English Literature for Boys and Girls. H. E. Marshall

Whiche that by lygne and free leccion

       Who that by line and free election

       Been verray kynge, this song to yow I sende;

       Art very king, this song to you I send;

       And ye that mowen alle myn harme amende,

       And ye that art able all my harm amend,

       Haue mynde vpon my supplicacion.

       Have mind upon my supplication.

      *This is from a French word, meaning "to send," and is still often used for the last verse of a poem. It is, as it were, a "sending off."

      In reading this you must sound the final "e" in each word except when the next word begins with an "h" or with another vowel. You will then find it read easily and smoothly.

      BOOKS TO READ

      Stories from Chaucer (prose), by J. H. Kelman. Tales from

       Chaucer (prose), by C. L. Thomson. Prologue to the Canterbury

       Tales and Minor Poems (poetry), done into Modern English by W. W.

       Skeat. Canterbury Tales (poetry), edited by A. W. Pollard (in

       Chaucer's English, suitable only for grown-up readers).

      NOTE.— As there are so many books now published containing stories from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, I feel it unnecessary to give any here in outline.