The Testament of Cresseid is a narrative poem written by Robert Henryson sometime in the 15th-century. The poem was translated into modern English by Irish poet Seamus Heaney, in 2009.
The tale starts with Cresseid being banished by her lover, Diomedes. Angry at her cruel mistreatment, she speaks ill of the Gods, Cupid and Venus, who punish her for her blasphemy. Cresseid is cursed with leprosy and is stripped of her sight and beauty. Falling from the grace of society, she is now considered a ‘fallen’ woman and begs to make ends meet. A chance encounter with her ex-lover, Troilus, has her questioning herself and, as she is dying, she writes her testament.
Henryson seems to take pity on Cresseid’s unfortunate life, "I have pietie thow suld fall sic mischance!", and he argues that she faced injustice at the hands of a harsh society. He argues that Cresseid would have been considered a pagan in her time, hence her cruel punishment at the hands of the God’s for her overtly sexual nature. Henryson seemed to have sympathy for women of Cresseid's time, and questioned whether their treatment by society was ethical.
Peter McDonald, of The Guardian, stated that whilst "Henryson's poem is now relatively little known…The poem is a masterpiece”.
