Religion
The Corpus Christi Carol
From Richard Hill’s commonplace book (Balliol College, MS 354)
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley,
The faucon hath borne my make away.
He bare him up, he bare him down,
He bare him into an orchard brown.
In that orchard there was an halle,
That was hanged with purpill and pall.
And in that hall there was a bede,
It was hanged with gold so rede.
And in that bed there lithe a knight,
His woundes bleding day and night.
By that bede side kneleth a may,
And she wepeth both night and day.
And by that bede side there stondeth a stone,
Corpus Christi wreten there on.
Codex Note
A haunting carol: a falcon bears the speaker’s mate away to an orchard, to a hall hung with purple where a wounded knight lies, a maiden weeps beside his bed, and a stone is written ‘Corpus Christi’. Copied in the early sixteenth century; its meaning has been much debated. Text from E. K. Chambers and F. Sidgwick, Early English Lyrics (1907).
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Middle English). “The Corpus Christi Carol.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-middle-english/24/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Middle English). “The Corpus Christi Carol.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-middle-english/24/.
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