þis hus þe ure lauerd spekeð of · is seolf þe monnes inwit;wit i þis hus is þe huselauerd,where the first line is actually that found in R: the division of mon-nes would readily give rise to the corruptions of all three MSS. In the Ayenbite of Inwyt the Latin is translated, ‘Hous . is inwyt|in huychen þe uader of house woneþ . þe hord of uirtues gadereþ,’ 263/24. Forinwitcomp. ‘wiðinnen us suluen, ure owune conscience, þet is, ure inwit,’ AR 306/1, 206/5. When the writer afterwards speaks of the house of the body, 127/369, he is using a familiar expression, for which there is nothing corresponding in the Latin original.witis Reason = animus rationalis: the contest between it and Will is also in HM 15/23-36; the embodiment of thelatteras the ‘fulitohe wif’ is due to our writer.10.ꝥ—hire, whose guidance if the household (hus = familia) follow: see46/292 note.diht&c.: see66/120 note.11.chasti, discipline, restrain: comp. ‘Hwil þi wit atstond ⁊ chaisteð þi wil . . . ne harmeð hit te nawiht,’ HM 15/26.13.hit: see 1/10: ha RT.16.wittes, senses: comp. ‘hire fif wittes . sihðe ⁊ heringe . smecchunge ⁊ smeallunge ⁊ euch limes felunge,’ HM 13/25; AR 48/8, 116/25.17.hwer—ȝemeles: ‘Nam si vel parum a sua sollicitudine torpuerit,’ V 207e.18.feareð untoheliche, behaves in unruly fashion.gulteð ilome: see 34/91.19.ifol semblant, in foolish demeanour: comp. ‘ȝif þu makest ei semblaunt oðer eni luue lates touward unðeauwes,’ AR 90/17.Inwið&c.: following on the division made in ll. 14, 15, we might have expected here something like, Þeo wið innen beoð þohtes.20.in, busied about, intent on such a great variety of purposes to please Will. Forin, of aim, object, comp. ‘He only, in a general honest thought | And common good to all, made one of them,’ Shakspere, Julius Caesar, v. v. 71. It might also be regarded as, in the shape of.21.hitmight be impersonal, that things shall go on to her liking, but comp. l. 10.22.iþþlencan hardly be a mistake for ifelen (Specimens): it is possibly for iðolien. R has felen, T fele.nurhð, noise: comp. 129/47 note: ‘His laðliche nurð ⁊ his untohe bere makeð þe to agrisen,’ HM 31/22; ‘nurð ne kimeð in heorte bute of sum þing ꝥ me haueð oðer isehen oðer iherd,’ AR Corpus MS. where MS. Nero, ed. Morton, 92/3, has ‘noise’; ‘leaueð ower nurð . ant oþer ladliche bere,’ SM 21/20. The word is not found outside this group. T has murð, as at 118/22, but R with ‘murhðe’ there has correctly nurð here.23.a þet: see72/179 note.hit: RT have correctly wit.eie . . . luue: comp. 72/200. Withtuhte, discipline, comp. ‘tuhten ne chasten þi meiden uor hire gult,’ AR 268/21.24.for, because of the untrustworthiness of: analogous to 104/175.for hwen ꝥ, if on occasion, when: see 72/192 and comp. ‘for hwen þat he cheas hire,’ HM 15/11. Its use appears to be restricted to this group. slepe . oðer ohwider fare R; slepes oðer owhwider fares T.26.let ham iwurðen, lets them have their own way, abandons them to their own devices. Comp. ‘ure Louerd let us one iwurðen oðer hwules ⁊ wiðdraweð his grace,’ AR 230/27, 288/23; ‘Heo let heom alle i-wurþe . þat beoþ so swyþe stronge,’ OEM 89/32; SK 791.28.forte breoke. . .abuten:see74/229 note.efter: see 7/53.ꝥisacc.after bohte, with lette it means, for which: comp. 44/252, 263. Withlette&c. comp. 144/84.29.moni þeof: ‘Fur autem non unus est sed multiplex, quia singulis virtutibus singula vitia insidiantur,’ V 208a.30.gasttes: comp. 15/79; ‘ȝewerged gastes . ⁊ unþeawes . ⁊ unwraste lahtres,’ OEH i. 243/7.31.castel: so T, but R has chatel, property, possession. All the MSS. have ‘castel’ at 123/203.32.hire, the corresponding vice. OE.þēaw,un-þēaware masculine.33.heaued: ‘Principalis tamen fur diabolus intelligitur. Contra quem et eius satellites pater idem (si tamen non negligens fuerit) domum suam forti custodia muniens, prudentiam in primo aditu constituat,’ V 208a.meistreð, acts as leader to.34.keisis evidently translation of satellites, guards. ‘Item satelles dicitur quia adheret alteri ad eius custodiam,’ Catholicon. But W explains it of those who hold the keys of office.35.froure: so T, comfort, support; comp. 18/19. But fowre R is better.36.heaued þeawes, cardinal virtues. V mentions only three of thesehere, but Temperantia (= Meað) afterwards takes part in the dialogue.Warschipeis Prudentia:gastelich strengðeis a translation of the Spiritus Fortitudinis of the very ancient Confirmation Prayer; VV has more literally ‘gost of strengþe,’ 83/22: V has Fortitudo only.38.cunestable, chief officer: an early instance of the word in English.39.durewart: comp. ‘Þe ȝeteward . þet is wittes skile,’ AR 270/26: in VV she is ȝeapnesse, ‘on of ðe holie mihtes ðe wel cunne ⁊ wel muȝe ðo gaten ⁊ ðo duren wel bilokin of ðis holi temple,’ 99/22.þe: so R, but ꝥ T: relative with subjunctive of purpose, like the Latin, ‘quae discernat quid sit admittendum, quid vitandum, quid excludendum.’40.of feor, from a distance; explained in NED underafar, as an analytical form = OE.feorran,adv., from far. The latter is sometimes treated in ME. as a noun and combined with prepositions of, on, from: comp. 118/55, 198/31: oferrum in Minot vii. 70 is on +dat. s. neut.offeorr,adj.42.warschipes: for the construction, see 10/167. R has warschipe, showing confusion of gender. The subject ofwarniis warschipe contained in the preceding genitive; see 6/18.fore,adv., previously, comp. 121/140; ‘Ah wel ich warni þe uore,’ SJ 47/15.44.ꝥ . . . speken: see 81/77.45.mete: so T, but meðe R: comp. 122/174.uueles: so T, faults of excess and defect, extremes: ‘muchel ⁊ lutel,’ 122/169. R has þinge, which perhaps points to an original uuele þinge.for ꝥ—halden, lit., for that is in every place (i.e. under all circumstances) virtue and disciplined conduct in the observance; which is practically, for the observance of that moderation is under all circumstances virtuous conduct. So ‘ꝥ ich demi riht ⁊ wisdom to donne,’ 122/185, the doing of that I judge to be proper and wise. This use of the gerundial infinitive is frequent in AR, comp. ‘ne beo þu nout Gius fere ne Gius make uorte birlen him so,’ 114/15, by pouring him out such a drink. Withhaldencomp. ‘Al so me tempreð an baþ . . . also deð ðis haliȝe mihte alle ðes mannes ðeawes ðe hes luuiȝeð ⁊ healden cann,’ VV 107/18.46.ꝥ nan&c., that none of them in any case should, in opposition to her, with excess overstep moderation:wid vnmeoðis duplicated inouer mete.48: ‘Iustitia sedeat in medio, ut sua cuique tribuat,’ V 208b.49.efter his rihte, according to his deserts.50.his: RT have correctly þis, and afteris, his. Comp. the corresponding passage 127/356-8, whereefter ꝥ he isis varied by ‘efter ꝥ him limpeð to,’ andnimed . . . his warde to witeneby ‘fondeð . . . his warde tewitene.’ This household, each in his own department, undertakes the care of his charge. R omits to witene. Withwarde . . . witenecomp. 74/231; ‘þet he wite ⁊ wardie ou,’ AR 174/24: similar combinations are ‘werieð ⁊ witeð,’ 121/143, 122/192; ‘wite ⁊ werien,’ 123/203, 136/147, 149/169; ‘wardi ⁊ werie,’ 121/141.52.of þe oþre, of the other servants.witis contracted 3sing. pr.for witeþ, takes care; T has the equivalent in his dialect, wites: comp. ‘swuchne wardein, þet wit ⁊ wereð us euer wið þe unseiene gostes,’ AR 312/8. R reads ant euchan al swa as of þe oðere wið ꝥ wit onont him . ne schal &c.; wið ꝥ wit is an evident mistake for wit ꝥ.onont him, so far as he is concerned: see NED underAnent; the finaltis possibly due to Scandinavian influence (Björkman, 20), and the secondoto the analogy of such pairs as hwenne, hwonne, þenne, þonne. Comp. 70/161 note.53: ‘His ita dispositis, introducere debet prudentia aliquos nuntios, qui aliqua narrent, quae ad exercitationem valeant,’ V 208b.54.fortruste himappears to mean, be over confident, the prefix implying excess: the word occurs here only.55.in, adverb.of feorren: see118/40 note.58.elheowet, of strange colour: apparently here only. T has blac ille heowet, which looks like a popular derivation of an uncommon word.59.þuncheð ꝥ stont: see7/52 note.biuoren, as a preliminary, as the first thing to be said: comp. ‘vore,’ 118/42. RT have biuoren ham, which is rather pointless.61-3.lust: ‘se respondit non aliter quicquam dicturum, nisi summum fiat silentium. Quo impetrato sic incipit. Ego sum timor mortis et mortem vobis venire nuncio,’ V. In AR 306, fearlac binds the sinner condemned in Reason’s court.munegunge, ‘Memoria mortis,’ V.64.bisetten, employ, expend (NED i. 817, comparing bestow): arrange, dispose would better suit wordes, but not werkes.67.ah—hwenne, but be always expectant of that time: comp. ‘deað þet we beoð siker of ⁊ unsiker hwonne.’ AR 144/13.68.unmundlunge, unexpectedly: vnmunidlinge T.hwen—weneð: comp. ‘er me lest wene,’ AR 178/12, and often; ‘þer we lest wenet,’ OEH i. 7/26; SJ 44/3.70.of, with, filled with records of sins: comp. ‘Vre Louerd hefde ifuld him of his þreatunge,’ AR 156/3; 121/130; 201/61 note. See 36/101.72.preoouin, convict: a rare absolute use. preouin R, preouenT.73.ꝥ . . . on, on which: see1/3 note.enbreuet, enrolled: comp. ‘vor nis non so lutel þing of þeos þet þe deouel naueð enbreued on his rolle,’ AR 344/10; ‘in iames ant imembres bokes ibreuet,’ SM 16/31. OF. embriever:nformis Anglo-French: T has embreuet: ibreuet in R is pp. of*breuen, enroll.74.lif siðe: see 2/27.75.soð schrift: see 88/183, 80/52, and comp. ‘healen ham wið soð schrift ⁊ wið deadbote,’ HM 15/1, 21/24.hire: so RT: see13/34 note.77.ha seið warschipe: comp. 119/79, 80, 215/23; ‘An oðer stede he seið godd,’ VV 81/2; ‘he seið seint Jame,’ AR 10/14 and often; in all cases the name of the person thus added in explanation of the pronoun has been previously mentioned. Analogous are 192/504, 194/602.78.ofte ⁊ ilome: see 32/47.Nu . . . þenne: see60/8 note.for þi trowðe: see 94/26, and note in l. 80, the common ‘omi trowðe.’80.efter: comp. 36/119; ‘Vor efter þet me icnoweð his muchele godnesse . . . efter þet me luueð hine more oðer lesse,’ AR 92/13: in the next lineefter—conmeans, to the best of my ability and knowledge.81.tellen: RT omit.þer towart, lit. in that direction, i. e. concerning that matter: mostly used in local sense as ‘buhen þertoward,’ SK 1473. In l. 83 it means thereto.readien, discourse: rodien R, reodenT: W reads reordin.82 ff.The details in this and similar descriptions, as VV 17-19, are ultimately derived from the Visions literature; see Introduction to piece X. The main divisions here correspond exactly to those in AR 144; ‘þe seoruwe of helle, þer bihold þreo þinges—þe untaleliche pinen þet no tunge ne mei tellen (comp. 119/85)—þe echenesse of euerichon, þet lesteð wiðuten ende (comp. 120/106-8)—þe unimete bitternesse of euerichon’ (comp. 120/108-112).82.