Part 24

dore (door) rhymes with spore and dore (subjunctive of dar), bole with wole (verb).

O. E. =y=. This is usually represented by e (except before h, gh), e.g. abegge, berie, berthe, besy, bregge, dede (did), evel, felle (also fille), felthe, ferst, fest, hell (also hill, hull), ken (also kin), kende (usually kinde), kesse (also kisse), knette, krepel, lere, lest (listen), lest (= pleases, also list), mende (also minde), merie, merthe, pet (also pitt, put), scherte, schetten, senne (also sinne), stere (stir), thenke (from þyncan), werche (also worche), werse (also worse): to these must be added hedde, hed, pret. and past partic. of hyde, in which original ȳ was shortened (also hidde, hid). On the other hand, we have gilt (also gult), gultif, lifte (sky), stinten (not stenten), thinne (not thenne), thurste, wierdes. Gower does not use the forms birthe, bisy, dide (did), mirie, mirthe, stire.

The results obtained for certain words from rhymes by Fahrenberg are rather misleading. For example, he suggests the conclusion that fille (subst.) and fulfille are used with i only, but of the nineteen instances which he quotes, all but two are in rhyme with wille, a natural combination (at least for fulfille), and one which has determined the form in most cases. Apart from this, both felle (subst.) and fulfelle are found (felle in rhyme, iii. 2609).

Again, senne is much more common than would appear from the rhymes. Fahrenberg can quote only one instance in rhyme, as against twenty-nine of sinne, but this is certainly due to the greater frequency of the words (such as beginne, winne, &c.), which give rhymes to sinne. The word occurs seven times in the Prologue, once it is in rhyme, Sinne : inne, and of the other six instances five are of senne and one only of sinne. On the other hand, hell (from hyll) alone appears in rhyme, but hill or hull are commoner forms in use.

The mistakes tell both ways, but on the whole the conclusion that i is much commoner than e in these words is seriously incorrect.

For the use in rhyme of the words of this class with open tone syllable, as stere, lere (from lyre), see under =e=.

(2) O. E. LONG VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS.

O. E. =ā=. The ǭ of hom rhymes, as in Chaucer, with the ọ̄ of the preterites com, nom, and also fom with nom, v. 4007. These must be regarded as imperfect rhymes, due to the want of strictly correct rhyme-words. Gower has regularly most (O. E. māst) and but once in rhyme mest (O. E. mǣst), lest : althermest, i. 3101 f.: also regularly oght, noght, and oghte (verb), but tawht : awht, i. 2770, and aghte : betaghte, viii. 747.

O. E. =ǣ=. This, when representing West-Germanic ā, Gothic ē, appeared as ē in the Old Anglian and Kentish dialects, and might naturally be expected to be sometimes close e in the language of Chaucer and Gower. It is well known that Chaucer uses many of the words which have this vowel in a variable manner.

The same is true to some extent also in words where the original ǣ corresponds to Germanic ai, and in which we find Old Kentish ē. Of these leden, clene, menen, leeren appear in Chaucer sometimes with ẹ̄ (and evere, nevere always). For these and some other cases see ten Brink, Chaucers Sprache, § 25.

When we compare Chaucer’s usage with that which we find in our author, we find what our former experience has prepared us to expect, viz. a greater strictness and regularity of usage in Gower. The examples of fluctuation between the two sounds are comparatively few.

Taking first the words in which ē is from ǣ corresponding to West-Germanic ā, we find the following with ę̄:

bede (pret. pl.), from bǣdon, (dede : bede, i. 2047 f.).

breth (: deth, i. 119, 2127, &c.).

fere, ‘fear,’ (: ere, i. 462, ii. 46).

her, ‘hair,’ (heres : teres, i. 2999).

lete, from lǣtan, (: grete, i. 3365, &c.).

lewed (: thewed, i. 274, beschrewed, iii. 479).

sete, pret. pl., (sete : grete, iv. 1309), but siete (not in rhyme), v. 3339.

strete (: grete, i. 938, bete, i. 1156).

there (: ere, i. 499, 558, &c.), but also there : swere (neck), iv. 859, and hiere (adv.) : there, Praise of Peace, 178.

were, from wǣron, (: ere, Prol. 235, i. 2808, &c.), but also ẹ̄ in a few instances, as hiere (verb) : were, i. 2741 f., hiere (adv.): were, v. 747 f.

where (e.g. elleswhere : eere, Prol. 9), but here (adv.): elleswhere, v. 361 f.

The substantive and verb red, rede rhyme about equally with ẹ̄ and ę̄, the latter cases being almost all with ded, dede (dead, sing. and pl.), as i. 1446, iv. 1940, 1960, &c. On the other hand, rede : hiede, i. 447 f., rede : spede, i. 1293 f., ii. 103 f., &c., red : sped, iii. 1991 f.

The following words of this class have as a rule ẹ̄:

cheke (chieke) (: mieke, v. 2471, eke, v. 3019).

dede, ‘deed,’ (: fede, Prol. 465, mede, i. 1553, &c., spede, i. 2653, &c., ȝede, ii. 855, forbiede, iii. 1122), but dede (dead) : dede, i. 1037 f.

drede (: nede, i. 1987, 2240, : spede, iv. 629, : hiede, iv. 1448, &c.), but dede (dead) : drede, ii. 3405 f., drede : rede (from rēad), iv. 185 f.