'He fil in office with a chamberleyn,
The which that dwelling was with Emelye.
For he was wys, and coude sone aspye
Of every servaunt, which that serveth here.
Wel coude he hewen wode, and water bere.'
This is a case where the sound decides the sense. The e in bere is properly short; hence the same is true of here. Accordingly, here is not an adverb, nor does it mean 'here'; it is the personal pronoun, A.S. hire, and it means 'her'; precisely as it does in Troilus, ii. 1662.
[§ 38]. In the Minor Poems, the following passages are the only ones that I can find that present any difficulty.
In the Death of Blaunche, 1253, we find need riming with heed (head); so that need has here, apparently, an open e. Ten Brink has noted this exception (at p. 20), and explains it by remarking that there is a double form of the word in A.S., viz. nēad as well as nēod. At any rate, we see that the word nede cannot be relied on as a test-word, and must be struck out; though there is only this one example of its use with open e.
In the Death of Blaunche, 773, we find dere (dear) riming with were, were. And once more, viz. in Clk. Ta., E 882, we find were riming with dere; but, after all, dere (see [§ 35]) has unstable e. The Death of Blaunche presents many difficulties, and the text of it is far more uncertain and unsatisfactory than that of any other genuine poem.
In the House of Fame, 1885, we find the rime here (here), lere (to teach). This only shews that lere is here once more used with the close e; I have already said ([§ 35]) that it is no sure test-word.