[§ 63]. Balades and Terns. The usual form for a Balade was in three stanzas, with a refrain. This rule is partially observed, not only in Balades, but in other poems. Chaucer was fond of grouping his stanzas by threes; such a group has been called a Tern. For examples, see the latter part of the Complaint to Pitè, in three groups of three stanzas each; the five groups of three stanzas at the end of the Complaint of Mars; the three stanzas forming the Proem to Anelida; the three groups of three stanzas each in Fortune; and the Triple Roundel. The latter part of the Compleint to his Lady consists of nine stanzas, i.e. thrice three. The Envoy to Scogan has six stanzas, i.e. twice three; whilst the Envoy to Bukton has three only.
[§ 64]. Envoys. There are, usually, no Envoys to Chaucer's Balades. There is one to Fortune, called Lenvoy de Fortune; one addressed to King Richard II, at the end of Lak of Stedfastnesse; one addressed to Scogan; and one addressed to Bukton. That appended to the Complaint to his Purs was obviously supplied at a later date; whilst the so-called Envoy to Truth (only found in one MS.) is hardly an Envoy at all, but merely an additional stanza, in the same strain as the rest.
[§ 65]. The Heroic Couplet. But Chaucer's greatest metrical gift to England was his use of the Heroic Couplet, which he employed with remarkable success, first in the Legend of Good Women, and soon after, in his Canterbury Tales. This he may well have borrowed from Machault, as has been already explained above; see vol. iii. p. 383, and note 2 on the same page.
The heroic couplet was first copied by Lydgate, who wrote in it two poems of great length, the Siege of Thebes and the Troy-boke. It was also used by Henry the Minstrel in his patriotic poem named the Wallace. It is remarkable that it was almost entirely neglected by Dunbar; the only piece in this metre that is certainly his is one of 34 lines called 'In Prays of Woman.' However, a much longer piece entitled The Freiris of Berwick
has also been attributed to him. This metre was also employed by Gawain Douglas in his translation of Vergil.
[§ 66]. Grammatical Outlines of Chaucer's English.
I shall only attempt here a general outline of the most distinguishing characteristics of the grammatical forms used by Chaucer. The student will necessarily consult such works as Prof. Child's Observations on the Language of Chaucer and Gower, which refer to the Canterbury Tales only; the Observations on the Language of Chaucer's Troilus, by Prof. Kittredge (published for the Chaucer Society); the Observations on the Language of Chaucer's Legend of Good Women, by J. M. Manly (in Studies and Notes on Philology and Literature, vol. ii; Ginn and Co., Boston, 1893); and Ten Brink's compact and excellent volume entitled Chaucers Sprache und Verskunst; Leipzig, 1884.
It would be easy to devote a large volume to the study of Chaucer's grammatical forms. The forms of the substantives, in particular, are frequently variable, sometimes on account of their accentuation, which is accommodated to the line in which they happen to occur, and sometimes for reasons which appear somewhat arbitrary. Nothing short of complete lists can satisfy the scholar.
At the same time, such lists are rather bewildering. I therefore attempt here a sketch of the general principles by which Chaucer's usage appears to be regulated; whilst at the same time the reader is requested to remember that most of the rules given below are subject to exceptions; and that sometimes such exceptions are rather numerous. But it is plain that we must begin with general rules.
[§ 67]. General Rules. Before noticing these, the following empirical rules for the reading of Chaucer's verse may conveniently be here repeated. Cf. vol. v. p. xxiii.