The Digital Index of Middle English Verse
Found Records:
5.
I am aghast me thinketh I see [Ich am agast me þinket i se / þat ȝonder
stonde deuelen þre]See London, British Library Yates Thompson 13 [
olim Taymouth Hours;
olim Ashburnham App. (?)230;
olim Yates Thompson 57] copy of
2103
7.
I am a jolly forester [I am a joly foster]
8.
I am aknow
[I am a-knowe / and wot ryght well]
11.
I am as light as any roe [I am as lyght as any roe]
12.
I am a woman I may be bold
DIMEV 2101 Witnesses: 1
A wanton’s desires — five couplets and a 10-line heading,
abbreviated in repetition as pseudo-burden
19.
I am despised as man forsake
DIMEV 2111 Witnesses: 1
Lament of a sinner — five couplets translating Latin hexameters which
appear on an imago humilis
24.
I am here Sir Christmas [I am here syre cristemasse]
26.
I am he that will not flee
DIMEV 2117 Witnesses: 2
English couplet translating ‘Ego sum illy quy non youlte fugere da
mychi bacoulum par carytatye’
27.
I am Honour whom folk of every degree
DIMEV 2118 Witnesses: 1
‘The speche of Honour’ at the Pageant celebrating the marriage
between Prince Arthur and Princess Catharine — four stanzas rhyme
royal
36.
I am of Ireland [Icham of Irlaunde / Ant of the holy londe / Of Irlande]
38.
I am Rose woe is me
DIMEV 2128 Witnesses: 1
A woman’s lament — four short lines translating Latin version
preceding, heu iii qui rosa…
40.
I am sorry for her sake
DIMEV 2130 Witnesses: 2
A Lover’s sad plight — three quatrains (abab) and 4-line burden:
‘Care away, away, away / Murnynge away / Y am forsake another ys take / No more
murne yc may’
42.
I am thirsty full dry I will
45.
I am wedder
DIMEV 2133 Witnesses: 1
Words of the ‘weddere’ — four monorhyming lines translating
‘Ego sum ille cui aliqua nubet…’ which
follows
47.
I ask this soul for to win
DIMEV 2134 Witnesses: 1
Verses in a Latin miraculum beatae Mariae — sixteen lines in
couplets, interspersed in Latin prose
57.
I-blessed be God over all thing
DIMEV 2340 Witnesses: 1
Rejoice in God’s Mercy — two couplets translating the portion of
the psalm ‘Benedictus deus qui non amouit orationem meam’, which
precedes it
58.
I-blessed be that Lord in magesty [Iblessid be þat lord in mageste / Qui natus
fuit hodie]
62.
I bring tidings that be full true [I bryng tydyngys thatte be fulle tru]
65.
I can not half the woe complain
DIMEV 2147 Witnesses: 1
Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick: ‘Balade made of Isabelle, Countasse of War[rewyk] and Lady Despenser, by
Richard Beauchamp, Eorlle of Warrewyk’
67.
I cannot stay my hasty pen
DIMEV 2149 Witnesses: 1
The lost Rose, a lover’s lament, c. 1550 — nine quatrains
(abab) lacking opening words
76.
I counsel you both more and less [Y concell yow both more and lasse]
78.
I cry thee mercy and leisure to repent [I cry the mercy and lasar to repent]
79.
I dare not say when she sayeth peace [I dar not seyȝ quan che seȝt
pes]
80.
I dark
I dare so will I may [I drukke I dare so wil I may / Quan I thynke on myn endyng
day]
84.
I Edward King
DIMEV 2161 Witnesses: 2
‘Charta Sancti Edwardi Regis de concessione ballivae
suae’
86.
If all that the wolf unto a priest wrought [If al that the wolf unto a preeste
worthe]
92.
If any thieves come nigh
DIMEV 2350 Witnesses: 1
Prayer and conjuration against thieves — four couplets plus two line
Latin conjuration
93.
If anything amiss be
DIMEV 2351 Witnesses: 1
Scribe’s plea not to be blamed for deficiencies — two
couplets
96.
If capud come of capio
DIMEV 2352 Witnesses: 1
A schoolboy’s conjugation/declension rhyme — two quatrains (abcb,
abab)
100.
If excellent of wit of grace of good virtue
DIMEV 2356 Witnesses: 3
Epitaph of the Emperor Frederick, in Part VII of Fabyan’s
Chronicle, translating a Latin couplet that precedes it, Septima Pars,
Henrici Tercii — one stanza rhyme royal
102.
If hope nere heart would to-burst [ȝyf hope nere hert wolde to berste]
103.
