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Lyke-Wake Dirge

The "Lyke-Wake Dirge" is a stellar example of the Kyrielle—a poem with a refrain or repeating line. It can also be considered an early ballad or carol.

compiled by Michael R. Burch

Lyke-Wake Dirge
Anonymous Medieval Lyric

This ae nighte, this ae nighte,
Every nighte and alle,
Fire and fleet and candle-lighte,
And Christe receive thy saule.

When thou from hence away art past,
Every nighte and alle,
To Whinny-muir thou com'st at last;
And Christe receive thy saule.

If ever thou gavest hosen and shoon,
Every nighte and alle,
Sit thee down and put them on;
And Christe receive thy saule.

If hosen and shoon thou ne'er gav'st nane
Every nighte and alle,
The whinnes sall prick thee to the bare bane;
And Christe receive thy saule.

From Whinny-muir when thou may'st pass,
Every nighte and alle,
To Brig o' Dread thou com'st at last;
And Christe receive thy saule.

From Brig o' Dread when thou may'st pass,
Every nighte and alle,
To Purgatory fire thou com'st at last;
And Christe receive thy saule.

If ever thou gavest meat or drink,
Every nighte and alle,
The fire sall never make thee shrink;
And Christe receive thy saule.

If meat or drink thou ne'er gav'st nane,
Every nighte and alle,
The fire will burn thee to the bare bane;
And Christe receive thy saule.

This ae nighte, this ae nighte,
Every nighte and alle,
Fire and fleet and candle-lighte,
And Christe receive thy saule.

The Kyrielle is a poem with a refrain—a repeating word or line. That makes a Kyrielle similar to a villanelle, one of the more popular English poetic forms. Here are some more advanced definitions ...

Encyclopedia Britannica: "A French verse form in short, usually octosyllabic, rhyming couplets. The couplets are often paired in quatrains and are characterized by a refrain that is sometimes a single word and sometimes the full second line of the couplet or the full fourth line of the quatrain." 

The Oxford English Dictionary is not kind to the Kyrielle: "1. A long rigamarole ex. 1653. Urquhart. Rabelais I. XXII. With him he mumbled all his kirielle and dunsical breborons. 2. A kind of Fr. verse divided into little equal couplets and ending with the same word which serves for the refrain. ex. 1887 Sat. Rev. 3 Dec. 770/1. Among the verse forms the kyrielle of which we have three specimens, is not a form at all, and ought to have been discarded." But might this be British discrimination against French poetic forms?

While the kyrielle is not as common as the sonnet or villanelle, it has been used to create some very moving, power-packed poems ...

A very brief history of the kyrielle: The kyrielle is an ancient French poetic form originally used by Troubadours in the early Renaissance. It it is related to the Kyrie Eleison ("Lord, have mercy"), a Christian prayer with a repeated refrain. The prayer dates back at least to the sixth century, as it was mentioned by Pope Gregory the Great (540-608). In the Roman Rite liturgy, the variant Christe eleison ("Christ, have mercy") is used. The earliest Anglo Saxon or Old English poem with a refrain may be "Wulf and Eadwacer," circa 990. The Kyrie Eleison prayer was being recited in English by 1549, and it appeared in the Book of Common Prayer published in 1552, but oral versions could be considerably older. William Dunbar's poem "Lament for the Makaris (Makers)," written circa 1505, bears a strong resemblance to the Kyrielle, as does the "Corpus Christi Carol," which dates to 1504 or earlier. Thomas Nashe wrote a powerful English Kyrielle, "A Litany in Time of Plague" no later than 1592 because it appeared in his play Summer's Last Will and Testament, which was published that year. The haunting "Lyke-Wake Dirge" with its terrifying refrain "and Christe receive thy saule (soul)" was published in 1606, but is believed to be much older. More recently, the phrase can be found in the titles of the John Berryman poem "Kyrie Eleison" and the Mr. Mister song "Kyrie."

Examples of the Kyrielle and Kyrielle-like poems and songs: "Kyrielle" by John Payne, "A Litany in Time of Plague" by Thomas Nashe, "A Lenten Hymn" by Thomas Campion, "Lament for the Makaris" by William Dunbar, "Corpus Christi Carol" by Anonymous, "Lyke-Wake Dirge" by Anonymous, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci: A Ballad" by John Keats, "Oh Don't You Wish (Your Dreams Were True)" by Anonymous

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