And if it hap a man be in disease, Lo, here what gentleness these women have, INTRODUCTION TO THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF." WHEN that Phoebus his chair" of gold so high And in the Bulls was entered certainly; With newé green, and maketh1o smallé flowers 1 Exerts. 2 Endeavour. Our rudeness being an obstacle to our knowing it. For the etymology and applications of for, see Tooke and the dictionaries. Health; the cognates are hail, hale, whole. Compassion; from rue, (Ang. Sax. Ireowan, to lament); the same analogy exists in true, truth. Rue, the herb, said to be from Puuv (rucin), to deliver; “quia, ut Dicscorides docet, valetudinem conservat."—(Vossius.) The Sun-god. The names of the Greek deities are said to be of uncertain etymology. Phabus is traced both to aw (phao), I shine; and Ooßs (phobeo), I terrify. The name Apollo is said to be from arodvμ (apollumi), I destroy. This is a frequent image in the elder poetry; so Ben Johnson, in the Hymn to Cyn"Seated in thy silver chair, thia; State in wonted manner keep."—(Cynthia's Revels.) The second sign of the zodiac. 10 There seems a confusion of nominatives here between Phabus, showers, and plain. 11 Be was formerly used indicatively; we employ it now only in the subjunctive or conditional sense. 12 Supply the relative which. 13 A person; from Ang. Sax. witan, to know; hence wight is a being that knows and feels. It is an appellation of warriors in Scottish poetry,- Wallace wight." It is often used as an epithet of contempt or ridicule. INTRODUCTION TO THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF. 15 And so I, gladé of the season sweet Was happid1 thus; upon a certain night Wherefore I marvell'd greatly of myself In which were oakés great, straight as a line, Which, as me thought, was a right pleasant sight; And at the last a path of little brede For it forgrowén10 was with grass and weed, Thought I," this path some whider goth, pardé !"12 Situated by fortune. 2 Was not. 3 Had not. The dawn is called the " day-spring." Job xxxviii. 12.; Luke i. 78. The indefinite article is often in plural expressions used in a collective sense; —" a thousand things," "a few names," "a many thousand warlike French."-Shakesp.; and the collective word seems to have a tendency to assume the singular shape; as, ten fish, thirty horse, eight foot. At a convenient distance; well is often used as an adverb of extent or degree: good is taken in the same sense; bien is used similarly in French. During; at any time selected from all the year. Cognates; Gothic, af; Lat. ab; Greek, asro, ap. This is beautiful and natural. • Breadth. 10 For, (prefix, German, ver); for, as a prefix, is sometimes privative, sometimes intensive; it is often used in the latter sense in Scotch, ," forfeuchten."-Burns. "And the heavy ploughman snores All with weary task fordone."-Shakesp. Midsummer's Night's Dream. 12 Fr. par-dieu. 11 Bencath; the Scotch form is aneath. And so I followed it till it me brought To a right pleasant herbir1 well ywrought, Which that benchéd was, and with turvés3 new Within, in feres so well and cunningly, So well ydone; for he that took the cure11 1 Arbour. 3 Plural of turf. THE HOUSE OF FAME. AND eke this house hath of entreès In summer, when that they ben green; 15 2 This double relative is still used in the vulgar dialect. $ Went round; surrounded: yede, part. yode, to go. 6 Applied to the great maple tree, though there is little resemblance between it and the oriental sycamore. 7 Eglantine. "Skinner and Junius both say rosa sylvestris, (wild rose.) Warton asserts the eglantine and the sweet-briar to be the same plant; and that by "twisted eglantine," Milton therefore meant the "honey-suckle."-Richardson. Together; in company: fere signifies also a companion, an associate, a lover. "Here's my hand, my trusty fere."-Burns. "Fresh feres will dry the bright blue eyes." -Byron. Chaucer uses the word in both these senses. The alleged etymology in Ang. Sax. is faran, to go. It might seem to have some connection with friend. All along. 