Accordingly words like the, to are not so often contracted with the following word, as ne, the amalgamation of which, with the verb to which it belongs, is in accordance with normal Middle English usage: nas = ne was, nil = ne wil, nolde = ne wolde, noot = ne woot, niste = ne wiste, e.g.:
There nas no dore that he nolde heve of harre.
Chauc. Prol. 550.
Neither in Middle English nor in Modern English poetry, however, is there any compulsion to use such contractions for the purpose of avoiding the hiatus, which never was prohibited. They merely serve the momentary need of the poet. Forms like min and thin, it is true, are regularly used by Middle English poets before vowels, and my and thy before consonants, and Chaucer applies—according to ten Brink—from, oon, noon, an, -lych, -lyche before vowels, and fro, a, o, no, -ly before consonants. But many examples of epic caesura show that ten Brink goes too far in maintaining that hiatus was strictly avoided, e.g.: Whan théy were wónnë; | and ín the Gréete sée Prol. 59. This is still more clearly shown by verses in which the final -e forms a necessary thesis before a vowel, e.g.:
Fro the senténcë | óf this trétis lýte.
Chauc. Prol. 550.Sir Thopas 2153.
Than hád yóur tálë | ál be tóld in váyn.
Chauc. Prol. 550.N. Pr. Prol. 3983
§ 110. Slurring or contraction is still more frequently the result of indistinct pronunciation or entire elision of a vowel in the interior of a word. This is especially the case with e (or another vowel) in the sequence: conson. + e + r + vowel or h, where e is slurred over or syncopated: e.g. And báthed év(e)ry véin Chauc. Prol. 3; Thy sóv(e)rein témple wól I móst honóuren Kn. T. 1549; and év(e)ry trée Sur. 9; the bóist(e)rous wínds Sur. 21; if ám(o)rous fáith Wyatt 15; a dáng(e)rous cáse Sur. 4, &c. The full pronunciation is, of course, here also possible: and dángeróus distréss Sur. 150. Slurring of a vowel is also caused by this combination of sounds formed by two successive words: a bétre envýned mán Chauc. Prol. 342; Forgétter of páin Wyatt 33. Other words of the same kind are adder, after, anger, beggar, chamber, silver, water, &c.[138] The same rule applies to the group e + l + vowel or h (also l + e + vowel or h): hire wýmpel͡ ipynched was Chauc. Prol. 151; At mány a nóble͡ arríve ib. 60; nóble͡ and hígh Wyatt 55; the néedle his fínger prícks Shak. Lucrece 319.
If a consonant takes the place of the vowel or h at the end of such a group of sounds, we have a disyllabic thesis instead of slurring: With hórrible féar as óne that gréatly dréadeth Wyatt 149; The cómmon péople by númbers swárm to ús Shak. 3 Hen. VI, IV. ii. 2. Similar slurrings are to be found—although more seldom and mainly in Modern English poetry—with other groups of sounds, e.g.: én’mies sword Sur. 137; théat’ner ib. 162; prís’ners ib. 12. The vowel i, also, is sometimes slurred; Incónt(i)nent Wyatt, 110; dést(i)ny ib. 8, &c. In all these cases we must of course recognize only slurring, not syncopation of the vowel; and in general these words are used with their full syllabic value in the rhythm of a verse.