Early English Alliterative Poems 4
Anon out of þe norþ est þe noys bigynes
_Anon out of the north east the noise begins,_
When boþe breþes[20] con blowe vpon blo watteres
_When both breezes did blow upon blue waters:_
Roȝ rakkes þer ros with rudnyng an-vnder
_Rough clouds there arose with lightning there under,_
Þe see souȝed ful sore, gret selly to here
_The sea sobbed full sore, great marvel to hear;_
Þe wyndes on þe wonne water so wrastel togeder,
_The winds on the wan water so wrestle together,_
Þat þe wawes ful wode waltered so hiȝe
_That the waves full wild rolled so high,_
& efte busched to þe abyme þat breed fyssches
_And again bent to the abyss that bred fishes;_
Durst nowhere for roȝ arest at þe bothem.
_Durst it nowhere for roughness rest at the bottom._
When þe breth & þe brok & þe bote metten
_When the breeze and the brook and the boat met,_
Hit watȝ a ioyles gyn þat Ionas watȝ inne
_It was a joyless engine that Jonah was in,_
For hit reled on round vpon þe roȝe yþes
_For it reeled around upon the rough waves._
Þe bur ber to hit baft þat braste alle her gere
_The bore (wave) bear to it abaft that burst all her gear,_
Þen hurled on a hepe þe helme & þe sterne
_Then hurled on a heap the helm and the stern,_
Furste to murte[21] mony rop & þe mast after
_First marred[21] many a rope and the mast after._
Þe sayl sweyed on þe see, þenne suppe bihoued
_The sail swung on the sea, then sup behoved_
Þe coge of þe colde water, & þenne þe cry ryses
_The boat of the cold water, and then the cry rises;_
Ȝet coruen þay þe cordes & kest al þer-oute
_Yet cut they the cords and cast all there-out._
Mony ladde þer forth-lep to laue & to kest
_Many a lad there forth leapt to lave and to cast,_
Scopen out þe scaþel water, þat fayn scape wolde
_To scoop out the scathful water that fain escape would;_
For be monnes lode neuer so luþer, þe lyf is ay swete
_For be man’s lot never so bad, the life is aye sweet._ --(p. 93.)
The writer, in concluding the story of Jonah, exhorts his readers to be
“patient in pain and in joy.”
For he þat is to rakel to renden his cloþeȝ,
Mot efte sitte with more vn-sounde to sewe hem togeder.
_For he that is too rash to rend his clothes,
Must afterwards sit with more unsound (worse ones)
to sew them together._ (p. 104.)
[Footnote 20: Eurus and Aquilo.]
[Footnote 21: ? = to-marte.]
This brief outline of the poems, together with the short extracts from
them, will, it is hoped, give the reader stomach to digest the whole. It
is true that they contain many “uncouth” terms; but this will be their
highest merit with the student of language, as is shown, by Dr. Guest’s
testimony, that they are “for several reasons curious, and especially so
to the philologist.”[22] To those readers who do not appreciate the
importance of such a very large addition to the vocabulary of our Early
Language as is made by these treatises, let Sir Frederic Madden’s
opinion of their literary merit suffice. That distinguished editor says,
of the author’s “poetical talent, the pieces contained in the MS. afford
unquestionable proofs; and the description of the change of the seasons,
the bitter aspect of winter, the tempest which preceded the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the sea storm occasioned by the wickedness of
Jonas, _are equal to any similar passages_ in Douglas or Spenser.”[23]
Moreover, as to the hardness of the language--inasmuch as the subject
matter of the poem will be familiar to all who may take up the present
volume, the difficulty on the word-point will not be such as to deter
the reader from understanding and appreciating the production of an old
English poet, who--though his very name, unfortunately, has yet to be
discovered--may claim to stand in the foremost rank of England’s early
bards.
The Editor of the present volume has endeavoured to do justice to his
author by giving the text, with some few exceptions, as it stands in the
manuscript.[24] The contractions of the scribe have been expanded and
printed in italics, a plan which he hopes to see adopted in every future
edition of an early English author.
The Glossary has been compiled not only for the benefit of the reader,
but for the convenience of those who are studying the older forms of our
language, and who know how valuable a mere index of words and references
sometimes proves.
In conclusion, I take the present opportunity of acknowledging the kind
assistance of Sir Frederic Madden and E. A. Bond, Esq., of the British
Museum, who, on every occasion, were most ready to render me any help in
deciphering the manuscript, in parts almost illegible, from which the
poems in the present volume are printed.
[Footnote 22: History of English Rhythms, vol. i. p. 159.]
