Six Centuries of English Poetry: Tennyson to ChaucerBaldwin, James
General
Six Centuries of English Poetry: Tennyson to Chaucer
Baldwin, James
English poetry
1. =in the Ram.= In the constellation Aries. "There is a difference, in
astronomy, between the _sign_ Aries and the _constellation_ Aries. In
April the sun is theoretically in the sign Taurus, but visibly in the
constellation Aries."--_Morris._
2. =i-ronne.= Run. The prefix _i-_ or _y-_ is equivalent to the A.-S. or
German _ge_, and usually denotes the past participle.
3. =seeken.= The infinitive in early English ended in _n_, usually in
_en_.
4. =martir.= Thomas à Becket, who was slain at Canterbury in 1170. He was
canonized by Pope Alexander III. as St. Thomas of Canterbury.
5. =seeke.= Sick, ill. At the present time the English restrict the use of
the word "sick" to nausea, and regard it in its original and broader
signification as an "Americanism."
6. =Tabard.= A tabard is "a jaquet or slevelesse coat worne in times past
by noblemen in the warres, but now only by heraults. It is the signe of
an inne in Southwarke by London, within the which was the lodging of the
Abbot of Hyde by Winchester. This is the hostelrie where Chaucer and the
other pilgrims mett together and accorded about the manner of their
journey to Canterbury."--_Speght._
7. =stables.= Standing-places (Lat. _sto_, to stand); meaning here the
public rooms of the inn.
8. =Or.= Before, ere (A.-S. _aer_, ere). Compare Psalm xc. 2.
9. =condicioun.= A word of four syllables, accented on the last.
10. =chyvalrye.= The profession of a knight.
11. =hethënesse.= Heathen countries. From _heath_, the open country. "The
word _heathen_ acquired its meaning from the fact that, at the
introduction of Christianity into Germany, the wild dwellers on the
heaths longest resisted the truth."--_Trench._
12. =Alisaundre.= Alexandria was taken in 1365 by Pierre de Lusignan,
king of Cyprus, but was very soon abandoned.
13. =he hadde the bord bygonne.= "He had been placed at the head of the
table, the usual compliment to extraordinary merit."--_Tyrwhitt._
14. =Pruce.= Prussia. "When our military men wanted employment it was
usual for them to go and serve in _Pruce_, or Prussia, with the Knights
of the Teutonic order, who were in a state of constant warfare with
their heathen neighbours in Lettow (Lithuania) and Ruse
(Russia)."--_Tyrwhitt._
15. =Gernade.= Grenada, probably at the siege of Algezir, in that country,
in 1344. Belmarie was probably a Moorish town in Africa, as also was
Tramassene, mentioned below. Lieys was in Armenia. Both it and Satalie
(Attalia) were conquered by Pierre de Lusignan in 1367.
16. =Greetë see.= That part of the Mediterranean which washes the coast of
Palestine.
17. =lord of Palatye.= A Christian knight who kept possession of his lands
by paying tribute to the Turks.
18. =no maner wight.= No sort of person. In early English the preposition
was often omitted after _manner_. Observe the double negatives in these
two lines.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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