Whilst it (the soul) followed holy will,
God's self the while is pleased,
And displeased when it loves sin.
_un-lif_ is evidently an error for _un-lief_ = displeased = O.E. _unleôf_.
In the MS. the _f_ has a long tail, and might almost stand for an
incomplete _k_. 217 _kiegt_ = _hight_ = threatened, literally promised.
222 _ilc here_ = each of them. Cf. the expressions _her non_, _non her_ =
none of them. 228 _sib_ = akin, related; still preserved in _gossip_,
originally _godsib_. See Ayenbite, p. 36. 230 _wrocte_ = _wrogte_ = pret.
of _worken_, to _ache_, _pain_, _hurt_. Cf. A.S. _rop-weorc_ =
stomach-ache; _weorcsum_, irksome. In the Reliq. Antiq., p. 51, a receipt
is given "for evel and _werke_ in þe bledder." On p. 54 of the same work we
have a receipt for the "seke man" whose "heved _werkes_." 234 _ðurte_, an
abbreviated form of _ðurfte_ = behoved. This verb is used with the _dative_
of the pronoun. (See Handlynge Synne, l. 5826.)
"Whyne had God made us swa
Þat us _thurt_ never haf feled wele ne wa."
—(Hampole's P. of C. 6229.)
P. 8. l. 240 _seli sped_ may be regarded as a compound, and printed
_seli-sped_ = good speed, prosperity. Cf. l. 310, where _iwel sped_ =
_iwel-sped_ = misfortune. Cf. O.E. _gode-happe_, prosperity, and
_ille-happe_, mishap. 247 _seuendai_ = _seuend dai_ = seventh day. 250
_newes_ = _a-new_, a genitival adjective used adverbially. Cf. our modern
adverb _needs_, O.E. _nedes_, of necessity; _lives_, alive. (R. of
Gloucester, 301, 376. Owl and Nightingale, 1632.) _deathes_ = dead. (R. of
Gl., 375, 382. Owl and Nightingale, 1630.) 255 _rode-wold_ = rode tree. I
have printed _rode-wold_ and not _rode wold_, because the two expressions
are widely different in meaning. In the latter phrase the word _wold_ = put
to death, slain; in the former it is a suffix = -tree, -beam; so that
_rode-wold_ corresponds exactly to the O.E. _rode-tre_ = _rood-tre_ = the
cross.
"Þe ille men in manhed sal hym [Christ] se,
Anly als he henged on þe _rode-tre_," etc.
—(Hampole's P. of C., l. 5260.)
Cf. _dore-tree_, Piers Pl. 833, and the phrases "hanged on a _tree_," "the
gallows _tree_," etc. O.E. _Tre_ = _tree_ = wood, beam (and _treen_ =
wooden), still existing in _axle-tree_, _saddle-tree_, etc. The _-wold_ in
_rode-wold_ must therefore = _-tre_ = wood, beam, which we still preserve
in _threshold_. O.E. _threshwald_, _threshwold_ (A.S. _thersc-wald_,
_thyrscwold_). The affix _-wold_ fortunately occurs again in lines 576 and
614 in the word _arche-wold_ = ark-board.
Sexe hundred ger noe was hold,
Quan he dede him in ðe _arche-wold_.—(l. 576.)
Sex hundred ger and on dan olde
Noe ſag ut of ðe _arche-wolde_.—(l. 614.)
A passage in Cædmon's poems furnishes us with the very term _ark-board_ by
which we have rendered _arche-wold_.
"Læd swa ic ðe hate
under _earce-bord_
eaforan þine."
Lead so I thee hete (command)
under the ark-board
thy progeny.
—(l. 23, p. 80.)
"Him þa Noe gewat
swa hine nergand het
under _earce-bord_."
Noah then departed
as him the preserver bad,
under the ark board.
—(l. 4, p. 82.)
259
_Siðen for-les ðat dai is pris_
Afterwards lost that day its honour.
266
_And seli sad fro ðe forwrogt._
And _the_ righteous separated from the wicked (accursed).
_Seli_ constantly occurs in O.E. writers in the sense of _good_, and
_unseli_, with the opposite meaning of _bad_, _wicked_. At first sight it
would appear that the _for_ in _forwrogt_ is the same prefix which we have
in _forbid_, _forsake_, O.E. _for-worth_, "good for nothing;" but
_forwrogt_ in O.E. = overworked, and, hence, fatigued. _Forwrogt_ seems to
be connected with the O.H.Ger. _foruuerget_, cursed; O.E. _weried_, cursed.
The first interpretation, however, is supported by the Goth. verb
_fra-vaurkjan_; Ger. _verwirken_, sündigen.
271
_Ligber he sridde a dere srud._
Lucifer he shrouded (clothed) in dear (precious) shrouds (vestments).
_Ligber_ is evidently _Ligtber_ = Lucifer. It occurs in the Ayenbite, p.
