Chaucerian and Other Pieces / Being a Supplement to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer

by Unknown

614. Cf. 'Comparisoun may noon y-maked be'; Legend of Good Women, 122.

623. fere, fire (not fear); as in Troil. iii. 978.

628. Beseech, to beseech; note the anachronism in using the French infin. void-en with a suffix, and the Eng. beseech with none at all.

634. ure, destiny; from O.F. eur, Lat. augurium. A word that first appeared in Northern English; it occurs at least eight times in Barbour's Bruce. And in the Kingis Quair, st. 10, we have the whole phrase—'my fortúne and ure.' It is also used by Lydgate; see VIII. 151, 302, 482 (pp. 250, 254, 260).

641. An exact repetition of l. 633 above.

642. Here, for a wonder, is an example of the final e; the author took the whole phrase 'In thilk-ë place' from some previous author; cf. 'In thilke places' (sic); Rom. Rose, 660 (Thynne). sign, assign.

648. 'Bi god and be my trouthe'; T. G. 1011.

683. 'And holden werre alwey with chastitee'; C. T., A 2236.

684. I kepen; false grammar; equivalent to Lat. ego curamus.