Middelenglisc spræc
{{English}}
<!--{{Cyþþubox spræc
|nama=Middel Englisc
|aganspræce nama=Englissche
|land=[[Englaland]], [[Wēalas|Wēala dæl]],  [[Scotland]], missenlice byrig on [[Īrland|Īrum]]
|æftergengan=[[Nīwenglisc sprǣc]], [[Scotta Englisc]] and [[Yola sprǣc|Yola]] in [[Wexfordscīr]]e
|familycolor=Indo-European
|cynn2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|cynn3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
|cynn4=[[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
|foregenga=[[Englisc sprǣc|Englisc]]
|iso2=enm
|iso3=enm
|glotto=midd1317
|glottorefname=Middle English
|iso6=meng
|notice=IPA
}}-->

'''Middel Englisc''' spæcen Engla and Scottas in þæm middelyldum in missenlicum aganspræcum, and man secgþ þe þisses gereordes ylde wæs þreo hund gearena of þæm ende þæs 12. gearhund oþ þæs 15. gearhundes ende ac man ne mot fæste bedælan [[Ænglisc spræc]] fram ærgeara Middelenglisc noððe [[Niwenglisc]] fram æfterweardum Middelenglisce and efne in [[Heanrig VIII Engla Cyning|Heanrices VIII Cyninges]] dæg fint man Middel Englisc scopcræft in ''Speke Parott'' þæm leode þone wrat Iohannes Skelton larteow and scop.

Middel Englisc greow ut [[Ænglisc spræc]] æfter þæm Norman tocyme in 1066. Wide wæs he gesprocen þurh þære [[Plantagenetyld]]e (1154–1485). Seo Middelenglisc yld endode ymbe 1470, þæn sceaw 'Cancelere Seles Bysen', se wæs of [[Lunden]]es agansspræc, and begann to weardenne widespread æfter þe [[Willelm Caxton]] brohtede þone [[printing press]] on Bryten. Be þissa ylde ƿæs [[Norþhymbraland|Norþhymbra]] aganspræc strang on [[Scotland|Scottum]] and in norþernum [[Englaland]] and of him forþatyddrede [[Scyttisc spræc|Scyttisc]] and þone gereorde se todæg hæfþ his sceadwe on ''Geordie''.

Æfter 1470 oþ 1650 wæs Engla gereord [[Ǣrlice Nīƿenglisce]].

==Fruma==
Ær Normadiges cyningas wæs Englisc þæs cynelican hired þæs spræce gesprōcen on [[West Seaxe|West Seaxum]], oððæt ðe oft mōt man readan geweorcas on Miercena spræc.  Middel Englisc wæs of manigum læppan, ac his gesetlede bysen in þæm cancelleres sele wæs of Miercum, and Westseaxena gereordes ierfan forþferde.

== Scopas and writeras ==
Fea Middel Englisc [[scop]]as cunnan we þæs 12. gearhundes oððe þæs and 13. gearhundes forþæm þe on þæm hired ƿrāt man on [[Læden]] oððe Frencisc. In þæm 14. gearhund arāsen scopas on him wæron [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], [[William Langland]], [[John Gower]], and se ungenemneda [[Perl Scop]]. Chaucer wæs se mæsta scop on Englacynn siððan Cynewulfes dæg.

Eac þa [[Lollard]]as wrat on hiera aganspræce þe hie motan bringan Godes word þæm folce butan Romes handum.  [[Iohannes Wycliffe]] and [[Iohannes Purvey]] wraten in swylce wise.

In 1470 brohtede [[Willelm Caxton]] ge þryccræft to Englalande and Chauceres ''[[Canterwaraburg Spellas]]'' (''Tales of Caunterbury'')<ref>Carlson, David. "[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cr/summary/v038/38.3carlson.html The Chronology of Lydgate's Chaucer References]". ''The Chaucer Review'', Vol. 38, No. 3 (2004), pp. 246-254. Accessed 6 January 2014.</ref> geþrycede he in 1478.