[wid]: supplied from T, not in R. ‘Infernus latus est sine mensura, profundus sine fundo, plenus ardore incomparabili (‘uneuenlich’), plenus foetore intolerabili (‘unþolelich’), plenus dolore innumerabili’ (‘untalelich’), V 208d.wið ute grunde: comp. 40/178.83.uneuenlich: comp. ‘al so ase heo (blisse) is unefenlich to alle worldes blissen, al so heo is untalelich to alle worldliche tungen,’ AR 410/11. R has unwerilich.85.ne mei&c.: comp. 46/285, 126/303; ‘ne mahte hit na mon rikenin ne tellen,’ SJ 50/4.88.smeke: smoke RT.smeche forcuðest, vilest of fumes, but RT have smecche, of flavours (smæcc); comp. ‘þreaste smeorðrinde smoke ut smecche forcuðest,’ SM 9/6. The adjective is everywhere else used of moral worthlessness; comp. 26/253.90.alles cunnes pinen: see 81/80.91.ase deoflen: R has as þe deoulen, which is preferable.94. Forbute boteT has unbotelich, a rare word, but ‘unboteliche lure,’ HM 17/25. The combination of bote and bale is very common; see Minot i. 4 note.as—werenbelongs tohal.ful—grure, and unmistakably they see themselves terrible and awful.grisle . . . grure: comp. 56/40, 120/122, 121/131; ‘þet grisliche word ⁊ grureful ouer alle,’ AR 306/5; ‘grislich ⁊ grureful uorto biholden,’ id. 242/12.95.froggen: T has froden: see46/273 note.96. The omission ofþewould improve the grammar of this passage by giving a verb for helle wurmes, tadden ⁊ froggen.97.eauraskes, water-frogs: eaureskes R, eafroskes T.99.eauerȝete, at any time yet: comp. ‘al þe wo ꝥ nu is ⁊ euer ȝete was,’ AR 52/12. In ‘For falshede euer ȝite heo souhten,’ Castel off Loue, 342, it represents Fr. tut tens.remunge&c.: ‘Ibi est fletus et stridor dentium (S. Matt. xxii. 13 altered), ibi transitur a frigore nivium ad calorem ignium, et utrumque intolerabile,’ V 208d. Comp. 42/231-6, 76/25.100.hechelunge: apparently here only: Morris translates ‘chattering.’ If it is connected with ME. hechele, a tool for heckling flax, grating or gnashing is a more likely meaning.102.monge, mixture, alternation of extremes.103: ‘Ibi omnes comburuntur . . . nec consumuntur,’ V.104.forwalleð, ‘tortures by boiling,’ NED; apparently here only: comp. 43/222.106.unhope, absence of hope, of any prospect of release: ‘ibi nulla spes boni,’ V 208d. A rare word, differing in meaning from wanhope: comp. ‘in desperaunce, þet is, in unhope ⁊ in unbileaue forte beon iboruwen,’ AR 8/17. See 46/289.108.iwa: inwa RT.109.heateð: ‘Omnis, qui est in eo, odit se et omnes alios,’ V. T has, hateð oðer . ⁊ ter teken himseluen, and in addition thereto (tō ēacan).110.blake: ‘bestia nigerrima sicut corvus,’ Visio Tnugdali, 36/4.114.tungen of stele: Virgil’s ‘ferrea vox’; ‘isene stemne,’ Wulfstan, 215/2; ‘teþ and tunge . of stel imaked,’ OEM 154/268.116.hefde a mon&c.: comp. ‘Testis mihi Deus est, quia, si viderem quempiam hominum, qui me et omnes caros meos omnibus damnis, iniuriis et laesionibus et extrema leti sorte affecisset: si, inquam, tamimmanissimumhostem meum illis suppliciis, quae vidi, deputatum conspicerem prolixius cruciandum, millies, si fieri posset, pro eius ereptione temporalem mortem appeterem,’ Visio Monachi de Eynsham, ed. Huber, Rom. Forschungen, xvi. 663/25. The date of the Visio is 1196A.D.117.al þe ende, the whole: ende, portion, as in OE.micel ende,nanendeappears to show in this solitary place the same development of meaning as lot, portion in the colloquial use, ‘the lot,’ ‘the whole lot.’ Morris translates ‘remnant,’ but that is a late meaning of the word: W, starting from the meaning, region (see 127/344), explains, the whole circle of my kin.120.ut þrof, out of that place: comp. ‘arudden mi sawle ut of þine honden,’ SM 6/21: but aredden is usually followed by of alone, as, ‘to aredden of helle,’ OEH i. 203/16.121. Some distinction is apparently intended betweeniseon(seon RT) andbiseon(all MSS.) such as that between, to be within sight of, and, to gaze upon.122.grimfule ⁊ grurefule: the first word is rare and the combination apparently without parallel.124.schenðlac, disgrace: schenlac R, schendlac T: a word found only in AR, SK, and here.125.⁊ hure þolien, and especially to bear: in a normal sentence we should look for something like, but it is still worse to endure.unirude: unrude RT: see 188/389.126.mealles: melles RT, beetles, clubs: comp. ‘þer ȝe schulen iseon bunsen ham mit tes deofles bettles,’ AR 188/4; ‘Þarfor þe devels salle stryk þam þare | With hevy melles ay,’ Hampole, Pr. of Consc. 7047.dustlunges: only here; the parallel place, 58/68, fixes its meaning as flingings, hurlings: ME. dusten, to fling, is a word characteristic of the group. R has reade . hare dustlunges as, T reade Hare dustlunges as, a better division, but requiring ⁊ before hare.128.grure&c.: comp. ‘greden ai ⁊ granen iþe eche grure of helle,’ HM 47/12; ‘ðær is ece gryre . . . þær is wanung and granung,’ Wulfstan 114/4, id. 209/15, 18.heatel, full of hate, cruel; OE.hatol. R has hatel, T Heates.129.wontreaðes: wondraðes R, wandreðes T: see 58/76. Withbold, dwelling place, comp. ‘bold of eche blisse,’ OEH i. 273/10.132. ForschekeðR reads sorheð.me . . . mearedat.pronouns, like ham 120/96: comp. 80/47.rueð: runeð T, ruueð R; the first two seem to be mistakes for the last, which may represent a simple form of which ruffle is derivative, with meaning, to stiffen, stand up in disorder. W reads riseð.of, at; indicating source or cause: see 160/184.133.wumme: see 2/13. ‘Nulla ibi vox, nisi vae, vae, vae habent, vae sonant,’ V 208e.135.ofearneð: if the prefix has any force, it means, thoroughly, fully.hwilinde: the OE. adj. arehwīlen,hwīlendlic,hwīlwende.136.ȝef ꝥ: R omits ȝef: T has ȝif without þet. ‘Bonum erat ei, si non esset natus homo ille,’ S. Mark xiv. 21.140.fore: see 118/42.141.rihte . . . reade: comp. 141/50, 147/158.142. Read beo[n] we, let us be.145.he: ha RT.146.deore: ‘pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors Sanctorum eius,’ Ps. cxv. 15.147.fikelinde, deceiving: comp. ‘þis fikele world ⁊ frakele,’ HM 7/34; ‘eorðe ðet is fikel ⁊ fals,’ OEH i. 200/24.false: fahe RT., variegated.148.wurðeð: so T, wurcheð R.151.iburst, bristled, and metaphorically, enraged: elsewhere said of the boar, ‘burst bar,’ SJ 68/13, ‘iburst bar,’ id. 69/16; ‘al was heora gristbatinge;al swa wilde bares eȝe. | Whil heo weoren blake;⁊ ladliche iburste,’ L 1886; ‘comeþ þe maister budel brust ase a bore,’ Böddeker, AE. Dicht. 104/51.sechinde: R adds inȝonge, which is superfluous, but not senseless; comp. 118/32.152.tis, for þis after ant, cannot mean ‘thus,’ Morris: the meaning is, this much I can do, warn you against his malice . . . but I have no power against his force.153.of,for, against. T has of his leað for hise wrenches ich con . Ah i ne mai &c.154.ꝥ te, what: R has only ꝥ, T reads ꝥ te limpeð to.157.eðeliche, morally poor: usually as applied to persons, it means, in humble circumstances. T reads eðeliche ⁊ wake·vnwearnede ⁊ unwepnede of treowe bileaue; preserving the original.158.Etstont: here withdat.; it takes wið 122/182; aȝeines 126/324.159.alle&c., our weapons are all given us by his favour. Fortitudo in the Latin quotes ‘induite vos armaturam Dei,’ Eph. vi. 11.160.he, the adversary.161.towart, against: comp. 126/333; ‘weorreð ⁊ warpeð eauer toward tis tur,’ HM 5/18.weole ⁊ wunne: a frequent combination in this group: comp. 143/69, 95; AR 198/30; SK 1501; HM 9/8, also ‘For al þe weole and þe wyn . þat riche men fede,’ OEM 91/22.este: comp. 72/187; ‘al hore wil ⁊ flesches eise ⁊ este,’ AR 220/6.162.summes weis, in some respects: comp. 140/30; HM 9/32; at 124/236 it appears to translate aliquantisper, for some time. Similar phrases are ‘þisses weis,’ AR 186/25, ‘eueriches weis,’ id. 218/12.163.na þing heardes: like Lat. nihil duri: comp. 122/183; ‘Wat dostu godes among monne,’ ON 563. Withheardescomp. 113/37.165. For both things, i. e. for both the rigour of adversity and the absence of bliss, it behoves one to feel dread.heart: hard RT.167.ma þah, still more.168.forȝemeð ham: comp. 22/137.170.ȝuldene: comp. ‘Þe middel weie of mesure is euer guldene,’ AR 336/23. guldene RT.172.hwet se&c., whatever be the case when hardships are concerned, I am not at all afraid of prosperity. For this use ofof, comp. ‘Hwen þus is of þe riche . hwat wenes tu of the poure,’ HM 9/16. Morris translates, ‘Whatever may be of hardships I dread’; which involves an impossible ellipsis and the mistake of making ‘of heardes’ partitive depending on ‘hwet.’ In this text that would require ‘heardes’ without the preposition: comp. 122/163, 183.173. ne of licomliche estes R.176.schadis usually followed by of, as at 130/81, but Orm 6228, 9 has ‘bitwenen.’ Comp. ‘scadwisnesse,’ 92/121; ‘ȝescod,’ 14/74.178.fallinde, perishing: B-T quotes ‘Ðis lif is lǽnlic and feallende,’ Thorpe, Anc. Laws, ii. 400/16.179.þurh unweotenesse, if she sins, it will not be for lack of knowledge. Comp. ‘I þine soule, oðer two—sunne ⁊ ignorance;þet is, unwisdom ⁊ unwitenesse,’ AR 278/6.180. AfternisT adds ha.siker of, free from anxiety about; as ‘sikernesse’ in l. 188 is confidence.as þeo þe&c., as being one who thinks herself weak, like Lat. quippe quae: comp. 128/1.181.⁊: so T, but R has correctly to, in.182.onont, as regards, so far as she herself is concerned: Lat. quoad.etstonden wið: see 121/158.turnes, cunning devices: comp. ‘aȝein þes deofles turnes ⁊ his fondunges,’ AR 78/27.deð—wise: comp. ‘þenne doþ we as þe wise,’ OEM 79/228.185.deð: this superfluous use of do is common in AR. ‘ne seið hit nout ꝥ heo biheold wepmen; auh deð wummen,’ 54/19; ‘Auh þe treowe ancren þet we efneð to briddes;nout we þauh;auh deð God,’ 130/30, and often. Comp. 85/105: different is ‘do’ used to avoid the repetition of a verb as at 49/304, 86/141.to donne: see 118/45.187. T omits halden.189. T has the better reading, to do riht ⁊ riht for to demen, which is supported by 122/197: R to don riht ant riht fon ⁊ demen; ‘fon riht’ is a strange expression, which may mean to exact justice at the hands of others.ich deme&c.: Morris translates, ‘and I deem myself so that I, through myself, may do it (sin) not.’ The meaning is, My duty is to behave justlyand to judge justly, and, in my own case, I judge that I do not perform that duty by my own unaided powers.190: ‘Omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum,’ S. Jas. i. 17.191.Nu . . . þenne: see 60/8.192.werien . . . witen: see 118/50.halden: habbenT.193.demen&c., to have a poor and humble opinion of ourselves. Comp. ‘leoten ham lahe ⁊ eðeliche,’ HM 43/29.Ne beo—swucche, even if we be not at all such, belongs to the preceding sentence.199.of, in respect to; it comes near in meaning to, in spite of these merits. OE.fordēmanis constructed with for,dēmanwith be, ymbe.200.him aneis definitive qualifying god: comp. ‘he him ane is to herien,’ 130/75.201.þonkeð . . . of, thank on account of, for: comp. ‘Gode ðanciað mid godum weorcum his gifa,’ Cura Past. 318/3; ‘þet þu luuie þine drihten . . . ⁊ him þonkien alles þinges,’ OEH i. 39/25; but ‘þonkien hit ure drihten,’ id. 5/29.203.on helpe, as a help: comp. 123/226.wite&c.: see 118/50.206.dreaien: see 74/233: dreien R, drahen T.treowlilicheis a scribe’s mistake for treowliche, as in R, treweliche T.207.Vmben: not ‘for,’ Morris, but After. On the other hand, ‘umbe stunde,’ AR 344/27, means, at times; ‘eauer umbe stunde,’ HM 33/30, at all times.209.freolich, goodly, charming, properly, of gentle upbringing: for the combination withfeier, comp. 129/23, 138/22. ‘Alius nuntius venit pulcher et hilaris, qui videtur afferre bona,’ V 208c.aturnet, attired: see 68/146.210.ꝥ—neod, we should have much need of that: the construction in this expression isdat.of the person needing,nom.of the thing needed, as in ‘Muchel is us þenne neod . . . sod scrift,’ OEH i. 11/1; ‘Þu seist þet te nis no neod medicine,’ AR 178/15; ‘Þe holie man is ned ꝥ he [bie] festned on his holinesse,’ OEH ii. 57/31: see also 62/24.211.mid alle, utterly: the phrase translates L. penitus in SK 658.214.ilihtet, alleviated, freed from depression: comp. ‘þet ich beo ilihted of hore heuinesse,’ AR 356/5.ham þuncheðis parenthetic.215.schimmeð, shines: a form found also in SJ, SM: schimereð T.217.lustnin: T has lustin ꝥ heldenus swa stille hwil fearlac us agrette, which corresponds to ‘Si nos, dum timor et memoria mortis loqueretur, tacuimus, iustum est ut te loquente multo magis taceamus,’ V 208c.219.munegunge: see 119/62.liues luue: ‘desiderium vitae aeternae’; comp. ‘ꝥ he hire liues luue luueliche leareð,’ HM 3/11.220.ꝥ, in which, where.222.drupnin, to be dejected: a Scand. word; see Björkman 177, 208, durcnin, the reading of R, is for drucnin, a variant of the other: comp. ‘⁊ dearede al adeadet, | druicninde ⁊ dreori,’ SK 2020. See Minot, i. 9 note.224.fondin ⁊ ifinden, experience and discover.229.ȝe iseoð: ȝoi isoð T.230.alswa: R omits.aȝein, in comparison with: comp. 124/246, 264; ‘euerich worldes sauur is bitter þer aȝeines,’ AR 102/26, id. 112/10. In l. 232 it means toward, in the direction of (from the place opposite): comp. ‘Ben ðese hangen ðe sunne agen,’ GE 4075.231.sunne—schadewe: comp. ‘te sunne were dosk ȝif hit to þi blisfule bleo mihte beo euenet,’ OEH i. 269/26 (Wohunge); ‘Iesu al feir . aȝein hwam þe sunne nis buten ase a scheadewe,’ id. 200/9; HM 39/32; AR 100/4.233.schawere, mirror; OE.scēawere. T has scheawere, R schadewe. The idea was possibly suggested by ‘per speculum in aenigmate,’ 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Comp. ‘Ȝe schulen, ase ine scheauware, iseon ure Lefdi mid hire meidenes,’ AR 92/26.235.an, one; not ‘and,’ Morris: the expression translates individua Trinitas.236.summes weis: see 121/162.237.blisful: wunderful R.238.rixleð: the absence of a connecting word is perhaps due to the original Latin: ‘Aliquantisper tamen intuitus sum Dominum Iesum Christum in dextera patris sedentem, in aeterna vita regnantem, quamvis super omnem creaturam adeo speciosum, ut in eum desiderent Angeli prospicere, ad haec (? adhuc) tamen vulnera passionis, quibus nos redemit, in corpore suo habentem, patri pro nobis assistentem,’ V 208d.239.ful . . . to bihalden, sated with gazing: a peculiar use of the, historically, dative infinitive as a genitive: comp. ‘sead . . . to iseonne,’ 133/30; ‘upo hwas nebschaft þe engles ne beoð neauer fulle to bihalden,’ HM 39/32: NED quotes under date 1607, ‘full to provide,’ fully occupied in providing. Sometimes ‘of’ is added, as 52/388; ‘Hit bieð sume þat non imeðe ne cunnen of hem seluen to feden,’ VV 139/23. In OE. the dat. inf. is often used to translate the Latin gerundive in the genitive, as ‘swa mycel getydnes ⁊ gelærednes to sprecanne’ = ‘tanta dicendi peritia,’ Bede, ed. Miller, 362/27. Forich isehR has is, T iseh.240.etscene: eðsene R, edscene T.243.heouenliche, heavenly ones: T adds weoredes: comp. l. 251. ‘super omnes ordines beatorum Angelorum . . . exaltatam,’ V.244.in, on.245.istirret: isterret T.weoleful: meinful R, powerful.246.þear ich iseh as, I saw where: usually the words are not separated: comp. 127/342; ‘he is ase buruh wiðuten wal, þer ase uerd mei in oueral,’ AR 74/6: so ‘þider as,’ whither, 126/334. For ase, where, comp. 125/272, ‘ine Jerusalem, ase he wunede,’ AR 172/2.248.þa, when. R has after mahte, na mare of hire iþolien; T reads, mihte of hire na lengre þolien.249.biseh to, looked upon, beheld: comp. 3/45; ‘Ða biseh ure drihte mildeliche to hire penitence,’ OEH ii. 145/9, and the similar ‘belocest to,’ 13/36; ‘hwa bihalt to þeo þet beoð of lowe liue,’ AR 276/26; ‘iseh towart’ = intuitus sum 124/254; ‘on to biseonne,’ 136/137. But ‘to . . . bisihð’ 134/81 means, looks up to, like ‘hwon ȝe habbeð touward me eien oðer honden,’ AR 76/16: ‘biseon to’ 136/134, look after, provide for, as in ‘Bisih to me lauedi briȝt, | Hwenne ich schal wende heonne,’ OEM 160/18. T omits ⁊—archangles, probably taking ‘þe oðre þe beoð buuen ham’ to mean the archangels. The Latin is, ‘Sed hanc admirabilem claritatem matris et filii diu ferre non sustinens, converti aspectum meum ad illos beatorum spirituum ordines, qui ante Deum assistunt.’ Probably the author meant by ‘þe oðre’ the four and twenty elders and the four beasts in perpetual adoration about the throne (Rev. iv. 4-11).251.unwergeð: unwerched T.Nihe wordes: see 16/138: T has woredes, R ord`r´es, corrected out of wordes.253.onsihðe: see 64/55.255-8: ‘miro exultantes gaudio, qui eam quam olim a longe salutaverant patriam obtinent, qui ea quae in spiritu praeviderant completa conspiciunt,’ V 209a. See Heb. xi. 13.ꝥ, because.256. Forigret, greeted, OE.gegrētan, R has igreiðet, prepared.259.poure: ‘de pauperibus et de infirmis tam gloriosos tamque sublimes factos,’ V. T of poure, R `ꝥ´ poure `weren´; omitting on eorðe.bigoten, drenched, perfused: comp. ‘Eall ic wæs mid blode bestemed | begoten of þæs Guman sidan,’ Dream of the Rood, 48; ‘ꝥ ha al were bigoten of þe blode,’ SJ 27/6.261.alle cunnes ledenes: RT have the usual alles: the MS. has alleṣ, where the dot may be only a casual resting of the pen: see 81/80, and comp. l. 264.264.talden to, esteemed: for ‘to’ T has of, which is the usual construction, comp. 164/256, ‘telleð lutel þerof,’ AR 200/12, but ‘to’ at 129/30; ‘tellest herto lutel,’ AR 100/20.aȝeines: see 123/230.266.haliche: read haliliche with RT.267: ‘fulgent quasi stellae in perpetuas aeternitates,’ V 209b, from Daniel xii. 3.wlite: ‘Regem in decore suo vident,’ V from Isa. xxxiii. 17. The writer omits any reference to monks, to whom the last clause of this sentence, ‘ꝥ—ehnen’ (Rev. vii. 17), is applied in the Latin. It is significant that he greatly expands the passage which describes the maidens; which should be compared with AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 42/460-72 (Ælfric, de Virginitate), HM 19/9-15.269.ferreden: comp. ‘i þe feire ferreden | of uirgines in heouene,’ SK 2309.ilikest towart engles: so, ‘þu ofearnest meiden to beo engle euening iþe heȝe blisse of heuene,’ HM 13/5; ‘to singen wið engles hwas felahes ha beoð,’ id. 19/8, 21/31.270.feolohlukest, best fitted as associates and equals to rejoice and be glad with them. An isolated superlative of felaȝlich: comp. ‘wunderlukest,’ 34/88; ‘wurðlukest,’ L 25496. The comparative adv. is more common: ‘dimluker,’ 56/43, ‘creftluker,’ 131/88, ‘greatluker,’ 70/157, ‘monluker,’ 66/110, ‘oðerluker,’ 38/149, 86/135, ‘witerluker,’ 125/285: in AR ‘ȝeorneluker,’ ‘gledluker,’ ‘wisluker,’ ‘uestluker,’ 234/5, 7, 8, 9; ‘wunderluker,’ OEH i. 93/28. Foruin these forms see Bülbring, §§ 420, 421.ouergað: see 22/143.271.flesches lahe, desires of the flesh:laheis custom, habit; its use was perhaps suggested by ‘Video autem aliam legem in membris meis . . . captivantem me in lege peccati,’ Rom. vii. 23.cunde, natural propensities: comp. 160/209; ‘heald þin cunde,’ follow nature, OEH ii. 31/6.272.as, where: comp. 124/246. There should be a full stop at wunieð, as in RT.274. R omits þe—singen. The arrangement in T shows how the mistake arose from the similar endings of two lines:na tunge tellen. Alle ha singeðꝥ ter beoð. Ah hare song nemahe nane butenheo singenSe swote smal ham folheð hwi.hare song: ‘Nam cantabant canticum, quod nemo alius poterat dicere,’ V 209c, from Rev. xiv. 3 (altered).275.smeal: smel R, smal T. ‘Sed odor in regione earum tam suavis erat, ut omnia aromatum genera exuperet,’ V.277.aȝein&c., to receive their petitions.ꝥ alle&c.: ꝥ alle þe oðer `he´ walden sittinde ihereð R, ꝥ alle þoðre halhen sittinde himhereð T.279.Ah nu&c.: ‘De singulis beatorum Ordinibus mira disseris, quaesumus ut quae sit eorum in communi actio edicas,’ V 209d. The stopshould come not after setnesse, but after sunderlepes, as in T; R puts it after sumhwet, which is tolerable.setnesse, OE.setness, properly ordinance, arrangement, is here by extension, order, class: R has the isolated tosetnesse, corresponding to an OE. *tō-setness, division into classes, which is probably the original word. The sense is, Well, thou hast now spoken so admirably about each class of the blessed severally, tell us somewhat as to what bliss is common to all alike. W explainssetnesseas = swetnesse.282.lengðe: ‘Vivunt, sapiunt, amant, gaudent, laudant, veloces sunt, securi sunt,’ V 209d.283. In Tmurieby punctuation goes with ‘loft song,’ which is OE.lof-song, Lauds, hymns of praise; see 126/318.287-330.The messenger proceeds to explain the nature of the seven blisses. The scribe marks off each section with a special capital, but has omitted one at ‘her,’ 126/317.287.brihtre: comp. ‘seouesiðe schenre þen þe sunne,’ HM 41/2; AR 100/4; SK 1665; SM 23/13; a phrase of this group. See Ælf. Lives, i. 538/820.288.buten—swinc: ‘current et non laborabunt,’ Isa. xl. 31.289.in a steal, in one station, condition: contrasted with man’s state on earth, ‘numquam in eodem statu permanet,’ Job xiv. 2, ‘never continueth in one stay.’ R has stel.290.wið ute wonunge: ‘sine diminutione.’291.hare lif&c.: ‘Vita eorum visio et cognitio beatae Trinitatis,’ V, quoting further S. John xvii. 3. R adds ‘in’ afteris.295.nebbe to nebbe: ‘tunc autem facie ad faciem,’ 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Comp. ‘secheð earst upon hire nebbe to nebbe,’ HM 17/7; ‘cristes wille bo us bitwon. | neb wið neb for him to son,’ OEH i. 61/109.wise&c.: ‘Sapiunt consilia atque iudicia Dei, quae sunt abyssus multa,’ V 209e; partly from Ps. xxxv. 7.296. R has godes runes ant his reades ꝥ. Comp. 1/5; ‘Godes derne runes ⁊ his derne domes,’ AR 96/3; ‘his derne runes ⁊ his heouenliche priuitez,’ id. 154/2; ‘þe deopschipe ⁊ te derne run,’ SK 1333.297.sea dingleanswers to ‘abyssus’:dingleis not otherwise known till the seventeenth century: see NEDs.v.ha seoð&c.: so, ‘Alle þeo ine heouene iseoð ine God alle þing,’ AR 96/1.298.hwi ⁊ hwerto: ‘Sapiunt causas et naturas et origines omnium rerum,’ V. R omits.300.bi ham idon, acted towards them, dealt with them: comp. 80/58. R omits ham.301.deorewurðe: muchele R.milceisdat.,hwetacc.after ȝelden. R omits ase muchel.302. R omits al, se muchel is not in RT and is not original: the correlatives are ‘Se gleade’ . . . ‘ꝥ ne mei.’303.munne: comp. ‘⁊ monie ma murhðen | þen alle men mahten | wið hare muð munnen | ⁊ tellen wið tungen,’ SK 1697-1700, and 119/85.304.Euchan—ahne: comp. ‘ylc blissæþ on oðres gode ⁊ on oðres murhðe, swá on his aȝene,’ Twelfth Cent. Hom. 120/11; AR 282/14-17.306.ase—alle, as many gladnesses as all the saints in heaven are many: ‘tot gaudia habent quot socios,’ V. R omits alle.308.hwen, since.310.of: see 110/272.wið uten ei etlunge, beyond all estimate: comp. ‘wiðuten eni etlunge,’ HM 39/35. eilungeR, a scribe’s error.311.Neomeð&c. The Latin of this passage is clear enough: ‘Si ergo cor uniuscuiusque vix capit suum gaudium, quomodo capit tot et tanta gaudia? Ideo dicitur,Intra in gaudium Domini tui: non intret gaudium Domini tui in te, quia capi non posset,’ V 209b. Ifhube read forꝥin l. 313, it gives a similar turn of expression and sense. As the text stands, it means, Now then note that, even if the heart of any one man can never find room for its own joy taken separately (so great beyond measure is the bliss of the individual) yet it does receive into itself so many and great joys [of others]. That is the meaning of our Lord’s saying, ‘Enter into the joy of thy Lord’ (S. Matt. xxv. 21). You must enter into the joy, it does not enter into you, for you cannot take it in. Such verbal ingenuity is common in scriptural interpretation at this period.nu þenne, now, that being so; see60/8 note.312.iseide, meant, taken: for this use of seggen, see 56/46. T omits, B is defective here.313.þe:þenR, te T. ꝥ would in a modern sentence come after ‘ȝeme,’ l. 311.316.blisse: hus R.bigotten: see 124/259: biȝeoten R, biȝoten T.317.neomen: in the absolute use of betake itself, proceed: see 213/539:inis a mere repetition of the preceding ‘in’: comp. 143/67 note.her ofbegins the expansion of ‘laudant’: it does not refer to what precedes, but means, for the reason given in the following verse, ‘Beati qui habitant in domo tua, Domine; in saecula saeculorum laudabunt te,’ Ps. lxxxiii. 5.318.lusti, finding pleasure: ‘sine fastidio.’songes: read songe, as in R.321. Comp. ‘Alle þeo ine heouene schulen beon ase swifte ase is nu monnes þouht, ⁊ ase is þe sunne gleam, þet smit from east into þe west, antase þe eie openeð ⁊ tuneð;. . . tet bodi schal beon hwar so euer þe gost wule in one hondhwule,’ AR 94/21.322.tuneð&c.: ‘In momento, in ictu oculi,’ 1 Cor. xv. 52: ‘as tu turnest þin hond,’ HM 25/12.324.etstonden: see 121/158.325.ȝe: Ȝea T.makie to cwakien: for the dat. inf. of purpose, comp. 128/370; ‘he wæs . . . geneded to onfonne þa ðegnunge biscophades,’ Bede, 368/17. The construction has its equivalent in an object clause, as ‘makeð ham ꝥ ha beoð,’ 131/101.327. The writer has neglected the translation of ‘de tali velocitate’ after blisse.ꝥ hit&c.: ‘quod nullum finem, nullam diminutionem, nullum detrimentum habebunt,’ V 209b.meis miswritten for mei; mai T.329.nower neh, nowhere near, falling far short of the reality; a phrase of this group, comp. ‘Nis hit nower neh gold al ꝥ ter schineð,’ HM 9/15; ‘ne schaltu nower neh | se lihtliche etsterten,’ SK 2094. R reads, Ah nower neh ne neh al;ne ꝥ ich iseh . ne ne con ich al tellen: T, Ah nower neh ne seh ich al . ne þat ȝet ꝥ ich seh ne con ich half tellen. Both are quite intelligible, R is nearest the original. W emends, ah nowðer ne seh ich al, | ne þetȝet þetich iseh | ne con ich half tellen. The Latin is, ‘Neque enim ut vidi dicere, neque ut sunt videre potui.’ȝet, even.331.efter þi sihðe, in accordance with what you saw: ‘vera vidisse, veranarrassete intelligimus,’ V 209c.332.bisið him, takes heed to himself.333.towart: see 121/161.334.þider as, to the place where: see 124/246. þider þer T.335.an, for ant: ⁊ RT.blisse . . . bale; comp. ‘in blisse buten euch bale,’ SK 1755; ‘my blysse, my bale ȝe han ben boþe,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 12/373. R has wið uten balesið.336.folhin, to follow after, or to practise, does not suit the context; but fonden T, to experience, gives a good sense and a characteristic combination: see 123/224. R has folhen an finden.hwet&c.: ‘Quis ergo nos separabit a charitate Christi? . . . Certus sum enim quia neque mors neque vita . . . poterit nos separare a charitate Dei,’ Rom. viii. 35, 38, 39.337.halden us þeonne, keep us away from him: comp. ‘halde we us from uniwil,’ OEH i. 69/264.þeonne, not ‘then,’ but thence, therefrom: contracted from þeonene, OE.þanone: usually meaning from that place and seldom applied to a person as here.339.haueð: the subject ishecontained in the preceding ‘his.’tresures: a mistake for tresurers: tresorers T: possibly the earliest instance of its use.340.under his wengen, i. e. if we have his protection: from ‘protegar in velamento alarum tuarum,’ Ps. lx. 5: similar expressions in Pss. lvi. 2, lxii. 8, xc. 4.341.warschipe: T has rihtwisnesse, with the Latin, where Justitia pronounces judgement (comp. l. 350) and Fortitudo executes it (l. 343), while Temperantia says what is translated in ll. 349-52.342.þer as, where: see 124/246.murðes: murhðes T.343.nu ut quod strenðeis omitted by T.344.ende: see 96/34. Nu nu quoðfearlaic . T.345.lessere&c., inferior in importance to that of mirth’s messenger; so Morris, taking sondes ass. gen.balancing ‘mi’ after þen. T has sonden.346.unbihefre: see 91/108.licwurðe ne icweme: comp. ‘Hesteres bone þe cwene was þe kinge Assuer licwurðe ⁊ icweme,’ AR 146/7, 120/25, 326/13.347.ow: T adds quoð meað.349.þahwithnu, nevertheless at this time, on this occasion. T has, flutte nu þah fearlac.351. ‘Forsitan tu admitteris si Desiderium vitae aeternae aliquando loqui cessaverit,’ V 209d.352.stutteð, ceases: a word characteristic of the group: comp. ‘þa ne cuðen ha neauer stutten hare cleappe,’ AR 72/14 (Corpus MS.); ‘Stute nu þenne ⁊ stew þe, | ⁊ stille þine wordes,’ SK 1529; ‘Wið þis ꝥ ha stutte stoden þe cwelleres,’ SJ 64/12; ‘stute nu ant stew þine unwittie wordes,’ SM 6/2: it is mostly used of cutting short a discourse: cognate with Du. stuiten (Franck), G. stutzen.353.ituht efter, disciplined in conformity with: similarlydon efter, l. 355, to behave in subservience to: comp. 106/197.355. T has, se ful itohen ⁊ don al as hamluste ase wil hare lafdi ⁊ nawt ase wit ham tuhte;lustneð &c.356.fondeð&c., each one, owing to those two messages which they have heard, and (owing to) that which the four sisters have taught in addition, ever strives, in discharge of his office, to keep his watch and to guard faithfully against the entrance of each vice.357.þurh: R has the contraction þ with oblique stroke through the lower part of the staff here and at 128/371, not ꝥ.ꝥ fowr: to fowr R.358.for, against, with ‘witene’ and ‘warden.’warde&c.: comp. 118/50.359.ant—treowliche: T omits.360.ofte&c.: see 32/47.361.þe islep: ꝥ iþe slep of ȝemles T. Forȝemelescomp. 54/10, 17.hire: his T. ‘Sic debet quisque torporem suum excutere,’ V 209d.362.efter þeos: afterþe tidings of þe T.biseon to, gaze up to: comp. 124/249: withon, 120/122. Here V ends.364. T reads his hinen.efter, in accordance with that which: after þat his wil T.365.ꝥ is: þe wise T.tuhten ⁊ teachen: comp. 47/272: in Specimens connected with ‘wule,’ ‘as Wit . . . will discipline and instruct’; by Morris made to depend on ‘husebonde,’ both wrongly. They depend onah, l. 360, which governs the whole series of infinitives ‘te þenchen,’ ‘awecchen,’ ‘biseon,’ ‘To habben,’ ‘leaden,’ ‘tuhten ⁊ teachen,’ ‘witen,’ l. 368: one ought to train and teach (himself and his servants, l. 363) that Wit should always go before.366.teache: T has the correct reading, drahe.dihteð ⁊ demeð, arranges and decrees to be done. The combination is uncommon, but comp. ‘al ich wule dihten | þe domen of mi kinedom,’ SK 1460 (MS. Titus); ‘he dihte feole domes,’ L 7221.367.þer fore: not in T; it is a blundering anticipation of the two words following.370.te fleon: see 126/325.ontent, inflames: comp. 70/168; ‘þe hali gast | þe, in furene tungen, | ontende þe apostles,’ SK 1402; ‘Ontend me wiþ þe blase of þi leitinde loue,’ OEH i. 185/6. T has ontenden.372.feder&c.: fader ⁊ te hali gast an godd i þrehad rixleð ai bute ende T.ant e suneis a strange mistake: comp. 88/190.374ff. are not in T.iohanis the copyist: comp. 74/237, 75/209; ‘Ant he ꝥ her least on wrat swa as he cuðe,’ SJ 79/18. He may have been the author of the doggerel which follows.377.swa, accordingly, i.e. by reading it.381.ꝥ lif, such a life.384.Þetmeans that, in conjunction with 381, so that, with 382. Johan was a good scribe, and a poor poet.
þis hus þe ure lauerd spekeð of · is seolf þe monnes inwit;wit i þis hus is þe huselauerd,
þis hus þe ure lauerd spekeð of · is seolf þe mon
nes inwit;wit i þis hus is þe huselauerd,
where the first line is actually that found in R: the division of mon-nes would readily give rise to the corruptions of all three MSS. In the Ayenbite of Inwyt the Latin is translated, ‘Hous . is inwyt|in huychen þe uader of house woneþ . þe hord of uirtues gadereþ,’ 263/24. Forinwitcomp. ‘wiðinnen us suluen, ure owune conscience, þet is, ure inwit,’ AR 306/1, 206/5. When the writer afterwards speaks of the house of the body, 127/369, he is using a familiar expression, for which there is nothing corresponding in the Latin original.witis Reason = animus rationalis: the contest between it and Will is also in HM 15/23-36; the embodiment of thelatteras the ‘fulitohe wif’ is due to our writer.
