NOTES

65.Grysly: An error forGerlew, LatinGerleuus, from Low GermanGērlēf= OE.Gārlāf.

83.for Crystys awe: In Modern English a phrase likeChrist's awecould mean only 'the awe felt by Christ'. But in OE.Cristes ege, orege Cristes, meant also 'the awe of Christ (which men feel)', the genitive being objective. In ME. the word ordereie Cristesis dropped, butCristes eie(orawe, the Norse form) is still regular for '(men's) fear of Christ'. Hence formal ambiguities likeþe Lordes loue of heueneVIIIa19, which actually means '(men's) love of the Lord of Heaven', but grammatically might mean 'the Lord of Heaven's love (for men)'—see note to l. 44 above.

96-7. The Latin Letter of Theodric in fact hasab isto officio ex Dei nutu amodo non cessetis, but probablyamodois miswritten foranno.

127.a saue: lit. 'have safe', i.e. 'rescue'.Saueis here adj.

128-9.ys:flessh: The rime requires the alternative formses(as in l. 7) andfles(s). Cp. note toVII4.

132.Ȝow þar nat aske: 'There is no need for you to ask';ȝowis dative after the impersonalþar.

156-7.werynes:dos. The rime is false. Perhaps Mannyng wrote:As many body for goyng es[sc.wery], and a copyist misplacedes, writing:As many body es for goyng. Ifbody eswere read asbodyes, a new verb would then be added.

169. Note the irony of the refrain. The Letter of Otbert adds the picturesque detail that they gradually sank up to their waists in the ground through dancing on the same spot.

172.Þe Emperoure Henry: Probably Henry II of Germany, Emperor from 1014 to 1024. A certain vagueness in points of time and place would save the bearers of the letter from awkward questions.

188-9.banned:woned. The rime (OE.bannanandwunian) is false, and the use ofwoned'remained' is suspicious. Mannyng perhaps wrotebende'put in bonds':wende(=ȝedel. 191) 'went'; or (if the formbandforbanned(e)could be evidenced so early)band'cursed':wand, pret. ofwinden, 'went'.

195.fal yn a swone: So MS., showing that by the second half of the fourteenth century the pp. adj.aswonhad been wrongly analysed into the indef. articleaand a nounswon. Mannyng may have writtenfallen aswone. See Glossary,s.v.aswone.

234.Wyth sundyr lepys: 'with separate leaps'; butWythwas probably added by a scribe who found in his originalsundyrlepys, adv., meaning 'separately',—

Kar suvent par les mainsDes malvais escrivainsSunt livre corrumput.

Kar suvent par les mains

Des malvais escrivains

Sunt livre corrumput.

240.Seynt Edyght.St. Edith (d. 984) was daughter of King Edgar, and abbess of Wilton. The rime is properlyEdit:Teodric, fortandkare sufficiently like in sound to rime together in the best ME. verse; cp. note toXVg27.

246.Brunyng... seynt Tolous: LatinBruno Tullanus. Robert probably did not hesitate to provide a rime by turning Toul into Toulouse. Bruno afterwards became Pope Leo IX (1049-54).

254-5.trowed:God. Readtrŏd, a shortened form, revealed by rimes in North Midland texts. The identical rime occurs three times in Mannyng'sChronicle(ed. Hearne, p. 339; ed. Furnivall, ll. 7357-8, 8111-12); and, again with substitution oftroudfortrod, inHavelok, ll. 2338-9. Cp. note to XVII 56.

Dialect: South-Western, with some admixture of Northern forms due to a copyist.

Inflexions:—

VERB: pres. ind. 1 sg.ichaue, &c. (see note to l. 129).2 sg.makest169,worst170.3 sg.geþ(in rime) 238; contractedfint239,last335,sitt443,stont556.2 pl.ȝe beþ582.3 pl.strikeþ252 (proved by rime with 3 sg.likeþ).imper. pl.make216,chese217; besidedoþ218.pres. p.berking286 (in rime with verbal sb.);daunceing(in rime) 298. The formskneland250,liggeand388, are due to a Northern copyist.strong pp. (various forms):go(:wo) 196,ygo(:mo) 349,ydone(:-none) 76,comen29,come181,ycomen203,yborn174,bore210.infin. Noteaski(OE.acsian) 467 (App. § 13 vii).PRONOUN 3 PERS.: fem. nom.he408, 446,hye337, besidesche75, 77, &c.pl. nom.he(in rime) 185,hye91, besideþai32, 69, &c.;poss.her'their' 87, 413, 415; obj.hem69, &c.NOUN: Note the pluralshonden79,berien258.

