#Manuscript:# As for A, p. 223.
#Editions:# Phillipps, as above; Singer, S. W., The Departing Soul’s
Address to the Body, London, 1845; Haufe, E., Die Fragmente der Rede der
Seele an den Leichnam, Gryphiswaldiae, 1880; Buchholz, R., Die Fragmente
der Reden der Seele an den Leichnam, Erlangen, 1889; afterwards enlarged
in *Erlanger Beiträge, ii. 6. 1890.
#Literature:# (1) =of the Worcester Fragment=. Haufe, E., Anglia, iv.
237 (emendations); Holthausen, F., Anglia, xiv. 321 (emendations);
Kaluza, M., Litteraturblatt, ii. 92; *Zupitza, J., Archiv, lxxxv. 78
(review of Buchholz). (2) =of the Desputisoun=. Heesch, G., Language and
Metre, Kiel, 1884; Holthausen, F., Anglia, Beiblatt, iii. 302; Kaluza,
M., Litteraturblatt, xii. 12; *Kunze, O., Critical Text, Berlin, 1892;
Linow, W., Erlangen, 1889, edition enlarged in Erlanger Beiträge, i. 1.
1889; Mätzner, E., AE. Sprachproben, i. 90-103; Varnhagen, H., Anglia,
ii. 225-52; Zupitza, J., Archiv, lxxxv. 84. (3) =of the Legend in
general=. *Batiouchkof, Th., Romania, xx. 236; Bruce, J. D., Modern
Language Notes, v. col. 385-401; Dudley, Louise, The Egyptian Elements
in the Legend of the Body and Soul, Bryn Mawr, 1911; id. An Early Homily
on the ‘Body and Soul’ Theme, Journal of English and Germanic Philology,
April, 1909; Gaidoz, H., Revue Celtique, x. 463-70; Kleinert, G., Halle,
1880; Paris, Gaston, Romania, ix. 311-14; Varnhagen, H., Anglia, ii.
225, iii. 569; *Zupitza, J., Archiv, xci. 369.
#Phonology:# For an account dealing with all the seven fragments see
Buchholz: what follows is based on the two here printed, with
references, where necessary, to his text of the other five.
Oral #a# is _a_, so ac, farene, habban: #a# before nasals usually _o_,
as from, mon, but _a_ in licame (wavering characteristic of the Middle
South): #a# before lengthening groups is _o_, as honden, imong, longe,
psalm-songe. #æ# is _a_ after _w_, as was, watere D 12, but nes D 19;
otherwise _e_, as crefte, þene (OE. #þænne#), þet, but the traditional
spelling survives in æt, æfter D 42, goldfæten, igædered, gæderedest
(OE. #gæderian#), þæs, wræcche (OE. #wræcca#), wrænches G 48 (OE.
*#wrænc#). Messe is a French loan-word. #e# is regularly _e_, as bedde,
heui, met, þenchen, wel, &c., but _i_ in siggen F 7, siggeþ G 34
(characteristic of South-East and Kent). #i# is regularly _i_, as him,
nimen, willæn; it is _u_ after _w_ in nulleþ, wulleþ C 35; but _i_ in
wihte D 3, nowiht D 19. #o# is regularly _o_, as bodeþ, iboren,
sorhliche; before nasal, onȝean C 6; after _w_, woldest D 50, noldest,
iwurþen F 46; but _a_ in aȝan C 18. _eo_ is written for _o_ in feorþsiþ.
#œ# (o + i) is _eo_ in seoruhfule, seorhful, seoruhliche, &c., neose.
#u# is regularly _u_, as biwunden, cumeþ, ful, tunge, &c., but _o_ in
iworþen F 45 after _w_. #y# is _u_, as ifulled, ikunde, lutiȝ, sunne,
ufel, wunne, wurmes, but _y_ is preserved in synne F 33: iflut 2/30 is
Scandinavian, OWScand. flytja; drihtenes 4/33, kinges E 39 descend from
OE. forms in _i_.
