS. Bodleian 861, fol. 84. 102 Ed. M. de LaBigne, 618. 103 Ed. Deanesly, 204. 104 Ed. Deanesly, 181. 99

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not justified in attributing to St. Anselm any definite implication of the inferiority of the solitary life.105 The whole of Chapter XLVII in the Melos Amoris is devoted to a patterned argument designed to establish the advantages afforded by the solitary life for loving God and living the contemplative life. In theory Rolle is absolutely orthodox. St. Thomas Aquinas expressly states that solitary religious life is more perfect than community religious life, but for any except the perfect it is extremely dangerous because it deprives a man of the help he derives from the example and instruction of community life.106 St. Benedict, too, had recognized the excellence of the solitary life but also its dangers. He, likewise, considered it suitable only for the perfect, for those already tried in the religious community life.107 The weakness of Rolle in his handling of the controversy is that he generalizes from his own situation. In defending his own way of life he uncompromisingly sets solitary life above cenobitical life. Considering himself set apart as specially favoured by God, he fails to allow for the perils of solitary life to those less favoured, and arrogantly condemns monastic life as the inferior way. In theory he is right, but he neglects to state the whole case. To his conviction that the solitary way of life was most conducive to contemplation, Rolle joined the belief that the ideal position for that act of worship and love was the sitting one. He considered that long stretches of time would be unnoticed by one in that posture who was enjoying the consolation of heavenly joys. The quiet of body and soul induced by the sitting position left the soul free, he thought, to sing and rejoice and be rapt out of itself in the sweetness of divine love: N o n mireris, igitur, si iugiter sedere potuit, qui coelestium g a u d i o r u m c o n s o l a m i n e tam suaviter inebriatus fuit. S e d e n d o e n i m canit et iubilat ac superni amoris suavitate crebro rapitur, et in aeternorum contemplatione stabilitus, mirabiliter iucundatur. 1 0 8

But Rolle does not always express himself in such gentle, persuasive terms. He becomes overbearing and dogmatic and censorious in his statement of his preference for the sitting position as more conducive to quiet of soul than standing or walking. In the Incendium Amoris he 106 106 107 108

Arnould, ed., Melos Amoris, lxx. 199. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II—II, Q. 188, art. 8. Delatte, The Rule of St. Benedict, trans. D o m Justin McCann, 28-29. Super Psalmum XX, in D. Richardi Pampolitani ... in Psalterium, cxxxiiiT.

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states his reasons for his choice and condemns, as inferior contemplatives, those who dare to differ from his opinion: U t si velim stando vel a m b u l a n d o contemplari, vel p r o c u m b e n d o , videbam m e m u l t u m ab illis deficere, et quasi desolatum m e existimare. U n d e hac necessitate compulsus ut in s u m m a d e v o c i o n e q u a m habere p o s s e m et perseverare, sedere elegi. Huius rei causa n o n ignoro quia si h o m o m u l t u m stet vel ambulet c o r p u s eius fatigatur et sic impeditur anima et q u o d a m m o d o lacescit pre onere. Et n o n est in sua s u m m a quiete, et per consequens nec in perfeccione, quia secundum philosophum, sedendo et quiescendo fit anima prudens. Qui e r g o adhuc magis stando q u a m sedendo in divinis delectatur, sciat se a contemplacionis culmine longe distare. 1 0 9

That Rolle should adopt such an emphatic and uncompromising opinion in view of the traditional practice of the Church is indication of his excessive self-esteem and independence. From early Christian times the accepted posture for public prayer was standing, facing the east, whence comes the light of the rising sun, the symbol of truth, 1 1 0 with the hands spread out and moderately raised in memory of the Lord's passion. 111 The practice of kneeling was also recognized for private prayer of supplication and for public prayer on penitential days or occasions, but never on Sundays or in the season of exultation from Easter to Pentecost. 112 Sitting, however, was frowned upon as an attitude for prayer. Tertullian considered it disrespectful and irreligious to sit even at the conclusion of prayer, "unless we are remonstrating with God because the prayer has made us tired". 113 Origen granted that it was fitting that permission be given to pray sitting in certain adverse circumstances, such as might be occasioned by a severe disease of the feet.114 However, St. Paul describes (1 Cor. 14: 29-31) a Christian assembly in which those prophesying apparently stood while the rest sat: "If some revelation comes to another who is sitting by, let him who spoke first keep silence.''115 St. Benedict, formulating his rule in the sixth century, specifically states that the monks may sit during the reading of the lessons at the recitation of the Office, but after the third lesson when the Gloria Patri is sung "out of honour and reverence to the Holy Trinity" the monks 109 110 1,1 112 113 114 115

Ed. Deanesly, 185. Origen, Treatise on Prayer, trans Eric Jay, 216. Tertullian, Tract on The Prayer, trans. Ernest Evans, 19, 21. Tertullian, Tract on the Prayer, trans. Evans, 33. Tertullian, Tract on The Prayer, trans. Evans, 21. Origen, Treatise on Prayer, 210. Quoted in Cabrol, Liturgical Prayer, 83.

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shall resume a standing position.116 Private prayer of petition, St. Benedict says, should be made with humility and reverence, and the silent prayer offered in common after the Divine Office should be brief and made kneeling or bowed down.117 But he does not legislate a position for any other prayer in which the monks may engage. Coming down to our own times, we find a writer on the spiritual life, Romano Guardini, concurring in Rolle's conclusion about the suitability of the sitting position for contemplation, but expressing his opinion in gentle, unassuming phrases very different from Rolle's blustering dogmatism. Guardini writes: To be seated upright and still is an equally proper position for prayer. It is especially suited to contemplation or for moments of quiet devotion. 1 1 8

Rolle himself, at the end of his life, had mellowed in his judgment on those who did not share his predisposition for the sitting position. In The Form of Living he defends his own practice but concedes that it may not be best for all: And I have lufed for to sytt, for na penance, ne for na fantasy jaat I wilk men spak of me, ne for na swylk thyng; bot anly for I knew Jjat I loved G o d mare, and langar lasted within {je comforth of lufe, Jsan gangand or standand or kneleand. For sittand am I in maste rest, and m y hert maste upwarde. Bot Jjarfore peraventure es it noght Jje best til another at sitte, als I did, and wil do til my dede, bot if he war disposed als I was in his s a w l e . U 9

Rolle may have derived his predilection for the sitting position for contemplation from the Lamentations of Jeremiah. In his commentary on that work he develops the text, "Sedebit solitarius et tacebit quia levavit se super se",120 to illustrate the suitability of solitude for contemplation. The author of The Ancrene Riwle was also impressed by this text. In his discussion of the advantages of solitude for seeking and finding God, he says, "It is said that the pious Jeremiah sits in solitude". 121 His emphasis is on the solitude, but Rolle seized on both ideas from the text and made controversial issues of them. 116

St. Benedict, The Rule of St. Benedict, trans. Cardinal Gasquet, 37. St. Benedict, The Rule of St. Benedict, trans. Gasquet, 51. See also Delatte, The Rule of St. Benedict, 193. 118 Guardini, Prayer in Practice, trans. Prince Leopold of Loewenstein-Wertheim, 40. 119 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 116. 120 Super Threnos Jeremias, in D. Richardi Pampolitani . .. in Psalterium Davidicum, cxxvir. 121 The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle, ed. Day, 68.

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4. DEVOTION TO THE VIRGIN M A R Y

Rolle's love for the Virgin Mary is concentrated in his one long poem, the Canticum Amoris. This is the only work he devoted exclusively to her honour, but there are references in his other writings which indicate that he never abandoned his ardent love of her or his confidence in her. Rolle's devotion to Our Lady follows certain traditional directions. He lauds her as the holy Mother of God, as the spotless virgin, as our powerful intercessor and guardian against the fiends, as the Mother of mercy and compassion associated with her divine Son in his sufferings, as the great and joyous lover of God, as the most beautiful and excellent of God's creations, and as the queen of angels. The Canticum Amoris122 is an effusive expression of love and praise in thirty-nine four-line stanzas, written in musical, alliterative verse. Our Lady is addressed here as the beautiful and spotless virgin who has captivated the heart of the young poet. She is not at any place in the poem honored as the Mother of God. Here she is the "uirgo speciosa" (1. I); 123 the "flos fecunditatis sine macula" (1. 89); the "uirgo regia" (1. 152). Her physical beauty and perfections are extolled in somewhat extravagant terms in the manner of the courtly love lyrics. Rolle speaks of her "crines auro similes" (1. 15), her "erecta supercilia" (1. 17), her "ut rosa rubent labia" (1. 18), her "preclari oculi" (1. 19), her "color colli" (1. 21), her "predecens statura" (1. 33). Her countenance is fairest of the fair: "Tam formosa facies non est mulierum" (1.26); she is the most beautiful woman God has made: "Tam decoram feminam numquam fecit Deus" (1. 37). Her charm and beauty and dignity and grace surpass that of all creatures who have ever lived: "Predico precellere, quod concedunt iura / Nam nescitur uiuere talis creatura" (1. 36); she is "uirgo decora pari sine" (1. 153). The qualities of her soul increase her attractiveness and lovableness. Her purity especially is honoured; her "puellaris puritas" (1. 117) makes her the source of strength and courage for virgins, "uis et uirtus uirginum" (1. 92). The whole poem is an ardent song of love-longing, of the young man for the virgin spotless and without compare. The opening words, "Zelo tui langueo", repeated at the end of the thirty-eighth stanza, indicate the principal theme which is carried through the one hundred and fifty-six lines of the poem. The poet longs to behold her: "cemere desidero" 122 123

See Appendix A for my translation of the Canticum Amoris. Line references are to Wilmart's edition of the poem. See Appendix B.

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(1. 46); the sight of her alone can restore him to health: "Huius una uisio me posset sanare" (1. 23); he is wounded by love: "En rigore uulneror stringentis amoris" (1. 53); it is sufficient for him that he may sit and gaze upon her: "Sufficit quod sedeam, cernens quo surrexi" (1. 87); so straitened is he by love that he is almost expiring: "Et pene deficio; sic artor amore;" (1. 102). Because he burns so ardently with love for her he has celebrated her in heavenly song: "Per citharam sonui celicam, subiectus amori" (1. 155). This lady whom he loves and honours has been raised up to reign in heaven, crowned queen among the bright angelic choirs: " . . . supra seraphin celo subleuata, / Cum complente cherubin care coronata" (11. 145-46). The poem ends on a note of love and appeal to the beloved virgin: "Virgo quam cecini, animam sublima Ricardi" (1. 156). Rolle has here come under the influence of the courtly love tradition. The detailed enumeration and celebration of Our Lady's physical charms; the praise of her admirable qualities of soul; the effect of her beauty and excellence on her lover, causing him to sigh (1. 2), to yearn (1. 1, 152), to gaze in rapture (1. 87), to faint (1. 103), to languish (1. 122), to sing of his love (1. 121), to glow (1. 138), to burn with love (1. 151); the consecration of himself to the service of the Beloved (1. 11, 49): these are typical features of the tradition of which Rolle avails himself in this poem. The mingling in the poem of elements drawn from totally different divisions of natural wealth and beauty - flowers, precious stones, herbs, the heavenly bodies (11. 27, 29, 31, 41, 71, 105, 137) - to serve as symbols of Mary's excellence was a device practised before Rolle's time in hymns in honour of Mary.124 The inclusion of metaphors derived from two or more of these natural categories, as symbols of excellence for the lady honoured, occurs, likewise, in two very early fourteenth-century secular love lyrics of MS. Harley 2253, Annot and John and Blow, Northerne Wynd.125

Here more than in any of his other poems Rolle makes use of figures of strikingly imaginative and visual quality. At line 90 he speaks of his song of love glowing like a torch: Fervet hinc ut facula canor caritatis; 124 Leo Spitzer, "Explication de Texte Applied to Three Great Middle English Poems", Archivum Linguisticum 3 (1951), 10-11. 125 Harley Lyrics, ed. Brook, 31-32,48-50.

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at lines 95-96 of the cithara springing to life and resounding with gentle sounds: Ludam cum hac leviter, ut fides se fixit; Nam sonans suaviter cithara revixit; and at lines 117-118 of the fragrant purity of Mary's maidenhood and the fruitful beauty of her virginity resembling an ascending ladder to heaven : Puellaris puritas hec aromitizans Fecunda formositas, scala scaturizans. In his Comment on the Canticles Rolle, writing on the text, "Oleum effusum nomen tuum", again addresses Our Lady as the spotless virgin, but here he concentrates on her prerogative of Mother of God. She is the gateway through which salvation has come to the whole earth. While remaining a virgin, she has become the "mater admirabilis" of the very God in whose name "every knee shall bow of those who are in heaven, and on earth and under the earth" : O virgo singularis, O mater ineffabilis, istud per te effusum est oleum, quod in toto orbe terrarum sanat genus humanum. O Maria, quanta laude es digna, que non solum oleum, quo reficimur, sed et lumen, quo gradimur, effudisti; immo, et gaudium, in quo letamur, nobis ededisti! O pia mater, intacta virgo, que, dum florem virginalem inviolatam servari appetis, castis concipis visceribus et non quemcumque hominem, sed Deum in nomine Patris! O miranda puella, virginem te esse promittis et virgo permanens etiam mater efficeris! Tibi vero, O domina, competit ab eterno rege oculum petere et accipere, que etiam os eius meruisti laetare: et merito quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino (Cant. 1.1)! O beata ubera, que eternus conditor non renuit sugere et ab illis secundum morem infantium lac haurire! O mater electa et vere gloriosa, quantis deliciis affluxisti, cum illud os eterni Patris os suum tuo applicuit! Digitis et tenellis mamillas contrectavit ! Consolaris flentem, sed expectas alludentem. O mater admirabilis, die nobis, tuis servulis, quale et quantum est tuum puerperium, cui astra deserviunt, quem reges adorant, quem salvatorem mundi angeli annunciant! Numquid deus est? Utique Deus de Deo, lumen de lumine, et, immo, homo de te, sua matre, et quod eius nomine tam magni, tam mirandi, in quo omne genu flectatur celestium, terrestrium, et infernorum (Philip. 2.20). 1 2 6 126

This extract is printed by Gabriel Liégey in his article, "The Canticum Amoris of Richard Rolle", Traditio 12 (1956), 374. It is not included in the section of the Comment on the Canticles printed by M . de LaBigne in Maxima Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, Vol. XXVI. 627-632.

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In the discussion of the Canticum Amoris it was pointed out that Rolle hails the Blessed Virgin as heavenly queen crowned amidst the angels. In the Melos Amoris also he proclaims his love for her upon whom the angels of Almighty God desire to gaze, for her who is his advocate before the throne of the Eternal Lover: Amicam autem adamavi in quam angeli Omnipotentis anhelant prospicere, . . . . Iliam utique habui adiutricem que oravit Amatorem eternum ne abicerer ab eleccione amantissima.127 This point is of considerable importance, because, as we shall see when we come to the study of the lyrics of the fifteenth century, there is an increasing trend to celebrate Our Lady as surrounded by angels in heaven rather than as the joyful or sorrowful Mother of Jesus on earth. Rolle tells a charming little story in The Form of Living to illustrate the power of "oure lady saynt Mary" over the subtle wiles of the devils who take the form of angels to tempt solitaries: Also umwhile Jse fende tempes men and women, ]?at er solitary by j}am ane, on a qwaynt maner and a sotell. He transfigurs hym in {se lyknes of an awngel of lyght, and apers till Jsam, and sayes J>at he es ane of Goddes awngels comen to comforth J)am; and swa he deceyves foles. Bot j^ai {sat er wys, and wil not tyte trow till all spirites, bot askes cownsel of conand men, he may not begyle J>am. Als I fynd writen of a reclues, Jsat was a gude woman, til {se whilk Jae ill awngell oftsythes aperde in }se forme of a gode awngel, and sayd pat he was comen to bryng hir to heven. Wharfore scho was right glad and joyful. Bot never-pelatter scho talde it til hir schryft-fader; and he, als wyse man and war, gaf hir {sis counsell. 'When he comes', he sayde, 'byd hym {sat he schew Jse oure lady saynt Mary. When he has done swa, say Ave Maria.' Scho dyd sa. pe fende sayde:'{sou has na nede to se hyr; my presence suffyse to {se.' And scho sayde, on all maner scho suld se hyr. He saw {sat hym behoved outher do hir wyll, or scho walde despyse hym. Als tyte he broght forth Jse fayrest woman {pat myght be, als to hyr syght, and schewed til hyr. And scho sett hir on hir knees, and sayde 'Ave Maria'. And als tyte all vanyst away; and for scham never sithen come he at hir. {sis I say, not for I hope {sat he sal have leve to tempe {se on {sis maner, bot for I will {sat {sou be war, if any swylk temptacions befall {se, slepand or wakand, {sat {sou trow not ovre tyte, til {sou knaw {se soth. 128 The affliction Our Lady underwent in witnessing the sufferings of her divine Son's passion and the compassion she felt for him have won for her the title of Mother of Mercy. In the Meditations on the Passion 127 128

Ed. Arnould, 122. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 90-91.

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Rolle writes of the mutual anguish experienced by Christ and his blessed Mother and he begs her to place in his heart a spark of compassion: £>e love of 5owre hertys, {sat over all oberer loves was wythowte make, brennyng kene, made 50W to brenne, eyther for ojser, with unlyke sorewe to ony o]ser w o o ; as Jje love was makeles, so Jse sorewe was pereless: it stykyd at 5owre hertys os it were deth. A, Lady, for Jsat mercy, Jsat modur art of mercy, socoure of al sorewe, and bote of alle bale, modur mad of wrecchys and of wooful, herken to Jnis wrecche, and vysyt thy chyld. Soue in myn herte, Jsat is hard os ston, a sparcle of compassyoun of J)at dere passyoun, a wounde of pat reuthe to souple it with. 129 The greatest happiness we can experience in this life c o m e s from love of G o d which fills the heart with songs of love and our whole being with joy and hope. Our Lady burned with this love before all others and rejoiced in Christ with singular j o y : . . . blessid mayden, before all in pryvelege of brennand luf, sho lovyd god and in synguler ioy shae was glad in cryst, the songis of lovyng er swettest in hur mouth and the notis of luf er delitabylest in the melody that sho shewys that gost now ioyes in god the whilk is verely kyndild with the fyre of the holy gost, til the whilke for mykelnes of crystys luf, no passand thing payes all fleschly luf and erthly covetyse is vile and loth bot all his ioy and coumfort is in crist, of whom he hopis life and heel endles. 130 It is evident then that Rolle's love for Mary continued throughout his life side by side with his ardent love for Christ. A m o n g his last instructions written for Margaret de Kirkeby in The Form of Living is the admonition: Have in mynde Jhesu; for al vices and fan tomes it puttes owte fra Jie lover. And haylce oft Mary, bath day and nyght. Mikel lufe and joy sal )x>u fele, if ]3ou wil do aftyr ]Ms lare. 131 Rolle has introduced nothing new in his devotion to Our Lady. While remaining perfectly orthodox he has popularized traditional themes by his sincerity and enthusiasm. The music of his lines and the tremendous attractiveness of his spontaneity and exuberance were the factors that made his influence so pervasive among his contemporaries. 129

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 22, 23-24. Quoted from the commentary on the verse in the Magnificat, "Et exultavit spiritus meus: in deo salutari meo." English Psalter, ed. Bramley, 523. 131 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 108. 130

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5. PENITENCE, MERCY, D E A T H

Throughout Rolle's works is a constant reminder, expressed in vigorous and decisive terms, that love of God is only attained by turning our backs on the world and cleansing our hearts and minds from sin. Thus a strong didactic and penitential element is present in his writings, very prominent in the English epistles, but quite explicit in his Latin works. In preparation for the study of Rolle's influence on the penitential lyrics of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it is important to look closely at what he had to say on the subject. The very lowest degree of love, Rolle says in Ego Dormio, requires observance of the Commandments, avoidance of sin and loyalty to the Church.132 In The Commandment also, he points out the necessity, for the one seeking Christ, of obedience to the Church, hatred for sin, and absolute sincerity of conduct.133 In all his works Rolle repeats that contempt of the world, its vanities and affections, its false pleasures and deceits, is essential for the lover of Christ. In The Form of Living he stresses the fact that the turning of the soul to God means the renunciation of "al ^e covaytyse and J>e likyng and J)e occupacions and bisynes of worldly thynges and of fleschly lust and vayne luf". 134 Many passages in the Incendium Amoris135 present the doctrine that the heart must forego all desire for the transitory vanity of this world before it can bum with the love of Christ : "Priusquam enim cor tuum amore Christi ardere poterit, cuiuscumque transitorie vanitatis appetitu carebit." 136 Similar reminders are found in the Judica Me Deus,131 and the Super Psalmum XX.138 The picture which Rolle presents in the Emendatio Vitae, of the world and of what it has to offer is not attractive. The world holds out to us wretchedness, malice, persecutions, wrath, lust, slander, confusion, injustice, lies, unfaithfulness. Man is free to choose the world or Christ. The concluding sentence is incisive, but filled with hope : "If you love the world, you will perish with the world: if you love Christ, you will 132 133 134 135 136 137 138

English Writings of Richard Rolle, English Writings of Richard Rolle, English Writings of Richard Rolle, Ed. Deanesly, 152, 202, 208, 215, Ed. Deanesly, 222. MS. Bodleian 861, fol. 102. Printed in D. Ricardi Pampolitani

ed. Allen, 63-64. ed. Allen, 77, 79. ed. Allen, 94. 220.

...

in Psalterium Davidicum, cxxxT.

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reign with him." 139 Renunciation of such a world is not a grievous thing; it is rather a liberation to be embraced with joy. Rolle more than once warns that the society of women is a source of temptation to young men. In the Melos Amoris he advises flight from them: Tamen hoc teneo tutum: ut sistas securus, fugito feminas, qui Christum amare voluntarie vovisti, nam vicii venenum sic vincere valebis. 140

Again, in the Incendium Amoris he explicitly admonishes him who wishes Christ's love to keep his thoughts far from women, for, though a woman may be good, the fiend uses her beauty as a means to divert man's love from God: Unde qui libere cupit amare Christum, oculis mentis ad amorem mulieris non habeat respectum. . . . Fuge atque mulieres discrete, ut semper cogitaciones tue ab eis distantes sint longe, quia etsi ilia bona sit, tamen diabolo impugnante et suggerente, specie quoque alliciente propter carnis infirmitatem, voluntas tua in eis ultra modum poterit delectari.141

But when the soul has truly turned to God, the struggle against sin and passion is no longer a painful discipline of the heart and mind, but an eager conformity of the will to what pleases the Beloved and a joyful expression of the soul's union with God, "pro amore Christi omnia sustinere se paratam prebet". 142 Even in his discussion of penitence, Rolle's spirit is one of hope and joy, not one of gloom. His motivation is never fear; it is always love. Penance is a means of approach to God, and hence should be undertaken in a spirit of confidence and joy. It is this attitude of confidence and the linking of penitence and love that provide the distinctive spirit of many of the penitential lyrics of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Rolle devoted one lyric and one prose work to the praise of the mercy of God. The prose piece, De Dei Misericordia, was apparently not one of Rolle's more popular compositions. Only two manuscripts of it have come down to us and it has never been printed. The opening words of the treatise set the keynote of the whole: "Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo." 143 It is filled with quotations from Scripture and 139 140 141 142 143

Ed. M. de LaBigne, 610. Ed. Arnould, 133. Ed. Deanesly, 140. Ed. Deanesly, 226. MS. Trinity College, Dublin, 321, fol. 16.

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from the Fathers, particularly St. Augustine, establishing the mercy and goodness of God. A great part of it is taken up with a parable of a merciful king in whose possession is a garden of healing herbs. If the sinner wishes to collect the herbs through contrition and confession, through prayer and contemplation, and apply them to his sores, he will be led back to the threshold of the Church; he will be delivered into the custody of the angels; he will receive and possess forever the crown of perpetual glory.144 Over and over again Rolle repeats the phrases, "quam suavis est misericordia", "quam suavis est Dominus in eternum". Throughout Rolle's other works there are scattered references to the mercy of God; in particular his commentaries on Scripture lend themselves to observations on this divine attribute. In every instance the mention of the mercy of God is accompanied by an expression of praise and confidence. The Meditations on the Passion are particularly rich in appeals to the "swete mercy" and "charyte" and "pyte" of Christ for help in "al myn angwysch and my fondynges [temptations]",145 and for assistance "to amend me in shrift and penance for my synnys, in good continuance of good lyvynge in hool love to Jse £>at made me". 148 Petition for mercy at the judgment is another expression of Rolle's trust in the goodness of God: "And, swet Jhesu, when I shal be demed, have mercy on me; and let Jay mekenes and jaat dome ]aat Jsou unskylfully suffred excuse me fro Jjat dome ]aat I skylfully shold have. . . . And, Jhesu, graunt me grace to se {ay blessed face in hevyn." 147 The same sentiments of confidence in God's mercy and hope of eternal happiness inform Rolle's verse lyric, A Song of Mercy. Death for Rolle held no terrors. His attitude of loving anticipation of the moment of death is quite at variance with the current, terrifying aspects of it presented in the sermon material of the period. The physical horrors of death and burial, and the spiritual fears of the judgment and of hell were presented with vigour and realism by medieval preachers as a means to deter men from their sins and to encourage them to embrace the good life.148 For Rolle, who lived and preached the life of love of God, fear was a very inferior motive; love was the drawing force that made death attractive. For him, death was an ardently desired release from this world of partial knowledge and love, a release that would make 144 145 146 147 148

MS. Trinity College, Dublin, folios 17-18. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 19. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 28. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 32. Owst, Preaching in Medieval England, 335-336.

RICHARD ROLLE

47

possible total vision and full union of love with God. "Unde dissolvi desidero ut ducar ad Dilectum", 149 he sighs in the Melos Amoris, and in a transport of longing for union with God, he cries out in the Incendium Amoris, "Ego pre amore mori langueo."150 The man who truly loves God, he writes elsewhere in the Incendium, not only does not fear death, but rejoices to die, saying with the Apostle, "Mihi, Christus vivere est et mori gaudium." 151 In a passage of lyrical intensity in the Incendium Amoris, Rolle addresses death as a sweet friend who can terminate his weariness and sighing and open to him the gate of perfect joy : "Tu es terminus luctum, meta laboris, inicium fructuum, ianua gaudiorum." He pleads with death to tarry not long: "Ecce enim amore langueo, mori desidero, ad te inardesco." But it is not death itself for which he longs; he desires it "propter Salvatorem meum Jhesum, quem . . . videre spero in eternum". And turning his thoughts to his Beloved, he prays, "lam dilectissimus donet ut desinam. Quia mors, quam multi metuunt, mihi esset ut melos musice."152 Rolle's writings are infused with a spirit of abounding joy. The joy and happiness which sound throughout his works are heard again in the lyric literature of the fifteenth century. Though this atmosphere of buoyancy cannot be associated with any one subject treated in the lyrics, it is most frequently linked, both in Rolle's works and in the lyrics of the period following his death, with devotion to the Holy Name and with divine love. These two great loves fill the soul with joy and make it overflow in songs of exultation. "Tantum est nomen tuum", Rolle writes in the Comment on the Canticles, "quod in ilio solo sciunt se posse invenire optatum gaudium . . . in illius solo amore cupiunt iubilare". 153 In another early work, the Melos Amoris, he speaks of the love of Christ fulfilling all his desires; for him Christ is "totus amor meus, consolacio mea, delectatio mea, exultacio anime mee et iubilus mentis mee".154 Later, in the Incendium Amoris, he speaks again of the joy and happiness that flood the soul of the lover of Christ, "O quantum gaudium et leticia illabitur amanti!" 155 149 150 151 152 153 164 155

Ed. Ed. Ed. Ed. Ed. Ed. Ed.

Arnould, 17. Deanesly, 257. Deanesly, 209. Deanesly, 192-193. M. de LaBigne, 630. Arnould, 141. Deanesly, 267.

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Joy in the soul increases with the growth of love. "Et qui plus diligunt, plus gaudebunt", Rolle declares in his Comment on the Canticles.156 He repeats the same idea in the Incendium Amoris: "Iste autem amor in corde est, et quo plus Deum suum diligit, eo in ipsum maius gaudium sentit." 157 When the soul reaches the highest degree of love, "prayers turnes intil joyful sange" and "thoghtes to melody". 158 It is, then, the fulness of love which best equips the poet to express the thoughts of the heart in an overflow of musical verse. That this was the case with Rolle we shall attempt to show in the next chapter. That the inspiration supplied by his joyous effusions of love gave the impulse to a great many lyric poets of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it is the work of this thesis to demonstrate.

156 167 168

Ed. M. de LaBigne, 628. Ed. Deanesly, 214. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 103.

II ROLLE'S LYRICS

Lyric poetry, among the Greeks, meant poetry to be sung to the accompaniment of the lyre. Professor Frye suggests in the Anatomy of Criticism that the Greek word for lyric would be more meaningfully translated "poems to be chanted", 1 since the emphasis should be placed on the words, not on the music. The lyric is now generally found to be defined in some such terms as those used by M. L. Rosenthal and A. J. Smith in Exploring Poetry, namely, "a brief, unified expression of emotion in words as melodious as possible".2 The best lyrics are necessarily brief since they express a single feeling at the moment of its greatest intensity. The emotion is ordinarily attached to some idea or object or experience which constitutes the subject or theme of the lyric.3 John Drinkwater in his essay on the lyric exalts it as the highest kind of poetry: Poetry is the result of the intensest emotional activity attainable by man focussing itself upon some manifestation of life, and experiencing that manifestation completely. . . . The emotion of poetry expresses itself in rhythm and . . . the significance of the subject-matter is realised by the intellectual choice of the perfect word. We recognise in the finished art, which is the result of these conditions, the best words in the best order - poetry; and to put this essential poetry into different classes is impossible. But since it is most commonly found by itself in short poems which w e call lyric, we may say that the characteristic of the lyric is that it is the product of the pure poetic energy unassociated with other energies, and that lyric and poetry are synonymous terms. 4

Included in Rolle's English epistles are five lyrics, three in Ego Dormio and two in The Form of Living. Apart from these, we cannot be sure how many of the lyrics attributed to Rolle are certainly his. Our two principal sources are Cambridge MS. Dd. v. 64, III (late fourteenth 1 2 3 4

Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, 273. Rosenthal and Smith, Exploring Poetry, 119. Black, ed., Elizabethan and Seventeenth-Century Lyrics, 5, 9, 10. Drinkwater, The Lyric, 85-86.

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century) and Longleat MS. 29 (fifteenth century). Neither manuscript is absolutely definite about the number of the lyrics found in them that are to be ascribed to Rolle. Miss Hope Emily Allen has examined all the lyrics in these manuscripts and from internal and external evidence has admitted six to the canon of Rolle's works, namely, A Salutation to Jesus, A Song of Love-longing to Jesus, A Song of the Love of Jesus, The Nature of Love, Thy Joy be in the Love of Jesu, and the prose lyric, Gastly Gladnesses Two others, Exhortation and A Song of Mercy, Miss Allen implies, may be accepted as Rolle's and she includes them in her edition of his English Writings. In this chapter I shall discuss Rolle's verse lyrics. His prose lyric, Gastly Gladnesse, I have treated with Rolle's prose works in Chapter I. Rolle's lyrics present certain distinctive features. First, they all employ devotional religious themes. Love of God is the dominant theme, but the themes rarely appear singly in the lyrics; they are found interwoven with one another. For example, lyrics on divine love usually include expressions of ardent confidence in the Holy Name. This is to be expected in view of Rolle's conviction, which is formulated in the Incendium Amoris, that no one will receive the highest gifts of love who does not honour and esteem the Holy Name of Jesus and keep it ever in his mind.6 In examining the lyrics which are not incorporated in the prose works I shall try to indicate the main theme and the secondary themes treated, using the divisions of subject matter already employed in discussing the ideas in the prose works, namely, devotion to the Holy Name, divine love, the passion, penitence, mercy and death, and devotion to the Virgin Mary. In truth, with the exception of mercy and devotion to the Virgin Mary, the subject divisions I have listed resolve themselves in Rolle's lyrics into one subject, love in its three degrees. To the first degree of love, that in which a man "haldes |>e ten commandments, and kepes hym fra ]ae seven dedely synnes",7 belong lyrics treating the theme of penitence; to the second degree, that in which a man forsakes the world and follows Christ, "ay havand hym in mynde", 8 belong reflections on the passion, lyrics honouring the Holy Name and ones appealing for love; to the third degree, that in which the soul experiences a degree of vision and union with God, when "Jhesu es al £>i desyre, al £)i delyte, al joy, al f>i solace, al fji comforth", 9 belong the poems of love-longing, of 5 6 1 8 9

Allen, Writings Ascribed to Ed. Deanesly, 190. English Writings of Richard English Writings of Richard English Writings of Richard

Richard Rolle, 294-302. Rolle, ed. Allen, 63. Quotation from Ego Dormio. Rolle, ed. Allen, 64, 67. Rolle, ed. Allen, 69-70.

ROLLE'S LYRICS

51

yearning for union with God, of desire for death as a means of union. The three lyrics of Ego Dormio which are incorporated into the structure of the piece as illustrations of the three degrees of love may best be studied from this point of view. The two lyrics found in The Form of Living serve the function of crystallizing Rolle's recommendations for those enjoying the two higher degrees of love; they, too, should be treated as organic parts of a whole. But Rolle's other lyrics do not generally keep the characteristic sentiments of the three degrees of love so sharply divided. Nor does his influence on the later lyric literature discernibly follow this pattern. Furthermore, since his major prose works, which play such a large part in this influence, are not as highly organized as is the Ego Dormio, it seems to me to be more profitable to adhere to the plan of looking at those lyrics which are not functional parts of the structure of his prose works from the point of view of subjects or themes treated. The second distinctive feature of Rolle's lyrics concerns the emotions which animate them. They are those of joy, hope, confidence, compassion, and love-longing, never those of fear, gloom, or self-pity. The lyrics are the overflow of Rolle's love of God which reaches its culmination in the gift of "canor", the heavenly melody which belongs to the songs of everlasting praise,10 turns his thoughts into song,11 and transports his mind into singing the delights of eternal love, "rapitur mens ad canendum delicias amoris eterni". 12 His lyrics are, then, in general, ecstatic expressions of the sweetness and joy that flooded his soul in his longing for God. Even the one lyric which is almost wholly penitential in tone concludes with a reminder of the joy that is to come and with a confident message of hope for the one who loves Christ and hates sin. Thirdly, Rolle's lyrics show great irregularity in structure and metre. Within single poems, stanza lengths, as indicated by rhyme schemes, may vary from three to six lines, as they do, for example, in the "Cantus Amoris" of the Ego Dormio.13 Rolle's commonest unit in the lyrics is the four-line stanza; however, certain of the lyrics do not admit of any divisions but run on for the full length of the poem, as do the two lyrics incorporated into The Form of Living.11 Identification of his metre 10 11 12 13 u

Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 188. Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 185. Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 174. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 70-72. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 104, 107.

52

rolle's lyrics

is just as elusive. Many of his lines are patterned on the four-stress line with medial pause and a varying number of lightly accented syllables between the stresses, the normal rhythm in Old English poetry and the system used by Rolle in his Latin poem, the Canticum Amoris. As Professor Frye has pointed out in the Anatomy of Criticism,15 it is this arrangement of "a predominating stressed accent with a variable number of syllables between two stresses (usually four stresses to a line, corresponding to 'common time' in music)" which makes poetry musical. Fourthly, elaborate rhyme schemes distinguish Rolle's lyrics and assist in imparting to them their musical quality. The system he most commonly uses is the four-line rhyming stanza, but within a single poem he may vary this to aabb, aaabbb, aabbcc, aabbb, as he does in the "Cantus Amoris" of the Ego Dormio,16 Medial rhyme is generally present, employed in a variety of ways. His favourite method is the use of rhyming words immediately before the pause in each of the four lines of a stanza, in addition to end rhymes, as for example, in this stanza from Thy Joy be in the Love of Jesus: Bot luf hym at £>i myght, whils jsu ert lyvand here; And loke unto {si syght, fiat nane be jse so dere. Say to hym, bath day and nyght: 'When mai I negh Jse nere? Bring me to lyght, melodi to here. 17

His scheme may vary from stanza to stanza within the same poem, as in A Song of Love-longing to Jesus.ls In places alliteration seems to have been substituted in lines where no medial rhyme appears, as in stanza eleven of this poem: Blynded was his faire ene, his flesch blody for bette. His lufsum lyf was layde ful low, and saryful umbesette. (11. 41-42)

Still another combination appears in the last stanza of this poem. Internal rhyme is used within the first half-line of each verse, and alliteration in the second half, except in the last line of the stanza: Lyf was slayne, and rase agayne; in fairehede may we fare; And dede es broght til litel or noght, and kasten in endles kare. On hym, Jsat Jse boght, hafe al jsi thoght, and lede Jse in his lare. Gyf al J)i hert til Crist Jsi qwert, and lufe hym evermare. (11. 45-58) 15 16 17 18

Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, English Writings of Richard English Writings of Richard English Writings of Richard

255. Rolle, ed. Allen, 70-72. Rolle, ed. Allen, 53. Rolle, ed. Allen, 41-43.

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53

There are examples, also, of lines in which the medial rhyme and the end rhyme are identical sounds. Six lines at the beginning of the "Meditacio de passione Christi" in Ego Dormio19 have this elaborate rhyme scheme: My keyng, ]?at water grette and blode swette; Sythen ful sare bette, so J)at hys blode hym wette, When ]pair scowrges mette. Ful fast J)ai gan hym dyng and at jae pyler swyng, And his fayre face defowlyng with spittyng. ¡DC thorne crownes fse keyng; ful sare es Jsat prickyng. Alas! my joy and my swetyng es demed to hyng. (11. 218-224)

Finally, there is noticeable in Rolle's lyrics a scarcity of imagery. The ideas and emotions are expressed in simple, vigorous language, carrying a straightforward statement of his convictions and aspirations, intense and effective in its very simplicity. The lyrics depend for their beauty on the music of the lines and the sincerity of the sentiments. There are, however, occasional examples of figurative writing, for example, in A Song of Love-longing to Jesus,20 Rolle uses the concept of God piercing the soul with the spear of love (1. 6); he asks that the memory of the passion may be rooted in his heart (1. 17); he speaks of Christ as the food of angels (1. 33), and of death and life striving for mastery as Christ hung upon the cross (1. 43). He frequently uses the symbol of "light" for heaven.21 In The Nature of Love22 he uses again the figure of Christ wounding the soul with love, (1. 29), and the idea of Christ as our "weddyd keyng", (1. 42). The figure of Christ as king occurs in all but two of the lyrics.23 A rapid survey of three of the major prose works reveals its use about four times in the Incendium Amoris,24 twice in the

19

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 67. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 41-43. 21 Dom Cuthbert Butler in Western Mysticism (page 110) points out that "light" was a favourite symbol of St. Gregory's for the contemplative life. Rolle uses it as the symbol for heaven in A Salutation to Jesus (English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 48-49, lines 5, 28); Thy Joy be in the Love of Jesus (ibid., 53, line 32); Ego Dormio (ibid., 70, line 316.) 22 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 49-51. 23 The first poem incorporated in Ego Dormio (ibid., 64), and the "Cantus amoris"' of the Form of Living (ibid., 107). 21 Ed. Deanesly, 268, 269, 276, 278. 20

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Emendatio Vitae,25 and seventeen times in the Melos Amoris,26 This is interesting in view of the fact that the "melos" is the gift that inspires the lover to express "the delights of eternal love" in song,27 and has, therefore, the closest connection with the lyrics. There is no doubt that Rolle uses it in the lyrics as a convenient word for rhyming with other "yng" words, seeming to preserve something of definiteness of the final syllable of the Old English "cyning", but the significance of its presence in the lyrics is deeper than that. In the lyrics, Rolle is, in almost every case, talking about his love of God and his longing for union with Him in the kingdom of heaven. It is eminently fitting, then, that he address his plea for this final grace to the king of that kingdom. This is precisely the association he is recalling in eight of the lyrics in which he uses the epithet. In A Song of Mercy he prays: G o d of al, Lorde and Keyng, I pray ]ae, Jhesu, be my frende, Sa {sat I may mercy syng in Jsi blys withowten ende. 2 8

In A Song of Love-longing to Jesus, the request is the same in substance: Jhesu, my G o d , Jhesu m y keyng, forsake noght my desyre. Jai wil es my 5hernyng; of lufe JJOU kyndel fyre, J)at I in swet lovyng with aungels take my hyre. 29

In The Nature of Love, the admonition at the end is directed towards the same consummation of love with the King in his kingdom: Take Jhesu in

thynkyng, his lufe he will Jse send.

