is variation in the matter of final _e_: thus we have _drink drinke_,
_felawe felawh_ (_fela_), _flyht flyhte_, _half halve_, _help helpe_,
_kep kepe_, _lack lacke_, _lyf lyve_, _myn myne_, _queene queen_,
_sor sore_, _wel wele_, _will wille_, _wyndou wyndowe_, to which must
be added many words with the suffixes _-hede_, _-hode_, _-schipe_,
and the termination _-inge_, e.g. _falshed(e)_, _knyhthod(e)_,
_manhed(e)_, _felaschip(e)_, _hunting(e)_, _knowleching(e)_,
_teching(e)_, _wenyng(e)_. In these latter cases the presence of
the _e_ ending is not wholly dependent on the accent, for we have
_huntíng_, i. 350, but _húntynge_, iv. 2429, _techyng_ and _techinge_
both equally in rhyme, i. 1592, v. 611, _gládschipe_, i. 3128,
_knithód_, v. 2057, _felaschíp_, ii. 1217. Accent however has some
influence, and it is hardly conceivable that the final _e_ should count
in the metre except where the accent falls on the preceding syllable,
so that where the accent is thrown back, we find that the word is
regularly followed by a vowel. In the case of the (English) termination
_-ere_ the final _e_ is usually written: such words are _beggere_,
_forthdrawere_, _hindrere_, _ledere_, _lovere_, _makere_, _repere_,
_spekere_, _writere_. This _-e_, however, is either elided or passed
over in the metre (as with _janglere_, v. 526), unless an accent falls
on the termination, in which case it may be sounded, as vii. 2348, ‘The
Sothseiere tho was lief.’
The forms _game_, _gamen_ appear side by side both in singular and
plural, as i. 347, vi. 1849, viii. 680.
As regards the oblique cases we note the following genitive forms:
_cherche_, _herte_ (also _hertes_), _hevene_, _ladi_, _soule_, _sterre_
(pl.), _wode_ (also _wodes_), to which add _dowhter_ (also _dowhtres_),
_fader_ (also _fadres_), _moder_. In the expressions _horse side_,
_horse heved_, &c., _horse_ is genitive singular.
The _-e_ termination of the dative appears in a good many prepositional
phrases: _to (in) bedde_, _in boke_, _to borwe_, _be (to)
bote_, _with (of) childe_, _unto the chinne_ (but _unto the chin_,
i. 1682), _be daie_, _to (fro) dethe_ (also _fro deth_), _of dome_,
_on (under) fote_ (but _upon the fot_, _at his fot_), _on fyre_,
_to (upon) grounde_, _fro (unto) the grounde_ (also _fro the
ground_), _on hede_, _at (fro) home_ (also _at hom_), _in (on,
upon) honde_, _to (into) honde_, (but ‘bar on _hond_,’ _be the
hond_), _on horse_, _to horse_, _to (in, of) house_ (but _in myn
hous_), _to (into) londe_, _be (in, over) londe_, _of (out
of) londe_, _fro the londe_, (but _of his lond_, &c.), _be lyhte_,
_to lyve_, _to manne_, _to mowthe_, _be mowthe_, _be nyhte_ (also _be
nyht_, and regularly _at nyht_, _on nyht_, _a nyht_, _to nyht_), _to
rede_, _be (to, into, out of) schipe_ (also _to schip_), _to
scorne_, _to slepe_ (also _to slep_), _to toune_, _to wedde_, _to
wyve_, _to ȝere_, _be ȝere_.
In the plural we have _hors_, _schep_ unchanged, and also with
numerals, _mile_, _monthe_, _pound_, _ȝer_ (beside _ȝeres_), _wynter_.
The plural of _thing_ is _thinges_, sometimes _thinge_, not _thing_.
Mutation plurals, _feet_, _men_, _teeth_, _wommen_. Plurals in _-en_,
_brethren_, _children_, _oxen_ (also _oxes_), _ton_, _yhen_.
The forms in _-ere_ have plurals _-ers_, as _janglers_, _kepers_,
_lovers_. From _maiden_ we have beside _maidens_ also _maidenes_ (three
syllables), iv. 255, which is perhaps the true reading in Chaucer,
_Leg. of G. Women_, 722. From _angel_ we have plural _anglis_, iii.
