2. Always pronounce final _-ed_, _-es_, _-en_, as distinct syllables, unless it is particularly convenient to clip them. Such extra syllables, like the final _-e_, are especially to be preserved at the end of the line; a large number of the rimes being double (or feminine). 3. But the final _-e_ is almost invariably elided, and other light syllables, especially _-en_, _-er_, _-el_, are frequently treated as being redundant, whenever the next word following begins with a vowel or is one of the words (beginning with _h_) in the following list, viz. _he_, _his_, _him_, _her_, _hir_ (their), _hem_ (them), _hath_, _hadde_, _have_, _how_, _heer_. These three simple rules will go a long way. An attentive reader will thus catch the swing of the metre, and will be carried along almost mechanically. The chief obstacle to a succession of smooth lines is the jerk caused by the occasional occurrence of a line defective in the first foot, as explained above. Perhaps it may be further noted that an _e_ sometimes occurs, as a distinct syllable, in the middle of a word as well as at the end of it. Exx.: _Eng-e-lond_ (A. 16); _wod-e-craft_ (A. 110); _sem-e-ly_ (A. 136). § 20. We must also remember that the accentuation of many words, especially of such as are of French origin, was quite different then from what it is now. A word like 'reason' was then properly pronounced _resóun_ (rezuun), i. e. somewhat like a modern _ray-zóon_; but even in Chaucer's day the habit of throwing back the accent was beginning to prevail, and there was a tendency to [xxiv] say _réson_ (reezun), somewhat like a modern _ráy-zun_. Chaucer avails himself of this variable accent, and adopts the sound which comes in more conveniently at the moment[21]. Thus while we find _resóun_ (rezuun) in l. 37, in l. 274 we find résons (reezunz). § 21. I give a few examples of the three rules stated above. The following words are properly dissyllabic, in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales:--(l. 1) _shou-res_, _so-te_; (2) _drogh-te_, _Mar-che_, _per-ced_, _ro-te_; (3) _ba-thed_, _vey-ne_; (5) _swe-te_; (7) _crop-pes_, _yon-ge_, _son-ne_; (8) _half-e_; (9) _sma-le_, _fow-les_, _ma-ken_; (10) _sle-pen_, _o-pen_, _y-ë_; (13) _straun-ge_, _strond-es_; (14) _fer-ne_, _hal-wes_, _lon-des_; (15) _shi-res_, _end-e_; and so on. In the same way, there are three syllables in (1) _A-pril-le_; (4) _en-gend-red_; (5) _Zéph-i-rús_; (6) _In-spi-red_; (8) _y-ron-ne_; &c. And there are four syllables in (9) _mél-o-dý-ë_; (12) _pil-grim-á-ges_. Elision takes place of the _e_ in _drogh-te_ and of the _e_ in _couth-e_ in l. 14; of the _e_ in _nyn-e_ in l. 24; &c. In such cases, the words may be read as if spelt _droght_, _couth_, _nyn_, for convenience. There are some cases in which the scribe actually fails to write a final _e_, owing to such elision; but they are not common. I have noted a few in the Glossarial Index.