If I be wanton I wot well why [If I be wanton I wotte well why]
108.
If I held the low assize
DIMEV 2362 Witnesses: 1
Politic counsels — five quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘Lord how
scholde I roule me / Of al men I preysyd to be’
111.
I find written a noble story [I ffynde wretyn a noble story]
119.
If it so betide
DIMEV 2373 Witnesses: 1
God’s curse on a witch — one quatrain (aabb) translating
‘Si tibi contingat epialpes te priuet ipsum…’, which
follows
120.
If it were not [Yf yt ware not]
127.
If my husband gives not
DIMEV 2378 Witnesses: 1
A woman’s view of marriage, citing sayings ‘Contra
matrimonium’, first in French, then these in English — four
monorhyming lines.
129.
If only sight suffice
DIMEV 2381 Witnesses: 1
The lover struggles against jealousy and envy — eight
quatrains
134.
If sin nere mercy nere none [ȝif sinne nere merci nere non]
135.
If so be that leeches doon thee fail [If so be þat lechis doon þee
faile]
137.
If that death would receive meed [Yef that dethe wold receue mede / Many wold
ouerlede]See Cambridge UK, Trinity College R.3.19 (599) copy (lines 91-92) of
5530
138.
If that he be a christian man [If that he be a crysten man]See
[Sir Eglamour], [de Worde, 1500] version of
2867
150.
If thou be I-cast adoun
DIMEV 2396 Witnesses: 1
Advice in a Latin sermon — twelve irregularly rhyming lines
(ababcdefegch)
151.
If thou be Johan I tell it thee [If thou be johan I tell it the]
152.
If thou be rich and wise also
DIMEV 2397 Witnesses: 1
The fruits of pride — one quatrain occuring instead of
4409 in one manuscript of the
Fasciculus morum, translating ‘
Si tibi copia si sapientia formaque
detur’
156.
If thou comest to Me
DIMEV 2401 Witnesses: 1
Christ the Defender — four couplets interspersed in an exemplum based on
the Gesta Romanorum in a Latin sermon
160.
If thou my true lover will be
DIMEV 2405 Witnesses: 1
A couplet on a scroll attached to a picture of the Christ Child in the lap of
the Virgin
164.
If thou will have Gods grace [Yef thow wyll haue goddes grace]See Cambridge UK, Trinity College R.3.19 (599) (lines 71-72) copy of
5530
172.
If thou wilt live purely
DIMEV 2415 Witnesses: 1
Moral advice for those who wish to be accepted into heaven — five
monorhyming lines
176.
If thou wilt worship singularly
DIMEV 2419 Witnesses: 1
‘An exortacion…to excyte euery crystyn creature to worshyp euery
drope of blood that oure blessyd and mercyfull Lord Ihus shed’
179.
If thy bond is ill [[?þ]yf þy bonde ys ylle / Held þy tonge
stilleConcluding couplet to
4786
187.
If ye will to this medicine apply [Yf ye wolle to þys medycyn applye]
190.
I go to the meadow to milk my cow [I go to the medowe to mylke my cow]
194.
I hang on cross for love of thee [I hange on Cros for loue of þe]
195.
I have a gentle cock
DIMEV 2167 Witnesses: 1
My gentle cock — five long couplets, or quatrains abcb
196.
I have a hole
DIMEV 2168 Witnesses: 1
‘A sheath’, a double-entendre riddle — two
couplets
198.
I have a love untrue
DIMEV 2170 Witnesses: 1
Christ laments unfaithful mankind, his love — three couplets in a Latin
sermon Luna mutatur
208.
I have forsworn it while I live [I haue forsworne hit whil I life / To wake the
well-ey]
209.
I have great marvel of a bird
DIMEV 2180 Witnesses: 1
On an unfaithful mistress — in 8-line stanzas (ababbcbc) with refrain,
‘alas þat euer sho was unkynd’
213.
I have in love and fresh in mind [I have in loue and freysch in mynde]
214.
I have I-sought in many a side
DIMEV 2184 Witnesses: 1
A song of the well of Mercy — three quatrains and 4-line burden:
‘To many a will haue y go / To fynde water to washe me fro woo’
(repeated)
216.
I have loved so many a day [I haue loued so many a day]
221.
I have sought many a day [I haue þe soghte many a day]
223.
I have sought thee many a day
DIMEV 2190 Witnesses: 1
Comments of death, a monk, and Christ, attached to a drawing of a deathbed
scene — three couplets on scrolls
233.
