← Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 — Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems

Chapter 4

Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 — Romaunt of the Rose (part 4)

1083: Th. beste; F. best. 1084: Tn. romayn; F. Romayne. 1088: All wherfore. 1089: F. firste. Th. sey; F. say. 1090: All yonge. I supply the. 1091: F. grete nede. 1093: F. grete. 1094: All wytte. Tn. best; F. beste. 1095: All yonge. F. childely wytte. 1097: B. beste; rest best. 1098: F. worshippe. Th. F. insert the before servyse; but Tn. omits. 1099: All coude tho; read tho coude. Tn. by; F. be. 1100: F. Feynynge. 1101: Tn. fayn; F. feyne. 1103: Tn. saw; F. sawgh. 1104: Th. warysshed; F. Tn. warshed. 1106: F. thoght. 1108: Tn. sit; Th. syt; F. sytte. Th. Tn. in; F. om. 1110: Th. out; Tn. F. oute. 1111: All trewly.

1114. All shrifte (shryfte). 1117. Tn. certes; F. certis. 1118. Tn. Achitofell; F. Achetofel. 1120. Tn. traytour; F. traytore. Tn. F. B. betraysed; Th. betrayed. 1121. Th. false; F. fals. All Genellon. 1123. Tn. rowland; F. Rowlande. 1124. All while (whyle). 1126. F. good; Tn. gode. I supply right. 1127. All tolde. B. her-; F. here-. 1128. All nede. F. Th. Tn. insert to after need; B. omits it. Tn. hit; Th. it; F. om. 1129. Tn. sawe; F. sawgh. Th. first; F. firste. 1130. Tn. telle; F. tel. 1131. Tn. her; F. hire. B. firste; rest first. 1133. All knewe (subjunctive). 1135. All eke. 1136. Tn. her-; F. here-. 1137. Tn. seyde he; F. he seyde. F. menyst. 1138. F. wenyst. 1139. Tn. los; F. losse. I supply sir. 1141. F. doon; Tn. Th. done (read y-doon). 1142. F. bathe lefte.

1143. Th. tel; F. telle. Th. al; F. alle. 1144. Th. shal; F. shalle. 1145. All say. Tn. seyd; F. seyde. 1146. Tn. leyd; F. leyde. 1147. All needlessly insert not (or nat) after hit. 1150. F. tel. 1153. Tn. herte; F. hert. 1154. Th. asterte; F. astert. 1155. Omit But for? F. ins. so before fro; Tn. Th. omit. 1158. All songe. 1159. F. Th. Tn. ins. this (B. thus) before a. F. grete dele. 1160. All wele. 1161. Th. Tn. ne; B. to; F. the (!). F. knowe (infin.); Tn. know; Th. knewe (wrongly). All the arte; perhaps read that art. 1162. Th. Lamekes; F. lamekys. Th. Tubal; F. Tuballe; Tn. B. Tuballe. 1163. B. fonde; rest founde. Th. first; F. firste. All songe. 1164. Tn. brothers; F. brothres. 1165. Th. anuelt; Tn. anuelte; F. Anuelet. Tn. doun; F. doon. 1166. F. tooke. B. fyrste; rest first. Tn. soune; F. soon. 1167. Th. of Pithagoras. 1168. Tn. fyrste; F. first. 1169. All arte.

1171. F. Algatis. 1172. F. felynge; hert 1173. Th. this; F. Tn. thus. I supply the. Tn. firste; F. first. 1174. Th. werst; Tn. F. repeat first. I supply that. 1175. All Lorde. Tn. herte; F. hert. 1178. All myght (might). 1180. All faire (fayre). 1181. All tolde. Tn. soth; F. sothe. All say. 1182. Tn. firste; F. first. All songe; all day. 1183. Tn. bethoghte; F. bethoght. 1185. F. wyst. 1186. Tn. telle; F. tel. All durst. 1187. Tn. thoghte; F. thoght. F. rede. 1188. All am; grammar requires nam. F. dede. 1189. Tn. if; F. yif. All sey (say), after which ryght is needlessly inserted; I omit it. Tn. soth; F. sothe. 1190. Tn. wroth; F. wrothe. 1192. All debate. 1193. Tn. thoghte; F. thoght. F. brast; Th. Tn. braste (subj.). Tn. a tweyn; F. a tweyne. 1194. All at the; read atte. Tn. seyn; F. sayne. 1195. All bethoght (bethought) me. 1197. All trewly or truly. 1198. F. wyth oute; read withouten.

1201. F. nedys; Mawgree. Th. heed; F. hede. 1202. Tn. moste; F. most. All tolde. Th. deed; F. dede. 1203. Th. began; F. beganne (!). 1204. All reherse or reherce; but read rehersen. 1205, 6. All eke. Th. -al, dismal; F. Tn. -alle, dismalle. 1208. All worde. 1210. F. wordys. Tn. mysset; F. mys sette. 1212. F. quakynge. 1213. F. styntynge. 1215. Tn. wex; F. wexe. Th. reed; F. rede. 1216. F. Bowynge. Th. heed; F. hede. 1218. Tn. wit; F. witte. All maner. 1220. All sate (!). 1221. All at the; read atte. Tn. soth; F. sothe. Tn. seyn; F. seyne. 1222. Tn. herte; F. hert. Tn. agayn; F. ageyne. 1223. Th. shortly; F. shortely. Th. al; Tn. B. alle; F. at (!). 1226. All swore (!). 1228. F. fresshly.

1230. F. worshippe. 1231. All swore or swere(!). 1232. Th. al; F. alle. 1234. All ins. to before false. 1235. Tn. wisse; F. wysse; B. wys. 1237. All wote (!). 1238. Tn. thoghte; F. thoght. 1239. All ins. ryght before as. 1242. F. wordys. 1244. Th. Al; F. Alle. 1248. Th. Troye; F. Troy. 1250. Tn. durste; F. durst. 1251. F. stale. 1253. All trewly. All nede. 1254. All hede. 1256. All fonde or founde.

1261. F. vnderstode. 1262. Th. thyng; F. Tn. B. no thynge; but no is not required by idiom or metre. All goode, gode. 1263. F. worshippe. 1264. All al (or alle) thynges; but al thing is the right idiom. Th. drede; Tn. to drede; F. dred. 1266. For And read That (Lange). 1267. All harme. 1268. Tn. knew; F. knewe. 1269. F. hooly. 1270. F. yifte. 1271. F. Savynge hir worshippe. 1273. All rynge (!). 1274. Tn. firste; F. first. Th. thyng; F. thynge. 1275. Tn. if; F. yif. Tn. herte; F. hert. 1276. Tn. Glad; F. Gladde. All nede. 1279. Tn. alle; F. al. 1281. All trewly (treuly). 1282. Th. Tn. B. the; which F. omits. 1284. Th. debonairly; F. debonairely. 1285. Tn. B. alle (first time); the rest al. B. alle (second time); rest al. 1286. F. tooke. 1289. F. Oure. Th. F. werne; Tn. weren. Th. euen; F. evene. 1290. Th. Tn. contrayre; F. contrarye.

1293. All eke. 1294. All glad. 1300. Tn. B. wex; F. waxe; Th. woxe. Th. deed; F. dede. 1302. Tn. los; F. losse. 1303. F. hadde; rest had. All lorne (!). 1304. F. Bethenke. F. herebeforne. 1305. F. menyst. 1306. F. wenyst. 1307. F. wote. 1309. Th. deed; F. ded. Tn. bi; F. be. 1310. F. youre. Tn. los; F. losse. Th. by; F. be. 1312. Read rather They gonne forth straken (or striken). 1313. Th. hart; F. Tn. herte (!). 1314. F. thoght; kynge. 1315. I supply quikly; the line is too short. 1316. All insert was after place. 1318. All longe. F. wallys. 1319. Th. Tn. By; F. Be. Th. hyl; F. Tn. hille. 1320. Th. fyl; F. Tn. fille (!).

1322. F. castell. All ins. ther before was. 1323. Th. smytte; F. Tn. smyte; read smiten (pp.). Th. houres; F. oures. 1324. F. awooke. 1325. All fonde or founde. F. lyinge. Tn. bed; F. bedde. 1326. F. booke. Tn. had red; F. hadde redde. 1327. Th. Alcyone; F. Alchione. F. kynge. 1328. F. goddys of slepynge. 1329. Tn. euyn; F. evene. 1330. Tn. Thoghte; F. Thoght. Tn. sweuyn; F. sweuene. 1331. Th. by; F. be. 1332. All put. Tn. sweuyn; F. sweuene. 1334. Tn. sweuyn; F. sweuene. Colophon; so in F. B.

IV. THE COMPLEYNT OF MARS.

The Proem.

Gladeth, ye foules, of the morow gray,

Lo! Venus risen among yon rowes rede!

And floures fresshe, honoureth ye this day;

For when the sonne uprist, then wol ye sprede.

But ye lovers, that lye in any drede,

Fleëth, lest wikked tonges yow espye;

Lo! yond the sonne, the candel of Ielosye!

With teres blewe, and with a wounded herte

Taketh your leve; and, with seynt Iohn to borow,

Apeseth somwhat of your sorowes smerte,

Tyme cometh eft, that cese shal your sorow;

The glade night is worth an hevy morow!'—

(Seynte Valentyne! a foul thus herde I singe

Upon thy day, er sonne gan up-springe).—

Yet sang this foul—'I rede yow al a-wake,

And ye, that han not chosen in humble wyse,

Without repenting cheseth yow your make.

And ye, that han ful chosen as I devyse,

Yet at the leste renoveleth your servyse;

Confermeth it perpetuely to dure,

And paciently taketh your aventure.

And for the worship of this hye feste,

Yet wol I, in my briddes wyse, singe

The sentence of the compleynt, at the leste,

That woful Mars made atte departinge

Fro fresshe Venus in a morweninge,

Whan Phebus, with his fyry torches rede,

Ransaked every lover in his drede.

The Story.

¶ Whylom the thridde hevenes lord above,

As wel by hevenish revolucioun

As by desert, hath wonne Venus his love,

And she hath take him in subieccioun,

And as a maistresse taught him his lessoun,

Comaunding him that never, in hir servyse,

He nere so bold no lover to despyse.

For she forbad him Ielosye at alle,

And cruelte, and bost, and tirannye;

She made him at hir lust so humble and talle,

That when hir deyned caste on him her yë,

He took in pacience to live or dye;

And thus she brydeleth him in hir manere,

With no-thing but with scourging of hir chere.

Who regneth now in blisse but Venus,

That hath this worthy knight in governaunce?

Who singeth now but Mars, that serveth thus

The faire Venus, causer of plesaunce?

He bynt him to perpetual obeisaunce,

And she bynt hir to loven him for ever,

But so be that his trespas hit dissever.

Thus be they knit, and regnen as in heven

By loking most; til hit fil, on a tyde,

That by hir bothe assent was set a steven,

That Mars shal entre, as faste as he may glyde,

Into hir nexte paleys, to abyde,

Walking his cours til she had him a-take,

And he preyde hir to haste hir for his sake.

Then seyde he thus—"myn hertes lady swete,

Ye knowe wel my mischef in that place;

For sikerly, til that I with yow mete,

My lyf stant ther in aventure and grace;

But when I see the beaute of your face,

Ther is no dreed of deth may do me smerte,

For al your lust is ese to myn herte."

She hath so gret compassion of hir knight,

That dwelleth in solitude til she come;

For hit stood so, that ilke tyme, no wight

Counseyled him, ne seyde to him welcome,

That nigh hir wit for wo was overcome;

Wherfore she spedde hir as faste in hir weye,

Almost in oon day, as he dide in tweye.

The grete Ioye that was betwix hem two,

Whan they be met, ther may no tunge telle,

Ther is no more, but unto bed they go,

And thus in Ioye and blisse I let hem dwelle;

This worthy Mars, that is of knighthod welle,

The flour of fairnes lappeth in his armes,

And Venus kisseth Mars, the god of armes.

Soiourned hath this Mars, of which I rede,

In chambre amid the paleys prively

A certeyn tyme, til him fel a drede,

Through Phebus, that was comen hastely

Within the paleys-yates sturdely,

With torche in honde, of which the stremes brighte

On Venus chambre knokkeden ful lighte.

The chambre, ther as lay this fresshe quene,

Depeynted was with whyte boles grete,

And by the light she knew, that shoon so shene,

That Phebus cam to brenne hem with his hete;

This sely Venus, dreynt in teres wete,

Enbraceth Mars, and seyde, "alas! I dye!

The torch is come, that al this world wol wrye."

Up sterte Mars, him liste not to slepe,

Whan he his lady herde so compleyne;

But, for his nature was not for to wepe,

In stede of teres, fro his eyen tweyne

The fyry sparkes brosten out for peyne;

And hente his hauberk, that lay him besyde;

Flee wolde he not, ne mighte him-selven hyde.

He throweth on his helm of huge wighte,

100

And girt him with his swerde; and in his honde

His mighty spere, as he was wont to fighte,

He shaketh so that almost it to-wonde;

Ful hevy he was to walken over londe;

He may not holde with Venus companye,

105

But bad hir fleen, lest Phebus hir espye.

O woful Mars! alas! what mayst thou seyn,

That in the paleys of thy disturbaunce

Art left behinde, in peril to be sleyn?

And yet ther-to is double thy penaunce,

110

For she, that hath thyn herte in governaunce,

Is passed halfe the stremes of thyn yën;

That thou nere swift, wel mayst thou wepe and cryen.

Now fleeth Venus un-to Cylenius tour,

With voide cours, for fere of Phebus light.

115

Alas! and ther ne hath she no socour,

For she ne fond ne saw no maner wight;

And eek as ther she had but litil might;

Wher-for, hir-selven for to hyde and save,

Within the gate she fledde into a cave.

120

Derk was this cave, and smoking as the helle,

Not but two pas within the gate hit stood;

A naturel day in derk I lete hir dwelle.

Now wol I speke of Mars, furious and wood;

For sorow he wolde have seen his herte blood;

125

Sith that he mighte hir don no companye,

He ne roghte not a myte for to dye.