VERB: pres. ind. 1 sg.ichaue, &c. (see note to l. 129).2 sg.makest169,worst170.3 sg.geþ(in rime) 238; contractedfint239,last335,sitt443,stont556.2 pl.ȝe beþ582.3 pl.strikeþ252 (proved by rime with 3 sg.likeþ).imper. pl.make216,chese217; besidedoþ218.pres. p.berking286 (in rime with verbal sb.);daunceing(in rime) 298. The formskneland250,liggeand388, are due to a Northern copyist.strong pp. (various forms):go(:wo) 196,ygo(:mo) 349,ydone(:-none) 76,comen29,come181,ycomen203,yborn174,bore210.infin. Noteaski(OE.acsian) 467 (App. § 13 vii).

VERB: pres. ind. 1 sg.ichaue, &c. (see note to l. 129).

2 sg.makest169,worst170.

3 sg.geþ(in rime) 238; contractedfint239,last335,sitt443,stont556.

2 pl.ȝe beþ582.

3 pl.strikeþ252 (proved by rime with 3 sg.likeþ).

imper. pl.make216,chese217; besidedoþ218.

pres. p.berking286 (in rime with verbal sb.);daunceing(in rime) 298. The formskneland250,liggeand388, are due to a Northern copyist.

strong pp. (various forms):go(:wo) 196,ygo(:mo) 349,ydone(:-none) 76,comen29,come181,ycomen203,yborn174,bore210.

infin. Noteaski(OE.acsian) 467 (App. § 13 vii).

PRONOUN 3 PERS.: fem. nom.he408, 446,hye337, besidesche75, 77, &c.pl. nom.he(in rime) 185,hye91, besideþai32, 69, &c.;poss.her'their' 87, 413, 415; obj.hem69, &c.

PRONOUN 3 PERS.: fem. nom.he408, 446,hye337, besidesche75, 77, &c.

pl. nom.he(in rime) 185,hye91, besideþai32, 69, &c.;

poss.her'their' 87, 413, 415; obj.hem69, &c.

NOUN: Note the pluralshonden79,berien258.

NOUN: Note the pluralshonden79,berien258.

The original text preserved final-ebetter than the extant MSS., e.g.

And seyd<ė> þus þe king<ė> to119.Þat noþing help<ė> þe no schal172.Al þe vt<ė>mast<ė> wal357.So, sir, as ȝe seyd<ė> nouþė466.

And seyd<ė> þus þe king<ė> to119.

Þat noþing help<ė> þe no schal172.

Al þe vt<ė>mast<ė> wal357.

So, sir, as ȝe seyd<ė> nouþė466.

Sounds:ǭfor OE.āis proved in rime:biholde(OE.beháldan):gold(OE.góld) 367-8 (cp. 467-8); andyhote(OE.gehāten):note(OFr.note) 601-2.

The rimefrut:lite257-8 points to originalfrut:lut(OE.lȳt), with Westernǖ, from OE.ȳ, riming with OFr.ǖ.

1-22. These lines, found also inLai le Freine, would serve as preface to any of the Breton lays, with the couplet ll. 23-4 as the special connecting link. In the Auchinleck MS.,Orfeobegins on a fresh leaf at l. 25, without heading or capitals to indicate that it is a new poem. The leaf preceding has been lost. There is good reason to suppose that it contained the lines supplied in the text from the Harleian MS.

4.frely, 'goodly':Lai le Freinehasferly'wondrous'.

12. MS.moost to lowe: means 'most (worthy) to be praised', and there are two or three recorded examples ofto lowe=to alowein this sense. But MS. Ashmole and the corresponding lines inLai le Freinepoint tomost o loue'mostly of love' as the common reading. The typical 'lay' is a poem of moderate length, telling a story of love, usually with some supernatural element, in a refined and courtly style.

13.Brytayn, 'Brittany': soBrytouns16 = 'Bretons'. Cp. Chaucer,Franklin's Tale, Prologue, beginning

Thise olde gentil Britons in hir dayesOf diverse aventures maden layesRymeyed in hir firste Briton tonge,Whiche layes with hir instrumentz they songe, &c.

