In thír seven er sere materes drawen, In Inglise tung that may be cald For if a men it rede and undirstonde wele, And til right way of rewel bryng it bilyfe,d e And til luf and yhernyng of heven blis, 9558. And to amende alle that he has done mys. Pub. of Philological Society, p. 257, 1864. 27. Alliterative Poems of the Fourteenth Century. From a poem entitled Patience. The following passage shows great poetic genius, and is 'equal to any similar passages in Douglas or Spenser.'s Anon out of the north est the noys bigynes Anon out of the north east the noise begins When bothe brethesh con blowe vpon the watteres When both breezes gan blow upon the waters Rog rakkes thar ros with rudnyng an-vnder Rough clouds there rose with thunder there under The sea soughed ful sore, great marvel to hear The wyndes on the wonne water so wrastel togeder, The winds in the wan water so wrestle together, That the wawes ful wode waltered so hige That the waves full mad rolled so high And efte busched to the abyme that breed fyssches Durst nowhere for rog arest at the bothem. When the breth and the brok and the bote metten To or for. b Ignorant. Quickly. • Yearning, desire. h Eurus and Aquilon. Hit watz a joyles gyn that Jonas watg inne It was a joyless engine that Jonah was in For hit reled on round vpon the roge ythes. The bur ber to hit baft that braste alle her gere, Furste to murte mony rop and the mast after The sayl sweyed on the see, thenne suppe bihoued The coge of the colde water, and thenne the cry ryses Mony ladde ther forth lep to laue and to kest Scopen out the scathel water that fayn scape wolde, The Writing on the Wall. In the Mercian, or West-Midland dialect. From a poem called Cleanness, or Purity; a collection of Biblical stories enforcing holiness of life. In the palays principale vpon the playn wowe, In contrary of the candlestik that clerest hit shyned, Ther apered a paume, with poyntel in fyngres, None other forme bot a fust faylaynde the wryst, The use of the participial form faylaynde is an evidence of a northern origin, or rather of distance from strong Norman influence. This last tended to confound all such forms and pronounce them ing. On the other hand, palays, principale, purtrayed, lettres, and other words, are all of Norman origin. Words purely Saxon are just as marked. Pared on the parget, purtrayed lettres Pared on the plaister, pourtrayed letters. When that bolde Baltazar blusched to that neue Such a dazzling dread dashed to his heart, That al falewed his face, and fayled the chere; The stronge strok of the stonde strayned his ioyntes, His cnes cachcheg to close and cluchches his hommes, And he with plat-tyng his paumes displayes his lers, And romyes as a rad ryth that roreg for drede, And rasped on the rog woge runisch saueg. A sea now occupies the place of the four cities. It is a stinking pool, The Dead Sea. 1015. Ther faure citees wern set, nov is a see called, And is called the Nothing may live in it. Lead floats on it, and a feather sinks. Land watered by • Drubby, dirty. b Blue, livid. е That ay is drouya and dym and ded in hit kynde, For hit is brod and bothemleg and bitter as the galle, For lay ther-on a lump of led and hit on loft fleteg. Shal neuer grene ther-on growe, gresse ne wod nawther © Blubbering, foaming. To nigh, to approach. • Destroyed. f Smell. 8 Cumbers, troubles, destroys. it never bear grass or weed. A man cannot be drowned in it. The clay clinging to it is accursed, as alum, alkatran, sulphur, etc. Which fret the flesh and fester the bones. On the shores grow trees bearing fair fruits, Which when broken or bitten taste like ashes. All these are tokens of wickedness and vengeance. God loves the pure in heart. If any schalke to be schent b wer schowued ther-inne, And, as hit is corsed of kynde and hit coosteg als, f Soufre sour, and saundyuer and other such mony; Bot And if he louyes clene layk that is oure lorde ryche, Strive to be 1056. Clerer counseyl, counsayl con I non, bot that thou clenɛ clean. a Fellow. worthe. Early English Alliterative Poems. Cleanness, p. 69. b Destroyed, shoved. • Miserably. d Loch, deep place. • Suffer. ↑ Waves? B Sticky. ↳ Spice-mongers. 1 Half, a shore. J Buds forth. * Hued, coloured. " When. Withering, dry. P People. 9 Beautiful. Play, amusement. D 23. Robert Langlande, A.D. 1360. The Preaching of Reason. The kyng and hise knyghtes To the kirke wente To here matyns of the day Thanne waked I of my wynkyng, Ac er 1 hadde faren a furlong, That I ne myghte ferther a foot And so b I badlede on my bedes And how Reson gan arayen hym And with a cros afore the kyng C He preved that thise pestilences Were for pure synne, And the south-westrene wynd On Saterday at even Was pertlichef for pure prile And for ne point ellis; Pyries and plum-trees Were puffed to the erthe, (Handbook, pars. 19, 42, 115.) In alliterative metre. In ensaumple that the segges↳ Of this matere I myghte He bad Wastour go werche, And wynnen his wastyng And thanne he chargede chap men To chastigen hir1 children. .. My sire seide so to me Qui parcit virga, odit filium. The Vision of Piers Ploughman, Passus v. |