So feble he wex, for hete and for his wo,

That nigh he swelt, he mighte unnethe endure;

He passeth but oo steyre in dayes two,

130

But ner the les, for al his hevy armure,

He foloweth hir that is his lyves cure;

For whos departing he took gretter yre

Thanne for al his brenning in the fyre.

After he walketh softely a pas,

135

Compleyning, that hit pite was to here.

He seyde, "O lady bright, Venus! alas!

That ever so wyde a compas is my spere!

Alas! whan shal I mete yow, herte dere,

This twelfte day of April I endure,

140

Through Ielous Phebus, this misaventure."

Now god helpe sely Venus allone!

But, as god wolde, hit happed for to be,

That, whyl that Venus weping made hir mone,

Cylenius, ryding in his chevauchè,

145

Fro Venus valance mighte his paleys see,

And Venus he salueth, and maketh chere,

And hir receyveth as his frend ful dere.

Mars dwelleth forth in his adversite,

Compleyning ever on hir departinge;

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And what his compleynt was, remembreth me;

And therfore, in this lusty morweninge,

As I best can, I wol hit seyn and singe,

And after that I wol my leve take;

And God yeve every wight Ioye of his make!

The compleynt of Mars.

The Proem of the Compleynt.

155

¶ The ordre of compleynt requireth skilfully,

That if a wight shal pleyne pitously,

There mot be cause wherfor that men pleyne;

Or men may deme he pleyneth folily

And causeles; alas! that am not I!

160

Wherfor the ground and cause of al my peyne,

So as my troubled wit may hit ateyne,

I wol reherse; not for to have redresse,

But to declare my ground of hevinesse.

Devotion.

¶ The firste tyme, alas! that I was wroght,

165

And for certeyn effectes hider broght

By him that lordeth ech intelligence,

I yaf my trewe servise and my thoght,

For evermore—how dere I have hit boght!—

To hir, that is of so gret excellence,

170

That what wight that first sheweth his presence,

When she is wroth and taketh of him no cure,

He may not longe in Ioye of love endure.

This is no feyned mater that I telle;

My lady is the verrey sours and welle

175

Of beaute, lust, fredom, and gentilnesse,

Of riche aray—how dere men hit selle!—

Of al disport in which men frendly dwelle,

Of love and pley, and of benigne humblesse,

Of soune of instruments of al swetnesse;

180

And therto so wel fortuned and thewed,

That through the world hir goodnesse is y-shewed.

What wonder is then, thogh that I besette

My servise on suche oon, that may me knette

To wele or wo, sith hit lyth in hir might?

185

Therfor my herte for ever I to hir hette;

Ne trewly, for my dethe, I shal not lette

To ben hir trewest servaunt and hir knight.

I flater noght, that may wite every wight;

For this day in hir servise shal I dye;

190

But grace be, I see hir never with yë.

A Lady in fear and woe.

¶ To whom shal I than pleyne of my distresse?

Who may me helpe, who may my harm redresse?

Shal I compleyne unto my lady free?

Nay, certes! for she hath such hevinesse,

195

For fere and eek for wo, that, as I gesse,

In litil tyme hit wol hir bane be.

But were she sauf, hit wer no fors of me.

Alas! that ever lovers mote endure,

For love, so many a perilous aventure!

200

For thogh so be that lovers be as trewe

As any metal that is forged newe,

In many a cas hem tydeth ofte sorowe.

Somtyme hir ladies will not on hem rewe,

Somtyme, yif that Ielosye hit knewe,

205

They mighten lightly leye hir heed to borowe;

Somtyme envyous folke with tunges horowe

Depraven hem; alas! whom may they plese?

But he be fals, no lover hath his ese.

But what availeth suche a long sermoun

210

Of aventures of love, up and doun?

I wol returne and speken of my peyne;

The point is this of my destruccioun,

My righte lady, my salvacioun,

Is in affray, and not to whom to pleyne.

215

O herte swete, O lady sovereyne!

For your disese, wel oghte I swoune and swelte,

Thogh I non other harm ne drede felte.

Instability of Happiness.

¶ To what fyn made the god that sit so hye,

Benethen him, love other companye,

220

And streyneth folk to love, malgre hir hede?

And then hir Ioye, for oght I can espye,

Ne lasteth not the twinkeling of an yë,

And somme han never Ioye til they be dede.

What meneth this? what is this mistihede?

225

Wherto constreyneth he his folk so faste

Thing to desyre, but hit shulde laste?

And thogh he made a lover love a thing,

And maketh hit seme stedfast and during,

Yet putteth he in hit such misaventure,

230

That reste nis ther noon in his yeving.

And that is wonder, that so Iust a king

Doth such hardnesse to his creature.

Thus, whether love breke or elles dure,

Algates he that hath with love to done

235

Hath ofter wo then changed is the mone.

Hit semeth he hath to lovers enmite,

And lyk a fissher, as men alday may see,

Baiteth his angle-hook with som plesaunce,

Til mony a fish is wood til that he be

240

Sesed ther-with; and then at erst hath he

Al his desyr, and ther-with al mischaunce;

And thogh the lyne breke, he hath penaunce;

For with the hoke he wounded is so sore,

That he his wages hath for ever-more.

The Brooch of Thebes.

245

¶ The broche of Thebes was of suche a kinde,

So ful of rubies and of stones Inde,

That every wight, that sette on hit an yë,

He wende anon to worthe out of his minde;

So sore the beaute wolde his herte binde,

250

Til he hit hadde, him thoghte he moste dye;

And whan that hit was his, than shulde he drye

Such wo for drede, ay whyl that he hit hadde,

That welnigh for the fere he shulde madde.

And whan hit was fro his possessioun,

255

Than had he double wo and passioun

For he so fair a tresor had forgo;

But yet this broche, as in conclusioun,

Was not the cause of this confusioun;

But he that wroghte hit enfortuned hit so,

260

That every wight that had hit shuld have wo;

And therfor in the worcher was the vyce,

And in the covetour that was so nyce.

So fareth hit by lovers and by me;

For thogh my lady have so gret beaute,

265

That I was mad til I had gete hir grace,

She was not cause of myn adversite,

But he that wroghte hir, also mot I thee,

That putte suche a beaute in hir face,

That made me to covete and purchace

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Myn owne deth; him wyte I that I dye,

And myn unwit, that ever I clomb so hye.

An Appeal for Sympathy.

¶ But to yow, hardy knightes of renoun,

Sin that ye be of my divisioun,

Al be I not worthy to so grete a name,

275

Yet, seyn these clerkes, I am your patroun;

Ther-for ye oghte have som compassioun

Of my disese, and take it noght a-game.

The proudest of yow may be mad ful tame;

Wherfor I prey yow, of your gentilesse,

280

That ye compleyne for myn hevinesse.

And ye, my ladies, that ben trewe and stable,

By way of kinde, ye oghten to be able

To have pite of folk that be in peyne:

Now have ye cause to clothe yow in sable;

285

Sith that your emperice, the honorable,

Is desolat, wel oghte ye to pleyne;

Now shuld your holy teres falle and reyne.

Alas! your honour and your emperice,

Nigh deed for drede, ne can hir not chevise.

290

Compleyneth eek, ye lovers, al in-fere,

For hir that, with unfeyned humble chere,

Was ever redy to do yow socour;

Compleyneth hir that ever hath had yow dere;

Compleyneth beaute, fredom, and manere;

295

Compleyneth hir that endeth your labour;

Compleyneth thilke ensample of al honour,

That never dide but al gentilesse;

298

Kytheth therfor on hir som kindenesse.'

1. Ar. foules; Ju. fowles; T. fooles (!); Harl. floures (see l. 3); F. Tn. lovers (wrongly). F. Harl. on; Tn. in; rest of. 2. Ar. the; F. Harl. yow; Tn. Ju. you; T. your (wrongly; Thynne (1532) has yon, which, after all, is clearly right). 3. T. Ar. honoureth: F. Tn. honouren. F. the (!); rest ye. F. Tn. T. day; Ju. Harl. Ar. may (!) 4. F. Harl. sunne; rest sonne. Ar. vp risith. Ju. T. Ar. ye; F. they (!); Tn. the (!); Harl. he (!!). 5. Ar. any; F. eny. 7. F. Loo yonde; sunne; Ialosye. 8. F. blew; hert. 9. F. sent; Ar. seynt. 10. F. sum-; smert. 11. Ar. eft; Th. efte; T. efft; F. ofte. 12. Tn. Th. glade; F. glad. 13. F. foule; herd. 14. F. your; Ar. the; rest thy. F. sunne.

15. F. sange; foule. 17-19. in wrong order in F. Tn. 17. T. you; Ar. ȝow; Ju. ye; rest om. 19. F. this fest; rest the leste (lest, leest). 22. F. highe; Tn. high; rest hye. F. fest. 24. F. lest. 25. F. departyng; see l. 149. 26. F. morwnyng (see Kn. Tale, 204). 28. F. ins. hath bef. every; Tn. hat; Ju. had; rest om. 29. T. thridde; F. thrid. 35. Ju. Ar. nere; F. T. ner. F. bolde; dispise. 38. F. (only) om. him. F. calle (for talle); Harl. talle; Ju. Ar. tall; T. tal. 39. F. to cast; Ju. T. rightly omit to. 40. F. toke. 41. F. maner. 42. Ju. scourgyng; T. skowrginge; Ar. scurgeing; Tn. schouryng (sic); F. stering; Th. scornyng, and ed. 1561 scorning (probably a substitution). F. cher.

46. F. fair. 48. T. Ar. loven; rest loue. 49. Tn. trespas; F. trespace. T. Ar. disseuer; F. deseuer. 51. T. Ju. Tn. By; F. Be. 53. F. fast. 54. Tn. nexte; F. next. 55. Ar. oure-take. 56. T. preyde; F. preiede. F. faste (!); Harl. hasten; rest haste. 57. F. hertis; suete. 58. F. myschefe. 59. F. sikirly. 60. F. lyfe. 62. F. smert. 63. F. alle; hert. 64. F. grete. F. on; rest of. 66. F. stode. 67. Jn. Harl. T. Ar. ins. there after 1st him. 68. F. nyghe; witte. F. sorowe; Tn. sorow; rest wo, woo. 69. T. spedde; F. sped. T. Ar. als; rest as. F. fast; wey. 70. F. dyd; twey.

71. Ar. betuix; F. betwex; rest bytwene. 72. F. When; mette; tel. 74. F. duel. 75. F. knyghthode wel. 76. F. feyrenesse. 81. F. Throgh. 82. F. (alone) inserts ful before sturdely. 83. F. bryght. 84. Ju. Th. knockeden; Harl. knokkide; Tn. knokked; F. knokken (wrongly; a copy in MS. Pepys 2006 rightly has knokkeden). 87. F. shone. 88. Tn. T. brenne; F. bren. 89. F. cely (for sely); Tn. Ju. sely. MSS. nygh dreynt; omit nygh. 92. Tn. sterte; F. stert. Tn. liste; F. lust. 95. Tn. stede; F. stid. F. twyne. 97. F. hent; hauberke; ley. 98. F. wold; myght.

99. Tn. Ju. T. throweth; F. thrwe (badly). F. helme; wyght. 101. F. fyght. 102. Ar. to-wound; Harl. to-wond; rest to-wonde. 103. Ar. he was; rest was he. 108. F. (alone) inserts thou after Art. 110. F. hert. 112. Tn. Ju. Th. nere; F. ner. 113. F. Tn. in to; Harl. to rest vn to. Ju. Cylenius; Harl. Cylenyus; Ar. Cilenius; T. Celenius; Tn. cilinius; F. cilinios. F. toure. 115. Harl. T. ne; Ar. so; rest om. 116. F. founde; saugh. 117. F. eke. 119. Harl. T. fledde; Tn. Ju. Ar. fled; F. fel. 120. F. Derke; hel. 121. F. pales; rest pas (pace). F. stode. 122. F. let; duel. 123. So all. F. wode. 124. F. wold; sene; hert blode. 125. F. myght. Harl. done hir; Ju. doo her; T. Ar. do hir; F. Tn. haue done her; read hir don. 126. Tn. roghte; Ju. Harl. Ar. rought; F. thoght (!).

128. F. myght. 129. Harl. o; T. oon; Ju. one; rest a. Tn. Ju. Harl. steyre; T. stayre; F. sterre (!). 130. F. lesse. 132. F. toke. 133. Harl. T. Thanne; F. Then. 134. F. paas. 135. F. heree. 137. F. speree. 138. F. hert. 139. T. twelfft (but read twelfte); Ju. twelfth; Harl. Ar. twelf (wrongly); F. Tn. xij. F. dayes; Tn. days; rest day (rightly). 140. F. Throgh Ielouse. 141. Read helpe god (Koch). 143. F. while. 144. Ju. Cylenius; F. Cilinius. Tn. Lt. cheuauche; F. cheuache. 145. F. Ju. Fro; Ar. From; Tn. Harl. T. For. Ar. valance; Tn. valauns; F. Valaunses; Th. (ed. 1532) Valanus (for Valauns?); Ju. balance; Harl. T. balaunce. 147. F. frende. 151. F. morwnynge. 154. Ju. Th. yeue; F. yif. F. Ioy.

Title. In F. Ar. Ju.; T. Complaint of mars. 156. F. pleyn. 157. F. wherfore; pleyn. 158. F. Other; rest Or. Ju. Ar. folily; F. folely. 160. F. grounde; peyn. 161. F. witte; ateyn. 163. F. grounde. 164. F. first. 166. Tn. By; F. Be. 167. F. trwe; Tn. trewe. 169. F. That (by mistake); rest To. F. excelence. 171. F. wrothe. 175. F. fredam. 179. F. Instrumentes. 181. F. thorow; worlde.

