'In the Clerkes Tale, E 498, the preterite amevede rimes with the pp. agreved.' But the preterite was ameved.

'In the Somnours Tale, D 1833, the pp. amended rymes with the preterite defendede.' But the preterite was defended. Similarly, the preterites redressede, tariede, espyede, cryede, eylede, sewede are conjured up to put Chaucer in the wrong; an argument which requires no serious refutation. So far was Chaucer from using the form espyede that, whenever he desires to vary from the form espyed, he naturally uses the form espyde, as in G 1230. Our ancestors were but human; they did not mind saying either espyed or espyde; but espy-e-de was a little too much.

'In the Compl. of Mars, 65, the preterite com rymes with the pp. overcome; but as in this instance, there is a possibility that com may be deemed a relic of the ancient subj. usage, and therefore entitled to a final e, the example will not be insisted upon at this point.' This seems to suggest, as an alternative, that come may be the preterite subjunctive; however it is neither the preterite nor the preterite subjunctive, but simply the present subjunctive, being perfectly correct. The line is: 'That dwell'th in solitud-e til she come,' i.e. that dwells [present tense] in solitude till she may come. The preterite subj. cōme would have a long close o, and could not possibly rime (in Chaucer) with the short u in overcome (aoverkumə).

It is objected to Legend, 1391, that the insertion of hath causes 'the adj. goode, of the definite declension, to be shorn of its final e in pronunciation.' The line is: 'As shal the good-man that therfor hath payed,' where good-man is a compound word, occurring in Matt. xxiv. 43, and elsewhere; and it is interesting to find that Chaucer even uses good men in the vocative plural, instead of good-e men, as a familiar form of address; B 4630. If, as seems to be proposed, we remove the word hath, and read good-e, we get: 'As shal the good-e man that therfor payed'; which rimes just as well as before, payed being an admissible form of the preterite, as well as payde. But then the epithet goode becomes comparatively otiose.

In the Legend, 1696, it is maintained that wroghte is a past participle. It is surely a preterite, the word they, i.e. the besiegers, being understood. This is a little forced, but it cannot be helped. To take it as a pp. gives no sense; for it then becomes, 'the siege lay full long, and (was) little wrought.' To 'work a siege' would be a harsh expression. If, on the other hand, we are to understand was before wrought, we may just as well understand they. It is quite as easy.

§ 49. My position is, in short, that the attack upon Chaucer in this passage (Studies in Chaucer, i. 402-405) fails in every single instance. It is called 'a formidable' list; but is nothing of the kind. The attack against Gower also fails in every single instance. Omitting the two charges which the author himself withdraws, the passage (p. 405) runs thus:—

'In the Confessio Amantis, the preterites herde, wente, tremblede, and com will be found ryming respectively with the past participles answerd, went, assembled, and overcome (see i. 151, ii. 7, iii. 263, 350). He has also the infin. wedde ryming with the pp. sped (iii. 265).'

Answer. Herde rimes with the plural pp. answerde. In ii. 7, the text is wrong, and makes nonsense^[49]. Trembled is a correct preterite. Cōm could not rime with overcŏme in the least, if it were a preterite; the reading cŏme is right, and represents the pres. sing. subj. = may come. In iii. 265, the reading is obviously false, as the line consists of eleven syllables; we have merely to strike out were, which reduces the line to the normal length, and turns the pp. sped into the pt. t. spedde, correctly. The syllables should have been counted.

§ 50. Assonances. I have drawn attention to the above passages because it affords an opportunity of illustrating Chaucer's habits. I have said that Prof. Lounsbury is very anxious to fasten upon Chaucer the charge of using mere assonances, i.e. syllables in which nothing rimes but the vowel-sound; for specimens of which see vol. i. p. 5. I doubt if the charge can be fairly proved. But it is well to examine the cases.

Book of the Duchesse, 79, 80. L. 79 ends with terme. L. 80, according to Thynne's edition^[50], ends in yerne. The correction of yerne to erme, which produces a perfect rime, is so obvious, that it occurred to Mr. Bradshaw, to myself, and to Ten Brink (to the best of my belief) independently. As the reading yerne is due to no MS., but rests upon Thynne, who is, practically, the sole authority for ll. 31-96, I decline to bow down to him; seeing that Chaucer himself uses erme elsewhere (C 312), to rime with the same word terme.

In Troil. v. 9, most MSS. have clere, to rime with grene and quene; a mere assonance. But, as some MSS. have shene (see vol. ii. p. lxxii), it seems absurd to reject such an easy correction. In the Parl. Foules, 296, the same two words grene and quene rime with 'the somer-sonne shene'; a highly suggestive fact. And in the Cant. Tales, shene rimes six times with grene, and three times with queene, and with no other word except sustene (once); which is, again, a suggestive fact.

Only one more instance is known, viz. in Troil. ii. 884, where syke rimes with endyte and whyte. It is not impossible that Chaucer wrote syte; see my note.

These three doubtful instances, being all that have been found in the whole of Chaucer's works, compare favourably, to say the least, with the six indubitable instances occurring in Fragment B (only) of the Romaunt of the Rose; see vol. i. p. 5. In calculating in errors, we must observe the percentage.

When every mistake, or rather slight inaccuracy or licence, that can be found in Chaucer's works, has been reckoned to his discredit, it will still be found that he observes certain laws with rigid persistence; and it is possible to use these observed peculiarities as tests whereby to enable us to reject decisively such poems as have been attributed to him with more zeal than judgement. It is my deliberate opinion, for example, that Fragment B of the Romaunt of the Rose shews so many deviations^[51] from his known habits of riming as to render it impossible that he had anything to do with it.

§ 51. Endings in -y and -y-e. The non-riming of -y with -y-ë (see vol. i. p. 5) is a test which cannot be ignored; and it is better to accept its guidance than to attempt to circumvent it, if we would be free from bias.

Even on this point, Prof. Lounsbury is incorrect. In his anxiety to make out a case, he tells us (Studies, i. 389) that the adjective dry, 'whether used attributively or predicatively,' rimes always with words of the -yë group, whereas sly is sometimes (correctly) monosyllabic. The two words are essentially different. Sly, from Icel. slœgr, is monosyllabic when used indefinitely; whereas 'dry' answers to M.E. drye, A.S. drȳge, and was never a monosyllable till its final -e at last dropped off. Chaucer handles these two words in different ways, in strict accordance with their etymology.

