Pearl : an English poem of the 14th century

V

THE MEDIEVAL LIBRARY UNDER
THE GENERAL EDITORSHIP OF
SIR ISRAEL GOLLANCZ, LITT.D., F.B.A.

By arrangement with the publishers, a Large
Paper Edition of this volume (limited to 200 copies,
150 for sale] has been printed, for inclusion in the
Editor's Series of " Select Early English Poems "
(Milford, Oxford University Press).

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PEARL

AN ENGLISH POEM OF THE
XIV™ CENTURY: EDITED, WITH
MODERN RENDERING, TOGETHER
WITH BOCCACCIO'S OLYMPIA, BY
SIR ISRAEL GOLLANCZ, Lirr.D., F.B.A.

CHATTO AND WINDUS : LONDON
MCMXXI

PR
am

rights reserved

WE LOST YOU— FOR HOW LONG A TIME-
TRUE PEARL OF OUR POETIC PRIME !
WE FOUND YOU, AND YOUflf^LEAM RE-SET
IN BRITAIN'S LYRIC CORONET.

TENNYSON

CONTENTS

PAGE

QUATRAIN . ... ^TENNYSON vii

PREFATORY NOTE ix

INTRODUCTION ...... xi

TRANSLATION ...... i

TEXTUAL NOTES 107

EXPLANATORY NOTES . . . . .114

GLOSSARY ....... 175

BOCCACCIO'S OLYMPIA . . . . .241

ILLUSTRATIONS

FRONTISPIECE . . By W. HOLMAN HUNT

to face title-page
FROM MS. COTTON NERO A. x. :

FACSIMILE, 11. 1-29 „ 2

ILLUSTRATION, 11. 57-64 „ 6

„ 11. 101-108 „ 16

„ 11. 193-228 . „ 18

FACSIMILE, 11. 829-837 . „ 72

ILLUSTRATION, 11. 961-972 . . „ 82

PREFATORY NOTE

MY edition of * Pearl' in 1891 was my first contribution to
Middle English studies, and my interest in the poem has
remained unabated all these years, during which I have
endeavoured to understand it aright and to unravel many
a problem. Many requests have reached me from far and wide
to re-issue the book, now long out of print, but I resisted
these appeals until I could feel satisfied in respect of all
the outstanding difficulties of the poem. I trust that those
who are qualified to judge will recognise that the present
new edition makes good its claim. As in the issue of 1891,
so in the present edition, an unrhymed rendering into modern
English faces the Middle English text. A translation which
aims at interpreting the original is to my mind the best
form of commentary ; at all events it clearly indicates the
editor's decision, good or bad, on difficult passages. At the
same time, for those who are not deeply interested in Middle
English, it may serve as an adequate introduction to the
poem, not the less effective for avoiding the perversions and
obscurities that too often mar the attempts to maintain the
highly complicated rhyming system of the original. It will,
I think, be admitted that, both as regards text and inter
pretation, a new edition of c Pearl ' is much needed.

I am proud to know that my early enthusiasm for the
poem, still maintained, has been effective in stimulating so
much interest in ' Pearl,' far beyond the limited circle of
students of Middle English, and has gained for it, through

ix

x PREFATORY NOTE

its intrinsic worth, a foremost place among the choicest
treasures of medieval literature.

I feel sure that, whatever may be the views of students as
to the relationship of 'Pearl' and Boccaccio's Eclogue,
f Olympia,' they will be grateful to me for adding, as a com
plement to ' Pearl,' the original text of the Latin poem,
together with my rendering into English.

In 1891 it was my privilege to express my grateful acknow
ledgment to three great men who have since passed away :
to Professor Skeat, my beloved master, for valued help ; to
Holman Hunt, for having given 'Pearl' a noble place in
English art by his drawing of the frontispiece for my edition
of the poem ; to Alfred Tennyson for having graced with
the most coveted of distinctions my efforts to re-set this
Pearl * in Britain's lyric coronet.'

In recognition of cordial help in those now far-off days, it
is a pleasure to refer to the fourth name then mentioned, that
of Dr. Henry Bradley, happily still with us.

I. G.

KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON
July 13, 1921.

INTRODUCTION

« Of the West Cuntre it semeth that he was,
Bi his maner of spec he and bi his style?

• Pearl ' in the Lineage of English Poetry.— While Chaucer
was still learning from Guillaume de Machault and his
followers the cult of the Marguerite, flower of flowers, as
symbol of womanhood, a contemporary English poet had
already found inspiration in the more spiritual associations
of the Marguerite as the Pearl of Price.

It is indeed rather with the Prologue of ' The Legend of
Good Women' than with Chaucer's earlier effort of 'The
Book of the Duchess ' that the poem of * Pearl ' may best
be contrasted, though Chaucer's Lament for Blanche the
Duchess, as an elegy, invites comparison with 'Pearl' as
elegy. From this point of view, Chaucer's Lament seems
somewhat unreal and conventional ; our poem exercises
its spell, not merely by its artistic beauty, but even more
by its simple and direct appeal to what is eternal and
elemental in human nature.

Again, its artistic form indicates the peculiar position that
this early ' In Memoriam ' holds in the progress of English
poetry. It represents the compromise between the two
schools of poetry that co-existed during the latter half of
the fourteenth century, the period with which Chaucer is
especially identified as its greatest and noblest product.

xi

xii INTRODUCTION.

On the one hand, there were the poets of the East Midland
district, with the Court as its literary centre, who sought
their first inspiration in the literature of France. Chaucer
and his devotees were the representatives of this group, for
whom earlier English poetry meant nothing, and whose
debt to it was indeed small. These poets preluded 'the
spacious times of great Elizabeth ' ; they were the forward
link in our literary history. But there were also poets
suggesting the backward link, whose literary ancestors may
be found before the Conquest, poets belonging to districts
of England where the old English spirit lived on from early
times and was predominant, notwithstanding other in
fluences. This school had its home in the West — along
the line of the Welsh Marches, in Lancashire, Westmorland
and Cumberland, well-nigh to the Tweed ; and it is clear
that in these regions not only did the old English spirit
survive after the days of the Conquest, but also the old
English alliterative measure was at no time wholly forgotten,
until at last Langland and a band of other poets, whose
names have not come down to us, revived this verse as an
instrument of literary expression. In these West Midland
poets, kinship in feeling with the older English tradition
predominated, even as the Norman in the East Midland
poets. It was not merely a matter of vocabulary and versifi
cation, though indeed Chaucer could not have appreciated
Langland's poetry at its proper worth ' right for strangness
of his dark langage,' to use the actual words of an East
Midland poet concerning another, whose ' manner of speech
and style' pronounced him 'of the West country.'1 Lang-

1 The poet in question was Capgrave ; see Prologue to the ' Life
of St. Katherine,' printed in Capgrave's 'Chronicle,' edited by Sir
E. Maunde Thompson, Rolls Series.

INTRODUCTION. xiii

land, on the other hand, with his intensely didactic purpose,
would have had but scant sympathy with the light-hearted
and genial spirit of his greater contemporary.

But it would seem that there arose a third class of poets
during this period, whose endeavour was to harmonise
these diverse elements of Old and New, to blend the archaic
Teutonic rhythm with the measures of Romance song. We
see this already in the extant remains of lyrical poetry,
especially in a number of those preserved in MS. Harl. 2253,
dating from some years before the middle of the fourteenth
century. The later political ballads of Minot and other
fourteenth-century poems point also in this direction. But
I can name no sustained piece of literature at all comparable
with ' Pearl' as an instance of success in reconciling elements
seemingly so irreconcilable. The poet of 'Pearl' holds, as
it were, one hand towards Langland and one towards
Chaucer ; as poet of ' Sir Gawain and the Green Knight/
he was the direct precursor of the poet of the ' Faerie
Queene,' and helps us to understand the true significance
of Spenser as the Elizabethan poet par excellence. * Pearl '
stands on the very threshold of modern English poetry.

The Manuscript.— A kindly fate has preserved this poem
from oblivion ; a fate that has saved for us so much from
the wreckage of time. Indeed, the Old English Muse must
have borne a charmed life, surviving the many ills that
ancient books were heirs to. Our knowledge of early
English literature seems almost miraculous, when we note
that so many extant works are preserved to us in unique
MSS. ' Cotton Nero A. x.,' in the British Museum, is
one of these priceless treasures. Bound up with a dull
'panegyrical oration' on a certain John Ched worth, Arch
deacon of Lincoln in the fifteenth century, four English

xiv INTRODUCTION.

poems are contained in this small quarto volume, each of
high intrinsic worth, and of special interest to the student
of our early literature. The handwriting of the poems,
' small, sharp, and irregular,' belongs on the best authority
to the latter years of the fourteenth century or the early
fifteenth. There are neither titles nor rubrics in the MS.;
but the chief divisions are marked by large initial letters of
blue, flourished with red, and several illuminations, coarsely
executed, serve by way of illustration, all but one occupying
a full page. The difficulty of the language of these poems
and the strangeness of the script are no doubt answerable
for the treatment they received at the hands of the old cata
loguers of the Cottonian collection ; probably few modern
scholars before Warton, Conybeare, and Madden knew
more of the poems than the first page of the MS., and from
this they hastily inferred that the whole was a continuous
poem ' in Old English, on religious and moral subjects,' or,
'Vetus poema Anglicanum, in quo sub insomnii figmento
multa ad religionem et mores spectantia explicantur.' An
old librarian, who attempted a transcription of the first four
lines, produced the following result :

1 Perle pleasaunte to prynces paye
To claulx clos in gode soeter,
Oute se wyent I hardely saye
Ne proved I never her precios pere.'

We now know that the MS. came to Sir Robert Cotton
from the library of Henry Savile, of Banke in Yorkshire
(1568-1617), a great collector, who secured rich spoils from
the Northern monasteries and abbeys.1 To Madden
belongs, it would seem, the credit of having shown for the

1 See Preface to ' Patience, ' ed. Sir I . Gollancz, ( Select Early
English Poems.'

INTRODUCTION. xv

first time that these earlier describers of the MS.
had confused four distinct poems,1 and since his days
the poems have received increased, though by no
means adequate, attention from all students of our
literature.

The Vision and the Allegory.— The first of the four poems,
' Pearl,3 tells of a father's grief for a lost child, and how he
was comforted, and learnt the lesson of resignation.

This briefly is the theme of the poem of 'Pearl.' A
fourteenth-century poet, casting about for the form best
suited for such a theme, had two sources of inspiration. On
the one hand, there was that great storehouse of 'dream
pictures,' 'The Romaunt of the Rose'; on the other, the
symbolic pages of Scripture. A poet of the Chaucer school
would have chosen the former, and the lost 'Marguerite'
would have suggested an allegory of the ' flour that bereth
our alder pris in figurynge,' and in his vision the ' Marguerite '
would have been transfigured as the type of truest woman
hood, a maiden in the train of Love's Queen, Alcestis. But
the cult of the ' daisy ' seems to have been altogether un
known to our poet, or at least to have had no attraction for
him ; his lost ' Marguerite,' a beloved child, was for him a
lost jewel, a pearl, and ' he bethought him on the man that
sought the precious Margarites, and when he had founden
one to his liking, he solde all his good to buy that Jewell.' /
The basis of the ' Vision ' is this verse of the Gospel, together -
with the closing chapters of the Apocalypse. Mary, the
Queen of Heaven, not Alcestis, Queen of Love, reigns in the
visionary Paradise that the poet pictures forth.

The Pearl of the Gospel was a favourite allegorical theme

1 For a general description of the MS., see 'Syr Gawayne,' ed.
Sir F. Madden, 1839.

xvi INTRODUCTION.

with medieval theologians, but rarely with the poets.1 I
know of but one piece of English literature other than this
poem in which it figures strikingly; it is poetical in thought
though written in prose, and belongs to a later date than
our poem. I allude to the * Testament of Love,' a rather
crude composition, the history of which we know now in
relation to the life of its author, Thomas Usk, who was a
contemporary and clearly a disciple of Chaucer.2 It is
an obvious imitation of the 'Consolation of Philosophy' of
Boethius ; but in allegorising the Grace of God by 'a precious
Margaret ' — ' Margarete of virtue,' for whose love he pines —
the author may perhaps have been influenced by the poem
of ' Pearl.' Under any circumstances, the poem gives the
prose work some interest ; the 'Testament' shows how our
poet has avoided the danger of being over mystical in the
treatment of his subject. Where the poem is simple and
direct, the prose is everywhere abstruse and vague, and Usk
is forced to close his^ book with a necessary explanation of
his allegory : —

' Right so a jewel betokeneth a gemme, and that is a stoon
vertuous or els a perle, Margarite, a woman, betokeneth
grace, lerning, or wisdom of God, or els Holy Church. If
breed, thorow vertue, is mad holy flesshe, 'what is that our
God sayth? It is the spirit that yeveth lyf ; the flesshe, of
nothing it profiteth. Flesshe is flesshly understandinge ;
flessh without grace and love naught is worth. The letter

1 In the really fine poem called ' A Luue Run,' by Thomas de
Hales (O. E. Miscellany, E.E.T.S., 1882), the precious gem-stone,
maidenhood, more precious than any earthly gem, is dealt with
most suggestively. It is set 'in Heaven's gold/ and shines bright
in Heaven's bower, but is not specified as the pearl (cp. Note on

1.2).

2 See supplement to « Works of Chaucer,' ed. Skeat, Vol. VII.

INTRODUCTION. xvii

sleeth ; the spirit yeveth lyfelich understanding. Charite is
love, and love is charite.

God graunt us al therin to be Trended !
And thus The Testament of Love is ended.'

It is not my purpose to deal with the history of the pearl
as treated allegorically from far-off times.1 To do so would
lead me into studies of Oriental mysticism ; but there can be
no doubt that in Hebrew symbolism the soul was likened to
a pearl, the ' muddy vesture of decay ' being regarded as the
mere shell, or as the precious metal in which the jewel was

1 Perhaps the most striking mystical poem on the Pearl is the
beautiful gnostic ' Hymn of the Soul,' attributed to the Syrian gnostic
Bardaisan, circa A.D. 150. Here the Pearl ' lies in the sea, hard by
the loud-breathing Serpent.' It has to be brought by the King's
son to the House of his Father's Kingdom. I take the Pearl in the
Hymn to be symbol of purity amid the defilements of the world.
Mr. G. R. S. Mead, in ' The Hymn of the Robe of Glory ' (London
and Benares, 1908), gives the poem, together with Bibliography,
Comments, and Notes. Mr. Mead, in a fascinating article in ' The
Quest,' January 1913, discussed a new-found Manichean Treatise,
from China, translated and annotated by MM. Ed. Chavannes and
P. Pelliot ('Journal Asiatique,' November-December 1911). It
would appear probable that certain gnostic elements link this work
with the Hymn attributed to Bardaisan. Here we have seven
pearls ' hidden in the labyrinth of the impure city of the Demon of
Lust.' Also, it is of special interest that the precious pearl called
' moon-light,' with which pity and compassion are compared, is 'the
first among all jewels.'

Dr. R. M. Garrett ('University of Washington Publications, IV,
1918) quotes the charming letter of St. Hilary of Poictiers to his
twelve-year-old daughter Abra (A.D. 358), concerning a certain
Prince who possesses a pearl and a robe of priceless value. He
tells her how humbly he begged the gift for the little daughter he
so tenderly loved. With the letter he sends a hymn ; she is to
ask her mother to explain both letter and hymn.

On the Pearl in Mystical Literature, cp. also Kunz and
Stevenson's ' The Book of the Pearl' (London, 1908).
b

xviii INTRODUCTION.

set. ' It is meet,' said the Cabbalistic Rabbi, * a man should
have compassionate regard for his soul, the pure pearl which
God has given to him, for it is not proper that he should
defile it, but, as is said in the Talmud, should give it back to
God pure as he received it' *• The Pearl of the Gospel links
itself to this fine thought ; and our poem emphasises this same
aspect of the pearl as the undefiled spirit, the soul of the child,
reclaimed by the Prince — the Pearl that He has set in the
radiant gold of heaven, transcending its earthly setting in all
the grace and charm of child-beauty. The Pearl has now
been sundered from the shell. ' The sowle is the precious
marguarite vnto God,' the good Knight of La Tour-Landry
taught his daughters in his book, which, as I have attempted
to show elsewhere, seems to have been well known to our
poet.2

The Plan of the Poem. — Distraught with grief at the loss
of his little daughter, the poet, prone on the child's grave,
beholds her in a vision, gloriously transfigured.3 He sees
her radiant, clad in white, her surcoat and kirtle broidered
with pearls, and on her head a pinnacled crown, her hair

1 From the late Cabbalistic work Reshith Chochmah, III. i., by
Elias de Vidas, who notes that the idea of the soul as a pearl is
in the Zohar, a medieval Jewish gnostic work containing much
ancient lore. I owe this reference to the Rev. Morris Joseph, in
whose Judaism in Creed and Life the passage is alluded to.

2 See Preface to 'Cleanness' (Select Early English Poems).

3 Nothing that has been written attempting to prove that the
poem is merely an allegory, and is not inspired by a personal grief,
has impressed me in the least degree. The chief exponent of this
view was the late Professor Schofield ; see Appendix. As further
illustration of the personal aspect of the poem, cp. De Quincey,
on the death of little Kate Wordsworth, who died aged ' not
above three' (De Quincey's Works, ed. Masson, 1896, Vol. II.
440-445).

INTRODUCTION. xix

loose upon her shoulders, while ' a wonder pearl ' is set upon
her breast. The little child, as the very embodiment of
Reason, or rather of Divine Sapience, disputes with the
father on the error of impious grief, and explains that the
whiteness of her robe and the crown on her head betoken
her bridal as Queen of Heaven, and that though she has
worked but little in the vineyard of earth, her innocence has
given her the like reward with those who by righteousness
have won the crown. All who enter the realm are kings
and queens. The pearl she wears is the token of the bride's
betrothal — a token, too, of Truce with God. And the father
is begged by his child to purchase his peace, even as the
merchant of the Gospel, having found one pearl of price, sold
his all to buy it. By her exposition of the Parable of the
Vineyard, Pearl explains that, little child as she was, she
reached at once the great goal of queenship in the court of
heaven, where Mary reigns as Empress. For the father
it would have sufficed had she attained the state of countess,
or even of a lady of less degree. But, he urges, surely she and
her peers dwell in some great manor or within castle-walls.
Could he not behold their dwelling-place ? In the vision the
father is on one side of the stream, his transfigured child on
the other, and she tells him that by Divine grace he is to be
granted a sight of their glorious home. She bids him follow
on his side, while she shows the way on hers, until he reaches
a hill. Then, as the seer of Patmos, from a hill he beholds
the New Jerusalem descending as a bride from heaven, and
the City of God, as pictured by the Apostle, is revealed to
him in all its glory and rich radiance.1 Amid the golden
splendour, dazzling as the light of the sun, suddenly there
appears within the citadel a procession of maidens, as moons
Cp. Faerie Queene,' Book I. x.

I

xx INTRODUCTION.

of glory, all crowned and clad in self-same fashion, gentle ' as
modest maids at Mass.' And lo, among them he beholds
his 'little queen,' who he thought had stood by him in the
glade. The sight of his lost Pearl is too much for his love-
longing, and notwithstanding the earlier warning that no
one living could pass the stream, the dreamer dashes
forward to plunge, determined to cross. The movement
wakes him, and he declares that the lesson of resignation
has now been learnt.

The Poem in Relation to its Main Sources. — As I read the
poem, it seems to me that its scheme is elaborated from the
one thought of the transfiguration of the child, and that
the poet successively explains the significance of the spotless
whiteness of her attire, of the regal crown she wears, of the
pearl of price ; and then, by a natural culmination, proceeds
to portray the heavenly dwelling — the New Jerusalem.

For the last, he naturally paraphrased Revelation xxi. and
other passages from the Apocalypse of St. John, which book
indeed inspired his whole conception of the mystical bridal,
— 'And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, clean and white,' Rev. xix. 8. Truly, white is
almost the burden of the poet's description of the maiden's
robe, her kirtle and all her vesture, her crown, and the pearls
that bedeck her. It is of interest to contrast this emphasis
on ' white ' with the more direct but less effective reference,

1 And gode faire Whyte she hete,
That was my lady name right,' 1

and the lines which follow, in which Chaucer appraises
Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster. To Chaucer the possi-

1 ' Book of the Duchess,' 948-9.

INTRODUCTION. xxi

bilities of the name with reference to its spiritual significance
were hardly present ; in our poet's mind the text is uppermost
concerning those ' which have not defiled their garments ;
and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy,'
Rev. iii. 4.

With obvious delight in pictorial description, the poet
depicts the white surcoat,1 with its hanging lappets, after
the fashion of those of highest degree, and leads up to the
crown, with its whiteness of pearl and its ornamentation of
flowers, the aureole of maidenhood. In the Apocalypse it is
the Elders that have on their heads the crowns of gold, but
the coronation of the Virgin as empress of heaven, and of
the brides as queens, forms a very integral part of medieval
homiletic literature as of medieval art.2 The allegorical
interpretation of the Song of Songs in relation to the bridal
of the Apocalypse seems to have influenced this idea of the
crowning : * Go forth, O ye daughters of Sion, and behold
King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned
him in the day of his espousals' (Song of Solomon iii. n).
A like crown was bestowed upon the bride.3 ' Come with
me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon '
(iv. 8), became the burden of the mystical Epithalamium.
Thus our poet applies the words in Stanza Ixiv, 11. 763-4.
So, too, in ' Olympia ' we have ' De Libano nunc sponsa veni
sacrosque hymenaeos ' as the heavenly songs they sing ; and
in the ' Song of Great Sweetness,' belonging to the early
fifteenth century, there is the same application, — 'Veni de

1 The surcoat above the robe had probably some special mystical
significance. So, too, in the ' Hymn of the Soul ' there is the
Purple Mantle over the Robe of Glory (cp. Mead, p. 46).

a Cp. Didron, 'Christian Iconography,' London, 1886.

8 Cp. Ezek. xvi. 12. ^"*-»—

xxii INTRODUCTION.

Libano . . . veni coronaberis.' 1 The main portion of our

poem is drawn from the Parable of the Vineyard and the

Apocalypse, and is the amplification of the Gospel text

r concerning the Pearl of Price in its twofold application, as

A typifym& on tne one hand ideal maidenhood, that is, the jewel

^"N* above rubies,'2 and on the other the Kingdom of Heaven,

(/the Peace of God.

•" In the earlier part of the poem, both in the description of
the spice-garden, where Pearl is at rest, and in the visionary
scenes through which the poet passes till he comes to the
sundering stream beyond which he sees the ' maiden of
mensk,' he is haunted by the dream-pictures of the ' Romaunt
of the Rose,' and even Divine Love seems to the bereft father
to be ' Luf-Daungere,' that is, Love the Severer, as in
the Romaunt, * Daunger ' is the power that keeps the lover
from the object of his love. And Pearl, as portrayed and
in her utterance, recalls the figure of Reason drawn by
William de Lorris (cp. Chaucerian version, 11. 3189-216).
The wells joined by conduits, in the garden of Sir Mirth, are
very directly referred to by our poet in his description of
the country of his dream.3 Thereafter, the Romaunt, save
for a few slight echoes, gives place to the Scriptures. The
stream is not the artificial conduit of the Garden of the Rose,
but, whatever its Biblical source, its beauty has been sug
gested by the river in the Romaunt described before the
Lover reached the garden.

' Et pave
Lefons de 1'iaue de gravele,'

1 Early English Text Society, Original Series, 24, ed. Furnivall.

2 The marginal reference in Matt. xiv. 45-6 to Proverbs iii. 14-15
indicates this application.

3 See note on 11. 139-40.

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

which in the Chaucerian rendering is as follows, —

* paved everydel
With gravel, ful of stones shene' (11. 126-7)

becomes richly transformed in ' Pearl ' ; but the words ' in
)?e founce3 betray the direct source of the lines, —

' In )>e founce )>er stonden stone^ stepe,
As glente )>ur3 glas >at glowed & gly3t,' etc. (11. 113 ff.).

Metre, Diction, and Style. — The stanzaic form of * Pearl,'
twelve lines with four accents, rhymed according to the
scheme ababababbcbc, and combining rhyme with allitera
tion, may have been used by previous poets, but it is
difficult to say whether any of the extant poems in this
metre, which seems to have been popular, belong to a date
earlier than * Pearl.' l But not one of them is comparable

1 The metre is fairly common ; see poems in Trans. Phil. Soc.,
1858, ed. Furnivall ; 'Political, Religious and Love Poems,' ed.
Furnivall, E.E.T.S. 15; 'Hymns to the Virgin and Christ,' ed.
Furnivall, E.E.T.S. 24 ; 'Twenty-six Political and Other Poems,'
ed. Kail, E.E.T.S. 124. Ten Brink was of opinion that 'Pearl'
was modelled on the 'Song of Mercy ' (Trans. Phil. Soc., 1858,
p, 118), but there is no evidence in favour of this, nor can the
date be fixed. The only poem in this metre that seems to give
evidence of being influenced by 'Pearl' is 'God's Complaint.'
' Thou art an vnkynde omagere ' sounds much like an echo of
Pearl's ' f>ou art no kynde jueler.' Concerning this poem and
its author, Glassinbery, and the similar poem, ' This World is
Very Vanity,' see my article in ' Athenaeum, ' March 29, 1902.

The earlier alliterative rhyming poems in Harl. MS. 2253, though
not in the. same form as ' Pearl,' indicate certain points in common,
and have similar characteristics as regards linking and alliteration.

On the metrical structure of the poem, see article by Professor
Clark S. Northup, 'Study of the Metrical Structure of The Pearl?
Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, XII.
pp. 326-40. This article seems to me to fail by reason of the writer's
assumption in respect of the sounding or non-sounding of final -is

xxiv INTRODUCTION.

to our poem in rhythm, beauty of well-defined caesura,
and dignity of movement. There are in 'Pearl' 101 such
stanzas. These divide again into twenty sections, each
consisting of five stanzas, having the same refrain ; section
fifteen is exceptional, with six stanzas. Throughout the
poem the last or main word of the refrain is caught up in
the first line of the next stanza.1 Finally, the last line of
the poem re-echoes the first, and rounds the whole.

through not giving sufficient recognition to the trisyllabic character
of the metre of the poem. An examination of the rhyming words
goes far, in my opinion, to prove that the dialect in respect of the
final -e is artificial, for -e's obviously mute at the end are in many
cases distinctly syllabic within the line. Nor do I agree that the
great number of words in which final -e is written but unsounded,
as compared with the few which sound an -e not written, tends to
confirm the theory of Fick and Knigge that the copyist of the
MS. spoke Sth. or S.W. M. In the case of so late a MS. as Cotton
Nero A. x. the conventional writing of the final -e would prove
nothing.

In my present text I have supplied the syllabic -<?'s within the
line necessary for the minimum metrical requirement in the follow
ing cases: 11. 17, 51, 72, 122, 225, 286, 381, 486, 564, 586, 635,
678, 683, 825, 912, 999, looo, 1004, 1036, 1041, 1076. Professor
Osgood considers these irregularities as perfectly natural in a poet
whose usual medium is the alliterative long line, and therefore re
tains the MS. readings, to the detriment, in my view, of the metrical
effect of the poem. The omission of some twenty -e's is a very small
proportion in a poem of 1212 lines, and it is noteworthy that a large
proportion of the words in question end in consonant combinations,
of which the first is often r, or other voiced continuant. As regards
1. 709, the line as in the MS. seems to indicate a monosyllabic foot
at the beginning of the line and after the csesura ; but ' so ' was
probably omitted by the scribe after 'quo'; cp. ' quat so,' 1. 566.
With reference to 1. 990, the only line mentioned by Northup in
which the unstressed syllable is lacking, see my Note.

1 On the stanza-linking, cp. 'The Romanic Review,' arts, by
Margaret Medary and A. C. L. Brown ; Vol. VII. pp. 243, 271.

INTRODUCTION. xxv

While alliteration is used effectively by the poet, he does
not attempt to employ it rigidly, or sacrifice thereto either
thought or feeling.

I can point to no direct source to which the poet of
' Pearl ' was indebted for his measure ; that it belongs to
French or Provengal poetry, I have little doubt. These
twelve-line stanzas seem to me to resemble, in effect, the
earliest form of the sonnet more than anything else I
have as yet discovered. Perhaps students may find ' a
billow of tidal music one and whole' in the 'octave,3 and
in the closing quatrain of the verse the 'ebbing' of the
sonnet's ' sestet.' It is noteworthy that the earliest extant
sonnet, that of Pier delle Vigne, for a knowledge of which
we are indebted to J. A. Symonds, has the same arrange
ment of rhymes in its octave as the stanzas of ' Pearl,' viz.,
abababab. Be this as it may, all will, I hope, recognise
that there is a distinct gain in giving to the 101 stanzas of
the poem the appearance of a sonnet sequence, marking
clearly the break between the initial octave and the closing
quatrain. In the MS. there is no such indication. When
' Pearl ' was written, the sonnet was still foreign to English
literature ; the poet, if he knew of this form, wisely chose
as its counterpart a measure less ' monumental,' and more
suited for lyrical emotion. The refrain, the repetition of
the catch-word of each verse, the trammels of alliteration,
all seemed to have offered no difficulty ; and as far as power
over technical trammels contributes to poetic greatness,
the author of ' Pearl ' must take high rank among English
poets.

To judge by the result, our poet seems to have discovered
the artistic form best suited for his subject. With a rich
vocabulary at his command, consisting, on the one hand,

xxvi INTRODUCTION.

of alliterative phrases, ' native mother- words,' derived from
his local dialect, in which English, French, and Scandinavian
elements were strikingly blended, and on the other hand,
of words and allusions due to knowledge of Latin and
French literature, he succeeded in producing a series of
stanzas so simple in syntax, so varied in rhythmical effect,
now lyrical, now epical, never undignified, as to leave the
impression that no form of metre could have been more
suitably chosen for this elegiac theme.

It has been alleged that the diction of the poem is faulty
in too great copiousness. On the contrary, the richness of
its vocabulary seems to me one of its special charms, and
this might be well illustrated by comparing such a section
of the poem as the Parable of the Vineyard with the
earlier poetical version of the same parable in MS. Harl.
2253, or with the Wycliffite prose version.

Imagery. — The wealth and brilliancy of the poet's descrip
tions have been the subject of criticism. But surely this
richness is what one would expect in a poem, the inspiration
of which is mainly derived from the visionary scenes of the
Apocalypse, with its pictorial phantasies, and the ' Roman
de la Rose,' with its personifications and allegory. The poet's
fancy revels in the richness of the heavenly and the earthly
paradise, but it is subordinated to his earnestness and inten
sity. The heightened style of 'Pearl' responds, moreover,
to the poet's own genius for touching vividly his dream-
pictures with rich imagery and bright colour. The wealth
and brilliancy pervading 'Pearl' may still delight those
theorists who seek in our literature that ' fairy dew of natural
magic,' which is supposed to be the peculiar gift of the
Celtic genius, and which can be discovered as 'the sheer
inimitable Celtic note' in English poetry. It would, I

INTRODUCTION. xxvii

think, be fair to say that the Apocalypse has had a special
fascination for the poet because of its' almost Romantic
fancy, and that he has touched certain scenes of the book
with a brilliancy of colour and richness of description
altogether foreign to the Germanic strain of our literature.
' Pearl ' finds its truest counterpart in the delicate miniatures
of medieval missals, steeped in richest colours and bright
with gold, and it is just those scenes of the Apocalypse
which the old miniaturists loved to portray, one might better
say lived to portray, that seemed to have been uppermost
in our poet's mind, — such favourite themes as, ' I looked,
and behold, a door was opened in heaven,5 which gave
special scope to medieval artists. On the title-page of
this book will be found an imprint from one of these old
miniatures ; it is part of an illustration to the verse just
quoted, and may well apply to our poet,

* Falling with his weight of cares
Upon the world's great altar-stairs.'

The Poet's Sources: (i) The Bible; (2) The Roman de la

Rose. — The poet's main sources of inspiration were, as
already indicated, the Bible and the ' Roman de la Rose,'
that secular Bible of medieval poets. The latter pervades
his fancy, and influences thought, diction, and imagery,
while, when once he has chosen as his theme the Pearl of
the Gospel and the problem of the Parable of the Vineyard,
the former dominates his whole conception. Whatever
theological questions may be enunciated in the course
of the poem, ' Pearl ' is to my mind, without a doubt, an
elegiac poem expressive of personal grief, a poet's lament
for the loss of his child, and in its treatment transcends
the scholastic and theological discussions of the time.

xxviii INTRODUCTION.

The Question of Boccaccio's 'Olympia,' and Dante. — An

attempt has been made to demonstrate that 'Pearl' is
merely allegorical and theological, but this view ignores
or fails to recognise the personal touches whereby the
poem soars above all theological questions, and makes its
^simple and direct appeal to the human heart. It is of
great interest that, soon after 1358, some years before
'Pearl,' Boccaccio wrote an elegy on his young daughter
Violante — the Latin Eclogue ' Olympia.' There is no clear
evidence that this most charming of Boccaccio's shorter
poems' was known to our poet, or was one of his sources of
inspiration. 'Olympia,' however, may well be considered
as a companion poem, of the highest interest and fascination
both intrinsically and for the purposes of comparative study.
Accordingly, the Latin text, with a translation, is included
in the present volume, together with a brief introductory
study of its history and the question of its relation to ' Pearl.'

I can trace no direct influence of Dante on our poet,
though parallels may be found, both in the ' D ivina Commedia '
and the 'Vita Nuova,' as regards conception, imagery, and
description. However striking the similarities may appear,
these parallels are due, in my opinion, to similar thought,
and to the common methods of medieval mysticism. It
cannot be proved that our poet was acquainted with the
writings of the greatest mind of the medieval age. Yet
again, it is not without profit for the student of 'Pearl'
to re-rea4 the Divine Comedy and the New Life, and to
recognise( Pearl's spiritual kinship to Dante's Beatrice.

The Poet and English Writers. — The author was no doubt
acquainted with English poets, his contemporaries and
predecessors. He would have been attracted to the writings
of Hampole and other mystics, and also to the English

INTRODUCTION. xxix

homilies on Holy Maidenhood,1 the English legends of
Saints, especially those dealing with St. Margaret. He
was a disciple of the alliterative poets. As regards Chaucer,
I can discover no trace of influence. The ' Book of the
Duchess,' which is adduced as a source of inspiration, is
but another elegiac poem belonging to the same genre as
4 Pearl.' That Chaucer should refer to Blanche as the
Phoanix of Araby, and that the poet of * Pearl ' applies
the same term to the Virgin Mary, cannot be taken seriously
as evidence of direct influence ; and so, too, with other
medieval conventional phrases or ideas common to the two
elegies.

We know from his other poems that he was acquainted
with French contemporary literature, the romances of
chivalry, and Mandeville's Travels. In 'Pearl' so far we
have not succeeded in finding any traces of the influence
of this secular literature, though perhaps in such a charming
touch as we find in 11. 489-92,

'As countess, damosel, par ma fay,
'Twere fair in heaven to hold estate,
Or as a lady of lower degree,
But Queen, — it is too high a goal,'

we have a note suggestive of a writer who would have been
specially interested in the higher social life depicted in
romances of courtesy and chivalry.

The MS. Illustrations of the Poems. — The pictorial character
of his poem could not have escaped the poet. The unique
MS. of 'Pearl' contains four crude illustrations depicting

1 Compare especially the thirteenth-century alliterative homily,
' HaH Meidenhad,' ed. Cockayne, E.E.T.S., 1866, which on p. 22
strikingly illustrates certain passages of the poem, see Note on 11.
205, 1 1 86.

xxx INTRODUCTION.

its chief episodes. In the first, the author is represented
slumbering in a meadow, by the side of a beflowered mound
(not a stream, as has been said), clad in a long red gown
with falling sleeves, turned up with white, and a blue
hood attached round the neck. Madden and others who
have described the illustrations have not noticed that there
are wings — 'wings of fancy' — attached to the shoulders of
the dreamer, and a cord reaching up into the foliage above,
evidently intended to indicate that the spirit has ' sped forth
into space.' In the second, the same figure appears, drawn
on a larger scale, and standing by a river. In the third, he
is again represented in a similar position, with his hands
raised, and on the opposite side is Pearl, dressed in white,
in the costume of the time of Richard the Second and
Henry the Fourth ; her dress is buttoned tight up to the neck,
and on her head is a crown. In the fourth, the author is
kneeling by the water, and beyond the stream is depicted a
castle or palace, on the embattled walls of which Pearl again
appears, with her arm extended towards him. I had the
good fortune to induce my ever-revered friend, the late
W. Holman Hunt, to give Pearl a place in the history of
English art, and by way of contrast to the illustrations of
the MS., now reproduced, the portrayal of the poet's theme
as conceived by the greatest of modern Pre-Raphaelites is
given as frontispiece to the present volume.

Two illustrations follow after the pages of ' Pearl ; ; they
are evidently intended to represent respectively Noah and
his family in the Ark, and the prophet Daniel expounding
the writing on the wall to the affrighted Belshazzar and his
queen. It is clear that these have nothing to do with the
subject of ' Pearl ' ; they belong to a second poem, written
in a distinctly different metre, the short lines of ' Pearl '

INTRODUCTION. xxii

giving place to longer lines, alliterative and rhymeless. The
subject of the poem is its first word, ' Cleanness,' and it
relates in epic style the lessons of the Flood, the fall of
Sodom and Gomorrah, Belshazzar's fate, in order to
exemplify the Divine resentment that visits the impenitent
who are guilty of faults of ' Uncleanness.' A prelude on
the parable of the Marriage Feast precedes, and by way of
illustrating Divine moderation, the Fall of the Angels and
the Fall of Man are briefly handled.

In the MS. two new pictures precede what is obviously
a third poem. The medieval artist is evidently representing
episodes in the life of Jonah. The poem is a metrical
rendering of the story of Jonah, and is in the same metre as
' Cleanness ' ; the subject, too, is indicated by its first word,
'Patience.'

It is noteworthy that both these alliterative poems, though
rhymeless, are intentionally written in quatrains, and the
recognition of this device is necessary for their right
understanding and appreciation.

Links with * Cleanness ' and ' Patience.'— These two poems,
' Cleanness ' and * Patience,' may actually be, or may well
be regarded as pendants to ' Pearl,' dwelling more definitely
on its two main themes — purity and submission to the
Divine will. The link that binds 'Cleanness' to 'Pearl' is
unmistakable. The significance of the pearl is dwelt on as
symbol of the purified spirit : —

' How can'st thou approach His court save thou be clean ? . . .
Through shrift thou may'st shine, though thou hast served shame ;
Thou may'st become pure through penance, till thou art a pearl.

The pearl is praised wherever gems are seen,
Though it be not the dearest by way of merchandise.
Why is the pearl so prized, save for its purity,
That wins praise for it above all white stones ?

xxxii INTRODUCTION.

It shineth so bright, it is so round of shape,
Without fault or stain, if it be truly a pearl.
It becometh never the worse for wear,
Be it ne'er so old, if it remain but whole.

If by chance 'tis uncared for and becometh dim,
Left neglected in some lady's bower,
Wash it worthily in wine, as its nature requireth :
It becometh e'en clearer than ever before.

So if a mortal be defiled ignobly,

Yea, polluted in soul, let him seek shrift ;

He may purify him by priest and by penance,

And grow brighter than beryl or clustering pearls.'

' One speck of a spot may deprive us even
Of the Sovereign's sight who sitteth on high. . . .

As the bright burnished beryl ye must be clean,

That is wholly sound and hath no flaw;

Be ye stainless and spotless as a margery pearl.'

('Cleanness,' 11. mo, 1115-32, 551-2, 554-6.)

Similarly, it would be an easy matter to point out links
that bind together the poems of ' Cleanness' and * Patience.'
We find in each of them the same didactic purpose, the
same strength of descriptive power, the same delight in
nature, more especially when agitated by storm and tempest,
the same rich gift of expression, and the same diction and
rhythm. But if there were any question of the identity of
authorship, the descriptions of the Deluge from ' Cleanness '
and of the sea-storm which overtook Jonah from * Patience '
would, I think, be almost adequate proof; the writer of the
one was most certainly the writer of the other.

* Pearl' and 'Sir Gawain.' — A fourth poem follows
' Cleanness ' and ' Patience ' in the MS. As one turns the
leaves, it becomes clear at a glance that the metre of the
poem is a combination of the epic alliterative measure and

INTRODUCTION. xxxiii

the rhyming verse of romances of the ' Sir Thopas ' type ;
for a lyrical burden, introduced by a short line of one accent,
and rhyming according to the scheme ababa, breaks the
sequence of the unrhymed alliterative lines at irregular
intervals, producing the effect of stanzas averaging some
twenty lines.

The poem is illustrated much in the same way as those
that precede it, the scriptural pictures yielding to scenes of
medieval romance. In the first a headless knight on horse
back carries his head by its hair in his right hand, looking
benignly at an odd-eyed bill-man before him ; while from a
raised structure above him a king armed with a knife, his
queen, an attendant with a sabre, and another bill-man look
on. Three other illustrations, dealing with various episodes
of the poem, are added at the end. One of them represents
a stolen interview between a lady and a knight. Above the
picture is written the following couplet :

' Mi mind is mukel on on, that will me noght amende,
Sum time was trewe as ston, and fro schame couthe her defende.'

The couplet has proved a crux. ' It does not appear,'
wrote Sir Frederick Madden, 'how these lines apply to the
painting ' ; Dr. Morris quoted the remark without comment.
We shall see the possible value of the cryptic lines later on,
But first concerning the subject of the poem. It is the
well-known romance of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, —
the weird adventure that befell Sir Gawain, the son of Loth
and nephew of King Arthur, the favourite hero of medieval
romance, popular more especially in the west and northern
parts of England, where in all probability traditions of the
knight lived on from early times. The English Gawain
literature of the fourteenth century, though for the most part

xxxiv INTRODUCTION.

derived from French originals, betrays on all sides the

writers' eagerness to satisfy popular enthusiasm for the

hero's ideal character. Sir Gawain was indeed the Sir
Calydore of Spenser's fourteenth-century precursor, —

' beloved over all,

In whom it seems that gentlenesse of spright
And manners mylde were planted natural!,
To which he adding comely guise withall
And gracious speech did steal men's hearts away.
Nathless thereto he was full stout and tall,
And well approved in batteilous affray,
That did him much renovvne, and far his fame display.'

The fourteenth-century poets of the West and North of
England regarded Gawain, ' the falcon of the month of May,3
as the traditional embodiment of all that was chivalrous and
knightly. The depreciation of the hero in later English
literature was doubtless due to the direct influence of one
particular class of French romances, and it is from these
very romances that modern Englishmen ultimately derive
their view of Gawain's character. 'Light was Gawain in
life, and light in death,' is the thought that rises now in
every English mind at mention of the hero's name. I know
but one passage in the whole of early English poetry where
the knight is similarly characterised ; it is significantly by
an East Midland poet, probably the last of English men of
letters to write in Anglo-French. In one of his Anglo-French
ballades the 'moral' Gower, singing in praise of truest
constancy, declares :

( Cil qui tout ditz change sa fortune,
Et ne voet estre en un soul lieu certein
Om le poet bien resembler a Gawein,
Courtois d! amour, mais il fuist trap volage.'

During the second half of the fourteenth century there

INTRODUCTION. xxxv

was special activity in the western districts of England in
the making of Gawain romances, the poets vying with each
other in their glorification of the hero.

The Arthurian literature of the reign of Edward III. may
well be considered in relation to that monarch's attempt to
revive at Windsor some of the glories of Camelot, and the
present poem may be in some way suggested by the Order
of the Garter, or connected with the bestowal of the Order
upon some noble, in honour of whom Gawain was depicted
with such obvious enthusiasm on the part of the poet. It is
noteworthy that at the end of the MS. of the romance a
somewhat later hand has written the famous legend of the
Order :

' Hony soit qui mal penc.'

There is, moreover, stronger confirmation of this aspect
of the poem. A later poet, to whom we are indebted for a
ballad of * The Green Knight,' — a rifacimento of this romance,
or of some intermediate form of it, — has used the same story
to account for the origin of another Order. Evidently aware
of its original application, but wishing to make his ballad
topical, he ends it with the following reference to the
Knighthood of the Bath, then newly instituted :

' All the Court was full faine
Alive when they saw Sir Gawain,

They thanked God abone ;
That is the matter and the case,
Why Knights of the Bath wear the lace,

Until they have wonnen their shoon.

Or else a ladye of high estate
From about his necke shall it take

For the doughtye deeds that hee hath done ;
It was confirmed by Arthur the King,
Thorow Sir Gawain's desiringe,

The King granted him his boone.'
c 2

XXXVI

INTRODUCTION.

This theory gives us, at all events, a terminus a quo for
the date of the romance of Gawain ; it must belong to some
year later than 1345, the probable date of the foundation of
the Order of the Garter. Language, diction, thought, rhythm,
power of description, moral teaching, vividness of fancy,
artistic consciousness, and love of nature, all link this most
remarkable Spenserian romance to ' Pearl,3 ' Cleanness,' and
1 Patience' ; and for a right understanding of the poet and his
work the four poems must be treated together. The relation
that they bear to one another, as regards time of composition,
cannot be definitely determined.

Probable Date. — There is no definite evidence for the
date of ' Pearl.' General considerations of language point
to the second half of the fourteenth century. In view, how
ever, of evidence adduced by me enabling us to fix 1373
as the earliest date for ' Cleanness,' 1 it may be safe to accept
about 1370 as the date of composition of 'Pearl,' if we are
right in assuming that the elegy preceded the homily.
'Patience' and 'Cleanness' must certainly belong to about
the same time. The workmanship and skill of ' Gawain,' to
say nothing of its tone and pervading spirit, are so trans
cendent as to make it difficult for one to assign the poem to
a date at all near that of ' Cleanness ' and ' Patience/ unless
we have here an instance of an early achievement of a poet's
genius which, for some cause or other affecting its buoyancy,
joy in life, and enthusiasm for romance, failed to maintain
its power. On the whole, I am at present inclined to the
view that a long period intervened between the homiletic
poems and the matured excellence of ' Gawain.' Yet again
in this poem we have a striking reference to the pearl :

1 See Preface to ' Cleanness.'

INTRODUCTION. xxxvii

' As perle bi )>e quite pese is of prys more,
So is Gawayn, in god fayth, bi o]>er gay kny3te3,' —

'as the pearl is of greater price than white pease, so is
Gawain, in good faith, than other gay knights.'

Huehown and the Alliterative Poems.— And who was
the poet to whom we are indebted for these remarkable
poems? The question must still remain unanswered.
Unfortunately no tradition concerning their authorship has
come down to us, and no definite link has as yet been dis
covered connecting the poems with any name. Some fifty
years back, Dr. Guest, the historian of English Rhythms,
set up a claim for a Scotch poet, Huehown by name, but
this claim cannot stand the test of philological analysis, in
spite of any circumstantial evidence in its favour. The story
of Huchown's supposed connection with the poems is an
interesting piece of literary history. Andrew of Wyntown, in
his 'Orygynale Cronykil'of Scotland, written at the end of
the fourteenth century, mentions a poet, Huehown of the
' Awle Ryale,' who, in his ' Gest Hystoriale,'

' Called Lucius Hiberius Emperoure,
When King of Britain was Arthoure.'

The chronicler excuses the poet, for the mistake was not
originally his, and adds enthusiastically :

' men off gud dyscretyowne
Suld excuse and love Huchowne,
That cunnand was in literature.
He made the gret Geste of Arthure
And the Awntyre of Gawane,
The Pystyll als offSwete Susane.
He wes curyws in his style,
Fayre off fecund, and subtylle,

xxxviii INTRODUCTION

And ay to plesans and delyte
Made in metyre mete his dyte,
Lytil or nocht nevyrtheles
Waverand fra the suthfastnes.'

Huchown was therefore the author of an 'Adventure of
Gawain.' Is the poem referred to identical with the 'Gawain '
poem described above, the romance written by the author of
* Pearl ' ? Most certainly not. The ' Pystyll of Susan ' men
tioned by Wyntown is extant ; all are agreed in regarding it
as Huchown's work : it is a rhyming poem, and therefore of
special worth as a criterion of dialect. The result of a com
parative study of this poem and of 'Pearl' proves conclusively
that they are in different dialects, the one belonging to a
district north of the Tweed, the other to a more southern
district. ' Pearl ' cannot, therefore, be the work of the poet
of the 'Pystyll' ; and if this is true of Pearl,' it is equally
true of 'Gawain.' It is, moreover, very probable that
Huchown's ' gret geste of Arthure' is preserved to us,
though in a changed dialect and with some slight intentional
modifications, in the alliterative ' Morte Arthur,' and that the
' Awntyre of Gawane ' may be identified with the ' Awntyrs
off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyne,' which, as far as diction
is concerned, is closely connected with the ' Pystyll of
Susan.'

Dr. Guest rested his claims for Huchown not merely on
this passage from Wyntoun's Chronicle. In the blank space
at the head of ' Gawain and the Green Knight,' a hand of the
fifteenth century has written ' Hugo de ,' and this piece of
evidence seemed to him to confirm his view of the author
ship of the poem. In the first place, it is not certain that
the inscription is intended for the name of the author, but
even had we clear proof that ' Hugo de aula regali J was to

INTRODUCTION. xxxix

be read, the conclusion, from internal evidence, would be
forced upon us, that the writer had made a mistake by no
means uncommon in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The great masters of literature have always been made the
official fathers of unclaimed productions. It would be easy
enough to illustrate this from the pseudo-Chaucerian poems,
but an interesting parallel may be adduced from the literary
history of Huchown's great contemporary, Barbour. In the
Cambridge University Library there is a MS. of Lydgate's
* Troy Book.' Some portion of Lydgate's work has been lost
and is replaced by extracts from a version by a northern
poet. The scribe definitely assigned these inserted passages
to Barbour merely on the evidence of a general likeness in
style, but minute investigation places it beyond doubt that
the fragments are not from the pen of the author of the
' Bruce.'

The works of five individual poets have, at different times,
been fathered on Huchown ; l of these poems some are
undoubtedly West Midland, others genuinely Scottish, but
all of them belong to the great period of alliterative poetry,
the second half of the fourteenth century or the early years
of the fifteenth, and show the influence of that school of
English poets that strove on the one hand to revive the old
English measure, and on the other to combine this archaic
rhythm with the most complex of Romance metres. In the
fifteenth century the tradition of this West Midland influence

1 Dr. George Neilson, in his ' Huchown of the Awle Ryale,'
1902, attempted to assign to Huchown the great bulk of anonymous
alliterative poetry, including 'Pearl.' Among other criticisms of
Dr. Neilson's work, Dr. MacCracken's ' Concerning Huchown '
(Publications of the Modern Language Association of America,
1910) should be noted.

xl INTRODUCTION.

still lived on north of the Tweed, but the greatest of Scottish
bards turned to the East Midland poets for their forms, and,
following the example of their poet-king, were fascinated by
the irresistible spell of Chaucer's genius. This influence of
the great English poet on the chief poets of Scotland has
received abundant recognition ; not so the earlier influence
of the West Midland poets, whose best representative is the
nameless author of * Pearl.'

From among all these poems only one can be singled out as
being possibly by the author of * Pearl.' On the strength of
diction, metre, and other characteristics, the anonymous
alliterative poem of ' Erkenwald/1 though it lacks the peculiar
intensity of * Cleanness ' and ' Patience,' may be an early or
very late work, unless we have here an imitation by an en
thusiastic disciple. The theme, however, seems to point to
London as its place of origin, with about 1386 as its probable
date. Anyhow, the poem is a noteworthy product of the
school, and must be linked with ' Cleanness ' and ' Patience,'
even in the matter of the quatrain arrangement.2

Imaginary Biography. — But though he be nameless, the
poet's personality is so vividly impressed on his work that
one may be forgiven the somewhat hazardous task of attempt
ing to evolve an account of his earlier life from mere con
jecture and inference. Such an attempt, though fanciful, at
all events serves to link together certain facts and impres
sions, and with this reservation cannot but prove helpful.

1 An edition of ' Erkenwald,' edited by me, is appearing in
c Select Early English Poems.' The pagan judge, who is described
as ' ane heire of anoye,' i.e. a justice in eyre, oyer and terminer, may
well have been drawn from some legal contemporary, or as an ideal
picture by way of contrast.

* The only other alliterative poem outside this group showing
this quatrain arrangement is the ' Siege of Jerusalem. '

INTRODUCTION. xli

If documentary evidence is ever discovered, hypothetical
conjecture will no doubt be put to a very severe test.

The poet was born about the same time as Chaucer, 1340.
His birthplace was somewhere in Lancashire, or perhaps a
little to the north,1 but under no circumstances in any district
beyond the Tweed. The evidence of dialect proves this
abundantly. The wild solitudes of the Cumbrian coast, near
his native home, seem to have had special attraction for him.
Like a later and greater poet, he must already as a youth
have felt the subtle spell of Nature's varying aspects in those
West Midland parts ; he too loved to contemplate, even in
his childhood,

' . . . Presences of Nature in the sky
And on the earth ! . . . Visions of the hills
And souls of lonely places ! '

Wordsworth's country may perhaps justly claim our poet as
one of its sons.

Concerning the condition of life to which the boy belonged,
we have no definite clue ; but I am inclined to infer that his
father was closely connected, in some official capacity, with
a family of high rank, and that it was amid the gay scenes
that brightened life in some great castle that the poet's
earliest years were passed. In later life he loved to picture

1 It is noteworthy that the poet in his rhymes uses such Northern
forms as wate (502), abate (617), strate3 (1043), rnare U45)» brade
(138), ware (151) (cp. wore, 154), side by side with his more
common o forms. In one case (byswyke}, 568) he uses the Northern
-cs for is. pr. ind. With reference to the phonology of the poem in
general, Fick's investigation ( ' Zum Mittelenglischen Gedicht von der
Perle,' Kiel, 1885), generally referred to as though authoritative,
must now be considered obsolete ; and to a large extent the same is
true of Knigge's 'Die Sprache des Dichters von Sir Gawain,'
Marburg, 1885.

xlii INTRODUCTION.

this home, with its battlements and towers, its stately hall
and spacious parks. There too, perhaps, the minstrel's tales
of chivalry first revealed to him the rich world of medieval
Romance, and made him yearn to gain for himself a worthy
place among a noble band of contemporary English poets,
whose memory is now, for the most part, lost to us for ever.

The English poets were certainly his masters in poetic
art, and although he had read the ' Roman de la Rose,3 and
the chief products of early and contemporary French litera
ture, their influence was comparatively slight as far as the
general tone of his poetry is concerned. It is a significant
fact that the poet's only direct reference to the ' Roman ;
speaks of 'Clopyngel's dene Rose.' Indeed, the intensely
religious spirit of the poems, together with the knowledge
they undoubtedly display of Holy Writ, makes it probable
that the youth may have been destined for the service of
the Church. He must have studied sacred and profane
literature at some monastic school, or at one of the
universities. It is evident that theology and scholasticism
had formed an important part of his education. But the
author of ' Pearl' was certainly no priest.

The four poems preserved in the Cottonian collection
seem to have belonged to eventful periods of the poet's life.
( Gawain,3 written probably for some special occasion, and in
honour of some nobleman, perhaps the generous patron to
whose household the poet was attached, is remarkable for
the evidence it contains of the writer's minute knowledge of
the ' gentle science of woodcraft,3 and of all that pertained
to the higher social life of that time. He has introduced
into his romance elaborate descriptions of the arming of a
knight, and of the hunting of the deer, the boar, and the
fox. From his evident enthusiasm it is clear that he wrote

INTRODUCTION xliii

from personal experience of the pleasures of the chase, and
that he was accustomed to the courtly life described by
him.

The poet had married ; his wedded life was unhappy ;
the object of his love had disappointed him, and had
perhaps proved unfaithful. He had passed through some
such experience before 'Gawain' was written. The poet
was, I think, speaking for himself when he made his
knight exclaim : * It is no marvel for a man to come to
sorrow through woman's wiles ; so was Adam beguiled, and
Solomon and Samson and David, and many more. It were
indeed great bliss for a man to love them well and believe
them not — if one but could.'

'Gawain' is the story of a noble knight, bearing the
shield of Mary, triumphing over sore temptations that beset
his vows of chastity. How often, while drawing his ideal
picture of the Knight of Courtesy, did the poet's thoughts
recur to the reality of his own life ! Perhaps in a musing
mood he wrote in the blank space at the head of one of the
illustrations in his MS. the suggestive couplet :

' My mind is much on one, who will not make amend ;
Sometime she was true as stone, and from shame could her
defend.'

His wedded life had brought him happiness — an only
child, his 'little queen.' He perhaps named the child 'Mar
gery ' or ' Marguerite ' ; she was his ' pearl,' — emblem of
holiness and innocence. But his happiness was short-lived ;
before two years had passed the poet's home was desolate.1

1 It is noteworthy that throughout the poem there is no single
reference, such as one might expect, to the mother of the child.
The poet's first words when he beholds his transfigured ' Pearl ' are
significant :

xUv INTRODUCTION.

His grief found expression in verse : a heavenly vision
of his lost jewel brought him comfort and taught him
resignation. On the child's grave he placed a garland
of song, blooming yet, after the lapse of five hundred
years.

With the loss of his dearest possession a blight seems to
have fallen on his life, and even poetry may have lost its
charm for him. The lyrist became the stern moralist of
' Cleanness ' and ' Patience.' Other troubles, too, seem to
have befallen him. ' Patience 5 seems to us to be almost as
autobiographical as ' Pearl.' The poet is evidently preaching
to himself the lesson of fortitude and hope amid misery, pain,
and poverty. Something had evidently happened to deprive
him of the means of subsistence. ' Poverty and Patience,'
he exclaims, ' are needs playfellows ' :

' Be bold and be patient, in pain and in joy,
For he that rends his clothes too rashly
Must sit anon in worse to sew them together.
Wherefore when poverty presses me and pains enow,
Calmly in sufferance it behoves me to be patient ;
Despite penance and pain, to prove to men's sight
That patience is a noble point, though it oft displease.'

4 Cleanness ' and ' Patience ' were probably written not
long after 'Pearl.' But the vivid descriptions of the sea
in these two poems perhaps justify the inference that the
poet may have sought distraction in travel, and may have
weathered the fierce tempests he describes.

«'O Pearl," quoth I . . .
" Art thou my Pearl that I have playned,
Regretted by me, so lone ? " '

[11. 241-3.

This is consistent with my theory concerning the poet's married
life.

INTRODUCTION. xlv

Perchance new joy came into his life, and into whatever
occupation he may have thrown himself, he may still have
found in poetry life's chief delight. In this period the
attraction of Romance and Chivalry may well have re
asserted itself. Was ' Gawain ' the outcome of this happier
condition, or did it, in spite of many considerations gain
saying the view, belong to the period of his early
happiness ?

If, late in life, he wrote the poem on 'Erkenwald,' the
great Bishop of London, whose magnificent shrine was the
glory of St. Paul's Cathedral, and whose festival Bishop
Braybroke re-established in the year 1386, it would seem
that the poet may have found occupation in the City of
London, in some secular office, allowing him leisure for
poetry or theology or philosophy, or other intellectual exer
cise. It is pleasant to think of the possibility of the poet of
'Pearl' and Chaucer being brought together as London
officials. Certainly it was a West Midlander who wrote
1 Erkenwald,' but the poem is a London poem, without
any doubt, and may, I think, have been associated with
Bishop Braybroke's efforts to establish the due observance
of St. Erkenwald's Day.

If the poet took any part in the Church controversies
then troubling men's minds, his attitude would have been
in the main conservative. Full of intense hatred towards
all forms of vice, especially immorality, he would have
spoken out boldly against ignoble priests and friars, and
all such servants of the Church, who, preaching righteous
ness, lived unrighteously. But whatever his views on
theological questions, his allegiance to the authority of
the Church, to Papal supremacy, and to the doctrine
of Rome, and his attitude towards the amenities of

xlvi INTRODUCTION.

social life and wealth, would have kept him aloof from
Wycliffe and his partisans. Professor Carleton Brown has
well said that his religious outlook was ' evangelical ' rather
than ecclesiastical.1

The * PhUosophical Strode.' — It is indeed remarkable that
no tradition has been handed down to us concerning one of
the most distinctive of fourteenth-century writers. It can
only be accounted for by the fact that, in the first place, his
instrument of expression was regarded as uncouth by the

1 Professor Carleton Brown in his article on ' The Author of The
Pearl considered in the Light of his Theological Opinions' (Publi
cations of the Modern Language Association of America, Vol. XIX.,
1904) has some interesting and valuable observations on the rela
tion of the poem to the theology of the time. He holds, against
my view, that the assumption of a necessary antagonism between
our author and Wycliffe is unwarranted. lie deals also with the
attitude of the poet, with special reference to the paraphrase of the
Parable of the Vineyard, towards the views held by some of his
contemporary theologians, notably Bradwardine.

As an indication that the author had in mind the discussions of
the theologians, Professor Carleton Brown refers to some of the
terms which he employs. He takes as his example the word 'pre-
termynable,' 1. 596, suggesting a definite acquaintance with the
' predeterminatio ' of the Schoolmen. But see my Note on what I
think is the correct interpretation of the word. I am convinced that
the poem is not primarily associated with questions of contemporary
theology, though, as Professor Brown points out, 'from Augustine
to the fourteenth century the "baptized infant" played an important
role in the treatises of the theologians.'

More recently Dr. R. M. Garrett in ' The Pearl : an Interpreta
tion ' (University of Washington Publications, IV., No. I, 1918),
argues that ' Pearl ' ' has in its central idea the fundamental teach
ing of the Eucharist.' The article, though unconvincing, is of
special interest for its quotations from the ' Epistola Sancti Hilarii
ad Abram Filiam Suam ' (to which I have already referred) ; and
for calling attention to this charming piece of literature Professor
Garrett deserves the best thanks of students of the subject.

INTRODUCTION. xlvii

generality of cultured Englishmen, and, in the second place,
that the bulk of his poetry was small as compared with the
writings of his better known contemporaries. Langland
was indeed the only West Midland poet who gained any
thing approaching national recognition and escaped the
oblivion of mere local fame. Nevertheless, one must not
despair of finding some evidence that may settle, once for
all, the problem of the poet's personality. Indeed, of one
fourteenth-century writer, whose name and Latin writings
are preserved, it is recorded that during his youth and early
manhood he was an ardent wooer of the Muses, and that
his fame rested on a poem described as an 'Elegy3 and
possibly as a 'Vision.3 Our knowledge of this writer is
mainly due to the happy chance that Chaucer seems to have
been his friend and admirer, and dedicated to him no less
important a poem than his ' Troilus and Creseide 5 :

* O moral Gower this book I direct
To thee and to the Philosophical Strode,
To vouchsafe there need is for to correct,
To your benignities and zelis good.'

The antiquary Leland was the first to inquire concerning
the second of the two names held in such esteem by Chaucer.
In an old catalogue of worthies of Merton College, drawn
up in the early years of the fifteenth century, and still pre
served in the College muniment room, he discovered the
following most valuable reference :

' Radulphus Strode, nobilis poeta fuit et versificavit librum
elegiacum vocatum Phantasma Radulphi.'

This Ralph Strode, poet, is clearly to be identified with
the famous philosopher of that name whose philosophical
works hold an important place in the history of medieval
logic. He was also famous in his time as a controversialist

xlviii INTRODUCTION.

with Wycliffe, and from statements by Wycliffe it is
possible to gain some insight into Strode's religious views.
But neither his theology nor his philosophy help us to
identify him with the writer of the poems in the Cottonian
collection.1

The evidence, such as it is, tending to connect Strode
and the writer of 'Pearl,' is derived from the following
considerations. The Merton description (\iphantasma may
be taken as a somewhat crude Latin rendering of ' dream '
or some such word) does not apply to any known poem so
well as to ' Pearl.' Again, the peculiar force of Chaucer's
dedication should be considered. Chaucer felt that his
' Troilus and Creseide 3 was open to the charge of being
somewhat too free; wherefore, in a spirit of banter, he
evidently offered it to the correction of two fellow-poets
whose writings aimed primarily at enforcing moral virtue.
Now, if asked to name the very antithesis of 'Troilus,' a
student of fourteenth-century literature could choose no
better instance than the romance of 'Gawain.' Further,
there is a tradition that Strode, leaving his native land,
journeyed through France, Germany, and Italy, and visited
Syria and the Holy Land. 'An Itinerary to the Holy
Land,' by this writer, seems to have been known to Nicholas

1 In my article on Strode, in the Dictionary of National Bio
graphy ', will be found the first attempt to dispose of the legend of
Strode's description as a monk of Jedburgh Abbey, and to write
an authentic biography of the famous Schoolman. As regards the
possible identification of Chaucer's ' philosophical Strode ' with the
author of ' Pearl,' the theory, whatever may be its worth, was mine,
in spite of a wrongful claim made by Dr. Horstmann.

