Erthe Upon Erthe Part 17

Cf. Sir T. More, _Works_ (ed. 1557, folio), p. 77: 'We wer never so gretly moved by the beholding of the Daunce of Deth pictured in Paule's.'

#Page 30.# #Maitland MS.# Omitted by Pinkerton from his printed text of the Maitland MS. as 'a silly jingling piece, shewing the vanity of man, who is but earth, building upon earth: priding himself in gold which is but earth', &c. Pinkerton also knew of 'several pieces of the same kind in MSS. of Old English poetry', see Note on MS. Harl. 2253, p. 36. He had strong views against the indiscriminate printing of old MSS., and was unwilling to sacrifice 'the character of a man of taste to that of an antiquary; as of all characters he should the least chuse that of an h.o.a.rder of ancient dirt'.

#Page 32.# #MS. Cambridge# (Univ. Libr. I. 1. iv. 9). l. 17. The reading _slogh_ is supported by Professor Skeat. It is difficult to see what meaning could be attached to _flogh_, as in Heuser's text.

#Page 33.# l. 48. _As wroth as the wynde_ was a favourite mediaeval proverb. Cf. _Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight_, l. 319: he wex as wroth as wynde; _Piers Plowman_, C. iv. 486: As wroth as the wynd wex Mede ther-after; _Richard the Redeles_, iii. 153: thei woll be wroth as the wynde.

a.n.a.lOGUES.

It may be of interest to note here some other instances of the use of the theme _Earth upon Earth_, not immediately connected with the poem under discussion.

An early instance of the phrase occurs in a Poem on the Death of Edward IV, written by Skelton probably soon after the event (9th April, 1483), beginning _Miseremini mei ye that ben my ffryndys_. Verse 2 runs as follows:--

I slepe now in molde, as it is naturall That erth vnto erth hath his reuerture: What ordeyned G.o.d to be terestyall, Without recours to the erth of nature?

Who to lyue euer may himselfe a.s.sure?

What is it to trust on mutabilyte, Sith that in this world nothing may indure?

For now am I gone, that late was in prosperyte: To presume thervppon, it is but a vanyte, Not certayne, but as a chery fayre full of wo: Reygned not I of late in greate felycite?

_Et, ecce, nunc in pulvere dormio!_

(_Poetical Works of Skelton_, ed. Dyce, I. i; London, 1843).

The poem was inserted amongst the imprinted works of Lydgate, who could not have been alive in 1483, cf. MS. Harl. 4011, fol. 169, v^o, where it occurs among Lydgate's works.

In John Taylor's _Trauels of Twelve-Pence_, 1630 folio (Spenser Soc.

reprint, p. 82), this verse occurs:--

Far[2] though from _Earth_ man hath originall, And to the _Earth_, from whence he came doth fall, Though he be Earth, & can claime nought but earth, (As the fraile portion due vnto his birth) Yet many thousands that the earth doth breed, Haue no place (certain) where to lodge or feed.

The following lines occur in a small volume called _The Compleat Bell-Man, being a Pattern for all sorts of People to take notice of the most remarkable Times and Dayes in the Year_, by H. Crouch (seventeenth century). The book contains thirty-nine verses, for Saint-Days and Anniversaries chiefly, a few being on more general subjects. The last verse, No. 39, _Upon the day of Doom_, runs as follows:--

When Earth of Earth shall turn to Earth That was but Earth even from its Birth, Then Earth from Earth shall rise again To endlesse joy, or endlesse pain, Let Earth then serve and please his Maker That Earth of Heaven may be pertaker.

The following is an Epitaph on Roger Earth of Dinton, Wilts, died 1634 (see E. R. Suffling, _Epitaphia_, p. 81):--

From Earth wee came, to Earth wee must returne, Witness this EARTH that Lyes within this VRNE.

Begott by EARTH: Borne also of Earth's WOMBE, 74 yeares lived EARTH, now Earth's his TOMBE.

In Earth EARTH'S Body Lyes Vnder this STONE, But from this Earth to Heauen EARTH'S soule is gone.

Another later epitaph is quoted by Suffling, p. 339, from Loughter, Glamorgans.h.i.+re, without name or date:--

O Earth! O Earth observe this well, That Earth to Earth must go to dwell, That Earth to Earth must close remain Till Earth for Earth shall come again.

[Footnote 1: But this is not in agreement with Bateman's opinion as to the age of the original parchment roll (1400-1430), see Introduction, p. xi.]

[Footnote 2: ? for.]

APPENDIX I.

