VI. THE PROVERBS OF
ALFREDManuscript:Jesus College, Oxford, E 29, formerly Arch. i.
29 (J). It consists of two distinct MSS. bound in one; the second begins
at f. 217 r. (new foliation) and was written not long after 1276 (Anglia
xxx, 222). Its contents are best described in the Owl and the
Nightingale, ed. J. E.Wells, Boston, 1907, at pp. ix-xiii. Our piece is written continuously
as prose, each stanza forming a paragraph, but iv and v are in one
without l. 54, which is here supplied, while l. 43 is written at the end
of the preceding paragraph and similarly the lines beginning viii-xvii,
xix-xxiii. The scribe was evidently struggling with an original which he
could not always read; see footnote to l. 105.Another MS. is B. 14. 39, Trinity College, Cambridge (T): see The
Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, by
M. R. James, vol. i. p. 438. It gives a much longer text very
badly copied by a scribe little skilled in English.A third copy in MS. Cotton Galba A. xix was destroyed in the fire at
Dean’s Yard in 1731. But Wanley had printed a specimen (W),
corresponding to ll. 1-21 of this edition, in his Catalogue (published
in 1705), p. 231; and Richard James (1592-1638) had copied, from a
transcript furnished to Thomas Allen (1542-1633), Fellow of Trinity
College, Oxford, by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631), in what is now
MS. James 6, Bodleian Library (RJ), p. 68, pieces corresponding to ll.
1-23; 27-49; 52, 53; 55-64; 78-85; 168, 9; 173, 4; 211-13; 204-206; 236,
7; 307, 8, and two fragments which correspond to the text in MS. T, ll.
516-32; 652, 3, but are not in MS. J. Allen’s MSS. passed into the
possession of Sir Kenelm Digby, who presented them to the Bodleian in
1638. But the transcript was not among them. It is a curious mistake to
think that it ever formed part of MS. Digby 4, which has been caused by
Langbaine’s calling the copy of the Poema Morale in that MS., Alfredi
Regis Parabolae. This is clear from MS. Rawlinson D 325, which consists
of Hearne’s notes to Spelman’s Life of Alfred; it contains the note
printed on p. 131 of the Life, which is immediately followed by a
cancelled extract from the Poema Morale in the Digby version. Allen’s
transcript has disappeared.The Cotton MS. was again used by Sir John Spelman (1594-1643) for his
Life of Alfred. He says that ‘by the Courtesy of Sr Thomas [Cotton,
1594-1662] I am provided of a Copy of them.’ Apparently he was himself
the copyist, for he speaks of the MS. as ‘faulty and ill writ, in a
mungrel Hand (as well as Language).’ He gives what corresponds to ll.
1-64, and a paraphrase of six stanzas more. It is hard to say what
Spelman actually wrote, for his own MS., which was probably University
Coll. MS. 136. 8, has disappeared, and the three versions of it differ
considerably. They are (1) Hearne’s transcript (SH1) of
Spelman prepared for the printer, now MS. Rawlinson D 324 (p. 225); (2)
the Life of Alfred in English (SH2), published in 1709; (3)
the Latin translation(SL) published in 1678. A fragment of the latter was copied in MS.Stowe 163,B. M. ff. 101-135; of the English poem it has ll. 1-19. The
evidence which is to be got from the Spelman sources as to the text of
MS. Galba is suspect. S signifies their agreement.Editions:Wright, T., in Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 170 (J,T):
Kemble, J. M., Salomon and Saturn. (T only). This book, without
title-page, is dated in pencil in my copy, 1845, 6. It seems a first
attempt for the following: Kemble, J. M., The Dialogue of Salomon
and Saturnus. Ælfric Society, London, 1848, p. 225. Morris, R., An Old
English Miscellany, 1872 (J; and T from Wright and Kemble), p. 53:
*Skeat, W. W., The Proverbs of Alfred, Oxford, 1907 (J,T);
*Borgström, E., The Proverbs of Alfred, Lund, 1908 (J,T).Literature:Wülker, R., Ueber die neuangelsächsischen
Sprüche des Königs Ælfred. Paul-Braune, Beiträge, i. 240: Gropp, E., On
the Language of the Proverbs of Alfred, Halle, 1879: Zupitza, J.,
Anglia, iii. 570; Holthausen, F., Archiv, lxxxviii. 370-2 (emendations).
Ekwall, E., Anglia, Beiblatt, xxi. 76-8. Skeat, W. W., Transactions
of the Philological Society, 1895-8, p. 399.For Proverbs:Förster, M., in ES xxxi. 1-20: Kellner,
L., Alteng. Spruchweisheit, Wien, 1897: Kneuer, K., Die Sprichwörter
Hendyngs. Leipz. Dissert. 1901: Skeat, W. W., Early English
Proverbs, Oxford, 1910; Tobler, A., Li Proverbe au Vilain, Leipzig,
1895: Catonis Disticha, in Baehrens, Poetae Latini Minores, iii. 205-42:
Senecae Monita, ed. Woelfflin: Publilii Syri Sententiae, ed. Woelfflin,
Lipsiae, 1869: Alanus de Insulis, ed. C. de Visch, Antwerpiae, 1654:
Arnulf, Deliciae Cleri, Romanische Forschungen, ii. 211: Columbani
Monostichon, Poetae Lat. Aevi Carolini, i. 275: Fecunda Ratis, ed.
Voigt, Halle, 1889: Florilegium Gottingense, Rom. Forsch. iii. 281, 461:
Florilegium S. Omer, id. vi. 557: Florilegium Vindobonense, Müllenhoff
u. Scherer, Denkmäler, xxvii: Otloh, Beda, i. 1080: Proverbia Heinrici,
MSD: Proverbia Rustici, Rom. Forsch. iii. 633: Regimen Sanitatis
Salernitanum, ed. Croke, Oxford, 1830: Wipo, ed. Pertz., Hannoverae,
1853.Phonology:Oralaisa;abefore
nasals and lengthening groups,o, but can 231, manyes, 295,
fremannes, 299: me,indef. pron. Manuscript:Jesus College, Oxford, E 29, formerly Arch. i.
29 (J). It consists of two distinct MSS. bound in one; the second begins
at f. 217 r. (new foliation) and was written not long after 1276 (Anglia
xxx, 222). Its contents are best described in the Owl and the
Nightingale, ed. J. E.Wells, Boston, 1907, at pp. ix-xiii. Our piece is written continuously
as prose, each stanza forming a paragraph, but iv and v are in one
without l. 54, which is here supplied, while l. 43 is written at the end
of the preceding paragraph and similarly the lines beginning viii-xvii,
xix-xxiii. The scribe was evidently struggling with an original which he
could not always read; see footnote to l. 105.Another MS. is B. 14. 39, Trinity College, Cambridge (T): see The
Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, by
M. R. James, vol. i. p. 438. It gives a much longer text very
badly copied by a scribe little skilled in English.A third copy in MS. Cotton Galba A. xix was destroyed in the fire at
Dean’s Yard in 1731. But Wanley had printed a specimen (W),
corresponding to ll. 1-21 of this edition, in his Catalogue (published
in 1705), p. 231; and Richard James (1592-1638) had copied, from a
transcript furnished to Thomas Allen (1542-1633), Fellow of Trinity
College, Oxford, by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631), in what is now
MS. James 6, Bodleian Library (RJ), p. 68, pieces corresponding to ll.
1-23; 27-49; 52, 53; 55-64; 78-85; 168, 9; 173, 4; 211-13; 204-206; 236,
7; 307, 8, and two fragments which correspond to the text in MS. T, ll.
516-32; 652, 3, but are not in MS. J. Allen’s MSS. passed into the
possession of Sir Kenelm Digby, who presented them to the Bodleian in
1638. But the transcript was not among them. It is a curious mistake to
think that it ever formed part of MS. Digby 4, which has been caused by
Langbaine’s calling the copy of the Poema Morale in that MS., Alfredi
Regis Parabolae. This is clear from MS. Rawlinson D 325, which consists
of Hearne’s notes to Spelman’s Life of Alfred; it contains the note
printed on p. 131 of the Life, which is immediately followed by a
cancelled extract from the Poema Morale in the Digby version. Allen’s
transcript has disappeared.The Cotton MS. was again used by Sir John Spelman (1594-1643) for his
Life of Alfred. He says that ‘by the Courtesy of Sr Thomas [Cotton,
1594-1662] I am provided of a Copy of them.’ Apparently he was himself
the copyist, for he speaks of the MS. as ‘faulty and ill writ, in a
mungrel Hand (as well as Language).’ He gives what corresponds to ll.
1-64, and a paraphrase of six stanzas more. It is hard to say what
Spelman actually wrote, for his own MS., which was probably University
Coll. MS. 136. 8, has disappeared, and the three versions of it differ
considerably. They are (1) Hearne’s transcript (SH1) of
Spelman prepared for the printer, now MS. Rawlinson D 324 (p. 225); (2)
the Life of Alfred in English (SH2), published in 1709; (3)
the Latin translation(SL) published in 1678. A fragment of the latter was copied in MS.Stowe 163,B. M. ff. 101-135; of the English poem it has ll. 1-19. The
evidence which is to be got from the Spelman sources as to the text of
MS. Galba is suspect. S signifies their agreement.Editions:Wright, T., in Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 170 (J,T):
Kemble, J. M., Salomon and Saturn. (T only). This book, without
title-page, is dated in pencil in my copy, 1845, 6. It seems a first
attempt for the following: Kemble, J. M., The Dialogue of Salomon
and Saturnus. Ælfric Society, London, 1848, p. 225. Morris, R., An Old
English Miscellany, 1872 (J; and T from Wright and Kemble), p. 53:
*Skeat, W. W., The Proverbs of Alfred, Oxford, 1907 (J,T);
*Borgström, E., The Proverbs of Alfred, Lund, 1908 (J,T).Literature:Wülker, R., Ueber die neuangelsächsischen
Sprüche des Königs Ælfred. Paul-Braune, Beiträge, i. 240: Gropp, E., On
the Language of the Proverbs of Alfred, Halle, 1879: Zupitza, J.,
Anglia, iii. 570; Holthausen, F., Archiv, lxxxviii. 370-2 (emendations).
