No Room at the Inn, from The York Corpus Christi Pageants

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MaryGod will us guide, full well know ye;
Therefore, Joseph, be of good cheer,
For in this place born will he be
That shall us save from sorrow’s tear*
Both even and morn.
Sir, know ye well the time is near
He will be born.

JosephThen behoves us bide here still,
Here in this same place all this night.
MARYYea, sir, forsooth it is God’s will.
JosephThen would I fain we had some light,
What so befall.
It waxeth right dark unto my sight
And cold withal.

I will go forthwith, and get us light,
And fuel find with me to bring.
MARYAlmighty God govern thee and guide,
As he is sovereign of all thing,
For his great might;
And lend me grace to his praising,*
With my heart right.

[Joseph leaves the stable.]

from The York Corpus Christi Pageants fourteenth century

Simplified for modern readers

Translated from ‘York Plays; The Plays Performed by the Crafts or Mysteries of York on the Day of Corpus Christi’ (1885) edited by Lucy Toulmin Smith (1838-1911). Every attempt has been made to keep as much of the original as possible, including the metre and rhyme scheme. With acknowledgments to ‘York Corpus Christi Plays: The Nativity’ (2011) edited by Clifford Davidson for the University of Rochester, New York, USA, and ‘The York Plays: A Modernisation’ by Chester N. Scoville and Kimberley M. Yates, at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, USA.

* In the original, ‘from sorrows sere’, meaning ‘from various sorrows’.

* In the original, ‘loving’; but in Middle English ‘loving’ meant ‘praising’, from Old English ‘lofung’, ‘praise’.

Précis

Mary recommended leaving everything in God’s capable hands, and reminded Joseph that there was little time for changes of mind. Joseph, resigned to spending the night in a tumbledown stable, then plodded out to fetch candles; but Mary, after seeing him off, turned her attention to readying herself for whatever lay ahead.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Précis

Questions for Critics

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