Author: Ano Sensei
Format: Video
Structure: Riddle form, Short lyric
Medieval English lyrics: "I have a yong suster" (I have a young sister) Reading and analysis.
The poem turns on a series of paradoxes — a cherry without a stone, a dove without bones, a briar without bark — and their resolution. But the resolution itself is ambiguous. Read one way, it is a straightforward love poem about a maiden who has found what she was looking for. Read another, it is a wry and subversive comment on female desire — and what happens to it after marriage.
The poem also has a remarkable afterlife. As the oldest surviving snapshot of a constantly evolving lyric tradition, it connects forward through Scottish ballads like "Captain Wedderburn" and "The Elfin Knight" to "Scarborough Fair" — made famous by Simon and Garfunkel in the 1960s. The riddle at its heart has been travelling through the English-speaking world for at least six centuries.
0:00 Introduction
0:10 A reading (original text)
1:21 A reading (translation into modern English)
2:20 An analysis of the poem
4:26 Related texts
My medieval playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgwvphXmdI&list=PLzVb6yL_jY69N9G5BqcTQdlGbwWRw2Yf-&index=1
If your language is not included in the subtitles, let me know and I will add it.
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4 Comments
Great recitation keep the work up
Thank you! I’ve been meaning to add to these Middle English readings, but have been busy with other projects. I enjoyed making this series and I’ll get back to it as soon as possible!
Also found in: Come Hither A Collection of RHYMES and POEMS For the Young of All Ages Made by Walter de la Mare
I remember the book from my childhood, but I’d forgotten that!