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The Testament of John Lydgate:
British Library Arundel 285 Verses

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f.172 verso
Folio 170 Versofolio 172 RectoFolio 172 VersoFolio 173 RectoFolio 173 VersoFolio 174 RectoFolio 174 Verso

Decoration
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Folio 172 Verso
Compare Witnesses: •
Behald þe witneß be quhome I was dispisit1 •
Behald þe Iowes þat gaif me Iugement •
Behald þe croce2 þat was for me devysit •
Behald my body withbetting all to rent •
Behalde þe pepill quhilk of fals intent •
Was offerit into sacryfice3 •
Behald þe weman þat followit me on far •
That for me4 wepit quhen I was þus assalde •
Behald þe Iowes quilkes my Innomes wair •
Hang my body wp till ane croce fast naylde •
Behald my turmentis most scharplie apparelde •
Betwyx two thevis put be þair Iustice •
Behalde how mekelit my dedis eik awalde •
That was for man offerit in sacrifice •
Behalde þe speir was scharplie grond and quhet5 •
My hert woundit apon þe ryght syde •
Behalde þe reid speir gall and asell set •
Behald þe scurgis quhilk I did abyde •
And my fyve woundes quhilk was mad so wyde •
That no man list of reuth till aduertyß •
Notes
  1. The EETS edition has "deceyved" here. ↩
  2. The scribe's "c" and "e" are bloth split by a stroke, which makes this iappear to be "crocc" (or to our modern eyes, "trott") at first glance. However, the terminal glyph has a light stroke at the top that, when compared with "be" and "quhome" in the first line, make is clear the terminal letter is "e." ↩
  3. Lines six and seven of the verse in other witnesses have been omitted here. Additionally, the construction of the final line earlier in the section, "was like a lambe offered in sacrifce," is different here. ↩
  4. The EETS edition has "sore" here. ↩
  5. The EETS edition has "whett" here. It's obvious the scribe intended to include the word here based on the rest of the line, the rhyme scheme, and the inclusion of the tironian et before it but the actual form of the word here is unclear. ↩

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