[Footnote 23: Syr Gawayn, ed. Madden, p. 302.]
[Footnote 24: Wherever the Text has been altered, the reading of
the MS. will be found in a foot-note.]
REMARKS UPON THE DIALECT AND GRAMMAR.
Higden, writing about the year A.D. 1350, affirms, distinctly, the
existence of three different forms of speech or dialects, namely,
Southern, Midland, and Northern;[25] or, as they are sometimes
designated, West-Saxon, Mercian, and Northumbrian. Garnett objects to
Higden’s classification, and considers it certain “that there were in
his (Higden’s) time, and probably long before, five distinctly marked
forms, which may be classed as follows:-- 1. Southern or standard
English, which in the fourteenth century was perhaps best spoken in Kent
and Surrey by the body of the inhabitants. 2. Western English, of which
traces may be found from Hampshire to Devonshire, and northward as far
as the Avon. 3. Mercian, vestiges of which appear in Shropshire,
Staffordshire, and South and West Derbyshire, becoming distinctly marked
in Cheshire, and still more so in South Lancashire. 4. Anglian, of which
there are three sub-divisions--the East Anglian of Norfolk and Suffolk;
the Middle Anglian of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and East Derbyshire;
and the North Anglian of the West Riding of Yorkshire--spoken most
purely in the central part of the mountainous district of Craven.
5. Northumbrian,” spoken throughout the Lowlands of Scotland,
Northumberland, Durham, and nearly the whole of Yorkshire.
Garnett’s division is based upon peculiarities of pronunciation, which
will be found well marked in the _modern_ provincial dialects, and not
upon any essential differences of inflexion that are to be found in our
Early English manuscripts.[26]
The distinction between Southern and Western English was not at all
required, as the Kentish Ayenbite of Inwyt (A.D. 1340) exhibits most of
the peculiarities that mark the Chronicles of Robert of Gloucester
(Cottonian MS. Calig. A. xi.) as a Southern (or West-Saxon) production.
The Anglian of Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire may be
referred to one group with the Mercian of Lancashire, as varieties of
the Midland dialect.
A careful examination of our early literature leads us to adopt Higden’s
classification as not only a convenient but a correct one.
There is, perhaps, no better test for distinguishing these dialects from
one another than the verbal inflexions of the plural number in the
present tense, indicative mood.
To state this test in the briefest manner, we may say that the Southern
dialect employs _-eth_, the Midland _-en_, and the Northumbrian _-es_ as
the inflexion for all persons of the plural present indicative:[27]--
Southern. Midland. Northern.
1st pers. Hop-_eth_. Hop-_en_. Hop-_es_. (we) hope.
2nd „ Hop-_eth_. Hop-_en_. Hop-_es_. (ye) hope.
3rd „ Hop-_eth_. Hop-_en_. Hop-_es_. (they) hope.
It is the constant and systematic employment of these inflexions, and
not their occasional use that must be taken as the criterion of
dialectical varieties.
In a pure specimen of the Southern dialect, we never find the
Northumbrian _-es_. We do occasionally meet with the Midland _-en_, but
only in those works written in localities where, from their geographical
position, Southern and Midland forms would be intelligible.[28] We might
look in vain for the Southern plural _-eth_ in a pure Northumbrian
production, but might be more successful in finding the Midland _-en_ in
the third person plural; as, “thay _arn_” for “they _ar_”, or “thay
_er_.”
In a work composed in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, or Lancashire, we
should be sure to find the occasional use of the Northumbrian plural
_-es_.[29]
The inflexions of the verb in the singular are of value in enabling us
to discriminate between the several varieties of the Midland
dialect.[30] The Southern and Midland idioms (with the exception of the
West-Midland of Lancashire, Cheshire, etc.) conjugated the verb in the
singular present indicative, as follows:--
1st pers. hope (I) hope.
2nd „ hop-_est_ (thou) hopest.
3rd „ hop-_eth_ (he) hopes.
The West-Midland, corresponding to Garnett’s Mercian, instead of _-est_
and _-eth_ employs the inflexions that are so common in the so-called
Northumbrian documents of the ninth and tenth centuries:--
1st pers. hope (I) hope.
2nd „ hop-_es_ (thou) hopest.
3rd „ hop-_es_ (he) hopes.
The Northumbrian dialect takes _-es_ in all three persons; but mostly
drops it in the first person.
The peasantry of Cheshire and Lancashire still preserve the verbal
inflexions which prevailed in the fourteenth century, and conjugate
their verbs in the present indicative according to the following
model:-- Singular. Plural.
1st pers. hope hopen.
2nd „ hopes hopen.
3rd „ hopes hopen.
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