Robert Henryson C

Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

Contents:

Biography...... Page 1 Contexts...... Page 2 Moral Fables ...... Page 3 Testament of Cresseid...... Pages 4 - 15 Further Reading / Contacts...... Pages 15 - 18

Biography:

Robert Henryson (c. 1425 - 1490) : lived in the second half of the 15th century and is said to have taught at the Grammar school connected to the Benedictine Abbey at Dunfermline. Though there is no record of Henryson obtaining a university degree, he was an educated man. In 1462 a “master Robert Henryson” was incorporated into Glasgow University as a bachelor in canon law; it seems possible that this was the poet, and it could also have been the notary of the same name who worked in Dunfermline in 1478. There is an allusion in one of Dunbar’s poems which tells us that Henryson must have died before 1505.

Even though several short poems have been attributed to Henryson, he is more of a narrative poet. His masterpiece is The Testament of Cresseid, prompted by a reading of Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, it is an original piece in its own right.

His most important other work is a collection of thirteen fables, usually entitled The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian, party drawn from Aesop, partly from a medieval cycle. One famous example is the fable of “The Two Mice”. Henryson used the fables’ traditional didactic function for religious, political, and social commentary with wit and word play. Largely forgotten for centuries, Henryson’s work has been much appreciated again in the 20th century

Contexts:

Along with William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas, Robert Henryson is one of the three great Makars of Scotland’s pre-Renaissance age. This is considered to be the golden age of Scots poetry before the country and its language really began to fall apart and fracture into fi efdoms and principalities. Language generally across the whole of Europe was transforming, gradually evolving into the modern versions that we use, more or less, today.

Reading Henryson, we’re still a good way off the recognisably modern Scots of Fergusson and Burns, but if you have a peek at John Barbour’s The Bruce, written one hundred years earlier, you quickly realise that Scots had evolved considerably in that time. In fact the Scots of Henryson is regarded as the purest example we have of the language. True, to our eyes and ears his vocabulary is a bit strange, but the grammar is less Germanic and reads more closely to modern Scots. He still uses –is to form plurals and third person singular where we would simply have –s; past tense verb endings are written –it instead of our modern –ed, as in blastit for blasted or purifyit for purifi ed. The word can appears before a verb to form a past tense. He also uses different spellings such as quh- rather than wh- as in quhisling for whistling and quhen for when in which we can recognise today in the pronunciation of some Scots dialects. In fact in a great number of his unusual words we can recognise their modern equivalents if we say them aloud: traistit becomes trusted, desyrit becomes desired, etc.

This was not a great time politically for Scotland, but culturally things were on the up and up, particularly in education – three of Scotland’s most ancient universities were founded during, or slightly before, Henryson’s lifetime (St Andrew’s in 1411, Glasgow in 1451, and Aberdeen in 1495 – Edinburgh didn’t get going until 1583). Little is know about Henryson’s life, but it is thought that he may have attended Glasgow University in about 1462, which would have made him 12 years old, an unusual age for a boy to attend university . . . the typical age was 13.

Dunbar, Douglas and Henryson represent the greatest poetry of that time and many believe that Henryson wrote the best of it. Henryson, like so many of Scotland’s great artists, was neglected for centuries but in the last 150 years or so has enjoyed a huge comeback and in some quarters he is even regarded as Scotland’s greatest ever poet. But this has probably more to do with academics locking horns than anything we can use in attempting to understand Henryson’s work – for our purposes the three of them are equally great but in different ways. The question here is: why should we bother? Why should we be interested in anything a man from the 15th century has to say?

Let’s look at the work. Henryson is famous for two main bodies of work: the Moral Fables and The Testament of Cresseid. 2 Written by Colin Clark Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

The Moral Fables:

What we like about Henryson is his purity of mind. As the political situation worsened and Scotland plunged deeper into chaos, Henryson was able to keep his head clear of all that was going on around him and reach deep into the moral core of humanity. He was a religious man, it is believed he was a teacher at a school associated with the Benedictines in Dunfermline. His work combines great poetic skill with a kind of theological truth – much as John Barbour saw his role as poet being to deliver a kind of historical truth.