182. All but Tn. Th. om. that. T. besette; F. beset. 183. T. oone; Tn. Ar. one; F. on (twice). F. knet; Ar. knett; rest knette. 184. F. lythe. 185. F. Therfore. F. hert. Ju. Th. hette; Ar. het; F. T. hight; Tn. set; (Longleat MS. has hette). 186. F. truly. Tn. Ju. T. shal I. F. let. 187. F. truest; Tn. Ar. trewest. 188. Tn. wite; F. wete; T. wit; Ju. knowe. 191. T. thane (for than); rest omit. 192. F. harme. 193. F. compleyn. 195. F. eke. 197. Ju. Ar. sauf; T. sauff; F. Tn. safe. 200. Tn. thogh; F. tho. 201. Tn. any; F. eny. 202. Tn. many; F. mony. T. Ar. cas; F. case. 203. F. Somme; rest Somtyme. Ju. T. Ar. lady. 204. Ar. gif; rest if, yf; read yif. 205. F. ley; hede. 207. Ju. T. Th. Deprauen; Ar. Depeynen; F. Tn. Departen.

209. F. longe. 210. Read lov-e (e unelided). F. dovne. 213. Tn. righte; F. right. F. sauacyoun; rest saluacioun. 214. F. pleyn. 215. F. hert suete. F. Tn. o; Ar. and; T. and my; Ju. om. 216. F. I oght wel; Tn. I oghte wel; Ju. T. Ar. wel ought I. Ju. swowne; Ar. suoun; T. swoone; Tn. swone; F. sowne. F. swelt. 217. F. none; harme; felt. 218. Ju. fyn; rest fyne. F. sitte; T. sit. 219. T. Tn. Ju. him; Ar. thame; F. om. F. other (= or); Tn. othyr (= or); Ju. T. or. 220. F. folke. 221. F. Ioy. 222. Tn. ye; rest eye. 223. F. Ioy. 225. F. folke; fast. 226. F. shuld last. 228. F. stidfast. 229. Ju. put; Ar. puttis. 230. Tn. T. reste; F. rest. T. noon; Ar. non; Ju. none; F. om. 231. F. Iuste.

236. Tn. enmyte; F. enemyte. 237. F. lyke. 238. Tn. Ju. Bayteth; F. Bateth. Ju. hook; F. hoke. Tn. som; F. summe. 239. F. fissch; wode. F. to; rest til. 241. F. desire. 244. F. hathe. 245. F. such. 246. F. Tn. Ar. stones of; Jn. T. om. of; see Rom. Rose, 67. 247. T. Th. sette; Ar. sett; rest set. 248. Tn. wende; F. wend. 249. F. wold; hert. 250. T. hade; rest had. F. thoght. Tn. moste; F. must. 251. F. Ju. om. that. F. (only) om. his. F. shuld. 252. Ju. T. hadde; F. had. 253. Ju. sholde madde; F. shuld mad. 256. F. feir; tresore (Tn. Iuel). 259. F. wroght. Tn. Th. enfortuned; T. enfortund; F. enfortune (!). 261. F. therfore.

267. F. wroght. Ju. Ar. also; T. als; F. Tn. as. 268. F. Tn. Ju. Ar. put (for putte); T. list to putte. Tn. Ju. a; F. T. Ar. om. 269. T. Ar. to; rest om. F. coueten; Tn. Ju. coueyten; (but to covete is better). 270. F. ovne; Th. owne; Ju. T. Ar. owen. F. dethe. 271. F. ovne witte; Tn. and rest vnwit. F. clombe. 273. F. deuisioun. 274. Perhaps omit to (as T.). 276. F. Therefore; oght; somme. 278. Tn. proudest; F. pruddest. Ar. maid; rest made (for mad, pp.). 279. F. Wherfore. 280. F. Tn. compleyn; Ju. Ar. compleyne; T. compleynen. 281. Ar. trewe; F. true. 282. Ar. By; F. Be. 283. F. folke; peyn. 285. Tn. emperice; F. emperise (and in l. 288). 286. Tn. oghte; F. oght; Ar. aughten. 289. F. Negh ded.

290. F. eke. 293. Tn. Compleyneth; F. Complen (by mistake); see next line. 297. Tn. dide; Ju. dyde; rest did. T. al; Ju. all; Ar. alway; F. Tn. om. 298. Ar. sum; F. summe.

V. THE PARLEMENT OF FOULES.

The Proem.

The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne,

Thassay so hard, so sharp the conquering,

The dredful Ioy, that alwey slit so yerne,

Al this mene I by love, that my feling

Astonyeth with his wonderful worching

So sore y-wis, that whan I on him thinke,

Nat wot I wel wher that I wake or winke.

For al be that I knowe not love in dede,

Ne wot how that he quyteth folk hir hyre,

Yet happeth me ful ofte in bokes rede

Of his miracles, and his cruel yre;

Ther rede I wel he wol be lord and syre,

I dar not seyn, his strokes been so sore,

But God save swich a lord! I can no more.

Of usage, what for luste what for lore,

On bokes rede I ofte, as I yow tolde.

But wherfor that I speke al this? not yore

Agon, hit happed me for to beholde

Upon a boke, was write with lettres olde;

And ther-upon, a certeyn thing to lerne,

The longe day ful faste I radde and yerne.

For out of olde feldes, as men seith,

Cometh al this newe corn fro yeer to yere;

And out of olde bokes, in good feith,

Cometh al this newe science that men lere.

But now to purpos as of this matere—

To rede forth hit gan me so delyte,

That al the day me thoughte but a lyte.

This book of which I make mencioun,

Entitled was al thus, as I shal telle,

Tullius of the dreme of Scipioun';

Chapitres seven hit hadde, of hevene and helle,

And erthe, and soules that therinne dwelle,

Of whiche, as shortly as I can hit trete,

Of his sentence I wol you seyn the grete.

First telleth hit, whan Scipioun was come

In Afrik, how he mette Massinisse,

That him for Ioye in armes hath y nome.

Than telleth [hit] hir speche and al the blisse

That was betwix hem, til the day gan misse;

And how his auncestre, African so dere,

Gan in his slepe that night to him appere.

Than telleth hit that, fro a sterry place,

How African hath him Cartage shewed,

And warned him before of al his grace,

And seyde him, what man, lered other lewed,

That loveth comun profit, wel y-thewed,

He shal unto a blisful place wende,

Ther as Ioye is that last withouten ende.

Than asked he, if folk that heer be dede

Have lyf and dwelling in another place;

And African seyde, 'ye, withoute drede,'

And that our present worldes lyves space

Nis but a maner deth, what wey we trace,

And rightful folk shal go, after they dye,

To heven; and shewed him the galaxye.

Than shewed he him the litel erthe, that heer is,

At regard of the hevenes quantite;

And after shewed he him the nyne speres,

And after that the melodye herde he

That cometh of thilke speres thryes three,

That welle is of musyke and melodye

In this world heer, and cause of armonye.

Than bad he him, sin erthe was so lyte,

And ful of torment and of harde grace,

That he ne shulde him in the world delyte.

Than tolde he him, in certeyn yeres space,

That every sterre shulde come into his place

Ther hit was first; and al shulde out of minde

That in this worlde is don of al mankinde.

Than prayde him Scipioun to telle him al

The wey to come un-to that hevene blisse;

And he seyde, 'know thy-self first immortal,

And loke ay besily thou werke and wisse

To comun profit, and thou shalt nat misse

To comen swiftly to that place dere,

That ful of blisse is and of soules clere.

But brekers of the lawe, soth to seyne,

And lecherous folk, after that they be dede,

Shul alwey whirle aboute therthe in peyne,

Til many a world be passed, out of drede,

And than, for-yeven alle hir wikked dede,

Than shul they come unto that blisful place,

To which to comen god thee sende his grace!'—

The day gan failen, and the derke night,

That reveth bestes from hir besinesse,

Berafte me my book for lakke of light,

And to my bedde I gan me for to dresse,

Fulfild of thought and besy hevinesse;

For bothe I hadde thing which that I nolde,

And eek I ne hadde that thing that I wolde.

But fynally my spirit, at the laste,

For-wery of my labour al the day,

Took rest, that made me to slepe faste,

And in my slepe I mette, as I lay,

How African, right in that selfe aray

That Scipioun him saw before that tyde,

Was comen, and stood right at my beddes syde.

The wery hunter, slepinge in his bed,

100

To wode ayein his minde goth anoon;

The Iuge dremeth how his plees ben sped;

The carter dremeth how his cartes goon;

The riche, of gold; the knight fight with his foon,

The seke met he drinketh of the tonne;

105

The lover met he hath his lady wonne.

Can I nat seyn if that the cause were

For I had red of African beforn,

That made me to mete that he stood there;

But thus seyde he, 'thou hast thee so wel born

110

In loking of myn olde book to-torn,

Of which Macrobie roghte nat a lyte,

That somdel of thy labour wolde I quyte!'—

Citherea! thou blisful lady swete,

That with thy fyr-brand dauntest whom thee lest,

115

And madest me this sweven for to mete,

Be thou my help in this, for thou mayst best;

As wisly as I saw thee north-north-west,

When I began my sweven for to wryte,

So yif me might to ryme hit and endyte!

The Story.

120

This forseid African me hente anoon,

And forth with him unto a gate broghte

Right of a parke, walled with grene stoon;

And over the gate, with lettres large y-wroghte,

Ther weren vers y-writen, as me thoghte,

125

On eyther halfe, of ful gret difference,

Of which I shal yow sey the pleyn sentence.

Thorgh me men goon in-to that blisful place

Of hertes hele and dedly woundes cure;

Thorgh me men goon unto the welle of Grace,

130

Ther grene and lusty May shal ever endure;

This is the wey to al good aventure;

Be glad, thou reder, and thy sorwe of-caste,

Al open am I; passe in, and hy the faste!'

Thorgh me men goon,' than spak that other syde,

135

'Unto the mortal strokes of the spere,

Of which Disdayn and Daunger is the gyde,

Ther tree shal never fruyt ne leves bere.

This streem you ledeth to the sorwful were,

Ther as the fish in prison is al drye;

140

Theschewing is only the remedye.'

Thise vers of gold and blak y-writen were,

The whiche I gan a stounde to beholde,

For with that oon encresed ay my fere,

And with that other gan myn herte bolde;

145

That oon me hette, that other did me colde,

No wit had I, for errour, for to chese,

To entre or flee, or me to save or lese.

Right as, betwixen adamauntes two

Of even might, a pece of iren y-set,

150

That hath no might to meve to ne fro—

For what that on may hale, that other let—

Ferde I, that niste whether me was bet,

To entre or leve, til African my gyde

Me hente, and shoof in at the gates wyde,

155

And seyde, 'hit stondeth writen in thy face,

Thyn errour, though thou telle it not to me;

But dred thee nat to come in-to this place,

For this wryting is no-thing ment by thee,

Ne by noon, but he Loves servant be;

160

For thou of love hast lost thy tast, I gesse,

As seek man hath of swete and bitternesse.

But natheles, al-though that thou be dulle,

Yit that thou canst not do, yit mayst thou see;

For many a man that may not stonde a pulle,

165

Yit lyketh him at the wrastling for to be,

And demeth yit wher he do bet or he;

And if thou haddest cunning for tendyte,

I shal thee shewen mater of to wryte.'

With that my hond in his he took anoon,

170

Of which I comfort caughte, and wente in faste;

But lord! so I was glad and wel begoon!

For over-al, wher that I myn eyen caste,

Were treës clad with leves that ay shal laste,

Eche in his kinde, of colour fresh and grene

175

As emeraude, that Ioye was to sene.

The bilder ook, and eek the hardy asshe;

The piler elm, the cofre unto careyne;

The boxtree piper; holm to whippes lasshe;

The sayling firr; the cipres, deth to pleyne;

180

The sheter ew, the asp for shaftes pleyne;

The olyve of pees, and eek the drunken vyne,

The victor palm, the laurer to devyne.

A garden saw I, ful of blosmy bowes,

Upon a river, in a grene mede,

185

Ther as that swetnesse evermore y-now is,

With floures whyte, blewe, yelowe, and rede;

And colde welle-stremes, no-thing dede,

That swommen ful of smale fisshes lighte,

With finnes rede and scales silver-brighte.

190

On every bough the briddes herde I singe,

With voys of aungel in hir armonye,

Som besyed hem hir briddes forth to bringe;

The litel conyes to hir pley gunne hye,

And further al aboute I gan espye

195

The dredful roo, the buk, the hert and hinde,

Squerels, and bestes smale of gentil kinde.

Of instruments of strenges in acord

Herde I so pleye a ravisshing swetnesse,

That god, that maker is of al and lord,

200

Ne herde never better, as I gesse;

Therwith a wind, unnethe hit might be lesse,

Made in the leves grene a noise softe

Acordant to the foules songe on-lofte.

The air of that place so attempre was

205

That never was grevaunce of hoot ne cold;

Ther wex eek every holsom spyce and gras,

Ne no man may ther wexe seek ne old;

Yet was ther Ioye more a thousand fold

Then man can telle; ne never wolde it nighte,

210

But ay cleer day to any mannes sighte.

Under a tree, besyde a welle, I say

Cupyde our lord his arwes forge and fyle;

And at his fete his bowe al redy lay,

And wel his doghter tempred al the whyle

215

The hedes in the welle, and with hir wyle

She couched hem after as they shulde serve,

Som for to slee, and som to wounde and kerve.

Tho was I war of Plesaunce anon-right,

And of Aray, and Lust, and Curtesye;

220

And of the Craft that can and hath the might

To doon by force a wight to do folye—

Disfigurat was she, I nil not lye;

And by him-self, under an oke, I gesse,

Sawe I Delyt, that stood with Gentilnesse.

225

I saw Beautee, withouten any atyr,

And Youthe, ful of game and Iolyte,

Fool-hardinesse, Flatery, and Desyr,

Messagerye, and Mede, and other three—

Hir names shul noght here be told for me—

230

And upon pilers grete of Iasper longe

I saw a temple of bras y-founded stronge.

