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CHARACTER OF A TRUE GENTLEMAN.

(From the Romaunt of the Rose.)

1 BUT undirstonde in thyn entent,
That this not myn entendement,
To clepe no wight in noo ages
Oonly gentille for his lynages.
5 But who-so is vertuous,

And in his port nought outrageous,
Whanne sich oon thou seest thee biforn,
Though he be not gentille born,

Thou maist welle seyn, this is in soth,
10 That he is gentil, by-cause he doth
As longeth to a gentilman;

Of hem noon other deme I can.
For certeynly, withouten drede,
A cherle is demed by his dede,
15 Of hie or lowe, as ye may see,
Or of what kynrede that he be... ..
.... be wise and aqueyntable,

Goodly of word and resonable

Bothe to lesse and eke to more.

20 And whanne thou comest there men are,

Loke that thou have in custome ay
First to salue hym if thou may:
And if it falle that of hem somme
Salue thee first, be not thou domme
25 But quyte hym curteisly anoon
Without abidyng, er they goon.

3, 4. Clepe (O. E. cleopian), call. Gentille:-strictly speaking, a gentleman is a member of a gens or family.

9. Seyn, infin., depending on maist (mayest), thou art permitted to say.

11-16. Longeth, belongs. Deme, judge: doom was a judgment; and doomster, dempster, one who passed judgment. Kynrede, kindred: in O. E. cyn meant

race.

17. Aqueyntable, easy to get acquainted with, affable.

19, 20. Lesse . . . more, the lower and higher in social position. There, where. This word, like Lat. ibi, is simply the dat. sing. of the O. E. demonstrative se, seo, pat, which was also used as a relative (modern that).

25, 26. But at once, without waiting, return their courtesy before they go.

For no thyng eke thy tunge applye
To speke wordis of rebaudrye.

To vilayne speche in no degre
30 Late never thi lippe unbounden be.
For I nought holde him, in good feith,
Curteys that foule wordis seith.
And alle wymmen serve and preise,
And to thy power her honour reise.
35 And if that ony myssaiere

Despise wymmen, that thou maist here
Blame hym and bidde him hold him stille.
And set thy myght and alle thy wille
Wymmen and ladies for to please,

40 And to do thing that may hem ease....
And alway with good chere

........

Thou yeve, if thou have richesse;

And if thou have nought, spende the lesse.
Alwey be mery, if thou may,

45 But waste not thi good alway.

....

.. Thyn hondis wasshe, thy teeth make white,

And lete no filthe upon thee bee.

Thy nailes blak, if thou maist see,
Voide it away delyverly.

50 And kembe thyn heed right jolily.

28-50. Rebaudrye, ribaldry. Her, their. Myssaière, evil-speaker. Voide, to remove.

CHAUCER'S HABITS.

(From the Prologue to The Legend of Good Women.)

1 And as for me, though that I konne but lyte,
On bokes for to rede I me delyte,

And to hem yive I feyth and ful credence,
And in myn herte have hem in reverence
5 So hertely that ther is game noon,
That fro my bokes maketh me to goon,

1. Konne but lyte, know but little. Little is formed by adding the el dim. to lyte; it thus exactly represents the Lat. parvulus.

4. Herte have:-the final e is generally mute before have, he, him, his, her, &c. 5. Game, amusement, O. E. gamen. 6. Goon, the gerundial infin.

But yt be seldom on the holy day,

Save, certeynly, whan that the monethe of May
Is comen, and that I here the foules synge,
10 And that the floures gynnen for to sprynge,
Fairewel my boke, and my devocioun !

Now have I thanne such a condicioun,
That of alle the floures in the mede,

Thanne love I most thise floures white and rede,
15 Such as men callen daysyes in her toune.
To hem have I so grete affeccioun.

As I seyde erst, whanne comen is the May,
That in my bed ther daweth me no day,

That I nam uppe and walkyng in the mede,
20 To see this floure ayein the sonne sprede,
Whan it up rysith erly by the morwe;
That blisful sight softneth al my sorwe.

7. But, except. Foules, birds; O. E. fugel, Ger. vogel. Syngé, infin.

15. Her toune, their town. Town, O. E. tun, fr. tynan, to enclose, meant originally any enclosure, and is still used in this sense among the Lowland Scotch. 17. Erst, super, of or, er, before.

18. Daweth me, Dawns for me. here the so-called ethical dative.

Me is

20. Sonné, O. E. sunne. The e is accordingly pronounced.

20. Ayein, against, fr. O. E. ongean, M. E. azein.

12. John Barbour, d. 1396. (History. p. 39.)

The Northern dialect of Barbour, though not so far removed from the Southern as the Lowland Scotch of later times, yet has marked characteristics of its own. The principal are these,―ai for a; a for o; f for v; -is and -ys for es; it and yt for -ed; cht for ght; ow for ou.

APOSTROPHE TO FREEDOM.

