Digital Index of Middle English Verse: No. 6461

DIMEV 6461

IMEV 4035

NIMEV 4035

When thine head quaketh memento

Signs of Death — 8 or 12 macaronic lines in couplets

Note: Cf. 6443

Subjects: death, signs of

Versification: — two-line — aa

Macaronic: Latin

Manuscript Witnesses:

1.Source: Oxford, Bodleian Library Tanner 407 (SC 10234), f. 35v

First Lines:

Whan þi hed quakyth Memento
Whan þi lyppys blakyth Confessio…

Last Lines:

…Whan þi eyne fylmyn libera me domine
Whan deth folwyth venite ad iudicem

Note: 8 lines (approximately monorhyming)

Editions:

Louis, Cameron, ed. The Commonplace Book of Robert Reynes of Acle: an edition of Tanner MS 407. New York: Garland, 1980: 245.

2.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ee.4.35, Part I, f. 24

First Lines:

Whan thy hed quakes memento
when they thy leppes blakes conffessio
whan they breyt pantys contrecio
whan they weynde wantys satisfaxio…

Last Lines:

…Whan they eyen holowyt nesse te ipsum
ffor than deth folwes vene ad Iudecium

Note: 8-line version

Editions:

Person, Henry Axel. Cambridge Middle English Lyrics. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1953; rev. ed. 1962: 19-20.

3.Source: Cambridge UK, Cambridge University Library Ff.5.48, f. 43v

First Lines:

When þi hed whaketh memento
When þi lippys blaken confessio…

Last Lines:

…When þine een holoen nosce teipsum
ffor then the deth folowes veni ad iudicium

Attributed Title: Memento homo (f. 43v)

Editions:

Person, Henry Axel. Cambridge Middle English Lyrics. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1953; rev. ed. 1962: 19-20.

Downing, Janay Young A., ed. “A Critical Edition of Cambridge University MS Ff.5.48.” 2 vols. Diss. University of Washington, 1969: 100.

4.Source: Cambridge UK, Queen’s College Horne 25 (13), f. 64

First Lines:

When thy hede quakyth momento
Then thy lyppys blakyth confessio…

Last Lines:

…When thy nyen hollyth libera me domine
Then deth folowyth veni ad Iudicium

Note: Follows 1161

Attributed Title: Memorare Nouissima & iueteruum non peccavis Ecc. 7o (f. 64)

Editions:

James, Montague Rhodes. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Western Manuscripts in the Library of Clare College, Cambridge. Cambridge: at the UP, 1905: 15.

Person, Henry Axel. Cambridge Middle English Lyrics. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1953; rev. ed. 1962: 19-20.

Woolf, Rosemary. The English Religious Lyric in the Middle Ages. Oxford: Clarendon, 1968: 82.

Robbins, Rossell Hope. “Signs of Death in Middle English.” Mediaeval Studies 32 (1970): 282-98: 293.

5.Source: Cambridge UK, Trinity College O.2.53 (1157), f. 72

First Lines:

Whan thyne heed shaketh memento
Whan thi lippes quakyth Confessio…

Last Lines:

…Whan thi eighen holoweth libera me amen
Than deth foloweth venite ad iudicium

Note: 8-line version

Editions:

Person, Henry Axel. Cambridge Middle English Lyrics. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1953; rev. ed. 1962: 19-20.

6.Source: London, British Library Egerton 833, f. 10v

7.Source: London, British Library Royal 8 C.XII, f. 1v3

First Lines:

When thy hede qwakes memento
When þi lippes blakes confeccio…

Last Lines:

…When þi Eyen holowyth nosso te ipsum
ffor þen dethe folowythe nota Iudicum

8.Source: London, British Library Sloane 747, f. 49v

9.Source: Longleat, Marquess of Bath MS 29, f. 3

First Lines:

When þi hede quakes Memento
And þy lippis Blakes Confessio…

Last Lines:

…When þyn eyȝen holeweth Noste te ipsum
ffor þan deth foleweth veni ad Iudicum

Editions:

Robbins, Rossell Hope. “Signs of Death in Middle English.” Mediaeval Studies 32 (1970): 282-98: 293.