Professor Carleton Brown, in his article to which I have referred,
indicates many points that tell against Strode's authorship, though
I do not agree with his attempt to differentiate the poet, the
philosopher, and the lawyer.

INTRODUCTION. xlix

Brigham, the enthusiastic devotee of Chaucer, to whom we
owe his monument in Westminster Abbey. According to
Antony Wood, Strode's name as a fellow of Merton occurs
for the last time about 1361.

The statement, still repeated in text-books on Chaucer, to
the effect that Strode was a Scotch monk in Jedburgh Abbey,
was due to the mendacious Dempster, who in his desire to
claim the logician for Scotland described Strode as a Scotch
monk, who had received his early education at Dryburgh
Abbey.

It is noteworthy that a 'Ralph Strode' was Common
Serjeant of the City of London. There is every reason for
identifying him with Chaucer's ' philosophical Strode.' They
were evidently neighbours, for Chaucer lived over the gate
at Aldgate, while Strode was living over the gate at Alders-
gate. Ralph Strode, the Common Serjeant of the City, died
in 1387, and his will was proved in the Archdeaconry Court
of London ; but, though duly indexed in the archives of the
Archdeaconry now at Somerset House, the document itself
is missing. He was involved in the municipal politics that
distracted London, in the struggles between the partisans of
the two great Londoners, Brember and Northampton, the
latter the staunch supporter of Wycliffe. The fortunes of
Northampton were linked with the fate of Thomas of Usk,
the author of the ' Testament of Love.' Usk was executed
early in 1388 ; in the same year Strode's friend and
supporter, the former Lord Mayor Brember, paid the same
penalty. Strode had died the previous year. But so far
as the identity of Strode with the author of 'Pearl' is
concerned, all is mere conjecture ; no definite piece of
evidence tending to confirm it is adducible. The question
still remains unanswered,

1 INTRODUCTION.

* Who and what he was —
The transitory Being that beheld
This Vision ; when and where and how he lived. '

Bibliography. — The present edition of ' Pearl ' is based on
my edition published by Nutt in 1891, but both text and
translation have been minutely revised as the result of long
and continuous study. My attempt in 1891 adequately to
interpret the poem and to gain recognition for its intrinsic
merit apart from its philological importance succeeded
beyond my expectation, and since then much literature,
many renderings into modern English, and a number of
investigations have testified to the increased interest taken
in ' Pearl.' But the credit of having first printed the poem
belongs to Dr. Richard Morris, who, in 1864, printed it in
the first issue of the Early English Text Society, the 'Al
literative Poems.3 The volume was revised and reprinted in
1869, etc.

In the Academy, Vols. XXXIX. and XL., after the publica
tion of my edition, a discussion on a number of difficult
problems ensued between Dr. Morris and myself, which
helped to elaborate and establish certain views of mine on
contestable points. In 1897 I prepared a revised edition of
the text, which was privately printed. In 1918 a revision of
the English translation was issued, imprinted and published
by George W. Jones, at the Sign of the Dolphin, Gough
Square, Fleet Street, London, sold for and on behalf of the
British Red Cross.

In 1906 Dr. C. G. Osgood published an edition of the
poem in the Belles Lettres Series. As will be seen from my
notes to the present edition, Dr. Osgood's contribution to
the textual interpretation of the poem cannot be considered
satisfactory. Indeed, to the textual study of the poem very

INTRODUCTION. li

little has been contributed in recent years, though many
problems have been hitherto unelucidated.

As regards translations, — my own in 1891, being of the
nature of a commentary, was rhymeless though metrical.
In 1906 Dr. Weir Mitchell produced a charming rendering,
on the basis of my own, of about the first half of the poem
(New York, 1906). In the same year appeared Mr. Coulton's
rendering into modern English in the metre of the original.
The very attempt to reproduce the highly elaborate rhyming
system of the Middle English must, in my opinion, unless
carried through by a gifted poet, prove detrimental to the
simple grace of the original ; rhyme and meaning become
almost necessarily crude and forced. Mr. Coulton's version
exemplified these and other dangers. In 1907 Dr. Osgood
published a prose translation of the poem (Princeton). In
1908 (New York) appeared Miss Jewett's rendering in the
original metre; in 1912 (London) Miss Jessie L. Weston's in
'Romance, Vision and Satire' (in a modified form of the
original metre) ; in 1916 (Boston) a prose translation by
W. A. Neilson and K. G. T. Webster, in < Chief British Poets.
There have also been other renderings of the whole poem or
parts of it ; and, as evidence of the widespread enthusiasm
for 'Pearl,' I may mention that I have received MS. versions
of portions of the poem not only in various European lan
guages, but also in languages of India. In 1916 appeared a
German translation of the poem by Otto Decker (Schwerin).

As regards phonological studies, W. Fick's 'Zum mittel-
englischen gedicht von der Perle,' Kiel, 1885, as well as
F. Knigge's 'Die sprache des dichters von Sir Gawain,'
Marburg, 1885, often mentioned in connection with the
poem, are now in my opinion quite obsolete, and should be
used with the utmost caution.

Hi INTRODUCTION.

In dealing with the metre of the poem, I have referred to
the only important contribution on the subject, namely,
Dr. C. S. Northup's 'Study of the Metrical Structure of
Pearl] Pub. Mod. Lang. Ass. America, Vol. XII.

Professor W. H. Schofield's papers on 'The Nature and
Fabric of The Pearl] ibid. Vol. XIX., 'Symbolism, Allegory,
and Autobiography in The Pearl] ibid. Vol. XXIV., Professor
Carleton Brown's 'Author of The Pearl Considered in the
Light of his Theological Opinions,' ibid. Vol. XIX., Dr.
Garrett's ' The Pearl : an Interpretation,' University of
Washington Publications, IV., No. i, Seattle, 1918, and
other studies on interpretation and authorship, are referred
to in the course of the present Introduction.

All recent histories of English literature recognise the
importance of the poet of ' Pearl ' and ( Gawain,' and treat of
these and the other two alliterative poems. The first
historian of English literature, however, to give them ade
quate consideration was the gifted and scholarly Bernhard
Ten Brink, who in the first volume of his ' History of English
Literature,' 1877 (translated from the German by Horace M.
Kennedy, 1883) dealt in a masterly way with these and other
poems of the alliterative revival.

In the ' Manual of the Writings in Middle English,' by
Professor J. E. Wells, 1916, with Supplement, 1919, will be
found a fairly exhaustive bibliography. To this should be
added the Bibliography in the Cambridge History of English
Literature, Vol. I., pertaining to ch. xv. on 'Pearl,' etc.,
written by me, and my article on * Pearl ' in the Encyclopedia
Britannica, nth edition, Vol. XXL, with the bibliography
attached.

As regards ' Olympia,' the chief bibliographical data will
be found in my Introduction to the poem in this volume.

PEARL

PERLE

PERLE plesauwte to prynces paye,
To clanly clos in golde so clere !
Oute of Oryent, I hardyly saye,
Ne proued I nevur her precios pere. 4

So rouwde, so reken in vche araye,
So smal, so smo])e her syde^ were ;
Quere-so-eu^r I jugged gemme^ gaye,
I sette hyr sengeley in syng[u]l[e]re. 8

Alias ! I leste hyr in on erbere ;
J^ur^ gresse to grouwde hit fro me yot.
I dewyne, for-do[k]ked of luf-daungere
Of fat pryuy perle wjt/>-outen spot. 12

FROM COTTON MS., XKKO A.x., i.i.. 1—29.

PEARL

PEARL all-pleasing, prince's treasure,
too chastely set in gold so pure !
From out the Orient, I aver,
ne'er proved I pearl its precious peer.
So round, so royal wherever ranged,
so sweetly small, so wondrous smooth ;
where'er I judged of joyous gems,
I placed my Pearl apart, supreme,
I lost it — in a garden — alas !
Through grass to ground 'twas gone from me.
I pine, by Severing Love despoil'd
of Pearl mine own, without a spot.

PERLE.

Sypen in pat spote hit fro me sprange,
Ofte haf I wayted, wyschande pat wele,
pat wont wat^ whyle deuoyde my wrange,
& heuen my happe & al my hele. 16

ptft dot} hot prych my hert[e] grange,
My breste in bale bot bolne & bele ;
3et po^t me ueuer so swete a sange,
As stylle stoiwde let to me stele. 20

For-sope tyer fleten to me fele,
To penke hir color so clad in clot.
O moul, pou marre^ a myry Lm^ele,-
My prmy perle wjyt^-outen spotte. 24

pat spot of spyse^ [mo] t nede^ sprede,

per such ryche^ to rot is ru/mef ;

Blome^ blayke & blwe & rede

per schyne^ ful schyr agayn J>e su«ne^ 2^

Flor & fryte may not be fede

per hit dou/z drof in molde^ duwne ;

For vch gresse mot grow of grayne$ dede,

No whete were elle^ to wone^ wowne. 32

Of goud vche goude is ay by-go/me ;
So semly a sede mo^t fayly not,
pat spry[«]gande spyce^ vp ne spowne
Of pat pr^cios perle wyth-outen spotte. 36

PEARL.

There, in that spot, since hence it sped,
oft have I watch'd, wanting that gem
that once was wont to vanquish woe,
and raise my hap and all my weal.
It doth but pierce my heart with pangs,
my breast in bale but boil and burn ;
yet ne'er me seem'd so sweet a song
as that still hour let steal to me.

Yea, many a thought to me flow'd there,
musing its charm so clad in clay.
O earth ! thou marrest a merry theme,—
Pearl mine own, without a spot.

in.

From spot where such rich treasure wastes
fragrant spice must needs spring forth ;
blossoms white and blue and red
shine there full sheer against the sun.
Flower and fruit shall know no flaw
where it down drave to earth's dark mould ;
for from dead grain each blade must grow,
no wheat were else brought ever home.
Each good from good is aye begun j
so seemly a seed can never fail ;
ne'er fragrant spice shall cease to spring
from that precious Pearl without a spot.

6 PERLE.

IV.

f. 39* To pat spot pat I in speche expou//,

I entred in pat erber grene,

In Augoste in a hy^ seysoun,

Quen corne is coruen wyth croke^ kene. 4°

On huyle per perle hit trendeled dou«

Schadowed pis worte^ ful schyre & schene,-

Gilofre, gyngure, & gromylyou#,

& pyonys powdered ay by-twene. 44

3if hit wat} semly on to sene,
A fayr reflayr ^et fro hit flot,
))er wonys pat worpyly, I wot & wene,
My precious perle wyth-outen spot. 48

Bifore pat spot my honde I spe«n[e]d,

For care ful colde pat to me ca^t ;

A deuely dele in my hert[e] dewned,

Jpa^ resou« sette my seluen sa^t. 5Z

I playned my perle p0t p*r wat^ pe«nedf,

Wyth fyr[cje skylle^ pat faste fa^t ;

J^ kynde of Kryst me comfort ke«ned,

My wreched wylle in wo ay wra^te. 56

I felle vpon pat flowry fla3t,

Suche odowr to my herne^ schot,

I slode vpon a slepy/zg-sla^te,

On pat pr/rc[i]os perle wyt^-outen spot. 60

PEARL.

Unto the spot I picture forth
I entered into that garden green ;
'twas August, at a festal tide,
when corn is cut with keen-edg'd hook. ^ c
The mound my Pearl had roll'd adown
with herbs was shadow'd, beauteous, bright,-
gilvers, ginger, and gromwell-seed,
and peonies powderM all about.
But if the sight was sweet to see,
fair, too, the fragrance floating thence,
where dwelleth that glory, I wot full well,
my precious Pearl without a spot.

V.

Before that spot my hands I clasp'd,

for care full cold that seized on me ;

a senseless moan dinned in my heartf

though Reason bade me be at p

I plain'd my Pearl, imprison'd there,

with wayward words that fiercely fought ;

though Christ Himself me comfort show'd, \s *»*"

my wretched will worked aye in woe.

I fell upon that flowery plat ;

such fragrance flash'd into my brain,

I slid into a slumber-swoon

o'er that precious Pearl without a spot.

8 PERLE.

§ II.

FRO spot my spyryt per sprang in space,
My body on balke per bod in sweuen ;
My goste is gon in Gode^ grace
In auenture p<?r meruayle^ meuen. 64

I ne wyste in pis worlde quere p#t hit wace,
Bot 'I knew me keste ]>er klyfe^ cleuen ;
To-warde a foreste I bere pe face,
Where rych[e] rokke^ wer to dyscreuen ; 68
)}e ly^t of hem my$t no mon leuen,
)2e glemande glory pat of hem gle/zt ;
For wern neiur webbe^ pat wy^e^ weuen
Of half so dere adub[be]mente. 7Z

VII.

f. 40* Dubbed wern alle po downe^ syde^
Wyt^ crystal klyfFe^ so cler of kynde ;
Holte-wode^ bry^t aboute hem byde^,
Of bolle^ as blwe as ble of ynde ; 76

As bornyst syluer pe lef onslyde^,
})at pike con trylle on vch a tynde ;
Quen glem of glode^ agayn^ hem glyde^,
Wyth schym^ry/zgschenefulschryllepay schynde;
)?e grauayl pat [I] on groiwde con grynde 81
Wern pr<?cio«j- perle^ of Oryente ;
}2e su/zne-beme^ bot bio & blynde
In respecte of pat adubbement. 84

PEARL. 9

§ II-

THENCE, from that spot, my spirit sprang ;
my body lay in trance on mound ;

my soul, by grace of God, had fared

adventuring, where marvels be.

I knew not where that region was ;

I was cast, I knew, where cliffs rose sheer.

Towards a forest I set my face,

where rocks so rich were to descry,
that none can trow how rich the light,
the gleaming glory glinting thence,
for ne'er a web that mortals wove
was half so wondrously bewrought.

Wondrously the hill-sides shone
with crystal cliffs that were so clear ;
and all about were holt-woods bright,
with boles as blue as hue of Inde ;
and close-set leaves on every branch
as burnish'd silver sway'd and swung ;
when glided 'gainst them glinting gleams,
splendent they shone with shimmering sheen ;

and the gravel I ground upon that strand

were precious pearls of Orient ;

the sunbeams were but dim and dark,

if set beside that wondrous glow !

io PERLE.

VIII.

The adubbemente of po downe} dere

Garten my goste al greffe for-^ete ;

So frech flauore^ of fryte^ were,

As fode hit con me fayre refete ;

Fowle^ ]>er flowen in fryth in fere,

Of flauwzbande hwe^, bope smale & grete ;

Bot sytole-stry«g & gytmiere

Her reken myrpe mo^t not retrete ; 9Z

For quen pose brydde^ her wynge^ bete,

J2ay songen wyth a swete asent ;

So grac[/]os gle coupe no mon gete

As here & se her adubbement. 96

IX.

So al wat} dubbet on dere asyse

)}at fryth per fortwne forth me fere},

J)e derpe per-of for to deuyse

Nis no wy} worpe J?at tonge bere^. too

I welke ay forth in wely wyse ;

No bonk so byg Ipat did me dere^ ;

fie fyrre in pe fryth pe fei£r]er con ryse

)?e playn, pe plontte^, pe spyse, pe pere^, 104

& rawe^ & rande^ & rych reuere^,

As fyldor fyn her b[o]nkes brent.

I wan to a water by schore pat schere^,-

Lorde, dere wat^ hit adubbement ! 108

PEARL. ii

VIII.

'Mid the magic of those wondrous hills

my spirit soon forgot all grief;

flavours of fruit so fresh were there,

as food full well they gave me strength ;

birds in the wood together flew,

of flaming hues, both small and great ;

nor citole-string nor citherner

could e'er re-tell their goodly glee ;

for when those birds did beat their wings,
they sang with such a sweet accord,
no rapture could so stir a man
as to hear and see that wonderment.

IX.

All was so dight in wondrous wise,
no tongue of man hath power to tell
the beauty of that forest-land,
where fortune led me on and on.
Still forth I pressed in blissful mood ;
no hill, though high, might hinder me.
Deeper in wood, more fair arose
plains and plants and spice and fruits,

hedgerows and borders, and river-meads ;

as fine gold-thread were their steep banks.

A water I reach'd that cleft the strand,-

Lord, how wondrous was the sight !

12 PERLE.

f. 40*5 The dubbemente of po derworth depe
Wern bonke} bene of beryl bry}t ;
Swangeande swete pe water con swepe,
Wyth a rownande rourde raykande ary}t ; n*
In ]?e fou«ce \er stonden stone} stepe,
As glente )>ur} glas pat glowed & gly}t,
A[s] stremande sterne}, quen strope-me/z slepe,
Staren in welkyn in wynter ny}t ; "6

For vche a pobbel in pole Jjer py}t

Wat} emerad, saffer, olper gewme gente,

})at alle ]?e lo^e lemed of ly^t,

So dere wat} hit adubbeme«t. 120

§ III.

THE dubbemewt dere of dou« & dale},
Of wod & water & wlonk[e] playne},
Bylde in me blys, abated my bale},
For-didden my stresse, dystryed my payne}. 124
Dou« after a strem J?at dry}ly hale}
I bowed in blys, bred-ful my brayne} ;
)}e fyrre I fol}ed pose floty vale},
)pe more strengh J>e of ioye my n herte str ay ne} . 128
As fortune fares Jw-as ho frayne},
Whe]j<rr solace ho sende olpfr elle} sore,
)pe wy} to wham her wylle ho wayne}
Hytte} to haue ay more & more. is2

PEARL. 1.3

The marvels of that wondrous flood !

Beauteous its banks with beryl bright ;

with music sweet its waters swept ;

with whispering voice it wander'd on.

And in the depths shone glittering stones ;

as glint through glass they glimmer'd and glowM;

as streaming stars in the welkin shine

on a winter night, when dalesmen sleep.
Each pebble set there in that pool
was an emerald, sapphire, or goodly gem,
that all the water with light did gleam, -
the glamour was so wondrous rare !

§ III. xi.

THE wondrous glamour of down and dale,
of wood and water and noble plain,

stirr'd in me bliss, my bale allay'd,^

scatter'd sorrow, pain destroyed.

Along a stream I wended in joy,—

slowly it flow'd,-my mind was full ;

the farther I follow'd those watery vales-,

the mightier joy constrained my heart.
Fortune fareth where she listeth,
sends she solace, or sends she care ;
the wight on whom her will she worketh
hath ever chance of more and more.

I4 PERLE.

XII.

More of wele wat^ in pat wyse

J)e« I cowpe telle pa} [torn I] hade ;

For vrpely herte my^t not sufFyse

To pe tenpe dole of po Gladne} glade ; '36

For-py I po^t p<zt Paradyse

Wat} per o[u]d>r gayn po bonke} brade ;

I hoped }>e water were a deuyse

By-twene [mere}] by [Myrpe] made ; H0

By-}onde pe broke, by slente olper slade,
I hope[d] Ipat mote merked wore ;
Bot )>e water wat3 depe, I dorst not wade,
& eiur me longed a[y] more & more. 144

XIII.

f. 4ia More & more, & ^et wel mare,

Me lyste to se J?e broke by-^onde ;
For, if hit wat^ fayr ]>er I con fare,
Wel loueloker wat^ pe fyrre londe. J48

Abowte me con I stote & stare,
To fynde a forpe faste con I fonde ;
Bot wope^ mo i-wysse ]>er ware,
Jje fyrre I stalked by pe stronde ; 15*

& euer me jjo^t I schulde not wonde
For woQ?e], per wele^ so wy«ne wore ;
)5e«ne nwe note me com on honde,
Jpat meued my mynde ay more & more. 156

PEARL.

XII.

More was of wealth there, of this kind,
than I could tell, were leisure mine,
for earthly heart might not attain
unto the tenth of that glad Joy.
Certes, methought that Paradise
lay there beyond, o'er those broad banks.
The stream was some device, I trow'd,
Sir Mirth had made between great wells ;
beyond the brook, by hill or dale,
the castle-bounds, I trow'd, were mark'd;
but the water was deep, I durst not wade,
and ever long'd I, more and more.

XIII.

More and more, and yet still more,

I long'd to see beyond the brook ;

for if 'twas fair where I then pass'd,

far fairer was the farther land.

About me stumbled I and stared ;

to find a ford full hard I sought ;

but perils more, iwis, there were,

the further I stalk'd along the bank ;
and ever methought I could not flinch,
afeard, where wealth so winsome was ;
when new delights at hand were nigh,
that moved my mind, e'en more and more.

16 PERLE.

XIV.

More meruayle con my dom adau«t ;

I se$ by^onde pat myry mere

A crystal clyfTe ful relusauwt ;

Mony ryal ray con fro hit rere. 160

At pe fote Iper-of Iper sete a fauwt,

A mayden of menske, ful debonere ;

Blysnande whyt wat$ hyr bleau/zt ;

I knew hyr wel, I hade sen hyr ere. 164

As glysnande golde pat man con schere,

So schon pat schene an-vnder schore ;

On lengh<? I loked to hyr pere ;

Jpe lenger, I knew hyr more & more. 168

xv.

The more I frayste hyr fayre face,
Her fygure fyn quen I had fonte,
Suche gladande glory con to me glace
As lyttel byfore perto wat} wonte. 172

To calle hyr lyste con me enchace,
Bot baysme«t gef myn hert a bruwt ;
I se^ hyr in so strange a place,
Such a burre my^t make my« herte blu«t. i?6
jpe«ne vere^ ho vp her fayre frou«t,
Hyr vysayge whyt as playn yuore,
jpat stonge my/z hert, ful stray a[sjtou«t,
& eutfr pe lenger, pe more & more. 180

PEARL.

XIV.

More marvels then did daunt my soul ;

I saw beyond that merry mere

a crystal cliff that shone full bright,

many a noble ray stood forth ;

at the foot thereof there sat a child, -

so debonair, a maid of grace ;

glistening white was her rich robe ;

I knew her well, I had seen her ere.
As gleaming gold, refin'd and pure,
so shone that glory 'neath the cliff ;
long toward her there I look'd,—
the longer, I knew her more and more.

xv.

The more I scann'd her face so fair,
her beauteous form when I had found,
such gladdening glory came to me
as seldom had been wont to come.
Longing me seized to call her name,
but wonder dealt my heart a blow ;
I saw her in so strange a place,
well might the shock mine heart appal.
Then lifted she her visage fair,
as ivory pure her face was white ;
it thrill'd mine heart, struck all astray,
and ever the longer, more and more.
c

1 8 PERLE.

§ IV. xvr.

f. 41* Tt /TORE }>en me lyste my drede arcs ;
J.V.L I stod ful stylle & dome not calle ;
Wyth y^en open & mouth ful clos,
I stod as hende as hawk in halle. 184

I hope[dj Ipat gostly wat^ ]>at porpose ;
I dred on-ende quat schulde byfalle,
Lest ho me eschaped ]?at I Iper chos,
Er 1 at steuen hir mo^t stalle. 188

)?at gracios gay wyt/6-outen galle,

So smo]?e, so smal, so seme sly^t,

Ryse^ vp in hir araye ryalle,

A p/vc[/]os pyece in perle^ py^t. 19*

XVII.

Perle^ py^te of ryal prys
J)ere mo^t mon by grace haf sene,
Quen ]?at frech as flor-de-lys
Dou// pe bonke con bo^e by-dene. J9^

Al blysnande whyt wat} hir beau mys,
Vpon at syde^, & bou/zden bene
Wyth J>e myryeste margarys, at my deuyse,
))at eu^-r I se^ ^et with myn [ene] ; 200

Wyth lappe^ large, I wot & I wene,
Dubbed with double perle & dy^te ;
Her cortel of self sute schene,

prvcios perle^ al vmbe-py^te. i°4

PEARL. 19

§ IV. xvi.

MORE than me pleased was now my dread ;
I stood full still, I dared not speak ;

with open eyes and fast-closed mouth,

I stood as gentle as hawk in hall.

A ghostly vision I trow'd it was ;

I dreaded what might there betide,

lest what I saw should me escape

ere I it held within my reach ;

when, lo ! that spotless child of grace,
so smooth, so small, so sweetly slight,
arose in all her royal array,-
a precious piece, bedight with pearls.

XVII

Choicest pearls, of sovereign price,
favoured mortal there might see,
when all as fresh as a fleur-de-lys
adown that bank she came anon.
Gleaming white was her surcoat fine,
open at sides, and nobly edged
with pearls, the merriest, I trow,
that e'er I saw yet with mine eyes^j
ample the sleeves, I ween and wot,
with double braid of pearl bedeck'd ;
her beauteous kirtle, matching well,
with precious pearls was all bedight.

20 PERLE.

XVIII.

A py^t coroune ^et wer )>at gyrle,

Of mariorys & non olper ston,

Hi^e pynakled of cler quyt perle,

Wyth flurted flowre^ perfet vpon. »oS

To bed hade ho non olper werle ;

Her [h]ere [h]eke al hyr vmbe-gon ;

Her semblau«t sade, for doc ojxrr erle ;

Her ble more bla^t peri whalle^ bon. *i*

As schorne golde schyr her fax J>e/me schon,

On schyldere} )>at legh<? vnlapped ly^te ;

Her depe colour }et wonted non

Of pra:ios perle i« porfyl py^te. *i6

XIX.

Py^t wat^ poyned & vche a hemme,

At honde, at syde$, at ouerture,

Wyth whyte perle & non o]>er gemme,

& bornyste quyte wat^ hyr uesture ; »*o

Bot a wonder perle, wyt^-outen wemme,

In mydde} hyr breste wat^ sette so sure ;

A ma/me} dom mo^t dry^ly demme,

Er mynde mo^t malte in hit mesure. **4

I hope no tong[e] mo^t endure

No sau/rly saghe say of ]>at sy^t,

So wat3 hit clene & cler & pure,

pat p/vcios perle ]>er hit wat^ py^t. «*

PEARL. 21

XVIII.

A crown that maiden wore, bedight

with margarites, and no stone else ;

high pinnacled with clear white pearls,

with figured flowers wrought thereon.

No other tire was on her head ;

her hair, too, hung about her neck ;

her look was grave, as duke's or earl's ;

whiter than whale-bone was her hue.
Bright as clear gold her tresses shone,
loose on her shoulders they softly lay ;
her glowing beauty had no lack
of precious pearls on broid'ry dight.

XIX.

The hems and wristbands were bedight,
at the hands, at sides, at openings,
with white pearl, and none other gem ;
and burnish'd white her vesture was ;
but a wondrous pearl, without a flaw,
amid her breast was firmly set ;
soul of man would surely fail
ere mortal mind might mete its worth.
No tongue might e'er avail, I trow,
that sight to tell in fitting word,
so fair was it, and clear, and pure,
that precious pearl, where it was dight.

22 PERLE.

XX.

Py^t in perle, ]?at pr<?cios py[ec]e

On wy]w-half water com doun J>e schore ;

No gladder gome hepen in-to Grece,

)?ew I, quen ho on brywzme wore ; 23*

Ho wat^ me nerre pen au«te or nece ;

My joy for-py wat^ much pe more.

Ho p[ro]fered me speche, Jwrt special sp[e]ce,

Enclynande lowe in wowmon lore ; 23 6

Ca^te of her corouw of grete tresore,

& haylsed me wyth a lote ly^te.

Wei wat} me Ipat euer I wat^ bore,

To sware J»at swete in perle^ py^te. 24o

§ V. xxi.

PERLE," qwo)> I, " in perle^ py^t,
Art )>0u my perle )?at I haf playned,

Regretted by my« one, on ny^te ?

Much longey/?g haf I for pe layned, ^44

Sy)?en into gresse fou me agly^te ;

Pensyf, payred, I am for-payned,

& pou in a lyf of lyky«g ly^te

In Paradys erde, of stryf vnstrayned. M8

What wyrde hat^ hyder my iuel vayned,
& don me in J>ys del & gret dauwger ?
Fro we in twywne wern towen & twayned,
I haf ben a joyle^ juelere." 252

PEARL. 23

XX.

Bedight with pearls, that precious thing

came down the shore beyond the stream ;

from here to Greece no gladder man \ s

than I, when she was at the brink.

She was me nearer than aunt or niece,

wherefore my joy was much the more.

ProfFer'd me speech that creature rare,

inclining low in womanly wise ;

her crown of richest worth she dofPd,
and hail'd me with obeisance blithe.
Well was me that e'er I was born,
to answer that Sweet, in pearls bedight.

§ V.

PEARL ! " quoth I, "bedight in pearls,
art thou my Pearl, that I have plain'd,
bewept by me, so lone, a-night ?
Much longing have I. borne for thee,
since into grass thou hence didst glide ;
pensive, broken, forpined am I ;
but thou hast reach'd a life of joy,
in the strifeless home of Paradise.

What fate hath hither brought my jewel,

and me in dolorous plight hath cast ?

Since we were sunder'd and set apart,

a joyless jeweller I have been."

24 PERLE.

XXII.

f. 42$ That juel pe«ne, in gewme^ gente,

Vered vp her vyse wyt/6 y^en graye,

Set on hyr corouw of perle orient,

& soberly after pe/me con ho say:- *S6

" S;>, ^e haf your tale myse-tente,

To say yowr perle is al awaye,

)}at is in cofer so comly clente,

As in pis gardyn gracios gaye, 260

Here-i«ne to lenge for ever & play,
)}er mys nef morny/zg com neu#- [n]ere ;
Her were a forser for pe in faye,
If pou were a gentyl jueler. 264

XXIII.

" Bot, jueler gente, if J>ou schal lose

Jpy ioy for a gewme J>at fe wat^ lef,

Me ]>ynk fe put i« a mad porpose,

& busye^ ]?e aboute a raysou/z bref ; 268

For pat )>0u leste^ wat^ bot a rose,

)}at flowred & fayled as kynde hyt gef ;

Now Jnir} kynde of J)e kyste ]>at hyt con close

To a perle of prys hit is put in pref. *72

& pou hat$ called }>y wyrde a pef,

Jpat o^t of no^t hat^ mad ]?e cler ;

pou blame} pe bote of )>y meschef,

])ou art no kynde jueler." 276

PEARL. 25

XXII.

That jewel there, so fair begemm'd,
up-rais'd her face, her eyes so grey,
put on her crown of Orient pearl,
and thus full gravely then she spake :
" Sir, thou hast misread thy tale,
to say thy Pearl is all perdu,
that is in chest so comely and strong
as in this garden of grace and glee ;

for ever to dwell and play herein,

where miss and mourning come never nigh ;

this were thy treasure-hold, i* faith,

wert thou a gentle jeweller.

XXIII.

" But, gentle sir, if thou must lose

thy joy for a gem that to thee was dear,

thou'rt set, methinks, on mad intent, ^ ^^

and carest for too brief a cause : ^ \pjj>

what thou didst lose was but a rose, —

that flower'd and fail'd, as Nature bade ;

through the casket's grace, enclosing it,

it now is proved a pearl of price.

And thou hast call'd thy fate a thief,

that ought from nought hath made for thee;

thou blamest the balm of all thine ill,

thou art a graceless jeweller."

26 PERLE.

XXIV.

A juel to me fen wat} fys geste,

& iuele} wern hyr ge«tyl sawe^.

" I-wyse," qwof I, " my blysfol beste,

My grete dystresse fou al to-drawe}. 280

To be excused I make requeste ;

I trawed my perle don out of dawe} ;

Now haf I fonde hyt, I schal ma feste,

& wony wj>t^> hyt in schyr wod-schawe}, 284
& loue my Lorde & al his lawe},
J?at hat} me bro}[t] fys blys[se] ner.
Now were I at yow by-}onde fise wawe},
I were a ioyfol jueler ! " 288

xxv.

" Jueler," sayde fat gewme clene,

« Wy borde ^e men ? So madde ^e be !
re worde^ hat} Ipou spoken at ene ;
i-a-vysed, for-sofe, wern alle j^e ; 292

])OM ne woste in worlde quat on dot} mene,

})y worde by-fore fy wytte con fle.

])o\a says you trawe} me in Ipis dene,

By-cawse Ipou may wjt^ y}en me se ; -96

Anof^r ]>ou says, in ]>ys couwtre
})y self schal won wjt/> me ry}t here ;
Jje frydde, to passe J>ys wat<?r fre,—
jpat may no ioyfol jueler. 3°°

PEARL. 27

XXIV

A jewel to me was then this guest,

and jewels were her gentle words.

" Indeed," quoth I, " blest dearest mine,

my dire distress away thou draw'st.

I make request to be excused ;

I trow'd my Pearl had pass'd from Day ;

but now 'tis found, I shall make mirth,

and dwell with it in radiant groves,

and praise my Lord and all His Jaws,

who hath me brought this bliss anigh.

Were I with thee beyond these waves,

I were a joyful jeweller ! "

xxv.

" Jeweller ! " said that purest gem,
" Why jest ye men ? So mad ye are !
Three words thou spakest at one time ;
thoughtless, forsooth, were all the three ;
thou knowest not what one doth mean ;
surely thy words outrun thy wit.
Thou sayest, thou deemest me in this dale,
because thou seest me with thine eyes ;

again, thou sayest, that in this land

thyself wilt dwell with me e'en here ;

thirdly,-this stream would' st freely pass;

this may no joyful jeweller.

28 PERLE.

§ VI. xxvi

" T HALDE pat iueler lyttel to prayse,

JL Jpat l[e]ue^ wel p#t he se^ wyth y^e,
& much to blame & vn-cort[a]yse,
j?at l[e]ue} oure Lorde wolde make a ly^e, 3°4
J}at lelly hy^te your lyf to rayse,
J}a$ fortune dyd yoz/r flesch to dy^e.
3e setten hys worde^ ful westernays,
j?at l[e]ue^ no py«k bot ^e hit sy^e ; 308

& pat isf a poy«t o sorquydry^e,

|?at vche god mon may euel byseme,

To leue no tale be true to try^e,

Bot pat hys one skyl may dem[e]. 312

XXVII,

" Deme now py self, if pou con dayly

As man to God worde^ schulde heue ;

Jpou sayt^ pou schal won in pis bayly ;

Me pynk pe burde fyrst aske leue ; 316

& ^et of grauwt pou my^te^ fayle.

Jpou wylne^ ou^r pys water to weue;

Er moste pou ceuer to op^r cou«sayl[e] ;

jty corse in clot mot calder keue ; 320

For hit wat3 for-garte at Paradys greue ;

Oure ^ore- fader hit con mysse^eme ;

Jpur^ drwry deth 003 vch ma dreue,

Er ourr pys dam hym Dry^tyw deme." 324

PEARL. 29

§ VI. xxvi.

" T HOLD that jeweller little j:oj>£ajse

JL that trusteth what with eye he seeth,
and much to blame and graceless he
that thinketh our Lord would speak a lie,
who leally promised to raise thy life,
though fortune gave thy flesh to death.
Full widdishins thou read'st His words,
that trowest nought but what thou seest ;

and 'tis an overweening thing,

that ill beseems each righteous man,

to trow no tale be trustworthy,

save his mere reason deem it so.

XXVII.

" Deem now thyself, if thou hast dealt
such words as man to God should lift.
Thou sayest thou wilt dwell in this burgh ;
'twere meet, methinks, first to ask leave ;
and yet thou mightest miss the boon.
Thou wishest, too, to cross this stream ;
first must thou reach another goal,-
colder thy corse must cling in clay ;

'twas forfeit in grove of Paradise ;

our forefather ill guarded it ;

through dreary death each man must pass,

ere God deem right he cross this flood." '

30 PERLE.

XXVIII.

f. 43*5 " Deme} )?0u me," quo]) I, " my swete,

To dol agayn, pe/me I dowyne.

Now haf I fonte pat I for-lete,

Schal I efte for-go hit, er euer I fyne ? 3*8

Why schal I hit bope mysse & mete ?

My pn?cios perle dot} me gret pyne !

What serue^ tresor hot garef men grete,

When he hit schal efte wjyt^ tene} tyne ? 33*
Now rech I neuer for to declyne,
Ne how fer of folde pat man me fleme.
When I am partle} of perlef myne,
Bot durande doel what may men deme ? " 336

XXIX.

" Thow deme^ no^t hot doel dystresse,"

fienne sayde J>at wy^t ; ** why dot^ Ipou so ?

For dyne of doel of lure^ lesse

Ofte mony mon for-gos J)e mo ; 340

J)e o^te better ]?y seluen blesse,

& loue ay God, [in] wele & wo,

For anger gayne} pe not a cresse ;

Who nede^ schal pole, be not so ]?ro. 544

For )x>3 ]>ou dauwce as any do,
Brauwdysch & bray J>y brafe^ breme,
When pou no fyrre may, to ne fro,
)5ou moste abyde pat he schal deme. 348

I

PEARL. 31

XXVIII.

" Doomest thou me," quoth I, " my Sweet,

to dole again, I pine away.

Now have I found what I had lost,

must I forgo it, ere ever I end ?

Why must I it both meet and miss ?

My precious Pearl doth me great pain !

What serveth treasure but tears to make,

if one must lose it soon with woe ?
Now reck I ne'er how low I droop,
how far men drive me from my land ;
when in my Pearl no part is mine,
what is my doom but endless moan ? "

XXIX.

" Thou deem'st of nought but doleful grief,"

said then that maid ; " why dost thou so ?

Through din of dole for losses small

many a man oft loseth more.

Rather shouldst thou cross thyself,

and praise aye God, in woe and weal ;

anger avails thee not a cress ;

who needs must bow, be not so bold ;
for though thou dance as any doe,
chafe and cry in fiercest ire,
since, to or fro, no way thou mak'st,
thou must abide what He shall deem.

32 PERLE.

" Deme Dry^tyn, euer hym adyte

Of )?e way a fote ne wyl he wryfe ;

\)y mende} mouwte} not a myte,

\)a$ Ipou for sor^e be neiurr blyj>e. 35*

Sty«t| of J>y strot & fyne to flyte,

& sech hys bly)>e ful swefte & swyfe ;

})y prayer may hys pyte byte,

)3at Mercy schal hyr crafte} kype. 356

Hys comforte may py langowr lyfe,
[]>at alle] J)y lure} of Iy3tly leme ;
For, marre[d] olper madde, morne & my]?e,
Al lys in hym to dy^t & deme." 360

§ VII. XXXK

f. 44* ^T^HENNE demed I to pat damyselle :

JL " Ne wor]?e no wrath pe vnto my Lorde,
If rapely [I] raue spornande in spelle,
My herte wat^ al wytA mysse remorde ; 364

As wallande water got} out of welle,
I do me ay in hys myserecorde.
Rebuke me neu^r wjyt^ worde} felle,
)?a} I forloyne, my dere endorde ; 368

Bot [k]ype} me kyndely your coumforde,

Pytosly Jjenkande vpon ]?ysse,—

Of care & me }e made acorde,

}?at er wat} grounde of alle my blysse. 372

PEARL. 33

XXX.

" Doom thou the Lord ! Arraign Him still !
He will not swerve a foot from the way.
Thy mending 'mounteth not a mite,
though thou, for grief, be never blithe.
Stint from thy strife, and cease to chide,
and seek His grace full swift and sure ;
thy prayer may His pity touch,
and Mercy may show forth her craft.
His solace may assuage thy grief,
that all thy losses glance lightly off;
for, marr'd or made, mourning and mirth,
all lieth in Him, as He deem fit."

§ VII. xxxi.

THEN deem'd I to that damosel :
" Let not my Lord be wroth with me,
if wildly I rave, rushing in speech,
my heart with mourning all was torn.
As welling water goeth from well,
I yield me to His mercy aye.
Rebuke me ne'er with cruel words,
my dear adored, e'en though I stray ;
but show me kindly comforting,
piteously thinking upon this,-
of care and me thou madest accord,
that wast of all my bliss the ground.

34 PERLE.

XXXII.

y " My blysse, my bale, ^e ban ben bope ;

Bot much pe bygger }et wat$ my mon ;

Fro }>ou wat$ wroken fro vch a woj>e,

I wyste neufr quere my perle wat} gon. 376

Now I hit se, now lepe^ my lo]>e ;

& quen we departed, we wern at on ;

God forbede we be now wro))e !

We meten so selden by stok o]>er ston. 38°

J5a^ cortaysly ^e carp[e] con,
I am bot mol, & ma[n]ere3 mysse ;
Bot Crystes mersy & Mary & Jon,-
))ise arn ]?e grouwde of alle my blysse 384

XXXIII.

" In blysse I se )>e blypely blent,

& I a man al mornyf mate ;

$e take ]w-on ful lyttel tente,

))a$ I hente ofte harme^ hate. 388

Bot now I am here in your presente,

I wolde bysech, wyth-outen debate,

^e wolde me say in sobre asente

What lyf 36 lede, erly & late. 39*

For I am ful fayn fat yo«r astate

Is worsen to worschyp & wele iwysse ;

Of alle my joy ]>e hy^e gate,

Hit is in grou/zde of alle my blysse." 396

PEARL. 35

XXXII.

" My bliss, my bale, hast thou been both ;
but much the more my moan hath been ;
since thou wast banish'd from ev'ry path,
I wist not where my Pearl was gone.
Now I it see, now less'neth my loss ;
and when we parted, at one we were ;
God forbid we be now wroth !
We meet so seldom by stock or stone.

Though thou canst speak full courteously,

I am but dust, and manners lack ;

the mercy of Christ, and Mary, and John,

these are the ground of all my bliss.

XXXIII.

" In bliss I see thee blithely blent,
and I a man with mourning marr'd ;
thereof thou takest little heed,
though baleful harms befall me oft.
But now, before thy presence here,
I would beseech, without demur,
that thou wouldst tell, with gentle grace,
early and late what life thou lead'st.

For I am glad that thine estate

is all so changed to worth and weal ;

the high-way this of all my joy ;

it is the ground of all my bliss."

36 PERLE.

XXXIV

" Now blysse, burne, mot )>e bytyde ! "

pen sayde J?at lufsouw of lyth & lere ; —

" & welcum here to walk & byde,

For now py speche is to me dere. 4°°

Mayster-ful mod & hy^e pryde,

I hete J>e, arn heterly hated here ;

My Lorde ne loue^ not for to chyde,

For meke arn alle ]>at wone^ \\jrn nere. 4°4

& when in hys place ]>ou schal apere,

Be dep deuote in hoi mekenesse ;

My Lorde )?e Lamb loue^ ay such chere,

})at is pe grouwde of alle my blysse. 4°8

xxxv.

" A blysful lyf Ipou says I lede ;
])ou wolde^ knaw ]>er-of tye stage.
)pow wost wel when )>y Perle con schede,
I wat^ ful ^ong & tender of age ; 412

Bot my Lorde pe Lombe, )mr$ hys God-hede,
He toke my self to hys maryage,
Corouwde me quene in blysse to brede,
In lenghf of daye^ )>at euer schal wage. 4l6

& sesed in alle hys herytage

Hys lef is ; I am holy hysse ;

Hys prese, hys prys, & hys parage

Is rote & grou/zde of alle my blysse." 420

PEARL. 37

XXXIV

" Now bliss betide thee, noble sir,"
said she, so fair of form and face,
" and welcome here to bide and walk,
for dear to me is now thy speech.
Masterful mood and mighty pride,
I tell thee, are bitterly hated here ;
my Master loveth not to blame,
for meek are all that dwell Him nigh.

And when in His place appear thou must,

in humbleness be deep devout ;

my Lord the Lamb such cheer aye loveth ;

He is the ground of all my bliss.

xxxv.

" A blissful life thou say'st I lead,
and thou wouldst know the state thereof :
well know'st thou, when thy Pearl fared forth,
of tender age, full young, was I ;
but, through His Godhead, my Lord the Lamb
took me in marriage unto Himself;
crown'd me Queen, to revel in bliss,
in length of days that ne'er shall wane ;

and dower'd with all His heritage

His Bride is ; I am wholly His ;

His praise, His price, His peerless rank,

of all my bliss are root and ground."

38 PERLE.

§VIII. xxxvi.

« T) LYSFUL," qwop I, " may J>ys be trwe ?

J3 Dysplese} not if I speke errowr.
Art pou pe quene of heuene^ blwe,
])at al pys worlde schal do honour ? 4H

We leuen on Marye pat grace of grewe,
)}at her a barne of vyrgyn flowr ;
fte croune fro hyr quo mo^t remwe,
Bot ho hir passed i« sum fauoz/r ? 41

Now, for synglerty o hyr dousowr,

We calle hyr Fenyx of Arraby,

))at freles fle^e of hyr fasor,

Lyk to ]?e Quen of cortaysye." 43 2

XXXVII.

« Cortayse Quen," pe/me s[a]yde pat gaye,

Knelande to grou/zde, folde vp hyr face,

" Makele} Moder & myryest May,

Blessed Bygy/merf of vch a grace ! " 436

J)e«ne ros ho vp & con restay,

& speke me towarde in pat space :

" S*r, fele here porchase^ & fonge^ pray,

Bot supplantore^ none wyt^-i/me pys place. 44°

J^at Empmse al heue«^ hat^,

& vrpe & helle in her bayly ;

Of erytage $et non wyl ho chace,

For ho is Quen of cortaysye. 444

PEARL. 39

xxxvi.
" T} LISSFUL," quoth !,/< may this be so ?

JLJ Speak I amiss, be nc displeased.
Art thou the Queen of heaves blue,
whom all this world must htfiour now ?
We believe in Mary, from \taom sprang grace,,
who bore a child from virg^ flower,
and who can take from herihe crown,
sv>ve she excel her in some (vorth ?

And for her peerlessness of charm

Phrenix of Araby we h<i' call,

the bird immaculate of form,

like to that £>ueen of Courtesy."

XXXVII.

" Courteous Queen ! " said then that joy,
kneeling to earth, her face enveil'd,
" Matchless Mother, Merriest Maid,
Blest Beginner of every grace ! "
Then rose she up, and there she paused,
and spake toward me from that spot :-
" Sir ! folk find here the prize they seek,
but no usurpers bide herein.

That Empress in her empire hath
the heavens all and earth and hell ;
from heritage yet she driveth none,
for she is Queen of Courtesy.

40 PERLE.

XXXVIII.

" The coz/rt of )>i kyndom of God alyue

Hat} a property i/.hyt self beywg ;

Alle fat may J)er->me aryue

Of alle ]?e reme is iuen o^er ky/zg, 44^

& neuer otyer ^et sc.al depryue ;

Bot vchon fayn of tj^re} hafy«g,

& wolde her corou;^ wern wor)>e fo fyue,

If possyble were her mendywg. 45 7-

Bot my Lady, of quom Jesu con spry/zg,
Ho halde^ fe empyre over vus ful hy^e ;
& ))at dysplese^ noi of oure gy«g,
For ho is Quene of cortaysye. 45 6

xxxix.

*' Of cowrtaysye, as sayt^ Say«t P[a]ule,
Al arn we mewbre^ of I^u Kryst ;
As heued & arme & legg & naule
Temen to hys body ful trwe & t[r]yste, 460

Ry^t so is vch a Krysten saw[l]e
A longande lym to )?e Mayster of myste.
Jpewne loke, what hate o]>er any gawle
Is tached olper ty^ed )>y lymme^ by-twyste ? 464

\)j heued hat^ naujjer greme ne gryste,

On arme o]>er fynger ^ ]?ou ber by^e.

So fare we alle wyth luf & lyste

To ky«g & quene by cortaysye." 468

PEARL. 41

XXXVIII.

" The Court of the Kingdom of Living God

hath in itself this property,-

each one that may .arrive therein

is king or queen of all the realm,

and yet shall not deprive another ;

L'at each is glad of others' weal,

and would their crowns were worth five such,

were their enhancing possible.

But my Lady, from whom Jesu sprang,

She holdeth empire high o'er all ;

and this displeaseth none of our host,

for she is Queen of Courtesy.

xxxix.

" By courtesy, as saith Saint Paul,

we all are members of Jesu Christ ;

as head and arm and leg and trunk,

trusty and true, their body serve,

so is each Christian soul a limb

that to the Lord of Might belongs.

Lo now, what hatred or ill-will

is fast or fix'd between thy limbs ?

Thy head hath neither spleen nor spite,
on arm or finger though thou bear ring.
So fare we all in love and joy,
by courtesy, to King and Queen."

42 PERLE.

XL.

/. 45* " Cortays[y]e," q*/0p I, " I leue,
& charyte grete be yow amo«g ;
Bot, my speche pat yow ne greue,
[Me pynk pou speke^ now ful wronge ;J 472
fry self in heuen over hy$ pou heue,
To make pe quen pat wafc$ so ^onge.
What more honour mo^te he acheue
J5at hade endured in worlde stronge, 476

& lyued in penau^ce hys lyue^ longe,
Wyth bodyly bale hym blysse to byye ?
What more worschyp 111031 h[e] fonge,
jjen corouwde be ky«g by cortays[y]e ? 480

§ IX. XLI.

" npHAT cortays[y]e is to fre of dede,

JL 3yf hyt be soth pat pou cone^ saye ;
\)ou lyfed not two ^er in cure pede ;
J^ouycowpe} neu<?r God naup^r plese ne pray, 484
Ne neiur nawper Pater ne Crede ;
& quen mad on pe fyrst[e] day !
I may not traw, so God me spede,
fiat God wolde wrype so wrange away. 488

Of countes, damysel, par ma fay,

Wer fayr in heuen to halde asstate,

Op^r elle^ a lady of lasse aray ;

Bot aquene !-hit is to dere a date." 49*

PEARL. 43

XL.

" Courtesy," quoth I, " I grant,
and charity great dwell in your midst ;
but, pardon if my speech doth grieve,
methinketh now thy words full wrong ;
thou hast raised thyself in heaven too high,
to make thee queen, that wast so young.
What greater honour might he win,
who suffered bravely in this world,
and lived in life-long penance here,
with bodily bale to purchase bliss ?
What greater glory might he have
than king be crown'd by courtesy ?

§ IX. XLI.

" ' I AHIS courtesy is all too free,

JL if it be sooth that thou hast said ;
(thou livedst not two years in our land,s}

G-od thou couldst not please or pray,

and never knewest Pater nor Creed ;

yet on the first day made a Queen !

I may not trow, so speed me God,

that He would work so all amiss.
As countess, damosel, par ma fay ,
'twere fair in heaven to hold estate,
or as a lady of lower degree :
but a Queen,-it is too great a goal."

44 PERLE.

XLII.

" Jper is no date of hys god-nesse,"

\)en sayde to me fat worpy wy^te ;

" For al is trawpe pat he con dresse,

& he may do no )>ynk hot ry^t. 49 6

As Mathew mele^ i« your messe,

IH sothfol Gospel of God Al-my^t,

la-sample he can ful grayj>ely gesse,

& lykne^ hit to heuen ly^te. 500

' My regne,' he sayt^, « is lyk on hy^t
To a lorde ]>at hade a uyne, I wate ;
Of tyme of ^ere ]?e terme wat} ty^t,
To labor vyne wat^ dere pe date. 5°4

XLIII.

" * ))at date of ^ere wel knawe [h]ys hyne ;
}5e lorde ful erly vp. he ros
To hyre werkmen to hys vyne,
& fynde^ Jw su/wine to hys porpos. 5°^

Into acorde fay con de-clyne
For a penef a day, & forth Jray got},
Wryfen & worchen & don gret pyne,
Keruen & caggen & man hit clos. 512

Aboute vnder ]>e lorde to marked tot^,
& ydel men stande he fynde^ Derate :
« Why stande }e ydel ? ' he sayde to fos ;
4 Ne knawe ^e of fis day no date ? ' Si6

PEARL. 45

XLII.

" No goal, no end, His goodness hath,"

then said to me that noble gem,

" for all is just where He doth lead ;

He can do nought but what is right.

As Matthew telleth in your mass,

in God Almighty's Gospel true,

a parable He made full well ;

to Heaven bright He likeneth it.

* My realm on high/ He saith, * is like
to a lord that had a vineyard once ;
and, lo ! the time of year was come
• when vintage was the season's goal.

XLIII.

" * The season's goal his household knows ;
and up full early rose the lord
to hire more workmen for his vines ;
and to his purpose findeth some.
They enter in agreement then
for a, penny a day, and forth they go ;
they strain and strive and do great toil,
they prune and bind and fasten firm.

About noon the lord the market sought,
and idle men found standing there.

* Why stand ye idle ? ' he said to them,

* Or know ye for this day no goal ? '

46 PERLE.

XLIV.

" * < Er date of daye hider arn we wonne,'
So wat^ al samen her answar so^t ;
* We haf standen her syn ros pe suwne,
& no mo« bydde^ vus do ry^t no^t.' 520

' Gos i«-to my vyne, dot} pat ^e cowne ;'
So sayde pe lorde, & made hit to$t :-
« What resnabelef hyre be na3t be ru«ne
I yow payf in dede & Jx^te.' 524

J^ay wente i«-to )>e vyne & wro3te ;
& al day )>e lorde ]>us ^ede his gate,
& nw[e] men to hys vyne he bro^te,
Wel-ne^ wyl day wat^ passed date. 528

XLV.

" « At pe [date] of [day] of euen-songe,
On oure byfore j>e so/me go dou«,
He se$ per yd el men ful stronge,
& sade to he[m], wjyt/> soore souw :- 532

< Wy stonde ^e ydel pise daye^ longe ? '
J3ay sayden her hyre wat^ nawhere bouw.
* Got^ to my vyne, ^emen ^onge,
& wyrke^ & dot^ p^rt at ^e mouw.' 536

Sone pe worlde by-corn wel brou/z,

\)e su«ne wat^ dou/z, & fhit wex late ;

To take her hyre he mad suwouw ;

J?e day wat$ al apassed date. 54°

PEARL. 47

XL1V.

" * * Ere dawn of day we hither came ; '
so gave they answer, one and all ;

* we have stood here since rose the sun,
and no man biddeth us do aught.'

* Enter my vineyard ; do what ye can,'
said then the lord, and made it sure,-

* What wage is fair, by fall of night,
I will you pay, in thought and deed/

They went unto his vines, and work'd ;
and thus all day the lord went forth,
and new men to his vineyard brought,
well-nigh till day had pass'd its goal.

XLV.

" * Nigh goal of day, at evensong,
one hour before the sun should set,
strong men he saw stand idle there,
and said to them, with earnest voice :-
' Why stand ye idle the livelong day ? '
Nowhere, said they, was hire for them.
1 Go to my vineyard, yeomen young,
and work and do as best ye can.'

Soon the world grew burnish'd brown ;

the sun was down, and it waxed late ;

to take their pay he summon'd them ;

the day was done, its goal was pass'd.

48 PERLE.

§ X. XLVI.

f. 453 " « / I ^HE date of pe daye pe lorde con knaw,
X Called to pe reue : « Lede, pay pe menyf;

Gyf hem pe hyre pat I hem [a]we ;

& fyrre, pat non me may repren[y], 544

Set hem alle vpon a rawe,

& gyf vchon i/z-lyche a peny.

Bygyn at pe laste pat stawde^ l[a]we,

Tyl to pe fyrste pat pou atteny.' 548

& pe«ne ]>e fyrst by-go«ne to pleny,
& sayden pat pay hade trauayled sore :-
* ftese hot on oure hem con streny ;
VZAT py«k vus o^e to take more. 552

XLVII.

" * ' More haf we serued, vus py«k so,
)pat sufFred han pe daye$ hete,
|5e«n pyse pat wro^t not houre^ two,
& pou dot^ hem vus to couwterfete.' 556

]?e«ne sayde pe lorde to onf of po :-
* Frende^ no wani[«]g I wyl pe ^ete ;
Take pat is pyn owne & go.
& I hyred pe for a peny a-grete, 56°

Quy bygy«ne^ pou now to prete ?

Wat} not a pene py couenaiwt J?ore ?

Fyrre pew couenaunde is no^t to plete.

Wy schalte pou pe/me ask[e] more ? 5^4

PEARL. 49

§ X. XLVI.

" « >~T~^HE day was done, the master knew,-
JL called to his reeve : * Sir, pay the men ;

give them the wage that I them owe,

and further, that none may me reprove,

set them all in one long line,

and give a penny to each alike ;

begin at the last that standeth low,

and so until thou reach the first.'
The first began then to complain,
and said that they had sorely toil'd :-
' These but an hour have strain'd their strength,
seemeth to us we should take more.

XLVII.

" * * More have we deserved, we think,
that here have borne the heat of day,
than these that have not work'd two hours,
and thou dost make them equal us.'
Then said the lord to one of them :-
* Friend, I would not do thee wrong ;
take what is thine own and go.
Hired I thee for a penny withal,

why beginnest thou now to chafe ?

Was not a penny thy covenant then ?

More than agreed one must not claim.

Why shouldest thou then ask for more ?

So PERLE.

XLVIII.

" * ' More,-wep£r l[e]uyly is me my gyftc,

To do wyth myn quat so me lyke^,

O]>cr elle3 pyn y^e to lyjw is lyfte,

For I am goude & now by-swyke^ ? ' 568

' ])us schal I,' qH0J> Kryste, « hit skyfte ;

J?e laste schal be pe fyrst pat stryke^,

& pe fyrst pe laste, be he neu<?r so swyft ;

For mony ben calle[d], pa^ fewe be myke^.' $7Z

\>us pore men her part ay pyke^,

)?a^ pay com late & lyttel wore ;

& pa} her sweng wyth lyttel at-slyke^,

\)e merci of God is much J?e more. 576

XLIX.

f. 47* " More haf I of joye & blysse here-i/me,
Of ladyschyp gret & lyue^ blom,
J^en alle pe wy^e^ in ]>e worlde my^t wy//ne,
By )?e way of ry^t to aske dome. 580

Wheper welnygh now I con bygy/me,
In euentyde in-to )>e vyne I come,
Fyrst of my hyre my Lorde con my/me ;
I wat^ payed anon of al & sum. 584

^et o])er per werne ~pat toke more torn,
J?at swange & swat for long[e] 3 ore,
)5at ^et of hyre no pynk pay nom,
Paraurcter no^t schal to-^ere more." 588

PEARL. 5

XLVIII.

" « * Moreover,-Is it my right to give,

to do with mine what so I please,

or is it thine eye is bent on ill,

since I am good, and none defraud ? '

« Thus shall I,' quoth Christ, « ordain :

the last shall be the first to go,

and the first the last, be he ne'er so swift ;

for many are called, though few the elect. ?
Thus do the poor their portion take,
though they come late, and low their place ;
though, little done, their toil is spent,
the mercy of God is much the more.

XLIX.

<* More have I here of joy and bliss,
of ladyship great and bloom of life,
than all the men in the world might win,
ask'd they award by way of right.
Though, well-nigh now, I late began,
at even to the vineyard came,
first of my hire my Lord bethought ;
I was paid anon the payment full.
Others were there who had to wait,
who sweated long before, and toil'd ;
yet nothing got they of their hire,
nor will perchance for long years more."

52 PERLE.

L.

Then more I meled & sayde apert :-

" Me pynk J>y tale vnresou«-able ;

Godde} ry^t is redy & eu<?r-more rert,

O]>er Holy Wryt is hot a fable. 59*

I/z Sauter is sayd a verce ouerte,

J)at speke^ a poy/zt determynable :-

* ])ou quyte} vchon as hys desserte,

})O\L hy^e Ky«g, ay p[n?]termynable.J 596

Now he pat stod J?e long day stable,
& }>ou to payment com hym byfore,
J?e//ne Jje lasse i« werke to take more able,
& euer pe lenger J)e lasse fe more." 600

§ XI.

more & lasse in Gode^ ryche,"
J)at gentyl sayde, " lys no joparde,
For per is vch mon payed inlyche,
Wheper lyttel olper much be hys rewarde. 604
For pe gentyl Cheuentayn is no chyche,
Quejw-so-eiUT he dele nesch op<?r harde ;
He laue^ hys gyfte^ as wat^r of dyche,
Olper gote^ of golf pat neu^r chaf de. 608

Hys frauwchyse is large Jwt eu^r dard

To hym pat mat} in sy«ne rescogta ;

No blysse befr$ fro hem reparde,

For pe grace of God is gret i-nogh<?. 612

PEARL. 53

Then said I more, and boldly spake' :-

" Thy tale me seemeth reasonless :

God's right is ready, raised eterne,

or Holy Writ is but a fable.

In Psalter is said a verse full clear,

putting, as point determined, this :-

1 Each Thou requitest as his desert,

Thou High King, ever fore-ordained ! '
Now he who all day steadfast stood,-
if thou to payment come ere he,
then the less the work, the more the pay,
and ever the longer the less the more."

§ XI. LI.

IXT more and less in God's own
realm,"

that Gentle said, "lies no debate ;
for there is each man paid alike,
whether little or much be his reward.
That gentle Chieftain is no niggard,
whether His dole be hard or soft ;
He poureth His gifts as water from weir,
or streams of the deep that never turn.

Large is his freedom who hath fear'd

'fore Him that rescueth in sin ;

no bliss shall be withheld from such ;

the grace of God is great enough.

54 PERLE.

LII.

f. 47-5 " Bot now ]>ou mote} me for to mate,

pat I my peny haf wrang tan herg.;, ,

pou say} pat I pat com to late

Am not worpy so gret [h]ere. 616

Where wyste} pou euer any bourne abate,

Euer so holy in hys prayere,

pat he ne forfeted by suwkyn gate

pe mede sum-tyme of heuene} clere ? 620

& ay pe ofter, Jje alder pay were,
pay laften ry}t & wro}ten woglv.
Mercy & grace moste hem pe« stere,
For pe grace of God is gret iw-no^e. 6M

LII I.

" Bot i«-nogh(? of grace hat} iwnocent ;

As sone as pay am borne, by lyne

In pe water of babtem pay dyssente ;

])e« arne pay boro^t i«-to pe vyne. 6*8

Anon pe day, wjyt£ derk endente,

Jpe my^t of deth dot} to en-clyne

pat wro^t neuer wrang er pewne pay wente.

]pe gentyle Lorde pe«ne paye} hys hyne ; 632

pay dyden hys heste, pay wern pere-ine ;

Why schulde he not her labour alow,

3ys, & pay h[e]m at pe fyrst[ej fyne ?

For pe grace of God is gret i«-nogh<?. 366

PEARL. 55

LII.

" Yet now thou mootest, to checkmate .me,

that I my penny have wrongly ta'en :

thou sayest that I, who came too late,

am not worth so great a wage.

Where knewest thou any man abide,

ever so holy in his prayer,

who ne'er, in some way, forfeited

the meed, some time, of heaven bright ?

And aye the ofter, the older they were,

left they the right, and wrought amiss ;

Mercy and Grace must pilot them ;

The grace of God is great enough.

LIII.

" But grace enough have innocents ;
as soon as they are born, by rule
in the water of baptism they descend ;
then are they to the vineyard brought.
Anon the day, with darkness fleck'd,
unto Death's might doth make them bow
who ne'er wrought wrong ere thence they went.
The gentle Lord His folk then payeth ;

they did His will, they were therein.

Why should He not allow their hire,

yea, pay them at the first day's close?

The grace of God is great enough.

56 PERLE.

LIV.

,/ " I-no^e is knawen ]>at man-kyn grete
Fyrste.wat^ wro^t to blysse parfyt ;
Oure forme fader hit con forfete,
Jpur^ an apple pat he vpon con byte ; 640

Al wer we dampned for pat mete
To dy3e in doel, out of delyt,
& sypen wende to helle hete,
\)er-inne to won wjyt/^oute respyt. 644

Bot per on- com a bote as tyt ;

Ryche blod ran on rode so rogh^,

& wy/me water ; pe« at pat plyt

Jpe grace of God wex gret i«-nogh<?. 648

LV.
f. 48* " In-nogh<? per wax outf of pat welle,

Blod & water of brode wouwde ;

J?e blod vus bo$t fro bale of helle,

& delyu^red vus of pe deth secou«de ; 652

))e water is baptem, pe sope to telle

})at folded pe glayue so grywzly grou«de,

))at wasche^ away pe gylte^ felle

J?at Adam wyth inf deth vus drou«de. 656

Now is p£r no^t in pe worlde rou«de
By-twene vus & blysse bot pat he wjyt
& pat is restored in sely stou«de ;
& pe grace of God is gret i«-nogh.

PEARL. 57

LIV.

