"I Have a Young Sister"I have a yong suster Fer beyonden the se, Many be the drowryes That she sente me. She sente me the cherye Withouten ony ston; And so she dede the dove Withouten ony bon. She sente me the brer Withouten ony rinde; She bad me love my lemman Withoute longing. How shuld ony cherye Be withoute ston? And how shuld ony dove Be withoute bon? How shuld ony brer Been withoute rinde? How shuld I love myn lemman Withoute longing? Whan the cherye was a flowr Than hadde it non ston. When the dove was an ey Than hadde it non bon. When the brer was onbred Than hadde it non rind. Whan the maiden hath that she loveth She is without longing.

I couldn't even begin to tell you. I realize that the spelling errors and writing aren't yours, but it's so poorly written that I'm having a hard time even determining what words the author is even saying, much less what he/she means.

From notbybreadalone.blogspot.com --

I have a young sister
I have a young sister, far beyond the sea
Many be the druries that she sent me

She sent me the cherry without any stone
And so she did the dove without any bone

She sent me the briar without any rind
She bade me love my leman without longing

How should any cherry be without stone
And how should any dove be without bone

How should any briar be without rind
How should any love my leman without longing

When the cherry was a flower then it had no stone
When the dove was an egg then had it no bone

When the briar was unbred then it had no rind
When the maiden hath that she loveth then she is without longing

ANON (circa early 15th century English song)

Druries: love-gifts
Leman: sweetheart
Unbred: unborn

One of my favourite poems, so replete with sisterly love and understanding of love requited. I found it in a book of poems which a friend gave to me of poems that had been displayed in the London Underground.

Ah, well that version definitely makes more sense, and it's lovely. :)

This is a medieval English lyric from around 1430 and, as such is written in an older form of the English language. It is a poem of unrequited love but also has a Christian overtone related to the annunciation, and could be interpreted as not only sexual but spiritual longing. It is related to the Cherry Tree Carol and contributed to the song "I Gave My Love a Cherry."

Well, I have a test on medieval poetry tomorrow and we'd probably be analizying this poem... I still don't get the point... did she send him a flower, an egg and a briar? What about the lover or LEMMAN he/she mentioned? I need to clarufy these issues... Thanks in advance..