Harley Lyrics
Harley Lyrics,a collection of 32 Middle English lyrics occurring with other material in the manuscript Harley 2253, from the west Midlands (though the poems are thought to be originally from various parts of the country) dated c. 1340 . W. P. Ker says the manuscript contains ‘everything best worth remembering in the old lyrical poetry’ and, although we might add other individual poems, his high assessment of them finds general assent. Among the most celebrated poems in the collection are ‘Alysoun’, ‘Lenten ys come with love to toune’, ‘Blow, Northerne Wynd’, ‘Wynter wakeneth al my care’, and ‘The Man in the Moon’. In spite of their liveliness the poems are highly sophisticated in themes, diction, and literary forms. They have been edited by G. L. Brook ( 1956 ).
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