A n d use J>e in praiyng, ¡sarin {sou may be mend, Swa jsat Jsow hafe jsi keyng in joy withowten endyng. 3 0

In Exhortation31 the concept is related, but the approach is different. 25

Ed. M. de LaBigne, 616. Ed. Arnould, 58, 73, 74, 89, 94, 112, 133, 136, 137, 138, 140, 142, 149, 156, 157, 160. If, as Miss Allen conjectures, in Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 129, the Melos Amoris was written in 1326-1327, Rolle had good reason to be conscious of the symbol of kingship. Speaking of the period before the deposition and execution of Edward II, Miss Allen writes (Writings Ascribed, 128): "The Scotch wars brought king, court, and parliament as well as army to Yorkshire during these years." 27 Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 174. 28 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 40, lines 17-18. 29 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 41, lines 9, 11-12. 30 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 51, lines 57, 59-60. 31 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 39, lines 15-16, 21-24. 26

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55

The poet pictures the King of heaven coming in judgment on his enemies, while he himself hopes for a place in the kingdom. A second association that Rolle establishes with the notion of kingship is that of a King crowned with thorns. In the lyric on the passion embedded in the Ego Dormio, the symbol is explicit, "Jse thorne crownes Jse keyng".32 The figure of the "fire of love" is another familiar one in the lyrics. In A Song of Love-longing to Jesus Rolle requests, "of lufe ¡sou kyndel t>e fyre";33 and in A Song of the Love of Jesus he asks to be made "byrnand" in the love of God. 34 He admonishes his readers in Thy Joy be in the Love of Jesus to forsake the joy of men and promises them that their hearts "sal bren with lufe Jsat never sal twynne".35 Structurally, the Ego Dormio and the Form of Living in their blend of prose and verse in various metres resemble Menippean Satire.36 In the Ego Dormio37 Rolle gives an exposition of the three degrees of love, and, following his description of each degree, he inserts a poem embodying the sentiments proper to that state. The first degree, essential for every man who wishes to save his soul, consists in the avoidance of sin, fidelity to the Church and to the service of God, and a determination to renounce any earthly pleasure rather than offend God. N o man can 32

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 67, line 6. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 41, line 11. This request is made in almost identical words in Ego Dormio (ibid., 68, line 242, "Kyndel me fire within.") 34 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 44, line 26. 35 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 53, line 19. 3S J. Wight Duff writes the following account of Menippean Satire in A Literary History of Rome, 334-335: "From Quintilian we learn that Varro was the author of an older type of satire than that of Lucilius - one composed in many sorts of metre and in prose as well. These are the Saturae Menippeae. They were so entitled by Varro as being based on the Cynic dialogues of Menippus, the philosopher of Gadara in the third century, whose spirit and figure are so amusing in his imitator Lucian. Varro's aim was comparable to Addison's in the Spectator - to introduce academic thought to the average reader. Realizing the need of gilding the philosophic pill for the unlearned, and bent on overcoming the national repugnance to speculation, he seasoned esoteric truth and logical discussion with jocularity in his treatment of contemporary society. The outcome was a mass of 150 books, as motley in theme as in form. The tradition of this medley passed through Seneca's Apocolocyntosis and Petronius's Satyricon into the pedantic fantasia of Martianus Capella, De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii. Through that educational manual, once a standard, it influenced medieval compositions of the "chante fable" order. Boethius also represents the tradition when he diversifies the prose of his De Consolatione Philosophiae with poems on varied metres - like so many lyric interludes amidst his tragic sorrows." In Roman Satire, Professor Duff adds the information that Menippean Satire was revived in France at the end of the sixteenth century (p. 84). 37 The references to the Ego Dormio are from English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 61-72. 33

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come to heaven "bot if he lufe God and his neghbor" and avoid sin. Men, he says, think it sweet to sin, but the wages of sin are bitterness. At this point Rolle inserts an unrhymed, alliterative poem, ten lines in length, developing the theme of the transitoriness and false attractiveness of this world and its glittering shows: Alle perisches and passes Jsat we with eghe see It wanes into wrechednes, f>e welth of J)is worlde. (104-105)

But while those who follow this "wretchedness" fall into hell, those who relinquish these deceitful pleasures for love of Christ are rewarded: Bot he may syng of solace, Jsat lufes Jhesu Christe. Jje wretchesse fra wele falles into hell. (112-113)

Rolle always has a positive attitude towards penance and renunciation of the world and sin. The threat of punishment for the sinner is recognized, but the motivation which he recommends, here and elsewhere, for purity of life is love, not fear. When a man has proven himself in the first degree of love, he advances into the second. In this degree he forsakes the world and his kindred and follows Christ in poverty and the other virtues. Now he despises the world and covets the joy of heaven. In this stage Rolle recommends frequent prayer and constant recollection, especially thought of the passion and of the Holy Name of Jesus. "Gode thoghtes and hali prayers" (1.160) shall make the soul burn in the love of Christ, and "lufe of J)is nam Jhesu" (1.183) will prepare the soul for the highest gifts of love which God may bestow upon it. The soul now "covaytes to be Goddes lufer". (1. 176) The second lyric embodied in the Ego Dormio repeats and elaborates these themes. It begins as a meditation on the passion: this stirs the poet, who now despises the world and covets the joy of heaven, to ask for the grace to become a lover of God. The reflections on the passion concentrate on the physical sufferings of Christ. With realistic precision and compassion Rolle recalls the scourging, the defouling of Christ's "fayre face" with spittle, the painful crowning with thorns, the nailing of the hands and feet, and the piercing of the sacred side. He weaves into his text a variant of a four-line poem popular in the period, known as the Candet Nudatum Pectus: Naked es his whit breste, and rede es his blody syde; Wan was his fayre hew, his wowndes depe and wyde. In fyve stedes of his flesch Jse blode gan downe glyde Als stremes of Jie strande; hys pyne es noght to hyde. (11. 227-230)

ROLLE'S LYRICS

57

Carleton Brown prints two versions of this poem from early fourteenthcentury manuscripts. In his notes Professor Brown says this short lyric is a translation from a treatise ascribed in the Middle Ages to St. Augustine.38 Miss Hope Emily Allen attributes the original to St. Anselm.39 Migne prints it in the Meditationes of St. Augustine,40 and also in the Orationes of St. Anselm.41 In the "Admonitio" with which Migne prefaces the Meditationes of St. Augustine, he casts doubt on their authenticity. He cites Bernardus Vindingus' arguments from internal evidence of style, diction and inconsistency of statements in the Meditationes with the facts of Augustine's life, as sufficient proof to deny authorship to St. Augustine. He also points out that twenty-four of the forty chapters of the Meditationes have manuscript authority for the authorship of John, Abbot of Fecamp, who died in the year 1078. Migne is of the opinion that later copyists incorporated material from Abbot John's writings into St. Augustine's works, not that Abbot John stole from St. Augustine.42 Father Hugh Pope, who includes in his study of St. Augustine a list of his authentic works, believes that the Meditationes, though constantly spoken of as the genuine work of St. Augustine, are almost certainly to be attributed to John, the Abbot. 43 It would seem that St. Augustine is not to be credited with the lines in question, usually referred to as the "Candet Nudatum Pectus", the first words of the Latin text. Since these lines do not appear in the twentyfour chapters of the Meditationes which are ascribed to Abbot John, they may belong to St. Anselm. But doubt has been attached to the genuineness of some of Anselm's Meditationes and Orationes, too, since the discovery of a late eleventh-century manuscript in which many are combined with extracts from St. Augustine and the whole prefaced by a letter from Abbot John of Fecamp.44 In any case Rolle's direct source was probably an English translation of the lines. S. Harrison Thomson, in his article, "The Date of the Early English Translation of the 'Candet Nudatum Pectus' ", Medium Aevum IV (1935), 100-105, sums up the results of his investigations with a statement to the effect that there 38

Brown ed., Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, rev. G. V. Smithers, 241. Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 290. 40 J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Vol. XL, 906. 41 Migne, ed., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Vol. CLVIII, 861. 42 Migne, ed., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Vol. XL, 898-902. 43 Pope, St. Augustine of Hippo, 382-383. Eligius Dekkers lists the Meditations under spurious works of St. Augustine. Clavis Patrum Latinorum (1961). 44 H. E. Allen, "Mystical Lyrics of the Manuel des Pechiez", Romanic Review, 9 (1918), 183-184, note 65. 39

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were two completely distinct translations of the passage in England before the end of the thirteenth century - one in four lines current in at least three recensions, the second in six lines in two recensions. Let us return to the analysis of the lyric. Gratitude and compassion, surging in the poet's heart from reflection on the suffering of Christ, move him to desire love and he asks to be made God's lover. He no longer cares for this world; he seeks God alone and longs for the moment when he may see Him in everlasting joy and bliss. The gifts of heat and song, which belong to the highest degree of love, he earnestly requests in the sweet name of Jesus: Kyndel me fire within, . . . J)ou be my lufyng, Jjat I lufe may syng. (242, 255-256)

The change of address from "my keyng" in the section of the poem commemorating the passion to "Jhesu" in the part in which the poet asks for love, seems to indicate a growing intimacy of love which springs from reflection on the passion. There is still a great difference between the restrained use of the Holy Name here and the ecstatic repetition of it in the next lyric, which exemplifies the highest degree of love. Rolle concludes the discussion of the second degree of love with the promise of exhilarating sweetness to the soul faithful to the ideals presented in his little poem. Then the privileged soul may, at God's good pleasure, enter into the third degree of love, that of the contemplative life, in which the "egh of hert mai loke intil heven" (11. 261-262). In this state the soul feels surpassing "lufe, joy and swetnes" (1. 281), experiences the burning of love in the heart, and song and melody in the mind, and places all its desire and delight in Jesus. The heart must be set on God alone before this great grace will be bestowed. Now, Rolle says, he will write a song of love such as the lover of Christ will delight in. Then follows the "Cantus Amoris", a song of yearning for the union of perfect love in heaven. The world means nothing to the lover now; there is not even mention of despising it; the whole attention is centred on the longing for death and the eternal vision and union of love into which the soul enters through death: When wil ]x>u come, Jhesu my joy, (1. 318) When wil £>ou me kali? me langes to Jsi hall, To se t>e |>an al; (11. 327-328)

ROLLE'S LYRICS

59

I sytt and syng of luf langyng J)at in my breste es bredde. Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu, when war I to ]se ledde? Full wele I wate, JJOU sees my state; in lufe my thoght es stedde. When I Jae se, and dwels with J)e, jsan am I fylde and fedde. (11. 333-336) When wil J)ou rew on me, Jhesu, jsat I myght with Jse be, To lufe and lok on t>e? (11. 358-359) The intimacy of love which now floods the soul of the lover pours itself out in repeated tender invocations to the Holy Name. In the prose explanation preceding the lyric, Rolle had written, "Jsan es Jhesu al f>i desyre, al J)i delyte, al {ji joy, al Jii solace, al Jsi comforth" (11. 285-286). In the lyric he conveys perfectly this sense of complete fulfilment and absorption in Jesus, his Beloved: When wil ]pou come, Jhesu my joy, (1. 318). Jhesu my savyoure, Jhesu my comfortoure, (1. 324) Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu, when war I to ^>e ledde? (1. 334) Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu, til Jse it es J^at I morne. (1. 339) Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu,

my dere and my drewry, delyte ert {sou to syng. my myrth and melody, when will |DOW com, my keyng? my hele and my hony, my whart and my comfortyng, I covayte for to dy when it es payng. (11. 341-344)

Jhesu, my lufe, my swetyng (1. 350) Jhesu, my hope, my hele, my joy ever ilk a dele, (1. 353) The heat, sweetness and song, which Rolle promises will be present in the heart and mind of the lover in the third degree of love, are indicated in the lyric: Al wa es fra me went, sen ]aat my hert es brent In Criste luf sa swete . . . (11. 345-346) Jhesu, my dere and my drewry, delyte ert pou to syng. (1.341) The song begun in this life will be continued in heaven for ever: And I lufe sal syng thorow syght of ]pi schynyng In heven withowten endyng. (11. 362-363)

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With this exultant hope of an everlasting union of love in heaven, he concludes the "Cantus Amoris" and the Ego Dormio. In the first part of the Form of Living45 Rolle gives instructions "how J^ou may dispose ]si lyfe and rewle it to Goddes will" (p. 102). But he is aware that his disciple, Margaret de Kirkeby, desires "to here some special poynt of |>e luf of Jhesu Criste, and of contemplatyf lyfe" (p. 103), and this he undertakes to teach her. In a brief exposition he outlines the three degrees of love discussed in Ego Dormio. Not all men love God equally. All who keep his commandments certainly love Him; those who keep his counsels love Him more. But there is a higher love than this in which a man feels "mykel joy and swetnes and byrnyng in his lufe" (p. 103). A man to feel this love must be "clene and fylled with his lufe"; he comes to this love with "grete travayle in praier and thynkyng" (p. 103). This is the work of the soul in the second degree of love. To illustrate his meaning Rolle gives Margaret an example of a prayer she may say in her heart that will serve to focus her thoughts on God while she is eating and at other times when she is not engaged in formal prayer or conversation. There follows a short prayer written in verse, expressing love, thanksgiving and petition. As in the lyric embodied in the Ego Dormio as an exemplification of the second degree of love, reference to the passion is included. Christ is addressed as "keyng" three times in this short poem and as "Jhesu" only once, an indication that the fulness of love is not yet reached. The final petition of the prayer is a request for the gift Rolle attaches to the third degree of love - that of song: Jiou gyf me grace to syng Jje sang of jsi lovyng. (11. 37-38)

Rolle goes on to assure Margaret that if she is faithful to prayer and meditation she will grow in the love of Jesus Christ in a short time. A more detailed discussion of the three degrees of love follows, in this case given the labels, "insuperabel", "inseparabel" and "syngulere" (p. 104). Very few, he says, ever receive the third degree of love, for "God gyfes it til wham he wil, bot noght withouten grete grace comand before" (p. 106). If Margaret should be granted this great favour, she may sing to Jesus Christ in her heart this song of love which he is composing for her. She may sing it when she is longing for "hys comyng" and her own "gangyng" forth to union with him (p. 107). A twelve-line 46

References to the Form of Living are from English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 85-119.

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lyric of ardent love and longing for union and the vision of heaven follows. The ideas of the Ego Dormio lyric of love-longing are repeated here; some of the lines are almost identical; the sweetness of love and the burning of love are mentioned but song is not nor is the Holy Name. The omission of reference to the gift of song may be accounted for by the prefacing instruction that makes the whole poem a song to be sung in the heart: "And ymang other afFeccions and sanges ]DOU may in ^i langyng syng J)is in Jsi hert til ^i Lord Jhesu" (p. 107). The absence of direct address to the Holy Name is unusual but interesting here in view of the comment Rolle had made on this devotion a few sentences before the composition of the lyric. He says: "Bot f>e sawle jsat es in J>e thyrd degre . . . es anely comforted in loving and lufyng of God and til ]se dede com es syngand gastly til Jhesu, and in Jhesu, and Jhesu, noght bodily cryand wyth mouth" (p. 106). It is sufficient that the name be in the heart. Immediately following the lyric is a chapter on devotion to the Holy Name in which Rolle points out its wonderful effects on the soul. " jjis name Jhesu", he says, "fest it swa fas tin Jai hert, Jsat it come never out of t>i thoght" (p. 108). Rolle has written one lyric dedicated to the Holy Name, A Salutation to Jesus.16 Reverence, confidence, faith and love inspire the invocations to Jhesu, my creatowre (1. 1), Jhesu, mi saveowre (1. 2), Jhesu, helpe and sokowre (1. 3), Jhesu, Jse blyssed flowre of jai moder virgyne (1. 4), Jhesu, leder to lyght (1. 5), Jhesu, Lorde of Mageste (1. 13), joy J>at lastes ay (1. 14) and all delyte to se (1. 14). A brief sentiment of penitence (1. 12), desire to be God's lover (1. 15), longing to come to Him (1. 16), yearning to see God in heaven (1. 7), and to share in His bliss (1. 9), compassion with the sufferings of Christ (11. 17-20) are themes woven in with the main subject of devotion to the Holy Name. Four of Rolle's lyrics are composed with love as the dominant theme. A Song of the Love of Jesus47 is a sustained exposition of what love is. It covers recommendations and petitions for all three degrees of love. In it are repeated many phrases from the Form of Living and from the Incendium Amoris. In the Form of Living, Rolle asks the question, "What is lufe?" and he answers it: L u f es a byrnand 5ernyng in G o d , with a wonderfull delyte and sykernes. G o d es lyght and byrnyng . . . L u f e es a lyf, copuland togedyr {se lufand and Jse lufed . . . L u f e es desyre of ¡se hert, ay thynkand til ]pat ¡sat it lufes; and 46 47

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 48-49. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 43-47.

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when it hase Jaat it lufes, J?an it joyes, and na thyng may make it sary . . . Verray lufe clenses J)e saule . . . for luf es stalworth als Jae dede, . . . and hard als hell. . . , 4 8 I n t h e lyric these ideas a p p e a r in w o r d i n g t h a t is only slightly d i f f e r e n t : Luf es lyf J)at lastes ay, . . .

(I. 1)

£>e nyght it tournes intil Jje day, . . . Lufe Lufe Lufe Lufe

(1. 3)

es thoght with grete desyre, of a fayre lovyng, I lyken til a fyre, . . . us clenses of oure syn, . . . Jse keynges hert may wyn, lufe of joy may syng. (11. 5-8)

. . . luf copuls G o d and manne. (1. 12) Take til Jse al myne entent, Jsat ¡sow be my 3hernyng. (I. 22) F r a kare it tornes Jsat kyend, and lendes in myrth and glew. (1. 44) F o r luf es stalworth as J>e dede, luf es hard as hell. (1. 48) Miss H. E. Allen has pointed out in Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle (p. 299) that the first sixty lines of this poem are a close translation of scattered sentences f r o m chapters forty and forty-one o f the Incendium Amoris. Indeed, the similarity is very striking both in scattered phrases and in whole blocks, especially from chapter forty-one. T h e stanza in the lyric which reads : If I lufe any erthly thyng ]?at payes to my wyll, And settes my joy and my lykyng when it may come me tyll, I mai drede of partyng, f)at wyll be hate and yll; For al my welth es bot wepyng, when pyne mi saule sal spyll. (11. 29-32) is almost a literal translation of a passage in the Incendium

Amoris:

Si enim amavero aliquam creaturam mundi huius, que mee voluntati per omnia placeret, et posuero gaudium meum et finem solacii mei ac desiderii, quando ad me ipsa eveniret, timere potero de separacione ardente et amara, quoniam omnis felicitas quam habeo in huiusmodi amore, in fine non est nisi fletus et anxietas quando iam prope est, quod pena amarissime animam cruciabit. 49 48 49

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 108-111. Ed. Deanesly, 272-273.

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63

Lines forty-nine to sixty of the poem translate another block from the Incendium Amoris: Luf es a lyght byrthen, lufe gladdens 5ong and aide; Luf es a gastly wynne, pat makes men bygge and balde. Luf es Jse swettest thyng {sat man in erth hase tane; Luf es Goddes derlyng; lufe byndes blode and bane. For me and my lufyng, lufe makes bath be ane. Bot fleschly lufe sal fare as dose J^e flowre in May, And lastand be na mare {jan ane houre of a day ; And sythen syghe fui sare J w lust, Jsar pryde, J>ar play, When ]Dai er casten in kare til pyne J>at lastes ay. In the Incendium Amoris we read the following sentences which cover exactly these ideas : Amor enim est levis sarcina, . . . que iuvenes cum senibus letificai, . . . Amor est vinum spirituale inebrians mentes electorum, et faciens provectos et viriles, ut venenosam mundi delectacionem obliviscantur, et nec cogitare curent, immo de hac vehementer dedignentur; . . . Amor igitur res dulcissima est et utilissima quam unquam accepit creatura racionalis. Est enim Deo amor acceptissimus et dilectissimus, qui ligat non solum nexibus sapiencie et suavitatis Deoque coniungit, sed eciam carnem et sanguinem constringit. . . . Verumtamen carnalis dileccio prosperabitur et peribit quemadmodum flos agri in estate, et non erit amplius exultans et existens quam si non nisi per diem unum perdurarci, . . . Superbia eorum, et ludus in falsa pulchritudine, in putredinem et turpitudinem detrudetur, quoniam iam precipitati sunt in tormentum, quod cum eis erit in eternum. 50 "Calor", "canor" and "dulcor" are prominent in the poem. Heat is mentioned more than once: "Lufe I lyken to a fyre" (1. 6); "Lufe es hatter Jsen cole" (1. 13); "Jse flawme of lufe" (1. 14). Song is spoken of as the usual accompaniment of love: If Jsat my sawle had herd and hent Jse sang of Jsi lovyng. (1. 24) If ]?ou wil lufe, jsan may Jsou syng til Cryst in melody. (1. 67) 50

Ed. Deanesly, 274-275.

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Sweetness and joy flow into the soul with love: In myrth he lyfes, nyght and day, Jsat lufes Jjat swete chylde; (1.73) J)ar es na tonge in erth may tell of lufe ¡3e swetnesse. jsat stedfastly in lufe kan dwell, his joy es endlesse. (11. 89—90)

The doctrine of the indwelling of God in the soul is one that has little prominence in Rolle's writings. It appears here in much the same words as it is stated in the Ego Dormio: If Jsou luf in all ]?i thoght, and hate ]?e fylth of syn, A n d gyf hym £>i sawle, Jsat it boght, Jaat he J)e dwell within. (11. 37-38)

In the Ego Dormio he writes: "For he wil with Jse dwelle, if Jsou lufe hym." 5 1 Julian of Norwich in her Revelations of Divine Love gives this doctrine of the indwelling of God in man's soul an important place in her teaching on divine love. It is simply a difference of point of view. Rolle usually writes of man's love for God and his yearnings for union with Him; Julian commonly writes of God's love for man, and she feels filled with gratitude at this wonderful manifestation of it. Neither one excludes the point of view of the other; but the emphasis is different. References to the spirit of penitence (11. 37, 57-66), to the passion (11. 80, 85-88), and to the Holy Name supplement the main theme. In the last stanza the confident devotion to the Holy Name, the ardent love-longing and yearning for the eternal vision of heaven, and the hopeful spirit of joy are summed up in a great overflow of sincere and tender feeling: Jhesu es lufe £>at lastes ay, till hym es owre langyng. Jhesu Jse nyght turnes to jse day, |>e dawyng intil spryng. Jhesu, thynk on us n o w and ay, for ]pe we halde oure keyng. Jhesu, gyf us grace, as jsou wel may, to luf £>e withowten endyng. (11. 93-96)

A Song of Love-longing to Jesus has some lines identical with and some similar to those in the Ego Dormio lyrics. It is a strange medley of the aspirations that belong to all three degrees of love. As the poem opens, it would seem to reveal the state of soul of one in the early stages of love. The poet is asking for the courage and determination to seek God only and for the grace of detachment from the world in order that God 51

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 61.

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65

may be his love. He begs for the virtue of meekness and protests his hatred of pride and anger, the two vices which Rolle most often repudiates.52 He makes his request for the grace of purity of soul, which belongs to the first degree of love, "And make me clene of syn, £>at I may come Jje tylle." (1. 16); for recollection, which belongs to the second degree of love, "Jjat I {si lufe may wyn, of grace my thoght {sou fylle. (1. 15); and for the sweetness and fire that belong to the third degree of love: Me langes, lede me to Jpi lyght, and festen in Jse al my thoght. In ]pi swetnes fyll my hert . . . (11. 7 - 8 ) . . . of lufe J3011 kyndel Jse fyre, J)at I in swet lovyng with aungels take my hyre. (11. 11-12)

Three stanzas of love-longing in the centre of the poem are taken, with some re-arrangement and slight changes, from the "Cantus amoris" of the Ego Dormio. These are followed by lines on the passion made up of phrases drawn from the "Meditacio de passione Christi" in the Ego Dormio. The first thirty-two lines of this poem are requests or reflections made in the first person; the next ten lines refer to the passion of Christ and are written in the third person singular; the next four lines are impersonal except for one first person plural pronoun and corresponding adjective; the last two lines are addressed to a second person. It seems hardly credible that Rolle, after making such a careful distinction between the second and third degrees of love in the Ego Dormio lyrics, would mix lines from the two poems in such a disorderly manner in this lyric. The shifting of point of view also gives it a very patchwork quality. Even though it is ascribed to Rolle in Longleat MS. 29,53 one wonders if it may not be the work of one of his imitators who did not see the significance of what he was doing in the Ego Dormio. The two lyrics, Thy Joy be in the Love of Jesus54 and The Nature of Love,55 are addressed to beginners in the life of love. The first of these, Thy Joy be in the Love of Jesus, is an urgent exhortation to such a novice to give his love to God. Rolle points out the difficult preliminary steps to be taken by the earnest soul, and the joys that may be hoped for: 52 Cf. A Salutation to Jesus {ibid., 78, line 12); also Thy Joy be in the Love of Jesus (ibid., 52, line 5). 53 Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 299. 54 English Writing of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 52-53. 55 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 49-51.

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JJOU kepe his byddyngs ten; hald Jse fra dedely synne; Forsake £>e j o y of men, jaat {sou his lufe may wynne. Jsi hert of hym sal bren with lufe Jsat never sal twynne. Langyng he will J)e len heven to w o n withinne. (11. 17-20)

Recollection and meditation on the passion, recommendations belonging to the second degree of love are briefly mentioned: In Cryst jaou cast ]pi thoght, j^ou hate all wreth and pryde, A n d thynk h o w he Jae boght with w o u n d e s depe and wyde. (11. 5 - 6 ) {sou thynk o n hys mekenes, h o w pore he was borne. Behald, his blody flesch es prikked with thorne. (11. 21-22)

The soul that is steadfast in love, longing, and praying, "Bryng me to Jsi lyght, J)i melodi to here" (1. 32), is promised joy, sweetness and the fire of love: Joy in jai brest es bredde, w h e n ]pou ert hym lufand. Jji sawle pan hase he fedde, in swete lufe brennand. (11. 35-36)

There is reference in this lyric to the predilection for a sitting position: With j o y ]pou take his trace, and seke to sytt hym nere. (1. 14)

This lyric lacks the intensely personal and ecstatic character of the lyrics in which Rolle pours out his love-longing and his tender devotion to the Holy Name. The Holy Name is not mentioned once. The reason may be that Rolle is concentrating here on the first degree of love, even though he includes some instructions proper to the second degree; and devotion to the Holy Name does not belong to the first degree. The other possible explanation is that he was following his own explicit statement in the Form of Living that it was sufficient that the name of Jesus be in the heart and mind; it need not be cried aloud. 56 The exhortations of The Nature of Love are also addressed to those not far advanced in the life of love. The recommendations are suitable to persons in the first and second degrees who are desirous of being lovers of God: All vanitese forsake, if Jsou his lufe will fele. (1. 1) Of synne J)e bitternes, ]aou fle ay fast ]?erfra. Jais worldes wikkednes, let it noght with fie ga. (11. 5 - 6 ) 86

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed., Allen, 106.

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67

]se world, cast it behynd, and say: 'Jhesu, my swete, Fast in f>i lufe me bynd, and gyf me grace to grete, To lufe {se over al thyng; (11. 25-27)

The more positive aspects of recollection, prayer and devotion to the Holy Name, exercises belonging to the second degree of love, are urged in the last stanza: Take Jhesu in {si thynkyng, his lufe he will {se send. {si lufe and {si lykyng, in hym {sou lat it lend. And use {se in praiyng, {sarin {sou may be mend, Swa Jsat {sow hafe {si keyng in joy withowten endyng. (11. 57-60)

The rewards of a life of love are re-phrased from lines 327-329 of the "Cantus Amoris" of Ego Dormio. In that lyric they are a personal outpouring of love-longing: When wil {sou me kali? me langes to {si hall, To se {se jsan al; {si luf, lat it not fal. My hert payntes {se pall {sat steds us in stal.57

Here they are a sober argument to persuade the reader of the advantage of choosing God for his love: His lufe es lyf of all {sat wele lyvand may be. {sou sted hym in {si stal, lat hym noght fra {se fle. Ful sone he wil {se call ({si setell es made for {se), And have {se in his hall, ever his face to se. (11. 45-58)

In spite of the serious, penitential tone of this lyric, there are a few lines expressive of the joy of loving God. Rolle is never gloomy in his love of God. Even penance, undertaken for the love of God, is a joyful thing, and the rewards of fidelity are happiness in this life and union in the next: For joy {si hert burd brest, to have swylk a swetyng. (1. 43) When {se dede neghes negh, and {sou sail hethen wende, {sou sal hym se wyth hegh, and come til Cryste {si frende. (11. 39-40)

One lyric ascribed to Rolle in Longleat MS. 2958 is wholly penitential in tone. It is the Exhortation,59 beginning "All synnes sal {sou hate 57 58 69

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 71. Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 297. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 39.

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thorow castyng of skylle." Following a warning that "Dede dynges al sa sare, Jsat nane may defende; . . . For {ai of synn make t>e bare, J>ou knawes not Jji ende." (11. 10, 12), the poet passes on to a description of the Day of Judgment. The little poem draws to a close with the expression of hope and joy which we always find in Rolle's attitude towards penance. The Judgment must be feared by those who are not God's friends; but for his faithful ones who have loved God and hated sin here, it is a day of triumph. They will go forth with joy to take their long-awaited places within the kingdom of heaven: {sat day owre joy sal begyn, jaat here suffers pyne; Owre flesch wytt of mykel wyn and bryght as sonn schyne. Owre setels heven ar within, me lyst sytt in myne. Lufe Criste and hate syn, and sa purches fie Jaine. (11. 21-24)

The authorship of A Song of Mercy is not certain. Miss Allen prints it in the English Writings of Richard Rollem as one of those from the Cambridge MS. Dd. v. 64 which "seem certainly to be covered by the colophon there ascribing lyrics to Rolle", 61 but in her earlier volume, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, she had written that "the poem needs more external evidence to make Rolle's authorship certain". 62 The poem is written in praise of mercy, and is informed by a spirit of confidence in that attribute of God in his dealings with men. In life and at the hour of death, mercy is, for Rolle, his guiding beacon, his source of trust, his help, his salvation. The word "mercy" is repeated over and over in the poem; it is used nineteen times in the twenty-four lines; it is the pivot about which the reflections turn as the various depths of its beauty reveal themselves to the contemplating mind. Mercy is "curtayse and kynde" (1. 2), that is, it treats its object with respect and consideration and charity; mercy is powerful in lifting one from the bonds of evil, "fra al mischeves he mai me rayse" (1. 2); mercy guides one's final faltering steps in this life and saves him from the fiend, "lede me at |>e last, when I owt of Jsis world sal wende; . . . ^at JDOU save me fra ]?e fende" (11. 5-6); mercy is true and dependable and always ready to respond to man's appeal, "it fayles noght" (1. 8); mercy is the comfort and nourishment of the soul, "Jsat es my solace and my fode" (1. 12); mercy is most worthy of esteem because, through mercy, man's salvation was accomplished, "for thorogh mercy was I boght" (1. 10); mercy transcends and 60 61 62

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 40-41. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 37. Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 298.

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comprehends the wretchedness of men, "Mercy es sa hegh a poynt, ^ar may na syn it suppryse" (1. 19); mercy embraces both our particular needs and our general condition; it is the source and ground of all our confidence, "Mercy es bath al and some; Jjarin I trayst and after pray" (1.24). The appeal for mercy from the creature to the Sovereign Being, "Jsou graunte mercy" (1. 12); the request to be conducted to the presence of the Beloved in the royal tower; the desire to gaze upon the beauty of the Loved One, "And bring me til £e rial toure, whare I mai se mi God sa bryght" (1. 16); these concepts establish a contact with the courtly love tradition, but at the same time transcend it in the recognition of the futility of the artificial convention when placed in juxtaposition with the reality of God's power to extend true mercy, "JDOU graunte mercy, ]sat mercy may" (1. 12). Rolle's characteristic desire to turn into song the enthusiastic conviction welling up in his heart is expressed here in a manner which foreshadows the eternizing conceit of later poetry, "God of al, Lorde and Keyng, I pray £e, Jhesu, be my frende, / Sa J)at I may mercy syng in Jsi blys withowten ende" (11. 17-18). The richness of Rolle's poem is deepened by the addition of legal associations to the theological and literary relationships already pointed out. In the final stanza the poet prays that God's mercy may be at hand to preserve his soul when he comes before his Judge at the last great court of Judgment: Lord, lat it noght be aloynt, w h e n ¡3ou sal sett gret assyse. With jay mercy m y sawle anoynt, w h e n I sal c o m e to Jsi jugise. Til Juge sal I c o m e , bot I wate noght m y day. (11. 2 1 - 2 3 )

These lines bring forward an interesting question. About the year 1366 Chaucer translated Guillaume de Deguilleville's poem, Pèlerinage de l'Ame, composed in 1330 or 1331.63 Lines 55-56 of that poem read: Las ! mes quant la grant assise Sera, se n'y es assise 6 4

Chaucer translates these in the poem he calls A B C as follows: But mercy, lady, at the grete assyse, W h a n w e shul c o m e bifore the hye Iustyse ! (11. 36-37) 63 64

Chaucer, Complete Works, ed. W. Skeat, I, 59. Chaucer. Complete Works, ed. W. Skeat, I, 261.

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The likeness in thought and wording in lines 21-22 of Rolle's Song of Mercy (quoted above) and in lines 36-37 of Chaucer's ABC raises the question of the possible influence of Rolle's poem on Chaucer. The similarity may be purely accidental, but it is striking and may indicate an impression left on Chaucer's mind by an earlier reading of Rolle's poem. Rolle has written no lyrics in English on the Virgin Mary. He has, however, composed in her honour, in Latin, one long poem, the Canticum Amoris. The poem has definite lyrical qualities. The metre is musical - the four stress line with a variable number of unstressed syllables between the stresses. The poem is filled with praises of Our Lady and with the poet's love which breaks out in joyful song: Letum carmen concino, pondus portans spei, Et amore langueo resplendentis rei. Celo est serenior inquisita mei; Omnibus amancior, sum electus ei. (Stanza 31) 65

Rolle's lyrics have beauty in their melody and intensity. They celebrate the loftiest emotion possible - that of love of God - in simple, sincere words. The medium of verse seems, however, not to have been the most congenial mode of expression for his gift of "canor". The passages of lyrical intensity in his prose seem to me to reveal the deepest emotions of his soul more completely than do his few lyrics.

65 Ed. André Wilmart, Revue d'Ascétique et de Mystique, 21 (1940), 143-148. For a translation of the Canticum Amoris see Appendix A. Text, Appendix B.

Ill JULIAN OF NORWICH (1342 - ca. 1416)1

Julian of Norwich shared Richard Rolle's intense devotion to the passion of Christ. The tender compassion Rolle expresses for Christ's sufferings in his prose Meditations on the Passion, and more particularly in his Lyrics, informs and animates Julian's Revelations of Divine Love. On May 8,1373, 2 Julian experienced a series of fifteen visions or "shewynges" beginning early in the morning "aboute the oure of iiij" and proceeding in steady succession "tylle it was none of Jje day or paste" (chapter 65). The sixteenth took place on the night following, "whych xvj", she says, "was conclusyon and confirmation to all the xv" (chapter 66). In her book Julian records the visions shown to her of the sufferings of Christ, and the spiritual teaching imparted to her on the soul's relations with God. There is little sense of progression in the successive revelations; Julian moves freely within the range of her favourite topics, namely, the Holy Trinity, the passion and the redemption, sin, the attributes of God, especially his mercy and love, prayer, union with God, and veneration for the Virgin Mary. 1 The date of Julian's birth can be fixed from her own statement that she was thirty and a half years of age when the revelations took place in May, 1373. She must have been born at the end of the year 1342. The date of her death is not certain but there are indications that she was living as late as 1416. The scribe of the 1413 MS says that the Revelations are the work of "a devoute woman and her name es Iulyan that is recluse atte Norwyche and yitt ys on lyfe." (Quoted in the Introduction to Dom Roger Hudleston's edition of the Revelations of Divine Love, p. v.) Sister Anna Maria Reynolds reports in her article, "Some Literary Influences in the Revelations of Julian of Norwich" (Leeds Studies in English 1 (1952), 18, note 1), that Dom Aelred Watkin has found references to Julian in wills dated 1404 and 1415. Father Paul Molinari, S. J., notes a third will, dated 1416, in which Julian is mentioned (Julian of Norwich, p. 7). It would seem, then, that she was still living in 1416. These wills give us the additional information that her anchorhold was at St. Julian's Church, Conisford, Norwich, where she lived with a companion or servant (Molinari, Julian of Norwich, p. 7). Apart from these few facts we know nothing of Julian of Norwich, except that Margery Kempe tells of visiting Dame Julian and reports the conversation she held with her (The Book of Margery Kempe, chapter 18). 2 Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, chapter 2.