Thise olde gentil Britons in hir dayes

Of diverse aventures maden layes

Rymeyed in hir firste Briton tonge,

Whiche layes with hir instrumentz they songe, &c.

20. The curious use ofitafter the plurallayesis perhaps not original.Lai le Freinehas:And maked a lay and yaf it name.

26.In Inglond: an alteration of the original text to give local colour. Cp. ll. 49-50 and l. 478.

29-30.Pluto: the King of Hades came to be regarded as the King of Fairyland; cp. Chaucer,Merchant's Tale, l. 983Pluto that is the kyng of fairye. The blunder by which Juno is made a king is apparently peculiar to the Auchinleck copy.

33-46. These lines are not in the Auchinleck MS., but are probably authentic. Otherwise little prominence would be given to Orfeo's skill as a harper.

41 ff. A confused construction:In þe world was neuer man bornshould be followed by<þat> he schulde þinke; but the writer goes on as if he had begun with 'every man in the world'.And= 'if'.

46.ioy andoverload the verse, and are probably an unskilful addition to the text.

49-50. These lines are peculiar to the Auchinleck MS., and are clearly interpolated; cp. l. 26 and l. 478. Winchester was the old capital of England, and therefore the conventional seat of an English king.

57.comessing: The metre points to a disyllabic formcomsinghere, and tocomsiin l. 247.

80.it bled wete: In early English the clause which is logically subordinate is sometimes made formally co-ordinate. More normal would beþat (it) bled wete'until (orso that) it bled wet'; i.e. until it was wet with blood.

82.reueydor some such form ofravishedis probably right.reneyd'apostate' is a possible reading of the MS., but does not fit the sense.N. E. D.suggestsremeued.

102.what is te?: 'What ails you?; cp. l. 115.Teforþeaftersofis. Such modifications are due either to dissimilation of like sounds, asþ:swhich are difficult in juxtaposition; or to assimilation of unlike sounds, asþatow165, forþat þow.

115. 'What ails you, and how it came about?'; cp. l. 102.

129.ichil=ich wille; and soichaue209,icham382,ichotXVb23. These forms, reduced tochill,cham, &c., were still characteristic of the Southern dialect in Shakespeare's time: cp.King Lear,IV. vi. 239Chill not let go, Zir.

131.þat nouȝt nis: 'That cannot be'; cp. l. 457þat nouȝt nere.

157-8.palays:ways. The original rime was perhapspalys:wys'wise'.

170. 'Wherever you may be, you shall be fetched.'

201-2.barouns:renouns. Forms likerenounsin rime are usually taken over from a French original.

215. The overloaded metre points to a shorter word likewiteforvnderstond.

216.Make ȝou þan a parlement:ȝouis not nom., but dat. 'for yourselves'. Observe that Orfeo acts like a constitutional English king.

241.þe fowe and griis: A half translation of OFr.vair et gris.Vair(Lat.varius) was fur made of alternate pieces of the grey back and white belly of the squirrel. Hence it is rendered byfowe, OE.fāg'varicolor'.Griisis the grey back alone, and the French word is retained for the rime withbiis, which was probably in the OFr. original.

258.berien: The MS. may be readberren, but as this form is incorrect it is better to assume that theihas been carelessly shaped by the scribe.

289.him se, 'see (for himself), and similarlyslep þou þeXVg13. This reflexive use of the dative pronoun, which cannot be reproduced in a modern rendering, is common in OE. and ME., especially with verbs of motion; cp. note toXVg24. But distinguishwent him475, 501, wherehimis accusative, not dative (OE.wente hine), because the original sense ofwentis 'turned', which naturally takes a reflexive object.

342.me no reche=I me no reche. The alternative would be the impersonalme no recheþ.

343.also spac=also bliue142 =also swiþe574: 'straightway', &c.

363. MS.auowed(oranowed) is meaningless here.Anowed, or the doubtful by-formanowed'adorned', is probably the true reading.

382. The line is too long—a fault not uncommon where direct speech is introduced, e.g. l. 419 and 178. Usually a correct line can be obtained by dropping words likequath he, which are not as necessary in spoken verse as they are where writing alone conveys the sense. But sometimes the flaw may lie in the forms of address: l. 382 would be normal withoutParfay; l. 419 may once have been:

And seyd 'Lord, ȝif þi wille were'.

And seyd 'Lord, ȝif þi wille were'.

