Digital Index of Middle English Verse: No. 6341

DIMEV 6341

IMEV 3969

NIMEV 3969

When I think things three

Three sorrowful things — six lines

Note: A corresponding Latin text of four lines (possibly a translation of this English) occurs in the Oxford, Balliol College 354; and, apart from the English, in Oxford, Bodleian Library Ashmole 1393 (SC 7589), f. 51v; Cambridge UK, Trinity College O.2.53 (1157), f. 73, and London, British Library Royal 17 B.XVII, f. 99: see Brown (1932)

XBrown, Carleton Fairchild. English Lyrics of the XIIIth Century. Oxford: Clarendon, 1932

, 173 and Horstmann (1895)

XHorstmann, Carl. Yorkshire Writers. 2 vols. London, Sonnenschein; New York: Macmillan, 1895-96

, 2.65. For other English versions see 1157, 2707, 5004, 5902, 5905, and 5906.

Subjects: sorrowful things, lists of; sermons, verse in

Versification: — two-line — aa

Bibliographic Ghosts: London, British Library Harley 485: see 5905-1.

Manuscript Witnesses:

1.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Barlow 24 (SC 6470), f. 211

Transcription:

Wan I thyng on thyngys iii
Sory may my hert be
One ys þat I schall away
The second ys I note how sone ne what day
The iiid ys þen my moste care
That I wote neuer heder to fare

Note: Inserted in a Latin burial sermon.

Editions:

Fletcher, Alan J. “I Sing of a Maiden: A Fifteenth-Century Sermon Reminiscence.” Notes and Queries n.s. 25 [223] (1978): 108: 108.

2.Source: Oxford, Balliol College 354, p. 4463

Transcription:

Whan I thynk on thyngis thre
Well carefull may I be
One is that I shall henne
An oþer is I not when
Off the thirde is my most care
For I shall dwell I wot not wher

Note: Immediately followed by 3375 and 118 as if part of same text; then by Latin version, ‘Sunt tria que vere faciunt me sepe dolere…’.

Facsimiles:

Early Manuscripts at Oxford University: Facsimile of Oxford, Balliol MS 354. (http://image.ox.ac.uk/show?collection=balliol&manuscript=ms354).

Editions:

Haupt, Moriz, and August Heinrich Hoffmann, eds. Altdeutsche Blätter. 2 vols. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1836, 1840: 1.396-401: 142.

Flügel, Ewald. “Liedersammlungen des XVI Jahrhunderts….” Anglia 26 (1903): 94-285: 226.

Dyboski, R., ed. Songs, Carols and Other Miscellaneous Poems from Balliol MS. 354, Richard Hill’s Commonplace Book. EETS e.s. 101 (1908); repr. 1984: 141.

3.Source: Oxford, New College 88, f. 31

Transcription:

Wanne ich þenche þinges þre
ne mai [i] nevre bliþe be
þat on is ich sal awe
þat oþer is ich ne wot wilk day
þat þridde is mi meste kare
i ne woth nevre wuder i sal fare

Editions:

Brown, Carleton Fairchild, ed. English Lyrics of the XIIIth Century. Oxford: Clarendon, 1932: 19.

Stevick, Robert D., ed. One Hundred Middle English Lyrics. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1964: 34.

Woolf, Rosemary. The English Religious Lyric in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Clarendon, 1968: 86.

4.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Dd.4.50, f. 135

Editions:

Heffernan, Thomas J. “Unpublished Middle English Verses on ‘The Three Sorrowful Things.’” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 83 (1982): 31-3: 33.

5.Source: London, British Library Arundel 292, f. 3v3

Transcription:

Þanne i ðenke ðinges ðrie
ne mai hi neuere bliðe ben
ðe ton is ðat i sal aƿei
ðe toðer is I ne ƿot ƿilk dei
ðe ðirdde is mi moste kare
I neƿot ƿider i sal faren

Attributed Title: In manus tuas (f. 3v)

Editions:

Brown, Carleton Fairchild, ed. English Lyrics of the XIIIth Century. Oxford: Clarendon, 1932: 19.

