The Court of Love differs from Chaucer in instances too many to enumerate; but, as to this particular point, I only observe the riming of gréne with clène, l. 816; and of dére with require, l. 851; but we may alter require to the Chaucerian form requere. At l. 79, we find the dissyllabic grene; it rimes with the monosyllable been.
[§ 40]. Similar tests apply to open and close o. We might arrange these, similarly, into two classes, viz. (A) with the open sound, and (B) with the close sound; and we should find that they do not rime together; i.e., if we first eliminate those words which are observed to be of a variable character. For a few exceptions, see [§ 29]. I give the list below.
It is also curious to observe that, in Troilus, the words wolde,
nolde, sholde, usually rime together. Wolde rimes with biholde once only, iii. 115; but sholde never rimes with any words but wolde and nolde. In the Cant. Tales, wolde rimes with several words, but sholde only with wolde and nolde. The only exception is in the Book of the Duchess, 1200, where sholde rimes with tolde. It would greatly improve the sense as well as the metre to substitute wolde for sholde in this passage.
[§ 41]. Now that I have exemplified the mode of using these test-words, I give fuller lists, slightly augmented by help of Mr. Cromie's Rime-Index, and adding a third class (C) of words which have a variable vowel, and are therefore not available as test-words; for it is useful to know the character of these also.
The following is THE KEY to the meaning of the lists.
1. (A) contains words with open long e and open long o. The chief sources of open long e are (1) A.S. ēa and (2) the stable A.S. ǣ answering to Goth. ai (O.H.G. ei) and usually due to mutation of A.S. ā. We may include words with A.S. short e, though these often keep the vowel somewhat short; perhaps it was only half-long.
The sources of open long o are (1) A.S. ā and (2) a lengthening of A.S. short o; perhaps the latter was only half-long.
2. (B) contains words with close long e and close long o. The chief sources of close long e are (1) A.S. ēo and (2) A.S. ē (from mutation of ō). The chief source of close long o is A.S. ō.
3. (C) contains words with variable long e and variable long o. The chief source of variable long e is the unstable A.S. ǣ answering to Gothic ē (Germanic ā); this ǣ occurs in sprǣc-on, third stem of the strong verb sprecan, and in its derivative sprǣce, whence M.E. speche, speech. It also appears to arise from sounds corresponding to A.S. īe, ȳ, mutation of ēa, ēo.