Upon a Morning of May, In the Morning Grey

DESCRIPTION: "Weep no more for me, sweetheart, Weep no more for me, As sharp a dart has pierced my heart That you should mourn for me." The singer walks in a pleasant garden and is shocked to see someone, all in black, whose flesh is leaden
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1700 (British Library, MS. Harley 1317)
KEYWORDS: travel colors clothes love MiddleEnglish
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greene-TheEarlyEnglishCarols, #462, p. 312, "Apon a mornyng of May" (1 text)
Brown/Robbins-IndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse, #3836.5
DigitalIndexOfMiddleEnglishVerse #6123
MANUSCRIPT: London, British Library, MS. Harley 1317, folio 94
NOTES [258 words]: When I came across this in Greene, my first thought upon reading the chorus was that it sounded very folk-like. Then I read the verse and found it not folk-like at all. Ordinarily I would not have indexed such a piece -- it occurs in only one copy, and that in a manuscript which contains only two pieces of poetry, although both are "folky." But Greene (p. 450) also thinks the chorus sounds like a folk song. So, in effect, I'm indexing the chorus, with the rest of the song along for a ride.
Several hands were involved in the writing of MS. Harley 1318 (generally dated c. 1600, and it cannot be from before 1509 since contains a copy of a letter from Henry VIII) -- one wrote the main text and three others added odds and ends. This poem/song is the only item written by this particular scribe.
The first publication of this suggested that it was incomplete (there are only three stanzas), and I think this is true: Is the man (?) in black, with leaden face, ill, or suffering the effects of lost love, or something else? Greene thinks it might be either religious or a secular tale. I'm reminded, in a number of regards, of Chaucer's Book of the Duchess -- the singer wandering (in Chaucer's case, in a dream, but still, wandering), a May morning, meeting a man in black, and finding that man very unhappy. But I have no reason to suspect dependence; some of those are commonplaces of dream visions. (Partly because of Chaucer, to be sure!)
I'm surprised the piece hasn't been printed more often. Even the non-folk part is intriguing. - RBW
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File: MSApAMoM

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