10:—"And verst we willeþ zigge of þe zenne of prede, vor þet wes þe verste
zenne and þe aginninge of alle kueade, for prede brek verst velaȝrede and
ordre, huanne _Liȝtbere_ the angel for his greate vayrhede and his greate
wyt wolde by above þe oþre angeles and him wolde emni to God þet hine zo
vayr an zuo guod hedde ymad."
272-276
And he became in himself proud,
And with that pride upon him waxed envy
That evilly influenced all his conduct;
Then might he no lord tolerate,
That should in any wise control him.
P. 9. l. 275 _ðhauen_ = suffer, endure, tolerate. S.Saxon _ðafen_,
_iðeuen_; O.E. _thave_.
"Þe sexte bede þatt mann bitt
Uppo þe Paterr Nossterr
Þatt iss, þatt Godd ne þole nohht
Ne _þafe_ laþe gastess.
To winnenn oferrhand off uss
Þurrh heore laþe wiless."
The sixth petition that one prayeth
in the Pater Noster is that God should
not suffer nor permit loathsome spirits
to gain the upperhand of us
through their loathsome wiles.
—(Orm. i. p. 188.)
"& Hengest hine gon werien.
& nalde it noht _iþeuen_ [þolie]."
And Hengest gan him defend
And would not suffer it.
—(Laȝ. vol. ii. p. 215.)
276 _ðhinge_ = place, office, duty; it seems to be here used adverbially in
the sense of "any wise," "at all." 276 _grauen_ is perhaps an error for
_þrauen_, to compel, control. Cf. _gu_ for _ðu_, p. 11, ll. 365, 366, and
_ðund_ for _gund_. If _grauen_ be the original reading then it is
equivalent to _greven_. O.F. _grever_, Lat. _gravare_, to injure, grieve.
278
_Min sete norð on heuene maken._
"Sette," he (Lucifer) said, "mi sete I sal
Gain him þat heist es of alle;
In þe _north_ side it sal be sette,
O me seruis sal he non gette."—(Cursor Mundi, fol. 4b.)
282 _geuelic_ = _geuenlic_ = like. Cf. the A.S. _ge-efenlæcan_, to be
like, to imitate. O.E. _euening_ = equal.
"And ðeðen he sal cumen eft,
and thence he shall come again,
. . . . . .
for to demen alle men,
for to judge all men,
oc nout _on-geuelike_.
but not a-like."—(O.E. Miscell. p. 23.)
"It (the law) fet ðe licham and te gost oc nowt o _geuelike_."
It feedeth the body and the spirit but not alike.
—(Ibid. p. 10.)
295 _ðis quead_ = this wicked one. In Early English writers we meet with
several derivatives of this word, as _kueadliche_, wickedly, _kueadvol_,
sinful. (See Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 4, and extract in Note to l. 271, p.
125.)
301
_Euerilc ðhing haued [haueð] he geue name_,
To everything hath he given name.
309-310 Yet I ween I know of a device, that shall bring them misfortune.
P. 10. l. 314 _ðor buten hunte_, there without search, or hunting, without
delay; _or_ thereabout to _hunt_ or search. 316 _bilirten_, to deprive of
by treachery, to cheat a person out of a thing.
"ða herodes gesægh for-ðon bisuicen
[& _bilyrtet_] wæs from dryum, [& tungul
cræftgum] urað wæs suiðe."
(Matthew ii. 16, Northumbrian version.)
"Listneð nu a wunder,
ðat tis der doð for hunger:
goð o felde to a furg,
and falleð ðar-inne,
in eried lond er in erð-chine,
forto _bilirten_ fugeles."
Listeneth now to a wonder,
That this deer (fox) doth for hunger:
Goeth a-field to a furrow,
And falleth therein,
In eared land or in earth-chink,
For to deceive fowls.
—(O.E. Miscell. p. 13, l. 403.)
318 _dreue_ = trouble, disturb. Cf. O.E. _drove_, to trouble, _droving_,
tribulation. "Þa Herodes þæt gehyrde, þa wearð he _gedrefed_,[397] & eal
Hierosolim-waru mid him."—Matt. ii. 3.
"& for-þi þatt he sahh þatt ȝho
Was _dræfedd_ of his spæche
He toc to froffrenn hire anann."—(Orm. i. p. 74.)
"And because that he saw that she was troubled at his word, he took to
comfort her anon." Southern writers, by metathesis, formed from _dreuen_
(_dreue_) the vb. _deruen_ (_derue_), thereby confounding it with another
vb. _deruen_ or _derue_, pret. _dorue_, p.p. _doruen_ (A.Sax. _deorfan_,
pret. _dearf_, p.p. _dorfen_), to labour, perish, be in trouble. _Dreue_ is
a transitive vb. of the weak conjugation, while _derue_ is intransitive and
of the strong conjugation, nevertheless we find _derue_ (pret. _dorue_),
taking the signification of _dreue_. "Stute nu earme steorue ant swic nuðe
lanhure swikele swarte deouel, þ_a_t tu ne _derue_ me na mare."—(Seinte
Marherete, p. 12.) "Stop now, poor stern one, and cease now at once,
deceitful swart devil, that thou harm me no more." In Laȝamon we find not
only pret. _drof_ = distressed, but _derfde_, and the p.p. _iderued_. In
the Owl and Nightingale (ed. Wright), p. 40, we find the p.p. _idorve_ =
troubled, injured.