==History==
ƿihtig tēoƿe for ðære getimbrunge þæs umborunges of Middelenglisc spræc of Ænglisc spræc sind ðā ''[[Ormulum]]'' (12th century), the ''[[Ancrene Wisse]]'' and the [[Katherine Group]] (early 13th century) and ''[[Ayenbite of Inwyt]]'' (ca. 1340).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burchfield |first=Robert W. |chapter=Ormulum |editor-first=Joseph R. |editor-last=Strayer |title=Dictionary of the Middle Ages |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1987 |volume=9 |page=280 |isbn=0-684-18275-0 }}, p. 280</ref>

==Gramer==
Mid his gesundodan cas-endunge, þæs grames of Middelenglisc spræc is mycele nearo to þæs of nūtīd Englisc þonne þæs of Ænglisc spræc. To ðam begetan wið oðrum þæm ðēodiscum gierelicum, hit is ƿēnlicor seofon þæm to þæm of nūtīd [[Ƿestfrisisc]], ān of Engliscra nīehstena maga.
<!--
===Nouns===
Middle English retains only two distinct noun-ending patterns from the more complex system of [[Old English grammar#Nouns|inflection in Old English]]. The early Modern English words ''engel'' (engel) and ''name'' (nama) demonstrate the two patterns:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !!colspan="2"| strong !!colspan="2"| weak
|-
!
| ''singular'' || ''plural'' || ''singular'' || ''plural''
|-
! nom/acc
| engel   || engles || name      || namen
|-
! gen
| engles || engle || namen || namen(e)
|-
! dat
| engle   || engle(n) || namen    || namen
|}

Some nouns of the ''engel'' type have an ''-e'' in the nominative/accusative singular, like the weak declension, but otherwise strong endings. Often these are the same nouns that had an ''-e'' in the nominative/accusative singular of Old English. (These in turn inherited from [[Proto-Germanic]] ''ja''-stem and ''i''-stem nouns.)

The strong -(e)s plural form has survived into Modern English. The weak -(e)n form is now rare in the standard language, used only in ''oxen'', ''children'', ''brethren''; and it is slightly less rare in some dialects, used in ''eyen'' for ''eyes'', ''shoon'' for ''shoes'', ''hosen'' for ''hose(s)'', ''kine'' for ''cows'', and ''been'' for ''bees''.

===Verbs===
As a general rule (and all these rules are general), the indicative first person singular of verbs in the present tense ends in -e ("ich here" — "I hear"), the second person in -(e)st ("þou spekest" — "thou speakest"), and the third person in -eþ ("he comeþ" — "he cometh/he comes"). (''[[Thorn (letter)|þ]]'' (the letter 'thorn') is pronounced, in this case, like the unvoiced ''th'' in "think", but, under certain circumstances, may be like the voiced ''th'' in "that").

Plural forms vary strongly by dialect, with southern dialects preserving the Old English -eþ, Midland dialects showing -en from about 1200 onward and northern forms using -es in the third person singular as well as the plural.<ref name="cambridge">{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/211/1905.html|title=The Cambridge History of English and American Literature| first1 =AW | last1 = Ward | first2 = AR | last2 = Waller| date= 1907–21| accessdate= Oct 4, 2011 | publisher = Bartleby}}</ref>

The past tense of weak verbs is formed by adding an -ed(e), -d(e) or -t(e) ending. The past-tense forms, without their personal endings, also serve as past participles, together with past-participle prefixes derived from Old English: i-, y- and sometimes bi-.

[[Germanic strong verb|Strong verb]]s, by contrast, [[Ablaut|form their past tense by changing their stem vowel]] (binden → bound), as in Modern English.

===Pronouns===
After the Conquest, English retained Old English pronouns, with the exception of the third person plural,  a borrowing from Old Norse (the original Old English form clashed with the third person singular and was eventually dropped):

{{Middle English personal pronouns (table)}}

Here are the Old English pronouns.

{{Old English personal pronouns (table)}}

The first and second person pronouns in Old English survived into Middle English largely unchanged, with only minor spelling variations. In the third person, the masculine accusative singular became 'him'. The feminine form was replaced by a form of the demonstrative that developed into 'sche', but unsteadily—'heyr' remained in some areas for a long time. The lack of a strong standard written form between the 13th and the 15th centuries makes these changes hard to map.

The overall trend was the gradual reduction in the number of different case endings. The accusative case disappeared, but the six other cases were partly retained in personal pronouns, as in ''he'', ''him'', ''his''.

