The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (volume 4) (2024)

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{{Template}} Volume 4 of The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (1894–97) is a work by Walter William Skeat.

THE COMPLETE WORKSOFGEOFFREY CHAUCERSKEATTHE HOUSE OF FAME: THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMENTHE TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABEWITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOURCES OF THE CANTERBURY TALESHENRY FROWDE, M.A.PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORDDom mine inus tlo llumea.LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK1pice ***Ae&இbe hit that he fan nat welenditeyethath he made lende folle relyteto forveyou m prysinise ofyour name.Be made the book that bighe che hons offameandthe the decity of Blanche the duch*effeAnd althelove ofpalanaggeffeOfrohebes thosethe slovye yoknowen byteAndmany anEmone for your haldayesthat Gighten balades woundels melayesAnd for tospeke of other GolmeſſeHe hath inproce tranflated BocceAnd maade the lyfe dep offeynt scaleBe made also soon yo agrete whilePurgencsapon the aandeleynehym onglite now to have the lesse peyneBe Gatt maade many alay and manyattingeallow asyebe agod,and the a kingoJyour Alafe whilond grene ofTrace2afle you this mand/vyste ofyour stacehat ye hun never Gmetem alhis GiveAnd he shalAverend toyow and that blivehe fgal never more agilten m the wyseBut shal maken as ye wol dempseof women trewe in levyng alhue lysfewhersoye wol of mayden oz of AyfeAndforth you,asmuche ashe mysseydePrm the(kose /orolles m Creforde

1. he god oflove,anfierede Gne ancon

Badame quod he/itis solong agoonThat9you knome,so charitable and autheWhat neveryou,son thatthe moulde wasnewvemene founde y better moon thanyeeIf thatye wolde have mydegreemay ne wolnat weone your regnefteAl Gettin you doth wyth hynd, as you AfteIal foryeve wagontend lenger ApaceMS. FAIRFAX 16. LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN, 414-450PE CLARI1སྙཎ སྐཎྜ་L1 FAME TI!LAS AHMJÖGnot SempTHE COMPLETE WORKSOFGEOFFREY CHAUCEREDITED, From numerOUS MANUSCRIPTSBY THEREV. WALTER W. SKEAT, LITT.D., LL.D., M.A.ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXONAND FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGETHE HOUSE OF FAME: THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMENTHE TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABEWITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOURCES OF THE CANTERBURY TALES' He made the book that hight the Hous of Fame.'Legend of Good Women; 417.'Who-so that wol his large volume seke Cleped the Seintes Legende of Cupyde.'Canterbury Tales; B 60.' His Astrelabie, longinge for his art.'Canterbury Tales; A 3209.STANFORDOxfordAT THE CLARENDON PRESSMDCCCXCIV.[All rights reserved]PR1851551894V.3C , 2565969OxfordPRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESSBY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITYCONTENTSINTRODUCTION to the House of FAME.-§ 1. Authorship. § 2. Influence of Dante. § 3. Testimony of Lydgate. § 4. Influence ofOvid. § 5. Date of the Poem. § 6. Metre. § 7. Imitations.§ 8. Authorities. § 9. Some EmendationsINTRODUCTION TO THE Legend of GooD WOMEN. -§ 1. Date ofthePoem. § 2. The Two Forms ofthe Prologue. § 3. Comparisonof these. § 4. The Subject of the Legend. § 5. The Daisy.§ 6. Agaton. § 7. Chief Sources of the Legend. § 8. ThePrologue; Legends of ( 1 ) Cleopatra; ( 2 ) Thisbe; ( 3 ) Dido; (4)Hypsipyle and Medea; (5) Lucretia; ( 6 ) Ariadne; ( 7 ) Philomela; (8) Phyllis; (9) Hypermnestra. § 9. Gower's ConfessioAmantis. § 10. Metre. § 11. ' Clipped ' Lines. § 12. Description of the MSS. § 13. Description of the Printed Editions .§ 14. Some Improvements in my Edition of 1889. § 15. Con- clusionINTRODUCTION TO A TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE. -§ 1. Descriptionofthe MSS. §§ 2-16. MSS. A. , B., C. , D., E. , F. , G. , H., I. , K., L.,M., N., O., P. § 17. MSS. Q., R., S. , T., U. , W., X. § 18. Thynne's Edition. § 19. The two Classes of MSS. § 20. The last fiveSections (spurious) . § 21. Gap between Sections 40˚‍and 41. § 22.Gap between Sections 43 and 44. § 23. Conclusion 40. § 24.Extant portion of the Treatise. § 25. Sources. § 26. VariousEditions. § 27. Works onthe Subject. § 28. Description oftheAstrolabe Planisphere. § 29. Uses of the Astrolabe Planisphere.§ 30. Stars marked on the Rete. § 31. Astrological Notes.32. Description of the Plates•PAGEviixvilviiPLATES ILLUSTRATING THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ASTROLABE • lxxxiTHE HOUS OF FAME: BOOK I. ITHE HOUS OF FAME: BOOK II.THE HOUS OF FAME: BOOK III.1633vi CONTENTS.THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN: THE PROLOGUEI. THE LEgend of CLEOPATRAII. THE Legend of THISBEIII. THE LEGEND OF DIDOIV. THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE AND MedeaV. THE LEGEnd of LUCRETIAPAGE65 106110117VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNEVII. THE Legend of PHILOMELAVIII. THE LEGEND OF PHYLLISIX. THE LEGEND OF HYPERMNESTRAA TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABECRITICAL NOTES TO A TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABENOTES TO THE HOUSE OF FAMENOTES TO The Legend of Good WOMENNOTES TO A TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE131140147158• 164169175233• 243288352AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOURCES OF THE CANTERBURY TALES . 370INTRODUCTIONΤΟTHE HOUSE OF FAME§ 1. It is needless to say that this Poem is genuine, as Chaucerhimself claims it twice over; once in his Prologue to the Legendof Good Women, 1. 417, and again by the insertion in the poemitself of the name Geffrey (1. 729) '.§ 2. INFLUENCE OF DANTE. The influence of Dante is herevery marked, and has been thoroughly discussed by Rambeauin Englische Studien, iii. 209, in an article far too important tobe neglected. I can only say here that the author points outboth general and particular likenesses between the two poems.In general, both are visions; both are in three books; in both,the authors seek abstraction from surrounding troubles by venturinginto the realm of imagination. As Dante is led by Vergil, soChaucer is upborne by an eagle. Dante begins his third book,Il Paradiso, with an invocation to Apollo, and Chaucer likewisebegins his third book with the same; moreover, Chaucer's invocation is little more than a translation of Dante's.Among the particular resemblances, we may notice the methodof commencing each division of the Poem with an invocation ".Again, both poets mark the exact date of commencing theirpoems; Dante descended into the Inferno on Good Friday, 13001 It is also mentioned as ' the book of Fame ' at the end of the PersonesTale, I 1086. I accept this passage as genuine.' In Dante's Inferno, this invocation begins Canto II.; for Canto I. forms ageneral introduction to the whole.viii THE HOUSE OF FAME.(Inf. xxi. 112); Chaucer began his work on the 10th of December,the year being, probably, 1383 (see note to 1. 111).Chaucer sees the desert of Lybia ( 1. 488), corresponding tosimilar waste spaces mentioned by Dante; see note to l. 482.Chaucer's eagle is also Dante's eagle; see note to 1.500. Chaucergives an account of Phaethon (1. 942) and of Icarus ( 1. 920) , muchlike those given by Dante ( Inf. xvii. 107, 109); both accounts,however, may have been taken from Ovid¹. Chaucer's accountof the eagle's lecture to him ( 1. 729) resembles Dante's Paradiso,i. 109-117. Chaucer's steep rock of ice ( l . 1130) corresponds toDante's steep rock (Purg. iii. 47). If Chaucer cannot describe allthe beauty of the House of Fame ( 1. 1168) , Dante is equallyunable to describe Paradise (Par. i . 6). Chaucer copies fromDante his description of Statius, and follows his mistake in sayingthat he was born at Toulouse; see note to l . 1460. The description of the house of Rumour is also imitated from Dante; seenote to 1. 2034. Chaucer's error of making Marsyas a femalearose from his misunderstanding the Italian form Marsia in Dante;see note to l. 1229.These are but some of the points discussed in Rambeau'sarticle; it is difficult to give, in a summary, a just idea of thecareful way in which the resemblances between these two greatpoets are pointed out. I am quire aware that many of thealleged parallel passages are too trivial to be relied upon, andthat the author's case would have been strengthened, rather thanweakened, by several judicious omissions; but we may fairlyaccept the conclusion, that Chaucer is more indebted to Dantein this poem than in any other; perhaps more than in all hisother works put together.It is no longer possible to question Chaucer's knowledge ofItalian; and it is useless to search for the original of The Houseof Fame in Provençal literature, as Warton vaguely suggests thatwe should do (see note to l . 1928) . At the same time, I can seeno help to be obtained from a perusal of Petrarch's Trionfo dellaFama, to which some refer us.§ 3. TESTIMONY OF LYDGATE. It is remarkable that Lydgate¹ Where Chaucer says ' leet the reynes goon ' ( 1. 951 ) , and Dante has ' abbandonò li freni ' ( Inf. xvii. 107) , we find in Ovid ' equi . . . colla iugo eripiunt,abruptaque lora relinquunt ' (Met. ii . 315) . Chaucer's words seem closer to Dante than to the Latin original.INFLUENCE OF OVID. ixdoes not expressly mention The House of Fame by name, in hislist of Chaucer's works. I have already discussed this point inthe Introduction to vol. i. pp. 23, 24, where I shew that Lydgate,nevertheless, refers to this work at least thrice in the course of thepoem in which his list occurs; and, at the same time, he speaksofa poem by Chaucer which he calls ' Dant in English, ' to whichthere is nothing to correspond, unless it can be identified withThe House of Fame¹. We know, however, that Lydgate's testimony as to this point is wholly immaterial; so that the discussionas to the true interpretation of his words is a mere matter ofcuriosity.§ 4. INFLUENCE OF OVID. It must, on the other hand, beobvious to all readers, that the general notion of a House ofFame was adopted from a passage in Ovid's Metamorphoses,xii. 39-63. The proof of this appears from the great care withwhich Chaucer works in all the details occurring in that passage.He also keeps an eye on the celebrated description of Fame inVergil's Æneid, iv. 173-183; even to the unlucky rendering of'pernicibus alis ' by ' partriches winges, ' in l. 1392 2.I here quote the passage from Ovid at length, as it is veryuseful for frequent reference (cf. Ho. Fame, 711-24, 672-99,1025-41 , 1951-76, 2034-77):-' Orbe locus medio est inter terrasque, fretumque,Caelestesque plagas, triplicis confinia mundi;¹ On which Prof. Lounsbury remarks (Studies in Chaucer, ii. 243) —' Moreextreme indeed than that of any one else is the position of Professor Skeat. Heasserts in all seriousness that the " House of Fame " is the translation to whichreference is made by Lydgate, when he said that Chaucer wrote " Dante inEnglish. " Beyond this utterance it is hardly possible to go. ' This is merebanter, and entirely misrepresents my view. Lydgate does not say that ' Dantin English ' was a translation; this is a pure assumption, for a strategical purpose in argument. Lydgate was ignorant of Italian , and has used a stupidphrase, the correctness of which I by no means admit. But he certainly meantsomething; and the prominence which he gives to " Dant in English, ” whenhe comes to speak of Chaucer's Minor Poems, naturally suggests The House ofFame, which he otherwise omits! My challenge to ' some competent critic ' totell me what other poem is here referred to, remains unanswered." When Chaucer consulted Dante, his thoughts were naturally directed toVergil. We find, accordingly, that he begins by quoting (in 11. 143-8 ) theopening lines of the Æneid; and a large portion of Book I (11. 143-467) isentirely taken up with a general sketch of the contents of that poem. It isclear that, at the time of writing, Vergil was, in the main, a new book to him,whilst Ovid was certainly an old acquaintance.viii THE HOUSE OF FAME.(Inf. xxi. 112); Chaucer began his work on the 10th of December,the year being, probably, 1383 (see note to 1. III) .Chaucer sees the desert of Lybia (1. 488 ) , corresponding tosimilar waste spaces mentioned by Dante; see note to 1. 482.Chaucer's eagle is also Dante's eagle; see note to 1. 500. Chaucergives an account of Phaethon (1. 942) and of Icarus (1. 920) , muchlike those given by Dante ( Inf. xvii. 107, 109); both accounts,however, may have been taken from Ovid ' . Chaucer's accountof the eagle's lecture to him (1. 729) resembles Dante's Paradiso,i . 109-117. Chaucer's steep rock of ice ( 1. 1130) corresponds toDante's steep rock (Purg. iii. 47). If Chaucer cannot describe allthe beauty of the House of Fame (1. 1168), Dante is equallyunable to describe Paradise (Par. i. 6). Chaucer copies fromDante his description of Statius, and follows his mistake in sayingthat he was born at Toulouse; see note to l . 1460. The description of the house of Rumour is also imitated from Dante; seenote to 1. 2034. Chaucer's error of making Marsyas a femalearose from his misunderstanding the Italian form Marsia in Dante;see note to 1. 1229.These are but some of the points discussed in Rambeau'sarticle; it is difficult to give, in a summary, a just idea of thecareful way in which the resemblances between these two greatpoets are pointed out. I am quire aware that many of thealleged parallel passages are too trivial to be relied upon, andthat the author's case would have been strengthened, rather thanweakened, by several judicious omissions; but we may fairlyaccept the conclusion, that Chaucer is more indebted to Dantein this poem than in any other; perhaps more than in all hisother works put together.It is no longer possible to question Chaucer's knowledge ofItalian; and it is useless to search for the original of The Houseof Fame in Provençal literature, as Warton vaguely suggests thatwe should do (see note to l. 1928) . At the same time, I can seeno help to be obtained from a perusal of Petrarch's Trionfo dellaFama, to which some refer us.§3. TESTIMONY OF LYDGATE. It is remarkable that Lydgate¹ Where Chaucer says ' leet the reynes goon ' ( 1. 951 ), and Dante has ' abbandonò li freni ' ( Inf. xvii . 107) , we find in Ovid ' equi . . . colla iugo eripiunt,abruptaque lora relinquunt ' ( Met. ii . 315) . Chaucer's words seem closer to Dante than to the Latin original.INFLUENCE OF OVID. ixdoes not expressly mention The House of Fame by name, in hislist of Chaucer's works. I have already discussed this point inthe Introduction to vol. i. pp. 23, 24, where I shew that Lydgate,nevertheless, refers to this work at least thrice in the course of thepoem in which his list occurs; and, at the same time, he speaksof a poem by Chaucer which he calls ' Dant in English,' to whichthere is nothing to correspond, unless it can be identified withThe House of Fame ' . We know, however, that Lydgate's testimony as to this point is wholly immaterial; so that the discussionas to the true interpretation of his words is a mere matter ofcuriosity.§ 4. INFLUENCE OF OVID. It must, on the other hand, beobvious to all readers, that the general notion of a House ofFame was adopted from a passage in Ovid's Metamorphoses,xii. 39-63. The proof of this appears from the great care withwhich Chaucer works in all the details occurring in that passage.He also keeps an eye on the celebrated description of Fame inVergil's Æneid, iv. 173–183; even to the unlucky rendering of' pernicibus alis ' by ' partriches winges, ' in l. 1392 2.I here quote the passage from Ovid at length, as it is veryuseful for frequent reference (cf. Ho. Fame, 711-24, 672-99,1025-41, 1951-76, 2034-77):-' Orbe locus medio est inter terrasque, fretumque,Caelestesque plagas, triplicis confinia mundi;¹ On which Prof. Lounsbury remarks (Studies in Chaucer, ii. 243) —' Moreextreme indeed than that of any one else is the position of Professor Skeat. He asserts in all seriousness that the " House of Fame " is the translation to whichreference is made by Lydgate, when he said that Chaucer wrote " Dante inEnglish." Beyond this utterance it is hardly possible to go.' This is merebanter, and entirely misrepresents my view. Lydgate does not say that ' Dantin English ' was a translation; this is a pure assumption, for a strategical purpose in argument. Lydgate was ignorant of Italian, and has used a stupidphrase, the correctness of which I by no means admit. But he certainly meantsomething; and the prominence which he gives to " Dant in English, " whenhe comes to speak of Chaucer's Minor Poems, naturally suggests The House ofFame, which he otherwise omits! My challenge to ' some competent critic ' totell me what other poem is here referred to , remains unanswered.2 When Chaucer consulted Dante, his thoughts were naturally directed toVergil. We find, accordingly, that he begins by quoting (in 11. 143-8 ) theopening lines of the Æneid; and a large portion of Book I (ll . 143-467) isentirely taken up with a general sketch of the contents of that poem. It isclear that, at the time of writing, Vergil was, in the main, a new book to him,whilst Ovid was certainly an old acquaintance.X THE HOUSE OF FAME.Unde quod est usquam, quamuis regionibus absit,Inspicitur penetratque cauas uox omnis ad aures.FAMA tenet, summaque domum sibi legit in arce;Innumerosque aditus, ac mille foramina tectisAddidit, et nullis inclusit limina portis.Nocte dieque patent. Tota est ex aere sonanti;Tota fremit, uocesque refert, iteratque quod audit.Nulla quies intus, nullaque silentia parte.Nec tamen est clamor, sed paruae murmura uocis;Qualia de pelagi, si quis procul audiat, undisEsse solent; qualemue sonum, cum Iupiter atras Increpuit nubes, extrema tonitrua reddunt.Atria turba tenet; ueniunt leue uulgus, euntque;Mixtaque cum ueris passim commenta uagantur Millia rumorum, confusaque uerba uolutant.E quibus hi uacuas implent sermonibus aures;Hi narrata ferunt alio; mensuraque fictiCrescit, et auditis aliquid nouus adicit auctor.Illic Credulitas, illic temerarius Error,Vanaque Laetitia est, consternatique Timores,Seditioque repens, dubioque auctore Susurri.Ipsa quid in caelo rerum, pelagoque geratur,Et tellure uidet, totumque inquirit in orbem.'Afew other references to Ovid are pointed out in the Notes.Bywayoffurther illustration, I here quote the whole of Golding'stranslation of the above passage from Ovid:—' Amid the world tweene heauen and earth, and sea, there is a place,Set from the bounds of each of them indifferently in space,From whence is seene what-ener thing is practizde any-where,Although the Realme be neere so farre: and roundly to the eareCommes whatsoeuer spoken is; Fame hath his dwelling there,Who in the top of all the house is lodged in a towre.A thousand entries, glades, and holes are framed in this bowre.There are no doores to shut. The doores stand open night and day.The house is all of sounding brasse, and roreth euery way,Reporting double euery word it heareth people say.There is no rest within, there is no silence any- where.Yet is there not a yelling out: but humming, as it wereThe sound of surges being heard farre off, or like the soundThat at the end of thunderclaps long after doth redound When Ioue doth make the clouds to crack. Within the courts is preaceOf common people, which to come and go do neuer ceace.And millions both of troths and lies run gadding euery-where,And wordes confuselie flie in heapes, of which some fill the eare That heard not of them erst, and some cole-cariers part do play,To spread abroade the things they heard, and euer by the wayThe thing that was inuented growes much greater than before,And euery one that gets it by the end addes somewhat more.DATE OF THE POEM. xiLight credit dwelleth there, there dwells rash error, there doth dwellVaine ioy there dwelleth hartlesse feare, and brute that loues to tellUncertaine newes vpon report, whereof he doth not knoweThe author, and sedition who fresh rumors loues to sowe.This Fame beholdeth what is done in heauen, on sea, and land,And what is wrought in all the world he layes to vnderstand.'§ 5. DATE OF THE POEM. Ten Brink, in his Chaucer Studien,pp. 120, 121, concludes that The House of Fame was, in allprobability, composed shortly after Troilus, as the opening linesreproduce, in effect, a passage concerning dreams which appearsin the last Book of Troilus, ll . 358-385. We may also observe thefollowing lines in Troilus, from Book I, 517-8:-' Now, thonked be god, he may goon in the daunceOf hem that Love list febly for to avaunce.'These lines, jestingly applied to Troilus by Pandarus, are in theHouse of Fame, 639, 640, applied by Chaucer to himself:-' Although thou mayst go in the daunce Of hem that him list not avaunce.'Again, the House of Fame preceded the Legend of GoodWomen, because he here complains of the hardship of his officialduties (652-660); whereas, in the Prologue to the Legend, herejoices at obtaining some release from them. We may also notethe quotation from Boethius (note to 1. 972). As Boethius andTroilus seem to have been written together, somewhere about1380, and took up a considerable time, and the apparent dateof the Legend is 1385, the probable date of the House of Fameis about 1383 or 1384. Ten Brink further remarks that thereferences to Jupiter suggest to the reader that the 10th ofDecember was a Thursday (see note to 111 ) . This would give1383 for beginning the poem; and perhaps no fitter date than theend of 1383 and the spring of 1384 can be found.§ 6. METRE. Many of Chaucer's metres were introduced byhim from the French; but the four-accent metre, with rime as hereemployed, was commonly known before Chaucer's time. It wasused by Robert of Brunne in 1303, in the Cursor Mundi, and inHavelok. It is, however, of French origin, and occurs in the verylengthy poem of Le Roman de la Rose. Chaucer only employedit thrice: (1 ) in translating the Roman de la Rose; (2) in theBook ofthe duch*esse; and (3) in the present poem.For normal lines, with masculine rimes, see 7, 8, 13 , 14, 29,xii THE HOUSE OF FAME.33, &c. For normal lines, with feminine rimes, see 1 , 2, 9, 15 ,18, &c. Elision is common, as of e in turne ( 1 ), in somme(6) , in Devyne ( 14); &c. Sometimes there is a middle pause,where a final syllable need not always be elided. Thus we mayread:-' By abstinence-or by seknesse ' ( 25):" In studie—or melancolious ' ( 30):' And fro unhappë-and ech disese ' (89):' In his substáuncë-is but air ' ( 768) .Two short syllables, rapidly pronounced, may take the placeof one:-'I noot; but who-so of these miracles ' ( 12):'By avisiouns, or by figúres ' (47).The first foot frequently consists of a single syllable; see 26,35, 40, 44; so also in 1. 3, where, in modern English, we shouldprefer Unto.The final e, followed by a consonant, is usually sounded, andhas its usual grammatical values. Thus we have think-e, infin.( 15); bote, old accus. of a fem. sb. (32); swich-e, plural (35);oft-e, adverbial (35); soft-e, with essential final e ( A.S. söfte);find-e, pres. pl. indic. (43); com-e, gerund ( 45): grete, pl. ( 53);mak-e, infin. (56); rod-e, dat. form used as a new nom. , of whichthere are many examples in Chaucer (57); blind-e, def. adj . ( 138).The endings -ed, -en, -es, usually form a distinct syllable; so also-eth, which, however, occasionally becomes ' th; cf. comth ( 71 ).A few common words, written with final e, are monosyllabic;as thise (these); also shulde (should), and the like, occasionally.Remember that the old accent is frequently different from themodern; as in oracles, miracles (11, 12): distance (18),aventures, figúres ( 47 , 48 ): povért (88): málicióus (93): &c.The endings -i-al, -i-oun, i-ous, usually form two distinctsyllables.For further remarks on Metre and Grammar, see vol. v.§ 7. IMITATIONS. The chief imitations of the House of Fameare The Temple of Glas, by Lydgate ¹; The Palice of Honour, byGawain Douglas; The Garland of Laurell, by John Skelton; and1 By this, I only mean that Lydgate seems to have been indebted to Chaucerfor the general idea of his poem, and even for the title of it (cf. Ho. Fame,120). For a full account of all its sources, see the admirable edition of Lydgate's Temple of Glas by Dr. J. Schick, p. cxv. (Early Eng. Text Society) .SOME EMENDATIONS. xiiiThe Temple of Fame, by Pope. Pope's poem should not becompared with Chaucer's; it is very different in character, and isbest appreciated by forgetting its origin.§ 8. AUTHORITIES. The authorities for the text are few andpoor; hence it is hardly possible to produce a thoroughlysatisfactory text. There are three MSS. of the fifteenth century,viz. F. (Fairfax MS. 16, in the Bodleian Library); B. ( MS.Bodley, 638, in the same); P. ( MS. Pepys 2006, in MagdaleneCollege, Cambridge). The last of these is imperfect, ending at1. 1843. There are two early printed editions of some value,viz. Cx. (Caxton's edition, undated); and Th. (Thynne's edition,1532). None of the later editions are of much value, except thecritical edition by Hans Willert (Berlin, 1883) . Of these, F. andB., which are much alike, form a first group; P. and Cx. forma second group; whilst Th. partly agrees with Cx. , and partlywith F. The text is chiefly from F., with collations of the othersources, as given in the footnotes, which record only the moreimportant variations.§ 9. SOME EMENDATIONS. In constructing the text, a gooddeal of emendation has been necessary; and I have adoptedmany hints from Willert's edition above mentioned; thoughperhaps I may be allowed to add that, in many cases, I hadarrived at the same emendations independently, especially wherethey were obvious. Among the emendations in spelling, I mayparticularise misdemen (92), where all the authorities have mysdemeor misdeme; Dispyt, in place of Dispyte (96); barfoot, for barefootor barefote (98); proces (as in P.) for processe, as in the rest ( 251 );delyt, profyt, for delyte, profyte ( 309, 310); sleighte for sleight(462); brighte¹, sighte, for bright, sight ( 503, 504); wighte, highte,for wight, hight ( 739, 740); fyn, Delphyn (as in Cx. ) , for fyne,Delphyne (1005, 1006); magyk, syk, for magyke, syke ( 1269, 1270);losenges, for losynges (1317), and frenges (as in F.) for frynges,as in the rest ( 1318); dispyt for dispite ( 1716); laughe for laugh(Cx. lawhe, 1809); delyt for delyte (P. delit, 1831 ); thengyn (asin Th. ) for thengyne ( 1934); othere for other ( 2151 , footnote) .¹ Misprinted ' bright, ' as the final e has ' dropped out ' at press; of course itshould be the adverbial form, with final e. In 1. 507, the form is ' brighte 'again, where it is the plural adjective. And, owing to this repetition, MSS.F. and B. actually omit lines 504-7.xiv THE HOUSE OF FAME.These are only a few of the instances where nearly all theauthorities are at fault.The above instances merely relate to questions of spelling.Still more serious are the defects in the MSS. and printed textsas regards the sense; but all instances of emendation are dulyspecified in the footnotes, and are frequently further discussed inthe Notes at the end. Thus, in 1. 329, it is necessary to supply I.In 370, allas should be Eneas. In 513, Willert rightly putsselly, i. e. wonderful, for sely, blessed. In 557, the metre is easilyrestored, by reading so agast for agast so. In 621 , we mustread lyte is, not lytel is, if we want a rime to dytees. In 827,I restore the word mansioun; the usual readings are tautological.In 911 , I restore toun for token, and adopt the only reading of1. 912 that gives any sense. In 1007, the only possible readingis Atlantes. In 1044, Morris's edition has biten, correctly;though MS. F. has beten, and there is no indication that acorrection has been made. In 1114, the right word is site; cf.the Treatise on the Astrolabe (see Note). In 1135, read bilt(i. e. buildeth); bilte gives neither sense nor rhythm. In 1173,supply be. Ll. 1177, 1178 have been set right by Willert. In1189, the right word is Babewinnes¹. In 1208, read Bret (as inB.) . In 1233, read famous. In 1236, read Reyes . In 1303,read hatte, i. e. are named. In 1351 , read Fulle, not Fyne. In1372, adopt the reading of Cx. Th. P. , or there is no nominativeto streighte; and in 1373, read wonderliche. In 1411, readtharmes (=the armes) . In 1425, I supply and hy, to fill out theline. In 1483, I supply dan; if, however, poete is made trisyllabic,then 1. 1499 should not contain daun. In 1494, for high the, readhighte (as in 1. 744). In 1527, for into read in. In 1570, readUp peyne. In 1666, 1701 , and 1720, for werkes read werk. In1702, read clew (see note)³. In 1717 , lyen is an error for lyuen,i. e. live. In 1750, read To, not The. In 1775, supply ye; orthere is no sense. In 1793, supply they for a like reason. In1804, 5, supply the, and al; for the scansion. In 1897, read¹ Morris has rabewyures, from MS. F.; but there is no such word in hisGlossary. See the New E. Dictionary, s. v. Baboon.' Morris has Reues; but his Glossary has: ' Reues, or reyes, sb. a kind ofdance.' Of course it is plural.3 Morris has clywe; and his Glossary has ' Clywe, v. to turn or twist '; butno such verb is known. See Claw, v. § 3, in the New E. Dict.SOME EMENDATIONS. XVwiste, not wot. In 1940, hattes should be hottes; this emendationhas been accepted by several scholars. In 1936, the right wordis falwe, not salwe (as in Morris). In 1960, there should beno comma at the end of the line, as in most editions; and in1961, 2 read werre, reste (not werres, restes) . In 1975, mis andgovernement are distinct words. In 2017 , frot¹ is an error forfroyt; it is better to read fruit at once; this correction is due toKoch. In 2021, suppress in after yaf. In 2049, for he read theother (Willert). In 2059, wondermost is all one word. In 2076,I read word; Morris reads mothe, but does not explain it, and itgives no sense. In 2156, I supply nevene.I mention these as examples of necessary emendations of whichthe usual editions take no notice.I also take occasion to draw attention to the careful articles onthis poem by Dr. J. Koch, in Anglia, vol. vii . App. 24-30, andEnglische Studien, xv. 409-415; and the remarks by Willert inAnglia, vii. App. 203-7 . The best general account of the poemis that in Ten Brink's History of English Literature.In conclusion, I add a few last words. 'L. 399. We learn, from Troil. i. 654, that Chaucer actuallysupposed ' Oënone ' to have four syllables. This restores themetre. Read:-And Paris to Oënone.C503. Read brighte, ' with finale; ' bright ' is a misprint.859. Compare Cant. Tales, F 726.1119. To climbe hit, ' i. e. to climb the rock; still a commonidiom .2115. Compare Cant. Tales, A 2078. Perhaps read ' wanie.'1 Morris has frot; but it does not appear in the Glossary.INTRODUCTIONΤΟTHE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.§ 1. DATE OF THE POEM: A.D. 1385. The Legend of GoodWomen presents several points of peculiar, I might almost say ofunique interest. It is the immediate precursor of the CanterburyTales, and enables us to see how the poet was led on towardsthe composition of that immortal poem. This is easily seen, uponconsideration of the date at which it was composed.The question of the date has been well investigated by TenBrink; but it may be observed beforehand that the allusion tothe queen ' in 1. 496 has long ago been noticed, and it has beenthence inferred, by Tyrwhitt, that the Prologue must have beenwritten after 1382, the year when Richard II. married his firstwife, the ' good queen Anne.' But Ten Brink's remarks enableus to look at the question much more closely.He shows that Chaucer's work can be clearly divided intothree chief periods, the chronology of which he presents in thefollowing form¹.FIRST PERIOD.1366 (at latest). The Romaunt of the Rose.1369. The Book of the duch*esse.1372. (end of the period).1 I do not here endorse all Ten Brink's dates. I give his scheme for whatit is worth, as it is certainly deserving of consideration.DATE OF THE POEM. xviiSECOND PERIOD.311373. The Lyf of Seint Cecile.The Assembly of Foules.Palamon and Arcite.Translation of Boethius.Troilus and Creseide.1384. The House of Fame.THIRD PERIOD.1385. Legend of Good Women.Canterbury Tales.1391. Treatise on the Astrolabe.It is unnecessary for our present purpose to insert the conjectureddates of the Minor Poems not here mentioned.According to Ten Brink, the poems of the First Period werecomposed before Chaucer set out on his Italian travels, i . e. beforeDecember, 1372, and contain no allusions to writings by Italianauthors. In them, the influence of French authors is very stronglymarked.The poems ofthe Second Period (he tells us) were composedafter that date. The Life of Seint Cecile already marks theauthor's acquaintance with Dante's Divina Commedia; lines36-51 are, in fact, a free translation from the Paradiso, cantoxxxiii. ll. 1-21. See my note to this passage, and the remarks onthe Second Nun's Tale ' in vol. v. The Parlement of Foulescontains references to Dante and a long passage translated fromBoccaccio's Teseide; see my notes to that poem in vol. i. Theoriginal Palamon and Arcite was also taken from the Teseide;for even the revised version of it ( now known as the KnightesTale, and containing, doubtless, much more of Chaucer's ownwork) is founded upon that poem, and occasionally presentsverbal imitations of it. Troilus is similarly dependent uponBoccaccio's Filostrato. The close connexion between Troilusand the translation of Boethius is seen from several considerations ,of which it may suffice here to mention two. The former isthe asssociation of these two works in Chaucer's lines to Adam-' Adam scriveyn, if ever it thee befalleBoece or Troilus to wryten newe.'Minor Poems; see vol. i . p. 379.And the latter is, the fact that Chaucer inserts in Troilus (book iv.bxviii THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.stanzas 140-154) a long passage on predestination and free-will,taken from Boethius, book v. proses 2, 3; which he wouldappear to have still fresh in his mind. It is probable that hisBoethius preceded Troilus almost immediately; indeed, it isconceivable that, for a short season, both may have been in handat the same time.There is also a close connexion between Troilus and theHouse of Fame, the latter of which shows the influence of Dantein a high degree; see p. vii . This connexion will appear fromcomparing Troil. v. stt. 52-55 with Ho. Fame, 2-54; and Troil.i. st. 74 ( ll . 517-8) with Ho. Fame, 639, 640. See Ten Brink,Studien, p. 121. It would seem that the House of Fame followedTroilus almost immediately. At the same time, we cannot putthe date of the House of Fame later than 1384, because ofChaucer's complaint in it of the hardship of his official duties,from much of which he was released (as we shall see) early in1385. Further, the 10th of December is especially mentionedas being the date on which the House of Fame was commenced ( 1. 111 ) , the year being probably 1383 (see Note to thatline).It would appear, further, that the Legend was begun soonafter the House of Fame was suddenly abandoned, in the verymiddle of a sentence. That it was written later than Troilusand the House of Fame is obvious, from the mention of thesepoems in the Prologue; ll . 332, 417 , 441. That it was written atno great interval after Troilus appears from the fact that, evenwhile writing Troilus, Chaucer had already been meditating uponthe goodness of Alcestis, of which the Prologue to the Legendsays so much. Observe the following passages (cited by TenBrink, Studien, p. 120) from Troilus, bk. v. stt. 219, 254: -' As wel thou mightest lyen on AlcesteThat was of creatures-but men lyeThat ever weren, kindest and the beste.For whan hir housbonde was in IupartyeTo dye himself, but- if she wolde dye,She chees for him to dye and go to helle,And starf anoon, as us the bokes telle.Besechinge every lady bright of hewe,And every gentil womman, what she be,That, al be that Criseyde was untrewe,That for that gilt she be not wrooth with me.DATE OF THE POEM. xixYe may hir gilt in othere bokes see;And gladlier I wol wryten, if yow leste,Penelopeës trouthe, and good Alceste.There is also a striking similarity between the argument inTroilus, bk. iv. st. 3, and ll . 369-372 (B-text) of the Prologueto the Legend. The stanza runs thus:-'For how Criseyde Troilus forsook,Or at the leste, how that she was unkinde,Mot hennes-forth ben matere of my book,As wryten folk thorugh whiche it is in minde.Allas! that they shulde ever cause findeTo speke hir harm; and, if they on hir lye,Y-wis, hem-self sholde han the vilanye.'I will here also note the fact that the first line of the abovestanza is quoted, almost unaltered, in the earlier version of thePrologue, viz. at 1. 265 of the A- text, on p. 88.From the above considerations we may already infer that theHouse of Fame was begun, probably, in December, 1383, andcontinued in 1384; and that the Legend of Good Women,which almost immediately succeeded it, may be dated about1384 or 1385; certainly after 1382, when King Richard wasfirst married. But now that we have come so near to the date,it is possible to come still nearer; for it can hardly be doubtedthat the extremely grateful way in which Chaucer speaks of thequeen may fairly be connected with the stroke of good fortunewhich happened to him just at this very period. In the Houseof Fame we find him groaning about the troublesomeness of hisofficial duties; and the one object of his life, just then, was toobtain greater leisure, especially if it could be had withoutserious loss of income. Now we know that, on the 17th ofFebruary, 1385, he obtained the indulgence of being allowed tonominate a permanent deputy for his Controllership of theCustoms and Subsidies; see Furnivall's Trial Forewords to theMinor Poems, p. 25. If with our knowledge of this fact wecombine these considerations, viz. that Chaucer expresses himselfgratefully to the queen, that he says nothing more of his troublesome duties, and that Richard II. is known to have been apatron of letters (as we learn from Gower) , we may well concludethat the poet's release from his burden was brought about by thequeen's intercession with the king on his behalf. We may hereb 2XX THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.notice Lydgate's remarks in the following stanza, which occurs inthe Prologue to the Fall of Princes ¹:—'This poete wrote, at the request of the quene,A Legende, of perfite holynesse,Of Good Women, to fynd out nyneteneThat did excell in bounte and fayrenes;But for his labour and besinesseWas importable, his wittes to encombre,In all this world to fynd so gret a nombre '.'Lydgate can hardly be correct in his statement that Chaucerwrote ' at the request ' of the queen: for, had our author done so,he would have let us know it. Still, he has seized the right idea,viz. that the queen was, so to speak, the moving cause whicheffected the production of the poem.It is, moreover, much to the point to observe that Chaucer'sstate of delightful freedom did not last long. Owing to a suddenchange in the government we find that, on Dec. 4, 1386, helost his Controllership of the Customs and Subsidies; and, onlyten days later, also lost his Controllership of the Petty Customs.Something certainly went wrong, but we have no proof thatChaucer abused his privilege.On the whole we may interpret ll . 496, 7 (p. 101 ) , viz.' And whan this book is maad, yive hit the quene,On my behalfe, at Eltham³ or at Shene,'as giving us a date but little later than Feb. 17 , 1385 , andcertainly before Dec. 4, 1386. The mention of the month ofMay in l . 36, 45, 108, 176, is probably conventional; still, theother frequent references to spring-time, as in ll. 40-66, 130-147, 171-174, 206, &c. , may mean something; and in particularwe may note the reference to St. Valentine's day as being past,in l . 145, 146; seeing that chees (chose) occurs in the pasttense. We can hardly resist the conviction that the right dateIt is the stanza next following the last one quoted in vol. i . p. 23. I quoteit from the Aldine edition of Chaucer, ed. Morris, i . 80.Ofcourse Lydgate knew the work was unfinished; so he offers a humorousexcuse for its incompleteness. I may here note that Hoccleve refers to theLegend in his poem entitled the Letter of Cupid, where Cupid is made to speakof my Legende of Martres '; see Hoccleve's Works, ed. Furnivall, p. 85,1. 316.3In December, 1384, Richard II. held his Christmas ' at Eltham (Fabyan) ,TWO FORMS OF THE PROLOGUE. xxiof the Prologue is the spring of 1385, which satisfies everycondition.§2. THE TWO Forms of the PROLOGUE. So far, I have keptout of view the important fact, that the Prologue exists in twodistinct forms, viz. an earlier and a revised form. The lines inwhich the queen ' is expressly mentioned occur in the laterversion only, so that some of the above arguments really relate tothat alone. But it makes no great difference, as there is no reasonto suppose that there was any appreciable lapse of time betweenthe two versions.In order to save words, I shall call the earlier version theA-text, and the later one the B-text. The manner of printingthese texts is explained at p. 65. I print the B-text in full, in thelower half of the page. The A-text appears in the upper half ofthe same, and is taken from MS. C. (Camb. Univ. Library, Gg.4. 27) , which is the only MS. that contains it, with corrections ofthe spelling, as recorded in the footnotes. Lines which appear inone text only are marked with an asterisk ( *); those whichstand almost exactly the same in both texts are marked with adagger (†) prefixed to them; whilst the unmarked lines aresuch as occur in both texts, but with some slight alteration. Byway of example, observe that lines B. 496, 497, mentioning thequeen, are duly marked with an asterisk, as not being in A.Line 2, standing the same in both texts, is marked with a dagger.And thirdly, line 1 is unmarked, because it is slightly altered.A. has here the older expression ' A thousand sythes,' whilst B.has the more familiar ' A thousand tymes.'The fact that A. is older than B. cannot perhaps be absolutelyproved without a long investigation . But all the conditions pointin that direction. In the first place, it occurs in only one MS. ,viz. MS. C., whilst all the others give the B-text; and it is morelikely that a revised text should be multiplied than that a firstdraft should be. Next, this MS. C. is of high value and greatimportance, being quite the best MS. , as regards age, of the wholeset; and it is a fortunate thing that the A-text has been preservedat all. And lastly, the internal evidence tends, in my opinion, toshew that B. can be more easily evolved from A. than converselyI am not aware that any one has ever doubted this result.We may easily see that the A-text is, on the whole, more generaland vague, whilst the B-text is more particular in its references.xxii THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.The impression left on my mind by the perusal of the two formsof the Prologue is that Chaucer made immediate use of the comparative liberty accorded to him on the 17th of February, 1385,to plan a new poem, in an entirely new metre, and in the newform of a succession of tales. He decided, further, that the talesshould relate to women famous in love-stories, and began bywriting the tale of Cleopatra, which is specially mentioned inB. 566 (and A. 542) . The idea then occurred to him of writinga preface or Prologue, which would afford him the double opportunity of justifying and explaining his design, and of expressinghis gratitude for his attainment of greater leisure. Having donethis, he was not wholly satisfied with it; he thought the expression of gratitude did not come out with sufficient clearness, atleast with regard to the person to whom he owed the greatestdebt. So he at once set about to amend and alter it; thefirst draught, of which he had no reason to be ashamed, being atthe same time preserved. And we may be sure that the revisionwas made almost immediately; he was not the man to take upa piece of work again after the first excitement of it had passedaway2 On the contrary, he used to form larger plans than hecould well execute, and leave them unfinished when he grew tiredof them. I therefore propose to assign the conjectural date ofthe spring of 1385 to both forms of the Prologue; and I supposethat Chaucer went on with one tale of the series after anotherduring the summer and latter part of the same year till he grewtired ofthe task, and at last gave it up in the middle of a sentence.An expression of doubt as to the completion of the task alreadyappears in l. 2457.§ 3. COMPARISON OF THE TWO FORMS OF THE Prologue.Adetailed comparison of the two forms of the Prologue wouldextend to a great length. I merely point out some of the moreremarkable variations.The first distinct note of difference that calls for notice is atline A. 89 ( B. 108) , p. 72, where the line-'When passed was almost the month of May'¹ I think lines 568, 569 (added in B. ) are meant to refer directly to 11. 703,704.The Knightes Tale is a clear exception. The original Palamon andArcite was too good to be wholly lost; but it was entirely recast in a newmetre, and so became quite a new work.TWO FORMS OF THE PROLOGUE. xxiiiis altered to-'And this was now the firste morwe of May.'This is clearly done for the sake of greater definiteness, andbecause of the association of the 1st of May with certain nationalcustoms expressive of rejoicing. It is emphasized by the statements in B. 114 as to the exact position of the sun (see note tothe line). In like manner the vague expression about the Iolytyme of May ' in A. 36 is exchanged for the more exact-' whanthat the month of May Is comen '; B. 36. In the B- text, thedate is definitely fixed; in ll. 36-63 we learn what he usually didon the recurrence of the May-season; in ll . 103-124, we havehis (supposed) actual rising at the dawn of May-day; then themanner in which he spent that day (ll . 179–185); and lastly, thearrival of night, his return home, his falling asleep, and his dream( ll . 197-210). He awakes on the morning of May 2, and sets towork at once (11. 578, 579).Another notable variation is on p. 71. On arriving at line A. 70,he puts aside A. 71-80 for the present, to be introduced later on(p. 77); and writes the new and important passage contained inB. 83-96 (p. 71 ). The lady whom he here addresses as beinghis ' very light,' one whom his heart dreads, whom he obeys as aharp obeys the hand of the player, who is his guide, his ladysovereign,' and his ' earthly god,' cannot be mistaken. Thereference is obviously to his sovereign lady the queen; andthe expression ' earthly god ' is made clear by the declaration (inB. 387 ) that kings are as demi-gods in this present world.In A., the Proem or true Introduction ends at 1. 88, and ismore marked than in B., wherein it ends at l. 102.The passage in A. contained in ll. 127-138 (pp. 75, 76) iscorrupt and imperfect in the MS. The sole existing copy of itwas evidently made from a MS. that had been more or lessdefaced; I have had to restore it as I best could. The B-texthas here been altered and revised, though the variations areneither extensive nor important; but the passage is immediatelyfollowed by about 30 new lines, in which Mercy is said to bea greater power than Right, or strict Justice, especially whenRight is overcome ' through innocence and ruled curtesye '; theapplication of which expression is obvious.In B. 183-187 we have the etymology of daisy, the declarationxxiv THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.that she is the empress of flowers, ' and a prayer for her prosperity,i. e. for the prosperity of the queen.In A. 103 (p. 73) , the poet falls asleep and dreams. In hisdream, he sees a lark (A. 141 , p. 79) who introduces the God ofLove. In the B-text, the dream is postponed till B. 210 (p. 79),and the lark is left out, as being unnecessary. This is a clearimprovement.An important change is made in the ' Balade ' at pp. 83, 84.The refrain is altered from ' Alceste is here ' to ' My lady cometh. 'The reason is twofold. The poet wishes to suppress the name ofAlcestis for the present, in order to introduce it as a surprisetowards the end ( B. 518) '; and secondly, the words ' My ladycometh ' are used as being directly applicable to the queen, insteadof being only applicable through the medium of allegory. Indeed,Chaucer takes good care to say so; for he inserts a passage tothat effect (B. 271-5); where we may remember, by the way,that free means ' bounteous ' in Middle- English. We have a fewadditional lines of the same sort in B. 296-299.On the other hand, Chaucer suppressed the long and interestingpassage in A. 258-264, 267-287, 289-312, for no very obviousreason. But for the existence of MS. C., it would have beenwholly lost to us, and the recovery of it is a clear gain. Mostinteresting of all is the allusion to Chaucer's sixty books of hisown, all full of love- stories and personages known to history, inwhich, for every bad woman, mention was duly made of a hundredgood ones (A. 273-277, p. 88 )2. Important also is his mentionof some of his authors, such as Valerius, Livy, Claudian, Jerome,Ovid, and Vincent of Beauvais.If, as we have seen, Alcestis in this Prologue really meant thequeen, it should follow that the God of Love really meant theking. This is made clear in B. 373-408, especially in the comparison between a just king (such as Richard, of course) andthe tyrants of Lombardy. In fact, in A. 360-364, Chaucer said' It is amusing to see that Chaucer forgot, at the same time, to alter A. 422(= B. 432), in which Alcestis actually tells her name. The oversight is obvious.2 Line A. 277 reappears in the Canterbury Tales in the improved form-' And ever a thousand gode ageyn oon badde. ' This is the 47th line in theMilleres Prologue, but is omitted in Tyrwhitt's edition, together with the line that follows it.SUBJECT OF THE LEGEND. XXVa little too much about the duty of a king to hear the complaints and petitions ofthe people, and he very wisely omitted it inrevision. In A. 355, he used the unlucky word ' wilfulhed ' as anattribute of a Lombard tyrant; but as it was not wholly inapplicable to the king of England, he quietly suppressed it. Butthe comparison of the king to a lion , and of himself to a fly, wasin excellent taste; so no alteration was needed here (p. 94).In his enumeration of his former works (B. 417-430) , he leftout one work which he had previously mentioned (A. 414, 415,p. 96). This work is now lost ' , and was probably omitted as beinga mere translation, and of no great account. Perhaps the poet'sgood sense told him that the original was a miserable production,as it must certainly be allowed to be, if we employ the wordmiserable with its literal meaning (see p. 307).At pp. 103 , 104, some lines are altered in A. ( 527-532) inorder to get rid of the name of Alcestis here, and to bring ina more immediate reference to the Balade. Line B. 540 isespeciall curious, because he had not, in the first instance,forgotten to put her in his Balade (see A. 209); but he nowwished to seem to have done so.In B. 552-565, we have an interesting addition, in which Lovecharges him to put all the nineteen ladies, besides Alcestis, intohis Legend; and tells him that he may choose his own metre( B. 562). Again, in B. 568-577, he practically stipulates thathe is only to tell the more interesting part of each story, and toleave out whatever he should deem to be tedious. This provisowas eminently practical and judicious.§ 4. THE SUBJECT OF THE LEGEND. We learn, from B. 241 ,283, that Chaucer saw in his vision Alcestis and nineteen otherladies, and from B. 557, that he was to commemorate them allin his Legend, beginning with Cleopatra ( 566) and ending withAlcestis (549, 550). As to the names of the nineteen, they areto be found in his Balade (555).Upon turning to the Balade (p. 83 ), the names actually mentioned include some which are hardly admissible. For example,Absalom and Jonathan are names of men; Esther is hardly¹ I. e. with the exception of the stanzas which were transferred from thatwork to the Man of Lawes Prologue and Tale; see the ' Account of theSources, ' &c. p. 407, and the last note on p. 307 of the present volume.xxvi THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.a suitable subject, whilst Ysoult belongs to a romance of medievaltimes. (Cf. A. 275, p. 88. ) The resulting practicable list isthus reduced to the following, viz. Penelope, Marcia, Helen,Lavinia, Lucretia, Polyxena, Cleopatra, Thisbe, Hero, Dido,Laodamia, Phyllis, Canace, Hypsipyle, Hypermnestra, and Ariadne.At the same time, we find legends of Medea and Philomela,though neither of these are mentioned in the Balade. It is ofcourse intended that the Balade should give a representative listonly, without being exactly accurate.But we are next confronted by a most extraordinary piece ofevidence, viz. that of Chaucer himself, when, at a later period,he wrote the Introduction to the Man of Lawes Prologue ( see vol.iv. p. 131 ). He there expressly refers to his Legend of GoodWomen, which he is pleased to call ' the Seintes Legende ofCupide,' i. e. the Legend of Cupid's Saints. And, in describingthis former work of his, he introduces the following lines:—' Ther may be seen the large woundes wydeOf Lucresse, and of Babilan Tisbee;The swerd of Dido for the false Enee;The tree of Phillis for hir Demophon;The pleinte of Dianire and Hermion,Of Adriane and of Isiphilee;The bareyne yle stonding in the see;The dreynte Leander for his Erro;The teres of Eleyne, and eek the woOf Brixseyde, and of thee, Ladomea;The cruelte of thee, queen Medea,Thy litel children hanging by the halsFor thy Iason, that was of love so fals!O Ypermistra, Penelopee, Alceste,Your wyfhod he comendeth with the beste!But certeinly no word ne wryteth heOf thilke wikke example of Canacee '; &c.We can only suppose that he is referring to the contents of hiswork in quite general terms, with a passing reference to his visionof Alcestis and the nineteen ladies, and to those mentioned inhis Balade. There is no reason for supposing that he ever wrotecomplete tales about Deianira, Hermione, Hero, Helen, Briseis,Laodamia, or Penelope, any more than he did about Alcestis.But it is highly probable that, just at the period of writing hisIntroduction to the Man of Lawes Prologue, he was seriouslyintending to take up again his‘Legend, ' and was planning howto continue it . But he never did it.SUBJECT OF THE LEGEND. xxviiOn comparing these two lists, we find that the following namesare common to both, viz. Penelope, Helen, Lucretia, Thisbe,Hero, Dido, Laodamia, Phyllis, Canace, Hypsipyle, Hypermnestra,Ariadne, and (in effect ) Alcestis. The following occur in theBalade only, viz. Marcia, Lavinia, Polyxena, Cleopatra. And thefollowing are mentioned in the above- quoted passage only, viz.Deianira, Hermione, Briseis, Medea. We further know that heactually wrote the Legend of Philomela, though it is in neither ofthe above lists; whilst the story of Canace was expressly rejected.Combining our information, and rearranging it, we see that hisintention was to write nineteen Legends, descriptive of twentywomen, viz. Alcestis and nineteen others; the number of Legendsbeing reduced by one owing to the treatment of the stories ofMedea and Hypsipyle under one narrative. Putting aside Alcestis,whose Legend was to come last, the nineteen women can bemade up as follows:-1. Cleopatra. 2. Thisbe. 3. Dido. 4 and 5. Hypsipyle andMedea. 6. Lucretia. 7. Ariadne. 8. Philomela. 9. Phyllis.10. Hypermnestra (all of which are extant). Next come - 11 .Penelope 12. Helen: 13. Hero: 14. Laodamia (all mentioned inboth lists). 15. Lavinia: 16. Polyxena ' (mentioned in the Balade).17. Deianira: 18. Hermione: 19. Briseis (in the Introduction tothe Man ofLawe).This conjectural list is sufficient to elucidate Chaucer's planfully, and agrees with that given in the note to 1. 61 of theIntroduction to the Man of Lawes Tale, in vol. v.If we next enquire how such lists of ' martyred ' women cameto be suggested to Chaucer, we may feel sure that he was thinkingof Boccaccio's book entitled De Claris Mulieribus, and of Ovid'sHeroides. Boccaccio's book contains 105 tales of IllustriousWomen, briefly told in Latin prose. Chaucer seems to havepartially imitated from it the title of his poem-' The Legend ofGood Women '; and he doubtless consulted it for his purpose.But he took care to consult other sources also, in order to be ableto give the tales at greater length, so that the traces of his debt tothe above work by Boccaccio are very slight.We must not, however, omit to take notice that, whilst Chaucer¹ I omit ' Marcia Catoun '; like Esther, she is hardly to be ranked with theheroines of olden fables. Indeed, even Cleopatra comes in rather strangely.xxviii THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.owes but little to Boccaccio as regards his subject-matter, it wasfrom him, in particular, that he took his general plan. This iswell shewn in the excellent and careful essay by M. Bech, printedin 'Anglia,' vol. v. pp. 313-382, with the title-' Quellen und Plander Legende of Goode Women und ihr Verhältniss zur ConfessioAmantis.' At p. 381, Bech compares Chaucer's work withBoccaccio's, and finds the following points of resemblance.1. Both works treat exclusively of women; one of them speaksparticularly of ' Gode Women, ' whilst the other is written ' DeClaris Mulieribus.'2. Both works relate chiefly to tales of olden time.3. In both, the tales follow each other without any intermediatematter.4. Both are compacted into a whole by means of an introductory Prologue.5. Both writers wish to dedicate their works to a queen, buteffect this modestly and indirectly. Boccaccio addresses hisPrologue to a countess, telling her that he wishes to dedicate hisbook to Joanna, queen of Jerusalem and Sicily; whilst Chaucerveils his address to queen Anne under the guise of allegory.6. Both record the fact of their writing in a time of comparativeleisure. Boccaccio uses the words: ' paululum ab inerti uulgosemotus et a ceteris fere solutus curis.'7. Had Chaucer finished his work, his last Legend would haverelated to Alcestis, i. e. to the queen herself. Boccaccio actuallyconcludes his work with a chapter ' De Iohanna Hierusalem etSicilie regina.'See further in Bech, who quotes Boccaccio's ' Prologue ' in full.To this comparison should be added (as Bech remarks) anaccidental coincidence which is even more striking, viz. that thework ' De Claris Mulieribus ' bears much the same relation tothe more famous one entitled ' Il Decamerone, ' that the Legendof Good Women does to the Canterbury Tales.Boccaccio has all of Chaucer's finished tales, except those ofAriadne, Philomela, and Phyllis '; he also gives the stories ofsome whom Chaucer only mentions, such as the stories of Deianira¹ See De Claris Mulieribus:-Cleopatra, cap. 86. Thisbe, cap. 12. Dido,cap. 40. Hypsipyle and Medea, capp. 15 , 16. Lucretia, cap. 46. Hypermnestra, cap. 13. And see Morley's English Writers, v. 241 ( 1890) .ALCESTIS AND THE DAISY. xxix(cap. 22) , Polyxena ( cap. 31 ), Helena (cap. 35), Penelope (cap.38); and others. To Ovid our author is much more indebted,and frequently translates passages from his Heroides (or Epistles)and from the Metamorphoses. The former of these works contains the Epistles of Phyllis, Hypsipyle, Medea, Dido, Ariadne,and Hypermnestra, whose stories Chaucer relates, as well as theletters of most of those whom Chaucer merely mentions, viz. ofPenelope, Briseis, Hermione, Deianira, Laodamia, Helena, andHero. It is evident that our poet was chiefly guided by Ovid inselecting stories from the much larger collection in Boccaccio.At the same time it is remarkable that neither Boccaccio (in theabove work) nor Ovid gives the story of Alcestis, and it is not quitecertain whence Chaucer obtained it. It is briefly told in the51st of the Fabulae of Hyginus, but it is much more likely thatChaucer borrowed it from another work by Boccaccio, entitledDe Genealogia Deorum ' , where it appears amongst the fifty-onelabours of Hercules, in the following words:-'Alcestem Admeti regis Thessaliae coniugem retraxit [ Hercules]ad uirum. Dic*nt enim, quod cum infirmaretur Admetus, implorassetque Apollinis auxilium, sibi ab Apolline dictum mortemeuadere non posse, nisi illam aliquis ex affinibus atque necessariissubiret. Quod cum audisset Alcestis coniunx, non dubitauitsuam pro salute uiri concedere, et sic ea mortua Admetus liberatusest, qui plurimum uxori compatiens Herculem orauit, vt ad inferosuadens illius animam reuocaret ad superos, quod et factum est.'-Lib. xiii. c. 1 (ed. 1532).§ 5. THE DAISY. To this story Chaucer has added a prettyaddition of his own invention, that this heroine was finally transformed into a daisy. The idea of choosing this flower as theemblem of perfect wifehood was certainly a happy one, and hasoften been admired. It is first alluded to by Lydgate, in a Poemagainst Self-Love (see Lydgate's Minor Poems, ed. Halliwell,p. 161):-' Alcestis flower, with white, with red and greene,Displaieth hir crown geyn Phebus bemys brihte.'And again, in the same author's Temple of Glas, ll . 71–74: —'I mene Alceste, the noble trewe wyf . . .Hou she was turned to a dayesye.'¹ It will be seen below that Chaucer certainly made use of this work for theLegend of Hypermnestra; see p. xl.XXX THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.The anonymous author of the Court of Love seized upon thesame fancy to adorn his description of the Castle of Love, which,as he tells us, was—'With-in and oute depeinted wonderlyWith many a thousand daisy[ es ] rede as roseAnd white also, this sawe I verely.But what tho deis[y]es might do signifyeCan I not tel, saufe that the quenes floure,Alceste, it was, that kept ther her soioure,Which vnder Uenus lady was and quene,And Admete kyng and souerain of that place,To whom obeied the ladies good ninetene,With many a thousand other bright of face '.'The mention of ' the ladies good ninetene ' at once shews uswhence this mention of Alcestis was borrowed.In a modern book entitled Flora Historica, by Henry Phillips,2nd ed. i . 42, we are gravely told that ' fabulous history informsus that this plant [ the daisy ] is called Bellis because it owes itsorigin to Belides, a granddaughter of Danaus, and one of thenymphs called Dryads, that presided over the meadows andpastures in ancient times. Belides is said to have encouragedthe suit of Ephigeus, but whilst dancing on the green with thisrural deity she attracted the admiration of Vertumnus, who, justas he was about to seize her in his embrace, saw her transformedinto the humble plant that now bears her name. ' It is clear thatthe concocter of this stupid story was not aware that Belidesis a plural substantive, being the collective name of the fiftydaughters of Danaus, who are here rolled into one in order to betransformed into a single daisy; and all because the words bellisand Belides happen to begin with the same three letters! It mayalso be noticed that ' in ancient times ' the business of the Dryadswas to preside over trees rather than ' over meadows and pastures.'Who the ' rural deity ' was who is here named ' Ephigeus ' I neitherknow nor care. But it is curious to observe the degeneracy of thestory for which Chaucer was (in my belief) originally responsible².See Notes and Queries, 7th S. vi. 186, 309.¹ Court ofLove ( original edition, 1561) , stanzas 15, 16. I substitute ‘ ninetene ' for the ' xix ' of the original.24 The Jesuit Rapin, in his Latin poem entitled " Horti " ( Paris, 1666) , tellshow a Dalmatian virgin, persecuted by the amorous addresses of Vertumnus,prayed to the gods for protection, and was transformed into a tulip . In theALCESTIS AND THE DAISY. xxxiOf course it is easy to see that this invention on the part ofChaucer is imitated from Ovid's Metamorphoses, where Clytiebecomes a sun- flower, Daphne a laurel, and Narcissus, Crocus,and Hyacinthus become, respectively, a narcissus, a crocus,and a hyacinth. At the same time, Chaucer's attention mayhave been directed to the daisy in particular, as Tyrwhittlong ago pointed out, by a perusal of such poems as Le Dit de lafleur de lis et de la Marguerite, by Guillaume de Machault (printedin Tarbe's edition, 1849, p. 123 ) , and Le Dittié de la flour de laMargherite, by Froissart (printed in Bartsch's Chrestomathie del'ancien Français, 1875 , p. 422 ); see Introduction to Chaucer'sMinor Poems, in vol. i . p. 36. In particular, we may well comparelines 42, 48, 49, 60-63 of our B-text with Machault's Dit de laMarguerite (ed. Tarbé, p. 123):-' J'aim une fleur, qui s'uevre et qui s'enclineVers le soleil, de jour quant il chemine;Et quant il est couchiez soubz sa courtine Par nuit obscure,Elle se clost, ainsois que li jours fine.'And again, we may compare 11. 53-55 with the lines in Machaultthat immediately follow, viz.'Toutes passe, ce mest vis, en coulour,Et toutes ha surmonté de douçour;Ne comparerNe se porroit nulle à li de coulour ': &c.¹The resemblance is , I think, too close to be accidental.We may also compare (though the resemblance is less striking)11. 40-57 of the B-text of the Prologue ( pp. 68, 69) with ll. 22-30of Froissart's poem on the Daisy: -' Son doulç veoir grandement me proufite,et pour ce est dedens mon coer escriptesi plainnementque nuit et jour en pensant ie recitesame poem, he says that the Bellides ( cf. bellis, a daisy ) , who were once nymphs,are now flowers. The story [here] quoted [ from Henry Phillips ] seems tohave been fabricated out of these two passages.'-Athenæum, Sept. 28, 1889.1 M. Tarbé shews that the cult of the daisy arose from the frequent occurrenceof the name Marguérite in the royal family of France, from the time of St. Louis downward. The wife of St. Louis was Marguérite de Provence,and the same king (as well as Philip III. , Philip IV. , and Philip V. ) had a daughter so named.xxxii THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.6les grans vertus de quoi elle est confite,et di ensi: "la heure soit benitequant pour moi ai tele flourette eslite,qui de bonté et de beauté est ditela souveraine," ' &c.At 1. 68 of the same poem, as pointed out by M. Sandras(Étude sur G. Chaucer, 1859, p. 58) , and more clearly by Bech(Anglia, v. 363), ) we have a story of a woman named Herés—une pucelle [qui] ama tant son mari ' -whose tears, shed for theloss of her husband Cephëy, were turned by Jupiter into daisiesas they fell upon the green turf. There they were discovered,one January, by Mercury, who formed a garland of them, whichhe sent by a messenger named Lirés to Serés (Ceres). Ceres wasso pleased by the gift that she caused Lirés to be beloved, whichhe had never been before.This mention of Ceres doubtless suggested Chaucer's mentionof Cibella ( Cybele) in B. 531. In fact, Chaucer first transformsAlcestis herself into a daisy (B. 512 ); but afterwards tells us thatJupiter changed her into a constellation ( B. 525 ), whilst Cybelemade the daisies spring up ' in remembrance and honour ' of her.The clue seems to be in the name Cephëy, representing Cephei,gen. case of Cepheus. He was a king of Ethiopia, husband ofCassiope, father of Andromeda, and father-in-law of Perseus.They were all four ' stellified, ' and four constellations bear theirnames even to the present day. According to the old mythology,it was not Alcestis, but Cassiope, who was said to be ' stellified '.'The whole matter is thus sufficiently illustrated.§ 6. AGATON. This is, perhaps, the most convenient place forexplaining who is meant by Agaton ( B. 526). The solution ofthis difficult problem was first given by Cary, in his translation ofDante's Purgatorio, canto xxii . 1. 106, where the original hasAgatone. Cary first quotes Chaucer, and then the opinion ofTyrwhitt, that there seems to be no reference to ' any of theAgathoes of antiquity,' and adds: ' I am inclined to believe thatChaucer must have meant Agatho, the dramatic writer, whosename, at least, appears to have been familiar in the Middle Ages;for, besides the mention of him in the text, he is quoted by Dantein the Treatise de Monarchia, lib . iii . "Deus per nuncium facere¹ Chaucer nearly suffered the same fate himself; see Ho. Fame, 586.DISCUSSION OF AGATON.' xxxiii292 non potest, genita non esse genita, iuxta sententiam Agathonis.'The original is to be found in Aristotle, Ethic. Nicom. lib.vi. c. 2:—Μόνου γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ θεὸς στερίσκεται᾿Αγένητα ποιεῖν ἅσσ᾽ ἂν ᾖ πεπραγμένα.Agatho is mentioned by Xenophon in his Symposium, by Platoin the Protagoras, and in the Banquet, a favourite book withour author [ Dante], and by Aristotle in his Art of Poetry,where the following remarkable passage occurs concerning him,from which I will leave it to the reader to decide whetherit is possible that the allusion in Chaucer might have arisen:ἐν ἐνίαις μὲν ἐν ἢ δύο τῶν γνωρίμων ἐστὶν ὀνομάτων, τὰ δὲ ἄλλαπεποιημένα· ἐν ἐνίαις δὲ οὐθέν· οἷον ἐν τῷ ᾿Αγάθωνος Ανθει. ὁμοίωςγὰρ ἐν τούτῳ τά τε πράγματα καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα πεποίηται, καὶ οὐδὲν ἧττονeippaive . Edit. 1794, p. 33. " There are, however, some tragedies,in which one or two of the names are historical, and the restfeigned; there are even some, in which none of the names arehistorical; such is Agatho's tragedy called ' The Flower '; for inthat all is invention, both incidents and names; and yet it pleases. "Aristotle's Treatise on Poetry, by Thos. Twining, 8vo. edit. 1812 ,vol. i . p. 128.'The peculiar spelling Agaton renders it highly probable thatChaucer took the name from Dante ( Purg. xxii . 106) , but thisdoes not wholly suffice . Accordingly, Bech suggests that hemay also have noticed the name in the Saturnalia of Macrobius, an author whose Somnium Scipionis Chaucer certainlyconsulted (Book Duch. 284; Parl. Foules, 111 ) . In this workMacrobius mentions, incidentally, both Alcestis (lib. v. c. 19)and Agatho (lib. ii . c. 1 ) , and Chaucer may have observed thenames there, though he obtained no particular information aboutthem. Froissart ( as Bech bids us remark), in his poem on theDaisy, has the lines:--'Mercurius, ce dist li escripture,trouva premierla belle flour que j'ainc oultre mesure,' &c.The remark-' ce dist li escripture,' ' as the book says ' -may¹ Dr. Köppel notes that the name also occurs in Boccaccio's AmorosaVisione (V. 50) in company with that of Claudian: ' Claudiano, Persio, edAgatone.'-Anglia, xiv. 237.2xxxiv THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.well have suggested to Chaucer that he ought to give someauthority for his story, and the name of Agatho (of whom heprobably knew nothing more than the name) served his turn aswell as another. His easy way of citing authors is probably,at times, humorously assumed; and such may be the explanation of his famous ' Lollius.' It is quite useless to make anyfurther search.I may add that this Agatho, or Agathon (Ayá0wv), was anAthenian tragic poet, and a friend of Euripides and Plato. Hewas born about B. C. 447, and died about B. C. 400.Lounsbury (Studies in Chaucer, ii. 402) rejects this explanation;but it is not likely that we shall ever meet with a better one.§ 7. CHIEF SOURCES OF THE LEGEND. The more obvioussources of the various tales have frequently been pointed out.Thus Prof. Morley, in his English Writers, v. 241 ( 1890), says thatThisbe is from Ovid's Metamorphoses, iv. 55-166; Dido, fromVergil and Ovid's Heroides, Ep. vii; Hypsipyle and Medea fromOvid (Met. vii. , Her. Ep. vi, xii); Lucretia from Ovid ( Fasti, ii .721) and Livy ( Hist. i. 57 ); Ariadne and Philomela from Ovid(Met. viii. 152, vi. 412-676) , and Phyllis and Hypermnestra alsofrom Ovid (Her. Ep. ii. and Ep. xiv) . He also notes the allusionto St. Augustine ( De Civitate Dei, cap. xix. ) in l. 1690, andobserves that all the tales, except those of Ariadne and Phyllis ',are in Boccaccio's De Claris Mulieribus. But it is possible toexamine them a little more closely, and to obtain further lightupon at least a few other points. It will be most convenient totake each piece in its order. For some of my information, I amindebted to the essay by Bech, above mentioned ( p. xxviii).§ 8. PROLOGUE. Original. Besides mere passing allusions, wefind references to the story of Alcestis, queen of Thrace (4322,518). As she is not mentioned in Boccaccio's book De ClarisMulieribus, and Ovid nowhere mentions her name, and onlyalludes in passing to the ' wife of Admetus ' in two passages(Ex Ponto, iii. 1. 106; Trist. v. 14. 37), it is tolerably certainthat Chaucer must have read her story either in Boccaccio'sbook De Genealogia Deorum, lib. xiii . c. 1 (see p. xxix), or inthe Fables of Hyginus (Fab. 51 ). A large number of the names¹ He should also have excepted Philomela.

• These numbers refer to the lines of the B- text of the Prologue.

SOURCES OF THE LEGEND. XXXVmentioned inthe Balade (249) were suggested either by Boccaccio'sDe Claris Mulieribus, or by Ovid's Heroides; probably, by bothof these works. We may here also note that the Fables ofHyginus very briefly give the stories of Jason and Medea (capp.24, 25); Theseus and Ariadne (capp. 41-43); Philomela (cap.45); Alcestis (cap. 51 ); Phyllis ( cap. 59); Laodamia (cap. 104);Polyxena (cap. 110); Hypermnestra (cap. 168); Nisus and Scylla(cap. 198; cf. ll . 1904-1920); Penelope (cap. 126) and Helena(capp. 78, 92). The probability that Chaucer consulted Machault'sand Froissart's poems has already been discussed; see p. xxxi.It is interesting to note that Chaucer had already praisedmany of his Good Women in previous poems. Compare suchpassages as the following:-' Of Medea and of Iason,Of Paris, Eleyne, and Lavyne.'Book of the Duch. 330.' By as good right as Medea was,That slow her children for Iason;And Phyllis als for DemophonHeng hir-self, so weylaway!For he had broke his terme-dayTo come to her. Another rageHad Dydo, quene eek of Cartage,That slow hir- self, for EneasWas fals; a! whiche a fool she was! ' Id. 726.-'as moche debonairteeAs ever had Hester in the bible. ' Id . 986.' For love of hir, Polixena- ..She was as good, so have I reste,As ever Penelope of Greece,Or as the noble wyf Lucrece,That was the beste-he telleth thus,The Romain, Tytus Livius. ' Id. 1071 , 1080.' She passed hath Penelope and Lucresse.'' Biblis, Dido, Tisbe and Piramus,Anelida; 82.Tristram, Isoude, Paris, and Achilles,Eleyne, Cleopatre, and Troilus.'Parlement of Foules; 289.' But al the maner how she [ Dido] deyde,And al the wordes that she seyde,Who-so to knowe hit hath purpos,Reed Virgile in EneidosC 2xxxvi THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Or the Epistle of Ovyde,What that she wroot or that she dyde;And, nere hit to long to endyte,By god, I wolde hit here wryte.'House of Fame; 375.The last quotation proves clearly, that Chaucer was alreadymeditating a new version of the Legend of Dido, to be made upfrom the Æneid and the Heroides, whilst still engaged upon theHouse of Fame (which actually gives this story at considerablelength, viz. in l . 140-382); and consequently, that the Legendof Good Women succeeded the House of Fame by a very shortinterval. But this is not all; for only a few lines further onwe find the following passage:-' Lo, Demophon, duk of Athenis,How he forswor him ful falsly,And trayed Phillis wikkedly,That kinges doghter was of Trace,And falsly gan his terme pace;And when she wiste that he was fals,She heng hir- self right by the hals,For he had do hir swich untrouthe;Lo! was not this a wo and routhe?Eek lo! how fals and recchelesWas to Briseida Achilles ,And Paris to Oënone;And Iason to Isiphile;And eft Iason to Medea;And Ercules to Dyanira;For he lefte hir for Iöle,That made him cacche his deeth, parde!How fals eek was he, Theseus;That, as the story telleth us,How he betrayed Adriane;The devel be his soules bane¹!For had he laughed , had he loured,He mostë have be al devoured,If Adriane ne had y- be '! ' &c. Id. 387.Here we already have an outline of the Legend of Phyllis; areference to Briseis; to Jason, Hypsipyle, Medea, and to Deianira;a sufficient sketch of the Legend of Ariadne; and anotherversion of the Legend of Dido.We trace a lingering influence upon Chaucer of the Romande la Rose; see notes to ll. 125 , 128, 171. Dante is both quoted1 Cf. L. G. W. 2177, 2227. 2 Cf. L. G. W. 1953-8.SOURCES OF THE LEGEND. xxxviiand mentioned by name; ll . 357-360. Various other allusionsare pointed out in the Notes.In ll . 280, 281 , 284, 305-308 of the A-text of the Prologue(pp. 89, 90), Chaucer refers us to several authors, but not necessarily in connexion with the present work. Yet he actuallymakes use (at second- hand) of Titus (i . e. Livy, l. 1683 ) , and alsofurther ofthe ' epistles of Ovyde.' He takes occasion to refer tohis own translation of the Roman de la Rose ( B. ll . 329, 441 , 470),and to his Troilus (ll. 332, 441 , 469); besides enumerating manyof his poems (417-428).I. THE LEGEND OF CLEOPATRA. The source of this legendis by no means clear. As Bech points out, some expressionsshew that one of the sources was the Epitome Rerum Romanarumof L. Annæus Florus, lib. iv. c. 11; see notes to ll . 655, 662, 679.No doubt Chaucer also consulted Boccaccio's De Claris Mulieribus, cap. 86, though he makes no special use of the account theregiven. The story is also in the history of Orosius, bk. iv. c. 19;see Sweet's edition of King Alfred's Orosius, p. 247. Besideswhich, I think he may have had access to a Latin translationof Plutarch, or of excerpts from the same; see the notes.It is worth while to note here that Gower (ed. Pauli, iii . 361)has the following lines:-' I sigh [saw] also the woful queneCleopatras, which in a caveWith serpents hath her- self begraveAl quik, and so was she to-tore,For sorwe of that she hadde loreAntonie, which her love hath be.And forth with her I sigh Thisbe '; &c.It is clear that he here refers to Chaucer's Legend of GoodWomen, because he actually repeats Chaucer's very peculiaraccount of the manner of Cleopatra's death. See § 9, p. xl.Compare L. G. W. 11. 695-697; and note that, both in Chaucerand Gower, the Legend of Thisbe follows that of Cleopatra; whilstthe Legend of Philomela immediately follows that of Ariadne.This is more than mere coincidence. See Bech's essay; Anglia,v. 365.II. THE LEGEND OF THISBE. This is from Ovid's Metamorphoses, iv. 55-166, and from no other source. Some of thelines are closely translated, but in other places the phraseologyis entirely recast. The free manner in which Chaucer treatsxxxviii THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.his original is worthy of study; see, as to this, the excellentcriticism of Ten Brink, in his Geschichte der Englischen Litteratur, ii. 117. Most noteworthy of all is his suppression ofthe mythological element. The story gains in pathos in a highdegree by the omission of the mulberry-tree, the colour of thefruit of which was changed from white to black by the bloodof Pyramus; see note to 1. 851. This is the more remarkable,because it was just for the sake of this very metamorphosisthat Ovid admitted the tale into his series. See also notes to11. 745, 784, 797, 798, 814, 835, 869, &c.; and cf. Gower's Confessio Amantis, ed. Pauli, i . 324.III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO. Chiefly from Vergil's Aeneid,books i-iv. (see note to 1. 928, and compare the notes throughout); but 11. 1355-1365 are from Ovid's Heroides, vii. 1-8,quoted at length in the note to 1. 1355. And see, particularly,the House of Fame, ll . 140-382. Cf. Gower, C. A. ii. 4-6¹.IV. THE LEGENDS OF HYPSIPYLE AND MEDEA. The sourcesmentioned by Morley are Ovid's Metamorphoses, bk. vii. , andHeroides, epist. vi.; to which we must add Heroides, epist. xii .But this omits a much more important source, to which Chaucerexpressly refers. In 1. 1396, all previous editions have the following reading-' In Tessalye, as Ovyde telleth us '; but fourimportant MSS. read Guido for Ovyde, and they are quite right2.The false reading Ovyde is the more remarkable, because all theMSS. have the reading Guido in l . 1464, where a change wouldhave destroyed the rime. As a matter of fact, ll. 1396-1461 arefrom Guido delle Colonne's Historia Troiana, book i. ( see notes toII. 1396, 1463); and ll. 1580-3, 1589-1655 are also from thesame, book ii . (see notes to ll. 1580, 1590) . Another sourcewhich Chaucer may have consulted, though he made but littleuse of it, was the first and second books of the Argonautica ofValerius Flaccus, expressly mentioned in 1. 1457 (see notes to11. 1457, 1469, 1479, 1509, 1558) ". The use made of Ovid, Met. vii. ,¹ Gower is amusing when he turns Ovid's ' Ad uada Maeandri ' ( Her. vii .2) into a reference to ' King Menander '!2 The unfamiliar form Guido was read as Ouide, by changing G, o, intoO, e.Lounsbury (Studies in Chaucer, ii. 259) objects that many scholars supposethat Valerius Flaccus was unknown previously to 1416. But, if so, how did Chaucer know that the title of his poem was ' Argonauticon Libri, ' and not'Argonautae,' as in Dares?SOURCES OF THE LEGEND. xxxixis extremely slight (see note to 1. 1661). As to Ovid, Her. vii. , xii. ,see notes to ll . 1564, 1670. The net result is that Guido is a farmore important source of this Legend than all the passagesfrom Ovid put together. Chaucer also doubtless consulted thefifth book of the Thebaid of his favourite author Statius; seenotes to ll. 1457, 1467. Perhaps he also consulted Hyginus,whose 14th Fable gives the long list of the Argonauts, and the 15th,a sketch of the story of Hypsipyle. Compare also Boccaccio, DeClaris Mulieribus, capp. 15, 16; and the same, De GenealogiaDeorum, lib. xiii. c. 26. Observe also that Gower gives the storyof Medea, and expressly states that the tale ' is in the boke ofTroiewrite,' i. e. in Guido. See Pauli's edition, ii. 236.V. THE LEGEND OF LUCRETIA. Chaucer refers to Livy'sHistory (bk. i. capp. 57-59); and to Ovid (Fasti, ii . 721-852) .With a few exceptions, the Legend follows the latter source. Healso refers to St. Augustine; see note to 1. 1690¹. Cf. Boccaccio,De Claris Mulieribus, cap. 46, who follows Livy. Several touchesare Chaucer's own; see notes to ll. 1812, 1838, 1861 , 1871 , 1881.Gower has the same story (iii. 251 ) , and likewise follows Ovidand Livy.VI. THE LEGEnd of AriadnE. From Ovid, Met. vii. 456-8,viii. 6-182; Her. Epist. x. (chiefly 1-74); cf. Fasti, iii . 461-516.But Chaucer consulted other sources also, probably a Latin translation of Plutarch's Life of Theseus; Boccaccio, De GenealogiaDeorum, lib. xi. capp. 27, 29, 30; also Vergil, Aen. vi. 20-30;and perhaps Hyginus, Fabulae, capp. 41-43. Cf. House of Fame,405-426; and Gower, ii. 3022.VII. THE LEGEND of PHILOMELA. Chiefly from Ovid, Met. vi.424-605; and perhaps from no other source, though the use ofthe word radevore in 1. 2352 is yet to be accounted for. Cf.Boccaccio, De Genealogia Deorum, lib. ix. c. 8; and Gower, Conf.Amantis, ii. 313, who refers us to Ovid.VIII. THE LEGEND OF PHYLLIS. Chiefly from Ovid, Her.1 In fact, St. Augustine tells the whole story; De Ciuitate Dei, lib. i. cap.xix. And it was copied from St. Augustine's version into the Gesta Romanorum,Tale 135.2 For lines 1896-8 , Bech refers us to Godfrey of Viterbo's Speculum Regum;see the extract from it in Pertz, Monumenta Germanica, vol. xxii. p. 38,1. 159; which tells us that the teaching of philosophy and ofthe seven sciences at Athens was introduced there by Jupiter; see further, at p. lvi.xl THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Epist. ii.; cf. Remedia Amoris, 591-608. But a comparisonwith the story as told by Gower (C. A. ii. 26) shews that bothpoets consulted some further source, which I cannot trace. Thetale is told by Hyginus (Fab. capp. 59, 243) and Boccaccio in afew lines. Cf. House of Fame, 388-396 . A few lines are fromVergil, Æn. i. 85-102 , 142; iv. 373. And see notes to Lydgate'sTemple of Glas, ed. Schick, p. 75.IX. THE LEGEND OF HYPERMNESTRA. Chiefly from Ovid,Her. Epist. xiv. But Ovid calls her husband Lynceus, whereasChaucer calls him Lino. Again, Ovid does not give the name ofLynceus' father. Chaucer not only transposes the names of thetwo fathers ' , but calls Ægyptus by the name of Egiste or Egistes.Hence we see that he also consulted Boccaccio, De GenealogiaDeorum, lib. ii . c. 22, where we find the following account:'Danaus Beli Prisci fuit filius, ut asserit Paulus , et illud idemaffirmat Lactantius, qui etiam et ante Paulum Orosium, dicitDanaum Beli filium ex pluribus coniugibus .1. filias habuisse, quascum Ægistus frater eius, cui totidem erant melioris sexus filii,postulasset in nurus, Danaus oraculi responso comperto se manibusgeneri moriturum, uolens euitare periculum, conscensis nauibusin Argos uenit . . . . Ægistus autem, quod spretus esset indignans,ut illum sequerentur filiis imperauit, lege data ut nunquam domumrepeterent, ni prius Danaum occidissent. Qui cum apud Argosoppugnarent patruum, ab eo diffidente fraude capti sunt.Spopondit enim se illis iuxta Ægisti uotum filias daturum inconiuges, nec defuit promisso fides. Subornatae enim a patreuirorum intrauere thalamos singulis cultris clam armatae omnes,et cum uino laetitiaque calentes iuuenes facile in soporem iuissent,obedientes patri uirgines, captato tempore iugulauerunt uiros,unaquaeque suum, Hypermestra excepta, quae Lino seu Linceouiro suo miserta pepercit. ' We may note, by the way, thatChaucer's spelling Hypermistre is nearer to Boccaccio'sHypermestra than to the form in Ovid.$ 9. GOWER'S CONFESSIO AMANTIS. The relationship of¹ We must remember that, in olden times, writers often had to trust to theirmemory for details not always at hand. Hence such a mistake as this waseasily made.' The reference seems to be to Paulus Orosius, Hist. i. 11; but Belus isnot there mentioned. Yet Hyginus (Fab. 168) has: Danaus Beli filius expluribus coniugibus quinquaginta filias habuit. ' See Anglia, v. 350.GOWER'S CONFESSIO AMANTIS. xliGower's Confessio Amantis to Chaucer's Legend has beeninvestigated by Bech; in Anglia, v. 365–371 . His conclusionis, that the passages in Gower which resemble Chaucer are onlythree at most; and I am here concerned to shew that, in two ofthese, the supposed resemblance is delusive.I. In Gower's introduction, at the very beginning, ed. Pauli,i. 4, we are told that, but for books, the renown of many excellentpeople would be lost. This seems to be copied from Chaucer'sPrologue to the Legend, ll. 17-28. I have no doubt that such.is the case; but we must be careful to remember that these linesby Gower form part of the prologue to his second edition, and werenot written till 1393; by which time Chaucer's lines were commonproperty, and could be imitated by any one who chose to do it;so we really learn nothing at all from this comparison.2. In Gower, i . 45-48 , there is a passage which bears someresemblance to Chaucer's Prologue to the Legend. But if itbe considered impartially, I believe it will be found that theresemblance is too vague to be of any value, and cannot be reliedupon. We really must not set much store by such generalitiesas the mention of the month of May; the address of the poet toCupid and Venus; the wrathful aspect of Cupid; and the graciousness of Venus, who bids him disclose his malady and shrive himself. If Gower could not ' invent ' such common poetical talk, hehad small business to write at all. I would rather conclude,that Gower had no opportunity of seeing Chaucer's poem tillsomewhat later; for it is a striking fact, that, whereas Gowerseized the opportunity of copying some of Chaucer's phrases inthe Tale of Constance (see this discussed at p. 415) , he tells severalof Chaucer's Legends, such as those of Thisbe, Dido, Medea,Lucrece, Ariadne, Philomela, and Phyllis in a wholly independentmanner; and, when telling the tale of Alcestis ( iii . 149) , he hadno idea that she was ever transformed into a daisy. Moreover,if he had been able to refer to the Legend, 1. 1355-6, he wouldhardly have translated ' Maeandri ' by ' king Menander ' ( ii . 5) .Without hesitation, I dismiss these alleged resemblances astrifling, and the deduction from them as misleading.3. But when we come to the very end of Gower's work (iii .357-367), the case is entirely altered, and the resemblances arestriking and irrefragable. This is best seen by comparing thewhole passage. Gower is in the midst of lamenting his old age,xlii THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.a subject to which he afterwards returns, when he suddenlyintroduces a digression, in which he sees' Cupide with his bowe bent;And, like unto a parlementWhich were ordeined for the nones,With him cam al the world atonesOf gentil folk, that whilom wereLovers; I sigh hem alle there ' . . .' Garlondes, nought of o colour,Some of the lefe, som of the flour,And some of grete perles were .'After which we are introduced to Tristram and Isolde, Jasonand Hercules, Theseus and Phedra, Troilus and Criseide andDiomede, Pyramus, Dido, Phyllis, Adriane, Cleopatra, Tisbe,Progne and Philomene and Tereus, Lucrece, Alcestis; and evenCeyx andAlcyone (cf. Chaucer's youthful poem). The matter is putbeyond doubt by Gower's adoption of Chaucer's peculiar accountof Cleopatra's death, as already noted above; see p. xxxvii.The conclusion to be drawn from these facts is obvious. Wesee that, in the year 1385, Gower had almost completed his longpoem, and communicated the fact to his friend Chaucer; andChaucer, in return, told him of the new poem (the Legend) uponwhich he was then himself engaged, so planned as to containnineteen tales or sections, and likely to extend to some 6,000lines. Moreover, it was written in a new metre, such as noEnglishman had ever employed before. Gower was allowed tosee the MS. and to read a considerable portion of it. He was sostruck with it as to make room for some remarks about it; andeven went out of his way to introduce a personal reference to hisfriend. He makes Venus say to himself (iii. 374):-' And grete wel Chaucer, whan ye mete,As my disciple and my poeteForthy now, in his dayes olde¹,•Thou shalt telle him this message,That he, upon his later age¹,¹ People were soon called ' old ' in those days. Dante, at 35, was in the' middle ' of life; after which, all was downhill. Hoccleve was miserably oldat 53; Works, ed. Furnivall, p. 119. Jean de Meun, in his Testament, ed. Méon,iv. 9, even goes so far as to say that man flourishes up to the age of 30 or 40,after which he ' ne fait que langorir. ' Premature age seems to have beenrather commonin medieval times. Moreover, Gower is speaking comparatively,as ofone no longer ' in the floures of his youthe.'THE METRE OF THE LEGEND. xliiiTo sette an ende of alle his werke,As he, which is myn owne clerke,Do make his testament of love,(As thou hast do thy shrift above),So that my court it may recorde.'That is to say, Chaucer, being the poet of Venus, is to makehis testament of love, or final declaration concerning love, ina form suitable for being recorded in the court of the goddess.This ' testament ' is, of course, the Legend of Good Women, inwhich the martyrs of love are duly recorded; and their stories,written at the command of Cupid and by way of penance forwhat he had missaid against women, were to be placed to thegood side of the author's account with Venus and her son. Moreover, they were finally to be sent in to the visible representativeof the court of Love, viz. to the queen of England and hercourt.It is interesting to observe that Gower, like Chaucer himselfat the moment, regarded this poem as the crowning effort ofChaucer's poetical career. Neither of them had, at the time, anysuspicion that Chaucer would, after all, ' sette an ende of alle hiswerke ' in a very different manner. We maythus confidently datethe first edition of Gower's Confessio Amantis in the year 1385,before the Legend of Hypermnestra was abandoned in themiddle of a sentence. The date of the second edition of thesame is 1393; and it is a great help to have these dates thussettled.§ 10. METRE. The most interesting point about this poem isthat it is the first of the ' third period ' of Chaucer's literary work.Here, for the first time, he writes a series of tales, to which heprefixes a prologue; he adopts a new style, in which he seeks todelineate characters; and, at the same time, he introduces a newmetre, previously unknown to English writers, but nowfamous as'the heroic couplet. ' In all these respects, the Legend is evidentlythe forerunner of the Canterbury Tales, and we see how he wasgradually, yet unconsciously, preparing himself for that supremework. In two notable respects, as Ten Brink remarks, theLegend is inferior to the Tales. The various legends composingit are merely grouped together, not joined by connecting linkswhich afford an agreeable relief. And again, the Prologue to theLegend is mere allegory, whilst the famous Prologue to the Talesis full of real life and dramatic sketches of character.xliv THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Chaucer had already introduced the seven-line stanza, unknownto his predecessors-the earliest example being the Compleintunto Pite as well as the eight-line stanza, employed in his earliestextant poem, the A. B. C. For the hint as to this form of verse,he was doubtless indebted in the first instance to French poets,such as Guillaume de Machault, though he afterwards conformedhis lines, as regarded their cadence and general laws, to those ofBoccaccio and Dante¹.The idea of the heroic couplet was also, I suppose, taken fromFrench; we find it in a Complainte written by Machault about1356-8 (see below, p. 383); but here, again, Chaucer's melodyhas rather the Italian than the French character. The lines inFroissart's poem on the Daisy (p. xxxi) are of the same length, butrime together in groups of seven lines at a time, separated byshort lines having two accents only. Boccaccio's favourite stanzain the Teseide, known as the ottava rima, ends with two lines thatform an heroic couplet .§ 11. 'CLIPPED ' LINES. It ought to be clearly understood thatthe introduction of the new metre was quite an experiment, forwhich Chaucer himself offers some apology when he makes theGod of Love say expressly: ' Make the metres of hem as theeleste ' (1. 562). Hence it was that he introduced into the linea variety which is now held to be inadmissible; though we mustnot forget that even so great a master of melody as Tennyson,after beginning his 'Vision of Sin ' with lines of normal length,begins the second portion of it with the lines:-'Then methought I heard a hollow soundGathering up from all the lower ground;Narrowing in to where they sat assembled,Low voluptuous music winding trembled, ' &c.¹ Ten Brink, Chaucer's Sprache, &c. , p. 174.The heroic couplet was practically unknown to us till Chaucer introducedit. The rare examples of it before his time are almost accidental. A lyricalpoem printed in Böddeker's Altenglische Dichtungen, p. 232, from MS. Harl.2253, ends with a fair specimen, and is older than Chaucer. The last two lines are:- •For loue of vs his wonges waxeþ þunne,His herte-blod he zef for al mon-kunne.'The oldest single line of this form is at the end of Sawles Warde (ab. A. D.1210); see Spec. of English, pt. i. p. 95: —'That ich mot iesu crist mi sawle zelden. 'THE METRE OF THE LEGEND. xlvIt is precisely this variation that Chaucer sometimes allowedhimself, and it is easy to see how it came to pass.In lines of a shorter type we constantly find a similar variation.There are a large number of clipped ' lines in the House of Fame.Practically, their first foot consists of a single syllable, and theymay be scanned accordingly, by marking off that syllable at thebeginning. Thus, ll. 2117-2120 run thus: -6And leet hem gon. Ther might' I seenWenged wondres faste fleen,Twent❘ ty thousand in a route,As E olus hem blew aboute. 'This variation is still admissible, and is, of course, commonenough in such poems as Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso. Itis considered a beauty.The introduction of two more syllables in lines of the abovetype gives us a similar variation in the longer line. If, forexample, after the word thousand in the third of the above lines,we introduce the word freres (dissyllabic) , we obtain the line:-

-

'Twenty thousand freres in a route.'It is a remarkable fact, that this very line actually occurs in theCanterbury Tales ( Group D, 1695); as I have pointed out in thenote to 1. 2119 of the House of Fame, at p. 286 below. Persistentefforts have often been made to deny this fact, to declare it' impossible, ' and to deride me for having pointed it out ( as I didin 1866, in Morris's edition of Chaucer, i . 174); but I believe thatthe fact is now pretty generally admitted. It is none the lessnecessary to say here, that there is rather a large number of suchlines in the Legend of Good Women; precisely as we mightexpect to find in a metre which was, in fact, a new experiment.As it is advisable to present the evidence rather fully, I here citeseveral of these lines, marking off the first syllable in the rightway:-That of all' the flour-es in the med- e '; 41 .' Suffisaunt this flour to preys' aright '; 67.' Of this flour, when that it shuld unclos-e '; 111 .'Mad' her lyk a daisie for to sen- e '; 224.Half | hir beautee shulde men nat fynd- e '; 245.With the whyt- e coroun, clad in gren- e '; 303.' Maidens been y-kept, for Ielosy- e '; 722 .For to met' in o plac' at o tyd- e '; 783.'With her fac' y-wimpled subtilly '; 797.xlvi THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Both e with her hert' and with her y-ën'; 859.' Beting with his hel- es on the ground-e '; 863.'We ❘ that wer-en whylom children your-e '; 901 .' Been as trew' and loving as a man '; 911 .'Hadden in this temple been ov'r-al '; 1024.'We that wer-en in prosperitee '; 1030.' Lyked him the bet, as, god do bot-e '; 1076.' Lov' | wol lov', for no wight wol hit wond-e '; 1187.'Send' her lettres, tokens, broches, ring-es '; 1275.' Mercy, lord! hav' pitè in your thoght '; 1324.' Twenty tym' y-swowned hath she than-ne '; 1342 .' With her meynee, end-e-long the strond- e '; 1498.Yiftes gret', and to her officeres '; 1551 .' Fader, moder, husbond, al y-fer- e '; 1828.'Fighten with this fend, and him defend-e '; 1996.' Tell en al his doing to and fro '; 2471 .'Y permistra, yongest of hem all- e '; 2575.It is worth notice that they become scarcer towards the end ofthe poem. For all that, Chaucer regarded this form of the lineas an admissible variety, and Hoccleve and Lydgate followed himin this peculiarity. The practice of Hoccleve and Lydgate isentirely ignored by those to whom it is convenient to ignore it.Perhaps they do not understand it. The usual argument of thosewho wish to regulate Chaucer's verse according to their own preconceived ideas, is to exclaim against the badness of the MSS.and the stupidity of the scribes. This was tolerably safe beforeDr. Furnivall printed his valuable and exact copies of the MSS. ,but is less safe now. We now have twelve MSS. (some imperfect) intype, besides a copy of Thynne's first edition of the poem in 1532,making thirteen authorities in all. Now, as far as this particularmatter is concerned, the chief MSS. shew a wonderful unanimity.In ll . 41, 111 , 224, 722, 797 , 901 , 911 , 1076, 1187 , 1996, there isno variation that affects the scansion. And this means a greatdeal more than it seems to do at first sight. For the scribes ofMSS. A. and T. evidently did not like these lines, and sometimes attempted emendations with all the hardihood of moderneditors. The fact that the scribes are unwilling witnesses, witha tendency to corrupt the evidence, makes their testimony uponthis point all the stronger. Added to which, I here admit that,wherever there seemed to be sufficient evidence, I have so faryielded to popular prejudice as to receive the suggested emendation. I now leave this matter to the consideration of the unprejudiced reader; merely observing, that I believe a considerableDESCRIPTION OF THE MANUSCRIPTS. xlviinumber of lines in the Canterbury Tales have been ' emended ' inorder to get rid of lines of this character, solely on the strength ofthe Harleian MS. , the scribe of which kept a keen look-out, witha view to the suppression of this eccentricity on the part of hisauthor. To give him much encouragement seems inconsistentwith strict morality.The introduction (11. 249-269) of a Balade of twenty- one lines.makes every succeeding couplet end with a line denoted by an oddnumber. The whole number of lines is 2,723. Dr. Furnivall wasthe first person who succeeded in counting their number correctly.§ 12. DESCRIPTION OF THE MANUSCRIPTS. The MSS. easilyfall into two distinct classes, and may be separated by merelyobserving the reading of 1. 1396: see note to that line. MSS. C.,T., A. here read Guido or Guydo; whilst MSS. F., Tn. , B. readOuyde. MS. P. is here deficient, but commonly agrees with theformer class. Those of the same class will be described together.Besides this, MS. C. is, as regards the Prologue only, unique ofits kind; and is throughout of the highest authority, notwithstanding some unpleasant peculiarities of spelling. It is necessaryto pay special attention to it.The list of the MSS. (including Thynne's edition) is asfollows:-A. Arch. Selden B. 24; Bodleian Library (First class).Add. Additional 9832; British Museum (First class).Additional 12524; British Museum (First class).B. -Bodley 638; Bodleian Library (Second class).C.-Cambridge Univ. Library, Gg. 4. 27 (First class).F. -Fairfax 16; Bodleian Library (Second class).P.-Pepys 2006; Magd. Coll. , Cambridge (First class).T.-Trinity College, Cambridge, R. 3. 19 (First class).Th. -Thynne's edition, pr. in 1532 ( Second class?).Tn.-Tanner 346; Bodleian Library (Second class).a. Additional 28617; British Museum (First class); but onlya fragment, viz. ll . 513-610, 808-1105, 1306-1801 , 1852-2110, 2125-2135, 2151-2723).3. -Cambridge Univ. Library, Ff. 1. 6 (Thisbe only).y. -Rawlinson C. 86; Bodleian Library ( Dido only).They may be thus described.C. (Camb. Univ. Lib. Gg. 4. 27) is the famous Cambridge MS. ,xlviii THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.containing the Canterbury Tales, denoted by the symbol ' Cm. ' inthe footnotes to vol. iv (i . e. throughout the Canterbury Tales); alsoby the symbol Gg. ' in vol. i. , i . e. in the Minor Poems; seep. 49 of the Introduction to vol. i. It also contains some otherpieces by Chaucer, viz. the A. B. C., Envoy to Scogan, Truth,Troilus, and the Parlement of Foules. It is of early date, andaltogether the oldest, best, and most important of the existingcopies of the Legend. I shall call all those that resemble it MSS.of thefirst class.NoIts great peculiarity is that it possesses the unique copy of theearly draught of the Prologue; see p. xxi. Upon comparison ofit with the Fairfax MS. (the best MS. of the second class), it isfound to offer slight differences in many places throughout thevarious Legends, besides presenting large differences throughoutthe Prologue. The variations are frequently for the better, and itbecomes clear that the first class of MSS. is of an older type.The second class is of a later type, and differs in two ways, in oneway for the worse, and in another way for the better. In theformer respect, it presents corrupted or inferior readings in severalpassages; whilst, on the other hand, it presents corrections thatare real improvements, and may have been due to revision.doubt there was once in existence a correct edition of the revisedtext, but no existing MS. represents it. We can, however,practically reconstruct it by a careful collation of MS. C. with MS.F.; and this I have attempted to do. Throughout the Prologue,I take MS. C. as the basis of the ' A-text,' correcting its eccentricities of spelling, but recording them in footnotes wherever thevariation is at all important; such a variation as hym for him, oryt for hit, I regard as being of no value. At the same time, I takeMS. F. as the basis of the B-text, and correct it, where necessary,by collation with the rest. Throughout the Legends themselves,I take MS. F. as the basis of the text, collating it with C.throughout, so that the text really depends on a comparison ofthese MSS.; if MS. C. had been made the basis, the result wouldhave been much the same. It was convenient to take F. as thebasis, because it agrees, very nearly, with all previous editions ofthe poem. Unfortunately, leaf 469 of MS. C. has been cut outof it; and, in consequence, 11. 1836-1907 are missing. Thescribe has missed ll. 1922, 1923, 2506, 2507 , in the process ofcopying.DESCRIPTION OF THE MSS. xlixAddit. 9832. This is an imperfect MS. , ending at 1. 1985, nomore leaves of the MS. being left after that line. Besides this,the scribe has omitted several lines, viz. ll . 166, 233, 234, 332,333, 351 , 865-872, 960, 961 , 1255 , 1517 , 1744-1746, 1783, 1895,1945. It belongs to the first class of the MSS. , but is an unsatisfactory copy, and I have not fully collated it. It confirms, however, several of the readings of this edition, as distinguished fromformer editions.Addit. 12524. This also is only a fragment. The first leafbegins at 1. 1640 of the poem, from which point it is complete tothe end, though ll. 2454-2461 are partially effaced. It belongs tothe first class of MSS. , but is a late copy, and I have not fullycollated it. It confirms several of my readings.T.-MS. Trin. Coll. Cam. R. 3. 19. Denoted by the symbol'Trin.' in my edition of the Minor Poems, and described invol. i . , Introd. p. 56. It is of rather late date, about 1500, butbelongs to the first class of MSS. The scribe has omitted thefollowing lines, viz. 233, 234, 332, 333, 489, 960, 961 , 1627, 2202,2203, 2287-2292, and 2569.A.-MS. Arch. Selden B. 24 (Bodley). Denoted by thesymbol ' Ar.' in my edition of the Minor Poems, and describedin vol. i. , Introd. p. 54. A Scottish copy, written about 1472. Itbelongs to the first class of MSS. , but the Scottish scribe sometimes takes liberties, and gives us a reading of his own. Forexample, l. 714 becomes:-' As in grete townis the maner is andwone.' But its readings, on the whole, are good. It alonepreserves the word ' almychti ' in l. 1538, which in all the rest istoo short; this may not have been the original reading, but itgives a fair line, and furnishes as good an emendation as we arelikely to get. The scribe has omitted 11. 860, 861 , 960, 961,1568-1571 , 2226, and 2227; besides which, one leaf of the MS.is missing, causing the loss of 11. 2551-2616.P.-Pepys 2006, Magd. Coll. , Cambridge. Denoted by ' P.' inmy edition of the Minor Poems, of which it contains ten. Itbelongs, on the whole, to the first class of MSS. The scribe hasomitted II . 232, 437 , 623, and 1275. Besides this, it has lost atleast one leaf, causing the complete loss of 11. 706-776, whilstll. 777-845 are in a different handwriting. Atl. 1377 it breaks offaltogether, so that it is only a fragment. It gives 1. 1377 in thefollowing extraordinary form: -' And thow wer not fals to oon,dTHE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.but thow wer fals to twoo '; giving six feet at least to the line, anda syllable over.a.-Addit. 28617. A fair MS. , but only a fragment, as alreadynoted (p. xlvii). It confirms many of my readings; as, e.g., inIl. 1995, 2019, 2020, 2199, &c. It varies in 1. 1999, but givesthere an excellent reading:-That is nat derk, and ther is roumand space.B.-Camb. Univ. Library, Ff. 1. 6. Contains the Legend ofThisbe only. A late and poor MS. , of small account.y. -Rawl. C. 86 ( Bodleian Library). Contains the Legend ofDido only. A poor text, with many errors. Yet it seems to beof the first class, and preserves ll . 960-1. It confirms myreadings of 11. 1048, 1074, 1079, 1139, 1144, 1159 1174, 1195,1196, 1215, 1366.F.-Fairfax 16 ( Bodleian Library). This is the valuable MS.which contains so many of the Minor Poems. It is described inmy Introd. to the Minor Poems; vol. i . p. 51. I have taken it asthe basis of the edition, though it was necessary to correct it in allthe places where the MSS. of the first class have better readings.It is the best MS. of the second class, and Bell's edition doeslittle more than follow it, almost too faithfully, though the editorprofesses to have collated with it the MS. A. described above.The same text, in the main, reappears in the editions by Thynne,Morris, Corson, Gilman. The scribe is careless, and frequentlyleaves out essential words; he also omits ll . 249, 487, 846, 960,961, 1490 , 1643 , 1693 , 1998, part of 2150, 2151 , 2152, part of21532, 2193, 2338 ( in place of which a spurious line is insertedin a wrong place) , and 2475. Besides this, the scribe often ruinsthe scansion of a line by omitting an essential word in it, as hasalready been mentioned. Thus in l . 614, he drops the wordfor,which occurs in all the other MSS. The scribe often wronglyadds or omits a final e, and is too fond of substituting y for i insuch words as him, king. When these variations are allowed for,the spelling of the MS. is, for the most part, clear and satisfactory,and a fair guide to the right pronunciation. Rejected spellingsare given in footnotes as far as 1. 924; after which I have madesuch alterations as are purely trivial without giving notice. Evenin l . 1-924 I have changed hym into him, and kyng into king;1 Not 1491 , as Bell says; he has mistaken the line." From gelen to gayler; Dr. Furnivall has not got this quite right.THE PRINTED EDITIONS. liand, conversely, strif into stryf, (where the y denotes that thevowel is long), without hesitation and without recording thechange. My text is, in fact, spelt phonetically; and, after all, thetest of a text of Chaucer is to read it with the Middle- English pronunciation as given by Dr. Sweet in his Second Middle-EnglishPrimer, and to observe whether the result is perfectly in accordwith the flowing melody so manifest in the Canterbury Tales.B.-Bodley 638. Closely related to MS. F. , and almost aduplicate of it, both being derived from a common source. B. issometimes right where F. is wrong; thus in l. 1196 it has houyn,where F. has heuen, See Introd. to the Minor Poems, vol. i . p. 53 .Of course this MS. belongs, like F., to the second class. It preserves 1. 1693 (missing in F. ); otherwise it omits all the lines thatare omitted in F. , as well as ll. 157 , 262, 623, 1345 , 1866; all ofwhich F. retains. Like F., it has a spurious line in place of 1. 2338.Tn. -Tanner 346 ( Bodley). This is a MS. of the second class,strongly resembling F.; see Introd. to the Minor Poems, vol. i.P. 54. It preserves ll . 1693 , 2193 , 2475; otherwise it omits allthe lines omitted in F., as well as the latter half of 1. 1378 andthe former half of 1. 1379. It has a spurious line in place of1. 2338. It is clear that F., B. , and Tn. are all from a commonsource, which was an older MS. not now known.§ 13. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINTED EDITIONS. Th. - Thynne'sedition; A.D. 1532. This follows, mainly, the MSS. of thesecond class; its alliance with F., B., and Tn. is shewn by itscontaining the spurious form of 1. 2338. But it gives the genuineform also, so that in this place three lines rime together. It ismore complete than any of those MSS. , preserving the lines whichthey omit (excepting 11. 960, 961 ), save that it omits ll . 1326, 1327(doubtless by oversight) , which are found in these three MSS. , andindeed in all the copies. Probably Thynne used more than oneMS. , as he sometimes agrees with the MSS. of the first class.Thus, in 1. 1163, he reads vpreysed had, as in C. , T., A. , P.,instead of up-reyseth hath, as in F., Tn. , B. He might, however,have corrected this by the light of nature. In ll . 1902, 1923,Thynne alone gives the right reading Alcathoe; unfortunately,both these lines are missing in MS. C. The chief faults ofThynne's edition are its omission of ll . 960, 961 , 1326, 1327, andits spurious 1. 2338. Thynne was also unfortunate in following,in general, the authority of a MS. of the second class.d 2lii THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Some later editions.-Later editions appeared in the collectededitions of Chaucer's Works, viz. in 1542, (about) 1550, 1561,1598, 1602, 1687; after which came Urry's useless edition of1721. Excepting the last, I suppose the editions are all merereprints; each being worse than its predecessor, as is almostalways the case. At any rate, the edition of 1561 is a closereprint of Thynne, with a few later spellings, such as guide in placeof Thynne's gyde in l . 969. This edition of course omits 11. 960,961 , 1326, 1327; and gives the spurious 1. 2338.According to Lowndes, other later editions of Chaucer's Worksare the following:-Edinburgh, 1777; 18mo. 12 vols.-Edinburgh,1782; 12mo. 14 vols. -In Anderson's British Poets, Edinburgh,1793-1807; royal 8vo. 13 vols.-In Cooke's British Poets,London, 1798, &c. , 18mo. 80 parts. -In Chalmers' English Poets,London, 1810; royal 8vo. 21 vols. I suppose that all of theseare mere reprints; such is certainly the case with the editionby Chalmers, which merely reproduces Tyrwhitt's edition of theCanterbury Tales, and follows ' the black-letter editions ' throughout the other poems. The same remark applies to the editionprinted by Moxon in 1855, and attributed to Tyrwhitt as editor.Other editions are those by S. W. Singer, London, 1822 , fcp. 8vo.5 vols.; by Sir H. Nicolas (in the Aldine edition of English Poets) ,London, 1845, post 8vo. 6 vols.; and by Robert Bell, London,1855, 12mo. 8 vols. The last was really edited by Mr. Jephson.Bell's (so-called) edition was conveniently reprinted in fourvolumes, in Bohn's Standard Library; a revised edition of thiswas published in 1878, with a Preliminary Essay by myself. Ofthe Legend of Good Women, the editor (Mr. Jephson) remarksthat ' the text of the present edition is founded upon a carefulcollation of the MS. Fairfax 16, in the Bodleian Library, andMS. Arch. Seld. B. 24 '; i.e. upon a collation of F. with A. Itgives us the text of MS. F., with the missing lines supplied fromThynne or from MS. A. It omits ll . 960, 961 , and inserts ll . 1326,1327 in the wrong place, viz. after 1. 1329. At 1. 2338, it givesboth the correct and the spurious forms of the line; so that here(as in Thynne) three lines rime together. In 1. 2150-3, the sameconfusion occurs as is noticed below, in the account of Morris'sedition. The chief gain in this edition is that it has a fewexplanatory notes. Of these I have freely availed myself, markingthem with the word ' Bell ' whenever I quote them exactly; thoughTHE PRINTED EDITIONS. liiithey were really written, as I am told, by Mr. Jephson, whose namenowhere appears, except at p. 12 of my Essay, as prefixed to therevised edition.The Aldine edition was reprinted in 1866, on which occasionit was edited by Dr. Morris. With respect to the Legend ofGood Women, Dr. Morris says that it is copied from MS. F.,collated with MSS. A., C. (privately printed at Cambridge byMr. H. Bradshaw, 1864), and MSS. Addit. 9832 and 12524. Inthis edition, variations from the MS. ( F. ) are denoted by italicletters, but such variations are very few. Practically, we here finda correct print of MS. F., with most of the missing lines suppliedby collation, and with very few corrections. Lines 960, 961 are,however, still omitted, though found in MS. C.; but ll. 1326,1327 (also omitted by Thynne) are duly given, being found, infact, in MS. F. At 1. 2338, the correct line is given, but thespurious line is also retained; so that (as in Thynne) three lineshere rime together. In the former part of 1. 2153, a part of1. 2150 is repeated, giving us by instead of eek; the fact is thatthe scribe slipped from gayler in 1. 2150 to gayler in l. 2153,omitting all that came between these words. Nothing is saidabout the interesting form of the Prologue as existing in MS. C.There are no explanatory notes.Besides the English editions, two editions of the Legend ofGood Women have appeared in America, which demand somenotice.Of these, the former is a very handy edition of the Legend ofGood Women, published separately for the first time, and editedby Professor Hiram Corson. The text is that of Bell's edition;but the explanatory notes are fuller and better, and I have carefully consulted them. At the end is an Index of all the wordsexplained, which really serves the purpose of a glossary. Thisis certainly the best edition I have met with.The other edition is that of Chaucer's Works, edited by ArthurGilman, and published at Boston in 1879, in three volumes.The Legend of Good Women occurs in vol. iii. pp. 79-183. Theharder words are explained in footnotes, and there are just a fewnotes on the subject-matter. The chief point in this edition isthat the editor quotes some of the more remarkable variationsin the Prologue from MS. C., which he says is ' evidently anearlier one than the one followed in the text, Fairfax 16, inliv THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.the Bodleian Library, Oxford.' Yet his text is a mere reprintfrom that of Morris; it omits ll . 960, 961 , and gives 1. 2338 bothin its correct and in its spurious form. Consequently, it contains2722 lines instead of 2723. The true number of lines is odd,because of the Balade of 21 lines at l. 249.The net result is this; that none of the editions are complete,and they are all much the same. After twenty editions, we areleft almost where we started at first. Thynne's edition wasfounded on a MS. very closely resembling F., but more complete;still it omits four lines, and gives 1. 2338 twice over, in differentforms. The same is true of all the numerous reprints from it.Bell's edition restores ll . 1326, 1327, but in the wrong place;whilst Morris's edition restores them in the right place. Theselines actually occur in MS. F. (in the right place), and couldhardly have been unnoticed in collating the proofs with the MS.These editions are both supposed to be collated with MS. A. atleast, but the results of such collation are practically nil, as thatMS. was merely consulted to supply missing lines. The editorspractically ignore the readings of that MS. , except where F. isimperfect. Hence they did not discover that MS. A. belongs toa different class of MSS., and that it frequently gives earlier andbetter readings. But even A. omits ll. 960, 961 , though it alsorightly suppresses the spurious form of 1. 2338.§ 14. SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN MY EDITION OF 1889. No realadvance towards a better text was made till Dr. Furnivall broughtout, for the Chaucer Society, his valuable and exact prints of themanuscripts themselves. This splendid and important work givesthe texts in extenso of all the MSS. above mentioned, viz. MSS.C. , F., Tn. , T., A., and Th. ( Thynne's ed. ) in the ' Parallel- Textedition of Chaucer's Minor Poems, ' Part III; MSS. B., Addit.9832, P., and Addit. 12524, in the ' Supplementary Parallel-Texts, 'Part II; and MSS. a, ß, y, in ' Odd Texts,' 1880. But for theinvaluable help thus rendered, the edition of 1889 would neverhave been undertaken, and I should never have attained to soclear an understanding of the text. I have already said thatDr. Furnivall was the first person who succeeded in numberingthe lines of the poem correctly; indeed, most editions have nonumbering at all.I have not thought it necessary to encumber the pages withwholly inferior readings that are of no value, but I have carefullySOME EMENDATIONS. lvcollated the best MSS. , viz. C., F., Tn. , T., A., B., and sometimesP., besides keeping an eye upon Th., i.e. Thynne's edition.I thus was enabled to see the true state of the case, viz. that theMSS. of the first class (C., T., A., P. , Addit. 9832, 12524, and28617) have been practically neglected altogether; whilst, of theMSS. &c. of the second class (F. , Tn., B., Th. ), only F. and Th.have received sufficient attention. It is now abundantly clearthat the best authorities are C. and F., as being of different classes,and that the right plan is to consult these first, and then to seehow the other MSS. support them. A long list of importantemendations, and an exposure of the extreme inaccuracy of mostof the previous editions, will be found in the Introduction to myedition of 1889, and need not be repeated here.§ 15. CONCLUSION. In conclusion, I may mention the Poemin MS. Ashmole 59, entitled ' The Cronycle made by Chaucier.¶Here nowe folowe the names of the nyene worshipfullestLadyes ... by Chaucier.' It is a poor production, perhapswritten by Shirley, and merely gives a short epitome of the contents of the Legend of Good Women. The words ' by Chaucier 'refer to Chaucer's authorship of the Legend only, and not to theauthorship of the epitome, which, though of some interest, ispractically worthless. The author makes the odd mistake of confusing the story of Alcestis with that of Ceyx and Alcyone in theBook of the duch*esse (62-230). This ' Cronycle ' was printed byDr. Furnivall in his Odd-texts of Chaucer's Minor Poems, Part i .I have now only to record my indebtedness to others, especiallyto Dr. Furnivall for his invaluable prints in the Parallel-Texts;to the excellent essay by M. Bech, in vol. v. of Anglia¹; toMr. Jephson for his notes in ' Bell's ' edition; and to the notesin the edition by Professor Corson. Also to Professor Ten Brink,the second part of whose second volume of the Geschichte derenglischen Litteratur has just appeared ( 1893).This excellent essay investigates Chaucer's sources, and is the best commentary upon the present poem. I had written most of my Notes independently, and had discovered most of his results for myself. This does notdiminish my sense of the thoroughness of the essay, and I desire to expressfully my acknowledgments to this careful student. I may remark here thatChaucer's obligations to Froissart were long ago pointed out by Tyrwhitt, andthat the name Agatho was explained in Cary's Dante. There is very little elsethat Bech has missed. Perhaps I may put in some claim to the discovery ofa sentence taken from Boethius; and to some other points of minor importance.IviTHELEGENDOFGOODWOMEN.NOTE. If the reader finds the two forms of the Prologuetroublesome, he has only to confine his attention to the ' B-text, 'in the lower part of pp. 65-105. The text agrees with that usuallygiven, and contains 579 lines. The first line of ' Cleopatra ' is1. 580, the numbering being continuous. Besides this, the linesof each Legend are given separately, within marks of parenthesis.Thus 1. 589 is the 10th line of ' Cleopatra '; and so in other cases.I here subjoin an Additional Note to lines 1896–8.At p. xxxix. above (footnote no. 2 ), I give Bech's reference toGodfrey of Viterbo. The passage runs thus:-'De Ioue primo rege Atheniensi.

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A Ioue nostrorum uenit generatio regum,A Ioue principium recipit descriptio regum,A Ioue philosophi dogmata prima legunt.Rex erat ex rege quondam patre natus Athenis,Indeque quadriuii triuiique scientia uenit;Legis et artis ibi rex ydioma dedit.'INTRODUCTIONΤΟ ΑTREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.§ 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE MSS. The existing MSS. of the' Astrolabe ' are still numerous. I have been successful in findingno less than twenty-two, which I here describe. It is remarkablethat, although many printed editions of the treatise have appeared,no first- class MS. has ever hitherto come under the notice of anyone of the various editors. This point will appear more clearlyhereafter.§ 2. A.—MS. Dd. 3. 53 ( part 2 ) in the Cambridge UniversityLibrary. The ' Treatise on the Astrolabie ' begins at fol. 212 ofthe MS. considered as a whole, but the folios are now properlyrenumbered throughout the treatise. The MS. is of vellum, andthe writing clear and good, with a great number of neatly drawndiagrams, which appear wherever the words ' lo here thi figureoccur in the text. This MS. I have made the basis of the text,and it is followed with sufficient exactness, except when notice tothe contrary is given in the Critical Notes.This MS. is of considerable importance. The handwritingexactly resembles that in MS. B., and a comparison of these MSS.leads to the following results. It appears that MSS. A. and B.were written out by the same scribe, nearly at the same time.The peculiarities of spelling, particularly those which are faulty,are the same in both in a great many instances. It is also clearthat the said scribe had but a very dim notion of what he waswriting, and committed just such blunders as are described inlviii TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.Chaucer's Lines to Adam Scriveyn, and are there attributedto ' negligence and rape '. It is still more interesting to observethat Chaucer tells us that he had to amend his MSS. by ' rubbingand scraping ' with his own hand; for MS. A. and B. differprecisely in this point, viz. that while the latter is left uncorrected,the former has been diligently ' rubbed and scraped ' by the handof a corrector who well knew what he was doing, and the rightletters have been inserted in the right places over the erasures.These inserted letters are in the hand of a second scribe who wasa better writer than the first, and who was entrusted with the taskof drawing the diagrams. The two hands are contemporaneous,as appears from the additions to the diagrams made by the writerof the text. Unfortunately, there are still a good many errorsleft. This is because the blunders were so numerous as tobeguile the corrector into passing over some of them. When, forexample, the scribe, having to write ' lo here thy figure ' at theend of nearly every section, took the trouble to write the lastword 'vigure ' or ' vigour ' in nearly every instance, we are notsurprised to find that, in a few places, the word has escapedcorrection. It further appears that some of the later sections,particularly sections 39 and 40, have not been properly revised;the corrector may very well have become a little tired of his taskby the time he arrived at them. It must also be remembered,that such blunders as are made by a scribe who is not clear as tothe meaning of his subject-matter are by no means the blunderswhich are most puzzling or most misleading; they are obvious atonce as evident blotches, and the general impression left upon themind by the perusal of this MS. is—that a careless scribe copiedit from some almost perfect original, and that his errors werepartially corrected by an intelligent corrector (possibly the author),who grew tired of his task just towards the end.The order of the Conclusions in Part ii. differs from that in allthe editions hitherto printed, and the MS. terminates abruptly inthe middle of a sentence, at the words ' howre after howre ' in Conclusion 40 (p. 223) . A portion of the page of the MS. belowthese words is left blank, though the colophon ' Explicit tractatus, ' &c. was added at the bottom of the page at a later period.·I. e. haste, rapidity. Cf. Rydynge ful rapely; ' Piers the Plowman,B. xvii. 49.DESCRIPTION OF THE MSS. lixCertain allusions in the former part of the MS. render it probablethat it was written in London, about the year 1400.§ 3. B.-MS. E Museo 54, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.This is an uncorrected duplicate of the preceding, as has beenexplained, and ends in the same way, at the words ' howre afterhowre,' followed by a blank space. The chief addition is therubricated title-' Bred and mylk For childeren, ' boldly written atthe beginning; in the margin are the following notes in a latehand- Sir Jiffray Chaucer '-' Dominus Gaufredus Chaucerus ' —' Galfredi Chauceri Tractatus de Ratione et vsu Astrolabij adLudouicum filium.'§ 4. C.-MS. Rawlinson, Misc. 1262, otherwise 1370 (leaves22-42), in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.This is a beautifully written MS. , on vellum, with 38 pages oftext, and 4 blank pages. It has the Conclusions in the same orderas the preceding, six well-executed diagrams, and corrections onnearly every page. It is of early date, perhaps about A. D. 1420,and of considerable importance. It agrees closely with the text,and, like it, ends with ' howre after howre.' Some variations ofspelling are to be found in the Critical Notes. In this MS. theConclusions are numbered in the margin, and the numbersagree with those adopted in this edition.§ 5. D.-MS. Ashmole 391 , in the Bodleian Library. I havemade but little use of this MS. , on account of its being veryimperfect.This MS. , like B. , has the titleLike other good MSS. , it endsBut after this, there occurs an§ 6. E.-MS. Bodley 619.'Brede and Milke for children. 'sect. 40 with ' houre after houre. 'additional section, probably not genuine, but printed here (forthe sake of completeness) as section 46; see p. 229. Cf. § 17.At fol. 21 is an additional section, not found elsewhere, whichis printed in the Notes; see p. 360. This Conclusion has someclaims to our notice, because, whether genuine or not, it istranslated from Messahala.$ 7. F.-MS. 424, in the Library of Corpus Christi College,Cambridge. Very imperfect, especially at the beginning, wherea large portion has been lost.The Conclusions follow the right order, as in the best MSS.§ 8. G.-MS. R. 15, 18, in the Library of Trinity College,Cambridge. This is a curious and interesting volume, as itlx TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.contains several tracts in English on astrology and astronomy,with tables of stars, &c.The copy of the ' Astrolabe ' in this MS. is not a good one.It ends in Part ii. sect. 34, l. 14. The Conclusions are in theright order, and there are a few diagrams.§ 9. H.-MS. Sloane 314, British Museum. A late MS. onpaper, absurdly said in a note to be in Chaucer's handwriting,whereas it is clearly to be referred to the end of the fifteenthcentury.§ 10. I.-MS. Sloane 261. This is an ' edited ' MS. , havingbeen apparently prepared with a view to publication. Mr. Braehas made considerable use of it, and gives, in his preface,a careful and interesting account of it . He concludes that thisMS. was written by Walter Stevins in 1555, and dedicated by himto Edward Earl of Devonshire; and that MS. H. was one of thosewhich Stevins especially consulted, because it contains marginalnotes in Stevins' handwriting. The contents of this MS. can beso well ascertained from Mr. Brae's edition that it is unnecessaryto say more about it here. The Conclusions are arranged in thesame order as in other MSS. that are not of the first class.§ 11. K.-MS. Rawlinson Misc. 3 , in the Bodleian Library,Oxford. On vellum, 49 folios, with rich gold capitals, beautifullyornamented; in a large clear handwriting, with red rubrics.Title- Astralabium.' Begins- Lityl lowys my sone,' &c.-and ends-"For pe mone meuyth the contrarie from otherplanetys. as yn here epicircle. but in none other maner '; see endof Part ii. sect. 35; p. 217. Order of Conclusions in Part ii. asfollows; 1-12, 19-21 , 13-18, 22-35; as in other late MSS.There are no diagrams, and the MS. , though well written, mayperhaps be referred to the latter half of the fifteenth century.§ 12. L.-MS. Additional 23002, British Museum. Afair MS. ,on vellum, without diagrams; imperfect. See description ofMS. R. in § 17. And see the Note on Part ii . sect. 3 ( p. 360).§ 13. M.-MS. E. 2 in the Library of St. John's College, Cambridge. Small MS. on vellum, without diagrams. The leaves havebeen misplaced, and bound up in a wrong order, but nothing islost. I have printed from this MS. the last five words of sect. 40;also 41-43, and 41a-42b; besides collating it for the improvement ofthe text in sect. 44; sect. 45 is missing. I have also beenindebted to it for the Latin rubrics to the Conclusions, whichDESCRIPTION OF THE MSS. lxiI have not found elsewhere. Several various readings from thisMS. appear in the Critical Notes (pp. 233-241) .§ 14. N.-MS. Digby 72, in the Bodleian Library. From thisMS. I have printed the text of sections 44 and 45 (pp. 226-9),but have made little further use of it.§ 15. O.—MS. Ashmole 360, in the Bodleian Library. LateMS., on paper; former owner's name, Johan Pekeryng; withoutdiagrams. There are evidently some omissions in it.includes sections 44 and 45, and I have given various readingsfrom it in those sections (p. 240). It ends at the end ofsect. 43a, with the words ' one to twelfe. & sic finis '; see p. 232.§ 16. P.-MS. Dd. 12. 51 in the Cambridge University Library.Small MS. on vellum; written in the fifteenth century. The textis by no means a bad one, though the spelling is peculiar. Someof the pages are very much rubbed and defaced. I have takenfrom it some various readings, recorded in the Critical Notes.One point deserves particular attention. It not only containsthe Conclusions of Part ii. in the right order, but continues it withouta break to the end of Conclusion 43 (p. 225); at the end ofwhich is the colophon-Explicit tractatus astrolabii.§ 17. Q.—MS. Ashmole 393, in the Bodleian Library; on paper.Of little importance.R.-MS. Egerton 2622, in the British Museum. A neat MS. ,but without diagrams. Contains: Part I. ( except 15-23); Part II.§§ 1-12, 19-21 , 13-18, 22-35, 41-43, 44, 45; 41a, 41b, 42a, 43a,426, 36, 37. Thus it has all the additional sections except 46; but38-40 are missing. MS. L. contains the same sections in thesame order; see § 12.S. MS. Addit. 29250. A poor MS. , but remarkable for containing the scarce section no. 46; of which there is but one othercopy, viz. that in MS. E (§ 6); cf. pp. 240, 241 .T.-MS. Phillipps 11955; at Cheltenham. On vellum; 31leaves; said to be ofthe fourteenth century, which is improbable.U.-MS. Bodley 68. Imperfect; ends at Part ii. § 36.W.-MS. E Museo 116, in the Bodleian Library. A merefragment.X.-A MS. at Brussels, no. 1591. See F. J. Mone, Quellenund Forschungen, (Aachen, 1830); pp. 549-551.§ 18. Ofthe above MSS. , Mr. Brae describes H., I. , and L. only,and does not seem to have made use of any others. Mr. Todd, inlxii TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.his Animadversions on Gower and Chaucer, p. 125, enumeratesonly four MSS. , which are plainly A., P., F., and G. The rest seemto have escaped attention.In addition to the MS. authorities, we have one more source oftext, viz. the Editio Princeps, which may be thus described.Th. The edition of Chaucer's Works by Wm. Thynne, printedat London by Thomas Godfray in 1532. This is the first editionin which the Treatise on the Astrolabe appeared; it begins at fol.ccxcviii, back. The Conclusions in Part ii. are in the order following, viz. 1-12, 19-21 , 13-18, 22-40; after which come 41-43,and 41a-426. This order does not agree precisely with that inany MS. now extant, with the exception of I., which imitates it.It has some corrupt additions and exhibits many grave errors. Alllater editions, down to Urry's in 1721 , contribute no new information. The few slight alterations which appear in them are suchas could have been made without reference to MSS. at all.§ 19. REMARKS ON THE CLASSES OF THE MSS. On comparingthe MSS., it at once appears that they do not agree as to the orderof the Conclusions in Part ii. The MSS. A., B., C. (which areunquestionably the oldest), as well as E., F. , G. , and P. , adopt theorder which appears in this edition, but which has never appearedin any previous edition. In all other editions we find the threesections 19-21 made to precede sections 13-18. Now we mighthere appeal to authority only, and say that the order in the oldestMSS. ought to be preferred. But it so happens that we canappeal to internal evidence as well, and there are two considerations which shew that the oldest MSS. are certainly correct.These are as follows. In the first place, sect. 18 amounts tofinding the degree of the zodiac which souths with any star, andbegins with the words ' Set the centre of the sterre upon the lynemeridional '; whilst sect. 19 amounts to finding the degree of thezodiac that rises with any star, and begins with the words ' Setthe sentre of the sterre upon the est orisonte.' Clearly, theseConclusions are closely linked together, and one ought to followthe other. But, in all the editions, this continuity is broken.In the second place, the rubric of sect. 21 is-' To knowe for whatlatitude in any regioun, ' &c.; whilst that of sect. 22 is ' Toknowe in special the latitude of oure countray, ' &c. Clearly,these Conclusions are closely linked, and in their right order. But,in all the editions, this continuity is again broken; and we haveREMARKS ON THE LATER SECTIONS. lxiiithis absurd result, viz. that a proposition headed—' To knowethe degrees of the longitudes of fixe sterres ' is followed by oneheaded ' To knowe in special the latitude of oure countray.'Hence we are enabled to draw a line, and to divide the MSS.into two classes; those in which the order of sections is correct,and those in which it has suffered misplacement, the number ineach class being muchthe same. This gives us the following result.First Class. A. , B., C., (probably D. , ) E., F., G., P.Second Class. H., I., K., L. , M., N., O. , R.; to which add Th.But this division immediately leads to another very curiousresult, and that is, a certain lack of authority for sections afterthe fortieth, which ends on p. 223.A. ends with an incomplete sentence, in sect. 40, with thewords ' howre after howre.' B., C. end exactly at the sameplace.E. ends sect. 40 with the same words; and, after this, has onlyone additional section (46), which is, in my opinion, spurious;especially as it does not appear in Messahala, of which more anon.D., F., and G. all fail at an earlier point.In none of the first-class MSS. ( excepting P., which terminateswith section 43) is there a word about umbra recta or umbra versa.Even in the second class of MSS. , we find H. breaking off atsect. 36, and K. at sect. 35; so that the sections on the umbraerest only on MSS. I. (obviously an edition, not a transcript), L.,M., N., O., P., and R. Putting aside the first of these, as being' edited,' we have but six left; and in the first four and the lastof these we find that the additional Conclusions appear ina certain order, viz. they insert 44 and 45 (on the ' mene mote ')between three sections 41-43 on the ' umbrae ' and five othersections 41a-426 on the same.§ 20. THE LAST FIVE SECTIONS SPURIOUS. This at once suggeststwo results. The first is, that, as this gives two sets of sections onthe ' umbrae, ' we can hardly expect both to be genuine; andaccordingly, we at once find that the last five of these are mereclumsy repetitions of the first three; for which reason, I unhesitatingly reject the said last five as spurious. This view isstrikingly confirmed by MS. P.; for this, the only first- class MS.that is carried on beyond section 40, contains the first threesections on the ' umbrae ' only. The second result is, that if thefirst three sections on the ' umbrae ' are to be received, there islxiv TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.good reason why we should consider the possible genuineness ofsections 44 and 45 on the ' mene mote, ' which rest very nearlyon the same authority.Now the sections on the ' mene mote ' have in their favourone strong piece of internal evidence; for the date 1397 ismentioned in them more than once as being the ' root ' or epochfrom which to reckon. In most cases, the mention of a date 1397would lead us to attribute the writing in which it occurs to thatyear or to a later year, but a date fixed on for a ' root ' may verywell be a prospective one, so that these sections may have beenwritten before 1397; an idea which is supported by the line'behold whether thy date be more or lasse than the yere 1397 ';sect. 44, l. 5. But I suspect the date to be an error for 1387,since that [ see Somer in Tyrwhitt's Glossary] was really the ' rote 'used by Nicholas Lenne. In either case, I think we may connectthese sections with the previous sections written in 1391¹. Besideswhich, Chaucer so expressly intimates his acquaintance with thesubjects of these sections in the Canterbury Tales , that we maythe more readily admit them to be really his. There is still lessdifficulty about admitting the first three sections (41-43) on the'umbrae,' because we find similar matter in the treatise ofMessahala, from which, as will appear, he derived so much. Andhence we may readily conclude that, in the second part, the firstforty sections, found in the oldest MSS. , are certainly genuine,whilst sections 41-43, as well as 44 and 45, have every claim tobe considered genuine also. This need not, however, force us toaccept the remaining sections, since they may easily have beenadded by another hand; a circ*mstance which is rendered the¹ See Part ii. sect. I , 1. 4; sect. 3, 1. 11. ‘ Obviously, nobody putting ahypothetical case in that way to a child would go out of his way to name witha past verb [ see the second case] a date still in the future.'-Morley's Eng.Writers, v. 270. Similarly, the expression ' I wolde knowe, ' in the formercase, precludes a date in the past; and hence we are driven to conclude thatthe date refers to time present. Curiously enough, there is an exactly parallelcase. Blundevill's Description of Blagrave's Astralabe, printed at London byWilliam Stansby, is undated. Turning to his Proposition VI, p. 615, we find—As for example, I would know the Meridian Altitude of the Sun ye first ofJuly, 1592. The same date, 1592 , is again mentioned at pp. 619, 620, 621 ,636, and 639, which renders it probable that the book was printed in thatyear.•2 Neither his collect, ne his expans yeres,Ne his rotes, ne his othere geres '; F 1275-6.REMARKS ON THE LATER SECTIONS. lxvmore probable by the fact that sections 41a-426 merely repeat41-43 in a more clumsy form, and by the consideration that, ifgenuine, they should have occupied their proper place immediatelyafter sect. 43, instead of being separated from the former set. Asto sect. 46, I pronounce no decided opinion; there is but little tobe said either for or against it, and it is of little consequence.§ 21. GAP BETWEEN §§ 40 AND 41. But admitting the genuineness of sections 40-45, it at once becomes evident that there aretwo distinct gaps or breaks in the continuity of the treatise; thefirst between 40 and 41; and the second between 43 and 44.A little consideration will account for these. Looking at theCanterbury Tales, we observe the very same peculiarity; at certainpoints there are distinct breaks, and no mending can link thevarious groups together in a satisfactory manner. This can beaccounted for in part by our knowledge of the fact that the poetdied before he had completed the proper linking- together of thetales which he had more or less finished; but I think it also shewshim to have been a fragmentary worker. To suppose that, uponreaching Conclusion 40, he suddenly turned to the sectionsupon the ' umbrae,' which are at once more easy to explain, moresuitable for a child, and illustrative of a different and morepractical use of the Astrolabe, seems to me natural enough; andmore probable than to suppose that anything is here lost. For, infact, it is to the very MSS. that contain sections 41-43 that we areindebted for the last five words of sect. 40, so curiously omitted inthe oldest and best MSS.; and this is a direct argument againstthe supposition of any matter having been here lost .§ 22. GAP BETWEEN §§ 43 AND 44. The break between sections 43 and 44 may be explained in a totally different manner.In this case, the break indicates a real, not an accidental, gap.I suppose section 43 to have been really the last section of Part ii,and I refer sections 44 and 45 to the Fourth Part of the Treatise,and not to the Second at all ' . For if we run through the contentsof Parts Three and Four ( p. 177), we observe that they chieflyinvolve tables, with reference to one of which we find the words'upon which table ther folwith a canon,' &c. Now sections 44 and¹ Not wishing to enforce this view upon every reader, and in order to savetrouble in reference, I have numbered these sections 44 and 45. But if theybelong, as I suppose, to Part iv., they should have been named ' Part iv.Canon 1,' and ' Part iv. Canon 2 ' respectively.

• • • e

lxvi TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.45 exactly answer the description; they are alternative canons, shewing how certain tables may be used. It happens that Conclusion40 is particularly dependent upon tables. To supply these waspartly the object of Part iv-' the whiche ferthe partie in specialshal shewen a table of the verray moeving ofthe mone from houre tohoure, every day and in every signe, after thyn almenak; uponwhich table therfolwith a canon, suffisant to teche as wel the manerof the wyrking of that same conclusioun, as to knowe in oureorizonte with which degree of the zodiac that the mone ariseth inany latitude; and the arising of any planete after his latitude frothe ecliptik lyne.' The opening words of the same Conclusionare-' Knowe by thyn almenak the degree of the ecliptik of anysigne in which that the planete is rekned for to be: ' ( p. 221 ) . Thisis easily said; but I suppose that it was not so easy in olden timesto know off-hand the exact position of a planet. It must havebeen shewn by tables, and these tables chiefly considered the' mene mote,' or average motion of the planets, and that only forperiods of years. If you wanted the position of a planet at a givenhour on a given day, you had to work it out by figures; the rulefor which working was called a ' canon .' This very ' canon ' isprecisely given at length in sect. 44; and sect. 45 is only anotherway of doing the same thing, or, in other words, is an alternativecanon. When all this is fairly and sufficiently considered, we shallfind good grounds for supposing that these sections on the ' menemote ' are perfectly genuine, and that they really belong to Part iv.of the Treatise.I will only add, that the fact of sections 41a-426 being thusplaced after a portion of Part iv. is one more indication that theyare spurious.§ 23. CONCLUSION 40. But it may be objected, as Mr. Braehas fairly objected, that Conclusion 40 itself ought to belong toPart iv. So it ought perhaps, if Chaucer had followed out his ownplan. But it is clear from its contents that the Prologue to theAstrolabie ' was written before the commencement of the treatiseitself, and not, as prefaces generally are, afterwards. He waspleased with his son's progress. Little Lewis had asked him ifhe might learn something about an astrolabe. The father atonce sent him a small astrolabe ' by way of reward, constructed1 'A smal instrument portatif aboute '; Prol. 1. 52 ( p. 177) .REMARKS ON THE LATER SECTIONS. lxviifor the purpose.for the latitude of Oxford, and having 45 circles of latitude on theflat disc (see Fig. 5) instead of having 90 such circles, as the bestinstruments had'. This, however, was a ' sufficient ' astrolabeBut he believes the Latin treatises to be toohard for his son's use, and the Conclusions in them to be toonumerous. He therefore proposes to select some of the moreimportant Conclusions, and to turn them into English with suchmodifications as would render them easier for a child to understand. He then lays down a table of contents of his proposedfive parts, throughout which he employs the future tense, as ' thefirste partie shal reherse,'-' the second partie shal teche,' &c.This use ofthe future would not alone prove much, but taken inconnexion with the context, it becomes very suggestive. However,the most significant phrase is in the last line of the Prologue,which speaks of other noteful thinges, yif god wol vouche- sauf& his modur the mayde, mo than I behete, ' i . e. other useful things,more than I now promise, if God and the Virgin vouchsafe it. Inaccordance with his habits of seldom finishing and of deviatingfrom his own plans at pleasure, we have but an imperfect result,not altogether answerable to the table of contents. I thereforeagree with Mr. Brae that the 40th Conclusion would have donebetter for Part iv. , though I do not agree with him in rejecting itas spurious. This he was led to do by the badness of the text ofthe MSS. which he consulted, but we can hardly reject this Conclusion without rejecting the whole Treatise, as it is found inall the oldest copies. By way of illustration, I would point outthat this is not the only difficulty, for the Conclusions aboutastrology ought certainly to have been reserved for Part v. Theseare Conclusions 36 and 37, which concern the ' equaciouns ofhouses '; and this is probably why, in three of the MSS. (viz. L. ,N., and R.) , these two conclusions are made to come at the end ofthe Treatise. There is nothing for it but to accept what we have,and be thankful.§ 24. EXTANT PORTION OF THE TREATISE. If, then, the questions be asked, how much of the Treatise has come down to us,and what was to have been the contents of the missing portion,the account stands thus.1 ' The almikanteras in thyn Astrolabie been compouned by two and two.'Part ii. sect. 5, 1. 1.ç 2lxviii TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.Of Part i. we have the whole.Of Part ii. we have nearly all, and probably all that ever waswritten, including Conclusions 1-40 on astronomical matters, andConclusions 41-43 on the taking of altitudes of terrestrial objects.Possibly Conclusion 46 is to be added to these; but Conclusions41a-426 are certainly spurious.Part iii. probably consisted entirely of tables, and some at leastof these may very well have been transmitted to little Lewis.Indeed, they may have been prepared by or copied from Nicholasof Lynn and John Somer, before Chaucer took the rest in hand.The tables were to have been ( and perhaps were) as follows:-1. Tables of latitude and longitudes of the stars which wererepresented on the ' Rete ' of the Astrolabe. Specimens of suchtables are found in MSS.2. Tables of declinations of the sun, according to the day ofthe year.3. Tables of longitudes of cities and towns.4. Tables for setting clocks and finding the meridian altitudes(of the sun, probably) .Such tables as these are by no means lost. There are MSS.which contain little else, as e. g. MS. Hh. 6. 8 in the CambridgeUniversity Library. The longitudes of towns are given in MS.Camb. Ii. 3. 3, at fol. 2146. Again, in MS. F. 25, in St. John'sCollege Library, Cambridge, we find tables of fixed stars, tablesof latitudes and longitudes of towns, tables of altitudes of the sunat different hours, and many others.Part iv. was to explain the motions of the heavenly bodies, withtheir causes. This was probably never written, though there is anallusion to it in Part ii . § 11, l . 12. It was also to contain a tableto shew the position of the moon, according to an almanac; andsuch a table is given in the St. John's MS. above mentioned,and in MS. Camb. Ii . 3. 3 , at fol. 143. This was to have beenfollowed by a canon, and an explanation of the working of theConclusion-' to knowe with which degree of the zodiac that themone ariseth, ' and ' the arising of any planete, ' &c. The canon ispartly accounted for, as regards the planets at least, by sections 44and 45, and the ' Conclusion ' by section 40.Part v. was to contain the general rules of astrology, with tablesof equations of houses, dignities of planets, and other usefulthings which God and the Virgin might vouchsafe that the authorMESSAHALA'S TREATISE. lxixshould accomplish. Sections 36 and 37 tell us something aboutthe equations of houses; but, in all probability, none (or, at least,no more) of this fifth Part was ever written. Tables of equationsof houses, for the latitude of Toledo, are given in MS. Camb. Ii.3. 3, at fol. 177, and elsewhere. Of the general rules of astrologywe find in old MSS. somewhat too much, but they are generallyin Latin; however, the Trinity MS. R. 15. 18 has some of themin English.On the whole, we have quite as much of Chaucer's Treatise aswe need care for; and he may easily have changed his mindabout the necessity of writing Part v; for we actually find himdeclaring (and it is pleasant to hear him) that ' natheles, thise benobservauncez of iudicial matiere & rytes of payens, in which myspirit ne hath no feith '; ii. 4. 36; (p. 192).§ 25. SOURCES OF THE TREATISE. I next have to point outthe sources whence Chaucer's treatise was derived . Mr. Halliwell,in a note at the end of his edition of Mandeville's Travels,speaks ofthe original treatise on the Astrolabe, written in Sanskrit,on which he supposes Chaucer's treatise to have been founded.Whether the Latin version used by Chaucer was ultimately derivedfrom a Sanskrit copy or not, need not be considered here. Theuse of the Astrolabe was no doubt well known at an early periodin India and among the Persians and Arabs; see the ' Description of a Planispheric Astrolabe constructed for Sháh SultánHusain Safawí, King of Persia,' by W. H. Morley, in whichelaborate and beautifully illustrated volume the reader may findsufficient information. Marco Polo says ( bk. ii . c. 33) that therewere 5000 astrologers and soothsayers in the city of Cambaluc,adding they have a kind of Astrolabe, on which are inscribedthe planetary signs, the hours, and critical points of the wholeyear '; Marco Polo, ed. Yule, i. 399. Compare also the mentionof the instrument in the 161st night of the Arabian Nights'Entertainments, where a translation which I have now before mehas the words— instead of putting water into the basin, he [thebarber] took a very handsome astrolabe out of his case, and wentvery gravely out of my room to the middle of the yard, to takethe height of the sun '; on which passage Mr. Lane has a note(chap. v. note 57) which Mr. Brae quotes at length in his edition.There is also at least one version of a treatise in Greek, entitledπερὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀστρολάβου χρήσεως, by Johannes Philoponus, of whichlxx TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.the Cambridge University Library possesses two copies, viz. MSS.Dd. 15. 27 and Gg. 2. 33. But it is clear, from his own words,that Chaucer followed the Latin, and I can point out ' one of theLatin treatises to which he was very considerably indebted. Thisis the Compositio et Operatio Astrolabie, ' by Messahala , ofwhich copies are, I have no doubt, sufficiently numerous. TheCambridge Library has four, viz. Hh. 6. 8, Ii. 1. 13, Ii. 3. 3³, andKk. 1. 1 , and there is another copy in St. John's College Library,Cambridge, marked F. 25. The title should be particularlyobserved; for the treatise is distinctly divisible into two separateparts, viz. the ' Compositio Astrolabii ' and the Operatio Astrolabii.' The former begins with the words - Scito quod astrolabiumsit nomen Graecum,' and explains how to make an astrolabe, andhow to inscribe on it the various necessary lines and circles withsufficient exactness. It is much the longer portion of the treatise,and (in MS. Ii. 3. 3) is illustrated by numerous diagrams, whilstthe second part has no such illustrations. But it does not appearthat Chaucer made any use of this former part, as his astrolabehad been procured ready- made. The second part of the treatise,or 'Operatio Astrolabii, ' begins with the words ' Nomina instrumentorum sunt hec. ' This is evidently one of the sources fromwhich Chaucer drew largely . Chaucer's Part i . is almost whollytaken from this, but he has expanded it in several places, with theevident intention of making it more easy to understand. In Partii. he has taken from it, with more or less exactness, sections 1-3 ,5-8, 10, 11 , 13-18, 20, 21 , 24, 25 , 27-31 , 33-37 , 41 and 42;whilst sections 4, 9, 12, 19, 22, 23 , 26, 32, 38-40 and 43 do notappear in it. In other words, Messahala's treatise accounts for1 Mr. Bradshaw gave me the hint; I afterwards found this remark by Selden,in his Preface to Drayton's Polyolbion: ' his [ Chaucer's] Treatise of theAstrolabe, which I dare swear was chiefly learned out of Messahalah.'2 Macha-allah or Messahala, an Arabian astronomer, by religion a Jew,flourished towards the end of the eighth century. Latin translations of fourof his works (not including the Treatise on the Astrolabe) have been printed,and were published at Nuremberg in 1549. A list of his works is given inCasiri (Bibl. Arab. -hisp. tom. 1er. pag. 434) , and in the Biographie Universelle.3 This splendid MS. , of the thirteenth century, is dated 1276, and illustratedwith beautifully executed coloured diagrams. It is a storehouse ofinformationabout the Astrolabe, and I have often consulted it.↑ It is printed in full in my edition of Chaucer's Astrolabe, published for theEarly Eng. Text Society in 1872, at pp. 88-104.VARIOUS EDITIONS. 1xxithirty-one conclusions out of forty-three, or about two-thirds ofthe whole. In some places, Chaucer has translated almost wordfor word, so as to leave no doubt as to his authority. Besideswhich, I have already remarked that Chaucer's version is directlyconnected with Messahala by the quotations from the latter whichappear in MS. E.; see description of this MS. at p. lix. If it beinquired, whence did Chaucer derive the remaining third of hisSecond Part, I think it very likely that some of it may be foundamongst the varied and voluminous contents of such a MS. asIi. 3. 3, which is a sort of general compendium of astronomicaland astrological knowledge. The complete solution ofthis questionI leave to some one with more leisure than myself, being satisfiedthat to have found the original of Part i . and two-thirds of Part ii.is to have made a good start. It must not be omitted, that theMSS. of Messahala are not all alike; that some copies havepropositions which are not in others; and that the order oftheConclusions is not invariable. The chief noteworthy differencebetween Chaucer's version and the Latin original is in the orderofthe Conclusions; it is clear that Chaucer not only took what heliked, but rearranged his materials after his own fashion.§ 26. VARIOUS EDITIONS. About the early printed editions ofthe Astrolabe, I have not much to say. The Editio Princeps of1532 was clearly derived from some MS. of the second class, and,what between the errors of the scribes and printers, absurditiesabound. After a careful examination of the old editions, I cameto the conclusion that the less I consulted them the better, andhave therefore rather avoided them than sought their assistance.All the editions not only give the conclusions in a wrong order, but(like the MSS. of the second class) absurdly repeat Conclusion I.of Part ii. , and reckon the repetition of it as Conclusion III .MSS. ofthe first class are free from this defect, and may thus beeasily known. The only edition worth consulting is that byMr. A. E. Brae, published quite recently, in 1870. Mr. Braemade much use of MS. I., besides which he consulted thePrinted Editions, and MSS. H. and L. See the descriptions ofthese MSS. above. From this edition I have taken many hints, andI wish to express, very thankfully, my obligations to it. Mr. Braehas brought to bear upon his work much skill and knowledge, andhas investigated many points with much patience, minuteness,and critical ability. But I cannot but perceive that he has oftenlxxii TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.expended his labour upon very inferior materials, and has beensometimes misled by the badness of those MSS. to which alone hehad access¹.Besides his print of Chaucer's Astrolabe, Mr. Brae has reprintedsome curious and interesting critical notes of his own, and hasadded some essays on Chaucer's ' prime, ' on ' the Carrenare,' and'shippes opposteres.' To all that he has done I am muchindebted.$ 27. WORKS ON THE SUBJECT. The works upon, anddescriptions of, the astrolabe, are numerous. I have had neithertime nor inclination to make researches into the subject; forwhich reason I here note the names of a few books which may beexamined by the curious reader.In his Universal Lexicon, Zedler explains that astrolabes are oftwo kinds, ' universal ' and ' particular .' He speaks of the astrolabes ( 1 ) of Gemma Frisius; see Petri Apiani Cosmographia, perGemmam Phrysium restituta; (2 ) of Johan de Rojas, a Spaniard,A.D. 1550; ( 3 ) of De la Hire the elder, professor of mathematicsat Paris, A. D. 1702; (4) of Johannes Stoflerinus (or Stöffler),A.D. 1510. The last of these varied from the others in adoptinga different and more convenient system of projection, viz. thatupon the plane of the equator, or one parallel to it, the eye beingin the antarctic pole, and the arctic pole being made the centre ofthe instrument. This projection is the same as that which wasused by Ptolemy, and it is adopted in the diagrams which accompany Chaucer's treatise in some of the MSS. It should beobserved here that the term ' astrolabe ' alone is vague; it wasoriginally a general name for any circular instrument used forobservation of the stars; but in the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies it was restricted to the particular kind called the' Astrolabe Planisphere,' or astrolabe on a flat surface, in whichsense alone the word is used throughout this volume. See theEnglish Cyclopaedia, Arts and Sciences, s. v. Astrolabe.The simplest work is that by Stöffler or Stoflerinus, as he callshimself; see also Gemma Frisius, Metius, Clavius Bambergensis,the Cursus Mathematicus of Dechales, vol. iv. p. 161 , Delambre'sHistory of Astronomy, and other works. The plates in Metius"1 In my edition of the Astrolabe ' for the Early Eng. Text Society ( 1872) ,I have inserted a large number of examples of strange blunders in the printed editions.DESCRIPTION OF THE ASTROLABE. lxxiiiare most exquisitely engraved, and on a large scale, and givea better representation of the instrument than any others thatI have seen.One of the MSS. , viz. MS. E., refers to an astrolabe belongingto Merton College, Oxford ' . There is a very nice one, made ofbrass, and by a Dutch engraver, in the library of King's College,Cambridge. It has several discs or plates, or, as Chaucer callsthem, 'tables ". Of this instrument the same library containsa written description, with some account of the problems it willsolve, and an investigation of its probable date, by H. Godfray,Esq. , of St. John's College.There is a book entitled ' A verie briefe and most plainedescription of Mr. Blagrave his Astrolabe, ' &c . , by Mr. Blundevill;London, printed by William Stansby. But it turns out to be oflittle practical assistance, because Blagrave's astrolabe was ona different principle.§ 28. DESCRIPTION OF THE ASTROLABE PLANISPHERE. Thereis not, however, much need of reference to books to understandwhat the astrolabe used by Chaucer was like. The instrumentmay be readily understood from a brief description, and from thePlates in this volume.The most important part of the ' astrolabe planisphere ' consisted of a somewhat heavy circular plate of metal from four toseven inches in diameter, which could be suspended from thethumb by a ring (i . 1 ), working with such freedom as would allowthe instrument to assume a perfectly perpendicular position (i. 2).One side of the plate was perfectly flat, and was called the back.This is represented in Fig. 1. On it was described a number ofconcentric rings, marked with various divisions, which may bereadily understood from the figure. Beginning at the outermostring, the first two represent the ninety degrees into which eachquadrant of a circle can be divided (i. 7). The next two represent¹ There are two astrolabes in Merton College, besides a plate exhibitingastronomical tables. These are all described in a paper entitled ' Remarks onan Astrolabe belonging to F. A. Hyett, Esq., ' written by my friend RobertTaylor, M.A., and printed in the Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archæological Society, vol. xii . Mr. Taylor further describes twoAstrolabes in the British Museum.2 This word has several senses in Chaucer. It means ( 1 ) the discs of anastrolabe; (2) a set of tablets; (3) astronomical tables; and (4) the game of 'tables.'lxxiv TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.the signs of the zodiac, each subdivided into thirty degrees ( i. 8).The next two represent the days of the year, and are ratherdifficult to mark, as the circle has, for this purpose, to be dividedinto 365 equal parts (i. 9) . The next three circles shew thenames of the months, the number of days in each, and the smalldivisions which represent each day, which coincide exactly withthose representing the days of the year (i . 10). The two innermost rings shew the saints' days, with their Sunday- letters. Thus,above the 21st of December is written ' Thome, ' i . e. St. Thomas'sday, its Sunday-letter being E; the rest can easily be traced bythe tables in a Prayer-book (i . 11 ) . These may be thus brieflyrecapitulated:-I and 2. Circles of degrees of the quadrant and circle.3 and 4. Circles of the zodiacal signs, with their degrees.5 and 6. Circles of the days of the year, with their numbers.7, 8 and 9. Circles ofthe months, with their days and numbersof the days.10 and 11. Circles of saints ' days, with their Sunday-letters.Within all these, are the Scales of Umbra Recta and UmbraVersa, in each of which the scale is divided into twelve equalparts, for the convenience of taking and computing altitudes (i . 12) .This primitive and loose method of computation has long beensuperseded by the methods of trigonometry. Besides thesecircles, there is a perpendicular line, marking the South and Northpoints, and a horizontal line from East to West.The other side of the plate, called the front, and shewn inFig. 2, had a thick rim with a wide depression in the middle(i. 3). The rim was marked with three rings or circles, of whichthe outermost was the Circle of Letters (A to Z) representing thetwenty- four hours of the day, and the two innermost the degreesof the quadrants (i . 16) . The depressed central portion ofthe plate was marked only with three circles, the ' TropicusCancri,' the Equinoctialis,' and the ' Tropicus Capricorni '(i. 17); and with the cross-lines from North to South, and fromEast to West (i . 15) . But several thin plates or discs of metalwere provided, which were of such a size as exactly to drop intothe depression spoken of. The principal one of these, called the' Rete, ' is shewn in Fig. 2. It consisted of a circular ring markedwith the zodiacal signs, subdivided into degrees, with narrowbranching limbs both within and without this ring, having smallerUSES OF THE ASTROLABE. lxxvbranches or tongues terminating in points, each of which denotedthe exact position of some well- known star. The names of thesestars, as Alhabor, ' ' Rigel, ' &c. , are (some of them) written on thebranches (i . 21 ) . The ' Rete ' being thus, as it were, a skeletonplate, allows the ' Tropicus Cancri, ' &c. , marked upon the bodyof the instrument, to be partially seen below it. Another form ofthe 'Rete ' is shewn in Fig. 9, and other positions of the Rete inFig. 11 and Fig. 12. But it was more usual to interpose betweenthe ' Rete ' and the body of the instrument (called the ' Mother ')another thin plate or disc, such as that in Fig. 5, so that portionsof this latter plate could be seen beneath the skeleton- form of the'Rete ' (i. 17) . These plates are called by Chaucer ' tables, ' andsometimes an instrument was provided with several of them,differently marked, for use in places having different latitudes.The one in Fig. 5 is suitable for the latitude of Oxford(nearly). The upper part, above the Horizon Obliquus, is markedwith circles of altitude ( i . 18) , crossed by incomplete arcs ofazimuth tending to a common centre, the zenith (i . 19) . Thelower part of the same plate is marked with arcs denoting thetwelve planetary hours (i. 20).At the back ofthe astrolabe revolved the ' rule, ' made of metal,and fitted with sights, represented in Fig. 3 (i . 13) . At the frontof it revolved the ' label, ' represented in Fig. 6 (i . 22) .All the parts were held together by the central pin (Fig. 4)which passed through the holes in the ' moder, ' plates, ' Rete,'rule, and label ' , and was secured by a little wedge (i . 14) , whichwas sometimes fancifully carved to resemble a horse ( Fig. 7).Another ' table ' or disc is shewn in Fig. 14, and was used forascertaining the twelve astrological houses.§ 29. USES OF THE ASTROLABE PLANISPHERE. I here brieflyenumerate such principal uses of the instrument as are mentionedby Chaucer.The back (Fig. 1 ) shews at once the degree of the zodiacanswering to every day in the year (ii. 1 ). The altitude of thesun can be taken by the ' Rule, ' elevated at the proper angle(ii. 2). If the Rete be properly adjusted to this altitude, we canthus tell the hour of the day (ii . 3) . The duration of twilight canPertuis: m. A hole. Pertuis de l'Araigne, the centre of an Astrolabe;the hole wherein all the tables thereof are, by a pin or naile, joined together.'-Cotgrave's French Dictionary.lxxvi TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.be calculated by observing when the sun is 18° below the horizon(ii. 6). Observe the times of sunrise and sundown, and theinterval is the ' artificial day ' (ii . 7 ) . This day, with the durationof morning and evening twilights added to it, is called the ' vulgarday ' (ii. 9). The plate in Fig. 5 shews the planetary hours (ii. 12).The placing of the sun's degree on the South-line gives the sun'smeridian altitude (ii. 13), and conversely (ii. 14) . The back ofthe instrument can shew what days in the year are of equal length(ii. 15). The degree of the zodiac which souths with any star canbe ascertained by observing two altitudes of the star; but theobservations must be made when the star is very near the meridian(ii. 17) . If the star be marked on the Rete, the said degreeis easily found by use of the Rete ( ii . 18). We can also find withwhat degree of the zodiac the same star rises ( ii . 19) . The use ofthe Rete also shews the declination of every degree in the zodiac(ii . 20). We can always tell for what latitude a disc such as thatin Fig. 5 is constructed, by properly examining it (ii. 21 ). Thelatitude of any place can be found by two observations of thealtitude of the Pole-star (ii. 23); or of any circumpolar star (ii . 24);or by observing the sun's meridional altitude (ii . 25) . The Retealso tells us the ' ascensions of signs, ' or how many degrees of theequinoctial circle pass the meridian with a given sign (ii . 27); asalso the oblique ascensions ' of the same (ii. 28) . The astrolabecan also be used to discover (but only in an imperfect andapproximate manner) the four cardinal points of the compass(ii. 29). We can also compare the altitude of a planet with thatof the sun (ii . 30). We can find in what part of the horizon thesun rises (ii. 31 ); and in what direction to look for a conjunctionof the sun and moon (ii . 32); also near what point of the compassthe sun is at any given hour (ii. 33) . The moon's observedaltitude will shew her longitude (ii. 34) . We can tell, from twoobservations of a planet properly made, whether the planet'smovement is direct or retrograde (ii. 35). The disc shewn inFig. 14 helps to shew the ' equations of houses ' (ii . 36). Thefour cardinal points can be found without an astrolabe, by anexperiment properly conducted (ii. 38). The astrolabe can be usedto find the degree of the zodiac with which any planet ascends,even when the planet is not situated in the ecliptic (ii . 40).By the use of the Umbra Recta on the back of the instrument,we can take the altitude of an accessible object by a singleSTARS MARKED ON THE RETE. lxxviiobservation (ii. 41 ); or of an inaccessible object by two observations (ii. 43). Or, the height of an inaccessible object may likewisebe taken by two observations, by the scale marked Umbra Versa(ii. 42).Thefew Conclusions not here referred to are chiefly explanatory,or of minor interest.§30. STARS MARKED ON THE RETE. Several of the LatinMSS. upon the Astrolabe give a list of the stars marked upon theThere is a double list, for example, in MS. Ii. 3. 3, inthe Cambridge University Library, fol. 70, back. It is given intheform of two tables; the first mentions forty-nine stars, with thedegrees of the zodiac which south along with them, and theirdeclinations from the equinoctial line. The second table mentionssome only of the same stars, with their longitudes and latitudes,as referred to the ecliptic.A list of the principal stars usually marked upon the Rete, asshewn in Fig. 2, is given in the Note to Part i. § 21. 4 (P. 357).Fig. 9 shews another Rete, with many of the same stars, with theaddition of Markep ( Argous). Alchimech is the same as Azimech,i.e. a Virginis; Cor Leonis is a Leonis; and Alfart is a Hydræ.§31. ASTROLOGICAL NOTES. For a general sketch of Astrology,see the English Cyclopaedia, s. v. Worthless as the science is, itis useful to have a few ' facts ' for handy reference. I thereforeattempt a synopsis of the chief points of it, drawn from JohannisHispalensis Isagoge in Astrologiam.To save space, I give the information in a tabular form, whereinI denote the twelve Signs by A., T., G., C., L. , V., Li. , S. , Sa., Cp. ,Aq. , P.; and the seven Planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus,Mercury, Moon, by St., J., Ms., Sn. , V., My. , Mo. What the tableexactly means shall be explained presently.Signs. Man. Ex.Day. Nt. Com. Face 1. Face 2. Face 3.A. Ms. Sn. (19) Sn. J. St. Ms. Sn. V.T. V. Mn. (3) V. Mn. Ms. My. Mn. St.G. My. D. H. St. My. J. Ms. Sn.C. Mn. J. (15)V. Ms. Mn. V. My. Mn.L. Sn. Sn. J. St. St. Ms. V.My. My. (15)V. Mn. Ms. Sn. My.Li. V. St. (19)St. My. J. Mn. St.S. Ms. V. Ms. Mn. Ms. Sn.Sa. J. D. T. Sn. J. St. My.Mn. St.Cp.St. Ms. (28)V. Mn. Ms. Ms. Sn.Aq.St. St. My. J. My.Mn.P. J. V. (21)V. Ms. Mn. St. J. Ms.lxxviii TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.The first line is to be read thus.Aries is the mansion (or house) of Mars; the exaltation (orhonour) of the Sun, in the 19th degree of the sign; the lord ofthe Triplicity of Aries with its attendant signs is the Sun by day,Jupiter by night, and Saturn in Common, both by day and night;the first Face of Aries (degrees 1 to 10) is that of Mars; thesecond Face (degrees 11 to 20) is that of the Sun; the third Face(degrees 21 to 30) is that of Venus. And so on for the rest;notingthat Gemini is the Exaltation of the Dragon's Head (D. H.),and Sagittarius that of the Dragon's Tail ( D. T.).The meanings of the words are as follows::--AMansion or House appears to be that sign in which the planetis peculiarly at home for some reason or other.The Exaltation or Honour is that degree of a sign in whichthe planet named has its greatest power; but the degree wasoften neglected, and Aries was called the Exaltation of the Sun,simply.The Fall (Lat. occasus vel detrimentum) of a planet is the signopposite its mansion. Libra is opposite Aries; therefore Libra isthe Fall of Mars.The Dejection or Depression (Lat. dedecus) of a planet is thesign opposite to that of its exaltation. Libra is opposite Aries;therefore Libra is the Dejection of the Sun. And so on.A Triplicity is a combination of three signs in the form ofa triangle, each 120° apart. Thus Aries, Leo, and Sagittariusform the first triplicity; Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, the second;Gemini, Libra, Aquarius, the third; Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces, thefourth. Equal divisions of a sign (third-parts, namely) are calledFaces. There were also unequal divisions called Terms.The ' mobill ' or movable signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn. The ' fixe ' or fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio,Aquarius. The ' common ' signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius,Pisces.The signs Aries, Gemini, Leo, &c . (taking every other sign) arediurnal or masculine. The rest, Taurus, Cancer, &c. , are nocturnalorfeminine.The first six signs, Aries to Virgo, are northern or sinistersigns. So called because astrologers looked towards the east orascendent.The last six, Libra to Pisces, are southern or dexter signs.DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. lxxixThe signs Cancer to Sagittarius are western, sovereign, right, ordirect signs. Cf. Astrol. ii . 28, and see Fig. 2 .The rest, Capricorn to Gemini, are eastern, obedient, tortuous, oroblique signs.This is all that a reader is likely to want.the authorities.For other points, seeDESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.32. Plate I. Fig. 1. The flat back of the Astrolabe; see§ 28.Plate II. Fig. 2. The front of the Astrolabe, with raisedborder. In the wide depression in the middle, the plate calledthe ' Rete ' is dropped in, and is shewn in its primary position.Other positions of it are sketched in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12.Plate III. Fig. 3. The ' Rewle ' carrying two sights, whichrevolved at the back of the Astrolabe. Astrol. i . 13.Fig. 4. The central ' Pin,' shewn with the ' Wedge ' insertedthrough it. Astrol. i . 14; cf. Fig. 7.Fig. 5. One of the Tables or discs, used by being droppedwithin the depression on the front of the Astrolabe; i. 17.They were marked differently, according to the latitude of theplace. The one here drawn is suitable for the latitude of Oxford,nearly.Fig. 6. The Label, ' which revolved at the front of the Astrolabe; i . 22.Plate IV. Fig. 7. Another form of the ' Pin, ' shewing theWedge cut into the shape of a Horse ( i. 14); from MS. Camb.Ii. 3. 3.Fig. 8. Diagram, shewing how to draw the three ' principalcircles '; see footnote on p. 183 .Fig. 9. Another form of the ' Rete, ' from MS. Ii. 3. 3; cf.Fig. 2. This figure shews the ' Almury ' very clearly; Astrol.i. 23.Plate V. Fig. 10. Diagram of the nine spheres; from MS.Camb. Ii. 3. 3. Astrol. i. 17.Fig. 11. Rough sketch of the position of the ' Rete ' in Astrol .ii. 3 (first part). Denticle opposite C, and first point of Ariesopposite X; 9 a.m.lxxx TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.Fig. 12. Rough sketch of the position of the ' Rete ' in Astrol.ii. 3 (second part) . Denticle near O; first point of Aries near H;8h. 8m. p.m.Fig. 13. Diagram of the Elevation of the Pole; Astrol. ii . 23 .The arc AN is 56°; A'N is 48°; A'P is 4°; and PN is 52°. A, A'are two positions of the Pole-star.Plate VI. Fig. 14. A 'Table' or disc shewing the twelveastrological ' Houses '; Astrol. ii . 36 and 37 .Fig. 15. Diagram shewing how to ascertain the meridional linefrom two shadows of an upright gnomon; Astrol. ii . 38.Fig. 16. Diagram illustrating the use of the Umbra Recta;Astrol. ii . 41 , 41a, and 416.Fig. 17. Diagram of the use of the Umbra Versa, at twoobservations; Astrol. ii . 42, 42a, and 426.Fig. 18. Use of the Umbra Recta, at two observations; Astrol.ii. 43 and 43a.ERRATA AND ADDENDA.For some corrections in the Hous of Fame, see p. xv.P. 31, Hous of Fame, 1023. For House read HousP. 62, Hous of Fame, 2098, supply a comma at the end of the line.For Jerome read IeromeFor as read nasP. 89, Legend, 284.P. 111, Legend, 741 .P. 172, Legend, 2663 .P. 173, Legend, 2685.P. 334, note to 1. 1896.For forlon read forlornFor death read deethSee p. lvi.P. 347, 1. 13 from bottom; for sædu read saduP. 395 , last line. After Last Day. -add See further at p. 504.P. 396, 1. 24. This line should stand thus-of Homburg; see Anglia, vii .117, and Appendix, p. 81 .P. 433, ll . 4 and 5 from bottom: these should be-( Addit. 5140) reads ' theNunne' instead of another,' although the next Tale in the MS. is not that ofthe Second Nun.P. 437, l. 11.This also isThis is numbered, 6665: it obviously ought to be 5665.1.OMeridies1/20 13020Crucis30 Maius 10 2010 31 Tuntus 302/0061OF300910 Gemini160 150 II 10Cancer 30 20180170201 7070800890JohannisCIacobiJulius3120103009OCLe200 210eougustusSeptemberOctobeaurentiiMarieLaun2203120302040502402303030102904050OriensLuce102031 1030020.310Umbra48Umbra Recta2784MartiniMedium8Occidens Versa 84062030 بلوTaurus1101040302051020 pritisbMarie3 201008ries10H Dz1020agricusMartiusNoctiseNouemberDecember20 30 10ThomeScorpiusmSagittariusCapricorn320306010703302/0340 350 36030405060 Pisces102040ww102030usAquarius203020 30 10807090 80605/0403020offdFig. 1W.W. Skeat fecit.FIG . I. BACK OF THE,ASTROLABE. '

11=P2Ry&COriensEquinoctialisErropicus0אAque6080Capricornus 21010AltairMeridiesVegaTropicusAliotAlgottakHokSagitt9 riusCancrphotuAriesTaurus2/Centin13CancersLeo5VirgoMenkarn80debaran Rigel૧૫]V9000Fig. 2.AlgomeisoMediumNoctisI60KA09BαD8 ScorpioLibra1Occidens CapricornयूᎶΕWW.Skeat. fecit.FIG. 2 . FRONT OF THE ' ASTROLABE.'

