637. an heven, a beautiful sight; cf. Sq. Ta. F 558.
639. tissew, lace, twisted band; from F. tistre, to weave.
642. The shield was covered with horn, sinews or nerf, and skin or rind.
651. 'Who has given me a love-potion?'
656. for pure ashamed, for being completely ashamed, i.e. for very shame. A curious idiom.
666. envýous, envious person; accented on y, as in l. 857.
677. Ma | de; two syllables. The first foot is imperfect.
681. The astrological term 'house' has two senses; it sometimes means a zodiacal sign, as when, e.g. Taurus is called the 'house' or mansion of Venus; and sometimes it has another sense, as, probably, in the present passage. See Chaucer's treatise on the Astrolabe, pt. ii. § 37, on 'the equations of houses.' In the latter case, the whole celestial sphere was divided into twelve equal parts, called 'houses,' by great circles passing through the north and south points of the horizon. The first of these, reckoning upwards from the eastern horizon, was called the first house, and the seventh house, being opposite to it, was reckoned downwards from the western horizon. The first and seventh houses were both considered very fortunate; and it is here said that Venus was in her seventh house, i.e. was just below the western horizon at the moment when Criseyde first saw him. The same planet was also 'well disposed,' i.e. in a favourable sign of the zodiac; and at the same time was 'pleased (or made propitious) by favourable aspects' of other planets, i.e. other planets were favourably situated as regards their angular distances from Venus. Moreover, Venus was no foe to Troilus in his nativity, i.e. she was also favourably situated at the moment of his birth.
716. Imitated from Le Rom. de la Rose, 5765-9, q.v.
746. 'I am one (who is) the fairest.' The -e in fairest-e is not elided; neither is the -e in wist-e in l. 745.
750. I.e. 'I am my own mistress.'
752. lese, pasture; 'I stand, unfastened, in a pleasant pasture.' From A. S. l[=æ]su. Cf. Ho. Fame, 1768. It does not mean 'leash,' as usually said; Chaucer's form of 'leash' is lees, as in Cant. Ta. G 19.
754. chekmat, check-mate, as in chess; see Book Duch. 659. Bell sees a pun in it; 'check to my mate,' i.e. wife; but it remains to be shewn that the form mate (wife) was known to Chaucer, who spells it make (Cant. Ta. E 2080).
759. I.e. 'I am not a nun,' nor vowed to chastity.
767, 769. sprat, for spredeth, spreads, pres. t.; spradde, pt. t. Cf. Boethius, Bk. i. Met. 3. 9-12.
777. According to Bell, MS. Harl. 1239 also has why, i.e. wherefore, a reason why, cause.
784. Cf. 'S'il fait folie, si la boive;' Rom. Rose, 12844.
797. 'No one stumbles over it;' for it is too unsubstantial.
802. 'Yet all things seem to them to be harmful, wherein folks please their friends.'
807. 'Nothing venture, nothing have.'
830. hertes lust, heart's pleasure; to rente, by way of rent.
831. no wight, to no one; dat. case.
861. See Hazlitt's notes on the proverb--'Many talk of Robin Hood, that never shot in his bow,' &c.
866. 'Who cannot endure sorrow deserves no joy.'
867. 'And therefore let him, who has a glass head, beware of stones cast in battle.'
882. let, short for ledeth, leads (Stratmann).
884. The MSS. end the line with syke. It has been pointed out that syke is not a perfect rime to endyte, whyte, but only an assonance. It is difficult to believe Chaucer guilty of this oversight; and hence I would suggest, with all submission to the critics, that possibly Chaucer wrote syte. The M. E. syte means to be anxious, and occurs in the Cursor Mundi, 11675; where Joseph says to Mary:--'Bot I site for an other thing That we o water has nu wanting,' i.e. but I am anxious about another thing, that we lack water. The sb. site, grief, occurs in the Midland dialect as well as in Northumbrian; see site in Stratmann. As the word is unusual, it would naturally be altered by the scribes to the familiar syke, to sigh, with a cognate meaning.
920. 'And loude he song ageyn the sonne shene;' Kn. Ta. A 1509.
959. 'Unless lack of pursuit is the cause (of failure),' &c.; cf. 1075.
964. hameled, cut off, docked; cf. P. Pl. Crede, 300.
1001. 'Your ill hap is not owing to me.'
1017. Read And úpon mé, where me is emphatic.
1022. When people's ears glow, it is because they are being talked of; according to folk-lore. See Brand's Popular Antiquities, ed. Ellis, iii. 171.
1026. 'Sed lateant uires, nec sis in fronte disertus;' Ovid, Art. Am. i. 463.
1027. 'Quascunque adspicies, lacrimae fecere lituras;' Ovid, Heroid. iii. 3.
1033. 'Or always harp one tune.'
1041. 'Humano capiti,' &c.; Horace, Ars Poet. 1-5. pyk, a pike (fish), as in the Balade to Rosemounde, 17.
1062. Accent Mínervá on the first and third syllables.
1075-7. it made, was the cause of it. ley, lied.
1107. hoppe, dance. 'I always dance in the rear.'
1108. to-laugh (H2, to lagh, Cm. to law), laughed exceedingly. I know of no other example. A better form is to-lough; see l. 1163, and Pard. Ta. C 476.
1119. spek-e, might speak, should say; pt. t. subjunctive.
1123. sent, i. e. sendeth, sends; the pt. t. is sent-e or send-e.
1177-8. Avysed, she took notice; pt. tense. So also fond, found, which Bell takes to be a pp.; but the pp. is founden. Coude good, knew what was becoming. So, in l. 1197, Can he means 'has he skill.'
1201, 1204. sowe, to sew the pieces of parchment together. Tyrwhitt remarks, s. v. sowe; 'It was usual, and indeed necessary, formerly to sew letters, when they were written upon parchment; but the practice continued long after the invention of paper.' plyte, to fold it up.
1229. 'A cushion, beaten with gold;' cf. Kn. Ta. A 979.
1238. A proverb: 'slight impressions soon fade.'
1249. Tyrwhitt, s. v. somme, boggles over this line, but it is quite right. Bell takes occasion to speak of the 'rugged lines' to be found in this poem; which is true enough of his own peculiar text. In Beowulf, l. 207, we have fift[=e]na sum, one of fifteen, where the cardinal number is used; and this is the usual idiom. But the ordinal number is used also. In St. Juliana, p. 79, we read that 'te sea sencte him on his thrituthe sum,' the sea drowned him and 'thirtieth some' of his men, which I understand to mean 'and twenty-nine of his men,' the master being the thirtieth; but Mr. Cockayne and Mr. Bradley make it mean 'him and thirty others.' So again, in Sir Tristrem, 817, we have: 'He busked and made him yare hi[s] fiftend som of knight,' he made ready for himself his 'fifteenth some' of knights, which I should explain to mean a band of fifteen knights, himself included, or, himself being the fifteenth. Some in such phrases has a collective force. However, the examples in Bosworth and Toller's A. S. Dict., s. v. sum, shew that this mode of expression is also sometimes used exclusively of the leader.
1274. on to pyke, for her to pick upon, or pick at; i. e. for her to pull out; see l. 1273. See examples in Halliwell, s. v. pike, of 'to pyke out thornes,' to pick out thorns.
1276. Cf. 'to strike while the iron is hot;' see Melibeus, B 2226.
1289. 'But therein he had much to heave at and to do.'
1291. 'And why? for fear of shame.' Cm. has for speche, i. e. for fear of talk or scandal.
1315. accesse, attack, as of fever. See New E. Dict.
1343. refreyde, grow cool; cf. Balade to Rosemounde, l. 21.
1349. after his gestes, according to his deeds, or adventures.
1390. forbyse, to give (thee) instances. Hardly a correct form; it should rather be forbysne, short for forbysnen, as the verb is formed from the sb. forbysne, A. S. foreb[=y]sen, an example, instance. The word was obsolescent.
1398. Deiphebus (= Dé'ph[)e]bús) is always trisyllabic.
1410. He means that he would do more for him than for any one, 'except for him whom he loves most,' i. e. Troilus.
1427. 'With spur and whip,' i. e. with all expedition.
1495. word and ende, beginning and end; cf. iii. 702, v. 1669. The right phrase is ord and ende, where ord is 'beginning;' but it would seem that, by Chaucer's time, word had been corruptly substituted for the obsolescent ord. See Monk. Ta. B 3911, and the note.
1534. triste, station for a huntsman to shoot from. See Tristre in Stratmann.
1554. renne, to run, like an excited madman.
1564. 'Bon fait prolixite foïr;' Rom. de la Rose, 18498.
1581. 'Although it does not please her to recommend (a remedy).'
1594. To mowen, to have it in her power; A. S. mugan.
1650. for my bettre arm, not even to save my right arm.
1661. him thar nought, 'him needeth not,' he need not do.
1735. An obscure allusion. 'Perhaps it means, in regard for the king and queen, his parents;' Bell. My own guess is different. I think it quite possible that Chaucer is referring to the two 'crowns' or garlands, one of roses and one of lilies, about which so much is said in his early work entitled the Lyf of Seint Cecile, afterwards called the Second Nonnes Tale (see G 270). Thus Pandarus, with his usual impudence, conjures Criseyde to pity Troilus by two solemn adjurations, viz. for the sake of Him who gave us all our souls, and by the virtue of the two heavenly crowns which an angel once brought to a chaste couple. He thus boldly insinuates that the proposed meeting is of the most innocent character. This I take to be the whole point of the allusion.
1737. 'Fie on the devil!' I. e. despise detraction.
1738. com of, come off; we now say 'come on!' See ll. 1742, 1750.
1751. 'But now (I appeal) to you.'
1752. cankedort, a state of suspense, uncertainty, or anxiety; as appears from the context. The word occurs nowhere else. Only one MS. (H2) has the spelling kankerdort, usually adopted in modern editions; Thynne has cankedorte, but it needs no final e. The etymology is unknown nor do we even know how to divide it. There is a verb kanka, to shake, be unsteady, &c., in Swedish dialects (Rietz), and the Swed. ort is a place, quarter; if there is any relationship, kanked-ort might mean 'shaky place,' or ticklish position. Another theory is that canker relates to canker, a cancer, disease, and that dort is related to Lowl. Sc. dort, sulkiness. But this is assuming that the right spelling is canker-dort, a theory which the MSS. do not favour. Neither does the sense of 'ill-humour' seem very suitable. As I am bound, in this difficult case, to suggest what I can, I must add that it is also possible to suppose that cankedort is of French origin, answering to an O. F. quant que dort, lit. 'whenever he is asleep (?),' or 'although he is asleep(?);' and hence (conceivably) meaning 'in a sleepy state.' The phrase quant que, also spelt kan ke (and in many other ways) is illustrated by a column of examples in Godefroy's Dictionary; but its usual sense is 'as well as,' or 'whatever'; thus kan ke poet = as well as he can. Or can we make it = com ki dort, like one who sleeps?
BOOK III.
The following scheme gives a general idea of the relationship of this Book to the original.
CHAUCER: BOOK III. FILOSTRATO: BOOK III.
ll. 1-38. st. 74-79.
239-287. 5-10.
344-441. 11-20.
813-833. [Boethius, II. Pr. 4. 86-120.]
1310-1426. 31-43.
1443-1451. 44.
1471-1492. 44-48.
1513-1555. 50-56.
1588-1624. 56-60.
1625-1629. [Boethius, II. Pr. 4. 4-10.]
1639-1680. 61-65.
1695-1743. 70-73.
1744-1768. [Boethius, II. Met. 8.]
1772-1806. 90-93.
1807-1813. Bk. I, st. 3. 1.
1-38. This is an exceptionally difficult passage, and some of the editions make great nonsense of it, especially of ll. 15-21. It is, however, imitated from stanzas 74-79 of the Filostrato, Book III; where the invocation is put into the mouth of Troilus.
The key to it is that it is an address to Venus, both the planet and the goddess.
2. The planet Venus was considered to be in 'the third heaven.' The 'heavens' or spheres were named, respectively, after the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the 'fixed stars;' beyond which was the Primum Mobile, the earth being in the centre of all, and immoveable. Sometimes the spheres of the seven planets were reckoned backwards from Saturn, Venus being then in the fifth heaven; see Lenvoy a Scogan, 9, and the note.
3. 'O favourite of the Sun, O dear daughter of Jove!' Venus was considered a fortunate planet. Perhaps it is best to quote the Italian text here:--
'O luce eterna, il cui lieto splendore 585
Fa bello il terzo ciel, dal qual ne piove
Piacer, vaghezza, pietade ed amore;
Del sole amica, e figliuola di Giove,
Benigna donna d'ogni gentil core,
Certa cagion del valor che mi muove 590
A' sospir dolci della mia salute,
Sempre lodata sia la tua virtute.
Il ciel, la terra, lo mare e l'inferno
Ciascuno in sè la tua potenzia sente,
O chiara luce; e s'io il ver discerno, 595
Le piante, i semi, e l'erbe puramente,
Gli uccei, le fiere, i pesci con eterno
Vapor ti senton nel tempo piacente,
E gli uomini e gli dei, nè creatura
Senza di te nel mondo vale o dura. 600
Tu Giove prima agli alti affetti lieto,
Pe' qua' vivono e son tutte le cose,
Movesti, o bella dea; e mansueto
Sovente il rendi all' opere noiose
Di noi mortali; e il meritato fleto 605
In liete feste volgi e dilettose;
E in mille forme già quaggiù il mandasti,
Quand' ora d'una ed or d'altra il pregasti.
11. vapour, influence; Ital. Vapor (l. 598).
15. The readings in this stanza are settled by the Ital. text. Thus, in ll. 17, 19, 20, read him, not hem. Comeveden, didst move or instigate; agreeing with ye, for which Mod. E. uses thou. 'Thou didst first instigate Jove to those glad effects (influences), through which all things live and exist; and didst make him amorous of mortal things; and, at thy pleasure, didst ever give him, in love, success or trouble; and, in a thousand forms, didst send him down to (gain) love on earth; and he caught those whom it pleased you (he should catch).'
In l. 17 we find Comeveden sometimes turned into Comenden, or even Commodious! The Italian text has Movesti (l. 603).
22. Venus was supposed to appease the angry planet Mars; see Compl. of Mars, 36-42.
27. 'According as a man wishes.'
29. 'Tu in unità le case e li cittadi, Li regni, ... Tien.'
31-34.
'Tu sola le nascosi qualitadi
Delle cose conosci, onde 'l costrutto
Vi metti tal, che fai maravigliare
Chi tua potenza non sa riguardare.'
I. e. 'Thou only knowest the hidden qualities of things, whence thou formest such a construction, that thou makest to marvel any one who knows not how to estimate thy power.' Chaucer seems to have used construe because suggested by costrutto, but he really uses it as answering to sa (in the fourth line), and omits the words 'l costrutto vi metti tal altogether. Hence ll. 33-35 mean: 'when they cannot explain how it may come to pass that she loves him, or why he loves her; (so as to shew) why this fish, and not that one, comes to the weir.'
Io (= jo), come to pass. This word is not in the dictionaries, and has been coolly altered into go (!) in various editions. But it answers to O. F. joer (F. jouer), to play, hence, to play a game, to make a move (as in a game); here, to come about, come to pass.
35. were, weir, pool where fish are caught; see Parl. Foules, 138, and note.
36. 'You have imposed a law on folks in this universe;' Ital. 'Tu legge, o dea, poni all' universo.'
44, 45. Inhelde, pour in. Caliope, Calliope, muse of epic poetry; similarly invoked by Dante, Purg. i. 9.
