A Talkyng of Þe Loue of God

196 Pages·1950·7.567 MB·English

by  Sister Dr M. Salvina Westra o.p. (auth.)

A TALKYNG OF I>E LOUE OF GOD
N.V. VAN DE GARDE & CO'S DRUKKERIJ, ZALTBOMMEL
ATALKYNG
OF pE LOUE OF GOD
EDITED FROM MS. VERNON (BODLEIAN 3938)
AND COLLATED WITH MS. SIMEON
(BRIT. MUS. ADD. 22283)
WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES,
PHONOLOGY, GRAMMAR, GLOS
SARY AND OTHER APPARATUS
BY
SISTER DR M. SALVINA WESTRA O.P.
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.Y.
1950
ISBN 978-94-017-5675-4 ISBN 978-94-017-5976-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-5976-2
PREFACE
In editions of Old-and Middle English texts the greater part of
the commentary is generally devoted to an exposition of the literary
vall.\e of the work, and although to phonology and etymology
a certain minor place is usually allotted, syntax is dealt with
hardly, if at all.
Without neglecting the first aspect, the main stress has been
laid in this edition on grammar and more especially on syntax.
Since in the latter field of investigation there is not sufficient
documented matter for comparison, a simple stating of the facts
as offered by the text under discussion has been made the only
justifiable course. In the absence of a generally accepted method
of syntactical analysis, the manner of treatment had to be some
what arbitrary, with the exception of the chapter dealing with
the verb. For this Prof. Dr F. Th. Visser's A Syntax of the
Language of St. Thomas More has proved an invaluable help, just as
its author has shown himself a 'guide, philosopher and friend' from
an early stage to the very end.
With the exception of the pronouns, which can conveniently be
found in the grammar, and a few other words, all the words
occurring in the text are recorded in the glossary. But since there
is a translation in Modem English complete references to the text
have been forgone.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ..•.. VII
TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX
BIBLIOGRAPHY. • • XI
INTRODUCTION . • • XIII
The Manuscripts . • • . . XIII
Composition of the Treatise. XVI
Form of the Text. XXII
Appreciation XXVI
TEXT ••• 1
NOTES• •• 71
PHONOLOGY 83
GRAMMAR. 89
Accidence " .... 89
Some Syntactical Points . 99
VOCABULARY .• • • • • 141
PLACE AND DATE OF THE TREATISE 145
GLOSSARY .•••••••••• 149
BIBLIOGRAPHY
covering the books and articles referred to in this work
Abbreviations
used in the text
Allen. Rom. Rev. ALLEN. H. E .. "Mystical Writings of the Manuel des
Pechiez". Romanic Review. IX (1918).
Allen. Tim. ALLEN. H. E .. Letter to The Times Literary Supple
ment. 1936. Febr. 8.
Brown. Reg. BROWN. CARLETON. A Register of Middle English
Religious and Didactic Verse. Oxford. 1916-20.
Brown. ReI. BROWN. CARLETON. Religious Lyrics of the Four
teenth Century. Oxford. 1924.
Brunner. BRUNNER. K .• Abriss der mittelenglischen Gramma
tik. Halle. 1938.
Chambers. CHAMBERS. R. W .. On the Continuity of English
Prose from Alfred to More and his School. An
extract from the Introduction to Nicholas Harps
field's Life of Sir Thomas More. edited by E. V.
Hitchcock and R. W. Chambers. London 1932
(E.E.T.S .. O.S. 186).
Einenkel. A nglia. EINENKEL. E .. "Eine englische Schriftstellerin aus
dem Anfange des 12.Jhrh .... Anglia V (1882).
Einenkel. Streifz. EINENKEL. E .• Streifziige durch die mittelenglischen
Syntax. Munster. 1887.
Einenkel. Syntax. EINENKEL. E .. Historische Syntax. Strassburg. 1916.
Engel. ENGEL. M .• Die Kreuzigung Christi in der bildenden
Kunst. 1889.
