#Dialect#: Northern of Yorkshire.
#Inflexions#: are reduced almost as in Modern English.
VERB: pres. ind. 1 sg. _settes_ _a_ 30; beside uninflected _sygh_
_a_ 69, _sob_ _a_ 69.
3 sg. _lastes_ _a_ 1.
1 pl. _flese_ _b_ 86: beside _we drede_ _b_ 85.
3 pl. _lyse_ _a_ 61, _lufes_ _b_ 7, &c.; beside
_þay take_, _þay halde_ _b_ 12, &c., which
agree with the Midland forms.
pres. p. _lastand_ _a_ 25, _byrnand_ _a_ 26, riming with
_hand_.
strong pp. _wryten_ _a_ 2.
Note the Northern and North Midland short forms _mase_
'makes' _a_ 15, _tane_ 'taken' _a_ 53 (in rime).
PRONOUN 3 pers.: sg. fem. _scho_ _b_ 1;
pl. nom. _þai_ _a_ 60;
poss. _þar_ _a_ 59 or _þair_ _a_ 65;
obj. _thaym_ _b_ 2.
The demonstrative _thire_ 'these' at _b_ 55, _b_ 59 is
specifically Northern.
#Sounds#: OE. _ā_ is regularly represented by _ā_, not by _ǭ_
of the South and most of the Midlands: _wa_ _a_ 2, _euermare_ _a_ 20,
_balde_ 'bold' _a_ 51; _bane_ (in rime) _a_ 54.
_ọ̄_ becomes _ū_ (_ǖ_?) in _gud(e)_ _b_ 9, _b_ 15; and its
length is sometimes indicated by adding _y_, as in _ruysand_ 'vaunting'
_b_ 80.
* * * * *
_a._ 'This poem is largely a translation of sentences excerpted from
Rolle's _Incendium Amoris_, cc. xl-xli (Miss Allen in _Mod. Lang.
Review_ for 1919, p. 320). Useful commentaries are his prose _Form of
Perfect Living_ (ed. Horstmann, vol. i, pp. 3 ff.), and _Commandment of
Love to God_ (ibid. pp. 61 ff.), which supply many parallels in thought
and phrasing; see, for example, the note to l. 48 below.
* * * * *
_a_ 1. _feste._ Not the adj. 'fast', but pp. 'fastened', and so in l.
82.
_a_ 5. _louyng_, 'beloved one', here and in l. 56. This exceptional use
of the verbal noun occurs again in _my ȝhernyng_ 'what I yearn for',
_a_ 22; _my couaytyng_ 'what I covet', _a_ 23.
_a_ 9-12. The meaning seems to be: 'The throne of love is raised high,
for it (i.e. love) ascended into heaven. It seems to me that on earth
love is hidden, which makes men pale and wan. It goes very near to the
bed of bliss (i.e. the bridal bed of Christ and the soul) I assure you.
Though the way may seem long to us, yet love unites God and man.'
_a_ 24. _louyng_, 'praise' here and in XVI 405, from OE. _lof_ 'praise';
quite distinct from _louyng_, _lufyng_, in ll. 5 and 56.
_a_ 36. _fle þat na man it maye_, 'which no man can escape'. See
Appendix § 12, Relative.
_a_ 42. _styll_, 'always' rather than 'motionless'.
_a_ 43-4. Apparently 'the nature of love (_þat kyend_) turns from care
the man (_þe lyfe_) who succeeds in finding love, or who ever knew it in
his heart; and brings him to joy and delight.'
_a_ 48. Cp. _Form of Perfect Living_, ed. Horstmann, vol. i, pp. 39-40:
_For luf es stalworth als þe dede, þat slaes al lyuand thyng in erth;
and hard als hell, þat spares noght till þam þat er dede._ In _The
Commandment of Love_ Rolle explains: _For als dede slas al lyuand thyng
in þis worlde, sa perfite lufe slas in a mans sawle all fleschly desyres
and erthly couaytise. And als hell spares noght til dede men, bot
tormentes al þat commes bartill, alswa a man þat es in þis_ [sc. the
third, called 'Singular'] _degré of lufe noght anly he forsakes þe
wretched solace of þis lyf, bot alswa he couaytes to sofer pynes for
Goddes lufe._ (Ibid. p. 63.)