Ekwall, E., Anglia, Beiblatt, xxi. 76-8. Skeat, W. W., Transactions
of the Philological Society, 1895-8, p. 399.For Proverbs:Förster, M., in ES xxxi. 1-20: Kellner,
L., Alteng. Spruchweisheit, Wien, 1897: Kneuer, K., Die Sprichwörter
Hendyngs. Leipz. Dissert. 1901: Skeat, W. W., Early English
Proverbs, Oxford, 1910; Tobler, A., Li Proverbe au Vilain, Leipzig,
1895: Catonis Disticha, in Baehrens, Poetae Latini Minores, iii. 205-42:
Senecae Monita, ed. Woelfflin: Publilii Syri Sententiae, ed. Woelfflin,
Lipsiae, 1869: Alanus de Insulis, ed. C. de Visch, Antwerpiae, 1654:
Arnulf, Deliciae Cleri, Romanische Forschungen, ii. 211: Columbani
Monostichon, Poetae Lat. Aevi Carolini, i. 275: Fecunda Ratis, ed.
Voigt, Halle, 1889: Florilegium Gottingense, Rom. Forsch. iii. 281, 461:
Florilegium S. Omer, id. vi. 557: Florilegium Vindobonense, Müllenhoff
u. Scherer, Denkmäler, xxvii: Otloh, Beda, i. 1080: Proverbia Heinrici,
MSD: Proverbia Rustici, Rom. Forsch. iii. 633: Regimen Sanitatis
Salernitanum, ed. Croke, Oxford, 1830: Wipo, ed. Pertz., Hannoverae,
1853.Phonology:Oralaisa;abefore
nasals and lengthening groups,o, but can 231, manyes, 295,
fremannes, 299: me,indef. pron. Manuscript:Jesus College, Oxford, E 29, formerly Arch. i.
29 (J). It consists of two distinct MSS. bound in one; the second begins
at f. 217 r. (new foliation) and was written not long after 1276 (Anglia
xxx, 222). Its contents are best described in the Owl and the
Nightingale, ed. J. E.Wells, Boston, 1907, at pp. ix-xiii. Our piece is written continuously
as prose, each stanza forming a paragraph, but iv and v are in one
without l. 54, which is here supplied, while l. 43 is written at the end
of the preceding paragraph and similarly the lines beginning viii-xvii,
xix-xxiii. The scribe was evidently struggling with an original which he
could not always read; see footnote to l. 105. Another MS. is B. 14. 39, Trinity College, Cambridge (T): see The
Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, by
M. R. James, vol. i. p. 438. It gives a much longer text very
badly copied by a scribe little skilled in English. A third copy in MS. Cotton Galba A. xix was destroyed in the fire at
Dean’s Yard in 1731. But Wanley had printed a specimen (W),
corresponding to ll. 1-21 of this edition, in his Catalogue (published
in 1705), p. 231; and Richard James (1592-1638) had copied, from a
transcript furnished to Thomas Allen (1542-1633), Fellow of Trinity
College, Oxford, by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631), in what is now
MS. James 6, Bodleian Library (RJ), p. 68, pieces corresponding to ll.
1-23; 27-49; 52, 53; 55-64; 78-85; 168, 9; 173, 4; 211-13; 204-206; 236,
7; 307, 8, and two fragments which correspond to the text in MS. T, ll.
516-32; 652, 3, but are not in MS. J. Allen’s MSS. passed into the
possession of Sir Kenelm Digby, who presented them to the Bodleian in
1638. But the transcript was not among them. It is a curious mistake to
think that it ever formed part of MS. Digby 4, which has been caused by
Langbaine’s calling the copy of the Poema Morale in that MS., Alfredi
Regis Parabolae. This is clear from MS. Rawlinson D 325, which consists
of Hearne’s notes to Spelman’s Life of Alfred; it contains the note
printed on p. 131 of the Life, which is immediately followed by a
cancelled extract from the Poema Morale in the Digby version. Allen’s
transcript has disappeared. The Cotton MS. was again used by Sir John Spelman (1594-1643) for his
Life of Alfred. He says that ‘by the Courtesy of Sr Thomas [Cotton,
1594-1662] I am provided of a Copy of them.’ Apparently he was himself
the copyist, for he speaks of the MS. as ‘faulty and ill writ, in a
mungrel Hand (as well as Language).’ He gives what corresponds to ll.
1-64, and a paraphrase of six stanzas more. It is hard to say what
Spelman actually wrote, for his own MS., which was probably University
Coll. MS. 136. 8, has disappeared, and the three versions of it differ
considerably. They are (1) Hearne’s transcript (SH1) of
Spelman prepared for the printer, now MS. Rawlinson D 324 (p. 225); (2)
the Life of Alfred in English (SH2), published in 1709; (3)
the Latin translation(SL) published in 1678. A fragment of the latter was copied in MS.Stowe 163,B. M. ff. 101-135; of the English poem it has ll. 1-19. The
evidence which is to be got from the Spelman sources as to the text of
MS. Galba is suspect. S signifies their agreement. Editions:Wright, T., in Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 170 (J,T):
Kemble, J. M., Salomon and Saturn. (T only). This book, without
title-page, is dated in pencil in my copy, 1845, 6. It seems a first
attempt for the following: Kemble, J. M., The Dialogue of Salomon
and Saturnus. Ælfric Society, London, 1848, p. 225. Morris, R., An Old
English Miscellany, 1872 (J; and T from Wright and Kemble), p. 53:
*Skeat, W. W., The Proverbs of Alfred, Oxford, 1907 (J,T);
*Borgström, E., The Proverbs of Alfred, Lund, 1908 (J,T). Literature:Wülker, R., Ueber die neuangelsächsischen
Sprüche des Königs Ælfred. Paul-Braune, Beiträge, i. 240: Gropp, E., On
the Language of the Proverbs of Alfred, Halle, 1879: Zupitza, J.,
Anglia, iii. 570; Holthausen, F., Archiv, lxxxviii. 370-2 (emendations).
Ekwall, E., Anglia, Beiblatt, xxi. 76-8. Skeat, W. W., Transactions
of the Philological Society, 1895-8, p. 399.For Proverbs:Förster, M., in ES xxxi. 1-20: Kellner,
L., Alteng. Spruchweisheit, Wien, 1897: Kneuer, K., Die Sprichwörter
Hendyngs. Leipz. Dissert. 1901: Skeat, W. W., Early English
Proverbs, Oxford, 1910; Tobler, A., Li Proverbe au Vilain, Leipzig,
1895: Catonis Disticha, in Baehrens, Poetae Latini Minores, iii. 205-42:
Senecae Monita, ed. Woelfflin: Publilii Syri Sententiae, ed. Woelfflin,
Lipsiae, 1869: Alanus de Insulis, ed. C. de Visch, Antwerpiae, 1654:
Arnulf, Deliciae Cleri, Romanische Forschungen, ii. 211: Columbani
Monostichon, Poetae Lat. Aevi Carolini, i. 275: Fecunda Ratis, ed.
Voigt, Halle, 1889: Florilegium Gottingense, Rom. Forsch. iii. 281, 461:
Florilegium S. Omer, id. vi. 557: Florilegium Vindobonense, Müllenhoff
u. Scherer, Denkmäler, xxvii: Otloh, Beda, i. 1080: Proverbia Heinrici,
MSD: Proverbia Rustici, Rom. Forsch. iii. 633: Regimen Sanitatis
Salernitanum, ed. Croke, Oxford, 1830: Wipo, ed. Pertz., Hannoverae,
1853. Phonology:Oralaisa;abefore
nasals and lengthening groups,o, but can 231, manyes, 295,
fremannes, 299: me,indef. pron. āiso;aremains in bihat 245, mayþenes 130,
madmes 133, 276.ǣ1ise: exceptions are vyches
276, euer uyches 54, which descend fromylc, agoþ 146, ouergoþ
143, without umlaut: nenne 296 isnænne.ǣ2is
alsoe, but þar 4 &c., always.ēise, but doþ
81.īisi, often writteny, but me 140
(mīn) is due to loss of stress.ōiso, but reowe
96 (rōwan), a French spelling.ūisu: for itwis written in hw 11, 22, 42.ȳisuin byhud 163,
cuþe 254, cuþeþ 170, lutel 215, 277, 312, luþre 257, but litel 281;þȳhasiin forþi 304,ein þe 82. eabeforer+ cons. isein erewe 156,ain arewe 152, þarf 108, 244; before length. groups,ein bern
311; itsi-umlaut is seen in churreþ 53 (cierran), and,
before length. group, yeorde 328 (gierd):eabeforel+ cons. isa, as al 105, &c.; before length. groups,ein weldan 130 &c., awelde 320,oin cold 237, holde
42, 102, 280, 304, &c., vpholde 113; itsi-umlaut is seen in
ealde 319, 330, elde 68, 71, 72 (ieldo), ildre 125
(ieldran).eobeforer+ cons. iseoin
heorte 163, 166, smeorte 164, butein werk 15, werke 16; before
length. groups,eoin cheorl 58, eorl 4, eorþe 81, &c.,
yeorne 66, 69, leorne 170 &c., but furþ 113; itsi-umlaut is
shown in durlyng 7, hurde 6, vrre 136. Thewurgroup has
invariablyu.eobeforel+ cons. iseoin
seolf 308 &c., but sulue 284 (sylfe).ea,u-umlaut ofa, is wanting in balewe 282, baleusyþes 189.eo,å-umlaut ofe, is shown in feole 2, 249, and
weole 78 (5), but fele 2, 132, 302 is without change; vale 300 isfealawith shifted accent.eo,u- andå-umlaut ofi, is seen in heonne 115, heore 11, seoluer
121, 134, but is wanting in huntseuenti 79;leofianappears only
as libben 135.eaafter palatals isain schal 35 (8),gesc(e)apenis ischapen 92;ieaftergisein foryeteþ 137, yeue 90:eoaftergisoin yong
195, yonge 328, yongmon 87; youþe 105, youhþe 66, 69, 98 (geogoð)
show combination with the followingg:eoafterscisoin scolde 87 &c., scholden 11:heomis
