116 FOREST TREES 



3. well-begone. Well pleased. (Cp. 'woe-begone '.) 



6. his. Its. Before the introduction of ' its ', in the seven- 

 teenth century, ' his ' did duty both as masc. and as neut. in the 

 poss. case of the third personal pronoun. 



7. to seen. Before the introduction of the modern mark of 

 the infinitive, ' to ' before the verb, the sign of the infin. was 

 the suffix or inflection -n or -en (for the more ancient -an) : here, 

 as elsewhere, Chaucer combines the two forms of the infinitive. 



8. The builder oak. The oak used for the frames of houses. 



9. caraigne. Corpse. (The 0. North Fr. form was caroigne, 

 Chaucer's form is careyne, the modern form is ' carrion ' ; from 

 Lat. caro, flesh.) 



10. piper. Fit for making pipes, flutes, &c. No wood can 

 match the box for wind-instruments. 



11. sailing fir. Pine fit for making masts for the sails of 

 ships. death to 'plain. With which to lament the dead. 



12. shooter yew. The yew fit for bows for archery. shafts. 

 Arrows. plain. Smooth. 



14. to divine. To predict. A diviner was a seer or soothsayer. 

 See G-en. xliv. 15: 'Wot ye not that such a man as I can 

 certainly divine ? ' 



[The measure of The Parliament of Fowls has been known as 

 Rime Royal since King James I of Scotland's use of it in The 

 King's Quair : its metrical symbol is 7 (5 xa), and the rime 

 sequence is a "b a b b c c.] 



II. SPENSER'S 



ENFORCED to seek some covert nigh at hand, 

 A shady grove not far away they spied 

 That promised aid the tempest to withstand; 

 Whose lofty trees, y-clad with summer's pride, 

 Did spread so broad that heaven's light did hide, 

 Not pierceable with power of any star : 

 And all within were paths and alleys wide, 

 With footing worn, and leading inward far; 

 Fair harbour that them seems, so in they entered are. 



