"Robene and Makyne" is a short poem by the 15th-century
Scottish makar Robert Henryson. It is an early written example of Scottish ''
pastourelle,'' derived from the
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
stanza form.
Origins and structure
Robene and
Makyne (also spelt ''Mawkin'') are stock names for
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...
characters, a
shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...
and a country maiden.
Henryson presents the two characters in the sparest of terms and much in the poem has to be inferred. Strictly speaking, nothing in the text verifies precisely who Makyne might be. In the first half of the poem, she declares longstanding love for Robene, but he is indifferent to her feelings. Minds quickly change and in the closing arc the hopeless declaration is from Robene. This simple dramatic reversal comes at the
golden section. Makyne's rejection of Robene is final.
Henryson's writing suggests subtexts around the issue of
chastity
Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...
, a material issue in the late medieval Church and of possible relevance in the poet's own life . The spareness allows different and perhaps dissonant readings to be simultaneously present, but any "
allegorical" implications are present without pretentiousness or loss of authentic feeling and the poem stands as a simple
comic creation with a surprisingly wide range of emotion and intriguing
tonal ambiguity .
The closure, peculiar in its effect, evokes feelings of emptiness and a sense of
musical return.
["I do not know which to prefer,
:The beauty of inflections
:Or the beauty of innuendoes,
:The blackbird whistling
:Or just after."
: Wallace Stevens, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird."]
Extract
Stanzas 12 and 13 of "Robene and Makyne," where the first stanza is spoken by Makyne, followed by Robene:
:"Robene, thow hes
hard soung and
say
:In
gestis and storeis auld,
:The man that will nocht quhen he may
:Sall haif nocht quhen he wald.
:I pray to Jesu every day
:
Mot eik thair
cairis cauld
:That first
preiss Preiss is a Germanic surname, and may refer to:
* Ferdinand Preiss (1882–1943), German sculptor
* Balthazar Preiss (1765-1850), Austrian naturalist
* Ludwig Preiss (1811–1883), German naturalist
* Wolfgang Preiss (1910–2002), German actor ...
with
the
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
to play
:Be
firth, forest or
fawld."
:"Makyne, the nicht is soft and dry,
:The wedder is warme and fair,
:And the
grene woid rycht
neir us by
:
To walk attour allquhair;
:Thair ma na
janglour us espy,
:That is to
lufe contrair;
:Thairin, Makyne, bath ye and I
:Unsene we ma repair."
See also
* "
The Baffled Knight"
* "
The Hireling Shepherd"
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
"Tom Scott on Henryson's Short Works" by the 20th-century Scottish poet and critic
Tom Scott (1918–1995)
{{Henryson
15th-century poems
Scottish poems
Works by Robert Henryson