_b_ 4. _scho takes erthe_: From the _Historia Animalium_ attributed to
Aristotle, Bk. ix, c. 21. This is the authority referred to at l. 18,
and at l. 33 (Bk. ix, c. 9); but the citations seem to be second hand,
as they do not agree closely with the text of the _Historia Animalium_.
_b_ 21-2. 'For there are many who never can keep the rule of love
towards their friends, whether kinsmen or not.' MS. _ynesche_ has been
variously interpreted; but it must be corrected to _ynence_.
_b_ 47. _strucyo or storke_: the ostrich, not the stork, is meant. Latin
_struthio_ has both meanings. On the whole, fourteenth-century
translators show a fair knowledge of Latin, but the average of
scholarship, even among the clergy, was never high in the Middle Ages.
In the magnificent Eadwine Psalter, written at Canterbury Cathedral in
the twelfth century, Ps. ci. 7 _similis factus sum pellicano_ is
rendered by 'I am become like to the skin of a dog' (= _pelli canis_),
though an ecclesiastic would recite this psalm in Latin at least once
every week. The records of some thirteenth-century examinations of
English clergy may be found in G. G. Coulton, _A Medieval Garner_
(London 1910), pp. 270 ff. They include the classic answer of Simon, the
curate of Sonning, who, being examined on the Canon of the Mass, and
pressed to say what governed _Te_ in _Te igitur, clementissime Pater,...
supplices rogamus_, replied '_Pater_, for He governeth all things'. As
for French, Michael of Northgate, a shaky translator, is fortunate in
escaping gross blunders in the specimen chosen (III); but the English
rendering of Mandeville's _Travels_ is full of errors; see the notes to
IX.
_b_ 60. _teches_: better _toches_, according to the foot-note.
V
#Alliterative Verse.# The long lines in _Gawayne_, with _The Destruction
of Troy_, _Piers Plowman_, and _The Blacksmiths_ (XV _h_), are specimens
of alliterative verse unmixed with rime, a form strictly comparable with
Old English verse, from which it must derive through an unbroken oral
tradition. While the detailed analysis of the Middle English
alliterative line is complex and controversial, its general framework is
describable in simple terms. It will be convenient to take examples from
_Gawayne_, which shows most of the developments characteristic of Middle
English.
1. The long line is divided by a caesura into two half lines, of which
the second is the more strictly built so that the rhythm may be well
marked. Each half line normally contains two principal stresses, e.g.
_And wént on his wáy || with his wýȝe óne_ 6.
_Þat schulde téche hym to tóurne || to þat téne pláce_ 7.
But three stresses are not uncommonly found in the first half line:
_Brókeȝ býled and bréke || bi bónkkeȝ abóute_ 14;
and, even for the simpler forms in Old and Middle English, the
two-stress analysis has its opponents.
2. The two half lines are bound together by alliteration. In
alliteration _ch_, _st_, _s(c)h_, _sk_, and usually _sp_, are treated as
single consonants (see lines 64, 31, 15, 99, 25); any vowel may
alliterate with any other vowel, e.g.
_Þis ~ó~ritore is ~v́gly || with ~é~rbeȝ ouergrówen_ 122;
and, contrary to the practice of correct OE. verse, _h_ may alliterate
with vowels in _Gawayne_:
_~H~álde þe now þe ~h~ýȝe ~h~óde || þat ~Á~rþur þe
ráȝt_ 229.
_The ~h~áþel ~h~éldet hym fró || and on his ~á~x résted_ 263.
3. In correct OE. verse the alliteration falls on one or both of the two
principal stresses of the first half line, and invariably on the first
stress only of the second half line. This is the ordinary ME. type:
_Þat schulde ~t~éche hym to ~t~óurne || to þat ~t~éne pláce_ 7;
though verses with only one alliterating syllable in the first half
line, e.g.
_Bot Í wyl to þe ~ch~ápel || for ~ch~áunce þat may fálle_ 64,
are less common in ME. than in OE. But in ME. the fourth stress
sometimes takes the alliteration also:
_Þay ~cl~ómben bi ~cl~ýffeȝ || þer ~cl~éngeȝ þe ~c~ólde_ 10.
