lēt-en, pt. t. leet; slēp-en, pt. t. sleep; blōwen, grōwen, knōw-en, pt. t. blew, &c.; wēp-en, pt. t. weep; goon, pp. y-goon, y-go, 286. Compare the complete list of strong M.E. verbs, in Specimens of English, ed. Morris and Skeat, pt. 1. Anomalous Verbs. Among these note the following. Been, ben, are. Imper. pl. beeth, beth, be ye. Pp. been, ben, been. Can, I know; pl. connen; pt. t. coude, knew, could: pp. couth, known. Dar, I dare; pt. t. dorste. May, I may; pl. mowen; subjunctive, mowe, pl. mowen. Moot, I must, I may, he must, he may; pl. mōten, mōte; pt. t. mōste. Oghte, ought. Shal, pl. shullen, shul; pt. t. sholde. Witen, to know; woot, wōt, I know, he knows; pl. witen (correctly; but Chaucer also has ye woot); pt. t. wiste, knew; pp. wist. Wil, wol, wole, will; pl. wolen, wilen; pt. t. wolde. Thar, needs; pt. t. thurte. Negatives. Nam, for ne am, am not; nis, for ne is, not; nas, was not; nere, were not; nadde, had not; nil, will not; nolde, would not; noot, I know not, he knows not; niste, knew not; ne... ne, neither .. nor, 603. Double negatives, 70, 71, &c. ... Adverbs. End in -e, as dep-e, deeply; or -ly, as subtil-ly; or -e-ly, as trew-e-ly, truly; or -en, -e, as bifor-en, bifor-e; or in -es, as thrỹ-es, thrice. Ther, where, 547; ther as, where that, 34. Prepositions. End in -en, -e, -es; &c. Til, for to, before a vowel. With adjoins its verb; 791. METRE. Chaucer was our first great metrist, and enriched our literature with several forms of metre which had not been previously employed in English. These he borrowed chiefly from Guillaume de Machault, who made use of stanzas of seven, eight, and nine lines, and even wrote at least one Compleint in the 'heroic' couplet. The metre of four accents, in rimed couplets, had been in use in English long before Chaucer's time; and he adopted it in translating Le Roman de la Rose (the original being in the same metre), in the Book of the Duchesse, and in the House of Fame. The ballad-metre, as employed in the Tale of Sir Thopas, is also older than his time. In fact, this Tale is a burlesque imitation of some of the old Romances. The four-line stanza, in the Proverbes, was likewise nothing new. But he employed the following metres, in English, for the first time. 1. The 8-line stanza, with the rimes arranged in the order ababbcbc; i. e. with the first line (a) riming with the third (a), and so on. Exx. A.B.C.; The Monkes Tale; The Former Age; Lenvoy to Bukton. 16. The same, thrice repeated, with a refrain. Ex. (part of) Fortune; Compleint to Venus; Balade to Rosemounde. 2. The 7-line stanza, with the rimes ababbcc; a favourite metre. Exx. Lyf of Seint Cecyle; Clerkes Tale; Palamon and Arcite; (part of) Compleint to his Lady; An Amorous Compleint; Compleint to Pitè; (part of) Anelida; The Wretched Engendring of Mankind; The Man of Lawes Tale; (part of) The Compleint of Mars; Troilus and Criseyde; Wordes to Adam; (part of) The Parlement of Foules; (parts of) The Canterbury Tales; Lenvoy to Scogan. 26. The same 7-line stanza, thrice repeated, with a refrain. Exx. Against Women Unconstaunt; Compleint to his Purse; Lak of Stedfastnesse; Gentilesse; Truth. Also in the Legend of Good Women, 249-269. 2 c. The 7-line stanza, with the rimes ababbab. Ex. (part of) Fortune. 3. Terza Rima. Only a few lines; in the Compleint to his Lady. 4. The 10-line stanza, aabaabcddc. In the Compleint to his Lady. 5. The 9-line stanza, aabaabbab. Only in Anelida. 5 b. The same, with internal rimes. Only in Anelida. 5 c. The same as 5, but thrice repeated. Only in Womanly Noblesse. 6. Two stanzas of 16 lines each; with the rimes aaabaaab · bbbabbba. Only in Anelida. 7. The 9-line stanza, aabaabbcc. Only in the latter part of the Compleint of Mars. 8. The roundel. In the Parlement of Foules; and Merciless Beautè. 9. The heroic couplet. In the Legend of Good Women and parts of the Canterbury Tales. 