Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they are listed at the end of the text. * * * * * In this text [*e] represents the "schwa" or obscure vowel, printed as inverted-e, and [gh] represents the Middle English letter "yogh", similar to the numeral 3. [=a] signifies "a macron", [)a] "a breve", and so forth. ['e] signifies "e acute"; [`e] "e grave"; [:e] "e diaresis"; and so forth (or, mostly, stress indicators resembling these accents). aesc, eth and thorn are expanded to ae, dh and th. * * * * * THE COMPLETE WORKS OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER _EDITED, FROM NUMEROUS MANUSCRIPTS_ BY THE REV. WALTER W. SKEAT, M.A. LITT.D., LL.D., D.C.L., PH.D. ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON AND FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE * * * * * * INTRODUCTION, GLOSSARY, AND INDEXES 'Thou shall have yit, or hit be eve, Of every word of this sentence A preve, by experience; And with thyn eres heren wel Top and tail, and everydel.' _The Hous of Fame_, 876-880. Oxford AT THE CLARENDON PRESS M DCCC XCIV * * * * * Oxford PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACE HART, M.A., PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF HENRY BRADSHAW * * * * * CONTENTS. GENERAL INTRODUCTION.--s. 1. Objects in view in preparing this edition. s. 2. Romaunt of the Rose. s. 3. The Minor Poems; Canon of Chaucer's works. s. 4. A Compleint to his Lady; the Former Age; Merciless Beautee; Balade to Rosemounde; Against Women Unconstaunt; Complaints. s. 5. Boethius. s. 6. Troilus. s. 7. The House of Fame. s. 8. The Legend of Good Women. s. 9. The Astrolabe. s. 10. The Canterbury Tales. s. 11. Obligations to others. s. 12. Thomas Tyrwhitt; Thomas Wright; Bell and others. s. 13. Prof. Child; Dr. Ellis; Dr. Sweet; Prof. Ten Brink; and others. s. 14. The Glossarial Index. s. 15. Aesthetic criticism. s. 16. The Dialect of Chaucer. s. 17. Chaucer's Kenticisms. s. 18. Pronunciation. s.19. The Vowels and Diphthongs. s. 20. The Consonants. s. 21. Accentuation. s. 22. Explanation of phonetic symbols. s. 23. The M.E. vowels. Example of pronunciation. s. 24. Scansion and accents. s. 25. Rimes illustrating the Pronunciation. Open and close [=o]. Long and short open o. s. 26. Long and short open o in the Minor Poems. s. 27. The same; in the Legend. s. 28. The same; in the Tales. s. 29. Open and close [=o] in Chaucer. s. 30. Open and close [=e]. s. 31. Sources of long e. s. 32. Development of long e. s. 33. Development of close [=e]. s. 34. Summary of the preceding results. s.35. Examples of unstable [=e]. s.36. Word-lists. s. 37. Apparent exceptions in the Tales. s. 38. Apparent exceptions elsewhere. s. 39. Use of the above tests. s. 40. Further examples. s. 41. Fuller word-lists; types A, B, and C, Chaucer's rules. s. 42.