As regards the treatment of weak syllables in the metre, Gower’s practice, in accordance with the strict syllabic system which he adopted, is very different from Chaucer’s. The rules laid down by ten Brink, _Chaucers Sprache_, § 260, as to the cases in which weak final _e_ is never counted as a syllable in the verse, except in rhyme, require some qualification even when applied to Chaucer (for example, ‘sone’ is certainly a dissyllable in _Cant. Tales_, A 1963, _Hous of Fame_, i. 218), and they are almost wholly inapplicable to Gower, as we shall see if we examine them. (α) Gower has the forms _hire_, _oure_, _ȝoure_, all occasionally as dissyllables apart from special emphasis or rhyme. (β) _these_, _some_, _whiche_ are all sometimes dissyllables. (γ) The strong participles with short stems as _come_, _drive_, _write_ as a rule have the final _e_ sounded. (δ) The _-e_ of the 2nd pers. sing. of the strong preterite may be sounded, e.g. iii. 2629 (but ‘Were thou,’ iv. 600). (ε) The form _made_, both singular and plural, regularly has _-e_ sounded, _were_ (pret.) usually, and _wite_ sometimes. (ζ) _sone_, _wone_, _schipe_ (dat.), and the French words in _-ie_ (_ye_), &c., have _-e_ regularly counted in the metre: so also _beste_, _entente_, _tempeste_. (η) _before_, _tofore_, _there_ are used in both ways. Gower’s usage with reference to this matter is as follows: The personal and possessive pronouns _hire_, _oure_, _ȝoure_, _here_ and _hise_ (as plural of _his_), written also _hir_, _our_, &c., are as a rule treated as monosyllables. We have however ‘Fro _hire_, which was naked al,’ i. 367, ‘And thenke untoward _hire_ drawe,’ iv. 559, so v. 1178, 2757, vii. 1899, &c., ‘In _oure_ tyme among ous hiere,’ Prol. 5 (but ‘_Oure_ king hath do this thing amis,’ i. 2062), ‘As ȝe be _ȝoure_ bokes knowe,’ iii. 1087, cp. v. 2951 (but ‘Bot, fader, of _ȝoure_ lores wise,’ i. 2768). Add to these _alle_ (pl.) before definite article.