87. 'Though he was not pert, nor made difficulties; nor was he too bold, (as if about) to sing a mass for a fool.' The last expression was probably proverbial; it seems to mean to speak without hesitation or a feeling of respect.
115. to watre wolde, would turn to water; cf. Squi. Ta. F 496.
120. 'I? what?' i. e. 'I? what (am I to do)?' In l. 122, Pandarus repeats her words, mockingly: 'You say I? what? why, of course you should pity him.'
136-138. 'And I (am) to have comfort, as it pleases you, (being at the same time) under your correction, (so as to have what is) equal to my offence, as (for instance) death.' See Cant. Ta. B 1287.
150. 'By the feast of Jupiter, who presides over nativities.' The reason for the use of natal is not obvious. Cf. 'Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum;' Horat. Ep. ii. 2. 187.
188. 'I seem to hear the town-bells ringing for this miracle, though no hand pulls the ropes.'
193, 194. and oon, And two, 'both the one of you and the other.'
198. bere the belle, take the former place, take precedence; like the bell-wether that heads the flock. See the New E. Dict.
228. 'Straight as a line,' i. e. directly, at once.
294. See Manc. Ta. H 333, and note.
299. 'Thou understandest and knowest enough proverbs against the vice of gossiping, even if men spoke truth as often as they lie.'
308. 'No boaster is to be believed, in the natural course of things.'
328, 329. drat, dreadeth. Cf. 'Felix, quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum.' But Chaucer took it from Le Rom. de la Rose, 8041-2: 'Moult a benéurée vie Cil qui par autrui se chastie.'
340. 'And a day is appointed for making up the charters' (which will particularise what she has granted you); metaphorical.
349. richesse, abundance; not a happy word, but suggested by the Ital. text: 'I sospir ch'egli aveva a gran dovizia;' Fil. iii. 11. Dovizia (Lat. diuitiae) is precisely 'richesse.' Bell has rehetyng, i. e. comforting (from O. F. rehaiter, reheiter), which gives no sense; and explains it by 'reheating!'
354. lusty, lusty person; cf. Cant. Ta. A 165, 208.
377. 'Or durst (do so), or should know (how).'
380. stokked, fastened in the stocks; cf. Acts xvi. 24.
404. Departe it so, make this distinction.
410. frape, company, troop. Marked by Tyrwhitt as not understood. Other examples occur. 'With hem a god gret frape;' Adam Davy, &c., ed. Furnivall, p. 60, col. 1, text 3, l. 390; and see Allit. Morte Arthure, ed. Brock, 2163, 2804, 3548. Godefroy gives O. F. frap, a multitude, and frapaille, rabble.
445. 'And wished to be seised of that which he lacked.'
497. 'Or to enumerate all the looks and words of one that is in such uncertainty.'
502. as seith; but it does not appear that Boccaccio says anything of the kind. The same remark applies to l. 575.
510. Fulfelle is a Kentish form, the e answering to A. S. y. Similar forms occur in Gower. See note to Book Duch. 438.
526. Scan: Dréd | elées | it cleer,' &c. The sense is: 'it was clear, in the direction of the wind, from every magpie and every spoil-sport.' I. e. no one could detect them; they kept (like hunters) well to leeward, and there were no magpies or telltale birds to windward, to give an alarm.
529. Scan: In this matér-e, both-e frem'd. fremed, strange, wild.
542. holy, i. e. sacred to Apollo. From Ovid, Met. i. 566: 'laurea .. uisa est agitasse cacumen.'
545. 'And therefore let no one hinder him.'
572. The readings all shew various corruptions of thurfte, which none of the scribes understood; see thurfen, tharf, in Stratmann. This is not the only place where thurfte has been ousted from the text. Cf. thar (for tharf) in the Reves Ta. A 4320, &c. Yow thurfte have, you would need (to) have. Yow is the dat. case, governed by the impers. verb. The reading yow durste turns yow (an accusative) into an imaginary nominative; but the nom. form is ye, which the scribes did not venture to substitute.
584. goosish, goose-like, silly. This delicious epithet was turned into gofysshe by Thynne, and modern editions perpetuate the blunder. Tyrwhitt derived gofish from F. goffe, a word which is much later than Chaucer, and was probably merely adapted from Ital. goffo, stupid. The Century Dict. goes a step further, inserting a second f, and producing a form goffish, against all authority. Cf. Parl. Foules, 568, 586.
601. stewe, small chamber, closet; cf. G. Stube.
602. 'Where he was shut in, as in a coop.'
609. 'There was no dainty to be fetched'; they were all there.
614. Wade; this is the hero mentioned in the Merch. Tale, E 1424; see note.
617-620. Cf. Boethius, Bk. iv. Pr. 6. 60-68.
622. 'Without her leave, at the will of the gods.'
624. bente, i. e. curved, crescent; see l. 549. Cf. Boeth. Bk. I. Met. 5. 6, 7.
625. The Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter were all in conjunction in Cancer, which was the mansion of the moon. We are to understand that this caused the great rain.
640. ron, rained; so also in l. 677. The usual pt. t. is reinede, but we also find roon, ron, as in P. Plowm. B. xiv. 66 (C. xvi. 270), and in Trevisa, tr. of Higden, ii. 239. The pt. t. of A. S. rignan, r[=i]nan, is usually r[=i]nde; but the strong pt. r[=a]n occurs in the Blickling Glosses.
648. a game, in game; a = an, on; Cm. has on.
671. The wyn anon, the wine (shall come) at once; alluding to the wine drunk just before going to bed. See Prol. A 819, 820.
674. 'The voidè being drunk, and the cross-curtain drawn immediately afterwards.' The best reading is voyde or voydee. This seems to be here used as a name for the 'loving-cup' or 'grace-cup,' which was drunk after the table had been cleared or voided. Properly, it was a slight dessert of 'spices' and wine; where spices meant sweetmeats, dried fruits, &c. See Notes and Queries, 2 S. xi. 508. The traverse was a screen or curtain drawn across the room; cf. Cant. Ta. E 1817; King's Quair, st. 90. See Additional Note, p. 506.
690. This refers to the attendants. They were no longer allowed to skip about (run on errands) or to tramp about noisily, but were packed off to bed, with a malediction on those who stirred about. Traunceth, tramps about, is used of a bull by Gower, C. A. ii. 72. In Beaumont and Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, v. 2, we find--'but, traunce the world over, you shall never,' &c. For traunce, Thynne reads praunce, which has a similar sense. Morris explains traunce here as a sb., which seems impossible.
695. The olde daunce, the old game; see Prol. A 476.
696. sey, saw; perhaps read seye, subj., might perceive. If so, read al, i. e. every.
702. 'Beginning and end;' see note to bk. II. 1495.
711. I. e. or else upset everything; cf. the phrase, 'all the fat is in the fire.'
716. Mars and Saturn both had an evil influence.
717. combust, quenched, viz. by being too near the sun; see Astrolabe, pt. ii. § 4. Venus and Mercury, when thus 'combust,' lost their influence. let, hindered.
721. Adoon, Adonis; see Ovid, Met. x. 715.
722. Europe, Europa; see Leg. of Good Women, 113, and note.
725. Cipris, Venus; see Ho. Fame, 518.
726. Dane, Daphne; see Kn. Ta. A 2062.
729. Mercúrie, Mercury; Herse, daughter of Cecrops, beloved by Mercury. Her sister, Aglauros, had displeased Minerva (Pallas); whereupon Minerva made Aglauros envious of Herse. Mercury turned Aglauros into stone because she hindered his suit. See Ovid, Met. ii. 708-832.
733. 'Fatal sisters;' i.e. the Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. 'Which spun my destiny, before any cloth (infant's covering) was made for me.' See Kn. Ta. A 1566; Leg. G. Wom. 2629.
764. Let sleeping dogs lie; a proverb.
773. 'To hold in hand' is to feed with false hopes, to delude by pretended love.
