and reads them into a Divine Law of Love and Duty. He is a Church Reformer in the truest sense, seeking to strengthen the hands of the clergy by amendment of the lives and characters of those who are untrue to their holy calling. The ideal of a Christian Life shines through his poem, while it paints with homely force the evils against which it is directed'.'

§14. DIALECT OF THE POEM.

There can be little doubt that the true dialect of the author is best represented by MSS. of the B-text, and that this dialect was mainly Midland, with occasional introduction of Southern forms. The A-text was printed from the Vernon MS., as this seemed to be the best MS., upon the whole; none of the MSS. of that text being very satisfactory. But the Vernon MS. differs in dialect from almost all other copies of the poem; the scribe, who has written out a large number of other poems also, has turned everything into the Southern dialect. The MSS. of the C-text are mostly in a Midland dialect, but it is remarkable that many of them frequently introduce Western forms, as if the author's copy had been multiplied at a time when he had returned to the West of England. There seems to be a slight tendency to use the plural indicative suffix -eth instead of -en (1) at the end of a line, (2) when the word that precedes. In the Parallel Extracts printed for the Early English Text Society, the form beop (or bep) occurs in 4 MSS., after the word that, though nearly all the rest read that ben or that be (A. iii. 67); but in direct narration, as in l. 71, a large number of MSS. read pes are, or pese arn. The same line ends with pat most harm werchip (or worchep, &c.) in twelve instances; yet the usual suffix is -en, which occurs here in a large number of MSS., both after that and at the end of a line; so that the use of -eth is, to some extent, capricious. A thorough investigation of the dialect would fill a small volume. I will just note, as one point of

1 There are excellent articles upon Piers the Plowman in the New Englander, April, 1875, and in the National Review, October, 1861.

A similar mixture of forms appears in MS. Harl. 2253. See Altenglische Dichtungen des MS. Harl. 2253, mit Grammatik und Glossar herausgegeben von Dr. K. Böddeker. The excellent grammar prefixed to this work explains a large number of the forms that occur in Piers Plowman.

3 See 'William Langland; a Grammatical Treatise;' by E. Bernard, Bonn, 1874; where the grammatical forms are collected.

interest, that there is a very late example of the suffix -ene to denote the genitive plural in the expression kingene kynge, i. e. king of kings, in B. i. 105; and a still later one in Iuwene ioye, i. e. joy of the Jews, C. xxi. 268. All the curious forms that are of any interest, such as rat for redeth, i. e. reads, are duly recorded, with copious references, in the Glossarial Index.

Dr. Morris points out that there are some traces of Northern influence, which may have been due to the West Midland dialect. Examples are: she for heo (B. i. 10); aren for ben or beop, which is particularly marked in B. ix. 30, where the alliteration depends upon the use of it; merke for derke, B. i. 1; laike, B. prol. 172; alkin, B. prol. 222; gare, with its pt. t. garte, gerte (see Glossary); graith gate, i. e. direct road, B. i. 203; barne, i. e. child, B. ii. 3; whas, whose, B. ii. 18; tyne, to lose (see Glossary); &c.

There are also some infinitives in -ie or -ye, which the West Midland and Southern dialects had in common. Examples are: tilie, B. pr. 120; shonye, B. pr. 174; cracchy, B. pr. 186; stekye, B. i. 121; louye, B. i. 141; &c. It would thus appear that the dialect of Piers Plowman differs from that of Chaucer in belonging to the West rather than to the East of England.

There is one error in syntax worthy of remark, because it occurs rather often; viz. that the author sometimes uses a singular verb with a plural noun, especially the verb is or was. A clear example

is in B. v. 99.

There is also a peculiarity of spelling which is very noticeable, and is particularly common in the B-text, viz. the use of a mute final e to denote the fact that the preceding vowel is long; precisely as in modern English. Thus schope is written for schoop, B. prol. 2; wote for woot or wot (with long o), B. prol. 43. This use of the mute final e is very unfortunate, as it can only be distinguished from the fully pronounced e by a thorough study of Middle-English phonology and grammar.

$ 15. THE METRE OF THE POEM.

The metre is that known as alliterative, the only metre which in the earliest times was employed in Anglo-Saxon poetry. It also resembles the older kind of alliterative poetry in being entirely without rime. Poems thus composed may be printed either in short

lines or long ones, as is most convenient. I have adopted the system of long lines, as Early English poems in this metre and of this period are invariably written in long lines in the MSS., except when written continuously, as we write prose'. Every long line is divided into two short lines or half-lines by a pause, the position of which is marked in the MSS. by a point (sometimes coloured red), or by a mark resembling an inverted semi-colon, or, very rarely, by a mark resembling a paragraph mark (¶) or inverted D (Ɑ), coloured red and blue alternately. In some MSS., but these are generally inferior ones, the mark is entirely omitted. It is also not infrequently misplaced. In the present volume the position of the pause is denoted by a raised full-stop, and the reader will find that it almost invariably points out the right place for a slight rest in reading, and in very many places is equivalent to a comma in punctuation. If we employ the term 'strong syllable' to denote those syllables which are most strongly accented and are of greatest weight and importance, and 'weak syllable' to denote those having a slighter stress 2 or none at all, we may briefly state the chief rules of alliterative verse, as employed by our author and other writers of his time, in the following manner.