Fig. 4|||5HoriHorizon 9075Fig. 320 1525 30 35 3/5 405060Oཔ་1zon130 Tropicus160 CancriEquinoctialis TropicusLFig. 5130Obliquus90 RectusΤΟCapricorni3Fig.6W.W. Skeat fecitFIG. 3. LABEL FIG. 4. PIN. FIG. 5. PLATE FOR A CLIMATE. FIG. 6. RULE.

IVcune?equsFig.7.Denebkaytoxαε 02ague103/0W.W.Skeat, fecitAlmuriΟΙOE 02suобам10BGHDFig. 8.CorScorpiσεC3/0ursaariestaurusgeminicancerleovirgo3030 30AlchimechmenkarAldebaranRigilAlgomeizaCorleonisAlhaborFig.9.alfartMarkepFIG. 7. WEDGE AND HORSE (from a MS. ) .FIG. 8. DIAGRAM FOR A PROPOSITION. FIG. 9. STAR- POINTS.

CVFig. 11.Fig.FiguraW.W. Skeat fecitS&ရာ2AN13.Fig. 12.PrimumOrbisStellaruOrbisOrbisMobileSaturniMartismOrbis JovisFixarumSolisVenerMeMercuriLuneSperaOrbisOrbisOrbisFig. 10.9SperarumFIG. 10. NINE SPHERES. FIGS. 11 , 12, 13. PROBLEMS.

VI12Horizon2T10TropicusEquinoc3Fig.15.CancritialisFig. 14snnbil1072EFig.17.BᏁъR c ECnB Th E m EBb CaAFig.18.mnсaНЪFig.16.W.W.Skeat.fecit.FIG. 14. HOUSES. FIGS. 15-18. UMBRA RECTA AND UMBRA VERSA.

THE HOUS OF FAME.GoBOOK I.OD turne us every dreem to gode!For hit is wonder, by the rode,To my wit, what causeth swevenesEither on morwes, or on evenes;And why the effect folweth of somme,And of somme hit shal never come;Why that is an avisioun,And this a revelacioun;Why this a dreem, why that a sweven,And nat to every man liche even;Why this a fantom, these oracles,I noot; but who-so of these miraclesThe causes knoweth bet than I,Devyne he; for I certainly510Ne can hem noght, ne never thinke 15To besily my wit to swinke,To knowe of hir signifiaunceThe gendres, neither the distaunceOf tymes of hem, ne the causesFor-why this more than that cause is;20The authorities are F. ( Fairfax 16); B. (Bodley 638); P. ( Pepys 2006);Cx. (Caxton's ed. ); Th. (Thynne's ed. 1532) . I follow F. mainly, correctingthe spelling.1. P. drem; rest dreme. 8. All have And why; I omit why. 9, 10.F. swevene, evene; Cx. Th. sweuen, euen. 11. Th. B. a fantome; P. afauntom; Cx. a fanton; F. affaintome; after which, all needlessly insert why.12. F. Th. B. P. not; Cx. note ( = noot) .insert is before more.Elide o in so. 20. All wronglyB2 THE HOUS OF FAME. [ BOOK I.As if folkes complexiounsMake hem dreme of reflexiouns;Or elles thus, as other sayn,For to greet feblenesse of brayn,By abstinence, or by seeknesse,Prison, stewe, or greet distresse;Or elles by disordinaunceOf naturel acustomaunce,That som man is to curiousIn studie, or melancolious,Or thus, so inly ful of drede,That no man may him bote bede;Or elles, that devociounOf somme, and contemplaciounCauseth swiche dremes ofte;Or that the cruel lyf unsofteWhich these ilke lovers ledenThat hopen over muche or dreden,That purely hir impressiounsCauseth hem avisiouns;Or if that spirits have the mightTo make folk to dreme a-nightOr if the soule, of propre kinde,Be so parfit, as men finde,113525303540That hit forwot that is to come, 45And that hit warneth alle and sommeOf everiche of hir aventuresBy avisiouns, or by figures ,But that our flesh ne hath no mightTo understonden hit aright, 50For hit is warned to derkly;-But why the cause is, noght wot I.Wel worthe, of this thing, grete clerkes,That trete of this and other werkes;For I of noon opinioun 5524. B. of the; rest of her; I omit the (her).Cx. stryf; Th. stryfe.wote; rest wote.26. F. B. stewe; P. stoe;35. P. sweche; rest suche, such. 45. F. B. for50. F. vnderstonde, followed by a metrical mark, indicating a pause: I add n.BOOK I. ]3THE HOUS OF FAME.Nil as now make mencioun,But only that the holy rodeTurne us every dreem to gode!For never, sith that I was born,Ne no man elles, me biforn,Mette, I trowe stedfastly,So wonderful a dreem as IThe tenthe day [dide] of Decembre,The which, as I can now remembre,I wol yow tellen every del.The Invocation.But at my ginning, trusteth wel,I wol make invocacioun,With special devocioun,Unto the god of slepe anoon,That dwelleth in a cave of stoonUpon a streem that comth fro Lete,That is a flood of helle unswete;Besyde a folk men clepe Cimerie,Ther slepeth ay this god unmerieWith his slepy thousand sonesThat alway for to slepe hir wone isAnd to this god, that I of rede,Preye I, that he wol me spedeMy sweven for to telle aright,60657075155If every dreem stonde in his might. 80And he, that mover is of alThat is and was, and ever shal,So yive hem Ioye that hit hereOf alle that they dreme to-yere,And for to stonden alle in graceOf hir loves, or in what placeThat hem wer levest for to stonde,8558, 62. MSS. dreme ( = dreem). 63. See note. 64. B. P. now; F.yow; rest om. 71. P. strem; rest streme ( = streem); so P. drem (restdreme) in 1. 80. MSS. cometh ( =com'th) . 73. Cx. Th. clepe; F. clepeth.77. F. That; rest And. 78. Th. wol; P. wul; Cx. wyl; F. B. wolde.85. F. B. stonde; Cx. Th. stande; P. stond. Cx. alle; F. Th. al (wrongly).B 2THE HOUS OF FAME. [ BOOK I.And shelde hem fro povert and shonde,And fro unhappe and ech disese,And sende hem al that may hem plese,That take hit wel, and scorne hit noght,Ne hit misdemen in her thoghtThrough malicious entencioun.And who-so, through presumpcioun,Or hate or scorne, or through envye,Dispyt, or Iape, or vilanye,Misdeme hit, preye I Iesus godThat (dreme he barfoot, dreme he shod),That every harm that any manHath had, sith [that] the world began,Befalle him therof, or he sterve,And graunte he mote hit ful deserve,Lo! with swich a conclusiounAs had of his avisiounCresus, that was king of Lyde,That high upon a gebet dyde!9095100105This prayer shal he have of me;I am no bet in charite!Now herkneth, as I have you seyd,What that I mette, or I abreyd. 110The Dream.Of Decembre the tenthe day,Whan hit was night, to slepe I layRight ther as I was wont to done,And fil on slepe wonder sone,As he that wery was for-goOn pilgrimage myles twoTo the corseynt Leonard,To make lythe of that was hard.But as I sleep, me mette I wasWithin a temple y-mad of glas;11512088. All pouerte.P. om. a.89. B. ech; F. eche. 100. Isupplythat. 103.(abrayde).109 , 110. Cx. seyd, abreyd; the rest seyde (sayde) , abreydeGrammar requires seyd, abreyd; (abreyde also occurs).118. Cx. P. leonard, hard; F. Th. B. leonarde, harde. P. om. of.MSS. slept, slepte; read sleep, as in 1. 438.117,119.BOOK I.]THE HOUS OF FAME. 5In whiche ther were mo imagesOf gold, stondinge in sondry stages,And mo riche tabernacles,And with perre mo pinacles,And mo curious portreytures,And queynte maner of figures125Of olde werke, then I saw ever.For certeynly, I niste neverWher that I was, but wel wiste I,Hit was of Venus redely, 130The temple; for, in portreyture,I saw anoon-right hir figureNaked fletinge in a see.And also on hir heed, parde,Hir rose-garlond whyt and reed, 135And hir comb to kembe hir heed,Hir dowves, and daun Cupido,Hir blinde sone, and Vulcano,That in his face was ful broun.But as I romed up and doun,I fond that on a wal ther wasThus writen, on a table of bras:' I wol now singe, if that I can,The armes, and al-so the man,140That first cam, through his destinee, 145Fugitif of Troye contree,In Itaile, with ful moche pyne,Unto the strondes of Lavyne. 'And tho began the story anoon,As I shal telle yow echoon.First saw I the destrucciounOf Troye, through the Greek Sinoun,122. F. Th. golde; Cx. P. gold; B. goold. 126. All queynt.150127.F. B. olde; Th. golde; Cx. P. gold. F. sawgh. 131. Th. This; rest The.132. F. sawgh.F. B. partee (!).a mede.F. broune.134. Th. heed; B. hed; F. Cx. hede. Cx. Th. P. parde;135. B. red; F. Th. rede; Cx. Rose garlondes smellynge as136. MSS. combe. B. hed; rest hede. 139. Cx. P. brown;140. Cx. down; F. dovne. 141. P. fond; F. Cx. B. fonde;Th. founde. Cx. Th. wal; B. wall; F. walle. 143. F. B. say; rest synge.148. Cx. Th. P. Lauyne; F. B.152. Cx. Th. P. Troye; F. B. Troy; see l . 155.F. B. P. om. that.Labyne.146. F. B. Troy.6 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK I. .[That] with his false forsweringe,And his chere and his lesingeMade the hors broght into Troye,Thorgh which Troyens loste al hir Ioye.And after this was grave, allas!How Ilioun assailed wasAnd wonne, and king Priam y- slayn,And Polites his sone, certayn,Dispitously, of dan Pirrus.155160And next that saw I how Venus,Whan that she saw the castel brende,Doun fro the hevene gan descende,And bad hir sone Eneas flee;And how he fledde, and how that heEscaped was from al the pres,And took his fader, Anchises,And bar him on his bakke away,Cryinge, Allas, and welaway! 'The whiche Anchises in his hondeBar the goddes of the londe,Thilke that unbrende were.165170And I saw next, in alle this fere,How Creusa, daun Eneas wyf, 175Which that he lovede as his lyf,And hir yonge sone Iulo,And eek Ascanius also,Fledden eek with drery chere,That hit was pitee for to here;180And in a forest, as they wente,At a turninge of a wente,How Creusa was y-lost, allas!That deed, [but] noot I how, she was;159.173.153. Allom. That. F. B. P. fals; Cx. fals vntrewe; Th. false vntrewe.Cx. Th. kyng; F. B. kynge. F. y-slayne; rest slayn. 160. Th. Polytes;F. B. Polite. From this point I make nofurther note of obvious corrections inspelling. 172. Cx. P. Th. goddes; F. B. goddesse ( wrongly).F. B. -brende; rest -brenned. 174. Cx. P. this; F. B. his.That dede not I how she was; B. That ded not I how she was;note I how it was; Th. That rede nat I howe that it was.insert but.184. F. P.Cx. That redeRead deed, andBOOK I. ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 7How he hir soughte, and how hir gostBad him to flee the Grekes ost,And seyde, he moste unto Itaile,As was his destinee, sauns faille;That hit was pitee for to here,Whan hir spirit gan appere,185190The wordes that she to him seyde,And for to kepe hir sone him preyde.Ther saw I graven eek how he,His fader eek, and his meynee,With his shippes gan to sayleToward the contree of Itaile,As streight as that they mighte go.Ther saw I thee, cruel Iuno,That art daun Iupiteres wyf,That hast y-hated, al thy lyf,Al the Troyanisshe blood,Renne and crye, as thou were wood,On Eolus, the god of windes,To blowen out, of alle kindes,195200So loude, that he shulde drencheLord and lady, grome and wencheOf al the Troyan nacioun,Withoute any savacioun.Ther saw I swich tempeste aryse,That every herte mighte agryse,To see hit peynted on the walle.Ther saw I graven eek withalle,Venus, how ye, my lady dere,Wepinge with ful woful chere,Prayen Iupiter an hyeTo save and kepe that navyeOf the Troyan Eneas,Sith that he hir sone was.Ther saw I Ioves Venus kisse,And graunted of the tempest lisse.188. Cx. Th. destyne; F. destanye.205210215220193. Cx. Th. grauen; P. graven;F. grave; B. graue. 196. F. B. Towardes. 199. P. Iubiter; rest Iupiters;read Iupiteres. 204. F. blowe; P. Cx. Th. blowen.rest hert.210. Th. herte;220. F. omits from lisse to tempest in next line; the rest are right.8 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK I. .Ther saw I how the tempest stente,And how with alle pyne he wente,And prevely took arrivageIn the contree of Cartage;And on the morwe, how that heAnd a knight, hight Achatee,Metten with Venus that day,Goinge in a queynt array,As she had ben an hunteresse,With wind blowinge upon hir tresse;How Eneas gan him to pleyne,Whan that he knew hir, of his peyne;And how his shippes dreynte were,Or elles lost, he niste where;How she gan him comforte tho,And bad him to Cartage go,And ther he shuldë his folk finde,225230235That in the see were left behinde.And, shortly of this thing to pace,She made Eneas so in graceOf Dido, quene of that contree,That, shortly for to tellen, sheBecam his love, and leet him doThat that wedding longeth to.What shulde I speke more queynte,240245Or peyne me my wordes peynte,To speke of love? hit wol not be;I can not of that facultee.And eek to telle the manereHow they aqueynteden in-fere,Hit were a long proces to telle,And over long for yow to dwelle.Ther saw I grave, how EneasTolde Dido every cas,That him was tid upon the see.And after grave was, how she250255221 , 222. F. B. stent, went; Cx. Th. stente, wente. 227. P. Cx. Th. Metten;F. B. Mette. 235. F. P. comfort; rest comforte.folke; but shulde is here dissyllabic.tellen.237. P. folk; rest242. F. tel; B. telle; P. Cx. Th.BOOK 1. ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 9Made of him, shortly, at oo word,Hir lyf, hir love, hir lust, hir lord;And dide him al the reverence,And leyde on him al the dispence,That any woman mighte do,Weninge hit had al be so,260As he hir swoor; and her-by demedThat he was good, for he swich semed.Allas! what harm doth apparence, 265Whan hit is fals in existence!For he to hir a traitour was;Wherfor she slow hir-self, allas!Lo, how a woman doth amis,To love him that unknowen is!For, by Crist, lo! thus hit fareth;'Hit is not al gold, that glareth.'For, al- so brouke I wel myn heed,Ther may be under goodliheedKevered many a shrewed vyce;Therfor be no wight so nyce,To take a love only for chere,For speche, or for frendly manere;For this shal every woman findeThat som man, of his pure kinde,Wol shewen outward the faireste,Til he have caught that what him leste;And thanne wol he causes finde,And swere how that she is unkinde,Or fals, or prevy, or double was.Al this seye I by EneasAnd Dido, and hir nyce lest,That lovede al to sone a gest;Therfor I wol seye a proverbe,That ' he that fully knoweth therbe270275280285290257, 8. All worde, lorde. 260. Th. the; rest omit. 270. F. vnknowe; rest vnknowen. 278. Th. Or speche; rest Or ( F. Of! ) for speche; read ForLines 280-2 3 are in Th. only, which reads some; fayrest; lest;285. Cx. Th. ( 3rd) or; F. B. P. om. 290. F. B. therbe ( =theherbe); P. Cx. Th. the herbe.speche .than.ΙΟ THE HOUS OF FAME. [BOOK I.May saufly leye hit to his yë ';Withoute dreed, this is no lye.But let us speke of Eneas,How he betrayed hir, allas!And lefte hir ful unkindely. 295So whan she saw al- utterly,That he wolde hir of trouthe faile,And wende fro hir to Itaile,She gan to wringe hir hondes two.'Allas! ' quod she, ' what me is wo!300Allas! is every man thus trewe,That every yere wolde have a newe,If hit so longe tyme dure,Or elles three, peraventure?As thus of oon he wolde have fame 305In magnifying of his name;Another for frendship, seith he;And yet ther shal the thridde be,That shal be taken for delyt,Lo, or for singular profyt.' 310In swiche wordes gan to pleyneDido of hir grete peyne,As me mette redely;Non other auctour alegge I.'Allas! ' quod she, ' my swete herte, 315Have pitee on my sorwes smerte ,And slee me not! go noght away!O woful Dido, wel away! 'Quod she to hir- selve tho.' O Eneas! what wil ye do?320O, that your love, ne your bonde,That ye han sworn with your right honde,Ne my cruel deeth, ' quod she,' May holde yow still heer with me!O, haveth of my deeth pitee!Y-wis, my dere herte, ye325305. Cx. Th. one; P. on; F. B. love.313. For mette, Cx. Th. have mette dremyng (! ) .315. F. he; the rest she.F. ha; P. B. haue; rest om.309, 310. All delyte, profyte.314. F. auttour = auctour.320. F. Th. wol; P. wille; Cx. wyl. 322.BOOK I. ]THE HOUS OF FAME. IIKnowen ful wel that never yit,As fer-forth as I hadde wit,Agilte [ I] yow in thoght ne deed.O, have ye men swich goodliheed 330In speche, and never a deel of trouthe?Allas, that ever hadde routheAny woman on any man!Now see I wel, and telle can,We wrecched wimmen conne non art; 335For certeyn, for the more part,Thus we be served everichone.How sore that ye men conne grone,Anoon as we have yow receyved!Certeinly we ben deceyved; 340For, though your love laste a sesoun,Wayte upon the conclusioun,And eek how that ye determynen,And for the more part diffynen.' O, welawey that I was born!For through yow is my name lorn,And alle myn actes red and songeOver al this lond, on every tonge.O wikke Fame! for ther nisNothing so swift, lo, as she is!O, sooth is, every thing is wist,Though hit be kevered with the mist.Eek, thogh I mighte duren ever,345350That I have doon, rekever I never,That I ne shal be seyd, allas, 355Y-shamed be through Eneas,And that I shal thus Iuged be-"Lo, right as she hath doon, now sheWol do eftsones, hardily;""Thus seyth the peple prevely.'- 360334.329. Iinsert I; which all omit.Cx. telle; P. tellen; F. tel.332. P. hadde;340. F. omits this347. F. B. al youre; Cx. Th. P. myn (om. al) .353. Th. duren; F. B. dure. 358. Th. done;328. All had.rest had.line; the rest have it.352. F. B. om. be.rest omit.12 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK I. .But that is doon, nis not to done;Al hir compleynt ne al hir mone,Certeyn, availeth hir not a stre.And whan she wiste sothly heWas forth unto his shippes goon,She in hir chambre wente anoon,And called on hir suster Anne,And gan hir to compleyne thanne;And seyde, that she cause wasThat she first lovede [ Eneas],And thus counseilled hir therto.365370But what! when this was seyd and do,She roof hir-selve to the herte,And deyde through the wounde smerte.But al the maner how she deyde, 375And al the wordes that she seyde,Who- so to knowe hit hath purpos,Reed Virgile in EneidosOr the Epistle of Ovyde,What that she wroot or that she dyde;And nere hit to long to endyte,380By god, I wolde hit here wryte.But, welaway! the harm, the routhe,That hath betid for swich untrouthe,As men may ofte in bokes rede,And al day seen hit yet in dede,That for to thenken hit, a tene is.Lo, Demophon, duk of Athenis,How he forswor him ful falsly,And trayed Phillis wikkedly,That kinges doghter was of Trace,And falsly gan his terme pace;And when she wiste that he was fals,She heng hir-self right by the hals,385390363. Cx. Th. P. Certeyn; F. B. Certeynly.366. in] All in to.371. F. B. As; rest And. 375.381. F. And nor hyt were to; Cx. And nere362. All insert But before Al.365. Cx. goon; P. gon; F. agoon; B. agon.370. All Allas (alas); read Eneas.Cx. Th. P. But; F. B. And.it were to; Th. And nere it to; B. P. And ner it were to. Th. B. to endyte;387. P. thenken; F. B. thynke; Cx. Th. thynken. 391. F. Cx. tendyte.F. B. om. was.BOOK I. ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 13For he had do hir swich untrouthe;Lo! was not this a wo and routhe?Eek lo! how fals and recchelesWas to Briseida Achilles,And Paris to Enone;And Iason to Isiphile;And eft Iason to Medea;395400And Ercules to Dyanira;For he lefte hir for Iöle,That made him cacche his deeth, parde.How fals eek was he, Theseus; 495That, as the story telleth us,How he betrayed Adriane;The devel be his soules bane!For had he laughed, had he loured,He mostë have be al devoured,If Adriane ne had y-be!And, for she had of him pitee,She made him fro the dethe escape,And he made hir a ful fals Iape;For after this, within a whyleHe lefte hir slepinge in an yle,Deserte alone, right in the see,And stal away, and leet hir be;And took hir suster Phedra thoWith him, and gan to shippe go.And yet he had y-sworn to here,On al that ever he mighte swere,That, so she saved him his lyf,410415420He wolde have take hir to his wyf;For she desired nothing elles, 425In certein, as the book us telles.But to excusen EneasFulliche of al his greet trespas,The book seyth, Mercurie, sauns faile,Bad him go into Itaile,402. Cx. Th. P. And; F. B. omit.B. om. 426. F. B. om. as and us.B. Mercure; F. Mercure; rest om..430410. Th. al; Cx. all; P. alle; F.428. F. B. om. greet. 429.14 THE HOUS OF FAME [ BOOK I. .And leve Auffrykes regioun,And Dido and hir faire toun.Tho saw I grave, how to ItaileDaun Eneas is go to saile;And how the tempest al began, 435And how he loste his steresman,Which that the stere, or he took keep,Smot over-bord, lo! as he sleep.And also saw I how SibyleAnd Eneas, besyde an yle,To helle wente, for to seeHis fader, Anchises the free.How he ther fond Palinurus,And Dido, and eek Deiphebus;And every tourment eek in helleSaw he, which is long to telle.440445Which who- so willeth for to knowe,He moste rede many a roweOn Virgile or on Claudian,Or Daunte, that hit telle can.Tho saw I grave al tharivaileThat Eneas had in Itaile;And with king Latine his tretee,And alle the batailles that he450Was at him- self, and eek his knightes, 455Or he had al y-wonne his rightes;And how he Turnus refte his lyf,And wan Lavyna to his wyf;And al the mervelous signalsOf the goddes celestials; 460How, maugre Iuno, Eneas,For al hir sleighte and hir compas,Acheved al his aventure;For Iupiter took of him cureAt the prayere of Venus; 465433. F. B. how that; rest how.F. B. for to assayle.no tonge can telle.434. Cx . P. to saylle; Th. for to sayle;446. Th. longe is for; F. B. is longe. Cx. P. whyche451. For tharivaile, F. B. Th. have the aryvayle; Cx.the arryuaylle; P. the arevaille. 458. F. labina; rest Lauyna.BOOK 1. ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 15The whiche I preye alway save us,And us ay of our sorwes lighte!Whan I had seyen al this sighteIn this noble temple thus,' A, Lord! ' thoughte I, ' that madest us, 470Yet saw I never swich noblesseOf images, ne swich richesse,As I saw graven in this chirche;But not woot I who dide hem wirche,Ne wher I am, ne in what contree. 475But now wol I go out and see,Right at the wiket, if I canSee o-wher stering any man,That may me telle wher I am.'When I out at the dores cam,I faste aboute me beheld.Then saw I but a large feld,As fer as that I mighte see,Withouten toun, or hous, or tree,Or bush, or gras, or ered lond;For al the feld nas but of sondAs smal as man may see yet lyeIn the desert of Libye;Ne I no maner creature,480485That is y-formed by nature, 490Ne saw, me [ for ] to rede or wisse.' O Crist,' thoughte I, ' that art in blisse,Fro fantom and illusiounMe save! ' and with devociounMyn yën to the heven I caste. 495Tho was I war, lo! at the laste,That faste by the sonne, as hyëAs kenne mighte I with myn yë,Me thoughte I saw an egle sore,But that hit semed moche more 500468. Cx. P. seyn; rest seen (sene) .F. B. omit in.473. F. B. grave; rest grauen. 475.478. Th. sterynge any; the rest any stiryng (sterynge) .486. Cx. Th. P. was but of sonde ( sande); F. B. nas but sonde. 491. I insertfor. Cx. Th. P. insert I after saw; but it is in 1. 489. 496. F. B. omit lo.16 THE HOUS OF FAME [ BOOK II ..Then I had any egle seyn.But this as sooth as deeth, certeyn,Hit was of golde, and shoon so bright,That never saw men such a sighte,But-if the heven hadde y-wonneAl newe of golde another sonne;So shoon the egles fethres brighte,And somwhat dounward gan hit lighte.Explicit liber primus.BOOK II.Incipit liber secundus.Proem.Now herkneth, every maner manThat English understonde can,And listeth of my dreem to lere;For now at erste shul ye hereSo selly an avisioun,That Isaye, ne Scipioun,Ne king Nabugodonosor,Pharo, Turnus, ne Elcanor,505510515Ne mette swich a dreem as this!Now faire blisful, O Cipris,So be my favour at this tyme!And ye, me to endyte and rymeHelpeth, that on Parnaso dwelle(10)520By Elicon the clere welle.O Thought, that wroot al that I mette,And in the tresorie hit shetteOf my brayn! now shal men see 525If any vertu in thee be,To tellen al my dreem aright;Now kythe thyn engyn and might! (20)504. F. B. omit lines 504-507.COLOPHON AND TITLE. So in Cx.; the rest omit them.511. P. listeth; Th. lysteth; F. Cx. listeneth; B. lystneth.sely; read selly (Willert) .Cypyon. 516. Th. Alcanore.513. All514. Cx. Th. Scipion; F. P. Cipion; B.BOOK II . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 17The Dream.This egle, of which I have yow told,That shoon with fethres as of gold,Which that so hyë gan to sore,I gan beholde more and more,To see hir beautee and the wonder;But never was ther dint of thonder,Ne that thing that men calle foudre,That smoot somtyme a tour to poudre,And in his swifte coming brende,That so swythe gan descende,As this foul, whan hit beheldeThat I a-roume was in the felde;And with his grimme pawes stronge,Within his sharpe nayles longe,Me, fleinge, at a swappe he hente,And with his sours agayn up wente,Me caryinge in his clawes starkeAs lightly as I were a larke,How high, I can not telle yow,For I cam up, I niste how.530535(30)540545(40)For so astonied and a-swevedWas every vertu in my heved, 550What with his sours and with my drede,That al my feling gan to dede;For-why hit was to greet affray.Thus I longe in his clawes lay,Til at the laste he to me spakIn mannes vois, and seyde, ' Awak!And be not so a-gast, for shame! 'And called me tho by my name.And, for I sholde the bet abreydeMe mette- Awak,' to me he seyde,533. Cx. Th. P. her; F. B. the.536. Cx. Th. P. smyte; F. B. smote.Th. P. brende; F. beende; B. bende.F. cryinge (!) .555(50)560535. F. B. kynge (by mistake for thing) .Cx. Th. P. to; F. B. of. 537. Cx.543. Cx. Th. P. at; F. B. in. 545- 552. P. Cx. Th. That;557. Cx. Th. P. agast so (but read so agast);548. Cx. P. cam; F. came.F. B. And. F. felynge.F. B. omit so.

• • • 558. Cx. Th. tho; which F. B. P. omit.

C18 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK II ..Right in the same vois and steveneThat useth oon I coude nevene;And with that vois, soth for to sayn,My minde cam to me agayn;For hit was goodly seyd to me,So nas hit never wont to be.And herwithal I gan to stere,And he me in his feet to bere,Til that he felte that I had hete,And felte eek tho myn herte bete.And tho gan he me to disporte,And with wordes to comforte,And sayde twyës, ' Seynte Marie!Thou art noyous for to carie,And nothing nedeth hit, parde!For al-so wis god helpe meAs thou non harm shalt have of this;And this cas, that betid thee is,Is for thy lore and for thy prow;-Let see! darst thou yet loke now?Be ful assured, boldely,565(60)570575(70)580I am thy frend.' And therwith IGan for to wondren in my minde.' O god,' thoughte I, ' that madest kinde,Shal I non other weyes dye? 585Wher loves wol me stellifye,Or what thing may this signifye?I neither am Enok, ne Elye,Ne Romulus, ne GanymedeThat was y-bore up, as men rede,To hevene with dan Iupiter,And maad the goddes boteler.'Lo! this was tho my fantasye!But he that bar me gan espyeThat I so thoghte, and seyde this:-' Thou demest of thy-self amis;For Ioves is not ther-aboute-

-

I dar wel putte thee out of doute566. B. Th. nas; F. Cx. was.seynt. 575. F. B. omit hit.570. F. that; the rest tho.592. All made.(80)590595(90)573. AllBOOK II . ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 19To make of thee as yet a sterre.But er I bere thee moche ferre,I wol thee telle what I am,And whider thou shalt, and why I camTo done this, so that thou takeGood herte, and not for fere quake.''Gladly,' quod I. ' Now wel, ' quod he:-' First I, that in my feet have thee,Of which thou hast a feer and wonder,Am dwelling with the god of thonder,Which that men callen Iupiter,That dooth me flee ful ofte ferTo do al his comaundement.And for this cause he hath me sentTo thee now herke, by thy trouthe!Certeyn, he hath of thee routhe,That thou so longe trewelyHast served so ententiflyHis blinde nevew Cupido,600605(100)610615And fair Venus [goddesse] also,Withoute guerdoun ever yit,And nevertheles hast set thy witAlthough that in thy hede ful lyte isTo make bokes, songes, dytees,In ryme, or elles in cadence,As thou best canst, in reverenceOf Love, and of his servants eke,That have his servise soght, and seke;And peynest thee to preyse his art,Althogh thou haddest never part;Wherfor, al-so god me blesse,Ioves halt hit greet humblesseAnd vertu eek, that thou wolt makeA-night ful ofte thyn heed to ake,(110)620625(120)630603. All do; read done (gerund).The line is obviously too short.618. goddesse is not in the MSS.621. F. Th. lytel; Cx. lytyl; B. litell;P. litil (all wrong); read lyte. 622. Cx. P. bookes songes or ditees; Th.bokes songes and ditees; F. B. songes dytees bookys.C 220 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK II . .In thy studie so thou wrytest,And ever-mo of love endytest,In honour of him and preysinges,And in his folkes furtheringes,And in hir matere al devysest,And noght him nor his folk despysest,Although thou mayst go in the daunce.Of hem that him list not avaunce.'Wherfor, as I seyde, y-wis,Iupiter considereth this,And also, beau sir, other thinges;That is, that thou hast no tydingesOf Loves folk, if they be glade,Ne of noght elles that god made;And noght only fro fer contreeThat ther no tyding comth to thee,But of thy verray neyghebores,That dwellen almost at thy dores,Thou herest neither that ne this;For whan thy labour doon al is,And hast y-maad thy rekeninges,In stede of reste and newe thinges,Thou gost hoom to thy hous anoon;635(130)640645(140)650655And, also domb as any stoon,Thou sittest at another boke,Til fully daswed is thy loke,And livest thus as an hermyte,Although thyn abstinence is lyte.And therfor Ioves, through his grace,Wol that I bere thee to a place,Which that hight THE HOUS OF FAME,To do thee som disport and game,In som recompensaciounOf labour and devociounThat thou hast had, lo! causeles,To Cupido, the reccheles!(150)660665(160)635. F. B. and in; rest and. 647. F. frerre (by mistake). 650. Cx.Th. dwellen; P. dwelleth; F. B. dwelle.P. ne.651. F. ner; B. nor; Cx. Th.653. F. ymade; B. I-made; Cx. made alle thy; Th. made al thy;P. I- made alle thy. 658. Cx. P. daswed; F. B. dasewyd; Th. dased.BOOK II. ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 21And thus this god, thorgh his meryte,Wol with som maner thing thee quyte,So that thou wolt be of good chere.For truste wel, that thou shalt here,When we be comen ther I seye,Mo wonder thinges, dar I leye,Of Loves folke mo tydinges,Bothe soth- sawes and lesinges;And mo loves newe begonne,And longe y- served loves wonne,And mo loves casuellyThat been betid, no man wot why,But as a blind man stert an hare;And more Iolytee and fare,Whyl that they finde love of stele,As thinketh hem, and over-al wele;Mo discords, and mo Ielousyes,Mo murmurs, and mo novelryes,And mo dissimulaciouns,And feyned reparaciouns;And mo berdes in two houresWithoute rasour or sisoures670675(170)680685(180)690Y-maad, then greynes be of sondes;And eke mo holdinge in hondes,And also mo renovelauncesOf olde forleten aqueyntaunces;Mo love- dayes and acordesThen on instruments ben cordes;And eke of loves mo eschaungesThan ever cornes were in graunges;Unethe maistow trowen this? '—Quod he. No, helpe me god so wis! '-Quod I. ' No? why? ' quod he. For hitWere impossible, to my wit,Though that Fame hadde al the pyesIn al a realme, and al the spyes,673. Cx. Th. comen; F. come.695(190)700676. F. sothe sawes; Cx. Th. P. sothsawes.680. Cx. Th. ben; P. been; F. B. omit. 682. fare] Cx. Th. P. welfare .685. Cx. Th. and; rest om. 696. F. B. acordes (! ) .22 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK II. .How that yet she shulde here al this,Or they espye hit. ' ' O yis, yis! 'Quod he to me, ' that can I preve705By resoun, worthy for to leve, (200)So that thou yeve thyn advertenceTo understonde my sentence. 710' First shalt thou heren wher she dwelleth,And so thyn owne book hit telleth;Hir paleys stant, as I shal seye,omit and.Right even in middes of the weyeBetwixen hevene, erthe, and see;That, what- so-ever in al these threeIs spoken, in privee or aperte,The wey therto is so overte,And stant eek in so Iuste a place,That every soun mot to hit pace,Or what so comth fro any tonge,Be hit rouned, red, or songe,Or spoke in seurtee or drede,Certein, hit moste thider nede.' Now herkne wel; for-why I willeTellen thee a propre skile,And worthy demonstracioun.In myn imagynacioun .' Geffrey, thou wost right wel this,That every kindly thing that is,Hath a kindly stede ther heMay best in hit conserved be;Unto which place every thing,Through his kindly enclyning,Moveth for to come to,Whan that hit is awey therfro;As thus; lo, thou mayst al day seeThat any thing that hevy be,As stoon or leed, or thing of wighte,And ber hit never so hye on highte,705. Cx. she; rest he. 711. P. heren; rest here.717. Cx. Th. P. in; F. B. either.Cx. Th. way. 723. or] F. B. or in.F. worthe a; B. worth a; omit a.715(210)720725(220)730735(230)740715. F. and erthe; rest718. F. B. aire; P. wey;727. Cx. Th. a worthy; P. a wurthy;739, 740. I add e in wighte, highte.BOOK II . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 23Lat go thyn hand, hit falleth doun.'Right so seye I by fyre or soun,Or smoke, or other thinges lighte,Alwey they seke upward on highte;Whyl ech of hem is at his large,Light thing up, and dounward charge.' And for this cause mayst thou see,That every river to the seeEnclyned is to go, by kinde.And by these skilles, as I finde,Hath fish dwellinge in floode and see,And trees eek in erthe be.Thus every thing, by this resoun,745(240)750Hath his propre mansioun,To which hit seketh to repaire,As ther hit shulde not apaire.Lo, this sentence is knowen couthe755Of every philosophres mouthe, (250)As Aristotle and dan Platon,And other clerkes many oon; 760And to confirme my resoun,Thou wost wel this, that speche is soun,Or elles no man mighte hit here;Now herkne what I wol thee lere.' Soun is noght but air y-broken,And every speche that is spoken,Loud or privee, foul or fair,In his substaunce is but air;For as flaumbe is but lighted smoke,Right so soun is air y- broke.But this may be in many wyse,765(260)770Of which I wil thee two devyse,As soun that comth of pype or harpe.For whan a pype is blowen sharpe,The air is twist with violence, 775And rent; lo, this is my sentence;746. Cx. Th. vp; F. B. P. vpwarde. Cx. Th. P. transpose 745, 746.B. it; F. om.; Cx. Th. P. he. 764. All herke; see 1. 725.Th. spoken; P. poken (! ); F. B. yspoken.(copiedfrom 1. 772).755-766. Cx.773. Cx. Th. P. As; F. B. Of24 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK II ..Eek, whan men harpe-stringes smyte,Whether hit be moche or lyte,Lo, with the strook the air to-breketh;Right so hit breketh whan men speketh.Thus wost thou wel what thing is speche.'Now hennesforth I wol thee teche,How every speche, or noise, or soun,Through his multiplicacioun,Thogh hit were pyped of a mouse,Moot nede come to Fames House.I preve hit thus-tak hede nowBy experience; for if that thouThrowe on water now a stoon,Wel wost thou, hit wol make anoonA litel roundel as a cercle,(270)780785(280)790Paraventure brood as a covercle;And right anoon thou shalt see weel,That wheel wol cause another wheel,And that the thridde, and so forth, brother, 795Every cercle causing other,Wyder than himselve was;And thus, fro roundel to compas,Ech aboute other goinge,Caused of othres steringe,And multiplying ever- mo,(290)800Til that hit be so fer y-goThat hit at bothe brinkes be.Al-thogh thou mowe hit not y- seeAbove, hit goth yet alway under,Although thou thenke hit a gret wonder.And who-so seith of trouthe I varie,805Bid him proven the contrarie. (300)And right thus every word, y-wis,That loude or privee spoken is,780. Cx. Th. P. And ryght so brekyth it; F. B. omit this line.Thorwe; B. P. Throw; Cx. Th. Threwe.(for 1st wheel); Cx. P. omit the line.F. B. om. to.804. F. om. thogh.F. B. this; rest thus.Tyl; rest That.B. yspoken.810789. F.794. F. Th. B. whele sercle(Sercle is a gloss upon wheel) .800. Cx. Th. P. Causeth.805. F. B. om. alway.798.803. F.810. F.BOOK II . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 25Moveth first an air aboute,And of this moving, out of doute,Another air anoon is meved,As I have of the water preved,That every cercle causeth other.Right so of air, my leve brother;Everich air in other sterethMore and more, and speche up bereth,Or vois, or noise, or word, or soun,815(310)Ay through multiplicacioun,Til hit be atte House of Fame;-Tak hit in ernest or in game.820' Now have I told, if thou have minde,How speche or soun, of pure kinde,Enclyned is upward to meve;This, mayst thou fele, wel I preve.And that [the mansioun], y-wis,That every thing enclyned to is,Hath his kindeliche stede:825(320)That sheweth hit, withouten drede, 830That kindely the mansiounOf every speche, of every soun,Be hit either foul or fair,Hath his kinde place in air.And sin that every thing, that isOut of his kinde place, y- wis,Moveth thider for to goIf hit a-weye be therfro,As I before have preved thee,Hit seweth, every soun, pardee,Moveth kindely to paceAl up into his kindely place.And this place of which I telle,Ther as Fame list to dwelle,835(330)840817. F. B. om . in. Read another (Willert).823. Cx. Th. P. thou haue; F. B. ye haue in.821. Cx. Th. P. at the.827. F. And that sum place stide; B. And that som styde; Th. And that some stede; Cx. P. omit 11. 827-864.read And that the mansioun (see 11. 754, 831) . 830. For That read Than?838. MSS. a wey, away. 839. F. Th. B. haue before; Cx. P. omit the line.26 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK II ..Is set amiddes of these three,Heven, erthe, and eek the see,As most conservatif the soun.Than is this the conclusioun,That every speche of every man,As I thee telle first began,Moveth up on high to paceKindely to Fames place.845(340)850'Telle me this feithfully,Have I not preved thus simply,Withouten any subtiltee 855Of speche, or gret prolixiteeOf termes of philosophye,Of figures of poetrye,Or colours of rethoryke?Pardee, hit oghte thee to lyke;For hard langage and hard matereIs encombrous for to hereAt ones; wost thou not wel this? 'And I answerde, and seyde, ' Yis.''A ha!' quod he, ' lo, so I canLewedly to a lewed manSpeke, and shewe him swiche skiles,That he may shake hem by the biles,So palpable they shulden be.But tel me this, now pray I thee,How thinkth thee my conclusioun? '[Quod he]. A good persuasioun, 'Quod I, ' hit is; and lyk to beRight so as thou hast preved me.'' By god,' quod he, and as I leve,Thou shalt have yit, or hit be eve,Of every word of this sentenceA preve, by experience;And with thyn eres heren welTop and tail, and everydel,853. Th. B. this; F. thus. 859. Th. of; F. B. or.(350)860865(360)870875(370)880860. All ought.866. P. to a lewde; Cx. Th. vnto a lewde; F. trealwed (! ); B. talwyd (! ) .872. All omit Quod he; cf. 11. 700, 701. 873. P. Cx. Th. I; F. B. he. F.B. me (for be).BOOK II.]THE HOUS OF FAME. 27That every word that spoken isComth into Fames Hous, y-wis,As I have seyd; what wilt thou more? 'And with this word upper to soreHe gan, and seyde, ' By Seynt Iame!Now wil we speken al of game.'—'How farest thou? ' quod he to me.'Wel,' quod I. Now see, ' quod he,'By thy trouthe, yond adoun,6Wher that thou knowest any toun,885(380)890Or hous, or any other thing.And whan thou hast of ought knowing,Loke that thou warne me,And I anoon shal telle theeHow fer that thou art now therfro.' 895And I adoun gan loken tho,And beheld feldes and plaines,And now hilles, and now mountaines, (390)Now valeys, and now forestes,And now, unethes, grete bestes; 900Now riveres, now citees,Now tounes, and now grete trees,Now shippes sailinge in the see.But thus sone in a whyle heWas flowen fro the grounde so hyë,That al the world, as to myn yë,No more semed than a prikke;Or elles was the air so thikkeThat I ne mighte not discerne.With that he spak to me as yerne,And seyde: Seestow any [toun]Or ought thou knowest yonder doun?'I seyde, ' Nay.' 'No wonder nis,'Quod he, ' for half so high as this896. Cx. Th. gan to; rest to (! ) .905(400)910886. P. Cx. speken; rest speke. 899.F. B. P. om. and. 911. F. B. omit this line; for Seestow, Cx. Th. P.have Seest thou. For toun, all have token; see 1. 890. 912. From P.;F. B. omit this line. Cx. Or ought that in the world is of spoken; Th. Oraught that in this worlde is of spoken; see 1. 889. 913. F. B. om. I seyde.28 THE HOUS OF FAME [ BOOK II ..Nas Alexander Macedo; 915Ne the king, dan Scipio,That saw in dreme, at point devys,Helle and erthe, and paradys; (410)Ne eek the wrecche Dedalus,Ne his child, nyce Icarus,That fleigh so highe that the heteHis winges malt, and he fel wete920In-mid the see, and ther he dreynte,For whom was maked moch compleynte.'Now turn upward, ' quod he, ' thy face,And behold this large place,925This air; but loke thou ne beAdrad of hem that thou shalt see; (420)For in this regioun, certein,Dwelleth many a citezein, 930Of which that speketh dan Plato.These ben the eyrish bestes, lo! 'And so saw I al that meyneeBothe goon and also flee.'Now,' quod he tho, ' cast up thyn yë;See yonder, lo, the Galaxyë,935Which men clepeth the Milky Wey,For hit is whyt: and somme, parfey, (430)Callen hit Watlinge Strete:That ones was y-brent with hete,Whan the sonnes sone, the rede,That highte Pheton, wolde ledeAlgate his fader cart, and gye.The cart-hors gonne wel espyeThat he ne coude no governaunce,And gonne for to lepe and launce,And beren him now up, now doun,Til that he saw the Scorpioun,Which that in heven a signe is yit.And he, for ferde, loste his wit,Of that, and leet the reynes goonOf his hors; and they anoon940945(440)950932. F. B. om. the. 951. Cx. P. lete ( = leet); F. B. lat.BOOK II . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 29Gonne up to mounte, and doun descendeTil bothe the eyr and erthe brende;Til Iupiter, lo, atte laste,Him slow, and fro the carte caste.Lo, is it not a greet mischaunce,To lete a fole han governaunceOf thing that he can not demeine? 'And with this word, soth for to seyne,He gan alway upper to sore ,And gladded me ay more and more,So feithfully to me spak he.Tho gan I loken under me,And beheld the eyrish bestes,Cloudes, mistes, and tempestes,Snowes, hailes, reines, windes,And thengendring in hir kindes,And al the wey through whiche I cam;' O god, ' quod I, ' that made Adam,Moche is thy might and thy noblesse!'And tho thoughte I upon Boëce,That writ, a thought may flee so hyë,With fetheres of Philosophye,955(450)960965(460)970To passen everich element; 975And whan he hath so fer y-went,Than may be seen, behind his bak,Cloud, and al that I of spak.' (470)Tho gan I wexen in a were,And seyde, ' I woot wel I am here;But wher in body or in gostI noot, y-wis; but god, thou wost! '980For more cleer entendementNadde he me never yit y-sent.And than thoughte I on Marcian,And eek on Anteclaudian,955. F. Cx. Iubiter. 956. F. B. fer fro; P. Cx. Th. om. fer.985957.Cx. P. grete; Th. great; F. mochil; B. mochill.vpper; F. B. vpper alway for. Cf. 1. 884.961. Cx. Th. P. alway964. F. Th. B. ins. to bef.loken. 969. P. Cx. And; rest om. 973. Cx. Th. wryteth; F. writ. F. B.of (for a). 978. So P. Cx.; rest ins. and erthe bef. and. 984. F. B. Nas(om. he me); Th. Nas me; Cx. P. Nadde he me.30 THE HOUS OF FAME[ BOOK II,.That sooth was hir descripciounOf al the hevenes regioun,As fer as that I saw the preve;Therfor I can hem now beleve.With that this egle gan to crye:'Lat be,' quod he, ' thy fantasye;Wilt thou lere of sterres aught? ''Nay, certeinly,' quod I, ' right naught;And why? for I am now to old.'' Elles I wolde thee have told,'Quod he, ' the sterres names, lo,And al the hevenes signes to,And which they been.' ' No fors,' quod I."Yis, pardee, ' quod he; ' wostow why?For whan thou redest poetrye,How goddes gonne stellifyeBrid, fish, beste, or him or here,As the Raven, or either Bere,(480)990995(490)1000Or Ariones harpe fyn,Castor, Pollux, or Delphyn,Or Atlantes doughtres sevene,1005How alle these arn set in hevene;For though thou have hem ofte on honde,Yet nostow not wher that they stonde.'(500)ΠΟΙΟ'No fors,' quod I, ' hit is no nede;I leve as wel, so god me spede,Hem that wryte of this matere,As though I knew hir places here;And eek they shynen here so brighte,Hit shulde shenden al my sighte,To loke on hem. ' ' That may wel be,'Quod he. And so forth bar he meA whyl, and than he gan to crye,That never herde I thing so hye,'Now up the heed; for al is wel;Seynt Iulyan, lo, bon hostel!998. to] F. B. ther-to.1015(510)1020999. F. B. insert and before No. 1003.F. B. Briddes; P. Brid; Cx. Byrd; Th. Byrde. 1007. F. Cx. Th. B.Athalantes (-ys); P. athlauntres; see note. 1014. Cx. Th. P. As; F. Alle;B. Al. 1015. Cx. P. they shynen; F. Th. B. thy seluen (!) .BOOK II . ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 31See here the House of Fame, lo!Maistow not heren that I do? ''What?' quod I. 'The grete soun,'Quod he, ' that rumbleth up and doun.In Fames Hous, ful of tydinges,Bothe of fair speche and chydinges,And of fals and soth compouned.Herkne wel; hit is not rouned.Herestow not the grete swogh? ''Yis, pardee,' quod I, ' wel y-nogh.'' And what soun is it lyk?' quod he.'Peter! lyk beting of the see,'Quod I, again the roches holowe,Whan tempest doth the shippes swalowe;And lat a man stonde, out of doute,A myle thens, and here hit route;Or elles lyk the last humblingeAfter the clappe of a thundringe,When loves hath the air y-bete;But hit doth me for fere swete.'' Nay, dred thee not therof,' quod he,'Hit is nothing wil byten thee;Thou shalt non harm have, trewely.'And with this word bothe he and IAs nigh the place arryved wereAs men may casten with a spere.I nistë how, but in a streteHe sette me faire on my fete,And seyde, ' Walke forth a pas,1025(520)10301035(530)10401045(540)1050And tak thyn aventure or cas,That thou shalt finde in Fames place. ''Now,' quod I, ' whyl we han spaceTo speke, or that I go fro thee,For the love of god, tel me,1055In sooth, that wil I of thee lere,If this noise that I here (550)1029. F. inserts that before soth. 1030. Cx. Herkne; P. Th. Herken; F. B. Herke. 1034. F. B. P. om. lyk. 1040. Cx. Th. P. the; F. P. a.Cx. Th. P. a; F. B. oo. 1044. F. P. beten; Th. B. byten; Cx. greue.1056. Th. tel; P. tell; rest telle. 1057. Cx. Th. P. I wyl; F. B. wil I.32THEHOUSOF FAME[BOOKII ..Be, as I have herd thee tellen,Of folk that doun in erthe dwellen,And comth here in the same wyseAs I thee herde or this devyse;And that ther lyves body nisIn al that hous that yonder is,That maketh al this loude fare?'' No, ' quod he, ' by Seynte Clare,And also wis god rede me!But o thinge I wil warne theeOf the which thou wolt have wonder.Lo, to the House of Fame yonderThou wost how cometh every speche,Hit nedeth noght thee eft to teche.But understond now right wel this;Whan any speche y-comen isUp to the paleys, anon-rightHit wexeth lyk the same wight,10601065(560)10701075Which that the word in erthe spak,Be hit clothed reed or blak; (570)And hath so verray his lyknesseThat spak the word, that thou wilt gesse 1080That hit the same body be,Man or woman, he or she.And is not this a wonder thing?''Yis,' quod I tho, by hevene king! 'And with this worde, ' Farwel, ' quod he, 1085' And here I wol abyden thee;And god of hevene sende thee grace,Som good to lernen in this place.' (580)And I of him took leve anoon,And gan forth to the paleys goon.Explicit liber secundus.10901c63. F. B. om. And.the efte; Cx. the more; F. B. eft the; P. the. 1079. Cx..Th. hath so very;1071. F. B. ins. now bef. how. 1072. Th.P. hath so verrey; F. B. so were (! ) . 1080. Cx. P. That; F. B. Th. And (!) .1088. F. Cx. Th. lerne; read lernen.COLOPHON.-From Cx. Th.BOOK III . ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 33BOOK III.Incipit liber tercius.Invocation.O god of science and of light,Apollo, through thy grete might,This litel laste book thou gye!Nat that I wilne, for maistrye,Here art poetical be shewed;But, for the rym is light and lewed,Yit make hit sumwhat agreable,Though som vers faile in a sillable;And that I do no diligenceTo shewe craft, but o sentence.And if, divyne vertu, thouWilt helpe me to shewe nowThat in myn hede y- marked isLo, that is for to menen this,The Hous of Fame to descryve—Thou shalt see me go, as blyve,Unto the nexte laure I see,And kisse hit, for hit is thy tree;Now entreth in my breste anoon! —The Dream.Whan I was fro this egle goon,I gan beholde upon this place.And certein, or I ferther pace,I wol yow al the shap devyseOf hous and site; and al the wyseHow I gan to this place aprocheThat stood upon so high a roche,1101. Cx. Th. thou; P. thow; F. nowe; B. now.1095(10) 11001105(20)11101115Th. nowe; F. yowe; B. yow.B. men; rest me.rest the.hys (for this).1105. Cx. to; rest for to.1107. Cx. lawrer; Th. laurer.1114. F. citee; P. cite ( = site); rest cyte ( =syte).1102. Cx. P. now;1106. F.1113. F. B. this;1115. F.

D34 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK III. .Hyer stant ther noon in Spaine.But up I clomb with alle paine,And though to climbe hit greved me,Yit I ententif was to see, (30) 1120And for to pouren wonder lowe,If I coude any weyes knoweWhat maner stoon this roche was;For hit was lyk a thing of glas,But that hit shoon ful more clere;But of what congeled matereHit was, I niste redely.But at the laste espyed I,And found that hit was, every deel,A roche of yse, and not of steel.Thoughte I, By Seynt Thomas of Kent!This were a feble foundementTo bilden on a place hye;1125(40)1130He oughte him litel glorifyeThat her-on bilt, god so me save!'Tho saw I al the half y-graveWith famous folkes names fele,That had y-been in mochel wele,And hir fames wyde y-blowe.But wel unethes coude I knoweAny lettres for to rede1135(50) 1140Hir names by; for, out of drede,They were almost of-thowed so,That of the lettres oon or twoWas molte away of every name,So unfamous was wexe hir fame;But men seyn, ' What may ever laste? 'Tho gan I in myn herte caste,That they were molte awey with hete,And not awey with stormes bete.For on that other syde I seyOf this hille, that northward lay,1119. Cx. P. it; B. yt; F. Th. om.P. I nust; F. B. nyste I neuer.1135. bilt = bildeth; Th. B. bylte.1145. Cx. Th. Were; rest Was.1145(60) 11501127. Th. I nyste; Cx. I ne wyst;1132. F. B. fundament; rest foundement.1136. F. B. om . al; cf. 1. 1151.BOOK III . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 35How hit was writen ful of namesOf folk that hadden grete famesOf olde tyme, and yit they were 1155As fresshe as men had writen hem thereThe selve day right, or that houreThat I upon hem gan to poure.But wel I wiste what hit made;Hit was conserved with the shadeAl this wrytinge that I sy-(70) 1160Of a castel, that stood on hy,And stood eek on so cold a place,That hete mighte hit not deface.Tho gan I up the hille to goon,And fond upon the coppe a woon,That alle the men that ben on lyveNe han the cunning to descryveThe beautee of that ilke place,Ne coude casten no compaceSwich another for to make,That mighte of beautee be his make,Ne [be] so wonderliche y-wrought;That hit astonieth yit my thought,And maketh al my wit to swinkeOn this castel to bethinke.So that the grete craft, beautee,The cast, the curiositee1165(80) 11701175Ne can I not to yow devyse,My wit ne may me not suffyse. (90)1180But natheles al the substanceI have yit in my remembrance;For-why me thoughte, by Seynt Gyle!Al was of stone of beryle,Bothe castel and the tour, 1185And eek the halle, and every bour,1154. F. B. folkes; rest folk.restthey. 1156. Cx. Th. P. there; F. B. here.1155. F. tymes; rest tyme. F. there;1162. F. om. that.1177. Supply craft from 1. 1178 , where it occurs, after 1178. F. To; the rest The. 1185. Cx.1173. Isupply be.cast, in Cx. Th. P. (Willert).Th. P. ins. the before castel.D 236THEHOUSOFFAME[BOOKIII..Withouten peces or Ioininges.But many subtil compassinges,Babewinnes and pinacles,Imageries and tabernacles, (100) 1190I saw; and ful eek of windowes,As flakes falle in grete snowes.And eek in ech of the pinaclesWeren sondry habitacles,In whiche stoden, al withouteFul the castel, al abouteOf alle maner of minstrales,And gestiours, that tellen talesBothe of weping and of game,Of al that longeth unto Fame.Ther herde I pleyen on an harpeThat souned bothe wel and sharpe,Orpheus ful craftely,And on his syde, faste by,1195(110) 1200Sat the harper Orion, 1205And Eacides Chiron,And other harpers many oon,And the Bret Glascurion;And smale harpers with her gleësSeten under hem in seës, (120) 1210And gonne on hem upward to gape,And countrefete hem as an ape,Or as craft countrefeteth kinde.Tho saugh I stonden hem behinde,A-fer fro hem, al by hemselve,Many thousand tymes twelve,That maden loude menstralcyesIn cornemuse and shalmyes,12151189. F. Rabewyures or Rabewynres; B. Rabewynnes; Cx. As babeuwryes;Th. As babeuries; P. Babeweuries.F. om . of.sowned.1195. F. B. om, stoden.1201. F. B. vpon; rest on.1204. P. Cx. his; Th. B. this; F. the.P. Eaycides; Cx. Th. Gacides.1197.1202. F. B. sowneth; rest1206. F. Eaycidis;1208. B. bret; Th. Briton; Cx. Bryton;1210. F. Saten; B. Sate; Cx. Th. Sat; P. Sett; read1210, 1 , 2 , 4. F. hym (for hem); P. hym ( in 1210 only); B. him1211. Cx. Th. P. gape; F. iape; B. yape.P. Bretur; F. gret.Seten.(in 1211 , 2 , 4) .BOOK III . ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 37And many other maner pype,That craftely begunne pypeBothe in doucet and in rede,That ben at festes with the brede;And many floute and lilting-horne,And pypes made of grene corne,As han thise litel herde-gromes,That kepen bestes in the bromes.Ther saugh I than Atiteris,And of Athenes dan Pseustis,And Marcia that lost her skin,Bothe in face, body, and chin,For that she wolde envyen, lo!(130) 12201225(140) 1230To pypen bet then Apollo.Ther saugh I famous, olde and yonge,1235Pypers of the duch*e tonge,To lerne love-daunces, springes,Reyes, and these straunge thinges.Tho saugh I in another placeStonden in a large space,Of hem that maken blody sounIn trumpe, beme, and clarioun;For in fight and blood-shedingeIs used gladly clarioninge.Ther herde I trumpen Messenus,Of whom that speketh Virgilius.Ther herde I Ioab trumpe also,Theodomas, and other mo;And alle that used clarionIn Cataloigne and Aragon,That in hir tyme famous wereTo lerne, saugh I trumpe there.(150) 12401245(160) 12501221. F. B. riede; rest rede.1227. F. Atiteris; B.1220. F. Cx. Th. B. to pipe; P. om. to.1222. Cx. Th. P. brede; B. Bryede; F. bride.Atyterys; Cx. Th. dan Cytherus; P. an Citherus. F. B. transpose lines 1227 and 1228. 1228. F. Pseustis; B. Pseustys; Cx. Th. proserus; P. presentus.1233. F. B. fames; rest famous. 1234. F. B. of alle; Th. of al; P. Cx. of.F. om. the. 1236. Cx. Th. Reyes; P. Reyps; F. B. Reus.seight (!); for fight. 1245. F. B. trumpe Ioab.1241. F.38THEHOUSOFFAME[BOOKIII..Ther saugh I sitte in other seës,Pleyinge upon sondry gleës,Whiche that I cannot nevene,Mo then sterres been in hevene,Of whiche I nil as now not ryme,For ese of yow, and losse of tyme:For tyme y- lost, this knowen ye,By no way may recovered be.Ther saugh I pleyen Iogelours,Magiciens and tregetours,1255(170) 1260And phitonesses, charmeresses,Olde wicches, sorceresses,That use exorsisaciouns,And eek thise fumigaciouns;And clerkes eek, which conne welAl this magyke naturel,That craftely don hir ententes,To make, in certeyn ascendentes,Images, lo, through which magykTo make a man ben hool or syk.Ther saugh I thee, queen Medea,And Circes eke, and Calipsa;Ther saugh I Hermes Ballenus,Lymote, and eek Simon Magus.Ther saugh I, and knew hem by name,That by such art don men han fame.Ther saugh I Colle tregetourUpon a table of sicamourPleye an uncouthe thing to telle;I saugh him carien a wind- melleUnder a walsh-note shale.What shuld I make lenger tale1265(180) 12701275(190) 12801255. Cx. Th. P. as now not; F. B. not now.pley; read pleyen. 1262. F. wrecches (wrongly); for wicches.P. magyk; rest magyke.1259. Th. pleyeng; rest1269.1271. All the.1273. So in all. 1274.1270. F. B. syke; rest seke.1272. Cx. Th. P. Circes; F. Artes; B. Artys.Cx. Th. Lymote; F. Limete; B. Lumete; P. Llymote.B.; F. om. both lines. P. hem; Cx. hym; B. Th. om.mour; F. B. Sygamour; Cx. Sycomour; P. Cicomour.1275, 6. From1278. Th. Syca-BOOK III. ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 39Of al the peple that I say,Fro hennes in-to domesday?Whan I had al this folk beholde,And fond me lous, and noght y-holde,And eft y-mused longe whyleUpon these walles of beryle,1285That shoon ful lighter than a glas,And made wel more than hit was (200)1290To sem*n, every thing, y-wis,As kinde thing of fames is;I gan forth romen til I fondThe castel-yate on my right hond,Which that so wel corven wasThat never swich another nas;And yit hit was by aventureY-wrought, as often as by cure.Hit nedeth noght yow for to tellen ,To make yow to longe dwellen,Of this yates florisshinges,Ne of compasses, ne of kervinges,Ne how they hatte in masoneries,As, corbets fulle of imageries.1295(210) 1300But, lord! so fair hit was to shewe,For hit was al with gold behewe.But in I wente, and that anoon;Ther mette I crying many oon, —'A larges, larges, hold up wel!1305God save the lady of this pel, (220)1310Our owne gentil lady Fame,And hem that wilnen to have nameOf us! ' Thus herde I cryen alle,And faste comen out of halle,1283. F. B. y ther; rest that I.holde; Cx. Th. P. holde; F. y-colde.Th. om. F. B. P. I mused.1285. F. B. folkys.1287. Cx. P. eft;1293. F. B. to; rest forth.P. for; rest more. 1301. B. this; rest these; see 1294.1286. B. IF. oft; B. all;1299. Cx.1303. F. howthey hat; B. how they hate; Cx. how the hackyng; P. Th. how the hackynge.1304. Cx. Th. P. As corbettis (-es) and ymageries; B. As corbettz, full ofymageryes; F. As corbetz, followed by a blank space.hold (holde).1309. F. hald; rest40THEHOUSOF FAME[BOOKIII..And shoken nobles and sterlinges.And somme crouned were as kinges,With crounes wroght ful of losenges;And many riban, and many frengesWere on hir clothes trewely.Tho atte laste aspyed IThat pursevauntes and heraudes,That cryen riche folkes laudes,Hit weren alle; and every manOf hem, as I yow tellen can,Had on him throwen a vesture,Which that men clepe a cote-armure,Enbrowded wonderliche riche,Al-though they nere nought y-liche.1315(230) 13201325But noght nil I, so mote I thryve,Been aboute to discryve (240) 1330Al these armes that ther weren,That they thus on hir cotes beren,For hit to me were impossible;Men mighte make of hem a bibleTwenty foot thikke, as I trowe.For certeyn, who- so coude y-knoweMighte ther alle the armes seenOf famous folk that han y-beenIn Auffrike, Europe, and Asye,Lo! how shulde I now telle al this?1335Sith first began the chevalrye. (250) 1340Ne of the halle eek what nede isTo tellen yow, that every walOf hit, and floor, and roof and alWas plated half a fote thikke 1345Of gold, and that nas no-thing wikke,But, for to prove in alle wyse,As fyn as ducat in Venyse,1315. Cx. Th. P. shoke; F. shoon; B. shone. 1316. F. B. As (for And).1326. F. crepen (!) .1317. P. Cx. lesynges; rest losynges; read losenges. 1318. F. frenges; B.Th. frynges. 1321. F. B. herauldes.P. wonderliche; the rest wonderly.As though. 1332. Cx. Th. P. cotes; F. B. cote.1327.1328. Cx. P. Alle though; F. Th. B.1335. F. B. om. as.BOOK III . ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 41Of whiche to lyte al in my pouche is?And they wer set as thikke of nouchisFulle of the fynest stones faire,That men rede in the Lapidaire,As greses growen in a mede;But hit were al to longe to redeThe names; and therfore I pace.But in this riche lusty place,That Fames halle called was,Ful moche prees of folk ther nas,Ne crouding, for to mochil prees.But al on hye, above a dees,Sitte in a see imperial,That maad was of a rubee al,Which that a carbuncle is y-called,I saugh, perpetually y- stalled,A feminyne creature;That never formed by natureNas swich another thing y-seye.For altherfirst, soth for to seye,Me thoughte that she was so lyte,That the lengthe of a cubyte(260)13501355(270) 13601365(280) 1370Was lenger than she semed be;But thus sone, in a whyle, sheHir tho so wonderliche streighte,That with hir feet she therthe reighte,And with hir heed she touched hevene,Ther as shynen sterres sevene.And ther-to eek, as to my wit,I saugh a gretter wonder yit,Upon hir eyen to beholde;But certeyn I hem never tolde;For as fele eyen hadde sheAs fetheres upon foules be,1375(290) 13801349. F. B. litel; rest lyte. 1350. B. thicke; Th. thyke; F. thik. 1351.P. Cx. Full; rest Fyne. 1353. P. As; Cx. Th. Or as; F. B. Of. 1356.P. Cx. riche lusty; rest lusty and riche. 1361. F. Sit; B. Syt; Cx. P. Sat;Th. Satte; read Sitte. 1369. F. B. om. that. 1371. F. B. omit semed be.1372. So Cx. Th. P.; F. B. read-This was gret marvaylle to me. 1373.All wonderly; cf. l. 1327. 1374. F. B. erthe. 1377. F. B. om. to.42 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK III. .Or weren on the bestes foure,That goddes trone gunne honoure,As Iohn writ in thapocalips.Hir heer, that oundy was and crips,As burned gold hit shoon to see.1385And sooth to tellen, also sheHad also fele up-stonding eresAnd tonges, as on bestes heres;And on hir feet wexen saugh I(300) 1390Partriches winges redely.But, lord! the perrie and the richesseI saugh sitting on this goddesse!And, lord! the hevenish melodyeOf songes, ful of armonye,I herde aboute her trone y- songe,That al the paleys-walles ronge!So song the mighty Muse, sheThat cleped is Caliopee,And hir eighte sustren eke,That in hir face sem*n meke;And evermo, eternally,1395(310) 1400They songe of Fame, as tho herde I:—' Heried be thou and thy name,Goddesse of renoun and of fame!'Tho was I war, lo, atte laste,As I myn eyen gan up caste,That this ilke noble queneOn hir shuldres gan susteneBothe tharmes and the nameOf tho that hadde large fame;Alexander, and HerculesThat with a sherte his lyf lees!Thus fond I sitting this goddesse,In nobley, honour, and richesse;Of which I stinte a whyle now,Other thing to tellen yow.1405(320) 141014151404. F. synge; rest songe. 1406. F. B. or; rest and. 1411. Th.the armes; rest armes 1415. All And thus.; read tharmes (i . e. th' armes).1416. Cx. P. nobley; F. Th. B. noble ( =noblee) .BOOK III . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 43Tho saugh I stonde on either syde,Streight doun to the dores wyde,Fro the dees, many a pileerOf metal, that shoon not ful cleer;But though they nere of no richesse,Yet they were maad for greet noblesse,And in hem greet [and hy] sentence;And folk of digne reverence,Of whiche I wol yow telle fonde,Upon the piler saugh I stonde.Alderfirst, lo, ther I sigh,Upon a piler stonde on high,That was of lede and yren fyn,Him of secte Saturnyn,The Ebrayk Iosephus, the olde,That of Lewes gestes tolde;And bar upon his shuldres hyeThe fame up of the Iewerye.And by him stoden other sevene,Wyse and worthy for to nevene,To helpen him bere up the charge,Hit was so hevy and so large.And for they writen of batailes,As wel as other olde mervailes,Therfor was, lo, this pileer,Of which that I yow telle heer,Of lede and yren bothe, y-wis.For yren Martes metal is,Which that god is of bataile;And the leed, withouten faile,Is, lo, the metal of Saturne,That hath ful large wheel to turne.Tho stoden forth, on every rowe,(330) 14201425(340) 14301435(350) 14401445(360) 1450Of hem which that I coude knowe,1421. F. peler; B. pylere. 1425. I supply and hy.1432. Cx. Hym that wrote thactes dyuyne; P. om.; F. B. Th. Saturnyne.1435. Cx. P. bare vpon; F. Th. B. he bare on.F. stonden; rest stoden.P. Cx. piler; F. B. pilere.1431. All fyne.1436. F. B. om. up. 1437.1443-1450. F. B. a ful; rest ful.1442. P. Cx. Th. as of other merveilles.1444. All here.44 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK III..Thogh I hem noght by ordre telle,To make yow to long to dwelle.These, of whiche I ginne rede,Ther saugh I stonden, out of drede:Upon an yren piler strong,That peynted was, al endelong,With tygres blode in every place,The Tholosan that highte Stace,That bar of Thebes up the fameUpon his shuldres, and the nameAlso of cruel Achilles.And by him stood, withouten lees,Ful wonder hye on a pileerOf yren, he, the gret Omeer;And with him Dares and TytusBefore, and eek he, Lollius,And Guido eek de Columpnis,And English Gaufride eek, y-wis;And ech of these, as have I Ioye,Was besy for to bere up Troye.So hevy ther-of was the fame,That for to bere hit was no game.But yit I gan ful wel espye,Betwix hem was a litel envye.Oon seyde, Omere made lyes,Feyninge in his poetryes,And was to Grekes favorable;Therfor held he hit but fable.Tho saugh I stonde on a pileer,That was of tinned yren cleer,That Latin poete, [dan] Virgyle,That bore hath up a longe whyleThe fame of Pius Eneas.And next him on a piler was,Of coper, Venus clerk, Ovyde,That hath y-sowen wonder wyde1455(370) 14601465(380) 14701475(390) 148014851456. F. B. stonde; Cx. Th. stande; P. stond.Th. Tholason; P. Tolofan; Cx. tholophan.seyde Omere was. 1483. Isupply dan; see l. 1499.1460. F. B. Tholausan;1477. So Cx. Th. P.; F. B.1484. F. B. omit a.BOOK III . ] THE HOUS OF FAME 45The grete god of Loves name.And ther he bar up wel his fame,Upon this piler, also hyeAs I might see hit with myn yë:For-why this halle, of whiche I redeWas woxe on highte, lengthe and brede,Wel more, by a thousand del,Than hit was erst, that saugh I wel.Tho saugh I, on a piler by,(400) 14901495Of yren wroght ful sternely,The grete poete, daun Lucan,And on his shuldres bar up than,As highe as that I mighte see,The fame of Iulius and Pompee.And by him stoden alle these clerkes,That writen of Romes mighty werkes,That, if I wolde hir names telle,Al to longe moste I dwelle.And next him on a piler stoodOf soulfre, lyk as he were wood,Dan Claudian, the soth to telle,That bar up al the fame of helle,Of Pluto, and of Proserpyne,That quene is of the derke pyne.(410) 15001505(420) 1510What shulde I more telle of this?The halle was al ful, y-wis,Of hem that writen olde gestes, 1515As ben on trees rokes nestes;But hit a ful confus matereWere al the gestes for to here,That they of write, and how they highte.But why that I beheld this sighte, (430) 1520I herde a noise aprochen blyve,That ferde as been don in an hyve,Agen her tyme of out-fleyinge;Right swiche a maner murmuringe,1492. F. And; rest As; B. As I hit myght se with myn ye; P. Cx. Th. As Imyght see it wyth myn ye. 1494. F. high the ( =highthe); Cx. Th. heyght;see 1. 744. 1498. F. sturmely. 1507. F. om. a1515. F. inserts al of the before olde; B. inserts of the.1510. F. B. om. al.46[BOOKIII.THEHOUSOFFAME.For al the world, hit semed me.Tho gan I loke aboute and see,That ther com entring in the halle1525A right gret company with-alle,And that of sondry regiouns,Of alleskinnes condiciouns,That dwelle in erthe under the mone,Pore and ryche. And also soneAs they were come into the halle,They gonne doun on kneës falleBefore this ilke noble quene,And seyde, ' Graunte us, lady shene,Ech of us, of thy grace, a bone! 'And somme of hem she graunted sone,And somme she werned wel and faire;(440) 15301535And somme she graunted the contraire (450) 1540Of hir axing utterly.But thus I seye yow trewely,What hir cause was, I niste.For this folk, ful wel I wiste,They hadde good fame ech deserved,Althogh they were diversly served;Right as hir suster, dame Fortune,Is wont to serven in comune.Now herkne how she gan to payeThat gonne hir of hir grace praye;And yit, lo, al this companyeSeyden sooth, and noght a lye.' Madame,' seyden they, ' we beFolk that heer besechen thee,That thou graunte us now good fame,And lete our werkes han that name;In ful recompensaciounOf good werk, give us good renoun. '' I werne yow hit, ' quod she anoon,'Ye gete of me good fame noon,1545(460) 15501555(470) 15601530. F. alle skynnes; Cx. alle kyns.1546. F. B. om. this line.1527. All in-to (for in).Cx. Th. grace (for cause).1551. Cx. Th. P. yet; F. B. right.quoth.1543.1549. F. B. herke.1553. Cx. Th. P. sayd; F. quod; B.BOOK III . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 47By god! and therfor go your wey.'' Alas,' quod they, and welaway!Telle us, what may your cause be? '' For me list hit noght, ' quod she;'No wight shal speke of yow, y- wis,Good ne harm, ne that ne this.'And with that word she gan to calleHir messanger, that was in halle ,And bad that he shulde faste goon,Up peyne to be blind anoon,For Eolus, the god of winde;-'In Trace ther ye shul him finde,And bid him bringe his clarioun,That is ful dyvers of his soun,And hit is cleped Clere Laude,With which he wont is to heraudeHem that me list y-preised be:And also bid him how that heBringe his other clarioun,1565(480) 15701575That highte Sclaundre in every toun,With which he wont is to diffame(490) 1580Hem that me list, and do hem shame.'This messanger gan faste goon,And found wher, in a cave of stoon,In a contree that highte Trace,This Eolus, with harde grace,Held the windes in distresse,And gan hem under him to presse,That they gonne as beres rore,He bond and pressed hem so sore.This messanger gan faste crye,' Rys up, ' quod he, ' and faste hye,Til that thou at my lady be;And tak thy clarions eek with thee,1585(500) 1590And speed thee forth .' And he anonTook to a man, that hight Triton,15951570. F. B. Vpon the peyn to be blynde, omitting l. 1572; Cx. Th. om. the.Read Vp, the usual idiom.that.1572. In Cx. Th. only.1594. F. B. clarioun; see 1. 1597.1585. F. B. om.48THEHOUSOFFAME[BOOKIII..His clariouns to bere tho,And leet a certeyn wind to go,That blew so hidously and hye,That hit ne lefte not a skye (510) 1600In al the welken longe and brood.This Eolus no-wher aboodTil he was come at Fames feet,And eek the man that Triton heet;And ther he stood, as still as stoon.And her-withal ther com anoonAnother huge companyeOf gode folk, and gunne crye,'Lady, graunte us now good fame,And lat our werkes han that nameNow, in honour of gentilesse,And also god your soule blesse!For we han wel deserved hit,1605(520) 1610Therfor is right that we ben quit.'' As thryve I,' quod she, ' ye shal faile,Good werkes shal yow noght availe1615To have of me good fame as now.But wite ye what? I graunte yow,That ye shal have a shrewed fameAnd wikked loos, and worse name,Though ye good loos have wel deserved.Now go your wey, for ye be served;And thou, dan Eolus, let see!Tak forth thy trumpe anon,' quod she,'That is y-cleped Sclaunder light,And blow hir loos, that every wightSpeke of hem harm and shrewednesse,In stede of good and worthinesse.For thou shalt trumpe al the contraireOf that they han don wel or faire.'6' Alas, ' thoughte I, ' what aventuresHan these sory creatures!1599. F. B. And (for That).B. om . now.1603. Cx. P. at; rest to.1614. F. B. insert wel after be.wote; read wite. 1621. F. B. om. wel.dan; F. B. Haue doon.(530) 16201625(540) 16301609. F.1618. F. B. wete; rest1623. Cx. Th. P. And thouBOOK III . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 49For they, amonges al the pres,Shul thus be shamed gilteles!But what hit moste nedes be.'What did this Eolus, but heTok out his blakke trumpe of bras,That fouler than the devil was,And gan this trumpe for to blowe,As al the world shulde overthrowe;That through-out every regiounWente this foule trumpes soun,As swift as pelet out of gonne,Whan fyr is in the poudre ronne.And swiche a smoke gan out- wendeOut of his foule trumpes ende,Blak, blo, grenish, swartish reed,As doth wher that men melte leed,Lo, al on high fro the tuel!And therto oo thing saugh I wel,That, the ferther that hit ran,The gretter wexen hit began,As doth the river from a welle,And hit stank as the pit of helle.Alas, thus was hir shame y- ronge,And giltelees, on every tonge.Tho com the thridde companye,And gunne up to the dees to hye,And doun on knees they fille anon,And seyde, ' We ben everichon1635(550) 16401645(560) 16501655(570) 1660Folk that han ful trewelyDeserved fame rightfully,And praye yow, hit mot be knowe,Right as hit is, and forth y-blowe. ''I graunte,' quod she, ' for me listThat now your gode werk be wist;And yit ye shul han better loos,Right in dispyt of alle your foos,1637. P. blak; F. B. blake. 1647.swarte. 1657. B. thridde; F. thirdde.1665Cx. Th. P. swartysh; F. B. swart,1661. F. ben; rest han. 1666.All werkes, pl.; see 1701. Th. That your good workes shal be wyst (perhapsbetter).

• • • 1668. F. B. om. Right.

E50THEHOUSOF FAME[BOOK III..Than worthy is; and that anoon:Lat now,' quod she, ' thy trumpe goon, (580) 1670Thou Eolus, that is so blak;And out thyn other trumpe takThat highte Laude, and blow hit soThat through the world hir fame go1675Al esely, and not to faste,That hit be knowen atte laste.'' Ful gladly, lady myn, ' he seyde;And out his trumpe of golde he braydeAnon, and sette hit to his mouthe,And blew hit est, and west, and southe, (590) 1680And north, as loude as any thunder,That every wight hadde of hit wonder,So brode hit ran, or than hit stente.And, certes, al the breeth that wenteOut of his trumpes mouthe smeldeAs men a pot-ful bawme heldeAmong a basket ful of roses;This favour dide he til hir loses.And right with this I gan aspye,1685Ther com the ferthe companye— (600) 1690But certeyn they were wonder feweAnd gonne stonden in a rewe,And seyden, ' Certes, lady brighte,We han don wel with al our mighte;But we ne kepen have no fame.Hyd our werkes and our name,For goddes love! for certes weHan certeyn doon hit for bountee,And for no maner other thing.'' I graunte yow al your asking,'Quod she; let your werk be deed.'With that aboute I clew myn heed,And saugh anoon the fifte routeThat to this lady gonne loute,1695(610) 17001675. F. B. om. Al.All ofbawme; omit of (Koch) .1720, I.1682. F. B. Cx. Th. hath; P. have.1701. werk] all werkes (werkys); see 1666,1702. B. clew; F. clywe; Cx. Th. P. torned , turned,1686.BOOK III .] THE HOUS OF FAME. 51And doun on knees anoon to falle;And to hir tho besoughten alleTo hyde hir gode werkes eek,And seyde, they yeven noght a leekFor fame, ne for swich renoun;1705For they, for contemplaciounAnd goddes love, hadde y-wrought;Ne of fame wolde they nought.And wene ye for to do good,'What?' quod she, ' and be ye wood?And for to have of that no fame?Have ye dispyt to have my name?Nay, ye shul liven everichoon!Blow thy trumpe and that anoon,'Quod she, ' thou Eolus, I hote,And ring this folkes werk by note,That al the world may of hit here.'And he gan blowe hir loos so clereIn his golden clarioun,That through the world wente the soun,So kenely, and eek so softe;But atte laste hit was on- lofte.Thoo com the sexte companye,And gonne faste on Fame crye.Right verraily, in this manereThey seyden: 'Mercy, lady dere!To telle certein, as hit is,We han don neither that ne this,But ydel al our lyf y-be.But, natheles, yit preye we,That we mowe han so good a fame,And greet renoun and knowen name,As they that han don noble gestes,And acheved alle hir lestes,1707. Cx. P. To hyde; Th. To hyden; F. B. And hidden.fame; rest no fame. P. Cx. Th. ne ( om. for); F. B. for (om. ne).F. B. Th. lyen (for lyuen); P. be; Cx. om.(620)17101715(630) 17201725(640) 173017351709. P. Cx.1717.1720. werk] all werkes(werkys); but see hit in 1721. 1725. F. B. Th. Al so; rest And so; read So.1726. So F. B.; Cx. Th. That theyr fame was blowe a lofte.P. so good a; Th. as good a; F. B. as good.1735. Cx.E 252 THE HOUS OF FAME. [BOOK III .As wel of love as other thing;Al was us never broche ne ring, (650) 1740Ne elles nought, from wimmen sent,Ne ones in hir herte y-mentTo make us only frendly chere,But mighte temen us on bere;Yit lat us to the peple seme 1745Swiche as the world may of us deme,That wimmen loven us for wood.Hit shal don us as moche good,And to our herte as moche availeTo countrepeise ese and travaile,As we had wonne hit with labour;For that is dere boght honourAt regard of our grete ese.And yit thou most us more plese;Let us be holden eek, therto,Worthy, wyse, and gode also,And riche, and happy unto love.For goddes love, that sit above,Though we may not the body haveOf wimmen, yet, so god yow save!Let men glewe on us the name;(660) 17501755(670) 1760Suffyceth that we han the fame.'' I graunte, ' quod she, ' by my trouthe!Now, Eolus, with-outen slouthe,Tak out thy trumpe of gold, let see, 1765And blow as they han axed me,That every man wene hem at ese,Though they gon in ful badde lese.'This Eolus gan hit so blowe,That through the world hit was y-knowe. (680) 1770Tho com the seventh route anoon,And fel on kneës everichoon,And seyde, ' Lady, graunte us soneThe same thing, the same bone,1742. Th. Cx. P. in her herte; F. in hem; B. in her.1745. F. B. om. the.1744. Th. on;rest upon. 1748, 1749. F. a; rest as. 1750.P. Cx. To; rest The. 1765. F. B. now let se (I omit now); rest quod she.BOOK III . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 53That [ye] this nexte folk han doon.''Fy on yow,' quod she, ' everichoon!Ye masty swyn, ye ydel wrecches,Ful of roten slowe tecches!What? false theves! wher ye woldeBe famous good, and no-thing noldeDeserve why, ne never roughte?Men rather yow to-hangen oughte!1775(690) 1780For ye be lyk the sweynte cat,That wolde have fish; but wostow what?He wolde no-thing wete his clowes. 1785Yvel thrift come on your Iowes,And eek on myn, if I hit graunte,Or do yow favour, yow to avaunte!Thou Eolus, thou king of Trace!Go, blow this folk a sory grace, ' (700) 1790Quod she, ' anoon; and wostow how?As I shal telle thee right now;Sey: "These ben they that wolde honourHave, and do noskinnes labour,Ne do no good, and yit han laude; 1795And that men wende that bele IsaudeNe coude hem noght of love werne;And yit she that grint at a querneIs al to good to ese hir herte." 'This Eolus anon up sterte,And with his blakke clariounHe gan to blasen out a soun,(710) 1800As loude as belweth wind in helle.And eek therwith, [the] sooth to telle,This soun was [al] so ful of Iapes,1805As ever mowes were in apes.And that wente al the world aboute,1775. I supply ye. 1779. P. wher; Cx. Th. where; F. B. or.F. B. neuer ye; rest om . ye.B sweynte; Cx. Th. P. slepy.Cx. Th. P. on; F. B. to.1801. P. blak; F. B. blake.MSS.; but P. has as ( =al- so).1782. F. B. om. to-.1786. Cx. P. on; the rest to.1781.1804. I supply the.1783. F. swynt;1787.1793. F. B. om. they.1805. al is not in the1792. F. B. om. thee.54 THE HOUS OF FAME. [ BOOK III.That every wight gan on hem shoute,And for to laughe as they were wode;Such game fonde they in hir hode. (720) 1810Tho com another companye,That had y-doon the traiterye,The harm, the gretest wikkednesseThat any herte couthe gesse;And preyed hir to han good fame,And that she nolde hem doon no shame,But yeve hem loos and good renoun,And do hit blowe in clarioun.'Nay, wis ' quod she, ' hit were a vyce;Al be ther in me no Iustyce,Me listeth not to do hit now,Ne this nil I not graunte you.'Tho come ther lepinge in a route,And gonne choppen al abouteEvery man upon the croune,1815(730) 18201825That al the halle gan to soune,And seyden: ' Lady, lefe and dere,We ben swich folk as ye mowe here.To tellen al the tale aright,We ben shrewes, every wight, (740) 1830And han delyt in wikkednes,As gode folk han in goodnes;And Ioye to be knowen shrewes,And fulle of vyce and wikked thewes;Wherfor we preyen yow, a-rowe,That our fame swich be knoweIn alle thing right as hit is.'' I graunte hit yow,' quod she, ' y-wis.But what art thou that seyst this tale,That werest on thy hose a pale,1835(750) 18401813. All grete, gret; read gretest (Willert).hem. 1818. F. B. in a; P. Cx. Th. in.1816. MSS. doon (don, do)1821. B. liste; rest list, shortforlisteth. F. B. P. om. to; Cx. Th. insert it. 1822. P. not; which F. B. Cx.Th. omit. 1824. F. choppen; B. choppyn; Th. clappen; Cx. P. clappe.1828. B. P. folk; rest folkes. 1834. P. vice; Cx. Th. vyce; F. B. vices.1836. F. B. suche be; Cx. Th. P. be suche.BOOK III . ] THE HOUS OF FAME. 55And on thy tipet swiche a belle! '' Madame,' quod he, ' sooth to telle,I am that ilke shrewe, y-wis,That brende the temple of IsidisIn Athenes, lo, that citee.' 1845' And wherfor didest thou so? ' quod she." By my thrift, ' quod he, ' madame,I wolde fayn han had a fame,As other folk hadde in the toun,Al- thogh they were of greet renounFor hir vertu and for hir thewes;(760) 1850Thoughte I, as greet a fame han shrewes,Thogh hit be [but] for shrewednesse,As gode folk han for goodnesse;And sith I may not have that oon, 1855That other nil I noght for-goon.And for to gette of Fames hyre,The temple sette I al a-fyre.Now do our loos be blowen swythe,As wisly be thou ever blythe.' (770) 1860' Gladly,' quod she; ' thou Eolus,Herestow not what they preyen us?'' Madame, yis, ful wel, ' quod he,'And I wil trumpen hit, parde! 'And tok his blakke trumpe faste,And gan to puffen and to blaste,Til hit was at the worldes ende.With that I gan aboute wende;For oon that stood right at my bak,Me thoughte, goodly to me spak,And seyde: ' Frend, what is thy name?Artow come hider to han fame?'' Nay, for-sothe, frend! ' quod I;' I cam noght hider, graunt mercy!For no swich cause, by my heed!Suffyceth me, as I were deed,1865(780) 187018751843. Here P. ends.be but for (Koch).1853. F. Th. be noght for; Cx. B. be for; read1862. Cx. Th. they; F. B. this folke.56THEHOUSOFFAME[BOOKIII..That no wight have my name in honde.I woot my-self best how I stonde;For what I drye or what I thinke,I wol my-selven al hit drinke,Certeyn, for the more part,As ferforth as I can myn art.'(790) 1880' But what dost thou here than? ' quod he.Quod I, ' that wol I tellen thee,-The cause why I stondë here:-Som newe tydings for to lere:-Som newe thinges, I not what,Tydinges, other this or that,Of love, or swiche thinges glade.For certeynly, he that me madeTo comen hider, seyde me,I shulde bothe here and see,In this place, wonder thinges;But these be no swiche tydingesAs I mene of.' ' No? ' quod he.And I answerde, ' No, pardee!For wel I wiste, ever yit,1885(800) 18901895Sith that first I hadde wit,That som folk han desyred fameDyversly, and loos, and name; (810) 1900But certeynly, I niste howNe wher that Fame dwelte, er now;Ne eek of hir descripcioun,Ne also hir condicioun,Ne the ordre of hir dome,Unto the tyme I hider come. ''[Whiche] be, lo, these tydinges,That thou now [thus] hider bringes,19051887.1897.1883. Th. than; Cx. thenne; F. B. om.Cf. 1. 1889. 1891. All come.1898. All had. 1902. All dwelled or1906. B. the; F. om. B. hidyr; Th.1907. B. Whi then; rest Why than; KochLl. 1907-9 are probably corrupt; see note.1880. F. selfe; read selven.Allthing, thinge; read thinges.All wote for wiste); see l. 1901.dwellyth. 1903. F. And; rest Ne.hyder; Cx. hether; F. thidder.suggests Which than; read Which- e.1908. Isupply thus.BOOK III . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 57That thou hast herd? ' quod he to me;' But now, no fors; for wel I seeWhat thou desyrest for to here.Com forth, and stond no longer here,And I wol thee, with-outen drede,In swich another place lede,(820) 1910Ther thou shalt here many oon. ' 1915Tho gan I forth with him to goonOut of the castel, soth to seye.Tho saugh I stonde in a valeye,Under the castel, faste by,An hous, that domus Dedali,That Laborintus cleped is,Nas maad so wonderliche, y-wis,Ne half so queynteliche y-wrought.And evermo, so swift as thought,This queynte hous aboute wente,That never-mo hit stille stente.And ther-out com so greet a noise,That, had hit stonden upon Oise,Men mighte hit han herd eselyTo Rome, I trowe sikerly.And the noyse which that I herde,For al the world right so hit ferde,As doth the routing of the stoonThat from thengyn is leten goon.And al this hous, of whiche I rede,Was made of twigges, falwe, rede,And grene eek, and som weren whyte,Swiche as men to these cages thwyte,Or maken of these paniers,Or elles hottes or dossers;(830) 1920That, for the swough and for the twigges,1925(840) 19301935(850) 1940This hous was also ful of gigges,And also ful eek of chirkinges,And of many other werkinges;1926. Th. it stil; rest stil hyt.had.1931. Th. B. that I; F. I haue; Cx. I1938. F. B. Whiche; Cx. Th. Suche. 1940. F. Cx. B. hattes;Th. hutches. Read hottes. 1941. F. twynges (! ); B. twigys. 1944.Corrupt. From Cx. Th.; B. omits the line; F. has only As ful this lo58[BOOKIII.THEHOUSOFFAME.And eek this hous hath of entreesAs fele as leves been on treesIn somer, whan they grene been;And on the roof men may yit seenA thousand holes, and wel mo,To leten wel the soun out go.And by day, in every tyde,Ben al the dores open wyde,And by night, echoon, unshette;Ne porter ther is non to letteNo maner tydings in to pace;Ne never reste is in that place,That hit nis fild ful of tydinges,Other loude, or of whispringes;And, over alle the houses angles,Is ful of rouninges and of IanglesOf werre, of pees, of mariages,Of reste, of labour of viages,Of abood, of deeth, of lyfe,Of love, of hate, acorde, of stryfe,Of loos, of lore, and of winninges,1945(860) 19501955(870) 19601965Of hele, of sekenesse, of bildinges,Of faire windes, of tempestes,Of qualme of folk, and eek of bestes;Of dyvers transmutaciounsOf estats, and eek of regiouns; (880) 1970Of trust, of drede, of Ielousye,Of wit, of winninge, of folye;Of plentee, and of greet famyne,Of chepe, of derth, and of ruyne;Of good or mis governement,Of fyr, of dyvers accident.And lo, this hous, of whiche I wryte,Siker be ye, hit nas not lyte;1946. Cx. Th. as; F. of; B. as of. Th. on; F. B. in; Cx. of.roof; Th. rofe; F. B. roue.1955. Cx. out (for in).19751948. Cx.1952. Cx. Th. open; F. opened; B. I- opened.1957. F. silde; B. fylde; Cx. Th. fylled. 1961 .1962. All restes ( pl.). Cx. of labour; F.1967. All insert and eek before of; see l. 1968.1975. All write mis governement as one word. 1976. All and of; omit and.All werres (pl.); read werre.Th. B. and of labour.BOOK III .] THE HOUS OF FAME. 59For hit was sixty myle of lengthe;Al was the timber of no strengthe,Yet hit is founded to endureWhyl that hit list to Aventure,That is the moder of tydinges,As the see of welles and springes, —And hit was shapen lyk a cage.'Certes,' quod I, ' in al myn age,Ne saugh I swich a hous as this .'And as I wondred me, y-wis,Upon this hous, tho war was IHow that myn egle, faste by,Was perched hye upon a stoon;And I gan streighte to him goonAnd seyde thus: 'I preye theeThat thou a whyl abyde meFor goddes love, and let me seenWhat wondres in this place been;For yit, paraventure, I may lereSom good ther-on, or sumwhat hereThat leef me were, or that I wente. ''Peter! that is myn entente,'Quod he to me; ' therfor I dwelle;But certein, oon thing I thee telle,That, but I bringe thee ther-inne,Ne shalt thou never cunne ginneTo come in-to hit, out of doute,So faste hit whirleth, lo, aboute.But sith that Ioves, of his grace,As I have seyd, wol thee solaceFynally with [swiche] thinges,Uncouthe sightes and tydinges,To passe with thyn hevinesse;Suche routhe hath he of thy distresse,That thou suffrest debonairlyDisesperat of alle blis,(890) 19801985(900) 19901995(910) 20002005(920) 20102015And wost thy-selven utterlySith that Fortune hath maad a-mis1984. F. B. and of; Cx. Th. om. of. 1997. Th. paraunter. 2009.Isubstitute swiche for these. 2010. Th. syghtes; rest syght.60 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK III. .The [fruit] of al thyn hertes resteLanguisshe and eek in point to bresteThat he, through his mighty meryte,Wol do thee ese, al be hit lyte, (930) 2020And yaf expres commaundement,To whiche I am obedient,To furthre thee with al my might,And wisse and teche thee arightWher thou maist most tydinges here;Shaltow anoon heer many oon lere. 'With this worde he, right anoon,Hente me up bitwene his toon,And at a windowe in me broghte,2025That in this hous was, as me thoghte- (940) 2030And ther-withal, me thoghte hit stente,And no-thing hit aboute wenteAnd me sette in the flore adoun.But which a congregaciounOf folk, as I saugh rome abouteSome within and some withoute,Nas never seen, ne shal ben eft;That, certes, in the world nis leftSo many formed by Nature,Ne deed so many a creature;2035(950) 2040That wel unethe, in that place,Hadde I oon foot-brede of space;And every wight that I saugh thereRouned ech in otheres ereA newe tyding prevely,Or elles tolde al openlyRight thus, and seyde: ' Nost not thouThat is betid, lo, late or now? '2017. F. The frot; B. The foot; Cx. Th. The swote.(Koch) . 2018. Cx. Th. Languysshe; F. B. Laugh.(for thee); Cx. the an; F. than (perhaps the an) .after yaf.=2045Read The fruit2020. Th. B. the2021. All insert in2036.2026. F. B. insert anoon (anon) after here, which Cx. Th. omit.For here anoon read anoon heer. 2028. F. B. omit this line.F. B. omit this line; it is probably corrupt.(Koch). 2042. Cx. one; F. Th. B. a.yn; Cx. Th. Rowned euerych in.Read Many a thousand in a route 2044. F. Rovned in; B. Rownyd2048. F. has only-That ys betydde;B. That is betyd late or now; Cx. Th. That ys betyd lo ryght now.BOOK III . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 61'No,' quod [the other], ' tel me what; '--And than he tolde him this and that, (960) 2050And swoor ther-to that hit was sooth-'Thus hath he seyd ' and ' Thus he dooth ' -' Thus shal hit be ' ' Thus herde I seye'—' That shal be found '-' That dar I leye: '-That al the folk that is a-lyveNe han the cunning to discryveThe thinges that I herde there,What aloude, and what in ere.But al the wonder-most was this:-Whan oon had herd a thing, y-wis,He com forth to another wight,And gan him tellen, anoon-right,The same that to him was told,Or hit a furlong-way was old,But gan somwhat for to echeTo this tyding in this specheMore than hit ever was.And nat so sone departed nasThat he fro him, that he ne metteWith the thridde; and, or he letteAny stounde, he tolde him als;Were the tyding sooth or fals,Yit wolde he telle hit nathelees,And evermo with more encrees2055(970) 20602065(980) 2070Than hit was erst. Thus north and southe 2075Went every [word] fro mouth to mouthe,And that encresing ever-mo,As fyr is wont to quikke and goFrom a sparke spronge amis,Til al a citee brent up is.And, whan that was ful y-spronge,And woxen more on every tonge2049. Allhe; read the other (Willert) .before thus; but compare the next line.2061. F. B. forth ryght to; Cx. forth vnto;to; rest om. 2066. F. Tho; rest To.Th. Tho. F. thoo; B. tho; Cx. Th. that.Cx. Th. Wente euery tydyng. 2081.(990) 20802053. All insert And (twice)2059. All wonder most (moste) .Th. streyght to. 2063. Cx.2069. F. B. That he; Cx.2076. F. B. Went every mouthe;Cx. Th. vp spronge.62 THE HOUS OF FAME [BOOK III. .Than ever hit was, [ hit] wente anoonUp to a windowe, out to goon;Or, but hit mighte out ther pace,Hit gan out crepe at som crevace,And fleigh forth faste for the nones.And somtyme saugh I tho, at ones,A lesing and a sad soth-sawe,That gonne of aventure draweOut at a windowe for to pace;And, when they metten in that place,They were a- chekked bothe two,And neither of hem moste out go;For other so they gonne croude,Til eche of hem gan cryen loude,' Lat me go first! ' ' Nay, but lat me!And here I wol ensuren theeWith the nones that thou wolt do so,That I shal never fro thee go,But be thyn owne sworen brother!We wil medle us ech with other,That no man, be he never so wrothe,Shal han that oon [of] two, but botheAt ones, al beside his leve,Come we a-morwe or on eve,2085(1000) 20902095(1010) 21002105Be we cryed or stille y-rouned. 'Thus saugh I fals and sooth compounedTogeder flee for oo tydinge.Thus out at holes gonne wringe (1020) 2110Every tyding streight to Fame;And she gan yeven eche his name,After hir disposicioun,And yaf hem eek duracioun,2090. Cx. Th. drawe; F. B. thrawe.2083. All and for 2nd hit).2088. F. om. I.at; F. B. to.Cx. omits.2087. F. flygh; B. fligh; Cx. Th. flewe.2091. Cx. Th.2103. Th. he; F. B. they. 2104.2093. F. B. a cheked; Cx. Th. a chekked. 2095-2158.2099. B. om. the.F. han on two (sic ); B. haue that oon (om . of two); Th. haue one two.Isupply thatfrom B.; and also of.2112. All yeue.2106. Th. amorowe; F. B. morwe.BOOK III . ]THE HOUS OF FAME. 63Some to wexe and wane sone,As dooth the faire whyte mone,And leet hem gon. Ther mighte I seenWenged wondres faste fleen,Twenty thousand in a route,As Eolus hem blew aboute.And, lord this hous, in alle tymes,Was ful of shipmen and pilgrymes,With scrippes bret-ful of lesinges,Entremedled with tydinges,And eek alone by hem-selve.O, many a thousand tymes twelveSaugh I eek of these pardoneres,Currours, and eek messangeres,With boistes crammed ful of lyesAs ever vessel was with lyes.And as I alther-fastest wenteAboute, and dide al myn ententeMe for to pleye and for to lere,And eek a tyding for to here,That I had herd of som contree2115(1030) 21202125(1040) 21302135That shal not now be told for me;-For hit no nede is, redely;Folk can singe hit bet than I;For al mot out, other late or rathe,Alle the sheves in the lathe;- (1050) 2140I herde a gret noise withalleIn a corner of the halle,Ther men of love tydings tolde,And I gan thiderward beholde;For I saugh renninge every wight,As faste as that they hadden might;And everich cryed, ' What thing is that? 'And som seyde, ' I not never what.'And whan they were alle on an hepe,Tho behinde gonne up lepe,2115. Th. wane; F. B. wynne (!) .2129. F. boystes; Th. boxes; B. bowgys.F. begunne.2145(1060) 21502123. Th. scrippes; F. B. shrippes.2150. Th. gonne; B. bigonne;64THEHOUSOFFAME.And clamben up on othere faste,And up the nose on hye caste,And troden faste on othere helesAnd stampe, as men don after eles.Atte laste I saugh a man,Which that I [nevene] naught ne can;But he semed for to beA man of greet auctoritee(Unfinished.)·2151 , 3. F. other; B. othir; read othere (oth’re) , plural.2155(1068) 21582152. F.noyse an highen (!); Th. noyse on hyghen (!); B. nose and yen; read on hye(Koch). 2153. F. B. other; Th. others.Th. stampe.2154. F. B. stampen;2156. I supply nevene. 2158. Here F. B. end; Cx. Th.add 12 spurious lines.THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.THE Prologue to this Poem exists in two different versions, which differwidely from each other in many passages. The arrangement of the material isalso different.For the sake of clearness, the earlier version is here called ' Text A,' and thelater version ' Text B.'' Text A' exists in one MS. only, but this MS. is of early date and muchimportance. It is the MS. marked Gg. 4. 27 in the Cambridge UniversityLibrary, and is here denoted by the letter ' C.' It is the same MS. as thatdenoted by the abbreviation ' Cm. ' in the footnotes tothe Canterbury Tales andTroilus and Criseyde. This text is printed in the upper part of the followingpages. The footnotes give the MS. spellings, where these are amended in the text.'Text B' occupies the lower part of the following pages. It follows theFairfax MS. mainly, which is denoted by ' F.' In many places, the inferiorspellings of this MS. are relegated to the footnotes, amended spellings beinggiven in the text. Various readings are given from Tn. (Tanner MS. 346); T.(Trinity MS. , R. 3. 19); A. ( Arch. Seld. B. 24 in the Bodleian Library); Th.(Thynne's Edition, 1532); B. ( Bodley MS. 638); P. (Pepys MS. 2006); andsometimes from C. (already mentioned) or Add. (Addit. 9832) .Lines which occur in one text only are marked (in either text) by a prefixedasterisk. Lines marked with a dagger (†) stand just the same in both texts.The blank space after A 60 (p. 70) shews that there is nothing in Text Acorresponding to B 69-72. Where the corresponding matter is transposedto another place, one or other text has a portion printed in smaller type.The prologe of ix. goode Wimmen.A THOUSAND sythes have I herd men telle,That ther is Ioye in heven, and peyne in helle;The prologe of .ix. goode Wimmen.A THOUSAND tymes have I herd men telle,†That ther is Ioye in heven, and peyne in helle;A. 1. thousent sythis. 2. there; heuene.B. 1. T. C. A. have I herd; rest I have herd. F. B. P. om. men; the rest have it.

• • • 2. F. B. ( only) om. That.

F66 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And I acorde wel that hit be so;But natheles, this wot I wel also ,That ther nis noon that dwelleth in this contree,That either hath in helle or heven y-be,ད†Ne may of hit non other weyes witen,†But as he hath herd seyd, or founde hit writen;For by assay ther may no man hit preve.But goddes forbode, but men shulde leve+Wel more thing then men han seen with yë!† Men shal nat wenen every-thing a lyëFor that he seigh it nat of yore ago.God wot, a thing is never the lesse so†Thogh every wight ne may hit nat y-see.†Bernard the monk ne saugh nat al, parde!†Than mote we to bokes that we finde,†Through which that olde thinges been in minde,And I acorde wel that hit is so;But natheles, yit wot I wel also,1015That ther nis noon dwelling in this contree,That either hath in heven or helle y-be,5† Ne may of hit non other weyes witen,†But as he hath herd seyd, or founde hit writen;For by assay ther may no man hit preve.But god forbede but men shulde leve 10+Wel more thing then men han seen with yë!†Men shal nat wenen every-thing a lyëBut-if him-self hit seeth, or elles dooth;For, god wot, thing is never the lasse sooth,†Thogh every wight ne may hit nat y-see. 15†Bernard the monk ne saugh nat al, parde!†Than mote we to bokes that we finde,†Through which that olde thinges been in minde,A 3. it.c*ntre. 6. heuene.4. wit (over erasure); read wot.10. goddis; schulde.21. trowyn; aprouede storyis.28. There; othyr a-say ( see 1. 9); be (for by).bokys. 33. onethe.14. neuere.B. 5. F. T. is; rest nis.5. ne is; dweilyth;13. say (better seigh) .27. ouzte; thanne; bokys.29. thow; myn. 30, 34.6. F. Tn. Th. B. P. ins. 2nd in before helle;PROLOGUE. A. 3-34. B. 3-34.67†And to the doctrine of these olde wyse,†Yeven credence, in every skilful wyse,And trowen on these olde aproved stories†Of holinesse, of regnes, of victories,†Of love, of hate, of other sundry thinges,† Of whiche I may not maken rehersinges.†And if that olde bokes were a- weye,+Y-loren were of remembraunce the keye.Wel oghte us than on olde bokes leve,Ther-as ther is non other assay by preve.2025And, as for me, though that my wit be lyte,†On bokes for to rede I me delyte, 30†And in myn herte have hem in reverence;And to hem yeve swich lust and swich credence,That ther is wel unethe game noonThat from my bokes make me to goon,†And to the doctrine of these olde wyse,†Yeve credence, in every skilful wyse,That tellen of these olde appreved stories,†Of holinesse, of regnes, of victories,†Of love, of hate, of other sundry thinges,† Of whiche I may not maken rehersinges.+And if that olde bokes were a-weye,†Y-loren were of remembraunce the keye.Wel oghte us than honouren and beleveThese bokes, ther we han non other preve.And as for me, thogh that I can but lyte,†On bokes for to rede I me delyte,And to hem yeve I feyth and ful credence,†And in myn herte have hem in reverenceSo hertely, that ther is game noonThat fro my bokes maketh me to goon,202530T. A. om.16. F. monke; all. 23.8. F. seyde. 13. F. -selfe; dooth. 14. F. sooth.18. F. ben. 20. C. Yeuyn (for Yeve).27. F. ought; thanne.F. sondry. 25. F. awey; C. Tn. A. aweye. 26. F. Y-lorne; C. I-loryn;P. I-lore. F. key; C. Tn. A. keye.there; noon.31. F. yiue; rest yeue.A. hertfully.28. F.29. F. though. A. Th. P. can; T. con; F. Tn. konne.33. F. hertly; Tn. Th. B. hertely; T. hertyly;F 268 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.But hit be other up-on the haly-day,Or elles in the Ioly tyme of May;Whan that I here the smale foules singe,†And that the floures ginne for to springe,Farwel my studie, as lasting that sesoun!Now have I therto this condicioun†That, of alle the floures in the mede,†Than love I most these floures whyte and rede,†Swiche as men callen daysies in our toun.†To hem have I so greet affeccioun,+As I seyde erst, whan comen is the May,†That in my bed ther daweth me no day†That I nam up, and walking in the medeTo seen these floures agein the sonne sprede,Whan hit up-riseth by the morwe shene,

• The longe day, thus walking in the grene.

But hit be seldom, on the holyday;Save, certeynly, whan that the month of MayIs comen, and that I here the foules singe,And that the floures ginnen for to springe,Farwel my book and my devocioun!Now have I than swich a condicioun,†That, of alle the floures in the mede,†Than love I most these floures whyte and rede,†Swiche as men callen daysies in our toun.†To hem have I so greet affeccioun,†As I seyde erst, whan comen is the May,†That in my bed ther daweth me no day†That I nam up, and walking in the medeTo seen this flour agein the sonne sprede,Whan hit upryseth erly by the morwe;

• That blisful sighte softneth al my sorwe,

3540455035404550A. 39. stodye; lastynge. 48. sen; flouris a- gen; sunne to sprede. 49. be(for by); schene.drawith it.50. walkynge.53. it; a-ferid. 54. it; dayis.58. wyntyr; somyr.51. sunne be- gynnys.55. flouris.52. it;57. frosch.B. 36. Tn. A. Th. month; B. P. moneth; F. monethe. 39. C. Th.PROLOGUE. A. 35-58. B. 35-63.69From This dayesye, of alle floures flour,Fulfild of vertu and of alle honour,(B. 53)A. 55-58. +And ever y-lyke fair and fresh of hewe,As wel in winter as in somer neweAnd whan the sonne ginneth for to weste, (B. 61 )Than closeth hit, and draweth hit to reste.So sore hit is afered of the night,

• Til on the morwe, that hit is dayes light.

This dayesye, of alle floures flour,Fulfild of vertu and of alle honour,†And ever y-lyke fair and fresh of hewe,As wel in winter as in somer newe,

• So glad am I whan that I have presence
• Of hit, to doon al maner reverence,

As she, that is of alle floures flour,Fulfilled of al vertu and honour,†And ever y-lyke fair, and fresh of hewe;And I love hit, and ever y-lyke newe,

• And ever shal, til that myn herte dye;
• Al swere I nat, of this I wol nat lye,
• Ther loved no wight hotter in his lyve.
• And whan that hit is eve, I renne blyve,

As sone as ever the sonne ginneth weste,To seen this flour, how it wol go to reste,For fere of night, so hateth she derknesse!From As she, that is of alle floures flour,Fulfilled of al vertu and honour,B. 53-56. +And ever y-lyke fair, and fresh of hewe;And I love hit, and ever y-lyke newe.555560Farwel; F. Faire wel. F. boke. 40. F. thanne. F. B. suche a; T. Th. ekethys; A. lo this; Tn. ek; P. eke a. 41. F. al. 42. F. Thanne; thise.43. C. Swyche; F. Suche. F. her (for our); rest our. 44. F. grete. 45.C. whan; F. whanne. 47. F. vppe. 48. F. floure ayein. 49. F.vprysith. 52. A. all maner; Add. hitalle maner; Th. alle; F. Th. it al; Tn. B. it alle; P. it alle.F. al (wrongly). 54. F. vertue. 55. F. faire; fressh,Tn. herte.50. All sight: read sighte.61. F. evere.53. Tn. T. alle;57. F. hert;70 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Fain wolde I preisen, if I coude aright;

• But wo is me, hit lyth nat in my might!

For wel I wot, that folk han her-beforn+Of making ropen, and lad a-wey the corn;†And I come after, glening here and there,†And am ful glad if I may finde an ereOf any goodly word that they han left.And, if hit happe me rehersen eftThat they han in her fresshe songes sayd,I hope that they wil nat ben evel apayd,Sith hit is seid in forthering and honourOf hem that either serven leef or flour.(B. 67)60(B. 73)

• Hir chere is pleynly sprad in the brightnesse
• Of the sonne, for ther hit wol unclose.
• Allas! that I ne had English, ryme or prose,

Suffisant this flour to preyse aright!

• But helpeth, ye that han conning and might,
• Ye lovers, that can make of sentement;
• In this cas oghte ye be diligent
• To forthren me somwhat in my labour,
• Whether ye ben with the leef or with the flour.

For wel I wot, that ye han her-biforn†Of making ropen, and lad awey the corn;†And I come after, glening here and there,†And am ful glad if I may finde an ereOf any goodly word that ye han left.And thogh it happen me rehercen eftThat ye han in your fresshe songes sayd,For-bereth me, and beth nat evel apayd,Sin that ye see I do hit in the honourOf love, and eek in service of the flour,60. myn.64. er.A. 59. preysyn; a- ryht.C. om. And; aftyr glenynge; ther.reherse. 67. here frosche songis.70. eythir seruyn lef.74. a-gen; shef.ho seruyth lef.B. 64. F. Hire.62. makynge ropyn.65. ony; laft.65706570758063.66.68. wele; euele a- payed. 69. Sithe.71. trustyth; vndyr-take. 72. lef a-gayn. 73. lef.75. lefere non; lothere. 76. witholde; nothire.80. old.77.66. F. englyssh. 68. F. konnyng. 69. F. sentment;rest sentement. 70. F. case. All oght, ought (wrongly); read oghte.F. Whethir; read Whe'r. 73. F. -biforne.72.74. F. makynge; corne.PROLOGUE. A. 59-80. B. 64-96. 71For trusteth wel, I ne have nat undertakeAs of the leef, ageyn the flour, to make;Ne of the flour to make, ageyn the leef,†No more than of the corn ageyn the sheef.For, as to me, is leefer noon ne lother;I am with-holde yit with never nother.I not who serveth leef, ne who the flour;That nis nothing the entent of my labour.For this werk is al of another tunne,Of olde story, er swich stryf was begunne.FromBut natheles, ne wene nat that I makeIn preysing of the flour agayn the leef,+No more than of the corn agayn the sheef.For as to me, nis lever noon ne lother;I nam with- holden yit with never nother.B. 188-196. Ne I not who serveth leef, ne who the flour;Wel brouken they hir service or labour.For this thing is al of another tonne,Of olde story, er swich thing was begonne.

• Whom that I serve as I have wit or might.
• She is the clernesse and the verray light,

7580

• That in this derke worlde me wynt and ledeth, 85
• The herte in-with my sorowful brest yow dredeth,
• And loveth so sore, that ye ben verrayly
• The maistresse of my wit, and nothing I.
• My word, my werk, is knit so in your bonde,
• That, as an harpe obeyeth to the honde
• And maketh hit soune after his fingeringe,
• Right so mowe ye out of myn herte bringe

9000

• Swich vois, right as yow list, to laughe or pleyne.
• Be ye my gyde and lady sovereyne;
• As to myn erthly god, to yow I calle,
• Bothe in this werke and in my sorwes alle.

79. F. fresshe; A. fresche; Th. fresshe. F. sayede; Tn. said.apayede; Tn. euylle a- paid.wit. 84. F. clerenesse; Tn.hert. F. sorwfull; dredith.82. F. eke; Tn. ek.clernesse. 85. F. ledyth.9580. F. euele83. F. witte; Tn.86. All88. F. witte; Tn. wyt. F. not thing (overerasure); rest nothyng. 89. F. worde. F. werkes; Tn. werkes; T. werke;A. werk. F. youre. Tn. bonde; F. bond. 90. Tn. honde; F. hond. 92.F. oute. Th. B. herte; rest hert. 93. F. pleyn; Tn. pleyne. 94. F. souereyn;Tn. souereyne. 95. F. erthely; yowe. 96 A. B. in my; rest omit and in.72 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.†But wherfor that I spak, to yeve credence (B. 97)To bokes olde and doon hem reverence,Is for men shulde autoritees beleve,Ther as ther lyth non other assay by preve.

• For myn entent is, or I fro yow fare,
• The naked text in English to declare

85

• Of many a story, or elles of many a geste,
• As autours seyn; leveth hem if yow leste!

Whan passed was almost the month of May, (B. 108)89†But wherfor that I spak, to give credenceTo olde stories, and doon hem reverence,And that men mosten more thing beleveThen men may seen at eye or elles preve?

• That shal I seyn, whan that I see my tyme;
• I may not al at ones speke in ryme.
• My besy gost, that thrusteth alwey newe
• To seen this flour so yong, so fresh of hewe,
• Constreyned me with so gledy desyr,
• That in my herte I fele yit the fyr,
• That made me to ryse er hit wer dayAnd this was now the firste morwe of May-
• With dredful herte and glad devocioun,
• For to ben at the resureccioun
• Of this flour, whan that it shuld unclose
• Agayn the sonne, that roos as rede as rose,
• That in the brest was of the beste that day,
• That Agenores doghter ladde away.

100105110A. 81. -fore. 82. bokys; don. 83. schulde autoriteis. 84. There;there; othyr a- say; be. 86. nakede tixt; englis. 87. manye (twice); ellis.88. autourys; leuyth. 89. monyth. 90. hadde; somerys. 91. medewe.92. frosche dayseie. 94. clothede (errorfor closed).97. lytyl. 98. I- benchede;100. somerys. IOI. flouris.our. 104. medewe.93. souht (!) .95. derknese; nyht; sche dradde. 96. spadde.turwis frorsche I-grawe (!) . 99. schulde; myn.102. hadde; hid (forhed). 103. with-Inne;B. 97. F. wherfore. A. spak; F. spake.man; T. they; F. om. F. eighe. ioi . Tn .whan; F. whanne.100. Tn. Th. B. P. men; A. 102.PROLOGUE. A. 81-104. B. 97-118. 73And I had romed, al the someres day, 90

• The grene medew, of which that I yow tolde,

Upon the fresshe daysy to beholde,And that the sonne out of the south gan weste,And closed was the flour and goon to resteFor derknesse of the night, of which she dredde,+Hoom to myn hous ful swiftly I me spedde;†And, in a litel erber that I have,Y-benched newe with turves fresshe y-grave,†I bad men shulde me my couche make;†For deyntee of the newe someres sake,+I bad hem strowe floures on my bed.†Whan I was layd, and had myn eyen hed,I fel a-slepe with-in an houre or two.Me mette how I was in the medew tho,95100

• And doun on knees anon-right I me sette,
• And, as I coude, this fresshe flour I grette;
• Kneling alwey, til hit unclosed was,
• Upon the smale softe swote gras,

FromB. 180, 182 .FromB. 197-200.The longe day I shoop me for to abyde ..But for to loke upon the dayesye.Whan that the sonne out of the south gan weste,And that this flour gan close and goon to resteFor derknesse of the night, the which she dredde,+Hoom to myn hous ful swiftly I me spedde;+And, in a litel herber that I have,That benched was on turves fresshe y-grave,+I bad men sholde me my couche make;From +For deyntee of the newe someres sake,B. 203-210. +I bad hem strawen floures on my bed.+Whan I was leyd, and had my eyen hed ,I fel on slepe in-with an houre or two;Me mette how I lay in the medew tho,115F. (only) om. al.A. B. thrustith;gledy; T. glad;109. F. hert.reed, as in Th.116. F. koude.T. A. at ones; Tn. atones; F. attones.Tn. Th. P. thursteth. 104. F. fressh.Th. gredy. 106. F. feele yet the fire.111. F. om. that.114. F. doghtre.F. fresshe; A. fresche.103. F. trusteth (!);105. F. Tn. A. B. P.108. F. om. this.112. F. Agayne. F. rede; better115. F. dovne; knes anoon ryght.118. Tn. T. smale; F. smal.74 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.

• And that I romed in that same gyse,

To seen that flour, as ye han herd devyse.

• Fair was this medew, as thoughte me overal;

With floures swote enbrowded was it al;As for to speke of gomme, or erbe, or tree,†Comparisoun may noon y- maked be.For hit surmounted pleynly alle odoures,†And eek of riche beaute alle floures.†Forgeten had the erthe his pore estat†Of winter, that him naked made and mat,And with his swerd of cold so sore had greved .Now had the atempre sonne al that releved,And clothed him in grene al newe agayn.†The smale foules, of the seson fayn,†That from the panter and the net ben scaped,10511Ο115FromB. 211.To seen this flour, that I so love and drede,That was with floures swote enbrouded al,

• Of swich swetnesse and swich odour over-al, 120

That, for to speke of gomme, or herbe, or tree,†Comparisoun may noon y-maked be;For hit surmounteth pleynly alle odoures,†And eek of riche beautee alle floures.Forgeten had the erthe his pore estat†Of winter, that him naked made and mat,And with his swerd of cold so sore greved;Now hath the atempre sonne al that relevedThat naked was, and clad hit new agayn.†The smale foules, of the seson fayn,†That from the panter and the net ben scaped,A. 105. romede.embroudit.106. sen.107. medewe.125130108. flouris soteI12 .114. wyntyr; nakede.110. non I-makede. III. surmountede; odours.om. eek; beute; flourys. 113. Forgetyn hadde.115. hadde greuyd. 116. hadde the tempre; releuyd.a-geyn. 127. Isupply layes. 128. I supply May. hire. 130. somerys. 131. sungyn blyssede; volentyn.For; ches.124. A. eke; rest omit.125. F. estate; C. Tn. estat.B. 120. F. suetnesse.of (for alle).117. clothede;129. worschepe;132. IsupplyF. beaute. F. (only)126. F. wynter. F. B.PROLOGUE. A. 105-132. B. 119-146. 75Upon the fouler, that hem made a-whapedIn winter, and distroyed had hir brood,In his despyt, hem thoughte hit did hem good†To singe of him, and in hir song despyse†The foule cherl that, for his covetyse,120†Had hem betrayed with his sophistrye.†This was hir song ' the fouler we defye! 'Somme songen [ layes] on the braunches clere (B. 139)Of love and [ May], that Ioye hit was to here,In worship and in preysing of hir make,And of the newe blisful someres sake,That songen, blissed be seynt Valentyn![For] at his day I chees yow to be myn,+Upon the fouler, that hem made a-whaped†In winter, and distroyed had hir brood,(B. 145)125130In his despyt, hem thoughte hit did hem goodTo singe of him, and in hir song despyse†The foule cherl that, for his covetyse,135†Had hem betrayed with his sophistrye.† This was hir song-' the fouler we defye,And al his craft! ' And somme songen clereLayes of love, that Ioye hit was to here,In worshipinge and preisinge of hir make.And, for the newe blisful somers sake,

• Upon the braunches ful of blosmes softe,
• In hir delyt, they turned hem ful ofte,

And songen, ' blessed be seynt Valentyn!For on his day I chees yow to be myn,140145hem; rest him 127. F. colde. 128.. C. mat; Tn. maat; rest mate.Th. the atempre; Tn. A. B. the attempre; F. thatempre; P. the a- tempred.F. alle. 131. C. T. A. from; rest of. F. nette; C. Tn. net.T. A. fouler; F. foweler.C. dispit. F. goode; C. good.dispise.F. foweler.136. F. cherle.139. F. crafte;rest om. in. 144. F. hire.chees (rightly); rest chese.133. F. hadde; broode.135. C. song;138. F. hire.T. A. craft.146. C.132. Tn.134. F. dispite;F. songe. C. Tn. despise; F.Tn. T. A. fouler; C. foulere141. F. Tn. B. in preysinge;ches; T. chase; P. chose; F.76THE LEGENDOF GOODWOMEN.+With-oute repenting, myn herte swete! '+And therwith-al hir bekes gonnen mete.[They dide honour and] humble obeisaunces,And after diden other observauncesRight [plesing] un-to love and to nature;

• So ech of hem [ doth wel] to creature.
• This song to herkne I dide al myn entente,
• For-why I mette I wiste what they mente.

+Withouten repenting, myn herte swete! '+And therwith- al hir bekes gonnen mete,Yelding honour and humble obeisauncesTo love, and diden hir other observauncesThat longeth unto love and to nature;

• Construeth that as yow list, I do no cure.
• And tho that hadde doon unkindenesse-
• As dooth the tydif, for new-fangelnesse-
• Besoghte mercy of hir trespassinge,
• And humblely songen hir repentinge,
• And sworen on the blosmes to be trewe,
• So that hir makes wolde upon hem rewe,
• And at the laste maden hir acord.
• Al founde they Daunger for a tyme a lord,
• Yet Pitee, through his stronge gentil might,
• Forgaf, and made Mercy passen Right,
• Through innocence and ruled curtesye.
• But I ne clepe nat innocence folye,
• Ne fals pitee, for ' vertu is the mene, '
• As Etik saith, in swich maner I mene.
• And thus thise foules, voide of al malyce,
• Acordeden to love, and laften vyce
• Of hate, and songen alle of oon acord,
  • Welcome, somer, our governour and lord!'

135140150155160165170A. 133. repentynge. 134. here bekys gunne. 135. C. is here corrupt; ithas-The honour and the humble obeysaunce. I try to give some sense; inany case we must read obeisaunces. 136. dedyn othere. 137, 138. C. isagain corrupt and imperfect; I supply plesing and doth wel. C. has natures, cryaturys; but read nature. 139. herkenyn; dede; entent. 140. ment.148. F. -alle hire. 150. F. hire othere.153. F. thoo. Tn. vnkyndenesse;156. F. Tn. B. humblely (trisyllabic);B. 147. C. herte; F. hert.151. F. Tn. on to; T. A. Th. B. vnto.154. F. dooth. F. vnkyndnesse.T. Th. humbly. A. P. songen; T. sangen; rest songe. 158. F. hire.PROLOGUE. A. 133-140. B. 147-190. 77FromA. 90.1FromAnd I had romed, al the someres day, (B. 180)Up- on the fresshe daysy to beholde. (B. 182)A. 92.1For trusteth wel, I ne have nat undertake (B. 188)From As of the leef, ageyn the flour, to make;A. 71-74. Ne of the flour to make, ageyn the leef,+No more than of the corn ageyn the sheef.

• And Zephirus and Flora gentilly
• Yaf to the floures, softe and tenderly,
• Hir swote breth, and made hem for to sprede,
• As god and goddesse of the floury mede;
• In which me thoghte I mighte, day by day,
• Dwellen alwey, the Ioly month of May,
• Withouten sleep, withouten mete or drinke.
• A-doun ful softely I gan to sinke;
• And, leninge on myn elbowe and my syde,

The longe day I shoop me for to abyde

• For nothing elles, and I shal nat lye,

But for to loke upon the dayesye,

• That wel by reson men hit calle may
• The ' dayesye ' or elles the ' ye of day,'
• The emperice and flour of floures alle.
• I pray to god that faire mot she falle,
• And alle that loven floures, for hir sake!

But natheles, ne wene nat that I makeIn preysing of the flour agayn the leef,†No more than of the corn agayn the sheef:161. F. thurgh.175180185190159. F. hire (and elsewhere). 162. Tn. T. Th. B.P. made; F. mad. 163. F. Thurgh. 164. F. Tn. Th. P. clepe it nat;but T. A. om. it. T. also om. nat; and A. has that for nat. 165. F. vertue166. Tn. A. Etic; B. Etyk; F. etike; T. Ethik. 167. Tn. foules; F.foweles. 169. A. songen; T. songyn; F. Tn. B. songe. F. Tn. acorde;T. acord; A. accord. 170. F. oure . F. Tn. lorde; T. A. lord.Tn. zephirus; F. Zepherus. 173. F. Hire swoote.171.175. F. whiche;thoght; myght. 176. F. Duellen. Tn. A. month; T. moneth; F. monyth.177. Tn. sleep; F. slepe.to a-bide; F. tabide.178. F. A-dovne.181. F. ellis.183. F. B. (only) transpose wel and men.185. F. floure; A. flour.corne; Tn. corn.180. F. shoope. Tn.182. Tn. dayesye; F. daysie.184. Tn. dayesie; F. daisie.186. T. mot; P. may; rest mote. 190. F.78THELEGENDOFGOODWOMEN.FromA. 75-80.FromA. 93-96.FromA. 106.For, as to me, is leefer noon ne lother;I am with-holde yit with never nother.I not who serveth leef, ne who the flour;That nis nothing the entent of my labour.For this werk is al of another tunne,Of olde story, er swich stryf was begunne.And that the sonne out of the south gan weste,And closed was the flour and goon to resteFor derknesse of the night, of which she dredde,+Hoom to myn hous ful swiftly I me speddeTo seen that flour, as ye han herd devyse.+And, in a litel erber that I have,Y-benched newe with turves fresshe y-grave,+I bad men shulde me my couche make;From +For deyntee of the newe someres sake,A. 97-104. + I bad hem strowe floures on my bed.+Whan I was layd, and had myn eyen hed,I fel a-slepe within an houre or two.Me mette how I was in the medew tho,For, as to me, nis lever noon ne lother;I nam with-holden yit with never nother.Ne I not who serveth leef, ne who the flour;Wel brouken they hir service or labour;For this thing is al of another tonne,1157589100195Of olde story, er swich thing was be-gonne.Whan that the sonne out of the south gan weste,And that this flour gan close and goon to resteFor derknesse of the night, the which she dredde,†Hoom to myn hous ful swiftly I me spedde

• To goon to reste, and erly for to ryse,

To seen this flour to sprede, as I devyse.+And, in a litel herber that I have,That benched was on turves fresshe y-grave,†I bad men sholde me my couche make;+For deyntee of the newe someres sake,†I bad hem strawen floures on my bed.†Whan I was leyd, and had myn eyen hed,I fel on slepe in-with an houre or two;A. 143. comyth; hise wyngis. 144. loke.frette; goold; hyre her. 148. corone sche ber.150. dayseye. 151. I-corounede; leuys.200205146. Clothid. 147.149. mane (!) flourys.152. flourys; corene (sic) .PROLOGUE. A. 141-152. B. 191-220. 79

• Til at the laste a larke song above: 141
• I see,' quod she, ' the mighty god of love!
• Lo! yond he cometh, I see his winges sprede! '

FromA. 106. To seen that flour, as ye han herd devyse,Tho gan I loken endelong the mede, (B. 212)And saw him come, and in his hond a quene,Clothed in ryal abite al of grene.145†A fret of gold she hadde next hir heer,†And up-on that a whyt coroun she beerWith many floures, and I shal nat lye;For al the world, right as the dayesye+I-coroned is with whyte leves lyte,Swich were the floures of hir coroun whyte.Me mette how I lay in the medew tho,To seen this flour that I so love and drede.150210And from a-fer com walking in the medeThe god of love, and in his hande a quene;And she was clad in real habit grene.†A fret of gold she hadde next hir heer,†And upon that a whyt coroun she beerWith florouns smale, and I shal nat lye;For al the world, ryght as a dayesye†Y-corouned is with whyte leves lyte,So were the florouns of hir coroun whyte;B. 192. F. mother (! ); rest nother. 194. F. browken; her.215220196. T.story; F. storye; Tn. storie . F. swiche thinge. 197. All west; read weste(as in MS. Add. 9832) .9832 and in 1. 201) .198. F. floure. All rest; read reste (as in MS. Add.199. Th. dredde ( rightly); rest dred.hom; F. Home. Th. spedde ( rightly); rest sped.to. 208. F. leyde; A. laid.200. Tn.202. F. B. (only) omit 209. F. two0. 210. Tn. medew;211, 212. F. (only) transposes these lines.212. Tn. com; Th. cam; rest215. C. hadde; rest had (badly).F. medewe; T. A. medow.211. T. A. Add. so love; rest love so.come. 214. Tn. habit; F. habite.T. coroun; C. corone; F. corwne;217 (and 220) . Th. florouns;216. C. whit; P. whyt; F. Tn. B. white.Tn. Th. crowne (but corowne in ll. 220, 223).Tn. floruns; F. flourouns; B. flowrouns; rest floures.F. worlde. Tn. dayesie; F. daysye.coroune; Tn. Th. B. corowne; A. croun.218. C. world;220. P. corown; F. corovne; T.80889 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.For of o perle fyn and oriental†Hir whyte coroun was y-maked al;† For which the whyte coroun, above the grene, 155†Made hir lyk a daysie for to sene,Considered eek the fret of gold above.†Y-clothed was this mighty god of loveOf silk, y-brouded ful of grene greves;A garlond on his heed of rose- leves

• Steked al with lilie floures newe;
• But of his face I can nat seyn the hewe.

For sekirly his face shoon so brighte,

• That with the gleem a-stoned was the sighte;

A furlong-wey I mighte him nat beholde.But at the laste in hande I saw him holde†Two fyry dartes, as the gledes rede;And aungellich his wenges gan he sprede.For of o perle fyne, oriental,†Hir whyte coroun was y-maked al;For which the whyte coroun, above the grene,† Made hir lyk a daysie for to sene,Considered eek hir fret of gold above.+Y-clothed was this mighty god of loveIn silke, enbrouded ful of grene greves,In-with a fret of rede rose - leves,

• The fresshest sin the world was first bigonne.
• His gilte heer was corouned with a sonne,
• In-stede of gold, for hevinesse and wighte;

Therwith me thoughte his face shoon so brighteThat wel unnethes mighte I him beholde;And in his hande me thoughte I saugh him holde†Two fyry dartes, as the gledes rede;And aungellyke his winges saugh I sprede.A. 159. I-brondede; greuys.myhte; not.160. hed; leuys.160165225230235161. Stekid; lylye165.168.flourys. 163. schon; bryhte. 164. glem a- stonede; syhte.167. Tho (errorfor Two); fery dartis; gleedys.179. the thebonoyre (sic). 180. preye; euere.F. corovne; C. coroun (and in l. 223) .hyse wengis.B. 222. F. Hire.225. F. eke; golde. 229. F. worlde; Tn. world.224. F. hire lyke.230. F. Tn. gilte;PROLOGUE. A. 153-184. B. 221-246. 81†And al be that men seyn that blind is he,Al-gate me thoughte he mighte wel y-see;†For sternely on me he gan biholde,†So that his loking doth myn herte colde.†And by the hande he held the noble quene,†Corouned with whyte, and clothed al in grene,†So womanly, so benigne, and so meke,†That in this world, thogh that men wolde seke,†Half hir beautee shulde men nat finde† In creature that formed is by kinde,Hir name was Alceste the debonayre;I prey to god that ever falle she fayre!†For ne hadde confort been of hir presence,† I had be deed, withouten any defence,†For drede of Loves wordes and his chere,†As, whan tyme is, her-after ye shal here.†And al be that men seyn that blind is he,Al-gate me thoughte that he mighte see;†For sternely on me he gan biholde,† So that his loking doth myn herte colde.†And by the hande he held this noble quene,†Corouned with whyte, and clothed al in grene,†So womanly, so benigne, and so meke,†That in this world, thogh that men wolde seke,†Half hir beautee shulde men nat finde+ In creature that formed is by kinde.That is so good, so fair, so debonaire;I prey to god that ever falle hir faire!From +For, nadde comfort been of hir presence,B. 276-281. +I had ben deed, withouten any defence,+For drede of Loves wordes and his chere;+As, when tyme is, her-after ye shal here.T. A. gilt. Tn. heer; F. here; A. hair.170175180240245280231. F. I stede; rest In stede.F. golde; Tn. gold. 232. F. thoght. In 231, 232, most MSS. have wight,bright; but C. has bryhte, riming with syhte. 233. F. myght.thoght. 235. F. Twoo. 238. F. thoght; myght.234. F. 240. F. dooth;C. both (! ). C. herte; F. hert. 241. F. helde; C. held. C. the (for this).242. F. Corowned. 244. F. om. wolde seke.245. F. imperfect; hasonly nat fynde. C. Half hire beute schulde men; A. (only) inserts of after Half.

• • • G

82 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Byhind this god of love, up- on this grene,I saw cominge of ladyës nyntene† In ryal abite, a ful esy pas,†And after hem com of wemen swich a trasThat, sin that god Adam made of erthe,The thredde part of wemen, ne the ferthe,†Ne wende I nat by possibiliteeHadden ever in this world y-be; (B. 289)†And trewe of love thise wemen were echoon.†Now whether was that a wonder thing or noon,†That, right anoon as that they gonne espye†This flour, which that I clepe the dayesye,+ Ful sodeinly they stinten alle at-ones,And kneled adoun, as it were for the nones.

• And after that they wenten in compas,
• Daunsinge aboute this flour an esy pas,

Behind this god of love, upon the+I saugh cominge of ladyës nyntene+In real habit, a ful esy paas;grene,FromB. 282-295.185190195200+And after hem com of women swich a traas,That, sin that god Adam had mad of erthe285The thridde part of mankynd, or the ferthe,+Ne wende I nat by possibilitee,Had ever in this wyde worlde y- be;+And trewe of love thise women were echoon.+Now whether was that a wonder thing or noon,290+That, right anoon as that they gonne espyeThis flour, which that I clepe the dayesye,+Ful sodeinly they stinten alle at ones,And kneled doun, as it were for the nones, 295A. 186. nynetene. 192. Haddyn euere. 199. aftyr; wentyn.songyn. 202. whiche; schal. 206. Penolope.B. [ 282. C. this; for the. ] [ 286. C. om. had. ]C. wemen ne; for mankynd or.]solon thy.247. F. therfore.201.209. destene.[287. C. thredde.248. F. songe.249. F. Tn. omit. C. Hyd absalon thynne gilte tressis clere. T. A. Th. ab- 250. C. meknesse; F. mekenesse. C. adoun; F. adowne.252. C. T. P. Penolope. 253. C. Mak; rest Make. F. youre; Tn. your.PROLOGUE. A. 185-214. B. 247-260. 83

• And songen, as it were in carole-wyse,
• This balade, which that I shal yow devyse.

Balade.†Hyd, Absolon, thy gilte tresses clere;†Ester, ley thou thy meknesse al a-doun;†Hyd, Ionathas, al thy frendly manere;†Penalopee, and Marcia Catoun,†Mak of your wyfhod no comparisoun;†Hyde ye your beautes, Isoude and Eleyne,Alceste is here, that al that may desteyne.†Thy faire body, lat hit nat appere,†Lavyne; and thou, Lucresse of Rome toun,†And Polixene, that boghte love so dere,Eek Cleopatre, with al thy passioun,Hyde ye your trouthe in love and your renoun;

• And therfor may I seyn, as thinketh me,
• This song, in preysing of this lady fre.

205210247Balade.† Hyd, Absolon, thy gilte tresses clere;†Ester, ley thou thy meknesse al a-doun;+Hyd, Ionathas, al thy frendly manere;†Penalopee, and Marcia Catoun,+Mak of your wyfhod no comparisoun;†Hyde ye your beautes, Isoude and Eleyne,My lady cometh, that al this may disteyne.250255†Thy faire body, lat hit nat appere,+Lavyne; and thou, Lucresse of Rome toun,†And Polixene, that boghten love so dere,And Cleopatre, with al thy passioun,Hyde ye your trouthe of love and your renoun; 260C. wyfhod; F. wifhode.257. F. tovne; C. toun.254. F. youre. 255. F. comith (and in l. 262) .G 284THELEGENDOFGOODWOMEN.And thou, Tisbe, that hast for love swich peyne:Alceste is here, that al that may desteyne.Herro, Dido, Laudomia, alle in-fere,Eek Phyllis, hanging for thy Demophoun,†And Canace, espyed by thy chere,Ysiphile, betrayed with Jasoun,Mak of your trouthe in love no bost ne soun;Nor Ypermistre or Adriane, ne pleyne;Alceste is here, that al that may desteyne.Whan that this balade al y-songen was, (B. 270)And thou, Tisbe, that hast of love swich peyne;My lady cometh, that al this may disteyne.Herro, Dido, Laudomia, alle y-fere,215220And Phyllis, hanging for thy Demophoun,†And Canace, espyed by thy chere, 265Ysiphile, betraysed with Jasoun,Maketh of your trouthe neyther boost ne soun;Nor Ypermistre or Adriane, ye tweyne;My lady cometh, that al this may disteyne.This balade may ful wel y-songen be, 270

• As I have seyd erst, by my lady free;
• For certeynly, alle these mow nat suffyse
• To apperen with my lady in no wyse.
• For as the sonne wol the fyr disteyne,
• So passeth al my lady sovereyne,

A. 221. 3oure. 224. I- songyn.[ 186. ladyis nynetene. ][ 197. styntyn; atonys.]275[185. Byhynde. ][196. whiche; dayseye. ][ 179. thebonoyre. ][192. Haddyn. ][ 198. knelede; nonys. ]B. 261. F. Tesbe; C. Tysbe; Tn. A. Th. Tisbe; T. Tisbee. F. Tn. Th.B. P. of; C. T. A. for. C. swich; F. suche.C. Th. Laodomya; rest laudomia.C. soun; F. sovne.Th. mowe; T. A. may.263. Th. Hero; MSS. Herro.266. C. T. Th. bytrayed. 267.271. F. seyde; Tn. seid.274. F. wole; fire .279. F. Tn. hadde; T. A. had. F. dede; Tn. deed.272. Tn. mow; F.276. F. faire; Tn. fair.282. F. Behynde;A. Behynd. 283. F. comyng; Tn. comynge. F. Nientene; Tn. nyentene;T. A. nyntene. 284. F. habite.Th. B. P. women; A. wommen.285. F. coome. F. wymen; T. wemen;286. F. hadde made. 290. F. echon.PROLOGUE. A. 215-224. B. 261-295. 85FromA. 179-198.Hir name was Alceste the debonayre;I prey to god that ever falle she fayre!+For ne hadde confort been of hir presence,+I had be deed, withouten any defence,+For drede of Loves wordes and his chere,+As, whan tyme is, her-after ye shal here.Byhind this god of love, up-on this grene,+I saw cominge of ladyës nyntene+In ryal abite, a ful esy pas,180185+And after hem com of wemen swich a tras,That, sin that god Adam made of erthe,The thredde part of wemen, ne the ferthe,+Ne wende I nat by possibilitee190Hadden ever in this world y- be.+And trewe of love these wemen were echoon.+Now whether was that a wonder thing or noon,+That, right anon as that they gonne espye 195+This flour, which that I clepe the dayesye,+ Ful sodeinly they stinten alle atones,And kneled adoun, as it were for the nones.That is so good, so fair, so debonaire;I prey to god that ever falle hir faire!+For, nadde comfort been of hir presence,+I had ben deed, withouten any defence,+For drede of Loves wordes and his chere;+As, when tyme is, her-after ye shal here.Behind this god of love, upon the grene,+I saugh cominge of ladyës nyntene+ In real habit, a ful esy paas;+And after hem com of women swich a traas,That, sin that god Adam had mad of erthe,The thridde part of mankynd, or the ferthe,+Ne wende I nat by possibilitee,280285Had ever in this wyde worlde y-be;+And trewe of love thise women were echoon. 290+Now whether was that a wonder thing or noon,+That, right anoon as that they gonne espye+This flour, which that I clepe the dayesye,+Ful sodeinly they stinten alle at ones,And kneled doun, as it were for the nones, 295291. F. wheither ( pronounced whe'r) . F. non. 293. F. daysie; Tn.dayesie. 294. F. styten (miswrittenfor stynten). T. at ones; F. attones .295. F. knelede dovne.86 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.

• Upon the softe and swote grene gras

†They setten hem ful softely adoun,225(B. 301)By ordre alle in compas, alle enveroun.First sat the god of love, and than this quene†With the whyte coroun, clad in grene;†And sithen al the remenant by and by,As they were of degree, ful curteisly;†Ne nat a word was spoken in the place†The mountance of a furlong-wey of space.I, lening faste by under a bente,†Abood, to knowen what this peple mente,†As stille as any stoon; til at the laste,The god of love on me his eye caste,

• And songen with o vois, ' Hele and honour
• To trouthe of womanhede, and to this flour
• That berth our alder prys in figuringe!
• Hir whyte coroun berth the witnessinge!'

And with that word, a compas enviroun,+They setten hem ful softely adoun.First sat the god of love, and sith his quene+With the whyte coroun, clad in grene;+And sithen al the remenant by and by,As they were of estaat, ful curteisly;+Ne nat a word was spoken in the place+The mountance of a furlong- wey of space.I kneling by this flour, in good entente+Abood, to knowen what this peple mente,+As stille as any stoon; til at the laste,This god of love on me his eyen caste,A. 225. sote.228. thanne.239. axsynge.248. myn.226. settyn.231. degre.230235300305310227. ordere; cumpas; in- veroun.234. lenynge; vndyr.243. bettere.249. mysseyst.244. come; syht.251. lettist.B. 296. T. A. hele; Tn. heele; F. heel.rest To.Tn. berth.corone.F. floure.298. F. bereth.238. ho (for who) .247. Myne; ben .252. seruyn; haldist.297. F. The (for To);299. F. Hire; corowne. F. beryth;301. F. softly; Tn. softely.304. F. remenaunt; C. remenant.309. F. Aboode; Tn. Abood.303. F. corowne; C.306. F. worde. 308.310. F. ston. F. last;PROLOGUE. A. 225-253. B. 296-327.87And seyde, ' who resteth ther?' and I answerdeUn-to his axing, whan that I him herde,†And seyde, ' sir, hit am I '; and cam him neer,† And salued him. Quod he, ' what dostow heerIn my presence, and that so boldely?†For it were better worthy, trewely,A werm to comen in my sight than thou.'And why, sir,' quod I, ' and hit lyke yow? ''For thou, ' quod he, ' art ther-to nothing able.

• My servaunts been alle wyse and honourable.

