Physician, Amorous Squire and Gentlewoman
Physician and squire.
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Dethe to the Phisician
Maister of phisik / whiche [o]n ȝowre vryne
So loke and gase / & stare a-ȝenne the sunne
For al ȝowre crafte / & studie of medicyne
Al the practik / & science that ȝe cunne
Ȝowre lyues cours / so ferforthe ys I-runne
Aȝeyne my myght / ȝowre crafte mai not endure
For al the golde / that ȝe ther-bi haue wonne
Good leche is he / that can hym self recure.
ȝowre vryne: your urine
look, gaze and stare against the sun
leche: physician (leech)
The Phecissian answereth
Ful longe a-gon / that I vn-to phesike
Sette my witte / and my diligence
In speculatif / & also in practike
To gete a name / thurgh myn excellence
To fynde oute / a-ȝens pestilence
Preseruatifes / to staunche hit & to fyne
But I dar saie / shortli in sentence
A-ȝens dethe / is worth no medicyne.
in theory and in practice
thurgh: through
hit: it, fyne: end
Dethe to the amerous Squyere
Ȝe that be Jentel / so fresshe & amerous
Of ȝeres ȝonge / flowryng in ȝowre grene age
Lusti fre of herte / and eke desyrous
Ful of deuyses / and chaunge yn ȝowre corage
Plesaunt of porte / of loke & [of] visage
But al shal turne / in to asshes dede
For al beaute / is but a feynte ymage
Whiche steleth a-wai / or folkes can take hede.
eke: also
The Squyer answereth
Allas allas / I can now no socoure
A-ȝeyns dethe / for my selfe prouyde
Adieu of ȝowthe / the lusti fressh floure
Adieu veynglorie / [of bewte and of pride]
Adieu al seruyse / of the god cupide
Adieu my ladyes / so fresshe so wel be-seyne
For a-ȝeyne dethe / no thynge mai abide
And wyndes grete / gon doune with litel reyne
Dethe to the Gentilwoman amerous
Come forthe Maistresse / of ȝeres ȝonge & grene
Whiche holde ȝowre self / of beaute souereyne
As feire as ȝe / was sum tyme pollicene
Penelope / and the quene Eleyne
Ȝitte on this daunce / thei wenten bothe tweyne
And so shul ȝe / for al ȝowre straungenesse
Though daunger longe / yn loue hathe lad ȝow reyne
A-rested is / ȝowre chaunge of dowblenesse.
sum tyme: formerly; Polyxena: youngest daughter of King Priam of Troy
ȝitte: yet
The Jentilwoman answereth
O cruel dethe / that sparest noon a-state
To olde and ȝonge / thow arte indefferente
To my beaute / thou haste I-seide checke-mate
So hasti is / thi mortal Jugemente
For yn my ȝowthe / this was myn entente
To my seruyce / many a man to a lured
But she is a fole / shortli yn sentemente
That in her beaute / is to moche assured.
ȝowthe: youth
fole: fool
Physician with a urine glass from Lübeck.
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Berner Totentanz, the physician.
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The doctor is always portrayed with a urine glass, which he holds up
against the sun to check for diseases.
When Death speaks of ȝowre vryne, it makes you wonder
if it's the physicians own urine that is being investigated.
Notice how Death in Paris (at the top of this page) is tugging at the doctor's dress in the crotch area. The picture to the right is from the dance of death
in Bern (Switzerland), where the doctors grasps his own crotch. Maybe to show the source of the urine sample.
Compare with the physician in Holbein's dance of death
and Holbein's great dance of death.
Simon Vostre: l'amoureuse
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The loving noblewoman was — like the other women — added by Lydgate.
It's true that in Paris there was a
l'amoureuse, as a sort of replica of
"l'amoureux", the male suitor,
but the women's dance was a later invention.
The oldest datable manuscript with the women's dance is from 1482.
The Parisian "l'amoureuse" is a more ambiguous character,
who in the dialogue is scolded for being a prostitute,
while Lydgate obviously thought of his
"Gentilwoman amerous" as the female counterpart of
"the amerous Squyere".
Medieval dances of death
St. Paul's, London
Physician, squire & gentlewoman
