On the other hand Salomon obeyed his father David’s command in slaying Joab, and yet he showed mercy in his reign and wrought no tyranny. Also he was wise and had worthy men about him, and there is nothing better for a ruler than Wisdom. Salomon asked for this gift from God, and this it is which a king chiefly needs in order to hold the balance even between Justice and Pity. (3846-3944.)

Courtiers and Fool. Lucius, king of Rome, asked his steward and his chamberlain what men said about him. The steward merely flattered in his reply, but the chamberlain answered that people thought he would be a worthy king if he had good counsellors. The fool, who played with his bauble by the fire, laughed at both, and said, ‘If the king were wise, the council would not be bad.’ Thus the king was instructed and put away his bad counsellors. (3945-4010.)

Folly of Rehoboam. 1 Kings xii. 1-20. (4027-4129.)

Counsel of young men thus leads to ruin. There is a question whether it is better that the king be wise or his council. The answer is that it is better to have wise counsellors. (4130-4180.)

The Emperor Anthonius said he would rather have one of his subjects saved than a thousand of his enemies slain. Mercy mingled with justice is the foundation of every king’s rule. Thus I have spoken of four points, Truth, Largess, Pity and Justice. There is yet a fifth. (4181-4214.)

4215-5397. Chastity, the fifth point of Policy. The male is made for the female, but one must not desire many. A man must keep the troth he has plighted in marriage, and this all the more in the high and holy estate of a king.

Aristotle advised Alexander to frequent the company of fair women, but not to beguile himself with them. For it is not they who beguile the men, but the men beguile themselves. The water is not to blame if a man drown himself in it, nor the gold if men covet it. It is by nature that a man loves, but not by nature that he loses his wits: that is like frost in July or hose worn over the shoe. Yet great princes have been thus misled. (4215-4312.)

Sardanapalus lost his kingdom and his honour, because he became effeminate in his lusts. (4313-4343.)

David, however, though he loved many women, preserved the honour of knighthood. (4344-4360.)

Cyrus had a war with the Lydians, and he could not conquer them. Then, feigning, he made a perpetual peace with them, and they fell into idleness and fleshly lust, so that he subdued them easily. (4361-4405.)

Balaam advised king Amalech to send fair women among the Hebrews, and these led them into lust, so that they were discomfited in battle, till Phinees caused them to amend their ways. (4406-4445.)

This virtue of Chastity belongs especially to a king.

Salomon took wives of sundry nations and did idolatry in his folly. Therefore after his death his kingdom was divided.

Antonie, son of Severus, gave an evil example of lust; and the tale which here follows will show what is the end of tyranny and lechery. (4446-4592.)

Tarquin the tyrant had many sons, and among them Arrons. He had a war with the Gabiens, and to their city Arrons went, showing wounds which he said he had received from his father and brethren. They took him as their leader, and he by his father’s advice cut off the heads of their chief men, and so the Romans conquered the city. They made a solemn sacrifice in the temple of Phebus, and a serpent came and devoured the offerings and quenched the fires. Phebus said that this was for the sin and pride of Tarquin and his son, and that he who should first kiss his mother, should avenge the wrong. Brutus fell to the ground and kissed his mother Earth. (4593-4753.)

Tarquin had a war afterwards with Ardea, and they were long at the siege. A dispute arose between Arrons and Collatin as to the virtue of their wives, and they rode to Rome to see how they were employed. At the palace they found the wife of Arrons full of mirth and thinking nothing of her husband; at the house of Collatin, Lucrece was working with her women and praying for her husband’s return. Arrons was smitten with love of her, and returning again the next day he ravished her. She on the morrow called her husband and her father, with whom came Brutus, and told them her tale. Refusing their forgiveness she slew herself, and they took the body into the market-place, where Brutus told the tale to the people. They remembered also the former evil doings of Tarquin and his son, and sent both into exile. (4754-5130.)

Virginia. When Appius Claudius was governor of Rome, he set his desire upon a gentle maid, daughter of Livius Virginius, and he caused his brother Marcus to claim her unrightfully as his slave. Her father was with the host, but he rode hastily to Rome; and when Appius adjudged her to his brother against the law, finding that he could save her from dishonour in no other way, he thrust her through with his sword and made his way back to the host. Thus the tyranny came to men’s ears and the unrighteous king was deposed by the common consent. (5131-5306.)