I-heareth of one thing [I-hereþ of one þinge / þat ye owen of
þenche]An introduction of sixteen lines in two MSS (Oxford, Jesus College 29 and London, British Library Cotton Caligula A.IX) to the poem on Death: see
5640
235.
IhesusSee under ‘Jesu[s]’
236.
I hold him wise and well I-taught [I hold hym wyse and wel itaught / Can bar an horn
and blow it nought]
238.
I hung on the cross for love of thee
DIMEV 2199 Witnesses: 9
‘In cruce sum pro te’ (4 lines), a tag in the Fasciculus
morum, translating ‘In cruce sum pro te qui peccas desine pro me /
Desine do veniam dic culpam retraho penam’ which precedes
them
239.
I John of Gaunt
DIMEV 2200 Witnesses: 1
A [?spurious] grant by John of Gaunt, granting the manors of Sutton and Potton
to Sir Roger Burgoyne and his heirs — three doggerel couplets
243.
I King Athelstan [Ich king Athestane]
246.
I know of no thing
DIMEV 2204 Witnesses: 1
Verse introduction to
6513
— 15 lines, generally in couplets, derived from Rolle
248.
I laid my ware a buckler broad [I leyde my ware a bogeler brode]
263.
I love and I dare not
DIMEV 2214 Witnesses: 1
Contrasts: eight monorhyming lines in two sets of semi-proverbial aphorisms,
one leading to frustration and the other to achievement
267.
I love I love and whom love ye [I loue I loue and whom loue ye]
274.
I made a likeness of myself
DIMEV 2223 Witnesses: 1
Fragmentary beginning of a poem on age, a self-portrait (the artist possibly
aged twelve?) — two couplets
275.
I made of my friend my foe [I made of my frend my foo]
277.
I may say and so may mo [I may say and so may mo / I wyte muyself myne owene
wo]Rhymed heading to London, British Library Cotton Caligula A.II copy of
2551
278.
I may sayen and so may mo [I may seyn & so mown mo / Þat in semenaunt goth
gyle]
279.
I may sayen to the most and least [I may seyn to most & lest / Verbum caro
factum est]
280.
I may sing of a may [I may synge of a may / Of joyis fyve & merthis most]
286.
In a blissful time that man is born [In a blyssefull tyme that mane ys borne / That
may fynd frend to trust vpon]
287.
In a bolts-head
all three wipe ye
DIMEV 2439 Witnesses: 1
Instructions for the use of alchemical equipment — six couplets and an
unrhymed line on an illustration
290.
In a church as I gan kneel
DIMEV 2442 Witnesses: 2
A lament of the Virgin Mary — twelve 8-line stanzas. Every second stanza
ends with ‘"ffor thy son dyȝed my dere sone dere’
293.
In a dream late as I lay
DIMEV 2445 Witnesses: 1
On the Virgin Mother — two 6-line stanzas with a lullaby burden:
‘[By by lullaby] rockyd I my chyld / [by by by] lullaby rockyd i my
child’
294.
In a forest late as I was I… [In a f[orest] laytt as I was I…]Burden (fragment) to
851.3
296.
In a garden underneath a tree
DIMEV 2447 Witnesses: 1
A chanson d’aventure of the unhappy lover — six 6-line
tail-rhyme stanzas and a 2-line refrain: ‘This nyghtes rest’.
298.
In a glorious garden green / Saw I sitting a comely queen
DIMEV 2448 Witnesses: 1
The White Rose; a political carol on Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII — two
7-line stanzas (aaaabbc) and 4-line repeated burden: ‘This day day dawes / This
gentill day day dawes / this gentill day dawes / & I must home
gone’
300.
In a land as I was lent [In a lande as I was lente]See London, British Library Cotton Vitellius E.X copy of
620
304.
In all the lands of christendom [In all the londes of crystyente…]See
[Bevis of Hampton], [Westminster: W. de Worde, 1500] copy of
3250
308.
In alms dare thou do no thing [In Almys dar thow do no thyng]See Cambridge MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Eng. 530 copy of
4312
313.
In another mans house [In anoþer mannys hous / ne be þou neuer
coueytous]
315.
In any work beginning
DIMEV 2474 Witnesses: 1
Advice for forethought, in a Latin sermon — one couplet
318.
In April and in May
DIMEV 2475 Witnesses: 1
Carmina: a Bele Aeliz poem — two quatrains abab and two
lines, probably incomplete
322.
In asking should discretion be [In asking sowld discretioun be]
328.
In a tabernacle of a tour
DIMEV 2461 Witnesses: 8
A lament of the Virgin Mary — twelve 8-line stanzas with the refrain:
Quia amore langueo
336.