Thou art my mortal fo, and me warreyest, (B. 322 )†And of myne olde servaunts thou misseyest,†And hinderest hem with thy translacioun,And lettest folk to han devociounTo serven me, and haldest hit folyeTo troste on me. Thou mayst hit nat denye;And seyde, ' who kneleth ther '? and I answerdeUnto his asking, whan that I hit herde,+And seyde, ' sir, hit am I '; and com him neer,+And salued him. Quod he, ' what dostow heerSo nigh myn owne flour, so boldely?+For it were better worthy, trewely,240245250315A worm to neghen neer my flour than thou. 'And why, sir, ' quod I, ' and hit lyke yow?'For thou,' quod he, ' art ther-to nothing able. 320

• Hit is my relik, digne and delytable,

And thou my fo, and al my folk werreyest,C. laste.†And of myn olde servaunts thou misseyest,+And hindrest hem, with thy translacioun,And lettest folk from hir devocioun+To serve me, and holdest hit folyeTo serve Love. Thou mayst hit nat denye;311. F. hyse eighen. 312. F. there.sir. C. cam; F. come. C. ner; F. nere (see l. 318).salwed; C. salewede. C. her; F. here.325314. F. B. (only) om.315. A. salued; F.317.Tn. neer;316. F. ovne floure.318. F. worme; Tn. worm; C. werm.321. Tn. relik; F. relyke.Tn. seruauntz.322. F. foo;324. Tn. hindrest; F.C. A. For; rest om.319. F. sire.323. F. servauntes;325. F. folke.F. ner.folke.hynderest. 326, 327. F. om. from me to serve.888THELEGENDOFGOODWOMEN.For in pleyn text, hit nedeth nat to glose,†Thou hast translated the Romauns of the Rose, 255† That is an heresye ageyns my lawe,+And makest wyse folk fro me withdrawe.

• And thinkest in thy wit, that is ful cool,
• That he nis but a verray propre fool
• That loveth paramours, to harde and hote. 260
• Wel wot I ther-by thou beginnest dote
• As olde foles, whan hir spirit fayleth;
• Than blame they folk, and wite nat what hem ayleth.
• Hast thou nat mad in English eek the book

How that Crisseyde Troilus forsook, (B. 332) 265In shewinge how that wemen han don mis?

• But natheles, answere me now to this,
• Why noldest thou as wel han seyd goodnesse
• Of wemen, as thou hast seyd wikkednesse?
• Was ther no good matere in thy minde,
• Ne in alle thy bokes coudest thou nat finde
• Sum story of wemen that were goode and trewe?
• Yis! god wot, sixty bokes olde and newe
• Hast thou thy-self, alle fulle of stories grete,
• That bothe Romains and eek Grekes trete

270275For in pleyn text, with-outen nede of glose,†Thou hast translated the Romaunce of the Rose,+That is an heresye ageyns my lawe, 330† And makest wyse folk fro me withdrawe.And of Criseyde thou hast seyd as thee liste,That maketh men to wommen lasse triste,A. 254. tixt. 258. thyn; cole.262. folis; spryt (sic) faylyth.ek; bok. 265. forsok.(for have or han); goodnes.259. fole.263. wete; ealyth.267. Bit (for But).269. wekedenes.271. thyne bokys ne coudist; (I omit ne).thyn-self; storyis. 275. romaynys; ek grekis.277. euere; hunderede goode; on.ek. 279. vsyn sweche materis; sek.ledde.stedefaste wedewys durynge all here lyuys.260. louyth paramouris.264. englys268. noldist; a270. matyr; thyn.273. lx. bokys. 274.276. sundery; whiche;278. knowith; clerkis282. maydenys; wyuys. 283.284. Tellyth. 285.PROLOGUE. A. 254-303. B. 328-334- 89

• Of sundry wemen, which lyf that they ladde,
• And ever an hundred gode ageyn oon badde.
• This knoweth god, and alle clerkes eke,
• That usen swiche materes for to seke.
• What seith Valerie, Titus, or Claudian?
• What seith Ierome ageyns Iovinian?
• How clene maydens, and how trewe wyves,
• How stedfast widwes during al hir lyves,
• Telleth Jerome; and that nat of a fewe,
• But, I dar seyn, an hundred on a rewe;
• That hit is pitee for to rede, and routhe,
• The wo that they enduren for hir trouthe.

For to hir love were they so trewe, (B. 334)

• That, rather than they wolde take a newe,

2They chosen to be dede in sundry wyse,

• And deyden, as the story wol devyse;
• And some were brend, and some were cut the hals,

280285290

• And some dreynt, for they wolden nat be fals.
• For alle keped they hir maydenhed,
• Or elles wedlok, or hir widwehed. 295
• And this thing was nat kept for holinesse,
• But al for verray vertu and clennesse,
• And for men shulde sette on hem no lak;
• And yit they weren hethen, al the pak,
• That were so sore adrad of alle shame. 300
• These olde wemen kepte so hir name,
• That in this world I trow men shal nat finde
• A man that coude be so trewe and kinde,

That ben as trewe as ever was any steel. 334287. endure; here.290. chose; ded; sundery.293. dreynkt (! ); thy (for they); woldyn.295. ellis wedlek; here wedewehed.hunderede. 286. pete.wole (errorfor wolde).wele (for wol).kepid maydynhed.were hethene. 302. trowe; schal.B. 328. F. pleyne.translat; but see 1. 425.F. Creseyde; A. Criseide.303. trowe.289. rathere;291. deiedyn;294.299.329. F. Tn. B. om. translated (! ); perhaps read330. Fayeins.F. seyde; the.331. F. folke.332.90 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.

• As was the leste woman in that tyde.
• What seith also the epistels of Ovyde
• Of trewe wyves, and of hir labour?
• What Vincent, in his Storial Mirour?
• Eek al the world of autours maystow here,
• Cristen and hethen, trete of swich matere;
• It nedeth nat alday thus for tendyte.
• But yit I sey, what eyleth thee to wryte
• The draf of stories, and forgo the corn?

By seint Venus, of whom that I was born,Although [that] thou reneyed hast my lay,As othere olde foles many a day,(B. 338)305310(B. 336)(B. 337) 315Thou shalt repente hit, that hit shal be sene! 'Than spak Alceste, the worthieste quene,†And seyde, god, right of your curtesye,†Ye moten herknen if he can replyeAgeyns these points that ye han to him meved;†A god ne sholde nat be thus agreved,320

• Of thyn answere avyse thee right weel; 335

For, thogh that thou reneyed hast my lay,As other wrecches han doon many a day,By seynt Venus, that my moder is,If that thou live, thou shalt repenten thisSo cruelly, that hit shal wel be sene! 'Tho spak this lady, clothed al in grene,+And seyde, ' god, right of your curtesye,+Ye moten herknen if he can replyeAgayns al this that ye han to him meved;+A god ne sholde nat be thus agreved,A. 305. epistelle (see note) .te (for the); autourys.311. seye; eylyth the.306. wyuys.309. Cristene; hethene.307. estoryal.340345308.310. nedyth; to endite.312. storyis; forgete, with gete over erasure;314. Al-thow; I supply that; reneyist316. so that (for that; I omit so). poyntys; mevid.read forgo. 313. Be (for By).(sic) hast myn.317. Thanne; worthyere (! ) .deitee; the scribe's error).manye; I-feynyd.3oure; manye.315. folys.320.323. ek. 325. tothyr.328. losenger. 329. totulour.332. sum. 333. prere (!).322. dede (for 327. hereth330. tabourryn;335. che; partyth;nygh (!) .PROLOGUE. A. 304-335. B. 335-359. 91†But of his deitee he shal be stable,And therto rightful and eek merciable.

• He shal nat rightfully his yre wreke
• Or he have herd the tother party speke.
• Al ne is nat gospel that is to yow pleyned;
• The god of love herth many a tale y-feyned.

From This man to yow may wrongly been accused,A. 338, 339. +Ther as by right him oghte been excused;For in your court is many a losengeour,†And many a queynte totelere accusour,That tabouren in your eres many a thingFor hate, or for Ielous imagining,And for to han with yow som daliaunce.Envye (I prey to god yeve hir mischaunce!)Is lavender in the grete court alway.†For she ne parteth, neither night ne day,+But of his deitee he shal be stable,And therto gracious and merciable.

• And if ye nere a god, that knowen al,
• Than mighte hit be, as I yow tellen shal;

This man to you may falsly been accused,+Ther as by right him oghte been excused.+For in your court is many a losengeour,+And many a queynte totelere accusour,That tabouren in your eres many a soun,Right after hir imaginacioun,To have your daliance, and for envye;

• These been the causes, and I shall nat lye.

Envye is lavender of the court alway;+For she ne parteth, neither night ne day,325330335350355B. 335. F. the.341. F. Thoo spake.rest herken.F. mane (!) .youre courte.swon (!), for sown.lauendere.336. T. A. that; rest om. 340. Tn. wel; F. wele.342. F. youre. 343. A. herknen; C. herkenyn;348. F. alle. 349. F. Thanne myght; shalle.351. C. There; rest That. F. oughte ben.353. C. Tn. queynte; F. queynt.356. F. youre.350.352. F.354. F. youre;357. F. Thise. 358. F. B.92 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.†Out of the hous of Cesar; thus seith Dante;Who-so that goth, alwey she moot [nat] wante.This man to yow may wrongly been accused,†Ther as by right him oghte been excused.Or elles, sir, for that this man is nyce, 340He may translate a thing in no malyce,But for he useth bokes for to make,And takth non heed of what matere he take;

• Therfor he wroot the Rose and eek Crisseyde
• Of innocence, and niste what he seyde;

for him was boden make thilke tweye345†Of som persone, and durste hit nat with-seye;

• For he hath writen many a book er this.

+He ne hath nat doon so grevously amis+To translaten that olde clerkes wryten,+As thogh that he of malice wolde endyten350+Out of the hous of Cesar; thus seith Dante;Who-so that goth, algate she wol nat wante.From This man to yow may falsly been accused,B. 350, 351. +Ther as by right him oghte been excused.360And eek, paraunter, for this man is nyce,He mighte doon hit, gessing no malyce,But for he useth thinges for to make;Him rekketh noght of what matere he take; 365+Or him was boden maken thilke tweye+Of som persone, and durste hit nat with-seye;

• Or him repenteth utterly of this.

+He ne hath nat doon so grevously amis+To translaten that olde clerkes wryten,+As thogh that he of malice wolde endytenA. 337. mote; I supply nat.oughte ben excusid. 340. sere.344. ek.358. don.338. ben acused.342. vsyth bokis.370339. There;be;343. takyth; hed .348. wrete manye; bok. 355. vsyn.359. must. 360. owith; o (errorfor of); verry.Schewyn; benygnete.367. Which oughtyn (!) .362. heryn here.357. oughte.361.363. here compleyntys.369. manye; hunderede wyntyr here-.PROLOGUE. A. 336-369. B. 360-383. 93Despyt of love, and hadde him-self y-wroght.+This shulde a rightwys lord han in his thoght,+And nat be lyk tiraunts of Lumbardye,That usen wilfulhed and tirannye, 355For he that king or lord is naturel,+Him oghte nat be tiraunt ne cruel,+As is a fermour, to doon the harm he can.+He moste thinke hit is his lige man,

• And that him oweth, of verray duetee, 360
• Shewen his peple pleyn benignitee,
• And wel to here hir excusaciouns,
• And hir compleyntes and peticiouns,
• In duewe tyme, whan they shal hit profre.

+This is the sentence of the philosophre: ( B. 381 ) 365+A king to kepe his liges in Iustyce;†With-outen doute, that is his offyce.

• And therto is a king ful depe y- sworn,
• Ful many an hundred winter heer-biforn;

Despyt of love, and had him-self hit wroght.+This shulde a rightwys lord have in his thoght,+And nat be lyk tiraunts of Lumbardye,Than han no reward but at tirannye.+ For he that king or lord is naturel,+Him oghte nat be tiraunt ne cruel,+As is a fermour, to doon the harm he can.+He moste thinke hit is his lige man,

• And is his tresour, and his gold in cofre.

+This is the sentence of the philosophre:+A king to kepe his liges in Iustyce;+With- outen doute, that is his offyce.375380B. 360. C. hous; F. house.364. F. B. (only) om. But.A. vtirly; F. Tn. outrely.F. Despite.362. F. eke parauntere.367. Tn. som; F. somme.371. F. Tn. B. P. And; rest As.373. F. shoolde.kynge. F. lord ys in; rest om. in.B. cruel.B. liege.363. F. myght.368. T. vttyrly;372.374. F. lyke tirauntez. 376. F.377. F. oght; C. oughte. F. crewel;378. F. harme. 379. F. leege; C. Tn. lige; Th. T. A.382. F. leeges; Tn. liges; C. lygis.94 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And for to kepe his lordes hir degree, 370+As hit is right and skilful that they be+Enhaunced and honoured, and most dere-+For they ben half-goddes in this world hereThis shal he doon, bothe to pore [and] riche,Al be that here stat be nat a- liche,+And han of pore folk compassioun.+For lo, the gentil kind of the lioun!†For whan a flye offendeth him or byteth,+ He with his tayl awey the flye smyteth375+Al esily; for, of his genterye, 380+Him deyneth nat to wreke him on a flye,+As doth a curre or elles another beste.+ In noble corage oghte been areste,+And weyen every thing by equitee,+And ever han reward to his owen degree. 385Al wol he kepe his lordes hir degree,+As hit is right and skilful that they be 385+Enhaunced and honoured, and most dere-+For they ben half- goddes in this world hereYit mot he doon bothe right, to pore and riche,Al be that hir estat be nat y-liche,+And han of pore folk compassioun. 390+For lo, the gentil kynd of the leoun!+For whan a flye offendeth him or byteth,+ He with his tayl awey the flye smyteth+Al esily; for, of his genterye,+Him deyneth nat to wreke him on a flye,+As doth a curre or elles another beste.+ In noble corage oghte been areste,+And weyen every thing by equitee,+And ever han reward to his owen degree.395A. 370. lordys.374. don; Isupply and.372. Enhaunsede; om. 2nd and. 373. goddys.388. C. wol; for ful. 389. ascuse. 390.Isupply But. 397, 399, 400. 30ure. 401. where ( whether); renagat.B. 384. F. hise. Th. P. in her; rest om. in.F. mote; T. A Add. om. bothe; poore. 389. F. hire estaat .poore.387. F. -goddys. 388.390. F.391. F. loo; kynde. T. A. leoun; F. lyoun. 392. F.PROLOGUE. A. 370-401 . B. 384-413. 95+For, sir, hit is no maystrie for a lordTo dampne a man with-oute answere or word;+And, for a lord, that is ful foul to use.+And if so be he may him nat excuse,[But] axeth mercy with a sorweful herte,+And profreth him, right in his bare sherte,+To been right at your owne Iugement,+Than oghte a god, by short avysem*nt,+Considre his owne honour and his trespas.+For sith no cause of deeth lyth in this cas,+Yow oghte been the lighter merciable;+Leteth your yre, and beth somwhat tretable!+The man hath served yow of his conning,And forthered your lawe with his making.

• Whyl he was yong, he kepte your estat;
• I not wher he be now a renegat.

390395400+ For, sir, hit is no maystrie for a lord. 400To dampne a man with-oute answere of word;+And, for a lord, that is ful foul to use.+And if so be he may him nat excuse,But asketh mercy with a dredful herte,+And profreth him, right in his bare sherte,+To been right at your owne Iugement,+Than oghte a god, by short avysem*nt,+Considre his owne honour and his trespas.+For sith no cause of deeth lyth in this cas,+Yow oghte been the lighter merciable;+ Leteth your yre, and beth somwhat tretable!+The man hath served yow of his conning,And forthred wel your lawe in his making.405410offendith. 393. F. tayle. F. fle; C. Tn. A. B. P. flye. 394. F.esely; A. esily. C. A. genterye; F. gentrye. 396. F. dooth; best.397. C. oghte; F. ought. F. ben arest. 399. F. Tn. Th. B. vnto; rest to.401. C. P. or; rest of. 402. C. wol; T. ryght; rest ful. F. foule. 4°3.404. C. om . But. 405. F. profereth; P. profreth.407. F. oght. 409. F. dethe410. All but T. wrongly insert to before been.413. F. furthred; Tn. forthred . F. youre.C. T. A. if; rest it.406. F. owen; C. Tn. owene; T. oune.lyeth; caas.kunnyng.412. F.96THELEGENDOFGOODWOMEN.But wel I wot, with that he can endyte,He hath maked lewed folk delyte+To serve you, in preysing of your name.+He made the book that hight the Hous of Fame, 405+And eek the Deeth of Blaunche the duch*esse,+And the Parlement of Foules, as I gesse,+And al the love of Palamon and Arcyte+ Of Thebes, thogh the story is knowen lyte;+And many an ympne for your halydayes,+That highten Balades, Roundels, Virelayes;And for to speke of other besinesse,+ He hath in prose translated Boëce;

• And of the Wreched Engendring of Mankinde,
• As man may in pope Innocent y-finde;

+And mad the Lyf also of seynt Cecyle;+He made also, goon sithen a greet whyl,+Origenes upon the Maudeleyne;+Him oghte now to have the lesse peyne;' Al be hit that he can nat wel endyte,Yet hath he maked lewed folk delyte+To serve you, in preysing of your name.410415(B. 426)415+He made the book that hight the Hous of Fame,+And eek the Deeth of Blaunche the duch*esse,+And the Parlement of Foules, as I gesse,+And al the love of Palamon and Arcyte+Of Thebes, thogh the story is knowen lyte;+And many an ympne for your halydayes,+That highten Balades, Roundels, Virelayes;And, for to speke of other holynesse,+ He hath in prose translated Boëce,420425+And mad the Lyf also of seynt Cecyle;+He made also , goon sithen a greet whyl,+Origenes upon the Maudeleyne;+Him oghte now to have the lesse peyne;A. 403. makid lewede folk to; I omit to.414. wrechede engendrynge.412. othyr. 413. translatid.B. 415. C. makid; rest made (line too short). 425. F. proce; rest prose.PROLOGUE. A. 402-435 . B. 414-445. 9746+He hath mad many a lay and many a thing.' Now as ye been a god, and eek a king,+I, your Alceste, whylom quene of Trace,+I axe yow this man, right of your grace,+That ye him never hurte in al his lyve;+And he shal sweren yow, and that as blyve,+ He shal no more agilten in this wyse;+But he shal maken, as ye wil devyse,+Of wemen trewe in lovinge al hir lyve,+Wher-so ye wil, of maiden or of wyve,+And forthren yow, as muche as he misseyde+Or in the Rose or elles in Crisseyde.'+The god of love answerde hir thus anoon,+ Madame,' quod he, ' hit is so long agoon+That I yow knew so charitable and trewe,+That never yit, sith that the world was newe,+He hath mad many a lay and many a thing.'Now as ye been a god, and eek a king,+I, your Alceste, whylom quene of Trace,+I aske yow this man, right of your grace,+That ye him never hurte in al his lyve;+And he shal sweren yow, and that as blyve,+He shal no more agilten in this wyse;+But he shal maken, as ye wil devyse,+Of wommen trewe in lovinge al hir lyve,+Wher-so ye wil, of maiden or of wyve,+And forthren yow, as muche as he misseyde+ Or in the Rose or elles in Creseyde.'+The god of love answerde hir thus anoon,+ Madame, ' quod he, ' hit is so long agoon+That I yow knew so charitable and trewe,+That never yit, sith that the world was newe,427. A. sithen; rest is .420425430435430435440445426. F. maade; lyfe. 429.F. grete.F. oughte. 430. F. maade; thinge. 431. F. be; C. A. ben. 435.A. sueren; rest swere to ( less happily). C. T. A. as; which the rest omit.436. C. T. A. no; rest neuer. 437. C. T.438. F. lyfe (but see l. 434). 439. F. wol; wyfe.Th. answerde (better) . F. (only) om. thus.445. C. sith; F. syn. F. worlde.HA. he; rest om. F. wol.442. C. F. answerede;444. C. knew; F. knewe.98THELEGENDOFGOODWOMEN.+To me ne fond I better noon than ye.That, if that I wol save my degree,+ I may ne wol nat warne your requeste;Al lyth in yow, doth with him what yow leste+And al foryeve, with- outen lenger space;+For who-so yeveth a yift, or doth a grace,+Do hit by tyme, his thank is wel the more;+And demeth ye what he shal do therfore.+Go thanke now my lady heer,' quod he.+I roos, and doun I sette me on my knee,+And seyde thus: ' Madame, the god above+Foryelde yow, that ye the god of love+Han maked me his wrathe to foryive;440445+And yeve me grace so long for to live,+That I may knowe soothly what ye be 450That han me holpen, and put in swich degree.+To me ne fond I better noon than ye.If that I wolde save my degree,+I may ne wol nat werne your requeste;Al lyth in yow, doth with him as yow leste.+I al foryeve, with-outen lenger space;+For who-so yeveth a yift, or doth a grace,450+ Do hit by tyme, his thank is wel the more;+And demeth ye what he shal do therfore.+Go thanke now my lady heer,' quod he.+I roos, and doun I sette me on my knee,+And seyde thus: ' Madame, the god above+Foryelde yow, that ye the god of love+Han maked me his wrathe to foryive;+And yeve me grace so long for to live,455+That I may knowe soothly what ye beThat han me holpe and put in this degree.A. 436. I neuere non betere; the.456. may (for oghte).B. 446. C. T. A. fond: F. founde.Add. wolde; rest wol, wole, wolle.F. liste. 451. F. yifte; dooth.457. C. Tn. T. A. Add. ye; rest om.437. wele; myn.460438. wel.447. F. ye; rest I. F. wolde; P.449. C. Th. lyth; Tn. lith; F. lyeth.454. P. her; rest here. 455. F. dovne.459. F. Tn. Th. B. P. all om . yeve mePROLOGUE. A. 436-467 . B. 446-477- 99+But trewely I wende, as in this cas,+Naught have agilt, ne doon to love trespas.+Forwhy a trewe man, with-outen drede,+Hath nat to parten with a theves dedee;+Ne a trewe lover oghte me nat blame,+Thogh that I speke a fals lover som shame.+They oghte rather with me for to holde,+For that I of Creseyde wroot or tolde,+Or of the Rose; what- so myn auctour mente,+Algate, god wot, hit was myn entente+To forthren trouthe in love and hit cheryce;+And to be war fro falsnesse and fro vyce+By swich ensample; this was my meninge.'+And she answerde, ' lat be thyn arguinge;+For Love ne wol nat countrepleted beIn right ne wrong; and lerne this at me!455460465+ But trewely I wende, as in this cas,+Naught have agilt, ne doon to love trespas.+Forwhy a trewe man, with-outen drede,+Hath nat to parten with a theves dede; 465+Ne a trewe lover oghte me nat blame,+Thogh that I speke a fals lover som shame.+They oghte rather with me for to holde,+For that I of Creseyde wroot or tolde,tor of the Rose; what-so myn auctour mente,+Algate, god wot, hit was myn entente+To forthren trouthe in love and hit cheryce;+And to be war fro falsnesse and fro vyce+By swich ensample; this was my meninge.'+And she answerde, ' lat be thyn arguinge;+For Love ne wol nat countrepleted beIn right ne wrong; and lerne that of me!470475(wrongly); C. T. A. retain it. 461. C. holpyn; Th. holpen; rest holpe.C. F. Tn. needlessly insert me after put. C. swich (for this) . 462. C.trewely; F. trewly. 466. F. oght. All wrongly omitfinal e in oght; andall but C. wrongly insert to before blame.speke. 473. F. ben; C. be.467. F. spake; Tn. spede; rest477. C. this at (for that of).H 2100 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.+Thou hast thy grace, and hold thee right ther-to.+Now wol I seyn what penance thou shalt do+For thy trespas, and understond hit here:+Thou shalt, whyl that thou livest, yeer by yere,The moste party of thy lyve spende+In making of a glorious Legende+Of Gode Wemen, maidenes and wyves,+That were trewe in lovinge al hir lyves;+And telle of false men that hem bitrayen,+That al hir lyf ne doon nat but assayen+How many wemen they may doon a shame;For in your world that is now holden game.And thogh thee lesteth nat a lover be,+Spek wel of love; this penance yeve I thee.+And to the god of love I shal so preye,+That he shal charge his servants, by any weye,470475480+Thou hast thy grace, and hold thee right ther-to.+Now wol I seyn what penance thou shalt do+For thy trespas, and understond hit here:+ Thou shalt, whyl that thou livest, yeer by yere,The moste party of thy tyme spende480+In making of a glorious Legende+Of Gode Wommen, maidenes and wyves,+That weren trewe in lovinge al hir lyves;+And telle of false men that hem bitrayen,+That al hir lyf ne doon nat but assayen+How many wommen they may doon a shame;For in your world that is now holde a game.And thogh thee lyke nat a lover be,485490+Spek wel of love; this penance yive I thee.+And to the god of love I shal so preye,+That he shal charge his servants, by any weye,480. C. A. and; rest om. T. to put the481. F. while; yere by yere. 482. F.484. C. goode; F. good. F. wymmen;485. F. trew. C. leuynge (errorfor 487. From C.; F. Tn. omit this line.F. that. 489. F.B. 478. F. holde; all the.out of were (for and-here) .most partye. C. lyf (for tyme).Tn. A. wommen; C. T. wemen.louynge). 486. C. false; F. fals.488. F. women; Tn. wommen. C. Tn. A. B. P. they;PROLOGUE. A, 468–497 . B. 478-509.ΙΟΙ+To forthren thee, and wel thy labour quyte;Go now thy wey, thy penance is but lyte.' (B. 495) .485+The god of love gan smyle, and than he seyde,+Wostow,' quod he, ' wher this be wyf or mayde,+Or quene, or countesse, or of what degree,+That hath so litel penance yeven thee,+That hast deserved sorer for to smerte?+But pitee renneth sone in gentil herte;+That mayst thou seen, she kytheth what she is.'+And I answerde, ' nay, sir, so have I blis,+No more but that I see wel she is good.'+ That is a trewe tale, by myn hood,'490495+Quod Love, and that thou knowest wel, pardee,+If hit be so that thou avyse thee.+To forthren thee, and wel thy labour quyte;Go now thy wey, this penance is but lyte.

• And whan this book is maad, yive hit the quene
• On my behalfe, at Eltham, or at Shene.'

495+The god of love gan smyle, and than he seyde,+'Wostow,' quod he, ' wher this be wyf or mayde,+Or quene, or countesse, or of what degree,+That hath so litel penance yiven thee,+That hast deserved sorer for to smerte?+But pitee renneth sone in gentil herte;500+That maystow seen, she kytheth what she is.'+And I answerde, ' nay, sir, so have I blis, 505+No more but that I see wel she is good.'That is a trewe tale, by myn hood,'"+Quod Love, and that thou knowest wel, pardee,+If hit be so that thou avyse thee.youre worlde. 490. F. the; lovere bee.493. F. servantez; Tn. seruauntz.496. F. maade.491. C. Spek; F. Speke.495. F. Goo. C. thyn (for this) .497. F. Sheene; Tn. T. Th. Shene. 502 , 503. F.omits from sorer to renneth. C. sorere; T. A. sorer; rest sore. C. Tn. Th .smerte. C. pete rennyth; Tn. A. pitee renneth. F. soone.answerde; F. answered.rest No. F. moore.C. sere; F. sire; Tn. sir.508. C. T. A. that; rest om.505. C.506. F. Tn. B. Na;102 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.+Hastow nat in a book, lyth in thy cheste,+The grete goodnesse of the quene Alceste,+That turned was into a dayesye:†She that for hir husbonde chees to dye,†And eek to goon to helle, rather than he,+And Ercules rescued hir, pardee,+And broghte hir out of helle agayn to blis? '+And I answerde ageyn, and seyde, ' yis,+Now knowe I hir! And is this good Alceste,+The dayesye, and myn owne hertes reste?+Now fele I wel the goodnesse of this wyf,+That bothe after hir deeth, and in hir lyf,+Hir grete bountee doubleth hir renoun!†Wel hath she quit me myn affeccioun+That I have to hir flour, the dayesye!+No wonder is thogh Iove hir stellifye,+Hastow nat in a book, lyth in thy cheste,+The grete goodnesse of the quene Alceste,+That turned was into a dayesye:+She that for hir husbonde chees to dye,+And eek to goon to helle, rather than he,+And Ercules rescowed hir, pardee,+And broghte hir out of helle agayn to blis? '+And I answerde ageyn, and seyde, ' yis,+Now knowe I hir! And is this good Alceste,+The dayesye, and myn owne hertes reste?+Now fele I wel the goodnesse of this wyf,+That bothe after hir deeth, and in hir lyf,+Hir grete bountee doubleth hir renoun!+Wel hath she quit me myn affeccioun+That I have to hir flour, the dayesye!+No wonder is thogh Iove hir stellifye,A. 507. herte is reste. 518. Of (for In).500505510510515520525526. the; onstedefastnesse.527. sithe thow knowist here. 528. pref; ek; storyis here.B. 511. C. Tn. grete; F. gret.514. F. eke.516. F. agayne.F. daysie. F. owene. 520. F. weel.518. F. hire.512. C. Tn. dayesye; F. daysye.519. C. dayes eye;521. C. bothe; F. both. F. aftir526. F. hire528.hir deth. C. ek (for in) . 524. C. dayesye; F. daysye.goodenesse. 527, 529. C. coroun; F. corowne. 527. F. berith.PROLOGUE. A. 498-529. B. 510-541. 103+As telleth Agaton, for hir goodnesse!+Hir whyte coroun berth of hit witnesse;+For also many vertues hadde she,+As smale floures in hir coroun be.+In remembraunce of hir and in honour,+Cibella made the dayesy and the flour+Y-coroned al with whyt, as men may see;+And Mars yaf to hir coroun reed, pardee,+In stede of rubies, set among the whyte.'+Therwith this quene wex reed for shame a lyte,+Whan she was preysed so in hir presence.+Than seyde Love, 'a ful gret negligenceWas hit to thee, to write unstedfastnesse

• Of women, sith thou knowest hir goodnesse
• By preef, and eek by stories heer-biforn;
• Let be the chaf, and wryt wel of the corn.

+As telleth Agaton, for hir goodnesse!+Hir whyte coroun berth of hit witnesse;+For also many vertues hadde she,+As smale floures in hir coroun be.+In remembraunce of hir and in honour,+Cibella made the dayesy and the flour+Y-coroned al with whyt, as men may see;+And Mars yaf to hir coroun reed, pardee,+ In stede of rubies, set among the whyte .'515520525530+Therwith this quene wex reed for shame a lyte, 535+Whan she was preysed so in hir presence.+Than seyde Love, ' a ful gret negligenceWas hit to thee, that ilke tyme thou made

• "Hyd, Absolon, thy tresses," in balade,
• That thou forgete hir in thy song to sette,
• Sin that thou art so gretly in hir dette,

540C. hath (badly). 529. F. Th. florouns; rest floures. 530. F. honoure.531. In margin of F. -Cibella mater deorum.532. C. I- coroned; F. Y-crowned. F. white.F. reede. 534. C. set; F. sette.F. maade; daysye; floure.533. C. corone; F. corowne.537. F. Thanne. C. gret; F. grete.F. necligence. 538. F. ys (wrongly); rest hit, it. 540. Th. forgete;F. Tn. forgate; T. A. forgat. F. songe.104 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.

• Why noldest thou han writen of Alceste,
• And leten Criseide been a-slepe and reste?
• For of Alceste shulde thy wryting be,

Sin that thou wost that kalender is sheOf goodnesse, for she taughte of fyn lovinge,+And namely of wyfhood the livinge,+And alle the boundes that she oghte kepe;+Thy litel wit was thilke tyme a-slepe.(B. 542).530535+ But now I charge thee, upon thy lyf,+That in thy Legend thou make of this wyf,Whan thou hast othere smale mad before; 540+And fare now wel, I charge thee no more. (B. 551 ).And wost so wel, that kalender is she

• To any woman that wol lover be.

For she taughte al the craft of fyn lovinge,+And namely of wyfhood thelivinge,+And alle the boundes that she oghte kepe;+Thy litel wit was thilke tyme a- slepe.545+But now I charge thee, upon thy lyf,+That in thy Legend thou make of this wyf,Whan thou hast other smale y-maad before;+And fare now wel, I charge thee no more.

• " But er I go, thus muche I wol thee telle,
• Ne shal no trewe lover come in helle.
• Thise other ladies sittinge here arowe
• Ben in thy balade, if thou canst hem knowe,
• And in thy bokes alle thou shalt hem finde;
• Have hem now in thy Legend alle in minde,
• I mene of hem that been in thy knowinge.
• For heer ben twenty thousand mo sittinge

A. 530. noldist; writyn.533. wist (badly); calandier.B. 542. T. A. Add. so; rest om .F. taught. F. crafte; Tn. T. A.F. al; oght. 547. F. witte.F. legende. C. wif; F. wyfe.namore. 552. F. goo; the.550555531. latyn; ben. 532. thyn wrytynge.544. slep. 545. myn legende.F. shee. 543. F. bee. 544. C. taughte;craft. 545. F. wyfhode; lyvyng. 546.548. F. the. C. lyf; F. lyfe. 549.550. F. y-maade. 551. C. no more; F.555. F. Th. my; rest thy. 556. F. bookes.557. F. misplaces now after legende; Tn. Th. place now after hem. 558.PROLOGUE. A. 530-545. B. 542-579. 105+At Cleopatre I wol that thou beginne; (B. 566).+And so forth; and my love so shalt thou winne. 'And with that word of sleep I gan a-awake, (B. 578).+And right thus on my Legend gan I make.Explicit prohemium.545

• Than thou knowest, that been good wommen alle 560
• And trewe of love, for aught that may befalle;
• Make the metres of hem as thee leste.
• I mot gon hoom, the sonne draweth weste,
• To Paradys, with al this companye;
• And serve alwey the fresshe dayesye. 565

+'At Cleopatre I wol that thou beginne;+And so forth; and my love so shalt thou winne.

• For lat see now what man that lover be,
• Wol doon so strong a peyne for love as she.
• I wot wel that thou mayst nat al hit ryme, 570
• That swiche lovers diden in hir tyme;
• It were to long to reden and to here;
• Suffyceth me, thou make in this manere,
• That thou reherce of al hir lyf the grete,
• After thise olde auctours listen to trete.
• For who-so shal so many a storie telle,
• Sey shortly, or he shal to longe dwelle.'

And with that word my bokes gan I take,575+And right thus on my Legend gan I make.F. ben; knowyng. 559. F. here; thousande moo sittyng. 560. F.F. oght.564. F.566. F. wole.571. F. Tn.Thanne. A. that ben; T. Add. and; rest om. 561. Tn. aught;562. F. lest: Tn. leste. 563. F. home. F. west: Tn. weste.thise; rest this. 565. F. fressh; Th. fresshe; A. fresche.567. F. forthe. C. Tn. shalt; F. shal. 569. F. stronge.A. swich; T. Th. P. suche. F. Tn. dide; T. dedyn; P. deden; Add. diden.573. B. Suffyceth; F. Suffich (!) . 574. A. lyf; F. lyfe. 575. A.listen trete; Tn. the lasse to trete (! ); Add. the lesse to trete (! ); rest listen forto trete (badly; omit for).579. F. legende.576. F. storye. 578. A. word; F. worde.I. THE LEGEND OF CLEOPATRA.Incipit Legenda Cleopatrie, Martiris, Egipti regine.AFTER the deeth of Tholomee the king,That al Egipte hadde in his governing,Regned his quene Cleopataras;580Til on a tyme befel ther swiche a cas,That out of Rome was sent a senatour,For to conqueren regnes and honourUnto the toun of Rome, as was usaunce,To have the world unto her obeisaunce;And, sooth to seye, Antonius was his name.So fil hit, as Fortune him oghte a shameWhan he was fallen in prosperitee,Rebel unto the toun of Rome is he.And over al this, the suster of Cesar,585(10)590He lafte hir falsly, er that she was war,And wolde algates han another wyf;For whiche he took with Rome and Cesar stryf.Natheles, for-sooth, this ilke senatour595Was a ful worthy gentil werreyour,And of his deeth hit was ful greet damage.But love had broght this man in swiche a rage,And him so narwe bounden in his las,Al for the love of Cleopataras,N.B.-Readings not marked with any letter are from F. (Fairfax MS.)580. deth. 582. queene.C. vn-to; T. vnder; rest at.595. which. 597. fulle.swich . 600. laas.(20)600583. swich . 586. tovne.589. oght. 591. tovne.587. worlde.594. wold.598. F. (only) this; rest his. gret. 599.601. F. Alle; C. Tn. Al.I. THE LEGEND OF CLEOPATRA. 107That al the world he sette at no value.Him thoughte, nas to him no thing so dueAs Cleopatras for to love and serve;Him roghte nat in armes for to sterve 605In the defence of hir, and of hir right.This noble quene eek lovede so this knight,Through his desert, and for his chivalrye;As certeinly, but-if that bokes lye,He was, of persone and of gentilesse,And of discrecioun and hardinesse,Worthy to any wight that liven may.And she was fair as is the rose in May.And, for to maken shortly is the beste,She wex his wyf, and hadde him as hir leste.The wedding and the feste to devyse,To me, that have y-take swiche empryseOf so many a storie for to make,Hit were to long, lest that I sholde slakeOf thing that bereth more effect and charge;For men may overlade a ship or barge;And forthy to theffect than wol I skippe,And al the remenant, I wol lete hit slippe.Octovian, that wood was of this dede,Shoop him an ost on Antony to ledeAl-outerly for his destruccioun,With stoute Romains, cruel as leoun;To ship they wente, and thus I let hem saile.Antonius was war, and wol nat faileTo meten with thise Romains, if he may;Took eek his reed, and bothe, upon a day,(30)610615(40)62062569(50)630602. worlde; noo.612.603. C. there nas to hym no thyng so dewe; restthere was no thing to him so due (all too long). 604. F. Tn. B. Cleopataras;rest Cleopatras. 607. ek. C. lovede; F. loved. 608. Thurgh; decert.611. Allbut T. A. Add. insert of after and; Iomit it.613. faire. 614. F. (only) om, for. 615. MSS.616. C. Tn. feste; F. fest. 617. swich . 619.rest longe. C. T. A. lest; F. lyst. 621. shippe.609. bookes.C. lyuyn; F. leven.wax, wox; read wex.T. A. P. Add. long;622. A. Add. theffect; C. thefeect (sic); F. effect. 623. remenaunt.woode. 625. oost. 627. Romaynes crewel. T. leoun; F. lyoun.shippe. 630. Romaynes. 631. eke; rede; booth.624.628.108 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.His wyf and he, and al his ost, forth wenteTo shippe anoon, no lenger they ne stente;And in the see hit happed hem to meteUp goth the trompe-and for to shoute and shete, 635And peynen hem to sette on with the sonne.With grisly soun out goth the grete gonne,And heterly they hurtlen al at ones,And fro the top doun cometh the grete stones.In goth the grapenel so ful of crokesAmong the ropes, and the shering- hokes.In with the polax presseth he and he;Behind the mast beginneth he to flee,And out agayn, and dryveth him over-borde;He stingeth him upon his speres orde;(60)640$®645He rent the sail with hokes lyke a sythe;He bringeth the cuppe, and biddeth hem be blythe;(70)650He poureth pesen upon the hacches slider;With pottes ful of lym they goon to-gider;And thus the longe day in fight they spendeTil, at the laste, as every thing hath ende,Antony is shent, and put him to the flighte,And al his folk to-go, that best go mighte.Fleeth eek the queen, with al her purpre sail,For strokes, which that wente as thikke as hail;No wonder was, she mighte hit nat endure.And whan that Antony saw that aventure,' Allas! ' quod he, ' the day that I was born!My worshipe in this day thus have I lorn! 'And for dispeyr out of his witte he sterte,And roof him-self anoon through-out the herteEr that he ferther wente out of the place.His wyf, that coude of Cesar have no grace,633. stent; C. stente.655(80)660632. oost forthe went (C. wentyn) . 635. gooth.637. sovne; gooth. 638. C. Tn. heterly; A. hatirly; F. hertely. hurtelen;attones. 639. dovne. 640. gooth. 641. C. Among; F. Amonge.642. preseth.F. A. Add. him;laste; F. last.643. By-hynde; maste begyneth. 646. sayle. 647.rest hem. 648. slidre. 649. to-gedre. 651. C. Tn.652. flyght. 653. folke to- goo; goo myght. 654.655. went; thik; hayle. 656. myght. 657. C.658. borne. 659. worshippe; lorne. 660. dispeyre.662. went.ek; queene; sayle.saw; F. saugh.661. thurgh-.I. THE LEGEND OF CLEOPATRA. 109To Egipte is fled, for drede and for distresse;But herkneth, ye that speke of kindenesse.Ye men, that falsly sweren many an oothThat ye wol dye, if that your love be wrooth,Heer may ye seen of women whiche a trouthe!This woful Cleopatre hath mad swich routheThat ther nis tonge noon that may hit telle.But on the morwe she wol no lenger dwelle,But made hir subtil werkmen make a shryneOf alle the rubies and the stones fyneIn al Egipte that she coude espye;And putte ful the shryne of spycerye,665(90)670675And leet the cors embaume; and forth she fetteThis dede cors, and in the shryne hit shette.And next the shryne a pit than doth she grave;And alle the serpents that she mighte have, (100)She putte hem in that grave, and thus she seyde: 680' Now love, to whom my sorweful herte obeyde685So ferforthly that, fro that blisful houreThat I yow swor to been al frely youre,I mene yow, Antonius my knight!That never waking, in the day or night,Ye nere out of myn hertes remembraunceFor wele or wo, for carole or for daunce;And in my-self this covenant made I tho,That, right swich as ye felten, wele or wo,As ferforth as hit in my power lay,Unreprovable unto my wyfhood ay,The same wolde I felen, lyf or deeth.And thilke covenant, whyl me lasteth breeth,I wol fulfille, and that shal wel be sene;Was never unto hir love a trewer quene.'(110)690695666. C. Tn. oth; F. oothe.668. which. 669. C. Tn. Cleopatre;665. herkeneth. T. speke; rest speken.667. C. Tn. wroth; F. wroothe.F. Cleopatrie. made. 671. C. morwe; F. morowe. 672. werknen (!) .673. Tn. rubies; F. rubees. 675. C. Tn. putte; F. put. 676. Tn.leet; C. F. let. C. cors; F. corps ( and in l. 677). 678. C. pet; Tn. pyt;F. pitte. dooth. 679. C. alle; F. al. C. myghte; F. myght. 680.C. Tn. putte; F. put. sayde. 682. ferforthely. 683. ben.688. couenaunt; thoo. 689. T. A. Th. wele; C. F. Tn. wel.F. powere. 692. life; deethe. 693. couenaunt while.687. woo.690. C. power;694. seene.110 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And with that word, naked, with ful good herte,Among the serpents in the pit she sterte,And ther she chees to han hir buryinge.Anoon the neddres gonne hir for to stinge,And she hir deeth receyveth, with good chere,For love of Antony, that was hir so dere:-And this is storial sooth, hit is no fable.(120)700Now, er I finde a man thus trewe and stable,And wol for love his deeth so freely take,I pray god lat our hedes never ake! 705Explicit Legenda Cleopatrie, martiris.II. THE LEGEND OF THISBE OF BABYLON.Incipit Legenda Tesbe Babilonie, Martiris.AT Babiloine whylom fil it thus,The whiche toun the queen SemiramusLeet dichen al about, and walles makeFul hye, of harde tyles wel y- bake.Ther weren dwellinge in this noble toun 710Two lordes, which that were of greet renoun,And woneden so nigh, upon a grene,That ther nas but a stoon-wal hem bitwene,As ofte in grete tounes is the wone.And sooth to seyn, that o man hadde a sone,Of al that londe oon of the lustieste.That other hadde a doghter, the faireste,That estward in the world was tho dwellinge.The name of everich gan to other springeBy wommen, that were neighebores aboute.For in that contree yit, withouten doute,696. C. word; F. worde. 700. C. receyuyth; F. receveth.F. (only) wolde. 705. oure; neuere. F. take (! ); rest ake.715(11)720704.707. tovne;710. tovne. 711. grete. 712. C. nygh; F. neigh. 714.715. C. hadde; F. had (so in l . 717) . 716. C. Tn. Th. of; rest om.717. Tn. doghter; F. doghtre. 718 esteward; worlde. 719. eueryche.queene.grette.II. THE LEGEND OF THISBE. IIIMaidens been y-kept, for Ielosye,Ful streite, lest they diden som folye.This yonge man was cleped Piramus,And Tisbe hight the maid, Naso seith thus;And thus by report was hir name y-shoveThat, as they wexe in age, wex hir love;And certein, as by reson of hir age,Ther mighte have been bitwix hem mariage,But that hir fadres nolde hit nat assente;And bothe in love y-lyke sore they brente,That noon of alle hir frendes mighte hit letteBut prively somtyme yit they metteBy sleighte, and speken som of hir desyr;As, wry the gleed, and hotter is the fyr;Forbede a love, and it is ten so wood.This wal, which that bitwix hem bothe stood,Was cloven a-two, right fro the toppe adoun,Of olde tyme of his fundacioun;725(21)730735(31)But yit this clifte was so narwe and lyte, 740It as nat sene, dere y-nogh a myte.But what is that, that love can nat espye?Ye lovers two, if that I shal nat lye,Ye founden first this litel narwe clifte;And, with a soun as softe as any shrifte,They lete hir wordes through the clifte pace,And tolden, whyl that they stode in the place,Al hir compleynt of love, and al hir wo,At every tyme whan they dorste so.745(41)722. C. been; F. ben.C. Tn. yonge; F. yong.723. Tn. som; C. sum; F. somme. 724.725. All but C. om. And. Tn. A. Tisbe; C. Th.Tyske; F. B. Tesbe; T. Thesbe. maide.727. C. wex, wex; F. T. wex, wax; Tn. wox, wax; B. wox, wox.C. Tn. bitwixe; F. betwex.Tn. priuely; F. preuely.726. C. report; F. reporte.729.730. nold.731. booth; soore. 733.734. C. sleyghte; F. sleight. A. speken; Tn.T. Th. spaken; F. C. spoken. Tn. som; F. somme. C. desyr; F. desire.735. C. wry; F. Tn. wre.bitwixe; stoode.741. C. A. nas; rest was.C. soun; F. sovne.748. woo.glede. C. fyr; F. fire. 736. woode.738. a-twoo; adovne.749. soo.C. sene; F. seene. deere.746. leete.737.740. C. clyfte; F. clyft.743. twoo. 745.747. while. C. stode; F. stoden.I 12 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Upon that o syde of the wal stood he,And on that other syde stood Tisbe,The swote soun of other to receyve,And thus hir wardeins wolde they deceyve.And every day this wal they wolde threte,And wisshe to god, that it were doun y-bete.Thus wolde they seyn-' allas! thou wikked wal,Through thyn envye thou us lettest al!Why nilt thou cleve, or fallen al a-two?Or, at the leste, but thou woldest so,Yit woldestow but ones lete us mete,65755(51)760Or ones that we mighte kissen swete,Than were we covered of our cares colde.But natheles, yit be we to thee holdeIn as muche as thou suffrest for to goonOur wordes through thy lyme and eek thy stoon. 765Yit oghte we with thee ben wel apayd.' (61)And whan thise ydel wordes weren sayd,The colde wal they wolden kisse of stoon,And take hir leve, and forth they wolden goon.And this was gladly in the even-tydeOr wonder erly, lest men hit espyde;And longe tyme they wroghte in this manereTil on a day, whan Phebus gan to clere,Aurora with the stremes of hir heteHad dryed up the dew of herbes wete;Unto this clifte, as it was wont to be,Com Pyramus, and after com Tisbe,And plighten trouthe fully in hir feyThat ilke same night to stele awey,750. F. the; rest that. wale.754. C. wal; F. walle. threete.756. C. Tn. wal; F. walle.758. C. nylt thou; F. nyltow.770775(71)751. Tesbe 752. swoote sovne. .755. dovne. C. Tn. I- bete; F.757. Thurgh. C. Tn. al; F.759. A. Th. B. leste; C. laste;761. oones; myght; sweete.765. Tn. Our; F. Or (!) . thurgh; ek.767. sayde.y- bette.alle.F. leest. 76o. let; meete.oure. 763. the.C. oughte; F. oght. the; apayede.kysse; F. kyssen. 769. foorth.762.766.768. walle. C.770. F. Alle; rest And. T. A.euyn-tyde; Th. euentyde; C. F. Tn. B. euetyde.C. wroughte; F. wroght.(twice). Tesbe.775. dewe.778. C. fey; F. faye.771. espyede. 772.777. F. Come; Tn. Com779. steele awaye (C. awey) .750And to begyle hir wardeins everichoon,II. THE LEGEND OF THISBE. 113 કૈંક 780And forth out of the citee for to goon;And, for the feldes been so brode and wyde,For to mete in o place at o tyde,They sette mark hir meting sholde beTher king Ninus was graven, under a tree;For olde payens that ydoles heriedUseden tho in feldes to ben beried;785(81)And faste by this grave was a welle.And, shortly of this tale for to telle,This covenant was affermed wonder faste; 790And longe hem thoughte that the sonne laste,That hit nere goon under the see adoun.This Tisbe hath so greet affecciounAnd so greet lyking Piramus to see,That, whan she seigh her tyme mighte be, 795At night she stal awey ful prively (91)With her face y-wimpled subtilly;For alle her frendes-for to save her troutheShe hath for-sake; allas! and that is routheThat ever woman wolde be so treweTo trusten man, but she the bet him knewe!And to the tree she goth a ful good pas,For love made her so hardy in this cas;And by the welle adoun she gan her dresse.Allas! than comth a wilde leonesseOut of the wode, withouten more areste,With blody mouthe, of strangling of a beste,To drinken of the welle, ther as she sat;And, whan that Tisbe had espyed that,She rist her up, with a ful drery herte,And in a cave with dredful foot she sterte,800805(101)810780. euerychone. 781. gone. 782. feeldes; broode. 783. meete .F. heriode (!) . 787. thoo; feeldes; beriede.790. couenaunt. 792. F. (only) om. goon.794. F. Had (! ); rest And. grete lykynge.796. stale. A. priuely; F. prevely. 802.804. a-downe. 805. Tn. comth;807. strangelynge.786. C. Idolys; F. ydoyles.788. C. Tn. faste; F. fast.793. F. Tn. B. om. hath; greete.795. C. myghte; F. myght.gooth; goode paas.F. comith.803. caas.806. woode.I114 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.For by the mone she seigh hit wel with-alle.And, as she ran, her wimpel leet she falle,And took noon heed, so sore she was a-whaped .And eek so glad of that she was escaped;And thus she sit, and darketh wonder stille.Whan that this leonesse hath dronke her fille,Aboute the welle gan she for to winde,And right anoon the wimpel gan she finde,And with her blody mouth hit al to- rente.Whan this was doon, no lenger she ne stente,But to the wode her wey than hath she nome.And, at the laste, this Piramus is come,But al to longe, allas! at hoom was he.The mone shoon, men mighte wel y- see,And in his weye, as that he com ful faste,His eyen to the grounde adoun he caste,And in the sonde, as he beheld adoun,He seigh the steppes brode of a leoun,And in his herte he sodeinly agroos,And pale he wex, therwith his heer aroos,And neer he com, and fond the wimpel torn.' Allas! ' quod he, the day that I was born!This o night wol us lovers bothe slee!How sholde I axen mercy of TisbeWhan I am he that have yow slain, allas!My bidding hath yow slain, as in this cas.Allas! to bidde a woman goon by nighteIn place ther as peril fallen mighte,And I so slow! allas, I ne hadde beHere in this place a furlong-wey or ye!Now what leoun that be in this foreste,My body mote he renden, or what beste6812. moone; saugh. 813. ranne. 814. tooke; hede; soore.eke. T. of; rest om. 816. C. sit; F. sytte.822. woode. 824. home.815(111 )820825(121)830835(131)840815.817. T. leones; F. lyonesse.821. don. 825. moone shoone; well.826. C. weye; F. wey. C. com; F. come. 827. Hise eighen; adovne.828. behelde a- dovne. 829. broode. T. leoun; F. lyoune. 832.Tn. neer; C. ner; F. nere. C. Tn. com; F. come. C. fond; F. founde.C. torn; F. torne. 833. C. born; F. borne. 834. 00; wole; boothe.836. slayne. 837. C. as; rest om. 839. F. a; rest as. 840. slowe.841. yee. 843. F. T. B. om. he. Allrenten (rente, rent) wrongly; readrenden.II. THE LEGEND OF THISBE. 115That wilde is, gnawen mote he now myn herte!'And with that worde he to the wimpel sterte,And kiste hit ofte, and weep on hit ful sore,And seide, ' wimpel, allas! ther nis no moreBut thou shalt fele as wel the blood of meAs thou hast felt the bleding of Tisbe! 'And with that worde he smoot him to the herte.The blood out of the wounde as brode sterteAs water, whan the conduit broken is.845(141)850Now Tisbe, which that wiste nat of this,But sitting in her drede, she thoghte thus,' If hit so falle that my PiramusBe comen hider, and may me nat y-finde,He may me holden fals and eek unkinde.'And out she comth, and after him gan espyenBothe with her herte and with her yën,And thoghte, ' I wol him tellen of my dredeBothe of the leonesse and al my dede. 'And at the laste her love than hath she foundeBeting with his heles on the grounde,Al blody, and therwith-al a-bak she sterte,And lyke the wawes quappe gan her herte,And pale as box she wex, and in a throweAvysed her, and gan him wel to knowe,That hit was Piramus, her herte dere.Who coude wryte whiche a deedly chereHath Tisbe now, and how her heer she rente,And how she gan her-selve to turmente,And how she lyth and swowneth on the grounde,And how she weep of teres ful his wounde,855(151)860865(161)870846. From C. (which has wep for weep); F. om . this line.blode. 849. bledynge; Tesbe.C. A. condit.thoughte; F. thought.857. ek.848. feele;852. Tn. Th. conduyt; F. conduyte;853. C. wiste nat of this; F. wyst nat this. 854. C.855. F. B. om . hit. 856. C. I-fynde; F. fynde.859. hert; eighen. 861. Booth. Tn.863. Tn. Betyng; F. Betynge. helis. 866.F. Th. boxe; rest box. T. wexed (for wex); A. wox; Th. B. woxe; C. F.858. comith.leonesse; F. lyonesse.Tn. P. was (errorfor wax). F. B. om. and.869. dedely. 870. Tesbe; heere.868. C. herte; F. hert.873. Tn. weep; C. wep; F.wepe.12116 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.How medeleth she his blood with her compleynte,And with his blood her-selven gan she peynte; 875How clippeth she the dede cors, allas? (171)How doth this woful Tisbe in this cas!How kisseth she his frosty mouth so cold!'Who hath doon this, and who hath been so boldTo sleen my leef? O spek, my Piramus!880I am thy Tisbe, that thee calleth thus!'And therwith-al she lifteth up his heed.This woful man, that was nat fully deed,Whan that he herde the name of Tisbe cryen,On her he caste his hevy deedly yënAnd doun again, and yeldeth up the gost.885(181)Tisbe rist up, withouten noise or bost,And seigh her wimpel and his empty shethe,And eek his swerd, that him hath doon to dethe;Than spak she thus: " My woful hand, ' quod she, 890' Is strong y-nogh in swiche a werk to me;For love shal yive me strengthe and hardinesseTo make my wounde large y- nogh, I gesse.I wol thee folwen deed, and I wol beFelawe and cause eek of thy deeth, ' quod she.' And thogh that nothing save the deeth onlyMighte thee fro me departe trewely,Thou shalt no more departe now fro meThan fro the deeth, for I wol go with thee!' And now, ye wrecched Ielous fadres oure,We, that weren whylom children youre,We prayen yow, withouten more envye,895(191 )9c0That in o grave y-fere we moten lye,876. C. Tn. cors; F. corps.colde. 879. ben; bolde.877. dooth; Tesbe. 878. mouthe;880. leefe. C. Tn. spek; rest speke (wrongly).881. Tesbe. 884. C. Th. herde; rest herd.886. dovne;890.F. Tn. Th. B. om. my.Tesbe. 885. dedely. Tn. B. P. yen; F. eyn; rest eyen.gooste. 887. vpp; booste. 888. saugh. 889. eke; swerde.C. spak; F. spake. C. myn (for my); rest thy (!). hande. 891. werke.892. F. (only) puts me before give. 894. wole; folowen deede. 895. eke.897. the; trewly. 898. F. shal; C. schat (! ); rest shalt. C. A. Th. departenow; Tn. departe trewlie; F. T. B. now departe. 899. deth; goo. 900.F. Ielouse; C. gelos. 901. whilome. 903. 00. T. I-fere; whichthe rest omit (!) .III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO. 117Sin love hath brought us to this pitous ende!And rightwis god to every lover sende,That loveth trewely, more prosperiteeThan ever hadde Piramus and Tisbe!And lat no gentil woman her assureTo putten her in swiche an aventure.But god forbede but a woman canBeen as trewe and loving as a man!And, for my part, I shal anoon it kythe! '995(201)And, with that worde, his swerd she took as swythe,That warm was of her loves blood and hoot,And to the herte she her-selven smoot.And thus ar Tisbe and Piramus ago.Of trewe men I finde but fewe moIn alle my bokes, save this Piramus,And therfor have I spoken of him thus.For hit is deyntee to us men to findeA man that can in love be trewe and kinde.Heer may ye seen, what lover so he be,A woman dar and can as wel as he.Explicit legenda Tesbe.910915(211)920III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO, QUEEN OFCARTHAGE.Incipit Legenda Didonis martiris, Cartaginis regine.GLORY and honour, Virgil Mantuan,Be to thy name! and I shal, as I can,Folow thy lantern, as thou gost biforn,How Eneas to Dido was forsworn.925906. moore.908. noo gentile.904. C. T. A. brought vs to; F. vs broght (! ) . pitouse.907. C. euere zit hade; T. euer had yet; rest omit zit (yet) .909. puten. 911. Ben. 912. parte. 913. swerde. 914. warme; hoote.915. smoote (!) . 916. Tn. T. ar; F. are; C. A. is. C. I-go; rest a-goo(a-go). 917. moo. 918. bookes. 919. therfore.N.B. From this point onward obvious corrections in the spelling of MS.F. are unnoticed.118 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.In thyn Eneïd and Naso wol I takeThe tenour, and the grete effectes make.Whan Troye broght was to destrucciounBy Grekes sleighte, and namely by Sinoun,Feyning the hors y- offred to Minerve,930Through which that many a Troyan moste sterve; (10)And Ector had, after his deeth, appered,And fyr so wood, it mighte nat be stered,In al the noble tour of Ilioun,That of the citee was the cheef dungeoun;And al the contree was so lowe y-broght,And Priamus the king fordoon and noght;And Eneas was charged by Venus935940To fleen awey, he took Ascanius,That was his sone, in his right hand, and fledde;And on his bakke he bar and with him ledde (20)His olde fader, cleped Anchises,And by the weye his wyf Creusa he lees. 945And mochel sorwe hadde he in his mindeEr that he coude his felawshippe finde.But, at the laste, whan he had hem founde,He made him redy in a certein stounde,And to the see ful faste he gan him hye,And saileth forth with al his companyeToward Itaile, as wolde destinee.But of his aventures in the seeNis nat to purpos for to speke of here,For hit acordeth nat to my matere.But, as I seide, of him and of Dido950(30)955Shal be my tale, til that I have do.So longe he sailed in the salte seeTil in Libye unnethe aryved he,With shippes seven and with no more navye; 960And glad was he to londe for to hye,So was he with the tempest al to-shake.(40)And whan that he the haven had y-take,928. C. has-In Naso and Eneydos wele [ for wol ] I take.I offerede to; rest offred unto 950. C. wol ( = wel); for ful. .These two lines are in C. and P. only; allformer editions omit them.932. C.960, 961 .III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO. 119He had a knight, was called Achates;And him of al his felawshippe he cheesTo goon with him, the contre for tespye;He took with him no more companye.965But forth they goon, and lafte his shippes ryde,His fere and he, with-outen any gyde.So longe he walketh in this wildernesseTil, at the laste, he mette an hunteresse.A bowe in honde and arwes hadde she,Her clothes cutted were unto the knee;But she was yit the fairest creature970(50)That ever was y-formed by nature;And Eneas and Achates she grette,975And thus she to hem spak, whan she hem mette.'Sawe ye,' quod she, ' as ye han walked wyde,980Any of my sustren walke yow besyde,With any wilde boor or other besteThat they han hunted to, in this foreste,Y-tukked up, with arwes in her cas? '' Nay, soothly, lady,' quod this Eneas;' But, by thy beaute, as hit thinketh me,Thou mightest never erthely womman be,But Phebus suster artow, as I gesse.And, if so be that thou be a goddesse,Have mercy on our labour and our wo.'' I nam no goddes, soothly, ' quod she tho;'For maidens walken in this contree here,With arwes and with bowe, in this manere.This is the regne of Libie, ther ye been,Of which that Dido lady is and queen'—And shortly tolde him al the occasiounWhy Dido com into that regioun,Of which as now me lusteth nat to ryme;Hit nedeth nat; hit nere but los of tyme.(60)985990(70)995964. C. clepid; rest called.spye; T. to spy; A. to aspye.cutted (cuttyd, cuttit).994. F. Tn. Th. B. om . him.were (wer).966. Tn. Th. B. tespye; C. tespie; F. to973. C. P. cutte; F. B. knytte; rest979. So all; Oon (for Any) would read better.997. Tn. ner; F. Th. B. nere; rest120 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.For this is al and som, it was Venus,His owne moder, that spak with him thus;And to Cartage she bad he sholde him dighte,And vanished anoon out of his sighte.I coude folwe, word for word, Virgyle,But it wolde lasten al to longe a whyle.This noble queen, that cleped was Dido,That whylom was the wyf of Sitheo,That fairer was then is the brighte sonne,This noble toun of Cartage hath begonne;In which she regneth in so greet honour,That she was holde of alle quenes flour,Of gentilesse, of freedom, of beautee;That wel was him that mighte her ones see;Of kinges and of lordes so desyred,That al the world her beaute hadde y-fyred;She stood so wel in every wightes grace.Whan Eneas was come un-to that place,Unto the maister-temple of al the tounTher Dido was in her devocioun,Ful prively his wey than hath he nome.Whan he was in the large temple come,I can nat seyn if that hit be possible,But Venus hadde him maked invisibleThus seith the book, with-outen any lees.And whan this Eneas and AchatesHadden in this temple been over-al,Than founde they, depeynted on a wal,How Troye and al the lond destroyed was.' Allas! that I was born,' quod Eneas,' Through- out the world our shame is kid so wyde,Now it is peynted upon every syde!We, that weren in prosperitee,Be now disslaundred, and in swich degre,No lenger for to liven I ne kepe! 'And, with that worde, he brast out for to wepe1002. F. by; rest for.Addit. is; rest om.large.1000(80)10051010(90)10151020(100)10251030(110)1003. T. P. Addit. a; rest om.1018. C. thus for than).1006. C.1024. P. F. the; rest this.1019. F. (only) om.1028. F. Tn. A. B. om . so.III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO. 121So tendrely, that routhe hit was to sene.This fresshe lady, of the citee quene,Stood in the temple, in her estat royal,So richely, and eek so fair with-al,So yong, so lusty, with her eyen glade,That, if that god, that heven and erthe made,Wolde han a love, for beaute and goodnesse,And womanhod, and trouthe, and seemlinesse,Whom sholde he loven but this lady swete?There nis no womman to him half so mete.Fortune, that hath the world in governaunce,Hath sodeinly broght in so newe a chaunce,That never was ther yit so fremd a cas.For al the companye of Eneas,10351040(120)1045Which that he wende han loren in the see,Aryved is , nat fer fro that citee;For which, the grettest of his lordes some 1050By aventure ben to the citee come,Unto that same temple, for to sekeThe quene, and of her socour her beseke;Swich renoun was ther spronge of her goodnesse.And, whan they hadden told al hir distresse,And al hir tempest and hir harde cas,(130)1055Unto the quene appered Eneas,And openly beknew that hit was he.Who hadde Ioye than but his meynee,That hadden founde hir lord, hir governour? 1060The quene saw they dide him swich honour,And had herd ofte of Eneas, er tho,And in her herte she hadde routhe and wo (140)That ever swich a noble man as heShal been disherited in swich degree; 1065And saw the man, that he was lyk a knight,And suffisaunt of persone and of might,And lyk to been a veray gentil man;And wel his wordes he besette can,1046. T. Th. was ther yet; P. more was ther; Add. was their; A. 3it wassene; rest was yit (or yit was). F. in (for a) .we (!).1048. C. A. P. he; rest1063. C. she hadde; A. sche had eke; P. she hedd po; T.Add. had she; B. had; F. and (! ). 1066. F. (only) om. that he.122 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And had a noble visage for the nones,And formed wel of braunes and of bones.For, after Venus, hadde he swich fairnesse,That no man might be half so fair, I gesse.And wel a lord he semed for to be.And, for he was a straunger, somwhat sheLyked him the bet, as, god do bote,To som folk ofte newe thing is swote.Anoon her herte hath pitee of his wo,And, with that pitee, love com in also;And thus, for pitee and for gentilesse,Refresshed moste he been of his distresse.She seide, certes, that she sory wasThat he hath had swich peril and swich cas;And, in her frendly speche, in this manereShe to him spak, and seide as ye may here.'Be ye nat Venus sone and Anchises?In good feith, al the worship and encreesThat I may goodly doon yow, ye shul have.Your shippes and your meynee shal I save; 'And many a gentil word she spak him to;And comaunded her messageres go1070(150)10751080(160)10851090The same day, with-outen any faile ,His shippes for to seke, and hem vitaile.She many a beste to the shippes sente,(170)And with the wyn she gan hem to presente;And to her royal paleys she her spedde,1095And Eneas alwey with her she ledde.What nedeth yow the feste to descryve?He never beter at ese was his lyve.Ful was the feste of deyntees and richesse,Of instruments, of song, and of gladnesse,11001072. F. Tn. Th. om. he.F. Tn. Th. B. om. that and in.(must, moost, most); read moste.1074. C. P. Add. he; rest him.in this manere; rest as ye may here.1079.1081. F. B. mote; P. wold; rest muste1085. F. Tn. om. and. F. Tn. B. repeat1091. C. massangerys; B. messagerys;A. messingeris; F. Tn. messagers; after which all but F. and B. needlesslyinsert to, or for to. 1094. C. Sche; rest Ful (because they put beest, shefor beste, as in C).III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO. 123And many an amorous loking and devys.This Eneas is come to ParadysOut of the swolow of helle, and thus in IoyeRemembreth him of his estat in Troye.To dauncing-chambres ful of parements,Of riche beddes, and of ornaments,This Eneas is lad, after the mete.And with the quene whan that he had sete,And spyces parted, and the wyn agoon ,Unto his chambres was he lad anoonTo take his ese and for to have his reste,With al his folk, to doon what so hem leste.Ther nas coursere wel y-brydled noon ,Ne stede, for the Iusting wel to goon,Ne large palfrey, esy for the nones,Ne Iuwel, fretted ful of riche stones,Ne sakkes ful of gold, of large wighte,Ne ruby noon, that shynede by nighte,Ne gentil hautein faucon heronere,Ne hound, for hert or wilde boor or dere,Ne coupe of gold, with florins newe y-bete,That in the lond of Libie may be gete,That Dido ne hath hit Eneas y- sent;And al is payed, what that he hath spent.Thus can this [ noble] quene her gestes calle,As she that can in freedom passen alle.Eneas sothly eek, with-outen lees,Hath sent un-to his shippe, by Achates,After his sone, and after riche thinges,Both ceptre, clothes, broches, and eek ringes,Som for to were, and som for to presenteTo her, that all thise noble thinges him sente;And bad his sone, how that he sholde makeThe presenting, and to the quene hit take.(180)11051110등(190)11151120(200)11251130(210)11351107. C. T. Add. ornamentis; rest pavements (error for parements, caught from 1. 1106). 1112. C. For his ese and for to take. 1115. C. to iuste (forthe Iusting). 1117. C. T. Add. frettid; A. P. fretted; F. B. frette; Tn. Th.1119. F. B. rubee; rest ruby. C. shynede; Tn. P. shyned; F. T. A. Th.B. shyneth. 1126. For noble all have honourable, giving two syllablestoo many; see ll. 1143 , 1210, 1222. 1129. A. vnto; C. on to; rest to.fret.124 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Repaired is this Achates again,And Eneas ful blisful is and fainTo seen his yonge sone Ascanius.But natheles, our autour telleth us,That Cupido, that is the god of love,At preyere of his moder, hye above,Hadde the lyknes of the child y- take,This noble quene enamoured to makeOn Eneas; but, as of that scripture,Be as be may, I make of hit no cure.But sooth is this, the quene hath mad swich chereUn-to this child, that wonder is to here;1140(220)1145And of the present that his fader senteShe thanked him ful ofte, in good entente.Thus is this quene in plesaunce and in Ioye, 1150With a this newe lusty folk of Troye.And of the dedes hath she more enqueredOf Eneas, and al the story lered (230)Of Troye; and al the longe day they tweyeEntendeden to speken and to pleye;Of which ther gan to breden swich a fyr,1155That sely Dido hath now swich desyrWith Eneas, her newe gest, to dele,That she hath lost her hewe, and eek her hele.Now to theffect, now to the fruit of al,1160Why I have told this story, and tellen shal.Thus I beginne; hit fil, upon a night,When that the mone up-reysed had her light,This noble quene un-to her reste wente;She syketh sore, and gan her- self turmente.She waketh, walweth, maketh many a brayd,As doon thise loveres, as I have herd sayd.And at the laste, unto her suster Anne(240)1165She made her moon, and right thus spak she thanne.1139. So C. P.; F. Tn. Th. B. For to him yt was reported thus (badly).1143. C. holy; rest noble. 1144. F. T. Th. B. om. as.Th. B. om. ful.1149. F. Tn.1155. All but C. P. needlesslyput for to (for to) twice.1159. C. T. A. P. Add. hath; rest om. 1160. C. now comyth the freut.1163. F. Tn. vp- reyseth (error for vp- reysed) . C. A. Th. P. hadde (had); F.Tn. B. hath. C. his; rest hire (hir, her); see note. 1169. P. mon ( =A. S.mán); rest mone; read moon.III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO. 125' Now, dere suster myn, what may hit beThat me agasteth in my dreme?' quod she.This ilke Troyan is so in my thoght,For that me thinketh he is so wel y-wroght,And eek so lykly for to be a man,And therwithal so mikel good he can,1170(250)1175That al my love and lyf lyth in his cure.Have ye not herd him telle his aventure?Now certes, Anne, if that ye rede hit me,I wolde fain to him y-wedded be;This is theffect; what sholde I more seye?In him lyth al, to do me live or deye.'Her suster Anne, as she that coude her good,1180Seide as her thoughte, and somdel hit with- stood. (260)But her- of was so long a sermoning,Hit were to long to make rehersing; 1185But fynally, hit may not been with-stonde;Love wol love-for no wight wol hit wonde.The dawening up-rist out of the see;This amorous quene chargeth her meyneeThe nettes dresse, and speres brode and kene;An hunting wol this lusty fresshe quene;So priketh her this newe Ioly wo.To hors is al her lusty folk y-go;Un-to the court the houndes been y-broght,And up-on coursers, swift as any thoght,Her yonge knightes hoven al aboute,And of her wommen eek an huge route.Up-on a thikke palfrey, paper-whyt,With sadel rede, enbrouded with delyt,Of gold the barres up-enbossed hye,Sit Dido, al in gold and perre wrye;And she is fair, as is the brighte morwe,That heleth seke folk of nightes sorwe.1171. C. slep; rest dreme.C. T. P. Add. for; rest om.C. ek thereto; F. Tn. om . ther.1190(270)1195I 200(280)1173. C. Me thynkith that he. 1174.1175. T. A. P. therwith al; Th. therwith;1178. C. rede it me; rest om. it.C. T. A. P. Add. wolde; F. Tn. wil; Th. wol.C. B. courseris; F. Tn. Th. coursere.houen (houyn) .C. bright (for fair) .1179.1195. Add. coursers;1196. F. Tn. Th. heuen (! ); rest1200, 1201. C. hye, wrye; F. heighe, wreighe.1203. A. B. P. folk; F. Tn. T. Th. folkes; C. men.I202.126 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Up-on a courser, startling as the fyr,Men mighte turne him with a litel wyr,Sit Eneas, lyk Phebus to devyse;So was he fresshe arayed in his wyse.The fomy brydel with the bit of goldGoverneth he, right as him-self hath wold.And forth this noble quene thus lat I rydeAn hunting, with this Troyan by her syde.The herd of hertes founden is anoon,12051210With hey! go bet! prik thou! lat goon, lat goon! (290)Why nil the leoun comen or the bere,That I mighte ones mete him with this spere? ' 1215Thus seyn thise yonge folk, and up they killeThese hertes wilde, and han hem at hir wille.Among al this to-romblen gan the heven,The thunder rored with a grisly steven;Doun com the rain, with hail and sleet so faste,With hevenes fyr, that hit so sore agasteThis noble quene, and also her meynee,That ech of hem was glad a-wey to flee.And shortly, fro the tempest her to save,She fledde her-self into a litel cave,And with her wente this Eneas al- so;I noot, with hem if ther wente any mo;The autour maketh of hit no mencioun.And heer began the depe affecciounBetwix hem two; this was the firste morweOf her gladnesse, and ginning of her sorwe.For ther hath Eneas y-kneled so,1220(300)12251230And told her al his herte, and al his wo,And sworn so depe, to her to be trewe,For wele or wo, and chaunge for no newe,And as a fals lover so wel can pleyne,That sely Dido rewed on his peyne,(310)12351210. F. om . noble. T. thus lat; Addit. thus late; rest this lady (!! ) .1211. T. Add. An; A. In; rest On; see l. 1191. 1215. T. A. P. ones metehim; rest him ones mete. 1217. C. T. A. Add. These; rest The. C.bestys wilde; T. A. P. wild bestys; rest wilde hertes; but read hertes wilde.1221. C. A. it; F. Tn. B. P. is (! ) .III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO. 127And took him for husband, [ to been] his wyfFor ever-mo, whyl that hem laste lyf.And after this, whan that the tempest stente,With mirth out as they comen, hoom they wente.The wikked fame up roos, and that anon,How Eneas hath with the quene y-gonIn-to the cave; and demed as hem liste;1240(320)And whan the king, that Yarbas hight, hit wiste,As he that had her loved ever his lyf,And wowed her, to have her to his wyf,1245Swich sorwe as he hath maked, and swich chere,Hit is a routhe and pitee for to here.But, as in love, al-day hit happeth so, 1250That oon shal laughen at anothers wo;Now laugheth Eneas, and is in IoyeAnd more richesse than ever he was in Troye. (330)O sely womman, ful of innocence,Ful of pitee, of trouthe, and conscience, 1255What maked yow to men to trusten so?Have ye swich routhe upon hir feined wo,And han swich olde ensamples yow beforn?See ye nat alle, how they been for-sworn?Wher see ye oon, that he ne hath laft his leef,Or been unkinde, or doon her som mischeef,Or pilled her, or bosted of his dede?Ye may as wel hit seen, as ye may rede;Tak heed now of this grete gentil-man,This Troyan, that so wel her plesen can,That feineth him so trewe and obeising,So gentil and so privy of his doing,And can so wel doon alle his obeisaunces,And waiten her at festes and at daunces,1260(340)12651238. I propose to read to been; all have and becom (became) , which cannotpossibly be scanned.fame a- ros.1239. C. Tn. -mo; F. -mor.1247. F. Tn. Th. B. om. 2nd her.1242. C. wikke1251. C. of; rest at.1253. T. A. Add. he; rest om. 1255. F. and (for 2nd of). 1258. C. T.A. Th. olde ensamples; F. ensamples olde. 1259. C. A. how that; rest how.1267. C. trewe; A. besy; rest privy. 1268, 1269. F. Tn. Th. B. -aunce;C. T. A. P. -aunces. 1269. C. And waytyn hire; T. Add. And plesyn hyr;Tn. A. And hir (! ); F. Th. To hir (! ) .128 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And when she goth to temple and hoom ageyn,And fasten til he hath his lady seyn,And bere in his devyses, for her sake,Noot I nat what; and songes wolde he make,Iusten, and doon of armes many thinges,Sende her lettres, tokens, broches, ringesNow herkneth, how he shal his lady serve!Ther-as he was in peril for to sterveFor hunger, and for mischeef in the see,And desolat, and fled from his contree,And al his folk with tempest al to-driven,She hath her body and eek her reame yivenIn-to his hond, ther-as she mighte have beenOf other lond than of Cartage a queen,And lived in Ioye y-nogh; what wolde ye more?This Eneas, that hath so depe y- swore,Is wery of his craft with-in a throwe;The hote ernest is al over-blowe.And prively he doth his shippes dighte,And shapeth him to stele a-wey by nighte.This Dido hath suspecioun of this ,And thoughte wel, that hit was al a-mis;For in his bedde he lyth a-night and syketh;She asketh him anoon, what him mislyketh-'My dere herte, which that I love most?''Certes,' quod he, ' this night my fadres gostHath in my sleep so sore me tormented,And eek Mercurie his message hath presented,That nedes to the conquest of Itaile1270(350)12751280(360)12851290(370)1295My destinee is sone for to saile;For which, me thinketh, brosten is myn herte! 'Ther-with his false teres out they sterte;1300And taketh her with-in his armes two.' Is that in ernest, ' quod she; ' wil ye so? (380)Have ye nat sworn to wyve me to take,Alas! what womman wil ye of me make? 13051273. C. Tn. A. Th. Not; F. B. Wot.ringes.1275. All but C. ins. and before1281. C. F. T. B. reame; Tn. P. ream; Th. realme; A. regne.1285. C. A. P. so; rest thus. 1296. C. A. so sore me; Add. sore me; restme so sore. 1298. F. Tn. B. om. to.III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO. 129I am a gentil-woman and a queen,Ye wil nat fro your wyf thus foule fleen?That I was born! allas! what shal I do? 'To telle in short, this noble queen Dido,She seketh halwes, and doth sacrifyse;She kneleth, cryeth, that routhe is to devyse;Coniureth him, and profreth him to beHis thral, his servant in the leste gree;1310(390)She falleth him to fote, and swowneth thereDischevele, with her brighte gilte here, 1315And seith, have mercy! let me with yow ryde!Thise lordes, which that wonen me besydeWil me destroyen only for your sake.And, so ye wil me now to wyve take,As ye han sworn, than wol I yive yow leveTo sleen me with your swerd now sone at eve!For than yit shal I dyen as your wyf.I am with childe, and yive my child his lyf.Mercy, lord! have pite in your thoght!'But al this thing availeth her right noght;For on a night, slepinge, he let her lye,And stal a-wey un-to his companye,And, as a traitour, forth he gan to saileToward the large contree of Itaile.Thus hath he laft Dido in wo and pyne;And wedded ther a lady hight Lavyne.A cloth he lafte, and eek his swerd stonding,Whan he fro Dido stal in her sleping,Right at her beddes heed, so gan he hyeWhan that he stal a-wey to his navye;Which cloth, whan sely Dido gan awake,She hath hit kist ful ofte for his sake;1314. C. to-fore (for to fote).rest me now.1313. C. gre; rest degree (degre).C. T. A. Add. so; rest om. F. now me;I yet; Tn. C. T. A. Th. yit shall I.1324. C. hauyth; rest haue. yif.editions omit these trvo lines.F. Tn. B. vpon.1332. C. lafte; F. lefte.om. hit.1320(400)13251330(410)13351319.1322. F. shal1323. C. T. yeue; F. yive; Tn.1326, 1327. The oldprinted 1327. C. on to; T. A. Add. vnto;1330. C. Thus; rest And thus. C. Tn. laft; F. lefte .1333. F. (only) om. her.K1337. F. Tn. B.130 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And seide, ' O cloth, whyl Iupiter hit leste,Tak now my soule, unbind me of this unreste!I have fulfild of fortune al the cours. 'And thus, allas! with-outen his socours,Twenty tyme y- swowned hath she thanne.And, whan that she un-to her suster AnneCompleyned had, of which I may nat wryteSo greet a routhe I have hit for tendyteAnd bad her norice and her suster goonTo fecchen fyr and other thing anoon,And seide, that she wolde sacrifye.And, whan she mighte her tyme wel espye,Up-on the fyr of sacrifys she sterte,1340(420)13451350And with his swerd she roof her to the herte.But, as myn autour seith, right thus she seyde;Or she was hurt, before that she deyde,She wroot a lettre anoon, that thus began:-(430)' Right so,' quod she, ' as that the whyte swan 1355Ayeins his deeth beginneth for to singe,Right so to yow make I my compleyninge.Nat that I trowe to geten yow again,om . now.For wel I woot that it is al in vain,Sin that the goddes been contraire to me. 1360But sin my name is lost through yow,' quod she,(440)1365' I may wel lese a word on yow, or letter,Al-be- it that I shal be never the better;For thilke wind that blew your ship a-wey,The same wind hath blowe a-wey your fey.'-1338. All but T. A. Add. insert swete after O. 1339. F. Tn. Th. B. P.C. and brynge it of this onreste; Tn. T. Th. P. Add. vnbynde meof this vnreste; F. B. vnbynde me of this reste (! ); A. me bynd of mynvnrest; Ifollow Tn. T. Th. P. Add. 1345. F. Tn. Th. P. om . a. C. tendite;rest to endite (endyte) . 1346. A. P. Add. suster; C. T. A. sistir; restsustren (! ). 1347. C. T. A. P. Add. thing; rest thinges.Tn. rof. 1352. C. A. right; P. om.; rest yet ( yit) .1351. C.1353. A.Add. before that; C. F. T. Th. B. byforn or (byforne er); P. and befor or.1356. C. Azens; A. Aзeynes;1357. C. T. A. Add. make I; rest I make.1355. C. A. that; T. Add. doth; rest om.Tn. Ayeinste; rest Ayenst.1359. C. T. A. P. that; rest om.C. T. contrary; rest contrarious.rest om.1360. A. contrair; P. contrarie;1363. C. T. A. P. Add. that;IV. THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE AND MEDEA. 131But who wol al this letter have in minde,Rede Ovide, and in him he shal hit finde.Explicit Legenda Didonis martiris, Cartaginis regine.IV. THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE AND MEDEA.Incipit Legenda Ysiphile et Medee, Martirum.PART I. THe Legend OF HYPSIPYLE.THOU rote of false lovers, duk Iasoun!Thou sly devourer and confusiounOf gentil-wommen, tender creatures,Thou madest thy reclaiming and thy lures.To ladies of thy statly apparaunce,And of thy wordes, farced with plesaunce,And of thy feyned trouthe and thy manere,With thyn obeisaunce and thy humble chere,And with thy counterfeted peyne and wo.Ther other falsen oon, thou falsest two!O! ofte swore thou that thou woldest dyeFor love, whan thou ne feltest maladyeSave foul delyt, which that thou callest love!If that I live, thy name shal be shoveIn English, that thy sleighte shal be knowe!Have at thee, Iasoun! now thyn horn is blowe!But certes, hit is bothe routhe and wo13701375(10),1380That love with false loveres werketh so; 1385For they shul have wel better love and chereThan he that hath aboght his love ful dere, (20)Or had in armes many a blody box.For ever as tendre a capoun et the fox,1366. Tn. P. who; rest who so, or who that.rest repeat gentil. C. has tendere wemen gentil.Tn. Th. farsed; B. forsed; P. filled; T. versyd.1370. A. T. Add. tender;1373. A. C. farced; F.1375. P. A. thy; rest om.1377. Here MS. P. ends. 1386. C. T. A. Th. Add. love and; F. Tn. B. andgretter. 1387. C. A. abought; rest bought. C. T. A. Add. his; rest om.1389. C. et ( = eteth); rest eteth (etith) .K 2132 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Thogh he be fals and hath the foul betrayed,As shal the good-man that ther-for hath payed.Al have he to the capoun skille and right,The false fox wol have his part at night.On Iasoun this ensample is wel y- seneBy Isiphile and Medea the quene.In Tessalye, as Guido telleth us,Ther was a king that highte Pelleus,That had a brother, which that highte Eson;And, whan for age he mighte unnethes gon,He yaf to Pelleus the governingOf al his regne, and made him lord and king.Of which Eson this Iasoun geten was,That, in his tyme, in al that lond, ther nasNat swich a famous knight of gentilesse,Of freedom, and of strengthe and lustinesse.After his fader deeth, he bar him soThat ther nas noon that liste been his fo,But dide him al honour and companye;Of which this Pelleus hath greet envye,Imagining that Iasoun mighte beEnhaunsed so, and put in swich degreeWith love of lordes of his regioun,That from his regne he may be put adoun,And in his wit, a-night, compassed heHow Iasoun mighte best destroyed beWithoute slaunder of his compasment.And at the laste he took avisem*ntTo senden him in-to som fer contreeTher as this Iasoun may destroyed be.This was his wit; al made he to IasounGret chere of love and of affeccioun,For drede lest his lordes hit espyde.So fil hit so, as fame renneth wyde,1391. C. hath; rest om. (badly).13901395(30)14001405(40)14101415(50)14201392. C. T. Add. Al haue he; F. Allethof he haue. 1396. F. Tn. B. and; rest as. C. Guido; T. A. Guydo; Add.Gwydo; F. Tn. Th. B. Ouyde. 1397. F. Tn. B. knyght; rest kyng (see 1.1401); see note. 1405. So C.; rest Of fredom , of strength, and of lustynesse.1409. C. T. Add. hadde. 1418. C. To syndyn; T. Add. To send; Tn. Th.B. That to senden; F. That to selden (! ) .IV. THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE AND MEDEA. 133Ther was swich tyding over-al and swich los,That in an yle that called was Colcos,Beyonde Troye, estward in the see,That ther-in was a ram, that men mighte see,That had a flees of gold, that shoon so brighte,That no-wher was ther swich an-other sighte;But hit was kept alway with a dragoun,And many othere merveils, up and doun,And with two boles, maked al of bras,That spitten fyr, and moche thing ther was.But this was eek the tale, nathelees,That who-so wolde winne thilke flees,He moste bothe, or he hit winne mighte,With the boles and the dragoun fighte;And king Oëtes lord was of that yle.This Pelleus bethoghte upon this wyle;That he his nevew Iasoun wolde enhorteTo sailen to that lond, him to disporte,·And seide, Nevew, if hit mighte beThat swich a worship mighte fallen thee,That thou this famous tresor mightest winne,And bringen hit my regioun with- inne,Hit were to me gret plesaunce and honour;1425(60)14301435(70)14401445Than were I holde to quyte thy labour. (80)And al the cost I wol my-selven make;And chees what folk that thou wilt with thee take;Lat see now, darstow taken this viage? 'Iasoun was yong, and lusty of corage,1450And under-took to doon this ilke empryse.Anoon Argus his shippes gan devyse;With Iasoun wente the stronge Ercules,And many an-other that he with him chees.But who-so axeth who is with him gon,Lat him go reden Argonauticon,1427. F. Tn. Th. B. ther; rest therin. C. may se.F. muche; C. meche othir.C. T. A. Add. a; rest om .1455(90)1433. T. Th. moche;1438. C. Oetes; rest Otes ( Otys). 1443.1444. T. A. C. mightest; rest myghte. 1445C. T. bryngyn; rest brynge (bring). 1448. C. T. A. Add. cost; rest costes.1449. C. om. And.C. A. that; rest om.A. ches; F. Tn. T. B. chese; Th. chose; C. Schis (!) .1452. C. T. Add. om. ilke. 1457. T. A. Add. go;rest om. C. ryde; rest rede; better reden.134 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.For he wol telle a tale long y-now.Philotetes anoon the sail up-drow,Whan that the wind was good, and gan him hye 1460Out of his contree called Tessalye.So long he sailed in the salte seeTil in the yle Lemnoun aryved heAl be this nat rehersed of Guido,Yet seith Ovyde in his Epistles soAnd of this yle lady was and queneThe faire yonge Isiphilee, the shene,That whylom Thoas doghter was, the king.Isiphilee was goon in her playing;And, roming on the clyves by the see,Under a banke anoon espyed sheWher that the ship of Iasoun gan aryve.Of her goodnesse adoun she sendeth blyveTo witen yif that any straunge wightWith tempest thider were y-blowe a-night,To doon him socour; as was her usaunceTo forthren every wight, and doon plesaunceOf veray bountee and of curtesye.This messagere adoun him gan to hye,And fond Iasoun, and Ercules also,That in a cogge to londe were y-goHem to refresshen and to take the eyr.The morwening atempre was and fair;And in his wey the messagere hem mette.Ful cunningly thise lordes two he grette,And dide his message, axing hem anoonYif they were broken, or oght wo begoon,Or hadde nede of lodesmen or vitaile;For of socour they shulde no-thing faile,1465(100)14701475(110)14801485(120)1460. C. T. Add. that; rest om.Th. Lemnon; A. Lennoun; C. lenoun (for lēnoun =lemnoun); F. Tn. B. leonoun; T. Add. lenon ( = lemnon) . 1471. F. brake (! ); A. bonk; rest banke. 1472. So C. T. A. Add.; F. Tn. Th. B. Wher lay the shippe, thatIasoun (no sense). 1476. C. F. B. hem; rest him.1463. All insert of after yle (needlessly).1483. F. atempree.1481. C. A. cog;1486. C. T. A. Add.1489. C. T. A. Add. of;T. Add. boote; rest cogge.axinge; rest askynge. 1487. F. B. om. oght.rest om.V. THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE AND MEDEA. 135For hit was utterly the quenes wille.Iasoun answerde, mekely and stille,' My lady,' quod he, ' thanke I hertelyOf hir goodnesse; us nedeth, trewely,No-thing as now, but that we wery be,And come for to pleye, out of the see,Til that the wind be better in our weye.'This lady rometh by the clif to pleye,With her meynee, endelong the stronde,And fynt this Iasoun and this other stonde,In spekinge of this thing, as I yow tolde.This Ercules and Iasoun gan beholdeHow that the quene hit was, and faire her gretteAnon-right as they with this lady mette;14901495(130)1500And she took heed, and knew, by hir manere,By hir aray, by wordes and by chere, 1505That hit were gentil-men, of greet degree.And to the castel with her ledeth she (140)Thise straunge folk, and doth hem greet honour,And axeth hem of travail and labourThat they han suffred in the salte see; 1510So that, within a day, or two, or three,She knew, by folk that in his shippes be,That hit was Iasoun, ful of renomee,And Ercules, that had the grete los,That soghten the aventures of Colcos;And dide hem honour more then before,And with hem deled ever lenger the more,For they ben worthy folk, with-outen lees.And namely, most she spak with Ercules;To him her herte bar, he sholde beSad, wys, and trewe, of wordes avisee,With-outen any other affecciounOf love, or evil imaginacioun.1515(150)15201490. F. Tn. B. omit this line. 1498. C. endelong ( as in Kn. Tale);F. endlonge. 1499. C. F. Add. these other; rest this other. 1506. F. hit;C. Tn. Th. B. it; T. A. Add. they.1519. F. (only) she spake moste; Add.rest any othir (caught from 1. 1522 ).1512. F. Tn. Th. B. by the (for by).om. most. 1523. C. euyl; A. euill;136 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.This Ercules hath so this Iasoun preysed,That to the sonne he hath him up areysed,That half so trewe a man ther nas of love1525Under the cope of heven that is above;And he was wys, hardy, secree, and riche.—(160)Of thise three pointes ther nas noon him liche;Of freedom passed he, and lustihede, 1530Alle tho that liven or ben dede;Ther-to so greet a gentil-man was he,And of Tessalie lykly king to be.

-

Ther nas no lak, but that he was agastTo love, and for to speke shamefast.He hadde lever him-self to mordre, and dyeThan that men shulde a lover him espye: -'As wolde almighty god that I had yiveMy blood and flesh, so that I mighte live,With the nones that he hadde o-wher a wyfFor his estat; for swich a lusty lyfShe sholde lede with this lusty knight!'And al this was compassed on the nightBetwixe him Iasoun and this Ercules.Of thise two heer was mad a shrewed leesTo come to hous upon an innocent;For to be-dote this queen was hir assent.And Iasoun is as coy as is a maide,He loketh pitously, but noght he saide,But frely yaf he to her conseileresYiftes grete, and to her officeres.As wolde god I leiser hadde, and tyme,By proces al his wowing for to ryme.But in this hous if any fals lover be,Right as him-self now doth, right so dide he,1535(170)15401545(180)155015551524. C. T. A. Add. so; rest om. 1525. C. T. A. Add. him; rest hyt (it).C. areysid; rest reysed. 1526. C. om . half. 1527. C. cape; rest cope.1538. A. almychti; rest om.1545. T. made; rest omit;1536. F. A. B. Add. He; rest Him (badly).1540. C. With nonys; read With th' nones.but sense and metre require it. 1547. C. T. Add. assent; B. intente (whichwill not rime); rest entent (but Chaucer uses entente). 1548. F. Thise; B.As; rest And. 1550. F. B. om. he.wolde god. C. T. Add. I; rest that I.1552. F. B. god wolde; restIV. THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE AND MEDEA. 137With feyning and with every sotil dede.Ye gete no more of me, but ye wil redeThoriginal, that telleth al the cas.The somme is this, that Iasoun wedded wasUnto this quene, and took of her substaunceWhat-so him liste, unto his purveyaunce;And upon her begat he children two,And drow his sail, and saw her never-mo.A lettre sente she to him certein,Which were to long to wryten and to sein,And him repreveth of his grete untrouthe,And preyeth him on her to have som routhe.And of his children two, she seide him this,That they be lyke, of alle thing, y-wis,To Iasoun, save they coude nat begyle;And preyed god, or hit were longe whyle,That she, that had his herte y-raft her fro,Moste finden him to her untrewe al- so,And that she moste bothe her children spille,And alle tho that suffreth him his wille.And trew to Iasoun was she al her lyf,And ever kepte her chast, as for his wyf;Ne never had she Ioye at her herte,But dyed, for his love, of sorwes smerte.(190)15601565(200)15701575(210)PART II. THE LEGEND OF MEDEA.To Colcos comen is this duk Iasoun,That is of love devourer and dragoun.As matere appetyteth forme al- wey,1580And from forme in-to forme hit passen may,1585(220)Or as a welle that were botomlees,Right so can fals Iasoun have no pees.For, to desyren, through his appetyt,To doon with gentil wommen his delyt,1559. C. T. somme; A. text; rest sothe (soth) .om 1569. F. B. (only) om. they. . to.1564. F. Tn. Th. B.1573. C. Th. Muste; F. Tn.B. Most; T. A. Myght. 1578. F. And; rest Ne. 1582. F. nature;C. matier; Tn. Th. B. matire; T. A. matyr. C. apetitith; T.rest appeteth (!) . 1583. F. Tn. Th. B. tothis false; rest om. this. F. Th. B. om. fals.(for in- to).Add. appetyteth;1585. A. (only)(Accent Right. )138 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.This is his lust and his felicitee.Iasoun is romed forth to the citee,That whylom cleped was Iaconitos,That was the maister-toun of al Colcos,And hath y-told the cause of his comingUn-to Oëtes, of that contre king,Preying him that he moste doon his assayTo gete the flees of gold, if that he may;Of which the king assenteth to his bone,And doth him honour, as hit is to done,So ferforth, that his doghter and his eyr,Medea, which that was so wys and fairThat fairer saw ther never man with yë,He made her doon to Iasoun companyeAt mete, and sitte by him in the halle.Now was Iasoun a semely man with-alle,And lyk a lord, and had a greet renoun,And of his loke as real as leoun,And goodly of his speche, and famulere,And coude of love al craft and art plenereWith-oute boke, with everich observaunce.And, as fortune her oghte a foul meschaunce,She wex enamoured upon this man.'Iasoun, ' quod she, ' for ought I see or can,As of this thing the which ye been aboute,Ye han your-self y-put in moche doute.For, who-so wol this aventure acheve,He may nat wel asterten, as I leve,With- outen deeth, but I his helpe be.But natheles, hit is my wille,' quod she,' To forthren yow, so that ye shal nat dye,But turnen, sound, hoom to your Tessalye.'' My righte lady,' quod this Iasoun tho,'That ye han of my dethe or of my woAny reward, and doon me this honour,I wot wel that my might ne my labour15901595(230)16001605(240)16101615(250)16201590. C. T. Iaconitos; A. Iacomitos; F. Tn. Th. B. Iasonicos; (LatinIaconites). 1593. F. Vnto tho (! ) . C. Oetes; Add. Cetes; T. Cytees (! ); rest Otes. 1599. F. Tn. B. Add. and so feyre. 1605. C. T. Th. B. Add. as aleoun (lyoun). 1613. C. han; T. A. Add. haue; rest and (! ) .IV. THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE AND MEDEA. 139May nat deserve hit in my lyves day;God thanke yow, ther I ne can ne may.Your man am I, and lowly you beseche,To been my help, with-oute more speche;But certes, for my deeth shal I nat spare. 'Tho gan this Medea to him declareThe peril of this cas, fro point to point,And of his batail, and in what disiointHe mote stande, of which no creature,Save only she, ne mighte his lyf assure.And shortly, to the point right for to go,They been accorded ful, betwix hem two,That Iasoun shal her wedde, as trewe knight;And term y-set, to come sone at nightUnto her chambre, and make ther his ooth,Upon the goddes, that he, for leef ne looth,Ne sholde her never falsen, night ne day,To been her husbond, whyl he liven may,As she that from his deeth him saved here.And her-upon, at night they mette y-fere,And doth his ooth, and goth with her to bedde.And on the morwe, upward he him spedde;For she hath taught him how he shal nat faileThe flees to winne, and stinten his bataile;And saved him his lyf and his honour;And gat him greet name as a conquerour1625(260)16301635(270)16401645(280)Right through the sleight of her enchantement. 1650Now hath Iasoun the flees, and hoom is wentWith Medea, and tresor ful gret woon.But unwist of her fader is she goonTo Tessaly, with duk Iasoun her leef,That afterward hath broght her to mescheef. 16551626. T. A. Th. lowly; F. louly; B. loulye; C. louely; Tn. lowe. 1631.C. T. A. Add. And; rest om. F. Tn. om. in. 1634. C. T. A. Add. to thepoint right; rest ryght to the poynt. 1642. C. T. sauyth; rest saued. F. B.there; rest here. 1643. F. Tn. B. omit; C. has And here vp a nyght, &c.1649. C. T. gat; A. gatt; Add. Th. gate; rest gete. F. B. (only) om. him.T. gret; Add. grete; A. om.; rest a. C. ryth as; T. A. ryght as; Add.lyke as; rest as. 1652. F. Tn. Th. B. tresoures; C. tresor; T. A. Add.tresour.140 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.For as a traitour he is from her go,And with her lafte his yonge children two,And falsly hath betrayed her, allas!And ever in love a cheef traitour he was;And wedded yit the thridde wyf anon,That was the doghter of the king Creon.This is the meed of loving and guerdonThat Medea received of IasounRight for her trouthe and for her kindenesse,That loved him better than her-self, I gesse,And lafte her fader and her heritage.And of Iasoun this is the vassalage,That, in his dayes, nas ther noon y-foundeSo fals a lover going on the grounde.And therfor in her lettre thus she seyde(290)16601665(300)1670First, whan she of his falsnesse him umbreyde,'Why lyked me thy yelow heer to seeMore then the boundes of myn honestee,Why lyked me thy youthe and thy fairnesse,And of thy tonge the infinit graciousnesse?O, haddest thou in thy conquest deed y-be,Ful mikel untrouthe had ther dyed with thee! 'Wel can Ovyde her lettre in vers endyte,Which were as now to long for me to wryte.Explicit Legenda Ysiphile et Medee, Martirum.1675(310)V. THE LEGEND OF LUCRETIA.Incipit Legenda Lucrecie Rome, martiris.Now moot I seyn the exiling of kingesOf Rome, for hir horrible doinges,And of the laste king Tarquinius,As saith Ovyde and Titus Livius.1657. T. A. his; C. hire; rest om.C. A. the; rest om.rest neuer.1659. C. thef and (for cheef).16801661 .1667. F. (only) om. the. 1668. C. T. A. Add. ther;1671. C. Fyrst of his falsenesse whan she hym vpbreyde.1681. F. B. dedes; rest doinges. 1682. Addit. ( 12524) And; rest om.V. THE LEGEND OF LUCRETIA. 141But for that cause telle I nat this storie,But for to preise and drawen to memorieThe verray wyf, the verray trewe Lucresse,That, for her wyfhood and her stedfastnesse,Nat only that thise payens her comende,But he, that cleped is in our legendeThe grete Austin, hath greet compassiounOf this Lucresse, that starf at Rome toun;And in what wyse, I wol but shortly trete,And of this thing I touche but the grete.Whan Ardea beseged was abouteWith Romains, that ful sterne were and stoute,Ful longe lay the sege, and litel wroghte,So that they were half ydel, as hem thoghte;And in his pley Tarquinius the yongeGan for to iape, for he was light of tonge,And seyde, that ' it was an ydel lyf;No man did ther no more than his wyf;And lat us speke of wyves, that is best;Praise every man his owne, as him lest,And with our speche lat us ese our herte.'A knight, that highte Colatyne, up sterte,And seyde thus, ' nay, for hit is no nedeTo trowen on the word, but on the dede.I have a wyf,' quod he, ' that, as I trowe,Is holden good of alle that ever her knowe;Go we to-night to Rome, and we shul see.'Tarquinius answerde, ' that lyketh me.'To Rome be they come, and faste hem dighteTo Colatynes hous, and doun they lighte,1685(10)16901695(20)17001705(30)1710Tarquinius, and eek this Colatyne.The husbond knew the estres wel and fyne, 17151685. F. B. to ( for and); rest and. 1686. C. trewe; rest om. 1689.F. Tn. Th. B. om . he. 1693. F. omits this line; I give the spelling asin MS. T., changing thyng into thing.wroughten, thoughten; but thoughten isthought. 1701. C. no; rest om.hyght (perhaps read hatte) .to nyght.Th. efters (!!).1696, 1697. C. F. Tn. Th. B.bad grammar; T. A. Add. wrought,1705. C. highte; Tn. hat; rest1710. So C. T. Add.; rest to Rome1715. B. estres; C. A. estris; F. Tn. esters; T. estes (!);142 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And prively into the hous they goon;Nor at the gate porter was ther noon;And at the chambre-dore they abyde.This noble wyf sat by her beddes sydeDischevele, for no malice she ne thoghte;And softe wolle our book seith that she wroghteTo kepen her fro slouthe and ydelnesse;And bad her servants doon hir businesse,And axeth hem, ' what tydings heren ye?How seith men of the sege, how shal hit be?God wolde the walles weren falle adoun;Myn husbond is so longe out of this toun,For which the dreed doth me so sore smerte,Right as a swerd hit stingeth to myn herte.Whan I think on the sege or of that place;God save my lord, I preye him for his grace: '-And ther-with-al ful tenderly she weep,And of her werk she took no more keep,But mekely she leet her eyen falle;And thilke semblant sat her wel with-alle.And eek her teres, ful of honestee,Embelisshed her wyfly chastitee;Her countenaunce is to her herte digne,For they acordeden in dede and signe.And with that word her husbond Colatyn,Or she of him was war, com sterting in,And seide, ' dreed thee noght, for I am here! 'And she anoon up roos, with blisful chere,And kiste him, as of wyves is the wone.Tarquinius, this proude kinges sone,(40)17201725(50)17301735(60)174017451718. C. they gan1721. T. Add. oure boke1716. All but T. Add. needlessly insert ful after And.abyde. 1720. C. Discheuele; F. Disshevely.seyth; C. seyth (om. our book); Th. saith Liui; rest seyth our boke. 1725.C. seith; F. sayne. 1727. C. Th. so; rest to. 1728. C. sore; restto (badly). 1729, 1730. C. has-That with a swerd me thynkyth that to mynherte It styngith me whan I thynke on that place. 1730. T. A. Add. thesege; F. Tn. B. these (for the sege); Th. this. 1731. F. my; rest his (beforegrace). 1736. F. the ( for her) . A. T. honestee; C. oneste; B. heuyte (! );F. hevytee (! ); Tn. Th. heuynesse. 1737. C. Emblemyschid (!) . Th.chastnesse. C. puts 11. 1738-9 after 1. 1743. 1744. C. kiste; rest kissed.V. THE LEGEND OF LUCRETIA. 143Conceived hath her beautee and her chere,Her yelow heer, her shap, and her manere,Her hew, her wordes that she hath compleyned,And by no crafte her beautee nas nat feyned;And caughte to this lady swich desyr,That in his herte brende as any fyrSo woodly, that his wit was al forgeten.For wel, thoghte he, she sholde nat be geten;And ay the more that he was in dispair,The more he coveteth and thoghte her fair.His blinde lust was al his covetinge.A-morwe, whan the brid began to singe,Unto the sege he comth ful privily,And by himself he walketh sobrely,Thimage of her recording alwey newe;' Thus lay her heer, and thus fresh was her hewe;Thus sat, thus spak, thus span; this was her chere,Thus fair she was, and this was her manere.'Al this conceit his herte hath now y-take.And, as the see, with tempest al to- shake,That, after whan the storm is al ago,Yet wol the water quappe a day or two,Right so, thogh that her forme wer absent,The plesaunce of her forme was present;But natheles, nat plesaunce, but delyt,Or an unrightful talent with despyt;' For, maugre her, she shal my lemman be;Hap helpeth hardy man alday,' quod he;'What ende that I make, hit shal be so; 'And girt him with his swerde, and gan to go;And forth he rit til he to Rome is come,And al aloon his wey than hath he nome1747. C. T. A. Add. shap; rest bounte.C. brende; B. brente; F. Tn. brent.rest was.B. On; rest A.rest Thus.(for That).(70)17501755(80)17601765 99(90)177017751749. C. nas; rest was. 1751.1752. C. is al; Th. A. was al;1757. F. Tn. Th.1763. F. T. This;1766. C. Yit1773. C. T. A. alday; rest alway.1754. C. T. A. Add. that; rest om.1760. C. Thymage; rest The ymage.1764. C. A. now; rest newe (new) .1770. C. om. But.1776. C. forth he rit; A. Addit. ( 12524) forth he ride; F. Tn. Th. he forthright (!).144 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Unto the house of Colatyn ful right.Doun was the sonne, and day hath lost his light; ( 100)And in he com un-to a privy halke,And in the night ful theefly gan he stalke,Whan every night was to his reste broght,Ne no wight had of tresoun swich a thoght.Were hit by window or by other gin,With swerde y-drawe, shortly he comth inTher as she lay, this noble wyf Lucresse.And, as she wook, her bed she felte presse.17801785'What beste is that, ' quod she, ' that weyeth thus?'' I am the kinges sone, Tarquinius,' (110)Quod he, but and thou crye, or noise make,Or if thou any creature awake,1790By thilke god that formed man on lyve,This swerd through-out thyn herte shal I ryve.'And ther-withal unto her throte he sterte,And sette the point al sharp upon her herte.No word she spak, she hath no might therto.What shal she sayn? her wit is al ago.Right as a wolf that fynt a lomb aloon,To whom shal she compleyne, or make moon?What shal she fighte with an hardy knight?Wel wot men that a woman hath no might.What! shal she crye, or how shal she asterteThat hath her by the throte, with swerde at herte?She axeth grace, and seith al that she can.'Ne wolt thou nat,' quod he, this cruel man,'As wisly Iupiter my soule save,As I shal in the stable slee thy knave,And leye him in thy bed, and loude crye,That I thee finde in suche avouterye;1795(120)18001805(130)1787. F. felt; C. felte.1795. C. T. 1784. C. T. A. Add. Were hit; rest Whether.1793. C. thour- out; T. thorout; A. throughout; rest om. out.A. Add. point; rest swerd. C. vp- on; T. opon; Tn. Th. on; rest unto.1798. C. T. A. fynt; Add. fyndyth; rest fayneth or feyneth (! ) . C. lomb;Add. lombe; T. A. Th. lambe; rest loue (!) . 1801. C. T. A. Add. that;rest om. 1802. F. Add. sterte; rest asterte (astert) . 1804. C. T. A. Add.seyth; rest seyde. 1805. C. A. Add. he; T. tho; rest om.Th. B. om. As. 1809. C. auouterye; F. avowtrye.1807. F. Tn.V. THE LEGEND OF LUCRETIA. 145And thus thou shalt be deed, and also leseThy name, for thou shalt non other chese.'Thise Romain wyves loveden so hir nameAt thilke tyme, and dredden so the shame,That, what for fere of slaundre and drede of deeth,She loste bothe at-ones wit and breeth,And in a swough she lay and wex so deed,Men mighte smyten of her arm or heed;She feleth no-thing, neither foul ne fair.Tarquinius, that art a kinges eyr,And sholdest, as by linage and by right,Doon as a lord and as a verray knight,Why hastow doon dispyt to chivalrye?Why hastow doon this lady vilanye?Allas! of thee this was a vileins dede!18101815(140)1820But now to purpos; in the story I rede,1825Whan he was goon, al this mischaunce is falle.This lady sente after her frendes alle,Fader, moder, husbond, al y-fere;And al dischevele, with her heres clere,In habit swich as women used thoUnto the burying of her frendes go,She sit in halle with a sorweful sighte.(150)1830Her frendes axen what her aylen mighte,And who was deed? And she sit ay wepinge,A word for shame ne may she forth out-bringe,1835Ne upon hem she dorste nat beholde.But atte laste of Tarquiny she hem tolde,This rewful cas, and al this thing horrible.The wo to tellen hit were impossible,That she and alle her frendes made atones.Al hadde folkes hertes been of stones,(160)18401811. C. T. A. Add . non other; rest not. 1815. C. at onys bothe; rest bothe atones. 1816. C. wex; B. wexe; Tn. wax; T. wexed; A. wox; F. Th.woxe. 1821. F. Tn. Th. B. om. 2nd as. C. worthi (for verray) . 1823. C.T. A. Add. this; rest thy. 1824. C. vileyn; A. T. vileyns; Add. vilons;1825. F. Tn. Th. B. insert the after F. B. Tn. vilenouse; Th. villaynous.to. 1829. F. Tn. Th. B. om. al. C. herys; A. heeres; F. heer; Tn. T.Th. B. here (heare, heere) . C. has lost 11. 1836-1907. 1840. Add. made; T. maden; A. maid; rest make.

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146 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Hit mighte have maked hem upon her rewe,Her herte was so wyfly and so trewe.She seide, that, for her gilt ne for her blame,Her husbond sholde nat have the foule name,That wolde she nat suffre, by no wey.And they answerden alle, upon hir fey,That they foryeve hit her, for hit was right;Hit was no gilt, hit lay nat in her might;And seiden her ensamples many oon.But al for noght; for thus she seide anoon,' Be as be may,' quod she, ' of forgiving,I wol nat have no forgift for no-thing.'But prively she caughte forth a knyf,And therwith-al she rafte her- self her lyf;And as she fel adoun, she caste her look,And of her clothes yit she hede took;For in her falling yit she hadde careLest that her feet or swiche thing lay bare;So wel she loved clennesse and eek trouthe.Of her had al the toun of Rome routhe,And Brutus by her chaste blode hath sworeThat Tarquin sholde y-banisht be ther- fore,And al his kin; and let the peple calle,1845(170)18501855(180)1860And openly the tale he tolde hem alle, 1865And openly let carie her on a bereThrough al the toun, that men may see and hereThe horrible deed of her oppressioun.Ne never was ther king in Rome tounSin thilke day; and she was holden there(190)1870A seint, and ever her day y-halwed dereAs in hir lawe: and thus endeth Lucresse,The noble wyf, as Titus bereth witnesse.I tell hit, for she was of love so trewe,Ne in her wille she chaunged for no newe.And for the stable herte, sad and kinde,That in these women men may alday finde;18751846. So all but F. Tn. B.; F. B. That nolde she suffre; Tn. That wolde she suffren nat. 1847. T. opon; A. vpon; rest vnto (badly). 1857. T. A. Add .she hede; rest hede she. 1862. So T. A. Add.; rest hath by hir chaste blood.1873. T. A. Add. as; rest om. 1876. T. A. Add. for the; rest in her.VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE. 147Ther as they caste hir herte, ther hit dwelleth.For wel I wot, that Crist him- selve telleth,That in Israel, as wyd as is the lond,That so gret feith in al the lond he ne fondAs in a woman; and this is no lye.(200)1880And as of men, loketh which tirannyeThey doon alday; assay hem who so liste,The trewest is ful brotel for to triste. 1885Explicit Legenda Lucrecie Rome, Martiris.VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE.Incipit Legenda Adriane de Athenes.IUGE infernal, Minos, of Crete king,Now cometh thy lot, now comestow on the ring;Nat for thy sake only wryte I this storie,But for to clepe agein unto memorieOf Theseus the grete untrouthe of love;For which the goddes of the heven aboveBen wrothe, and wreche han take for thy sinne.Be reed for shame! now I thy lyf beginne.Minos, that was the mighty king of Crete,That hadde an hundred citees stronge and grete,To scole hath sent his sone Androgeus,To Athenes; of the whiche hit happed thus,That he was slayn , lerning philosophye,Right in that citee, nat but for envye.The grete Minos, of the whiche I speke,His sones deeth is comen for to wreke;1879. All him- self or him- selfe.18901895(11)19001882. F. Add. om . and. 1883. F.women; rest men. C. has lost 11. 1836-1907. 1886. F. B. Tn. Grece;rest Crete; see 1. 1894. 1888. F. B. oonly for thy sake; rest for thy sakeonly. F. Tn. Th. B. writen is; T. A. Add. wryte I. 1890. F. vntrewe; restvntrouthe (vntrouth) . 1891. T. A. Add. the; rest om. (after of).T. A. Th. had; B. wanne; F. whan (! ); Tn. om.hapned; Add. appynyd; rest happed.1895.1897. F. happeth; A.L 2148 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Alcathoe he bisegeth harde and longe.But natheles the walles be so stronge,And Nisus, that was king of that citee,So chivalrous, that litel dredeth he;Of Minos or his ost took he no cure,Til on a day befel an aventure,That Nisus doghter stood upon the wal,And of the sege saw the maner al.So happed hit, that, at a scarmishing,She caste her herte upon Minos the king,For his beautee and for his chivalrye,So sore, that she wende for to dye.And, shortly of this proces for to pace,She made Minos winnen thilke place,So that the citee was al at his wille,To saven whom him list, or elles spille;But wikkedly he quitte her kindenesse,And let her drenche in sorowe and distresse,Nere that the goddes hadde of her pite;But that tale were to long as now for me.Athenes wan this king Minos also,And Alcathoe and other tounes mo;And this theffect, that Minos hath so drivenHem of Athenes, that they mote him yivenFro yere to yere her owne children dereFor to be slayn, as ye shul after here.This Minos hath a monstre, a wikked beste,That was so cruel that, without areste,Whan that a man was broght in his presence,He wolde him ete, ther helpeth no defence.And every thridde yeer, with-outen doute,They casten lot, and, as hit com aboute1905(21)19101915(31)19201925(41 )19301911. C.1923.1902. Th. Alcathoe (rightly); A. Alcitoe; Tn. Alcie; T. All the cyte; F. B. And the citee. 1910. F. B. hyt happed; rest happed hit.caughte. 1912. C. T. A. Add. for; rest om. C. om. 1922, 1923.Th. As Alcathoe; A. As Alcitoe; F. B. And Alcites; T. With all the cyte;see 1. 1902. 1924. C. But (for And) . 1925. F. B. Tn. B. om. that. 1927.C. T. righ[t] as ye shal here; A. rycht thus as ye schall here.A. Add. in; rest in-to. 1932. C. om . yeer. 1933. C. T. A. Add. and;rest om. C. fil (for com).1930. C. T.VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE. 149On riche, on pore, he moste his sone take,And of his child he moste present makeUnto Minos, to save him or to spille,Or lete his beste devoure him at his wille.And this hath Minos don, right in despyt;To wreke his sone was set al his delyt,And maken hem of Athenes his thral1935(51)1940Fro yere to yere, whyl that he liven shal;And hoom he saileth whan this toun is wonne.This wikked custom is so longe y-ronneTil that of Athenes king EgeusMot sende his owne sone, Theseus,Sith that the lot is fallen him upon,To be devoured, for grace is ther non.And forth is lad this woful yonge knightUnto the court of king Minos ful right,And in a prison, fetered, cast is heTil thilke tyme he sholde y-freten be.Wel maystow wepe, O woful Theseus,That art a kinges sone, and dampned thus.Me thinketh this, that thou were depe y- holdeTo whom that saved thee fro cares colde!And now, if any woman helpe thee,Wel oughtestow her servant for to be,And been her trewe lover yeer by yere!But now to come ageyn to my matere.The tour, ther as this Theseus is throweDoun in the botom derke and wonder lowe,Was ioyning in the walle to a foreyne;And hit was longing to the doghtren tweyne1945(61)19501955(71)19601934. C. or; Th. Add. and; rest on.Theseus (for Minos).F. B. To; rest And.Add. that; rest om.1948. C. gon (for lad) .1936. T. Add. Vn-to; rest To. C.1938. C. T. A. Th. Add. right; rest om. 1940.1941. C. T. A. that; rest om. 1944. C. T.1945. Tn. Mot; C. T. Th. Mote; rest Moste (Must).C. T. A. Add. right; rest of might.1949. C. T. A. Add. court; rest contree.1951. A. thilke; C. the ilke; rest the.1954. C. T. A. Add. were depe; F. B. depe were; Tn. depe; Th. arte depe.1955. C. hym; T. theym; rest whom.rest om.1960. C. A. as; T. Add. that;1962. C. T. A. Add. in; rest to. C. Tn. T. A. Add to;F. B. Th. of.150THE LEGENDOF GOODWOMEN.Of king Minos, that in hir chambres greteDwelten above, toward the maister-strete,In mochel mirthe, in Ioye and in solas.Not I nat how, hit happed ther, per cas,As Theseus compleyned him by nighte,The kinges doghter, Adrian that highte,And eek her suster Phedra, herden alHis compleyning, as they stode on the walAnd lokeden upon the brighte mone;Hem leste nat to go to bedde sone.And of his wo they had compassioun;A kinges sone to ben in swich prisounAnd be devoured, thoughte hem gret pitee.Than Adrian spak to her suster free,And seyde, Phedra, leve suster dere,This woful lordes sone may ye nat here,How pitously compleyneth he his kin,And eek his pore estat that he is in,And gilteless? now certes, hit is routhe!And if ye wol assenten, by my trouthe,He shal be holpen, how so that we do!'Phedra answerde, ' y-wis, me is as woFor him as ever I was for any man;And, to his help, the beste reed I canIs that we doon the gayler prively1965(81)19701975(91)19801985(101)To come, and speke with us hastily,And doon this woful man with him to come.For if he may this monstre overcome,Than were he quit; ther is noon other bote.Lat us wel taste him at his herte- rote,19901964. A. king; rest om. C. Of Thesius that, &c. 1965. C. T. A. Add.toward; rest om. 1966. T. In mochell myrthe; Add. In moche myrth; Th.Ofthe towne; rest Of Athenes (! ); see note. 1967. C. Tn. Th. Not; F. A.B. Wot. T. But I not how. A. happinit; rest happed. Add. ther; T. there;rest om. 1969. F. Tn. B. Add. that Adriane ( badly); Th. that Ariadne.1971. C. T. A. Add. compleynyge; rest compleynt. 1972. C. T. lokedyn;rest loked. 1973. F. B. ( only) om. 1st to. C. A. sone; rest so sone.1982. C. now certeyn; T. A. now certes; rest1991. F. B. the;1980. F. Tn. B. om . he.certes now.rest this.1987. F. A. B. insert that before I.VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE. 151That, if so be that he a wepen have,Wher that he dar, his lyf to kepe and save,Fighten with this fend, and him defende.For, in the prison, ther he shal descende,Ye wite wel, that the beste is in a placeThat nis nat derk, and hath roum eek and spaceTo welde an ax or swerd or staf or knyf,So that, me thinketh, he sholde save his lyf;If that he be a man, he shal do so.And we shul make him balles eek alsoOf wexe and towe, that, whan he gapeth faste,Into the bestes throte he shal hem casteTo slake his hunger and encombre his teeth;And right anon, whan that Theseus seethThe beste achoked, he shal on him lepeTo sleen him, or they comen more to-hepe.This wepen shal the gayler, or that tyde,Ful privily within the prison hyde;And, for the hous is crinkled to and fro,And hath so queinte weyes for to goFor hit is shapen as the mase is wroghtTherto have I a remedie in my thoght,That, by a clewe of twyne, as he hath goon,The same wey he may returne anoon,Folwing alwey the threed, as he hath come.And, whan that he this beste hath overcome,Then may he fleen awey out of this drede,1995(111)20002005(121)20102015(131)20201995. So C.; F. B. that hys lyf he dar kepe or; Tn. Th. that he his lif darkepe or; T. that he dar his lyfe kepe and. 1997. F. Tn. B. Th. ther as;C. T. A. om. as. 1998. F. Tn. B. omit this line. So C. Th. A. Wel wote3e, &c. T. The best, ye wot well that he ys, &c. 1999. Addit. (12524)rome eke and space; C. bothe roum and space; rest roume (roum) and ekespace. 2003. F. Tn. B. om. him.that; Th. T. whan that; F. Tn. A. B. whan.Th. acheked (! ); F. Tn. asleked; B. aslakyd.they) . F. to helpe (! ); rest to hepe.2015. T. (only) om. a.2007. C. what (errorfor whan)2008. T. A. C. achoked;2009. F. (only) the (for2012. Tn. crenkled; Th. crencled;B. cruklyd.2016. F. B. clywe. 2019.So C. A.; so Addit. ( 12625) , with monstre for beste; F. Tn. Th. B. Andwhan this best ys ouercome (! ); T. And when that he thus hath ouercome (!). 2020. C. T. A. drede; rest stede; (drede gives the betterrime).152 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And eek the gayler may he with him lede,And him avaunce at hoom in his contree,Sin that so greet a lordes sone is he.This is my reed, if that he dar hit take.'What sholde I lenger sermoun of hit make?The gayler cometh, and with him Theseus.And whan thise thinges been acorded thus,Adoun sit Theseus upon his knee:-"The righte lady of my lyf,' quod he,' I, sorweful man, y-dampned to the deeth,Fro yow, whyl that me lasteth lyf or breeth,I wol nat twinne, after this aventure,But in your servise thus I wol endure,2025(141 )2030That, as a wrecche unknowe, I wol yow serveFor ever-mo, til that myn herte sterve.Forsake I wol at hoom myn heritage,And, as I seide, ben of your court a page,If that ye vouche- sauf that, in this place,Ye graunte me to han so gret a grace2035(151)That I may han nat but my mete and drinke;And for my sustenance yit wol I swinke,Right as yow list, that Minos ne no wightSin that he saw me never with eyen sight—Ne no man elles, shal me conne espye;2040So slyly and so wel I shal me gye, 2045And me so wel disfigure and so lowe,That in this world ther shal no man me knowe,(161)To han my lyf, and for to han presenceOf yow, that doon to me this excellence.And to my fader shal I senden hereThis worthy man, that is now your gaylere,And, him to guerdon, that he shal wel beOon of the grettest men of my contree.2025. T. A. Th. sermoun; C. sarmoun; rest om.2028. C. T. A. Adoun; rest Doun.F. Tn. Th. B. om. lyf or. 2032. F. Tn. B. wolde; rest wil (wol) .20502039. C. A. so gret a;2046. F. B. so me; T. so; rest me so.2051. C. now; rest om.2027. C. And; rest om.2031. C. T. A. whil; rest whiles.2035.T. so gret; rest2048. C. A. for;2052. C. F. to; Tn. T. Th. B. so;C. A. -mo; rest -more.suche a.rest om.A. om.VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE. 153And yif I dorste seyn, my lady bright,I am a kinges sone, and eek a knight;As wolde god, yif that hit mighte beYe weren in my contree, alle three,And I with yow, to bere yow companye,Than shulde ye seen yif that I ther- of lye!And, if I profre yow in low manereTo ben your page and serven yow right here,But I yow serve as lowly in that place,I prey to Mars to yive me swiche a graceThat shames deeth on me ther mote falle,And deeth and povert to my frendes alle;And that my spirit by nighte mote goAfter my deeth, and walke to and fro;That I mote of a traitour have a name,For which my spirit go, to do me shame!And yif I ever claime other degree,But-if ye vouche-sauf to yive hit me,As I have seid, of shames deeth I deye!And mercy, lady! I can nat elles seye! 'A seemly knight was Theseus to see,And yong, but of a twenty yeer and three;But who-so hadde y-seyn his countenaunce,He wolde have wept, for routhe of his penaunce;For which this Adriane in this manereAnswerde to his profre and to his chere.2055(171)20602065(181)20702075(191)' A kinges sone, and eek a knight, ' quod she,2080'To been my servant in so low degree,God shilde hit, for the shame of women alle!And leve me never swich a cas befalle!2060. F. Tn. Th. B. insert that after if. 2063. C. A. so (for 2ndto). C.A. a; rest om. 2064. C. T. A. Th. deth; F. B. dede; Tn. deed; see 1. 2072.2065. T. pouert; rest pouerte; cf. Cant. Ta. C 441.rest om. a.2068. A a traytour;2069. A. go; C. T. goth; Th. mote go; F. Tn. B. mot go(for mot-e go); see 1. 2066. [ Go = may go. ]I ever.rest nat elles.2071. C. T. A. if; rest om.2075. C. a; rest om.2070. F. B. ever y; T. C. A. ,2073. F. B. no more; Tn. nat;2074. F. Tn. Th. B. this Theseus; C. T. A. om. this.2080. F. Tn. B. badly have And a. 2083.A. leue; Th. lene; C. F. B. leue or lene; Tn. leen; ( leve is right); see I. 2086.154 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.But sende yow grace and sleighte of herte also,Yow to defende and knightly sleen your fo,And leve herafter that I may yow findeTo me and to my suster here so kinde,That I repente nat to give yow lyf!Yit were hit better that I were your wyf,Sin that ye been as gentil born as I,And have a rëaume, nat but faste by,Then that I suffred giltles yow to sterve,Or that I let yow as a page serve;Hit is not profit, as unto your kinrede;But what is that that man nil do for drede?And to my suster, sin that hit is soThat she mot goon with me, if that I go,Or elles suffre deeth as wel as I,That ye unto your sone as trewelyDoon her be wedded at your hoom-coming.This is the fynal ende of al this thing;Ye swere hit heer, on al that may be sworn.''Ye, lady myn,' quod he, ' or elles tornMote I be with the Minotaur to-morwe!And haveth her-of my herte-blood to borwe,Yif that ye wile; if I had knyf or spere,I wolde hit leten out, and ther-on swere,For than at erst I wot ye wil me leve.By Mars, that is the cheef of my bileve,So that I mighte liven and nat faileTo-morwe for tacheve my bataile,I nolde never fro this place flee,Til that ye shuld the verray preve see.2084. C. T. A. But; rest And.sleen (badly).2085(201)20902095(211)21002105(221)21102085. So C. A. B.; F. Tn. T. Th. to2086. F. leve (sic); A. lyve; C. B. leue (or lene); Th .lene; Tn. leen; T. graunt. C. T. A. that; rest om. 2088. C. T. A., I;rest I ne. 2089. C. T. A. that; rest om. 2090. C. T. A. that; rest om.2092. C. T. giltles2095. C. that;2091. T. reaume; Tn. reame; C. reume; rest realme.30w; A. 30w giltles; F. Tn. Th. B. your gentilesse (!) .rest that that. C. men; T. a man; rest man. C. nyl don; A. nyl do; T.wyll do (! ); F. Tn. Th. B. wol not do. 2100. F. B. to be; rest om. to.2102. A. on; rest vpon. 2107. B. lete; F. C. Tn. T. laten; A. latten; Th.letten. 2109. C. T. A. the; rest om. 2111. C. tacheue; T. A. to acheue;F. Tn. Th. B. to taken (! ) . C. myn; A. T. Th. my; F. Tn. B. by (!). 2113.C. preue (rightly); F. T. prefe; Tn. A. prof; Th. profe; B. trouth.VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE. 155For now, if that the sooth I shal yow say,I have y-loved yow ful many a day,Thogh ye ne wiste hit nat, in my contree.And aldermost desyred yow to seeOf any erthly living creature;Upon my trouthe I swere, and yow assure,Thise seven yeer I have your servant be;Now have I yow, and also have ye me,My dere herte, of Athenes duch*esse!'This lady smyleth at his stedfastnesse,And at his hertly wordes, and his chere,And to her suster seide in this manere,Al softely, ' now, suster myn,' quod she,' Now be we duch*esses, bothe I and ye,And sikered to the regals of Athenes,And bothe her- after lykly to be quenes,And saved fro his deeth a kinges sone,As ever of gentil women is the woneTo save a gentil man, emforth hir might,In honest cause, and namely in his right.Me thinketh no wight oghte her- of us blame,Ne beren us ther-for an evel name.'And shortly of this matere for to make,This Theseus of her hath leve y- take,And every point performed was in dedeAs ye have in this covenant herd me rede.His wepen, his clew, his thing that I have said,Was by the gayler in the hous y-laidTher as this Minotaur hath his dwelling,Right faste by the dore, at his entring.And Theseus is lad unto his deeth,And forth un-to this Minotaur he geeth,And by the teching of this AdrianeHe overcom this beste, and was his bane;And out he cometh by the clewe again2115. C. I-louyd; A. yloued; rest loved.2119. C. ensure.2115(231)21202125(241)21302135(251 )31402145(261)2116. F. Tn. Th. B. om. hit.2124. C. Th. hertely; B. hertilye; rest hertly (hertely is more correct) . F. Tn. Th. B. and at his chere. 2126. C. T. A. Al; restAnd. 2134. C. her-of us; rest us her- of.improvement is obvious.2138. All was performed; the 2139. F. B. the; rest this.156 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Ful prevely, whan he this beste hath slain;And by the gayler geten hath a barge,And of his wyves tresor gan hit charge,And took his wyf, and eek her suster free,And eek the gayler, and with hem alle threeIs stole awey out of the lond by nighte,And to the contre of Ennopye him dighteTher as he had a frend of his knowinge.Ther festen they, ther dauncen they and singe;And in his armes hath this Adriane,21502155(271 )That of the beste hath kept him from his bane;And gat him ther a newe barge anoon,And of his contree-folk a ful gret woon,2160And taketh his leve, and hoomward saileth he.And in an yle, amid the wilde see,Ther as ther dwelte creature noonSave wilde bestes, and that ful many oon,He made his ship a-londe for to sette;2165(281 )And in that yle half a day he lette,And seide, that on the lond he moste him reste.His mariners han doon right as him leste;And, for to tellen shortly in this cas, 2170Whan Adriane his wyf a-slepe was,For that her suster fairer was than she,He taketh her in his hond, and forth goth heTo shippe, and as a traitour stal his wayWhy that this Adriane a-slepe lay,And to his contree-ward he saileth blyveA twenty devil way the wind him dryve!—And fond his fader drenched in the see.Me list no more to speke of him, parde;Thise false lovers, poison be hir bane!But I wol turne again to Adriane2149. F. hath thys beste; rest this beste hath.omitfrom geten to gayler (owing to repetition ofgayler) .T. has getyn he hath; A. Th. gotten hath.he for hit. 2152. So C. T. A. Th.2175(291)21802150-2153. F. Tn. B.2150. So C.;2151. So C. T. Th.; A. has2155. C. Enneрye; F. Tn. B. Eunopye or Ennopye; T. Ennopy; A. Ennopie; Th. Enupye. 2160. C.T. A. newe; rest noble. 2161. F. Tn. B. om . ful. 2164. C. dwellede;B. Th. dwelte; Tn. A. dwelt; F. T. dwelleth. 2168. F. Tn. B. om . that.VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE. 157That is with slepe for werinesse atake.Ful sorwefully her herte may awake.Allas! for thee my herte hath now pite!Right in the dawening awaketh she, 2185And gropeth in the bedde, and fond right noght. ( 301 )'Allas! ' quod she, ' that ever I was wroght!I am betrayed! ' and her heer to-rente,And to the stronde bar-fot faste she wente,And cryed, ' Theseus! myn herte swete!Wher be ye, that I may nat with yow mete,And mighte thus with bestes been y-slain?'The holwe rokkes answerde her again;No man she saw, and yit shyned the mone,And hye upon a rokke she wente sone,And saw his barge sailing in the see.Cold wex her herte, and right thus seide she.' Meker than ye finde I the bestes wilde! 'Hadde he nat sinne, that her thus begylde?She cryed, ' O turne again, for routhe and sinne!Thy barge hath nat al his meiny inne! 'Her kerchef on a pole up stikked she,Ascaunce that he sholde hit wel y- see,And him remembre that she was behinde,21902195(311)2200And turne again, and on the stronde her finde;But al for noght; his wey he is y-goon.2205(321)And doun she fil a-swown upon a stoon;And up she rist, and kiste, in al her care,The steppes of his feet, ther he hath fare,And to her bedde right thus she speketh tho:-'Thou bed,' quod she, that hast receyved two,"22102182. C. atake; rest y-take. 2184. C. now; T. A. gret; rest om.2186. C. T. graspeth; A. grapid; rest gropeth.2193. F. B. omit this line.F. Tn. Th. B. shone.F. Tn. Th. needlessly insert he after that.2202, 2203. T. omits these lines.2188. C. & al hire her.2194. C. shynede; T. shynyd; A. schyneth;2199. C. Hadde; T. A. Had; rest Hath.2201. F. thy (for his) .2203. C. Tn. Th. B. Ascaunce;2206. C. I- gon;2207. C. T. A. upon 2210. C.A. Ascances; F. Aschaunce. C. A. that; rest om.A. ygone; T. agone; rest goon (gone).rest on.om. she.2208. C. kyssith; rest kyssed (but read kiste).158 THE LEGENDOF GOOD WOMEN.Thou shalt answere of two, and nat of oon!Wher is thy gretter part away y-goon?Allas! wher shal I, wrecched wight, become!For, thogh so be that ship or boot heer come,Hoom to my contree dar I nat for drede;I can my-selven in this cas nat rede! 'What shal I telle more her compleining?Hit is so long, hit were an hevy thing.In her epistle Naso telleth al;But shortly to the ende I telle shal.The goddes have her holpen, for pitee;And, in the signe of Taurus, men may seeThe stones of her coroun shyne clere.-I wol no more speke of this matere;But thus this false lover can begyleHis trewe love. The devil quyte him his whyle!Explicit Legenda Adriane de Athenes.2215(331 )22202225(341)VII. THE LEGEND OF PHILOMELA,Incipit Legenda Philomene.Deus dator formarum.THOU yiver of the formes, that hast wroghtThe faire world, and bare hit in thy thoghtEternally, or thou thy werk began, 2230Why madest thou, unto the slaundre of man,2213. C. thyn; T. A. thy; rest the. C. I-gon; A. y-gone; rest goon (gone) .2214. C. wreche. 2215. So T.; A. that any bote her come; C. that boothere ne come (wrongly); Tn. F. B. that bote none here come (wrongly); see note. 2217. C. myn selue; F. my selfe (read my selven); rest my self.2221. C. T. A. I telle; rest telle I. 2226, 2227. A. omits these lines. 2226.C. T. Th. this false louer; F. Tn. B. these false lovers. 2227. C. Tn. T.Th. His; F. Hyr; B. Her; but all have him. Perhaps him quyte wouldgive a smoother line.TITLE. From F. After which, F. has Deus dator formatorum; B. has Deus dator formarum.VII. THE LEGEND OF PHILOMELA. 159Or-al be that hit was not thy doing,As for that fyn to make swiche a thingWhy suffrest thou that Tereus was bore,That is in love so fals and so forswore,That, fro this world up to the firste hevene,Corrumpeth, whan that folk his name nevene?And, as to me, so grisly was his dede,That, whan that I his foule story rede,Myn eyen wexen foule and sore also;Yit last the venim of so longe ago,That hit enfecteth him that wol beholdeThe story of Tereus, of which I tolde.Of Trace was he lord, and kin to Marte,The cruel god that stant with blody darte;And wedded had he, with a blisful chere,King Pandiones faire doghter dere,That highte Progne, flour of her contree,Thogh Iuno list nat at the feste be,Ne Ymeneus, that god of wedding is;But at the feste redy been, y- wis,The furies three, with alle hir mortel brond.The owle al night aboute the balkes wond,That prophet is of wo and of mischaunce.This revel, ful of songe and ful of daunce,Lasteth a fourtenight, or litel lasse.But, shortly of this story for to passe,For I am wery of him for to telle,Five yeer his wyf and he togeder dwelle,Til on a day she gan so sore longeTo seen her suster, that she saw nat longe,That for desyr she niste what to seye.But to her husband gan she for to preye,2235(10)22402245(20)22502255(30)22602233. C. T. A. fyn; rest fende. 2239. C. A. his; F. Tn. B. this. T. that sorrowfull story.lestyth; T. Th. lasteth .2241. F. B. laste (error for last); Tn . A. laft (! ); C.2242. C. T. A. it; rest om. C. wele; T. wyll;Add. ( 12524) woll; rest wolde. 2243. B. Th. Tereus; A. Tireus; C.Therius; T. Thereus; F. Teseus; Tn. Theseus (! ) . [ Ofwhich I tolde = whomImentioned ( 1. 2234) . ] See next line. 2246. C. T. A. a; restom. 2249.C. T. A. lyst; Th. lyste; F. Tn. B. baste (! ) . 2252 , 2253. C. Tn. A. brond,wond; rest bronde, wonde. 2256. A. Lestith; rest Laste (Last) .160 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.For goddes love, that she moste ones goonHer suster for to seen, and come anoon,Or elles, but she moste to her wende,She preyde him, that he wolde after her sende;And this was, day by day, al her prayereWith al humblesse of wyfhood, word, and chere.This Tereus let make his shippes yare,And into Grece him-self is forth y-fareUnto his fader in lawe, and gan him preyeTo vouche-sauf that, for a month or tweye,That Philomene, his wyves suster, mighteOn Progne his wyf but ones have a sighte―' And she shal come to yow again anoon.Myself with her wol bothe come and goon,And as myn hertes lyf I wol her kepe.'2265(40)22702275(50)This olde Pandion, this king, gan wepeFor tendernesse of herte, for to leveHis doghter goon, and for to yive her leve;Of al this world he lovede no-thing so;2280But at the laste leve hath she to go.For Philomene, with salte teres eke,Gan of her fader grace to beseke 2285To seen her suster, that her longeth so;And him embraceth with her armes two.And therwith-al so yong and fair was sheThat, whan that Terëus saw her beautee,And of array that ther was noon her liche,And yit of bountee was she two so riche,He caste his fyry herte upon her soThat he wol have her, how so that hit go,And with his wyles kneled and so preyde,Til at the laste Pandion thus seyde:-'Now, sone,' quod he, ' that art to me so dere,I thee betake my yonge doghter here,2277. All but C. T. badly insert I after her.2286. So F. Tn.2287-92. T. omits.F. B. Tn. for; rest of.(60)22902295(70)2282. T. C. loueth. 2285.Th. B.; C. T. she loueth so;2291. B. bounte; F. boundeA. twys; Th . to; rest two2297.A. sche loued so.(error for bounte); rest beaute (but see 1. 2289) .(twoo); see 736. 2294. C. wilis he so fayre hire preyede.C. T. A. here; rest repeat dere.VII. THE LEGEND OF PHILOMELA. 161That bereth the key of al my hertes lyf.And grete wel my doghter and thy wyf,And yive her leve somtyme for to pleye,That she may seen me ones er I deye.'And soothly, he hath mad him riche feste,And to his folk, the moste and eek the leste,That with him com; and yaf him yiftes grete,And him conveyeth through the maister-streteOf Athenes, and to the see him broghte,And turneth hoom; no malice he ne thoghte.The ores pulleth forth the vessel faste,And into Trace arriveth at the laste,And up into a forest he her ledde,And to a cave privily him spedde;23002305(80)2310And, in this derke cave, yif her leste,Or leste noght, he bad her for to reste;Of whiche her herte agroos, and seyde thus,'Wher is my suster, brother Tereus? 'And therwith-al she wepte tenderly,And quook for fere, pale and pitously,Right as the lamb that of the wolf is biten;Or as the colver, that of the egle is smiten,And is out of his clawes forth escaped,2315(90)2320Yet hit is afered and awhapedLest hit be hent eft-sones, so sat she.But utterly hit may non other be.By force hath he, this traitour, doon that dede,That he hath reft her of her maydenhede,Maugree her heed, by strengthe and by his might.Lo! here a dede of men, and that a right!She cryeth'suster! ' with ful loude stevene,And ' fader dere! ' and ' help me, god in hevene! 'Al helpeth nat; and yet this false theefHath doon this lady yet a more mischeef,2325(100)23302301. C. Tn. T. er; rest or. 2311. F. T. in- to; rest to. 2314. Tn.a-groos; A. agros; Th. agrose; F. agrosse; T. agrysyd; C. aros (!) . 2316.C. Tn. Th. B. wepte; F. wepe; T. wepyd. 2319. F. Tn. Or of; B. Or; restOr as. 2320. F. Tn. B. om. his. 2324. C. he; rest om. 2325. F. Tn. B.om. ofher. 2328. F. B. longe; rest loude.

