In the Death of Blaunche, 1253, we find _need_ riming with _heed_ (head); so that _need_ has here, apparently, an open e. Ten Brink has noted this exception (at p. 20), and explains it by remarking that there is a double form of the word in A.S., viz. _n[=e]ad_ as well as _n[=e]od_. At any rate, we see that the word _nede_ cannot be relied on as a test-word, and must be struck out; though there is only this one example of its use with open e. In the Death of Blaunche, 773, we find _dere_ (dear) riming with _were_, were. And once more, viz. in Clk. Ta., E 882, we find _were_ riming with _dere_; but, after all, _dere_ (see s. 35) has unstable e. The Death of Blaunche presents many difficulties, and the text of it is far more uncertain and unsatisfactory than that of any other genuine poem. In the House of Fame, 1885, we find the rime _here_ (here), _lere_ (to teach). This only shews that _lere_ is here once more used with the close _e_; I have already said (s. 35) that it is no sure test-word. I just note the rime of _here_ (here) with _were_ (perplexity); H. Fame, 980. _Were_ is of F. origin; and several such words have the close _e_; see Ten Brink, p. 48. In the Legend of Good Women, 1870, we have the unusual rime _there_ (there) with _dere_ (dear). Ten Brink has noted this (p. 20). He remarks that it is the only example in which _there_ seems to have close _e_; but it is rather one of three cases in which _dere_ has open _e_ (from A.S. _d[=y]re_). These are all the difficulties which I could find, after a search through the Index to the Minor Poems. The only modifications they suggest are these: the word _need_ is once found riming with _heed_ (head); and the word _dere_ (though it usually has a close _e_) really has unstable _e_ (A.S. _d[=e]ore_, _d[=y]re_). It is interesting to apply the results to other Poems. The beautiful Roundels entitled Merciless Beauty answer the test surprisingly (s. 4). In the first stanza, the author uses the rimes _sustene_, _kene_, _grene_, _quene_, _sene_, where all the vowels are close, if we include _sene_, which has the variable _e_ (close in Midland). In the second stanza, the rimes are _pleyne_, _cheyne_, _feyne_, _atteyne_, _pleyne_, all of French origin, in which the sound is slightly varied to that of the nearest diphthong. And in the third stanza, we find _lene_, _bene_, _mene_, v., _clene_, _mene_, s., in which the _e_ is now open. In the poem called A Compleint to his Lady, the final stanza of which, with Chaucer's name appended, was discovered by Dr. Furnivall after I had claimed it for Chaucer, every rime is entirely perfect, and many of them are highly characteristic of him, being used elsewhere very freely. The poem which I have called An Amorous Complaint has every rime perfect, except in l. 16, where the author rimes _do_ (with close _o_) with _wo_, _go_ (with open _o_). It has already been shown that Chaucer frequently does this very thing (s. 29).