79
3.3 Evolution of Whilomarchaizing tendencies lead to 116 uses of whilom in his texts (see Osgood
1915 ). For the modern period, COHA yields 92 examples dating from 1812 to
1966 in American English ,^8 CEN 14 examples, and The corpus of Late Modern
English texts 3.0 (CLMET3.0) 23 examples. Finally, the OED provides 103
examples dating from 1320 to 1950.
No comparison can be made of these sets of data, but it is clear that hwi-
lum/ whilom is common in the Old and Middle English periods and drops off
considerably in the modern period. EEBO evidence suggests that the use of
whilom ends by about 1700.
3.3.1 From Predicate Adverb to Sentential Adverb and Pragmatic Marker
In Old English, hw ī lum carries the sense ‘at times, for a time, sometimes’
(BT: s.v. hw ī lum ). It functions as a sentence- internal adverb with scope over
the predicated event, as shown in (2):
(2) a. Hwilum mæru cwen,/ friðusibb folca, fl et eall geondhwearf,/ bædde byre
geonge ... (Beo 2016– 18])
‘At times the famous queen, the people’s pledge of peace, went throughout
the hall, urged on the young sons’
b. Forðon þara godra mooda 7 monna þeaw bið, þæt heo þær hwilum synne
ongeotað, þær þe syn ne bið (Bede 1 16.78.34)
‘For it is the habit of good minds and men, that at times they imagine sin
where there is no sin’
The last instance of this use cited in the MED is 1532 and in the OED is 1600,
but it is already quite uncommon in Middle English. Only a couple of exam-
ples can be found in Gower and Chaucer (3a– b) and none in Spenser. I have
found one sporadic twentieth- century example in verse (3c):
(3) a. Whilom I thenke how Love to me/ Seide he wolde take att gree/ My servise
(c1360 Chaucer, Romaunt of the rose 4573– 75)
‘Sometimes I think how Love said to me he would take my service as
a favor’
b. Whereof ensample if thou wolt seche,/ Tak hiede and red whilom the speche/
Of Julius and Cithero (1390 Gower, Confessio amantis 7.1595– 97)^9
‘If you will seek an example of it, take heed and read sometimes the oratory
of Julius and Cicero’
c. And whilom most becomingly strums On his poignantly *Quince- fl avoured
lute! (1950 Gascoyne, Vagrant 55 [OED])
Note that it is the present- tense forms thenke (3a) and strums (3c) and the
imperative form tak hiede (3b) which point to the reading ‘at times’ rather than
8 COHA was searched April 12, 2015.
9 Quotations from Gower follow Macaulay ( 1900 – 01).