==Orthography==
The following characters can be found in Middle English text, direct holdovers from the [[Old English Latin alphabet]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! letter !! name !! pronunciation !! comments
|-
! [[Æ|Æ æ]]
| Ash || {{IPA|[æ]}}
|''Ash'' may still be used as a variant of the digraph {{angle bracket|ae}} in many English words of Greek or Latin origin; and may be found in brand names or loan words.
|-
! [[Eth|Ð ð]]
| Eth || {{IPA|[θ]}}, {{IPA|[ð]}}
|''Eth'' fell out of use during the 13th century and was replaced by thorn.
|-
! [[Yogh|Ȝ ȝ]]
| Yogh || {{IPA|[ɡ]}}, {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, {{IPA|[j]}} or {{IPA|[dʒ]}}
|''Yogh'' lingered in some Scottish names as {{angle bracket|z}}, as in [[Mackenzie (disambiguation)|McKenzie]] with a z pronounced {{IPA|/j/}}. Yogh became indistinguishable from cursive ''z'' in [[Middle Scots]] and printers tended to use {{angle bracket|z}} when ''yogh'' was not available in their fonts.
|-
! [[Thorn (letter)|Þ þ]]
| Thorn ||  {{IPA|[θ]}}, {{IPA|[ð]}}
|''Thorn'' mostly fell out of use during the 14th century, and was replaced by ''th'' by 1400. Anachronistic usage of the scribal abbreviation has led to the modern mispronunciation of the letter [[File:EME ye.svg|10px]] (þ) as {{angle bracket|[[y]]}}.<ref>''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'', [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ye%5B2%5D ye<nowiki>[2]</nowiki>] retrieved February 1, 2009</ref>
|-
! [[Wynn|Ƿ ƿ]]
| Wynn || {{IPA|[w]}} (the group {{angle bracket|hƿ}} represents {{IPA|[hw~ʍ]}})
|''Wynn'' represented the Germanic {{IPA|/w/}} phoneme, which had no correspondence in [[Vulgar Latin]] phonology (where classical {{IPA|/w/}} had become {{IPA|/β/}}).
It mostly fell out of use, being replaced by {{angle bracket|[[w]]}}, during the 13th century.
Due to its similarity to the letter {{angle bracket|p}}, it was mostly represented by {{angle bracket|w}} in modern editions of Old and Middle English texts even when the manuscript has wynn.
|}
-->

== Gewrit on Middelenglisce ==

===Ormulum, 12. gearhund===
This passage explains the background to the [[Nativity of Jesus|Nativity]]:
:{| cellpadding="8"
| ''Forrþrihht anan se time comm<br>&nbsp; þatt ure Drihhtin wollde<br>ben borenn i þiss middellærd<br>&nbsp; forr all mannkinne nede<br>he chæs himm sone kinnessmenn<br>&nbsp; all swillke summ he wollde<br>and whær he wollde borenn ben<br>&nbsp; he chæs all att hiss wille.''
| Forþrihte sona cwom se time<br>þe ure Dryhten wolde<br>bwon geborenn in þissum middangearde<br>for ealles mancynne niede,<br>ceas he sona kinsmen,<br>eall swylce he wolde,<br>and hwær he wolde beon geborenn<br>he ceas eall æt his willan.
| <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><small>(3494–501)</small><ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Holt |editor-first=Robert |title=The Ormulum: with the notes and glossary of Dr R. M. White. ''Two vols'' |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1878 }} Internet Archive: [http://www.archive.org/details/ormulum00holtgoog Volume 1]; [http://www.archive.org/details/ormulum01holtgoog Volume 2].</ref>
|}

===Epitaph of John the smyth, died 1371===
{{further|Brightwell Baldwin}}
An epitaph from a [[monumental brass]] in an Oxfordshire parish church:<ref name=Utechin>{{cite book |last=Utechin |first=Patricia |year=1990 |origyear=1980 |title=Epitaphs from Oxfordshire |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |publisher=Robert Dugdale |isbn=0-946976-04-X |pages=39 |ref=harv}}</ref>
:{| cellpadding="8"
| '''Original text'''<br>''man com & se how schal alle ded li: wen yolk comes bad & bare<br>moth have ben ve awaẏ fare: All ẏs wermēs y<sup>t</sup> ve for care:—<br>bot y<sup>t</sup> ve do for god ẏs luf ve haue nothyng yare:<br>yis graue lẏs John ye smẏth god yif his soule hewn grit''
| '''Onwendod''' <br>Man, cyme and seo hu sceallon eall deada menn liegan: þæn cymþ bad and bare,<br>we have nothing when we away fare: all that we care for is worms:—<br>except for that which we do for God's sake, we have nothing ready:<br>under this grave lies John the smith, God give his soul heavenly peace
|}

