105. 106. 107. 108. Full boisterously hath said her this sentence: "I may not do as every ploughman may: "Be strong of heart, and void anon her place, * Shaping her riden in hir. Her and hir each their. A. S. hira, heora, of them (genitive, or pos., plu.)-Courage, disposition.-Lore, learning, knowledge.-Boisterously (Ice. bistr; D. byster, stormy; O. Eng. boistous, furious; boist, swelling; akin to boast; W. bwyst, wild, savage; bwystus; Low Ger. biester, frowning, dark, ugly; Fr. bis, swarthy).Said her, said to her.—I had enough, etc., I was well enough pleased to have you as my wife. -For your goodness, on account of your goodness.-Soothfastness, truth. See soothly, Index. For -ness, see homeliness, Index.—Avise, observe, reflect.—Eke, also. See Index.--Pope (A. S., Lat., It., Fr., Ger., D., Dan., Sp. papa; Gг. пáппа, пáña, father; O. Eng. pape), the bishop of Rome, the chief dignitary of the Catholic Church. Pope is here dissyl.-Rancor for to slake, to appease rancor. Rancor (Lat. rancor, rancidity, an old grudge, rancor; Fr. rancune), settled malignity.-Trewely (A. S. treowe, triwe, faithful; Ger. treu, getreu; A. S. treowian, to believe, trust), truly. Trisyl.-Will you say, will say to you.--Void (Lat. vid-uus, separate, widowed; Fr. vide. Vid, the Lat., is the same as in vid-ēre, to separate with the eye, to see. A. S. weoduwe, widuwe; Ger. wittwe; Lat. vid-ua; Eng. wid-ow), make empty, quit. See wost, Index.-Thilke, that same. Give root, root-meaning, etc., of each word in this line. What power over foreign princes had the Pope in Chaucer's time? Was there then in England or on the Continent any form of Protestantism? What were Chaucer's religious sympathies? With what prominent English nobleman was he associated? And thus in great noblesse and with glad cheer. The sound of gl, as in glad, denotes smoothness or silent motion. E. g., Ger. glatt, smooth, even; A. S. glad; Eng. glide, glib. This signification probably arises by analogy from the smooth sound. Other examples? 109. 110. 111. 112. Take it again, I grant it of my grace. 'My Lord," quoth she, "I wot and wist alway, I ne held me never digne in no mannere I never held me lady ne mistress, But humble servant to your worthiness, "That ye so long of your benignity That thank I God and you, to whom I pray And with him dwell unto my life's end. "There I was fostered as a child full small, Till I be dead my life there will I lead, A widow clean in body, heart, and all. * Returneth. Impera. plu.-Even heart, equanimity.-Rede, advise. St. 86.--Adventure (Lat. adventurus, about to come; fr. advenire, to come on or to), hap, chance. Wist, knew. See wost, Index.-Betwixen (A. S. be, and twyg, two; Lat. duo. See tway, st. 60), between.-Poverty (Lat. paupertas, poverty; pauper, poor; O. Fr. poverte; Fr. pauvrete). The 2d syl. is acc.; probably because it is so in the Lat.-It is no nay. It cannot be denied.Digne, worthy.--Chamberere (Gr. κaμápa, Lat. camera, arched roof; Fr. chambre, chamber), chambermaid.There, where.-Wisly, certainly. He my soule glad, may he gladden my soul! Soule, dissyl.-Han (0. Eng. plu.), have.-Nobley (Lat. no-scere, to know; nob-ilis, well known, famous, noble; Fr. noblesse, nobility. See nempyned, st. 79), distinction.-Foryeld (A. S. for, forth, away, fr. faran, to go. For, as an inseparable preposition, denotes,-(1) simple removal; as in forbid, to bid away; forsake, to seek away, desert; (2) removal and disappearance; as, forgive, to give out of sight; forget, to let go out of mind; (3) removal and going wrong; as, forswear; (4) removal with added notion of completeness; as, forlorn, utterly lost; (5) the same as simple for; as, forsooth, for truth, in truth; (6) fore; as, forward. Yield is A. S. gildan, geldan, to pay, yield), repay.-Wend, go, wend. See went, Index.-There, where. Unto my father gladly will I wend. The sound of ƒ in father (corresponding by Grimm's Law to p or ph in Lat., and T or in Gr.), from the ease with which it is enounced, is employed to denote one of the first objects that interest the child. E. g., Sans. pitar, Zendish paiter, Pers. padar, Gr. пárηp, Lat. pater, Russ. batia, Ger. vater, Eng. father, and papa, Turk. peder. 113. 114. 115. 116. For sith* I gave to you my maydenhede "And of your newe wife, God of his grace "But thereas ye me proffer such dowaire "But soth is said, algate I find it true, Love is not old, as when that it is new. That ever, in word or work, I shall repent * Sith, since.-Maydenhede (A. S. mag, a boy; magedh, magden, a girl), maidenhood See womanhood, st. 27.-Trewe, true. Dissyl. See trewely, st. 107.--It is no drede, there i no (occasion to) fear. See drad, st. 2.-Schilde (A. S. scild; Ger. and Dan. schild, shield fr. Ice. and Sw. skyla, to cover, defend), shield, forbid.-Make (A. S. macian; Ger. machen; Dan mage, to make, frame, fashion; A. S. maca, gemaca, gemacca, mate, husband, companion; Ice maki, an equal, husband; Dan. mage, equal, mate, match, spouse; O. Eng. macche), a companion a mate.--Yelden, yield. See foryelde, st. 111.-Gon, go.-Thereas, whereas.--Dowaire (Fr douer, to endow; douaire; Lat. dotare, to endow, portion; fr. dos, a dowry, gift; fr. do, dare, t‹ give, Gr. Sídwμi), dowry.