" Enough is known, how mankind great

first was wrought for perfect bliss ;

our fore-father it forfeited,

through an apple that he bit upon.

And for that morsel were we damn'd

to die in dolour, afar from joy,

and thence to fare to heat of hell,

there to abide, with respite none.
But soon came there the antidote ;
on rood so rough ran richest blood
and winsome water ; then, in that plight,
the grace of God wax'd great enough.

LV.

" Enough from out that well there flow'd,
blood and water, from wound so wide :
from bale of hell the blood us bought,
and ransom'd us from second death ;
the water is baptism, sooth to say,
that follow'd the glaive so grimly ground,
that washeth away the guilt so fell
that Adam drown'd us with in death.

Now is there nought in this round world

'twixt us and bliss but what He withdrew ;

all is restored in one fair hour.

The grace of God is great enough.

58 PERLE.

§ XII. LVI.

RACE i«-nogh pe mon may haue

J)at sy/me^ pe/me new, $if hyw repente,
Bot wyt/5 sor^ & syt he mot hit craue,
& byde pe payne per-to is bent ; 664

Bot rescue, of ry^t pat con not raue,
Saue^ eu^r-more pe iwnossewt ;
Hit is a dom ]>at neuer God gaue,
j?at euer )?e gyltle3 schulde be schente. 668

J)e gyltyf may contryssyou« hente,

& be pur^ mercy to grace pry^t ;

Bot he to gyle pat neu<?r glente,

At i»-oscen[c]e, is saf [by] ry^te. 6yz

LVI I.

)«j | I knaw wel i» pis cas,
Two men to saue is god by skylle ;
jpe ry^t-wys man schal se hys fa[c]e,
jpe harmle^ hapel schal com hym tylle. 676

)pe Sauter hyt sat^ Ipuf in a pace :-
* Lorde, quo schal klymbe J>y hy^[e] hylle|,
Otyer rest wyt^-i«ne py holy place ? '
Hymself to on-sware he is not dylle :- 680

* Hondelywge^ harme pat dyt not ille,
}5at is of hert bope clene & ly^t,
)per schal hys step[pe] stable sty lie/
])Q i«nosent is ay saf by ry^t. 684

PEARL. 59

§ XII. LVI.

RACE enough a man may have

that sinneth anew, if he repent ;
he must it crave with sorrow and sighs,
and bide the pain thereto is bound ;
but Reason, straying not from right,
saveth the innocent evermore ;
for 'tis a doom that God ne'er gave,
that ever the guiltless should be shamed.

The guilty may contrition find,

and be by Mercy led to Grace ;

but into guile who glided ne'er,

in innocence, is saved by right.

LVII.

" Right well I know of this same thing,
two kinds to save is good and just,—
the righteous man His face shall see,
the harmless one shall come Him nigh.
Thus saith the Psalter in a verse,-
' Lord, who shall climb Thy lofty hill,
or rest within Thy holy place ? '
Himself to answer He is not slow,-

t Whose hands in malice ne'er did hurt,
he that is clean and pure of heart,
there shall his step stand ever firm.'
The innocent is saved by right.

60 PERLE.

LVIII.

f. 48^ " The ry^twys man also sertayn
Aproche he schal tyat proper pyle,
)}at take} not her lyf in vayne,
Ne glauere^ her [nje^bor wyth no gyle. 688

Of pys ry^t-wys sa^ Salamon playn
How kyntly oure [Koyntyse hym] con aquyle ;
By waye^ ful street he con hym strayn,
& scheued hym pe rengne of God awhyle, 692

As quo says * lo, ^on louely yle !

)}0u may hit wy«ne if ]>ou be wy^te.'

Bot, hardyly, wyt^-oute peryle,

J)e i/mosent is ay saue by ry^te. 696

LIX.

" An-ende ry^twys men ^et sayt^ a gome-
Dauid in Sauter, if euer ^e s[y]^ hit :-
' Lorde, py seruau«t dra^ neuer to dome,
[F]or non lyuyande to )>e is justyfyet ! ' 700
For-])y to corte quen ]>ou schal com[e],
Jper alle oure causey schal be [c]ryed,
Alegge pe ry^t, pou may be i«-nome,
By )>ys ilke spech I haue asspyed. 704

Bot he on rode pat blody dyed,
Delfully pur^ honde^ pry^t,
Gyue pe to passe, when ]>ou arte tryed,
By i«nocens, & not by ry^te ! 708

PEARL. 61

LVIII.

" Verily, eke the righteous man
approach shall he that noble tower,-
who taketh not his life in vain,
his neighbour cheateth not with guile.
Of such saw Solomon clearly once
how well our Wisdom welcomed him ;
He guided him by ways full straight,
shew'd him awhile the realm of God,

as who should say, * Lo, yon fair place !

thou may'st it win, if thou be brave.'

But, without peril, be thou sure,

the innocent is saved by right.

" Anent the righteous saith another,
David in Psalter. Hast it seen ?-
« Thy servant, Lord, draw never to doom ;
none living is justified 'fore Thee/
So when thou comest to the Court,
where all our causes shall be cried,
renounce thy right, thou mayest come in,
by these same words that I have cull'd.
But He that bloodily died on rood,
whose hands were pierced so grievously,
grant thee to pass, when tried thou art,
by innocence and not by right !

62 PERLE.

" Ry^twysly quo [so] con rede,

He loke on bok & be awayed,

How Jesus hym welke in are-pede,

& burne^ her barney vnto hym brayde ; 712

For happe & hele pat fro hym ^ede,

To tou[c]h her chylder pay fayr hym prayed.

His dessypele^ wyt^ blame let be h[e]m bede,

& wyth her resource^ ful fele restayed. 716

Jesus pe;me hem swetely sayde :—

' Do way, let chylder vnto me ty^t ;

To suche is heuen-ryche arayed.'

Jpe innocent is ay saf by ry^t. 720

LXI.
f. 49« « TT JESUS con calle to hy/rz hys mylde,

X & sayde hys ryche no wy^ my^t wy«ne
Bot he com J>yder ry^t as a chylde,
Otyer elle^ neu^r more com per-i/me ; 7Z4

Harmle^, trwe, & vnde-fylde,
W)/t^-outen mote ofyer mascle of sulpande sy«ne,
Quen such per cnoken on pe bylde,
Tyt schal hem men pe ^ate vnpy/me. 728

Jper is pe blys pat con not bly/zne,
jpat pe jueler so^te pur^ perre pres,
& solde alle hys goud, bope wolen & ly«ne,
To bye hym a perle wat$ mascelle^. 73Z

PEARL. 63

" Who knoweth to read the Book aright,
let him look in, and learn therefrom
how Jesus walk'd once on a time,
and folk their bairns press'd near to Him ;
to touch their children they Him besought,
for hap and health that from Him came.
His disciples sternly bade them cease ;
and at their words full many stay'd.
Then Jesus sweetly said to them :—
« Not so ; let children draw to Me ;
for such is heaven's realm prepared/
The innocent is aye saved by right.

§ XIII. LXI.

" TESUS call'd to Him His meek,

J and said, no man might win His realm
save he came thither as a child ;
else might he never therein come ;
harmless, undefiled, and true,
with ne'er stain nor spot of sapping sin,
when such come knocking on that place,
quickly for them the bolt is drawn.
There is the bliss that cannot fade,
the jeweller sought 'mong precious gems,
and sold his all, both linen and wool,
to purchase him a spotless pearl.

64 PERLE.

LXII.

" * This ma[s]kelle^ perle, )>at bo^t is dere,

J)e joueler gef fore*alle hys god,

Is lyke pe reme of heuenesf [sp]ere ;

So sayde )>e Fader of folde & flode ; 736

For hit is wewle^, clene, & clere,

& endele^ rouwde, & bly]>e of mode,

& cowmune to alle pat ry^twysj* were.

Lo, euen in mydde^ my breste hit stode ! 74°

My Lorde j>e Lombe, jjat schede hys blode,

He py^t hit pere in token of pes.

I rede fe forsake fie worlde wode,

& porchace J?y perle maskelles." 744

LXIII.

" O maskele^ Perle, in perle^ pure,
J)at bere^," qwof I, " ])e perle of prys,
Quo formed ]>e J>y fayre fygure ?
)5at wro^t ]>j wede, he wat^ ful wys ; 748

)5y beaute com neu^r of nature ;
Pymalyon paynted neu^r J)y vys ;
Ne Arystotel nawj>£r by hys lettrure
Of carpe[d] ]?e kynde pese propertfy]^. 7Sa

\)j colowr passe^ ]>e floz/r-de-lys ;

)}yn angel-hauywg so clene corte^ !

Breue me, bry^t, quat kyn of tr/ys

Bere3 j)e perle so maskelle3 ? " 7S6

PEARL. 65

LXII.

" * This spotless pearl, so dearly bought,

the jeweller gave his all therefor,

is like the realm of Heaven's sphere ; '

so said the Father of field and flood ;

for it is flawless, bright, and pure,

endlessly round, of lustre blithe,

and common to all that righteous were.

Lo, its setting amid my breast !

My Lord the Lamb, who shed His blood,

He set it there in token of peace.

I rede thee forsake the world so wild,

and get for thee thy spotless pearl. "

LXIII.

" O spotless Pearl, in pearls so pure,
that bearest," quoth I, " the pearl of price,
who formed for thee thy figure fair ?
He was full wise that wrought thy robe ;
thy beauty never from Nature came ;
Pygmalion painted ne'er thy face ;
nor Aristotle, with all his lore,
told of the qualities of these gifts ;

thy colour passeth the fleur-de-lis ;

thy angel-bearing so all debonair !

Tell me, Brightest, what is the peace

that beareth as token this spotless pearl ? "

66 PERLE.

LXIV.

f. 49£ " My ma[s]kele3 Lambe pat al may bete,"
Quo]) scho, " my dere Destyne,
Me ches to hys make, al-pa} vnmete
Sum-tyme semed p#t assemble. 76°

When I wente fro yor worlde wete,
He calde me to hys borwte :—
« Cum hyder to me, my lemman swete,
For mote ne spot is non in pe.J 764

He gef me my^t & als bewte ;

In hys blod he wesch my wede on dese,

&, coronde clene in wrgynte,

[He] py$t me in perle} maskelle}." 768

LXV.

" Why, maskelle^ bryd, pat bry^t con flambe,
))at reiate^ hat^ so ryche & ryf,
Quat kyn ]>yng may be pat Lambe
))at pe wolde wedde vnto hys vyf ? 77*

Ouer alle op^r so hy^ ]>ou clambe,
To lede v/y\.h hym so ladyly lyf.
So mony a comly on-vu//der cambe
For Kryst han lyued in much stryf ; 776

& pou con alle po dere out-dry f,

& fro pat maryag[e] al op^r depres,

Al only pyself so stout & styf,

A makele} may & maskelle^ ! " 78°

PEARL. 67

LXIV.

" My spotless Lamb, Who can better all,"
quoth she, " my Destiny so dear,
chose me His bride, though all unfit
the Spousal might a while well seem.
When I went forth from your wet world,
He call'd me to His Goodliness :-
* Come hither to Me, My truelove sweet,
for stain or spot is none in thee.'

He gave me strength and beauty too ;

in His blood on the Throne He wash'd my
weeds ;

and, crowned clean in maidenhood,

with spotless pearls He me beset."

LXV,

" Why, spotless Bride, that shinest bright,

with regal glories rich and rare,

what, forsooth, may be the Lamb,

that thee as wife to Him would wed ?

O'er all the rest hast thou climb' d high,

with Him to lead so queenly a life.

Many a fair, 'neath maiden crown,

for Christ in mickle strife hath HVfed ;
those dear ones thou hast all out-driven,
and from that marriage all hast held,
all save thyself, so strong and stiff,
matchless maid, immaculate ! "

68 PERLE.

§ XIV. LXVI.

" T\/TASKELLES»" wty fat myry <iuene>

J.VJL " Vnblemyst I am, wyth-outen blot,

& pat may I v/yth mensk mewteene ;

Bot * makele^ quene ' pe/me sade I not. 784

fie Lambes vyue$ in blysse we bene,

A hondred & forty [fowre] powsande flot,

As in pe Apocalyppe^ hit is sene ;

Sant John hem sy^ al in a knot. 788

On pe hyl of Syon, fat semly clot,
fie apostel hem segh in gostly drem,
Arayed to pe weddywg in ]>at hyl-coppe,
])e nwe cyte o Jerusalem. 79Z

LXVII.

f. $oa " Of Jerusalem I in spec he spelle.
If j)0u wyl knaw what kyn he be—
My Lombe, my Lorde, my dere Juelle,
My Joy, my Blys, my Lewman fre- 796

fie profete Ysaye of hym con melle
Pitously of hys de-bonerte :-
< fiat glory ous gy[l]tle^ ]>at mon con quell e

uten any sake of felon[e] ; 800

As a schep to ]>e sla^t ]>er lad wat^ he ;
&, as lombe pat clypper in lande [n]e[m],
So closed he hys mouth fro vch quer[e],
Quen Jue^ hyw jugged in Jerusalem f.' 804

PEARL. 69

§ XIV. LXVI.

"TMMACULATE," said that merry queen,
A " unblemish'd I am, without a stain 5

and this may I with grace avow ;

but * matchless queen ' — that said I ne'er.

We all in bliss are Brides of the Lamb,

a hundred and forty-four thousand in all,

as in the Apocalypse it is clear ;

Saint John beheld them in a throng.

On the Hill of Zion, that beauteous spot,
the Apostle beheld them, in dream divine,
array'd for the Bridal on that hill-top,-
the City New of Jerusalem.

" Of Jerusalem is now my speech :

If thou wouldst know what kind is He,

my Lamb, my Lord, my dearest Jewel,

my Joy, my Bliss, my noble Love,-

the prophet Isaiah spake of Him,

in pity of His gentleness,-

* the Glorious Guiltless whom they killed

with ne'er a cause of evil deed.

As a sheep to the slaughter He was led ;
as lamb the shearer taketh a-field,
He closed His mouth 'gainst questioning,
when Jews Him judg'd in Jerusalem.'

7o PERLE.

LXVIII.

" In Jerusalem wat} my Lemman slayn

& rent on rode v/yth boye} bolde ;

Al oure bale} to bere ful bayn,

He toke on hym self oure care} colde ; 808

Wyth bofTete} wat} hys face flayn,

J)at wat} so fayr on to byholde ;

For sy/me he set hym self in vayn,

)}at neu^r hade non hym self to wolde. 8l*

For vus he lette hym fly}e & folde

& brede vpon a bostwys bem ;

As meke as lom[b] ])at no playnt tolde,

For \us he swalt in Jerusalem. 8l6

LXIX.

" [I«] Jerusalem, Jordan, & Galalye,
l^er-as baptysed ]?e goude Say«t Jon,
His worde^ acorded to Ysaye.
When Jesus con to hyw warde gon, 820

He sayde of- hym J?ys professye :-
' Lo, Gode} Lombe as trwe as ston,
j)at dot} away )>e sy/me} dry^e
})at alle ))ys worlde hat} wro}t vpon ! 8*4

Hym self ne wro}t[e] neu^-r }et non,

Whe]?<?r on hym self he con al clem.

Hys generacyou« quo recen con,

})at dy}ed for vus in Jerusalem ? ' 828

PEARL. 71

LXVIII.

" In Jerusalem was my Truelove slain
and rent on rood by boist'rous churls ;
full ready all our bales to bear,
He took on Him our cares so cold.
With buffets was His face all flay'd,
that was so fair to look upon ;
for sin He set Himself at nought,
that ne'er had sin to call His own.

For us He let Him beat and bend

and bind upon a rugged rood ;

as'meek as lamb, that made no plaint,

for us He died in Jerusalem.

LXIX.

" In Jerusalem, Jordan, and Galilee,
where baptized folk the good Saint John,
his words accorded with Isaiah's.
When Jesus was come a-nigh to him,
he spake of Him this prophecy :-
' Behold God's Lamb, as true as stone,
who doth away the endless sins
that all this world hath ever wrought.
Yet He Himself wrought never one,
though on Himself all sins He laid.
His generation who can tell,
that died for us in Jerusalem ? '

72 PERLE.

f. 50* " In lerusatem ]>us my Lemman sw[e]te

Twye^ for lombe wat^ taken pare,

By trw recorde of ay))<?r prophete,

For mode so meke & al hys fare. 832

))e pryde tyme is Jwr-to ful mete,

In Apokalype^ wryten ful }are.

In myde} J»e trone, pere saynte} sete,

]}e apostel lohn hym sa^f as bare, 836

Lesande pe boke with leue^ sware,
))ere seuen sy«gnette^ wern sette i«-seme ;
& at J?«t sy^t vche douth con dare,
In helle, in erfe, & Jerusalem. 840

§ XV. LXXI.

"^ | ^HYS Jerusalem Lombe hadeneu<?rpechche
JL Of o])/?r huee bot quyt jolyf,

}pat mot ne mask[e]lle mo^t on streche,

For wolle <iuyte so ronk & ryf ; 844

For-py vche saule Jiat hade neu^r teche

Is to J>at Lombe a worthyly wyf ;

& J?a^ vch day a store he feche,

Among vus cowme^ [n]oj?^r strot ne stryf ; 848
Bot vchon enle we wolde were fyf,—
jpe mo pe myryer, so God me blesse !
I« compayny gret our luf con pryf,
In honour more & neu<?r |>e lesse. 852

FROM COTTON MS. NERO A.x., LI.. 829—857.

PEARL. 73

LXX.

" In Jerusalem thus my Truelove sweet

twice was taken there as lamb,

by record true of prophets twain,

so meek His mood and all His mien.

The third time well befits thereto,

as written in Apocalypse.

Amidst the Throne, where sat the Saints,

the Apostle John Him clearly saw,
opening the Book with pages square,
with seven seals set forth thereon ;
and at that sight the doughty quaked,
in Hell, in Earth, and Jerusalem.

§ XV. LXXI.

" ' I VHIS Lamb of Jerusalem had no speck

JL of other hue save winsome white,
that ne'er a stain or spot might touch,
so white the wool, so rich and rare ;
wherefore each soul that hath no taint
is to that Lamb a wife ador'd ;
and though each day a many He bring,
nor strife nor stress among us comes ;

but each one singly we would were five,-

the more the merrier, so bless me God !.

Our love can thrive in company great ;

our honour more and never Jess.

74 PERLE.

LXXII.

" Lasse of blysse may non \us brywg,

jpat beren pys perle vpon oure bereste,

For pay of mote coupe neu<?r my/zge,

Of spotle} perle^ j>a[t] beren Jje creste. 856

Al-pa^ oure corses ln clotte^ cly/zge,

& ^e remen for raupe wyth-outen reste,

We pur^-outly hauen cnawy/zg,

Of [o]n dethe ful oure hope is drest. 86°

\)e lou[w]be vus glade^, oure care is kest ;

He myrfe^ vus alle at vch a mes ;

Vchone^ blysse is breme & beste,

& neu^r one} honowr ^et neu^rr pe les. 864

LXXIII.

" Lest les fou leue my talef farande,
In Appocalyppece is wryten in wro :-
*I seghtf,' says John, * j)e Louwbe hyw stande
On pe mou«t of Syon, ful jjryuen & }>ro, 868
& wyth hym mayde/me^ an hu«dre)?e )?owsande,
& fowre & forty J>owsande mo ;
On alle her forhede^ wryten I fande
Jpe Lombe$ nome, hys Fadere^ also. 872

A hue fro heuen I herde poo,

Lyk flode^ fele l[e]den, ru«ne« on resse,

& as Jjawder prowe^ in torre^ bio,

))at lote, I leue, wat$ neu<?r pe les. 876

PEARL. 75

LXXII.

" Less of bliss may none us bring,
this pearl who bear upon our breasts,
for ne'er a thought of sin know they
the crown who bear of spotless pearls.
And though our corses cling in clay,
and ye for ruth cry ceaselessly,
we knowledge have full well of this,-
from one death cometh all our hope* .

Us gladd'neth the Lamb ; our care is cast ;

He maketh mirth at every meal ;

of each the bliss is bravest and best,

and no one's honour is yet the less.

LXXIII.

" But lest thou deem my tale less true,
in Apocalypse is writ a verse :-
' I saw/ saith John, * where stood the Lamb,
on the Mount of Zion, thriven and strong,
and with Him maidens a hundred thousand,
and four and forty thousand more ;
on all their foreheads writ I found
the Lamb's own name, His Father's eke.

A voice from heaven heard I then,

like many floods' roar, a-rushing on ;

as thunder hurtles in lowring skies ;

that sound, I trow, was none the less.

76 PERLE.

LXXIV.

" « Naupeles, pa^ hit schowted scharpe,

& ledden loude al-pa$ hit were,

A note fill nwe I herde hem warpe ;

To lysten fat wat$ ful lufly dere. 8 80

As harpore^ harpen in her harpe,

pat nwe songe pay sowgen ful cler,-

In souwande note} a gentyl carpe ;

Ful fayre pe mode} pay fonge in fere. 884

Ry^t byfore Gode} chayere,
& pe fowre beste} pat hyw obes,
& pe alder-men so sadde of chere,
Her songe pay songen neu^r pe les.

LXXV.

«' * Nowpe-lese non wat^ neuer so quoy«t,
For alle pe crafte^ pat ever pay knewe,
pat of pat songe my^t sy«ge a poywt,
Bot pat meyny pe Lombe pa[t] swe ; %9Z

For pay arn bo^t, fro pe vrpe aloynte,
As newe fryt to God ful due,
& to pe gentyl Lombe hit arn anioywt,
As lyk to hym self of lote & hwe ; 896

For neu^r lesy«g ne tale vn-trwe
Ne towched her tonge for no dysstresse.
pat motel es meyny may neu^r remwe
Fro patmaskele^ Mayster neuer peles.' " 900

PEARL. 77

LXXIV.

" * Nevertheless, though sharp the shout,

though loud the voice that echoed there,

a note full new I heard them raise ;

to list thereto was blissful joy.

As harpers harp upon their harps,

that new song sang they tunefully,-

a noble theme in clearest notes ;

sweetly in chorus they caught the strain.
And e'en before the Throne of God,
and the four beasts that bow to Him,
and the Elders all, so grave of mien,
their song they sang there never the less.

LXXV.

" * Nevertheless was none so skilFd,
for all the crafts that e'er he knew,
that of that song might sing a note,
save all the host that follow the Lamb.
They are redeem'd, removed from earth,
as first-fruits wholly due to God,
and to that gentle Lamb enjoin'd,
as like to Him in hue and look ;
for never a lie nor tale untrue
had touched their tongues, for any pain.
To spotless Lord the spotless host
shall nearest be, and never less.' "

78 PERLE.

LXXVI.

f. 51 a " Neuer Jje les let be my ]x>nc,"
Qwof I, "my Perle, fia^ I appose ;
I schulde not tempte Jjy wyt so wlonc,
To Kryste^ chambre fat art ichose. 904

I am bot mokke & mul amo«[c],
& J?ou so ryche a reken rose,
& byde^ here by ]>ys blysful bone
Jper lyue^ lyste may neu^r lose. 908

Now, hynde, Jjat sympelnesse cowe^ enclose,

I wolde Jje aske a J>y«ge expresse ;

& ]>a^ I be bustwys as a [^wjose, .

Let my bone vayl[e] neu^r-jje-lese. 912

§ XVI. LXXVII.

EUER-)?E-LESE cler I yowby-calle,

If ^e con se hyt be to done ;
As ]>ou art gloryowj wyt^-outen galle,
WytA-nay pou neiur my ruful bone. 9l6

Haf ^e no wone^ in castel-walle,
Ne man<?r fer ^e may mete & won[e] ?
])ou telle^ me of Jerusalem^ ]>e ryche ryalle,
)?er Dauid dere wat^ dy^t on trone ; 920

Bot by f>yse holte^ hit con not hone ;

Bot in Judee hit is, \al noble note ;

As $e ar maskele^ vnder mone,

Your wone^ schulde be wyth-outen mote. 9M

PEARL. 79

** And none the less my thanks have thou,"
quoth I, " my Pearl, though yet I ask ;
I should not try thy noble mind,
who chosen to Christ's chamber art.
I am but earth and dust a-while,
and thou so rich a royal rose,
and bidest by this blissful bank,
where life's delight may ne'er be lost.

Now, Lady, — simple wast thou once, —
I fain would ask thee but one thing ;
and though I be wild as man of the woods,
let, nevertheless, my prayer avail !

§ XVI. LXXVII.

" T NONE the less beseech thee fair,

A if thou canst see it may be done,
as thou art glorious, free from fault,
my rueful prayer deny not thou.
Have ye no homes in castle-walls ?
No manor where ye may meet and bide ?
Thou namest Jerusalem, rich and royal,
where David dear was dight on throne ;

but by these holts it cannot be ;

'tis in Judaea, that noble place ;

as ye are spotless 'neath the moon,

all spotless so should be your homes.

8o PERLE.

LXXVIII.

" J3ys motele^ meyny pou cone} of mele,
Of pousande^ pry$t so gret a route ;
A gret cete, for 36 arn fele,
Yow by-hod haue wyt/6-outen doute. 928

So cuwly a pakke of joly juele
Wer euel don schulde ly$ p<?/--oute ;
& by pyse bonke^ per I con gele,
1 fl se no bygywg nawhere aboute. 932

I trowe al-one ^e lenge & loute,

To loke on pe glory of pys gr^c^oz/j gote ;

If ]}0u hat^ o}>er lygy«ge^ stoute,

Now tech me to fat myry mote." 936

LXXIX.

<« That mote Jwu mene^ in Judy londe,"
}?at specyal spyce J>en to me spakk,
" jpat is pe cyte pat ]>e Lombe con fonde,
To sofrer i/zne sor for mane^ sake,— 94°

J^e olde J^rwW^m to vnder-stonde,
For pere pe olde gulte wat^ don to slake ;
Bot pe nwe, pat ly^t of Gode^ sonde,
Jpe apostel in Apocalyppce in theme con take. 944

Jpe Lom[b]e ]>er, wyt^-outen spotte^ blake,

Hat^ feryed pyder hys fay re flote ;

& as hys flok is wjt>6-outen flake,

So is hys mote wyt/6-outen moote. 948

PEARL. 81

LXXVIII.

" This spotless band thou speakest of,
this throng of thousands, such a host ;
a city vast, so many ye are,
without a doubt, ye needs must have.
So comely a pack of joyous jewels
'twere perilous to lodge without ;
but, where I tarry by these banks,
I see no dwelling anywhere.

I trow ye but linger here and walk,

to look on the glory of this fair stream ;

if elsewhere thou hast dwellings firm,

now lead me to that merry spot."

LXXIX.

" The spot thou meanest, in Jewry land,"
that wonder rare then said to me,
" the city it is the Lamb did seek,
to suffer there sore, for sake of man,-
the Old Jerusalem, to wit,
for there the old guilt was assoil'd ;
but the New, come down by God's own word,-
the Apostle's theme in Apocalypse,-

'tis there the Lamb, with no black stain,
thither hath borne His beauteous throng ;
and as His flock is without fold,
moatless His mansion in that spot.

82 PERLE.

LXXX.

" Of motes two to carpe clene,

& Jerusalem hy^t bope nawpeles,—

j^at nys to yow no more to mene

Bot cete of God olper sy^t of pes,— 952

\ji pat on oure pes wat} mad at ene ;

Wyt£ payne to suffer pe Lombe hit chese ;

In pat op<?r is no^t hot pes to glene,

J)at ay schal laste wjyt^-outen reles. 95 6

fcat is pe bor^ pat we to pres
Fro p0t oure f[l]esch be layd to rote ;
})er glory & blysse schal eu<?r encres
To pe meyny p^t is wjyt^-outen mote." 96°

LXXXI.

" Motele^ may so meke & mylde,"

Jjen sayde I to pat lufly flor,

" Brywg me to pat bygly bylde,

& let me se py blysful bor." 964

))at schene sayde :-" Jpat God wyl schylde;

JOou may not enter wjt£-i«ne hys tor ;

Bot of pe Lombe I haue pe aquylde

For a sy^t per-of pur^ gret fauor. 968

Vt-wyth to se pat clene cloystor
Jjou may, bot i«-wyth not a fote
To strech in pe strete pou hat^ no vygowr,
Bot pou wer clene wyt/6-outen mote. 97 2

PEARL. 83

LXXX. t^"

" Of these twain spots to speak aright,
and yet hight both Jerusalem,—
which, know thou, meaneth nothing else
but City of God, or Sight of Peace,-
in the one, our peace one time was made ;
the Lamb chose there to suffer pain ;
in the other is nought but peace to glean,
that aye shall last unceasingly.

This is the bourne whereto we press,

soon as our flesh is laid to waste ;

there glory and bliss shall e'er increase

unto the host without a spot."

LXXXI.

"Spotless maid, so meek and mild,"
then said I to that flower full fair,
" bring me to that blest abode,
and let me see thy blissful bower."
That glory said : " God this forbiddeth ;
within His tower thou may'st not come ;
but from the Lamb I welcome thee
to a sight thereof, by His great grace.
That cloister clean may'st see without ;
within — thy vigour availeth not
to enter in its street one foot,
save thou wert clean in spotlessness.

84 PERLE.

§ XVII. LXXXII.

f. 52-5 « y p I pis mote Jje schal vn-hyde,

A Bow vp to-warde pys borne^ heued,

& I an-ende^ pe on pis syde

Schal sve, tyl pou to a hil be veued." 976

fien wolde [I p^r] no lenger byde,

Bot lurked by lavwce^ so lufly leued,

Tyl on a hyl pat I asspyed

£ blusched on pe burgh*?, as I forth dreued. 98°
By-^onde pe brok fro me warde keued,
Jpat schyrrer pen su«ne wyt^ schafte} schon ;
I« pe Apokalypce is pe fasou« preued,
As deuyse^ hit pe apostel Jhon. 984

LXXXIIl.

As John pe apostel hit sy^ vfyth sy^t,

I sy^e pat cyty of gret renou/z,

Jerusalem so nwe & ryally dy^t,

As hit wat} ly^t fro pe heuen adou«. 988

))e bor^ wat^ al of brende golde bry^t,

As glemande glas burnist brou/z,

WytA gentyl gemme^ an-vnder py3t,

Wyth bantele^ twelue on basy/zg bouw ; 99Z

}5e fouwdemente^ twelue of riche tenouw ;

Vch tabelment wat^ a serlype^ ston ;

As derely deuyse^ pis ilk tou«

In Apocalyppe^ ]?e apostel John. 996

PEARL. 85

§ XVII. LXXXII.

" OH ALL I to thee this spot reveal,
O bend thou toward this river's head,—

I, opposite, upon this bank,

shall follow, till thou come to a hill."

No longer would I tarry then,

but stole 'neath boughs, 'neath lovely leaves,

till, from a hill, as on I went,

I espied and gazed upon the Burgh.
Deep set from me, beyond the brook,
with rays it shone, than sun more bright.
In Apocalypse is found its form,
as pictureth the Apostle John.

As John the Apostle saw it then\
saw I that City of noble fame,— J
Jerusalem, new and royally dight,
as it was come from Heaven adown.
The Burgh was all of burning gold,
burnish'd bright as gleaming glass,
with glorious gems beneath it set,
with^4wel£fe steps rising from the base,
foundations twelve, with tenons rich,
and every slab a special stone ;
as in Apocalypse this same Burgh
John the Apostle pictureth well.

86

PERLE.

LXXXIV.

As [John] pise stone^ in writ con nemme,

I knew fe name[j] after his tale.

Jasper hy^t j>e fyrst[e] gewme,

J)at I on )>e fyrst[e] basse con wale ;

He glente grene in J>e lowest hewme ;

Saffer helde pe secou/zde stale ;

))e calsydoyne )>e/me wjt^-outen wemme

In ]?e pryd[de] table con purly pale ;

J?e emerade ])e furpe so grene of scale ;

))e sardonyse fe fyfpe ston ;

Jpe sexte )>e [sardej ; he con hit wale,

\n )>e Apocalyppce, )>e apostel John.

1004

1008

LXXXV.

r. 53« ^et joyned John pe crysolyt,

)5e seuenpe gemme in fundament ;
))t a^tjie pe beryl cler & quyt ;
\)e topasye twy«ne-how ]?e newte endent ;
jpe crysopase )?e tenjje is ty^t ;
))e jacywgh [tj ]?e enleuenfe gent ;
)pe twelfpe, fe [tryjeste iw vch a plyt,
])Q amatyst purpre wjt/> ynde blente.
Jje wal abof J)e bantels b[[r]]ent,

0 jasporye as glas jjat glysnande schon,—

1 knew hit by his deuysement

In ])e Apocalyppe^, }>e apostel J[o]hn.

1016

PEARL. 87

As John these stones named in his book,
I knew the names, as he doth tell.
Jasper hight the first gem there,
that on the first base I discern'd ;
on lowest course it glisten'd green ;
sapphire held the second step ;
the chalcedony then, without a spot,
on tier the third shone pale and pure ;

the emerald fourth, so green of scale ;

the fifth stone was the sardonyx ;

the sardius sixth ; in Apocalypse

John the Apostle discern' d it then.

LXXXV.

To these join'd John the chrysolite,

foundation-stone the seventh there;

the eighth the beryl, white and clear ;

the twin-hued topaz ninth was set ;

the chrysoprase came next, the tenth ;

the gentle jacinth then, eleventh ;

the twelfth, the surest in every plight,

the purple amethyst, blent with blue.
The wall rose sheer above the steps,
of jasper as glass that gleaming shone ;
I knew it, as he pictured it
in Apocalypse, the Apostle John.

88 PERLE.

LXXXVI.

As John deuysed ^et sa^ I pare,-

J^ise twelue de-gres wern brode & stayre ;

]5e cyte stod abof fill sware,

As longe as brode as hy^e ful fayre ; 1024

jpe strete^ of golde as glasse al bare ;

))e wal of jasper pat glent as glayre ;

J?e wone^ wjyt^-iwne enurned ware

Wyth alle ky/me} perre pat mo^t repayre. 1028
))e/me helde vch sware of pis manayre
Twelue [powsande] forlongef er ewr hit fon,
Of he^t, of brede, of lenpe, to cayre ;
For meten hit sy$ pe apostel John. 1032

§ XVIII. LXXXVII.

AS John hyw wryte^ ^et more I sy^e :
Vch pane of pat place had pre ^ate^ ;
So twelue in powrsent I con asspye ;
)2e portale^ pyked of rych[e] plate^ ; 1036

& vch $ate of a margyrye,
A parfyt perle pat neu<?r fate^.
Vchon in scrypture a name con plye
Of Isr^l barney, folewande her date}, 1040

J?at is to say, as her byrp[e]-whate^ ;

J)e aldest ay fyrst p^r-on wat^ done.

Such ly^t per lemed in alle pe strate^,

Hem nedde nawp^r su«ne ne mone. 1044

PEARL. 89

LXXXVI.

As John there pictured, saw I too,—

broad and steep were these twelve steps ;

the City stood above full square,

in length as great as breadth and height ;

the streets of gold, as clear as glass ;

the wall of jasper ; as glair it gleam'd.

The mansions were adorn'd within

with every kind of gem e'er found.
And held each side of that domain
twelve thousand furlongs, ere ended then,
in height, in breadth, in length, its course ;
for measured saw it the Apostle John.

§ XVIII. LXXXVII.

AS writeth John, yet saw I more,-
three gates had each side of that place,
yea, twelve in compass I espied,
the portals deck'd with plates full rich ;
each gate was of one margery pearl,-
a perfect pearl that fadeth ne'er.
Each bore thereon a name inscribed
of Israel's children, in order of time,

that is to say, as their fortunes of birth ;

ever the elder first was writ.

Such light there gleam' d in all the streets,

they needed neither sun nor moon.

9o PERLE.

LXXXVIII.

f. 53* Of su/me ne mone had fay no nede ;
))e self [e] God wat} her lom[p]e-ly^t,
\)e Lombe her lantyrne wyt^-outen drede ;

hjm blysned fe bor^ al bry^t. 1048

wo^e & won my loky/zg 3ede,
For sotyle cler no^t lette no [sjy^t ;
))e hy^e trone f er mo^t 36 hede
Wyth alle ]>e apparaylmente vmbe-py^te, 1051
As John ]?e appostel in terme^ ty^te ;
J)e hy^e Gode^ self hit set vpone ;
A reu<?r of )>e trone per ran out-ry^te

bry^ter fen bo]?e fe suwne & mone. 1056

LXXXIX.

Su/me ne mone schon neiur so swete,
A[s] J?at foysouw flode out of fat flet ;
Swyfe hit swange fur} vch a strete,
Wyt/»-outen fylfe of^r galle o]>er glet. 1060

Kyrk f er-i«ne wat^ non ^ete,
Chapel ne temple fat ever wat^ set ;
Jje Al-my^ty wat^ her mynyster mete ;
\)e Lombe fe saker-fyse fer to reget. 1064

J^e ^ate^ stoken \vat^ neu^r ^et,

Bot eu<rr-more vpen at vche a lone ;

)}er entre^ non to take reset,

))at bere^ any spot an-vnde[r] mone. 1068

PEARL. 91

LXXXVIII.

Of sun or moon had they no need ;
their lamp-light was the very God ;
the Lamb their lantern that never fail'd ;
through Him the City brightly gleam'd.
Through wall and mansion pierced my gaze ;
all was so clear, nought hinder'd sight.
The High Throne might ye there behold,
engirt with all its fair array,

as John the Apostle drew in words ;

and thereon sat High God Himself.

A river from the Throne ran out ;

'twas brighter than both sun and moon.

LXXXIX.

Nor sun nor moon so sweetly shone
as that rich flood from out that floor ;
through every street it swiftly surged,
free from filth and mud and mire.
Church therein was none to see,
chapel nor temple that ever was set ;
the Almighty was their minster meet,
the Lamb their sacrifice, there to atone.
The portals never yet were barr'd,
but evermore open at ev'ry lane ;
none entereth there to take abode,
that beareth spot beneath the moon.

92 PERLE.

xc.

The mone may per-of acroche no my^te ;

To spotty ho is, of body to grym ;

& al-so ]>er ne is neu^r ny^t.

What schulde pe mone per compas clym, i°7z

& to euen wyth pat worply Iy3t,

fiat schyne^ vpon pe broke} brym ?

fie planete^ arn in to pou^r a ply^t,

& pe self[e] su«ne ful fer to dym. i°76

Aboute pat watfr arn tres ful schym,
})at twelue fryte^ of lyf con bere ful sonc ;
Twelue sype^ on }er pay beren ful frym,
& re-nowle^ nwe in vche a mone. 1080

xci.

f. 54« An-vnder mone so gret rmrwayle
No fleschly hert ne my^t endeure,
As quen I blusched vpon pat ba[yjl[e],
So ferly pfr-of wat^ pe fasure. 1084

II stod as stylle as dased quayle,
For ferly of pat freuch fygure,
fiat felde I nawp^r reste ne tr^uayle,
So wat} I rauyste wyth glymme pure. i°88

For I dar say wyth conciens sure,
Hade bodyly burne abiden pat bone,
fiaj alle clerke^ hyw hade in cure,
His lyf wer loste an-vnder mone. 1092

PEARL. 93

The moon no might may there acquire ;

too spotty is she, too grim her form ;

and night is never in that place.

Why should the moon climb there her course,

as 'twere with that rich light to vie,

that shineth upon the river's bank ?

The planets' plight is all too poor ;

the very sun is far too dim.

About that stream are trees full bright,

that bear full soon twelve fruits of life ;

twelve times each year they bravely bear,

their fruit renewing every moon.

xci.

Beneath the moon no heart pf flesh
so great a marvel might sustain,
as I, a-gazing on that Burgh,
so wondrous was the form thereof.
I stood as still as dazed quail,
in wonder of that gladsome sight ;
nor rest nor travail felt I then,
so ravish' d by that radiance rare.

For I, with knowledge sure, dare say,
had mortal bodily borne that bliss,
though all our clerks had him in cure,
his life were lost beneath the moon.

94 PERLE.

§ XIX. xcn.

RY^T as f e maynful mone con rys,
Er fewne f e day-glem dryue al dou«,

So sodanly on a wonder wyse,

I wat$ war of a prosessyou«. 1096

J^is noble cite of ryche enpr[y]se

Wat$ sodanly ful, wyt^-outen sowniou«,

Of such v*rgyne$ in f e same gyse

fat wat^ my blysful an-vnder crou/z ; IIO°

& coronde wern alle of f e same fasoun,
Depaynt in perle^ & wede^ qwyte ;
In vchone^ breste wat$ bou/zden bou«
)5e blysful perle wjt£ [gret] delyt. II04

XCIII.

Wyth gret delyt fay glod in fere

On golden gate3 f>at glent as glasse ;

Huwdreth ]?owsande3 I wot per were,

& alle in sute her liuref wasse ; "°8

Tor to knaw pe gladdest chere.

foe Lombe by fore con proudly passe,

Wyth home} seuen of red g[ol]de cler ;

As praysed perle$ his wedej" wasse. "12

Towarde )>e throne fay trone a tras ;

))a$ fay wern fele, no pres in plyt ;

Bot mylde as maydene^ seme at mas,

So dro; fay forth wjyt£ gret delyt. i"6

PEARL. 95

§ XIX. xcn.

AS when the mighty moon doth rise,
ere thence the gleam of day may set,
so, suddenly, in wondrous way,
I was 'ware of a procession there.
This noble city of rich renown
was suddenly, without summons, full
of maidens, all in self-same garb
as was my Blissful beneath her crow:
and crowned were they all alike,
array'd in pearls and raiment white ;
on each one's breast was fasten'd firm,
with great delight, the blissful pearl.

XCIII.

With great delight they fared together
on golden streets that gleam'd as glass ;
hundreds of thousands I wot there were,
as of one Order was their guise ;
'twere hard to choose the gladdest mien.
Before them proudly pass'd the Lamb,
with seven horns of clear red gold ;
His robe most like to praised pearls.

Toward the Throne they took their track ;

though they were many, none did press;

but mild as modest maids at mass,

so drew they on, with great delight.

96 PERLE.

XCIV.

f. 54* Delyt ptft [Jw] hys come encroched,
To much hit were of for to melle ;
)?ise alder-men, quen he aproched,
Grouelywg to his fete pay felle ; IIZO

Legyouwes of auwgele^ togeder uoched
j^er kesten ensens of swete smelle ;
J3en glory & gle wat^ nwe abroched ;
Al songe to loue pat gay Juelle. II24

])e steuen mo^t stryke pur$ pe vrpe to helle,

Jjat pe Virtues of heuen of joye endyte ;

To loue pe Lombe, his meyny in melle,

I-wysse I la^t a gret delyt.

xcv.

Delit pe Lombe for to deuise
Wyth much meruayle in mynde went ;
Best wat} he, blypest, & moste to pryse,
Jpat euer I herde of speche spent. "3*

So worply whyt wern wede^ hys[e],
His loke^ symple, hym self so gent ;
Bot a wou«de ful wyde & weete con wyse
An-ende hys hert, Jmr} hyde to-rente, ^S6

Of his quyte syde his blod out-sprent.

A-las ! po3t I, who did pat spyt ?

Ani breste for bale a}t haf for-brent

Er he per-to hade had delyt. IJ4°

PEARL. 97

XCIV.

Delight that there His coming brought,

too much it were to tell thereof;

those Elders all, when He approached,

prostrate they fell before His feet ;

legions of angels, call'd together,

scatter'd there incense of sweetest smell ;

then glory and glee pour'd forth anew ;

all sang to laud that gladsome Jewel.

Through earth to hell the strain might strike,
that the Virtues of Heaven attune in joy ;
to laud the Lamb, His host amid,
in sooth possessed me great delight.

xcv.

Delight, much marvel, held my mind
aright to picture forth the Lamb;
best was He, blithest, and most to prize,
that e'er I heard in speech set forth.
So wondrous white was His array,
simple His looks, Himself so calm ;
but a wound full wide and wet was seen,
against His heart, through sunder'd skin ;

from His white side His blood streamed out.

Alas ! thought I, who did that hurt ?

Any breast should all have burnt in bale,

ere it thereto had had delight.

98 PERLE.

XCVI.

The Lombe delyt non lyste to wene ;

faj he were hurt & woiwde hade,

In his sembelauwt wat^ neiurr sene,

So wern his glente} gloryowj- glade. "44

I loked amo«g his meyny schene,

How pay wyth lyf wern laste & lade ;

pen sa} I per my lyttel quene,

jpat I wende had standen by me in sclade. 1148

Lorde, much of mirpe wat} pat ho made,

Among her fere} pat wat^ so quyt !

j?at sy^t me gart to penk to wade,

For luf-longy«g in gret delyt.

§ XX. xcvn.

f- ss«. T^VELYT me drof in y^e & ere ;

JL^/ My mane^ mynde to maddywg make ;

Quen I se^ my frely, I wolde be pere,

By^onde pe water pa^ ho were wake.

I po^t pat no pywg my^t me dere

To fech me bur & take me hake ;

& to start in pe strem schulde non me stere,

To swymme pe remnau/zt pa^ I per swalte. I1[6o

Bot of pat muflt I wat^ bi-talt ;

When I schulde start in pe strem astraye,

Out of pat caste I wat^ by-calt ;

Hit wat} not at my Prynce^ paye. "64

PEARL. 99

XCVI.

But none would doubt the Lamb's delight ;
though He were hurt and wounded sore,
none could it in His semblance see,
His glance so glorious was and glad.
I look'd among His radiant host,
how they with life were fill'd and fraught ;
then saw I there my little queen,
I thought was nigh me in the glen.

Lord, much of mirth was it she made !

Among her peers she was so fair.

That sight there made me think to cross,

for love-longing and great delight.

§ XX. xcvn.

DELIGHT so drove me, eye and ear ;
melted to madness my mortal mind ;
when I saw my Precious, I would be there,
beyond the stream though she were held.
Nothing, meth ought, might hinder me
from fetching birr and taking-off;
and nought should keep me from the start,
though I there perish' d swimming the rest.

But I was shaken from that thought ;

as I wildly will'd to start a-stream,

I was recall'd from out that mood ;

it was not pleasing to my Prince.

ioo PERLE.

XCVIII.

Hit payed hym not pat I so flonc

Oucr meruelowj- mere^, so mad arayde ,

Of raas pa$ I were rasch & ronk,

3et rapely per-i«ne I wat^ restayed. n68

For ry^t as I sparred vn-to pe bone,

)pat bfat[h]e out of my drem me brayde.

)}en wakned I in pat erber wlonk ;

My hede vpon pat hylle wat$ layde, n?2

)2er-as my perle to grou«de strayd.

I raxled, & fel in gret affray,

& sykywg to myself I sayd,

"Now al be to pat Prynce^ paye." 1176

xcix.

Me payed ful ille to be out-fleme
So sodenly of pat fayre regiou//,
Fro alle po sy^te^ so quykef & queme.
A longeywg heuy me strok in swone, 1180

& rewfully pe«ne I con to reme :-
" O Perle," qz/op I, "of rych renou«,
So wat^ hit me dere pat pou con deme
In pys v<ray avysyou« ! 1184

Iff hit be ueray & soth sermou«,
jDat pou so st[r]yke^ in garlande gay,
So wel is me in pys doel-dou«gouw,
)?at pou art to pat Prynse^ paye." "88

PEARL. 101

XCVIII.

It pleased Him not I flung me thus,
so madly, o'er those wondrous meres ;
though on I rush'd, full rash and rude,
yet quickly was my running stay'd ;
for as I sped me to the brink,
the strain me startled from my dream.
Then woke I in that garden green ;
my head upon that mound was laid,

e'en where my Pearl had strayed below.

I roused me, and fell in great dismay,

and, sighing, to myself I said,

" Now, all be as that Prince may please ! "

xcix.

Me pleased it ill to be out cast
so suddenly from that fair realm,
from all those sights so blithe and brave.
Sore longing struck me, and I swoon'd,
and ruefully then I cried aloud :-
« O Pearl," quoth I, « of rich renown,
how dear to me was all that thou
in this true vision didst declare !
And if the tale be verily true,
that thou thus farest, in garland gay,
so well is me in this dungeon dire,
that thou art pleasing to that Prince ! "

102 PERLE.

c.

f. 55<5. To pat Prynce^ paye hade I ay bente,
& Denied no more pen wat^ me g[y]uen,
& halden me per in trwe entent,
As pe Perle me prayed pat wat} so pryuen,
As helde drawen to Godde^ present,
To mo of his mysterys I hade ben dryuen.
Bot ay wolde man of happe more hente
))en mo^tef by ry^t vpon hem clyuen.
]?er-fore my ioye wat^ sone to-riuen,
& I kaste of kythe^ pat laste} aye.
Lorde, mad hit arn pat agayn pe stryuen
Op^r proferen pe o^t agayn py paye !

ci.

To pay pe Pr/nce, o]>er sete sa$te,

Hit is ful epe to pe god Krystyin ;

For I haf fouwden hym, bope day & na^te,

A God, a Lorde, a Frende ful fyin. I204

Ouer pis hyul pis lote I la^te,

For pyty of my Perle enclyin ;

& sypen to God I hit by-ta^te,

in Kryste} dere blessy/zg & myn,
]?at, in pe forme of bred & wyn,
j)e preste \us schewe^ vch a daye ;
He gef \us to be his homly hyne,
Ande preciowj perle^ vnto his pay !

Amen. Amen.

PEARL. 10 J.

That Prince to please had I still bow'd,
nor yearn'd for more than was me given,
and held me there with true intent,
as the Pearl me pray'd, that was so wise,
belike, unto God's presence drawn,
to more of His mysteries had I been led.
But aye will man seize more of bliss
than may abide with him by right.

Wherefore my joy was sunder' d soon,
and I cast forth from realms eterne.
Lord, mad are they that 'gainst Thee strive,
or 'gainst Thy pleasure proffer aught !

ci.

To please the Prince, to be at peace,

good Christian hath it easy here ;

for I have found Him, day and night,

a God, a Lord, a Friend full firm.

Over yon mound had I this hap,

prone there for pity of my Pearl ;

to God I then committed it,

in Christ's dear blessing and mine own,—
Christ that in form of bread and wine
the priest each day to us doth shew ;
He grant we be His servants leal,—
yea, precious Pearls to please Him aye !

Amen. Amen.

NOTES: TEXTUAL AND

EXPLANATORY ;

AND GLOSSARY

M. refers to Dr. Richard Morris's revised Alliterative Poems,
E.E.T.S., Original Series, i, 1869. H. = article by Professor Holt-
hausen, Archiv fur das Studium der Neueren Sprachen u. Liferaturen,
Vol. 90. O. = Dr. C. G. Osgood's edition, Belles-Lettres Series
(Boston), 1906.

The hyphens in the text, with the exception of saker-fyse, 1. 1064,
are editorial, and indicate that the component parts of the word are
separated in the MS.

i and j are, as far as possible, differentiated in accordance with
the MS.

Italic letters indicate expansions of MS. contractions ; f = excision
of letters j square brackets are used to mark all other emendations.

I. TEXTUAL NOTES
AND EMENDATIONS.

MS. Readings.

Emendation in Text.

8. synglure

syng[u]l[e]re.

II. for dolked

for-do[k]ked.

17. hert

hert[e].

23. \\jit\e (mark on thei)

[mjele.

25. t (blot on preceding

[mo]t.

letters}

26. rimnen

rumie.

35. sprygande

spry[w]gande.

49. spewnd

spe«n[e]d.

51. hert

hert[e]

53. spenwed

pewned. H.

54. fyrte

fyr[c]e. H.

60. precos

p^c[i]os.

68. rych

rych[e].

72. adubmente

adub[be]mente.

81. J>at on

l>at [I] on. H.

89. flowen (vf due to

correction ofy$)

95. graces
103. feier

grac[z']os.
fei[r]er.

106. b nkes(second stroke

b[o]nkes.

of Q omitted}

115. a

a[s].

122. wlonk
134. I torn

wlonk [e].
[torn I], H.

138. otyr

o[u]«r. O.

140. by twene myrJ)C3

by-twene mere3

by mere} made

Myr>e made.

142. hope

hope[dj.

144. a

a[y].

154. wo

wo[|>e].

179. atouwt

a[s]touwt.

185. hope

hope[d].

192. precos

pr^c[z]os.

200. y3en

[ene].

by

107

io8

PEARL.

MS. Readings.

210. lere leke (1 in each
case has probably
resulted from
the omission of
the tail of h)

225. tong

229. pyse

235. pfered . . . spyce

262. nu {altered to ne)
. . . here

286. bro$ . . blys

302. Ioue3

303. vn cortoyse

304. 1 ue3 {the letter

between 1 and u
is possibly y,
now very faint)
with a stroke
through the ttp-
perpart,to indi
cate e)

308. Ioue3

309. ins
312. dem
319. couwsayl
331. gare3
335. perle?
342. & wele
353. sty»st
358 &

359. marre
363. rapely raue
369. Iyfe3

381. carp

382. marere3
433. syde

436. bygyner {the con
traction mark
on the first y
instead of the
second]

Emendation in Text.
[h]ere [hjeke.

tong[e].

py[ec]e.

p[r0]fered . . . sp[e]ce.

ne . . . [n]ere.

bro3[t] . . . blys[se],
I[e]ue3.
vn-cort[a]yse.
I[e]ue3.

I[e]ue3

is.

dem[e].

cou«sayl[e].

gare.

perle.

[in] wele.

stywt.

[pat alle].

marre [d].

rapely [I] raue.

[k]y]je3. H.

carp[e].

ma[n]ere3.

s[a]yde.

bygywner.

TEXTUAL NOT1

MS. Readings.

Emendat.

457. poule
458. Ihu (otherwise

P[a]ule.

Jh5, 711, 717,

820 ; Ihc, 721 ;

Jesu, 453)

460. tyste

t[r]yste.

461. sawhe

saw[l]e.

469. cortayse

cortays[y]e.

479. ho

h[e].

480. cortayse
481. cortayse

cortays[y]e.
cortays[y]e.

486. fyrst

fyrst [e].

505- J>ys

[h]ys.

510. pene on a day

pene a day.

523. resonabele

resnabele.

524. pray

pay.

527. nw

nw[e].

529. >e day of date of

f>e [date] of [day] of.

532. sade (with stroke

at foot ofd, be

longing to an

original y)

hen

he[m].

533. longe (altered

from 3ong)

538. & £ hit

&hit.

542. meyny

meny.

543. owe

[a] we.

544. reprene

repren[y].

547. lowe

l[a]we.

557. on (MS. om,

o[n].

changed by the

scribe to on,

though the third

stroke still clear)

558, Via.v\\g(withmark

on i)

wanifwlg.

564. ask

ask[e].

565. louyly

l[e]uyly.

572. calle

calle[d].

no

PEARL.

MS. Readings.

Emendation in Text.

581. welnygh (the link

between g and h

resembles a)

586. long
596. p<?rtermynable
616. lere

long[e].
Mere!™711'

635. $ys (the s, though

nearly obliter

ated, can still

be read)

hym . . . fyrst

h[e]m . . . fyrst[e].

649. out out of

out of.

656. wythiwne

wyth in.

672. m-oscente ; saf &

i»-oscen[c]e ; saf [by]

ry3te

ry3te.

673. ]>us ]>us I

Ipusl.

675. fate

fa[c]e.

678. hy3 hylle3

hy3[e] hylle.

683. step
688. me3bor

step[pe].
[n]e3bor.

690. cure con

oure[Koyntyse hym] con.

698. se$
700. sor

'$.

701. com

com[e].

702. tryed

[c]ryed.

709. quo con

quo [so] con.

714. touth

tou[c]h.

715. hyw

h[e]w.

733. makelle3

ma[s]kelle3.

735. heuenesse clere

heuenes s[p]ere.

739- ry^tywys

ry^twys.

752. carpe . . . pr<?-

carpe [d] . . . p^pertfy]}.

perte}

757. makele3

ma[s]kele3.

768. & py3t

[He] py3t.

778. maryag

maryag[e].

786. forty ]>owsande

forty [fowre] >ovvsande.

788. }v\& (so all except

383, 818, Jon;

984,Jhon; 1020,

Jhfi)

TEXTUAL NOTES.

in

MS. Readings.

791. hyl (1 corrected

from some other
letter}

792. o (t_MS. u)

792. Jlrm (and so
throughout ex
cept 804, Jhrfn ;
816, Jrlin;829,
Ilrfn. This form
of spelling may
be due to a mis-
readingof] hr m ,
due perhaps to
analogy with
Jhs = Jesus)

799- gystle3 (s faintly
changed to 1)

800. felonye

802. men

803. query

804. Jhrm
815. lomp
817. Jerusalem
825. wro3t

829. swatte

830. j)are (a altered

from e)
836. sayt3
843. masklle
848. non o]>er
856. >a

860. n (blot on pre

ceding letter}

86 1. loube

865. talle (but on the
bottom of the
previous page
the catchwords
are given as fol
lows : Leste les

Emendation in Text.

gy[l]tle3.

felone.

[n]e[m].

quer[e].

lom[b].

[I«] Jerusalem.

wro3t[e].

sw[e]te.

mask[e]lle.

[o]n.

lou[w]be
tale.

112

PEARL.

MS. Readings.

Emendation in Text.

yow leue my

tale fara[de])

874. laden

l[e]den.

892. >ay

Kt].

905. among

amo«[c].

911. blose

[w]ose.

912. vayl

vayl[e]

918. won

won[e].

932. & I

I.

934. gracons

grac[i]ous.

945. lompe

Lom[b]e.

958. fresch

f[l]esch.

961. By an error, this

verse begins a

new section in

the MS.

977. wolde no

wolde [I }>er] no.

985. John (the o has

been added after

wards, cp. 1020)

997. As >ise

As [John] jnse.

998. name

name [3],

999. fyrst

fyrst[e].

1000. fyrst

fyrst[e].

1004. >ryd

f>ryd[de].

1007. rybe

[sarde].

1014. jacywgh.

jacy»gh[t].

1015. gentyleste

[try]este.

1017. bent.

b[r]ent.

1018. o jasporye (be

tween o and j

there are traces

of what may be

an added f,

rather above the

line, in a differ

ent, probably

later hand)

1020. Jhn (cp. 985)
1030. Twelue forlonge

J[o]hn.
Twelue [J>owsande] for

space er

longe er

TEXTUAL NOTES.

MS. Readings.

Emendation in Text.

1036. rych

rych[e].

1041. byr]> whatej
1046. self . . . lombe

byr]>[e]-whate3.
selfje] . . . Iom[p]e-ly3t

lyjt

1050 lyjt

[s]y3t.

1058. a

a[s].

1064. saker-fyse (hyph

en indicated by :

in MS.}

1068. an vnde3

an-vnde[r].

1076. self

self[e].

1083. baly

ba[y]l[e].

1084. fasure (s altered

from 1)

1097. enpresse
1 104. w^/t^outen delyt

enpr[y]se.
\vyih [gret] delyt.

1108. liurej

liure.

1 1 10. lombe (a dot on

third stroke of

m)

ii 1 1. glode

g[ol]de.

1 1 12. wedej

wede.

1117. >athys

}>#t [per] hys.

1133. hys

hys[e].

1170. brathe (the h ap

brat[h]e.

pears to be due

to the correction

of]), resembling

y, to h)

1179. quykej
1185. i«f

quyke.

1186. stykej
1190. geuen

st[r]yke3.
g[y]uen.

1196. mo3ten

mo3te.

II. EXPLANATORY NOTES.

1-2. The opening lines of the poem have been variously
interpreted, the main difficulty being the words ' to clanly
clos.5 ' Clos' seems to be the O.F. clos, i. e. enclosed, set.
Such an interpretation must necessitate taking * to' as ' too.'
The underlying thought may be illustrated by Cromek's
Nithsdale Song :

' She's gane to dwall in heaven, my lassie,

She's gane to dwall in heaven ;
Ye're owre pure, quo' the voice of God,

For dwalling out o' heaven.'

Grammatically there is nothing against the possibility
that ' clos ' = close, i. e. to enclose, and that the phrase
' to clanly clos ' is gerundive, t. e. for setting nobly. The
lines would then mean : ' Pearl so pleasant as to please
the Prince for setting radiantly in the glorious gold (i.e.
heaven) ' ; cp.

* He [t. e. the gemstone] is idon in heouene golde,'

('A Luue Ron/ 1. 181, ' Old English Miscellany,'

E.E.T.S. 1872).

The strangest of all comments is that of O., who suggests
a possible * secondary allusion to the maiden's tomb,' adding
that 'the poet may have provided costly sepulture for the
child,' though he aptly quotes from ' Ipotis' : —
' The feorj?e heuene is gold iliche,
Ful of precious stones riche ;
To Innocens ]?at place is diht ; '
cp. also ' The Boke of Brome,' p. 27, 11. 69-71.

As regards the phrase ' to prynces paye,' cp. the refrains
of the last five stanzas, and especially the last line of the
poem ; here probably = 'fit for a prince' (with anticipatory
suggestion).

114

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 115

The construction with the split infinitive ('to clanly clos ')
need cause no difficulty, cp. e.g. to lelly layne, ' Gawain '
1863 ; but ' clos ' as adj. gives, I think, the poet's meaning.

3. Oute of Oryent ; the best pearls came from the Orient,
i. e., the Indian seas ; cp. Chaucer, ' Legend of Good
Women,' Prologue 221 :

1 Of oo perle, fyne, oriental,
Hire white coroune was ymaked al.'

hardyly : cp. 'hardyly,' 695.

4. her. I have carefully avoided using the feminine pro
noun in my rendering of the opening of the poem ; the
allegory should reveal itself gradually ; hence ' her precios
pere' = 'a gem its peer5; 'I sette hyr sengeley in syn-
g[u]l[e]re,' 1. 8 = ' I placed my pearl apart,' etc. It must be
borne in mind, however, that the feminine pronoun would
not strike a medieval reader as in modern English. At the
same time it is noteworthy that the poet frequently uses the
indefinite 'hit,' e.g. 11. 10, 41, etc.

6. smal. Here we have probably no suggestion of the
sense of l slender ' as applied to a woman, but rather the use
of the word with special reference to the pearl, which is
described as little and round, as though the epithet ' smal '
was expressive of the special characteristic of the pearl, as
compared with other stones. From this sense it is trans
ferred in 1. 90 to the transfigured child. Indeed, the poet
emphasises in ' Cleanness,' 11. 1117-18, that the charm of the
pearl is quite independent of its material value, ')?a^ hym
not derrest be demed to dele for penies.'

8. sengeley, *'. e. seng(e)le + y = sengel-y ; cp. sengel,
'Gawain,' 1531.

syng[u]l[e]re ; MS. synglure. The reading proposed in
the text explains the scribal error, and restores the right
rhythmical movement of the line ; cp. ' synglerty,' 429
(prob. = syngulerte').

9. erbere: not an arbour, in the ordinary modern sense,
but garden, literally ' herb-garden ' ; O.F. herbier. The poet
is thinking of the grave-yard as a garden.

ii6 PEARL.

11. 'I dewyne, Sor-do[k jked of luf-daungere
Of ]?at pryuy perle wyth-outen spot ; '

it has been objected (Athenaeum, 1891, No. 3328) that my
change of MS. 'fordolked' into ' fordokked ' is of question
able propriety ; on the other hand, Prof. Kolbing (' Englische
Studien,' 1891, p. 269) approved of it, quoting from Wyclif,
'Select Works,' III. 180, 'J>ei docken goddis word.' Many
instances might be adduced illustrative of the scribal Ik for
kk, and / for k (cp. ' lyj^e^ ' = ' kyj^e^,' 369), but more import
ance is to be attached to the syntax of the passage, which
favours ' fordokked ' as against ' fordolked,' or ' fordolled ' ;
the first 'of ' (indicating the agent) = 'by' ; the second intro
duces the indirect object dependent on 'fordokked.' 'Luf-
daungere ' = ' Love's domination,' /. e. 'l God's Will.' The
lines have evidently this force :

' I pine, robbed by Love's severing power
Of that privy pearl without a spot.'

' Daunger ' personifies the power that keeps the lover from
the beloved.

Some such passages as the following from the ' Romaunt
of the Rose ' were doubtless in the poet's mind ; I quote
from the Chaucerian version :

' Thus day by day Daunger is wers,
More wonderful & more divers,
And feller eke than ever he was ;
For him full oft I sing, alas !
For I ne may not through his ire
Recover that I most desire.'

1 For want of it I grone & grete
But Love consent another tide
That ones I touche may & kisse,
I trow my paine shal never lisse.'