===Wycliffes Biblioþece, 1384===
From the [[Wycliffe's Bible]], (1384):<br>
{{Cweþ|<sup>1</sup>And it was don aftirward, and Jhesu made iorney by citees and castelis, prechinge and euangelysinge þe rewme of God, <sup>2</sup>and twelue wiþ him; and summe wymmen þat weren heelid of wickide spiritis and syknessis, Marie, þat is clepid Mawdeleyn, of whom seuene deuelis wenten <sup>3</sup>out, and Jone, þe wyf of Chuse, procuratour of Eroude, and Susanne, and manye oþere, whiche mynystriden to him of her riches.|Luke ch.8, v.1–3}}

{{Cweþ|And hit wæs gedon æfterweard, þe he fremmede gefær ut þurh ceastra and þorpas, preaching and godspellung the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and twelf mid him, and summe wifa, þæt wæron healed of yflum gastum and seocnesse, Maria seo is geclipod Magdalene, ut þære fliemedon seofen deofas, and Joanna Chuzan wif Herodes geburþegn, and Susanna, and manige oþer, swylce þegnedon to him of hiera ricnesse.| Lucas ch.8 v.1–3}}

===Chaucer, 1390s===
The following is the beginning of the general [[Prologue]] from ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' by [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]. The text  was written in  a dialect associated with London and spellings associated with the then-emergent Chancery Standard.

<div style="font-style:italic">
{|
|-valign="top"
|
:'''Original in Middle English:'''

:Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
:The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
:And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
:Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
:Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
:Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
:The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
:Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
:And smale foweles maken melodye,
:That slepen al the nyght with open ye
:(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
:Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
:And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
:To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
:And specially from every shires ende
:Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
:The hooly blisful martir for to seke
:That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.
|
:'''Onwended on Englisce:'''

:When in April the sweet showers fall
:And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all
:The veins are bathed in liquor of such power
:As brings about the engendering of the flower,
:When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath
:Exhales an air in every grove and heath
:Upon the tender shoots, and the young sun
:His half course in the sign of the ''Ram'' has run
:And the small fowl are making melody
:That sleep away the night with open eye,
:(So nature pricks them and their heart engages)
:Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,
:And palmers long to seek the stranger strands
:Of far off saints, hallowed in sundry lands,
:And specially from every shires' end
:Of England, down to Canterbury they wend
:The holy blissful martyr, quick
:To give his help to them when they were sick
|}
</div>

===Gower, 1390===
The following is the beginning of the Prologue from ''[[Confessio Amantis]]'' by [[John Gower]].

<div style="font-style:italic">
{|
|-valign="top"
|
:'''Original in Middle English:'''

:Of hem that writen ous tofore
:The bokes duelle, and we therfore
:Ben tawht of that was write tho:
:Forthi good is that we also
:In oure tyme among ous hiere
:Do wryte of newe som matiere,
:Essampled of these olde wyse
:So that it myhte in such a wyse,
:Whan we ben dede and elleswhere,
:Beleve to the worldes eere
:In tyme comende after this.
:Bot for men sein, and soth it is,
:That who that al of wisdom writ
:It dulleth ofte a mannes wit
:To him that schal it aldai rede,
:For thilke cause, if that ye rede,
:I wolde go the middel weie
:And wryte a bok betwen the tweie,
:Somwhat of lust, somewhat of lore,
:That of the lasse or of the more
:Som man mai lyke of that I wryte:
|
:'''Onwended on Englisce:''' (by Richard Brodie)<ref>{{cite web
 | url=http://www.richardbrodie.com/Prologue.html
 | title=John Gower's 'Confessio Amantis' Modern English Version
 | first=Richard
 | last=Brodie
 | year=2005
 | work="Prologue"
 | accessdate=March 15, 2012
 | archivedate=March 29, 2013
 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130329074902/http://www.richardbrodie.com/Prologue.html
 }}</ref>

:Of those who wrote before our lives
:Their precious legacy survives;
:From what was written then, we learn,
:And so it's well that we in turn,
:In our allotted time on earth
:Do write anew some things of worth,
:Like those we from these sages cite,
:So that such in like manner might,
:When we have left this mortal sphere,
:Remain for all the world to hear
:In ages following our own.
:But it is so that men are prone
:To say that when one only reads
:Of wisdom all day long, one breeds
:A paucity of wit, and so
:If you agree I'll choose to go
:Along a kind of middle ground
:Sometimes I'll write of things profound,
:And sometimes for amusement's sake
:A lighter path of pleasure take
:So all can something pleasing find.
|}
</div>

