William Dunbar’s “Off Februar the fyiftene nycht”, better known by the title given to it by editors as “The Dance of the Sevin Deidly Synnis”, was probably composed in 1507 for the entertainment of the court of king James IV of Scots. It is upon this poem and two others (“The Thrissil and the Rois” and “The Golden Targe”) that Dunbar’s reputation as an outstanding lyric poet was re-established in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The earliest extant record of the poem is the section preserved with three other Dunbar poems in the Asloan manuscript (1515-25; NLS MS 16500). This manuscript may have been written during the life of Dunbar, or alternatively shortly after his death. The Bannatyne manuscript (1568; NLS MS. 1.1.6) provides what appears to be the most
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Citation: Davis, Graeme. "Off Februar the fyiftene nycht". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 November 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38796, accessed 21 November 2024.]