Aboute the temple daunceden alway

Wommen y-nowe, of whiche somme ther were

Faire of hem-self, and somme of hem were gay;

235

In kirtels, al disshevele, wente they there—

That was hir office alwey, yeer by yere—

And on the temple, of doves whyte and faire

Saw I sittinge many a hundred paire.

Before the temple-dore ful soberly

240

Dame Pees sat, with a curteyn in hir hond:

And hir besyde, wonder discretly,

Dame Pacience sitting ther I fond

With face pale, upon an hille of sond;

And alder-next, within and eek with-oute,

245

Behest and Art, and of hir folke a route.

Within the temple, of syghes hote as fyr

I herde a swogh that gan aboute renne;

Which syghes were engendred with desyr,

That maden every auter for to brenne

250

Of newe flaume; and wel aspyed I thenne

That al the cause of sorwes that they drye

Com of the bitter goddesse Ialousye.

The god Priapus saw I, as I wente,

Within the temple, in soverayn place stonde,

255

In swich aray as whan the asse him shente

With crye by night, and with his ceptre in honde;

Ful besily men gunne assaye and fonde

Upon his hede to sette, of sondry hewe,

Garlondes ful of fresshe floures newe.

260

And in a privee corner, in disporte,

Fond I Venus and hir porter Richesse,

That was ful noble and hauteyn of hir porte;

Derk was that place, but afterward lightnesse

I saw a lyte, unnethe hit might be lesse,

265

And on a bed of golde she lay to reste,

Til that the hote sonne gan to weste.

Hir gilte heres with a golden threde

Y-bounden were, untressed as she lay,

And naked fro the breste unto the hede

270

Men might hir see; and, sothly for to say,

The remenant wel kevered to my pay

Right with a subtil kerchef of Valence,

Ther was no thikker cloth of no defence.

The place yaf a thousand savours swote,

275

And Bachus, god of wyn, sat hir besyde,

And Ceres next, that doth of hunger bote;

And, as I seide, amiddes lay Cipryde,

To whom on knees two yonge folkes cryde

To ben hir help; but thus I leet hir lye,

280

And ferther in the temple I gan espye

That, in dispyte of Diane the chaste,

Ful many a bowe y-broke heng on the wal

Of maydens, suche as gunne hir tymes waste

In hir servyse; and peynted over al

285

Of many a story, of which I touche shal

A fewe, as of Calixte and Athalaunte,

And many a mayde, of which the name I wante;

Semyramus, Candace, and Ercules,

Biblis, Dido, Tisbe and Piramus,

290

Tristram, Isoude, Paris, and Achilles,

Eleyne, Cleopatre, and Troilus,

Silla, and eek the moder of Romulus—

Alle these were peynted on that other syde,

And al hir love, and in what plyte they dyde.

295

Whan I was come ayen into the place

That I of spak, that was so swote and grene,

Forth welk I tho, my-selven to solace.

Tho was I war wher that ther sat a quene

That, as of light the somer-sonne shene

300

Passeth the sterre, right so over mesure

She fairer was than any creature.

And in a launde, upon an hille of floures,

Was set this noble goddesse Nature;

Of braunches were hir halles and hir boures,

305

Y-wrought after hir craft and hir mesure;

Ne ther nas foul that cometh of engendrure,

That they ne were prest in hir presence,

To take hir doom and yeve hir audience.

For this was on seynt Valentynes day,

310

Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make,

Of every kinde, that men thenke may;

And that so huge a noyse gan they make,

That erthe and see, and tree, and every lake

So ful was, that unnethe was ther space

315

For me to stonde, so ful was al the place.

And right as Aleyn, in the Pleynt of Kinde,

Devyseth Nature of aray and face,

In swich aray men mighten hir ther finde.

This noble emperesse, ful of grace,

320

Bad every foul to take his owne place,

As they were wont alwey fro yeer to yere,

Seynt Valentynes day, to stonden there.

That is to sey, the foules of ravyne

Were hyest set; and than the foules smale,

325

That eten as hem nature wolde enclyne,

As worm, or thing of whiche I telle no tale;

But water-foul sat lowest in the dale;

And foul that liveth by seed sat on the grene,

And that so fele, that wonder was to sene.

330

Ther mighte men the royal egle finde,

That with his sharpe look perceth the sonne;

And other egles of a lower kinde,

Of which that clerkes wel devysen conne.

Ther was the tyraunt with his fethres donne

335

And greye, I mene the goshauk, that doth pyne

To briddes for his outrageous ravyne.

The gentil faucon, that with his feet distreyneth

The kinges hond; the hardy sperhauk eke,

The quayles foo; the merlion that peyneth

340

Him-self ful ofte, the larke for to seke;

Ther was the douve, with hir eyen meke;

The Ialous swan, ayens his deth that singeth;

The oule eek, that of dethe the bode bringeth;

The crane the geaunt, with his trompes soune;

345

The theef, the chogh; and eek the Iangling pye;

The scorning Iay; the eles foo, the heroune;

The false lapwing, ful of trecherye;

The stare, that the counseyl can bewrye;

The tame ruddok; and the coward kyte;

350

The cok, that orloge is of thorpes lyte;

The sparow, Venus sone; the nightingale,

That clepeth forth the fresshe leves newe;

The swalow, mordrer of the flyës smale

That maken hony of floures fresshe of hewe;

355

The wedded turtel, with hir herte trewe;

The pecok, with his aungels fethres brighte;

The fesaunt, scorner of the cok by nighte;

The waker goos; the cukkow ever unkinde;

The popiniay, ful of delicasye;

360

The drake, stroyer of his owne kinde;

The stork, the wreker of avouterye;

The hote cormeraunt of glotonye;

The raven wys, the crow with vois of care;

The throstel olde; the frosty feldefare.

365

What shulde I seyn? of foules every kinde

That in this worlde han fethres and stature,

Men mighten in that place assembled finde

Before the noble goddesse Nature.

And everich of hem did his besy cure

370

Benignely to chese or for to take,

By hir acord, his formel or his make.

But to the poynt—Nature held on hir honde

A formel egle, of shap the gentileste

That ever she among hir werkes fonde,

375

The most benigne and the goodlieste;

In hir was every vertu at his reste,

So ferforth, that Nature hir-self had blisse

To loke on hir, and ofte hir bek to kisse.

Nature, the vicaire of thalmyghty lorde,

380

That hoot, cold, hevy, light, [and] moist and dreye

Hath knit by even noumbre of acorde,

In esy vois began to speke and seye,

Foules, tak hede of my sentence, I preye,

And, for your ese, in furthering of your nede,

385

As faste as I may speke, I wol me spede.

Ye know wel how, seynt Valentynes day,

By my statut and through my governaunce,

Ye come for to chese—and flee your way—

Your makes, as I prik yow with plesaunce.

390

But natheles, my rightful ordenaunce

May I not lete, for al this world to winne,

That he that most is worthy shal beginne.

The tercel egle, as that ye knowen wel,

The foul royal above yow in degree,

395

The wyse and worthy, secree, trewe as stel,

The which I formed have, as ye may see,

In every part as hit best lyketh me,

Hit nedeth noght his shap yow to devyse,

He shal first chese and speken in his gyse.

400

And after him, by order shul ye chese,

After your kinde, everich as yow lyketh,

And, as your hap is, shul ye winne or lese;

But which of yow that love most entryketh,

God sende him hir that sorest for him syketh.'

405

And therwith-al the tercel gan she calle,

And seyde, 'my sone, the choys is to thee falle.

But natheles, in this condicioun

Mot be the choys of everich that is here,

That she agree to his eleccioun,

410

Who-so he be that shulde been hir fere;

This is our usage alwey, fro yeer to yere;

And who so may at this time have his grace,

In blisful tyme he com in-to this place.'

With hed enclyned and with ful humble chere

415

This royal tercel spak and taried nought;

Unto my sovereyn lady, and noght my fere,

I chese, and chese with wille and herte and thought,

The formel on your hond so wel y-wrought,

Whos I am al and ever wol hir serve,

420

Do what hir list, to do me live or sterve.

Beseching hir of mercy and of grace,

As she that is my lady sovereyne;

Or let me dye present in this place.

For certes, long may I not live in peyne;

425

For in myn herte is corven every veyne;

Having reward only to my trouthe,

My dere herte, have on my wo som routhe.

And if that I to hir be founde untrewe,

Disobeysaunt, or wilful negligent,

430

Avauntour, or in proces love a newe,

I pray to you this be my Iugement,

That with these foules I be al to-rent,

That ilke day that ever she me finde

To hir untrewe, or in my gilte unkinde.

435

And sin that noon loveth hir so wel as I,

Al be she never of love me behette,

Than oghte she be myn thourgh hir mercy,

For other bond can I noon on hir knette.

For never, for no wo, ne shal I lette

440

To serven hir, how fer so that she wende;

Sey what yow list, my tale is at an ende.'

Right as the fresshe, rede rose newe

Ayen the somer-sonne coloured is,

Right so for shame al wexen gan the hewe

445

Of this formel, whan she herde al this;

She neyther answerde 'wel,' ne seyde amis,

So sore abasshed was she, til that Nature

Seyde, 'doghter, drede yow noght, I yow assure.'

Another tercel egle spak anoon

450

Of lower kinde, and seyde, 'that shal not be;

I love hir bet than ye do, by seynt Iohn,

Or atte leste I love hir as wel as ye;

And lenger have served hir, in my degree,

And if she shulde have loved for long loving,

455

To me allone had been the guerdoning.

I dar eek seye, if she me finde fals,

Unkinde, Iangler, or rebel any wyse,

Or Ialous, do me hongen by the hals!

And but I bere me in hir servyse

460

As wel as that my wit can me suffyse,

Fro poynt to poynt, hir honour for to save,

Tak she my lyf, and al the good I have.'

The thridde tercel egle answerde tho,

Now, sirs, ye seen the litel leyser here;

465

For every foul cryeth out to been a-go

Forth with his make, or with his lady dere;

And eek Nature hir-self ne wol nought here,

For tarying here, noght half that I wolde seye;

And but I speke, I mot for sorwe deye.

470

Of long servyse avaunte I me no-thing,

But as possible is me to dye to-day

For wo, as he that hath ben languisshing

Thise twenty winter, and wel happen may

A man may serven bet and more to pay

475

In half a yere, al-though hit were no more,

Than som man doth that hath served ful yore.

I ne say not this by me, for I ne can

Do no servyse that may my lady plese;

But I dar seyn, I am hir trewest man

480

As to my dome, and feynest wolde hir ese;

At shorte wordes, til that deth me sese,

I wol ben hires, whether I wake or winke,

And trewe in al that herte may bethinke.'

Of al my lyf, sin that day I was born,

485

So gentil plee in love or other thing

Ne herde never no man me beforn,

Who-[so] that hadde leyser and cunning

For to reherse hir chere and hir speking;

And from the morwe gan this speche laste

490

Til dounward drow the sonne wonder faste.

The noyse of foules for to ben delivered

So loude rong, 'have doon and let us wende!'

That wel wende I the wode had al to-shivered.

Come of!' they cryde, 'allas! ye wil us shende!

495

Whan shal your cursed pleding have an ende?

How shulde a Iuge eyther party leve,

For yee or nay, with-outen any preve?'

The goos, the cokkow, and the doke also

So cryden 'kek, kek!' 'kukkow!' 'quek, quek!' hye,

500

That thorgh myn eres the noyse wente tho.

The goos seyde, 'al this nis not worth a flye!

But I can shape hereof a remedye,

And I wol sey my verdit faire and swythe

For water-foul, who-so be wrooth or blythe.'

505

'And I for worm-foul,' seyde the fool cukkow,

For I wol, of myn owne auctoritè,

For comune spede, take the charge now,

For to delivere us is gret charitè.'

Ye may abyde a whyle yet, parde!'

510

Seide the turtel, 'if hit be your wille

A wight may speke, him were as good be stille.

I am a seed-foul, oon the unworthieste,

That wot I wel, and litel of kunninge;

But bet is that a wightes tonge reste

515

Than entremeten him of such doinge

Of which he neyther rede can nor singe.

And who-so doth, ful foule himself acloyeth,

For office uncommitted ofte anoyeth.'

Nature, which that alway had an ere

520

To murmour of the lewednes behinde,

With facound voys seide, 'hold your tonges there!

And I shal sone, I hope, a counseyl finde

You to delivere, and fro this noyse unbinde;

I Iuge, of every folk men shal oon calle

525

To seyn the verdit for you foules alle.'

Assented were to this conclusioun

The briddes alle; and foules of ravyne

Han chosen first, by pleyn eleccioun,

The tercelet of the faucon, to diffyne

530

Al hir sentence, and as him list, termyne;

And to Nature him gonnen to presente,

And she accepteth him with glad entente.

The tercelet seide than in this manere:

Ful hard were hit to preve hit by resoun

535

Who loveth best this gentil formel here;

For everich hath swich replicacioun,

That noon by skilles may be broght a-doun;

I can not seen that arguments avayle;

Than semeth hit ther moste be batayle.'

540

'Al redy!' quod these egles tercels tho.

Nay, sirs!' quod he, 'if that I dorste it seye,

Ye doon me wrong, my tale is not y-do!

For sirs, ne taketh noght a-gref, I preye,

It may noght gon, as ye wolde, in this weye;

545

Oure is the voys that han the charge in honde,

And to the Iuges dome ye moten stonde;

And therfor pees! I seye, as to my wit,

Me wolde thinke how that the worthieste

Of knighthode, and lengest hath used hit,

550

Moste of estat, of blode the gentileste,

Were sittingest for hir, if that hir leste;

And of these three she wot hir-self, I trowe,

Which that he be, for hit is light to knowe.'

The water-foules han her hedes leyd

555

Togeder, and of short avysement,

Whan everich had his large golee seyd,

They seyden sothly, al by oon assent,

How that 'the goos, with hir facounde gent,

That so desyreth to pronounce our nede,

560

Shal telle our tale,' and preyde 'god hir spede.'

