In all the above examples, the open o occurs before r; the only other examples of open o from original short o are seen in Book I. stanzas 13 and 30. In both these stanzas we find the riming words spoken, wroken, broken, which obviously belong to the same set. Broken is from A.S. brŏcen; but spoken and wroken are new forms, altered from the A.S. sprecen and wrecen by analogy with the very word broken here used. Chaucer never rimes these words with tōken, from A.S. tācen.
[§ 26]. An analysis of the rimes in the Minor Poems reveals an exceptional use of but one word ending in -ore, viz. the word more. On account, probably, of its frequency and utility, we find it used to rime with heretofore and heerbefore; both examples occurring in the Book of the Duchesse, 189, 1127. This shews that the rime was permissible, and the difference extremely slight. Nevertheless we find, with the exception of these two instances only, that the Minor Poems again present two distinct sets of rimes: (1) from A.S. ā, the words evermore, namore, more, sore, lore, rore, yore, together with tresore (of F. origin, from Lat. thesaurum); and (2) from A.S. o, the words before, bore, wherfore, lore (A.S. loren), herebefore, tofore.
[§ 27]. In the Legend of Good Women, the result is just the same. The exceptional rimes are shewn by mōre riming with before, 540, 1516; with y-swore, 1284; and with therfore, 443. But with these exceptions, we find, as before: (1) the set of words
more, yore, sore, with the French words store and radevore[[27]]; and (2) the set bore, forswore, swore (all past participles), and therfore.
[§ 28]. In the Canterbury Tales, we find from Mr. Cromie's Rime-Index, pp. 185, 189, that the word mōre is again used exceptionally, riming once with the pp. bore, A 1542, and frequently with before; but we find, further, that before is also used exceptionally, riming once with more and lore, E 789; once with sore, D 631; once with more and yore, E 65; and once with gore, A 3237, from A.S. gār. Similarly, therfore rimes with yore, E 1140. But, with these exceptions, we again find the two sets kept distinct, viz. (1) evermore, namore, more, lore, hore (from A.S. hār), gore, ore (from A.S. ār), rore, sore; together with the French restore; and (2) before, bore, y-bore, forlore, swore, therfore, wherfore[[28]].
In spite of all the exceptional uses of the two words more and before, we cannot but see, in the above examples, a most remarkable tendency to keep asunder two vowel-sounds which it must have required a delicate ear to distinguish. This is interesting, as proving exceptional care on the part of the author.
We find, accordingly, that later writers did not take the same pains. Thus, in Lydgate's Complaint of the Black Knight, 218, we find sore (from A.S. sār) riming with tore, pp. (from A.S. toren). In Fragment B of the Romaunt of the Rose, it is startling to find more actually altered to mar or mare (the Northern form) in order to rime with thar (for there), 1854; with fare, 2710; and with ar, 2215.
[§ 29]. Open and close ō. After making the above investigation, we shall naturally expect to find that Chaucer takes care to distinguish between the open ō and the close one; and such is really the case.
The chief source of long close o is the A.S. and Icel. ō. Ex. bóók, forsóók, dóm, bóne (a boon); from A.S. bōc, forsōc, dōm, and Icel. bōn. The distinction between the two kinds of o is perfectly easy to follow, because the sounds are still kept apart in modern English, in which the old open long o is now a close ō, whilst the old close ō is lowered to the sound of ū (uu).