10.ꝥ—hire, whose guidance if the household (hus = familia) follow: see46/292 note.diht&c.: see66/120 note.
11.chasti, discipline, restrain: comp. ‘Hwil þi wit atstond ⁊ chaisteð þi wil . . . ne harmeð hit te nawiht,’ HM 15/26.
13.hit: see 1/10: ha RT.
16.wittes, senses: comp. ‘hire fif wittes . sihðe ⁊ heringe . smecchunge ⁊ smeallunge ⁊ euch limes felunge,’ HM 13/25; AR 48/8, 116/25.
17.hwer—ȝemeles: ‘Nam si vel parum a sua sollicitudine torpuerit,’ V 207e.
18.feareð untoheliche, behaves in unruly fashion.gulteð ilome: see 34/91.
19.ifol semblant, in foolish demeanour: comp. ‘ȝif þu makest ei semblaunt oðer eni luue lates touward unðeauwes,’ AR 90/17.Inwið&c.: following on the division made in ll. 14, 15, we might have expected here something like, Þeo wið innen beoð þohtes.
20.in, busied about, intent on such a great variety of purposes to please Will. Forin, of aim, object, comp. ‘He only, in a general honest thought | And common good to all, made one of them,’ Shakspere, Julius Caesar, v. v. 71. It might also be regarded as, in the shape of.
21.hitmight be impersonal, that things shall go on to her liking, but comp. l. 10.
22.iþþlencan hardly be a mistake for ifelen (Specimens): it is possibly for iðolien. R has felen, T fele.nurhð, noise: comp. 129/47 note: ‘His laðliche nurð ⁊ his untohe bere makeð þe to agrisen,’ HM 31/22; ‘nurð ne kimeð in heorte bute of sum þing ꝥ me haueð oðer isehen oðer iherd,’ AR Corpus MS. where MS. Nero, ed. Morton, 92/3, has ‘noise’; ‘leaueð ower nurð . ant oþer ladliche bere,’ SM 21/20. The word is not found outside this group. T has murð, as at 118/22, but R with ‘murhðe’ there has correctly nurð here.
23.a þet: see72/179 note.hit: RT have correctly wit.eie . . . luue: comp. 72/200. Withtuhte, discipline, comp. ‘tuhten ne chasten þi meiden uor hire gult,’ AR 268/21.
24.for, because of the untrustworthiness of: analogous to 104/175.for hwen ꝥ, if on occasion, when: see 72/192 and comp. ‘for hwen þat he cheas hire,’ HM 15/11. Its use appears to be restricted to this group. slepe . oðer ohwider fare R; slepes oðer owhwider fares T.
26.let ham iwurðen, lets them have their own way, abandons them to their own devices. Comp. ‘ure Louerd let us one iwurðen oðer hwules ⁊ wiðdraweð his grace,’ AR 230/27, 288/23; ‘Heo let heom alle i-wurþe . þat beoþ so swyþe stronge,’ OEM 89/32; SK 791.
28.forte breoke. . .abuten:see74/229 note.efter: see 7/53.ꝥisacc.after bohte, with lette it means, for which: comp. 44/252, 263. Withlette&c. comp. 144/84.
29.moni þeof: ‘Fur autem non unus est sed multiplex, quia singulis virtutibus singula vitia insidiantur,’ V 208a.
30.gasttes: comp. 15/79; ‘ȝewerged gastes . ⁊ unþeawes . ⁊ unwraste lahtres,’ OEH i. 243/7.
31.castel: so T, but R has chatel, property, possession. All the MSS. have ‘castel’ at 123/203.
32.hire, the corresponding vice. OE.þēaw,un-þēaware masculine.
33.heaued: ‘Principalis tamen fur diabolus intelligitur. Contra quem et eius satellites pater idem (si tamen non negligens fuerit) domum suam forti custodia muniens, prudentiam in primo aditu constituat,’ V 208a.meistreð, acts as leader to.
34.keisis evidently translation of satellites, guards. ‘Item satelles dicitur quia adheret alteri ad eius custodiam,’ Catholicon. But W explains it of those who hold the keys of office.
35.froure: so T, comfort, support; comp. 18/19. But fowre R is better.
36.heaued þeawes, cardinal virtues. V mentions only three of thesehere, but Temperantia (= Meað) afterwards takes part in the dialogue.Warschipeis Prudentia:gastelich strengðeis a translation of the Spiritus Fortitudinis of the very ancient Confirmation Prayer; VV has more literally ‘gost of strengþe,’ 83/22: V has Fortitudo only.
38.cunestable, chief officer: an early instance of the word in English.
39.durewart: comp. ‘Þe ȝeteward . þet is wittes skile,’ AR 270/26: in VV she is ȝeapnesse, ‘on of ðe holie mihtes ðe wel cunne ⁊ wel muȝe ðo gaten ⁊ ðo duren wel bilokin of ðis holi temple,’ 99/22.þe: so R, but ꝥ T: relative with subjunctive of purpose, like the Latin, ‘quae discernat quid sit admittendum, quid vitandum, quid excludendum.’
40.of feor, from a distance; explained in NED underafar, as an analytical form = OE.feorran,adv., from far. The latter is sometimes treated in ME. as a noun and combined with prepositions of, on, from: comp. 118/55, 198/31: oferrum in Minot vii. 70 is on +dat. s. neut.offeorr,adj.
42.warschipes: for the construction, see 10/167. R has warschipe, showing confusion of gender. The subject ofwarniis warschipe contained in the preceding genitive; see 6/18.fore,adv., previously, comp. 121/140; ‘Ah wel ich warni þe uore,’ SJ 47/15.
44.ꝥ . . . speken: see 81/77.
45.mete: so T, but meðe R: comp. 122/174.uueles: so T, faults of excess and defect, extremes: ‘muchel ⁊ lutel,’ 122/169. R has þinge, which perhaps points to an original uuele þinge.for ꝥ—halden, lit., for that is in every place (i.e. under all circumstances) virtue and disciplined conduct in the observance; which is practically, for the observance of that moderation is under all circumstances virtuous conduct. So ‘ꝥ ich demi riht ⁊ wisdom to donne,’ 122/185, the doing of that I judge to be proper and wise. This use of the gerundial infinitive is frequent in AR, comp. ‘ne beo þu nout Gius fere ne Gius make uorte birlen him so,’ 114/15, by pouring him out such a drink. Withhaldencomp. ‘Al so me tempreð an baþ . . . also deð ðis haliȝe mihte alle ðes mannes ðeawes ðe hes luuiȝeð ⁊ healden cann,’ VV 107/18.
46.ꝥ nan&c., that none of them in any case should, in opposition to her, with excess overstep moderation:wid vnmeoðis duplicated inouer mete.
48: ‘Iustitia sedeat in medio, ut sua cuique tribuat,’ V 208b.
49.efter his rihte, according to his deserts.
50.his: RT have correctly þis, and afteris, his. Comp. the corresponding passage 127/356-8, whereefter ꝥ he isis varied by ‘efter ꝥ him limpeð to,’ andnimed . . . his warde to witeneby ‘fondeð . . . his warde tewitene.’ This household, each in his own department, undertakes the care of his charge. R omits to witene. Withwarde . . . witenecomp. 74/231; ‘þet he wite ⁊ wardie ou,’ AR 174/24: similar combinations are ‘werieð ⁊ witeð,’ 121/143, 122/192; ‘wite ⁊ werien,’ 123/203, 136/147, 149/169; ‘wardi ⁊ werie,’ 121/141.
52.of þe oþre, of the other servants.witis contracted 3sing. pr.for witeþ, takes care; T has the equivalent in his dialect, wites: comp. ‘swuchne wardein, þet wit ⁊ wereð us euer wið þe unseiene gostes,’ AR 312/8. R reads ant euchan al swa as of þe oðere wið ꝥ wit onont him . ne schal &c.; wið ꝥ wit is an evident mistake for wit ꝥ.onont him, so far as he is concerned: see NED underAnent; the finaltis possibly due to Scandinavian influence (Björkman, 20), and the secondoto the analogy of such pairs as hwenne, hwonne, þenne, þonne. Comp. 70/161 note.
53: ‘His ita dispositis, introducere debet prudentia aliquos nuntios, qui aliqua narrent, quae ad exercitationem valeant,’ V 208b.
54.fortruste himappears to mean, be over confident, the prefix implying excess: the word occurs here only.
55.in, adverb.of feorren: see118/40 note.
58.elheowet, of strange colour: apparently here only. T has blac ille heowet, which looks like a popular derivation of an uncommon word.
59.þuncheð ꝥ stont: see7/52 note.biuoren, as a preliminary, as the first thing to be said: comp. ‘vore,’ 118/42. RT have biuoren ham, which is rather pointless.
61-3.lust: ‘se respondit non aliter quicquam dicturum, nisi summum fiat silentium. Quo impetrato sic incipit. Ego sum timor mortis et mortem vobis venire nuncio,’ V. In AR 306, fearlac binds the sinner condemned in Reason’s court.munegunge, ‘Memoria mortis,’ V.
64.bisetten, employ, expend (NED i. 817, comparing bestow): arrange, dispose would better suit wordes, but not werkes.
67.ah—hwenne, but be always expectant of that time: comp. ‘deað þet we beoð siker of ⁊ unsiker hwonne.’ AR 144/13.
68.unmundlunge, unexpectedly: vnmunidlinge T.hwen—weneð: comp. ‘er me lest wene,’ AR 178/12, and often; ‘þer we lest wenet,’ OEH i. 7/26; SJ 44/3.
70.of, with, filled with records of sins: comp. ‘Vre Louerd hefde ifuld him of his þreatunge,’ AR 156/3; 121/130; 201/61 note. See 36/101.
72.preoouin, convict: a rare absolute use. preouin R, preouenT.
73.ꝥ . . . on, on which: see1/3 note.enbreuet, enrolled: comp. ‘vor nis non so lutel þing of þeos þet þe deouel naueð enbreued on his rolle,’ AR 344/10; ‘in iames ant imembres bokes ibreuet,’ SM 16/31. OF. embriever:nformis Anglo-French: T has embreuet: ibreuet in R is pp. of*breuen, enroll.
74.lif siðe: see 2/27.
75.soð schrift: see 88/183, 80/52, and comp. ‘healen ham wið soð schrift ⁊ wið deadbote,’ HM 15/1, 21/24.hire: so RT: see13/34 note.
77.ha seið warschipe: comp. 119/79, 80, 215/23; ‘An oðer stede he seið godd,’ VV 81/2; ‘he seið seint Jame,’ AR 10/14 and often; in all cases the name of the person thus added in explanation of the pronoun has been previously mentioned. Analogous are 192/504, 194/602.
78.ofte ⁊ ilome: see 32/47.Nu . . . þenne: see60/8 note.for þi trowðe: see 94/26, and note in l. 80, the common ‘omi trowðe.’
80.efter: comp. 36/119; ‘Vor efter þet me icnoweð his muchele godnesse . . . efter þet me luueð hine more oðer lesse,’ AR 92/13: in the next lineefter—conmeans, to the best of my ability and knowledge.
81.tellen: RT omit.þer towart, lit. in that direction, i. e. concerning that matter: mostly used in local sense as ‘buhen þertoward,’ SK 1473. In l. 83 it means thereto.readien, discourse: rodien R, reodenT: W reads reordin.
82 ff.The details in this and similar descriptions, as VV 17-19, are ultimately derived from the Visions literature; see Introduction to piece X. The main divisions here correspond exactly to those in AR 144; ‘þe seoruwe of helle, þer bihold þreo þinges—þe untaleliche pinen þet no tunge ne mei tellen (comp. 119/85)—þe echenesse of euerichon, þet lesteð wiðuten ende (comp. 120/106-8)—þe unimete bitternesse of euerichon’ (comp. 120/108-112).