775. Lit. 'and make him a hood above a cap.' A calle (caul) was a close-fitting cap, a skull-cap. To put on a hood over this evidently means to cover up the eyes, to cajole, to hoodwink.
791, 797. shal, owe to. sholde love, i.e. are reported to love.
813-836. Founded on Boethius, lib. II. Pr. 4. 'Quàm multis amaritudinibus humanae felicitatis dulcedo respersa est!... Anxia enim res est humanorum conditio bonorum, et quae uel numquam tota proueniat, uel numquam perpetua subsistat.... Ad haec, quem caduca ista felicitas uehit, uel scit eam, uel nescit esse mutabilem. Si nescit, quaenam beata sors esse potest ignorantiae caecitate? Si scit, metuat necesse est, ne amittat, quod amitti potest non dubitat; quare continuus timor non sinit esse felicem.... quonam modo praesens uita facere beatos potest?' See the E. version, ll. 86, 56, 109.
839. 'Why hast thou made Troilus distrust me?'
853, 854. 'Danger is drawn nearer by delay.' We say, 'Delays are dangerous.' Cf. Havelok, l. 1352. abodes, abidings, tarryings.
855. Néc', with elided e, forms the first foot. 'Every thing has its time;' cf. Eccl. iii. 1.
861. farewel feldefare, (and people will say) farewell, fieldfare! Cf. Rom. Rose, 5510. In the Rom. Rose, it refers to false friends, who, when fortune frowns, say 'Go! farewell fieldfare,' i.e. Begone, we have done with you. As fieldfares come here in the winter months, people are glad to see them go, as a sign of approaching summer. In the present case, the sense appears to be that, when an opportunity is missed, the harm is done; and people will cry, 'farewell, fieldfare!' by way of derision. We might paraphrase the line by saying: 'the harm is done, and nobody cares.'
885. blewe, blue; the colour of constancy.
890. 'Hazle-bushes shake.' This is a truism known to every one, and no news at all; in like manner, your ring will tell him nothing, and is useless.
901. feffe him, enfeoff him, bestow on him. whyte, fair.
919. at pryme face, at the first glance; primâ facie.
931. At dulcarnon, at a non-plus, in extreme perplexity. Dulcarnon, as pointed out by Selden, in his Pref. to Drayton's Polyolbion, represents the Pers. and Arab. d[=u]'lkarnayn, lit. two-horned; from Pers. d[=u], two, and karn, horn. It was a common medieval epithet of Alexander the Great, who was so called because he claimed descent from Jupiter Ammon, whose image was provided with horns like a ram. Speght rightly says that Dulcarnon was also a name for the 47th prop. of Euclid, Book I, but gives a false reason and etymology. The real reason is plain enough, viz. that the two smaller squares in the diagram stick up like two horns. And, as this proposition is somewhat difficult for beginners, it here takes the sense of 'puzzle;' hence Criseyde was at Dulcarnon, because she was in perplexity. Speght refers to Alex. Neckam, De Naturis Rerum; see Wright's edition, p. 295.
But this is not all. In l. 933, Pandarus explains that Dulcarnon is called 'fleming of wrecches.' There is a slight error here: 'fleming of wrecches,' i.e. banishment of the miserable, is a translation of Fuga miserorum, which is written opposite this line in MS. Harl. 1239; and further, Fuga miserorum is a sort of Latin translation of Eleëfuga or Eleufuga, from [Greek: eleos] pity, and [Greek: phygê], flight. The error lies in confusing Dulcarnon, the 47th proposition, with Eleufuga, a name for the 5th proposition; a confusion due to the fact that both propositions were considered difficult. Roger Bacon, Opus Tertium, cap. 6, says: 'Quinta propositio geometricae Euclidis dicitur Elefuga, id est, fuga miserorum.' Ducange, s. v. Eleufuga, quotes from Alanus, Anticlaudiani lib. iii. cap. 6--'Huius tirones curantis [read cur artis] Eleufuga terret,' &c. The word also occurs in Richard of Bury's Philobiblon, cap. xiii, somewhat oddly translated by J.B. Inglis in 1832. 'How many scholars has the Helleflight of Euclid repelled!'
This explanation, partly due to the Rev. W.G. Clark (joint-editor of the Globe Shakespeare), was first given in the Athenæum, Sept. 23, 1871, p. 393, in an article written by myself.
934. It, i.e. Dulcarnon, or Euclid's proposition. 'It seems hard, because the wretched pupils will not learn it, owing to their very sloth or other wilful defects.'
936. This = this is; as elsewhere. fecches, vetches.
947. Understand be; 'where (I hope) good thrift may be.' Cf. 966.
978. fere, fire; as in Bk. i. 229. Usually fyre.
979. fond his contenaunce, lit. found his demeanour, i.e. composed himself as if to read.
1010. wivere, viper; O. F. wivre (F. givre), from Lat. uipera. The heraldic wiver or wyvern became a wondrous winged dragon, with two legs; wholly unlike the original viper. See Thynne's Animadversions, &c., ed. Furnivall, p. 41.
1013. 'Alas! that he, either entirely, or a slice of him.'
1046. ordal, ordeal, trial by ordeal, i.e. by fire or water. See Thynne's Animadversions, ed. Furnivall, p. 66.
1056. wreigh, covered; A. S. wr[=a]h; see wr[=i]hen in Stratmann.
1064. shoures, assaults. Bell actually substitutes stouris, as being 'clearly the true reading.' But editors have no right to reject real words which they fail to understand. Shour sometimes means a shower of arrows or darts, an assault, &c.; cf. A.S. hildesc[=u]r, a flight of missiles. In fact, it recurs in this sense in Bk. iv. 47, where Bell again turns it into stoure, against authority.
1067. 'For it seemed to him not like (mere) strokes with a rod ... but he felt the very cramp of death.'
1106. al forgeve, all is forgiven. stint, stopped.
1154. bar him on honde, assured him.
1177. 'For a crime, there is mercy (to be had).'
1194. sucre be or soot, may be like sugar or like soot, i.e. pleasant or the reverse. We must read soot (not sote, sweet, as in Bell) because it rimes with moot. Moreover, soot was once proverbially bitter. 'Bittrore then the sote' occurs in Altenglische Dichtungen, ed. Boddeker, p. 121; and in Rutebuef's Vie Sainte Marie l'Egiptianne, ed. Jubinal, 280, we find 'plus amer que suie;' cf. Rom. Rose, 10670: 'amer Plus que n'est suie.'
1215. Cf. 'Bitter pills may have sweet effects;' Hazlitt's Proverbs.
1231. Bitrent, for bitrendeth, winds round; cf. iv. 870. wryth, for wrytheth, writhes.
1235. 'When she hears any shepherd speak.'
1249. 'And often invoked good luck upon her snowy throat.'
1257. welwilly, full of good will, propitious.
1258. Imeneus, Hymenæus, Hymen; cf. Ovid, Her. xiv. 27.
1261-4. Imitated from Dante, Parad. xxxiii. 14:--
'Che qual vuol grazie, e a te non ricorre,
Sua disianza vuol volar senz' ali.
La tua benignità non pur soccorre,' &c.
1282. 'Mercy prevails over (lit. surpasses) justice.'
1344. 'Or else do I dream it?'
1357. sooth, for sooth is, i.e. it is true.
1369. Bell takes scripture to mean the mottos or posies on the rings. Perhaps this is right.
1374. holt, holds; 'that holds it in despite.'
1375. 'Of the money, that he can heap up and lay hold of.' For mokren, cf. Chaucer's Boethius, Bk. ii. Pr. 5. 11. Pens, pence, is a translation of Ital. denari, money, in the Filostrato, Book iii. st. 38.
1384. the whyte, silver coins; the rede, gold coins.