' And Daunger bere erly and late
The keyes of the utter gate' (11, 4101-208).

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 117

To my mind, all question on the matter is settled by the
fact that the poet himself interprets the meaning of these
words in 1. 273, ' & Ipou hat^ called J?y wyrde a ]?ef.' ' For-
dokked ' implies the idea of ' robbed, despoiled by a thief.'
Nowhere else has the poet called his fate a thief. N.E.D.
suggests ' for-dolled.'

12. pryuy: O.F. prive, ' intime ' (cp. privy seal, etc.),
hence 'one's own.'

17. dot} : finite verb, not auxiliary = ' serue}' ; cp. 331.

)?rych : infinitives of verbs ending in ch do not take e ;
cp. 'bysech' 390, 'rech' 333, 'fech' 1158, etc.

grange has here almost the sense of ' thick and fast,' the
idea being that of closeness.

19. sange : cp. -songe, 529.

20. stylle stounde : literally, the still time, the silent hour.

21. f ele I I still hold that here we have a pregnant use of
the word, though it is difficult to find an exact parallel ; it
is not necessary to understand 'sanges,' nor (with Prof.
Kolbing) to add 'thoughtes' before 'fele'; the common
personal use of 'fele,' without substantive, is here simply
transferred to the non-personal use.

22. To ]?enke hir color so clad in clot : syntactically the
meaning of the line is ' In thinking,' etc., z. e. as I thought.
For this use of ' to ' with the inf., cp. 1. 1 1 58.

23. In spite of the unusual mark on the first stroke, that
seems to make the reading 'iuele,' I believe that the poet
wrote ' myry mele,' /. e. a merry theme (namely, my spotless
Pearl). The phrase 'a merry meal' is not uncommon in
Middle English, as also 'a sorry meal.' N.E.D. refers
these phrases to the ordinary sense of * meal,' repast ; I
much doubt the correctness of this. In O.E. we have
mael = talk, speech, and maelan, to speak. The latter, in
the form 'mele,' is very common in M.E. In O.N. mal is
a well-known word for talk, tale, narrative. I do not think
we shall go far wrong in identifying ' mele ' in the phrases
under discussion as referable to O.E. mSBl.

25. spyse3 : cp. sp[e]ce (MS. spyce), 235.

ii8 PEARL.

25-36. Cp. 'And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring ; ' (' Hamlet,' V. ii.)

' And from his ashes may be made
The violets of his native land.'

('In Memoriam/XVIII.)

26. rot, to be distinguished from 'rote' (O.E. rotian), 958;
cp. ' Cleanness ' 1079 :

' Ther wat} rose reflayr where rote hat} ben euer.'
27-8. Cp. 'Romaunt of the Rose,' 11. 1577-8 :

' Agayn the sonne an hundred hewes,
Blewe, yelowe, and rede.'

29. fryte: cp. fryte}, 87 ; dystryed, 124.

fede I it is to be regretted that this important word has
not received attention at the hands of the lexicographers ;
it is obviously distinct from 'fade' (cp. fate}, 1038), and is
still used in parts of Lancashire for 'blighted,' 'putrid,'
especially of fruit and flowers ; it certainly corresponds to
the past part, of O.N. feyja, to let decay (e = O.N. ey ; cp.
stremande, 115); cp. fuinn, rotten; fui, rottenness (cp. y
pu, to stink).

I have suggested that the famous refrain,

' The flowers of the forest are a' wede awa' '

(cp. Scott's ' Minstrelsie ')
was originally an alliterative line :

' The flowers of the forest are a' fede awa'.'

The word can be traced elsewhere in Middle English
poetry.

31-2. i Cor. xv. 34-8: cp. also John xii. 24.

34. fayly : cp. bayly, fayle, 315 ; vayl[e] or vayl[y], 912 ;
cp. stanza xci.

38. erber is not in apposition with ' spot,' as O. suggests,
the 'erber' being the garden, and the 'spot' the particular
place where the child is buried.

39-40. The high season in August when corn is cut with
keen-edged hooks is evidently a reference to Lammastide,

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 119

the harvest festival on August i, at which loaves were
consecrated made from the first ripe corn. In fact, the poet
seems to state that it was the festival of the cutting of the
corn for this very purpose. I do not see anything in favour
of O.'s theory that the festival referred to is that of the
Assumption of the Virgin on August 15. The spiritual
significance of this reference to the festival of the harvest
connects itself with the earlier references to wheat and all its
connotations.

41. I owe to Dr. Craigie the suggestion that 'huyle' here,
'hylle' 1172, and 'hyul,' 1. 1205, which phonologically must
be differentiated from the ordinary word ' hill,' represent the
Lancashire ' hile,' a clump or cluster of plants. * Rush-hile,'
written ' rysche-hylle,' is given in the * Catholicon Angl/
In the nineteenth century it appears as ' rush-aisle.' See
also 'hile' in Cunliffe's 'Rochdale Glossary,' 1886. No
etymology for this word has been proposed. It seems to
me possibly the M.E. representative of an O.E. word corre
sponding to German hiigel, a mound, Goth, hugils ; cp.
O.N. haug, a cairn ; English how. The root idea of all
these words is that of ' high.' The cognates of the English
'hill' are Lat. collis, celsus, Eng. holm.

43. This is evidently a direct reminiscence of ' Romaunt
of the Rose,' 11. 1367-77 :

' Ther was eek wexing many a spyce,
As clow-gelofre, and licoryce,
Gingere, and greyn de paradys,
Canelle, and setewale of prys,
To eten whan men ryse fro table,'

where the French has :

' Ou vergier mainte bone espice,
Cloz de girofle et requelice,
Graine de paradis novele,
Citoal, anis, et canele,
Et mainte espice delitable,
Que bon mengier fait apres table' (11. 1349-54).

120 PEARL.

gromylyoun : O.F. gremillon (? gromillon), a diminutive of
' gremil/ whence ' gromwell/ lithospermum. It is note
worthy that in the Middle Ages it was believed that the seec
of the gromwell resembled a pearl in form.

The derivation of the word is unknown, but O.F. fifteenth-
century forms such as 'grenil/ as N.E.D. points out, per
haps exhibit some popular etymologising approximation to
' grain.' Chaucer's ' graine de paradis ' may well have
suggested this spice.

44. pyonys : again a flower the seed of which was a spice ;
it was evidently suggested by the list of spices in the
' Romaunt/ The point is not that the peonies were ranked
in beauty with roses and lilies, as O. notes, but that we
are dealing here with a list of medieval herbs growing
on the mound, all these herb-spices being of medicinal
effect. That the sight was beauteous to behold follows as
a matter of course.

46. Cp. ' Cleanness/ 1079, quoted in Note on 1. 26.

3Ct: in addition ; cp. 1. 215.

51. deuely : we have evidently here a special use of the
dialect word ' deavely/ usually applied to a lonely and
unfrequented road, used in its literal sense of * deaf-like ' ;
cp. the use of ' deave ' in the sense of * to stupefy ' ; cp.
Latin surdus : The grief that dinned in his heart was deaf
to reason. There is no need to change the text and read
either ' de[r]nely ' or ' de[r]uely/

dele : rare in the sense of the clamour of grief ; cp. 1. 339,
' dyne of doel.'

53, 4. penned: MS. spe«ned ;

fyr[c]e : MS. fyrte. I accept these two emendations of
Dr. Holthausen (Herrig's 'Archiv/ 90).

56. wra3te : cp. 'wro3te/ 525.

59. slepyng-sla3te : cp. 'Patience/ 192 :

' In such sla3tes of so^e to slepe so faste.'

61. The stanza reminds one strikingly of ' In Memoriam,'
XIL:

' Lo, as a dove, when up she springs.'

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 121

71. webbe} : probably a reference to the wall tapestries of
the Middle Ages.

79. glode} : probably the bright shining clouds ; cp. Nor
wegian glott, an opening, a clear spot among clouds. In
Jakobsen's work on the Norse element in Shetland-speech
r Det Norrone Sprog paa Shetland,' Copenhagen, 1897)
I find the following illustrative usages : —

' gloderek (Fetlar) ; a large dark cloud with whitish top,
through which the sun shines : gloderet, glodere, adj. (of
the air), filled with whitish clouds, the sun shining through,
formed from gloder (also glod), hot and sudden sunshine
between showers ("the sun was out in a gloder").'

The word 'glod' is connected with O.N. glaftr, bright,
shining (applied to the sky, weather, etc.). In the present
passage 'glode^' must mean bright shining clouds, and spaces
(cp. sunne-beme^, with which they are contrasted, 1. 83).

' Glade,' an open space in a wood (cp. Skeat, under ' glade'),
is a variant form, but it is noteworthy that Beaumont and
Fletcher (' Wildgoose Chase,' V. iv.) use the provincial form
'glode' (unnecessarily changed by editors to 'glade') for
the open track in a wood, particularly made for placing nets
for woodcocks (cp. Halliwell) :

' Bless me, what thing is this ? two pinnacles
Upon her pate ! Is't not a glade to catch woodcocks ? '

In the old dictionaries ' to make a glade ; is generally
glossed 'colluco,' which the Latin lexicographers explain :
' succisis arboribus locum luce implere.'

The Middle-English instances and uses of the word 'glode,'
peculiar to the alliterative poems, have not yet been in
vestigated. I have noted the following four examples :

(i) ' As it com glydande adoun on glode hym to schende.'

(' Gawain,' 2266.)

(ii) ' Hit hade a hole on J?e ende, & on ayj?er syde,
& ouer-growen with gresse in glodes ay where.'

('Gawain,' 218 1.)

122

PEARL.

(iii) f Than bowes he to j?e baistall ' & brymly it semblis,
Gedirs of ilk glode grettir & smallire.'

(' Wars of Alexander,' 1334.)

(iv) ' So was ]?e glode with-in gay, al with golde payntyde.'

(Erkenwald, 75.]

(i) = the bright turf; (ii) bright patches ; (iii) open forest-
spaces ; (iv) the bright space (within the coffin in ' Erken
wald ').

Radically connected with 'glod3 is M.E. gladene. In the
'Wars of Alexander' ('a gladen he waytes,' 131) gladen
seems to be used in the secondary sense of ' a lucky moment '
(z. e. a bright sky, an auspicious time) ; cp. Skeat, ' Wars of
Alexander.'

80. sehynde : cp. schyned, 'Cleanness,' 1532; similarly,
rysed, ' Gawain,' 1313, ' Cleanness,' 971, etc.

81. grauayl: cp. vessayl, 'Cleanness,' 1791; metayl,
chapayl, ' Gawain,' 169, 1070; [I]; I have accepted Holt-
hausen's suggestion, the insertion of [I] before 'on' improves
both the rhythm and the syntax of the line ; cp. 363, 977.

83. bio & blynde : literally 'pale and blind'; note the
omission of the auxiliary before 'bot.' I eel. blindr is simi
larly used in the sense of ' dark.'

86. garten: for the pi. after ' adubbemente,' cp. fordidden,
124 ; the collective idea of the word, or the plural words
intervening, may easily account for the usage.

89-96. Evidently a reminiscence of the 'sweet song' of
the birds in the garden of the ' Romaunt of the Rose
cp. the Chaucerian 'Romaunt,' 11. 482-508, 655-694.

97. dubbet = dubbed ; t = d, passim; cp. stanza LIX, etc.

103. £ei[r]er I usually fayr ; cp. 11. 46, 88, 1024.

105. reuere^ : i, e. river-banks, to be distinguished from
' reuer,' 1055.

107. ' I came to a water that cut along the shore/ /. e. that
divided the strand. Schore, ' the boundary or edge cut
off' ; cp. scor-en, p.p. of sceran, to cut. See Note on
'schorne,' 213.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 123

109. The dubbemente : possibly the poet wrote 'thadub-
bemente,' i.e. 'the adubbemente ' (cp. J?acces, 'Patience,'
325 = ]?e access), but the aphetic form is found in Old
French.

no. bene : cp. bene, rhyming with sene, by-dene, [ej^hen,
198 ; to be distinguished from bayn, 807 ; cp. N.E.D. 'been.5

in. swangeande : cp. longeyng, 244 ; longyng, 1 1 52. The
noun 'swonghe,' in 'Allit. Troy Book,3 342, adduced by O.,
is an error, duly corrected by the editors in their Glossary,
for ' swoughe.'

113. Cp. Chaucerian ' Romaunt of the Rose,' 11. 125-7 :

' Tho saugh I wel
The botme paved everydel
With gravel, ful of stones shene,'

where the French version has

' Le fons de 1'iaue de gravele' (1. 121).

115. stroke-men: much ingenuity has been misspent on
'strode'; it is probably identical with the Scottish strath,
'a valley through which a river runs' (cp. Lang-stroth-dale,
in Yorkshire); cp. stro]?e-rand, ' Gawain,' 1710. StroJ?e-
men = dalesmen. The vowel indicates a district south of
the Tweed, and the Yorkshire place-name is very signifi
cant. The earliest date quoted for 'strath' in N.E.D. is
1540.

124. for-didden: cp. garten, 86.

126. bred-foil: cp. brurdful, 'Cleanness,' 383.

131. wayne3 : cp. vayned, 1. 249.

136. J?o Gladne} glade : the poet, with his mind full of the
garden of the ' Romaunt of the Rose,' is here thinking of
Dame Gladness, and personifying the joyous scene as Joy.
Hence it is that ' ]?o ' must be taken as the fem. ace. sing.
The incongruity of ' gladness ' and ' glad ' is thus reduced ;
cp. ' Romaunt/ 11. 745-58, and 847-78. Gladness (French
Leesce) is the wife of Sir Mirth (De"duit).

I24 PEARL.

137. Paradyse : cp. ' Romaunt of the Rose/ 11. 647-8 :

' For wel wende I ful sikerly
Have been in paradys erth[e]ly.'

139. I hoped: I thought; 'hope' is frequently used thus
in Early English ; so also 1. 142.

140. 'By-twene [mere}] by [Myrjpe] made': MS. 'By-
twene myrj^e^ by mere} made' ; the scribe had, I feel sure,
transposed 'mere}' and 'myr]?e' (cp. 529), and having
transposed them, naturally wrote 'myrjpe^' for 'myr]?e.'
The poet was thinking of Deduit, the Lord of the Garden in
the ' Romaunt of the Rose,' whose name is ' Mirth ' in the
English version. The following passage was in his mind —
he had possibly the Chaucerian rendering before him:

' In places saw I WELLES1 there
In whiche ther no frogges were,
And fair in shadwe was every welle ;
But I ne can the nombre telle
Of stremys smale, that by devys2
MIRTHE had don come through condys,
Of which the water,3 in renning,
Gan make a noyse ful lyking' (11. 1409-1416).

1 cp. mere3, 140. 2 cp. deuyse, 139. 3 cp. water, 139.

142. wore: cp. 154, 232; ware, 151, 1027; were, 739;
wern, 278.

145. more . . . mare: cp. wore, ware, 151,154; wate, 502;
wot, 47 ; abate, 617 ; bod, 62.

153-4. I schulde not wonde for wo[]?e] t MS. wo; cp.
'Cleanness,' 855, 'Gawain,' 488; ']?e' omitted, owing to
'J?er' immediately following.

154. wore: see Note on 142.

163. Blysnande whyt wat} hyr bleaunt: 'bleauwt,' after
O.K. bliant, M. Lat. blialdus, is in M.E. a kind of tunic or
upper garment, or a rich stuff or fabric used for this garment.
Our poet in 'Gawain3 uses it, in 1. 879, with reference to the

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 125

stuff of a mantle 'of a brou« bleeauwt,' and again in 1. 1928,
with reference to a long garment, ' He were a bleau^t of
blwe, }?at bradde to ]?e er]?e.' What has the poet in mind
in the present line ? He is obviously thinking of Rev. xix. 8,
' Et datum est illi ut cooperiat se byssino splendent! et can-
dido.' The earlier Wycliffite version renders ' And it is
aouun to hir, that she couere hir with whijte bijce shijnynge.'
Pearl appears clad as a bride, and * bleauwt ' is used here for
her attire or covering of white, the white byssus of the verse
just quoted, and might even be used for the fabric of this
garment. Byssus was vaguely understood by early English
writers, and was used for fine and valuable substance, linen,
cotton and silk, later translated in the English Bible as
'fine linen.' The earlier Wycliffite version, in Luke xvi.
19, glosses 'biys' as 'white silk.' The point of the verse
in Rev. xix. 8 is that the ' byssus ' is white and shining,
and this our poet brings out well, 'bleauTzt' suggesting
the richness of the material of her array. See Note on
1. 197.

165. schere : the word here must be taken in close connec
tion with 'schorne,' 1. 213, and at first sight would seem to
be from Ci.E. 'sceran,' to cut. N.E.D. differentiates the two
words, referring the former to 'sheer,' to make bright or
pure, the latter to the p.p. of ' shear,' in the sense of ' newly
cut, so as to have a bright surface.' It is hardly likely that we
have here two distinct words. If they are from ' sceran,' to
cut, i.e. to cut into threads or some such necessary idea,
the sense seems forced. But 'shorn' is nowhere else found
applied to gold. Accordingly, I hold that we have here the
Scand. verb (cp. O. Swed. skaera, to purify; O.N. skeerr,
bright, pure) with sk modified to sch by the influence of
O.E. sclr, M.E. schire, pure ; hence M.E. scheren (side by
side with M.E. skeren) in the sense of 'to purify,' attracted
to M.E. sceren, to cut, with its p.p. schorn.

N.E.D. refers to this verb also 'schere^,' 107, but this I
take to mean ' cuts,' and not ' runs bright and clear.'
Knigge's view, adopted by O., that the meaning ' purify ' is

iz6 PEARL.

impossible, since initial Scand. sk is in all cases preserved
in these poems, is not decisive, because it is quite possible
that a verb *scseran, adj. *sc£ere, existed in O.E.

To sum up, the underlying idea of the word seems to be
the refining of gold by fire.

167. ]?ere: cp. }?ore, 562, ]?are, 1021.

1 70. f onte : the rhyme indicates that this is a u word, and
cannot therefore be, as has been generally assumed, from
O.E. fandian ; cp. 1. 327.

177. vere^ (O.F. virer) ; evidently a Northern form; cp.
enveron, Barbour's ' Bruce,3 ' Wars of Alexander,3 etc. (z/.
environ, N.E.D.) ; cp. dyscreuen : leuen : weuen, 68 ; N.E.D.
describes it as ' of obscure origin.3

178. vysayge: (?) cp. 'grauayl,' 81.

179. a[s]tount : i.e. astoned; MS. atou;zt; the alliterative
strength of the line perhaps warrants the emendation ; cp.
stowned, * Gawain,3 242, 301 ; ' Patience,3 73 ; stonyed,
'Gawain,3 1291.

185. 'I trowed that that sight was spiritual.3
porpose : not, as is usually taken, in the sense of ' intended
meaning or purpose,3 but ' that which is set before one,
vision.3 Cp. proposition, in the sense of 'presentation' ;
looves of proposicioun = shew-bread.

187-8. Cp. Juliana Barnes3s * Treatise 3 : ' And now take hed
if your hawke nymme the foule at the ferre syde of the
ryver,3 etc. Morris misses the metaphor, rendering ' chos 3
'was following, was seeking,3 and 'at steuen,3 'within reach
of discourse '; the phrase means, I think, 'at a fixed spot,3
' within reach,3 a hawking term, corresponding to the hunter3s
' at bay ' ; ' Steven ' in Early English denotes not only * voice,3
but also 'appointed place,3 cp. O.E. gestefnian; for 'stalle,3
to fix, in the sense of 'to hold secure,3 preceded as here by
' chose,' cp. :

' Whenas thine eye hath chose the dame,
And stalled the deer that thou would3st strike.3

('The Passionate Pilgrim,3 XIX.)

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 127

O. erroneously, it seems to me, glosses 'at steuen' as 'by
speaking, calling.'

189. Cp. Note on 1. 463.

190. seme sly^t : seme corresponds to the I eel. form
'ssemi,' used in composition, cp. saemiligr, ,sasmileikr,
derived from the adj. saemr, becoming, fit. Cp. 1. 6.

196- by-dene : no new light has been thrown on the origin
of the word (cp. Curtis, ' Clariodus,' 1894, § 239) ; the rhymes
in this stanza, contrasted with xxv, LXXX, seem rather to
favour Prof. Skeat's suggestion, dene ( = dcen), Northern
pp. of ' do,' as against Dr. Murray's, ene ( = O.E. 3!ne).

197. beau mys : Morris read 'uiys,' but later accepted my
rendering, ' Academy,' Vol. xxxix. p. 602. ' Mys ' = 'amys.'
It is just possible that the poet wrote 'beu amys.' 'Mys'
(or 'amys') I take to be ultimately derived through O.F.
and Low Lat. (probably some such form as Low Lat. amicia)
from Lat. amictus, an upper garment, in contradistinction
to an under-dress. This is borne out by the Wycliffite use
of 'amice/ Is. xxii. 17, where 'quasi amictum' is translated
4 as an amyse.' The ordinary usage of the word is for the
ecclesiastical garment of white linen folded diagonally,
worn by celebrant priests, formerly on the head. A like
word, derived from a different origin, O.F. aumusse, aumuce,
of doubtful source, probably German, with the Arabic article
'al' prefixed, was also applied to 'an article of costume of
the religious orders made of, or lined with, grey fur.' This
word, as far as form is concerned, may have reacted on
the former word.

In the later Wycliffite version ' amyt ' rendering ' capitium,'
Ex. xxxix. 21, is in form directly due to O.F. amit.

Accordingly, 'mys' or 'amys' in the present passage is
used by our poet in the sense of 'upper garment.' The
line is not a repetition of 1. 163, where the reference is
to the general array ; here the poet is coming to details.
The outer garment to which he refers is not only gleam
ing white, but is also richly adorned with pearls, is
open at the sides, and has long hanging laps. It came

128

PEARL.

over the kirtle, and was worn especially as a mark
rank.

One cannot resist a reference to Milton's lines, —

' Morning fair
Came forth with pilgrim steps in amice gray.'

('Par. Reg.' IV. 427.)

O. actually changes 'beau mys' in his text to 'bfleaunt
of biys],' making the poet repeat 1. 163. It is hardly neces
sary to detail all the objections to this unfortunate tampering
with the text and with the poet's thought. See Note on 1. 163.

201. lapp 63 large : as I pointed out, 'lappe^' must mean
here 'sleeves,' not, as Morris interpreted, borders. The
reference is to the long hanging sleeves falling from the
surcoat, a mark of fashion at this period. ' Large,' /. e,
ample, suggests not only fulness, but also length, and is
used much as the more common word ' side,' with reference
to drapery which extends far down ; cp. ' Winner and Waster,'
dated 1352, 11. 410-12, where the long flowing sleeves are
spoken of disparagingly, as the new fashion :

' Now are ]?ay nysottes of }?e new gett, so nysely attyred
With [sijde slabbande sleues, sleght to ]?e grouwde
Ourlede all vmbto#>ne vritfr ermyn aboute.'

But even at an earlier date sleeves were the object of
disparagement, cp. Wright's 'Political Songs' (c. 1311),

P- 255 :

'For Pride hath sieve, the lond is almusles.'

Our poet deems it fitting that this mark of high rank should
be associated with Pearl transfigured. She is now of the
Court of Heaven, and leads a 'ladyly lyf,' 774. Similarly
in ' Morte Darthur,' Fortune as a duchess has a surcoat of
silk ' with ladily lappes the lenghe of a 3erde,' 3254. In the
illustrations of the MS. these long hanging sleeves appear.

203. cortel : i. e. the under-dress ; its hem, which is
bordered with pearls, is lower than the surcoat ; see
Note on 1. 217. ' Cortel ' = ' curtel.' O.K. cyrtel, kirtle.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 129

205-8. Cp. Note on 1. 1186.

207. hi^e pynakled: the poet is evidently alluding to a
regal crown, suggestive of the crown borne by the Virgin
and by the virgin brides. Thus in the ' Trentalle Sancti
Gregorii ' we have :

* He sawe a fulle swete syght<? :
A comely lady dressed & dyghte,
That all* ]?e worlde was not so bry^t,
Comely crowned as a qwene,'

and the lady is taken to be Mary, Queen of Heaven. The
'corowne' in 'Pearl' anticipates 1. 415; cp. 11. 450—6.
In Revelation it is the elders who have the crowns, but
early in literature and art the crown is one of the symbols
of the Virgin (cp. Mrs. Jameson's ' Sacred and Legendary
Art'). Our poet, while, no doubt, having this in his mind,
is yet all the same influenced, it seems to me, by the
description of Reason in the * Romaunt of the Rose ' :

' And on hir heed she hadde a crown,
Hir semede wel an high persoun ;
For rounde environ, hir crownet
Was ful of riche stonis fret.'

(Chaucerian Version, 11. 3201-4.)

209. werle : this word, so far as I know, occurs nowhere
else, and its history is doubtful. It is possible, as Prof.
(Holthausen has suggested (Archiv, 90) that it may repre-
jsent an O.E. *werels = O.N. vesl, attire. The meaning of
jthe word is difficult, but the idea is probably 'covering,
bead-dress,' and the reference is to the kerchief usually worn
path the crown; cp. 'Wars of Alexander,' 1. 5249, where
','ueen Candace wears

' A crowne & a corecheffe clustert vrtih gewmes.'

jFhe line really means ' She wore no other covering upon her
Head' ; and 'werle' seems to catch up the first line of the
'tanza. The absence of the kerchief betokens maidenhood.

1 3o

PEARL.

It is not necessary to change the text. O.'s ' herl
which occurs in ' Gawain,' 1. 190, in the sense of ' filamer
of hair,' will not improve the line nor make any sens
even though explained as an ' embraided fillet.'

210. [h]ere [h]eke : MS. lere leke, / resulting from the
fading of the downward stroke of h, or from a scribe's
omission to add the downward stroke, cp. 616 ; heke = eke,
a common spelling in M.E. The finite verb is omitted.
The line means : ' Her hair, too, all about her,' ;. e. * hanging
loose.' The point of the line is that the hair was not held in
by a kell or hair-net ; but that it was free, as became a bride.
The bride's hair was generally loose, and artists depicting
the Marriage of the Virgin indicate this. Cp. Spenser's
description in his ' Epithalamium ' : —

* Her long loose yellow locks.'

hyr vmbe-gon : (was) gone about her ; z*. e. hung about her
neck. 'Vmbe-gon' is little more than 'vmbe/ and is a
parallel use to the more idiomatic ' vmbtourne,' which
probably suggested the use ; see my Note, * Winner &
Waster,' 1. 412. 'Vmbe-gon' is certainly not, as O. takes it,
a pres. pi., reading * [h]ere-leke/ in the sense of Mocks of
hair (?),' for which there is no authority.

212. whalle3 bon : cp. ' Winner & Waster,' 1. 181 :

* Whitte als the whalles bone.'

It was trisyllabic even in Shakespeare, cp. ' L.L.L.' V. ii.
332:

* To show his teeth as white as whales bone,'

so F. i : whale his bone, Fs. 2, 3, 4.

213. schorne : see Note on 1. 165.

215-16. The force of these words must be taken in con
nection with the sun-like radiance of her whole figure ; cp.
11. 165-6. 'Depe' has reference to her intense glowing
beauty, used very much as Milton's 'glowing violet,';
' Lycidas,' 1, 145. 'Colour' is used here in the sense of

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 131

'beauty,' as in other passages in the poem, cp. 11. 22, 753 ;
it cannot imply, as O. maintains, a ruddy hue, for her
'ble' has been described as whiter than whalebone, 1. 212.
The lines mean : ' Moreover, her glowing beauty had no
lack of (*. e. was richly bedecked with) precious pearls on
all the borders of her robe,' anticipating, however, the one
great pearl that adorned her person.

217. poyned: the MS. is correct, and there is no reason
for tampering with the text. Dr. Craigie has kindly sug
gested to me that 'poyned' is the O.F. poignet, wrist-band,
see N.E.D. under ' poignet.' Pinson's edition of the
' Promptorium Parvulorum ' gives the spelling * ponyed.'

The reference is evidently to the wrist-bands of the long
narrow sleeves of the kirtle, as opposed to the hanging
lappets of the surcoat.

220. uesture : no mere repetition of the fact that the dress
was white. Here 'uesture' takes in the whole array,
including the pearls. Then comes the mention of the
chief ornament of the ' uesture,' namely the ' wonder perle.'

224. malte (inf.), cp. malte, 1154: 'J>y mersy may malte

Ipy meke to spare,' 'Cleanness/ 776, 'make }?e mater to malt

my mynde wyth-imie, 1566; 'to malte so out of memorie,'

' Erkenwald,' 158; the form of the inf. 'malte' seems to

be a dialected variant of O.E. meltan, mealt, due perhaps

! to confusion of the strong verb 'melten' with the weak

! 'malten.3

229. py[ec]e: MS. pyse ; Morris, p[r]yse, but the rhymes

I 'grece,' 'nece,' require 'pyece'; similarly MS. 'spyce' in

1. 235 is emended by me into ' sp[e]ce,' the correct form of

i the word (O.F. espece). Cp. Shakespeare's use of 'piece' :

'Thy mother was a piece of virtue' ('Tempest,' I. ii. 56).

231. he]?en in-to Grece: cp. ']?e gayest iw-to Grece,'

1 ' Gawain,' 2023.

236-7. Compare ' Awntyrs of Arthur,' 1. 626 :

' Scho caughte of hir eoronalle, and knelyd hym till*.'

132

PEARL.

243. by myn one : by me alone, by me so lone. There was
in M.E. an idiom of 'one,' preceded by the possessh
pronoun in the sense of lone, solitary, alone,' thus :

'to kayre al his one' (Gawain,' 1048).

' we bot oure one' (' Gawain,' 1230 ; cp. 2245).

' Onely ' is still used in the sense of 'lonely' in Lancashire,
e.g.-.

' Mon, aw'm onely when theaw art'nt theer.'

(Waugh's * Lancashire Songs.')

cp. na3te,' 1203.

245. agly3te, i. e. a (pref.) = away, + glla, to shine (cp.
of ... leme, 358); cp. gly3t, 114; used in the sense of
' blinked,' ' Gawain,' 842, 970 ; ' Patience,5 453 ; also
'squinted,' gliet, gleyit, ' Dest. of Troy,' 3772, 3943, 3995 ;
the spelling with ' y^ ' conforms to the rhyme of the stanza ;
cp. sorquydry^e, 309.

249. vayned, cp. wayne^, 131 (for v, iv, cp. vyf, 772,
veued, 976) ; the rhyme attests the existence of the word,
though in other passages ' wayne ' may be an editorial error
for 'wayue' (cp. Gawain,' 'Allit. Poems,' 'Wars of
Alexander,' passim) ; it is probably a parallel English
formation to O.N. vegna (O.E. *wegnian), to cause to
move.

250. del: cp. pref, 272.

252. juelere : the 'merchant-man, seeking goodly pearls '
of the Parable is indicated, Matt. xiii. 45.

254- y^en graye : gray was the favourite colour in the
Middle Ages, and is often referred to in the ' Romauntofthe
Rose,' the romances, Chaucer, etc. See N.E.D. under
'gray,' and Skeat's note on Chaucer's Prologue, 152.

255. set on hyr coroun : the implication is that she is now
re-assuming her royal rank, and is about to speak with serious
authority.

259. cofer: cp. 'Cleanness,' 310, 339.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 133

clente : i. e. clenched, referring to the iron bars riveted on
the coffers of the Middle Ages, so as to make them strong
boxes for the keeping of treasure.

269. rose: the word calls up all the associations of the
* Romaunt of the Rose ' ; there was something even more
glorious than the Rose of the Earthly Paradise, namely, the
proved Pearl of Heaven !

273. Evidently referring to 11. 11-12.

274. o^t of no^t : something of nothing ; evidently
proverbial.

282. don out of daw 63 : /. e. deprived of days, that is, of
life. 'A-dawe,' as an adv., = 'of dawe.' The full phrase
' of Hues dawe ' is also found.

283. ma feste : not ' make a feast,' but in the sense of the
French 'faire fete,' to make merry, to rejoice.

299. to passe : in respect of passing, /. e. as to passing ;
cp. 'to ]?enke,' 1. 22 ; ' to fech,' 1. 1158.

305. hy3te: due to O.E. heht, treated as weak verb ; cp.
402; cp. 'hyjt,' 'Gawain,' 1970; pres. 'hete,' 402; p.p.
*hy3t,' 'Cleanness/ 714; * hette,' 'Gawain,' 540.

306. dy3C : cp. 'dyed,' 705 ; ' de^e," Gawain,' 996; 'de^en,'
1163.

307. westernays : this word cannot be another form of
'western ways,' as Morris suggested, deriving it from O.E.
'weste,' barren, empty ; ' western,' a desert place. Had he
suggested the ordinary word ' western ' as its first component,
the suggestion would have been plausible, but the ending of
the word cannot be connected with 'ways,' although the
word is used as an adverbial ending in M.E. ; here, however,
the rhyme requires a different sound, viz., the French ais,
ays, eist or e's. Now there existed in O.F. the word ' bestorner,
besturner,' 'to turn awry,' with its p.p. 'bestorne, bestornes,
bestorneis,' 'turned awry'; its component parts are 'bes/

• a prefix with the force of ' ill, badly,' and ' tourner/ to turn ;

I the p.p. 'bestornez' was used in a very special sense for a
thing turned wrongly towards the west, instead of towards
the east ; thus, a church of St. Benet in Paris was called

134 PEARL.

'saint Beneois li bestornez,' and its name is thus accounted
for by a fourteenth-century writer, ' quod ejus majus altare
tune temporis spectaret Occidentem, cum ex ecclesiastica
consuetudine Orientem spectare debuisset. Nunc contraria
ratione dicitur S. Benoit le Bien tournee, quod ad Orientem
translatum sit majus altare, cum instaurata est ecclesia.'

From the use of the word in the * Romaunt of the Rose,' it is
clear, too, that popularly the word was used with the idea of
'turned towards the west.' It is an interesting fact that, in
Teutonic languages, the equivalent for ' bestornez,' viz.,
1 wider-sinnes,' i.e. 'in a contrary direction ' (cp. Icel. sinni,
a way, O.K. slip, O.H.G. sin), was used in exactly the same
way for 'contrary to the course of the sun,' and in Northern
English it is this word which appears in the strange guise of
' widishins ' (as in the tale of ' Childe Rowland '). My opinion
is that the poet of ' Pearl ' tried to naturalise ' bestornez ' in
English by changing it to an understandable form, viz.,
' westornays ' or ' westernays ' ; it is to be noted that he
required a w word for alliteration, and the sound of French
e2 for rhyme; 'widishins' would have satisfied the allitera
tion, but not the rhyme ; it is doubtful, however, if this word
was known to our poet. The line may be compared with a
parallel from Middle High German,

' Den namen er widersinnes las,'

/. e. he read the name backwards, perversely.

One thing is quite certain, that the poet has transformed
the O.F. bestorneis to suggest to English readers 'west,'
and all its connotations in popular lore. In recent times,
' to go west ' has been revived among the soldiery, and has
gained new pathos. O., without any explanation, substitutes
\b~\ for w, in spite of the MS. reading, which is still further
strengthened by the alliteration of the line.

309. sorquydry^e : cp. surquidre, 'Gawain,' 2457. This
indicates that the spirant is merely used for the purpose of
an eye-rhyme.

313. dayly : the etymology of 'dayly' is probably O.F.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 135

* dallier,' to sport ; further, I would suggest O.F. ' dalle,' a
tablet ; the earlier use of the word was, I think, ' to play
dice,' hence, * to hazard words.3 My note on ' bayly,' 1. 442,
explains that here 'dayly' represents the pronunciation of
1 mouille, rhyming with ' bayle,' * fayle,' and ' consayl.' This
is what one would expect from ' dallier/ which should give
two forms in M.E., 'dayle' and 'dalye'; the scribe has
blended the two in his spelling * dayly.'

320. keue = O.N. kefja : see 'sete,' 1201. I see no difficulty
in deriving 'keue' from O.N. kefja. This source is not only
clear in respect of this passage, but also, in my opinion, in

I. 981, the idea being 'sunk down.' In O.N. the word is
often applied to a horse sinking belly-deep in the snow.
N.E.D. considers that the sense is not satisfactory for 1. 981,

i but the meaning there is parallel to the present use ; see Note
I on the line. The literal meaning is : ' Thy corse must sink
more coldly in clay.'

323. drwry, i.e. drury, O.E. drdorig: cp. lude (O.E. leod),
'Gawain,' 232, 449 ; ludych, 'Cleanness,' 73 ; ludisch, 1375 ;
leude (= lede : 3ede), ' Gawain,' 1 124.

331. gare: MS. gare^ ; cp. perle^ = perle, 1. 335, also

II. 1108, 1 1 12. It is possible, though unlikely, that the
MS. reading is correct, 'bot' being taken as conjunction ;
the inf. after 'serue^ bot' is probably correct ; cp. 'dot3 bot,'
17, 18.

337. doel : used here attributively as in the phrase ' dule
habit'; see N.E.D. under 'dole.' The phrase is probably
slightly different from the compound 'doel-doungoun,' 1187,
i.e. the dungeon of grief. Cp. Dunbar, 'The Tua Mariit
Wemen and the Wedo,' 1. 420 :

' I droup with ane deid luik, in my dule habite/
compared with 1. 422 :

' Quhen that I go to the kirk, cled in cairweidis.'
339-40. That is, on account of lamentation for compara-

136 PEARL.

tively small losses, oft many a man loses more (than the
things he laments)

341. ]?y seluen blesse : to cross oneself ; cp. 'Aryse be tyme
oute of thi bedde, And blysse ]?i brest & thi forhede,' ' Meals
& Manners,' p. 266, E.E.T.S., 1904. This seems to be the
only possible meaning in this passage, and the word cannot
be glossed as 'confer well-being upon,' as O. interprets,
from one of the definitions of the word in N.E.D.

349. adyte: cp. endyte, 1126, ' Gawain,' 1600; pref.
a- = F. en, perhaps partly due to O.E. adihtan ; but in many
cases M.E. a- = A.F. an = O.F. en ; note also doublets with
a-, en-, e.g. acroche, encroche (1069, 1117); cp. 'endorde,'
368.

353. stynt: MS. sty^st ; it is remarkable that in 'Clean
ness,' 359, the scribe has written 'styste^' (3 s. pr. ind.)
evidently for ' styte^,' /. e. stywte^, and it looks as though in
both these cases he wrote 'stynst' instead of 'stynt.' If,
as it would seem, this is an error, the repetition is very
noteworthy.

354. sech : cp. rech, 333 ; bysech, 390 ('seke' is not found
in the poems).

358. Oat alle] ]?y Iure3 : MS. & )?y lure 3. The line is
obviously imperfect. I suggest that the scribe misread the
abbreviated ' Ipat ' and wrote ' & ' instead, and further omitted
'alle.' In corroboration of my emendation I adduce 1. 119,
parallel in movement, alliteration and phraseology. Further,
the thought of the passage is brought out, the gliding off of
the losses resulting from the comfort's assuaging power.
There is no reason therefore for taking 'lure^' in any other
sense than ' deprivations, losses.' The word catches up
1- 337- There is nothing to my mind to favour O.'s rendering
of the word as ' frowns,' nor his further suggestion that ' leme '
means 'to beat or drive away with blows.' 'Leme of
= ' to glance off,' and is used very effectively.

359. marre[d] o]?er madde; I adhere to my proposed
emendation of marre[d] for MS. marre. The phrase 'to
make or mar,' or 'make and mar,' is early, though N.E.D.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 137

quotes as earliest instance c. 1420, Lydgate, Assembly of
Gods,' 5 56:

' Neptunus, that dothe bothe make and marre.'

Prof. Holthausen (Archiv, 90) proposed 'marre o]?er mende.'
my]?e: all the recorded senses of the word indicate the
concealing or dissembling of feelings ; cp. N.E.D. under
* mithe ' ; but here the poet seems to be using the word
in the sense of 'to avoid,' hence to escape (mourning).
Perhaps here, in view of the rhyme, it means the opposite
of ' to mourn,' i. e. to be happy. The line appears to be
the poet's rendering of I Sam. ii. 6 (or one of the parallel
passages noted in marginal references): 'The Lord killeth
and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave and
bringeth up.' O. wrongly translates 'grief remembered or
forgotten.'

362. ne wor]?e no wrath]?e vnto my Lorde : MS. wrath ]?e
probably due to wra]?]?e (O.E. wrse&fo) ; 'let there not be
wrath unto my lord,' /'. e, 'let not my lord be wroth with me.'
Prof. Kolbing (Eng. Stud., 1891, p. 270) finds great difficulty
in this rendering of the words. The poet is probably think
ing of Abraham's supplication to God on behalf of Sodom
(Gen. xviii. 32): 'Obsecro, inquit, ne irascaris Domine si
loquar adhuc semel' ; cp. ' Cleanness,' 11. 689-780.

363. [I] : omitted by scribe ; cp. 81, 977.

364. wyth mysse remorde : i. e. torn by loss ; not ' sin or
failure,' as O. interprets the word.

365. I take this now with the next line, not the preceding
one, and the meaning to be ' like water pouring from a
well, I readily resign myself to God's gracious will.' The
poet has in mind such Biblical phrases as Lam. ii. 19 : ' Pour
out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord';
Ps. Ixii. 8 : ' Trust in him at all times ; ye people, pour out
your heart before him.'

368. forloyne: O.F. forlonger, to go astray, err; cp. ' Jif
I for-loyne as a fol,' ' Cleanness,' 750 ; cp. Note on 1. 362.

369. [k]y>>e3 : MS. Iyj>e3, cp. 1 = k, fordo[k]ked, 10 ; the

138 PEARL.

proposed emendation certainly strengthens the alliteration
of the line, and simplifies its construction ; cp. 357, and
* William of Palerne,' 603 :

'A ! curteyse cosyne . crist mot )?e it selde
of ]?i kynde cumfort . ]?at ]?ow me kupest nowj?e.'

O., keeping 'ly^e^,' inserts 'wyth' after 'kyndely.'

375. wo]?e: here = 'path,' and is a different word from
'wo)?e3' in 1. 151. The word here is O.E. wa]?, hunting-
ground ; hence, generically, place ; as opposed to O.N. va$i,
peril, danger. The sense is confused if the word is rendered
'danger,' as O. glosses it.

382. ma[n]ere3 : MS. marere^ ; the emendation in the text
was first proposed in Athenseum, 1891, No. 3328 ; cp.
man^rly = with due courtesy, ' Cleanness,' 91.

386. mornyf : cp. ' gyltyf, ' 669.

390. bysech : cp. ' sech/ 354.

415. in blysse to brede: i.e. to flourish in bliss; O.E.
brsedan, to broaden, extend, is used with reference to leaves
and trees flourishing. In this phrase it is not O.E. bredan,
to breed, even though it were possible, as O. interprets, to
take the word in the sense of ' to dwell.'

416. wage: this can hardly be anything else than the
French ' wager,' here evidently used in the sense of ' to be
assured,' hence ' endure,' though no parallel of the verb in
this sense can be adduced. In 'Gawain,' 1. 532-3,

' Til me^el-mas mone
Wat} ciuften wyth wynter wage,'

the sense appears to be ' with the assurance of winter,' /. e.
the certainty that winter was coming.

417. sesed : O.F. saisir ; cp. 'Gawain' 822, O.F. at >^
before s ; e.g. reles, 956 ; corte}, 754, etc.

419. parage: cp. 'Cleanness,' 167 :

' Aproch \>o\i to ]?at prynce of parage noble.'
429. synglerty : cp. syng[u]l[e]re, 8.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 139

430. Fenyx of Arraby : cp. Chaucer, ' Book of the Duchess,'

11. 980-1 :

' Trewly she was to myn ye
The Soleyn Fenix of Arabye.'

The poet means that in the uniqueness of her ' douceur,' she
is comparable only to the Phoenix, of which there was only
one, and which was also immaculate of form. As regards
the beauty of the Phoenix, the Anglo-Saxon poem (' Exeter
Book,' E.E.T.S., 1895, pp. 200-241) is perhaps the best
commentary.

431. ]?at freles fle^e: that was wont to fly immaculate of
form ; ' fle^e ' used as aorist ; ' J?at fle^e ' is little more than
a periphrasis for ' bird.'

434. folde: not pt. 3 s. ind., but p.p., 'her face being
covered up ' in the hanging folds of her garment.

439. ' Many seek to obtain, and actually obtain a prize.'
The line is purposely rhetorical. The point of the word
'porchase^' is that it is used in its literal sense of hunting
after, seeking to obtain, and not of acquiring with effort.
p., who interprets the word in this way, finds that the figure
is not expressive. The whole line is an idiomatic way of
saying, 'many find here the prey they seek.'

440. supplantore3 : cp. with reference to the interpretation
of Jacob's name, * supplanter als of heritage,' ' Cursor
Mundi,' 3744.

441-4. Cp. 'Cursor Mundi/ 11. 20799-21801 :

' Bot wel we wat, wit-outen wene,
Of heuen and erth )?at scho es queue,
Bath imperice and heind leuedi.'

• 442. bayly : literally, 'jurisdiction'; observe that the
word is accented on the second syllable, and rhymes with
'cortaysye'; 'bayly/ from O.F. baillie, is to be carefully
distinguished from ' bayly/ a fortress, which represents O.K.
bail, baile, bailie. This latter word appears as 'bayly,'
1. 315, and 'baly/ instead of ' bayle/ 1. 1083.

140 PEARL.

446. property : cp. 1. 752.

451. ]?o fyue: this seems to mean 'those five,3 i. e. five
such. But the phrase is difficult. The poet wishes to say
' were five times their value.' * Five ' is often used idio
matically, cp. 1. 849.

459. naule: i.e. navel, a very common form in the four
teenth century, from O.K. nafela, still found in the dialects ;
see N.E.D. and E.D.D. Cp. I Cor. xii. 12-27. O., in
commenting on my rendering of the word, condemns it, as
being 'regardless of phonology, sense, or poetic delicacy.'
As regards phonology, it is very difficult to know exactly
what phonological laws he applies. Every known law
would corroborate the form, and indeed, in Old Frisian, the
forms are both 'navla ' and 'naula.' In respect of O.'s own
rendering 'nail,' from O.N. nagli, in the first instance
' nagli ' does not mean ' the nail of the hand ' (which in
O.N. is 'nagl'), but 'a nail or spike.' Anyhow, the modern
English ' nail ' is from O.E. nasgl, giving the normal
M.E. nail. No possible form such as 'naule' is found,
or could be expected, from either the O.E. or O.N. forms.
The sense and poetic delicacy, of which I am alleged
to be unappreciative, need no defence. It may be, however,
pointed out that St. Paul himself refers to members of the
body which we think to be less honourable, and even
Shakespeare in the play of ' Coriolanus,' where the parable
of the body's members rebelling against the belly figures
strikingly, actually uses the phrase 'the navel of the State'
(III. i. 123), though in a later part of the play.

460. temen : belong to, in the sense of ministering to,
subserving ; cp. ' Cleanness,' 9, temew to hy m seluen, i. e.
are attached to His service.

t[r]yste: for scribal omission of r cp. stjYjyke}, 1186.
The omission may be an r superscript ; cp. tr/ys, 1. 755.
The phrase 'true and trist' occurs in M.E., cp. ' trist and
trewe,' N.E.D. under ' trist.' There can be little doubt that
this is the correct reading. O. explains 'tyste' as from
O.N. J?ettr, i.e. tight. But the idea underlying 'temen,'

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 141

and therefore this qualifying phrase, is the loyalty of service,
and the fidelity and faithfulness is well brought out by the
phrase 'trwe and t[r]yste,' though it would be possible to
explain the form ' tyste ' as parallel phonologically to ' myste.'

462. myste: for the general 'my3t'; cp. 'my^te,' 1069,
rhyming with ' ny^t,' etc. ' st ' for ' 31 ' is a very common
writing in MSS. of the thirteenth century and earlier. It is
also found in the fourteenth century. Editors have frequently
taken the spelling to be erroneous, and have corrected it
accordingly. There can be little doubt that the symbol was
intentional. Dr. Hall, in his edition of ' King Horn' (Oxford,
1901), discussing the form 'doster' in one of the MSS., deals
with 'st' as a mere graphic variation of 'ht'and '31.' It
would seem, however, from the present passage, that the
' st ' became in some dialects a phonological variant of a
sound which was originally difficult for French palates.
It is not merely, in this passage, a question of spelling for
the sake of rhyme ; it is a most valuable piece of evidence
as regards pronunciation.

463. gawle: /.^.bitterness; O.E. gealla, bile. The word
must, I think, be differentiated from 'galle,' 11. 189, 915,
1060. The phrase ' without gall ' in the first two passages
seems to represent O.N. galla-lauss, faultless, from 'galli,'
a fault, and in the third place, ' scum ' ; cp. glass-gall. In
'Patience,' 285, however, we have the phrase 'gaule of
propheter,' so it looks as though in this latter sense, 'gaule '
were a variant of 'galle.'

463-4. These lines form a question, which is answered in
the next couplet.

469-70. 'I allow that courtesy and great charity are
among you.' O. annotates that the line = 'I leue cortayse
and chary te be grete amowg yow.'

480. ' than to be crowned king,' hence the necessary
change of the MS. 'ho' to 'he' in the previous line.

485. naw)?er Pater ne Crede : according to the • Boke of
Curtasye,' when the young child first went to school, it
learned the Pater and Creed :

142 PEARL.

* Yf that Ipou. be a 3ong enfaunt,
And thenke ]?o scoles for to haunt,
This lessouw schalk ]?y maistwr ]?e merke,
Croscrist ]?e spede in alle ]?i werke ;
Sytthen Ipy pater nostey he wille ]?e teche,
As cristes owne postles con preche ;
Aftwr ]?y Aue mam? and )?i crede,
]?at shall<? ]?e saue at dome of drede.'

(' Early English Meals and Manners,' p. 181.)
488. away : cp. 350.

492. date: 'goal3; it is difficult to find any other word
that will express its various meanings of time and place in
this section.

497. your messe : Matt. xx. 1-16 ; the pronoun indicat
the detachment of the speaker from even earthly worship
cp. 11. 1 06 1 -2.

499. In-sample : I still prefer to read this as one word,
the direct object of 'gesse.' The ' \n ' of the scribe may be
in place of the author's 'en,' owing to the 'm' of the
previous lines.

he : I take the word to stand for Christ, and not, as O.
attributes it, to St. Matthew. This misunderstanding, to
my mind, is due to reading the lines erroneously, with a
comma at the end of 1. 496, and a semi-colon at 1. 498.

500. lykne} hit : /. e. the parable ; cp. 501.

502. I wate : cp. wot, 47; but 'abate,' 1. 617, also used
for the sake of rhyme.

503. terme : /. e. season ; cp. * Gawain,' 1671,

' Hit wat^ ne^ at ]?e terme ]?at he to schulde.'

I do not agree with O. that 'terme' here means 'end/ and
that " '^ere' is evidently thought of as ending immediately
after the grape-harvest, in mid-autumn." This seems to
ignore 'of tyme,' but anyhow, the sense of the line seems
simple and straightforward.

505. [h]ys : MS. ]?ys. I still keep my proposed emenda
tion, though I now understand, as I think the real

in

i

K^

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 143

significance of the line thus emended. It has hitherto been
argued that ' hyne,' as the hirelings, had not previously been
referred to; and O., keeping the MS. reading, interprets the
line as a general observation addressed to the reader,
meaning, ' These hirelings as a class well know that season
of year (vintage), and went to present themselves for hire.'
But 'hyne,' as I take the word, is just the opposite of
hirelings, and the word implies ' those of his own house
hold.' His household, i. e. his trusty ones, they well know
the season and what is expected of them ; it is to supple
ment their dutiful service that workmen are hired, who
afterwards haggle about their pay. The whole idea has
been evolved from the use of the word ' paterfamilias' in the
parable ; the 'hyne' are the 'familia.' Cp. the last line but
one of the poem, ' He gef vus to be his homly hyne.' The
word also occurs in 1. 632, not as designating the labourers,
as O. states, but the innocent, who having been but an hour
in the vineyard, are by grace God's * hyne,' i. e. of the
Divine household. In 11. 585-8 it is clearly pointed out that
those who have toiled longer may have to wait for their
wage. Further, some of the workmen who are satisfied
receive their hire, and are dismissed, * Take that is thine
own, and go.' In 1. 572, * For mony ben calle[d], Tpa.$ fewe
be myke^,' the ' myke^ ' are the ' elect! ' and the ' hyne.'
An interesting corroboration of my theory is to be found in
the O.E. renderings of ' paterfamilias ' in this very passage ;
the Rushworth Gloss gives ' hina faeder,' the Lindisfarne
' higna faeder.'

513. Aboute vnder: cp. circa horam tertiam, Matt. xx. 3.

523. resnabelef: MS. resonabele. From metrical stand
points, evidently a scribal alteration of the poet's 'resnabele'
or 'renable.' So 'Piers Plowman' B., Prologue, 158, 'A
raton of renon most renable of tonge,' where the C. text
reads ' resonable,' and also ' resnable.' The line means
' what reasonable hire shall be due by night.'

528. wyl day : I now reject my original proposal of
reading the two words as one,

144 PEARL.

529. MS. at ]?e day of date. The scribe has evidently
transposed ' day ' and ' date,' the meaning being that ' at the
time of day of evensong.'

530. go : to be taken as subjunctive ; ' one hour before
the sun should sink.'

536. J?at at: 'fvzt' antecedent of the Northern relative
pronoun ' at.'

542. menyf : MS. meyny, rhyming with * repren[y],' MS.
reprene, peny, etc., cp. Note on 313.

553. serued: i.e. deserved, not as O. glosses, 'served,'
as is clear from the words ' vus pynk so.'

558. wani[n]g : the ordinary contraction indicating ' n ' is
omitted in the MS., but there is a little mark over the 'i' of
an unusual character. I am inclined to think that the mark
indicated the intention of the scribe to correct the word to
' wrang.' The poet may well have written this word,
translating the Vulgate ' amice non facio tibi injuriam.'

565. More, — we]?er l[e]uyly : MS. more we]?<?r louyly.
This line has hitherto proved a crux. In the first place,
'more ' has been misunderstood. Its force is simply 'more
over,' and it is not merely a mark of interrogation, or a
comparative modifying the adjective of the sentence.
'Louyly' I take to be a scribal error for l[e]uyly = O.N.
leyfiligr, i. e. permitted or allowed. The words translate
* Aut non licet.' M.E. leflich is a different word, from O.E.
leofllc, loveable. The M.E. word corresponding to the
present word is 'leueful,' cp. 'leesome,' i.e. M.E. lefsum,
from O.E. lef, leaf, permission. So far as I know, 'l[e]uyly '
is not recorded elsewhere in English, and has not been
identified before. O.'s ' l[awe]ly ' cannot stand.

Further, the first four lines of this stanza are the poet's
translation of the Vulgate, ' Aut non licet mihi quod volo
facere, an oculus tuus nequam est, quia ego bonus sum,'
Matt. xx. 1 5. The third and fourth lines give the alternative
section of the question ; the second Wycliffite version
reading : ' Whether it is not leueful to me to do that that Y
wole ? Whether thin i^e is wicked, for Y am good ? ' The

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 145

idiom of 1. 567 is due to the interrogative 'we]?<?r' being
understood. The two couplets are therefore parallel, as in
the Vulgate, and the second is not a mere affirmative
statement, as O. punctuates.

568. by-swyke^ : ist pr. ind., an exceptional (Northern)
inflexion, necessitated by the rhyme.

572. myke$ : I am now inclined to doubt my original
suggestion, which seemed plausible, and has been accepted,
that 'myke}' represented O.N. 'mikill' and meant 'great
ones.' It is true 'mike,' as I pointed out, is found in
' Havelok ' as an adjective for ' mikel,' but no instance occurs
of the word as a noun. ' Myke} ' translates ' electi,' and it
would appear that 'mik' in the sense of 'a near friend,'
existed in Northern English. It occurs in ' Cursor Mundi,'
2807, in the phrase ' sun or doghter, mik or mau,' and in
Harding's 'Chronicle* (Harding was a Northerner) 'the
i Dukes preuy myke ' occurs. N.E.D. quotes both these
j passages as illustrating the present word. It would appear,
therefore, that 'myke' means 'someone very near,' even
j more than a kinsman. The sense of the word in the present
passage must mean, ' chosen as special friend, a privy
friend.' It suggests the phrase ' homly hyne,' 1. 1211; see Note
on 1. 505. The word seems to be of Scandinavian origin.

588. to-^ere : the ordinary meaning of this is ' this year,'
but here this accepted sense does not bring out the force of
the line, which suggests long years to come, rather than this
year. Now in North Lancashire the word is used in this
jidiomatic sense. Cp. ' I have not seen it te-ere' = yet, for
la long time, never, E.D.D.

We get something of the same idiomatic use in Chaucer,
'Cant. Tales,' D. 166-8, the humour of the line being lost
r.hrough the line not being understood :

' I was aboute to wedde a wyf, alias !
What sholde I bye it on my flesh so dere ?
Yet hadde I lever wedde no wyf to-yere.'

I 593. Vulgate, Ps. Ixi. 12, 13 (Authorised Version, Ps. Ixii.
L

146 PEARL.

12) : * Semel locutus est Deus, duo haac audivi, quia
potestas Dei est, et tibi Domine misericordia : quia tu
reddes unicuique juxta opera sua.' This passage of the
Psalms lent itself to many exegetical interpretations, and the
words and the thought, especially the rendering to each man
according to his work, are often found in both Old and New
Testaments, as may be seen from the marginal references to
the passage. But in the present passage I venture to
propose that we have a distinct reference to i Peter i. 17-20,
as evidenced by my suggested interpretation of 1. 596.

596. ay p[re]termynable : this word is not recorded else
where, nor is it found in late Latin, though N.E.D. suggests
that it may represent a scholastic Latin ' preterminabilis.'
There is no evidence in support of this, nor of the apparent
meaning, in an active sense, * predetermining, pre-ordaining.'
' PjV/jtermynable ' is evidently for ' predetermynable,'
for the purpose of euphony and rhyme. We know the
meaning of ' determynable,' i. e. fixed, determined ; there
fore ' pjV^jtermynable ' should mean ' fixed beforehand, j
pre-ordained,3 and this, ! think, is the meaning of the word I
here. ' Thou high King, i. e. Christ, pre-ordained from the |
beginning,3 with a reference to i Peter- i. 20, ' praecogniti j
quidem ante mundi constitutionem.3 Accordingly, I do not !
agree with Professor Carleton Brown, that the word here •
suggests a definite acquaintance with the ' predeterminatio '
of the Schoolmen, nor with O.3s comments on the passage,
amplifying the idea of ' fore-ordaining 3 with reference to the
word.

605. chyche : Professor Carleton Brown appositely quotes
from Richard Rolle, ' De Gracia,3 cp. Horstmann, ' Richard
Rolle of Hampole,' I. 133, ' God is na chynche of his grace ; j -
for he haues ynogh Iperofe — for Ipofe he dele it neuer so
ferre / ne to so mony : he haues neuer ]?e lesse ; for hiw i
vvantes noght bot clene vessels : til do his grace inne.'
' Chyche 3 is the older form, coexisting with ' chynche,' seei
N.E.D. under ' chinch.'

609. Misunderstanding of this passage has generally been

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 147

due to assuming that ' hys ' repeated in sense the previous
occurrences of the word in the lines preceding, and referred
to God. But the thought has changed, and the reference is
here to man. The freedom or liberty of that man is ample,
who has ever stood in fear towards Him Who makes rescue
in sin, t. e. there is freedom in heaven where there has been
fear on earth. The thought is evidently derived from Ps.
cxviii. 45 (English version, Ps. cxix.) : * Et ambulabam in
latitudine : quia mandata tua exquisivi.' Cp. Newman's
' Dream of Gerontius ' :

'SOUL OF GERONTIUS.

I feel in me

An inexpressive lightness, and a sense
Of freedom, as I were at length myself,
And ne'er had been before. . . .

ANGEL

It is because
Then thou didst fear, that now thou dost not fear.'

As further parallel to this passage, I may quote from the
same poem :

'FIFTH CHOIR OF ANGELICALS.
O loving wisdom of our God !

When all was sin and shame
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.'

dard : in the sense of ' lurked in dread,' i. e. feared, would
under ordinary conditions be followed by 'from,' and not
' to,' but the thought is not of fear that recoils, but the
attitude of fear towards God. Accordingly the poet uses
' to ' instead of ' from.' O.'s suggestion that ' dard ' may be
an error for ' fard,' /'. e. fared, seems to me altogether
untenable, as destructive of the poet's meaning.

610. rescoghe : in retaining the MS. reading in place of
'[no] scoghe,' suggested by Morris, I pointed out in

148 PEARL.

'Academy,' July n, 1891, that the line is a poetical peri
phrasis for ' the Rescuer, the Saviour.' The technical sense
of ' rescue ' applies in a special way to Christ as the rescue
of souls from Limbo (cp. O.F. rescousse, * 1'action de delivi
un prisonnier qui 1'ennemi emmene').

616. [hjere: MS. lere; for /written for >&, cp. 210. Thepoet
regular form is ' hyre,' and it is possible that ' here ' = ' en
= O.N. eyri(r), originally an ounce of silver, but used in tl
more general sense of ' sum of money for payment.' For
unessential h, cp. ' [hjeke,' 210. Were this suggestion
correct, we should get over the difficulty of two words of
identical form rhyming. Cp. O.E. ora, one-eighth of a
mark, from O.N.^/. aurar.

617. abate: see Note on 1. 502.

627. babtem : cp. baptem, 653.

628. boro^t : cp. bereste, 854.

629-32. The meaning of these lines seems to be clear,
though the order of the words requires careful consideration.
The sense is * that day, flecked with darkness, makes incline
to the might of death those who had never wrought wrong
ere they went thence.' The thought of the passage is
missed by taking it, as O. interprets, 'Anon the day, in
dented with darkness, doth yield to the power of death.'
In consequence of this erroneous rendering, the two lines
that follow are taken together by him, with awkward effect.

632. hyne : see Note on 1. 505.

^SS- }ys : the last letter is well-nigh faded. Morris
suggested ' $y[rd] ' ; I originally proposed ' 3y[ld] ' ; O. was
at a loss to read the letter or letters after ' y.'

647. plyt: see Note on 'ply^t,' 1075.

652. Ipe deth secounde : see Rev. xx. 14, xxi. S.

654. glayue : /. e. the spear of Longeus, from John xix. 34.
The story is amplified in the Gospel of Nicodemus, whence
came the name Longinus (or Longeus), probably from Gk.
A<*7Xf, a spear.

656. wyth in: MS. wythi«ne. But the MS. reading is j
clearly due to a scribal error which has destroyed not only

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 149

the sense, but also the right rhythm of the line. The
meaning is simply, ' By means of which Adam drowned
us in death.3 O. keeps ' wythimie ' and considers the line
as a case of the poet's ' asyntactic style ' ; he renders as
follows: — 'the offence which Adam [by bringing upon us]
drowned us in death.'

659. & ]?at, i.e. & bot ]?at, continuing the previous sentence.

672. at in-oscen[c]e : MS. i»-oscente, obviously a scribal
error, for in every other case in the poem * inoscent ' has no
final -e. I take the phrase to mean ' according to (his)
innocence.' O. keeps ' m-oscente,' and suggests that 'at'
may be a scribal error for *]?at,' objecting to my reading
as forced, and contrary to the ordinary idiom, 'by' being
the preposition elsewhere. But ' at ' may be paralleled by
'at my Prynce^ paye,' 1164.

678. Vulgate, Ps. xxiii. 3, 4 (A.V., Ps. xxiv.).

680. I have little doubt that this was suggested by some
commentary that the poet had before him, for I find in the
Anglo-Saxon version of the parallel Psalm (Vulgate xiv. 2,
Authorised Version xv. 2), 'He that walketh uprightly,' the
following introductory words not in the original text : J?a
andswarode Drihten J?ass witgan mode, ]?urh onbryrdnesse
J?aes halgan gastes ; and cwaej? se witga, Ic wat, ]?eah ic
ahsige, Hwa ]?aei earda]? ? z. e. the Lord inspires the prophet
to ask the question, of which he knows the answer.

