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The Pearl Cleanness Patience

Notes Glossarial Index

PREFACE

The following poems are taken from a well known manuscript in the Cottonian collection, marked Nero A. x, which also contains, in the same handwriting and dialect, a metrical romance, wherein the adventures of Sir Gawayne with the "Knight in Green," are most ably and interestingly described.

The manuscript from which Mr. Halliwell has taken his text is not the original copy, nor even a literal transcript of it. It exhibits certain orthographical and grammatical peculiarities unknown to the Northumbrian dialect which have been introduced by a Midland transcriber, who has here and there taken the liberty to adapt the original text to the dialect of his own locality, probably that one of the North Midland counties, where many of the Northumbrian forms of speech would be intelligible.

But, in the present poems, the uniformity and consistency of the grammatical forms is so entire, that there is indeed no internal evidence of subsequent transcription into any other dialect than that in which they were originally written. However, the dialect and grammatical peculiarities will be considered hereafter.

Again, in the course of transcription into another dialect, any literary merit that the author's copy may have originally possessed would certainly be destroyed. But the poems before us are evidently the work of a man of birth and education; the productions of a true poet, and of one who had acquired a perfect mastery over that form of the English tongue spoken in his own immediate locality during the earlier part of the fourteenth century. Leaving out of consideration their great philological worth, they possess an intrinsic value of their own as literary compositions, very different from anything to be found in the works of Robert of Gloucester, Manning, and many other Early English authors, which are very important as philological records, but in the light of poetical productions, cannot be said to hold a very distinguished place in English literature. The poems in the present volume contain many passages which, as Sir F. Madden truly remarks, will bear comparison with any similar ones in the works of Douglas or Spenser.

I conclude, therefore, that these poems were not transcribed from the Scotch dialect into any other, but were written in their own West-Midland speech in which we now have them.

A TEMPEST ON ?E SEE.

A STORME ON THE SE.

The poems in the present volume, three in number, seem to have been written for the purpose of enforcing, by line upon line and precept upon precept, Resignation to the will of God; Purity of life as manifested in thought, word, and deed; Obedience to the Divine command; and Patience under affliction.

Of her death he says:

The writer then represents himself as visiting his child's grave in the "high season of August," and giving way to his grief . He falls asleep, and in a dream is carried toward a forest, where he saw rich rocks gleaming gloriously, hill sides decked with crystal cliffs, and trees the leaves of which were as burnished silver. The gravel under his feet was "precious pearls of orient," and birds "of flaming hues" flew about in company, whose notes were far sweeter than those of the cytole or gittern . The dreamer arrives at the bank of a stream, which flows over stones and pebbles of emeralds, sapphires, or other precious gems, so

Following the course of the stream, he perceives on the opposite side a crystal cliff, from which was reflected many a "royal ray" .

The maiden rises, and, proceeding along the bank of the stream, approaches him. He tells her that he has done nothing but mourn for the loss of his Pearl, and has been indeed a "joyless jeweller" . However, now that he has found his Pearl, he declares that he is no longer sorrowful, but would be a "joyful jeweller" were he allowed to cross the stream . The maiden blames her father for his rash speech, tells him that his Pearl is not lost, and that he cannot pass the stream till after death . The dreamer is in great grief; he does not, he says, care what may happen if he is again to lose his Pearl. The maiden advises him to bear his loss patiently, and to abide God's doom . She describes to him her blissful state in heaven, where she reigns as a queen . She explains to him that Mary is the Empress of Heaven, and all others kings and queens . The parable of the labourers in the vineyard is then rehearsed at length, to prove that "innocents" are admitted to the same privileges as are enjoyed by those who have lived longer upon the earth . The maiden then speaks to her father of Christ and his one hundred and forty thousand brides , and describes their blissful state . She points out to him the heavenly Jerusalem, which was "all of bright burnished gold, gleaming like glass" . Then the dreamer beholds a procession of virgins going to salute the Lamb, among whom he perceives his "little queen" . On attempting to cross the stream to follow her, he is aroused from his dream , laments his rash curiosity in seeking to know so much of God's mysteries, and declares that man ever desires more happiness than he has any right to expect .

After commending cleanness and its "fair forms," the author relates The Parable of the Marriage Feast ; the Fall of the Angels ; The wickedness of the antediluvian world ,

The destruction of mankind by the Flood. When all were safely stowed in the ark,

The ark is described as "heaved on high with hurling streams."

The Visit of Three Angels to Abraham .

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah , including a description of the Dead Sea, the tarn of traitors .

The invasion of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar , and the captivity of Judah .

The following is a paraphrase of the fourth and fifth verses in the twenty-fifth chapter of the second book of Kings.

Belshazzar's impious feast , and the handwriting upon the wall .

The story of Nebuchadnezzar's pride and its punishment , and the interpretation of the handwriting by Daniel .

The invasion of Babylon by the Medes .

The following extract contains a description of the sea-storm which overtook Jonah:--

The writer, in concluding the story of Jonah, exhorts his readers to be "patient in pain and in joy."

The Editor of the present volume has endeavoured to do justice to his author by giving the text, with some few exceptions, as it stands in the manuscript. The contractions of the scribe have been expanded and printed in italics, a plan which he hopes to see adopted in every future edition of an early English author.

