Note 849 — from the Origins To the Renaissance (continued 8)
Reading edition
Though used by others before him, and especially by Chaucer; they rhyme a b a b b c c. Chaucer wrote in this metre "Troilus," "Parlement of Foules," &c. Here is an example, consisting in the commendation of the book to Chaucer and Gower:
Unto [the] impnis of my maisteris dere, Gowere and Chaucere, that on the steppis satt Of rethorike quhill thai were lyvand here, Superlative as poetis laureate, In moralitee and eloquence ornate, I recommend my buk in lynis sevin, And eke thair soulis un-to the blisse of hevin.