Yet again (i. 390) he accuses Gower of a false rime in his Confessio Amantis, iii. 320, because he rimes enemy with envy-e. This is a serious charge; but an examination of the passage explains the riddle. The answer is that, in this particular passage, the right reading is enemy-e, because the word is feminine, as it refers to a woman. The distinction between O.F. enemi (Lat. inimicum) and enemië (Lat. inimica) is clear enough in O.F. poetry, as Gower knew very well; and there is no reason why he should not have used his knowledge. The noticeable point is, that every charge of this character, when it comes to be explained, tells precisely the other way. The attempt to prove Chaucer wrong, where he happens to be precisely right, does him more good than harm.

§ 52. Metres and Forms of Verse.

In the List of Chaucer's Works in vol. i. p. lxii, the various forms of his metre are noticed. It is certain that he adapted most of them from French, especially from Guillaume de Machault, though he no doubt improved the general structure of his lines by the study of Italian models. He nowhere employs Boccaccio's ottava rima, and only once attempted a short piece in Dante's terza rima, in the Compleint to his Lady. However, this attempt is of unique interest, as Dante's verse was never again imitated till about 1540, when Sir Thomas Wiat wrote his Three Satires.

§ 53. Old Verse-forms. Chaucer was but little indebted to the forms of English verse used by his predecessors. He doubtless adopted the line of four accents for his translation of The Romaunt of the Rose, because such was the metre of the original. Still, this metre was in use long before his time. It was employed by Wace and Gaimar, and we have an excellent specimen of it in English in the Lay of Havelok, written before A.D. 1300; as well as a long example in the Cursor Mundi. It is also the metre employed by Barbour in his 'Bruce,' and by Gower in his 'Confessio Amantis.' Chaucer employed it in his translation of the Romaunt; in his Ceys and Alcioun, portions of which survive in the Book of the Duchesse; in the Book of the Duchesse itself; and in the House of Fame. Very likely he employed it also in the lost Book of the Lion, as Machault's Dit du Lion is in this metre.

The ballad-metre which appears, in varying forms, in Sir Thopas, was also older than Chaucer's time; it is obvious that this poem is a burlesque.

The four-line stanza employed in the 'Proverbs' was also already known: see, for example, 'The Five Joys of the Virgin,' in An Old Eng. Miscellany, ed. Morris, p. 87.

§ 54. The eight-line stanza. The poet's first attempt at naturalising a French metre in stanzas, as far as we know, was in his A B C; although the original of this poem is in a different metre. The metre must have been known to Machault, of whose poems only fragments appear in Tarbé's edition; for good examples, see the works of Eustache Deschamps. The same metre is used in the Monkes Tale, the Former Age, and Lenvoy to Bukton; and, thrice repeated, with a refrain, in the Balade to Rosemounde, Fortune, and the Complaint of Venus. It was afterwards taken up by Hoccleve and Lydgate, and by G. Douglas, in his 'King Hart,' but is not a particularly favourite metre. However, with the addition of an Alexandrine line at the end, it became the famous Spenserian stanza of the Faerie Queene^[52].

§ 55. The seven-line stanza. His next achievement was of vast importance. He naturalised the famous seven-line stanza, employed by Machault in several poems, one of which evidently furnished the refrain of Against Women Unconstant; and this is good evidence in favour of the genuineness of this Balade. On account of the great interest attaching to this metre, I here transcribe Machault's Balade in full. And I take occasion to remark, at the same time, that it illustrates the absurdity of an unlucky suggestion that has been lately made, viz. that 'all Balades must needs have an envoy, and that envoys to some of Chaucer's Balades must have been lost^[53].'

This metre is much used by our poet; it occurs in the Lyf of St. Cecile, the Clerkes Tale, the original Palamon and Arcite, the Compleint to his Lady, An Amorous Complaint, Complaint unto Pitè, Anelida, Of the Wretched Engendring of Mankinde, the Man of Lawes Tale, the Compleint of Mars, Troilus, Words to Adam, Parliament of Foules, the Prioresses Tale, and Lenvoy to Scogan. It occurs thrice repeated, with a refrain, in Against Women Unconstant, Compleint to his Purs, Lak of Stedfastnesse, Gentilesse, and Truth; as well as in the Balade introduced into the Legend of Good Women, ll. 249-269.

The Envoy to 'Fortune' also consists of a seven-line stanza, but the arrangement of the rimes is different, there being only two rimes in place of the usual three.

This metre was much used by Hoccleve, Lydgate, King James I of Scotland, and others; but is now uncommon.

§ 56. Terza rima. We have only a few lines of terza rima, in the Compleint to his Lady; see vol. i. p. 76.

§ 57. Ten-line stanza. A ten-line stanza occurs in the Compleint to his Lady. Perhaps it was an experiment; and perhaps it is somewhat of a failure. The Envoy to the Complaint of Venus also consists of 10 lines.

§ 58. Nine-line stanzas. Chaucer has two nine-line stanzas. Of these, the former has the rimes arranged according to the formula aabaabbab, which occurs in Anelida^[57]: and two of these stanzas are rendered much more complex, by the use of internal rimes. As this metre is rare, it is perhaps worth noticing that it was employed by Gawain Douglas in his Palace of Honour; and that in the last three stanzas of that poem he even imitates these internal rimes.

The other nine-line stanza, with the formula aabaabbcc, occurs in the Complaint of Mars.

§ 59. Other stanzas. A six-line stanza (ababcb), repeated six times, forms the Envoy to the Clerkes Tale.

There is another six-line stanza (ababaa) in the Envoy to Womanly Noblesse; vol. iv. p. xxvi.

A five-line stanza occurs in the Envoy to the Complaint to his Purse. It was copied in the poem called The Cuckoo and the Nightingale.

§ 60. In Anelida, 256-271, and 317-324, we have two unique stanzas, with lines of varying lengths; the rime-formula being aaabaaab, repeated in the inverse order bbbabbba. This may be called a virelay in the English sense, and is possibly what Chaucer intended by that name^[58].

§ 61. Roundels. Four Roundels occur; three in Merciless Beautee; and one in the Parliament of Foules. For the structure of the Roundel, see vol. i. p. 524.