82.[wid]: supplied from T, not in R. ‘Infernus latus est sine mensura, profundus sine fundo, plenus ardore incomparabili (‘uneuenlich’), plenus foetore intolerabili (‘unþolelich’), plenus dolore innumerabili’ (‘untalelich’), V 208d.wið ute grunde: comp. 40/178.
83.uneuenlich: comp. ‘al so ase heo (blisse) is unefenlich to alle worldes blissen, al so heo is untalelich to alle worldliche tungen,’ AR 410/11. R has unwerilich.
85.ne mei&c.: comp. 46/285, 126/303; ‘ne mahte hit na mon rikenin ne tellen,’ SJ 50/4.
88.smeke: smoke RT.smeche forcuðest, vilest of fumes, but RT have smecche, of flavours (smæcc); comp. ‘þreaste smeorðrinde smoke ut smecche forcuðest,’ SM 9/6. The adjective is everywhere else used of moral worthlessness; comp. 26/253.
90.alles cunnes pinen: see 81/80.
91.ase deoflen: R has as þe deoulen, which is preferable.
94. Forbute boteT has unbotelich, a rare word, but ‘unboteliche lure,’ HM 17/25. The combination of bote and bale is very common; see Minot i. 4 note.as—werenbelongs tohal.ful—grure, and unmistakably they see themselves terrible and awful.grisle . . . grure: comp. 56/40, 120/122, 121/131; ‘þet grisliche word ⁊ grureful ouer alle,’ AR 306/5; ‘grislich ⁊ grureful uorto biholden,’ id. 242/12.
95.froggen: T has froden: see46/273 note.
96. The omission ofþewould improve the grammar of this passage by giving a verb for helle wurmes, tadden ⁊ froggen.
97.eauraskes, water-frogs: eaureskes R, eafroskes T.
99.eauerȝete, at any time yet: comp. ‘al þe wo ꝥ nu is ⁊ euer ȝete was,’ AR 52/12. In ‘For falshede euer ȝite heo souhten,’ Castel off Loue, 342, it represents Fr. tut tens.remunge&c.: ‘Ibi est fletus et stridor dentium (S. Matt. xxii. 13 altered), ibi transitur a frigore nivium ad calorem ignium, et utrumque intolerabile,’ V 208d. Comp. 42/231-6, 76/25.
100.hechelunge: apparently here only: Morris translates ‘chattering.’ If it is connected with ME. hechele, a tool for heckling flax, grating or gnashing is a more likely meaning.
102.monge, mixture, alternation of extremes.
103: ‘Ibi omnes comburuntur . . . nec consumuntur,’ V.
104.forwalleð, ‘tortures by boiling,’ NED; apparently here only: comp. 43/222.
106.unhope, absence of hope, of any prospect of release: ‘ibi nulla spes boni,’ V 208d. A rare word, differing in meaning from wanhope: comp. ‘in desperaunce, þet is, in unhope ⁊ in unbileaue forte beon iboruwen,’ AR 8/17. See 46/289.
108.iwa: inwa RT.
109.heateð: ‘Omnis, qui est in eo, odit se et omnes alios,’ V. T has, hateð oðer . ⁊ ter teken himseluen, and in addition thereto (tō ēacan).
110.blake: ‘bestia nigerrima sicut corvus,’ Visio Tnugdali, 36/4.
114.tungen of stele: Virgil’s ‘ferrea vox’; ‘isene stemne,’ Wulfstan, 215/2; ‘teþ and tunge . of stel imaked,’ OEM 154/268.
116.hefde a mon&c.: comp. ‘Testis mihi Deus est, quia, si viderem quempiam hominum, qui me et omnes caros meos omnibus damnis, iniuriis et laesionibus et extrema leti sorte affecisset: si, inquam, tamimmanissimumhostem meum illis suppliciis, quae vidi, deputatum conspicerem prolixius cruciandum, millies, si fieri posset, pro eius ereptione temporalem mortem appeterem,’ Visio Monachi de Eynsham, ed. Huber, Rom. Forschungen, xvi. 663/25. The date of the Visio is 1196A.D.
117.al þe ende, the whole: ende, portion, as in OE.micel ende,nanendeappears to show in this solitary place the same development of meaning as lot, portion in the colloquial use, ‘the lot,’ ‘the whole lot.’ Morris translates ‘remnant,’ but that is a late meaning of the word: W, starting from the meaning, region (see 127/344), explains, the whole circle of my kin.
120.ut þrof, out of that place: comp. ‘arudden mi sawle ut of þine honden,’ SM 6/21: but aredden is usually followed by of alone, as, ‘to aredden of helle,’ OEH i. 203/16.
121. Some distinction is apparently intended betweeniseon(seon RT) andbiseon(all MSS.) such as that between, to be within sight of, and, to gaze upon.
122.grimfule ⁊ grurefule: the first word is rare and the combination apparently without parallel.
124.schenðlac, disgrace: schenlac R, schendlac T: a word found only in AR, SK, and here.
125.⁊ hure þolien, and especially to bear: in a normal sentence we should look for something like, but it is still worse to endure.unirude: unrude RT: see 188/389.
126.mealles: melles RT, beetles, clubs: comp. ‘þer ȝe schulen iseon bunsen ham mit tes deofles bettles,’ AR 188/4; ‘Þarfor þe devels salle stryk þam þare | With hevy melles ay,’ Hampole, Pr. of Consc. 7047.dustlunges: only here; the parallel place, 58/68, fixes its meaning as flingings, hurlings: ME. dusten, to fling, is a word characteristic of the group. R has reade . hare dustlunges as, T reade Hare dustlunges as, a better division, but requiring ⁊ before hare.
128.grure&c.: comp. ‘greden ai ⁊ granen iþe eche grure of helle,’ HM 47/12; ‘ðær is ece gryre . . . þær is wanung and granung,’ Wulfstan 114/4, id. 209/15, 18.heatel, full of hate, cruel; OE.hatol. R has hatel, T Heates.
129.wontreaðes: wondraðes R, wandreðes T: see 58/76. Withbold, dwelling place, comp. ‘bold of eche blisse,’ OEH i. 273/10.
132. ForschekeðR reads sorheð.me . . . mearedat.pronouns, like ham 120/96: comp. 80/47.rueð: runeð T, ruueð R; the first two seem to be mistakes for the last, which may represent a simple form of which ruffle is derivative, with meaning, to stiffen, stand up in disorder. W reads riseð.of, at; indicating source or cause: see 160/184.
133.wumme: see 2/13. ‘Nulla ibi vox, nisi vae, vae, vae habent, vae sonant,’ V 208e.
135.ofearneð: if the prefix has any force, it means, thoroughly, fully.hwilinde: the OE. adj. arehwīlen,hwīlendlic,hwīlwende.
136.ȝef ꝥ: R omits ȝef: T has ȝif without þet. ‘Bonum erat ei, si non esset natus homo ille,’ S. Mark xiv. 21.
140.fore: see 118/42.
141.rihte . . . reade: comp. 141/50, 147/158.
142. Read beo[n] we, let us be.
145.he: ha RT.
146.deore: ‘pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors Sanctorum eius,’ Ps. cxv. 15.
147.fikelinde, deceiving: comp. ‘þis fikele world ⁊ frakele,’ HM 7/34; ‘eorðe ðet is fikel ⁊ fals,’ OEH i. 200/24.false: fahe RT., variegated.
148.wurðeð: so T, wurcheð R.
151.iburst, bristled, and metaphorically, enraged: elsewhere said of the boar, ‘burst bar,’ SJ 68/13, ‘iburst bar,’ id. 69/16; ‘al was heora gristbatinge;al swa wilde bares eȝe. | Whil heo weoren blake;⁊ ladliche iburste,’ L 1886; ‘comeþ þe maister budel brust ase a bore,’ Böddeker, AE. Dicht. 104/51.sechinde: R adds inȝonge, which is superfluous, but not senseless; comp. 118/32.
152.tis, for þis after ant, cannot mean ‘thus,’ Morris: the meaning is, this much I can do, warn you against his malice . . . but I have no power against his force.
153.of,for, against. T has of his leað for hise wrenches ich con . Ah i ne mai &c.
154.ꝥ te, what: R has only ꝥ, T reads ꝥ te limpeð to.
157.eðeliche, morally poor: usually as applied to persons, it means, in humble circumstances. T reads eðeliche ⁊ wake·vnwearnede ⁊ unwepnede of treowe bileaue; preserving the original.
158.Etstont: here withdat.; it takes wið 122/182; aȝeines 126/324.
159.alle&c., our weapons are all given us by his favour. Fortitudo in the Latin quotes ‘induite vos armaturam Dei,’ Eph. vi. 11.
160.he, the adversary.
161.towart, against: comp. 126/333; ‘weorreð ⁊ warpeð eauer toward tis tur,’ HM 5/18.weole ⁊ wunne: a frequent combination in this group: comp. 143/69, 95; AR 198/30; SK 1501; HM 9/8, also ‘For al þe weole and þe wyn . þat riche men fede,’ OEM 91/22.este: comp. 72/187; ‘al hore wil ⁊ flesches eise ⁊ este,’ AR 220/6.
162.summes weis, in some respects: comp. 140/30; HM 9/32; at 124/236 it appears to translate aliquantisper, for some time. Similar phrases are ‘þisses weis,’ AR 186/25, ‘eueriches weis,’ id. 218/12.
163.na þing heardes: like Lat. nihil duri: comp. 122/183; ‘Wat dostu godes among monne,’ ON 563. Withheardescomp. 113/37.
165. For both things, i. e. for both the rigour of adversity and the absence of bliss, it behoves one to feel dread.heart: hard RT.
167.ma þah, still more.
168.forȝemeð ham: comp. 22/137.
170.ȝuldene: comp. ‘Þe middel weie of mesure is euer guldene,’ AR 336/23. guldene RT.
172.hwet se&c., whatever be the case when hardships are concerned, I am not at all afraid of prosperity. For this use ofof, comp. ‘Hwen þus is of þe riche . hwat wenes tu of the poure,’ HM 9/16. Morris translates, ‘Whatever may be of hardships I dread’; which involves an impossible ellipsis and the mistake of making ‘of heardes’ partitive depending on ‘hwet.’ In this text that would require ‘heardes’ without the preposition: comp. 122/163, 183.
173. ne of licomliche estes R.
176.schadis usually followed by of, as at 130/81, but Orm 6228, 9 has ‘bitwenen.’ Comp. ‘scadwisnesse,’ 92/121; ‘ȝescod,’ 14/74.
178.fallinde, perishing: B-T quotes ‘Ðis lif is lǽnlic and feallende,’ Thorpe, Anc. Laws, ii. 400/16.
179.þurh unweotenesse, if she sins, it will not be for lack of knowledge. Comp. ‘I þine soule, oðer two—sunne ⁊ ignorance;þet is, unwisdom ⁊ unwitenesse,’ AR 278/6.
180. AfternisT adds ha.siker of, free from anxiety about; as ‘sikernesse’ in l. 188 is confidence.as þeo þe&c., as being one who thinks herself weak, like Lat. quippe quae: comp. 128/1.
181.⁊: so T, but R has correctly to, in.
182.onont, as regards, so far as she herself is concerned: Lat. quoad.etstonden wið: see 121/158.turnes, cunning devices: comp. ‘aȝein þes deofles turnes ⁊ his fondunges,’ AR 78/27.deð—wise: comp. ‘þenne doþ we as þe wise,’ OEM 79/228.
185.deð: this superfluous use of do is common in AR. ‘ne seið hit nout ꝥ heo biheold wepmen; auh deð wummen,’ 54/19; ‘Auh þe treowe ancren þet we efneð to briddes;nout we þauh;auh deð God,’ 130/30, and often. Comp. 85/105: different is ‘do’ used to avoid the repetition of a verb as at 49/304, 86/141.to donne: see 118/45.
187. T omits halden.
189. T has the better reading, to do riht ⁊ riht for to demen, which is supported by 122/197: R to don riht ant riht fon ⁊ demen; ‘fon riht’ is a strange expression, which may mean to exact justice at the hands of others.ich deme&c.: Morris translates, ‘and I deem myself so that I, through myself, may do it (sin) not.’ The meaning is, My duty is to behave justlyand to judge justly, and, in my own case, I judge that I do not perform that duty by my own unaided powers.
190: ‘Omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum,’ S. Jas. i. 17.
191.Nu . . . þenne: see 60/8.