Freson. FRESON. J .• Le Crucifiement. Liege. 1895.
Gertrudis. Revelationes Gertrudianae et Mechtildianae. Editum
Solesmensium O.S.B. Monachorum Cura et Opera.
I. 1875.
Halliwell. HALLIWELL. J. 0 .• Some Account of the Vernon MS.
London. 1848.
Horstmann. HORSTMANN. C .• Yorkshire Writers. II. 345. London.
1896.
Jordan. JORDAN. R.. Handbuch der mittelenglischen Gramma
tik. Heidelberg. 1934.
Knowles. KNOWLES. D .. The English Mystics. London. 1927.
Konrath. KONRATH. M .. "Eine ubersehene Fassung der Urei
sen of Oure Louerde und der Wohunge of Ure
Lauerd". Anglia XLI (1918).
Luick. LUICK. K.. Historische Grammatik der englischen
Sprache. Leipzig. 1921.
Meertens. MEERTENS. M .• Godsvrucht in de Nederlanden. 1.
Antwerpen. 1930.
Migne. MIGNE. J. P .• Patrologia Latina. 158. col. 709 ff. Paris.
1863.
Morris. MORRIS. R.. Old English Homilies. (E.E.T.S .• 0.5.
34). London. 1867.
XII BIBLIOGRAPHY
Oakden. OAKDEN, J., Alliterative Poetry in Middle English.
Manchester, 1930.
Owst. OWST, G. R., Literature and Pulpit in Medieval Eng
land. Cambridge, 1933.
Peebles. PEEBLES, R., "The Legend of Longinus," Bryn Mawr
Monographs IX (1911). Baltimore.
Serjeantson. SER]EANTSON, M., "The Index of the Vernon M.S.",
Modern Language Review XXXII (1937).
Visser. VISSER, F. TH., A Syntax of the Language of St. Tho
mas More, I. Louvain, 1946.
Vollhardt. VOLLHARDT, W., Einfluss der lateinischen geistlichen
Litteratur auf einige kleinere SchOpfungen der engli
schen Uebergangsperiode. Diss. Leipzig, 1888.
Ward. WARD, H. L. D., Catalogue of Romances, I, 763; II,
322. London, 1883.
Wells. WELLS, J., A Manual of the Writings in Middle
English, 1100-1400. New Haven, 1926.
Wilson. WILSON, R. M., Early Middle English Literature.
London, 1939.
Wyld. WYLD, H. C., A Short History of English. London,
3rd ed., 1927.
INTRODUCTION
THE MANUSCRIPTS
Only one of the two 14th century manuscripts in which the
treatise A T alkyng 01 fie Loue 01 God is preserved contains the
complete text. This is MS. Bodleian 3938, generally referred to as
the Vernon MS. (MS.V).In MS.Brit.Mus. Add.22283 the beginning
and the end are missing.
As MS.V. has been described more than once 1, a description of
the part containing A T alkyng 01 fie Loue 01 God will only be
given here.
This text covers ff. ccclxvij-cccxxxix (367-371). The leaves are
carefully ruled, having 80 lines to a page, with vertical rulings for
the two columns (here referred to as a and b) and for the margins.
The foliation, which is in red Roman numerals, is not only, as
Miss Serjeantson has pointed out, given in an unusual place,
namely on the verso of the leaf, but, as the index shows, the folio
number refers both to the page having the number (here referred
to as A) and to the one facing it (B). In the foliation ff.ccclxix
ccclxxij have been interchanged with ff.cccxxxvij-cccxl. The
mistake was corrected before binding and the correct foliation
is indicated in black Arabic figures on the recto of each leaf. The
text is written in black in a modified 14th century court-hand.
The heading is in large rubrics covering lines 22 and 23 of f.
ccclxvij A, b. The initial capital of the treatise proper is elabora
tely coloured and decorated. The capitals openings each new
paragraph are stiffly done in red, blue and gold. The paragraph
mark ([ is, with a few exceptions, alternately blue and red. One
often gets the impression that it has been inserted wherever the
illuminator, not heeding the context, found space for it, e.g.
and pOll my deore ladi.bicomen art his Mooder:-"([ And hast al pi
Halliwell; Serjeantson.