Receiven all in gree that God us sent.
For gret skill is he preve that he wrought:
But he ne tempteth no man that he bought
As saith seint Jame, if ye his pistell rede;
He preveth folk al day, it is no drede :

158. And suffreth us, as for our exercise,
With sharpe scourges of adversitee
Ful often to be bete in sondry wise;
Not for to know our will, for certes he,
Or we were borne, knew all our freeletee;
And for our best is all his governance;
Let us than live in vertuous suffrance.

159. But o word, lordings, herkeneth, or I go:
It were ful hard to finden now adayes
In all a toun Grisildes three or two:
For if that they were put to swiche assayes,
The gold of hem hath now so bad alayes
With bras, that though the coine be faire at eye,
It wolde rather brast atwo than plie.

160. For which here, for the wives love of Bathe,
Whos lif and al hire secte God maintene
In high maistrie, and elles were it scathe,
I wol with lusty herte fresshe and grene,
Say you a song to gladen you, I wene:
And let us stint of ernestful matere.
Herkneth my song, that saith in this manere.

161. Grisilde is ded, and eke hire patience,
And both at ones buried in Itaille :
For which I crie in open audience,
No wedded man so hardy be to assaille
His wives patience, in trust to find
Grisildes, for in certain he shal faille.

162. O noble wives, ful of highe prudence,
Let non humilitee your tonges naile :
Ne let no clerk have cause or diligence
To write of you a storie of swiche mervailie,

As of Grisildis patient and kinde,

Lest Chichevache you swalwe in hire entraille.

163. Folweth ecco, that holdeth no silence,

But ever answereth at the countretaille :
Beth not bedaffed for your innocence,
But sharply taketh on you the governaille :
Emprenteth wel this lesson in your minde,
For comun profit, sith it may availle.

164. Ye archewives, stondeth ay at defence,
Sin
ye be strong, as is a gret camaille,
Ne suffreth not, that men do you offence.
And sclendre wives, feble as in bataille,
Beth egre as is a tigre yond in Inde;
Ay clappeth as a mill, I you counsaille.

165. Ne drede hem not, doth hem no reverence,
For though thin husbond armed be in maille,
The arwes of thy crabbed eloquence

Shal perce his brest, and eke his aventaille :

In jalousie I rede eke thou him binde,

And thou shalt make him couche as doth a quaille.

166. If thou be faire, ther folk ben in presence
Shew thou thy visage, and thin apparaille:
If thou be foule, be free of thy dispence,
To get thee frendes ay do thy travaille:
Be ay
of chere as light as lefe on linde,

And let him care, and wepe, and wringe and waille.

NOTES ON THE CLERKES TALE.

ST. 1. Ther, there. Th is a pronominal element used to indicate the second person, or person addressed, as in thou, thee, thine, and also as demonstrative to point out an object that is before both speaker and hearer at the time, § 4. We may suppose it first used strictly as a pronominal to indicate the second person, and then by union with a different vowel or with different alphabetic elements as a demonstrative. By Grimm's Law, § 35, it appears as the smooth t in the classical languages interchanging with the s, itself likewise a lingual, as Lat. ter, Gr. où; as the middle din German die, das. - There, as well as the other adverbs, whether of place, time. or manner, beginning with this element, as thither, thence, then, thus, are traceable to old case-forms of the demonstrative. The demonstrative easily came to be used as a relative, as our relative that, and, in the early stage of the language, nearly all its