68 1. Hondelynge} harme }?at dyt not ille : I take the whole
of this line to be a paraphrase of ' innocens manibus ' ;

hondelynge^' is an adverb, and not a noun, as formerly
taken, and means 'with his own hands.' The word puzzled
me until I found a striking illustration of its adverbial use in
Anglo-Saxon : ' Nis be him gersed Sast he handlinga senigne
man acwealdo,' i.e. 'It is not read of him [/. e. St. Paul] that
he killed any man with his own hands,' ^Ifric's ' Homilies,'
ed. Thorpe, i. 386. The literal meaning of the line is :
'He that with his own hands did no injury through evil
iintent.' 'Ille' is not a pleonasm, as might be supposed,
but brings out the full sense of the original.

150 PEARL.

683. This may have been suggested by Vulgate, Ps. xxv.
12 (Authorised Version, Ps. xxvi.), catching up v. 8.

685-8. This continues Ps. xxiii. (Vulgate), paraphrasing
the remaining part of v. 4, ' qui non accepit in vano animam
suam, nee juravit in dolo proximo suo.' It is noteworthy
that the words 'proximo suo,' 'to his neighbour,' are not
in the ordinary Hebrew text nor in the Authorised Version,
but are found in the Wycliffite and Prayer Book versions,
1 whiche took not his soule in vayn, nether swoor in gile to
his ne^bore' (later Wycliffite version). I do not think there
is any reference in the passage to Ps. xiv. (Vulgate), as has
been suggested.

690. How kyntly oure [Koyntyse hym] con aqayle: MS.
omits [koyntyse hym]. Dr. Henry Bradley in 'Academy'
xxxviii. p. 201, pointed out the source of this passage,
namely, Wisdom, ch. x. 10. The obscurity of the line
was due to the scribe's omission of some word or two. |
Dr. Bradley suggested the reading ' how [koyntyse onoure],'
but I think the simpler solution is the reading I have
suggested in the text. Koyntyse = sapientia. The verse in
Wisdom, speaking of ' sapientia,' says, with reference to
Jacob : ' Hsec profugum iras fratris justum deduxit per vias j
rectas, et ostendit illi regnum Dei.' The later Wycliffite \
version, commenting on ' schewide to hym the rewme of )
God,' explains in the margin that this has reference to
Jacob's vision of the ladder that reached to Heaven, for \
then he had revelation of the heavenly Jerusalem. To the
medieval reader, Koyntyse or Wisdom = Christ. Cp. St. I
Augustine, 'De Trinitate,' iv. 20, 'Cum pronunciatur in
Scriptura aut enarratur aliquid de sapientia sive dicente ipsa
sive cum de ilia dicitur, Filius nobis potissimum insinuatur.' ;
' Koyntyse ' occurs, according to my interpretation of the
line, in the same sense in ' Patience' 39, '& by quest of her
quoyntyse enquylen on mede,' i. e. by the decision of their
Wisdom (i.e. Christ) they receive one reward. The word |
' aquyle ' occurs again in 1. 967.

693. yle : not ' island,' as formerly interpreted by me, nor

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 151

'remote province or land,' as O. proposes, from secondary
uses of the word instanced by N.E.D., but in all proba
bility in the sense in which the word occurs in ecclesiastical
Latin, ' temple,' with reference to the heavenly Jerusalem, as
in the Wycliffite gloss ; it repeats the idea of ' pyle,' 1. 686.
699-700. Ps. cxliii. 2 (Authorised Version).

702. [cjryed: MS. tryed, but as this word occurs again
in the last line but one of the stanza, I think one may
safely restore the poet's obvious reading, with its fine
alliterative effect.

703. alegge, /'. e. renounce, O.E. alecgan, to give up. The
whole force of the passage is missed by taking it to be
F. alegier, as glossed by O., in the sense of 'to urge in
one's defence.'

703. in-nome, /. e. taken in, received. I do not know of
the occurrence of the word elsewhere in English, but it
evidently existed apart from the- present passage ; cp. O.
Frisian, innima, to receive (Richthofen, Altfriesisches
Worterbuch, 1840). O. erroneously refers the word to
O.E. genomen, comparing the 'i//-' with the prefix in such
words as 'inliche,' 'innoghe.'

709. For 'ry^twysly,' with accent on the first and third
syllables, cp. delfully, 706. As regards the second half of
the line, if the MS. is correct, 'quo' must be regarded as a
monosyllabic foot.

711-24. The reference is evidently to Luke xviii. 15-17
(in view of 1. 721, cp. v. 16, 'Jesus autem convocans illos')
in preference to Mark x. 13-16, or Matt. xix. 13-15.

I do not agree with O. that we have here any case of the
poet's memory adapting scriptural material from several
passages, and therefore blending the versions of Mark and
Luke with that of Matthew, nor that 1. 717 is more consistent
with Matthew's account. Nor do I hold with him that
'mylde,' in 1. 721, reverts to Matt, xviii. 2, and that 'mylde'
= parvulum, a little child. ' Hys mylde5 can hardly be
anything but the disciples, the twelve; cp. O.N. guSs
mildingr, a man of God. It is noteworthy that the poet

152 PEARL.

here rhymes a pi. adj., used as a noun, with the monosyllabi<
1 chylde.'

726. sulpande : i. e. defiling. The origin of the word
obscure, and N.E.D. notes that it is possibly related t<
dial. Ger. sulper, solper, bog, mud. It is noteworthy th<
' sulp,' also written ' soolp,' occurs in the Shetland and Orkm
dialect in the sense of 'a wet state of ground, a marsl
This is probably, in my opinion, the same word, and furth(
the Northern English 'sowp,' in the sense of 'to drench,
soak,' may well be the variant of the word. Arising from
the theme of 'Cleanness,' the word occurs in that poem
-•*- some five times, namely 575 (by-sulpe^), 15, 550, 1130,

1*3*

730. Ipnxi perre pres : *'. t. among excellent gems ; cp. Matt.

xiii. 45) 'quaerenti bonas margaritas.' 'Prys' occurs as an
adj. in this sense in 'Gawain' 1945, 'suche prys ]?i#ges';
but the form 'pres,' if used as an adj. here, must be com
pared with the noun 'prese,' 419.

734. Note the caesura after ' fore,' which governs a relative
pronoun understood.

735. heuenes [sp]ere: MS. heuenesse clere, but the spell
ing 'heuenesse' is suspicious, nor is it likely that the
poet would repeat 'clere' as a rhyme. He had in mind
the imperial heaven or celestial 'sphere,' where God and
the angels were said to dwell. The seven (or later the
eleven) spheres, are often referred to, see under ' heaven ' 4,
and ' sphere,' N.E.D. Concerning the spheres, see Caxton's
' Mirrourof the World,' ed. Prior, E.E.T.S. Extra Series CX.,
especially ch. xxiii., on the Celestial Heaven.

739. commune : evidently here used in the sense of
'common as a possession or mark.' The spotless pearl
is the common badge of the righteous, as the celestial
heaven is the home they have in common. It is indeed
the ' peculium ' of the righteous, even as is heaven. The
pearl may not be visible on the righteous while on earth,
though in heaven it becomes the visible emblem of the
sinless, but it is none the less their common badge. The

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 153

passage is somewhat subtle, but I do not agree with O. that
it is somewhat confused. There are in commentaries on
Matt. xiii. 45-6 many different interpretations of the pearl,
but in this verse the poet makes it clear that 'righteousness'
comprehends them all.

740. hit stode : this seeming past tense has hitherto been
accepted as the poet's loose way of making the tense accom
modate itself to the rhyme, for one would expect the present.
The poet, however, has not done this; 'stode' is a sub
stantive corresponding to the modern ' stud,' in its original
sense of 'support,' here suggestive of the setting. 'Hit' is
the possessive pronoun ; cp. 11. 108, 120, 224, 446. The
omission of the verb after ' lo ' is characteristic ; cp. 11. 693,
822. The present instance of ' stode ' antedates by many
years the instances of the word given in N.E.D.

742. pes : cp. 1. 1 201.

748-9. Cp. ' Romaunt of the Rose ' where Reason, whose
attributes are so closely transferred to Pearl, is described
in the Chaucerian version :

' Hir goodly semblaunt, by devys,
I trowe wore maad in paradys ;
Nature had never such a grace
To forge a werk of such compace.
For certeyn, but the letter lye,
God him-silf, that is so high,
Made hir aftir his image' (11. 3205-11.)

750. Pymalyon : the story of Pygmalion is given at length
in the ' Romaunt of the Rose,' and it is interesting that
Chaucer, as our poet, had in mind the passage in question
in 'Canterbury Tales,' C. 10-15.

' Lo ! I, Nature,

Thus can I forme and peynte a creature,
Whan that me list ; who can me countrefete?
Pigmalion noght, though he ay forge and bete,
Or grave, or peynte.'

154 PEARL.

See Professor Skeat's note on the passage, Vol, V.,
pp. 260-1.

751. Arystotel : references to the philosopher are, of
course, very common in medieval literature generally ; but
the use of the word * pr0pert[y]3 ' suggests knowledge of
medieval logic.

lettrure: learning or science; cp. 'Gawain,' 1513, ']?e
lettrure of armes.' I do not agree with O. that * writings,
books' seems more appropriate, though this sense of the
word is found.

753. flour-de-lys : cp. Hymn to the Virgin, * Heil fairer
then the flour de lys,' N.E.D. under ' fleur-de-lys.3

755. of triys : i.e. of truce, very much in the sense of
'peace' in 1. 742. Pearl has stated that the pearl has been
placed on her breast in token of peace. ' What kind of
peace,' asks the father, ' bears as symbol or token the spot
less pearl?' In the lines that follow the answer is given.

' of triys ' is written in the MS. with a small * after the / as
the usual abbreviation for rf.

O. reads 'offys,' and maintains that this is the reading of
the MS., and that the second /is spread. From a careful
examination of words containing fft I have no doubt that
the reading * of tr/ys ' is correct.

759-60.*".*. 'chose me as His bride, although unfitting
that union might once have seemed (while I was on earth).'
There should be no pause after 'vnmete,' and the whole
sense of the passage is lost by placing a full-stop after ' wete.'
The stanza has hitherto been misinterpreted.

763-4. Song of Sol. iv. 7-8, ' tota pulchra es arnica mea, et
macula non est in te. Veni de Libano sponsa mea ; veni de
Libano, veni.' The verse, as pointed out by Dr. Holthausen,
is quoted far and wide in medieval literature ; cp. ' Olympia,'
1. 235. Chaucer puts the same refrain, as though it were a
popular catch, in the mouth of his Friar, Prologue, 1. 672.

768. [He] py^t: MS. & py3t, probably due to the '£' in
the previous line. The sense and force of the line seem to
be restored by the emendation.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 155

769. bryd: O., printing 'byrd' in his note, thinks that the
poet intends a pun. The context, he says, points unmis
takably to the meaning 'bride,' but 'flambe,' cp. 1. 90,
shows that he is thinking of * bird.3 To my mind there is
not the least suggestion of ' bird ' ; the bride is all radiant
with light.

775. a comly on-vunder cambe : 'a comely one under
comb ' is one of many ' kennings ' for a woman ; the only
instance I can call to mind is from Cromek's ballad of ' The
Lord's Mairie' :

' Come, here's thy health, young stranger doo,
Wha wears the gowden kame.'

786. [fowre] : not in MS., but it is hardly likely that the
poet would have been inaccurate in the number, seeing that
he gives the reference to the Apocalypse, and quotes the
correct number, 11. 869-70 ; cp. Rev. xiv. i.

791-2. Rev. xix. 7-8.

799-804, 807-8. Isa. liii. 4-9.

817. [In] Jerusalem : I propose the insertion of [i«], as
without some such words there is apparently no syntax in
the lines, and in the beginning of each of the other verses
the refrain is ' o ' or ' in,' taken from the last words of the
previous stanzas.

The reference to John's baptizing in Jerusalem, Jordan,
and Galilee, on which occasions his words accorded to
Isaiah, presents difficulties. The words of Isaiah to which
reference is made would seem to be Isa. xl. 3-8, 'The
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the
way of the Lord,' etc. In Matt. iii. i he speaks these
words when preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, evidently
near Jerusalem, for the people went out to him from there.
In Mark i. 4 the passage is well-nigh the same. In Luke
iii. 3 he baptized in 'the country about Jordan.' From these
passages Jerusalem and Jordan might be associated with his
baptizing and reference to Isaiah's words. Hitherto the
difficulty has been the poet's reference to Galilee. O. states

156 PEARL.

that * J?er-as' of 1. 818 must refer to Jordan. 'There is no
account,' he writes, 'of John's having preached or baptized
elsewhere than in the region of Jordan/ and he adds
that Herod, who imprisoned and beheaded John, was
Tetrarch of Galilee, and suggests that this accounts for the
place being named. Our poet, however, had excellent
authority in John i. 28, where A.V. reads ' Bethabara beyond
Jordan,' but the Vulgate reads ' Bethania trans lordanem,'
so too the Wycliffite versions. It was because of the words
'trans lordanem' that Origen preferred the reading 'Beth
abara,' though the MS. evidence was admittedly against it,
seeing that it could not be the Bethany referred to in the
Gospel, which was to the east of Jerusalem on the road to
Jericho. As Jesus, according to Matt. iii. 13 and Mark
i. 9, came from Galilee, so that ' Bethany beyond Jordan '
may well have been identified with the neighbourhood of
Galilee, Conder (' Encyc. Biblica,' under ' Bethabara ') sug
gests the identification of the spot with the Makhadet
'Abara, N.E. of Beisan. It is noteworthy that after the
words 'hsec in Bethania facta sunt trans lordanem,' John
adds 'ubi erat Joannes baptizans,' even as our poet writes in
I. 818 ' }?er-as baptysed ]?e goude Saywt Jon,' so that ' Galalye'
is pointedly the antecedent of 'p>er-as,' and further, the
original of 11. 820-4 immediately follows in the Gospel,
John i. 29.

824. vpon : prep, placed after the pronoun it governs, i. e.
1 vpon J?at ' ; but probably without any idea of ' accumulation
or amassing 'as O. suggests. Its force is little more than
'at,' cp. 'vpon fyrst,' 'Gawain,' 11. 9, 301, 1934. The
sense is, therefore, 'at which all this world has worked' ; cp.
'My wreched wylle in wo ay wra^te.' In 1. 1054 'vpone'
rhymes with 'mone.'

825-8. These lines are not to be considered as expanding
the quotation from John i. 29, but as amplification from
Isaiah liii. 6-9.

826. on hym self he con al clem, cp. Isa. liii. 6, 'posuit
Dominus in eo iniquitatem omnium nostrum.' For the form

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 157

'clem,' instead of the usual 'claim/ see N.E.D. under
'claim.' M. suggested 'clem'<O.E. clseman, to smear;
'cleme' occurs in 'Cleanness,' 1. 312, in the sense of 'daub.'
It is hardly likely that the poet would use this word in the
present passage.

834. In Apokalype} : from here to 1. 1128 the Apocalypse
is the main source of the poet's inspiration.

835-7. Cp. Rev. v. 6-8, I,

836. sajt, MS. sayt} ; the MS. reading is more likely to
have been due to ' sa^ ' than ' sy^,' as the form ' sat3 ' (= sayt})
is used ; cp. 1. 677.

838. Cp. Rev. v. i.

839. Rev. v. 13.

841-4. i Peter i. 19; cp. Exod. xii. 5. Rev. i. 14; cp.
Dan. vii. 9.

843. mask[e]lle : MS. masklle ; perhaps the correct reading
should be 'maskle' ; cp. wyt^-outen mote oper mascle, 726,
maskle, ' Cleanness,' 556.

845-6. Rev. xiv. 5.

848. [n]o]?er strot ne stryf : MS. non ofyer, but usual form
in MS. is 'nau]?er.' The extension of this form into 'non
o]?er ' may have been due to intermediate forms ' nowther ' ;
cp. ' Gawain,' 659, ' nojw,' the ' non ; being due to an effort to
explain the following 'bot.'

853-64. This, if any, of the six stanzas in this section, may
represent a discarded stanza that has been against the poet's
intention copied by the first copyist.

859-60. 'We have fullest knowledge of this one thing,
namely, that salvation comes to us from the One Death.'
This, I think, must be the meaning of these lines. Anyhow,
the second of the two lines cannot possibly mean, as O.
translates, ' Our dread of the bodily death hath been realized.'

866-900. In Appocalyppece : cp. Rev. xiv. 1-5.

869. & wyth hym maydenne^ : cp. 'virgines enim sunt,'
Rev. xiv. 4. In the original, 'virgines' refers specifically to
chaste men, but the poet is evidently using 'maydenne3' in
the more limited sense of virgins ; cp. 11. 785-8. So in earlier

158 PEARL.

homiletic literature ; cp. ' Hali Meidenhad,' ed. Cockayne,
E.E.TS. 1866, p. 22.

874. Cp. ' tanquam vocem aquarum multarum,' Rev. xiv. 2.
l[e]den, MS. laden, probably with the idea of 'heavily

laden ' ; the emendation is justified by 1. 878.

875. Cp. 'tanquam vocem tonitrui magni,' Rev. xiv. 2.
Crowes in torre 3 bio : probably little more than * hurtles in

lowring skies,' literally, peaks, then the peak-like cloud-
shapes ; cp. 'Cleanness,' 951, ' Clowde^ clustered bytwene
kesten vp torres.' In the alliterative 'Troy Book,' 1893,
' torres ' = high peak-like waves.

879. a note ful nwe : i. e. a new tune. ' Note ' is a synonym
for ' song ' in 1. 882. I do not think it carries, as O. suggests,
any suggestion of 'note,' 1. 155, in the sense of 'matter.'

88 1. Cp. Vulgate, Rev. xiv. 2, ' sicut citharoedorum cithariz-
antium in citharis suis ; ' first Wycliffite version ' as of harpers
harpinge in her harpis.'

883. a gentyl carpe: i.e."* noble theme. I take 'carpe'
to refer to the matter of the song ; cp. ' Cleanness,' 23,
' Kryst kydde hit hym self \n a carp one^ ' ; also ibid. 1. 1327.
If the scribe omitted 'con' before 'carpe/ the meaning j
would be ' In accents clear one maiden spoke' (*. e. led).

899. moteles : cp. Rev. xiv. 5, ' sine macula sunt.'

901-2. The movement and the thought of the lines surely i
require that the first two lines form a complete thought, as
indicated. O. places a full-stop after the first 'I,' and a
comma after ' appose.'

904. ichose : this is the only case in the four poems of a
p.p. with i- prefixed, a mark of a more southern dialect. In
'i-brad/ 'Cleanness,' 1693, a past tense, the prefix is equally
anomalous, but in this case probably affected the meaning of
the word ; cp. 'bradde,' 'Gawain,' 1. 1928.

905. The words in the present line are evidently suggested i
by Abraham's words in Gen. xviii. 27 ; cp. ' Cleanness,' 736,

' J>at mul am & aske^.'

amon[c] : MS. among. In 1. 470 (amo«g' rhymes with
1 3onge ' ; in 1. 1 165 ' flonc ' (= ' flong ') with ' ronk,' etc.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 159

906. Cp. 1. 269.

909. sympelnesse : the word is perhaps suggested by
' Simplesse,' one of the arrows of Cupid in the ' Romaunt
of the Rose,' z. e. one of the attributes of Womanhood, that
wound the heart of the lover. It evidently means Simplicity
as contrasted with Pride, one of the evil arrows ; it hurts
less than Beauty. The father has already addressed Pearl
as a 'reken rose,' 1. 906, and he continues, ' Now, great lady,
in whose heart was set Simplicity, I would ask for a straight
forward answer to my question.'

911. [w]ose: MS. blose. The word ' blose ' has proved a
stumbling-block. Morris suggested O.N. blossi, a flame ; I
formerly adduced O.F. bios = prive* ; O. notes 'bloss'from
E.D.D. = a buxom young woman. But all these words are
impossible as origins of 'blose.' I am convinced that the
word is due to a scribal error, the bl being a scribal mis
reading of w, which is easily mistaken in certain scripts for
bl or bb, especially when followed by o. Moreover, the word
'wose' may well have puzzled the scribe. It is the O.K.
wasa, only hitherto found in the compound ' wudu-wasa,' a
wild man of the woods, a faun or satyr. The word main
tained itself through the centuries; our poet uses it in
'Gawain,' 721, 'wodwos, }?at woned \n ]?e knarre^,' and it
appears in the 'Wars of Alexander,' 1540, 'full of wodwose,
and oper wild bestis.' The word was early used heraldically
for the wild man, ' savage-man or wood-man/ with a club,
generally appearing as a supporter of a shield ; cp. * Buke
of the Howlat,' 1. 616, 'The rouch Wodwyss wyld, that
bastounis bare.' Later, the word was corrupted into Wood-
house ; see Strutt, ' Sports and Pastimes of the English
People,' 1831, pp. 161, 253, 378, and cp. Note on 'wod-
wyse,' 'Winner & Waster,' 11. 70-1. The present is the
only instance, if I am correct, of 'wose' without 'wode,'
but the correctness of the suggestion is borne out
by the cross-alliteration of this and the next line taken
together.

Further, the word 'bustwys' is often the epithet, as N.E.D.

160 PEARL.

points out, of a boar or bear, meaning rude, savage, rough,
violent. The derivation of the word is difficult. N.E.D.
points out that in phonology and form the M.E. word
corresponds to O.F. boisteus, A.F. boistous, Mod. Fr.
boiteux, meaning 'lame/ which Diez refers to 'boiste,'
box. Skeat, on the other hand, derives M.E. 'boistous'
from the O.F. or A.F., going back to a Scand. source ; cp.
Norw. baust. The base of this word = English 'boast'
( = A.F. bost).

I venture to suggest that there are really two words
'boistous' ( = later 'boisterous') in M.E., hitherto not
differentiated, and that the two words of different origin,
though they may well have flowed together, are both used
in their special senses in the present poem, the one, O.F.
boisteus = wooden, cp. 1. 814, 'a bostwys bem,' the other
in the present passage, in the sense of 'wild, blustering,'
O.F. or A.F. boisteus, from Scand. root, to be bold, to
bluster.

912. bone vayl[e]: MS. bone vayl ; cp. fayly, 34, fayle,
317. ' Bone ' is disyllabic ; cp. ' bone '916, rhyming with ' to
done,' *won[e]' (MS. won), etc.

915. Cp. Note on 1. 463.

921. hone: this seems to mean 'to delay or tarry,' hence
'to abide or be' ; see N.E.D. The origin of the word is not
known ; the noun is common in the phrase ' without hone.'

944. theme: //$ probably alliterative with /in 'take'; cp.
'Patience' 358, 'J?e trwe tenor of his teme.'

952. Cp. Rev. iii. 12, 'et nomen civitatis Dei mei novas
Jerusalem.' Our poet, however, in using the word ' mene,'
seems to refer to some alleged etymology of Jerusalem.
Among the several interpretations was one meaning ' found
ation of Shalem, i. e. God of peace.'

Sy}t of pes : ' visio pacis ' was the commonest etymological
interpretation of the name, being due to the attempt to
associate the first part of the word with 'jireh,' i.e. 'will
see'; cp. Gen. xxii. 14.

In Old English literature from Cynewulf onward, the

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 161

supposed etymological significance of Jerusalem is often
referred to ; cp. Crist, 49-50 :

'Eala, sibbe gesihft, Sancta Hierusalem,
Cyne-stola cyst, Cristes burg-lond,'

/. e. ' O Sight of Peace ! Holy Jerusalem !

Choicest of royal thrones ! Citadel of Christ.'

961. By a scribal error, this verse begins a new section
in the MS.

962. The or in 'flor,' etc. = our; cp. stanza xxxvi.

967. aquylde : cp. ' aquyle,' 690. This word, as well as the
thought of the whole passage, is, I have little doubt, sug-
I gested by the part of Bel Acueil, ' fitz de Courtoysie,' /. e.
\ Fair Welcome, the son of Courtesy, who plays so important
I a part in the ' Romaunt of the Rose.' Fair Welcome
| instructs the lover how he may see the object of his love-
; longing. In the Chaucerian version Bialacoil first appears
iin 1. 2984. Similarly we have the figure of Grace Dieu,
Jin Deguilleville's 'P£lerinage de I'homme,' who instructs
'the Pilgrim.

j 979- tyl on a hyl : the poet does not see the city on the

ihill, but he, being on a hill, beholds the New Jerusalem.

|The poet is in the position of St. John, Rev. xxi. 10-11,

f Et sustulit me in spiritu in montem magnum et altum, et

)stendit mihi civitatem sanctam Jerusalem descendentem

e caelo a Deo, habentem claritatem Dei.' Possibly the

in spiritu ' of the passage accounts for the ' be veued,' 976,

e. be brought, wafted.

981. keued: cp. 320. N.E.D. thinks that the suggestion
hat both these words are derived from O.N. kefja, to sink,
s scarcely satisfactory for this passage. O. emends, and
cads ' breued,' i.e. described, revealed. But 'keued' is
he most fitting word in the passage. The dreamer is on
he hill, and he sees the New Jerusalem descended, sunk
jlown from heaven; hence the appropriateness of the word.
I 989- Cp. Rev. xxi. 1 3.

i6z PEARL.

990. burnist broun : metrically these words are difficult.
I suggest that 'broun' = 'beroun' ; cp. boro^t = bro^t, 628,
bereste = breste, 854. As regards ' burnist,' the inchoative
suffix received, if not the chief accent, almost an equal accent
with the root syllable ; cp.

* Off clothes of gold burneysshed bright.'
(' The Adulterous Fahnouth Squire,' 1. 278, in ' Political,
Religious and Love Poems,' E.E.T.S. 1903.)

992. Cp. Rev. xxi. 14.

bantele3 : cp. bantels, 1017. In 1. 1022 these bantels
are described as 'twelue de-gres,' i.e. twelve steps, and
we may infer that whatever is the origin of the word,
the sense is 'risings or steps,' at the top of which the
wall rises sheer. As regards the origin of this difficult
word, I still adhere to my view that 'bantel' (with
/ for d, as in other cases in this dialect) = O.F. bandel,
derived from O.H.G. band, and signifying a projecting
course. A series of these would form a flight of steps.
There is little likelihood of the word being connected with
'enbaned,' or 'embaned,'as O. suggests, though this wordj
occurs in connection with 'bantelles' in 'Cleanness,' 1459,1
where the reference is to the rich cups of the Temple :

' Cou/rred cowpes foul clene, as casteles arayed,
En-baned vnder batelment wyt^ bantelles quoy^t.'

Here the reference is to the corbel-steps (popularly knowrj
as corbie-steps) under the battlements.

993. foundemente} = Vulgate ' fundamental
997-1016. Cp. Rev. xxi. 19-20.

icoi. he glente grene : the poet evidently had before hirr
some Lapidary, or commentary dealing with the preciou:
stones in the Bible, for he shows his knowledge of

' the fynest stones faire
That men rede in the Lapidaire;'

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 163

as Chaucer puts it in 'The Hous of Fame,' Bk. III. 11. 261-2.

See Skeat's note on the lines.

As regards the green jasper, Pliny's statement is as follows:
I 'A kind of jasper likewise there is of a green colour, and
! the same oftentimes is transparent : and although there be
| many other stones go beyond it in richesse, yet it retaineth
. still the ancient glory and honour that it had' ('Sundry
> kinds of jaspers,' Bk. XXXVII. ch. ix., Holland's translation,
' 1634.)

1005. ]?e emerade ... so grene of scale: cp. Pliny,
'Emeralds for many causes deserve the third place, for
there is not a colour more pleasing to the eye. True it is
that we take great delight to behold green herbs and leaves
of trees, but this is nothing to the pleasure we have in look
ing upon the emerald, for compare it with other things, be
they never so green, it surpasses them all in pleasant
verdure ' (Ibid. ch. v.).

1006. sardonyse : cp. sardonice, ' N. Test, in Scots,' ed.
Law, Scottish Text Society, 52.

1007. [sarde] : MS. rybe ; Vulgate sardius, with v.r.
sardinus, Wycliffite versions, sardius. 'Sardius' was the
(first of the precious gems on the High Priest's breast-plate ;
|A.V. ruby, R.V. 'sardius' in text, 'ruby' in margin. It is
(noteworthy that our poet uses ' sardiners,' probably an error
for 'sardines,' in 'Cleanness,' 1469, a form with which he
would have been acquainted from Rev. iv. 3 as well as
possibly from his reading of Mandeville in French (the
English version has 'sardone'). It is possible that the
IFrench Mandeville's ' sardoine ' is properly sardonyx. The
poet could hardly have sacrificed the ready alliteration,
he substitution of ' rybe ' for ' sarde ' must have been due
o a scribe's effort to differentiate ' sarde ' from ' sardonyse.'
The likeness of the two words may have been more striking
f the poet used such a form as 'sardine.'

| ion. J?e beryl cler & quyt: the ordinary comment on
! beryl,' Rev. xxi. 20, is that the stone was of a green colour,
!tnd such is the general acceptance of the word. But early

164 PEARL.

in the Middle Ages beryl was used much in the sense of
crystal, and in this sense is common in Middle Engli
Hence Chaucer's

I

' walles of beryle
That shoon ful lighter than a glas.'

('Hous of Fame/ III. 198-9.)

Cp. Med. Latin berillus, which was applied also to crystal,
hence M.H.G. berille, Mod. G. brille, spectacles. The
identification of beryl and crystal must have been due to
the special kind of beryl described by Pliny as the beryls
' crystalline, which are white and come very near to crystals.'
Cp. ' Cleanness,' 554, ' As ]?e beryl bornyst byhoue} be clene.'
1012. ]?e topasye twynne-how: Vulgate topazius. Our
author has had before him some commentary on these
stones, hence ' twywne-how,' /. e. two-colour, used adjecti
vally, as though 'tvvin-hued.' ' How' may be a scribal error
for 'hew'; cp. 11. 304, 308. The reference is probably to |
the yellow-green of the stone ; cp. Bede, ' Explan. Apoca-
lypsis,' 'topasius . . , duos habere fertur colores ; unum
auri purissimi.'

1014. jacyngh[t]: MS. jacyngh ; but final ngh is not a
possible spelling for our poet, ancj we may safely assume
that the scribe has left out the t. Cp. O.F. jacincte ; other
M.E. spellings are 'jacinct, jasynkt'; see N.E.D. Cp.
bro3[t], 286.

1015. [tryjeste: MS. gentyleste. It is certain that the
scribe has made an error here, due to his having written
'gent' in the previous line. The poet would not have
repeated the epithet, nor would he have used so colourless
a word with his obvious knowledge of the wonderful powers
attributed to the amethyst. No stone was so efficacious in
all difficulties, not only, as its derivation was said to imply, |
as a preventive of intoxication, but as a 'sovereign remedy;
against charms and sorceries that be practised, with poison-;
ing ' (Pliny, Bk. XXXVII. ch. ix.). Some effective epithet wouldi
have been used by our poet, and although certainty is not

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 165

possible, I have made bold to insert ' tryeste,' i. e. surest,
safest, alliterating with * twelfj?e,' in place of the erroneous
'gentyleste.'
plyt: see Note on 1. 1075.

1016. purpre wyth ynde blente: see Pliny, as in previous
note ; also cp. Trevisa, 'Earth. De P.R.,' xvi. ix. ' Amatistus
is purpre red in colour medelyd wyth colour of uyolette.'

1017. b[r]ent: MS. bent. The emendation is due to the
impossibility of interpreting 'bent/ and to my conviction
that the poet is here referring to Rev. xxi. 12, 'et habebat
murum magnum et altum? Graphically, the poet glances
from the steps to the great high wall, even as he makes
Gawain, when he reaches the castle, pass from his descrip
tion of the moat to the wall that went deep in the water,

'Ande eft a ful huge heat hit haled vpon lofte/

(1. 788).

Also cp. 'Cleanness,' 1381. For 'brent' see 1. 106,
'Gawain,' 2165; 'brentest/ 'Cleanness/ 379.

1018. 0 jasporye: 'ex lapide iaspide/ Rev. xxi. 18. The
form 'jasporye' is anomalous; it cannot be a variant of
ijasper, 11. 999, 1026. There may be some adjectival forma-
Ition parallel to such a word as 'diapery/ 'jasporye' standing
therefore for 'jasper stone.' The o may well be a scribal
error for e. But in 1026 we have '}?e wal of jasper/

as glas )?at glysnande schon : these words qualify 'jasporye/
and are due, I think, to Rev. .xxi. 11, 'tanquam lapide
aspidis, sicut crystallum.' The ureek is altogether clearer,
dffinSi Kpvo-Ta\\t£ovTi, i. e. jasper crystal-clear. There were
various kinds of jasper, and Pliny notes that there was ' a
[asper which seemeth as it were infected with smoke
Bk. xxxvu. ch. ix.).

1024. Cp. Rev. xxi. 16, 'longitude et altitudo et latitudo
ejus aequalia sunt.' 'Ful fayre' is perhaps suggested by
' aequalia/ and if so, means * full, evenly/ otherwise, simply

full clear to view.1

1025. Rev. xxi. 21, 'platea civitatis aurum mundum,

i66 PEARL,

tanquam vitrum perlucidum ' ; Wycliffite versions ' strett
A.V. 'street.' Vulgate reads 'platea,3 but other codic
'platen.' Cp. strate^, 1043 ; vch a strete, 1059.

1026. glayre, z. e. the glair or white of egg, well known
the Middle Ages in various processes, but here espech
with reference to its brightness. At first sight it woul
seem that the poet is crudely repeating 11. 1017-18, but this
is not the case. In the previous passage he is emphasising
the brightness of the jasper ; here, its transparency, pre
paring the way for his description of the 'wone^ wyt^-iraie.'
' Glayre ' cannot come from O.E. glser, amber, as O. suggests,
comparing Ezek. viii. 2 and i. 27.

1027. ]?e wone3 wyth-inne enurned: nothing is said in
Rev. xxi., the passage which the poet is paraphrasing, con
cerning the dwellings within, but the phraseology used by
our poet with reference to these dwellings is derived from
v. 19, which in the earlier Wycliffite rendering runs as
follows: 'And the foundementes of the wal of the citee
ourned with al precious stoon,' the various stones of the
foundations being then mentioned. It seems to me just
possible that the poet's transference of the words belonging
to the foundations (already described by him) to the dwell
ings within the wall may have been due to a reference at
this place in his commentary or text to Isa. liv. n, 12,
4 Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy
foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows
of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders
of pleasant stones.' It was important for our poet to bring
in a reference to 'wone^,' seeing that the whole episode of
the revealing to him of the New Jerusalem is the answer
to the poet's question,

* Haf 36 no wone^ in castel-walle,
Nemamrr?' (11. 917-18).

For the phrase 'wone^ wyt^-i»ne,' compare 'Cleanness,'
1391, * He3e houses wyt^-iwne.'
1030. Twelue Oowsande] forlongefer: MS. twelue for-

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 167

longe space er. The poet certainly did not depart from
his original. I have no doubt that 'space' was a marginal
gloss on 'sware' of the previous line, and got by scribal
mistake into this line. The erroneous insertion of the word
probably antedated the omission of ']?owsande,' which was
then dropped for metrical considerations. 'Sware' must
have puzzled some reader, for the word is used here in the
sense of * side of a square,' referring to linear measurement.

1031. to cayre, i.e. in the traversing (gerundial inf.), in
the going from point to point. The word 'cayre' cannot
well come, as O. maintains, from F. quarer 'with the vowel
slightly modified for rime.' Seeing that the rhymes of the
whole verse are on are and aire, the poet would not here
have ventured on the slight modification for rhyme.

1033-42. Rev. xxi. 12, 21.

1035. poursent: I now hold that this is the correct read
ing, and not ' po^rseut,' i. e. succession, the meaning being
'precinct' or earlier 'purcint'; cp. 'Cleanness,' 1385, 'J?e
place ]?at plyed ]?e pursauwt wyth-iraie/ the sense being
'boundary or limit or compass,' though this meaning, so
far as N.E.D. gives instances, seems rather later.

In Rev. vii. 5-8, and in Ezek. xlviii. 31-34, the order of
the names, /. e. their nativities or fortunes of birth, is not
that of birth ; 'byrpfej-whate^' evidently refers to Gen. xlix.
1-28, Jacob's blessing of his sons in their birth order — 'all
these are the twelve tribes of Israel.'

1041. byr)?[e]-whate3 : i.e. birth omens ; O.E. hwaet. Morris
and O. read ' byrj> whate^,' making ' whate^ '= ' wat},' ' was ' ;
an absolutely impossible solution of the problem. Other
wise, 'hwate^' must be taken as a verb (cp. O.N. hvata),
with the sense of 'hastens, runs.'

1043-8. strate}: cp. 'strete^,' 1025, and 'strete' (rhyming),
1059. Cp. Rev. xxi. 23.

1050. [s]y3t: MS. ly^t^ ; but it is hardly likely that the
poet would have repeated the rhyming word in the same
stanza. The obvious meaning is that ' on account of the subtle
clearness nothing hindered sight,' i. e. he could look through

i68 PEARL.

the walls. O. strangely renders ' for air so subtle and cl(
could bar no light.'

1051-3. Cp. Rev. iv. 1055-60. Rev. xxii. i.

1058. foysoun : at first sight this would seem to be a noui
used anomalously as an adj. No similar instance occurs ii
English, but Godefroy gives examples of the word as an
adverb, and its adjectival use may be assumed.

1060. galle o]?er glet : cp. Note on 463.

1061-3. Rev. xxi. 22.

1064. Rev. v. 6. 1065-6. Rev. xxi. 25.

1065. wat* : the poet uses the past tense, though in Rev.
xxi. 25 we nave the future. I suspect 'wat^' with plural
subject, and am inclined to think that the scribe, having
written * wat$ ' three times, in the previous four lines, has by
an error repeated it instead of writing ' wern.'

1067-8. Rev. xxi. 27. 1069-76. Rev. xxi. 23, xxii. 5.

1070. spotty: cp. Milton, 'Paradise Lost,' I. 287-90:—

' The moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
At evening, from the top of Fesole,
Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands.'

1071. Perhaps the poet wrote ' £ also Iper-as nis neuer ny}!,'
z. e. ' And also where is never night, why should the moon/
etc. If so, there would be a stop at ' grym.' Cp. Rev. xxi. 25.

1073. & to euen: for added 'to' in the second of two
infinitives, cp. 'Cleanness,' 53-4,

'}?at ]?ay samne schulde,
& in comly quoyntis to com to his feste.'

O. reads ' to-euen,' but the compound does not occur.

1075. ply3t: one would expect 'plyt,' condition (O.F.
plite) ; not 'ply^t,' O.E. pliht, peril. I am of opinion that
the two words were used indifferently by our poet ; here
< ply }t ' = ' plyt ' ; 'plyt,' 647, 1015 = ' ply 31 '; but 'plyt'
correctly, 1114.

1077-80. Rev. xxii. 2.

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 169

1083. ba[y]l[e] : MS. baly ; see Note on 1. 442.

1085. dased quayle : the reference is evidently to the
'couching,' i.e. the crouching or cowering of the quail;
cp. Chaucer, 'Clerk's Tale,' 1150:

' Thou shalt make him couche as dooth a quaille.'

Couch-quail, in the phrase ' to play couch-quail,' is recorded
in the early sixteenth century, in the sense of ' to cower, to
crouch timidly ' ; see N.E.D.

1086. for ferly : this phrase looks like a weak repetition
of 'so ferly,' 1. 1084. It may mean 'because of my wonder
at,' or ' because of the marvel of J ; but in view of the previous
line, the sense is evidently the former : cp. 11. 183-8, where
'hende as hawk' is parallel to 'dased quayle.' I am in
clined to hold that the poet wrote ' for-ferlyd,' i.e. utterly
astonished.

freuch : Morris ' french ' ; whatever the significance of
the word, 'freuch' may safely be accepted, as formerly
proposed by me. I am no longer of opinion that it is the
Scottish frusch, frush, freuch, fragile (cp. O.F. fruisser, to
bruise), which is synonymous with ' frough,' of obscure
origin, with meanings suggestive of 'frail, brittle, not to
be depended on,' and is referred back to an O.E. *froh ; so
O. renders 'frail, uncertain, evanescent.' But it is not
likely that such an epithet would be applied by the poet
to the New Jerusalem. I have little doubt that we have
here the M.E. corresponding to M.H.G. vro, O.Fris. fro,
O.S. frao, gen. frahes, meaning 'joyous.'

fygure: 'shape, form,' here very much as 'fasure,' 1084,
not 'vision' as O. glosses.

1106. Rev. xxi. 21.

1107. Hundreth l>owsande} : perhaps suggested by the
number of the angels in Rev. v. n.

1 1 08. liure : MS. liure^. The collective sg. is what one
would expect here, and not the plural, and the emendation
is further justified by the sg. verb. The scribe has, in my
opinion, made a similar error as regards 'wede^,' 1112,

1 70 PEARL.

though there he may have been influenced by metric
considerations.

mi. red g[ol]de cler : this does not occur in Rev., bi
is evidently due to the Song of Songs v. n, 'caput eii
aurum optimum.' It is not, as O. notes, ' apparently adde
for embellishment by the poet.'

1 1 12. Cp. 11. 841-4.

1113. throne : elsewhere 'trone' ; this looks like an inten
tional variant directly from the Lat. thronus (e.g. Rev. iv. 5),
used here by the poet to avoid the repetition in the line
of the same sound. O., comparing ' theme,' 1. 944 = ' teme,'
would make 'throne' = 'trone.'

1119-20. Rev. v. 8.

1 12 1. legyounes of aungele} : cp. Rev. v. n ; as N.E.D.
points out, ' legion,' in the sense of a vast host or multitude,
with special reference to angels or spirits, is a reminiscence
of Matt. xxvi. 53. Cp. 'Piers Plowman,' A. i., 109, ' Lucifer
with legiouns lerede hit in heuene.'

1 1 22. )?er kesten ensens: probably suggested by Rev.
viii. 3.

1126. Vertues : one of the orders of the angels (for a list
see 'Ypotis,' 1. 90, Horstmann's ' Altenglische Legenden,
Neue Folge,' where the ' virtues ' are seventh in order) ; cp.
i Peter iii. 22, 'subjectis sibi angelis et potestatibus et
virtutibus,' and Rom. viii. 38.

1129-30. 'Delight and much marvel were in my mind;'
not, as O. thinks that the lines mean, 'Glad desire entered
my heart tp, describe the Lamb with many a marvel.'

1135. wjrse : if this is from O.E. wlsian, it should mean
'point out, show,' and may possibly be used here intransi
tively, i.e. 'show itself, appear.' This verb, in con
tradistinction to O.E. wissian, occurs only once in the
poems, 'Cleanness,' 453-4, 'wysed Jwoute a message,' i.e.
he directed thereout a messenger ; with reference to the
raven sent by Noah. Strictly, therefore, the sense should
be ' directed.' Could it here signify ' directed, /'. e. pointed,
towards the heart ' ?

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 171

1141. The Lombe delyt non lyste to wene: MS. lyste.
'Lombe' is evidently gen. sg. without inflection. The
sense of the line seems to be : ' to no one was there the
desire to question the delight of the Lamb (for it was
obvious).' ' Lyste ' is used here in rather a rare sense, 'to
no one came the inclination.' 'Wene' is 'to think out';
cp. 'but wene,' without doubt, doubtless.

1146. Cp. Rev. ii. 10, 'Be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of life,' James i. 12, etc.

1149-50. Cp. Ps. xlv. 14, 15, 'The virgins her companions
that follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness
and rejoicing shall they be brought ; they shall enter into
the King's palace.'

1154. Cp. 224; also 'hys madding mynd,' Spenser,
'Shepherd's Calendar,' April, 1. 25.

1158. To fech me bur: 'to' in this line and elsewhere
indicates the genmdial infinitive ; and I am strongly in
clined to hold that my former suggestion in respect of ' to
feche me bur' is correct, the phrase meaning 'to take the
preliminary spurt' ; cp. E.D.D., 'to take birr,' a leap taken
after a quick run ; Cotgrave, ' II recule pour mieux sauter,
he goes back to take bur, or to leap the better.' Possibly
the poet wrote 'my bur/ instead of 'me bur.'

take me halte : this I take to be parallel in sense to the
previous words, and interpret it to mean, ' in taking off.'
It may have been used technically, as the modern phrase
'to take off,' in the sense of 'to start in leaping.'

The poet is here using two technical terms with reference
to the initial movements before plunging, and he goes on
to say that if no one prevented the ' bur ' and the ' take-off,'
he would start on his swim, though he perished in the
course. The force'of the line has hitherto, in my view, been
altogether missed.

1160. to swymme : again the gerundial infinitive, i.e. in
swimming, * and nought (methought) should keep me from
the start, though I perished there in swimming the rest,'
i.e. though he perished before reaching the other bank.

172 PEARL.

O. in his translation takes ' to swymme ' as dependent
' I ]?03t,' and renders the lines as follows : ' if no one cculc
prevent my plunging in the stream, I hoped to swim the
interval in safety, though I should die for it at last.'

1165. flonc: cp. ]?ynk, 587.

1172. hylle : see Note on 1205.

1175. and sykyng : cp. ' Gawain,' 753, ' & ]?erfore sykyng ; '
' Destr. Troy,' 866, * Thus sykyng ho said'; ' and also * Gawain,'
1796, 'Sykande ho swe^e dou#,' and 'Cleanness,' 715, 'Al
sykande he sayde.' Evidently the verbal noun had in the
case of this word very early taken the place of the present
participle, and coexisted with the older pr. part, forms, as
in the present case. So, too, in such a Southern text as
'William of Palerne' we have 'sikande, sikende, sikinde,
siking,' all present participles.

1177. out-fleme: 'an outcast,' not 'banished,' as M.
glosses; O.K. fllema, flema, a fugitive. 'Ut-flema' does
not occur ; but we have ' ut-laga, ' an outlaw, borrowed from
Scand. ; cp. O.N. ut-lagi. Side by side with ' ut-laga'
there was 'ut-la^, ut-lah,' outlawed, the adj. being used as
a sb., so that 'outlaw' frequently has the sense of 'out
lawed.' Hence the similar usage in respect of the synonym
'out-fleme,' as in the present passage, without 'an.'

1 1 80. in swone : the original form of the phrase would
appear to have been ' a-swoune,' which became ' on
swoune,' and then 'in swoune.' 'Swone,' rhyming with
'regioun,' etc. = 'swoune5 ; cp. rhymes in stanza LXXXI.

1181. to: not marking the infinitive, but adverbial, i.e.
'towards, to'; cp. 'Cleanness/ 1551, 'He bede his burnes
bo} to ' ; unless ' to-reme ' is a compound, the prefix im
plying intensity.

1 1 86. gailande gay: the reference must be to the crown,
11. 205-8. The crown has ' flurted flowre^ ' ; but it is
doubtful whether the flowers are necessarily implied in the
word 'garlande' here. 'Garlande' may mean the whole
crown or diadem ; cp. Matthew Paris (Du Cange), ' Rex
veste deaurata, et coronula aurea, quae vulgariter garlanda

EXPLANATORY NOTES. 173

dicitur, redimitus,' and this use of the word is not rare in
the fourteenth century. The word ' garlande ' seems to be
ultimately due to M.H.G. wiere, gold wire.

It is noteworthy that the thirteenth-century alliterative
homily, ' Hali Meidenhad,' has the following statement in
respect of the crowns worn in heaven by maidens. Over
and above the crowns common to all the blest, they have
'a gerlaundesche schinende schenre Ipen ]?e sunne, Auricle
ihatew o latines ledene ; ]?e flurs ]?«t beoft idrahe ]?ron, ne
Ipt ^imstanes ]?rin to tellen of hare euene ne is na mo/mes
speche.' The auriole, equivalent to 'coronula,' was 'a
celestial crown, worn by a martyr, virgin or doctor, as
victor over the world, the flesh or the devil.3 The aureola
of the virgins was white, of the martyrs red, of the doctors
green. Hence the aureole of Pearl is of clear white pearl,
1. 207.

1193. As helde: 'as likely as possible.' This difficult
phrase has not hitherto been explained, but I now adduce
the Lanes, dialect 'helt' (see E.D.D.), in the sense of
'likely, easily.' The word is not recorded in M.E., though
'helder* (in the sense of 'rather') is of course common.
It is not necessary to add, as O. does, ' r' to 'helde' ; indeed
he misunderstands the force of the words, translating, 'had
I been rather drawn to God's presence than forced my way.'
This line goes with the apodosis, and not with the protasis.
' Helt ' would represent an older comparative form of the
adverb; cp. Goth, haldis. In O.N. the adv. is 'heldr,'
as opposed to the adj. 'heldri.' It seems likely, therefore,
that 'held' represents a lost O.E. comparative adverb, the
M.E. 'helder' being of Scand. origin. The syllabic e in
'helde ' was evidently added to intensify the adverbial force
of 'held.' The adverbial comparative would be parallel to
such adverbial comparatives as 'leng' (= longer).

present : cp. 389.

1201. sete sa3te: this is. clearly the O.N. phrase 'setja
satt'; cp. 'setja friS, griff,' to establish peace. The Scan
dinavian origin of the phrase is strikingly attested by

174 PEARL

the spelling 'sete,' as opposed to the ordinary 'sette,' th<
former representing O.N. setja, the latter O.K. settan.
There is, I think, a neglected law of M.E. phonology th;
words of Scandinavian origin showing a short e in the root
followed by a single consonant with -ja suffix, have theii
radical lengthened ; hence 'sete,' against M.E. 'sette' froi
O.E. settan. Similarly in 11. 320, 981, we have 'keue:
from O.N. kefja, where the rhyme shows the length. O.
unnecessarily emends to ' sete [hym] sa3te,' deriving ' sete '
from O.E. settan.

1204. Perhaps the most striking M.E. poem recalling
Pearl, being in the same metre and with much the same
feeling, is the fine poem 'God's Complaint,' with the refrain
' Whi art ]?ou to ]?i freend vnkinde ' (ed. Furnivall, ' Political,
Religious and Love Poems,' E.E.T.S. Original Series, 15).

1205. hyul: I am now convinced that this is the reading
of the MS., and that the scribe did not, as has been
generally maintained, write ' hyiil ' with a dot on the first t.
O. says, "MS. clearly 'hyiil,'" but the same stanza, in the
case of 'Krystyin' and 'enclyin,' shows how the scribe,
when he wished to mark an z, used a stroke resembling an
acute accent, while the small dot was often used over a y,
and it is this dot which is used in the present word, though
written rather over the first stroke of the it than they. For
'hyul,' cp. 'huyle,' 41, and see Note.

121 1. gef: the more ordinary form of the pres. subj.
would be 'geue' ; but 'gef is probably correct ; cp. ')?ryf,'
851. Anyhow, it is not a probable error for ' gyue,J as
O. states, although that form occurs in 1. 707.

homly hyne : ' homly ' = ' intimate, friendly.' The word
does not occur in O.E. ; the M.E. 'homly' was probably
influenced by Scand. ' heimuligr,' as used in such phrases
as 'hans heimuligt folk/ 'his household folk'; ' heimuligr
clerkr,5 'a private clerk.' In Scottish the word is still
common in this sense. For 'hyne/ see Note on 505.

12 12. The last line of the poem catches up, as it were,
the first, and indeed emphasises its deeper suggestion.

GLOSSARY

a, indef. art. a, 19, 23, 34,

etc.; one, 786 (cp. 869),

1037; vch a, see vch ; cp.

an, on (i).
abate, see abyde.
abated, pt. 3 pi. 123. OF.

abatre.

able, adj. 599. OF. able.
abof, adv. above, 1023;

prep. 1017. OE. a-bufan.
aboute, prep, round about,

75, 1077; abowte, 149;

concerning, 268 ; near,

513 ; adv. near, 932. OE.

a-butan.
abroched, pp. set abroach,

1123; (lit. let forth as

liquor from a pierced

cask). OF. abrochier;

broche, a spit.
abyde, inf. endure, 348;

pt. 3 s. abate, 617; pp.

abiden, 1090. OE. abi-

dan; cp. byde.
acheue, inf. achieve, 475.

OF. achever.
acorde, agreement, 371,

509. OF. acord.
acorded, pt. 3 pi. agreed

with, 819. OF. acorder.

acroche, inf. gain, lit. draw
to itself as with a crook,
1069. OF. acrocher; cp.
encroched.

Adam, 656.

adaunt, inf. subdue, 157.
OF. adanter.

adoun, adv. down, 988.
OE. of dune ; cp. doim (i).

adubbement, adornment,
splendour, glory, 84, 96,
108, 120; adub[be]mente,
72 ; adubbemente, 85 ; cp.
dubbed, dubbement.

adyte, imp. s. indict, 349;
prob. OE. adihtan, in
fluenced in form and
meaning by ME. endite,
later indict; AF. enditer;
late L.* indictare.

affray, fright, terror, lit.
the sudden losing of one's
peace, 1174. OF. effreer;
late L. ex-fridare, a
Latinising from Teut.
friSu, peace.

after, prep, along, 125;
according to, 998; adv.
afterwards, 256. OE.
setter.

i76

PEARL.

agayn, prep, against, 28,
1199, 1200; agayn3, 79;
adv. again, 326. OE.
ongean.

age, n. 412. OF. aage.

agly3te, pt. 2 s. didst glance
off, slip away, go agley,
245. Cp. ON. glia, to
shine; cp. gly^t.

a-grete, 'in the great,' by
the job, 560; cp. OF. en
gros ; cp. gret.

a3t, see 036.

a3tye, eighth, ion. OE.
eahtoSa.

al, adj. all, 16, 86, 285, 424,
etc. ; everything, 360 ;
everybody, 1124; of al &
sum, in full, entirely, 584 ;
alle, 73, 119, 292, 372,
384, etc. ; everybody,
404, 447; adv. wholly,
fully, 97, 197, 204, 210,
258, 280, 364, 540, etc.;
al samen, all together,
518. OE. call.

a-las, alas ! 1138; alias, 9.
OF. a las.

alder, aides t, see olde.

alder-men, elders, 887, 1119.
OE. ealdormann.

alegge, imp. s. lay aside,
give up, 703. OE. alec-
gan ; ( not OF. esligier,
' allege,' which gives the
contrary meaning).

al-my3t, almighty, 498 ;
OE. aelmiht.

al-my3ty, 1063. OE. ael-
mihtig.

al-one, solely, 933 ; OE. eal

ana.
alow, inf. reckon, take into

count, place to credit,

634. OF. alouer.
aloynte, pp. removed, far

off, 893. AF. aloyner,

& loin.
also, adv. 685, 872; al-so,

1071 ; als,765. OE.eal swa.
al-J>a3, conj. although, 759,

857, 878. OE. al Seah.
alyue, adj. living, 445, OE.

on life.

am, see be (i).
amatyst, amethyst, 1016.

OF. amatiste.
Amen, 1212.
among, prep. 470, 848, 1145,

1150; adv. amon[c], in

the meanwhile, 905. OE.

onmang, on gemang.
an, indef. art. 640; cp. a,

on (i), vchon.
and (&), and, 16, 18, 27,

etc.; if, 560, 598, etc.;

(?)asif, io73;ande, 1212.
an-ende, prep, in respect of,

concerning, 697 ; over

against, 1136; an-ende^,

on a level with, in a line

with, 975; on-ende, as

regards, 1 86. OE. onefn.
angel-hauyng, angelic de
meanour, 754; cp. aun-

gele3, hafyng.
anger, anguish, passionate

grief, 343; ON. angr,

trouble, affection.
ani, see any.

GLOSSARY.

177

anioynt, pp. enjoined,

appointed, 895. OF.

enjoindre.
anon, adv. forthwith, 584,

629. OE. on an.
ano]>er, adj. a second, 297.
answar, n. 518; OE. and

swaru ; cp. on-sware, inf.
an-vnder, prep, at the foot

of, 1 66; under, 1081, 1092

noo; an-vnde[r], 1068;

on-vunder, 775 ; &• vnder

(2).

any, adj. 345, 463» 617, 8o0*
1068; ani, 1139. OE.
eenig.

apassed, pp. passed, 540.
OF. apasser; cp. passe.

apere, inf. appear, 405.
OF. aparoir (stem aper-) .

apert, adv. plainly, 589.
OF. apert.

Apocalyppce, the Apo
calypse, 944, 1008; Apo-
calyppe?, 787. 996, 1020;
Apokalypce, 983 ; Apo-
kalype?, 834; Appocalyp-
pece, 866.

apostel, n. 790, 836, 944,

984, 985, 996, I008, 1020,

1032 ; appostel, 1053.
OE. apostol.

apparaylmente, n. array,
1052. OF. apareillement.

j apple, n. 640. OE. aeppel.

| appose, pr. i s. interrogate,
pose with question, 902 ;
cp. Apposition, still used
at St. Paul's School, origi
nally the public examina-

N

tion day. OF. aposer,
apposer, by the side of,
oposer, opposer.

appostel, see apostel.

aproche, inf. approach, 686 ;
pt. 3 s. aproched, 1119.
OF. aprochier.

aquyle, inf. receive, wel
come, 690; pp. aquylde,
967. OF. aquillir,
acuillir, accueillir ; late
L. accolligere.

ar, am, art, see be (i).

araye,position, arrangement,
5 ; array, 191 ; aray, 491.
OF. arei.

arayed, pp. prepared, 719,
791 ; arayde, conditioned,
1 1 66. OF. areier.

are-]>ede, people of yore,
711. ON. ar; cp. J>ede.

arme, n. arm, 459, 466.
OE. earm.

aros, pt. 3 5. arose, 181. OE.
arisan; cp. ryse.

Arraby, Arabia, 430.

ary3t, adv. straight on, 112.
OE. on riht.

Arystotel, Aristotle, 751.

aryue, inf. arrive, 447.
OF. ariver.

as, adv. 20, 76, 822, 1024,
etc.; conj. 787, 801, 915,
923, 980, etc.; j>er as,
whe/e, 129, 818, 1173;
as quo, as if one, 693;
uses idiomatically with
adjectives, 836, 1193. OE.
al swa; cp. bare, helde,
as tyt, J>er.

I78

PEARL.

asent, harmony, 94 ; asente,

concurrence, 391. OF.

asent.
aske, inf. ask, 316, 580,

910; ask[e], 564. OE.

ascian.
assemble, union, 760. OF.

assemble.
asspye, inf. espy, 1035; pt.

i s. asspyed, 979; pp-

descried, 704. OF. espier.
astate, estate, 393; asstate,

state, rank, 490. OF.

estat.
a[s]tount, pp. astounded,

179. OF. estoner.
astraye, adv. out of the

right way, 1162. OF.

estraie; cp. stray,
as tyt, as quickly as pos
sible, 645; cp. tyt, as.
asyse, manner, 97. OF.

asise.
at (i), prep. 161, 198, 218,

321, 529, 547, 635, 647,

839, 862, 1066, 1115;

beside, 287 ; according

to, 199, 1164; in the

condition of, 672. OE.

aet ; c^.ene, on (i), steuen.
at (2), pron. rel. which,

536. ON. at.
at-slyk63, pr. 3 s. slips away,

575. OE. *slican (not

found), with pref. at.
atteny, pr. 2 s. subj. come

up to, reach, 548. OF.

ateindre.
Augoste, August, 39. L.

augustus.

aungele3, angels, 1121. OF.

angele; cp. angel-hauyng,
aunte, aunt, 233. OF. ante.
auenture, adventurous

quest, 64. OF. aventure.
avysyoun, vision, 1184.

OF. avision.
away, adv. away, 655, 823;

from the right way,

amiss, 488; awaye, 258.

OE. onweg; cp. way (2).
awayed, PP- instructed,

taught, 710. OF. avier;

late L. * adviare, to put

on the way.
[a] we, see 036.
awhyle, adv. awhile, 692;

cp. whyle.
ay, adv. ever, 33, 44, 56, 366,

1189, etc.; a[y], 144; aye,

1198. ON. ei.
ay|>er, each of the two, 831.

OE.

bale, harm, grief, 18, 373,

478, 651, 1139; pi- bale?,

123, 807. OE. balu.
balke, mound, ridge, 62.

OE. balca.
bantele?, risings, steps, 992 ;

bantels, 1017; prob. OF.

bandel, a rising, in archi

tecture : hence, step.
baptem, baptism, 653 ; bab-

tem, 627. OF. bapteme.
baptysed, pt. 3 s. baptised,

8 1 8. OF. baptiser.
bare, clear, 1025 ; ' as b.',

as clear as possible, 836.

OE. baer.

GLOSSARY.

179

barne, child, 426; pi.
barne3, 712 Israel bar-
ne3, 1040. OE. beam.

basse, n. base, 1000. OF.
base.

basyng, n. base, 992.

ba[y]l[e], ' bail/ ' bai
ley/ the external wall of
a feudal castle, 1083;
bayly, the domain en
closed, 315; (cp. Med.
Lat. ballium; OF. bail,
bailie).

bayly, jurisdiction, 442.
OF. baillie.

bayn, willing, 807. ON.
beinn.

baysment, discomfiture from
surprise, 174; (aphetic
form of abaysment. OF.
abaissement) .

be (i), inf. 29, 281, etc.;
pr. i s. am, 246, 335, etc. ;
2 s. art, 242, 276, etc. ;
arte, 707 ; 3 s. is, 26,
33, etc.; nis ( = ne is),
100; nys, 951; pi. am,
384, 402, 517, 927, etc.;
ar, 923 ; bene, 785 ; ben,
572 ; 3 s. (= future) bet},
611; pr. subj. be, 379,
470, 572, 694, etc.; imp.
s. 344, 406; pi. s. wat3,
45, 372, 1088, etc. ; wace,
65; wasse, 1108, 1112;
wore, 232; pi. wern,
71, 251, etc.; wer, 68,
641; were, 1107; ware,
151, 1027; wore, 154;
( ?) wat}, 1065 ; pt. s. subj.

wer, 972, 1092 ; were, 264,
1167, etc.; wore, 142; pi.
wern, 451; wore, 574;
pp. ben, 252, 373. OE.
beon.

be (2), prep, see by.

beau, beauteous, 197. OF.
beau.

beaute, beauty, 749; bew-
te, 765. OF. beaute.

bede, see bydde?.

bele, inf. burn, 18. ON.
baela.

bem, beam, rood, 814. OE.
beam.

beme?, see sunne-beme3.

ben, bene, se<? be (i).

bene, gracious, bright, no,
198. (?) etym.

bent, pp. bound, 664 ; bente,
bowed, 1189. OE. ben-
dan.

bere, inf. bear, carry, 807,
1078; pr. 35. bere;, 100,
746, 756, 1068; pi. beren,
854, 856, 1079; pr. 2 s.
subj. ber, 466 ; pt. i s. bere,
67; 35. ber, 426; pp.
bore, 239; borne, 626.
OE. beran.

bereste, see breste.

beryl, beryl, ion; 'cry
stal/ no. OF. beryl.

beste, see god.

beste3, beasts, 886. OF.
beste.

bete (i), inf. make good,
amend, 757. OE. betan.

bete (2), pt. 3 pi. beat, 93-
OE. beatan.

i8o

PEARL.

better, see wel.
bewte, see beaut6.
beyng, being, nature, 446.
bi-talt, pp. shaken, 1161.

OE.-tealtian, to shake.
pp. bleached, 212.

OE. bl£can, blsecean, pp.

blake, black, 945. OE.

blaec.
blame (i), n. rebuke, 715.

OF. blame.

blame (2), inf. 303 ; pr. 2 s.
F. bla-

a, 275. O

mer.
blayke, pale, 27. ON.

bleikr.
ble, colour, 76; hue, com

plexion, 212. OE. bleo.
bleaunt, garment, or the

stuff of which it is made,

163. OF. bliaut.
blent, pp. blended, mingled,

385; blente, 1016. ON.

blanda (pr. sg. blend-).
blesse, pr. 35. subj., 850;

inf. to cross oneself, 341 ;

pp. blessed, blessed, 436.

OE. bletsian.
blessyng, n. 1208.
bio, dark, livid, 83, 875.

ON. blar.
blod, blood, 646, 650, etc.;

blode, 74- OE. blod.
blody, bloodily, 705. OE.

blodig.
blom, bloom, blossom,

flower, 578; pi. blome3,

27. OE. blom.
blot, stain, 782; cp. OF.

bloustre, blotte, a clot

of earth.
blunt, stunned, 176; cp.

ON. blunda, to doze.
blusched, pt. is. looked, 980,

1083; (cp. OE. ablisian,

to blush; blysa, torch;

(?) OE. blyscan), cp.

blysned.
blwe, blue, 27, 76, 423.

OF. bleu.
blynde, dark, dim, 83. OE.

blind.
Wynne, inf. cease, 729.