In Bethlehem a child is I-born
DIMEV 2480 Witnesses: 1
A song of the Nativity, Star, Magi, etc., and reference to the Passion —
twenty quatrains (abab) in John Grimestone’s sermon notebook
337.
In Bethlehem that fair city
DIMEV 2481 Witnesses: 6
A Christmas carol — four quatrains each ending with a Latin line, and
burden: ‘To blys God bryng vs al & sum / Christe redemptor
omnium’
338.
In Bethlehem that fair city [In bethelem that fayre cite / Borne was thys etc.]
339.
In Bethlehem that noble place
340.
In Bethlehem this bird
of life
DIMEV 2482 Witnesses: 2
A Christmas carol — five 6-line stanzas (aaabab) and burden:
‘Nowel nowel nowel / To vs is born owr god emanuel’
344.
In Christ Jesu be we all glad [In criste ihesu be we alle gladde / By whome oure joye
endeles is hadde]
346.
In cleanness and charity [In clennes and in charite]
350.
Inducas Inducas / in temptacionibus
352.
I ne can tell you nought [I ne can telle ȝou nowt / Hou richeliche the fadel was
wrout]
Floris and Blauncheflur (Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Advocates’ 19.2.1 [Auchinleck MS] version): see
3686
355.
In eight is all my love [In 8 is alle my loue]
356.
I ne may a live
DIMEV 2231 Witnesses: 1
A fragment of an early soldiers’ song, sung by the followers of Geoffrey
de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, in one MS of Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum
— couplet
360.
In England whilom woned a knight [In ingland whilom wund a knight]See London, British Library Harley 4196 copy of
2758
361.
I never saw joy like to that sight
DIMEV 2235 Witnesses: 1
A description of his mistress — three quatrains (abab) and 4-line burden:
‘My dere an dese þat so fayr ys / Of lufe gentyl & fre / I kwn not ly,
wiþowtyn lese / My lady lele best lyks me’
363.
In every beginning
DIMEV 2493 Witnesses: 1
A fragment of aphoristic verse — three lines (aab)
367.
In every place ye may well see
DIMEV 2497 Witnesses: 2
The excellence (or not!) of women — ten quatrains (aaaa) with burden:
‘Of all creatures women be best / Cuius contrarium verum
est’
368.
In every state in every degree [In euery state in euery degre / The mene ys the beste
as semeth me]
374.
In Février when that it was cold [In Fevrier when that it was cold]
377.
In flattering words lieth great guile [In flatyeryng wordys lythe gret gyle]See Cambridge UK, Trinity College R.3.19 (599) (lines 27-28) version of
5530
378.
Informed as I was by a book [Informed als I was by a boke / That wes sentt me by a
frere]
379.
In four parts of a man [In foure parties of a man / Begynnyth þe sekeness
þat þei han]See
2343 (Stockholm, Royal Library, Stockholm X.90 text)
381.
In frosome[?] flood
DIMEV 2503.5 Witnesses: 1
Stained glass inscription — two six-line verses
384.
In God Father hearing sit [In God ffader heryng sit]An invocation to the Trinity — really the concluding stanzas of
1754
386.
In great blood
DIMEV 2507 Witnesses: 1
Mary’s joy at Christ’s birth, in a Latin sermon in nativitate
domini — two couplets
387.
In grieving should discretion be [In geving sowld discretioun be]
390.
In heart clean and buxom
DIMEV 2509 Witnesses: 12
Three lines in the Fasciculus morum translating the divisio of a
Latin sermon for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist
393.
In heaven there sit a lady…
DIMEV 2512 Witnesses: 1
In praise of women — five 3-line stanzas and burden: Women ben good for
lo[ve] / …that sit above
398.
In Holy Church of Christs foundation
DIMEV 2516.5 Witnesses: 1
Clergy’s place in the three estates — sixteen 5-line stanzas
(including a 2-line refrain) and burden: ‘In towne a god wolde hyt were
layde downe a’
400.
In honorance of Jesu Christ [In honorance of iesu cryst / Sitteþ stile &
haueþ lyst]
Assumpcio beate marie (with a Prologue of twelve lines): see
2165
401.
In honor of the god Cupid [In honour of the god Cupide]
402.
In honor of the orders nine [In honour of the ordouris nyne]
403.
In honor of this high feast of customs year by year
DIMEV 0.2518 Witnesses: 0
Formerly DIMEV 2518/IMEV 1496; see
1378, where
this refrain appears before the first stanza: ‘In honnour of þis heghe fest
of custume yere by yere / Is first for to remembre me vpon my lady
dere’,
404.
