TR1. 36 Ǎnd bídděth ék fǒr hém thǎt bén děspéirěd
TR1. 37 Ǐn lóve, thǎt néverě nýl rěcóverěd bé,
TR1. 38 Ǎnd ék fǒr hém thǎt fálsly̌ bén ǎpéirěd
TR1. 39 Thorǔgh wíkkěd tóngěs, bé ǐt hé ǒr shé;
TR1. 40 Thǔs bídděth Gód, fǒr hís běnígnǐté,
TR1. 41 Sǒ gráunte hěm sóone ǒwt óf thǐs wórld tǒ pácě,
TR1. 42 Thǎt bén děspéirěd óut ǒf Lóvěs grácě.

Line Information

• Differences among the manuscripts and editions:
• English translations (Windeatt: 1998): And also pray for those who are in despair in love and will never recover, and also for those who are unjustly injured by malicious tell-tales, whether male or female; and so pray to God, of his goodness, to grant those who are in despair of Love’s grace to pass soon out of this world.
• Japanese translations (Sasamoto: 2012): さらに、決して元に戻らない恋に絶望している人びとのためにもお祈りください。男であれ女であれ、意地悪な言葉にひどく傷つけられている人びとのためにも。神の慈愛のために、神にこうお折りください、〈愛の神〉の患みが得られず絶望している恋人たちにはこの世からすぐに立ち去ることをお許しくださるようにと。
• Chinese translations (Fang: 1956): 为那些失恋无以自拔的人们，也为那些受了饶舌陷害的男男女女，祈告上帝请他恩恕，他们已被爱神抛弃，彷徨无措，还不如让他们提早脱离这个人世。

Word Information

• Etymology: From wikke, adj.
• Addresser: Narrator
• Addressee: N/A
• Adjectives with which juxtaposed: N/A
• Counterpart in its source (Fil): N/A
• Noun(s) (NPs) modified: human beings or speech (tongues)
• Attributive/ Predicative: attributive

Information in Previous Studies

• OED: Not quoted
• MED: Not quoted

• Commented in other previous works:
• Windeatt (2003: 4): wikked: malicious
• Fisher (1989): N/A
• Benson (1987): N/A
• Davis et al. (1979): malicious (s.v. wikked, adj.)
• Donaldson (1975): N/A
• Baugh (1963): N/A

Possible Definitions

malicious

Comments from the Editor

The narrator proclaims his role as a servant of Love (1.15), and in this stanza, he offers prayers for various lovers. The apprehension of gossip, as noted by Windeatt (1998: 155), is ‘a motif of medieval courtly literature’.