#ā# is normally _o_, as bon, loc, more, sor, woniende; but _a_ is often
preserved as þa 2/18, lac 4/25, mare E 39, wa F 4. _eo_ is written for
_o_ in þeo 2/2, greoning, greoneþ; and _oa_ in woaning 2/15, woaneþ
2/25, is an attempt to express graphically the [a^o] sound. Þe [ȝet] E
3, 36 occurs twice beside þa, þo. OE. #wāwa# gives weowe 2/7. #ǣ{1}#
(WG. ai + i) is mostly _æ_, idæled, tæcheþ, ilærede, and before two
consonants, ilæsteþ, æffre; but _e_ in bideled C 32, ilered G 29,
ilesteþ, efre D 41, þen (= OE. #þǣm#) 3/36. It is exceptionally _a_ in
þam C 25, facen (OE. #fǣcne#) G 10, atterne G 17. In bileafen D 6, _ea_
is written for _æ_. #ǣ{2}# (WG. ā) is still _æ_ in þær, þærof, wæde,
grædie, wære E 28, but commonly _e_, þerinne, seten, beden, were,
misdeden, gredi. _a_ is exceptional in hwar 3/4, 5, 7, 9, 10 (= OE.
#hwār#). #ē# is usually _e_, swetnesse, þe, 2/2, me, ne, also before
nasals, fenge, icwemdest. #ī# is normally _i_, bi, lif, iwiteþ, liþ,
hwile, &c., but after _w_ it is _u_ in hwule, swuþe: hwui 4/17 beside
hwi D 22 is an attempt to express more fully the sound of _w_. #ō# is
normally _o_, to, moder, flore, &c. #œ̄# is _eo_ in weopinde 2/10. (OE.
#wœ̄pan#). #ū# is regularly _u_, hus, wiþuten, ut, &c. #ȳ# is _u_,
ifuled, luþerliche, &c.
#ea#, breaking of #a# before #r# + consonant is _ea_, earfeþsiþ, eart,
scearp, _æ_ in ært 4/16, _e_ in ert D 15, scerpe F 29, imerked G 39; no
examples of _a_. It is _ea_ before lengthening cons. groups, earde,
bearn. The _i_-umlaut of #ea# (WS. #ie#) is _e_ in all cases, scerpeþ,
erming D 18, yerde bidernan F 6. #ea#, breaking of #a# before #l# +
cons. is _a_, alle, also, scalt, wale G 2 (#wealh#): before lengthening
groups normally _o_, colde, coldeþ, itolde, holden G 32, 45, iwold C 8,
isold D 38, monifolde, but _e_, heldan C 35. The _i_-umlaut is seen in
wældeþ, 4/41. #eo#, breaking of #e# before #r# + consonant, is _eo_,
heorte D 49 and _o_ herborwen C 23: after #w# also _eo_, andweorke F 42,
OE. #handgeweorc#, and _e_, werke D 30: the group #weor#, in LWS #wur#,
has _u_, iwurþe F 45, wurþe G 25, unwerþ 4/37, _o_, beworpen D 12;
before lengthening groups _eo_, yeorne, eorþe C 5. The _i_-umlaut of
#eo#, which after #w# had already become #y# in OE. is here _u_,
wurþest, deorwurþe, wurst D 30, wurþliche G 36. #eo# before #l# +
consonant gives _u_ in sulfen C 27, suluen F 28 (already #sylf# in LWS).
#eo#, _u_-umlaut of #e#, is _eo_ in heouene; _å_-umlaut of #e# is _eo_
in freome, feole, weolen (Bülbring, § 234); _u_- and _å_-umlaut of #i#
is _eo_, seouene, seoþþen. libbe 2/13 is OE. #libban#. #ea#, palatal
diphthong, is _ea_, _eæ_ in isceaft F 35, isceæftan; _a_ in schal, scal.
#ie# after #g# is _e_, ȝerde, biȝete C 13 (Bülbring, § 151 _n._), _i_ in
ȝiuen 4/21. #eo# < WG. #o# after _sc_ is _o_ in scorteþ, scoldest C 28,
but _eo_ in sceoldest G 42. #eo# < #u# is _u_, onscunedest, sculen C 38.
OE. #heom# is heom and ham C 18; #eom#, eam, am F 14.
#ēa# is normally _ea_, deaþ, heafod, bereaued, seaþe E 8, &c., but _æ_
in dædan 3/42, beræfed C 7, sæþe, and _e_, birefedest G 12. The
_i_-umlaut of #ēa# is _e_, alesed, iheren E 26, semdest 4/18, &c.
(Bülbring, § 183 _n._); and _u_, huned D 47 (WS. #ȳ#). #ēo# is normally
_eo_, beoþ, teoreþ, leoflic, freonden, &c. Its _i_-umlaut does not
occur; deore C 47, neowe C 29, neode F 5, retain _eo_ (Bülbring, § 189,
anm. 1). #īe# is _e_ in isene, E 40; yet C 2.
#a# + #g# is usually _aw_, as in dawes 2/14, gnawen C 42, mawe C 49, but
the older deaȝes survives 3/40. #æ# + #g# is normally _ei_, iseid, but
isæid G 19, and once dai E 13. #e# + #g# is _ei_, ileide: weile 4/19 may
represent OE. #weg lā# (see Björkman, Scandinavian Loan-Words, 51). OE.
#ongegn# is onȝean C 6, aȝan C 18. #o# + #g# is _ow_, bowe C 4,
forhoweþ: #o# + #h#, douhter G 31, wrouhte E 16, but wrohten D 25: #u# +
#ȝ#, fuweles 4/42: #y# + #h#, tuhte E 22. #ā# + #g# is _ow_ in owen C
45, sidwowes C 30: #ā# + #h# is seen in ohtest C 8, ahte E 2, 29 (a
survival). #ǣ# + #g# is _eiȝ_, iseiȝe D 8, leiȝe D 11, keiȝe F 16; _ei_
in clei: #ǣ# + #h#, aeihte 3/13, bitæiht G 52. #ē# + #g#, sweiȝe E 24.
#ō# + #g#, #h#, inouh, unifouh D 39, souhte, ibrouht. #ū# + #h# is seen
in þuþte 3/12 (= þuhte). #ea# + #ht#, becomes _ei_, istreiht, unseihte D
45. #eo# + #h# (LWS #i#) has _i_ in riht; the _i_-umlaut is represented
by besihþ 3/45. #ēa# + #g#, eiȝen, heiȝe E 39, but eȝen 3/42 and heie G
40: #ēa# + #h# is _eih_ in neih, heih G 42, but þauh G 27. #ēo# + #g#,
dreiȝen G 6, but driæn 4/36, written for drien, is due to the scribe and
may be Mercian; ifreoed 4/28 is noteworthy. #ā# + #w# is usually _ow_,
sowle C 2, blowen E 32, nowiht D 19, but soule, nouht. #ō# + #w#,
touward F 29, but reoweþ C 45. #ēa# + #w#, strau D 14. #ēo# + #w#,
usually eow, cneow C 27, icneowe C 27, þeow, þeowdome, but reouliche F
19, heou G 22.
In the vowels of final syllables, levelling has generally taken place,
but a few older forms, isceæftan, heafod, dædan, cumaþ, biddan, offrian,
weolan, remain from the original MS. In lufedæst, willæn, driæn, &c.,
_æ_ is written for _e_. The prefix #ge# is represented by _i_.
The consonants present little of note. OE. #nā māra# becomes one word
with doubled _m_ and shortened _a_ in nammore 3/34 (comp. wumme 2/13
note). farene 4/28, with _n_ for _nn_, is exceptional. OE. #ǣfre# is
æffre 2/14, so næffre C 6, but æfre 3/3. For #f# between two vowels _u_
is generally written, bereaued 2/22, but beræfedest E 20. In mænet 2/7
_t_ is French writing for þ: schal 2/9 is isolated, _sc_ [š] is the
rule, as in onscunedest 3/3: _k_ is written mostly before _e_ and _ie_,
while _ȝ_ is used initially for the palatal (y in yield) and between
vowels, once finally in lutiȝ 3/2 where the original probably had
lutiȝe; _g_ in other cases and mostly in combination with consonants.
For #cw#, French _qu_ is used once in quale 4/42.