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For some time before May 8, 1373, the date on which Julian's "shewynges" began, she had desired three gifts of God - the first, she tells us, was "mynd of the passion"; the second was "bodilie sicknes"; and the third was "to haue of godes gyfte thre woundys" (chapter 2). The object of the first wish was a desire to share with Christ's true lovers a knowledge of his physical pains and a compassion for him in his sufferings. She tells us that she earnestly longed for . . . more knowledge of the bodily paynes of our sauiour, and of the compassion of our lady and of all his true louers that were lyuyng that tyme and saw his paynes; for I would haue be one of them and haue suffered with them, (chapter 2)

The illness which she asked for was to be a serious one, bringing in its wake "all maner of paynes, bodily and ghostly . . . all the dredys and temptations of fiendis" (chapter 2). The purpose of this illness was that she . . . would be purgied by the mercie of god, and after liue more to the worshippe of god by cause of that sicknes, for I hoped that it might haue ben to my reward when I should haue died. For I desyred to haue ben with my god and maker, (chapter 2)

Her third desire - to receive "thre woundes" by the grace of God - embraces the end results of the other two. The three wounds of which she speaks (chapter 2) are the wound of "verie contricion" (from which her second desire of bodily illness stemmed), the wound of "kynd compassion" (towards which her desire for "mynd of the passion" was directed), and the wound of "willfull longing to god", which includes her wish to be one of God's true lovers associated with the first desire, and her eagerness to be soon with God, specifically mentioned in the request for the purifying illness. And at the age of thirty and a half her three desires were fulfilled. Afflicted with a grave illness she hung between life and death for seven days. By this time the lower half of her body was paralyzed, but her mind was clear and occupied with thoughts of God. The bystanders, believing her to be dying, sent for her curate to be present at her death. He placed a crucifix before her and commanded her to look upon it that she might draw comfort therefrom. Though her eyes were set on heaven where she "trusted to come by the mercie of god", nevertheless she turned them to the crucifix and thence began her series of extraordinary visions (chapter 3), manifested to her on three levels of experience: that of bodily

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sight, that of words formed in her understanding, and that of ghostly sight (chapter 9). Her own words describe the circumstances under which the revelations were made more picturesquely and more accurately than could any paraphrase: After this my sight began to feyle. It waxid as darke aboute me in the chamber as if it had ben nyght, saue in the image of the crosse, wher in held a comon light; After this the over part of my bodie began to die so farforth that unneth I had anie feeling. My most payne was shortnes of breth and faielying of life. . . . And in this sodenly all my paine was taken from me, and I was as hole, and namely in fie over parte of my bodie, as ever I was befor. I merveiled of this sodeyn change, for my thought that it was a previe working of god, and not of kynd; Then cam sodenly to my mynd that I should desyer the second wound of our lordes gifte, and of his grace that my bodie might be fulfilled with mynd and feeling of his blessed passion, as I had before praied. For I would that his paynes were my paynes, with compassion and afterwards langyng to god. . . . But in this I desyred never no bodily sight ne no maner schewing of god, but compassion as me thought that a kynd soule might haue with our lord Jesu, that for loue would become a deadly man. With him I desyred to suffer, liuyng in my deadly bodie, as god would giue me grace. And in this sodenly I saw the reed bloud rynnyng downe from vnder the garlande, hote and freyshely, plentuously and liuely, right as it was in the tyme that the garland of thornes was pressed on his blessed head. Right so, both god and man, the same that sufferd for me (chapters 3-4) Thus the three desires merged. In her bodily illness a spirit of contrition inspired her to hope for entrance into eternal bliss "by the mercie of god" (chapter 6); at the same time she was vouchsafed the series of visions which fulfilled her desire to have "mynd of the passion" (chapter 2) and which filled her heart with compassion for her suffering Saviour and with love and longing for Him. For the next five hours the showings continued in steady succession, presenting to Julian not only a vivid, realistic view of the physical sufferings of Christ but profound revelations of the love of God for man. The full implications of what she saw did not present themselves to her mind immediately, but for twenty years thereafter, save three months, she tells us, she had teaching inwardly (chapter 51). What she records for us in her account of the revelations is the result not only of her immediate experience but also of her twenty years of meditation upon it. For our purpose in laying the groundwork for a study of Julian's influence, however slight it may be, on the lyric literature of the fifteenth

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century, the most profitable method of examing her Revelations will be in the light of what she had to say on those subjects which constitute the principal themes of the lyric compositions of the period. Julian's attitudes towards these - devotion to the Holy Name, the passion, divine love, the Virgin Mary, and penitence, mercy and death - may be discovered in the record of her visions and of her reflections upon them. 1. DEVOTION TO THE HOLY NAME

Julian nowhere expressly recommends this devotion or comments upon its efficacy. She does, however, use the Holy Name many times in her narrative, always with great reverence, but not with the direct, confident address inspired by loving devotion. It seems very improbable to me that Julian made any contribution towards the very great increase in the use of the Holy Name observable in the lyrics of the period.

2. THE PASSION

In the opening pages of the record of her revelations, Julian gives us a summary of the subjects of the sixteen showings. The first, second, fourth and eight describe with more particular detail the physical pains of the crowning with thorns, the discolouring of Christ's face, the scourging and the death of Christ. Like Rolle, Julian describes Christ's sufferings with vivid realistic detail. But unlike him, she confines herself to the physical aspects of the passion, taking no cognizance of the mental sufferings that accompanied them. This is to be expected since Julian's eyes during the revelations were focussed on the figure of the crucified Christ on the cross. The sacred body bore the crown of thorns and the marks of the scourging and of the brutal and disgusting treatment of the soldiers. These naturally constituted the details which she noted, and inspired the pity and compassion and love with which she regarded them. In her account of the first revelation she records both the horror of the physical pain and the beauty and comfort of God's unselfish love for us as manifested in His willingness to suffer: And in this sodenly I saw the reed bloud rynnyng downe from vnder the garlande, hote and freyshely, plentuously and liuely, right as it was in the tyme that the garland of thornes was pressed on his blessed head. Right so, both god and man, the same that sufferd for me . . . . (chapter 4)

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This shewyng was quyck and lyuely and hidows and dredfulle and swete and louely; and of all the syght that I saw this was most comfort to me, that oure good lorde, that is so reverent and dredfulle, is so homely and so curteyse, and this most fulfyllyd me with lykyng and syckernes in soule. (chapter 7) In relating the fourth and eight showings, the same quality of vivid portrayal infused with tender love and compassion is evident: And after this I saw beholdyng the body plentuous bledyng in semyng of the scoregyng, as thus. The feyer skynne was broken full depe into the tendyr flessch, with sharpe smytynges all about the sweete body. The hote blode ranne out so plentuously that ther was neyther seen skynne ne wounde, but as it were all blode. (chapter 12) After thys Crist shewde a parte of hys passyon nere his dyeng. I saw the swete face as it were drye and blodeles with pale dyeng and deede pale, langhuryng and then turned more deed in to blew, and after in browne blew, as the fleesch turned more depe dede. For his passion shewde to me most propyrly in his blessyd face, and namely in hys lyppes. Ther in saw I these iiij colours: tho £>at were before fressch and rody, lyuely and lykyng to my syght. (chapter 16) And in this dryeng was brought to my mynde this worde that Crist seyd: I thufst. For I sawe in Crist a dowbylle thurst, oon bodely and a nother gostly. This worde was shewyd for the bodyly thurste and for the gostely thurst was shewyd as I shalle sey after; and I vnderstode by the bodyly thurste that the body had feylyng of moyster, for the blessyde flessch and bonys was lefte alle aloone without blode and moyster. The blessyd body dryed alle a loon long tyme, with wryngyng of the nayles and weyght of the body; for I vnderstode that for tendyrnes of the swete handes and the swete feet by the grete hardnes and grevous of the naylys, the woundys waxid wyde, and the body satylde for weyght, by long tyme hangyng and persyng and rawyng of Jse heed and byndyng of the crowne alle bakyn with drye blode, with the swet here clyngyng the drye flessch to the thornys, and the thornys to the flessch dryeng. And in the begynnyng, whyle the fleisch was fressch and bledyng, the contynuelle syttyng of the thornes made the woundes wyde. (chapter 17) The account of each of the revelations, whether specifically relating to the passion or not, is steeped in the spirit of compassion and love and serene confidence. Descriptions of the sufferings of Christ, though vivid, occupy a relatively small part of Julian's book. The understanding of divine truths communicated to her form the more important part of her revelations.

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3. DIVINE LOVE The opening passage of Julian's book sums up the main issues she discusses through the work: This is a reuelacion of loue that Jesu Christ our endles blisse made in xvi shewynges, of which the first is of his precious crownyng of thornes; and ther in was conteined and specified the blessed trinitie with the incarnacion and the vnithing betweene god and mans sowle, with manie fayer schewynges and techynges of endelesse wisdom and loue, in which all the shewynges that foloweth be grovndide and ioyned. (chapter 1) "This is a reuelacion of loue that Jesu Christ, our endles blisse made . . . " . Love is the central theme of Julian's book. "Oure lyfe is alle grounded and rotyd in loue, and without loue we may nott lyve" (chapter 49). For fifteen years and more after the showings took place Julian pondered on Our Lord's meaning in them. Then in her "gostly vnderstondyng" she perceived the answer: "Loue was his menyng" (chapter 86). The reality of God's courteous and "homely louyng" for man and the comfort and security and joy and bliss it brings to the soul run like a refrain through the book. In relating the first vision Julian makes reference to this "homely louyng": In this same tyme that I saw this sight of the head bleidyng, our good lord shewed a ghostly sight of his homely louyng. I saw that he is to vs all thing that is good and comfortable to oure helpe. He is oure clothing, that for loue wrappeth vs and wyndeth vs, halseth vs and all becloseth vs, hangeth about vs for tender loue, jsat he may never leeue vs. And so in this sight I saw that he is all thing that is good, as to my vnderstanding. (chapter 5) . . . And thys wille oure good lorde that we beleue and trust, ioy and lyke, comfort vs and make solace as we may with his grace and with his helpe, in to the tyme that we see it verely. For {ae most fulhede of ioy that we shalle haue, as to my syght, ys thys marvelous curtesy and homelynesse of oure fader, that is oure maker, in oure lorde Iesu Crist, that is oure broder and oure sauior. (chapter 7) In the little colloquy Christ held with Julian at the conclusion of the eighth revelation, his gentle courtesy and his expansive love are well brought out: Then seide oure good lorde askyng: Arte thou well apayd that I sufferyd for thee? I seyde: 3e, good lorde, gramercy; ye, good lorde, blessyd moot

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|DOW be. Then seyde our good lord: If thou arte apayde, I am apayde. It is a joy, a blysse, an endlesse lykyng to me that evyr I sufferd passion for the; and yf I myght haue sufferyd more, I wolde a sufferyd more, (chapter 22) As the series of showings was drawing to a close Julian was acutely conscious of her wretchedness, of her long-standing desire to be delivered from this life, and of her eagerness to participate in the bliss of heaven. In his kindly condescension our Lord consoled her and re-assured her of his love and of her final, unending joy and bliss with him: And to all this oure curteyse lorde answeryd for comfort and pacyens, and seyde these wordes: Sodeynly thou shalte be taken from all thy payne, from alle thy sycknesse, from alle thy dyseses and from alle thy woo. And thou shalte come vp aboue, and thou shalt haue me to thy mede, and thou shalte be fulfyllyd of joye, and thou shalte nevyr more haue no manner of paynne, no manner of sycknes, no manner mysselykyng, no wantyng of wylle, but evyr joy and blysse withoute end. (chapter 64) Furthermore it is the gracious wish of Christ that we should feel this same intimate love and "reverent dred" 3 for Him as He manifests towards us: For oure curtese lorde wylle J^at we be as homely with hym as hart may thyngke or soule may desyer; but be we ware Jjat we take not so rechelously this homelyhed for to leue curtesye. For our lorde hym selfe is souereyn homelyhed, and so homely as he is, as curtesse he is; for he is very curteyse. And the blessyd creatures ]aat shalle be in hevyn with hym with out ende, he wylle haue them lyke vnto hym selfe in alle thyng, and to be lyke to oure lorde perfetly, it is oure very saluacion and oure fulle blysse. (chapter 77) Finally, the book ends in a confident assertion of God's eternal, immutable, magnanimous love: And I sawe fulle surely in this and in alle that or god made vs he lovyd vs, whych loue was nevyr slekyd ne nevyr shalle. And in this loue he hath done alle his werkes, and in this loue he hath made alle thynges profytable to vs, and in this loue oure lyfe is evyr lastyng. In oure makyng we had begynnyng, but the loue wher in he made vs was in hym fro with out begynnyng. In whych loue we haue oure begynnyng, and alle this shalle we see in god with outyn ende. (chapter 86) Linked with this comforting doctrine of the courteous and homely loving of God are other associated concepts: God as our kindly Father; 3

Chapter 75. "For this reverent dred is the feyerrer curtesy that is in hevyn before goddys face."

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God as our Brother and Saviour; God as our sweet and tender Mother; 4 God as our Lord; God as our true Spouse and we as his loved Wife and his Fair Maiden; 5 Jesus as our highest sovereign Friend (chapter 76). Each of these titles carries with it the assurance of the same intimate love and care of God as the "homely louyng" and provides the ground of the secure trust that pervades Julian's book. Such tender, embracing love of God for man creates a bond of "vnithing betweene god and mans sowle" (chapter 1). The understanding of this union between God and man's soul perceived by Julian in the first showing, inspires many passages of extraordinary beauty throughout the Revelations: I s a w t h a t h e is to vs all t h i n g t h a t is g o o d a n d c o m f o r t a b l e t o o u r e h e l p e . H e is o u r e c l o t h i n g , t h a t . . . all becloseth vs, h a n g e t h a b o u t vs f o r t e n d e r l o u e , Jjat h e m a y n e v e r leeue vs. ( c h a p t e r 5) F o r t r u l y o u r e lovyr d e s y e r e t h t h a t t h e s o u l e cleue t o h y m w i t h all t h e m y g h t e s , a n d t h a t w e b e e v e r m o r e cleuyng t o h y s g o o d n e s . . . . f o r o u r e k y n d e l y wille is t o h a u e g o d , a n d t h e g o o d wylle of g o d is t o h a u e vs, a n d w e m a y n e v e r sesse of wyllyng n e of l o u y n g tylle w e h a u e h y m in f u l h e d e of ioy. ( c h a p t e r 6) H y e l y o w e w e t o e n j o y e J>at g o d dwellyth in o u r e s o u l e ; a n d m o r e w e o w e t o e n j o y e t h a t o u r e s o u l e dwellyth in g o d . ( c h a p t e r 54) . . . f o r g o d is n e v y r o u t of t h e soule, in w h y c h h e shalle dwell blessydly w i t h o u t e n d . ( c h a p t e r 55) . . . f o r it is his l y k y n g t o r e i g n e in o u r e v n d e r s t a n d y n g blessydfully, a n d s y t t y t h in o u r e s o u l e r e s t f u l l y , a n d t o dwell in o u r e s o u l e endlessly, vs all w e r k y n g in t o h y m . ( c h a p t e r 57) 4

Chapter 52. The concept of the M o t h e r h o o d of G o d is treated at length in chapters 58 to 63. Paul Molinari, S. J., in his study, Julian of Norwich, says on p. 171 that St. Anselm may rightly be called the originator of the devotion to Our Lord, our M o t h e r . The title also appears in a homily of the twelfth or thirteenth century, entitled by its editor, An Bispel (Old English Homilies of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, ed. Morris, 231-241). 5 Revelations of Divine Love, chapter 58. The idea of G o d as the Spouse of the soul is familiar but that of the soul as the Wife of G o d is rather unusual. Sister A n n a Maria Reynolds, in the article cited in note 1 to this chapter, traces this image to the Canticle of Canticles. In a footnote (page 21, note 16) she refers the reader to D o m Cuthbert Butler's Western Mysticism for a history of this figure. O n p. 160 of that work h e writes: " T h e idea that Jesus Christ or the Divine W o r d is the Bridegroom, and the devout soul the Bride of the Canticle goes back to Origen. . . . It is found not infrequently in Augustine, and at least once in Gregory, but the idea is not emphasized or elaborated, as by Bernard. That consecrated virgins are the 'spouses of Christ' is a very early Christian conception, found, equivalently, in Cyprian. . . . Mystical writers in the West from the time of St. Bernard onwards use the imagery of the 'spiritual marriage' freely, and as a matter of course."

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Julian of Norwich and Richard Rolle both treat love as the central theme of their writings. But their approach is different. Julian's book is a revelation of the love of God for man; Rolle's writings constantly celebrate the love and longing of man for God and the joy that attends the fulfilment of that love. Neither one of them excludes the opposite point of view, but there is a difference in emphasis. Something of this difference in emphasis is observed in their treatment of union with God. Julian repeatedly refers to the union of man's will with God's will and to the consummation of this union in heaven, whereas Rolle is constantly reaching out for an ecstatic union of love here in life and in eternity. Julian speaks more frequently than does Rolle of the indwelling of God in the soul while it is on this earth. But we miss in Julian's work the intensity of the love-longing which we find in Rolle's, though it is there in a minor key, and the constant yearning for death as the immediate means to the fulfilment of the union of love. 4. DEVOTION TO THE VIRGIN M A R Y

Julian was granted a glimpse of the person and of the personality of the Virgin Mary. Her person she beheld in three different circumstances: "The furst was as she conceyvyd, the secunde as she was in her sorowes vnder the crosse, and the thurde was as she is now in lykynge worschyppe and joy " (chapter 25). Of Our Lady's personality Julian was vouchsafed a knowledge of the virtues of her soul, "her truth, her wysdom, her cheryte" (chapter 25). Julian's sight of Mary's truth and wisdom, manifest in Mary's recognition of "the greatnes of her maker and the littlehead of her selfe" made Julian understand that Mary "is more then all that god made beneth her in wordines and in fullhead" (chapter 4). In her eighth revelation, Julian witnessed the grief and compassion of Mary at the foot of the Cross: Here I saw in parte the compassion of our blessed lady sainct Mary: for Crist and she was so onyd in loue that the grettnes of her loue was cause of the grettnes of her peyne. . . . For ever the hygher, the myghtyer, the swetter that the loue is, the more sorow it is to the lover to se that body in payne that he lovyd. (chapter 18)

God's great love for his blessed Mother was shown to Julian in the sight she had of her at the time of Christ's passion: And with thys chere of myrth and joy our good lord lokyd downe on Jje ryght syde, and brought to my mynde where our lady stode in the tyme of hys

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passion, and sayd: Willt thou see her? And in this swete word, as yf he had seyd, I wott welle that thou wilt se my blessyd mother, for after my selfe she is the hyghest joy that I myght shewe the and most lykyng and worschyppe to me, and most she is desyred to be seen of alle my blessyd creatures. And for Jje mervelous hygh and syngular loue ]sat he hath to thys swete mayden, his blessyd mother layde sainct Mary, he shewyth her blysse and ioy as by the menyng of thys swete word, as yf he seyde, wylte thou se how that I loue her, that thou myght joy with me in ]ae loue that I haue in her and she in me? (chapter 25)

Through the Redemption Mary has become Mother of us all, for, writes Julian, "she that is moder of oure savyoure is mother of all Jsat ben savyd in our savyour" (chapter 57). Julian rejoices in Mary's privileges and virtues; she grieves with her with tender pity in her sorrow beneath the cross of Christ; she trusts her as a loving Mother; she joins with her in spirit in her present joyous worship of God in the kingdom of heaven. 5. PENITENCE, MERCY AND DEATH

The central point of Julian's teaching on the necessity of avoiding sin is that our efforts in this direction should spring from love rather than from fear: . . . the same blessyd loue techyth vs that we shalle hate syn only for loue. And I am suer by my awne felyng, the more that ech kynde soule seeth this in the curtesse loue of our lorde god, the lother is hym to synne, and the more he is asschamyd. (chapter 40)

If, through our blindness and wretchedness, we do fall into sin, we must amend ourselves "upon techyng of holy chyrch" and "go forth with god in loue." (chapter 52). God in his love and wisdom permits his loved ones to be "lowhyd and dyspysed in thys worlde, scornyd and mokyd and cast out". His purpose in this is "for to lett the harme jsat they shulde take of the pompe and of the pryde and the veyne glorye of thys wrechyd lyffe, and make ther wey redy to come to hevyn in blysse" (chapter 28). God's love not only provides measures to protect man from the false allurements of the world, but also reaches out to assist him when he has fallen victim to them. It is by the "swet lyght of mercy and grace" that God shows us our sinful condition. Then, when we have been stirred by contrition to prayer and desire of amendment, he, in his mercy and grace,

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receives our soul in joy "as ofte tymes as it comyth by the gracious werkyng of the holy goste and the vertu of Cristes passion" (chapter 40). Julian defines and describes the mercy of God in gentle, hopeful words: . . . mercy is a swete gracious werkyng in loue, medlyd with plentuous pytte, for mercy werkyth vs kepyng, and mercy werkyth turnyng to vs all thyng to good, (chapter 48) Julian's attitude towards death underwent a slight modification during the time of her revelations. At the beginning of her grave illness her reflections reveal her detachment from the world and her resignation to the will of God, and her desire to be with God, but they also reveal her desire to live a little longer that she might grow to love God better: And yet I felt a great loathsomnes to die, but for nothing that was in earth that me lyketh to leue for, ne for no payne that I was afrayd of, for I trusted in god of his mercie. But it was for I would have leued to haue loueved god better and longer tyme, that I might by the grace of that leuyng haue the more knowing and louying of god in the blisse of heauen. For my thought all that tyme that I had leued heer so litle and so shorte - in regard of that endlesse blisse, I thought nothing. Wherefore I thought: Good lord, may my leuyng no longer be to thy worshippe. And I vnderstode in my reason and by the feelyng of my paynes that I should die, and I ascentyd fully to all the will of myn hart to be at gods will, (chapter 3) At the time of the fifteenth revelation, Julian speaks again of her desire for death. There is now no mention of a wish to remain longer on this earth even for the purpose of growing in the love of God. Her eager longing is to be freed from the pain of this life and to possess her Lord in everlasting bliss: Afore this tyme I had grete longyng and desyer of goddys gyfte to be delyuerde of this worlde and of this lyfe, for oft tymes I behelde Jje woo that is here and Jje wele and the blessyd beyng that is there; and yf there had no payne ben in this lyfe but the absens of oure lorde, me thought some tyme Jjat it was more than I myght bere, and this made me to morne and besely to longe, and also of my owne wretchydnesse, slowth and werynesse Jsat my lykyd not to lyue and to traveyle as me fell to do. (chapter 64) A brief summary of Rolle's and Julian's positions in regard to these themes we have been discussing and which constitute the subject matter of the lyrics of the period will help to indicate in what areas their influence may have converged and in what areas they had no common ground.

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Julian often uses the Holy Name and always with the greatest reverence, but there is not in her work, as there is in Rolle's, any specific indications of particular devotion to the Holy Name. Rolle and Julian both exhibit a great devotion to the passion of Christ and a sincere compassion with him in his physical sufferings, which they describe with vivid, realistic detail. But Julian does not touch upon the spiritual agonies of Christ in his passion, an aspect which Rolle treats with tender sympathy and understanding. Love of God is the central theme in the writings of each, though handled, as I have indicated, from a different point of view: Rolle from that of man's love of God; Julian from that of God's love for man. This different point of view involves a difference of presentation which 1 shall discuss later. Julian does not discuss the superiority of the contemplative life over the active life, nor does she attempt to define what contemplation is, matters with which Rolle was greatly concerned. Julian's whole book, however, may be said to be a record of the experience of one in the higher stages of the contemplative life of union with the God of love. Both write with love and confidence of Mary, the Mother of God, and with tender pity for her sorrow in the time of Christ's passion. Both teach the necessity of hating sin and of contrition for it, and the obligation of living a clean and holy life. Just as Rolle so frequently cried out against the vain attractions of this world, so too Julian points out the worthlessness of "the pompe and of the pryde and of the veyne glorye of thys wrechyd lyffe" (chapter 28), and the need to turn from its attractions to prepare for union with the Beloved. Both celebrate the mercy of God and urge confidence and trust in his boundless goodness. Both express a longing for death as the gateway to the fulfilment of union with God. Perhaps the most striking similarity in the works of Rolle and of Julian is the abounding spirit of joy that pervades them. We have already seen how this spirit of joy is an integral part of Rolle's love of God; let us examine it now in Julian's Revelations. The understanding Julian received in the first "shewyng" of the great joy brought to the soul by God's homely loving was made clear to her by the example of a solemn king treating a poor servant with intimacy, both publicly and privately. Her reflections on this illustration and her application of the situation to the relationship between God and man are filled with joy: This bodely example was shewde so hygh that thys mannes hart myght be rauyssched and almost foryet hym selfe for ioy of thys grette homelynesse. Thus it faryth by oure Lord Ihesu and by vs, for verely it is the most ioy that may be, as to my syght, that he that is hyghest and myghtyest, noblyest

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and wurthyest, is lowest and mekest, hamlyest and curtysest. And truly and verely this marvelous ioy shalle he shew vs all when we shall see hym. And thys wille oure good lorde that we beleue and trust, ioy and lyke, comfort vs and make solace as we may with his grace and with his helpe, in to the tyme that we see it verely. For the most fulhede of ioy that we shalle haue, as to my syght, ys thys marvelous curtesy and homelynesse of oure fader, that is oure maker, in oure lorde Iesu Crist, that is oure broder and oure sauior. (chapter 7) Life in this world would be unbearable penance if we had not the love and protection of God which turns all to joy. The figure of Christ as our Keeper in whom we may confidently trust is frequently found in the Revelations: This place is pryson, this lyfe is pennaunce, and in Jse remedy he wylle that we enjoy. The remedy is Jjat oure lorde is with vs, kepyng vs and ledyng in to fulhed of joy; for this is an endlesse joy to vs in oure lordes menyng, that he that shalle be oure blesse when we are there, he is oure keper whyle we are here, oure wey and oure hevyn in tru loue and feythfulle trust. And of this he gaue vnderstandyng in alle, and namely in shewyng of his passion, where he made me myghtly to chose hym for my hevyn. Flee we to oure lorde, and we shall be comfortyd. Touch we hym, and we shalle be made cleene. Cleve we to hym, and we shalle be suer and safe from alle manner of peryllys. (chapter 77) Brief sentences scattered through the book betray Julian's abiding sense of joy: . . . and alle was thys to make vs glad and mery in loue. (chapter 38) For he longyth evyr for to bryng vs to the fulhed of joy. . . . (chapter 40) For these wordes that god seyd is an endlesse comfort: I kepe the fulle truly, (chapter 40) . . . we haue lastyngly mater of joy, for endlesse loue made hym to suffer, (chapter 52) The hyghest blesse that is is to haue god in cleerte of endlesse lyght, hym verely seyng, hym swetly felyng, hym all peasable havyng in full hede of j o y s . . . (chapter 73) Her tremendous optimism and secure confidence in God are written into the two passages that are, perhaps, most characteristic of her and most popularly known. The first is the conclusion to the instruction she received on the problem of existence in the little thing, "the quantitie of an haselnot" in the palm of her hand. Upon reflection she saw three properties in this "little thing": The first is £>at god made it, the secund that god loueth it, the thirde that god kepyth it. But what behyld I ther in? Verely, the maker, the keper, the louer.

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For till I am substantially vnyted to him I may never haue full reste ne verie blisse ; . . . . (chapter 5)

and the other is her final reassurance that God, her Maker, her Keeper and her Lover can and will make all things work together unto good : And thus oure good lorde answeryd to allé the questyons and dow5tys that I myght make, sayeng full comfortabely : I may make aile thyng wele, and I can make allé thyng welle, and I shalle make allé thyng wele, and I wylle make allé thyng welle; and thou shalt se thy self Jjat aile maner of thyng shall be welle. (chapter 31)

Julian and Rolle both write with a dignity deriving from the nature of their subject; both write of their personal experiences; both write with the same purpose in view. In the Incendium Amoris, Rolle says, "universos excito ad amorem" 6 and this may be applied to his works in general; in the Revelations, Julian says: For truly I saw and understode in oure lordes menyng that he shewde it for he wyll haue it knowyng more than it is. In whych knowyng he wylle geve vs grace to loue hym and cleve to hym, for he beholde his hevynly tresure and solace in hevynly joys, in drawyng of oure hartes fro sorow and darknesse whych we are in. (chapter 86)

Julian, however, writes with a restraint we do not find in Rolle's enthusiastic, effusive outpourings. Her approach is intellectual where Rolle's is emotional. Julian's joy and optimism, springing from her knowledge of God's love, find calm expression in a serene confidence and secure trust; the joy that fills Rolle's soul in his ardent love of God is poured out in lyrical passages of sincere and moving tenderness. It is possible that this difference in presentation, in some measure, accounts for the great popularity of Rolle's works and the very slight response that is evident to Julian's book. By comparison with the large number of manuscripts we have containing portions of Rolle's works, 7 there are very few of Julian's book. Four have come down to us; of these only one dates before the seventeenth century. This one, British Museum MSS. Additional, No. 37790, is dated 1413. The other three, to be dated between ca. 1600 and ca. 1700, include the Paris MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale, 6

Ed. Deanesly, 147. My attention was drawn to this quotation by Gabriel Liégey's article, "Richard Rolle's Carmen Prosaicum, an Edition and Commentary", Mediaeval Studies 19 (1957), 24. 7 See note 8 to chapter I.

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and British Museum MSS. Sloane No. 2499 and Sloane No. 3705. There were most likely others, at least one other, but they have not been preserved. The fact that the version of the Revelations in the fifteenth-century manuscript is much shorter than that in the other three later manuscripts points to the probable existence of an earlier manuscript bearing the longer text. Reverend Dundas Harford, who edited the short text in 1911 from the British Museum MSS. Additional, No. 37790, dated 1413, formulated the theory, now generally accepted, that the shorter version "is what might be called the 'first edition' of the Revelations" and that the longer text "is the outcome of the twenty years' subsequent meditation, thought and experience, referred to in the fifty-first and in the last chapters of the later version". 8 Dom Roger Hudleston, from whose edition of the Revelations of Divine Love I have gleaned the above information, bases his opinion that the Paris MS. and Sloane No. 2499 are derived from a lost fourteenth-century original on evidence of spelling and dialect.9 The fourth manuscript has been modernized to some extent in spelling and language.10 There is no available printed text at present in which the original spelling has been retained. An early edition made by Serenus Cressy in the year 1670, based on the Paris MS. was re-edited in 1843 by G. H. Parker and in 1902 and 1920 by Rev. George Tyrrell. An edition based on the 1413 manuscript, entitled The Shewing of the Lady Julian, was made in 1925 by Rev. Dundas Harford. Two editions with modern spelling appeared in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, both based on MS. Sloane 2499. The edition by Dom Roger Hudleston, O.S.B., published in 1927 and re-edited in 1952, is also based on MS. Sloane 2499. The spelling has been modernized but an effort has been made to keep the wording of the text close to that of the manuscript.11 A semi-modernized edition of the 1413 text was published under the title A Shewing of God's Love by Sister Anna Maria Reynolds, C.P., in 1958, and one of the longer text, based on the Paris and Sloane MSS. was published by Father James Walsh in 1961. A critical edition of the text is now under preparation by Father Edmund Colledge O.S.A. and others. We may not escape the conclusion of Julian's insignificance in her own 8

Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Hudleston, xi. Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Hudleston, xi. 10 Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Hudleston, vi. 11 Details of the printed editions are taken from Hudleston's edition of the Revelations, vi-vii. 9

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time by reflecting that she wrote only one book, whereas Rolle wrote many. Of Rolle's Emendatio Vitae alone there are ninety manuscripts of the Latin version, and fifteen of an English translation. All of these, with the exception of four, belong to the late fourteenth or the fifteenth centuries.12 It is also true that of his less popular Canticum Amoris there are only two manuscripts, both of the early fifteenth century. 13 Interest in Julian is lively at the present time, and the beauty and charm of her composition and of the optimism of her message are receiving recognition and appreciation. Nevertheless, the neglect shown to her in her own age is reflected in the very meagre influence that can be traced in the lyrical writings of the fifteenth century.

12 13

Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 231-242. Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 90.

IV. LYRICS ON THE HOLY NAME

It has already been said that devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus was not new with Richard Rolle. St. Anselm and St. Bernard, probably the principal literary influences on Rolle in his attraction to this devotion, had both demonstrated in their writings an ardent love of the Holy Name, but it was left to Rolle to popularize the devotion in England. In the vernacular literature of the period before Rolle began to write we have scattered evidences of the cult. On Ureisun of Oure Louerde, a prose lyric found in MS. Lambeth 487, dating from the early thirteenth century, 1 opens with a series of invocations to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity addressed by the Holy Name of Jesus: [I] hesu sod god. godes sone. ihesu sod god. sod mon. Mon Maidene bern. Ihesu min hali loue min sikere swetnesse. Ihesu min heorte. Mi sel, mi saule hele. Ihesu swete. ihesu mi leof. mi lif. mi leome. Min halwi. Min huniter, J?u al J)et ic hopie. Ihesu mi weole mi wunne. Min blijse breostes blisse. Ihesu tekejjat tu art se softe and se swote. 5ette to swa leoflic. swo leoflic and swa lufsum Jaet te engles .a. biholde }je. N e beoj) heo neuer fulle. forto loken on ]pe. Ihesu al feir agein hwam. Pe sunne nis boten a schadwe. ase J)eo {set losej) here liht. and scome a3ein brihte leor. of hire ]aesturenesse. jau J)et 3euest hire liht and al Jjet leome hauset aliht mi fester heorte. 2

A companion piece, pe Wohunge of Ure Lauerd, also in an early thirteenth century manuscript, Cotton Titus D XVIII, 3 begins with a similar expression of rapturous tenderness and confidence: Ihesu swete ihesu. mi drud. mi derling. mi drihten. mi healend. mi huniter. mi haliwei . . . . Hwa ne mei luue f)i luueli leor? . . . Ah hwa ne mei luue Jse luueliche ihesu? 4 1

Pe Wohungeof Ure L auerd together with On Ureisun of Ure Louerde, ed. Thompson, xi. 2 Quoted from Old English Homilies and Homiletic Treatises of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, ed. Morris, 183, 185. 3 Pe Wohunge of Ure Lauerd, ed. Thompson, xii. Old English Homilies . . . ed. Morris, 269.

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The request that the love of Jesus be all his delight is repeated as a refrain through the rest of the piece, "A Ihesu, swete ihesu, leoue ^at te luue of beo al mi likinge."5 It concludes with a final apostrophe of love addressed to "ihesu, swete ihesu": A ihesu, swete ihesu, mi luue. mi lef. m i lif. mi luue leuest J^at s w a muchel luuedes m e Jjat tu deides for luue of m e and fra J>e world haues broht m e and ti spuse haues maked me. and al f>i blisse haues heht me. leue ]?at te luue of Jse beo al mi likinge. 6

In both the foregoing prose lyrics it is the person of Christ who is being honoured rather than the Holy Name specifically. Since earliest Christian times the name of Jesus has been identified with the person of Christ. It is not difficult to find Scriptural references to support this statement. In Matthew 18:5, Christ instructs his disciples that any one who receives a little child in his name, receives him, and in Luke 10:17, the disciples, returning from their missionary journeys, reported, "Lord, the devils also are subject to us in thy name." In his solemn farewell to his apostles, Our Lord promised them, "If you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23).7 In a charming thirteenth century lyric which Carleton Brown prints from MS. Digby 86,8 there is an interesting but not intimate reference to the Holy Name. The poem provides a good example of the occasional combining of the secular and the religious in the same lyric.9 It is a debate between a thrush and a nightingale, the nightingale praising women, the thrush condemning them as fickle and false. The nightingale scores the final round by putting forward Our Lady as the supreme example of exalted womanhood. The thrush admits defeat and promises amendment: I suge {sat icham o u e r c o m e P o r u hire jaat bar Jiat holi sone, Pat soffrede wundes fiue. H i swerie bi his holi n a m e N e shal I neuere suggen s h a m e Bi maidnes ne bi wiue. (184-189) 6

Old English Homilies . . e d . Morris, 269-287. Old English Homilies ..., ed. Morris, 287. 7 C. Spicq, O. P., "Le N o m de Jésus dans le Nouveau Testament", La Vie Spirituelle 86 (1952), 14-15. 8 English Lyrics of the XIHth Century, ed. Brown, 101-107. 9 For other examples, see English Lyrics of the XIII Century, ed. Brown, 68, 85, 136. 6

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But the affectionate repetition of the Holy Name which we noted in the two early prose lyrics is rare in the verse lyrics of the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Of the seventy-two religious lyrics which Carleton Brown selected to print in English Lyrics of the Thirteenth Century, only nine use the Holy Name in direct address;10 of these only three11 repeat the invocation within the poem. Of the seventy-six poems which the same editor selected from fourteenth century manuscripts dating before 1375 and printed in Religious Lyrics of the Fourteenth Century, eight employ the Holy Name in direct address;12 only one provides a notable expression of love and devotion by frequent repetition of it. 13 This one is Suete Iesu King of blysse from MS. Harley 2253, an extended version of a short poem found in MS. Digby 86,14 one of the three mentioned above as examples in the thirteenth century of lyrics in which the Holy Name was used more than once in the poem. Both versions are distinguished by the repetition of "suete ihesu" at the beginning of each stanza. Harley 2253 has also an imitation of the Latin hymn, long attributed to St. Bernard,15 Dulcis Jesu memoria. This poem, beginning "Jesu, suete is Jse loue of Jse", is a song of ecstatic love-longing, marked by the repetition of the Holy Name at the beginning of each stanza. The popularity of versions of this lyric in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is striking evidence of some influence brought to bear on the literary compositions of the period. It appears in only one manuscript before the middle of the fourteenth century; 16 versions of it occur in two manuscripts of the late fourteenth century; 17 a related lyric which 10

Nos. 5, 16, 19, 50, 56, 58, 63, 64, 84. Nos. 50, 58, 63. 12 Nos. 7, 8, 24, 30, 34, 35, 48, 52. 13 No. 7. 14 Carleton Brown dates MS. Harley 2253 at about 1320 and MS. Digby 86 at 1282. Introduction to English Lyrics of the XHth Century, xxxv, xxviii. 15 This has been proved to be impossible by the discovery of an eleventh-century manuscript containing the text of it. St. Bernard was not born until 1091. See Comper, The Life oj Richard Rolle, 142. 16 MS. Harley 2253. See Brown, A Register of Middle English Religious and Didactic Verse, II, 163. 17 Hunterian Museum MS. V. 8. 15 and Newberry Library MS. Ry. 8. See Brown and Robbins, The Index of Middle English Verse, 275. In a note to the version of the poem in the Hunterian MS., which he prints in Religious Lyrics of the XlVlh Century, Carleton Brown says (pp. 272-273): "The Hunterian text, though found in a manuscript late in the fourteenth century is independent of the text in Harley 2253. [He then cites examples of more accurate readings in the Hunterian manuscript than in the Harley manuscript.] . . . Since the later MSS which combine nos. 7 and 89 [Suete Jesu King of blysse and Ihesu, swete is \>e loue of\>e~\ show no traces of these errors, it is clear they do not derive from Harley 2253." 11

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begins "Swete Jhesu, now wol I synge", a combination of the two with the opening lines, "Suete Jesu, King of Blisse" and "Jesu swete is Jse love of is included in eight manuscripts of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 18 These facts indicate a new popular interest in devotion to the Holy Name which I believe received its impetus from the intense and ardent love and confidence with which Rolle so frequently invoked it and recommended its efficacy in his prose and lyric writings. Another example of what seems to me a revival of interest in certain trends of devotion, including that of the Holy Name, springing from Rolle's popularization of the ideas underlying them, is seen in the translation of the thirteenth-century Latin poem, John of Hoveden's Philomena. In Chapter I of this thesis I indicated the probable influence on Rolle of this lengthy poem on the life and passion of Christ with its vivid, compassionate detailing of the physical and mental sufferings of the passion, its appeal to man for some return of love for the surpassing love Christ has shown for us, its confident exaltation of the Holy Name, its tender sympathy with Mary sorrowing at the foot of the Cross. It seems significant that in several manuscripts compiled after Rolle's death translations of this poem are found. One, beginning "Ihesu, Jsat hast me der a-bou3te", is short, representing only extracts from the Latin poem. It is found in nine manuscripts of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 19 A more considerable translation or paraphrase of the poem appears in a manuscript of the first half of the fifteenth century, British Museum Additional MS. 11307.20 It seems quite possible that the renewed interest that inspired these translations sprang from the wide appeal made by Rolle's enthusiastic treatment of the same subjects. The short poem centres on the passion and love of Christ, and is marked by affectionate repetition of the Holy Name. 21 The longer translation, 22 about which we shall have occasion to speak again when we examine Rolle's influence on poems treating the passion and love, has several lyrical inserts which fall within our province. John of Hoveden devotes one hundred and twenty lines (11. 1369-1488) of his poem 23 18

These are Vernon MS., Balliol 8 (stanza 4 only), Royal 17 B xvii, Br. Mus. Addit. 22283. Br. Mus. Addit. 37787, Trinity College Dublin 155, Longleat 29, Huntingdon EL 34 B 7. Brown and Robbins, The Index of Middle English Verse, 515. 19 D'Evelyn ed., Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, xxii-xxiii. 20 D'Evelyn, ed., Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, viii. 21 The text of the poem is printed by Miss D'Evelyn in her edition of Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, 60-64. 22 D'Evelyn, ed., Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, 1-59. 23 John Hovedens Nachtigallenlied, ed. Blume.

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to a hymn of praise of the Holy Name. In these lines he uses the Holy Name itself sixteen times and the noum "nomen" or the verb "nominare" thirteen times. The author of the English paraphrase has condensed this passage to ninety-two lines (11. 1035-1126), repeating the Holy Name twenty-seven times and employing the noun or verb "name" twenty-one times. Selections from the two poems will demonstrate the much greater concentration of the English, and may, at the same time, indicate some reflection of the manner of several of Rolle's lyrics in which he begins consecutive lines with the Holy Name: Certe, Jesu, cum Jesum nomino, Nectar bibens mei caeli rumino, Omnes cordis dolores termino Et in hostes ut gigas fulmino.

Whan I here of Jsat name carpe, Swetter it is J)an any harpe. Pat name may me mur]pe make, Pat name may my serwe slake,

Jesu ! Jesus vox est felicium, Vitae lyra, caeli psalterium, Poli plausus et horologium, Orbis honor, ardor amantium.

Pat name is ful of ioye and blis Pat name wot not what serwe is. Ihesu is brennynge loue, Ihesu is trompe of God aboue, Ihesu is oure hertes helthe, Ihesu passe]} al worldly welthe ; Ihesu is so swete a song Per may no mornyng be among ; Ihesu is swetter of sauour Pan rose or lilie or any ojaer flour. Ihesu is mercy and pite To all jao jsat gilty be; Ihesu in sekenes is confort, Ihesu in hele is oure disport ; Ihesu is so swete of soun, It clenes Jse eyr of invyroun. Per may now here no deuel dwelle P[at] may here of Ihesu telle. Ihesu is al oure hertes hele, Ihesu is al oure lyues wele ; Ihesu is more Jsan hony swete, Ihesu may oure bales bete ; Ihesu is angeles melodie, Pei cesse not Ihesu to crye; Ihesu is shipmannes song, Pe se-sterre that wele not lede hem wrong. As ofte as Ihesu nempned is Angeles ben redy jsere ywys; (11. 1069-1100)

Tuba Dei, plena tripudio, Pleno plena viella gaudio; Cordis amor et iubilatio, Linguae sapor et modulatio. Caeli cantus, melos ierarchicum, Omni sancto carmen magnificum ; Omni reo solamen unicum, Omni menti iubar mirificum. Cordi dulcor incomparabilis, Lumen verum, lux inscrutabilis, Panis manna magis amabilis, Dei favus inenarrabilis. Harmonia medela mentium, Ipsum mortis sedans supplicium; Sonus sonans sermo sublimium, Verbum vernans ut vere lilium. Plectrum linguae lingens suavius Jesum sentit mei melle melius ; Dulce nomen mellis est fluvius, Quo se caelum cibat uberius. Cum se Jesus linguae ligaverit

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Et in auras foris sonuerit, Hostis atrox plus celer praeterit, Quam hirundo, cum aestas interit. Certe, Jesu, cantus es gloriae, Merum melos iugis plancentiae; Inte vernant vitae primitiae, Scatet dulcor, fluunt deliciae. Jesu, iuge melos angelicum, Quis dolebit te canens canticum? Proceleuma, tu, recte nauticum Sidus, placas hoc mare mysticum. Quando Jesum proclamant labia, Mox caelestis adest militia: (11. 1428-1470) A few stanzas from Rolle's lyrics may indicate a possible influence on the manner in which the paraphrase is composed: Jhesu, my dere and my drewry, delyte ert ]sou to syng. Jhesu, my myrth and melody, when will Jsow com, my keyng? Jhesu, my hele and my hony, my whart and my comfortyng, Jhesu, I covayte for to dy when it es payng.24 Jhesu es lufe Jsat lastes ay, til hym es owre langyng. Jhesu Jae nyght turnes to Jse day, Jse dawyng intil spryng. Jhesu, thynk on us now and ay, for ]pe we halde oure keyng. Jhesu, gyf us grace, as ]sou wel may, to luf Jse withouten endyng.25 Heyle Heyle Heyle Heyle

Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu,

my creatowre, of sorowyng medicyne! mi saveowre, Jsat for me sufferd pyne! helpe and sokowre, my lufe be ay ¡sine! J>e blyssed flowre of moder virgyne!26

In the manuscripts of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there is a marked increase in the number of lyrics which invoke the Holy Name, and also a very definite increase in the frequency with which it is repeated within these lyrics. The increased frequency of the use of the Holy Name in invocation is accompanied by a new tenderness and fervour and confidence which were rarely found in the earlier poems. In a meditation on Christ's Passion, beginning "Jesu Cryst, rightful Iustyse", 24 25 26

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 71. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 47. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 48.

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printed from the Gurney MS. (slightly ante 1400)27 by R. H. Robbins, 28 forty-eight of the sixty-three stanzas begin with the name of Jesus. Each of the eight stanzas of the fourteenth-century hymn of petition to Christ, beginning "Jhesu, for thy wurthy wounde", 29 which was later expanded by Richard de Caistre into twelve stanzas, carries the invocation to the Holy Name in its opening line. This hymn became very popular in the fifteenth century. It is found in no less than seventeen manuscripts.30 A prayer for mercy, included in two manuscripts of the fifteenth century,31 opens with the petition, "Ihesu, Ihesu, mercy i cry!" and repeats as a refrain line at the end of each of its twenty-two stanzas, "Ihesu, mercy for my mysdede!" A very direct and intimate fifteenthcentury prayer for mercy which is printed by R. H. Robbins from MS. Cambridge University I. i. 6. 4332 is a little gem both for its brevity and for its confident invocation of the Holy Name: O h gode I H E S U , O swete I H E S U , O Ipe Sone of Marye, full of mercy and pyte. O h swete I H E S U , after J)y greet mercy haue mercy o n me. A m e n .

A very sincere and fervent prayer, included in The Processional of the Nuns of Chester,33 is marked by constant, confident repetition of the Holy Name. With affectionate reverence and intimacy, the author employs such expressions as, "O blessed Ihesu hyghe heuens kynge" (1. 1); "O ihesu, ihesu, swete ihesu" (1.6); "O dere Jhesu all the ioy of my Sowle" (1.12); "O mercyfull Ihesu" (1.16); "Odere worthe Jhesu (1.20); "O Jhesu the lampe in whoome is all lyght" (1.32); "O most meeke Jhesu and mercyfull kynge" (1. 36). This lyric is very interesting for a number of other evidences of the influence of Rolle, but these I shall leave to be considered in another part of this discussion. Three other prayers printed by Carleton Brown in his Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century display the same tendency to repeat the Holy Name. Number 62, beginning "Ihesu for thi blode JJOU bleddest", uses it twelve times in forty-eight lines; Number 63, "Ihesu Cryste Jjat dyed on 27

R. H. Robbins, "The Gurney Series of Religious Lyrics", Publications of the Modern Language Association 54 (1939), 370. 28 Robbins, "The Gurney Series of Religious Lyrics", 379-385. 29 Printed by Carleton Brown in Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, No. 94. 30 See note to No. 64, Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 313-314. 31 Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 222, 337. 32 "Popular Prayers in Middle English Verse", Modern Philology 36 (1939), 347. 33 Ed. J. W. Legg from the manuscript at Bridgewater House belonging to the Earl of Ellsmere, 26-27.

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tre", six times in thirty-six lines, and Number 129, "Ihesu, lord, blyssed ]du be", four times in twenty-eight lines. Several of the Levation Prayers which R. H. Robbins has edited from manuscripts of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries exhibit this same intimacy and confidence in the Holy Name. Two of the significant features of these prayers, which R. H. Robbins points out, are their complete independence of Latin originals and their prominence at the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries; in fact, he says, only one dates from the thirteenth century, and that one, which he quotes, 34 has no mention of the Holy Name. When writing of the private prayers found in Middle English verse, which he studied from sixteen manuscripts of the fifteenth century, R. H. Robbins states as his opinion that "these prayers show the widespread influence of mysticism". Seven of them, he says, are based on thoughts of the passion and "another two can be linked with the personal devotion to Christ in His Holy Name". 3 5 A hymn in the Thornton MS. 36 , "Ihesu Criste, Saynte Marye some", shows very marked influence of Richard Rolle. There are twenty stanzas in the poem, each one beginning with the Holy Name. Some titles by which Jesus is addressed in this hymn are identical with those found in the second lyric of Ego Dormio. The Thornton poem reads in part: Ihesu, Jrat es m y saueoure, L>ou be m y Ioy and m y solace, M y helpe, m y hele, m y comfourtoure, A n d m y socoure in ilke a place! Ihesu, m y dere, and m y drewrye, Delyte JJOU arte to synge; Ihesu, m y myrthe, and m y melodye, In-to thi lufe m e brynge! Ihesu, Ihesu, m y hony swete, M y herte, m y comforthynge, Ihesu, all m y bales Jsou bete, A n d to Jsi blysse m e brynge! (11. 3 3 - 3 6 , 6 5 - 7 2 )

When we compare these lines with the lyric in Ego Dormio,37 we notice at once the similarity in thought and expression: 34

"Levation Prayers in Middle English Verse", Modern Philology 40 (1942), 131-146. "Private Prayers in Middle English Verse", Studies in Philology 36 (1939), 466-475. 36 Religious Pieces in Prose and Verse edited from Robert Thornton's MS (circa 1440), ed. Perry, 79-82. 37 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 71-72. 35

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95

Jhesu m y savyoure, Jhesu my comfortoure, (1. 324) Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu, Jhesu,

my dere and m y drewry, delyte ert ]JOU to syng. my myrth and melody, when will J)ow com, m y keyng? my hele and my hony, m y whart and m y comfortyng, I covayte for to dy when it es J>i payng. (11. 341-344)

Jhesu, m y hope, my hele, m y joy ever ilk a dele, F>i luf lat if noght kele, J)at I Jsi luf may fele And w o n with Jse in wele. (11. 352-355)

In addition to the lyrics in which the Holy Name of Jesus is invoked with great frequency, we find a type in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in which all or part of the lyric is dedicated specifically to honouring the Holy Name and to making a petition through its efficacy. A brief example from the Gurney MS. will illustrate the type: Iesu, Lord, welcome JJOU be, In form of bred as I Jje se. Iesu for Thyn Holy N a m e Schyld me to-day from sinne and schame. 3 8

A variant of this petition is incorporated in a longer prayer for heavenly bliss which Thomas Wright prints, from a fifteenth century manuscript in his possession, in Early English Poetry, Ballads and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages (Percy Society), Volume 23, pp. 76-78: Jhesus, for thi holy name And for thi beter passyon, Save us frome syn and shame And endeles damnacyon. And bryng us to that blysse, That never shal mysse.

The popularity of the sentiment expressed here is made clear by the fact that this stanza appears in ten other manuscripts of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 39 Rolle's confidence in the power of the Holy Name to protect us against temptation, to put the devil to flight and to bring us to endless joy, as expressed in passages already quoted from the Comment on the Canticles 38 R. H. Robbins, "Popular Prayers in Middle English Verse", Modern Philology 36 (1939), 337-350. The little poem printed here is on p. 341 of the article. 39 Brown, A Register of Middle English Religious and Didactic Verse, II, 158, 225.

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("Oleum effusum nomen tuum") and f r o m the English epistles, is reflected in A Prayer to the Holy Name printed by Carleton Brown in Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century ( N o . 125): O Cryste Ihesu, mekely I pray to the, To lete thy name, wedyr y ryde or gone, In euery parell & in euery aduersite, Be my defence a-3enste my murtall fone To make them stonde styll as eny stone; And that castene me falsly to werray, Make thow here malyce to-to obey. T o thi name, & make hem stond a-backe, Or thay haue poure to yoy here cruel myght; And wicked spretus so oryble & blake That besy bene to wayte me day & nyghte, Let thi name dryue hem owte of syghte And, in my fored when I 'Ihesu' empresse, Make me of grace theyre malyce to oppresse. ffor to Jpi name hoolly y me commende, Myn lyf, deth, my body, herte & all, My sowle al-so when I hense wende, O cryste Ihesu, o lorde ynmortall! Praying to the, whene thow me deme schall, That thow me saue f r o m eternall schame, That haue full feght & hole truste in ¡Di name. Explicit. Another fifteenth century prayer, 40 begging for mercy and forgiveness o f sin as well as for protection against the enemies of the soul, gives honour to the H o l y N a m e and recognition of its efficacy. A few lines will indicate the sentiments expressed in it: Ihesu, Jji name honoured mot be. (1. 1) Swete Ihesu, as JDOU made me P o u kepe me ay f r o dedly synne! (11. 3-4)

40

This poem is printed by Carleton Brown in Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, 227-229, from the Chetham Library, Manchester, MS. 6690. It follows immediately the lyric, Jesu, Mercy for My Misdeeds, with the simple heading, "Alia oracio Deuota". It is also printed by F. J. Furnivall in Political, Religious and Love Poems from the Archbishop of Canterbury''s Lambeth MS. 306 and Other Sources, 109-110. The quotations are from Carleton Brown's edition.

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Ihesu, {si name in me besette, And graunte me grace ay bet & bette Mi lyf to mende and lyue aryght. (11. 9, 11-12) Ihesu J)i name is heygh to neuien, And jet I, caytif, crye & calle: Pou forgeue me ]pee synnes seuen, ffor I am gylti of hem alle. (11. 17-20) Ihesu, helpe euer-more at nede, ffro ]?e fende J)ou me defende; (11. 33-34)

The possibility of Rolle's influence on the devotion to the Holy Name exhibited in this lyric is strengthened by the inclusion in the poem of a stanza of love-longing with some typical Rolle expressions in it: Ihesu, my loue, my lykyng, Euere more blyssed mot ]DOU be. Mi louely lord, my dere derlyng, Weel were me I myght see Jsee. Ihesu, my counfort, £>ou me synge, A loue-likyng is come to me; My swete swetness of alle ]?inge, Myn hope & troste is al in ]?ee. (11. 25-32)

The alliteration, the desire to see Jesus, the association of love-longing with song, the note of confidence in the last line, the weaving of the little song of love into the essentially penitential theme of the rest of the poem are features strongly reminiscent of Rolle's work. In the lyric written by Rolle, which begins, "All vanitese forsake, if JJOU his lufe will fele" 41 we observe the combining of the penitential element with the yearning for the love of Jesus in the opening line; the desire to behold Christ is present also - " 'Als JJOU to save mankyn sufferd jsi sydes blede, / Gyf me wytt to wyn £>e syght of fie to mede' " (11. 31-32); the note of confidence is felt - "His lufe es trayst and trew, whasa hym lufand ware. / Sen fyrst J^at I it knew, hit keped me fra kare" (11. 33-34); the idea of the love of Jesus being the sweetest of all things is there - " 'Jesu, my swete, / Fast in ^i lufe me bynd, and gyf me grace to grete. / To lufe ]?e over all thyng' " (11. 25-27); and the lines, "Take Jhesu in Jsi thynkyng, his lufe he will ]se send. / Jji lufe and jai lykyng, in hym JDOU lat it lend" (11. 57-58) may very easily have been the source of the "Ihesu, my loue, my lykyng", of the 41

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 49-51.

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fifteenth century prayer. The association of love-longing and song does not appear in this lyric of Rolle's but it does in several others. The line, "I sytt and syng of lufe-langyng", is a familiar one from the Ego Dormio lyric (1. 333)42 and from the lyric beginning "Jhesu, God sonn, Lord of mageste" (1. 29),43 and the same idea is combined with an expression of confidence in "Luf es lyf Jaat lastes ay" 44 - "If J>ou wil lufe, ^an may ]DOU syng til Cryst in melody. / J>e lufe of hym overcoms al thyng: ^arto £>ou traiste trewly" (11. 67-68). It is true that some of these expressions can be found in the two early thirteenth century pieces from which I quoted at the beginning of this chapter, but it seems quite probable that the author of the fifteenth century poem would use more recent and more widely distributed models, and that, therefore, he received his inspiration through Rolle's immensely popular works. The opening lines of a lyric in a fifteenth century manuscript, British Museum Additional MS. 37049,45 are simply a re-wording of passages on devotion to the Holy Name from Rolle's English epistles. The poem begins: T h e love of G o d , w h o s o will lere, In his heart the n a m e o f Jhesu must bear; F o r it puts out the fend and makes him flee A n d fills a m a n with charity. Therefore to purches the j o y that ever shall last, D e v o u t l y in Jhesu your heart ye cast.

In Ego Dormio, Rolle wrote: A n d I pray ]pe, als Jiou covaytes to be G o d d e s lufer, ]pat Jsou lufe Jsis n a m e Jhesu, and thynk it in jsi hert, sa ]pat {sou forget it never, whareso J)ou b e 4 6

In the Form of Living: If Jsou wil b e wele with G o d , and have grace to rewle ]ai lyf, and c o m til ]ae j o y of luf, Jsis n a m e Jhesu, fest it swa fast in hert, ]pat it c o m never o w t o f J>i 42

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 71. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 42. 44 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 46. 45 A modernized edition of this lyric is printed by F.M.M. Comper in Spiritual from English MSS of Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries, 133-134. 46 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 66. 43

Songs

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99

thoght. . . . it chaces J>e devel, . . . halde lufe in hert and in werke, and )?ou hase al Jsat we may say or wryte. For fulnes of £>e law es charite; in £>at hynges ail.47 In The

Commandment:

A thyng I rede Jse, Jsat J>ou forgete noght, Jais name Jhesu, bot thynk it in Jii hert, nyght and day. . . . Whasa lofes it verraly es full of Goddes grace and vertues; in gastly comforth in J)is lyfe, and when ¡3ai dye, }sai er taken up intil J)e orders of awngels, to se hym in endles joy jpat ]pai have lufed. Amen. 48 The remaining lines of this lyric are taken from the first lyric in Ego Dormio and simply presented in a new arrangement. We shall refer to it again in the discussion of lyrics on the subjects of the passion and of the love of Jesus. In the lyrics of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there appears a continuing note of confidence in the Holy Name. It is seen in the occasional line in lyrics on a variety of themes. In A Morning Thanksgiving and a Prayer to God, a poem of eighty-eight lines in the Vernon MS., 49 the last stanza is an expression of the total consecration that we found Rolle repeatedly urging in his English epistles: My soule, my body, lord god ihesu, I now by-take in ]si kepynge; Kepe me, lord, in jsi vertu, In al my werk & al my worchynge. In Jsi nome be al my doynge! In {se nome of Ihesu I be-gynne: Lord God ihesu al weldynge. Pis day kepe me out of synne. Amen. (11. 81-88)50 From A Deuoute Prayer in the Ellesmere MS. 34 B 7, 51 asking for peace of heart, come these li nes of affectionate aspiration: O Ihesu flowre moste of honour. O swete sapoure, most of dulcoure, Blessed by thy name! (11. 8-10) 47 48

49

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 108. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 81.

The Vernon MS. dates about 1385. Brown, A Register of Middle English Religious

and Didactic Verse, I, 49. 60 The Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., Part 11, ed. Furnivall, 746. 51 Printed in Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 101, a n d in The Processional of the Nuns of Chester, ed. Legg, 28.

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The last two lines of a short penitential lyric from British Museum Additional MS. 3957452 express love, contrition and confident hope of mercy through the Holy Name: Swete ihesu, us ruwej) soore, Mercy! for Jsin holy name. (11. 11-12)

In the same manuscript, in a longer poem addressed to Our Lady,53 there is inserted a passage of appeal to Jesus for mercy which bespeaks the same confidence in the Holy Name: A! Ihesu, Ihesu, for thy grete vertu, Schew to me thow hatte Ihesu; For that knawes old and 3yng, That Ihesu is saueour of alle thyng. Saue me therefore fro endles schame, For of saueour thou berest the name; How schal thou thin owen name tyne To put me wrecche to sorow and pyne? Or whi schul we the Ihesu calle If thow fsare synful dampne alle? (11. 137-146)

Finally, a carol on the Nativity from another fifteenth manuscript, Sloane 2593,54 has an introductory stanza in praise of the Holy Name: Jhesu, as thou art our Sauyour, That thou saue us fro dolour; Jhesu is myn peramour: Blyssid be thi name, Jhesu. (11. 1-4)

The devotion to the Holy Name and the expression of affectionate confident love for it appeared but rarely in English lyric literature before Rolle's time. Rolle wrote with such assurance and ardour and enthusiasm about the efficacy and sweetness of this devotion that it seems quite reasonable to believe that the great flowering of lyrics in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries on this theme and the inclusion of intimate invocations to the Holy Name in many lyrics on other themes was a response to the stimulus and inspiration his writings supplied as 52

Printed in Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 229, and in The Wheatley MS., ed. Day, 73. 53 The Wheatley MS., ed. Day, 6-15. 54 The Early English Carols, ed. Greene, No. 87. Also printed in Specimens of Lyric Poetry Composed in England in the Reign of Edward the First, ed. Wright, 6.

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they became popularly distributed. It is my opinion that Julian of Norwich had very little or no influence on the lyrics written in honour of the Holy Name. As I pointed out in the chapter on Julian, whenever she mentioned the Holy Name, she did so with respect and reverence and confidence, but there is not in her work as there is in Rolle's the sustained and enthusiastic urging to her readers to adopt the devotion; nor is there the ardent, exulting, repeated invocation of the Holy Name which we find in Rolle's writings and which, I consider, exerted a tremendous influence on his contemporaries and perpetuated itself in the lyric poetry of the one hundred and fifty years following his death.

V LYRICS O N T H E PASSION

Poems on the passion were popular through the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In general, the earlier poems recounted briefly the physical tortures inflicted upon Christ, and made an appeal to man for repentance and, in some cases, for a return of love. The principal developments in the lyrics on the subject of the passion in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries lay in the direction of more detailed and vivid description of the physical sufferings of Christ, and of a new realization of the mental and spiritual distress to which he was subjected by the ingratitude of man and the infidelity of his friends, and by the scorn, mockery and indignities heaped upon him by his persecutors. Very detailed narratives of the passion of Christ had appeared in the lengthy thirteenth-century didactic poems on the subject - The Southern Passion1 and The Northern Passion2 - but these precise and minute treatments of the sufferings of Christ received no appreciable attention from the composers of lyric poetry at the time. Nor did the exquisite tenderness of the early prose meditation, \ie Wohunge of Ure Louerd,3 seem to move the hearts of the early lyric poets to profound, compassionate reflection upon the anguish of body and soul of their suffering Lord. A much intensified element of compassion appeared in the passion lyrics of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, supplementing the earlier appeals for repentance and a return of love. Julian of Norwich, who describes Christ's sufferings with brevity but with realism and sincere pity in her Revelations of Divine Love, very likely made a slight contribution to the stimulation of the new treatment of this theme in the lyrics of the fifteenth century. The interest in the interior sufferings of Christ, which is manifest in the late fourteenth and fifteenth-century lyrics, can be traced to Rolle's Meditations on the Passion. In that work he treats the physical and mental 1 2 3

The Southern Passion, ed. Brown. The Northern Passion, ed. Foster. pe Wohunge of Ure Lauerd, ed. Thompson.

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pains of the passion with equal realism, tenderness, compassion and gratitude, and the great popularity of his writings made the influence of this delicate, detailed attention to both the exterior and interior anguish of the passion felt in the lyric literature of the century and a half following his death. In the prose sermons of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, concerned as they are with moral instruction and Scriptural commentary, we do not find detailed treatment of the physical sufferings of the passion. We do, however, encounter an occasional sermon in the fifteenth century in which the theme is treated with vivid, realistic and compassionate detail. 4 The influence on the lyrics in the fifteenth century may proceed from this source, but the probability is that the inspiration for the greater realism and tenderness in the sermons as well as in the lyrics stems from Rolle. 5 A certain unidentified scholar of the early nineteenth century, who designates himself by the simple letter "T", discovered in a fifteenthcentury manuscript located in the Library of the University of Dublin (MS. C. 7. 7.), some hitherto unpublished poems which strongly resemble the work of Richard Rolle. In fact, " T " suggests that the poems may have been composed by Rolle himself. The lyrics in the manuscript are not among the works accepted by Miss H. E. Allen as authentic writings of Rolle. They may be shown, however, to be very close imitations of Rolle's compositions. One of them is a poem on the subject of Christ's passion. It is preceded in the manuscript by a short instruction on the text, "Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat". Some of the phrases in this instruction are immediately recognizable as bits taken directly from the passage in Rolle's Ego Dormio which precedes his lyric on the passion. The poem itself is full of reminiscences of Rolle's lyric and of his Meditations on the Passion. " T " printed the poem in the British Magazine in the year 1836.6 It has never been re-printed, and is not, therefore, easily accessible. The resemblances to Rolle's work in language, spirit, and ideas may best be shown by presenting the complete text: 4

Owst, Literature and Pulpit in Medieval England, 508, 509-510. Also Mirk, Festial, ed. Erbe, 112-113, 117, 121-122. 5 The possibility of Rolle's influence on John Mirk's sermons, my principal source of reference for the detailed treatment of the passion in the sermons of the early fifteenth century, is strengthened by the inclusion, in a sermon intended to be delivered on Pentecost Sunday, of an argument very similar to Rolle's for the advantage of the sitting position for contemplation. Mirk asks why the Holy Ghost came to the apostles "syttyng yfere rayf)er J>en stondyng", and he answers, "For syttyng yfere bytokenyth mekenes of hert in unyte of pes and rest; jae which a man most nede haue j^at woll be vyseted off>e Holy Gost, for to such he come^e and to non o£>ur." (Festial, 162) 6 « r > ; "Hymns by Richard Rolle", British Magazine 9 (1836), 499-503.

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Ihesu grete loue mened the [meued] To suffur the peyne on thi fayre bode Of that wicked lede and bolde, for grete sorowge it is a lord to se of his disceple betrayed to be, Cf. Meditations on the Passion As Judas, lord, the solde p. 29.7 To the iewes ihu that the duden bete Cf. Ego Dormio, P- 67, 1. 219. that her schourges duden mete Cf. Ego Dormio, P- 67, 1. 220. As fast as thei knouthen dynge Cf. Ego Dormio, P- 67, 1. 221. her peynes than were unmete, for of hym thei token non hede, but defouled him with spittyng; Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 67, 1. 222. hard thei duden him thring to a pyler of stone with thornes thei crowned hym kynge; Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 67, 1. 223. hard was that prykkyng, that he suffurd than of hem. Alas, my dere swetyng, with her Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 67, 1. 224. hard throngynge, Grete payene was the thane on ; Swete ihesu thei demed the honged for to be Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 67, 1. 224. With falshede and with wrong, and to a eros of tree fui fast thei nayled the With yrnen neyles strong. Ihu bothe hande and fote of the Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 68, 1. 225. Were nayled to a tree, And therled was thi feyre side Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 68, 1. 226. thow hongest al one on rode by rone w' spotel and blode Cf. Meditations, p. 21. that semely was and whyte, Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 68. 226. And grymly stongen with a spere for deel now may I wepe Ihu thi flesche thei deeden to tere that pyte it is th r of to here, Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 68,1. 231. With woudes and depe Cf. Ego Dormio, p. 68, 1. 228. In fyue places lord with outen moo Cf.Ego Dormio, p. 68,11.229-230. the stremes of blode runen the froo as water fro a welle; Alas, lord, why dude thei soo, thi feyre bodi so muchel woo, more than man may tell.

7

Page references throughout this chapter for the Meditations on the Passion and Ego Dormio are from the editions of these works in English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen.

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Ihesu full of pyte thou suffurst hem mekele, To spitte in thi fayre face; Cf. Gret peyne it was to see the nayled to an tree, Cf. With outen gutt or trespasse. [gult] Now may I have mournynge, and of care may I syng, Of peyne gif I take hede, To see the iewes so dyng hit is a rewthful thing, hym that is angel brede, Cf. ffor sorowg now may I wepe, ffor my loue that is so swete. Of loue gif I be trewe, for he suffurd woudes depe, Cf. Now may I teres lete, ffor more loue neur man knewe, Ihesu bothe hende and free, lord, full of pyte, thurg thi holy grace, Grant me that I may se Cf. the lord in maieste in thi joyful place. Amen.

Ego Dormio, p. 67, 1. 222. Ego Dormio, p. 68, 1. 232.

Ego Dormio, p. 68, 1. 232.

Ego Dormio, p. 68, 1. 228.

Ego Dormio, p. 68, 11. 249, 236, 245.

It is obvious how closely this lyric approaches Rolle's work, made up, as it is, of a re-arrangement of lines from the Ego Dormio. It lacks, however, the rhythm and the grace of rhyme we find in Rolle's lyrics; in addition, the intimate personal tenderness which Rolle successfully infused into his reflections on the passion has not been captured here. Two groups of stanzas on the passion which appear for the first time in the Vernon manuscript version of the popular lyric which begins, "Jhesu, swete is J^e loue of fse", introduce into the poem reflections on the interior sufferings of Christ, and an intensified spirit of compassion and contrition and gratitude, developments that can be increasingly observed in the lyrics of the period. The first group of additional verses relates the anguish and desolation Christ experienced on the night before his death: Ihesu, to Jii disciples dere E>ou seydest wij) ful dreri chere As Jsei seeten alle I-feere A luytel ar Jjou taken were Ihesu, }dou seydes ]pat ]dou wore fful of serwe and herte-sore,

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And beed hem dwellen a while jsore While ]?ou beo-sou3test J>i ffader ore; Ihesu, ]dou eodest on feete To J>e Mount of Olyuete, And to jsi ffader, er J)ou leete, Pow madest a boone wijs herte swete: To him ¡3ou seidest : "gif hit may be, Deore ffader, I preye ]pe, Pis peyne passe a-wey from me; As Jsow wolt so moot hit be!" Ihesu, ]pou tornedes to hem Jsan: And founde hem slepen uch a man ; Pow beede hem waken, &, er J)ou blan, A-non a3eyn Jse wey Jsou nam. Iheus, Jsus eft ]ae selue boone Pat ]dou beo-fore bigonne to done. And eke Jse Jsridde tyme sone Pow madest, wij) a Milde mone. Ihesu, wi]j Jsat Jdou preye gon, Pe swot of blood from ]pe ron. ffrom heuene an Angel lihte Json And jse cumfortede, God and Mon. (11. 17-44)8 This is one of the earliest appearances in the passion lyrics of the theme of Christ's mental anguish and loneliness in the Garden of Olives. It would seem reasonable to conclude that the inspiration behind the lines proceeded from Rolle's compassionate treatment of it in the Meditations on the Passion. In that work he writes : Swete dere Lord Jhesu Crist, I J>ank Jse with al my hert and connynge of Jsat swet prayer and J?at holy orisoun ]?at Jx>u made before ]py holy passioun for us on ]pe mount of Olybet; and, Lord, I thank jse, for Jser J j o u taghtest us to pray, whan ]pou saidest: 'Fadyr, nat my wille bot jay wille be fulfilled.' .. .Swet Lord Jhesu, I thank Jse as I can of al Jjat ferdnesse and angwishe ]?at J>ou suffred for us when an angel of hevyn come to comfort J)e, and when Jsou swettest blode for anguysshe. (p. 29) The second group of stanzas (11. 57-80) deal with the physical sufferings of the passion with an emphasis on the innocence of Christ and his boundless generosity in suffering so grievously for sinful man. The theme is old, but the lines are filled with a tenderness and compassion that are closely akin to Rolle's spirit in The Meditations on the Passion. A lyric dating from the end of the fourteenth century, called by Carle8

Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., Part II, ed. Furnivall, 451-452.

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ton Brown, The Knight of Christ,9 opens with an address to the Trinity for assistance against the three foes of man - the world, the flesh and the devil. The four stanzas following are a sustained comparison of man to a knight of Christ, arming himself against his powerful enemies. These lines recall, on the one hand, St. Paul's instructions to the Ephesians (6:11-17), and, on the other hand, point forward to George Herbert's Aaron (1633).10 The ideas expressed are patterned fairly closely on a short homily found in MS. Cotton Vespasian A 22, printed by Richard Morris in his collection of Old English Homilies and Homiletic Treatises of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.u The weapons enumerated in the homily are reproduced in the poem with a few slight changes and skilfully paralleled to the instruments of the passion. Near the conclusion of the homily the preacher recommends the listener to follow the leadership of the Holy Ghost and of Jesus Christ in the struggle. In the poem, after the details of the arming for the fight are set forth, the Father and the Son are addressed in turn, at some length, but the Holy Ghost receives no further mention after the opening line of the poem. Although I do not think that either Rolle or Julian had any positive influence on the first part of this poem, the failure to include the third person of the Blessed Trinity in the text except in the opening line of appeal for assistance, reflects something of the briefness of the manner in which both Rolle and Julian make specific reference to the Holy Ghost. Rolle does, occasionally, in a phrase, recall the function of the Holy Spirit as the source of revelation,12 and of inspiration for his song,13 or as the origin of the fire of love;14 Julian's remarks are equally brief and generally relate to the promptings communicated by the Holy Ghost to man towards the acquisition of the virtues of self-knowledge, contrition and repentance.15 In the sermons of the period the references to the Holy Spirit are usually brief, except in sermons designed for the feast of Pentecost. These are, in general, historical and doctrinal in content rather than devotional. The poem concludes with three stanzas of unexpected simplicity and sincerity on the passion of Christ. The affectionate repetition of the Holy Name, the detailed description of the sufferings of Christ, the note of 9

Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, 223-225. Herbert, The Poems of George Herbert, intro. Arthur Waugh, 180-181. " Old English Homilies and Homiletic Treatises of the Twelfth and Thirteenth ed. Morris, 241-243. 12 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 90, 93. 13 Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 190. 14 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 80, 109. 16 Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, chapters 38, 40, 45. 10

Centuries,

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gratitude and contrition, the desire for heavenly bliss, the diction, the persistence of the rhymes, the irregularity of the metre are all characteristic of Rolle's work that seem to have found their way into the final verses of the little poem: Swete ihesu, for loue of me, Pou henge upon ]pe rode tre, harde fastned wi]a nailes jare, Py swete bodi by-swonge; for loue ]DOU jsoledest woundes depe, Pin hondes jDerled, and eke fete; Pi modir blodi teres lete she sau3 Jsi herte stoonge, Pi swete bodi al on a flod, out of syde water & blod and ran doun to grounde. Swete ihesu, for loue of me Jsus was Jr>i bodi shent, wi£> ropis and wija nailes, wij) {somes al to-rent: was neuere body in er]De at such a turment. Swete ihesu, sij^jaen to helle for oure soules wente. Pi prisones out to fecche ]pat weren wij? peynes blent. Swete ihesu, curteys & fre, Pou y wrecche unworjay be, wi]? al myn herte y Jaonke J>e Pat JJOU woldest on rode tre peynes stronge suffre for me, and to ¡si blisse bigge me, wij^oute ende to wone wija fje: to ]jat blisse ]pou us brynge, Pat woldest of a maide springe. So be it pur seinte charite! (11. 49-76)

The author of this unusual poem shows considerable skill in the variations of rhymes and line-lengths within the poem. He effectively uses tail rhyme (a three-stress line normally recurring after each four-stress couplet of a twelve-line stanza, the short lines rhyming with one another) 16 in six of the stanzas, though not consistently keeping the same number of lines between the tail rhyme verses. Stanzafivehas a rhyme scheme different from that of any other stanza in the poem. It appears to be a combination of alternate rhyme and tail rhyme. Further variety is achieved 16 A. Mcl. Trounce, "The English Tail-Rhyme Romances", Medium Aevum 1 (1932), 87.

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in the increased line-lengths in stanzas one and nine (see lines 62-66 above), and in the piling up of identical rhymes in stanzas one, nine and ten (see lines 62-76 above). Stanza ten (lines 67-76 above) presents its own variations, eight of its ten lines rhyming on one sound, broken by the "brynge-springe" rhyme in lines 74 and 75. The poet includes two tag lines, one in line 22, "tyde what bi-tyde", and one in line 76, "pur seinte charite", both of which provoked Chaucer's ridicule in The Tale of Sir ThopasP A passion hymn of the late fourteenth century, beginning, "A Ihu Jwu sched Jsi blode", 18 combines, in a manner similar to that of Rolle's Meditations on the Passion, vivid description of the physical pains of the passion with the recognition of the anguish caused by the scorn and mockery offered to Christ at that time. As poetry, the lyric has little merit; the ideas are expressed without the leaven of imagination and without distinction of words or word order; the emotion of compassion underlying the thought lacks the intimacy and intensity which the better lyrics of the time possess. A few lines from the poem, placed beside an earlier lyric on the same theme, will illustrate the quality of detailed realism that distinguishes it from earlier passion hymns. The early poem from which I quote19 is one of the finest of the thirteenth-century lyrics and far surpasses the later poem in originality of expression and sincerity of feeling, but is confined to more general observation of Christ's exterior sufferings: Thirteenth-Century poem: Fourteenth-Century poem: Wan hie him bi-holde Pay spitted in jpi faier face Potted and smat and drew by hare wyt hey and herte bojse, And hailed ]?e forth £>ar anna wase hi se his bodi colde, his ble waxit alle bloe. and he be asked of ]?i lare he honge al of blode Pow answard lord ful of grace se hey a-pon ]ae rode Aske at Jsaim has hert it are ffor mek answare in Jsat place bi-twixen jacfis two Pay held ]?e prowd and ane smat Jje sare. his wordis sore smerte Pe sper his at his herte, Pan band {say ]pe by a pelere ande jaorit his side gun. Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, ed. Manly, 435, lines 2064, 2081. R. H. Robbins, "Two Fourteenth Century Mystical Poems", Modern Language Review 35 (1940), 320-329. The line references are to the poem printed on p. 324. R. H. Robbins points out that this poem is written in eight-line stanzas with rhyme scheme abababab, a form used in other poems of the school of Richard Rolle (p. 328). 19 English Lyrics of the Xlllth Century, ed. Brown, 122-124. 17

18

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111

With scourges sare Jjai gan (se smyt Pe nayles beit al to longe, Pe smyt his al to sleye, Pou bledis al to longe Skyn left hale on ]se was nane Pat men myht se ]po Jsay wald lok Pe tre his al to heye Pe stonis waxin wete Pay rase Jse fleche fram J)e bane Some of |>e scourges J^are J>ay tok allas ! ihesu mi suete, few frendis hafdis neye, but sin Ion murnind Pay cled Jîe lord in purper pall Of thornes smal Jsai mad Jsi coroune and mari wepind, Pat al jsi sorue seye. Kyng in hethyng ]say Jîe call (11. 21-27, 38-50) Pe blod ran owt wt gret fusoune Apon Jsi scholder let J>ai fall Pe cros and led {se owt of towne Despit of jse Jsaim thowght all To do {se pyn Jaai ware ful bowne. (11. 9-16, 41-42, 49-52, 57-64)

In the Holy Meditation and the Sauteer of Crystes Passiun, found in the Gurney MS. which dates about 1400,20 the sentiments of pity and compassion for Christ's physical suiferings join with expressions of confidence and intimate love. The interior distress of Christ is also noted, and petitions for help against temptation and for acquisition of virtue are associated with the recollection of each of the pains of the passion. A very short passage from the poem will serve to indicate the inclusion of both types of suffering along with a petition phrased in words almost identical with those in Rolle's Meditations on the Passion: Iesu blynfellid wijs fist and smet Iugid Jjou were to ]sat Iewyse; Despysed wif> cry and schame gret, Wrongly J)y ded soo to deuyse, Lord, so schent for loue of me, Close myn eyne fro euil syhttes. (11. 73-78)

Swete Jhesu, I yeld Jse jaankynge for Jsat dispitous blyndfellynge Jaat Jse Jewes did to J)e. . . . and yeve me grace, Swet Jhesu, to kepe myn eyeghen ffro al evyl syghtes. (p.33)

Poems on the "Hours of the Cross" were popular in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The examples Carleton Brown prints of this type of lyric on the passion from the period before 135021 begin their review of the events of the passion from the time after the capture of Christ. One from the Commonplace Book of 137222 and one from the 20 R. H. Robbins, "The Gurney Series of Religious Lyrics", Publications of the Modern Language Association 54 (1939), 369-390. The poem under discussion appears on pages 379-385. 21 Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, 39-40, 50-51. 22 Religious Lyrics of the XIV Century, ed. Brown, 69-70.