And when there is a third stress in the first half line, five syllables
may alliterate:
_~M~íst ~m~úged on þe ~m~ór || ~m~ált on þe ~m~óunteȝ_ 12.
In sum, Middle English verse is richer than Old English in alliteration.
4. In all these verses the alliteration of the first stress in the
second half line, which is essential in Old English, is maintained; but
it is sometimes neglected, especially when the alliteration is otherwise
well marked:
_With ~h~éȝe ~h~élme on his ~h~éde || his láunce in his
~h~ónde_ (129; cp. 75),
where the natural stress cannot fall on _his_.
5. So far attention has been confined to the stressed syllables, around
which the unstressed syllables are grouped. Clearly the richer the
alliteration, the more freedom will be possible in the treatment of the
unstressed syllables without undue weakening of the verse form. In the
first two lines of _Beowulf_—
_Hwæt we Gárdéna || in géardágum
Þéodcýninga || þrým gefrúnon—_
three of the half lines have the minimum number of syllables—four—and
the other has only five. In Middle English, with more elaborate
alliteration, the number of unstressed syllables is increased, so that
the minimum half line of four syllables is rare, and often contains some
word which may have had an additional flexional syllable in the poet's
own manuscript, e.g.
|| _þe sélf<e> chápel_ 79.
|| _árȝeȝ in hért<e>_ 209.
The less regular first half line is found with as many as eleven
syllables; e.g.
_And syþen he kéuereȝ bi a crágge_ || 153.
6. The grouping of stressed and unstressed syllables determines the
rhythm. In Old English the falling rhythm predominates, as in || _Gáwayn
þe nóble_ 81; and historically it is no doubt correct to trace the
development of the ME. line from a predominantly falling rhythm. But in
fact, owing to the frequent use of unstressed syllables before the first
stress (even in the second half line where they are avoided in the OE.
falling rhythm) the commonest type is:
|| _and þe bróde ȝáteȝ_ 1,
(× × -̍ × -̍ ×)
which from a strictly Middle English standpoint may be analysed as a
falling rhythm with introductory syllables (× × | -̍ × -̍ ×), or as
a rising rhythm with a weak ending (× × -̍ × -̍ | ×). A careful
reader, accustomed to the usage of English verse, will have no
difficulty in following the movement, without entering into nice
technicalities of historical analysis.
7. _The Destruction of Troy_ is more regular than _Gawayne_ in its
versification, and better preserves the Old English tradition. _Piers
Plowman_ is looser and nearer to prose, so that the alliteration
sometimes fails altogether, e.g. Extract _a_ 95, 138. Such differences
in technique may depend on date, on locality, or on the taste, training,
or skill of the author.
* * * * *
#Dialect#: West Midland of Lancashire or Cheshire. (There is evidence of
local knowledge in the account of Gawayne's ride in search of the Green
Chapel, ll. 691 ff. of the complete text.)
#Vocabulary.# _Sir Gawayne_ shows the characteristic vocabulary of
alliterative verse.
It is rich in number and variety of words—Norse, French, and native.
Besides common words like _race_ 8, _wylle_ 16, _kyrk_ 128, _aȝ-_ 267
(which displace native English forms _rēs_, _wylde_, _chyrche_,
_eie_), Norse gives _mug(g)ed_ 12, _cayreȝ_ 52, _scowtes_ 99,
_skayned_ 99, _wro_ 154, _broþe_ 165, _fyked_ 206, _snyrt_ 244, &c.
French are _baret_ 47, _oritore_ 122, _fylor_ 157, _giserne_ 197,
_kauelacion_ 207, _frounses_ 238, &c. _Myst-hakel_ 13, _orpedly_ 164 are
native words; while the rare _stryþe_ 237 and _raþeled_ 226 are of
doubtful origin.
Unless the alliteration is to be monotonous, there must be many
synonyms for common words like _man_, _kniȝt_: e.g. _burne_ 3,
_wyȝe_ 6, _lede_ 27, _gome_ 50, _freke_ 57, _tulk_ 65, _knape_ 68,
_renk_ 138, most of which survive only by reason of their usefulness in
alliterative formulae. Similarly, a number of verbs are used to express
the common idea 'to move (rapidly)': _boȝen_ 9, _schowued_ 15,
_wonnen_ 23, _ferked_ 105, _romeȝ_ 130, _keuereȝ_ 153, _whyrlande_
154, &c. Here the group of synonyms arises from weakening of the
ordinary prose meanings; and this tendency to use words in colourless or
forced senses is a general defect of alliterative verse. For instance,
it is hard to attach a precise meaning to _note_ 24, _gedereȝ_ 92,
_glodes_ 113, _wruxled_ 123, _kest_ 308.