#Accidence.# The #ā# and #jā# stems add e in the _nom._, blisse 3/8,
bote 3/11, seoruwe 3/8, sowle 2/28, soule 3/45, modinesse 3/4,
_accusatives_ are hwule 3/1, lore 4/29, soule 2/9, sunne 4/22, Godnesse
3/3. The _g._ of strong nouns ends in -es, the _d._ in -e, the _pl.
n. a._ of Masculines in -es; of Feminines in -e; Neuters as ban 2/21 are
uninflected, _pl. g._ has -e, _d._, -en, as honden 3/38. Markes 3/6,
pundes 3/5 have adopted masc. endings; honden 3/39, isceæftan 2/2,
goldfæten 3/7 have joined the weak declension. Of the latter dædan 3/42,
weolan 4/32 are _g._, heouene 4/28 (_nom. s._ heouene F 38 (OE.
#heofone#), molde 3/34, _d._, and exceptionally willæn 4/33, an archaic
form preserved by its phrasal character; _a._ is deade 3/40; æren, eiȝen
2/17, lippen 2/18, are _pl. n._, weolen 4/16, _d._, eȝen 3/42 _a._
The predicative adjective often shows strong declension, as grædie 3/13,
fuse 4/15, ikunde 3/32; but heui 2/15, leas, lutiȝ 3/2, loþ 4/37, &c.,
and the adjs. in #ig# are not inflected. Inflected attributives are
deope 4/40, _s. d. m._, muchele 2/23, _s. d. f._; durelease 4/40, _s. d.
neut._; seoruhfulne 4/19, _s. a. m._; alle 4/37, _pl. d. m._, &c. The
termination of the weak declension is -e in all cases, as seoruhfule
2/8, _s. a. m._; reade 4/27, _s. d. neut._; dimme 3/42, _pl. a. neut._
The pronoun of the third person has _pl. d._ ham, heom. The def. art. is
_s. n._ þe- þeo- þat, _d. m._ þen, _a._ þene- þeo- þat, _pl. n._ þeo- þa
-þa, þeo, þe. The relative is _s._ þet, _s._ and _pl._ þe, þeo, _pl._
only þa.
The terminations of the verb are _inf._ -en (but driæn, offrian); _ind.
pr._, e -est (contr. list 4/38), -eþ (but cumaþ 3/44, mænet 2/6); contr.
sæiþ 2/13, biþ 2/22, met 3/33, liþ 3/36; _pl._ -eþ. Come 3/11 is 2 _pr.
s. subj._ _Ind. pt._ of weak verbs, _s._ -de, -dest (but lufedæst 3/4),
-de; _part. pt._ -ed, d, t in ibrouht 4/39, _part. pr._ -inde, ende.
Strong pasts are ȝeat 4/27, beden 3/11, 4/21, seten 3/10; _part. pt._;
iboren 2/6, &c.
#Dialect:# The Dialect is Southern, outside the Kentish area, and
probably Middle South, with forms deriving from a Saxon patois. The poem
may have been written, as the preceding piece probably was, in or near
Winchester. The orthography belongs to two distinct stages of
development, the later showing the copyist’s practice towards the end of
the twelfth century, the more primitive being that of the original,
which may have been fifty or sixty years earlier. The phonetic position
of the scribe is in some respects more advanced than that of the Layamon
MS. A.
#Metre:# Alliterative long line of loose construction mixed with rhymed
syllabic verse. Occasionally four consonants alliterate, 2/6, 4/41, but
usually three 2/5, 8, or two 2/4, 23. Crossed alliteration of consonants
occurs at 2/16, 22, 27; 4/32, of consonant and vowels at 2/17; vowel
alliteration at 4/37. At 2/4, read ⁊ lif ⁊ soule · him on ileide; at
3/11, bote come. The rhymes are sometimes perfect, as at 2/15, 25; 3/6,
8; 4/15, 27, 44, but assonances like lif : siþ 2/29; wif : siþ 3/43;
dome : lore 4/29, and partial correspondences of sound like crefte :
idihte 2/3; bedde : libbe 2/13; honden : wenden 3/38; modinesse :
lufedæst 3/4; wæde : lufedest 3/9 are valid for this transitional verse.
Sometimes alliteration and rhyme are combined, as at 2/3, 10 (read
weopinde cumeþ), 3/4. Lines without either alliteration or rhyme must be
regarded as corrupt. We may perhaps read semeþ for þuncheþ 3/39; riht ⁊
godnesse 3/3; beden þe fore 4/21: icwemen woldest for icwemdest ær 4/42.
Compare the section on metre in the introduction to No. vi.
