437. _to drede_, to be feared; the gerund, and right according to the old
idiom. We still say--'he is _to blame_,' 'this house _to let_.' March in
his Anglo-Saxon Grammar, p. 198, says--'The gerund after the copula
expresses what _must_, _may_, or _should_ be done. Ex. _Mannes sunu is
t[=o] syllanne_, the Son of Man must be delivered up, Matt. xvii. 22'; &c.
439.
'For it nis bote a bladre i-blowe ful of a wreche wynde;
Be it with a litel prikke i-priked, a-wey it shrinketh al';--
South-E. Legendary, l. 194.
[413]
442. _bigonne_, didst begin; the right form, for which Tyrwhitt has
_begonnest_. For the Mid. Eng. _biginnen_ we commonly find _onginnan_ in
Anglo-Saxon, and the past tense runs thus--_ongann_, _ongunne_, _ongann_;
pl. _ongunnon_. The form in Middle English is--_bigan_, _bigunne_ (or
_bigonne_), _bigan_; pl. _bigunnen_ (or _bigonne_). The very form here used
occurs in the Ayenbite of Inwyt, ed. Morris, p. 71. The suffix _-st_ does
not appear in _strong_ verbs; cf. _Thou sawe_, B. 848; _thou bar_, G. 48.
The whole of ll. 443-467 varies considerably from the original, the
corresponding passage of which is as follows: 'Cui Almachius: "ab iniuriis
caepisti, et in iniuriis perseueras." Caecilia respondit: "iniuria non
dicitur quod uerbis fallentibus irrogatur; unde aut iniuriam doce, si falsa
locuta sum, aut te ipsum corripe calumniam inferentem, sed nos scientes
sanctum Dei nomen omnino negare non possumus; melius est enim feliciter
mori quam infeliciter uiuere." Cui Almachius: "ad quid cum tanta superbia
loqueris?" Et illa: "non est superbia, sed constantia." Cui Almachius:
"infelix, ignoras,"' &c. (l. 468). However, Chaucer has adopted an idea
from this in ll. 473, 475.
463. To scan this, remember that _Iuge_ has two syllables; and accent
_confus_ on the first syllable.