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| Rosa 'English Elegance' June 7, 2014 |
Roman de la
Rose, Illustrated manuscript c.1398
MS 169 Fitzwilliam Museum
Originally written circa 1230 by Guillaume
de Lorris,
When I the age of 20 had attained –
The age when Love controls a young man’s
heart –
As I was wont, one night I went to bed
And soundly slept. But there came a dream
Which much delighted me, it was so sweet...
Le Roman de
la Rose, lines 14ff.
The Roman de la Rose
was completed (de Lorris wrote the first 4058 lines) by Jean De Meun who added
17724 more between 1268 and 1285
This much more I’ll
tell you: at the end,
when I dislodged the
bud, a little seed
I spilled just in the
centre, as I spread
The petals to admire
their loveliness,
Searching the calyx to
its inmost depths
Lines 21717 - 21.