• • • M

2329. C. A. and; rest om.162 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMENFor fere lest she sholde his shame crye,And doon him openly a vilanye,And with his swerd her tong of kerveth he,And in a castel made her for to beFul privily in prison evermore,And kepte her to his usage and his store,So that she mighte him nevermore asterte.O sely Philomene! wo is thyn herte;God wreke thee, and sende thee thy bone!Now is hit tyme I make an ende sone.This Tereus is to his wyf y-come,And in his armes hath his wyf y-nome,And pitously he weep, and shook his heed,And swor her that he fond her suster deed;For which this sely Progne hath swich wo,That ny her sorweful herte brak a-two;And thus in teres lete I Progne dwelle,And of her suster forth I wol yow telle.This woful lady lerned had in youtheSo that she werken and enbrouden couthe,And weven in her stole the radevoreAs hit of women hath be woned yore.And, shortly for to seyn, she hath her filleOf mete and drink, and clothing at her wille,And coude eek rede, and wel y-nogh endyte,But with a penne coude she nat wryte;But lettres can she weven to and fro,So that, by that the yeer was al a-go,She had y-woven in a stamin large2335(110)23402345(120)23502355(130)23602332. F. B. Tn. ferde; A. fered; rest fere. 2334. A. C. kerveth; T.kutteth; rest kerf (kerfe). 2338. So C. T. A.; Th. she ne might (om. him) .F. Tn. B. omit this line, and have a spurious line after 2339. 2339. C.2352. F. Tn. Th.T. A. is; F. Tn. Th. B. is in. 2345. C. say (for fond). 2346. F. B. the(forthis). 2350. C. T. A. lerned; rest y-lerned.B. om. her. F. Tn. T. Th. B. radeuore (or radenore); C. radyuore (or radynore); A. raduor. 2353. F. wore (error for yore); rest yore.C. T. A. and; rest of.2355.2356. C. A. coude; rest kouthe (couthe, couth) .P. Tn. Th. B. put and after y- nogh 2357. C. A. coude she; T. couthe .she; rest she kouthe ( couth, coulde).F. (only) om. al.2359. All but T. A. om. 2nd that.VII. THE LEGEND OF PHILOMELA. 163How she was broght from Athenes in a barge,And in a cave how that she was broght;And al the thing that Tereus hath wroght,She waf hit wel, and wroot the story above,How she was served for her suster love;And to a knave a ring she yaf anoon,And prayed him, by signes, for to goonUnto the quene, and beren her that clooth,And by signes swor him many an ooth,She sholde him yeve what she geten mighte.This knave anoon unto the quene him dighte,And took hit her, and al the maner tolde.And, whan that Progne hath this thing beholde,No word she spak, for sorwe and eek for rage;But feyned her to goon on pilgrimageTo Bachus temple; and, in a litel stounde,Her dombe suster sitting hath she founde,Weping in the castel her aloon.2365(140)23702375(150)Allas! the wo, the compleint, and the moonThat Progne upon her dombe suster maketh! 2380In armes everich of hem other taketh,And thus I lete hem in hir sorwe dwelle.The remenant is no charge for to telle,For this is al and som, thus was she served,That never harm a-gilte ne deservedUnto this cruel man, that she of wiste.Ye may be war of men, yif that yow liste.For, al be that he wol nat, for his shame,Doon so as Tereus, to lese his name,Ne serve yow as a mordrour or a knave,Ful litel whyle shul ye trewe him have,2385(160)23902369. F. Tn. Th. B.2360. A. C. ywouen; rest wouen (woued). C. T. A. stamyn; rest stames.2364. C. waf; Tn. B. wafe; rest waue (wave) .signe; rest signes. C. swor hym; T. sware she; A. suore; Th. swore; F. B.sworne (!); Tn. sworen (! ) . 2375. C. Th. on; T. A. in; F. Tn. B. a.2378. Tn. her; C. here (for her); A. all hir; F. T. Th. B. hir self. 2379.So A.; so T. (omitting 3rd the); C. Allas the compleynt the wo & the mone;F. Th. Allas the wo constreynt (! ) and the mone.2389. C. so; rest om.2380. So all. 2388.C. his; rest om.2390. B. mordrer; F.morderere; Th. murtherer; C. T. A. morderour; Tn. mordroure.M 2164 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.That wol I seyn, al were he now my brother,But hit so be that he may have non other.Explicit Legenda Philomene.VIII. THE LEGEND OF PHYLLIS.Incipit Legenda Phillis.(166)By preve as wel as by auctoritee,That wikked fruit cometh of a wikked tree, 2395That may ye finde, if that it lyketh yow.But for this ende I speke this as now,To telle you of false Demophon.In love a falser herde I never non,But- if hit were his fader Theseus.' God, for his grace, fro swich oon kepe us!'Thus may thise women prayen that hit here.Now to theffect turne I of my matere.Destroyed is of Troye the citee;2400(10)This Demophon com sailing in the seeToward Athenes, to his paleys large;2405With him com many a ship and many a bargeFul of his folk, of which ful many oonIs wounded sore, and seek, and wo begoon.And they han at the sege longe y-lain.Behinde him com a wind and eek a rainThat shoof so sore, his sail ne mighte stonde,Him were lever than al the world a- londe,So hunteth him the tempest to and fro.So derk hit was, he coude nowher go;And with a wawe brosten was his stere.His ship was rent so lowe, in swich manere,2410(20)24152393. C. T. A. non othir; rest a- nother (!).2402. F. Tn. Th. B. om. may.(readseek); rest seke.C. thasege (good).2400. F. Tn. Th. B. om. if.2408. C. his; rest om. 2409. C. sek2410. A. Th. the sege; F. Tn. B. a sege; T. sege;2412. C. T. A. ne myghte; rest myght not.VIII. THE LEGEND OF PHYLLIS. 165That carpenter ne coude hit nat amende.The see, by nighte, as any torche brendeFor wood, and posseth him now up now doun,Til Neptune hath of him compassioun,And Thetis, Chorus, Triton, and they alle,And maden him upon a lond to falle,Wher- of that Phillis lady was and quene,Ligurgus doghter, fairer on to seneThan is the flour again the brighte sonne.Unnethe is Demophon to londe y- wonne,Wayk and eek wery, and his folk for-pynedOf werinesse, and also enfamyned;And to the deeth he almost was y- driven.His wyse folk to conseil han him yivenTo seken help and socour of the queen,And loken what his grace mighte been,And maken in that lond som chevisaunce,To kepen him fro wo and fro mischaunce.For seek was he, and almost at the deeth;Unnethe mighte he speke or drawe his breeth,And lyth in Rodopeya him for to reste.2420(30)24252430(40)2435Whan he may walke, him thoughte hit was the besteUnto the court to seken for socour.Men knewe him wel, and diden him honour;2440For at Athenes duk and lord was he,As Theseus his fader hadde y- be,That in his tyme was of greet renoun,No man so greet in al his regioun;And lyk his fader of face and of stature,And fals of love; hit com him of nature;(50)24452418. C. A. ne; T. noon; rest om. 2420. A. So wood. C. A. now vpnow doun; T. now vp and doun; rest vp and doun.T. Thora; rest Thorus (see note) . F. Tn. B. om. Triton.vp; rest vp-on.2422. Th. Chorus;2423. F. Th. B.2425. A. B. Ligurgus; C. Tn. T. Ligurges; Th. Lycurgus; F. Bygurgus (error for Lygurgus) .C. almost was (better than was almost in the rest).To; rest And. 2437. C. T. A. his; rest om.2440. C. T. A. court; rest contree.C. T. A. of gret; rest grete of.rest his.2430. C. That (for And).2435. C. T. A.2438. A. om. for.2443. F. Tn 2444.. Th. B. hath .2445. C. of (for in) . C. the; T. A. that;166 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.As doth the fox Renard, the foxes sone,Of kinde he coude his olde faders woneWithoute lore, as can a drake swimme,Whan hit is caught and caried to the brimme.This honourable Phillis doth him chere,Her lyketh wel his port and his manere.But for I am agroted heer-bifornTo wryte of hem that been in love forsworn,And eek to haste me in my legende,Which to performe god me grace sende,Therfor I passe shortly in this wyse;Ye han wel herd of Theseus devyseIn the betraising of fair Adriane,That of her pite kepte him from his bane.At shorte wordes, right so DemophonThe same wey, the same path hath gonThat dide his false fader Theseus.2450(60)24552460(70)For unto Phillis hath he sworen thus, 2465To wedden her, and her his trouthe plighte,And piked of her al the good he mighte,Whan he was hool and sound and hadde his reste;And doth with Phillis what so that him leste.And wel coude I, yif that me leste so,Tellen al his doing to and fro.He seide, unto his contree moste he saile,For ther he wolde her wedding apparaileAs fil to her honour and his also.And openly he took his leve tho,And hath her sworn, he wolde nat soiorne,But in a month he wolde again retorne.And in that lond let make his ordinaunceAs verray lord, and took the obeisaunce2449. C. owene (for olde) .Phillis; rest quene.2470(So)24752452. A. phillis; C. Philes; Th. T. quene2453. F. B. And; rest Her ( Hire, Hir). 2454.2459. C. T. A. A. Th. agroted; B. agrotyd; C. agrotyed; F. Tn. agroteyd; T. agroteyed.2455. C. T. ben in love; A. ar of loue; rest in loue ben.deuyse; F. Tn. B. the nyse (sic); Th. the gyse. 2470, I. T. I couthe ryghtwell, yef that hyt lykyd me Tell all hys doyng; but hyt ys vanyte.C. T. vnto; A. into; rest to. F. Th. B. him; rest he.2472.2475. F. B. omit.2476. C. hath hire sworn; A. hath to hir suorn; Tn. to her sworne; F. T. Th.B. to hir swore. 2477. So C. A.; F. Tn. Th. B. ageyn he wolde.VIII. THE LEGEND OF PHYLLIS. 167Wel and hoomly, and let his shippes dighte,And hoom he goth the nexte wey he mighte;For unto Phillis yit ne com he noght.And that hath she so harde and sore aboght,Allas that, as the stories us recorde,She was her owne deeth right with a corde,Whan that she saw that Demophon her trayed.But to him first she wroot and faste him prayedHe wolde come, and her deliver of peyne,As I reherse shal a word or tweyne.Me list nat vouche-sauf on him to swinke,Ne spende on him a penne ful of inke,For fals in love was he, right as his syre;The devil sette hir soules bothe a-fyre!But of the lettre of Phillis wol I wryteA word or tweyne, al-thogh hit be but lyte.'Thyn hostesse, ' quod she, ' O Demophon,Thy Phillis, which that is so wo begon,Of Rodopeye, upon yow moot compleyne,Over the terme set betwix us tweyne,That ye ne holden forward, as ye seyde;Your anker, which ye in our haven leyde,Highte us, that ye wolde comen, out of doute,Or that the mone ones wente aboute.But tymes foure the mone hath hid her faceSin thilke day ye wente fro this place,And foure tymes light the world again.But for al that, yif I shal soothly sain,2480(90)24852490(100)24952500(110)25052480. C. homly; F. T. B. homely; A. huimly; Tn. humble; Th. hombly.C. let; rest om .F. Tn. B. yboght.2482. C. ne; rest om. 2483. A. C. Th. abought;2484. F. Tn. B. om. as. A. T. stories; rest story (butthis would require recordeth; indeed, C. has recordith! ) . 2485. C. T. A.ryght; rest om. 2487. F. Tn. Th. B. But firste wrote she to hym. 2488.C. T. A. hire delyuere; rest delyuer hir. F. pyne (errorfor peyne). 2489.F. B. oo; Tn. one; rest a; see 1. 2495. 2491. C. T. A. Ne spende; restDispenden. 2493. C. a fere; T. afyre; A. in fyre; F. Tn. Th. B. on a fire(badly). 2496. C. Ostesse thyn. T. A. o thow Demophon.F. Tn. B. om. moot. 2504. F. Tn. B. om. hid.C. F. Tn. B. that thilke (! ); A. that ilke; T. that.2498.2505. Th. thylke;2506, 7. C. omits . 2506.A. hath lycht this. 2507. T. yef; A. if; F. B. Th. yet (error for yef); Tn.yit (errorfor yif) .168 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Yit hath the streem of Sitho nat y-broghtFrom Athenes the ship; yit comth hit noght.And, yif that ye the terme rekne wolde,As I or other trewe lovers sholde,I pleyne not, god wot, beforn my day.'--But al her lettre wryten I ne mayBy ordre, for hit were to me a charge;Her lettre was right long and ther- to large;But here and there in ryme I have hit laid,Ther as me thoughte that she wel hath said.— (She seide, thy sailes comen nat again,Ne to thy word ther nis no fey certein;But I wot why ye come nat, ' quod she;' For I was of my love to you so free.And of the goddes that ye han forswore,Yif that hir vengeance falle on yow therfore,Ye be nat suffisaunt to bere the peyne.To moche trusted I, wel may I pleyne,2510(120)25152520(130)2525Upon your linage and your faire tonge,And on your teres falsly out y-wronge.How coude ye wepe so by craft? ' quod she;' May ther swiche teres feyned be?Now certes, yif ye wolde have in memorie, 2530Hit oghte be to yow but litel glorieTo have a sely mayde thus betrayed!To god, ' quod she, ' preye I, and ofte have prayed, (140)That hit be now the grettest prys of alle,And moste honour that ever yow shal befalle! 2535And whan thyn olde auncestres peynted be,In which men may hir worthinesse see,2508. C. storm (error for streem); rest streme. Th. Scython; C. B. Sytoye;A. Cytoye; T. Sitoy; F. Tn. Sitoio (Ovid has Sithonis unda). T. y-brought;2509. C. comyth it; T. A. cometh; F. Tn. B.2517. C. A. wel hath; rest hath wel.rest broght (brought) .come hit; Th. came it. 2518.C. T. A. thyne (thy); rest the. C. come; T. comen; F. Tn. Th. B. cometh.2519. C. T. A. thyn (thy); rest the.Tn. Th. B. That (only); but read Yif that.rest seyne (! ) .F. Tn. Th. B. wronge.2532. All mayde.2523. C. T. A. Yif (only); F.2525. C. T. A. pleyne;2527. C. I-wronge; A. yronne (error for ywronge);2529. A. Quhethir ther may (but this is Scottish).IX. THE LEGEND OF HYPERMNESTRA. 169Than, preye I god, thou peynted be also,That folk may reden, for-by as they go," Lo! this is he, that with his flaterye 2540Betrayed hath and doon her vilanyeThat was his trewe love in thoghte and dede! "But sothly, of oo point yit may they rede,That ye ben lyk your fader as in this;For he begyled Adriane, y-wis,(150)2545With swiche an art and swiche sotelteAs thou thy-selven hast begyled me.As in that point, al- thogh hit be nat fayr,Thou folwest him, certein, and art his eyr.But sin thus sinfully ye me begyle,My body mote ye seen, within a whyle,Right in the haven of Athenes fletinge ,With-outen sepulture and buryinge;Thogh ye ben harder then is any stoon.'And, whan this lettre was forth sent anoon,And knew how brotel and how fals he was,She for dispeyr for-dide herself, allas!2550(160)2555Swich sorwe hath she, for she besette her so.2560Be war, ye women, of your sotil fo,Sin yit this day men may ensample see;And trusteth, as in love, no man but me.Explicit Legenda Phillis.(168)IX. THE LEGEND OF HYPERMNESTRA.Incipit Legenda Ypermistre.IN Grece whylom weren brethren two,Of whiche that oon was called Danao,That many a sone hath of his body wonne,As swiche false lovers ofte conne.C. T. A. him; rest om.sent.25652539. C. T. A. for by; rest forth by. 2546. A. C. T. subtilitee. 2549.A. has lost 11. 2551-2616. 2555. F. Tn. B. om.2561. So C. T.; so Tn. Th. ( with nowfor as); F. B. And as in lovetruste no man but me. 2563. C. clepid; rest called.170 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Among his sones alle ther was oonThat aldermost he lovede of everichoon.And whan this child was born, this DanaoShoop him a name, and called him Lino.That other brother called was Egiste,That was of love as fals as ever him liste,And many a doghter gat he in his lyve;Of which he gat upon his righte wyveA doghter dere, and dide her for to calleYpermistra, yongest of hem alle;The whiche child, of her nativitee,To alle gode thewes born was she,As lyked to the goddes, or she was born,That of the shefe she sholde be the corn;The Wirdes, that we clepen Destinee,Hath shapen her that she mot nedes bePitouse, sadde, wyse, and trewe as steel;And to this woman hit accordeth weel.2570(10)25752580(20)For, though that Venus yaf her greet beautee,With Iupiter compouned so was she 2585That conscience, trouthe, and dreed of shame,And of her wyfhood for to kepe her name,This, thoughte her, was felicitee as here.And rede Mars was, that tyme of the yere,So feble, that his malice is him raft,Repressed hath Venus his cruel craft;What with Venus and other oppressiounOf houses, Mars his venim is adoun,That Ypermistra dar nat handle a knyfIn malice, thogh she sholde lese her lyf.But natheles, as heven gan tho turne,To badde aspectes hath she of Saturne,That made her for to deyen in prisoun,As I shal after make mencioun.2574. F. B. hyt (for her).2590(30)25952571. F. B. in; rest of. 2577. C. T.thewis goode I- born. 2578. Tn. B. goddesse (! ); F. goddesses (! ) . 2581 .C. mot; rest moste (muste, most). 2582. F. B. Pitouse (fem. ); C. Pyetous;Th. sadde (fem.?); rest sad. C. T. and; rest om. 2590.2592. Th. And what; C. T. That what; F. Tn. B. And;2597. C. F. Tn. B. To; T. Ryght; Th. Two.Tn. T. Piteous.C. beraft.Ipropose What.C. for; rest om. 2599. C. T. As; rest And.2598.IX. THE LEGEND OF HYPERMNESTRA. 171To Danao and Egistes alsoAl- thogh so be that they were brethren two,For thilke tyme nas spared no linageHit lyked hem to maken mariageBetwix Ypermistra and him Lino,2600(40)And casten swiche a day hit shal be so; 2605And ful acorded was hit witterly;The array is wroght, the tyme is faste by.And thus Lino hath of his fadres brotherThe doghter wedded, and eche of hem hath other.The torches brennen and the lampes brighte,The sacrifices been ful redy dighte;Thencens out of the fyre reketh sote,2610(50)The flour, the leef is rent up by the roteTo maken garlands and corounes hye;Ful is the place of soun of minstralcye, 2615Of songes amorous of mariage,As thilke tyme was the pleyn usage.And this was in the paleys of Egiste,That in his hous was lord, right as him liste;And thus the day they dryven to an ende;The frendes taken leve, and hoom they wende.The night is come, the bryd shal go to bedde;Egiste to his chambre faste him spedde,And privily he let his doghter calle.2620(60)Whan that the hous was voided of hem alle,He loked on his doghter with glad chere,2625And to her spak, as ye shul after here.' My righte doghter, tresor of myn herte!Sin first that day that shapen was my sherte,Or by the fatal sustren had my dom,So ny myn herte never thing me comAs thou, myn Ypermistra, doghter dere!Tak heed what I thy fader sey thee here,2600. Th. Of (for To); without authority.And thogh (less clearly). 2603. T. C. Th. lyked; rest lyketh.F. Tn. B. witterly; rest vttyrly. 2615. F. Tn. B. om . of soun.2630(70)2601. C. Al thow; rest2606.2619.2624. F. Tn.2632. C. myn; T. A. ins. my beforeF. Tn. B. om. right. 2620. F. Tn. Th. B. that (for the).Th. B. om. he. 2625. F. Tn. Th. B. voided was. F. B. om. hem. 2627.F. om. after. 2629. F. om. 1st that.doghter; rest om. 2633. F. Tn. Th. B. om. I. T. say; A. seye; rest seyth.172 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And werk after thy wyser ever-mo.For alderfirste, doghter, I love thee so 2635That al the world to me nis half so leef;Ne I nolde rede thee to thy mischeefFor al the gode under the colde mone;And what I mene, hit shal be seid right sone,With protestacioun, as in this wyse,That, but thou do as I shal thee devyse,2640(80)Thou shalt be deed, by him that al hath wroght!At shorte wordes, thou nescapest noghtOut of my paleys, or that thou be deed,But thou consente and werke after my reed;Tak this to thee for ful conclusioun.'2645This Ypermistra caste her eyen doun,And quook as dooth the leef of aspe grene;Deed wex her hewe, and lyk as ash to sene,And seyde, lord and fader, al your wille,After my might, god wot, I shal fulfille,So hit to me be no confusioun.'' I nil,' quod he, ' have noon excepcioun; 'And out he caughte a knyf, as rasour kene;'Hyd this,' quod he, ' that hit be nat y- sene;And, whan thyn husbond is to bedde y- go,Whyl that he slepeth, cut his throte a-two.For in my dremes hit is warned meHow that my nevew shal my bane be,But whiche I noot, wherfor I wol be siker.Yif thou sey nay, we two shul have a bikerAs I have seyd, by him that I have sworn.'This Ypermistra hath ny her wit forlonAnd, for to passen harmles of that place,She graunted him; ther was non other grace.And therwith-al a costrel taketh he,1;2650(90)26552660(100)2665And seyde, ' herof a draught, or two or three,2637. C. A., I; rest om. 2640. C. A. as in this; T. now on thys; F. Tn. Th.B. as seyn these. 2643. C. nescapist; Tn. Th. B. ne scapest; F. ne schapest (! ) .2652. F. Tn. Th. B. be to me. 2655. Tn. Th. y-sene; rest sene. 2656.Tn. y-goo; A. ygo; rest goo (go). 2661. F. make; rest haue. 2666.So C. T. A. (but with costret for costrel); rest And with-al a costrel taketh hetho (badly). 2667. F. Tn. Th. B. om . or three (leaving the line too short).IX. THE LEGEND OF HYPERMNESTRA. 173Yif him to drinke, whan he goth to reste,And he shal slepe as longe as ever thee leste,The narcotiks and opies been so stronge:And go thy wey, lest that him thinke longe.'Out comth the bryd, and with ful sober chere,As is of maidens ofte the manere,To chambre is broght with revel and with songe,And shortly, lest this tale be to longe,This Lino and she ben sone broght to bedde;And every wight out at the dore him spedde.The night is wasted, and he fel a- slepe;Ful tenderly beginneth she to wepe.She rist her up, and dredfully she quaketh,As doth the braunche that Zephirus shaketh,And husht were alle in Argon that citee.As cold as any frost now wexeth she;2670(110)26752680(120)For pite by the herte her streyneth so,And dreed of death doth her so moche wo,That thryes doun she fil in swiche a were.She rist her up, and stakereth heer and there,And on her handes faste loketh she.' Allas! and shul my handes blody be?I am a maid, and, as by my nature,And by my semblant and by my vesture,Myn handes been nat shapen for a knyf,As for to reve no man fro his lyf.What devil have I with the knyf to do?And shal I have my throte corve a-two?Than shal I blede, allas! and me beshende;And nedes cost this thing mot have an ende;Or he or I mot nedes lese our lyf.Now certes,' quod she, ' sin I am his wyf,2668. A. to; rest om.opies; C. opijs; Th. apies;B. ins. to before longe.T. sone byn; rest om, sone.Th. hushte; C. A. hust; Tn.26852690(130)26952670. F. B. Martotikes (for narcotikes) . T. A.F. Tn. B. Epies (for opies).2674. F. Tn. Th. B. om. is.C. a (forto).houste.2671. F. Tn. Th.2676. F. B. beth.2682. F. hushst (for husht);2684. F. Tn. B. streyneth hir; Th.strayned her; C. T. hire streynyth; A. hir stryngith. 2686. F. Th. B.swich (suche) a were; Tn. suche awere; C. this awer; A. this awere; T. that were. 2689. F. Tn. Th. B. om. and.2697. F. B. (only) Orfor And.2696. F. Tn. Th. B. om. me.174 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.And hath my feith, yit is it bet for meFor to be deed in wyfly honesteeThan be a traitour living in my shame.Be as be may, for ernest or for game,He shal awake, and ryse and go his wayOut at this goter, or that hit be day! '-And weep ful tenderly upon his face,And in her armes gan him to embrace,And him she roggeth and awaketh softe;And at the window leep he fro the lofteWhan she hath warned him, and doon him bote.This Lino swifte was, and light of fote,And from his wyf he ran a ful good pas.This sely woman is so wayk, allas!And helples so, that, or that she fer wente,Her cruel fader dide her for to hente.Allas! Lino! why art thou so unkinde?Why ne haddest thou remembred in thy mindeTo taken her, and lad her forth with thee?For, whan she saw that goon awey was he,And that she mighte nat so faste go,Ne folwen him, she sette her doun right tho,Til she was caught and fetered in prisoun.This tale is seid for this conclusioun[Unfinished.]2709. C. T. A. at a (for at the) .rest from her ran.2700(140)27052710(150)27152720(160)2712. So T. A.; C. from his wif ran;2714. C. A. or that; rest om. that. C. forth (for fer) .2717. C. T. haddist 2718. C. T. To; rest And.; rest hast.2721.Addit. ( 12524) , sette hyr; C. set hire; T. A. sat hyr; rest sate (om. her) .2722. F. Tn. Th. And til (for Til); B. And then.A TREATISE ON THEASTROLABE.PROLOGUS.ITELL Lowis my sone, I have perceived wel by certeynebres and proporciouns; and as wel considere I thy bisy preyere inspecial to lerne the Tretis of the Astrolabie. Than, for as mechelas a philosofre seith, ' he wrappeth him in his frend, that con- 5descendeth to the rightful preyers of his frend,' ther- for have Igeven thee a suffisaunt Astrolabie as for oure orizonte, compownedafter the latitude of Oxenford; up-on which, by mediacion of thislitel tretis, I purpose to teche thee a certein nombre of conclusionsapertening to the same instrument. I seye a certein of conclusiouns, 10for three causes. The furste cause is this: truste wel that alle theconclusiouns that han ben founde, or elles possibly mighten befounde in so noble an instrument as an Astrolabie, ben un-knoweperfitly to any mortal man in this regioun, as I suppose. A-nothercause is this; that sothly, in any tretis of the Astrolabie that I have 15seyn, there ben some conclusions that wole nat in alle thingesperformen hir bihestes; and some of hem ben to harde to thytendre age of ten yeer to conseyve. This tretis , divided in fyveLittle Lewis my son, I perceive that thou wouldst learn the Conclusions of the Astrolabe; wherefore I have given thee an instrumentconstructed for the latitude of Oxford, and purpose to teach thee someof these conclusions. I say some, for three reasons; ( 1 ) becausesome of them are unknown in this land; (2) because some are uncertain; or else (3 ) are too hard. This treatise, divided into five176 [ PROLOGUE. THE ASTROLABE.parties, wole I shewe thee under ful lighte rewles and naked20 wordes in English; for Latin ne canstow yit but smal, my lytesone. But natheles, suffyse to thee thise trewe conclusiouns inEnglish, as wel as suffyseth to thise noble clerkes Grekes thise sameconclusiouns in Greek, and to Arabiens in Arabik, and to Iewes inEbrew, and to the Latin folk in Latin; whiche Latin folk han hem25 furst out of othre diverse langages, and writen in hir owne tonge,that is to sein, in Latin. And god wot, that in alle thise langages,and in many mo, han thise conclusiouns ben suffisantly lerned andtaught, and yit by diverse rewles, right as diverse pathes ledendiverse folk the righte wey to Rome. Now wol I prey meekly30 every discret persone that redeth or hereth this litel tretis, to havemy rewde endyting for excused, and my superfluite of wordes, fortwo causes. The firste cause is, for that curious endyting and hardsentence is ful hevy atones for swich a child to lerne. And theseconde cause is this, that sothly me semeth betre to wryten un-to35 a child twyes a good sentence, than he for-gete it ones.Lowis, yif so be that I shewe thee in my lighte English as treweconclusiouns touching this matere, and naught only as trewe butas many and as subtil conclusiouns as ben shewed in Latin in anycommune tretis of the Astrolabie, con me the more thank; and40 preye god save the king, that is lord of this langage, and alle thathim feyth bereth and obeyeth, everech in his degree, the more andthe lasse. But considere wel, that I ne usurpe nat to have foundethis werk of my labour or of myn engin. I nam but a lewd compilatour of the labour of olde Astrologiens, and have hit translated45 in myn English only for thy doctrine; and with this swerd shal Isleen envye.AndI. The firste partie of this tretis shal reherse the figures and themembres of thyn Astrolabie, bi-cause that thou shalt han thegrettre knowing of thyn owne instrument.parts, I write for thee in English, just as Greeks, Arabians, Jews, andRomans were accustomed to write such things in their own tongue.I pray all to excuse my shortcomings; and thou, Lewis, shouldstthank me if I teach thee as much in English as most commontreatises can do in Latin. I have done no more than compilefrom old writers on the subject, and I have translated it intoEnglish solely for thine instruction; and with this sword shall Islay envy.Thefirst part gives a description of the instrument itself.PROLOGUE. ] THE TABLE OF CONTENTS. 177II. The second partie shal teche thee werken the verrey 50practik of the forseide conclusiouns, as ferforth and as narweas may be shewed in so smal an instrument portatif aboute.For wel wot every astrologien that smalest fraccions ne wolnat ben shewed in so smal an instrument, as in subtil tablescalculed for a cause. 55III. The thridde partie shal contienen diverse tables oflongitudes and latitudes of sterres fixe for the Astrolabie, andtables of declinacions of the sonne, and tables of longitudesof citee*z and of townes; and as wel for the governance of aclokke as for to finde the altitude meridian; and many another 60notable conclusioun, after the kalendres of the reverent clerkes,frere I. Somer and frere N. Lenne.IV. The ferthe partie shal ben a theorik to declare themoevinge of the celestial bodies with the causes. The whicheferthe partie in special shal shewen a table of the verray 65moeving of the mone from houre to houre, every day and inevery signe, after thyn almenak; upon which table ther folwitha canon, suffisant to teche as wel the maner of the wyrking ofthat same conclusioun, as to knowe in oure orizonte with whichdegree of the zodiac that the mone ariseth in any latitude; 70and the arising of any planete after his latitude fro the ecliptiklyne.V. The fifte partie shal ben an introductorie after the statutzof oure doctours, in which thou maist lerne a gret part of thegeneral rewles of theorik in astrologie. In which fifte partie 75shaltow finde tables of equacions of houses aftur the latitude ofOxenford; and tables of dignetes of planetes, and other notefulthinges, yif god wol vouche-sauf and his modur the mayde, mothan I be-hete, &c.The second teaches the practical working of it.The third shall contain tables of latitudes and longitudes of fixedstars, declinations of the sun, and the longitudes of certain towns.The fourth shall shew the motions of the heavenly bodies, andespecially of the moon.Thefifth shall teach a great part of the general rules of astronomicaltheory.N178 THE ASTROLABE [PART I. § I. .PART I.HERE BIGINNETH THE DESCRIPCION OF THE ASTRolabie.1. Thyn Astrolabie hath a ring to putten on the thoumbe ofthy right hand in taking the heighte of thinges. And tak keep, forfrom hennes-forthward, I wol clepe the heighte of any thing thatis taken by thy rewle, the altitude, with-oute mo wordes.2. This ring renneth in a maner turet, fast to the moder ofthyn Astrolabie, in so rowm a space that hit desturbeth nat theinstrument to hangen after his righte centre.3. The Moder of thyn Astrolabie is the thikkeste plate, percedwith a large hole, that resseyveth in hir wombe the thinne platescompowned for diverse clymatz, and thy riet shapen in manereof a net or of a webbe of a loppe; and for the more declaracioun,5 lo here the figure.4. This moder is devyded on the bak-half with a lyne, thatcometh dessendinge fro the ring down to the nethereste bordure.The whiche lyne, fro the for- seide ring un-to the centre of thelarge hole amidde, is cleped the south lyne, or elles the lyne5 meridional. And the remenant of this lyne downe to the bordureis cleped the north lyne, or elles the lyne of midnight. And forthe more declaracioun, lo here the figure.Here begins the first part; i. e. the description of the Astrolabe itself.1. The Ring. See figs. 1 and 2. The Latin name is Armilla suspensoria; the Arabic name is spelt alhahuacia in MS. Camb. Univ.li. 3. 3, but Stöffler says it is Alanthica, Alphantia, or Abalhantica.For the meaning of ' rewle,' see § 13.2. The Turet. This answers nearly to what we call an eye or aswivel. The metal plate, or loop, to which it is fastened, or in which itturns, is called in Latin Ansa or Armilla Reflexa, in Arabic Alhabos.3. The Moder. In Latin, Mater or Rotula. This forms the bodyof the instrument, the back of which is shewn in fig. 1 , the front infig. 2. The ' large hole ' is the wide depression sunk in the front of it,into which the various discs are dropped. In the figure, the ' Rete 'is shewn fitted into it.4. See fig. 1; Chaucer describes the ' bak-half' of the instrumentfirst. The centre of the ' large hole amydde ' is the centre of theinstrument, where a smaller hole is pierced completely through. TheSouthe lyne (marked Meridies in figs. 1 and 2) is also called LineaMeridiei; the North lyne is also named Linea Media Noctis.PART I. § 8. ] DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENT. 1795. Over-thwart this for-seide longe lyne, ther crosseth himanother lyne of the same lengthe from est to west. Of thewhiche lyne, from a litel croys + in the bordure un-to the centreof the large hole, is cleped the Est lyne, or elles the lyne Orientale;and the remenant of this lyne fro the forseide + un-to the bordure, 5is cleped the West lyne, or the lyne Occidentale. Now hastowhere the foure quarters of thin Astrolabie, devyded after the foureprincipals plages or quarters of the firmament. And for the moredeclaracioun, lo here thy figure.6. The est side of thyn Astrolabie is cleped the right side, andthe west side is cleped the left side. Forget nat this , litel Lowis.Put the ring of thyn Astrolabie upon the thoumbe of thy righthand, and thanne wole his right syde be toward thy left syde, andhis left syde wol be toward thy right syde; tak this rewle general, 5as wel on the bak as on the wombe-side. Upon the ende of thisest lyne, as I first seide, is marked a litel +, wher-as evere-mogeneraly is considered the entring of the first degree in which thesonne aryseth. And for the more declaracioun, lo here thefigure.7. Fro this litel + up to the ende of the lyne meridional, underthe ring, shaltow finden the bordure devyded with 90 degrees;and by that same proporcioun is every quarter of thin Astrolabiedevyded. Over the whiche degrees ther ben noumbres of augrim,that devyden thilke same degrees fro fyve to fyve, as sheweth by 5longe strykes by-twene. Of whiche longe strykes the space bytwene contienith a mile-wey. And every degree of the bordurecontieneth foure minutes, that is to seyn, minutes of an houre.And for more declaracioun, lo here the figure.8. Under the compas of thilke degrees ben writen the names ofthe Twelve Signes, as Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,5. The Est lyne is marked with the word Oriens; the West lyne,with Occidens.6. The rule is the same as in heraldry, the right or dexter side beingtowards the spectator's left.7. As the 360 degrees answer to 24 hours of time, 15° answer to anhour, and 5° to twenty minutes, or a Mile- way, as it is the averagetime for walking a mile. So also 1° answers to 4 minutes of time.See the two outermost circles in fig. 1 , and the divisions of the ' border 'in fig. 2.8. See the third and fourth circles (reckoning inwards) in fig. 1 .10N 2180 [PART 1. § 9.THE ASTROLABE.Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces; andthe nombres of the degrees of tho signes ben writen in augrim5 above, and with longe devisiouns, fro fyve to fyve; devyded frotyme that the signe entreth un-to the laste ende. But understondwel, that thise degrees of signes ben everich of hem consideredof 60 minutes, and every minute of 60 secondes, and soforth in-to smale fraccions infinit, as seith Alkabucius. And10 ther-for, know wel, that a degree of the bordure contieneth foureminutes, and a degree of a signe contieneth 60 minutes, andhave this in minde. And for the more declaracioun, lo herethy figure.9. Next this folweth the Cercle of the Dayes, that ben figuredin maner of degrees, that contienen in noumbre 365; divydedalso with longe strykes fro fyve to fyve, and the nombres inaugrim writen under that cercle. And for more declaracioun, lo5 here thy figure.10. Next the Cercle of the Dayes, folweth the Cercle of thenames of the Monthes; that is to seyen, Ianuare, Februare,Marcius, Aprile, Mayus, Iuin, Iulius, Augustus, Septembre,October, Novembre, Decembre. The names of thise monthes5 were cleped in Arabiens, somme for hir propretees, and some bystatutz of lordes, some by other lordes of Rome. Eek of thisemonthes, as lyked to Iulius Cesar and to Cesar Augustus, somewere compowned of diverse nombres of dayes, as Iuil andAugust. Thanne hath Ianuare 31 dayes, Februare 28, March10 31 , Aprille 30, May 31 , Iunius 30, Iulius 31 , Augustus 31 ,September 30, Octobre 31 , Novembre 30, December 31.Natheles, al-though that Iulius Cesar took 2 dayes out of Fevererand put hem in his moneth of Iuille, and Augustus Cesar clepedthe moneth of August after his name, and ordeyned it of 31 dayes,9. See the fifth and sixth circles in fig. 1.10. See the seventh, eighth, and ninth circles in fig. 1. The namesof the months are all Roman. The month formerly called Quinctiliswas first called Julius in B. C. 44; that called Sextilis was namedAugustus in B. C. 27. It is a mistake to say that Julius and Augustusmade the alterations spoken of in the text; what Julius Cæsar reallydid, was to add 2 days to the months of January, August (Sextilis) , andDecember, and I day to April, June, September, and November.February never had more than 28 days till he introduced bissextileyears.PART I. § 14. ] DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENT. 181yit truste wel, that the sonne dwelleth ther-for nevere the more ne 15lesse in oon signe than in another.And11. Than folwen the names of the Halidayes in the Kalender,and next hem the lettres of the Abc. on which they fallen.for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.12. Next the forseide Cercle of the Abc. , under the cros-lyne,is marked the scale, in maner of two squyres, or elles in manereof laddres, that serveth by hise 12 poyntes and his devisiouns offul many a subtil conclusioun. Of this forseide scale, fro thecroos-lyne un-to the verre angle, is cleped umbra versa, and the 5nether partie is cleped the umbra recta, or elles umbra extensa.And for the more declaracioun, lo here the figure.13. Thanne hastow a brood Rewle, that hath on either ende asquare plate perced with a certein holes, some more and somelesse, to resseyven the stremes of the sonne by day, and eekby mediacioun of thyn eye, to knowe the altitude of sterres bynighte. And for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.14. Thanne is ther a large Pyn, in maner of an extree, that11. See the two inmost circles in fig. 1. The names given areadopted from a comparison of the figures in the Cambridge Universityand Trinity MSS. , neither of which are quite correct. The letters ofthe ' Abc.' are what we now call the Sunday letters. The festivalsmarked are those of St. Paul (Jan. 25) , The Purification ( Feb. 2), TheAnnunciation ( Mar. 25) , The Invention of the Holy Cross (May 3 ) ,St. John the Baptist (June 24) , St. James (July 25) , St. Lawrence (Aug.10), The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin ( Sept. 8) , St. Luke (Oct. 18) ,St. Martin of Tours (Nov. 11 ) , and St. Thomas (Dec. 21 ) .12. The ' scale ' is in Latin Quadrans, or Scala Altimetra. It iscertain that Chaucer has here made a slip, which cannot be fairly laidto the charge of the scribes, as the MSS. agree in transposing versaand recta. The side-parts of the scale are called Umbra versa, thelower part Umbra recta or extensa. This will appear more clearly atthe end of Part II. (I here give a corrected text.)13. See fig. 3, Plate III. Each plate turns on a hinge, just like the' sights ' of a gun. One is drawn flat down, the other partly elevated.Each plate (tabella vel pinnula) has two holes, the smaller one beingthe lower. This Rewle is named in Arabic Alhidada or Alidada; inLatin Verticulum, from its turning easily on the centre; in GreekDioptra, as carrying the sights. The straight edge, passing throughthe centre, is called the Linea Fiducia. It is pierced by a hole in thecentre, ofthe same size as that in the Mother.14. See fig. 4, Plate III . The Pin is also called Axis or Clavus, in5182 THE ASTROLABE [PART 1. § 15..goth thorow the hole that halt the tables of the clymates and theriet in the wombe of the Moder, thorw which Pyn ther goth alitel wegge which that is cleped ' the hors,' that streyneth alle5 thise parties to-hepe; this forseide grete Pyn, in maner of anextree, is imagined to be the Pol Artik in thyn Astrolabie.And for the more declaracioun, lo here the figure.15. The wombe- side of thyn Astrolabie is also devyded with alonge croys in foure quarters from est to west, fro south to north,fro right syde to left syde, as is the bak-syde. And for the moredeclaracioun, lo here thy figure.16. The bordure of which wombe- side is devyded fro the poyntof the est lyne un-to the poynt of the south lyne under the ring,in 90 degres; and by that same proporcioun is every quarterdevyded as is the bak-syde, that amonteth 360 degrees. And5 understond wel, that degrees of this bordure ben answering andconsentrik to the degrees of the Equinoxial, that is devyded inthe same nombre as every othere cercle is in the heye hevene.This same bordure is devyded also with 23 lettres capitals and asmal croys + above the south lyne, that sheweth the 24 houres10 equals of the clokke; and, as I have said, 5 of thise degreesmaken a mile-wey, and 3 mile- wey maken an houre. And everydegree of this bordure conteneth 4 minutes, and every minut 60secoundes; now have I told thee twye. And for the moredeclaracioun, lo here the figure.17. The plate under thy riet is descryved with 3 principalLatin-Arabic Alchitot; it occupies the position of the Arctic or NorthPole, passing through the centre of the plates that are required to turnround it. The Wedge is called cuneus, or equus restringens, in ArabicAlfaras or the horse, because it was sometimes cut into the shape ofa horse, as shewn in fig. 7, Plate IV, which is copied from MS. Univ.Camb. Ii. 3. 3.15. See fig. 2, Plate II. In the figure, the cross-lines are partlyhidden by the Rete, which is separate and removable, and revolves within the border.16. The Border was also called Margilabrum, Margolabrum, orLimbus. It is marked (as explained) with hour-letters and degrees.Each degree contains 4 minutes of time, and each of these minutescontains 60 seconds oftime.17. We may place under the Rete any plates we please. If onlythe Mother be under it, without any plate, we may suppose the Mothermarked as in fig. 2. The plate or disc ( tympanum) which was usuallyPART I. § 17. ] DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENT. 183cercles; of whiche the leste is cleped the cercle of Cancer, bycause that the heved of Cancer turneth evermor consentrik up-onthe same cercle. In this heved of Cancer is the grettest declinacioun northward of the sonne. And ther-for is he cleped the 5Solsticioun of Somer; whiche declinacioun, aftur Ptholome, is 23degrees and 50 minutes, as wel in Cancer as in Capricorne. Thissigne of Cancre is cleped the Tropik of Somer, of tropos, that isto seyn ' agaynward; ' for thanne by-ginneth the sonne to passefro us-ward. And for the more declaracioun, lo here the figure. 10The middel cercle in wydnesse, of thise 3 , is cleped the CercleEquinoxial; up-on whiche turneth evermo the hedes of Aries andLibra. And understond wel, that evermo this Cercle Equinoxialturneth iustly fro verrey est to verrey west; as I have shewed theein the spere solide. This same cercle is cleped also the Weyere, 15equator, of the day; for whan the sonne is in the hevedes ofAries and Libra, than ben the dayes and the nightes ilyke oflengthe in al the world. And ther-fore ben thise two signescalled the Equinoxies. And alle that moeveth with-in thehevedes of thise Aries and Libra, his moeving is cleped north- 20ward; and alle that moeveth with-oute thise hevedes, his moevingdropped in under the Rete is that shewn in fig. 5, Plate III , and whichChaucer now describes. Any number of these, marked differently fordifferent latitudes, could be provided for the Astrolabe. The greatestdeclination of the sun measures the obliquity of the ecliptic, the truevalue of which is slightly variable, but was about 23° 31 ′ in Chaucer'stime, and about 23° 40′ in the time of Ptolemy, who certainly assignsto it too large a value. The value of it must be known before the threecircles can be drawn. The method of finding their relative magnitudesis very simple. Let ABCD ( fig. 8, Pl. IV) be the tropic of Capricorn,BO the South line, OC the West line. Make the angle EOB equal tothe obliquity (say 23 °) , and join EA, meeting BO in F. Then OFis the radius of the Equatorial circle, and if GH be drawn parallel toEF, OH is the radius of the Tropic of Cancer. In the phrase angulusprimi motus, angulus must be taken to mean angular motion. The'first moving' (primus motus) has its name of ' moving ' (motus) fromits denoting motion due to the primum mobile or ' first moveable.'This primum mobile (usually considered as the ninth sphere) causesthe rotation of the eighth sphere, or sphæra stellarum fixarum. Seethe fig. in MS. Camb. Univ. Ii. 3. 3 (copied in fig. 10, Pl. V) . Someauthors make 12 heavens, viz. those of the 7 planets, the firmamentum(stellarum fixarum), the nonum cœlum, decimum cœlum, primummobile, and cælum empyræum.184 THE ASTROLABE [PART 1. § 18. .is cleped south-ward as fro the equinoxial. Tak keep of thiselatitudes north and sowth, and forget it nat. By this CercleEquinoxial ben considered the 24 houres of the clokke; for25 everemo the arysing of 15 degrees of the equinoxial maketh anhoure equal of the clokke. This equinoxial is cleped the girdelof the firste moeving, or elles of the angulus primi motus velprimi mobilis. And nota, that firste moeving is cleped ' moeving'of the firste moevable of the 8 spere, whiche moeving is fro est to30 west, and eft agayn in-to est; also it is clepid ' girdel ' of the firstmoeving, for it departeth the firste moevable, that is to seyn, thespere, in two ilyke parties, evene- distantz fro the poles of thisworld.The wydeste of thise three principal cercles is cleped the35 Cercle of Capricorne, by-cause that the heved of Capricorneturneth evermo consentrik up-on the same cercle. In the hevedof this for-seide Capricorne is the grettest declinacioun southwardof the sonne, and ther-for is it cleped the Solsticioun of Winter.This signe of Capricorne is also cleped the Tropik of Winter, for40 thanne byginneth the sonne to come agayn to us-ward. And forthe more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.18. Upon this forseide plate ben compassed certein cerclesthat highten Almicanteras, of which som of hem sem*n perfitcercles, and somme sem*n inperfit. The centre that standitha-middes the narwest cercle is cleped the Senith; and the5 netherest cercle, or the firste cercle, is clepid the Orisonte, thatis to seyn, the cercle that devydeth the two emisperies, that is,the partie of the hevene a-bove the erthe and the partie be-nethe.Thise Almicanteras ben compowned by two and two, al-be-it sothat on divers Astrolabies some Almicanteras ben devyded by oon,10 and some by two, and somme by three, after the quantite of theAstrolabie. This forseide senith is imagened to ben the verreypoint over the crowne of thyn heved; and also this senith is the18. See fig. 5, Pl. III . This is made upon the alt-azimuth system,and the plates are marked according to the latitude. The circles,called in Latin circuli progressionum, in Arabic Almucantarāt, arecircles of altitude, the largest imperfect one representing the horizon(horizon obliquus) , and the central dot being the zenith, or pole of thehorizon. In my figure, they are ' compounded by ' 5 and 5 , butChaucer's shewed every second degree, i. e. it possessed 45 suchcircles. For the method of drawing them, see Stöffler, leaf 5, back.PARTI. 21. ] DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENT. 185verrey pool of the orisonte in every regioun. And for themore declaracioun, lo here thy figure.19. From this senith, as it semeth, ther come a maner crokedestrykes lyke to the clawes of a loppe, or elles like to the werk of awomanes calle, in kerving overthwart the Almikanteras. Andthise same strykes or divisiouns ben cleped Azimuthz. And theydevyden the orisonte of thyn Astrolabie in four and twenty 5devisiouns. And thise Azimutz serven to knowe the costes of thefirmament, and to othre conclusiouns, as for to knowe the cenithof the sonne and of every sterre. And for more declaracioun, lohere thy figure.20. Next thise azimutz, under the Cercle of Cancer, ben thertwelve devisiouns embelif, moche like to the shap of the azimutes,that shewen the spaces of the houres of planetes; and for moredeclaracioun, lo here thy figure.21. The Riet of thyn Astrolabie with thy zodiak, shapen inmaner of a net or of a loppe-webbe after the olde descripcioun ,which thow mayst tornen up and doun as thy- self lyketh, contenethcertein nombre of sterres fixes, with hir longitudes and latitudesdeterminat; yif so be that the makere have nat erred. The names 5of the sterres ben writen in the margin of the riet ther as they sitte;of whiche sterres the smale poynt is cleped the Centre. Andunderstond also that alle sterres sittinge with-in the zodiak of thynAstrolabie ben cleped ' sterres of the north,' for they arysen bynorthe the est lyne. And alle the remenant fixed, out of the 10zodiak, ben cleped ' sterres of the south; ' but I sey nat that they19. Some Astrolabes shew 18 of these azimuthal circles, as in myfigure (fig. 5, Pl. III) . See Stöffler, leaf 13, where will be found alsothe rules for drawing them.20. If accurately drawn, these embelife or oblique lines should dividethe portions of the three circles below the horizon obliquus into twelveequal parts. Thus each arc is determined by having to pass throughthree known points. They are called arcus horarum inequalium, asthey shew the ' houres inequales.'21. In fig. 2, Pl. II, the Rete is shewn as it appears when droppedinto the depression in the front of the instrument. The shape of itvaried much, and another drawing of one (copied from Camb. Univ.MS. Ii . 3. 3 , fol. 66 b) is given in fig. 9, Pl. IV. The positions of thestars are marked by the extreme points of the metal tongues. Fig. 2is taken from the figures in the Cambridge MSS. , but the positions ofthe stars have been corrected by the list of latitudes and longitudes186 [PART 1. § 21 . THE ASTROLABE.arysen alle by southe the est lyne; witnesse on Aldeberan andAlgomeysa. Generally understond this rewle, that thilke sterresthat ben cleped sterres of the north arysen rather than the degree15 of hir longitude, and alle the sterres of the south arysen after thedegree of hir longitude; this is to seyn, sterres fixed in thynAstrolabie. The mesure of this longitude of sterres is taken in thelyne ecliptik of hevene, under which lyne, whan that the sonneand the mone ben lyne-right or elles in the superfice of this lyne,20 than is the eclips of the sonne or of the mone; as I shal declare,and eek the cause why. But sothly the Ecliptik Lyne of thyzodiak is the outtereste bordure of thy zodiak, ther the degrees benmarked.Thy Zodiak of thyn Astrolabie is shapen as a compas which that25 conteneth a large brede, as after the quantite of thyn Astrolabie;in ensample that the zodiak in hevene is imagened to ben a superfice contening a latitude of twelve degrees, wheras al the remenantof cercles in the hevene ben imagined verrey lynes with-oute enylatitude. Amiddes this celestial zodiak ys imagined a lyne, which30 that is cleped the Ecliptik Lyne, under which lyne is evermo thewey of the sonne. Thus ben ther six degrees of the zodiak onthat on side of the lyne, and six degrees on that other. Thiszodiak is devided in twelve principal devisiouns, that departen thetwelve signes. And, for the streitnes of thin Astrolabie, than is35 every smal devisioun in a signe departid by two degrees and two;I mene degrees contening sixty minutes. And this forseidehevenissh zodiak is cleped the Cercle of the Signes, or the Cercleof the Bestes; for zodia in langage of Greek sowneth ' bestes ' inLatin tonge; and in the zodiak ben the twelve signes that han40 names of bestes; or elles, for whan the sonne entreth in any ofthesignes, he taketh the propretee of swich bestes; or elles, for thatthe sterres that ben there fixed ben disposed in signes of bestes,or shape like bestes; or elles, whan the planetes ben under thilkegiven by Stöffler, whom I have followed, not because he is correct, butbecause he probably represents their positions as they were supposedto be in Chaucer's time very nearly indeed. There was not room toinscribe the names of all the stars on the Rete, and to have writtenthem on the plate below would have conveyed a false impression.A list of the stars marked in fig. 2 is given in the note to § 21 , 1. 4.The Ecliptic is the circle which crosses the Equinoctial at its Eastand West points (fig. 2). In Chaucer's description of the zodiac,PARTI. § 23. ] DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENT. 187signes, they causen us by hir influence operaciouns and effecteslyk to the operaciouns of bestes. And understonde also, that whan 45an hot planete cometh in-to an hot signe, than encresseth his hete;and yif a planete be cold, thanne amenuseth his coldnesse, by-causeofthe hote signe. And bythis conclusioun maystow take ensamplein alle the signes, be they moist or drye, or moeble or fix; rekening the qualitee of the planete as I first seide. And everich of 50thise twelve signes hath respecte to a certein parcelle of the bodyof a man and hath it in governance; as Aries hath thyn heved, andTaurus thy nekke and thy throte, Gemini thyn armholes and thynarmes, and so forth; as shal be shewed more pleyn in the fiftepartie of this tretis. This zodiak, which that is part of the eighte 55spere, over-kerveth the equinoxial; and he over-kerveth him againin evene parties; and that on half declineth southward, and thatother northward, as pleynly declareth the tretis of the spere. Andfor more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.22. Thanne hastow a label, that is schapen lyk a rewle, save thatit is streit and hath no plates on either ende with holes; but, withthe smale point of the forseide label, shaltow calcule thyneequaciouns in the bordure of thin Astrolabie, as by thyn almury.And for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.23. Thyn Almury is cleped the Denticle of Capricorne, or ellesthe Calculer. This same Almury sit fix in the hed of Capricorne,5carefully note the distinction between the Zodiac of the Astrolabeand the Zodiac of Heaven. The former is only six degrees broad,and shews only the northern half of the heavenly zodiac, the breadthof which is imagined to be 12 degrees. Chaucer's zodiac only shewedevery other degree in the divisions round its border. This border isdivided by help of a table of right ascensions of the various degrees ofthe ecliptic, which is by no means easily done. See Note on 1. 4 ofthis section. I may add that the Rete is also called Aranea orVolvellum; in Arabic, Al'ancabūt ( the spider) .22. The Label. See fig. 6, Pl. III. The label is more usually usedon thefront ofthe instrument, where the Rete and other plates revolve.The rule is used on the back, for taking altitudes by help of the scale.23. The Almury; called also denticulus, ostensor, or ' calculer.' Infig. 2, it may be seen that the edge of the Rete is cut away near thehead of Capricorn, leaving only a small pointed projecting tongue,which is the almury or denticle, or ( as we should now say) pointer.As the Rete revolves, it points to the different degrees of the border.See also fig. 9, where the almury is plainly marked.188 THE ASTROLABE. [PART II . § I.and it serveth of many a necessarie conclusioun in equaciouns ofthinges, as shal be shewed; and for the more declaracioun, lo here5 thy figure.Here endeth the descripcion of the Astrolabie.PART II.HERE BIGINNEN THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE ASTROLabie.1. To fynde the degree in which the sonne is day by day,after hir cours a-boute.[ Hic incipiunt Conclusiones Astrolabii; et prima est adinveniendum gradus solis in quibus singulis diebussecundum cursum sol est existens. ]IRekene and knowe which is the day of thy monthe; and leythy rewle up that same day; and thanne wol the verray point ofthy rewle sitten in the bordure, up-on the degree of thy sonne.Ensample as thus; the yeer of oure lord 1391 , the 12 day of5 March at midday, I wolde knowe the degree of the sonne.soughte in the bak- half of myn Astrolabie, and fond the cercle ofthe dayes, the which I knowe by the names of the monthes writenunder the same cercle. Tho leide I my rewle over this forseideday, and fond the point of my rewle in the bordure up- on the10 firste degree of Aries, a litel with-in the degree; and thus knoweI this conclusioun. Another day, I wolde knowe the degree ofmy sonne, and this was at midday in the 13 day of Decembre;fond the day of the monthe in maner as I seide; tho leide I myrewle up-on this forseide 13 day, and fond the point of my rewlePart II, § 1. [The Latin headings to the propositions are taken fromthe MS. in St. John's College, Cambridge. ] See fig. 1. Any straightedge laid across from the centre will shew this at once. Chaucer,reckoning by the old style, differs from us by about eight days. Thefirst degree of Aries, which in his time answered to the 12th ofMarch, now vibrates between the 20th and 21st of that month. Thisdifference of eight days must be carefully borne in mind in calculatingChaucer's dates.PART II. § 3.] POSITION OF THE SUN. 189in the bordure up-on the first degree of Capricorne, a lite with-in 15the degree; and than hadde I of this conclusioun the fulexperience. And for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.2. To knowe the altitude of the sonne, or of othre celestialbodies.[ De altitudine solis et aliorum corporum supra celestium. ]And remevePut the ring of thyn Astrolabie up-on thy right thoumbe, andturne thy lift syde agayn the light of the sonne.thy rewle up and doun, til that the stremes of the sonne shynethorgh bothe holes of thy rewle. Loke thanne how many degreesthy rewle is areised fro the litel crois up-on thyn est line, and tak 5ther the altitude of thy sonne. And in this same wyse maistowknowe by nighte the altitude of the mone, or of brighte sterres.This chapitre is so general ever in oon, that ther nedith no moredeclaracion; but forget it nat. And for the more declaracioun,lo here the figure.3. To knowe every tyme of the day by light of the sonne,and every tyme of the night by the sterres fixe, and eketo knowe by night or by day the degree of any signe thatassendeth on the Est Orisonte, which that is cleped communly the Assendent, or elles Oruscupum.[Ad cognoscendum quodlibet tempus diei per solis indicacionem, et quodlibet tempus noctis per quasdam stellasin celo fixas; ac eciam ad inveniendum et cognoscendumsignum super orizontem qui communiter vocatur ascendens. ]Tak the altitude of the sonne whan thee list, as I have said; andset the degree of the sonne, in cas that it be by-forn the middel ofthe day, among thyn almikanteras on the est side of thynAstrolabie; and yif it be after the middel of the day, set the degree2. Here ' thy left side ' means the left side of thine own body, andtherefore the right or Eastern edge of the Astrolabe. In taking thealtitude of the sun, the rays are allowed to shine through the holes;but the stars are observed by looking through them. See figs. I and 3.3. Drop the disc (fig. 5 ) within the border of the mother, and theRete over it. Take the sun's altitude by § 2, and let it be 25 °. As theΤΟ190 THE ASTROLABE[PART II. § 3..5 of thy sonne up-on the west side; tak this manere of setting for ageneral rewle, ones for evere. And whan thou hast set the degreeof thy sonne up as many almikanteras of heyghte as was thealtitude of the sonne taken by thy rewle, ley over thy label, up-onthe degree of the sonne; and thanne wol the point of thy label10 sitten in the bordure, up-on the verrey tyd of the day. Ensampleas thus the yeer of oure lord 1391 , the 12 day of March, I woldknowe the tyd of the day. I took the altitude of my sonne, andfond that it was 25 degrees and 30 of minutes of heyghte in thebordure on the bak-syde. Tho turnede I myn Astrolabie, and by15 cause that it was by-forn midday, I turnede my riet, and sette thedegree of the sonne, that is to seyn, the 1 degree of Aries, on theright syde of myn Astrolabie, up-on that 25 degrees and 30 ofminutes of heyghte among myn almikanteras; tho leide I mylabelup-on the degree of my sonne, and fond the poynte of my label in20 the bordure, up-on a capital lettre that is cleped an X; tho rekenedI alle the capitalles lettres fro the lyne of midnight un-to this forseide lettre X, and fond that it was 9 of the clokke of the day.Tho loked I down up- on the est orisonte, and fond there the 20degree ofGeminis assending; which that I tok for myn assendent.25 And in this wyse hadde I the experience for ever-mo in whichmaner I sholde knowe the tyd of the day, and eek myn assendent. Tho wolde I wite the same night folwing the hour of thenight, and wroughte in this wyse. Among an heep of sterris fixe,it lyked me for to take the altitude of the feire white sterre that is30 cleped Alhabor; and fond hir sitting on the west side of the lyneof midday, 18 degres of heighte taken by my rewle on the bak- syde.Tho sette I the centre of this Alhabor up- on 18 degrees amongmyn almikanteras, up-on the west syde; by-cause that she wasaltitude was taken by the back of the Astrolabe, turn it over, and thenlet the Rete revolve westward till the 1st point of Aries is just withinthe altitude-circle marked 25, allowing for the degree by guess.This will bring the denticle near the letter C, and the first point ofAries near X, which means 9 A.M. At the same time, the 20th degreeof Gemini will be on the horizon obliquus. See fig. 11 , Pl. V. Thisresult can be approximately verified by a common globe thus; elevatethe pole nearly 52°; turn the small brass hour-circle so that thefigure XII lies on the equinoctial colure; then turn the globe till IXlies under the brass meridian. In the next example, by the Astrolabe,let the height of Alhabor (Sirius) be about 18°. Turn the denticlePART II . §4.] DECLARATION OF THE ASCENDENT. 191founden on the west syde. Tho leide I my label over the degreeof the sonne that was descended under the weste orisonte, and 35rikened alle the lettres capitals fro the lyne of midday un-to thepoint of my label in the bordure; and fond that it was passed 8 ofthe clokke the space of 2 degrees. Tho loked I doun up-on mynest orisonte, and fond ther 23 degrees of Libra assending, whom Itok for myn assendent; and thus lerned I to knowe ones for ever 40in which manere I shuld come to the houre of the night and tomyn assendent; as verreyly as may be taken by so smal an instrument. But natheles, in general, wolde I warne thee for evere, nemak thee nevere bold to have take a iust ascendent by thynAstrolabie, or elles to have set iustly a clokke, whan any celestial 45body by which that thow wenest governe thilke thinges ben neythe south lyne; for trust wel, whan that the sonne is ney themeridional lyne, the degree of the sonne renneth so longe consentrik up-on the almikanteras, that sothly thou shalt erre fro the iustassendent. The same conclusioun sey I by the centre of any 50sterre fix by night; and more-over, by experience, I wot wel thatin oure orisonte, from 11 of the clokke un-to oon of the clokke,in taking of a iust assendent in a portatif Astrolabie, hit is to hardto knowe. I mene, from 11 of the clokke biforn the houre ofnoon til oon of the clok next folwing. And for the more declar- 55acion, lo here thy figure.4. Special declaracion of the assendent.[ Specialis declaracio de ascendente. ]The assendent sothly, as wel in alle nativitez as in questiounsand elecciouns of tymes, is a thing which that thise astrologiensgretly observen; wher-fore me semeth convenient, sin that Ispeke ofthe assendent, to make of it special declaracioun. Theassendent sothly, to take it at the largeste, is thilke degree that 5Eastward till it touches the 58th degree near the letter O, and it willbe found that Alhabor is about 18° high among the almicanteras,whilst the first point of Aries points to 32° near the letter H, i . e. to8 minutes past 8 P.M.; whilst at the same time, the 23rd degree ofLibra is almost on the Horizon obliquus on the Eastern side. By theglobe, at about 8 minutes past 8 P.M., the altitude of Sirius is verynearly 18°, and the 23rd of Libra is very near the Eastern horizon.See fig. 12, Pl. V.4. The ascendent at any given moment is that degree of the zodiac192 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 4..assendeth at any of thise forseide tymes upon the est orisonte;and there-for, yif that any planet assende at that same tyme inthilke for-seide degree of his longitude, men seyn that thilkeplanete is in horoscopo. But sothly, the hous of the assendent,10 that is to seyn, the firste hous or the est angle, is a thing morebrood and large. For after the statutz of astrologiens, whatcelestial body that is 5 degres above thilk degree that assendeth,or with- in that noumbre, that is to seyn, nere the degree thatassendeth, yit rikne they thilke planet in the assendent. And15 what planete that is under thilke degree that assendith the spaceof 25 degrees, yit seyn they that thilke planete is lyk to him thatis in the hous of the assendent; but sothly, yif he passe thebondes of thise forseide spaces, above or bynethe, they seynthat the planete is failling fro the assendent. Yit sein thise20 astrologiens, that the assendent, and eke the lord of the assendent,may be shapen for to be fortunat or infortunat, as thus: a fortunatassendent clepen they whan that no wykkid planete, as Saturneor Mars, or elles the Tail of the Dragoun, is in the hous of theassendent, ne that no wikked planete have non aspecte of enemite25 up-on the assendent; but they wol caste that they have a fortunatplanete in hir assendent and yit in his felicitee, and than sey theythat it is wel. Forther-over, they seyn that the infortuning of anassendent is the contrarie of thise forseide thinges. The lord ofthe assendent, sey they, that he is fortunat, whan he is in good30 place fro the assendent as in angle; or in a succedent, where- ashe is in his dignitee and conforted with frendly aspectes of planetesand wel resceived, and eek that he may seen the assendent, andthat he be nat retrograd ne combust, ne ioigned with no shrewein the same signe; ne that he be nat in his descencioun, ne35 ioigned with no planete in his discencioun, ne have up-on himnon aspecte infortunat; and than sey they that he is wel. Natheles, thise ben observauncez of iudicial matiere and rytes of payens,in which my spirit ne hath no feith, ne no knowing of hir horoscopum; for they seyn that every signe is departed in 3 evene40 parties by 10 degrees, and thilke porcioun they clepe a Face.which is then seen upon the Eastern horizon. Chaucer says thatastrologers reckoned in also 5 degrees of the zodiac above, and 25below; the object being to extend the planet's influence over a whole' house,' which is a space of the same length as a sign, viz. 30°.See § 36 below.PART II. § 6. ] A MEAN BETWEEN TWO RESULTS. 193And al- thogh that a planete have a latitude fro the ecliptik, yitsey some folk, so that the planete aryse in that same signe withany degree of the forseide face in which his longitude is rekned,that yit is the planete in horoscopo, be it in nativite or in eleccioun,&c. And for the more declaracioun, lo here the figure.5. To knowe the verrey equacioun of the degree of thesonne, yif so be that it falle by-twixe thyn Almikanteras.[Ad cognoscendum veram equacionem de gradu solis, sicontigerit fore in duas Almicanteras. ]45For as moche as the almikanteras in thyn Astrolabie beencompouned by two and two, where- as some almikanteras insondry Astrolabies ben compouned by on and on, or elles by twoand two, it is necessarie to thy lerning to teche thee first to knoweand worke with thyn owne instrument. Wher-for, whan that the 5degree of thy sonne falleth by-twixe two almikanteras, or elles yifthyn almikanteras ben graven with over gret a point of a compas,(for bothe thise thinges may causen errour as wel in knowing ofthe tyd of the day as of the verrey assendent), thou most werkenin this wyse. Set the degree of thy sonne up- on the heyer 10almikanteras of bothe, and waite wel wher as thin almury toucheththe bordure, and set ther a prikke of inke. Set doun agayn thedegree of thy sonne up-on the nethere almikanteras of bothe, andset ther another prikke. Remewe thanne thyn almury in thebordure evene amiddes bothe prikkes, and this wol lede iustly the 15degree of thy sonne to sitte by-twixe bothe almikanteras in hisright place. Ley thanne thy label over the degree of thy sonne;and find in the bordure the verrey tyde of the day or of the night.And as verreyly shaltow finde up-on thyn est orisonte thyn assendent. And for more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.6. To knowe the spring of the dawing and the ende of theevening, the which ben called the two crepusculis:[Ad cognoscendum ortum solis et eius occasum, que vocaturvulgariter crepusculum. ]Set the nadir of thy sonne up-on 18 degrees of heighte amongthyn almikanteras on the west syde, and ley thy label on the degree5. This merely amounts to taking the mean between two results.6. This depends upon the refraction of light by the atmosphere,

20194 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 7. .of thy sonne, and thanne shal the poynt of thy label schewe thespring ofday. Also set the nadir of thy sonne up-on 18 degrees5 of heighte a-mong thyn almikanteras on the est side, and ley overthy label up-on the degree of the sonne, and with the point ofthy label find in the bordure the ende of the evening, that is,verrey night. The nadir of the sonne is thilke degree that isopposit to the degree of the sonne, in the seventhe signe, as thus:10 every degree of Aries by ordre is nadir to every degree of Libraby ordre; and Taurus to Scorpion; Gemini to Sagittare; Cancerto Capricorne; Leo to Aquarie; Virgo to Pisces; and yif any degreein thy zodiak be dirk, his nadir shal declare him. And for themore declaracioun, lo here thy figure.7. To knowe the arch of the day, that some folk callen theday artificial, from the sonne arysing til hit go to reste.[Ad cognoscendum archum diei, quem vulgus vocat diemartificialem, in hoc, ab ortu solis usque ad occasum. ]Set the degree of thy sonne up-on thyn est orisonte, and leythy label on the degree of the sonne, and at the poynt of thylabel in the bordure set a prikke. Turn thanne thy riet aboutetil the degree of the sonne sit up-on the west orisonte, and ley5 thy label up-on the same degree of the sonne, and at the point ofthy label set a-nother prikke. Rekne thanne the quantitee oftyme in the bordure by-twixe bothe prikkes, and tak ther thyn arkof the day. The remenant of the bordure under the orisonte isthe ark of the night. Thus maistow rekne bothe arches, or10 every porcion, of whether that thee lyketh. And by this manereof wyrking maistow see how longe that any sterre fix dwelleth above the erthe, fro tyme that he ryseth til he go to reste. Butowing to which light from the sun reaches us whilst he is still 18°below the horizon. The nadir of the sun being 18° high on the W.side, the sun itself is 18° below the Eastern horizon , giving the time ofdawn; and if the nadir be 18° high on the E. side, we get the time ofthe end of the evening twilight. Thus, at the vernal equinox, the sunis 18° high soon after 8 A.M. (roughly speaking) , and hence the eveningtwilight ends soon after 8 P.M., 12 hours later, sunset being at 6 P.M.7. Ex. The sun being in the first point of Cancer on the longest day,its rising will be shewn by the point in fig. 5 where the horizon obliquusand Tropicus Cancri intersect; this corresponds to a point between PPART II . § 10. ] THE DAY ARTIFICIAL. 195the day natural, that is to seyn 24 houres, is the revolucioun ofthe equinoxial with as moche partie of the zodiak as the sonneof his propre moevinge passeth in the mene whyle. And for the 15more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.8. To turn the houres in-equales in houres equales.[Ad convertendum horas inequales in horas equales. ]Knowe the nombre of the degrees in the houres in-equales, anddeparte hem by 15, and tak ther thyn houres equales. And forthe more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.9. To knowe the quantitee of the day vulgare, that is toseyen, from spring of the day un-to verrey night.[Ad cognoscendum quantitatem diei vulgaris, viz. ab ortudiei usque ad noctem. ]Know the quantitee of thy crepusculis, as I have taught in thechapitre bi-forn, and adde hem to the arch of thy day artificial;and tak ther the space of alle the hole day vulgar, un-to verreynight. The same manere maystow worke, to knowe the quantiteeof the vulgar night. And for the more declaracioun, lo here the 5figure.10. To knowe the quantite of houres in- equales by day.[Ad cognoscendum horas inequales in die. ]Understond wel, that thise houres in-equales ben cleped houresof planetes, and understond wel that som-tyme ben they lengereby day than by night, and som-tyme the contrarie. But understond wel, that evermo, generaly, the hour in-equal of the daywith the houre in-equal of the night contenen 30 degrees of the 5and Q in fig. 2, or to about a quarter to 4 A. M. So too the sunset isat about a quarter past 8, and the length of the day 16 hours; hencealso, the length of the night is about 7 hours, neglecting twilight.8. On the same day, the number of degrees in the whole day isabout 247 , that being the number through which the Rete is turnedin the example to § 7. Divide by 15, and we have 16 equal hours.9. The ' day vulgar ' is the length of the ' artificial day,' with thelength ofthe twilight, both at morn and at eve, added to it.10, If, as in § 7, the day be 16 hours long, the length of each ' hour0 2196 THE ASTROLABE. [PART II. § II.bordure, whiche bordure is ever-mo answering to the degrees ofthe equinoxial; wher-for departe the arch of the day artificial in12, and tak ther the quantitee of the houre in-equal by day.And yif thow abate the quantitee of the houre in-equal by daye10 out of 30, than shal the remenant that leveth performe the houreinequal by night. And for the more declaracioun, lo here thefigure.11. To knowe the quantite of houres equales.[Ad cognoscendum quantitatem horarum inequalium. ]The quantitee of houres equales, that is to seyn, the houres ofthe clokke, ben departed by 15 degrees al-redy in the bordureof thyn Astrolabie, as wel by night as by day, generaly for evere.What nedeth more declaracioun? Wher-for, whan thee list to5 know how manye houres of the clokke ben passed, or any part ofany of thise houres that ben passed, or elles how many houręs orpartie of houres ben to come, fro swich a tyme to swich a tyme,by day or by nighte, knowe the degree of thy sonne, and ley thylabel on it; turne thy riet aboute ioyntly with thy label, and with10 the point of it rekne in the bordure fro the sonne aryse un-tothe same place ther thou desirest, by day as by nighte. Thisconclusioun wol I declare in the laste chapitre of the 4 partie ofthis tretis so openly, that ther shal lakke no worde that nedeth tothe declaracioun. And for the more declaracioun, lo here the15 figure.12. Special declaracioun of the houres of planetes.[ Specialis declaracio de horis planetarum. ]Understond wel, that evere-mo, fro the arysing of the sonne tilit go to reste, the nadir of the sonne shal shewe the houre oftheinequal ' is 1 h. 22 m.; and the length of each ' hour inequal ' of thenight is the 12th part of 7 hours, or 37 m.; and 1 h. 224 m. , addedto 37 m., will of course make up 2 hours, or 30°.11. This merely repeats that 15° of the border answer to an hour ofthe clock. The ' 4 partie of this tretis ' was never written.12. This ' hour of the planet ' is a mere astrological supposition, involving no point of astronomy. Each hour is an hour inequal , ' or the12th part of the artificial day or night. The assumptions are so madePART II. § 12. ] OF THE HOURS OF PLANETS. 197planete, and fro that tyme forward al the night til the sonnearyse; than shal the verrey degree of the sonne shewe the houreof the planete. Ensample as thus. The 13 day of March fil 5up-on a Saterday per aventure, and, at the arising of the sonne, Ifond the secounde degree of Aries sitting up- on myn est orisonte,al-be-it that it was but lite; than fond I the 2 degree of Libra,nadir of my sonne, dessending on my west orisonte, up-on whichwest orisonte every day generally, at the sonne ariste, entreth 10the houre of any planete, after which planete the day bereth hisname; and endeth in the nexte stryk of the plate under theforseide west orisonte; and evere, as the sonne climbeth uppereand uppere, so goth his nadir dounere and dounere, teching byswich strykes the houres of planetes by ordre as they sitten in 15the hevene. The first houre inequal of every Satterday is toSaturne; and the secounde, to Iupiter; the 3 , to Mars; the 4,to the Sonne; the 5, to Venus; the 6, to Mercurius; the 7, tothe Mone; and thanne agayn, the 8 is to Saturne; the 9, toIupiter; the 10, to Mars; the 11, to the Sonne; the 12 , to 20Venus; and now is my sonne gon to reste as for that Setterday.Thanne sheweth the verrey degree of the sonne the houre ofMercurie entring under my west orisonte at eve; and next himsuccedeth the Mone; and so forth by ordre, planete afterplanete, in houre after houre, al the night longe til the sonne 25aryse. Now ryseth the sonne that Sonday by the morwe; andthat the first hour of every day may resemble the name of the day; the first hour of Sunday is the hour of the Sun, and so on. These hoursmay be easily found by the following method. Let 1 represent bothSunday and the Sun; 2, Monday and the Moon; 3, Tuesday andMars; 4, Wednesday and Mercury; 5 , Thursday and Jupiter; 6,Friday and Venus; 7, Saturday and Saturn. Next, write down thefollowing succession of figures, which will shew the hours at once.1642753 16427531642753164275316.Ex. To find the planet of the 10th hour of Tuesday. Tuesday is thethird day of the week; begin with 3 , to the left of the upright line, andreckon 10 onwards; the 10th figure (counting 3 as the first) is 6, i . e.Venus. So also, the planet of the 24th hour of Friday is the Moon, andSaturday begins with Saturn. It may be observed that this table canbe carried in the memory, by simply observing that the numbers arewritten, beginning with 1 , in the reverse order of the spheres, i . e. Sun,Venus, Mercury, Moon; and then (beginning again at the outmostsphere) Saturn, Jupiter, Mars. This is why Chaucer takes a Saturday;198 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 13..the nadir of the sonne, up-on the west orizonte, sheweth me theentring of the houre of the forseide sonne. And in this manersuccedeth planete under planete, fro Saturne un-to the Mone,30 and fro the Mone up a-gayn to Saturne, houre after houregeneraly. And thus knowe I this conclusioun. And for themore declaracioun, lo here the figure.13. To knowe the altitude of the sonne in middes of theday, that is cleped the altitude meridian.[Ad cognoscendum altitudinem solis in medio diei, quevocatur altitudo meridiana. ]Set the degree of the sonne up-on the lyne meridional, andrikene how many degrees of almikanteras ben by-twixe thyn estorisonte and the degree of the sonne. And tak ther thyn altitudemeridian; this is to seyne, the heyest of the sonne as for that day.5 So maystow knowe in the same lyne, the heyest cours that anysterre fix climbeth by night; this is to seyn, that whan any sterrefix is passed the lyne meridional, than by-ginneth it to descende,and so doth the sonne. And for the more declaracioun, lo herethy figure.14. To knowe the degree of the sonne by thy riet, for amaner curiositee, &c.[ Ad cognoscendum gradum solis curiose. ]Sek bysily with thy rewle the heyest of the sonne in midde ofthe day; turne thanne thyn Astrolabie, and with a prikke of inkmarke the nombre of that same altitude in the lyne meridional.Turne thanne thy riet a-boute til thou fynde a degree of thythat he may begin with the remotest planet, Saturn, and follow thereverse order of the spheres. See fig. 10, Pl. V. Here, too, we havethe obvious reason for the succession of the names of the days of theweek, viz. that the planets being reckoned in this order, we find theMoon in the 25th place or hour from the Sun, and so on.13. The reason of this is obvious from what has gone before. Thesun's meridional altitude is at once seen by placing the sun's degreeon the South line.14. This is the exact converse of the preceding. It furnishes amethod oftesting the accuracy of the drawing of the almikanteras.PART II . § 16. ] EXPLANATION OF THE SOLSTICES. 199zodiak acording with the prikke, this is to seyn, sittinge on the 5prikke; and in sooth, thou shalt finde but two degrees in al thezodiak of that condicioun; and yit thilke two degrees ben indiverse signes; than maistow lightly by the sesoun of the yereknowe the signe in whiche that is the sonne.more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.And for the15. To know which day is lyk to which day as oflengthe, &c.[ Ad cognoscendum quales dies in longitudine sunt similes. ]Loke whiche degrees ben y-lyke fer fro the hevedes of Cancerand Capricorn; and lok, whan the sonne is in any of thilkedegrees, than ben the dayes y-lyke of lengthe. This is to seyn,that as long is that day in that monthe, as was swich a day inswich a month; ther varieth but lite. Also, yif thou take two 5dayes naturaly in the yer y-lyke fer fro eyther pointe of theequinoxial in the opposit parties, than as long is the day artificialof that on day as is the night of that othere, and the contrarie.And for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.16. This chapitre is a maner declaracioun to conclusiounsthat folwen.[ Illud capitulum est quedam declaracio ad certasconclusiones sequentes.]Understond wel that thy zodiak is departid in two halfe cercles,as fro the heved of Capricorne un-to the heved of Cancer; andagaynward fro the heved of Cancer un-to the heved of Capricorne.15. This is best done by help of the back of the instrument, fig. 1 .Thus May 13 ( old style) , which lies 30° to the W. of the S. line, isnearly of the same length as July 13 , which lies 30° to the E. Secondly,the day of April 2 (old style) , 20° above the W. line, is nearly of thesame length as the night of Oct. 2, 20° belowthe E. line, in the oppositepoint of the circle. This is but an approximation, as the divisions onthe instrument are rather minute.16. This merely expresses the same thing, with the addition, thaton days of the same length, the sun has the same meridional altitude,and the same declination from the equator.IO200 THE ASTROLABE [PART II . § 17..The heved of Capricorne is the lowest point, wher- as the sonne5 goth in winter; and the heved of Cancer is the heyest point, inwhiche the sonne goth in somer. And ther-for understond wel,that any two degrees that ben y-lyke fer fro any of thise twohevedes, truste wel that thilke two degrees ben of y-lyke declinacioun, be it southward or northward; and the dayes of hem10 ben y-lyke of lengthe, and the nightes also; and the shadwesy-lyke, and the altitudes y-lyke at midday for evere. And formore declaracioun, lo here thy figure.17. To knowe the verrey degree of any maner sterrestraunge or unstraunge after his longitude, though he beindeterminat in thyn Astrolabie; sothly to the trowthe,thus he shal be knowe.[Ad cognoscendum verum gradum alicuius stelle alienesecundum eius longitudinem, quamvis sit indeterminatain astrolabio; veraciter isto modo. ]Tak the altitude of this sterre whan he is on the est side of thelyne meridional, as ney as thou mayst gesse; and tak an assendent a-non right by som maner sterre fix which that thouknowest; and for-get nat the altitude of the firste sterre, ne thyn5 assendent. And whan that this is don, espye diligently whan thissame firste sterre passeth any-thing the south westward, and hathhim a-non right in the same noumbre of altitude on the west sideof this lyne meridional as he was caught on the est side; and taka newe assendent a-non right by som maner sterre fixe which that17. Here passeth any-thing the south westward means, passessomewhat to the westward of the South line. The problem is , to find the degree of the zodiac which is on the meridian with the star. Τοdo this, find the altitude of the star before it souths, and by help ofproblem 3, find out the ascending degree of the zodiac; secondly, findthe ascending degree at an equal time after it souths, when the starhas the same altitude as before, and the mean between these will bethe degree that ascends when the star is on the meridian. Set thisdegree upon the Eastern part of the horizon obliquus, and then thedegree which is upon the meridional line souths together with the star.Such is the solution given, but it is but a very rough approximation,and by no means always near to the truth. An example will shew why. Let Arcturus have the same altitude at 10 P.M. as at 2 A.M.In the first case the 4th of Sagittarius is ascending, in the second (withPART II. § 17.] LONGITUDE OF A STRANGE STAR.201thou knowest; and for-get nat this secounde assendent. And 10whan that this is don, rikne thanne how manye degrees ben bytwixe the firste assendent and the seconde assendent, and riknewel the middel degree by-twene bothe assendentes, and set thilkemiddel degree up-on thin est orisonte; and waite thanne whatdegreethat sit up-on the lyne meridional, and tak ther the verrey degree 15of the ecliptik in which the sterre stondeth for the tyme. For inthe ecliptik is the longitude of a celestial body rekened, evene frothe heved of Aries un-to the ende of Pisces. And his latitude isrikned after the quantite of his declinacion, north or south to-wardethe poles of this world; as thus. Yif it be of the sonne or of any 20fix sterre, rekene his latitude or his declinacioun fro the equinoxialcercle; and yif it be of a planete, rekne than the quantitee of hislatitude fro the ecliptik lyne. Al-be-it so that fro the equinoxialmay the declinacion or the latitude of any body celestial be rikned,after the site north or south, and after the quantitee of his declin- 25acion. And right so may the latitude or the declinacion of anybody celestial, save only of the sonne, after his site north or south,and after the quantitee of his declinacioun, be rekned fro thesufficient accuracy for our purpose) the 2nd of Aquarius; and themean between these is the 3rd of Capricorn. Set this on the Easternhorizon upon a globe, and it will be seen that it is 20 min. past midnight, that 10° of Scorpio is on the meridian, and that Arcturus haspast the meridian by 5°. At true midnight, the ascendent is the 29°of Sagittarius. The reason of the error is that right ascension andlongitude are here not sufficiently distinguished. By observing thedegrees of the equinoctial, instead of the ecliptic, upon the Eastern horizon, we have at the first observation 272° , at the second 332°, andthe mean of these is 302°; from this subtract 90° , and the result, 212°,gives the right ascension of Arcturus very nearly, corresponding towhich is the beginning of the 5° of Scorpio, which souths along with it .This latter method is correct, because it assumes the motion to takeplace round the axis of the equator. The error of Chaucer's methodis that it identifies the motion of the equator with that of the ecliptic.The amount of the error varies considerably, and may be rather large.But it can easily be diminished, (and no doubt was so in practice) , bytaking the observations as near the south line as possible. Curiouslyenough, the rest of the section explains the difference between the twomethods of reckoning. The modern method is to call the co-ordinatesright ascension and declination, if reckoned from the equator, andlongitude and latitude, if from the ecliptic. Motion in longitude isnot the same thing as motion in right ascension.202 THE ASTROLABE [PART II . § 18..ecliptik lyne; fro which lyne alle planetes som tyme declynen30 north or south, save only the for-seide sonne.declaracioun, lo here thy figure.And for the more18. To knowe the degrees of the longitudes of fixe sterresafter that they ben determinat in thin Astrolabie, yif sobe that they ben trewly set.[Ad cognoscendum gradus longitudinis de stellis fixis quedeterminantur in astrolabio, sicut in suis locis rectelocentur. ]Set the centre of the sterre up-on the lyne meridional, and takkeep of thy zodiak, and loke what degree of any signe that sit onthe same lyne meridional at that same tyme, and tak the degree inwhich the sterre standeth; and with that same degree comth that5 same sterre un-to that same lyne fro the orisonte. And for moredeclaracioun, lo here thy figure.19. To knowe with which degree of the zodiak any sterrefixe in thyn Astrolabie aryseth up-on the est orisonte, althogh his dwelling be in a-nother signe.[Ad cognoscendum cum quibus gradibus zodiaci que stellafixa in astrolabio ascendit super orizontem orientalem,quamvis eius statio sit in alio signo. ]Set the centre of the sterre up-on the est orisonte, and lokewhat degree of any signe that sit up-on the same orisonte at thatsame tyme. And understond wel, that with that same degreearyseth that same sterre; and this merveyllous arysing with a18. The ' centre ' of the star is the technical name for the extremityof the metal tongue representing it. The degree in which the starstandeth ' is considered to be that degree of the zodiac which southsalong with it. Thus Sirius or Alhabor has its true longitude nearlyequal to that of 12° of Cancer, but, as it souths with the 9th degree, itwould be said to stand in that degree. This may serve for an example;but it must be remembered that its longitude was different in the timeof Chaucer.19. Also it rises with the 19th degree of Leo, as it is at somedistance from the zodiac in latitude. The same ' marvellous arisingin a strange sign ' is hardly because of the latitude being north orPART II . § 20.] SUN'S DECLINATION. 203strange degree in another signe is by-cause that the latitude of the 5sterre fix is either north or south fro the equinoxial. But sothly,the latitudes of planetes ben comunly rekned fro the ecliptik,bi-cause that non of hem declineth but fewe degrees out fro thebrede of the zodiak. And tak good keep ofthis chapitre of arysingof the celestial bodies; for truste wel, that neyther mone ne sterre 10as in oure embelif orisonte aryseth with that same degree of hislongitude, save in o cas; and that is, whan they have no latitudefro the ecliptik lyne. But natheles, som tyme is everiche ofthiseplanetes under the same lyne. And for more declaracioun, lohere thy figure.20. To knowe the declinacioun of any degree in the zodiakfro the equinoxial cercle, & c.[Ad cognoscendum declinacionem alicuius gradus inzodiaco a circulo equinoctiali. ]15Set the degree of any signe up-on the lyne meridional, and riknehis altitude in almikanteras fro the est orizonte up to the samedegree set in the forseide lyne, and set ther a prikke. Turne upthanne thy riet, and set the heved of Aries or Libra in the samemeridional lyne, and set ther a-nother prikke. And whan that 5this is don, considere the altitudes of hem bothe; for sothly thedifference of thilke altitudes is the declinacion of thilke degreefro the equinoxial. And yif so be that thilke degree be northwardsouth from the equinoctial, but rather because it is north or south ofthe ecliptic. For example, Regulus (a Leonis) is on the ecliptic, andof course rises with that very degree in which it is. Hence thereading equinoctial leaves the case in doubt, and we find a morecorrect statement just below, where we have ' whan they have nolatitude fro the ecliptik lyne.' At all places, however, upon the earth'sequator, the stars will rise with the degrees of the zodiac in which theystand.20. Here the disc (fig. 5 ) is supposed to be placed beneath the Rete(fig. 2) . The proposition merely tells us that the difference betweenthe meridian altitudes of the given degree of the zodiac and of the Istpoint of Aries is the declination of that degree, which follows from thevery definition of the term. There is hardly any necessity for settingthe second prick, as it is sufficiently marked by being the point wherethe equinoctial circle crosses the south line. If the given degree lieoutside this circle, the declination is south; if inside, it is north.204 [PART II. § 21.THE ASTROLABE.fro the equinoxial, than is his declinacion north; yif it be south10 ward, than is it south. And for the more declaracioun, lo herethy figure.21 To knowe for what latitude in any regioun thealmikanteras of any table ben compouned.[Ad cognoscendum pro qua latitudine in aliqua regionealmicantre tabule mee sunt composite. ]Rikne how manye degrees of almikanteras, in the meridionallyne, be fro the cercle equinoxial un-to the senith; or elles fro thepool artik un-to the north orisonte; and for so gret a latitude orfor so smal a latitude is the table compouned. And for more5 declaracion, lo here thy figure.22. To knowe in special the latitude of oure countray, Imene after the latitude of Oxenford, and the heighte ofoure pol.[Ad cognoscendum specialiter latitudinem nostri regionis,scilicet latitudinem Oxonie, et altitudinem poli nostri. ]Understond wel, that as fer is the heved of Aries or Libra in theequinoxial from oure orisonte as is the senith from the pole artik;and as hey is the pol artik fro the orisonte, as the equinoxial isfer fro the senith. I prove it thus by the latitude of Oxenford.5 Understond wel, that the heyghte of oure pool artik fro oure northorisonte is 51 degrees and 50 minutes; than is the senith fromoure pool artik 38 degrees and 10 minutes; than is the equinoxial21. In fig. 5, the almicanteras, if accurately drawn, ought to shewas many degrees between the south point of the equinoctial circle andthe zenith as are equal to the latitude of the place for which they aredescribed. The number of degrees from the pole to the northernpoint of the horizon obliquus is of course the same. The latitude ofthe place for which the disc is constructed is thus determined byinspection.22. Inthefirst place where ' orisonte ' occurs, it means the South pointof the horizon; in the second place, the North point. By referring tofig. 13, Plate V, it is clear that the arc S, representing the distance between the equinoctial and the S. point, is equal to the arc ZP, whichPART II. § 23. ]ELEVATION OF THE POLE. 205from oure senith 51 degrees and 50 minutes; than is oure southorisonte from oure equinoxial 38 degrees and 10 minutes. Understond wel this rekning. Also for-get nat that the senith is 90 10degrees of heyghte fro the orisonte, and oure equinoxial is 90degrees from oure pool artik. Also this shorte rewle is soth, thatthe latitude of any place in a regioun is the distance fro the senithunto the equinoxial. And for more declaracioun, lo here thyfigure. 1523. To prove evidently the latitude of any place in aregioun, by the preve of the heyghte of the pol artik inthat same place.[Ad probandum evidenter latitudinem alicuius loci inaliqua regione, per probacionem altitudinis de polo articoin eodem loco. ]In some winters night, whan the firmament is clere and thikkesterred, waite a tyme til that any sterre fix sit lyne-right perpendiculer over the pol artik, and clepe that sterre A.wayte a-nother sterre that sitpol, and clepe that sterre F. And understond wel, that F is nat 5considered but only to declare that A sit evene overe the pool.Tak thanne a-non right the altitude of A from the orisonte, andforget it nat. Lat A and F go farwel til agayns the dawening agret whyle; and come thanne agayn, and abyd til that A is eveneunderthe pol and under F; for sothly, than wol Fsitte over the pool, toand Awol sitte under the pool. Tak than eft-sones the altitude ofAfrom the orisonte, and note as wel his secounde altitude as hisfirste altitude; and whan that this is don, rikne how manye degreeslyne-right under A, and under themeasures the distance from the pole to the zenith; since POY andZOS are both right angles. Hence also Chaucer's second statement,that the arcs PN and TZ are equal. In his numerical example, PNis 51° 50′; and therefore ZP is the complement, or 38° 10′. So alsoZ is 51° 50'; and TS is 38° 10'. Briefly, TZ measures the latitude.23. Here the altitude of a star (A) is to be taken twice; firstly,when it is on the meridian in the most southern point of its course, andsecondly, when on the meridian in the most northern point, whichwould be the case twelve hours later. The mean of these altitudes isthe altitude of the pole, or the latitude of the place. In the examplegiven, the star A is only 4° from the pole, which shews that it is the206 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 24..that the firste altitude of A excedeth his seconde altitude, and tak15 half thilke porcioun that is exceded, and adde it to his secondealtitude; and tak ther the elevacioun of thy pool, and eke thelatitude of thy regioun. For thise two ben of a nombre; this isto seyn, as many degrees as thy pool is elevat, so michel is thelatitude of the regioun. Ensample as thus: par aventure, the20 altitude of A in the evening is 56 degrees of heyghte. Thanwol his seconde altitude or the dawing be 48; that is 8 lasse than56, that was his firste altitude at even. Take thanne the half of8, and adde it to 48, that was his seconde altitude, and thanhastow 52. Now hastow the heyghte of thy pol, and the latitudeof the regioun. But understond wel, that to prove this conclusiounand many another fair conclusioun, thou most have a plomethanging on a lyne heyer than thin heved on a perche; and thilkelyne mot hange evene perpendiculer by- twixe the pool and thyneye; and thanne shaltow seen yif A sitte evene over the pool and30 over F at evene; and also yif F sitte evene over the pool andover A or day. And for more declaracion, lo here thy figure.2524. Another conclusioun to prove the heyghte of the poolartik fro the orisonte.[Alia conclusio ad probandum altitudinem de polo artico aborizonte. ]Tak any sterre fixe that nevere dissendeth under the orisonte inthilke regioun, and considere his heyest altitude and his lowestaltitude fro the orisonte; and make a nombre of bothe thisealtitudes. Tak thanne and abate half that nombre, and tak ther5 the elevacioun of the pol artik in that same regioun. And formore declaracioun, lo here thy figure.Pole- star, then farther from the Pole than it is now. The star F is,according to Chaucer, any convenient star having a right ascensiondiffering from that of the Pole- star by 180°; though one having thesame right ascension would serve as well. If then, at the firstobservation, the altitude of A be 56, and at the second be 48, thealtitude of the pole must be 52. See fig. 13, Plate V.24. This comes to much the same thing. The lowest or northernaltitude of Dubhe (a Ursa Majoris) may be supposed to be observedto be 25°, and his highest or southern altitude to be 79°. Add these;the sum is 104; ' abate ' or subtract half of that number, and theresult is 52°; the latitude.PART II. § 25. ] LATITUDE OF A PLACE. 20725. A-nother conclusioun to prove the latitude of theregioun, &c.[Alia conclusio ad probandum latitudinem regionis. ]Understond wel that the latitude of any place in a regioun isverreyly the space by-twixe the senith of hem that dwellen thereand the equinoxial cerkle, north or southe, taking the mesure inthe meridional lyne, as sheweth in the almikanteras of thynAstrolabie. And thilke space is as moche as the pool artik is hey 5in the same place fro the orisonte. And than is the depressiounof the pol antartik, that is to seyn, than is the pol antartik by- nethethe orisonte, the same quantite of space, neither more ne lasse.Thanne, yif thow desire to knowe this latitude of the regioun, takthe altitude ofthe sonne in the middel of the day, whan the sonne 10is in the hevedes of Aries or of Libra; (for thanne moeveth thesonne in the lyne equinoxial); and abate the nombre of that samesonnes altitude out of 90, and thanne is the remenaunt of thenoumbre that leveth the latitude of the regioun. As thus: Isuppose that the sonne is thilke day at noon 38 degrees and 10 15minutes of heyghte. Abate thanne thise degrees and minutes outof 90; so leveth there 51 degrees and 50 minutes, the latitude.I sey nat this but for ensample; for wel I wot the latitude ofOxenforde is certein minutes lasse, as I mighte prove. Now yifso be that thee semeth to long a taryinge, to abyde til that the 20sonne be in the hevedes of Aries or of Libra, thanne waite whanthe sonne is in any other degree of the zodiak, and considere thedegree of his declinacion fro the equinoxial lyne; and yif it so bethat the sonnes declinacion be northward fro the equinoxial, abatethanne fro the sonnes altitude at noon the nombre of his de- 25clinacion, and thanne hastow the heyghte ofthe hevedes of Ariesand Libra. As thus: my sonne is, par aventure, in the firste25. Here, as in § 22, Chaucer says that the latitude can be measuredby the arc Z or PN; he adds that the depression of the Antarcticpole, viz. the arc SP' (where P' is the S. pole), is another measure ofthe latitude. He explains that an obvious way of finding the latitudeis by finding the altitude of the sun at noon at the time of an equinox.If this altitude be 38° 10', then the latitude is the complement, or51° 50'. But this observation can only be made on two days in theyear. If then this seems to be too long a tarrying, observe his midday208 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 26..degre of Leoun, 58 degrees and 10 minutes of heyghte at noonand his declinacion is almost 20 degrees northward fro the30 equinoxial; abate thanne thilke 20 degrees of declinacion out ofthe altitude at noon, than leveth thee 38 degrees and odde minutes;lo ther the heved of Aries or Libra, and thyn equinoxial in thatregioun. Also yif so be that the sonnes declinacioun be southward fro the equinoxial, adde thanne thilke declinacion to the35 altitude of the sonne at noon; and tak ther the hevedes of Ariesand Libra, and thyn equinoxial. Abate thanne the heyghte ofthe equinoxial out of 90 degrees, and thanne leveth there thedistans of the pole, 51 degrees and 50 minutes, of that regiounfro the equinoxial. Or elles, yif thee lest, take the heyest altitude42 fro the equinoxial of any sterre fix that thou knowest, and tak hisnethere elongacioun lengthing fro the same equinoxial lyne, andwirke in the maner forseid. And for more declaracion, lo herethy figure.26. Declaracioun of the assensioun of signes, &c.[ Declaracio de ascensione signorum. ]The excellence of the spere solide, anonges other noble conclusiouns, sheweth manifeste the diverse assenciouns of signesin diverse places, as wel in the righte cercle as in the embelifcercle. Thise auctours wryten that thilke signe is cleped of right5 ascensioun, with which more part of the cercle equinoxial andlasse part of the zodiak ascendeth; and thilke signe assendethembelif, with whiche lasse part of the equinoxial and more part ofaltitude, and allow for his declination. Thus, if the sun's altitude be58° 10' at noon when he is in the first degree of Leo, subtract hisdeclination, viz . 20°, and the result is 38° 10' , the complement of thelatitude. If, however, the sun's declination be south, the amount of itmust be added instead of subtracted. Or else we may find TA', thehighest altitude of a star A' above the equinoctial, and also TA, itsnether elongation extending from the same, and take the mean of thetwo.26. The ' Sphere Solid ' answers nearly to what we now call a globe.By help of a globe it is easy to find the ascensions of signs for anylatitude, whereas by the astrolabe we can only tell them for thoselatitudes for which the plates bearing the almicanteras are constructed.The signs which Chaucer calls ‘ of right (i. e. direct) ascension ' arethose signs of the zodiac which rise more directly, i . e. at a greaterPART II. § 26. ]ASCENSION OF SIGNS. 209the zodiak assendeth. Ferther-over they seyn, that in thilkec*ntrey where as the senith of hem that dwellen there is in theequinoxial lyne, and her orisonte passing by the poles of this 10worlde, thilke folke han this right cercle and the right orisonte;and evere- mo the arch of the day and the arch of the night is thery-like long, and the sonne twyes every yeer passinge thorow thesenith of her heved; and two someres and two winteres in a yeerhan this forseide poeple. And the almikanteras in her Astrolabies 15ben streighte as a lyne, so as sheweth in this figure . The utilite toknowe the assenciouns in the righte cercle is this: truste wel thatby mediacioun of thilke assenciouns thise astrologiens, by hirtables and hir instrumentz, knowen verreyly the assencioun ofevery degree and minut in al the zodiak, as shal be shewed. And 20angle to the horizon than the rest. In latitude 52°, Libra rises sodirectly that the whole sign takes more than 2 hours before it iswholly above the horizon, during which time nearly 43° of the equinoctial circle have arisen; or, in Chaucer's words, ' the more part '(i. e. a larger portion) of the equinoctial ascends with it. On the otherhand, the sign of Aries ascends so obliquely that the whole of it appearsabove the horizon in less than an hour, so that a ' less part ' (a smallerportion) of the equinoctial ascends with it. The following is a roughtable of Direct and Oblique Signs, shewing approximately how longeach sign takes to ascend, and how many degrees of the equinoctialascend with it, in lat. 52°.Oblique Degrees of the Signs. Equinoctial.Time of ascending.CapricornusDirect Signs.26°Degrees ofthe Equinoctial.1 h. 44 m. CancerAquarius39°16°Time of.ascending.2 h. 36 m.I h. 4 m.LeoPisces 42°14° o h. 56 m.2 h. 48 m.VirgoAries 43°14°2 h. 52 m.o h. 56 m. LibraTaurus 16° 43°2 h. 52 m.I h. 4 m.Gemini 26° 1 h. 44 m.ScorpioSagittarius42°2 h. 48 m.39° 2 h. 36 m.AtThese numbers are sufficiently accurate for the present purpose.In ll . 8-11 , there is a gap in the sense in nearly all the MSS. , but theBodley MS. 619 fortunately supplies what is wanting, to the effect that,at places situated on the equator, the poles are in the horizon.such places, the days and nights are always equal. Chaucer's nextstatement is true for all places within the tropics, the peculiarity ofthem being that they have the sun vertical twice in a year. Thestatement about the ' two summer and winters ' is best explained bythe following. In the tropical climates, . . seasons are caused morebythe effect of the winds (which are very regular, and depend mainlyon the sun's position) than by changes in the direct action of the sun'slight and heat. The seasons are not a summer and winter, so much *** Р210 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 27..nota, that this forseid righte orisonte, that is cleped orison rectum,divydeth the equinoxial in-to right angles; and the embelif orisonte,wher-as the pol is enhaused up-on the orisonte, overkerveth theequinoxial in embelif angles, as sheweth in the figure. And for25 the more declaracioun, lo here the figure.27. This is the conclusioun to knowe the assenciouns ofsignes in the right cercle, that is, circulus directus, &c.[Ad cognoscendum ascenciones signorum in recto circulo,qui vocatur circulus directus. ]Set the heved of what signe thee liste to knowe his assending inthe right cercle up-on the lyne meridional; and waite wher thynalmury toucheth the bordure, and set ther a prikke. Turnethanne thy riet westward til that the ende of the forseide signe5 sitte up-on the meridional lyne; and eft- sones waite wher thynalmury toucheth the bordure, and set ther another prikke. Riknethanne the nombre of degrees in the bordure by-twixe botheprikkes, and tak the assencioun of the signe in the right cercle.And thus maystow wyrke with every porcioun of thy zodiak, &c.10 And for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.28. To knowe the assencions of signes in the embelif cerclein every regioun, I mene, in circulo obliquo.[Ad cognoscendum ascenciones signorum in circuloobliquo, in omni regione. ]Set the heved of the signe which as thee list to knowe hisas recurrences of wet and dry periods, two in each year.'-EnglishCyclopædia; Seasons, Change of. Lastly, Chaucer reverts to placeson the equator, where the stars all seem to move in vertical circles,and the almicanteras are therefore straight lines. The line markedHorizon Rectus is shewn in fig. 5, where the Horizon Obliquus is alsoshewn, cutting the equinoctial circle obliquely.27. The real object in this section is to find how many degrees ofthe equinoctial circle pass the meridian together with a given zodiacalsign. Without even turning the rete, it is clear that the sign Aries,for instance, extends through 28° of the equinoctial; for a line drawnfrom the centre, in fig. 2, through the end of Aries will ( if the figurebe correct) pass through the end of the 28th degree below the wordOriens.28. To do this accurately requires a very carefully marked Astrolabe,PART II . § 28. ] ASCENSION OF SIGNS. 211ascensioun up-on the est orisonte, and waite wher thyn almurytoucheth the bordure, and set ther a prikke. Turne thanne thyriet upward til that the ende of the same signe sitte up-on the estorisonte, and waite eft- sones wher as thyn almury toucheth the 5bordure, and set ther a-nother prikke. Rikne thanne the noumbreof degrees in the bordure by-twixe bothe prikkes, and tak ther theassencioun of the signe in the embelif cercle. And understondwel, that alle signes in thy zodiak, fro the heved of Aries unto theende of Virgo, ben cleped signes of the north fro the equinoxial; 10and these signes arysen by-twixe the verrey est and the verreynorth in oure orisonte generaly for evere. And alle signes fro theheved of Libra un-to the ende of Pisces ben cleped signes of thesouth fro the equinoxial; and thise signes arysen ever-mo by-twixethe verrey est and the verrey south in oure orisonte. Also every 15signe by-twixe the heved of Capricorne un-to the ende of Geminisaryseth on oure orisonte in lasse than two houres equales; andthise same signes, fro the heved of Capricorne un-to the ende ofGeminis, ben cleped ' tortuos signes ' or ' croked signes, ' forthey arisen embelif on oure orisonte; and thise crokede signes 20ben obedient to the signes that ben of right assencioun. Thesignes of right assencioun ben fro the heved of Cancer to theende of Sagittare; and thise signes arysen more upright, and theyben called eke sovereyn signes; and everich of hem aryseth inmore space than in two houres. Of which signes, Gemini obeyeth 25to Cancer; and Taurus to Leo; Aries to Virgo; Pisces to Libra;Aquarius to Scorpioun; and Capricorne to Sagittare. And thuson as large a scale as is convenient. It is done by observing wherethe ends of the given sign, estimated along the outer rim of thezodiacal circle in fig. 2 , cross the horizon obliquus as the rete is turnedabout. Thus, the beginning of Aries lies on the horizon obliquus, andasthe rete revolves to the right, the end of it, on the outer rim, will atlast lie exactly on the same curved line. When this is the case, therete ought to have moved through an angle of about 14°, as explainedin § 26. By far the best way is to tabulate the results once for all, asI have there done. It is readily seen, from fig. 2, that the signs fromAries to Virgo are northern, and from Libra to Pisces are southernsigns. The signs from Capricorn to Gemini are the oblique signs, oras Chaucer calls them, ' tortuous, ' and ascend in less than 2 hours;whilst the direct signs, from Cancer to Sagittarius, take more than2 hours to ascend; as shewn in the table on p. 209. The eastern signsin fig. 2 are said to obey to the corresponding western ones.P 2212 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 29. .ever-mo two signes, that ben y- lyke fer fro the heved of Capricorne,obeyen everich of hem til other. And for more declaracioun, lo30 here the figure.29. To knowe iustly the foure quarters of the world, asest, west, north, and sowth.[Ad cognoscendum evidenter quatuor partes mundi, scilicet, orientem, austrum, aquilonem, et occidentem. ]Take the altitude of thy sonne whan thee list, and note wel thequarter of the world in which the sonne is for the tyme by theazimutz. Turne thanne thyn Astrolabie, and set the degree ofthe sonne in the almikanteras of his altitude, on thilke side that5 the sonne stant, as is the manere in taking of houres; and ley thylabel on the degree of the sonne, and rikene how many degrees ofthe bordure ben by-twixe the lyne meridional and the point of thylabel; and note wel that noumbre. Turne thanne a- gayn thynAstrolabie, and set the point of thy gret rewle, ther thou takest10 thyne altitudes, up-on as many degrees in his bordure fro hismeridional as was the point of thy label fro the lyne meridional onthe wombe-syde. Tak thanne thyn Astrolabie with bothe handessadly and slely, and lat the sonne shyne thorow bothe holes of thyrewle; and sleyly, in thilke shyninge, lat thyn Astrolabie couch15 adoun evene up-on a smothe grond, and thanne wol the verreylyne meridional of thyn Astrolabie lye evene south, and the estlyne wole lye est, and the west lyne west, and north lyne north, sothat thou werke softly and avisely in the couching; and thushastow the 4 quarters of the firmament. And for the more20 declaracioun, lo here the figure.29. Here both sides of the Astrolabe are used, the ' rewle ' beingmade to revolve at the back, and the ' label ' in front, as usual. First,by the back of the instrument and the ' rewle,' take the sun's altitude.Turn the Astrolabe round, and set the sun's degree at the right altitudeamong the almicanteras, and then observe, by help of the label, howfar the sun is from the meridian. Again turn the instrument round,and set the ' rewle ' as far from the meridian as the label was. Then,holding the instrument as near the ground and as horizontal aspossible, let the sun shine through the holes of the ' rewle, ' andimmediately after lay the Astrolabe down, without altering theazimuthal direction of the meridional line. It is clear that this linewill then point southwards, and the other points of the compass willalso be known.PART II. § 31.] ALTITUDE OF PLANETS. 21330. To knowe the altitude of planetes fro the wey of thesonne, whether so they be north or south fro the forseide wey.[Ad cognoscendum altitudinem planetarum a cursu solis,utrum sint in parte australi vel boreali a cursu supradicto.]Lok whan that a planete is in the lyne meridional, yif that hiraltitude be of the same heyghte that is the degree of the sonne forthat day, and than is the planete in the verrey wey of the sonne,and hath no latitude. And yif the altitude of the planete beheyere than the degree of the sonne, than is the planete north fro 5the wey of the sonne swich a quantite of latitude as sheweth bythyn almikanteras. And yif the altitude of the planete be lassethan the degree of the sonne, thanne is the planete south fro thewey of the sonne swich a quantite of latitude as sheweth by thynalmikanteras. This is to seyn, fro the wey wher-as the sonne 10wente thilke day, but nat from the wey of the sonne in every placeof the zodiak. And for the more declaracioun, lo here the figure.31. To knowe the senith of the arysing of the sonne, thisis to seyn, the partie of the orisonte in which that thesonne aryseth.[Ad cognoscendum signum de ortu solis, scilicet, illampartem orientis in qua oritur sol. ]Thou most first considere that the sonne aryseth nat al- weyverrey est, but some tyme by north the est, and som tyme by southethe est. Sothly, the sonne aryseth never-mo verrey est in oure30. This turns upon the definition of the phrase ' the wey of thesonne.' It does not mean the zodiacal circle, but the sun's apparentpath on a given day of the year. The sun's altitude changes butlittle in one day, and is supposed here to remain the same throughoutthe time that he is , on that day, visible. Thus, if the sun's altitudebe 614°, the way of the sun is a small circle, viz. the tropic of Cancer.If the planet be then on the zodiac, in the 1st degree of Capricorn, itis 47° S. from the way of the sun, and so on.31. The word ' senith ' is here used in a peculiar sense; it does notmean, as it should, the zenith point, or point directly overhead, but ismade to imply the point on the horizon, (either falling upon an214 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 32. .orisonte, but he be in the heved of Aries or Libra. Now is thyn5 orisonte departed in 24 parties by thy azimutz, in significacion of24 partiez of the world; al- be-it so that shipmen rikne thilkepartiez in 32. Thanne is ther no more but waite in which azimutthat thy sonne entreth at his arysing; and take ther the senith ofthe arysing of the sonne. The manere of the devisioun of thyn10 Astrolabie is this; I mene, as in this cas. First is it devided in4 plages principalx with the lyne that goth from est to west, andthan with a- nother lyne that goth fro south to north. Than is itdevided in smale partiez of azimutz, as est, and est by southe,whereas is the firste azimut above the est lyne; and so forth, fro15 partie to partie, til that thou come agayn un-to the est lyne.Thus maistow understond also the senith of any sterre, in whichpartie he ryseth, &c. And for the more declaracion, lo herethe figure.32. To knowe in which partie of the firmament is theconiunccioun.[Ad cognoscendum in qua parte firmamenti suntconiuncciones solis et lune. ]Considere the tyme of the coniunccion bythy kalender, as thus;lok how many houres thilke coniunccion is fro the midday of theday precedent, as sheweth by the canoun of thy kalender. Riknethanne thilke nombre of houres in the bordure of thyn Astrolabie,azimuthal line, or lying between two azimuths) , which denotes thepoint of sunrise. In the Latin rubric, it is called signum. This pointis found by actual observation of the sun at the time of rising.Chaucer's azimuths divide the horizon into 24 parts; but it is interesting to observe his remark, that ' shipmen ' divide the horizon into32 parts, exactly as a compass is divided now- a-days. The reasonfor the division into 32 parts is obviously because this is the easiestway of reckoning the direction of the wind. For this purpose, thehorizon is first divided into 4 parts; each of these is halved, and eachhalf-part is halved again. It is easy to observe if the wind lies halfway between S. and E., or half- way between S. and S.E., or againhalf-way between S. and S.S.E.; but the division into 24 parts wouldbe unsuitable, because third-parts are much more difficult to estimate.32. The Latin rubric interprets the conjunction to mean that of the sun and moon. The time of this conjunction is to be ascertained froma calendar. If, e. g. the calendar indicates 9 A.M. as the time of conjunction on the 12th day of March, when the sun is in the first point ofPART II. § 34.] POSITION OF THE SUN. 215as thou art wont to do in knowing of the houres of the day or of 5the night; and ley thy label over the degree of the sonne; andthanne wol the point of thy label sitte up-on the hour of the coniunccion. Loke thanne in which azimut the degree of thy sonnesitteth, and in that partie of the firmament is the coniunccioun.And for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.33. To knowe the senith of the altitude of the sonne, &c.[Ad cognoscendum signa de altitudine solis . ]IOThis is no more to seyn but any tyme of the day tak the altitudeof the sonne; and by the azimut in which he stondeth, maystouseen in which partie of the firmament he is. And in the samewyse maystou seen, by the night, of any sterre, whether thesterre sitte est or west or north, or any partie by-twene, after the 5name of the azimut in which is the sterre. And for the moredeclaracioun, lo here the figure.34. To knowe sothly the degree of the longitude of themone, or of any planete that hath no latitude for thetyme fro the ecliptik lyne.[Ad cognoscendum veraciter gradum de longitudine lune,vel alicuius planete qui non habet longitudinem pro tempore causante linea ecliptica. ]Tak the altitude of the mone, and rikne thyn altitude up amongAries, as in § 3, the number of hours after the preceding midday is 21,which answers to the letter X in the border (fig. 2). Turn the retetill the first point of Aries lies under the label, which is made to pointto X, and the label shews at the same moment that the degree of thesun is very nearly at the point where the equinoctial circle crosses theazimuthal circle which lies 50° to the E. of the meridian. Hence theconjunction takes place at a point of which the azimuth is 50° to theE. of the S. point, or 5° to the eastward of the S.E. point. Theproposition merely amounts to finding the sun's azimuth at a giventime. Fig. 11 shews the position of the rete in this case.33. Here'senyth ' is again used to mean azimuth, and the pro- position is, to find the sun's azimuth by taking his altitude, and settinghis degree at the right altitude on the almicanteras. Of course thetwo co-ordinates, altitude and azimuth, readily indicate the sun'sexact position; and the same for any star or planet.34. The moon's latitude is never more than 5 ° from the ecliptic,216 THE ASTROLABE [PART II . § 35. .thyne almikanteras on which syde that the mone stande; and setthere a prikke. Tak thenne anon-right, up-on the mones syde,the altitude of any sterre fix which that thou knowest, and set his5 centre up-on his altitude among thyn almikanteras ther the sterreis founde. Waite thanne which degree of the zodiak toucheth theprikke of the altitude of the mone, and tak ther the degree inwhich the mone standeth. This conclusioun is verrey soth, yifthe sterres in thyn Astrolabie stonden after the trowthe; of10 comune, tretis of Astrolabie ne make non excepcioun whether themone have latitude, or non; ne on whether syde of the mone thealtitude of the sterre fix be taken. And nota, that yif the moneshewe himself by light of day, than maystow wyrke this sameconclusioun bythe sonne, as wel as bythe fix sterre. And for the15 more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.35. This is the workinge of the conclusioun, to knowe yifthat any planete be directe or retrograde.[Hec conclusio operatur ad cognoscendum si aliqua planetasit directa vel retrograda.]Tak the altitude of any sterre that is cleped a planete, and noteit wel. And tak eek anon the altitude of any sterre fix that thouknowest, and note it wel also. Come thanne agayn the thridde orthe ferthe night next folwing; for thanne shaltow aperceyve wel the5 moeving of a planete, whether so he moeve forthward or bakward.and this small distance is , ' in common treatises of Astrolabie,' altogether neglected; so that it is supposed to move in the ecliptic.First, then, take the moon's altitude, say 30°. Next take the altitudeof some bright star on the moon's side, ' i . e. nearly in the sameazimuth as the moon, taking care to choose a star which is representedupon the Rete by a pointed tongue. Bring this tongue's point to theright altitude among the almicanteras, and then see which degree ofthe ecliptic lies on the almicantera which denotes an altitude of 30°.This will give the moon's place, ' if the stars in the Astrolabe be setafter the truth,' i. e. if the point of the tongue is exactly where it should be.35. The motion of a planet is called direct, when it moves in thedirection of the succession of the zodiacal signs; retrograde, when inthe contrary direction. When a planet is on the right or east side ofthe Meridional line, and is moving forward along the signs, withoutPART II. § 36. ] EQUATIONS OF HOUSES. 217Awaite wel thanne whan that thy sterre fix is in the same altitude thatshe was whan thou toke hir firste altitude; and tak than eftsonesthe altitude of the forseide planete, and note it wel. For trustwel, yif so be that the planete be on the right syde of the meridionallyne, so that his seconde altitude be lasse than his firste altitude 10was, thanne is the planete directe. And yif he be on the westsyde in that condicion, thanne is he retrograd. And yif so bethat this planete be up-on the est syde whan his altitude is taken,so that his secounde altitude be more than his firste altitude,thanne is he retrograde, and yif he be on the west syde, than is he 15directe. But the contrarie of thise parties is of the cours of themone; for sothly, the mone moeveth the contrarie from othereplanetes as in hir episicle, but in non other manere. And forthe more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.36. The conclusiouns of equaciouns of houses, after theAstrolabie, &c.[Conclusio de equacione domorum. ]Set the by-ginning of the degree that assendeth up-on the endeof the 8 houre inequal; thanne wol the by-ginning of the 2 houssitte up-onthe lyne of midnight. Remeve thanne the degree thatassendeth, and set him on the ende of the 10 hour inequal; andthanne wol the byginning of the 3 hous sitte up-on the midnight 5lyne. Bring up agayn the same degree that assendeth first, andset him up-on the orisonte; and thanne wol the be-ginning of the4 hous sitte up-on the lyne of midnight. Tak thanne the nadir ofincrease of declination, its altitude will be less on the second occasionthan on the first at the moment when the altitude of the fixed star isthe same as before. The same is true if the planet be retrograde,and on the western side. The contrary results occur when the secondaltitude is greater than the first. But the great defect of this methodis that it may be rendered fallacious by a change in the planet's declination.36. See fig. 14, Plate VI. If the equinoctial circle in this figure besupposed to be superposed upon that in fig. 5 , Plate III , and be furthersupposed to revolve backwards through an angle of about 60° till thepoint 1 (fig. 14) rests upon the point where the 8th hour- line crossesthe equinoctial, the beginning of the 2nd house will then be found tobe on the line of midnight. Similarly, all the other results mentionedfollow. For it is easily seen that each ' house ' occupies a space equal218 THE ASTROLABE [PART II . § 37- .the degree that first assendeth, and set him on the ende of the 210 houre inequal; and thanne wol the by-ginning of the 5 hous sitteup-on the lyne of midnight; set thanne the nadir ofthe assendenton the ende of the 4 houre, than wol the byginning ofthe 6 housesitte on the midnight lyne. The byginning of the 7 hous is nadirof the assendent, and the byginning of the 8 hous is nadir of the152; and the by- ginning of the 9 hous is nadir of the 3; and theby-ginning of the 10 hous is the nadir of the 4; and the byginningofthe 11 hous is nadir of the 5; and the byginning of the 12 housis nadir of the 6. And for the more declaracion, lo here thefigure.37. A-nother manere of equaciouns of houses by theAstrolabie.[De aliqua forma equacionis domorum secundumastrolabium.]Tak thyn assendent, and thanne hastow thy 4 angles; for welthou wost that the opposit of thyn assendent, that is to seyn, thyby-ginning of the 7 hous, sit up- on the west orizonte; and thebyginning of the 10 hous sit up-on the lyne meridional; and his5 opposit up-on the lyne of midnight. Thanne ley thy label overthe degree that assendeth, and rekne fro the point of thy labelalle the degrees in the bordure, til thou come to the meridionallyne; and departe alle thilke degrees in 3 evene parties, and takethe evene equacion of 3; for ley thy label over everich of 3 parties,10 and than maistow see by thy label in which degree of the zodiak isthe by-ginning of everich of thise same houses fro the assendent:that is to seyn, the beginning of the 12 house next above thynto 2 hours, so that the bringing of the 3rd house to the midnight linebrings I to the 10th hour- line, and a similar placing of the 4th housebrings to the 12th hour-line, which is the horizon obliquus itself.Moving onward 2 more hours, the point 7 (the nadir of 1 ) comes tothe end of the 2nd hour, whilst the 5th house comes to the north; andlastly, when 7 is at the end of the 4th hour, the 6th house is so placed.To find the nadir of a house, we have only to add 6; so that the 7th,8th, 9th, 10th, 11th , and 12th houses are the nadirs of the 1st, 2nd,3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th houses respectively.37. Again see fig. 14, Plate VI. Here the 10th house is at onceseen to be on the meridional line. In the quadrant from 1 to 10, theeven division of the quadrant into 3 parts shews the 12th and 11thPART II. § 38. ] THE MERIDIONAL LINE. 219assendent; and thanne the beginning of the 11 house; andthanne the 10, up-on the meridional lyne; as I first seide. Thesame wyse wirke thou fro the assendent doun to the lyne of 15midnight; and thanne thus hastow other 3 houses, that is to seyn,the byginning of the 2 , and the 3, and the 4 houses; thanne isthe nadir of thise 3 houses the by-ginning of the 3 houses thatfolwen. And for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.38. To finde the lyne merydional to dwelle fix in anycertein place.[Ad inveniendum lineam meridionalem per subtilesoperaciones . ]Tak a rond plate of metal; for warping, the brodere the bettre;and make ther-upon a iust compas, a lite with- in the bordure; andley this ronde plate up-on an evene grond, or on an evene ston, oron an evene stok fix in the gronde; and ley it even by a level.And in centre of the compas stike an evene pin or a wyr upright; 5the smallere the betere. Set thy pin by a plom-rewle eveneupright; and let this pin be no lengere than a quarter of thediametre of thy compas, fro the centre. And waite bisily, aboute10 or II of the clokke and whan the sonne shyneth, whan theshadwe of the pin entreth any-thing with- in the cercle of thy plate 10an heer-mele, and mark ther a prikke with inke. Abyde thannestille waiting on the sonne after 1 of the clokke, til that theschadwe of the wyr or of the pin passe ony-thing out of the cercleof the compas, be it never so lyte; and set ther a-nother prikkeof inke. Take than a compas, and mesure evene the middel 15by-twixe bothe prikkes; and set ther a prikke. Take thannea rewle, and draw a stryke, evene a-lyne fro the pin un-to thehouses. Working downwards from I , we get the 2nd and 3rd houses,and the 4th house beginning with the north line. The rest are easily found from their nadirs.38. This problem is discussed in arts. 144 and 145 of Hymes'sAstronomy, 2nd ed. 1840, p. 84. The words ' for warping ' mean'to prevent the errors which may arise from the plate becomingwarped.' The ' broader ' of course means ' the larger.' See fig. 15,Plate VI. If the shadow of the sun be observed at a time beforemidday when its extremity just enters within the circle, and again at atime after midday when it is just passing beyond the circle, the altitude of the sun at these two observations must be the same, and220 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 39. .middel prikke; and tak ther thy lyne meridional for evere-mo, asin that same place. And yif thow drawe a cros-lyne over- thwart20 the compas, iustly over the lyne meridional, than hastow est andwest and south; and, par consequence, than the nadir of thesouth lyne is the north lyne. And for more declaracioun, lo herethy figure.39. Descripcion of the meridional lyne, of longitudes, andlatitudes of citees and townes from on to a-nother ofclymatz.This lyne meridional is but a maner descripcion of lyne.imagined, that passeth upon the poles of this world and bythe senith of oure heved. And hit is y-cleped the lyne meridional;for in what place that any maner man is at any tyme of the yeer,5 whan that the sonne by moeving of the firmament cometh to hisverrey meridian place, than is hit verrey midday, that we clepenoure noon, as to thilke man; and therfore is it cleped the lyne ofmidday. And nota, for evermo, of 2 citees or of 2 tounes, ofwhiche that o toun aprocheth more toward the est than doth10 that other toun, truste wel that thilke tounes han diverse meridians. Nota also, that the arch of the equinoxial, that is conteyned or bounded by-twixe the 2 meridians, is cleped the longitude of the toun. And yif so be that two tounes have y-lykemeridian, or oon meridian, than is the distance of hem bothe y-lyke15 fer fro the est; and the contrarie. And in this manere theychaunge nat her meridian, but sothly they chaungen her almikanteras; for the enhausing of the pool and the distance of thethe south line must lie half-way between the two shadows. In thefigure, S and S' are the 2 positions of the sun, OT the rod, Ot and Otthe shadows, and OR the direction of the south line. Ott' is themetal disc.39. This begins with an explanation of the terms ' meridian ' and' longitude.' ' They chaungen her Almikanteras ' means that theydiffer in latitude. But, when Chaucer speaks of the longitude and latitude of a ' climate ,' he means the length and breadth of it. A' climate ' (clima) is a belt of the earth included between two fixedparallels of latitude. The ancients reckoned seven climates; in the sixteenth century there were nine. The latitude of the climate ' isthe breadth of this belt; the ' longitude ' of it he seems to consider asmeasured along lines lying equidistant between the parallels of latitudePART II. § 40.] LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE. 221sonne. The longitude of a clymat is a lyne imagined fro est towest, y-lyke distant by-twene them alle. The latitude of a clymatis a lyne imagined from north to south the space of the erthe, 201fro the byginning of the firste clymat unto the verrey ende ofthe same climat, evene directe agayns the pole artik. Thus seynsome auctours; and somme of hem seyn that yif men clepen thelatitude, thay mene the arch meridian that is contiened or interceptby-twixe the senith and the equinoxial. Thanne sey they that 25the distaunce fro the equinoxial unto the ende of a clymat,evene agayns the pole artyk, is the latitude of a clymat for sothe.And for more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.40. To knowe with which degree of the zodiak that anyplanete assendith on the orisonte, whether so that hislatitude be north or south.Knowe by thyn almenak the degree of the ecliptik of any signein which that the planete is rekned for to be, and that is clepedthe degree of his longitude; and knowe also the degree of hislatitude fro the ecliptik, north or south. And by thise samplesfolwinge in special, maystow wirke for sothe in every signe of the 5zodiak. The degree of the longitude, par aventure, of Venus orof another planete, was 6 of Capricorne, and the latitude of himof the places from which the climates are named. See Stöffler, fol.20 b; and Petri Apiani Cosmographia, per Gemmam Phrysium restituta, ed. 1574, fol. 7 b. The seven climates were as follows:-I. That whose central line passes through Meroë (lat. 17°); fromnearly 13° to nearly 20°.2. Central line, through Syene ( lat. 24°); from 20° to 27° , nearly.3. Central line through Alexandria (lat. 31 °); from 27° to 34°,nearly.4. Central line through Rhodes (lat. 36°); from 34° to 39° , nearly.5. Central line through Rome (lat. 41 ° ); from 39° to 43°, nearly.6. Central line through Borysthenes ( lat . 45° ); from 43° to 47°.7. Through the Riphæan mountains (lat. 48° ); from 47° to 50°. ButChaucer must have included an eighth climate (called ultra Mæotidespaludes) from 50° to 56°; and a ninth, from 56° to the pole.Thepartof the earth to the north of the 7th climate was considered by theancients to be uninhabitable. A rough drawing of these climates isgiven in MS. Camb. Univ. Lib. Ii . 3. 3 , fol. 33 b.40. The longitude and latitude of a planet being ascertained from analmanac, we can find with what degree it ascends. For example,222 [PART II. § 40. THE ASTROLABE.was northward 2 degrees fro the ecliptik lyne. I tok a subtilcompas, and cleped that oon poynt of my compas A, and that10 other poynt F. Than tok I the point of A, and set it in theecliptik lyne evene in my zodiak, in the degree of the longitudeof Venus, that is to seyn, in the 6 degree of Capricorne; andthanne sette I the point of F upward in the same signe, bycausethat the latitude was north, up-on the latitude of Venus, that is to15 seyn, in the 6 degree fro the heved of Capricorne; and thus haveI 2 degrees by-twixe my two prikkes. Than leide I doun softelymy compas, and sette the degree of the longitude up- on theorisonte; tho tok I and wexede my label in maner of a peyretables to resceyve distinctly the prikkes of my compas. Tho tok20 I this forseide label, and leide it fix over the degree of mylongitude; tho tok I up my compas, and sette the point of Ainthe wex on my label, as evene as I coude gesse over the ecliptiklyne, in the ende of the longitude; and sette the point of Fendlang in my label up-on the space of the latitude, inwarde and25 over the zodiak, that is to seyn, north-ward fro the ecliptik. Thanleide I doun my compas, and lokede wel in the wey upon theprikke of A and of F; tho turned I my riet til that the prikke ofF sat up-on the orisonte; than saw I wel that the body of Venus,in hir latitude of 2 degrees septentrionalis, assended, in the ende30 ofthe 6 degree, in the heved of Capricorne. And nota, that in thesame maner maistow wirke with any latitude septentrional in allesignes; but sothly the latitude meridional of a planete in Capricornemay not be take, by-cause of the litel space by-twixe the ecliptikand the bordure of the Astrolabie; but sothly, in alle other signes35 it may.given that the longitude of Venus is 6° of Capricorn, and her N.latitude 2°. Set the one leg of a compass upon the degree of longitude,and extend the other till the distance between the two legs is 2° oflatitude, from that point inward, i. e . northward. The 6th degree of Capricorn is now to be set on the horizon, the label (slightly coatedwith wax) to be made to point to the same degree, and the northlatitude is set off upon the wax by help of the compass. The spotthus marking the planet's position is, by a very slight movement of the Rete, to be brought upon the horizon, and it will be found that theplanet (situated 2° N. of the 6th degree) ascends together with thehead (or beginning of the sign) of Capricorn. This result, which is not quite exact, is easily tested by a globe. When the latitude ofPART II . § 40. ] ASCENSION OF A PLANET. 223Also the degree, par aventure, of Iuppiter or of a-nother planete,was in the first degree of Pisces in longitude, and his latitude was3 degrees meridional; tho tok I the point of A, and sette it inthe firste degree of Pisces on the ecliptik, and thanne sette I thepoint of F dounward in the same signe, by- cause that the latitude 40was south 3 degrees, that is to seyn, fro the heved of Pisces; andthus have I 3 degrees by-twixe bothe prikkes; thanne sette I thedegree of the longitude up-on the orisonte. Tho tok I my label,and leide it fix upon the degree of the longitude; tho sette I thepoint of A on my label, evene over the ecliptik lyne, in the ende 45evene of the degree of the longitude, and sette the point of Fendlang in my label the space of 3 degrees of the latitude fro thezodiak, this is to seyn, southward fro the ecliptik, toward thebordure; and turned my riet til the prikke of F sat up-on theorisonte; thanne saw I wel that the body of Iuppiter, in his 50latitude of 3 degrees meridional, ascended with 14 degrees of Piscesin horoscopo. And in this maner maistow wirke with any latitudemeridional, as I first seide, save in Capricorne. And yif thou woltpleye this craft with the arysing of the mone, loke thou rekne welhir cours houre by houre; for she ne dwelleth nat in a degree of 55hir longitude but a litel whyle, as thou wel knowest; but natheles,yif thou rekne hir verreye moeving by thy tables houre after houre,[thou shalt do wel y- now].Explicit tractatus de Conclusionibus Astrolabii, compilatusper Galfridum Chauciers ad Filium suum Lodewicum,scolarem tunc temporis Oxonie, ac sub tutela illiusnobilissimi philosophi Magistri N. Strode, etc.the planet is south, its place cannot well be found when in Capricornfor want of space at the edge of the Astrolabe.As a second example, it will be found that, when Jupiter's longitudeis at the end of 1 ° of Pisces, and his latitude 3° south, he ascendstogether with the 14th of Pisces, nearly. This is easily verified by aglobe, which solves all such problems very readily.It is a singular fact that most of the best MSS. leave off at the word'houre,' leaving the last sentence incomplete. I quote the last fivewords -' þou shalt do wel y-now ' from the MS. in St. John'sCollege, Cambridge; they also occur in the old editions.224 THE ASTROLABE [PART II . § 41 . .SUPPLEMENTARY PROPOSITIONS.41. Umbra Recta.Yif it so be that thou wilt werke by umbra recta, and thou maycome to the bas of the toure, in this maner thou schalt werke.Takthe altitude of the tour by bothe holes, so that thy rewle liggeeven in a poynt. Ensample as thus: I see him thorw at the5 poynt of 4; than mete I the space be- tween me and the tour, and Ifinde it 20 feet; than be-holde I how 4 is to 12, right so is the spacebetwixe thee and the tour to the altitude of the tour. For 4 is thethridde part of 12, so is the space be-tween thee and the tour thethridde part of the altitude of the tour; than thryes 20 feet is the10 heyghte of the tour, with adding of thyn owne persone to thyneye. And this rewle is so general in umbra recta, fro the poynt ofoon to 12. And yif thy rewle falle upon 5 , than is 5 12-partyesof the heyght the space be-tween thee and the toure; with addingofthyn owne heyght.42. Umbra Versa.Yif so be that Another maner of werkinge, by vmbra versa.thou may nat come to the bas of the tour, I see him thorw thenombre of I; I sette ther a prikke at my fote; than go I neer tothe tour, and I see him thorw at the poynt of 2, and there I sette41. Sections 41-43 and 41a-426 are from the MS. in St. John'sCollege, Cambridge. For the scale of umbra recta, see fig. 1 , Plate I.Observe that the umbra recta is used where the angle of elevation ofan object is greater than 45°; the umbra versa, where it is less. Seealso fig. 16, Plate VI; where, if AC be the height of the tower, BC thesame height minus the height of the observer's eye (supposed to beplaced at E) , and EB the distance of the observer from the tower,then bc: Eb:: EB: BC. But Eb is reckoned as 12, and if bc be 4, wefind that BC is 3 EB, i. e. 60 feet, when EB is 20. Hence AC is 60feet, plus the height of the observer's eye. The last sentence is to beread thus-' And if thy " rewle " fall upon 5, then are 5-12ths of theheight equivalent to the space between thee and the tower (with addition of thine own height) . ' The MS. reads ' 5 12-partyes þeheyzt of pe space, ' &c.; but the word of must be transposed, in order to make sense. It is clear that, if bc = 5 , then 5: 12:: EB: BC,which is the same as saying that EB BC. Conversely, BC is 12EB =48, if EB =20.42. See fig. 1 , Plate I. See also fig. 17 , Plate VI. Let Eb = 12, bcPART II. § 43.] UMBRA RECTA ET UMBRA VERSA. 225a-nother prikke; and I beholde how I hath him to 12, and ther 5finde I that it hath him twelfe sythes; than beholde I how 2hath him to 12, and thou shalt finde it sexe sythes; than thou shaltfinde that as 12 above 6 is the numbre of 6, right so is the spacebetween thy two prikkes the space of 6 tymes thyn altitude. Andnote, that at the ferste altitude of 1 , thou settest a prikke; and 10afterward, whan thou seest him at 2, ther thou settest an-otherprikke; than thou findest between two prikkys 60 feet; than thoushalt finde that 10 is the 6-party of 60. And then is 10 feet thealtitude of the tour. For other poyntis, yif it fille in umbra versa,as thus I sette caas it fill upon 2 , and at the secunde upon 3; 15than schalt thou finde that 2 is 6 partyes of 12; and 3 is 4 partyesof 12; than passeth 6 4, by nombre of 2; so is the space betweentwo prikkes twyes the heyghte of the tour. And yif the differenswere thryes, than shulde it be three tymes; and thus mayst thouwerke fro 2 to 12; and yif it be 4, 4 tymes; or 5, 5 tymes; et sic 20de ceteris.43. Umbra Recta.An-other maner of wyrking be umbra recta. Yif it so be thatthou mayst nat come to the baas of the tour, in this maner thouschalt werke. Sette thy rewle upon 1 till thou see the altitude,and sette at thy foot a prikke. Than sette thy rewle upon 2 , andbeholde what is the differense be-tween 1 and 2 , and thou shalt 5finde that it is 1. Than mete the space be-tween two prikkes, andthat is the 12 partie of the altitude ofthe tour. And yif ther were2, it were the 6 partye; and yif ther were 3, the 4 partye; et sicdeinceps. And note, yif it were 5, it were the 5 party of 12; and7, 7 party of 12; and note, at the altitude of thy conclusioun, 10adde the stature of thyn heyghte to thyn eye.

• * * *

BC, E'B = 6 BC; thereforeEE' = 10 feet. To get theThe last part of the article,= 1; also E'b' = 12, b'c' =2; then EB = 12EE' =6 BC. If EE' =60 feet, then BC=whole height, add the height of the eye.beginning 'For other poyntis,' is altogether corrupt in the MS.43. Here versa (in M.) is certainly miswritten for recta, as in L. Seefig. 18, Plate VI. Here Eb-E'b' = 12; b'd' = 1 , bc=2. Hence E'B =BC, whence EE' = BC. Or again, if bc become =BC, EB =3, 4, 5 , &c. , successively, whilstsuccessively =3 or , ort, ½, &c.of E.

remains = I, then EE' isAfterwards, add in the height226 THE ASTROLABE. [PART II. § 44-44. Another maner conclusion, to knowe the mene mote andthe argumentis of any planete. To know the mene moteand the argumentis of every planete fro yere to yere,from day to day, from houre to houre, and from smalefraccionis infinite.[Ad cognoscendum medios motus et argumenta de horain horam cuiuslibet planete, de anno in annum, de diein diem. ]In this maner shalt thou worche consider thy rote first, thewhiche is made the beginning of the tables fro the yere of ourelord 1397, and entere hit in-to thy slate for the laste meridie ofDecember; and than consider the yere of oure lord, what is the5 date, and be-hold whether thy date be more or lasse than the yere1397. And yf hit so be that hit be more, loke how many yeresh*t passeth, and with so many entere into thy tables in the firstlyne ther-as is writen anni collecti et expansi. And loke where thesame planet is writen in the hede of thy table, and than loke10 what thou findest in directe of the same yere of oure lord whicheis passid, be hit 8, or 9, or 10, or what nombre that evere it be, tilthe tyme that thou come to 20, or 40, or 60. And that thoufindest in directe wryte in thy slate under thy rote, and adde hitto-geder, and that is thy mene mote, for the laste meridian of the15 December, for the same yere whiche that thou hast purposed .And if hit so be that hit passe 20, consider wel that fro 1 to 20ben anni expansi, and fro 20 to 3000 ben anni collecti; and if thynombere passe 20, than take that thou findest in directe of 20, andif hit be more, as 6 or 18, than take that thou findest in directe20 there-of, that is to sayen, signes, degrees, minutes, and secoundes,and adde to-gedere un-to thy rote; and thus to make rotes; and44. Sections 44 and 45 are from MS. Digby 72. This long explanation of the method of finding a planet's place depends upon thetables which were constructed for that purpose from observation. Thegeneral idea is this. The figures shewing a planet's position for thelast day of December, 1397, give what is called the root, and afford us,in fact, a starting-point from which to measure. An ' argument ' isthe angle upon which the tabulated quantity depends; for example, avery important ' argument ' is the planet's longitude, upon which itsdeclination may be made to depend, so as to admit of tabulation.The planet's longitude for the given above-mentioned date beingPART II. § 45. ] ANNI COLLECTI ET EXPANSI.227note, that if hit so be that the yere of oure lord be lasse than therote, whiche is the yere of oure lord 1397, than shalt thou wryte inthe same wyse furst thy rote in thy slate, and after entere in-to thytable in the same yere that be lasse, as I taught before; and 25than consider how many signes, degrees, minutes, and secoundesthyn entringe conteyneth. And so be that ther be 2 entrees,than adde hem togeder, and after with-drawe hem from therote, the yere of oure lord 1397; and the residue that levethis thy mene mote fro the laste meridie of December, the whiche 30thou hast purposed; and if hit so be that thou wolt weten thymene mote for any day, or for any fraccioun of day, in thismaner thou shalt worche. Make thy rote fro the laste dayof Decembere in the maner as I have taught, and afterwardbehold how many monethis, dayes, and houres ben passid from 35the meridie of Decembere, and with that entere with the lastemoneth that is ful passed, and take that thou findest in directeof him, and wryte hit in thy slate; and entere with as monydayes as be more, and wryte that thou findest in directe of thesame planete that thou worchest for; and in the same wyse in 40the table of houres, for houres that ben passed, and adde alle theseto thy rote; and the residue is the mene mote for the same dayand the same houre.45. Another manere to knowe the mene mote.Whan thou wolt make the mene mote of eny planete to be byArsechieles tables, take thy rote, the whiche is for the yere of ourelord 1397; and if so be that thy yere be passid the date, wrytethat date, and than wryte the nombere of the yeres. Than withdrawe the yeres out of the yeres that ben passed that rote. 5taken as the root, the planet's longitude at a second date can befound from the tables. If this second date be less than 20 years afterwards, the increase of motion is set down separately for each year, viz.so much in I year, so much in 2 years, and so on. These separate yearsare called anni expansi. But when the increase during a large roundnumber of years (such as 20, 40, or 60 years at once) is allowed for,such years are called anni collecti. For example, a period of 27 yearsincludes 20 years taken together, and 7 separate or expanse years.The mean motion during smaller periods of time, such as months,days, and hours, is added in afterwards.45. Here the author enters a little more into particulars. IftheQ 2228 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 45..Ensampul as thus: the yere of oure lord 1400, I wolde witen,precise, my rote; than wroot I furst 1400. And under thatnombere I wrote a 1397; than withdrow I the laste nombereout of that, and than fond I the residue was 3 yere; I wiste10 that 3 yere was passed fro the rote, the whiche was writen inmy tables. Than after-ward soghte I in my tables the anniscollectis et expansis, and amonge myn expanse yeres fond I3 yeer. Than tok I alle the signes, degrees, and minutes, thatI fond directe under the same planete that I wroghte for, and15 wroot so many signes, degrees, and minutes in my slate, andafterward added I to signes, degrees, minutes, and secoundes,the whiche I fond in my rote the yere of oure lord 1397;and kepte the residue; and than had I the mene mote forthe laste day of Decembere. And if thou woldest wete the20 mene mote of any planete in March, Aprile, or May, otherin any other tyme or moneth of the yere, loke how manymonethes and dayes ben passed from the laste day of Decembere, the yere of oure lord 1400; and so with monethesand dayes entere in-to thy table ther thou findest thy mene25 mote y-writen in monethes and dayes, and take alle the signes,degrees, minutes, and secoundes that thou findest y-write indirecte of thy monethes, and adde to signes, degrees, minutes,and secoundes that thou findest with thy rote the yere ofoure lord 1400, and the residue that leveth is the mene mote30 for that same day. And note, if hit so be that thou woldestwete the mene mote in ony yere that is lasse than thy rote, withdrawe the nombere of so many yeres as hit is lasse than theyere of oure lord a 1397, and kepe the residue; and so manyyeres, monethes, and dayes entere in-to thy tabelis of thy mene35 mote. And take alle the signes, degrees, and minutes, andsecoundes, that thou findest in directe of alle the yeris, monethes,and dayes, and wryte hem in thy slate; and above thilke nomberewryte the signes, degrees, minutes, and secoundes, the whichethou findest with thy rote the yere of oure lord a 1397; andmean motion be required for the year 1400, 3 years later than thestarting- point, look for 3 in the table of expanse years, and add theresult to the number already corresponding to the ' root,' which iscalculated for the last day of December, 1397. Allow for months anddays afterwards. For a date earlier than 1397 the process is justreversed, involving subtraction instead of addition .PART II. § 46. ] TIMES OF FLOOD AND EBB. 229with- drawe alle the nethere signes and degrees fro the signes and 40degrees, minutes, and secoundes of other signes with thy rote;and thy residue that leveth is thy mene mote for that day.46. For to knowe at what houre of the day, or of the night,shal be flode or ebbe.First wite thou certeinly, how that haven stondeth, that thoulist to werke for; that is to say in whiche place of the firmamentthe mone being, maketh fulle see. Than awayte thou redily inwhat degree of the zodiak that the mone at that tyme is inne.Bringe furth than the labelle, and set the point therof in that 5same cost that the mone maketh flode, and set thou there thedegree of the mone according with the egge of the label. Thanafterward awayte where is than the degree of the sonne, at thattyme. Remeve thou than the label fro the mone, and bringe andsette it iustly upon the degree of the sonne. And the point of 10the label shal than declare to thee, at what houre of the day or ofthe night shal be flode. And there also maist thou wite bythesame point of the label, whether it be, at that same tyme, flode orebbe, or half flode, or quarter flode, or ebbe, or half or quarterebbe; or ellis at what houre it was last, or shal be next by night or 15by day, thou than shalt esely knowe, &c. Furthermore, if it so bethat thou happe to worke for this matere aboute the tyme of theconiunccioun, bringe furthe the degree of the mone with thelabelle to that coste as it is before seyd. But than thou shaltunderstonde that thou may not bringe furthe the label fro the 2046. This article is probably not Chaucer's. It is found in MS.Bodley 619, and in MS. Addit. 29250. The text is from the formerof these, collated with the latter. What it asserts comes to this.Suppose it be noted, that at a given place, there is a full flood whenthe moon is in a certain quarter; say, e. g. when the moon is due east.And suppose that, at the time of observation, the moon's actual longitude is such that it is in the first point of Cancer. Make the labelpoint due east; then bring the first point of Cancer to the east byturning the Rete a quarter of the way round. Let the sun at the timebe in the first point of Leo, and bring the label over this point by themotion of the label only, keeping the Rete fixed. The label then pointsnearly to the 32nd degree near the letter Q, or about S.E. by E.;shewing that the sun is S.E. by E. (and the moon consequently dueE.) at about 4 A.M. In fact, the article merely asserts that the moon's230 THE ASTROLABE [PART II. § 41a..degree of the mone as thou dide before; for-why the sonne isthan in the same degree with the mone. And so thou may at thattyme bythe point of the labelle unremeved knowe the houre ofthe flode or of the ebbe, as it is before seyd, &c. And evermore25 as thou findest the mone passe fro the sonne, so remeve thou thelabelle than fro the degree of the mone, and bringe it to thedegree of the sonne. And worke thou than as thou dide before,&c. Or elles knowe thou what houre it is that thou art inne, bythyn instrument. Than bringe thou furth fro thennes the labelleand ley it upon the degree of the mone, and therby may thou witealso whan it was flode, or whan it wol be next, be it night orday; &c.30[ The following sections are spurious; they are numbered so asto shew whatpropositions they repeat. ]41a. Umbra Recta.Yif thy rewle falle upon the 8 poynt on right schadwe, than makethy figure of 8; than loke how moche space of feet is be-tween theeand the tour, and multiplye that be 12, and whan thou hast multipliedit, than divyde it be the same nombre of 8 , and kepe the residue; and5 adde therto up to thyn eye to the residue , and that shal be the verryheyght of the tour. And thus mayst thou werke on the same wyse, froI to 12.416. Umbra Recta.An-other maner of werking upon the same syde. Loke upon whichpoynt thy rewle falleth whan thou seest the top of the tour thorow twolitil holes; and mete than the space fro thy foot to the baas of thetour; and right as the nombre of thy poynt hath him- self to 12, right5 so the mesure be-tween thee and the tour hath him- self to the heighteplace in the sky is known from the sun's place, if the difference of theirlongitudes be known. At the time of conjunction, the moon and sunare together, and the difference of their longitudes is zero, which much simplifies the problem. If there is a flood tide when the moon is inthe E., there is another when it comes to the W., so that there is highwater twice a day. It may be doubted whether this proposition is ofmuch practical utility.41a. This comes to precisely the same as Art. 41, but is expressedwith a slight difference. See fig. 16, where, if bc 8, then BC 12EB.=416. Merely another repetition of Art. 41. It is hard to see why itshould be thus repeated in almost the same words. Ifbc = 8 in fig. 16,PART II. §43a. ] UMBRA RECTA ET UMBRA VERSA. 231of the same tour. Ensample: I sette caas thy rewle falle upon 8;than is 8 two-thrid partyes of 12; so the space is the two-thrid partyesof the tour.42a. Umbra Versa.To knowe the heyghth by thy poyntes of umbra versa. Yif thyrewle falle upon 3, whan thou seest the top of the tour, set a prikkethere-as thy foot stont; and go ner til thou mayst see the same top atthe poynt of 4, and sette ther another lyk prikke. Than mete howmany foot ben be-tween the two prikkes, and adde the lengthe up to 5thyn eye ther-to; and that shal be the heyght of the tour. And note,that 3 is [the] fourthe party of 12, and 4 is the thridde party of 12.Now passeth 4 the nombre of 3 be the distaunce of 1; therfore thesame space, with thyn heyght to thyn eye, is the heyght of the tour.And yif it so be that ther be 2 or 3 distaunce in the nombres, so shulde rothe mesures be-tween the prikkes be twyes or thryes the heyghte ofthe tour.43a. Ad cognoscendum altitudinem alicuius rei per umbramrectam .To knowe the heyghte of thinges, yif thou mayst nat come to thebas ofa thing. Sette thy rewle upon what thou wilt, so that thou maysee the top of the thing thorw the two holes, and make a marke therthy foot standeth; and go neer or forther, til thou mayst see thorwanother poynt, and marke ther a-nother marke. And loke than what 5is the differense be-twen the two poyntes in the scale; and right asthat difference hath him to 12, right so the space be-tween thee andthe two markes hath him to the heyghte of the thing. Ensample: Iset caas thou seest it thorw a poynt of 4; after, at the poynt of 3.Now passeth the nombre of 4 the nombre of 3 be the difference of 1; 10then EB = BCBC. The only difference is that it inverts theequation in the last article.EE':=We must also42a. This is only a particular case of Art. 42. If we can get bc =3,and b'c =4, the equations become EB = 4BC, E'B = 3BC; whenceBC, a very convenient result. See fig. 17.43a. The reading versam (as in the MS. ) is absurd.read ' nat come,' as, if the base were approachable, no such troubleneed be taken; see Art. 41. In fact, the present article is a mererepetition of Art. 43, with different numbers, and with a slightdifference in the method of expressing the result. In fig. 18, if b'd = 3,4, we have E'B = BC, EB BC; or, subtracting, EE'4 BC; or BC = 12 EE'. Then add the height of E, viz. Ea,bc==which =AB.=232 THE ASTROLABE.and right as this difference I hath him- self to 12, right so the mesurebe-tween the two markes hath him to the heyghte of the thing, puttingto the heyghte of thy- self to thyn eye; and thus mayst thou werkefro 1 to 12.426. Per umbram versam.Furthermore, yif thou wilt knowe in umbra versa, by the craft ofumbra recta, I suppose thou take the altitude at the poynt of 4, andmakest a marke; and thou goost neer til thou hast it at the poynt of3, and than makest thou ther a-nother mark. Than muste thou5 devyde 144 by eche of the poyntes be-fornseyd, as thus: yif thoudevyde 144 be 4, and the nombre that cometh ther-of schal be 36, andyif thou devyde 144 be 3, and the nombre that cometh ther- of schal be48, thanne loke what is the difference be-tween 36 and 48, and thershalt thou fynde 12; and right as 12 hath him to 12, right so the space10 be-tween two prikkes hath him to the altitude of the thing.426. Here, ' by the craft of Umbra Recta ' signifies, by a methodsimilar to that in the last article, for which purpose the numbersmust be adapted for computation by the umbra recta. Moreover, it isclear, from fig. 17, that the numbers 4 and 3 (in lines 2 and 4) mustbe transposed. If the side parallel to bE be called nm, and mn, Ecbe produced to meet in o, then mo: mE:: bE: bc; or mo: 12::12: bc; or mo = 144, divided by bc ( =3) =48. Similarly, m'o' = 144,divided by b'd' (= 4) = 36. And, as in the last article, the difference ofthese is to 12, as the space EE' is to the altitude. This is nothing butArt. 42 in a rather clumsier shape.Hence it appears that there are here but 3 independent propositions ,viz. those in articles 41, 42, and 43, corresponding to figs. 16, 17, and18 respectively. Arts. 41a and 416 are mere repetitions of 41; 42aand 426, of 42; and 43a, of43.CRITICAL NOTES.As, in the preceding pages which contain the text, the lower portion of eachpage is occupied with a running commentary, such Critical Notes upon thetext as seem to be most necessary are here subjoined.TITLE. Tractatus, &c.; adopted from the colophon. MS. F has ' tractatusastrolabii.' A second title, ' Bred and mylk for childeren, ' is in MSS. B. and E.[ The MSS. are as follows: -A. Cambridge Univ. Lib. Dd. 3. 53.-B. Bodley,E Museo 54.-C. Rawlinson 1370.—D. Ashmole 391.-E. Bodley 619.-F.Corpus 424.-G. Trin. Coll. Cam. R. 15. 18.-H. Sloane 314.-I. Sloane261.-K. Rawlinson Misc. 3.-L. Addit. 23002. ( B. M. ) -M. St. John's Coll.Cam.-N. Digby 72.-O. Ashmole 360.-P. Camb. Univ. Lib. Dd. 12. 51.—Q. Ashmole 393.-R. Egerton 2622 ( B. M. ) .—S. Addit. 29250 (B. M.) Seethe descriptions of them in the Introduction. ]PROLOGUE. 1. 26. thise B; pese C; miswritten this A; see above, 11 .21, 22.32. curious BC; miswritten curios A.Many similar very slight alterations of spelling have been silently made inthe text, and are not worth specifying here. A complete list of them is givenin my edition of this treatise for the Early English Text Society. I give, however, the real variations of reading. Thus, in 1. 58, A. has som for sonne; andin 1. 64 omits the second the.PART I. § 1, 1. 3. wol B; wolde AC.§ 2, 1. 2. Rowm is here an adjective, meaning large, ample. It is the rightreading; we find Rowm AB; rowme C; rvm M.§ 3, l. 1. AB omit the.§ 9, 1. 3. nombre AB; noumbre C; but nombres in old editions.§ 12, 1. 5. The MSS. all¹ read-' vmbra recta or elles vmbra extensa, &the nether partie is cleped the vmbra versa.' This is certainly wrong.§ 13, 1. 2. a certein] so in AB; CM omit a. But Chaucer certainly usesthe phrase ' a certain '; cf. of unces a certain,' C. T., G 776; and see G1024.1 As far as I can ascertain.234 THE ASTROLABE.§ 14, 11. 2, 5. The word halt for holdeth, and the expression to-hepe, together,both occur in Troil . iii . 1764::-' And lost were al, that Love halt now to-hepe.'§ 17, 1. 1. principal C; tropikal AB; M om. The reading tropikal is absurd ,because there are but two such; besides which, see 1. 34 below.17. the nyht (over an erasure) B; thee nyht ( over an erasure) A; þe niztesC; be nyзtes M."§ 20, 1. 4. figure; here (and sometimes elsewhere) miswritten vigur A.Throughout the whole treatise, the scribe has commonly written vigur'; inmany places, it has been corrected to ' figure.'§ 21 , 1. 15. the (before sterres) suppliedfrom BC.27. where as C; wher AB.56. ouerkeruyd A; ouerkerued B; ouerkerueth (the latter part of the wordover an erasure) C; first time only.PART II. § 2, 1. 8. euer M; euere C; euery (wrongly) AB.§ 3, ll. 31 , 32. A has 12 degres, corrected to 18 degres; B. has 12 degrees;C has 18. The numbers in the MSS. in these propositions are somewhatuncertain; it seems probable that some alteration was made by Chaucer himself.The readings in MS. B give one set of calculations, which are no doubtthe original ones; for in MS. A the same set is again found, but altered throughout, by the scribe who drew the diagrams. The sets of readings are these:-Ll. 31, 32. 12 degrees B; so in A, but altered to 18; C has 18.37. passed 9 of the clokke the space of 10 degrees B; so in A, with 9 alteredto 8, and 10 altered to 2; C has ij for 9, but agrees with A in the reading 2.39. fond ther 10 degrees of taurus B; so in A originally, but 10 has beencorrected to 23, and libra is written over an erasure. C agrees with neither,having 20 for 10, but agreeing with A as to libra. The later MSS. sometimes vary from all these.42. an supplied from C; AB omit.§ 4, 1. 5. largest C; largesse AB.6. upon C; vn (! ) AB.8. forseide degree of his longitude] forseyde same degre of hys longitude C;forseid same gre of his longitude P; forseyde latitude his longitude (sic!) AB.9. planete ys C; miswritten planetes AB, but is is added in margin ofA.16. For 25 degrees, ' all the MSS. have 15 degrees.' The mistake isprobably Chaucer's own; the correction was made by Mr. Brae, who remarksthat it is a mere translation from the Latin version of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos,which has ' Signum ascendentis, quod est a quinque gradibus qui superhorizontem ante ipsum ascenderant usque ad viginti quinque qui ad ascendentem remanserint '; Lib. iii . c. 10. In fact, it is clear that 25 must beadded to 5 to make up the extent of a ' house,' which was 30 degrees.16. ys like C; is lik P; miswritten illyk AB.17. in is suppliedfrom GM; ABC omit it.23. second the suppliedfrom CP; AB omit.32. wel suppliedfrom CPM; AB omit.36. than] pan CM; þenne P; AB omit.40. The number 10 is suppliedfrom C; AB omit.42. some folk suppliedfrom CPG; AB omit.44. yit is ] AB wrongly have yit it is; but CPGM omit it.CRITICAL NOTES TO PART II. 235§ 5, 1. 3. by 2 and 2 ACG; by 3 and 3 P; left blank in B. Either readingmakes sense, but it is clear that divisions representing three degrees each musthave been very awkward.10. of suppliedfrom CPGM: AB omit.§ 6, 1. 5. est C; west A (which is absurd); west (corrected to est) B.9. signe CGP; signes ABM.§ 10, 1. 3. than B; þan C; A has & by nyht, which is absurd.4, 5. Aomits day with the howr inequal of the, which is suppliedfrom BCP;the number 30 is also supplied from BCM, as A has a blank space here; see 1. 10.§ 11, 1. 12. The number 4 is from CP; AB omit; old edd. fourthe.13. ther supplied from PM; þere C; AB omit.§ 12, 1. 1. the suppliedfrom BC; A omits.8. Thefigure 2 isfrom BCP; G has secunde; A omits.§ 14, 1. 9, 10. The last clause supplied from B.§ 15, 1. 6. pointe] point P; pointes A; pointz B; poyntes C; but grammarrequires the singular.9. the suppliedfrom CP; AB omit.§ 16, 1. 5. AB wrongly insert the before Cancer; CP omit it.8. y- lyke] Ilyke G; ilik P; y-like C; ilke AB; see 1. 7.§ 17. Latin rubric; for latitudinem (as in M) read longitudinem. 1. 18.heued B; hed ACP; see sect. 16, 1. 3. The word ' the ' (rightly placed inBCMP) is, in A, wrongly placed defore ' Aries ' instead of before ' ende.'23. second the] be C; AB omit.§ 19. Latin Rubric; for orizon (as in M) read statio.§ 20. Latin Rubric; the MS. (M) transposes the words in and a, havinga zodiaco in circulo, which contradicts the sense.§ 22. Latin Rubric; for centri (as in M) read regionis.§ 23, 1. 21. The figure ' 8 ' is omitted in AB.23. than] A omits; thanne inserted afterwards in B.§ 25, 1. 3. first the] suppliedfrom B; AC omit.15. CP om. and 10 minutes.16. CP om. and minutes out. For 51 degrees and 50 minutes, C has 52 ,pan is 52 degrees; and P has 52. þenne is .52 . grees.19. CP om. as I mighte prove.20. the suppliedfrom CP; AB om.27. the firste degree ] 10 degrees C; 10 gree P.28. 58 degrees and 10 minutes] almost 56 C ( meaning 56 degrees); almost.56. grees P.29. almost 20] almost 18 C.31. thee] C om. and odde Minutes] CP om.It thus appears that there is a second set of readings, involving a differentcalculation. The second set supposes the Sun to be in the 10th degree of Leo,his altitude to be 56°, and his declination 18°; the difference, viz. 38°, is thecomplement of the latitude. Either set of readings suits the sense, but the onein the text agrees best with the former latitude, viz. 51 °. 50′.37. After there, C inserts 38 grees, þat is; and omits the words of the pole,51 degrees and 50 Minutes. But this is a mere repetition of the ' height of theEquinoctial,' and is obviously wrong. After pole, in 1. 38, A inserts an that,which is unmeaning, and omitted in B.236 THE ASTROLABE.§ 26, 1. 8. Nearly all the MSS. omit from Fertherover down to right orisonte. The missing clause appears in MS. Bodley 619; I have not found itelsewhere. It is obviously correct, and agrees sufficiently closely with the conjectural addition by Mr. Brae, in his edition of Chaucer's Astrolabe, p. 48.§ 27, 1. 2. second the] supplied from BCPM; A om.§ 28. Latin Rubric. MS. has in recto circulo; read obliquo.3. set] sett C; sete P; AB omit.11. these] pese C; thise B; the A.23. ende] heed A; heued C. In fact, heed, heued, or hed seems to be thereading of all the MSS. and printed copies, and may have been a slip of the pen in the first instance. The reading ende is, however, amply justified byits previous occurrence, four times over, in lines 10 , 13 , 16, 18. Wethus haveSix Northern signs. From head of Aries to end of Virgo.Six Southern signs. From head of Libra to end of Pisces.Six Tortuous signs. From head of Capricorn to end of Gemini.Six Direct signs. From head of Cancer to end of Sagittarius.6Opposite sagittare ' is written ' sagittarie ' in the margin of A, probably asa correction; but it is left uncorrected in 1. 27.§ 29, 1. 3. Turne thanne] Turne pan C; turne the thanne AB.9. thou] bou C; two AB.14. rewle] rule CP; miswritten rewles AB; see 1. 9 .§ 30. 1. 11. wey A; place C. After zodiak C inserts-for on þe morowewol pe sonne be in a-noper degre þan þan, et cetera; P inserts-For yn þemorowe wol pe sonne be yn an oper gree, & norþer or souþer par aventure.Nothing can be plainer than that ' the way of the sun ' in this passagemeans the small circle formed by the sun's apparent path during a day; thetext says expressly-' the wey wher as the sonne wente thilke day.' Weneed not argue about the impossibility of a planet being found in ' the way ofthe Sun ' at midnight at the time of the Summer solstice, because Chaucermakes no assertion whatever here about the relative positions of the sun andplanet; indeed, he carefully repeats ' if ' three times. He is only concernedwith defining the phrase the latitude of a planet from the way of the sun ';and in every possible case, it is clear that a planet can be either ( 1 ) situate inthe small circle called in the Latin rubric cursus solis, or ( 2 ) to the north ofsuch a circle, or ( 3) to the south of such a circle. About this there need be nodifficulty at all. It is all copied from Messahala.§ 31, 1. 7. azimut] azymutz ABC; cf. sect. 32 , 1. 8.§ 33, 1. 2. Azimut] Azymutz ABC; minutis P; the same error as in sect.31, 1.7; but see sect, 32 , 1. 8.3. second in] yn P; ABC omit.4. the night] so in AB; CP om. the.§ 34. English Rubric; latitude for] so in CP; latitude and for AB.6. toucheth] touchip P; to which ( sic ) ABC; see sect. 27, 1. 6.§ 35, 1. 15. After west side, AB add & yf he be on the est syde, a meresuperfluous repetition; see 1. 11 .17. sothly] soply CP; miswritten he settes (! ) AB.18. hir Episicle] so in CP; by an odd mistake, AB put hire after manere,instead ofbefore Episicle.§ 37, 1. 10. than ] þan C; AB omit. is ] AB omit; but it is obviously wanted;C varies here.CRITICAL NOTES TO PART II. 23712. 12 house next] 12 hous next C; howses nex (sic) AB.13. thanne] þan C; A omits. howse] hous C; howses AB.17. AB absurdly insert fro before the byginning.18. first the] be C; AB omit.§ 38, 1. 1. warpyng MP; werpynge C; weripinge (sic) A.2. first a CP; AB omit.3, 4. an euene C; a euene AB ( twice).8. fro the centre; i. e. above the centre. The length of the pin, measuredfrom the centre in which it is inserted, is to be not more than a quarter of thediameter, or half the radius. This would make the ratio of the gnomon to theshadow (or radius) to be one- half, corresponding to an altitude a, where tan a

i . e. to an altitude of about 26 °. As Chaucer talks about the sun's

altitude being 251° at about 9 o'clock, at the time of the equinoxes (sect. 3 ) ,there is nothing that is particularly absurd in the text of this section. ForMr. Brae's conjectural emendations, see p. 56 of his edition.16. tak thanne] so in P; tak me thanne AB; take me pan C. But thereseems no sufficient reason for thus inserting me here.§ 39. At this point MS. A, which has so far, in spite of occasional errors ofthe scribe, afforded a very fair text, begins to break down; probably becausethe corrector's hand has not touched the two concluding sections , althoughsection 40 is much less corrupt. The result is worth recording, as it shewswhat we may expect to find, even in good MSS. of the Astrolabe. The sectioncommences thus ( the obvious misreadings being printed in italics ):—' This lyne Meridional ys but a Maner descripcion or the ymagined, thatpasseth vpon the pooles of his the world And by the cenyth of owre heued /And hit is the same lyne Meridional / for in what place þat any maner man[omission] any tyme of the yer / whan that the sonne schyneth ony thing of thefirmament cometh to his verrey Middel lyne ofthe place / than is hit verreyMidday, þat we clepen owre noon, ' &c.It seems clear that this apparent trash was produced by a careless scribe,who had a good copy before him; it is therefore not necessary to reject it allas unworthy of consideration, but it is very necessary to correct it by collationwith other copies. And this is what I have done.MS. B has almost exactly the same words; but the section is considerablybetter, in general sense, in MSS. C and P, for which reason I here quote from the former the whole section.[ Rawl. MS. Misc. 1370, fol. 40 b. ]Descripcioun of pe meridional lyne, of þe longitudes and latitudesof Citees and townes, as wel as of a (sic) clymatz.39. conclusio. This lyne meridional is but a maner discripcion or lyneymagyned, þat passep upon þe pooles of his worlde, and by pe Cenith ofoure heued. And yt is cleped pe lyne meridional, for in what place þat anyman ys at any time of pe 3ere, whan þat þe sonne by meuynge of þe firmamentcome to his uerrey meridian place / þan is it þe uerrey mydday þat we clepenone, as to pilke man. And þerefore is yt cleped pe lyne of mydday. And nota,þat euermo of any .2. citees or of 2 townes, of which pat oo towne a- prochebneer þe est þan dop pe oper towne, trust wel þat þilke townes han diuerse meridians. Nota also , þat pe arche of þe equinoxial, þat is contened or bowndedby-twixe pe two meridians, is cleped pe longitude of þe towne. ¶ & 3if so be /238 THE ASTROLABE.þat two townes haue I-like meridian or one merydian, ¶ Than ys pe distaunce ofhem bope I- like fer from þe est, & pe contrarye. And in pis maner þeichaunge not her meridyan, but soply, pei chaungen her almykanteras, For þeenhaunsynge of þe pool / and be distaunce of þe sonne. ¶ The longitude ofa clymate ys a lyne ymagyned fro pe est to be west, I-like distaunte fro pe equinoxial. The latitude of a clymat may be cleped pe space of pe erbe fro peby-gynnynge of þe first clymat unto þe ende of þe same clymat / euene- directea-zens þe pool artyke. ¶ Thus seyn somme auctours / and somme clerkes seyn /þat if men clepen þe latitude of a contrey¹, pe arche mer[ i ]dian þat is contened or intercept by-twixe pe Cenyth & pe equinoxial; þan sey þei þat þedistaunce fro be equinoxial unto be ende of a clymat, euene a-gaynes þepool artik, is pe latitude off þat climat 2 forsope.The corrections made in this section are here fully described.1. oflyne P; of a line I; or lyne C; or the AB.2. this] pis the AB, absurdly; CP omit the, rightly.3. ycleped the] y-clupid pe P; cleped pe C; the same (sic) AB.4. is at; suppliedfrom PCI; AB omit.5. by moeving] by meuynge C; by mevyng PI; schyneth ony thing (sic)A; schyned eny thing B; for the spelling moeving, see sect. 35, 1. 5.6. meridian CP; meridianale I; Middel lyne of the (sic) AB,8. 2 citees CI; too citees P; any lynes (sic) AB.9. aprocheth] a- prochep C; aprochip P; miswritten aprochid AB.more toward] neer C; ner P; neerer I; thoward AB.11. conteyned I; conteynyd P; contened C; consideered (sic) A; con.tined B.13. yf P; 3if C; if it I; AB omit. N.B. It is best to use the spellingyif,as the word is commonly so spelt in A.22. same CPI; seconde AB. The reading same is right; for the ' latitudeof a climate ' means the breadth of a zone of the earth, and the latitude of thefirst climate (here chosen by way of example ) is the breadth as measured alonga great circle perpendicular to the equator, from the beginning of the said first climate to the end of the same. The words ' evene- directe agayns the pooleArtik ' mean in the direction of the North pole; i. e. the latitude of a climateis reckoned from its beginning, or southernmost boundary-line, towards the endof the same, viz. its northern boundary- line.•22. þe poole Artik P; þe pool artyke C; the pole artike I; from north tosouth AB. Observe that this singular error in A, ' euene directe agayns fromnorth to south, ' probably arose from a confusion of the text euene directeagayns þe poole Artik ' with a gloss upon it , which was from north to south.'It is important as throwing light on the meaning of the phrase, and provingthat the interpretation of it given above (note to 1. 22) is correct.24. intercept CP; intercepte I; except (over an erasure) AB.The only reading about which there is any doubt is that in line 18 , whichmay be either illike distant by-twene them alle ' ( A), or ' I-like distaunte frope equinoxial ' (C) . But it is immaterial which reading be adopted, sinceIllike-distant is here used merely in the sense of parallel, and the boundariesof the climates are parallel both to one another, and to the equinoctial. The climates themselves were of different breadths.1 Here insert [they mene]-which CP omit.? The words from euene to climat are added at the bottom ofthe page in the MS,CRITICAL NOTES TO PART II. 239§ 40, 1. 4. this samples AB; þese ensamples C.5. for sothe] miswritten for sonne AB; in general C; yn special P; thereadingsonne points to sothe, and makes it very probable that for sothe is the true reading.6. the longitude] be longitude C; latitude AB (absurdly); see 1. 11 .7. planete; miswritten that A, but corrected to planete in the margin; Chas planete, correctly. The figure 6 is omitted in C; so are all the otherfigures further on. him] hir C.8. I tok] Than toke I C. 8, 16. 2 degrees A; 3 degrees B.10. Than tok I] Than toke I C; for tok AB wrongly have stykke, afterwards altered to stokke in A. second the] supplied from C, which has pe;AB omit.23. the] be C; AB omit.27. prikke] prickes C; perhaps prikkes would be a better reading.29. AB omit thefigure 2; but see 1. 8.31. in alle ] in al C; A has septentrionalle, an obvious mistake for septentrional in alle, by confusion of the syllable ' al ' in the former with ' al ' in thelatter word; B has septentrional, omitting in alle.34. signes C] tymes AB (wrongly); see 1. 32 .46. Perhaps evene before of should be omitted, as in C. AB have in theende euene ouer of thee, where euene ouer is repeated from the former part of the line.47. F endlang] F endlonge C; A euene AB; but see 11. 23, 24.Aomits of and degrees, yet both are required; BC omit of 3 degrees altogether.49. til] tyl þat C; tho AB (absurdly).50. saw] sey C; may AB; see 1. 28.56. hir] his ABC. a] ABC omit.57. At the word houre four of the best MSS. break off, viz. MSS. ABCE,although E adds one more section, viz. sect. 46; others come to a sudden endeven sooner, viz. MSS. DFGHK. But MS. P carries us on to the end of sect.43, and supplies the words—pu shalt do wel ynow, as in the old editions,§ 41. 7. betwixe] be M ( wrongly); betwixe R; by-twyx L.M inserts & before to þe altitude; a mere slip.8. thridde; miswritten ridde M; þrydde R. For; miswritten Fro M.13. LM wrongly place of after the heyzt instead ofbefore it.§ 42, 1. 2. see] so in LR; miswritten sette M; see sect. 41 , 1. 4.3. second I] so L; y R; M omits.8. M omits as, above, and is pe; L has 12 passethe 6 the.11. seest] so in LR; miswritten settest M.12. 60] so in LNR; sexe M.13. M omitsfrom 10 is to 10 feet, which is suppliedfrom NLPR.14. For] so in LNR; fro M.15. For 2, M has 6; so also R. For 3, M has 4.16. For 2 , M has 6; for 6, M has 2; and the words and 3 is 4 partyes of 12are omitted, though L has—& 4 is the thrid partye of 12.17. betwen R] by-twene L; bitwixe P; miswritten be M; cf. sect. 41 , 7.19. thre R] 3 LP; miswritten þe M.§ 43. Rubric in M,error is repeated in 1. 1.Umbra Versa; obviously a mistake for Recta. TheLPR rightly read Recta.240 THE ASTROLABE.3. M omits 1, which is suppliedfrom LPR; see 1. 5.11. After heythe (as in M) , LNR add to thyn eye. In place of lines 9-11,P has & so of alle oper, &c.§ 44. From MS. Digby 72 (N) . Also in LMOR.2. fro] so in LO; for M.3. into] so in L; in M. for] so in O; fro M.6. 3eris M; LNO omit.7. tabelis NO; table M; tables L.8. where L; qwere O; wheper N.9. loke LM; N omits.11, 2. NM omit from or what to or; supplied from O, which has-or qwatnombre þat euere it be, tyl þe tyme þat þou come to 20, or 40, or 60. I havemerely turned qwat into what, as in L, which also has this insertion.L.13. wreten N; the alteration to wryte is my own; see 1. 23.under] so in L; vndirnepe M.14. to-geder] too-geder M; miswritten to 2 degreis N; to the 2 degrees15. hast M; miswritten laste N; last L.16. that ( 1 ); suppliedfrom M; LN omit. For 1 (as in M) LN have 10.21. to-gedere M; to the degreis N; 2 grees O; to degrees L.22. that ( 2); suppliedfrom M; LNO omit.lasse] passid LNO; M omits. Of course passid is wrong, and equallyof course lasse is right; see ll . 5 , 6 above, and 1. 25 below.25. that] so in L; þat MO; if hit N.27. entringe] entre M; entre L. ther] so in M; miswritten the zere N;the zeer L.30. merydie LM; merdie N.32. for LM; fro N (twice) .34. tha3the N; have tauzt M; have tawzt O; haue tauht L.36. the (1 ); suppliedfrom M; LNO omit.with the] so in M; wyche N; see 1. 36.40. in ( 2 ) ] in-to N; yn M.§ 45. From MS. Digby 72 (N); also in LOR; but not in M.4. that N; the L; pe O (after wryte in 1. 3) .6. wrytoun O; Iwyton N. But Lhas I wold wyttyn; read-I wolde witenprecise my rote; cf. ll . 19, 30 .8. 1397] miswritten 1391 LN; O has 1391 , corrected to 1397; see 1. 3.11. so3th N; sowte O; sowthe L; read soghte.14. vnder N; vndyr-nethe O; vndre- nethe L.20, 1. oper in any oþer tyme or monyth N; or any oder tymys or monthys O;or in eny other moneth L.27. adde] suppliedfrom L; NO omit. There is no doubt about it, for see 1. 16.31. wete the] so in O; wete thi L; miswritten with thy N; see 1. 19.35. and (3) ] suppliedfrom LO; N omits.§ 46, 5 , 6. þat same E; þe same S.10. it S; E omits.13. þat same (om. tyme) E; þe same tyme S.16. pou þan esely E; than shallt thou easly S.17. tyme of E; tyme of the S.CRITICAL NOTES TO PART II. 24120. S meve for bringe furþe) .§ 41 a. This and the remaining sections are certainly spurious. They occurin LMNR, the first being also found in O. The text of 41a-426 is from M.3. hast] suppliedfrom LR; M omits.§ 42a, 1. heyth by by N; heyth by the L; heythe bi þi R; M om.4. lyk ] lykk M; L. omits. mete] mette M; mett L.9. is L; miswritten hys M.§ 43a, 1. nat ] not R; nott L; Momits; see the footnote. In the rubric, Mhas versam; but L has the rubric-V'mbra Recta.§ 42b, 5. as] so in LR; miswritten & M.6. 4 is suppliedfrom LR; M omits.R

