book ii

. ll. 894-6.

5. _Nis noon_ = _ne is noon_, is not none, i.e. is no one. This use of the double negative, as in modern provincial English, is extremely common, and need not be again remarked upon. Cf. ll. 7, 15, &c.

9. 'For there may no man prove it by actual trial.'

10. _Leve_, believe. Notice the numerous senses of _leve_, viz. (1) believe; (2) leave, _v._; (3) grant; (4) dear; (5) leave, _sb._; (6) leaf (dat. case).

11. _Wel more thing_, many more things. The word _thing_ was originally neuter, and long remained unchanged in the plural. In l. 23, we have _thinges_. The M.E. _more_ usually means 'greater'; it is seldom used (as here) in the modern sense.

12. _Men shal nat_, people ought not to. The use of _men_ in the general sense of 'people' is extremely common in Chaucer, and the student should notice that it usually takes a _singular_ verb, when thus used. With ll. 12, 13 cf. Hamlet, i. 5. 166.

13. _But-if_, unless, except. Great attention should be paid to the exact sense of these apparently less important words. Frequently the whole sense of a sentence is missed, even by editors, owing to inattention to their use.

14. 'For, God knoweth, a thing is none the less true, although no one can see it.'

16. In the margins of MSS. C. and F. is written the Latin proverb here referred to, viz. 'Bernardus monachus non uidit omnia'; i.e. Bernard the monk (even) did not see everything. The reference is to the great learning and experience of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (born A.D. 1091, died Aug. 20, 1153). This we know from an entry in J. J. Hofmann's Lexicon Universale (Basileæ, 1677), s.v. _Bernardus_, where we find: 'Nullos habuit præceptores præter quercus et fagos. Hinc proverb: _Neque enim Bernardus vidit omnia_.' See an account of St. Bernard in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, or in Chambers' Book of Days, under the date of Aug. 20.

18. _Minde_, remembrance; see l. 26. Cf. 'to bear in _mind_.'

25. Cf. Le Rom. de la Rose, ed. Méon, 9669-72:--

'Car par l'escript que nous avons, Les fais des anciens savons; Si les en devons mercier, Et loer et regracier.'

26. _Rémembráunce_; accented on the first and last syllables. The melody of innumerable lines in Chaucer is only apparent to those who perceive the difference between the present and the old accentuation, especially in the case of French words. Besides, such accent is frequently variable; Chaucer has _hónour_, _rénoun_, &c. at one time, and _honóur_, _renóun_, &c. at another. Thus in l. 27 we have _honóuren_; and in l. 31 _credénce_.

27. _Wel oghte us_, it is very necessary for us, it well behoves us. _Us_ is here the dative case, and _oghte_ is the impersonal verb; in accordance with Chaucer's usual method. But, in this case, there is a grammatical difficulty; for the past tense _oghte_ is here used with the sense of the present; the right form would be expressed, in modern English, by _oweth_, and in M.E. by _ah_ (also _awe_, _o[gh]e_). Such use of the right form of the present tense is exceedingly rare; and (possibly owing to a sense of uncertainty about its true form) the form of the past tense was used both for past and present, whether personal or impersonal, precisely as we now use _must_ in place both of M.E. _mot_ (present) and _moste_ (past). Mätzner only gives three examples of the present tense of this verb, when used impersonally; viz. '_Hym awe_ to rise,' it behoves him to rise, Metrical Homilies, p. 77; '_Vus o[gh]e_,' it behoves us, Allit. Poems, ed. Morris, i. 552; '_Him owith_ to mynystre,' Reliquiæ Antiquæ, ii. 48.

The only right way of thoroughly understanding Chaucer's grammar is by comparing one passage with another, observing how particular expressions occur. This is best done by the proper process of reading the text; but even the usual glossarial indexes will often furnish ready examples. Thus the glossary to the Prioresses Tale gives the following examples:--

'And ther she was honoured as _hir oughte_'; E 1120.

--'wel more _us oughte_ Receyven al in gree that god us sent'; E 1150.

The glossary to the Man of Law's Tale gives:--

'Alla goth to his in, and, as _him oughte_,' &c.; B 1097.

'But that they weren as hem _oughte be_'; G 1340.

'Wel _oughten we_ to doon al our entente'; G 6.

'Wel _oughte us_ werche, and ydelnes withstonde'; G 14.

As to the spelling of the word, it may be remarked that _oghte_ is the more correct form, because _[=o]_ answers to A.S. _[=a]_, and _gh_ to A.S. _h_ in the A.S. form _[=a]hte_. But a confusion between the symbols _ogh_, _ugh_, and _ough_ soon arose, and all three were merged in the form _ough_; hence neither _ogh_ nor _ugh_ occurs in modern English. See Skeat, Eng. Etymology, § 333, p. 361.

The full explanation of this and similar phrases would extend these notes to an inordinate length. Only brief hints can here be given.

28. _Ther_, where. The sense 'where' is commoner than the sense 'there.'

29. _Can but lyte_, know but little. Cf. Prior. Tale, B 1726, 1898.

30. _For to rede_, to read. The use of _for to_ with the gerundial infinitive is found in Layamon and the Ormulum, and may have been suggested by the like use of the French _pour_, O. Fr. _por_ (and even _por a_). See Mätzner, Engl. Grammatik, ii. 2. 54. Compare Parl. Foules, 16, 695; Ho. Fame, 657.

36. This connection of 'the month of May' with song and poetry is common in Mid. Eng. poetry, from the natural association of spring with a time of joy and hope. We even find something of the kind in A.S. poetry. See The Phoenix, l. 250; Menologium, l. 75.

The earliest song in Middle English relates to the cuckoo; and, before Chaucer, we already find, in the Romance of Alexander, l. 2049, such lines as--

'In tyme of May hot is in boure; Divers, in medewe, spryngith floure; The ladies, knyghtis honourith; Treowe love in heorte durith'; &c.

See also the poem on Alisoun, in Morris and Skeat, Spec. of Eng.,