§ 62. It readily appears that Chaucer was a great metrist, and bestowed many new forms of metre upon our literature. Most of them were, of course, simply borrowed and adapted from French; but it is possible that a few of them were due to his own constructive ability. The poems called Anelida and A Complaint to his Lady exhibit clear examples of his experiments in metrical construction; and he has given us several examples of his skill in overcoming the difficulties of rime. Of these, the chief are The Complaint of Venus, with 72 lines on 9 rimes; The Balade to Rosemounde, with 24 lines on 3 rimes; Womanly Noblesse, with 33 lines on 4 rimes; and the Envoy to the Clerkes Tale, with 36 lines on only 3 rimes.

§ 63. Balades and Terns. The usual form for a Balade was in three stanzas, with a refrain. This rule is partially observed, not only in Balades, but in other poems. Chaucer was fond of grouping his stanzas by threes; such a group has been called a Tern. For examples, see the latter part of the Complaint to Pitè, in three groups of three stanzas each; the five groups of three stanzas at the end of the Complaint of Mars; the three stanzas forming the Proem to Anelida; the three groups of three stanzas each in Fortune; and the Triple Roundel. The latter part of the Compleint to his Lady consists of nine stanzas, i.e. thrice three. The Envoy to Scogan has six stanzas, i.e. twice three; whilst the Envoy to Bukton has three only.

§ 64. Envoys. There are, usually, no Envoys to Chaucer's Balades. There is one to Fortune, called Lenvoy de Fortune; one addressed to King Richard II, at the end of Lak of Stedfastnesse; one addressed to Scogan; and one addressed to Bukton. That appended to the Complaint to his Purs was obviously supplied at a later date; whilst the so-called Envoy to Truth (only found in one MS.) is hardly an Envoy at all, but merely an additional stanza, in the same strain as the rest.

§ 65. The Heroic Couplet. But Chaucer's greatest metrical gift to England was his use of the Heroic Couplet, which he employed with remarkable success, first in the Legend of Good Women, and soon after, in his Canterbury Tales. This he may well have borrowed from Machault, as has been already explained above; see vol. iii. p. 383, and note 2 on the same page.

The heroic couplet was first copied by Lydgate, who wrote in it two poems of great length, the Siege of Thebes and the Troy-boke. It was also used by Henry the Minstrel in his patriotic poem named the Wallace. It is remarkable that it was almost entirely neglected by Dunbar; the only piece in this metre that is certainly his is one of 34 lines called 'In Prays of Woman.' However, a much longer piece entitled The Freiris of Berwick has also been attributed to him. This metre was also employed by Gawain Douglas in his translation of Vergil.

§ 66. Grammatical Outlines of Chaucer's English.

I shall only attempt here a general outline of the most distinguishing characteristics of the grammatical forms used by Chaucer. The student will necessarily consult such works as Prof. Child's Observations on the Language of Chaucer and Gower, which refer to the Canterbury Tales only; the Observations on the Language of Chaucer's Troilus, by Prof. Kittredge (published for the Chaucer Society); the Observations on the Language of Chaucer's Legend of Good Women, by J. M. Manly (in Studies and Notes on Philology and Literature, vol. ii; Ginn and Co., Boston, 1893); and Ten Brink's compact and excellent volume entitled Chaucers Sprache und Verskunst; Leipzig, 1884.

It would be easy to devote a large volume to the study of Chaucer's grammatical forms. The forms of the substantives, in particular, are frequently variable, sometimes on account of their accentuation, which is accommodated to the line in which they happen to occur, and sometimes for reasons which appear somewhat arbitrary. Nothing short of complete lists can satisfy the scholar.

At the same time, such lists are rather bewildering. I therefore attempt here a sketch of the general principles by which Chaucer's usage appears to be regulated; whilst at the same time the reader is requested to remember that most of the rules given below are subject to exceptions; and that sometimes such exceptions are rather numerous. But it is plain that we must begin with general rules.

§ 67. General Rules. Before noticing these, the following empirical rules for the reading of Chaucer's verse may conveniently be here repeated. Cf. vol. v. p. xxiii.

1. Always pronounce the final -es, -ed, -en, -er, or -e in any word, as a distinct and separate syllable at the end of a line and at the cæsural pause; so also elsewhere, with the exceptions noted here below, and a few others.

2. The final -e is almost invariably elided, and other light syllables (chiefly final -ed, -en, -er, -es, -y) are slurred over and nearly absorbed, whenever the word next following begins with a vowel or is one of certain words beginning with h, viz. (1) a pronoun, as he, his, him, her, hem: (2) part of the verb have: (3) heer and how: (4) mute h in a French word, such as honour. Ex. ev'r, A 50^[59]; rid'n, A 57; ov'ral, A 249; ov'rest, A 290; fith'l, 296; get'n, 291; som'r, 394; wat'r, 400; many, 406.

Note. The cæsural pause prevents elision.

3. The final -e is frequently, but not always, suppressed in a few common words (best learnt by observation), such as were, hadde, wolde, sholde, and some others. Thise, these, is invariably monosyllabic. So also, the medial -e is usually suppressed in such words as havenes (haavnez)^[60], othere (oodhrə) owene (aou·nə), everich (aevrich), sovereyn (suvrein). Similarly, the second e is dropped in távernes (tav·ernz), when the accent is on the first syllable. If it be on the second, then the word is trisyllabic: (taver·nez). Accentuation plays an important part in determining the forms of words.

These three rules meet a large number of cases. Exceptions should be noticed as they arise; and it will usually be found that the exception can be justified.

§ 68. The Strong Declension of Substantives. The forms of substantives frequently present much difficulty in individual cases. The primary rules are these.

1. Substantives which end in a vowel in Anglo-Saxon, in the nominative case, take a final -e in Chaucer, in the nom. and dative. The accusative may be taken to be the same as the nominative in every instance.

The A.S. masculine and neuter nouns include jo-stems (Sievers, A.S. Gram. ed. Cook, sect. 246), as ende^[61]; short i-stems (§ 262), as mete, A 127; short u-stems (§ 270), as wode, wood; as well as sbs. of the weak declension, as ape.

The A.S. wo-stems give M.E. final -we, reduced to (u) in pronunciation, as in sparwe (spar·u). The A.S. feminines in -u give M.E. final -e; as sake, dore. Feminine sbs. of the weak declension end in final -e, as tonge, tongue.