I. Each half-line contains two or more strong syllables, two being the original and normal number. More than two are often found in the first half-line, but less frequently in the second.

2. The initial-letters which are common to two or more of these strong syllables being called the rime-letters, each line should have two rime-letters in the first, and one in the second half. The two former are called sub-letters, the latter the chief-letter.

3. The chief-letter should begin the former of the two strong syllables in the second half-line. If the line contain only two rimeletters, it is because one of the sub-letters is dispensed with.

4. If the chief-letter be a consonant, the sub-letters should be the same consonant, or a consonant expressing the same sound. If a vowel, it is sufficient that the sub-letters be also vowels; they need not be the same, and in practice are generally different. If the chief-letter be a combination of consonants, such as sp, ch, str, and the like, the sub-letters frequently present the same combination, although the recurrence of the first letter only would be sufficient.

1 So written in MS. Digby 102.

The secondary or slighter accents are often difficult to determine.

These rules are exemplified by the opening lines of the prologue (B-text) :

Line

and wént me to réstë

V'nder a bródë bankë · bi a bornes side,

And as I lay and lénëd

.

and lóked in þe wáteres,

I slómbred in a slepyng it swéyued so mérye.'

has s for its rime-letter; the sub-letters begin somer and seson; the chief-letter begins soft. The s beginning sonne may be regarded as superfluous and accidental.

Line 2 shews sh used as a rime-letter. The syllables marked with a diæresis are to be fully sounded, and counted as distinct syllables. The e at the end of shope merely shews that the preceding o is long, and is not syllabic.

Line 3 is tolerably regular; it reminds us that the vn- in vnholy is a mere prefix, and that the true base of the word is holy, beginning with h.

In line 4, the initial Win Went is superfluous.

In line 5, two strong syllables, viz. May and the first of mornynge, come together. This is rare, and not pleasing.

In line 6, by- in byfel is a mere prefix; and so is for- in forwandred in line 7.

In line 8, the b in bi is unnecessary to the alliteration.

In line 9, the secondary stress upon as is hardly inferior in strength to the stress upon the strong syllables.

In line 10, the chief-letter is s, but the sub-letters exhibit the combination sl.

The true swing and rhythm of the lines will soon be perceived. A few variations may be noticed.

(a) The chief-letter may begin the second strong syllable of the second half-line; as,

'Vnkýnde to her kýn and to álle cristene;' B. i. 190.

(b) Sometimes there are two rime-letters in the second half-line,

1 The secondary accents, for the greater clearness, are not marked. In 1. 1, they probably fell upon the words In and was; in 1. 2, upon me and I.

and one in the first. Such lines are rare; I give an example from the A-text of the poem, ii. 112:—

Týle he had sýluer for his sáwes and his sélynge.'

(c) The chief-letter is sometimes omitted; but this is a great blemish. Thus, in 1. 34 of the Prologue (B-text), nearly all the MSS. have synneles, instead of giltles, which is the reading of MS. R. 3. 14 in Trinity College, Cambridge.

(d) By a bold license, the rime-letter is sometimes found at the beginning of weak or subordinate syllables, as in the words for, whil, in the lines:

'panne I fráinëd hir fáirë · for hým þat hir mádë;' B. i. 58.

'And with him to wónye with wó・ whil gód is in héuene;' B. ii. 106. These last examples are among the instances which go to shew that Langland was not very particular about his metre. He frequently neglects to observe the strict rules, and evidently considered metre of much less importance than the sense. These remarks may perhaps suffice, since, for more perfect specimens of alliterative verse, the poems of the Anglo-Saxon period should be particularly studied.

I gladly take advantage of the present opportunity to recommend the careful work of Dr. Rosenthal upon Middle-English Alliterative Verse, entitled 'Die alliterierende englische Langzeile im xiv. Jahrhundert; von F. Rosenthal. Halle; 1877.' This work is founded upon eight alliterative poems, all of which have been published for the Early English Text Society. At pp. 35-46 he gives comparative tables to all three texts of Piers Plowman, shewing all the instances in which the alliteration of the A-text varies from the normal form, and indicating at the same time the corresponding lines (if any) in texts B and C. The comparison is continued to the point where the A-text ceases, and accordingly ends with B. x. 474 and C. xii. 296. These tables have been reprinted, by the author's kind permission, in the General Preface to the Early English Text Society's edition of the poem.

§ 16. BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE MANUSCRIPTS.

The seventeenth publication of the Early English Text Society was my edition of 'Parallel Extracts from twenty-nine manuscripts of Piers Plowman,' published with the view of obtaining further information about the MSS. and their contents. This led to further