HARLEY LYRICS, THE

(ca. 1300–1350)

The Harley Lyrics are a collection of 32 MIDDLE ENGLISH lyric poems contained in the British Museum MS. Harley 2253. The manuscript was produced in the West Midlands (most likely Hereford or Leominster) some time in the first half of the 14th century, though the poems themselves appear to be from various parts of England. In addition to the lyrics, the manuscript contains a variety of material, including Anglo-Norman lyrics, SAINTS’ LIVES, and FABLIAUX, as well as Latin verse and prose, mainly of a religious nature. The 32 English poems are the earliest collection of lyrics in Middle English assembled in one manuscript, and contain more than half of the extant secular lyrics from prior to the 15th century.They include some of the most admired short poems of the English Middle Ages.

The collection comprises a wide variety of poems gathered from several authors and forms. They show both a native English and a French influence. Their prosody displays remarkable range, from complex rhymed stanzas to ALLITERATIVE VERSE to TAIL-RHYME stanzas. In subject matter they show no less diversity. There are political poems, such as the one on the Battle of Lewes (1264) and one on the famous Battle of Bannockburn (1314). There are love songs, including the well-knownALYSOUN, which praises the beauty of the speaker’s lady, and the equally admiredLENTEN IS COME WITH LOVE TO TOUNE, which is essentially aREVERDIErejoicing in the spring that brings love to the world. Another famous Harley lyric,Blow, Northern Wind, uses the foul weather of winter to convey the feelings of the lover who cannot win his lady.

These and other poems in the manuscript show the influence of the COURTLY LOVE conventions popular in continental lyric poetry of the time. There are also religious lyrics, including prayers and songs of praise to the Virgin, as well as a kind of love song to Christ calledSuete Iesu, King of blysse. Finally, there are poems that defy classification, like the humorousMan in the Moonthat takes a comic look at the mythic creature of the heavens. Considered as a whole, the lyrics are lively and fresh, rising above the conventionality of much continental verse, yet the lyrics also show an aesthetic sophistication suggesting a highly literate group of authors.

Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford (1661–1724), apparently acquired the manuscript shortly before his death. It passed to his son, Edward Harley, the second Earl, who was a well-known book collector and a friend of Alexander Pope. When the second earl died, his collection of 7,639 manuscripts was sold to the British nation, and became the cornerstone of the manuscript collection in the British Library. Of these, the best-known and arguably the most important manuscript is number 2253, because of its invaluable collection of lyrics.

■ Brook, G. L., ed.The Harley Lyrics: The Middle English Lyrics of Ms.Harley 2253. 4th ed. Manchester, U.K.:Manchester University Press, 1968.

■Facsimile of British Museum MS.Harley 2253. With an introduction by N. R. Ker. Early English Text Society, o.s. 255. London: Published for the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1965.

■ Ransom, Daniel J.Poets at Play: Irony and Parody in the Harley Lyrics. Norman, Okla.: Pilgrim Books, 1985.