forms vight, just. See Mandeville. -Itaille, Italy, French form of Lat. Italia -Doun, down; A.-S. dun, a down, a hill, hence a-dun, prep. U and w were often interchangeable in A.-S. and Early English. See toun and tour, below. The A.-S. u before a consonant, except l and r, in monosyllables, generally passed into the diphthong ou, as A.-S. hus, house; wund, wound. - Rote, root; Dan. rod, Lat. rad ix, Gr. pís-a. Apply Grimm's Law. The second o in root is orthographic merely, forming no part of the proper stem. - Vesulus, now Viso, a mountain of the Maritime Alps, described in the prologue to this tale as the source of the river Po.-Lusty, fruitful, from lust in the old sense of vigor, activity.— Habundant, abounding, part. from Lat. abundo. - Vitaille, food, old Fr. vitaille, from Lat. victualia. The of must here be regarded as expressing the relation of direct object and habundant, which would properly be followed by a prep. of condition, be taken as an active part. equivalent to productive. — Ther, is better to be regarded as the relative where. Toun, town; A.-S. tun, a field, a dwelling, a town. — -Tour, tower; A.-S. tur and tor. — Maist, mayest. The y in many, in ver. 6 of this stanza, is elided before another. - Delitable, delectable, delightful; Lat. delectabilis, here having a primary accent on the first syllable, and a secondary accent on the third. - Saluces, Ital. Saluzzo, a province of Sardinia, bordering on France. Its capital is a town of the same name containing some 15,000 inhabitants. The French name is Saluces. In this verse it is accented on the first and third syllables; elsewhere more correctly on the second syllable, as vv. 1, 6, in st. 52. — Highte, is called; A.-S. hatan, to call, to be named, to bid. The pres. ind. was haet. Our behest is from this root, A.-S. be-haes, as also hest, below, st. 10.

2. Markis, marquis; Old Fr. markis, marchis, from marc, a boundary, a territory. See n. P. P. 126. Marquis means simply the man of the territory. Margrave is compounded of marc and graf, count, A.-S. gerefa, whence reeve and our modern sheriff. Apply Grimm's Law. Whilom, formerly, once; A.-S. hwilum and hwilon, dat. plu. of hwil, while, time. Whilom means thus on times. - Bothe. The final e here must be sounded as a distinct syllable to make out the verse.— Liveth, in the next verse is pronounced as one syllable. This contraction is not infrequent. - Delit, delight; Old Fr. delit, from Lat. delectare. -Yore, formerly, long time; A.-S. geara.- Drad, feared; A.-S. draed an, part. draed en.-Thurgh, through; A.-S. thurh and thure, Ger. durch. The r is transposed, as is very common. Thorough is another spelling of the same word, and thorow, as J. C., V. i. 3. A faire person and strong. Faire should be read as a dissyllable, and the third root consists of son and strong, the o being syncopated. For to gie. See n. Mandeville 10, on the use of for to govern the inf. - Gie, guide; Old Fr. guier; A.-S. gewitan, compounded of ge intensive and witan, to know. Gewitan, would properly signify to cause to know, ge being considered an intensive of the causative form. Sauf, save; Old Fr. salv, salf, sauf, Lat. salv us.

4. Time, here a dissyllable. -Neigh, nigh; A.-S. neah, neh, nieh, and nih. Cures, cares; here a dissyllable. Eke, also; A.-S. aec and eac, imp. of v. eacan, to increase, to add. — N'old, A.-S. nolde, pret. of nillan, to be unwilling, to nill. See n. P. P. 407.-Ought, A.-S. aht and oht. — Wedden, old form of inf. in n, here with e as a connecting vowel, instead of a as usually in A.-S. The A.-S. root was wed, a pledge, a promise. The verb was weddian, to make a promise; hence, to wed, to betroth, to marry.

5. Flockmel, in troops; A.-S. floc-maelum, dat. plu. of floc-mael, literally, by flock-parts. On, one; A.-S. an. - Hem, them. See n. P. P. 39. Ment, meant; A.-S. maenan and menan. - Swiche, such. See n. P. P. 39. The e final is silent in this verse.

6. Yeveth, giveth ; A.-S. gifan and geofian. The guttural was represented by a character much resembling the y and the z, § 25. This word is pronounced here as a

monosyllable; while the eth in assureth is a distinct syllable. — Accepteth, plu. imperative, as in A.-S. See n. on wytethe, in Mandeville, 8. — Than, then. — Gentillesse, kindness, Fr. derivative from gentil, Lat. gentilis. Gen in Lat. becomes, by Grimm's Law, ken or kin in English; kind and gentle are accordingly from the same primitive stem. - Pitous, piteous, sorrowing; Old Fr. pitos.Plaine, complain. See pleyned, P. P. 166. Eres, ears; A.-S. eare. not.