And for these water-foules tho began

The goos to speke, and in hir cakelinge

She seyde, 'pees! now tak kepe every man,

And herkeneth which a reson I shal bringe;

565

My wit is sharp, I love no taryinge;

I seye, I rede him, though he were my brother,

But she wol love him, lat him love another!'

Lo here! a parfit reson of a goos!'

Quod the sperhauk; 'never mot she thee!

570

Lo, swich hit is to have a tonge loos!

Now parde, fool, yet were hit bet for thee

Have holde thy pees, than shewed thy nycete!

Hit lyth not in his wit nor in his wille,

But sooth is seyd, "a fool can noght be stille."'

575

The laughter aroos of gentil foules alle,

And right anoon the seed-foul chosen hadde

The turtel trewe, and gunne hir to hem calle,

And preyden hir to seye the sothe sadde

Of this matere, and asked what she radde;

580

And she answerde, that pleynly hir entente

She wolde shewe, and sothly what she mente.

Nay, god forbede a lover shulde chaunge!'

The turtel seyde, and wex for shame al reed;

Thogh that his lady ever-more be straunge,

585

Yet let him serve hir ever, til he be deed;

For sothe, I preyse noght the gooses reed;

For thogh she deyed, I wolde non other make,

I wol ben hires, til that the deth me take.'

Wel bourded!' quod the doke, 'by my hat!

590

That men shulde alwey loven, causeles,

Who can a reson finde or wit in that?

Daunceth he mury that is mirtheles?

Who shulde recche of that is reccheles?

Ye, quek!' yit quod the doke, ful wel and faire,

595

'There been mo sterres, god wot, than a paire!'

Now fy, cherl!' quod the gentil tercelet,

Out of the dunghil com that word ful right,

Thou canst noght see which thing is wel be-set:

Thou farest by love as oules doon by light,

600

The day hem blent, ful wel they see by night;

Thy kind is of so lowe a wrechednesse,

That what love is, thou canst nat see ne gesse.'

Tho gan the cukkow putte him forth in prees

For foul that eteth worm, and seide blyve,

605

'So I,' quod he, 'may have my make in pees,

I recche not how longe that ye stryve;

Lat ech of hem be soleyn al hir lyve,

This is my reed, sin they may not acorde;

This shorte lesson nedeth noght recorde.'

610

'Ye! have the glotoun fild ynogh his paunche,

Than are we wel!' seyde the merlioun;

Thou mordrer of the heysugge on the braunche

That broghte thee forth, thou [rewthelees] glotoun!

Live thou soleyn, wormes corrupcioun!

615

For no fors is of lakke of thy nature;

Go, lewed be thou, whyl the world may dure!'

Now pees,' quod Nature, 'I comaunde here;

For I have herd al your opinioun,

And in effect yet be we never the nere;

620

But fynally, this is my conclusioun,

That she hir-self shal han the eleccioun

Of whom hir list, who-so be wrooth or blythe,

Him that she cheest, he shal hir have as swythe.

For sith hit may not here discussed be

625

Who loveth hir best, as seide the tercelet,

Than wol I doon hir this favour, that she

Shal have right him on whom hir herte is set,

And he hir that his herte hath on hir knet.

This Iuge I, Nature, for I may not lyë;

630

To noon estat I have non other yë.

But as for counseyl for to chese a make,

If hit were reson, certes, than wolde I

Counseyle yow the royal tercel take,

As seide the tercelet ful skilfully,

635

As for the gentilest and most worthy,

Which I have wroght so wel to my plesaunce;

That to yow oghte been a suffisaunce.'

With dredful vois the formel hir answerde,

My rightful lady, goddesse of Nature,

640

Soth is that I am ever under your yerde,

Lyk as is everiche other creature,

And moot be youres whyl my lyf may dure;

And therfor graunteth me my firste bone,

And myn entente I wol yow sey right sone.'

645

'I graunte it you,' quod she; and right anoon

This formel egle spak in this degree,

Almighty quene, unto this yeer be doon

I aske respit for to avysen me.

And after that to have my choys al free;

650

This al and som, that I wolde speke and seye;

Ye gete no more, al-though ye do me deye.

I wol noght serven Venus ne Cupyde

For sothe as yet, by no manere wey.'

Now sin it may non other wyse betyde,'

655

Quod tho Nature, 'here is no more to sey;

Than wolde I that these foules were a-wey

Ech with his make, for tarying lenger here'—

And seyde hem thus, as ye shul after here.

To you speke I, ye tercelets,' quod Nature,

660

'Beth of good herte and serveth, alle three;

A yeer is not so longe to endure,

And ech of yow peyne him, in his degree,

For to do wel; for, god wot, quit is she

Fro yow this yeer; what after so befalle,

665

This entremes is dressed for you alle.'

And whan this werk al broght was to an ende,

To every foule Nature yaf his make

By even acorde, and on hir wey they wende.

A! lord! the blisse and Ioye that they make!

670

For ech of hem gan other in winges take,

And with hir nekkes ech gan other winde,

Thanking alwey the noble goddesse of kinde.

But first were chosen foules for to singe,

As yeer by yere was alwey hir usaunce

675

To singe a roundel at hir departinge,

To do Nature honour and plesaunce.

The note, I trowe, maked was in Fraunce;

The wordes wer swich as ye may heer finde,

The nexte vers, as I now have in minde.

Qui bien aime a tard oublie.

680

'Now welcom somer, with thy sonne softe,

That hast this wintres weders over-shake,

And driven awey the longe nightes blake!

Seynt Valentyn, that art ful hy on-lofte;—

Thus singen smale foules for thy sake—

685

Now welcom somer, with thy sonne softe,

That hast this wintres weders over-shake.

Wel han they cause for to gladen ofte,

Sith ech of hem recovered hath his make;

Ful blisful may they singen whan they wake;

690

Now welcom somer, with thy sonne softe,

That hast this wintres weders over-shake,

And driven awey the longe nightes blake.'

And with the showting, whan hir song was do,

That foules maden at hir flight a-way,

695

I wook, and other bokes took me to

To rede upon, and yet I rede alway;

I hope, y-wis, to rede so som day

That I shal mete som thing for to fare

699

The bet; and thus to rede I nil not spare.

Explicit tractatus de congregacione Volucrum

die sancti Valentini.

The authorities are: F. (Fairfax 16); Gg. (Gg. 4. 27, Cambridge Univ. Library); Trin. (Trinity Coll. Camb. R. 3. 19); Cx. (Caxton's edition); Harl. (Harleian 7333); O. (St. John's Coll. Oxford); Ff. (Ff. I. 6, Cambridge Univ. Library); occasionally Tn. (Tanner 346); D. (Digby 181); and others. I follow F. mainly, corrected by Gg. (and others); and note all variations from F. of any consequence.

Title; Gg. has—Here begynyth the parlement of Foulys; D. The parlement of Fowlis. 2. So F. Harl. Tn.; some transpose hard and sharp. 3. Gg. and others dredful; F. slyder. Gg. O. slit; Cx. flit (for slit); Ff. slydeth (om. so); F. slyd; Trin. fleeth. 5. Gg. (and others) with his wondyrful; F. soo with a dredeful. 7. F. Tn. wake or wynke; rest flete or synke; see 482. 9. Gg. Trin. Harl. that; which the rest omit. 10. Gg. Trin. Cx. Harl. Ff. ful ofte in bokis; F. in bookes ofte to. 11. F. ins. of after and; Gg. om. 13. F. Dar I; Gg. and others I dar. 14. F. suche; Gg. swich. 17. F. Tn. D. why; rest wherfore (wherfor).

21. Gg. faste; F. fast. Harl. radde; F. rad; Gg. redde. 22. F. seyth; Gg. sey. 24. F. feythe; Gg. fey. 26. Gg. O. as of this; Trin. Cx. Harl. Ff. of this; F. of my firste. 28. Gg. Ff. me thouȝte; Trin. Cx. Harl. me thought hit; F. thought me. 30. Gg. Cx. thus; F. Trin. Harl. there. Gg. and rest as I schal; F. I shal yow. 31. F. inserts the after dreme of; the rest omit. Trin. Harl. O. Scipioun; F. Cipioun; Gg. sothion (!). 32. F. hyt had vij; Gg. and the rest seuene It hadde. 33. Ff. therInne; F. and the rest theryn (wrongly). 34. Gg. it; O. of; the rest omit. 35. Gg. seyn; F. tel; the rest sey (say). 37. F. In-to; rest In. F. Aufryke; Gg. Affrik. 39. For hit all wrongly have he; see ll. 36, 43. 40. Harl. betwix; F. betwixt. 41. Gg. Affrican; F. Aufrikan. 42. F. on; rest in. 43. F. tolde he hym; Gg. Trin. Cx. Harl. tellith it; O. Ff. tellithe he. 44. Gg. Affrycan; F. Aufrikan. F. y-shewed; rest schewid, shewyd, &c.

46. Gg. other; Th. eyther; rest or. 49. Gg. There as Ioye is that last with outyn; F. There Ioy is that lasteth with-out. 50. F. inserts the after if; rest omit. 52. Gg. Affrican; F. Aufrikan. 53. Gg. Ff. that; Trin. Cx. Harl. how; F. om. 54. Cx. Nis; Gg. Nys; F. Trin. Harl. Ff. Meneth. 55. Gg. and rest after; F. whan. Gg. Ff. gon; Harl. O. gone. 56. Cx. galaxye; F. Ff. galoxye; O. galoxie. i. watlynstrete; Harl. galorye; Trin. galry (!); Gg. galylye (!). 58. Gg. and rest the; Harl. tho; F. om. 62. T. Cx. Harl. O. That welles of musyk be (ben). 64. Gg. Ff. Than bad he hym syn erthe was so lyte; F. Than bad he hym see the erthe that is so lite (wrongly). 65. Cx. Trin. Harl. O. ful of torment and; F. was somedel fulle; Gg. was sumdel disseyuable and ful (!). 69. Gg. and rest schulde (schuld, shuld); F. shal. 70. F. was; rest is.

71. F. O. he; rest him. Gg. and rest to; F. om. 72. Gg. Trin. Harl. O. into that; Cx. unto that; F. to (om. that). 73. Gg. inmortal; O. Th. immortalle; F. and rest mortalle(!). 75. Gg. and rest not (nat, noght); F. never. 76. Gg. comyn: Cx. comen; F. come. Gg. O. to; rest into, vnto. 77. Trin. Cx. Harl. Ff. retain of after and; F. Gg. O. omit. 78. F. ins. for before to (but lawe is dissyllabic); rest om. 80. Gg. wrongly puts there for therthe; Harl. O. Ff. place alwey before in peyne; the rest are bad. 82. F. ins. hem before alle. Gg. And that for-ȝeuyn is his weked dede (but dede is plural). 84. Gg. comyn; rest come, com. Cx. Harl. the sende his; O. sende the his; Gg. synde us; Ff. send vs; F. sende ech lover (!). 85. Harl. faylen; Cx. fayllen; F. faile; Gg. folwyn (!). 87. F. Berefte; rest Berafte, Beraft. 90. F. had; Gg. hadde. 91. Harl. O. give 1st that; Trin. Cx. the; F. Ff. Gg. om. 95. After as, Gg. Trin. Harl. O. insert that; it is hardly needed. 96. Gg. Affrican; F. Aufrikan.

102. Gg. Ft carte is; O. cart is; rest cartes or cartis. 104, 5. Gg. Harl. O. met; F. Trin. Cx. meteth. 106. Gg. Cx. O. Ff. I nat; F. not I. 107. F. redde had; Gg. hadde red; rest had red (rad). Gg. affrican; F. Aufrican. 108. F. omits made; the rest have it. 110. to-torn] F. al to torne. 111. F. roght noght; Gg. roughte nat; Cx. roght not. 112. F. Cx. ins. the after I; rest omit. 114. Trin. Cx. fyrebronde; Gg. ferbrond; F. firy bronde. 119. Gg. ȝif; F. yeve. Trin. Cx. Harl. O. hit and; Ff. eke and; Gg. & ek; F. and to. 120. Gg. Affrican; F. Aufrikan. 122. F. and rest with; Gg. of. 124. Read weren; all were (weer). Gg. I-wrete; Th. ywritten; F. writen.

133. F. Ff. hye; the rest spede (sped). 135. F. stroke; rest strokes (strokis). 137. Cx. Harl. O. Ff. neuer tree shal. Cx. fruyt; Harl. O. fruyte; Trin. F. frute. 138. F. unto; rest to. 139. All is (ys). 140. O. Theschewing; Cx. Theschewyng; Harl. The eschuyng; F. Thescwynge (sic). 142. Trin. Cx. Harl. O. The; F. Gg. Of; Ff. On. F. Cx. a stounde (which I think is correct); Ff. astonde; (alt. to) Gg. a-stonyd; Trin. astonyed; Harl. O. astoned. 144. F. Cx. O. Ff. insert to before bolde (wrongly); Gg. Trin. Harl. om. 148. Gg. be-twixsyn; F. betwix. 149. F. y-sette; Gg. set. 150. F. That; Ff. om.; rest Ne (which would be elided). F. nor; rest ne (better). 152. Gg. and rest nyste; F. I ne wiste. Gg. and rest whether; F. wher that (perhaps rightly).

153. F. Affrikan. 156. Gg. Cx. O. to; rest omit. 158. Trin. Cx. by; Gg. bi; F. be. 159. Gg. Trin. Cx. by; F. be. 160. Gg. stat (!); for tast (taste). 162. F. Ff. om. that. 163. Gg. Harl. O. supply Yit; Cx. Yf; rest om. F. yet thou maist hyt; O. mayst thowe; rest yit mayst (may) thou. 165. F. Ff. om. for. 166. Gg. wher; rest whether. 167. Gg. Cx. tendite; F. Trin. to endite. 169. F. And with; rest om. And. 170. Gg. confort. Gg. that as; rest went in. 172. F. om. that (but over-al=ov'r-al). 173. F. Weren; rest Were. 174. Gg. O. Ff. of; F. Cx. with (from line above). 175. F. Emerawde. Gg. sothe (for Ioye, wrongly). 177. Cx. O. piler; Gg. pilere; Trin. pylor; F. Harl. peler. 178. F. box pipe tre; Gg. and rest box tre pipere (or piper). Trin. the holyn; Cx. holin; Ff. holye; Gg. O. holm; F. Harl. holme.

