CHA UCER. 249 



with enough philological knowledge of cognate lang uges 

 to guide him, is sure that they at least aimed at regularity, 

 precisely as he is convinced that Raynouard s rule about 

 singular and plural terminations has plenty of evidence to 

 sustain it, despite the numerous exceptions. To show what 

 a bad versifier could make out of the same language that 

 Chaucer used, I copy one stanza from a contemporary poem. 



&quot;When Phebus fresh was in chare resplendent, 

 In the moneth of May erly in a morning, 

 I hard two lovers prefer this argument 

 In the yeere of our Lord a M. by rekening, 

 CCCXL. and YIIL yeere following 

 potent princesse conserve true lovers all 

 And grant them thy region and blisse celestial. * 



Here is riding-rhyme, and on a very hard horse too ! Can 

 any one be insensible to the difference between such stuff as 

 this and the measure of Chaucer 1 Is it possible that with 

 him the one halting verse should be the rule, and the 

 twenty musical ones the exception *{ Let us take heed to 

 his own words : 



&quot;And, for there is so great diversite 

 In English, and in writing of our tong, 

 So pray I Godt that non miswrite the 

 Ne the mismetre for defaut of tong, 

 And redde whereso thou be or elles song 

 That thou be understood God I beseech.&quot; 



Yet more. Boccaccio s ottava rima is almost as regular 

 as that of Tasso. Was Chaucer unconscious of this ? It 

 will be worth while to compare a stanza of the original 

 with one of the translation : 



&quot; Era cortese Ettore di natura 

 Pero vedendo di costei il gran pianto, 

 Ch era piu bella ch altra creatura, 

 Con pio parlare comfortolla alquanto, 

 Dicendo, lascia con la ria ventura 



* From the &quot;Craft of Lovers,&quot; attributed by Ritson to Lydgate, 

 but too bad even for him. 



t Here the received texts give &quot;So pray I to God.&quot; Cf. &quot;But 

 Reason said him.&quot; T. & C, 