There is no task more slippery than the metrical reconstruction of ME. poems, particularly those of which the extant text derives from the original not simply through a line of copyists, but through a line of minstrels who passed on the verses from memory and by word of mouth.

388. The line seems to be corrupt, and, as usual, the Harleian and Ashmole MSS. give little help.Fulcan hardly be a sb. meaning 'multitude' from the adj.full. Some form offele(OE.fela) 'a great number' would give possible grammar and sense (cp. l. 401), but bad metre. Perhapsfulshould be deletedas a scribe's anticipation offolkin the next line; for the constructionseiȝe... of folkcp.XVI388; andHous of Fame, Bk. iii, ll. 147 ff.

433.Þei we nouȝt welcom no be: Almost contemporary withSir Orfeois the complaint of an English writer that the halls of the nobles stood open to a lawyer, but not to a poet:

Exclusus ad ianuam poteris sedereIpse licet venias, Musis comitatus, Homere!

Exclusus ad ianuam poteris sedere

Ipse licet venias, Musis comitatus, Homere!

'Though thou came thyself, Homer, with all the Muses, thou mightst sit at the door, shut out!', T. Wright,Political Songs(1839), p. 209.

446.hadde he, 'had she'. Forhe(OE.hēo) = 'she' cp. l. 408.

450. 'Now ask of me whatsoever it may be'. The plots of mediaeval romances often depend on the unlimited promises of an unwary king, whose honour compels him to keep his word. So in the story of Tristram, an Irish noble disguised as a minstrel wins Ysolde from King Mark by this same device, but is himself cheated of his prize by Tristram's skill in music.

458. 'An ill-matched pair you two would be!'

479. The halting verse may be completed by addingsum tymebeforehis, with the Harley and Ashmole MSS.

483.ybiltof the MS. and editors cannot well be a pp. meaning 'housed'. I prefer to takebiltas sb. =bild,build'a building'; and to suppose thatyhas been miswritten forȳ, the contraction foryn.

495.gan hold, 'held'; a good example of the ME. use ofgan+ infinitive with the sense of the simple preterite.

515. An unhappy suggestionhomefor the secondcomehas sometimes been accepted. But a careful Southern poet could not rimehome(OE.hām) andsome(OE.sŭm). See note toVI224.

518.For mi lordes loue Sir Orfeo, 'for my lord Sir Orfeo's love'. Logically the genitive inflexion should be added to both of two substantives in apposition, as in OE.on Herodes dagum cyninges'in the days of King Herod'. But in ME. the first substantive usually has the inflexion, and the second is uninflected; cp.V207kyngeȝ hous Arthor'the house of King Arthur'; and notes toI44,VI23.

544.Allas! wreche:wrecherefers to the speaker, as in l. 333.

551.hou it geþ—: The sense is hard to convey without some cumbrous paraphrase like 'the inexorable law of this world—'.

552.It nis no bot of manes deþ: 'There is no remedy for man's death', i.e. violent grief will do no good. Noteit nis'there is (not)'. In ME. the anticipated subject is commonlyitwhere we usethere.

565.in ynome: ' taken up my abode';in'dwelling' = NE. 'inn'.

599.herofoverloads the line and is omitted in the Ashmole MS.

Dialect: Pure Kentish of Canterbury.

Inflexionsare well preserved, and are similar to those found in contemporary South-Western texts.

VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.multiplieþ1; contractedret3, 16.1 pl.habbeþ2.strong pp.yyeue25,yhote29.PRONOUN 3 PERS.: the new formsshe,they,their,themare not used.3 sg. fem. nom.hi32,hy45;poss.hare33, besidehire36;pl. nom.hi58.Note the objective formhis(e)= 'her' 32, 53 (twice); and = 'them' 7, 8, 28.NOUN: plurals in-enoccur:uorbisnen2,ken56. Indiaknen5,-enrepresents the dat. pl. inflexion.ADJECTIVE:onendat. sg. 4,oþrendat. pl. 53,þaneacc. sg. masc. 59,þet (word)nom. sg. neut. 57, show survivals rare even in the South at this date.

VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.multiplieþ1; contractedret3, 16.1 pl.habbeþ2.strong pp.yyeue25,yhote29.

VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.multiplieþ1; contractedret3, 16.

1 pl.habbeþ2.

strong pp.yyeue25,yhote29.

