Merchant of Venice. - Repositories

xxvi
INTROD UCTION
five hundred years ago, and English though it be, he
will find that he almost needs a translation. Here are
the first lines of Chaucer's most famous poem: —
'' Whan that Aprille with his showres sote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the' flour ; "
Or, let the student read a page of Poor Richard^s Almor
nack^ written by Franklin about a hundred years ago.
Even in Franklin there is unfamiliar spelling, and many
a strange, old-fashioned phrase. All this goes to prove
that language is constantly changing, constantly adding
new words and dropping old ones. Some words,
moreover, although they are not entirely dropped from
the language, lose certain meanings which they once
possessed, and are not now easily understood when
used with their obsolete signification. Shakespeare
wrote his plays not only three hundred years ago, but
at a time when the English language was subject to
many influences that were rapidly changing it from
the ancient to the modern form. Many peculiarities
are therefore to be expected.