heom 9. ēais normallya, but reade 80, lyen (=lēan) 289; itsi-umlaut ise, foryemeþ 137, ilef 132, 248, nexte 265, iherest 251, butuin ihure 10, ihurd 205.ēois normallyeo, butein forleseþ 137, fremannes 299,oin wolde 278, loþ 234,
the latter miswritten for leoþ,r. w.forteoþ; the rhyme
istreon 125 : lone (lān) is noteworthy: neode 141, 217, 265 is
LWS.nēodarising besideniedby confusion withnēod,
desire.īeinscīene,gesīenegives schene 213, isene
75. a+gisaw, but seye 152, seyþ 234, 246, sayþ,
305:æ+gisay, but seyde 24, iseyd 236, ised
230:e+gis alwaysey: ayeyn 95 =ongegn:o+galwaysow:u+ggives mvwe 113
(LWS.muge), doweþes 118 (duguða). ā+gis alwaysow:ā+hisahin ahte 79:ǣ1+goccurs in feye
113;ǣ1+hin ayhte 125, 171, 274, but eyhte
145:ī+hin lyeþ 109 (lihþ):ō+gin inowe 133, plouh 61, brouhte 181:ū+gin buwe
201. ea+hoccurs in wexynde 112,113,iauhteþ 171 (geeahtian), probably
a miswriting of iachteþ in the scribe’s exemplar (T has hachte foræht, nocht, &c.):eo+hin bryht 211, rihtwis
34, mixe 276 (meox), vouh 129 isfeoh; in case it
corresponds tofēo, dative; Skeat and Borgström read veoh.ēa+hgives þeih 88 (9), þey 79.ā+wisowin mowe 53, 60, sowen 59, isowen 80,auin saule 23,ouin nouht 35 &c. andeyin iseye 186
(gesāwe):ēa+wisewin fewe 301, þewes
195, 312, vnþewes 262,euin glev 256, vnþev 198,eawin
gleaw 30:ēo+wiseowin greowe 81, reowe 330,
treowe 202,ewin rewe 71: thepron.ēowis ou 21,
eu 142,ēowerower 141, eure 20, 23. The acute accent is used twenty-one times over long vowels, in ten
cases overerepresentingǣ: séé 95, 132 is furnished with
two, as often in MS. O of Layamon, comp. 95/2. In v́uel 217 it serves to
distinguish the vowel. The consonants show little divergence from OE. use. Forw,uis written in uexynde 112, foru,win hw 22, 42:wuriswrin wrþsipes 22, wrþie 36, 286, wrþe 124: iwrche
83 is OE.gewyrcan, wrt 112 iswyrt. OE.swais
regularly so, but once swo 99, influenced by the initialswof
the following word.lis lost in vyches 276, eueruyches 54 and
other pronominal words of similar formation:nis dropped in
euelyche 49, owe 111, wyndrunke 184; uppeprep.132 occurs beside
vpen 123.fbetween vowels is commonlyv, u, but hafst
133, oferhoweþ 323, wife 185 where it is probably voiced; initially it
is largely maintained, but it isv, uin urouer 37, velde 112,
vouh 129, forvare 147, 260, vere 148, vordrye 227, vayre 245, 6, avynde
291, vale 300, in all these cases before a vowel.distin huntseuenti 79; schaltu 168 hastforþafter a dental:þis represented bydin vordrye 227; madmes 138 answers
to LWS.mādm:tis omitted in lest 316.c+sis represented byxin arixlye 329.hwis
generally preserved, but wile 149: in initial combinations with other
consonantshis lost: swyhc 159 is written for swych, iscohte 303
for ischote. The prefixgeis regularlyi:kis
often used forc;cwisqu;čisch, as chireche 57, cheorl 58, &c.scis generallysch, but scolde 87, wrþsipes 22:ġis regularlyy. In syllables of minor stress the vowels have mostly been levelled toe, as in egleche, sadelbowe, sikerliche, vppen, &c. Ane, generally slurred in scansion, is inserted in clerek, euere,
seorewe, arewe, erewe, foleweþ, pouere. Accidence:Nouns of the strong declensionm.,neut.haves. g.-es,
cristes 283, cunnes 276;d.-e,
bure 212, balewe 282, &c., but the termination is sometimes not
written before a vowel, god 104, word 16, or omitted by the scribe, lyf
28, lond 12, mod 224, þing 188, or an accusative form is used, cotlyf
174, fryþ 58, loþ 234, through confusion of the prepositional
constructions. The plural of masculines ends in-es,n.þeynes 1,d.wrenches 257,a.acres 79: neuter nouns with masc. terminations aren.wordes 24,a.sedes 59, þinges 21, wyttes 40, but the normal
þing,pl. a.143; treowe 202,pl. n.representstrēowu; þinge 250 is an isolatedpl. a.; worde 300 is
probablypl. g., an OE. construction after vale; worde 301 ispl. d.: englenepl. g.6, &c. (Engla), iwritenpl. a.67 are weak forms. Of the strong feminines, ayhte 125,
blisse 31, 282, 310, lone 126 (read lon), neode 141, vnhelþe 73, youþe
105 have addedein thes. n., and worlde 278, wunne
279 in thes. a.: worldes 22,s. g.shows
confusion of declensions: thes. d.ends regularly in-e, except world 122 (see note):s. a.in e. The general termination of thepl.is e,n.eyhte 145, ayhte 274, leode 20 &c., wene 74;g.quene 237 (cwēna), ors. g.(cwēne);d.leode 264, honde 259;a.custe 170, saule 23, butd.blissen 31, deden 47, spechen 249: tales 295,pl. d.medes 60,pl. a.(mǣdwa) show confusion of declensions: doweþes 118
appears to be meant fors. g., but it answers to OE.duguþa; perhaps doweþe is to be read. Loss of finalnhas
greatly simplified the weak declension, sos. d.heorte 163,
sadelbowe 153, weole 82, 103, ivere 144, vere 148, wille 35;s. a.tunge 190, tyme 114, weole 91, 100, wille 185 &c.,
but wyllen 283: dwales 296 is a strongpl. a.The minor
declensions are represented by mons. n.17, monness. g.54, fremannes 299, mons. d.159, wymmons. a.204, monnepl. g.32,pl. d.253, 269;
bokes. d.39; faders. n.33,s. g.212, moders. d.203; freonds. a.83, 245,pl. v.25,pl. a.267. Remnants of the strong declension of adjectives are longess. g. neut.109, reades. d. n.80
(rēadum), yonge 328 (geongum), godnes. a. m.45, vuelne 231, swikelne 252; wenliches. n. m.68, godlyche 204 have e, contrary to OE.
usage, but vnledes. n. m.238, is OE.unlǣde.
Weak forms are wises. n. m.287, beteres. n.
neut.325, 327, wysustes. n. m.17; for mildests. n. m.32 mildeste should be read. OE.ānais
one 29, 41,118,ānis o 79, 278. The participialāgengivess. n. neut.owe 149,d. f.owere 54,a. m.owene 318,a. neut.owe 128. With exception of
the above, the adjective is not inflected in the singular. The plural in
all cases ends in e. Adjectives used as nouns are arewes. d.152, erewes. n.156, fayres. d.172, feyes. g.113, frakeles. a.172, god[e]s. d.225, gods. a.90, ifonpl. n.129, ivopl. d.186,
ildrepl. g.125, loþes. a.247, mores. a.162, poueres. d., riches. d.268,s. a.50, vueles. d.90. The personal pronouns are ich, we, us, þu, þe, ye, ou 21, eu 142:s. n.hem.9, heof.169 &c.;d.himm.35, 71, 88, 330,n.312, 316;a.hinem.36 &c., hyne 144 &c., hif.187, 192, 242, hitn.118, it 96;pl. n.hi, heo 76;d.heom 9;a.hi 80, 170. Reflexives are him seolue 260, hymseolue 137;
definitives, heo seolf 308, himseolf 41, seoluen 38: possessives, mi, me
140, mynepl.25, 26; þis. n. m.272, þins. n. f.166, þires. d. f.163, þins. a. neut.323, þi 168, in all other cases þine, þyne;
hire, hyre, once heore 11; vre; eure, ower 141. The definite article iss. n.þem.4 &c.,f.141; þesg. m.63, þas 113; þand. m.55, 152, þaref.5, 217, þe 216 (read þare); þanea. m.247, 248,
þene 114, 116, 198, þef.95 &c., þen.220, 234, þat
46, 56;pl.þe in all cases; for þanadv.240. The
compound demonstrative is þiss. n. f.63;d.122: the relatives, þe, þat, once þet 154, hwat 181: interrogative, hwat
84: indefinites, oþrepl. d.242; nonn.38, no 112, nonesg.299, noned.169,a. f.280,nona. neut.308, nennepl. a.296; enys. d. neut.225: nouhtn.35, nouhted.275: me 245, 247: fewepl. d.301:
fele, feole 2, 249, vale 300: vychess. g. neut.276,echeres. d. f.161, eueruychess. g. m.54:
hwychs. a. neut.52: swuch 53, swyhc 159: als. n.
neut.105, alled. f.29, 30,a. m.185, ala. f.278, 279,a. neut.89 &c., alrepl.
g.62, 110, in other cases of thepl.alle; mid alle 128. Two-thirds of the infinitives end in e, ie, ye, y, lokie 41, wrþie,
36, 286, wyssye 21, arixlye 329, leorny 69, weny 244; n is retained
mostly before vowels and at the end of lines and half-lines, but leten
and forleten occur six times against lete once. A dative infinitive with
inflection is to fone 55, others without inflection are leden 46, mowen
60, reowe 93, sowen 59, swynke 96, for to do 229, for to werie 56, for
to vordrye 227. Presents ares.1. holde 304, munye 25; 2. hauest
151, hafst 133, lest 316 (lǣtest); 3. leorneþ 66, seyþ 234
&c., foþ 289, wurþ 209, iwinþ 100 (read iwinneþ), let 204, 329,
bihat 245:pl.1. wurcheþ 283; 3. ibureþ 45, forteoþ 235:subjunctive s.3. fare 64, lykie 88, lyke 155, loke 64;pl.1. biþenche 284; 2. adrede 27, luuyen, lykyen 28:imperative s.2. seye 152, leorne 170, ilef 132, 248, ryd 153,
let 165, wurþ 184, but wrþe 124;pl.2. lusteþ 140. Past of
Strong Verbs:s.3. Ia. cweþ 19 &c.; Ic. bigon 9,pl.Ia. sete 1;subj. s.2. Ia. iseye 186; 3. Ib. bycome 138; V. greowe 81, wolde
278. Participles present: I c. singinde 153; V. uexynde 112, 313; past:
I b. iboren 138, 328, vnbore 327; I c. forswunke 200, aswunde 76; II.
biswike 76, idryue 61; III. idrowe 105, iscohte 303; IV. ischapen 92; V.
isowen 80; VI. bitowe 106. Past of Weak Verbs:s.2. heuedest187;3.
brouhte 181, hadde 80, luuede 15, seyde 24, wiste 181. Participles
present: lyuyinde 188, werende 316; past: ihurd 205, ilered 2, 39, iseyd
236, ised 230, iwreþþed 187, 222. Minor Groups: wotpr. s.118,
156, not 114; ahtept. s. subj.79; onpr. s.160, 162;
conpr. s.154, 302, kunnepr. s. subj.40, cunne 41;
schalpr. s.35 &c., schulle 1pr. pl.127, schulen
276, schullepr. pl.49 &c., schulepr. s. subj.42, 1pr. pl. subj.119, scoldept. s.87 &c., scholdenpt. pl.11; myht 2pr. s.159, 263, maypr. s.38
&c., mawe 1pr. pl.286, 2pr. pl.10, mvwepr. s.
subj.113, myhtept. s.199 &c., 2pt. pl.22;
motepr. s. subj.149; beoninf.68, nyspr. s.112, 125, biþpr. s.322, beoþpr. pl.74, 76, beopr.
s. subj.35 &c.,pr. pl. subj.202, wespt. s.4,
werept. pl.24,pt. s. subj.200, 325, nere 82; wille 1pr. s.142, wilepr. s.154, wule 91 &c., nele 254,
nule 69, woldept. s.21, 2pt. pl.20,pt. s.
subj.191; doinf.197, for to dodat. inf.229, deþpr. s.288, 321, doþ 81 (read deþ); agoþpr. s.146,
ouergoþ 143, agopr. s. subj.145. Noteworthy adverbs are frakele 246, ifurn 236 (gefyrn), lihte
198, muchele 162, vuele 171, 176, vayre 245, 246:oftis always
ofte. Dialect:Southern, free from South-Eastern influence. The
wavering in the representation ofabefore nasals points to the
Middle South, but ihure 10, ihurd 205 are South-Western. But this
representation ofīe, as well as lyen (= lēan), is found in
MS. e of the Poema Morale, which is generally taken as of the Middle
South. The forms vyches, eueruyches occur elsewhere in MS. J, and are
probably due to the scribe. Metre:The system is that of Layamon and the Bestiary;
the Worcester Fragment B shows an earlier stage of its development. It
is a mixture of the national alliterative verse loosely constructed and
rhyming couplets. The latter are bound together by perfect, imperfect,
even inflectional rhymes, and assonances. The halves of the couplets as
they appear in MS. J are of varying lengths, two measures as 73, 216,
more frequently two and a half 7, 44 &c., three 51 &c., three
and a half 8 &c. Three-syllable measures are common, as, ‘hé wes þe
| wýsuste | mòn,’ 17, ‘his sé | des to sów | èn,’ 59, ‘his mé | des to
mów | èn’ 60. The alliterative combinations present every possible
variety, 2 + 2, as 16; the normal 2 + 1, as 67; 1 + 2, as 142; 1 + 1, as
23 and often. The couplet has sometimes the added ornament of
alliteration, as 46, 47.Where a line has neither alliteration nor rhyme, it may be assumed that
the formless text is corrupt, as at 26, 68 &c. There is then little to be gained by a metrical analysis of the poem
in its present condition. It had originally a quite definite and regular
structure, but this has been spoiled by copyists with little feeling for
the structure of the verse and possessed by a strong desire to renovate
the antique. It is highly probable that the last of them, the writer of
MS. J, had a large hand in this alteration, for the copy of the Poema
Morale in the same MS. has undergone a drastic revision which sets it
apart among the versions of that poem, and the version of the Owl and
Nightingale has suffered, though not to the same extent. On the other
hand MS. T was copied by a man who was incapable of remodelling it;
though a ruin, it often preserves in details the original. The dilapidations wrought by the copyists may be classed as follow:
i. Archaic and uncommon words are rejected: for þeynes 1, read sweynes;
comp. L 28359, O 3297, 14953 for this word as meaning the immediate
dependants of the king; the line then divides after ‘sete’: l. 13, see
note: l. 24 for seyde þe, read wordede; comp. ‘þe king wordede þus,’ L
13052: l. 26 with the help of T may be restored, arme ⁊ edie leode · of
lifis wisdom: l. 38, see note: l. 56, adopting ‘here’ from T, read þat
land for to werie | wiþ hunger and wiþ here (the Danish marauding host
was forgotten): l. 62, for bihoue read biliue (bilif T, W): l. 68, for
beon read wurþen: l. 71, 330 for rewe read suwe, smart; comp. 72/199: l.
82, see note and comp. L 30903: l. 87, for howyen, read ȝeomeren, be
depressed: l. 88, 155, for lykie read wurþe: comp. ‘Ne scyle nán wís
monn gnornian to hwæm his wise weorþe,’ Boeth. 40, 3 (B-T): l. 111, see
note: l. 115, for turne read rume (rime T): l. 122, see note: l. 133,
for inowe read muche (moch T): l. 136, for Monymen read moni gume: l.
137, for him seolue read his saule, with T: l. 138, for bycome read
were, with T, restoring a couplet: l. 143 for þing, read weole (welþe
T): half a line is lost after lere: read, And ich eu lere wille · [leoue
freond myne] | wit and wisdom · þat alle weole ouergoþ.: ll. 202, 207,
see notes: l. 278 for mon read wiht: l. 280 for holde read lenge, as in
T. ii. Older forms and constructions are modernised: ll. 159, 160, see
note: l. 169 read þat heo þe bringe, making a couplet: l. 187 read
heuede: l. 216 read þare for þe: l. 305, read alle for al, comp. 185:
other instances are noted in Accidence. iii. Words are rearranged mostly
in a prose order, spoiling rhyme and rhythm: read l. 25, leoue freond
myne: l. 41 himseólf one lokie: l. 55 bihoueþ þan knyhte, for the
alliterating word in the first half of the line comes almost invariably
last, the rare exceptions being mostly verbs: for l. 56 see above: read
l. 80and he isowen hadde: l. 118 hit one wot dryhten: l. 130, vre maþmes
welden | and vs byhinde leten: l. 142, lere wille: l. 156, if þu hauest
serewe | and hit wot þe erewe: l. 203, þe kat museþ: l. 211, wiþute is
bryht: ll. 232, 233, þe hire rede folẹweþ | to seorewe heo bringeþ: l.
245, þat he habbe freond: ll. 321, 322, þanne hit sone deþ | þat þe
unyqueme biþ. iv. Lines and parts of lines are transposed, most of these
as affecting the interpretation have been dealt with in the notes, see
40, 90, 144, 186, 247; read ll. 72, 73, þenne cumeþ vnhelþe | and ek
uniselþe: though the combination in the text is found elsewhere as
40/197, elde seems to be due to the preceding line; at l. 190 we should
perhaps read wymmon is tungwod · ⁊ haueþ wordes to wroþ. v. Padding is
freely used: l. 4 omit þe: l. 7 read On Engelonde king: l. 9 read gon
for bigon: omit l. 24, þe before king; l. 35, ne; l. 49, he; l. 66, his;
l. 69, þat; l. 98, þe mon, and read þe on youhþe swo swinkeþ | and
worldes weole her iwinneþ: l. 105, read on ȝouþe þat he haueþ idrowe:
omit l. 132, þu; l. 149, owe; l. 152, þu; l. 188, hit; l. 189, scholde,
forþ; l. 192, nowiht, and read ll. 191, 192 as an alliterative line:
omit l. 205, ne, he; l. 209, blyþe and; l. 210, þe mon: l. 219-23, with
the help of T we may restore, Ne ared þu nouht to swiþe | þe word of
þine wyue. | If heo be i wreþþed · myd worde oþer dede; l. 231, for þat
wymmon read heo; comp. T: l. 242 omit þe mon: l. 249, see note: l. 254,
omit þe before wule: l. 262 omit þe, see note: l. 275, for schulle
bicumen read bicumeþ: l. 280, for none read no: ll. 294, 296, omit þu:
l. 324 omit þe. vi. The rhymes may, in some cases, have been spoiled by
the substitution of alien dialectic forms; it is tempting to read ihere
10, iherd 205, but theuforms do not appear to belong to the
dialect of the scribe of J: at l. 102 helde, a patois form (Bülbring
§ 175 note), might be read: at l. 240 þon. The combinations brouhte
: myhte, 181, 182; ayhte : nouhte, 274, 275 are remarkable. Many intractable lines remain, such as 284, where perhaps bet has
been lost at the end. Elision and slurring are frequent; pronounce þeorl 4, lawẹlyche 47,
euẹlyche 49, euẹruyches, owẹre 54, &c. Introduction:The ascription of the Proverbs to Alfred
rests on no firmer ground than an affectionate remembrance of the great
king as a sage and teacher of his people. The only part of the poem
which could with even artistic fitness be attributed to him is ll.
19-64, the rest is mostly the cautious wisdom of the common people,
varied by reflections in a higher strain on the favourite mediaeval
theme of the shortness and uncertainty of life. Up to l. 64 the poem is
connected; afterwards it is without apparent plan, though there is
occasionally aslender thread of union between the stanzas. The editors indeed see a
new exordium and the beginning of a second section in stanza xiii, which
appears to me to be a weak imitation of stanza vii. Perhaps a structural
difference may be detected between the more general observations of the
first part and the advice to an individual which begins with stanza xiv.