In honor of this high feast of custom year by year [In honnour of þis heghe fest
of custome yere by yere]
408.
In illis diebus when horse could speak [In illis diebus when horse
coulde speake]
414.
In Kent all care began
DIMEV 2526 Witnesses: 1
A macaronic couplet presumably on the Great Rebellion of 1381
415.
In King Arthur time an aunter betide [In kyng Arthure tyme ane awntyr by-tyde]
416.
In lack of justice this realm is shend alas [In lak of justice this realme is schent
allace]
419.
In little business standeth mickle rest [In lytyll besynesse stant mykyll rest]See Cambridge UK, Trinity College R.3.19 (599) (lines 45-46) copy of
5530
422.
In loves dance [In lovys daunce / Syth that oure chaunce]
423.
In maidens breast
DIMEV 2531 Witnesses: 1
The four advents of Christ — two couplets in a sermon
436.
In me as long
DIMEV 2544 Witnesses: 1
On youth and age — 2 (?) six-line stanzas
437.
In measure eat sleep and drink [In mesure ete slepe and drynke]
438.
In merry May when meads springeth [In mery May quhen medis springis]
440.
In my bed lying on Christs day half sleeping [In my bed liyng on cristes day half
slepyng]
441.
In my beginning God me speed
DIMEV 2546 Witnesses: 1
Fragment (first 8 lines) of a poem urging readers to live a virtuous life
— couplets
450.
In niuis algore cantat gallnia dolore
452.
In nomine patris and filii / Et spiritus sancti Amen / Mercy Ihesu and
gramercy
454.
In old days there was a man [In olde dayes ther was a man / His name was
Dyoclesyan]
456.
In old time strange things came to pass [In olde tyme straung thynges cam to
pass]
457.
In ortu regis omniumRefrain (final stanza only) to
6737
465.
In Patras there born he was
DIMEV 2564 Witnesses: 1
A song of St. Nicholas — five quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘Mak ye
merie as ye may / & syng with me I you pray’
470.
Inquit marie gabriell / Concipies emmanuel
471.
In reverence of our Lord in heaven [In reuerens of oure lord in heuen / Worchip this
marter swete sent steuen]
472.
In rightfulness doing
DIMEV 2571 Witnesses: 1
Rules for a man — three monorhyming lines in a Latin sermon
473.
In Rome another miracle was [In Rome another miracle wes]
474.
In Rome was an emperor [In Rome was an emperour / A man of swyth mikil honur]
484.
In sorrow and care he led his life [In soro & car he led hys lyfe / Þat haue
a schrow ontyll is wyfe]
489.
In summer season as soon as the sun
DIMEV 2583 Witnesses: 1
Fourteen and one-half alliterative quatrains (abab), with some corruption of
rhyme at the end — ends imperfectly
494.
In taking should discretion be [In taking sowld discretioun be]
495.
In terra pax hominibus / Quia natus est dominus
501.
In the beginning God me speed [In the begynnyng god my speade]
502.
In the beginning of the Father the Son was and is [In þe bygynnyng of þe
fadir þe sone was & is]
503.
In the beginning of this deed
DIMEV 2593 Witnesses: 2
A collection of 136 proverbs, written first in Latin and then translated
— 973 lines, in stanzas of 4-8 lines per proverb
505.
In the beginning of this year
DIMEV 2595 Witnesses: 2
A New Year Carol — one quatrain (aabb) and burden: ‘nay mary I nay
maye mary / I peter but ye must / nay mary I’
506.
In the beginning was the Son [In þe beginnyng was þe sone / whilom wiþ
þei fader to wone]Gospel, ‘In die natalis dni’ in the
Northern Homily Cycle,
lacking the usual Prologue: see
874
507.
In the beginning when God made all of nought [In the begynning when gode made all of
noughte]
513.
In the day of Saint Swithin
DIMEV 2600 Witnesses: 1
A quatrain (abab) translating ‘Si pluat in festo processi S.
Martiniari’ etc. which follows
515.
In thee is all my bliss
DIMEV 2634 Witnesses: 1
Inscriptions on a chest made by a usurer and a priest — three (four?)
lines in an exemplum
517.
In the end of hiems when Phoebus had
searched
DIMEV 2602 Witnesses: 1
A pageant address to a London Lord mayor — four rhyme royal stanzas with
a couplet heading: ‘By hym that all dothe embrase / And nothing his pleasure may
compase’
521.
In the honor of Christs birth [In the honour of Christes byrth / Syng we al with ioye
and myrthe]
529.
