646. #dine#, sound, preaching: suggested by ‘rem,’ 195/611, and possibly
by S. Paul’s use of Psalm xviii. 5, ‘in omnem terram exivit sonus
eorum,’ Rom. x. 18.
648. #ðer wile#, whilst, so long as; comp. 198/37, 205/288, 446/59, ‘And
mete quorbi ðei migten liuen, | ðor quiles he woren on water driuen,’ GE
573; ‘Therwhile, sire, that I tolde this tale | Thi sone mighte tholie
dethes bale,’ Seuyn Sages, 701. #he--beren#, they maintain obedience and
cherish love: #he# refers to #noman#: #beren# goes naturally with
#luue#, with #lage# it stands for lage halden, to keep the commandments
(of God).
649. Thetbald ends with the Panther, and this section is generally said
to be taken from Neckam’s De Naturis Rerum, c. xlvi. His dove has eight
‘natures,’ three of which are wanting in our author’s seven, and lacks
two of those given here (ll. 656, 657; ll. 660, 661), while Neckam’s
explanation of the fifth, ll. 662, 663, is quite different. The matter
is common to the Fathers and medieval writers, and our author may have
drawn from more than one, but Hugh of S. Victor, De Bestiis et aliis
Rebus, lib. i. c. 11, most nearly resembles him. His dove has ten
qualities, six of which are here, and there is something resembling the
seventh: each of them is quoted.
651. #wes#, we them. #hauen in mode#, keep in mind: so, ‘ben us minde,’
l. 653: see 184/263.
653. Mätzner takes #alle it# together as, all of them, comparing
190/450, where he says it = them, but see 1/10 note: the construction is
similar here, #it# is a mere introductory word like there: the order is,
it ogen alle &c., and the meaning, they ought all to be present in
thought to us.
654. ‘Caret felle, id est, irascibilitatis amaritudine,’ V. Comp. ‘Loke
nu þet tu, þet he cleopeð kulure, habbe kulure kunde, þet is wiðuten
galle,’ AR 292/19; ‘Forr cullfre iss milde ⁊ meoc ⁊ swet, | ⁊ all
wiþþutenn galle,’ Orm 1258; ‘Lauedi scho es o leuedis all, | Mild and
mek witouten gall,’ CM 101.
655. #simple#: Comp. ‘_Estote simplices sicut columbe_ · buð admode alse
duue,’ OEH ii. 49/25, that is, humble. #softe#, gentle.
656. ‘Non vivit ex raptu, quia non detrahit proximo,’ V. Mätzner divided
bi lagt and explained #lagt# as _pp._ of lacchen used substantively as
prey: the word does not occur elsewhere.
657. The scribe probably understood this line as, Let us do aback all
thieving; that is, renounce, reject, like ‘werpeð abec,’ 16/142: though
aback descends from #on bæc#. But the rhyme is bad, and the emendation
hac, due to Mätzner, does not improve it, besides being difficult of
interpretation. If it is for ac (comp. 217/87) the meaning might be, Let
us also put away from us all thieving. Morris suggests hagt = agt, mind,
and the rhyme lagt : hagt occurs in GE, see 201/135, but the word hagt
means, in ME., only care, anxiety, peril. Holthausen proposed iþagt, OE.
#geþeaht#; in the sense, put out of our counsel, thoughts: the form
apparently does not occur elsewhere, and it makes a metrical difficulty.
Probably the corruption of the line began with #Ilc#; it may have run,
Noman do we robbing of aght; comp. ‘If i giue þe for to kepe | . . . |
Hors or ani oþer aght, | And it wit wiþerwin be laght,’ CM 6763; ‘For to
spare his aune aght, | þis pore manes schep he laght,’ id. 7927.
658, 659. ‘Colligit grana meliora, id est, meliora dicta. Non vescitur
cadaveribus, id est, desideriis carnalibus,’ V. #leteð#, abstains from.
Omit #ðe# before #sed#.
