The identity of the writer isn't known, but he (or she - I feel inclined to believe it was a she) would have been writing around the turn of the 1500s.
If this poem had been written nowadays it probably wouldn't be set on the morning of a wedding. But the essential truth of it is surely immortal.
The Bridal Morn
The maidens came
When I was in my mother's bower;
I had all I would.
The bailey beareth the bell away;
The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.
The silver is white, red is the gold;
The robes they lay in fold.
The bailey beareth the bell away;
The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.
And through the glass window shines the sun,
How should I love, and I so young?
The bailey beareth the bell away;
The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.
I'm not certain of the meaning of all of it; but its sumptuous mystery sends sparks straight to my heart.
The Offering of the Heart, Anonymous. The Louvre.
Word To Use Today: lily. This word has existed in English since before the Norman Conquest of 1066. It came from Latin, and before that from the Greek word leirion.
Hi Niku. Thanks for your comment. I suppose it's worth saving because it gives us space to imagine a meaning, and to imagine the bride and her feelings towards her marriage. None of us understand anything really properly, after all, do we!
ReplyDelete