1389. Myda, Midas; see Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 951.
1391. Crassus; wantonly altered to Cresus in Bell's edition, on the ground that the story is told of Croesus. But Chaucer knew better. M. Crassus, surnamed Dives (the Rich), was slain in battle against the Parthians, B. C. 53. Orodes, king of Parthia, caused molten gold to be poured into the mouth of his dead enemy, saying, 'Sate thyself now with that metal of which, in life, thou wast so greedy;' Cicero, Att. vi. 1. 14; Florus, iii. 11. 4.
1407. 'And to counterbalance with joy their former woe'.
1415. The cock is called a common astrologer (i. e. astronomer), because he announces to all the time of day; cf. Non. Pr. Ta. B 4043; Parl. Foules, 350. Translated from 'vulgaris astrologus;' Alanus.
1417, 9. Lucifer, the morning-star, the planet Venus. Fortuna maior, the planet Jupiter. Mars and Saturn were supposed to have an evil influence; the Sun, Mercury, and Moon, had no great influence either way; whilst Jupiter and Venus had a good influence, and were therefore called, respectively, Fortuna maior and Fortuna minor. See G. Douglas, ed. Small, ii. 288. The MSS. have that anoon, (it happened) that anon; but this requires us to suppose so awkward an ellipsis that it is better to read than, answering to whan.
1428. Almena, Alcmena; a note in MS. H. has: 'Almena mater Herculis.' Alcmena was the mother of Hercules by Jupiter. Jupiter lengthened the night beyond its usual limit. Plautus has a play on the subject, called Amphitruo, as Jupiter personated Amphitryon.
1437-9. ther, wherefore; 'wherefore (I pray that) God, creator of nature, may bind thee so fast to our hemisphere,' &c. A similar construction occurs in l. 1456.
1453. bore, aperture, chink; 'for every chink lets in one of thy bright rays.' See New E. Dict.
1462. Engravers of small seals require a good light.
1464. Tytan, Titan, frequently used as synonymous with the sun; as in Ovid, Met. i. 10. Chaucer has confused him with Tithonus, the husband of Aurora, whom he denotes by dawing in l. 1466, and by morwe in l. 1469.
1490. Read wer-e, in two syllables. these worldes tweyne seems to mean 'two worlds such as this.'
1495. This somewhat resembles Verg. Ecl. i. 60-4.
1502. 'Even if I had to die by torture;' as in Bk. i. 674.
1514. mo, others; see note to Cler. Ta. E 1039.
1546. 'Desire burnt him afresh, and pleasure began to arise more than at first.' Cf. the parallel line in Leg. Good Wom. 1156: 'Of which ther gan to breden swich a fyr.' Yet Bell rejects this reading as being 'not at all in Chaucer's manner,' and prefers nonsense.
1625. From Boethius, lib. ii. Pr. 4: 'Sed hoc est, quod recolentem uehementius coquit. Nam in omni aduersitate fortunae infelicissimum genus est infortunii, fuisse felicem.' Cf. Dante, Inf. v. 121; Tennyson, Locksley Hall--'That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things.'
1634. Cf. Rom. de la Rose, 8301-4; from Ovid, Art. Amat. ii. 13.
1642. Ne I, read N'I. rakle, behave rashly; it is plainly a verb, formed from the adj. rakel. Morris inserts ben after rakel, to the ruin of the scansion. Cf. Norweg. rakla, to ramble, totter, be unsteady (Aasen); Swed. dial. rakkla, to rove (Rietz); Icel. reka, to drive.
1649. I shal, I owe; A. S. ic sceal.
1687. comprende, comprehend; F. comprendre. This is clearly the right form. In the Sq. Ta. F 223, though the MSS. have comprehende, it is obvious that comprende is the real reading.
1703. Pirous, i. e. Pyroeis, one of the four horses that drew the chariot of the sun. The other three were Eöus, Æthon, and Phlegon; see Ovid, Met. ii. 153.
1705. 'Have taken some short cut, to spite me.'
1732. 'To the extent of a single knot.' It would not be necessary to explain this, if it were not for Bell's explanation of knot as 'gnat.'
1734. y-masked, enmeshed; cf. A. S. masc, a mesh.
1744-68. Paraphrased from Boethius, lib. ii. Met. 8; but note that the lines italicised are transposed, and represent ll. 1744-1750:
'Quòd mundus stabili fide Concordes uariat uices,
Quòd pugnantia semina Foedus perpetuum tenent,
Quòd Phoebus roseum diem Curru prouehit aureo,
Ut quas duxerit Hesperus Phoebe noctibus imperet,
Ut fluctus auidum mare Certo fine coërceat,
Ne terris liceat uagis Latos tendere terminos.
_Hanc rerum seriem ligat, Terras ac pelagus regens,
Et caelo imperitans Amor._ Hic si fraena remiserit,
Quidquid nunc amat inuicem, Bellum continuò geret:
Et quam nunc socia fide Pulcris motibus incitant,
Certent soluere machinam. Hic sancto populos quoque
Iunctos foedere continet: Hic et coniugii sacrum
Castis nectit amoribus: Hic fidis etiam sua
Dictat iura sodalibus. O felix hominum genus,
Si uestros animos Amor Quo caelum regitur, regat!'
1764. halt to-hepe, holds together, preserves in concord. Bell and Morris have the corrupt reading to kepe. To hepe, to a heap, became the adv. to-hepe, together. It occurs again in Ch. Astrolabe, Part I. § 14, and in Boethius, Bk. iv. Pr. 6. 182. Cf. 'gaderen tresor to-hepe,' Polit. Songs, ed. Wright, p. 325; 'han brought it to-hepe,' P. Ploughman's Crede, l. 727.
1766. 'That Love, by means of his power, would be pleased,' &c.
1779. In tyme of trewe, in time of truce; as in Boccaccio, Fil. iii. st. 91. Bell wrongly has Out of Troy. Morris alters trewe to trewes; but see Bk. iv. l. 1312.
1805. These are four of the seven deadly sins; see Pers. Tale.
1807. lady, i. e. Venus, called Dionaea as being daughter of Dione; Æneid. iii. 19. Cf. Homer, Il. v. 370.
1809. The nine Muses. Helicon was a long way from Mount Parnassus; but see notes to Anelida, 15, and Ho. Fame, 521.
1817. 'As it pleases my author to relate.'
BOOK IV.
The following scheme gives some notion of the relationship of the contents of this book to the Filostrato, but Chaucer constantly expands and adds to the original, and not unfrequently transposes the order of the text.
1. In the Proem, ll. 1-3 correspond to Fil. iii. st. 94, ll. 1-3; and ll. 8 and 10 to the same stanza, ll. 4 and 7. The rest is original.
3. Cf. Boethius, lib. ii. Pr. 1: 'Intelligo ... illius [Fortunae] ... cum his, quos eludere nititur, blandissimam familiaritatem.'
5. hent and blent, for hendeth and blendeth, catches and blinds.
6, 7. Cf. Boethius, lib. ii. Met. 2: 'Ultroque gemitus, dura quos fecit [Fortuna], ridet.' Whence, in Le Roman de la Rose, 8076-9, the passage which Chaucer here imitates; the mowe = F. la moe.
22. Herines i. e. Furies; used as the pl. of Erynis or Erinnys; see note to Compl. to Pite, 92. Their names (see l. 24) were Megaera, Alecto, and Tisiphone. Bell's remark, that Chaucer found these names in Boccaccio, does not seem to be founded on fact. He more likely found them in Vergil, who has Erinnys, Æn. ii. 336, 573; vii. 447, 570; Alecto, id. vii. 324, 341, 405, 415, 445, 476; Megæra, id. xii. 846; Tisiphone, vi. 571, x. 761. But I suppose that, even in Chaucer's time, MS. note-books existed, containing such information as the names of the Furies. Chaucer even knew that some (as Æschylus) considered them to be the daughters of Night.