During Henryson’s time, morality plays (like Everyman) where audiences went along to hear a sermon dressed up as entertainment, were all the rage. Also, his readers would certainly have been acquainted with the fables of Aesop, who used animals in various dramatic situations to illustrate the condition of human beings and provide lessons to be drawn from them. For example, in the famous tale of The Ant and the Grasshopper we hear of a happy-go-lucky grasshopper who sings and fools around all summer while the ants toil industriously collecting food and preparing their shelter. Come winter, the grasshopper fi nds he is starving and cold, while the ants are snug (and maybe a wee bit smug, too) in their nest having put in the work to see them through the dark and diffi cult days of winter. The tales all provide a moral which is made explicit at the end of the tale. In this case the moral would be: Work hard today for the needs of tomorrow.

As well as the tales of Aesop, Henryson drew on the medieval beast epics – long stories involving animals in human situations, which had all the hallmarks of epic narrative such as hero, villain, victim etc. One of the most famous characters of these beast epics was Reynard the Fox. These tales often satirised various aspects of human life such as the courts, the church, the rich, etc. and picked out specifi c human failings like hypocrisy, greed, laziness etc.

One of the advantages of centring his tales around the antics of animals is that he takes things out of the local, specifi c circumstances of life in Dunfermline or Edinburgh in the 15th century and gives his stories a more universal meaning. Some of the underlying realities of his poems may refl ect contemporary life, but arguably that cannot be avoided – where Henryson succeeds is in disregarding the many political changes and disputes raging on around him to focus on the uniquely human forces which move and shape us and which challenge us constantly to life a good life.

The Testament of Cresseid:

Ane doolie sessioun to ane cairfull dyte Doolie sessioun: doleful season; cairfull dyte: Suld correspond and be equivalent: sad poem; Suld: should Richt sa it wes quhen I began to wryte Richt sa it wes: That’s just how it was This tragedie; the wedder richt fervent, Wedder: weather Quhen Aries, in middis of the Lent, Middis of the Lent: middle of spring Schouris of haill gart fra the north discend, Schouris: showers; gart: came That scantlie fra the cauld I micht defend. Scantlie: scarcely

Yit nevertheles within myne oratur Oratur: study I stude, quhen Titan had his bemis bricht Titan: Greek god; Bemis: beams Withdrawin doun and sylit under cure, Sylit under cure: put it away under cover And fair Venus, the bewtie of the nicht, Venus: 2nd planet from the sun, the bright- Uprais and set unto the west full richt est in our sky; Uprais: rose up Hir goldin face, in oppositioun Of God Phebus, direct discending doun. Phebus: Apollo, Greek sun god

The poem begins with a bit of scene setting. In the fi rst few verses Henryson employs pathetic fallacy – a common literary device where agents external to the narrator infl uence the narrator’s mind – usually weather. So in the fi rst verse we’re told that it’s a dismal season - sometime in the middle of spring; the weather is ‘richt fervent’, sending showers of hail from the north that he can barely defend himself against. What state of mind is our narrator in?

But verse 2 sees the skies clearing – enough for him to see Venus rising in the west, and the sun going down in the east. He’s a studious man, our narrator. Look at the company he keeps: Queen Aries, Titan, Venus, Phebus. He might be religious too – an ‘oratur’ can be a prayer room as well as a study.

Throwout the glas hir bemis brast sa fair Throwout: through; glas: window; brast: burst; That I micht se on everie syde me by; Se: see The northin wind had purifyit the air And sched the mistie cloudis fra the sky; Sched: cleared The froist freisit, the blastis bitterly Freisit: froze Fra Pole Artick come quhisling loud and schill, Schill: shrill And causit me remufe aganis my will. Remufe: come away from the window

The weather’s clearing but it’s still freezing. Maybe the narrator is experiencing a metaphorical clearing too – of the mind? He is enjoying the view by the window but the icy draughts blowing in from the North Pole send him reluctantly deeper into his study. 4 For I traistit that Venus, luifi s quene, Traistit: trusted; luifi s: love’s Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

