Early English Alliterative Poems 8

Early English Alliterative Poems 8

Class II.

Falle, fell, fallen.

Fonge (take), feng, fongen.

Growe, grew, growen.

Hange, honge, heng, hangen, hongen.

Knowe, knawe, knew, knawen, knowen.

Schape (make), schep, schapen.

Walke, welk, walken.

Wasche, wesch, waschen.

 

Class III.

Drawe, draȝe, droȝ, drawen.

Fare (go), for, faren.

Laȝe (laugh), loȝ, laȝen.

Stande, stonde, stod, standen.

Slaye, slow, slew, slayn.

Take, tok, tane, tone.

Wake, wok, waken.

 

+Division II.+

 

Present. Preterite. Passive Participle.

 

Class I.

Biginne, bigon, bigonnen, bigunnen.

Breste, brast, borst, brusten, bursten.

Climbe, clamb, clomb, clumben.

Drinke, dronk, drank, drunken, dronken.

Finde, fand, fond, funden.

Fiȝte, faȝt, feȝt, foȝten.

Helpe, halp, holpen.

Kerve (cut), carf, corven.

Melte, malt, molten.

Renne (run), ran, runnen.

Ringe, rong, rungen, rongen.

Singe, song, sang, sungen.

Steke, stac, stoken.

Sterve (die), starf, storven.

Werpe (throw), warp, worpen.

Win, wan, won, wonnen, wunnen.

Ȝelde (yield), ȝald, ȝolden.

 

Class II.

Bide (abide), bod, biden.

Bite, bot, biten.

Drive, drof, driven.

Fine (cease), fon, ----

Glide, glod, gliden.

Ride, rod, riden.

Rise, ros, risen.

Schine, schon, ----

Slide, slod, sliden.

Smite, smot, smiten.

Trine (go), tron, ----

 

Class III.

Fly, fleȝ, flegh, flaȝ, flowen.

See, seȝ, segh, syȝ, seen.

Stiȝe, steȝe, steȝ ----

 

+Anomalous Verbs.+

 

Can, pret. couthe.

Dare, „ dorste.

May, „ miȝte.

Mot, „ moste.

Oȝe (owe), „ oȝte.

Schal, „ scholde, schulde.

Thar, „ thurte.

Wote, „ wiste.

Wille, „ wolde.

 

_Schal_ (shall) in the second person singular is _schal_ or _schalt_;

so, too, we occasionally find _wyl_ for _wylt_.

 

The present plural of _schal_ is _schul_, _schulen_, or _schyn_.

 

The verb _to be_ is thus conjugated:--

 

INDICATIVE MOOD.

 

PRESENT TENSE. PAST TENSE.

 

Singular.

(I) am. (I) was, watȝ.

(Thou) art. (Thou) was, watȝ.

(He) is, bes, betȝ. (He) was, watȝ.

 

Plural.

(We) arn, are, ar. (We) wern, were.

(Ȝe) arn, are, ar. (Ȝe) wern, were.

(Thay) arn, are, ar. (Thay) wern, were.

 

The verbs _be_, _have_, _wille_, have negative forms; as, _nam_ = am

not; _nar_ = are not; _nas_ = was not; _naf_ = have not; _nade_ = had

not; _nyl_ = will not.

 

The following contractions are occasionally met with: _bos_ = behoves;

_byhod_ = behoved; _ha_ = have; _ma_ = make; _man_ = make (pl.) _matȝ_

(_mas_) = makes; _ta_ = take; _tatȝ_ (= _tas_) = takes; _tane_, _tone_ =

taken.

 

[Footnote 62: _Schonied_ occurs for _schoned_. No Southern writer

would retain, I think, the _i_ in the preterite.]

 

[Footnote 63: Garnett asserts that the present participle in

_-ande_ is “a _certain criterion_ of a Northern dialect subsequent

to the thirteenth century.” It is never found in any Southern

writer, but is common to many Midland dialects. Capgrave employs

it frequently in his Chronicles. It is, however, no safe criterion

by itself.]

 

[Footnote 64: The final _e_ is often dropped.]

 

[Footnote 65: In _The Wohunge of Ure Lauerd_ the _e_ is constantly

omitted.]

 

 

V. +Adverbs.+

 

The Norse forms _hethen_, _quethen_ (_whethen_),[66] and _thethen_, seem

to have been known to the West-Midland dialect as well as the Saxon

forms _hence_ (_hennes_, _henne_), _whence_ (_whennes_), _thence_

(_thennes_), etc. The adverbs _in-blande_ (together), _in-lyche_

(alike), _in-mydde_ (amidst), _in-monge_ (amongst), are due, perhaps, to

Scandinavian influence.

 

[Footnote 66: “Syr Gawayn and the Grene Knyȝt.”]

 

 

VI. +Prepositions.+

 

The preposition _from_ never occurs in the following poems; it is

replaced by _fro_, _fra_ (Northumbrian), O.N. _frá_.

 

 

VII. +Conjunctions.+

 

The conjunction _if_ takes a negative form; as, _nif_ = if not, unless.

 

 

 

 

DEscRIPTION OF THE MANUscRIPT USED IN THE PRESENT VOLUME.[67]

 

 

+Cotton MS. Nero A. x.+ A small quarto volume, consisting of three

different MSS. bound together, which originally had no connection with

each other. Prefixed is an imperfect list of contents in the

hand-writing of James, the Bodley Librarian.

 

The first portion consists of a panegyrical oration in Latin by Justus

de Justis, on John Chedworth, archdeacon of Lincoln, dated at Verona

16th July, 1468. It occupies thirty-six folios, written on vellum, and

is the original copy presented by the author.

 

The second portion is that we are more immediately concerned with. It is

described by James as “_Vetus poema Anglicanum, in quo sub insomnii

figmento multa ad religionem et mores spectantia explicantur_,” and this

account, with some slight changes, is adopted by Smith and Planta, in

their catalogues; both of whom assign it to the fifteenth century. It

will appear, by what follows, that no less than four distinct poems have

been confounded together by these writers.

 

This portion of the volume extends from fol. 37 to fol. 126, inclusive,

and is written by one and the same hand, in a small, sharp, irregular

character, which is often, from the paleness of the ink, and the

contractions used, difficult to read. There are no titles or rubrics,

but the divisions are marked by large initial letters of blue,

flourished with red, and several illuminations, coarsely executed, serve by way of illustration, each of which occupies a page.