2256, as well as _angles_, and _Nimphis_, v. 6932, but there are few
examples of plural in _-is_.
With regard to Romance substantives Gower appears to be stricter
than Chaucer in preserving their form. He gives us regularly _beste_
‘beast,’ _feste_, _requeste_, _tempeste_. We have however _baner_ (also
_banere_), _host_, _maner_, _matier_ (beside _manere_, _matiere_),
_press_ (beside _presse_), _travaile_, _conseile_ (substantives) very
occasionally for _travail_, _conseil_.
Several distinctively feminine forms are used, as _capiteine_,
_chamberere_, _citezeine_, _cousine_, _enemie_.
In some cases the Latin inflexion is introduced, as _Tantaly_,
_Apollinis_, _Centauri_, _in Cancro_, _Achillem_, _Esionam_, _Phebum_,
the two last apparently introduced after the first recension.
(2) ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. A few adjectives vary as regards final _e_
in the uninflected form, for example _ech eche_, _lich liche_, _low
lowe_, _many manye_, _moist moiste_, _old olde_, _other othre_, _such
suche_ (?), _trewe trew_, _wommanyssh wommannysshe_.
In comparative forms _-e_ is often dropped, as _fairer_, _further_,
_longer_, _rather_, _ȝonger_, but more often written, as _furthere_,
_deppere_, _ferre_, _gladdere_, _grettere_, _lengere_, _rathere_.
This _-e_, however, is either elided or passed over in the metre (as
ii. 503, iv. 1459, vi. 1490, 1525, 2010). Where there is syncope of
the penultimate, as after _v_(_u_) in _levere_, the final _e_ counts
regularly as a syllable, so that in case of elision the word is reduced
to a monosyllable, which never takes place with _rathere_, _furthere_,
&c.
When adjectives or adverbs ending in weak _e_ are combined with a
suffix or another word, _-e_ is often dropped; thus we have _everemore
evermore_, _furthermore_, _joieful joiful_, _hevenely hevenly_,
_trewely_ _trewly_ (so also _trewman_), and so on. In such cases a
previously syncopated penultimate ceases to be so on loss of the
following _e_.
A few cases occur of _-id_ for _-ed_ in adjective endings, as _nakid_
(also _naked_), _wickid wikkid_ (usually _wicked_), also _hundrid_
(usually _hundred_).
The definite form is used pretty regularly in the case of English
monosyllabic adjectives, and usually also in monosyllables of French
origin. This rule applies (1) to adjectives used after the definite
article, a demonstrative pronoun or a possessive; (2) to those employed
as vocatives in address; (3) to adjectives in combination with proper
names or words used as proper names[V]. Thus we have regularly (1)
‘the _grete_ hert,’ ‘the _stronge_ coffre,’ ‘The _qwike_ body with
the _dede_,’ ‘this _proude_ vice,’ ‘this _ȝonge_ lord,’ ‘my _longe_
wo,’ ‘his _lose_ tunge,’ ‘thi _fulle_ mynde,’ ‘whos _rihte_ name,’ &c.
(2) ‘O _derke_ ypocrisie,’ ‘O _goode_ fader,’ ‘_lieve_ Sone,’ &c. (3)
‘_grete_ Rome,’ ‘_Blinde_ Avarice,’ ‘_proude_ Envie’ (but ‘_proud_
Envie,’ Prol. 712), ‘_faire_ Eole,’ ‘_stronge_ Sampson,’ ‘_wise_
Tolomeüs,’ &c.
We must note also the inflexions in the following expressions, ‘so
_hihe_ a love,’ ii. 2425 (but _hih_, vii. 2413), ‘so _grete_ a wo,’ v.
5737, so _grete_ a lust,’ v. 6452, ‘so _schorte_ a time,’ vii. 5201.
With Romance adjectives we find ‘his _false_ tunge,’ ‘the _pleine_
cas,’ ‘_false_ Nessus,’ &c., and so usually in monosyllables.
In the case of English monosyllables the exceptions are few. ‘His
_full_ answere,’ i. 1629, ‘hire _good_ astat,’ i. 2764, ‘here _wrong_
condicion,’ ii. 295, ‘his _slyh_ compas,’ ii. 2341 (but ‘his _slyhe_
cast,’ ii. 2374), ‘the _ferst_ of hem,’ iii. 27, v. 2863, cp. 5944
(usually ‘the _ferste_,’ as i. 580, &c.), ‘my _riht_ hond,’ iii. 300,
‘the _trew_ man,’ iii. 2346, ‘his _hih_ lignage,’ iv. 2064 (due perhaps
to the usual phrase ‘of hih lignage’), ‘the _hih_ prouesse,’ v. 6428*,
‘hire _hih_ astat,’ v. 6597, ‘the _gret_ oultrage,’ vii. 3413, ‘hire
_freissh_ aray,’ vii. 5000, ‘hire _hol_ entente,’ viii. 1222, cp. viii.
1710, 2968 (but ‘ȝoure _hole_ conseil’).
Among Romance adjectives the want of inflexion is more frequent in
proportion to the whole number of instances, e.g. ‘the _vein_ honour,’
Prol. 221, ‘the _fals_ emperour,’ Prol. 739, ‘Hire _clos_ Envie,’ ii.
684, &c.
In the case of adjectives of more than one syllable, whether English or
French, the definite form is exceptional. The commonest case is that of
superlatives, in which the definite form _-este_ is regularly used when
the accent falls on the termination, whether in rhyme or otherwise,
as _faireste_, i. 767, v. 7427, _slyheste_, i. 1442, _wiseste_:
_myhtieste_, i. 1097 f., _wofulleste_, vii. 5017. Even when the accent
is thrown back, the definite inflexion is more usually given than not,
as _faireste_, i. 1804, _hoteste_, i. 2492, _treweste_, ii. 1282,
_povereste_, iv. 2238, _heyeste_, vii. 935, but sometimes dropped, as
‘the _purest_ Eir,’ Prol. 921, ‘the _ȝongest_ of hem,’ i. 3133, ‘the
_lowest_ of hem alle,’ vii. 224: in all cases, however, where the
accent is thrown back, the adjective is followed by a word beginning
with a vowel, so that the metre is not affected.
Other adjectives of which the termination is capable of accent
may take the definite inflexion, when the accent is thrown on the
termination, as ‘the _covoitouse_ flaterie,’ ‘this _lecherouse_
pride,’ this _tyrannysshe_ knyht,’ but on the other hand ‘his fals
_pitous_ lokynge,’ ‘the _pietous_ Justinian,’ ‘the proude _tyrannyssh_
Romein,’ and cases where the adjective is used as a substantive,
‘the _coveitous_’, ‘This _Envious_,’ ‘_thaverous_,’ &c. We have ‘the
_parfite_ medicine,’ iv. 2624 (but ‘the parfit Elixir,’ iv. 2522, with
accent thrown back), and ‘O thou _gentile_ Venus,’ viii. 2294; but
perhaps _parfite_, _gentile_ are to be regarded as feminine forms, as
almost certainly _devolte_, i. 636.
Where the final syllable of the adjective is incapable of accent, there
is ordinarily no question of a definite inflexion, except where there
is syncope after _v_ (_u_), as in _evele_. Such words are _croked_,
_wicked_, _cruel_, _litel_, _middel_, _biter_, _dedly_, _lusti_,
_sinful(l)_, _wilful_, _woful(l)_, _wrongful_, and we may note
that comparatives in _-ere_ and adjectives in _-liche_ (with accent
thrown back) sometimes appear in the truncated form of spelling even
where a definite termination is suggested by their position, e.g.
‘hire _ȝonger_ Soster,’ v. 5395, ‘hir _goodlych_ yhe,’ ii. 2026, ‘Ha,
thou _ungoodlich_ ypocrite,’ v. 6293, ‘hire _dedlich_ yhe,’ vii.
5089 (_-lich_ in these latter cases to avoid the hiatus of ‘ungoodly
ypocrite,’ &c.). As an exceptional instance the form _nakede_ should be
observed, ‘his _nakede_ arm,’ iv. 421, given so both by F and S.
The formation of plurals in adjectives and participles used
attributively is governed by the same principles. We have ‘_preciouse_
Stones,’ iv. 1354, but ‘the most _principal_’ (pl.), v. 1115. In the
expression ‘the chief flodes,’ v. 1112, _chief_ must be considered
perhaps as a substantive, like _hed_ in ‘the hed planete.’ Naturally
words like _wicked_, _woful_, _lusti_, &c., take no plural inflexion,
but we have _manye_ (_manie_) beside _many_ apparently as a plural
form, though _manye_ also occurs in the singular, and _enye_ once as
plural of _eny_. In the expression ‘som men’ _som_ is without inflexion
in the plural, e.g. Prol. 529, iii. 2113, but ‘_somme_ clerkes,’ Prol.
355, ‘_some_ thinges,’ i. 1265.
Adjectives used as predicates or in apposition are to some extent
treated according to convenience of metre or rhyme, but in the case
of monosyllables there is a decided preference for inflexion. The
following are some of the instances: ‘Whan we ben _dede_,’ Prol. 2,
‘hem that weren _goode_,’ 42, ‘my wittes ben to _smale_,’ 81, ‘Ther ben
of suche manie _glade_,’ 299, ‘become _grete_,’ 303, ‘ben with mannes
senne _wrothe_,’ 920, so _blinde_, i. 774, _smale_, 1145, _glade_,
1151, _hyhe_, _smale_, i. 1678 f., _hore_ and _whyte_, i. 2045,
_stronge_, iii. 1112, _dulle_, iv. 947, _whyte_, _fatte_, _grete_, iv.
1310, &c. We have also ‘hise thoghtes _feinte_,’ iv. 118, ‘thinges ...
_veine_,’ i. 2689, ‘hise bedes most _devoute_,’ i. 669, ‘in wordes so
_coverte_,’ iv. 1606, wher the men ben _coveitouse_, v. 4800.
On the other hand, ‘Of hem that ben so _derk_ withinne,’ i. 1077,
‘Hire chekes ben with teres _wet_,’ i. 1680, ‘Thei wexen _doumb_,’
iv. 345, ‘Here bodies weren _long_ and _smal_,’ iv. 1320, ‘Thei weren
_gracious_ and _wys_,’ vii. 1447, ‘thei weren _glad_,’ viii. 881, and
so frequently.
The participle used as predicate is ordinarily uninflected, but there
are a few examples of a plural form adopted for the rhyme, as _made_,
Prol. 300, _ansuerde_, i. 3246, iv. 2343, _hidde_, v. 6789.
The usage of _al_, _alle_ as an adjective is in some ways peculiar,
but tolerably consistent. In the singular before an article, a
demonstrative pronoun or a possessive, the uninflected form _al_
(occasionally _all_) is used, as ‘al the baronie,’ ‘al the world,’
‘al his welthe,’ ‘all his proude fare,’ ‘al a mannes strengthe’ (also
‘the Cite all,’ ii. 3473), but before a substantive the form _alle_
(dissyllable)[W], as ‘alle grace,’ ‘alle thing,’ ‘alle untrouthe,’
‘alle vertu,’ ‘in alle wise,’ ‘in alle haste,’ ‘alle wel,’ ‘alle
charite,’ but sometimes before vowels _al_, as ‘al honour,’ i. 879, ‘al
Erthe,’ i. 2825, ‘al Envie,’ ii. 168, ‘al untrowthe,’ ii. 1684. In the
plural, ‘al the,’ ‘all these,’ ‘alle the,’ &c. (‘alle’ being counted as
a monosyllable), and without the article, ‘alle’ (but ‘al othre,’ iv.
1532).
Note also the adverbial expression ‘in _none_ wise,’ cp. ‘_othre_
wise.’ In cases of the combination of a French adjective with a
feminine substantive of the same origin the adjective occasionally
takes the French feminine form. Instances are as follows:
‘_devolte_ apparantie,’ i. 636, ‘_veine_ gloire,’ i. 2677 ff.,
‘vertu _sovereine_,’ ii. 3507, ‘_seinte_ charite,’ iv. 964, ‘herbe
_sovereine_,’ vii. 1392, ‘joie _sovereine_,’ viii. 2530, and even as
predicate, ‘Dame Avarice is noght _soleine_,’ v. 1971. Possibly also,
‘O thou _divine_ pourveance,’ ii. 3243, ‘the _parfite_ medicine,’ iv.
2624, ‘a _gentile_ ... on,’ v. 2713, and ‘O thou _gentile_ Venus,’
viii. 2294, may be examples of the same usage.
There is one instance of the French plural adjective in _-s_, Prol.
738, evidently introduced for the sake of the rhyme.
(3) PRONOUNS. The personal pronoun of the first person is regularly
_I_, not _ich_. It is usually written _y_ by the copyist of the last
235 lines of the Fairfax MS. and in the _Praise of Peace_.
The third person sing. fem. is _sche_ (never written _she_), once
_scheo_: the oblique case is _hire_, _hir_ (never _here_), and _hire_,
though usually equivalent to a monosyllable, sometimes has _-e_ fully
sounded, as i. 367, iv. 766, v. 1178.
The third person neuter is _it_, seldom _hit_.
In the first person plural the oblique case is _ous_, not shortened to
_us_ in spelling.
The possessives of the first and second persons sing., _min_, _thin_,
have no plural inflexion, but the disjunctive form _thyne_ pl. occurs,
i. 168. On the other hand _his_, originally an uninflected form, has
usually the plural _hise_, but sometimes _his_. The form _hise_ is
never a dissyllable.
The feminine possessive, 3rd pers., is _hire_ or _hir_, freely
interchanged and metrically equivalent. There is no question of a
plural inflexion here, and we find ‘_Hire_ Nase,’ ‘_hire_ browes,’
‘_hir_ lockes,’ ‘_Hire_ Necke,’ quite indifferently used, i. 1678 ff.
The disjunctive is _hire_, v. 6581, and _hires_, v. 6857. The forms
_oure_, _ȝoure_ are usual for the possessives of the 1st and 2nd pers.
plur., and these are commonly used as monosyllables, e.g. i. 2062,
2768, and interchanged with _our_, _ȝour_; but they are also capable
of being reckoned as dissyllables, e.g. Prol. 5, iii. 1087. Here
again there is no plural inflexion (‘_ȝour_ wordes,’ iii. 627). The
disjunctive _ȝoures_ occurs in i. 1852.
The possessive of the 3rd pers. plur. is _here_, _her_, which is
practically never confused in good MSS. with _hire_, _hir_ of the
fem. sing.[X] We are fully justified in assuming that for Gower the
distinction was absolute.
The ordinary relatives are _which_ and _that_: _who_ is little used as
a relative except in the genitive case, _whos_. The plural _whiche_ is
usually pronounced as a monosyllable, as ii. 604, iv. 1496, v. 1320,
and often loses _-e_ in writing, as Prol. 1016, iv. 1367, 1872, v.
4041, but also sometimes counts as a dissyllable, e.g. i. 404, vii.
1256.
In combination with the definite article the singular form is ‘the
which,’ not ‘the whiche,’ as Prol. 71, 975.
(4) VERBS. In the Infinitive and Gerund, apart from the cases of _do_,
_go_, _se_, _sle_, &c., few instances occur of the loss of final _e_.
The verb _sein_ (_sain_) has _seie_ and also _say_, and beside the
regular infinitive _pute_ we have also _put_ in several instances,
the next word beginning with a vowel or mute _h_. The cases are as
follows: ‘And thoghte put hire in an Ile,’ i. 1578, ‘To put his lif,’
&c., i. 3213, ‘put eny lette,’ ii. 93, and so also ii. 1021, iii. 1166,
iv. 756, 2615, v. 273, viii. 892: but also, ‘It oghte _pute_ a man in
fere,’ i. 462, ‘To _puten_ Rome in full espeir,’ ii. 1551, ‘Theucer
_pute_ out of his regne,’ iii. 2648, &c. In addition to the above
there are a few instances of the same in other verbs, as ‘_get_ hire
a thank,’ ii. 60, ‘It schal noght wel _mow_ be forsake,’ ii. 1670,
‘_flitt_ his herte aside,’ iv. 214, ‘_let_ it passe,’ viii. 2056. (In
vi. 202, ‘If that sche wolde _ȝif_ me leve,’ we ought perhaps to read
_ȝive_ with S: cp. i. 1648.)
The gerund ‘to done’ is common, but we do not find either ‘to sene’ or
‘to seine.’
=Present Tense.= In the 1st pers. sing, of the present, apart from such
forms as _do_, _go_, &c., and _prai_ beside _preie_ _praie_, there are
a few cases of apocope, as in the infinitive: ‘Than cast I,’ iv. 560,
‘let it passe,’ iv. 363, ‘I put me therof in your grace,’ i. 732, ‘I
put it al,’ v. 2951, ‘I red thee leve,’ vi. 1359, ‘Nou thenk I,’ vii.
4212. In two of these instances it will be noticed that the following
word begins with a consonant.
In the 3rd pers. sing. the syncopated and contracted forms are very
much used by Gower. He says regularly _bit_, _ett_, _get_, _put_,
_schet_, _set_, _sit_ (2nd pers. _sist_), _smit_, _writ_; _arist_,
_bint_, _fint_, _holt_ (_halt_), _lest_, _went_, _wext_; _berth_,
_brekth_, _bringth_, _crith_, _drawth_, _drinkth_, _falth_, _farth_,
_forsakth_, _leith_, _lyth_, _preith_, _spekth_, _takth_ (or _tath_),
_thenkth_, _ȝifth_, and only occasionally _draweth_, _drinketh_,
_fareth_, _kepeth_, _sitteth_, _waxeth_, &c. In vi. 59 the best MSS.
agree in giving _sterte_ for _stert_, and in viii. 2428 most have
_sitte_ for _sit_, but these are probably accidental variations. For
the 3rd pers. plural Fahrenberg (p. 404) quotes several supposed
instances of _th_ ending. Of these most are expressions like ‘men
seith,’ where ‘men’ is used as singular indefinite. One only is valid,
viz. vii. 1107, ‘Diverse sterres to him longeth’: cp. vii. 536.
=Preterite.= With regard to the tense formation of Strong Verbs
reference may be made to the Glossary, where all the characteristic
forms are recorded. We confine ourselves here to a few remarks.
The following instances may be noticed of gradation between the
singular and the plural of the preterite: _began_, pl. _begunne
begonne_, _gan_, pl. _gonnen_, _ran_, pl. _runne_, _wan_, pl. _wonne_,
_bond_, pl. _bounden_, _fond_, pl. _founden_, _song_ (_sang_), pl.
_songe sunge_, _sprong_, pl. _spronge sprungen_, _drank_ (_dronk_), pl.
_drunke_, _bar_, pl. _bere_ (_beere_), _brak_, pl. _brieken_, _spak_,
pl. _spieke_, _sat_, pl. _sete(n) siete(n)_ _seete_, _bad_,
pl. _bede_, _lay_ (_lih_), pl. _lihe leie(n)_, _wax_, pl. _woxen_,
_wrot_, pl. _write(n)_, _rod_, pl. _riden_, _ches_, pl. _chose_,
and among preterite-presents _can_, pl. _conne_, _mai_, pl. _mowe_,
_schal_, pl. _schulle schull schol_, _wot_, pl. _wite_.
There are some few instances in F of strong preterites with irregular
_-e_ termination in the 1st or 3rd pers. singular, but in no case
is this authenticated by metre or rhyme. The following are examples
in which F and S are agreed, ‘_schope_ a wile,’ v. 4278, ‘he _bare_
him,’ v. 5236, ‘which _sihe_ his Soster,’ v. 5810, ‘_lete_ come,’ vi.
1186, ‘he tho _toke_ hire in his arm,’ viii. 1732. These are perhaps
mistakes, and they have sometimes been corrected in the text on the
authority of other MSS.
The 2nd pers. sing. has the _-e_ termination, as _sihe_ (_syhe_), iii.
2629, iv. 599, _were_, iv. 600, _knewe_, vi. 2313, _come_, viii. 2076,
but _tok_, i. 2421. The 2nd pers. sing. of the preterite-present _mai_
is regularly _miht_ (_myht_), never ‘mayest.’ Occasionally the best
MSS. give it as _mihte_, e.g. i. 2457, vii. 2637, 3819, but there is no
metrical confirmation of this form. The preterite plural is very rarely
found without _-e_, as v. 3300, 7534, vii. 3574.
Among Weak Verbs those which have the short or syncopated form keep the
_-e_ termination almost regularly. Such preterites are, for example,
_aspide_, _cride_, _deide_, _leide_, _obeide_, _payde_, _preide_,
_seide_, _teide_, _hadde_, _made_, _brende_, _sende_, _answerde_,
_ferde_, _herde_, _solde_, _spilde_, _tolde_, _wende_, _betidde_,
_dradde_, _fedde_, _fledde_, _hedde_, _gradde_, _ladde_, _radde_,
_spedde_, _spradde_, _crepte_, _duelte_, _felte_, _hente_, _kepte_,
_kiste_, _lefte_, _lepte_, _loste_, _mente_, _slepte_, _wente_,
_wepte_, _alihte_, _caste_, _dihte_, _grette_, _knette_, _kutte_,
_laste_, _liste_, _mette_, _plyhte_, _putte_, _schette_, _sette_,
_sterte_, _triste_, _arawhte_, _broghte_, _cawhte_, _oghte_, _roghte_,
_schryhte_, _soghte_, _strawhte_, _tawhte_, _thoghte_, _wroghte_,
_cowthe_, _dorste_, _mihte_, _moste_, _scholde_, _wiste_, _wolde_.
At the same time it must be noted (as in the case of the infinitive)
that with some of these forms there is an occasional tendency to drop
the _-e_ before a vowel at the beginning of the next word (that is,
where elision would take place), and the agreement of the best MSS.,
especially F and S, makes it certain this was sometimes done by the
author. It is impossible to trace any system, but the number of verbs
affected is not large, and in nearly every case the instances of this
kind of elision-apocope are largely outnumbered by the examples of
normal inflexion in the same verb[Y].
The following is a tolerably full list of references for
these preterite forms, which are given in alphabetical order:
‘_Beraft_ hire,’ v. 5647, ‘it _betidd_ upon the cas,’ vii.
4381, ‘Sche _cast_ on me,’ i. 152, ‘_cast_ up hire lok,’ v.
5436, ‘he _cast_ his lok,’ vi. 1035, ‘_dorst_ he,’ ii. 1633,
‘_drad_ him,’ viii. 1368, ‘And _felt_ it’ (subj.), viii. 2165,
‘so _ferd_ I,’ viii. 2445, ‘_had_ herd hem,’ v. 5865, ‘Hir bodi
_hent_ up,’ v. 5702, ‘_herd_ he noght sein,’ iii. 2082, ‘And
_kept_ hire,’ ii. 181, ‘Sche _kept_ al doun,’ v. 1495, ‘he
_kest_ him,’ vi. 1746, ‘And _kist_ him,’ v. 3777, 5592, ‘and
_knet_ it,’ v. 6866, ‘he _kut_ it,’ vii. 4525, ‘what him _list_
he tok,’ iii. 2446, ‘Sche _lost_ al,’ ii. 2290, cp. v. 3465,
‘That _mad_ hem,’ ii. 310, and so also v. 986, 3393, 3822, ‘ne
_myht_ I,’ i. 1280, ‘_miht_ eschuie,’ iii. 1356, and so also
iii. 1440, vii. 4285, ‘_Put_ under,’ Prol. 683, ‘Wan and _put_
under,’ Prol. 718, ‘He _put_ hem into,’ i. 1013, ‘Sche _put_
hire hand,’ i. 1807, and so also ii. 3267, v. 3045, 4088, 5326,
6409, vi. 2062, vii. 4402, viii. 2702, ‘thei _putt_ hem,’ v.
7417, ‘Of ous, that _schold_ ous,’ Prol. 543 (so SF), ‘_schold_
every wys man,’ ii. 578, ‘And _seid_ hir,’ i. 3188, ‘_Seid_
ek,’ v. 4309, ‘And _set_ hire,’ ii. 2220, ‘He _set_ him,’ v.
3691, ‘he _set_ an essamplaire,’ vii. 4262, ‘And _tawht_ hem
so’ (‘tawhte’ S), iii. 176, ‘_told_ him,’ i. 3187, ii. 803,
2865 (‘tolde’ S), vii. 4688, _told_ hem,’ v. 3883, viii. 1555,
‘he _told_ out,’ ii. 884, ‘every man _went_ on his syde,’ v.
7403, ‘And _went_ hem out’ (pl.), v. 7533, ‘sche _wist_ it,’
ii. 2010, ‘thanne _wold_ I,’ i. 183, ‘and _wold_ have,’ v.
4217, ‘I _wold_ stele,’ v. 7137, ‘_wold_ I,’ viii. 2298, to
which we may add ‘_myht_ obeie,’ and ‘_behight_ him’ from the
_Praise of Peace_, 39, 41.