OE. blinnan.
blys, bliss, 123, 126, etc.;

blysse, 372, 373. etc.;

blys[se], 286. OE. blips,

ace. bliSse.
blysfnl, 421, 907, etc.; blys-

fol, 279.
blysned, pt. 3 s. gleamed,

1048; pr. p. blysnande,

163, 197. OE.* blysnian,

(not found}.
bly>e (i), adj. joyous, gentle,

352, 738; sup. bly>est,

1131. OE. blHfe; cp.

n. blyj>e.
bly^e (2), n. joy, goodwill,

grace, 354. ON. blffia.
bly>ely, joyously, 385.
bod, see byde.
body, n. 62, 460, 1070. OE.

bodig.
bodyly, adj. bodily, 478;

adv., with the body,

1090.
boftete}, pi. buffets, 809.

OF. bufet.

GLOSSARY.

181

b036, inf. take one's way,

196; imp. s., bow, 974;

pt. i s. bowed, 126. OE.

bugan.
bo^t, see bye.
bok, book, 710; boke, 837.

OE. bsc.
bolde, audacious, 806. OE.

bald,
boiler, boles, trunks, 76.

ON. bolr.
bolne, inf. swell, 18. ON.

bolgna; Dan. bolne.
bon, bone, 212. OE. ban.
bone, high ground, slope,

bank of a stream, 907,

1169; bonk, 102; bonke,

196; pi. bonke;, no,

138, 93 1 ; b[o]nkes,

1 06; cp. ON. bakki (=

banke).
bone, petition, prayer, 912,

916; boon, favour, 1090.

ON. bon.
bonertS, goodness, 762. OF.

bonerte.

bonke, bonke}, see bone,
bor, dwelling, 964. OE.

bur.
borde, pr. 2 pi. jest, 290.

OF. bourder.
bOF3, burgh, city, 957, 989,

1048; burghe, 980. OE.

burh.
borne}, gen. s. river's, 974.

OE. burna.
bornyst, pp. burnished, 77;

bornyste, 220 ; burnist,

990. OF. burnir, pr. p.

burnis-ant.

bon>3t, see bryng.

bostwys, rough, rude, 814;

bustwys, savage, wild,

911 ; see Note, 1. 911.
bot, adv. but, only, 17, 18,

83, 269, 382, 551. 592,

905 ; COM/, co-ord. 66, 91,

265, etc. ; subord. unless,

308, 428, 723, 972 ; prep.

except, 331, 336, 337,

496, 842, 892, 952, 955;

after negative, 658; O.E.

butan.
bote, remedy, 275, 645.

OE. bot.
boj?e (i), pron. both, 950;

cp. ON. baSir, Sw. ba-

da, Dan. baade.
bo>e (2), conj. both, with

and, 90, 329, 682, 731,

1056, 1203 ; without

and, 373 ; cp. ON.

baftir, Sw. bada, Dan.

baade.
boun, ready, 534; fixed,

992, 1103. ON. biiinn.
bounden, pp. bound, edged,

198; fastened, 1103.

OE. bindan.
bourne, see burne.
bow, bowed, see boae.
boye3, churls, 806; not

in OE., cp. EFris.

boi.
bos, impers. pr. behoves,

323 ; pt. by-hod, 928. OE.

bihofian.
brade, see brpde.
brat[h] e, violence, 1170;

pl. bra>63, violent emo-

182

PEARL.

tions, 346. ON. braS(r),

adj. with-]>e, suff.
braundysch, pr. 2 s. subj.

toss about, 346. OF.

brandir, pr. p. brandis-

sant.
bray, pr. 2 s. subj. utter

harshly, 346. OF. braire.
brayde, pt. 3 5. roused sud
denly, 1170; 3 pi.

brought, 712. OE. breg-

dan, braegd.
brayne;, brains, 126. OE.

brsegn.
bred, bread, 1209. OE.

bread.
brede (i), n. breadth, 1031.

OE. braedu.
brede (2), «n/.extend, stretch,

814; grow, flourish, 415.

OE. braedan.
bred-Sul, brimful, 126; cp.

Sw. braddfull; OE.

brerd.
bref, brief, 268. OF.

bref.
breme, spirited, bold, 346;

valiant, glorious, 863.

OE. breme.

brende, pp. burnt, bur
nished, ' red,' applied

to gold (cp. brantail), 989.

ON. brenna; cp. OE.

bernan; cp. for-brent.
brent, adj. steep, 106;

b[r3ent, 1017. OE. brant;

Sw. brant ; ON. brattr.
breste, n. breast, 18, 222,

740, 1103, 1139; bereste,

854. OE. breost.

breue, imp. s. tell, 755.
ON. brefa.

brode, broad, 650, 1022,
1024; brade, 138. OE.
brad.

bro3te, bro3[t], see bryng.

broke, n. brook, 141, 146;
brok, 981; gen. s. bro
ke?, 1074. OE. broc.

broun, brown, dark, 537;
the colour of burnished
metal, 990. OE. briin.

brunt, n. smart blow, 174.
cp. ON. bruna, to ad
vance at fire-speed.

bryd, bride, 769. OE. bryd.

brydde?, birds, 93. OE.
brid.

bry3t, adj. bright, 75, no,
989 ; used as n., 755 ;
comp. bry3ter, 1056; adv.
bry3t, 769, 1048. OE.
beorht.

brym, brink, 1074; brym-
me, 232. OE. brymme.

bryng, inf. bring, 853;
imp. s. 963 ; pt. 3 s.
bro3te, 527; pp- bro3[t],
286; boro3t, 628. OE.
bringan.

bur, n. impetus, 1158; burre,
blow, 176. ON. byrr.

burde, impers. pt. it was
meet, 316. OE. (ge)-
byrian.

burghe, see bor?.

burne, man, 397, 1090;
bourne, 617; pi. burne 3,
712. OE. beorn.

burnist, see bornyst.

GLOSSARY.

183

burre, see bur.
bustwys, see bost-wys.
busye?, pr. 2 s. troubles!,

268. OE. bisgian.
by, prep. 107, 140, 141,

etc.; [by], 672; be, 523-

OE. bl.
by-calle, pr. i 5. call upon,

913; pp. by-calt, called,

1163; cp. calle.
by-cawse, conj. 296.
by-corn, pt. 3 s. became,

537 : cp. com.
bydde3, pr. 3 s. bids, 520;

pt. 3 pl. bede, 715. OE.

biddan.
byde, inf. remain, 399, 977 ;

endure, 664 ; pr. 2 s.

byde}, 907; 3 />'• 75;

pt. 35. bod, 62. OE.

bidan ; cp. abyde.
by-dene, straightway, 196.

(?) OE. bi den(e). pp. of

don (Skeat).
bye, inf. buy, 732; byye,

478; pt. 3 5. b03t, 651;

PP- 733; redeemed, 893.

OE. bycgan.
byfalle, inf. happen, 186.

OE. befeallan ; cp. fel.
byfore, adv. formerly, 172;

in front, mo; conj.

530; prep. 598, 885;

by-fore, 294; bifore, 49.

OE. beforan.
byg, big, 102; comp.

bygger, 374- cp. Nor.

bugge, a strong man.
bygly, inhabitable, pleasant,

963 ; cp. bygyng.

by-gonne, see bygynne.
bygyng, n. dwelling, 932.

ON. v. byggja; cp. bygly.
bygynne, inf. begin, 581;

pr. 2 s. bygynne3, 561 ;

imp. s. bygyn, 547 ; pt.

3 pi- by-gonne, 549 ; pp>

33. OE. biginnan.
bygynner, beginner, 436.
by3C, ring, bracelet, 466,

OE. beah.
by3onde, prep, beyond, 141,

146, 158, 287, 981, 1156.

OE. begeondan.
by-hod, see 003.
byholde, inf. behold, 810.

OE. bihaldan ; cp. halde.
bylde (i), n. building, 727,

963; cp. OE. byldan.
bylde (2), pt. 3 pl. encour
aged, stirred up, 123.

OE. bieldan.
byrKe], birth, 1041. ON.

byr5; see whate?.
bysech, inf. beseech, 390;

cp. sech.
byseme, v. impers. inf.

befit, 310; cp. semed.
by-swyke^, pr. i s. defraud,

568. OE. beswican.
by-ta3te, pt. i s. committed,

1207. OE. betsecan; cp.

tech.
byte, inf. bite, 640; seize

upon, 355. OE. bltan.
by-twene, adv. around, 44;

prep, between, 140, 658.

OE. bitweonum.
by-twyste, prep, betwixt,

464. OE. betweox.

184

PEARL.

bytyde, inf. befal, 397. OE.

tldan, with pref. be.
byye, see bye.

caggen, pr. 3 pi. fasten,

bind, 512; (origin doubt
ful; ? cp. catch).
ca3t, pt. 3 s. seized, 50;

ca3te, 237. O. North F.

cachier ; ME. cacchen,

ca3t, on analogy with

la^t, fr. lacchen.
calder, see colde.
calle, inf. 173, 182, 721;

pr. i pi. 430; pt. 3 s.

called, 542; calde, 762;

pp. called, 273; calle[d],

572. ON. kalla; cp. by-

calle.
calsydoyne, chalcedony,

1003. OF. calcidoine.
cambe, n. comb, 775. OE.

camb.

can, see con (i).
care, n. 50, 371, 86 1 ; pi.

care?, 808. OE. caru.
carpe, inf. speak, 949;

carp[e], 381; pt. 3 *•

carpe[d], 752. ON. karpa.
Carpe, n. discourse, 883.

ON. karpa, vb.
cas, case, 673. OF. cas.
Caste, intention, 1163; cp.

ON. v. kasta, to throw,

meditate.
castel - walle, 917- OF-

castel ; cp. wal.
cause}, pi. 702. OF. cause.
cayre, ger. inf. proceed,

1031. ON. keyra.

cete, see cyte.

ceuer, inf. attain, 319.

OF. cuvrer, cuevr-.
chace, inf. 443. OF.

chacier; cp. enchace.
chambre, 904. OF. chambre.
chapel, 1062. OF. chapel.
charde, pt. 3 pi. turned,

608. OE. cerran.
chary te, 470. OF. charite.
chayere, chair, throne, 885.

OF. chaiere.
chere, cheer, mien, 407,

887, 1109. OF. chiere,

chere.

ches, chese, see chos.
cheuentayn, chieftain, 605.

OF. chevetaine.
Chos, pt. i 5. chose, 187;

3«. ches, 759; chese, 954;

pp. ichose, 904. OE.

ceosan.
chyche, niggard, 605. OF.

chiche.
chyde, inf. chide, blame,

403. OE. cidan.
chylde, 723; pi- chylder,

714, 718. OE. cild, cildru.
cite, see cyte.
clad, 22. OE. claSod.
clambe, see clym.
clanly, adv., nobly, chastely,

2. OE. claenlice ; cp. clene.
clem, inf. claim, 826. OF.

claimer.
clene, pure, 227, 289, 682,

737, 969, 972 ; adv. per
fectly, 754, 767; cor
rectly, 949. OE. clsene;

cp. clanly.

GLOSSARY.

185

Clente, pp. clenched,

riveted, 259. OE. *clen-

can (not found) ; cp. MHG.

klenken.
Cler, adj. clear, pure, bright,

74, 207, 227, ion, mi ;

clere, 2, 620, 737; adv.

cler, 274, 882, 913; n.

clearness, 1050. OF.

cler.

clerke?, 1091. OF. clerc.
cleuen, see clyuen.
clos, adj. enclosed, set, 2 ;

closed, shut, 183; secure,

(?) shut in, 512. OF. clos,

pp. o/clore; cp. enclose.
Close, inf. 271 ; pt. 3 s.

closed, 803. OF. clos, pp.

o/clore; cp. clos.
Clot, clay, 22, 320; ground,

789 ; £/. clotte3, 857. OE.

clott, clot.
cloystor, 969. Cp. Low

L. claustura.
clyffe, cliff, 159; pi. klyfe?,

66; klyff63, 74- OE.

clif.
clym, inf. climb, 1072 ;

klymbe, 678; pt. 2 s.

Clambe, 773. OE. clim-
ban.
clynge, pr. 3 pi. shrink, 857.

OE. clingan.
clypper, shearer, 802; cp.

ON. v. klippa.
Clyuen, inf.. remain, 1196;

pr. 3 pi. cleuen, rise, 66.

OE. clifian, cleofian.
cnawyng, knowledge, 859;

cp. knaw.

cnoken, pr. 3 pi. knock,

727. OE. cnucian, (ge)-

cnocian; cp. ON. knoka.

cofer, coffer, 259. OF.

cofre.
colde, adj. 50, 808; comp.

calder, 320. OE. cald.
colour, beauty, 215, 753;

color, 22. OF. colour.
com, inf. come, 676;
comfe], 701; 3 s. coni
ng, 848; imp. s. cum,
763 ; pt. i s. come,
582 ; com, 615; 3 s.
155, 230, 262, 645, 749;
pi. 574; pt. 2 s. subj.
598; 3 s. 723, 724.
OE. cuman; cp. by-
com.
come, n. coming, 1117.

OE. cyme.

comfort, n. 55; comforte,
357 ; coumforde, 369.
OF. con-, cunfort.
comly, fair, 775; cumly,
929; adv. comly, 259.
OE. cymlic.
commune, adj. common,

739. OF. comun.
compas, circuit, 1072. OF.

compas.
compayny, 851. OF. com-

paignie.

con (i), can, does; pr. i s.
931; 2s. 769135. 294,495,
665, etc.; can, 499;
2 pi. con, 381, 914 ; conne,
521 ; 3 pi. con, 509, 1078 ;
pt. i s. cow>e, 134; 2 s.
cow>63, 484; 3 s.

1 86

PEARL.

95 ; 3 pi. 855. OE. cun-
nan, cann, cufte.

con (2) did, i s. 81, 147,
149, etc.; 2 s. 313, 777,
1183; cone?, 482, 909,
925; 3 s. in, 171, 173,
etc.; 3 pi. 78, 551; orig.
for gan (pt. of ginnan),
used for auxiliary ' did',
attracted to, and confused
with, can, con (cunnan,
' to be able ') , and ac
cordingly used as pres
ent and past auxiliaries
in sense of 'do' and
' did/

conciens, consciousness,
1089. OF. conscience.

conne, see con (i).

contryssyoun, contrition,
669. OF. contriciun.

coppe, see hyl-coppe.

corne, 40. OE. corn.

coroun, 237, 255 ; coroune,
crown, 205 ; croune,
427; croun, noo; pi.
coroune3, 451. OF. co-
rone.

eorouncle, pt. 3 s. crowned,
415; pp. 480; coronde,
767,1101. OF. coroner.

corse, body, 320; pi. corses,
857. OF. cors.

cortayse, courteous, 433 ;
corte?, 754. OF. cor-
teis; cp. vn-cort[a]yse.

cortaysly, courteously, 381.

cortaysye, courtesy, 432,
444,456,468;cortays[y]e,
469, 480, 481; cour-

taysye, 457. OF. cor-

tesie.

corte, see court,
cortel, kirtle, 203. OE.

cyrtel.

corte?, see cortayse.
coruen, see keruen.
coumforde, see comfort.
counsayl[e], course, state

of being, 319. AF. cun-

seil.
counterfete, inf. resemble,

556. OF. contrefait, pp.

of contrefaire.
countes, countess, 489. OF.

cuntesse.
countre, 297. OF. coun-

tree.
court, 445; corte, 701. OF.

cort, curt.

courtaysye, see cortaysye.
cou^e, cowj^e, see con (i).
couenaunt, 562 ; couen-

aunde, 563. OF. cove
nant.
crafte?, powers, 356, 890.

OE. craeft.
craue, inf. crave, 663. OE.

crafian.
Crede, the Creed, 485. L.

credo.
cresse, cress, 343. OE.

cresse.
creste, crown, 856. OF.

creste.
croke}, pi. reaping-hooks,

sickles, 40. ON. krokr.
croun, croune, sec coroun.
[cjryed, pp. cried, 702. OF.

crier.

GLOSSARY.

187

crysolyt, chrysolite, 1009.

G. xpvff6\i6os, the gold-

coloured stone.
crysopase, chrysoprase, a

golden green stone, 1013.

gold, Trpdcrov, leek; L.

chrysoprassus, chryso-

passus ; OF. cryso-

prasse, crisopase.
crystal, 74, 159. OF.

cristal.

Crystes, see Kryst.
cum, see com.
cumly, see comly.
cure, n. care, charge, 1091.

OF. cure.
cyte, city, 792, 939, 1023;

cete, 927, 952 ; cite, 1097 ;

cyty, 986. OF. cite".

dale?, 121. OE. dael.
dam, n. stream, 324 ; cp.

OFris. dam ; ON.

dammr; OE. -demman.
dampned, pp. condemned,

641. OF. dampner.
damysel, 489 ; damyselle,

361. OF. dameisele,

damisele.
dar, pr. i s. dare, 1089;

pt. i s. dorst, 143; dorste,

182. OE. dear, dorste.
dare, inf. lie low, fear,

839; pt. 3 s- dard, 609;

cp. LG. (be)daren; Sw.

dasa, to lie idle ; E. daze.
dased, pp. dazed, 1085.

ON. dasa(sk), to daze

oneself.

date, end, goal, 492, 493,
516,528, 540,541; [date],
529 ; appointed season,
504, 505 ; fixed time
(?) = dawn, 517 ; pi. dates,
dates, 1040. OF. date.

daunce, pr. 2 s. subj., 345.
OF. dancer.

daunger, subjection, de
pression, 250. OF. dan
ger ; LL. *domniarium ;
cp. luf-daungere.

Dauid, 698, 920.

day, 486, 510, 516, etc.;
daye, 5*7> 541. J2io;
gen. s. daye?, 533.
554; pi. 416; dawe?,
282. OE. daeg, dagas.

day-glem, day-gleam, sun
light, 1094 ; cp. glem.

dayly, inf. hazard, dally
(with words), 313. AF.
dalier; OF. dallier; cp.
prov. G. dahlen, to trifle.

debate, discussion, dispute,
390. OF. debat.

debonere, 162. OF. de-
bonere.

de-bonerte", gentleness, 798.
OF. debonairete.

declyne, inf. droop, 333
de-clyne, bend, yield, con
sent, 509. OF. decliner.

dede (i), adj. dead, 31.
OE. dead.

dede (2), n. deed, 481, 524.
OE. dsed.

de-gres, pi. steps, 1022.
OF. degre.

del, dele, see doel.

188

PEARL.

dele, pr. 3 s. subj. deal,
606. OE. daelan.

delf ully, grievously, 706 ;
cp. doel.

delyt, n. delight, 642, 1104,
1105, 1116, etc.; delit,
1129. OF. delit.

delyuered, pt. 3 s. delivered,
652. OF. delivrer.

deme, inf. deem, judge, de
clare, 336, 348, 360,
1183; dem[e], 312; pr.
2 s. dome?, 325, 337J
imp. s. deme, 313. 349;
pr. 3 s. subj. deme, 324;
pt. i s. demed, 361.
OE. deman; cp. dom.

demme, inf. be dammed,
checked, 223. OE. (for-)
demman ; cp. dam.

dene, valley, 295. OE.
denu.

denned, pt. 3 s. resounded,
51. OE. dynian; cp.
dyne.

dep, see depe (2).

departed, pt. i pi. separated,
378. OF. departir.

depaynt, pp. depicted, ar
rayed, 1 102. OF. de-
peint; cp. paynted.

depe (i), n. pi. depths,
waters, 109. OE. deop.

depe (2), adj. deep, 143,
intense, 215 ; adv. dep,
406. OE. deop, deope.

depres, inf. vanquish, 778.
OF. depresser.

depryue, inf. 449. OF. de-
priver.

dere (i), adj. beloved, pre
cious, wonderful, 72, 85,

97, etc. ; adv. 733. OE.

deore.
dere (2), inf. harm, 1157.

OE. derian.

derely, wondrously, 995.
dere^, pi. hindrances, 102.

OE. n. daru, v. derian;

cp. dere (2).
derk, dark, darkness, 629.

OE. deorc.
der>e, beauty, 99. OE.

deore =dere-j- -\>suff.; cp.

ON. dyrS-.cp. dere(i);
derworth, wonderful, 109.

OE. deorwurSe.
dese, dais, 766. OF. deis.
desserte, n. desert, 595. OF.

desserte.
dessypele?, disciples, 715.

OF. disciple.
destyn6, destined beloved

one, 758. OF. destinee.
determynable, determined,

fixed, 594. OF. deter-

minable.
deth, death, 323, 630, 652,

656; dethe, 860. OE.

deal?.
deuely, deaf-like, dull, OE.

*deaflic ; ON. daufligr.
deuise, inf. picture. 1129;

pr. 3 s. deuyse3, 984, 995 ;

pt. 3 s. deuysed, 1021.

OF. deviser.
deuote, devout, 406. OF.

devot.
deuoyde, inf. drive away,

15. OF. desvoidier.

GLOSSARY.

189

deuyse, device," 139; at my
deuyse, in my opinion,
199. OF. devise.

deuysed, deuyse?, see deuise.

deuysement, portrayal,
1019. OF. devisement.

dewyne, pr. i s. pine, 1 1 ;
dowyne, 326. O dwi-
nan.

do, doe, 345. OE. da.

do, do, 338, 496, etc.;
cause, 1 02, 306, etc. ;
put, 366, 1042; do way,
cease, 718; inf. 424, 496,
etc.; done, 914 ; pr. 1 5. do,
366 ; 2 s. and 3 s. dot?, 338,
556, 17, 293, etc.; 3 pi.
don, 511; imp. pi. do,
718 ; dot?, 521, 536 ; pt. 3 s.
did, 102, 1138; dyt, 681;
3 pi. dyden, 633, pt.
3 s. subj. dyd, 3°6; pp.
don, 250, 282, etc. ; done,
1042. OE. don.

doc, duke, 211. OF. due.

doel, grief.336,339,642 ; used
attributively, 337 ; del,
250; dele, 51; dol, 326;
OF. doel, duel, dol; cp.
delfully.

doel-doungoun, dungeon of
grief, 1187. OF. donjon ;
LL. domnionem keep-
tower; cp. doel.

dole, part, 136. OE. dal.

dom, mind, judgment, 157,
223, 667 ; dome, 580, 699,
OE. dom; cp. deme.

dorst, dorste, see dar.

dot?, see do.

double, 202. OF. double.
doun (i), adv. down, 30, 41,

125, etc.; prep. 196, 230;

cp. adoun.
doun (2), hill, 121 ; pi.

downe?, 73, 85. OE.

dun.

doungoun, see doel-doun
goun.
dousour, sweetness, 429.

OF. dou9or.
doute, n. doubt, 928. OF.

doute.
douth, doughty one, 839.

OE. duguj>.
dowyne, see dewyne.
dra?, imp. s. draw 699;

pt. 3 pi. dro?, 1116;

pp. drawen, 1193- OE.

dragan ; cp. o-drawe?,

wyth-dro}.
died, pt. i s. feared, 186.

OE. (on)dr£edan.
drede, n. dread, 181; wyth-

outen drede, without

doubt, 1047; from v.

drede.
diem, n. dream, 790, 1170.

OE. dream.
dresse, inf. ordain, 495 ; pp.

drest, directed, drawn,

860. OF. dresser.
dreue, inf. go, 323 ; pt. i s.

dreued, 980. OE.drafan.
drof, see dryue.
dro?, see dra?.
drounde, pt. 3 s. drowned,

656 ; cp. Dan. drukne,

droune =• OE. druncnian,

ON. drukkna.

190

PEARL.

drwry, dreary, 323. OE.
dreorig.

dry?e, incessant, 823. ON.
drjugr.

dry3ly, continuously, stead
ily, 125, 223; cp. dry^e.

Dry^tyn, Lord, 324, 349.
OE. dryhten.

dryue, pr. 3 s. subj. drive,
1094; pt. 3 s. drof, 3°.
1153; pp- dryuen, 1194-
OE. drlfan; cp. out-dryf.

dubbed, pp. adorned, 73,
202; dubbet, 97- OF.
adouber.^ofr. of Germanic
orig. ; cp. Norw. dubba,
to nod, Fris. dubben, to
strike ; cp. dubbement.

dubbement, adornment,
121 ; dubbemente, 109.
OF. adoubement ; cp.
adubbement.

due, 894. OF. deu.

dunne,dark, 30. OE. dunn.

durande, lasting, 336. OF.
durer.

dyche, water-course, 607.
OE. die; dat. dice.

dyd, dyden, see do.

dy36, inf. die, 306, 642;
pt- 3 s. dy3ed, 828 ; dyed,
705. ( ?) ON. deyja.

dyst, inf. order, 360; pp.
adorned, 920, 987 ; dy3te,
202. OE. dihtan.

dylle, dull, slow, 680; cp.
OE. dol.

dym, 1076. OE. dim.

dyne, din, 339. OE. dyne;
cp. denned.

dyscreuen, inf. descry, 68.

OF. descrivre.
dysplese3, pr. 3 s. displeases,

455 .' imp. s. be not

displeased, 422. OF.

desplaisir.
dyssente, pr. 3 pi. descend,

627. OF. descendre.
dystresse, «. distress, 280,

337, dysstresse, 898. OF.

destresse; cp. stresse.
dystryed, pt. 3 pi. destroyed,

124. OF. destruire.
dyt, see do.

efte, again, 328, 332. OE.

eft.
ellC3, else, 32, 130, 491, 567,

724. OE. elles.
emerad, n. emerald, 118;

emerade, 1005. OF.

esmeraud.
emperise, empress, 441.

OF. emperesse.
empyre, 54. OF. empire,
enchace, inf. pursue, 173.

OF. enchacier; cp.cha.ce.
enclose, inf. enclose, con
tain, 909. OF- enclos,

pp. of enclore; cp. clos.
enclyin, adj. prostrate, 1206.

OF. enclin.
en-clyne, inf. bow 630; pr.

p. enclynande, 236. OF.

encliner.
encres, inf. increase, 959.

OF. encreistre.
encroched, pt. 3 s. obtained,

brought, 1117. OF. en-

crochier ; cp. acroche.

GLOSSARY.

191

adv. perfectly,

without end, 738. OE.

endeleas.
endent, pp. notched, cut

into, inlaid, 1012; en-

dente, 629. L. inden
ture,
endorde, pp. used as n.

adored, 368. OF. adorer,

earlier aorer.
endure, inf. 225; endeure,

1082; pp. endured, 476-

OF. endurer.
endyte, pr. 3 pi. proclaim,

give forth, 1126. OF.

enditer.
ene (i), adv. ; at ene, at one

time, 291, 953. OE. aene.
[ene] (2), see 730.
enle, singly, 849. OE.

senile.
enleuenj>e, eleventh, 1014.

OE. endlyfta; cp. endlu-

fon, endleofan.
enpr[y]se, renown, 1097.

OF. enprise.
ensens, n. incense, 1122.

OF. encens.
entent, intention, purpose,

1191. OF. entent.
enter, inf. 966; pr. 3 s.

entre^ 1067; pt. i s.

entred, 38. OF. entrer.
enurned, pp. adorned, 1027.

OF. aorner.
er, conj. before, 188, 224,

324, etc.; prep. 517; adv.

first, 319; formerly, 372;

ere, 164. OE. fer.
erber, herb-garden, garden.

38, 1171; erbere, 9- OF.

herbier.
erde, land, country, 248.

OE. card,
ere (i), seeQi.
ere (2), n. ear, 1153. OE.

eare.

erle, earl, 211. OE. eorl.
erly, adv. early, 392, 506.

OE. serlice.

errour, n. 402. OF. errour.
erj>e, see vr)>e.
erytage, see herytage.
eschaped, pt. 3 s. subj.

escaped from, evaded,

187. OF. eschaper.
ej?e, easy, 1202. OE. ea'Se.
euel, adv. ill, 310 930. OE.

yfele.
euen (i), adv. exactly, 740.

OE. efne.
euen (2), inf. vie, compare,

1073. OE. efn(i)an.
euen-songe, evensong, ves
pers, 529. OE. afef ensang ;

cp. songe (i).
euentyde, n. 582. OE.

aefentid.
euer, adv. ever, 144, 153,

180, etc. OE. aefre.
euer-more, adv. 591, 666,

1066; cp. much,
excused pp. 281. OF. ex-

cuser.
ezpoun, pr.is. set forth, 37.

OF. espondre.
expresse, adv .positively, dis
tinctly, 910. OF. expres.

fable, 592. OF. fable.

192

PEARL.

face, 67, 169, 434, 809;

fa[c]e, 675. OF. face.
fader, father, 639, 736 ; gen.

s. fadere}, 872. OE.

faeder; cp. ?ore-fader.
fa3t, pt. 3 pi. fought, 54.

OE. feohtan, feaht.
fande, see fynde.
farande, plausible, fitting,

865. OE. faran; cp.

fare (2).
fare (i), n. demeanour, 832.

OE. faer.
fare (2), inf. go, 147 ; pr. 3 s.

fares, 129; i pi. fare to,

behave towards, 467.

OE. faran; cp. farande.
fasoun, form, manner, 983,

noi. OF. fa9on.
faste, adv. determinedly, 54,

150. ON. fast; cp. OE.

faest, firm; cp. feste.
fasure, form, 1084; fasor,

431. OF. faisure.
fate?, pr. 3 s. fades, 1038.

OF. fader.

faunt, child, 161. OF. en
fant.
fauour, grace, 428; fauor,

968. OF. favour.
fax, hair, 213. OE. feax.
faye, faith, 263; par ma

fay, 489- OF. fei.
fayly, inf. fail, 34; fayle,

317; pt. 3 s. fayled, 270.

OF. faillir.
fayn, glad, 393, 450. OE.

fas gen.
fayr, adj. fair, 147, 490, 810;

fayre, 169, 177, 747, 1024

(see Note), etc.; comp.

fei[r]er,io3; arfv.fayr,7i4;

fayre, 88, 884. OE. faeger.*-
fech, inf. fetch, 1158^5?.'

3 s. subj. feche, 847. OE.

feccan.
fede, pp. blighted, 29. ON.

feyja.

fei[r]er, see fayr.
fel, pt. i s. fell, 1174; felle,

57; 3 pi. 1 120. OE.

feallan, feoll ; cp. byfalle.
felde, pt. i s. felt, 1087. OE.

felan.
fele, many, 21, 439, 716,

etc. OE. fela.
felle, adj. fell, 367, 655.

OF. fel.
felon[e], crime, 800. OF.

felonie.
fenyx, phoenix, 430. OE.

fenix.
fer, adv. far, 334, 1076;

comp. fyrre, 103, 127,

152, 347, etc. OE. feor,

fyrr; cp. fyrre, adj.
fere, company; in fere,

together, 89, 884, 1105.

OE. (ge)fer.
fere} (i), n. companions,

1150. OE. (ge)fera.
fere} (2), pr. 3 s. transports,

98 ; pp. f eryed, 946. OE.

ferian.
ferly, wondrous, 1084; used

as n. wonder, 1086. OE.

fjferllc.

f eryed, see fere?,
feste, feast ; mafeste, 283, to

make merry. OF. feste.

GLOSSARY.

193

fete, see fote.

fewe, few, 572. OE. feawe.
fla3t, sod, 57; cp. ON.

flag.
flake, n. fold, 947. ON.

flaki, a hurdle.
flambe, inf. flame, shine,

769; pr. p. flaumbande,

90. OF. flamber.
flauore}, pi. flavours, scents,

87. OF. flaveur.
flayn, see fly3e.
fle, inf. flee, 294. OE.

fleon.
fle36, pt. 3 s. flew, 431 ; pi.

flowen, 89. OE. fleogan,

fleah.
fleme, pr. 3 s. subj. drive,

334. OE. fleman; cp.

out-fleme.
flesch, 306; f[l]esch, 958.

OE. fl£sc.

fleschly, 1082. OE.flaescllc.
flet, floor, 1058. OE. flet.
fleten, pr. pi. flow, 2 1 ; pt.

3 s. flot, 46. OE. fl€otan,

flotian.
flode (i), n. flood, river,

water, 736, 1058; pi.

flode}, 874. OE. flod.
flok, n. flock, company, 947.

OE. flocc.
flonc, pt. i s. flung, 1165.

(?) ON. flmga; cp. ON.

flengja; Sw. flanga.
flor, n. flower, 29, 962 ; flour,

426; pi. flowre}, 208.

OF. flour, flor.
flor-de-lys, 195 ; flour-de-

lys,753- OF. flour-de-lys.
o

flot (i), n. company, 786;

flote, 946. OF. flote.
flot (2), see fleten.
floty, watery, 127. Cp.

OF. pre flotis.
flour, see flor.
floury, flowery, 57.
flowen, see fle36.
flowred, pt. 3 s. 270. OF.

florir.

flowre?, see flor.
flurted, pp. figured, 208 ; cp.

OF. fleurete.
fly?e, inf. flay, 813; pp.

flayn, 809. OE. flean.
flyte, inf. chide, 353. OE.

flitan.

fode, food, 88. OE. foda.
folde (i), n. land, 334, 736.

OE. folde.
folde (2), inf. bend, 813;

pp. enfolded, 434. OWS.

fealdan; OMerc. faldan.
folded, pt. s. followed, 127,

654; pr. p. folewande,

1040. OE. folgian.
fon, see fyne (2).
fonde (i), inf. seek, try,

prove, 150, 939; OE.

fandian.

fonde (2), fonte, see fynde.
fonge, inf. receive, take,

479 ; pr. 3 pl- fong63, 439 ;

pt. 3 pl. fonge, 884. OE.

fon, fangen.
for (i), conj. 269, 321, 343,

etc; [f]or, 700. OE.for,

prep.
for (2), prep. 50, 99, 1050,

etc. ; fore, 734. OE. for.

194

PEARL.

orbede, pr. 3 5. sub}, forbid,

379. OE, forbeodan.
for-brent, pp. burnt up,

1139. OE. forbernan.

ON. brenna; cp. brende.
for-didden, pt. 3 pi. did

away with, 124. OE.

fordon, -dyde; cp. do.
for-do[k]ked, pp. despoiled,

robbed, n; see Note.
foreste, 67. OF forest.
forfete, inf. forfeit, 639 pt.

35. subj. forfeted, 619.

OF. forfet, a fine for

transgression.
for-garte, pp. forfeited, 321.

ON. fyrirgdra; cp. gare.
for-go, inf. 328 ; pr. 3 s. for-

gOS, 340. OE. forgan;

cp. gon.
for-36te, inf. forget 36.

OE. forgietan.
forhede}, foreheads, 871.

OE. forheafod.
for-lete, pt. i s. lost, 327.

OE. forlfetan; cp. let.
fcrlonge, furlongs, 1030.

OE. furlang.
forloyne, pr. i 5. subj. go

astray, err, 368. OF.

porloignier.
forme (i), adj. first, 639.

OE. forma.
forme (2), «. 1209. OF.

forme.
formed, pt. 3 s. 747. OF.

former.

for-payned, pp. severely tor
mented, 246. OF. peiner,

with pref. \ cp. E. f orpined.

forsake, inf. 743. OE.

forsacan.
forser, treasure chest, 263.

OF. forsier.
for-so>e, forsooth, 21, 292.

OE. for soSe ; cp. soth.
forth, 98, 101, 510, 980,

1116. OE. for]>.
fortune, 129, 306; fortwne,

98. OF. fortune.
forty, 786, 870. OE.

feowertig.

for>e, ford, 150. OE, ford.
for->y, therefore, 137, 234,

701, 845. OE. for Sy.
fote, foot, 161, 350, 970;

pi. fete, 1 1 20. OE. fot;

pi. fet.
f ounce, bottom, 113. OF.

funz.

foundemente?, see funda
ment.

founden, see- fynde.
fowlea, birds, 89. OE.

fugol.
fowre, four, 870, 886. OE.

feower; cp. fur]>e.
foysoun, n. abundance,

used as adj. 1058. OF.

foison.
fraunchyse, freedom, 609.

OF. franchise.
frayne3, pr. 3 s. asks,

129. OE. fregnan.
frayste, pt. i s. scanned,

169. ON. freista.
fre, adj. free, liberal, 481,

796 ; adv. 299. OE. freo.
frech, adj, fresh, 87; used

as n. 195. OE, fersc.

GLOSSARY.

195

freles, blameless, immacu
late, 431; cp. ON.

fryjulauss.
frely, adj. free, noble, used

as n. 1155. OE.

freollc.
frende, friend, 558, 1204.

OE. freond.
freuch, joyous, 1086; see

Note.
fro, adv. 347 ; conj. since,

251, 375, 958; prep. 10,

13, 46, etc. ; fro me warde,

from me, 981. ON. fra;

cp. warde.
frount, forehead, 177. OF.

front,
frym, vigorously, 1079. OE.

freme.
fryt, fruit 894; fryte, 29;

pi. fryte3, 87, 1078. OF.

fruit.
fryth, forest, 89, 98, 103.

OE. frij>.
ful, adj. 1098; adv. 28, 42,

50, etc. OE. full.
fundament, foundation,

1010; pi. foundemente?,

993. OF. funde-

ment.
fur])e, fourth, 1005. OE.

feorSa ; cp. fowre.
fyf, five, 849; fyue, 451-

fyfj>e,' fifth 1006. OE.

fifta.
fygure, 170, 747; form,

shape, 1086. OF. figure.

" , gold thread, 106.

OF. fil d'or.

fytye, filth, 1060. OE.

fyl|>; cp. vnde-fylde.
fyn, fine, 106; finished,

perfect, 170; fyin, 1204.

OF. fin.
fynde, pr. i s. find, 150; pr.

3 5. fynde}, 508, 514; pt.

i s. fande, 871 ; pp. fonde,

283 ; fonte,i 70, 327 ; foun-

den, 1203. OE. findan;

cp. fonde (i).
fyne (i), n. finish, 635. OF.

fin.
fyne (2), pr. i s. cease, 328;

imp. sing. 353; pt. 3 s.

fon, 1030. OF. finer.
fynger, 466. OE. finger.
fyr[c]e, fierce, 54. OF. fers,

fiers.
fyrre, adj. further, 148. OE.

feorr, fyrra; adv. see

fer.
fyrst, adj. 570, 571 ; fyrst[e],

486, 549, 999, 1000;

fyrste, 548; adv. 316,

583, 1042; fyrste, 638.

OE. fyrst.
fyue, see fyf.

Galalye, 817.

galle, (i) scum, 1060;

gawle, bitterness, 463.

OE. gealla; ON. gall. "
galle (2) flaw, 189, 915.

ON. galli.

gardyn, 260. OF. gardin.
gare, inf. cause, 331; pt.

3 s- gart, 1151; 3

pi. garten, 86. ON.

gera.

196

PEARL.

garlande, diadem, crown,

1 1 86. OF. garlande.
gate, way, 395, 526, 619;

pi. gates, streets, 1106.

ON. gata.

gaue, gawle, see gyue, galle.
gay, adj. 1124, 1 1 86; gaye,

7, 260; used as n. gay,

189; gaye, 433- OF.

gai.
gayn, against, 138. OE.

gegn.
gayne?, pr. 3 *• gains, 343.

ON. gegna.
gef, see gyue.
gele, inf. tarry, 931. OE.

gaelan.
gemme, gem, 118, 219, 266,

etc. ; pi. gemme.?, 7, 253,

991. OF. gemme.
generaeyoun, 827; OF.

generacion.
gent, fair, gentle, 1014,

1134; gente, 118, 253,

265. OF. gent.
gentyl, adj. gentle, 264,

278, 605, 883, etc.; used

as n. 602; gentyle, 632.

OF. gentil.
gesse, inf. guess, think out,

499; cp. Dan. gissa.
geste, guest, 277. OE.

gaest.
gete, inf. get, obtain, 95.

ON. geta; cp. reget.
gilofre, gillyflower, 43. OF.

girofre.
glace, inf. glide, 171. OF.

glacer.
glade, glad, 136, 1144;

comp. gladder, 231 ; sup.

gladdest, 1109. OE.

glsed.
glade?, pr. 3 s. gladdens,

86 1 ; pr. p. gladande,

171. OE. gladian.
Gladne?, Gladness, 136.
glas, glass, 114, 990, 1018;

glasse, 1025, 1106. OE.

glaes.
glauere?, pr. 3 pi. deceive,

688.

glayre, amber, 1026.
glayue , sword. 654 . OF.glaive.
gle, music, joy, 95, 1123.

OE. gleo.
glem, n. gleam, 79. OE.

gleem; cp. day-glem.
glemande, pr. p. gleaming,

70, 990.
glene, inf. glean, 955. OF.

glener.
glent, pt. 3 s. shone, 70,

1026; glente, 1001;

glanced aside, 671; pt.

pi. glent, 1 1 06. Sw.

glanta; cp. glente.
glente, n. light, 114; pi.

glente?, glances, 1144;

cp. glent.

glet, mire, 1060. OF. glette.
glod, see glyde?.
glode?, clear patches in the

sky between clouds, 79;

cp. ON. glaftr, shining,

solar-glaSan, sunset; OE.

glaed, shining; OE. 'sunne

gS> to glade'; Orkney

dial, glode ; cp. E. glade,

glode.

GLOSSARY.

197

glory, 7°, I7I» 934. 959,

1123. OF. glorie.
gloryous, adj. 799, 915;

used as adv. 1144.

OF. glorious.
glowed, pt. 3 pi. 114. OE.

glowan.
glyde}, pr. 3 s. glides, 79;

pt. 3 pi. glod, 1105. OE.

glidan.
gly?t, pt. 3 pi. shone, 114.

ON. glia; cp. aglyjte.
glymme, radiance, 1088 ;

cp. OE. gleornu; Sw.

glimma, to shine.
glysnande, pr. p. glistening,

165, 1018. OE. glisnian.
go, see gon.
God, 314. 342, 379, etc.;

gen. s. Gode?, 63, 601,

822, etc. ; Godde;, 591,

1193. OE. Gcd.
god, good, 310, 674, 1202;

goude, 568, 818; used as

n. goud, 33; goude, 33;

goods, goud, 731; god,

734; sup. best, 1131;

beste, 863 ; used as n.

279; cp. wcl. OE.

god.

God-hede, Godhead, 413.
god-nesse, goodness, 493.
golde, n. gold, 2, 165, 213,

989, 1025; g[ol]de, mi.

OE. gold.
golden, golden, 1106;

changed from gulden, OE.

gylden.
golf, whirlpool, deep water,

608. OF. golfe.

gome, man, 231, 697. OE.

guma.
gon, inf. go, 820 ; pr. 3 s.

got3, 365; 3 PL 5io;

pr. 3 s. subj. go, 53°;

imp. s. 559; pi. gos,

521; got?, 535; pt. 3 s.

3ede, 526, 1049; 3 pi.

713; PP. gon, 63, 376.

OE. gan, geeode; cp.

vmbe-gon, for-go.
gos, see gon.

gospel, 498. OE. godspel.
goste, spirit, 63, 86. OE.

gist,
gostly, spiritual, 185, 790.

OE. gastllc.
gote, n. stream, 934; pi.

gote?, 608; cp. MDu. n.

gote; OE. v. geotan, pp.

go ten.

got?, see gon.
goud, goude, see god.
grace, grace, Divine favour,

63, 194, 425, etc. OF.

grace.
gracios, beautiful, full of

grace, 189; grac[i]os, 95;

grac[i]ous, 934; with adv.

force, 260. OF. gracious.
grauayl, gravel, 81. OF.

gravele.
graunt, permission, 317;

from OF. v. graunter.
graye, adj. 254. OE. graeg.
grayne}, pi. grain, 31. OF.

grain.
gray^ely, fittingly, 499.

ON. greiSliga.
Grece, Greece, 231.

198

PEARL.

greffe, grief, 86. OF.

gref.
greme, anger, 465. ON.

gremi.
grene, adj. green, 38, 1001,

1005. OE. grene.
gresse, grass, 10, 245; blade

of grass, 31. OE. grass.
gret, adj. great, 250, 330,

511, etc., [gret], 1104;

grete, 90, 237, 280, 470,

637. OE. great.
grete, inf. weep, 331. OE.

grajtan.
greue (i), n. grove, 321.

OE. grsefa.
greue (2), pr. 3 s. subj.

grieve, 471. OF. grever.
grewe, see grow,
gromylyoun, gromwell, 43.

OF. gremillon, gremil,

gromil.
grounde (i), n. earth, 10,

81, 434, 1173; founda
tion, 372, 384, 396, 408,

420. OE. grund.
grounde (2), see grynde.
grouelyng, adv. prostrate,

1120; cp. ON. a grufu,

supinus; ME. (a) gruf,

with adv. suff. -ling.
grow, inf. 31; pt. 3 5.

grewe, 425. OE. growan.
grym, grim, 1070. OE.

grim.
grymly, cruelly, 654. OE.

grimllce.
grynde, inf. grind, 81 ;

pp. grounde, 654. OE.

grindan.

gryste, spite, 465. OE.

grist.
gulte, guilt, 942 ; pi. gyite?,

655. OE. gylt.
gyfte, gift, 565; pi. gyfte?,

607. OE. gift; ON. gipt.
gyle, guile, 671, 688. OF.

guile.
gylte3, see gulte.
gyltle3, adj. used as n. 668 ;

gy[l]tl63, 799- OE. gylt-

leas.
gyltyf, guilty, 669. OE.

gyltig; ME. gilti, with

suff. -ive; cp. mornyf.
gyng, company, 455. OE.

genge; ON. gengi.
gyngure, ginger, 43. OF.

gengibre, gengivre.
gyrle, girl, 205; cp. LG.

gor, girl; Norw. gorre,

a small child.
gyse, guise, 1099. OF.

guise.
gyternere, guitar-player, 91.

OF. guiterne, with E.

suff.
gyue, pr. 3 s. subj. give,

grant, 707; gef, 1211;

imp. s. gyf, 543, 546>'

pt. 3 5. gef, 174, 270,

734, 765 ; gaue, 667 ; pp.

g[yjuen, 1190. OE. gie-

fan.
3 are, well, readily, 834.

OE. gearo.
3ate, gate, 728, 1037; pi.

3ate3, 1034, 1065. OE.

geat.
36, see J>ou.

GLOSSARY.

199

3ede, see gon.

3emen, yeomen, 535 ; prob.

OE. *gea-man (not found),

a villager.
3er, year, 1079; 3ere, 503,

505; pl. ser, 483; OE.

gear; cp. to- 3 ere.
36rned, pp. desired, 1190.

OE. geornian.
36t, yet, 19, 46, 145, etc.;

3Cte, 1061. OE. get.
3Cte, inf. grant, allot, 558.

(?) late OE. geatan.
3if, 3yf, see if.
30n, adj. yonder, 693. OE.

geon.
30ng, young, 412; 3onge,

474. 535- OE. geong.
30re, adv. formerly, of yore,

586. OE. geara.
3 ore-fader, forefather, 322;

cp. fader.
3ys, yes, yea, verily, 635.

OE. gise.

had, hade, haf, see haue.
hafyng, possession, enrich
ment, 450; cp. angel-

hauyng.
halde, inf. hold, possess,

490; pr. i s. deem, 301;

3 s. hald63, 454J pt. 3 s.

helde, 1002, 1029; pp.

halden, 1191. OE. hal-

dan; cp. byholde.
hale^, pr. 3 s. flows, 125.

OF. haler.
half, 72. OE. healf; cp.

wy]>er-half.
halle, hall, 184. OE. heall.

halte,w. hold^upport, "take
off," 1158. OE. heald.

han, see haue.

happe, good fortune, 16,
713, 1195. ON. happ.

harde, adj. used as n., 606.
OE. heard.

hardyly, boldly, 3; as
suredly, 695. OF. hardi
with E. suff.

harme, n. 68 1 ; pl. harme?,
griefs, 388. OE. hearm.

harmle^, harmless, 676, 725.

harpe, n. harp, 88 1. OE.
hearpe.

harpen, pr. 3 pl. harp, 88 1.
OE. hearpian.

harpore?, harpers, 88 1. OE.
hearpere.

hate (i), adj. hot, 388. OE.
hat.

hate (2), n. hatred, 463.
OE. hete; v. hatian; cp.
ON. hatr.

hated, pp. 402. OE. hatian.

hat}, see haue.

hai'el, man, 676. OE.
aeSele.

haue, inf. have, 132, 661,
928; haf, 194, 1139; pr.
i s. 14, 242, 244; haue,
704, 967; 2 s. hat?, 291,
77°, 935, 971; 3 s. 446,
465, 625, 824, etc.; i pl.
haf, 519, 553; hauen,
859; han, 554; 2 pl.
haf, 257, 917; han, 373;
3 pl. 776; pt. i s. had,
170; hade, 164; 35. had,
1034, 1148; hade, 209,

2OO

PEARL.

476, 502, etc.; 3 pi.
hade, 550; had, 1045;
pt. i s. subj. hade, 134,
1189, 1194; 3 s- IO9°,
1142; 3 pi. 1091; pp.
had, 1140. OE. habban.

hauyng, see angel-hauyng.

hawk, 184. OE. hafoc.

haylsed, pt. 3 s. hailed, 238.
ON. heilsa.

he, pron. pers. nom. s. m.
302, 332, 348, etc. ref. to
jasper, 1001 ; h[e], 479;
dat. ace. hym, 324, 349,
360, etc.; [hym], 690;
n. nom. hit, 10, 13,
30, etc., with pi. verb.
895, H99; hyt, 482;
dat. ace. hit, 41, 46, 160,
etc.; hyt, 270, 271, 283,
284, 677, 914; /. nom. ho,
129, 130, 131, etc.; scho,
758; dat. ace, hyr, 8, 9,
164, etc., hir, 188, 428;
pi. nom. j>ay, 80, 94,
509, etc.; dat. ace. hem,
69, 7° 75, etc.; h[e]m,
635, 715: he[m], 532.
OE. h§; c£.her,hit(2),hys.

hed, hede, see heued.

hede, inf. heed, behold,
1051. OE. hedan.

he^t, see hy3t (i).

[h]eke, also, 210. OE. eac.

helde (i), comp. adv. more
likely; as helde, belike,
1193. ON. heldr; Goth,
haldis; cp. belt, Dial.
Diet, (see Note).

helde (2), see halde.

hele, welfare, 16, 713. OE.

hselu.
helle, hell, 442, 651, 840,

1125; gen. s. 643. OJ

hel; gen. helle.
hem, see he.
hemme, hem, 217; border,

1001. OE. hemm.
hende, ready, quiet, gentle,

184; used as n. hynde,

gracious, 909. OE. (ge)-

hende; cp. ON. hentr.
hente, inf. get, find, 669,

H95; pr. i s. 388. OE.

hentan.
her (i), pron. poss. her, 4,

6, 131, etc.; hir, 22, 191,

197; hyr, 163, 169, 178,

etc. ; cp. he.
her (2), pron. poss. their,

92, 93, 96, etc. ; cp. he.
here (i), adv. 298, 389, 399,

etc.; her, 263, 519. OE.

her.
here (2), inf. hear, 96; pt.

i 5. herde, 873, 879, i

OE. heran.
[h]ere (3), n. hair, 210. OE.

hser, her.

[h]ere (4), see hyre (i).
here-inne, herein, 261, 577;

cp. inne.
herne3, brains, 58. Late OE.

haernes; cp. ON. hjar-

ni; MDu. herne; OHG.

hirni.
herte, heart, 128, 135, 176,

364; hert[e], 17, 51;

hert, 174, 179, 682, 1082,

1136. OE. heorte.

GLOSSARY.

201

herytage, n. 417; erytage,
443. OF. heritage.

heste, commandment, 633.
OE. h£es.

hete (i), w. heat, 554, 643.
OE. haetu.

hete (2), pr. i s. promise,
402; pt.^ s.hy3te,3Q5; hy3t,
was called, 999 ; pi. 950.
OE.hatan,het ; ^ass.hatte.

heterly, fiercely, 402; cp.
MLG. hetter.

hej>en, hence, 231. ON. he-
San.

heue, inf. raise, 314 ; pt. 2 s.
heue, 473. OE. hebban.

heued, head, 459, 465;
source, 974; hede, 1172,
bed, 209. OE. heafod.

heuen (i), heaven, 473, 490,
500, 873, 988, 1126; pi.
heuene3,423, 620 ; heuen},
441 ; g. sg. heuenes, 735.
OE. heofon.

heuen (2), inf. raise, 16.
OE. hafenian.

heuen-ryche, kingdom of
heaven, 719. OE.heofon-
nce; cp. ryche (2).

heuy, heavy, 1180. OE.
hefig.

hider, see hyder.

hJ3e, see hy36.

nil, see hyl.

hir, see he, her (i).

his, see hys.

hit (i), pron. pers., see he.

hit (2), pron. poss. its, 108,
120, 224, 740 ; hyt, 446.

ho, see he.

hoi, complete, 406. OE.

hal.
holte-wode3, woods, 75 ; cp.

wod.
holte3, woods, 921. OE.

holt.
holy (i), adj. holy, 592, 618,

679. OE. halig.
holy (2), adv. wholly, 418;

cp. hol.
homly, adj. belonging to

the household, intimate,

1211; not in OE., cp.

OHG. heimlich.
honde, hand; com on

honde, came to hand, was

perceived, 155; pi. 49,

218; honde3, 706. OE.

hand.
hondelynge3, adv. with one's

hands, 68 1. OE. hand-

linga.

hondred, see hundreth.
hone, inf. remain, be, 921 ;

see Note.
honour, n. 424, 475, 852,

864. OF. hohur.
hope (i), n. 860. OE. hopa.
hope (2), pr. i s. think,

suppose, 225; pt. i s.

hope[d], 142, 185; hoped,

139. OE. hopian.
hornet, horns, mi. OE.

horn.

houre3, see oure (i).
how, 334, 690, 711, 1146.

OE. hu.
hue, n. shout, 873. OF.

hu.
huee, see hwe.

202

PEARL.

hundreth, hundred, 1107;

hundred, 869; hondred,

786. OE. hundred ; ON.

hundraS.

hurt, pp. 1142. OF. hurter.
huyle, clump, applied to

shrubs, hence mound, 41 ;

hyul (see Note), 1205 ;

hylle, 1172.
hwe, hue, 896; huee, 842;

pi. hw63, 90. OE. hiw;

cp. twynne-how.
hyde, skin, 1136. OE. hyd.
hyder, hither, 249, 763 ;

hitler, 517. OE. hider.
hy36, high, 395, 401, 596,

1024, 1051, 1054; hy3[e],

678; hy?, 39; adv.

hy3, 473, 773; hy3e,

454: hi3e, 207. OE.

heah.

(i), n. height,_50i;

hC3t, 1031. OE. heahSu,

hehSu, hiehftu.
hy3t (2), hy3te, see hete (2).
hyl, hill, 789, 979 ; hil, 976 ;

hylle, 678. OE. hyll.
hyl-coppe, hill-top, 791.

OE. copp.
hym, see he.
hymself, pron. reflex. 808,

811, 826; hymself, 680;

emphatic, hym-self, 812,

825, 896, 1134; cp. self,
hynde, see hende.
hyne (monosyllabic], house
hold servants, 505, 632,
121 1. OE. hiwan, gen.

hlna, domestics ; cp.

ON. hju, pi. hjun.

hyr, see he, her (i).

hyre (i), n. wages, hire, 523,

534. 539, 543, 5§3, 587;

( ?) [h]ere, 616 (see Note).

OE. hyr; cp. OFris. her.
hyre (2), inf. hire, 507; pt.

i 5. hyred, 560. OE.

hyrian.
hys, pron. poss. his, 307,

312, 354, etc.; his, 285,

526, 715,819; [h]ys, 5°5;

hys[e], 1133; hysse, 418;

cp. he, hit (2).
hyt, see he, hit (2).
hytte3, pr. 3 s. has the

chance, 132. ON. hitta,

to light upon.
hyul, see huyle.

I, pron. pers. i s. nom. 3,
4, 7, etc.; [I], 81, 363,
977; dat. ace. me, 10,
*3, !9, etc.; nom. pi.
we, 251, 378, 379, etc.;
dat. ace. vus, 454, 520,
552, etc. OE. ic.

ichose, see chos.

if, conj. 147, 264, 265, etc. ;
3if, 45, 662; 3yf, 482.
OE. gif.

like, same, very, 704 ; ilk,
995. OE. ilca.

ille, adv. ill, 681, 1177.
ON. ilia.

in, prep. 2, 5, 8, etc.; on,
881, 1103; into, 30, 61,
224, 366, 627, 1159, 1162,
1174, 1180; [in], 342-
OE. in.

in-lyche, adv. alike, 546;

GLOSSARY.

203

inlyche, 603. OE. gelice;

(ME. ilyche; extended to

in-lyche ; cp. OE. onlice) ;

cp. lyk.
inne, adv. in, 940. OE. inne ;

cp. here-inne.
innocens, innocence, 708 ;

in-oscen[c]e, 672. OF.

innocence.
innocent, adj. used as n.

625, 720; innosent, 684,

696; innossent, 666. OF.

innocent.
in-noghe, adj. enough, 625,

649 ; in-nogh, 66 1 ; adv.

in-noghe, 636; in-no3e,

624 ; in-nogh, 660 ; i-

noghe, 612; i-no3e, 637.

OE. genog.
in-nome, pp. received, 703 ;

cp. [n]e[m].
in-sample,example, parable,

499. OF. ensample.
in-seme, together, 838; cp.

OE. adj. gesom; v. gese-

man.
in-to, prep. 521, 525, 582,

628; to, 231; into, 245,

5°9-

in-wyth, adv. within, 970.
is, see be.
Israel, 1040.
i-wysse, certainly, 151,

1128; iwysse, 394.' i-

wyse, 279. OE. gewis.

jacyngh[t], jacinth, 1014.

OF. jacincte.
jasper, 999, 1026; jasporye,

Toi8(seeNote).OF. jaspre.

Jerusalem, 792, 793, 804,
etc. ; lerusalem, 829.

Jesus, 711, 717, 820; Jesu,
453 ; lesus, 721 ; lesu, 458.

John, 788, 867, etc. ; lohn,
836; Jon, 383, 818; Jhon,
984; J[o]hn, 1020.

jolyf, joyous, fair, 842;
joly, 929- OF. jolif, joli.

joparde, hazard, risk, doubt,
602. OF. jeu parti.

Jordan, 817.

joueler, see jueler.

joy, 234, 395, 796; joye,
577,1126; ioy,266; ioye,
128, 1197. OF. joye.

ioyfol, joyful, 288, 300.

joyle}, joyless, 252.

joyned, pt. 3 s. 1009. OF.
joindre.

Judee, Judaea, 922; Judy,

937-
juel, jewel, 253, 277; iuel,

249; juelle, 795, 1124;

pi. iuele?, 278; juele,

929. AF. juel. OF.

joiel, jouel.
jueler, jeweller, 264, 265,

etc. ; juelere, 252 ; iueler,

301 ; joueler, 734.
JuC3, Jews, 804. AF. Jeu,

Geu ; OF. Giu, Jui.
jugged, pt. i s. judged, 7;

3 pi. iugged, 804. OF.

jugier.
justyfyet, pp. justified, 700.

OF. justifier.

kaste, see kesten.

kene, keen, 40. OE. cene.

204

PEARL.

kenned, pt. 3 5. taught, 55.

OE. cennan.
keruen, pr. 3 pi. cut, 512 ; pp.

coruen, 40. OE. ceorfan.
kesten, pt. 3 pi. cast, flung,

1122; pp. kest, 861;

keste, 66; kaste, 1198.

ON. kasta.
keue, inf. dip, 320; pp.

keued, 981. ON. kef) a.
klyfe?, klyffe?, see clyiie.
klymbe, see clym.
knaw, inf. know, 410, 541,

794, 1109; pr. i s.

673; 2 pi. knawe, 5*6;

3 pl> 505; pt. i 5. knew,

66, 164, 168, 998, 1019;

3 pi. knewe, 890; pp.

knawen, 637. OE. cna-

wan; cp. cnawyng.
knelande, kneeling, 434.

OE. cnEowlian.
knot, n. throng, 788. OE.

cnotta.
[Koyntyse], Wisdom, 690.

OF. cointise.
Kryst, Christ, 55, 458, 776;

Kryste, 569; gen. Kry-

ste}, 904. 1208; Crystes,

383. OE. Crist.
Krysten, adj. Christian,

461. OE. Cristen.
Krystyin, adj. used as n.

Christian, 1202. OF.

Cristine.
kyn, n. kind, quat kyn, 755,

771 ; what kyn, what kind

of, 794; alle kynne?, all

kinds of, 1028. OE. cynn ;

cp. man-kyn, sumkyn.

kynde (i), n. nature, 55,

74, 752. OE. cynd.
kynde (2), adj. grateful, 276.

OE. cynde.
kyndely, adv. kindly, 369;

kyntly, properly, 690.

OE. cyndellce.
kyndom, kingdom, 445.

OE. cynedom.
kyng, 448, 468, 480, 596.

OE. cyning.
kynne3, see kyn.
kyrk, church, 1061. OE.

circe; cp. ON. kirkja.
kyste, coffer, 271. OE.

cyst.
kythe3, regions, 1198. OE.

cy>j>> cy»u.
ky)>e, inf. show, 356; imp.

pl. [k]y>e3, 369. OE.

cyftan.

labor, inf. cultivate, 504.

OF. laborer.
labour, n. 634. OF. labour,

labeur.

lad, see lede (2).
lade, pp. laden, 1146. OE.

hladan.
lady, 491 ; " my lady," 453 ;

OE. hlatfdige.
ladyly, queenly, noble, 774.
ladyschyp, rank, dignity,

578.
laften, pt. 3 pl. left, 622.

OE. laefan.

Ia3t, pt. i s. caught, ob
tained, 1128; Ia3te, 1205.

OE. laeccan.
lamb, lambes, see lombe.

GLOSSARY.

205

lande, see londe.

langour, sickness, 357. OF.

langour.
lantyrne, lantern, 1047. OF.

lanterne.
lappe^, hanging sleeves, 201.

OE. Iseppa.
large, 201 ; bounteous, 609.

OF. large.
lasse, see lyttel.
laste (i), inf. last, 956; pr.

3 pi. Iast63, 1198. OE.

leestan.
laste (2), pp. loaded, 1146.

OE. hlaestan.
late, adv. 392, 538, 574, 615 ;

adj. sup. laste, 547. 57°.

571. OE. laet.
launce?, pi. boughs, 978.

OF. lance.
laue?, pr. 3 s. pours, 607.

OF. laver.
l[a]we, see lowe.
lawe^, pl.la.vfs.285. OE.lagu.
layd, pp. 958; layde, 1172.

OE. lecgan.
layned, pp. concealed, 244.

ON. leyna.
ledden, speech, noise, 878;

l[e]den, 874. OE. laeden.
lede (i), n. man, Sir, 542.

OE. leod.
lede (2), inf. lead, 774; pr.

i s. 409; 2 pi. 392; pp.

lad, 801. OE. Isedan.
lef (i), pi. leaves, 77; (of a

book), Ieu63, 837. OE.

leaf (neut.) ; cp. leued.
lef (2), beloved, 266; used

as n. 418. OE. leof.

legg, 459- ON. leggr.

leghe, see Iy3.

legyounes, legions, 1121.

OF. legion.
lelly, loyally, faithfully, 305.

OF. leel, with E. suff.
leme, inf. glance, glide, 358 ;

pt. 3 s. lemed, gleamed,

119, 1043. (?) OE. leo-

mian; cp. geleomod; ».

leoma.
lemman, n. loved one, 763,

796, 805, 829. OE. leof-

man.
lenge, inf. dwell, 261 ; pr. 2,

pl- 933- OE. lengan.
lenger, see long,
lenghe, length, 416; on

lenghe, for a long time,

167.' OE. lengu.
lenj>e, length, '1031. OE.

lengSu.

lere, face, 398. OE. hleor.
lesande, pr. p. loosening,

opening, 837. OE. le-

san, liesan.

lese, see neuer->e-lese.
lesse, les, see lyttel.
lest, conj. 187, 865. OE.

(Sy) lees «e.
leste, see lose (i).
lesyng, n. lie, 897. OE.

leasung.
let, inf. allow ; let be, cease,

715; imp. s. 901, 912,

964; pl.jiS; pt. 35.20;

lette, 813. OE. laetan.
lette, pt. 3 5. hindered, 1050.