2. Most of the A.S. monosyllabic feminine nouns with a long stem-syllable take a final -e in Chaucer, in the nom., acc., and dative, doubtless because all the oblique cases were dissyllabic. And owing to this tendency, some A.S. monosyllabic nouns of the masculine and neuter genders do the same.

Ex. A.S. lār, lore, Ch. lore (never loor); A.S. borh, a pledge, Ch. borwe. Prof. Child remarks that 'two forms not unfrequently occur, one with, and the other without, the vowel.' Ex. carte, acc., B 4208; cart, acc., D 1539.

3. The monosyllabic sbs. in Chaucer (i.e. sbs. having no final -e) mostly correspond to A.S. masculine and neuter o-stems (Sievers, § 238). If a final -e appears, it is usually in the dative case; but even in this case, it is frequently dropped. Ex. arm (of the body), boor, a boar, breeth, breath, corn, deer, stoon. Datives: breeth, A 5; doom, F 928; day, A 19; ring, F 247; folk, A 25; gold, A 160. Datives in -e; horne, Book Duch. 376; londe, B 522; horse, T. v. 37.

Many of these dative forms may be explained as occurring in 'petrified' phrases, i.e. to phrases (involving datives) that were in common use. 'These,' says Mr. Manly, 'are the phrases which have given rise to the supposition that the regular ending of the dative in Chaucer is -e. An examination of the facts, however, will shew that this is not true. The dative ending was preserved in certain phrases which were transmitted and used as phrases, the force of the dative as such being no longer felt. This will appear from a comparison of such phrases as a bedde, to bedde, over borde, to dethe, for fere, a-fere (afire), to-hepe, a-lyve, a-slepe, to wyve, to the brimme.' So also to rede, T. iv. 679: in house, D 352. Nevertheless, a few true datives in -e occur, though they are certainly scarce. We can hardly explain the use of horne in Book Duch. 376 as occurring in a petrified phrase. Cf. also on a berne, C 397; of his lone, D 1861; and, in particular, the curious instances in which the A.S. nom. has disappeared. Thus the A.S. hīw is always hewe in Chaucer, in all cases; the A.S. grāf is always grove; the A.S. hol is hole; sore in A 2743 is a nom. case; and so on.

§ 69. Archaisms. The easiest way of understanding Chaucer's language is to remember that it is archaic; the use of the final -e was fast disappearing, and he probably was anxious to retain it for the sake of metrical effect. He could not but have remarked its usefulness in Old French poetry; and his study of Italian must have led him to admire the frequency of the vowel-endings in that language. But the use of the English final -e had become extremely uncertain, owing to the complete fusion of the nom. and acc., and the loss (to a large extent) of the dative, except in old phrases which contained (usually) some common preposition.

§ 70. Three types of strong substantives. If I may beg leave to offer my own view of the forms of Chaucer's substantives of the strong declensions, I should be inclined to explain his usages in the following way.

Let us put aside the weak declension, and the etymology of the A.S. words, and let us look at the actual forms of the singular nouns. And, since the genitive case, in Chaucer, usually has a form of its own, let us consider the nom., acc., and dative only.

All the representative words given in Sievers (A.S. Gram. § 238, &c.) can be collected under a few general types, for the present purpose. The fem. sb. giefu had the accus. giefe; but as -u and -e both became -e at a later period, the nom. and acc. are, practically, alike.

Further, datives in -a, as sun-a, feld-a, became datives in -e, and may here be so considered. Hence, in very late A.S. and in Early English, we find, neglecting stems in -r, the few words which shew mutation in the dative, and others which do not affect the general result, the following uses.

1. Every dative case ends in -e.

2. Every accusative resembles either the nominative or the dative; if the latter, it ends in -e.

Hence, there are ONLY THREE main types, which we may illustrate by the words dōm, ende, and lār. The A.S. dōm became M.E. doom, whilst the form ende persisted without any change of spelling.

The A.S. lār would, we should expect, become M.E. loor, which may here represent it, provisionally, for the present purpose (I substitute it for the type ār in Sievers, merely as being a commoner word). The resulting forms are, accordingly, these:—

A. As to this type, there could be no hesitation; all such words would naturally retain the final -e for a considerable period. Examples appear in ende, end, and words declined like it, such as M.E. herd-e, herdsman, lēche, physician, wyte, punishment; and numerous agential words in -ere, as millére, miller. Also in A.S. giefu, and words declined like it, such as M.E. care, care; shame, shame; sake, sake; love, love. Also in A.S. wine, sife, and words like them, such as M.E. mete, meat, stede, stead, reye, rye, hate, hate, spere, spear. Also in A.S. sunu, son, wudu, wood; M.E. sone, wode. Also in A.S. duru, door, nosu, nose; M.E. dore, nose.

B. In type B, we have a majority for the form lor-e; the Early E. nom. loor gave way, and is seldom found, so that lore became the standard type, in Chaucer, for nom., dat., and acc. alike.

Examples occur in A.S. lār, and words like it, as M.E. fore, journey, path, halle, hall, sorwe, sorrow, stounde, time, wounde, wound, ore, mercy. Also in A.S. bēn, petition, and words like it, such as M.E. quene, queen; hyde, hide, skin; tyde, time; dede, deed.

C. In type C, the nom. and acc. combined against the dative form. Consequently, the monosyllabic form prevailed, in this instance only, for all cases. Nevertheless, the dative in -e is not uncommon, owing, as has been said, to its preservation in particular phrases. Besides which, it occurs sporadically after some prepositions. It must be remembered that the dative form was once very common, owing to its use after some very common prepositions, such as at, by, in, of, on, to. Examples of the monosyllabic nominative occur in A.S. dōm, and words declined like it, as M.E. ooth, oath, ring, arm (of the body), erl, mouth, dreem, dream, boon, bone, deer, fyr, fire, wyf; day, path, staf, ship, writ, shoo. Also in A.S. secg, and words declined like it, as net, bed, wed. Also in A.S. wyrm, and words declined like it, as M.E. deel, deal, part, gest, guest, hil, dint, loon, loan, wight. Examples of datives occur in a-fyre, to wyve, a-bedde, to wedde, lone (see Glossary).

If we thus consider the whole history, I think it becomes clear that the form of the dative in -e is really of considerable importance. It occurs, of course, in type A; it helps to determine type B; and, even in type C, is not always suppressed.