180. Gg. Ew; rest ewe. 183. Harl. O. blosmy; Gg. blospemy (for blossemy); Cx. blossome; Trin. blossom; F. Ff. blossomed. 185. O. that; Gg. ther; rest omit. Gg. Ff. I-now; O. I-nowe; F. ynowh. 188. Ff. That swommen; Harl. That swommyn; Gg. That swemyn; Trin. That swymen; Cx. O. That swymmen; F. And swymmynge. 192. F. That; Gg. Ff. So (error for Som); rest Som, Some, Somme. 193. Gg. gunne; F. gunnen; rest gan, cane. 194. F. Trin. om. al. 196. Cx. Squerels; F. Squerel; rest Squyrelis (Squyrellis, Squerellis). 197. F. Cx. On; rest Of. Gg. Cx. O. strengis; Trin. stryngys; F. strynge. Gg. a-cord; rest accorde, acorde. 198. F. om. so. F. Gg. and (for a, wrongly); Ff. om.; rest a. 201. F. om. be; rest have it. 203. Gg. bryddis; rest foules. 205. F. ther of; rest of. 206. Gg. wex; Ff. waxed; F. growen; rest was (error for wex).

207. Trin. Cx. Harl. Ne; rest omit. 208. F. more Ioye; rest Ioye more. 209. F. No; rest Then (or Than). F. om. ne; rest (except Ff.) retain it. Trin. was (for wolde). 214. Gg. Th. wel; F. O. wille; Cx. Trin. wylle; Harl. whille; see note. 215. Gg. and rest hire (hir, hyr); F. harde. F. fyle; Trin. vyle (for fyle) Harl. wyel; rest wile. 216. F. shul; rest shuld, shulde. 217. F. om. for. 221. O. doon by force; Trin. Cx. do by force; Harl. done be force; Gg. don be fore (sic); F. goo before. 222. F. Ff. Disfigured. Gg. Harl. nyl; Cx. Trin. Ff. wil; O. wolle; F. shal. 225. Gg. saw; F. sawgh. Gg. with outyn; Cx. Ff. with outen; F. with oute. 228. F. Ff. Trin. omit 1st and. 229. F. Ff. Trin. omit here. 230. F. pelers; rest pilers (pileris, pylors). 231. F. sawgh. F. glas; rest (except Ff.) bras or brasse. Gg. Harl. O. I-founded; Trin. enfoundyd; F. founded.

232. Gg. daunsedyn; F. daunced. 233. F. O. om. ther. 234. F. om. were; rest retain. 236. Gg. ȝer be ȝeere; Trin. Cx. Harl. yere by yere; F. fro yere to yere. 237. Trin. O. of douys; Gg. of dowis; Cx. of duues; Harl. of dofes; Ff. of dowfs; F. saugh I (sic). 238. F. Of dowves white (sic); Ff. Saw I sitte; rest Saw I syttynge. Trin. Cx. Harl. O. thousand (for hundred). 240. F. om. with. 241. Gg. and rest by hire syde (for hir besyde). 244. F. om. eek; rest retain. 246. Gg. sykys. 248. Gg. sikis. 250. Trin. Cx. flame. F. om. wel; rest retain it. 252. Gg. Cam; O. Com; F. Come; Cx. Comen; Trin. Harl. Ff. Cometh. Gg. Trin. Cx. goddesse; Harl. goddes (i. e. goddess); F. O. goddys. 253. F. sawgh. 255. Gg. swich; F. suche. 256. Trin. Cx. Ff. by; rest be.

260. Gg. priue; F. prevy. 264. F. saugh. 267. Gg. goldene; Ff. golden; F. and rest golde or gold. 271. Cx. wel couerd; Harl. wel couered; Gg. was wel keuerede; Trin. was welle coueryd; F. keuered wel. 272. Harl. Trin. Ff. sotil. Trin. O. kerchyff; F. keuerchefe; Gg. couercheif; Cx. couerchef. 273. Gg. nas (for was). Gg. Harl. alone insert 2nd no (but it is wanted). 275. Trin. Cx. Bachus; rest Bacus. Gg. wyn; F. wyne. 277. F. Gg. Harl. Cipride (rightly); the rest Cupide (!); see l. 279. 278. Gg. Cx. O. two; Ff. to; F. the; Trin. Harl. om. Gg. O. Ff. folk ther (for folkes). 279. Gg. Trin. let; O. lat; Ff. lett; F. B. Cx. Harl. lete. 283. Gg. Harl. gunne; F. gonne; rest gan, can. 285. Gg. Cx. Ff. Ful (for Of).

288. Cx. O. Semiramis; Ff. Semiriamis; rest Semiramus (as in Leg. Good Women, Tisbe, l. 2). Gg. Hercules. 289. Trin. Harl. Tysbe; F. Cx. Tesbe; Gg. Thisbe. 295. F. Cx. comen; rest come. F. Ff. that; rest the. 298. Gg. that; which rest omit (though wanted). 303. F. O. wrongly insert of before Nature. 307. Gg. Trin. Cx. Ff. they; F. Harl. O. there. After were (dissyllabic) Gg. inserts al; needlessly. 308. Gg. dom; rest dome. 310. Gg. bryd (for foul); Cx. birde. 311. F. On; rest Of. Ff. thenke; rest thynke (not so well). 313. Gg. Ff. eyr (for see).

316. F. Alayne; Trin. Alen; rest Aleyn. 317. Gg. in (for of). All but Gg. Ff. needlessly insert suche before aray (caught from line below). 318. Gg. swich; F. suche. MSS. myghte, myght; but read mighten. 320. Gg. Ff. his; rest her, hir (wrongly). Cx. owen; Gg. owene; F. ovne; rest owne. 325. Gg. Cx. hem; Ff. them; O. om.; rest that. 327. Trin. vale (for dale). 330. Gg. ryal; Cx. Harl. O. rial. 338. F. om. hardy. All eke (for eek); exceptionally. 343. Trin. bood; Cx. bodword; rest bode (dissyllabic).

344. Gg. Ff. om. the. 345. Trin. chowgh; F. choghe; Cx. choughe; Harl. chowhe; Gg. O. Ff. crow (wrongly). 346. Harl. Ff. eles; Gg. O. elis; Trin. elys; F. Cx. egles (!). Trin. Harl. O. insert the before heroun; rest omit. 347. Gg. false; F. fals. Trin. Cx. lapwynk; O. lappewynk. 348. Gg. starlyng; rest stare. Gg. bewreye (but note the rime). 349. Gg. rodok. 350. Gg. orloge; F. orlogge. Gg. thorpis; F. thropes. 352. Gg. Cx. Ff. grene (for fresshe). 353. Trin. Th. flyes; Ff. bryddis; Gg. O. foulis; rest foules (fowles). But flyes is right; see Cant. Ta. I. 468, Boeth. iii. met. 7. 355. F. his; O. om.; rest hire, hir, her. 356. Gg. clothis (for fethers). 357. F. be (for by). 359. F. papiay; Gg. popyniay. 361. F. Cx. Ff. om. the. 363. Gg. The rauen wys, the crowe wit voice of care; Ff. same (omitting wys); F. and rest The rauenes and the crowes with her voys of care (badly). 367. Gg. myghtyn; F. myghte. 368. F. that; Ff. this; Harl. om.; rest the. All but Gg. Ff. ins. of bef. Nature. 369. Gg. eueriche; O. Ff. euery; F. eche (badly).

370. Gg. Benygnely; F. Benyngly (sic). 374. fonde is pt. t. subjunctive. 375. Gg. Cx. the (after and); Ff. moste; rest om. 378. Gg. bek; F. beke. 379. Ff. Cx. vicaire; F. vyker. 380. I insert and after light. Gg. Cx. dreye; rest drye. 381. Trin. Cx. by; F. be; Gg. with. 383. Cx. Ff. kepe (for bede). 384. Gg. ese; F. ease. 385. Gg. Ff. ȝow; Cx. you (for me). 386. F. Cx. Harl. insert that after how. 387. Gg. By; F. Be. 389. F. Trin. Cx. Harl. O. insert With before Your; Gg. Ff. rightly omit. 390. Gg. Cx. Ff. ordenaunce; rest gouernaunce (see l. 387). 391. F. Trin. Harl. O. let (i. e. let go); Gg. breke; Ff. suffre; Cx. lette. 393. Gg. terslet (for tercel). Gg. ful wel; F. wele. 394. Gg. ryal. 395. Gg. stel; F. stele. 396. All have formed.

411. Cx. yere by yere (for fro yeer to yere). 413. Gg. cam. 414. Gg. O. Ff. om. ful; rest retain. 415. Trin. Ff. Royalle; F. real; Gg. ryal. 424. Gg. I may. 426. Read al-only? 428. Gg. And if that I to hyre be founde; F. And yf I be founde to hir.

436. F. As though; rest Al be. 438. F. knette; Gg. areete; rest knytte, knyt. 439. Gg. Cx. O. Ne (for For). 445. So all. Read whan that she? 446. Gg. She neythir; Cx. Harl. O. Ff. She neyther; F. Trin. Neyther she. 450. Gg. O. Ff. shal; rest shulde, shuld. 460. Gg. that; rest omit. 462. Gg. the; Trin. Harl. ye; rest she.

463. Gg. thredde; Trin. Ff. thryd; F. thirdde. 467. F. om. Nature. 473. Gg. yeer and as (for winter and). 476. F. om. ful. 479. Gg. seyn; F. say. 480. Gg. Ff. ese; rest plese. 481. Gg. shorte; F. short. 482. Ff. hyres; F. hirse (!). 487. I supply so. Gg. hadde; F. had. 488. F. rehersen; rest reherse (reherce). 490. Gg. drow; Cx. wente; rest went (badly). 494. Cx. Harl. wil; F. wol. 495. Gg. pletynge; Trin. Cx. Harl. pletyng.

498. So Gg.; rest The goos, the duk, and the cukkowe also (wrongly; see next line). 501. F. seyde tho; rest omit tho. Gg. Ff. nys not; Trin. O. ys nat; Cx. is not; F. Harl. om. not. 503. Gg. Cx. I; rest om. 507. Gg. O. profit; rest spede. Trin. For comon spede, take the chargë now. F. Cx. Harl. O. ins. on me bef. the; Ff. ins. vpon me. Gg. tak on no (!) for take the. 510. Trin. Seyde; Cx. Said; rest Quod. 511. F. good; Cx. better (for as good); rest fayr. 514. Gg. bet; rest better. 515. Gg. entirmetyn; F. entremete. 517. All but Gg. Cx. ins. hyt (it, yt) bef. doth. 518. Ff. vncommaundet; O. vnconveyid; Gg. onquit (!); rest vncommytted. 520. Gg. om. behynde; Trin. Harl. blynde; Cx. by kynde; rest behynde. 523. F. O. Ff. for to (for to). F. delyueren; rest delyuere (deliver). F. Gg. Harl. from; rest fro.

524. Cx. charge (for Iuge). 527. Most MSS. insert the before foules; which Gg. Th. and Longleat MS. omit. 530. All but Cx. Ff. ins. to after list. 534. Trin. Th. preue; Gg. proue; F. preven. 536. Gg. swich; F. suche. 537. Gg. non by skillis; F. and rest by skilles may non (badly). 540. Cx. terselis egles. 543. Gg. ne; rest omit. 544. F. om. gon. 545. Gg. Cx. Oure; rest Oures, Ours. 549. Gg. O. hath; rest had. 551. Gg. sittyngest; rest sittynge. 553. Cx. Harl. ethe (for light).

556. Gg. O. gole; Ff. goler; Cx. golye; Ff. golee; Trin. Harl. wyltee. 558. Gg. facounde so; Ff. facounde; Cx. faconde; F. faucond. 560. F. Cx. Ff. needlessly insert to after preyd-e. 564. All but Gg. insert forth before bringe. 569. For Quod read Seyde? 570. Gg. sich (for swich); F. suche. 575. F. laughtre. 576. F. Harl. Ff. foules; Trin. fowle; Cx. fowl; O. foule; Gg. ful (!). 577. Gg. gunne; Ff. gonne; rest gan.

588. Harl. hires; Gg. hire; Cx. hers; rest hirs. Trin. Harl. om. that (perhaps rightly). 589. Gg. Cx. Ff. doke; F. duk. 590. F. Ff. shulden. 592. F. Gg. murye; rest mery. 594. Gg. O. yit; Ff. yet; rest om. 599. Gg. by; F. be (1st time). 602. Gg. Th. nat; F. neyther. 603. F. put; Gg. putte. 606. Cx. Ff. recche; F. Gg. Harl, reche; Trin. O. rek. 611. Gg. Merlioun; Trin. O. Merlyon; Cx. merlion; F. Ff. Emerlyon. 612. F. om. 1st the. Harl. heysugge; O. heysugg; Cx. heysug; Ff. haysugge; F. haysogge; Gg. heysoge; Trin. heysoke. 613. Gg. reufulles (!); Pepys rowthfull; rest rewful (!).

621. Gg. han; rest haue. Gg. Cx. the; rest hir, hyr. 623. F. cheest; Gg. chesith; Trin. cheseth; Harl. chesithe. F. han hir; Gg. hire han; Trin. hyr hafe; Cx. Harl. Ff. her haue. 626. Gg. hire this fauour; Trin. Harl. to hyr thys fauour; F. and rest thys fauour to hir. 630. Ff. ye; Harl. yee; Trin. ey; rest eye. 632. F. Gg. I (for hit). Gg. certis; rest omit. 637. All but Gg. Cx. insert hit (or it) after That or yow. Th. ben; Cx. haue ben; rest to ben (be). 641. Gg. As is a-nothir lyuis creature. O. alone ins. Like bef. As. 642. Gg. mot; rest moste (muste). 643. Gg. grauntyth; rest graunte, graunt (badly). 644. Trin. Cx. Harl. I wyll yow; O. I woll ȝewe; F. Ff. yow wol I.

