Poetry Thursday - something medieval

(via)

Following on from yesterday's involvement with medieval paintings, here's a short medieval poem -

Whan the turuf is thy tour,

And thy pit is thy bour,

Thy fel and thy whitë throtë

Shullen wormës to notë.

What helpëth thee thennë

Al the worildë wennë?

 The explanation given is: " ‘Whan the turuf is thy tour’ (i.e. when the turf is your tower) is a memento mori lyric reminding the listener or reader that s/he will die. When the grass lies over you, your skin and white throat shall (‘Shullen’) be good for worms. What use then are all the world’s pleasures? We’re guessing this was an early seduction lyric addressed to a woman (‘thy whitë throtë’): the poet is basically trying to persuade the woman to go to bed with him (or so we reckon)."

Read nine more short medieval poems at interestingliterature.com