To quhome sum tyme I hecht obedience, Quhome: whom; Hecht: vowed My faidit hart of lufe scho wald mak grene, Faidit: faded; scho: she And therupon with humbill reverence I thocht to pray hir hie magnifi cence; Hie: high Bot for greit cald as than I lattit was Lattit: prevented And in my chalmer to the fyre can pas. Chalmer: chamber; can pas: went

Thocht lufe be hait, yit in ane man of age Hait: hot; yit: yet It kendillis nocht sa sone as in youtheid, Kendillis: kindles; sone: soon Of quhome the blude is fl owing in ane rage; Blude: blood And in the auld the curage doif and deid Curage: sexual desire; doif: dull Of quhilk the fyre outward is best remeid: Remeid: cure To help be phisike quhair that nature faillit physike: medicine; faillit: failed I am expert, for baith I have assaillit. Assaillit: attempted

Our narrator is drawn to thoughts of love. Seeing Venus rising in the sky has made him think of the Goddess of Love, to whom he once vowed his obedience – he used to be a lover too, as a younger man – but now, age has caught up with him. He is almost moved to pray to Venus, but the freezing cold prevents him and he goes to sit by the fi re.

The fi re, too, kindles associations. He’s getting old. The fl ame of desire he once felt is now dull and dead – and the best cure for that is to sit by the fi re and keep warm. The ‘physike’ he refers to may well be strong drink – for medicinal purposes, of course.

I mend the fyre and beikit me about, Beikit me about: warmed myself up Than tuik ane drink, my spreitis to comfort, Spreitis: spirits And armit me weill fra the cauld thairout. To cut the winter nicht and mak it schort I tuik ane quair - and left all uther sport - Quair: book; sport: activity Writtin be worthie Chaucer glorious Of fair Creisseid and worthie Troylus.

Leaving aside – for now – his thoughts of love and loss, our narrator settles down by the fi re with a drop of the medicinal to keep out the cold. He picks up Chaucer’sTroilus and Criseyde. Chaucer was the greatest English poet before Shakespeare who lived from around 1342 until 1400. His Troilus and Criseyde tells the story of Criseyde, a Trojan woman who falls in love with Troilus, a soldier in King Priam’s army. She then falls in love with Diomedes, another Greek soldier who is sent to take her to her father, leaving Troilus miserable. The story Troilus and Cressida, set against the background of the Greek – Trojan war, is also the subject of one of Shakespeare’s plays. By basing his poem on the work of the greatest of English poet of his time who in turn took his material from an ancient Greek classic, Henryson establishes himself as a writer in the European tradition. 5 And thair I fand, efter that Diomeid Fand: found Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

Ressavit had that lady bricht of hew, Ressavit: took into this arms; hew: hue How Troilus neir out of wit abraid Neir out of wit: nearly out of his mind; And weipit soir with visage paill of hew; abraid: went; Weipit: wept; soir: sorrowfully For quhilk wanhope his teiris can renew, Wanhope: despair Quhill esperance rejoisit him agane: Esperance: hope; rejoisit: gladdened Thus quhyle in joy he levit, quhyle in pane. Qhuyle: sometimes; levit: lived

Of hir behest he had greit comforting, Behest: promise Traisting to Troy that scho suld mak retour, Scho: she; mak retour: come back Quhilk he desyrit maist of eirdly thing, Desyrit: desired; eirdly: earthly For quhy scho was his only paramour. Paramour: lover Bot quhen he saw passit baith day and hour Of hir ganecome, than sorrow can oppres Ganecome: return His wofull hart in cair and hevines. Cair: misery

Our narrator summarises the story of Troilus and Criseyde for us, and we are made certain of the empathy he feels towards Troilus – waiting for his lover to come back, sometimes thinking she will, sometimes (and increasingly more often) thinking she won’t.

Of his distres me neidis nocht reheirs, Me neidis nocht reheirs: I don’t need to For worthie Chauceir in the samin buik, repeat Samin: same In gudelie termis and in joly veirs, Joly veirs: fi ne verse Compylit hes his cairis, quha will luik. Complylit: described; cairis: sorrows; quha will To brek my sleip ane uther quair I tuik, luik: whoever will look; Quair: book In quhilk I fand the fatall destenie Fand: found; fatall: fated Of fair Cresseid, that endit wretchitlie.