PRONOUN 3 PERS.: the new formsshe,they,their,themare not used.3 sg. fem. nom.hi32,hy45;poss.hare33, besidehire36;pl. nom.hi58.Note the objective formhis(e)= 'her' 32, 53 (twice); and = 'them' 7, 8, 28.

PRONOUN 3 PERS.: the new formsshe,they,their,themare not used.

3 sg. fem. nom.hi32,hy45;

poss.hare33, besidehire36;

pl. nom.hi58.

Note the objective formhis(e)= 'her' 32, 53 (twice); and = 'them' 7, 8, 28.

NOUN: plurals in-enoccur:uorbisnen2,ken56. Indiaknen5,-enrepresents the dat. pl. inflexion.

NOUN: plurals in-enoccur:uorbisnen2,ken56. Indiaknen5,-enrepresents the dat. pl. inflexion.

ADJECTIVE:onendat. sg. 4,oþrendat. pl. 53,þaneacc. sg. masc. 59,þet (word)nom. sg. neut. 57, show survivals rare even in the South at this date.

ADJECTIVE:onendat. sg. 4,oþrendat. pl. 53,þaneacc. sg. masc. 59,þet (word)nom. sg. neut. 57, show survivals rare even in the South at this date.

Sounds: Characteristic of the South-East isē̆for OE. (West-Saxon)ȳ̆:kertel(OE.cyrtel) 39,ken(OE.cȳ) 56.

Old diphthongs are preserved ingreate(OE.grēat) 9,yeaf22. Inhyerof1,yhyerde49,hier2,þieues18,ye,ierepresent diphthongs developed in Kentish rather than simple closeē.

Initialz=sinzome'some' 2,zede'said' 12,zuo'so' 17; and initialu=finuele2,uayre2,uram4,bevil41, evidence dialectical changes which occurred also in the South-West.

Syntax: The constructions are distorted by slavish following of the French original; see note to ll. 48-60.

3. Saint Germain of Auxerre (MS.Aucerne) is famous for his missions to Britain in the first half of the fifth century. This particular story is found in theActa Sanctorumfor July 31, p. 229.

16. St. John the Almoner (d. 616) was bishop of Alexandria. For the story seeActa Sanctorumfor January 23, p. 115.

27-8.and huanne he hit wiste þe ilke zelue þet his hedde onderuonge: an obscure sentence. Perhaps: 'and when he, the same who had received them (i.e. John, who had received the five hundred pounds), knew it' (sc. the truth).

38. This tale of Boniface, bishop of Ferentia in Etruria, is told in theDialoguesof Gregory the Great, Bk. i, chap. 9. Its first appearance in English is in the translation of theDialoguesmade by Bishop Wærferth for King Alfred (ed. Hans Hecht, Leipzig 1900, pp. 67 ff.).

48-60. The French original of the passage, taken from an elegant fourteenth-century MS., Cotton Cleopatra A.V., fol. 144 a, will show how slavishly Dan Michael followed his source:—

Apres il fu un poure home, sicom on dit, qui auoit une vache; e oi dire a son prestre en sarmon que Dieu disoit en leuangile que Dieu rendoit a cent doubles quanque on donast por lui. Le prodomme du conseil sa femme dona sa uache a son prestre, qui estoit riches. Le prestre la prist uolentiers, e lenuoia pestre auoec les autres quil auoit. Kant uint au soir, la uache au poure home sen uint a son hostel chies le poure homme, com ele auoit acoustume, e amena auoeques soi toutes les uaches au prestre, iukes a cent. Quant le bon home uit ce, si pensa que ce estoit le mot de leuangile que li auoit rendu; e li furent aiugiees deuant son euesque contre le prestre. Cest ensample moustre bien que misericorde est bone marchande, car ele multiplie les biens temporels.

58-9. 'And they were adjudged to him before his bishop against the priest', i.e. the bishop ruled that the poor man should have all the cows.

The Frenchfabliau'Brunain' takes up the comic rather than the moral aspect of the story. A peasant, hearing the priest say that gifts to God are doubly repaid, thought it was a favourable opportunity to give his cow Blérain—a poor milker—to the priest. The priest ties her with his own cow Brunain. To the peasant's great joy, the unprofitable Blérain returns home, leading with her the priest's good cow.

Dialect: Northern of Yorkshire.

Inflexions: are reduced almost as in Modern English.