10 Have seen. This expression is retained in the vulgar dialect. 11 Care, (Lat. cura.) 12 (From Ang. Sax. treowa, faithful); hence true, truth. 13 Exerted his endeavour. 14 Surpass all those. 15 The sequel of this imagery and pictures. 16 Are; plur. of be. ii. Sc. 3. Tho' is also an adverb meaning then. description is very beautiful. The whole poem is full of delightful It seems to have suggested Edwin's vision in Beattie's" Minstrel." "With every thing that pretty bin."-Shakesp. Cymbeline, Act 17 See infinitive. 18 Holes; apertures; retained in this sense in Scotch. Bole is also the trunk of a tree; Armenian bole; a species of earth. 19 A specific time, as noontide; eventide; (German zeit): applied to the periods of the ocean's ebb and flow. "Alike to him was time or tide,”-Scott; i. e. duration or specific period. i. c. epochs of duration. rivatives. "Thou art the ruins of the noblest man That ever lived in the tides of time.” Shakesp. Jul. Cas. Act iii. Sc. 2. The common reading is "tide of times." Tidy, betide, are de And by night each one is unshette ;1 8 Of fire, and divers accident." MERCY. BUT, sith 'tis so there is a trespass done, What should Physic do but if Sickness were? 1 Unshut. 2 Hinder. (Arg. Sax. lettan); let, to permit, (Ang. Sax. laetan); let, applied to leasing of property, is used in the same sense as the Latin, locare. 3 Go. Rown, roune, or round, to whisper: alleged etymology, "to mutter like a Runic enchanter." Jamieson. 5 Journeys. (Fr. voyage. Lat. via.) Boding; prognostication; "Nay, such abodes ben not worth an haw."-Chauc. Troilus and Cressida. (Ang. Sax. bodian.) Lies. Lose was anciently written lese: "For lesing of richesse and liberty."-Chauc. Monk's Tale; lose is substantially the same word with loose. Lesing is also lying; retained in the law phrase "leasing-making." Cheapness; plenty. (Ang. Sax. cyppan, to traffic; German, kauffen ;)-coft, bought, (Scotch.)" Formerly good-chcap, and bad-cheap, i. e. well or ill bought, were the modes of expression. The modern fashion uses the word only for good-cheap."-Tooke. Cheap, a market, as Eastchcap, Cheapside;-to chaffer, to bargain;-chapman, a purchaser. Compare the French phrase, à bon marché. "This passage is an example of Chaucer's nervous simplicity of style; of the facility with which his imagination crowds objects into his pictures; and of his usual unskilfulness in grouping and arrangement. The original of the House of Fame" is Ovid, Metamph. xii. 39. See also Pope's "Temple of Fame," fouuded on Chaucer's poem. 10 Unless or without. B What should Mercy do, but1 Trespass go afore? JOHN GOWER. GOWER was a gentleman of property, a contemporary of Chaucer, but several years his junior. The "grave and sententious turn" of his poetry earned for him, from Chaucer and others, the appellation of the Moral Ġower. His "capital work" is in three parts; Speculum Meditantis, (in French rhyme ;) Vox Clamantis, (in Latin Elegiacs); and Confessio Amantis, (in English, Octo-syllabics.) He was a man of varied learning; but far inferior to Chaucer in the natural qualities of a true poet. "By a cultivation of his native language," says Warton, "he laboured to reform its irregularities, and to establish an English style. In these respects he resembled his friend and contemporary Chaucer; but he participated no considerable portion of Chaucer's spirit, imagination, and elegance. His language is tolerably perspicuous, and his versification often harmonious." The following extract from the Confessio Amantis, Warton terms "no bad specimen of Gower's most poetical manner." It appears, he says, to be an imitation of Chaucer's Flower and Leaf, vid. supra, p. 14. ROSIPHELE'S VISION OF LADIES. 1 Unless or without. 2 In little estimation. 3 About to be punished. Supple she. but the nominative is understood in the preceding her. Whither ridest thou under this groon shaw."-(Chaucer.) This form of the word is familiar in Scotch. |