The narrator thinks he’s told us enough – anyway, we should already be familiar with the story – and he directs us to Chaucer’s original if we’d like to remind ourselves. Not yet ready for bed he opens another book, which tells of what happened to Cresseid – something Chaucer’s tale doesn’t tell us, concerned as it is with the sorrows of Troilus. This book he takes is none other than his own poem, in which he proceeds to tell what happens in it. (There is a bit of a tradition of this in literature – prefaces which tell us that the narrator found a long-forgotten or hidden volume. Edgar Allan Poe does it in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, James Hogg in The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justfi ed Sinner, and more recentlrecentlyy Alasdair GrGrayay does it in Poor Things.) The effect created by this device is really to remove the feeling authorial control, to place the narartor and the reader on an equal footing. As if he’s saying – if we’re both reading this together for the fi rst time, how can I be maniplating how you read this? Henryson wanted his readers to make up their own minds about the moral issues he presented in his poems and this device, to side the reader with the author in the ‘discovery’ of the text, allows him (to an extent) to do this. 6 Quha wait gif all that Chauceir wrait was trew? Quha wait gif: who knows if; wrait: wrote Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

Nor I wait nocht gif this narratioun Nor I wait nocht: Neither do I know; nar- Be authoreist, or fenyeit of the new ratioun: narrative; Fenyeit of the new: newly Be sum poeit, throw his inventioun made up; Be: by; Throw: through Maid to report the lamentatioun And wofull end of this lustie Creisseid, Lustie: beautiful And quhat distres scho thoillit, and quhat deid. Thollit: suffered; deid: death

Henryson casts a knowing wink at the reader here: I bet it’s all made up, he says,‘by some poet’ (it’s me, and you know it really is me, but let’s pretend) who has decided to tell of the terrible fate suffered by Cresseid. Who knows if it’s true? But ‘true’ in what sense? Henryson, remember, is after moral truth, rather than historical truth.

Quhen Diomeid had all his appetyte, And mair, fulfi llit of this fair ladie, Upon ane uther he set his haill delyte, And send to hir ane lybell of repudie Lybell of repudie: public notice of separation And hir excludit fra his companie. Than desolait scho walkit up and doun, And sum men sayis, into the court, commoun. commoun: promiscuity

O fair Creisseid, the fl our and A per se The fl our and A per se: a model of perfec- Of Troy and Grece, how was thow fortunait tion; Fortunait: destined To change in fi lth all thy feminitie, In: into And be with fl eschelie lust sa maculait, Maculait: soiled And go amang the Greikis air and lait, Air and lait: early and late Sa giglotlike takand thy foull plesance! Giglotlike: whorishly; pleasance: pleasure I have pietie thow suld fall sic mischance! Pietie: pity; fall: experience;

Yit nevertheles, quhat ever men deme or say Deme: judge In scornefull langage of thy brukkilnes, Brukkilnes: moral weakness I sall excuse als far furth as I may Als far furth as: as far as Thy womanheid, thy wisdome and fairnes, The quhilk fortoun hes put to sic distres Hes: has; sic: such As hir pleisit, and nathing throw the gilt Hir pleisit: pleased her Of the, throw wickit langage to be spilt! The: thee; spilt: ruined

Now we’re really into Henryson’s sequel narrative. Taking up the story where Chaucer left off, we learn here that Diomedes got fed up with Cresseid, having had his fi ll of pleasure from her, and dumps her for another woman. He even goes as far as to issue her with a ‘lybell of repudie’ – the modern equivalent would be a restraining order – so that she stays away from him. Drastic measures! Who deserves that treatment? Now, utterly desolate, Cresseid starts sleeping around, earning a name for herself. Perhaps a living, too 7 – ‘commoun’ also suggests prostitution. Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

But the narrator takes pity on the plight of Cressied, blaming wagging tongues (‘wickit langage’) for her reputation.

This fair lady, in this wyse destitute Of all comfort and consolatioun, Richt privelie, but fellowschip, on fute Privelie: secretly; but: without Disagysit passit far out of the toun Disagysit: disguised Ane myle or twa, unto ane mansioun Beildit full gay, quhair hir father Calchas Beildit full gay: beautifully built Quhilk than amang the Greikis dwelland was. Dwelland: living

Quhen he hir saw, the caus he can inquyre Of hir cumming: scho said, siching full soir, Siching full soir: sighing pitifully “Fra Diomeid had gottin his desyre Fra: after He wox werie and wald of me no moir.” Wox: fed up; wald: wanted Quod Calchas, “Douchter, weip thow not thairfoir; Quod: said Peraventure all cummis for the best. Peraventure: perhaps Welcum to me; thow art full deir ane gest!” Full deir: most welcome

Cressied, utterly miserable, disguises herself and leaves town to go home to her father who welcomes her warmly.

In verses 16 – 20 we learn that her father is the keeper of the temple devoted to Venus and Cupid – gods of love. Afraid of giving people cause to gossip about her Cresseid avoids going to the temple while others are at their prayer, but she goes in secretly to weep bitterly about her fate at the hands of these two gods. As she once abandoned Troilus now she has suffered the same fate at the hands of Diomedes. She is angry too because during her prayers Cupid at one time responded by telling her she would be Troy’s ‘fl ower of love’. Now, outcast, her ‘seed of love’ that the gods promised her, has not bloomed, but rather perished in the ‘frost’ of her rejection.

Is Cresseid here denying all responsibility for the part she played in her own destiny? Is she right to feel hard done by the gods? Perhaps she is too proud to admit it – this pride may yet cause her more grief. You don’t offend the gods lightly.

Quhen this was said, doun in ane extasie, Extasie: trance Ravischit in spreit, intill ane dreame scho fell, Ravischit: carried away; intill: into; And be apperance hard, quhair scho did ly, Be apperance hard: apparently heard Cupide the king ringand ane silver bell, Quhilk men micht heir fra hevin unto hell; At quhais sound befoir Cupide appeiris Heir: hear The sevin planetis, discending fra thair spheiris; Sevin: seven; spheiris: spheres 8 Cresseid falls into a dream in which the seven planetary gods come down and sit in

judgement of her blasphemy against Venus and Cupid. In verses 22 – 39 Henryson paints some lively alliterative descriptions, terrible and fair,of the planet gods.

For example, in verses 27 and 28 we meet . . .

. . . Mars the god of ire, Of strife, debait, and all dissensioun, To chide and fecht, als feirs as ony fyre, Als feirs as: as fi erce as In hard harnes, hewmound, and habirgeoun, Harnes: armour; hewmound: helmet; And on his hanche ane roustie fell fachioun, habirgeoun: chainmail; Hanche: hip; And in his hand he had ane roustie sword, roustie: bloody; fachioun: small sickle Wrything his face with mony angrie word.

Schaikand his sword, befoir Cupide he come, Schaikand: shaking With reid visage and grislie glowrand ene, Visage: face; glowrand: staring; ene: eyes And at his mouth ane bullar stude of fome, Bullar stude of fome: gob of spit dribbled Lyke to ane bair quhetting his tuskis kene; Lyke etc: Like a boar sharpening his Richt tuilyeour lyke, but temperance in tene, tusks; Tuilyeour lyke: aggressively; but: Ane horne he blew with mony bosteous brag, without; tene: anger ; Bosteous brag: Quhilk all this warld with weir hes maid to wag. rough boast; Weir: war; wag: tremble

A heavily alliterative desciption seems to suit Mars. It’s almost like we’re being beaten over the head by these repetitive sounds. Later, in verse 40, Cupid puts the charge against Cresseid:

“Lo,” quod Cupide, “quha will blaspheme the name Of his awin god, outher in word or deid, Outher: whether; deid: deed To all goddis he dois baith lak and schame, Lak: dishonour And suld have bitter panis to his meid. Panis: pains; meid: reward I say this by yone wretchit Cresseid, The quhilk throw me was sum tyme fl our of lufe, Sum tyme: once; fl our of lufe: fl ower of Me and my mother starklie can reprufe, love; Starklie: strongly; reprufe: reprove

“Saying of hir greit infelicitie I was the caus, and my mother Venus, Ane blind goddes hir cald, that micht not se, With sclander and defame injurious. Sclander: slander; defame: defamation Thus hir leving unclene and lecherous Leving: living Scho wald returne in me and my mother, Return in: cast back at To quhome I schew my grace abone all uther. Schew: showed; abune: above

“And sen ye ar all sevin deifi cait, Sen: since; deifi cait: deifi ed Participant of devyne sapience, Devyne sapience: divine knowledge 9 This greit injure done to our hie estait Hie: high Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

Me think with pane we suld mak recompence; Pane: pain Was never to goddes done sic violence: As weill for yow as for my self I say, Thairfoir ga help to revenge, I yow pray!”