—Soth, sooth, true, truly. See soothly, Index.--Algate (A. S. álgeats, fr call, al, all, and geat, passage, door, way; Ger. gasse, path; Ice. and D. gat, opening), always.— For none adversity, etc., for no adversity (i. e., notwithstanding any adversity, even to the extent) of dying in this case, shall it be that, etc. The student's attention is called to the touching pathos of the last three lines of the preceding stanza. The whole speech is remarkable.-Weed (A. S. wæd, a garment; O. Fries. wede; fr. Goth. vid-an, to bind), clothing. O goode God! How gentle and how kind. The sound of o in God, being a short sound, is more appropriate to express littleness than greatness. There is a sense of congruity in the enuncia tion of the word jot; but of incongruity in uttering the word God. Such an exception proves the rule. This sound sometimes denotes surprise or harshness. Examples? 117. 120. 121. 122. 123. And here again your clothing I restore, 'The remnant of your jewels ready be That I smokles* out of your palace went." "The smok," quoth he, "that thou hast on thy back, The folk her folwen weeping in hir way, For, out of doubt, this olde poore man And voiden her as soon as ever he might. Agains his daughter hastily goeth he; * Smokles (A. S. smocc; Ice. smokkr, chemise. As to -les, see reccheles, Index), without under-garment.—Unnethes, with difficulty. See Index.--Ruth (A. S. hreowan, to rue; Ger. reuen), sorrow, compassion.-Fare (A. S. and Goth. faran, to go; Ger. fahren; Ice. and Sw. fara; Dan. fare), gone.-Folwen (A. S. folgian; Ger. folgen, to follow), follow.-Drey (A. S. dryg, dryge, drege, dry; D. droog; Ger. trocken), dry.--Time. Dissyl.-Shope, shaped. See schope, Index.-Lives (A. S. libban, to live; libbe, surviving; lif, life; Ger. leben, to live), live, living.-Courage, inclination.-Disparage (Lat. dispar, unequal; dis, asunder; par, equal), a disparagement. Acc. 1st and 3d syl.-Voiden, make empty, remove, cause to quit. See void, Index.-Agains (A. S. agen, ongegn; Ger. entgegen, against; O. Eng. agens; A. S. to-geanes, to genes, toward, against; Fries. aien, agen; D. tegens. Agains is here probably the genitive case of an old noun), towards, to meet. To illustrate this origin of agains, or against, we may remark, that since, amongst, betwixt, amidst, and whilst are also old genitives. See Gibbs' Teutonic Etymology. The smok, quoth he, that thou hast on thy back. The sound of a in hast and back, as well as that of a in half, being one of the very earliest and easiest, stands at the head of the Indo-European and some other languages, and often seems to be used where no reason exists for any other special Vowel. 124. 125. 126. And with her olde coat,* as it might be, Thus with her father for a certain space No wonder is, for in her great estate Discreet and prideless, aye honorable, And to her husband ever meek and stable. Men speak of Job, and most of his humblesse, As women can, ne can be half so true As women ben, but it befall of new. *Coat, frock, gown.-Fele (A. S. fela, fele; Ger. viel, many), many.-Beforn (A. S. be-; Goth. bi-; O. Ger. pi-; Ger., Sw., Dan., D., be-, originally the same as by, and denoting nearness of place; sometimes giving emphasis, as bedeck, bedaub. See note on betide, st. 4; and see Teutonic Etymology, by Prof. Gibbs. Often, as here, the original meaning of the prefix is lost. Fore is A. S. for, fore; Ger. für, vor; Lat. pro; Gr. πpó, in front; A. S. beforan; O. Eng. beforn; Ger. bevor), in front, before.-Her was done, to her was done.-Ghost (A. S. gast, breath; O. Eng. gast; Ice. geysa, to be impelled; whence geyser, a spouting spring of boiling water), spirit.-Pompe. Dissyl.-Realty (0. Fr. roial, real. The ending -ty is fr. Lat. -itas, which is much used in Lat. to form abstract substantives), royalty. See real, st. 31.-Aye (Gr. ácí, ever; alúv, an age; Lat. ævum; Goth. aivs; Ice. æfi ; A. S. awa, aa, a, always), always.— Humblesse (Lat. humilitas, humility; humus, the ground; Gr. xaμaí, on the ground; xaμadós), humility.-Clerkes (Lat. clericus, a clergyman; Gr. kλŋpɩkós, a priest; kλîpos, a lot, the clergy, to whom lands were allotted for their support; A. S. clerc, cleric, cleroc, priest, clerk; afterwards any educated person, for the ministers of religion were almost the only literary men), scholars.Lite (A. S. lyt, lytel), little.--Him acquite, acquit himself, conduct himself.—But it befall of new, unless it happen recently. The word ben, in this line, illustrates the O. Eng. plural in -en. So we have, four lines before, praisen, and, in st. 121, folwen and cursen. The loss of this ending and the dropping of inflections generally, accompany the transition from A. S. to Eng. Ne of her high estate no remembrance. The sound of m in remembrance, being highly internal, made with closed lips, is exceedingly suggestive of subjectivity, belongs to one's own consciousness, and is indicative of important mental operations. E. g., Sans. man, to think; Gr. unvíw; Lat. moneo, I remind; memini, I remember; Ger. mahnen, meinen, Eng. mean, to intend, imply; Lat. mens, Eng. mind. Hence, perhaps, the word man, A. S. mann, mon, means the thinker. Other examples? |