VERB: pres. ind. 1 sg.settesa30; beside uninflectedsygha69,soba69.3 sg.lastesa1.1 pl.fleseb86: besidewe dredeb85.3 pl.lysea61,lufesb7, &c.; besideþay take,þay haldeb12, &c., which agree with the Midland forms.pres. p.lastanda25,byrnanda26, riming withhand.strong pp.wrytena2.Note the Northern and North Midland short formsmase'makes'a15,tane'taken'a53 (in rime).PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem.schob1;pl. nom.þaia60;poss.þara59 orþaira65;obj.thaymb2.The demonstrativethire'these' atb55,b59 is specifically Northern.

VERB: pres. ind. 1 sg.settesa30; beside uninflectedsygha69,soba69.3 sg.lastesa1.1 pl.fleseb86: besidewe dredeb85.3 pl.lysea61,lufesb7, &c.; besideþay take,þay haldeb12, &c., which agree with the Midland forms.pres. p.lastanda25,byrnanda26, riming withhand.strong pp.wrytena2.Note the Northern and North Midland short formsmase'makes'a15,tane'taken'a53 (in rime).

VERB: pres. ind. 1 sg.settesa30; beside uninflectedsygha69,soba69.

3 sg.lastesa1.

1 pl.fleseb86: besidewe dredeb85.

3 pl.lysea61,lufesb7, &c.; besideþay take,þay haldeb12, &c., which agree with the Midland forms.

pres. p.lastanda25,byrnanda26, riming withhand.

strong pp.wrytena2.

Note the Northern and North Midland short formsmase'makes'a15,tane'taken'a53 (in rime).

PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem.schob1;pl. nom.þaia60;poss.þara59 orþaira65;obj.thaymb2.The demonstrativethire'these' atb55,b59 is specifically Northern.

PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem.schob1;

pl. nom.þaia60;

poss.þara59 orþaira65;

obj.thaymb2.

The demonstrativethire'these' atb55,b59 is specifically Northern.

Sounds: OE.āis regularly represented byā, not byǭof the South and most of the Midlands:waa2,euermarea20,balde'bold'a51;bane(in rime)a54.

ọ̄becomesū(ǖ?) ingud(e)b9,b15; and its length is sometimes indicated by addingy, as inruysand'vaunting'b80.

a.This poem is largely a translation of sentences excerpted from Rolle's Incendium Amoris, cc. xl-xli (Miss Allen in Mod. Lang. Review for 1919, p. 320). Useful commentaries are his proseForm of Perfect Living(ed. Horstmann, vol. i, pp. 3 ff.), andCommandment of Love to God(ibid. pp. 61 ff.), which supply many parallels in thought and phrasing; see, for example, the note to l. 48 below.

a1.feste.Not the adj. 'fast', but pp. 'fastened', and so in l. 82.

a5.louyng, 'beloved one', here and in l. 56. This exceptional use of the verbal noun occurs again inmy ȝhernyng'what I yearn for',a22;my couaytyng'what I covet',a23.

a9-12. The meaning seems to be: 'The throne of love is raised high, for it (i.e. love) ascended into heaven. It seems to me that on earth love is hidden, which makes men pale and wan. It goes very near to the bed of bliss (i.e. the bridal bed of Christ and the soul) I assure you. Though the way may seem long to us, yet love unites God and man.'

a24.louyng, 'praise' here and inXVI405, from OE.lof'praise'; quite distinct fromlouyng,lufyng, in ll. 5 and 56.

a36.fle þat na man it maye, 'which no man can escape'. See Appendix § 12, Relative.

a42.styll, 'always' rather than 'motionless'.

a43-4. Apparently 'the nature of love (þat kyend) turns from care the man (þe lyfe) who succeeds in finding love, or who ever knew it in his heart; and brings him to joy and delight.'

a48. Cp.Form of Perfect Living, ed. Horstmann, vol. i, pp. 39-40:For luf es stalworth als þe dede, þat slaes al lyuand thyng in erth; and hard als hell, þat spares noght till þam þat er dede.InThe Commandment of LoveRolle explains:For als dede slas al lyuand thyng in þis worlde, sa perfite lufe slas in a mans sawle all fleschly desyres and erthly couaytise. And als hell spares noght til dede men, bot tormentes al þat commes bartill, alswa a man þat es in þis[sc. the third, called 'Singular']degré of lufe noght anly he forsakes þe wretched solace of þis lyf, bot alswa he couaytes to sofer pynes for Goddes lufe.(Ibid. p. 63.)