In the months of June and July
DIMEV 2612 Witnesses: 1
Alchemical verses — twenty lines (Singer, Dorothea Waley.
Catalogue of Latin and Vernacular Alchemical Manuscripts.
3 vols. Brussels: Lamertin, 1928-31,
864)
530.
In the name of our sovereign Savior [In þe name of oure souereyn sauyour]Prologue (in Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Dd.1.1) to
6825
533.
In the name of the Holy Trinity
DIMEV 2615 Witnesses: 1
Alchemical verses: the order of God’s universe a justification for the
Philosopher’s Stone — eleven couplets (Singer, Dorothea Waley.
Catalogue of Latin and Vernacular Alchemical Manuscripts.
3 vols. Brussels: Lamertin, 1928-31,
856)
534.
In the name of the Trinity
DIMEV 2616 Witnesses: 2
Added verses on some copies of the Ripley Scroll, citing authorities for way to
find the Philosopher’s Stone and praying God for assistance — 34 lines in
couplets
550.
In the Vale of Abraham
DIMEV 2630 Witnesses: 1
A song of the Creation and Fall of Adam — eight quatrains (aaab) and
burden: ‘Now bething the gentilman / How Adam dalf and Eue
sp[an]’
551.
In the vale of restless mind [In the vaile of restles mynd]
558.
In this time a child was born
DIMEV 2640 Witnesses: 1
A song of the six festivals in honor of Christ: Nativity, Circumcision, etc.
— six quatrains (aaab) and burden: ’Man be glad in halle & bour / This
tyme was born our sauyour’
559.
In this time Christ hath us sent
DIMEV 2641 Witnesses: 3
A Christmas carol — five quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘Make we mery
in hall & bowr / Thys tyme was born owr savyower’
560.
In this time of Christmas
DIMEV 2642 Witnesses: 1
Mary plays with the Christ Child, a carol — six quatrains (aaab) and
burden: ‘In the honour of christes byrth / Syng we al with joye and
myrthe’
563.
In this vale of wretchedness
DIMEV 2645 Witnesses: 1
Song for St. Stephen’s Day — four quatrains (aaab) with Latin
caudae and four-line burden: ‘Pray for vs that we saued be /
Prothomartir Stephane’ (repeated)
575.
Into heaven bliss [In to heuen blisse / þere as neuer ende is…]Added to bottom margin of the page below
5072 and
5083,
more text cropped; perhaps to be inserted into one of these texts
579.
Into sorrow and care turned is our play [Into sorwe & care turned is oure
pley]
583.
Into this world now is come [Into this world now ys cum / Christe, redemptor
omnium]
584.
Into this world this day did come
DIMEV 2683 Witnesses: 1
A song of the Nativity — four quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘I pray
you be mery & synge with me / In worship of cristys nativite’
586.
In town a… [In towne a…]
590.
In twenty year of age remember we everyone
DIMEV 2659 Witnesses: 1
The Four Ages of Man — four monorhyming quatrains and six-line burden:
‘So dye shall then / All cristyn men / No man wottith his tyme ne when / Wherfor
thow may / Yf thou behye / Thynk non other but thou shalt dye’
594.
In weal and woe he standeth fast [in wele and woo he stondith fast]
595.
In weal beware ere thou be woe [In wele beware ore þu be woo / þenke wens
þu come etc.]Burden of Audelay’s song of the Seven Deadly Sins: see
1424
598.
In Wenlock
DIMEV 2663 Witnesses: 1
Epitaph of William Wenlock of Luton, Beds.
599.
In what estate so ever I be [In what estate so euer I be]
610.
In youth in age both in wealth and woe / Auxilium meum a Domino
611.
I passed through a garden green [I passud þoru a garden grene]
621.
I pray to God speed well the plough [I pray to god spede wele the plough]
625.
I pray you all with o thought [I pray yow all wyth o thowght / Amende me and peyre me
nowght]
626.
I pray you be merry and sing with me [I pray you be mery & synge with me / In
worship of cristys nativite]
627.
I pray you brothers everyone [I pray youe breder euerechon / Worchip þis postil
swete saynt jon]
628.
I pray you come kiss me [I pray yow cum kyss me / My lytle prety Mopse]
630.
I pray you maidens everyone
DIMEV 2248 Witnesses: 1
An erotic carol with double entendre — six quatrains (aabb) and
burden: ‘Podynges at nyght & podynges at none / Were nat for podynges the
world were clene done’
631.
I pray you maids that here be [I praye youe maydys that here be]
633.