10. A 6-line stanza, repeated six times; with the rimes ababcb. Only in the Envoy to the Clerkes Tale. II. A 10-line stanza, aabaabbaab. Only in the Envoy to the Compleint of Venus. 12. A 6-line stanza, ababaa. Only in the Envoy to Womanly Noblesse. 13. A 5-line stanza, aabba. Only in the Envoy to Compleint to his Purse. The following pieces are in prose. The Tale of Melibeus. The Persones Tale. The translation of Boethius, De Consolatione Philosophiae. The Treatise on the Astrolabe. VERSIFICATION. Some lines drop the first syllable, and the first foot contains one syllable only; as: Ging | len in, &c. 170. Many rimes are double, as cloistre, oistre, 181; Rom-e, tó me, 671; non-es, noon is, 523. Always sound final -e at the end of a line. Rimes may be treble, as apothec-dr-i-es, letu-dr-i-es, 425; so at ll. 207, 513, 709. Compare the Grammatical Hints. Caesura. The caesura, or middle pause, allows extra syllables to be preserved. Thus, at l. 293, we have : For him was léver-hav' át his béddes héed. The pause gives time for the -er, of lev-er. Similarly, we may preserve the -er of deliv-er, 84; -e in mor-e, 98; -e in curteisy-e, 132; -ie (=y) in car-ie, 130. With-out-e bak-e met-e- - was nev'r his hous; 343. That no dróp-e- ne fill' upon hir brest; 131. The syllables -er, -en, -el, -ed, before a vowel, or h (in he, &c.), are light, and do not always count in scansion; see 11. 84, 291, 296, 334, &c. Cf. ma | ny a breem | ; 350. Read the lines deliberately, and remember the old pronunciation. Accent. Variable, in some words; cf. miller, 545, with the archaic trisyllabic mil-lér-e, 541. Also, in French words, we have honour, 582; but the archaic honour, 46. Cf. licóur, 3; vertú, 4. PRONUNCIATION. The M.E. pronunciation was widely different from the present, especially in the vowel-sounds. The sounds of the vowels were nearly as in French and Italian. They can be denoted by phonetic invariable symbols, enclosed within marks of parenthesis. Convenient phonetic symbols are these following. Vowels. (aa), as a in father; (a) short, as a in aha! (ae), open long e, as a in Mary; (e), open short e, as e in bed; (ee), close long e, as e in veil; (i) short, as F. i in fini, or (nearly) as E. i in in; (ii), as ee in deep; (ao), open long o, as aw in saw; (o) open short o, as o in not; (oo), close long o, as o in note, or o in German 'so'; (u), as u in full; (uu), as oo in fool; (ü), as F. u in F. 'écu'; (ü'), as long G. # in G. 'grün.' Also (ǝ), as final a in China. boil. Diphthongs. (ai), as y in fly; (au), as ow in now; (ei), as ei in veil; (oi), as oi in Consonants (special). (k), as c in cat; (s), as e in city; (ch), as in church; (tch), as in catch; (th), as th in thin; (dh), as th in then. Also (h), when not initial, to denote a guttural sound, like G. ch in Nacht, Licht, but weaker, and varying with the preceding vowel. An accent is denoted by ('), as in M.E. name (naa'mə). By help of these symbols, it is possible to explain the meaning of the M.E. symbols employed by the scribes in Chaucer's Tales. The following is a list of the sounds they denote. The letters in thick type are the letters actually employed; the letters within parenthesis denote the sounds, as above. Observe that long '9,' also written 'ò,' means the same as (ao); and long 'g,' also written'è,' means the same as (ae). a short, (a). Ex. al (al); as (az). N.B. The modern a in cat (kæt) is denoted by (a), and does not occur in Chaucer. a long, (aa). (1) at the end of a syllable; as age (aajɔ); (2) before s or ce; as cas (kaas), face (faa'sə). ai, ay (ei), originally perhaps (ai); but ai and ei, both being pronounced as (ei), had already been confused, and invariably rime together in Chaucer. Cf. E. gay, prey. au, aw (au). Ex. avaunt (avau'nt); awe (au’ə). c, as (k), except before e and i; as (s), before e and i. ch (ch); cch (tch). e short, (e). Ex. fetheres (fedh'rez); middle e dropped. e final, (ə); and often dropped or elided or very lightly touched. e long and open, (ae). Sometimes denoted by 'g' or 'e.' Ex. clene (klae'nə). e long and close, (ee). g hard, i. e. (g), except before e and i; (j), before e and i. Ex. go (gao); age (aa‘jə). gh (h), G. ch. Ex. light (liiht). The vowel was at first short, then half-long (as probably in Chaucer), then wholly long, when the (h) dropped out. Later, (ii) became (ei) and is now (ai). gn (n), with long preceding vowel; as digne (dii'nə). i short, (i). As F. i in fini; but often as E. i in in; the latter is near enough. So also y, when short, as in many (man'i). i, y long, (ii). Ex. I (ii); melodye (mélodii'ə). ie (ee), the same as ee. Ex. mischief (mischeef). I consonantal, (j). Ex. Iay (jei); Iuge (jü‘jə). So in the MSS.; but here printed 'j,' as in jay (jei). le, often vocalic (1), as in E. temple (templ). But note stables (staa'blez). ng (ngg); always as in E. linger. Ex. thing (thingg). o short, (o), as in of (ov). But as (pu) before gh. And note particularly, that it is always (u), i. e. as u in full, wherever it has a sound like u in mod. E., as in company, son, monk, cousin, &c. Ex. sonne (sun·nə), monk (mungk), moche (muchǝ). o long and open, (ao). Sometimes denoted by 'g' or '99.' Ex. go (gao); stoon (staon). o long and close, (oo). Ex. sote (soo'tǝ); hood (hood). ou, ow (uu); as in flour (fluur); now (nuu). Rarely (qu), as in soule (squlə). ogh (guh), with open o, as in E. not, followed by short (u). ough (uuh); with uu as in E. fool (fuul); or as ogh. r is always strongly trilled. ssh (shsh), as in fresshe (fresh shə). u short, (ü); French; as in just (jüst). Rarely (u), as in cut (kut); English. u long, (ü'), as in nature (natü'rə); French. we final, (wǝ), but often merely (u). Ex. arwes (ar'wez); bowe (baou'ə, bqu'ǝ); morwe (moru); so blew (blee'u). N.B. Open longe (ae) often arises from A.S. @, ea, or lengthening of e. Ex. were (waerǝ), A.S. waron ; ççk (aek), A.S.ēac; speken (spaekən), A.S. sprecan. Open long (ao) often arises from A.S. a, or lengthening of o. Ex. fo (fao), A.S. ƒã; open, A.S. open. Chaucer refrains from riming open longe (ae), when arising from A.S. ea, or lengthening of e, with the close e arising from A.S. è or eo. But there is some uncertainty about the quality of the e arising from A.S. @, or from mutation. The occurrence of rimes such as Chaucer never employs furnishes an easy test for poems which have been supposed to be his on insufficient grounds. Thus, in The Cuckoo and the Nightingale, stanza 13, green rimes with been; whereas the form green never occurs in Chaucer, who always employs grēn-e (gree'nǝ) as a dissyllable, in accordance with its etymology from A.S. gréne. In the same poem, upon rimes with mon, a man (stanza 17); but Chaucer knows nothing of such a form as mon. Non-Chaucerian rimes occur in large numbers in Fragment B of the Romaunt of the Rose. ERRATA. P. 215. 1. 684. P. 135. col. 2. 1. 206; for coniuracion read conjuracion. P. 216. 1. 766. P. 226. 1. 358. P. 290. 1. 1171; for wrong, and seyde read wronge, and seyd. P. 592. 1. 2076; for But if read But-if. THE ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE. Words and syllables enclosed within square brackets are supplied by the Editor. Readings marked with an obelus (†) are doubtful, and are accounted for in the Appendix. [Only three Fragments of this translation have come down to us. Of these, Fragment A is by Chaucer; Fragment B is by a Northerner, and has many corrupt readings; whilst Fragment C is of doubtful origin, and I do not feel sure that it is Chaucer's.] FRAGMENT A. MANY men seyn that in sweveninges And who-so sayth, or weneth it be A jape, or elles [a] nycetee To wene that dremes after falle, Of good and harme to many wightes, That fallen after al openly. |