b4.scho takes erthe: From theHistoria Animaliumattributed to Aristotle, Bk. ix, c. 21. This is the authority referred to at l. 18, and at l. 33 (Bk. ix, c. 9); but the citations seem to be second hand, as they do not agree closely with the text of theHistoria Animalium.

b21-2. 'For there are many who never can keep the rule of love towards their friends, whether kinsmen or not.' MS.yneschehas been variously interpreted; but it must be corrected toynence.

b47.strucyo or storke: the ostrich, not the stork, is meant. Latinstruthiohas both meanings. On the whole, fourteenth-century translators show a fair knowledge of Latin, but the average of scholarship, even among the clergy, was never high in the Middle Ages. In the magnificent Eadwine Psalter, written at Canterbury Cathedral in the twelfth century, Ps. ci. 7similis factus sum pellicanois rendered by 'I am become like to the skin of a dog' (=pelli canis), though an ecclesiastic would recite this psalm in Latin at least once every week. The records of some thirteenth-century examinations of English clergy may be found in G. G. Coulton,A Medieval Garner(London 1910), pp. 270 ff. They include the classic answer of Simon, the curate of Sonning, who, being examined on the Canon of the Mass, and pressed to say what governedTeinTe igitur, clementissime Pater,... supplices rogamus, replied 'Pater, for He governeth all things'. As for French, Michael of Northgate, a shaky translator, is fortunate in escaping gross blunders in the specimen chosen (III); but the English rendering of Mandeville'sTravelsis full of errors; see the notes toIX.

b60.teches: bettertoches, according to the Footnote.

Alliterative Verse.The long lines inGawayne, withThe Destruction of Troy,Piers Plowman, andThe Blacksmiths(XVh), are specimens of alliterative verse unmixed with rime, a form strictly comparable with Old English verse, from which it must derive through an unbroken oral tradition. While the detailed analysis of the Middle English alliterative line is complex and controversial, its general framework is describable in simple terms. It will be convenient to take examples fromGawayne, which shows most of the developments characteristic of Middle English.

1. The long line is divided by a caesura into two half lines, of which the second is the more strictly built so that the rhythm may be well marked. Each half line normally contains two principal stresses, e.g.

And wént on his wáy || with his wýȝe óne6.Þat schulde téche hym to tóurne || to þat téne pláce7.

And wént on his wáy || with his wýȝe óne6.

Þat schulde téche hym to tóurne || to þat téne pláce7.

But three stresses are not uncommonly found in the first half line:

Brókeȝ býled and bréke || bi bónkkeȝ abóute14;

Brókeȝ býled and bréke || bi bónkkeȝ abóute14;

and, even for the simpler forms in Old and Middle English, the two-stress analysis has its opponents.

2. The two half lines are bound together by alliteration. In alliterationch,st,s(c)h,sk, and usuallysp, are treated as single consonants (see lines 64, 31, 15, 99, 25); any vowel may alliterate with any other vowel, e.g.

Þisóritore isv́gly || withérbeȝ ouergrówen122;

Þisóritore isv́gly || withérbeȝ ouergrówen122;

and, contrary to the practice of correct OE. verse,hmay alliterate with vowels inGawayne:

Hálde þe now þehýȝehóde || þatÁrþur þe ráȝt229.Theháþelhéldet hym fró || and on hisáx résted263.

Hálde þe now þehýȝehóde || þatÁrþur þe ráȝt229.

Theháþelhéldet hym fró || and on hisáx résted263.

3. In correct OE. verse the alliteration falls on one or both of the two principal stresses of the first half line, and invariably on the first stress only of the second half line. This is the ordinary ME. type:

Þat schuldetéche hym totóurne || to þatténe pláce7;

Þat schuldetéche hym totóurne || to þatténe pláce7;

though verses with only one alliterating syllable in the first half line, e.g.

Bot Í wyl to þechápel || forcháunce þat may fálle64,

Bot Í wyl to þechápel || forcháunce þat may fálle64,

are less common in ME. than in OE. But in ME. the fourth stress sometimes takes the alliteration also:

Þayclómben biclýffeȝ || þercléngeȝ þecólde10.

Þayclómben biclýffeȝ || þercléngeȝ þecólde10.

And when there is a third stress in the first half line, five syllables may alliterate:

Místmúged on þemór ||mált on þemóunteȝ12.

