‘Ipse meum iuuenem conseruet supplico Regem,’ &c.
Of the remainder, as we have it here, ll. 25 f., 31-33, 36-39, 41 f., 45-48 correspond with slight variations to lines in the Vox Clamantis version, but the arrangement of them is different.
10. Te que tuum regnum, ‘Thee and thy kingdom,’ a quite common position of ‘que’ in Gower’s Latin. So below, ll. 49, 50, 53, and often elsewhere.
35. So also Conf. Amantis, vii, after l. 1984.
GLOSSARY
AND
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES
The general resemblance between Gower and Chaucer in the matter of language makes a comparison of their English vocabularies almost a matter of course. Chaucer’s word-list is naturally much more extensive than Gower’s, not only on account of the superior genius of the writer, but also because of the greater extent and variety of his work, Gower’s English work being less than half of Chaucer’s in amount, and consisting of verse only, while nearly a fourth part of Chaucer’s is prose. We find, however, that Gower has more than six hundred words which are not used by Chaucer. Most of these are comparatively new formations from French or Latin, but there is also among them a fair sprinkling of old-established English words, some of which no doubt were falling into disuse. Such words are, for example: adryh, aghte, anele, arecche, areche, arere v., beȝete, bysne, eldemoder, enderday, ferke, forȝifte, forlie, forworþe, frede, ȝeme, gladschipe, goodschipe, grede (gradde), griþ, heveneriche, kingesriche, lere (= loss), lich (= corpse), metrede, miele, mone (3), mull, orf, orped, rowe v. (= dawn), sawht, skiere, spire v., spousebreche, þarmes, tome s., tote, tyh (pret.), tyt adv., wow, yhte.
Of the rest the following (among others) are words for which no authority earlier than Gower is cited in the New English Dictionary (A-I): those for which Gower is the sole authority are printed in italics.
abeche, ablaste, abord, abroche adv., accidence, agrope, altemetrie, apostazied, apparantie, approbacion, artificier, aspirement, assignement, assobre, assote v., astraied, attempte v., attitled, avant adv., avantance, babe, baldemoine, balke v., baske, bass adj. (‘base’), bedawe, bederke, befole (‘befool’), belwinge, bethrowe, bewympled, bienvenue, bombard, brothell, brygantaille, calculacion, caliphe, carte (= writing), chacable, chace (at tennis), chance v., chevance, circumference, client, coise, cokard, cokerie (‘cookery’), compense, conclave, concordable, congelacion, congruite, contempt, contourbe, courbe s. and adj., decas, deificacion, delaiement, delate (= dilate), depos s., desclos adj., desclose v., desobeie, desobeissance, dispers, distillacion, doubtif, drunkeschipe, duistre, effeminat adj., eloquent, enbrouderie (‘embroidery’), enclin, encluyed, encourtined, enfile, enheritance, ensamplerie, entendable, entendance, entendant, epitaphe, esmaie, espeir, espleit (‘exploit’), exalacion, excessif, excitacioun, excusement, expectant, faie adj., fieverous, fixacioun, flacke, folhaste, folhastif, forcacche, forge s., forstormed, forsueie, forthrere (= furtherer), froise, gaignage, gamme, genitals, godward, gule, hepe (= hook), heraldie, hovedance, injustice, interruption, intersticion, inthronize.
Of these nearly half are used in the English of the present day.
For the remainder of the alphabet I content myself with calling attention to the following, without venturing on any statement about their earlier use: