And as I lay and leonede
And lokede on the watres,
I slumberde in a slepynge

Hit sownede so murie.' (ll. 13-20.)

In the North and West of England alliteration was employed as late as the end of the fifteenth century, but it appears to have gone out of use in the Southern and Eastern parts of the country, which early in the thirteenth century adopted the classical and Romance forms of versification.

2. The greater part of the Canterbury Tales are written in heroic couplets, or lines containing five accents. In this metre we have ten syllables; but we often find eleven, and occasionally nine. Of these variations the former is obtained by the addition of an unaccented syllable at the end of a line b.

Him wolde | he snyb | bë scharp | ly for the nones.
A bet trë preest | trowether no | wher non is.'

(Prol. II. 523-4.)

The answere of this | I le | të to | divinis.
But wel | I woot | that in this world | gret pyne is.'

So in lines 1 and 2, of the Prologue :

(Knightes Tale, 11. 465-6.)

Whan that | April | lë with his schow | res swootë

The drought of Marche | hath per | ced to the rootë.'

In the second variation, the first foot consists of a single accented syllable:

In a gowne of faldyng to the kne.' (Prol. 1. 391.)

'Now it schyneth, now it reyneth faste.'

(Knightes Tale, 1. 677.)

3. Chaucer frequently contracts two syllables into one; as nam, nis, nath, nadde,: =ne am, ne is, ne bath, ne hadde, am not, is not, hath not, had not; thasse, theffect, tabide = the asse, the

b For fuller information the reader referred to Professor Child's exhaustive Essay on Chaucer, and to an Essay on the Metres of Chaucer, by the Rev. W. W. Skeat, in the Introduction to Chaucer's Poetical Works (Aldine Series), ed. Morris, 1867; also to Mr. A. J. Ellis' valuable work on Early English Pronunciation, with special reference to Chaucer and Shakespeare (Chaucer Society).

But

effect, to abide, &c. In Troylus and Criseyde we find ny=ne I, not I, nor I; mathinketh: = me athinketh, it seems to me. this contraction is not always so expressed in writing, though observed in reading:—

'And certes lord | to abi | den your presence.'

(Knightes Tale, 1. 69.)

By eterne word | to dey | en in | prisoun.' (Ib. 1. 251.)

4. The syllable -en, -er, -eth, -el, -ow (-owe, -ewe), are often said to be contracted, but properly speaking they are slurred over and nearly, but not quite, absorbed by the syllable preceding:

'Weren of his bit | tre sal | të te res wete.'

(Knightes Tale, 1. 422; see l. 2034.) And though that I | no wepen | have in this place.' Thou schuldest nevere | out of | this gro | ve pace.'

With these compare the following:

6

(Ib. l. 733.)

(Ib. 1. 744)

Ful longe wern | his leg | ges, and | ful lene.' (Prol. l. 591.)
Schuln the decla | ren, or ❘ that thou | go henne.'

(Knightes Tale, 1. 1498.) than paas.'

And forth | we riden | a li | tel more
(Prol. 1. 819.)
And won | derly | delyvere, | and gret | of strengthe.' (Ib. 1. 84.)
As any ravens fether | it schon | for blak.' (Ib. 1. 1286.)
'I wot | whether sche | be wom | man or | goddesse.'
And thenketh | here cometh | my mor | tel enemy.'
6 Sche ga | dereth floures | par | ty white | and rede.'
Thus hath this widow | hir li | tel child | i-taught.'

(Ib. l. 243.)

(Ib. 1. 785.)

(Ib. 1. 195.)

(Spec. of Early Eng., p. 361, l. 497.)

A man to light | a candel | at his | lanterne.'

(Cant. Tales, 1. 5961, Wright's edition.)

5. Many words of French origin ending in -ance (-aunce, -ence), -oun, -ie (-ye), -er (-ere), -age, -une, -ure, are often accented on

c Whether was pronounced and often written wher.

the final syllable (not counting the final -e), but at other times the accent is thrown further back, as in modern English: e. g. bataille and bátaille; fortune and fortune, &c.

So also many nouns of A. S. origin, in -ing (-inge, -ynged), as bontyng and huntýng. (See Knightes Tale, ll. 821, 1450.)

6. Many nouns (of French origin) ending in -le, -re, are written, and probably pronounced, as in modern French; e. g. table, temple, miracle, obstacle, propre = tabl', templ', miracl', &c. 7. Final es is a distinct syllable in

(a) The genitive case singular of nouns; as, 'sowe's eeres' (Prol. 1. 556); 'kingës court' (Knightes Tale, 1. 323).