§ 71. Effect of accent. I add two more notes before dismissing this part of the subject. One is, that such a word as millere is only trisyllabic when accented on the penultimate, as in A 542. When accented on the first syllable, the final e is dropped in pronunciation, and some scribes drop it in the written form also; see A 545. There are many such instances in words of French origin. A large number of sbs. in -ing, derived from verbal roots, come under this rule. In the middle of the verse, the dissyllabic form is usual, as yelding, A 596, woning, A 606. But at the end of the line, the trisyllabic form occurs frequently, owing to the accent, especially in order to secure a rime with an infinitive mood. Thus in A 1616 we find beddinge, which rimes with bringe, and is accented on the i.

§ 72. Double Forms. The other remark which I have to make here is, that double forms of a word are not uncommon in Anglo-Saxon; and we find double forms in M.E. corresponding to them. A notable instance occurs in the A.S. gewil, will, a strong sb., beside A.S. willa, will, a weak sb. Hence Chaucer has both wil and wille; see the Glossarial Index.

§ 73. The Weak Declension. The three A.S. types are steorra, star, masc.; tunge, tongue, fem.; and ēage, eye, neuter. In M.E., the genders were disregarded, and all three types became merged in one, with final -e. Hence Chaucer has sterre, star, tonge, tongue, yë, eye; with one invariable form for the nom., acc., and dative.

A.S. words in -en. A.S. words ending in -en usually drop the -n in M.E. Hence, in place of the A.S. ǣfen, Chaucer has eve; though even also occurs. So also game for A.S. gamen; kinrede, A.S. cyn-rǣden; mayde, A.S. mægden; morwe, A.S. morgen.

§ 74. Genitive Singular. The genitive almost invariably ends in -es^[62], sometimes shortened to -s. Ex. cherles, maydens. A few old feminines in -e occur occasionally; as halle, helle, love (in the comp. loveday). A few genitives in -e are due to the A.S. -an of the weak declension; as herte, sonne, cherche, widwe. Here belongs lady (short for lady-e). Hevene occurs as well as hevenes. The gen. of fader, father, is both fader and fadres.

§ 75. Dative Singular. As explained above, the dative ends in -e, except for words of type C (§ 70). The accusative always resembles the nominative.

§ 76. Plurals. The usual ending is -es (also written -is) or -s; as dayes, maydens. The same ending is usually employed even for sbs. of the weak declension, where the A.S. suffix was -an. Only a few old weak plurals survive; as oxen, pesen, peas, asshen (rarely asshes), hosen, yën, eyes, foon, foes, toon, toes, been, bees (seldom bees), fleen, fleas. We also find kyn, kine, bretheren, (never brothers), doghtren and doghtres, sustren and sustres. So also children.

Some words, originally neuter, remain unchanged in the plural; as deer, folk, hors, neet, pound, sheep, swyn; sometimes thing (also thinges), yeer (also yeres). So also winter. A few plurals shew mutation; as feet, teeth, men, wommen, gees, mys. Breech is really an old plural; but Chaucer has the double plural breches (I 330). Monthe (B 1674) is an old genitive plural, after the numeral twelf. In wyf, pl. wyves, f becomes v. In ship, pl. shippes, the p is doubled, to shew that the vowel is short.

§ 77. Substantives of French origin. Substantives of French origin take a genitive in -es or -s, and remain unchanged in the dat. and accusative. The plural likewise ends in -es or -s. The final -e appears in a large number of words, such as face, grace, &c.; but is sometimes suppressed, even when etymologically correct, as in fors for force, sours for source, beest for beste, host for hoste, princess for princesse^[63]. In Sir Thopas, plas occurs for place, and gras for grace. Cf. vol. iv. p. xxxii.

In words like nature, fortune, science, the final -e is sounded if the accent is on the second syllable, but is usually dropped if it falls on the first. The same usage prevails with regard to the plural suffix -es. Hence we find the plurals flóur-es, áventúr-es on the one hand, and pílour-s, lázar-s on the other; and pílgrimes is pronounced as pilgrims. So also aúditours, because the accent on ou is only secondary. Epístellès (B 55) is a 'learned' form. Words in -nt usually have the plural in -nts, often written -ntz; as tyraunts or tyrauntz. The A.F. z had the sound of ts. A remarkable plural occurs in orgòn or orgòòn (cf. Lat. organa). Words in s remain unchanged in the gen. sing. and in the pl. Thus Bachus, in Leg. 2376, is a gen. sing.; and caas, in A 323, is plural. The pl. of advocat is advocats, with mute t, which might be written advocaas; and condys (for condyts with mute t) occurs as the pl. of condyt.

§ 78. Adjectives. These occur both in the indefinite and in the definite form. The latter is known by its being preceded by the definite article, or a demonstrative or possessive pronoun, in which case it takes a final -e; as the yonge, his halfe, this ilke. Also when used in the vocative case, as O strange god, A 2373.

The indefinite form usually follows the A.S. type, and so depends upon the etymology. Hence we find, on the one hand, blak, good, foul; and, on the other, swēte, grēne, shēne, kēne, where the long e is due to mutation in a jo-stem, and the final -e represents a faint survival of that stem. So also clene (with open long e), dere, drye, blythe; and even softe, swote (without mutation). Other dissyllables are fewe, newe, trewe, riche, sene (visible), narwe (nar·u), stille, thikke, wilde. Moche is due to loss of l in mochel; so, perhaps, lyte for lytel.

Several adjectives, however, occur in Chaucer with a final -e in the indefinite form, contrary to the A.S. usage. Examples: bare, fayre, fresshe, longe, tame. So also badde, meke. In some cases, the final -e may be due to old usage; thus, in B 50, we find Of olde tyme, A.S. of ealdum tīman.

The plural of monosyllabic adjectives ends in -e. The same is the case with some of the pronouns and many of the cardinal numbers. Even monosyllabic past participles, when used adjectivally, may have a plural in -e, as: with yën faste y-shette; B 560^[64]; eres spradde, T. iv. 1422; bente, T. iv. 40: indeed, we even find this plural form after the word weren, as in weren fledde, T. i. 463; weren whette, T. v. 1760. So too y-mette, B 1115.

But adjectives and participles of more than one syllable usually remain unaltered in the plural.

Ordinals and monosyllabic superlatives (few in number) have final -e in the definite form; as the firste, the thridde, the ferthe, the beste, the laste, the leste, the moste, the nexte, the werste (or worste).

Some adjectives of French origin take the French pl. suffix -s; as, capitals, delitables, espirituels, temporeles.