==Fruman==
{{Reflist}}
*Brunner, Karl (1962) ''Abriss der mittelenglischen Grammatik''; 5. Auflage. Tübingen: M. Niemeyer (1st ed. Halle (Saale): M. Niemeyer, 1938)
*Brunner, Karl (1963) ''An Outline of Middle English Grammar''; translated by Grahame Johnston. Oxford: Blackwell

==Utwearda hlencas==
*[http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/concise/concise.html A. L. Mayhew and Walter William Skeat. ''A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580'']
*[http://victorcauchi.fortunecity.com/EuCmp/o/oldeng.htm Middle English Glossary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222235404/http://victorcauchi.fortunecity.com/EuCmp/o/oldeng.htm |date=2012-02-22 }}
*{{Cite book|url=http://www.archive.org/details/amiddleenglishr01emergoog|title=A Middle English Reader|editor=[[Oliver Farrar Emerson]], A.M., Ph.D.}} With grammatical introduction, notes, and glossary.

[[Flocc:Englisc sprǣc]]
Middel Englisc spæcen Engla and Scottas in þæm middelyldum in missenlicum aganspræcum, and man secgþ þe þisses gereordes ylde wæs þreo hund gearena of þæm ende þæs 12. gearhund oþ þæs 15. gearhundes ende ac man ne mot fæste bedælan Ænglisc spræc fram ærgeara Middelenglisc noððe Niwenglisc fram æfterweardum Middelenglisce and efne in Heanrices VIII Cyninges dæg fint man Middel Englisc scopcræft in Speke Parott þæm leode þone wrat Iohannes Skelton larteow and scop.

Middel Englisc greow ut Ænglisc spræc æfter þæm Norman tocyme in 1066. Wide wæs he gesprocen þurh þære Plantagenetylde (1154–1485). Seo Middelenglisc yld endode ymbe 1470, þæn sceaw 'Cancelere Seles Bysen', se wæs of Lundenes agansspræc, and begann to weardenne widespread æfter þe Willelm Caxton brohtede þone printing press on Bryten. Be þissa ylde ƿæs Norþhymbra aganspræc strang on Scottum and in norþernum Englaland and of him forþatyddrede Scyttisc and þone gereorde se todæg hæfþ his sceadwe on Geordie.

Æfter 1470 oþ 1650 wæs Engla gereord Ǣrlice Nīƿenglisce.

Fruma
Ær Normadiges cyningas wæs Englisc þæs cynelican hired þæs spræce gesprōcen on West Seaxum, oððæt ðe oft mōt man readan geweorcas on Miercena spræc.  Middel Englisc wæs of manigum læppan, ac his gesetlede bysen in þæm cancelleres sele wæs of Miercum, and Westseaxena gereordes ierfan forþferde.

 Scopas and writeras 
Fea Middel Englisc scopas cunnan we þæs 12. gearhundes oððe þæs and 13. gearhundes forþæm þe on þæm hired ƿrāt man on Læden oððe Frencisc. In þæm 14. gearhund arāsen scopas on him wæron Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and se ungenemneda Perl Scop. Chaucer wæs se mæsta scop on Englacynn siððan Cynewulfes dæg.

Eac þa Lollardas wrat on hiera aganspræce þe hie motan bringan Godes word þæm folce butan Romes handum.  Iohannes Wycliffe and Iohannes Purvey wraten in swylce wise.

In 1470 brohtede Willelm Caxton ge þryccræft to Englalande and Chauceres Canterwaraburg Spellas (Tales of Caunterbury)Carlson, David. "The Chronology of Lydgate's Chaucer References". The Chaucer Review, Vol. 38, No. 3 (2004), pp. 246-254. Accessed 6 January 2014. geþrycede he in 1478.

History
ƿihtig tēoƿe for ðære getimbrunge þæs umborunges of Middelenglisc spræc of Ænglisc spræc sind ðā Ormulum (12th century), the Ancrene Wisse and the Katherine Group (early 13th century) and Ayenbite of Inwyt (ca. 1340)., p. 280

Gramer
Mid his gesundodan cas-endunge, þæs grames of Middelenglisc spræc is mycele nearo to þæs of nūtīd Englisc þonne þæs of Ænglisc spræc. To ðam begetan wið oðrum þæm ðēodiscum gierelicum, hit is ƿēnlicor seofon þæm to þæm of nūtīd Ƿestfrisisc, ān of Engliscra nīehstena maga.