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Vernon Manuscript (1385)23 show an advance in the inclusion of the desertion of Christ by his disciples as one of the sufferings of the passion. The poet of the Vernon Manuscript poem comments also on the cruelty of the Jews in refusing to allow Christ any rest all night - a detail noted by Rolle in the Meditations. A fifteenth-century poem on the same subject 24 opens with the betrayal by Judas followed by the flight of the disciples. It can readily be seen that the development is in the direction of considering the interior sufferings of the passion as of at least equal intensity with the physical ones. In two lyrics on the Precious Blood, one belonging to the late fourteenth century25 and one to the fifteenth century, 26 the manner of Rolle's Meditations on the Passion is imitated in the association of the description of the events of the passion with sentiments of penitence and petition. The fifteenth-century poem details more elaborately the incidents which caused the shedding of Christ's blood. Both poems include the bloody sweat in the Garden of Olives, a consideration which we find in the Ego Dormio lyric and in the Meditations on the Passion, but not in the lyrics before Rolle's time. The account of the scourging in the fifteenth-century poem is very close in phrasing to Rolle's description of it in the Meditations: After ]pi taking, lord, ]x>u was bounde U n t o a pyler, & scourged fui sore; They leyde o n Jse wounde o n wounde, ffor thi fayre body was alle totore. (11. 25-28)

. . . when J^ou was naked bound fast to a pillere and scourged full sore; . . . and Jse scourges weren made fui stronge and smert, so ]?at al jjy body was bot woundes, and many woundes in o o n wounde (p. 34)

John Lydgate in his poem, The Fifteen Ooes of Christ,21 and John Audelay in his De effusione sanguinis Christi in remissionem peccatorum,2s also take notice of the bloody sweat on Mount Olivet. In Lydgate's poem, just mentioned, there are two stanzas in which the mental anguish of Christ is particularly compassionated. The last four lines of this section are expressed in language very similar to Rolle's: 23 24 25 26 27 28

Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., Part I, ed. Horstman, 37-43. Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 136-138. Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, 218-219. Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 133-136. Minor Poems of John Lydgate, Part I, ed. MacCracken, 238-250, lines 36-37. The Poems of John Audelay, ed. Whiting, 50-54, lines 25-27.

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Forsake us nat whan we to the Crye Swet Jhesu, I beseche |>e for In ony myschef or Trybulacyoun, ]sy swet mercy, Jaat ]pou be my That we may find socour and remedye help and comfort in al tempIn thy moost peynfull gloryous tacion, anguysh, or tribupassioun. (11. 237-240) lacion, J>at I may jsrogh ]sy swet comfort turne out of al meschief of soule and of body. (p. 29) One of the patterns which lyrics on the passion follow is that of the appeal or complaint of Christ to man. There is one very brief example of the type in the thirteenth century found in MS. Digby 86.29 It is a simple appeal to man to turn from his sins in return for the love which prompted Christ to die for him. This is followed by a short response from man expressing contrition and asking for mercy. In the first half of the fourteenth century the type is continued in a few lyrics.30 In general, Christ is represented in them as reminding man of what he has done for him and suffered for him and urging him to abandon sin and turn to God. The references to the sufferings of the passion are in every case to the physical torments only with no mention of the mental anguish or the shame, mockery, contempt and indignity endured by Christ at that time. Furthermore, the physical pains of the passion are not described with any detail. The scourging, the crowning with thorns, the piercing of Christ's side, the nailing to the cross and the great loss of blood are simply enumerated as evidences of God's love for man and as proper subjects of consideration to turn man from sin. Richard Rolle's approach in his writings is usually that of man pouring out his love for God; it is rarely that of God appealing to man. In his lyrics this latter approach does not appear at all, but in the Melos AmorisSi there is one poignant passage in which Christ is represented as appealing to man from the cross, reminding him of what love has compelled him to suffer on his behalf. He begs man to consider the humiliations he has embraced, the physical sufferings he has endured, and the contempt, persecution, injuries and opprobrium he has supported from the time of his leaving his heavenly kingdom to assume human nature in poverty until the final immolation on the cross. Christ asks for the total dedication of man's heart in return for the complete surrender he has made of him29

S. Harrison Thompson, "The Date of the Early English Translation of the Candet Nudatum Pectus", Medium Aevum 4 (1935), 105. 30 Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, nos. 3, 4, 15, 46, 51. 31 Ed. Arnould, 96-97.

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self for man. This passage, in addition to Rolle's Meditations on the Passion, his lyrics, and the occasional references in his other works to the passion, had its influence on the lyrics of appeal and complaint in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. One of the earliest evidences of this influence is found in a lyric from the Commonplace Book of John Grimestone32 dating about 1372, which follows the earlier patterns but introduces in the last three lines a note not found before in the appeal poems. The idea presented is that the physical pains of the passion are not the greatest suffering Christ endured; man's indifference has provided that: But werse me dot, Jsat he ne can T o me turnen onis is ey3e, Pan al jae peine Jsat i dry3e. (11. 7 - 9 )

Another lyric from the same source and also printed by Carleton Brown in Religious Lyrics of the XIVth Century (no. 72) repeats the ideas in an earlier lyric on the same text, Popule meus quid feci tibi?33 but adds a significant line indicating the interior sufferings of the passion, "& dedest me michil schame" (1. 28). One more lyric from the Commonplace Book of John Grimestone shows Rolle's influence. Carleton Brown has called it Christ's Three Songs to Man.31 There is here an attempt at more vivid description of the suffering body of Christ, reminiscent of the stanzas Rolle incorporated into his Ego Dormio lyric on the passion.35 The details in this lyric may be adapted from the original Latin texts of the Candet Nudatum Pectus and the Respice in Faciem Christi which are found in the same manuscript, but similarities in other lines of this poem to the Ego Dormio lyric indicate a possible use of the latter as a source. Line 1 of Christ's Three Songs to Man, "Water & blod for Jje i suete" recalls the first line of the Ego Dormio lyric,36 "My keyng, jaat water grette and blode swette" line 5 of Christ's Three Songs to Man, "I suffre iewes on me to spete", compares with the fifth line of the Ego Dormio lyric, "And his fayre face defowling with spittyng". The first stanza of the "Secundus Cantus" of Christ's Three Songs to Man: 32 33 34 35 36

Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, 88. Religious Lyrics of the XIV Century, ed. Brown, 17-18. Religious Lyrics of the XIV Century, ed Brown, 92. See pages 56-57 above. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 67-69.

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Mi bodi is as red as ro, Pornes prikken myn hed ful sore, Mi visage waxit wan and bio. I haue so bled i may no more. (11. 9-12)

recall these lines from the Ego Dormio lyric: Pe thorne crownes ]pe keyng; ful sare es Jsat pricking. Naked es his whit breste, and rede es his blody syde; Wan was his fayre hew, his wowndes depe and wyde. In fyve stedes of his flesch £>e blode gan downe glyde Als stremes of ]?e strande; hys pyne es noght to hyde. (11. 222, 227-230)

The appeal to man to turn from his sin through a motive of love rather than fear in Christ's Three Songs to Man: Mi hert is for-smite a-to, Al, mankinde, for loue of Jse, To loken wan jsu woldest go Fro J}i senne for loue of me. (11. 13-16)

finds its counterpart in Rolle's poem in man's pleading with Christ to cleanse him from sin, "Pou make me clene of synne, and lat us never twyn" (1. 241). In the late fourteenth century the desire for heavenly bliss, so characteristic of Rolle, makes its appearance in the lyrics of appeal. In the earlier lyrics of the type man was urged to turn from his sins and, in a few of them, to direct his love to God. But the specific promise of the reward of heavenly bliss to accompany the abandonment of sin does not find its way into this particular group of poems until rather late. It is expressed in one of the lyrics which has been designated as a "doubtful" lyric of Rolle's37 (Carleton Brown prints this poem in Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, no. 77, under the title, Homo Vide quid pro Te Potior), and in a rather sophisticated little poem, Jesus Pleads with the Worldling,38 In the latter lyric, Our Lord addresses sinful man, drawing a comparison between the fashions he follows and the pains Christ suffers. The elaborate and pathetic reproach is a close reproduction of a 37 38

Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 294. Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, 225-226.

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passage in a contemporary sermon. 39 In the last three lines of the poem the appeal to the worldling to abandon sin and to love God, fortified by the promise of everlasting bliss, links the lyric with Rolle's point of view: let synne & loue ]aou me, heuene blisse y shal 3eue jae, Pat lasted ay & oo. (11. 38-40)

The intrusion of tag lines in the latter part of the poem, "an euene & eke a-morwe" (1. 31), "mai synge welawo" (1. 36), "be {sou kynde pur charite" (1. 37), "jsat lastej) ay & o o " (1. 40), is a further indication that the poet is here working independently of his homily source and is hardpressed for rhymes. The type continued to be popular in the fifteenth century, and we find the influence of Rolle in the attention directed to the interior sufferings of the passion, and of both Rolle and Julian of Norwich in the greater vividness of the description of the physical ones. The last three stanzas of Thou Sinful Man that by Me Goesi0 reflect Rolle's ideas, and the change-over in the last stanza to an invocation to Christ by man strengthens the points of contact. The first two of these stanzas: Now luke J>at I find Jae kind, And haue my passioun in Jsi mynd, And sickerly Jsou sail me find Kindle the to, Helpand in neid in alkin deid Thou hes ado. I[n] steid of luf nocht ask I the Bot faynd ]?e fast fra syn to fle; Pane the to leife in cherite Baith nycht and day. Than in my blis, Pat neuer sail mys, Thou sail duell ay. (11. 141-154) Mirk, Festial, ed. Erbe, 113. The passage reads: "Wherfor Saynt Barnard yn Cristys person makyth gret waymentacyon for Jie unkyndnesse j?at he sethe yn men and sayth us: 'Thou man for vanyte syngyst and rowtes, and I for ]?e crye and wepe; ¡sou hast on {>y hed a garland of flowres, and I for |?e on my hed suffyr a wref>e of stynkyng jDornes; {>ou hast on {jy hondes whyt gloues, and I for t>y loue haue blody hondys; thow hast Jjyn armes sprad on brode ledyng carallys, and I for {jy loue haue myn armes sprad on Jae tre, and tachut wyth grete nayles; thow hast {>y clojae raggyd and pynchyt smale, and I haue my body for thy loue full of gret walus. And ouer Joys t>at greuyth me most, Jjou settyst no3t by my passyon that I suffryd for ^e.' " 40 Religious Lyrics of the XVthCentury, ed. Brown, 151-156. 39

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recall a passage in Rolle's English epistle, The

Commandment:

Alsa festen in ]?i hert ]pe mynd of his passyon and of his woundes: grete delyte and swetnes sal ]aou fele, if £>ou halde Jsi thoght in mynde of ]se pyne jsat Crist sufferd for Jse. If JJOU traveyle right in his lufe, and desyre hym brennandly, all temptacyons and dredes of ill J)ou sail overcom, and deful under J)i fote, thorow his grace. For al fiat he sees in gode will to lufe hym, he helpes ]sam agaynes all J>ar enmys, and rayses £>ar thoght aboven all erthly thyng, swa £>at Jsai may have savoure and solace in fie swetnes of heven.41 The last stanza of the poem: Now, Ihu, for thy gret gudnes, As thow for man thollit herdnes, Grant ws to lef in cleynes, And mercy send. And grant ws grace to se thy face In hewin but end. Amen. (11. 155-161) is reminiscent of Rolle in the affectionate use of the Holy Name, in the desire for mercy and cleanness of life, and very particularly in the final grace asked - to see God's face for ever in heaven. In the Meditations on the Passion, Rolle writes: Graunt me grace never to assent to lust of syn. . . . And, Jhesu graunt me grace to se Jay blessed face in hevyn. (p. 32) A fifteenth-century complaint of Christ, Brother, Abide,42 has many lines which closely parallel passages in Rolle's Meditations on the Passion, the complaint in the Melos Amoris, and the lyric on the passion in Ego Dormio. In its vivid detail of the appearance of Christ's dying body it bears resemblance to Julian of Norwich's description of her vision of the crucified Saviour. The poem opens, as does the complaint in Rolle's Melos Amoris, with Christ on the cross, addressing sinful man and reminding him that he, the sovereign Lord, has left his royal kingdom to come to earth to deliver man from his wretchedness: I lefte my trone and regall mageste And hither I came, a maydyns childe to be. Borne in bedlem, lappyd and laide in strawe 41 42

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 80. Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. B r o w n , 169-175.

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Ine a powur howse wher bestys ete ther mete. Brought to the temple after the lues lawe And circumcysed(11. 27-32) In the Melos Amoris Rolle has Christ say : Considera, diarissime, quod ego immensus Conditor carnem michi copulavi, quod nasci potui de muliere; qui Deus sum, pauperibus me socium prebui, humilem matrem elegi. . . . Pro te incarnatus, pro te sum et natus, pro te circumcisus.43 The poem continues with an account of the hardships of Christ's public life, culminating in the horrors of the passion : Then they layde hande & lede me forth that day, Wyth shotyng & crying, wyth mokry & mych dysdayne; Some pulled me forwarde & tare my powur a-ray, And by the here some plukkyd me bake a-gayne. (11. 126-130) In the Meditations on the Passion we find a similar passage: Swet Jhesu, I Jjank ]?e for al J)e desaises J>at ¡sou suffredest when JJOU was takyn of Jae Jewes ; for some pulled, some shoven J)e, drowen ]ae, despised ]se, skorned Jse, tugged Jse and toren ]?e. (p. 30) Lines 134-137 of the complaint: And, as people most cruell & unkynde, When I for woo blode & water swette, Unto a pylar nakyd thei dyde me bynde And wyth sharpe scorgis thei dyde my body bette. are very close to the first four lines of the Ego Dormio lyric : My keyng, ]aat water grette and blode swette; Sythen fui sare bette, so Jjat hys blode hym wette, When Jaair scowrges mette. Fui fast J>ai gan hym dyng and at J)e pyler swyng.44 The ascent to Calvary and the actual crucifixion described in the complaint: 43 44

Ed. Arnould, 96-97. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 67.

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Thus bete, thus rentte, and all to-tore, Wyth a great crose they dyd me charge & lade, Whych on my shuldure up to an hill I bore, In steppys of blode as depe as I cowde wade. A-bowt me rennyng, myche tyrany thei made, And as wood men thei dyde me dryve & chace, With mobbys & knockys & spettyng in my face. Then one this crosse thei dyde me strecch & strayn, And nayled me faste wyth naylles gret & longe. (11. 141-149, 155-156) recall Rolle's accounts of the same incidents in the Meditations Passion:

on the

Pi lovely face so wan and so bolnyd with bofetynge and with betynge, with spyttynge, with spowtynge; Jse blood ran herewith, Jsat grysyth in my sy3t; so lothly and so wlatsome J)e Jues han Jse mad, {sat a mysel art JJOU lyckere Jjan a clene man jae cros is so hevy, so hyeand so stark, J>at Jaei hangyd on J)i bare bac trossyd so harde. (p. 21) Pei drow and streynyd J>e streyjte on brede and on lenkthe, by handys and by feet, and dryve in J)e nayles. . . . (p. 24) The description of the dying body of the Saviour, recorded in the poem: My visage changed to pale & blew as byse, My fleshe be-ganne to styff & waxid drye. (11. 162-3) in its exact and realistic detail reminds us of Julian of Norwich's vision of the dying Christ: After thys Crist shewde a parte of hys passyon nere his dyeng. I saw the swete face as it were drye and blodeles with pale dyeng and deede pale, langhuryng and then turned more deed in to blew, and after in browne blew, as the flessch turned more depe dede. . . . Blodlessched and payne dryed with in, and blowyng of the wynde and colde comyng from with out, mett to geder in the swete body of Crist; and these iiij dryed the flessch of Crist, (chapter 16) The delineation of Mary's grief at the foot of the cross is outlined in the poem in terms as extravagant as those in Rolle's Meditations: My mother stode, but what cowde she doo but weepe? And weepe she dyde, terrys both whight & rede, Wrynging her handys, & fill downe by me deede. (11. 173-175)

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In the Meditations

on the Passion,

Rolle wrote:

A, Lord, ]pe sorewe jaat fel to Jai herte, whan Jsou on Jm modur caste Jsine eyen. Pou saw hyre folewe after among Jse gret prees; os a womman owt of hyrsselve hyre handys sehe wrong; wepynge and syschynge hyre armys he[o] [caste; ]?e watur of hyre eyen dropped at hyre feet; he[o] fel in dede swowne. (p. 22) The sentiments in the closing stanza of the poem are those of both Rolle and Julian: Off tendure love, all this I dyd endure; Love dyde me lede, love dyde me thus constrayne; And, for my dede & grevouse adventure, More aske I nott but love for love a-gayne. Brother, be kynde, & for a good certayne, by-side all this, rewardede shalt thou be in the blysse of hevyne, where ther ys no pouerte. (11. 190-196) In the complaint in the Melos Amoris,

Rolle has Christ say:

N a m amor quam habeo ad te ab aeterno me crucem scandere coegit. En ego Eternus per tempus terminor ut tibi eternitas tradatur. . . . Redde michi te totum quia me totum dedi pro te. 45 Julian in her Revelations speaks, also, of the boundless love o f G o d which caused him to suffer for us and which will turn our pains into everlasting j o y : And for every mannys synne that shalbe savyd he sufferyd; and every mannes sorow, desolacion and angwysshe he sawe and sorowd, for kyndnes and loue. . . . for as long as he was passyble he sufferde for vs and sorowde for vs. . . . And I beholdyng alle this by hys grace saw that J^e loue in hym was so strong whych he hath to oure soule that wyllyngfully he chose it with grett desyer. . . . F o r the soule that beholdyth thus whan it is touchyd by grace, he shalle verely see that the paynes of Cristes passion passe all paynes; whych paynes shalbe turned in to everlastyng joy by the vertu of Cristes passion, (chapter 20) John Lydgate, whose work in general is ponderous and quite foreign to Rolle's joyful and ecstatic spirit, does, in a poem of complaint, Cristes Passioun,46 approach the ideas in the Meditations on the Passion, at 46 46

Ed. Arnould, p. 96. Minor Poems of John Lydgate, Part I, ed. MacCracken, 216-221.

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least in the stress he places on the interior sufferings of Christ. Throughout the poem he repeats variations of the line, "Looke on my woundis, thynk on my passioun", a sentiment close to Rolle's injunction in The Commandment, "Alssa festen in Jsi hert J?e mynd of his passyon and of his woundes." 47 In the last section of his Testament48 Lydgate represents Our Lord as addressing man and reminding him of what he has endured for him. Again Lydgate draws attention not only to the physical sufferings of the passion, but also to the mental and spiritual ones: Behold and se the hatefull wrecchednesse, Put ageyn me to my confusion, Salued in skorn by ther fais knelyng doun. Se my disceples, how thei haue me forsake, Se how they slepte and lyst not with me wake, Of mortall drede they lefte me alle alone. (11. 794-5, 798, 826, 828-9)

A short lyric of appeal inserted in the Speculum Sacerdotale, a fifteenthcentury collection of sermons,49 directs our sympathies to the intensity of the interior sufferings of the passion as well as to the physical pains Christ endured: My body withoute is betyn sore, My peynes with-in ben wel more. (11. 7-8)

The last stanza of a fifteenth-century complaint of Christ, A Dialogue Between Natura Hominis and Bonitas Dei,50 has all the emphasis of joy and confidence of both Rolle and Julian when they speak of their longing and hope for the bliss of heaven: Now, swete sole, welcum to me, with me in blys schal ]pu ewur-more dwell; I blesse Jse tyme Jsat I boghte |ae, Pe tyme Jsat I wente for ]pe to hell. Into my kyndam, cum now with me, into ]pe blysse of hewun one hye, ffor Jjere in ioy schal ]au now be & ewur-more, thorowe my mercy. (11. 105-112) 47 48

49 50

English Writings of Richard Roile, ed. Allen, 80. Minor Poems of John Lydgate, Part I, ed. MacCracken, 329-362.

Ed. Weatherley, xv. The poem is found on p. 112. Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century,

ed. Brown, 164-168.

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There is one more fifteenth-century appeal to man, Woefully Arrayed,51 which shows the influence of Rolle and of Julian. Although the verse form is more sophisticated than Rolle's, the poet does use two of the stylistic devices which Rolle employs in many of his lyrics - namely, alliteration and a single rhyme for four consecutive lines. In this lyric the power of Christ over Satan is remarked: Sathanas, Jsat slouen and right lothely sire, Hym haue I ouer-caste. (11. 31-32) Julian also comments on Satan's overthrow: "In this our lord . . . shewed that the passion of hym is the ovyrcomyng of the feende." (chapter 13) The plaintive reproach of Christ in this poem, "What myght I suffer more/ ¡sen I haue sufferde, man for £e?" calls to mind the little colloquy Our Lord held with Julian on this same subject: Then seide oure good lorde askyng: Arte thou well apayd that I sufferyd for thee? I seyde: 3e, good lorde, gramercy; ye, good lorde, blessyd moot jsow be. Then seyde our good lord: If thou arte apayde, I am apayde. It is a joy, a blysse, an endlesse lykyng to me that evyrl sufferd passion for the; and yf I myght haue sufferyd more, I wolde a sufferyd more, (chapter 22)

31

Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 156-158.

VI

L Y R I C S T R E A T I N G OF D I V I N E L O V E

Rolle's most characteristic writings are ecstatic effusions of love for God. His works are filled with ardent longing for the attainment of a union of love in this life and for its complete fulfilment in the kingdom of heaven. The directing purpose behind the majority of his compositions is an eagerness to make known to others the sweetness and delight that come with the possession of God's love even in this world, and thereby to stir them to devote the whole energy of their souls to its pursuit. Even his penitential writings have the purpose of preparing the soul for this union of love. The expression of his burning love is very intimately linked with his fervent devotion to the Holy Name. It is not surprising, then, to find that the closest imitations of Rolle's work in the lyrical literature of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries centre about the theme of love of Jesus and longing for the fulfilment of that love. In 1932 a lyric was discovered by Beatrice Daw Brown1 in a manuscript of the late fourteenth century in the Bodleian Library, MS. Don. c. 13., which displays striking resemblances to the recognized lyrics of Richard Rolle. On the basis of the close relationship in mood, language and metre between this lyric and lyrics accepted as Rolle's, Mrs. Brown proposes that this lyric should be admitted to the Rolle canon. In the manuscript it is written immediately after the first four stanzas of the poem which begins, "Haile Ihesu, my creatour". This lyric appears in its entirety only in MS. Dd. V. 64. Ill, and Miss Hope Emily Allen thinks we may consider it as covered by the colophon attributing to Richard Rolle a group of lyrics found there.2 That the poem under discussion is not intended to be a continuation of the "Haile Ihesu" is shown by the change from the four-line mono-rhymed stanza form of the "Haile Ihesu" to rhyming couplets in the new piece. The position of this lyric 1

B. D. Brown, "Religious Lyrics in MS. Don. c. 13.", Bodleian Quarterly Record 1 (1932-1934), 4-7. 2 Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 300, 301. 123

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in the manuscript and its close association with the thought and expression in Rolle's lyrics would seem to indicate either an authentic work of Rolle's or a very close imitation. Since this lyric is printed nowhere except in the Bodleian Quarterly Record for 1932, its repetition here may clarify the discussion: Ihesu my lefe Ihesu my loue. Ihesu my couetynge, to J^e me langis ny3te and day. Pow ert al my ioynge. Ihesu Ihesu Ihesu. when wille J)ou on me rewe Bot if I haue Jse loue of ]se. my care is euer newe My delite and my hame Ihesu my blisful kynge swete ert {sou my swete dreury. in Jse I hope dwelling

6

ay to dwelle with my louynge. and play me with my dere It thirlis fast in my thynkyng. and dos me chaunge chere Ihesu my kynge I think to J)e. Pou ert sa faire and swete na thing I wil but anely J)e. heuen ]dow has me hete. take al my loue hald it with Jse til I hethin wende for |)e I wil and J^e I sal. loue with outen ende.

12

al ]pe loue Jsat I may loue. I gife him jsat me boght ful swete ert Jjou my swete Ihesu. on ]pe sal be my tho3t. when wil ]pou come in conforthing. and couer me of care forgyue me £>at I may se. I loue ]pe euer mare al mi loue is in Ihesu. ]?at me langyng has sent J)i loue me bindis strenth me Jjou. Pat me swilk grace has lent.

18

Ihesu to synge is mare ioyng. Jsan any tong may telle Pe myrth to loue Ihesu aboue. is na prechour mai spelle. Ihesu kinge ]sat made al thing, of a maiden was born helpe our hoping and oure lyuyng. sa J)at we be not lorn. The spirit of joy, the longing for love and the desire for the eternal vision, the association of sweetness and song with the love of Jesus, the affectionate repetition of the Holy Name, all these are reminiscent of Rolle's work. Mrs. Brown points out certain verbal parallels with passages in the lyrics of Ego Dormio and the Form of Living.3 The most 3

Brown, "Religious Lyrics in MS. Don. c. 13.", 6.

LYRICS TREATING OF DIVINE LOVE

125

striking of these is the similarity of lines 15 and 16 of the poem quoted to the opening lines of the second lyric in the Form of Living: W h e n will {sou c o m to c o m f o r t h me, and bryng m e o u t of care, A n d gyf m e |>e, f>at I may se, havand evermare? 4

These lines are also almost identical with lines in the second lyric of Ego Dormio: W h e n wil ]pou come, Jhesu m y joy, A n d cover m e of kare, A n d gyf m e ^e, Jjat I may se, Lufand evermare? 5

Line 19 is very close in phrasing to a sentence in Rolle's English Commentary on Psalm VII, v. 8: Syngynge falles till ioy, and he that synges wele that n a m e his ioy is mare than i. kan tell. 6

Mrs. Brown sees also a similarity in the metre and rhyme scheme of this poem to that of Rolle's authentic lyrics.7 We may conclude that if the poem is not Rolle's, it is the work of a close imitator of his thought, manner and expression. A manuscript of the first half of the fifteenth century, B. Mus. Add. MS. 37049, is interesting for the evidence it provides of Rolle's influence.8 Four lyrics, which are arrangements or paraphrases or imitations of Rolle's prose and verse, are found in it. A lyric beginning, "The love of God who so will lere",'after an introductory six lines on the Holy Name, to which attention was drawn in Chapter IV, is simply a re-arrangement with slight variations of the passion lyric in the Ego Dormio:10 4

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 107. Ibid., 71, lines 318-321. 6 The Psalter ... with a Translation and Exposition in English by Richard Rolle of Hampole, ed. Bramley, 28. A comparison of the passage quoted with Peter Lombard's Commentary on the Psalms, in J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Vol. CXCI, 119-120, shows that this comment is original with Rolle. ' B. D. Brown, "Religious Lyrics in MS. Don. c. 13.", Bodleian Quarterly Record 7 (1932-1934), 7. 8 Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 306-307. 9 Miss F. M. Comper gives a modernized version of this lyric in Spiritual Songs from English MSS of Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries, 133-134. 10 Miss H. E. Allen has pointed out in Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 308, that most of the lines of this lyric are derived from that in Ego Dormio. 5

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Jhesu receive my heart And to thy love me bring: All my desire thou art, I covet thee, my king.

Corresponding linereferences in Ego Domio:u 11. 239-240

T o think is great pity How deemed thou art to dead, And nailed on a tree The bright angels' bread.

11. 231-232

Driven thou art to dole, That art our ghostly food, And fouled as a fool, In heven the halwes' food.

11. 233-234

Alas my joy and my sweeting Is deemed for to hing,

1. 224

Nayled are his hend, and nay led are his feet, And thurled is his side, so seemly and so sweet; Nayled is his whyte brest, and red his blody side, Wan was his feyr hew, his woundes deep and wide. In five stedes of his flesh the blood gan down glide, As streme does of the strand, this is nought to hide. 11. 225-230 A wonder it is to see, Whoso understode, How G o d of majesty Was dying on the rode;

11. 235-236

Both soth then is it said That love leads the ring That him so low has laid ; But love it was no thing.

11. 237-238

Jhesu that with thy blood me bought Cf. A Song of Love-Longing to Jesus, 1. 5 That fro thy heart gan rin, Cf. Ego Dormio, 1. 241 Thou make me clean of all my sin Cf. Song of Love-Longing, 1. 7 And fest thy love into my thought So that we never more twyn. Amen. Cf. Ego Dormio, 1. 241.

11

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 67-68. References to A Song of LoveLonging to Jesus are from the same edition, 41.

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127

In the same manuscript there is another lyric12 which is made up of extracts from the lyrics in Ego Dormio and the Form of Living with an introductory paraphrase from Chapter 15 of the Incendium Amoris: Whils I satt in a chapel in my prayere13 Cf. Dum enim in eadem caA heuenly sounde to me drewe nere, pella sederem, et in nocte For ]3e sange of sanges I fest in me ante cenam psalmos And my Jsoght turned into luf dyte prout potui decantarem, Of ]pe heuenly and sweet armony, quasi tinnitum psallenPe whilk I toke in mynde delitabylly. cium vel pocius canencium supra me ascultavi. Cumque celestibus edam orando toto desiderio intenderem, nescio quomodo mox in me concentum canorum sensi, et delectabilissimam armoniam celicus excepi, mecum menentem in mente.14 Perfore I sytt and syng Of luf longyng, Pat in my brest is bred, Ihesu, Ihesu, Ihesu. My kynge and my ioyinge, Jhesu receyfe my hert, And to f>i luf me brynge. A1 my desyre J)ou ert I couet £>i cumynge.

Cf. Ego Dormio, 1. 333 and A Song of LoveLonging, 1. 29 Cf. Ego Dormio, 1. 334 Cf. Song of Love-Longing, 1. 30 Cf. Ego Dormio, 11. 239-240

In lufe ]?ow wounde my Jsoght, And lyft my hert to Jse, Pe saule J)ou has dere boght, Pi lufer make me bee, Bot ]pe I couet noght, Pis warld for J)e I flee,

Cf. Ego Dormio, 11. 246-248

When wil J)ou cum to comfort me, Cf. The Form of Living, And brynge me oute of care, "Cantus amoris", 11. 1-4 12

Of this lyric Miss Allen says: "At the side [of a picture probably intended to depict Rolle] is copied a lyric which is mostly derived from the two lyrics of Ego Dormio, but with an introduction. . . . Here in the introduction we evidently have a rhyming paraphrase of the first sentences of Rolle's description of his birth of ecstasy in chapter 15 of the Incendium." Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 308-309. 13 Printed by Miss F. M. Comper, The Life of Richard Rolle, 315-316. 14 Quoted from the Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 189.

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LYRICS TREATING OF DIVINE LOVE

And gyf me ]?at I may se, Hafyng Jse evermare. Pi luf is ay swettist Of al jsat ever ware. My hert when sal it bryst, Pan langwys I na mare. Jhesu my sawle ]?ow mende, Pi luf in to me sende Pat I may with |>e lende In ioy withouten ende.

Cf. Ego Dormio, 11. 244-245

A wonder it is to se, Who so understode, How god of majeste Was dying on J)e rode. Bot sothe {jan is it sayd Pat luf ledes Jse rynge, Pat hym sa lawe has layde But luf it was no £>inge.

Cf. Ego Dormio, 11. 235-238

In fyfe stedes of his flesche His blode gan downe glyde; As streme dos of Jse strande, Pis payne is noght to hyde, To J)ink it is gret pyte How demed he is to dedeAnd nayled on jse tre, Pe bright angels brede.

Cf. Ego Dormio, It. 229-232.15

A third lyric in this manuscript is little more than a paraphrase of the instruction in The Commandment16 on the efficacy of meditation on the passion in lifting the heart to desire the love of God: I wate na thyng, Jsat swa inwardly sal take J)i hert to covayte Goddes lufe, and to desyre £>e joy of heven, and to despyse ]?e vanitees of ]?is worlde, as stedfast thynkyng of ]se myscheves and grevous woundes of ]pe dede of Jhesu Criste. It wil rayse £>i thoght aboven ethly lykyng and make J)i hert brennand in Cristes lufe, and purches in J)i sawle delitabelte and savoure of heven.17 The poem is scarcely more than prose written in verse form. It lacks Rolle's felicity and dexterity in rhyme, but it is obviously inspired by the 15 16 17

Line references are from English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 68, 42, 107. Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 309. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 80.

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129

passage just quoted, with the addition of Rolle's characteristic mirth and melody: I know no thing that so inwardly thy love to God will bring As of Christ's passion and death devoutly thinking, Ye will think it more sweet than all earthly melody. For earthly solace and mirth is but noysome thing To a man's heart that in love of God is. For he that loves God burningly, ever mare Has mirth and melody in angels' sang. 18

One more short lyrical piece from B. Mus. Add. MS. 3704919 shows Rolle's influence. It is wholly devoted to love and exhibits some of his characteristic expressions: Ihesu, my luf, my ioy, my reste, Cf. Ego Dormio, 11. 350, Pi perfite luf close in my breste 318, 338 20 Pat I jae luf and neuer reste ; And mak me luf Jse of al J)inge best, Cf. The Nature of Love, 11. 27, 29, 60 2 1 And wounde my hert in ]?i luf fre, Pat I may reyne in ioy euer-more with Jse.

A prayer to be said at the Sanctus of the Mass, taken from the Lay Folks' Mass Book, and found in only two of the six manuscripts of the text which date from the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,22 has marks of Rolle's influence in the spirit of total consecration to the love of God, the fervent invocation of the Holy Name, the association of song and love and the desire for heavenly bliss.23 For verbal similarities it approximates the short lyric in The Form of Living more closely than it does any other of Rolle's lyrics. 18

Spiritual Songs from English MSS of Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries, ed. Comper, 210. 19 Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 102. 20 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 72,71. 21 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 50, 51. 22 G. H. Gerould, "The Lay Folks' Mass Book from MS. Gg. V.31. Cambridge Univ. Library", Englische Studien 33 (1904), 3-4. 23 This lyric is copied into The Lay Folks' Mass Book, to be said after the Elevation, in the same two manuscripts in which the "Sanctus" prayer appears. The Lay Folks' Mass Book, ed. Simmons, 40-41. See Gerould's article, cited above, for differences in manuscripts (pp. 8-9).

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The lyric in The Form of Living: The lyric in the Mass Book: In world of worlds with-outen endyng Loved be jaou, keyng, and thanked be Jsou, keyng, Panked be Ihesu, my kyng. and blyssed be JDOU, keyng, Al my hert I gyue hit Jpe grete right hit is jsat hit so be: Jhesu, all my joyng, with al my wille I worship J)e of all Jsi giftes gude, I h e s u , b l e s s i d m o t JDOU b e . Pat for me spylt Jpi blude With al my hert I Jsank it ]pe, and died on Jse rode; Po gode Jsat J)ou has don to me. Pou gyf me grace to syng Swete Ihesu, graunt me now Jais Pe sang of {si lovyng. 25 Pat I may come un-to ]pi blis, Pere with aungels for to syng Pis swete song of Jai louyng, Sanctus: sanctus: sanctus. Ihesu graunt Jsat hit be Jsus. Amen. 2 4

The last four lines of a short fifteenth-century lyric26 give indication of Rolle's influence: O Ihesu, ihesu, ihesu, grauntt that I may loue the soo, Pat the wysdom of the worlde be cleene f r o me A-goo, And brennyngly to desyre to come to see thy face, In whom is all my comford, my joy and my solace.

The repetition of the Holy Name, the perception of the need to put aside the vanities of the world for the love of God, the yearning desire for death as the gateway to the eternal vision, the intimate confidence in Christ as the comfort and joy of the soul are characteristic features of Rolle's thought. A hymn in the Thornton MS. beginning, "Ihesu Criste, Saynte Marye Sonne",27 from which quotations were made in Chapter IV indicating the devotion manifested in it to the Holy Name, shows other evidence of Rolle's influence in stanzas of ardent love-longing. The association of song and heat as accompaniments of love is familiar, as is also the desire to forsake worldly vanities for the love of Jesus. Some phrases in these stanzas are taken directly from Ego Dormio:28 Ihesu, I couayte to lufe the, C f . Ego Dormio, 11. 239-240. And Jsat is hally my 3ernynge, Pare-fore, to lufe Jse, ]pou lere me, And I thi lufe sail [euer] synge. Cf. Ego Dormio, 1. 362. 24

The Lay Folks' Mass Book, ed. Simmons, 28. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 104. 26 Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, No. 98. 27 Religious Pieces in Prose and Verse Edited from Robert Thornton's MS., ed. Perry, 73-75. 28 Line references to Ego Dormio are from English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 72, 68, 70 ,66. 25

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Ihesu, thi lufe in-to me sende Cf. Ego Dormio, 1. 244. And with thi lufe ]x>u me ffede! Cf. Ego Dormio, 1. 316. Ihesu, ]pi lufe ay in me lende, Thi lufer euer be my saule mede. Ihesu, my herte with lufe Jx>u lyghte; Thi lufe me make euer to forsake All werldly joy, bathe day and nighte, And joy in {ae anely to make. Ihesu, Jsi lufe me chaufe with-in, So ]?at na thynge bot the I seke; In thi lufe make my saule to byrnne Cf. Ego Dormio, 1. 160. Thi luf me make bathe mylde and meke! Ihesu, in {DÌ lufe wounde my thoghte Cf. Ego Dormio, 11. 246-247. And lyft my herte to the! Ihesu, my saule |>at J?ou dere boghte, Thi lufer make it to bee! (11. 41-56, 73-76) The fifteenth-century paraphrase of John of Hoveden's Philomena, a thirteenth-century Latin poem described in Chapter IV of this thesis, has many passages relating to love. Three of them show notable similarities in form and language to Rolle's writings. Rolle in his lyric beginning, "Lufe es lyf jsat lastes ay", starts each line of stanza two, three lines of stanza four, three lines of stanza thirteen and two lines of stanza fourteen with the word " L u f e " . 2 9 When we find in four consecutive lines of the English paraphrase of the Philomena, called by its editor, Charlotte D'Evelyn, Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, this same verbal phenomenon, we may wonder if the memory of Rolle's manner is not influencing our poet, especially since the Latin text does not warrant this distinctive form. The Latin and English texts are as follows: Amor alvo matris te texerat Et nunc crucis altari lacerai ; Nunc letali telo te vulnerai, Ut defunctos ad vitam efferat. 30 29

Loue Loue Loue Loue

]3e made man to be, Jjc dede on rode tre, ha]p J>e 3ivon demies wounde. hajj ]se leid ded to grounde. 31

Rolle himself may have got his inspiration for this mannerism from a thirteenthcentury secular lyric in MS. Digby 86. Of its 28 lines, 24 begin with the word "Loue". Some of the expressions in Rolle's poem are identical with ones in this thirteenthcentury lyric. Cf. English Lyrics of the XIIIth Century, ed. Brown, 107-108. 30 John Hovedens Nachtigallenlied, ed. Blume, stanza 225, p. 21. 31 Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, ed. D'Evelyn, lines 687-690.

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Two other passages in the Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ are filled with the ardent love-longing and the desire for death as a means of union with the Beloved that are familiar features of Rolle's work. The Latin expresses these sentiments; the English paraphrase employs language strongly reminiscent of Rolle's ecstatic manner: Rex amoris, optati millies Cuius a m o r est s u m m a saties, A d optantem te q u a n d o venies Et a m a n t e m a m a n s reficies?

