Poetry Friday: Wolcum Yol

Wolcum Yol, thu mery man, in worchepe of this holy day.

Wol be thu, hevene kyng,
Wolcum, born in on morwenyng,
Wolcum, for home we xal syng,
Wolcum Yol.

Wolcum be ye, Stefne and Jon,
Wolcum, Innocentes everychon,
Wolcum, Thomas marter on,
Wolcum Yol.

Wolcum be ye, good newe yere,
Wolcum, tweltye day both in fere
Wolcum, seyntes lef and dere,
Wolcum Yol.

Wolcum be ye, Candylmesse,
Wolcum be ye, qwyn of blys,
Wolcum bothe to more and lesse,
Wolcum Yol.

Wolcum be ye that arn here,
Wolcum, alle, and mak good chere,
Wolcum, alle, another yere,
Wolcum Yol.

From the MS. Sloane, no. 2593, fol. 79, ro, late 15th century. Text appears in Thomas Wright's Specimens of Old Christmas Carols, Selected from Manuscripts and Printed Books (London: The Percy Society, 1841) and online at this webpage. I have exchanged the letter y for the letter yogh.

P.S. Two weeks ago, I posted Martin Walls's poem "Reformation." If you enjoyed that poem, you might be interested in the collection that contains it, Commonwealth. Especially since Mr. Walls is a kind supporter of poetry blogging, it might be nice for some of us to support him, too.