Místmúged on þemór ||mált on þemóunteȝ12.

In sum, Middle English verse is richer than Old English in alliteration.

4. In all these verses the alliteration of the first stress in the second half line, which is essential in Old English, is maintained; but it is sometimes neglected, especially when the alliteration is otherwise well marked:

Withhéȝehélme on hishéde||his láunce in hishónde(129; cp. 75),

Withhéȝehélme on hishéde||his láunce in hishónde(129; cp. 75),

where the natural stress cannot fall onhis.

5. So far attention has been confined to the stressed syllables, around which the unstressed syllables are grouped. Clearly the richer the alliteration, the more freedom will be possible in the treatment of the unstressed syllables without undue weakening of the verse form. In the first two lines ofBeowulf—

Hwæt we Gárdéna || in géardágumÞéodcýninga || þrým gefrúnon—

Hwæt we Gárdéna || in géardágum

Þéodcýninga || þrým gefrúnon—

three of the half lines have the minimum number of syllables—four—and the other has only five. In Middle English, withmore elaborate alliteration, the number of unstressed syllables is increased, so that the minimum half line of four syllables is rare, and often contains some word which may have had an additional flexional syllable in the poet's own manuscript, e.g.

||þe sélf chápel79.||árȝeȝ in hért209.

||þe sélf chápel79.

||árȝeȝ in hért209.

The less regular first half line is found with as many as eleven syllables; e.g.

And syþen he kéuereȝ bi a crágge||153.

And syþen he kéuereȝ bi a crágge||153.

6. The grouping of stressed and unstressed syllables determines the rhythm. In Old English the falling rhythm predominates, as in ||Gáwayn þe nóble81; and historically it is no doubt correct to trace the development of the ME. line from a predominantly falling rhythm. But in fact, owing to the frequent use of unstressed syllables before the first stress (even in the second half line where they are avoided in the OE. falling rhythm) the commonest type is:

||and þe bróde ȝáteȝ1,(×  ×  -́ ×  -́ ×)

||and þe bróde ȝáteȝ1,

(×  ×  -́ ×  -́ ×)

which from a strictly Middle English standpoint may be analysed as a falling rhythm with introductory syllables (× × | -́ × -́ ×), or as a rising rhythm with a weak ending (× × -́ × -́ | ×). A careful reader, accustomed to the usage of English verse, will have no difficulty in following the movement, without entering into nice technicalities of historical analysis.

7.The Destruction of Troyis more regular thanGawaynein its versification, and better preserves the Old English tradition.Piers Plowmanis looser and nearer to prose, so that the alliteration sometimes fails altogether, e.g. Extracta95, 138. Such differences in technique may depend on date, on locality, or on the taste, training, or skill of the author.

Dialect: West Midland of Lancashire or Cheshire. (There is evidence of local knowledge in the account of Gawayne's ride in search of the Green Chapel, ll. 691 ff. of the complete text.)

Vocabulary.Sir Gawayneshows the characteristic vocabulary of alliterative verse.

It is rich in number and variety of words—Norse, French, and native. Besides common words likerace8,wylle16,kyrk128,aȝ-267 (which displace native English formsrēs,wylde,chyrche,eie), Norse givesmug(g)ed12,cayreȝ52,scowtes99,skayned99,wro154,broþe165,fyked206,snyrt244, &c. French arebaret47,oritore122,fylor157,giserne197,kauelacion207,frounses238, &c.Myst-hakel13,orpedly164 are native words; while the rarestryþe237 andraþeled226 are of doubtful origin.

Unless the alliteration is to be monotonous, there must bemany synonyms for common words likeman,kniȝt: e.g.burne3,wyȝe6,lede27,gome50,freke57,tulk65,knape68,renk138, most of which survive only by reason of their usefulness in alliterative formulae. Similarly, a number of verbs are used to express the common idea 'to move (rapidly)':boȝen9,schowued15,wonnen23,ferked105,romeȝ130,keuereȝ153,whyrlande154, &c. Here the group of synonyms arises from weakening of the ordinary prose meanings; and this tendency to use words in colourless or forced senses is a general defect of alliterative verse. For instance, it is hard to attach a precise meaning tonote24,gedereȝ92,glodes113,wruxled123,kest308.

TheGawaynepoet is usually artist enough to avoid the worst fault of alliterative verse—the use of words for mere sound without regard to sense, but there are signs of the danger in the empty, clattering line: