205. 'They might readily leave their head as a pledge,' i. e. might devote
themselves to death.
206. _Horowe_, foul, unclean, filthy, scandalous; pl. of _horow_, an adj.
formed from the A.S. sb. _horu_ (gen. _horwes_). filth; cf. A.S. _horweht_,
filthy, from the same stem _horw-_. The M.E. adj. also takes the form
_hori_, _hory_, from A.S. _horig_, an adj. formed from the closely related
A.S. sb. _horh_, _horg_, filth. As the M.E. adj. is not common, I give some
examples (from Mätzner). 'Hit nis bote a _hori_ felle,' it is only a dirty
skin; Early Eng. Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 19, l. 13. 'Thy saule ... thorugh
fulthe of synne Sone is mad wel _hory_ wythinne,' thy soul, by filth of
sin, is soon made very foul within; Reliquiæ Antiquæ, ii. 243. 'Eny
uncleene, whos touchynge is _hoory_,' any unclean person, whose touch is
defiling; Wyclif, Levit. xxii. 5. 'Still used in Devon, pronounced
_horry_'; Halliwell.
218. Tern 3. Why did the Creator institute love? The bliss of lovers is so
unstable, that in every case lovers have more woes than the moon has
changes. Many a fish is mad after the bait; but when he is hooked, he finds
his penance, even though the line should break.