The Function of "O Man Unkynde" in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 330, and Trinity College Cambridge, MS O.2.53

Abstract

abstract:This article examines the function of the fifteenth-century Middle English penitential lyric "O Man Unkynde" in two manuscripts. This lyric, which appears in five manuscripts, asks readers to "see" Christ's wounds. In three cases, this instruction is fulfilled by the presence of an accompanying image. In the two manuscripts with which I am concerned, the lyric appears without any complementary illustration. It discusses the way in which this absence of a visual referent might have altered the way in which the lyric was read by the readers of these two codices. In both instances, it argues that the interaction between the lyric and the other texts in the manuscripts suggests that it was regarded as a tool that might be used in the preparation of the reader for the sacrament of confession, and that inward visualization was key to the use of the lyric in these contexts.