NOTESΤΟTHE HOUSE OF FAME.BOOK I.WRITTEN in three Books; but I number the lines consecutivelythroughout, for convenience; at the same time giving the separatenumbering (of Books II . and III . ) within marks of parenthesis. Thetitle of the poem is expressly given at 1. 663. The author gives hisname as Geffrey; 1. 729.Lydgate's Temple of Glass is partly imitated from the House ofFame; Warton, Hist. E. Poetry, 1871 , iii . 61. The same is true ofthe Palice of Honour, by Gawain Douglas. For further remarks, see the Introduction.As the poem is not quite easy to follow, I here subjoin a brief Argument of its contents.BOOK I. A discussion on dreams. I will tell you my dream on the10th of December. But first let me invoke Morpheus. May thosewho gladly hear me have joy; but may those who dislike my wordshave as evil a fate as Crœsus, King of Lydia! ( 1-110) .I slept, and dreamt I was in a temple of glass, dedicated to Venus.On a table of brass I found the opening words of Vergil's Æneid; afterwhich I saw the destruction of Troy, the death of Priam, the flight ofÆneas, the loss of Creusa , the voyage of Æneas to Italy, the stormat sea sent by Juno, the arrival of Æneas at Carthage, how kindlyDido received him, and how Æneas betrayed and left her, causingDido's lament and suicide. Similar falsehood was seen in Demophon,Achilles, Paris, Jason, Hercules, and Theseus. Next, Æneas sailed toItaly, and lost Palinurus; he visited the lower regions, where he sawAnchises, Palinurus, Dido, and Deiphobus. Afterwards he warred inItaly, slew Turnus, and won Lavinia ( 111-467) .R 2244 THE HOUSE OF FAME.After this I went out of the temple, and found a large plain . Lookingup, I saw an eagle above me, of enormous size and having goldenfeathers (468-508).BOOK II . Such a strange vision as mine never appeared to Scipio,Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, or Turnus. O Venus and Muses, help metotell it! The great eagle swooped down upon me, seized me, and boreme aloft, and told me (in a man's voice) not to be afraid. I thought Iwas being borne up to the stars, like Enoch or Ganymede. The eaglethen addressed me, and told me some events of my own life, and saidthat he would bear me to the House of Fame, where I should hearmany wonderful things (509-710).The House stood in the midst, between heaven, earth, and sea; andall sounds travelled thither, ' Geoffrey,' said he, ' you know how allthings tend to seek their own proper place; a stone sinks down, whilesmoke flies up. Sound is merely broken air, and if you would knowhow all sounds come to Fame's House, observe how, when a stone isthrown into water, the rings made by the ripples extend from the spotwhere it fell till they reach the shore. Just so all earthly sounds traveltill they reach Fame's House.' He then bade me look below me, andasked what I saw. I saw fields, hills, rivers, towns, and sea; but soonhe had soared so high that the earth dwindled to a point. I was higherup ( I said) than ever was Alexander, Scipio, or Dædalus. He thenbade me look upward; I saw the zodiac , the milky way, and clouds,snows, and rain beneath me. Then I thought of the descriptions ofheaven in Boethius and Marcian. The eagle would have taught methe names of the stars; I refused to learn. He then asked if I couldnow hear the sounds that murmured in the House of Fame. Isaid they sounded like the beating of the sea on rocks (711-1045) .Then he set me down upon my feet in a way that led to the House,and bade me go forward; observing that I should find that the wordsthat flew about in Fame's House assumed the outward forms of the menupon earth who uttered them ( 1046–90) .BOOK III. Apollo, aid me to write this last book! My rime isartless; I aim at expressing my thoughts only ( 1091-1109) .The House of Fame stood high upon a lofty rock, which I climbedlaboriously. The rock was formed of ice. On the southern side it wascovered with names, many of the letters of which were melted away.On the northern side, it was likewise covered with names, whichremained unmelted and legible. On the top of the mountain I founda beautiful House, which I cannot describe though I remember it . Itwas all of beryl, and full of windows. In niches round about wereharpers and minstrels, such as Orpheus, Arion, Chiron, and Glasgerion.Far from these, by themselves, was a vast crowd of musicians. Therewere Marsyas, Misenus, Joab, and others. In other seats were jugglers,sorcerers, and magicians; Medea, Circe, Hermes, and Coll Tregetour.I next beheld the golden gates. Then I heard the cries of those thatwere heralds to the goddess Fame. How shall I describe the greatARGUMENT OF THE POEM. 245hall, that was plated with gold, and set with gems? High on a throneof ruby sat the goddess, who at first seemed but a dwarf, but presentlygrew so that she reached from earth to heaven. Her hair was golden,and she was covered with innumerable ears and tongues. Hershoulders sustained the names of famous men, such as Alexander andHercules. On either side of the hall were huge pillars of metal. Onthe first of these, composed of lead and iron, was the Jew Josephus;the iron was the metal of Mercury, and the lead of Saturn. Next, onan iron pillar, was Statius; and on other iron pillars were Homer,Dares, Dictys, Guido, and the English Geoffrey, who upbore the fameof Troy. On a pillar of iron , but covered over with tin, was Vergil;and beside him Ovid and Lucan. On a pillar of sulphur stood Claudian(1110-1512).Next I saw a vast company, all worshipping Fame. These sherejected, but would say of them neither good nor bad. She then senta messenger to fetch Æolus, the god of wind, who should bring withhim two trumpets, namely of Praise and Slander. Eolus, with hisman Triton, came to Fame. And when many undeserving suppliantsapproached her, she bade Æolus blow his black trump of Slander.He did so, and from it there issued a stinking smoke; and so thissecond company got renown, but it was evil. A third company sued toher, and she bade Eolus blow his golden trump of Praise. Straightway he did so, and the blast had a perfume like that of balm and roses.Afourth company, a very small one, asked for no fame at all, and theirrequest was granted. A fifth company modestly asked for no fame,though they had done great things; but Fame bade Eolus blow hisgolden trumpet, till their praise resounded everywhere. A sixth company of idle men, who had done no good, asked for fame; and theirrequest was granted. A seventh company made the same request;but Fame reviled them; Æolus blew his black trump, and all menlaughed at them. An eighth company, of wicked men, prayed forgood fame; but their request was refused. A ninth company, also ofwicked men, prayed for a famous but evil name, and their request wasgranted. Among them was the wretch who set on fire the temple atAthens ( 1513-1867) .Then some man perceived me, and began to question me. Iexplained that I had come to learn strange things, and not to gainfame. He led me out of the castle and into a valley, where stood thehouse of Daedalus ( i . e. the house of Rumour) . This strange house was made of basket-work, and was full of holes, and all the doors stoodwide open. All sorts of rumours entered there, and it was sixty mileslong. On a rock beside it I saw my eagle perched, who again seizedme, and bore me into it through a window. It swarmed with people,all of whom were engaged in telling news; and often their storieswould fly out of a window. Sometimes a truth and a lie would try tofly out together, and became commingled before they could get away.Every piece of news then flew to Fame, who did as she pleased with246 THE HOUSE OF FAME.each. The house of Dædalus was thronged with pilgrims, pardoners,couriers, and messengers, and I heard strange things. In one cornermen were telling stories about love, and there was a crush of menrunning to hear them. At last I saw a man whom I knew not; but heseemed to be one who had great authority-(here the poem ends, beingincomplete; ll. 1868-2158) .The general idea of the poem was plainly suggested by thedescription of Fame in Vergil, the house of Fame as described nearthe beginning of the twelfth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, andvarious hints in Dante's Divina Commedia. For a close and searchingcomparison between the House of Fame and Dante's great poem, seethe article by A. Rambeau in Engl. Studien, iii . 209.1. For this method of commencing a poem with a dream, compareThe Book of the duch*esse, Parl. of Foules, and The Romance of theRose.For discourses on dreams, compare the Nonne Preestes Tale, andthe remarks of Pandarus in Troilus, v. 358-385. Chaucer here propounds several problems; first , what causes dreams (a questionanswered at some length in the Nonne Preestes Tale, B 4116); whysome come true and some do not (discussed in the same, B 4161 );and what are the various sorts of dreams ( see note to 1. 7 below) .There is another passage in Le Roman de la Rose, which bearssome resemblance to the present passage. It begins at l. 18699: —'Ne ne revoil dire des songes,S'il sunt voirs, ou s'il sunt mençonges;Se l'en les doit du tout eslire,Ou s'il sunt du tout à despire:Porquoi li uns sunt plus orribles,Plus bel li autre et plus paisible,Selonc lor apparicionsEn diverses complexions,Et selonc lors divers coragesDes meurs divers et des aages;Ou se Diex par tex visionsEnvoie revelacions,Ou li malignes esperiz,Por metre les gens en periz;De tout ce ne m'entremetrai.'2. This long sentence ends at line 52.7. This opens up the question as to the divers sorts of dreams.Chaucer here evidently follows Macrobius, who, in his Commentaryon the Somnium Scipionis, lib. i . c. 3 , distinguishes five kinds ofdreams, viz. somnium, visio, oraculum, insomnium, and visum. Thefourth kind, insomnium, was also called fantasma; and this providedChaucer with the word fantome in 1. 11. In the same line, oraclesanswers to the Lat. oracula. Cf. Ten Brink, Studien, p. 101 .NOTES TO BOOK I. LINES 1-88. 24718. The gendres, the (various) kinds. This again refers to Macrobius, who subdivides the kind of dream which he calls somnium intofive species, viz. proprium, alienum, commune, publicum, and generale,according to the things to which they relate. Distaunce of tymes, i . e.whether the thing dreamt of will happen soon, or a long time afterwards.20. 'Why this is a greater (more efficient) cause than that. '21. This alludes to the four chief complexions of men; cf. NonnePreestes Tale, B 4114. The four complexions were the sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholy, and choleric; and each complexion was likely to have certain sorts of dreams. Thus, in the Nonne Preestes Tale, B 4120,the choleric man is said to dream of arrows, fire, fierce carnivorousbeasts, strife, and dogs; whilst the melancholy man will dream of bulls and bears and black devils.22. Reflexiouns, the reflections or thoughts to which each man ismost addicted; see Parl. of Foules, 99-105.24. Because of too great feebleness of their brain (caused) byabstinence,' & c.43. Ofpropre kynde, owing to its own nature.48. The y in By is run on to the a into avisióuns.53. As respects this matter, may good befall the great clerks thattreat of it.' Of these great clerks, Macrobius was one, and Jean deMeun another. Vincent of Beauvais has plenty to say about dreamsin his Speculum Naturale, lib. xxvi.; and he refers us to Aristotle,Gregory (Moralia, lib. viii. ) , Johannes de Rupella, Priscianus (adCosdroe regem Persarum) , Augustinus ( in Libro de diuinatione dæmonum) , Hieronimus (super Matheum, lib. ii . ) , Thomas de Aquino,Albertus, & c.58. Repeated (nearly) from 1. 1.63. I here give the text as restored by Willert, who shows how thecorruptions in 11. 62 and 63 arose. First of all dide was shifted into 1.62, giving as dide I; as in Caxton's print. Next, an additional nowwas put in place of dide in 1. 63; as in P., B., F., and Th. , and didewas dropped alltogether. After this, F. turned the now of 1. 64 intoyow, and Cx. omitted it. See also note to 1. III.64. 'Which, as I can (best) now remember.'68. Pronounced fully: --With spé- ci- ál de-vó- ci - óun.69. Morpheus; see Book of Duch. 137. From Ovid, Met. xi.592-612; esp. ll . 602, 3:-'Saxo tamen exit ab imoRiuus aquae Lethes.'73. 'Est prope Cimmerios,' &c.; Met. xi. 592.75. See Ovid, Met. xi. 613-5; 633.76. That .. hir is equivalent to whose; cf. Kn. Tale, 1852 .81. Cf. ' Colui, che tutto move, ' i . e. He who moves all; Parad. i. 1 .88. Read povert; cf. Clerkes Tale, E 816.248 THE HOUSE OF FAME.92. MSS. misdeme; I read misdemen, to avoid an hiatus.93. Read málicióus.98. That, whether he dream when bare- footed or when shod ';whether in bed by night or in a chair by day; i . e. in every case. Thethat is idiomatically repeated in 1. 99.105. The dream of Croesus, king of Lydia, and his death vpon agallows, form the subject of the last story in the Monkes Tale.Chaucer got it from the Rom. de la Rose, which accounts for the formLyde. The passage occurs at 1. 6513: —'Cresus ...Qui refu roi de toute Lyde, ... .Qu'el vous vuet faire au gibet pendre.'109, 10. The rime is correct, because abreyd is a strong verb.Chaucer does not rime a pp. with a weak pt. tense, which should havea final e. According to Mr. Cromie's Rime- Index, there is just oneexception, viz. in the Kn. Tale, A 1383 , where the pt. t. seyde is rimedwith the ' pp. leyde. But Mr. Cromie happens to have overlooked thefact that leyde is here not the pp. , but the past tense! Nevertheless,abreyd-e also appears in a weak form, by confusion with leyd-e, seyd-e,&c.; see C. T., B 4198, E 1061. Cf. Book of the duch*ess, 192. In l .109, he refers to 1. 65.111. Here again, as in 1. 63, is a mention of Dec. 10. Ten Brink( Studien, p. 151 ) suggests that it may have been a Thursday;cf. the mention of Jupiter in 11. 608, 642, 661. If so, the year was1383.115. ' Like one that was weary with having overwalked himself bygoing two miles on pilgrimage.' The difficulty was not in the walkingtwo miles, but in doing so under difficulties, such as going barefootfor penance.117. Corseynt; O.F. cors seint, lit. holy body; hence a saint orsainted person, or the shrine where a saint was laid. See Robert ofBrunne, Handlyng Synne, 8739: -And hys ymage ful feyre depeynte,Ryzt as he were a cors seynt?See also P. Plowman, B. v. 539; Morte Arthure, 1164; and (thespurious) Chaucer's Dream, 942.118. To make that soft ( or easy) which was formerly hard.' Theallusion is humorous enough; viz. to the bonds of matrimony. Hereagain Chaucer follows Jean de Meun, Rom. de la Rose, 8871:-' Mariages est maus liens ,Ainsinc m'aïst saint JuliensQui pelerins errans herberge,Et saint Lienart qui deffergeLes prisonniers bien repentans,Quant les voit à soi démentans ';NOTES TO BOOK I. LINES 92-158. 249i . e. ' Marriage is an evil bond-so may St. Julian aid me, whoharbours wandering pilgrims; and St. Leonard, who frees from theirfetters (lit. un-irons) such prisoners as are very repentant, when hesees them giving themselves the lie (or recalling their word) . ' The' prisoners ' are married people, who have repented, and would recalltheir plighted vow.St. Leonard was the patron- saint of captives, and it was charitablyhoped that he would extend his protection to the wretched people whohad unadvisedly entered into wedlock, and soon prayed to get out ofit again. They would thus exchange the hard bond for the soft con- dition of freedom. St. Julian is the patron of pilgrims; St. Leonardand St. Barbara protect captives '; Brand, Pop. Antiquities, i. 359.And, at p. 363 of the same, Brand quotes from Barnabee Googe: -' But Leonerd of the prisoners doth the bandes asunder pull ,And breaks the prison-doores and chaines, wherewith his church is full.'St. Leonard's day is Nov. 6.119. The MSS. have slept-e, which is dissyllabic. Read sleep, as in C. T. Prol. 397.120. Hence the title of one of Lydgate's poems, The Temple ofGlass, which is an imitation of the present poem.130. Cf. the description of Venus' temple ( Cant. Tales, A 1918) ,which is imitated from that in Boccaccio's Teseide.133. Cf. ' naked fleting in the large see ... And on hir heed, fulsemely for to see, A rose garland, fresh and wel smellinge '; Cant.Tales, A 1956.Boc137. Hir dowves '; C. T., A 1962. ' Cupido '; id. 1963.138. Vulcano, Vulcan; note the Italian forms of these names.caccio's Teseide has Cupido (vii. 54) , and Vulcano (vii. 43) . His face was brown with working at the forge.141 , 2. Cf. Dante, Inf. iii . 10, II .143. A large portion of the rest of this First Book is taken up witha summary of the earlier part of Vergil's Aeneid. We have here atranslation of the well-known opening lines:-' Arma uirumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab orisItaliam, fato profugus, Lauinia uenitLittora.'147. In, into, unto; see note to 1. 366.152. Synoun, Sinon; Aen. ii . 195.153. I supply That, both for sense and metre.155. Made the hors broght, caused the horse to be brought. On thisidiom, see the note to Man of Lawes Tale, B 171 .158. Ilioun, Ilium. Ilium is only a poetical name for Troy; butthe medieval writers often use it in the restricted sense of the citadelof Troy, where was the temple of Apollo and the palace of Priam.250 THE HOUSE OF FAME.Thus, in the alliterative Troy- book, 11958, ylion certainly has thissense; and Caxton speaks of the palays of ylyon '; see Spec. ofEnglish, ed. Skeat, p. 94. See also the parallel passage in the NonnePreestes Tale, B 4546. Still more clearly, in the Leg. Good Women( Dido, 13) , Chaucer says, of ' the tour of Ilioun , ' that it ' of the citee wasthe cheef dungeoun .' In 1. 163 below, it is called castel.160. Polites, Polites; Aen. ii . 526. Also spelt Polite in Troil. iv. 53.163. Brende, was on fire; used intransitively, as in l . 537.164-73. See Aen. ii. 589-733.174. Read this, rather than his. Cf. Aen. ii . 736.177. Iulus and Ascanius were one and the same person; see Æn. i .267. Perhaps Ch. was misled by the wording of Æn. iv. 274. ( Onthe other hand, Brutus was not the same person as Cassius; seeMonkes Tale, B 3887) . Hence, Koch proposes to read That hightinstead of And eek; but we have no authority for this. However,Chaucer has it right in his Legend of Good Women, 941; and in1. 192 below, we find sone, not sones; hence 1. 178 may be merelyparenthetical.182. Wente, foot-path; Aen. ii . 737. Cf. Book Duch. 398.184. So that she was dead, but I know not how.' Vergil does notsay how she died .185. Gost, ghost; see Aen. ii. 772.189. Repeated from 1. 180.198. Here Chaucer returns to the first book of the Æneid, which hefollows down to l. 255.204. 'To blow forth, (with winds) of all kinds '; cf. Æn. i . 85.219. Ioves, Jove, Jupiter.597, 630; see note to 1. 586.This curious form occurs again, ll. 586,Boccaccio has Giove.226. Achatee (trisyllabic) , Achates, Æn. i . 312; where the abl. form Achate occurs.239. The story of Dido is told at length in Le Rom. de la Rose,13378; in The Legend of Good Women; and in Gower, Conf.Amantis, bk. iv. , ed. Pauli, ii . 4. Chaucer now passes on to the fourthbook ofthe Æneid, till he comes to 1. 268 below.265. Mès ja ne verrés d'aparence Conclurre bonne consequence ';Rom. Rose, 12343.272. ' It is not all gold that glistens.' A proverb which Chaucertook from Alanus de Insulis; see note to Can. Yem. Tale, G 962.273. ' For, as sure as I hope to have good use of my head. ' Broukeis, practically, in the optative mood. Cf. ' So mote I brouke wel myneyen tweye '; Cant. Ta. , B 4490; so also E 2308. The phrase occurs several times in the Tale of Gamelyn; see note to l . 334 of that poem.280-3. These four lines occur in Thynne's edition only, but areprobably quite genuine. It is easy to see why they dropped out; viz.owing to the repetition of the word finde at the end of 11. 279 and283. This is a very common cause of such omissions. See note to1. 504.NOTES TO BOOK I. LINES 160-388. 251286. By, with reference to.288. Gest, guest; Lat. aduena, Æn. iv. 591 .6290. He that fully knows the herb may safely lay it to his eye.'So in Cotgrave's Dict. , s. v. Herbe, we find; ' L'herbe qu'on cognoist,on la doit lier à son doigt; Prov. Those, or that, which a man knowesbest, he must use most.'305. In the margin of MSS. F. and B. is here written:-' Caueteuos, innocentes mulieres.'315. Swete herte; hence E. sweetheart; cf. 1. 326.321. Understand ne (i.e. neither) before your love. Cf. Æn. iv.307, 8.329. I have no hesitation in inserting Iafter Agilte, as it is absolutelyrequired to complete the sense. Read-Agilt' Iyów, &c.343. Pronounce détermínen (i as ee in beet) .346. Cf. Æn. iv. 321-3.350. Fama, malum quo non aliud uelocius ullum, ' Æn. iv. 174;quoted in the margin of MSS. F. and B.351. Nichil occultum quod non reueletur '; Matt. x. 26: quoted inthe margin of MSS. F. and B.355. Seydy-shamed be, said to be put to shame.359. Eft-sones, hereafter again. In the margin of MSS. F. and B.we here find:-' Cras poterunt turpia fieri sicut heri.' By readingfieriturpia, this becomes a pentameter; but it is not in Ovid, nor ( I suppose) in classical Latin.361. Doon, already done. To done, yet to be done. Cf. Book Duch.708.366. I read in for into (as in the MSS. ) . For similar instances,where the scribes write into for in, see Einenkel, Streifzüge durch dieMittelengl. Syntax, p. 145. Cf. l. 147.367. In the margin of MSS. F. and B. is an incorrect quotation ofÆn. iv. 548-9:-' tu prima furentem His, germana, malis oneras.'378. Eneidos; because the books are headed Æneidos liber primus,&c.379. See Ovid, Heroides, Epist. vii-Dido Æneæ.380. Or that, ere that, before.381. Only Th. has the right reading, viz. And nere it to longe toendyte (where longe is an error for long). The expressions And norhyt were and And nere it were are both ungrammatical. Nere=newere, were it not.388. In the margin of F. and B. we find: -' Nota: of many vntrewelouers. Hospita, Demaphoon, tua te R[ h]odopeia Phyllis Vltra promissum tempus abesse queror.' These are the first two lines of Epistola ii. in Ovid's Heroides, addressed by Phyllis to Demophoon. Allthe examples here given are taken from the same work. Epist. iii. isheaded Briseis Achilli; Epist. v. , Oenone Paridi; Epist. vi. , HypsipyleIasoni; Epist. xii . , Medea Iasoni; Epist. ix. , Deianira Herculi; Epist.x., Ariadne Theseo. These names were evidently suggested by the252 THE HOUSE OF FAME.reference above to the same work, 1. 379. See the long note to GroupB, 1. 61 , in vol. v.Demophoon, son of Theseus, was the lover of Phyllis, daughter ofking Sithon in Thrace; she was changed into an almond- tree.392. His terme pace, pass beyond or stay behind his appointed time.He said he would return in a month, but did not do so. See the storyin The Legend of Good Women. Gower (ed. Pauli, iii . 361 ) alludesto her story, in a passage much like the present one; and in Le Rom.de la Rose, 13417, we have the very phrase-' Por le terme qu'il trespassa'397. In the margin of F. and B.:-' Ouidius. Quam legis a rapta Briseide litera venit '; Heroid. Ep. iii . 1 .401. In the same: -' Ut [ miswritten Vbi] tibi Colc[ h]orum meminiregina uacaui '; Heroid . Ep. xii. 1. For the accentuation of Medea,cf. Leg. of Good Women, 1629, 1663.402. In the margin of F. and B.:-' Gratulor Oechaliam '; Heroid.Ep. ix. 1; but Oechaliam is miswritten yotholia.405. Gower also tells this story; ed. Pauli, ii. 306.407. In F. and B. is quoted the first line of Ovid, Heroid. x. 1 .Adriane, Ariadne; just as in Leg. Good Wom. 2171 , &c. , and in C. T. ,Group B, 1. 67. Gower has Adriagne.409. For, whether he had laughed, or whether he had frowned ';i. e. in any case. Cf. 1. 98.411. Ifit had not been for Ariadne.' We have altered the form ofthis idiom.416. Yle, isle of Naxos; see notes to Leg. Good Wom. 2163, andC. T., Group B, 1. 68 ( in vol . v. ) .426. Telles is a Northern and West- Midland form, as in Book Duch.73. Cf.falles, id. 257. A similar admixture offorms occurs in Havelok,Will. of Palerne, and other M. E. poems.429. The book, i. e. Vergil; Æn. iv. 252.434. Go, gone, set out; correctly used. Chaucer passes on toÆneid, bk. v. The tempestis that mentioned in Æn. v. 10; the steersman is Palinurus, who fell overboard; Æn. v. 860.439. See Æn. bk. vi. The isle intended is Crete, Æn. vi. 14, 23;which was not at all near (or ' besyde ' ) Cumæ, but a long way from it.Æneas then descends to hell, where he sees Anchises ( vi. 679);Palinurus (337); Dido ( 450); Deiphobus, son of Priam (495 ); and thetormented souls (580).447. Which refers to the various sights in hell.449. Claudian, Claudius Claudianus, who wrote De raptu Proserpinae about A. D. 400. Daunte is Dante, with reference to his Inferno,ii. 13-27, and Paradiso, xv. 25-27.451. Chaucer goes on to Æn. vii-xii , of which he says but little.458. Lavyna is Lavinia; the form Lavina occurs in Dante, Purg.xvii. 37.468. I put seyen for seyn, to improve the metre; cf. P. Pl. C. iv. 104.NOTES. BOOK I: LINE 392-BOOK II: LINE 519. 253474. But I do not know who caused them to be made.'475. Read ne in as nin; as in Squi. Tale, F 35.482. This waste space corresponds to Dante's ' gran diserto, ' Inf. i .64; or, still better, to his ' landa ' ( Inf. xiv. 8) , which was too sterile tosupport plants. So again, 1. 486 corresponds to Dante's ' arena aridae spessa,' which has reference to the desert of Libya; Inf. xiv. 13.487. As fine [ said of the sand] as one may see still lying.' Jephsonsays yet must be a mistake, and would read yt. But it makes perfectsense. Cx. Th. read at eye (put for at yë) instead of yet tye, which isperhaps better. At ye means ' as presented to the sight '; see Kn. Ta. ,A 3016.498. Kenne, discern. The offing at sea has been called the kenning;and see Kenning in Halliwell.500. More, greater. Imitated from Dante, Purgat. ix. 19, whichCary translates thus:-' Then, in a vision, did I seem to viewA golden-feather'd eagle in the sky,With open wings, and hovering for descent.'Cf. also the descent of the angel in Purg. ii. 17-24.504-7. The omission of these lines in F. and B. is simply due to thescribe slipping from bright in l . 503 to brighte in 1. 507. Cf. note to 1.280.BOOK II.511. Listeth, pleases, is pleased; the alteration (in MS. F. ) tolisteneth is clearly wrong, and due to confusion with herkneth above.(I do not think listeth is the imp. pl. here. )514. Isaye, Isaiah; actually altered , in various editions, to I saye,as if it meant'I say.' The reference is to ' the vision of Isaiah '; Isa.i. 1; vi. 1. Scipioun, Scipio; see note to Parl. Foules, 31 , and cf.Book of the Duch. 284.515. Nabugodonosor, Nebuchadnezzar. The same spelling occursin the Monkes Tale (Group B, 3335 ) , and is a mere variant of the formNabuchodonosor in the Vulgate version, Dan. i -iv. Gower has thesame spelling; Conf. Amant. bk. i. , near the end.516. Pharo; spelt Pharao in the Vulgate, Gen. xli. 1-7. See Bookofthe duch*esse, 280-3.Turnus; alluding to his vision of Iris, the messenger of Juno;Eneid ix. 6. Elcanor; this name somewhat resembles Elkanah (inthe Vulgate, Elcana) , 1 Sam. i . 1; but I do not know where to findany account of his vision, nor do I at all understand who is meant.The name Alcanor occurs in Vergil, but does not help us.518. Cipris, Venus, goddess of Cyprus; called Cipryde in Parl.Foules, 277. Dante has Ciprigna; Par. viii . 2.519. Favour, favourer, helper, aid; not used in the ordinary senseof Lat. fauor, but as if it were formed from O. F. faver, Lat. fauere, to254 THE HOUSE OF FAME.be favourable to. Godefroy gives an example of the O. F. verb faverin this sense.521. Parnaso; the spelling is imitated from the Ital. Parnaso, i. e.Parnassus, in Dante, Par. i. 16. So also Elicon is Dante's Elicona, i. e.Helicon, Purg. xxix. 40. But the passage in Dante which Chaucerhere especially imitates is that in Inf. ii. 7-9: —'O Muse, o alto ingegno, or m' aiutate;O mente, che scrivesti ciò ch' io vidi,Qui si parrà la tua nobilitate.'This Cary thus translates: -'O Muses! O high genius, now vouchsafeYour aid. O mind, that all I saw hast keptSafe in a written record, here thy worthAnd eminent endowments come to proof.'Hence ye in l. 520 answers to Dante's Muse, the Muses; and Thoughtin 1. 523 answers to Dante's mente. Cf. also Parad. xviii. 82-87.And see the parallel passage in Anelida, 15-19.The reason why Chaucer took Helicon to be a well rather than amountain is because Dante's allusion to it is dubiously worded; seePurg. xxix. 40.528. Engyn is accented on the latter syllable, as in Troil. ii . 565,iii. 274.529. Egle, the eagle in 1. 499; cf. 11. 503-7.534. Partly imitated from Dante, Purg. ix. 28-30: -' Poi mi parea che, più rotata un poco,Terribil come fulgor discendesse,E me rapisse suso infino al foco .'Cary's translation is:—'A little wheeling in his aëry tour,Terrible as the lightning, rushed he down,And snatch'd me upward even to the fire.'But Chaucer follows still more closely, and verbally, a passage inMachault's Jugement du Roi de Navarre, ed. Tarbé, 1849, p. 72, whichhas the words-· la foudreQue mainte ville mist en poudre ';i. e. literally, ' the foudre (thunder-bolt) which reduces many a town topowder. ' Machault nearly repeats this; ed. Tarbé, p. 97.Curiously enough, almost the same words occur in Boethius, bk. i .met. 4, where Chaucer's translation has:-' ne pe wey of thonderleyt, that is wont to smyten heye toures.' It hence appears thatChaucer copies Machault, and Machault translates Boethius. ThereNOTES TO BOOK II. LINES 521-562. 255are some curious M. E. verses on the effects of thunder in PopularTreatises on Science, ed. Wright, p. 136.Foudre represents the Lat. fulgur. One of the queer etymologiesof medieval times is, that fulgur is derived a feriendo; Vincent ofBeauvais, Spec. Nat. iv. 59. It was held to be quite sufficient thatbothfulgur and ferire begin withf.537. Brende, was set on fire; cf. 1. 163. The idea is that of a fallingthunderbolt, which seems to have been conceived of as being a materialmass, set on fire by the rapidity of its passage through the air; thusconfusing the flash of lightning with the fall of a meteoric stone. SeeMr. Aldis Wright's note on thunder- stone, Jul. Cæs. i. 3. 49.543. Hente, caught. We find a similar use of the word in an oldtranslation of Map's Apocalypsis Goliæ, printed in Morley's ShorterEng. Poems, p. 13:—' And by and by I fell into a sudden trance,And all along the air was marvellously hent.544. Sours, sudden ascent, a springing aloft. It is well illustratedby a passage in the Somp. Tale ( D 1938):—'Therfor, right as an hauk up, at a sours,Up springeth into their, right so prayeresOf charitable and chaste bisy freresMaken hir sours to Goddes eres two.'It is precisely the same word as M. E. sours, mod. E. source, i. e. rise,spring (of a river). Etymologically, it is the feminine of O. F. sors,pp. of sordre, to rise ( Lat. surgere) . At a later period, the wasdropped, and the word was strangely confused in sound with the verbsouse, to pickle. Moreover, the original sense of ' sudden ascent ' wasconfused with that of ' sudden descent,' for which the correct termwas ( I suppose) swoop. Hence the old verb to souse, in the sense ' toswoop down,' or ' to pounce upon ,' or ' to strike, ' as in Shak. K. John ,v. 2. 150; Spenser, F. Q. i . 5. 8; iii . 4. 16; iv. 3. 19 , 25; iv. 4. 30;iv. 5. 36; iv. 7. 9. The sense of ' downward swoop ' is particularlyclear in Spenser, F. Q. ii . 11. 36: —' Eft fierce retourning, as a faulcon fayre,That once hath failed of her souse full neare,Remounts againe into the open ayre,And unto better fortune doth her- selfe prepayre.'Such is the simple solution ofthe etymology of Mod. E. souse, as usedby Pope (Epilogue to Satires, Dial. ii. 15 ) -' Spread thy broad wing,and souse on all the kind.'557. Cf. Dante, Inf. ii . 122: -' Perchè tanta viltà nel core allette? 'Also Purg. ix. 46: -' Non aver tema.'562. One that I could name.' This personal allusion can hardly256 THE HOUSE OF FAME.refer to any one but Chaucer's wife. The familiar tone recalls him tohimself; yet the eagle's voice sounded kindly, whereas the poet sadlytells us that his wife's voice sounded far otherwise: ' So was it neverwont to be.' See Ward's Chaucer, pp. 84, 85; and cf. 1. 2015 below.Perhaps Chaucer disliked to hear the word ' Awak! '573. It would appear that, in Chaucer, sëynt is sometimes dissyllabic;but it may be better here to use the feminine form seynt-e, as in 1.1066. Observe the rime of Márie with cárie."576. For so certainly may God help me, as thou shalt have noharm.'586. loves, Jove, Jupiter; cf. 1. 597. This remarkable form occursagain in Troil. ii . 1607 , where we find the expression ' Ioves lat himnever thryve '; and again in Troil. iii . 3-' O Ioves doughter dere ';and in Troil. iii . 15 , where Ioves is in the accusative case.that of an O. F. nominative; cf. Charles, Jacques, Jules.The form isStellifye, make into a constellation; ' whether will Jupiter turn meinto a constellation.' This alludes, of course, to the numerous casesin which it was supposed that such heroes as Hercules and Perseus ,or such heroines as Andromeda and Callisto were changed intoconstellations: see Kn. Tale , A 2058. Cf. ' No wonder is thogh lovehir stellifye '; Leg. Good Women, prol . 525. Skelton uses the word(Garland of Laurell, 963); and it is given in Palsgrave.588. Perhaps imitated from Dante, Inf. ii. 32 , where Dante saysthat he is neither Æneas nor Paul. Chaucer here refers to variousmen who were borne up to heaven, viz. Enoch ( Gen. v. 24) , Elijah ( 2Kings ii . 11 ) , Romulus, and Ganymede. Romulus was carried up toheaven by Mars; Ovid , Metam. xiv. 824; Fasti , ii . 475-512. Ganymede was carried up to heaven by Jupiter in the form of an eagle;cf. Vergil, Æn. i . 28 , and see Ovid , Metam. x. 160, where Ovid adds:' qui nunc quoque pocula miscet,Invitaque Iovi nectar Iunone ministrat.'In the passage in Dante (Purg. ix. 19-30) , already alluded to above(note to 1. 534) , there is a reference to Ganymede ( 1. 23) .6 592. Boteler, butler. No burlesque is here intended. The ideaof Ganymede being butler to the gods appears ludicrous to us, who areaccustomed to see the office performed by menial servants. But itwas not so in the middle ages. Young gentlemen of high rank carvedthe dishes and poured out the wine at the tables of the nobility, andgrace in the performance of these duties was highly prized. One ofthe oldest of our noble families derives its surname from the fact thatit* founder was butler to the king '; Bell. So also, the royal nameof Stuart is merely steward.597. Therabout, busy about, having it in intention.600-4. Cf. Vergil's words of reassurance to Dante; Inf. ii . 49.608. The eagle says he is Jupiter's eagle; ' Iouis ales , ' Æn. i . 394.614-40. Along sentence of 27 lines.NOTES TO BOOK II. LINES 573-681. 257618. I supply goddesse, to complete the line. Cf. In worship ofVenús, goddesse of love '; Kn. Tale, A 1904; and again, ' goddésse ,'id. A 1101, 2.621. The necessity for correcting lytel to lyte is obvious from therime, since lyte is rimes with dytees. Chaucer seems to make lytedissyllabic; it rimes with Arcite, Kn. Ta. , A 1334, 2627; and withhermyte in 1. 659 below. In the present case, the e is elided-lyt'is.For similar rimes, cf. nones, noon is, C. T. Prol . 523; beryis, mery is,Non. Pr. Ta. , B 4155; swevenis, swevene is, id. B 4111.623. In a note to Cant. Ta. 17354 ( I 43) , Tyrwhitt says that perhapscadence means ' a species of poetical composition distinct from rimingverses.' But it is difficult to shew that Chaucer ever composed anythingof the kind, unless it can be said that his translation of Boethius or hisTale of Melibeus is in a sort of rhythmical prose. It seems to me justpossible that by rime may here be meant the ordinary riming of twolines together, as in the Book of the duch*ess and the House of Fame,whilst by cadence may be meant lines disposed in stanzas, as in the Parliament of Foules. There is nothing to shew that Chaucer had, atthis period, employed the ' heroic verse ' of the Legend of Good Women.However, we find the following quotation from Jullien in Littré'sDictionary, s. v. Cadence:-' Dans la prose, dans les vers, la cadencen'est pas autre chose que le rhythme ou le nombre: seulement on yjoint ordinairement l'idée d'une certaine douceur dans le style, d'uncertain art dans l'arrangement des phrases ou dans le choix des motsque le rhythme proprement dit ne suppose pas du tout.' This issomewhat oracular, as it is difficult to see why rhythm should not mean much the same thing.637. ' And describest everything that relates to them.' (Here hir=their) , with reference to lovers.639-40. Although thou mayst accompany those whom he is notpleased to assist. ' Nearly repeated in Troilus, i . 517, 518.652. In a note upon the concluding passage of the Cant. Tales,Tyrwhitt says of the House of Fame:-' Chaucer mentions thisamong his works in the Leg. Good Women, verse 417. He wroteit while he was Comptroller of the Custom of Wools, &c. (see Bk. ii .1. 144-8 [the present passage] ) , and consequently after the year 1374.'See Ward's Chaucer, pp. 76, 77 , with its happy reference to CharlesLamb and his ' works '; and compare a similar passage in the Prol. toLegend of Good Women, 30-6.662. Cf. Dante, Inf. i . 113 , which Cary thus translates::--and I, thy guide,Will lead thee hence through an eternal space.'678. Long y-served, faithfully served for a long time, i. e. after along period of devotion; alluding to the word servant in the sense oflover.681. Alluding to sudden fallings in love, especially ' at first sight.'

• • • S

258THE HOUSEOF FAME.Such take place at haphazard; as if a blind man should accidentallyfrighten a hare, without in the least intending it. We find in Hazlitt'scollection of Proverbs- The hare starts when a man least expects it ';P. 373.682. Iolytee and fare, happiness and good speed. The very samewords are employed, but ironically, by Theseus in the Knight's Tale,A 1807, 1809. The hare also accompanies them; id. A 1810.683. As long as they find love to be as true as steel.' Cf. Troilus,iv. 325: - God leve that ye finde ay love of steel'.689. ' And more beards made in two hours,' &c. ' Yet can a millermake a clerkes berd '; (Reves Tale) , C. T., A 4096. Yet coude Imake his berd '; C. T., D 361. Tyrwhitt's note on the former passageis: ' make a clerkes berd, i. e. cheat him. Faire la barbe is to shave,or trim the beard; but Chaucer translates the phrase literally, at least when he uses it in its metaphorical sense. Boccace has the samemetaphor, Decamerone, viii. 10. Speaking of some exorbitant cheats,he says that they applied themselves ' non a radere, ma a scorticarehuomini ' [not to shave men, but to scarify them]; and a little lower—' si a soavemente la barbiera saputo menare il rasoio ' [so agreeablydid the she-barber know how to handle the razor] . Barbiera has asecond and a bad sense; see Florio's Dictionary.' Myght I thaym have spyde,I had made thaym a berd.Towneley Mysteries, p. 144.692. Holding in hond means keeping in hand, attaching to oneself by feigned favours; just as to bear in hand used to mean tomake one believe a thing; see my note to Man of Lawes Tale,B 620.695. Lovedayes, appointed days of reconciliation; see note in vol. v.to Chaucer's Prol. 258, and my note to P. Plowman, B. iii . 157.' What, quod she, maked I not a louedaie bitwene God and mankind,and chese a maide to be nompere [ umpire] , to put the quarell at ende?'Test. of Love, bk. i . ed. 1561 , fol. 287.696. Cordes, chords. Apparently short for acordes, i . e. musicalchords, as Willert suggests. It is rather a forced simile, like cornes in1. 698.698. Cornes, grains of corn; see note to Monkes Tale ( GroupB, 3225).700. Wis, certainly; cf. y- wis. The is short.702. Impossible, (accent on i); cf. Clerkes Tale, E 713.703. Pyes, mag- pies, chattering birds; Squi. Ta ., F 650.708. Worthyfor to leve, worthy to believe, worthy of belief.712. Thyn owne book, i. e. the book you are so fond of, viz. Ovid'sMetamorphoses, which Chaucer quotes so continually. Libraries inthose days were very small (Cant. Ta. Prol. 294); but we may bealmost certain that Chaucer had a copy of the Metamorphoses of hisNOTES TO BOOK II. LINES 682-765. 259own. The reference here is to Ovid's description of the House of Fame,Metam. xii. 39-63. See Golding's translation of this passage in the Introduction.730. This passage is founded on one in Boethius; cf. Chaucer'stranslation, bk. iii . pr. 11 , ll . 98-110. Imitated also in Le Rom. de laRose, 16963-9. Cf. Dante, Par. i . 109, which Cary thus translates: -'All natures lean,In this their order, diversely,' &c.738. That practically goes with hit falleth doun, in l . 741. Thesentence is ill- constructed, and not consistent with grammar, but we seewhat is meant.742. By, with reference to (as usual in M. E) . Cf. Dante, Purg.xviii. 28, which Cary thus translates:-' Then, as the fire points up, and mounting seeksHis birth-place and his lasting seat,' &c.745. At his large, unrestrained , free to move. Cf. atthy large, Cant.Ta., A 1283, 1292.746. Charge, a heavy weight, opposed to light thing. The verb sekeis understood from 1. 744. Alight thing (seeks to go) up, and a weight(tends) downwards.' In Tyrwhitt's glossary, the word charge, in thispassage, is described as being a verb, with the sense to weigh, toincline on account of weight.' How this can be made to suit thecontext, I cannot understand. Charge occurs as a sb. several times inChaucer, but chiefly with the secondary sense of ' importance '; seeKn. Tale, A 1284, 2287; Can. Yem. Ta. , G 749. In the Clerkes Tale,E 163, it means ' weight,' nearly as here.750. Skilles, reasons. The above reasons ' prove nothing whateveras regards the fish in the sea, or the trees in the earth; but the eagle's mode of reasoning must not be too closely enquired into. The fault isnot Chaucer's, but arises from the extremely imperfect state of sciencein the middle ages. Chaucer had to accept the usual account of thefour elements, disposed, according to their weight, in four layers;earth being at the bottom, then water, then air, and lastly fire abovethe air. See the whole scheme in Gower, Conf. Amant. bk. vii .;ed. Pauli, ii . 104: or Popular Treatises on Science, ed. Wright,p. 134.752. See Chaucer's tr. of Boethius, bk. iii . pr. 11, 1. 72. HenceBoethius is one of the clerkes ' referred to in l . 760.759. Dante mentions these two; Inf. iv. 131-4.765. So also in Cant. Tales, D 2233:-' every sounNis but of eir reverberacioun,And ever it wasteth lyte and lyte awey.'The theory of sound is treated of in Vincent of Beauvais, SpeculumS 2260 THE HOUSE OF FAME.Naturale, lib. iv. c. 14. The ancients seem to have understood thatsound is due to the vibration of the air; see ll . 775, 779. Thus, in thetreatise by Boethius, De Musica (to which Chaucer expressly refers inNon. Preest. Tale, B 4484) , lib . i . c. 3 , I find: -' Sonus vero præterquendam pulsum percussionemque non redditur . . . Idcirco definitursonus, aeris percussio indissoluta usque ad auditum.'788. Experience, i . e. experiment. The illustration is a good one;I have no doubt that it is obtained, directly or at secondhand, fromBoethius. Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Nat. lib. xxv. c. 58, says: —' Adquod demonstrandum inducit idem Boetius tale exemplum: Lapisproiectus in medio stagni facit breuissimum circulum, et ille alium, ethoc fit donec vel ad ripas peruenerit vel impetus defecerit.' Thismerely gives the substance of what he says; it will be of interest toquote the original passage, from the treatise De Musica, lib. i . c. 14,which chapter I quote in full: --' Nunc quis modus sit audiendi disseramus. Tale enim quiddamfieri consuevit in uocibus, quale cum paludibus uel quietis aquis iactumeminus mergitur saxum. Prius enim in paruissimum orbem undamcolligit, deinde maioribus orbibus, undarum globos spargit, atque eousque dum fatigatus motus ab eliciendis fluctibus conquiescat. Semperque posterior et maior undula pulsu debiliori diffunditur. Quod siquid sit, quod crescentes undulas possit offendere, statim motus illereuertitur, et quasi ad centrum, unde profectus fuerat, eisdem undulisrotundatur. Ita igitur cum aer pulsus fecerit sonum, pellit aliumproximum, et quodammodo rotundum fluctum aeris ciet. Itaquediffunditur et omnium circunstantium (sic) simul ferit auditum, atqueilli est obscurior uox, qui longius steterit, quoniam ad eum debiliorpulsi aeris unda peruenit.'792. Covercle, a pot-lid. Cotgrave cites the proverb- Tel pot telcouvercle, Such pot, such potlid, like master, like man. '794. Wheel must have been glossed by cercle (circle) in an earlycopy; hence MSS. F. and B. have the reading -' That whele serclewol cause another whele, ' where the gloss has crept into the text.798. Roundel, a very small circle; compas, a very large circle.Roundel is still a general term for a small circular charge in heraldry;if or (golden), it is called a bezant; if argent (white) , it is called aplate; and so on. In the Sec. Non. Tale, G 45, compas includes thewhole world.801. Multiplying, increasing in size.805. 'Where you do not observe the motion above, it is still goingon underneath.' This seems to allude to some false notion as to atransmission of motion below the surface.808. This is an easy way of getting over a difficulty. It is no easytask to prove the contrary of every false theory!811. An air aboute, i . e. a surrounding layer, or hollow sphere, ofair.822. I would rather ' take it in game '; and so I accept it.NOTES TO BOOK II. LINES 788-901 . 261826. Fele, experience, understand by experiment.827. I here take the considerable liberty of reading the mansioun,by comparison with 1. 831. Those who prefer to read sum place stide,or som styde, or some stede, can do so! The sense intended is obviously-' And that the dwelling- place, to which each thing is inclinedto resort, has its own natural stead,' i. e. position . Fishes, for example,naturally exist in water; the trees, upon the earth; and sounds, inthe air; water, earth, air, and fire being the four ' elements.' Cf. thephrase ' to be in his element?836. Out of, i. e. not in; answering to 1. 838.846. Referring to Ovid's description , Met. xii. 39, 40.'Orbe locus medio est inter terrasque fretumqueCoelestesque plagas, triplicis confinia mundi.'I suspect that Ovid's triplicis confinia mundi is the origin ofChaucer's phrase tryne compas, in Sec. Non. Tale, G 45.857. The terms of philosophy ' are all fully and remorselesslygiven by Gower, Conf. Amant. bk. vii.861. It is remarkable that Chaucer, some years later, repeatedalmost the same thing in the Prologue to his Treatise on theAstrolabe, in somewhat different words, viz. ' curious endyting andhard sentence is full hevy atones for swich a child to lerne '; 1. 32.866. Lewedly, in unlearned fashion; in his Astrolabe, 1. 43,Chaucer says he is ' but a lewd compilatour of the labour of oldeAstrologiens.'868. The eagle characteristically says that his reasons are so'palpable,' that they can be shaken by the bills, as men shakeothers by the hand. It is perhaps worth adding that the word billwas too vulgar and familiar to be applied to a hawk, which had onlya beak (the French term, whereas bill is the A. S. bile). ' Ye shall say,this hauke has a large beke, or a shortt beke; and call it not bille ';Book of St. Alban's, fol. a 6, back. The eagle purposely employs themore familiar term.873. Chaucer meekly allows that the eagle's explanation is a likelyone. He was not in a comfortable position for contradiction in argument, and so took a wiser course. The eagle resents this mild admission, and says he will soon find out the truth, ' top, and tail, andevery bit.' He then eases his mind by soaring ' upper,' resumes hisgood temper, and proposes to speak ' all of game.'888. Cf. Dante, Par. xxii. 128, which Cary thus translates:' Look downward, and contemplate, what a worldAlready stretch'd under our feet there lies.'900. Unethes, with difficulty; because large animals could onlyjust be discerned. The graphic touches here are excellent.901. Rivér-es, with accent onthe former e (pronounced as a in bare).Cf. Ital. riviera.262 THE HOUSE OF FAME.907. Prikke, a point. Al the environinge of the erthe aboute ne haltnat but the resoun of a prikke at regard of the greetnesse of hevene ';tr. of Boethius, bk. ii . pr. 7. 17.' And doun fro thennes faste he gan avyseThis litel spot of erthe, that with the seeEnbraced is '; Troilus, bk. v. ll . 1814-6.'Vidi questo globoDante, Parad. xxii. 134.Tal, ch' io sorriso del suo vil sembiante.'See also Parl. Foules, 57 , 58; and note that the above passage fromTroilus is copied from the Teseide (xi. 2) .915. The note in Gilman's Chaucer as to Alexander's dreams isentirely beside the mark. The word dreme (1. 917) refers to Scipioonly. The reference is to the wonderful mode in which Alexandercontrived to soar in the air in a car upborne by four gigantic griffins.' Now is he won þurze þar wingis vp to the wale cloudis;So hize to heuen þai him hale in a hand- quile,Midil-erth bot as a mylnestane, na mare, to him semed.'Wars of Alexander, ed. Skeat ( E. E. T.S.) , 5523.Macedo, the Macedonian.916. King, kingly hero; not king in the strict sense. Dan Scipio,lord Scipio. See notes to Parl. Foules, 29; Book of the Duch. 284;Ho. Fame, 514.917. Atpoint devys, with great exactness; see Rom. Rose, 830, 1215 .919. Dedalus (i. e. Dædalus) and Ycarus ( Icarus) are mentioned inthe Rom. de la Rose, 5242; and cf. Gower, Conf. Amant. bk. iv. , ed.Pauli, ii . 36; and Dante, Inf. xvii. 109. All take the story from Ovid,Metam. viii . 183. Dædalus constructed wings for himself and his sonIcarus, and flew away from Crete. The latter flew too high, and thesun melted the wax with which some of the feathers were fastened, sothat he fell into the sea and was drowned. Hence Dædalus is herecalled wrecche, i. e. miserable, because he lost his son; and Icarusnyce, i. e. foolish, because he disobeyed his father's advice, not to flytoo high.922. Malt, melted. Gower has the same word in the same story;ed. Pauli, ii. 37.925. Cf. Dante, Par. xxii. 19, which Cary thus translates:' But elsewhere now I bid thee turn thy view.'930. See note to 1. 986 below, where the original passage isgiven.931. This line seems to refer solely to the word citizein in 1. 930.The note in Bell's Chaucer says: This appears to be an allusionto Plato's Republic. ' But it was probably suggested by the wordrespublica in Alanus (see note to 1. 986).NOTES TO BOOK II. LINES 907-944. 263932. Eyrish bestes, aerial animals; alluding to the signs of thezodiac, such as the Ram, Bull, Lion, Goat, Crab, Scorpion, &c.; andto other constellations, such as the Great Bear, Eagle, Swan, Pegasus,&c. Chaucer himself explains that the ' zodiak is cleped the cercle ofthe signes, or the cercle of the bestes; for zodia in langage of Greeksowneth bestes in Latin tonge '; Astrolabe, Part I , § 21 , L. 37. Cf.' beasts ' in Rev. iv. 6. The phrase recurs in 1. 965 below; see also ll .1003-7.934. Goon, march along, walk on, like the Ram or Bull; flee, flylike the Eagle or Swan. He alludes to the apparent revolution of the heavens round the earth.936. Galaxye, galaxy, or milky way, formed by streaks of closelycrowded stars; already mentioned in the Parl. of Foules, 56; see noteto the same, 1. 50. Cary, in a note to Dante, Parad. xxv. 18, saysthat Dante, in the Convito, p. 74, speaks of la galassia- the galaxy,that is, the white circle which the common people call the way of St.James '; on which Biscioni remarks: -' The common people formerlyconsidered the milky way as a sign by night to pilgrims, who weregoing to St. James of Galicia; and this perhaps arose from the resemblance of the word galaxy to Galicia; [ which may be doubted] .I have often,' he adds, ' heard women and peasants call it the Romanroad, la strada di Roma.The fact is simply, that the Milky Way looks like a sort of road orstreet; hence the Lat. name uia lactea, as in Ovid, Metam. i. 168.Hence also the Roman peasants called it strada di Roma; the pilgrimsto Spain called it the road to Santiago ( Quarterly Review, Oct. 1873,p. 464); and the English called it the Walsingham way, owing tothis being a route much frequented by pilgrims, or else Watling-street,which was a famous old road, and probably ran (not as usually said,from Kent to Cardigan Bay, but) from Kent to the Frith of Forth; seeAnnals of England , p. 6. The name of Vatlant Streit (WatlingStreet) is given to the milky way in the Complaint of Scotland, ed.Murray, p. 58; and G. Douglas calls it Watling Streit in his translation of Vergil, Æn. iii . 516 , though there is no mention of it in theoriginal; see Small's edition of the Works ofG. Douglas, vol. ii. p. 151 .And again, it is called Wadlyng Strete in Henrysoun's Traite ofOrpheus; see Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary. So also: ' Galaxia,that is Watling- Strete '; Batman on Bartholome, lib. viii. c. 33. Seemy note to P. Plowman, C. i. 52; Florence of Worcester, sub anno1013; Laws of Edward the Confessor, cap. 12; Towneley Myst. , p .308; Cutts, Scenes, &c. of the Middle Ages, p. 178; Grimm'sMythology, tr. by Stallybras, i . 357.942. Gower also relates this story ( Conf. Amant. ii . 34) , calling thesun Phebus, and his son Pheton, and using carte in the sense of'chariot,' as Chaucer does. Both copy from Ovid, Metam. ii.32-328.944. Cart-hors, chariot-horses (plural). There were four horses,264 THE HOUSE OF FAME.named Pyroeïs, Eous, Aethon, and Phlegon; Met. ii. 153. Hencegonne and beren are in the plural form; cf. 1. 952.948. Scorpioun, the well-known zodiacal constellation and sign;called Scorpius in Ovid, Met. ii . 196.972. Boece, Boethius. He refers to the passage which he himselfthus translates: ' I have, forsothe, swifte fetheres that surmounten theheighte ofthe hevene. Whan the swifte thought hath clothed it- self intho fetheres, it dispyseth the hateful erthes, and surmounteth theroundnesse of the greet ayr; and it seeth the cloudes behinde hisbak'; bk. iv. met. 1. Hence, in l. 973, Ten Brink ( Studien, p. 186)proposes to read—' That wryteth, Thought may flee so hye.'981 , 2. Imitated from 2 Cor. xii. 2.985. Marcian. Cf. C. T., E 1732 (March. Tale): —'Hold thou thy pees, thou poete Marcian,That wrytest us that ilke wedding murieOf hir, Philologye, and him, Mercurie.'Martianus Minneus Felix Capella was a satirist of the fifth century,and wrote the Nuptials of Mercury and Philology, De Nuptiis interMercurium et Philologiam, above referred to. It consists oftwo books,followed by seven books on the Seven Sciences; see Warton's Hist.E. Poetry, ed. 1871 , iii . 77. ' Book viii ( 1. 857) gives a hint of the truesystem of astronomy. It is quoted by Copernicus '; Gilman.986. Anteclaudian. The Anticlaudianus is a Latin poem byAlanus de Insulis, who also wrote the De Planctu Naturæ, alluded toin the Parl. of Foules, 316 (see note). This poem is printed in AngloLatin Satirical Poets, ed. Wright, pp. 268-428; see, in particular,Distinctio Quarta, capp. 5-8, and Distinctio Quinta, cap. 1; pp.338-347. It is from this poem that Chaucer probably borrowedthe curious word citizein ( 1. 930) as applied to the eyrish bestes(1.932) . Thus, at pp. 338, 360 of Wright's edition, we find—'Vestigans, videt intuitu meliore vagantes Aerios cives.'Hic cives habitant supremi regis in urbe;Civibus his servanda datur respublica coeli .'So again, ll. 966-969 above may well have been suggested by theselines (on p. 340) , and other similar lines:-' Aeris excurso spatio, quo nubila coeliNocte sua texunt tenebras, quo pendula nubesIn se cogit aquas, quo grandinis ingruit imber,Quo certant venti, quo fulminis ira tumescit,Æthera transgreditur Phronesis.'1003. Or him or here, or him or her, hero or heroine; e. g. Hercules ,Perseus, Cepheus, Orion; Andromeda, Callisto (the Great Bear) ,Cassiopeia. Cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 460.NOTES TO BOOK II. LINES 948-1034. 2651004. Raven, the constellation Corvus; see Ovid, Fasti , ii . 243-266.Either bere; Ursa Maior and Ursa Minor.1005. Ariones harpe, Arion's harp, the constellation Lyra; Ovid'sFasti, i. 316; ii. 76.1006. Castor, Pollux; Castor and Pollux; the constellation Gemini.Delphyn, Lat. Delphin; the constellation Delphin ( Ovid, Fasti, i. 457)or Delphinus, the Dolphin.'Astris Delphina recepitIupiter, et stellas iussit habere nouem.'Ovid's Fasti, ii . 117 .1007. Atlante does not mean Atalanta, but represents Atlante, theablative case of Atlas. Chaucer has mistaken the form, having takenthe story of the Pleiades (the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione)from Ovid's Fasti, v. 83:-'Hinc sata Pleïone cum coelifero Atlanteiungitur, ut fama est; Pleïadasque parit.'1021. Up the heed, up with your head; look about you.1022. ' St. Julian (to our speed); lo! ( here is ) a good hostelry.'The eagle invokes or praises St. Julian, because they have cometo their journey's end, and the poet may hope for a good receptionin the House of Fame. St. Julian was the patron saint of hospitality;see Chaucer's Prologue, 340. In Le Roman de la Rose, 8872, Ifind ( cf. note to l. 118 above): —'Ainsinc m'aïst saint Juliens,Qui pelerins errans herberge.'In Bell's Chaucer, i . 92, is the following: ""Ce fut celluy Julien quiest requis de ceux qui cheminent pour avoir bon hostel "; LegendeDorée. Having by mischance slain his father and mother, as apenance he established a hospital near a dangerous ford, where helodged and fed travellers gratuitously.'See Tale xviii. in the Gesta Romanorum, in Swan's Translation;Caxton's Golden Legende; and the Metrical Lives of Saints in MS.Bodley 1596, fol. 4. ' I pray God and St. Julian to send me a goodlodging at night '; translation of Boccaccio, Decam. Second Day, nov.2; quoted in Swan's tr. of Gesta Romanorum, p. 372. See Warton,Hist. Eng. Poet. , ed. Hazlitt, i. 247; ii. 58.1024. ' Canst thou not hear that which I hear?'1034. Peter! By St. Peter; a common exclamation, which Wartonamazingly misunderstood, asserting that Chaucer is here addressedby the name of Peter ( Hist. E. P. , ed. Hazlitt, ii . 331 , note 6);whereas it is Chaucer himself who uses the exclamation. The WyfofBathe uses it also, C. T., D 446; so does the Sumpnour, C. T., D 1332;and the wife in the Shipman's Tale, C. T., B 1404; and see 1. 2000below. See also my note to 1. 665 of the Canon's Yeoman's Tale.266 THE HOUSE OF FAME.But Warton well compares the present passage with Ovid, Met. xii.49-52:-' Nec tamen est clamor, sed paruae murmura uocis;qualia de pelagi, si quis procul audiat, undisesse solent: qualemve sonum, quum Iupiter atrasincrepuit nubes, extrema tonitrua reddunt.'1044. Beten, beat, occurs in MSS. F. and B. But the other readingbyten (bite) seems better. Cf. Troil. iii. 737, and the common saying'It won't bite you.'1048. Cf. Dante, Purg. iii . 67-69.1063. Lyves body, a person alive;1066. Seynte; see note to l. 573.Saint Clare, whose day is Aug. 12.St. Francis, and died A. D. 1253.So also Inf. xxxi. 83.lyves is properly an adverb.Seynte Clare, Saint Clara, usuallyShe was an abbess, a disciple ofBOOK III.1091-1109. Imitated from Dante, Parad. i . 13-27. Compare 11.1106, 1107, with Cary's translation-'If thou to me of thine impart so much, .Thou shalt behold me of thy favour'd treeCome to the foot, and crown myself with leaves.'And compare 1. 1109 with- Entra nel petto mio. '1098. This shews that Chaucer occasionally, and intentionally, givesa syllable too little to the verse. In fact, he does so just below, in 1.1106; where Thou forms the first foot of the verse, instead of So thou,or And thou. This failure of the first syllable is common throughoutthe poem .1099. And that, i . e. And though that; see 1. 1098.1109. Entreth is the imperative plural; see note to A. B. C. 17.1114. MSS. cite, cyte (F. citee! ); but site in Astrol. pt. ii . 17. 25 (p.201).1116. ' Fama tenet, summaque domum sibi legit in arce '; Ovid,Met. xii. 43. Cf. Dante, Purg. iii . 46-48; also Ovid, Met. ii . 1-5.1131. ' And swoor hir ooth by Seint Thomas of Kent '; C. T. , A3291. It alludes to the celebrated shrine of Beket at Canterbury.1136. Half, side; al the half, all the side of the hill which he wasascending, which we find was the south side (l. 1152).1152. This suggests that Chaucer, in his travels, had observed asnow-clad mountain; the snow lies much lower on the north side thanon the south side; see ll . 1160 (which means that it, i . e. the writing,was preserved by the shade of a castle) , 1163, 1164.1159. What hit made, what caused it, what was the cause of it.1167-80. This passage somewhat resembles one in Dante, Par. i. 4-12.1177. Craft, art; cast, plan. Craft, in the MSS. , has slipt into 1.1178.NOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 1044-1208. 2671183. Gyle, Giles; St. Ægidius. His day is Sept. 1; see note toCan. Yem. Tale, G 1185, where the phrase by seint Gyle recurs.1189. Babewinnes is certainly meant; it is the pl. of babewin (O.Fr. babuin, Low Lat. babewynus, F. babouin) , now spelt baboon. It wasparticularly used of a grotesque figure employed in architecturaldecoration, as in Early Eng. Allit. Poems, ed. Morris, B. 1411 , wherethe pl. form is spelt baboynes, and in Lydgate, Chron. Troy, II . xi;both passages are given in Murray's Dict. , s. v. Baboon. ' Babewyn,or babewen, detippus, ipos, figmentum, chimera '; Prompt. Parv.' Babwyne, beest, baboyn '; Palsgrave. In Shak. Macb. iv. I. 37-'Coole it with a báboones blood -the accent on the a is preserved.The other spellings are inferior or false.1192. Falle, pres. pl. , fall; (or perhaps fallen, the past participle) .1194. Habitacles, niches; such as those which hold images of saintson the buttresses and pinnacles of our cathedrals. They are describedas being al withoute, all on the outside.1196. Ful the castel, the castle (being) full, on all sides. This line isparenthetical.1197. Understand Somme, some, as nom. to stoden. ' In whichstood ... (some) of every kind of minstrels.' So in l. 1239. As tominstrels, &c. , see note to Sir Topas (B 2035) .1203. Orpheus, the celebrated minstrel, whose story is in Ovid, Met.x. 1-85; xi . 1-66. Chaucer again mentions him in C. T., E 1716; and in Troil. iv. 791.1205. Orion; so in all the copies; put for Arion. His story is inOvid, Fasti, ii. 79-118.Spelt Arione in Gower, Conf. Amant. (end of prologue), ed. Pauli, i .39. We might read Arion here; see l . 1005.1206. Chiron; called Chiro in Gower, C. A. ii. 67 (bk. iv) . Chiron,the centaur, was the tutor of Achilles; and Achilles, being the grandson of Æacus, was called Æacides; Ovid, Met. xii. 82; Fasti, v. 390.Hence Eacides is here in the genitive case; and Eacides Chironmeans ' Achilles' Chiron,' i . e. Chiron, tutor of Achilles. In fact, thephrase is copied from Ovid's Eacida Chiron, Art of Love, i. 17.Another name for Chiron is Phillyrides; Ovid, Art of Love, i. II; orPhilyrides; Verg. Georg. iii . 550; cf. Ovid, Fasti, v. 391. In a similarway, Chaucer calls the paladin Oliver, friend of Charles the Great, bythe name of Charles Olyuer; Monkes Tale, B 3577.1208. Bret, Briton, one of the British. This form is quite correct,being the A. S. Bret, a Briton (see A. S. Chronicle, an. 491 ) , commonlyused in the pl. Brettas. This correct spelling occurs in MS. B.only; MS. P. turns it into Bretur, Th. and Cx. read Briton, whilstMS. F. turns Bret into gret, by altering the first letter. The formsgret and Bretur are clearly corruptions, whilst Briton spoils thescansion.Glascurion; the same as Glasgerion, concerning whom see theBallad in the Percy Folio MS. , ed. Hales and Furnivall, i . 246. Of268 THE HOUSE OF FAME.this ' a traditional version, under the name of Glenkindie, a variousform of Glasgerion, is given in Jamieson's Popular Songs and Ballads,and in Alex. Laing's Thistle of Scotland ( 1823) .' G. Douglas associates Glaskeriane ' with Orpheus in his Palice of Honour, bk. i.(ed. Small, i. 21 ); this poem is a palpable imitation of Chaucer'sHouse of Fame. The name is Celtic, as the epithet Bret implies. Cf.Irish and Welsh glas, pale.1213. Or as art imitates nature.' Imitated from Le Rom. de laRose, where Art asks Nature to teach her; 1. 16233 is—' E la contrefait comme singes?'1218. There is a similar list of musical instruments in Le Rom. dela Rose, 21285-21308:-' Puis chalemiaus, et chalemeleEt tabor, et fléute, et timbre ...Puis prent sa muse, et se travailleAs estives de Cornoaille.'And in Le Remède de Fortune, by G. de Machault, 1849, p. 87 , is asimilar long list:-' Cornemuses, flaios, chevrettes,Dousainnes, cimbales, clochettes,Timbre, la flahute brehaigne,Et le grant cornet d'Alemaigne,Flaiot de saus, fistule, pipe '; &c.And a few lines below there is mention of the muse de blez (see noteto 1. 1224) . Warton, Hist. E. Poet. , ed. Hazlitt, iii. 177 , quotes asimilar passage from Lydgate's poem entitled Reason and Sensualite,ending with-'There were trumpes, and trumpettes,Lowde shallys [shalmys?] and doucettes.'Cf. also Spenser, F. Q. vi. 9, 5; Shep. Kal. Feb. 35-40. In the latterpassage, the imitation of ll . 1224-6 is obvious. Cornemuse is a bagpipe; shalmye is a shawm, which was a wind-instrument, beingderived from Lat. calamus, a reed; Chaucer classes both instrumentsunder pipe. Willert ( on the House of Fame, p. 36) suggests ( and, Ithink, correctly) that doucet and rede are both adjectival. Thusdoucet would refer to pipe; cf. ' Doucet, dulcet, pretty and sweet, or,a little sweet '; Cotgrave. Rede would also refer to pipe, and would mean ' made with a reed.' A reed-instrument is one in which thesound was produced by the vibration of a reed, as in the clarionet orhautboys '; note in Bell's Chaucer. There is no instrument properlycalled a doucet in Old French, but only dousainne (see above) anddoucine (Godefroy).1222. Brede, roast meat; A. S. bræde, glossed by ' assura, velNOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 1213-1229. 269assatura ' in Ælfric's Glossary, ed. Wülcker, col. 127 , l . 17. Cf. G.Braten. Not elsewhere in Chaucer, but found in other authors.'To meit was greithed beef and motoun,Bredes, briddes, and venysoun.'Kyng Alisaunder, ed. Weber, 5248.In the allit. Morte Arthure, it occurs no less than five times. Also inHavelok, 1. 98, where the interpretation ' bread ' is wrong. Also inAltenglische Dichtungen, ed. Böddeker, p. 146, l. 47—' Cud as Cradocin court that carf the brede,' i . e. carved the roast meat; but theglossary does not explain it. The scribe of MS. F. turns brede intobride, regardless of the rime. I cannot agree with the wholly groundless conjecture of Willert, who reads rude in l. 1221 , in order to forcebrude into the text. For minstrelsy at feasts, see C. T., A 2197.1223. Cf. G. Douglas, tr. of Vergil, Æn. vii. 513, 4: —′ And in anebowand horne, at hir awyne will, A feindlych hellis voce scho lyltisschyll.'1224. Alluding to the simple pipes fashioned by rustics. Theglossary to Machault's Works ( 1849) has: Muse de blez, chalumeaufait avec des brins de paille.' The O. F. estive, in the quotation inthe note to 1. 1218, has a like sense. Godefroy has: ' estive, espèce deflûte, de flageolet ou pipeau rustique, qui venait, ce semble, deCornouaille.' Cf. the term corne-pipe, in the Complaint of Scotland,ed. Murray, p. 65, l. 22; also my note to R. Rose, 4250 ( vol. i . p. 436) .1227-8. Nothing is known as to Atiteris (or Cytherus); nor asto Pseustis ( or Proserus) . The forms are doubtless corrupt; famousmusicians or poets seem to have been intended. I shall venture, however, to record my guess, that Atiteris represents Tyrtaeus, and thatPseustis is meant for Thespis. Both are mentioned by Horace (ArsPoet. 276, 402); and Thespis was a native of Attica, whose plays wereacted at Athens. Another guess is that Atiteris means Vergil'sTityrus; Athenæum, Apr. 13, 1889. Willert suggests that there ishere an allusion to the so- called Ecloga Theoduli, a Latin poem ofthe seventh or eighth century, wherein the shepherd Pseustis andthe shepherdess Alithia [ who represent Falsehood and Truth] contendabout heathendom and Christianity; and Pseustis adduces variousmyths and tales, from Ovid, Vergil, and Statius. He refers us to H.Dunger, Die Sage v. troj . Kriege in den Bearbeitungen des Mittelalters:Dresden, 1869, p. 76; cf. Leyser, Hist. Poet. Medii Aevi, p. 295. Thisonly accounts for Pseustis; Atiteris can hardly be Alithia.1229. This is a curious example of how names are corrupted.Marcia is Dante's Marsia, mentioned in the very passage whichChaucer partly imitates in 11. 1091-1109 above. Dante addressesApollo in the words-'Entra nel petto mio, e spira tueSi come quando Marsia traestiDella vagin* delle membra sue.'270 THE HOUSE OF FAME.As Chaucer had here nothing to guide him to the gender of Marsia,he guessed the name to be feminine, from its termination; and Danteactually has Marzia ( Inf. iv. 128) , with reference to Marcia, wife ofCato. But Dante's Marsia represents the accus. case of Marsyas, orelse the Lat. nom. Marsya, which also occurs. Ovid, Met. vi. 400,has ' Marsya nomen habet,' and tells the story. Apollo defeated thesatyr Marsyas in a trial of musical skill, and afterwards flayed himalive; so that he ' lost his skin.'1231. Envyën (accent on y) , vie with, challenge (at a sport) . Sostrong is the accent on the y, that the word has been reduced in E.to the clipped form ' vie; see Vie in my Etym. Dict. It representsLat. inuitare, to challenge; and has nothing to do with E. envy.Florio's Ital. Dict. has: ' Inuito, a vie at play, a vie at any game;also an inuiting.'1234. ' Pipers of every Dutch (German) tongue.'1236. Reyes, round dances, dances in a ring. The term is Dutch.Hexham's Du. Dict. ( 1658) , has: een Rey, or een Reye, a Daunce, or around Daunce '; and ' reyen, to Daunce, or to lead a Daunce.' Cf.G. Reihen, a dance, Reihentanz, a circular dance; M. H. G. reie, reige;which does not seem to be connected, as might be thought, with G.Reihe, a row; see Kluge and Weigand. Perhaps the Du. word wasborrowed from O. F. rei, roi, order, whence also the syllable -ray inE. ar-ray; and the G. word may have been borrowed from theDutch; but this is a guess. ' I can daunce the raye '; Barclay'sFirst Egloge, sig. A ii . ed. 1570; quoted in Dyce's Skelton, ii. 194.1239. Understand Somme, some; see note to 1. 1197. The expression blody soun recurs in Kn. Tale, A 2512, in connection withtrumpe and clarioun. Our author explains his meaning here; 11.1241-2.1243. Missenus, Misenus, son of Æolus, trumpeter to Hector, andsubsequently to Æneas; Verg. Æn. iii . 239; vi. 162–170.1245. Joab and Theodomas are again mentioned together in a likepassage in the Merch. Tale ( C. T., E 1719) . ' Joab blew a trumpet ';2 Sam. ii. 28; xviii . 16; xx. 22. Theodomas is said by Chaucer( Merch. Tale) to have blown a trumpet ' At Thebes, when the citeewas in doute.' He was therefore a trumpeter mentioned in somelegendary history of Thebes. With this hint, it is easy to identify himwith Thiodamas, mentioned in books viii. and x. of the Thebaid ofStatius. He succeeded Amphiaraus as augur, and furiously excitedthe besiegers to attack Thebes. His invocation was succeeded by agreat sound of trumpets (Theb. viii. 343), to which Chaucer here refers.But Statius does not expressly say that Thiodamas blew a trumpethimself.1248. Cataloigne and Aragon, Catalonia and Arragon, in Spain,immediately to the S. of the Pyrenees. Warton remarks: ' Themartial musicians of English tournaments, so celebrated in story, werea more natural and obvious allusion for an English poet '; Hist. E. P.NOTES TO BOOK III, LINES 1231-1268. 271ii . 331. The remark is, I think, entirely out of place. Chaucer ispurposely taking a wide range; and, after mentioning even the pipersof the Dutch tongue, as well as Joab of Judæa and Thiodamas ofThebes, is quite consistent in mentioning the musicians of Spain.1257. Repeated, at greater length, in C. T., Group B, ll . 19-28; seenote to that passage.1259. Iogelours, jugglers. See Squi. Tale, F 219.1260. Tregetours; see C. T., F 1141 , on which Tyrwhitt has a longnote. A jogelour was one who amused people, either by playing,singing, dancing, or tricks requiring sleight of hand; a tregetour wasone who brought about elaborate illusions, by the help of machinery ormechanical contrivance. Thus Chaucer tells us (in the Frank. Tale,as above) that tregetoures even caused to appear, in a dining- hall, abarge floating in water, or what seemed like a lion, or a vine withgrapes upon it, or a castle built of lime and stone; which vanishedat their pleasure. Sir John Maundeville, in his Travels, ch. 22 ,declares that the ' enchanters ' of the Grand Khan could turn day intonight, or cause visions of damsels dancing or carrying cups of gold, orof knights justing; and many other thinges thei don, be craft of hireEnchauntementes; that it is marveyle for to see.' See note to l. 1277Gawain Douglas imitates this passage in his Palice ofHonour; see his Works, ed. Small, i . 65.below.1261. Phitonesses, pythonesses . The witch of Endor is called aphitonesse in the Freres Tale, C. T. , D 1510; and in Gower, Conf.Amant. bk. iv, ed. Pauli, ii . 66; in Barbour's Bruce , ed. Skeat, iv.753; and in Skelton's Phyllyp Sparowe, 1345. The Vulgate versionhas mulier pythonem habens , 1 Sam. xxviii. 7 ( cf. Acts xvi. 16); butalso the very word pythonissam in 1 Chron. x. 13 , where the witch ofEndor is again referred to. Ducange notices phitonissa as anotherspelling ofpythonissa.1266. Cf. Chaucer's Prologue , 417-420. There is a parallel passagein Dante, Inf. xx. 116–123, where the word imago occurs in the senseof waxen image.' This of course refers to the practice of stickingneedles into a waxen image, with the supposed effect of injuring theperson represented. See Ovid, Heroid. vi. 91 , and Ben Jonson'sMasque of Queens (3rd Charm) . But this is only a particular case ofa much more general principle. Images of men or animals (or even ofthe things representing the zodiacal signs) could be made of varioussubstances, according to the effect intended; and by proper treatmentwere supposed to cause good or evil to the patient , as required. Muchcould be done, it was supposed, by choosing the right time for makingthem, or for subjecting them to celestial influences. To know theright time, it was necessary to observe the ascendent (see note to 1.1268) . See much jargon on this subject in Cornelius Agrippa, DeOcculta Philosophia, lib. ii . capp. 35-47.1268. The ascendent is that point of the zodiacal circle which is seento be just ascending above the horizon at a given moment. Chaucer272 THE HOUSE OF FAME.defines it in his Treatise on the Astrolabe, and adds that astrologers,in calculating horoscopes, were in the habit of giving it a widermeaning; they further reckoned in 5 degrees of the zodiac above thehorizon, and 25 degrees below the ascending point, so as to make thewhole ascendent occupy 30 degrees, which was the length of a ' sign.'In calculating nativities, great importance was attached to thisascendent, the astrological concomitants of which determined thehoroscope. The phrase to be ' in the ascendant ' is still in use. Thusin certeyn ascendentes is equivalent to ' in certain positions of theheavens, at a given time, ' such as the time of one's birth, or the timefor making an image (see last note) . See p. 191 (above).1271. Medea, the famous wife of Jason, who restored her fatherÆson to youth by her magical art; Ovid, Met. vii. 162. Gower tellsthe whole story, C. A. bk. v. ed . Pauli, ii. 259.1272. Circes, Circe, the enchantress; Homer's Odyssey, bk. x;Ovid, Met. xiv. Ovid frequently has the form Circes, in the gen.case; Met. xiv. 10, 69, 71 , 247, 294. Cf. Chaucer's Boethius, b. iv.met. 3. 24.Calipsa, Calypso, the nymph who detained Ulysses in an island;Odyssey, bk. i; Ovid, ex Ponto, iv. 10. 13.1273. Hermes is mentioned in the Can. Yeom. Tale, C. T., GroupG, 1434, where the reference is to Hermes Trismegistus, fabled tohave been the founder of alchemy, though none of the works ascribedto him are really his. The name Balenus occurs, in company withthe names of Medea and Circe, in the following passage of the Rom.de la Rose, 1. 14599: -' Que ja riens d'enchantement croie,Ne sorcerie, ne charroie,Ne Balenus, ne sa science,Ne magique, ne nigromance, ..Onques ne pot tenir MedéeJason por nul enchantement;N'onc Circe ne tint ensem*ntUlixes qu'il ne s'enfoïst,' &c.(Charroie is the dance of witches on their sabbath. ) Hermes Ballenus is really a compound name, the true significance of which waspointed out to me by Prof. Cowell, and explained in my letter to TheAcademy, Apr. 27, 1889, p. 287. Ballenus is the sage Belinous ,'who discovered, beneath a statue of Hermes, a book containing allthe secrets of the universe. Hence Hermes' Ballenus (where Hermesis an epithet) means ' Belinous, who adopted the philosophy of Hermes. 'For an explanation of the whole matter, see the fourth volume of theNotices et Mémoires des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roi, p.107. In this there is an article by De Sacy, describing MS. Arabe de la Bibl. du Roi, no. 959, the title of which is ' Le Livre du Secretde la Creature, par le sage Belinous.' Belinous possessed the art ofNOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 1271-1303. 273talismans, which he professed to have learnt from Hermes. There issome reason for identifying him with Apollonius of Tyana.1274. Lymote, according to Warton, is Limotheus; but he omits totell us where he found such a name; and the suggestion seems nobetter than his mistake of supposing Calipsa ( 1. 1272) to mean themuse Calliope! Considering that he is mentioned in company withSimon Magus, or Simon the magician (Acts viii. 9) , the suggestion ofProf. Hales seems probable, viz. that Lymote or Lymete (as in F. )means Elymas the sorcerer (Acts xiii. 8) .1275. ' I saw, and knew by name, those that,' &c.1277. Colle tregetour, Colle the juggler; see 1. 1260. Colle is herea proper name, and distinct from the prefix col- in col-fox, Non. Pr.Tale, B 4405. Colle is the name of a dog; Non. Pr. Tale, B 4573.Colyn and Colle are names of grooms; Polit. Songs, p. 237. Tyrwhittquotes a passage from The Testament of Love, bk. ii:-' Buserus[ Busiris] slew his gestes, and he was slayne of Hercules his gest.Hugest betraished many menne, and of Collo was he betraied ';ed. 1561 , fol. 301 , col. 2. With regard to tregetour, see the accountof the performances of Eastern jugglers in Yule's edition of MarcoPolo; vol. i. p. 342, and note 9 to Bk. i . c. 61. Col. Yule cites theO. F. forms tregiteor and entregetour; also Ital. tragettatore, ajuggler, and Prov. trasjitar, trajitar, to juggle. Bartsch, in his Chrestomathie Française, has examples of trasgeter, to mould, form, tresgeteïs, a work ofmechanical art; and, in his Chrestomathie Provençale,col. 82, has the lines-'Non saps balar ni tras-gitara guiza de juglar guascon ';i . e. thou know'st not how to dance, nor how to juggle, after themanner of a Gascon juggler. A comparison of the forms leaves nodoubt as to the etymology. The Prov. trasgitar answers to a LowLat. form trans- iectare =tra-iectare, frequentative of Lat. trans-icere,tra-icere, to throw across, transfer, cause to pass. Thus, the orig.sense of tregetour was one who causes rapid changes, by help of somemechanical contrivance. The F. trajecter, to ferry, transport, inCotgrave, is the same word as the Prov. trasgitar, in a different (but allied ) sense.1292. As is the usual way with reports.'1295. Accent Which and so.1297. And yet it was wrought by haphazard quite as often as by heed.'1300. To longe, too long; not ' to dwell long .' The barbarouspractice of inserting an adverb between to and an infinitive, as in ' toungrammatically talk, ' is of later date, though less modern than wemight perhaps imagine. Cf. l. 1354.1302. Elide the former Ne; read Nof.1303. Read-Ne hów they hátt' in másonéries; i. e. nor how they are *** T274 THE HOUSE OF FAME.named in masonry, as, for example, corbets full of imageries. Theyhatte, i. e. they are called, was turned into hakking, and the senselost." 1304. Corbets, corbels. Florio's Ital. Dict. has, Corbella, Corbetta,a little basket '; shewing the equivalence of such forms. The E.corbel is the same word as O. F. corbel ( F. corbeau) , apparently fromthe Lat. coruus. The spelling with z ( = ts) in MSS. F. and B. shewsthat the form is really corbetts or corbets, not corbelles. Spenser hasthe simple form corb; F. Q. iv. 10. 6: —' It was a bridge ybuilt in goodly wiseWith curious corbes and pendants graven faire.''A Corbel, Corbet, or Corbill in masonrie, is a iutting out like a bragget[bracket] as carpenters call it, or shouldering- peece in timber-work ';Minsheu's Dict. ed. 1627. Tyrwhitt explains corbets by ' niches forstatues '; but ' imageries ' are not necessarily statues or images, butrather specimens of carved work.1309. A bounty! a bounty! hold up (your hands) well (to catchit).' Sir W. Scott explains largesse as ' the cry with which heraldsand pursuivants were wont to acknowledge the bounty received fromthe knights '; note to Marmion, canto i. st. II. The word is stillin use amongst gleaners in East Anglia; see my note to P. Plowman,C. viii. 109.1311. In Anglia, xiv. 236, Dr. Köppell points out some resemblances between the present poem and Boccaccio's Amorosa Visione.He compares this line with the A. V. vi . 75: -' Io son la Gloria delpopol mondano.'1316, 7. Kinges, i . e. kings- at- arms; losenges, lozenges (withg as j).1326. Cote-armure, surcoat; see Way's note in Prompt. Parv.1329-35. Imitated from Rom. Rose, 6762-4.1330. Been aboute, used like the old phrase go about.1342-6. Cf. Boccaccio, Amorosa Visione, iv. 9: -' Ed in una gransala ci trovammo; Chiara era e bella e risplendente d'oro .'1346. Wikke, poor, much alloyed.1352. Lapidaire, ' a treatise on precious stones, so entitled; probably a French translation of the Latin poem of Marbodus DeGemmis, which is frequently cited by the name of Lapidarius; Fa- bricius, Bibl. Med. Et,, in v. Marbodus '; Tyrwhitt's Glossary. TheLapidarium of Abbot Marbodus (Marbœuf), composed about 1070-80,is chiefly taken from Pliny and Solinus. A translation in Englishverse is given in King's Antique Gems. See note to 1. 1363 below.There is some account of several precious stones in Philip de Thaun'sBestiary, printed in Wright's Popular Treatises on Science; at p. 127he refers tothe Lapidaire. Vincent of Beauvais refers to it repeatedly,in book viii. of his Speculum Naturale. There is a note about this inWarton, Hist. E. P. ed. 1871 , ii. 324. And see note to l . 1363.1360. Dees, daïs; see the note to Prol. 370, in vol. v. Lines 1360-7NOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 1304-1386. 275may be compared with various passages in Boccaccio's AmorosaVisione, which describe a lady in a rich vesture, seated on a royal throne:-"Tutti li soprastava veramenteDi ricche pietre coronata e d'oro ' ...' Il suo vestire a guisa imperialeEra, e teneva nella man sinestraUn pomo d'oro; e'n trono alla realeVidi sedeva ' ...' Odi: che mai natura con sua arteForma non diede a si bella figura ' ...' Donna pareva li leggiadra e pura ' ...See Am. Vis. vi . 49, 58, 43, 48. See note to 1. 1311 above.1361. The reading Sit would mean ' sitteth ' or ' sits '; the readingSat would mean ' sat.' Both are wrong; the construction is sitte Isaugh = Isaugh sitte, I saw sit; so that sitte is the infin. mood.1363. Carbuncle. Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Nat. bk. viii. c. 51,has: ' Carbunculus, qui et Græcè anthrax dicitur, vulgariter rubith.'An account of the Carbunculus is given in King's Natural Historyof Precious Stones and Gems. He remarks that the ruby ' must alsobe included among the numerous species of the carbunculus describedby Pliny, although he gives the first rank to the Carbunculi amethystizontes, our Almandines or Garnets of Siam.' See also his AntiqueGems, where he translates sect. 23 of the Lapidarium of Marbodus thus:--'The Carbuncle eclipses by its blazeAll shining gems, and casts its fiery raysLike to the burning coal; whence comes its name,Among the Greeks as Anthrax known to fame.Not e'en by darkness quenched, its vigour tires;Still at the gazer's eye it darts its fires;A numerous race; within the Lybian groundTwelve kinds by mining Troglydytes are found.'1368-76. Cf. Boethius, in Chaucer's translation; bk. i . pr. 1 ,Il . 8-13 (vol. ii . p. 2) .1376. Sterres sevene, the seven planets.1380. Tolde, counted; observe this sense.1383. Bestes foure, four beasts; Rev. iv. 6. Cf. Dante, Purg,xxix. 92.1386. Thynne remarks that oundy, i . e. wavy, is a term in heraldry;cf. E. ab-ound, red-ound, surr-ound (for sur- ound); all from Lat. unda.Cf. Chaucer's use of ounded in Troilus, iv. 736, and Le Roman dela Rose, 21399, 21400: -'Et voit ses biaus crins blondoiansComme undes ensemble ondoians.'T 2276 THE HOUSE OF FAME.1390. And tongues, as (there are) hairs on animals. ' ' Her feetare furnished with partridge -wings to denote swiftness, as the partridgeis remarkable for running with great swiftness with outstretched wings.This description is taken almost literally from the description of Famein the Æneid [iv. 176–183 ] , except the allusion to the Apocalypse andthe partridge-wings '; note in Bell's Chaucer. But it is to be fearedthat Chaucer simply blundered, and mistook Vergil's pernicibus ashaving the sense of perdicibus; cf. ' pedibus celerem et pernicibus alis ';Aen. iv. 180.1400. Caliope, Calliope the muse; her eight sisters are the otherMuses. With ll . 1395-1405 cf. Dante, Par. xxiii. 97–111.1411. Read-Bóth-e th'ármes. Armes, i. e. coats of arms. Name,name engraved on a plate or written on a scroll.1413. Alexander; see Monkes Tale, in C. T., B 3821. Hercules;see the same; the story of the shirt is given in B 3309-3324. In LeRoman de la Rose, l. 9238, it is called ' la venimeuse chemise.' Cf.Dante, Inf. xii. 68.1431. Lede, lead, the metal of Saturn; yren, iron, the metal of Mars.See note to Can. Yeom. Tale, G 820, and 11. 827, 828 of the same; alsoIl. 1446, 1448 below.1433. Read-Th'Ebráyk Jósephús. In a note on Gower's Conf.Amantis, Warton remarks ' Josephus, on account of his subject, hadlong been placed almost on a level with the Bible. He is seated on thefirst pillar in Chaucer's House of Fame. His Jewish History, translatedinto Latin by Rufinus in the fourth century, had given rise to many oldpoems and romances; and his Maccabaics, or History of the sevenMaccabees, martyred with their father Eleazar under the persecutionof Antiochus Epiphanes, a separate work translated also by Rufinus,produced the Judas Maccabee of Belleperche in the year 1240, and atlength enrolled the Maccabees among the most illustrious heroes ofromance.'- ed. Hazlitt, iii . 26.1436. Iewerye, kingdom of the Jews; cf. Prior. Tale, B 1679.1437. Who the other seven are, we can but guess; the referenceseems to be to Jewish historians. Perhaps we may include Moses,Joshua, Samuel, Isaiah, Daniel, Nehemiah; and, in any case, Ezra.The number seven was probably taken at random.With 1. 1447 cf.Troil. ii. 630.1450. Wheel, orbit. The orbit of Saturn is the largest of the (old)seven planets; see Kn. Tale, 1596 (A 2454) . The reason whyJosephus is placed upon Saturn's metal, is because history records somany unhappy casualties, such as Saturn's influence was supposed to cause. All this is fully explained in the Kn. Tale, 1597-1611 (A2455-69).1457. Yren, the metal of Mars; see note to 1. 1431 .1459. This allusion to ' tiger's blood ' is curious; but is fullyaccounted for by the account of the two tigers in bk. vii. of theThebaid. A peace had nearly been made up between the ThebansNOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 1390-1468. 277and the other Greeks, when two tigers, sacred to Bacchus, brokeloose, and killed three men. They were soon wounded by Aconteus,whereupon ' They fly, and flying, draw upon the plain A bloody line ';according to Lewis's translation. They fall and die, but are avenged;and so the whole war was renewed. Lydgate reduces the two tigersto one; see his chapter ' Of a tame Tigre dwelling in Thebes '; in part3 of his Sege of Thebes.1460. Stace (as in Troil. bk. v, near the end, and Kn. Tale, A 2294)is Publius Papinius Statius, who died A.D. 96, author of the Thebaisand Achilleis (see l. 1463) , the latter being left incomplete. Tholosanmeans Toulousan, or inhabitant of Toulouse; and he is here so calledbecause by some ( including Dante, whom Chaucer follows) he wasincorrectly supposed to have been a native of Toulouse. He was bornat Naples, A.D. 61. Dante calls him Tolosano in Purg. xxi. 89, onwhich Cary remarks:—' Dante, as many others have done, confoundsStatius the poet, who was a Neapolitan, with a rhetorican of the samename, who was of Tolosa or Thoulouse. Thus Chaucer; andBoccaccio, as cited by Lombardi: " E Stazio di Tolosa ancora caro ";Amorosa Vis. cant. 5.'-Dr. Köppell quotes the last passage, from Boccaccio, Am. Vis. v. 34,in Anglia, xiv. 237, and shews that other passages in the sameresemble other lines in the Hous of Fame. See notes to ll. 1311 , 1342,1360, 1483, 1487 , and 1499.1463. ' Cantai di Tebe, e poi del grande Achille '; Dante, Purg.xxi. 92.1466. Omeer, Homer; see ll. 1477–1480 below.1467. In Chaucer's Troil. i. 146 , is the line—‘ In Omer, or in Dares,or in Dyte.' Dares means Dares Phrygius; and Tytus is doubtlessintended for the same person as Dyte, i . e. Dictys Cretensis. See theaccount in Warton, Hist. E. Poet. , ed. Hazlitt, ii . 127 , beginning:-'But the Trojan story was still kept alive in two Latin pieces, whichpassed under the names of Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis,' &c.;and further in vol. iii. p. 81. The chief source of the romantic historiesof Troy in the middle ages is the Roman de Troie by Benoit de SainteMaure, which appeared between 1175 and 1185, and has lately beenedited by M. Joly. This was copied by Guido delle Colonne (see noteto 1. 1469 below) , who pretended, nevertheless, to follow Dares andDictys. Chaucer cites Dares and Dictys at second-hand, from Guido.1468. Lollius; evidently supposed by Chaucer to be a writer on theTrojan war. See Tyrwhitt's note on the words the boke ofTroilus, asoccurring at the end of the Persones Tale. Chaucer twice quotesLollius in Troilus, viz. in bk. i . 394 and bk. v. 1653. At the beginningof sect. xiv of his Hist. of Eng. Poetry, Warton shews that there wasa Lollius Urbicus among the Historici Latini profani of the third century; but this could not be Chaucer's Lollius; . . . none of his worksremain.' The difficulty has never been wholly cleared up; we know,however, that the Troilus is chiefly taken from Boccaccio's Filostrato,278 THE HOUSE OF FAME.just as his Knight's Tale is chiefly taken from Boccaccio's Teseide.My idea of the matter is that, in the usual mode of appealing to oldauthorities, Chaucer refers us (not to Boccaccio, whom he does not mention, but) to the authorities whom he supposed Boccaccio must havefollowed. Accordingly, in his Troilus, he mentions Homer, Dares,Dictys, and Lollius, though he probably knew next to nothing of anyone of these authors. On this account, the suggestion made byDr. Latham (Athenæum, Oct. 3 , 1868, p. 433) seems quite reasonable,viz. that he got the idea that Lollius wrote on the Trojan war bymisunderstanding the lines of Horace, Epist. i. 2: —' Troiani belli scriptorem, maxime Lolli ,Dum tu declamas Romæ, Præneste relegi .'See Ten Brink, Studien, p. 87. This supposition becomes almost acertainty when we observe how often medieval writers obtained theirinformation from MSS. containing short extracts. Chaucer clearlynever read Horace at all; he merely stumbled on a very few extractsfrom him in notebooks. In this way, he may easily have met withthe first line above, apart from its context. Cf. vol. ii . pp. lii , liii.1469. Guido delle Colonne, or Guido de Columnis (not da Colonna) ,finished his translation or version of Benoit de Sainte- Maure's Romande Troie in the year 1287. His work is called Historia Troiana. The'Geste Hystoriale ' of the Destruction of Troy, edited by Panton andDonaldson for the Early English Text Society, is a translation ofGuido's Historia into Middle English alliterative verse. See Warton,Hist. E. P. , ed. Hazlitt , iii . 81; and Introd . to vol. ii . pp. liv-lxv.1470. Gaufride, Geoffrey, viz. Geoffrey of Monmouth, who died A.D.1154, and wrote a History of the Britons in Latin, full of extravagantbut lively fictions, which was completed in 1147; see Morley's Hist.E. Writers, i. 496. He is rightly mentioned among the writers whobore up Troy,' because he makes the Britons the descendants ofEneas. See note below.1477. Oon seyde, one (of them) said. Guido was one of those whosaid this; this appears from the Gest Hystoriale above mentioned,which was translated from Guido; see ll. 41-47, and 10312-10329 ofPanton and Donaldson's edition . Guido asserts , for example, thatAchilles slew Hector by treachery, and not, as Homer says, in fairfight; and Chaucer asserts the same, Troil. v. 1560. The fact is , thatthe Latin races declined to accept an account which did not sufficientlypraise the Trojans, whom they regarded as their ancestors. Geoffreyof Monmouth ingeniously followed up this notion , by making theTrojans also the ancestors of the ancient Britons. Hence Englishwriters followed on the same side; Lydgate, as well as Chaucer,exclaims against Homer. See Warton, ed. Hazlitt, iii . 82. But Danteexalts Homer above Horace, Ovid, and Lucan: Inf. iv. 88.1482. ' Homer's iron is admirably represented as having been byVirgil covered over with tin '; note in Bell's Chaucer.NOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 279 1469-1571 .1483. There is a similar mention of Vergil in Boccaccio, AmorosaVisione, v. 7. See note to 1. 1460.1487. Ovide, Ovid; from whom perhaps Chaucer borrows more thanfrom any other Latin writer. He stands on a pillar of copper, the metalsacred to Venus. See note to 1. 820 of Can. Yeom. Tale. And cf.Boccaccio, Amorosa Visione, v. 25: ' Eravi Ovidio, lo quale poetandoIscrisse tanti versi per amore.'1494. High the (as in F. ) is an error for highthe, height; Cx. Th.have heyght. Read highte, as in l. 744.1499. Lucan; alluding to Lucan's Pharsalia, which narrates the warbetween Cæsar and Pompey. See Man of Lawes Tale, B 401; MonkesTale, De Caesare, B 3909 ( and note) , and a fourth mention of himin Troilus, v. 1792. There is an English translation by Rowe. Cf.Boccaccio, Amorosa Visione, v. 19: ' A' quai Lucan seguitava, ne'cui Atti parea ch'ancora la battaglia Di Cesare narrasse, e di coluiMagno Pompeo chiamato.'1509. Claudius Claudianus, in the fourth century, wrote a poem DeRaptu Proserpinæ, alluded to here and in the Merchant's Tale (C. T.,E 2232) , and several other pieces. See note to Parl. Foules, 99.1512. Imitated from Dante, Inf. ix. 44: ' Della regina dell' eternopianto.'1519. Write, wrote; pt. t. pl. Highte, were named.1521. Perhaps from Dante, Inf. xvi. 1 , which Cary translates: -'Now came I where the water's din was heard, ...Resounding like the hum of swarming bees,When forth together issued from a troop,' &c.1527. Cf. Ovid, Met. xii. 53: ' Atria turba tenent; ueniunt leueuulgus, euntque.'1530. Alles-kinnes is in the gen. sing. , and Of governs condiciouns;thus the line is equivalent to—' Of conditions of every kind '; whereasmodern English uses- ' Of every kind of condition .' This peculiaridiom was formerly common; and precisely similar to it is the phrasenoskinnes, for which see note to l . 1794. Observe that the phrase isoddly written alle skynnes in MS. F., by a misdivision of the words.So in Piers Plowman, A. ii. 175, we have the phrase for eny kunnesyiftus, for gifts of any kind, where one MS. has any skynes. In my noteto P. Plowman, C. xi. 128, I give numerous examples, with references,of phrases such as none kynnes riche, many kynnes maneres, summeskunnes wise, what kyns schape, &c."1550. Those that did pray her for her favour.'1564. Because it does not please me.'1570. I here alter Vpon peyne to Vp peyne, as the former will notscan, and the latter is the usual idiom. See up peyne in Kn. Tale,A 1707, 2543; Man of Lawes Tale, B 795, 884. Cf. vp the toft, uponthe toft, P. Plowman, B. i . 12; up erthe, upon earth, id. B. ix. 99.1571. Cf. Rom. Rose, 18206-' Car Eolus, li diex des vens.' From280 THE HOUSE OF FAME.Vergil, Æn. i. 52; cf. Ovid, Met. xiv. 223, where Eolus is said toreign over the Tuscan sea. The connection of Æolus with Thrace isnot obvious; cf. 1. 1585. Ovid, however, has ' Threicio Borea '; Art.Am. ii. 431. And see Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 382.1596. Took to, delivered to. Triton, Triton; imitated from Ovid,Met. i. 333, where Neptune calls Triton, and bids him sound his' shell,' the sound of which resounded everywhere.1598. We rarely find to used after leet; the usual formula is leet go.But cf. leet to glyde in Cant. Ta. , F 1415. Or read to-go, to-glyde.1618. Wite is badly spelt wete or wote in the MS. copies; but thevery phrase wite ye what occurs in C. T., E 2431. However, Ch.certainly uses the phrase ye woot instead of ye wite, more than once.1640. Overthrowe, be overthrown; as in the Tale of Gamelin, 512.Cf. Melibeus, B 2755.1643. A pelet was a stone ball, such as used to be fired from theearliest kind of cannon, of which this is a very early mention. Seemy glossary to P. Plowman ( Clar. Press) .1670. Lat goon, let go, lay aside.1702. The word turned, which is dissyllabic, has evidently beensubstituted here in the printed editions and in MS. P. for the olderand rare word clew, which does not occur elsewhere in Chaucer. Theline means 'With that (therupon) I rubbed my head all round ';which is a rustic way of expressing perplexity. The verb clawen, to scratch, stroke, is not uncommon, but the usual pt. t. is clawed. Wefind, however, at least one other example of the strong form of thepast tense in the Seven Sages, ed. Weber, l. 925-' He clew the bor onthe rigge,' he stroked the boar on the back, and made him go to sleep;cf. ' thi maister the clawes, ' i . e. your master strokes you, to flatter you,in l. 937 of the same. Chaucer has, ' to clawen [ rub] him on his hele '[ heel], Troil. iv. 728; ' he clawed him on the bak, ' he stroked him onthe back, to encourage him, Cook's Prol. , A 4326 (where clew wouldsuit the line better) . See claw in Jamieson's Scot. Dict.1708. They would not give a leek.' Cf. ' dere ynough a leek ';Can. Yeom. Tale, Group G, 795."1740. Although no brooch or ring was ever sent us.'1742-4. Nor was it once intended in their heart to make us evenfriendly cheer, but they might ( i. e. were ready to) bring us to ourbier'; i . e. so far from caring to please us , they would be satisfied tosee us dead.The M. E. temen, to produce, to bring, is the same word as mod. E.teem, to produce. To temen on bere is parallel to the old phrase tobringen on bere; cf. Gaw. Douglas, tr. of Æneid , bk. x. ch. 10 , l. 138(ed. Small, iii. 326) , where brocht on beyr means ' brought to theirgrave.' See Bier in the New Eng. Dictionary.1747. For wood, as (if) mad, ' like mad.' The same phrase recursin Leg. Good Women, Phyllis , 1. 27; cf. as it were wood, Kn. Tale,A 2950; and for pure wood, Rom. Rose, 276.NOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 1596-1783. 2811759-62. Cf. Rom. de la Rose, 9887-90:-' Si se sunt maint vanté de maintes,Par paroles fauces et faintes ,Dont les cors avoir ne pooient,Lor non à grant tort diffamoient.'1761. The name, the name of it , the credit of it.1777. Masty (miswritten maisty in F., but masty in the rest) meansfat, fattened up, and hence unwieldy, sluggish. Bell alters it tomaisly, and Moxon's edition to nastie; both being wrong. Palsgravehas: ' Masty, fatte, as swyne be, gras.' The Promp. Parv. has:' Mast-hog or swyne, [ or] mastid swyne, Maialis '; and ‘ Mastynbeestys, sagino, impinguo. Way rightly explains masty as ' gluttedwith acorns or berries '; cf. ' Acorne, mast for swyne, gland, ' inPalsgrave. See The Former Age, 1. 37.1779. Wher, whether, ' is it the case that? '1782. As the word oughte is never followed by to with a followinggerund, it is certain that to-hangen is all one word, the prefix to- beingintensive. MSS. F. and B. omit to, but the rest have it, and thesyllable is wanted. I know of no other example of to- hangen, to hangthoroughly, but this is of little moment. The prefix to- was freelyadded to all sorts of verbs expressing strong action; Stratmann givesmore than a hundred examples. Cf. note to l . 1598.1783. We must read sweynte, the form preserved in MS. B, wherethe final e is added to the pp. sweynt, as if it were an adjective used inthe definite form. The reading swynt is false, being an error forsweynte. The reading slepy is a mere gloss upon this rare word, butfairly expresses the meaning. Bell's Chaucer has swynt, which theeditor supposes to be put for swinkt = swinked, pp. of swinken, totoil, as in Milton's ' swinkd hedger '; Comus, 293. He is, however,entirely wrong, for Milton's swink'd is quite a late form; in Chaucer'stime the verb swinken was strong, and the pp. was swunken! Chaucerhas queynt as the pp. of quenchen, Kn. Tale, A 2321; and dreynt as thepp. of drenchen, Non. Prest. Tale, B 4272. Similarly sweynt is the pp.of swenchen, to cause to toil, to fatigue, tire out, the causal verb formedfrom the aforesaid strong intransitive verb swinken, to toil. Forexamples, see swenchen in Stratmann; I may instance, ' Euwer feondeou ne scal . . swenchen,' your enemies shall not harass you, Old Eng.Homilies, ed. Morris, i. 13; and ' hi swencten swide heom- seolfe, 'they sore afflicted themselves, id . 101. Hence, the sweynte cat 'means the over- toiled or tired - out cat; or, secondarily, a cat that willtake no trouble, a slothful or sleepy cat, as the gloss says. CompareGower, Conf. Amant. ed. Pauli, ii. 39, where the same cat is broughtforward as an example of the deadly sin of Sloth: —6'For he [a knight] ne wol no travail takeTo ride for his ladies sake,282 THE HOUSE OF FAME.But liveth al upon his wisshes,And as a cat wolde ete fisshesWithoute weting of his cleesSo wolde he do, but nethelesHe faileth ofte of that he wolde.'The ' adage ' is referred to in Macbeth, i. 7. 45. It occurs in MS.Harl. 2321 , fol. 146, printed in Reliq. Antiquæ, i . 207, in the form:' The cat doth love the fishe, but she will not wett her foote. ' InHeywood's Proverbs, 1562 (p . 28, ed. Spenser Soc. ): ' The cat wouldeate fyshe, and would not wet her feete.' So also in Camden's Remains,1614, p. 312. Hazlitt gives a rimed version:-' Fain would the cat fish eat,But she's loth to wet her feet.'In Piers the Plowman's Crede, 405, is the allusion: —' Thou woldest not weten thy fote, and woldest fich cacchen.'In a medieval Latin verse, it appears as: ' Catus amat piscem, sednon vult tingere plantam '; see Proverbialia Dicteria . . per A.Gartnerum, 1574, 8vo. Ray quotes the French: ' Le chat aime lepoisson, mais il n'aime pas à mouiller la patte.' The German formis ' Die Katze hätt' der Fische gern; aber sie will die Füsse nit nassmachen '; N. and Q. 4 S. ix. 266.1794. Noskinnes; miswritten no skynnes in MSS. F. and B.; Th.and Cx. no kyns. Nos-kinnes is short for noneskinnes, of no kind;noskinnes labour is ' work of no kind '; in mod. E. ' no kind of work.'It also occurs without the former s; as in no kyne catel, property ofno kind, P. Plowm. C. xi. 250; none kynnes riche, rich men of no kind,id. B. xi. 185. Cf. also offoure kunne thinges, of things of four kinds,of four kinds of things, where one MS. has offoure skynnes thinges;P. Plowm. A. x. 2. And see noteto 1. 1530 above.1796. Bele Isaude, Isaude (or Isoude, or Isolde) the fair; here a typeof a high form of female beauty. See Parl. Foules, 290; and the note.1798. She that grinds at a hand-mill '; a poor slave.61810. Hir (their) refers to the ' seventh company.' ' Such amusem*nt they found in their hoods '; a phrase meaning ' so much did theylaugh at them '; see Troil. ii . 1110. Cf. the phrase ' to put an apein a man's hood, ' i . e. to make him look like an ape, or look foolish;see note to C. T., Group B, 1630.1823. Then a company came running in.'1824. Choppen, strike downwards. They began hitting people onthe head, regardless of consequences. The same expression occurs inRichard the Redeless, iii . 230—‘ And ich man i - charchid to schoppeat his croune '; where i-charchid= i-charged, i . e. was charged, wascommanded, and schoppe = choppe.1840. Pale, a perpendicular stripe; chiefly used as an heraldic term.The object ofthe conspicuous stripe upon the hose was to draw men'sNOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 1794-1920. 283attention to him; for the same reason, he wore a bell on his tippet,and, in fact, his dress resembled that of the professional fool. Paledor striped hose were sometimes worn for display.' Buskins he wore of costliest cordwayne,Pinckt upon gold, and paled part per part,As then the guize was for each gentle swayne.'Spenser, F. Q. vi. 2. 6.I.e. his buskins were adorned with golden dots or eyelets, and regularly intersected with stripes arranged perpendicularly.1844. Isidis, Isis; Isidis being a form of the genitive case. Chaucerdoubtless refers to Herostratus, the wretch who set fire to the templeof Diana at Ephesus, in order to immortalise his name. Why Dianahere appears as Isis, and Ephesus as Athens, I cannot explain.Perhaps it was due to a defect of memory; we are apt to forget howvery largely medieval authors had to trust to their memories for namesand facts. It is almost impossible for us moderns, with our facilitiesfor reference, to imagine what were the difficulties of learned men inthe olden time. Perhaps Chaucer was thinking of Ovid's line (exPonto, i. 1. 51 ) — ‘ Uidi ego linigerae numen uiolasse fatentem Isidis.'The story is in Solinus, Polyhistor, cap. xl. § 3.'See, Erostratus the secondFires again Diana's fane.'Rejected Addresses; Drury's Dirge, st. 5.1853. Thynne prints- ' (Though it be naught) for shreudness '; butthis is very forced. MS. B. and Caxton both omit noght, rightly.1857. And, in order to get (some) of the meed of fame.'1880. An allusion to the old proverb-' As I brew, so must I needsdrink '; in Camden's Remains. Gower has it, Conf. Amant. bk. iii,ed. Pauli, ii. 334: —' And who so wicked ale breweth,Ful ofte he mot the werse drinke.'1908. The form bringes, for bringest, though (strictly speaking) aNorthern form, is not uncommon in East Midland. It occurs frequently, for example, in Havelok the Dane. But, as there is no otherclear example in Chaucer, Koch thinks the passage is corrupt, andproposes to read: -1920.'Which than be, lo! thise tydinges,That bringe thee hider, and thise thingesThat thou wilt here '; &c.Here that means ' that very.' The description of ' thehouse of Dædalus ' is in Ovid, Met. viii. 159; and the word labyrinthus, used with reference to it , is in Vergil, Æn. v. 588. Chauceragain refers to it in the Leg. of Good Women (Ariadne), 2010; and it is284 THE HOUSE OF FAME.mentioned in his translation of Boethius, bk. iii. pr. 12. 118 (vol. ii . p.89) . And see Gower, Conf. Amant. ed. Pauli, ii. 304.1926. This somewhat resembles Dante, Inf. iii. 53 , which Carytranslates:-'Which whirling ran about so rapidlyThat it no pause obtain'd.'1928. Oise, a river which flows into the Seine, from the north, notfar below Paris. Chaucer says the sound might have been heardfrom there to Rome. From this vague statement, Warton wouldwish us to infer that the whole poem was founded on some foreignproduction now (and probably always) unknown. There is no needto draw any such conclusion . The English were fairly familiar withthe north of France in days when a good deal of French soil belongedmore or less to the king of England. The Oise, being a northernaffluent of the Seine, must have been a well- known river. I think theallusion proves just nothing at all.1933. This is an excellent and picturesque allusion , but in thesedays can no longer be appreciated. Compare Barbour's Bruce, xvii.681-' The engynour than deliuerlyGert bend the gyne in full gret hy,And the stane smertly swappit out.It flaw out, quhedirand, with a rout?'1940. Though the authorities read hattes (Th. hutches) , I alter thisword to hottes without hesitation . We do not make hats with twigs orosiers. Chaucer says that some of the twigs were white, such as menuse to make cages with, or panniers (i . e. baskets) , or hottes, or dossers.Now Cotgrave explains F. Panier by ' a Pannier, or Dosser; also, aPedlers Pack; also, a fashion of trunke made of wicker '; and heexplains F. Hotte by ' a Scuttle, Dosser, Basket to carry on the back;the right hotte is wide at the top, and narrow at the bottom .' Dr.Murray kindly refers me to Cursor Mundi, 1. 5524:-' Apon per neckes sal pai bereHott wit stan and wit morter.'He also tells me that in Caxton's Golden Legend ( 1483) , fol. cix. col.2, is the sentence-' And bare on hys sholdres vij . hottis or baskettisfulle of erthe.' In a Glossary of North of England Words, printed asGloss. B. 1 , by the Eng. Dial. Society, I find: Hots, s. pl. a sort ofpanniers to carry turf or slate in '; and Halliwell gives it as a Cumberland word. Dickenson's Cumberland Glossary has: Muck-hots,6"panniers for conveying manure on horseback.' Brockett's Gloss. ofNorthern Words has: Hot, a sort of square basket, formerly used fortaking manure into fields of steep ascent; the bottom opened by twowooden pins to let out the contents.' Thus the existence of the wordin English is fully proved; and the fitness of it is evident.NOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 1926-2076. 28561943. Al ful of chirking was that sory place '; Kn. Tale, A 2004.1946. Again from Ovid, Met. xii. 44-47.1970. Read- Of estáts and éek of regióuns.' The e in estat wasvery light; hence mod. E. state.61975. Mis is here an adjective, meaning ' bad ' or ' wrong '; cf.' But to correcten that is mis I mente '; Can. Yeom. Tale , G 999.1980. Although the timber, ' &c.1982. ' As long as it pleases Chance, who is the mother of news, justas the sea ( is mother) of wells and springs.'1997. Paráventure; also spelt paraunter, shewing how rapidly thethird syllable could be slurred over.2000. Peter! by St Peter; see note to l. 1034.2004. Cunne ginne, know how to begin. (Gin, a contrivance, ismonosyllabic).2009. I substitute the dissyllabic swich-e for the monosyllabic these,to preserve the melody.2011. ' To drive away thy heaviness with .'2017. MS. F. has frot, which has no meaning, but may but a misspelling of froit, which is another form of fruit. As Koch says, wemust read The fruit, remembering that Chaucer uses fruit in thepeculiar sense of ' upshot ' or ' result.'' And for it is no fruit but los of tyme '; Squi. Ta. , F 74.' The fruyt of this matere is that I telle '; Man of Lawes Ta. , B 411 .In the present case, it would be used in a double sense; ( 1 ) of result,(2) of a fruit that withers and is ready to burst open. As to thespelling froit, we find froyte in the Petworth MS. in the latter of theabove quotations, where other MSS. havefruyt orfruite. The swote(Cx. Th. ) means ' the sweetness .'2019. That, in this line, goes back to Sith that in 1. 2007.2021. I suppress in after yaf, because it is not wanted for the sense,and spoils the metre.2034-40. Suggested by Dante, Inf. iii . 55-57, just as ll. 1924-6above are by the two preceding lines in Dante; see note to l . 1926.Cary has:-' and following cameSuch a long train of spirits, I should ne'erHave thought that death so many had despoil'd.'In 1. 2038, left means ' left alive.'2044. I substitute ech for euerych (in Caxton) . The two MSS. ( F.and B.) have merely Rouned in others ere, which is of coursedefective.2048. I here follow B. (except that it wrongly omits lo) .2059. Wondermost; superl. of wonder, which is very common as anadjective.2076. As the reading of the MSS. is obviously wrong (the wordmouth being repeated three times) , whilst the reading of the printed286 THE HOUSE OF FAME.editions (Wente every tydyng) cannot be right on account of thescansion, I put word for the first of the three mouths. This gives theright sense, and probably Chaucer actually wrote it.2089. Again from Ovid, Met. xii. 54, 55. A sad soth-sawe, a sobertruth.2099. With the nones, on the condition; see Leg. of Good Women,1540; and the note. So also in the Tale of Gamelyn, 206.2101. See Kn. Tale, 273, 274 (A 1131 ).2105. Beside, without; without asking his leave.2119. Cf. Cant. Tales, D 1695 -' Twenty thousand freres on a route, 'where Tyrwhitt prints A twenty. But the MSS. (at least the sevenbest ones) all omit the A. Just as the present line wants its firstsyllable, and is to be scanned-' Twenty thousand ín a roúte '; so theline in the Cant. Tales wants its first syllable, and is to be scannedTwenty thousand fréres ón a roúte. For having called attention tothis fact, my name ( misspelt) obtained a mention in Lowell's My StudyWindows, in his (otherwise excellent) article on Chaucer. ' His(Chaucer's) ear would never have tolerated the verses of nine¹ syllableswith a strong accent on the first , attributed to him by Mr. Skeate andMr. Morris. Such verses seem to me simply impossible in the pentameter iambic as Chaucer wrote it.' Surely this is assumption, notproof. I have only to say that the examples are rather numerous, andnine- syllable lines are not impossible to a poet with a good ear; forthere are twelve consecutive lines of this character in Tennyson'sVision of Sin. It may suffice to quote one of them: -' Pánted hand in hand with fáces pále .'I will merely add here, that similar lines abound in Lydgate's ' Sege ofThebes, ' and that there are 25 clear examples of such lines in theLegend of Good Women, as I shew in my Introduction to that Poem.2123. Cf. P. Plowman; B. prol. 46-52. Bretful, brim-ful, occurs inP. Pl. C. i . 42; also in Chaucer, Prol. 687; Kn. Tale, 1306 ( A 2164).2130. Lyes; F. lies, E. lees. Lie, f. the lees, dregs, grounds ';Cotgrave.2140. Sooner or later, every sheaf in the barn has to come out to bethrashed.2152. And cast up their noses on high. ' I adopt this reading outof deference to Dr. Koch, who insists upon its correctness. Otherwise,I should prefer the graphic reading in MS. B.- ' And up the nose andyen caste.' Each man is trying to peer beyond the rest.2154. And stamp, as a man would stamp on a live eel, to try tosecure it.' Already in Plautus , Pseudolus, 2. 4. 56, we have theproverb anguilla est, elabitur, he is an eel, he slips away from you;said of a sly or slippery fellow. In the Rom. de la Rose, 9941 , we aretold that it is as hard to be sure of a woman's constancy as it is tohold a live eel by the tail. 'To have an eel by the tail ' was an oldReally ten; for rout- e is dissyllabic.NOTES TO BOOK III. LINES 2089-2158. 287English proverb; see Eel in Nares' Glossary, ed. Halliwell and Wright.2158. The poem ends here, in the middle of a sentence. It seemsas if Chaucer did not quite know how to conclude, and put offfinishing the poem till that more ' convenient season ' which nevercomes. Practically, nothing is lost.The copy printed by Caxton broke off still earlier, viz. at 1. 2094.In order to make a sort of ending to it, Caxton added twelve lines ofhis own, with his name-Caxton-at the side of the first of them; andsubjoined a note in prose, as follows::--And wyth the noyse of them [ t]wo¹I Sodeynly awoke anon tho 2And remembryd what I had seenAnd how hye and ferre I had beenIn my ghoost / and had grete wonderOf that [that?] the god of thonderHad lete me knowen / and began to wryte³Lyke as ye haue herd me endyteWherfor to studye and rede alwayI purpose to doo day by dayThus in dremyng and in gameEndeth thys lytyl book of Fame.4I fynde nomore of this werke to - fore sayd. For as fer as I can vnderstonde /This noble man Gefferey Chaucer fynysshed at the saydconclusion of the metyng of lesyng and sothsawe / where as yet theyben chekked and may nat departe / whyche werke as me semeth iscraftyly made '; &c. (The rest is in praise of Chaucer). But, althoughCaxton's copy ended at 1. 2094, lines 2095-2158 appear in the two MSS. ,and are obviously genuine. Thynne also printed them, and musthave found them in the MS. which he followed. After l. 2158, Thynnesubjoins Caxton's ending, with an alteration in the first three lines, asunsuitable to follow 1. 2158. Hence Thynne prints them as follows:-And therwithal I abraydeOut of my slepe halfe a fraydeRemembri[n]g wel what I had sene.We thus see that it was never pretended that the lines following 1.2158 were Chaucer's. They are admittedly Caxton's and Thynne's.Even if we had not been told this, we could easily have detected it bythe sudden inferiority in the style. Caxton's second line will notscan at all comfortably; neither will the third, nor the fourth . ( Theseventh can be improved by altering began to gan) . And Thynne'slines are but little better.1 Misprinted wo; cf. two, l . 2093.2 Imitated from Parl. of Foules, 693.Cf. Book Duch. 1332.From Parl. of Foules, 696.NOTESΤΟTHE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE.

• • • N.B. The references are to the B-text, except where special mention of

the A-text is made. The latter is denoted by the letter ' A, ' preceded by ashort line.2. Compare Chaucer's Troilus, book ii . II. 894-6.5. Nis noon = ne is noon, is not none, i. e. is no one. This useof the double negative, as in modern provincial English, is extremelycommon, and need not be again remarked upon. Cf. ll . 7, 15, &c.9. For there may no man prove it by actual trial.'10. Leve, believe. Notice the numerous senses of leve, viz. ( 1 )believe; (2 ) leave, v.; (3 ) grant; (4) dear; ( 5) leave, sb.; (6) leaf(dat. case).11. Wel more thing, many more things. The word thing wasoriginally neuter, and long remained unchanged in the plural. In1. 23, we have thinges. The M. E. more usually means ' greater '; it isseldom used (as here) in the modern sense.12. Men shal nat, people ought not to. The use of men in thegeneral sense of ' people ' is extremely common in Chaucer, and thestudent should notice that it usually takes a singular verb, when thusused. With ll . 12, 13 cf. Hamlet, i . 5. 166.13. But- if, unless, except. Great attention should be paid to theexact sense of these apparently less important words. Frequently thewhole sense of a sentence is missed, even by editors, owing to inattention to their use.14. For, God knoweth, a thing is none the less true, although noone can see it.'NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 28916. In the margins of MSS. C. and F. is written the Latin proverbhere referred to , viz. ' Bernardus monachus non uidit omnia '; i . e.Bernard the monk (even) did not see everything. The reference is tothe great learning and experience of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (born A.D.1091 , died Aug. 20, 1153) . This we know from an entry in J. J. Hofmann's Lexicon Universale (Basileæ, 1677) , s. v. Bernardus, wherewe find: ' Nullos habuit præceptores præter quercus et fa*gos. Hincproverb: Neque enim Bernardus vidit omnia. See an account ofSt. Bernard in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, or in Chambers'Book of Days, under the date of Aug. 20.18. Minde, remembrance; see 1. 26. Cf. 'to bear in mind.'25. Cf. Le Rom. de la Rose, ed. Méon, 9669–72: —' Car par l'escript que nous avons,Les fais des anciens savons;Si les en devons mercier,Et loer et regracier.'26. Rémembráunce; accented on the first and last syllables. Themelody of innumerable lines in Chaucer is only apparent to those whoperceive the difference between the present and the old accentuation,especially in the case of French words. Besides, such accent isfrequently variable; Chaucer has honour, rénoun, &c. at one time,and honour, renóun, &c. at another. Thus in l. 27 we have honóuren;and in 1. 31 credénce.27. Wel oghte us, it is very necessary for us, it well behoves us. Usis here the dative case, and oghte is the impersonal verb; in accordance with Chaucer's usual method. But, in this case, there is agrammatical difficulty; for the past tense oghte is here used with thesense of the present; the right form would be expressed, in modernEnglish, by oweth, and in M. E. by ah (also awe, oze). Such useofthe right form of the present tense is exceedingly rare; and (possiblyowing to a sense of uncertainty about its true form) the form of thepast tense was used both for past and present, whether personal orimpersonal, precisely as we now use must in place both of M. E. mot(present) and moste (past). Mätzner only gives three examples ofthe present tense of this verb, when used impersonally; viz. ' Hymawe to rise,' it behoves him to rise, Metrical Homilies, p. 77; ' Vusoze,' it behoves us, Allit. Poems, ed. Morris, i . 552; ' Him owith tomynystre,' Reliquiæ Antiquæ, ii . 48.The only right way of thoroughly understanding Chaucer's grammaris by comparing one passage with another, observing how particularexpressions occur. This is best done by the proper process of readingthe text; but even the usual glossarial indexes will often furnish readyexamples. Thus the glossary to the Prioresses Tale gives the followingexamples:-' And ther she was honoured as hir oughte '; E 1120.U290 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.-'wel more us oughteReceyven al in gree that god us sent '; E 1150.The glossary to the Man of Law's Tale gives: -'Alla goth to his in, and, as him oughte,' &c.; B 1097.' But that they weren as hem oughte be '; G 1340.'Wel oughten we to doon al our entente '; G 6.'Wel oughte us werche, and ydelnes withstonde '; G 14.As to the spelling of the word, it may be remarked that oghte is themore correct form, because ō answers to A.S. ā, and gh to A.S. h in theA.S. form ähte. But a confusion between the symbols ogh, ugh, andough soon arose, and all three were merged in the form ough; henceneither ogh nor ugh occurs in modern English. See Skeat, Eng.Etymology, 333, p. 361.The full explanation of this and similar phrases would extend thesenotes to an inordinate length. Only brief hints can here be given.28. Ther, where. The sense ' where ' is commoner than the sense' there.'29. Can but lyte, know but little. Cf. Prior. Tale, B 1726, 1898.30. For to rede, to read. The use of for to with the gerundialinfinitive is found in Layamon and the Ormulum, and may have beensuggested by the like use of the French pour, O. Fr. por (and evenpora). See Mätzner, Engl. Grammatik, ii . 2. 54. Compare Parl. Foules,16, 695; Ho. Fame, 657.36. This connection of ' the month of May' with song and poetry iscommon in Mid. Eng. poetry, from the natural association of springwith a time of joy and hope. We even find something of the kind inA.S. poetry. See The Phoenix, 1. 250; Menologium, 1. 75.The earliest song in Middle English relates to the cuckoo; and,before Chaucer, we already find, in the Romance of Alexander, 1 .2049, such lines as-'In tyme of May hot is in boure;Divers, in medewe, spryngith floure;The ladies, knyghtis honourith;Treowe love in heorte durith '; &c.See also the poem on Alisoun, in Morris and Skeat, Spec. of Eng. ,part ii. p. 43. Again, we have a like mention of the May- seasonand of the singing of birds in the introduction to the Roman de laRose; see vol. i . p. 96.Nevertheless, the whole of the present passage is highly characteristic of the author, and extremely interesting. Cf. ll . 108, 176.40. Condicioun, temperament, character, disposition. Prof. Corsonhere refers us to Shakespeare, Merch. Ven. i. 2. 143; Cor. v. 4. 10;Oth. iv. 1. 204; Jul. Cæs. ii. 1. 254, &c.41. On the scansion, see note to l. 67.NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 29143. Daysyes, daisies; here dissyllabic. But in 1. 182 we have thefull form day-es-y-e, of four syllables, answering to the A.S. dageséage (or ége), lit. day's eye, or eye of day, as Chaucer himself says in1. 184. And it is worth adding that his etymology is perfectly correct;for, in the few instances in which etymologies are suggested in MiddleEnglish, they are usually ludicrously wrong. In 1. 184, the word isonly trisyllabic (day-es-y') , the last syllable suffering elision. The A.S.dagesége occurs in a list of plants in A.S. Leechdoms, ed. co*ckayne,iii. 292, 1. 8; and we also find in Wright's A.S. Vocabularies, ed.Wülker, col. 135 , 1. 22, and col. 322, l . 11 , the following entries:-'Consolda, dægesege,' and ' Consolda, dægeseage.'

-

The primary meaning of dæges éage is doubtless the sun; the daisyis named from its supposed likeness to the sun, the white petals beingthe rays, and the yellow centre the sun's sphere.Compare Lydgate's Troy-book, ed . 1555, fol. K 6, back:-' And next, Appollo, so clere, shene, and bright,The dayes eye, and voyder of the nyght.'46. ' That, when in my bed, no day dawns upon me on which I amnot (at once) up, and (am soon) walking in the meadow.'am, am not .49. By the morwe, with the (dawn of the) morning.Nam:=ne50. Sight-e is dissyllabic, as the scansion shews. In 1. 15, wight ismonosyllabic. It is often difficult to ascertain Chaucer's usage of suchforms, and we have to observe, where we can, any instances that arehelpful. The Rime- Indexes to the Canterbury Tales and to theMinor Poems are often of great service. We learn from them thatwight rimes with the monosyllables bright, knight, might, night, right,&c. , whereas sighte rimes with the infin. moods light-e, fight-e, &c. , aswell as with monosyllables, and is therefore used somewhat capriciously. Another helpful list is that given in Ellis's Early Eng.Pronunciation, ch . iv. § 5 , founded upon Prof. Child's articles onChaucer and Gower. This at once refers us to C. T. 2118 (It were alusty sight-e for to see); 2335 ( But sodeinly she saugh a sight-equeynte); &c.We should also consider the etymology. Now wight = A.S. wiht,is monosyllabic, and gives no difficulty. On the other hand, the A.S.for ' sight ' is gesiht or gesihp; but it is a fem. sb. , and makes all itsoblique cases with a final -e, viz. gesiht- e or gesihp-e. In such instances,the nominative case often lost its distinctive form, and took the form ofthe other cases, so that already in the Ormulum ( l. 12670) we find thenom. case sihhp-e, dissyllabic. Such usages have received carefulattention in the present edition, and in almost every case the additionof a final e in an unexpected place can be amply justified by instancesof Chaucer's usage in other passages. If the student will endeavourto verify some of the examples here given, he will soon come to aclearer knowledge of the matter.U 2292 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.52. Hit, it, i. e. the daisy. But in l . 53 it is referred to as she. Weshall see why this is hereafter. As a mere flower, it is neuter; but asbeing the type of Alcestis, it is feminine. Cf. 11. 62, 63.53. We have come to the first instance in which Chaucer transposedthe order of his material in the course of revision. Line 53 of theB-text corresponds to A. 55 , whilst B. 61 corresponds to A. 51. Allsuch instances are clearly shewn by printing the transposed passagestwice over, once in their right place, and again in their changed place ina smaller type. By this arrangement all such transpositions can be understood at a glance.The blank space which here appears in the A-text corresponds toII . 50-52 in B, which are marked with an asterisk as being peculiarto the latter text. In order to save space, a small blank space (of oneor two lines only) often corresponds to an insertion in the other text ofsome length.56. ' And I love it, and ever (do so) equally anew,' i. e. unalterably.57. The word herte is so common that it is worth while to rememberthat it is usually dissyllabic; the A.S. form being heorte.58. Al, although (very common) . Ofthis, in this matter.61. Weste, is here a verb; ' to turn to the west. ' See l. 197.65. Probably to be scanned thus: Óf the sónn' | for thér | hitwól | unclós- e. See note to 1. 67, and cf. l. 111.66. Ne had, pronounced as nad; and often so written.67. The first syllable of a line is often wanting in Chaucer; so thatthe first foot consists of a single emphatic syllable. Such lines arenow considered faulty, though examples may be found in Tennyson's'Vision of Sin,' which cannot be called unmelodious; but they wereonce common, especially in Lydgate. Some examples from the presentpoem are the following:-That of alle the floures in the mede; 41.Suffisant this flour to preyse aright; 67.Of this flour, whan that hit shulde unclose; 111.Made | hir lyk a daysie for to sene; 224.So also ll . 245, 303, 722, 783, 797, 859, 863, 901 , 911 , 1024, 1030,1076, 1187, 1275 , 1324, 1342, 1498 , 1551 , 1828, 1996, 2471, 2575-68. Conning, knowledge. Many words now used with a changedsignification are well explained in Trench's Select Glossary, whichshould be consulted for them. Thus, in the article upon cunning,Trench quotes the following from the examination of Wm. Thorpe, aspreserved in Foxe's Book of Martyrs: -' I believe that all these threePersons [ in the Godhead] are even in power and in cunning and inmight!69. Make, compose poetry; of sentement, concerning your feelings.So in 1. 74, making is ' poetry.' See Trench, s.v. make; where it isshewn that the use of the word arose quite independently of the Gk.use of oliv and moŋrns. One of the earliest instances of the use of 6NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 293makyere in the sense of " author " occurs in the Kentish Ayenbite ofInwyt, ed. Morris, p. 269; written A. D. 1340. The A. S. scóp andO.H. G. scófmean " a shaper." The G. Dichter means an " arranger ";the Fr. trouvère, Provençal troubadour, and Ital. trovatore means a"finder." -Skeat, note to P. Plowman, B. xii. 16 (where makyngesmeans ' poems ' ) .72. Cf. I. 193. There appears to be here some reference to a poemof the kind called in F. tenson ( O. F. tençon) or in O. Provençal tenso,i. e. ' dispute,' in which the relative merits of two subjects are discussed.An early example in English is the poem called The Owl and theNightingale, in which these birds contend for the superiority. In thepresent case, the suggestion is to discuss the value of the Leaf,representing no doubt constancy or any enduring virtue, as comparedwith that of the Flower, the representative of perishable beauty andthe freshness of first love. Chaucer probably refers to some suchpoem in French, but I cannot point out the exact source.On the other hand, the present passage doubtless suggested thepoem called ' The Flower and the Leaf,' a pretty but somewhat tediouspoem of the fifteenth century, in which Chaucer's style is imitatedwith no remarkable exactness or success. This poem was formerlyrashly attributed to Chaucer himself without any evidence, though itwas printed for the first time as late as 1598. See it discussed in vol.i. p. 44. Gower also refers to the present passage; C. A. iii. 358.In scanning this line, remember to pronounce Whether as Whe'r, amonosyllable. This is common also in Shakespeare, as in his 59thSonnet: ' Whe'r we are mended, or whe'r better they.'74. Making, poetry; ropen, reaped . For I well know, that ye(poets) have long ere this reaped the field of poetry, and carried awaythe corn from it; and I come after you as a gleaner.' See note to 1. 69.Compare Parl. Foules, 22-25.In The A.S. rípan, to reap, was a strong verb; pt. t. ráp, pp. ripen.The M.E. forms are various and corrupt, and not very common.P. Plowman, B. xiii. 374, the pt. t. is rope, pl. ropen. The proper formof the pp. is ripen; the form ropen is due to that confusion betweenthe past tense and past participle which is so extremely commonin English. See Morris, Hist. Outlines of Eng. Accidence, p. 160.80. Evel apayd, ill pleased, displeased; a common phrase. SeeCler. Tale, E 1052; Can. Yem. Tale, G 921 , 1049. Apayd, pleased,occurs in the Kn. Tale, 1010 (A 1868) .85. Wynt, windeth, turns (me) about, directs (me). These contracted forms of the third person singular of the present indicative arealmost universal in Anglo- Saxon, and very common in M. E. Chaucerhas fynt = findeth, rit = rideth, hit hideth, et eateth, 1. 1389, &c.A much earlier example of wint for windeth is in the Ancren Riwle,p. 296.

