(2) The kyng and hise knyghtes To the kirke wente To here matyns of the day And the mass after. Thanne waked I of my wynkyng, And wo was withalle, That I ne had slept sadder And y-seighen moore. Ac er I hadde faren a furlong, Feyntise[35] me hente,[36] That I ne myghte ferther a foot For defaute of slepynge, And sat softly a-doun, And seide my bileve, And so[37] I bablede on my bedes Thei broughte me a-slepe. And thanne saugh I much moore Than I bifore of tolde, For I seigh the feld ful of folk, That I bifore of seide And how Reson gan arayen hym Al the reaume[38] to preche And with a cros afore the kyng Comsede[39] thus to techan. LANGLAND, _Piers Plowman_ 3. The two extracts given below represent the older and the more modern versions of _Chevy Chace_. Compare them with regard to diction, vivacity, and general competence in the handling of meter. (1) With that ther cam an arrowe (2) With that, there came an arrow hastely keen Forthe off a mightie wane,[40] Out of an English bow, Hit hathe strekene the yerle Which struck Erle Douglas to Duglas the heart, In at the brest bane. A deepe and deadly blow: Thoroue lyvar and longs bathe[41] The sharp arrowe ys gane, Who never spoke more words than these, That never after in all his lyffe “Fight on, my merry men all; days, He spayke mo wordes but ane, For why, my life is at an end; That was, “Fyghte ye, my merry Lord Percy sees my fall.” men whyllys ye may, For my lyff days ben[42] gan.” Then leaving life, Erle Percy tooke The Perse leanyde on his brande, The dead man by the hand; And sawe the Duglas de; He tooke the dede man be the And said, “Erle Douglas, for thy hande, life And sayd, “Wo ys me for the! Wold I had lost my land. To have sayvde thy lyffe I wold “O Christ! my verray heart doth have pertyd[43] with bleed My landes for years thre, With sorrow for thy sake; For a better man of hart, nare For sure, a more redoubted knight of hande Was not in all the north countre.” Mischance did never take.” 4. “In the union of the two [art and strength] Chaucer stood alone.” (Saintsbury.) Compare Chaucer with Langland and Gower, and show how he combines the strength of the former with the art of the latter.