§ 79. Comparatives. Comparatives usually end in -er, and remain unaltered when definite. Better is sometimes written bettre. We also find the comparatives lasse, lesse, less; worse or wers, worse; more, more, greater. Bet, better, is properly an adverb, but is also used as an adjective. Mo is properly an adverb, but is also used as an adjective; usually, mo means 'more in number,' as distinguished from more, meaning 'greater in size.' Mutation is seen in elder, lenger, strenger. For-m-er is due to adding -er to the stem of an old superlative, for-m-a.

§ 80. Superlatives. Superlatives usually end in -est, and remain unaltered when definite. We also find the superlatives first (def. firste); best (def. beste); last (def. laste); leest (def. leeste, leste); most (def. moste); next (def. nexte); werst (def. werste, worste). Mutation is seen in eldest, lengest, strengest. Ferrest is formed from the comp. adv. ferre. Note also the forms hind-r-est, upp-er-est, utt-er-est, ov-er-est. The old superl. for-me (A.S. for-ma, Lat. pri-mus) occurs in the comp. sb. forme-fader; and hence the double superl. for-m-est.

If an accent falls on the suffix -est, the def. form may take final -e; but examples are rare. Yet we find the seemlieste man, the uttereste preve, the wofulleste wight.

§ 81. Numerals. The cardinal numbers are as follows. 'One' is òòn, often òò or ò before a consonant, whence the indef. article an, a. Hence also al ones, altogether of one accord, C 696; for the nones = for then ones, for the once, for the nonce; also aloon, alone, more commonly allone. 'Two' is tweye or tweyne, originally the masc. form; also twō, originally the fem. and neuter form. The other numbers are three, foure, fyf or fyve, six, sevene, eighte, nyne, ten; &c. The ordinals are firste, othere or secounde, thridde, ferthe or fourthe, fifte, sixte, &c. Ten Brink remarks that the form eightetethe is unauthorised, and that it should be eightetenthe; but this is a mistake; see vol. v. p. 134.

§ 82. Pronouns. The first pers. pron. is I, dat. and acc. me; pl. we; dat. and acc. us. For I, we also find the Northern ik, not only in the Reves Tale, but in the compound theek = thee ik. Also, the Southern ich, rarely, both alone and in the compound theech = thee ich. The gen. pl. our occurs in our aller, of us all; A 823.

The second pers. pron. is thou, thow, dat. and acc. thee; pl. ye, dat. and acc. you. Thou is often appended to verbs, in the form tow; as in shaltow, wiltow, &c.

The third pers. pron. masc. is he, dat. and acc. him; pl. they, gen. hir (as in hir aller), dat. and acc. hem (never them), for all genders. The fem. form is she, dat. and acc. hir or hire, also hère at the end of a line or at the caesura (see Glossary). The neut. form is hit or it, dat. him; acc. hit or it.

§ 83. Possessives. The forms are: myn, my; thyn, thy; his^[65] (masc. and neut.), hire, hir, here (fem.); oure, our; youre, your; hire, here, hir, her = their. The Northern form thair is purposely introduced in A 4172. When standing alone, we also find oure, oures, ours; youre, youres, yours; hires, hers; hirs, theirs.

§ 84. Demonstratives. The is used for the def. article in all genders and in both numbers. A trace of the old dat. then (A.S. ðām) occurs in for the nones (= for then ones). Atte = at the.

The demonstratives are that; pl. tho, those; and this, pl. thise. Note that thise (dhiiz) is always monosyllabic; the final e merely marks (probably) a longer vowel-sound. It is probable that, in the same way, the form hise, his, used with plurals, may have meant (hiiz); the Cambridge MS. has the curious form hese; but it is monosyllabic.

§ 85. Interrogatives. These are: who, what; gen. whoos, whōs; dat. whōm; acc. whōm, what. Also which; pl. whiche, which. Also whether, which of the two.

§ 86. Relatives. That is used generally; also which, pl. whiche, which. Whos occurs as expressing a genitive; and whom for a dative; but we never find who as a nominative. We also meet with that-he for 'who'; that-his for 'whose'; that-him for 'whom'; cf. A 2710. Also the which; or, when used adjectivally, the whiche (A 3923); which that; the which that; who that, what that; who so, what so.

§ 87. Other pronominal forms. Men sometimes occurs as a weakened form of man, with the sense of mod. E. 'one'; and it therefore takes a singular verb. Ex. men smoot, one smote, A 149; men moot, one must, one ought to, A 232. Self is used adjectivally, as in Thy selve neighebour, B 115. Hence also myself, myselven, myselve; thyself, thyselven, thyselve; hemself, themselves, hemselven, hemselve. Thilke, a def. form, means 'that'; we also find this ilke, that ilke; cf. A 721. Swich, such; pl. swiche, swich. Oon, oo, one; noon, non, none; other; any. Som, pl. som, some, somme; the plural is written all three ways, but is usually monosyllabic. Al, alle, all; a word causing some difficulty, being very often written alle, though very seldom dissyllabic. The gen. aller occurs, both alone and in compounds. Aught, ought, oght; naught, nought, noght. Either, gen. eith(e)res; neither, gen. neith(e)res.

For 'each,' we find ēch (aech), reduced to ich or y in the compound everich, every; cf. everichoon, every one. Many is used alone; also in many oon, many on, many a.

§ 88. Verbs.

Verbs are distinguished as being weak or strong. In the former, the pp. (past participle) ends in -ed, -d, or -t; in the latter, it ends in -en or -e.

A simple rule is to observe that, in weak verbs, a final -e is common in the past tense, but never ends a pp. unless it is used as a plural adjective; conversely, in strong verbs, it is common (varying with -en) in the pp., but never occurs in the pt. t. singular. The frequent disregard of this usage is a great blemish in Tyrwhitt's edition of the Canterbury Tales.

§ 89. The general formulæ for the conjugation of verbs are as follows.

Present Tense. Singular: 1. -e; 2. -est, -st; 3. -eth, -th (or a contracted form). Plural: -en, -n, -e; for all persons. In the 3rd pers. singular, -eth is often sounded as -th, even when -eth is fully written. We also find contracted forms, as in A.S.; such as rit, rideth; hit, hideth; sit, sitteth; bit, biddeth; slit, slideth; writ, writeth; stant, standeth; fint, findeth; et, eateth; set, setteth. In all these instances the stem or root of the verb ends in d or t. Besides these, we find rist, riseth; worth for wortheth, becomes; and the curious form wryth, writheth, T. iii. 1231. In the very same line Bitrent is short for Bitrendeth. In the 2 pers. sing. -est is often -st, even when written in full; in the pl., -en may be reduced to -n, as in seyn, say, or else to -e, as in sey-e.