86. In-with, within. This curious form is not very common inChaucer. Still it occurs in l. 228 below; in the Prior. Tale, B 1794;294 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Cler. Tale, E 870; March. Tale, E 1944; Troilus, ii . 508, iii . 1499,&c. See Mätzner.88. Nothing I, I am not at all (the master of it).90. This is a fine simile. His lady sovereign can evoke from himany tone at will. And maketh = and (the hand) makes. Bell putsThat for And, without authority.93. Yow list, it pleases you. List =listeth; cf. note to 1. 85.97. ' But why said I that we should give credence? ' See ll. 10, 20.In the A-text (1. 81 ) But wherfor is used differently, and means—'But the reason why,' &c.The 100. Seen at eye, see evidently. So in the Can. Yem. Tale, G 1059.Cf. fair at yë, fair to the sight, id . G 964; Cler. Tale, E 1168.promise made in 1. 101 was not fulfilled.103. Besy gost, active spirit. Thrusteth, thirsteth.105. Gledy, glowing; an adj . formed from gleed, a glowing coal. Iknow of no other example of this word. The compound adj. gled- read,glede-red , i. e. red as a glowing coal, occurs in O. Eng. Homilies, ed.Morris, i. 249.108. The first of May was a favourite time for joyful observances.See note to Kn. Tale, A 1500.109. Dredful, timid, timorous; as in Kn. Tale, A 1479.112. Agayn, against, towards, turned towards; as in l. 48.113. The beste, i. e. the Bull, the sign Taurus. Agenores doghteris Europa, daughter of Agenor of Phoenicia, who, according tothe fable, was carried off by Jupiter in the form of a bull. HenceOvid uses the expression ' Agenoreus bos, ' Fast. vi. 712; and callsEuropa Agenore nata, ' Met. ii . 858. For the story, see the latterreference."Chaucer here tells us that the Sun, on the 1st of May, was ' in thebreast ' of Taurus, i . e. in the middle of it. It was, in fact, far advancedin the sign, near the 20th degree. See Fig. 1 in this volume, whichshews the back of the Astrolabe.118. Cf. Book of the duch*esse, 399.125. Cf. Book of the duch*esse, ll. 410–2, which is a parallel passage.Both passages are borrowed from the Roman de la Rose, 55-58;see vol. i. p. 95.126. Mat, dead; a term borrowed from the game of chess. SeeAnelida, 176; Book Duch. , 660; and Kn. Tale, A 955.128. Atempre, temperate, mild. See Book of the Duch. , 341 , andthe note. This again is from the Rom. de la Rose, 125. Releved,raised up again, revived. Cotgrave gives: ' Relevé, raised, lift, or setup again; relieved, revived, fully restored .'130. In the classical and middle ages small birds were a commonarticle of food, as they are on the continent at the present time; andthe season for catching them with a panter, or bag-net, was winter,when the scarcity of food made them tame. The poet here representstheir songs in the spring, as the expression of their exultationNOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 295at having baffled the stratagems, quaintly called sophistries, bywhich the fowler had endeavoured to lure them to their destruction.'—BELL.The word panter is curiously preserved in the mod. E. painter,a rope for mooring a boat. I quote the following from my Etym. Dict.:" Painter, a rope employed to fasten a boat"; Hawkesworth's Voyages,1773, vol. i . p. xxix. Corrupted (by assimilation to the ordinary sb.painter) from M. E. panter, a noose, esp. for catching birds. SeeChaucer, Leg. of Good Women, 131; Prompt. Parv. , p. 381; speltpaunter, Polit. Songs, ed. Wright, p. 344.-O. F. pantiere, a kind ofsnare for birds, Roquefort; panthiere, " a great swoop- net "; Cotgrave.Cf. Ital. pantiera, " a kind oftramell or fowling net "; Florio; panthera,66 a net or haie to catch conies with, also a kind of fowling-net "; id.—Lat. panther, a hunting-net for catching wild beasts. Cf. panthera,an entire capture. -Gk. Tavonрós, catching all; cf. ravonpa, the wholebooty (a very late word) .— Gk. mâv, neut. of πâs, every; and 0ýp, a wild beast.' The Irish painteir, Gael. painntear, a gin, snare, are forms of thesame word [ but were borrowed from English or French] . It is remarkable that, in America, a panther is also called a painter. SeeCooper, The Pioneers, cap. xxviii.'132. Upon, against, in scorn of; cf. in his despyt, l. 134. A- whaped,scared.-- A. 127. The A- text is hereabouts very imperfect, and some linesare too short. I supply words within square brackets, in order to fillout the lines, and to make sense.145. See Parl. of Foules, 309, 683, and the note to the former passagein vol. i . p. 516. Birds were supposed to choose their mates on St. Valentine's day (Feb. 14).146. Chees, chose: the past tense; A.S. céas.154. Tydif, the name of some small bird, guessed by Skinner to bethe titmouse; more probably the tydy mentioned by Drayton, which issupposed to mean a wren. See Tydy in Nares. Cf. Squi. Tale, F648; id. 610, 611.158. ' Provided that their mates would pity them.'160. Daunger usually means ' power to harm.' These allegoricalpersonages were suggested by the Roman de la Rose. In the Englishversion (1. 3018) Daunger is the name of the ' foul churl,' who is setbeside the Rose, to prevent strangers from plucking it. In Chaucer'sComplaint unto Pite , he introduces such personages as Crueltee (corresponding to Daunger) , Pite, Bountee, Gentilesse, and Curtesye. Sohere, we are told that although Daunger (i . e. power to harm or torepel) seemed for a time to have the upper hand, yet at the last Pityinduced relenting, and caused Mercy to surpass (or prevail over) Right(or Justice). Just as Pity is opposed to Danger or Cruelty, so we find,in the old theological allegories, that Mercy is opposed to Justice. Thepleading of Mercy against Justice will be found at length in Grosteste's296 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Chastel d'Amour, in the Cursor Mundi, p. 550, and in the Gesta Romanorum, Tale 55. See my note to P. Plowman, C. xxi. 120.163. ' By means of innocence and well-mannered courtesy.'164. ' But I do not call folly, or false pity, by the name of innocence';i. e. the poet does not approve of immodesty or weakness, because in allthings the chief virtue is moderation, or the ' golden mean.' Beautyshould be neither too yielding nor too pitiless.166. Etik, Lat. Ethica; alluding to the Ethics of Aristotle, in whichhappiness and virtue are discussed, and the nature of virtue is said toshew itself in its appearing as the medium or mean between two extremes. Similarly, Gower in his Conf. Amantis (ed. Pauli, iii . 153)refers us to Aristotle's advice to Alexander, to keep the mean betweenavarice and prodigality. See also Gower's remarks on ethique; id.Cf. Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii . 387.iii. 140.170. So in the Parl. of Foules, 680, the birds are described as joiningin the roundel-' Now welcom somer, with thy sonne softe.'171. Here again is a reminiscence of the Roman de la Rose, II.8449-51- ' Zephirus et Flora, sa fame,Qui des flors est deesse et dame,Cil dui font les floretes nestre,' &c.i. e. Zephirus and his wife Flora, who is the goddess and lady offlowers, these two make the little flowers grow. See Book of theduch*esse, 402; and the note upon it.184. 'The daisy, or, otherwise, the eye of day '; see note to l. 43.186. ' I pray that she may fall fairly,' that she may light upon goodfortune. All the MSS. have she; otherwise we might read her, as suchis the more usual idiom, in which case it would mean ' that it maybefall her fairly.' We have a similar case in the Manciple's Prologue,H 40, where six MSS. have the usual idiom ' foule mot thee falle, ' whilstthe Ellesmere MS. alone has ' foule mot thou falle.' For a similarvariation, cf. 1. 277 below with A. 180, i . e. with the corresponding linein the earlier text.191. For, as regards me, neither of them is dearer or more hatefulthan the other; I am not yet retained on the side of either of them.'The sense of with-holden is detained, kept back, hence reserved to oneside, committed to a particular view.-195. Thing werk (A. 79) , i . e . poem. Ofanother tonne, out of quitea different cask. Cf. ' Nay, thou shalt drinken of another tonne Er thatI go '; C. T., D 170. Cf. Rom. Rose ( French Text) , 6838.196. Swich thing, such a thing as the strife between the Leaf andthe Flower. The A-text (1. 80) helps us here, as it reads ' swichstryf.'203. Herber, an arbour. This difficult word is fully explained inthe New E. Dict. , s . v. arbour. It is there shewn that the original senseof the M. E. herber or erber was ' a plot of ground covered with grassor turf; a garden- lawn or green.' In the Medulla Grammatices, ab.NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 2971460, we find: - Viretum, locus pascualis virens, a gres-yerd, or anherber.' Subsequently it meant a herb- garden or flower- garden; afruit-garden or orchard; trees or shrubs trained on frame- work; andthen a bower, or ' shady retreat, of which the sides and roof are formedby trees and shrubs closely planted or intertwined , or of lattice- workcovered with climbing shrubs and plants, as ivy, vine, &c. ' Dr. Murrayremarks that ' the original characteristic of the arbour seems to havebeen the floor and benches of herbage [ as here]; in the modern ideathe leafy covering is the prominent feature.'The present passage was imitated and amplified by the authoress of The Flower and the Leaf, beginning at l. 49: —' a pleasaunt herber well ywrought,That benched was, and with turfes new,Freshly turved, wherof the grene gras,So small, so thicke, so short, so fresh of hew,That most like unto green woll wot I it was;The hegge also, that yede in compasAnd closed in all the grene herbere,With sicamour was set and eglatere '; &c.So too, in the Assembly of Ladies, st . 7:—'Which broght me to an herber fair and greneMade with benches ful crafty and clene.'208. Hed, hidden. This rare form occurs again in Will. of Palerne,688. The usual M. E. forms are hud and hid. Similarly Chaucer usesken for 'kin ' in Book Duch. 438, the usual M. E. forms being kun andkin; and we find ken also in Will. of Palerne, 722. These forms areSouthern, and mostly Kentish.213. Thegodoflove, Cupid; cf. Parl. Foules, 212. Cf.the descriptionin the E. version of the Rom. of the Rose, ll . 890, 1003.In his hande, i. e. leading by the hand; see l. 241 .A quene, a queen, viz. Alcestis, as we afterwards learn. She isso clothed as to represent a daisy; hence her green dress, goldenhair-ornament or caul, and white crown; see 1. 218, and note to1. 227.215. Fret here means a caul of gold wire. They were sometimes setwith stones. Cf. Rom. Rose, 1108, and The Flower and the Leaf, 152: -'A richefret of gold, ' &c. See Fairholt, Costume in England.217. The pause after smale saves the final e from elision. See examples in the Cant. Tales, B 2153 , 3281 , 3989; &c. We may translatethe phrase and I shal nat lye by ' if I am not to lie '; see l. 357, and the note.221. Oriental, eastern; here, of superior quality. The preciousstones called by lapidaries oriental ruby, oriental topaz, oriental amethyst, and oriental emerald are red, yellow, violet, and green sapphires,distinguished from the other gems of the same name which have not298 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.the prefix oriental, by their greatly superior hardness, and greaterspecific gravity '; Engl. Cyclopædia, s. v. Adamantine Spar. Cf. P.Plowman, B. 2. 14.223. For which, by means of which, whereby.227. In the Rom. of the Rose the ' god of love ' is said to be clothed' not in silk, but all in flowers '; his garment was all covered withflowers, intermingled with rose- leaves; and he had a chaplet of redroses upon his head. See the E. version , l . 890. In 1. 228, fret meansmerely ' ornament ' or ' border ' of embroidery, whereas in 1. 215 it is used in the sense of a caul or net worn on the head. The A-text(160) has garlond, and adds that lilies were stuck about among therose-leaves . Moreover, a ' rose- leaf ' here means a petal, or it wouldnot be described as red. Greves is properly ' groves or bushes,' butmust here mean sprays or small boughs.231. Forhevinesse, to save himfrom the heaviness and weight ofgold.The peculiar use offor in the sense of ' against,' or ' to prevent, ' shouldbe noticed. See the note to Sir Thopas, B 2052.242. Corouned is pronounced as Coróun'd.- - A. 179. Notice this mention of Alcestis in the A-text. This isaltered in the later version, so that the poet does not know who thequeen is till 1. 511 , though she actually announces herself in l. 432.See note to 1. 255 ( B.) below.249. Absolon, Absalom; remarkable for the beauty of his hair; see2 Sam. xiv. 26. Cf. ' Absalom o ses treces soves '; Rom. de la Rose,14074. I have little doubt that the general idea of this Ballade istaken from one quoted from MS. du Roi, à Paris (fonds de Saint- Victor,no. 275, fol. 45, recto, col. 2) , by M. Michel, in his edition of Tristan, i.lxxxviii. It begins as follows: -' Hester, Judith, Penelope, Helaine,Sarre, Tisbe, Rebeque, et Sairy,Lucresse, Yseult, Genèvre, chastelaineLa très loial nommée de Vergy,Rachel, et la dame de FayelOnc ne furent si precieulx jouel D'onneur, bonté, senz, beauté et valourCon est ma très doulce dame d'onnour.Se d'Absalon la grant beauté humaine,' &c.The refrain being, as before, ' Con est ma très doulce dame d'onnour. '250. Ester, Esther; cited as an example of ' debonairte ' in the Bookofthe Duch. 986; see also C. T., E 1371 , 1744 ( Merch. Tale); and the Tale of Melibeus, B 2291.251. Ionathas, Jonathan; remarkable for his ' friendliness ' towardsDavid; 1 Sam. xix. 2.252. Penalopee, Penelope, wife of Ulysses; see the note to Book ofthe Duch. 1081; and Ovid, Her. i . Marcia Catoun, formerly said toNOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 299be Marcia, wife of M. Cato Uticensis [ not Cato the Censor, as Bellsays] . Bell notes that ' her complaisance, apparently, in consenting tobe lent to Cato's friend, Hortensius, is the ground of her praise in thisplace.' Gilman refers us to Clough's tr. of Plutarch, iv. 394, where thestory is given. This, however, is not the right solution. Prof. Lounsbury (Studies in Chaucer, ii . 294) points out that the reference isclearly to Marcia, daughter of the same Cato, because Chaucer got thestory from Hieronymus contra Iovinianum ( i. 46) , where we find: -' Marcia Catonis filia minor, quum quæreretur ab ea, cur post amissummaritum, denuo non nuberet, respondit, non se inuenire uirum, qui semagis vellet quam sua.' A much better example would have been hersister Porcia, the devoted wife of Marcus Brutus ( Jul. Cæsar, ii. 1 ) .254. Isoude, the heroine of the romance of Sir Tristram; see Parl.of Foules, 288 (and the note on the line); also Ho. Fame, 1796.Eleyne, Helen, heroine of the Trojan war.255. Note howthe original refrain of this Balade, beginning ' Alcesteis here,' is altered to ' My lady cometh '; in order to prevent thepremature mention of Alcestis' name. See note to A. 179 above,following the note to l. 242. Disteyne, bedim; viz. by outshining them .257. Lavyne, Lavinia, the heroine of the latter part of the Æneid;cf. Book of the Duch. 331; Ho. Fame, 458. Lucresse, Lucretia ofRome, whose ' Legend ' is related at length below; 1. 1680. Cf. Cant.Tales, F 1405.258. Polixene, Polyxena, daughter of Priam, who, like Lucretia,bought love too dearly; for she was sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles,according to Ovid, Met. xiii. 448. But according to Guido delle Colonne,whom Chaucer probably regarded as a better authority, she was slainby Pyrrhus. Cf. Book of the Duch. 1071. Note also: -' Alas, yourlove, I bye hit al to dere '; Anelida, 255.259. Cleopatre, Cleopatra; whose Legend is the first of the seriesbelow: 1. 580.261. Tisbe, Thisbe; whose Legend follows that of Cleopatra; 1 .706.263. Herro, Hero of Sestos, beloved by Leander; see Ovid, Her.xviii, xix. Spelt Erro, Pref. to Man of Law, B 69; whence we learnthat the Legend of Hero was intended to be one of the set. Dido;whose Legend occurs below; 1. 924. Laudomia, Laodamia, wife ofProtesilaus; see Ovid, Her. xiii . Spelt Ladomea, and accented (ashere) on the o; Pref. to Man of Law, B 71. And see Cant. Tales, F1445.264. Phyllis; whose Legend occurs at 1. 2394.265. Canace, daughter of Æolus, beloved by Macareus; see Ovid,Her. xi. See Pref. to Man of Law, B 78; whence we learn thatChaucer had no intention of including her Legend in the set, but expressly rejected it. Chere, sad countenance.266. Ysiphile, Hypsipyle; whose Legend occurs at l. 1368.300 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.268. Ypermistre, Hypermnestra; whose Legend occurs at 1. 2562.Adriane, Ariadne; whose Legend occurs at 1. 1886.For further remarks, see my long note to the Man of Law's Tale,B 61.20.270. Bell remarks that the above beautiful Balade has been oftenimitated; and cites a poem by Surrey with the title ' A Praise of hisLove, wherein he reproveth them that compare their ladies with his,'and beginning-' Geue place, ye louers, here before That spent yourbostes and bragges in vaine.' See Tottell's Miscellany, ed. Arber, p.Another such poem occurs in the same collection, at p. 163;beginning ' Geue place, you Ladies, and begon '; this, it appears, waswritten byJohn Heywood; Warton, Hist. E. Poet. ( 1840) , iii. 56 (note).With respect to Surrey's verses, Warton ( Hist. E. P. 1840, iii . 33 ) remarks that ' the leading compliment, which has been used by laterwriters, is in the spirit of Italian fiction .' But it is probable that wehere see Surrey's original before us. Among the beautiful songs onthis theme, we should not neglect ' You meaner beauties of the night,'by Sir Henry Wotton. Cf. ll . 274, 275 below.271. By, with respect to. My lady is thename Chaucer is supposed not to know as yet.277. See note to 1. 186 above.=queen Alcestis , whoseSee l. 432.278. Nadde ne hadde. For, had not the comfort of her presenceexisted.' We should now say, ' Had it not been for the comfort.' Cf.Spec. Eng. Literature, pt. iii . note to § xv (b) . 1. 96.295. For the nones, for the once, for this special occasion. Seethe note to Chaucer's Prologue, 1. 379. The phrase was first explained, carefully and fully, by Price, in a note to Warton's Hist. Eng.Poet. ed. 1840, ii. 74, 75.298. ' That bears away the prize from us all in external beauty orfigure.' Ouralder, of us all; where our=A. S. úre, gen. pl. of the firstpersonal pronoun, and alder is a more emphatic form of aller (A. S.ealra), gen. pl. of all. See Chaucer's Prol. 586, 710, 799, 823. Hencealderliefest, dearest of all, in 2 Hen. VI. i . 1. 28; probably borrowedfrom alderlevest in Chaucer's Troilus, v. 576 (in vol. ii . ) . Prof. Corsoncites altherbeste, best of all , from Gower, C. A. ed. Pauli, i . 106; althermest, most of all, from the same, i. 147; althertrewest, id. i . 176;altherwerst, id. i . 53. In Chaucer's Minor Poems the reader will findour alder, of us all , ABC, 84; also alderbeste, Book Duch. 246; alderfaireste, id. 1050; and aldernext, Parl. Foules, 244.300. A-compas enviroun, in a circle, all round about.304. By and by, one after another, in order; see the New E. Dict.307. Furlong- wey, lit. two minutes and a-half; or the time of walking a furlong, at 3 miles an hour. See Anelida, 328; Ho. Fame,2064.314. Hit am I, it is I; the usual M. E. idiom. See Kn. Tale, A1736; Man of Law's Tale, B 1109, and note. Him neer, nearer tohim; neer is the comparative of neh or nigh; cf. l. 316.NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 301318 Dante has ' che noi siam vermi '; Purg. x. 124.323. Servaunt in Chaucer frequently means ' lover '; such is necessarily the case here.329. Chaucer here certainly seems to imply that he translated thewhole of the Romance of the Rose, or at any rate that part of it whichis especially directed against women. The existing English versionconsists of three fragments, apparently by different authors, and I seelittle reason for connecting more than fragment A ( ll . 1-1705) withChaucer. None of the fragments contain such passages as the Godof Love would most have objected to; but we find some of thempractically reproduced in the Prologue to the Wyf of Bathes Tale. Wealso find numerous imitations of passages from that poem scattered upand down throughout Chaucer's works; and it is remarkable that suchpassages usually lie outside the contents of the English fragments.Where they do not, Chaucer frequently varies from the English versionof the Romance. Thus where Chaucer ( Book Duch. 419) has:-'And every tree stood by himselveFro other wel ten foot or twelve.So grete trees, so huge of strengthe'-the Eng. version of the Rom. ofthe Rose ( 1391 ) has:-'These trees were set, that I devyse,Oon from another, in assyse,Five fadome or sixe, I trowe so,But they were hye and grete also.'We may here note the variation between ten foot or twelve andfivefadom or six; the original has cing toises, ou de sis. Other passagesin the Book of the duch*esse which resemble the existing E. version ofthe Rom. of the Rose are these. ( 1 ) Book Duch. 424; cf. R. R. 1396.(2) Book Duch. 291; cf. R. R. 49. (3) Book Duch. 410; cf. R. R.59. (4) Book Duch. 283; R. R. 7. ( 5 ) Book Duch. 340; R. R. 130.(6) Book Duch. 1152; R. R. 2084.For a fuller discussion of this question, see the Pref. to Ch. MinorPoems, in vol. i. p. 1 .-A. 260. Paramours seems to be an adverb here, meaning ' with alover's affection.' So in the Kn. Tale, A 1155: —'For par amour I loved hir first er thow.'And again, in A 2112: —'Ye knowen wel, that every lusty knightThat loveth paramours, and hath his might.'So also in Troilus, v. 158, 332, and in Barbour's Bruce, xiii . 485-' helufit his [Ross's ] sistir paramouris.' Tyrwhitt quotes from Froissart,bk. i. c. 196-' Il aima adonc par amours, et depuis espousa, MadameYsabelle de Juiliers.'302 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.The following phrase ' too hard and hot ' merely intensifies the senseofparamours.332. Criseyde. The allusion is to Chaucer's long poem entitledTroilus and Criseyde (or Creseyde). The A-text is more outspokenhere, as it alludes to the inconstancy of the heroine in direct terms.A. 280. Valerie, Valerius; see note to A. 281 below.Titus; Titus Livius; see l . 1683 , and the note. Claudian; ClaudiusClaudianus, who wrote, amongst other things, a poem De Raptu Proserpinae, to which Chaucer refers; see Ho. Fame, 449, 1509. He flourished about A. D. 400.— A. 281. Ierome; Hieronymus, usually known as St. Jerome,a celebrated father of the Latin Church; died Sept. 30, 420. Inthe Wyf of Bathes Prologue (C. T. 6251 , Group D, 1. 669) we find:—'He hadde a book, that gladly, night and day,For his desport he wolde rede alway;He cleped it Valerie and Theofraste,At whiche book he lough alwey ful faste.And eek ther was somtyme a clerk at Rome,A cardinal, that highte Seint Ierome,That made a book agayn Iovinian '; &c.In Tyrwhitt's Introductory discourse, he says of this Prologue-'The greatest part must have been of Chaucer's own invention, thoughone may plainly see he had been reading the popular invectivesagainst marriage and women in general; such as, the Roman de laRose; Valerius ad Rufinum de non ducenda uxore; and particularlyHieronymus contra Iovinianum.' He adds, in a note-' The holyFather, by way of recommending celibacy, has exerted all his learningand eloquence (and he certainly was not deficient in either) to collecttogether and aggravate whatever he could find to the prejudice of thefemale sex. Among other things he has inserted his own translation(probably) of a long extract from what he calls " Liber aureolus Theophrasti de nuptiis."It ' Next to him in order of time was the treatise entitled EpistolaValerii ad Rufinum de non ducenda uxore ( MS. Reg. 12 D. iii. ).has been printed, for the similarity of its contents, I suppose, amongthe works of St. Jerome, though it is evidently of a much later date ...To these two books Jean de Meun has been obliged for some of theseverest strokes in his [ part of the] Roman de la Rose; and Chaucerhas transfused the quintessence of all the three works, upon thesubject of Matrimony, into his Wife of Bathes Prologue and Merchant's Tale'Tyrwhitt further observes that the Epistola Valerii was written,according to Tanner, by Walter Map; of this there appears to be nodoubt. Lounsbury ( Studies, ii . 276) takes Valerie to mean ValeriusMaximus, which is here improbable.It is, at first, not very clear why the God of Love is here representedNOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 303as appealing to books against women; but we are bidden to observethat, even there, good women are incidentally mentioned; see A. 284.Even Valerius praises Lucretia and Penelope.- A. 288. Cf. the long passage in the Franklein's Tale about chastewomen; C. T. 11676-11766 ( F 1364-1456 ) . It is nearly all takenfrom Jerome.-A. 305. Epistels rather than epistelle in the singular. Thereference is to Ovid's Heroides, which contains twenty-one loveletters. Cf. Chaucer's Introd. to Man of Law, B 55 , where he alludesto Ovid's mention of lovers ' in his Epistelles.- A. 307. Vincent is Vincent of Beauvais, who compiled an encyclopædia of universal knowledge in the 13th century. One portion ofthis great work, treating of universal history, is called SpeculumHistoriale, which Chaucer has here turned into Storial Mirour. SeeLounsbury's Studies in Chaucer, ii . 375.338. As Chaucer is pleased to call his poem by the name of ' seinteslegende of Cupyde ' in the Introd. to Man of Law, B 61 , he hereturns Venus into a saint, to keep up the analogy between his presentundertaking and the Legenda Sanctorum. But John de Meun hadpreviously said much the same thing. In Le Rom. de la Rose, 10863,Cupid is made to swear ' par sainte Venus ma mere.' See the Eng.version, l. 5953. (Perhaps read seynte in Text B. )343. In accordance with the proverb-' Audi alteram partem.' SeeA. 325. Cf. Seneca, Medea, 195.348. ' And even if you were not an omniscient god.'352. From. the Rom. of the Rose; the E. version has (11 .1050, 1 ):—' Hir court hath many a losengere,And many a traytour envious.'Again repeated in Cant. Tales, B 4515-8.353. Totelere (C. totulour) , tattling; properly a sb. , meaning' tattler,' but here used in apposition, and, practically, as an adjective.Tyrwhitt explains it by ' whisperer.' Halliwell quotes ' Be no totiler'from MS. Bibl. Reg. 17 B. xvii. fol. 141. It clearly means a gossipingtattler, or tale-bearer.The word is scarce, but we find a helpful passage in P. Plowman,B. xx. 297:' Of alle taletellers and tyterers in ydel.'Here tyterers means gossipers , or retailers of tittle -tattle; andvarious readings give the forms titeleris (as printed by Wright) andtutelers (as printed by Crowley) . The last form tuteler is clearlyidentical with Chaucer's totelere, spelt tutelere in MS. Arch. Selden B. 24.357. ' These are the causes why, if I am not to lie '; &c. See note to 1. 217.358. Lavender, laundress, washerwoman; (Bell's interpretation of304 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.' gutter ' is utter nonsense). See Laundress in my Etym. Dict. , whereI refer to the present passage. Laundress is formed by adding -ess tolaunder or laundre, the contracted form of lavender as here used. InBarbour's Bruce, ed. Skeat, xvi. 273, 292, the word for ' washerwoman 'is spelt lauender, laynder, and landar. Palsgrave's Eng. and Fr. Dict.gives ' Laundre, that wassheth clothes; lauendiere'; and Cotgrave explains the Fr. lauandiere by the Eng. launderesse. Chaucer'spresentation to us of Envy as the person who washes all the dirtylinen in the court, is particularly happy. As a matter of fact, he ishere quoting Dante, but he has substituted lavender (perhaps in an illsense, though I do not feel sure of this) for the meretrice of the original.The passage referred to is in the Inferno, xiii . 64: —' La meretrice, che mai dall' ospizioDi Cesare non torse gli occhi putti,Morte comune, e delle corti vizio,Infiammò contre me gli animi tutti.'Cary's translation has: -' The harlot, who ne'er turned her gloating eyesFrom Cæsar's household, common vice and pestOf courts, 'gainst me inflamed the minds of all.'Gower (C. A. ed. Pauli, i. 263) says: —'Senec witnesseth openlyHow that envie properlyIs of the court the comun wenche.'Note that parteth in l. 359 means ' departeth .'361. 'Whoever goes away, at any rate she will not be wanting.'Men come and go, but Envy remains. This is the right sense; butBell, whom Prof. Corson follows, gives it quite a false twist. He says,'Whosoever goes, i . e. falls, she will not be in want'; a desperateand unmeaning solution , due to not appreciating the force of the verbto want, which here simply means ' to be absent,' and can be appliedto persons as well as to things. ' There wanteth but a mean to fillyour song '; Two Gent. of Verona, i. 2. 295; though bride and bridegroom wants,' i. e. are absent, Tam. Shrew, iii . 2. 248: There wantethnow our brother of Gloucester here '; Rich. III. ii . 1. 43.6364. ' But only because he is accustomed to write poems.'366. 'Or it was enjoined him by some patron to compose those twopoems (the Romaunce of the Rose and Troilus; see A. 344); and hedid not dare to refuse.'371. As thogh that, as he would have done if.372. And had, i. e. and had composed it all himself.374. 'The allusion is to the several successful adventurers, like theVisconti, who in the 13th and 14th centuries succeeded in seizing uponNOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 305the governments of Milan, and other free cities of Lombardy '; Bell .See the article Visconti in the Eng. Cyclopædia; we are there referredto Verri, Storia di Milano, and to Muratori, Annali d'Italia. Cf.Dante, Inf. xxviii . 74, 81; and see Chaucer's reference to ' BarnaboViscounte ' in the Monkes Tale, B 3589.375. Reward at, regard to. Reward and regard are etymologicallydentical. Observe the accent on the former syllable. Cf. 1. 399.378. Fermour, a farmer of taxes; who is naturally exacting andoppressive.380. Before is supply hit, which, as in l. 379, refers to a suppliantculprit. His own vassals are a lord's treasures, to be cherished, notoppressed.381. Bech refers us to Seneca, De Clementia, lib. i . c. 3 , § 3; c. 5 , § 4.Or perhaps Aristotle is meant, whose supposed advice to Alexander isfully given in Gower's Confessio Amantis, bk. vii. See particularly thepassage in Pauli's edition, iii . 176:—' What is a king in his legeaunce,Wher that ther is no law in londe? 'There is a similar long and tedious passage in Lancelot of the Laik,ed. Skeat, ll. 1463-1998. Gower calls Aristotle'the philosophre '; C.A. iii. 86. We may also compare Hoccleve, De Regimine Principum,ed. Wright, pp. 102-3, translated from Ægidius, De Reg. Princ. , lib. i .pars I , cap. xiv; where the reference to Aristotle is:-' Propter quodV. Ethicorum scribitur, quod principatus uirum ostendit.'(384. Al, although. Although he will preserve their rank for his lords.' Note that his lordes is in the dative case. It was probablyfrom not observing this that Thynne's edition and the Pepys MS. haveneedlessly inserted the word in before hir. Cf. A. 370.387. Half-goddes, demi-gods. Cf. 'the demi-god Authority'; Meas.for Meas. i. 2. 124.391. So, in his Epitaph on Inigo Jones, Ben Jonson says: -' TheLibyan lion hunts no butterflies '; which he took from Martial, Epig.xii. 61. 6. And see Pliny, Nat. Hist. viii. 16.397. Areste. Bell seems to suggest the sense of ' restraint, ' and Prof.Corson, following him, suggests ' self-command '; but such a sensedoes not exactly appear in Murray's Dictionary. Nevertheless, ' selfrestraint ' suits not only this passage, but also the passage citedfrom the Harleian MS. in the foot-note to the Somnour's Tale, D 2048,in vol. iv. p. 381.399. Here, as in 1. 375, reward means ' regard,' and is accented on the e.We re- 400. Maystrie, masterly act; no maystrie, an easy matter.405. This is not altogether a metaphorical expression.member something very like it at the siege of Calais in 1347, when.according to Froissart, Edward III. sent for the six inhabitants ofCalais, who were to present themselves ' with bare heads and feet,

• • • X

306 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.with ropes round their necks '; see Froissart, tr. by Johnes, bk. i .C. 145.415. In the earlier text (A 403) , the word He stands alone in thefirst foot, which is less pleasing.417. See Introd. to the Minor Poems ( in vol. i . ) for a discussion ofsome ofthe poems here mentioned. He here mentions, first of all, threeof his lesser poems, in the order of their length; viz. the Hous ofFame, the Deeth of Blaunche, and the Parlement of Foules.420. The ' Palamoun and Arcyte ' here referred to was no doubt atranslation of Boccaccio's Teseide, or of selections from it, in seven- linestanzas. Though not preserved to us in its entirety, several fragmentsof it remain. These are to be found ( 1 ) in sixteen stanzas of the Parl.of Foules (11. 183-294) , translated from the Teseide, bk. vii. st . 51-66;(2) in part of the first ten stanzas of Anelida, from the same, bk. i . st.1-3 , and bk. ii. st. 10-12; ( 3 ) in three stanzas near the end of Troilus(viz. st. 7 , 8, and 9 from the end) , from the same, xi. 1-3; and (4) in are-written form, in what is now known as the Knightes Tale. SeeNotes to Anelida, in vol. i . pp. 529, 530."421. Though the story is little known.' Tyrwhitt remarks that thesewords ' seem to imply that it [ Chaucer's original version of Palamonand Arcite] had not made itselfvery popular.' Unfortunately, Tyrwhitt,who so very seldom goes astray, has here misled nearly all who haveconsulted him. Chaucer is not referring to his own version of thestory, nor even to Boccaccio's version, but to the old story itself; andhe is merely repeating Boccaccio's own remark, when (in the Teseide,i. 2) he speaks of it as'—una storia antica,Tanto negli anni riposta e nascosa,Che Latino autor non par ne dica,Per quel ch'io senta, in libro alcuna cosa.'And, in truth, the story must have been known but to very few, tillBoccaccio rescued it from oblivion. This is all that is meant; andthere is no difficulty. Note further that Chaucer refers to the very samepassage in another poem; see note to Anelida, 1. 8.423. A Balade is, properly, a poem in three stanzas, in which eachstanza ends with the same line, called the refrain . There is also usuallya fourth stanza, called Lenvoy, or the Envoy, which is sometimes shorterthan the other three. Most of Chaucer's Balades have probablyperished, as only a few are now known. These are: Fortune, consisting of 3 Balades, each in 8- line stanzas, followed by a single Envoy;Truth, a Balade with Envoy, in 7-line stanzas; Gentilesse, withoutEnvoy; Lak of Stedfastnesse, with Envoy; (probably) A Baladeagainst women unconstaunt, without Envoy; The Complaint of Venus,consisting of 3 Balades, with a general Envoy; The Compleint to hisPurse, with Envoy of five lines only; To Rosemounde, without Envoy;and the Balade included in the present poem, at ll. 249-269 above.NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 307A Roundel is a poem of from nine to fourteen lines, in which onlyeight lines are different from each other, the rest being repetitions oflines that have already occurred. See this fully explained in the noteto 1. 675 of the Parl. of Foules. The one certain example is the Roundelincluded in the Parl. of Foules, beginning at 1. 680. There is also abeautiful example of a Triple Roundel, which I have included in theMinor Poems, with the title of Merciless Beauty. No doubt Chaucerwrote many more, but they are lost.AVirelay is a poem in an unusual metre, of which examples are veryrare. Only one entire poem of this character has been conjecturallyassignedto Chaucer, but it is written in later English, and cannot possiblybe his. It is not a true Virelay (in the French sense) , and firstappeared in the edition of 1561; see vol. i . p. 33. Inthis poem, lines 1 ,2, 3, 5 , 6, 7 all rime together; and 1. 4 rimes with 1. 8. Then comesthe ' veer ' or ' turn,' which requires that, in the next stanza, lines 9, 10,11 , 13 , 14, 15 shall rime with lines 4 and 8, as, in fact, they do; butlines 12 and 16 introduce a new rime, as they should not do. We find,however, two fair examples of the Virelay in the poem of Anelida, viz.in lines 256-271 and 317-332. In the former of these, the rime in -ee(-e) appears in lines 256-8 and 260-2, and the rime in -yte ends lines259 and 263; whereas, conversely, the rime in -yte ends lines 264-6 and268-270, whilst lines 267 and 271 repeat the rime in -ee. Similarly, 11.317-332 exhibit veering rimes in -eye and -ure.In Hoccleve's Poems, ed. Furnivall (Early Eng. Text Soc. , ExtraSeries, 1892) , there are several clever and intricate examples of theVirelay. Thus, in Balade IV, at p. 39, there are five stanzas , but onlythree rimes, viz. in -al, -ee, and -ay. The formula of rimes, for thefirst and third stanzas, is a babbcbc; for the second and fourthstanzas, cbcbb aba; and for the fifth stanza, acaccbcb. See alsothe same, pp. 41 , 47, 49, 58, 59, 61, 62. Beyond all doubt, Hocclevecopied the forms of Chaucer's lost virelays.424. Holynesse, holy employment, religious composition. This is,clearly, an intentional substitution for the besinesse, i. e. ‘ laborious employment,' in the A- text, l. 412.425. Chaucer made an excellent prose translation of Boethius deConsolatione Philosophiæ, a Latin treatise much admired in themiddle ages, and still worthy of admiration. For further remarks, see vol. iii.-A. 414. This is the only notice we possess of a work by Chaucerwhich is no longer extant. We gather from it that he made a translation of the Latin prose treatise by Pope Innocent III. , entitled DeMiseria Conditionis Humanæ, a gloomy enumeration of human woeswithout a single alleviating touch of hope, fiercely and unrelentinglyset forth. It is probable that it was written in 7-line stanzas; forportions of it appear to be preserved in the Prologue to the Man ofLawes Tale, B 99-126, and in other stanzas of the same ( B 421-7,771-7, 925-931 , 1135-8) .X 2308 THE LEGENDOF GOOD WOMEN.426. The Lyf of Seynt Cecyle is happily preserved. It was one ofChaucer's early productions; but he himself rescued it from possibledisappearance by introducing it into the Canterbury Tales, with thetitle ofthe Second Nonnes Tale.428. This is another of the lost works. We gather that he made atranslation from a piece attributed to Origen, one of the most eminentof the early Christian writers, who was born at Alexandria in 186.Tyrwhitt says the piece meant is doubtless ' the Homily de MariaMagdalena, which has been commonly, though falsely, attributed toOrigen; see Opp. Origenis, Tom. ii. p. 291 , ed. Paris , 1604.' Tyrwhittadds, very justly and incontrovertibly ' I cannot believe that thePoem entitled The Lamentation of Marie Magdaleine, which is in allthe [older] editions of Chaucer, is really that work of his. It can hardlybe considered as a translation, or even as an imitation , of the Homily;and the composition, in every respect, is infinitely meaner than theworst of his genuine pieces.'432. Here, in the B-text, the name of Alcestis is first mentioned;yet strange to say, Chaucer does not realise who she is till later; see1. 518. She was the wife of Admetus, not king of Thrace (as here said)but of Pheræ in Thessaly. Apollo obtained from the Moira a promiseto grant Admetus deliverance from death if, at the hour of his death,his father, mother, or wife, would consent to die for him. Alcestisconsented to die in his stead, and is therefore here taken as the chieftype of wifely devotion. The mention of Alcestis in the Court ofLove, st. 15 , is merely copied from Chaucer; so also Lydgate's use ofAlceste to mean ' a daisy, ' in his Legend of St. Edmund, 1. 235 of theadditional stanzas found in MS. Ashmole 46, as printed in Horstmann,Alteng. Legenden, Neue Folge ( 1881 ) , p . 443. Gower has the story ofAlcestis in his Confessio Amantis; ed. Pauli, iii. 149.452. An allusion to the common proverb-' Bis dat, qui cito dat ';he who gives at once, gives twice. Publius Syrus has: ' Bis gratum est,quod dato opus est, ultro si offeras,' v. 44; and again: ' Inopi beneficiumbis dat, qui dat celeriter '; v. 235.465. Has no participation in the deed of a thief.' Similarly, in theSqui. Tale, F 537, Chaucer tells us that ' A trew wight and a theefthenken nat oon,' i . e. do not think alike. Trew means ' honest. '466. The first foot contains Ne a trew-; e in Ne is elided.475, 6. Closely imitated in the Court of Love, st. 61: —' And argue not for reason ne for skillAgaine thy ladies pleasure ne entent,For love will not be counterpleted indeede. 'The substitution of the dissyllabic indeede for Chaucer's monosyllabicbe just ruins the scansion of the line; but we must not expect always tofind melody in that grossly over- rated poem.496, 7. Observe that these lines are not in the A-text. They mustnecessarily have been added after 1382, when Richard II . married AnneNOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. 309of Bohemia, and of course long before 1394, when ' the good queenAnne' died, and her husband at once forsook their favourite residenceof Shene, now Richmond; see Annals of England , p. 201 .499. This is a strange question, seeing that Alcestis has alreadyannounced her name at l . 432; we must suppose that the poet did notrealise that she was the very Alcestis whom he longed to see. But itlooks like an oversight, due to his partially rewriting this Prologue.503. Literally Chaucer's favorite line; for it reappears three timesmore, viz. in the Kn. Ta., A 1761; March. Ta. , E 1986; and Squi. Ta. ,F 479. And, in the Man of Law's Tale, B 660, we have-' As gentilherte is fulfild of pitee. ' It is admirable.510. Here Chaucer seems to be imitating Froissart; see the Introduction. I cannot find any early account of Alcestis that turns her into a daisy¹ . See notes to ll . 432, 515.515. Alcestis ' was afterwards brought back from the lower world byHercules, and restored to her husband '; Lewis and Short, Lat. Dict.s. v. Alcestis. And see the Introduction.522. Bountee, goodness . See Clerk. Ta. , E 157, 415; and Trench,Sel. Glossary.526. Agaton, Agathon or Agatho; Dante's Agatone ( Purg. xxii.107) . An Athenian poet (B. C. 447-400); who wrote a tragedy called'the Flower. ' See the Introduction.531. Cibella, Cybela, or more commonly Cybele, a Phrygian goddess,later worshipped at Rome asOps or Mater Magna. She was thegoddess of the earth, and especially represented its fertility; hence sheis naturally said to produce flowers. She here answers to the ' Ceres 'of Froissart; see the Introduction.533. The reference is to the red tips on the white petals of the daisy ,the ' wee, modest, crimson-tippèd flower.' This is said to be the giftof Mars, as he was associated with that colour. He is called ' Marsthe rede '; see 1. 2589 below; Anelida, l . 1; Kn. Ta. , A 1969. The colourof the planet Mars is reddish.In the present passage reed is a sb.; ' And Mars gave redness to her crown. '539. Referring to the Balade at 1. 249. In the A-text, Alcestis wasactually mentioned in the refrain; but Chaucer rewrote it so as toexclude her name. He now writes ( in 1. 540) as if he had forgottento put it in. Of course ll. 539-541 are peculiar to the B- text, asmarked.542. Kalender. ' A kalendar is an almanac by which persons areguided in their computation of time; hence it is used, as here, for aguide or example generally '; Bell . The New E. Dict. quotes this passage, and explains the word by ' a guide, directory; an example,model '; and cites Hamlet, v. 2. 114-' He is the card or calendar of' There are such accounts; but they are probably copied from Chaucer, who seems to have invented this transformation himself. See Notes and Queries ,7 Ser. vi. 186, 309, 372.310 THE LEGENDOF GOOD WOMEN.gentry.' Nevertheless, I doubt whether this sense arose from the mereusefulness ofthe calendar. I believe that Chaucer regarded it in quiteanother aspect, viz. as containing the record or list of the saints whoselives are worthy of imitation . Hence Schmidt explains the word inHamlet as ' note-book ' or ' record '; as is certainly the case in All'sWell, i. 3. 4, which Murray duly quotes with the sense of ' record.' Soin the present case kalender does not mean ' example ' merely, but awhole list or complete record ofexamples, which gives the word a muchgreater force. Compare Chaucer's ABC, under the letter K, and thenote (1. 73).549. We hence learn that Chaucer's nineteenth¹ and last Legendwas to have been the Legend of Alcestis; but he never wrote more thanthe former halfof the work. Cf. A-text, 532.555. Thy balade; see ll. 249–268; F. and Th. read my. We herelearn that the Ladies about whom the Legends were to be written (1.557) are all mentioned in the Ballad, which is an important hint. Wemust of course remove the names ofAbsalom and Jonathan; and thereis reason for supposing that we should exclude Esther. Next, we setaside Lucretia, Cleopatra, Thisbe, Dido, Phyllis, Hypsipyle, Hypermnestra, and Ariadne, whose Legends we possess; observing at the sametime that we also have the Legend of Philomela (though she is notmentioned) , and of Medea, who shares a Legend with Hypsipyle.The names still left are those of Penelope, Martia, Isoude, Helen,Lavinia, Polyxena, Hero, Laodamia, Canace, and Alcestis. But thislist only partially agrees with Chaucer's scheme as given elsewhere,viz. in the Introduction to the Man of Law's Tale. See further in theIntroduction.574. The grete, the substance; as in Book of the Duch. 1242; Parl.Foules, 35.575. According as these old authors are pleased to treat (them).'576. Shal telle, has to narrate.I. THE LEGEND OF CLEOPATRA.It is not clear what account Chaucer followed; see the Introduction .The chief sources for the history are Plutarch, Appian, Dion Cassius,and Orosius (bk. vi. c. 19) . I shall refer to the Life of M. Antonius inmy edition of Shakespeare's Plutarch (denoted below by Sh. Plut.).Bech points out that one of Chaucer's sources was Florus; see note to1. 655.581. Ptolemy XI . , or Ptolemy Auletes, king of Egypt, died B. C. 51 ,leaving two sons, both called Ptolemy, and two daughters, Cleopatraand Arsinoe. Cleopatra was then 17 years of age, and was appointedqueen of Egypt in conjunction with her brother, the elder Ptolemy,1 Not twentieth; for Legend IV contains two heroines.NOTES TO CLEOPATRA. 311whom she was to marry; but she was expelled from the throne byPtolemy's guardians. In B.C. 47 she was replaced upon it by JuliusCæsar, but still in conjunction with her brother. This led to theAlexandrine war, in the course of which this elder Ptolemy perished .After this, she reigned, nominally, in conjunction with the youngerPtolemy, to whom also she was nominally married; but he was stillquite a child, and was murdered by her orders in less than four years,after which she was sole queen, in name as well as in reality.We thus see that the Ptolemy here mentioned may be either ofCleopatra's brothers of that name; but it is more likely that Chaucerrefers to the elder of them. Shakespeare also uses the expression' queen of Ptolemy '; Ant. i . 4. 6.6583. On a tyme; viz. not long after the battle of Philippi, which tookplace in B. C. 42. Antonius, going to make war with the Parthians ,sent to command Cleopatra to appear personally before him when hecame into Cilicia, to answer unto such accusations as were laid againsther, being this: that she had aided Cassius and Brutus in their waragainst him ... Cleopatra on the other side ... guessing by the formeraccess and credit she had with Julius Cæsar and C. Pompey (the sonof Pompeythe Great) only for her beauty, she began to have good hopethat she might more easily win Antonius. For Cæsar and Pompeyknew her when she was but a young thing, and knew not then whatthe world meant; but now she went to Antonius at the age whena woman's beauty is at the prime, and she also of best judgment.'—Sh. Plut. p. 174. Almost immediately after this passage follows thecelebrated description of Cleopatra in her barge upon the Cydnus,familiar to all in the words of Shakespeare; Ant. and Cleop. ii . 2.196.591. Octavius Cæsar reporting all these things unto the Senate, andoftentimes accusing him to the whole people and assembly inRome, he thereby stirred up all the Romans against him.'-Sh. Plut. p.202.592. After the death of his first wife, Fulvia, Antony had marriedOctavia, sister of Octavianus ( better known to us as Augustus) . Butin a few years he deserted her, and surrendered himself wholly to thecharms of Cleopatra. Cf. Ant. and Cleop. iii. 6.597. Cf. Sh. Plut. p. 192; Ant. and Cleop. i . 4. 55.605. Sterve, to die. See Starve, in Trench, Sel. Glossary.624. Octovian, Octavianus. ' Now for Cæsar, he had 250 ships ofwar, 80,000 footmen, and well near as many horsem*n as his enemyAntonius '; Sh. Plut. p. 207.634. See the account of the battle of Actium, B. C. 31; in Sh. Plut. p.210. The vivid description here given by Chaucer resembles theparallel passage in the Kn. Tale, A 2600-20, which should be compared.' The soldiers fought with their pikes, halbards and darts, and threwhalbards and darts with fire. Antonius' ships, on the other side ,bestowed among them, with their crossbows and engines of battery,312 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.great store of shot from their high towers of wood that were set upontheir ships.'-Sh. Plut. p. 211. There is some description of the hostilefleets and of the battle in Florus ( see note to 1. 655) , who tells us that,whilst Octavius had 400 ships against the 200 ships of Antony, thelatter were nearly double the size of the former; so that the fleets werethus of equal strength .637. Bell says this is ' a ludicrous anachronism '; but it is nothingof the kind. The word gonne is here used in the sense of ' shot ' or' missile'; and the line means-' with terrible sound out rushes thehuge missile,' being hurled from one of the ' engines of battery 'mentioned in the last note. It is the missile, not the engine, that ' outgoth '; as a moment's reflection would have informed the commentator,whose remark was needless. The use ofgonne in the sense of ' missile 'is curious, but not unexampled; for, in the Avowynge of Arthur, st. 65,we read that there come fliand a gunne,' i. e. there came flying alonga missile. I believe it is also used in the sense of missile in SirFerumbras, 5176, though the passage is not decisive.Even if this were not the case, there is no anachronism '; for gonnewas originally used in the sense of ' catapult,' as may be seen byconsulting the Prompt. Parvulorum, where the Latin for it is petraria,and mangonale. The grisly soun alludes to the whizzing of the ponderous missile through the air; Barbour says of a great stone, hurledfrom a catapult, that ' It flaw out, quhedirand, with a rout, ' i . e. it flewout, whirring, with a great noise. See The Bruce, xvii. 684.On the other hand, in Ho. Fame, 1643 , Chaucer certainly uses gonnein the sense of ' cannon '; but that does not affect the sense of thepresent passage.638. Hurtlen, push, dash, ram one against the other; cf. Kn. Ta. ,A2616. Somtyme they hurtled to- gyder that they felle grovelyngon the ground '; Morte Arthure; by Sir T. Malory, bk. vii. c. 12.Heterly, vehemently, fiercely, occurs frequently in the Wars of Alexander, ed. Skeat (E. E. T. S.) Compare Vergil's description of thebattle , in Æn. viii. 689, &c.: ' Una omnes ruere.'640. In goth, in there go. Goth is singular in form, because ofits position in the sentence; but it has two nominatives, viz. ' grapnel'and ' shearing-hooks. ' The former was a contrivance for clutching theropes, and the latter for severing them.642. This is wonderfully graphic. A boarder bursts in with a poleaxe; a sailor, on the defence, flees behind the mast, then dashes forward again, and drives the assailant overboard.646. Rent, rendeth; the present tense.648. By pouring hard peas upon the hatches, they became soslippery that the boarders could not stand.649. Some carried pots full of quicklime, which they threw into theeyes of their enemies. See Notes and Queries, 5 S. x. 188. TheEnglish did this very thing, when attacking a French fleet, in the timeof Henry III. Strutt (Manners and Customs, 1774, ii . 11 ) quotes fromNOTES TO CLEOPATRA. 313Matthew Paris to this effect:-'Calcem quoque vivam et in pulveremsubtilem reductam, in altum projicientes, vento illam ferente, Francorum oculos excaecaverunt.' Cf. Æn. viii. 694.652. Put, short for putteth, puts; pres. tense.653. To-go, disperse themselves; pres. tense. The prefix to hasthe same force as the Lat. dis-, i. e. ' in different directions.' We evenfind to-ga used as a past tense in Barbour's Bruce ( viii. 351 , ix. 263,269, xvii. 104, 575) , with the sense ' fled in different directions ,' or' fled away.' Cf. ' the wlcne to-gad,' the clouds part asunder; Morris,Spec. of Eng. pt. 1. p. 7, l. 169. And again, ' thagh the fourme ofbrede to-go,' though the form of bread disappear; Shoreham's Poems,p. 29.That bestgo mighte, each in the way he could best go; each madethe best of his way to a safe place. ' Sauve qui peut.'655. ' Suddenly they saw the threescore ships of Cleopatra busilyabout their yard- masts, and hoising sail to fly '; Sh. Plut. p. 212. Cf.Ant. and Cleop. iii . 10. 10; Vergil, Æn. viii. 707-8. The remarkabout Cleopatra's ' purple sails ' may remind us of Plutarch's description of Cleopatra on the Cydnus, already referred to above (note to 1 .583):-' the poop [ of her barge] was of gold, the sails ofpurple '; Sh.Plut. p. 174; Ant. and Cleop . ii . 2. 198.The truth is, however, that (as Bech points out) Chaucer has borrowed this and a few other incidents from L. Annaeus Florus, whowrote an Epitome Rerum Romanarum in the second century. In relating the battle of Actium, he says: -' Prima dux fugae regina, cumaurea puppe ueloque purpureo, in altum dedit. Mox secutus Antonius:sed instare uestigiis Caesar. Itaque nec praeparata in Oceanum fuga,nec munita praesidiis utraque Ægypti cornua, Paraetonium atquePelusium, profuere: prope manu tenebantur. Prior ferrum occupauitAntonius. Regina ad pedes Caesaris prouoluta tentauit oculos ducis:frustra. Nam pulchritudo intra pudicitiam principis fuit. Nec illade uita, quae offerebatur, sed de parte regni, laborabat. Quod ubidesperauit a principe, seruarique se triumpho uidit, incautiorem nactacustodiam, in Mausoleum se (sepulcra regum sic uocant) recipit: ibimaximos, ut solebat, induta cultus, in differto odoribus solio, iuxtasuum se collocauit Antonium: admotisque ad uenas serpentibus, sicmorte quasi somno, soluta est.'- Florus, Epit. Rerum Romanarum,lib. iv. c. II.662. Chaucer (following Florus) has hastened the catastrophe.Antony stabbed himself at Alexandria, in the following year, B. C. 30.See Sh. Plut. 221; Ant. and Cleop. iv. 14. 102.672. Shryne; for ' solio ' in Florus; cf. l. 675. Plutarch says onlythat Cleopatra ' did sumptuously and royally bury him with her ownhands '; Sh. Plut. p. 224. Afterwards, however, she ' crowned thetomb with garlands and sundry nosegays, and marvellous lovinglyembraced the same '; Sh. Plut. p. 227. But see the account by Florus,in the note to 1. 655.314 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.677. Dede cors, dead body; as in 1. 876. Chaucer uses cors of theliving body, as, e. g. in Sir Thopas, B 2098.678. Chaucer seems to think that Florus meant, ' in sepulcrum[suum ] se recipit . . iuxta Antonium .'679. Shakespeare follows closely the account in Plutarch, exceptthat he makes mention of two asps, whereas Plutarch mentions butone, called by Sir Thos. North ' an aspick '; Sh. Plut. p. 227. However, Florus uses the plural serpentibus. Cf. Gower, C. A., iii . 361.681. Cf. Cleopatra's lament in Sh. Plut. p. 226; Ant. and Cleop. iv.15. 59; v. 2. 283.691. Pronounce unreprovable, as unréprovábl .694. Sene, evident. Note that this is an adjective (A. S. gesýne),and not the past participle; cf. 1. 2655 , and note. See also Il . 340, 741,and my note to the Balade against Women Inconstaunt, l . 13.696. Naked. It looks as if Chaucer took induta (note to l . 655) tomean ' not clothed.' Perhaps he read it as nudata.702. Storial sooth, historical truth. The old editions actually putthe comma after storial instead of after sooth; and modern editorshave followed them. Surely the editors, in some passages, have neverattempted to construe their own texts.II. THE LEGEND OF THISBE.Chaucer follows Ovid, Metamorph. iv. 55-166; and frequently veryclosely. The reader should compare the Latin text throughout. Forexample, Ovid begins thus:-'Pyramus et Thisbe, iuuenum pulcherrimus alter,altera, quas Oriens habuit, praelata puellis,contiguas habuere domos, ubi dicitur altamcoctilibus muris cinxisse Semiramis urbem.'In Golding's translation , fol. 43, back, thus: —'Within the town (of whose huge walles so monstrous high andthicke,The fame is giuen Semiramis for making them of bricke)Dwelt hard together two young folke in houses ioynde so nere,That vnder all one roofe well nie both twaine conuayed were.The name of him was Pyramus, and Thisbe call'd was she;So faire a man in all the East was none aliue as he.Nor nere a woman, mayde, nor wife in beautie like to her.'This at once explains the allusion to Semiramis, the celebrated butmythical queen who was said to have surrounded Babylon with wallsof fabulous strength, having a deep ditch outside them. See Orosius, astranslated by King Alfred, in Sweet's A. S. Reader, fourth ed. pp. 28, 29.Gower tells the same story, and likewise follows Ovid; C. A. i . 324.718. Estward; evidently from Ovid's ' Oriens '; see above.NOTES TO THISBE. 315722. The first foot consists of the single syllable Mai-.725. Naso, i . e. Ovid; really named Publius Ouidius Naso.726. Réport; accented on the e. Y-shove, pushed (into notice);cf. l. 1381.727. Tempore creuit amor '; Met. iv. 60.730. Sed uetuere patres '; id . 61 .735. ' As (to quote the proverb) cover up the glowing coal, and thehotter the fire becomes.' Ovid has ' Quoque magis tegitur, tantomagis aestuat ignis '; 64. Wry is in the imperative mood, singular.Cf. Troilus, ii. 538-9.741. Sene, visible; see note to 1. 694. Dere y-nogh a myte, even ina slight degree; lit. ' (to an extent) dear enough at a mite. ' A singularuse ofthe phrase. Cf. 'dere ynogh a leek '; Can. Yem. Ta. , G 795;'not worth a myte '; id. , G 633.742. Quid non sentit amor?' Met. iv. 68.745. In a tone as low as if uttering a confession.' A curiousmedieval touch. Ovid says, ' murmure . . minimo '; 70.756. ' Inuide, dicebant, paries, quid amantibus obstas? ' 73.763. Holde, beholden. ' Nec sumus ingrati '; 76.773. Chaucer practically transposes the offices of Phoebus and Aurora.' Postera nocturnos Aurora remouerat ignes,solque pruinosas radiis siccauerat herbas '; 82.782. Andfor, and because, &c.783. For stands alone in the first foot. Cf. 1. 797.784. ' Conueniant ad busta Nini, lateantque sub umbra Arboris ';88. Ll. 786, 787 are explanatory, and added by Chaucer. Ninus, thesupposed founder of Nineveh, was the husband of Semiramis. Cf. Shak. Mid. Nt. Dr. v. 1. 139.786. Lounsbury ( Studies in Chaucer, i . 403) says that the pt. t. ofherien is heried-e, with final e. But the form is right; héried-e ishardly pronounceable, and the final e is naturally dropped when theaccent is thrown so far back. The forms of the past tenses ofweak verbs are variable; whether they take a final e or not oftendepends on the form of the stem. See Ten Brink, Chaucer's Sprache,§ 194.797. Y-wimpled, covered with a wimple, or cloth covering the neck and fitting close round the face, chiefly worn by nuns. Anothermedieval touch. Ovid has ' adopertaque uultum '; 94. See noteto l. 813.798-801 . These four lines are mainly original, and quite in Chaucer's own manner. Ovid has merely ' fallitque suos.'6803. Audacem faciebat amor '; 96.804. She gan her dresse, she settled herself, lit. directed herself.Lat. 'sedit.'810. Rist, riseth; pres. tense, as in 1. 887. So arist, Man of Law'sTale, B 265.316 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN,811. With dredful foot; so again in Kn. Ta. , A 1479. ' Timidopede fugit in antrum '; 100. See Dreadfulin Trench, Select Glossary;and cf. ll . 109, 404 above.6813. Dumque fugit, tergo uelamina lapsa reliquit '; 101. ' Forfere, and let her wimple falle.'- Gower, Conf. Amant. i . 326.814-6. These three lines are original. Sit, sitteth. Darketh, liesclose. The child than darked in his den '; Will. of Palerne, 17;'drawe [drew] him into his den, and darked ther stille '; id. 44. Andagain in the same poem, ll. 1834, 2851.823-31 . Considerably expanded from the Latin: -'Serius egressus uestigia uidit in altopuluere certa ferae, totoque expalluit orePyramus '; 105.830. Agroos, shuddered; and again in l . 2314; and in Troil . ii . 930.The infin. agryse is in the Man of Law's Tale, B 614.834. Una duos, inquit, nox perdet amantes '; 108.835. This line is Chaucer's own.842. What, whatsoever; ' quicunque ... leones '; 114.847-9. Accipe nunc, inquit, nostri quoque sanguinis haustus '; 118.851-2.'Cruor emicat altenon aliter quam quum uitiato fistula plumboscinditur, et tenues stridente foramine longeeiaculatur aquas, atque ictibus aera rumpit '; 121 .With much good taste, Chaucer omits the next three lines, just ashe has omitted to tell us that the trysting- tree was ' a faire highMulberie with fruite as white as snow, ' as Golding says. The blood ofPyramus turned this fruit black, and so it remains to this day! Gowerlikewise suppresses the mulberry-tree, but Shakespeare mentions it;see Mid. Nt. Dr. v. 1. 149.853-61 . Admirably expanded out of three lines:-' Ecce metu nondum posito, ne fallat amantem,illa redit; iuuenemque oculis animoque requirit;quantaque uitarit narrare pericula gestit '; 128.859. The first syllable of Bothe forms a foot by itself. So also in11. 863, 901 , 911 , &c.862-8.' Dum dubitat, tremebunda uidet pulsare cruentummembra solum; retroque pedem tulit; oraque buxopallidiora gerens, exhorruit aequoris instar,quod fremit, exigua quum summum stringitur aura '; 133.869-82. Fourteen lines where Ovid has eight. Chaucer has greatlyimproved 1. 882, where Ovid makes Thisbe ask Pyramus to lift up hishead - uultusque attolle iacentes '; 144.NOTES TO DIDO. 317887. This line is original. Bost, noise, outcry; such is the originalsense of the word now spelt boast, which see in the New E. Dict. Cf.' Now ariseth cry and boost'; King Alisaunder, 5290; and see P.Plowman, C. xvii. 89. Whitaker, writing in 1813 , remarks that boost,in the sense of noise, is ' a provincial word still familiar in the Midlandcounties.'894 Persequar extinctum; letique miserrima dicarcaussa comesque tui '; 151 .905-12. Admirably substituted for Thisbe's address to the mulberrytree, requesting it to keep its berries always black thenceforth.913, 14.'Dixit; et aptato pectus mucrone sub imumincubuit ferro, quod adhuc a caede tepebat '; 162.916-23. These lines are original. With 1. 917 cf. Le Rom. de laRose, 14345-' Mes moult est poi de tex amans.'III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO.This Legend purports to be taken from Vergil and Ovid; see 1. 928.There is very little of it from Ovid, viz. only the last 16 lines, whichdepend on Ovid's Heroides, vii. 1–8, and ll. 1312-6, which owe something to the same epistle.The rest is from the Æneid, bks. i- iv, as will be pointed out.Note that Chaucer had already given the story of Dido at somelength in his Hous of Fame, 151-382, which should be compared. He mentions Ovid there also; 1. 379.924. Mantuan, born near Mantua. Publius Vergilius [not Virgilius ]Maro was born on the 15th Oct., B.C. 70, at Andes, now Pietola, asmall village near Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul; and died Sept. 22, B.C.19. It is said that an inscription was placed on his tomb, beginning'Mantua me genuit.'926. Cf. ' chi vi fu lucerna?' Dante, Purg. i . 43.927. Eneas, Æneas, hero of the Æneid.928. The late editions, for some mysterious reason, put a full stopafter Eneid and insert of before Naso. The sense is- I will take thegeneral tenour ( of the story as I find it ) in thine Æneid and in Naso, 'i. e. in Ovid; and I will versify the chief circ*mstances .'Roughly speaking, ll. 930-949 are from the Æneid, bk. ii; ll . 950–957 from bk. iii; ll . 958-1155 from bk. i; and ll . 1156-1351 from bk. iv.931. By the craft of the Greeks, and especially by Sinon.' Sinonallowed himself to be taken prisoner by the Trojans, and persuadedthem to take in a wooden horse through the walls, which he said hadbeen made as an atonement to Minerva for the Palladium carriedaway by the Greeks. In the dead of night Sinon let out the armed318THELEGENDOF GOODWOMEN.men concealed within the horse, and thus Troy was taken by a stratagem .See Æn. ii. 57-267; and cf. Ho. Fame, 152-6.934. The ghost of Hector appeared to Æneas, and advised him toflee; Æn. ii . 268-298.935. The verb agreeing with fyr is appered. And there appearedalso so mad a fire that it could not be controlled.' See Æn. ii . 311.936. Ilioun, the usual M.E. form of Ilium; Æn. i . 68, ii . 241 , 325,625. Ilium is only another name for Troy, but the medieval writersinvented the explanation here adopted by Chaucer, viz. that it was thepalace of Priam, and the castle of Troy in particular. Perhaps theyinterpreted the word domus in too narrow a sense in the passage-'O patria, O Divum domus Ilium '; Æn. ii . 241. This use of theword is invariable in Guido delle Colonne, author of the HistoriaDestructionis Troie, a work which was considered of the highestauthority in the middle ages, though it was shamelessly copied from theFrench Roman de Troie by Benoit de Sainte- Maure. In fact, a longdescription of Priam's palace, called Ilion, is given in the alliterativeTroy-book, 1. 1629, which is translated from Guido; and in Lydgate'sTroy-book, ed. 1555 , fol. F 6, back, and R 5, back. See the notes toBook Duch. 1070, Ho. Fame, 158, 1467, 1469, 1477.939. For the death of Priam, killed by Pyrrhus, see Æn. ii . 531-558.Fordoon, slain. Noght, nothing; this alludes to Vergil's ' sinenomine corpus '; Æn. ii. 558.940. Venus appears to her son Æneas; Æn. ii . 591. Cf. Ho. Fame,162.942. Cf. ' dextrae se paruus Iülus [ Ascanius] Implicuit '; Æn. ii. 724.See note to Ho. Fame, 177.945. Lees, lost; ‘ erepta Creüsa '; Æn. ii . 738; Ho. Fame, 183.947. Felawshippe, company, companions; ' ingentem comitum numerum '; Æn. ii . 796.949. Stounde, hour, time; usually dissyllabic in M.E.953. For these adventures, see Æn. bk. iii; which Chaucer passesover. But see Ho. Fame, 198-221.959. Libye, Libya, on the N. coast of Africa; Æn. i . 158. For theseven ships saved, see the same, i. 170.960, 1. These two lines are in no previous edition, (except my own) ,being preserved only in MSS. C. and P. But they are obviously genuineand necessary; otherwise, the word So (1. 962) is meaningless.962. Al to-shake, all shaken to pieces, sorely distressed . Cf. 1. 820.964. Æneas and Achates sally forth , Æn. i. 312; Ho. Fame, 226.971. Hunteresse, huntress; i . e. Venus so disguised; id. i. 319. ' Asshe had been an hunteresse '; Ho. Fame, 229.973. Cutted, cut short; ' nuda genu '; id. i . 320. The same expression occurs as ' cutted to the kne ' in P. Ploughman's Crede, 296.Compare also 1. 434 of the same poem:-' His wyf walked him with, with a longe gode [goad] ,In a cutted cote, cutted full heyze.'NOTES TO DIDO. 319The editions have knytte, which is an erroneous spelling either of knytor of knytted; neither of which readings can be right.978-82. Translated from Æn. i. 321-4.982. Y-tukked up, with robe tucked up; ' Succinctam.' This settlesthe meaning of tukked in Ch. Prol. 621.983-93. Shortened from Æn. i . 325-340.986. Phoebus' sister '; Vergil has ' Phoebi soror '; 329.994-1001 . Alluding to Æn. i . 341-410.997. Hit nere but, it would only be; nere = ne were.wholly and in particulars.Nothing is commoner than aMSS.; hence Sitheo is for998. Al and som, the whole matter;1005. Sitheo; so in all the copies.confusion between c and in oldSicheo, i.e. Sichaeus. Sichaeus (Æn. i . 343) is Vergil's name forAcerbas, a wealthy Tyrian priest, who married Elissa (Vergil'sDido) sister of Pygmalion. Pygmalion murdered Acerbas, hopingto appropriate his treasure; but Elissa fled from Tyre, taking thetreasure with her, and founded Carthage. Dante has the form Sicheo;Inf. v. 62.1010. Fredom, liberality; the old sense offree being ' liberal.' ofhere means ' for '; in l . 1012 it means ' by.'1016. Maister-temple, chief temple; cf. maistre-strete, chief street(Kn. Ta. , A 2902) , and maistre-tour, chief tower ( Squi. Tale, F 226) .It was the temple of Juno; Æn. i. 446.1022. ' So the book says '; Vergil says that Venus shrouded Æneasand Achates with a cloud ( i . 412, 516) .1024. The first syllable of Hadden forms a foot by itself; cf. l . 1030.Ou'r al forms the last foot.1025. ' Uidet Iliacas ex ordine pugnas '; i. 456.1028. ' Bellaque iam fama totum uulgata per orbem '; i . 457.1032. Kepe, care; usually with a negative; see Kn. Ta. , A 2238,2960.1035. See Æn. i . 496, &c. Vergil likens Dido to Diana. In 1. 1039Chaucer uses god in the heathen sense, meaning Jupiter.1044-6. These lines are original. Fremd, strange; A. S. fremede.In the Squi. Tale, F 429, it means ' foreign. ' ' To frende ne tofremmed, to friend nor to stranger; P. Plowm. B. xv. 137. Misspeltfrenne (riming with glenne) in Spenser, Shep. Kal. April, 28, with thesense of stranger '; unless he means it for foreign.1047-60. Epitomised from Æn. i . 509-612.1048. Wende han loren, he supposed to have lost, he supposed that he had lost.1050. For which, on which account, wherefore.1059. Meynee, attendants, followers, lit. household; O. F. meisnee,mesnee, meinee. Very common in Chaucer. The derived adj . menialis still in use. See 1. 1089.1061-5. From Æn. i. 613, 614. Ll. 1066-1074 are from the same,588-591.320 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.1075. ' Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco '; id. 630.1076. The first syllable of Lyked forms a foot by itself. Goddo bote,may God give (us) help! A parenthetical explanation. All formereditions (except my own) omit the necessary comma after as.1077-85. Chaucer here gives a general outline of the state of thecase, without following Vergil's words.1086-90. This answers to Æn. i. 615-630.1091-1102. From Æn. i . 631-642.1099. His lyve, in his life, during his life.1103-27. This passage is, practically, original. Chaucer here tellsthe story in his own language, and gives it a wholly medieval cast.1104. The M. E. swolow usually means ' a whirlpool ' or ' gulf, ' andsuch is Tyrwhitt's explanation. See the Catholicon Anglicum, p. 373,note I , for examples. Thus, in Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew, p. 97, we find ' Swolwis of the see and helle, that resceyuen al that thei may andzelden not azen.' Very rarely, it is used of an open mouth; thus inAllit. Poems, ed. Morris, iii. 250 , it is said that the whale ' opened hisswol ' to engulf Jonah. Hence, probably, arose the suggestion inBell's note, that the reference is to the open mouth of hell, as represented in medieval drawings. Nevertheless, I believe Tyrwhitt isright; though either sense will serve. It is the mod. E. swallow,used as a sb. Cf. Dante, Inf. xxxiv. 137-9.1106. Parements, ornaments; probably hangings. Cf. ' chambreof parementz ' in Squi. Ta. , F 269, and Tyrwhitt's note, quoted in mynote to the line. In the Kn. Ta. , A 2501 , paramentz means ' rich clothes.' See Æn. i . 637-9.1107. For ornaments, which is preserved in MSS. C. and T. only,the other MSS. and all the old editions have the odd reading pavements, which is strangely out of place. I think it clear that this arosefrom a repetition of the word parements, which was afterwards turnedinto pavements by way of desperate emendation. The letters v and rare often somewhat alike, and have been mistaken for one another, asshewn in my paper on ' ghost-words ' in the Phil. Soc. Transactions,1886.1109. The MSS. ( except T. ) and the black-letter editions have he.Morris's, Bell's, and Corson's editions have she, which gives no sense,and will not suit l. IIII. I do not undertake to notice all the vagariesof the various editions, as the readings of the MSS. are so much moresatisfactory. In the present case, I suppose that she is a mere misprintin Bell, preserved in the editions that follow him. Sete is short forseten, the usual M. E. pp. of sitten, to sit; see Kn. Ta. , A 1452. Itanswers to the A. S. pp. seten, with short e. The e in mete was alsoshort in A. S.; hence the rime is perfect.1110. Cf. Squi. Ta. , F 294-' The spyces and the wyn is come anon. 'This refers to the custom of serving wine mixed with spices to theguests before going to rest; see a long note in Warton, Hist. E. Poetry,NOTES TO DIDO. 321ed. 1840, i. 178 (on the word piment); Weber's note on King Alisaunder, 4178; and Our English Home, p. 85.1114. The first syllable Ther probably constitutes the first foot of theline. I believe Chaucer accents courser on the former syllable; seeKn. Ta. , A 1502, 1704; Squi. Ta. , F 195, 310.1117. Fretted, adorned; not ' fraught,' as in Corson's note.1119. Shynedè; trisyllabic; in MS. C. only; rest, shyned, shyneth,which will not scan. Cf. lakkede, Prol. 756; knokkeden, Compl. Mars,84. Line 2194 has shinèd, and 1. 1428 has shoon. Shynede occurs inboth the Wycliffite versions of Luke ii. 9; and is therefore an old form.We still have shined as a pt. t. in Ezek. xliii . 2 , Acts ix. 3 , xii. 7.1120. ' Nor gentle high- flying falcon for striking herons. ' Chaucerhas gentilfaucon in his Parl. of Foules, 337. Cotgrave, s. v. haultain,has:-' Faulcon haultain, a high- flying hawke.' Heronere means'used for flying at herons '; only the best hawks would serve for this.1122. Y-bete, in the Knight's Ta. , A 979, means ‘ ornamented withbeaten gold,' or with gold flattened out by the hammer ( F. or batu) .It might mean ' ornamented by means of the hammer '; but as ' newflorins ' can hardly be said to be used for decorating cups, it seems bestto take with in the sense of ' as well as '; in which case florins newey-bete means ' florins newly struck . ' The allusion to florins is curious;see note to P. Plowman, B. iii . 45. Cf. Æn. i . 640 -' Ingens argentummensis, caelataque in auro Fortia facta patrum.'1128-35. From Æn. i. 643-656.1135. Take, present, offer, deliver. This sense was once common;see Sec. Non. Ta. , G 223; Can. Yem. Ta. , G 1030, 1034, 1365; P.Plowman, B. i. 56, iv. 58, &c.1136-49. Much abridged from Æn. i . 657-722.1145. ' Let it be as it may; I care little about it.'1150-55. Chaucer here comes to the end of Æn. bk. i , and passesover the second book with the remark in 1. 1153.1155. Entendeden, gave their attention. Corson and Gilman explainit by attend,' as if it were the present tense.1156. Chaucer here passes on to Vergil's fourth book, which heepitomises, and seldom follows quite exactly.1157. Sely, simple, unsuspecting; see l. 1254. See Silly in Trench,Select Glossary.1161. 'Why I have told the story so far, and must tell the rest.'1163. The reading his (for her) in MS. C. can be justified, and maybe right. The A. S. móna was masculine, but the Lat. luna wasfeminine. Hence arose a confusion, so that the M. E. mone was ofeither gender. Hence, in Chaucer's Astrolabe, pt. ii. § 34, l . 12 , wefind-' And nota, that yif the mone shewe himselfby light of day,' &c.;whereas in the same, pt. ii. § 40, l . 54, we find ' the mone, loke thourekne wel hir cours houre by houre; for she,' &c.1166. Brayd, start, sudden movement.we read of Samson, that— *** YIn the Cursor Mundi, 7169,322 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.'Vte of thair handes son he stertAnd gaue a braid sa fers and fast,That all the bandes of him brast.'See Braidin the New E. Dictionary.1170-81 . From Vergil's Æn. iv. 9-29.1174. ' And eke so likely to be a hero.'tically; cf. ' quam forti pectore et armis '; iv. II.Man is here used empha1182, 3. Cf. Æn. iv. 31-53; but Chaucer cuts it short.1187. Love (A. S. lufu) is here monosyllabic; cf. Kn. Ta. , A 1135.' Love desires ( to have) love; for no one will it desist.' Cf. A.S.wandian, to turn aside, blench, fear. And see wol, in l. 1191 .1188-1211 . From Æn. iv. 129-159.1191. An hunting, on hunting, a- hunting. Here an is another formof the prep. on, and hunting is a substantive, like Lat. uenatio. SeeSkeat, Principles of Eng. Etymology, Ser. 1 , p. 260.Wol, desires (to go); cf. wol in l. 1187.1196. Hoven, wait in readiness, hover. Cf. ' where that she hovedand abode '; Gower, C. A. iii . 63; and see P. Plowman, B. prol. 210,xviii. 83. It just expresses the notion of slight movement, whilstremaining nearly in the same place. The old editions read heven,which gives no sense; for it never means ' mount,' as has beensuggested. Cf. Vergil's ' expectant '; iv. 134.1198. Paper-whyt, as white as paper; a curious and rare compound.Printed paper white (as two words! ) in former editions.1200. The 4th sense of Bar in the New E. Dict. is-' An ornamentaltransverse band on a girdle, saddle, &c.; subsequently, an ornamentalboss of any shape.'1201. Sit, sits. Wrye, covered; A. S. wrigen, pp.1204. Startling, moving suddenly; the frequentative form of starting, which Chaucer preferred when repeating this same line in his Kn.Tale, A 1502.1205. A litel wyr, i . e. a small bridle-bit. See 1. 1208.1206. Phebus; Vergil's ' Apollo '; iv. 144. To devyse, to describe(him).1209. Wold, willed, desired; the pp. of willen. This form is veryrare, but we again find hath wold in l. 11 of the Compl. of Venus; andhadde wold in P. Plowman, B. xv. 258. Prof. Corson aptly quotesthree examples from Malory's Morte Arthur, ed. T. Wright, with thereferences ' vol. i . c. 33, vol. iii . c. 119, and vol. iii . c. 123.' The first ofthese answers to bk. ii. c. 8, p. 54 in the ' Globe ' edition , where wefind- Then said Merlin to Balin, Thou hast done thyself great hurt,because thou savedst not this lady that slew herself, that might havesaved her and thou wouldest.' Caxton (ed. 1485 ) also has woldest;but Wright, following the edition of 1634, has had would. For theother passages, see bk. xviii. capp. 15 and 19, where Caxton has ' andhe had wold,' and ' and I had wolde.1212-31 . From Vergil, Æn. iv. 154-170.NOTES TO DIDO. 3231213. Go bet, go more quickly, hasten; a term of encouragement.See Pard. Tale, C 667, and the note. Prik thou, spur thou, push on;a like term. Lat goon, let ( the dogs) go.1230. ' Ille dies primus leti , primusque malorum Causa fuit '; iv. 169.It looks as if Chaucer has translated leti by ' gladnesse,' as if it wereletitiae. (Bech makes a similar remark. )1232-41 . These lines are original. Cf. Ho. Fame, 253-292.1242. Here follows, in Vergil, the celebrated description of Fame,which Chaucer had already introduced into his Hous of Fame, 1368–1392; it is therefore here omitted. He passes on to Æn. iv. 195.1245. Yarbas, i . e. Iarbas, son of Ammon; Æn. iv. 196.1254-84. Original; but see Ho. Fame, 269-292.1262. Pilled, robbed. ' A knight ... sholde deffenden holy chirche,and nat robben it ne pilen it '; Persones Tale, De Avaritia, I 767.1277. Ther-as, whereas. Sterve, to die.1287. Perhaps copied by the author of fragment B. of the Romauntofthe Rose. We there find (1. 4838, Glasgow MS. ) —' The hoote ernes[ernest?] they al foryeten '; there being nothing answering to it in the French text.1288. And he secretly causes his ships to be prepared '; lit. ' causes(men) to prepare his ships.'1289. Shapeth him, intends, purposes. See Prologue, 772.1295. Me patris Anchisae .. Admonet . . imago '; iv. 351.1297. Mercurie, Mercury; ' interpres Divûm '; iv. 356.1305. What womman, what sort of a woman.1310. Seketh halwes, repairs to saints ' shrines; a curious medievaltouch. Vergil only mentions the sacrifice; iv. 453. Cf. Prologue,14, and the note. To go seken halwes '; C. T. (Wyf of BathesProl. ) , D 657."1312, 3. Si pudet uxoris, non nupta, sed hospita dicar,' &c.; Ovid,Her. vii. 167.1316. Cf. Sed neque fers tecum '; Her. vii. 79.1317. Thise lordes; ' Nomadumque tyranni '; Æn. iv. 320. AlsoPygmalion and Iarbas, id. 325, 6.1324. The former syllable of Mercy forms the first foot in the line;cf. 1. 1342. Have pitee on my sorwes smerte! ' Ho. Fame, 316;which see.1331. Lavyne, Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus; Æn. vii . 359.1332. A cloth. This refers to the Trojan garments left behind byÆneas; Iliacas uestes '; iv. 648. The sword is mentioned by Vergiljust two lines above; 646.1338-40. Here the cloth answers to the Lat. exuuiae; and whylhit leste whilst it pleased. These three lines are a close imitation ofVergil, Æn. iv. 651-3: —-' Dulces exuuiae, dum fata Deusque sinebant;Accipite hanc animam, meque his exsoluite curis;Vixi, et quem dederat cursum fortuna, peregi.'Y 2324 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.We hence see that, in l. 1339, the right reading is unbind me ofthisunreste, a close translation from the Latin. Me of are run together;see note to Complaint to Pitè, l . 11.1341. Withouten, without any succour from Æneas.1346. Her norice, her nurse, or rather the nurse of Sichæus, namedBarce; Æn. iv. 632.1351. She roof hir-selve to the herte '; Ho. Fame, 373.1352. Here Chaucer, having done with Vergil, takes up Ovid, whois intended by the words myn autour.1354. A lettre, i. e. the 7th Epistle in Ovid's Heroides. See l. 1367.1355-65. From the first 8 lines in the above Epistle." Sic, ubi fata uocant, udis abiectus in herbis,ad uada Maeandri concinit albus olor.Nec, quia te nostra sperem prece posse moueri,alloquor. Aduerso mouimus ista deo.Sed merita et famam, corpusque animumque pudicumquum male perdiderim, perdere uerba leue est.Certus es ire tamen, miseramque relinquere Dido;atque îdem uenti uela fidemque ferent.'IV. (PART I ) THE LEGEND OF HYPSIPYLE.The chief sources of this fourth Legend are Guido delle Colonne'sHistoria Troiana, Ovid's Metamorphoses, bk. vii, and Heroides , lettersvi. and xii. The story of Hypsipyle is also in Statius ' Thebaid, bk. v,and in 1. 1437 (see note) there is a reference to the Argonauticon ofValerius Flaccus. See further in the Preface; and see the notes toII. 1396, 1467.1368-95. This is a Prologue to the Legend, and is original .1371. Reclaiming, enticement, power to subdue; lit. a calling back.Halliwell has ' To reclaim a hawk, to make her gentle and familiar,to bring her to the wrist by a certain call . It is often used metaphorically, to tame.' Cf. ' since this same wayward girl is so reclaimed'; Romeo, iv. 2. 47.1373. Of, by means of. Farced, stuffed; as in Prol. to C. T., 233.1377. ' Where others betray one, thou betrayest two.'1381. Shove, pushed forward, brought into notice; cf. l. 726.1383. Have at thee! let me attack ( or pursue) thee. Thyn horn isblowe, the horn is blown that summons all to pursue thee; a metaphortaken from the chase.1387. Aboght, bought; pp. of abye, which was corrupted into abide;whence thou shalt dearly abide it.'1388. Box, blow, buffet; now only used of ' a box on the ear.'1389. Et, eateth; pres. tense. So in the Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 135,1. 10, and in Ælfric's Grammar, ed. Zupitza, p. 200.NOTES TO HYPSIPYLE. 3251391. Prof. Lounsbury would read ' the goodë man that ther-forpayede,' and remarks that this gives a false rime, because the preteriteform payede will not rime with the pp. betrayed. He adds-' in orderto follow the reading of the one MS. that makes payed a participialform, the adj. goode, of the definite declension, has to be shorn of itsfinal e in pronunciation.'- Studies in Chaucer, i . 405. I take good-manto be, practically, one word, as in the A. V., Matt. xx. 11 , so that thedef. form of the adj . is not really required. And I prefer the readinghath payed, though it rests on the authority of one ( the best ) MS. only.If, however, we adopt the proposed reading, it makes no difference atall to the rime. For the pt. t. of verbs of F. origin, as payen, serven,is usually payed, served, the full ' ending -ede (with both syllablessounded) being extremely rare in Chaucer; cf. note to l. 1119. Weeven have shined, not shinede, in l. 2194, in a word of E. origin . Hencethere is really no fault to be found , whichever reading be taken; andthe cricitism, which is quite superfluous, comes to nothing.1394, 5. On, inthe case of. Y-sene, evident; as in l . 2655. By, with reference to.1396. The reading Guido (in MSS. C., T., A.) where the other MSS.and the editions have Ouyde, is important; especially as it is correct ,and gives us a new clue. The Historia Troiana of Guido delle Colonnebegins with the story of Jason, and it is evident that Chaucer followshim, at least as far as l. 1461. This can easily be seen by comparingthe present passage with the beginning of Book I. of the alliterativeTroy- book, ed. Panton and Donaldson, otherwise called the GestHistoriale of the Destruction of Troy, which is closely translated fromGuido; or else with Lydgate's Troy- book, bk. i. capp. 1-3 . Goweralso tells the story of Jason ( C. A. ii . 236) , and says that the tale ' is inthe boke of Troie write.'1397. Pelleus; so spelt in the allit. Troy-book, 1. 104; Gower hasPeleus. Medieval names are strangely confused. The right formis not Peleus, but Pelias. He was king of Thessaly, half-brotherofÆson, and guardian of Jason. The reading king gives him histitle in anticipation , but is right. So also, in the allit. Troy- book,1. 103: 'There was a kyng in that coste, ' &c.; and Guido has ' rex 'here.1398. Eson (as in Gower); Æson, the aged father of Jason.1420. Al made he, although he made.1425. Colcos, properly Colchis, now Mingrelia; between the Caucasusand the Eastern shore of the Black Sea. In the allit. Troy- book, it iscalled Colchos, l. 152; and so in Gower. It is not really an island, butChaucer follows the Latin text, which has ' insula '; see note to1. 1590.1430. Kept, guarded; with, by. Compare the Troy- book, l . 164: -'Thus coyntly it kept was, all with clene art,By too oxen, oribull on for to loke,And a derfe dragon, drede to behold.'326THE LEGENDOF GOOD WOMEN.1438. Oëtes (as in Guido); properly Aeëtes, Ovid, Her. xii. 51. Hewas king of Colchis, and father of Medea.1447. Then should I be bound to requite thy toil.'1453. Argus, the builder of the ship Argo, in which Jason undertookthe voyage. The name is given by Guido (see the E. Troy- book,1. 273) , by Valerius Flaccus, in his Argonauticon, lib. i . 314, and in theArgonautics of Apollonius Rhodius.1457. As Bech points out, Chaucer here copies the remark inDares: Demonstrare eos qui cum Iasone profecti sunt non uideturnostrum esse: sed qui uolunt eos cognoscere, Argonautas legant.'—De excidio Troiae historia, ed. Meister, 1873; cap. 1. The referenceis to the Argonauticon of Valerius Flaccus, lib . i. , where the list of theArgonauts may be found. It also occurs in bk. i. of the Argonauticsof Apollonius Rhodius. It is a dreary catalogue; or, as Chaucer says,a sufficiently long tale. There is a shorter list in Statius, Thebaid,bk. v. All the lists make much of Hercules (see l. 1454) .1459. Philotetes (so spelt by Guido, see the Eng. version, p. 12, ll . 6and 10, where the passage from Guido is quoted) was the name of thepilot to the expedition . Valerius Flaccus identifies him with Philoctetes,son of Pœas or Pæas; as he introduces him by the name of Pœantius;Argon. i. 391.1463. Lemnoun, Lemnos; it is very common to quote proper namesin forms resembling the accusative case. This, as Chaucer says, is notin Guido, but in Ovid; see Ovid's Heroid. vi. 50, 117, 136. At thesame time it would be interesting to know what version of GuidoChaucer followed; for it is a very singular fact, that whilst thestory of Hypsipyle is neither in the alliterative Eng. version, nor inLydgate, it does occur, at this point, in a Spanish version, printedat Medina in 1587. There the heading of bk. ii . c. x. is -' ComoIason aporto con tormenta a la Isla de Lemos, y caso con la infantaHisifile.'1467. Isiphilee, Hypsipyle, daughter ofThoas, and queen of Lemnos;she saved her father when the women of Lemnos killed all the othermen in the island, and subsequently entertained Jason. As theletter in Ovid does not give all the circ*mstances, perhaps Chaucerconsulted Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon, lib. ii . , and Statius, Thebais,lib. v. , or, perhaps, the Fables of Hyginus, cap. xv.; but he makesmore of Hercules than do these authorities, and seems to beinventing.1468. Thoas doghter the king, the daughter of king Thoas. This isthe usual idiom; see my note to Squi. Tale, F 209.1469. Cf. Valerius Flaccus, Argon. ii . 311:-' Ecce procul ualidis Lemnon tendentia remisArma notant: rapitur subito regina tumultu,Conciliumque uocat: non illis obuia telaFerre, nec infestos deerat furor improbus ignes,Ni Ueneris saeuas fregisset Mulciber iras.'NOTES TO HYPSIPYLE. 327In Statius, Theb. v. , the Lemnian women receive the Argonauts withhostility at first, and attack them with missiles.1476. Socour; cf. ' succurrere disco '; Verg. Æn. i . 630.1479. This is a curious error; him should be her. As the Lemnianwomen had just killed every man in the island, the messenger must needs have been a woman. In fact, her name was Iphinoë; Val. Flacc.Argon. ii. 327. The account in Apollonius Rhodius is somewhat fuller;but I find no mention of the cogge.1481. Cogge, a co*ck-boat; from the O. Fr. coque, also spelt cogue, akind of vessel, sometimes a ship of war, but also a merchant-vessel,and here a small boat. See coque or cogue in Godefroy's O. Fr. Dict.Cogge occurs in the Morte Arthure, 476, 738; Allit. Poems, ed. Morris,iii. 152; &c. Cogboote, co*kbote, scafa '; Prompt. Parv.1487. Broken, ship-wrecked. The ships were broken,' 1 Kingsxxii. 48; cf. Jonah i . 4. Oght wo begoon, in any way distressed. Note resemblances to the tale of Dido.1488. Lodesmen, pilots; see note to Ch. Prol. 403. ' Lodesman ofa shippe, pilotte '; Palsgrave.1509. Cf. Valerius Flaccus, Arg. ii . 351:—'Praecipueque ducis casus mirata requiritHypsipyle; quae fata trahant, quae regis agat uis .'1514. Los; spelt loos in MS. Tn.; for the o is long. It means' praise ' or ' renown, ' and occurs six times in Ho. Fame ( 1620, 1621 ,1626, 1722, 1817, 1900). Los, with short o, means ' loss.'1515. Read th'aventures, in four syllables.1528. Prof. Corson cites some parallel passages, viz: —' And therto he was hardy, wys, and riche '; Squi. Ta. , F 19.'Hardy, and wyse, and riche, and therto free '; Ship. Ta. , B 1366.'We alle desyren, if hit might be,To have housbondes hardy, wyse, and free,And secree '; Non. Pr. Ta. , B 4103.1529. Three pointes. The reference is not to l. 1528, which mentions four points, but to ll. 1530-3 following. I. e. the three points arefredom, lustihede, and being agreetgentil- man; or otherwise, liberality,youthful vigour, and high birth. Cf. l . 1405.1533. Accent Tessálie on the second syllable.1535. Shamefast (from A. S. sceamu) is here trisyllabic. On the corrupt modern spelling shamefaced see Trench, Eng. Past and Present.1536. He hadde lever, he would have it dearer, he would rather.1538-40. In order to scan 1. 1538, the word almighty is necessary,though found in MS. A. only. Or else we must insert him, and read—' As wolde God that I hadde him i -yive.' The sense is-' As ( I pray)that God would permit that I might have given [him] my blood andflesh, provided that I might still live (to see the result), on the condition that he had anywhere a wife (suitable) to his rank.' So that328 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.means ' provided that '; as in ' so that ye be not wroth,' C. T., D 2248(Sompnoures Tale) , in the Harleian MS.; and in the following: -' Sche saide, sire, ich wille help the,So that thou wille spousi me.'-Seven Sages, ed. Weber, 2663.As to the expression with the nones, we may compare it with suchexpressions as with-than, with- thon-that, with- tho- the, with- that, allmeaning ' provided that, ' and all occurring in the Glossary to Spec. ofEng. , Part I. And since for the nones means ' for the occasion ' (seePrologue to C. T., 379) , so with the nones is ' with the occasion, ' andhence ' provided that.' I cannot at all agree with what seems to methe ludicrous emendation in some late editions, which change nonesinto bones, and delete the comma after live; ' provided that I mightlive with the bones.' At any rate, there is no authority for this. Theold editions and MSS. all alike read nones; and we have the phraseagain (pronounced with th' non-es) , in the Ho. Fame, 2099.1546. To come to hous upon, to become at home with, to becomie familiar with.1551. The former syllable in Yiftes forms a foot by itself.1552. As wolde god, as ( I wish) that God might will or permit; asin l. 1538.1558. Thoriginal, the original. As this ' tells all the case,' i . e. allJason's subtlety, he is probably referring to Ovid, Her. Ep. vi. Flaccussays that Hercules induced Jason to quit Lemnos, and proceed on hisvoyage. Statius mentions Hypsipyle's twin sons, and relates some ofher later history.1564. Chaucer here follows the sixth letter of Ovid's Heroides.Lines 1569-1575 follow four lines of the Latin text, viz. 123-4, and 159–60, which refer to the twins and Medea: —' Si quaeris, cui sunt similes; cognosceris illis .Fallere non norunt; caetera patris habent.Quam fratri germana fuit, miseroque parentifilia; tam natis, tam sit acerba uiro.'PART II. THE LEGEND OF MEDEA.1580. From this line to 1. 1655 Chaucer mainly follows the secondbook of Guido delle Colonne's Historia Troiana, which he epitomises.See Gower, C. A. ii. 236-258.1581. 'Who is a devourer of love, and a very dragon '; with reference to the supposed insatiability of dragons.1582. ' As matter always seeks to have a definite form, and may passfrom one form into another.' Mr. Archer Hind refers me to Aristotle,Metaphysica, A. vii. 1072 b. 3: —kiveî dè ws épwµevov, kivoúpevov dè råddaKIVEL. Bech shews that this is all from Guido, who has: ' ScimusNOTES TO MEDEA. 329enim mulieris animum semper uirum appetere, sicut appetit materiasemper formam . . . Sed sicut ad formam de forma procedere materiamnotum est, sic mulieris concupiscentia dissoluta procedere de uiroad uirum . . . sine fine, cum sit quaedam profunditas sine fundo,'&c. Hence Lydgate, in his Troy- book, bk. i . c . 5 ( fol. C 6, back )has:-'For as nature by kyndly appetyteKyndly seketh to sewen after fourme,' &c.1590. Iaconitos, Iaconites. This is a clear proof that Chaucer follows Guido. At p. 12* of the alliterative Troy- book, ed. Panton andDonaldson, the following passage is quoted from Guido, lib. ii .: ' Ininsula igitur Colcos erat tunc temporis quaedam ciuitas nomine Iaconites, caput regni pro sua magnitudine constituta. ' Further extracts from this Latin text are given by Horstmann, in his editionentitled ' Barbours Legendensammlung, ' vol . ii. ( Heilbronn , 1882) , p.221; where will also be found a parallel passage in a fifteenth- centurypoem which has wrongly been ascribed to Barbour. Hence Lydgate,in his Troy-book, bk. i . c . 5 (fol. C 3 , back) , says of the chief city ofColchos:-'And Iaconites tho it bare the name.'1594. Read Preying; and drop the final e of moste.1597. Compare the allit. Troy-book, ll. 388-391:-' The kyng was full curtais, calt on a maiden,Bede his doughter come downe, and his dere heire,To sit by that semely, and solas to make.This mayden full mylde Medea was callid.'1605. And in his mien as royal as a lion.'1606. Famulere, familiar, affable. See Ch. Prol. 215.1609. And, as Fortune owed her an evil mishap.'1617. Cf. the Troy-book, l . 544: —' That causes me with counsell to caste for your helpe,And put you in plite your purpos to wyn,In sound for to saile home, and your sute all.'1620. Cf. the same, 1l.. 554: —'Now louely and leell, for your lefe specheI thanke you a thowsande tymes in my thro hert,That ye kythe me suche kyndnes withouten cause why;And here I put me full plainly in your pure wille,To do with me, damsell, as your desyre thynke.'1631. Disioint, perilous situation, peril. Cf. Kn. Ta. , A 2962. Butsith I see I stonde in this disioint '; Shipman's Tale, B 1601.1639. Cf. the Troy-book, 942; and 711:-'Yow swiftly shall sweire vppon swete goddes,This couenaunt to kepe and for no case chaunge.'330 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.' And swiftly he sware on that swete¹ god,All tho couenaundes to kepe, and for no cause let,Whill hym lastes the lyffe; he laid on his hond.'1653. Unwist of, unknown to. Cf. Troy-book, 987:—'Then leuyt thai the lond, and no leue toke,Stale from the styth king stylle by night;With the maiden Medea and myche other goodes,Thai turne into Tessaile with-outen tale more.'Here Chaucer ceases to follow Guido, except in ll. 1662-6.1661. Her name was Creusa; cf. Ovid, Met. vii. 391-6; Horace,Epod. v. 64.1662. Cf. the Troy- book, l. 718:-' And thou hedis not the harme of that hend lady,Ne tentes not thy trouth that thou tynt has;Soche a maiden to mar that the most louet,That forsec hir fader and hir fre londe.'1667. Vassalage, prowess; cf. Kn. Ta. , A 3054. It is here usedironically. Trench refers us to Lydgate's Minor Poems, ed. Halliwell,p. 176: -'And Catoun seith, is noon so greet encressOf wordly tresour, as for to live in pees,Which among vertues hath the vasselage.1670. Lettre, letter; i. e. the 12th letter in Ovid's Heroides; see1. 1678. Lines 1672-7 answer to lines 13, 14, and 19 in Ovid: -' Cur mihi plus aequo flaui placuere capilli,et decor, et linguae gratia ficta tuae? ...Quantum perfidiae tecum, scelerate, perîsset!'1672. Why lyked me, why did it please me? But, in l. 1674, lykedis a personal verb.V. THE LEGEND OF LUCRETIA.Chaucer cites Ovid and Livy, and in 1. 1873 again appeals to Livyas the authority. The story is in Livy, bk. i . c. 57-59; and in Ovid,Fasti, ii. 721-852. Chaucer doubtless appeals to Livy as being aprofessed historian, but the reader will find that, as a matter of fact , hefollows mainly the account in Ovid from beginning to end, and sometimes almost word for word. Livy and Ovid were contemporary; theformer was born B. C. 59, and died A. D. 17; the latter was born B. C.1 The MS. has shete, an obvious error for swete, the alliteration being on sw.But the editors print shene.NOTES TO LUCRETIA. 33143, and died A. D. 18. Gower also tells this story, and likewise followsOvid and (near the end) Livy; C. A. iii . 251.1680. Ovid tells the story of Lucretia under the date Feb. 22 (viiiKal. Martii) , which was commemorated as ' Fuga Tarquinii Superbi,'and begins his account in the Fasti, ii . 685. Chaucer here borrowsfrom Ovid's first line , viz .:-' Nunc mihi dicenda est regis fuga.'Ll. 1680-1693 form Chaucer's own Prologue to the story.1682. The ' last king ' of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus, father ofthe Tarquinius Sextus whom Chaucer calls in 1. 1698 ' Tarquinius theyonge.' The word And, at the beginning of the line, though absolutelynecessary to the sense, is preserved only in MS. Addit. 12524, a badcopy from a good type. It reads: -' And specially off the last kingTarquinius '; but no other MS. retains specially, and of course it makes the line too long.1684. ' I do not tell the story for the sake of Tarquin's exile.'1690. ' St. Augustin, commenting on the story in the milder andmore rational spirit of Christian morality, while he admires the purityof Lucrece, blames her folly in committing the crime of self-murder asa punishment on herself for that of which she was really innocent. " Siadultera," he asks, “ cur laudata? Si pudica, cur occisa? " SeeAugust. De Civitate Dei, c. xix .'- Bell.1694. Here Chaucer begins his close copy of Ovid, Fast. ii . 721:—'Cingitur interea Romanis Ardea signis.' The original should becompared throughout. Ardea, capital of the Rutuli; in Latium .1696. Wroghte, pt. t. ' The siege (or the besiegers) lay before thecity long, and accomplished little '; G. L. Kittredge, Harvard Studies,p. 7.1698. Tarquinius iuuenis '; i. e. Tarquinius Sextus.1705. Colatyne. Chaucer found the name in Livy (or Augustine) .Ovid merely has: ' cui dederat clarum Collatia nomen.' Livy has:' ubi et Collatinus cenebat Tarquinius, Egerii filius .' Collatinus wasthe cousin of Sextus, and took his name from Collatia, an ancienttown ofthe Sabines, in the neighbourhood of Rome.1707. From Ovid: ' Non opus est uerbis, credite rebus, ait.'1708. From Livy: ' paucis id quidem horis posse sciri, quantumceteris praestet Lucretia sua.'1711. ' That pleases me.' Ovid: ' Dicta placent '; l. 736.1715. Cf. ' And knew the estres bet than dide this John '; C. T.,A 4295 (Reves Tale); and see Kn. Ta. , A 1971; also, in particular,the Romaunt of the Rose, 1448, where the F. text has l'estre (shewingwhere Ch. found the word); see vol. i . p. 153.We may explain estres by ' inner premises ' of a house or building.Godefroy's O. Fr. Dict. gives numerous examples. Cotgrave givesthe verb estre, to be; whence the sb. estre, a being, substance, state;and then cites: ' les estres d'une maison, the inward conveyances,private windings and turnings within, entries into, issues out of, ahouse.' The word is very common in Old French, and not uncommon332 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.in Middle English. Gower even has the sing. estre in the senseof ' state '; C. A. i. 272. Cf. F. ' il sait tous les êtres de cettemaison.'For all this, the old editions turned the form into efters, and Bellfollows them! Moreover, eftures is gravely quoted in Halliwell'sDictionary, with a reference to Sir T. Malory. The passage is:-' Pleaseth it you to see the eftures of this castle? ' bk. xix. c. 7 (p. 444in the Globe edition) . Here eftures is a mere misprint (in Caxton'soriginal edition) for estres, due to reading the long s (f) as an ƒ.Efters and Eftures are mere ' ghost-words,' the products of igno- rance.1716, 7. ' Tecta petunt; custos in fore nullus erat '; l . 738.1720. Dischevele, with hair hanging loose. Malice, evil.1721. ' Ante torum calathi lanaque mollis erat '; l. 742. Of course' our book ' means Ovid; yet Thynne reads ' saith Liui.'1729. A fine line; but I think Chaucer has wholly misunderstood1. 752 ofthe original.1732-9.' Desinit in lacrimas, intentaque fila remittit,in gremium uultum deposuitque suum .Hoc ipsum decuit: lacrimae decuere pudicae,et facies animo dignaque parque fuit '; l. 755-1740-3. Pone metum, ueni, coniux ait. Illa reuixit.'1745-55. Six lines in Ovid; 11. 761-6.1757. Iam dederat cantus lucis praenuntius ales '; 1. 767.1759-71 . Twelve lines in Ovid; 11. 769-80.1765. Al to-shake, wholly tossed about; see 1. 962.1771. ' Or a wicked inclination, with malice. ' ' The original meaning(as of talento in Italian, talante in Spanish) was will, inclination , fromtalentum (ráðavrov) , balance, scales , and then inclination of balance.'—Trench, Select Glossary, s. v. Talent.1773. ' Audentes Forsque deusque iuuant.' We say, ' Fortune favoursthe bold.' Cf. Audentes fortuna iuuat '; Verg. Æn. x. 284; ' Audentesdeus ipse iuuat '; Ovid, Met. x. 586.1774. 'Whatever the event may be, my resolve is taken.' ' Audebimus ultima, dixit '; 1. 781 .1775. Girt, girdeth; pr. t. So rit, rideth, in l. 1776.1780. Halke, corner, hiding-place; as in Sec. Non. Ta. G 311.1781. Gan he stalke, he moved stealthily; as in Clerk. Ta. E 525.It is remarkable that Shakespeare uses the same word in his Lucrece,1. 365 Into the chamber wickedly he stalks. Prof. Corson noticesits use by Gower; see Pauli's edition, vol . i . pp. 72, 187; ii . 256, 346,347, 353, 360.

-

1798. Parua sub infesto quum iacet agna lupo '; 1. 800.1800-3. Cf. Fast. ii . 801, 2:-'Quid faciat? Pugnet? uincetur femina pugna;Clamet? at in dextra, qui uetet, ensis erat.'NOTES TO ARIADNE. 3331812-26. These lines are original, and breathe the spirit ofchivalry.1827-36. Eight lines in Ovid; 815, 816; 813 , 814; 817-20.1838-46. This passage is original.1847-53. Compare Ovid, 829, 830. But Chaucer here follows Livy,who has ' Dant ordine omnes fidem; consolantur aegram animi,auertendo noxam ab coacta in auctorem delicti; mentem peccare, noncorpus; et unde consilium afuerit, culpam abesse.' Cf. Gower, C. A.iii . 261.1856-60. Two lines in Ovid; 833, 834:-' Tunc quoque, iam moriens, ne non procumbat honeste,respicit. Haec etiam cura cadentis erat.'1861. Chaucer here tells the tale more succinctly. Ll. 1864-5 answerto ll. 849, 850 in Ovid; 1. 1866 answers to 1. 847 and l. 1869 to 1. 852.The rest is, practically, all Chaucer's own.1871. This canonisation of Lucretia is strikingly medieval. It wasevidently suggested by the fact that Ovid gives her story under aparticular date, so that she seemed to have her own day, like a saint.Cf. note to 1. 1680.1880. Probably the syllables That in Is- form the first foot of theline. Otherwise, Israel is dissyllabic .1881. The reference must be to the Syro- phenician woman; Matt.xv. 28; Mark, vii. 29. But it may be feared that Chaucer was reallythinking of the centurion; Matt. viii. 10; Luke, vii. 9. Read he ne ashe n'.1883, 4. As of, in the case of. Alday, always; F. toujours. ' Letwhoever wishes ( it ) test them .'VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE.For a remark upon the title, see note to l. 1966.It is difficult to say whence Chaucer derived all of this Legend. Thebeginning is from Ovid, Metam. vii. 456–8, viii . 6–176; the main partof the story is like Plutarch's Life of Theseus, or some similar source;and the conclusion from Ovid's Heroides, epist. x. Further, Il . 2222-4refer to Met. viii. 176-182. See also Hyginus, Fabulae, capp. xli-xliii;Æneid, vi. 20-30; and cf. Gower, C. A. ii . 302-311.1886. ' O Minos, king of Crete, judge in the infernal regions , nowcomes thy lot, now comest thou into the ring (concourse) .' In l . 1894we again have mention of Minos, king of Crete; which looks as ifChaucer has confused the two kings of this name. The ' infernaljudge ' was, however, the grandfather of the second Minos; at least,such is the usual account. The mention of ' the lot ' in connectionwith Minos looks as if Chaucer was thinking of Vergil's lines, Æn. vi.431, 2:-334 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.' Nec uero hae sine sorte datae, sine iudice sedes.Quaesitor Minos urnam mouet!Cf. also Æn. vi. 22: -' stat ductis sortibus urna.'1889. Memóri-e has four syllables, and is accented on the second.1895. Hadde, had, possessed; referring to Crete. This seemsbetter than the reading wan (i.e. won) , referring to Minos. Cf. Ovid,Her. x. 67: Non ego te, Crete, centum digesta per urbes.'1896. Cf. Ovid, Met. vii. 456-8:-' Bella parat Minos ... . .Androgeique necem iustis ulciscitur armis.'Androgeus is again mentioned in Ovid, Her. x. 99; and in Vergil,Æn. vi. 20.' There came certain of king Minos' ambassadors out of Creta, toask a tribute, being now the third time that it was demanded; whichthe Athenians paid for this cause. Androgeus, the eldest son of kingMinos, was slain by treason within the country of Attica: for whichcause Minos, pursuing the revenge of his death, made very hot andsharp wars upon the Athenians, and did them great hurt.'-Shakespeare's Plutarch, p. 280.1900. From this point to 1. 1921 Chaucer follows Ovid, Met. viii .6-176, but gives a mere outline of the story of Scylla. See note to1. 1908.1902. Alcathoe, the citadel of Megara, and hence a name forMegara. It was named after Alcathous, founder of Megara; indeed,in Ovid, Met. viii. 8, it is called Alcathoi urbs; but Chaucer found theright form in Met. vii. 443.1904. Nisus, Nisus, king of Megara; Met. viii. 8.1908. Nisus' daughter was named Scylla. In order to gain thelove of Minos, she cut off her father's purple hair, on which thesafety of his kingdom depended; whereupon Nisus was changed intoa sparrow-hawk, and Scylla into the bird ciris; Met. viii. 9–151.But Chaucer omits these details. Cf. Parl. of Foules, 292, and thenote.1922. Chaucer here leaves Ovid; this part of the story is partlygiven in Plutarch and Hyginus, but Chaucer seems to have filled indetails from some source unknown to me.1925. 'Whereupon the Athenians sent immediately unto him, andintreated him for peace which he granted them, with condition thatthey should be bound to send him yearly , into Creta, seven young boysand as many young girls. Now thus far all the historiographers dovery well agree, but in the rest not. And they which seem furthestoff from the troth [ including Chaucer] do declare, that when theseyoung boys were delivered in Creta, they caused them to be devouredby the Minotaur within the labyrinth.'- Shakespeare's Plutarch,p. 280.1928. The Minotaur was a monster, half bull and half man, dwellingNOTES TO ARIADNE. 335in a labyrinth at Crete, constructed by Dædalus. He annually devouredthe fourteen Athenian young people, as above said, till slain byTheseus. Cf. Ovid, Met. viii. 155.1932. Every thridde yeer, every third year. This is due to Ovid'sexpression ' tertia sors annis domuit repetita nouenis ' ( Met. viii. 171 ) ,which Golding translates by " The third time at the ninth yeares endthe lot did chance to light On Theseus,' &c. But Hyginus ( Fab. xli)says:-' Instituit autem ut anno unoquoque septenos liberos suosMinotauro ad epulandum mitterent.'1944. Egeus, Ægeus, king of Athens; Met. vii . 402, 404.1954. That thou wouldst be deeply indebted to any one who,' &c .1960. ' Furthermore, after he [ Theseus] was arrived in Creta, heslew there the Minotaur . . . by the means and help of Ariadne: whobeing fallen in fancy with him, did give him a clue of thread, by thehelp wherof she taught him, how he might easily wind out of theturnings and crancks of the labyrinth.'-Shak. Plutarch, p. 283. Cf.Ovid, Met. viii . 172; Hyginus, Fab. xlii .1962. Foreyne, outer chamber; belonging to the chambres grete, orset of larger rooms occupied by the daughters of the king. It seemsto answer to the A.S. búr, mod. E. bower, explained in Murray's Dict.as ' an inner apartment, esp. as distinguished from the " hall," or largepublic room; also, esp. applied to a lady's private apartment; boudoir.'It is merely a peculiar use of our word foreign; the O. Fr. forain(fem. foraine) often meant ' outer,' as in the phrases une foraine rue,an outer (more retired) street; es tenebresforennes, into outer darkness;see Godefroy's F. Dict. I agree with Mätzner, that there is nosufficient reason for explaining the word in this passage by ' privy,'though it admittedly has that meaning also (as given in Levins).1965. Maister-strete, principal street; as in Kn. Ta. , A 2902.1966. Most MSS. begin the line with Of Athenes, as in 1. 2306.This would be a most extraordinary oversight, as the scene is laidin Crete, in the town of Gnossus. MS. T. substitutes In mochellmyrthe'; and the old printed editions have ' Of the towne,' whichscans badly, though ' Of thilke toune ' would do well enough. We seem justified in rejecting the reading Of Athenes, because Chaucerdistinctly mentions Athenes in ll. 1940, 1944, as being the place whence Theseus was sent ' unto the court of Minos '; 1. 1949. Besides this, in1. 2122 Theseus calls Ariadne by the prospective title of ' duch*ess ofAthens '; on which Ariadne playfully remarks that she and her sister are now ' assured to royal positions in Athens '; 1. 2128. From allwhich it does not seem fair to charge the error upon Chaucer himself;and I therefore make the bold alteration suggested by MS. T., andsupported by MS. Addit. 9832, which has ' In moche myrth.' In thetitle of the poem, Ariadne is called ' Adriane de Athenes,' but this is another matter, and has reference to 1. 2122. She became duch*ess ofAthens ' in the right of her husband Theseus.61969. Adrian or Adriane, the M. E. spellings of Ariadne: see Ho.336THELEGENDOF GOODWOMEN.Fame, 407; Prol. to Man of Law, B 67. Ariadne and Phædra werethe daughters of Minos; Theseus took both of them away from Crete;and, on the voyage, deserted Ariadne for her sister.1990. And make this sorrowful man come with him .'1992. Quit, free, delivered. It seems to have been an understoodthing, that if a captive Athenian should succeed in slaying theMinotaur, he should go free, and the tribute paid by the Atheniansshould be remitted. One account in Plutarch says that Minoshimself ' chose Theseus, upon condition agreed between them; ...and that after the death of the Minotaur this tribute should cease.'-Sh. Plut. p. 282. One condition was, that the captives should beunarmed. This explains Phædra's plan , in l. 1994, for arming Theseussurreptitiously; cf. 1. 2011 .661993. Taste, test. The word test was formerly used only as a sb. , ofa vessel in which gold or silver was tested; the place of the mod. E.verb to test was supplied by the M. E. tasten, and there can be littledoubt that the words taste and test have been partially confused; seethese words in my Etym. Dict. , whence I quote the following: ' TheM. E. tasten meant both to feel and to taste. I rede thee, lat thynhand upon it falle, And taste it wel, and stoon thou shalt it finde ";Ch. C. T. 15970 ( G 502) . " Every thyng Himseolf schewith intastyng;" King Alisaunder, 4042.-F. taster, to taste or take an assayof; also to handle, feel, touch; Cotgrave. Cf. mod. F. tâter; Ital.tastare, "to taste, to assaie, to feele, to grope, to trye, to proofe, totouch "; Florio .'1996. The former syllable of Fighten forms a foot by itself.1997. 'Where he will have to descend.'2002. Shal do, will be sure to do.2004. Bell remarks that this resembles the stratagem by whichDaniel destroyed the dragon at Babylon. ' Tulit igitur Daniel picem ,et adipem, et pilos, et coxit pariter: fecitque massas, et dedit in osdraconis, et diruptus est draco '; Dan. xiv. 26 (Vulgate) .2009. To-hepe, together; i.e. ' before they come to closer quarters.'Bell alters this, the reading of all the MSS. and old editions, to to kepe,which gives no sense; and Morris and Corson follow suit. Yet to-hepe,lit. ' to a heap, ' but used adverbially in the precise sense of ' together,'is not a recondite expression. Morris explains it rightly elsewhere,viz. in Chaucer's tr. of Boethius, bk. iv. pr. 6, l. 182, where ' y-medledto-hepe ' means ' mixed together.' It is also in Troil. iii . 1764: -' thatLove halt now to-hepe,' which Love now holds together. And yetagain, in Ch. Astrolabe, pt. i . § 14. 5. See also P. Plowm. Crede, 727.2012. The hous, i. e. the famous labyrinth. Crinkled, full of turns or' cranks '; see note to 1. 1960. Cf. Mid. Du. krunckel- winckel, orkrinckel-winckel, ' crooked here and there '; Hexham ( A.D. 1658);Du. krinkel, a winding, krinkelen or kronkelen, to wind about; allallied to E. crank, a twist, hence a twisted handle. Cf. Ovid, Met.viii. 173; Æn. vi. 27. And see Trevisa, tr. of Higden, i. 9.NOTES TO ARIADNE. 3372020. Read drede, dread; not stede, place. The Rime-indexes shewthat, in the ending -ede in Chaucer, the former e is usually long (-ēde,-eede). However, stěde, in the sense of ' stead ' (A.S. stěde) , rimes oncewith drede, in Ho. Fame, 829.2028. Sit on his knee, kneels down. We also find to setten him onknees, to fallen on knees, to knelen on knees, he lay on kne, &c. SeeMätzner, s. v. cneo, p. 442. On knes she sat adoun '; Lay le Freine,159. Cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 638.2029. The righte; here used as a vocative case.2037. Cf. Arcite's service as a page; Kn. Ta. , A 1427.2040. Nat but, only, merely; the familiar Northern E. nob-but. See 1. 2091.2041. Swinke, toil, labour hard. It is curious that this word shouldbe obsolete. Perhaps no word that is now obsolete was once more common. It occurs in Chaucer, Langland, Gower, Spenser, &c.; butnot in Shakespeare.2044. Nor any one else, shall be able to espy me.'2048. In order to have my life, and to retain your presence.' Thesense is quite clear. The note in Corson-' presence seems to meanhere presentiment or suspicion ' -is due to some mistake.2051. Only MS. C. retains now; and it would be better before isthan after it.2056. Yif, if; answering to than, then, in 1. 2059.2063. ' I pray Mars to do me such a favour.'2064. Shames deeth, a death of shame; see 1. 2072.2065. Povert occurs as a dissyllable, in Cant. Ta. , C 441.2066. Pronounce spirit nearly as spirt.Go, walk about, roam. He prays that he may be punished bybeing made to walk as a ghost after death. A reference to the supposed restlessness of the spirits of wicked men; see Parl. of Foules,80. But good spirits also ' walked ' sometimes; Wint. Tale, iii. 3. 17.2069. For which, for which cause, on which account. Go, maywalk; the subjunctive mood.2070. Other degree, i.e. a higher degree than that of page. He professes not to aspire to this, unless she vouchsafes to give it him."2072. May I die by a death of shame.' The of depends on deye;cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 819.2075. A twenty, about twenty. A is here used as expressly anapproximative result; as in ' an eight days,' Luke ix. 28; so ' a ten,'Squi. Tale, F 383. Only MS. C. retains a, but it is wanted for themetre.2082. God shilde hit, God defend or forbid it.2083. Leve, grant. We also find lene, to grant, give, but it is onlyused with a following case; whilst leve is only used with a followingclause. Meis governed by befalle. And grant that such a case maynever befall me, ' i.e. for Theseus to be merely her page.2086. And leve, and may He also grant.

• • • Z

338 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.2089. ' Yet it would be better '; followed by Then ( =than) in 1 .2092.2094. The latter syllable ofprofit comes at the caesura, and is easilyread quickly. We need not change unto into to, as in MS. A. only.2096. To my, as for my.2099. That, ( I propose) that. Sone, Hippolytus. Yet, in l. 2075,Theseus was only 23 years old! Perhaps she proposes, in banter, apurely whimsical condition; cf. ll. 2102, 2120, 2127.2100. Hoom-coming, arrival at home; cf. Kn. Tale, 26 ( A 884) .2101. Fynal ende, definite settlement.2105. To borwe, as a pledge; cf. Squi. Ta. , F 596.2107. To draw blood on oneself was a frequent mode of attestation.Cf. Wright's note on K. Lear, ii . 1. 34; and note how Faustus stabshis arm in Marlowe's play; Act ii . sc. I.2120. Servant, devoted lover; the usual phrase. This asseverationof Theseus shews that he thought Ariadne immeasurably credulous.2122. Of Athenes duch*esse, (whom I hail as) duch*ess of Athens.That is, he promises her marriage. In 1. 2127 Ariadne grows pleasanton the subject.2128. And assured to the royalties ( or regal attributes) of Athens ';i.e. we are secure of our future royal rank.2130. And saved, and we have saved. Chaucer has be just above;so that he has changed the idiom.2132. Emforth hir might, even-forth with her might, to the extentof her power; cf. Kn. Ta. , 1377 (A 2235) .2134. It seems to me, no one ought to blame us for this; nor give us an evil name on this account.'2145. Geeth, goeth, goes; A. S. gáð. For two more examples, seeged in Gloss. to Spec. of English, Part I.2150. By, by help of, with the help of.2151. Of, with. Gan hit charge, did load it. ' And they say, thathaving killed this Minotaur, he returned back again the same way hewent, bringing with him those other young children of Athens [whomChaucer forgets to mention] , whom with Ariadne also he carried afterwards away.'- Sh. Plutarch, p. 283.2155. Ennopye, Enopia, another name for Ægina; which was ontheir way from Crete to Athens. Chaucer got the name from Ovid,Met. vii. 472, 473, 490; and introduces it naturally enough, becauseEacus, then dwelling there, was an old ally of the Athenians; id. 485;cf. 1. 2156 in our poem. Gilman suggests that Enope ( i. e. Gerenia inMessenia) is meant, which is merely a wild guess.2161. Woon, number. Originally, a hope; also, a resource, a store,a quantity; and hence gret woon =a great number. For examples,see wan in Stratmann; and cf. note to Troil. iv. 1181.2163. Yle, island; usually said to be Naxos, on the suppositionthat it is not much out of the way in sailing from Gnossus in Creteto Attica. Chaucer has inadvertently brought Theseus to ÆginaNOTES TO ARIADNE. 339already; but we need not trouble about the geographical conditions.The description of the island is from Ovid, Her. x. 59: -' Uacatinsula cultu '; &c.2167. Lette, tarried; pt. t . of the weak verb letten; quite distinctfrom leet or let (pt. t. of leten) , which would not rime with set-te. Thislatter part of the story is nearly all from Ovid, Her. x.Compare, e. g. ll . 4-6: —' unde tuam sine me uela tulere ratem;In quo me somnusque meus male prodidit, et tu,pro facinus! somnis insidiate meis.'2176. Tohis contre- ward, i. e . toward his country. Cf. ' To Thebesward '; Kn. Ta. 109 (A 967) .2177. A twenty devil way, in the way of twenty devils; i. e. in allsorts of evil ways or directions; cf. Can. Yem. Ta. , G 782.2178. Hisfader, king Ægeus (1. 1944) . The story is that Theseuswent to Crete in a ship with a black sail , in token of his unhappy fate.He had agreed to exchange this for a white sail, if his expedition wassuccessful; but this he omitted to do. Hence Ægeus, ' seeing theblack sail afar off, being out of all hope ever more to see his sonagain, took such a grief at his heart, that he threw himself headlongfrom the top of a cliff, and killed himself.'—Shak. Plutarch, p. 284.2182. Atake, overtaken with sleep; cf. C. T. 6966 (D 1384).2186. Perque torum moueo brachia; nullus erat '; Her. x. 12.2189, 90.'Alta puellares tardat arena pedes.Interea toto clamanti littore, Theseu! ' id. 20.2192. Suggested by Ovid; II. 81-6.2193. Reddebant nomen concaua saxa tuum '; id. 22. The Latinand English lines are alike beautiful.2194. ' Luna fuit; specto, si quid, nisi littora, cernam '; id. 17.2195-7. These three lines represent eight in Ovid; 25-32.2198. This line answers to the first line in Ovid, Epist. x.2200, 1. His meiny, its (complete) crew. Inne, within; A.S.innan.2202.' Quo fugis, exclamo, scelerate? Reuertere, Theseu;flecte ratem; numerum non habet illa suum '; id. 35 .Candidaque imposui longae uelamina uirgae,scilicet oblitos admonitura mei '; id. 41 .2208-17. Paraphrased from Ovid; Her. x. 51-64.2212. Answere of, answer for; ' redde duos.'2214. Wher shal I become? Where shall I go to the old idiom .We now say, ' what will become of me? ' On this expression, seeBicome in my Gloss. to P. Plowman (Clar. Press Series) .2215. For even if a ship or boat were to come this way, I dare notgo home to my country, for fear (of my father).'Z 2340 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.The reading that bote none here come is nonsense, and expresses theconverse of what is meant. The corresponding line in Ovid is—' Fingedari comitesque mihi, uentosque, ratemque '; 63.2218. What, for what, why? See Cant. Ta. , B 56, &c.2220. Naso, Ouidius Naso. Her epistle, the epistle above quoted,the title of which is ' Ariadne Theseo.'2223, 4. The story is that Bacchus took compassion on Ariadne,and finally placed her crown as a constellation in the heavens; seeOvid, Fasti, iii. 461-516; Met. viii . 178-182. This constellation is theNorthern Crown, or Corona Borealis , which is just in the opposite sideof the sky from Taurus. Ovid says—' qui medius nixique genu est anguemque tenentis,' Met. viii . 182. Here the holder of the snake isOphiuchus; and Nixus genu or Engonasin (év yóvaow ) was a namefor Hercules; see Hyginus, Poet. Ast. lib. ii . c. 6; lib. iii . c. 5;Ausonius, Eclog. iii . 2. The Northern Crown comes to the meridianwith the sign Scorpio, not Taurus. We can only bring the senseright by supposing that in the signe of Taurus means when the sun isin that sign, viz. in April. In the nights of April, in our latitude, theNorthern Crown is very conspicuous.2227. Quyte him his whyle, repay him for his time, i . e. for the wayin which he had spent his time; cf. Man of Law's Ta. , B 584.VII. THE LEGEND OF PHILOMELA.Chaucer's Prologue ends at l . 2243. The tale is from Ovid, Met. vi.424-605, with some omissions, and ends at 1. 2382. Gower has thesame story; C. A. bk. v. ed. Pauli , ii . 313.2228. The words ' Deus dator formarum ' are written after the titlein MS. B.; and part of the first line corresponds to this expression.In MS. F. it appears as ' Deus dator formatorum ',' which can hardlybe right.Corson has the following note: -' In these verses (2228-30) thePlatonic doctrine of forms or ideas is expressed. For whatever knowledge Chaucer may have had of the philosophy of Plato, he was probablyindebted to the Italian poets, with whom, especially Petrarch, Platowas a favourite.' Corson also quotes the following from Sir Wm.Hamilton - Plato agreed with the rest of the ancient philosophers inthis-that all things consist of matter and form; and that matter ofwhich all things were made, existed from eternity, without form; but he likewise believed that there are external forms of all possible thingswhich exist, without matter; and to these eternal and immaterial formshe gave the name of ideas. In the Platonic sense, then, ideas werethe patterns to which the Deity fashioned the phenomenal or ectypal world.' See also Spenser, Hymne in honour of Beautie, st. 5. And cf. 1. 1582 above.¹ Not ' formator, ' as in Bell's note; a contraction for ' um ' is added.NOTES TO PHILOMELA. 341However, Chaucer here follows Boethius, De Consolatione Philosophiae, lib. iii . met. 9:-....'Tu cuncta supernoducis ab exemplo, pulcrum pulcerrimus ipsemundum mente gerens, similique in imagine formans.'See Chaucer's version of the same, 11. 1-12. Cf. Le Rom. de laRose, 16931-8, also copied from Boethius, who follows Plato.2233. Asfor thatfyn, with that particular object.2236. Fro this world, i . e. from the centre of the universe; accordingto the old Ptolemaic system which made the earth the fixed centre ofall things. The firste hevene, the first or outermost sphere, that ofSaturn; see note to Complaint of Mars, 29.2237. Understand al (everything) as the nom. case to corrumpeth;i. e. everything becomes corrupt, is infected.2238. As to me, as for me, in my opinion .2241. Yit last, still lasts, still endures.2243. Read-The story of Térë- ús, &c.; the -y in story being rapidly slurred over.2244. Here begins Ovid, Met. vi. 424: -' Threïcius Tereus.' Tereuswas king of Thrace; and Ovid says he could trace his descent fromGradivus, i . e. Mars ( 1. 427) .Marte, Mars. Corson here notes that ' Marte is the ablative case ofMars, as Jove is of Jupiter.' It is worth while to say that this view isquite erroneous; for these forms did not arise in that way. Martewas formed from Martem, the accusative case, by dropping the final m;and, generally, the Romance languages formed most of their substantives from accusative cases, owing to the frequent use of thatcase, especially in the construction of the accus. with the infinitive,which in medieval Latin was very common. See Sir G. CornewallLewis' Essay on the Romance Languages, and Diez, Grammatik derRomanischen Sprachen, vol. ii . Thus the F. corps represents the Lat.acc. corpus, not the abl. corpore; as is sufficiently obvious.2247. Read-Pán- di- ón- es. Pandion, a king of Athens, was fatherof Progne and Philomela. Cf. The Passionate Pilgrim, xxi . 395.2249. The original Latin should be consulted , as Chaucer sometimescopies Ovid literally, and sometimes goes his own way.'Non pronuba Iuno,non Hymenaeus adest illi, non Gratia lecto.Eumenides tenuere faces de funere raptas:Eumenides strauere torum: tectoque profanusincubuit bubo, thalamique in culmine sedit.'-428.2253. Wond, wound; aboute the balkes wond, kept winding (flyingin circular wise) round about the balks (or transverse beams beneaththe roof). Three good MSS. read wond, which is the past tenseof winden, to wind. Bell and others read wonde, explained byיןNOTES TO PHILOMELA. 343Here raduore is clearly an error for radeuore or radevore, as thescansion shews. Urry's Glossary gives the following explanation:' Ras in French means any stuff [ it means serge or satin], as Ras deChalons, Ras de Gennes; Ras de Vore or Vaur may be a stuff madeat such a place. ' On which Tyrwhitt remarks -' There is a townin Languedoc called La Vaur; but I know not that it was ever famousfor tapestry.' Cotgrave gives: ' Ras, serge '; also ' Ras de Milain, thefinest kind of bare serge, or a silke serge.' Littré cites ras de Châlonsfrom Scarron, Virg. iv.; also ' bas de soye, raz de Millan et d'estame. 'Ras, in fact, is the same as the Tudor-English word rash. The loss ofthe s in ras de Vore is regular, because s drops before d in AngloFrench, though it is preserved in ras when used alone. I find, onconsulting the English Cyclopædia, that La Vaur, in the departmentof Tarn, produces silk and serge to this day; so that Urry is certainlyright. The whole account in II . 2350-72 is expanded from five lines inthe Latin text, 576-580:-' Stamina barbarica suspendit candida tela:purpureasque notas filis intexuit albis '; &c.Observe that, in l . 2360, the stuff is called ' a stamin?2359. By that, by the time that.2360. A stamin large, a large piece of stamine. Stamin or stamineis usually explained as a kind of woollen cloth. Cotgrave gives:'Estamine, the stuffe tamine.' Godefroy gives both estamin, masc. andestamine, fem. explained by tissu léger de laine ou de coton . ' Palsgravehas: —' Stamell, fyne worstede, estamine '; and—' Stamyne, estamine.'The Prompt. Parv. has:- Stamyn, clothe, stamina. Stamin was usedas a material for shirts, and was worn by way of penance; Fosbrookeexplains it as ' a shirt made of woollen and linen, used instead ofa penitentiary hair- shirt.' ' Stamin habbe whoso wule, ' whoso willmay have a stamin; Ancren Riwle, p. 418. Chaucer uses it thusnearthe end of the Persones Tale ( I 1052 ); ' Also in weringe of heyresor of stamin or of haubergeons on hir naked flesh for Cristes sake, andswiche manere penances.'MSS. C. T. A. have stamyn, which seems the better form; the rest(like the printed editions ) have stames, which may be an error forstamel, O. F. estamel, used in the same sense as O. F. estamine. Elseit may answer to O. F. estame, ' laine peignée, tricot de laine ' inGodefroy. The fact that Ovid's word is stamina is in favour of thespelling stamin. (Bell remarks that ' the printed copies read flames,which is nonsense. ' He seems to have misread stames (with long s)asflames. The editions of 1532, 1550, and 1561 certainly have stames.)2373-82. Abridged from Met. vi . 581-605. Ovid mentions thetriennial festival to Bacchus.2379. Compleint is a much better reading than the constreynte ofthe old editions.2383. No charge, of no consequence; Squi. Ta. , F 359.344 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.2383-93. All Chaucer's own. The last line is characteristic:' unless it happens to be the case that he cannot get another,' i. e. anew love. For non other, old editions have another!2385. Here deserved is the usual Chaucerian form of the pt. tense.Prof. Lounsbury ( Studies in Chaucer, i . 403) calls this a false form.But cf. wyped, lipsed (in -ed, not -ede); Prol. to C. T., 133, 264.VIII. THE LEGEND OF PHYLLIS.Gower tells the same story in his Confessio Amantis, bk. iv. (ed.Pauli, ii . 26); and it is likely that he and Chaucer derived it from thesame source, whatever that may have been. A portion of the latterpart, from 1. 2496, is taken from Ovid, Heroides, Ep. ii. And see noteto 1. 2423.2395. An allusion to Matt. vii. 16, and to Legend VI, above.2398. Demophon, usually Demophoön, son of Theseus and Phædra,who, on his return from Troy, gained the love of Phyllis, daughter ofSithon, king of Thrace. Observe that Gower says that Demophoön wason his way towards Troy.2400. Unless it were.'2401. Observe that grac-e is dissyllabic, as in 1. 2433."2403. Now I turn to the effect (the pith) of what I have to say.'2413. Him seems to stand alone in the first foot; for were, in thisphrase, is usually monosyllabic; cf. Mancip. Prol. , H 23.occurs as a dissyllable, in which case the line is normal.-er in lever is dwelt on.2416. ' And his rudder was broken by a wave.'But it alsoOr else the2420. For wood, as ( if) mad, ' like mad.' For is not a prefix, but aseparate word; as shewn by ' for pure wood,' Rom. Rose, 276; andsee Ho. Fame, 1747. Posseth, pusheth, tosseth. Bech observes that11. 2411-21 are from Vergil, Æn. i . 85-90, 102, 142.2422. Chorus; so in Thynne's edition; the MSS. have Thorus(except T., which has Thora). Both Chorus and Thorus are unknownas sea-divinities; but I think I can guess Chaucer's authority, viz.Verg. Æn. v. 823-5:-' Et senior Glauci chorus, Inousque Palaemon,Tritonesque citi, Phorcique exercitus omnis.Laeua tenent Thetis et Melite, Panopeaque uirgo.'Here we find Thetis, chorus, Triton; whilst ' and they alle ' answersto exercitus omnis . (So also Bech. ) Chorus is used for Caurus, thenorth-east wind, in Chaucer's Boethius, bk. iv. met. 5. 17; but this is notthe purpose.2423. Lond, i.e. Thrace. Phyllis , as said above, was the daughterof Sithon, king of Thrace; but both Chaucer and Gower make herfather's name to be ' Ligurgus,' i. e. Lycurgus. This substitution mayNOTES TO PHYLLIS. 345have been suggested by Ovid, Her. ii. 111 ' quae tibi subieci latissimaregna Lycurgi. He is the same as the Lycurgus in Statius, Theb. iv.386; in Ovid, Met. iv. 22, and in Homer, vi. 130; and was king oftheEdoni, a people of Thrace. This accounts also for the introductioninto the Knight's Tale of ' Ligurge himself, the grete king of Thrace ';1. 1271 (A 2129). Prof. Lounsbury (Studies in Chaucer, ii . 232) hasusefully pointed out that the immediate authority for making Lycurgusthe father of Phyllis was Boccaccio's De Genealogia Deorum, lib. xi.c. 25, headed-' De Phyllidi Lycurgi filia.'2425. On to sene, to look upon; cf. the parallel line, Kn. Ta. , 177(A 1035) .2427. Is y-wonne, is arrived. Cf. Æn. i. 173.2434. Chevisaunce, borrowing; properly an agreement for borrowingmoney. See C. T. 13259, 13277, 13321 ( B 1519, 1537, 1581 ); P. Plowman, B. 5. 249, and the note; and the Gloss. to Spenser.2438. Rodopeya, the country near Rhodope, which was a mountainrange of Thrace, now a part of the Hamus range. See 1. 2498.2448. ' As Reynard the fox doth, so (doth) the fox's son. ' The lineis incomplete, but the sense is clear. ' Reynard, which with us is aduplicate for fox, while in the French renard has quite excluded theolder volpils, was originally not the name of a kind, but the propername of the fox- hero, the vulpine Ulysses, in that famous beast - epic ofthe middle ages, Reineke Fuchs; the immense popularity of which wegather from many evidences, from none more clearly than this.Chanticleer is in like manner the name of the co*ck, and Bruin ofthebear in the same poem.'-Trench, Eng. Past and Present. Reynardis from M. H. G. ragin-hart, strong in counsel; from ragin, counsel,and hart, strong.2454. Agroted, surfeited, cloyed. A rare word; used also byLydgate. See the New E. Dict.2456. This is a hint that Chaucer was already getting tired of histask.2477. In a month. So in Ovid; see l . 2503.2485. With a corde, i. e. by hanging. Cf. Ovid, Her. ii. 141: —' Colla quoque, infidis quae se nectenda lacertispraebuerant, laqueis implicuisse libet.'2493. Hir soules, their souls; of Theseus and Demophoön.2495. ' Although it be but a small part of the whole letter.' In fact,Chaucer gives us ll. 1-8 of Ovid's second Epistle (in the Heroides);and, from 1. 2518 onward, sentences made up from II. 26, 27, 43, 44, 49-52, 63-68, 73-78, and 134-137 of the same.2496. Compare these lines with Ovid, Her. ii. 1–8: -

-

' Hospita, Demophoon, tua te Rhodopeïa Phyllisultra promissum tempus abesse queror.Cornua quum Lunae pleno semel orbe coissent,litoribus nostris ancora pacta tua est.346 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Luna quater latuit, toto quater orbe recrevit,nec uehit Actæas Sithonis unda rates.Tempora si numeres, bene quae numeramus amantes,non uenit ante suum nostra querela diem.'Hostess-e is trisyllabic; MS. C. has-' Ostess-e thyn.'2502. Highte, promised. But Chaucer seems to have mistaken thesense of Ovid's fourth line (in the note to 1. 2496) .2508. ' Sithonis unda '; see note to 1. 2496. Here Sithonis is anadj. (gen. Sithonidis), and means ' Sithonian, ' i . e. Thracian; becauseSithon or Sitho, her father, was king of Thrace. I substitute Sitho forthe MS. spellings.2518. See note to l. 2495 for references.2521. For, because: ' quid feci , nisi non sapienter amaui? '2529. May occupies the first foot ofthe line.2534. She prays that the glory of having betrayed her will be thegreatest glory he will ever attain to. ' Di faciant, laudis summa sitista tuae! ' (66).2551. Moteye, may ye. ' Ad tua me fluctus proiectam littora portent ';(135).2556. And knew, i. e. and she knew.2558. Read-' Such sórw' hath shé,' &c. Bell altered the secondshein this line to he, without authority, and unnecessarily. The wordbesette does not mean ' served ' or ' treated,' as those who keep thisreading have to assert, but ' bestowed ' or ' gave up, ' and her means' herself. ' The sense is therefore-' Such sorrow hath she, because sheso disposed of herself.' See Beset in the New E. Dict. § 7. Caxtonhas: Orgarus thought his doughter shol wel be maryed, and welbeset upon hym '; Chron. Eng. cxii.2561. Trusteth, imp. pl. As in love, in the matter of love. Thisplayful line is in the same spirit as 1. 2393 above.IX. THE LEGEND OF HYPERMNESTRA.The story is told in Ovid, Her. xiv. But Chaucer has taken someof the details from Boccaccio, De Genealogia Deorum, lib. ii. c. 22.Cf. Hyginus, Fab. 168. See the Introduction.2563. Danao, Danaus. Danaus and Ægyptus were twin brothers.Ægyptus had 50 sons, and Danaus 50 daughters. Danaus had reasonto fear his nephews, and fled with his daughters to Argos. Thither hewas followed by the sons of Ægyptus, who demanded his daughtersin marriage, and promised faithful alliance. Danaus distributed hisdaughters amongst them, but to each of them gave a dagger, withwhich they were to kill their husbands on the bridal night. They alldid so, except Hypermnestra, who saved her husband Lynceus. ThusNOTES TO HYPERMNESTRA. 347the attempt of Danaus failed, and he was slain by Lynceus, in accordance with the destiny predicted for him.It must be particularly noted that Chaucer makes Ægyptus andDanaus change places. According to him, Ægyptus was the father ofthe daughters, and consequently attempted the life of Lynceus; whilstDanaus was the father of the sons, and therefore of Lynceus.2569. Lino; by which perverted name Lynceus is meant; Boccacciohas 'Lino seu Linceo ' (dat. case).2570. Egiste represents Boccaccio's Ægistus, i . e. Ægyptus.2574. And caused ( men) to call her,' i . e. had her named."2575. Ypermistra, i. e. Hypermestra, a corrupter form of Hypermnestra; see the account in the Introduction. Note that the first syllableY- forms the first foot in the line.2576. Ofher nativitee, by her horoscope; see 1. 2584.2577. Thewes, qualities. Craik has a long note on this word in hisedition of Julius Cæsar. It merely comes to this, that thew musthave meant strength or some excellent bodily quality in the firstinstance, and some excellent mental quality afterwards. Neverthelessit is remarkable that (with one exception in Layamon, 6361 ) the usualold sense is the latter; and the usual modern sense (notably in Jul .Cæs. i. 3. 81 , 2 Hen. IV. iii . 2. 276) is the former. The A.S. form ispéaw. Craik's notion that this word was confused with A.S.éoh, thethigh, is entirely out of the question, and gives no help.2580. Wirdes, Fates; Lat. Parcæ; Gk. Moiræ. Corson shews thatG. Douglas translates the Lat. fata by werdes in Æn. i . 18, and Parcæby werdsisteris in the same, iii . 379. He also quotes from Holinshed'sHist. of Scotland-' the weird sisters, that is, as ye would say, thegoddesses of destinie '; reproduced by Shakespeare in Macb. iv.I. 136.2582. The scansion suggests that Pitous- e, sad-de, are treated likeFrench adjectives, the final e denoting the feminine gender. This isnatural in the case of pitous-e, fem. of pitous, just as we have dispitous-e, Book of the Duch. 624; but the distinction is not oftenmade in M. E. Sweet's A. S. grammar gives til-u as an occasionalfem. form of the nom. of the indef. adjective; so that sæd- u mighthave been used. Wys-e is likewise dissyllabic, though the A. S. formwas wis even in the feminine. But the definite forms of the M. E. adj.were sad-de, wys-e; and there may have been consequent confusion.In fact, Prof. Child gives a list of adjectives of this kind, being monosyllabic in A.S., but dissyllabic in Chaucer. He includes wise, but notsad, his examples being taken from the Canterbury Tales only, andthence only in clear cases. Dispitous- e occurs as a vocative case, in Troil. ii. 435.2584. Here comes in the old belief in astrology. Venus, Jupiter,Mars, and Saturn, as here mentioned, are not the gods, but the planets;and each planet had ( it was thought) its peculiar influence, which wasstronger or weaker according to its position in the heavens at the time348 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.ofbirth of the person whom it affected. The influences of Venus andJupiter were for good (see note to Troil. iii . 1417); whilst the influencesof Mars and Saturn were evil. See further below.2585. With is explained by Corson to mean ' by'; and such a senseis, of course, usual and common. For all that, it may here mean' with.' The sense seems to me to be-' For, though the influence ofthe planet Venus gave her great beauty, she was (also) so compoundedwith a share of Jupiter,' &c. It does not make much difference, andthe reader can choose.2588. Thoughte her, it seemed to her.2589. Rede Mars, red Mars , because the planet is reddish; seenote to 1. 533. Cf. Kn. Ta. , 1111 (A 1969) . As to the bad influence ofMars, compare the following:-' Allas! thou felle Mars! ' Kn. Ta. 701 (A 1559).' Noght was foryeten by the infortune of Marte '; id. 1163 (A 2021).' By manasyng of Mars '; id. 1177 (A 2035) .' that no wykkid planete, as Saturne or Mars ';Treatise on the Astrolabe, ii . 4. 22 (p. 192, above).2592. Venus was supposed to have much influence in repressing theevil influence of Mars, on account oftheir connection in mythology. Seethe Compleint of Mars. Moreover Mars is here said to be suppressedby 'the oppression of houses '; i. e. by the fact that he was in a house 'or ' mansion,' which had such effect. The terms ' house ' and ' mansion'are equivalent, and are names given to the signs of the zodiac. Everysign had a planet assigned to it, and was called the ' house ' of thatplanet. When a planet was in its own house, its influence would befelt. The mansions of Mars were Aries and Scorpio. Besides this,each planet had a sign called its ' exaltation ,' in which it had thegreatest power of all . The ' exaltation ' of Mars was Capricornus.Mars had also his positions of least influence; two of these, called his' fall,' were the signs opposite to his mansions, viz. Libra and Taurus,and the third, called his ' depression,' was the sign opposite hisexaltation, viz . Cancer. We may conclude that, at the period oftaking Hypermnestra's horoscope, Mars was in Cancer, or else inTaurus or in Libra. Both Taurus and Libra were mansions of Venus;and, if Mars was in either of these, his evil influence would be keptunder by her.2594. Probably the whole of Chaucer's astrological talk was intendedto shew why Hypermnestra disliked handling a knife in malice. Hehas made much of the weak influence of Mars, precisely because thosewho were born under his influence were very ready with a knife. Seethe note to the Kn. Ta. , 1163 (A 2021 ) , where the Compost ofPtolemeus is quoted to shew that a man born under Mars is apt to be' a maker of swordes and knyves, and a sheder of mannes blode, . . .and good to be a barboure and a blode-letter, and to draw tethe, andis peryllous of his handes.'NOTES TO HYPERMNESTRA. 3492597. ' She had too evil aspects of Saturn, which caused her to diein prison.' All the MSS. have To ( =too, excessively), except T. , whichhas Ryght bad. Thynne has Two, but there is no authority for this,nor does it give any sense. The evil influence of Saturn is spoken of atlength in the Kn. Tale, 1596-1611 ( A 2454-69) . Note especially 1.1599, where Saturn says: -' Myn is the prison in the derke cote,Myn is the strangling and hanging by the throte.'2600. Here Egiste (see 1. 2570) is turned into Egistes.2602. ' For, at that time, no lineage was spared '; i . e. no consanguinity was considered as being a bar to marriage.2603. Hem is in apposition with Danao and Egistes; ' it pleasedthese two.'2604. Note the shifted accentuation-Ypérmistrá. Chaucer (exceptin 1. 2660) entirely drops all mention of Hypermnestra's 49 sisters, andof Lynceus' 49 brothers. This is extremely judicious, as it concentratesthe interest on the heroine.2610. Chaucer is here thinking of Ovid, Her. xiv. 25: —' Undique collucent praecinctae lampades auro.Dantur in inuitos impia tura focos.Uulgus " Hymen, Hymenaee " uocant.'2624. ' He caused men to call his daughter '; he had his daughtercalled to him.2629. ' Ever since the day when my shirt was first shaped for me.'The sense is ' ever since the day of my birth.' The shirt here refers,as Tyrwhitt remarks, to the linen in which a new-born babe is wrapped.See Kn. Ta. , 708 ( A 1566); and cf. Troil. iii. 733: -' O fatal sustren, which, er any clothMe shapen was, my destenee me sponne.'2630. Supply I before had. Cf. note to l. 2580.2634. After thy wyser, according to the advice of thy superior inwisdom.' Cf. ' Thenne doth we as the wise '; O. English Miscellany,ed. Morris, p. 79, 1. 228. ' And gif yow list nocht wirk eftir the wise ';G. Douglas, tr. of Vergil, Prol. to bk. vi. 1. 15.2637. Read Ne I as N'I. ' Nor would I advise thee to thy harm.'2640. ' And, at the same time, I make protestation in this manner,viz. that, unless thou do as I shall direct thee.'2653. ' I will not have any reservation .'2655. Y-sene, visible; an adj . , not a pp. See l. 1394; and Prol. toCant. Tales, 592.2660. Siker, secure. The use of the word is precisely like that inthe well-known anecdote of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn. MeetingBruce at the door of the Greyfriars' Church in Dumfries, he askedwhat tidings. ' Bad tidings, ' answered Bruce, ' I doubt I have slain350 THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.Comyn. ' ' Doubtest thou? ' said Kirkpatrick; ' I make sicker. Withthese words, he and Lindsay rushed into the church and despatchedthe wounded Comyn. See Note K to Scott's Lord of the Isles, c. I.st. 27, c. 2. st. 13.2661. Biker, quarrel, altercation; also a skirmish, encounter.2662. By him that I have (already) sworn by.' See 1. 2642.2666. Costrel, a flask, a kind of bottle. ' Costred, or costrelle, gretebotelle, Onopherum, aristophorum '; Prompt. Parv.; see Way's note.'A Costrelle, oneferum, &c., vbi a flakett '; Cath. Angl. p. 77; seeHerrtage's note. See costa, costarez, costarium, costrelli, in Ducange;and coste, costeret, costerel, in Godefroy. In the Craven dialect, acostril is the little wooden barrel carried by reapers.2671. ' Lest that the time may seem long to him .' Ovid alludes tothe narcotic drink; Her. xiv. 42: -' quaeque tibi dederam uina, soporiserant.' Cf. Kn. Tale, 614 ( A 1472).2676. The line is too short in most MSS. Unless sone be suppliedfrom MS. T., we shall have to scan the line by putting This (with astrong accent) alone in the first foot. Cf. 1. 2711 , and slur over the o inLino before and.2680. Cf. Her. xiv. 44:-' Erigor, et capio tela tremente manu.'2681. Accent Zephírus on the i. From Her. xiv. 39: —'Utque leui Zephyro graciles uibrantur aristae,frigida populeas ut quatit aura comas.'2682. From Her. xiv. 34: -' Securumque quies alta per Argos erat.'2683. ' Sanguis abit; mentemque calor corpusque reliquit '; Her.xiv. 37. And, in the next line-' frigida facta .'2686. Ter male sublato decidit ense manus '; 46.2690. From Her. xiv. 55, &c.:-' Femina sum et uirgo, natura mitis et annis.Non faciunt molles ad fera tela manus .... . . . .Quid mihi cum ferro? Quo bellica tela puellae? '2696. And me beshende, and bring myself to ruin, and perish. Iknow of only one other example of this rare word, viz. the examplegiven by Murray from Cursor Mundi, l . 14838, where the Trinity MS.has: ' Allas! nu has he zu bischent '; alas! now has he ruined you.But it is a perfectly legitimate compound from the M. E. shenden. Allformer editions give this line wrongly; they omit me, and read ' andbe shende, ' explained by ' and be destroyed.' Now, in the first place,this will not scan; and secondly, the idea of adding a final e to thepp. beshend (more correctly beshent) is a characteristic commentary onthat ignorance of M. E. grammar which is only too common. Yet thefinal e must needs be added, for ende ( in 1. 2697) is essentially dissyllabic. Hence it follows, irresistibly, that shende is not a pastparticiple; and we are driven to see that beshende is the infinitivemood of a compound verb.NOTES TO HYPERMNESTRA. 3512697. Nedes cost, by condition of necessity, i . e. necessarily; seeKn. Ta., 619 (A 1477) , and the note.2700. Supply he before hath; cf. note to l. 2630.2705. Goter, gutter, channel for water. This is an addition . Theoriginal merely has ( ll. 77, 78): —'Quaerenti caussam, " Dum nox sinit, effuge," dixi;"dum nox atra sinit, tu fugis, ipsa moror."'2708. Roggeth, shaketh. ' Roggyn, or mevyn, or scogghyn, rokkyn .Agito'; Prompt. Parv. See P. Plowman, B. xvi. 78; and ruggen inStratmann. Cf. Icel. rugga, to rock a cradle. Prof. Napier tells methat the A. S. roccan, to rock, has been found in a gloss . Bell'sedition has the singular and unauthorised readingjeggeth (sic).2709. The rest of the story seems to be Chaucer's addition . Ovidmerely has (11. 83 , 84): —'Abstrahor a patriis pedibus; raptamque capillis(haec meruit pietas praemia) carcer habet.'2710. Doon him bote, given him assistance.2715. Her cruel father caused her to be seized,' lit. caused ( men) to seize her.2723. 'This tale is told for the following reason.' And here the MSS.break off, in the middle of the sentence.NOTESTO THETREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.THE title ' Tractatus de Conclusionibus Astrolabii ' is suggested bythe wording of the colophon on p. 223. But a better title is , simply,' Tractatus de Astrolabio, ' or ' Treatise on the Astrolabe, ' as the ' Conclusiones ' only occupy the Second Part of the work; see p. 188.Indeed MS. F. has ' Tractatus Astrolabii '; see p. 233. MSS. B. andE. have the singular title—' Bred and mylk for childeren .'PROLOGUE, 1. 1. Lowis was at this time ( 1391 ) ten years old (see1. 18); he was therefore born in 1381 , whence it is possible that hismother was the Cecilia de Chaumpaigne who, on May 1 , 1380, releasedthe poet from all liability de raptu meo. This is, of course, a mereconjecture. Probably Lowis died young, as nothing more is knownconcerning him.5. philosofre; possibly Cicero. ' Haec igitur prima lex amicitiaesanciatur, ut .. amicorum causâ honesta faciamus '; Lælius, cap. xiii.7. suffisaunt, sufficiently good. In the best instruments, theAlmicanteras, or circles of altitude, were drawn at distances of onedegree only; in less- carefully made instruments, they were drawn atdistances of two degrees. The one given to his son by Chaucer wasone of the latter; see Part I, sect. 18, 1. 8.10. a certein, i. e. a certain number; but the word nombre need notbe repeated; cf. a certein holes, Pt. I. sect. 13, l. 2 , and see the veryexpression in the Milleres Tale, l . 7 (A 3193) .21. suffyse, let them suffice.32. Repeated from Ho. Fame, 861-2, q. v.62. 'Nicolaus de Lynna, i. e. of Lynn, in Norfolk, was a notedastrologer in the reign of Edward III. , and was himself a writer of atreatise on the Astrolabe. See Bale -who mentions " Joannes Sombe "as the collaborateur of Nicolaus " Istos ob eruditionem multiplicem ,non vulgaribus in suo Astrolabio celebrat laudibus Galfridus Chaucerpoeta lepidissimus; " BALE (edit. 1548 ) , p. 152 .'-Note by Mr. Brae,p. 21 of his edition ofthe Astrolabe.NOTES TO PART I. SECTIONS 5-8. 353Warton says that ' John Some and Nicholas Lynne ' were bothCarmelite friars, and wrote calendars constructed for the meridian ofOxford. He adds that Nicholas Lynne is said to have made severalvoyages to the most northerly parts of the world, charts of which hepresented to Edward III. These charts are, however, lost. SeeHakluyt's Voyages, i. 121 , ed. 1598; Warton, Hist. E. P. ii . 357;ed. 1871.Tyrwhitt, in his Glossary to Chaucer, s. v. Somer, has the following.'The Kalendar of John Somer is extant in MS. Cotton, Vesp. E. vii.It is calculated for 140 years from 1367 , the year of the birth of RichardII., and is said, in the introduction , to have been published in 1380, atthe instance of Joan, mother to the king. The Kalendar of NicholasLenne, or Lynne, was calculated for 76 years from 1387. Tanner in v.Nicolaus Linensis. The story there quoted from Hakluit of a voyagemade by this Nicholas in 1360 ad insulas septentrionales antehacEuropæis incognitas, and of a book written by him to describe thesecountries a gradu .54. usque ad polum, is a mere fable: as appearsfrom the very authorities which Hakluit has produced in support of it .'It seems probable, therefore, that the ' charts ' which Warton says are' lost ' were never in existence at all. The false spelling ' Some ' nodoubt arose from neglecting the curl of contraction in Somere.PART I. § 5, 1. 5. the remenant, &c. i. e. the rest of this line (drawn,as I said, ) from the foresaid cross to the border. This appearsawkward, and we should have expected ' fro the forseide centre,' asMr. Brae suggests; but there is no authority for making the alteration.As the reading stands, we must put no comma after ' this lyne,' but readright on without a pause.8. principals. It it not unusual to find adjectives of French originretaining s in the plural; only they commonly follow their nouns whenthus spelt. Cf. lettres capitals , i. 16. 8; sterres fixes, i. 21. 4. On theother hand, we find principal cercles, i. 17. 34.§ 7. 4. noumbres of augrim; Arabic numerals. The degrees oftheborder are said to contain 4 minutes oftime, whilst the degrees ofthesigns are divided into minutes and seconds of angular measurement,the degrees in each case being the same. There is no confusion inpractice between these, because the former are used in measuring time,the latter in measuring angles.§ 8. 9. Alkabucius; i . e. ( says Warton, Hist. E. P. ii . 357 , ed. 1871)Abdilazi Alchabitius, whose Introductiorium ad scientiam judicialemastronomia was printed in 1473, and afterwards. Mr. Brae quotes thevery passage to which Chaucer refers, which I here quote from theedition of 1482, as described in my note to l . 119 of The Compleint ofMars ( see vol . i. p. 500); viz. ' Unumquodque istorum signorum diuiditur in 30 partes equales, que gradus vocantur. Et gradus diuiditurin 60 minuta; et minutum in 60 secunda; et secundum in 60 tertia.Similiterque sequuntur quarta, scilicet et quinta, ascendendo usque adinfinita; ' Alchabitii Differentia Prima.A a354 TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.These minute subdivisions were never used; it was a mere affectation of accuracy, the like of which was never attained.§ 10. 5. in Arabiens, amongst the Arabians. But he goes on tospeak only of the Roman names of the months. Yet I may observethatin MS. Ii. 3. 3 , at fol. 97, the Arabian, Syrian, and Egyptian namesofthe months are given as well as the Roman.§ 16. 12. & every minut 60 secoundes; i. e. every minute contains60 seconds. The sentence, in fact, merely comes to this. Every degree of the border contains four minutes (oftime) , and every minute ( oftime) contains sixty seconds (of time) .' This is consistent and intelligible. Mr. Brae proposes to read ' four seconds '; this would meanthat ' every degree of the border contains four minutes (of time) , andevery minute (ofthe border) contains four seconds (of time) .' Bothstatements are true; but, in the latter case, Chaucer should have repeated the words of the bordure.' However this may be, the proposed emendation lacks authority, although the reprint of Speghtchanged ' lx ' into ' fourtie,' which comes near to ' four.' But thereprint of Speght is of no value at all. See Mr. Brae's preface,p. 4, for the defence of his proposed emendation, which is entirelyneedless.§ 17. 6. Ptholome. The St. John's MS. has ptolomeys almagest.' Almagest, a name given by the Arabs to the μeyáλn oúvrağıs, or greatcollection, the celebrated work of Ptolemy, the astronomer of Alexandria[floruit A.D. 140-160] . It was translated into Arabic about the yearA. D. 827, under the patronage of the Caliph Al Mamun, by the JewAlhazen ben Joseph, and the Christian Sergius. The word is theArabic article al prefixed to the Greek megistus, “ greatest," a nameprobably derived from the title of the work itself, or, as we may judgefrom the superlative adjective, partly from the estimation in which itwas held .'- English Cyclopædia; Arts and Sciences, i. 223. The Almagest was in thirteen books. Ptolemy wrote also four books ofjudicial astrology. He was an Egyptian astrologist, and flourishedunder Marcus Antoninus. He is mentioned in the Sompnour's Tale[ D 2289] , and the Wif of Bathes Prologue, ll . 182, 324.'-Warton,Hist. E. P. ii . 356, ed. 1871. The word almagest occurs in the MilleresTale, near the beginning (A 3208) , and twice in the Wif of BathesPrologue ( D 183, 325).6Chaucer says the obliquity of the ecliptic, according to Ptolemy, was23° 50'. The exact value, according to Ptolemy, was 23° 51′ 20″;Almagest, lib. i. c. 13. But Chaucer did not care about the odd degree,and gives it nearly enough. See note to ii . 25. 19 .8. tropos, a turning; Chaucer gives it the sense of agaynward, i. e.in a returning direction.14. The equinoctial was supposed to revolve, because it was the' girdle ' ofthe primum mobile, and turned with it. See note below to1. 28.14, 15. As I have shewed thee in the solid sphere.' This is interesting,NOTES TO PART I. SECTIONS 10-17. 355as shewing that Chaucer had already given his son some lessonson the motions of the heavenly bodies, before writing this treatise.27. angulus. We should rather have expected the word spera orsphera; cf. ' the sper solide ' above, l . 15.28. And observe, that this first moving (primus motus) is so calledfrom the first movable (primum mobile) of the eighth sphere, whichmoving or motion is from East to West,' &c. There is an apparentconfusion in this, because the primum mobile was the ninth spheresee Plate V, fig. 10); but it may be called the movable of the eighth,as giving motion to it. An attempt was made to explain the movements of the heavenly bodies by imagining the earth to be in thecentre, surrounded by a series of concentric spheres, or rather shells ,like the coats of an onion. Of these the seven innermost, all revolvingwith different velocities, each carried with it a planet. Beyond thesewas an eighth sphere, which was at first supposed to be divided intotwo parts, the inner part being the firmamentum, and the outer part theprimum mobile; hence the primum mobile might have been calledthe first moving of the eighth sphere,' as accounting for the moreimportant part of the motion of the said sphere. It is simpler, however,to make these distinct, in which case the eighth sphere is the firmamentum or sphæra stellarum fixarum, which was supposed to have avery slow motion from West to East round the poles of the zodiac toaccount for the precession of the equinoxes, whilst the ninth sphere, orprimum mobile, whirled round from East to West once in 24 hours,carrying all the inner spheres with it, by which means the ancientsaccounted for the diurnal revolution. This ninth sphere had for itspoles the north and south poles of the heavens , and its ' girdle ' (orgreat circle equidistant from the poles) was the equator itself. Hencethe equator is here called the ' girdle of the first moving.' As theplanetary spheres revolved in an opposite direction, thus accounting forthe forward motion of the sun and planets in the ecliptic or near it,the primum mobile was considered to revolve in a backward or unnatural direction, and hence Chaucer's apostrophe to it ( Man of LawesTale, B 295):-That is' O firste moevyng cruel firmament,With thy diurnal sweigh that crowdest ayAnd hurlest all from Est til Occident,That naturelly wolde holde another way.'thou primum mobile, thou cruel firmament, that with thydiurnal revolution (or revolution once in 24 hours round the axis oftheequator) continually forcest along and whirlest all the celestial bodiesfrom East to West, which naturally would wish to follow the course ofthe sun in the zodiac from West to East.' This is well illustrated bya sidenote in the Ellesmere MS. to the passage in question , to thiseffect: Vnde Ptholomeus, libro i . cap. 8. Primi motus celi duosunt, quorum vnus est qui mouet totum semper ab Oriente in OccidentemA a 2356 TREATISEON THE ASTROLABE.vno modo super orbes, &c. Item aliter vero motus est qui mouet orbemstellarum currencium contra motum primum, videlicet, ab Occidentein Orientum super alios duos polos . That is, the two chief motionsare that of the primum mobile, which carries everything round from East to West, and that ofthe fixed stars, which is a slow motion fromWest to East round the axis of the zodiac, to account for precession.This exactly explains the well-known passage in the Frankeleines Tale(C. T., F 1280): —' And by his eighte spere in his werking,He knew ful wel how fer Alnath was shoveFro the heed of thilke fixe Aries aboveThat in the ninthe spere considered is.'Here the eight spheres are the eight inner spheres which revolve roundthe axis of the zodiac in an easterly direction , whilst the ninth sphere,or primum mobile, contained both the theoretical or fixed first pointof Aries from which measurements were made, and also the signs ofthe zodiac as distinct from the constellations. But Alnath, being anactual star, viz, a Arietis 2, was in the eighth sphere; and the distancebetween its position and that of the first point of Aries at any timeafforded a measure of the amount of precession. Mr. Brae rightly remarks that Tyrwhitt's readings in this passage are correct (except thateighte speres should be eightespere) , and those of Mr. Wright and Dr.Morris (from the Harleian MS. ) are incorrect.It may be as well to add that a later refinement was to insert acrystalline sphere, to account for the precession; so that the orderstood thus: seven spheres of planets; the eighth, of fixed stars; theninth, or crystalline; the tenth, or primum mobile; and, beyond these,an empyræan or theological heaven, so to speak, due to no astronomical wants, but used to express the place of residence of celestialbeings . Hence the passage in Milton, P. L. iii . 481: --' They pass the planets seven, and pass the fix'd,And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighsThe trepidation talk'd, and that first mov'd.'i. e. They pass the seven planetary spheres; then the sphere of fixedstars; then the crystalline or transparent one, whose swaying motion¹ This is doubtless quoted from some gloss upon Ptolemy, not from thework itself. The reference is right, for the ' motus celi ' are discussed in theAlmagest, lib. i . c. 8.This star (a Arietis) was on the supposed horn of the Ram, and hence itsname; since El-nâtih signifies the butter,' and ' El- nath ' is ' butting ' or' pushing.' See Ideler, Die Bedeutung der Sternnamen, p. 135 .3 Well expressed by Dante, Parad. xxx. 38- 'Noi semo usciti fuoreDel maggior corpo al ciel ch'è pura luce .'Dante, like Chaucer, makes the eighth sphere that of fixed stars, and the ninththe primum mobile or swiftest heaven (ciel velocissimo); Parad. xxvii. 99.NOTES TO PART I. SECTIONS 18-21. 357or libration measures the amount of the precession and nutationso often talked of; and then, the sphere of the primum mobile itself.But Milton clearly himself believed in the Copernican system; seeParadise Lost, viii. 121-140, where the primum mobile is described in the lines- that swiftNocturnal and diurnal rhomb supposed,Invisible else above all stars, the wheelOf day and night.'§ 18. 8. compowned by 2 & 2. This means that in the test astrolabes, every almicantarath for every degree of latitude was marked;as may be seen in Metius. In others, including the one given byChaucer to his son, they were marked only for every other degree.See Part II. sect. 5 , 1. 2.§ 19. 7. cenith, as here used, has a totally different meaning fromthat of senith, in l. I above. The senith in l. 1 is what we still call thezenith; but the cenith in 1. 7 means the point of the horizon denotingthe sun's place in azimuth. Contrary to what one might expect, thelatteristhe true original meaning, as the word zenith is corrupted fromthe root of the word which we now spell azimuth. The Arabic as-santis a way or path; al- samt, a point of the horizon, and, secondly, an azimuthal circle. The plural of al-samt is assumüt, whence azimuth.But zenith is a corruption of semt, from samt al- rās, the Arabic nameof the vertex of heaven (rās meaning a head); and the qualifying al-rās,the most important part of the phrase, has been improperly dropped.So far from the reading cenith being wrong here, it is most entirelyright, and may be found (better spelt cenit) in the same sense inMessahala. See p. 213, second footnote. For cenith, some late copieshave signet, evidently taken from the Latin word signum. They make the same mistake even in l. 12 of section 18.§ 21. 4. sterresfixes, fixed stars; here the s again appears in a pluraladjective of French derivation; see note above, to § 5. 8. In MSS. Ii.3. 3 and Ii. 1. 13 in the Cambridge University Library, is an interestinglist of the 49 stars most usually placed upon the Astrolabe. The starswhich are represented by the points of the tongues in Fig. 2 are thesame as those in the diagram from which Fig. 2 is copied, the originalof which is in MS. A. I have slightly altered the positions of thepoints of the tongues, to make them somewhat more correct. Thefollowing is the list of the stars there shewn; most of their names arewritten in the MS. Cf. footnote on p. 186.Within the Zodiac. In Aries, Mirach, or ẞ Andromeda, shewn bya short tongue above Aries; in Taurus, Algol, or B Persei, as marked;in Libra, Aliot or Alioth, i . e. Ursa Majoris (the third horse, nextthe cart, in Charles's Wain) , as marked; also Alramech, Arcturus, ora Boötis, shewn by the tongue projecting above Libra; in Scorpio, Alpheta, Alphecca, or a Coronæ Borealis, as marked; in Sagittarius,Raz Alhagus, or a Ophiuchi, near Alpheta; in Capricornus, Altair358 TREATISEON THE ASTROLABE.or a Aquila and Vega or a Lyræ, as marked, whilst near Vega is the unmarked Arided, or a Cygni; and in Pisces, Markab or aPegasi.Without the Zodiac. In Aries, under Oriens, the slight projectionmarks B Ceti or Deneb Kaitos, the Whale's Tail, and the nextcuriously shaped projection (with side-tongues probably referring toother stars ) means Batnkaitos, the Whale's Belly, apparently Ceti;next come the long tongue for Menkar or a Ceti, the Whale's Nose;the star Aldebaran or Bull's Eye, a Tauri; Rigel or ẞ Orionis, Orion'sFoot; Alhabor or Sirius, the Dog- star, marked by a rude drawing ofa dog's head, the star itself being at the tip of his tongue; then Algomeisa, Procyon, or a Canis Minoris, marked by a tongue pointing tothe left, whilst the long broad tongue pointing upwards is Regulus,Kalbalased, or a Leonis; the small tongue above the letter I in theborder is Alphard or Cor Hydræ. Above Occidens, in Libra, the firsttongue is Algorab or 8 Corvi, and the next Spica Virginis or Azimech;close to the 8th degree of Scorpio is a Libræ, and close to thebeginning of Sagittarius is a small head, denoting the Scorpion, at thetip ofthe tongue of which is the bright Kalbalacrab or Antares. Thelast, a projection below the letter X, is Deneb Algebi or the Goat'sTail, i . e. d Capricorni.7. That is, the little point at the end of each tongue of metal istechnically called the ' centre ' of the star, and denotes its exactposition.9. The stars of the North are those to the North of the zodiac, notof the equator.12. Aldeberan, &c.; the stars Aldebaran ( a Tauri) and Algomeisa(a Canis Minoris) are called stars ofthe south, because they are to thesouth of the ecliptic; but as they are meanwhile (see Fig. 2 ) alsoto the north of the equator, they of course rise to the N. of theEastern point of the horizon. The longitude of stars was alwaysmeasured along the ecliptic, which is denoted in Fig. 2 by the outermost circle of the metal ring on which the names of the signs arewritten.In one of the tracts in MS. G (dated A. D. 1486) , p. 30, we find' Aldebaran, in the first gre of geminis (sic) , of the nature of Mars andVenus '; and Algomeisa, canis minor, in the xvij gre of Cancer, ofthenature of Mars and Mercury.'629. Amiddes, &c. Observe that the Ecliptic line in the midst ofthe celestial zodiac, a belt 12 ° broad, is on the outer edge of the zodiacas shewn in the astrolabe, which is only 6° broad and shews only thenorthern half of that belt. The ' way of the sun ' is elsewhere used ofthe sun's apparent diurnal path ( see Part ii . sect. 30); but it hererefers, as is more usual, to the annual path.34. streitnes, narrowness, closeness, smallness of size. In Fig. 2,I have marked every degree in the southern half of the zodiac, but onlyeveryfifth degree in the northern, in order to avoid an appearance ofNOTES TO PART I. SECTION 21. 359crowding in so small a figure. In Chaucer's own Astrolabe, every otherdegree was marked all round.40. Here Chaucer gives at least three reasons for the name of' zodiac.' The true one is the second, ' for that the sterres that benthere fixed ben disposed in signes of bestes, or shape like bestes.' Butthese imaginary shapes are very absurd and arbitrary.50. Not only the influences here assigned to the signs, but othersdue to planets, may be found in ' Porphyrii Philosophi introductio inClaudii Ptolomæi opus de affectibus astrorum,' fol. Basileæ, n. d. p. 198.I here add a few extracts from the MS. in Trinity College, Cambridge(marked R. 15. 18 ) , to shew the nature of the old astrology. I choosethem with especial reference to Aries. The other signs are spoken ofin a similar manner. ' It is principally to be considered that thesignes of hevyn haue theire strenght and propre significacioun vponthe membris of eny man; as, Aries hath respect to the hed, taurus tothe neck, geminis (sic) the Armys, Cancer the brest, leo the hert,virgo the bowels, &c.; as it shall shew in the Chapiters folowyng.Secundarily it is to be noted that plotholomee (sic) saith, that to touchewith instrument of yroun while the mone is in the signe of the samemembre, is for to be dred; let the surgen beware, and the letterof blode, let hym be aferd to touche that membre with yrene, inthe which the mone shal be.'- MS. G; Tract C. p. 12.'Thenne Aries hath respect to the hed; And this signe is hote anddry, fiery & colerik. Saturne hath ij witnes in Ariete, a triplicitate anda terme. Jubiter also hath ij , a triplicitate and a terme. Mars hathiij testimonials or iij fortitudis in Ariete, A hows, A face, and A terme.The sonne hath iij fortitudis in Ariete, scilicet, an exaltacioun, atriplicite, and a face. Venus hath ij testimonials, A terme and a face.Mercury hath one testymony, that is to sey, a terme. And luna inAriete hath no testimoniall. For the which it is to know, that theinfluens of the planetis may be fortyfied v maner of wayes. And thesev maner be called v fortitudis of planetis, or testimonials, which bethese domus, exaltacio, triplicitas, terminus, and facies. Domusgevith to a planet v fortitudis; And a planet in his hows is lyke akynge in his hall, And in the high trone of his glorie. A planet in hisexaltacioun is lyke a kynge when he is crowned. A planet in histriplicite is like a kynge in honour, Amonge his sencible people. Aplanet in his terme is As a mann amonges his kynnesmenn Andfryndis. Facies gyvith to a planet that thyng the which rowme gyvithto a maistre. Wherfore facies gyvith only on fortitude, Terminus ij ,Triplicitas iij, Exaltacio iiij , And domus v. And for the more cleredeclaracioun, the dignytes of planettis in signes be comprehendid inthis figure ensuynge, &c. -Same MS. , Tract C. p. 13.¹ Here follows a table, shewing that, in Aries, the value of Saturn is 5, ofJupiter 5, &c.; with the values of the planets in all the other signs. The value5, of Saturn, is obtained by adding a triplicite (value 3) to a terme (value 2 ),these being the ' witnesses ' of Saturne in Aries; and so on throughout.360 TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.' The dygnytes of planetis in the signes, most speciall they be to benoted in iudicials. When the mone is in Ariete, it is not gode, butvtterly to be exshewed, both for seke And disesid, for to shafe theirehede or to boist in the eris or in the nek; nor loke pou let no blode inthe vayn of the hede. How- be- it , benyficiall it is to begynne eueryworke that pou woldest bryng aboute sone. But that thynge that isstabill ought to be eschewed. In this signe it is necessary to dele withnoble estatis And rich men, And for to go in-to A bayne [bath] '.'—Same MS. , Tract C. p. 14.54, 5. See Prologue, 1. 73. As the zodiak is here called a part oftheeighth sphere, so we have been before told that the equinoctial is thegirdle of the ninth sphere; see note above to sect. 17. 1. 28.57. evene parties, equal parts. That is, the equinoctial bisects the zodiac. But the northern half looks much smaller than the southernon the Astrolabe, owing to the manner in which the zodiac is thererepresented, viz. by projection on the plane of the equator.PART II. § 1. Rubric. hir cours. The gender of the sun wasfeminine in Anglo- Saxon, and that of the moon masculine; but inChaucer's time, the gender was very variable, owing to the influence of Latin and French.§ 3. Between sections 2 and 3 , a section is inserted in the latecopies, which merely repeats section 1 , and is clearly spurious. Itdoes not appear at all in the best MSS.; though it is found in theblack-letter editions. I quote it here from MS. L.'To knowe the degre of thyn sonne in thyn zodiak by thedays in the baksyde off the Astrolabye.' [T]hanne iff pou wylte wete thatt / rekyn & knowe / qwych is theday off the monyth thatt thow arte ynne, & ley thy rewle of thyastrolabye, that is to sey, the allydatha, vpon þe day in the kalendre offthe Astrolabye, & he schall schewe the thy degree of the sonne.'26, 7. After ' assendent,' the following additional paragraph occursin MS. Bodley 619; fol. 21. It is worthy of notice, because theoriginal of it appears in Messahala's treatise, with the title ' De noticiastellarum incognitarum positarum in astrolabio.' The paragraph runs thus:'Nota. þat by pis conclusioun pou may knowe also where ben at þatsame tyme alle opir sterres fixed pat ben sette in thin Astrelabie, andSo on p. 12 of another tract (D) in the same MS. , we find—'Aries calidum & sucum; bonum.Nill capiti noceas, Aries cum luna refulget,De vena minuas & balnea tutius intres,Non tangas Aures, nec barbam radere debes.'Each of the signs is described in similar triplets, from the grammar of whichI conclude that Aries is here put for in Ariete, in the first hexameter.NOTES TO PART II. SECTIONS 1-4. 361in what place of þe firmament; And also her arising in thy orizonte,and how longe pat thei wol ben aboue þe erthe wip þe Arke of þenyght / And loke euermore hov many degrees þou fynde eny sterre atþat tyme sitting vpon þin Almycanteras, and vp-on as many degreessette pou þe reule vpon þe altitude in pe bordere; And by themediacioun of þy eye through þe .2. smale holes shalt thou se þe samesterre by the same altitude aforseid, And so by this conclusioun mayþou redely knowe whiche is oo sterre from a-noper in the firmament /for as many as ben in the Astrelabie. For by þat same altitude shalthou se that same sterre, & non othir / for pere ne wolle non othir altitude accorde perto.'30. Alhabor; i. e. Sirius or the Dog-star, as is evident from the factof its being represented by a dog's head on the Astrolabe; see also thetable of stars marked on the Astrolabe (in MS. Camb. Univ. Lib. Ii . 3.3, fol. 70, back) , which gives the declination 15° S, the latitude 39° S, andplaces the star in Cancer. It is also plainly described in the same table asbeing in ore canis,' so that it is difficult to resist the conclusion oftheidentity of Alhabor and Sirius. Mr. Brae, following later copies thathave different readings of the numbers employed, identifies Alhaborwith Rigel or ẞ Orionis. This is impossible, from the fact that Rigeland Alhabor both occur in the diagrams and tables; see, for instance,Fig. 2. It is true that Rigel was sometimes called Algebar, butAlhabor stands rather for the Arabic Al-' abur. The Arabic name forthe constellation Canis Major was Al-kalb al- akbar, ' greater dog, ' asdistinguished from Al-kalb al- asghar, or ' lesser dog '; and the stara Canis Majoris was called Al- shi̇ra al-' abūr, the former of whichterms represented the Greek σeípios ( Sirius), whilst from the latter(al-'abur) we have our Alhabor. See Ideler, Über den Ursprung unddie Bedeutung der Sternnamen, pp. 237, 256.§ 4. 'The houses [ in astrology ] have different powers. The strongestof all these is the first, which contains the part of the heaven about torise this is called the ascendant; and the point of the ecliptic whichis just rising is called the horoscope.'-English Encyclopædia; art.Astrology.21. In the English Cyclopædia, art. Astrology, a quotation is givenfrom an astrological work, in reply to the question whether the ' querent 'should succeed as a cattle- dealer. It contains some words verysimilar to Chaucer's. If the lord of the sixth be in quartile, or inopposition to the dispositor of the part of Fortune, or the Moon, thequerent cannot thrive by dealing in small cattle. The same if thelord of the sixth be afflicted either by Saturn, Mars, or the Dragon'sTail; or be found either retrograde, combust, cadent, or peregrine.[ See 1. 33.] The Dragon's Tail and Mars shew much loss therein byknaves and thieves, and ill bargains, &c.; and Saturn denotes muchdamage by the rot or murrain.' The evil influence of the Dragon'sTail is treated of in the last chapter of ' Hermetis Philosophi derevolutionibus nativitatum, ' fol. Basileæ; n. d.362 TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.32. May seen the ascendant.' Cf. ' Cum dominator ascendensviderit, res quæ occulta est secundum ascendentis naturam erit; quodsi non videt, illud erit secundum naturam loci in quo ipse est dominator ';Cl. Ptolemæi Centiloquium; sect. 90.33. combust, said of a planet when its light is quenched by beingtoo near the sun. Tyrwhitt, in his Glossary, says that it is used whenthe planet is not more than 8 degrees distant from the sun. Cf.Troilus, iii . 717, and the note.40. Face. See note to Part I. sect. 21.1. 50 ( p. 359) . The late copiesare very incorrect hereabouts.§ 6. 9. Mr. Brae well calls attention here to the absurd errors in theprinted copies. Thynne has ' in the 320 signe, ' and Speght ' in thexxiii signe.' The signs of the zodiac are only twelve, and the oneopposite to the 1st is the 7th.§ 8. I see no reason for supposing this proposition to be an interpolation, as Mr. Brae suggests . Though similar to § 11 , it is notidentical with it. Moreover, it occurs in Messahala.§ 9. 2. the chapitre beforn, i . e. a previous chapter, viz. in sect. 6.The expression supplies no argument for altering the order of the ' conclusions.'4. same manere, i. e. a like manner. The ' vulgar night ' clearlymeans that the quantity of the ' crepuscules ' must be subtracted fromthe arch of the night.'§ 13. 5. cours, course; heyest cours, highest point of the path.Late copies have lyne; for which Mr. Brae suggested degre.§ 14. 6. but 2 degrees. Suppose the sun's midday altitude is 49°,in latitude 52° . Then the co-latitude is 38°, and the sun's declinationII° North. This corresponds nearly (roughly speaking) to the 1stdegrees of Taurus and Virgo. Which is right can ' lightly ' be knownby the time of year, for the sun cannot be in Virgo if the month beApril. Compare sect. 15.§ 17. This conclusion, as pointed out in the footnote, is not correctin theory, but can be made nearly so in practice, by taking the twoaltitudes very near the meridian . This is directly implied in thewords ' passeth any-thing the sowth westward, ' i. e. passes ever so littlewestward of the south line; cf. note below to 38. 10. Consequently,the first observation must also be taken very near the meridian.25. site, situation. Late copies, sight. This proves that the wordsite is Chaucerian, and clears up the reading in Ho. Fame, 1114.§ 18. Instead of reckoning a star's right ascension by referring it tothe equator, it was reckoned by observing the degree of the zodiacwhich southed along with it. This is expressed in the first ' Table offixed stars ' in MS. Camb. Univ. Lib. Ii. 3. 3 (fol. 70, back) by thephrase ' cum gradibus, quibus celum mediant '; the other co- ordinateof position was the star's declination from the equator, as in the modernmethod. The ancients also used the co-ordinates of longitude andlatitude of a star, the longitude being reckoned along the ecliptic , andNOTES TO PART II. SECTIONS 6-26. 363the latitude along great circles through the poles of the ecliptic; asappears from the second Table in the same MS.§ 19. 6. equinoxial. This, as explained in the footnote, should be' ecliptik '; but I can find no MS. authority for the alteration, thoughthe correction is practically made in l. 13.§ 22. 13. place. Late copies and old editions, planet; absurdly.Latitudes of several places are given in old Latin MSS. They arefrequently incorrect.§ 23. 3. The star A is shewn by the numbers to be the Pole-star,and is obviously the one to be observed in order to find the altitude ofthe Pole. What the star F is, is of no consequence. The numbersused in other copies are different, and much less satisfactory. Thatthe star Ais the Pole-star or some star near the pole in this ' conclusion 'is rendered probable also by the wording of the next ' conclusion ';which extends the working of it to the case of any other star, providedit be a star that never sets.§ 25. 19. When Chaucer says that the latitude of Oxford is ' certainminutes less,' he probably means no more than that the latitude ofOxford was 51 degrees and 50 minutes, as in the text. For I suspectthe original reading of the passage made the sun's altitude 38 degreesonly, and the latitude 52 degrees; indeed, the passage stands so inMSS. C and P, both good authorities. But he added the statementthat the latitude of Oxford was less than 52 degrees. It is probablethat, on second thoughts, he put in the number of minutes, and forgotto strike out the clause ' I sey nat this,' &c. , which was no longernecessary. Minutes were seldom reckoned otherwise than by tens; ' afew minutes less than 50 ' ( say 47) is a refinement to which the ancientsseldom attained. Hence the amount of 10 minutes is vaguely spokenof in l. 31 as ' odde Minutes.' Minutes were clearly not much considered. In the present case, we are assisted by Chaucer's expressstatement in sect. 22. 1. 6. The true latitude of Oxford is between51° 45′ and 51° 46'.§ 26. 8-11. It is singular that this sentence, obviously wanted,should appear only in one MS. , and has, accordingly, been omitted inail previous editions. There can be no doubt about the genuineness ofit , as it so exactly gives the right sense, and happily supplies the words' right orisonte ' in l. 11; thus enabling the author to say, as in 1. 21 hedoes say— this forseid righte orisonte.'16. thisfigure. Here occurs, in some of the MSS. , a diagram representing a circle, i . e . a disc of the astrolabe, with straight lines drawnacross it from left to right."17. assensiouns in the righte cercle. This exactly answers to ourmodern right ascension.' We hence obtain the true origin of thephrase. ' Right ascension ' was, originally, the ascension of stars atplaces situate on the equator, and was most conveniently measured along the equatorial circle, by observation of the times of transit of thevarious stars across the meridian. In other latitudes, the ascension of364 TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.every degree of the zodiac could be easily tabulated by observing whatdegree of the equator came to the meridian with the said degree of thezodiac; see 1. 20. It hence appears that, whilst persisting in using'longitudes ' and reckoning along the zodiac, the ancients were obliged,in practice, to refer the degrees of longitude to the equator. Themodern method of recognizing this necessity, and registering rightascensions as of more importance than longitudes, is a great improvement. The ancients were restrained from it by their unnecessaryreverence for the zodiac. Cf. Ptolemy's Almagest, lib. i. c. xiii.§ 29. Chaucer omits to say that the experiment should be madewhen the sun is very nearly on the meridian. Otherwise, the confusion of the azimuth with the hour-angle might cause a considerableerror.§ 30. 3. That the phrase ' wey of the sonne ' really means the sun'sapparent diurnal course in this conclusion, may be further seen by consulting the Latin of Messahala. Cf. the Critical Note on p. 236.§ 31. In my footnote, I have used the expression ' it does not mean,as it should, the zenith point.' I mean-' as, according to our modernideas, it should '; —for the derivation of zenith shews that the meaningused in this proposition is the older meaning of the two. See noteabove to i. 19. 7 ( p. 357).6. 24 parties. These 24 parts were suggested by the 24 hours ofthe day. The '32 parts ' used by ' shipmen ' are due to the continualhalving of angles. Thus, the four cardinal points have points half- waybetween them , making eight points; between which, we can insert eightmore, making sixteen; and between these, sixteen more, making thirty- two. Hence the 32 points of the compass.§ 33. 5. We should probably insert or south after the word north.Such an insertion is authorised by MSS. B. and C.§ 34. 3. That 'upon the mones syde ' means nearly in the sameazimuth as the moon, is apparent from 1. 11 below, where Chaucersays that some treatises make no exception even if the star is notquite in the same azimuth. This was certainly a rough mode of observation.§ 35. 9. right side, East side. See i . 6. 1 (p. 179) .18. episicle, epicycle. To account for the planetary motions, epicycles were invented. The moon, for instance, was supposed torevolve round a moving centre, which centre itself moved round theearth in a perfect circle. This came a little nearer to the true motionin some instances, but was hopelessly wrong, and nothing could bemade of it, even when a second epicycle, revolving about a centrewhich moved in the first epicycle, was superadded. All that Chaucersays here is, that, whilst the centre of the moon's epicycle had a directmotion, the moon's motion in the epicycle itself was a reverse one,unlike that of the other planetary bodies. The subject is hardly worthfurther discussion, so I merely refer the reader to the Almagest, lib. iv.c. 5; and lib. ix. c. 5.NOTES TO PART II. SECTIONS 29-39. 365§ 36. The ' equations of houses ' means the dividing of the sphereinto equal portions, and the right numbering ofthose portions or houses.The most important house was the first, or ascendent, just rising; thenext in importance was the tenth, which was just coming on themeridian; then come the seventh or descendent, just about to set,and the fourth, just coming to the line of midnight. The next inimportance were the succedents, or houses immediately following these,viz. the second, the eleventh, the eighth, and the fifth . The least important were the third, twelfth, ninth, and sixth. See Fig. 14.§ 37. 18. thise 3 howsez. That is , the nadirs of the 2nd, 3rd, and4th houses give the houses that ' follow,' i . e. the 8th, 9th, and 10th.The word ' follow ' here seems to refer, not to position , but to the orderin which the houses may most conveniently be found. Chaucer omitsto add that the beginnings of the 5th and 6th houses can be found ina similar way, because it is sufficiently evident. It is all fromMessahala.§ 38. 1. for warping, the brodere the bettre. This may mean, either( 1 ) to prevent warping, the thicker the better; or ( 2 ) to prevent theerrors arising from warping (for fear of warping) , the larger the better.I believe the latter to be the true interpretation; for it is better thusto guard against possible errors than to make the plate very thickand, at the same time, small. Besides which, the usual meaningof brodere is wider, larger, more ample. Indeed, we find the veryexpression ' non sit tamen nimis parvus ' in the 4th section of thePractica Chilindri of John Hoveden, published by the Chaucer Society;which see.8. fro the centre, i. e. sticking up above the centre, the length of thewire being equal to a fourth of the diameter, or half the radius, of thecircle. This proportion would do for many days in the year; but inthe summer time, the pin would bear to be rather longer. Still, weneed not alter the text. Cf. the Critical Note on p. 237.10. any-thing, i. e. ever so little; so ony- thyng in l. 13; cf. § 17. 6.§ 39. Though MS. A is rather corrupt here, there is little doubtabout the corrections to be made. See the Critical Notes, p. 237.19. That is , the latitude, or breadth, of a climate, or belt, is measuredalong a line which goes from North to South as far as the earthextends; so that the latitude of the first climate, for example, ismeasured from the beginning of it to the end of the same, in a duenortherly direction. Other authors, he explains, reckoned the latitudeofa climate always from the equinoxial line , instead offrom the parallelof latitude which terminated the climate immediately to the south of it.Thus the latitude of the fourth climate might mean, either the breadthofthat belt itself, or the whole breadth from the equator to the Northernlimit of that climate. The MS. E. 2 in St. John's College, Cambridge,contains (besides Chaucer's ' Astrolabe ') a Latin treatise entitled ' Deseptem climatibus expositio.' We find mention of the ' climates ' alsoin MS. Camb. Ii . 3. 3 , fol. 33 b, where a diagram appears representing366 TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE.a hemisphere, divided by parallels of latitude into 9 climates or belts,which, beginning from the equator, are as follows. 1. Inhabitabilepropter Calorem. 2. Primum clima dia Meroes. 3. Secundum climadya cienes. 4. Tertium clima di' alexandrios . 5. Quartum clima diarodos. 6. Quintum clima dia romes. 7. Sextum clima dia boristenes.8. Septimum clima dia rifeos. 9. Inhabitabile. This agrees with thelist in the footnote on p. 221 .There is a passage in Mandeville which well illustrates Chaucer;I quote the part of it which more immediately relates to the Climates.' For the Superficialtee of the Erthe is departed in 7 parties , for the7 Planetes; and the parties ben clept Clymates. And oure parties benot of the 7 Clymates: for they ben descendynge toward the West.And also these yles of Ynde, which beth evene azenst us, beth noghtreckned in the Climates for thei ben azenst us, that ben in the loweContree. And the 7 Clymates strecchen hem, envyrounynge theWorld,' &c. Mandeville's Voiage, ed. Halliwell, p. 186. See alsoPtolemy's Almagest, lib. ii .As regards the longitudes of towns, it may be observed that in MS.F. 25 in St. John's College, Cambridge, the longitudes of Rome,Cordova, London, Paris, and Malta, are said to be 34° 24′ , 9° 30′, 19°,20°, and 38° respectively. These do not well agree together, but theysuggest a reckoning from a meridian situated some 20° W. from thatof Greenwich. Chaucer says nothing as to what meridian was usedfor reckoning longitudes from; and Messahala says, vaguely enough,that longitudes were reckoned ' a meridiano circulo ultime regionishabitabilis in occidente, ' i. e. from the most westward habitableplace, which possibly once meant Madeira.§ 40. It is possible that this conclusion was really intended tobelong to the Fourth Part of the treatise, and was written by way ofinstalment. See the Prologue, ll. 67-72. It is curious that in all thebest MSS. ( P. excepted) the last sentence should be incomplete.13. This sentence is very awkward. It seems to mean- and thenset I the point of F upward in the same sign, because that the latitudewas north, upon the latitude of Venus; that is to say, ( I set it upward)keeping it in the 6th degree of Capricorn.' Upward means inward, i. e.towards the centre or towards the north; the opposite being expressedby southward, or outward, or toward the border, as in 1. 48 below.Upon the latitude of Venus means that the point F of the compasswas set above the second degree of latitude, so that the space betweenthe legs of the compass became equal to 2 degrees, as said in l. 16.Lastly, the words that is to seyn, in the 6 degree, &c. , are an explanationof the vaguer expression in the same signe. The repetition of the wordsthat is to seyn, &c. (ll . 12 and 14) , is intended to draw attention to thenecessity of keeping both legs of the compass in the same degree oflongitude (A on the zodiac, and F to the north of it).57. Possibly Chaucer left the sentence incomplete. The words'thou shalt do well enough ' may easily have been added by anotherNOTES TO PART II. SECTIONS 40-44. 367hand to bring the sentence to an apparent, though not wholly satisfactory, conclusion. The colophon is written (in a later hand) in MS. A.at the bottom of the page, a part of which, after the words ' howre afterhowre, ' is left blank.41-43. I have mended the text as well as I could by inserting words,and adopting different readings. Nearly all the emendations rest onauthority; see the Critical Notes. The text is not a good one, butI do not see why these sections may not have been written by Chaucer.For a definition of the terms ' Umbra Extensa ' and ' Umbra Versa'see sections 5 and 6 of the Practica Chilindri of John Hoveden, published by the Chaucer Society. The umbra extensa or recta is theshadow cast on a plain by any perfectly upright object; but the restriction is commonly introduced, that the altitude of the sun shallexceed 45°. The umbra versa is the shadow cast perpendicularlydownwards along a wall by a style which projects from the wall at rightangles to it; the restriction is commonly introduced, that the sun'saltitude shall be less than 45°. The umbra versa is the one which appeared on the ' chylindre '; hence John de Hoveden explains how tocalculate the altitude of an object by it.44. This article and the next may possibly be Chaucer's. It iswell known that he speaks of ' collect ' and ' expans yeres ' and ' rotes 'in the Frankeleines Tale; Cant. Ta., F 1275 , 6, the note upon whichin the glossary to Urry's Chaucer may be found also in Tyrwhitt'sGlossary, s. v. Expans; but it is worth while to repeat it here. ' Inthis and the following verses, the Poet describes the Alphonsine Astronomical Tables by the several parts of them, wherein some technicalterms occur, which were used by the old astronomers, and continued bythe compilers of those tables. Collect years are certain sums of years,with the motions of the heavenly bodies corresponding to them, as of20, 40, 60, &c. , disposed into tables; and Expans years are the singleyears, with the motions of the heavenly bodies answering to them, beginning at 1 , and continued on to the smallest Collect sum, as 20. ARoot, or Radix, is any certain time taken at pleasure, from which, as anera, the celestial motions are to be computed. By proporcionels convenientes ' [C. T., F 1278 ] are meant the Tables of Proportional parts. 'To which Moxon adds, from Chamber's Encyclopædia, with referenceto C. T., F 1277, that ' Argument in astronomy is an arc whereby weseek another unknown arc proportional to [or rather, dependent upon]the first.'Tables of mean motions of the Sun are given in Ptolemy's Almagest,lib. iii. c. 2; of the Moon, lib. iv. c. 3; of the Planets, lib. viii. c. 3;also in MS. Ii . 3. 3 , fol. 886, &c.41a-426. The fact that these articles are mere repetitions ofsections 41-43 is almost conclusive against their genuineness. I donot suppose that sect 46 (at p. 229) is Chaucer's either, but it is addedfor the sake of completeness.

