geste (n), gesten (vb.)

This noun and verb are derived from Latin gesta and French geste, referring both to heroic deeds and to the recounting of such deeds.  In Middle English, the noun has more expanded meanings too, referring to any kind of writing, whether narrative, prose, poetry or song.

The MED defines the verb gesten as ‘to recite metrical romances, recite alliterative verse’.  There are indeed usages which suggest that some particular verse technique is intended, often in contrast to other formal categories.  The Parson famously tells his fellow pilgrilms in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales that ‘I am a Southren man; I kan nat geste “rom, ram, ruf” by lettre / Ne, god woot, rym holde I but litel bettre’ [I’m from the south of Britain: I can’t alliterate by letters, like rom, ram, ruf, and, God knows, I can’t keep rhyme going much better].  Harry Baily, when he puts a stop to Chaucer’s parody romance, Sir Thopas, tells Chaucer the pilgrim that ‘thou shalt no lenger ryme. / Lat se wher thou kanst tellen aught in geeste, / Or telle in prose somwhat’ [you must no longer rhyme – let’s see whether you can tell something in alliterative verse, or tell something in prose]. Continue reading geste (n), gesten (vb.) →