I pray you sirs all in fere [I pra you sers al in fere / Worchip seynt thomas this
hole marter]
635.
I pray you sirs par charitee [I pray ȝou serys pur charyte / When ȝe
han etc.]
636.
Ipse mocat me
DIMEV 2689 Witnesses: 1
A nonsense carol — four 3-line macaronic stanzas (aab) including In
ciuitate Dauid refrain and 2-line burden: ‘Gebit gebit gebit gebit /
Lux fulgebit hodie’
642.
I rede that thou do right so [I rede þat þou do right so]Extract (Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ff.1.6 [Findern MS], f. 81) from
4229
647.
I saw a dog seething souse
DIMEV 2256 Witnesses: 1
A nonsense carol of ‘tall stories’ — seven quatrains (aaab)
and burden: ‘Hay hey hey hey / I will haue the whetston and I
may’
648.
I saw a fair maiden sitten and sing
DIMEV 2257 Witnesses: 1
Cradle song of the Virgin Mary — five couplets and burden: ‘Lullay
myn lykyng my dere sone myn swetyng / Lullay my dere herte myn owyn dere
derlyng’
649.
I saw a sight that was unsure
DIMEV 2258 Witnesses: 1
A song of impossibilities against faithlessness in women: ‘Lemman whan
þe song is soþ / Of loue þou ssalt be trewe’ — 24
lines
650.
I saw a sparrow
DIMEV 2259 Witnesses: 1
Tag translating Latin, ‘vidi passerem sagitare
sagittam…’ which follows it, in a series of Latin sentences with English
translations in a schoolbook — four monorhyming lines
651.
I saw a sweet seemly sight
DIMEV 2260 Witnesses: 1
The Virgin’s Lullaby — one 6-line stanza (aabccb) and 5-line
burden: ‘Lullay lullow lully lullay / Bewy bewy lully lully / Bewy lully lullow
lully / Lullay baw baw my barne / Slepe softly now’
652.
I saw him with flesh all bespread
DIMEV 2261 Witnesses: 1
How Christ shall come, in a Latin sermon — twenty long lines with
‘I sayh’ and ‘I come’ anaphoras, followed by 16
lines
655.
I say thee so [I sai the so]
668.
I shall you tell a full good sport
DIMEV 2274 Witnesses: 2
The Gossips’ Meeting — twenty-five 6-line stanzas (aaabbc) with
‘Good gossips myn’ refrain and burden: ‘Hoow gossip myne gossip myn /
Whan will we go to the wyne / Good gossipes [myn]’
670.
I shall you tell this ilk night
DIMEV 2276 Witnesses: 3
A carol to St. Stephen — six quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘The holy
marter Steuen we pray / To be our socour both myght and day’
673.
I sigh and sob both day and night for one so fair of hue [I sigh and sob both day and
nyght for on so fair of hewe]Part of
3275, last seven
stanzas, possibly for a separate poem; cf.
2854; and Wilson, Sarah.
“The Longleat Version of ‘Love is Life.’”
Review of English Studies
n.s. 10 (1959): 337-46, 345-6
678.
Is in my remembrance none but ye alone [[I]s in my remembrauns non but ye
alone]
684.
Isop [Aesop] mine auctor makes mention [Isope myn auctor makis mencioune]See Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland 16500 [formerly Acc. 4233; Asloan MS] copy of
5871
695.
I take my leave against my will [I take my leve agaynst my wyll]
697.
It befell at Martinmass
DIMEV 2702 Witnesses: 1
Ballad of the battle of Crecrynbroghe(?)—thirty 4-line stanzas with refrain,
‘Syck sicke & totowe sike / & sicke & like to die / the sikest nighte
that euer I abode / god lord haue mercy on me’
704.
It better is to trow in God above [It better is to trowe in god aboue]
707.
Item I shall tell you a tale [Item I shall telle yow a tale]
709.
It falseth
DIMEV 2712 Witnesses: 1
Cupiditas — four monorhyming lines
712.
It fell against the next night
DIMEV 2715 Witnesses: 1
The Fox and the Goose — six quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘Pax
uobis quod the fox / ffor I am comyn to toowne’
722.
I think it a maiden every deal [I thanke it a maydyn euery dyll]
725.
It is a name of price [It is a name of pryce]
730.
It is but a simple oak
DIMEV 2723 Witnesses: 2
Proverbial couplet in a letter from Elizabeth Brews to John Paston, February
1477 [Davis, Norman.
The Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century.
2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1971, 1976, No. 782, and repeated in No. 785 (numbers 896 and 899
in Gairdner, James.
