The Garment Of Good Ladies

Robert Henryson 1425 – 1500



Would my good Lady love me best,
And work after my will,
I should ane garment goodliest
Gar mak' her body till.

Of high honour should be her hood
Upon her head to wear,
Garnish'd with governance so good
No deeming should her deir.

Her sark should be, her body next,
Of chastity so white;
With shame and dread together mix'd,
The same should be perfyt.

Her kirtle should be of clear Constance,
Lasit with lesum love ,
The maillies of continuance,
For never to remove.

Her gown should be of goodliness,
Well ribbon'd with renown,
Purfill'd with pleasure in ilk place,
Furred with fine fashion.

Her belt should be of benignity
About her middle meet;
Her mantle of humility,
To thole baith wind and wet.

Her hat should be of fair having,
And her tippet of truth,
Her patelet of good pansing,
Her hats-ribbon of ruth.

Her sleeves should be of esperance,
To keep her from despair;
Her gloves of the good governance,
To hide her fingers fair.

Her shoon should be of sickerness,
In sign that she nought slide;
Her hose of honesty, I guess,
I should for her provide.

Would she put on this garment gay,
I durst swear by my seill,
That she wore never green nor gray
That set her half so weil.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:06 min read
120

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD XXXA EXEX EXXX AXXX FGFG EDED EHXH IBIX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,164
Words 219
Stanzas 10
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Henryson

Robert Henryson was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c. 1460–1500. Counted among the Scots makars, he lived in the royal burgh of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in the Northern Renaissance at a time when the culture was on a cusp between medieval and renaissance sensibilities. Little is known of his life, but evidence suggests that he was a teacher who had training in law and the humanities, that he had a connection with Dunfermline Abbey and that he may also have been associated for a period with Glasgow University. His poetry was composed in Middle Scots at a time when this had become a state language. It is one of the most important bodies of work in the canon of early Scottish literature. His writing consists mainly of narrative works highly inventive in their development of story-telling techniques. He generally achieved a canny balance of humour and high seriousness which is often multi-layered in its effects. This is especially so in his Morall Fabillis, in which he expresses a consistent but complex world view that seems standard, on the surface, vis a vis the major ruling power of the church, while containing critical and questioning elements. more…

All Robert Henryson poems | Robert Henryson Books

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