1 A fredome is a nobill thing!

Fredome mayse man to haiff liking!
Fredome all solace to man giffis :
He levys at ese that frely levys!

2. Mayse man to haiff liking, makes one to have pleasure. Man is the indefinite pronoun; liking, comes fr. O. E.

lician, to be pleasing.
well" (Shak. Hamlet).

1

"It likes me

5 A noble hart may haiff nane ese,
Na ellys nocht that may him plese,
Gyff fredome failythe: for fre liking
Is yearnyt our all othir thing.

Na he, that ay hase levyt fre,
10 May nocht knaw weill the propyrte,
The angyr, na the wretchyt dome,
That is cowplyt to foule thyrldome.
Bot gyff he had assayit it,

Then all perquer he suld it wyt;
15 And suld think fredome mar to pryse
Than all the gold in warld that is.

6. Na ellys nocht, nor anything else.
7. Giff, if. This would seem to make
likely the ordinary derivation of if from
give. It would then mean granted that.
8. Yearnyt our, desired over (beyond),
fr. O. E. geornian to desire, M. E. yearn
(for).

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12. Thyrldome, thraldom; fr. O. E. præl, a slave-so called because he had his ears thirled (þirlian), or bored. The nostril is the bore of the nose.

14, 15. Perquer, exactly. Wit, know. To pryse, valuable; the gerundial infin.

13. Sir John de Mandeville. 1300-1371. (History, p. 40.)

Almost the only difference between the language of Mandeville and that of Chaucer is the greater proportion of French words used by the former. For the explanation of the z in zou, zee, &c., see general note to extract 6.

And therfore I schalle telle zou, what the Soudan tolde me upon a day, in his Chambre. He leet voyden' out of his Chambre alle maner of men, Lordes and othere: for he wolde speke with me in Conseille. And there he askede me, how the Cristene men governed hem in oure Contree. And I seyde him, Righte wel: thonked be God. And he seyde me, Treulyche,2 nay: for zee Cristene men ne recthen righte noghte3 how untrewly to serve God. Ze scholde zeven ensample to the lewed 4 peple, for to do wel; and zee zeven hem ensample to don evylle. For the Comownes, upon festyfulle

1. He leet voyden, caused to withdraw; void means to make empty. So in Hen. VIII., v. i. "Avoid the gallery." 2. Treulyche, truly, verily; lyche, lich, like, ly, as before.

3. Ne recthen righte noghte, care not

at all, fr. O. E. réccan. In Hamlet "recks not his own rede" is "cares not for his own counsel." The words reckless and reckon still preserve this root.

4. Lewed, O. E. leod; see note 16, extract 2.

dayes, when thei scholden gon to Chirche to serve God, than gon thei to Tavernes, and ben there in glotony, alle the day and alle nyghte, and eten and drynken, as Bestes that have no resoun, and wite not whan thei have y now. And also the Cristene men enforcen hem, in alle maneres that thei mowen, for to fighte, and for to desceyven that on that other. And there with alle thei ben so proude, that thei knowen not how to ben clothed; now long, now schort, now streyt,8 now large, now swerded, now daggered, and in alle manere gyses. Thei scholden ben symple, meke and trewe, and fulle of Almes dede, as Jhesu was, in whom thei trowe;10 but thei ben alle the contrarie, and evere enclyned to the Evylle, and to don evylle. . . . And on with drawethe the Wif of another: and non of hem holdethe Feythe to another: but thei defoulen here Lawe, that Jhesu Crist betook hem 11 to kepe, for here Salvacioun. And thus for here Synnes, han thei lost alle this Lond, that wee holden. For, for hire Synnes here God hathe taken hem in to oure Hondes, noghte only be Strengthe of our self, but for here Synnes. For wee knowen wel in verry sothe, that whan zee serve God, God wil helpe zou: and whan he is with zou, no man may be azenst you. And that knowe we wel, be oure Prophecyes, that Cristene men schulle 12 wynnen azen this Lond out of oure Hondes, whan thei serven God more devoutly. But als longe als thei ben of foule and unclene Lyvynge, (as thei ben now) wee have no drede of hem, in no kynde: for here God wil not helpen hem in no wise.

5. Y-now, enough.

6. Mowen, third plur. sing. of may.

7. That one that other, the tone the tother, the one the other. See note 26, extract 10.

8. Streit, strait, fr. O. Fr. estreict, Lat. strictus. It means here "closely

confined."

9. Almes, a sing. noun, fr. O. E. almesse, Gr. ἐλεημοσύνη.

10. Trowe, believe in, have faith in; O. E. treowian.

11. Betook hem, committed to them, fr. bitæchen.

12. Schulle or schullen, plur. of schalle.

14. Wiclif. 1324-1384. (History, p. 40.)

The grammatical differences between Wiclif and Chaucer are unimportant; but the former, though he employs as large a proportion of foreign words as the poet, seems to have been a greater master of homely, idiomatic English. His works mainly formed the religious vocabulary of the nation.

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