Religion
Iesu, Swete Sone Dere
From British Library, MS Harley 7322
Iesu, swete sone dere!
On porful bed list þou here,
And þat me greueþ sore;
For þi cradel is ase a bere,
Oxe and asse beþ þi fere:
Weepe ich mai þarfore.
Iesu, swete, beo noth wroþ,
Þou ich nabbe clout ne cloþ
Þe on for to folde,
Þe on to folde ne to wrappe,
For ich nabbe clout ne lappe;
Bote ley þou þi fet to my pappe,
And wite þe from þe colde.
Codex Note
A lullaby for the infant Christ in the Virgin’s voice: he lies in a poor bed with ox and ass for company, and since she has no cloth to wrap him in she lays his feet against her breast. Quoted in a manuscript of Latin sermons, about 1375. Text from Kenneth Sisam, Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose (Oxford, 1921).
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Middle English). “Iesu, Swete Sone Dere.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-middle-english/13/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Middle English). “Iesu, Swete Sone Dere.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-middle-english/13/.
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