Digital Index of Middle English Verse: No. 2300

DIMEV 2300

IMEV 1379

NIMEV 1379

I warn each lede that liveth in land

Keep Well Christ’s Commandments — thirteen 8-line stanzas with refrain

Title(s): Keep Well Christ’s commandments

Subjects: advice, spiritual; ten commandments

Versification: — eight-line — ababbcbc

Manuscript Witnesses:

1.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Eng. poet. a.1 (SC 3938) [Vernon MS], f. 408va-408vb

First Lines:

I Warne vche leod þat liueþ in londe
And do hem dredles out of were…

Last Lines:

…ffor þi I preye þat crist vs spede
Kuyndely to kepe his comaundement

Facsimiles:

Doyle, I. A., ed. The Vernon Manuscript. A Facsimile of Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Eng. poet.a.1, with an introduction by A. I. Doyle. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1987.

Scase, Wendy, and Nick Kennedy, eds. A facsimile edition of the Vernon manuscript: Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Eng. Poet. A. 1. Oxford: The Bodleian Library, 2011.

Editions:

Furnivall, Frederick James, ed. Hymns to the Virgin and Christ…and other religious poems. EETS o.s. 24 (1867); repr. 1973: 106-13.

Furnivall, Frederick James, ed. The Minor Poems of the Vernon Manuscript, Part 2. EETS o.s. 117 (1901; repr. 1973): 680-3.

Brown, Carleton Fairchild, ed. Religious Lyrics of the XIV Century. Oxford: Clarendon, 1924. 2nd ed., rev.: G. V. Smithers, Oxford, 1952: 148-51.

2.Source: Cambridge UK, Magdalene College Pepys 1584, ff. 104v-105

First Lines:

I warne euery man þat lyvith in lond
And do hym dredles oute of were…

Last Lines:

…That god commaundith to all men
Who so will to hevyn go
Kepe þem all breke noan of þo

Note: 36 lines in a variety of verse and rhyme forms.

Attributed Title: The x commaundementis (f. 104v, where RT usually written)

3.Source: London, British Library Addit. 22283 [Simeon], ff. 130ra-130va

First Lines:

I warne vch leod þat lyueþ in londe
And do hem dredles out of were…

Last Lines:

…Þis lesson lerneþ alle at me
Ho seiþ þe soþe he schal be schent

Attributed Title: Explicit A song ho seiþ þe soþe he schal be schent

Facsimiles:

Digital Facsimile of British Library MS Add. 22283 (‘Simeon’). 2014; http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_22283.

4.Source: London, British Library Harley 78, ff. 86-86v

First Lines:

…To kepe well Crystes Comaundement
Thowe schalt haue o god and no moo…

Last Lines:

…Þi neybure wylfuly þu ne dere
Þe none þat Comyth the besyde…

Note: Lines 1-7 wanting; ends imperfectly.

5.Source: London, Lambeth Palace Library 853, pp. 49-53

First Lines:

I Warne eche lijf þat liueþ in lond
And do him dredlees out of were
Þat he must studie & vndirstonde
Þe lawe of god to loue & lere…

Last Lines:

…ffor crist wole him heere help at nede
ffor from hens to heuene he wole him hent
ffor þi priere we þat crist us spede
Kindeli to kepe his comaundement
Amen

Note: Written as prose.

Editions:

Furnivall, Frederick James, ed. Hymns to the Virgin and Christ…and other religious poems. EETS o.s. 24 (1867); repr. 1973: 106-13.

6.Source: Windsor, St George’s Chapel, Windsor E.I.I, f. 29