"Whan I see on rode" anonymous Middle English lyric

Whan I see on rode
Jhesu my lemman,
And biside him stonden
Marie and Iohan,
And his rigge i-swongen,
And his side i-stongen
For the love of man:
Wel owe I to wepe
And synnes forlete,
If I of love can,
If I of love can,
If I of love can.




Notes [from Stevick]:

5. rigge    back

My glosses:

rode     cross
lemman     lover
i-swongen     scourged
i-stongen      pierced
owe      ought
forlete     abandon
can     know


Source of the text - One Hundred Middle English Lyrics, Revised Edition, edited by Robert D. Stevick. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1994, p. 22.

TJB: Cross-eyed piety; hypotaxis with a great dismount. How often does our poet see Jesus on the cross? Why don’t Mary & John stand beside the poet?