Danperia Snowsong and I entered this one in the SCA bardic war
the official event web page is long gone, but https://www.facebook.com/bardicwar still exists. Our performance is at 11:00 minutes in on the compiled video of the Laurels Only War Point 2021 (2021-05-18) at https://tilted-windmill.com/SCAbards/concerts.html?crt_id=123
Danperia chose the piece and did all of the video editing. I just did my best to try to learn it, and sent a recording of my singing and playing for her to incorporate it.
Lyrics
The lyrics as Danperia gave them to me:
When the nyhtegale singes,
The wodes waxen grene,
Lef ant gras ant blosme springes
In Averyl, Y wene;
Ant love is to myn herte gon
With one spere so kene,
Nyht ant day my blod hit drynkes
Myn herte deth me tene.
Ich have loved al this yer
That Y may love na more;
Ich have siked moni syk,
Lemmon, for thin ore,
Me nis love neuer the ner,
Ant that me reweth sore;
Suete lemmon, thench on me,
Ich have loved the yore.
Suete lemmon, Y preye thee,
Of love one speche;
Whil Y lyve in world so wyde
Other nulle Y seche.
With thy love, my suete leof,
My blis thou mihtes eche;
A suete cos of thy mouth
Mihte be my leche.
Suete lemmon, Y preye thee
Of a love-bene:
Yef thou me lovest, ase men says,
Lemmon, as I wene,
Ant yef hit thi wille be,
Thou loke that hit be sene;
So muchel Y thenke vpon the
That al y waxe grene.
Bituene Lyncolne ant Lyndeseye,
Northamptoun ant Lounde,
Ne wot I non so fayr a may,
As y go fore ybounde.
Suete lemmon, Y preye the
Thou lovie me a stounde;
Y wole mone my song
On wham that hit ys on ylong.
phonetic lyrics
To make it easier for me to learn, I edited the lyrics she gave me to better match the sounds of the recording she sent me of herself singing them
When the neetengalyh sings
The wodes waxen greene,
Leaf and grass and blosum spring
In Averyl, I ween;
And love is to mine heart-e gone
With one-e spear so keene,
Night and day my blood it drynkes
Mine hearte doth me tene.
I have lov-ed all this year
That I may love na more;
I have sighed a moni sigh,
Le-mon, for thine ore,
Yet your love seemes neuer ner,
And that me reweth sore;
Su-ete le-mon, think on me,
I have-e loved the yore.
Su-ete le-mon, I preye thee,
Of lov-ed one speche;
While I live in world so wide
Other none I see.
With thy love, my su-ete be-lon,
My blis thou ,mightes eche;
A su-ete cays of thy mouth
Mihte be my lech.
Su-ete le-mon, I pray-e thee
Of a love-token:
Yef thou me lovest, as men says,
Le-mon, as I ween,
And if hit thy wille be,
Thou look that hit be seene;
So much do I thinke upon the
That all I wax-e grene.
Bituene Lyncolne ant Lyndeseye,
Norhamptoun and Lounde,
Ne wot I non so fayr a maaid
As she to whom I’m bound.
Suete lemmon, Y preye the
Thy lovie must me astounde;
lest I forever morne my song
On whom it doth beylong.
Documentation
The manuscript with the original tex is available at: http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7704&CollID=8&NStart=2253 https://catalogue.bl.uk/permalink/44BL_MAIN/19agrh4/alma990141612210109251
The manuscript is called Harley 2253
Author Henri d’Acre
Title Various texts including secular and religious lyrics (also known as the ‘Harley Lyrics’), including King Horn and the Follies of Fashion, and Psalms listed for recitation at certain times (imperfect)
Origin England, Central (Hereford, Ludlow)
Date 1st half of the 14th century
Language French, Latin, and English (for the whole manuscript, but this song is Middle English)
Here are two published posts with lyrics and translation:
- https://www.luminarium.org/medlit/medlyric/nyhtegale.php
- https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2011/04/medieval-love-poem.html
music
- find the pdf Danperia sent me with the sheet music and put it here.