OE. lettan.
lettrure, knowledge of

206

PEARL.

letters, learning, 751. OF.
lettreure.

le>63, pr. 3 s. abates, 377;
ME. le>, n. cp. G. ledig,
free, MDu. onlede,
trouble.

leue (i), n. permission, 316.
OE. leaf.

leue (2), inf. believe, 311;
leuen, 69; pr. i s. leue,
469, 876; 3 s. I[e]uc3,
302, 304, 308; i pi.
leuen, 425; 2 pi. I[e]ue3,
308; pr. 2 s. subj. leue,
865. OE. (ge)lyfan.

leued, covered with leaves,
978; cp. lef (i).

Ieue3, see lef (i).

l[e]uyly, permissible, 565.
See Note.

liure, livery, that which is
delivered, given freely,
to the servants of a
household, 1108. AF.
livere, OF. livree.

lo, inter j. 693, 740, 822.
OE. la.

1036, pool, 119. (?) OE.
luh.

loke, inf. 934 '• Pr- 3 5- subj.
710; imp. s. 463; pt. i
s. loked, 167, 1145. OE.
locian.

Ioke3, looks, appearance,

"34-

lokyng, n. gaze, 1049.

lombe, lamb, 413, 741, 795,
etc.; lom[b]e, 945;
lom[b], 815; lambe, 757,
771 ; lamb, 407 ; lou[m]be,

861; loumbe, 867; gen.
Iombe3, 872 ; lambes, 785 ;
lombe, 1141. OE. lamb.

Iom[p]e-ly3t,lamplight,i046.
OF. lampe; cp. Iy3t.

londe, land, 148, 937; in
lande, in the fields, 802.
OE. lond.

lone, lane, 1066. OE. lane,
lone.

long, adj. 597; long[e], 586;
longe, 1024; adv. longe,
hys Iyue3 longe, all his
life, 477; 533; comp.
lenger, 168, 180, 600, 977.
OE. adj. fctfig, lengra, adv.
longe. J

longande, pr. p. belonging,
462. (?) OE. langian, to
long for; gelang, depen
dent.

longed, pt. 3 s., me longed,
I longed, 144. OE. lan
gian.

longeyng, «. longing, 244,
1 1 80. OE. langung; cp.
luf-longyng.

lorde, God, Christ, 285, 304,
362, etc. ; master of vine
yard, 502, 506, 513, etc.;
inter j. 108, 1149. OE.
hlaford.

lore, learning, custom, 236.
OE. lar.

lose (i), inf. 265; pt. i s.
leste, 9; 2 s. Ieste3, 269;
pp. loste, 1092. OE. leo-
san, losian.

lose (2), inf. perish, 908.
OE. losian.

GLOSSARY.

207

lote, gesture, 238 ; sound,

876; expression, appear
ance, 896; vision, 1205.

ON. lat, appearance; cp.

Sw. lat, sound.
lo>e, n. trouble, 377. OE.laJ).
loude, adj. 878. OE. hlud.
loue, inf. praise, 285, 342,

IT24, 1127. OE. lofian.
loueloker, louely, see lufly.
10U63, pr. 3 s. loves, 403,

407. OE. lufian.
lournbe, see lombe.
loute, pr. 2 pi. bow, bend,

933. OE. lutan.
lowe, adv. 236 ; l[a]we, 547 ;

lowest, adj. sup. 1001.

ON. lagr.

luf,w.love,467,85i. OE.lufu.
luf-daungere, might of love,

1 1 ; cp. daunger.
luf-longyng, 1152 ; cp. long-

eyng.
lufly, adj. 962 ; louely, 693 ;

comp. loueloker, 148 ; adv.

lufly, 880, 978. OE.

lufllc.
lufsoum, loveable, 398.

OE. lufsum.
lure?, losses, 339; losses,

deprivations, 358. OE.

lyre.
lurked, pt. i s. crept, 978;

cp. Norw. lurka, to sneak

away.
lyf, life, 247, 305, 392, etc. ;

gen. s. Iyue3, 477, 57$,

908. OE. lif.
lyfed, pt. 2 s. 483; pr.

p. lyuyande, 700; pp.

lyued, 477, 776- OE.

lifian, libban.
lyfte, pp. lifted, 567. ON.

lypta.
lygyngC3, dwellings, 935 ;

cp. ON. v. liggja.
Iy3, inf. lie, 930 ; pr. 3 s. lys,

360, 602; pt. 3 s. leghe,

214. OE. licgan.
Iy36, n. lie, 304. OE. lyge.
Iy3t, n. light, 69, 119, 1043,

1073. OE. leoht; cp.

Iom[p]e-ly3t.
Iy3te (i), adj. bright, 238,

500; lyjt, pure, 682.

OE. leoht.
Iy3te (2), adv. lightly, 214.

OE. leohte.
ly?te (3), pt- 2 s. alighted,

arrived, 247; 3 s. lytf,

descended, 943 ; pp. ly^t,

988. OE. Hhtan.
Iy3tly, lightly, easily, 358.

OE. leohtllce.
lyk, adj. like, 432, 501, 874,

896; lyke, 735; OE.

(ge)llc; cp. in-lyche.
lyke,, pr. impers. pleases,

566. OE. llcian.
Iykne3, pr. 3 s. likens, 500;

cp. Sw. likna.
lykyng, pleasure, joy, 247.

OE. licung.
lym, limb, 462; pi. lym-

me3, 464. OE. lim.
lyne, line; by lyne, in due

order, 626. OF. ligne,

L. linca.
lynne, adj. linen, 731. OE.

linen; cp. OFris. linnen.

208

PEARL.

lys, see ly?.

lyste (i), n. desire, 173 ; joy,
467, 908. ON. lyst; cp.
OE. lust, lystan (vb.).

lyste (2), pt. impers. de
sired, 146, 181 ; cared,
chose, 1141. OE. lystan.

lysten, inf. listen to, 880.
OE. hlystan.

lyth,limb,figure,398. OE.li}>.

lyttel, adj. 387, 575, 604,
1147; unimportant, 574;
comp. lasse, 491, 599, 600,
601, 853; lesse, 339, 852;
les, 864, 876; adv. lyttel,
172, 301; comp. les, 865,
888, 900, 901. OE. lytel.

lyj>e, inf. soothe, 357. OE.
Ii6ian; cp. lej>C3.

ly>er, adj. used as n. evil,
567. OE. lySre.

lyued, lyuyande, see lyfed.

Iyue3, see lyf.

ma (i), pron. poss. (French),

my, 489.
ma (2), (3), mad, made,

madde, see make (2), mon.
mad, adj. 267, 1199; madde,

290; adv. 1 1 66. OE.

(ge)m£edd.

maddyng, madness, 1154.
make (i), spouse, 759. OE.

(ge)maca; ON. maki.
make (2), inf. make, 176,

304, 474; ma, 283; pr.

i s. make, 281 ; 35. mat3

rescoghe, rescues, 610;

3 pi- man, 512; pt. 3 s.

made, 522, 1149; mad,

539; 2 pi. made, 371; pp.
mad, 274, 486, 953;
made, 140; madde, 359.
OE. macian.

makele3, matchless, 435,
780, 784; cp. make

(i).
malte, inf. melt, malte in

hit mesure, enter into the

measure of it, 224 ; pt. 3

s. 1154. OE. meltan.
man (i), mane;, manner,

see mon (i).
man (2), see make (2).
manor, manor-house, 918;

manayre, enclosed city,

1029. OF. manoir.
ma[n]er63, pi. manners,

382. AF. manere; OF.

maniere.
man-kyn, mankind, 637.

OE. mancynn; cp. kyn.
mare, see much,
margyrye, pearl, 1037; pi.

margarys, 199; mario-

rys, 206. OF. margerie.
marked, market, 513. Late

OE. market, from OF.

(L. mercatum).
marrei, pr. 2 s. marrest, 23 ;

pp. marre[d], 359- OE.

merran.

Mary, 383 ; Marye, 425-
maryage, marriage, 414;

maryag[e], 778. OF.

mariage.
mas, service of the mass,

1115; messe, 497- OE.

maesse; OF. messe; L.

missa.

GLOSSARY.

209

mask[e]lle, spot, 843 ; mas-
cle, 726. OF. mascle,
macle ; L. macula.

maskelle}, spotless, 756,
768, 769, 780; ma[s]kel-
103, 733; maskelles, 744.
781 ; maskele?, 745, QOO,
923; - ma[s]kele3, 757;
mascelle3, 732.

mate (i), adj. depressed,
dejected, 386. OF. mat.

mate (2), inf. checkmate,
confuse, 613. OF. ma
ter.

Mathew, 497-

mat?, see make (2).

may (i), maiden, 435, 780,
961. (?) OE. mseg.

may (2), pr. i s. can, may,
487, 783; 2 s. 296, 347,
694, 703, 966, 970; 3 s.
300, 310, 312, etc. ; 2 pi.
918; moun, 536; 3 pl-
29, 336; pt. i s. mo3t,
1 88; 2 s. my3te3, 317;
3 s. most, 34. J94. 223,
etc.; mo3te, 475, 1196;
my3t, 69,135,176,722,891,
1082, 1157; 2 pi. mo3t,
1051; 3 pi. mo3t, 92;
my3t, 579. OE. maeg,
magon, meahte, mihte.

mayden, 162; pi. may-
dene3 ,1115; maydenne3 »
869. OE. maegden.

maynful, mighty, powerful,
1093. OE. n. maegen;
suff. -ful.

mayster, master, 462, 900.
OF. maistre.

mayster-ful, masterful, 401.

me, see I.

mede, n. reward, 620. OE.

med.
meke, meek, 404, 815, 832,

961. ON. mjukr.
mekenesse, 406.
mele, inf. speak, 925 ; melle,

797, 1118; pr. 35. mele3,

497; pt. i s. meled, 589-

OE. mselan.
[m]ele, n. discourse, 23.

OE. msel.
melle, n. in melle, in midst,

among, 1127. ON. i milli.
membr63, members, 458.

OF. membre.
men, see mon ( i ).
mender, n. pi. amends, 351.

OF. amende.
mendyng, improvement,

452. OF. amender.
mene, inf. mean, 293, 951;

pr. 2 s. mene3, 937. OE.

msenan.
mensk, grace; dignity, 783;

menske, 162. OE. men-

nisc; ON. menska.
menteene, inf. maintain,

783. OF. maintenir.
meny, see meyny.
mercy, 356, 623, 670; merci,

576; mersy, 383-
mere, mere, stream, 158 ; pi.

mere3,i40,n66. OE.mere.
merked, pp. marked, out,

situated, 142. OE. mear-

cian.

mersy, see mercy,
meruayle, «. astonishment,

210

PEARL.

1130;' marvel, portent,

157; merwayle, 1081 ; pi.

meruayle;, 64. OF. mer-

veille.
meruelous, marvellous,

1 1 66. OF. merveillous.
mes, course, meal, 862.

OF. mes.
meschef, misfortune, ill,

275. OF. meschef.
mesure, measure, worth,

224. OF. mesure.
mete (i), adj. fit, 833, 1063.

OE. (ge)msete; cp. vn-

mete.
mete (2), n. food, 641. OE.

mete.
mete (3), inf. meet, 918;

find, 329 ; pr . i pi. meten,

380. OE. metan.
meten, pp. measured, 1032.

OE. metan.
meuen, pr. 3 pi. move,

dwell, exist, 64 ; pt. 3 5.

meued, moved, 156. OF.

movoir; stem muev-.
meyny, company, retinue,

892, 899, 925, 960, 1127,

1145; meny, 542. OF.

mesniee, maisnee.
mir>e, see myr>e.
mo, see much,
mod, disposition, 401 ; mode,

738, 832. OE. mod.
moder, mother, 435. OE.

modor.
mode}, modulations, 884.

OF. mode.
mo;t, mo^te, molten, see
may (2).

mokke, dirt, 905. ON.
mykr.

mol, see mul.

molde^, pi. moulds, 30.
OE. molde.

mon (i), n. man, 69, 95, 310,
etc.; man, 314, 386, 675,
685, 1195 ; gen. s. manne?,
223 ; mane3, 94°. I *54 : pi-
men, 290, 331, 336, etc.;
pron.indef. one, 194, 799;
man, 165, 334; ma, 323-
OE. mann; cp. stro>e-
men.

mon (2), n. moan, 374.
OE.* man (770* found ; cp.
nicenan).

mone, moon, 923, 1044,
1045, 1056, 1057, 1068,
1069, 1072, 1081, 1092,
1093 ; month, 1080. OE.
mona.

mony, many, 160, 340, 572.
mony a, 775. OE. manig.

moote, 948, moat. OF. mote.

more, see much.

morne, inf. mourn, 359.
OE. murnan.

mornyf, adj. as adv. miser
ably, 386. OE. murne,
+ suff. -ive; cp. gyltyf.

mornyng, n. mourning, 262.
OE. murnung.

moste, see much, mot (2).

mot (i), see mote (2).

mot (2), pr. 3 s. must, 31,
320, 663; [mo]t, 25;
mot, may, 397; pt. 2 s.
moste, 319, 348 ; 3 pi. 623.
OE. mot, moste.

GLOSSARY.

211

mote (i), castle, walled
city, 142, 936, 937, 948,
973; pi. motes, 949-
OF. mote.

mote (2), spot, speck, 726,
764. 855, 924, 960,
972; mot, 843. OE.
mot.

motele3, spotless, 925, 961;
moteles, 899.

mote3, pr. 2 s. arguest, 613.
OE. motian.

moul, mould, earth, 23 ; cp.
Sw. dial, mul, muel.

moun, see may (2).

mount, n. 868. OE. munt.

mounte3, pr. 3 pL amount
to, 351. OF. munter.

mouth, 183, 803. OE.
mujj.

much, adj. 244, 604, 776,
1118, 1130, 1149; comp.
more, 128, 132, 133, etc.;
mo, 151, 340, 850, 870,
1194; adv. 234, 303, 374,
576; comp. more, 144, 145,
156, 168, 169, 180, 181,
212, 565, 588, 589, 599;
mare, 145; sup. moste,
1131. OE. micel; mara,
mare, ma; m&st; cp.
euer-more.

mul, dust, 905; mol, 382.
OE. myl.

munt, intention, 1161; cp.
OE. myntan.

my, pron. pass. 15, 16, 17,
etc.; myn, 128, 174, 176,
179, 200, 566, 1208; by
myn one, by me in soli

tude, 243; myne, 335-

OE. mm; cp. I.
myddeq, in mydde}, in the

midst of, 222, 740; in

myde3, 835; cp. OE. to

middes.
my3t (i), power, 630, 765;

my3te, 1069; myste, 462.

OE. mint.

my3t (2), my3te3, see may (2).
myke3, pi- special friends,

572 (see Note).
mylde, mild, 961, 1115;

used as n. gentle ones,

721. OE. milde.
myn, myne, see my.
mynde, n. mind, 156, 224,

1130, 1154. OE (ge)-

mynd.
mynge, inf. remember,

think, 855. OE. myn-

gian.
mynne, inf. remember, 583.

ON. minna.
mynyster, minster, 1063.

OE. mynster.
myr>e, mirth, 92; mir>e,

1 149 ; personified, [Myr)>e],

140. OE. myrgj>.
myr)>e3, pr. 3 s. gladdens,

862.
myry, merry, 23, 158, 781,

936 ; comp. myryer,

850; sup. myryeste, 199;

myryest, 435. OE.

myrige.
mys (i), amice, robe, 197.

OF. amis; L. amictus.
mys (2), see mysse (i).
myself, pron. reflex. 1175;

212

PEARL.

emphatic, 414; my-seluen,

52.
myserecorde, compassion,

366. OF. misericorde.
myse-tente, pp. misunder
stood, 257; cp. tente.
mysse (i), n. loss, 364; mys,

262; cp. OE. missan, to

fail to meet.
mysse (2), inf. miss, 329;

pr. i s. 382. OE. missan;

ON. missa.
mysseseme, inf. neglect,

leave ill-guarded, 322.

OE. misgeman.
myste, see my3t (i).
mysterys, mysteries, 1194.

L. mysterium.
myte, mite, 351. OF. mite.
my|>e, inf. avoid (sorrow),

359. OE. mift'an (see Note) .

, na3te,

name, n. 1039; nome, 872;
£/.name[3],998. OE.nama.

nature, n. 749. OF. nature.

naule, navel, 459. OE.
nafela.

naul eles, naw|>eles, see
neuer->e-lese.

nawhere, nowhere, 534,
932. OE. nahwair.

naw>er, conj. neither, alter
native with ne, 485, 1044,
1087; nau>er, 465, 484;
[n]o}>er, 848; ne . . .
naw>er, nor . . . neither,
751. OE. nahwaefter.

ne, adv. not, 35, 65, 293, 350,
471, 619; strengthening

another negative, 4, 362,
403, 516, 1071, 1082;
strengthening two nega
tives, 825, 898; conj. nor,
262, 334, 347, 465, 484,
485, 688, 751, 764, 843,
848, 897, 918, 1044, 1045,
1057, 1062, 1087; cp. nis.

nece, niece, 233. OF. niece;
pop. L. neptia.

nedde, pt. impers. needed,
1044. OE. neodian.

nede, n. need, 1045 ; gen. s.
ned63, necessarily, 25,
344, OE. ned.

[n]C3bor, neighbour, 688.
OE. neahgebur.

[n]e[m], pt. 3 s. seized, 802;
3 pi. nom, received, 587;
OE. niman. cp. in-nome.

nemme, inf. name, 997.
OE. nemnan.

nente, ninth, 1012. OE.
nigofta; ON. niundi.

ner, adv. near, 286; nere,
404 ;[n] ere, 2 62. OE. near;
cp. welnygh.

nerre, adj. comp. nearer,
233. OE. nearra.

nesch, soft, pleasant, 606.
OE. hnesce.

neuer, never, 19, 71, 333,
etc. ; with negative, not
ever, 4, 262, 825, 889,
900, 1071. OE. ncefre.

neuer->e-lese, neverthe
less, 912, 913; nau]>eles,
877 ; naw]>eles, 95° »
now>e-lese,889; c^.lyttel.

newe, new, see nwe.

GLOSSARY.

213

nis, see be (i).

no, pron. 32, 69, 95, etc.;

non, 206, 209, 215, 219,

etc.; none, 440; adv.

347, 95L 977. 1190.

OE. nan, na.
noble, adj. 922, 1097. OF.

noble.
n03t, pron. nothing, 274,

337. 563, 5?8, 657, 1050;

with negative, anything,

520. OE. nawiht.
nom, see [n]e[m].
nome, see name.
non, none, see no.
not, 29, 34, 92, etc.; cp.

note (i), matter, 155, 922.

OE. notu.
note (2), song, 879; pi.

note}, musical notes, 883.

OF. note.
[n]oj>er, see naw^er.
now, 271, 283, etc. OE. nu.
nowj>e-lese, see neuer->e-

lese.
nwe, new, 155, 792, 879,

882, 943, 987; nw[e],

527; newe, 894; adv.

nwe, anew, 1080, 1123;

new, 662. OE. mwe,

neowe.
ny3t, night, 116, 1071;

ny3te, 243; na3t, 523;

na3te, 1203. OE. niht,

neaht.
nys, see l>e (i).

0 (i), inter j. 23, 241, 745,
1182.

o (2), prep., see of.

obes, pr. 3 pi. do obeisance
to, 886. OF.obeiss-,obeir.

odour, 58. OF. odur.

of, adv. off, 237, 358;
prep. 3, 12, 55, etc.;
by (of agent] n, 248;
from, 31, 33, 36, etc.;
with, 25, 76, 119, 206,
207; in, 896, 1101; out
of, 1126; o, 3°9, 429,
792, 1018 ; of al and sum,
in full, 584. OE. of.

ofte, often, 14, 340, 388;
comp. ofter, 621. OE.
oft.

036, pr. (impers.) ought,
552; pr. i s. [a] we (MS.
owe), owe, 543; pt. 3 s.
a3t, ought, 1139; (im
pers.} 03te, 341. OE.
agan.

03t, pron. something, 274;
anything, 1200. OE.
awiht.

olde, 941, 942; comp. alder,
621; sup. aldest, 1042.
OE. aid.

on (i), num. one, 293, 530,
55 i, 557> [o]n, 860; at
on, in accord, 378; an,
869 (cp. 786); indef.
pron. 953; gen. s. one3,
864 ; indef. art. on, 9 ; adv.
one, alone, 243, 312.
OE. an; cp. a, an,
vchon.

on (2), prep, on, upon, 41,
45, 60, etc. ; in, 97,
243, 425, 710, 874, 1079,

214

PEARL.

1095 ; on honde, to hand,
155; on lenghe, for a
long time, 167; adv. 255,

645-

one}, see on (i).
only, adv. used as prep.

except, 779. OE. anllc.
onslyde?, pr. 3 pi. sway, 77 ;

cp. slode. ? OE. aslidan.
on-sware, inf. answer, 680.

OE. andswerian ; cp.

answar, sware.
on-vunder, see an-vnder.
open, adj. 183; vpen, 1066;

vpon, 198. OE. open.
or, see o>er (i).
oryent, n. Orient, 3; ory-

ente, 82 ; used as adj.

orient, 255. OF. orient.
o>er (i), conj. or, 118, 130,

141, 491, etc.; or, 233;

cp. OE. o]>J>e.
o>er (2), adj. other, 206,

209, 219, 319, 842,

935 ; pron. 449 ; gen. s.

o]>ere3, 450; pi. oj^er,

585, 773, 778. OE.

oure (i), n. hour, 530, 551;

pi. houre;, 555- OF.

hore, ure.
oure (2), pron. poss. 304,

322, 455, etc.; our, 851.

OE. ure; cp. I.
Out, adv. with of, 282, 365,

642, 649, 1058, 1163,

1170; oute of, 3- OE.

fit,
out-dryf, inf. drive out,

777; cp. dryue.

out-fleme, n. exile, 1177.

OE. ut-flema ; cp. fleme

(see Note).
out-ry3te, adv. straight out,

1055; cp. ryst.
out-sprent, pt. 3 5. spurted

out, 1137; cp. Sw.

dial, sprinnta, to burst;

spritta, to start.
ouer, adv. too, 473; prep.

over, 318, 324, 454,

773, 1 1 66; above,

1205; o[u]er gayn, ovei

against, 138. OE. ofer

cp. gayn.
ouerte, open, plain, 59;

OF. overt,
ouerture, n. opening, 218.
owne, adj. own, 559. O

agen.

pace, passage, verse, 677.

OF. pas.
pakke, pack, company,

929 : cp. Du. pak.
pale, inf. appear pale, ioo/

OF palir.
pane,w. side, 1034. OF. pai
par, prep. (French), by, 480
paradys, Paradise, 248, 321

paradyse, 137. OF. pz

radis ; Gk. Trapafetcr

park.
parage, high rank, 419.

OF. parage.
paraunter, perchance, 588.

OF. per aventure.
parfyt, perfect, 638, 1038;

perfet, wrought, 208. OF,

parfit.

GLOSSARY.

21

part, n. share, 573. OF.

part,
parties, adj. without a

share, 335.
passe, inf. pass, 299, 707,

i no; pr. 3 s. passe},

surpasses, 753; pt. 3 s.

subj. passed, surpassed,

428; pp. passed, 528.

OF. passer; cp. apassed.
Pater, n. the Lord's Prayer,

485. L. pater, father.
P[a]ule, Paul, 457.
pay, inf. pay, 635; please,

1201; pr. i 5. 524; 3 s.

paye^, 632; imp. s.

pay, 542; impers. pt. s.

payed, pleased, 1165,

1177; pp. payed, 584.

603. OF. payer.
paye, pleasure, i, 1164,

1176, 1188, 1189, 1200;

pay, 1212. OF. paye.
payment, 598. OF. paye-

ment.
payne, n. pain, 664, 954;

pi. payne?, 124. OF.

peine; cp. for-payned.
paynted, pt. 3 5. 750. OF.

peindre; cp. depaynt.
payred, pp. injured, 246.

OF. empeirer, apeirer.
pechche, n. speck, 841. OF.

pechet.
penaunce, 477. OF. pene-

aunce, penance.
pene, see peny.
penned (MS. spenned), pp.

imprisoned, 53. OE.

pennian.

pensyf, pensive, 246. OF.

pensif.
| peny, penny, 546, 560, 614;

pene, 51°. 562. OE.

pening, penig.
pere, «. peer, equal, 4. OF.

per, peer.
pere;, pear-trees, 104. OE.

peru.

perfet, see parfyt.
perle, n. pearl, i, 12, 24,

etc.; pi. perle}, 82, 192,

193, etc. OF. perle.
perre, precious stones,

1028; "p. pres.," jewels

of price, 730. OF. pierre.
peryle, peril, 695. OF.

peril.
pes, peace, 742, 952, 953,

955. OF. pais.
pitously, see pytosly.
place, n. 175, 405, 440,

679, 1034- OF. place.
planete;, planets, 1075. OF.

planete.
plate}, pi. plates, 1036. OF.

plate.
play, inf. 261. OE. ple-

gan.
playn, adj. flat, clear,

smooth, 178; adv. plainly,

689; n. plain, 104; pi.

playne^, 122. OF. plain.
playned, see pleny.
playnt, complaint, 815. OF.

pleint.
pleny, inf. complain, 549;

pt. is. playned, lamented,

53 ; pp. 242. OF. plain-

dre.

216

PEARL.

plesaunte, adj. pleasing, i.
OF. plesant.

plese, inf. please, 484. OF.
plesir.

plete, inf. plead, 563. OF.
plaider; (n. plaid, plet;
late L. placitum, a deci
sion) .

plontte?, £/. plants, 104. OE.
plante.

plye, inf. mould, shape,
show forth, 1039. OF.
plier.

ply3t, see plyt.

plyt, state, condition, 1015,
1114; sore plight, 647;
ply}t, 1075. OF. plite,
condition ; OE. pliht,
danger (the words were
not always kept apart}.

pobbel, pebble, 117. OE.
papol(stan).

pole, pool, stream, 117. OE.
pol.

porchace, inf. purchase,
744; pr. 3 pi. porchase?,
hunt after, 439. OF.
porchacier.

pore, see pouer.

porfyl, embroidery, 216 ;
cp. OF. pourfiler.

porpos, intention, 508; por-
pose, 185, 267. OF. por
pos.

portals, portals, 1036. OF.
portal.

possyble, 452. OF. possible.

pouer, adj. poor, 1075;
pore, 573- OF. povre;
dial, poure.

poursent, precinct, 1035. AF.
purceynt ; OF. porceint.

powdered, pp. 44. OF.
poudre.

poyned, n. wristband, 217.
F. poignet.

poynt, n. 594; mark, 309;
jot, single note, 891.
OF. point.

pray (i), n. prey, booty,
439. OF. praie.

pray (2), inf. 484; pt. 3
prayed, 1192; 3 pi. 714.
OF. preier.

prayer, 355; prayere, 618.
OF. preiere.

prayse, inf. 301; pp. pray-
sed, 1 1 12. OF. preisier.

precios, precious, 4, 36, 204,
216, 228, 229, 330:
prec[i]os, 60, 192; preci
ous, 48, 82, 1212. OF.
precios.

pref, n. put in pref to,
proved to be, 272. OF.
preuve.

pres (i), n. throng, multi
tude, crowding, 1114. OF.
presse.

pres (2), pr. i pi. press, has
ten, 957. OF. presser.

prese, n. price, worth, 419;
used as adj. pres, 730.
( ?) OF. preis.

present, n. presence, 1193;
presente, 389. OF. pre
sent ; orig. in phrase ' en
present.'

preste, priest, 1210. OE.
preost.

GLOSSARY.

217

p[re]termynable, adj. fore
ordaining, 596; prob. — L.
predeterminabilis.

pr«ued, see proued.

prince, n. 1201 ; gen. s.
prynce3, 1164, 1176,
1189; prynces, i; pryn-
863, 1188. OF. prince.

priuy, see pryuy.

proferen, pr. 3 pi. proffer,
1200; pt. 3 s. p[ro]fered,
235. OF. proferer.

professye, n. prophecy, 821.
OF. prophecie.

profete, prophet, 797; pro-
phete, 831. OF. pro-
phete.

proper, fitting, noble, 686.
OF. propre.

property, property, peculiar
ity, 446; pi. property] 3,
752. OF. proprete.

proudly, mo. OE. prut-
lice.

proued, pt. i s. tested, found,
4; pp. preued, 983. OF.
prover, stem preuv-.

prosessyoun, procession,
1096. OF. procession.

pryde, n. 401. OE. pryte.

prynce3, see prince.

prys, price, excellence, 193,
272, 419, 746. OF.
pris.

pryse, inf. prize, 1131. OF.
priser.

pryuy, adj. intimate, own,
12 ; priuy, 24. OF. prive.

pure, 227, 745, 1088. OF.
pur.

purly, chastely, 1004.
purpre, adj. purple, 1016.

OF. pourpre.
put, pp. 267, 272. OE.

potian.
pyece, n. thing, person,

192; py[ec]e, 229. OF.

piece.
Py?t, pt. 3 s- set (with

jewels), 742, 768; pp.

117, 192, 205, 217, 228,

229, 241, 991 ; py3te, 193.

216, 240; cp. MDu.

picken; cp. vmbe-py^te.
pyke3, pr. 3 pi. pick up,

get, 573; pp- pyked, set,

adorned, 1036; cp. ON.

pikka.
pyle, castle, stronghold,

686 ; origin unknown.
Pymalyon, Pygmalion, 750.
pynakled, pp- pinnacled,

207. OF. pinacle.
pyne, pain, 330; labour,

511. OE. pin.
pyonys, peonies, 44. OF.

pione,pioine; Lat. paeonia.
pytosly, piteously, 370;

pitously, 798. OF. pi-

teus, pitous.

pyty, n. pity, 1206; pyte,

355. OF. pite.

quat, see quo.

quat so, pron. rel. whatever,

566; cp. quo (2).
quayle, n. quail, 1085. OF.

quaille.
quelle, inf. kill, 799. OE.

cwellan.

218

PEARL.

queme, pleasant, 1179. OE.

(ge)cweme.
<iuen, conj. when, 40, 79,

93, etc. ; when, 332, 335,

347, etc. OE. hwaenne.
quene, queen, 415, 423,

456, etc.; quen, 432,

433. 444. 448> 474. 486-
OE. cwen.

quere, conj. where, 65, 376;
where, 68, 617. OE.

quer[e], query, question,
803. L. quaerere (2 s.
imp.}. •

quere-so-euer, conj. wher
ever, 7 ; cp. euer.

que]>er-so-euer, conj. whe
ther, 606; cp. whe-
)>er.

quo (i),pron.interr.masc.fem.
427, 678, 747, 827; who,
1138; neut. quat, 755,
771; what, 249, 331,
336, 463, 475, 479; why,
1072. OE. hwa.

quo (2), pron. rel. nom.
masc. fern, who, 693,
709; who, whoever, 344;
dat. quom, 453; wham,
131 ; quo [so], whoever,
709; neut. quat, 186, 293;
what, 392, 794.' what
ever, 523 ; cp. quat SO.

quo]?, pt. i s. said, 241, 279,
325, etc. ; 3 s. 569, 758,
781. OE. cwe$an, cwae}>.

quoynt, clever, skilful, 889.
OF. coint.

quy, see why.

quyke, lifelike, 1179. OE.

cwic.
quyt, adj. white, 207, 842,

ion, 1150; quyte, 220,

844, 1137; qwyte, 1102;

whyt, 163, 178, 197,

1133; whyte, 219. OE.

hwit.
quyte3, pr. 2 s. requitest,

595. OF. quiter.

raas, see resse.
I ran, pt. 3 5. 646, 1055 ; pp.

runne, 26, 523; runnen,

874. OE. rinnan.
rande?, borders, 105. OE.

rand.

rapely, hastily, 1168; rash
ly- 363. ON. hrapaliga.
rasch, adj. hasty, 1167; cp.

ON. roskr; Du. rasch.
rau]>e, grief, 858. ON.

hrygS; cp. ruful.
raue (i), inf. wander, stray,

665. ON. rafa.
raue (2), pr. i s. rave, 363.

OF. raver.
rauyste, pp. ravished, filled

with ecstasy, 1088. OF.

ravir ; stem raviss-.
rawe, n. row, 545; pi.

rawC3, hedgerows, 105.

OE. raw.
raxled, pt. i s. stretched

myself, 1174. OE. * rax-

lian (not found}.
ray, n. 160. OF. rai.
raykande, pv. p. wandering,

112. ON. reika.
rayse, inf. 305. ON. reisa.

GLOSSARY.

219

raysoun, see resoun.
rebuke, imp. pi. 367. AF.

rebuker; OF. rebuchier.
recen, inf. relate, 827. OE.

(ge)recenian.
rech, pr. i s. care, 333.

OF. reccan.

recorde, n. 831. OF. re
cord.
red, adj. nn; rede, 27.

OE. read.
rede, inf. read, 709 ; pr. i s.

advise, 743. OE. rsedan.
redy, ready, 591. OE.

rsede -J- -ig.
refete, inf. revive, 88. OF.

refet, pp. o/refaire.
reflayr, fragrance, 46. OF.

re-flair.

reget, inf. get again, re
deem, 1064 ; cp. gete.
regioun, n. 1178. OF.

region.
regne, kingdom, 501; ren-

gne, 692. OF. regne.
regretted, pp. 243. F. re-

gretter ; OF. regrater ;

(? cp. ON. grata, to

weep) .

relate 3, attributes of royal
ty, 77°- OF. reiaute.
reken, quick, noble, radiant,

5, 92, 906. OE. recen.
reles, intermission, 956.

OF. reles.
relusaunt, pr. p. shining,

159. OF. reluisant.
reme (i), n. realm, 448,

735. OF. reaume.
reme (2), inf. cry aloud,

1181; pr. 2 pi. remen,
858. OE. hreman.

remnaunt, remainder, 1160.
OF. remenant.

remorde, pp. tormented,
364. OF. remordre.

remwe, inf. remove, 427;
depart, 899. OF. remuer.

rengne, see regne.

renoun, renown, 986, 1182.
AF. renoun; OF. renon.

re-nowle3, pr. 3 pi. renew,
1080. OF. renoveler.

rent, pp. torn, 806. OE.
rendan; cp'. to-rente.

reparde, pp. shut off, kept
back, 611. ME. parren,
to enclose. OE. *pearrian
(cp. parrock); with pref.
re- in sense of ' back,
away from.'

repayre, inf. resort, come
together, 1028. OF. re
pairer; L. repatriare.

repente, impers. 'pr. subj.
repent, 662. OF. re-
pentir.

repren[y], inf. reprove, 544.
OF. reprendre.

requeste, n. 281. OF. re
queste.

rere, inf. stand out, 160;
pp. rert, upraised, 591.
OE. rseran.

rescoghe, n. rescue, 610.
OF. rescousse; cp. v.
rescourre.

reset, refuge, harbour, 1067.
OF. recet.

resnabelef , reasonable, 523.

220

PEARL.

OF. resonable; cp. vn-
resounable.

resoun, n. reason, 52, 665;
raysoun, cause, 268; pi.
resoune;, arguments, 716.
OF. raisun, resun.

respecte, n. 84. OF. respect.

respyt, n. respite, 644. OF.
respit.

resse, n. rush, haste, 874;
raas, 1167. OE. ras; ON.
ras.

rest, inf. 679. OF. rester.

restay, inf. pause, 437;
pt. 3 pi. restayed, hindered,
716; pp. 1168. OF.
restaier.

reste, «. 858, 1087. OE.
rest.

restored, pp. 659. OF. re
storer; L. restaurare.

retrete, inf. re- tell, 92. OF.
retreter.

reue, reeve, steward, 542.
OE. (ge)refa.

reuer, river, 1055; pi.
reuer63, river-meadows,
105. OF. rivere, reviere.

rewarde, n. 604. OF. re
ward.

rewfully, sorrowfully, 1181;
cp. ruful.

riche, see ryche (i).

rode, rood, cross, 646, 705,
806. OE. rod.

roghe, adj. rough, 646. OE.
ruh.

rokke?, n. rocks, 68. OF. roc.

ronk, luxuriant, 844; vio
lent, 1167. OE. ranc.

ros, see ryse.

rose, n. 269, 906. OE., OF.

rose.
rot, n. decay, 26 ; cp. MDu.

rot.
rote (i), n. root, 420. ON.

rot.
rote (2), inf. decay, 958.

OE. rotian.
rounde, adj. 5, 657, 738.

OF. roond.
rourde, voice, 112. OE.

reord.
route, company, 926. OF.

route.

rownande, pr. p. whisper
ing, 112. OE. runian.
ruful, sorrowful, 916. OE.

adj. hreow; cp. rewfully,

rauj>e.

runne, runnen, see ran.
ryal, royal, 160, 193; ryalle,

191, 919. OF. real.
ryally, royally, 987.
ryche (i), adj. rich, 646,

770, 906, 919, 1097;

rych[e], 68, 1036; rych,

105, 1182; riche, 993.

OE. rice.
ryche (2), n. kingdom, 601,

722. OE. rice; cp.

heuen-ryche.
ryche}, n. treasure, 26. OF.

richesse.
ryf, abundant, 770, 844.

ON. rifr.

adj. used as n. well
doing, 496, 622; justice,

580, 591, 665, 684, 720,

1196; ryste, 672, 696;

GLOSSARY.

221

claim, 708; alegge >e
lyji, renounce thy claim,
703; adv. even, 298,461,
673» 723. 885, 1093, 1169;
ry$t m>3t, nothing at all,
520. OE. riht; cp. out-

ry^twys, righteous, 685, 697,

739; ry3t-wys, 675, 689.

OE. rihtwis.

ry3twysly, adv. rightly, 709.
ryse, inf. rise, 103 ; rys,io93 ;

pr. 3 s. ryse3, 191 ; pi. 3 s.

ros, 437, 506, 519. OE.

risan; cp. aros.

sadde, serious, grave, 887 ;

sade, 211. OE. saed, sated.
sade, see say.
saf, secure, safe, saved, 672,

684, 720 ; saue, 696. OF.

saui.
saffer, sapphire, 118, 1002.

OF. saphir, safir.
saghe, saying, word, 226;

saw63, 278. OE. sagu.
sa3, see se.
sa3t, n. peace, 52; sete

sa3te=to establish peace,

1201. OE. seaht, from

ON. *saht (cp. Icel. satt).
sake, n, cause, 800 ; sake,

940. OE. sacu.
saker-fyse, n. sacrifice, 1064.

OIV. sacrifice.
Salamon, Solomon, 689.
same, adj. 1099, noi.

ON. same.
samen, adv. together, 518.

ON. saman; OE. somen.

sange, see songe (i).

Sant, see Saynt.

[sarde], sardius, 1007. F.

sarde.
sardonyse, sardonyx, 1006.

L. sardonyx.
sat}, see say.
saule, see sawle.
Sauter, Psalter, 593, 677,

698. OF. sautier.
saue (i), see saf.
saue (2), inf. save, 674; pr.

3 5. saU63, 666. OF.

sauver.
sauerly, adj. tasty, fitting,

226. OF. savour, saveur.
sawe3, see saghe.
saw[l]e, soul,46i ; saule,845.

OE. sawel.
say, inf. 226, 256, 258, 391 ,

1041, 1089; saye, 482; pr.

i s. saye, 3:25. says, 295,

297, 4°9 ; say3, 6is;sayt3,

315; 3 5. says, 693, 867;

sayt3, 457. 5°i, 697;

sat3, 677; pt. i s. sayde,

589, 962; sade, 784;

sayd, 1175; 3 s. sayde,

289, 338, 398, etc.;

s[a]yde, 433 ; sade,

532; 3 pi. sayden, 534,

550; pp. sayd, 593- OE.

secgan.
Saynt, adj. 457, 818; Sant,

788; used as noun in pi.

saynte3, 835. OF. saint.
say^, sayt3, see say.
scale, surface, 1005; cp.

OE. scealu; OF. escale;

OHG. scala.

222

PEARL.

scliadowed, pt. 3 pi. shaded,
42. OE. sceadwian.

schafte^, rays, 982. OE.
sceaft.

SChal, i, 2, 3 s. 3 pi. forming
fut. tense, 283, 348, 405,
etc. ; must, 328, 329, 332,
344, 424; intend to,
265, 298, 315; 2 s.
schalte, 564; pt. i, 3 s.
3 pi. schulde, ought, 314,
634, 903, 924; intended
to, 153, 1162; could,
1159; must 668; form
ing subj, 1 86, 930, 1072.
OE. sculan.

SCharpe, adv. sharply, 877.
OE. scearpe.

schawe;, see wod-schawe3.

schede, inf. separate, de
part, 411; pt. 3 5. shed,
741. OE. sceadan.

schene, beautiful, resplen
dent, 42, 80, 203, 1145;
used as n. 166, 965. OE.
scene.

schente, pp. shamed, 608.
OE. scendan.

schep, sheep, 80 1. OE.
sceap.

SChere, inf. purify, refine,
165; pp. schorne, 213;
see Note.

scherej, pr. 3 5. cuts,
cleaves, 107. OE. sceran.

SChewe?, pr. 3 s. shows,
1210; .pt. 3 s. scheued,
692. OE. sceawian.

SCho, see he.

schon, see schynej.

schqre, bank, 107, 230;

cliff, 1 66 ; cp. OE. sco-

ren, pp. of sceran, to cut ;

' the part shorn off.'
schorne, see schere.
schot, pt. 3 s. shot, 58. OE.

sceotan.
schowted, pt. 3 s. shouted,

877.
schrylle, adv. shrilly, re-

splendently, 80. Cp. LG.

schrell ; cp. schyr.
schulde, see schal.
schylde, inf. prevent, 965.

OE. scildan.
schyldere}, shoulders, 214.

OE. sculdor.
schym, bright, 1077. OE.

scima, brightness.
schymeryng, brightness, 80 ;

cp. OE. scimrian. <•*
schynde, see schyne3.
schyne?, pr. 3 s. shines,

1074; 3 pi. 28; pt. 3 s.

schon, 1 66, 213, 982,

1018,1057; 3 pi. schjndef

80. OE. scman.
SChyr, bright, >pure, 28, 213,

284; schyre, 42; comp.

schyrrer, 982. OE. scir ;

cp. schrylle.
sclade, see slade.
scrypture, n. writing, 1039.

OF. escripture.
se, inf. see, 96, 146, 296,

675, 914, 964, 969; sene,

45; pr. i s. se, 377, 385,

932; 3 S. SO}, 3°2; 2 pi.

subj. sy^e, 3°8; pt- I s-

S63, 158, 175, 200, II55;

GLOSSARY.

223

seghe, 867; sa3, 1021,

1147; 3736, 986, 1033;

3 5. sy3, 788, 985, 1032;

sa3, 689, 836; 863, 531;

segh, 790; 2 pi. s[y]3,

698; />/>. sen, 164; sene,

194, 787, 1143. OE.

seon.
sech, imp. s. seek, 354;

pt. 3 5. S03te, 73°; PP>

S03t, sought, given, 518.

OE. secan; cp. bysech.
secounde, adj. second, 652,

1002. OF. second.
sede, n. seed, 34. OE. saed.
segh, 863, see se.
selden, seldom, 380. OE.

seldan.
self, adj. selfsame, very,

203, 446; self[e], 1046,

1076; used as n. ]>e hy36

Gode3 self, 1054; cp.

myself, ]>y self, hymself.
sely, happy, 659. OE.

sftlig.
semblaunt, face, expression,

21 1 ; sembelaunt, 1143.

OF. semblant.
seme, modest, 1115; adv.

becomingly, 190. ON.

soemr.
semed, pt. 3 s. subj. seemed,

760. OE. seman, to

satisfy; cp. ON. soema, to

honour, befit ; cp. byseme.
semly, adj. fair, 34, 45, 789.

ON. scemiligr.
sen, sene, see se.
sende, pr. 3 s. subj. send,

130. OE. sendan.

sengeley, adv. apart, 8. OF.

sengle, with E. suff.
serlyp63, adv. used as adj.

separate, 994. ON. ser;

OE. liepig; cp. OE. an-

Hepig.
sermoun, speech, 1185. OF.

sermun.
sertayn, certainly, 685. OF.

certain.
seruaunt, servant, 699. OF.

servant.
serue3, pr. 3 s. avails, 331;

pp. serued, deserved, 553.

OF. servir.
sesed, pp. given seisin of,

enfeoffed, dowered, 417.

OF. seisir, saisir.
set, pt. 3 s. sat, 1054;

sete, 161 ; 3 pi.

835. OE. sittan, saet,

saeton.
sete, inf. set, 1 20 1 ; pr. 2

pi. setten, 307; imp. s.

set, 545; pt. i s. sette,

8 ; 3 s. subj. 52 ; ind. set,

255, 811; pp. sette, 222,

838 ; set, 1062. OE. settan;

ON. setja.
seuenpe, seventh, 1010.

OE. seofofta.
seuen, seven, 838, mi.

OE. seofon.
sexte, sixth, 1007. OE.

siexta.
seysoun, season, 39. OF.

seison.
863, see se.

Sir, 257, 439. OF. sire.
skyfte, inf. arrange, ordain,

224

PEARL.

569. ON. skipta; OE.

self tan.
skyl, n. reason, 312; skylle,

674 ; pi. skylle}, question
ings, 54. ON. skil.
slade, valley, 141 ; sclade,

1148. OE. slaed.
Sla3t, slaughter, 801. OE.

sleaht; cp. slepyng-sla3te.
slake, inf. abate, don to

slake, brought to an end,

942. OE. sleacian.
slayn, pp. slain, 805. OE.

slegen (from slean).
slente, n. slope, hill-side,

141 ; cp. Norw. slenta, to

fall aside, slant.
Slepe, pr. 3 pi. sleep, 115.

OE. sljepan, slepan.
Slepyng-sla3te, slumber-
stroke, dead sleep, 59;

cp. sla3t.
slode, pt. i s. slid, 59. OE.

slldan; cp. onslyde%
Sly3t, adj. slight, 190; cp.

MDu. slicht.
smal, small, 6, 190; smale,

90. OE. smael.
smelle, n. 1122. Etym.

unknown.
smol>e, smooth, 6, 190. OE.

smofte (commonly smeSe).
SO, 2, 5, 6 etc.; thus, 97,

338, 461, 467, 518, 522,

553, 736, 1035, 1116,

1165, 1 1 86; with subj.

expressing wish, 487, 850.

OE. swa.
soberly, adv. seriously,

gravely, 256.

sobre, serious, earnest, 391,

532. OF. sobre.
SOdanly, suddenly, 1095,

1098; sodenly, 1178. OF.

sodain, sudain; ME. suff.

-ly.

softer, see suffer.
S03t, S03te, see sech.
solace, n. 130. OF. solaz.
solde, pt. 3 5. sold, 731.

OE. sellan.

sommoun, summons, warn
ing, 1098; cp. v. sumoun.
sonde, n. sending, 943. OE.

sand, sond.
sone, soon, 537, 626,

1197; early, 1078. OE.

sona.
SOnge (i), n. song, 882, 888,

891; sange, 19- OE.

sang,song; c^.euen-songe.
songe (2), songen, see

synge.

sonne, see sunne.
sore (i), adv. sorely, 550;

SOr, 940. OE. sare.
sore (2), n. sorrow, 130. OE.

sar.
SOr?, sorrow, 663; sor36,

352. OE. sorg.
sorquydry^e, n. overweening,

309. OF. surquiderie.
soth, true, 482, 1185; soj>e,

truth, 653. OE. so>; cp.

for-soj*.
sothfol, true, 498. OE.

sop; suff. -ful.
sotyle, thin, transparent,

1050. OF. sutil, soutil.
soun, voice, 532. OF. soun.

GLOSSARY,

225

sounande, pr. p. resounding,

883. OF. soner, suner.
Space, n. 61; place, 438.

OF. espace.
spakk, see speke.
sparred, pt. i s. struck

out, flung forward, 1169.

( ?) OF. esparer, to spar

(see Skeat).
sp[e]ce, see spyce.
speche, speech, saying, 37,

235, 400, 471, 793, 1132;

spech, 704. OE. spfec.
special, unique, rare, 235;

specyal, 938. OF. special.
spede, pr. 3 s. subj. prosper,

487. OE. spedan.
speke, pr. i s. speak, 422;

3 5. spek63, 594 ; pt- 3 s.

speke, 438; spakk, 938;

pp. spoken, 291. OE.

specan.
spelle (i), pr. i s. relate,

793. OE. spellian.
spelle (2), n. speech, 363.

OE. spell.
spenn[e]d, pt. i s. clasped,

49. ON. spenna.
spent, pp. 1132. OE.

spendan.
[sphere, sphere, 735. OF.

espere.
sponne, pt. 3 pi. subj.

sprang, 35. OE. spinnan.
spornande, pr.p. stumbling.

363. OE. spornan, spur-
nan.
spot, n. place, 25, 37, 49, 61 ;

spote, 13; spot, blemish,

12, 48, 60, 764 1068;

spotte, 24, 36 ; pi. spotte^

945; cp. MDu. spotte;

EFris. spot; ON. spotti.
spotte;, spotless, 856.
spotty, adj. 10 jo.
sprang, see spryng.
sprede, inf. spread, abound,

25. OE. sprsedan.
spryng, inf. spring, 453;

pr. p. spry[n]gande, 35;

pt. 3 5. sprang, 61;

sprange, 13. OE. springan.
spyce, n. kind, creature,

938; sp[e]ce, 235; spyse,

spice, 104; pi. spyce3, 35;

spyS63, 25. OF. espice,

espece.
spyryt, spirit, 61. OF.

espirit.
spyt, n. insult, 1138. OF.

despit.
stable (i), adj. steadfast,

597. OF. estable.
stable (2), inf. stand firm,

683. OF. establir.
stage, n. state, condition,

410. OF. estage.
stale, n. step, ground-course,

1002. OE. staela.
stalked, pt. i s. walked

cautiously, 152. OE.

stealcan.
stalle, inf. hold, fix, 188.

OE. steallian.
stande, inf. stand, 514, 867;

pr. 3 s. stande;, 547; 2

pi. stande, 515; stonde,

533; 3 pl> stonden, 113;

pt. i s. stod, 182, 184,

1085; 3 s. 1023; endured,

226

PEARL.

597; pp> standen, 519,

1148. OE. standan; cp.

vnder-stonde.
stare, inf. gaze, 149; pr. 3

pi. staren, shine, 116.

OE. starian.
start, inf. start, plunge,

1159, 1162 : prob. OE.

* sty r tan ; cp. Du. storten ;

G. stiirzen.
stayre, adj. steep, 1022 :

cp. LG. steger, steep; OE.

stseger, stair.
stele, inf. steal, 20. OE.

stelan.
stepe, adj. bright, shining,

113. OE. steap.
Step[pe], n. step, 683. OE.

staepa.

stere, inf. guide, 623; res
train, 1159. OE. steoran.
sterne?, stars, 115. ON.

stjarna.
steuen, voice, sound, 1125;

at steuen, within reach,

188. OE. stefn.
stode, support, stud, set
ting, 740. OE. studu.
stok, stock, stump of tree,

380. OE. stoc.
stoken, pp. barred, 1065 ;

cp. OLG. stecan.
ston, stone, gem, 206, 822,

994, 1006; stok o>er ston,

380; pi. stone?, 113, 997-

OE. stan.

stonde, stonden, see stande.
Stonge, pt. 3 s. stung,

pierced, 179. OE. stin-

gan.

store, n. number, 847. OF.

estore.
stote, inf. stumble, 149 : cp.

MDu. stoten.
stounde, hour, time, 20, 659.

OE. stund.
stout, proud, strong, 779;

stoute, 935- OF. estout.
strange, strange, 175.

OF. estrange.
strate?, see strete.
stray, adv. astray, 179; cp.

astraye.
strayd, pt. 3 s. strayed,

1173. OF. estraier.
strayn, inf. guide, 691;

streny, strain, 551; pr.

3 s. strayn 63, constrains,

128. OF. estraindre; cp.

vnstrayned.
streche, inf, extend, on

streche, rest upon, 843;

strech, proceed, 971. OE.

streccan.
stre3t, adj. straight, direct,

691. OE. streht, pp. of

streccan.
strem, «. stream, 125, 1159,

1162. OE. stream.
stremande, pr. p. streaming,

115: from strem; cp.

ON. streyma.
strenghjje, strength, 128.

OE. strengSu.
streny, see strayn.
stresse, distress, 124. OF.

destresse; cp. dystresse.
strete, street, 971, 1059; pi.

strete?, 1025; strate?,

1043. OE. strset.

GLOSSARY.

227

strok, see stryke.

stronde, bank, 152. OE.

strand.
stronge, adj. strong, 531;

adv. firmly, 476. OE.

strong.
Strot, contention, 353, 848;

cp. Dan. strutte, to strut.
stroj>e-men, pi. strath-men,

dalesmen, 115. Gael.

strath, valley, country

near a river; cp.mon (i).
Stryf, strife, 248, 776, 848.

OF. estrif.
stryke, inf. go, 1125; pr. 2

s. st[r]yke3, 1186; 3 s.

stryke3, 570; pt. 3 s.

strok, struck, 1180. OE.

strican.

stryng, see sytole-stryng.
stryuen, pr. 3 pi. strive,

1199. OF. estriver.
styf, adj. firm, 779. OE.

stif.
stylle, adj. quiet, 20, 182,

1085 ; adv. ever, 683.

OE. stille.
I styntf, imp. s. cease, 353.

OE. styntan.
I such, adj. 2.6, 407,

1043,1099; such a, 176;

suche, 58, 171 ; used as

pvon. such, 727; suche,

719. OE. swylc.
SVC, inf. follow, 976; pr.

3 pi. swe, 892. OF. suir.
suffer, inf. 954 ; softer, 940 ;

pp. suffred, 554- OF.

soffrir, suffrir.
suffyse, inf. be enough,

suffice, 135. OF. suffire;

suffis-.
sulpande, pr. p. polluting,

726. Cp. G. dial, solpern.
sum, pron. some, 428; of

al & sum, entirely, 584;

pi. summe, 508. OE.

sum.
sumkyn, adj. some kind of,

619; cp. kyn.
sumoun, inf. summon, 539.

OF. somoner; cp. som-

moun.
sum-tyme, adv. at some

time, 620, 760; cp.

tyme.
sunne, sun, 28, 519, 538,

982, 1044, 1045, 1056,

1057, 1076; sonne, 530.

OE. sunne.
sunne-berne;, sunbeams,

83. OE. sunnebeam ; cp.

bem.
supplantorei, supplanters,

440. OF. supplantour.
Sure, adj. 1089; adv. firmly,

222.. OF. sur, seur.
sute, n. fashion, 203 ; in sute,

of the same pattern, 1 108.

OF. suite.
swalt, pt. 3 s. died, 816; pt.

i s. subj. swalte, 1160.

OE. sweltan.
swange, pt. 3 s. rushed,

IO59I 3 pl> toiled, 586.

OE. swingan.
swangeande, pr. p. rushing

in. (?) OE.* swangian;

cp. OE. swengan.
sware (i), adj. square, 837,

228

PEARL,

1023; n. dimension, 1029.

OF. esquarre.
sware (2), inf. answer, 240.

ON. svara ; cp. on-sware.
swat, pt. 3 pl> sweated, 586.

OE. swajtan.
swe, see sve.
swefte, see swyft.
sweng, n. labour, 575. OE.

sweng.
swepe, inf. sweep, in. OE.

* swsepan (not found).
swete, sweet, 19, 94, 763,

1122; sw[e]te, 829; used

as n., 240, 325; adv. in,

1057. OE. swete.
swetely, sweetly, 717. OE.

swetlice.
sweuen, sleep, dream, 62.

OE. swefen.
swone, n. swoon, 1180;

cp. OE. swogan.
swyft, adj. 571 ; adv. swefte,

354. OE. swift,
swymme, inf. swim, 1160.

OE. swimman.
swype, quickly, 354, 1059.

OE. swISe.
syde, n. 975, "37; pi-

syde?, 6, 73, 198, 218.

OE. side,
sy?, sy3e, see se.
sy3t, n. sight, 226, 839,

952, 968, 1151; eyesight,

985; [s]y?t, 1050; pi.

syste^ 1179. OE. sih>.
sykyng, pr. p. sighing, 1175.

OE. sican.
syluer, n. silver, 77. OE.

sylfor.

sympelnesse, simplicity,

909. OF. simple ; ME.

suff. -nesse.
symple, adj. 1134. OF.

simple.

syn, see syj>en.
synge, inf. sing, 891 ; pt.

3 pi. songen, 94. 882, 888 ;

songe, 1124. OE. singan.
synglerty, uniqueness, 429.

OF. senglierte. ; cp. syn-

g[u]l[ei]re.
syngnette?, pi. seals, 838.

OF. signet.
syng[u]l[e]re, adj. alone,

used as n. in syng[u]l[e]re,

in uniqueness, 8. OF.

singulier ; cp. synglerty.
synne, n. sin, 610, 726, 811;

pi. synne}, 823. OE.

syn.
synne}, pv. 3 s. sins, 662.

OE. syngian.
Syon, 789, 868.
syt, lamentation, 663. ON.

syt.
sytole-stryng, citole-string,

91. OF. citole; OE.

strenge.
sy)>en, adv. afterwards, 643,

1207; conj. since, 13,245;

syn, 519- OE. si]>j)an.
, times, 1079. OE.

tabelment, tier of ground-

course, 994.

table, tier, course, 1004.
tached, pp. fastened, 464.

OF. atachier.

GLOSSARY.

229

take, inf. 539, 552, 599,
944, 1067, 1158; pr.

2 pi. 387; 3 pl. take?,
687; imp. s. take, 559;
pt. 3 s. toke, 414, 808;

3 pl. 585 ; Pp. taken for,
considered as, 830; tan,
614. ON. taka.

tale, 257, 311, 590, 865,

897, 998. OE. talu.
tan, see take,
tech, imp. s. direct, 936.

OE. tsecan; cp. by-
taste,
teche, n. stain, 845. OF.

teche.
telle, inf. tell, 134, 653;

pr. 2 s. telle?, 919; pt.

3 s. tolde, uttered, 815.

OE. tellan.
temen, pr. i pl. are joined

to, subserve, 460; cp.

LG. tamen, temen, to fit.
temple, 1062. OF. temple.
tempte, inf. try, 903. OF.

tempter.
tender, adj. 412. OF.

tendre.
tene?, vexations, 332. OE.

teona.
tenoun, n. tenon, joining,

993. OF. tenon.
tente, n. heed, 387. OF.

atente; cp. myse-tente.
tenl^e, tenth, 136, 1013.

OE. teotfa; ON. tiundi.
terme, n. end, 503; pl.

terme?, words, 1053.

OF. terme.
that, the see }>at, I*.

theme, n. subject, 944. OF.
*teme; L. thema.

then, thenne, this, thow,
see penne (i), >ys, }>ou.

throne, see trone.

thys, see >is.

to, adv. too, 2, 481, 492,
615, 1070, 1075, 1076,
1118; to ne fro, to or
fro, 347; prep, i, 10,
20, etc. ; forming ger. 22,
45, etc.; for, 507, 638, 719,
759. 79i; before, 700;
on, 434; to hym warde,
towards him, 820. OE.to.

to-drawe?, pr. 2 s. removest,
280; cp. dra?, wyth-droj.

togeder, together, 1121.

to-36re, adv. for a long time,
588. OE. to-geare; cp.
?er.

to?t, adj. taut, firm, sure,
522; (?) pp. of ME.
to?en. OE. togian, to
tow, pull; cp. OE. teon,
to draw.

toke, see take.

token, n. 742. OE. tacen.

tolde, see telle.

torn, leisure, 134; toke
more torn, had to wait
longer, 585. ON. torn.

tonge, tongue, 100, 898;
tong[e], 225. OE. tunge.

topasye, n. topaz, 1012.
OF. topase; L. topazus,
topazon, topazion.

tor (i), adj. difficult, 1109.
OE., ON. tor-, only as
prefix.

230

PEARL.

tor (2), n. tower, citadel,

966. OF. tur.
to-rente, pp- torn asunder,

1136; cp. rent,
to-riuen, pp. torn away,

1197. OE. to-; ON. rifa.
tone?, tors, cloud-peaks,

875. OE. tor.
tot}, pr. 3 s. betakes him
self, 513; pp. towen,

drawn, 251. OE. teon.
tou[c]h, inf. 714; pt. 3 s.

towched, 898. OF. tou
cher.

toun, town, 995. OE. tun.
towarde, prep. 438, 1113;

to-warde, 67, 974. OE.

toweard ; cp. to, warde.
towched, see touch,
tras, path, 1113. OF.

trace.

trauayle, n. labour, 1087.
trauayled, pp. toiled, 550.
traw, inf. believe, 487; pr.

i 5. trowe, 933; 2 s.

trawe?, 295; pt. i s.

trawed, 282. OE. treo-

wian.
trawjtt, justice, 495. OE.

treow>.
trendeled, pt. 35. rolled, 41.

OE. trendlian.
tres, trees, 1077. OE. treo.
tresor, treasure, 331 ; tre-

sore, worth, 237. OF.

tresor.
triys, ' truce,' peace, 755.

OE. treow, pledge; ME.

trew, pi. trews; cp. AF.

triwes.

trone (i), throne, 835, 920,

1051, 1055; throne,

1113. OF. trone; L.

thronus.
trone (2), pt. 3 pi. went,

1113; cp. Sw. trina, tran.
trowe, see traw.
trwe, true, 421, 725, 822,

1191; true, 311; trw,

831 ; adv. trwe, 460. OE.

treo we ; cp. vn-trwe.
tryed, pp. brought to trial,

707. OF. trier.
[tryjeste, surest, 1015. OF.

trie.
try^e, inf. trow, believe,

311. OE. triewan.
trylle, inf. quiver, 78; Sw.

trilla, to twist.
t[r]yste, adv. trustily, 460

(see Note).
twayned, pp. separated,

251. OE. twegen, twain.
twelf]>e, twelfth, 1015. OE.

twelfta.
twelue, twelve, 992, 993.

IO22, IO3O, 1035, 1078,

1079. OE. twelf.
two, 483, 555, 674, 949- OE.

twa.
twye3, twice, 830. OE. twia

+ -s.
twynne,w.; in twynne, apart,

251. OE. (ge)twinn. —
twynne-how, adj. of two

colours, 1012; cp. hwe.
ty36d, pp. tied, 464. OE.

tlgan.
ty3t, inf. come, 718; pp.

503. OE. tihtan.

GLOSSARY.

231

ty3tc, pt. 3 s. described,
1053: PP> ty?t, 1013;
(?) cp. OE. dihtan,to com
pose.

tyl, cow/, till, 548, 976, 979 ;
prep, tylle, to, 676. ON.
til.

tyme, n. 503, 833. OE.
tima; cp. sum- tyme.

tynde, n. branch, 78. OE.
tind.

tyne, inf. lose, 332. ON.
tyna.

tyt, quickly, 645, 728. ON.
tiSr, neut. titt; cp. as tyt.

J>a3, cow;, though, 52, 55,

134, etc. ; ]>03, 345- OE.

Seah.

J>are, see >er.
j>at (i), cow/, that, 65, 137,

185, etc. ; so that (effect),

35. "9, 356, 1087; in

order that, 471, 544. OE.

Baet.
]>at (2), def. art. the, 953,

955; cp. fe (i).
>at (3), pron. dent, that, 12,

13, 14, etc.; that, 253,

481, 937; fern. ace. sing.

>0, 136; pi. 73. 85.

109, 138, 451, 557,

777. "79; J>ose, 93. 127;

]>os, 515-
>at (4), pron. rel. that, 15,

17,37; b&Uat, 657, 658;

J>a[t], 856, 892.
J>ay, see he.
jje (i), <fe/. art. the, 28, 67,

69, etc.; the, 85, 109, 121,

445, 541, 685, 1141;

with comp. ]?e, 103, 127,

128, etc.; the, 169; cp.

>at (2).

}>e (2), see jjou.
>ede, land, 483. OE. >eod;

c/>. are->ede.

>ef, thief, 273. OE. >Sof.
>en (i), adv., see jjenne

(i)-
)>en (2), cow;, than, 134,

181, 212, etc.; ])enn,

555. OE. ftaenne.
]>enke, inf. think, 22 ; >enk,

1151; pr. p. >enkande,

370; pt. I S. Jtfjt, 137.

1138, 1157. OE. J>encan.

>enn, see >en (2).

]>enne (i), arfu. then, 155,
177, 213, etc.; thenne,
361; >en, 277, 398, 494,
etc.; then, 589. OE.
Ssenne, Sanne.

|>enne (2), adv. thence, 631,
1094. OE. Sanon, 8a-
none.

