meaning, I suppose, a translation, into prose or verse, of the Homily _de Maria Magdalena_, which has been commonly, though falsely, attributed to Origen; v. Opp. Origenis, T. ii. p. 291, ed. Paris, 1604. I cannot believe that the poem entitled _The Lamentation of Marie Magdaleine_, which is in all the [older] editions of Chaucer, is really that work of his. It can hardly be considered as a translation, or even as an imitation, of the Homily; and the composition, in every respect, is infinitely meaner than the worst of his genuine pieces.' To those who are interested in Chaucer's rimes I will merely point out the following: _die_, _why_ (Ch. _dy-e_, _why_); _kene_, _iyen_ (Ch. _ken-e_, _y-ën_); _disguised_, _to-rived_, a mere assonance; _crie_, _incessauntly_ (Ch. _cry-ë_, _incessauntly_); _slaine_, _paine_ (Ch. _slein_, _pein-e_); _y-fet_, _let_ (Ch. _y-fet_, _let-te_); _accept_, _bewept_ (Ch. _accept-e_, _bewept_); _die_, _mihi_ (Ch. _dy-e_, _mihi_). To those interested in Chaucer's language, let me point out 'dogges rabiate'--'embesile his presence'--'my woful herte is inflamed so huge'--'my soveraine and very gentilman.' See st. 34, 39, 54, 99. 22. _The remedie of Loue._ Printed in Chalmers' British Poets, i. 539. In sixty-two 7-line stanzas. Rejected by Tyrwhitt. The language is extremely late; it seems to have been written in the 16th century. It contains such words as _incongruitie_, _deduction_, _allective_, _can't_ (for _cannot_), _scribable_ (fit for writing on), _olibane_, _pant_, _babé_ (baby), _cokold_ (which Chaucer spells _cokewold_), _ortographie_, _ethimologie_, _ethimologise_ (verb). The provincial word _lait_, to search for, is well known to belong to the Northern dialect. Dr. Murray, s. v. _allective_, dates this piece about A.D. 1560; but it must be somewhat earlier than this, as it was printed in 1532. I should date it about 1530. 26. _A Ballade in commendacion of our Ladie._ Tyrwhitt remarks that 'a poem with the same beginning is ascribed to Lydgate, under the title of _Invocation to our Lady_; see Tanner, s. v. Lydgate.' The poem consists of thirty-five 7-line stanzas. It has all the marks of Lydgate's style, and imitates Chaucer's language. Thus the line--'I have none English conuenient and digne' is an echo of the Man of Law's Tale, l. 778--'O Donegild, I ne haue noon English digne.' Some of the lines imitate Chaucer's A. B. C. But the most remarkable thing is his quotation of the first line of Chaucer's Merciless Beauty, which he applies to the Virgin Mary! See note to that poem, l. 1. A poem called an 'Invocation to our Lady' is ascribed to Lydgate in MS. Ashmole 59, fol. 39, back. It agrees with the present Ballade; which settles the question. 30. _Balade de bon consail._ Not in previous editions. Printed in Chalmers, i. 552. Only 7 lines, and here they are, duly edited:--