Stanza xxi appears to have strayed from its natural place beside stanza
vii. The version of MS. J is not necessarily the more primitive because it
is shorter than that of T. A poem of such loose structure readily lends
itself to selection on the part of the copyist; and the scribe of MS. J
was evidently a critic. If the suggestions offered in the section on metre have any weight, a
considerable time and several copies must have intervened between the
original and the present form of the poem. The composition of that
original should, I think, be placed somewhere about 1180A.D. 1.Seuorde: siforde
T; Sifforde W,RJ,
which is identified by Spelman 126 with ‘Shifford, six
miles west from Oxford.’ That it is ‘remote from the use of the southern
dialect’ does not prevent it from being the place where Alfred
discoursed. But Seaford, a seaport in Sussex, is more likely to have
been associated in the popular mind and tradition with Alfred. 2.Biscopes, &c.:
comp. ‘Forð iwenden eorles;forð iwenden beornes. | forð
iwenden biscopes;& þa boc-ilæred men;forð iwenden þæines;forð iwenden sweines |
. . . at þan hustinge,’ L 14620. Withbokileredcomp.
19/39, 4/20 note. 3.egleche, valiant:
OE.aglǣca, a fierce warrior. egloche S. 4.Alurich: An Ælfric
thesaurarius witnesses a charter of King Alfred,A.D.892, Birch, Cart. Saxon. ii. 209. 5.of . . . wis:
comp. 212/533. 6.hurde: comp. ‘Swa
se æþela lareow sægde, þæt se cyning & se biscop sceoldan beón
Cristenra folca hyrdas,’ BH 45/24; ‘folces hyrde,’ Beowulf 610. 7.Englene durlyng:
so, ‘com Alfred þe king;Englelondes deorling,’ L
6316: he has also ‘Bruttene, Orka[n]es, Denemarkes, Irisce
monnen, utlaȝen deorling.’ See KH 488 note. 9.bigon: gon T, gan
W,S: set to work to teach. 13.andmay be
redundant, as often in Layamon, as ‘Ic wlle mine riche
to-don;& allenminen dohtren,’ 2945 butAlured, though it is in all the copies, may be an error for
Ælder: comp. ‘& þu seolf læuerd king;leoden þu ært
ælder,’ L 16835, 17252, in the latter place, leader. T,W,S
read a. 16.wis . . . war:
comp. 129/27, 156/148, 186/324, 190/456; ‘þe wes þe wiseste;þe wes þe warreste,’ L 2107; ‘wisliche þauh ⁊ warliche,’ AR 138/7. 21.wisliche, wise,
advisable: OE.wīslīc: Layamon has ‘to iwislichenþinge,’
21052. T has, of wi[s]liche þinges. 28.lykyen, please:
in this sense it governs a dative, which may be understood out of hine.
But Mätzner translates, like. 29.one, alone:
comp. 19/41, 22/118, 60/2. 30.glednesse:
after the manner of l. 29, we expect gleawnesse, but comp. ‘Of alkin
gladnes es þar gleu,’ CM 23359. T has ⁊ he is gleu | ouer alle glade
þinhes: S omits. Line 31 is probably a gloss upon l. 30. 34.riche,
powerful: comp. 6/30, 133/33; ‘hit ne gerist nanum ricum cynincge,’ Ælf.
Lives i. 382/260. 35, 6. that there shall
not be wanting anything he desires to him who is purposed to honour Him
here in this world. For the construction ofwone, see 52/368: for
the double negative comp. ‘for he ne mihte beon wurðe;na
þing of his wille,’ L 18704: in the MS.wcthe scribe mistook þ
for w. T has apparently þo, not wo: Skeat reads [hwo]: that relative is
not found in J. 37. For stanza iii
generally comp. ‘Decet regem discere legem. | Audiat rex quod praecipit
lex. | Legem servare hoc est regnare. | Notitia litterarum lux est
animarum,’ Wipo 1-4. An echo of this stanza is evident in, ‘The ferste
seide, “I understonde | Ne may no king wel ben in londe, | Under God
Almihte, | But he cunne himself rede, | Hou he shal in londe lede |
Everi man wid rihte,”’ Wright, Pol. Songs, 254/7 (date 1311A.D.). 38.mayhas
possibly its independent force, is strong, has power, comp. 29/12, but
the line is evidently corrupt;ryhtwisis a reminiscence of l. 34, as
is alsorichein T. It is easy to supply beo afterking,
for TS haveben. But RJ, S are nearest the right reading with, Ne
mai no riht cing ben under crist selve (selve SH1; self
SH2, selfe SL). Read Ne may beon ryht king.vnder
criste, a favourite expression in Layamon, as, ‘Ȝe beoð under
criste;cnihten alre kennest | and ich æm rihchest alre
kinge;vnder gode seolue,’ L 27230, 27976, 28056. 40. It is obvious to
substitute forwyttes,wrytes, or betteriwriten,
as at 20/67, 70, afterwritesin T, but ‘his writings,’ i.e.
manuscripts, seems suspicious, and if correct gives a feeble threefold
repetition of the same idea; and further the relation between ll. 41 and
42 requires the explanation ofhwas, ‘so as to know how,’ Skeat.
A transposition of ll. 40, 41 withwelderead forkunne(which seems to be due to the following line), will give a better
sequence of ideas, obviate repetition, and restore thealliteration. Comp. ‘ælc bi his witte;wisdom sæiden,’ L
25627; ‘he wes swiðe wis mon;and witful on bocken,’ id.
22097. For cunne RJ, S have icweme. 41.lokie, consult,
examine, refer to records for himself: comp. ‘þat yow tels sent Ieremi,
| If yee wald lok his propheci,’ CM 9333. 46.leden, guide;
usually with personal object. 49.he, resumes the
subjectclerek and knyht: a frequent construction in this poem,
comp. 20/66-68, 21/98-105, 24/204, 5; similarly 24/209, 10 where the
pronoun is explained by a noun. It is common in AR ‘þe wreche peoddare
more noise he makeð to ȝeien his sope,’ 66/17. Borgström takesheas referring toeorl and eþelyng, l. 44, withclerekandknyhtas object ofdemen, on the ground that clerks and
knights did not exercise judicial power. The matter is not so simple.Clerekmay include bishops, who sat in pre-Conquest shire-courts
by the side of the Alderman, and lawyers generally. Anddemenis
a word of wide meaning, comp. ‘Ne wandige ná se mæsse-preost no for
rices mannes ege, ne for féo, ne for nanes mannes lufon, ꝥ he him symle
rihte deme, gif he wille sylf Godes domas gedégan,’ BH 43/9; ‘Ne sceall
nan godes þegn for sceattum riht deman,’ Ælf. Lives i. 430/244; ‘And he
hæhte alle cnihtes;demen rihte domes,’ L 22115. Alfred meant
that there should be no discrimination between rich and poor;
discrimination between clerk and knight was not likely.demen
rihtis a phrase in which riht is a noun: comp. ‘Se rihtwisa dema
sceall deman æfre riht,’ Ælf. Lives i. 430/239: sometimes, as in the
quotation above, it means simply, to administer justice. 52, 3. Comp. ‘Ech man sal
eft mowen bi þan þe he nu soweð,’ OEH ii. 159/15; i. 137/31, 131/24; all
referring to ‘Qui parce seminat, parce et metet,’ 2 Cor. ix. 6: here the
reference is to ‘Quae enim seminaverit homo, haec et metet,’ Galat. vi.
8: l. 54 means that the judgment passed on each man is of his own
making: comp. 36/115. 55.on to fone, may
mean, to take on himself; its ordinary use is, to begin, 143/85. Skeat
translates, undertake, but in the place referred to in support, L 31415,
the meaning is, proceed. T, RJ have cnouen, cnowen; S. mowen: the former
has been explained, to study, to know how to. I think these readings are
substitutes for something the scribes did not understand, such as,
keneliche to kepen, or keneliche him kepen. 56. T has, of here ⁊ of
heregong, whereofis remarkable: the simple dative in OE.,wið, 48/321, 141/41, and laterfromare the usual
constructions withwerien, of the thing guarded against. 57.gryþ: ‘pax
regia per manum data,’ Liebermann, Ueber die LegesEdwardi Confessoris, 28: here it means vaguely, protection, much as frið
with which it is constantly associated; comp. ‘þonne nam man grið ⁊ frið
wið hi,’ AS. Chron. 1011; ‘a þisse londe he heold grið;a
þisse londe he hulde frið,’ L 9912; Orm 116/3380; 116/133. 58. Comp. ‘þe ælc cheorl
eæt his sulche;hæfde grið al swa þe king sulf,’ L 4260. 59, 60. Comp. ‘cornes heo
seowen;medewen heo meowen. | al heo tileden;ase
heo to þohten,’ L 1941. 62.bihoue: comp.
91/108: ‘to his awere bihoue,’ L 4565. T has bilif. 63.lawe, rule of
conduct, practice: at 176/15, habit. In spite of the consensus of the
MSS., the reading of the original was probablylare. 64. Let the knight see
that it thrive, i.e. be well kept. 65-71. Comp. ‘Disce puer,
dum tempus habes, euo puerili, | Ne te nil didicisse fleas etate
senili,’ Flor. Gott. 98: ‘Qui vacat in iuventute turbatur in senectute,’
Wipo 63; Cato 231/12; ‘He ꝥ in ȝouþe no vertu vsiþ, | In Age Alle honure
hym refusiþ,’ ES xli. 262/27. See Kneuer, p. 19. 69.lorþeu: see
1/19. 72.elde . . .
vnhelþe: for this combination, see 40/197, whereunhelðerhymes withuniselðe. 75.wroþe,pl.
adj.agreeing withwene, to which latterheoandhi, variant forms of thepl. n., refer. When age and
ill-health come, then the expectations of the improvident man are in
experience found to be utterly perverse: not only are they cheated, but
they actually vanish, i.e., he is left without hope at all. There is a
play on wene and wenliche, l. 68. 78. Comp. ‘Melior est
sapientia, quam secularis potentia | Plus unicus sensus quam multiplex
census,’ Wipo 7. 82.furþer. T has
wrþere, more worthy, which is, no doubt, original, as it alliterates
withweole. noht wurþ, RJ. 83.of frumþe, from
the beginning, betimes: comp. 65/59; ‘þah þu liuedest of adames
frumðe,’ OEH i. 33/31. RJ reads of fremðe, but T fremede, and
Skeat adding [of] translates, out of a stranger. But the point is not
the making friends early or out of strangers, but the having wisdom
along with your gold. Stanza xiii. is a weak echo of vii. and l. 144 is
the key to l. 83. Readhine to fremeforhim of frumþe,
with the meaning, Unless he make Wisdom his friend to his profit. See
15/110; 176/24 note. 87-92. Comp. ‘ȝif þou be
visite[d] withpouerte, | take it not to hevyle, | for he
ꝥ sende þeAduersite, | may turne þe
Aȝen to wele,’ ES xli. 261/5: Li Proverbe au Vilain, no. 133. 87.howyen, be
anxious, distressed: comp. ‘Ne beo ge na hogiende ymb þa morgenlican
neode,’ S. Matt. vi. 34. 89.welde: comp.
4/41. 90. Comp. ‘After vuele
cumeð god;wel is him þe hit habbe mot,’ L 3608. A
transposition here restores the alliteration in two verses. 92. Comp. 195/634, where
the verb is omitted after wel, as is usual in such expressions; ‘Wel him
ðe is clene iþrowen,’ VV 95/30; ‘Ah wel hire ꝥ luueð godd,’ HM 27/35.
Forþat=for whom, see46/292 note,
and forischapen, destined, comp. ‘after ðan ðe hem iscapen is,’
VV 105/4: hit is, of course, good after evil, weal after woe. 94. Comp. ‘Whoso roweth
aȝein the flod, | Off sorwe he shal drinke; | Also hit fareth bi the
unsele, | A man shal have litel hele | Ther agein to swinke,’ Pol.
Songs, 254/20; ‘werig sceal se wiþ winde roweþ,’ Exeter Book, 345/12.
Forstrong, difficult, tough, comp. 48/312, 76/18, 200/111; ‘hu
strong hit is to arisen of vuel wune,’ AR 326/28: ‘þes ilke Mon is
strong to sermonen’ (difficult to preach to, a tough subject), OEH i.
81/14. 98.monis a
suspendednom., the construction being changed at l. 105:
analogous to 19/48. 102.idelnesse
holde, enjoy leisure. T has hednesse, OE.ēadnes, happiness,
comfort. ‘Honestior est qui senectutem ad otium rettulit, quam quem in
otio invenit,’ Monita 22/75. 106.wel bitowe,
well employed, profitably experienced. Comp. ‘alle þe ȝeres weren wel
bi-toȝe,’ L 19902; VV 13/2; ON 702; ‘uuele bitohe,’ 74/225. 108. See 26/244 note,
and for the form of the expression, comp. ‘Ah her, þu wenest ȝet | ꝥ tu
wenen ne þerf,’ SK 1153. 110.lyues: read
lyf is . . . luued: ‘Qui enim vult vitam diligere,’ &c. 1 S. Peter
iii. 10. 111.lyf his owe:
the order is strange, andoweis pointless, quite different from
22/128, 23/149, 27/277, where there is a contrast with one’s
possessions, &c. Possibly the original hadlifes leowe,
life’s warmth, shelter, OE.hlēow: comp. ‘herd leouwe,’ AR
368/12, poor housing. The word was uncommon and likely to puzzle the
copyist. 112.wrt: Comp.
‘Herba nec antidotum poterit depellere loetum; | Quod te liberet a fato,
non nascitur horto,’ Fecunda Ratis 132/725. Skeat quotes as a proverb,
‘Cur moriatur homo, cui salvia crescit in horto?’ It is from the Regimen
Sanit. Salern. l. 177, and the next line is, ‘Contra vim mortis non est
medicamen in hortis.’a wude: comp. 181/181. 113.þas feye
furþ, the life of the doomed man. 118.doweþes
louerd: prob. the original had duȝeðe,pl. gen.: ‘duguðadryhten,’ Christ, 781 = Dominus exercituum, Dominus virtutum. T has
domis louird. 122. Skeat explains the
MS. reading, givest away and controllest; an unnatural order: Borgström
takes yefst = yhefst < OE.gehæbban, ‘If thou hast and
possessest.’ Morris’s conjecture,yetst, may mean, gettest,
gainest. The passage is corrupt: T has ‘ȝif þu hauest welþe awold iwis
ȝerlde:’in þis worldis mere padding arising fromvpen
eorþe: the original may have been, Gif þu havest a wold | seoluer
and gold: comp. 22/133, 4; ‘Whil ȝe habbeþ wyt at wolde,’ Hendyng 299;
52/387 note. 125.ildre
istreon: comp. ‘þæt he of his yldrena gestreone hine sylfne fercian
mote,’ Ælf. Lives i. 524/597, 528/669; ‘þæ castles aðele
weore;of his eoldrene istreon,’ L 18608. 126.lone: Skeat
quotes ‘divitiæ . . . donum Dei,’ Eccles. v. 18. 127.þar of, from
them: comp. 22/117: the expression is unusual. 128. ‘Homo vitæ
commodatus, non donatus est,’ Syri Sent. 220. 129.vouh, forveoh: OE.feoh. Comp. 3/13: ‘ffrendles ys þe dede,’ Hendyng 288. 130.Mayþenesfor
maþmes: see 102/134.leten . . . byhinde: Skeat explains as,
forget us; but 4/14 suggests a more pointed meaning. 131. Comp. ‘Cum fueris
felix, quae sunt adversa caveto,’ Cato 218/18; ‘Tranquillis rebus semper
diversa timeto,’ id. 232/26. The first four lines are imitated in, ‘The
ferthe seide, that he is wod | That dwelleth to muchel in the flod, |
For gold or for auhte; | For gold or silver, or any wele, | Hunger or
thurst, hete or chele, | Al shal gon to nohte,’ Pol. Songs 256/1, where
the writer has evidently misunderstood l. 132. 132.feleas
adverb is not common; Einenkel, Anglia, xxxiii. 531, quotes ‘þonne moton
we . . . fela for urum synnum þrowian,’ Wulfstan 151/5, and
the present passage: add Beowulf 1385; ‘He boundenhimso
fele sore,’ Havelok 2442.see, the flowing tide of success: comp.
‘Swo floweð þis woreld þenne men michel tuderið . . . ⁊ beð
michel blisse among mannen,’ OEH ii. 177/16. 134.gnydein the
intransitive meaning, ‘be rubbed away’: elsewhere active. T has wurþen.
Comp. 27/274-6. 135.to duste . . .
dryuen: comp. ‘makede . . . godes deore temple to driuen al to
duste,’ SJuliana 41/1; a less frequent intransitive use.Dryhten,
&c.: comp. ‘geong ealdian · god us ece biþ,’ Exeter Book, ed.
Thorpe, 333/22. 136.godes vrre:
comp. 46/276. 137.foryemeþ&c.: comp. 122/167, 8; ‘Forrletenn ⁊ forrȝemmdenn,’ Orm
259/7502. 138.by come:
comp. 27/275: in T, were. 142.wit and
wisdomare often so coupled: ‘Wyt and wysdom is god warysoun,’
Hendyng 21; Kneuer, 20; 130/81: with sing. masc. pronoun hyne, l.
144. 143.ouergoþ,
surpasses in worth: comp. ‘Þeo luue . . . ouergeð ham alle uoure ⁊
passeð ham alle,’ AR 394/1; an extension of the meaning of OE.ofergān, conquer, overcome, which is that of 125/270, 207/340: at
29/45 it means, pass away, so ‘deð ꝥ ouergeað,’ SK 1883; ‘ðæt hi
geðencen hu hrædlice se eorðlica hlisa ofergǽð,’ Cura Past. 447/29. 144.sitte: comp.
26/270. The recurrence of þe—vere at l. 148 and the divergence ofTwhich gives
for the last half of this line, and hwo hem mide senden, preserving the
alliteration, shows that something is wrong here. A rearrangement in the
order 143, 147, 148, 144, reading syker he may sitte ⁊ þat him mide
syndon, 145, 146, 149 gives a good sense. 151, 2. Comp. ‘Tel þou
neuer þy fo þat þy fot akeþ,’ Hendyng 93; Kneuer, 29.arewe,
apparently found only here, malicious person, enemy: OE.earg,earh. 153.þe, an
ethical dative; see13/34 note. 154. The subject of wile
is the clauseþet—con, he who is not acquainted with your
circumstances. With 155 comp. 21/88. 158.teleþ,
derides, makes sport of. 159.swych mon
þat, &c., such a man as wishes you very well, said ironically:
þat is not conjunction, but relative pronoun, and the construction is
parallel to, ‘talem igitur te esse oportet qui primum te ab impiorum
civium . . . societate seiungas,’ Cic. Fam. x. 6. 3; just
asso . . . þat, 24/184, 5 is matched by, ‘Quis est tam
lynceus qui in tantis tenebris nihil offendat?’ id. ix. 2; and similarly
‘nec tamen ego sum ille ferreus, qui fratris maerore non movear,’ Cic.
Cat. iv. 3. Where the expression is generic, the dependent verb should
be subjunctive, as is the case withsegge, and probably here the
original hadmonne—onne. Comp. ‘ic bidde . . .
swælc monn seðe to minum ærfe foe,’ Thorpe, Diplom. 471/16; ‘Nes þo non
so hardy · þat on me leyde honde,’ OEM 43/209; ‘þat na man ne wurðe swa
wod;ne witte bi-dæled, | þat in his hirede breke grið,’ L
10282; ‘þat na mon on worlde;swa wod no iwurðe, | no swa ær
witte gume;þat his grið bræke,’ id. 22069, 787. Withoncomp. ‘ne beo he no swa luðer mon;þat his freond
him wel ne on,’ L 22963: Skeat’s insertion ofhitspoils the
meaning.Swyhc mon= such a one:swillc anappears for the
first time in Orm 11595. 166.bywite:
þenkeþ T. 169. Comp. ‘Uxorem fuge
ne ducas sub nomine dotis,’ Cato 228/12: ‘Monimon for londe wyueþ to
shonde,’ Hendyng 280; Kneuer, 57. 170.custe,
qualities, virtuous or otherwise. 171.vuele
iauhteþ, estimates falsely, makes a bad bargain. 172.of fayre,
not, out of what is fair, but, in choosing a fair wife: of = in the form
of, in the person of. Forfrakele, comp. ‘he bið wið-uten feire ⁊
frakel wið-innen,’ OEH i. 25/27. ‘Munditiam seruat sinceram rara
uenustas,’ Fec. Ratis 114/581. 175.So:
Holthausen, Archiv lxxxviii. 370, suggests wo, which gives a common
phrase, ‘Wo is hym alyue,’ OEM 183/221; ‘wa is me on liue,’ L 3422. 177.vppen eorþe,
a favourite tag: see 28/315; KH 247 O. 179-82. These lines are
repeated with small variation in Hendyng, 133-7, but the ‘wyf’ is
‘ȝonge’; Kneuer, 53. Zupitza, Anglia, iii. 370, quotes an inscription in
Low German from a room in the Lübeck Rathskeller, which is identical
with the English proverb, and Holthausen, Archiv, lxxxviii. 371,
contributes two more versions in the same dialect. 184.so wod . . . þat
. . . segge, so mad as to say: see 23/159; and comp. ‘Ne wurðe nan
cniht swa wod;ne kempe swa wilde,’ L 8593, ‘& þa
drihliche gumen;weoren win drunken,’ id. 8125. 185.wille, all
that is in thy mind: comp. 27/305, 23/166. 186.þu: T has
hue, and Skeat alters here toheo, but the text may very well
mean, if you ever found yourself. Perhaps the original had: For if þu hi
myd worde · iwreþþed heuede | And heo iseye þe · bi vore þine ivo alle.
Comp. ‘confundet te in conspectu inimicorum,’ Ecclus. xxv. 35. 188.lete, omit,
refrain from: form and meaning from OE.lǣtan, but with
construction,þat-clause with subj., of OE.lettan. 189. Omitscholde, a mere repetition from the preceding line. Comp. ‘gyf
þonne þissa þreora þinga ænig hwylcne man lette, þæt hine to ðam fæstene
ne ónhágje,’ Wulfstan 285/3 (quoted in B.-T.).forþ, openly,
freely: comp. ‘ðane sei ðu forð mid seinte Petre: Tu es Christus,’ VV
25/31.baleusyþes, cast up to you your misfortunes: comp. 2/27.
But one expects, after l. 185, something like, will reveal all your
secrets. 190.woþ: T has
wod and wordwod may mean word-mad; in that case the second half of the
line is little more than repetition. But T has oftendforþ, and so his reading may be the same in effect as that of J,
which does not putþford. Now in Layamon the younger MS.
writes woþ forwouh,wohin the elder, 3327, 4333, where
the sense requires the latter, andword woh, perverse of speech,
would fit well here. 191.wel wolde,
though she desired it ever so much, she cannot control it at all. 194.ouerprute,
excessive pride: the noun apparently only here; the adj. ouerprut is
commoner. In T, orgul prude. Comp. ‘Bruttes hafden muchel
mode;& vnimete prute,’ L 19408. 196. Afterþat,heohas dropped out. 198. That vice she would
readily give up, if she were often in a sweat exhausted with toil. Comp.
‘moni swinc moni swæt;. . þolede ich on folde,’ L 2281,
7; ‘he swonc i þon fehte;þat al he lauede asweote,’ id.
7488. 202. Read, þat beon
uulle treowe: lit. though it is ill to bend what are full-grown trees,
i.e. though full-grown trees are hard to bend. It is not necessary to
alterbeo, butnofnuleprobably belongs to it; it
is subjunctive in an object clause expressing a class of things. Foruullecomp. 42/219; ‘min fulla freond,’ Thorpe, Diplom. 525/8;
‘heo beoð ure fulle feond,’ L 963; ‘Ech god giue ⁊ fule giue cumeð of
heuene dunward,’ OEH ii. 105/17; ‘fulliche cristene mon,’ OEH i. 73/5.
‘Dum curuare potes, vel curuam tendere virgam, | Fac sit ut ad libitum
plantula ducta tuum: | Cum vetus in magnum fuerit solidata vigorem | Non
leviter flectes imperiale caput,’ Alanus 435. It is difficult to alter a
grown-up. 203.after,
following the example of: comp. ‘Prendere maternam bene discit cattula
predam,’ Prov. Heinrici 169; ‘Muricipis proles cito discit prendere
mures,’ id. 109: said of innate tendencies. The hindrances to the
training of the young wife are that she is already grown up and has an
inherited disposition. 204.þe mon þat . . .
he: see 19/49. Comp. ‘Femina quem superat, nunquam uiuit sine pena;
| Libertate caret, turpi constrictus habena,’ Flor. Gott. 724. 205.ihurd,
listened to, or perhaps, spoken of, as having any independence in what
he says. Had the writer in mind, ‘labia nostra a nobis sunt, quis noster
Dominus est?’ Ps. xi. 5. 207.steorneis
strange in form (it should be sturne in this text), and does not suit
the context, and the verbsto-trayen,to-teonenare
apparently found nowhere else. Read, turne to treye and to teone, change
his life to sorrow and affliction: in that case the two lines should be
printed as one alliterative long line. The combination is common; comp.
Minot vi. 2 note, and 133/61. T has, ac he sal him rere dreiȝe, but he
shall provide trouble for himself. 210.þe monresumesheof l. 209.quedoccurs again as quet T 702, in
the metaphorical sense of devil, evil man. Here Skeat translates,aversion; Borgström, following Morris, contempt, scorn, without any
support from other examples. The word is a coarse term of contempt for a
‘poor creature,’ based on the primitive sense of OE.cwead: it is
easily paralleled in modern dialects. 212.faderis
pointless: the reading of T, in hire faire bure, which is for, faire in
hire bure, points to the right way. Read, So is mony burde · bryht on
hyre bure: ‘bright in bower’ is a common tag in the romances; see Guy of
Warwick 2674 with Zupitza’s note. 213.Schene vnder
schete: comp. ‘swete in bedde,’ Havelok 2927. 214. Comp. ‘Ne sont pas
tuit chevalier, qui a cheval montent,’ Li Proverbe au Vilain, no.
201. 215. This line is to be
rejected: it spoils the symmetry of the contrast, and is not
original. 216.glede,
‘beside the glowing coal,’ Skeat; ‘in mirth,’ Borgström; glede being
identified with OWScand. gleði, joy, with an allusion to boasting at the
feast. The original word was probably wede, comp. ‘in wlanke wede,’ Eng.
Met. Homilies (ed. Small), 42/2 =mollibus vestimentis indutus;
‘Whyle þe wlonkest wedes he warp on hym-seluen,’ Sir Gawayne, 2025;
‘awlencð his lichame,’ OEH ii. 211/36. The contrast would then be
between his gay clothes and his unserviceableness. T has werȝe, for
which Borgström reads werwe, steed; and Skeat weiȝe, way: for the former
might be quoted, ‘Nis so wlonk vnder crist · ridynde on stede,’ OEM
91/19. With 217, comp. 26/265. 221.arede, take
as advice. ‘Femina quod iurat, errat qui credere curat,’ Prov. Hein.
64. 222. ‘Coniugis iratae
noli tu verba timere; | Nam lacrimis struit insidias, cum femina
plorat,’ Cato 229/20. 226.lude ⁊
stille, under all circumstances: comp. 28/317, 188/377; ‘don we hit
wullet | lude and stille,’ L 3665: Minot viii. 54 note. 228. ‘Didicere flere
feminae in mendacium,’ Syrus 74/130; ‘Muliebris lacrima condimentum est
malitiae,’ id. 87/343; Fecunda Ratis 39/163. 231. Not said by
Solomon, but by Syrus, ‘Malo in consilio feminae vincunt viros,’
86/324. 234.loþ, read
leoþ; OE.lēoþ, song. 235. Skeat equatesscumeswith Icel. skūmi, twilight, and translates, ‘like
twilight-shadows (they) mislead (us),’ which is fanciful.Scumesmay be miswriting forscunnes, which would represent OE.scēones,scȳness, suggestion, temptation, as in ‘deofol
þonne þurh þa attor berendan næddran mid hire þære yfelan scéonesse
. . . beswác þone ærestan wifmon,’ BH 3/17. The sense would
be, as temptation they mislead. But moreprobably the place is corrupt, and the original may simply have had, as
cwen us forteoþ, with an allusion to Eve’s bad counsel. 237. Björkman, 14,
thinks that this proverb was originally Scandinavian, and it adds point
to understandcoldin the meaning, disastrous, of the Icelandic
version. Comp. ‘Wommennes counseils been ful ofte colde,’ Chaucer,
C. T., B 4446. ‘Mulier cum sola cogitat, male cogitat,’ Syrus
87/335. 240, 241. Skeat’s
version, ‘I do not say this because a good woman is not a good thing,’
shows that he takesfor þan þattogether, which is contrary to
the metrical stress onþanand gives no sufficient sense:for
þan, is, therefore, i.e. in spite of all the hard things I have said
about women:hitis an anticipatory object, which is expanded in
the object clause,þat . . . wymmon. The scribe deletednbeforeys, Skeat restores it; T also hasis, for
which Skeat substitutes [n]is, quoting, ‘Hic ne sige nout byþan | þat
moni ne ben gentile man,’ T 665. I think that what the scribe wrote
should be retained. It is clear that the relation between a negative
principal clause and its dependent object clause was often in ME. very
loose and illogical. Comp. ‘For sco was traist and duted noght, | þat
godds wil ne suld be wroght,’ CM 12321; ‘Ne doð ham no þing swo wo |
. . . | swo ꝥ hi niten, ꝥ here þine | ne sal habben ende,’
Poema Morale, MS. D. 140 (see 46/290); ‘ihc nas na wurdra;þenne ich nes weldinde,’ L 3466; also 100/104. ‘Ðat ne forȝeit ðu naure
· þat ðu godd ne heriȝe,’ 93/149, means, That forget thou never that
thou honour God; what is more natural than to leave out the negative, if
the contrary meaning is required? Our text may be paraphrased, Whatever
I have said about women in general, I do not say it with reference to
the proposition that a good woman is a good thing. For the sentiment
comp. ‘Femina raro bona, sed que bona digna corona,’ Prov. Hein. 65;
‘Femina pauca bona est; si forte inveneris ullam, | De celo cecidit,
tessella caractere miro,’ Fecunda Ratis 153/919. 242.þe mon þe,
for the man who.icouere, &c. win her from his rivals. 244. Repeated from
21/108. 245. Comp. ‘Nulla sevior
pestis quam familiaris hostis. Nis non werse fo;þene frakede
fere,’ OEH ii. 189/33; ‘Gravior est inimicus, qui latet in pectore,’
Syrus 79/200. 246.vayre . . .
frakele: see23/172 note. 247. Skeat explainsþane loþe, the hostile one, andlead, keep on one’s side,so, by fair words. T reads So monmai welþe lengest
helden, which is easier of interpretation, but is just as inept. I think
both scribes or their exemplars have altered as best they could a
displaced line to fitit into its new context. Its proper place is after the good advice of
ll. 248-51 (comp. l. 263), and it may have originally run, So myght þu
fayre lif · lenguste leden. 248. ‘Nolito quaedam
referenti credere saepe: | Exigua est tribuenda fides, qui multa
locuntur,’ Cato 224/20. 249is a very lame
verse; we might read, þat feole speken can. 251. Withsingen,
comp. ‘Noli homines blando nimium sermone probare: | Fistula dulce
canit, uolucrem dum decipit auceps,’ Cato 220/27. 252.swikelne,
deceitful: comp. ‘Ueond þet þuncheð freond is swike ouer alle swike,’ AR
98/5; ‘Habet suum venenum blanda oratio,’ Syrus 80/214. 254.cuþe, give
warning. 256. Alfred would hardly
have said that a man learns wisdom from proverbs and prudence from good
luck. Read forsawe, sorewe (the scribe has overlooked the
contraction forre), and forhiselþe, uniselþe,
misfortune. Comp. ‘In þes middeneardes iscole · selðen ⁊ uniselðen,’ OEH
i. 243/7: ‘Vitat maiora sapiens post dampna minora,’ Prov. Hein. 240.
Borgström reads his elde, wherehisis surely doubtful and þ
interchanging withdwithout parallel. 258. The editors leave
outAnd, which is not inT, but l. 257 is complete in itself;And vnwurþ, and despicable, is a sort of afterthought: for the
combination comp. 4/37; ‘þat he biðe vnworð & lah’ (loþ, MS. O), L
3464, and further for this meaning ofvnwurþ, 143/92; ‘þe idele
ȝelp us beo eure unwurð,’ OEH i. 107/8. 259.hokede,
thievish: in thieves’ slang, a hook is a pickpocket, his fingers are
hooks. Comp. ‘Sutoribus custodem addidit et ut eorum curvos ungues
observaret . . . rogavit,’ Disciplina Clericalis, ed. Hilka u.
Söderhjelm, 28/19; ‘Arpiis similes armantur in ungue ferino,’ Fec.
Ratis, de Predonibus, 173/1154.þat he bereþis rejected by Skeat
as a ‘gloss.’ It is certainly feeble; perhaps we should read, þat he
herȝeþ, with which he plunders; the relative would be under the régime
of the precedingþurh. 261.From—wune, (dis)accustom thyself from lying: a singular
phrase. 262.þemay be
the reflexive dat. as at 13/34, but it is more probably a mistake, due
toþein the previous line: its omission improves the metre. 263.on þeode, a
tag beloved of Layamon: with him it is always local; comp. ‘he þohte to
quellen;þe king on his þeoden,’ 20056 (in his londe,
MS. O); ‘þa weoren Rom-leoden;bliðen on heore þeoden,’ id.
11144:it corresponds to ‘vpen eorþe,’ 22/123, and differs fromin alle
leode, among all the people, Layamon’s ‘on folke,’ 2218. 265. Comp. ‘behoueð ðe
ðat ðu bie well warr ꝥ tu luuiȝe ðine nexte, ðat is, aurich mann ðe berð
ðin anlicnesse,’ VV 39/13: a translation ofproximus, S. Luke x.
29.þe: comp. 22/141, 25/217: ‘Au besoing voit on qui amis est’,
Li Proverbe au Vilain, no. 72. 266. Comp. 188/378;
‘Vrom mulne ⁊ from cheping, from smiðe ⁊ from ancre huse, me tiðinge
bringeð,’ AR 88/26; ‘At chireche and at chepyng | hwanne heo to-gadere
come,’ OEM 189/57; Böddeker, AE. Dicht. 112/82. 270.sytte: comp.
22/144: rest in contentment; ‘sit soft.’ 271. Skeat takes londleas a mere scribal error for londe which T reads.
I think it points to an original londe ⁊ se: comp. 40/194; ‘Mid mede man
mai ouer water faren And mid weldede of giue;frend wuerche,’
OEH ii. 41/20 (possibly a reminiscence of this place). For the proverb
comp. ‘Mieux vaut amis en voie, ke deniers en corroie. Melius valet
amicus in via quam denarius in corrigia,’ Hauréau, Notices et Extraits,
ii. 283. 274-6. Comp. 22/133-5.mixe: T has nocht. 280.holde,
maintain: ‘vpholde,’ 21/113. 285. Comp. 18/9-11. 288. Comp. generally
32/39-65; 29/20-24. Perhaps the allusion is to ‘In timore Domini esto
[tuum cor] tota die: Quia habebis spem in novissimo, et praestolatio tua
non auferetur,’ Prov. xxiii. 17, 18. 289.lyen: comp.
‘ꝥ sind þa gecostan cempan þa þam cyninge þeowað | se næfre þa lean
alegeð þam þe his lufan adreogeð,’ Exeter Book, ed. Gollancz, 108/91.
See 32/64 note. 293.gabbe, talk
mockingly or derisively: the meaning of Fr.gaber, to talk
boastingly, would suit well here, but it lacks support.schotteis difficult: the obvious sense is, to pay scot, to take part in
convivial assemblies, but this does not go well withgabbe.
Borgström thinks that it may beschoute, to shout, or possibly to
scout, sneer, modified for the sake of the rhyme. If that principle may
be admitted,stroute, to swagger (Havelok, 1779), would be
preferable. 294.chid,
wrangle, engage in a ‘flyting,’ or scolding match: ‘Ne respondeas stulto
iuxta stultitiam suam,’ Prov. xxvi. 4. Whethertalesbe taken
with the preceding or the following line, it is equally unsuitable,
unless it may mean reproaches, charges, after OE.talian. It goes
best with l. 296;neshould be omitted beforechid.dwales, not ‘fools’ in the general sense, but erring ones;dwallin mod. dialects means to wander in mind, to talk
incoherently. Withcunnescomp. 81/80. 298. ‘Rumores fuge, neu
studeas novus auctor haberi,’ Cato 218/12. With 299 comp. ‘Pauca in
convivio loquere’, id. 217/51. ‘Inter convivas fac sis sermone
modestus,’ Columbanus 92; ‘Contra verbosos noli contendere verbis: |
Sermo datur cunctis, animi sapientia paucis,’ Cato 217/10. 302.biluken,
enclose, comprehend: the brief utterances of the wise man are
weighty. 303. See Hendyng 85 and
Kneuer 28. 305. Withwille,
comp. 24/185. 307. Comp. Hendyng 144
and Kneuer 55; Förster’s note, ES xxxi. 6; ‘Osse caret lingua, secat os
tamen ipsa maligna,’ Prov. Hein. 149; ‘Mo sleað word þene sweord,’ AR
74/1; ‘plaga . . . linguae comminuet ossa,’ Ecclus. xxviii.
21. 310. ‘Exultat gaudio
pater iusti,’ Prov. xxiii. 24: ‘Him stondes wel þat god child strenes,’
Havelok 2983. 311.ibidest,
dost obtain: OE.gebīdan, to await, experience, attain to. 312.mon þewes:
comp. ‘hauest þu nu quene þeouwes inume,’ L 30281. ‘Curva cervicem eius
in iuventute, et tunde latera eius dum infans, ne forte . . .
erit tibi dolor animae,’ Ecclus. xxx. 12. The ‘child unþewed’ is one of
the ‘Ten Abuses,’ OEM 185/9. 314. The better things
will ever go in the world. Forbuuen eorþe, see 23/177. 316.werende:
Skeat reads wexende; if any alteration is made, wuniende would give a
common OE. and ME. combination: as ‘þæt he her in worulde wunian mote,’
Christ 817; ‘wuniende ⁊ rixlende on worlde,’ OEH 1. 25/17. Butwerenis equated in Stratmann-Bradley with Mid. Dutch, OHG.
weren, to remain, with this place as the only instance. 317.lude and
stille: see 25/226. 327. Comp. ‘For betere
were child ounboren þen ounbeten,’ Hending, MS. O, Anglia iv. 191/4. 328. ‘Qui parcit virge,
sua pignora protinus odit,’ Fec. Ratis 93/438; ‘Quippe diu male cesus
lamentabitur infans,’ id. 65/289.spareþ, with dative. 329.areche, get
at, control. Manuscript:Manuscript.The Cotton MS. ... MS. Stowe 163, B.M.
ff.Stowe, 163 B. M....īeinscīene,gesīenegives schene 213, isene 75.scīenegesīeneea+hoccurs in wexynde 112,
113, iauhteþ 171113 iauhteþThe personal pronouns ...a. f.280,
nonnon,s. g. neut.276, echereechere,... Past of Weak Verbs:s.2.
heuedest 187;187:1.Seuorde: siforde T; Sifforde W,
RJ, which isRJ.,38. ...ryhtwisrightwis87-92. ... sende þe
AduersiteAduersite129.vouh, for veoh“veoh” misprinted as bold144. ... the divergence of Tof B258. ... which is not in T,T.,271. Skeat takeslond leas a mere
scribal error“lond le” misprinted as plain (non-bold) Manuscript:Manuscript. The Cotton MS. ... MS. Stowe 163, B.M.
ff.Stowe, 163 B. M. ...īeinscīene,gesīenegives schene 213, isene 75.scīenegesīene ea+hoccurs in wexynde 112,
113, iauhteþ 171113 iauhteþ The personal pronouns ...a. f.280,
nonnon, s. g. neut.276, echereechere, ... Past of Weak Verbs:s.2.
heuedest 187;187: 1.Seuorde: siforde T; Sifforde W,
RJ, which isRJ., 38. ...ryhtwisrightwis 87-92. ... sende þe
AduersiteAduersite 129.vouh, for veoh“veoh” misprinted as bold 144. ... the divergence of Tof B 258. ... which is not in T,T., 271. Skeat takeslond leas a mere
scribal error“lond le” misprinted as plain (non-bold)
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