Past tense of Strong Verbs. Singular: 1. 3. no suffix; 2. -e, occasionally, but usually dropped. Plural: 1. 2. 3. -en, -e.

Past tense of Weak Verbs. Singular: 1. 3. -ede, -ed, -de, -te; 2. -edest, -dest, -test. Plural: 1. 2. 3. -eden, -den, -ten; -ede, -de, -te, also -ed (occasionally).

Subjunctive mood: Present. Singular: 1. 2. 3. -e. Plural: -en, -e. Past (strong verbs); suffixes as in the present subjunctive. Past (weak verbs); like the past tense of the indicative; but -st may be dropped in the second pers. singular.

Imperative Mood. Singular: 2 pers. (no suffix, usually); -e (in some weak verbs). Plural: 2 pers. -eth, -th, sometimes -e^[66]. The rest of the Mood is supplied from the subjunctive.

Infinitive: -en, (often) -e. The gerundial infinitive, preceded by the prep, to, and usually expressive of purpose, has a special form only in a very few instances, as to bene, to be; to done, to do; to sene, to see, A 1035; to seyne, to say; for which to doon, to seen or to see, to seyn or to seye, also occur. In other verbs, it does not differ from the ordinary infinitive. The true infinitive occurs without the prep. to, and remains in mod. E. in such expressions as I can sing, I might go.

Participles. Present: -inge, -ing. The fuller form in -inge is rare, being chiefly employed, for the rime, at the end of a line, as gliteringe, A 2890; thunderinge, A 2174; flikeringe, A 1962.

Note. The pres. part. is not to be confounded with the sb. of verbal origin. Thus singinge, floytinge (A 91), whistling (A 170), are present participles; but priking, hunting (A 191), winning (A 275), lerninge (A 300), teching (A 518) are substantives. The pl. sb. rekeninges occurs in A 760.

Past Participles. The pp. of weak verbs ends in -ed, -d, or -t; and that of strong verbs in -en, -n, -e. The prefix y- (i), representing the A.S. ge- (ye-), often occurs with past participles; as in y-ronne, A 8, from A.S. gerunnen. The same prefix occurs, very rarely, before an infinitive; as in y-finde, y-here, y-knowe, y-see, y-thee. It also appears in the adj. y-sene (A.S. gesēne), which has often been mistaken for a pp. But the pp. of see is y-seyn or y-seye.

§ 90. Seven Conjugations of strong verbs. Strong verbs usually exhibit a vowel-change (gradation) in the stem, as in the mod. E. sing, sang, sung.

There are seven conjugations, corresponding to the types of the verbs drive, choose, drink, bear, give, shake, fall. See Sievers, A.S. Grammar.

The 'principal parts' of strong verbs are (a) the infinitive (which has the primary grade); (b) the past tense singular (which has the middle grade); (c) the past tense plural (which in A.S. usually differs, as to its vowel, from the singular); and (d) the pp. In strict grammar, the 2 p. s. of the pt. t. has the same vowel as the pp. Thus biginne has the pp. bigonnen, and the 2 p. s. pt. t. is bigonne, thou didst begin, without any final -st.

1. Infin. dryven (driivən); Pt. s. dròòf, dròf (draof); Pt. pl. driven (drivən); Pp. driven (drivən).

Thus the characteristic vowels are: y (ii); òò (ao); i; i. So are conjugated abyden or abyde, agryse, aryse, byde, byte, glyde, ryde, ryse, ryve, shyne, shryve, slyde, smyte, (be)stryde, stryke, thryve, wryte, wrythe^[67]. Chaucer also treats stryve as a strong verb, though it was originally weak; with pt. t. stròòf, pp. striven. To this conjugation belongs wryen, to hide, put for wrīhen; hence the pp. would be wrĭh-en, which appears in Chaucer as wryen.

2. Infin. chēsen (cheezən); Pt. s. chèès (chaes); Pt. pl. chōsen (chao·zən); Pp. chōsen (chao·zən).

Here the vowel of the pp. has been lengthened, and the vowel of the pt. pl. assimilated to that of the pp. So are conjugated: bēden, to offer; brewen or brewe (pt. t. brew), cleve, to slit, crepe, flee (pt. t. fleigh, fley), flete, to float, flye, to fly (pt. t. fleigh, fley, pl. and pp. flowen), lese, to lose (pp. loren, lorn), lye, to tell lies, sethe, to boil (pt. t. sèèth, pp. sŏden), shete, to shoot (pp. shŏten).

Here belong a few verbs with ou (uu) in the infinitive; as brouke, shouven, to shove (pt. t. shòòf, pp. shŏven). Also the pp. lŏken, as if from louken.

3. In this class there are two sets: (a) verbs in which the radical e is preserved, as swelle; (b) those in which e becomes i before m or n, as drinke.

(a) Infin. swellen; Pt. s. swal; Pt. pl. swollen; Pp. swollen. So are conjugated: bresten or breste, delve, fighte (originally feghte; pt. s. faught, pt. pl. and pp. foughten), helpe, kerve, melte, sterve, thresshe, yelde, yelpe. Here belongs worthen (originally werthe); the pt. t. and pp. do not occur. Abreyde was also originally a strong verb, and Chaucer twice uses the pt. t. abrayd or abreyd, riming with the pp. sayd or seyd; but it was easily confused with weak verbs that made the pt. t. in -de, and in all other places appears as a weak verb. It was already obsolescent.

(b) Infin. drinken; Pt. s. drank^[68]; Pt. pl. dronken (drung·kən); Pp. dronken (drung·kən).

So are conjugated: biginnen or biginne, binde, climbe (pt. s. clomb), finde (pt. s. fond, pt. pl. and pp. founden), ginne, grinde (pp. grounden), ringe, renne ( = rinne), shrinke, singe (pt. s. song), sinke, slinge (pt. slong), spinne, springe (pt. s. sprong), stinge (pt. s. stong), stinke, swimme, swinke, thringe (pt. s. throng), winde (pt. s. wond, pp. wounden), winne, wringe (pt. s. wrong).