 Gewrit on Middelenglisce 

Ormulum, 12. gearhund
This passage explains the background to the Nativity:
{| cellpadding="8"
| Forrþrihht anan se time comm  þatt ure Drihhtin wolldeben borenn i þiss middellærd  forr all mannkinne nedehe chæs himm sone kinnessmenn  all swillke summ he wolldeand whær he wollde borenn ben  he chæs all att hiss wille.
| Forþrihte sona cwom se timeþe ure Dryhten woldebwon geborenn in þissum middangeardefor ealles mancynne niede,ceas he sona kinsmen,eall swylce he wolde,and hwær he wolde beon geborennhe ceas eall æt his willan.
| (3494–501) Internet Archive: Volume 1; Volume 2.
|}

Epitaph of John the smyth, died 1371

An epitaph from a monumental brass in an Oxfordshire parish church:
{| cellpadding="8"
| Original textman com & se how schal alle ded li: wen yolk comes bad & baremoth have ben ve awaẏ fare: All ẏs wermēs yt ve for care:—bot yt ve do for god ẏs luf ve haue nothyng yare:yis graue lẏs John ye smẏth god yif his soule hewn grit
| Onwendod Man, cyme and seo hu sceallon eall deada menn liegan: þæn cymþ bad and bare,we have nothing when we away fare: all that we care for is worms:—except for that which we do for God's sake, we have nothing ready:under this grave lies John the smith, God give his soul heavenly peace
|}

Wycliffes Biblioþece, 1384
From the Wycliffe's Bible, (1384):

Chaucer, 1390s
The following is the beginning of the general Prologue from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The text  was written in  a dialect associated with London and spellings associated with the then-emergent Chancery Standard.

Original in Middle English:

Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.Onwended on Englisce:

When in April the sweet showers fall
And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all
The veins are bathed in liquor of such power
As brings about the engendering of the flower,
When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath
Exhales an air in every grove and heath
Upon the tender shoots, and the young sun
His half course in the sign of the Ram has run
And the small fowl are making melody
That sleep away the night with open eye,
(So nature pricks them and their heart engages)
Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,
And palmers long to seek the stranger strands
Of far off saints, hallowed in sundry lands,
And specially from every shires' end
Of England, down to Canterbury they wend
The holy blissful martyr, quick
To give his help to them when they were sick

Gower, 1390
The following is the beginning of the Prologue from Confessio Amantis by John Gower.

Original in Middle English:

Of hem that writen ous tofore
The bokes duelle, and we therfore
Ben tawht of that was write tho:
Forthi good is that we also
In oure tyme among ous hiere
Do wryte of newe som matiere,
Essampled of these olde wyse
So that it myhte in such a wyse,
Whan we ben dede and elleswhere,
Beleve to the worldes eere
In tyme comende after this.
Bot for men sein, and soth it is,
That who that al of wisdom writ
It dulleth ofte a mannes wit
To him that schal it aldai rede,
For thilke cause, if that ye rede,
I wolde go the middel weie
And wryte a bok betwen the tweie,
Somwhat of lust, somewhat of lore,
That of the lasse or of the more
Som man mai lyke of that I wryte:Onwended on Englisce: (by Richard Brodie)

Of those who wrote before our lives
Their precious legacy survives;
From what was written then, we learn,
And so it's well that we in turn,
In our allotted time on earth
Do write anew some things of worth,
Like those we from these sages cite,
So that such in like manner might,
When we have left this mortal sphere,
Remain for all the world to hear
In ages following our own.
But it is so that men are prone
To say that when one only reads
Of wisdom all day long, one breeds
A paucity of wit, and so
If you agree I'll choose to go
Along a kind of middle ground
Sometimes I'll write of things profound,
And sometimes for amusement's sake
A lighter path of pleasure take
So all can something pleasing find.

Fruman

Brunner, Karl (1962) Abriss der mittelenglischen Grammatik; 5. Auflage. Tübingen: M. Niemeyer (1st ed. Halle (Saale): M. Niemeyer, 1938)
Brunner, Karl (1963) An Outline of Middle English Grammar; translated by Grahame Johnston. Oxford: Blackwell

Utwearda hlencas
A. L. Mayhew and Walter William Skeat. A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580
Middle English Glossary 
 With grammatical introduction, notes, and glossary.

Flocc:Englisc sprǣc