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COXFESSIO AMANTIS 



301 





§ 80, The e of monosyllables is raflrely elided, 

 except in the case of the Definite Article. 



wherof I holde the excused, iii. 354. 

 but upon the it shall be bought, ii. 282. 

 nought all perchaunce as ye it wolde, iii. 354. 

 and he it hadde when I went, ii. 298. 

 of him, or be it evil or good, ii. 285. 

 that he be of his entre let, ii. 347. 

 misteppe, but he se it all, ii. 143, 374 : iii. 5. 

 into the deepe see he caste, ii. 156, 334. 



So even with ne : 



none other office I ne have, ii. 48, 131 : i. 134. 

 thus hath he that he nought ne hath, ii. 129. 

 that ne ought to desire pes, iii. 379. 



But, 



tho spak(e) he to me in such a wise, i. 51 : 



(qy. such wise ? ) 

 my gode sone, god the amende, i. 61. 

 whil(e) that ther(e) lasteth me any breth, i. 



289 : (qy. last ? ) 



that 1 napproche her ladyhede, ii. 40. 



§ 81. The e of the Definite Article is generally 

 elided (especially before e), as in modern English 

 verse. The th is frequently united to the following 

 word. 



of rhetorique the eloquence, iii. 40. 



and thus th'unkinde unkinde fond(e), iii. 282. 



and tho ben as th'apostel telleth, i. 18. 



wher(e) th'emperour him self shall be, i. 208. 



and who that taieth (takth) away th'onour, ii. 153. 



it environneth th'erthe about[e], iii. 92. 



a mannes eye is th'ere nerre, iii. 95. 



among th'ebrews ^vas none in sight, iii. 240. 



§ 82. The csesural pause seems sometimes to pre- 

 sent the elision of final e, but an incorrect text 

 forbids the forming of a decided opinion. 



he wepte — and with woful teres, i. 1 13. 

 with btrengthe— of his owni- might, >• 2 >. 

 supplant of love — in our waies, i. 241. 



in the cronique — as I ftnde, ii. 82. 



kisstf her eft sone — if I sholde, ii. 96. 



with all mill hertii 



1 



wo 



11 



e, ii, 110. 



though he ne wolde — it allow* . ii. 146. 

 and in worshippe — of her name, ii. 171. 

 and with spelling — and her eharmea, ii. 263. 

 Jason bar(e) croune — on his hed(e), ii. 267. 

 her love is sone — after (aft'r) ago. ii. «'>O0. 



with shame — and the oimphes fledde, ii. 337. 



which kindi — in her lawe bath •et(te), i. 268. 

 by whom that time — eke had he, ii. 'MS, 



and doth grevauncci 



on Bom side. i. 1. 

 and set his welthe — out of herre, iii. 52. 

 besought and tolde — hem of this, iii. 57. 

 of heven, of erthe — and of helle. iii. 87. 

 lo thus, my sone — it hath ferd(e). iii. 1)7. 

 after the lawe — of justice, iii. 166. 

 for we be bothe — of o kinde, iii. 168. 



which of long time — tie hath hid, iii. 206. 



the wey on(e) fote — in despeir(e), iii. 217. 

 to her which mentis — alle good, iii. 257. 

 that he his sone — Isaac, iii. 279. 

 unto the game — all[Y) and some, iii. 298. 



graunt mercy, lorde, he answerde, i. 272, should 

 ead lordes. 



§ 83. Other vowels are sometimes elided, as in 



modern verse. 



to whom god gaf so worthy a yifte, iii. 136. 



her study at thilke time so, ii. 91. 



and of that thing right merry hem thought. 



m _ — m m rf^v f*\. ^% 



H. 



IT,.", 



29. 





for ther(e) be many unirowe of tho, n. 

 to Juno it was don(e) understonde, ii. 281. 



SILENT FINAL e. 



§84. Were 



ing, we should have as many cases of silent final 

 e as we find in Wright's text of the Canterbury 

 Tales, or more. But if we follow the general rules 

 deduced from the text, guided by the metre and 



shall 



assisted by the history of the language, we 

 find very few such cases. The only cases, indeed, 



which are supported by instances enough to mako 



(to-fore, be-fore). 



here 

 fore, 



here 



the 



this form unless the 

 pronouns our, your, 



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