Early English Alliterative Poems: in the West-Midland Dialect of the Fourteenth Century
Religion
Early English Alliterative Poems: in the West-Midland Dialect of the Fourteenth Century
English poetry -- Middle English, 1100-1500
l. 99 _Þe derþe þer-of_, the value (preciousness) thereof.
101 _in wely wyse_, in joyful mood.
102 _dereȝ_, injuries, harms.
103 _fyrre_, farther.
105 _raweȝ & randeȝ_, borders and paths.
107 _I wan to_, I reached. _Winne_ in O.E. was used much in the same
way as we now employ the word _get_.
112
_Wyth a rownande rourde raykande aryȝt_,
With a murmuring (whispering) sound flowing aright.
113 _founce_, bottom; _stepe_, bright.
114 _glente_, shone; _glyȝt_, glistened.
115 _A[s] stremande sterneȝ_, as glittering stars; _stroþe_, stout,
brave.
119 _loȝe_, deep.
125 _dryȝly haleȝ_, strongly (_or_ deeply) flows.
126 _bred ful_ = _bred-ful_ = _bretful_ (?), full to the brim.
P. 5.
l. 131 _wayneȝ_, grants.
132 _hitteȝ_, seeks.
138 _gayn_, opposite.
142
_I hopede þat mote merked wore_,
I supposed that building was devised.
149 _stote & stare_, stand (loiter) and gape.
150-1
_To fynde a forþe, faste con I fonde,
Bot woþeȝ mo I-wysse þer ware,_
To find a way fast did I go,
But paths more indeed there were.
153 _wonde_, cease, abstain (from fear).
155 _nwe note_, a new matter.
163 _blysnande whyt_, glistening white. See 197.
P. 6.
l. 165 _schere_, purify, refine.
169
_Þe more I frayste hyr fayre face._
The more I examined her fair face.
_frayst_ (_fraist_) usually signifies to try, tempt.
170 _fonte_, tried, examined, _found_.
176
_Such a burre myȝt make myn herte blunt_,
Such a blow might make mine heart faint.
179
_Þat stonge myn hert ful stray atount_,
Should we not read--Þat stonge myn hert ful stray a stount (?),
“full stray a stount” = a blow full stray.
187 _chos_, was following, was seeking.
188
_Er I at steuen hir moȝt stalle_,
Before I could place her within reach of discourse.
190 _seme_ = _semely_, seemly.
P. 7.
l. 208 _flurted_, figured. Cf. _flurt_-silk, figured-silk.
210
_Her here heke al hyr vmbe-gon_,
Her hair eke (also) all her about gone.
212 _Her ble more blaȝt_, her complexion whiter.
213 _schorne golde schyr_, refined gold pure.
216 _porfyl_, hem of a dress, or rather an embroidered hem.
217 _poyned_, ornamented, trimmed.
223-4 _A manneȝ dom myȝt dryȝly demme,_
_Er mynde moȝt malte in hit mesure,_
A man’s judgment might greatly dim,
Before (his) mind could discourse of it in sufficient terms
of praise.
226 _No_ = _ne_ (nor) would be a better reading.
230 _wyþer half_, opposite side.
P. 8.
l. 243 _myn one_, myself.
244 _layned_, kept secret, hidden.
251 _Fro_, from the time that.
_towen & twayned_, made two and separated.
P. 9.
l. 272 _is put in pref_, has been proved.
275 _bote of þy meschef_, the remedy of thy misfortune (misery).
290 _Wy borde ȝe men so madde ȝe be?_
Why should you talk, so foolish you are?
P. 10.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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