I Syng of A Mayden - Analysis

Analysis

The work has been described by Laura Saetveit Miles, a Yale University researcher of medieval manuscripts, as "one of the most admired fifteenth-century Middle English lyrics offers, within a deceptively simple form, an extremely delicate and haunting presentation of Mary (the 'mayden / þat is makeles') and her conception of Christ ('here sone')". Primarily, the text celebrates the Annunciation of Mary as described in Luke 1:26, but also widely references concepts from the Old Testament. Michael Steffes of University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point notes that "'I syng of a mayden' is a very quiet and very beautiful meditation on the inward aspects of the Annunciation, on the immediate consequences of Mary's acceptance of Gabriel's message." The concept of the choice of Mary is an important subtlety in the text. Derek Pearsall writes:

A brain and a subtle ear has gone into the making of this poem...celebrating the mystery of Christ's conception. Dew falling on grass, flower and spray (traditional imagery, deriving from OT texts such as Psalms 72:6) suggests ease, grace and delicacy generally (not progressive stages of insemination). The emphasis on Mary's freedom of choice, at the moment of the annunciation, is theologically strictly proper.

According to Miles, despite a celebratory opening, "Mary's physical stillness as proof of her virginity remains the poet's priority." As a result, the poet repeats the phrase "He cam also stylle" in three of the five verses. "Stylle" had several implications – the stillness of the conception of Mary and of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The poem is written from a first person point of view, and contains five quatrains. Below is the text in both its original Middle English, with spelling intact, and a modern translation.

Middle English original English modernisation
I syng of a mayden

þat is makeles,
kyng of alle kynges
to here sone che ches.

I sing of a maiden
That is matchless,
King of all kings
For her son she chose.
He came also stylle

þer his moder was
as dew in aprylle,
þat fallyt on þe gras.

He came as still
Where his mother was
As dew in April
That falls on the grass.
He cam also stylle

to his moderes bowr
as dew in aprille,
þat fallyt on þe flour.

He came as still
To his mother's bower
As dew in April
That falls on the flower.
He cam also stylle

þer his moder lay
as dew in Aprille,
þat fallyt on þe spray.;

He came as still
Where his mother lay
As dew in April
That falls on the spray.
Moder & mayden

was neuer non but che –
wel may swych a lady
Godes moder be.

Mother and maiden
There was never, ever one but she;
Well may such a lady
God's mother be.

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