Sample Analysis Paper on the Reverdie
Introduction
The reverdie is a type of poem that poets write with the aim of celebrating the upcoming spring season, which is expected to light up the land after winter (Sayce 67). These poems praise the spring and narrate the hopes that come with it, bearing in mind that it follows a cold, dark, and inactive winter. The poems create a picture of what will happen during the season while also condemning the cold winter and its destructive effects (Sayce 68). Examples of such poems include Spring and All by William Carlos William and Lenten ys Come with Love to Toune among others. Reverdie indeed is a truly mood-creating mode of poetry, which the author generously fills with joy, optimism, and faith. The paper uses the poem Lenten ys Come as a bright example of this kind of poetry.
Lenten ys Come
This is a poem that praises the coming of spring and the expectation it brings along; additionally, the poem narrates the difficult times experienced during the winter (Dane 33). The poet tells that the birds start singing and bring love to the town, increasing the intensity of their melody as winter is fading away. Further, the poet writes that the singing is as a result of shading of their winter woe; what is more, trees are blossoming producing beautiful flowers (Dane 33). The poet describes spring as a beautiful woman growing with pride. An example of reverdie is shown below:
All the woe are gone with the wind
The bubbling of pool water is a reality
Long gone is the winter cold
Long gone are the leafless trees
Long gone is the ice-carpeted playground
Welcome back the long-awaited spring
Like a woman in her skinny garments
Shows her beautiful complexion
So is the rising sun
And the moonlight enlightening the land
Stamping the letter to introduce the spring
Works Cited
Dane, Joseph A. “Page Layout and Textual Autonomy in MS Harley 2253: ‘Lenten Ys Come with Loue to Toune’.” Medium Aevum 68(1),1999, pp. 32-41.
Sayce, Olive. “French Reverdies, the Carmina Burana, the Cambridge Songs, and the Harley lyrics, Culminating in a close reading of ‘Foebus Abierat’, a Breath-Taking Eleventh-Century Latin Love-Vision Narrated by a Woman Which Discovers.” Notes and Queries, 1992.