The Glossary has been compiled not only for the benefit of the reader, but for the convenience of those who are studying the older forms of our language, and who know how valuable a mere index of words and references sometimes proves.

In conclusion, I take the present opportunity of acknowledging the kind assistance of Sir Frederic Madden and E. A. Bond, Esq., of the British Museum, who, on every occasion, were most ready to render me any help in deciphering the manuscript, in parts almost illegible, from which the poems in the present volume are printed.

REMARKS UPON THE DIALECT AND GRAMMAR.

Higden, writing about the year A.D. 1350, affirms, distinctly, the existence of three different forms of speech or dialects, namely, Southern, Midland, and Northern; or, as they are sometimes designated, West-Saxon, Mercian, and Northumbrian. Garnett objects to Higden's classification, and considers it certain "that there were in his time, and probably long before, five distinctly marked forms, which may be classed as follows:-- 1. Southern or standard English, which in the fourteenth century was perhaps best spoken in Kent and Surrey by the body of the inhabitants. 2. Western English, of which traces may be found from Hampshire to Devonshire, and northward as far as the Avon. 3. Mercian, vestiges of which appear in Shropshire, Staffordshire, and South and West Derbyshire, becoming distinctly marked in Cheshire, and still more so in South Lancashire. 4. Anglian, of which there are three sub-divisions--the East Anglian of Norfolk and Suffolk; the Middle Anglian of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and East Derbyshire; and the North Anglian of the West Riding of Yorkshire--spoken most purely in the central part of the mountainous district of Craven. 5. Northumbrian," spoken throughout the Lowlands of Scotland, Northumberland, Durham, and nearly the whole of Yorkshire.

The distinction between Southern and Western English was not at all required, as the Kentish Ayenbite of Inwyt exhibits most of the peculiarities that mark the Chronicles of Robert of Gloucester as a Southern production. The Anglian of Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire may be referred to one group with the Mercian of Lancashire, as varieties of the Midland dialect.

A careful examination of our early literature leads us to adopt Higden's classification as not only a convenient but a correct one.

There is, perhaps, no better test for distinguishing these dialects from one another than the verbal inflexions of the plural number in the present tense, indicative mood.

Southern. Midland. Northern.

It is the constant and systematic employment of these inflexions, and not their occasional use that must be taken as the criterion of dialectical varieties.

The inflexions of the verb in the singular are of value in enabling us to discriminate between the several varieties of the Midland dialect. The Southern and Midland idioms conjugated the verb in the singular present indicative, as follows:--

The peasantry of Cheshire and Lancashire still preserve the verbal inflexions which prevailed in the fourteenth century, and conjugate their verbs in the present indicative according to the following model:--

Singular. Plural. 1st pers. hope hopen. 2nd ,, hopes hopen. 3rd ,, hopes hopen.

These forms are evidence of a broad pronunciation which, at the present time, is said to be a characteristic of the northwestern division of Lancashire, but I think that there is good evidence for asserting that this strong provincialism was not confined, formerly, to the West-Midland dialect, much less to a division of any particular county. We find traces of it in Audelay's Poems , the Romance of William and the Werwolf, and even in the Wickliffite version of the Scriptures.

Formerly, being influenced by these broad forms, I was led to select Cheshire or Staffordshire as the probable locality where the poems were written; but I do not, now, think that either of these counties ever employed a vocabulary containing so many Norse terms as are to be found in the Lancashire dialect. But although we may not be able to fix, with certainty, upon any one county in particular, the fact of the present poems being composed in the West-Midland dialect cannot be denied. Much may be said in favour of their Lancashire origin, and there are one or two points of resemblance between our poems, the Lancashire Romances, and Liber Cure Cocorum, that deserve especial notice.

Originally the inflected form may have prevailed over the whole of the North of England, but have gradually become confined to the West-Midland dialect.

The present dialect of Lancashire still retains the uninflected genitive:--

Thus much for the dialectical peculiarities of our author. The scanty material at our disposal must be a sufficient excuse for the very meagre outline which is here presented to the reader. As our materials increase, the whole question of Early English dialects will no doubt receive that attention from English philologists which the subject really demands, and editors of old English works will then be enabled to speak with greater confidence as to the language and peculiarities of their authors. Something might surely be done to help the student by a proper classification of our manuscripts both as to date and place of composition. We are sadly in want of unadulterated specimens of the Northumbrian and East-Midland idioms during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. There must surely be some records of these dialects in our university libraries which would well repay editing.

GRAMMATICAL DETAILS.

The Article exhibits the following forms:

SINGULAR. PLURAL. Masc. Fem. The. tho. tho.

Positive. Comparative. Superlative. Brade , bradder, braddest. Dere , derrer, derrest. Lyke , lykker, lykkest. Swete , swetter, swettest. Wayke , wakker, wakkest. Wode , wodder, woddest.

The following irregular forms are occasionally met with:

Positive. Comparative. Superlative. Fer , ferre , ferrest. He?e , herre, he?est . Ne?e nerre, nerrest . Sare , sarre, sarrest. Forme , formast. Mikelle , mo most. Yvel, ill , wers , werst.

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