As an example of chastity in marriage we read the story of Sarra the daughter of Raguel. Seven men who married her were strangled by the fiend Asmod, because they took her only for lust; but Thobie, taught by Raphael, had his will and yet kept the law of marriage. God has bound beasts by the law of nature only, but men must follow also the law of reason and do no lechery. Thus the philosopher taught to Alexander. (5307-5397.)

I thank you, father. The tales sound in my ears, but my heart is elsewhere; for nothing can make me forget my love. Leave all else therefore, and let us return to our shrift.

Yes, my son, there is one point more, and this is the last. (5398-5438.)

Lib. VIII.

1-198. Laws of Marriage. God created Adam and Eve to repair the loss of Lucifer and his angels, and bade them increase and multiply. In the first generation by God’s law brother and sister were joined in marriage, then afterwards cousin wedded cousin, as in the time of Habraham and Jacob. At last under Christian law Marriage was forbidden also in the third degree. Yet some men take no heed to kinship or religion, but go as a cock among the hens and as a stallion among the mares. Such love may be sweet at first, but afterwards it is bitter.

199-2008. Examples of Incest. Caligula the Roman Emperor bereft his three sisters of their virginity: therefore God bereft him of his life and of his empire.

Amon lay with his sister Thamar, and Absolon his brother took vengeance upon him.

Lot lay with his daughters, and the stocks which came from them were not good.

Thus if a man so set his love, he will afterwards sorely repent it; and of this I think to tell a tale which is long to hear. (199-270.)

Apollonius of Tyre. In a Chronicle called Pantheon I read how king Antiochus ravished his daughter and lived with her in sin. To hinder her marriage, he proposed a problem to those who sought her love, and if a man failed to resolve it, he must lose his head. At length came the Prince Apollinus of Tyre, and the king proposed to him the question. He saw too clearly what the riddle meant, and Antiochus fearing shame put off the time of his reply for thirty days. (271-439.)

The Prince feared his vengeance and fled home to Tyre, and thence he departed secretly in a ship laden with wheat. Antiochus sent one Taliart in all haste to Tyre, with command to make away with the Prince by poison. Finding that Apollinus had fled, he returned.

In the meantime the Prince came to Tharsis, and took lodging there with one Strangulio and his wife Dionise. The city was suffering famine, and Apollinus gave them his wheat as a free gift, in return for which they set up a statue of him in the common place. (440-570.)

A man came to him from Tyre and reported that king Antiochus desired to slay him. He was afraid and fled thence again by ship. A storm came upon him and the ship was wrecked: Apollinus alone came alive to land. A fisherman helped him and directed him to the town of Pentapolim, where he found the people gathered to see games, and the king and queen of the country there present. (571-695.)

He surpassed all others in the games, and the king called him to supper in his hall. At supper he was sad and ate nothing, and the king sent to him his daughter to console him. To her he told his name and country, and with that he let the tears run down his cheeks. She fetched a harp and sang to it, and he took it from her hand and played and sang divinely. They all saw that he was of gentle blood. (696-799.)

The king’s daughter desired her father that he might be her teacher, and in the course of time she turned with all her heart to love of him. She so lost her appetite for meat and drink and sleep that she was in danger of her life.

Three sons of princes demanded her in marriage, and she by letter informed her father how the matter stood: if she might not have Apollinus, she would have none other. (800-911.)

The king sent for Apollinus and showed him his daughter’s letter. He assented gladly, and the marriage took place with great festivity. Soon after this men came from Tyre reporting that Antiochus and his daughter were dead, having been both struck by lightning, and entreating him to return to his own people. All were rejoiced to hear that the king’s daughter had married so worthy a prince. (912-1019.)

Apollinus sailed away with his wife, she being with child. A storm arose and she began to be in travail. In anguish she was delivered of a maid child, but she herself lay dead. (1020-1058.)

Apollinus sorrowed as never man sorrowed before, but the master of the ship required that the dead body be cast out of the ship, because the sea will not hold within itself any dead creature, and the ship would be driven on the shore if the body remained within her. They made therefore a coffer closely bound with iron and covered with pitch, in which they placed the corpse, with gold and jewels, and with a letter praying that she might receive burial; and so they cast it overboard. Apollinus in the meantime sailed first to Tharsis. (1059-1150.)

The coffer was cast up at Ephesim and was found by Cerymon, a great physician. He by his art restored the seeming corpse to life, and she took upon herself the rule of religion and dwelt with other women in the temple of Diane. (1151-1271.)

Apollinus coming to Tharsis entrusted his infant daughter Thaise to the care of Strangulio and Dionise, and so he sailed on to Tyre. This daughter, until she was fourteen years old, grew up with the daughter of Strangulio, but Thaise was preferred to the other in all places where they went, and Dionise was therefore wroth. She bade her bondman Theophilus take Thaise down to the shore of the sea and there slay her. He brought her to the sea, but her cry called forth pirates from their hiding-place, who carried her with them away to Mitelene and sold her to Leonin, master of a brothel. (1272-1423.)

The young men who came to her were moved by compassion and did her no wrong, so that Leonin sent his own servant in to her. She entreated to be permitted to make gain for him in some other way, and being taken from the brothel and placed in security, she taught such things as gentlewomen desire to learn, and her name went forth over all the land. (1424-1497.)

Theophilus reported that he had slain Thaise, and Dionise, pretending that she had died suddenly, made a great funeral and set up a tomb with an epitaph. After this, Apollinus came to seek for his daughter at Tharsis, and hearing that she was dead, he put forth to sea again in grievous sorrow. He lay weeping alone in the darkness of the ship’s hold, until under stress of storm they came to Mitelene. (1498-1617.)

Hearing of his grief, the lord of the city, Athenagoras, sent Thaise to comfort him. He at first rejected all her consolation, but then to his joy discovered that she was the daughter for whom he mourned. Athenagoras asked for her in marriage and was wedded to her. (1618-1776.)

They went forth all together with intent to avenge the treason at Tharsis, but Apollinus was warned in a dream to go to Ephesim, and there in the temple of Diane he found the wife whom he supposed to have been dead. Thence they voyaged to Tyre and were received with joy. Athenagoras and Thaise were there crowned king and queen, and Apollinus sailed away and took due vengeance upon Strangulio and Dionise. (1777-1962.)

When this was done, a letter came to him from Pentapolim, praying him to come and receive that kingdom, since the king was dead. They had a good voyage thither, and he and his wife were crowned there and led their life happily. (1963-2008.)

Thus, my son, thou mayest see how it is with those that love in a good manner, but it is not love when men take their lust like beasts.

2029-3172. Conclusion. Father, I may acquit myself in this, but I entreat your counsel as to what way I shall follow in my love.

I counsel thee, my son, to labour no more in things which bring thee no profit. The end of every pleasure is pain. Love is blind, and makes all his servants blind: thou mayest yet withdraw and set thyself under the law of reason.

It is easy to say so, father. My woe is but a game to you, feeling nothing of that which I feel. The hart that goes free knows not the sorrows of the ox under the yoke. But I entreat you to present for me a Supplication to Venus and Cupid, and bring me a good answer back. (2009-2188.)

Then arose a great debate between my Priest and me: my reason understood him well, but my will was against him. At length he agreed to deliver my Supplication, and with tears instead of ink I wrote the letter thus: ‘The wofull peine of loves maladie,’ &c. (2189-2300.)

The Priest went forth to present my petition, and I abode. Suddenly Venus stood by me, and I fell upon my knee and prayed her to do me grace. ‘What is thy name?’ she said, as if in game. ‘John Gower,’ I replied. ‘I have read thy bill,’ she said, ‘in which thou hast complained to Nature and to me. Nature is mistress where she will, and I excuse thee for following her law: but as for what thou sayest, that I am bound to relieve thee, because thou hast served in my Court, I will give thee medicine that will heal thy heart, but perchance it will not be such as thou desirest.’ (2301-2376.)

Half in scorn she spoke to me of my age and hoary locks, and counselled me to make a ‘beau retret,’ while there was yet time; for even though I should attain to my desire, I could not hold covenant duly with love.

I grew cold suddenly for sorrow of my heart, and lay swooning on the ground. Then methought I saw Cupid with his bow bent, and with him a great company, those gentle folk who once were lovers, arrayed in sundry bands. (2377-2459.)

Youth was the leader of one company, and these had garlands, some of the leaf and some of the flower. They went with piping and with song which resounded all about: they laughed and danced and played, and talked of knighthood and of ladies’ love. There was Tristram with Ysolde, Lancelot with Gunnore, Jason with Creusa, Hercules with Eole, Troilus with Criseide, but in his mirth he was yet heavy of cheer because of Diomede. Those also I saw who died for love, as Narcissus, Piramus, Achilles; and the women who were forsaken, Dido, Phillis, Adriagne, Deianire and Medea. Many others too I saw, but four women especially who were most commended as examples in marriage, Penolope, Lucrece, Alceste and Alcione. Youth, which led this company, took no heed of me. (2460-2665.)

Then came Eld, leading a company not so great. Their music was low and their dancing soft: they smiled, but they did not laugh aloud. There was David with Bersabee, and Salomon with his wives and concubines, Sampson with Dalida, and Aristotle with the queen of Greece; Virgil also and Plato and Ovid the poet. (2665-2725.)

When this company was come to the place where I lay, they entreated Venus for me, and even some of the younger band said that it was great pity. Cupid came with Venus to me as I lay, and the lovers all pressed round to see. Some said that love was folly in the old, and others that no age could be free, and that while there was yet oil in the lamp, it might always be set alight. Cupid groped after me till he found me, and then he drew forth that fiery lance which before he had cast through my heart, and Venus anointed my wound with a cooling ointment and gave me a mirror in which I might behold myself. I saw my face wrinkled and my eyes dim, and I likened myself to that time of year when winter has despoiled the earth. Then Reason returned to me and I was made sober and sound. (2726-2869.)

Venus beheld me, and laughing asked me what Love was. I answered with confusion that I knew him not, and prayed that I might be excused from my attendance on her Court. As touching my Confession too, I asked an absolution, and the Priest gave it readily. Then the queen delivered to me a pair of beads to hang about my neck, and on them was written Por reposer in gold. ‘Thus,’ said she, ‘have I provided for thine ease, and my will is that thou pray for peace. Stay no more in my Court, but go where moral virtue dwells, where are those books which men say that thou hast written: thou and I must commune together never again.OAdieu, for I must go from thee.’ And so enveloped in a starry cloud, Venus was taken to her place above, and her Priest departed also at the same time. I stood for a while amazed; and then I smiled, thinking of the beads that she had given me and of the prayers that I should say. And thus I took my way softly homeward. (2870-2970.)

To God, the Creator of all things, I pray for the welfare of this land, and that it may have peace and unity, which every estate should desire. I pray that the clergy may work after the rule of charity, that the order of knighthood may cause extortion to cease and defend the right of the Church, that merchants may follow honesty, and above all that the king may keep himself and all the other estates of the kingdom in the right way. The king who humbly follows the law of God shall be blessed, and his name shall be remembered for ever. (2971-3105.)

I promised to make in English a book between play and earnest, and now I ask that I may be excused for lack of curious skill. I have written in rude plain words, as sickness and age would suffer me; and I pray my lords that I may stand in their grace, for I desire to do pleasure to those under whose rule I am. (3106-3137.)

And now my Muse bids me rest and write no more of love, which turns the heart away from reason. Of this love then I take my final leave. But that love which stands confirmed by charity, which may save the body and amend the soul, such love may God send us, that in heaven our joy may be without end. (3138-3172.)

iv. Orthography and Phonology.—In the remarks upon Gower’s language which here follow there is no systematic completeness. Attention is called to such points as seem to be important or interesting, reference being made especially to the language of Chaucer, as dealt with in B. ten Brink’s Chaucers Sprache und Verskunst (second edition, 1899). It is necessary perhaps to remark here upon a difference of procedure which distinguishes this investigation from those which have for their object the text of Chaucer or of other writers whose work is handed down to us in manuscripts which do not proceed from the author himself. In such cases we have first to ascertain what the author actually wrote, before we can draw any valid conclusions about the laws of his language. It may even be necessary to restrict the discussion to such forms as are authenticated by rhyme; but when we are compelled to do this, we must remember that we are accepting a rather dangerous limitation. The conclusions drawn from the rhyme-words of a Middle English author will probably not be precisely applicable to his language in general. The sphere of our investigations will be that in which the licentious and exceptional is most likely to be found. If he has any tendency to borrow from other dialects than his own or to use irregular forms, this tendency will be most seen in his rhymes, for it will probably be the exigencies of rhyme which suggest the variation. Chaucer repeatedly uses ‘here,’ in the sense of the modern ‘her,’ to rhyme with such words as ‘bere,’ ‘spere,’ but we should certainly not be justified in concluding that this and not ‘hire’ was the normal form of his language. Similarly in the case of Gower by examination of his rhymes alone we might be led to many very doubtful results. For example, we should gather that he almost always used the form sinne rather than senne, wile (verb) and not wole or wol, axe and not aske, sek (adj.) and never sik, hond and never hand, couthe and never coude, sente (pret.) rather than sende, the adverb ending -ly in preference to -liche or -lich. In these cases and in many others we might easily be misled, the forms of these words as used in rhyme being determined chiefly by the comparative frequency of the various rhyme-syllables. Most of the conclusions above mentioned, and others like them, have in fact been arrived at in a paper by K. Fahrenberg, published in the Archiv für die neueren Sprachen, vol. 89. The author of this paper, having only Pauli’s text before him, very properly confines himself to an examination of the rhymes, and within these limits most of his results are sound enough; but it would be very unsafe to treat them as generally applicable to the language of Gower. In our case it must be understood that the Fairfax manuscript is regarded (for reasons which will afterwards be stated) as a practically accurate reproduction of the author’s original text, and consequently the occurrence of a particular form in rhyme is not held necessarily to be of any special significance.

Orthography.—This being premised, we shall proceed to note first some points which call for attention in the orthography of the text.

In describing the British Museum MS. Harl. 3869, Pauli takes occasion to observe: ‘This copy is very remarkable on account of its orthography, which has been carried through almost rigorously according to simple and reasonable principles.’ This system he appears to attribute to the copyist of the manuscript in question, but it is in fact that of the author, the text being copied very faithfully from the Fairfax manuscript itself. Pauli appears to have been repelled by the outward appearance of this ‘small stout folio’ with its rather untidy writing. He did not take the trouble to examine the Oxford copies; but he seems to have perceived that its orthography was the same as that of the Stafford manuscript, and this should have enlightened him. In fact, if instead of taking Berthelette as his basis, he had simply printed the text of the Harleian volume, there would hardly have been need of another edition.

The orthography of the Fairfax text, first hand, confirmed as it is in almost every particular by that of the Stafford manuscript, and supported also by the testimony of others, more especially of MS. Bodley 902, may be assumed to be that of the author; and it is well worthy of our attention, for he evidently regarded exactness and consistency in spelling as a matter of some importance.

We may observe in the first place that it was not Gower’s practice to mark vowel-length by doubling the vowel. Naturally there are some MSS. in which this is occasionally found, and in particular the third hand of A gives caas, paas, glaade, maade, saake, waas, bee, breeþ, soo, aroos, moore, schoon, ooþer, toold, &c. with considerable frequency, while very many MSS. have book, look, took, oon, heere, mateere, and some other forms of the same kind; but this is not in accordance with the author’s rule. In the Fairfax MS. the cases of doubled vowel are only occasional, except in the instance of good, which is thus regularly distinguished from god.

The doubling of final consonants, apparently to indicate vowel shortness, is more common, as in all, bladd, charr, hadd, happ, madd, bedd, fedd, fett, spedd, bitt, bridd, chidd, godd, rodd, beside al, char, had, hap, mad, bed, fet, &c.

One of the most noteworthy points of the orthography is the frequent use of ie in tonic syllables for close ē. This appears in French words such as achieve, appiere, chief, chiere, clier, grieve, matiere, messagier, pier, &c. (also in many of these cases e, as chere, cler, matere), but it is very commonly used also in words of English origin and seems invariably to be associated with the close sound of the vowel. Thus we have hiede, spriede, lief (but levere), sieke, diel, stiel, whiel, dieme, sieme, diere, fiere (= company), hiere (adv.), hiere (verb), liere, stiere, and others, which have in most cases the alternative spelling with e, as hede, sprede, seke, del, stel, whel, deme, seme, &c., but in all of which the vowel has the close sound.

It is impossible here to discuss the question how far this habit of spelling may have been introduced by analogy from French words with a similar sound of the vowel, and how far it may have grown out the Kentish use of ie, ye for O. E. ēo, ē, īe. Reference may be made to the remarks in the Introduction to the volume of Gower’s French Works, p. xxi, where it is suggested that ie, having lost its value as a diphthong in later Anglo-Norman, came to be regarded as a traditional symbol in many cases for close ē, and hence such forms as clier, clief, pier, prophiete, &c., and as regards ie in the Kentish dialect there is a useful statement in the paper by W. Heuser, Zum Kentischen Dialekt im Mittelenglischen, published in Anglia, xvii, 78 ff.

In any case the fact is pretty clear that this variation was confined by Gower to words in which he gave to the vowel a close sound, and it is therefore useful as a distinguishing note, though there are few words in which this is the only form of spelling.

Both in stems of words and in their terminations i is on the whole preferred to y, so that we have crie, hide, lif, like, mile, ride, &c. more usually than crye, hyde, &c. (but perhaps y more often after m, n, as knyht, myhte, nyht), and also arrai, mai, dai, hardi, ladi, worþi, mi, thi, more often on the whole than array, may, &c., but -ly in adverbs more often than -li.

In some few cases it seems that a distinction is pretty consistently made, as between wryte (inf.) and write (past participle), and perhaps between wite (know) and wyte (blame).

Before gh followed by t we find a, o almost regularly in place of au, ou. Thus we have aghte, straghte, taghte, boghte, broghte, doghter, noght, oghte, oght, soghte, wroghte, &c., but occasionally broughte, doughter, ought, &c. Beside some of these there are forms in which au (aw), ou (ow) are written, but followed by simple h, as strawhte, tawhte, douhter (dowhter).

With regard to the consonants, it should be observed that Gower consistently wrote sch for sh initially, so that we have regularly schal, schape, sche, schewe, schip, schrifte, and also lordschipe, worschipe, &c.Q, in other places usually ssh, as bisshop (also bisschop), buissh, fissh, fleissh (also fleisch), freissh, reisshe, wisshe.

The almost regular use of h for gh in such words as hih, nyh, sih, kniht, liht, miht, niht, heihte, sleihte, &c. will be spoken of later.

Gower did not use ȝ for h or gh. Such forms as miȝte, riȝt, uȝte, wrouȝt, are practically unknown in the best MSS. (F has nouȝt once.) On the other hand initially in such words as ȝe, ȝer, ȝive (forȝive), ȝong, &c., ȝ is regularly used. Only late and inferior MSS. have y. In regard to this letter Gower’s usage is exactly the reverse of that which we find in the Ayenbite of Inwyt. We have þ for th regularly except in the case of a capital letter being required, as at the beginning of a line, or in connexion with some foreign words and names as thalemans, thevangile, rethorique, Athemas, Anthenor, Thebith. Cases of th for þ in ordinary English words are very rare in F (but i. 2890, v. 2319, vii. 4203).

Before quitting the general subject, we ought to note certain words of common occurrence which are spelt not quite in the usual way. The author regularly writes bot for but, be for by, when used as a preposition and unemphatic, ous for us (pers. pron.), noght for not (not being used for ne wot). Some forms of proper names, as Habraham, Irahel, are characteristic. In these points, as in many others, the writer evidently followed a definite system, and in spite of the variations recorded, the orthography of the Fairfax and Stafford MSS. certainly conveys to the reader the general impression of regularity and consistency.

Phonology. (1) O. E. short vowels and diphthongs.

O. E. a, æ, ea. In the case of a (o) before a lengthening nasal combination, ld, nd, mb, ng, &c., we may note that though hond, honde, hondes are preferred, as by Chaucer, yet hand, handes pretty frequently occur, as i. 2, 1807, 2994, ii. 574, iii. 116, v. 1505, &c. (also handle, iii. 1956, v. 1949), and that without any necessity of rhyme. In fact hand seems to be rather preferred except in rhyme. Contrary to what is apparently Chaucer’s usage we find thonk, thonke as the regular forms in Gower, and only occasionally thank, as ii. 60, 2012. This may be due to the Kentish tendency to lengthen before nk, which perhaps was pronounced nearly as ng (see Morsbach, Mittelengl. Gramm., p. 128), and in this connexion we may note the fact that the Fairfax MS. twice has þong for þonk. On the other hand there is no definite trace of the principle which has been discovered in some of the Kentish texts of lengthening before these combinations when a vowel follows, while preserving a when the consonant group ends the word, honde, stonde, þonke, &c., but hand, stand, þankR. Gower uses handes as well as hand, and interchanges hange and honge, sang and song, according to convenience.

ea before h becomes ī in sih (from seah, sæh, pret. of sēon), which in Gower is the usual form of the word, æg forms ai (ay), as in dai, lay, mai, fain, slain, and other ai forms, which are not interchangeable with ei (but said with variant seid by influence of seie).

O. E. e. When we are dealing with so careful a rhymer as Gower, we need hardly remark upon the absolute distinction made between ę̄ derived from O. E. ĕ and ẹ̄ of whatever origin. The case of skiereþ: hiereþ, cited by Fahrenberg as an instance of the opposite, cannot be regarded as a real exception, in view of the uncertain derivation of skiere. His other cases of supposed ę : ẹ are instances of the pret. pl. spieke (speke), from sprǣcon, as spieke : beseke, ii. 959, sieke : spieke, ii. 1455. One is doubtful, viz. seke : mispeke, ii. 2007, where mispeke may be pret. subjunctive; and besides these, undergete: flete, ii. 1133 f. is irregular.

There is, however, also a well-marked distinction between new-lengthened ę̄ in words like trede, stede, bere, spere, &c., forȝete, gete, begete (inf. and partic.), mete (subst.), &c., and ę̄ from ǣ or ēa, the distinction being due presumably to imperfect lengthening. With the first class rank also words in which e is derived from O. E. y in open syllables, as lere (loss) from O. E. lyre, stere (stir) from styrian, dede (pret.) from dyde, and also e in answere.

On the whole we may say that this distinction is very carefully kept in Gower’s rhymes, and must certainly indicate a difference of pronunciation.

The adverb wel, also written wiel, has a double sound, as in Chaucer, either ę̄ or ẹ̄, rhyming with del (diel), stiel, whiel, &c., and also with naturel, Daniel, and the substantive wel for wele.

eg forms ei, which is often interchangeable with ai, as seie, leie, weie, aȝein.

O. E. i. There is nothing in Gower’s rhymes to lend support to the theory that i from O. E. ĭ in open syllables (i.e. before a single consonant followed by a vowel), as in the past participles write, drive, schrive, and the infinitives ȝive, wite, is of doubtful quantity. The past participle and plural preterite write have ĭ and rhyme with wite (know), while the infinitive wryte rhymes with wyte (blame), verb and substantive: the infinitives live, ȝive, forȝive and the participles drive, ȝive, schrive, &c. rhyme among themselves and not with schryve (inf.), alyve, fyve: the short vowel words wile (verb), skile, bile are separate from wyle (subst.), whyle, ile, &c. This would not be worth mentioning but for ten Brink’s argument (Chaucers Sprache, §§ 35, 325), based on the very smallest positive evidence.

hire (hir) is used regularly for the personal and possessive pronoun of the third person sing. fem. (= her), and never here, as is Chaucer’s usage in rhyme.

cherche is Gower’s regular form from cirice, but chirche is common in the orthography of the Praise of Peace, e.g. 197, 210, 225, &c., beside cherche, 232, 254.

O. E. o. wolde, scholde, golde, molde rhyme with tolde, holde, colde, &c., but in open syllables a distinction is observed (as in the case of e) between new-lengthened ǭ and ǭ from O. E. ā, so that tofore, before, therfore, score and the participles bore, forbore, lore, schore, swore are kept separate in rhyme from such words as hore, more, lore (subst.), ore, rore, sore, to which later group should be added More (Moor), and the Romance verb restoreS. This distinction seems to be recognized by Chaucer, cp. Troilus, v. 22-26, but with a good many exceptions, as Legend of Good Women, 452 f., 550 f., 1516 f., Cant. Tales, A 1541 f., 3237 f., &c., chiefly, but not exclusively, in the case of more. Gower is very much stricter and allows very few exceptions (overmore: tofore, i. 3361 f., nomore: therfore, vii. 3279* f., more: therfore, vii. 3869 f., more: fore, viii. 991 f.), which must be regarded as imperfect rhymes. Considering the frequency with which words of these two classes occur in rhyme, it is remarkable that the distinction should be so well kept.