K y n g f o r t h f u l d of loue-lykyng, W a n n e wolt f o u stoppe my longyng? E>ou hast of loue so gret plente, W h y ne wilt jpou f er-wif feden m e ? Hit is worse f a n any [d]eth, T e d o n a n t e si te desidero Pis long a-bydyng, for f a t me Pullus corvi teque vocavero slef. Vultu f r u a r , q u e m adoptavero, N e c dimittam, c u m te tenuero. Ihesu, of m y lif m a k e sone a n ende, Sed mucronis m o r e m exequitur But f ou m e sum confort sende. Longa mora, q u a e sic protenditur ; M o r a e longae languor inseritur, N o w lyf a n d loue is f r o m e gon, Et amantis cor quasi moritur. H o w m a y I leue here a l o n ? P o u f a t deiedest u p o n f e tre, C u r c u m migrât sponsus, hic m a n e o ? Let m e dye also w i f f é ; C u r plus m o r o r hoc vase luteo ? Whil I shal dwellon here behynde, O, qui migras sub serto spineo But leue in longyng a n d in D a quod migrum, c u m plangens travayle doleo. 3 2 Til I haue f e w i f o u t o n fayle. 3 3

In the Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ and in the short piece which begins "Ihesu f a t hast me dere a-bou3te", called by Miss D'Evelyn An Orison 32

of the Passion,34

a poem containing short extracts

John Hovedens Nachtigallenlied, ed. Blume, stanzas 265-267, 463 Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, ed. D'Evelyn, lines 810-826,1287-1294. 34 The relation between these two poems is somewhat obscure. When Miss D'Evelyn first edited them in 1921, she believed that the short poem, An Orison of the Passion, which is found in late fourteenth-century manuscripts (Introduction, Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, xxii-xxiii), had been incorporated into the longer Meditations, found only in a fifteenth-century manuscript {ibid., viii). At this time, also, she found traces of "definite indebtedness to Rolle's work" in three passages, and "parallels in thought and phrasing in many others" {ibid., xxvi-xxx). The three passages are: (1) lines 1303-1324, which, she says, resembles a passage from the Incendium Amoris; (2) lines 1467-1468 and 1469-1470 which, she believed, were similes taken from Rolle's Meditations on the Passion; and (3) lines 1531-1534. In 1935 F. J. E. Raby, in an article entitled "A Middle English Paraphrase of John of Hoveden's 'Philomena'", Modern Language Review 30 (1935), 339-343, pointed out that "the Meditations published by Dr. Charlotte D'Evelyn in 1921 are nothing but a translation, or perhaps more correctly, a paraphrase of a very famous Latin poem, the Philomena of John of 33

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from the Philomena, there are lines using the figure of the soul as the "wyf" of Christ, and of Christ as the "hosebonde". 35 The concept of the soul as the "bride" or "spouse" of Christ and of Christ as the "bridegroom" is common enough, 36 but the reference to the soul as "wyf" of Christ is rare indeed. The only other work in which I have encountered it is Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love?1 There is just a possibility that the author or authors of the paraphrases in question are drawing on Julian as a source for this unusual term of reference. The earliest known manuscript of the Meditations belongs to the fifteenth century, but there are manuscripts of the late fourteenth century in which the short poem is recorded.38 Julian's visions took place in 1373 and her reflections on them lasted for nearly twenty years; this does not permit much time to elapse between the time they were recorded and the date of the earliest manuscripts in which the excerpts based on the Philomena appear. The oldest manuscript we have of the Revelations belongs to the year 1413, but the probability is that there were earlier ones which have been lost.39 The possibility of Julian's influence is strengthened by the fact that the Latin text employs merely the terms "sponsa" and "sponsus" in the passages in question.40 In Trinity College Dublin MS. 155, there are twelve lines of verse immediately following the text of Rolle's Ego Dormio:

Hoveden. This devout meditation is the sole source of the English poem, which owes nothing to Rolle or to the Orison [of the Passion]." In a subsequent article, "Meditar lions on the Life and Passion of Christ: A Note on its Literary Relationships", written for inclusion in Essays and Studies in Honor of Carleton Brown, Miss D'Evelyn accepts F. J. E. Raby's correction (79-80), and makes the new conclusion that the Orison is derived from the English Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ (89). Since the Orison is found in earlier manuscripts than the Meditations, it cannot be modelled on the latter unless an earlier manuscript of the long poem was in existence before the end of the fourteenth century from which both the Orison and the present manuscript of the Meditations derive. If such an earlier manuscript existed, it is just possible that Rolle himself may have been the translator of the Philomena. Many passages in the Latin poem present striking similarities to Rolle's thought, and in all probability had their influence on him. If Rolle is not the translator, it is at least tenable that the popularity which Rolle's works gave to these ideas prompted the translation of the Philomena and to some extent influenced the phrasing and language employed. 35 Meditations on the Life and Passion of Christ, ed. D'Evelyn, lines 1657, 1660, 1678. An Orison of the Passion, edited with the Meditations, lines 95-98. 36 See note 6 to Chapter III. 37 Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, chapters 51, 58. 38 See note 34 above. 39 Hudleston, ed., Revelations of Divine Love, xi-xii. 40 John Hovedens Nachtigallenlied, ed. Blume, stanzas 626, 630, 637, 639.

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LYRICS TREATING OF DIVINE LOVE Ihesu, for ]ae mourne I may As turtel £>at longejD bojje ny3t and day F o r her loue is gone hyr froo, for aftur {se, lorde, me longejD ay; And {sat is al my myrjDe and play, Where I sitte or goo. f'erfore, lord, Jdou rewe on me And helpe me sone, J)at I may see I J e feyerhe[d] of J>i face With angelys Jaat byn bry3t and clere And holy soules {sat Jdou bougtes dere Into holy place. 4 1

This little poem reflects Rolle's language and spirit. The phrase, "Jdou rewe on m e " occurs in the Ego Dormio lyric on the passion (1. 358); "jDat I may see / Jje feyerhe[d] of Jji f a c e " is verbally close to lines 314 and 315 of the same lyric; the words, " m o u r n e " , " m y r j j e " , " s i t t e " , are also found in it at lines 339, 342, and 333. 4 2 The love-longing, the desire for death and for the eternal vision of G o d are characteristic of Rolle as is also the reference to the sitting position. The allusion to the turtle is reminiscent of a passage f r o m the Incendium Amoris: In principio enim conversionis mee, et propositi singularis, cogitavi me velle assimilari avicule, que pre amore languet amati sui, sed languendo eciam letatur adveniente sibi quod amat et letando canit. 4 3

The Prayer to Jesus in The Processional of the Nuns of Chester44 is not only an example of devotion to the Holy N a m e , but it also provides some interesting lines on the love of G o d . It is an earnest and confident petition for mercy and love. The affectionate repetition of the Holy N a m e , the request for burning love, the abhorrence of sin more through the barrier it presents to love than through fear, the desire for death are themes present here which have been made familiar to us in Rolle's works: O dere Ihesu all the ioy of my Sowle. Bren my hertt Iheu as fyre dothe the cole.

Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, 102-103. See also note to this lyric, ibid., 315. 42 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 70-72. 43 Ed. Deanesly, 277. 44 The Processional of the Nuns of Chester, ed. Legg, 26-27. 41

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O myghtffull Ihesu I beseche thy grace. T h a t I m a y h a t e deedly synne in euery place. A n d specially f o r thy love a n d f o r n o o feere, Of p a y n e n o d r e here n o r ells where. O Ihesu t h e w y s d o m e of t h e trinite Yf I myght the love Ihesu brenningly. O m o s t meeke Ihesu a n d mercyfull kynge G y v e m e grace Ihesu yf it be thy lykynge. G l a d l y to covett f o r thy love t o dye. (11. 12-13, 24-29, 36-38)

Attention was drawn in Chapter IV to the great increase in the number of manuscripts in which paraphrases of the Latin hymn, Dulcis Jesu Memoria, appear in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In its longer form the English imitation had appeared in only one early manuscript, Harley 2253 ;45 new versions are recorded in eight manuscripts towards the close of the fourteenth century and during the fifteenth century.46 The poem is one of fervent devotion to the Holy Name and ardent love-longing. It no doubt influenced Rolle's thought and expression, and, in turn, the popularity which he gave to these themes in his writings in all likelihood stimulated the revived interest in the poem. In the version which is given in the Vernon manuscript,47 dating about 1385,48 there are several additional stanzas which do not appear in the earlier Harley MS. 49 A number of these added lines stress the intimate love-longing in language very reminiscent of Rolle: Ihesu, forsojje n o w n u s n o Jaing I n al ]pis world of such lykyng, P a t con so m u c h e of loue-longyng, A s ]DOU Ihesu, m y deore swetyng. (11. 113-116) 45

A short poem of 12 lines based on the Dulcis Jesu Memoria is found in MS. Digby 86. Printed in English Lyrics of the XIHth Century, ed. Brown, 91. 46 See notes 17 and 18 to Chapter IV. 47 Printed in The Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., Part lied. Furnivall, 449-462. 48 Brown, A Register of Middle English Religious and Didactic Verse, I, 49. 49 Carleton Brown is of the opinion that the later texts do not derive from the Harley manuscript. He bases his argument on the superior readings of the later manuscripts which more closely approximate the Latin original. (Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, 272-3) This seems to point to the existence of a version in another, early, apparently lost manuscript from which the Harley poem and the later versions were derived. The poems in the later manuscripts are not independent of the Harley version in subject matter, and do not suggest an entirely original piece of work. The other possibility is that the scribes of the later manuscripts worked with the Harley version in front of them and also with the Latin original at hand, and made corrections where necessary, and additions or deletions where their individual talent recommended them.

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Ihesu, lord, my swetyng, Hold me euere in ]sy kepyng, Make of me £>i derlyng, Pat I t>e loue ouer alle Jiing. (11. 217-220) Ihesu, mihtful Heuene-kyng, Pi loue beo al my lykyng, Mi mournyng and my longyng; With swete teres wepyng. (11. 225-228) Ihesu, whonne so hit lyke J>e Loue-sparkes send ]DOW me; Mak myn herte al hot to be, Brennynd in >e loue of {>e. (11. 277-280)

A poem on love and the passion which appears in three late fourteenthcentury manuscripts 50 reveals nothing very distinctive in matter but has a trick of style which suggests Rolle. It is written in stanzas of four lines, with a single rhyme marking each stanza. This type of rhyme is commonly used by Rolle, but it is not exclusively his. The same rhyme scheme is used, for example, in the lyrics based on the Dulcis Jesu Memoria. But the combination of four-line rhyming stanzas with one or two stanzas in which medial rhyme is employed is characteristic of the Ego Dormio lyrics. It is this arrangement which we find in the poem, Christ's Gift to Man, No. 90 in Carleton Brown's edition of Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, and which may, therefore, be indebted to Rolle for this mannerism. A fifteenth-century poem by John Audelay, De Amore Dei,51 is of particular interest as it seems to reflect the thought of Julian of Norwich and in some lines to touch both Julian and Rolle. Lines three and four of the poem: Fore loue is loue, and euer schal be And loue has been or we were bore;

are close in wording and idea to the closing passage of Julian's Revelations of Divine Love: And I sawe fulle surely in this and in alle that or god made vs he lovyd vs, whych loue was nevyr slekyd ne nevyr shalle. . . . the loue wher in he made vs was in hym fro with out begynnyng. In whych loue we haue oure begynnyng. . . . (chapter 86) 50 51

Brown, ed., Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, 273. (Note to Lyric No. 90.) The Poems of John Audelay, ed. Whiting, 210.

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The next two lines: Fore loue he askys no nojser fe But loue a3ayn; he kepis no more. find their counterpart in both Julian and Rolle's writings. Julian writes: . . . for oure kyndely wille is to haue god, and the good wylle of god is to haue vs . . . for he wylle that we be occupyed in knowyng and louyng tylle the tyme comyth that we shal be fulfyllede in hevyn. And here fore was this lesson of loue schewyd.... Then seide oure good lorde askyng: Arte thou well apayd that I sufferyd for thee? I seyde: 3e, good lorde, gramercy. . . . Then seyde our good lord: If thou arte apayde, I am apayde. It is a joy, a blysse, an endlesse lykyng to me that evyr I sufferd passion for the; and yf I might haue sufferd more, I wolde a sufferyd more, (chapters 6, 22) In the Incendium Amoris, Rolle had written: Si ergo queris amari, ama: quia amor vicem rependit. 52 Line 8 of the poem reads, "Trew loue is tresoure; trust is store." Julian, too, associates true love and trust - "he is . . . oure wey and oure hevyn in tru loue and feythfulle trust." (chapter 77) The first line of the third stanza, "In good loue Jjer is no syn", seems commonplace enough, but both Julian and Rolle have something to say on the matter. Julian writes: . . . the same blessyd loue techyth vs that we shalle hate syn only for loue. Flee we to oure lorde, and we shall be comfortyd. Touch we hym, and we shalle be made cleene. Cleve we to hym, and we shalle be suer and safe from alle manner of peryllys. (chapters 40, 77) Rolle, too, expresses the idea that love and sin cannot exist together: Luf es a st[i]ryng of Jse saule, for to luf God for hymself, and all other thyng for G o d ; £>e whilk lufe, when it es ordaynde in God, it does away all inordinate lufe in any thyng Jsat es noght gude. Bot al dedely syn es inordynate lufe in a thyng jsat es noght; Jsan lufe puttes out al dedely syn. 53 52

Ed. Deanesly, 214. The Form of Living in English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 109. The same idea is expressed in the Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 176: "In illo autem qui contemplacionis semitam ascendit per iubilum et ardorem amoris: iam quasi extincte iacent carnales concupiscencie." 53

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The concept designated in the next line of the poem, "without loue is heaviness", is present in the writings of both Julian and Rolle. In Rolle's Latin treatises we find: "Veni, mi dilecte, et leva mea languore." 54 and: A modo dulcissime Domine non discedas a me jugiter manens mecum in tua dulcedine, quia tua sola praesentia mihi solatium est, et sola tria absentia tristem me relinquit. 55 Julian, too, writes of the heaviness that accompanies sin and the withdrawal of ourselves from the comfort and sweetness of love: . . . and some of vs for oure every day synnes, for we holde nott oure promise nor kepe oure clennes that oure lorde settyth vs in, but fall oftymes into so moche wrechydnes that shame it is to say it. And the beholldyng of thys makyth vs so sory and so hevy that unnethys we can see ony comfort. Than is it oure enmye Jsat wylle put vs aback with his false drede of oure wrechydnesse, for payne that he thretyth vs by. For it is his menyng to make vs so hevy and so sory in this jpat we shuld lett outt of mynde ]?e blessydfull beholdyng of oure evyrlastyng frende. (chapters 73, 76) A t the beginning of the fourth stanza the concept of love advanced in the first lines of the poem is repeated and made personal: For He me louyd or I Him knew Perfore I loue Him aljaer-best. In the Revelations of God for us:

we find a very beautiful expression of this eternal love

For or that he made vs he louyd vs, and when we were made we louyd hym; . . . And in this endlesse loue mannis soule is kepte hole, as all the mater of the revelacion menyth and shewyth. In whych endlesse loue we be ledde and kepte of god, and nevyr shalle be lost; for he wyll that we know that oure soule is a lyfe, whych lyfe of hys goodnesse and his grace shall last in hevyn w i t h o u j t ende, hym lovyng, hym thangkyng, hym praysyng. And right the same Jsat we shulde be withou3t end, the same we ware tresurid in god and hyd, knowen and lovyd fro withou3t begynnyng. (chapter 53) " I loue with Him to take my rest'' - the last line of stanza four - echoes the sentiment of both Rolle and Julian. Rolle writes in Ego Dormio: My hert, when may it brest to come to joe, my rest? 56 64 55 56

Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly, 176. Emendatio.Vitae, ed. M. de LaBigne, 615. English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 71, line 338,

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and in the same work: Pan es Ihesu al f)i desyre, al jsi delyte, al J)i joy, al Jm solace, al al I wate Jsat on hym ever be jsi sang, in hym al Jm rest. 57

comforth;

Julian writes of the peace and rest that love brings in this life: An after thys he shewde a sovereyne gostely lykynge in my soule. In thys iykyng I was fulfyllyde of the evyrlastyng suernesse, myghtely fastnyd w i t h o u t any paynefulle drede. This felyng was so glad and so goostely that I was all in peese, in eese and in reste, that ther was nothyng in erth that shulde haue grevyd me. (chapter 15) T h e last stanza epitomizes the whole spirit that underlies every line written by Rolle and Julian on the surpassing love and goodness and mercy of G o d : Of al louers £>at euer was borne, His loue hit passid euerechon, N a d He us louyfd], we were forelorne; With[out] [H]is loue, trew loue is non. T h e note of love-longing, the rejection o f worldly vanities, the joy and the intimacy of a little lyric from the Thornton Ms. may derive f r o m Rolle: Jhesu of whom all true love springs, That for my love tholed pain, Till lusty love of earthly things Thou thole me never turn again; In thy love be my liking, And thereto make me glad and fain; And for thy love to make mourning, That for my love would be slain. 58 "Tholed", "liking" and "mourning" are characteristic words f r o m Rolle's vocabulary; 5 9 the direct address to the H o l y N a m e o f Jesus is 67

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 69. Spiritual Songs from English MSS. of Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries, ed. Comper, 212. 59 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 43-47, lines 14, 55, 72. Miss F. M. M. Comper notes the similarity to Rolle's work in the line, "In thy love be my liking' • {The Life of Richard Rolle, 281-2). 58

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familiar. Line 5, "In thy love be my liking", closely parallels line 55 of Rolle's Song of the Love of Jesus, which reads, "In lufe be owre lykyng." 60 If we set beside this lyric a stanza from one found in a manuscript of the mid-fourteenth century which expresses almost the same ideas, we see, at once, the difference in spirit: A Ihesu, J)i swetnes w h a m a y it se A n d Jsarof haue a clere langyng, All erthly lust bytter sail be B o t {sine allane withouten lesyng. I pray ]pe, lord, ]pat lare lere m e After luf to haue langyng, A n d sadly sett m y hert o n J^e A n d of luf to haue lykyng. 6 1

The note of joy is absent, replaced by one of seriousness. The last line of this stanza is similar to Rolle's line quoted above, "In lufe be owre lykyng", and could be taken from his work, 62 but if the poet was using earlier models he would find an almost identical line introduced as a refrain in the thirteenth-century prose piece, \>e Wohunge of Ure Lauerd, "leue Jaat te luue of {je beo al mi likinge". 63 The whole spirit is made different from Rolle's by the one word, "sadly", which Carleton Brown glosses properly as "seriously". 64 The remainder of the poem lacks the spontaneity and intimacy of love which we find in work inspired by Rolle. It is rather a reasoned argument why we should love God than a joyous overflow of ecstatic feeling. This impression of aloofness is caused, in part, by the change from the direct address to Jesus in the first stanza to the designation of him in the third person throughout the rest of the poem until we reach the opening line of the final stanza. There remain to be considered two lyrics from MS. Camb. Univ. Dd. V. 64. III. Miss H. E. Allen, in discussing the question of the authorship 60

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 45. Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, N o . 48. 02 In the notes to this lyric Carleton Brown says on page 262: "Of this piece no less than fifteen MSS. (complete or fragmentary) survive, of which the one here printed is the earliest. Rawl. Poet. 175 is the only one besides the Thornton MS. Which offers a Northern text of the poem." Carleton Brown prints the poem from MS. Rawlinson Poet. 175, which he dates, in A Register of Middle English Religious and Didactic Verse, I, 105, mid-fourteenth century. The manuscript is, therefore, close to Rolle's lifetime, but late enough to include imitations of his work. 63 Ed. Thompson, lines 56-57, 78-79, 106-107, 118-119, 158-159, 194-195, 216-217, 252,366,439-440,643-644. 64 See C. S. Lewis, Studies in Words, 75-85, for a discussion ot the meanings of the word "sad". 61

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of these two lyrics, concludes that they may be written by Rolle, but that his authorship is doubtful. 65 One of them, to which Carleton Brown gives the title, A Prayer to Jesus,™ bears marks of the influence of Rolle's ideals in the confident invocation of the Holy Name and in the desire for a total consecration to the love of God, indicated in the following lines: I J ou be my lufe and all my thoght. (1. 2) my lufe & my lykyng in ]ae sette. (1. 8) All my hert fulfill with perfyte lufe to Jae. (1. 10)

The lines quoted are close in wording to lines in Rolle's lyrics and may be imitated from them. 67 "jsou be my lufe and all my thoght" compares with line 7 of A Song of Love-Longing to Jesus, " . . . festen in J?e al my thoght" and with line 37 of A Song of the Love of Jesus, "If J>ou luf in all t>i thoght. . . . " "My lufe and my lykyng in Jje sette" approximates line 58 of The Nature of Love, "fn lufe and Jsi lykyng, in hym jsou lat it lend." "All my hert fulfill with perfyte lofe to ]?e" is not unlike line 12 of The Nature of Love, "And with lufe |?at has na endyng jsi hert he wil fulfyll." The poem lacks the ecstatic joy and ardent love-longing of Rolle's own work, but it may owe something to him in the directions indicated. The other lyric on the theme of love, of which the authorship is doubtful, begins, "Lo! lemman swete, now may J)ou se / {sat I have lost my lyf for J>e."68 It does not seem to have any special marks of Rolle's influence. In every authentic lyric by Rolle the speaker is man addressing Christ or other men; there is no one of them in which the first person, representing Rolle himself, is not introduced as a pronoun or at least as an adjective. This gives them an intensely personal character, altogether lacking in this little lyric, which is an appeal from Christ to man. Nor is there anything particularly reminiscent of Rolle in the sentiments expressed. It would seem quite reasonable to exclude this lyric, not only from the canon of Rolle's works, but also from the sphere of his influence. Since the writings of Rolle and of Julian of Norwich take love of God for their central theme, it is to be expected that the influence of these two great mystics should be most apparent in the lyrics on divine love. 65

Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 294-295. Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, 95. 67 Quotations from Rolle's lyrics are from English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 41, 43, 45,51,49. 88 Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, 94. 66

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Julian's personality made itself only very slightly felt in the lyric literature of the fifteenth century, but we are aware of it from time to time in a distinctive turn of phrase or in a strikingly fresh approach to an age-old truth. The impact of Rolle's individuality on his age is very evident in the direct borrowings from his writings, in the imitations of his matter, manner and diction, in the reproduction of his spirit ofjoy and ecstasy, and in the popular acclaim which his "calor", "canor" and "dulcor" received in their adoption into the lyrical compositions of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

VII LYRICS ON THE VIRGIN MARY

Carleton Brown and R. H. Robbins in The Index of Middle English Verse list over four hundred titles of poems written about the Virgin Mary in the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Of these all but sixty-six have been printed. In this vast selection of material certain traditional themes are recurrent. The great privilege of the Motherhood of God coupled with the miracle of virginity preserved intact is commemorated in almost every poem; the joys of Mary and her sorrows in association with the earthly life of her divine Son are recounted in many; the glorious triumph of her Assumption and Coronation as queen of heaven is a favourite subject both for incidental reference and for sustained treatment in joyous hymns of praise; confidence in her love and power and mercy inspires many expressions of petition, repentance and hope of salvation. A delightful little poem of the mid-fourteenth century 1 cannot be surpassed for compactness of thought, for economy of words, for completeness of ideas, for concentration of feeling. In its four lines it compresses most of the popular themes in crisp, joyous salutations; it conveys a confident recognition of Mary's power and readiness to help; it presents an appeal fired with love and hope for assistance in all the exigencies of life : Marie, 30W queen! 30W moder! 30W mayden briht! 30W wilt! 30W canst! 30W art of miht! 30W lyf! 30W love! 30W hope of blisse! In sinne, in sorwe, in nede, us wisse!

Certain of these traditional themes had appeared in England in the Anglo-Saxon period. Cynewulf celebrates Mary's virginity and her Motherhood of God; he praises her as the pure virgin adorned with all 1

Printed in Reliquiae Antiquae, ed. Wright and Halliwell, II, 120.

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virtues, as queen of the hosts of heaven, of men, and of the inhabitants of hell.2 In the writings of the great Doctors of the Church, 3 in homilies, 4 in religious art, 5 and in sacred songs, 6 Mary had been honoured and exalted through the course of the centuries. One of the favourite subjects from early times for sermons, writings, art and hymns was Our Lady's Assumption and Coronation as queen of heaven. In Latin hymns before the year 1200 Mary had been celebrated as "Mater Dei", "virgo mater", "mater simul et puella", "coeli regina", "regina angelorum", "mater misericordiae", "spes nostra". 7 These titles found their way into the early Middle English Marian lyrics. The earliest of the lyrics on Mary, the twelfth-century Cantus BeatiGodrici* is a hymn of humble petition to the virgin Mother of God, seeking her assistance in the great matter of salvation : Sainte Marie virgine moder Iesu Cristes Nazarene onfo, scild, help J)in Godric, onfang, bring hehlic wijs ]pe in godes ric. Sainte Marie, Cristes bur, maidenes clenhad, modérés flur, dilie mine sinne, rixe in min mod, bring me to winne wij) self god.

On God Ureisun of Ure Lefdi,9 dating from the first half of the thirteenth century, is a great tribute of praise to the Mother of God, the queen seated in honour among the choirs of angels in the heavenly kingdom : N e non ]?er nis Jsin efning wijjinne heoueriche Heih is jsi kinestol onuppe cherubine Biuoren Jaine leoue sune wijsinnen seraphine. (11. 24-26) 2

Cynewulf, Christ, ed. Gollancz, lines 70-102, 274-299, 325-346. Palmer, Mary in the Documents of the Church, 103-110. 4 Blickling Homilies, ed. Morris, 136-157. Also Old English Homilies of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, ed. Morris, 158-166. 6 Mâle, Religious Art from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century, 56-57. 6 C. C. Martindale, S. J., "Mother of Man's Pilgrimage", in The Mary Book, assembled by F. J. Sheed, 194. 7 Fredrich Lauchert, "Ueber das englische Marienlied im 13. Jahrhundert", Englische Studien, 16 (1892), 124-142, and Theodor Wolpers, "Geschichte der Englischen Marienlyrik", Anglia 69 (1950), 3-88. 8 Julius Zupitza, "Cantus beati Godrici", Englische Studien 11 (1888), 423. 9 English Lyrics of the XIHth Century, ed. Brown, No. 3. References to this text will be abbreviated in this chapter to CB 13 / followed by the number of the poem and the line reference. 3

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The courtly love convention begins to make itself felt along with the Latin influence in such tender addresses of love and expressions of Our Lady's excellence and superiority as are made in these lines from the same poem: t>u ert mine soule liht and mine heorte blisse Mi lif and mi to-hope, min heale mid iwisse. Pu ert briht and blisful ouer alle wummen. mi leoue swete lefdi. (11. 5-6, 19, 115)

Hymns of praise and petition to Our Lady, inspired by the Latin hymns in her honour, 10 and some very beautiful macaronic poems on similar themes, appeared early in English lyric compositions. As the thirteenth century progressed and passed into the fourteenth, lyrics of praise and petition continued, but the fashion of celebrating Mary preeminently as queen of heaven became less prominent as the tendency to represent her in the circumstances of her joys and sorrows in relation to Christ's life on this earth increased. The troubadour influence becomes very marked at this time in the courtly manner of addressing Mary, as, for example, in the phrases, "leuedi brist" (CB 13/18, 1. 1); "leuedy so bright in bour" (CB 14/10, 1. 5); "mayde hende" (CB 13/41, 1. 41). At times the familiar epithet of "queen" from Latin poetry is associated with adjectives derived from the courtly tradition, for example, "Quene in heuene of feire ble" (CB. 13/18, 1. 3); "quene cortas and hende" (CB 14/26, 1. 5). Other indications of the influence of the courtly love tradition on the Mary lyrics appear in the praise of Mary's beauty, wisdom, constancy and noble birth: Swo fair, so schene, so rudi, swo briht. (CB 13/60, 1. 14) N e non swo treowe of alle thing. (CB. 13/60,1. 46) Heo counseileth and helpeth best. (CB 14/11, 1. 21) I-cumen of kinges cunne. (CB 13/31,1. 36)

In some early poems of petition we find side by side with the courtly manner of address of Mary, a request for mercy phrased in the language of the same tradition : u 10 Religious Lyrics of the XI Vth Century, ed. Brown, Nos. 17, 19, 38, 41, 45. References to this text will be abbreviated in this chapter to CB 14 / followed by the number of the poem and the line reference. 11 Theodor Wolpers, "Geschichte der englischen Marienlyrik", Anglia 69 (1950), 19, 28.

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Swete leuedi, of me thu reowe And haue merci of thin knicht. (CB 13/60.11. 15-16)

Lyrics on the joys of Our Lady were popular during the whole Middle English period. The events commemorated were the Annunciation, the Nativity of Our Lord, occasionally the Epiphany, the Resurrection, the Ascension (as an alternative to the Epiphany), and the Assumption of Mary into heaven. In the early poems on the subject the scene is predominantly terrestrial and the emotions ofjoy and praise are somewhat obscured by a considerable element of narrative and petition. Although Mary is frequently addressed in these as the queen of heaven and earth, the references to the Assumption are of a fairly general nature. The event is given a little more attention in two of the lyrics which date before the middle of the fourteenth century. In one thirteenth-century poem, the poet speaks of Christ preparing a place for Mary in heaven and of the greeting the angels will give her on her advent thither: Per he haue imaked sete in o stude Jjat is ful heyh, Per ^e schulen engles grete, for ]du ert boJ>e hende and sleyh. (CB 13/41, 11. 29-32)

There is no mention as yet of the song of the angels in her honour. In a lyric of the first half of the fourteenth century, Mary is pictured as being in the company of the angels and occupying a throne in heaven: Marie, for Jsat swete ioye wan J)ou fram erjje was tan, In-to J>e blisse of heuene with aungeles mani an, Marie, ful in grace, J)at sittest in trone, now i beseche Jjou grante me mi bone; Iesu to loue and drede, my lif t'amende sone, & bringe me to Jsat heye kyng Jsat weldej} sune & mone. (CB 14/26, 11. 37-38, 41-44)

The reference, however, is still very brief and the poet quickly reverts to petition. In the lyrics on the joys of Mary, dating from the late fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, praise becomes a much more prominent feature; the celestial scene takes on a more distinctive role; narrative and petition drop to an inferior position. It is quite possible that this is the effect of Rolle's sustained praise of Mary in the Canticum Amoris. At the same

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time the descriptions of Mary's crowning in heaven were becoming much more explicit and infused with a joy in the honour being accorded her. In a poem of the Vernon manuscript, 1 2 w e find this graphic account of the event in words inspired by confidence and love: Heil Marie, wijs most honour Corouned qween in heuene-tour Bi-fore Jay sones face; T o a l l e n e o d f u l J)ou a r t COUJD

Wei art JJOU cald wi£> angeles mouth, "Marie, ful of grace." (11. 91-96) In another lyric of the fifteenth century on the joys of Mary 1 3 we have specific mention of the song of the cherubim attending the Assumption: In solempne wyse assumptyd wyth a songe Of cherubyn, thy forthe joy to atteyne, was £>i body and thy sowle aungellys amonge, haue chosy the cheffe, the quene for to be Of heyvyn and erthe, wos coronacione wes thy fyfTte ioy wyth grete solempnyte. (CB 15/31, 11. 25-27, 34-36) Rolle had expressed very similar ideas in the thirty-seventh stanza of the Canticum Amoris:u Salue, supra seraphin celo subleuata, Cum complente chérubin care coronata, Preclara, per symphona, alma, augmentata, Mira et magnifica, perfecte prolata. A Salutation by the Heavenly Joys, a fifteenth-century lyric printed by Carle ton Brown (CB 15/33), describes the honour bestowed on Mary in heaven : Criste ihu, lord of maieste, ]Dat has in heuen wyth gret lowyng Worchipt & set Jsi moder fre in ioy & blis of all likyng. (11. 33-36) 12

Minor Poems of the Verson MS., Part I, ed. Horstman, 121-131. Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, No. 31. References to this text will be abbreviated in this chapter to CB 15 / followed by the number of the lyric and the line reference. 14 Quotations from the poem are from the edition by Dom André Wilmart in Revue d'Ascétique et de Mystique 21 (1940), 143-148. See Appendix B. 13

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The combination of words used here assumes an interest as a possible reflection of Julian of Norwich. In her Revelations of Divine Love she speaks of the three ways in which Christ showed her our blessed Lady. The third of these "was as she is now in lykynge worschyppe and joy" {chapter 25). Poems depicting the lamentation of Mary at the foot of the cross were common throughout the period. Mary's grief at the sight of Christ's physical sufferings is represented with dignity and restraint in the early poems. In some a dialogue takes place between Christ and his Mother, Christ consoling her and bidding her to cease weeping since he is suffering not for his own guilt but to redeem mankind. Some of the laments conclude with an appeal on the part of the Crucified that man will forsake his sin (CB 13/35); others with a yearning for man's love (CB 14/67); still others with a petition on man's part to Mary to lead him to her son (CB 13/47) and ensure his salvation (CB 13/45). In the fifteenth-century laments more emphasis is placed on the overwhelming nature of Mary's grief.15 She wrings her hands, sighs, breaks out in sweat, falls unconscious: I met a mayde at Jae citeys ende suobbynge & sy3ynge sche w e s ny schente, a fayrer f o o d e had y not kende. hurre herre, hure face, sche all to-rente, Sche tuggyd & tere with gret turment; ffilius Regis, m y n e o w n e dere chylde, y say him honge o n jse crosse in m y sygte; y lokyd o n h y m and h y m behyide. sone, se Jni modur, a w o f u l wy3te. I sownedde, I fyll d o w n e in J)e feelde, I w o l d e haue spoke but y ne my3te. I suobbudde, I sykyd, I k o w d e n o t welde; s o r o w e smote at m y n e herte, y fyll d o w n e ry3te. ( C B 15/6, 11. 5 - 9 , 3 7 - 4 4 )

The description of Mary's overmastering sorrow detailed here is close to Rolle's vivid representation of it in his Meditations on the Passion: A , Lord, J)e sorewe Jsat fel to Jsi herte, w h a n J^ou o n ]pi m o d u r caste ¡sine eyen. P o u saw hyre folewe after a m o n g {se gret prees; o s a w o m m a n o w t of hyreselve hyre handys sche wrong; wepynge and syschynge hyre armys h e [ o ] caste; Jse 15

Theodor Wolpers, "Geschichte der englischen Marienlyrik", Anglia 38-39.

69 (1950),

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watur o f hyre eyen dropped at hyre feet; h e [ o ] fel in dede s w o w n e , after ]?an onys, for sorewe of jse peynes [sat to hyre herte smyten. 1 6

In contrast to the lyrics on Mary's joys and sorrows, we have two, dating from the late fourteenth century, which do not centre on the events of her life here on earth, but, like Rolle's Canticum Amoris, concentrate on the person of M ary herself. A Song of Love to the Blessed Virgin,17 found in the Vernon Manuscript, is a sincere expression of the poet's love for Mary and of his desire to behold her in heaven. He celebrates her as the Mother of Christ, but his principal interest is in praising her goodness and grace, her fairness, wisdom and sweetness: A loue-likyng is c o m e to m e T o serue jsat ladi, qwen of blis, A y better and better in m y degre, P e lengor Jsat I liue, I-wis. (11. 5 - 8 ) H o w schal I do, m y swete m a y , But 3if I loue 30U souereynly? (11. 2 1 - 2 2 ) In h o p e to seo 3or blessed face, A n d dwelle wijs 30U at m y n endynge, A n d haue relese of all trespace, Ladi, ]?au3 I m o u r n e , I synge. (11. 2 9 - 3 2 ) F o r al m y l o u e is o n 30U lent, [Sweete] swettest o f alles-kunnes ]?inge! (11. 7 9 - 8 0 ) P e loue Jaat I haue 3eorned 3ore, t>e kyng o f l o u e graunt hit m e ! (11. 8 9 - 9 0 )

The poet's ardent expression of love-longing, the eagerness to serve Mary and to gaze upon her, the wish to dwell with her in heaven, the desire to sing of his love, are aspirations we have already noted in Rolle's courtly treatment of his love for Mary in the Canticum Amoris. The second of the two poems, Quia Amore Langueo (CB 14/132), employs as its refrain one of Rolle's favourite texts from the Canticle of Canticles. Rolle uses the phrase or variations of it frequently in his Latin writings when speaking of his love for God. 18 In this lyric Our Lady 16

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 22. Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., Part II, ed. Furnivall, 708-711. 18 It occurs six times between pp. 193 and 223 in the Incendium Amoris, ed. Deanesly. It is a key phrase in the Form of Living, ed. Allen in English Writings of Richard Rolle, 103. In the Comment on the Canticles, MS. Bodleian 861, it appears twice on folio 83, again on folios 84, 86 and 88. It is used twice on folio 97 of the same manuscript in the treatise, Contra Amatores Mundi. 17

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complains of man's indifference to her love and pleads for a return of love. It breaks with the poetic convention of the courtly love tradition in that Our Lady is no longer represented as a superior being, sought after by man, but as a sister and friend whom man is urged to approach in confidence and love.19 As in the lyric last discussed the expression of love-longing in this poem, the languishing, the ardent gaze and yearning for everlasting association, bear a resemblance to Rolle's spirit and manner and diction even though the roles of loved and lover are reversed: 'I byd, I byde in grete longyng, I loue, I loke when man woll craue,

Now wol I syt and sey nomore, Leue and loke with grete longyng, N o w man, haue mynde on me for-euer, Loke on Jsy loue ]DUS languysshyng; Late us neuer fro other disseuere. (11. 17-18, 73-74, 89-91)

The use of alliteration and the reference to "sitting" in line 74 are further bonds with Rolle's work. The increasing tendency in the fifteenth-century lyrics on Mary to concentrate on her glories is very marked. The vocabulary becomes Latinized and the poems, on the whole, lack spontaneity and are somewhat artificial and sophisticated. A few lines from a fifteenth-century poem saluting Mary will demonstrate the centering of interest on the events of Mary's own life rather than on those she shared with her divine Son, as had been the earlier approach, and at the same time point up the artificiality of the ornate diction. We may note here, too, the resurgence of the macaronic type of verse: All haile! whose solempne glorious concepcioun ffull of glorie and hye ioye tryumphaunte, Bothe celestyall & terrestriall gif laude with Iubilacioun Of new ioy and gladnesse with solace incessaunte. A1 haile! whose natiuite to us is solempnysaunte, fferens lucem ut lucyfer, lux oriens, Dyademe Angelicall, verum solem perveniens.

9

Theodor Wolpers, "Geschichte der englischen Marienlyrik", Anglia 69 (1950), 25.

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Haile! true chast virgyn & mother immaculate W h o s e pure purificación to us was purgación. Haile! replete with all virtue Angelicate, W h o s e celestiall hye Ascendaunte A s s u m p c i o n Was oure gret ioye and glorificación. ( C B 15/12, 11. 8 - 1 4 , 2 2 - 2 6 )

How much of this new style in the Mary lyrics is the effect of Rolle's Canticum Amoris it is difficult to say. The Canticum was written in Latin and not translated, as far as we know, and its expression is extravagantly effusive in its enthusiastic celebration of Mary's physical and spiritual perfections, after the manner of the courtly love tradition. It is a great tribute of praise and love, centering exclusively on the person of Mary, excluding all consideration of the circumstances of her earthly life in its endeavour to honour and salute her as the beloved virgin queen of heaven. Certainly Rolle's works were very popular on the whole. But only two manuscripts of the Canticum have been preserved - a fact which does not indicate frequent copying or widespread circulation of the poem. At the same time it is quite possible that some manuscripts of the Canticum Amoris were worn out or lost and that the composition itself was sufficiently well-known to play its part in this development in the fifteenthcentury lyrics. On the other hand the tendency to the decorative is found in Latin hymns of the late Middle Ages.20 Chaucer, too, had played a large part in introducing the new ornate diction into poetry. His use of French abstract terms based on Latin originals rapidly became popular and was magnified by his Scottish admirers.21 Lydgate carried this stylistic affectation, called aureatism, to an extreme degree, introducing into the English language, it is estimated, about eight hundred new words.22 The tendency to concentrate on Our Lady exclusively and to celebrate her glories is most marked in lyrics on her Assumption and Coronation. Although almost every poem written about Mary in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries carries a reference to these two events, there are in the fifteenth century many lyrics dedicated to her as the queen of heaven and a number devoted entirely to commemorating the joyful and triumphant occasion of her crowning in heaven amid the jubilant hymns of the angelic choirs.23 They are characterized by the highly ornate and Latin20

Wolpers, "Geschichte der englischen Marienlyrik", 45. Mackenzie, ed. The Poems of William Dunbar, xii. 22 Moore, The Secular Lyric in Middle English, 137. 23 Carleton Brown prints a number of these in Religious Lyrics of the XVth The titles indicate the contents: 21

Century.