"Other thou bodest cualm of oreve (orve),
Other that lond-folc wurth _i-dorve_."
322
_And senkede hire hure aldre bale_
= And poured out to her the bale of us all,
_i. e._ gave her the cup of sorrow, of which we all drink; _senkede_ =
_schenkede_, to pour out, to give to drink, to _skink_. See Orm. ii. 181.
Laȝ. ii. 202, 431; Alys. 7581; Owl and Nightingale, p. 70.
324
_Quat oget nu ðat for-bode o-wold_
= What does now that prohibition signify?
_i. e._ What is the meaning of the prohibition; _oget_ = has, possesses _o
wold_ = _a wold_ = in force, in signification. Cp.
_Quat-so his dremes owen a wold_
= What-soever his dreams do mean.
In ll. 1671, 2122 _wold_ occurs as a noun = interpretation, meaning. The
connection between the idea of _power_, and _meaning_, _interpretation_, is
not, after all, so very remote. Do we not speak of the _force_ of a word,
its _power_, _use_, etc., in an expression? See Ormulum, p. 56, l. 11815.
327
_for is fruit sired [sireð?] mannes mood_,
= for its fruit enlighteneth (cleareth) man's mind.
330 _witent_ for _witen it_ = know it. 333 _on hire mod_ = in her mind.
339 _scroðt_ = _scroð_ = solicited; the pret. of _scriðe_. The original
meaning of the verb is, (1) to go; (2) to cause to go, to urge; (3) to
solicit.
341
_for to forðen is fendes wil_,
for to further (do) his foe's will.
"For up he rigteð him
redi to deren,
to deren er to ded maken
if he it muge forðen."—(O.E. Miscell. pp. 5, 6.)
342
_At he ðat fruit, and dede unskil_,
Ate he that fruit and committed sin.
_unskil_, literally, signifies indiscretion, folly, and by an easy
transition, sin, crime. (See Ormulum, vol. i. p. 12. Cf. O.E. _unskilwis_ =
irrational.)
P. 11. l. 345 _Vn-buxumhed_ = disobedience; but in line 346 it signifies
weakness, _un-lithesomeness_.
347-8
_Vn-welde woren and in win
Here owen limes hem wið-in._
Their own limbs within them
Were powerless and in strife.
_vnwelde_ = unwieldy = the S. Saxon _vniwælde_, heavy.—(Gower i. 312.)
"——hise limes arn _unwelde_."—(O.E. Miscell. p. 3.)
(_i. e._ weak with age); _in win_, in strife, conflict.
"and wið al mankin
he (the devil) haueð nið and _win_" (envy and strife).
(O.E. Miscell. p. 8.)
"ðis fis wuneð wið ðe se grund,
and liueð ðer eure heil and sund,
til it cumeð ðe time
ðat storm stireð al ðe se,
ðanne sumer and winter _winnen_ (strive)."
(O.E. Miscell. pp. 16, 17.)
"Þar aros wale and _win_."
There arose slaughter and strife.—(Laȝ. i. 18.)
349
_flesses fremeðe and safte same
boðen he felten on here lichame._
Lust of flesh, and shame of form
both they felt in their bodies.
_fremeðe_ seems connected with _fremen_ and _frame_. In the translation I
have connected _fremeðe_ with O.E. _frim_, vigorous; but it may be another
form of O.E. _frumðe_, beginning. Then the translation of l. 349 would be
'the beginning of flesh and shame of form.'
360
_ðu haues ðe sorges sigðhe waked._
Thou hast for thyself a sight of sorrow roused.
_sigðhe_ = sight, but if it be an error for _siðhe_ it will signify
adversity, mishap. 362 _ut luken_ = shut out. 363 _tilen ði mete[n]_ = earn
thy food. _tilen_ (till), earn, procure.
"Ne maig he _tilen_ him non fode."
He is not able to procure food for himself.
(O.E. Miscell. p. 3.)
364 _wid_ = _wið_, with. _swotes teres_ = tears of sweat, _i. e._ drops of
sweat. We may, however, by spoiling the metre, read _swotes & teres_, for
in O.E. writers _swot_ is frequently used in the singular and makes the
plural _swotes_.
365, 366
_Til gu beas eft into erðe cumen_,
Till thou art again into earth come.
_beas_ = _be'st_ = art. The present has also a future signification.