THE CANTERBURY TALES.BbSOURCES OF THE CANTERBURY TALES.CONTENTS.§ 1. THE series of Tales. § 2. The Prologues to Piers the Plowman and tothe Canterbury Tales compared. § 3. Date of the Tales; from 1386 onwards.§ 4. Number of the Tales. § 5. Old and new material. § 6. Days of themonth for the various Groups. § 7. Arrangement of the Groups. § 8. Group Anearly finished. § 9. The Tale of Gamelyn. § 10. The Plowman's Tale.§ 11. Early and late Tales. § 12. The test of rhythm. § 13. Origin of theheroic couplet. § 14. Modification of Chaucer's original scheme. § 15. TheTale of Beryn. § 16. Lydgate's Storie of Thebes. § 17. GROUP A. ThePrologue. § 18. The Knightes Tale: Palamon and Arcite. § 19. Boccaccio'sTeseide. § 20. Tyrwhitt's analysis of the Teseide. § 21. Resemblances toTroilus. § 22. Later versions of the Knightes Tale. § 23. The Miller'sPrologue. § 24. The Milleres Tale. § 25. The Reeve's Prologue. § 26.The Reves Tale. § 27. The Cook's Prologue. § 28. The co*kes Tale. §§ 29-34. The Tale of Gamelyn. § 35. GROUP B. The Words of the Host to theCompany. § 36. The Man of Law's Prologue. § 37. The Manof Lawes Tale.§ 38. The same Tale, as told by Gower. § 39. The Shipman's Prologue.§ 40. The Shipmannes Tale. § 41. The Prioress's Prologue. § 42. ThePrioresses Tale. § 43. Prologue to Sir Thopas. § 44. Sir Thopas. § 45.Prologue to Melibeus. § 46. The Tale of Melibeus. § 47. The Monk'sPrologue. § 48. The Monkes Tale. § 49. The Prologue of the NonnePreestes Tale. § 50. The Nonne Preestes Tale. § 51. Epilogue to the NonnePreestes Tale. § 52. GROUP C. The Spurious Prologues to the PhisiciensTale. 53. The Phisiciens Tale. § 54. Words of the Host to the Phisicienand the Pardoner. § 55. Prologue of the Pardoneres Tale. § 56. ThePardoneres Tale. §57. GROUP D. The Wife of Bath's Prologue. § 58. TheWyf of Bathes Tale. § 59. The Friar's Prologue. § 60. The Freres Tale.§ 61. The Somnour's Prologue. § 62. The Somnours Tale. § 63. Group E.The Clerk's Prologue. § 64. The Clerkes Tale. § 65. The Merchant's Prologue. § 66. The Marchantes Tale. § 67. GROUP F. The Squire's Prologue.§ 68. The Squieres Tale. § 69. Words of the Frankeleyn. § 70. TheFranklin's Prologue. § 71. The Frankeleyns Tale. § 72. GROUP G. TheSeconde Nonnes Tale. § 73. The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue and Tale.§ 74. GROUP H. The Manciple's Prologue. § 75. The Manciples Tale.§76. GROUP I. The Parson's Prologue . § 77. The Persones Tale.ACCOUNT OF THE SOURCESOF THECANTERBURY TALES.THE NINE GROUPS.§ 1. THE idea of joining together a series of Tales by meansof fitting them into a common frame-work is a very old one, anddoubtless originated in the East. There is an English collectionof this character known as ' The Seven Sages,' of whichvarious versions have come down to us. The earliest of these,as published in the second volume of Weber's Metrical Romances,has been dated about 1320; and is, at any rate, older than anyof Chaucer's poems. Another collection, of a similar character,and likewise of Eastern origin, is a Latin work by PetrusAlphonsus, a converted Spanish Jew, entitled De ClericaliDisciplina. See Dunlop's History of Fiction, chap. vii. Fromone of these Chaucer may have taken the general idea ofarranging his tales in a connected series; and we must notforget that his Legend of Good Women, which was the immediateforerunner of his greater work, is likewise, practically, a collectionof Tales, though sadly lacking in variety, as he discovered forhimself in the course of writing it. It is highly improbable thathe was indebted for the idea to Boccaccio's Decamerone, as hasbeen sometimes hastily suggested; since we might, in that case,have expected that he would also have drawn from that collection the plot of some one of his tales; which is not found toBb 2372 SOURCES OF THE TALES.be the case. The Clerk's Tale occurs, indeed, in the Decamerone;but we know it to have been borrowed from Petrarch's Latinversion of it. The Franklin's Tale has some resemblance toanother tale in the same collection, but was evidently not takenfrom it directly, and the same is true in other cases; so thatwe are quite justified in supposing that Chaucer was whollyunacquainted, at first hand, with Boccaccio's work.§ 2. It was suggested by Professor Seeley that we may profitablycompare the form of Chaucer's Prologue with that of the somewhat similar Prologue to William's Vision concerning Piers thePlowman, a work which was very popular in England just at thesame time. William introduces us to a Vision, in which he firstof all beholds a Field full of Folk, and describes, in succession,the various sets of folk of which the company consisted; such asploughmen, anchorites, hermits, chapmen, minstrels, beggars,pilgrims, palmers, friars, a pardoner, parish- priests, bishops,lawyers, and stewards. Chaucer seized upon the happy ideaof limiting each class to a single individual, and the still happieridea of combining them into a company with a common objectwhich allowed them to associate together on nearly equal terms.And having thus chosen his representative of each class, he employed his wonderful dramatic power in producing an exactdescription of each; so that, to quote the words of Dryden, ' hehas taken into the compass of his Canterbury Tales the variousmanners and humours (as we now call them) of the whole Englishnation, in his age.'3. As to the date when this idea of forming a continuousseries of tales was first entertained, we can hardly be wrong indating it from 1386 or 1387 onwards. As it was left in an incomplete state, it was most likely in hand up to the time of hisdeath, though he probably neglected it towards the last. Theyear 1385 is, almost certainly, the date of his Prologue to theLegend of Good Women, and of his first attempt to write inheroic couplets ' . He was then full of the idea of writing a seriesof stories concerning ' Good Women, ' and himself tells us that heintended to write stories of nineteen Women, to be followed bytheLegend of Alcestis; but we find him suddenly desisting from histask without completing his ninth Legend, that of Hypermnestra.11385 is also the date of the latest allusion in the Canterbury Tales; seenote to B 3589.THE NINE GROUPS. 373For this we may reasonably assign two causes; he was probablyalready somewhat weary of his self-imposed task, and he alsobegan to see his way to a still grander collection, on a largerscale. It is important to observe that Chaucer was, throughoutlife, haunted by great ideas; and especially, by the desire to leavebehind him at least some one great work which would attractgeneral attention. Thus it was that he attempted a translation ofthe huge French poem of Le Roman de La Rose, which heprobably never finished, though we do not know how far heproceeded. He planned the poem of Troilus and Criseyde, whichterminates rather suddenly, but not until it had extended to thegreat length of more than eight thousand lines. Next he plannedthe House of Fame, which was to be largely a work of imagination;but here once more he was dissatisfied, and abandoned it whilststill incomplete. Almost at once he took up the Legend of GoodWomen, with its Prologue and twenty stories, but again abandonedit for a larger scheme. It is also tolerably clear that the MonkesTale originally took its rise from a similar desire to write a succession of lives of illustrious men; and that the first conception ofthis idea preceded that of the Canterbury Tales. We thus seeour author constantly striving after the endeavour to produce somegreat original work; and the Canterbury Tales was, in fact, theresult of the latest and greatest of these endeavours.To assign any exact date for the Man of Lawes Prologue, whichmentions April 18, is difficult. Yet we must exclude 1389, whenthat day was Easter Sunday, a day unsuitable for travelling andtelling tales; as well as 1390, when April 17 was Sunday, whichwould have prevented the pilgrims, at any rate, from making anearly start (Prol. 822-5) .The year 1391 is certainly too late; so that only 1386, 1387,and 1388 are left for consideration. But in 1386, Easter-day fellon April 22, and Good Friday on April 20; and we cannot supposethat the pilgrimage could have taken place in Passion-week, whenthe Parson and others would be much in request for the dutieswhich the season imposed upon them.In 1387 and 1388, however, Easter fell early, and left thepilgrims free to take a holiday. In 1388, April 18 was a Saturday,so that the pilgrims must have travelled on Sunday, since theycertainly stopped one night on the road at Ospringe, and probablyalso stopped elsewhere; and surely, if Sunday travelling had been374 SOURCES OF THE TALES.intended, something would have been said about the hearing ofmass¹. But in 1387, everything comes right; they assembled atthe Tabard on Tuesday, April 16, and had four clear days beforethem. And when we consider how particular our author is asto dates, we shall do well to consider the probability that thisresult is correct. We should remember, at the same time, thatthis date is, for other reasons, more likely than any other. Thefact that the Legend of Good Women, begun in 1385, terminatesso suddenly, points to the inception of a still greater work,probably in 1386; and this leads up to 1387 as the date when thesupposed times assigned to the various Tales were being arranged.And I still think that we ought to attach some significance to thefact (pointed out by me in 1868) that the year 1387 suits thescheme of days mentioned in the Knightes Tale. See note toA 1850, in vol. v.§ 4. Chaucer tells us, in his Prologue, 11. 791-795, that it washis intention to make each of the pilgrims tell four tales, two onthe way to Canterbury 2 and two on the return-journey. But sofar from fulfilling his proposed plan, he did not even complete somuch as a quarter of it, since the number of tales do not evensuffice to go once round, much less four times. No pilgrim tellstwo stories, though the poet represents himself as being interruptedin his Rime of Sir Thopas, and telling the tale of Melibeus in itsstead; and we have no story from the Yeoman, the Haberdasher,the Carpenter, the Weaver, the Dyer, the Tapiser, or the Ploughman . The series being thus incomplete, it only remains toinvestigate to what degree of completeness the author succeededin attaining.§ 5. It is easy to see that Chaucer may have had a good deal ofmaterial in hand before the idea of writing a connected seriesof tales occurred to him. The Prologue, answering somewhat toa preface, is one of his very latest works, and in his best manner;and before writing it, he had in some measure arranged a part of1 King John of France travelled from Canterbury to Dover ( 16 miles) onSunday, July 5, 1360; but he heard mass in the cathedral before starting.—Temporary Pref. to the Six-text Edition, p. 131 .2 Tyrwhitt says ' at least one Tale '; but see Prol. 792. The fact is thatChaucer himself tacitly modified his plan afterwards, and altered the two talesto one; seethe Parson's Prologue, I 16-29.3 Warton wrongly adds, or the Host. But the Host was the umpire, nota tale-teller himself.THE NINE GROUPS. 375his materials. His design was to make a collection of tales whichhe had previously written, to write more newtales to go with these,and to unite them all into a series by means of connecting links ¹,which should account for the change from one narrator to the nextin order. In doing this, he did not work continuously, but insertedthe connecting links as they occurred to him, being probably wellaware that this was the best way of avoiding an appearance ofartificiality. The result is that some links are perfectly supplied,and others not written at all, thus affording a series of fragments orGroups, complete in themselves, but having gaps between them.Afull account of these Groups, showing which tales are inseparablylinked together, and which are not joined at all, is given in Dr.Furnivall's Temporary Preface to the Six-text Edition of Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales, published for the Chaucer Society in 1868.The resulting Groups are nine. Between these are distinct gaps,and it is by no means clear that the order of the Groups relativelyto each other was finally determined upon. This relative order is,however, settled to some extent by occasional references to placespassed on the road, and to times of the day. We are also perfectlycertain that the Knight was to tell the first tale, and the Parsonthe last of the whole or partial series, thus leaving us only sevenGroups to arrange. Another question at once arises, however,which must be settled before we can proceed, viz. whether thepilgrimage was intended to be performed all in one day, or in two,or three, or more. Any one who knows what travelling was inthe olden time must be well aware that the notion of performingthe whole distance in one day is out of the question, especially asthe pilgrims were out more for a holiday than for business, thatsome of them were but poorly mounted ( Prol. 287, 541 ), and someof them but poor riders ( Prol. 390, 469, 622) 2. In fact, such1 The term ' link,' and such terms as ' head- link, ' ' end-link, ' and the like,are to be found in the Six-text edition published by the Chaucer Society,whence I have copied them.2 In 1749, the coach from Edinburgh to Glasgow, forty- four miles, tooktwo days for the journey. Twenty miles a day was fast. We may allow thepilgrims about fifteen miles a day. See Chambers' Book of Days, ii . 228.Once more, it is absurd to suppose Chaucer capable of proposing to crowdabout sixty tales or so into a single day! A day of ten hours would, withinterruptions, leave each speaker less than ten minutes apiece. See alsoTemporary Pref. to the Six-text, p. 119, shewing that Queen Isabella, in 1358,arrived at Canterbury from London in three or four days; stopping at Dartford,Rochester, and Ospringe. From the same, p. 129, we find that King John of376 SOURCES OF THE TALES.an idea is purely modern, adopted from thoughtlessness almostas a matter of course by many modern readers, but certainly notfounded upon truth. Fortunately, too, the matter is put beyondargument by some incidental remarks. In the first Group, orGroup A (1. 3906), occurs the line-' Lo Depeford, and it is half- way pryme’—i. e. it is now half-past seven o'clock. After which the Reve ismade to tell a story, and the Cook also, bringing the time of dayto about nine o'clock at the least. But in Group F, 1. 73, theSquire remarks that ' it is pryme, ' it is nine o'clock, which can onlymean that hour of another day, not of the same one. Still cleareris the allusion, in the Canon's Yeoman's Prologue ( G 588) , to thepilgrims having passed the night in a hostelry, as I understand thepassage. This once perceived, it is not of much consequencewhether we allow the pilgrims two days, or three, or four; but themost convenient arrangement is that proposed by Mr. Furnivall,viz. to suppose four days (or three and a half) to have beenoccupied; the more so, as this supposition disposes of anotherextremely awkward allusion to time, viz. the mention of ten o'clockin the morning in Group B, l . 14, which must refer to yet a thirdmorning, in order not to clash with the two notes of time alreadyalluded to; whilst the passage in the Canon's Yeoman's Prologueabsolutely requires a fourth morning, because of the pilgrimshaving passed the night at a hostelry. The references to placeson the road can cause no trouble; on the contrary, these allusionsafford much help, for we cannot rest satisfied with the arrangementin Tyrwhitt's edition, which makes the pilgrims come to Sittingbourne before arriving at Rochester.§ 6. But the data are not yet all disposed of: for we can fix thevery days of the month on which the pilgrims travelled. This isdiscussed in the note to B 5', where the day recognised by theHost is shown to have been the 18th of April, and not the 28th,as in some editions; which agrees with the expression in thePrologue, 1. 82.France went from London to Eltham, June 30, 1360 (Tuesday); to Dartford(Wednesday); to Rochester (Thursday); to Ospringe ( Friday); and toCanterbury (Saturday). Cf. Notes and Queries, 8th S. i. 474, 522.¹ By ' B 5 ' I mean Group B, 1. 5, as numbered in the Chaucer Society'sSix-text edition; the arrangement of which I have adopted throughout.2 See note to 1. 8 of the Prologue.THE NINE GROUPS. 377Putting all the results together, we get the following convenientscheme for the Groups of tales. It is copied from Dr. Furnivall'sPreface, with the mere addition of the dates.April 16. The guests arrive at the Tabard, late in the evening(Prol. 20, 23).April 17. GROUP A. General Prologue; Knight's Tale;Miller's Prologue and Tale; Reeve's Prologue and Tale; Cook'sPrologue and Tale (the last unfinished). Gap.Notes of time and place. In the Miller's Prologue, he tellsthe company to lay the blame on the ale of Southwark if histale is not to their liking; he had hardly yet recovered from itseffects.In the Reeve's Prologue, A 3906, 3907, are the lines—' Lo Depeford, and it is half-way pryme;Lo Grenewich, ther many a shrewe is inne. 'That is, they are in sight of Deptford and Greenwich at abouthalf-past 7 o'clock in the morning.This Group is incomplete; I shall give my reasons presently forsupposing that the Yeoman's Tale was to have formed a part of it.Probably the pilgrims reached Dartford that night, and haltedthere, at a distance of fifteen miles from London.April 18. GROUP B. Man- of-Law Head- link, his Prologue, andTale ( 1-1162); Shipman's Prologue and Tale ( 1163-1624);Shipman End- link ( 1625-1642); Prioress's Tale ( 1643-1880);Prioress End- link ( 1881-1901 ); Sir Thopas ( 1902-2156); Tale ofMelibeus (2157-3078); Monk's Prologue and Tale ( 3079-3956);Nun's Priest's Prologue and Tale (3957-4636); End-link (4637-4652). Gap.Notes oftime andplace. In the Man-of- Law Head- link, we learnthat it was 10 o'clock (1. 14), and that it was the 18th ofApril (1.5).In the Monk's Prologue, 1. 3116, we find that the pilgrims weresoon coming to Rochester. This Group is probably incomplete,rather at the beginning than at the end. Something is wanted tobring the time to 10 o'clock, whilst the travellers would hardlyhave cared to pass Rochester that night. Suppose them to havehalted there, at thirty miles from London.April 19. GROUP C. Doctor's Tale ( 1-286); Words of the Hostto the Doctor and the Pardoner ( 287-328); Pardoner's Preamble,Prologue, and Tale (329-968) . Gap.378SOURCESOF THE TALES.GROUP D. Wife of Bath's Preamble ( 1-856); Wife's Tale(857-1264); Friar's Prologue and Tale ( 1265-1664; Sompnour'sPrologue and Tale ( 1665-2294). Gap.GROUP E. Clerk's Prologue and Tale ( 1-1212); Merchant'sPrologue and Tale ( 1213-2418); Merchant End-link (2419-2440).Gap; but the break is less marked than usual.Notes ofplace, &c. At the end of the Wife of Bath's Preambleis narrated a verbal quarrel between the Sompnour and the Friar,in which the former promises to tell some strange tales about friarsbefore the company shall arrive at Sittingbourne. Again, at theend of his Tale, he says-'My tale is doon, we been almost at toune.'-D 2294.After which, we may suppose the company to have halted awhileat Sittingbourne, forty miles from London.It must also be noted that there are at least two allusions tothe Wife of Bath's Preamble in the course of Group E; namely,in the Clerk's Tale, 1. 1170, and in the Merchant's Tale, E 1685;and probably a third allusion in the Merchant End-link, E 2438.These prove that Group D should precede Group E, and suggestthat it should precede it immediately.April 20. GROUP F. Squire's Tale ( 1-672); Squire- FranklinLink (673-708); Franklin's Tale ( 709-1624). Gap.GROUP G. Second Nun's Tale ( 1-553); Canon's Yeoman'sTale (554-1481 ) . Gap.GROUP H. Manciple's Prologue and Tale ( 1-362). Gap.GROUP I. Parson's Prologue and Tale.Notes oftime and place. In the Squire's Tale, F 73, the narratorremarks that he will not delay the hearers, ' for it is prime, ' i. e.9 a.m.In the Canon's Yeoman's Prologue (G 588) is a most explicitstatement, which is certainly most easily understood as havingreference to a halt for the night on the road, at a place (probablyOspringe) five miles short of Boughton- under- Blee ( G 555). TheCanon's Yeoman says plainly that he had seen the pilgrims rideout of their hostelry in the morrow-tide. In the Manciple'sPrologue (H2) there is mention of a little town called Bob-upand-down, ' under the Blee, in Canterbury way'; and the Cookis taken to task for sleeping on the road in the morning ( H 16),which cannot, in any case, be the morning of the day on whichthey started from Southwark. In the Parson's Prologue (I 5) thereTHE NINE GROUPS. 379is mention of the hour of 4 p.m., and the Parson undertakes totell the last tale before the end of the journey.§ 7. The above account is useful as shewing the exact extent towhich Chaucer had carried out his intention; and at the same timeshews what is, on the whole, the best arrangement of the Tales.This arrangement is not much affected by the question of thenumber of days occupied by the pilgrims on the journey. Itpossesses, moreover, the great advantage of stamping upon thewholework its incomplete and fragmentary character. The arrangement of the Tales in the various MSS. varies considerably, andhence Tyrwhitt found it necessary in his edition to consider thequestion oforder, and to do his best to make a satisfactory arrangement. The order which he finally adopted is easily expressed byusing the names already given to the Groups, only Group B mustbe subdivided into two parts ( a) and (b) , the first of these containing the Man of Law's Prologue and Tale only, and the secondall the rest of the Tales, &c. in the Group. This premised, hisresult is as follows: viz. Groups A, B (a), D, E, F, C, B (b), G,H, I. The only two variations between the two lists are easilyexplained. In the first place, Group C is entirely independent ofall the rest, and contains no note of time or place, so that it maybe placed anywhere between A and G; in this case therefore thevariation is of no importance¹ . In the other case, however,Tyrwhitt omitted to see that the parts of Group B are really boundtogether bythe expressions which occur in them. For, whereasthe Man of Law declares in 1. 46, Group B-' I can right now no thrifty tale seyn,'the Host, at the beginning of the Shipman's Prologue, 1. 1165, ispleased to give his verdict thus-' This was a thrifty tale for the nones,'and proceeds to ask the Parson for a tale, declaring that ' yelerned men in lore, ' i . e. the Man of Law and the Parson, knowmuch that is good: whence it is evident that B (b) must be advanced so as to follow B ( a) immediately; and the more so, asthere is authority for this in MS. Arch. Seld. B 14 in the BodleianLibrary; while many MSS. suggest a similar arrangement (§ 39).1 Except as regards convenience of reference. It was Dr. Furnival whoplaced C more forward; nothing is gained by it, and it complicates references.I heartily wish this had never been done.380 SOURCES OF THE TALES.The correctness of this emendation is proved by the fact that it isnecessary for the mention of Rochester in B (b) to precede thatof Sittingbourne in D.It deserves to be mentioned further, that, of the four dayssupposed to be consumed on the way, some of them are inadequately provided for. This furnishes no real objection, becausethe unwritten tales of the Yeoman, Haberdasher, Carpenter,Weaver, Dyer, Tapiser, and Ploughman, would have helped insome degree to fill up the gaps which have been noticed above.§ 8. The whole of Group A is so admirably fitted together, andits details so well worked out, that it may fairly be looked uponas having been finally revised, as far as it goes; and I am disposedaccordingly to look upon the incomplete Cook's Tale as almostthe last portion of his great work which the poet ever revised inits intended final form. There is, in this Group A, only one flaw,one that has often been noted, viz. the mention of three Priests inthe Prologue (1. 164) , whereas we know that there was but oneNun's Priest, his name being Sir John. At the same place thereis a notable omission of the character of the Nun, and the twothings together point to the possibility that Chaucer may havedrawn her character in too strong strokes, and have then suddenlydetermined to withdraw it, and to substitute a new character atsome future time¹. If we suppose him to have left the line ' Thatwas hir chapeleyne ' unfinished, it is easy to see how another handwould have put in the words ' and preestes three ' for the meresake ofthe rime, without having regard to reason. We ought toreject those three words as spurious.§ 9. That Chaucer's work did receive, in some small degree,some touching-up, is rendered yet more probable by observinghow Group A ends. For here, in several of the MSS. , we comeupon an additional fragment which, on the face of it, is notChaucer's at all, but a work belonging to a slightly earlier period;I mean the Tale of Gamelyn. Some have supposed, with greatreason, that this tale occurs amongst the rest because it is onewhich Chaucer intended to recast, although, as a fact, he did notlive to rewrite a single line of it. This is the more likely becausethe tale is a capital one in itself, well worthy of being rewritteneven by so great a poet; indeed, it is well known that the¹ Tyrwhitt suggests the same thing, in a note to his Introductory Discourse.THE NINE GROUPS. 381plot of the favourite play known to us all by the title of As YouLike It, was derived from it at second-hand. But I cannot butprotest against the stupidity of the botcher whose hand wroteabove it ' The co*kes Tale of Gamelyn.' That was done becauseit happened to be found next after the Cook's Tale, which,instead of being about Gamelyn, is about Perkin the reveller, anidle apprentice.The fitness of things ought to shew at once that this Tale ofGamelyn, a tale of the woods, in the true Robin-Hood style,could only have been placed in the mouth of him ' who barea mighty bow, ' and who knew all the usage of woodcraft; inone word, of the Yeoman. (Gandelyn is the name of an archerin Ritson's Ancient Songs, i. 82) . And we get hence the additionalhint, that the Yeoman's Tale was to have followed the Cook'sTale, a tale of fresh country-life succeeding one of the close backstreets of the city. No better place can be found for it.§ 10. There is yet one more Tale, found only in the edition of1542 and some later printed editions, but in none of the MSS. ,viz. the Ploughman's Tale. This is admittedly spurious, in thesense that it is not Chaucer's; but it is a remarkable poem in itsway. The author never intended it for an imitation of Chaucer,nor pretended any disguise about it; on the contrary, he saysplainly that he was the author of the well- known poem in alliterative verse commonly known as Pierce the Ploughman's Crede.It can only have been inserted by inadvertence, but we need notblame the editor for doing this, since otherwise the poem wouldnot have been preserved at all, no MS. of it being now inexistence.§ 11. The next question that presents itself is this-Have weany means of telling which of the Tales are of early, and which oflate workmanship? In reply to this, we may note, in the firstplace, the following facts and probabilities.The Knight's Tale was certainly re-written from beginning toend. In its original form, Chaucer took a good deal of it fromBoccaccio's Teseide, and gave it the name of ' Palamon andArcite '; see Prologue to Legend of Good Women, 1. 420; thishe would naturally do not long before writing his Troilus, inwhich he follows the same author. Moreover, this original' Palamon ' was written in the seven-line stanza; see notes toAnelida.382 SOURCES OF THE TALES.It must next be noted that Dr. Furnivall, who has drawn up,tentatively, a list of Chaucer's works in their supposed order, putsdown amongst the works of the ' Second Period, ' i. e. prior to theCanterbury Tales, that Tale which is now known as the SecondNun's, though formerly called by Chaucer himself the Life ofSaint Cecile. Of this result there has never been a doubt;Tyrwhitt says expressly, ' The Tale of the Nonne is almost literallytranslated from the Life of St. Cecilia in the Legenda Aurea ofJacobus Januensis. It is mentioned by Chaucer as a separatework in his Legend of Good Women, l . 426, under the title ofthe Life of Seint Cecile, and it still retains evident marks that itwas not originally composed in the form of a Tale to be spokenby the Nonne '.' It is, then, little more than a translation, and itis in seven-line stanzas.Dr. Furnivall assigns to the Second Nun's Tale the conjecturaldate of 1373, being the very year when Chaucer perhaps metPetrarch at Padua (see note to E 27) , and learnt from him the taleof Griseldis, now known as the Clerk's Tale. This tale is likewise,for the most part, a translation, and in seven- line stanzas.The Prioress's Tale is a short one. Although written in sevenline stanzas, it is probably later than others in the same metre.The Man of Law's Tale will be considered hereafter; and itwill be shewn that it was written independently of other Tales.The Monk's Tale is in a very peculiar metre, which appearsnowhere else in Chaucer, except in the unoriginal poem calledthe ABC (probably written before A.D. 1369) , and in some otherof Chaucer's minor poems, such as the Former Age, Fortune,the Envoy to Bukton, &c.; so that, considered with reference tometre, this Tale may be of any date. The main part of it shewsvery little originality, and is clearly rather early than late.§ 12. Having premised these considerations, it is easy to seethat the metrical form suggests, to a useful extent, a possible distinction between the earlier and the later Tales. Nearly all ofChaucer's tales that are in stanzas are early, whilst all that are indecasyllabic couplets are late. We have seen that this is knownto be true in the case of the Second Nun's Tale, that it ishighly probable in the case of the Clerk's Tale (of which morehereafter), and there is nothing against it in the case ofthe Monk's¹ In the Proem, the Nun calls herself an ' unworthy son of Eve '; G 62.THE NINE GROUPS. 383Tale, written in the same metre as a poem which was probablyhis very first, or nearly so, if there be any truth in the statementthat it was written for the use of the duch*ess Blanche, who diedin 1369. At the same time, it can be shewn that ' Palamon andArcite ' was written in stanzas, so that the present metre of theKnight's Tale presents no difficulty. Of course it will be understood that there is, in these stanza-tales, some of Chaucer's latestwork, but I shall presently shew that this late work is easily pickedout. I have already pointed out that the Prioress's Tale (ofunusual brevity) is an exception to the general rule.§ 13. The above distinction was suggested to me by the simplefact, that Chaucer cannot be proved to have used his couplets tillhe was well advanced in composition. Indeed, it has alwaysbeen remarked that no English poet before him ever dreamt ofsuch a metre, and it has been a source of wonder, for hundreds ofyears, whence he derived it . To say that it was derived from theFrench ten-syllable verse is not a complete solution of the mystery;for nearly all such verse is commonly either in stanzas, or elsea great number of successive lines are rimed together. We haveto discover a specimen of French ten-syllable verse in whichonly two successive lines are rimed together; and these, I believe,are very scarce. After some search I have, however, fortunatelylighted upon a very interesting specimen, among the poems ofGuillaume de Machault, a French writer whom Chaucer is knownto have imitated ' , and who died in 1377. In the edition ofMachault's poems edited by Tarbé, Reims and Paris, 1849, p. 89,there is a poem of exactly this character, of no great length, andfortunately dated; for its title is ' Complainte écrite après labataille de Poitiers et avant le siège de Reims par les Anglais '(1356-1358) . The first four lines run thus:-'A toy, Henry, dous amis, me complain,Pour ce que ne cueur ne mont ne plein²;Car a piet suy, sans cheval et sans selle,Et si n'ay mais esmeraude, ne belle.'1 See the extracts from Chaucer's Book of the duch*ess as compared withsome from Machault's Remède de Fortune in Furnivall's Trial Forewords ,p. 47, where he quotes from Étude sur G. Chaucer, by M. Sandras, p. 290.Or consult the Notes, in vol. i. , to the Book of the duch*esse, 11. 155 , 250, 634,779, 805, 919 , 950, 1037.

• Observe particularly this rime of complain with plein.

Chaucer derived such rimes as seke, seke; Prol. 17, 18.This shews whenceThere is a poem of384 SOURCES OF THE TALES.The last couplet (the second line of which has two examples ofthe fully-sounded final e) is as follows:—' Et que jamais ne feray chant ne lay,Adieu te di: car toutë joië lay.'As some of Machault's poems seem to have been lost, he mayhave written several more poems in the same metre. In anycase, we know that Chaucer was well acquainted with his works,and it is also almost certain that the earliest attempt to use thismetre in English was made by Chaucer, in his Legend of GoodWomen, commenced, according to Professor Ten Brink, in theyear 1385 (Furnivall's Trial Forewords, p. 111). Surely this dateis one of considerable importance; for we at once derive fromit the probability that all of the Canterbury Tales written inthis metre were written after 1385, whilst those not in this metremay have been earlier, though one of them and a part of someothers appear to be later.§14. It appears that the original scheme, whereby each pilgrimwas to tell two Tales on the way to Canterbury, and two on hisreturn, was modified, at the time of writing the Parson's Prologue,to a less ambitious scheme whereby each pilgrim was to tell butone Tale apiece. Indeed, the expressions-' Almost fulfild is almyn ordinaunce ' in the Parson's Prologue ( I 19), and again- Toknitte up al this feeste, and make an ende ' in the same (I 47),clearly indicate that the author would, by that time, have beencontent with the far humbler task of providing but one Tale apiecefor the outward journey only. This would have reduced theoriginal scheme to only a quarter of what had been intended; buteven thus far the work was never completed. All that finally appeared consists of nine separate fragments; yet they amount tomore than 17,000 lines, besides two Tales in prose. It wouldhave been well if the latest scheme, i. e. the quarter of the firstscheme, could have been thoroughly carried out; but we must bethankful for what we have.§ 15. Two attempts were made by subsequent authors to continue the Canterbury Tales; it may be worth while to give herea brief notice of them.The Tale of Beryn, by an anonymous author, belongs to theearly part of the fifteenth century. It has been printed for the92 lines called Le Dit de la Harpe, printed in Bartsch's Crestomathie Française,p. 408, in which more than half the rimes are of this character.THE NINE GROUPS. 385Chaucer Society from the Duke of Northumberland's MS. no. 55,where it occurs at leaf 180, after the Canon's Yeoman's Tale.This Tale is supposed to have been the first one told after leavingCanterbury on the return journey, and is put into the mouth ofthe Merchant, who volunteers to tell it without troubling the hostto go through the process of casting lots. It is preceded by aPrologue, which accounts for the manner in which the time waspassed in Canterbury. A considerable portion of it is taken up byan account of an amour of the Pardoner; but we also learn severalparticulars which are of interest, as they refer to the pilgrimageof the characters imagined by Chaucer, and serve to fill in thegeneral idea.Following this guide, we learn that, on arriving at Canterbury, the Pilgrims lodged at an inn called ' The Cheker of theHope, ' or Chequer of the Hoop; and as soon as they hadtaken up their quarters there, proceeded to the cathedral, headedby the Knight, to make their offerings at the shrine, of silverbrooches and the like. On arriving at the door, the question ofprecedence arose, as to which should first enter; but this wassettled by the Knight, who gave way to ' the prelatis, the personand his fere '.' Hereupon a monk appears, who sprinkles thecompany with holy water; and we find that the Friar was veryanxious to be allowed to perform this duty for him -' so longidhis holy conscience to se the Nonnys face. ' The Knight andothers repair to the shrine, but the Pardoner and the Miller, withothers oflike mind, chiefly occupy themselves with wandering aboutthe cathedral, poring upon the stained glass in the windows, anddiscussing the coats- of-arms there displayed, as well as the chiefsubjects there depicted. However, the Host goes after them, andpersuades them to visit the shrine, and pay their offerings . Afterkneeling down before the shrine, and kissing the various relics,they stay to hear the service, and afterwards repair to the inn todinner, as it is now near noon.On their way, they buy, according to custom, some pilgrims'' signs ' or tokens; on which occasion the Miller and Pardonerobtain several ' Canterbury brooches ' by the cheap process ofstealing them. They afterwards display the signs, as usual, bywearing them stuck in their hats.It is none too clear who are meant by ' the parson and his companion.'Perhaps it means the Parson and the Ploughman (his brother).CC386SOURCESOF THETALES.On returning to the inn, they wash and sit down to dinner, andare soon in loud talk, greatly enjoying themselves. The Hostthen formally thanks the company for having, each of them, told' a tale' according to the original compact ' . All that is nowrequired, he says, is ' that wee must so, homward, eche man telanothir.' The Friar reminds the Host that they were all to supwith him on their return to Southwark ( Prol. 799, 815) . The Hostsays he is ready to do his part, and the company disperse fora time. They again meet at supper; and afterwards go to bed forthe night.2The next morning, the Knight and his son the Squire each.' cast on a fressher gown, ' an example followed by several others,and all sally out to see the town. The Knight and Squire areparticularly interested in the town-walls and the fortifications, whichthey examine critically, though the Squire's mind is occasionallydistracted by irrepressible thoughts of his lady-love. The Clerkof Oxford harangues the Sompnour, and tells him that he oughtnot to be angry with the Friar for knowing so much about evildoings, and for telling a Tale about a false Sompnour; for it iswell to have some knowledge both of good and evil, and it isadmitted that there must always be some evil members of everycalling; of which doctrine the Knight approves. The Monk takesthe Parson and the Grey Friar to call on a friend of his; and weare told that they did not drink water together on this occasion;'for spycys and eke wyne Went round aboute.' The Wife of Bathand the Prioress repair to the garden behind the inn, which theygreatly admire; whilst the Merchant, the Manciple, the Miller, theReeve, and others roam about the town. In the evening, all thepilgrims meet at supper-time, after which the steadier members ofthe company go early to bed, whilst the Miller and the Cook situp drinking. Here follows, at considerable length, the adventureof the Pardoner. Next morning, the whole company leaveCanterbury early, in splendid weather, and are all in excellentspirits. The tale-telling commences, and the Merchant undertakesto tell the Tale of Beryn.§ 16. The other projected continuation of the Canterbury Tales1 Observe this substitution of one Tale for two, tacitly accepted by Chaucer'sreaders as better suiting the circ*mstances.2 This statement, that the Frere was a grey frere,' is of some interest.THE NINE GROUPS. 387is Lydgate's poem called the Storie of Thebes, first printed as anappendix to the Tales in Stowe's edition of 1561¹. It is precededby a Prologue in which Lydgate, with some humour, makes theHost remark that the poet's bridle has neither boss nor bell, andthat the poet himself is pale, and ' all deuoide of blood, ' and wearsupon his head ' a wonder thredbare hood, ' being moreover ' Wellaraied for to ride late '; which I take to mean that, if his late ridingcaused him to fall among thieves, there was not much spoil to beobtained from him.Lydgate had, he tells us, just recovered from a sickness, andwent on a pilgrimage to Canterbury on his own account. Bygood fortune, he went to the same inn as Chaucer's pilgrims, andfound there the whole company. The Host invites him to supper,offering him a great pudding or a round haggis, and prescribingfor him, after supper, some red fennel, anise, cummin, or corianderseed. The pilgrims are to leave Canterbury next morning at daybreak, and Lydgate agrees to accompany them.Accordingly, on the morrow, they make an early start, designingto reach Ospringe by dinner-time, i. e. by about ten o'clock in theforenoon. They had only just left the precincts of the town, whenthe Host calls upon Lydgate to tell the first Tale of the day;whereupon he commences the long ' Storie of Thebes, ' in threeparts. He succeeded in finishing the first part just at nine o'clock,as they passed the thrope of Broughton on the Blee.' Near theend of the third part there is an interesting allusion to the openinglines of the Knightes Tale, where the mourning ladies await thecoming of Theseus-' And, as my master Chaucer list to endite,All clad in blacke with hir wimples white'-take up their position ' in the temple of the goddesse Clemence .'When Theseus comes, they beseech him to redress their harms: —' But if ye list to see the gentillesseOf Theseus, and how he hath him borne,If ye remember, ye³ have heard to-forneWell rehearsed, at Depeford in the vale,In the beginning of the Knightes tale. '¹ See Morley's English Writers, vi . 115-8, where an analysis of the Tale isgiven.2 I. e. thorpe, village; I quote from the edition of 1561. Broughton is anerror for Boughton.Ed. ' as ye '; which gives no sense.CC 2388 SOURCES OF THE TALES.It should be particularly noted that, like the author of the Taleof Beryn, Lydgate assumes that each pilgrim tells one Tale onlyon the journey to Canterbury, and one on the way home. TheHost explains to him that it is ' the custome of this companie'for each member of it ' To tell a tale,' and that they ' will homeward the same custome vse.' It is clear that Chaucer's theoryabout the scheme of his Tales was entirely lost sight of, and thatonly his practice was regarded, which implied that half thenumber would suffice. Tyrwhitt's proposal, to alter the text of thePrologue so as to make it square better with the facts, contradictsall that we know about Chaucer. To formulate larger schemesthan he could carry out was his constant habit.GROUP A.§ 17. The Prologue is chiefly occupied with the description ofthe company. As to their number, there is a little difficulty. In1. 24, we are told that it was ' wel nyne and twenty,' i . e. about 29.The question as to whether this number includes Chaucer himself seems to be settled by 1. 29, where he employs the word ' we';and we shall find that to include the poet among the 29 suits bestwith all that is said about them; cf. 1. 544. Nevertheless, theactual number described ( if we include Chaucer) is 31 , owing tothe mention of the preestes three ' in l. 164. This has beencommented on in § 8; and, as we have the authority of Chaucerhimself for supposing that one of the tellers of Tales is the NonnesPreest, which presupposes but one Preest, we are justified in looking upon these three words as having been interpolated. Wemight even suppose that Chaucer himself made such an alterationhimself at a later time, forgetting the inconsistency which wasthus introduced. I shall now assume the truth of this correction,and give the list of the 29. At the same time, I print in italicsthe names of those who are tellers of Tales, and we thus see theresult at a glance.1. The Knight. 2. The Squyer. 3. The Yeman. 4. ThePrioresse. 5. The Second Nonne. 6. The Nonnes Preest. 7. TheMonk. 8. The Frere. 9. The Marchaunt. 10. The Clerk.11. The Sergeant of the Lawe, or Man of Lawe.Frankeleyn. 13. The Haberdasher. 14. The Carpenter.The Webbe. 16. The Dyere. 17. The Tapicer.19. The Shipman. 20. The Doctour, or Phisicien.12. The15.18. The Cook.21. The WyfGROUP A. 389ofBathe 23. The Plowman. 24. The Miller. . 22. The Persoun.25. The Manciple. 26. The Reve. 27. The Somnour. 28. ThePardoner. 29. Chaucer. Besides these, we find ( ll . 803, 4) thatmine Host of the Tabard, by name Harry Bailly (A 4358),volunteered to accompany and guide the pilgrims, thus bringingtheir total number up to thirty. To which it is very necessary toadd, that the number of pilgrims was increased, during the journey,by the accession of the Chanouns Yeman (G 703).The Host proposes that each pilgrim shall tell two Tales onthe outward, and two on the homeward journey; a proposal whichafterwards dwindled down, as explained above, to one only, onthe outward journey alone. Even this scheme was not fulfilled,nor did the pilgrims ever arrive at their destination. We onlyknow that the Persones Tale was to have been the last, as theKnightes was the first. The best tale-teller, in the judgment ofmine host, was to have a supper in his honour, at the expense ofall the rest; but the prize was never awarded.Chaucer's description of his characters is dramatic and masterly;and nothing more need be said about them here, though somefurther particulars are given in the Notes ' . His sketches aredoubtless original, with the remarkable exception of certain linesin the descriptions of the Prioresse and the Wyf of Bathe, whichare transcribed or imitated from Le Roman de la Rose. Weeven find in Marsh (Eng. Language, p. 419) the remark, thatChaucer was ' a dramatist before that which is technically knownas the drama was invented. '§ 18. THE KNIghtes Tale. It is certain that this poem wasrewritten, for the purpose of being placed at the head of the Tales.In its original form, it constituted the poem of ' Palemon andArcite ' as referred to in the Legend of Good Women; see thenote to 1. 420 of that poem, and the introductory remarks toAnelida and Arcite in vol. i. p. 529. We thus see (as was dulynoted by Ten Brink 2 ) that the original Palemon and Arcite waswritten in seven- line stanzas, and that some fragments that oncebelonged to it have found their way into other poems. Theopening stanzas of Palemon and Arcite are preserved in the poem of1 For a good account of the Tabard Inn and a discussion of the pilgrims,see Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, by J. Saunders, ed . 1889.2 Compare the articles by Koch and Kölbing, in Englische Studien, i . 249 ,ii. 528, and in Essays on Chaucer, p. 357.390 SOURCESOF THE TALES.Anelida, ll. 22-46; and we can easily see how they were rewrittenso as to form ll. A 859-873 of the Knightes Tale. AboveAnelida, 1. 22 , and again above A 859, the same quotation fromStatius is still found in the MSS.Sixteen stanzas which probably belonged to Palemon andArcite are preserved in the Parl. Foules, 183-294. These lineswere entirely recast and condensed, with additions of Chaucer'sown, and answer to Kn. Ta. , A 1918-1935. The likeness is soslight that it is worth while to shew wherein it consists. I quotefirst from the Parl. Foules, and afterwards from the KnightesTale, merely giving such lines as shew a faint likeness, and printingunchanged words in italics.(1 ) From the PARLIAMENT OF FOULES: -246. Within the temple [ sc. of Venus] , of syghes hote as fyrI herde a swogh that ganne aboute renne;Which syghes were engendred with desyr218. Tho was I war of Plesaunce anon-right,225. I saw Beautee, withouten any atyr,And Youthe, ful of game and IoliteeFool-hardinesse, Flaterye, and Desyr,Messagerye, and Mede, and othere three .261. Fond I Venus and her porter Richesse.To doon by force a wight to do folye.... the bitter goddesse Ialousye.221.252.197. Of instruments of strenges232....Aboute the temple daunceden alway219. And of Aray, and Lust.•(2) From the KNIGHTES TALE: A 1918, &c.: -First in the temple of Venus maystow seeThe broken slepes and the sykes coldeThe fyry strokes of the desiring .Plesaunce and hope, desyr, fool- hardinesse,Beautee and youthe, bauderie, richesse,Charmes and force, lesinges, flaterye,Dispense, bisynesse, and Ielousye .Festes, instruments, caroles, daunces,Lust and array.The above is an excellent example of the manner in whichChaucer was capable of absorbing ideas, and reproducing themin a form almost wholly his own. If we were not aware beforehand that both these passages are due to stanzas 53-64 ofBook VII. of Boccaccio's Teseide, it would be easy to miss eventheir general resemblance.Lastly, we find that the lines in Troilus, v. 1807-27, are reallyGROUP A. 391imitated from the Teseide, xi. stt . 1-3, where they refer to thedeath of Arcite. In the Knightes Tale, all that answers to thesame passage is a part of lines A 2809-15; and all the resemblanceis in the following expressions.( 1 ) From TROILUS, v. 1808, &c.:-His lighte goost ful blisfully is wentUp to the holownesse of the seventh spereAnd forth he wente, shortly for to telle,Theras Mercurie sorted him to dwelle.(2) From the KNIGHTES TALE; A 2809:-His spirit chaunged hous, and wente ther,As I cam never, I can nat tellen wher ....wher they dwelle;Arcite is cold, ther Mars his soule gye.The change from Mercury, as the conductor of souls in general,to Mars, as the conductor of the martial soul of Arcite, is wellworth notice.19. These specimens furnish good examples of Chaucer'smethod. Palemon and Arcite was, at first, a reasonably closeimitation of Boccaccio's poem of the Teseide, which took its namefrom the hero Theseus. But in its second form, it was so muchaltered as to become, to all intents, a truly original poem. Thanksto the patient labour of Mr. Henry Ward, who collated the Teseideand the Knightes Tale throughout, line by line, we can now tellthat ' out of 2250 of Chaucer's lines, he has only translated 270(less than one-eighth); that only 374 more lines bear a generallikeness to Boccaccio's, and only 132 more, a slight likeness; [sothat] any talk of the Knightes Tale being a "translation only,"or "taken bodily from the Teseide " ( of 9054 lines) , is of courseabsurd. Chaucer's work is an adaptation of his original.'-F. J.Furnivall, A Temporary Preface of the Six-text Edition of theCanterbury Tales, p. 104.A table shewing the general resemblance between certain linesin the Knightes Tale and lines in the Teseide, is given in theNotes; to which I must refer the reader for further information.I will merely add here that Chaucer also consulted the Thebaisof Statius, which was one of Boccaccio's authorities.§ 20. In order to give a clear idea of the general contents ofBoccaccio's poem, I here quote in full the analysis of it made byTyrwhitt, and printed in his Introductory Discourse:-392 SOURCES OF THE TALES.'The Teseide is distributed into twelve Books or Cantoes.' Bk. i. Contains the war of Theseus with the Amazons, theirsubmission to him, and his marriage with Hippolyta.' Bk. ii. Theseus, having spent two years in Scythia, is reproached by Perithous in a vision, and immediately returns toAthens with Hippolyta and her sister Emilia. He enters the cityin triumph; finds the Grecian ladies in the temple of Clemenzia;marches to Thebes; kills Creon, &c. , and brings home Palemoneand Arcita who are Damnati ad eterna presone."' Bk. iii. Emilia, walking in a garden and singing, is heard andseen first by Arcita ' , who calls Palemone. They are both equallyenamoured of her, but without any jealousy or rivalship. Emiliais supposed to see them at the window, and to be not displeasedwith their admiration. Arcita is released at the request of Perithous; takes his leave of Palemone, with embraces, &c.' Bk. iv. Arcita, having changed his name to Pentheo, goes intothe service of Menelaus at Mycenae, and afterwards of Peleusat Aegina. From thence he returns to Athens and becomesa favourite servant of Theseus, being known to Emilia, thoughto nobody else; till after some time he is overheard making hiscomplaint in a wood, to which he usually resorted for that purpose,by Pamphilo, a servant of Palemone.'Bk. v. Upon the report of Pamphilo, Palemone begins to bejealous of Arcita, and is desirous to get out of prison in orderto fight with him. This he accomplishes with the assistanceof Pamphilo, by changing clothes with Alimeto, a physician.He goes armed to the wood in quest of Arcita, whom he findssleeping. At first, they are very civil and friendly to each other.Then Palemone calls upon Arcita to renounce his pretensions toEmilia, or to fight with him. After many long expostulations onthe part of Arcita, they fight, and are discovered first by Emilia,' In describing the commencement of this amour, which is to be thesubject of the remainder of the poem, Chaucer has entirely departed from hisauthor in three principal circ*mstances, and, I think, in each with very goodreason. ( 1 ) By supposing Emilia to be seen first by Palamon, he gives him anadvantage over his rival which makes the catastrophe more consonant topoetical justice. ( 2) The picture which Boccaccio has exhibited of two youngprinces violently enamoured of the same object, without jealousy or rivalship,if not absolutely unnatural, is certainly very insipid and unpoetical. ( 3) As noconsequence is to follow from their being seen by Emilia at this time, it isbetter, I think, to suppose, as Chaucer has done, that they are not seen by her.'---Tyrwhitt.GROUP A. 393who sends for Theseus. When he finds who they are, and thecause of their difference, he forgives them, and proposes themethod of deciding their claim to Emilia by a combat of a hundredon each side, to which they gladly agree.' Bk. vi. Palemone and Arcita live splendidly at Athens, andsend out messengers to summon their friends, who arrive; andthe principal of them are severally described, viz. Lycurgus,Peleus, Phocus, Telamon, &c.; Agamemnon, Menelaus, Castorand Pollux, &c.; Nestor, Evander, Perithous, Ulysses, Diomedes,&c.; with a great display of ancient history and mythology.' Bk. vii. Theseus declares the laws of the combat, and the twoparties of a hundred on each side are formed. The day beforethe combat, Arcita, after having visited the temples of all the gods,makes a formal prayer to Mars. The prayer, beingpersonified, issaid to go and find Mars in his temple in Thrace, which isdescribed; and Mars, upon understanding the message, causesfavourable signs to be given to Arcita. In the same mannerPalemone closes his religious observances with a prayer to Venus.His prayer, being also personified, sets out for the temple of Venuson Mount Citherone, which is also described; and the petition isgranted. Then the sacrifice of Emilia to Diana is described, herprayer, the appearance of the goddess, and the signs of the twofires. In the morning they proceed to the theatre with theirrespective troops and prepare for the action. Arcita puts upa private prayer to Emilia, and harangues his troop publickly;and Palemone does the same.' Bk. viii. Contains a description of the battle, in which Palemone is taken prisoner.'Bk. ix. The horse of Arcita, being frighted by a Fury, sentfrom Hell at the desire of Venus, throws him. However, he iscarried to Athens in a triumphal chariot with Emilia by his side;is put to bed dangerously ill; and there by his own desireespouses Emilia.' Bk. x. The funeral of the persons killed in the combat. Arcita,being given over by his physicians, makes his will, in discoursewith Theseus, and desires that Palemone may inherit all hispossessions and also Emilia. He then takes leave of Palemoneand Emilia, to whom he repeats the same request. Their lamentations. Arcita orders a sacrifice to Mercury, which Palemoneperforms for him, and dies.394 SOURCES OF THE TALES.' Bk. xi. Opens with the passage of Arcita's soul to heaven,imitated from the Ninth Book of Lucan. The funeral of Arcita.Description of the wood felled takes up six stanzas. Palemonebuilds a temple in honour of him, in which his whole historyis painted. The description of this painting is an abridgement ofthe preceding part of the Poem.' Bk. xii. Theseus proposes to carry into execution Arcita's willby the marriage of Palemone and Emilia. This they both declinefor some time in formal speeches, but at last are persuadedand married. The kings, &c. take their leave, and Palemoneremains in gioia e in diporto con la sua dona nobile e cortese. '§ 21. It is remarkable how many expressions that occur in theKnightes Tale are repeated from Troilus. Examples are: A 925,from Tr. iv. 2; A 1010, from Tr. iv. 627; A 1101, from Tr. i.425; 1133, cf. Tr. i. 674; 1155, cf. Tr. v. 332; 1163 , cf. Tr. iv.618; 1401, from Tr. iv. 865; 1500, from Tr. ii. 112; 1509, fromTr. ii. 920; 1566, from Tr. iii: 733; 1838, from Tr. v. 1433;2449, from Tr. iv. 1456. Besides this, 1. 301 of the Prologue isfrom Tr. iv. 1174. This tends to shew that the Knightes Tale(rather than the original Palamon and Arcite) was written not verylong after Troilus; rather in 1386 or 1387 than in 1388.I also note that 11. 1035-6, 1196, and 1502, are echoes of 11.2425-6, 2282, and 1204, ofthe Legend of Good Women.§ 22. An early play called ' Palamon and Arcite, ' by RichardEdwards, was produced at Oxford in 1566 before Queen Elizabeth;and Henslowe mentions a play with the same name in 1594.Hence also the play of ' The Two Noble Kinsmen, ' printed in1634, with a title-page in which it was attributed to Shakespeareand Fletcher; see my edition, published for the CambridgeUniversity Press in 1875. Dryden's fine poem of Palamon andArcite is well known; we need not compare it with Chaucer'swork very closely. Though inferior to the original, it has acertain excellence of its own. A modernisation of the KnightesTale by Lord Thurlow appeared in 1822; concerning whichnothing need be said. For further remarks on this Tale,consult Warton, History of Eng. Poetry, sect. xii, who, by theway, characterises the description of Lycurgus as being ' verygreat in the gothic style of painting '; where it is charitable tosuppose that by ' gothic ' he meant English,' but lacked thecourage to use the word. And see Morley, Eng. Writers, v. 312;GROUP A. 395Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer; an essay by Dr. J. Koch, inEssays on Chaucer, p. 359 (Chaucer Society); and remarks byTen Brink, in his Chaucer Studien, p. 62, and Geschichte derenglischen Litteratur, book v.We may observe that Chaucer has evidently assigned the firstplace to the Knightes Tale, as being, in his own opinion, the best.It was probably intended that the Knight, the most worshipfulperson in the company, should succeed in ' winning the supper.'§ 23. THE MILLER'S PROLOGUE. The Knightes Tale ended,the Host calls upon the Monk to tell the second Tale; but thedrunken Miller, notwithstanding the fact that he is perfectly awareofhis condition, churlishly insists on telling a Tale to the grave discredit of a Carpenter. This announcement is resented, somewhatstrangely, not by the Carpenter who is expressly named as beingamong the pilgrims (Prol. 361 ) , but by the Reeve, who had learnta carpenter's trade in his youth (Prol. 614). But remonstrance isvain, and the Miller proceeds. Chaucer is careful to advise thosewho object to a coarse story to ' turne over the leef'; and he hasgood reason for giving the hint.§ 24. THE MILLERES TALE. 'When,' says Tyrwhitt, ' theKnight has finished his Tale, the Host with great propriety callsupon the Monk, as the next in rank among the men, to tell thenext Tale; but as it seems to have been the intention of Chaucerto avail himself of the variety of his characters, in order to distribute alternate successions of serious and comic, in nearlyequal proportions, throughout his work, he has contrived thatthe Hostes arrangement shall be set aside by the intrusion ofthe drunken Miller, whose Tale is such as might be expected fromhis character and condition, a complete contrast to the Knightes.'No early Tale resembling this has yet been pointed out.Nevertheless, it is not likely that the main details were ofChaucer's own invention, as clear traces of the same story havebeen found in Germany. This was pointed out by R. Köhler,of Weimar, in Anglia, vol. i . p. 38; who gives a summary of avery similar story occurring in a book entitled Nachtbüchlein,by Valentin Schumann, which appeared in 1559. At the beginning of the first Part of this work is a tale entitled: ' Einandere Hystoria von einem Kauffmann der forcht sich vor demJüngsten Tage, ' or the Tale of a Merchant who dreaded theadvent of the Last Day.396 SOURCES OF THE TALES.The latter part of the story, about Absolon and Nicholas,occurs (says Köhler) in an Italian novel, viz. in novel no. 49in the collection by Massuccio di Salerno, who flourished about1470; see chap. viii. of Dunlop's Hist. of Fiction. It is alsofound, as he further tells us, in a carnival-play by Hanz Folz(in Keller, i. 330).Another German version similar to that in the Nachtbüchlein,is found in a modern collection entitled ' Sagen, Märchen, undLieder der Herzogtümer Schleswig- Holstein und Lauenburg, ' Kiel,1845, p. 589 (Anglia, i . 186).A third German version occurs in a book of the 17th century,entitled ' Lyrum Larum, seu Nugae Venales Ioco Seriae '; seeAnglia, ii. 135-Some have imagined a resemblance between this Tale and onein Boccaccio's Decamerone, Day 3 , Nov. 4; but it is a veryremote one, so that the reference is practically worthless.Chaucer's story reappears in an English imitation of it, verybriefly told in prose, in a book entitled ' The Life and Deathof the merry Deuill of Edmonton, with the pleasaunt prancksof Smug the Smith, &c. By T[ homas] B[rewer] . Printed byT. P. for F. Faulkner; 1631.' The chapter is headed: ' HowSmug was reuenged upon a Barber (his riuall) that made himkisse his tayle.' The story is reprinted in full by L. Proescholdt,of Homburg, in Anglia, vii. 117.Lounsbury, in his Studies of Chaucer, iii . 89, mentions aworthless book by Richard Braithwaite, dated 1665 , called ' AComment upon the Two Tales of our ancient, renowned, and everliving poet, Sir Jeffray Chaucer, Knight.' The Two Tales' arethose ofthe Miller and the Wife of Bath. From the same work(iii. 188) we learn that Samuel Cobb published a modernisedversion of the Tale in 1712 , which adheres rather closely to theoriginal, but is of no value.$ 25. THE REEVE'S PROLOGUE. Oswold, the Reeve, being bytrade a carpenter, is somewhat offended by the Miller's discourse;and, after a little moral talk, which the Host speedily cuts short,undertakes to tell a similar Tale to the discredit of a miller; andcertainly succeeds in requiting him in kind. Chaucer's formerhint, to turn over the leaf ( A 3183 ) , may be applied to this Tale also.But no such hint is given.§ 26. THE REVES TALE. This story resembles one which occursGROUP A. 397in Boccaccio's Decamerone, Day 9, Nov. 6; but this only provesthat both are derived from a common source¹. A closer resemblance to Chaucer's story, as pointed out by Mr. T. Wright, occursin a French Fabliau found in MS. Berne, no. 354, fol. 164, back.It was first printed in Wright's Anecdota Litteraria, p. 15, and isreprinted in Originals and Analogues, p. 93 (Chaucer Society).We find in it very similar incidents. Two clerks take a sack ofwheat to a mill to be ground. They throw down the sack on themill-floor, and turn their mare loose in a meadow. One of themstays to watch the sack, whilst the other seeks the miller, who isin a neighbouring wood. The first clerk grows tired of waiting,and goes after the other. Meanwhile, the miller returns, andsecretes the sack. The clerks, returning, can find neither sacknor mare. At last they ask the miller to take them in for thenight. The story proceeds nearly as in Chaucer; and, in thesequel, the clerks regain both wheat and mare, and take the wheatto be ground elsewhere. Perhaps it is needless to add thatChaucer's Tale is none the less original. His mode of telling it issuch as to render it wholly his own.Another story, of a similar cast, occurs in another FrenchFabliau, by Jean de Boves, entitled De Gombert et des DeuxClers. It is printed in Méon's edition of Barbazan's Fabliaux etContes, vol. iii . pp. 239-44, Paris, 1808; and is reprinted, fromtwo MSS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris ( nos. 837, 2168),in Originals and Analogues, p. 87 (Chaucer Society). This storyis less complete, as it omits all the former part, about taking thewheat to be ground. Two clerks seek lodging with a vilain, namedGombert; one of them falls in love with Gombert's wife, and theother, with his daughter. The rest of the story is much the sameas before.2A later version occurs in a black-letter quarto volume printedby Wynkyn de Worde, entitled ' A mery Iest of the Mylner ofAbyngton with his Wyfe and his Doughter, and the two poorescholers of Cambridge '; reprinted in Hazlitt's Early PopularPoetry, iii . 98. I do not agree with Hazlitt's opinion that this1 The same story has been imitated in the Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles, and inthe Berceau of Lafontaine ( Morley) ." I.e. Abington, seven miles to the S.E. of Cambridge, and nearly as far fromTrumpington. In one way, it suits better; Trumpington is too near Cambridgefor the clerks to have been benighted there.398 SOURCESOF THE TALES.story has ' little or nothing in common ' with the Reves Tale; onthe contrary, I should say that the author took his story fromChaucer, as is tolerably obvious from the mention of Cambridge,but took some pains to disguise its origin . Although he altersTrumpington to Abington, many particulars are closely copied, as,e. g. the precise manner in which the two clerks watch the grindingof the wheat, one from above, and one from below. I equallydissent from Hazlitt's other opinion, that, ' in an artistic andconstructive point of view, the " Mylner of Abyngton " is superiorto its predecessor.' The decisions of some critics are simplyinexplicable.In the Preface to Dyce's edition of Skelton, vol. i. p. lxvi., thereis a ' Merie Tale ' of Skelton, entitled ' How Master Skeltons millerdeceyued hym manye times by playinge the theefe,' &c. Itillustrates the tricks of millers, but the story is different.Besides these, two German versions of the story occur in MSS. ,and there is a short Latin version ofit in De Generibus Ebriosorum( 1516) . See an able discussion of the whole matter in an excellentarticle by H. Varnhagen, printed in Englische Studien, vol. ix.pp. 240-266. Varnhagen reprints the French Fabliau given inWright's Anecdota Litteraria, but from another MS. , of the 13thcentury, found at Berlin. He also reprints the Milner ofAbington,with a better arrangement of the text, shewing its true metricalform . He then investigates the relationship to one another of allthe various versions, exhibiting the result in a table printed atp. 266.As to the connexion between Chaucer's Tale and the FrenchFabliau in the Berne MS. , Varnhagen points out some interestingresemblances, such as the following:-Diu povre clerc furent jadis. -I .Than were ther yonge povre clerkes two. -A 4002.Né d'une vile et d'un pais. -2.Of o toun were they born.-A 4014.Il a son conpaignon bouté. -190.He poked Iohn. —A 4169.Qant il oït lo coc chanter. -257.Til that the thridde co*k bigan to singe. -A 4233.Tantost prant lo clerc par la gole. -288.And by the throte-bolle he caughte Alayn.-A 4273.of § 27. THE COOK'S PROLOGUE. The Cook heartily approvesthe Reves Tale, and informs the company that his name is HoggeGROUP A. 399(Hodge) of Ware; at the same time volunteering a story. TheHost approves the offer-'Now telle on, Roger; loke that it be good'-but accuses him of cheating his customers. The Cook repliesgood-humouredly, calling the Host by his name, ' Herry Bailly,'and suggests that he knows a tale not much to the credit of ' anhostileer.' However, he will not tell that tale now.§ 28. THE co*kES TALE. This Tale, as found in all the MSS. ,is a mere fragment, extending to only 58 lines; and this portionis insufficient to shew the form which the Tale was meant to take.The portrait of Perkin Revelour, the idle apprentice, is, however,clearly drawn.It would seem as if this fragment was meant to be suppressed;for, in the Manciple's Prologue, the Host calls upon the Cook totell a tale, even if it be worthless; but the Manciple intercedes, andthe Host excuses him, because he is so helplessly drunk (H 13, 29).This seems to presuppose that the Cook had told no tale as yet;for, by this time, Chaucer had arrived at his modified plan, whichrequired only one Tale from each pilgrim on the outward journey(§ 14); and the Manciple is called upon to tell his own Taleinstead, as he had hitherto told none.§ 29. THE TALE OF GAMELYN, This Tale is, of course, notChaucer's, and is never found in MSS, of the A-type (see Pref. tovol. iv). Perhaps we may hence infer that MSS. of that typerepresent the text of the Tales as it stood before Chaucer's death;whereas, after that event, ' Gamelyn ' was inserted amongst themby scribes or friends who found it amongst the writings which hehad left behind him. We cannot doubt that, if Chaucer hadrewritten this Tale, he would have placed it in the mouth of theYeman. As, however, it happens to have been inserted immediately after the Cook's Tale, a late hand, in the Harl. MS.7334, has scribbled above it —' The co*kes Tale of Gamelyn ';whence the blunder arose of connecting it with the Cook.As the Tale is found in several of the MSS. , I have printed itin the Appendix to vol. iv. , pp. 645-667, in smaller type. Thetext is mainly from MS. Harl. 7334, collated with Harl. Cp. , Ln. ,Pt. , Rl. , and Sl.; see footnote on p. 645 of vol . iv. , and thedescription of the MSS. in the Introduction to that volume.The Tale is evidently of some antiquity, and may be dated,400 SOURCES OF THE TALES.approximately, about 1340. One line which occurs in it twiceover (see 11. 277, 764) is quoted, almost exactly, from 1. 475 of aPoem on the Evil Times of Edward II. , as printed by Mr. Wrightfor the Camden Society in 1839, the probable date of which isabout 1320.The dialect is more northern than that of the Canterbury Tales,and resembles that of Lincolnshire. The proportion of Frenchwords is much smaller: see, e. g , ll . 5–7, 9–13, 16, 20-30, inwhich no French words occur. The proportion of Scandinavianwords is larger; we may notice serk (Lowl. Sc. sark) in l. 259,skeet, quickly, in 1. 187, which do not occur in Chaucer. Thevery name of Gamelyn is of Scandinavian origin, answering toa form Gamel-in, from the Norse word for ' old, ' as seen in Icel.gamall, Swed. gammal, Dan. gammel. It is perhaps the originalof Gandeleyn, which occurs in a ballad entitled ' Robyn and Gandeleyn,' belonging to the cycle ofthe Robin Hood ballads ( cf. p. 381).The exploits of Gamelyn remind us somewhat of those of Havelok;in particular, the marvellous way in which Gamelyn lays abouthim, at one time with a ' pestle ' ( 1. 128) and at another with a' cart-staff' (1. 500) , recalls Havelok's feat in killing twenty menwith the bar of a door; see the Lay of Havelok the Dane, ed.Skeat, 11. 1794-1859. On the whole, we may fairly connect thisTale with the neighbourhood of Sherwood Forest, to which somany of the Robin Hood ballads belong; and its considerableantiquity gives it a peculiar interest.§ 30. The story evidently belongs to that highly popular classin which it is the youngest of three brothers who is the successfulhero¹. I should be inclined to believe that the Tale is notwholly due to the invention of its author, but is derived, like theLay of Havelok, from some Anglo- French original; whilst thereare, at the same time, some traces (as in that poem) of Scandinavian influence. The name Sir Johan of Boundes is French;since Boundes is the pl . of bound, from the Old French bonne, alimit; the equivalent English phrase for of Boundes ' would be' of the Marches.' The name of his second son is Otes (1. 727)or Ote (1. 731 ) , which is the nom. case of the F. Otoun, from theLat. Othonem, accusative of Otho (cf. G. Otto) . Otoun is thename of a French knight who was vanquished by Sir Guy ofWarwick.For an analysis of the Tale, see Morley, Eng. Writers, v. 321.GROUP A. 401§ 31. Some of the rimes in this poem are imperfect, as wit, bet,III; whilst gat-e, scap-e, 575, form a mere assonance. We alsofind mere repetitions, such as now, now, 93; thee, thee, 399;another, other, 445. The rime thare, yare, 793, is certainlyNorthern. So also ying, king, 887; yet, at 1. 169, we findtonge, yonge, shewing that the author was not very particular.The metre is not easy to follow, being very variable; it resembles that of such popular nursery rimes as ' Sing a song ofsixpence, ' wherein two consecutive accents, as in ' And snapped offher nose,' excite no surprise or difficulty. Each verse is dividedinto two parts by a metrical pause, denoted in this edition by araised full stop (*). Each part is of variable length, and may beconsidered separately. In the former part the chief varietiesconform to the following types, where ' A ' denotes an accentedsyllable, and ' b' an unaccented one.(1 ) AbAbAb; as in l . 12:—Hów his children shold-e.So also Il . 15, 21 , 22, 23, 26, 28, 49.(2) bAbAbA; as in l. 71:-He took into his hond.So also 11. 88, 93, 105, 143, 200, 287.(3) bAbAbAb; as in l . 2:-And yé schull' héer' a tálking.So also ll . 9, 17, 19 , 27 , 29, 32, 42, 61, 64.The above half-lines contain three accents; but four accentsoccur also, chiefly in the following types.(4) AbAbAb A; as in l. 120:-Gámelýn was wár anón.So also Il. 123, 135, 139, 252, 280, 282 , 306. Also ll. 199, 207,where Good-e marks the vocative case.(5) Ab AbAbAb; as in l. 34:-Bót' of bál-e gód may sénd-e.So also ll. 118, 336.(6) bAbAbAbA; as in 1. 6:—The éldest wás a móche schréw'.So also 11. 55 (neyh-e-bours having three syllables), 62, 80, 94, 96,99, 100, 107, 109, 125, 136, 153.

• • • Dd

402 SOURCES OF THE TALES.(7) bAbAbAbAb; as in ll. 31, 58:-And séyd-e, sír' , for góddes lóv-e.That was my fádres héritág-e.Most of the further variations are caused by the slurring of aslight syllable which is practically superfluous; or, on the otherhand, by the omission of an unaccented syllable where we shouldexpect to hear one. The former ofthese processes is simple andcommon. Thus, in 1. 18, we have:-To help-e délen his lóndes,where the two syllables italicised are run together, and the lineis really of the type no. 3.It is the other process, viz. the omission of an expected syllable,which jars so disagreeably on the modern ear; though common(as was said) in nursery rimes. Thus, in l. 23: —In 1. 41:-In 1. 68:-On his déth- bédd-e.Tho léet-e they the knight lý-en.And déyd-e whán tým- e cóm.These are of the types A b A A b (cf. no. 1 ); b AbabaAb(cf. no. 7 ); and bAbAAbA ( cf. no. 6); and were no doubtconsidered sufficiently good. The lilt of the verse carried thereciter along.The latter half-verse is usually of types ( 1 ), (2 ), or ( 3) , with threeaccents. Examples of ( 1 ) occur in 3 , 16, 17, 20, 41 , 50; of ( 2) ,in 1 , 7, 8, 26, 32; of ( 3 ) , in 10, 18, 19, 28, 39. But some occurof a still shorter type, viz. A b Ab A; as in—ón his fáir-e fél, 76;so also in 79, 107, 109, 128. When an unaccented syllable isdropped, we even find such lines as-sýk thér he láy, 11 (A AbA); sýk that he láy, 21 (the same); whán he good cówd-e, 48(AbAAb); he lay stóon-still-e, 67 (b AA Ab); and the like.Whether the number of accents in the second half-line was everdiminished to two, may be doubted. Rather we may supposethat, in reciting the lines slowly but emphatically, a fictitiousadditional accent was placed upon the italicised syllables in suchhalf-lines as-by sé-ÿnt¹ Mar-týn, 53; wálk-yng-e thár-e, 89; be¹ Se-ïnt seems to have been occasionally dissyllabic, as in Chaucer's Prologue,A 697.GROUP A. 403bét-en anón, 115; and árt so yíng, 148; a rám and a ríng, 172;to wénd-e ther-tó, 173. This slippery matter I leave to thereader's discretion.§ 32. An excellent critical examination of the Tale of Gamelyn,by E. Lindner, appeared in the Englische Studien, ed. E. Kölbing,vol. ii . pp. 94, 321 ( 1878). He made, however, the unluckymistake of confusing MS. Harl. 1758 with MS. Harl. 7334, notbeing aware that there are two copies of the poem in the Harleiancollection; thus unfortunately missing the readings of MS. Harl.7334, which is much the best copy, and would have solved someat least of his difficulties. Nevertheless, his article is highlyuseful, and I must refer the reader to it for further information.I here briefly note a few of his results.He remarks that Gamelyn was first composed for recitation;observe the frequent use of litheth, i . e. ' listen ye,' at the beginningof each section of the lay; see ll . 1 , 169, 289, 341 , 551, 769; cf.1. 615. For a comparison of Gamelyn with Lodge's novel called' Euphues golden Legacie ' (see § 34), he refers us to Delius'edition of Shakespeare, ii. 347 ( 1872). At p. 101, he gives acomplete Rime-index to the whole poem, and at p. 107 noticessome false rimes. The rimes (he says) are chiefly of the mostordinary character, and the poem is very inartificial; see, e. g. ,11. 135-8, 261-270, 315-8, 529-534, 649-652, 729-732, 811-4;&c. The author constantly repeats himself; note the repetition ofsore, 10, 11; for to dele, 42, 43; 11. 72, 73; 85-6, compared with97-8; al that myfader me biquath, 99, 157, 160, 360; 120-1;149, 150, compared with 151-4; 190-1 , &c. Short expressionsor ' tags ' occur over and over again; as ther he lay, 11 , 21 , 25,33, 50, 52, 66; Cristes curs mot he have, 106, 114, 116, 818;by Cristes ore, 139, 159, 231 , 323; he began to goon, 126, 220,236, 498; evel mot ye thee, 131, 363, 448, 720; cf. 379, 413, 517;whyl he was on lyve, 20, 58, 157, 225 , 228. There are frequentexamples of alliteration , as litheth and lesteneth, 1; bote of bale,32, 34; stondeth alle stille, 55; stoon-stille, 67 , &c.; more examplescan easily be found. We also find repetitions of ideas, the latterpart of the verse merely reproducing the former, as in 107, 174,217, 221 , 381 , 699, 732. At p. 324, is an analysis of some of thelooser rimes. At p. 328, is an analysis of the grammatical formsand of the varieties of spelling. At p. 113, Lindner is inclinedto connect the story with the time of Fulke Fitz Warin, i . e.Dd 2404 SOURCES OF THE TALES.with the time of King John¹; see Ten Brink, Early Eng.Literature (English version), p. 149. At p. 321 , he says that thedescription of Gamelyn's brother's house, with its hall-door (461 ),outer gate (286) , postern-gate ( 589) , bower ( 405) , &c. , suits thedescription of an Anglo-Norman manor-house of the thirteenth 2century; see T. Wright, A History of English Culture, London,1874. The father of the hero was evidently a Norman knight;cf. l. 108.§ 33. Little need be said of previous editions of the Tale ofGamelyn. It was first printed, in a worthless text, with capriciousalterations, by Urry, in 1721. But in 1847, Mr. T. Wrightprinted it for the Percy Society, from the best text, viz. thatin MS. Harl. 7334; yet he, somewhat carelessly, omitted threelines ( 563, 601, 602). This was reprinted in Bell's Chaucer, withthe omission of the same three lines. In Morris's Chaucer, thethree missing lines are restored; but in some other places, theedition follows Mr. Wright's text rather than the MS. Dr. Furnivall's Six-text edition contains the text of six other MSS.;he purposely omitted MS. Harl. 7334, on the ground that it wasalready in type; whence Lindner's very natural mistake. I havethus had the great advantage of collating the readings of MS.Harl. 7334 with those of six other MSS. , to the improvement ofthe text as a whole. All the copies go back to one original;the second best copy is in the Corpus MS. , from which theLansdowne MS. does not greatly vary. The other MSS. giveinferior readings, the Sloane MS. being the worst. For furtherparticulars, I refer the reader to the Notes in vol. v.; and tothe somewhat fuller account in my separate edition of the Taleof Gamelyn, published at Oxford in 1884.$ 34. Long before the Tale of Gamelyn first appeared in print,a MS. copy was consulted by Thomas Lodge, who founded uponit part of a prose story, which was afterwards printed at Londonin 1592 with the title: ' Euphues golden Legacie, found afterhis death in his Cell at Silexedra, bequeathed to PhilavtusSonnes, nvrsed vp with their Father in England.' Of thisnovel there is a convenient reprint in Shakespeare's Library, ed.This may be true of some of the traditions embodied in the story; but aswe have it, the date is much later.2 Or ofthe fourteenth century; they did not much vary.3 Reprinted in Chalmers' English Poets, i . 607 ( 1810) .GROUP B. 405W. C. Hazlitt, vol. ii. An analysis of this story, comparing it with'Gamelyn,' is given in my separate edition already referred to;and copious extracts from it are given by Mr. W. Aldis Wright inhis Introduction to his edition of As you Like It. The result isinteresting; for it is abundantly clear that this play of Shakespeare's is founded upon Lodge's novel, and that Lodge's novel isa re-cast ofthe Tale of Gamelyn.I must not omit to add that I am under considerable obligationto an excellent article on Gamelyn by Prof. Zupitza, which appearedin the Jahrbuch der deutschen Shakespeare-Gesellschaft, vol. xxi.p. 69 (Weimar, 1886).GROUP B.§ 35. THE WORDS OF THE HOST TO THE COMPANY. Group Aterminates abruptly, and is wholly unconnected with all thatfollows. Group B introduces us to a new Fragment, longer andmore complete than any other in the Series. The Man of Lawe,the Shipman, the Prioresse, the Poet himself, the Monk, andthe Nun's Priest, follow each other in unbroken succession; theonly hitch being in the connexion between the Man of Laweand the Shipman, which is explained in its due place. TheGroup is incomplete, rather at the beginning than at the end;see above.The opening passage (B 1-98) is of considerable importance,as it contains the line (1. 5) which gives the date, viz. April 18, ofone of the days of the pilgrimage, and the statement, that on thatday the sun's altitude was 45 degrees at 10 A.M. ( B 12-14); andfurther, because it gives a list of the Tales which Chaucer meantto include in his Legend of Good Women, in order to completeit, though this, after all, was left undone. These points are discussed in the Notes to B 3 and B 61 , which see. In 11. 78 and81, it has usually been supposed (and probably with justice)that Chaucer is referring to Gower's Confessio Amantis, inasmuchas Gower actually gives the stories of Canacee and Apollonius.As this is a point of some difficulty (for it cannot be settledwithout carefully considering the dates at which Chaucer's Manof Lawes Tale and Gower's long poem were, respectively, written),it is again considered below, in the remarks upon the Taleitself.The reference (in B 61 ) to the Legend of Good Women shews406SOURCESOF THETALES.Thisthat these ' Wordes of the Host ' were written after 1385, butbefore the idea of continuing the Legend had been definitelyabandoned, as, in course of time, was certainly the case.will suit very well with the supposed date of 1387, which,from other considerations, is probably the correct one; see§ 3, above, p. 374.The reference in 1. 96 -' I speke in prose ' -looks, at the firstglance, as if Chaucer had originally intended to assign a proseTale to the Man of Lawe; and indeed, the Tale of Melibeuswould have suited him well enough, for Albertano of Brescia,its real author, was actually bred up to the law. As it stands,I take it to mean that speke is here used in a technical sensei. e. I am accustomed, in the law-courts, to speak in prose ' ,whereas riming is Chaucer's business; if then, I tell a tale inmy ordinary manner, it will, as compared with his manner, seemlike ' baked haws ' as compared with excellent fare. We mayeven suppose it to be feigned that the Man of Lawe did really,at the time, relate the story in prose, on the understanding thatChaucer might versify it afterwards: ' lat him rymes make,'i.e. let him make verse of it . This is a natural interpretationto put upon the matter; moreover, it left Chaucer free, after all, totell the story after his own fashion, and even to insert, as weshall soon see, a portion of one of his own early translationsinto various parts both of the Prologue and of the Tale.We may also observe the great skill with which Chaucer evadesthe difficulty of assigning to the Man of Law a Tale which is notparticularly suited for him. The speaker says below (B 131) thatit is not a tale of his own, but was ' taught ' him by ' a marchaunt.'Accordingly, in B 135, we learn that the Tale came originallyfrom some Syrian ' chapmen,' who learnt it when sojourning inRome (148). It thus becomes, as it were, a merchant's Tale.The apostrophe addressed to Poverty, in l. 99-121 (reallytaken from one of Chaucer's own poems, as shewn in § 36), isby no means out of place; for it leads up to the mention of the' rich merchants ' in l . 122 , who toil to avoid it. And it is to oneof these that the Tale is supposed to be due.§ 36. THE MAN OF LAW'S PROLOGUE. This Prologue has a1 The objection is made that all people ' speak in prose '; but I thinkChaucer refers to something more rhetorical than ordinary conversation.GROUP B. 407peculiar and special interest, from the fact that, in the first threestanzas and part of the fourth (as well as in some stanzas of theTale), the poet has preserved for us a portion of one of his earlyworks. In ll . 414-5 of the older Prologue to the Legend of GoodWomen, Chaucer tells us that he not only translated Boece inprose, but also (the piece called ) ' Of the Wreched Engendring ofMankinde, As man may in Pope Innocent y-finde '; i . e. thetreatise by Innocent, afterwards Pope Innocent III. , entitled DeContemptu Mundi sive de Miseria Conditionis Humanae. In thepresent passage (B 99-111 ), we have a portion of this same treatisein a verse form, as becomes evident upon comparison. This interesting discovery was first made by Prof. Lounsbury, andannounced in the 'Nation ' (an American journal) for July, 1889;and soon after (quite independently, as I have reason to know,and as Prof. Lounsbury very properly acknowledges) by Dr. E.Köppel, in an article contributed to the ' Archiv für das Studiumder Neueren Sprachen und Litteraturen,' vol. 84, ( 1890) , p. 405.See Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer, ii . 333. Neither does thepresent passage exhaust this source; for there are yet four morestanzas inserted in the Tale itself, which really belong to thesame treatise. These passages being all of high interest, owing tothe peculiar use made of them by Chaucer, the original Latin ishere given.(a) B 99-121 . The original is from De Cont. Mundi, lib. 1 .cap. 16. Pauperes enim premuntur inedia, cruciantur aerumna,fame, siti, frigore, nuditate: uilesc*nt, tabesc*nt, spernuntur, etconfunduntur. O miserabilis mendicantis condicio; et si petit,pudore confunditur; et si non petit, egestate consumitur, sed utmendicet, necessitate compellitur.(106) Deum causatur iniquum, quod non recte diuidat; proximum criminatur malignum, quod non plene subueniat. Indignatur, murmurat, imprecatur.(113 ) Aduerte super hoc sententiam Sapientis: Melius est, inquit, mori quam indigere [ Ecclus. xl. 28] . Etiam proximo suopauper odiosus erit [Prov. xiv. 20] . Omnes dies pauperis mali,[Prov. xv. 15 ]-(120) fratres hominis pauperis oderunt eum.procul recesserunt ab eo ' [ Prov. xix. 7.]Insuper et amici(6) B 421-427. From De Cont. Mundi, lib. i. cap. 23; headedDe Inopinato Dolore. ' Semper enim mundanae laetitiae tristitia408SOURCESOF THETALES.repentina succedit. Et quod incipit a gaudio, desinit in moerore.Mundana quippe felicitas multis amaritudinibus est respersa.Nouerat hoc qui dixerat: Risus dolore miscebitur, et extremagaudii luctus occupat [ Prov. xiv. 13] ... Attende salubre consilium: In die bonorum, non immemor sis malorum ' [cf. Eccles.vii. 14; xi. 8].(c) B 771-7. From De Cont. Mundi, lib. ii . c. 19; DeEbrietate. ' Quid turpius ebrioso? cui fetor in ore, tremor in corpore, qui promittit multa, promit occulta, cui mens alienatur,facies transformatur? Nullum enim secretum ubi regnat ebrietas '[Prov. xxxi. 4; in the Vulgate].(d) B 925-931. From De Cont. Mundi, lib. ii . c. 21. 'Oextrema libidinis turpitudo, quae non solum mentem effeminat,sed etiam corpus eneruat; non solum maculat animam, sed foedatpersonam .'(e) B 1134-1141 . From De Cont. Mundi, lib. i . c. 22; DeBreui Laetitia Hominis. ' A mane usque ad uesperam mutabiturtempus [ Ecclus. xviii. 26 ] ... Quis unquam uel unicum diem totumduxit in sua delectatione iucundum, quem in aliqua parte dieireatus conscientiae, uel impetus irae, uel motus concupiscentiaenon turbauerit? Quem liuor inuidiae uel ardor auaritiae, ueltumor superbiae non uexauerit? Quem aliqua iactura, uel offensa,uel passio non commouerit? 'It thus becomes evident that this Prologue is closely related tothe inserted stanzas in B 421-7, 771-7, 925-31, and 1135-41.All of these insertions are, in fact, digressions, and have nothingto do with the story. I conclude that the Prologue and the fourinserted stanzas were placed where they now are at the time oftherevision of what was once an independent tale, written at an earlierperiod, viz. before 1385, and probably about 1380. The poem'Of the Wrecched Engendring of Mankinde ' was in existence stillearlier. Observe further, that lines 131-3 may be taken to mean,in plain English, that ' I, the poet, should be in want of a Tale toinsert here, and should have to write one for the occasion, only Ihappen, by good fortune, to have one by me which will do verywell.' Thus the obliging ' Merchant ' who ' taught ' Chaucer theMan of Lawes Tale was his industrious younger self. The word'Merchant ' clearly refers to the chapmen or merchants mentionedin B 135, 148, 153, who are supposed to have picked up the story,as has been already said (§ 35) .GROUP B. 409§ 37. THE MAN OF LAWES TALE. The Words of the Host andthe Prologue together contain 133 lines, so that the Tale itselfbegins with 1. 134. We can easily see, from the style and by themetrical form, that this Tale is a piece of Chaucer's early workmanship, and was revised for insertion among the Tales, with theaddition of a Prologue and four stanzas¹, about 1387 .Tyrwhitt has drawn attention to the fact that a story, closelyagreeing with the Man of Lawes Tale, is found in Gower'sConfessio Amantis, Book II ( ed. Pauli, i . 179-213). The expression ' som men wolde seyn, ' in 11. 1009 and 1086, led him tosuppose that Chaucer took the story from Gower; but thisexpression can be otherwise explained (see notes to the lines) ,and the borrowing seems to have been the other way, as willappear if the question be handled with the necessary care.Before comparing Chaucer's Tale with Gower's, it is first ofall necessary to observe that, for the most part, they drew theirmaterials from a common source; a fact which has been completely proved by Lücke , who clearly shews that each of the poetspreserves details which the other omits. Their common originalis found in the Life of Constance, as narrated in the AngloNorman Chronicle of Nicholas Trivet, written about A. D. 1334.Mr. Thomas Wright, in his edition of the Canterbury Tales, pointedout that Trivet's Chronicle contains the original of the story astold by Gower. That it also contains the original of the storyas told by Chaucer is evident from the publications of theChaucer Society. Trivet's version of the story was edited for thatSociety by Mr. Brock in 1872, with an English translation, and acareful line-by- line analysis of it, shewing clearly the exact extentto which Chaucer followed his original. The name of the publication is ' Originals and Analogues ofsome of Chaucer's CanterburyTales, ' published for the Chaucer Society; Part I, 1872; Part II,1875. To this I am indebted for much of the information heregiven . It appears that Nicholas Trivet was an English Dominicanfriar, who died some time after 1334. A short account of him inAll adapted from his early work, Of the Wretched Engendring of Mankinde; see p. 407. The four stanzas are: B 421-7, 771-7, 925–31 , and1135-41.2 Chaucer is, in fact, alluding to Trivet.In Anglia, xiv. 77-122, 147-185.

• Isometimes copy Mr. Brock's very words.