25. Quiryne, Quirinus. Ovid, Fasti, ii. 476, tells us that Quirinus was Romulus; and just above, ii. 419, that Romulus and Remus were sons of Mars.
29. Ligginge ... The Grekes, while the Greeks lay.
32. Hercules Lyoun, Hercules' lion, the lion of Hercules; alluding to the lion's skin which Hercules wore. Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon, lib. i. 263, has 'Herculeo ... leoni;' and Chaucer seems to have read this author, or at any rate his first book; see Leg. of Good Women, l. 1457, and the note. However, Chaucer shews his knowledge of the story clearly enough in his tr. of Boethius, Bk. iv. Met. 7. The reference is, simply, to the sign Leo. The sun was in this sign during the latter part of July and the former part of August; but we are further told that he was in the 'breast' of Leo, and therefore near the very bright star Regulus, called in Arabic Kalbalased, or the Lion's Heart, which was situated almost on the zodiac, and (at that time) near the 20th degree of the sign. This gives the date as being the first week in August.
41. in the berd, in the beard, i. e. face to face.
47. shour, assault, attack; see note to Bk. iii. 1064.
50-4. From Boccaccio. The right names are Antenor, Polydamas, Menestheus or Mnestheus, Xanthippus, Sarpedon, Polymnestor, Polites, Riphaeus, all mentioned by Boccaccio, who probably took them from Guido delle Colonne. But Boccaccio omits 'Phebuseo,' and I do not know who is meant. Several of these names may be found in the allit. Destruction of Troy, ed. Panton and Donaldson; as Antenor and his son Polydamas, at ll. 3947, 3954; Xanthippus, king of Phrygia, l. 6107; Sarpedon, prince of Lycia, l. 5448; and in Lydgate's Siege of Troy, Bk. ii. capp. 16, 20. Polymestor, or Polymnestor, was king of the Thracian Chersonese, and an ally of the Trojans. Polites was a son of Priam (Æneid. ii. 526). Mnestheus is repeatedly mentioned in Vergil (Æn. v. 116, &c.), and is also called Menestheus (id. x. 129); he is a different person from Menestheus, king of Athens, who fought on the other side. For Riphaeus, see Verg. Aen. ii. 339. The Ital. forms are Antenorre, Polidamas, Monesteo, Santippo, Serpedon, Polinestorre, Polite, Rifeo. Observe that Monostéo, Riphéo, Phebuséo rime together, with an accent on the penultimate.
62. thassege, for the assege, the siege; Barbour has assege, siege, in his Bruce, xvii. 270, xx. 8; pl. assegis, xx. 12. MS. H. wrongly has thessage. See l. 1480 below.
64. Calkas, Calchas; see Bk. i. 66, 71.
79. This town to shende, i. e. (it will be best for you) to despoil this town.
86. resport, regard. This strange word is certified by its reappearance in l. 850, where it rimes to discomfórt. It is given in Roquefort, but only in a technical sense. It was, doubtless, formed from O. F. esport, deportment, demeanour, regard (Godefroy), by prefixing re-; and means 'demeanour towards,' or (here) simply 'regard,' as also in l. 850. The etymology is from Lat. re-, ex, and portare. Cf. F. rapport, from re-, ad, and portare.
96. in hir sherte, in her smock only; i.e. without much rich clothing; 'as she was.'
99. 'For because I saw no opportunity.'
112. as yerne, as briskly as possible, very soon; so in l. 201.
120-4. Laomedon, father of Priam, founded Troy. Apollo and Poseidon (Neptune) had been condemned for a while to serve him for wages. But Laomedon refused them payment, and incurred their displeasure.
133. Antenor had been taken prisoner by the Greeks; see Lydgate, Siege of Troye, Bk. iii. ch. 24. Lydgate's version is that Antenor was to be exchanged for Thoas, king of Calydon; and, at the request of Chalcas, it was arranged that Antenor should be exchanged for both Thoas and Criseyde (see l. 138); to which Priam consented.
withoute more, without further ado; cf. l. 376.
143. parlement; here Boccaccio has parlamento, i.e. a parley. Chaucer gives it the English sense.
168. 'The love of you both, where it was before unknown.'
197. From Juvenal, Sat. x. ll. 2-4:--
'pauci dignoscere possunt
Vera bona atque illis multum diuersa, remota
Erroris nebula.'
Cf. Dryden's translation and Dr. Johnson's poem on the Vanity of Human Wishes.
198, 9. what is to yerne, what is desirable. offence, disappointment.
203. mischaunce; because Antenor contrived the removal from Troy of the Palladium, on which the safety of the city depended. Cf. Lydgate, Siege of Troye, Bk. iv. ch. 34; or the account by Caxton, quoted in Specimens of English from 1394-1579, ed. Skeat, p. 89.
210. here and howne. The sense of this phrase is not known; but, judging by the context, it seems to mean--'thus said every one, such was the common rumour.' It has been explained as 'thus said hare and hound,' i.e. people of all sorts; but the M. E. form of hare is hare (A. S. hara), and the M. E. form of 'hound' never appears as howne, which, by the way, is evidently dissyllabic. In the absence of further evidence, guesswork is hardly profitable; but I should like to suggest that the phrase may mean 'gentle and savage.' The M. E. here, gentle, occurs in Layamon, 25867; and in Amis and Amiloun, 16 (Stratmann); from A. S. h[=e]ore. Houne answers, phonetically, to an A. S. H[=u]na, which may mean a Hun, a savage; cf. Ger. Hüne.
225. From Dante, Inf. iii. 112:--
'Come d'autunno si levan le foglie
L'una appresso dell' altra infin che 'l ramo
Rende alla terra tutte le sue spoglie.'
239. This stanza follows Boccaccio closely; but Boccaccio, in his turn, here imitates a passage in Dante, Inf. xii. 22:--
'Qual è quel toro che si slaccia in quella
C'ha ricevuto già 'l colpo mortale,
Che gir non sa, ma qua e là saltella.'
251, 2. Almost repeated in the Clerk Ta. E 902, 3; see note to the latter line, and cf. Gower, Conf. Amant. ii. 14--'Right as a lives creature She semeth,' &c.
263. In MS. H., thus is glossed by 'sine causa.'
272. Accent misérie on e; 'Nella miseria;' Inf. v. 123.
279. combre-world, encumbrance of the world, a compound epithet. It is used by Hoccleve, in his lament for Chaucer, De Regim. Principum, st. 299. 'A cumber-world, yet in the world am left;' Drayton, Pastorals, Ecl. ii. 25.
286. gerful, changeable; see note to Kn. Ta. A 1536.
300. Edippe, Oedipus, king of Thebes, who put out his own eyes on finding that he had slain his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta; Statius, Theb. i. 46.
302. Rossetti thus translates Fil. iv. st. 34: 'O soul, wretched and astray, Why fliest thou not out of the most ill-fortuned body that lives? O soul brought low, part from the body, and follow Chryseis.'
305. unneste, glossed in H. by 'go out of thi nest;' correctly.
318. Read my, not the or thy; Rossetti thus translates Fil. iv. st. 36: 'O my Chryseis, O sweet bliss of the sorrowing soul which calls on thee! Who will any more give comfort to my pains?'
330. unholsom; Boccaccio has insano, Fil. iv. st. 38. 'I think it pretty clear that B. means insane in our ordinary sense for that word; but Chaucer's unholsom is no doubt founded on B.'s epithet, and is highly picturesque.'--Rossetti.
356, 7. Nearly repeated in Man of Lawes Ta. B 608, 9. See l. 882.
381. 'As certainly do I wish it were false, as I know it is true.'
392. propretee, his own indefeasible possession; see Boethius, Bk. ii. Pr. 2. 9 (p. 27), 61 (p. 28).
407. Pandarus took his morality from Ovid; cf. Amorum lib. ii. 4. 10-44: 'Centum sunt causae, cur ego semper amem;' &c.
413. heroner, a large falcon for herons; faucon for rivere, a goshawk for waterfowl. See note to Sir Thopas, B 1927.
