The Devonshire Manuscript/am el mem
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Introduction | Contributors | Textual Introduction |
| ←The pleasaunt beayt of swet Delyte Dothe blynd | the sueden ghance ded mak me mves→ |
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f. [66v]
f. [67r]
f. [67v]
1 am el mem
2 anem e
3 as I haue dese
4 I am yowrs an1
Notes & Glosses
[edit | edit source] 1. This phrase might refer to Anne Boleyn.
Commentary
[edit | edit source]Entered by TH2, this anagram is possibly a reply by Anne Boleyn to Wyatt’s “What word is that that changeth not though it be turned,” – the answer is ANNA. Thus, the first and fourth letters of the first two lines must be interchanged to decipher the anagram, which reads, “a lemmen, amene, ah I save dese, I ama yours, an.” This anagram might suggest allegiances between various members of the manuscript’s coterie and those on the periphery. Anne Boleyn’s mottos are mentioned in some verses: H8’s transcription of Wyatt’s poem “Ye know my herte my ladye dere” (73v) contains Boleyn’s motto “Me and Myne,”[1] and “Grudge on who liste this ys my lott” (78v) also contains an earlier motto of Boleyn’s from her time at the Burgundian court.
Works Cited
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