As counsel for the prosecution, Cupid, full of anger at the way Cressied has blasphemed, appeals to the gods and says that not only has she insulted Venus (his mother) and himself, but the whole of their ‘high estate’- in other words he feels she has undermined their divine authority. He wants Cresseid to be punished and implores his fellow deities to seek revenge on her.

As the highest power of all the gods, Saturn (verses 45-6) gets the last word. He fi nds her guity and passes sentence:

. . . “Thy greit fairnes and all thy bewtie gay, Bewtie: beauty Thy wantoun blude, and eik thy goldin hair, Eik: also Heir I exclude fra the for evermair. The: thee

“I change thy mirth into melancholy, Quhilk is the mother of all pensivenes; Pensivenes: worry Thy moisture and thy heit in cald and dry; Thyne insolence, thy play and wantones, To greit diseis; thy pomp and thy riches Diseis: disease In mortall neid; and greit penuritie Penuritie: poverty Thow suffer sall, and as ane beggar die.” Sall: shall

The narrator thinks he has gone too far and wonders if she has deserved this punishment. But Cynthia, who represents the Moon, goes even further:

“Fra heit of bodie I the now depryve, Heit: heat; the: thee And to thy seiknes sall be na recure Recure: remedy Bot in dolour thy dayis to indure. Bot: but; dolour: pain

“Thy cristall ene mingit with blude I mak, Ene: eyes; mingit: mixed Thy voice sa cleir unplesand, hoir, and hoir, Hoir: rough; hace: hoarse Thy lustie lyre ovirspred with spottis blak, Lustie lyre: fair complexion And lumpis haw appeirand in thy face: Lumpis: lumps; haw: pale Quhair thow cummis, ilk man sall fl e the place. Fle: fl ee This sall thow go begging fra hous to hous This: thus; fra: from With cop and clapper lyke ane lazarous.” Cop: cup; clapper: rattle; lazarous: leper

Is Cresseid’s perhaps condemning herself for her actions? Possibly, but in verses 49 – 57 10 Cresseid awakes from her dream to discover, to her utter horror, that she has indeed Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

become a leper. She calls for her father who shares her distress and they both agree that she should spend the rest of her days in a leper colony. It seems the gods have taken their full and bitter vengeance after all.

Over all the other medieval maladies Henryson could have visited upon Cressied, his choice of leprosy, as the disease which should affl ict Cresseid, is not random. We can read Cresseid’s decaying fl esh not only as a fi tting (if a little drastic) punishment for her ‘sins of the fl esh’, but also as symbolic of her moral decay.

The next section of the poem is subtitled The Complaint of Cressied. In the fi rst seven verses we hear the words of Cressied herself, lamenting her fate. They are written in a different verse form (nine line verses, rhyming aabaabbab) to further mark the shift in the poem’s focus. As her speech ends, the poem resumes its original form (rhyme royal – seven line verses, rhyming ababbcc). Reading her speech it is diffi cult not to feel pity, she puts forward a good case. But we also have to weigh her actions against the drastic consequences she suffers. Does she deserve such punishment? Blashpemy, promiscuity – are they really all that bad? What is good? What is bad? Henryson forces us to refl ect on our own moral position.

Meanwhile, her former lover, Troilus – the one Cresseid dumped for Diomedes – appears in town at the head of a Trojan garrison returning victorious from the war against the Greeks. Cresseid is out on the street with her cup and rattle with a group of lepers, begging for alms. The lepers shake their cups vigorously to attract the soldiers’ attention.

Then, in verse 70 . . .