652. F. Cipride; Harl. Cypride; Ff. Sypryde; rest Cupide (cf. ll. 212, 277). 654. F. other weyes; Cx. other wayes; O. othir wey (perhaps best); Gg. othirwise; Ff. other-wyse; Trin. Harl. other (sic). 655. Gg. Harl. tho; rest om. 659. F. terceletys; Th. tercelets. 660. F. al; Gg. alle. 665. F. O. entremesse; Ff. entremeese; Th. entremes; Gg. entyrmes; Harl. entermes. 666. F. wroght; rest brought, broght. 669. F. A; Gg. But; rest And. Gg. Ioye; F. Ioy. 672. Gg. Thankynge; F. Thonkyng. Gg. queen; rest goddesse, goddes.

678. Gg. sweche (for swiche); F. suche. Th. Qui; miswritten Que in F. Cx.; Qe in Trin.; rest omit. aime; F. ayme. tard; F. tarde. Lines 680-692 only occur in Gg. Th. and Digby 181; lines 683, 684, 687-9 in O. I follow Digby 181 mainly. 680. Digb. Nowe welcome. 681. Gg. wintres wedres; Digb. wynter wedirs. 682. Gg. And; Digb. Hast. Digb. drevyn; Gg. dreuyne. Digb. nyghtis; Gg. nyghtes. 684. Digb. syngen; Fowlis. 687. Gg. O. Wele. 688. Gg. O. hem; Digb. them. 689. Digb. Fulle blisfully they synge and endles ioy thei make (wrongly); Gg. Ful blisseful mowe they ben when they wake; O. Th. Ful blesfull may they synge when they wake (Th. awake). 693. F. showtynge. 694. Gg. madyn; Ff. maden; F. made. 698. Trin. fynde (for mete). 699. Ff. nyl; Gg. nele; F. O. wol; Trin. wylle; Cx. wil.

Colophon. So in F; Gg. has—Explicit parliamentum Auium in die sancti Valentini tentum, secundum Galfridum Chaucer; Ff. has—Explicit Parliamentum Auium; MS. Arch. Seld. B. 24 has—Here endis the parliament of foulis; Quod Galfride Chaucere; the Longleat MS. has—Here endith the Parlement of foules.

VI. A COMPLEINT TO HIS LADY.

I. (In seven-line stanzas.)

The longe night, whan every creature

Shulde have hir rest in somwhat, as by kinde,

Or elles ne may hir lyf nat long endure,

Hit falleth most in-to my woful minde

How I so fer have broght my-self behinde,

That, sauf the deeth, ther may no-thing me lisse,

So desespaired I am from alle blisse.

This same thoght me lasteth til the morwe,

And from the morwe forth til hit be eve;

Ther nedeth me no care for to borwe,

For bothe I have good leyser and good leve;

Ther is no wight that wol me wo bereve

To wepe y-nogh, and wailen al my fille;

The sore spark of peyne doth me spille.

II. (In Terza Rima; imperfect.)

[The sore spark of peyne doth me spille;]

This Love hath [eek] me set in swich a place

That my desyr [he] never wol fulfille;

For neither pitee, mercy, neither grace

Can I nat finde; and [fro] my sorwful herte,

For to be deed, I can hit nat arace.

The more I love, the more she doth me smerte;

Through which I see, with-oute remedye,

That from the deeth I may no wyse asterte;

[For this day in hir servise shal I dye].

III. (In Terza Rima; imperfect.)

[Thus am I slain, with sorwes ful dyverse;

Ful longe agoon I oghte have taken hede].

Now sothly, what she hight I wol reherse;

Hir name is Bountee, set in womanhede,

Sadnesse in youthe, and Beautee prydelees,

And Plesaunce, under governaunce and drede;

Hir surname eek is Faire Rewthelees,

The Wyse, y-knit un-to Good Aventure,

That, for I love hir, sleeth me giltelees.

Hir love I best, and shal, whyl I may dure,

Bet than my-self an hundred thousand deel,

Than al this worldes richesse or creature.

Now hath nat Lovë me bestowed weel

To lovë, ther I never shal have part?

Allas! right thus is turned me the wheel,

Thus am I slayn with loves fyry dart.

I can but love hir best, my swete fo;

Love hath me taught no more of his art

But serve alwey, and stinte for no wo.

IV. (In ten-line stanzas.)

[With]-in my trewe careful herte ther is

So moche wo, and [eek] so litel blis,

That wo is me that ever I was bore;

For al that thing which I desyre I mis,

And al that ever I wolde nat, I-wis,

That finde I redy to me evermore;

And of al this I not to whom me pleyne.

For she that mighte me out of this bringe

Ne reccheth nat whether I wepe or singe;

So litel rewthe hath she upon my peyne.

Allas! whan sleping-time is, than I wake,

Whan I shulde daunce, for fere than I quake;

[Yow rekketh never wher I flete or sinke;]

This hevy lyf I lede for your sake,

Thogh ye ther-of in no wyse hede take,

[For on my wo yow deyneth not to thinke.]

My hertes lady, and hool my lyves quene!

For trewly dorste I seye, as that I fele,

Me semeth that your swete herte of stele

Is whetted now ageynes me to kene.

My dere herte, and best beloved fo,

Why lyketh yow to do me al this wo,

What have I doon that greveth yow, or sayd,

But for I serve and love yow and no mo?

And whylst I live, I wol do ever so;

And therfor, swete, ne beth nat evil apayd.

For so good and so fair as [that] ye be,

Hit were [a] right gret wonder but ye hadde

Of alle servants, bothe goode and badde;

And leest worthy of alle hem, I am he.

But never-the-les, my righte lady swete,

Thogh that I be unconning and unmete

To serve as I best coude ay your hynesse.

Yit is ther fayner noon, that wolde I hete,

Than I, to do yow ese, or elles bete

What-so I wiste were to [yow distresse].

And hadde I might as good as I have wille,

Than shulde ye fele wher it wer so or noon;

For in this worlde living is ther noon

That fayner wolde your hertes wil fulfille.

For bothe I love, and eek dreed yow so sore,

And algates moot, and have doon yow, ful yore,

That bet loved is noon, ne never shal;

And yit I wolde beseche yow of no more

But leveth wel, and be nat wrooth ther-fore,

And lat me serve yow forth; lo! this is al.

For I am nat so hardy ne so wood

For to desire that ye shulde love me;

For wel I wot, allas! that may nat be;

I am so litel worthy, and ye so good.

For ye be oon the worthiest on-lyve,

And I the most unlykly for to thryve;

Yit, for al this, [now] witeth ye right wele,

That ye ne shul me from your service dryve

That I nil ay, with alle my wittes fyve,

Serve yow trewly, what wo so that I fele.

100

For I am set on yow in swich manere

That, thogh ye never wil upon me rewe,

I moste yow love, and ever been as trewe

As any can or may on-lyve [here].

The more that I love yow, goodly free,

105

The lasse fynde I that ye loven me;

Allas! whan shal that harde wit amende?

Wher is now al your wommanly pitee,

Your gentilesse and your debonairtee,

Wil ye no thing ther-of upon me spende?

110

And so hool, swete, as I am youres al,

And so gret wil as I have yow to serve,

Now, certes, and ye lete me thus sterve,

Yit have ye wonne ther-on but a smal.

For, at my knowing, I do no-thing why,

115

And this I wol beseche yow hertely,

That, ther ever ye finde, whyl ye live,

A trewer servant to yow than am I,

Leveth [me] thanne, and sleeth me hardely,

And I my deeth to you wol al forgive.

120

And if ye finde no trewer [man than me],

[Why] will ye suffre than that I thus spille,

And for no maner gilt but my good wille?

As good wer thanne untrewe as trewe to be.

But I, my lyf and deeth, to yow obeye,

125

And with right buxom herte hoolly I preye,

As [is] your moste plesure, so doth by me;

Wel lever is me lyken yow and deye

Than for to any thing or thinke or seye

That mighte yow offende in any tyme.

130

And therfor, swete, rewe on my peynes smerte,

And of your grace granteth me som drope;

For elles may me laste ne blis ne hope,

Ne dwellen in my trouble careful herte.

1. Sh. nightes; see l. 8. 2, 3. hir] Sh. theyre. 7. Ed. (1561) dispaired. 12. Sh. me; Ed. my. 14. All insert now before doth. 15. It seems necessary to repeat this line in order to start the series of rimes. 16. Sh. This loue that hathe me set; I omit that, and supply eek. 17. I supply he (i. e. Love).

19. Sh. and yit my; I omit yit, and supply fro. 24. Supplied to complete the rime from Compl. Mars, 189. 25. Supplied from Compl. Pite, 22, 17. 26. Supplied from Anelida, 307. 31. Sh. is eek. 32. Sh. The wyse eknytte; Ph. The wise I-knyt (corrupt?) 33. Sh. hir she; I omit she. 36. Corrupt? Perhaps read richest creature. 40. Sh. fury. 42. Read of alle his? 44. Sh. In; I read With-in. 45. I supply eek.

50. So in Anelida, 237. 54. Sh. ins. lo after is. 55. Sh. ins. lo after fere. 56, 59. Both lines are missing; supplied from Anelida, 181, 182. 57. Sh. ins. lo after lede. 68. Sh. euer do. 70. I supply that. 71. I supply a. 72. Sh. ins. of after bothe. 76. Sh. koude best; Ph. om. best. 77. Sh. noon fayner. 78. Sh. youre; read yow. 79. Sh. wist that were; om. that. Sh. your hyenesse (repeated from l. 76; wrongly); read yow distresse.

82. Sh. ins. þane before is. 83. Sh. wille; Ph. Ed. wil. 86. Sh. better. 88. Sh. leuethe; Ph. lovith. 96. I supply now. 98. Sh. ne wil (for nil). 100. Ed. (1561) has set so hy vpon your whele. 102. Sh. beon euer. 103. Sh. man can; I omit man. I supply here; the line is imperfect. 104. Sh. But the; I omit But. 113. Ed. om. a.

114. Sh. nought; read nothing. 116. Sh. whyles. 118. I supply me. 120. Sh. no trewer so verrayly; Ed. no trewer verely (false rime). 121. I supply Why. 124-133. Unique stanza, in Ph. only. 126. I supply is. 127. Ph. For wele; omit For. 129. Ph. That yow myght offenden. 132. Ph. no blisse. 133. Ph. dwelle withyn. Colophon. Ph. Explicit Pyte: dan Chaucer Lauteire (?).

VII. ANELIDA AND ARCITE.

The compleynt of feire Anelida and fals Arcite.

Proem.

Thou ferse god of armes, Mars the rede,

That in the frosty country called Trace,

Within thy grisly temple ful of drede

Honoured art, as patroun of that place!

With thy Bellona, Pallas, ful of grace,

Be present, and my song continue and gye;

At my beginning thus to thee I crye.

For hit ful depe is sonken in my minde,

With pitous herte in English for tendyte

This olde storie, in Latin which I finde,

Of quene Anelida and fals Arcite,

That elde, which that al can frete and byte,

As hit hath freten mony a noble storie,

Hath nigh devoured out of our memorie.

Be favorable eek, thou Polymnia,

On Parnaso that, with thy sustres glade,

By Elicon, not fer from Cirrea,

Singest with vois memorial in the shade,

Under the laurer which that may not fade,

And do that I my ship to haven winne;

First folow I Stace, and after him Corinne.

The Story.

Iamque domos patrias, &c.; Statii Thebais, xii. 519.

Whan Theseus, with werres longe and grete,

The aspre folk of Cithe had over-come,

With laurer crouned, in his char gold-bete,

Hoom to his contre-houses is y-come;—

For which the peple blisful, al and somme,

So cryden, that unto the sterres hit wente,

And him to honouren dide al hir entente;—

Beforn this duk, in signe of hy victorie,

The trompes come, and in his baner large

The image of Mars; and, in token of glorie,

Men mighten seen of tresor many a charge,

Many a bright helm, and many a spere and targe,

Many a fresh knight, and many a blisful route,

On hors, on fote, in al the felde aboute.

Ipolita his wyf, the hardy quene

Of Cithia, that he conquered hadde,

With Emelye, hir yonge suster shene,

Faire in a char of golde he with him ladde,

That al the ground aboute hir char she spradde

With brightnesse of the beautee in hir face,

Fulfild of largesse and of alle grace.

With his triumphe and laurer crouned thus,

In al the floure of fortunes yevinge,

Lete I this noble prince Theseus

Toward Athenes in his wey rydinge,

And founde I wol in shortly for to bringe

The slye wey of that I gan to wryte,

Of quene Anelida and fals Arcite.

Mars, which that through his furious course of yre,

The olde wrath of Iuno to fulfille,

Hath set the peples hertes bothe on fyre

Of Thebes and Grece, everich other to kille

With blody speres, ne rested never stille,

But throng now her, now ther, among hem bothe,

That everich other slough, so wer they wrothe.

For whan Amphiorax and Tydeus,

Ipomedon, Parthonopee also

Were dede, and slayn [was] proud Campaneus,

And whan the wrecches Thebans, bretheren two,

Were slayn, and king Adrastus hoom a-go,

So desolat stood Thebes and so bare,

That no wight coude remedie of his care.

And whan the olde Creon gan espye

How that the blood roial was broght adoun,

He held the cite by his tirannye,

And did the gentils of that regioun

To been his frendes, and dwellen in the toun.

So what for love of him, and what for awe,

The noble folk wer to the toune y-drawe.

Among al these, Anelida the quene

Of Ermony was in that toun dwellinge,

That fairer was then is the sonne shene;

Through-out the world so gan hir name springe,

That hir to seen had every wight lykinge;

For, as of trouthe, is ther noon hir liche,

Of al the women in this worlde riche.

