161.

162.

163.

164.

165.

L'ENVOYE DE CHAUCER.

Grisild is deed, and eek hir pacience,
And bothe at oones buried in Itayle:
For whiche I crye in open audience,
No weddid man so hardy be to assayle
His wyves pacience, in trust to fynde
Grisildes, for in certeyn he schal fayle.

O noble wyves, ful of heigh prudence,
Let noon humilité your tonges nayle:
Ne lat no clerk have cause or diligence
To write of yow a story of swiche mervayle
As of Grisildes pacient and kynde,
Lest Chichivache yow swolwe in hir entraile.
Folwith ecco, that holdith no silence,
But ever answereth at the countretayle:
Beth not bydaffed for your innocence,
But scharply tak on yow the governayle:
Empryntith wel this lessoun on your mynde,
For comun profyt, sith it may avayle.
Ye archewyves, stondeth at defens,
Syn ye ben strong, as is a greet chamayle;
Ne suffre not, that men don yow offens.
And selendre wyves, felle as in batayle,
Beth egre as is a tyger yond in Inde;

Ay clappith as a mylle, I yow counsaile.

Ne drede hem not, do hem no reverence,
For though thin housbond armed be in mayle,
The arwes of thy crabbid eloquence

L'envoye (Fr. le, the; envoi, sending; fr. Lat. in, in, and via, way), the commendatory or explanatory postscript to a poem or other literary work. Here follows a good specimen of Chaucer's characteristic humor. We give it in the antiquated orthography, following the text of Wright's edition.-Oones, once. Dissyl. Ones and once are the old genitive of one. -Wyves. Dissyl.-Prudence. Acc. 2d syl.-Tonges (Lat. lingua, tongue; A. S. and Dan. tunge; Ger. zunge), tongues. Dissyl.-Mervayle, wonder. See Index-Chichivache (Fr. chiche, poor, sorry, stingy; Fr. vache, Lat. vacca), cow. Chichevache and Bycorne are two fabulous beasts in an old ballad. Chichevache is represented as feeding on patient wives; Bycorne, on obedient husbands. According to the story, Bycorne has plenty to eat and is fat; Chichevache is half-starved and lean!-Folwith, follow ye. Impera. See accepteth, st. 6, and folwen, st. 121.-Countertayle (Fr. contre; Lat. contra, against; Fr. tailler, to cut; whence tally, a notch cut), counter-tally, a tally answering exactly to another.-Beth, be ye. Impera.Bydaffed (A. S. daff, a fool; Ice. daufr, stupid; A. S. deaf, deaf), befooled.-Governayle, government. See Index.-Rede, advise. See Index.-Archewyves (Gr. ȧpx-, beginning, leading; whence arch, chief), wives of a superior degree, or in the higher ranks; stout wives.-Syn, since.-Chamayle (A. S. camell; Heb. gámal; Ar. gamal, jemel; Gr. Káμnhos; Lat. camèlus), camel.-Sclendre (O. D. slinder, thin), slender.-Batayle (Fr. bataille, battle; fr. Lat. battalia, fighting and fencing; batuere, to strike, beat), battle.--Clappeth (A. S. clappan ; Ger. klopfen, to knock), strike ye.--Counsaile (Fr. conseiller, to advise; Lat. consiliari. to receive or impart advice), counsel.-Arwes (Lat. arma, arms; A. S. arewe; Welsh are; Arm. Fr., Gael., arm, weapon), arrows.-Crabbid. Akin to Ger. herbe, Lat, acerbus, W. garv, sour.

166.

Schal perse his brest, and eek his adventayle: *
In gelousy I rede eek thou him bynde,

And thou schalt make him couche as doth a quayle.
If thou be faire, ther folk ben in presence
Schew thou thy visage, and thin apparaile:
If thou be foul, be free of thy despence,
To gete the frendes ay do thy travayle:

Be ay of chier as light as lef on lynde,

And let him care, and wepe, and wrynge and wayle!†

* Adventayle (Fr. ventail, the movable part of the front of a helmet; fr. Lat. ventus, wind), the movable part of a helmet in front, the ventail.--Rede, advise. See Index. --Apparaile (Fr. appareil, preparation, furniture; Fr. pareil, like, equal; Low Lat. pariculus, a little match; fr. par, an equal, a mate), apparel.-Despence (Lat. dispendere, fr. dis. apart, and pendere, to weigh out; dispensare, to distribute by weight, disburse), expense.--Chier. counte nance. Give the origin, root-meaning, etc., of each word in this line.-Lynde, the lime-tree.

+ We give on these last two pages the antiquated spelling, as in Wright's edition, for the comfort of those who attach great importance to the old orthography. See Appendix I.

In gelousy I rede eek thou him bynde. The sound of j in jealousy, requiring or permitting considerable force to utter it properly, naturally expresses energy; and so we sometimes find it, as in gyrate, gibe, gee (to oxen), gist. Other examples?

Write a sketch of the life of Chancer. Give some account of his different works. Write an essay on his life as a courtier and a politician. Write an essay on the revival of learning in Chaucer's age. Write an essay on his Canterbury Tales. Give in your own language the story of Patient Griselda. Name the peculiarities of his verse. Point out the beauties and the blemishes of this poem. Name other prominent authors of the fourteenth century, and the works they produced. Write an essay on the power of the Pope of Rome over foreign potentates in the time of Chaucer; one on the doctrines and career of Wickliffe; on Chaucer's religious tendencies; on the language of Chaucer; on Grimm's law of consonant changes. Let the teacher suggest other kindred topics for essays. The writing of brief compositions weekly, on subjects connected with the study of English Literature, will be found an invaluable exercise. The student should especially be encouraged to investigate for himself, and not take everything on the strength of the author's assertion. See Browne's Chaucer's England; also the works of Morley, Ellis, Morris and Skeat, etc.