660, 661. ‘Geminos nutrit pullos, id est, amorem Dei et amorem proximi,’
V, which is not like the text. Comp. rather, ‘Alienos pullos nutrit dum
errantes a regno Dei alienos per poenitentiam reducit,’ Honorius
Augustod., 962. #ur ilk#, each of us.
662, 663. ‘Columba pro cantu utitur gemitu, quia quod libens fecit
plangendo gemit,’ V. #woning# &c.: see 2/15. #lic#: apparently _adv._,
equally; likewise; her song is at the same time a lament: the order of
the words and the absence at this date of a preposition with woning is
against the meaning, her song is similar to a lament: comp. ‘Forr þeȝȝre
(cullfre ⁊ turrtle) sang iss lic wiþþ wop,’ Orm 7931. For #bimene#,
_reflexive_, see 40/168 note.
664, 665. ‘Super fluenta aquarum (Canticum Canticorum, v. 12) residet,
ut, visa acciptris umbra, venientem citius devitet, quia in scripturis
studet, ut supervenientis diaboli fraudem declinet,’ V. #wis of#, a
variant of ‘war of,’ suggested by the frequent association of ‘wis and
war:’ see 18/16. #nome#, seizing, clutches: only here and at 206/322.
666, 667. ‘Nidificat in foraminibus petrae, quia spem ponit in Christi
passione,’ V.
_Greek_
ὁ Φυσιολόγος [ho Physiologos]
ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς [apo tês aretês]
_Cross-References_
1/3, 1/10, 1/19 (notes) = I. A (Worcester Fragments)
6/18, 8/84 (notes) = III. (The Peterborough Chronicle)
13/18 (note) = V. (A Parable)
21/92, 25/226 (notes) = VI. (The Proverbs of Alfred)
32/40, 40/168, 44/260, 46/292 (notes) = VIII. (Poema Morale)
56/46 (note) = IX. A (Ancrene Wisse: Seven Deadly Sins)
80/47, 81/80 (notes) = XI. (Hic Dicendum est de Propheta)
119/77, 143/73 (notes) = XIX. (Saint Juliana)
176/24, 178/89 (notes) = _present selection_
200/116, 213/539 (notes) = XXII. (Genesis and Exodus)
p. 327 = VIII. (Poema Morale) under Metre.
359 = IX. Ancrene Wisse, Phonology, under “ea”.
p. 463, 464, 465 = XIV. (Layamon) under Metre.
p. 564 = XX. (The Owl and the Nightingale) under Metre.
_Errata_
#Phonology:# Oldest E. Texts 570 [OE Texts]
#a# + #g# ... Anglian #tre(o)#: [#tre (o)#]
#Accidence:# ...nigt _s. a._ 582; [582:]
The personal pronouns ... oðer 603 [oder]
eurilc 257, 286 [euerilc 257, eurilc 286]
Only three verbs ... I c. _s._ 3. wan 632 [3,]
For the octosyllable ... cundnéss|ẹ afín 644 [afin]
Verses of three measures ... tíl | it cúm|ẹð ðe tíme 403 [timé]
Syncope of the middle vowel ... sinịging 256 [sinigịng]
113. ... #Nimeð#: see 213/539 note. [213/359]
173. ... _subj. past_ from #healdan# [_subj. past._]
185. ... AR 50/15 [AR/50/15]
257. ... it would balance eurilcdel [euerilcdel]
260. ... Comp. ‘ðe sunenday | ðat is [_open quote missing_]
356. ... subject of #is#. [_period (full stop) missing_]
357. ... the Creator made these loathly things
[_final “r” in “Creator” invisible_]
a common medieval idea
[_“l” in “medieval” invisible_]
414. ... Huic religare citam pro tempestate carinam [pre]
428, 429 ... Mentes cunctorum qui sunt ubique virorum
[_text unchanged: error for “ubicunque”?_]
467, 468. ... Turpibus indulgent,’ [_close quote invisible_]
489. ... habere virtutem prebetivam
[_text unchanged: error for “prebitivam”?_]
612. ... It corresponds to an OE. *#hǣlewǣg# [OE *#hǣlewǣg# ]