Nat, 7. AI, although. From the adjective which was in A.-S. variously spelled al, all, eal, eall, ael, aeall, geall, and by Chaucer usually, but not uniformly, all, were derived the adverb meaning wholly, the stem of which, A.-S. hal, is but another variation of the primitive stem. Cf. Gr. öλos, and the conjunction now appearing in the form of although. The adverb with its compounds, algates, almost, also, always, altogether, and the adj. almighty, and the conjunction with its compounds, albeit, although, are spelled with a single l. — Don, to do, old inf. in n. -Shewed is here a dissyllable and favour takes the accent on the last syllable, as in the original Fr. and Lat. — As you lest, as it listeth or pleaseth you. The A.-S. lyst an was generally used as an impersonal verb. The early English poets, as may be seen everywhere in Chaucer and Spenser, changed the orthography of words at the end of verses in respect to the vowels, to make them accord in written form as well as in sound.

8. Certes, Fr. from Lat. cert us. — Us, dat. plu. — Liketh, 3 plu. having you and werke as subjects. -Ne-not, double negative. See n. Mandeville, 1. Peple in. The final e is elided. — In soverain hertes rest, in highest rest of heart.

9. Boweth, plu. imper. See above, st. 6, on accepteth; also below, thinketh. — Which that, which. It was a usage common in A.-S. to insert the demonstrative after the relative. -Dayes, dissyllable. Fleth, fleeth; A.-S. flyhth. - Wol, will. The change of the vowel i to o is probably to be attributed to the influence of the w. The protracting of this element, and depressing the i, in pronouncing the word, might easily lead to the supposition that the o was a constituent.

10. Floure, flower, flourish; Old Fr. flur ir and flor ir, to flower, to blossom.Manaseth, menaceth, threateneth; Fr. menacer. Smit, A.-S. smit an, 3 sing. pres. ind. smit, smites.- Eche, each; A.-S. aelc and ealc, compound of ae, ever, and ilc or ylc, like, same. - Every, once written everich, is from A.-S. aefer, an inflected form of ae, if ae be not better regarded as a fragment of the stem aev, as in Lat. ævum, and ilc. The A.-S. aeghwilc, every one, is from ae, modified by the substitution of the guttural for the labial and the relative sign hw with ilc. Its elements are ae g-hw-ilc. - Shul, shall; A.-S. scul on.

11. Entent, intent, design; Fr. entente, Lat. intentum. — Hest, behest, command. See st. 1, on highte. - Chese, choose. See n. P. P. 76. - Mest, most. A.-S. maest.

12. Deliver us. Read the two words as making but three syllables - deliv-'r us. Besy, busy, here in active sense, causing care or business; A.-S. bisig.—Forbede, forbid; A.-S. forbeode.— Thrugh, through. See above, n. st. 2.-Slake, fail; A.-S. slac ian, to slacken, give way, fail. Our word slake, as to slake thirst, is the causative or factitive of this. A.-S. slaec an, to cause to slack or fail. - Strange successour. Divide in reading, strän | gè sūc | ces sōur. - Us, dat. remote object of wo. Or if were be taken in the sense of become, happen, like the old worth, then object of were. - -On live (in life), alive, an intensive expression meaning exceedingly. Cf. "I love that sport alife."- Beaumont and Fletcher.

13. Hir, their. See n. P. P. 26. — Chere, cheer, countenance, appearance; Fr. chère, Gr. κápa. — For to han pitee, factitive objective of made, the relation of which to the verb is indicated by the prep. for. See n. Mandeville 10. Also, "Art of Jomposition," § 248, Obs. 7.- Pitee, pity; Old Fr. pité and pitie, Lat. pietas. Er, ere, before. The meaning is: You will constrain me to that I never before

thought. Divide: I nev'r er thought.-I me rejoiced. The verb is used reflexively. So Gower: "So there while I me rejoie."-Selden, rare, seldom, A.-S. seldon or seldan, is properly an abverb, although by its inflectional ending pointing to an adj. from which it was derived. Chaucer here uses it as an adj.; elsewhere as an adverb. — Ther, where. See st. 1. — Moste, mush; A.-S. mot an, pret. moste.

14. Ther as, whereas. - Chesen, choose. See above, st. 11. -You, dat. 15. Wot, knows; A.-S wat, 3 sing. pres. of witan, to know. - Bountee, goodness; Fr. bonte, Lat. bonitas. Cometh, monosyllable. - Al, adv. wholly. See above, st. 7.-Stren, stock, race; A.-S. strynd, stock, breed, from stryn an or streon an, to beget. Cf. "He is of a noble strain."-- Shakespeare. Ygendred and ybore. The A.-S. past tense, as also not uncommonly the past part., took the prefix ge, which at first was an intensive. The sound of this prefix is approximately represented by y. The prefix is retained in archaic diction, as by Spenser, and Thomson in his Castle of Indolence. - Him, dat. remote object of betake.

16. Bak, back. See § 21 (3). — Emperoures. Accent the penult.

17. Again, A.-S. agen, against. — Grutch, grudge, be dissatisfied; Old Fr. groucher. See n. P. P. 305. - Mote, must, 3 sing. pres. ind. A.-S. mot. — Ther as, where, literally, in the place in which. As was often thus added to the demonstrative and relative adverb. - But, unless. See n. P. P. 131.

18. Hertly, hearty. Cf. Ger. herzlich. - Or, ere; A.-S. aer. Cf. "Or ever (ere ever) the earth was." - Prov. viii. 23.

19. Sikerly, securely, certainly, from Lat. secur us. Cf. Ital. siguro. Buxumly, obediently; A.-S. bug an, to bow; whence bocsom, tractable, obedient. Cf. Ger. biegsam. — Thonken, thank. The A.-S. interchanged a and o in words from this stem.

20. Purvay, provide, purvey; Old Fr. porveer, from Lat. providere. Divide: knigh | těs and | squí eres | . — Yave, gave. As him list on hem lay, as it: pleased him to lay on them.

21. Paleis, palace; Old Fr. palais and paleis, Lat. palatium. — Shope, shaped See n. P. P. 3. - Thorpe, a thorp, hamlet; A.-S. thorpe. Cf. Lat. turb a. Divide: of sight | ĕ del | I tā | ble. The verse is hypercatalectic. - Herbergage, pasture, from Lat. stem herb a, corresponding to which, by Grimm's Law, is A.-S. crop. Di. vide: After that th` erth | e yave | hem a | bun dance |.

22. Which that. See n. st. 9.-Oxes, gen. sing. The A.-S. plu. was oxan, whence our oxen. - - Ynough, enough; A.-S. genoh, genog, geneahe.— Grisildis, here accented on the first syllable; elsewhere spelled Grisilde, with accent on the second syllable. Sts. 26, 29, 32, 40.

23. On, one. Ofter, oftener, compar. of oft. - Tonne, tun, cask. Cf. sonne, sun. For, because.

24. Sad, firm, constant, set; generally used in this sense by Chaucer and Spenser. A.-S. saed and sade, satisfied. Corage, heart. Cf. Ital. coraggio, augmentative from Lat. root cor d. Apply Grimm's Law.

23. Wortes, worts, plants; A.-S. wyrt.-Sethe, seethed; A.-S. pret. seath, from seoth an, to seethe. — On loft, aloft; A.-S. an, on, and lyft, the air. Cf. on live, st. 12. Obeisance, accent first and last syllables.

26. Creature, accent first and last syllables. -Often sithe, often times. Cf. selden time, st. 13. Notice the silent e in sithe, also in hire in last verse of this stanza and in st. 27. Paraventure, by chance; Fr. par-aventure. — Eyen, eyes; A.-S. eg, ege, eage, an eye, plu. egan and eagan.- - Him oft avise, often reflect. The verb used reflexively. Cf. Ime rejoyced, st. 13.

27. Womanhede, womanly character, as we say manly character. — Eke eke, also. See n. 4.