>er, adv. there, 28, 47, 53,
etc.; [j>er], 1117; l^ere,
167, 194, 742, 942, 1155;
>are, 830, 1021; >ore,
562 ; as subj. of verb,
}>er, 21, 113, 161, 493,
657, 1107 ; cow/. where,26,
30, 41, etc.; |>ere, 835,
838. OE. &£r, Sar.

}>er-as, 129, 818, 1173.

Derate, adv. there, 514. OE.
Saer at.

)>er-Iore, therefore, 1197.

lier-inne, therein, 447, 644,

PEARL.

724, 1061, 1168; j>ere-

ine, 633. O.E. 5£rinne.
>er-of, thereof, 99, 161,

410, 968, 1084; there

from, 1069. OE. Sair of.
>er-on, thereon, 1042 ; there

of, 387. OE. Saeron.
]>er-oute, out of doors, 930.

OE. Scerut.
J>er-to, thereto, 664, 833,

1140; >erto, 172. OE.

>ese, see }>ys.

>ike, thickly, 78. OE.

Jjicce; ON. J>ykkr.
>is, >ise, see >ys.
>0, see >at (3).
>03, see ])&3.
J>03te, n. thought, 524. OE.

>oht.

>03t, see ]>enke, J>ynk.
>ole, inf. endure, 344. OE.

>olian.
>onc, n. thanks, 901. OE.

J>anc.

>oo, then, 873. OE. Sa.
>ore, see >er.
>os, pose, see j>at (3).
J>OU, pron. pers. nom. s.

thou, 23, 242, 245, etc. ;

>ow, 411; thow, 337;

dat. ace. s. pe, 244, 263,

266, etc. ; nom. pi. 36,

290, 515, 516, etc.; dat.

ace. yow, 470, 471, 524,

928 : used for s., nom.

36, 3<>7» 3°8> 371, etc.;

dat. ace. yow, 287, 913,

951. OE. 8u ; cp. J>y, your.
^owsande, thousand, 786,

869, 870; pi. }>owsande3,

1107; >ousande3, 926.

OE. jmsend.
grange, closely, 17. ON.

J>r6ngr.
J>re, three, 291, 292, 1034.

OE. |>reo.
>rete, inf. complain, 561.

OE. ]?reatian.
j>ro, bold, impatient, 344 ;

strong, 868. ON. }>rar.
)>rowe3, pr. 3 s. whirls, hurls

itself, 875. OE. J>rawan.
J?rych, inf. press, 17; pp.

J>ry3t, crowded together,

926; brought forcibly,

670; pierced, 706. OE.

J^ryccan.
>rydde, third, 299 ; ]>ryd[de],

1004; j>ryde, 833. OE.

j)ridda.
J*yf, inf. thrive, 851; pp.

>ryuen, mighty, 868 ;

wise, 1192. ON. J^rifa.
J>ry3t, see >rych.
fryuen, see jjryf.
Bunder, ^.thunder, 875. OE.

J)unor.
]>ur3, ^e/?. through, 10,

114, 271, etc. OE. fturh.
]>UT3-Outly, entirely, 859.

OE. Surhut + -lice.
>US, thus, 526, 569, 573,

673, 677, 829. OE. 3us.

J>y» pron. poss. thy, 266,

273. 275, etc.; >yn, 559,

567, 754. OE. Sin.

J>yder, thither, 723, 946.

OE. Sider.
>yn, see >y.

GLOSSARY.

233

yng, thing, 771, 1157;
>ynge, 910; >ynk, 308,
496, 587. OE. >ing.

J>ynk, impers. v. seem; pr.
267, 316, 552, 553, 590;
pt. >0}t, 19, 153- OE.
>yncan.

}>ys, pron. dem. this, 250,
277, 297, etc.; >is, 65,
260, 295, etc. ; thys, 841 ;
this, 733; >ysse, 370;
gen. s. >ise, 533 ', pi- }>ise,
287, 384, 997, 1022, 1119;
>yse, 555. 921, 931; )>is,
42; >ese, 551, 752. OE.
neut. Sis.

}>y self, pron. reflex. 473;
>yself, 779; J>y seluen,
341 ; emphatic, )>y self,
298,313. OE.SuSeself,
Se selfum.

pysse, see >ys.

vayned, see wayne?.

vch, adj. each, 31, 323,

603, etc. ; vch a, 78, 375,

436, etc.; vche, 5. 33,

310, 839, 845; vche a,

117, 217, 1066, 1080.

OE. gehwilc.
VChon, pron. each one, 450,

546. 595, 849, 1039; gen.

vchone3, 863, 1103; cp.

on (i).

ueray, see veray.
uesture, see under V.
veiled, see weue.
vmbe-gon, pp. hung round,

210. OE. ymbe; cp.

gon.

vmbe-py3te, pp. set round,
204, 1052; cp. py3t.

vn-a-vysed, adj. ill-advised,
292. OE. un- + OF.
aviser.

vnblemyst, adj. unblem
ished, 782. OF. blemir,
blemiss-.

vn-cort[a]yse, uncourteous,
303; cp. cortayse.

vnde-fylde, adj. undefiled,
725. OF. defouler; OE.
fylan; cp. fyl>e.

vnder (i), n. forenoon, the
time from 9 a.m. to
midday, noon, 513. OE.
undern; cp. Goth, un-
daurni-mats, a morning
meal.

vnder (2), prep, under, 923;
cp. an-vnder.

vnder-stonde, inf. under
stand, 941; cp. stande.

vn-hyde, inf. reveal, 973.
OE. hydan.

vnlapped, adj. unfolded, un
bound, 214; cp. OE.
laeppa, a loose fold ; hence
ME. lappen, to wrap.

vnmete, adj. unfit, 759 ; cp.
mete (i).

vnpynne, inf. unfasten, 728;
cp. late OE. pinn.

vnresoun-able, illogical, 590;
cp. resnabelef.

vnstrayned, adj. uncon
strained, 248 ; cp. strayn.

vnto, prep. 712, 718;
vn-to, 1169; for, 772,
1 2 12 ; on the part of, 362.

234

PEARL.

vn-trwe, untrue, 897; cp.

trwe.

uoclied, see under V.
vp, adv. up, 35, 177, 191,

254, 434, 437, 506, 974.

OE. up.

vpen, vpon, see open.
vpon, adv. thereon, 208;

prep, upon, 57, 59, 370,

824, etc.; vpone, 1054.

OE. uppon.
vr]>e, the earth, 442, 893,

1125; er]?e, 840. OE.

eorfte.
vr>ely, earthly, 135. OE.

eorSHc.
vt-wyth, adv. from outside,

969. OE. ut + wij>.
VUS, see I.
vyf, vyue^, see wyf.
uyne, see vyne.

vale?, vales, 127. OF. val.
vay4[e], inf. avail, 912. OF.

valoir.
vayn, adj. in vayn, at

nought, 811; adv. in

vayne, foolishly, 687. OF.

vain.

vayned, see wayne}.
veray, true, 1184; ueray,

1185. OF. verai.
verce, verse, 593. OF. vers.
vere}, pr. 3 s. turns, 177;

pt.$ s.vered,254. OF.virer.
vergyne?, see vyrgyn.
vergynte, virginity, 767.

OF. verginite.
Vertues, pi. Virtues, an

order of angels, 1126.

uesture, raiment, 220. OF.

vesture.

veued, see weue.
vm-, vn-, vp-, vr-, vt-, see

under U.
UOChed, pp. summoned,

1 121. OF. vochier; L.

vocare.
vus, see I.
vyf, vyuc}, see wyf.
vygour, n. power, 971.

OF. vigur, vigor.
vyne, vineyard, 504, 507,

521, 525, 527, 535, 582,

628 ; uyne, 502. OF. vine.
vyrgyn, n. virgin, used as

adj. 426; pi. yergyne?,

1099. OF. virgine.
vys, n. face, 750 ; vyse, 254.

OF. vis.
vysayge, v. visage, 178.

OF. visage.

wace, see be (i).

wade, inf. 143, 1151. OE.

wadan.
wage, inf. endure, 416.

OF. wager, to engage.
wakned, pt. i s. awoke,

1171. OE. wsecnan.
wal, wall, 1017, 1026. OE.

weall; cp. castel-walle.
wale, inf. choose, point out,

discern, 1000, 1007; cp.

ON. val, choice.
walk, inf. 399 ; pt. s. welke,

101, 711. OE. wealcan,

weolc.
wallande, pr. p. bubbling,

365. OE. weallan.

GLOSSARY.

235

walle, see castel-walle.
walte, see wolde (i).
wan, see wynne (2).
wani[n]g, n. diminution,

558. OE. warning.
war, adj. aware, 1096. OE.

waer.
warde, adv. to hym warde,

towards him, 820; fro

me warde, away from

me, 981. OE. weard.
ware, see be (i).
warpe, inf. give forth, utter,

879. ON. varpa, to

throw.
wasch63, pr. 3 s. washes,

6555 pt> 3 s- wesch, 766.

OE. waescan.
wasse, see be (i).
wate, see wot.
water, n. 107, in, 122, etc.

OE. waeter.
wat3, see be (i).
wawej, pi. waves, 287; cp.

MLG. wage.
wax, see wex.
way (i), path, 350, 580;

pl. waye3, 691. OE.

weg.
way (2), adv. away, 718.

Aphetic form of OE. on-

weg, aweg; cp. away.
wayne3, pr. 3 5. sends,

grants, 131 ; pp. vayned,

249. ON. vegna.
wayted, pp. watched, held

vigil, 14. OF. waiter.
we, see I.
webbe3, woven fabrics, 71.

OE. webb.

inf. wed, 772. OE.

weddian.
weddyng, n. 791. OE. wed-

dung.
wede, n. dress, 748, 766,

1112; pl. wede3, 1 102,

1133. OE. w£de.
weete, see wete.
wel, adj. 239, 1187; sup.

best, 1131; beste, 279,

863; adv. 164, 302, 411,

505, 673; very, 537;

much, 145, 148; comp.

better, rather, 341. OE.

wel ; cp. god.
welcum, adj. welcome, 399.

OE. wilcuma, n. one who

comes pleasing ; ON. vel-

kominn, pp. welcome.
wele, weal, prosperity, joy,

14, 133, 342, 394; pl.

welC3, 154. OE. wela.
welke, see walk,
welkyn, n. 116. OE.

wolcnu, pl. of wolcen,

cloud.
welle, n. 365, 649. OE.

wella.
welnygh, adv. well-nigh,

581 ; wel-ne3, 528. OE.

welneah ; cp. ner.
wely, blissful, 101. OE.

welig.
wemle3, spotless, 737. OE.

wamleas.
wemme, spot, fault, 221,

1003. OE. wemman, to

stain; n. wamm.
wende (i), inf. go, 643, pt. i

s. wente, 761 ; 3 s. went,

236

PEARL.

113°; 3 pl> wente, 525.
631. OE. wendan.

wende (2), see wene.

wene, inf. think out, ima
gine, suppose, 1141 ; pr. i
s. I wot & wene, I know
full well, 47, 201 ; pt.
i s. wende, supposed,
1148. OE. wenan.

went, wente, see wende (i).

wer (i), pt. 3 s. wore, 205.
OE. werian.

wer (2), were, see be (i).

werke, n. work, 599. OE.
weorc.

werkmen, pi. 507. OE.
weorcmann.

werle, n. attire, covering,
209. ( ?) OE.* werels (cp.
ON. vesl).

wern, see be (i).

wesch, see wasche?.

westernays, ' widdishins, '
contrariwise, turned
away, perversely, 307.
OF. bes-torneis, so trans
formed as to suggest
' westerly.'

wete, wet, 761; weete,
1135. OE. wfet.

we)>er, see whe]>er.

weue, inf. come, 318; pp.
veued, 976. OE. wsefan.

weuen, pt. 3 pi. wove, 71.
OE. wefan, waef.

wex, pt. 3 s. grew, 538, 648 ;
wax, flowed, 649. OE.
weaxan.

whallej, gen. s. whale's, 212.
OE. hwsel.

wham, see quo (2).

what, see quo.

whate}, omens, fortunes,

1041. OE. hwaet ; see

byrKe].

when, see quen.
where, see quere.
whete, wheat, 32. OE.

hwsete.
whe|>er, adv. nevertheless,

581, 826; conj. subord.

with o>er, whether . . .

or, 130, 604; we>er, in
troducing question, 565.

OE. hwaBSer.
who, see quo.
why, adv. interr. 329, 338,

515, 634; wy, 290, 533,

564; quy, 561; inter j.

why, 769. OE. hwy.
whyle, adv. once on a time,

15. OE. w.hwil ; c^.awhyle.
whyt, whyte, see quyt.
with, see wyth.
wlonk, noble, beauteous,

1171; wlonk[e], 122;

wlonc, 903. OE. wlanc.
wo, n. woe, 56, 154, 342.

OE. wa.
wod,forest,i22. OE. wudu ;

cp. holte-wode^.
wode, mad, 743. OE. wod.
wod-schawe3, pi. groves,

284. OE. sceaga.
woghe, wickedness, 622.

OE. woh.

W036, wall, 1049. OE. wah.
wolde (i), inf. possess, 812;

pp. walte, held, 1156.

OE. waldan.

GLOSSARY.

237

wolde (2), wolde3, see wyl (2).
wolen, adj. woollen, 731.

OE. wyllen.

wolle, n. wool, 844. OE. wull.
wommon, gen. pi. women's,

236. OE. wifmann.
won (i), n. dwelling-place,

1049; pi. wone3, 917. 924,

1027 ; to wone3, home, 32.

OE. (ge)wuna; ON. vani.
won (2), inf. dwell, 298, 315,

644; won[e], 918; wony,

284; pr. 3 s. wonys, 47;

3 pi. wone3, 404. OE.

wunian.
wonde, inf. turn back, 153.

OE. wandian.

wonder, n. used as adj. won
drous, 221, 1095. OE.

wundor.

wonne, see wynne (2).
wont, adj. accustomed, 15;

wonte, 172. OE. wunod,

pp. of wunian.
wonted, pt. 3 s. lacked, 215.

ON. vanta.

wony, wonys, see won (2).
worchen, pr. 3 pi. work,

511; imp. pi. wyrke3,

536; pt. 3 5. wro3t, 748;

wro3t[e], 825 5 wra3te,

56; 3 pi. wr03t, 555, 631;

wro3te, 525 ; wr03ten,

622 ; pp. wr03t, 638, 824.

OE. wyrcan.
worde, word, 294 ; pi. wor-

de?, 291, 307, 3M. 367,

819. OE. word.
wore, see be (i).
worlde, world, 65, 424, 476,

537, 579, 657, 743, 761,
824; in worlde, at all,
293. OE. weoruld, wor-
old.

worschyp, n. honour, 394,
479. OE. weor)>scipe.

worte3, pi. plants, 42. OE.
wyrt.

WOF]>e (i), adj. worthy, 100;
worth, 451. OE. weor)?,
wur}>.

worj>e (2), pr. 3 s. subj. be,
362; pp. worsen to, be
come, 394. OE. weorSan.

wor>ly, adj. noble, 1073;
worthyly, 846; used as
n. wor>yly, 47; adv.
1133. OE. weorSHc;
ON. verSuligr.

wor>y, noble, 494; worth,
616; cp. OE. wyrSig;
ON. verftugr.

[w]ose, wild man, 91 1 . OE.
(wudu)-wasa.

wost, see wot.

wot, pr. i s. know, 47,
201, 1107; wate, 502;
2 s. wost, 411; woste,
293; pt. i s. wyste, 65,
376; 2 s. wyste3, 617.
OE. witan.

woj>e, n. open country, vch
a W0>e, every place,
375. OE. wa.J>, hunting-
ground, place; cp. G.
weide.

W0[>e], n. peril, 154; pi.
W0>63, 151. ON. vaSi.

wounde, n. wound, 650,
1135, 1142. OE. wund.

PEARL.

wra^te, see worehen.
wrang, n. wrong, 631;

wrange, 15. OE. wrang.
wrange, adv. wrongly, 488;

wrang, 614.
wrathjje, n. wrath, 362.

OE. wra3j)]x>; cp. wro>e.
wreched, wretched, made

miserable, 56. OE.

wrecca, an outcast.
writ, see wryt.
WIO, n. corner, 866. ON. ra.
wrojt, wro3ten, see wor
ehen.
wroken, pp. banished, 375.

OE. wrecan, wraec, wre-

cen.
Wro]>e, adj. wroth, 379.

OE. wraj>; cp. wrath^e.
wryt, writing, Scripture,

592; writ, 997. OE.writ.
wryte?, pr. 3 5. writes, 1033 ;

pp. wryten, 834, 866, 871.

OE. writan.
wry^e, inf. turn, 350, 488;

pr. 3 pi. wry>en, strain

themselves, 511. OE .

wriSan.
wy, see why.

wyde, adj. 1135. OE. wld.
wyf, wife, 846; vyf, 772;

pi. vyue3, 785- OE. wif.
wy3, n. person, 100, 131,

722; pi. wy3C3, 71, 579-

OE. wiga.
wy3t, n. person, 338 ; wy3te,

494. OE. wiht.
wy3te, adj. active, brave,

694. ON. adj. m. vigr,

n. vlgt, in fighting form.

wyl (i), conj. till, 528. OE.

n. hwil.
wyl (2), pr. i s. wish, 558;

3 s. 350, 443, 965; 2 s.

subj. 794 ; pt. (with pr.

significance) i s. wolde,

390, 910; 2 S. W0ld63,

410; 3 s. wolde, 304, 451,

488, 772, 1195; pi. 391,

849; (with pt. signifi
cance) i s. 977, 1155.

OE. willan.
wylle, n. will, 56, 131. OE.

willa.
wylne3, pr. 2 s. wishest, 318.

OE. wilnian.

wyn, wine, 1209. OE. win.
wynge3, pi. wings, 93. ON.

vengr, vaengr.
wynne (i), adj. winsome,

154, 647. OE. wynn,

joy; (?) ME. adj. from

wynnum, joyfully.
wynne (2), inf. win, 579,

722 ; attain, 694 ; pt. i 5.

wan, came, 107; pp.

wonne, brought, 32 ;

come, 517. OE. winnan,

wann, wunnen.
wynter, n. used as adj. 116.

OE. winter.
wyrde, fate, 249, 273. OE.

wyrd.

wyrke3, see worehen.
wys, adj. wise, 748. OE.

wis.
wyschande, pr. p. desiring,

14. OE. wyscan.
wyse (i), n. manner, kind,

101, 133, 1095. OE. wise.

GLOSSARY.

239

wyse (2), inf. appear, 1135.
OE. wlsian.

wyste, see wot.

wyt, mind, understanding,
903; wytte, 294. OE.
witt.

wyth, prep, with, 40, 54, 74,
etc; with, 200, 202, 837;
by, 806. OE. wi>.

wyth-dro}, pt. 3 s. withdrew,
658; cp. dra3, to-drawe3.

wyth-inne, adv. within, 102 7 ;
prep. 440, 679, 966. OE.
wiSinnan.

wyth-nay, imp. s. refuse,
916. ON. nei, no; per
haps withnay on analogy
with denaien, OF. de-
neier, to deny.

wyth-outen, prep, without,
12, 24, 36, etc.; wyth-
oute, 644, 695. OE.
wiSutan.

wy>er-half, adj. the oppo

site side of, 230. OE.
wiser, contrary ; cp. half.

ydel, adj. idle, 514, 515, 531,

533. OE. Idel.
y3e, n. eye, 302, 567, 1153;

pi. y3en, 183, 254, 296;

[ene], 200. OE. eage.
yle, isle, detached or distant

region, 693. OF. ile; L.

insula.
ynde, Indian dye, indigo,

76, 1016. OF. inde.
yor, see your,
yot, (?) got, 10. OE. gie-

tan; cp. ME. for^eten.
your, pron. poss. 257, 258,

3°5, 306, 369, 389, 393,

497, 924; yor, 761. OE.

eower; cp. >ou.
yow, see J>pu.
Ysaye, Isaiah, 797, 819.
yuore, n. ivory, 178. OF.

ivoire ; AF. ivorie.

APPENDIX.

BOCCACCIO'S ECLOGUE

OLYMPIA

OLYMPIA, the Latin text with an English
rendering, edited by me, was printed by
the Florence Press (Chatto & Windus) and
published in 1913 to commemorate the six
hundredth anniversary of Boccaccio's birth.
The issue was limited to 550 copies. The
present text and translation represent a revision
of the 1913 edition.

My interest in Boccaccio's OLYMPIA dates
from 1904, when my dear friend the late
Professor W. H . Schofield, of Harvard, reprinted
from the Publications of the Modern Language
Association of America, xix. I, an article on
"The Nature and Fabric of the Pearl," in
which he attempted to disprove the obvious
autobiographical interpretation of the poem,
and to maintain that its elegiac setting was
a mere literary device for dealing with certain
theological problems.

An Appendix was added embodying supple
mentary information concerning the source
of the poem, in which Dr. Schofield stated
that after his article had been printed his
attention was directed by Dr. E. K. Rand,
243

244 BOCCACCIO'S OLYMPIA.

of Harvard, to Boccaccio's Eclogue. He
proceeded to demonstrate the dependence
of the English poem upon the Latin as
its direct source, and somewhat strangely,
instead of being induced by " the new fact "
to modify his former contention, asserted
that the undoubted elegiac reality of the
alleged original actually confirmed his views
as to the non-autobiographical character of
"The Pearl." After comparing the two
poems, he was, however, forced to admit that,
in saying that the Eclogue was its source,
he did not mean more than that it was the
"starting-point of the author's conception."
I do not propose on the present occasion to
traverse the arguments. I was none the less
grateful to Dr. Schofield, although after long
study of the two poems I came to the con
clusion that there was no definite evidence
of any indebtedness on the part of the author
of " Pearl " to Boccaccio's poem, and that
such parallels as might be discovered in the two
poems might be due to the poets' common
knowledge, ideas, and belief. Moreover, in one
striking instance the alleged similarity does not
exist. " In both cases," it was pointed out,
" the poet, grieving for a dead child, falls
asleep on the ground in a leafy arbor ; " but

BOCCACCIO'S OLYMPIA. 245

" ex molli caespite recubans " indicates a soft
pillow, and not the ground. With the
dangers of parallelism before me, I attempted
to consider the question independently ; for
which purpose I found it necessary, in the
first place, to prepare an adequate text of the
Eclogue, and further, in order to understand
it aright, to render it into English.

The poem was included in collections of
Latin Eclogues printed in Florence, 1504,
and in Basle, 1546 ; and again in " Carmina
Illustrium Poetarum Italorum," Florence,
1719. All these texts are unsatisfactory,
though the last is perhaps the best of them.
To Dr. Oscar Hecker belongs the high dis
tinction of having discovered what he has
proved to be Boccaccio's autograph manuscript
of the Eclogues, including " Olympia." His
discovery is set forth in a remarkable volume,
" Boccaccio-Funde," 1901, where among other
treasures he prints from the precious volume
in the Bibliotheca Riccardiana at Florence
the text of " Olympia," letter for letter, in
the poet's own orthography, minutely re
producing the original. With the help of
this text, I have been able to correct some
bad errors in the 1719 text, which I have
taken as the basis of the present edition. The

246 BOCCACCIO'S OLYMPIA.

spelling and punctuation have been normalised
in accordance with modern usage.

The extracts from Boccaccio's letters to
Petrarch and Martin da Signa are from
Corrazzi's " Le Lettere edite e inedite di
Messer Giovanni Boccaccio," with some slight
modifications.

In addition to Dr. Hecker's work, the
following investigations should be noted :
Hortis, Studij sulle opere latine del Boc
caccio, 1879; Zumbini, Le Ecloghe del
Boccaccio, Giornale storico della lett. ital.
vii ; Dobelli, II culto del Boccaccio per
Dante, Giornale Dantesco, An. v, fasc. v, vi,
vii ; Enrico Carrara, Un oltretomba Bucolico,
1899 — the last an interesting effort to explain
allusions, proper names, and sources, with
special reference to Dante. So far as diction
is concerned, the poet's chief debt, directly
and indirectly, is to Virgil. Whatever occa
sional defects may be found in the Latinity
of the poem are amply compensated by the
all-pervading grace of sentiment and feeling.

The date of "Olympia" is about 1361,
some two or three years after the child's
death at the age of five and a half.

It is not known who is to be understood
by Fusca, probably the child's mother. Asylas

BOCCACCIO'S OLYMPIA. 247

is evidently a reference to Boccaccio's father.
By Mopsus Homer may perhaps be under
stood ; Virgil by Tityrus ; Dante by Minci-
ades, though the name primarily would suggest
Virgil. Codrus, for Christ, in Olympia's
Hymn, is explained by the Athenian king's
self-sacrifice for his country's sake. Ischiros
is the Greek 'lo^po?, strong, mighty. Simi
larly, the form Parthenos, with the second
vowel as lengthened, should be noted. Arce-
silas is probably used in its etymological sense
of " Chieftain." A gloss in the margin of the
MS. gives " Lycos," that is, Wolf, the name
of the dog, as from the Greek and equivalent
to " albus." Therapon, the source of which the
poet forgot, is evidently 0epa7rwi/, an attendant.
" De Libano, sponsa, veni," the song Asylas
invites Olympia to sing with him, from the
fourth chapter of the Song of Songs :

" Tota pulchra es, arnica mea, et macula non

est in te.
Veni de Libano, sponsa mea, veni de Libano,

veni.
Coronaberis de capite Amana, de vertice

Sanir et Hermon," etc.,

was perhaps suggested by Dante, Purgatorio
xxx, ii :

248 BOCCACCIO'S OLYMPIA.

" ed un di loro, quasi da ciel messo,
' Veni, sponsa, de Libano ' cantando
Grido tre volte, e tutte gli altri appresso."

The words, as the burden of a religious love-
song, occur frequently in mediaeval literature.
Their use in " Pearl " is very striking, though
the situation is not parallel. In sentiment the
two poems are indeed linked together ; and
by way of illustrating this identity of spirit,
however different the form, stanza LXIV may
fittingly be noted.

A like sorrow befell two poets, and each
found solace in song. The one — a pioneer
of the Renaissance — characteristically, under
the influence of his great Italian Master,
harmonised Virgilian form with Christian
belief. The other — a didactic English poet,
far from the new literary currents — bethought
him of the Pearl of the Gospel, and found his
inspiration in the visionary scenes of the New
Jerusalem, coloured by mediaeval allegory. In
his poem, " the river from the Throne " of
the Apocalypse met " the waters of the wells,"
devised by Sir Mirth for the Garden of the
Rose.

In accordance with theological fancy, in
each poem the transfigured child, grown in
wisdom, appears as matured also in age, "joined

BOCCACCIO'S OLYMPIA. 249

in Eternal Spousal." No longer the children
they were, they teach with bold authority
lessons of resignation and the mystic properties
of Heaven — Pearl more particularly, who
in her argumentative skill recalls the figure
of Reason in the " Romaunt." Yet, at the
same time, to the dreamer Pearl is still " my
little queen," and, for all " her royal array,"
his treasure "small and sweetly slight." So,
too, Olympiads voice and image are those
of Violante — "virguncula mea." The child
angelic, matured in Heaven — "for spousal fit"
— is still the child for dreamer and poet. In
the Kingdom all are as children. And even
to Dante, in the hour of his imperilled loyalty
to her memory, Beatrice first appears "con
quelle vestimenta sanguigne, colle quali apparve
prima agli occhi miei, e pareami giovane in
simile etade a quella, in che prima la vidi."

OLYMPIAN ! From thy laurel that ne'er fades
A tender leaf athwart our pathway falls,
And, fragrant with sweet violet, recalls
The dearest blossom in thy love-lit glades.

Far from thy Roses, with desire imbrued,

Far from thy Garden, where with wanton lays

Plague-haunted dames and gallants sped their

days,
A floweret all too frail thy tears bedew'd.

Not Fiammetta, but thy angel-child

Led thee foot-sore the Hill-top to ascend,

The high Olympus of the undefiled.

There Beatrice on Violante smiled,
And told of fair Eletta, thy child-friend,
And played with Pleasant Pearl, so wise and
mild.

I.G.

25*

252 EPISTOLA AD PETRARCHAM.

JOHANNIS BOCCACCI DE CERTALDO AD FRANCIS-
CUM PETRARCHAM LAUREATUM FAMILIARIS
EPISTOLA.

Interlocuti sumus in hortulo tuo, assistentibus
ex amicis nonnullis, consedimus ; ibi explic
ation placidoque sermone, domum, libros et
tua omnia obtulit, et quantum in ea fuit,
matronali semper gravitate servata, sumpsissem.
Inde has inter oblationes et ecce modestiori
passu quam deceret aetatem Electa tua dilecta
mea, et antequam me nosceret ridens aspexit.
Quam ego non laetus tantum sed avidus ulnis
suscepi. Primo intuitu virgunculam olim meam
suspicatus. Quid dicam ? Si mihi non credis,
Gulielmo Ravennati medico, et Donate nostro
qui novere credito. Eadem, quae meae fuit,
Electae tuae facies est, idem risus, eademque
oculorum laetitia, gestus incessusque et eadem

LETTER TO PETRARCH. 253
FROM BOCCACCIO'S LETTER TO PETRARCH,

DESCRIBING HlS VlSIT TO FRANCESCA, P£-

TRARCH'S DAUGHTER, AT VENICE, IN THE
YEAR MCCCLXVII, AND TELLING OF ELETTA,
FRANCESCA'S LITTLE DAUGHTER.

We sat chatting in your garden, and some of
your friends who were there joined in the talk.
Francesca most graciously pressed me to make
myself at home, and proffered me your books
and all your belongings — all she had I was to
consider mine ; but not for a moment did she
forget the modest demeanour of the perfect
wife. She was welcoming me, when, lo, there
before me was your dear little Eletta, my little
friend ! How gracefully she came along !
One could not have expected such grace in so
young a child. Before she could know who
I was, she smiled at me so sweetly. What joy
was mine when I saw her ! What a hunger
seized my heart as I held her in my arms !
At first I thought it was my own girlie — the
little maid once mine. Need I say more ?
You'll hardly believe me. But ask Doctor
William of Ravenna and our friend Donatus.
They know. Your little Eletta is the very
image of my lost one. She has the same laugh,
the same joyous eyes, the same bearing and

254 EPISTOLA AD PETRARCHAM.

totius corpusculi habitude, quamquam gran-
diuscula mea, eoque aetate esset provectior,
quintum quippe jam annum attigerat et dimi-
dium, dum ultimo illam vidi. Insuper si idem
idioma fuisset, verba eadem erant atque sim-
plicitas. Quid mula ! In nihilo differentes
esse cognovi, nisi quia aurea caesaries tuae est,
meae inter nigram rufamque fuit. Heu mihi !
quotiens dum hanc persaepe amplector, et suis
delector collocutionibus, memoria subtractae
mihi puellulae lacrimas ex oculis usque deduxit,
quas demum in suspirium versas emisi, adver-
tente nemine.

EPISTOLA AD FRATREM MARTINUM DE SIGNA.

Quarta decima Ecloga Olympia dicitur : Olym-
pos graece, quod splendidum seu lucidum latine
sonat, et inde caelum ; et ideo huic eclogae
attributum est, quoniam in ea plurimum de
qualitate caelestis regionis habeatur sermo.
Collocutores quattuor sunt : Silvius, Camalus,
Therapon, et Olympia. Pro Silvio me ipsum
intellego, quern sic nuncupo eo quod in sylva
quadam hujus eclogae primam cogitationem
habuerim. Camalos graece, latine sonat hebes
vel torpens, eo quod in eo demonstrentur mores

LETTER TO PETRARCH. 255

gait ; she holds her dear little body just the
same way. My girlie was perhaps slightly
taller, but then she was older ; she was five
and a half when I saw her last. Had their
dialect been the same, they would have spoken
the same words — the same simple artless words.
I can see no difference, except that Eletta's hair
is golden, while my girlie's was chestnut brown.
Ah me ! how often, while I fondled your little
one, and listened to her sweet prattle, did the
memory of the little daughter reft from me
bring tears to my eyes ! How often, when no
one observed, did I sigh away my tears !

FROM A LETTER TO MARTIN DA SIGNA.

This fourteenth Eclogue is called Olympia,
from the Greek Olympos, signifying in Latin
splendidus or lucidus, and so Heaven. Hence
the name Olympia is given to this Eclogue,
since much is told herein concerning the
heavenly realm. The speakers are four in
number : Silvius, Camalus, Therapon, and
Olympia. By Silvius I mean myself, and so
I name myself here, because the first thought
of this Eclogue came to me in a wood. Cama
lus is from a Greek word signifying hebes or
torpens, that is, dull or sluggish — a type of the

256 EPISTOLA AD MARTINUM DE SIGNA

torpentis servi. Therapon, hujus significatum
non pono, quia non memini, nisi iterum re-
visam librum, ex quo de caeteris sumpsi, et ideo
ignoscas. Scis hominis memoriam labilem esse
et potissime senum. Pro Olympia intellego
parvulam filiam meam olim mortuam ea in
aetate in qua morientes caelestes effici cives
credimus : et ideo ex Violante dum viveret
mortuam caelestem, id est Olympiam, voco.

INCIPIT EGLOGA QUARTA DECIMA cui TITULUS
EST OLYMPIA, COLLOCUTORES AUTEM SUNT
SILVIUS, CAMALUS, THERAPON, ET OLYMPIA.

LETTER TO MARTIN DA SIGNA. 257

lazy servant. Of Therapon I am not giving
you the meaning ; indeed I cannot recall it
unless I refer to the book whence I took the
rest. So please pardon me. You know how
slippery is memory, and especially the memory
of old men. By Olympia I mean my little
daughter, who died at that age at which, as we
believe, those who die become the citizens of
heaven. And so for Violante, as she was named
when living, I call her now Olympia — the
angelic.

HERE BEGINS BOCCACCIO'S FOURTEENTH ECLOGUE
ENTITLED OLYMPIA, WHEREIN THE SPEAKERS
ARE SILVIUS, CAMALUS, THERAPON, AND
OLYMPIA.

s

OLYMPIA

ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA

SILVIUS, CAMALUS, THERAPON, OLYMPIA.

Si/v. Sentio, ni fallor, pueri, pia numina ruris
Lsetari, et cantu volucrum nemus omne repleri.
Itque reditque Lycos blando cum murmure ;

quidnam

Viderit ignore ; cauda testatur amicum.
Ite igitur, jam clara dies difFunditur umbris 5
Prxcantata diu ; quid sit perquirite, quidve
Viderit inde Lycos noster, compertaque ferte.
Cam. Dum nequit in somnum miserum com-

ponere pectus,

Imperat ex molli recubans heu cespite moestus
Silvius, etnoctis pavidas lustrare tenebras 10
Vult pueros longo fessos in luce labore.

Si/v. Camale, dum primes terris prasstabit

Iberus

Nocturnes ignes, currus dum Delia fratris
Ducet ad occasum, dum sternet cerva leones, 14
Obsequium praestabit hero sine murmure servus.
258

OLYMPIA

BOCCACCIO'S XlVth ECLOGUE

SILVIUS, CAMALUS, THERAPON, OLYMPIA.

Silv. If I err not, the sylvan sprites rejoice.
List, boys ! with song of birds the grove is filled.
With gentle whine Wolf scampers to and fro ;
something he sees ; as for a friend he wags.
Bright day, long heralded, bestreaks the shades :
go, seek ye what it is, and what good Wolf
yonder has seen ; and quickly bring me word.
Cam. Our master, when alack ! he cannot

lull

his aching heart to sleep, from downy bed
gives orders, and poor we, toil-weary boys,
what recketh he ? — must forth and view dread

night.
Silv. In Western Ocean when the Dawn's

first streak

illumines Earth, when Delia westward leads
her brother's team, when hinds o'er lions vaunt,
a servant then perchance will do as bid.
259

260 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

O Therapon, stabuli tu solve repagula nostri,
Pone metum, videas catulus quid viderit,
oro.—

Ther. Festina, fac, surge senex ! Jam corripit

ignis

Jam veteres quercus, et noctem lumine vincit ;
Uritur omne nemus, fervens jam flamma penates
Lambit, et occursu lucis perterritus intra 21
Festinus redii. Lambit jam flamma penates !
Silv . Pastorum venerande Deus, Pan, deprecor

adsis !

Et vos, o pueri, flammis occurrite lymphis.
Siste parum, Therapon, paulum consiste. Quid

istud ? 25

Quid video ? sanusne satis sum ? dormio forsan.
Non facio ! Lux ista quidem, non flamma vel

ignis.

Nonne vides laetas frondes corylosque virentes
Luminis in medio, validas ac undique fagos
Intactas ? Immo, nee nos malus ardor adurit. 30
Ther. Si spectes coelo testantur sidera noctem,
In silvis lux alma diem. Quid grande paratur ?
Silv. Sic natura vices variat, noctemque

diemque
Explicuit mixtos terris ; nee lumina Phcebae

OLYMPIA. 261

But, Therapon, do thou unbar the door !
Fear not ; see thou, I pray, what Wolf has
seen. —

Ther. Haste, sir, arise, come forth ! Our

ancient oaks

are all by fire possessed ; light conquers night,
the grove is all a-glow ; fierce flames now lap
the very gods within. Awed by the sight,
1 hied me thence. The flames the gods now lap !
Silv. Pan, holy God of shepherds, be my help !
Go ye, my boys, with water face the flames.
Stay, Therapon ! stay here awhile. — What is't ?
What see I ? Am I sane ? Perchance I sleep :
Nay, yonder light, it is nor flame nor fire.
Seest not the branches fair, the hazels green
amid the glow, the beech-trees all about
inviolate ? Here burns no evil heat.

Ther. Look skyward ! spangled stars betoken

night.
Daylight the wood illumes. What wonder

next ?
Silv. So Nature marks her changes ; day and

night
commingled she displays. But here I see

262 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Nee Solis radios cerno. Non sends odores 35
Insolitos silvis, nemus hoc si forte Sabaeum
Fecisset natura parens ? Quos inde recentes
Nox peperit flores ? Quos insuper audio cantus ?
Haec superos ambire locos et pascua signant. —

[OLYMPIA]

O/y m. Salve dulce decus nostrum, pater optime,
salve ! 40

Ne timeas, sum nata tibi. Quid lumina flectis ?
Silv. Nescio num vigilem, fateor, seu somnia

cernam,

Nam coram genitae voces et dulcis imago
Stant equidem ; timeo falli, quia sxpe per

umbras

Illusere dei stolidos ; nos claustra petamus ! 45
Olym. Silvi, quid dubitas ? an credis, Olym-

pia patrem

Ludat, et in lucem sese sine numine divum
Praebeat ? Hue veni lacrimas demptura dolentes.
Silv. Agnosco, nee fallit amor, nee somnia

fallunt.

O nimium dilecta mihi, spes unica patris, 50
Quis te, nata, deus tenuit ? Te Fusca ferebat,

OLYMPIA. 263

nor Phoebe's beams nor Sol's. Rare fragrances
feel'st not, as if Dame Nature here had made
a grove of Araby ? What flowers fresh
has Night brought forth ? What strains hear I

above ?
God-haunted spots and pastures these things

show. —

OLYMPIA

Olym. Hail, chiefest glory, dearest father,

hail!

Fear not, I am thy daughter. Why this look ?
Silv. I' faith, I know not, do I wake or

dream !

My child's voice hear I, and her image sweet
stands here before me. Fool ! Too oft the gods
with shadows trick dull mortals. Let us home !
Olym. Silvius, doubt not ! think'st thou

Olympia

would mock her father, or herself reveal
against God's will ? To dry thy tears I come.
Silv. Now know I, 'tis no trick of love or

dream.

O too beloved ! thy father's dearest hope !
What god restrained thee, child ? Me Fusca
told

264 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Chalcidicos colles, et pascua lata Vesevi
Dum petii, raptam nobis, Cybelisque sacrato
Absconsam gremio, nee post base posse videri.
Quod credens, moerensque miser, mea virgo, per

altos 55

Te monies, umbrasque graves, saltusque remotos
Ingemui flevique diu, multumque vocavi.
Sed tu, si mereor, resera quibus, obsecro, lustris
Te tenuit tarn longa dies ? Die munere cujus
Intertexta auro vestis tibi Candida flavo ? 60
Quae tibi lux oculis olim non visa refulget ?
Qui comites ? Mirum, quam grandis facta

diebus

In paucis ! Matura viro mihi, nata, videris.
Olym. Exuvias quas ipse mihi, venerande,

dedisti,

Ingenti gremio servat Berecynthia mater. 65
Has vestes formamque dedit, faciemque coruscam
Parthenos, secumque fui. Sed respice, numquid
Videris hos usquam comites ; vidisse juvabit !
Silv. Non memini vidisse quidem, nee pul-

chrior, inquam, 69

His Narcissus erat, non talis denique Daphnis,
Qui Dryadum spes laeta fuit, non pulcher Alexis !
Olym. Non Marium Julumque tuos dulcesque

sorores
Noscis, et egregios vultus ? Tua pulchra pro-

pago est !

OLYMPIA. 265

that, whilst I journey' d to Campania's hills,
Vesuvian pastures, thou from us wast reft,
and, hid in sacred soil, wast lost to sight.
Thinking 'twas so, in misery I mourn'd ;
I wailed thee,daughter mine,on mountain heights,
in woods and far-off glades, and call'd thee oft.
But me, if I be worthy, tell what haunts
have held thee this long day. Who gave to thee
thy robe so white, entwined with yellow gold ?
What light shines in thine eyes, ne'er seen

before ?
Thy comrades — who ? Wondrous, how grown

art thou

in so brief time ! Thou seem'st for spousal fit.
Olym. The vestments, sire, which thou to me

didst give,

Great Mother Earth holds in her mighty lap.
These robes, this form, this glorious beauty,

heavenly bright

the Virgin gave ; with Her I was. But, lo,
my comrades hast ne'er seen before ? Rejoice !
Silv . I call them not to mind. More beaute
ous sure

was not Narcissus, nor was Daphnis such,
the wood-nymphs' darling, nor Alexis fair !
Olym. Know'st thou thy Marius not, thy

Julus, too,
and these sweet sisters mine ? Thy dear ones all !

266 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Si/v. Abstulit effigies notas lanugine malas 74
Umbratas vidisse. Meis jam jungite dextras,
Amplexusque meos ac oscula laeta venite
Ut prasstem, satiemque animam ! Quas, Pan,

tibi laudes,

Quas, Silvane, canam ? Pueri, nudate palaestras,
Et ludos agitotc patrum. Stent munera fagis
Victorum suspensa sacris, paterasque parate 80
Spumantes vino ; laetum cantate Lyaeum,
Et sertis ornate lares ; altaria surgant
Caespite gramineo ; Triviae mactate bidentem
Candidulam, Noctique piae sic caedite fulvam. 84
Fer calamos pueris, Therapon, fer serta puellis.
Olym. Sunt, Silvi, calami, sunt serta decentia

nobis ;

Et si tanta tibi cura est deducere festum,
Ignotos silvis modules cantabimus istis.

Silv. Immo, silva silet, tacitus nunc defluit

Arnus,
Et silet omnis ager, pueri, vos atque silete. 90

Olym. Vivimus csternum mentis et numine
Codr'i,

OLYMPIA. 267

Silv. The sight of cheeks down-shaded reft

from me

the faces that I know. Now join we hands ;
come ye to my embrace and kisses glad,
and let me sate my soul. Thy praises, Pan,
how shall I sing, and thine, 'Sylvanus ? Boys,
strip you for wrestling ; lead our ancient

games !

From sacred beeches hang the victor's meeds !
Let beakers foam ; and jocund Bacchus laud !
With garlands deck the gods ; with grassy turf
heap high their altars. To Diana slay
a heifer white ; to Night a tawny beast !
Reeds for the lads, good youth ; for lasses

wreaths !
Olym. Reeds, Silvius, have we here, and

goodly wreaths ;

and, if so please thee festal cheer to stir,
strains will we chant these woods have never

known.
Silv . Hushed is the wood ; Arno flows

silently ;
hush'd are the fields ; and hushed be yc, my

boys.

Olym. " Endless our life by Codrus* grace
divine !

268 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Aurea qui nuper celso demissus Olympo
Parthenu in gremium, revocavit sgecula terris ;
Turpia pastorum passus convitia, cedro
Affixus, letho concessit sponte triumphum. 95
Vivimus teternum mentis et numine Codrl.
Sic priscas sordes, morbos, scabiemque vetustam
Infecti pecoris prseclaro sanguine lavit.
Hincque petens valles Plutarchi ssepta refrinxit,
In solem retrahens pecudes, armentaque patrum :
Vivimus sternum mentis et numine Codri. i o i
Morte hinc prostrata, campos reseravit odoros
Elysii, sacrumque gregem deduxit in hortos
Mellifluos, victor lauro quercuque refulgens,
Optandasque dedit nobis per saecula sedes : 105
Vivimus eeternum mentis et numine Codri.
Exuvias in fine sibi pecus omne resumet ;
Ipse, iterum veniens, capros distinguet ab agnis,
Hosque feris linquet, componet sedibus illas
Perpetuis cceloque novo post tempora claudet.
Vivimus sternum mentis et numine Codri. 1 1 1

Silv. Sentis, quam stulti Latios cantare putamus
Pastores calamis perdentes tempora yocum ?
Mxnalios vidi juvenes per dorsa Lycaei,

OLYMPIA. 269

He, sent of late from high Olympus down

into the Maid, the Golden Age recalled ;

shepherds' vile scorn He dreed, on cedar hung ;

a triumph gave He Death, of His free will.

Endless our life by Codrus* grace divine !

So from the blemished sheep He washed old
taints,

old maladies and sores, with His bright blood ;

then sought He Pluto's dales, broke up his folds,

and brought to light the Father's flocks and herds.

Endless our life by Codrus' grace divine !

Death slain, Elysium's fragrant fields He oped ;

to gardens honey-sweet His host He led,

Victor all- bright with laurel and with oak,

and gave us evermore the wish'd-for homes.

Endless our life by Codrus' grace divine.

At doomsday, when their slough all kinds re
sume,

He comes again, to part the lambs from goats, —

these to wild beasts, to Thrones eternal those :

anon a heaven new will compass them.

Endless our life by Codrus'* grace divine"

Silv. What fools be we, to think that Latin

swains

can pipe and sing ! Their notes are out of time.
Arcadian youths upon their mountain-slopes,

270 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Threicium et vatem solitum deducere cautes
Carmine, nee quemquam possum concedere tanti,
Ut similem natis faciam. Quae guttura ? quas

vox ? 117

Quis concentus erat ? stipulis quis denique flatus ?
Non equidem nemoris custos regina canori
Calliopes, non ipse Deus, qui prassidet antro
Gorgoneo, aequiparet ! Flexere cacumina

quercus, 1 2 1

Et tenues nymphae tacitos petiere regressus
In lucem ; mansere lupi, catulique tacentes.
* Praeterea, o juvenes, sensistis carminis hujus
Coelestes sensus ? Numquam mihi Tityrus olim
Cantavit similes, senior nee Mopsus apricis 126
Parrhasius silvis. Sanctum et memorabile totum

est.

Virginibus niveas dentur, mea cura, columbae ;
Ast pueris fortes dederat quos Ischiros arcus.
Olym. Sint tua, nil fertur quod sit mortale

per oras

Quas dites colimus ; renuunt asterna caducum !
Silv. Quas oras, mea nata, refers ? Quas,

deprecor, oras ? 132

Nos omnes teget ilia domus, somnosque quietos

OLYMPIA. 271

the Thracian sire who with his song drew rocks,
all have I known ; yet none so high I hold
as like unto these youths. What throats ! what

tones !

what harmony ! What music from their reeds !
The Sov'ran Guardian of the tuneful grove,
Calliope, nor e'en the God who rules
o'er Helicon, could vie ! The oaks bent low,
and tender wood-nymphs sought the silent

glades
unto the light ; yea, wolves and hounds stood

mute.
Tell me, ye youths, caught ye the heavenly

sense

of yon sweet strain ? Ne'er Tityrus sang so,
nor aged Mopsus in his sunny wood.
Sacred it is, to be remembered aye !
Unto the maids, from me, give snow-white

doves ;
unto the lads strong bows from Ischiros !

O/ym. Hold thou them ! To the glorious

climes we haunt
nought mortal comes. Immortals shun things

frail.
Silv . What climes ? oh, daughter mine,

what climes, I pray ?
Yon roof us all will cover ; quiet sleep

272 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Herba dabit viridis, csespesque sub ilice mensam.
Vitreus is large praestabit pocula rivus, 1 3 5

Castaneas mites, et poma recentia nobis
Rustica silva feret, teneros grex fertilis hxdos,
Lacque simul pressum. Quas ergo exquiritis

oras ?
Olym. Non tibi, care pater, dixi, Berecynthia

mater

Exuvias gremio servat, quas ipse dedisti ? 140
Non sum quae fueram dum tecum parvula vixi ;
Nam numero sum juncta deum ; me pulcher

Olympus

Expectat, comitesque meos. Stat vertere gressus
In patriam. Tu vive, pater dulcissime, felix !
Silv. Heu ! moriar lacrimans, miserum si nata

relinquis. 145

Olym. Pone, precor, luctus; credisne refringere

fatum

Nunc lacrimis ? Omnes silvis quotcumque creati
Nascimur in mortem ; feci quod tu quoque, Silvi,
Post facies. Noli, quasso, lacerare deorum
Invidia seternos annos. Tibi crede quietem 1 50
Post funus, laudesque pias mi reddito coelo,
Quod moriens fugi mortem, nemorumque labores.
Separor ad tempus, post haec me quippe videbis ;

OLYMPIA. 273

green sward will give; a turf 'neath oak our

board ;

the crystal brook our fount of richest draughts ;
and our wild woodlands chestnuts ripe will bring,
and apples fresh ; our fruitful herd young kids
and cheese. What other climes, then, would

ye seek ?
Olym. Have I not told thee, father dear, that

Earth
the trappings keeps that thou to me didst

give?

I am not what I was, the child thou knewest ;
now am I numbered with the god-like throng.
Me fair Olympus calls, my comrades eke ;
homeward we turn. Sweet father mine, fare
well !
Silv. Leav'st thou me wretched thus, I weep

to death.
Olym. Away with grief ! Think'st thou to

burst thy fate

with tears ? As many as created be,
we all are born for death. I have but done
what thou shalt do. Rate not with spleen, I

pray,

the gods' eternal years. Trow peace is thine
hereafter ; render praise to Heav'n for me,
that, dying, I 'scaped death and toils below.
Awhile apart, sure thou wilt see me soon,
T

274 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Perpetuosque trahes mecum feliciter annos.
Silv. In lacrimis oculos fundam, tristemque
senectam ! 155

Heu, quibus in silvis post anxia fata requiram
Te profugam, ex nostris bis raptam viribus ulnis ?
Otym. Elysium repeto, quod tu scansurus es

olim.
Silv. Elysium, memini, quondam cantare

solebat

Minciades stipula, qua nemo doctior usquam. 1 60
Estne, quod ille canit, vestrum ? Didicisse

juvabit.
O/ym. Senserat ille quidem vi mentis grandia

quaedam,

Ac in parte loci faciem, sed pauca canebat,
Si videas, quam multa tenet,quam pulchra piorum
Elysium sedesque deum gratissima nostrum. 165
Silv. Quos tenet iste locus montes ? Quibus

insitus oris ?

Quae non Minciades vidit, seu sponte reliquit,
Da nobis. Audire fuit persaepe laborum
Utile solamen ; veniet mens forte videndi. 1 69
O/ym. Est in secessu pecori mons invius aegro,
Lumine perpetuo clarus, quo primus ab imis
Insurgit terris Phoebus, cui vertice summo
Silva sedet palmas tollens ad sidera celsas,
Et laetas pariter lauros, cedrosque perennes,

OLYMPIA. 275

and lead with me in bliss unending years.
Silv. Mine eyes will waste with tears, mine

age will pine.

After life's woes in what wood shall I seek
thee, fleeing hence, twice reft from these mine

arms ?

Olym. Elysium I seek, where thou wilt come.
Silv. Elysium ! The Mantuan bard, me-

thinks,
sang once and piped thereof; was none more

skilled.

Is thine the spot he sang ? Fain would I learn.
Olym. His mighty mind, indeed, some glories

grasped,

some beauties of the place ; he sang but few
of all the many joys Elysium holds, —
home of the blest, our Gods' most fair abode !
Silv. What mountains hath it? in what regions

set?

What he saw not, or what he left unsung,
tell me ! To hear was oft sweet balm for toil.
Perchance the soul will yearn those sights to see.
Olym. Remote, beyond the reach of sickly

sheep,

bright with perpetual light, a mountain rears ;
there Phoebus first, from Earth below, ascends;
on topmost peak a wood, with towering palms,
with festal laurels, cedars ever-green,

276 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Palladia ac oleas optatas pacis arnicas. 175

Quis queat hinc varies flores, quis posset odores
Quos lenis fert aura loco, quis dicere rivos
Argenta similes, mira scaturigine circum
Omnia rorantes, lepido cum murmure flexus
Arbustis mixtos nunc hinc nunc inde trahentes ?
Hesperidum potiora locus fert aurea poma. 1 8 1
Sunt auro volucres pictse, sunt cornibus aureis
Capreoli et mites damae, sunt insuper agnae
Velleribus niveis, claro rutilantibus auro ;
Suntque boves, taurique simul, pinguesque

juvencae 185

Insignes omnes auro, mitesque leones,
Crinibus et mites gryphes radiantibus auro :
Aureus est nobis sol, ac argentea luna ;
Et majora quidem quam vobis sidera fulgent.
Ver ibi perpetuum, nullis offenditur austris, 1 90
Laetaque temperies loca possidet, exulat inde
Terrestris nebula et nox et discordia rerum ;
Mors ibi nulla manet gregibus, non aegra senec-

tus,

Atque graves absunt curae maciesque dolorque.
Sponte sua veniunt cunctis optata. Quid ultra ?

OLYMPIA. 277

peace-loving olive-trees, to Pallas dear.

Who could describe the many flowers ? the

scents
the zephyrs waft ? and who the silvery

streams,

their wondrous waters sprinkling all about,
meandering here and there with murmur sweet,
and drawing in their course full many a bough ?
Such golden fruit th* Hesperides ne'er saw ;
gold-hued are birds there; and gold -horned

goats,

and gentle deer ; moreover, lambs are there
whose snowy fleeces gleam with brightest gold ;
and oxen, too, and bulls, and fatted cows,
resplendent all with gold ; yea, lions tame,
and griffins tame, their manes with gold all

bright.

Golden our sun, and silvern is our moon ;
grander than yours the stars that shine on us.
'Tis ever Spring ; no southern gale strikes there ;
a joyous calm the place pervades. Earth's

mists,
and Night, all things that jar, are banished

thence.

Death comes not to the flocks, nor ailing Age ;
and far are grievous cares, and want, and grief.
Things wished for freely come to all. What

more ?

278 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Dulcisono resonat cantu mitissimus aer. 196
Silv . Mira refers, sanctamque puto sedemque

deorum
Quam memoras silvam. Sed quisnam praesidet

illi ?

Et comites, mea nata, refer, ritusque locorum.
Olym. Hac in gramineo summo sedetaggere

grandis 200

Arcesilas, servatque greges, et temperat orbes,
Cujus enim si forte velis describere vultus,
Incassum facies ; nequeunt comprendere

mentes.

Est alacer, pulcherque nimis, totusque serenus,
Hujus et in gremio jacet agnus candidus, ex quo
Silvicolis gratus cibus est, et vescimur illo. 206
Inde salus venit nobis, et vita renatis.
Ex his ambobus pariter sic evolat ignis,
Ut mirum credas ; hoc lumen ad omnia confert,
Solatur mcestos, et mentis lumina purgat, 210
Consilium miseris praestat, viresque cadentum
Instaurat, dulcesque animis infundit amores.
Stat Satyrum longreva cohors, hinc undique

supplex

Omnis cana quidem, roseis ornata coronis,
Et cytharis agni laudes et carmine cantat. 2 1 5
Purpureus post ordo virum venerabilis, inquam,
Et viridi cunctis cinguntur tempora lauro.
Hi cecinere Deum stipulis per compita verum.

OLYMPIA. 279

The air, so soft, with sweet-toned song re
sounds.
Silv. Marvels thou tell'st ! Sure, sacred is

that wood,

the Gods' abode ! But who o'errules it, say ;
who dwell therein, and what the usages ?

Olym. High, on a grassy mound, in glory sits
Arcesilas, shepherding flocks and worlds.
But, verily, would'st thou His aspect know,
it were in vain ; the mind this cannot grasp.
All life is He, too fair, wholly serene ;
and in His bosom rests a Lamb, milk-white,
sweet sustenance for folk, whereby we live ;
thence comes our weal, and life to those re-born.
And from Them both alike there flames a fire,
wondrous to trow ! To all things spreads that

light :

the sad it comforts, purges the mind's eye,
counsels the wretched, strengthens those that fall,
with sweetest love informs the souls of men.
An aged band of Satyrs, suppliant,
their hoary locks with rosy chaplets crowned,
stand there ; with lute and song the Lamb

they praise.

And then the Purple Order, well revered,
their temples all engirt with laurel green.
At cross-roads these with pipes the true God
sang,

280 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Et forti S9EVOS ammo vicere labores.

Agmen adest niveum post hos, cui lilia frontes

Circumdant, huic juncta cohors tua pulchra ma-

nemus 221

Natorum. Crocei sequitur post ordo coloris
Inclitus ; et magno fulgens splendore, sonora
Voce deum laudes cantat, regique ministrat.
Quos inter placido vultu cantabat Asylas, 225
Dum silvis assumpta prius sum monte levatis.
Silv. Ergo, precor, noster montem conscendit

Asylas?

Emeruit, nam mitis erat, fideique vetustge
Praeclarum specimen. Faciat Deus ipse re-

visam !
Sed die ; tene, precor, novit, dum culmen

adires ? 230

Olym. Immo equidem applaudens injecit bra-

chia collo ;

Et postquam amplexus laetos ac oscula centum
Impressit fronti, multis comitantibus, inquit, —
* Venisti, o nostri soboles carissima Silvi ?
De Libanoy nunc, sponsa veni sacrosque hymenasos
Cantemus, matremque viri mea neptis honora.'
Meque trahens,genibus flexis,quo pulchra sedebat
Parthenos posuit. Lseta haec suscepit in ulnis
Ancillam, dixitque pie : " Mea filia nostris
Ecce choris jungere piis, sponsique frueris 240
^Eternis thalamis, et semper Olympia coelo

OLYMPIA. 281

and, strong of soul, they conquered cruel

toils.
Then come the Snow-white Host ; lilies their

brows

enwreathe. To these is joined our little band,
thy children fair. The Saffron Order next,
illustrious, resplendent, with loud voice
sing praises of the Gods, and serve the King.
'Mong these Asylas sang ; how calm his look,
when first the mount received me from the woods !
Silv. Did my Asylas then ascend the mount ?
Worthy was he, gentle, of ancient faith
a noble type. God grant we meet again !
But knew he thee, when to the heights thou

earnest ?
Olym. Gleeful, he threw his arms about my

neck;

kissed me a hundred times, embrac'd me oft ;
and then, a mighty concourse with him, said :
" Hast come, my Silvius' beloved child ?
1 Come hither, love,' and Hymen's holy lays
sing we ; and Manhood's Mother honour thou !"
Then me he led, and down I knelt where sat
the Virgin beauteous. Joyful She clasped
Her maid, and kindly spake : " Now, daughter

mine,

enter Our blissful choirs ; thou shalt enjoy
eternal Spousal, as Olympia

282 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

Quae fueras terris Violantes inclita fies."
Inque dedit vestes quas cernis. Si tibi narrem
Quos cantus tune silva dedit, quos fistula versus
Pastoris lyrici, credes vix. Omne per antrum
Insonuit carmen mentis, tantusque refulsit 246
Ignis, ut exuri dixisses omnia flammis,
Et totum rosei cecidere per ae'ra flores.

Silv. Quae sit Parthenos nobis super adde, pre-

camur.
Olym. Alma Jovis genitrix haec est, et filia

nati, 250

Splendens aula deum, coeli decus, inscia noctis.
jEthereum sidus, pastorum certa salutis
Spes, custosque gregum, requiesque optata labo-

rum.
Hanc fauni nymphaeque colunt, hanc grandis

Apollo

Laudibus extollit cythara, dominamque fatetur.
Quae residens solio patris veneranda vetusti, 256
A dextris geniti, tanto splendore refulget,
Ut facie silvam, montem, collesque polosque
Laetificet Formosa nimis. Cui Candida circum
Agmina cygnorum volitant, matremque salu-

tant, 260

Luminis aeterni sponsam, genitamque cientes.
Silv. Et vos quid, pueri, plaudunt dum gutture

cygni ?

OLYMPIA. 283

in Heaven known, who Violante wast."
The raiment that thou seest she gave me then.
Were I to tell the strains the woods then gave,
the tuneful Shepherds' notes, thou'dst scarce

believe.

The mountain's song resounded through the cave ;
and fire so flashed, that all things seemed a-glow;
and scattered from above fell roseate flowers.
Sifo. Who is the Virgin? Tell me now, I

pray.
Olym. Jove's gracious Mother She, His

Daughter eke,
the Gods' Queen-Mother,Heav'n's Gem,Night's

Bane,

Celestial Star, the Shepherds' certain hope,
their flocks' sure guard, their wish'd-for rest from

toil!

Fauns Her adore, and nymphs ; Apollo great
with lute exalts Her praise, and owns Her Queen.
She, worshipful, upon the Father's throne,
on right-hand of the Son, full brightly shines.
Her look the woods and mountains, hills and

poles,

makes glad. Too fair is She. About Her fly
white swan-like bands ; as Mother hail they Her,
as Spouse and Daughter of Eternal Light !
Silv. And what do ye, while thus the swans

acclaim ?

284 ECLOGA DECIMAQUARTA.

O/ym. Nos pueri legimus flores, factisque

corollis

Cingimus intonsos crines, laetisque choreis
Ambimus silvam, fontes, rivosque sonoros. 265
Et, mediis herbis ludentes, vocibus altis
Parthenu placidae meritos cantamus honores
Et geniti laudes pariter. Quis gaudia silvas
Enumerare queat ? Quis verbis pandere ? Nemo !
Induat ut volucres pennas, quibus alta volatu
Expetat et videat, opus est ; sunt cetera frustra.

Silv. Sunt optanda quidem, sed quis mihi
Daedalus usquam 272

Qui tribuat pennas agiles, nectatque lacertis,
Ostendatque viam facilem, doceatque volatum ?

Oly m. Pascefamem fratris, lactis da pocula fessis,
Adsis detentis, et nudos contege, lapsos 276
Erige dum possis, pateatque forensibus antrum ;
Hsec aquilas volucres prsestabunt munera pennas
Atque, Deo monstrante viam, volitabis in altum.

Sih. Quo tendis ? quo, nata, fugis, miserum-
que parentem 280

Implicitum linquis lacrimis ? Heu cessit in auras
/Ethereas, traxitque simul, quos duxit, odores.
In mortem lacrimis ibo, ducamque senectam.
Vos pueri vitulos in pascua pellite ; surgit
Lucifer, et mediis jam sol emittitur umbris. 285

OLYMPIA. 285

O/ym. We youths cull flowers ; and, with the

wreaths we make,

our unshorn locks we crown. With dances glad
we circle woods and founts and sounding brooks ;
and, sporting 'mid the grasses, with loud voice
we chant due praises of the gentle Maid ;
and eke the Son we laud. The wood's delights
who can recount ? Who tell in words ? Not one !
First must he put on wings, as bird, by flight
to seek and see the heights ; else all is vain.
Silv. 'Twere to be wished ! But who, as

Daedalus,

will give me agile wings, and bind them on,
show me the easy way, and teach me flight ?

O/ym. Thy brother feed, give to the weary milk,
to prisoners alms ; the naked clothe, the fallen
raise, whilst thou canst ; take strangers to thy

home.

Such offices will give thee eagle's wings ;
and, God thy guide, thou wilt to Heaven fly. —

Silv. Whither, my daughter, whither fleest thou,
leaving thy father tearful ? — Ah, she passed
to upper air, and drew the scents she brought.
With tears my life I'll dree, and fare to death.
Boys, drive the calves afield ! Lo, Phosphor

gleams,
and Sol emerges now from misty shades.

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