. . . to thair cry nobill Troylus tuik heid, tuik: took; heid: heed Having pietie, neir by the place can pas Pietie: pity; neir: near Quhair Cresseid sat, not witting quhat scho was. Witting: knowing

Than upon him scho kest up baith hir ene, Kest: cast; ene: eyes And with ane blenk it come into his thocht Blenk: look; thocht: mind That he sumtime hir face befoir had sene, Bot scho was in sic plye he knew hir nocht; Plye: plight Yit than hir luik into his mynd it brocht Luik: face The sweit visage and amorous blenking Blenking: glances Of fair Cresseid, sumtyme his awin darling.

Na wonder was, suppois in mynd that he Tuik hir fi gure sa sone, and lo, now quhy: Tuik hir fi gure: recognised her; The idole of ane thing in cace may be Idole: image Sa deip imprentit in the fantasy Fantasy: imagination That it deludis the wittis outwardly, 11 And sa appeiris in forme and lyke estait Lyke estait: in a similar state Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

Within the mynd as it was fi gurait. Figurait: remembered

Ane spark of lufe than till his hart culd spring Till: into And kendlit all his bodie in ane fyre; With hait fewir, ane sweit and trimbling Hait: hot; fewir: fever; sweit: sweat Him tuik, quhill he was reddie to expyre; Expyre: faint To beir his scheild his breist began to tyre; Within ane quhyle he changit mony hew; Changit mony hew: turned many colours And nevertheles not ane ane uther knew.

For knichtlie pietie and memoriall Pietie: piety; memoriall: memory Of fair Cresseid, ane gyrdill can he tak, Gyrdill: belt Ane purs of gold, and mony gay jowall, Gay: bright; jowall: jewels And in the skirt of Cresseid doun can swak; Swak: fl ing Than raid away and not ane word he spak, Raid: rode Pensiwe in hart, quhill he come to the toun, quhill: until And for greit cair oftsyis almaist fell doun. Cair: sadness; oftsyis: often

Troylus goes to her not knowing who she is, then suddenly has a fl ash of recognition – the face that he had once loved is etched so deeply in his mind that even in her greatly transformed and hideous condition he still recognises her. He is moved to great and terrible emotion, but doesn’t say anything – instead he rides off out of town, barely able to stay on his horse, such is his greif.

Cresseid by this time hasn’t recognised him. In the next verse, the lepers gather round Cressied to receive their share of the money Troylus gave her. When they see how much he left, the lepers praise him for always being so generous to them. Cresseid asks who he was, and on hearing the answer . . .

Stiffer than steill thair stert ane bitter stound Steill: steel; stound: pain Throwout hir hart, and fell doun to the ground. Throwout: throughout

Finally, Cresseid realises the truth about herself. At the end of the next three verses she repeats the refrain: “O fals Cresseid and trew knicht Troylus!” She berates herself for her fi ckle affections, and for her lustful actions and her betrayal of the honest and worthy Troylus. She has learned about love and life – too late, alas! – and shares this new self knowledge with us:

“Lovers be war and tak gude heid about Quhome that ye lufe, for quhome ye suffer paine. Quhome: whom I lat yow wit, thair is richt few thairout I lat yow wit: I let you know; thairout: out Quhome ye may traist to have trew lufe agane; there Preif quhen ye will, your labour is in vaine. Preif: test 12 Thairfoir I reid ye tak thame as ye fi nd, Reid: advise

For thay ar sad as widdercok in wind. Sad: steady; widdercok: weathervane

“Becaus I knaw the greit unstabilnes, Brukkill as glas, into my self, I say - Brukkill: brittle Traisting in uther als greit unfaithfulnes, Traisting, etc: expecting others to be as Als unconstant, and als untrew of fay - unfaithful Thocht sum be trew, I wait richt few ar thay; Als: as; fay: faith Quha fi ndis treuth, lat him his lady ruse; Wait: know Nane but my self as now I will accuse.” ruse: praise

And with that Cresseid’s self-knowledge is complete: no more does she blame the gods for the way her life turned out. The next three verses deal with Cresseid’s acceptance of her fate as she tries to make amends by writing her will – her Testament, of the title.

Quhen this was said, with paper scho sat doun, And on this maneir maid hir testament: “Heir I beteiche my corps and carioun Beteiche: bequeath With wormis and with taidis to be rent; Taidis: toads; Rent: torn My cop and clapper, and myne ornament, And all my gold the lipper folk sall have, Lipper: leper Quhen I am deid, to burie me in grave.

“This royall ring, set with this rubie reid, Quhilk Troylus in drowrie to me send, In drowrie: as a love token To him agane I leif it quhen I am deid, Lief: leave To mak my cairfull deid unto him kend. Cairfull: sorrowful; deid: death; kend: Thus I conclude schortlie and mak ane end: known My spreit I leif to Diane, quhair scho dwellis, Spreit: soul To walk with hir in waist woddis and wellis. Waist: wild; wellis: marshes

“O Diomeid, thou hes baith broche and belt Hes: has Quhilk Troylus gave me in takning In takning: as tokens Of his trew lufe,” and with that word scho swelt. Lufe: love; swelt: died And sone ane lipper man tuik of the ring, Sone: soon Syne buryit hir withouttin tarying; Syne: then; tarying: delay To Troylus furthwith the ring he bair, Bair: carried And of Cresseid the deith he can declair.

Quhen he had hard hir greit infi rmitie, Hard: heard Hir legacie and lamentatioun, And how scho endit in sic povertie, Sic: such He swelt for wo and fell doun in ane swoun; Swelt: fainted; wo: woe, misery For greit sorrow his hart to brist was boun; Brist: burst; boun: ready 13 Siching full sadlie, said, “I can no moir; Siching: sighing

Scho was untrew and wo is me thairfoir.”

Sum said he maid ane tomb of merbell gray, Merbell: marble And wrait hir name and superscriptioun, And laid it on hir grave quhair that scho lay, In goldin letteris, conteining this ressoun: Ressoun: statement “Lo, fair ladyis, Cresseid of Troy the toun, Sumtyme countit the fl our of womanheid, Under this stane, lait lipper, lyis deid.” Lait: of late; lyis: lies

Finally, Henryson gets the last word in and delivers a stern admonition to us readers – especially the ladies . . .

Now, worthie wemen, in this ballet schort, Ballet: ballad Maid for your worschip and instructioun, Of cheritie, I monische and exhort, Monische: admonish Ming not your lufe with fals deceptioun: Ming: corrupt Beir in your mynd this schort conclusioun Of fair Cresseid, as I have said befoir. Sen scho is deid I speik of hir no moir Sen: since

So much for keeping the authorial voice out of the way so that we can make up our own minds. The tacked on maral at the end seems to pull us up really abruptly. Don’t screw up your relationships with lies and deception! he tells us. Is that all it comes down to? The way he casually signs off, almost with a wave of the hand seems dismissive not only of Cresseid, but of his readers. That’s it, he seems to say to us, enough said – she’s dead. The end.

This stern, almost preacherly tone he adopts in the fi nal verse seems to undemine the narrator’s earlier voice which was full of pity for Cresseid. Has the narrator made up his mind about her, after hearing the full story? Is she, after all, just another loose woman who got what she deserved? We are forced to take issue with the narrator here – wait a minute, we say, you can’t just close the book here! We don’t think it’s fair – OK, so she made some bad decisions, but she paid for that, she suffered guilt and remorse and self- loathing – isn’t that punishment enough? And, isn’t society to blame somewhere? Why do we judge women so harshly on their moral conduct?

We fi nd ourselves with plenty of questions. It seems perhaps that the device Henryson emplyed way back at the beginning might still be in operation. Recall that Henryson presented The Testament of Cresseid as a volume he discovers in his study and that we suggested that the purpose for presenting his poem like that may have been to put reader and writer in a similar position. Well, aren’t we now in the position here of questioning the narrator’s point of view here – his brisk dismissal of Cressied in the fi nal verse? Aren’t we 14 now asking questions of the plight of Cresseid? Beyond that – aren’t we now refl ecting Copyright © 2003 Scottish Literary Tour Trust. All Rights Reserved. Robert Henryson c. 1425 - 1490

on our own view of the world? Looking at the bigger picture? This, ultimately, is where Henryson wants to take us. Out of the pages of a book and into the world we inhabit. Written by Colin Clark