192.werien . . . witen: see 118/50.halden: habbenT.
193.demen&c., to have a poor and humble opinion of ourselves. Comp. ‘leoten ham lahe ⁊ eðeliche,’ HM 43/29.Ne beo—swucche, even if we be not at all such, belongs to the preceding sentence.
199.of, in respect to; it comes near in meaning to, in spite of these merits. OE.fordēmanis constructed with for,dēmanwith be, ymbe.
200.him aneis definitive qualifying god: comp. ‘he him ane is to herien,’ 130/75.
201.þonkeð . . . of, thank on account of, for: comp. ‘Gode ðanciað mid godum weorcum his gifa,’ Cura Past. 318/3; ‘þet þu luuie þine drihten . . . ⁊ him þonkien alles þinges,’ OEH i. 39/25; but ‘þonkien hit ure drihten,’ id. 5/29.
203.on helpe, as a help: comp. 123/226.wite&c.: see 118/50.
206.dreaien: see 74/233: dreien R, drahen T.treowlilicheis a scribe’s mistake for treowliche, as in R, treweliche T.
207.Vmben: not ‘for,’ Morris, but After. On the other hand, ‘umbe stunde,’ AR 344/27, means, at times; ‘eauer umbe stunde,’ HM 33/30, at all times.
209.freolich, goodly, charming, properly, of gentle upbringing: for the combination withfeier, comp. 129/23, 138/22. ‘Alius nuntius venit pulcher et hilaris, qui videtur afferre bona,’ V 208c.aturnet, attired: see 68/146.
210.ꝥ—neod, we should have much need of that: the construction in this expression isdat.of the person needing,nom.of the thing needed, as in ‘Muchel is us þenne neod . . . sod scrift,’ OEH i. 11/1; ‘Þu seist þet te nis no neod medicine,’ AR 178/15; ‘Þe holie man is ned ꝥ he [bie] festned on his holinesse,’ OEH ii. 57/31: see also 62/24.
211.mid alle, utterly: the phrase translates L. penitus in SK 658.
214.ilihtet, alleviated, freed from depression: comp. ‘þet ich beo ilihted of hore heuinesse,’ AR 356/5.ham þuncheðis parenthetic.
215.schimmeð, shines: a form found also in SJ, SM: schimereð T.
217.lustnin: T has lustin ꝥ heldenus swa stille hwil fearlac us agrette, which corresponds to ‘Si nos, dum timor et memoria mortis loqueretur, tacuimus, iustum est ut te loquente multo magis taceamus,’ V 208c.
219.munegunge: see 119/62.liues luue: ‘desiderium vitae aeternae’; comp. ‘ꝥ he hire liues luue luueliche leareð,’ HM 3/11.
220.ꝥ, in which, where.
222.drupnin, to be dejected: a Scand. word; see Björkman 177, 208, durcnin, the reading of R, is for drucnin, a variant of the other: comp. ‘⁊ dearede al adeadet, | druicninde ⁊ dreori,’ SK 2020. See Minot, i. 9 note.
224.fondin ⁊ ifinden, experience and discover.
229.ȝe iseoð: ȝoi isoð T.
230.alswa: R omits.aȝein, in comparison with: comp. 124/246, 264; ‘euerich worldes sauur is bitter þer aȝeines,’ AR 102/26, id. 112/10. In l. 232 it means toward, in the direction of (from the place opposite): comp. ‘Ben ðese hangen ðe sunne agen,’ GE 4075.
231.sunne—schadewe: comp. ‘te sunne were dosk ȝif hit to þi blisfule bleo mihte beo euenet,’ OEH i. 269/26 (Wohunge); ‘Iesu al feir . aȝein hwam þe sunne nis buten ase a scheadewe,’ id. 200/9; HM 39/32; AR 100/4.
233.schawere, mirror; OE.scēawere. T has scheawere, R schadewe. The idea was possibly suggested by ‘per speculum in aenigmate,’ 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Comp. ‘Ȝe schulen, ase ine scheauware, iseon ure Lefdi mid hire meidenes,’ AR 92/26.
235.an, one; not ‘and,’ Morris: the expression translates individua Trinitas.
236.summes weis: see 121/162.
237.blisful: wunderful R.
238.rixleð: the absence of a connecting word is perhaps due to the original Latin: ‘Aliquantisper tamen intuitus sum Dominum Iesum Christum in dextera patris sedentem, in aeterna vita regnantem, quamvis super omnem creaturam adeo speciosum, ut in eum desiderent Angeli prospicere, ad haec (? adhuc) tamen vulnera passionis, quibus nos redemit, in corpore suo habentem, patri pro nobis assistentem,’ V 208d.
239.ful . . . to bihalden, sated with gazing: a peculiar use of the, historically, dative infinitive as a genitive: comp. ‘sead . . . to iseonne,’ 133/30; ‘upo hwas nebschaft þe engles ne beoð neauer fulle to bihalden,’ HM 39/32: NED quotes under date 1607, ‘full to provide,’ fully occupied in providing. Sometimes ‘of’ is added, as 52/388; ‘Hit bieð sume þat non imeðe ne cunnen of hem seluen to feden,’ VV 139/23. In OE. the dat. inf. is often used to translate the Latin gerundive in the genitive, as ‘swa mycel getydnes ⁊ gelærednes to sprecanne’ = ‘tanta dicendi peritia,’ Bede, ed. Miller, 362/27. Forich isehR has is, T iseh.
240.etscene: eðsene R, edscene T.
243.heouenliche, heavenly ones: T adds weoredes: comp. l. 251. ‘super omnes ordines beatorum Angelorum . . . exaltatam,’ V.
244.in, on.
245.istirret: isterret T.weoleful: meinful R, powerful.
246.þear ich iseh as, I saw where: usually the words are not separated: comp. 127/342; ‘he is ase buruh wiðuten wal, þer ase uerd mei in oueral,’ AR 74/6: so ‘þider as,’ whither, 126/334. For ase, where, comp. 125/272, ‘ine Jerusalem, ase he wunede,’ AR 172/2.
248.þa, when. R has after mahte, na mare of hire iþolien; T reads, mihte of hire na lengre þolien.
249.biseh to, looked upon, beheld: comp. 3/45; ‘Ða biseh ure drihte mildeliche to hire penitence,’ OEH ii. 145/9, and the similar ‘belocest to,’ 13/36; ‘hwa bihalt to þeo þet beoð of lowe liue,’ AR 276/26; ‘iseh towart’ = intuitus sum 124/254; ‘on to biseonne,’ 136/137. But ‘to . . . bisihð’ 134/81 means, looks up to, like ‘hwon ȝe habbeð touward me eien oðer honden,’ AR 76/16: ‘biseon to’ 136/134, look after, provide for, as in ‘Bisih to me lauedi briȝt, | Hwenne ich schal wende heonne,’ OEM 160/18. T omits ⁊—archangles, probably taking ‘þe oðre þe beoð buuen ham’ to mean the archangels. The Latin is, ‘Sed hanc admirabilem claritatem matris et filii diu ferre non sustinens, converti aspectum meum ad illos beatorum spirituum ordines, qui ante Deum assistunt.’ Probably the author meant by ‘þe oðre’ the four and twenty elders and the four beasts in perpetual adoration about the throne (Rev. iv. 4-11).
251.unwergeð: unwerched T.Nihe wordes: see 16/138: T has woredes, R ord`r´es, corrected out of wordes.
253.onsihðe: see 64/55.
255-8: ‘miro exultantes gaudio, qui eam quam olim a longe salutaverant patriam obtinent, qui ea quae in spiritu praeviderant completa conspiciunt,’ V 209a. See Heb. xi. 13.ꝥ, because.
256. Forigret, greeted, OE.gegrētan, R has igreiðet, prepared.
259.poure: ‘de pauperibus et de infirmis tam gloriosos tamque sublimes factos,’ V. T of poure, R `ꝥ´ poure `weren´; omitting on eorðe.bigoten, drenched, perfused: comp. ‘Eall ic wæs mid blode bestemed | begoten of þæs Guman sidan,’ Dream of the Rood, 48; ‘ꝥ ha al were bigoten of þe blode,’ SJ 27/6.
261.alle cunnes ledenes: RT have the usual alles: the MS. has alleṣ, where the dot may be only a casual resting of the pen: see 81/80, and comp. l. 264.
264.talden to, esteemed: for ‘to’ T has of, which is the usual construction, comp. 164/256, ‘telleð lutel þerof,’ AR 200/12, but ‘to’ at 129/30; ‘tellest herto lutel,’ AR 100/20.aȝeines: see 123/230.
266.haliche: read haliliche with RT.
267: ‘fulgent quasi stellae in perpetuas aeternitates,’ V 209b, from Daniel xii. 3.wlite: ‘Regem in decore suo vident,’ V from Isa. xxxiii. 17. The writer omits any reference to monks, to whom the last clause of this sentence, ‘ꝥ—ehnen’ (Rev. vii. 17), is applied in the Latin. It is significant that he greatly expands the passage which describes the maidens; which should be compared with AS. Hom., ed. Assmann, 42/460-72 (Ælfric, de Virginitate), HM 19/9-15.
269.ferreden: comp. ‘i þe feire ferreden | of uirgines in heouene,’ SK 2309.ilikest towart engles: so, ‘þu ofearnest meiden to beo engle euening iþe heȝe blisse of heuene,’ HM 13/5; ‘to singen wið engles hwas felahes ha beoð,’ id. 19/8, 21/31.
270.feolohlukest, best fitted as associates and equals to rejoice and be glad with them. An isolated superlative of felaȝlich: comp. ‘wunderlukest,’ 34/88; ‘wurðlukest,’ L 25496. The comparative adv. is more common: ‘dimluker,’ 56/43, ‘creftluker,’ 131/88, ‘greatluker,’ 70/157, ‘monluker,’ 66/110, ‘oðerluker,’ 38/149, 86/135, ‘witerluker,’ 125/285: in AR ‘ȝeorneluker,’ ‘gledluker,’ ‘wisluker,’ ‘uestluker,’ 234/5, 7, 8, 9; ‘wunderluker,’ OEH i. 93/28. Foruin these forms see Bülbring, §§ 420, 421.ouergað: see 22/143.
271.flesches lahe, desires of the flesh:laheis custom, habit; its use was perhaps suggested by ‘Video autem aliam legem in membris meis . . . captivantem me in lege peccati,’ Rom. vii. 23.cunde, natural propensities: comp. 160/209; ‘heald þin cunde,’ follow nature, OEH ii. 31/6.
272.as, where: comp. 124/246. There should be a full stop at wunieð, as in RT.
274. R omits þe—singen. The arrangement in T shows how the mistake arose from the similar endings of two lines:
na tunge tellen. Alle ha singeðꝥ ter beoð. Ah hare song nemahe nane butenheo singenSe swote smal ham folheð hwi.
na tunge tellen. Alle ha singeð
ꝥ ter beoð. Ah hare song ne
mahe nane butenheo singen
Se swote smal ham folheð hwi.
hare song: ‘Nam cantabant canticum, quod nemo alius poterat dicere,’ V 209c, from Rev. xiv. 3 (altered).
275.smeal: smel R, smal T. ‘Sed odor in regione earum tam suavis erat, ut omnia aromatum genera exuperet,’ V.
277.aȝein&c., to receive their petitions.ꝥ alle&c.: ꝥ alle þe oðer `he´ walden sittinde ihereð R, ꝥ alle þoðre halhen sittinde himhereð T.
279.Ah nu&c.: ‘De singulis beatorum Ordinibus mira disseris, quaesumus ut quae sit eorum in communi actio edicas,’ V 209d. The stopshould come not after setnesse, but after sunderlepes, as in T; R puts it after sumhwet, which is tolerable.setnesse, OE.setness, properly ordinance, arrangement, is here by extension, order, class: R has the isolated tosetnesse, corresponding to an OE. *tō-setness, division into classes, which is probably the original word. The sense is, Well, thou hast now spoken so admirably about each class of the blessed severally, tell us somewhat as to what bliss is common to all alike. W explainssetnesseas = swetnesse.
282.lengðe: ‘Vivunt, sapiunt, amant, gaudent, laudant, veloces sunt, securi sunt,’ V 209d.
283. In Tmurieby punctuation goes with ‘loft song,’ which is OE.lof-song, Lauds, hymns of praise; see 126/318.
287-330.The messenger proceeds to explain the nature of the seven blisses. The scribe marks off each section with a special capital, but has omitted one at ‘her,’ 126/317.
287.brihtre: comp. ‘seouesiðe schenre þen þe sunne,’ HM 41/2; AR 100/4; SK 1665; SM 23/13; a phrase of this group. See Ælf. Lives, i. 538/820.
288.buten—swinc: ‘current et non laborabunt,’ Isa. xl. 31.
289.in a steal, in one station, condition: contrasted with man’s state on earth, ‘numquam in eodem statu permanet,’ Job xiv. 2, ‘never continueth in one stay.’ R has stel.
290.wið ute wonunge: ‘sine diminutione.’
291.hare lif&c.: ‘Vita eorum visio et cognitio beatae Trinitatis,’ V, quoting further S. John xvii. 3. R adds ‘in’ afteris.
295.nebbe to nebbe: ‘tunc autem facie ad faciem,’ 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Comp. ‘secheð earst upon hire nebbe to nebbe,’ HM 17/7; ‘cristes wille bo us bitwon. | neb wið neb for him to son,’ OEH i. 61/109.wise&c.: ‘Sapiunt consilia atque iudicia Dei, quae sunt abyssus multa,’ V 209e; partly from Ps. xxxv. 7.
296. R has godes runes ant his reades ꝥ. Comp. 1/5; ‘Godes derne runes ⁊ his derne domes,’ AR 96/3; ‘his derne runes ⁊ his heouenliche priuitez,’ id. 154/2; ‘þe deopschipe ⁊ te derne run,’ SK 1333.
297.sea dingleanswers to ‘abyssus’:dingleis not otherwise known till the seventeenth century: see NEDs.v.ha seoð&c.: so, ‘Alle þeo ine heouene iseoð ine God alle þing,’ AR 96/1.
298.hwi ⁊ hwerto: ‘Sapiunt causas et naturas et origines omnium rerum,’ V. R omits.
300.bi ham idon, acted towards them, dealt with them: comp. 80/58. R omits ham.
301.deorewurðe: muchele R.milceisdat.,hwetacc.after ȝelden. R omits ase muchel.
302. R omits al, se muchel is not in RT and is not original: the correlatives are ‘Se gleade’ . . . ‘ꝥ ne mei.’
303.munne: comp. ‘⁊ monie ma murhðen | þen alle men mahten | wið hare muð munnen | ⁊ tellen wið tungen,’ SK 1697-1700, and 119/85.
304.Euchan—ahne: comp. ‘ylc blissæþ on oðres gode ⁊ on oðres murhðe, swá on his aȝene,’ Twelfth Cent. Hom. 120/11; AR 282/14-17.
306.ase—alle, as many gladnesses as all the saints in heaven are many: ‘tot gaudia habent quot socios,’ V. R omits alle.
308.hwen, since.
310.of: see 110/272.wið uten ei etlunge, beyond all estimate: comp. ‘wiðuten eni etlunge,’ HM 39/35. eilungeR, a scribe’s error.
311.Neomeð&c. The Latin of this passage is clear enough: ‘Si ergo cor uniuscuiusque vix capit suum gaudium, quomodo capit tot et tanta gaudia? Ideo dicitur,Intra in gaudium Domini tui: non intret gaudium Domini tui in te, quia capi non posset,’ V 209b. Ifhube read forꝥin l. 313, it gives a similar turn of expression and sense. As the text stands, it means, Now then note that, even if the heart of any one man can never find room for its own joy taken separately (so great beyond measure is the bliss of the individual) yet it does receive into itself so many and great joys [of others]. That is the meaning of our Lord’s saying, ‘Enter into the joy of thy Lord’ (S. Matt. xxv. 21). You must enter into the joy, it does not enter into you, for you cannot take it in. Such verbal ingenuity is common in scriptural interpretation at this period.nu þenne, now, that being so; see60/8 note.
312.iseide, meant, taken: for this use of seggen, see 56/46. T omits, B is defective here.
313.þe:þenR, te T. ꝥ would in a modern sentence come after ‘ȝeme,’ l. 311.
316.blisse: hus R.bigotten: see 124/259: biȝeoten R, biȝoten T.
317.neomen: in the absolute use of betake itself, proceed: see 213/539:inis a mere repetition of the preceding ‘in’: comp. 143/67 note.her ofbegins the expansion of ‘laudant’: it does not refer to what precedes, but means, for the reason given in the following verse, ‘Beati qui habitant in domo tua, Domine; in saecula saeculorum laudabunt te,’ Ps. lxxxiii. 5.
318.lusti, finding pleasure: ‘sine fastidio.’songes: read songe, as in R.
321. Comp. ‘Alle þeo ine heouene schulen beon ase swifte ase is nu monnes þouht, ⁊ ase is þe sunne gleam, þet smit from east into þe west, antase þe eie openeð ⁊ tuneð;. . . tet bodi schal beon hwar so euer þe gost wule in one hondhwule,’ AR 94/21.
322.tuneð&c.: ‘In momento, in ictu oculi,’ 1 Cor. xv. 52: ‘as tu turnest þin hond,’ HM 25/12.
324.etstonden: see 121/158.
325.ȝe: Ȝea T.makie to cwakien: for the dat. inf. of purpose, comp. 128/370; ‘he wæs . . . geneded to onfonne þa ðegnunge biscophades,’ Bede, 368/17. The construction has its equivalent in an object clause, as ‘makeð ham ꝥ ha beoð,’ 131/101.
327. The writer has neglected the translation of ‘de tali velocitate’ after blisse.ꝥ hit&c.: ‘quod nullum finem, nullam diminutionem, nullum detrimentum habebunt,’ V 209b.meis miswritten for mei; mai T.
329.nower neh, nowhere near, falling far short of the reality; a phrase of this group, comp. ‘Nis hit nower neh gold al ꝥ ter schineð,’ HM 9/15; ‘ne schaltu nower neh | se lihtliche etsterten,’ SK 2094. R reads, Ah nower neh ne neh al;ne ꝥ ich iseh . ne ne con ich al tellen: T, Ah nower neh ne seh ich al . ne þat ȝet ꝥ ich seh ne con ich half tellen. Both are quite intelligible, R is nearest the original. W emends, ah nowðer ne seh ich al, | ne þetȝet þetich iseh | ne con ich half tellen. The Latin is, ‘Neque enim ut vidi dicere, neque ut sunt videre potui.’ȝet, even.
331.efter þi sihðe, in accordance with what you saw: ‘vera vidisse, veranarrassete intelligimus,’ V 209c.
332.bisið him, takes heed to himself.
333.towart: see 121/161.
334.þider as, to the place where: see 124/246. þider þer T.
335.an, for ant: ⁊ RT.blisse . . . bale; comp. ‘in blisse buten euch bale,’ SK 1755; ‘my blysse, my bale ȝe han ben boþe,’ E. E. Allit. Poems, 12/373. R has wið uten balesið.
336.folhin, to follow after, or to practise, does not suit the context; but fonden T, to experience, gives a good sense and a characteristic combination: see 123/224. R has folhen an finden.hwet&c.: ‘Quis ergo nos separabit a charitate Christi? . . . Certus sum enim quia neque mors neque vita . . . poterit nos separare a charitate Dei,’ Rom. viii. 35, 38, 39.
337.halden us þeonne, keep us away from him: comp. ‘halde we us from uniwil,’ OEH i. 69/264.þeonne, not ‘then,’ but thence, therefrom: contracted from þeonene, OE.þanone: usually meaning from that place and seldom applied to a person as here.
339.haueð: the subject ishecontained in the preceding ‘his.’tresures: a mistake for tresurers: tresorers T: possibly the earliest instance of its use.
340.under his wengen, i. e. if we have his protection: from ‘protegar in velamento alarum tuarum,’ Ps. lx. 5: similar expressions in Pss. lvi. 2, lxii. 8, xc. 4.
341.warschipe: T has rihtwisnesse, with the Latin, where Justitia pronounces judgement (comp. l. 350) and Fortitudo executes it (l. 343), while Temperantia says what is translated in ll. 349-52.
342.þer as, where: see 124/246.murðes: murhðes T.
343.nu ut quod strenðeis omitted by T.
344.ende: see 96/34. Nu nu quoðfearlaic . T.
345.lessere&c., inferior in importance to that of mirth’s messenger; so Morris, taking sondes ass. gen.balancing ‘mi’ after þen. T has sonden.
346.unbihefre: see 91/108.licwurðe ne icweme: comp. ‘Hesteres bone þe cwene was þe kinge Assuer licwurðe ⁊ icweme,’ AR 146/7, 120/25, 326/13.
347.ow: T adds quoð meað.
349.þahwithnu, nevertheless at this time, on this occasion. T has, flutte nu þah fearlac.
351. ‘Forsitan tu admitteris si Desiderium vitae aeternae aliquando loqui cessaverit,’ V 209d.
352.stutteð, ceases: a word characteristic of the group: comp. ‘þa ne cuðen ha neauer stutten hare cleappe,’ AR 72/14 (Corpus MS.); ‘Stute nu þenne ⁊ stew þe, | ⁊ stille þine wordes,’ SK 1529; ‘Wið þis ꝥ ha stutte stoden þe cwelleres,’ SJ 64/12; ‘stute nu ant stew þine unwittie wordes,’ SM 6/2: it is mostly used of cutting short a discourse: cognate with Du. stuiten (Franck), G. stutzen.
353.ituht efter, disciplined in conformity with: similarlydon efter, l. 355, to behave in subservience to: comp. 106/197.
355. T has, se ful itohen ⁊ don al as hamluste ase wil hare lafdi ⁊ nawt ase wit ham tuhte;lustneð &c.
356.fondeð&c., each one, owing to those two messages which they have heard, and (owing to) that which the four sisters have taught in addition, ever strives, in discharge of his office, to keep his watch and to guard faithfully against the entrance of each vice.
357.þurh: R has the contraction þ with oblique stroke through the lower part of the staff here and at 128/371, not ꝥ.ꝥ fowr: to fowr R.
358.for, against, with ‘witene’ and ‘warden.’warde&c.: comp. 118/50.
359.ant—treowliche: T omits.
360.ofte&c.: see 32/47.
361.þe islep: ꝥ iþe slep of ȝemles T. Forȝemelescomp. 54/10, 17.hire: his T. ‘Sic debet quisque torporem suum excutere,’ V 209d.
362.efter þeos: afterþe tidings of þe T.biseon to, gaze up to: comp. 124/249: withon, 120/122. Here V ends.
364. T reads his hinen.efter, in accordance with that which: after þat his wil T.
365.ꝥ is: þe wise T.tuhten ⁊ teachen: comp. 47/272: in Specimens connected with ‘wule,’ ‘as Wit . . . will discipline and instruct’; by Morris made to depend on ‘husebonde,’ both wrongly. They depend onah, l. 360, which governs the whole series of infinitives ‘te þenchen,’ ‘awecchen,’ ‘biseon,’ ‘To habben,’ ‘leaden,’ ‘tuhten ⁊ teachen,’ ‘witen,’ l. 368: one ought to train and teach (himself and his servants, l. 363) that Wit should always go before.
366.teache: T has the correct reading, drahe.dihteð ⁊ demeð, arranges and decrees to be done. The combination is uncommon, but comp. ‘al ich wule dihten | þe domen of mi kinedom,’ SK 1460 (MS. Titus); ‘he dihte feole domes,’ L 7221.
367.þer fore: not in T; it is a blundering anticipation of the two words following.
370.te fleon: see 126/325.ontent, inflames: comp. 70/168; ‘þe hali gast | þe, in furene tungen, | ontende þe apostles,’ SK 1402; ‘Ontend me wiþ þe blase of þi leitinde loue,’ OEH i. 185/6. T has ontenden.
372.feder&c.: fader ⁊ te hali gast an godd i þrehad rixleð ai bute ende T.ant e suneis a strange mistake: comp. 88/190.
374ff. are not in T.iohanis the copyist: comp. 74/237, 75/209; ‘Ant he ꝥ her least on wrat swa as he cuðe,’ SJ 79/18. He may have been the author of the doggerel which follows.
377.swa, accordingly, i.e. by reading it.
381.ꝥ lif, such a life.
384.Þetmeans that, in conjunction with 381, so that, with 382. Johan was a good scribe, and a poor poet.