4. Infin. beren; Pt. s. bar (also ber, beer); Pt. pl. bēren; Pp. boren, bore, born. Confused in M.E. with conj. 5. So also: breken or breke, shere, speke, stele, tere (cf. pt. s. to-tar), trede, wreke. Here belongs pt. s. nam, pp. nomen, as if from an infin. nemen, which became nimen. Also come, pt. s. cam (also coom), pt. pl. camen (also cōmen), pp. comen (kum·ən).

5. Infin. yeven, yeve, and frequently yive; Pt. s. yaf; Pt. pl. yaven (more correctly yēven); Pp. yeven, and frequently yiven. Here belong eten or ete (pt. s. eet, pp. eten), forgete, gete, mete, to mete, steke (pt. s. stak), weve (pt. s. waf, pp. woven); also bidde, sitte (pt. s. sat, seet, pt. pl. sēten), ligge or lye (pt. s. lay, pt. pl. layen). Here belongs quethen, to say, which only appears in the pt. s. quoth or quod. Also seen, to see, pp. y-seyn, y-seye, with various forms of the pt. s., as seigh, sey, say, sy, saugh, saw. The verbs speke, trede, wreke, have gone over to conj. 4; and the same might be said of weve.

6. Infin. shaken; Pt. t. shóók; Pt. pl. shooken; Pp. shaken, shake.

So also: awake (pt. s. also awaked), bake, drawe (pt. s. drow), fare, forsake, gnawe (pt. s. gnow), grave, laughe (pt. s. lough), shape, shave, stande (pt. s. stood, pp. stonden), stapen (pp. stapen in MS. E., which is more correct than stopen in other MSS.), take, wake, wasshe (pt. s. wessh, wissh), waxe (pt. s. wex, pp. woxen instead of waxen). Here also belong heve (pt. s. heef, haf); sleen or slee, slay (pt. s. slow, slough, pp. slawe, slayn); swere (pt. s. swoor, pp. sworen, sworn). Also quake, originally a weak verb, of which Chaucer has the pt. s. quóók. Conversely, the pt. s. of fare is weak, viz. ferde.

7. Infin. fallen; Pt. s. fel (also fil); Pt. pl. fellen (also fillen); Pp. fallen. This conjugation originally made the pt. t. by duplication, and the root-vowel varies. But the vowel of the pp. agrees with that of the infinitive, and the vowel of the pt. t. is the same in the singular and plural. Here belong biholde, pt. s. bihēld; holde, pt. s. heeld; honge, hange, pt. s. heeng, heng; bete, pt. s. beet; hewe; lete, late, pt. s. leet, pp. leten, laten; slepe, pt. s. sleep; blowe, pt. s. blew; crowe, pt. s. crew; growe, pt. s. grew; knowe, pt. s. knew; sowe; throwe, pt. s. threw; lepe (laepə, lèèpə), pt. s. leep (léép); wepe (wéépə), pt. s. weep (wéép).

Besides holde, biholde, we also find the curious infinitives helde, behelde.

Here belongs hote, to command, promise, pt. s. heet, hight (from A.S. hēht), pp. hoten. Closely connected with this is the form hatte (A.S. hātte, Gothic haitada), with the passive sense 'is named,' or 'is called'; variant forms being hette, highte, the latter due to some confusion with the strong pt. s. hight, mentioned above. Hence hatte, hette, highte were also used with the past sense 'was named' or 'was called.' In Chaucer's time these forms and senses were much confused, so that we actually find hight with the sense 'was named'; and conversely, highte with the sense 'promised.' And further, we find the pp. hoten with the sense 'called,' and the pp. hight with the sense 'promised.' See, in the Glossary, Hote, Bihote, Bihete, Bihighte.

Here also belongs goon, gon, go, to go; pp. goon, gon. The pt. t. is supplied by wente or yede.

§ 91. Formation of Weak Verbs.

In the case of weak verbs, which include a large number of verbs of Anglo-French origin, much depends upon the form and even upon the length of the stem. The standard suffix for the pt. t. is -de, and for the pp., -d; but this necessarily becomes -te (pp. -t) after a voiceless consonant and in some other cases, especially after l and gh. A third variety of form is caused by the frequent occurrence of -e- before the final -de or -d, due, usually, to the form of the infinitive mood; and, in long words especially, the form -ede is frequently reduced to -ed. This short explanation applies, practically, to all weak verbs.

Infinitives in -ien, -ie. The A.S. infin. in -ian became -ien, -ie in M.E., and was frequently reduced to -e. Ex. A.S. lufian, later lovien; in Chaucer only loven, love, though a trace of the i remains in the derived word lovyere, A 80. These are the verbs which make the pt. t. in -e-de, the -e- being due to the formative suffix -i-, which is actually preserved in the pp. ber-i-ed, her-i-ed^[69]. Hence Chaucer uses the pt. t. dwell-ed, short for dwell-e-de; but he also uses the syncopated form dwel-te, where d has become t after l. We can only understand these weak verbs by help of the etymology, so that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon the subject.

A form such as lovede was liable to syncope, which means, practically, that the word was frequently pronounced (luv·də) or (luv·ed); it mattered little which was chosen. Before a vowel, the final -e could suffer elision, which reduced the form to lov'd' (luvd).

This explains the scansion of many lines. Thus, in A 1196, it does not matter whether we say (luv·də) or (luv·ed); but in A 1197, 1198, the only possible form is (luv·d).

§ 92. Three classes of weak verbs. We may distribute the weak verbs into three classes; the types being, respectively, loven, heren, to hear, and tellen.

1. Infin. lov-en, lov-e; pt. t. lov-ëde, lov-ëd, lov-(e)de; pp. lovëd, lov(e)d. The pt. t. pl. sometimes adds -n. Past tenses in which the full form in -ede occurs are not common, on account of the tendency to shorten the word. We find lakk-ede, wedd-ede, ned-ede, in full, and the plurals lok-eden, knokk-eden, yell-eden; and even aqueynt-eden, from a word of French origin. Liv-eden in D 1877 is really liv'den. The second e is dropped in ax-ed, folw-ed, lok-ed, long-ed, &c. As an example of the convenience of a double form, observe the pt. s. espy-ed riming with the pp. all-yed, B 3718; and the pt. pl. subj. espy-de riming with tyde, L. 771.