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ized vocabulary characteristic of the period and reminiscent of Rolle's Canticum Amoris. In fact, the diction of one of the lyrics on Mary's crowning in heaven (CB 15/38), and its courtly description of her excellence, give indication of borrowings from that poem. 2 4 The following similarities may be noted:

Lyric, 1. 9: Tota pulcra, to the lille like, Canticum, 1. 27: Hec deuincit lilium, quamquam sit sincerum. Lyric, 1.11: The odour of her mouthe aromatike, Canticum, 11. 69-70: Felicem frangranciam possidet puella, Aromatis instanciam, ora super mella. Lyric, 1. 13: Moche clerer she was then the cristall, Canticum, 1. 31: Clara ut carbunculus, nitide nutrita. Lyric, 1. 14: She is the flowre of all formosite, Canticum, 1. 118: Fecunda formositas . . . Lyric, 1. 17: Oleum effusum, to languentes medsyne, Canticum, 1. 61: lam labore languidus: assis medicina. Lyric, 1. 41: By the spectable splendure of hir fulgent face, Canticum, 11. 25, 41, 153: Splendet eius species . . . Luce extat pulcrior fulgida stellarum ; Prefulgenti uirgini do preconia.

No. 13. High Empress and Queen Celestial No. 20. Mary, Bright Star of Heaven and Holy Church No. 21. Hail, Queen of Heaven No. 22. Ave Gloriosa No. 23. Ave Regina Celorum, I No. 24. Ave Regina Celorum, II No. 25. Salve Regina No. 27. Regina CeliLetare, I No. 28. Regina Celi Letare, II No. 29. Regina Celi Letare, III No. 33. A Salutation by the Heavenly Joys No. 34. The Seven Joys of the Virgin in Heaven, I No. 35. The Seven Joys of the Virgin in Heaven, II No. 36. The Seven Joys of the Virgin in Heaven, III No. 37. A Song of the Assumption No. 38. The Coronation of the Virgin, I No. 39. The Coronation of the Virgin, II 24 See note 14.

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Lyric, 11. 42-43: My sprete was rauesched, & in my body sprent, Inflamed was my hert with gret solace. Canticum, 11. 155-156: Amans intus ardeo, uincens uilia Zelo tui langueo, uirgo regia.

It is a striking fact also that one of Rolle's longest Latin prose passages on Our Lady occurs in his comment on the "Oleum effusum nomen tuum" verse of the Canticle of Canticles. That the phrase, "Oleum effusum", should occur in this lyric on Our Lady suggests another possible connection with Rolle's work. The last four lines of another fifteenth-century lyric on Mary, Thou Shalt Bear the Fruit of Life (CB 15/14), are rather startling in their likeness to the final sentence of the passage on the "Oleum effusum" verse to which we have been referring. Rolle writes: O mater admirabilis, die nobis, tuis servulis, quale et quantum est tuum puerperium, cui astra deserviunt, quern reges adorant, quem salvatorem mundi angeli annunciant! Numquid deus est? Utique Deus de Deo, lumen de lumine, et, immo, homo de te, sua matre, et quod eius nomine tam magni, tam mirandi, in quo omne genu flectatur celestium, terrestrium, et infernorum.25

The lyric, after praising Mary as the Mother of the Saviour, concludes with this address to man: Bowe thy knees, - spare for no shame Whan thow herest Ihc, oure lordis name, Wei art thow bounde so for to do, Sith aungelis and devils knele thereto. (11. 43-46)

It is in the fifteenth-century lyrics we find for the first time the adjective "immaculate" being applied to Mary: Haile! true chast virgyn & mother immaculate. (CB 15/12,1. 22) Princes eterne and flour Immaculate. (CB 15/13,1. 2) ffor macula, modur was neuer in Jse. (CB 15/37,1. 17) My moodir Immaculat. (CB 15/39,1. 44)

This reflects the awareness among the poets of the current theological controversy between the followers of St. Thomas Aquinas and those of Dun Scotus on the question of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It at the same time suggests the popular attitude of belief in this doctrine 25

Printed by Gabriel M. Liegey in "The Canticum Amoris of Richard Rolle", Traditio 12 (1956), 374.

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which was defended and confirmed by the Constitution of Pope Sixtus IV in 1476.26 Neither Richard Rolle nor Julian of Norwich wrote a great deal about the Virgin Mary. Rolle composed one long Latin poem, the Canticum Amoris, as a tribute of love and praise in her honour and included passages in several of his prose works, both in Latin and in English, celebrating her prerogatives of Mother of God, spotless virgin and queen of heaven, and compassionating her in the suffering and sorrow she shared with her divine Son. Julian of Norwich wrote very little about Mary, indicating only the degree of revelation permitted to her by God in the "shewings" she experienced. She sums up the extent of the disclosure made to her: For oure lorde shewyd me nothyng in specialle but oure lady sent Mary, and her he shewyd thre tymes. The furst was as she conceyvyd, the secunde as she was in her sorowes under the crosse, and the thurde was as she is now in lykynge worschyppe and joy. (chapter 25)

Since Rolle and Julian have written so little on Our Lady, and since what they have written conforms to the traditional themes, it is difficult to trace their influence in the Marian lyrics of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. There are, however, developments in the handling of the subject matter which seem to stem from the individuality of expression of these two mystics.

6

Palmer, Mary in the Documents of the Church, 74.

VIII LYRICS OF P E N I T E N C E , M E R C Y A N D DEATH

A Prayer to Jesus1 in MS. Cambridge Univ. Dd. V. 64. Ill, which Miss Hope Emily Allen says may possibly be by Richard Rolle,2 is a sincere expression of love and repentance. The poet asks that he may do God's will, be filled with perfect love, and be forgiven for his sins. If the poem is not Rolle's, and we cannot be sure it is, it is a splendid example of what a close imitator of his spirit and manner could do. The confident trust in the mercy of God - "J>at I haue done ill, Ihesu, forgyf Jsow me, / And suffer me neuer to spill, Ihesu, for pyte." (11. 11-12); the total consecration to love - "JDOU be my lufe & all my thoght" (1. 2); the repetition of the Holy Name; the phrasing and diction, especially in the lines, "My lufe & my lykyng in J)e sette" (1. 8), and "All my hert fulfill with perfyte lufe to Jse" (1. 10); these are typical features of Rolle's authentic work. His poem which begins, "All vanities forsake, if JJOU his lufe will fele", 3 exhibits the same combination of penitence and love, new with Rolle, as does the short Prayer to Jesus, and presents some similar lines. Lines 11-12 of Rolle's poem: Forjai d o Crystes biddyng, and lufe hym, as he wyll, A n d with lufe Jsat hase na endyng hert he wil fulfyll.

may very well be the model for lines 9-10 of A Prayer to Jesus: Ihesu, at ]pi wille I pray ]?at I m o t e be, All m y hert fulfill with perfyte lufe to ]?e.

1 Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, No. 80. References to this text will be abbreviated in this chapter as CB 14 / followed by the number of the poem and the line references. 2 Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle, 295. 3 English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 49-51.

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Lines 57-60 of Rolle's poem: Take Jhesu in Jsi thynkyng, his lufe he will £>e send, Pi lufe and lykyng, in hym ]sou lat in lend, And use J>e in praiyng, Jsarin ]dou may be mend, Swa Jjat {sow hafe J)i keyng in joy withowten endyng. are close indeed to these lines from A Prayer to Jesus: Pou be my lufe and all my thoght, My lufe & my lykyng in jse sette Pat I haue done ill, Ihesu, forgyf ]dow me, And suffer me neuer to spill, Ihesu, for J)i pyte. (11. 2, 7. 11-12) In another Prayer to Jesus (CB 14/94), found in a manuscript dating about 1375, penitence is again associated with the petition for love in a spirit of confident trust in the Holy Name and in Christ's passion: Ihesu, for jsi wundys smerte Of ]pe feet & of Jdc handyn twoo, Make me meke and lawe of hert, & ]pe to loue as I schuld doo. Ihesu, lord, ]?at madyst me & wyth ]pi blessed blod me bou3t, Forgeue me £>at I haf greuyd J^e Wyth wurd, worke, wyl, and thou3t. Ihesu, in qwam is alle my trost, Pat deydst upon J)e rode-tre, Wythdrawe my hert fro fleschly lust, From coueityse & from vanyte. (11. 5-8, 17-24) The same sentiments of love and penitence inspired the very sincere expression in the fifteenth-century lyric, Let Not the Fiend Overcome Me:* Swete Ihesu, of mercy fre, Graunt me grace Jsi luf to wyn, And fleschely luf ]?u do fro me, For Mary luf >at £>u lyght in. (11. 5-8) 4

Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Brown, No. 63. References to this text will be abbreviated in this chapter as CB 15 / followed by the number of the poem and the line references.

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The last two lines of the poem reflect the confidence expressed by both Rolle5 and Julian of Norwich 6 in the power of Christ to put the devil to flight: Swete Ihesu, J)u stand me nere Wen he assayles me any more, And lat hym neuer ouercome here, To gar me syn as I dyd ore. (11. 33-36)

Something of Rolle's spirit has been captured in the tone, diction and thought of a passage from a hymn in the Thornton MS. 7 The penitential note is lightened by the serene and assured hope of continued help and of final happiness in heaven: Lord Gode Ihesu Cryste, Godd Almyghty. I thanke Jse, Lorde, with all louyng, And prayes Jse [sou tak me in thi kepyng, And saue me forthewarde as ]sou has done, And graunte me Jji grace, whills I here wonne, To mende my lyfe, & lyfe in clennes, Pat I may wonne with Jse in blisse endlesse. Amen. (11. 41-46)

There is a devout prayer in the Processional of the Nuns of Chester,8 parts of which have been quoted in Chapters IV and VI as showing Rolle's influence in the intimate and affectionate use of the Holy Name and in the ardent love-longing. It also has its place here among the penitential lyrics influenced by Rolle by reason of its immediate linking of love and penitence, and its motivation of love rather than of fear for the avoidance of sin: 0 blessed ihesu hyghe heuens kynge 1 moste synfull creature of all lyuyng. O maker of nyght and day. hertely lorde I the pray. That I may loue the ouer all thynge. O ihesu ihesu swete ihesu 5

The Form of Living in English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 108. Also in the Commentary on the Canticles, ed. M. de LaBigne, 628-629. 6 Revelations of Divine Love, chapter 13. 7 Religious Pieces in Prose and Verse Edited from Robert Thornton''s MS., ed. Perry, 75-76. 8 Ed. Legg, 26-27.

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thy loue in me synnar so renew that it may be aboue all mesure, and on the to sett all my tresure. ffor so ought to loue the. o. ihesu. And all vices for thy sake to esshewe. O myghtffull ihesu I beseche thy grace. That I may hate deedly Synne in euery place. And specially for thy loue and for noo feere. O swete derlynge to the sowle that on the dothe call. O verey godd. O verey man that all thynge hathe wroght haue mercy on me A Synnar. thoue hathe me deere boght. (11. 1-11, 24-26, 41-43) It is possible that Julian of Norwich's influence is at work here along with Rolle's. In her desire to avoid sin, Julian was motivated, like Rolle, by love rather than by fear. In the Revelations of Divine Love she writes, "the same blessyd loue techyth vs that we shalle hate syn only for loue". (chapter 40) Richard Rolle often wrote of the wretchedness and vanity of the present world and of the need of the lover of God to despise its attractions, to shun its temptations and to centre his attention on the joys of the world to come. Julian, too, writes of "the pompe and of the pryde and the veyne glorye of thys wrechyd lyffe", and of how God permits those whom he loves to be despised and scorned and mocked that he may "make ther wey redy to come to hevyn in blysse without ende evyrlastyng". (chapter 28) This emphasis is reflected in the strong moralizing and didactic element which appears in a number of the lyrics of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Brown's titles of a series of lyrics in the Vernon manuscript indicate the sententious nature of their contents Each Man Ought to Know Himself, Make Amends, Suffer in Time and That is Best, Ever More Thank God of All (CB 14/100, 117, 118, 105). Think on Yesterday (CB 14/101) advises the reader: Wiju siker defence beo ay redye; For siker defence in ]pis batayle Is clene lyf, parfyt and trye; Put ]pi trust in Godes Mercye. (11. 162-165) This World Fares as a Fantasy (CB 14/106) reminds us that " Jais world is fals, fikel and frele" (1. 83). But Thou Say Sooth Thou Shalt Be Shent (CB 14/120) repeats the warning against the deceptive appearance of

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this world's hollowness and urges the necessity, for the one seeking eternal peace, of escaping the noisy tumult of the empty show: Who-so loueth endeles rest, Pis false world Jsen mot he fle, And dele Jser-with bot as a gest, And leue hit not in no degre. Hit is but trouble & tempest, Fals fantasye, & vanite; In £>at Jjraldom whoso is I-prest Him mot eschewe al charite. (11. 1-8)

The theme of the instability and falseness of the world is continued in the fifteenth century. Worldly Joy is Only Fantasy, Fortune Has Cast Me from Weal to Woe, The Rancour of this Wicked World (CB 15/167, 169, 173) are titles of a few lyrics which lament this sad condition. Fortune Will Have Her Way (CB 15/165) has more of Rolle's spirit of confidence and joy than the three rather sombre pieces just mentioned. The invocation of the Holy Name in its opening line, and the hopeful injunction at the end to direct our thoughts to our Saviour are quite in accord with Rolle's spirit and teaching: O Ihesu, mercy! what world is thys! frendys be feer and feynte at nede; Wo is hym hath don a-mys and lyeth in peyne and may not spede! What fortune will haue, it schal be had Who-so-euer will say nay; therfor lete it passe, and be not sad; and thynk upon hym f)at alle amende may. (11. 1-8)

The lilting little poem with which Carleton Brown concludes his selection of fifteenth-century religious lyrics (CB 15/192) advances the same values that animated Rolle: the commandments of God, our security and refuge; the love of God, our truest treasure; heaven, our real home; repentance, a concomitant of love: The law of God be to ]pe thy rest, The flesh Jay sacrifice, fie world exile, God thi love & thi tresour best, Hevyn ]}i contre thorough euery while. Repentaunce Jsou take In-to ]?i brest for f>yn unkynnesse & wikkidnes vile. (11. 1-6)

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The link between the penitential lyrics and the lyrics on death is in those celebrating the mercy of God. The sinner, with repentance in his heart, turns with confidence to God's mercy for pardon, and places his hope of everlasting bliss in that wonderful manifestation of God's love for man. St. Thomas Aquinas, discussing the virtue of mercy, quotes St. Augustine's definition of it from De Civitate Dei (Book IX, Chapter V) "Misericordia est alienae miseriae in nostro corde compassio, qua utique, si possumus, subvenire compellimur." 9 St. Thomas continues with a consideration of its excellence, and concludes that it is a virtue proper to God, and one which chiefly manifests his omnipotence since "pertinet enim ad misericordiam quod aliis effundat, et quod plus est, quod defectus aliorum sublevet; et hoc maxime superioris est". 10 Scripture provides abundant examples of Christ's predilection for this virtue. Many of the parables he related are parables of God's mercy. His own conduct towards repentant sinners furnishes repeated examples of his exercise of the virtue of mercy. It is a matter that intimately concerns every member of the human race and it is to be expected that it would find a place in the religious literature of a nation. In the literature of England we find that in Anglo-Saxon times Cynewulf included requests to God to show forth his mercy in his poem, Christ.u Recognition of the greatness of God's mercy to man and appeals to share in that mercy appeared in prose treatises12 and in many lyrics of the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries,13 but we do not find any lyric except Rolle's Song of Mercy devoted exclusively to that theme before the middle of the fourteenth century. It is not until Rolle's beautiful reflections in his Song of Mercy had manifested the possibilities of this theme for poetical exposition that lyrics on the subject flowered forth. With as great enthusiasm and sincerity as he employed when he wrote on his favourite subject of God's love, Rolle sings here the praises of God's mercy. He builds up a cumulative effect of the embracing power and importance of mercy by the force of repetition of the word itself. It occurs nineteen times in the twenty-four lines of the poem. Rolle explores every angle of its impact

9 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II—II, Q. 30, art. 1. Quotation from St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, in J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Vol. XLI, 261. 10 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II—II, Q. 30, art. 4. 11 Ed. Gollancz, lines 155-156, 242-244. 12 The Mirror of St. Edmund, in Religious Pieces in Prose and Verse, ed. Perry, 32. 13 English Lyrics of the XUIth Century, ed. Brown, Nos. 33, 64. Religious Lyrics of the XlVth Century, ed. Brown, Nos. 8, 47.

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on his mind, on his soul, on his life, on his death. The qualities of mercy are examined - it is courteous and kind, true and constant, magnanimous and comprehensive, divine and tender; the purifying and redeeming effects of mercy on the soul are realized - it raises one from sin and pays the price of the soul's ransom; the consoling and healing operations of mercy are appreciated; the salutary power of mercy at the hour of death and judgment are invoked. N o lyric on mercy of the Middle English period approaches the depth and variety of Rolle's treatment; none explores with such perception the qualities of the virtue itself; none concentrates with such vision and reverence on the beauty of the relationship established by mercy between the soul and God. As I pointed out in the discussion of this lyric in Chapter II the theme of mercy provides an important link with the courtly love tradition but Rolle transcends the artificiality of the convention in his appeal to God, who really can grant mercy, to extend to him this benefit. The foreshadowing of the eternizing conceit of later poetry, and the parallelism of the judgment of the soul with the judgment in the court of law, which I have noted in Chapter II, enrich Rolle's presentation of the theme. This last concept appears also in a translation of a French treatise by one of Rolle's contemporaries, Dan Michel's Ayenbite of InwytM Writing of the fifth petition of the Pater Noster Dan Michel recommends the sinner to run to "{se cort of merci . . . vor be Jse ri3te of J^e cort of d o m " he should be judged and condemned to everlasting death. A few lines later he points out the magnanimity and courtesy of Christ in forgiving us our misdeeds - qualities, as we noted, that Rolle assigns to mercy. Two and a half centuries later Shakespeare was to offer to the world his incomparable reflections on the virtue of mercy and on the relationship between justice and mercy in The Merchant of Venice and in Measure for Measure, but long before he wrote of it: It is an attribute to God himself. And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. . . . Consider this That in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy. (The Merchant of Venice, IV, i, 194-199) 14

Ed. Morris, 113-114.

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Rolle had established the pattern and even the germ of the ideas : Mercy likes me sa wele, for thorogh mercy was I boght. Mercy walde I fayne honowre It lyes in my Creatoure . . .

With ]pi mercy my sawle anoynt, when I sal come to ]pi jugise. . . . {iarin I trust and after pray. (Song of Mercy, 11. 10, 13-14, 22-24)

Julian of Norwich also wrote of God's mercy, visualizing mercy and grace working in us for our good, as two manners of the operation of love: mercy, quickening and healing, and grace, raising and rewarding: . . . mercy is a swete gracious werkyng in loue, medlyd with plentuous pytte, for mercy werkyth vs kepyng, and mercy werkyth turnyng to vs all thyng to good. . . . For I behelde the properte of mercy, and I behelde the properte of grace, whych haue ij maner of workyng in one loue. Mercy is a pyttefull properte, whych longyth to moderhode in tender loue; and grace is a wurshypfull properte, whych longyth to ryall lordschyppe in the same loue. Mercy werkyth kepyng, sufferyng, quyckyng and helyng and alle is of tendyrnesse of loue; and grace werkyth with mercy, rewarding, endlesly ovyr passyng that oure lovyng and our traveyle deseruyth, spredyng abrode and shewyng the hye plentuousnesse, largesse of goddes lordschyppe in his mervelouse curtesy. And this of ]se habundaunce of loue, for grace werkyth oure dredfull faylyng in to plentuouse and endlesse solace; and grace werkyth oure shamefull fallyng in to hye wurschyppefull rysyng; and grace werkyth oure sorowfull dyeng in to holy blyssyd lyffe. (chapter 48)

Julian's attitude of confident trust in God's mercy, fundamentally the same as Rolle's, may have had its share, too, in furthering the extensive use of this theme in the lyrics of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The immense popularity of the theme of mercy in the latter part of the fourteenth century and particularly in the fifteenth century may be demonstrated by the frequency with which it recurs in sermons, prayers, morality plays and poetry. The one outstanding treatment of the mercy of God in the early fourteenth century is Rolle's Song of Mercy. This, supported by his less distinguished prose treatise, De Dei Misericordia, seems to be the only considerable source that could have given the impetus for the great host of works on the subject. The recurrence of the theme of God's mercy may be observed in reading sermons dating from the late

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fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.15 In fact, some preachers were alarmed at the emphasis placed on the mercy of God in sermons of the period and feared lest it lead to presumption. 16 The Morality Plays of the fifteenth century give evidence of a similar interest in the subject. In The Castle of Perseverance, Mankind dies with an appeal to God for mercy on his lips. After his death, Mercy, Truth, Righteousness and Peace discuss his doom. Righteousness and Truth demand his damnation for his misdeeds; Mercy and Peace plead the saving merits of Christ's passion and death. God gives his decision in favour of Mercy and Peace and admits Mankind into his kingdom. 17 In Mankind, a late fifteenth-century Morality Play, Mercy is one of the main characters. In the opening speech of the play, Mercy urges man to recommend himself to the mercy of God, made available through his passion to the sinful creature who will repent his negligence. Mankind sings the praises of mercy, "O mercy! of all grace and vertu ye are the well! . . . Ye be approxymatt to Gode, and nere of hys consell. . . . O! yowur louely words to my soull are swetere then hony!" 18 At the end Mercy gains the victory over the despair brought on man by the following of the vain attractions of the world, and brings him to repentance. William Langland considers the problem of God's justice and his mercy in Piers Plowman. In B text, Passus XVIII, Mercy and Truth, Peace and Righteousness discuss the claims of justice and mercy on the soul of man and find the solution in the redeeming action of Christ whereby Justice, which demands strict punishment for sin, is reconciled with Mercy, which inclines God to pardon the repentant sinner.19 It did not take long for Rolle's example to make itself felt in the area of lyric poetry. A manuscript of the second half of the fourteenth century has in it a short lyric20 wholly devoted to the subject of mercy, a type which did not appear in England before Rolle's time. The repetition of the word "mercy" in five of its six lines and the reference to mercy saving the soul from the inexorable consequences of the law link the poem intimately with Rolle's Song of Mercy. The poem reads: Mercy is hendest where sinne is mest, Mercy is lattere 3ere sinne is lest. 15

Middle English Sermons, ed. Ross, Nos. 1, 6, 8, 12, 15, 16A, 18, 19, 20, 24, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 36, 42, 48. lfi Owst, Preaching in Medieval England, 335-336. 17 Chief Pre-Shakespearean Dramas, ed. Adams, 265-287. 18 Chief Pre-Shakespearean Drama, ed. Adams, 304-324, lines 214, 216, 218. 19 Ed. Attwater. 20 Reliquiae Antiquae, ed. Wright and Halliwell, II, 120.

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Mercy abidet and loke al day, Whan man fro sinne wile turnen away; Mercy savet f>at lawe wolde spille, Mercy asket but Godes wille!

Two poems on the subject appear in the Vernon manuscript, Mercy Passes All Things and Ay, Mercy, God\21 and though their didactic tone and earthy considerations fail to capture Rolle's spirit of whole-hearted praise and complete trust, the very concentration on the theme of mercy argues Rolle's influence. Titles of a number of lyrics written during the period indicate the awakened interest in the subject, though the poems themselves contain nothing distinctive. In a manuscript of the midfourteenth century there is one entitled, How Crist Spekes tyll Synfull Man of His Gret Mercy (CB 14/47); in Bishop Sheppey's Collection there is a poem, Jesus Have Mercy on Me (CB 14/35); in a Commonplace Book of 1372 there is a Song of Mercy (CB 14/61); in the Wheatley MS. there is a Prayer for Mercy and a Song of Mercy and Judgment,22 A few lyrics of repentance introduce a refrain imploring God's mercy. At the end of each stanza of I Have Lived After My Lust (CB 15/139) there appears the three-line refrain: Now mercy, Ihesu, I wyll amend And neuermore displease the, yff grace thow wylt me send.

We note here the intimate linking of mercy and grace, grace raising and mercy quickening, as described in the passage quoted from Julian's Revelations. Variations of the line, "But, Ihesu, J)y grace & haue mercy on me", serve as a refrain for another penitential lyric of the fifteenth century, Out of Sin My Soul Unbind (CB 15/140). The last four lines of this lyric repeat Rolle's longing to behold his God and to be with him for ever: That I may se Jay swete fface, As ]?u art god in trynyte, In Heuene £>er to haue a place Wher, Ihesu, J)u haue mercy on me. (11. 37-40)

Though I Have Been a Wretch, I Hope of Mercy (CB 15/142) approaches the subject of God's mercy through various considerations. The pains 21

22

Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., Part II, ed. Furnivall, 658-663, 696-699.

Ed. Day, 67-69, 65-67.

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Christ suffered for us in his passion are the wonderful proof of his mercy and goodness; the favours he has bestowed upon us - health and intelligence, virtues and innumerable other gifts - compel us to hope in his mercy; in spite of our wretchedness and guilt, the price he paid for our salvation on Calvary prompts us to continue to trust in his mercy. The poet begs the grace to forsake his sins and to be found worthy of the bliss of heaven at his death. The confidence and love which inspire the repentance and hope in God's mercy of this lyric are reflections of the spirit of Rolle and Julian. The poem opens with a reminder of the courtesy and mercy of God towards men, virtues which, as we have already pointed out, are associated in the writings of both Rolle and Julian: 0 Blissed God, Jaat art al-mi3ti, t>u arte ful of goodnesse, euer full of mercy. how curteys and howe mercyfull J)u art to mankynde, how louly & pitiful may no man haue mynde. (11. 1-4)

The reference in lines 54-56 to God as Judge pronouncing judgment, and to the entrusting of the sinner's cause to the mercy of the Judge, recall the closing lines of Rolle's Song of Mercy. Here the poet phrases it: But mercyfull iuge, to yeue grace euer ]pu art redy, 1 put me therefor in ]si dome, for euer I hope of mercy.

Note here again the intimate linking of mercy and grace as in the passage from Julian's Revelations. A play of the Towneley cycle, Thomas of India, has in it two short lyrical passages, spoken by Thomas, appealing for mercy. The content of the lines does not recall Rolle's rich and perceptive treatment, but the constant repetition of the word "mercy" and of the Holy Name remind one forcibly of Rolle's manner and devotion: Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,

ihesu, ihesu, ihesu, ihesu,

rew on me/ my hande is blody of thi blode! for I se/ thi myght that I not understode! I pray the/ that for all synfull died on roode! of mercy fre/ for thi goodnes that is so goode!

Mercy, ihesu, lorde swete/ for thi fyfe Woundys so sare, Thou suffred thrugh handys and feete/ thi semely side a spear it share; Mercy, ihesu, lord, yit/ for thi moder that the bare! Mercy, for the teres thou grett/ when thou rasid lazare!23 23

The Towneley Plays, ed. England, No. XXVIII, lines 316-319, 328-331.

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In many of the prayers of this period there are lines invoking the mercy of God, for example, a Levation Prayer,24 to be said at the elevation of the Mass, has in it the request, "Haf mercy on me I be nought lorn" (1. 4). Another Levation Prayer25 from the same manuscript combines thanksgiving for God's goodness with an earnest plea to enjoy his mercy and protection in this life, and to attain the happiness of the world to come: I Jsank Jse, Iesu o f al Jjy goodnesse. I cry J^e mercy for al m y wickidnesse. Iesu, for ]py Passiun P o u kep m e fro temptaciun; Saue ]DOU m e fro helle A n d bryng m e Jsi ioye in to dwelle. A m e n .

An exultant prayer of praise in the Vernon Manuscript 26 includes a brief petition for mercy; a song in the Thornton Manuscript 27 begins "Jhesu Crist, haue mercy on me", and continues with a prayer for forgiveness of sin and a request for heavenly bliss; a prayer to the Virgin Mary in the Wheatley Manuscript 28 turns aside from its main subject to breathe a heart-felt and confident appeal to Christ for mercy: M y synnes er gretter than m e g o d e ware, Bot I w o t e thy mercy is wel mare. Warne m e not, Ihesu, for m y m y s d e d e ; Of thi mercy is m e grete nede. (11. 147-150)

An Orison to the Trinity (CB 14/93), dating from about 1375, begs God for mercy and affirms the poet's hope and trust in that divine attribute to bring him to the eternal vision of God: In ]?i mercy is m y affiaunce, Of m y foli J m u haue pite Jsat jsou of m e ne take vengaunce, Lord, for ]pi benignite. A n d brynge m e s o n e in-to £>at liht WiJj-outen e n d e ]?er ioye is most, O n Jse to se f>at swete siht, Fadur & S o n e & holigost. (11. 9 3 - 9 6 , 101-104) 24

Edited by R. H. Robbins, "The Gurney Series of Religious Lyrics", Publications of the Modern Language Association 54 (1939), 373-374. 25 Robbins, "The Gurney Series of Religious Lyrics", 374. 26 Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., Part I, ed. Horstman, 24-25, lines 5-6. 27 The Middle English Penitential Lyric, ed. Patterson, 82. 28 Ed. Day, 6-15.

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A fifteenth-century Prayer by the Wounds Against the Deadly Sins (CB 15/62) bears a resemblance to the manner of Rolle's Song of Mercy in its repetition in five of its eight stanzas of a petition for mercy. The Holy Name is invoked in every stanza. Lines 29-30, "And graunte me grace sone to ryse / Of synnes when I am assayled", echo Julian's "And grace werkyth with mercy, rewarding" (chapter 48). An Evening Prayer (CB 15/128) calls on the "curtas cryst" (1. 8), and begs for mercy in the name of Jesus (1. 21). The address to "curtas cryst" is interesting. Rolle in his Song of Mercy speaks of mercy being "curtayse" (1.2), and Julian of Norwich constantly referred to our "curteyse lorde". 29 Another apposite recognition of these qualities of mercy and courtesy occurs in the orison on the passion, Ihesu that hast me dere I-boght (CB 14/91) of the late fourteenth century: Ihesu Jsat Make me For wel I Jjy mercy

art so corteysly, bold on Jse to cry; wot with-out drede is more ]?an my mysdede. (11. 137-140)

A very short fifteenth-century prayer,30 to which attention has already been drawn by reason of its affectionate repetition of the Holy Name, is entirely directed to honouring and petitioning the mercy of Jesus: O gode IHESU. O swete IHESU. O \>e Sone of Marye, full of mercy and pyte. O swete IHESU after ]ay greet mercy haue mercy on me. Amen

Another prayer 31 to be said at the elevation of the Mass, found in MS. Lambeth 559 of the late fourteenth century, presents a concentrated and confident appeal for mercy in its first four lines. The repetition of the Holy Name and of the word "mercy" are marks of Rolle's influence: 0 merciful Iesu, for mercy to The 1 crie, swete Iesu haue merci on me. Lord Iesu, forjeue me mi misdede, And helpe me, Iesu, at mi nede.

Jesu, Mercy for My Misdeeds (CB 15/144), a fifteenth-century prayer for pardon and mercy, exhibits many features which indicate the influ29

Revelations of Divine Love, chapters 23, 39, 51 etc. R. H. Robbins, "Popular Prayers in Middle English Verse", Modern Philology 36 (1939), 347. 31 R. H. Robbins, "Levation Prayers in Middle English Verse", Modern Philology 40 (1942), 135-136.

30

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ence of Rolle's work. Five of his favourite themes are embodied in it - confidence in the Holy Name of Jesus, repentance for sin, trust in God's mercy, contempt for worldly vanity, ardent longing for the love of God. The prayer begins: Ihesu, Ihesu, mercy I cry! Myn huge synnes Jaou me forgyf! (11. 1-2)

At the end of each stanza the refrain line, "Ihu, mercy for my mysdede!" is repeated, and throughout the poem the extent of God's mercy is constantly remarked, and trust in the goodness of God is made the foundation of the appeal: I aske mekely mercy of jpee, ffor Jai mercy passeth alle j^inge. I trost Ihu of forgyfnesse Of alle myn synnes - jaat is my crede; I me betake to J)i goodnesse, Ihesu, mercy of my mysdede! (11. 19-20, 29-32)

Associated with the desire for the operation of God's mercy in his sinful soul is the poet's longing to possess the love of God: To J)i lykenes ¡sou hast me made; Pee for to loue, {sou 3eue me grace! Pou art Jje loue Jsat neuere schal fade; A1 werldly loue is but vanyte, Bot loue of Jje passeth alle Jsinge; Per is no loue wi]>outen £>ee, & jae to lufe I aske syghynge. Ihesu, me graunt lufe Jsee for-thy, And in J>i lawe, Ihesu, me lede Pat I myslouede, I aske mercy: Ihesu, mercy, for my mysdede! (11. 25-27, 41-48)

One final fifteenth-century poem, the Speculum Misericordie,32 a kind of treasure house stocked from all the writings of the period on mercy, has in it several passages that reflect the influence of Rolle and of Julian. A young knight, riding on horse-back on a "merie morewynyngge of May", falls and injures himself seriously. He is disconsolate at the thought of 32

Ed. Robbins, Publications of the Modern Language Association 54 (1939), 935-966.

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his past sinful life. A lovely lady and seven maidens approach him and comfort him, urging him to hope for mercy. The lady, Discretion, addresses to him, in his affliction, consoling words which recall Rolle's oftrepeated recommendation to keep Jesus and his passion in our thoughts i33 . . . What chere my sone Thenke uppon Iesu in thy thowghtte And upon his precious passioun W' his precious blood hee thee bowghtte Aske Mercy and haue hit thow munne ffor w h o o hit askyht hee fayliht nowght. (11. 109-114)

The advice to seek God's mercy expressed in the last two lines of the above passage is phrased in words almost identical with line 8 of Rolle's Song of Mercy: Whasa will mercy fele, seke it, for it fayles noght.

Discretion continues to urge the young man to hope in God's mercy, incorporating Rolle's reflection that though God is our Judge, he will grant mercy to him who asks it: After mercy be ay criyngge ffor thowgh god bee luge most ryghtwys Yit is hee so curteyis and so good a kyng That his mercy evere soo redy is T o alle that it askyht oolde or yingge His mercy is above all other thyngge. (11. 160-165)

The dying young man, finally convinced, repents, asks God's mercy, and yields up his soul, invoking Crist that is ay curteys and kyinde That art of myght and mercy most. (11. 973-974)

In his Song of Mercy Rolle describes mercy as "curtayse and kynde" (1. 2); he refers to God's "myght" in line 14, "It lyes in my Creatoure, ¡sat made us of his awen myght"; he associates the words "mercy" and "most" in line 1, "Mercy es maste in my mynde, for mercy es J>at I mast prayse." Courtesy was the quality in Christ which Julian found most attractive. Over and over again she speaks of "oure curteyse lord". 34 33 34

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 66, 67, 108. Revelations, chapters 23, 39, 51 etc.

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In two passages when she is speaking of his mercy, she calls attention to his courtesy at the same time : And this is a sovereyne frenschypp of oure curtesse lorde, that he kepyth vs so tenderly why le we be in oure synne; and ferthermore he touchyth vs fülle prevely, and shewyth vs oure synne by the swet lyght of mercy and grace, (chapter 40) . . . but here in woulde oure curtesse lorde nott leeue me. And I lay stylle tylle nyght, trustyng in his mercy, and than I began to slepe. (chapter 66)

There seems no doubt that the inspiration for the great number of poems on the subject of mercy in the fifteenth century derived mainly from Rolle's distinguished treatment of that theme in his Song of Mercy. The popular appeal of his confident expression of intensely-felt, personal conviction won for him a host of admirers and imitators in a matter that profoundly concerns all mankind. The early lyrics on the subject of Death exploited the gruesome and terrifying aspects of that dreaded experience with such themes as death, the indiscriminating leveller of high and low, young and old; death, the reducer of man to worms' food; death, the stripper of rank, wealth, friends, and faculties; death the feared forerunner of the judgment. A popular little poem of the thirteenth century35 stresses the frightening certainty of the fact of death and the harrowing unpredictability of its time and consequences: Yche day me cumeja tydinges jareo, For wel swijae sore beoji heo: Pe on is Jsat ich schul heonne, Pat ojser Jjat ich noth hwenne; Pe Jjridde is my meste kare, Pat ich not hwider ich seal fare.

Another lyric of the early fourteenth century36 is a grim reminder of the merciless and unannounced wilfulness of death which spares neither the great nor the insignificant, neither the young nor the old, and whose ruthlessness fills all with equal dread: 35

Carleton Brown prints four versions of this little poem in English Lyrics of the XHIth Century, Nos. 11 and 12. In the notes, pp. 171-172, he cites eight further manuscripts in which variants of the poem are found. 36 Reliquiae Antiquae, ed. Wright and Halliwell, II, 120.

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Ded is strong and maystret alle thing! Ded for-doth barown and king! Ded is fel and mercy hat noon, For al ]?is werld to ded schal gon! Ded is derne and stalket still! Ded warnet noman jaat he wil spille! Ded men dredet, and Jsat is skil, For alle he taket at his wil! Man of Jsi lyf be nowht to bold, For ded he sparet ying ne old!

Interest in the physical decrepitude that accompanies death and in the gruesome destruction of the body by the invasion of worms after death is another concern of the early lyrics: [H]wenne ]sin heou blokejx And ]ai strengjae wokejs. And f>i neose coldej). And Jai tunge voldej). And ]?e byleuejs ]pi brejx And Jsi lif Jse at-gej). [M]e nymejj ]se nuj^e wrecche. On flore me J)e strecche£> And leyjj Jae on bere. And bi-preonej) ]pe on here. And do]s ¡De inne putte wurmes ivere. Peonne bij) hit sone of Jse al so jsu neuer nere.3'

A delicate song from the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century (CB 14/9) mourns the transitoriness of this world's joy and the certainty of death. The appeal for divine help in the last three lines provides a note of hope which lifts the short poem above the sombre reflections of the earlier lyrics on death: ihesu, help J)at hit be sene ant shild us from helle, for y not whider y shal ne hou longe her duelle. (11. 13-15)

Very different from this negative attitude of fear and dread of death is that of Richard Rolle and Julian of Norwich. For them death is the ardently longed-for gateway to life and heavenly bliss; it is the open door through which one passes to the presence of the Beloved; it is the desired 37

Old English Miscellany,

ed. Morris, 101.