414, 5. From Boccaccio, who does not, however, give the name of the author of the saying. The remark 'as Zanzis writeth' is Chaucer's own. It is quite clear that Zanzis in this passage is the same as the Zanzis in the Physiciens Tale, C 16; and he is no other than Zeuxis the painter. I do not suppose that Chaucer had any special reason for assigning to him the saying, but his name was as useful as that of any one else, and the medieval method of reference is frequently so casual and light-hearted that there is nothing to wonder at. Besides, we are distinctly told (l. 428) that Pandarus was speaking for the nonce, i.e. quite at random. The real author is Ovid: 'Successore nouo uincitur omnis amor;' Remed. Amor. 462.
460. pleyen raket, play at rackets, knocking the ball forwards and backwards; alluding to the rebound of the ball after striking the wall.
461. Netle in, dokke out means, as Chaucer says, first one thing and then another. The words are taken from a charm for curing the sting of a nettle, repeated whilst the patient rubs in the juice from a dock-leaf. The usual formula is simply, 'in dock, out nettle,' for which see Brockett's Glossary of North-Country Words, s. v. dockon (dock); but Chaucer is doubtless correct. He refers to a fuller form of words, given in Notes and Queries, 1st Ser. iii. 368:--
'Nettle in, dock out--Dock in, nettle out;
Nettle in, dock out--Dock rub nettle out.'
Akermann's Glossary of Wiltshire Words gives a third formula, as follows:--
'Out 'ettle, in dock--Dock shall ha' a new smock;
'Ettle zhan't ha' narrun.'
i.e. nettle shan't have ne'er one. See also N. and Q. 1st Ser. iii. 205, 368; xi. 92; Athenæum, Sept. 12, 1846; Brand, Pop. Antiq. iii. 315.
In the Testament of Love, Bk. i., the present passage is quoted in the following form: 'Ye wete wel, lady, eke (quod I) that I haue not playde racket, nettyl in, docke out, and with the wethercocke waued;' ed. 1550, fol. cccv. col. 2. This shews that the text is correct.
462. 'Now ill luck befall her, that may care for thy wo.'
481-3. gabbestow, liest thou. Ll. 482, 3 are a reproduction of Pandarus' own saying, in Bk. iii. 1625-8.
493. Deficient in the first foot; read--'I | that liv'd' | &c.
497. formely; Cm. formaly; for formelly, i.e. formally.
503. From Boethius, Bk. i. Met. 1. 13, 14 (p. 1).
506. Troilus speaks as if dead already. 'Well wot I, whilst I lived in peace, before thou (death) didst slay me, I would have given (thee) hire;' i.e. a bribe, not to attack me.
520. alambyk, alembic; i.e. a retort, or vessel used in distilling; in Cant. Ta. G 794, MS. E. has the pl. alambikes, and most other MSS. have alembikes. The word was afterwards split up into a lembick or a limbeck; see Macb. i. 7. 67. Chaucer took this from Le Rom. de la Rose, 6406-7:--
'Je vois maintes fois que tu plores
Cum alambic sus alutel.'
556. 'Then think I, this would injure her reputation.'
583. 'But if I had so ardent a love, and had thy rank.'
588. Cf. the phrase 'a nine days' wonder.' Lat. nouendiale sacrum; Livy, i. 31.
603. For litel, MS. H. and Thynne have lite. It makes no difference, either to the sense or the scansion.
607. for ferd, for fear (H2. for drede; Thynne, for feare). Properly for ferde, as in Ho. Fame, 950; but often shortened to for ferd. Ferde or ferd is tolerably common as a sb., but some scribes hardly understood it. Hence MSS. Cl. and H. have of-fered, i.e. greatly frightened.
618. Cf. Kn. Ta. A 1163-8; and the notes.
622. 'Boldly stake the world on casts of the dice.' Cf. Cant. Tales, B 125, C 653, and the notes.
627. Nearly repeated in Kn. Tale, A 1010.
630. 'The devil help him that cares about it.'
659-61. From Boccaccio, Fil. iv. st. 78; cf. Æneid. iv. 188.
683. 'And expected to please her.' For pitous Ioye represents 'pietosa allegrezza,' Fil. iv. st. 80.
684. 'Dear enough at a mite;' cf. note to L. G. Wom. 741.
692. on every syde; 'd'ogni partito;' Fil. iv. 81. I suppose it means, literally, 'on every side;' Troy being subject to attacks at various points.
708-14. Certainly genuine; found also in Fil. iv. 84.
716. Deficient in the first foot.
735. Dr. Furnivall says that MSS. Cl., H., and others have here misplaced a stanza, meaning that ll. 750-6 should have come next, as shewn by Boccaccio's text. But only MS. Cm. has such an order, and it is quite certain that the other MSS. are right. The order in Boccaccio's text furnishes no real guide, as Chaucer often transposes such order; and it is odd that only this one instance should have been noted. It is better to consider the order in MS. Cm. as wrong, and to say that it transposes the text by placing ll. 750-6 after l. 735, and gives a somewhat different version of ll. 750-2.
736. ounded, waved, wavy; see Ho. Fame, 1386, and note. Cf. 'Tear my bright hair,' &c.; Shak. Troilus, iv. 2. 112.
750. Cf. note to l. 735. MS. Cm., which inserts this stanza after l. 735, begins thus:--
'The salte teris from hyre ey[gh]yn tweyn
Out ran, as schour of Aprille ful swythe;
Hyre white brest sche bet, and for the peyne,' &c.
762. This line, giving the name of Criseyde's mother, is not in Boccaccio (Fil. iv. stt. 89-93). I do not know where Chaucer found the form Argyve; in Statius, Theb. ii. 297, Argia is the name of the wife of Polynices, and Ch. calls her Argyve; see Bk. v. l. 1509 below.
769, 70. by-word, proverb: 'plants without a root soon die.'
782. ordre, order. She will pass her life in mourning and abstinence, as if she had entered a religious order.
790. Elysos, Elysium. It looks as if Chaucer was thinking of Vergil's 'Elysios ... campos;' Georg. i. 38; for the story of Orpheus and Eurydice occurs in Georg. iv. 453-527. Cf. Ovid, Met. x. 1-85.
829. cause causinge, the primary cause. 'Causa causans, a primary or original cause; causa causata, a secondary or intermediate cause;' New E. Dict., s. v. Causa.
831. Wher, short for whether; as in Cant. Ta. B 3119, &c.
836. 'Extrema gaudii luctus occupat;' Prov. xiv. 13. See note to Man of Lawes Ta. B 421.
842. The first foot is deficient: 'Peyn | e tor | ment,' &c.
843. 'There is no misery that is not within my body.'
850. resport, regard; see note to l. 86 above.
865. Compare the similar lines in Kn. Ta. A 1400, 1.
866. men, weakened form of man, takes a sing. verb.
870. Bi-trent, winds round; see note to iii. 1231.
884. into litel, within a little, very nearly.
887. fawe, gladly; cf. Cant. Ta. D 220.
907. bane, destruction; see Kn. Ta. A 1097, 1681.
927. 'Be to him rather a cause of the flat than of the edge,' i.e. of healing rather than of harming. A curious allusion which is fully explained by reference to the Squieres Tale, F 156-165. See also note to the same, F 238.
947-1085. This passage is not in Boccaccio, but some of it is in Boethius; see below.
963-1078. A considerable portion of this passage is copied, more or less closely, from Boethius, lib. v. Pr. 2 and Pr. 3. The correspondences are all pointed out below. Chaucer's own prose translation should be compared. For example, the word wrythen (l. 986) appears in that also (Bk. v. Pr. 3. 15).
963-6. 'Quae tamen ille, ab aeterno cuncta prospiciens, prouidentiae cernit intuitus, et suis quaeque meritis praedestinata disponit;' Boeth. v. Pr. 2 (end).
