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The Testament of John Lydgate:
British Library Harley 218 Verses

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f.53 verso
Folio 52 VersoFolio 53 RectoFolio 53 VersoFolio 54 RectoFolio 54 VersoFolio 55 RectoFolio 55 VersoFolio 56 RectoFolio 56 VersoFolio 57 RectoFolio 57 VersoFolio 58 RectoFolio 58 VersoFolio 59 RectoFolio 59 VersoFolio 60 RectoFolio 60 VersoFolio 61 RectoFolio 61 VersoFolio 62 RectoFolio 62 VersoFolio 63 RectoFolio 63 VersoFolio 64 RectoFolio 64 VersoFolio 65 RectoFolio 65 VersoFolio 66 RectoFolio 66 VersoFolio 67 RectoFolio 67 VersoFolio 68 RectoFolio 68 VersoFolio 69 RectoFolio 69 VersoFolio 70 RectoFolio 70 VersoFolio 71 RectoFolio 71 VersoFolio 72 Recto

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Data Dictionary
Folio 53 Verso
Compare Witnesses: •
Be holde1 Ihesus / made our redempcioun •
With water of baptem / from fylthe wesshe vs clene •
And fro his herte / to licours ther ran doun •
On Caluerye / the trouthe was weel sene •
Whan that longious / with a spere kene •
Perced his herte / vpon the rode tre •
O man vnkende / thynke what this dothe mene •
And vn to Ihesu / bowe a dovne thy kne •
Ther is no speche / nor language can remembre •
Lettre sillable / nor word that may expresse •
Thougħ into tunges / were turned euery membre •
Of man to telle the excellent noblesse •
Of blessed ihesu / whicħ of his gret mekenesse •
List suffre deth / to make his servant fre •
Now mercyful ihesu / for thyn hygħ goodnesse •
Haue mercy on alle / that bowe to the her kne •
The prynce was slayne / þe seruaunt went at large •
And to delyver his soget / from prisoun •
The lord toke on hym for to bere the charge •
To quyte mankynde / be oblacioun •
Sealed with .v. woundes he payed our raunsoun •
Man to restore / to Parades2 hys Cite •
Is not man bounde / I aske this questioun •
To blessed Ihesu for to bowe his kne .3 •
Notes
  1. The EETS edition has "Be blode" here, as does Add. 29729 ("By blode"). Add. 34193, however, has "Be holde." When compared with "blood" on the first verse of the following page, however, it is clear that the initial glyph is an "h." ↩
  2. The EETS edition renders this as "Parados," which is understandable when you look at the glyph as presented in the manuscript. However, the scribe's "o" is consistently open without the loop bisecting it as might be seen in modern handwritten "o." When compared with how the line is rendered in the other witnesses I believe it's more likely that this is a poorly-formed "e" rather than an "O." ↩
  3. The ETTS edition concludes this verse with a question mark (part of a pattern of supplied punctuation throughout), but it is worth mentioning here because the scribe concludes the line with a punctus, which is missing elsewhere in the manuscript witness. ↩

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