The Paston Letters.
6 vols. London: Chatto & Windus, 1904; repr. Alan Sutton,
1986)]
743.
It is known in every shire
DIMEV 2736 Witnesses: 1
On the evil wrought by ‘wekyd tongges’ — five quatrains
(aaab) and burden: ‘A man that con his tong stere / He ther not rek wer that he
go’
745.
It is merry in hall
DIMEV 2738 Witnesses: 1
Proverbial couplet translating ‘Aula gaudescit
&c.’
746.
It is my father will [It is my fader wyll]
749.
It is no wise mans lore
DIMEV 2740 Witnesses: 1
A proverbial couplet translating Non est consultum pro paruo perdere
multum, which follows
753.
It is the best early and late [Hit is the best erele & late / Vche mon kepe his
oune state]
761.
It peases them that be wroth
DIMEV 2751 Witnesses: 1
Five virtues of Christ’s blood — five lines in a sermon for
Passiontide translating the Latin text which precedes them
771.
I-turned into joy is all my woe [y-turned into ioye is al my wo / þou hast
wrapped me wyȝt blisse for euere mo]See Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ii.3.8, f. 51
v copy of
5349
772.
I-turned into joy is all my woe [Yturnd into ioye is al my wo]See Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ii.3.8 copy of
5349
781.
It wasteth
DIMEV 2769 Witnesses: 1
On lechery — four monorhyming lines following Latin Luxuria facit
hec…
785.
It were my death to see you die [Yt were my death to se you dye]
790.
Ivy chief of trees it is [Ivy chefe off treis it is / Veni coronaberis]
791.
Ivy is both fair and green
DIMEV 2774 Witnesses: 1
A carol in praise of ivy — five 7-line stanzas (ababccc) including bob
and burden: ‘Ivy ys good & glad to se / Iuy is fair in hys
degre’
801.
I was born in a stall / Between beasts two
DIMEV 2306 Witnesses: 1
The Story of Christ’s Sufferings — thirteen quatrains (abab) and
burden: ‘Shall I moder shall I / Shall I do soo / Shall I dye for mannys sake /
And I never synned thereto’
804.
I was well fair such shalt thou be] Y was wel fair scuch ssaltou be / for godes loue
be war be me]See London, British Library Yates Thompson 13 [
olim Taymouth Hours;
olim Ashburnham App. (?)230;
olim Yates Thompson 57] copy of
2103
805.
I was with pope and cardinal
DIMEV 2309 Witnesses: 1
Well is he that has enough and can say, ‘Whoa!’ — four
quatrains (aaab) and burden: ‘Forsothe I hold hym well and withowt woo / That hath
ynowgh and can say whoo’
809.
I will…
DIMEV 2313 Witnesses: 1
A fragment — eight lines, possibly in couplets
814.
I will have the whetstone [I will haue þe whetston]
816.
I will lose my life [Ich wolle leose my life]See London, British Library Harley 7322 copy of
5148
819.
I will not rehearse all the manner [I will nocht reherss all the maner / For quha sa
likis]Ballad of the victory of Sir Andrew Hercla in Barbour’s
Bruce
(xvi. 519), pr. Skeat, Walter William.
The Bruce, etc.
2 vols.
Scottish Text Society
31-33. Edinburgh, London: Blackwood, 1894, 69. See
5039.
820.
I will please what so betide [I wyll please what so betyde / if thou wylt please lay
truthe asyde]A proverbial couplet (= lines 19-20 of
5530), pr. Smith, William George.
The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs.
Oxford: Clarendon, 1935; rev. ed. 1948, 506.
823.
I will you tell a full good sport [I wyll yow tell a full good sport]
824.
I will you tellen by and by [I wil ȝou tellyn bi & bi]
827.
I wit myself mine own woe [I wiyte my silf myn owne woo]
832.
I wot a bower so bright
DIMEV 2326 Witnesses: 1
A fragment of a song, perhaps a religious love poem — one five line
tail-rhyme stanza (aaaab)
839.
I would if that I might [wielden?] him to wife [I wold ȝef þat I moght
w[e]ldynd im to wif]
840.
I would I were thrushelcock [Ich wolde ich were a threselcock]Refrain to ?reconstructed
183
847.
I you honor bless laud and glorifyI you honoure blesse lawde and glorifie]Last two stanzas rhyme royal of Proheme (New York, Columbia University Library Plimpton 256) to
5365
848.
I you rede ye sitten still
DIMEV 2338 Witnesses: 1
Wise admonitions: Biblical texts paraphrased, intermingled with similar texts
in Latin