Later Medieval England

Abstract

All the following lyrics are carols; that is, poems in a format originally created to accompany dancing, with separate sections for leader and chorus. The latter would have sung the “burden,” which opens the poem and follows every stanza. Often woman’s voice carols deal with the painful reality of sexual exploitation and subsequent abandonment. The light mode of dance-song downplays the potentially tragic theme, and many of the poems seem to reflect the knowing humor of a male circle—but the pathos remains. Only the earliest of the Middle English poems is translated here; the others are simply provided with glosses for unfamiliar words.