410 SOURCES OF THE TALES.Latin, with a list of works ascribed to him, is to be found in Quetifand Echard's Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum ' , tom. i. pp. 561-565; and a notice in English of his life and some of his works, inthe Preface to T. Hog's edition of Trivet's Annales. Mr. Brocknotices eighteen of his works, amongst which it will suffice tomention here (a) his Annales ab origine mundi ad Christum(Royal MS. 13 B. xvi, &c. ); (b) his Annales sex Regum Angliae,qui a comitibus Andegavensibus [counts of Anjou] originemtraxerunt (Arundel MSS. 46 and 220, Harl. MSS. 29 and 4322,&c. ); and (c) his Anglo- Norman Chronicle, quite a distinct workfrom the Latin Annales (MS. Arundel 56, &c.). Ofthe last thereare numerous copies, MS. Arundel 56 being one of the best, andtherefore selected to be printed from for the Chaucer Society.The heading runs thus:- ' Ci comence les Cronicles qe FrereNichol Trivet escript a dame Marie, la fille moun seignour le RoiEdward, le fitz Henri '; shewing that it was written for the princessMary, daughter of Edward I, born in 1278, who became a nun atAmesbury in 1285. The story of Constance begins on leaf 45,back. Gower follows Trivet rather closely, with but few omissions,and only one addition of any importance, about thirty lines long.'Chaucer tells the same story as Trivet, but tells it in his ownlanguage, and in much shorter compass. He omits little ornothing of importance, and alters only the details. . . . Chaucer'sadditions are many; of the 1029 lines of which the Tale consists,about 350 are Chaucer's additions. The passages are these:-11.190-203; 270-287; 295-315; 330-343; 351-71; 400–10; 421-7;449-62; 470-504; 631-58; 701-14; 771-84; 811-9; 825-68;925-45; 1037-43; 1052-78; 1132-41 ' (Brock).As to these additions, I have already shewn (in § 36) theorigin of ll . 421-7 , 771-7, 925-31 , and 1135-1141. It is worthnotice that the following passages have also very much theappearance of being added, by way of commentary, at the timeof revision; viz. 190-203, 295-315, 358-371 , 449-462, 631-658,701-714, 827-868. They form no essential part of the story,whilst, at the same time, some of them are of high excellence.Tyrwhitt pointed out that much the same story is to be foundin the Lay of Emarè ( MS. Cotton, Calig. A. ii, fol. 69), printed byRitson in the second volume of his Metrical Romances. He1 The Dominican friars were also called Friars Preachers.GROUP B. 411observes: ' The chief differences are, that Emarè is originallyexposed in a boat for refusing to comply with the desires of theEmperour her father; that she is driven on the coast of Galys, orWales, and married to the King of that country. The contrivancesof the step-mother, and the consequences of them, are the same inboth stories. ' In the Romance of Sir Eglamour (ThorntonRomances, ed. Halliwell, p. 154) , the heroine is sent to sea in aship by herself.Mr. Thomas Wright further observes: 'The treachery of KingElla's mother enters into the French Romance of the Chevalierau Cigne, and into the still more ancient Anglo- Saxon romance ofKing Offa, preserved in a Latin form by Matthew Paris. It is alsofound in the Italian collection, said to have been composed in1378, under the title of Il Pecorone di Ser Giovanni Fiorentino(an imitation of the Decameron) , gior. x. no. 1. The treason ofthe Knight who murders Hermengilde is an incident in the FrenchRoman de la Violette, and in the English metrical romance of LeBone Florence of Rome (printed in Ritson's collection ); and isfound in the English Gesta Romanorum, c. 69 ( ed. Madden) ' ,joined, in the latter place, with Constance's adventure with thesteward. It is also found in Vincent of Beauvais , and otherwriters.' The tale in the Gesta Romanorum is called ' Merelausthe Emperor ' (MS. Harl. 7333 , leaf 201 ) , and is printed in theOriginals and Analogues (Chaucer Society) , Part I, pp. 57–70.Mr. Furnivall adds ' This tale was versified by Occleve, whocalled Merelaus " Gerelaus; " and Warton quotes Occleve's linesdescribing how the "the feendly man" stabs the Earl's child,and then puts the bloody knife into the sleeping Empress'shand- For men shoulde have noon othir deemingBut she had gilty ben of this murdring.'See Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, ed. 1871 , i . 296.See the whole story in Hoccleve's Works, ed. Furnivall, p. 140.In the Originals and Analogues, Part I. pp. 71–84, is also printedan extract from Matthew Paris, Vita Offae Primi, ed. Wats, 1684,pp. 965-968, containing the story of 'King Offa's interceptedLetters and banished Queen.'1 Reprinted for the Early Eng. Text Soc. , ed. S. J. Herrtage, 1879; see pp.311, 493 of this edition.2 Warton gives the reference, viz. to his Speculum Historiale, lib. vii. c. 90,fol. 86 a.412 SOURCES OF THE TALES.Some account of Ser Giovanni is given in Dunlop's History ofFiction, 3rd ed. 1845, p. 247. He was a Florentine notary, whobegan his Tales in 1378, at a village in the neighbourhood ofForli. His work is called Il Pecorone, i. e. the Dunce, ' a titlewhich the author assumed, as some Italian academicians styledthemselves Insensati, Stolidi, &c. , appellations in which there wasnot always so much irony as they imagined. ' The first tale of thetenth Day is thus analysed by Dunlop: ' Story of the PrincessDenise of France, who, to avoid a disagreeable marriage with anold German prince, escapes in disguise to England, and is therereceived in a convent. The king, passing that way, falls in lovewith and espouses her. Afterwards, while he was engaged in awar in Scotland, his wife brings forth twins; but the queen-mothersends to acquaint her son that his spouse had given birth to twomonsters. In place of his majesty's answer, ordering them to benevertheless brought up with the utmost care, she substitutes amandate for their destruction, and also for that of the queen. Theperson to whom the execution of this command is entrusted,allows the queen to depart with her twins to Genoa. At the endofsome years she discovers her husband at Rome, on his way toa crusade; she there presents him with his children, and is broughtback with them in triumph to England. ' Dunlop points out thelikeness of this story to those told by Chaucer and Gower, mentionsthe Lay of Emarè, and adds: ' it is the subject, too, of a very oldFrench romance, published in 4to, without date, entitled LeRoman de la Belle Helene de Constantinople. There, as inEmarè, the heroine escapes to England to avoid a marriage, &c.At length she is ordered to be burnt, but is saved by the Duke ofGloster's niece kindly offering to personate her on that occasion. 'The story appears again in a collection of tales by Straparola,in the fourth tale of the first night; but Straparola merely borrowedit from Ser Giovanni. See Dunlop, Hist. Fiction, 3rd ed.p. 268.A very similar story is told in the Roman de la Manekine, byPhilippe de Reimes, edited by F. Michel for the BannatyneClub in 1840. For a brief analysis of this story, see BibliographiaBritannica Literaria (Anglo-Norman Period); by T. Wright,P. 344.Ten Brink bids us observe the strong Christian element in theoriginal story. Constance herself is almost a personification ofGROUP B. 413the Christian Church, afflicted and persecuted, but at lastvictorious.It occurs to me that Shakespeare, in delineating Imogen, did notforget Chaucer's portrait of Constance.§ 38. We must now compare Gower's version of this Tale withChaucer's, which at once raises the question as to priority of composition; and there can be little doubt that, as a matter of fact,Chaucer's story was written first. We must first of all notice thatboth stories really existed in two editions; and it is precisely thisfact that makes caution necessary. Most likely, Chaucer firstwrote his story about 1380 or even earlier, and revised it about1387. But meanwhile Gower had been busy with his ConfessioAmantis, which was certainly written before 1386, and seems tohave been in hand in 1382-5; see Dr. Pauli's preface to Gower,pp. xxviii, xxxii. It was revised, as Gower himself tells us, in thesixteenth year of king Richard II. , i . e. in 1392-3 . From this theorder of things readily appears, and may conveniently be tabulatedas follows:-(a) Chaucer's first edition; ab. 1380.(b) Gower's first edition; ab. 1382-5.(c) Chaucer's second edition; ab. 1387.(d) Gower's second edition; ab. 1393.We can hence understand what happened. After Chaucer hadwritten his story, he doubtless lent Gower, then his particularfriend, a copy. Gower took advantage of the occasion to introducesome expressions which certainly give the impression that hecopied them; for several of these verbal resemblances occur inplaces where there was little or nothing in the original to suggestthe phrases which he actually used. Lücke (in Anglia, xiv. 183)gives twenty- seven examples of this, and draws what is, in myopinion, the erroneous conclusion, that it was Chaucer who copiedGower; which seems like suggesting that Tennyson was capableof borrowing from Martin Tupper.We may readily understand that, if Chaucer observed this useof his work, it could not have given him much pleasure; andperhaps we may here see some reason for the seemingly undueasperity with which, in his revised edition, he refers to Gower'sperformance; see B 77-89, and the notes. On the other sideGower, who in his first edition, just near the end, had introduceda complimentary allusion to Chaucer, may well have thought fit to414 SOURCES OF THE TALES.suppress that passage in his revised copy, from which it is certainlyabsent. This seems to me to be the simplest solution of the factsas they stand.I here take occasion to give my proposed explanation of Gower'sreference to Chaucer in his first edition, where he puts into themouth of the goddess Venus the following words (ed. Pauli, iii.374):-' And grete wel Chaucer, whan ye mete,As my disciple and my poete.For, in the floures of his youthe,In sondry wyse, as he wel couthe,Of ditees and of songes glade,The which he for my sake made,The lond fulfild is overal;Wherof to him in specialAbove al other I am most holde.Forthy now, in his dayes olde,Thou shalt him telle this message,That he, upon his later age,To sette an ende of al his werke,As he, which is myn owne clerke,Do make his testament of love,As thou hast do thy shrifte above,So that my court it may recorde.'These lines are followed by a laudation of King Richard,which Gower afterwards conscientiously suppressed. The courseof events had shewn him that such praise was unfitting.I take it that these lines were written in 1385, at the very timewhen the author learnt that his friend Chaucer was at work upona new poem which he meant to be a great work, viz. the Legendof Good Women. This poem Venus might well claim as beingwritten by her own clerk, as a testament of love, containinglegacies of bright examples set by Love's martyrs; and, just asGower wrote his own poem as a ' shrift, ' Chaucer was writing hisas a ' penance ' ( Leg. Good Women, 491 ) at the command ofCupid (437, 548) , a command which was given at his court (352).Wecan readily understand how Venus could speak of Cupid's courtas being her own court; it makes no practical difference.It remains to shew (with Lücke) that Chaucer and Gower bothknew Trivet, and that Gower's language sometimes resemblesChaucer's rather than Trivet's.The former proposition Where Trivet says,is soon settled.' et ferri tiel coup en le haterel le feloun ' (p. 23, 1. 30), ChaucerGROUP B. 415has, ' A hand him smoot upon the nekke-bon ' (669); butGower omits to mention the ' nekke-bone, ' which translateshaterel. This shews that Chaucer used Trivet's text. On theother hand, Gower mentions Knaresburgh (i . 191 ), which he foundin Trivet, whilst Chaucer says nothing about it; see note toB 729.As to the instances in which one poet has copied the other,whilst at the same time Trivet does not suggest the phraseologywhich they employ, Lücke gives twenty-seven examples in Anglia,xiv. 183. Some of these are rather far-fetched and doubtful, andnot many of them are very clear; but their cumulative evidencesufficiently proves the fact. I shall only adduce the clearer cases.' Ch. ' means Chaucer, and ' G.' is Gower. I correct Pauli'sspelling.Ch. B 430-Ben al to-hewe and stiked at the bord.G. i. 182, l. 29:-Endlong the bord as they be set.Trivet merely says that they killed all the Christians.Ch. B 436:-That of the conseil of the sowdan woot.G. 182, 1. 25:-And alle tho, that hadden be ...Of counseil to the mariage.Trivet merely says-the other converts to the faith.Ch. B 438 (not in Trivet):—And Custance han they take anon, foot-hoot.G. 183, l. 15:-This olde fend, this SarazinLet take anon this Constantin.Ch. B 439-And in a shippe al sterelees, god woot.G. 183, 1. 19-A naked ship, withoute stere.This instance is the more remarkable because Trivet says, ' saunzsigle et sauntz neuiroun, ' i. e. without sail or oar, without anymention of the stere or rudder.416SOURCESOFTHETALES.Ch. B 535 (not in Trivet):-But Hermengild lovede hir right as hir lyf.G. 184, 1. 29: -Dame Hermegild . . .... liche her owne lyfConstance loveth.This, at any rate, is a clear case.Ch. B 562:-Dame Hermengild, yif me my sighte agayn.G. 185, ll . 13, 15: —O Hermegilde ... yif me my sighte.Trivet's expression is different, viz. ' Hermegild, .. I pray theeto make the sign of the rood on my blind eyes.'Ch. B 599:-Al softely is to the bed y-go.G.. 187, 1. 18:-And to the bed he stalketh stille.Trivet does not refer to this motion towards the bed; he merelysays that Constance and Hermegild were both in the same bed.Ch. B 620:-Berth hir on hand that she hath doon this thing.G. 188, 1. 15-Saith that Custance hath don this dede.Trivet puts it differently-' he heaped the death hugely on themaid.'Ch. B 685:-The king, and many another in that place,Converted was.G. 190, 1. 7:—The king, with many another mo,He cristned.It is remarkable that Trivet says that king Alle caused himselfto be baptized; there is not a word about others.Ch. B 721, 2:-She halt hir chambre, abyding Cristes wille.The tyme is come, a knave-child she ber.G. 191 , ll. 1-3: —The tyme set of kinde is come,This lady hath her chambre nome,And of a sone bore fulle, &c.A clear case; Trivet uses no such expressions.GROUP B. 417Ch. B 759:-But of his owene hond he wroot ageyn.G.193, 1. 3:-He wroot ayein.Here the French text has ' rescrit, ' wrote back.Ch. B 799:-But in the same ship as he hir fond.G. 194, 1. 11:-That ye the same ship vitaille,In which that she took arrivaille.A remarkable case; for Trivet makes it a new ship—' vne neef.'Ch. B 825:-kneling on the stronde (not in Trivet) .G. 195, 1. 7-Knelend upon her bare knee.Ch. B 916-Com into ship.G. 196, 1. 28:-cam to ship.Trivet uses the expression ' descendi, ' i. e. came down.Ch. B 1045:—Goth Alla, for to seen this wonder chaunce.G. 207, l . 23: —To see this Custe goth the king.Trivet has it differently.Ch. B 1093-The emperour hath graunted gentilly.G. 209, 1. 19:-This lord hath graunted his requeste.Taken altogether, these appropriations by Gower, though notin themselves very marked, must have been annoying to hisbrother-poet.It is worth while to notice that, in the three cases of the Wyfof Bathes Tale, the Phisiciens Tale, and the Maunciples Tale,Chaucer and Gower again tell the same stories; and thoughChaucer wrote at a later date, he certainly has not copied.$ 39. THE SHIPMAN'S PROLOGUE. This Prologue is assigned tothe Shipman in MS. Arch. Seld. only; see the footnote to B 1179.Ee418SOURCESOF THE TALES.MS. Harl. 3774 assigns it to the Sompnour; whilst very manyMSS. assign it to the Squire. The three chief MSS. (E., Hn. ,Cm. ) omit it altogether; from which we may perhaps infer thatit was a very late addition to the set of Tales.In order to exhibit the variations of the MSS. more clearly,Dr. Furnivall has printed this Prologue from no less than twentytwo MSS. , with the result that only one, viz. MS. Arch. Seld. above,rightly assigns it to the Shipman and, at the same time, places itafter the Man of Lawes Tale. Three of the MSS. , viz. Harl. 7334,Rawl. Misc. 1133 , and Royal 17 D. XV, assign it to the Sompnour, but they are all clearly wrong, because, notwithstanding thismention of the Sompnour, the Tale that follows is assigned,in the first, to the Wyf of Bathe, and, in the others, to theSquire! Eighteen of the MSS. assign this Prologue to the Squire,and insert his Tale after it. We may hence conclude that, insome early copies, a displacement of the Tales occurred at thispoint.But it is easy to see that MS. Arch. Seld. , the sole authorityfor the present arrangement, is here quite right '. The latter partof the Prologue (B 1178-90) is quite unsuited to the characterof the Squire, but in keeping with that of the Shipman. Further,the Squire has a Prologue of his own, though it is incomplete inthe sense that there is no indication whom the Squire is to follow(F 1-8). But the clearest proof that the author's latest intentionwas to place both the Shipman's Prologue and Tale precisely here,and nowhere else, appears from the following facts. First, we see,as above, that it is clearly a Shipman's Prologue, and thereforeprecedes the Shipman's Tale; whilst there is an obvious allusionin it to the Man of Lawes Tale as being the one which it mustneeds follow. The former of these points was seen by Tyrwhittlong ago; and he accordingly assigned this Prologue to the ShipThe latter point was made by Mr. Henry Bradshaw, whoconclusively shewed that no other arrangement would suit, bypointing to the author's own words. Thus, in B 46, the Man ofLawe says ' I can right now no thrifty tale seyn, ' and is inclinedman.1 I.e. it is the sole authority for placing both the Shipman's Prologue andhis Tale precisely here. At the same time, at least seventeen other MSS.make the Shipman's Prologue follow the Man of Law's Tale; only they turnit into a Prologue for the Sompnour or Squire.GROUP B. 419to be apologetic; but, after the tale is told, the Host is well pleased,and consoles him in express terms in the words ' This was athrifty tale forthe nones.' And, to put the matter beyond dispute,turns to the Persone, with the words-' I see wel that ye lerned menin lore,' meaning the Persone and the Man of Lawe. In mostMSS. , the Shipman's Tale follows the Pardoner's; which involvesthe difficulty of making the Host call the Pardoner ' a lerned manin lore.' The proof that this is the very last title the Host wouldhave bestowed on the Pardoner, is given in C 942-968, where theHost's contempt of the Pardoner is expressed in the strongestterms which he could command; and his capabilities of expressionwere considerable. Few happier hits have been made than theconvincing argument which we are glad to owe to Mr. Bradshaw,whose knowledge of Chaucer's text was believed by many scholarsto be without parallel.But the story of the Shipman's Prologue is not yet ended.Many scribes perceived how ill suited this Prologue was forfollowing the Pardoner's Tale, or the Cook's Tale, or the Tale ofGamelyn, which were the places it was sometimes made to occupy.In order to remedy this apparent defect, a spurious Shipman'sPrologue was concocted, consisting ofbut twelve lines. This is thePrologue given in the black-letter editions, which, in order to makethe true Shipman's Prologue do duty for a Squire's Prologue, actuallyresorted to the arbitrary process of suppressing the true Squire'sPrologue altogether! I here give this spurious Prologue, but intrue Chaucerian spelling, in order to shew more clearly how illsome of the lines scan. I follow mainly the Petworth MS. ,denoted by ' Pt. '; and give all the variations worth mentioning thatoccur in the other eight MSS. , viz. Roy. ( Royal 18 C ii), Sl. ( Sloane1685) , B. ( Barlow 20) , H. (Hatton 1 ) , M. ( Camb. Univ. Lib. Mm.2. 5), R. (Rawl. Poet. 149), L. (Laud 739), and I. (Camb. Univ.Lib. Ii. 3. 26) ¹.1SPURIOUS SHIPMAN'S PROLOGUE.'Now freendes,' seide our Host so dere,'How lyketh yow by Iohn the Pardonere?1. Now] Sl . How. 2. H. L. I. om. the. 4. Roy. B. H. told; rest tolde (! ) .5. of] H. of his; I. his. 6. good] Sl. H. M. goode; B. right goode.7. B. riatoures; H. M. R. Sl . riatours; L. ryotours; Pt. retourues (! ) .H. M. R. B. L. hertly; I. nowe hertely; Sl. om.9. Pt. Roy. R. I. good; rest gode (goode) .8. Roy.Pt. preye; rest pray (prey) .12. And] R. om.Ee 2420 SOURCES OF THE TALES.For he hath unbokeled wel the male;He hath us told right a thrifty tale,As touching of misgovernaunce.I prey to God, yeve him good chaunce,As ye han herd of thise ryotoures three.Now, gentil Mariner, hertely I preye thee,Tel us a good tale, and that right anon.'' It shal be doon, by God and by Seint Iohn,'Seide this Mariner, ' as wel as ever I can ':And right anon his tale he bigan.51012As to these lines, I will merely make the following remarks.Line I is too short by a whole foot; and so is 1. 5. Lines 8 and IIare somewhat too long. Line 4 will scan well, if we substitutetold-e for told, as some ofthe MSS. do; but, unfortunately, told-eis here an impossible form. Line 3 is imitated from A 3115; and1. 10 from B 1019. In 1. 7 , we must suppress of, in order to makethe line run well; only this destroys the sense. It is not easyto imitate Chaucer's language for twelve lines together, especiallywhen sense has to be regarded. Moreover, the way in which 1. 7is made to depend on 1. 6 is extremely awkward.In the true Prologue, the Shipman gives due notice that he isgoing to tell a ' merry, ' i . e. a licentious story; which he proceedsto do.$ 40. THE SHIPMANNES TALE. A similar Tale occurs inBoccaccio's Decamerone, Day 8, Nov. 1. The scene is laid inMilan; the husband is a rich merchant named GuasparruolCagastraccio; and his wife's name is Ambruogia. The gallant isGulfardo, a German, and not a priest. The sum borrowed is 200florins; which Gulfardo restores to the wife in the presence of awitness, so that she is obliged to admit its repayment. The placeto which the merchant goes, on a business errand, is Genoa.It is not at all likely that Chaucer took this from the Decamerone,which he seems never to have read. He probably found it insome French fabliau, and treated the story, as usual, so as tomake it all his own. In B 1404, we find the French phrase ' Quila?' The scene is laid near Paris, and France is speciallymentioned in B 1306, 1341 , 1384. The merchant's businesscalls him away to Bruges ( 1448).There is a curious difficulty in the opening lines of this Tale.The use of the words us (B 1202 , 1209) , we ( 1204), and our(1208), certainly shew that, in the first instance, this Tale wasGROUP B. 421meant to be told by a woman; and, obviously, by the Wyf ofBathe in particular ( cf. D 337-356). When Chaucer changed hismind, he forgot to make here the necessary corrections.'The same fable . . . is repeated by La Fontaine (Contes, ii . 9),in his usual forcible and witty way; but neither Boccaccio norLa Fontaine can vie with Chaucer's art.'-Ten Brink.§ 41. THE PRIORESS'S PROLOGUE. This Prologue requires noexplanation. The responsibility passes from the Shipman to thePrioress with perfect ease.$ 42. THE PRIORESSES TALE. The real Prologue to this Taleis contained in B 1637-1642. What is called, in MSS. E. and Hn. ,the Prologue is, more strictly, a Proem; and the Tale itself is,more strictly, a Legend, or (as the author calls it ) a ' song ';B 1677. The Legend, although in stanzas, is told with practisedskill, and probably belongs to the later period. The Proemresembles that to the Life of Seint Cecile, and contains a similarinvocation to the Virgin. The third stanza reminds us of onein the A. B. C., viz. that beginning with M. We may note theintroduction of the words ' quod she ' ( 1644), and the line ' Totelle a storie I wol do my labour ' ( 1653).The Tale itself is taken from a source similar to that of theLegend of Alphonsus of Lincoln, a story reprinted bythe ChaucerSociety from the Fortalitium Fidei; Lugdun. 1500, fol. ccviii.In another edition, printed in 1485, the Legend of Alphonsus issaid to have been composed in 1459, and it is stated to be thework of a Minorite friar, whose name, according to Hain andothers, was Alphonsus a Spina. The story is, that a widowresiding in Lincoln has a son named Alphonsus, ten years of age,who goes daily to school, singing ' Alma Redemptoris ' as hepasses through the street where the Jews dwell. One day theJews seize him, cut out his tongue, tear out his heart, and throwhis body into a filthy pit. But the Virgin appears to him, giveshim a precious stone in place of a tongue, and enables him to sing'Alma Redemptoris ' for four days. His mother seeks and findshim, and he is borne to the cathedral, still singing. The bishopcelebrates mass; the boy reveals the secret, resigns the preciousstone to the bishop, gives up the ghost, and is buried in a marbletomb. A similar legend is narrated concerning Hugh of Lincoln;see note to B 1874.In Originals and Analogues of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,422 SOURCES OF THE TALES.pt. iii. (Chaucer Soc. 1876) , is the story of the Paris Beggar-boymurdered by a Jew, printed from the Vernon MS. , leaf 123 , back.It is well told, and has some remarkable points of agreement withthe Prioresses Tale. It clearly identifies the hymn Alma Redemptoris Mater as agreeing with the second anthem mentioned inthe Note to B 1708, which is partly translated as follows: -'Godus Moder, mylde and clene,Heuene ate and sterre of se,Saue pi peple from synne and we' [ woe] .The same publication contains a similar story, in French verse,of a boy killed by a Jew for singing ' Gaude Maria '; from MS.Harl. 4401. The author was Gautier de Poincy.Tyrwhitt's account of the Prioresses Tale is as follows: ' Thetransition from the Tale of the Shipman to that of the Prioresseis happily managed. I have not been able to discover from whatLegende ofthe Miracles of Our Lady the Prioresses Tale is taken.From the scene being laid in Asia, it should seem, that this wasone of the oldest of the many stories which have been propagated,at different times, to excite or justify several merciless persecutionsof the Jews, upon the charge of murthering Christian children.The story of Hugh of Lincoln, which is mentioned in the laststanza, is placed by Matthew Paris under the year 1255. In thefirst four months of the Acta Sanctorum by Bollandus, I find thefollowing names of children canonized, as having been murtheredby Jews: xxv Mart. Willielmus Norvicensis, 1144; Richardus,Parisiis, 1179; xvii Apr. Rudolphus, Bernae, 1287; Wernerus,Wesaliae, anno eodem; Albertus, Poloniae, 1598. I suppose theremaining eight months would furnish at least as many more.See a Scottish Ballad (Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry, i. 32)upon one of these supposed murthers. The editor [ Percy] hasvery ingeniously conjectured that " Mirryland " in verse 1 is acorruption of " Milan. " Perhaps the real occasion of the Balladmay have been what is said to have happened at Trent, in 1475,to a boy called Simon. The Cardinal Hadrian, about fifty yearsafter, mentioning the Rocks of Trent, adds " quo Iudaei obSimonis caedem ne aspirare quidem audent; " Praef. ad librum deSerm. Lat. The change of the name in the Song, from Simon toHugh, is natural enough in this country, where similar stories ofHugh of Norwich and Hugh of Lincoln had been long current.'The Ballad alluded to is called ' The Jew's Daughter ' by Percy,GROUP B. 423and is to the effect that a boy named Hugh was enticed to playand then stabbed by a Jew's daughter, who threw him into a drawwell. His mother, Lady Helen, finds him by hearing his voice.For ' Hugh of Norwich, ' as mentioned by Tyrwhitt, we shouldread 'William of Norwich.' His story is given in the Anglo- SaxonChronicle, under the date 1137 , on which Prof. Earle remarks-' St. William seems to have retained his celebrity down to the timeof the reformation, at least in Norfolk. In Loddon church, whichis advanced perpendicular of about 1500, there is a painting ofhis crucifixion on a panel of the rood-screen, still in fair preservation.' A wood engraving of this picture is given on the samepage (A. S. Chron. , ed. Earle, p. 371 ). As to the cruel treatmentof the Jews, see the note on ' The Jews in England ' in Annals ofEngland, p. 162.I may add that the story of Hugh of Lincoln, and a picture ofthe martyrdom of Simon at Trent, are given in an excellentchapter in Manners, Customs, and Dress, during the Middle Ages,by P. Lacroix, pp. 434-455.A modernised version of the Prioresses Tale will be foundamong Wordsworth's Poems. It can hardly be said to be satisfactory; and the language of the original is, for the most part, sosimple that the attempt to modernise it was a needless task. Theold idea, that the attempt to read Chaucer in the original requiresalmost superhuman ability, will, I hope, soon be a thing of thepast. As a matter of fact, his language is easier than that ofHomer or Vergil; and Englishmen are already ceasing to be overpowered by a dread of learning facts that concern their ownlanguage.$ 43. PROLOGUE TO SIR THOPAS. This passage, like thePrologues in rimed couplets, evidently belongs to the late period;we recognise here some of the author's best work. Notice, inparticular, his description of himself.§ 44. SIR THOPAS. Judging by the rhythm-test, this might beof early workmanship; but judging by the language, it is late.Like the exceptional Tale last discussed, it probably belongs tothe late period, although not written in rimed couplets. Tyrwhitt'sestimate of it is judicious and correct. He says ' The Rime ofSir Thopas was clearly intended to ridicule the "palpable gross "fictions of the common Rimers of that age, and still more,perhaps, the meanness of their language and versification. It is424 SOURCES OF THE TALES.full of phrases taken from Isumbras, Li Beaus Desconus, andother Romances in the same style, which are still extant. . . . Forthe more complete reprobation of this species of Riming, even theHost, who is not to be suspected of too refined a taste, is made tocry out against it, and to cut short Sire Thopas in the midst of hisadventures. Chaucer has nothing to say for his Rime, but that"it is the best he can " ( B 2118) , and readily consents to tellanother Tale; but having just laughed so freely at the bad poetryof his time, he might think it, perhaps, too invidious to exhibit aspecimen of better in his own person, and therefore his other Taleis in prose, a mere translation from Le Livre de Melibee et de damePrudence, of which several copies are still preserved in MS. [Seep. 426]. It is in truth, as he calls it, "a moral tale vertuous," andwas probably much esteemed in its time; but in this age of levity,I doubt some readers will be apt to regret that he did not rathergive us the remainder of Sire Thopas. 'Sir Thopas is admittedly a burlesque, and several of the passagesimitated are quoted in the Notes; but I cannot quite resist thesuspicion that Chaucer may himself, in his youth, have tried hishand at such romance-writing in all seriousness, but lived to havea good-humoured laugh even in some degree at his own expense;and he seems as if endeavouring to make his readers feel that theycould wish there was somewhat more of it. Yet we cannot butallow that to'Praise syr Topas for a noble tale,And scorne the story that the Knight told'is much the same as to'say that PanPasseth Appollo in musike manifold,'as Sir Thomas Wiat has remarked in his second satire. It maybe added that the usual metrical laws are not quite strictly observedin this Tale.A dissertation on Sir Thopas by C. J. Bennewitz, of Magdeburg,appeared at Halle, 1879, with some useful notes; and a stillfuller and more elaborate article, by Prof. E. Kölbing, will befound in the Englische Studien, xi. 495. In the latter especially,a large number of parallel passages are pointed out, some ofwhich will be found in the Notes. Chaucer has seized thecharacteristics of the Romance-writers so well, that it would bean endless task to exhibit all his imitations. Some of theGROUP B. 425peculiarities of our old minstrels are well noted by Bennewitz.For example, they usually begin by requesting the companyto listen (B 1902, 2083). They revel in similes (B 1915-7,1920) . They often divide their poems into cantos, each of whichwas called ' a fit ' (B 2078) . Sometimes they give us lists ofheroes, as at the beginning of Richard Coer de Lion (B 2088-2090); and a description of the particular hero of the romance(B 1914). They are very fond of hideous giants (B 1997), andof fairies (B 1978, 1992); and, of course, the heroes are continually riding up and down in quest of some adventure (B 1988).Of course, we expect occasional mention of the singing of birds(B 1956); of the springing of herbs ( B 1950); and of instrumentsof music (B 2005) . The knight's steed is often over-ridden(B 1965); and the knight himself must be consumed by lovelonging (B 1975).It is delightful to observe how Chaucer contrives, often bya mere word, to give the story a ludicrous turn, as in 1919-' Hehadde a semely nose.' The hero's face is not, as usual, as white' as a lyly,' but as white ' as payndemayn, ' i . e. the finest bread(1915). His complexion was like ' scarlet in grain, ' i . e. it wouldnot wash out ( 1917) . Among the wild beasts of the forest areboth ' bukke and hare' (1946). Among the growing herbs heenumerates nutmeg ' to putte in ale ' ( 1953 ); and so on. Themost curious example of this kind of humour appears in thebehaviour of the knight when attacked by the giant; he quietlymakes his escape, on the plea that he will return next day; andthis evasion of present battle is attributed to God's grace, andto his own ' fair beringe ' ( 2022). It is needless to give furtherinstances.Prof. Kölbing bids us observe the varieties in the metre; itwould seem that Chaucer deliberately intended to exhibit themost characteristic forms of the romantic stanza; for in fivecases his examples are unique. The varieties are eight in all.Examples of these variable stanzas are as follows. ( 1 ) Stanzaswith the rimes aabccb (2017). (2) Rimes aabaab ( 1914). (3)Rimes aabaab, ccbccb, i. e. two stanzas with the same middleand final rimes ( 1902-13) . (4) A stanza with the rimes aabybbg,where y denotes a line with but one accent, riming with the linedenoted byg ( 1980). (5) A stanza of ten lines, aabccbyddg ( 2071).(6) Astanza of 10 lines, aabaabyccg( 1997). (7 ) Astanza of 10 lines,426SOURCESOF THE TALES.aabaabyaag (1987). (8) A stanza of ten lines, aabccbyccg (2007).The use of short lines, with but one accent, as in 1983, is offrequent occurrence in romances; for examples, see Sir Gawayneand the Grene Knight, ed. Morris; Sir Tristrem, ed. McNeill(Scottish Text Soc. ); The Pistill of Susan, in Scottish Allit.Poems, ed. Amours (id. ); and cf. York Plays, ed. Miss T. Smith,p. 359, &c. In Sir Beves of Hamptoun, ed. Kölbing, we find astanza with the rimes aabccb, followed by one with the rimesaabaab (11. 55-60, 61–66).§ 45. PROLOGUE TO MELIBEUS. When the Host suddenly cutsshort the Tale of Sir Thopas, Chaucer takes refuge in prose.The Tale of Melibeus is one which we should now deem portentously dull; but his hearers were, we must suppose, highlyinterested in listening to the various arguments used by Melibeusand his wife Prudence as to their proper course of action.Indeed, the Host highly approves of it, and thinks it wouldhave tended to his own wife's edification. Chaucer also, forhis part, undertakes the Tale as a solemn task, begging pardonbeforehand for any variation he may make from the true andexact version (B 2131) .§ 46. THE TALE OF MELIBEUS. This prose story is merelya translation, and not always an exact one, of a French treatiseentitled Le Livre de Melibee et de dame Prudence, of whichthere are two MS. copies in the British Museum, viz. MSS. Royal19 C. vii, and 19 C. xi. Tyrwhitt also tells us that Dufresnoy, inhis Bibliothèque des Romans, ii . 248, mentions two copies inverse, in the Bibliothèque Seguier. Le Livre de Melibee islikewise not an original work, but an adaptation, with someomissions and alterations, probably made by Jean de Meun,of a treatise in Latin, viz. the Liber Consolationis et Consiliiof Albertano of Brescia. This work was admirably edited forthe Chaucer Society in 1873 by Thor Sundby, who took muchpains to trace out the originals of the numerous quotations withwhich the work abounds; and I am much indebted to him formy Notes. (We are bidden to observe that there also existsa second version in French prose, by an anonymous author, ofa much more literal character, which is still unprinted. ) Jeande Meun's version was first printed, separately, at the end of thefifteenth century; again, in 1504, together with the Frenchtranslation of the Solatium Ludi Scachorum by Jacques deGROUP B. 427Cessoles; and lastly, it appears in the Ménagier de Paris, anearly work on domestic economy which has been lately publishedby the Société des Bibliophiles Français. Chaucer's version isfrom Jean de Meun. Of course, the Latin original is the ultimateauthority in difficult or corrupt passages; on which account itis often cited in the Notes. I have there given some curiousexamples of mistranslation or corruption of the text.Albertano, born about 1192, was a judge at Brescia in Lombardy(not far west of the Lago di Garda), and died soon after 1250.He is an author of some importance to the Chaucer-student,as the poet refers to no less than three of his works. These are:(1 ) Liber Consolationis et Consilii (as above), completed in May,1246; ( 2 ) De Arte Loquendi et Tacendi, cited in the Notesto the Maunciples Tale; and ( 3) De Amore et Dilectione Dei,written in 1238, cited in the Notes to the Marchantes Tale.§ 47. THE MONK'S PROLOGUE. This Prologue connects Melibeus with the Monkes Tale. It contains a contribution to theexhibition of the Host's true character. In B 3116, we are toldthat the pilgrims are drawing near to Rochester. The Hostthen calls upon the Monk for a Tale, who replies that he caneasily relate the Life of Saint Edward, but they would probablyprefer to hear a few Tragedies about the downfall ofsome illustriouspersons.$ 48. THE MONKES TALE. Judged by the rhythm, this Talemight belong to the early period. The subject-matter shews, however,that is was probably written at different times, part of it at an earlyperiod, and part at the period of revision . It can hardly be called,in strictness, a tale at all, but consists of a whole series of them,and has all the appearance ofhaving been originally an independentwork, which Chaucer had at one time begun, but, in his accustomedmanner, had left a little less than half finished. It is formed onthe model of Boccaccio's book De Casibus Virorum Illustrium , thetitle of which is actually retained in the rubric printed at p. 244 ofvol. iv. The manner in which the poet contrives to assign this stringof tragedies to the monk is highly ingenious. The Host expects tohear rather a merry and lively story from the jovial and corpulentMonk, and rallies him upon his sleek appearance; but the Monk,taking all in patience, volunteers either the Life of Saint Edwardthe Confessor or else a few of his ' hundred ' tragedies; and then,fearful of interruption, proceeds to define the word Tragedy, and428SOURCESOFTHETALES.to start off before any of the pilgrims have had time to offer anyopinion upon the matter. He also offers an apology for nottelling all his stories in strictly chronological order. This apologyis the real key to the whole matter. We may well believe that,whilst the collection of tragedies was still an independent work,the arrangement was strictly chronological, or was intended tohave been made such when the work was completed. Such wasthe usual formula; and accordingly the author begins, in the mostapproved fashion, with Lucifer, and then duly proceeds to Adamand all the rest. But as, in the course of composition, he wouldnaturally first write such lives as most pleased him, and by nomeans succeeding in writing anything like a complete collectionfor out of the ' hundred ' that existed ' in his cell'¹ he producedonly seventeen in all-it clearly became his simplest plan to givespecimens only, and to abandon the chronological arrangement asno longer necessary. Yet it is worth remarking that the tragediesare more clearly in chronological order than may at first sightappear. Ifthey be compared with such a book as Peter Comestor'sHistoria Scholastica, we shall see this the better. Peter Comestortakes the Bible as the foundation of his history, noticing secularhistory as he goes on. We thus find a mention of Hercules inthe time of Jephthah, judge of Israel. Strictly, then, Herculesshould precede Samson; but as they come so near together, thescriptural character takes precedence. Again, the tragedies ofAntiochus and Alexander both belong, in this way, to the firstbook of Maccabees, and therefore come next after the tragedy ofHolofernes, which belongs to the book of Judith. Here, again,Alexander should, in strictness, precede Antiochus, but this consideration is overridden by the fitness of coupling Antiochus withHolofernes, and Alexander with Caesar. Allowing, then, thatSamson may precede Hercules, and that Antiochus may precedeAlexander, we may divide the whole series into six groups, asfollows: (a) Lucifer, Adam, Samson, Hercules, Nebuchadnezzar,Belshazzar; (e) Zenobia; (f)³ Pedro of Spain, Pedro of Cyprus,Barnabo, Ugolino; (d) Nero; (c) Holofernes, Antiochus,¹ The Monk's cell is mentioned in the Prologue, 1. 172; Chaucer's was his' celle fantastyk '; Kn. Ta. 518 (A 1376) .2 I put (e) , not (b) , in order to show the chronological order, which is that ofthe letters, a, b, c, d, e, f.The group (ƒ) has nothing to do with (e): as will appear.GROUP B. 429Alexander, Caesar; and (6) Croesus. This grouping is far moresuggestive than might be expected, for it throws some additionallight upon the matter, if duly considered. In the first place,group (f) consists wholly of what have been called ' moderninstances,' as referring to matters that happened in Chaucer's owntime, instead of containing examples from ancient history; threeof the four are remarkably short, and all four only make up elevenstanzas. One of them, the tragedy of Barnabo, contains thelatest allusion in the whole of the Canterbury Tales, as it hasreference to the year 1385, the probable date of the Prologue tothe Legend of Good Women. The difference in style betweenthe tragedy of Ugolino and such a tragedy as that of Samson orHercules, must strike the most careless reader; and it is easy tosee that this group (ƒ) was an afterthought, being a piece addedat the period of revision. So much we can tell from internalevidence, but the fact is curiously corroborated by evidence thatis external. For of course, if the poet added a few tragedies as anafterthought, he would naturally add them at the end; and it isaccordingly a fact that in several good MSS. , including theEllesmere, the Hengwrt, and the Cambridge MSS. , this group isplaced at the end, after the tragedy of Croesus. But Chaucer'sapology for want of order left him free to insert them where hepleased; and he was accordingly pleased to put them in the orderin which they appear in the present edition, which follows thearrangement of the Harleian, Corpus, Petworth, and LansdowneMSS. That this removal of group (ƒ) from the end to an earlierplace is in accordance with the author's latest intention, is provedby observing that the tragedy of Croesus must come last: (1)because it repeats, in the last stanza, the monk's previous definitionof tragedy, a repetition of which the Knight does not approve,and takes occasion to say so ( B 3961 ); and (2 ) because theHost also quotes from this last stanza, and ridicules the expressionabout Fortune ' covering things with a cloud '; see B 3956, 3972.But we may, with patience, learn a few things more from thegrouping of the tragedies. Putting aside group (ƒ) as an additionat the time of revision, we may note that group ( e) follows ( a), forthe simple reason that the story of Zenobia is in Boccaccio, whomChaucer was imitating. We then have only groups (d), (c), and (b)to consider, and we notice at once that Chaucer has purposelysomewhat mixed up these; for, ifwe merely transpose ( d) and (c),430 SOURCES OF THE TALES.we bring the tragedy of Nero next that of Croesus, and immediately preceding it. That is the original order of things, sincethe stories of Nero and Croesus are both taken from the Romauntof the Rose, where they appear together, and Nero precededCroesus in Chaucer's work as a matter of course, because his storypreceded that of Croesus in the original. We have thus thepleasure of seeing Chaucer actually at work; he begins withBoccaccio and the Vulgate version of the Bible, drawing upon hisrecollections of Boethius for the story of Hercules; he nexttakes a leaf or two from the Romaunt of the Rose; the story ofAlexander, suggested (see B 3845) by the book of Maccabees,leads him on to write the tragedy of Caesar; then he tires of hiswork, and breaks off. Returning to it for the purpose of filling uphis great work, he adds a few ' modern instances '; mixes up theorder oftales; writes an apology for their want oforder; humorouslyassigns them to the Monk, from whom the Host had expectedsomething widely different; and makes the Knight cut him shortwhen the right moment comes. The pilgrims had heard enoughabout tragedies, and began to want something more cheerful.The great collection of tragedies which Chaucer may haveoriginally contemplated, in imitation of Boccaccio, was fullycarried out by his successor Lydgate, one of whose best works isthe ' Falls of Princes. ' This poem, written in Chaucer's favouriteseven-line stanza, was not, however, taken from Boccaccio directly,but through the version of a Frenchman named Laurent dePremierfait, an ecclesiastic of the diocese of Troyes; see Morley'sEng. Writers, vi. 112, and the excellent dissertation by Dr. Köppelentitled ' Laurents de Premierfait und John Lydgates Bearbeitungenvon Boccaccios De Casibus Virorum Illustrium '; München, 1885.Lydgate's poem long continued in favour, and in its turn suggestedthe famous series of tragedies by Sackville, Baldwin, and others,known bythe name of the Mirror for Magistrates; see Morley'sFirst Sketch of Eng. Lit., pp. 335-337. The most interestingpoint in Lydgate's version is his recognition of Chaucer's MonkesTale in the following stanza of his prologue: —1 I say ' recollections ' advisedly; see note to B 3293. The mistake of confusing ' Busirus ' with Diomedes, king of Thrace, suggests that Chaucer had notas yet written out his translation of Boethius, but had read it hastily. Inother words, part of the Monkes Tale must be earlier than 1380.GROUP B. 431' My mayster Chaucer with his fressh commediesIs dede, allas, cheif poete of Bretayne,That sumtyme made full pitous tragidies;The " fall of princes " he dide also compleyne,As he that was of makynge souereyne;Whom all this londe of right[ e] ought preferre,Sith of oure langage he was the lode-sterre.'There is a poem entitled the Fall of Princis in the Percy FolioMS. , ed. Hales and Furnivall, iii . 168; but it is of no great merit.The original sources of the various Tragedies are sufficientlyindicated in the Notes.The metre employed is of some interest. It exhibits thesimplest form of stanza employed by Chaucer, with the rimesarranged in the order a babbcbc, and was probably the firstFrench metre which he ever used. It occurs in his A B C, thoughthe original of that poem is in short lines. A good example of it,in French, will be found in a ballad by Eustache Deschamps,written on the death of Machault in 1377; see Tarbe's edition,p. 30. Hence Spenser probably derived his famous stanza, byappending to it an Alexandrine line.In this Tale, there are two clear examples of lines in which thefirst foot consists of a single syllable. These are: —Al | forbrúsëd, bóth- e bákk' and syd-e (3804):Whether só he wóok or éllës slépt-e (3809) .And probably 1. 3535 is of the same character (see note).$ 49. THE PROLOGUE OF THE NONNE PRESTES TALE. Thisexcellent Prologue, which links the Monkes Tale with that of theNonne Preest, needs no comment. It is in Chaucer's best manner,like the Tale itself; both clearly belong to the period of theformation of the Tales into a series. It shews, moreover, thatChaucer's later taste had taught him to reprobate a style ofwriting which he, doubtless, at one time admired. See Lounsbury,Studies in Chaucer, iii. 334.$ 50. THE NONNE Preestes TALE. This is the best specimenof our author's humour. An early version of the Tale occurs in ashort fable by Marie de France, afterwards amplified in the oldFrench Roman du Renart. The fable by Marie de France consistsof thirty-eight short lines, and is printed in Dr. Furnivall's Originalsand Analogues (Chaucer Society), p. 116, from MS. Harl. 978,leaf 56 (formerly 76). The corresponding portion of Le Roman de1 Printed Chauncer ' in the old edition which I here follow.432 SOURCES OF THE TALES.Rénart, as edited by Méon in 1826, vol. i . p. 49, is also printed inthe same, p. 117; it comprises 454 lines (11. 1267-1720) , andcontains the account of the co*ck's dream about a strange beast,and other particulars of which Chaucer makes some use. ProfessorTen Brink shews that Marie's fable closely resembles one foundin a Latin collection of Æsopian fables in a MS. at Göttingen,which he quotes in full (id. p. 114), and refers us for it to Oesterley,'Romulus,' Berlin, 1870, p. 108.A translation of Marie's fable, by myself, was printed in ' TheAcademy, ' July 23, 1887 (p. 56); and is here reprinted for thepurpose of comparison with Chaucer's story.THE co*ck AND THE FOX.A co*ck our story tells of, whoHigh on a dunghill stood and crew.A Fox, attracted, straight drew nigh,And spake soft words of flattery.'Dear Sir! ' said he, ' your look's divine;I never saw a bird so fine!I never heard a voice so clearExcept your father's-ah! poor dear!His voice rang clearly, loudly-butMost clearly, when his eyes were shut! ''The same with me! ' the co*ck replies,And flaps his wings, and shuts his eyes.Each note rings clearer than the lastThe Fox starts up, and holds him fast;Towards the wood he hies apace.But as he crossed an open space,The shepherds spy him; off they fly;The dogs give chase with hue and cry.The Fox still holds the co*ck, though fearSuggests his case is growing queer.-' Tush! ' cries the co*ck, ' cry out, to grieve ' em,"The co*ck is mine! I'll never leave him! ” 'The Fox attempts, in scorn, to shout,And opes his mouth; the co*ck slips out,And, in a trice, has gained a tree.Too late the Fox begins to seeHow well the co*ck his game has play'd;For once his tricks have been repaid.In angry language, uncontrolled,He 'gins to curse the mouth that's boldTo speak, when it should silent be.'Well,' says the co*ck, ' the same with me;I curse the eyes that go to sleepJust when they ought sharp watch to keepGROUP B. 433Lest evil to their lord befall.'Thus fools contrariously do all:They chatter when they should be dumb,And, when they ought to speak, are mum.Dryden's version of this Tale, entitled The co*ck and the Fox,must be familiar to all readers.In Reliquiae Antiquae, ed. Halliwell and Wright, ii . 272, ahumorous fable, entitled the Vox [ Fox] and the Wolf, is printedfrom MS. Digby, 86. The first sixty-four lines give an accountof a hungry fox, who breaks into a farm-yard and has a parleywith a co*ck who had ' flowen on hey.' The fox tries to persuadethe co*ck to come down from his lofty position:—'Quath the wox, " Sire chauntecler,Thou fle adoun, and com me ner."399But in this case, the co*ck knows better, and tells the fox to goaway; and Reynard retires in disgust.Such animal stories ' are, of course, of great antiquity. Seethe remarks in Jacobs' edition of Caxton's ' Fables of Aesop, 'vol. i. 253. Caxton's fable ' Of the foxe and of the co*cke ' isthe third fable in Book V. Asimilar story, entitled ' A Fox anda Divining co*ck, ' occurs in the Fables of Æsop, by Sir RogerL'Estrange. It is needless to pursue the subject.$ 51 . EPILOGUE to the Nonne Preestes TaLE. These characteristic lines are obviously genuine, but are only extant in threeMSS. (footnote to vol. iv. p. 289) . The use of the word ' another 'in the last line shews that they were composed with the view ofbeing used as a Prologue to some Tale, but that the author had not,at the moment, decided what Tale was to come next. This pointwas, after all, never settled; and hence there is nothing to shewwhat was to follow. This brings us, of necessity, to the conclusionof Group B.In the old black- letter editions, which retain this Epilogue, it isfollowed by the Manciple's Prologue. But this cannot be right,for there (H 5) the Host does not address ' another, ' but the wholecompany. One of the three MSS. which retain this Epilogue(Addit. 5140) reads ' the Nunne ' instead of ' another,' because thenext Tale in the MS. is that of the Second Nun. This also isunsuitable, for the Host does not introduce that Tale at all.Tyrwhitt introduces a row of asterisks after this Epilogue, toshew that there is no connexion with the following Tale.Ff434 SOURCES OF THE TALES.GROUP C.$ 52. THE SPURIOUS PROLOGUES TO THE PHISICIENS TALE.This Tale has no genuine Prologue, and some MSS. , including E.,do not contain one. In MS. Dd. is the rubric: ' Here endeththe Frankeleins Tale, and biginneth the Phisiciens Tale withouta Prologe.' In the best MSS. , it follows the Frankeleins Tale;and such is, in my belief, its proper position. This arrangementwas arbitrarily altered by Dr. Furnivall, in order, I suppose,to emphasize the fact that the relative order of the Groupsmay be altered at pleasure; but this might have been understood without forcible dislocation; and I think that no goodhas been effected by it. I have been obliged to follow suit,but I wish to make a note that the right order of the Groupsis A, B, D, E, F, C, G, H, I.On the supposition that the Phisicien follows the Frankeleyn,Tyrwhitt inserted here a short Prologue of six lines, merely tofill up the gap, without accepting it as genuine. These sixlines he found in one MS. only, viz. in MS. Harl. 7735; andI have reprinted them from his edition in the foot-note tovol. iv. p. 289.In most MSS. the original position of the Tales has beenaltered, so as to make the Phisicien follow the Chanouns Yeman;and this is the arrangement in the black-letter editions. Twospurious Prologues have been written to connect these Tales;both being very bad. One of these appears in the black- lettereditions; and I here give it, from the edition of 1532.Whan this yeman his tale ended had Of this false chanon, which was so bad,Our Hoste gan say, ' truely and certayne,This preest was begyled, sothe for to sayne,He wenyng for to be a phylosopher,Tyl he right no golde lefte in his cofer.And sothly, this preest had a lither¹ iape;This cursed chanon put in his hoode an ape.But al this passe I ouer as now.Sir Doctour of Phisyke, yet I pray you,5IOTel vs a tale of some honest matere.'' It shal be done, if that ye wol it here,'Sayd this Doctour, and his tale bygan anon:'Now good men (quod he) herkeneth euerychon. '¹ Ed. 1532, alther; Edd. 1550, 1561 , all ther; Morris corrects to a lither.GROUP C. 435It will be seen that lines 7-9 are imitated from B 1629, 1630,and 1633; and lines 9-14 coincide, very nearly, with the spurious.Prologue of six lines which I have already discussed.The other Prologue is still worse; Mr. Wright has printed it,in a note, from the Lansdowne MS. , and I here reproduce it.'Now trewly,' quod oure Oste, ' this is a prati tale;For litel merveile it is that thou lokest so pale,Sethen thou hast medeled with so mony thinges;With bloweinge att the cole to melte bothe brochez and ringes,And other many Iewels, dar I undertake, 5And that thi lorde couthe us tel, if we might him overtake.But lat him go a devel waye, the compaigny is never the wers;And al suche fals harlotes, I sette not be hem a kers.But latt pas overe nowe al thes subtilitees ,And sume worthi man tel us summe veritees;As ye, worschipful Maister of Phisike,Tellith us somme tale that is a cronyke,That we may of yowe leren sum witte.'Quod the Maister of Phisik, a tale that I finde writteIn [a] cronyke passed of olde tyme;Herkeneth, for I wil tel it yow in rime.'1Ο15These lines are instructive, as shewing that we must not acceptlines as genuine merely because they occur in a MS. of someauthority. And this circ*mstance should warn us against thefolly of accepting the genuineness of such a poem as the ' Courtof Love, ' merely on the authority of the edition of 1561 , whichis a third reprint of the edition by Thynne, with arbitraryadditions.§ 53. THE PHISICIENS TALE. This is the well-known storyof Virginia, which Chaucer tells, as usual, in his own way.Although he appeals to Livy as his author, he really follows theaccount in Le Roman de la Rose, ll . 5613-82; which containsall the particulars which he introduces, except such as are of hisown invention. It is interesting to compare 11. 3-120 of thisTale, which are practically Chaucer's own, with 11. 255-76,where he follows Jean de Meun rather closely. In order toillustrate this, I give the whole passage of the French text, fromMéon's edition, lines 5613-82; t. ii. p. 74:-Comment Virginius plaida Devant Apius, qui jugeaQue sa fille, à tout bien taillée,Fust tost à Claudius baillée.Ne fist bien Apius à pendre,Qui fist à son serjant emprendreFf2436 SOURCESOF THE TALES.Par faus tesmoings, fauce quereleContre Virgine la pucele,Qui fu fille Virginius,Si cum dist Titus Livius¹Qui bien set le cas raconter,Por ce qu'il ne pooit donterLa pucele, qui n'avoit cureNe di li , ne de sa luxure.2 Li ribaus dist en audience:' Sire juges , donnés sentence56155620Por moi, car la pucele est moie; 5625Por ma serve la proveroieContre tous ceus qui sunt en vie:Car où qu'ele ait été norrie,De mon ostel me fu embléeDès-lors par poi qu'ele fu née,Et baillie à Virginius.5630Si vous requier, sire Apius,Que vous me délivrés ma serve,Car il est drois qu'ele me serve,Non pas celi qui l'a norrie: 5635Et se Virginius le nie,Tout ce sui- ge prest de prover,Car bons tesmoings en puis trover.'Ainsinc parloit li faus traïstreQui du faus juge estoit menistre "; 5640Et cum li plais ainsinc alast,Ains que Virginius parlast,Qui tout estoit prest de respondre Por ses aversaires confondre ,Juga par hastive sentence 5645Apius que, sans atendence,Fust la pucele au serf renduë.Et quant la chose a entenduë,Li bons prodons devant nommés,Bons chevaliers, bien renommés, 5650C'est assavoir Virginius,Qui bien voit que vers ApiusNe puet pas sa fille deffendre,¹ Compare C 1 .Ains li convient par force rendre,Et son cors livrer à hontage,Si change honte por damage Par merveilleus apensem*nt,Se Titus- Livius ne ment.Comment après la jugement Virginius hastivement A sa fille le chief couppa,Dont de la mort point n'échappa;2 C 164.4 C 154.5 C 142. 6 C. 192-9.56553 C 165-170; 178–189.7 C 203-206.GROUP C. 437Et mieulx ainsi le voulut faireQue la livrer à pute affaire;Puis le chief presenta au jugeQui en escheut en grant déluge.Car il par amors, sans haïne,A sa belle fille Virgine 5660 Tantost a la teste copée,Et puis au juge présentéeDevant tous en plain consistoire;Et li juges, selonc l'estoire ,Le commanda tastost à prendre 6665Por li mener ocir ou pendre.Mès ne l'occit ne ne pendi,Car li pueples le deffendiQui fu tous de pitié méusSi tost cum li fais fu séus; 5670 Puis fu por ceste mesprisonApius mis en la prison,Et là s'occist hastivementAins le jor de son jugement;Et Claudius li chalangieres 5675Jugiés fu à mort comme lieres,Se ne l'en éust respitiéVirginius par sa pitié,Qui tant volt li pueple proier,Qu'en essil le fist envoier,Et tuit cil condampnés moururentQui tesmoingz de la cause furent.5680We thus see that the remark as seith the storie, ' in C 258,simply translates the French-' selonc l'estoire .' It is to beregretted that Chaucer was unacquainted with Livy's version;see Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 283. Gower (ed. Pauli,iii. 264) tells the same story; but I find no points of closeresemblance, and many of divergence.§ 54. WORDS OF THE HOST TO THE PHISICIEN AND THEPARDONER. These 'Words ' connect the Phisiciens Tale withthat of the Pardoner. There are some curious variations in thecopies, which suggest that some alterations were here made bythe author. The chief variations are the following.C 289. E. Hn. fals cherl and; Cp. Pt. Ln. Hl. cursed theef.C 290. E. Hn. Cp. Pt. sham(e)ful; Ln. Hl. schendful.C 291 , 2. E. Hn. Pt. wholly vary from Cp. Ln. Hl.; seefootnote in vol. iv. p. 299.C 297-8. E. Hn. Pt. omit these lines.C 299, 300. Hl. (and others) omit these lines.1 C 254-276.438SOURCESOFTHETALES.I suppose that lines C 297-8, omitted in E. Hn. , are a later(genuine) insertion. And perhaps the readings cursed theef andschendful are also corrections. But I follow MS. E. as the bestguide, inserting 297-8 (as in the Six-text edition), that they maynot be lost.§ 55. PROLOGUE OF THE PARDONERES TALE. This is really apreamble; and the Tale itself has a long digression from the mainsubject. The portrait of the Pardoner, as here painted by himself, is historically valuable and minutely accurate; see the paperon Chaucer's Pardoner and the Pope's Pardoners,' by Dr. J. J.Jusserand, in Essays on Chaucers, p. 423 (Chaucer Society).The descriptions by Chaucer, Langland, Heywood (who plagiarisesChaucer mercilessly), and Sir David Lyndsay are, in this essay,supported by extracts from a papal letter by Boniface IX, writtenin 1390; by statements made by Richard d'Angerville, bp. ofDurham, given in the Registrum Palatinum Dunelmense, iii.325 (Rolls Series); and by extracts from Wilkins, Concilia, ii.747, iii . 84, 131 , 365. There is nothing to shew that the pictureis unfair or overdrawn.It may well be compared with one of the Tales in Boccaccio'sDecamerone, Day 6, Nov. 10, which is given in full in a cheapreprint of selections from this work, edited by Prof. H. Morley,according to an English version made in the time of James I.There is nothing to shew that Chaucer had read this story; and,as has often been remarked above, he seems to have beenunacquainted with the Decamerone. Some account of this Tale,with remarks, is given in Dunlop's History of Fiction, chap. vii.The hero of it is a certain friar Cipolla (i . e. Onion) , whose accountof himselfis amusing. He gave a long account (says Dunlop) ofhis travels as far as India, and told how on his return he hadvisited the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who had shewn him innumerable relics; among others, a lock of the hair of the seraphthat appeared to St. Francis, a paring of the cherub's nail, a fewof the rays of the blessed star that guided the Magi in the east,the jaw-bone of Lazarus,' & c. He adds: ' This tale of Boccacciodrew down the censure of the Council of Trent, and is the onewhich gave the greatest umbrage to the church. The author hasbeen defended by his commentators, on the ground that he didnot intend to censure the respectable orders of friars, but toexpose those wandering mendicants who supported themselves byGROUP C. 439imposing on the credulity of the people; that he did not mean toridicule the sacred relics of the church, but those which werebelieved so in consequence of the fraud and artifice of monks. 'But it must have been hard to draw this line. In the note toC 349, I have drawn attention to Heywood's close plagiarism fromChaucer, in the passage from the Four P.'s, printed in the note to1. 701 of Morris's edition of Chaucer's Prologue; also to SirDavid Lyndsay's Satyre of the Three Estates, ll. 2037-2121 .$ 56. THE PARDONERES TAle. A considerable part of thisTale is taken up with a digression; the Tale itself is told simplyand well, occupying ll . 463–484, 661-894. Mr. Wright remarks:' This beautiful moral story appears to have been taken from aFabliau, now lost, but of which the mere outline is preserved [asfirst noted by Tyrwhitt] in the Cento Novelle Antiche, Nov.lxxxii, as well as the story itself by Chaucer.' Dunlop, in hisHistory of Fiction, p. 203, says: ' It is evident from the title ofthe Cento Novelle Antiche, that it was not a new and originalproduction, but a compilation of stories already current in theworld. The collection was made towards the end of the thirteenthcentury, and was formed from episodes in Romances of chivalry;the Fabliaux of the French Trouveurs; the ancient chroniclesof Italy; recent incidents; or jests and repartees current by oraltradition. That the stories derived from these sources were compiled by different authors, is evident from the great variety of style;but who those authors were, is still a problem in the literary annalsof Italy.' The story is not exactly the same in all the editions ofthe Cento Novelle; and two different forms of it have beenprinted by Dr. Furnivall, in his Originals and Analogues (ChaucerSoc. ) , Pt. ii. pp. 131-133. Of these, the former is from theedition of 1525, with the title Le Ciento Novelle Antike, whereit appears as Nov. lxxxiii. It is very brief, and to this effect. AsChrist was walking with His disciples through a wild country, theysuddenly espied some bright golden piastres, and said, ' Let us takesome of these for our use.' But Christ reproved them, warningthem that they would soon see the fatal effects of avarice. Soonafter, two men found the gold; and one of them went to fetcha mule to carry it off, whilst the other remained to guard it. Onhis return with the mule, the former offered to his companiontwo loaves which he had bought for him. The latter refused atthe moment, and shortly afterwards took an opportunity of stabbing440 SOURCES OF THE TALES.the other as he chanced to be stooping down. He then took thetwo loaves, gave one to the mule, and ate the other himself. Theloaves were poisoned; and man and mule fell dead. Then ourLord, passing by once more, pointed out to His disciples thethree dead bodies.The other version is from the edition of 1572, entitled Librodi Novelle, et di bel Parlar Gentile; where it is Nov. lxxxii.This is much more like Chaucer's story, and is occasionallyquoted in the Notes as the ' Italian text.' Dr. Furnivall's analysisof the story is as follows:-:-' A hermit lying down in a cave, sees there much gold. At oncehe runs away, and meets three robbers. They see no one chasingthe hermit, and ask him what he is running away from. " Death,which is chasing me. " " Where is he? shew him us." "Comewith me, and I will. " The hermit takes them to the cave, andshews them Death-the gold. They laugh at him, and makegreat joy, and say, " The hermit is a fool." Then the threerobbers consult as to what they shall do. The second proposesthat one shall go to the town, buy bread and wine and all thingsneedful; but the crafty Devil puts into the heart of the robberwho goes to the town, that he shall feed himself, poison his mates,and then have all the treasure, and be the richest man in thatcountry. Meantime, the other robbers plot to murder their mateas soon as he comes back with the bread and wine, and thenshare the treasure. Their mate returns from the city, and theymurder him at once. Then they eat the food he has brought,and both fall dead. Thus doth our Lord God requite traitors.The robbers found death. The wise man fled, and left thegold free.'As the original is not long, I here reprint it, for the reader'sconvenience:-'Qui conta d'uno Romito che andando per un luogo forestotrouo molto grande Tesoro.' Andando vn giorno vn Romito per vn luogo foresto: si trouòvna grandissima grotta, laquale era molo celata, et ritirandosiverso là per riposarsi, pero che era assai affaticato; come e' giunsealla grotta si la vide in certo luogo molto tralucere, impercio chevi hauea molto oro: e si tosto come il conobbe, incontanentesi partio, et comincio a correre per lo deserto, quanto e' nepotea andare. Correndo cosi questo Romito s' intoppo in treGROUP C. 441grandi scherani, liquali stauano in quella foresta per rubare chiunque vi passaua. Ne gia mai si erano accorti, che questo oro vifosse. Hor vedendo costoro, che nascosti si stauano, fuggir cosiquesto huomo, non hauendo persona dietro che'l cacciasse,alquanto hebbero temenza, ma pur se li pararono dinanzi persapere perche fuggiua, che di cio molto si marauigliauano. Edelli rispose et disse: " Fratelli miei, io fuggo la morte, che mivien dietro cacciando mi." Que' non vedendo ne huomo, nebestia, che il cacciasse, dissero: " Mostraci chi ti caccia: etmenaci cola oue ella è. " Allhora il Romito disse loro, " venitemeco, et mostrerollaui, " pregandoli tutta via che non andasseroad essa, impercio che elli per se la fuggia. Ed eglino volendolatrouare, per vedere come fosse fatta, nol domandouano di altro.Il Romito vedendo che non potea piu, et hauendo paura di loro,gli condusse alla grotta, onde egli s' era partito, e disse loro,"Qui è la morte, che mi cacciaua, " et mostra loro l'oro che u' era,ed eglino il conobbero incontanente, et molto si cominciarano arallegrare, et a fare insieme grande sollazzo. Allhora accommiatarono questo buono huomo; et egli sen' ando per i fatti suoi:et quelli cominciarono a dire tra loro, come elli era semplicepersona. Rimasero questi scherani tutti e tre insieme, a guardarequesto hauere, e incominciarono a ragionare quello che voleanofare. L'uno rispuose et disse: " A me pare, da che Dio ci hadato cosi alta ventura, che noi non ci partiamo di qui, insino atanto che noi non ne portiamo tutto questo hauere." Et l'altrodisse: " non facciamo cosi; l'vno di noi ne tolga alquanto, etvada alla cittade et vendalo, et rechi del pane et del vino, et diquello che ci bisogna, e di cio s'ingegni il meglio che puote:faccia egli, pur com' elli ci fornisca. " A questo s'accordaronotutti e tre insieme. Il Demonio ch'è ingegnoso, e reo d' ordinaredi fare quanto male e puote, mise in cuori a costui che andauaalla citta per lo fornimento, " da ch' io sarò nella cittade " (diceafra se medesimo) " io voglio mangiare et bere quanto mi bisogna,et poi fornirmi di certe cose delle quali io ho mestiere hora alpresente et poi auuelenero quello che io porto a miei compagni:si che, da ch' elli saranno morti amendue, si saro io poi Signoredi tutto quello hauere, et secondo che mi pare egli è tanto, che iosaro poi il piu ricco huomo di tutto questo paese da parted'hauere: " et come li venne in pensiero, cosi fece. Prese viuandaper se quanta gli bisogno, et poi tutta l'altra auuelenoe, e cosi la442 SOURCES OF THE TALES.porto a que suoi compagni. Intanto ch'ando alla cittade secondoche detto hauemo: se elli pensoe et ordinoe male per uccidere lisuoi compagni, accio che ogni cosa li rimanesse: quelli pensarodi lui non meglio ch' elli di loro, et dissero tra loro: "Si tostocome questo nostro compagno tornera col pane et col vino, etcon l'altre cose che ci bisognano, si l' uccideremo, et poi mangeremo quanto uorremo, e sara poi tra noi due tutto questo grandehauere. Et come meno parti ne saremo, tanto n' haueremo maggior parte ciascuno di noi. " Hor viene quelli, che era ito allacittade a comperare le cose che bisognaua loro. Tornato a suoicompagni incontanente che 'l videro, gli furono addosso con lelancie et con le coltella, et l'uccisero. Da che l'hebbero morto,mangiarono di quello che egli hauea recato: et si tosto comefurono satolli, amendue caddero morti: et cosi morirono tutti etre che l' vno vccise l' altro si come vdito hauete, et non hebbel'hauere et cosi paga Domenedio li traditori, che egli andaronocaendo la morte, et in questo modo la trouarono, et si comeellino n'erano degni. Et il saggio sauiamente la fuggio, e l'ororimase libero come di prima.'Dr. Furnivall has also reprinted Novella xlii. from the Novellaeof Morlinus, ed. Naples, 1520 (reprinted at Paris in 1799); corrected by the Paris edition of Morlinus' Works, 1855. The storyis very brief, being as follows::-' De illis qui, in Tiberi reperto thesauro, ad inuicem conspirantes,ueneno et ferro periere.' Magus magico susurro in Tiberi delitere thesaurum, quadamin cauea spirituum reuelatione cognouit: quo reperto, cum magnum siclorum cumulum aspiceret, communi uoto pars sociorumproximum oppidum seu castellum, epulas aliasque res comparaturi, accedunt: ceteri uero copiosum interea ignem instruunt,thesaurumque custodiunt. Dumque in castellum conuenissent,radice malorum cupiditate affecti, ut consocios thesauri partepriuarent, diro ueneno illos interimere statuerunt: cum dicto,in caupona epulantes, ebrii ac uino sepulti, aliquatenus moramfecere. In Tiberi expectantes atque esurientes, consocios demora incussabant: Iouemque adiurauerunt, repedantes ex oppidoatque castello et uita et thesauri parte priuare. Sicque adinuicem conspirantes, non multo post adueniunt ex pago illi,uinarios utres, pullos, pisces, aliaque tucetosi saporis pulmentaria atque prelectum hircum ferentes. Quibus obuiam dederuntGROUP C. 443ieiuni, illosque omnes morti imparatos incautosque insecauereatque crudeli strage perdiderunt. Pone sumptis cibariis diroueneno tabefactis, insigni iocunditate gnauiter cuncta ministrareincipiunt; alter uerrit, alter sternit, pars coquit, atque tucetaconcinnat. Pone omnibus scitule appositis, ac mensa largiterinstructa edere ceperunt, omniaque ingurgitauerunt. Commodumex eis mensa erectis erant (sic) quod, morte preuenti, cum sociisuitam fato reddentes, sub elemento mortui et sepulti remansere.' Nouella indicat: nec esse de malo cogitandum: nam quodquis seminat, metit.'It has lately been discovered that this striking story is unquestionably of Asiatic origin. Numerous analogous stories havebeen collected and printed for the Chaucer Society by Mr. W. A.Clouston. At pp. 417-436 of these ' Originals and Analogues 'is printed a Buddhist original of great antiquity, together withvarying versions in several languages, viz. Persian, Arabic,Kashmiri, and Tibetan. Versions also occur in French, Italian,German, and Portuguese.The Buddhist story is one entitled ' Vedabbha Játaka, ' beingthe 48th story in Fausböll's edition of the Páli text of the Játakabook. Mr. Clouston says (p. 418): The first to point out theidentity of the Pardoner's Tale with one of those Buddhist"Birth "-stories was the Rev. Dr. Richard Morris, in the Contemporary Review, May, 1881 , vol. xxxix. p. 738, and afterwardstwo other scholars each made the same discovery independently:Mr. H. T. Francis, in The Academy, Dec. 22, 1883, and Prof.C. H. Tawney, in the Journal of Philology, 1883, vol. xii. pp.203-8. The Bishop of Colombo, in the Journal of the CeylonBranch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1884, published translationsof the first 50 Játakas, the 48th of which, as already stated, is theVedabbha Játaka.' Mr. Clouston then gives a complete translation of this Játaka, from which I extract, for comparison, a fewsentences:-' But those two men [two robbers] deftly carried off thatwealth, and hid it in a thicket near a village, and one remainedguarding it, sword in hand, while the other took some rice andwent off to the village to get it cooked. Truly this passion ofavarice is the root of destruction ' , for the one who was guarding¹ A remarkable coincidence with the language of St. Paul in 1 Tim. vi . 10.444 SOURCES OF THE TALES.the wealth said to himself: "When my fellow returns, this wealthwill have to be divided into two portions, so I had better kill himwith a sword-cut as soon as he arrives. " So he made ready hissword, and remained watching for his return . The other saidto himself: "This wealth will have to be divided into twoportions, so I had better put poison in the rice, and give it to myfellow to eat, and so kill him, and take all the wealth for myself."Accordingly, as soon as the rice was cooked, he ate all he wanted,and put poison in the rest, and set out with it in his hand. Nosooner had he put the rice down than the other cut him in twowith his sword, and threw his body into a tangled thicket.he ate the rice, and fell dead on the spot.'ThenThe Persian Version follows, from a poem in the ' Book ofCalamities, ' made in the twelfth century by Ferídu-' d- Dín ' Attár,a celebrated philosopher and poet. In this version, as inChaucer, there are three men; one of them goes to the townto buy bread, some of which he eats, and poisons the rest. Theother two slay him on his return, eat the poisoned bread, andperish.Of the Arabic versions, one occurs in the Breslau edition ofthe Book of the Thousand and One Nights ( Burton's Supplementary Nights, vol. i . p. 250) .The Kashmírí version is given in Mr. Knowles' Dictionaryof Kashmiri Proverbs and Sayings, Bombay, 1885, p. 45. Herethere are four men, two of whom conspire against the other two,and slay them with axes; but afterwards eat the poisoned breadwhich the latter couple had prepared for them.I must refer the reader to Mr. Clouston's essay for furtherparticulars.I must not omit to notice here the instances in which Chaucerhas borrowed some of his moral reflexions from the treatise DeContemptu Mundi, by Pope Innocent, which has already been discussed above; see § 36. Dr. E. Köppel has noticed the following,in the Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen, ed. L. Herrig,vol. 84, p. 411 .C 483, 4. Propterea dicit apostolus: Nolite inebriari vino,in quo est luxuria: ' lib. ii . cap. 19.C 505-7; 491. ' Gula paradisum clausit; decollauit Baptistam: 'lib. ii . cap. 18.C 513-6; 521-3. ' Inde non salus et sanitas, sed morbus etGROUP D. 445mors. Audi super hoc sententiam Sapientis: " Noli auidus essein omni epulatione, et non te effundas super omnem escam . Inmultis enim escis erit infirmitas; et propter crapulam multi perierunt. " "Esca uentri, et uenter escis; Deus autem et hunc ethanc destruet ": ' lib. ii. cap. 17 .C 517-520 ' . ' Nunc autem gulosis non sufficiunt fructus arborum, non genera leguminum, non radices herbarum, non piscesmaris, non bestiae terrae, non aues coeli.'... ' Tam breuis estgulae uoluptas, ut spatio loci uix sit quatuor digitorum, ' &c.: lib. ii. cap. 17.C 534-6. ' Quanto sunt delicatoria cibaria, tanto foetidiora suntstercora. Turpius egerit, qui turpiter ingerit, superius et inferiushorribilem flatum exprimens, et abominabilem sonum emittens: 'lib. ii . cap. 18."C 537-546. Quaeruntur pigmenta, comparantur aromata ...quae studiose coquuntur arte coquorum. . . . Alius contundit etcolat, alius confundit et conficit, substantiam conuertit in accidens . . . ut fastidium reuocet appetitum, ad irritandum gulam: 'lib. ii. cap. 17.C 551-2; 560-1 . ' Quid turpius ebrioso? cui fetor in ore ..cui facies transformatur? "Nullum enim secretum, ubi regnatebrietas ": lib. ii. cap. 19. Cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 771-2,776-7. See above, p. 408.All these passages are probably versified from Chaucer's lostprose translation of Innocent's treatise. Observe that all thepassages quoted lie close together, viz. in lib. ii . capp. 17-19.A modernized version of the Pardoner's Tale was brought outby the Rev. Wm. Lipscomb, in 1792; and another version, madewith some spirit, but far inferior to the original, will be foundamong Leigh Hunt's Poems, with the title ' Death and theRuffians.'GROUP D.$ 57. THE WIFE OF BATH'S PROLOGUE. In some MSS. , as inE. and Cm. , this Prologue follows the Man of Lawes Tale, butwithout any connecting link. In others, as in Pt. and in theblack-letter editions, it follows the Marchants Tale; and rarely,1 But this passage still more resembles Jerome against Jovinian; see note to the line.446 SOURCES OF THE TALES.as in Cp. and Ln. , it follows the Squieres Tale; but in no caseare there any genuine lines to link it with what precedes. Twospurious prologues are, however, found. The former occurs inMS. Royal 18 C. II. , and in MSS. Laud 739 and Barlow 20(in the Bodleian Library). Tyrwhitt prints it from the first ofthese, ' to justify himself for not inserting them in the text ';as follows:-Oure oost gan tho to loke[n] up anon:' Gode men, ' quod he, ' herkeneth everichone;As evere mote I drynke wyn or ale,This Marchaunt hath itold a mery tale,Howe Ianuarie hadde a lither Iape;His wyf put in his hood an ape.But hereoff I wil leve off as now.Dame Wyf of Bathe, ' quod he, ' I pray[ e] you,Telle us a tale now nexte after this. '' Sir Oost,' quod she, ' so god my soule blis,As I fully therto wil consente;510And also it is myn hole ententeTo done yow alle disporte as that I can.But holde me excused: I am a woman.I can not reherse as these clerkes kunne.'And right anon she hath hir tale bygunne.Experience, &c.Here 11. 5 and 6 are imitated from B 1629 and 1630.15The Lansdowne MS. subjoins eight spurious lines at the end ofthe Squieres Tale, and prefixes to the Wife's Tale the four linesthat follow:-Than shortly ansewarde the wife of Bathe,And swore a wonder grete hathe,'Be goddes bones, I wil tel next;I will nouht glose, bot saye the text.'Here hathe (for aath) means ' oath, ' and is a purely Northernform.As to the Prologue itself, Wright remarks:-'The Wife ofBath's Prologue may be considered as a separate Tale, andbelongs to a class of which there are several examples amongthe literature of the middle ages. One of the latest is " The twaMaryit Wemenand the Wedo" [Widow], ofWilliam Dunbar. Thepopular literature of what is commonly looked upon as the age ofchivalry shews us that the female character was then estimated atthe lowest possible rate.'Tyrwhitt's remarks on this Prologue are excellent. ' The extra-GROUP D. 447ordinary length of it, as well as the vein of pleasantry that runsthrough it, is very suitable to the character of the speaker. Thegreatest part must have been of Chaucer's own invention, thoughwe may plainly see that he had been reading the popular invectives against marriage and women in general; such as theRoman de la Rose; Valerius ad Rufinum de non ducendauxore; and particularly, Hieronymus contra Iouinianum.' Ofthe last of these he says:-The holy Father, by way of recommending celibacy, has exerted all his learning and eloquence(and he certainly was not deficient in either) to collect togetherand aggravate whatever he coud find to the prejudice of thefemale sex. Among other things he has inserted his own translation (probably) of a long extract from what he calls " Liberaureolus Theophrasti de nuptiis."'Next to him in order of time was the treatise entitled EpistolaValerii ad Rufinum de non ducenda uxore ( MS. Reg. 12 D. III) .It has been printed, for the similarity of its sentiments, I suppose,among the works of St. Jerome, though it is evidently of a muchlater date. Tanner (from Wood's MS. Coll. ) attributes it toWalter Map (Bib. Brit. , v. MAP). I should not believe it to beolder; as John of Salisbury, who has treated of the same subjectin his Polycraticus, lib. viii. cap. 11, does not appear to haveseen it.'To these two books Jean de Meun has been obliged forsome of his severest strokes in his Roman de la Rose; andChaucer has transfused the quintessence of all the three works,upon the subject of Matrimony, into his Wife of Bathes Prologueand Merchant's Tale '.'Dr. Köppel has shewn that, in one passage (D 278), there isa trace of a quotation from Pope Innocent's treatise De Contemptu Mundi, lib. i. c. 18. This passage introduces the word' smoke,' which is not in the wording of Prov. xxvii. 15, the ultimateauthority for the quotation. Similarly, when Innocent cites thesame text, he introduces the wordfumus.§ 58. THE TALE of the WYF OF BATHE. The various Talesanalogous to this have been discussed by Mr. W. A. Clouston, inthe ' Originals and Analogues ' published by the Chaucer Societyin 1887, p. 483. Mr. Clouston calls the Tales of this class ' The¹ Cf. Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 292,448 SOURCESOF THE TALES.Knight and the Loathly Lady.' He begins by observing that'Gower anticipated the Wife of Bath's characteristic Tale bya few years ' in his Confessio Amantis, but there seems no goodreason to suppose Chaucer to have borrowed from his friend, thetwo versions differing so very considerably in details; and it isprobable that both poets drew their materials independently froma French source, or sources.' He then quotes Gower's tale, fromMS. Harl. 3869; cf. Pauli's edition, i . 89-104. Here the hero isnamed Florent and is supposed to be the nephew of the emperorClaudius. Florent has slain one Branchus, whose grandmotherplots a plan of revenge. She sends for Florent, offering hima full pardon if he can answer a certain question; but if he fails,he must forfeit his life. To this he agrees, and is allowed a termof days for the solution of the question. The question is-'Whatdo all women most desire?'After much vain enquiry, Florent finds a loathly old woman,who tells him that she can save him from death; but if she doesthis, he must marry her; and to this he desperately consents.She tells him that women desire sovereignty, and to have alltheir will. The answer is correct; his life is saved, and he mustperform his promise. He weds her, and is at last persuaded thathe ought to kiss her; whereupon she is transformed into a younggirl, of eighteen years of age. She explains that she had beenbewitched, and his courtesy had broken the charm.A similar story is the subject of the ' Weddynge of Syr Gawenand Dame Ragnell, ' printed by Sir F. Madden in his ' SyrGawayne,' from MS. Rawlinson C. 86. The outline of it is givenby Prof. Child in his English and Scottish Ballads, Boston (U. S. ) ,1884, Part ii. , pp. 289, 290, and is reprinted by Mr. Clouston.In this story, it is King Arthur who, to save his life, undertakes to solve, within a twelvemonth, the question—' What dowomen love most?' Soon after, Arthur tells his adventure toSir Gawain, who is willing to help him. Gawain meets a hideoushag who offers to tell him the answer on the usual terms; hername is Dame Ragnell. Gawain learns the answer, imparts it toArthur, and kisses Dame Ragnell, who is transformed into thefairest creature he had ever seen.1 I. e. the first edition of Gower's poem certainly preceded the Wife's Tale,though the second edition did not appear till 1393.2 Lat. ' nepos '; but later on, Claudius is called his eme, i. e. uncle.GROUP D. 449This is the story on which is founded the ballad of theMarriage of Sir Gawaine, a fragmentary piece printed in thePercy Folio MS. , ed. Hales and Furnivall, i. 103.Another version, perhaps older than either of the foregoing, isthe Border Ballad of King Henrie, printed by Scott in hisMinstrelsy of the Scottish Border. William Tytler's version ofthis ballad was adapted by Lewis for his Tales of Wonder,with the new title of Courteous King Jamie '; vol. ii. 453.Mr. Clouston adds: -' A similar ballad, " Of a Knight and a FairVirgin, " is found in Johnson's Crown Garland of Golden Roses,printed about 1600. And Voltaire has followed Chaucer in histale Ce qui plaît aux Dames.'Scott, in his prefatory note to the ballad of King Henrie,after referring to its resemblance to the Marriage of Sir Gawaineand the Wife of Bath's Tale, cites what he considers as " theoriginal " [viz. an Icelandic version] from Torfeus ( Hrolffi KrakiiHist. , Hafn. 1715, p. 49).'Another Icelandic version is given by Clouston (from Prof.Child), in the form of an abstract.Another version follows, from the Gaelic, taken from the storyof The Daughter of King Under-Waves; given in Campbell'sPopular Tales of the West Highlands, iii. 403.A similar notion occurs in Mandeville's Travels, ed. Halliwell,chap. iv. pp. 23-26. His story is to the effect that in the Isle ofLango is to be found the daughter of Ypocras ( Hippocrates), whohas been transformed into a loathsome Dragon, a hundred fathomslong. But whan a Knyghte comethe, that is so hardy tokisse hire, he schalle not dye: but he schalle turne the Damyselein-to hire righte Forme and kyndely Schapp; and he schal beLord of alle the Contreyes and Iles aboveseyd.' It is disappointing to find that no one ever performed the task; so that,in fact, the lady remains a dragon to the present day.Mr. Clouston adds a Turkish Analogue from a story- bookentitled Phantasms from the Presence of God, written in 1796-7,by 'Ali Aziz Efendi, the Cretan; and refers to similar ideasfound in Sanskrit stories. He concludes by saying:-'Legendssimilar to the tale of the Knight and the Loathly Lady seem tobe of universal currency and of very ancient date. Have we notall listened to them in the nursery, and been especially charmedwith the tale of the Frog- Prince? And there are several parallelsG g450 SOURCES OF THE TALES.to it among the nations of South Africa.' He appends twoKaffir analogues from Theal's Kaffir Folk- Lore.The Wife of Bath's Tale has been retold by Dryden, in a waypeculiarly his own. If compared with the original, it suffers sadlyby the comparison. The poet Gay wrote a comedy called TheWife of Bath, which appeared in 1713. A later edition, ' revisedand altered by the author, ' appeared in 1730.§ 59. THE FRIAR'S PROLOGUE. This is closely linked withthe preceding tale, and is chiefly remarkable for the Friar'soutburst against the Somnour, which shews such rancour thateven the Host interferes. As Tyrwhitt here notes-' The RegularClergy, and particularly the Mendicant Friars, affected a totalexemption from all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, except that of thePope, which made them exceedingly obnoxious to the Bishops,and of course to all the inferior orders of the national hierarchy.'§ 60. THE FReres Tale. Warton, in his History of Eng.Poetry (ed. Hazlitt, i . 302), after speaking of the collection ofstories in the Gesta Romanorum, tells us that ' rather before theyear 1480, a Latin volume was printed in Germany, written byJohn Herolt, a Dominican friar of Basle, better known by theadopted and humble appellation of Discipulus, and who flourishedabout the year 1418.' The first part of this work consists ofsermons. The second part is a Promptuary or ample repositoryof examples for composing sermons, ' and contains ' a variety oflittle histories.' Among these is one analogous to Chaucer'sFreres Tale.The Latin story was first printed by Mr. T. Wright in theArchæologia, vol. xxxii. , and again in Originals and Analogues,Chaucer Soc. , 1872, p. 105, from MS. Cotton, Cleop. D. 8 , leaf110; and is as follows: -NARRATIO DE QUODAM SENESCALLO SCELEROSO.Erat uir quidam Senescallus et placitator, pauperum calumpniator, et bonorum huiusmodi spoliator. Qui die quadam forumiudiciale causa contencionis faciende et lucrandi adiuit. Cuiquidam obuiauit in itinere dicens ei: ' Quo uadis, et quid habesofficii? ' Respondit primus: ' Uado lucrari. ' Et ait secundus:' Ego tui similis sum. Eamus simul. ' Primo consenciente, dixitsecundus ei: ' Quid est lucrum tuum?' Et ille: ' emolumentumpauperum, quamdiu aliquid habent, ut per lites, contenciones etGROUP D. 451uexationes, siue iuste siue iniuste. Modo dixi tibi lucrum meum,unde est. Dic mihi, queso, unde est et tuum? ' Responditsecundus dicens: ' Quicquid sub maledictione traditur diabolo,computo mihi pro lucro.' Risit primus, et derisit secundum, nonintelligens quod esset diabolus.Paulo post cum transirent per ciuitatem, audierunt quemdampauperem maledicere cuidam uitulo quem duxit ad uendendum,quia indirecte ibat. Item audierunt consimilem de mulierefustigante puerum suum. Tunc ait primus ad secundum: ' Eccepotes lucrari, si uis. Tolle puerum et uitulum.' Responditsecundus: ' Non possum, quia non maledic*nt ex corde.'Cum uero paululum processissent, pauperes euntes versusiudicium, uidentes illum Senescallum, ceperunt omnes unanimitermaledictiones in ipsum ingerere. Et dixit secundus ad primum:'Audis quid isti dic*nt? ' ' Audio, ' inquit, ' sed nichil ad me.'Et dixit secundus: ' Isti maledic*nt ex corde, et te traduntdiabolo; et ideo meus eris. ' Qui statim ipsum arripiens, cumeo disparuit.A similar story is printed in a Selection of Latin Stories, editedby Mr. T. Wright for the Percy Society, vol. viii. p. 70. It isentitled ' De Aduocato et Diabolo,' and was taken from theprinted Promptuarium Exemplorum, compiled in the early partof the fifteenth century. It is reprinted in the Originals andAnalogues, p. 106, and I here quote Dr. Furnivall's abstractof it.' A grasping lawyer, out to gather prey, met the Devil in theform of a man, and could not get quit of him. A poor man,angry with his perverse pig, said: " Devil take you! " But as hedid not say it from his heart, the Devil could not take the pig;nor could he a child, to which its mother said: "Devil take you! "When, however, some townsmen saw the lawyer coming, theyall cried out: " May the Devil take you! " And, as they did itfrom the bottom of their hearts, the Devil carried the lawyeroff; as his man bore witness.'This Tale furnishes an admirable example of Chaucer's method;the mere outline of the story is little altered, but his modeof telling gives it a new spirit, and quiet touches of humour areabundant throughout.A modernised version of this Tale, by Jeremiah Markland, wasincluded in Ogle's ' Canterbury Tales of Chaucer modernized byGg 2452 SOURCES OF THE TALES.several hands,' published by Tonson in 1741. Another suchversion, by Leigh Hunt, was included in Horne's 'Poems ofGeoffrey Chaucer Modernized, ' published in 1841. See Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer, iii. 190, 217, 223.§ 61. THE SOMNOUR'S PROLOGUE. The Freres Tale rouses theSomnour almost to fury; and he begins by retorting that Friarshave a peculiar knowledge of hell, for obvious reasons; andemphasises his statement by a brief story, which was probablya current popular joke. He then proceeds with his Tale.§ 62. THE SOMNOURS TALE. The analogous French story wasfirst pointed out by M. Sandras, in his Étude sur Chaucer, 1859,p. 237. It is entitled Li Dis de la Vescie a Prestre, the Story ofthe Priest's Bladder, and was written by Jakes de Basiu, orBaisieux. It is printed in a collection entitled Fabliaux ou Contes,Fables et Romans du xiie et du xiiie Siècle, par Legrand D'Aussy;1829; vol. iv. p. 18 of the Appendix. An analysis of the story,in modern French, is given at p. 177 of the same.The Dis is reprinted among the Originals and Analogues,Chaucer Society, 1875, p. 137. I subjoin a very brief outlineof it.A Priest, dwelling near Antwerp, a wise man and a rich, fallsill, and is about to die. He sends for his dean and his friends,to dispose of his property. Two Jacobin friars come to visit himand to beg. The Priest explains that all his property is settled.The friars insist on the merit of giving to them above all others,and are very importunate. At last, to quiet them, he tells themhe will leave them a jewel for which he would not take a thousandmarks; and their Prior must come next day, to learn where thejewel is kept.Next day, five of the friars again visit the Priest, but leave thePrior at home. The Priest says he will only reveal the secret inthe presence of the Sheriffs and the Mayor, who are duly sent for.On their arrival, the Priest explains all about the cupidity andimportunity of the two friars, and how, in order to get rid ofthem, he promised to give them something which he valued verymuch. He then reveals the secret, that the jewel is his ownbladder; and the Jacobins retire crest-fallen.In the same volume of Fabliaux ou Contes, p. 184, M. Legrandd'Aussy says that a somewhat similar story used to be told of thepoet Jean de Meun, who, it was said, left to the Jacobin friarsGROUP E. 453some heavy coffers of treasure, which were not to be opened tillthey had duly said a mass for the repose of his soul. Of coursethe coffers were filled with pieces of slate.It is interesting to notice how Chaucer localises the story. Hetransfers the scene from Antwerp to Holderness, just as, in theReves Tale, he boldly transfers it to Trumpington. The friarsatirised in the Tale is clearly an Englishman, and the whole isrendered definite and vivid.In 1733, a Mr. Grosvenor wrote a sort of imitation of theSomnours Tale, under the title of The Whimsical Legacy, as a contribution to Eustace Budgell's periodical entitled The Bee. It isonly a third of the length of the original. It was reprinted by Ogle,in his Canterbury Tales Modernized, in 1741. The poet Gay wroteanother poor imitation, entitled An Answer to the Sompner'sPrologue in Chaucer, printed anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany,entitled Poems on Several Occasions ( 1717), p. 147. See Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, iii . 125, 190, 192.GROUP E.§ 63. THE CLERK'S PROLOGUE. This begins a new Group ofTales. There is nothing to connect this Prologue with any of therest of the Tales. It usually follows the Somnours Tale, as inmost MSS. and in the early editions.The Prologue, in the usual riming couplets, is evidently laterthan the Tale, and was supplied at the time of revision . Itcontains an interesting allusion to Petrarch, whose death tookplace in July, 1374; see remarks upon the Tale itself below.The latter part of the Prologue describes briefly the contents ofthe Latin Proem prefixed to Petrarch's tale.§ 64. THE CLERKES TALE. Of this tale, the main part is arather close translation from Petrarch's De obedientia et fide uxoriâMythologia, as explained in the Notes; and it must be added thatPetrarch had it from Boccaccio. It is the very last tale—the tenthtale of the tenth day-in the Decamerone, written shortly afterthe year 1348. Whether Boccaccio invented it or not can hardlybe determined; for an expression of Petrarch, to the effect thathe had heard it ' many years ' (multos annos) before 1373, is notat all decisive on this point, as he may easily have heard it twenty454 SOURCES OF THE TALES.years before then, even though he had never before read theDecamerone, as he himself asserts. There has been some unnecessary mystification about the matter. Tyrwhitt wonders whyChaucer should have owned an obligation to Petrarch rather thanto Boccaccio; but a very cursory examination shews the nowundoubted fact, that Chaucer follows Petrarch almost word forword in many passages, though Petrarch by no means closelyfollows Boccaccio. In fact, ll. 41-55 settle the matter. The dateof Petrarch's version, though a little uncertain, seems to have been1373; and Chaucer himself tells us that he met Petrarch at Padua ' .We may therefore readily adopt Dr. Furnivall's suggestion, that' during his Italian embassy in 1373, Chaucer may have metPetrarch.' Only let us suppose for a moment that Chaucerhimself knew best, that he is not intentionally and unnecessarilyinventing his statements, and all difficulty vanishes. We knowthat Chaucer was absent from England on the king's business,visiting Florence and Genoa, from December 1 , 1372, till sometime before November 22, 1373. We know that Petrarch's letterto Boccaccio, really forming a preface to the tale of Griselda, andtherefore written shortly after he had made his version of it, isdated in some copies June 8, 1373, though in other copies nodate appears. And we know that Petrarch, on his own shewing,was so pleased with the story of Griselda that he learnt it byheart as well as he could, for the express purpose of repeating it tofriends, before the idea of turning it into Latin occurred to him.Whence we may conclude that Chaucer and Petrarch met atPadua early in 1373; that Petrarch told Chaucer the story byword of mouth, either in Italian or French 2; and that Chaucershortly after obtained a copy of Petrarch's Latin version, which hekept constantly before him whilst making his own translation ".To which it is not unusual to object, by insisting that it was not Chaucerhimself who met Petrarch, but the Clerk who tells the tale. I doubt ifthis amounts to more than a quibble. There is nothing out of place in Chaucer's reference to an incident in his own life, inasmuch as he was a clerkhimself, in the sense of being a student. Otherwise, we have to explain howthe poor clerk raised the money to pay for this long journey; how it came to passthat he met Petrarch, and when; and how he acquired a copy of Petrarch's tale.See E 27, 40.' See E 1147 -' Petrark wryteth.' And yet Warton could imagine thatChaucer did not use a copy of Petrarch's version, but only wrote from recol-GROUP E. 455At this rate, the main part of the Clerk's Tale was probablywritten in 1373 or early in 1374 ' , and required but little revisionto make it suitable for one of the tales of the Canterburyseries . The test of metre likewise suggests that it was probablyone of his early works. The closeness of the translation alsoproves the same point. Chaucer, in his revised version, adds thePrologue, containing an allusion to Petrarch's death (which tookplace in 1374), and eulogises the great Italian writer according tohis desert. At the end of the translation , which terminates with1. 1162, he adds two new stanzas, and the Envoy. The latenessof this (undramatic) addition is proved at once by the whole toneof it, and, in particular, by the mention of the Wife of Bath in1. 1170. The Envoy is a marvel of rhythm, since, though itconsists of thirty-six lines, it contains but three rime-endings,viz. -ence, -aille, and -inde. Besides this addition, there is yetone more, in the middle of the tale, viz. the two stanzas in 11. 995-1008, as pointed out in the Notes; they are conspicuous for theirexcellence.The story of Griselda, as told by Boccaccio, together withPetrarch's Latin version of it , and the letter of Petrarch toBoccaccio concerning it, are all reprinted in the ' Originals andAnalogues of some of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, ' Part II,published for the Chaucer Society, and dated (in advance) 1875.Were any additional proof needed that Chaucer had Petrarch'sversion before him, it is supplied by the fact that numerousquotations from that version are actually written in the margins ofthe pages of the Ellesmere and Hengwrt MSS. , each in its properplace. All the passages that are made clearer by a comparisonwith the Latin text are duly considered in the Notes. Speakingof the story of Griselda, Warton remarks that it soon becameso popular in France, that the comedians of Paris representeda mystery in French verse, entitled Le mystere de GriselidisMarquis[ e] de Saluces, in the year 1393. Before, or in the sameyear, the French prose version in Le Ménagier de Paris wascomposed, andthere is an entirely different version in the Imperiallection of what he had heard! If we enquire, how did Chaucer obtain thisversion, no answer is so likely as the supposition that Petrarch gave it him atparting. It is difficult to see how he could have got it otherwise.1 The words ' He is now deed,' in E 29, suggest that Petrarch was still livingwhen Chaucer first wrote the Tale.456 SOURCES OF THE TALES.library. Lydgate, almost Chaucer's contemporary, in his poementitled the Temple of Glass, among the celebrated lovers paintedon the walls of the Temple, mentions Dido, Medea and Jason,Penelope, Alcestis, Patient Griselda ', Belle Isoulde and Sir Tristram, Pyramus and Thisbe, Theseus, Lucretia, Canace, Palamon,and Emilia.' Elsewhere Warton remarks (Hist. Eng. Poetry, ed.Hazlitt, iv. 229, note 3 ) that the affecting story of PatientGrisild seems to have long kept up its celebrity. In the booksof the Stationers, in 1565, Owen Rogers has a licence to print"a Ballat intituled the Songe of Pacyent Gressell vnto hyr make "[husband]; Registr. A. fol. 132 , b. Two ballads are entered in1565, "to the tune of pacyente Gressell "; ibid. fol. 135, a. Inthe same year T. Colwell has licence to print The History of mekeand pacyent Gresell; ibid. fol. 139, a. Instances occur muchlower.' See also Hazlitt's Handbook of Early English Literature.In Originals and Analogues, published by the Chaucer Society,1887, p. 527, there is an article by Mr. Clouston giving an abstractof an Early French version of this story which was printed in LeGrand's Fabliaux ou Contes, du XIIIe et du XIIIIe siècle, ed. 1781,tome ii. 232-252. Mr. Clouston draws the conclusion that boththe Latin version in Petrarch and the Italian version in Boccacciowere taken from a common source closely resembling this EarlyFrench fabliau. ' The differences,' he observes, between theFrench and Latin versions are few and immaterial. As Petrarchplainly states that he was familiar with the tale long before hehad read it in the Decameron, we may, I think, safely concludethat he knew it from a fabliau, which was probably also thesource of Boccaccio's novel.'Similar tales are not common in Asiatic literature; but ' in theearlier literature of India, ' says Mr. Clouston, ' before it could beaffected by baleful Muslim notions regarding women, there occurseveral notable tales of faithful, virtuous, obedient wives. ' One isthe tale of a queen, as given in the Kathá Sárit Ságara (Tawney'stranslation, vol. i. p. 355); see the abstract by Mr. Clouston.Another faithful wife appears in Sitá, the spouse of Ráma, in thegreat Hindú epic, the Rámayana; and again, in Damayanti, wifeThere was also Grisildis innocence,"And al hir mekenes and hir pacience.'Lydgate, Temple of Glas, ed. Schick, 1. 75.GROUP E. 457of Nala, in the beautiful episode called the Tale of Nala, in thegreat poem entitled the Mahábhárata.Two English versions of the Tale of Griselda are printed invol. iii. of the Percy Society's publications. One is in prose,dated 1610, and is said to have been ' written first in French ';the other, in ballad form, is said to be ' translated out of Italian.'There is a ballad called ' Patient Grissell,' in the Percy Folio MS. ,ed. Hales and Furnivall, iii. 421; and there is one by ThomasDeloney in Professor Child's English and Scottish Ballads, vol. iv.Professor Child remarks that ' two plays upon the subject areknown to have been written, one of which (by Dekker, Chettle,and Haughton) has been printed by the Shakespeare Society,while the other, an older production of the close of Henry VIII'sreign, is lost.' Pepys refers to the ' puppet-play ' of PatientGrizell in his Diary, Aug. 30, 1667. Butler, in his Hudibras(pt. i. c. 2. 772 ), couples Grizel with Job.In Italy the story is so common that it is still often acted inmarionette theatres; it is to be had, moreover, in common chapbooks, and a series of cheap pictures representing various scenesin it may often be seen decorating cottage-walls. ( Notes andQueries, 5th S. i. 105, 255) . The same thing was done in England.We in the country do not scorn Our walls with ballads to adornOf patient Grissel and the Lord of Lorn.'Ritson's Ancient Songs, i. xcviii.Several scenes of the tale are well exhibited in an excellentpicture by Pinturicchio, in the National Gallery (London).For remarks upon the conduct of the tale and the character ofthe heroine, see Prof. Hales's criticisms in the Percy Folio MS. , iii .421 , and in Originals and Analogues of Chaucer, Part II , pp. 173-176. There are also a few good remarks on it in Canterbury Talesfrom Chaucer, by J. Saunders, ed. 1889, p. 308, where the authorpoints out that, as the Marquis was Griselda's feudal lord, shecould but say ' yes ' when asked to marry him, the asking being amere form; and that the spirit of chivalry appears in her devotionof herselfto his every wish.§ 65. THE MERCHANT'S PROlogue. It seems to have beenChaucer's first intention to end the Clerkes Tale at 1. 1163.He then began writing a new Prologue, but only finished onestanza of it. This stanza is given in the footnote at p. 424 of458SOURCESOF THE TALES.6vol. iv. He then changed his mind, rejected this stanza, andwrote (instead of it) the late addition to the Clerkes Talegiven on pp. 424-5, lines 1163-1212. The last line (l . 1212)ends with care, and wepe, and wringe, and waille.' Then, withreference to this line, he makes the Merchant's Prologue beginwith the words Weping, and wayling, care,' &c. In this way,the Clerkes Tale and that of the Marchant are indissolublyconnected, as in the Ellesmere MS. and most others. There is,however, one set of MSS. which disconnects these Tales, as explained in the Introduction to vol. iv. p. xxiii . This is the setthere marked D. Unfortunately, Thynne followed a MS. ofthis class, in which the worst arrangement of the Tales occurs.Hence in all the black-letter editions, the Tales are sadly outof order, and the Clerkes Tale is wrongly followed by that ofthe Frankeleyn. This causes a breaking up of Group F as wellas of Group E, the Squieres Tale being followed by that of theMarchant, as noted in § 69 below.The close connexion between this Prologue and the precedingTale is further seen in the whole tenor of ll . 1213-39; noteparticularly the express mention of Grisildis in l. 1224.In consequence of their dislocation of the order of the Tales,the black- letter editions substitute the word Marchant for Frankeleyn in F 675 and 696, and even alter the ending of F 699, viz.' quod the frankeleyn, ' into ' quod the marchant certeyn, ' a forcedalteration which is obviously spurious. They then place F 673-708 before E 1213; which is an extremely clumsy arrangement.Tyrwhitt put this matter right in his edition, being here guided bythe authority of the majority of the MSS.2§ 66. THE MARCHANTES TALE. This Tale is certainly a lateaddition. Dr. Köppel has shewn that several lines in thisTale are imitated from Albertano of Brescia, so that it becomesclear that the Tale of Melibeus (which is little else than a translation from that author) had already been written before the¹ It occurs also in the black- letter editions, and in MSS. Harl. 1758 and7333, Barlow 20, and Royal 18 C. ii; as well as in E. , Hn. , Cm. , and Dd.Several MSS. follow it up by various scraps, taken from E. 2419-40 and F 1-8,with the false substitution of Sire Frankeleyn for Squier in F 1 , which makesthe line too long. See Part 1 of the Six-text edition, pp. xvii * -xx*.2 Chaucer und Albertanus Brixiensis; in Archiv für das Studium der neuerenSprachen; vol. 86, p. 29.GROUP E. 459Marchantes Tale was begun. This easily appears by comparingthe following passages: (a) E 1362-1374 with B 2287-91, whereJacob, Judith, Abigail, and Hester are mentioned, in bothpassages, in the same order: (6) E 1483-6 with B 2193: (c)E 2246-8 with B 2247, and E 2250 with B 2249: (d) E 2277–81and 2286-90 with B 2266-70: (e) E 2365 with B 2167. Moreover, in two instances at least, Chaucer follows the Latin text ofAlbertano even where there is no corresponding passage in theTale of Melibeus. Thus, in E 1373, there is mention of Mardochee; but he is not named in B 2291. However, the Latintext has: ' Simili modo et Hester Iudaeos per suum bonumconsilium simul cum Mardochaeo, in regno Assueri regis, sublimauit '; cap. v. (ed. T. Sundby, p. 17 ) . Again, the linesE 1375-6 do not appear after B 2298 (their proper place), but onlyoccur in the Latin text: ' Quartam uero rationem ad hoc inducitSeneca, commendans super omnia benignas coniuges; ait enim:Sicut nihil est superius benigna coniuge, ita nihil est crudeliusinfesta muliere '; (p. 18).Dr. Köppel has further pointed out, in the same article, thatChaucer has also introduced into this Tale some quotations fromanother work by Albertano, entitled Liber de amore et dilectioneDei; for examples, see the Notes. Moreover, this Tale alsoexhibits quotations from Boethius, as, e. g. in E 2021-2, for whichsee Boethius, bk. iii . pr. 2. 55; and, in one passage, E 1582, wefind a reminiscence both of Boethius, bk. v. met. 4. 8 , and ofTroilus, i . 365. But, beyond all this, there is the somewhatextraordinary reference to the Wife of Bath's Prologue in E 1685,where we are told that she had already discussed the question ofmarriage ' in litel space.' This shews at once, past all doubt,that the Marchantes Tale was not only written later than Melibeus,Boethius, and Troilus; but even later than the highly matureperformance written in the Wife's name, as the result of her wideexperience.The Tale practically consists of three parts. The first part(E 1245-1688) is a discourse upon marriage, somewhat in thestyle of the Wife of Bath's Prologue, but treating it from a morefavourable point of view, with the addition of some hints fromAlbertano of Brescia. The second part describes the wedding ofJanuary and May, and the love-languor of Damian (E 1689-2056).The third part describes how January became blind, and the460 SOURCES OF THE TALES.means whereby he was restored to sight ( E 2057-2418) . The lastpart has several analogues, and is, in fact, founded on a storyonce widely current. For a full account of this story, see Originalsand Analogues, Chaucer Society, pp. 177 and 341. Chaucerprobably took the outline of his story from some French or Latinsource. Tyrwhitt says:-'The scene of the Marchantes Taleis laid in Italy, but none of the names, except Damian andJustin, seem to be Italian, but rather made at pleasure; so thatI doubt whether the story be really of Italian growth. Theadventure of the Pear-tree I find in a small collection of Latinfables, written by one Adolphus, in elegiac verses of his fashion,in the year 1315. The same story is inserted among the Fablesof Alphonse, printed by Caxton in English, with those of Æsop,Avian, and Pogge, without date; but I do not find it in theoriginal Latin of Alphonsus (MS. Bibl. Reg. 10 B xii ) , or in anyof the French translations of his work that I have examined. 'Five 'Pear-tree ' stories are printed in the Originals and Analogues. The first is the fable of Adolphus, above mentioned .It is the first fable in Adolphi Fabulae, printed in PolycarpiLeyseri Historia Poetarum et Poematum Medii Ævi: HalaeMagdelburgiae, 1721, p. 2008. It consists of thirty-six elegiaclines, and tells how a blind man's wife ascended a pear-treein which her lover was hidden; whereupon the blind man'ssight was suddenly restored, and she explains that the cure wasdue to her contrivance. Another very similar story occurs in anAppendix to the Latin editions of Æsop's Fables printed in thefifteenth century, and was reprinted byWright in his ' Latin Stories,'for the Percy Society, 1842, p. 78. This is the same story, ornearly so, as the fable of Alphonsus which Tyrwhitt failed to find,and is written in prose. The English version (as Tyrwhitt says) wasprinted by Caxton in 1483, in The Book of the subtyl hystoryesand Fables of Esope ' , at leaf 132. The title runs, ' The xiifable is of a blynd man and of hys wyf. 'A third Latin Pear-tree ' story occurs in the Comoedia Lydiae,by Matthieu de Vendôme, and was printed from a MS. at Vienna,in Anecdota Poetica, &c.: Poésies Inédites du moyen âge;par Edélestand du Méril; 1854, p. 370. This is in seventy-two¹ To which are appended fables by Avian (leaf 106); by Alfonce (leaf 120,back); and by Poge the Florentyn (leaf 134) .GROUP E. 461elegiac lines, and gives names to the personages mentioned.The husband and wife are Duke Decius and Lydia; her lover isPyrrhus, and her maid is Lusca. Hence it is evidently the sourceof the similar story in Boccaccio's Decamerone, Day 7 , Nov. 9, inwhich the husband and wife are Nicostratus and Lydia, and thelover is Pyrrhus, as before. In this third version of the storythe husband is not blind, but the pear-tree is supposed to beenchanted, and to cause false illusions to appear.In the same Originals and Analogues, at p. 343 , Mr. Cloustonhas collected several Asiatic stories of a similar character, including one in the Bahár-i Dánush, or Spring of Knowledge;a Turkish Version in the romance of The Forty Vazírs, aboutan enchanted tree which is supposed to cause illusions; and anArabian Version found in the Breslau printed text of the ArabianNights, ed. Habicht and Fleischer, and printed in English inTales from the Arabic, by John Payne ( London, printed for theVillon Society, 1884) , vol. i . p. 270. Of a similar type is thestory of The Officious Father-in-Law, occurring in the PersianSindibád Náma (second tale of the Fifth Vazír) , in the Túti Náma(eighth night, story of the Fifth Vazír), and in the Sanskrit SukaSaptati (fifteenth night). A similar story to that in the Bahár- iDánush is current in Ceylon; and a translation of it is givenin the Orientalist, vol. ii. ( 1885), p. 148, reprinted by Mr. Clouston.Other examples are added, which, however, bear but a remoteresemblance to the Tale in Chaucer.I may add that I find a French variant of the story in thePoésies de Marie de France, ed. Roquefort, Paris, 1820; 2 vols.It is the fortieth Fable in that work, and is headed, ' Dou vileinsqui vit un autre Hom od sa femme.' Butthis version omits thehusband's blindness and the pear-tree, and merely says thata thing is not necessarily true because you see it. In conclusion,Mr. Clouston says:-' The model of both Boccaccio's andChaucer's tales seems to have been the version found in theComoedia Lydiae, or one similar to it. The story may perhapsexist in some of the great medieval monkish collections ofsermons, or of exempla designed for the use of preachers, such asthe Sermones of Jacques de Vitry; the Liber de Donis of Étiennede Bourbon; the Promptuarium Exemplorum of John Herolt; theSumma Praedicantium of John Bromyard. In the absence ofany Eastern version representing the cuckolded husband as being462 SOURCES OF THE TALES.blind and having his sight miraculously restored to discoverhimself dishonoured, we must conclude that this form of thestory is of European invention. It is needless to add thatChaucer's tale of January and May is incomparably the best-toldof all the versions, whether Asiatic or European. 'One peculiarity of this Tale requires further notice, viz. themention of Pluto. As to this, Tyrwhitt well remarks-' Themachinery of the Faeries, which Chaucer has used so happily,was probably added by himself; and indeed I cannot helpthinking, that his Pluto and Proserpina were the true progenitorsof Oberon and Titania....In the rest of his Faery system, Shakespeare seems to have followed the popular superstitions of his owntime.'GROUP F.§ 67. THE SQUIRE'S PROLOGUE. Ten Brink assumes thatGroups E and F constitute but one Group; for which there is nocertain evidence. Many MSS. , including Pt. , make the Wife'sTale follow the Marchantes Tale; and there is nothing in thetext itself to shew that the Epilogue to the Marchantes Tale isinseparably connected with the Squire's Prologue. Nevertheless,many good MSS. , including E., write that Epilogue and theSquire's Prologue continuously, and E. prefixes to the Epiloguea rubric— The Prologe of the Squieres Tale '; see vol. iv. p. 460,footnote. The easiest way out of the difficulty is to adopt thearrangement in the Six-text edition, which separates Group Efrom Group F as to the numbering of the lines, but makes Ffollow E immediately.The black-letter editions omit E 2419-2440 and F 1-8 altogether; so that Tyrwhitt was the first to print these lines. Hesays: ' The Prologue to the Squieres Tale [ by which he meansE 2419-40 and F 1-8 ] appears now for the first time in print.Why it has been omitted by all former editors I cannot guess,except, perhaps, because it did not suit with the place which, forreasons best known to themselves, they were determined to assignto the Squieres Tale, that is, after the Man of Lawes and beforethe Marchantes '. I have chosen rather to follow the MSS. ofthe' The ' reasons ' are not recondite; for fifteen MSS. , at the least, have thisarrangement.GROUP F. 463best authority in placing the Squieres Tale after the Marchantes,and in connecting them together by this Prologue, agreeably, asI am persuaded, to Chaucer's intention. The lines which havebeen usually printed by way of Prologue to the Squieres Tale, asI believe them to have been really composed by Chaucer, thoughnot intended for the Squieres Prologue, I have prefixed to theShipmannes Tale, for reasons which I shall give when I come tospeak of that Tale '.In F 1 , MSS. Hn. and Pt., and others, substitute Sire Frankeleyn for Squyer. This is obviously wrong, because it increases thenumber of syllables in the line from ten syllables to twelve, andthe number of accents from five to six. Cf. § 69.§ 68. THE SQUIERES TALE. As to this Tale, Tyrwhitt remarks:' I have never been able to discover the probable originalof this Tale, and yet I should be very hardly brought to believethat the whole, or even any considerable part of it, was ofChaucer'sinvention. 'The general tone of it points to an Eastern, and especiallyto an Arabian origin. In this connection, it is worth remarkingthat there is at least one other case in which Chaucer is conectedwith an Arabian writer. I have shewn, in the Introduction to theTreatise on the Astrolabe, that a large part of it is immediatelyderived from a Latin version of a treatise written by Messahala,an Arabian astronomer, by religion a Jew, who flourished towardsthe end of the eighth century. So also in the case of TheSquieres Tale, we may suspect that it was through some Latinmedium that Chaucer made acquaintance with Arabian fiction.But I am fortunate in having found a more direct clue to somepart, at least, of the poem. I shall shew presently that one of hissources was the Travels of Marco Polo 2.Warton, in his History of English Poetry, took much pains togather together some information on the subject, and his remarksare therefore quoted here, nearly at length, for the reader's convenience. I omit most of his references.1 Tyrwhitt is quite right; he is alluding to the true Shipman's Prologue;B 1163-90.

• Only a few hours after writing this sentence, I found that Mr. Keightley,

in his Tales and Popular Fictions, published in 1834, at p. 76, distinctly derivesChaucer's Tale from the travels of Marco Polo. I let the sentence stand, however, as an example of undesigned coincidence.464 SOURCES OF THE TALES.'The Canterbury Tales, ' says Warton, ' are unequal, and ofvarious merit. Few perhaps, if any, of the stories are the invention of Chaucer. I have already spoken at large of theKnight's Tale, one of our author's noblest compositions. Thatof the Canterbury Tales which deserves the next place, as writtenin the higher strain of poetry, and the poem by which Miltondescribes and characterises Chaucer, is the Squire's Tale. Theimagination of this story consists in Arabian fiction engrafted onGothic chivalry. Nor is this Arabian fiction purely the sport ofarbitrary fancy: it is in great measure founded on Arabianlearning. Cambuscan, a King of Tartary, celebrates his birthday festival in the hall of his palace at Sarra with the most royalmagnificence. In the midst of the solemnity, the guests arealarmed by a miraculous and unexpected spectacle: the minstrelscease on a sudden, and all the assembly is hushed in silence,surprise, and suspense; see ll . 77–88.' These presents were sent by the King of Arabia and Indiato Cambuscan, in honour of his feast. The Horse of Brass, onthe skilful movement and management of certain secret springs,transported his rider into the most distant region of the worldin the space of twenty-four hours; for, as the rider chose, hecould fly in the air with the swiftness of an eagle: and again, asoccasion required, he could stand motionless in opposition to thestrongest force, vanish on a sudden at command, and return athis master's call. The Mirror of Glass was endued with thepower of shewing any future disasters which might happen toCambuscan's kingdom, and discovered the most hidden machinations of treason. The Naked Sword could pierce armour deemedimpenetrable, " were it as thikke as is a branched ook " (l. 159);and he who was wounded with it could never be healed, unlessits possessor could be entreated to stroke the wound with its edge.The Ring was intended for Canace, Cambuscan's daughter, andwhile she bore it in her purse, or wore it on her thumb, enabledher to understand the language of every species of birds, and thevirtues of every plant.'I have mentioned, in another place, the favourite philosophicalstudies of the Arabians. In this poem the nature of those studiesis displayed, and their operations exemplified: and this consideration, added to the circ*mstances of Tartary being the sceneof action, and Arabia the country from which these extraordinaryGROUP F. 465presents are brought, induces me to believe this story to beidentical with one which was current at a very ancient date amongthe Arabians¹. At least it is formed on their principles. Theirsciences were tinctured with the warmth of their imaginations,and consisted in wonderful discoveries and mysterious inventions.'This idea of a Horse of Brass took its rise from their chemicalknowledge and experiments in metals. The treatise of Jeber,a famous Arab chemist of the middle ages, called Lapis Philosophorum, contains many curious and useful processes concerningthe nature of metals, their fusion, purification, and malleability,which still maintain a place in modern systems of that science.The poets of romance, who deal in Arabian ideas, describe theTrojan horse as made of brass. These sages pretended the powerof giving life or speech to some of their compositions in metal.Bishop Grosseteste's speaking brazen head, sometimes attributedto Roger Bacon, has its foundation in Arabian philosophy. Inthe romance of Valentine and Orson, a brazen head fabricated bya necromancer in a magnificent chamber of the castle of Clerimond, declares to those two princes their royal parentage. Weare told by William of Malmesbury that Pope Sylvester II, aprofound mathematician who lived in the eleventh century, madea brazen head, which would speak when spoken to, and oracularlyresolved many difficult questions. Albertus Magnus, who was alsoa profound adept in those sciences which were taught by theArabian schools, is said to have framed a man of brass, whichnot only answered questions readily and truly, but was soloquacious, that Thomas Aquinas, while a pupil of AlbertusMagnus, and afterwards an Angelic doctor, knocked it in piecesas the disturber of his abstruse speculations. This was about theyear 1240. Much in the same manner, the notion of our knight'shorse being moved by means of a concealed engine correspondswith their pretences of producing preternatural effects, and theirlove of surprising by geometrical powers. Exactly in this notion,Rocail, a giant in some of the Arabian romances, is said to havebuilt a palace, together with his own sepulchre, of most magnificent architecture and with singular artifice: in both of these heplaced a great number of gigantic statues or images, figured ofdifferent metals by talismanic skill, which in consequence of some1 So in Mr. Hazlitt's edition; Warton originally wrote-' to believe thisstory to be one of the many fables which the Arabians imported into Europe.'

• • • H h

466 SOURCES OF THE TALES.occult machinery, performed actions of real life, and looked likeliving men. We must add that astronomy, which the Arabianphilosophers studied with a singular enthusiasm, had no smallshare in the composition of this miraculous steed. For, says thepoet, "He that it wroughte coude ful many a gin;He wayted many a constellacioun,Er he had doon this operacioun." (ll. 128-130.)' Thus the buckler of the Arabian giant Ben Gian, as famousamong the Orientals as that of Achilles among the Greeks, wasfabricated by the powers of astronomy; and Pope Sylvester'sbrazen head, just mentioned, was prepared under the influence ofcertain constellations.' Natural magic, improperly so called, was likewise a favouritepursuit of the Arabians, by which they imposed false appearanceson the spectator. . . . Chaucer, in the fiction before us, supposesthat some of the guests in Cambuscan's hall believed the Trojanhorse to be a temporary illusion, effected by the power of magic(1. 218)....' Optics were likewise a branch of study which suited thenatural genius of the Arabian philosophers, and which theypursued with incredible delight. This science was a part of theAristotelic philosophy which, as I have before observed, theyrefined and filled with a thousand extravagances. Hence ourstrange knight's Mirror of Glass, prepared on the most profoundprinciples of art, and endued with preternatural qualities (11. 225-234, 132-141 ) .' Alcen, or Alhazen, mentioned in 1. 232, an Arabic philosopher,wrote seven books of perspective, and flourished about theeleventh century. Vitellio, formed on the same school, was likewise an eminent mathematician of the middle ages, and wrote tenbooks on Perspective. The Roman Mirror here mentioned byChaucer, as similar to this of the strange knight, is thus describedby Gower:-"Whan Rome stood in noble plite,Virgile, which was tho parfite,A mirrour made of his clergye [by his skill],And sette it in the townes ye [eye, sight]Of marbre on a piller withoute,That they, by thritty mile aboute,By day and eek also by nighteIn that mirrour beholde mighteHer ennemies, if any were "; Conf. Amant. bk. v. (ii. 195) .GROUP F. 467'The Oriental writers relate that Giamschid, one of their kings,the Solomon of the Persians and their Alexander the Great, possessed among his inestimable treasures cups, globes, and mirrors,of metal, glass, and crystal, by means of which he and his peopleknew all natural as well as supernatural things. The title of anArabian book translated from the Persian is-The Mirror whichreflects the World. There is this passage in an ancient Turkishpoet: "When I am purified by the light of heaven, my soul willbecome the mirror of the world, in which I shall discern allabstruse secrets. " Monsieur Herbelot is of opinion that theOrientals took these notions from the patriarch Joseph's cup ofdivination and Nestor's cup in Homer, on which all nature wassymbolically represented. Our great countryman Roger Bacon,in his Opus Majus, a work entirely formed on the Aristotelic andArabian philosophy, describes a variety of Specula, and explainstheir construction and uses. This is the most curious andextraordinary part of Bacon's book, which was written about theyear 1270. Bacon's optic tube, with which he pretended to seefuture events, was famous in his age, and long afterwards, andchiefly contributed to give him the name of a magician. Thisart, with others of the experimental kind, the philosophers ofthose times were fond of adapting to the purposes of thaumaturgy;and there is much occult and chimerical speculation in the discoveries which Bacon affects to have made from optical experiments. He asserts (and I am obliged to cite the passage in hisown mysterious expressions) " omnia sciri per Perspectivam,quoniam omnes actiones rerum fiunt secundum specierum etvirtutum multiplicationem ab agentibus hujus mundi in materiaspatientes," &c. Spenser feigns that the magician Merlin madea glassy globe, and presented it to King Ryence, which showed theapproach of enemies, and discovered treasons (F. Q. iii. 2. 21).This fiction, which exactly corresponds with Chaucer's Mirror,Spenser borrowed from some romance, perhaps of King Arthur,fraught with Oriental fancy. From the same sources came a likefiction of Camoens in the Lusiad (canto x) , where a globe is shownto Vasco de Gama, representing the universal fabric or system of1 'All things can be known by Perspective, because all operations of thingstake place according to the multiplication of forms and forces, by means of thisworld's agents, upon yielding materials.'-Opus Minus (see Warton).Hh 2468SOURCESOF THETALES.the world, in which he sees future kingdoms and future events.The Spanish historians report an American tradition, but moreprobably invented by themselves, and built on the Saracen fablesin which they were so conversant. They pretended that some yearsbefore the Spaniards entered Mexico, the inhabitants caught a monstrous fowl, of unusual magnitude and shape, on the lake of Mexico.In the crown of the head of this wonderful bird there was a mirroror plate of glass, in which the Mexicans saw their future invadersthe Spaniards, and all the disasters which afterwards happenedto their kingdom. These superstitions remained, even in thedoctrines of philosophers, long after the darker ages. CorneliusAgrippa, a learned physician of Cologne about the year 1520, andauthor of a famous book on the Vanity of the Sciences, mentionsa species of mirror which exhibited the form of persons absent, atcommand. In one of these he is said to have shown to thepoetical Earl of Surrey the image of his mistress, the beautifulGeraldine, sick and reposing on a couch. Nearly allied to thiswas the infatuation of seeing things in a beryl, which was verypopular in the reign of James I, and is alluded to by Shakespeare......"The Naked Sword, another of the gifts presented by thestrange knight to Cambuscan, endued with medical virtues, andso hard as to pierce the most solid armour, is likewise an Arabianidea. It was suggested by their skill in medicine, by which theyaffected to communicate healing qualities to various substances,and by their knowledge of tempering iron and hardening all kindsof metal. It is the classical spear of Peleus, perhaps originallyfabricated in the same regions of fancy; see 11. 236-246.The sword which Berni, in the Orlando Innamorato, givesto the hero Ruggiero, is tempered by much the same sort ofmagic:-"Il brando con tal arte fabbricato,Che taglia incanto, ed ogni fatagione¹ ";Orl. Innamor. ii. 17, st. 5.So also his continuator Ariosto:—"Non vale incanto , ov'ella mette il taglio " ";Orl. Fur. xli. 83.1 'That sword, wrought with such art, that it cuts through enchantment andevery charm.' I correct the errors in these quotations.፡2 Enchantment avails not, where it inflicts a cut.'GROUP F. 469And the notion that this weapon could resist all incantations islike the fiction above mentioned of the buckler of the Arabiangiant Ben Gian, which baffled the force of charms and enchantments made by giants or demons. Spenser has a sword enduedwith the same efficacy, the metal of which the magician Merlinmixed with the juice of meadow- wort, that it might be proofa*gainst enchantment; and afterwards, having forged the bladein the flames of Etna, he gave it hidden virtue by dipping itseven times in the bitter waters of Styx; F. Q. ii. 8. 20. Fromthe same origin is also the golden lance of Berni, which Galafron ,King of Cathaia, father of the beautiful Angelica and the invincible champion Argalia, procured for his son by the help ofa magician. This lance was of such irresistible power, that itunhorsed a knight the instant he was touched with its point;Orl. Innamor. i . 1. 43. Britomart in Spenser is armed with thesame enchanted spear, which was made by Bladud, an ancientBritish king skilled in magic; F. Q. iii . 3. 60; iv. 6. 6; iii. 1. 10.'The Ring, a gift to the king's daughter Canace, which taughtthe language of birds, is also quite in the style of some othersof the occult sciences of these inventive philosophers; and it isthe fashion of the Oriental fabulists to give language to brutesin general. But to understand the language of birds was peculiarly one of the boasted sciences of the Arabians, who pretendthat many of their countrymen have been skilled in the knowledge of the language of birds ever since the time of KingSolomon. Their writers relate that Balkis, the Queen of Shebaor Saba, had a bird called Hudhud, that is, a lapwing, which shedispatched to King Solomon on various occasions, and that thistrusty bird was the messenger of their amours. We are toldthat Solomon having been secretly informed by this wingedconfidant that Balkis intended to honour him with a grandembassy, enclosed a spacious square with a wall of gold andsilver bricks, in which he ranged his numerous troops andattendants in order to receive the ambassadors, who wereastonished at the suddenness of these splendid and unexpectedpreparations. Herbelot tells a curious story of an Arab feeding his camels in a solitary wilderness, who was accosted fora draught of water by Alhejaj, a famous Arabian commander,who had been separated from his retinue in hunting. Whilethey were talking together, a bird flew over their heads, making470 SOURCES OF THE TALES.at the same time an unusual sort of noise, which the camelfeeder hearing, looked steadfastly on Alhejaj, and demandedwho he was. Alhejaj, not choosing to return him a directanswer, desired to knowthe meaning of that question. " Because, "replied the camel-feeder, " this bird assures me that a companyof people is coming this way, and that you are the chief ofthem." While he was speaking, Alhejaj's attendants arrived."This wonderful Ring also imparted to the wearer a knowledgeof the qualities of plants, which formed an important part of theArabian philosophy; see ll. 146-155.'Every reader of taste and imagination must regret that, insteadof our author's tedious detail of the quaint effects of Canace'sring, in which a falcon relates her amours, and talks familiarly ofTroilus, Paris, and Jason, the notable achievements we maysuppose to have been performed by the assistance of the horse ofbrass are either lost, or that this part of the story, by far the mostinteresting, was never written. After the strange knight hasexplained to Cambuscan the management of this magical courser,he vanishes on a sudden, and we hear no more of him; ll. 302-343.' By such inventions we are willing to be deceived. These aretriumphs of deception over truth:-"Magnanima mensogna, hor quando è il veroSi bello, che si possa à te preporre? ¹ "'This learned and curious discourse is well worth perusal; butthe reader will probably be led to remark, that Warton does notafter all tell us whence Chaucer drew his materials, but onlyproves that he drew them from some Arabian source. Thatsource may be indicated a little more distinctly; for, as will beshewn more fully below, nearly all the magical particulars are tobe found in the collection now known as the Arabian Nights'Entertainments. For the rest, we may trace most of the descriptions to the travels of Marco Polo, with which Chaucer must havebeen acquainted to some extent, either immediately or throughsome channel not easily now pointed out. This suggestionoccurred to me on reading a note by Colonel Yule on the name1 'O splendid falsehood, when is truth so beautiful that one can prefer herto thee?' In Warton's book, the Italian quotations abound in misprints, notall of which are removed in Hazlitt's edition. I cannot construe ' al vero,' asthere printed.GROUP F. 471of Cambuscan; but in this I have been long anticipated byMr. Keightley, as noted above (p. 463 , note 2). The passage inColonel Yule's edition of Marco Polo to which I refer, is asfollows:-' Before parting with Chingis [or Gengis Khan] let me pointout what has not to my knowledge been suggested before, thatthe name of " Cambuscan bold " in Chaucer's tale is only a corruption of the name of Chinghiz. The name of the conquerorappears in Friar Ricold as Camiuscan, from which the transitionto Cambuscan presents no difficulty ' . Camius was, I suppose,a clerical corruption out of Canjus or Cianjus.'—Marco Polo, ed.Yule, i. 218.On applying to Professor Palmer for information as to themeaning of the name, he kindly pointed out to me that, in theDictionnaire Turk- Oriental by M. Pavet de Courteille (Paris,1870) , p. 289, the word djenguiz (as M. de Courteille spells it) isexplained to mean simply great. Thus Chinghiz Khan is no morethan Great Khan; and Cambinskan merely represents the sametitle of Great Khan, which appears so repeatedly in Marco Polo'stravels. The succession of supreme or Great Khans was asfollows: (1 ) Chinghiz; ( 2 ) Okkadai; (3 ) Kuyuk; (4) Mangku;(5) Kublai, &c. The first of these is always known by the simpletitle, though his real name was Temugin; the second was his son;and the third, fourth, and fifth were all his grandsons. Thedescriptions in Marco Polo refer to Kublai Khan, who died in1294. Marco describes his person with some minuteness:-'The personal appearance of the Great Kaan, Lord of Lords,whose name is Cublay, is such as I shall now tell you. He is ofa good stature, neither tall nor short, but of a middle height.He has a becoming amount of flesh, and is very shapely in allhis limbs. His complexion is white and red, the eyes black andfine, the nose well formed and well set on ': ed. Yule, i . 318. Aportrait of him, from a Chinese engraving, is given by ColonelYule on the next page. Kublai was succeeded by his grandsonI would ask the reader to observe that the seven best MSS. all have thespelling Cambynskan or Kambynskan. The form Cambuscan (in Milton,Il Pens. 110) is found in the old black-letter editions. It is strange that Miltonshould accent the wrong syllable. Cambynskan arose from reading Camiuscanas Caminskan.472 SOURCES OF THE TALES.Teimur, to the exclusion of his elder brothers Kambala (whosquinted) and Tarmah (who was of a weak constitution). Herewe might perhaps think to see the original of Chaucer's Camballo,but I suspect the real interpretation to be very different. It isfar more probable that the name Camballo was caught, not fromthis obscure Kambala, but from the famous word Cambaluc, reallythe name (not of a person, but) of the celebrated capital whichKublai built and where he resided; so that the name may easilyhave suggested itself from this connexion ' . For example, in thesplendid Bodleian MS. No. 264, generally known as the' Alexander MS. , ' there is a copy of Marco Polo's Travels, withthe colophon-Explicit le Livre nommé du Grant Caan de laGraunt Citéde Cambaluc; Dieux ayde; Amen. In fact, Cambalucis but the old name of the city which is still the capital of China,but better known as Pekin; the etymology of the word beingmerely Kaan-baligh, i.e. the city of the Khan. All this may seema little uncertain at first sight; but if the reader can turn to thesecond book of Marco Polo, he will soon see clearly enough thatChaucer's Cambinskan (though the name itself is formed fromChinghiz Khan) is practically identical with Marco's Kublai Khan,and that it is to Marco's description of him and his court thatChaucer is ultimately indebted for some of his details. This willbe best illustrated by examples of correspondences.'Of a surety he [ Kublai Kkan] hath good right to such a title[that of Kaan or Emperor], for all men know for a certain truththat he is the most potent man, as regards forces and lands andtreasure, that existeth in the world, or ever hath existed from thetime of our first father Adam until this day '; Marco Polo, ed.Yule, i . 295. Cf. Sq. Ta. 14."The empire fell to him because of his ability and valour andgreat worth, as was right and reason '; id. i . 296. Cf. Sq. Ta. 16.' He had often been to the wars, and had shown himselfa gallant soldier and an excellent captain '; id. i. 296. Cf. Sq.Ta. 23.In Book ii. ch. 4, is an account of his taking the field inperson, and acting with astonishing vigour and rapidity, even atthe age of seventy-three.In Book ii. ch. 5, it is related that the enemy whom he then¹ I find that Mr. Keightley has already suggested this.GROUP F. 473subdued had Christians in his army, some of whom bore standardson which the Cross was displayed. After the battle, the Christians were bitterly taunted with this, and were told that theirCross had not helped them. But Kublai reproved the scoffers,saying that the Cross had done its part well in not assisting therebels. 'The Cross of your God did well in that it gave him [therebel chief] no help against the right.' Cf. Sq. Ta. 16–21 .His rewards to his captains are described fully in chap. 7. Hegave them silver plate, ornaments, ' fine jewels of gold and silver,and pearls and precious stones; insomuch that the amount thatfell to each of them was something astonishing.' Cf. Sq. Ta. 26.His palace, ' the greatest palace that ever was,' is described inchap. 10. It was situate ' in the capital city of Cathay, which iscalled Cambaluc.' The hall of the palace ' could easily dine 6000people.' The parks within its enclosure were full of fine treesand ' beasts of sundry kinds, such as white stags and fallow deer,gazelles and roebucks, ' &c. Cf. Sq. Ta. 60-62, 392.' And when the great Kaan sits at table on any great courtoccasion, it is in this fashion. His table is elevated a good dealabove the others, and he sits at the north end of the hall, lookingtowards the south, with his chief wife beside him on the left, ' &c.;i. 338. Near the table is a golden butt, at each corner of whichis one of smaller size holding a firkin, ' and from the former thewine or beverage flavoured with fine and costly spices is drawn offinto the latter '; i. 339. And when the Emperor is going todrink, all the musical instruments, of which he has vast store ofevery kind, begin to play '; i. 340. ' I will say nought about thedishes, as you may easily conceive that there is a great plenty ofevery possible kind. And when all have dined and the tableshave been removed, then come in a great number of players andjugglers, adepts at all sorts of wonderful feats,' &c.; i. 340. Cf.Sq. Ta. 59-68, 77–79, 266–271 , 218, 219.'You must know that the Tartars keep high festival yearlyon their birthdays. . . . Now on his birthday, the Great Kaandresses in the best of his robes, all wrought with beaten gold ';i . 343. On his birthday also, all the Tartars in the world, and allthe countries and governments that owe allegiance to the Kaan,offer him great presents according to their several ability, andaccording as prescription or orders have fixed the amount '; i. 344.Cf. Sq. Ta. 44-47, 110-114.474 SOURCES OF THE TALES."The Kaan also holds a feast called the ' White Feast ' on Newyear's day, i. e. at the vernal equinox. On that day, I can assureyou, among the customary presents there shall be offered to theKaan from various quarters more than 100,000 white horses,beautiful animals and richly caparisoned '; i . 346.When he goes on a hunting expedition, ' he takes with him.fully 10,000 falconers, and some 500 gerfalcons besides peregrines,sakers, and other hawks in great number '; i . 358. He also hasanother grand park ' at Chandu ' , ' where he keeps his gerfalconsin mew'; i. 365. At p. 260 he is described again as ' very fondof hawking.' At p. 237 the peregrine falcons are described particularly. At p. 220 we are told that the Tartars eat all kindsof flesh, including that of horses and dogs, and Pharaoh's rats.'Cf. Sq. Ta. 424-429, 69-71.In the great city of Kinsay ' there is an eminence on whichstands a tower.' This was used as an alarm-tower in case of fire;see vol. ii . p. 148. This may serve to illustrate Chaucer's ' maistertour. ' Still more curious is the account of the city of Mien, withits two towers covered with plates of gold and silver, which ' formone of the finest sights in the world '; ii . 73. These towers were,however, part of a mausoleum. Cf. Sq. Ta. 176, 226.The following note about the Tartar invasion of Russia is alsoworthy of attention:-' Rosia [Russia] is a very great province, lying towards thenorth... There are many strong defiles and passes in the country;and they pay tribute to nobody except to a certain Tartar king ofthe Ponent [ i. e. West] , whose name is Toctai; to him indeedthey pay tribute, but only a trifle.'-Marco Polo, ed. Yule, ii. 417.On this passage Col. Yule has the note: ' Russia was overrunwith fire and sword as far as Tver and Torshok by Batu Khan(123-38), some years before his invasion of Poland and Silesia.Tartar tax-gatherers were established in the Russian cities as far asRostov and Jaroslawl, and for many years Russian princes as faras Novgorod paid homage to the Mongol Khans in their court atSarai . Their subjection to the Khans was not such a trifle asPolo seems to imply; and at least a dozen princes met their deathat the hands of the Mongol executioner. '¹ Evidently Shangtu, Coleridge's Xanadu. See his well- known lines—' In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, ' &c.This is Chaucer's ' Sarra '; see note to F 9.GROUP F. 475Some of the Mongolian Tartars, known as the ' Golden Horde, 'conquered a part of S. E. Russia in 1223; in 1242 they established the Empire of the Khan of Kaptschak (S. E. Russia), andexercised great influence there. In 1380 was another Tartar war;and in 1383 Moscow was burnt. The Tartar power in Russiawas crushed by the general of Ivan III in 1481. See Haydn'sDictionary of Dates, under Golden Horde and Russia.The whole subject of magic is so vast that it is not easy todeal with it within a reasonable space. I must therefore contentmyself with pointing out a few references, &c. , that seem mostworthy of being here noted.The Magic Horse appears in the tale of Cleomades and Claremond; see Keightley's Tales and Popular Fictions. Cervanteshas put him to memorable use in his Don Quixote, where hedescribes him as ' aquel mismo caballo de madera sobre quienllevo el valeroso Pierres robada á la linda Magalona'-' that verywooden horse upon which the valiant Peter of Provence carriedoff the fair Magalona ' . This horse is governed by a pin hehas in his forehead, which serves for a bridle, ' &c.; see Jarvis'stranslation, vol. ii . chap. xl. , ed. 1809. But the best story of theEnchanted Horse is in the Arabian Nights ' Entertainments, wherehe is said to have been presented by an Indian to the king ofPersia on the New Day, i . e. on the first day of the solar year,at the vernal equinox. This horse is governed by a peg in hisneck, which was turned round when it was necessary for him tofly: see the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, published by Nimmo,1865, p. 483; or the excellent edition by Lane, vol. ii . p. 463,which varies considerably from the more popular editions.The tale of Cleomades is alluded to, says Mr. Keightley, inCaxton's edition of Reynard the Foxe, printed in 1481, in the 32ndchapter2. He also cites a note by Sir F. Madden that a copy ofthe poem of Cleomades was purchased by Sir Thomas Phillippsat Mr. Lang's sale in 1828; that an undated edition ofthe Histoire' Mr. Keightley shews, in his Tales and Popular Fictions, p. 75 , that Cervantes has confused two stories, ( 1 ) that of a prince carrying off a princess on awooden horse; and ( 2 ) that of Peter of Provence running away with the fairMagalona.See Arber's reprint, p. 85, where the hors of tree ' [ i . e. wood], ridden by'Cleomedes the kynges sone, ' is expressly mentioned, and is said to be ' torned 'by ' a pynne that stode on his brest.'476 SOURCES OF THE TALES.Plaisante et Récréative du noble et excellent chevalier Clamadeset de la belle Clermonde was printed at Troyes; and that LesAventures de Clamades et Clarmonde appeared in Paris in 1733.Mr. Lane agrees with Mr. Keightley in considering the Tale ofCleomades identical with that of the Enchanted Horse in theArabian Nights' Entertainments, and in supposing that it wasoriginally a Persian story. Mr. Lane thinks it is derived from the'Hezár Afsaneh '; see his edition , ii . 491 .It is not out of place to observe that the town of Seville isfrequently mentioned in Cleomades, and we have seen thatCervantes had heard of the story. Perhaps, then, we maysuppose that the story, originally Persian, found its way intoArabic, and thence into Spain; it would then soon be writtendown in Latin, and thence be translated into French, and become generally known. This must have happened, too, at anearly period; for the French romance of Cleomades, extendingto some 19,000 octosyllabic lines, was written by a poet namedAdenet surnamed le Roi, a native of Brabant, between the years1275 and 1283; see Keightley's Tales, p. 40.The Magic Mirror is a common fiction, and we may connectit with the magic ivory tube, furnished with glass, which enabledthe user of it to see whatever object he might wish to behold.This fancy occurs in the tale of the Prince Ahmed and theFairy Pari Banou, as told in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments( Nimmo, 1865) , p. 501. It is hardly worth while to pursue thesubject further, as Warton's comments have already been cited,and Mr. Clouston's essay (mentioned below) can be consulted.The Magic Ring is to be referred to the story of the seal-ringmade partly of brass and partly of iron, by which Solomonobtained power over the evil Jinn; see Lane's Arabian Nights,i. 31. The ineffable name of Allah was engraved upon it, andgave it its virtue. The notion of its conferring upon the wearerthe power of understanding the language of birds is connectedwith it, because this was one of the faculties which Solomonpossessed; for we read in the Koran, as translated by Sale, that' Solomon was David's heir; and he said, " O men, we have1 This magic ring is likewise referred to in chap. 32 of Caxton's Reynardthe Fox. It had ' thre hebrews names therin , ' and it contained ' a stone ofthre maner colours. ' The same chapter mentions the magic mirror.GROUP F. 477been taught the speech of birds "; ' ch. xxvii. A clever Arabicepigram ofthe thirteenth century, ascribing to King Solomona knowledge of the language of birds and beasts, is cited inProfessor Palmer's History of the Jewish Nation, at p. 93.Hudibras understood the language of birds; Hudib. pt. 1. c. 1 .1. 547. See further, as to this subject, in the remarks below, uponthe Manciples Tale (Group H); § 75.With regard to the Falcon, Leigh Hunt has well observed, inhis Essay on Wit and Humour, that this bird is evidently ahuman being, in a temporary state of metempsychosis, a circ*mstance very common in tales of the East. ' This is probably true,as otherwise the circ*mstances of the story become poor andmeaningless; it is something more than a mere fable like that ofthe co*ck and Fox. If the story had been completed, shewinghow the Falcon ' gat her love again, ' we should have seen howshe was restored to her first shape, by means, as Chaucer hints,of the magic ring. A talking bird appears in the Story of theSisters who envied their Younger Sister, the last in some editionsof the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, but it is not transformed.On the other hand, in the story of Beder, Prince of Persia, inthe same collection-which, by the way, mentions a magic ring—we find Prince Beder transformed into a white bird, and recovering his shape on being sprinkled with magic water; but he doesnot speak while so metamorphosed. The story of a boy whounderstands the language of birds occurs in the Seven Sages, ed.Wright, p. 106; and Mr. Wright shews, in his Introduction, thatsuch oriental tales are of great antiquity, and known in Europein the thirteenth century. He refers us to an Essai sur lesFables Indiennes, et sur leur Introduction en Europe, by M. Deslongchamps, published in 1838. Cf. Weber, Met. Rom . iii . 137.The reader should not forget the hint in the Notes to theMinor Poems (vol. i . p. 534) , that some expressions in the SquieresTale are taken from the poem of Queen Anelida.With respect to the ending of the Squieres Tale, two attemptsat least have been made to complete it. Spenser, in his FaerieQueene (bk. iv. c. 2. 30—3. 52 ), accounts for the fighting forCanacee, but he omits all about Cambinskan and the Falcon.Another ending was written by John Lane ' in 1630, and isA friend of Milton's father; see Masson, Life of Milton, i. 42.478SOURCESOF THETALES.contained in MSS. Douce 170 and Ashmole 53, in the BodleianLibrary. Warton (Observations on the Fairy Queen, p. 214) justlycalls it a weak performance.Dr. Furnivall has printed the whole of this poem, in twelvetedious parts, for the Chaucer Society; and the result shewsthat Lane's work is bad almost beyond belief. It is the dutyof every man who values his time to decline to read 237 pagesof such stuff as this:-' Algarsif at his broother shooke his pike:Camballo stowtlie did att him the like;naie, quicklie, with a shock of pikes, chargd home,theare right to make his rendeuous first known:gainst whome Algarsif rann from thambuscado,to prove his ernest provd no French bravado.'Since I wrote the preceding remarks, which were formerlyprinted in my edition of The Prioresses Tale, &c. , for the ClarendonPress, Mr. Clouston has taken up the subject in a very exhaustivemanner. I must therefore refer the reader to his essay ' Onthe Magical Elements in Chaucer's Squire's Tale, with Analogues,'printed for the Chaucer Society in 1889. He there deals fullywith the subjects of Magic Horses, Chariots, &c. , Magic Mirrorsand Images, Magic Rings and Gems, the Language of Animals,and Magic Swords and Spears. He lays particular stress uponthe Romance of Cléomadès and Claremonde above mentioned,to which Keightley had already drawn attention . ' The Frenchprose version, called L'Histoire et Chronique du vaillant ChevallierCléomadès et la belle Claremonde, appeared about the year 1480';and of this work Count Tressan published an extrait in the Bibliothèque des romans, April 1777, t. i. 169 ff.; see also Œuvres duConte de Tressan, Paris, 1822, t. iii . pp. 255-298. Ofthis abstractKeightley gives an English translation in his Tales and PopularFictions, pp. 43-69.' Keightley has remarked that the name of Claremonde occursin the romance of Valentine and Orson, it being that of the ladybeloved by the valiant hero, and also that a magic horse figuresin the same work; but he has strangely overlooked a numberof incidents which have evidently been adopted from the story ofCléomades and Claremonde. The magic horse is described in¹ Printed at Brussels, 1865; ed. A. van Hasselt.GROUP F. 479the 21st chapter of a chap-book version of The Renown'd Historyof Valentine and Orson, the two Sons of the Emperor ofGreece.'I quite agree with M. Paris in considering that the originof the French metrical romance was Morisco- Spanish, whetherAdenès derived his materials from Blanche of Castile, or otherwise.'With respect to the story of the Falcon, Mr. Clouston observes: ' The scene between Canacé and the Falcon is essentiallyAsiatic, and Warton's complaint that the bird is represented astalking of Troilus, Paris, and Jason, is utterly absurd. It is,in fact, an Indian fable, with a bird talking out of the Grecianclassics instead of out of the Vedas and the Shastras. If thepoet had any purpose in writing the story of the deserted Falcon,it could only have been that of any Asiatic fabler, namely, toconvey certain moral lessons through the feigned speech ofa bird. That Chaucer had before him, or in his memory, a modelfor his story of the Falcon is not only possible but highly probable. There exists a somewhat analogous ancient Indian taleof two birds-a male parrot and a hen-maina, a species of hillstarling-in which, however, it is the male bird who is distressedat the female's treachery, and is about to cast himself into themidst of a forest- fire, when he is rescued by a benevolent traveller,to whom he relates the story of his woes. This tale forms thethird of the Twenty-five Tales of a Vampyre (Vetála panchavinsati), and may be found in Tawney's translation of the KatháSarit Ságara, vol. ii . pp. 245-250.'It is necessary to mention here that Prof. Brandl, of Göttingen,in Englische Studien, xii. 161 , actually propounded a theory thatCambinskan was intended to represent Edward III., and thatCanacee does not mean ' the king's daughter,' as Chaucer ( whomight be supposed to know) expressly says, but his daughterin- law Constance, second wife of John of Gaunt; with muchmore to the same effect, all purely gratuitous. Fortunately, histheory was promptly shewn to be untenable by Prof. Kittredge,of Harvard University, in a paper which also appeared in EnglischeStudien, xiii. 1; and we may dismiss this dream as being whollyunfounded. The Tale was written after Edward's death.§In at 69. WORDS OF THE FRANKELEYN. See F 673-708.least fifteen MSS. and in the black-letter editions, the Squieres480 SOURCESOF THE TALES.Tale is followed by the Marchantes Tale. In order to suit thisarrangement, the word Frankeleyn in F 675 is altered to Marchant.So again, in 11. 696 and 699. In the last case, the rime is affected;and, to bring this right, the words thefrankeleyn are altered to themarchant, certeyn. Tyrwhitt well points out two grave objectionsto this arrangement. The former is, that, in this case, theMarchant is made (in F 682, 690) to say that he has a son whohas learnt to play at dice, and only a few lines further on (inE 1233-4) that he has been married just two months, and notmore! The latter is, that the sentiments attributed to the speaker,who laments his son's extravagance and praises ' gentillesse,' aresuitable to the character of the honest and hospitable Frankeleyn,but not to that of the Marchant, if we may judge of his sentimentsfrom the loose character of his Tale. In the same editions andin most of the MSS. , the Frankeleyns Tale follows the ClerkesTale, causing further trouble. The editions also transpose one ofthe stanzas in Chaucer's Envoy to the Clerkes Tale, so as to makeE 1195-1200 come at the end. They then insert the (genuine)stanza printed in the footnote to vol. iv. p. 424, and afterwardspass on at once to F 709. The same arrangement occurs inMS. Harl. 7333. Other MSS. insert (after the Clerkes Tale)various scraps taken from E 2419-40, followed by lines corresponding to F 1-8, at the same time changing Squyer (in F 1 ) toSire Frankeleyn, which makes the line too long. Cf. § 67.However, the best MSS. , including E. and Dd. , are here correct;and we have only to follow their guidance. In these, the Wordsof the Frankeleyn (F 673-708) are immediately followed by thetrue Prologue to the Frankeleyns Tale ( F 709-728).§ 70. THE FRANKLIN'S PROLOGUE. This Prologue is rightlyplaced before the Tale even in the black-letter editions and in theMSS. which assign lines 673-708 to the Marchant. In the oldeditions, it follows the (once final) stanza ofthe Clerkes Tale whichis printed in the footnote to p. 424 (vol. iv).$ 71. THE FRANKELEYNS TALE. We cannot doubt that Chauceradapted this Tale, as he himself asserts, from a Breton lay; cf.note to F 709. Not only is the scene laid in Brittany ( F 729) ,but we find special mention of Penmark (801 ) and of Kayrrud(808); see notes. The story itself turns upon the magical removal of rocks on the Breton coast (993). This is particularlyworthy of notice, because (as will be seen below) BoccaccioGROUP F. 481altered this circ*mstance in order to render the story more congruous to an Italian location and scenery; a fact which shewsat once that Chaucer did not adopt the story from the Italian, assome have inconsiderately assumed. It must be said once more,that Chaucer does not seem to have read the Decamerone.The whole character of the story agrees well with that of theBreton lays versified by Marie de France; indeed, it is almosta wonder that her collection does not include the story now underconsideration.The ultimate source of the Tale is certainly Eastern, as shewnin Mr. Clouston's essay on the story of ' The Damsel's RashPromise,' printed in Originals and Analogues ( Chaucer Soc.),p. 291. I cannot do better than transcribe his remarks:-'The oldest known form of Chaucer's well-told Tale of thechaste Dorigen is probably found in a group of Indian fictionsentitled Vetála Panchavinsati, " Twenty-five Tales ofa Vetála, "Vampyre, which are incorporated with the great Sanskrit collection,Katha Sarit Ságara, " Ocean of the Rivers of Story "; but theystill exist as a separate and distinct work, though considerablyabridged, in most of the vernacular languages of India: in Tamil,Vedála Kadai; in Hindí, Bytál Pachísí, &c. . .... This is theVetála story, from Prof. C. H. Tawney's translation of the KatháSarit Ságara, published at Calcutta, vol. ii . p. 278¹.' THE STORY OF MADANASENÁ.' There was an excellent King of the name of Vírabáhu, whoimposed his orders on the heads of all kings. He had a splendidcity named Anangapura, and in it there lived a rich merchant,named Arthadatta; that merchant- prince had for elder child a soncalled Dhanadatta, and his younger child was a pearl of maidens,named Manadasená.' One day, as she was playing with her companions in her owngarden, a young merchant, named Dharmadatta, a friend of herbrother, saw her. When he saw that maiden .. , he was at oncerobbed of his senses by the arrows of love, that fell upon him inshowers... Then Manadasená entered her house, and grief at nolonger beholding her entered the breast of Dharmadatta. . . .' In the meanwhile Dharmadatta went home, and thinking upon¹ I take the liberty of abridging the story by omitting several details.

• • • Ii

482 SOURCES OF THE TALES.that fair one, he remained tossing to and fro upon his bed, smittenby the rays of the moon. . . And in the morning he woke up, andwent and saw her once more in that very garden, alone and inprivacy. So he went up to her, longing to embrace her, andfalling at her feet, he tried to coax her with words tender fromaffection. But she said to him with great earnestness: " I ama maiden, betrothed to another . . for my father has bestowed meon the merchant Samudradatta, and I am to be married in a fewdays. ".. But Dharmadatta said to her: "Happen what may, I cannot live without you. " When the merchant's daughter heard this,she was afraid that he would use force to her, so she said to him:"Let my marriage first be celebrated here; let my father reap thelong-desired fruit of bestowing a daughter in marriage; then willI certainly visit you, for your love has gained my heart. " When heheard this, he said: " I love not a woman that has been embracedby another man. ". . She replied: " Then I will visit you as soon asI am married, and afterwards I will go to my husband. " Butthough she made this promise, he would not let her go withoutfurther assurance; so she confirmed the truth of her promise withan oath. Then he let her go, and she entered the house in lowspirits.' And when the lucky day had arrived, and the auspiciousceremony of marriage had taken place, she went to her husband'shouse, and spent that day in merriment, and then retired withhim. But she repelled her husband's caresses, and said slowly,with downcast face: " I love you more than my life, but hear whatI have to say. Rise up cheerfully, and promise me immunityfrom punishment; take an oath to that effect, my husband, inorder that I may tell you. " [She then repeats the story.]' Samudradatta . . being bound by the necessity of keeping hisword .. gave her leave to go where she would; and she rose up,and left her husband's house. ..'A certain thief saw Madanasená, as she was going along aloneat night, and rushing upon her, seized her by the hem of hergarment... The helpless merchant's daughter told him her story,and entreated him as follows: "Excuse me for a moment thatI may keep my word, and as soon as I have done that, I willquickly return to you, if you remain here. Believe me, my goodman, I will never break this true promise of mine." When thethief heard that, he let her go. . . She, for her part, went to theGROUP F. 483merchant Dharmadatta. And when he saw that she had come tothat wood, he asked how it happened; and then, though he hadlonged for her, he said to her, " I am delighted at your faithfulnessto your promise: What have I to do with you, the wife of another?So go back, as you came, before any one sees you.". . [ Then] shewent to the thief, who was waiting for her in the road... She toldhim how the merchant let her go. Then the thief said: "Since thisis so, then I also will let you go, being pleased with your truthfulness: return home with your ornaments."'Sohe, too, let her go, and .. [she] went delighted to her husband,and .. she told him the whole story. And Samudradatta, perceiving that his good wife had kept her word without losing herhonour, .. welcomed her as a pure-minded woman, who had notdisgraced her family, and lived happily with her ever afterwards.'Whenthe Vétála had told this story ..to king Trivikramasena, hewent on to say to him: " So tell me, King, which was the reallygenerous man of those three-the two merchants and the thief? ".. The king said to him: " Of those three the thief was the onlyreally generous man. . . For of course her husband let her go .. howcould a gentleman desire to keep a wife that was attached toanother? And the other resigned her because his passion wasdulled by time, and he was afraid that her husband, knowing thefacts, would tell the king the next day. But the thief, a recklessevil-doer, working in the dark, was really generous to let goa lovely woman, ornaments and all. "The resemblance of this to Chaucer's story is certainly striking.The chief variation is in changing the thief into a magician whoperforms wonders for a large sum of money.Mr. Clouston subjoins many variants of the story. One,originally in Burmese, is from Captain Sparks' translation of theDecisions of Princess Thoodhamma Tsari. A Persian analogueis given from Sir John Malcolm's Sketches of Persia, chap. xx.;and another from the celebrated Persian collection, entitled TútíNáma, or Parrot- Book. A somewhat different version follows,from the Bahár- i- Dánush, or Spring of Knowledge, a translationof which was given by Dr. Jonathan Scott in 1799. The story isalso known to the Jews; and two Hebrew versions are given ,both from a Parisian journal entitled Mélusine; 1885 , tome ii.c. 542-6. A Siberian version follows, from Radloff's Proben derVolksliteratur der türkischen Stämme des Süd- Siberiens, vol. iii.1i2484 SOURCES OF THE TALES.s. 389; and next, a Turkish version, from Mr. Gibb's translationof the Forty Vazírs, London, 1886; p. 105. Curiously enough,a very similar version is found in Gaelic, and was probably introduced into the Highlands by the Norsem*n; see Campbell'sPopular Tales of West Highlands, vol. ii. p. 16. Mr. Cloustonnext discusses the European versions of the story. Of these, themost important is that in Boccaccio's Decamerone¹, Day 10. nov. 5,of which Professor Morley has the following epitome:-'Dianora, the wife of the rich Gilberto, being immodestlyaffected by Messer Ansaldo, to free herself from his tediousimportunity, she appointed him to perform, in her judgment, anact of impossibility —namely, to give her a garden as plentifullystored with fragrant flowers in January as in the flourishing monthof May. Ansaldo, by means of a bond which he made to amagician, performed her request. Messer Gilberto, the lady'shusband, gave consent that his wife should fulfil her promisemade to Ansaldo; who hearing the bountiful mind of her husbandreleased her of her promise, and the magician likewise dischargedAnsaldo, without taking aught of him.'We maybe sure that Boccaccio and Chaucer drew their versionsfrom very similar sources, as shewn by the introduction of themagician. At the same time, we not only notice how Boccacciohas given Italian names to his characters, but has even alteredthe chief circ*mstance on which the story depends, by substitutinga flower-garden in January for the removal of the rocks. Thisnotion he found ready to hand in the legend of St. Dorothea,familiar to all readers of Massinger and Dekker's Virgin Martyr.Beaumont and Fletcher dramatised Chaucer's story in theirone- act play called The Triumph of Honour, which forms one ofthe set entitled Four Plays in One. They preserve the nameDorigen, though the husband is Sophocles, duke of Athens, andthe lover is Martius, a Roman general. They also retain thenotion of the removal of the rocks; for Dorigen exclaims:—'For here I vow unto the gods, these rocks,These rocks we see so fixed, shall be removed,Made champain field, ere I so impious proveTo stain my lord's bed with adulterous love.It had previously appeared in the fifth book of his Philocopo, a juvenile work.GROUP G. 485The supposed miracle is achieved by Valerius, the brother ofMartius, who had been trained ' in the mathematics ' by an ' oldChaldean.'•Finally, ' part of the plot of a comedy, printed in 1620, entitledThe Two Merry Milkmaids seems founded on Boccaccio'snovel, yet the heroine's name [Dorigena] is that of the lady inChaucer's version.'Tyrwhitt bids us remark that ' the long list of virtuous womenin Dorigen's soliloquy is plainly copied from Hieronymus contraIouinianum.' Cf. Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii . 293.GROUP G.$ 72. THE SECONDE NONNES TALE. There is a peculiar interestabout this Tale, because, as compared with the rest, it so clearlyshews us Chaucer's mode of compilation; his advance from closetranslation to a more free handling of materials; and his changeof rhythm, from stanzas to rimed couplets. The closeness of thetranslation and the rhythm alike point to early workmanship;and, most fortunately, we are not left to conjecture in this matter,since our author himself refers to this piece, by the Title of theLyfofSeint Cecyle, in his Prologue to the Legend of Good Women,1. 426. It was probably written some time before the Legend.Dr. Furnivall assigns to it the conjectural date of 1373, whichmany critics have accepted '. The expression in 1. 78, ' Yet preyeI yow that reden that I wryte,' clearly shews that it was neitheroriginally written as a tale of the series, nor properly revised; andthe expression in 1. 62, ' And though that I, unworthy sone ofEve,' cannot fail to strike the reader as a singular one to be putinto the mouth of a nun. We possess, in fact, the Tale in itsoriginal shape, without either revision or introduction; thoughI fully suspect ll . 36-56, which are largely from Dante, was a later¹ But Dr. Köppel argues that the date must be several years later. See hisarticle in Anglia, xiv. 227; and observe Chaucer's use of Dante, Par. xxxiii.1-21 , in ll . 36-56, which may, however, be due to the insertion of ll . 36-56 ata later time. His argument that the Lyf of Seint Cecyle was written afterTroilus, because it contains neither forthy norforwhy, seems to me entirelyvalueless. The whole Tale only contains 553 lines, whereas we find in Troilus777 consecutive lines in which neither word occurs, viz. in V. 351-1127.486 SOURCES OF THE TALES."insertion . What is called the Prologue ' is, in fact, nothing ofthe sort; it is merely such an introduction as was suitable for theLegend at the time of translation. We have no description ofthe Second Nun, no introduction of her as a narrator, nor anything to connect the Tale with those that precede it. There isno authority, indeed, for attributing it to the Second Nun at allbeyond the mere rubrics printed at pp. 509, 513, and 526 ofvol. iv.It is not even made quite clear to us who the Second Nun was.We may, however, conclude that, as the Prioresse was herselfa Nun, i. e. the first nun (see Prol. 1. 118) , the person intended isthe ' Another Nonne ' mentioned in the Prologue, 1. 163, butmentioned nowhere else. The first line of the Canon's Yeoman'sPrologue, G 554, merely mentions ' the lyf of Seint Cecyle, ' without any hint as to the supposed narrator of it. The Prioressherself, on the other hand, is properly introduced to us, and herTale is carefully inserted in its right place.An analysis of the so- called Prologue to this Tale is given inthe Notes, at the beginning; cf. note to 1. 84. Tyrwhitt pointedout that the Tale itself is translated from the Life of St. Ceciliaas given in the Legenda Aurea (or Golden Legend) of JacobusJanuensis, or Jacobus a Voragine, who was archbishop of Genoaat the close of the thirteenth century; compare the headingabove, 1. 85. But Dr. Kölbing has since shewn, in an able articlewhich appeared in Englische Studien, i. 215, that Tyrwhitt'ssuggestion is only partially correct. As a matter of fact, Chaucerfollowed a Latin original which agreed rather closely with theaccount in the Legenda Aurea down to 1. 348, or thereabouts.But after this point (and in a few places even before it ) , histranslation better agrees with another Latin Life of St. Cecilia,derived from Simeon Metaphrastes. This account is quoted byDr. Kölbing from the printed edition in Historiae AloysiiLipomani de vitis sanctorum, pars II., Lovanii, 1571 , p. 32;which he denotes by the symbol ' Lip. ' Of this work, the onlyedition accessible to me is that entitled De Vitis Sanctorum,ab Aloysio Lipomano, episcopo Veronae, a F. L. Surio emendatisIn 1. 32, we have ' Thou comfort of us wrecches, ' and in 1. 58, Me flemedwrecche. ' I suspect that these lines were, in the original draught, not far apart.L. 57 would follow 1. 35 very suitably.GROUP G. 487et auctis, Venetiis, 1581 , p. 161; this I shall quote by the samesymbol, as I suppose there is no material difference between thetwo editions.The best text of the former Life of St. Cecilia (which I denoteby 'LA' ) is that given in the second edition of the LegendaAurea by Dr. Th. Grässe, published at Leipsic in 1850. Dr. Furnivall has printed it at length, from Grässe's first edition, 1846,in his Originals and Analogues, Pt. ii . pp. 192-205; side by sidewith the French version of La Legende Dorée, as translated byJehan de Vignay, printed at Paris in 1513. The suggestion wasmade in ' Bell's ' edition of Chaucer (really edited by Mr. Jephson),that Chaucer's original was not the Latin, but the French text.A very slight comparison shews at once that this idea is wrong(as Dr. Furnivall points out) , and that Chaucer unquestionablyfollowed one or more Latin versions. It is, however, probablethat Chaucer may have seen the French version also, as he seemsto have taken from it the idea of his first four stanzas, ll . 1–28.But he has taken thence merely the general idea, and no more;see notes to l. 1 and to 1. 7. The Invocation to the Virgin bearssome resemblance to the Prioresses Prologue; see note to 1. 50.It contains, moreover, a passage ( 36-56 ) which is a free translation of one in Dante's Paradiso; see note to 1. 36. I may addhere that Dr. Furnivall has also reprinted two more lives ofSt. Cecilia, one from Caxton's Golden Legende, in English prose,ed. 1483, fol. ccclxxvij, back; the other in English verse, in ametre similar to that used by Robert of Gloucester, from MS.Ashmole 43, leaf 185, back, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.Another copy of the latter, found in MS. Laud 108, is printedin the Early South- English Legendary, ed. C. Horstmann, p. 490(Early Eng. Text Society). There is yet another Middle- Englishversion, in short rimed lines, found in MS. Harl. 4196 and MS.Cott. Tib. E 7; it is printed (from the former MS. ) in EnglischeStudien, i . 235. These do not throw much further light upon thematter; and, in fact, the chief texts worth consulting are theLatin one of Jacobus a Voragine (or ' LA ' ) , and the somewhatdifferent version due to Simeon Metaphrastes (or ' Lip. '). Ofthese Dunlop says, in his History of Fiction, 3rd ed. p. 286-'The grand repertory of pious fiction seems to have been theLegenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, a Genoese Dominican,a work entitled Golden from its popularity, on the same principle488 SOURCES OF THE TALES.that this epithet was bestowed on the ' Ass ' of Apuleius. A similarcomposition in Greek, by Simon Metaphrastes, written about theend of the tenth century, was the prototype of this work ofthe thirteenth century, which comprehends the lives of individual saints, whose history had already been written, or wascurrent from tradition. The Golden Legend, however, does notconsist solely of the lives of saints, but is said in the colophon tobe interspersed with many other beautiful and strange relations,which were probably extracted from the Gesta Longobardorum,and other sources too obscure and voluminous to be easilytraced; indeed, one of the original titles of the Legenda Aureawas Historia Lombardica. The work of [ Jacobus a] Voraginewas translated into French by Jean de Vignai, and was oneof the three books from which Caxton's Golden Legend wascompiled.'Dr. Kölbing further shews that Chaucer also took a fewparticulars from the Lives of Valerian and Tiburtius, as givenin the Acta Sanctorum (April 14) . For a curious example of this,see note to 1. 369, on the word corniculere.Dr. Kölbing's article should be consulted. I here subjoin onlysome of the more important points. The numbers refer to thelines ofthe Tale, in Group G.85-348. Chiefly from LA. 189: ' for Ioye. ' Cf. Lip.: [Urbanus]magno gaudio est affectus, . . et manibus in caelum extensis. LAhas ille manus ad caelum expandens.218, 9. Cf. Lip.: Inuenit Caeciliam orantem in cubiculo, etAngelum Domini stantem prope eam. LA has: Caeciliam cumangelo loquentem in cubiculo inuenit.233. Lip.: assensus es; LA: credidisti.265. Lip. Quomodo hoc cognouisti; LA: unde hoc nosti.315. Lip.: et nos quoque cum eo puniemur, si inuenti fuerimusad eum ambulantes; LA: et nos in illius flammis pariter inuoluemur.349-357. Lip.: Tunc Valerianus deduxit fratrem suum adsanctissimum Papam Vrbanum. Cui postquam narrauit omnia ...benigno Deo egit gratias. Acceptum autem cum omni gaudio etexultatione Tiburtium, cum .. baptizasset, &c. Quae quidem cumperfecta fuissent eius doctrina, post septem dies Christi militemrestituit. Here LA merely has: Ductus igitur et purificatus.Whence we see the importance of here consulting the secondGROUP G. 489Latin text. Many similar examples occur throughout the latterpart of the Tale, for which I must refer the reader to Dr. Kölbing'sarticle and to the Notes in vol. v.The earliest English Life of St. Cecilia is the Anglo- Saxonversion printed at p. 149 of co*ckayne's ' Shrine, ' of which I hereoffer a rather close translation:-'On the 22nd day of this month [ November] is the martyrdomof St. Cecilia, the holy woman. She was wedded in her youth toa noble man, who was a heathen; but she was a Christian. Shewas clothed with a hair-cloth upon her body; and above thehair-cloth she was clothed with garments enwoven with gold.And, on the night when she was led into the bride-chamber,she said to the bridegroom that she saw an angel from heaven,who would slay him with a sudden death if ever he touched herwith unclean love. Then she instructed the bridegroom, so thathe received baptism, and believed in God. When he was baptised,and entered the bride-chamber, then stood the angel beside herwith shining wings; and he had in his hand two crowns, thatsometimes glistened like rose- blossoms and sometimes like lilyblossoms; and he gave one of the crowns to the woman, and theother to the bridegroom, and said: " Keep ye these crowns bycleanly deeds, because I have brought them to you from God'sparadise."' This woman suffered martyrdom for Christ. The prefect [ lit.reeve] of the city of Rome was named Almatheus, who stroveto compel her to forsake Christ; to which when she would notconsent, he commanded her to be enclosed in a boiling [ lit.burning] bath, in which she remained, without sweating, fora day and a night. Then the executioner approached her witha sword, and struck her thrice therewith, but was unable to strikeoff her head. But she commended herself to the pope, who wasnamed Urbanus; and then, in the pope's presence, distributed allthat she had, and gave it him, and said: " For three days' spaceI have prayed to the Lord that I might give thee this, in orderthat thou mightest hallow my house for a church. " And thereupon she gave up her spirit to God.'The Life of St. Cecilia occurs also in Elfric's Lives of theSaints, as given in MS. Julius E vii, a portion of which I haveedited for the Early English Text Society, though this passageis not as yet in type. I do not find that this Life differs from490 SOURCES OF THE TALES.that in the Aurea Legenda in any particular that deserves especialmention, except that it is somewhat briefer, and omits, as mightbe expected, the passage in Chaucer's Tale, ll . 270-283.The chief interest of the Life of St. Cecilia in Caxton's GoldenLegende is that, as Dr. Kölbing has shewn, his translation exhibitsclear traces of the influence of Chaucer. A single example willperhaps suffice. In 1. 432, Chaucer has: ' Of whennes comththyn answering so rude? ' And Caxton has: ' Fro whens comeththy rude answer? ' Yet neither of the Latin texts suggests thisexact expression. LA has: ' Unde tibi tanta praesumtio respondendi?' Lip.: 'Undenam est tibi haec fiducia? 'In The Military and Religious Life in the Middle Ages, byPaul Lacroix, at p. 426, is the following brief account of SaintCecilia: 'Under the reign of Alexander Severus, many illustriousmartyrs were put to death: St. Cecilia, her husband, and herbrother-in- law among the number. St. Cecilia was descendedfrom a very ancient family which dated back to the time ofTarquin the Proud; she belonged to the same house as Metella,many of whose children were raised to the honours of triumphand of the consulate in the heyday of the Roman republic. Herparents gave her in marriage to a young Roman patrician, namedValerian. But Cecilia had dedicated her virginity to God, andher husband, converted to the faith by her arguments and entreaties, respected her vow, and himself converted his brotherTiburtius. They all three relieved their persecuted brethren, andthis Christian charity betrayed them. In spite of their distinguished birth, their wealth and their connexions, they werearrested, and their refusal to sacrifice to the false gods led totheir being condemned to death. We find a multitude of analogous occurrences in Gaul, and also in the most distant provincesofthe East. ' On the preceding page of the same book is figureda copy of a piece of mosaic work of the third or fourth century,which was taken from the cemetery of St. Sixtus, and is preservedin the church of St. Cecilia, at Rome. It represents St. Ceciliaand St. Valerian, with roses and lilies in bloom at their feet, andhaving on each side of them a palm-tree laden with fruit, a symbolof their victories and of their meritorious martyrdom. Upon oneof the palm-trees is a phoenix with a ' gloria ' round its head, theancient symbol of resurrection.The following interesting account of the church and statue ofGROUP G. 491St. Cecilia is extracted from Mrs. Jameson's beautiful work uponSacred and Legendary Art:-' According to her wish, the house of Cecilia was consecratedas a church, the chamber in which she suffered martyrdom beingregarded as a spot of peculiar sanctity. There is mention ofa council held in the church of St. Cecilia by Pope Symmachus,in the year 500. Afterwards, in the troubles and invasions ofthebarbarians, this ancient church fell into ruin, and was rebuilt byPope Paschal I. in the ninth century. It is related that, whileengaged in this work, Paschal had a dream, in which St. Ceciliaappeared to him, and revealed the spot in which she lay buried;accordingly search was made, and her body was found in thecemetery of Calixtus, wrapt in a shroud of gold tissue, and roundher feet a linen cloth dipt in her blood: near her were theremains of Valerian, Tibertius, and Maximus, which, togetherwith hers, were deposited in the same church, now St. Cecilia-inTrastevere. The little room, containing her bath, in which shewas murdered or martyred, is now a chapel. The rich frescoeswith which it was decorated are in a state of utter ruin from ageand damp; but the machinery for heating the bath, the pipes,the stoves, yet remain. This church, having again fallen intoruin, was again repaired, and sumptuously embellished in thetaste of the sixteenth century, by Cardinal Sfondrati. On thisoccasion the sarcophagus containing the body of St. Cecilia wasopened with great solemnity in the presence of several cardinalsand dignitaries of the Church, among others Cardinal Baronius,who has given us an exact description of the appearance of the.body, which had been buried by Pope Paschal in 820, whenexhumed in 1599 ' . " She was lying," says Baronius, " within acoffin of cypress wood, enclosed in a marble sarcophagus; not inthe manner of one dead and buried, that is, on her back, but onher right side, as one asleep; and in a very modest attitude;covered with a simple stuff of taffety, having her head boundwith cloth, and at her feet the remains of the cloth of gold andsilk which Pope Paschal had found in her tomb. " Clement VIIIordered that the relics should remain untouched, inviolate; andthe cypress coffin was enclosed in a silver shrine, and replaced¹ Compare the section in the Acta Sanctorum, April 14, p. 209, headed:'Nova corporum inventio sub Clemente VIII, A. D. MDXCIX.'492 SOURCES OF THE TALES.•under the altar. This re-interment took place in presence ofthe pope and clergy, with great pomp and solemnity, and thepeople crowded in from the neighbouring towns to assist at theceremony. Stefano Maderno, who was then in the employmentof the Cardinal Sfondrati as sculptor and architect, and acted ashis secretary, was not, we may suppose, absent on this occasion;by the order of the Cardinal he executed the beautiful and celebrated statue of " St. Cecilia lying dead, " which was intended tocommemorate the attitude in which she was found. It is thusdescribed by Sir Charles Bell: -"The body lies on its side, thelimbs a little drawn up; the hands are delicate and fine, -theyare not locked, but crossed at the wrists: the arms are stretchedout. The drapery is beautifully modelled, and modestly coversthe limbs. The head is enveloped in linen, but the general formis seen, and the artist has contrived to convey by its position,though not offensively, that it is separated from the body. Agold circlet is round the neck, to conceal the place of decollation (?). It is the statue of a lady, perfect in form, and affectingfrom the resemblance to reality in the drapery of white marble,and the unspotted appearance of the statue altogether. It liesas no living body could lie, and yet correctly, as the dead whenleft to expire,—I mean in the gravitation of the limbs. ”' It must be remembered that Cecilia did not suffer decollation;that her head was not separated from the body; and the goldband is to conceal the wound in the neck; otherwise, thisdescription of the statue agrees exactly with the descriptionwhich Cardinal Baronius has given of the body of the saint whenfound in 1599.' The ornaments round the shrine, of bronze and rare andprecious marbles, are in the worst taste, and do not harmonizewith the pathetic simplicity of the figure.' At what period St. Cecilia came to be regarded as thepatron saint of music, and accompanied by the musical attributes,I cannot decide. It is certain that in ancient devotional representations she is not so distinguished; nor in the old Italianseries of subjects from her life have I found any in which she isfigured as singing, or playing upon instruments '.'§ 73. THE CANON'S YEOMAN'S PROLOGUE, AND TALE. ThePrologue, as well as the Tale itself, belongs to the very latest¹ See my note to 1. 134 of the Tale.GROUP G. 493period of Chaucer's work. This is clear at once, from its originality, as well as from the metre, and the careless ease of therhythm, which sometimes almost degenerates into slovenliness, asthough our author had written some of it in hot haste, with theintention of revising it more carefully afterwards. Besides, thepoet has boldly improved upon his plan of the pilgrims' storiesas laid down in his Prologue. We have there no hint of theCanon nor of his Yeoman; they are two new pilgrims whojoin themselves to the rest upon the road. A dispute arisingbetween the master and the man, the former is put out ofcountenance, and actually rides away for very sorrow and shame(1. 702); but the man remains, to denounce the cupidity of thealchemists and to expose their trickery. Tyrwhitt remarks:-'The introduction of the Chanouns Yeman to tell a tale, at atime when so many of the original characters remain to be calledupon, appears a little extraordinary. It should seem, that somesudden resentment had determined Chaucer to interrupt theregular course of his work, in order to insert a satire against thealchemists. That their pretended science was much cultivatedabout this time, and produced its usual evils, may fairly be inferred from the Act, which was passed soon after, 5 Henry IV,cap. iv. to make it Felonie to multiplie gold or siluer, or to vse theart of multiplication.' He adds 'The first considerable coinageofgold in this country was begun by Edward III in the year 1343,and according to Camden (in his Remains, art. Money), "theAlchemists did affirm, as an unwritten verity, that the Rosenobles, which were coined soon after, were made by projection ormultiplication Alchemical of Raymund Lully in the Tower ofLondon." Ashmole, in his Theatrum Chemicum, p. 443, hasrepeated this ridiculous story concerning Lully with additionalcirc*mstances, as if he really believed it; though Lully, by thebest accounts, had been dead above twenty years before EdwardIII began to coin gold '.'The above-mentioned volume by Ashmole, entitled TheatrumChemicum , is a very singular production. And, perhaps, not1Tyrwhitt further explains that a poem in Ashmole's volume, called HermesBird, and by him attributed to Raymund Lully, is really a poem of Lydgate's,printed by Caxton with the title The Chorle and the Bird.2 It is a totally different work from the Latin collection of alchemical works,also called Theatrum Chemicum, so often cited in my notes.494 SOURCES OF THE TALES.the least singular circ*mstance is that Ashmole actually gives'The Tale of the Chanon's Yeman, written by our ancient andfamous poet, Geoffry Chaucer,' Prologue and all, at full length(pp. 227-256) , under the impression, apparently, that Chaucerwas really a believer in the science! He says ' One reason whyI selected out of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales that of the Chanon'sYeoman was, to let the world see what notorious cheating therehas beene ever used, under pretence of this true (though injur'd)Science; Another is, to shew that Chaucer himselfe was a Mastertherein. ' It is indeed true that Chaucer had examined intoalchemy very closely; but it is perfectly clear that he had madeup his mind, with his strong English common sense, that thewhole matter was a delusion. Had he lived in the present century,he could hardly have spoken out in more assured terms. Ina similar manner he had studied astrology, and was equally a disbeliever in all but the terms of it and a few of its most generaland vague assertions. He says expressly, in his Treatise on theAstrolabe, pt. ii. sec. 4, 1. 36)—‘ natheles, thise ben observauncezof iudicial matiere and rytes of payens [ pagans] , in which myspirit ne hath no feith, ne no knowing of hir horoscopum.' Butit is evident that the believers in alchemy had to make the bestuse they could of Chaucer's language, by applying it as beingdirected only against notorious cheats; and accordingly, wefind in The Ordinall of Alchimy, by Thomas Norton of Bristol,printed in Ashmole's collection, various passages imitated fromChaucer, such as, e. g. that at p. 17:—6 The fals man walketh from Towne to Towne,For the most parte in a threed- bare Gowne, ' &c.And again, George Ripley, in his Compound of Alchymie,dedicated to King Edward IV. , printed in the same collection,says, at p. 153:—"Their Clothes be bawdy and woryn threde-bare,Men may them smell for Multyplyers where they go,' &c.¹Ashmole's work contains several treatises which profess toexplain alchemy, nearly all alike couched in mysterious, and oftenin ridiculous language. Such are Norton's Ordinall of Alchimy,At p. 470, Ashmole gives a brief account of Chaucer, made up from Speght,Bale, Pits, and others, of no particular value. At p. 226, he gives an engravingofthe marble monument erected to Chaucer's memory in Westminster Abbey,by Nicholas Brigham, A.D. 1556.GROUP G. 495Ripley's Compound of Alchymie, Liber Patris Sapientiae, HermesBird (really Lydgate's poem of The Churl and the Bird), Chaucer'sCanon's Yeoman's Tale (! ), Pearce the Blacke Monke upon theElixir, Charnock's Breviary of Natural Philosophy¹, Ripley'sMistery of Alchymists, an extract from Gower's ConfessioAmantis, Aristotle's Secreta Secretorum, translated by Lydgate;and so on. On the whole, the book is equally curious and dull.It would hardly be possible to give much idea of alchemy ina brief space, and it would certainly be unprofitable. The curiouswill find an excellent article upon it (entitled ' Alchemy ') in thenew edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica; and a history of it,by no means uninteresting, in the first volume of Thomson'sHistory of Chemistry. In Whewell's History of the InductiveSciences, 2nd edition, 1847, vol. i. p. 320, the following notice ofit occurs, which I quote for the reader's convenience:-' Likeother kinds of Mysticism, Alchemy seems to have grown out ofthe notions of moral, personal, and mythological qualities, whichmen associated with terms, of which the primary application wasto physical properties. This is the form in which the subject is presented to us in the earliest writings which we possess on the subjectof chemistry, those of Geber of Seville, who is supposed to havelived in the eighth or ninth century. The very titles of Geber'sworks show the notions on which this pretended science proceeds.They are, " Of the Search of Perfection; " " Of the Sum of Perfection or of the Perfect Magistery;" "Ofthe Invention of Verity,of Perfection. " The basis of this phraseology is the distinctionof metals into more or less perfect; gold being the most perfect,as being the most valuable, most beautiful, most pure, mostdurable; silver the next; and so on. The "Search of Perfection "was, therefore, the attempt to convert other metals into gold; anddoctrines were adopted which represented the metals as allcompounded of the same elements, so that this was theoreticallypossible. But the mystical trains of association were pursuedmuch further than this; gold and silver were held to be the mostnoble of metals; gold was their King, and silver their Queen.Mythological associations werehad been done in astrology.Luna, the moon; copper, iron,called in aid of these fancies, asGold was Sol, the sun; silver wastin, lead, were assigned to Venus,1 This is somewhat amusing. Charnock describes his numerous misadventures, and it is not clear that he preserved his faith in alchemy unshaken.496SOURCESOF THETALES.Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The processes of mixture and heat werespoken of as personal actions and relations, struggles and victories.Some elements were conquerors, some conquered; there existedpreparations which possessed the power of changing the whole ofa body into a substance of another kind: these were calledmagisteries '. When gold and quicksilver are combined, the kingand the queen are married, to produce children of their own kind.It will easily be conceived, that when chemical operations weredescribed in phraseology of this sort, the enthusiasm ofthe fancywould be added to that of the hopes, and observation would notbe permitted to correct the delusion, or to suggest sounder andmore rational views.'The exaggeration of the vague notion of perfection and powerin the object of the alchemist's search was carried further still.The same preparation which possessed the faculty of turning basermetals into gold, was imagined to be also a universal medicine, tohave the gift of curing or preventing diseases, prolonging life, producing bodily strength and beauty: the philosopher's stone wasfinally invested with every desirable efficacy which the fancy of the"philosophers " could devise.'See also Dr. Whewell's account of the doctrine of the fourelements ' in the same work; vol. iii. p. 121.The history of the rise and growth of the ideas involved inalchemy is ably treated of in the article in the EncyclopaediaBritannica already referred to; it is of some interest to note howsome of the more important notions were developed. Fromancient Persia came the idea of a correspondence between theheavenly bodies and parts of the human frame, alluded to inChaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe, and in Shakespeare's TwelfthNight, i . 3. 1482. From ancient India came the idea of aperegrination of sinful souls through the animal, vegetable, andeven the mineral world, till they were absorbed into Deity. Hencewas further, evolved the notion of a transmutation of elements.The Greeks held that different deities had under their protection1 Thomson's Hist. Chemistry, i . 25.2 Sir To. What shall we do else? Were we not born under Taurus?Sir And. Taurus! that's sides and heart. Sir To. No, sir; it's legs andthighs.' Both are wrong, of course, as Shakespeare knew. Chaucer says—' Aries hath thin heved [head] , and Taurus thy nekke and thy throte; ' Astro- labe, pt. i. sec. 21. 1. 52.GROUP G. 497and guidance different types of men; an idea still preserved inour words mercurial, jovial, and saturnine. The school of Hippocrates held the doctrine of the four elements, or primarysubstances of which all others were made, an idea first mentioned(it is said) by Empedocles; to which Aristotle added a fifthelement, that of ether (Arist. de Caelo, i. 2). But this idea isprobably older; for we find five bhútas, or elements, enumeratedin Sanskrit, viz. earth, water, fire, air, and ether; see Benfey's Skt.Dict. s . v. bhú, p. 658. Another very ancient notion is that maleand female principles existed in all three worlds alike, animal,vegetable, and mineral; from which it followed that the union oftwo metals could produce a third. It was argued that ' monstrosities are the productions of diseased metals (really alloys) , which, ifproperly treated, may be cured, and will turn to gold, or at leastsilver. The second stage in this imitation of nature is to obtain,by tincture or projection , solid or liquid gold, the cure of all evils ';Encycl. Brit. i . 463 , col. 2. This notion is still preserved in theword arsenic (Gk. ápσevikóv, male) . It was universally believed thatnature produced changes in the substance of various metals byslow degrees, and the great object of alchemy was to produce thesame changes quickly. The chief names in connexion with theprogress of alchemy are Geber, a Sabaean, who flourished aboutA. D. 800; Avicenna, a native of Shiraz, born A. D. 980, died June,1037; Albertus Magnus, born about 1193, died Nov. 15 , 1280,who uses much more intelligible language than alchemists usuallyindulge in; Raymund Lully, born at Majorca in 1235 , a scholarof Roger Bacon, who was himself deeply imbued with the mysteryof alchemy; Arnoldus de Villa Nova (mentioned by Chaucer , sonamed because born at Villeneuve, in Provence, in 1240; andothers. Paracelsus ¹ , a Swiss physician (born in 1493, died 1541 )was somewhat better than a mere alchemist. He did somethingtowards destroying the notion of the necessity of consultingastrological influences, and prepared the way for the discoveries ofVan Helmont (born at Brussels in 1577, died 1644), with whomthe history of modern chemistry may be said to begin. VanHelmont was the inventor of two new terms, gas and blas, the¹ See Browning's drama entitled ' Paracelsus.'2" It is useless to try and discover an etymology for this word. It was invented wittingly. The most that can be said was that Van Helmont may havebeen thinking of the Dutch geest, a spirit; E. ghost.

• • • K k

498SOURCESOF THETALES.former ofwhich remains in common use, though the latter is whollyforgotten.The great storehouse of treatises upon alchemy is the Latincollection, in five volumes, called Theatrum Chemicum. I havemade considerable use of the edition of this work published in1660, which I have frequently quoted in the Notes. We hencegather that most of the authors upon the subject wished men tobelieve that the true secrets of the science were known to themselves only; yet they all learnt more or less of a certain jargon whichthey continually repeated, attributing their empirical rules toHermes, or Geber, or other supposed masters. The same ideas,alleged results, and supposed principles continually recur; and thebrief statement of a few of these will at once shew what the readerof an alchemical treatise may expect to find. Much depended onthe supposed powers of certain numbers. Thus, there were threeprimary colours, black, white, and red ' , from which all otherswere produced by combination; Theat. Chem. iv. 536. According to Gower, there were really three kinds of the philosopher'sstone, viz. animal, vegetable, and mineral. Some said it wascomposed of three parts; body, spirit, and soul -corpus, spiritus,and anima; Ashmole's Th. Ch. p. 382. Again, there were fourelements; four complexions of nature or temperaments; fourcolours (said some), viz. white, black, citrine ( i . e. gold- coloured,with a purple tinge), and red; four savours, insipid, acid, sweet,and bitter; four odours, sweet, fetid, intense, and slight ( remissus);Theat. Chem. iii . 82. In particular, there were four spirits, sulphur,sal ammoniac, quicksilver, and arsenic; see note to line 778; alsofour states or conditions, hot, cold, wet, and dry; Theat. Chem.iv. 537. There were seven planets; and because there were sevenplanets, it followed that every planet had a corresponding note inthe musical scale of seven notes. Every planet had its propercolour; and, in this view, there were seven colours, sable, vert,gules, or, argent, sanguine, and umber; Batman upon Bartholome,lib. 19, C. 37. Every planet had its proper metal; there weretherefore seven metals; see the extract from Gower, in the note to1.820. Now, as all substances are made of the same four elements,it follows that if a substance can be decomposed, and reunited in¹ This seems to us a strange selection; red, green , and violet would have been better. But this scale of colours is due to Aristotle , De Sensu, ii.;cf. Bartholomeus, De Proprietatibus Rerum, bk. xix. c. 7.GROUP G. 499different proportions, its nature may be so changed that it shallbecome another substance. Many substances, if subjected to heat,are destroyed; but metals are not so, and therefore became thefavourite subject for experiments. It was laid down that onemetal could be transmuted into another, but only after havingbeen first reduced into its primary elements; Theat. Chem. iv.531. Ere long, it was accepted as an axiom that all baser metalscould be transmuted either into gold (or sol), typified by the sun,or into silver (or luna), typified by the moon; these being the twoextremes between which the other five metals were ranged . Itwas agreed that the chief agents in producing this transmutation.were quicksilver and sulphur, and of these quicksilver was themore important; so much so, that the mention of quicksilvermeets us everywhere, and no alchemist could work without it ' .It was also agreed that certain processes must be gone through ina due order, generally ten or twelve in number; and if any one ofthem failed, the whole work had to be begun afresh. They arecommonly described as ( 1 ) calcination , ( 2) solution, ( 3 ) separationof the elements, (4) conjunction, ( 5) putrefaction, ( 6) coagulation,(7) cibation, (8 ) sublimation, ( 9 ) fermentation, ( 10) exaltation,(11) augmentation or multiplication; and ( 12 ) projection; Theat.Chem. ii. 175, and Ripley's Compound of Alchemy. By insistingon the necessity of all these processes, alchemists sufficientlyguarded against all chances of an unfavourable result, viz. by securing that a result could not very well be arrived at.The moment that we attempt to analyse their processes moreclosely, we are met by two difficulties that are simply insuperable:the first, that the same name is clearly used to denote quitedifferent substances; and the second, that the same substanceis called by many different names. Hence also arose endlessevasions, and arrogant claims to pretended secrets; it was oftensaid that the quicksilver of the alchemists was a substance onlyknown to adepts, and that those who used only ordinary quicksilver knew nothing of the matter. The master could thus alwaysmystify his pupils, and make it appear that he alone, and no oneelse, knew what he was talking about.The Indian god Siva was actually worshipped under the form ofquicksilver. Professor Cowell refers me to Marco Polo, ed. Yule, ii. 300, and to hisown edition of Colebrooke's Essays, i . 433; also to the semi-mythic life ofSankara Áchárya, the great reformer of the eighth century.K k 2500 SOURCES OF THE TALES.Yet it was frequently alleged that the experiments did succeed.The easiest explanation of this matter is, that the hopes of thealchemists were doubtless buoyed up by the fact that every nowand then the experiments appeared to succeed; and it is easy toshewhow. The close affinity of quicksilver for gold is well known.I copy the following from a book on experiments, which reallysuffices to explain the whole matter. 'If a sovereign be rubbedwith mercury, it will lose its usual appearance, and appear as ifsilvered over; the attraction of the gold for the mercury beingsufficient to cause a coating of it to remain. When it is wished toremove the silvery appearance, dip the sovereign in a dilutesolution of nitric acid, which will entirely take it off.' Now thealchemists tell us that quicksilver must always be used in allexperiments; and they constantly recommend the introduction intothe substances experimented on of a small quantity of gold, whichthey thought would be increased. The experiments constantlyfailed; and whenever they failed , the pieces of molten metal werecarefully saved, to be used over and over again. The frequentintroduction of small quantities of gold caused that metal toaccumulate; and if, by any favourable process, the quicksilverwas separated from the mass, a considerable quantity of goldwould now and then actually appear. This account is so much inaccordance with all that we read, that we may confidently acceptthe conclusion of Dr. Thomson, the author of the History ofChemistry, that the vaunted philosopher's stone was certainly anamalgam ofgold; which, if projected into melted lead or tin, andafterwards cupellated, would leave a portion of gold; all the gold,of course, that existed previously in the amalgam. ' He adds that'the alchemists who prepared the amalgam could not be ignorantthat it contained gold '; a statement which I am inclined tomodify by suggesting that it may very easily have containedmore gold than they supposed it did. In a word, we may concludethat some deceived themselves, and others were conscious cheats.GROUP H.$ 74. THE MANCIPLE'S PROLOGUE. In the black- letter editions,this Prologue begins with the 16 lines printed at p. 289 (vol. iv)1 This explains why the alchemists, in seeking gold, sometimes supposed that they had obtained silver.GROUP H. 501as the Epilogue to the Nonne Prestes Tale; because, in them,that Tale precedes. See remarks on § 51 above (p. 433) .The Prologue is self-explanatory; we see how the responsibilitypassed from the Cook to the Manciple. It is curious that theCook is addressed as if he had told no Tale hitherto; see, as tothis, the remarks on § 28 above (p. 399).§ 75. THE MAUNCIPLES TALE. With respect to this story,Tyrwhitt briefly remarks that ' The Fable of the Crow has beenrelated by so many authors, from Ovid down to Gower, that it isimpossible to say whom Chaucer principally followed. His skillin new dressing an old story was never, perhaps, more successfullyexerted.'Chaucer was so familiar with Ovid, and, in particular, with theMetamorphoses, that we may fairly suppose that this was the realsource of his Tale; see Metam. ii. 534-632. The last line of hisstory (H 308), excluding the moral, closely agrees in sense withthe last line in Ovid's tale-' Inter aues albas uetuit considerecoruum .'Gower's story is in his Confessio Amantis, bk. iii , ed. Pauli, i.305-6; but it is so briefly sketched, in 35 lines, that Chaucer couldhave derived nothing from it, even if he had wished to do so.Another Middle-English analogue, much more important thanGower's, is the story of the Magpie, being the 10th Tale in thecollection known as The Seven Sages, printed in Weber's MetricalRomances, iii . 86. It is much the same as the story of thePopinjay in Wright's edition of the Seven Sages, p. 73. Theversion in the Seven Sages clearly points to an Eastern originfor the story. See Mr. Clouston's essay on The Tell-tale Bird,in Originals and Analogues (Chaucer Soc. ), p. 437; to whichI refer the reader for further information.Dr. Köppel¹ has shewn that several passages in the moral advicewith which the Tale concludes (including nearly the whole of linesH 325-358) , are taken from a work by Albertano of Brescia,entitled De Arte Loquendi et Tacendi, written in 1245, and newlyedited by Thor Sundby in the second Appendix to his work calledBrunetto Latinos levnet og skrifter (Life and Writings of BrunettoLatino), Copenhagen, 1869. See further in my Notes.1 Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen, ed. L. Herrig; vol. 86,P. 44.502 SOURCES OF THE TALES.GROUP I.$ 76. THE PARSON'S PROLOGUE. Most copies place thisafter the Manciples Tale, and insert the word maunciple in theThe black-letter edition of 1542 added the spuriousPlowman's Tale after the Parson's, i . e . at the end of all. But allthe later editions in black-letter inserted this spurious Tale beforethe Parson's, and hence the editors had to alter the word maunciple (above) into Plowman; which they did.The Persones Tale was clearly meant to come last ( I 47) , andthere is an allusion to the hour of 4 P. M. ( I 5 , and note). TheMaunciples Tale well precedes it, because the Prologue to thatTale says they were approaching Canterbury (H 2 , 3 ) . But thereis a great difficulty in the mention of the early morning ( H 16);and this is why Group I has to be taken as a separate Fragment.The reading Foure, in 1. 5 , is explained and justified in theNotes.Some German commentators have endeavoured to discover thedate ofthe Tales from lines 10, 11, by giving these lines a whollygratuitous and impossible interpretation, as if they were meant toexpress that the moon's position was in Libra! But Chaucer saysnothing of the sort; he is speaking of the moon's exaltation, andadds, parenthetically, ' I mean (to say) Libra. ' Unluckily, hehappens to go wrong; for Libra was the exaltation of Saturn:but this does not alter the fact, that exaltation never denotesposition, but was a common astrological term. It invariablyrefers to a sign of the Zodiac; and although Chaucer, for themoment, forgot to which planet Libra caused an exaltation orincrease of strength, he really did knowthe meaning of one of thecommonest terms in all astrology. It is much to be regrettedthat theories should be founded on such gross misconceptions.$ 77. THE PERSONES TALE. It is now known that this Taleis little else than an adaptation (with alterations, omissions, andadditions, as usual with Chaucer) of a French treatise by FrèreLorens, entitled La Somme des Vices et des Vertus, written in1279. The English work by Dan Michel of Northgate, usuallyknown by the title of The Ayenbite of Inwyt, or Remorse ofConscience, is a much more literal and closer translation of thesame treatise, and thus affords a good guide for comparisonbetween Chaucer and the French original. The French treatiseGROUP I. 503has never been printed, but exists in two MSS. in the BritishMuseum¹, viz. Cleop. A v, and Royal 19 C ii.An excellent dissertation on this Tale, in which a close comparison with its original is duly made, was written in German byDr. W. Eilers in 1882, and has been rendered more accessibleto Chaucer students by an English translation made in 1884, andprinted in Essays on Chaucer (Chaucer Soc. ), p. 501. Of thisEssay I have made much use in the Notes, to which I refer thereader for further information.It is clear that this Tale was once an independent Treatise (see§ 104, in vol. iv. p. 644), which people could either ' herkne orrede '; and it was probably written before 1380, at much thesame time as the Tale of Melibeus, which it somewhat resemblesin style. It was obvious that, if this treatise was to be insertedamong the Canterbury Tales, it could only be assigned to theParson, who is made, accordingly, to warn the company that hedislikes rime, and can only tell them ' a mery tale in prose '; seeI 46. The word mery sometimes meant what we should now call' interesting '; and it probably interested a much larger numberof people in those days than it can possibly do at the presenttime. Our ancestors, at times, certainly inclined to seriousdiscourses, such as the present age has no relish for.It is quite clear that a few paragraphs near the end (iv. 644,I 1084-90)-beginning with and namely, and ending with mysoule -were inserted at a much later time, probably on one of thelast occasions when the poet revised his work. This passage hassometimes been called his ' Retractation '; but this term isa bad one . The phrase used is ' the whiche I revoke in myretracciouns,' i. e. among the things which I disclaim; and the wordrevoke, i. e. recall, means that he wishes to disclaim many of hisworks, as being deficient in such theological merit as wouldconduce to the salvation of his soul; a disclaimer which he atonce follows up by thanking ' oure lord and his blisful moder andalle the seintes, ' for such works as were of a moral and meritoriouscharacter. This I believe to be the real meaning, and to refer tothe prevalent idea that many evil deeds and sayings could be outbalanced, even at the last moment, by an appeal to a few goodactions; of which medieval literature affords us many examples.1 MS. Douce 162 has a copy of the treatise in Provençal.Urry, the worst of editors, originated it.504 SOURCES OF THE TALES.Perhaps it is fair to add that the poet had good cause to regretsuch Tales as those of the Miller, the Reeve, and the Merchant.In Essays on Chaucer, p. 227 , is printed an Essay on thisTale by H. Simon, of Schmalkalden. The object of the Essay isto prove that Chaucer was a Wycliffite; and, filled with this idea(the truth of which I am not particularly careful either to deny orassert) , the author endeavours to shew that the Persones Tale isfull of interpolations made by some designing and fraudulentperson. He even goes so far as to give us what he considersto be the original Tale ' (p. 283 ) . The French text tends toupset at least some portions of this superfluous theory, andDr. Köppel has written an excellent article¹ to shew-what to aplain person needs but little proof-that the Persones Tale is to beconsidered as wholly genuine, inasmuch as a considerable numberof conspicuous passages reappear, in a slightly modified form, inother parts ofthe Canterbury Tales. If we are to go through theTales, picking out, and setting aside as spurious, every passagewhich does not please us, the result can only be unsatisfactory.Different readers will eliminate different phrases and opinions,and the residuum will be valueless. I see no reason why we maynot be content with the Tales in the form presented by the bestMSS.POSTSCRIPT.P. 395.-In a small book by Professor G. Stephens, entitledFörteckning öfver de fornämsta Brittiska och FransyskaHandskrifterna i Stockholm (Stockholm, 1847), at p. 20, isa description of a MS. which contains a copy of Palamon andArcite in French verse, and was written early in the fifteenthcentury. It is remarkable that the metre is the same as that ofthe Knightes Tale; from which, perhaps, it was borrowed.In Anglia, XVI. 261 , L. Fränkel, of Munich, reprints a Latinfable by Casparus Cropacius, which first appeared in 1581 , inillustration of the Milleres Tale. This fable follows Chaucerclosely in the principal details, but omits the humour of theoriginal. I fail to see any merit in this form of the story, andtherefore refrain from reproducing it.P. 423. See Dr. Jessopp's article on William of Norwich ' inThe Nineteenth Century, May, 1893.Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen, ed. L. Herrig, vol. 87,P. 33.THE OXFORD EDITIONOFPiers the PlowmanIn two Volumes, demy 8vo, pp. civ +112, uniform with thisEdition, price £ s. 6d.THE VISION OF WILLIAMCONCERNINGPIERS THE PLOWMANIN THREE PARALLEL TEXTSTOGETHER WITHRICHARD THE REDELESSBY WILLIAM LANGLAND(ABOUT 1362-1399 A. D.)EDITED FROM NUMEROUS MANUSCRIPTSWITH PREFACE, NOTES, AND A GLOSSARYBY THE REV.WALTER W. SKEAT, LITT. D., LL.D.ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO- SAXONAND FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGEOxfordAT THE CLARENDON PRESSLONDON: HENRY FROWDEOXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, E.C.OTHER WORKSBY THE REV.PROF. W. W. SKEAT, Litt.D.An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, arranged on an Historical Basis. Second Edition. 4to ,cloth, al. 45.A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language.Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth ,58. 6d.A List of English Words the Etymology of which is illustrated bycomparison with Icelandic. 4to, 25.Chaucer. 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Extra fcap.Svo. cloth, 7s. 6d.Specimens of English Literature, from the ' Ploughman's Crede ' tothe ' Shepheardes Calender ' (A.D. 1394 to A.D. 1579) . With Introduction , Notes,and Glossarial Index. Extra fcap. 8vo,cloth, 7s. 6d.The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman, by WILLIAM LANGLAND. With Notes, &c. SixthEdition. Extra feap. 8vo, cloth, 45. 6d.lish MSS., with Transcriptions and Introduction. 4to , 7s. 6d.The New Testament in English,according to the Version by JOHN WYCLIFFE, about A.D. 1380 , and Revised byJOHNPURVEY, about A.D. 1388. WithGlossary, &c. Extra feap. 8vo, cloth, 6s.The Books of Job, Psalms.Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song ofSolomon according to the Wycliffite Version made by NICHOLAS DE HERE- FORD, about A.D. 1381 , and Revised by JOHN PURVEY, about A.D. 1388. With Glossary, &c. Extra fcap. Svo, cloth,38. 6d.The Gospel of St. Mark in Gothic. Extra fcap. 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