Wright, Thomas, and James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, eds. Reliquiae Antiquae. 2 vols. London: Smith, 1845: 1.235.

Mätzner, Edouard Adolf Ferdinand. Altenglische Sprachproben, I: Poesie. Berlin: Wiedmann, 1867: 1.51.

Garrett, Robert Max. “Religious Verses from MS Arundel 292.” Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 128 (1912): 367-8: 368.

Förster, Max. “Kleinere mittelenglische texte.” Anglia 42 (1918): 145-224; 43 (1919): 191: 155.

Ellis, Alexander John, ed. On Early English Pronunciation. 4 vols. EETS e.s. 2 (1867), 7 (1869), 14 (1871), 23 (1874), repr. 1973; issued jointly by the Philological Society, the EETS, and the Chaucer Society [2nd ser. 1, 4-5, 25] London: Trübner; ed. note: with rare exceptions, entries from these volumes are identical; where variants occur, both editions are cited: 2.442.

Kaiser, Rolf, ed. Alt- und mittelenglische Anthologie. Berlin-Charlottenburg: E. Schütt, 1954: 204.

Kaiser, Rolf, ed. Alt- und mittelenglische Anthologie. Berlin, 1954; 3rd ed.; trans. as Medieval English: a Old English and Middle English Anthology Berlin West, 1958: 294.

Stevick, Robert D., ed. One Hundred Middle English Lyrics. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1964: 34.

Oliver, Raymond. Poems Without Names: The English Lyric 1200-1500. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1970: 122.

Sisam, Celia, and Kenneth Sisam, eds. The Oxford Book of Medieval English Verse. Oxford: Clarendon, 1970: 551.

Wirtjes, Hanneke, ed. The Middle English Physiologus. EETS 299 o.s. 299 (1991): 48.

6.Source: London, Lambeth Palace Library 499, f. 125v

Transcription:

Whenne I thenke on thingres thre
Sor mai myn herte bee
That on hit seis I schal awai
that other seis I not wil dai
for the thridde I haue most kare
that I ne woth hou I schal fare

Note: Written two lines of verse per manuscript line.

7.Source: Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Advocates’ 18.7.21, f. 154va-154vb

Transcription:

[…]e I þenke of wordis þre
[…]ay myn herte be
[…]n is þat i sal awey
[…]þer is i ne wot wat day
Þe þridde is my moste care
Þat i ne wot wider to fare

Note: John Grimestone’s sermon notebook; MS damaged.

Attributed Title: De Tribulacione (f. 154va)

Editions:

Wilson, Edward. A Descriptive Index of the English Lyrics in John of Grimestone’s Preaching Book. Medium Ævum Monographs n.s. 2. Oxford, 1973: 63.

Förster, Max. “Kleinere mittelenglische texte.” Anglia 42 (1918): 145-224; 43 (1919): 191: critical edition.

Stevick, Robert D., ed. One Hundred Middle English Lyrics. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1964: 34.

8.Source: Oxford, Pembroke College Library 258, f. 134v

Transcription:

Heu evrei day comeȝ tiþinge þre
Wel sori ben bee
þe to[n] seieȝ þat I schal henne
þe toþer not ne[d]e wenne
þe þridde is mi most kare
þat I ne wot woder I schal fare

Editions:

Heffernan, Thomas J. “Unpublished Middle English Verses on ‘The Three Sorrowful Things.’” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 83 (1982): 31-3: 33.

9.Source: Oxford, Merton College Lat. 248, f. 167ra

Transcription:

[Þ]re woys mosthe wyt thowth nyth
And day make me till morne alle
Dey þat sal I ne notte wen and wore
And wydir I be c[um] salley

Editions:

Heffernan, Thomas J. “Unpublished Middle English Verses on ‘The Three Sorrowful Things.’” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 83 (1982): 31-3: 33.