(b) The plural of nouns (see Prol. ll. 1, 5, 9, &c.).

(c) Adverbs; as nonës, elles, twiës.

8. The -ed of past participles is generally sounded; as percëd, entunëd, i-pynched (Prol. ll. 2, 123, 151).

9. The past tense of weak verbs ends in -de or -të; as wentë, cowde, wolde, bledde, fedde, weptë (Prol. 11. 78, 94, 145, 146, 148.)

=

-ede seems to have been pronounced in Chaucer's time as -ed; as lovede loved (Prol. 1. 97); so wypede in l. 133 of Prologue must be pronounced wyped. In Troylus and Criseyde we often find shrightë and sightë written for shrikede and sighede.

10. Final -en is for the most part a distinct syllable in

(a) The infinitive mood; as, to seekën, wendën, yevën, standën (Prol. ll. 13, 21, 487, 772).

(b) Past participles of strong verbs; as holpën, spokën (Prol. ll. 18, 31).

(c) Present and past tenses of plural verbs; as makën, slepën,

d The forms of the present participle in O. E. -ande), and many verbal nouns ended in -ung. changed into the affix -ing.

ended in -inde (-ende, These were gradually

longen, werën (Prol. ll. 9, 10, 12, 29); besekën, makën, losten (Knightes Tale, ll. 60, 77, 78).

(d) Adverbs (originally ending in -on or -an); as withoutën, siththen.

II. Final -e. As the manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales are not always grammatically correct, an attention to the final e is of great importance. The following remarks will enable the reader to understand when and why it is employed.

a. In nouns and adjectives (of A. S. origin) the final e represents one of the final vowels a, u, e; as asse, bane, cuppe A. S. assa, bana, cuppa; herte, mare = A.S. heorte, mare; bale, care, wode A. S. bealu, caru, wudu; dere, drye A. S. deore, dryge, &c.

=

=

-

b. The final e (unaccented) in words of French origin is sounded as in French verse (but it is also frequently silent); as

"Who spryngeth up for joyë but Arcite.'

(Knightes Tale, 1. 1013.)

Ne wette hire fingres in hire sauce depe.' (Prol. 1. 129.)

c. Final -e is a remnant of various grammatical inflexions:

(1) It is a sign of the dative case in nouns; as roote, breethe, heethe (Prol. ll. 2, 5, 6).

ƒ is often changed into v (written u in the MSS.) before e, as nom. wif, lif; dat. wive, live.

bedde, brigge (bridge), &c., are the datives of bed, brig, &c.

(2) In adjectives it marks—

(a) The definite form of the adjective; as 'the yongë sonne' (Prol. 1. 7).

(b) The plural of adjectives; as 'smalë fowles' (Prol. 1. 9).

(c) The vocative case of adjectives; as 'O strongë god' (Knightes Tale, 1. 1515).

(3) In verbs the final -e is a sign

(a) Of the infinitive mood; as, to seekë, tellë (Prol. ll. 17, 38).

(b) Of the gerundial infinitive. See Infinitive Mood, pp. xxxvii. See Prol. I. 134.

(c) Of the past participles of strong verbs; as ironnë, ifallë (Prol. ll. 8, 25); dronkë, brokë (Knightes Tale, ll. 404, 406, 877).

(d) of the past tense (attached to -ed, -d, or -t). See P. xliii.

(e) Of the subjunctive and optative moods. See Prol. 11. 102, 770.

(f) Of the imperative mood 3rd person (properly the 3rd person of the subjunctive mood). See Subjunctive Mood, p. xxxvi.

(4) In adverbs the e is very common :—

(a) It represents an older vowel-ending; as sone (soon), twie, thrie.

(b) It distinguishes adverbs from adjectives; as faire, rightë fairly, rightly.

=

(c) It represents an -en; as aboutë, abovë

(d) -e is a distinct syllable in adverbs ending in -ëly; as lustely, needëly, seeměly, trewëly.

On the other hand, the final e is often silent—

1. In the personal pronouns; as oure, youre, hire, here. 2. In many words of more than one syllable, and in words of Romance origin.

It is elided

1. Before a word commencing with a vowel:

For I mot wepe and weylë whil I lyve.' (Knightes Tale, l. 437.)

'And in the grove at tyme and place iset.' (Ib. 1. 777.)