968. grete clerkes; such as Boethius, Saint Augustine, and bishop Bradwardine; see Non. Pr. Ta. B 4431, 2.
974-80. 'Nam si cuncta prospicit Deus, neque falli ullo modo potest, euenire necesse est, quod prouidentia futurum esse praeuiderit. Quare si ab aeterno non facta hominum modo, sed etiam consilia uoluntatesque praenoscit, nulla erit arbitrii libertas;' Boeth. v. Pr. 3. 981-7 (continued): 'neque enim uel factum aliud ullum, uel quaelibet existere poterit uoluntas, nisi quam nescia falli prouidentia diuina praesenserit. Nam si res aliorsum, quam prouisae sunt, detorqueri ualent, non iam erit futuri firma praescientia.' 988-994 (continued): 'sed opinio potius incerta: quod de Deo credere nefas iudico.'
996. I.e. who have received the tonsure.
997-1001. 'Aiunt enim, non ideo quid esse euenturum, quoniam id prouidentia futurum esse prospexerit: sed è contrario potius, quoniam quid futurum est, id diuinam prouidentiam latere non posse;' Boeth. v. Pr. 3. 1002-1008 (continued): 'eoque modo necessarium hoc in contrariam relabi partem. Neque enim necesse est contingere, quae prouidentur; sed necesse esse, quae futura sunt, prouideri.' 1009-1015 (continued): 'Quasi uero, quae cuiusque rei caussa sit, praescientiane futurorum necessitatis, an futurorum necessitas prouidentiae, laboretur.' 1016-1022 (continued): 'At nos illud demonstrare nitamur, quoquo modo sese habeat ordo caussarum, necessarium esse euentum praescitarum rerum, etiam si praescientia futuris rebus eueniendi necessitatem non uideatur inferre.'
(The negative in l. 1016 is remarkable, but Chaucer's prose rendering presents the same form. Surely he has taken nitamur as if it were uitamus.)
1023-9. (continued): 'Etenim si quispiam sedeat, opinionem quae eum sedere coniectat ueram esse necesse est: atque è conuerso rursus, (1030-6) si de quopiam uera sit opinio, quoniam sedet, eum sedere necesse est. In utroque igitur necessitas inest: in hoc quidem sedendi, at uerò in altero ueritatis.' 1037-1047 (continued): 'Sed non idcirco quisque sedet, quoniam uera est opinio; sed haec potius uera est, quoniam quempiam sedere praecessit. Ita cùm caussa ueritatis ex altera parte procedat, inest tamen communis in utraque necessitas. Similia de prouidentia futurisque rebus ratiocinari patet.' 1051-78 (continued): 'Nam etiam si idcirco, quoniam futura sunt, prouidentur; non uero ideo, quoniam prouidentur eueniunt: nihilo minus tamen à Deo uel uentura prouideri, uel prouisa euenire necesse est: quod ad perimendam arbitrii libertatem solùm satis est. Iam uero quam praeposterum est, ut aeternae praescientiae temporalium rerum euentus caussa esse dicatur? Quid est autem aliud arbitrari, ideo Deum futura, quoniam sunt euentura, prouidere, quam putare quae olim acciderunt, caussam summae illius esse prouidentiae? Ad haec, sicuti cum quid esse scio, id ipsum esse necesse est: ita cum quid futurum noui, id ipsum futurum necesse est. Sic fit igitur, ut euentus praescitae rei nequeat euitari.'
1094. ferd, fared; not the pp. of faren (l. 1087), but of the weak verb feren (A. S. f[=e]ran). The correct pp. of faren is faren. See Stratmann.
1105. 'A man may offer his neck soon enough when it (i. e. his head) must come off.'
1136. 'Beyond the nature of tears.'
1139. Myrrha, daughter of Cinyras, king of Cyprus, who was changed into a myrrh-tree; Ovid, Met. x. 298. The tree wept tears of myrrh; id. x. 500.
1146. hir-e (MS. Cl. here), their, is here dissyllabic. unswelle, cease to swell, as in Bk. v. 214.
1147. 'All hoarse, and exhausted with shrieking.' forshright is the pp. of forshriken, to shriek excessively. Bell wrongly has for shright; but shright is not a noun. The Ital. has 'con rotta voce,' with broken voice; Fil. iv. st. 116.
1153. 'Being always on the point of departing.'
1162. 'Whether it was sad for him.'
1174. Cf. 'And bisily gan,' &c.; Prol. A 301.
1179. preignant (F. preignant, pregnant, Cotgrave), catching hold of tightly, hence, forcible; pres. part. of prendre, to seize. Quite distinct from pregnant when representing Lat. praegnans.
1181. woon, hope, resource. This answers to Early E. w[=a]n (see Stratmann), and is allied to Icel. ván, hope, expectation; cf. Icel. væna, to hope for, to ween. The word is monosyllabic, and the long o is 'open,' as shewn by its riming with noon, goon, from A. S. n[=a]n, g[=a]n. Bell quite fails to explain it, and Morris suggests 'remedy,' without assigning any reason. It is common in Rob. of Gloucester, with similar rimes, and does not mean 'custom' or 'habit' or 'manner,' as suggested in Mr. Wright's Glossary, nor has it any connection with M. E. wone, custom, which was dissyllabic, and had a short vowel in the former syllable; but it means, as here, 'hope' or 'resource.' For example: 'tho he ne sey other won' = when he saw nothing else to be done; Rob. Glouc. ed. Hearne, p. 12; ed. Wright, l. 275. 'And flowe in-to hor castles, vor hii nadde other won,' i. e. no other resource; id. p. 19, ed. Hearne, l. 442. This is one of the rather numerous words in Chaucer that have not been rightly understood.
1185. twighte, plucked; pt. t. of twicchen.
1188. 'Where the doom of Minos would assign it a place.' Boccaccio here uses the word inferno (Fil. iv. 120) to denote the place where Troilus' soul would dwell; which Rossetti explains to mean simply Hades. Chaucer's meaning is the same; he is referring to Æneid. vi. 431-3.
1208. Atropos is the Fate who cuts the thread of life; see note to v. 7.
1237. a forlong wey, two minutes and a half, to speak exactly; see note to C. T., A 3637.
1241. Either slayn is here expanded into slayen, or the pause after this word does duty for a syllable, in the scansion.
1242. ho, stop, cease; see Kn. Ta. A 1706.
1244. ther-e is here made into a dissyllable.
1245. morter, mortar. The Century Dict. quotes from Dugdale's Hist. of St. Paul's (ed. Ellis), p. 27: 'A mortar was a wide bowl of iron or metal; it rested upon a stand or branch, and was filled either with fine oil or wax, which was kept burning by means of a broad wick [at funerals or on tombs].' It was named from its similarity in shape to the mortar in which things were pounded. I remember the word in common use; it came to denote what is now called a night-light, and the word night-light seems to have nearly displaced it. In this modern contrivance, the old 'mortar' is sometimes represented by a paper casing. The term was frequently applied, not merely to the saucer which held the grease, but to the light itself, which sometimes took the shape of a short candle. Cotgrave explains F. mortier as 'a kind of small chamber-lamp.' Instead of morter, MS. Cm. has percher, which meant a kind of wax candle placed upon a branch or bar called a perche (perch).
1295. 'About that (there) is no question.' Cf. l. 1694.
1374. wether, sheep. I. e. it is advisable to give the wolf a limb of a sheep, in order to save the rest.
1377. grave, incise, make an impression upon.
1380. moble (H., H2. moeble), movable property; cf. F. meubles.
1404. 'Whilst he is making his divination; and I will make him believe.' Ll. 1401-14 are due to a passage in Guido; see allit. Destruction of Troy, 8101-40.
1406. amphibologyes, ambiguities. A more correct form is amphiboly, from Gk. [Greek: amphibolia]; see New E. Dict. The ambiguous character of the old oracular responses is well known.
