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"I syng of a mayden" (sometimes titled "As Dewe in Aprille") is a Middle English lyric poem or carol of the 15th century celebrating the Annunciation and the Virgin Birth of Jesus. It has been described as one of the most admired short vernacular English poems of the late Middle Ages.〔Laura Saetveit Miles, (The Annunciation as Model of Meditation: Stillness, Speech and Transformation in Middle English Drama and Lyric ) in ''Marginilia'', Vol. 2 – 2004–2005 Cambridge Yearbook (Cambridge, 2005).〕 Written by an anonymous hand, the text is now only to be found in the Sloane Manuscript 2593, a collection of medieval lyrics now held in the British Library, although contemporary sources suggest it was well known in its day. Originally intended to be sung, no evidence of the work's musical setting survives, and since its rediscovery and popularisation it has formed the basis for a number of modern choral and vocal works. ==Analysis== The work has been described by Laura Saetveit Miles, a Yale University researcher of medieval manuscripts, as "one of the most admired fifteenth-century Middle English lyrics () offers, within a deceptively simple form, an extremely delicate and haunting presentation of Mary (the 'mayden / þat is makeles') and her conception of Christ ('here sone')".〔 Primarily, the text celebrates the Annunciation of Mary as described in Luke 1:26, but also widely references concepts from the Old Testament.〔 Michael Steffes of University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point notes that "'I syng of a mayden' is a very quiet and very beautiful meditation on the inward aspects of the Annunciation, on the immediate consequences of Mary's acceptance of Gabriel's message."〔 Michael Steffes, ''"(As dewe in Aprylle": I syng of a mayden and the liturgy )', ''Medium Aevum'', Spring 2002.〕 The concept of the choice of Mary is an important subtlety in the text. Derek Pearsall writes: :A brain and a subtle ear has gone into the making of this poem...celebrating the mystery of Christ's conception. Dew falling on grass, flower and spray (traditional imagery, deriving from OT texts such as Psalms 72:6) suggests ease, grace and delicacy generally (not progressive stages of insemination). The emphasis on Mary's freedom of choice, at the moment of the annunciation, is theologically strictly proper.〔Derek Pearsall, Introductory note to ''Chaucer to Spenser: An Anthology'' (Oxford: OUP, 1999) ISBN 978-0-631-19839-0, 387.〕 According to Miles, despite a celebratory opening, "Mary's physical stillness as proof of her virginity remains the poet's priority." As a result, the poet repeats the phrase "He cam also stylle" in three of the five verses. "Stylle" had several implications – the stillness of the conception of Mary and of the birth of Jesus Christ.〔 The poem is written from a first person point of view, and contains five quatrains. Below is the text in both its original Middle English, with spelling intact, and a modern translation. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「I syng of a mayden」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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