About the Song
“Mirie it is while sumer ilast / with fugheles song…”
Translation? Roughly: “Merry it is while summer lasts, with the song of birds…”
But oh, don't let the first line fool you — it’s not all daisies and larks.
This short lyric quickly turns wistful, lamenting the cold winds of winter, and the sorrow of being away from one’s beloved. It reads like the medieval equivalent of a rainy-day breakup song. Romantic, raw, and entirely relatable — even 800 years later.
Why It Matters:
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Language: It’s a beautiful snapshot of early Middle English, transitional between Old English and Chaucer's more recognizable dialect.
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Emotionally evocative: The song captures a deep human truth — how fleeting joy can feel when love or warmth is lost.
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Music history: It’s among the first glimpses of English lyric poetry that was intended to be sung, making it a cornerstone in the study of medieval music and literature.
Fun Fact:
The only known version of “Mirie it is” survives on a single fragment of parchment, discovered in Oxford — written on the back of a Latin religious text, no less. That’s right, this secular cry of the heart had to hide behind a hymn to survive the centuries.
Lyrics
Original Middle English (c. 13th century):
Mirie it is while sumer ilast
With fugheles song;
Oc nu neheth windes blast
And weder strong.
Ei, ei! What this nicht is long!
And ich with wel michel wrong
Soregh and murn and fast.
Modern English Translation:
Merry it is while summer lasts,
With birds in joyful song;
But now draws near the winter’s blast
And weather fierce and strong.
Ah, ah! How this night is long!
And I, with heavy wrong,
Sorrow, mourn, and fast.