We may note that bowe (subst.) from boga rhymes with words like knowe, in which ow is from āw.

O. E. u. In some words o and u interchange, as begonne begunne, conne cunne, coppe cuppe, dronkeschipe drunkeschipe, further forther, ronne (over)runne, sonne sunne, thurgh thorgh(soght), tonge tunge, tonne tunne, &c., but we have without variation, bole, hunger, note (nut), some, under, wonder, &c. The regular rhyme under: wonder is enough to show that the sound was the same.

love, above rhyme together and not with any other word. (For the rhyme at v. 7047 f., see under ō.)

sone (from sunu), wone (custom), astone, rhyme only with one another: in the rhyme wones: ones, which occurs iv. 2217 f., viii. 611 f., we have to do of course with a different word.

dore (door) rhymes with spore and dore (subjunctive of dar), bole with wole (verb).

O. E. y. This is usually represented by e (except before h, gh), e.g. abegge, berie, berthe, besy, bregge, dede (did), evel, felle (also fille), felthe, ferst, fest, hell (also hill, hull), ken (also kin), kende (usually kinde), kesse (also kisse), knette, krepel, lere, lest (listen), lest (= pleases, also list), mende (also minde), merie, merthe, pet (also pitt, put), scherte, schetten, senne (also sinne), stere (stir), thenke (from þyncan), werche (also worche), werse (also worse): to these must be added hedde, hed, pret. and past partic. of hyde, in which original ȳ was shortened (also hidde, hid). On the other hand, we have gilt (also gult), gultif, lifte (sky), stinten (not stenten), thinne (not thenne), thurste, wierdes. Gower does not use the forms birthe, bisy, dide (did), mirie, mirthe, stire.

The results obtained for certain words from rhymes by FahrenbergT are rather misleading. For example, he suggests the conclusion that fille (subst.) and fulfille are used with i only, but of the nineteen instances which he quotes, all but two are in rhyme with wille, a natural combination (at least for fulfille), and one which has determined the form in most cases. Apart from this, both felle (subst.) and fulfelle are found (felle in rhyme, iii. 2609).

Again, senne is much more common than would appear from the rhymes. Fahrenberg can quote only one instance in rhyme, as against twenty-nine of sinne, but this is certainly due to the greater frequency of the words (such as beginne, winne, &c.), which give rhymes to sinne. The word occurs seven times in the Prologue, once it is in rhyme, Sinne : inne, and of the other six instances five are of senne and one only of sinne. On the other hand, hell (from hyll) alone appears in rhyme, but hill or hull are commoner forms in use.

The mistakes tell both ways, but on the whole the conclusion that i is much commoner than e in these words is seriously incorrect.

For the use in rhyme of the words of this class with open tone syllable, as stere, lere (from lyre), see under e.

(2) O. E. LONG VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS.

O. E. ā. The ǭ of hom rhymes, as in Chaucer, with the ọ̄ of the preterites com, nom, and also fom with nom, v. 4007. These must be regarded as imperfect rhymes, due to the want of strictly correct rhyme-words. Gower has regularly most (O. E. māst) and but once in rhyme mest (O. E. mǣst), lest : althermest, i. 3101 f.: also regularly oght, noght, and oghte (verb), but tawht : awht, i. 2770, and aghte : betaghte, viii. 747.

O. E. ǣ. This, when representing West-Germanic ā, Gothic ē, appeared as ē in the Old Anglian and Kentish dialects, and might naturally be expected to be sometimes close e in the language of Chaucer and Gower. It is well known that Chaucer uses many of the words which have this vowel in a variable manner.

The same is true to some extent also in words where the original ǣ corresponds to Germanic ai, and in which we find Old Kentish ē. Of these leden, clene, menen, leeren appear in Chaucer sometimes with ẹ̄ (and evere, nevere always). For these and some other cases see ten Brink, Chaucers Sprache, § 25.

When we compare Chaucer’s usage with that which we find in our author, we find what our former experience has prepared us to expect, viz. a greater strictness and regularity of usage in Gower. The examples of fluctuation between the two sounds are comparatively few.