#Introduction:# This poem, in which, after an introduction on the
miseries of birth and death, a lost soul reproaches the body it has just
left, represents the original type of one of the most popular subjects
of the Middle Ages. The idea is ancient, for Kunze, p. 3, quotes a
passage from a treatise ascribed to Plutarch, and Linow, p. 2, another
from the Talmud, which contain it in the germ. But as it is used in
Christian literature, it originated in Alexandria under the influence of
Egyptian conceptions of death and the unseen world. In England before
the Conquest it had inspired (1) the poem printed in Grein-Wülker, ii.
92-105 from the Exeter and Vercelli MSS., in which a lost soul speaks;
(2) the fragment from the latter MS., in which a blessed soul consoles
the waiting body, id. 105-7; (3) the homily printed in Ancient Laws and
Institutes of England, ed. Thorpe, ii. 396-400 (8vo ed.); (4) the homily
in Wulfstan, ed. Napier, 140, 1. Versions 3 and 4 are based on a Latin
original represented by an eleventh-century text, which is printed by
Batiouchkof in Romania, xx. 576-8, comp. Zupitza in Archiv, xci. 369.
This Latin prose text professes to be the relation of a vision by a monk
to Macarius of Alexandria (_d._ 393 A.D.), and it, according to
Batiouchkof, is based on earlier Greek legends wherein Macarius is
himself the dreamer. The homily (5) printed in Angelsächsische Homilien,
ed. Assmann, Kassel, 1889, p. 167, and (6) that published by Zupitza,
Archiv, xci. 379, are independent of the Latin original just mentioned,
and they have been influenced by the Judgment Day literature. The former
contains addresses of a lost and a saved soul to their respective bodies
on the Judgment Day, the homily (6) has only the latter.
After the Conquest, contemporary with (7) the Worcester Fragment, there
is (8) the Oxford Fragment printed by Buchholz, p. 11. The theme is
again treated in (9) the twelfth-century homily, De Sancto Andrea, OEH
ii. 181, 3, which preserves as a quotation one line of its Latin
original, see 4/19 note. Closely related to the last three versions is
(10) the passage in the thirteenth-century poem printed in OEM p. 173,
ll. 65-216. In (11) the Desputisoun bitwen þe Bodi and þe Soule, ed.
Linow, based on the Latin Visio Philiberti, the matter is thrown into
_debat_ form for the first time in English. The Vision of Fulbert is
again adapted in (12) the fifteenth-century poem printed by Halliwell,
Early English Miscellanies (Warton Club), p. 12. Shorter passages in ME.
literature, as OEM 83/331-6, Böddeker, Altengl. Dicht., 235-43 are
fairly numerous.
The position of the Worcester Fragment among this literature is not easy
to define. It appears to form a group with 8 and 10, to which 9, though
too scanty to permit of an assured judgment, may be admitted. They
probably descend from a lost Latin original. Our author may indeed have
been acquainted with the oldest English version (1) and have drawn
thence the leading ideas for his poem. If so, he treated them with much
originality, for there is a wide difference between the austere
simplicity and concentrated energy of the older composition and his
diffuse and picturesque style, which reflects the influence of the new
literature imported from the Continent.
The _lacunae_ in the text were mostly filled up by Singer. It seemed
unnecessary to assign to each editor his contributions to this
complement, much of which is obvious. For [fei]ge 2/30 and foot-note,
read [fei]ȝe.
The heading is from the Book of Job, xxv. 6.
1. #en earde# is probably the remnant of on middenearde; elsewhere the
writer uses _eorþe_ for the uncompounded word.
2. And all the created things which pertain to it, i.e. to the earth.
With #isceæftan# comp. ‘He iscop þurh þene sune alle isceafte,’ Frag. F
47, 34/84, 130/80, 139/17, 187/356. For the position of #to# comp. _on_,
2/4; _fore_ 4/21, 23; 96/53, 54, mostly with relative pronouns.
#[s]cu[l]en#, the tops of long _s_ and _l_ are cut off, as also those of
_h_ and _f_ in the next line. It is not an auxiliary verb with ellipsis
of a verb of motion (H., B.); it has independent meaning as in ‘Þas
wyrte sculon to (= are proper for) lungen sealfe,’ Leechdoms, iii. 16/6.