SUMMARY OF ELEMENTARY SOUNDS AND THEIR PROPER SIGNIFICANCY.

The following list shows the phonetic elements in the English language, and, to some extent, their proper significancy.* This interesting subject, however, has been only partially investigated. It still affords a field for further research. Let the student collect words and deduce principles.

66

66

e,

8.

66

wit.

pale.

wet.

arm.

SIGNIFICANCE.

Closeness, pressure, as some tension of the muscles is required to enunciate it properly? See p. 52. This, perhaps the shortest and slightest sound in the language, is most appropriate to express little things and to form diminutives. See p. 37, and see note p. 61.

A small sound, fit for unimportant things, or diminutives. See p. 50.

Very easy for a child to utter, requiring only the opening of the mouth and breathing, it comes to express pain, grief, passion. Being so easily made, it is used where no reason exists for any special vowel. See p. 47.

"half. This is intermediate between the preceding and the following. See pp. 26, 47.

66

a,

66

at.

all.

9.

66

This is shortened from number five, and, like
that, expresses pain. The sound is unpleasant,
suggestive of crying infants and bleating
sheep. It may express contempt, mockery,
disgust. See pp. 26, 47.
Largeness, seriousness. There are many excep-

tions. See p. 22.

Surprise, harshness. Being short, it is less appropriate for large things. See page 46. Produced low in the breast, it expresses, when soft, gentleness; when loud, harshness, discontent, smothered wrath, grumbling. See p. 39. Obscure sound, akin to the preceding.

* In using the expression proper significancy, we must not be understood as holding that there is any inherent or essential significance in any sound; but simply that certain sounds have a natural fitness to express certain meanings. See Whitney on Language and the Study of Language (Lecture XI.); also Fowler's Revised and Enlarged Grammar (Chap. VII.).

+ Hence the sense of incongruity in applying the short word and sound of the monosyllable in naming the Infinite Being. Young persons often try, unconsciously, to avoid the feeling of its unfitness, by prolonging the Ŏ sound.

15. That of i, as in five,

5+

u, tune,

SIGNIFICANCE.

Wonder, surprise; pain; calling. Prolonged,

it may express greatness. See p. 51. [The second o.]

Soothing, smoothness. See p. 26.

Weakness; wavy, gentle motion. See p. 27.

SIGNIFICANCE.

2.* 2+14.* The sound of oo here is made with the tip of the tongue in contact with the lower front teeth, and the lips in position as if to whistle. It approaches the French u.

house, 5+14.* This is sometimes onomatopoetic, as in bowSee p. 54.

гоого.

oil,

7+ 2.*

These numerals refer to the preceding list of vowel sounds, and they show which combine in the compound sound.

+ Surds are mere whispering sounds. Sonants are pronounced with vocal tones. Instead of the words surd and sonant, the terms sharp and flat, or aspirate and vocal, or atonic and subtonic have been used. See Latham's English Language, Dr. Rush on The Philosophy of the Human Voice, Goold Brown's Grammar of Grammars, etc.

These sounds are by many regarded as compound, equivalent to tsh and dzh, respectively.

Force. See p. 58.

SIGNIFICANCE.

Onomatopoetic, suggestive of
bees, etc. See p. 22.

When final, it denotes enjoined
silence; when initial, aver-
sion. See pp. 34, 54.
Akin to the preceding.

Effort; aspiration. See p. 33.
Sometimes is onomatopoetic;
sometimes expresses ener-
getic motion. See p. 56.
Infants easily utter this sound,
and apply it to mamma.
has also a strong subjective
force. See pp. 37, 40, 48.
Negative; nose concerns. See
p. 24.

It

Smooth liquid. Soft and soothing; littleness;
tongue notions.
See p. 29.
Rattling sounds; interrupted

notions. See p. 31.

CONSONANT SOUNDS IN COMBINATION, AND THEIR APPROPRIATE SIGNIFICANCE.

41. Bl, pl, and fl, denote blowing, blooming, flowing. See pp. 21, 40. 42. Kl denotes cleaving or adhering. See p. 31.

43. Br and kr. The same substantially as r. See above. 44. Gl denotes smoothness, or silent motion.

See p. 44.

45. Gn, jn, and kn denote a sudden breaking off.
46. Gr. Substantially like r. See above.
47. Sc. Swift motion. See p. 56.

48. Shw and sw denote gentle motion. See p. 49.
49. Sl. Like gl. See pp. 20, 44.

50. Sn denotes nose ideas. See n above, and p. 24.

See p. 28.

NOTE. The word quiz is said, in the unabridged dictionaries, to have had a singular origin. Whatever we may think of their explanation, the word is true to its phonetics. The first element denotes inquiry; the second, smoothness (its force not being very prominent in this word); the third, littleness, insignificance; the fourth, busy or buzzing action. Putting these together, we should, a priori, infer that the word would mean buzzing inquiry, of a mild nature, on unimportant matters. Let the student write an essay on this general subject of the natural fitness of articulate sounds to convey particular meanings, illustrating his views by numerous examples.