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deliverance from the weariness of this mortal life to the joys of the Eternal Vision; it is the "terminus luctum, meta laboris, inicium fructum, ianua gaudiorum". 3 8 There is no thought of the terrifying and degrading concomitants of death; their attention is centred wholly on the positive, joyous fulfilment of the most urgent aspirations of their hearts. The effect of this new outlook can be observed in the introduction of short, spirited passages into the traditional type of lament. The Middle English poem, Erthe upon Erthe39 supplies a case in point. The versions of this poem which Miss Hilda Murray prints from twenty-four manuscripts dating from the early fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries provide instructive evidence of the changing point of view, especially in the fifteenth century. The earliest form of the poem is in MS. Harley 2253 and is simply a play on words. Another early fourteenth-century text of the poem from MS. Harleian 913 shows considerable expansion. It introduces certain traditional realistic details in its riddling lines, for example: When erj} is in er]pe, f>e rof is on ]pe chynne; Pan schullen an hundred wormes wroten on ]pe skin. (11. 17-18)

It goes a step farther, raising the earthy tone to a supernatural consideration : Penk man in lond on ]pi last ende, Whar of ]?ou com and whoder schaltou wend. Make J>e wel at on wij) him J)at is so hend, And dred J)e of ]?e dome lest Jse schend. For he is king of blis, and mon of moche mede, Pat deli]D Jse dai fram ni3t, and lenijs lif and dede. (11. 73-76)

However, fear and dread of the judgment are still uppermost in the poet's mind. But when we come to a text of the poem dating about 1450, we find an uplift in the last two lines which begins to approach a more positive and hopeful outlook: Now pray we to God ]pat al erth wrowth, Pat erth owt of erth to blys myth be browth. (11. 23-24) 38

Incendium Amoris of Richard Rolle of Hampole, ed. Deanesly, 192. The Middle English Poem, Erthe upon Erthe, Printed from Twenty-Four Manuscripts, ed. Murray. All quotations from versions of this poem are from this edition. 39

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In another fifteenth-century variant of the poem, following the usual reflections on the transitoriness of earthly glory there is the injunction: Leave thy syne and lyffe in ryght, And than shalt thou lyffe in heuyn as a knight. (11. 23-24)

This is not far removed in spirit from the last lines of Rolle's lyric which begins, "All synnes sal J>ou hate thorow castyng of skylle" :40 Oure setels heven ar within, me lyst sytt in myne. Lufe Criste and hate syn, and sa purches j^e {sine. (11. 23-24)

One more version from the fifteenth century which shows considerable expansion is worth noting. The last stanza but one directs our thoughts to heaven and advises us to provide for a dwelling place there in the everlasting mirth, whilst we have the opportunity. The idea is like Rolle's, and the word "mirth" is one which often appears in his writings: Erth uppon erth, G o d e 3eyf ]pe grace, Whyle ^ou leuuyst uppon erth, to purway ]se a place In heywyn to dweylle, whyl Jiat JJOU hast space; That myrthe for to myse it wer a karful case. Ffor whye? That myrth is withowttyn ende, I tel Jse securlye. (11. 61-66)

A poem in the Vernon MS. (late fourteenth century), Of pre Messagers of Deeth,41 which is rather a short treatise than a lyric, explores the traditional themes of the inevitability of death and the fearful consequences of an evil life. Just at the end there is introduced a more hopeful and joyful note: Heuene hit is ure heritage.

Synful mon, if £at he falle A-Rys up and make pees, And cum to Crist, whon £>at he calle T o Ioye Jjat is endeles. (11. 213, 217-220) 40

(Cf. Rolle's Commentary on Psalm CXVIIl, v. 19, where he says: "My hert is in h e u e n . . . This ma y naman say verraly bot rightwismen. for thaire heritage heuen. 4 2

is in

English Writings of Richard Rolle, ed. Allen, 39. Minor Poems of the Vernon MS., Part II, ed. Furnivall, 443-448. 42 The Psalter or Psalms of David and Certain Canticles. With a translation and exposition in English by Richard Rolle of Hampole, ed. Bramley, 413. Peter Lombard's Commentary reads: "Hoc justorum tantum est, quibus promissa est aeterna patria", in J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Vol. CXCI, 1054. 41

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The first line of one of James Ryman's lyrics on death 43 indicates the general tone of the reflections: O crueel deth paynfull and smert.

Commonplace warnings of the shortness of life, of the uncertainty and suddenness of the hour of death, of its uncompromising demand for immediate compliance are followed by a consideration of a different nature - that of death as the means of the fulfilment of heavenly bliss and of the vision of the eternal God: F r o mortall deth Crist us defende A n d graunte us alle by his grete grace, Out o f this worlde w h e n w e shall w e n d e , In heuen blisse to haue a place A n d h y m to see there face to face, That w a s and is and ay shall be Eternall g o d in persones thre. (11. 4 3 - 4 9 )

Side by side with gloomy, fearful reflections on death which persist in the fifteenth century in such poems as Timor Mortis Conturbat Meu is the happier, more trusting attitude which Rolle and Julian adopted. Two lyrics of the fifteenth century indicate even in their titles the changed outlook on death. The first of these, Death, the Port of Peace (CB 15/164), fails to rise to a level of spiritual joy, but it does ignore the aspect of fear of death represented in the earlier poems, and it adequately expresses the idea present in the writings of both Rolle and Julian that death opens the way to a welcome haven from the heaviness and "J)e woo that is here" (chapter 64): Here ys the reste of all your besynesse, Here ys the porte o f peese & resstfulnes to t h e m that stondeth In stormes of dysese, only refuge to wreches In dystresse, and all c o m f o r t e of m y s c h e f e & mysese. (11. 4 - 8 )

In the second of these lyrics, Death the Soul's Friend (CB 15/163), the poet urges man to think on death and to recall how dearly God has 43

"Die Gedichte des Franziskaners Jakob Ryman", ed. Julius Zupitza, Herrig's Archiv 89 (1892), 265-267. 44 Early English Poetry, Ballads and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages, ed. Wright, 57-58.

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bought his soul, and therefore to keep himself in readiness for the final summons. The recommendation is made that man should not fear death but rather consider it as the end of worldly woe, the immediate means of admission into the presence of God, and the beginning of true life : Thynk & dred noght for to dy, syn f)ou sail nedis Jser-to; Thynk Jsat ded is opynly ende off werdes wo; Thynk als so, bot if Jsou dy, to god may J)ou noght go; Thynk & hald Jae payed per-by Pou may noght file Jjer-fro. With an. O. & an .1. J)an thynk me it is so, Pat ded sal be {si sawl frend, & erthly lyff joi ffo. Thynk J>at {sou ert ded alway, qwyllis Jsat Jiou dwellis here; Thynk Jai lyff be-ginnis ay, qwen jsou ert layd apon a bere; Thynk & serue {sat prince to pay, Pe kyng of kyng, J^at hass na pere; Thynk I rede, bothe nyth & day, on hym ]aat boght Jse so dere. With an .O. and an .1., thynk qwat I Jse lere, Iff J)ou wil ]Dat solace se J?er seyntis syttes sere. (11. 51-70)

This new assessment of values in life and death belongs to the spirit of faith and optimism which characterizes the works of Rolle and of Julian. It is exciting to find at the close of the fifteenth century a spirited little lyric45 crystallizing this attitude of buoyant optimism and serene confidence which springs for Rolle and Julian from a life lived in the service of Christ and destined to lead to final happiness: Now is well and all thing aright, And Christ is come as a true knight, F o r our broder is king of might. Now is well and all is well And right well so have I bliss ; And sithen all thing is so well I rede we do no more amiss. (11. 1-3, 9 - 1 2 ) Spiritual Songs from English Manuscripts of Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries, ed. Comper, 76.

45

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This little poem in its total dedication, absolute confidence, serene hope and sure affirmation of complete contentment echoes the joyous assurance given by Christ to Julian and faithfully recorded by her: "Allé maner of thyngshalle be w e l e ; . . . Thou shalt se thy selfe that aile maner of thyng shalle be wele". (chapter 32)

IX CONCLUSION

Richard Rolle dominated the popular religious thought of England in the fourteenth century. He wrote more copiously and with more enthusiasm and emotion and consequently with more immediate appeal than any other writer of the period. His compositions are not systematic, but they are on fire with sincerity and total dedication to the love of God. The more orderly, formalized treatments of the contemplative life by his near contemporaries appear cold and abstract when placed beside his effusions of love and rapturous descriptions of the delights of union with God. The "calor", "canor", and "dulcor" that accompanied his search for that union inspired the words he wrote, and they, in turn, stirred the hearts of his followers to pour out their sweetness and joy in songs of glowing love. Rolle was not an original writer or thinker; he drew from the common heritage of devotional religious thought presented by the Fathers of the Church, in particular by St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Anselm and St. Bernard. Certain specialities of his devotional approach were known in England before his time but they did not achieve popularity until he imparted to them a new attractiveness and appeal by his distinctive, enthusiastic presentation of them. Julian of Norwich's work and influence are very slight compared to Rolle's. Julian wrote only one book, her Revelations of Divine Love, in which she recorded the visions and spiritual teaching she received during an extraordinary manifestation of Christ's passion, vouchsafed to her when she was thirty years of age. The spiritual instructions communicated to her at that time continued to unfold their full meaning to her in her meditations over a period of twenty years. Profound expositions of delicate theological problems occupy a considerable portion of her book. These considerations give an intellectual cast to the whole and greatly diminish its popular appeal and remove it from the immediate possibilities of extensive influence in the field of lyric literature. The book has a beauty of its own and an undeniably appealing spirit of joy and optimism. 177

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The calmness and serenity of her trust in God, the underlying compassion of the brief but vivid descriptions of the sufferings of Christ and of his grieving Mother, the generous and appealing love of God for man everywhere manifest in the record of the communications made by God to Julian, the hope and confidence inspired by the considerations of God's mercy: these qualities and emotions give character to her message and diffuse themselves, slightly, it is true, but, nonetheless, do diffuse themselves into the lyric literature of the fifteenth century. In certain well-defined areas Rolle's influence on the lyric literature of England became apparent soon after his own lifetime. Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus had been established in the Church since apostolic times, but it had not entered English literature to an appreciable degree before Rolle popularized it in England. Two early thirteenth-century prose lyric compositions, On Ureisun of Oure Loiierde and fie Wohunge of Ure Lauerd had repeated the Holy Name frequently and with the greatest love and tenderness, and early imitations of the Dulcis Jesu Memoria had shown the same awareness of the devotion, but with the exception of these pieces, there is only scattered evidence in the early Middle English lyrics of the existence of the cult. In both prose writings and verse lyrics, Rolle constantly invoked the Holy Name; he never wearied of recounting the sweetness and delight it brought to the soul; he displayed the utmost confidence in its efficacy; he recommended the cultivation of the devotion over and over again to his disciples. In the manuscripts of the late fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries there is a marked increase in the number of lyrics in which the person of Jesus is honoured and also a very definite increase in the frequency with which the Holy Name is repeated within these lyrics, accompanied by a new tenderness and fervour and confidence rarely found in early poems in which the name was mentioned briefly and generally without qualification. In many of the lyrics of the later period we find every stanza or almost every stanza beginning with the Holy Name, often preceded by the adjectives of endearment, "good" and "sweet". In addition to these poems in which praise, confidence and love of Jesus are the central themes, there are certain others honouring the Holy Name specifically or presenting a petition through its power. In more than one lyric we find examples of extensive borrowing from Rolle's verse and prose writings in which he honoured the Holy Name and recommended its efficacy. The multiplied number of imitations of the Dulcis Jesu Memoria and translations of parts of John of Hoveden's Philomena in the late fourteenth

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and in the fifteenth centuries are probably effects of this newly-popularized devotion to the Holy Name in England. Rolle's influence on English lyric literature on the subject of the Holy Name of Jesus is seen, then, in the new frequency with which the Holy Name was introduced into the lyrics; in the increased number of lyrics praising and honouring the humanity of Christ; in the affection and intimacy and confidence with which the Holy Name was invoked; in actual borrowings from Rolle's writings incorporated into later lyrics. Julian had no share in bringing about this development in the Middle English lyrics. Each time she uses the Holy Name she does so with respect and reverence and confidence, but there is no attempt to promote the devotion in her Revelations, no ecstatic message for her readers of its power, or of the sweetness and joy that accompany ardent love of the Holy Name. Early short poems on the passion written in England recounted briefly the physical sufferings of Christ, and made an appeal to man for repentance and, in some cases, for a return of love. Very few dwelt with any detail or vividness on those pains and rarely was any real compassion for them expressed. Considerations of the mental anguish endured by Christ in his passion did not detain the early lyric poets. The lyric poetry on the passion of the late fourteenth and of the fifteenth centuries is distinguished by a deepened realism in detailed and vivid descriptions of the various phases of the agony of Christ, a new realization of the spiritual and mental pain of the passion, and a greatly intensified feeling of compassion with Christ in his agony and with his grieving Mother. Rolle set the pattern for these developments in his prose writings, especially the Meditations on the Passion, and in his verse lyrics. The Meditations are filled with delicate and minute recollections of the painful and anguished moments of every incident of the passion, recounted with exquisite tenderness and understanding sympathy. The increased realism of the descriptions of the physical sufferings of Christ in the lyrics of the late fourteenth and of the fifteenth centuries owes a great deal to Rolle's detailed account of them in the Meditations on the Passion. Julian wrote briefly, but pictorially, of the distressing appearance of the dying Christ on the cross. She probably had some slight influence in shaping the interest which developed in this direction among writers of lyric poetry. The tenderness and compassion which underlies Julian's account of her visions of her suffering Lord and of his grieving Mother may also have contributed something to the greater intensity of these emotions in the fifteenth-century passion lyrics.

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Inclusion in the later lyrics of recognition of the sufferings experienced by Christ in the Agony in the Garden, in the desertion of his disciples, in the scoffing and mockery of the Jews and of the Roman soldiers reflect the tendency found in Rolle's Meditations to place new emphasis on the mental and spiritual desolation and anguish of Christ. Julian had no share in the development of this new interest. The revelations made to her concentrated on the visual aspects of the last phases of Christ's passion and did not extend to the earlier desolation and desecration. On no group of lyrics is Rolle's direct influence more evident than on the group treating of divine love. Love of God was the constant theme of his writings - both verse and prose - and it is not surprising that his admirers copied him more closely on this subject than on any other. At least five lyrics on divine love dating from the late fourteenth century and early fifteenth century bear such near resemblance in many of their verses to lines in Rolle's lyrics and to passages in his prose works that they may be shown to be either direct borrowings or re-arrangements or rephrasings of his writings. Writers in the Middle Ages seemed to have had no compunction about using the literary compositions of others without acknowledgment and this has been done with amazing boldness in these lyrics. Many other lyrics of the period include phrases reminiscent of Rolle's fervent love-longing, of his intimate love of Jesus, of his yearning for union with him in heaven, of his conviction that Christ is his joy and delight, of his desire to renounce all worldly pleasures to possess the love of God alone. Notable evidence of his impact on the lyrics treating of divine love in this period is seen in the frequency with which heat or fire and sweetness are spoken of as the sensible accompaniments of love, and in the allusions to the impulse to sing of the love that fills the heart to overflowing. These derive certainly from Rolle's oft-repeated references to his personal experience of "calor", "dulcor" and "canor" in his pursuit of divine love. Many other lyrics on this subject show resemblances to Rolle's work in style, in the language of love-longing, in the use of affectionate epithets for Christ, in the inclusion of occasional lines or phrases that echo his spirit and ideas. Julian's constant theme, too, was that of love of God. Since her emphasis is on the love of God for man, her work does not lend itself to lyrical imitation so readily as does Rolle's, in which the emphasis is on man's love for God. The essence of lyric writing is the expression of personal, intensely-felt emotion. Obviously, it is simpler to embody in

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poetry sentiments based on Rolle's approach of man to God than on Julian's of God to man. We do find, however, an occasional distinctive turn of phrase or a perception of fundamental truth expressed in unusual terms which seem to trace back to Julian's Revelations. The joy and fulfilment that permeate the work of both Rolle and Julian in their total dedication to the love of God very often shine through the lyric writings of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and reflect the beauty of their vibrant personalities. Neither Rolle nor Julian wrote much about Our Lady, nor did they have a great influence on lyrics written in her honour. Mary had long been celebrated as the virgin Mother of God, as the queen of heaven, as the earthly Mother of God sharing her divine Son's joys and sorrows, as man's helper in time of distress. In his prose works Rolle honoured Mary under all her traditional titles and compassionated with her in the sufferings she shared with Christ in his passion. In the one poem he wrote in her praise, he departed from the conventional emphasis on petition and concentration on the events of Mary's earthly life, to centre on her personal beauty and spiritual excellence. He salutes her as the virgin queen of heaven, and sighs for her as a lover. The poem is written in Latin, and is patterned on certain of the courtly love conventions. Although the scarcity of manuscripts for this poem inclines one to think that it had no great popularity, nevertheless, the direction indicated by Rolle's treatment was definitely the trend that was followed in the fifteenth-century Marian lyrics. The later poems centre on praise of Mary herself; they celebrate particularly her Assumption and Coronation in heaven, not her earthly life; they employ a highly ornate Latinized vocabulary. Aureate diction is characteristic of the secular poetry of the time as well as of the religious poetry and may stem more directly from Chaucer than it does from Rolle. However, the nature of Rolle's poem is significant as a possible model for the fifteenth-century lyrics on Mary, particularly those composed to commemorate her Assumption and Coronation as queen of heaven. At the same time Rolle's influence can be observed in a few Marian laments. In the Meditations on the Passion Rolle represents Mary's grief as overcoming her and causing her to swoon. In the early lyrics of lament Mary was often described as weeping, but not as prostrated with anguish. In a few of the later poems of this type, she is depicted as wringing her hands, sobbing, sighing, swooning. It is possible that Rolle, while perfectly sincere in his compassion, set the example for this extravagant display of grief. Julian's influence on the Marian lyrics was very slight, if any. Except for

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an unusual grouping of words in a few lines of one poem there seems no trace in the lyrics of resemblance to her work. The fact is, Julian wrote very little about Mary from which the poets could have drawn inspiration. The distinctive note which appeared in lyrics of penitence in the late fourteenth and in the fifteenth centuries is the motivation of love rather than fear as an inducement to penance. Rolle's emphasis was never simply the negative attitude of avoiding sin in order to escape God's punishment; it was always positive - if you want the love of Christ, you must hate sin. His followers and imitators were inspired by his confident and joyful approach to penance and incorporated it into their lyrics. In some poems we find the phrasing very close to Rolle's own distinctive manner of expressing himself; in others we find that the spirit animating the penitential sentiments is the same as that which made Rolle hate sin through a motive of love, and which made him desire to be separated from worldly affections to be loved of God alone. Julian shared this disposition of Rolle towards sin, and concurred in his conviction of the worthlessness and vanity of the things of this world. Many lyrics of the late fourteenth century, particularly in the Vernon manuscript, and of the fifteenth century, centre about this latter theme. Some of them are sombre and gloomy, but some show the effect of the more loving and hopeful outlook adopted by Rolle and Julian. One of Rolle's most beautiful lyrics is his Song of Mercy. This poem and his prose tract, De Dei Misericordia, seem to have had a wide impact on the society of the late Middle Ages. Requests for mercy had appeared in scattered petitions in the literature before Rolle's time but no one before him had written a lyric wholly devoted to reflections on God's mercy. It seems highly probable that the extensive use of the theme of God's mercy in prayers, sermon material, dramatic and lyric poetry in the last century and a half of the Middle English period arose from Rolle's concentrated treatment of that attribute of God's goodness in his verse and prose. Soon after Rolle's death we find a short lyric on the subject of mercy imitating his handling of the theme in its exclusion of all other considerations but mercy from its lines, and in its repetition of the word "mercy" in almost every line of the poem. From the middle of the fourteenth century on, there is a great and sudden increase in the number of poems composed on the subject. Some of them contain nothing distinctive beyond the fact of their concentration on the theme of mercy. Many others use refrain lines in which there is a repeated plea for mercy. In many of these, other devotions and dispositions, developed under the

CONCLUSION

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impact of Rolle's personality, are linked with the theme of confidence in God's mercy. These secondary themes strengthen the bonds that associate the poems with Rolle's influence. Such are the frequent repetition of the Holy Name, ardent longing for the love of God, contempt for the things of the world and repentance based on love and confidence in God's goodness. Julian had some very fine things to say about God's mercy. She sees mercy and grace as two manners of God's love working in the soul of man - mercy, quickening and healing; grace, raising and rewarding. The occasional conjunction of these two words in lyrics of the fifteenth century, and references to the courtesy of Christ may come from Julian. Julian often wrote of the courtesy of Christ; it was a characteristic of his goodness which made a strong appeal to her. The attitude towards death in the thirteenth century had been one of fear and gloom. Reminders of the uncertainty of the time of death, terrifying thoughts of the Judgment and gruesome reflections on the disintegration of the body imparted an extremely dismal outlook to the early poems on the subject. But Rolle and Julian looked forward to death with eager anticipation. For them it was the supremely happy moment of the breaking of the barriers that bound them to the wearisome world and separated them from God. For them death was not filled with terror and degradation ; it was replete with hope and fulfilment and joy. In the fifteenth century we are able to see the effect of this happy and hopeful attitude towards death in a few lyrics. It appears in occasional lines expressing the desire to be brought to the bliss of heaven; it is seen in a certain serenity and peaceful conviction that God is waiting to receive the faithful soul that can come to him only through death, and to reward it with the joy that never ends. With this evidence before us, we may conclude that Richard Rolle's influence on the lyric literature of the one hundred and fifty years after his death was very great, that of Julian very slight. Each had a beautiful and consoling message for the world; but the nature of Julian's reserved, intellectual style lacked the immediate popular appeal of Rolle's effusive manner.

APPENDIX A T R A N S L A T I O N OF R I C H A R D ROLLE'S CANTICUM

AMOR1S

Ardently I yearn for you, virgin wrapped in splendour, Sighing out my love for you, steadfast homage render, Long delaying to reveal what inspires your lover, My eager Muse has burned, her ardent love to utter. Hail, protector and healer of my wretched being! In weary toil love is the solace to which I cling, Love my heart refreshes; security it brings, Encompassing me wholly; I spurn all other things. My ardent spirit, by this sweet love o'ershadowed, Bearing a token, and by the fire of love made bold, Binds its fond youth to service in the queenly household. Disdaining longer self with self to be engrossed. Her peerless beauty conquers quite the pleasure-seeking boy; Her most clear brow constrains him, languishing with joy; His complaints, her golden tresses silence and destroy; Her lovely cheeks console him as he sits, but do not cloy. Like gleaming crown of flowers her lofty eye-brows reign; Her lips as red as rose; her mouth beautiful and restrained; Her love-filled eyes o'erflow with gentle peace in pain; Young men turn from sorrow, rejoicing once again. Constrained to love by the delicate tint of her neck, My spirit longs to dwell with her, without let or check; Her glance alone my weariness can deflect, Sweet delight e'er wounds me when I on her reflect. Beyond all measure shines her comely countenance, Among women there is not so clear and fair a face; The spotless lily, though real, bears no rival trace To the beauty and charm of her unparalleled grace.

APPENDIX A

More dazzling white than snow, a peerless pearl is she, Brighter than the gleaming gold, a shining gem to me, Brilliant as a precious stone, polished to high degree, My weary youth is lightened by hope with her to be. So stately in figure, so impressive in stature, Hands, arms and shoulders in proportions so proper, I proclaim them most excellent, surpassing all nature; For no creature so perfect is known on this earth. Most beautiful and loveliest of women God has made, My song of jubilation this loveliness portrays; Fidelity my watchword, unlike the Jews who strayed, I seek my gentle lady, and her compassionate aid. Brighter than the flashing stars, radiant and tender, Redder than the red rose, surpassing all in splendour, Happy those who homage at her festival will render, Happy those who to her gracious love surrender. Virgin beloved, choice of my heart, take pity now On a wretched creature, faithful to his humble vow, Spurning the enemy sweets strewn to woo him from sorrow, Longing to behold you, pierced by love's golden arrow. To beauty so gracious to do service is bliss, To taste of its sweetness, sweeter than honey is this; Deign, o gentlest Lady, to hear my dearest wish, Accept my song of love from glowing heart of bliss. Severity of binding love wounds me sore indeed, But the sweetness of your grace is balm in my dire need, Delicate white fingers soothe the pain from aching head, Gracious features of your countenance fill my mind instead. Purity's resplendent bloom, Mary spotless flower, Nobility our bondsman, uniting loved to lover, Abhorring all the darkness belonging to that other, Raised to loftiest height of chastity's white splendour. O come unto my aid, pure radiant virgin queen, Support my fainting spirit with your healing power esteemed; The glowing coals of love within my heart inflame, My flesh subdue that, like a gentle dove, it bear no blame. No one has ever lived more charming to youth than she, None ever lived more worthily, from all evil free, Her maidenly excellence fleeter than the swift breeze, Her repose like to one who sits in regal ease.

APPENDIX A

Sprung from a distinguished race foretold by prophets old, Lady most illustrious in story ever told, Purer than the honey distilled to purest gold, Cinnamon and balsam cannot such fragrance hold. Delightful the aroma enveloping the fair maiden, More pleasing than rare spice or cells with honey laden, Elusive and determined to put to flight the brazen, Gentle and kind, she does not despise the craven. Fresh splendour flows about her, submerging the despised, Clear, jubilant songs burst forth to acclaim her as the prized, Sweet Lady, do not scorn them when you hear their yearning cries Enfold them in your loving arms; direct to them your eyes. Gently my timid notes I whisper to my lady; The music calms my spirit, my fears are all allayed; In sweet harmony of song my inmost thoughts displayed, Strong in the confidence of her graciousness portrayed. Her radiant countenance my consolation sure, Her love, my love's return and my poor spirit's cure; Only that I may sit, beholding my lady pure, Holding her fast within my heart, then may I endure. Fruitful flower, spotless maid, enlightening the gloom, Give strength to virgins, keeping whole purity's white bloom; May my song of love glow like a torch in a dark room, May your glance restore my youth, reversing Adam's doom. The spear which pierces fills with joy the consecrated mind, The heart expands with loving, seeking right words to find. My fingers gently stroke the chords of faithful sound, The cithara springs to life, its melodies sweet resound. The bulwark of my spirit is pierced by beauty's dart, The splendour of her bearing anew inflames my heart; What repose more joyful than for us to take a part In chanting in her honour hymns of praise from loving heart.

1

With yearning soul I long to see her splendour shining, Love so consumes me that I scarce forbear from dying; But healing death restores; from faintness love reviving; Happy ardour will not fail, in her honour striving. Fresh spotless flower of spring, brighter than the sun's white light Protecting by your glow the envious lover's right; Maiden far more beautiful than my frail pen can write, More worthy than I may sing, inflame my love aright.

188

APPENDIX A

She is more excellent than any thing created, More loving and beloved than earthly tongue can state, My paean in her honour no creature can debate, The healing balsam of her mind my soul does penetrate. In the song of my heart a happy burden I bear, Love wakens me from weariness of dull and sordid care, Fainting my spirit sings, refreshed by work and prayer, While love inflames my heart, the Spirit inspires me here. Maidenly purity of sweet spices redolent, Fruitful beauty, ascending ladder from heaven sent, E'en song cannot express what splendour God has meant; I have sung of love, banishing all evil intent.

120

I sing a joyful song, a theme of hope I bear; I languish for love of the resplendent virgin rare; I searched for her who is fairer than the sky is fair; Loving to all, she has chosen me for tender care. Nor does she spurn my offering at love's pure altar stone, That I bear in ringing songs of clear, triumphant tone, Above all loved ones, Virgin dear, I honour you, my own, In lyric hymns of glowing praise, Mary in your heavenly home. From organ pipe springs forth gentle, melodious sound, A harmony of songs among which love is found, Exalted and harmonious, drawing beauty down, In presence of this melody, death does not confound. My thoughts are of her, chief ornament of maidens pure, I brush aside my sloth, hoping her favour to secure, I ardently long, her gracious favour to procure, To wipe away dishonour and deadly wounds to cure. My lady is exalted above the heavenly stars, She makes my heart more glowing, untouched by earthly cares, Holy help is rendered; plucked from fear of wicked snares. The lover now rejoices, with sweet melody repaired. 140 Hail, Virgin most high, I think of you while I am exiled, Divine handmaid of Christ, his secret garden enclosed, The holy and sweet mystery now stands forth revealed, Happy, she holds her Lord to her heart in silence sealed. Hail, Queen raised above the seraphim in heaven high, Crowned with the full choir of cherubim singing in reply, Clear, harmonious, sweet, resounding through the sky, Glorious and triumphant, she stands revealed on high.

APPENDIX A

I proclaim the glories of my dazzling virgin queen. The joy she spreads recalling spring flowers' earliest sheen; Now worthless trifles conquered, I burn with love serene. Ardently I long for you, O Virgin, my true Queen. Virgin beyond compare, living purely I choose you; I have desired rough hermit's life and country pathways, too; Spurred on by love, I honour you in heavenly praise, Virgin whom I celebrate, the soul of Richard raise.

APPENDIX B

THECANTICUM

AMORIS

OF R I C H A R D ROLLE

(Edited by Dom André Wilmart, O.S.B. in Revue d'Ascétique et de Mystique, 21 [1940], 143-148)

Zelo tui langueo, virgo speciosa Sistens in suspirio, mens est amorosa; Diu dare distulit, diva generosa, Quod cordis concupiit Musa non exosa. Salue, salus miseri mei et medela. Arcet amor operi, cuius tenent tela; Pectus palam percutit ; clamo cum cautela : Dilecta me diripit, priuans parentela. Hec dulcis dilectio mentem obumbrauit; Gerens iam iudicio, hanc-urens-amauit. Iuuenem ingenue amor alligauit Et astantem strenue sibi separauit. Puella pulcherrima prostrauit ludentem. Fronsque serenissima facit hunc languentem ; Crines auro similes carpunt conquerentem ; Gene preamabiles solantur sedentem ; Erecta supercilia fulgent floris florum ; Ut rosa rubent labia ; os ualde decorum ; Preclari sunt oculi, perpleni amorum. Hiis gaudent iuuenculi, a loris dolorum. Color colli cohibet me illam amare. Amor intus exhibet secum habitare. Huius una uisio me posset sanare, Dulcis delectacio semper saciare. Splendei eius species supra modum rerum ; Tarn formosa facies non est mulierum. Hec deuincit lilium, quamquam sit sincerum; Singulare solium amor habet uerum.

20

APPENDIX B

Niue est candidior, mira margarita, Sole ac lucidior, pulcra polimita, Clara ut carbunculus, nitide nutrita ; Hinc geror iuuenculus in languente vita. Longitudo laterum, predecens statura, Manus, pectus, brachium, generis iunctura: Predico precellere quod concedunt iura; Nam nescitur uiuere talis creatura. Tarn decoram feminam numquam fecit deus. Hanc dat amantissimam canor iubileus ; Expugna perfidiam, dum errat Hebreus. Conquirens clemenciam, hec est amor meus. Luce extat pulcrior fulgida stellarum, Rosa rubicundior, decus puellarum : Felix festum fuerit, non forum ferarum, Ista que habuerit captum sibi carum. Miserere misero, uirgo quam amaui: Cernere desidero; leuiter portaui. Aufers quod hec offerunt; multas refutaui; Quamvis dulces disserunt, me tibi seruaui. Tantum pulcritudinem presto sum placare, Melique dulcedinem uel guttam gustare; Dignare, dulcissima, quod dilexi dare: Est quo ardet anima amenum amare. En rigore uulneror stringentis amoris Et in plaga penetror dulcore decoris : Digiti sunt graciles, candentis coloris ; Lucidi, laudabiles nasus, mentum, auris. Ciaret carnis castitas: feruens flos fundaris. Nectat nos nobilitas; amatrix, amaris, Niuea nigredinem digne detestaris, Habens altitudinem summam singularis. Iam laboro languidus: assis medicina; Ex firmaque feruidus regnantis cortina, Carbo cordis caluit, uirgo et regina, Quo uernare valuit caro columbina. Vento est uelocior uirtus uirginalis, Sedenti similior requies regalis ; Pulcra placens puero nulla uiuit talis ; Apte hanc amauero, que carebat malis.

APPENDIX B

193

Preclara progenies iure generantis Mellis est millesies dulcior stillantis; Cinamomo redolet dulcedo durantis: Balsamum hec baiulet melos et manantis. Felicem frangranciam possidet puella, Aromatis instanciam, ora super mella ; Fugat flos fantasmata subsistentis sella ; Rimans et almiphona, non linquas nouella. Noua nitor nectare auferens obscena, Ut queat consurgere clara cantilena ; Quam dulcis non deseras, dum audis amena, Sed amantem arceas amoris habena.

80

Tibi, cara, canticum emitto mansuetus: Melos mulcet musicum; terror est deletus. Concino quod carmine remanerem letus Pro tua dulcedine, qua fruor concretus. Ex splendente specia solamen suspexi: Non neges diligere; nam ego dilexi. Sufficit quod sedeam, cernens quo surrexi, Et amatam habeam in quam cor innexi. Candet sine macula flos fecunditatis; Feruet hinc ut facula canor caritatis. Iubilus est iuuenum, ros atque renatis, Vis et uirtus uirginum, concors castitatis. Lancea letificai que mentem transfixit; Amantem amplificati sic dilectrix dixit. Ludam cum hac leuiter, ut fides se fixit; Nam sonans suauiter cithara reuixit. Pulcritudo perforai claustrum cordis mei Et amantem roborat gema speciei; Nichil nunc iocundius restat requiei Quam si carmen canimus cantus iubilei. Eminente langueo lucentis decore Et pene deficio; sic artor amore; Mors michi medebitur, leuans a languore, Nec feruor frustrabitur felix ab honore. Virtuosa vernula, lux super solare, Amatoris emula estu obumbrare, Puella est pulcrior quam possum probare, Ut cantem capacior, ardet amor a re.

100

194

APPENDIX B

Ipsa excellencius nichil est creatum, Nec erit feruencius amans et amatum. Nitenti nil editur quod sit compara tum ; Mens inde merebitur balsamum beatum. Botrum bonum baiulo in cordis canore, Et amans euigilo a sordis sudore. Languens psallit spiritus, laxat laus labore; Nam datus divinitus quod ardet amore. Puellaris puritas hec aromatizans, Fecunda formositas, scala scaturizans Non ualebunt exprimi, nitor neumatizans; Nam amorem cecini, nusquam scandalizans.

120

Letum carmen concino pondus portans spei, Et amore langueo resplendentis rei. Celo est serenior inquisita mei; Omnibus amancior, sum electus ei. Non abit quod offero ab amantis ara; Nam sic sanum suffero in Camena clara : Ympnum yperliricum virgo michi para, Et in hoc te concrepem, super cunctas cara. Odas habet Organum admixtas amori, Suaue psalterium concentus canori; Signum est dulcissonum deducens decori Melos et mirificum, in quo uincor mori. Puellarem speciem puto principalem Et scindo segniciem, sperans specialem ; Eius glisco graciam que nescit equalem, Delens et infamiam et morsum letalem. Hec est excellencior supra stellas celi. Manet mens feruencior, tactu tenta teli. Salus sancte subditur: carpat a crudeli; Amans nam imbuitur ex dulcore meli. Ago dum exilia, uirgo alta, aue ! Diuina subsellia et Christi conclaue. Nititur misterium sanctum et suaue: Cordique dominium tenet felix, faue! Salue, supra séraphin celo subleuata, • Cum compiente cherubin care coronata, Preclara, per symphona, alma, augmentata, Mira et magnifica, perfecte prolata.

140

APPENDIX B

Prefulgenti uirgini do preconia, Et dignentur inprimi floris gaudia. Amans intus ardeo; uincens uilia; Zelo tui langueo, uirgo regia. Virgo decora pari sine, uiuens pure dilexi. Squalentis heremi cupiens et in aruis haberi. Per citharam sonui celicam, subiectus amori. Virgo quam cecini, animam sublima Ricardi.

195

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AUTHOR-SUBJECT INDEX

Active and Contemplative Life: 35-36, 82 Allen, Hope Emily: 12, 13, 14, 18, 20, 50, 57, 62, 68, 104, 123, 125, 140, 155 Anselm, St.: 15, 16, 36, 57, 87 Aquinas, St. Thomas: 31, 35, 36, 153, 160 Augustine, St.: 16, 17, 32-34, 45-46, 57, 160 Bernard, St.: 15-18, 87 Blessed Virgin Mary: 39-43, 70, 79-80, 88, 90, 143-154, 181-182 Calor, Canor, Dulcor: 21, 27-29, 32-33, 51, 54, 55, 58-61, 63-64, 70, 124, 130, 142, 177, 180 Contemplation: 31-34, 58-59 Courtly Love: 40, 69, 145, 150, 161, 181 Cynewulf: 143, 160 Death: 46-47, 51, 58, 81, 82, 130, 132, 134, 170-176, 183 Gregory the Great, St.: 31, 32, 33, 35 Holy Name, Devotion to: 15-17, 21-24, 47, 50,58-59,61,64,67, 74, 82,87-101, 108, 117, 123, 124, 129-130, 134-135, 139, 156, 157, 159, 165, 167, 168, 178-179 John of Hoveden: 19, 90-92, 131,178 Joy and Confidence: 47-48, 58, 64, 65, 67, 68, 82-84, 97-98, 124, 130, 139, 140, 159, 175, 181 Julian of Norwich: MSS. and editions: 84-85 Julian's three desires: 72-73 Nature of Julian's visions: 72-73, 74-75 Julian's spirit and teaching: 76-78

Julian's influence on lyrics on the Holy Name: 101, 179; on the Passion: 103, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121, 122, 179; on Divine Love: 133, 136-139, 142, 180; on the Blessed Virgin Mary: 147148, 154, 181-182; on Penitence: 157, 158, 182; on Mercy: 162, 164, 165, 167, 168170, 183; on Death: 171, 174, 175-176, 183 Compared with Richard Rolle: 81-82, 84, 85-86, 100-101, 177-183 Knowles, Dom David: 31, 34 Love, Divine: 27, 47, 61-67, 76-79, 82, 88, 123-142, 157-158, 180-181 Love, Degrees of: 29-31, 50, 55-56, 5860 Lydgate, John: 112,120,121, 151 Mercy: 45-46, 68-70, 80-81, 160-170, 182-183 Mysticism: 21, 31 Passion, Devotion to: 17-19, 24-26, 56, 71, 74-75, 82, 94, 103-122, 156, 179180 Penitence: 44-45, 56, 67-68, 80, 155-159, 182 Prayer, Posture for: 36-38, 66, 134 Richard Rolle: Character of his mysticism: 21 Contribution as a mystical writer: 34-35 Influences on Rolle: 19-20

208

AUTHOR-SUBJECT INDEX

Works: Canticum Amoris: 39-41, 70, 146-147, 149, 151-153, 154, 185-195 The Commandment: 23, 25, 44, 99, 117, 121, 128 Commentary on the Canticles: 22, 24, 35,41,47, 48, 95, 153 De Dei Misericordia: 45-46, 162, 182 Ego Dormio: 29-32, 44 Lyrics in the Ego Dormio: 49-53, 55-60, 64, 65, 94, 98, 104-105, 114-115,117-118,124-134,138139 Emendatio Vitae: 23, 28-29, 31, 34, 35, 44 The Form of Living: 23, 27-31, 38, 42, 43, 44 Lyrics in The Form of Living: 49, 51,60-61, 125, 127, 129-130 Incendium Amoris: 23, 24, 27, 35, 36-37, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 53, 61, 62, 63, 127, 134, 137 Judica Me Deus: 44 Lyrics: 21-22, 49-70, 92, 97, 155, 160-161

Meditations on the Passion: 25, 26, 42-43, 46, 71, 103, 107, 110, 111, 112, 114,117, 118-120,148, 179-181 Melos Amoris: 23, 26, 35-36, 42, 45, 47, 54, 113, 117, 118, 120 Psalter: 24, 125, 173 Super Magnificat: 43 Super Psalmum XX: 36, 44 Super Threnas Jeremiae: 38 Rolle's influence on lyrics on the Holy Name: 87-101,178-179; on the Love of Jesus: 123-142, 180181;

on Mercy, Penitence, and Death: 155-176, 182-183 on the Passion: 103-122, 179-180; on the Blessed Virgin Mary: 143154, 181-182 Solitary Life: 35-36 Wilmart, André: 39, 70, 147, 191 Wohunge of Ure Lauerd, Jse, and On Oreisun of Ure Louerde: 18, 87, 103, 140, 178