The _Gawayne_ poet is usually artist enough to avoid the worst fault of
alliterative verse—the use of words for mere sound without regard to
sense, but there are signs of the danger in the empty, clattering line:
_Bremly broþe on a bent þat brode watȝ aboute_ 165.
#Inflexions#: The rime _waþe_: _ta þe_ 287-9 shows that organic
final _-e_ was sometimes pronounced in the poet's dialect.
VERB: pres. ind. 1 sg. _haf_ 23; _leue_ 60.
2 sg. _spelleȝ_ 72.
3 sg. _prayses_ 4; _tas_ 237.
2 pl. _ȝe han_ 25.
3 pl. _han_ 345.
imper. pl. _gotȝ_ (= _gǭs_) 51, _cayreȝ_ 52.
pres. p. normally _-ande_, e.g. _schaterande_ 15; but very
rarely _-yng_: _gruchyng_ 58.
strong pp. _born_ 2, _wonnen_ 23; _tone_ (= _taken_) 91.
The weak pa. t. and pp. show occasional _-(e)t_ for _-(e)d_:
_halt_ 11, _fondet_ 57, &c.
Note that present forms in _-ie(n)_ are preserved, and the
_i_ extended to the past tense: _louy_ (OE. _lufian_)
27, _louies_ 31; _spuryed_ 25.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl. nom. _þay_ 9; poss. _hor_ 345, beside _her_
352; obj. _hom_, beside _hem_ 353.
#Sounds#: _ǭ_ for older _ā_ is common, and is proved for the
original by rimes like _more_: _restore_ (OFr. _restorer_) 213-15,
_þore_: _restore_ 286-8. But _a_ is often written in the MS.: _snaw_ 20,
166 (note rimes), _halden_ 29, &c.
_u_ for OE. _y_, characteristic of Western dialects, is found especially
in the neighbourhood of labial consonants: _spuryed_ (OE. _spyrian_) 25;
_muryly_ 268, 277; _munt_ vb. 194 and sb. 282; beside _myntes_ 284,
_lyfte_ 78, _hille_ 13.
_u_ for OE. _eo_ (normal ME. _e_) is another Western feature: _burne_ 3,
21, &c., _rurde_ 151.
_aw_ for OE. _ēow_ (normal ME. _ew_, _ow_) as in _trawe_ 44, _trawþe_
219, _rawþe_ 136, is still found in some Northern dialects.
#Spelling#: _ȝ_ (= _z_) is commonly written for final _s_:
_bredeȝ_ 3, &c.; even when the final _s_ is certainly voiceless as
in _forȝ_, 'force', 'torrent' 105, _(aȝ-)leȝ_ 'fear-less' 267.
_tȝ_ is written for _s_ in monosyllabic verbal forms, where it
indicates the maintenance of voiceless final _s_ under the stress (see
rimes to _hatȝ_ 'has', VI 81): _watȝ_ 'was' 1, _gotȝ_ 'goes'
51, &c. In early Norman French _z_ had the sound _ts_, and so could be
written _tz_, as in _Fitz-Gerald_ 'son (Mod. Fr. _fils_) of Gerald'. But
later, French _(t)z_ fell together with _s_ in pronunciation, so that
the spelling _tz_ was transferred to original _s_, both in
fourteenth-century Anglo-French and in English.
_qu-_ occurs for strongly aspirated _hw-_ in _quyte_ 'white' 20, _quat_
'what' 111; but the alliteration is with _w_, not with _k(w)_, e.g.
_And wyth ~qu~ettyng a~wh~arf, er he ~w~olde lyȝt_ 152.
The spelling _goud_ 5, 50, &c., for _gōd_ 'good' may indicate a sound
change.
Notable is the carefully distinguished use of _ȝ_ in _ȝe_, but _y_
in _yow_, e.g. at ll. 23-6.
* * * * *