The three following _Erthe_ poems, in Latin, French, and English respectively, were discovered too late for inclusion in the text. They represent renderings of the same poem in the three languages, and are preserved on the back of a Roll[1] in the Public Record Office, containing a copy of the Ordinances of the fifth year of Edward II (of which other copies exist in the British Museum, the Record Office, and the Treasury at Canterbury). The poems in question are written on the back of the Roll, towards the end, the Latin and French in parallel columns, and the English below, five verses under the Latin, and four under the French. They are preceded by a number of Latin recipes in another hand, and a few in French follow. The handwriting of the poems is smaller and neater than that of the Ordinances, or the Latin recipes, but was ascribed by Hunter[2] to the time of Edward II, and may perhaps be a.s.signed to the fourteenth century. The French is fourteenth-century Anglo-French, and the texts probably belong to that century, though this copy of them may not have been made until after 1400.

A nineteenth-century transcript of the poems exists in the British Museum, Addit. MS. 25478 (fol. 1-3), described in the Catalogue as containing 'Transcripts of miscellaneous English poetry, with a few Latin pieces, chiefly derived from MS. sources: xivth to xixth century'.

The binding is marked 'Collectanea Hunteriana', and the MS. was acquired with various others of the Hunter collection in 1863. The handwriting varies, and these three poems are not in Hunter's own hand. The transcript is headed 'Copy of a Poem in Latin, French, and English, which is written in a hand of the reign of Edward II, on the dorse of a Roll which contains a copy of the ordinances of the fifth year of Edward II, which are printed in the Statutes of the Realm I. 157-168'. The text given below has been collated with this transcript, and variant readings in the latter given in the footnotes under the name Hunter (H.).

The British Museum transcript was discovered by Miss Helen Sandison of Bryn Mawr, U.S.A., who kindly acquainted me with her discovery, and was of great a.s.sistance in the search for the original Roll, which was eventually found in a bundle awaiting rearrangement at the Record Office. A large stain on the original text has rendered a considerable portion of the Latin and a few words in the French almost illegible, and Hunter's transcript has left blanks at these points. Mr. S. C. Ratcliff, of the Record Office, has given me much kind and courteous a.s.sistance in deciphering the missing words, thanks to which I have been able to fill up all the gaps, except that in verse 8, l. 3 of the Latin. Hunter's text at this point runs as follows:--

4. l. 4. Sic t'ra put^{e}dinis . . . t're venas.

6. l. 4. Terra t'r faciat flere ieu . . . . .

7. De t'ra resurg'e t'ra deb . . . . . . . .

Et quod t'ra meruit . . . . . . . .

Hic dum terra vix'it . . . . . . .

Ut in t'ra valeat . . . . . dere

8. Adu'sus t'rigenas . . . . terra stabit Et t'ra int'roga . . . . . . . . abit Terra finem cap . . . . . . . gabit Quod terra promiserat t'ra . . . urgabit.

and in the French:--

9. l. 2. Sayt cydaunt a la tere qe tere soit sauve . . . . . . . eyne de tere ou tere est benure.

RECORD OFFICE ROLL (Ex^r. K. R. Parl. Proc., Bdle. 1).

[Transcriber's Note: The following text was printed on two pairs of facing pages:

pg. 42 Latin Text French Text pg. 43 stz. 1-5 stz. 1-5 ------------ ------------ English Text English Text stz. 1-3.2 stz. 3.3-5

pg. 44 Latin Text French Text pg. 45 stz. 6-11 stz. 6-10 ------------ ------------ English Text English Text stz. 6-7 stz. 8-9

For this e-text, the three versions have been combined into complete Latin, French and English poems. Parenthetical notations such as (in left column) are in the original. Footnote numbering reflects the original layout.]

LATIN TEXT (in left column).

[MS. Addit. 25478, fol. 2, r^o]

1 In terra cu{m} terra sit fraude p{er}quisita, Terra t{er}re v{er}mib{us} sic put{r}essit trita, Terra t{er}ra{m} deseret, erit et finita, Terra tu{n}c a terren[i]s[3] mox erit oblita. 4

2 Terra p{er} sup{er}bia{m} terram c.u.m ascendit, Terra tu{n}c cupidine t{er}ram comp{re}hendit, Terra morti p{ro}ximans t{er}ra{m} dat et vendit, Ad t{er}ra{m} viuenciu{m} t{er}ra ma.n.u.s tendit. 8

3 Terra t{er}ra{m} speculans no{n} iustificari, Et ad t{er}re t{er}minu{m} t{er}ra{m} inclinari.

Terra t{er}re s{er}uiens vult[4] refrigerari, Et t{er}ra t{er}ribilis in terra locari. 12

4 In t{er}ra q{u}id possidet t{er}ra nisi penas Q{u}ando t{er}ra respicit t{er}ra{m} lite plenas, Et t{er}ra{m} defic{er}e tanq{uam} t{er}re tenas, Sic t{er}ra put{r}edinis intrat[5] terre venas? 16

5 Terra no{n} co{n}siderat t{er}ra{m} firma mente, Atq{ue} t{er}ra labit{ur} in t{er}ra{m} repente, Terra{m} suo sang{u}ine t{er}ra redimente, Terra{m} potens eruit de t{er}ra dolente. 20