Yong was this quene, of twenty yeer of elde,

Of midel stature, and of swich fairnesse,

That nature had a Ioye hir to behelde;

And for to speken of hir stedfastnesse,

She passed hath Penelope and Lucresse,

And shortly, if she shal be comprehended,

In hir ne mighte no-thing been amended.

This Theban knight [Arcite] eek, sooth to seyn,

Was yong, and ther-with-al a lusty knight,

But he was double in love and no-thing pleyn,

And subtil in that crafte over any wight,

And with his cunning wan this lady bright;

For so ferforth he gan hir trouthe assure,

That she him [trust] over any creature.

What shuld I seyn? she loved Arcite so,

That, whan that he was absent any throwe,

Anon hir thoghte hir herte brast a-two;

For in hir sight to hir he bar him lowe,

So that she wende have al his herte y-knowe;

But he was fals; it nas but feyned chere,

As nedeth not to men such craft to lere.

But never-the-les ful mikel besinesse

100

Had he, er that he mighte his lady winne,

And swoor he wolde dyen for distresse,

Or from his wit he seyde he wolde twinne.

Alas, the whyle! for hit was routhe and sinne,

That she upon his sorowes wolde rewe,

105

But no-thing thenketh the fals as doth the trewe.

Hir fredom fond Arcite in swich manere,

That al was his that she hath, moche or lyte,

Ne to no creature made she chere

Ferther than that hit lyked to Arcite;

110

Ther was no lak with which he mighte hir wyte,

She was so ferforth yeven him to plese,

That al that lyked him, hit did hir ese.

Ther nas to hir no maner lettre y-sent

That touched love, from any maner wight,

115

That she ne shewed hit him, er hit was brent;

So pleyn she was, and did hir fulle might,

That she nil hyden nothing from hir knight,

Lest he of any untrouthe hir upbreyde;

Withouten bode his heste she obeyde.

120

And eek he made him Ielous over here,

That, what that any man had to hir seyd,

Anoon he wolde preyen hir to swere

What was that word, or make him evel apayd;

Than wende she out of hir wit have brayd;

125

But al this nas but sleight and flaterye,

Withouten love he feyned Ielosye.

And al this took she so debonerly,

That al his wille, hir thoghte hit skilful thing,

And ever the lenger loved him tenderly,

130

And did him honour as he were a king.

Hir herte was wedded to him with a ring;

So ferforth upon trouthe is hir entente,

That wher he goth, hir herte with him wente.

Whan she shal ete, on him is so hir thoght,

135

That wel unnethe of mete took she keep;

And whan that she was to hir reste broght,

On him she thoghte alwey til that she sleep;

Whan he was absent, prevely she weep;

Thus liveth fair Anelida the quene

140

For fals Arcite, that did hir al this tene.

This fals Arcite, of his new-fangelnesse,

For she to him so lowly was and trewe,

Took lesse deyntee for hir stedfastnesse,

And saw another lady, proud and newe,

145

And right anon he cladde him in hir hewe—

Wot I not whether in whyte, rede, or grene—

And falsed fair Anelida the quene.

But never-the-les, gret wonder was hit noon

Thogh he wer fals, for hit is kinde of man,

150

Sith Lamek was, that is so longe agoon,

To been in love as fals as ever he can;

He was the firste fader that began

To loven two, and was in bigamye;

And he found tentes first, but-if men lye.

155

This fals Arcite sumwhat moste he feyne,

Whan he wex fals, to covere his traitorye,

Right as an hors, that can both byte and pleyne;

For he bar hir on honde of trecherye,

And swoor he coude hir doublenesse espye,

160

And al was falsnes that she to him mente;

Thus swoor this theef, and forth his way he wente.

Alas! what herte might enduren hit,

For routhe or wo, hir sorow for to telle?

Or what man hath the cunning or the wit?

165

Or what man might with-in the chambre dwelle,

If I to him rehersen shal the helle,

That suffreth fair Anelida the quene

For fals Arcite, that did hir al this tene?

She wepeth, waileth, swowneth pitously,

170

To grounde deed she falleth as a stoon;

Al crampissheth hir limes crokedly,

She speketh as hir wit were al agoon;

Other colour then asshen hath she noon,

Noon other word she speketh moche or lyte,

175

But 'mercy, cruel herte myn, Arcite!'

And thus endureth, til that she was so mate

That she ne hath foot on which she may sustene;

But forth languisshing ever in this estate,

Of which Arcite hath nother routhe ne tene;

180

His herte was elles-where, newe and grene,

That on hir wo ne deyneth him not to thinke,

Him rekketh never wher she flete or sinke.

His newe lady holdeth him so narowe

Up by the brydel, at the staves ende,

185

That every word, he dradde hit as an arowe;

Hir daunger made him bothe bowe and bende,

And as hir liste, made him turne or wende;

For she ne graunted him in hir livinge

No grace, why that he hath lust to singe;

190

But drof him forth, unnethe liste hir knowe

That he was servaunt to hir ladyshippe,

But lest that he wer proude, she held him lowe;

Thus serveth he, withouten fee or shipe,

She sent him now to londe, now to shippe;

195

And for she yaf him daunger al his fille,

Therfor she had him at hir owne wille.

Ensample of this, ye thrifty wimmen alle,

Take here Anelida and fals Arcite,

That for hir liste him 'dere herte' calle,

200

And was so meek, therfor he loved hir lyte;

The kinde of mannes herte is to delyte

In thing that straunge is, also god me save!

For what he may not gete, that wolde he have.

Now turne we to Anelida ageyn,

205

That pyneth day by day in languisshing;

But whan she saw that hir ne gat no geyn,

Upon a day, ful sorowfully weping,

She caste hir for to make a compleyning,

And with hir owne honde she gan hit wryte;

210

And sente hit to hir Theban knight Arcite.

The compleynt of Anelida the quene upon fals Arcite.

Proem.

So thirleth with the poynt of remembraunce,

The swerd of sorowe, y-whet with fals plesaunce,

Myn herte, bare of blis and blak of hewe,

That turned is in quaking al my daunce,

215

My suretee in a-whaped countenaunce;

Sith hit availeth not for to ben trewe;

For who-so trewest is, hit shal hir rewe,

That serveth love and doth hir observaunce

Alwey to oon, and chaungeth for no newe.

(Strophe.)

220

1. I wot my-self as wel as any wight;

For I loved oon with al my herte and might

More then my-self, an hundred thousand sythe,

And called him my hertes lyf, my knight,

And was al his, as fer as hit was right;

225

And whan that he was glad, than was I blythe,

And his disese was my deeth as swythe;

And he ayein his trouthe me had plight

For ever-more, his lady me to kythe.

2. Now is he fals, alas! and causeles,

230

And of my wo he is so routheles,

That with a worde him list not ones deyne

To bring ayein my sorowful herte in pees,

For he is caught up in a-nother lees.

Right as him list, he laugheth at my peyne,

235

And I ne can myn herte not restreyne,

That I ne love him alwey, never-the-les;

And of al this I not to whom me pleyne.

3. And shal I pleyne—alas! the harde stounde—

Un-to my foo that yaf my herte a wounde,

240

And yet desyreth that myn harm be more?

Nay, certes! ferther wol I never founde

Non other help, my sores for to sounde.

My desteny hath shapen it ful yore;

I wil non other medecyne ne lore;

245

I wil ben ay ther I was ones bounde,

That I have seid, be seid for ever-more!

4. Alas! wher is become your gentilesse!

Your wordes ful of plesaunce and humblesse?

Your observaunces in so low manere,

250

And your awayting and your besinesse

Upon me, that ye calden your maistresse,

Your sovereyn lady in this worlde here?

Alas! and is ther nother word ne chere

Ye vouchesauf upon myn hevinesse?

255

Alas! your love, I bye hit al to dere.

5. Now certes, swete, thogh that ye

Thus causeles the cause be

Of my dedly adversitee,

Your manly reson oghte it to respyte

260

To slee your frend, and namely me,

That never yet in no degree

Offended yow, as wisly he,

That al wot, out of wo my soule quyte!

¶ But for I shewed yow, Arcite,

265

Al that men wolde to me wryte,

And was so besy, yow to delyte—

My honour save—meke, kinde, and free,

Therfor ye putte on me the wyte,

And of me recche not a myte,

270

Thogh that the swerd of sorow byte

My woful herte through your crueltee.

6. My swete foo,why do ye so,for shame?

And thenke yethat furthered beyour name,

To love a newe,and been untrewe?nay!

275

And putte yowin sclaunder nowand blame,

And do to meadversiteeand grame,

That love yow most,god, wel thou wost!alway?

Yet turn ayeyn,and be al pleynsom day,

And than shal thisthat now is misbe game,

280

And al for-yive,whyl that I livemay.

(Antistrophe.)

1. Lo! herte myn, al this is for to seyne,

As whether shal I preye or elles pleyne?

Whiche is the wey to doon yow to be trewe?

For either mot I have yow in my cheyne,

285

Or with the dethe ye mot departe us tweyne;

Ther ben non other mene weyes newe;

For god so wisly on my soule rewe,

As verily ye sleen me with the peyne;

That may ye see unfeyned of myn hewe.

290

2. For thus ferforth have I my deth [y]-soght,

My-self I mordre with my prevy thoght;

For sorow and routhe of your unkindenesse

I wepe, I wake, I faste; al helpeth noght;

I weyve Ioy that is to speke of oght,

295

I voyde companye, I flee gladnesse;

Who may avaunte hir bet of hevinesse

Then I? and to this plyte have ye me broght,

Withoute gilt; me nedeth no witnesse.

3. And sholde I preye, and weyve womanhede?

300

Nay! rather deth then do so foul a dede,

And axe mercy gilteles! what nede?

And if I pleyne what lyf that I lede,

Yow rekketh not; that know I, out of drede;

And if I unto yow myn othes bede

305

For myn excuse, a scorn shal be my mede;

Your chere floureth, but hit wol not sede;

Ful longe agoon I oghte have take hede.

4. For thogh I hadde yow to-morow ageyn,

I might as wel holde Averill fro reyn,

310

As holde yow, to make yow stedfast.

Almighty god, of trouthe sovereyn,

Wher is the trouthe of man? who hath hit sleyn?

Who that hem loveth shal hem fynde as fast

As in a tempest is a roten mast.

315

Is that a tame best that is ay feyn

To renne away, when he is leest agast?

5. Now mercy, swete, if I misseye,

Have I seyd oght amis, I preye?

I not; my wit is al aweye.

320

I fare as doth the song of Chaunte-pleure.

For now I pleyne, and now I pleye,

I am so mased that I deye,

Arcite hath born awey the keye

Of al my worlde, and my good aventure!

325

¶ For in this worlde nis creature

Wakinge, in more discomfiture

Then I, ne more sorow endure;

And if I slepe a furlong wey or tweye,

Than thinketh me, that your figure

330

Before me stant, clad in asure,

To profren eft a newe assure

For to be trewe, and mercy me to preye.

6. The longe nightthis wonder sightI drye,

And on the dayfor this afrayI dye,

335

And of al thisright noght, y-wis,ye recche.

Ne never momyn yën twobe drye,

And to your routheand to your troutheI crye.

But welawey!to fer be theyto fecche;

Thus holdeth memy destineea wrecche.

340

But me to redeout of this dredeor gye

Ne may my wit,so weyk is hit,not strecche.

Conclusion.

Than ende I thus, sith I may do no more,

I yeve hit up for now and ever-more;

For I shal never eft putten in balaunce

345

My sekernes, ne lerne of love the lore.

But as the swan, I have herd seyd ful yore,

Ayeins his deth shal singe in his penaunce,

So singe I here my destiny or chaunce,

How that Arcite Anelida so sore

350

Hath thirled with the poynt of remembraunce!

The story continued.

Whan that Anelida this woful quene

Hath of hir hande writen in this wyse,

With face deed, betwixe pale and grene,

She fel a-swowe; and sith she gan to ryse,

355

And unto Mars avoweth sacrifyse

With-in the temple, with a sorowful chere,

357

That shapen was as ye shal after here.

(Unfinished.)

The chief authorities are: Harl. (Harl. 7333); F. (Fairfax 16); Tn. (Tanner 346); D. (Digby 181); Cx.(Caxton's edition); B. (Bodley 638); Lt. (Longleat MS.). Th. = Thynne's ed. 1532. I follow F. mainly, correcting the spelling; and give selected variations. Title from F.; B. has boke for compleynt.

1. Tn. ferse; F. fers. 3. Harl. D. Cx. temple; rest temples. 6. F. songe. F. contynew; D. contynue. F. guye; Tn. gye. 7. F. I to the; Harl. Tn. D. to the I. 9. Cx. for tendyte; Harl. for to endite; rest to endyte. 11. F. Analida; Cx. Anelida; Tn. D. Annelida. 12. Harl. that; Cx. that (for which); rest om. 15. F. eke. Harl. Polymea; rest Polymya, Polymia; Th. Polymnia. 16. Harl. Cx. with; rest hath (!). Harl. Cx. sustren. 17. F. B. Cx. Cirrea; D. Cirea; Tn. Circa (wrongly).

20. Tn. ship; F. shippe. After l. 21, 3 Latin lines are quoted from Statius (see note). 23. F. folke. Cx. Cithye. 24. Harl. D. Cx. Lt. With; F. The (caught from l. 23). D. crowned; F. corovned. 25. All Home. Tn. ycome; F. he come. 27. Cx. cryeden; but rest cryden, criden. Harl. unto; rest to. Tn. wente; F. went. 28. Tn. entente; F. entent. 29. F. Harl. Beforne; Cx. Biforn; Tn. D. B. Lt. Before. Harl. duk; F. duke. Harl. inserts hie (= hy); Addit. 16165 has his; the rest wrongly omit; accent o in victórie. 31. Cx. tokening. Harl. and tokenyng of his glorie. 32. F. sene; Harl. seen. 33. Tn. many; F. mony (5 times). 35. on] Harl. Cx. and. 36. Tn. Ypolita. F. wife. 37. Harl. D. Cithea. D. hadde; Lt. hade; rest had. 39. F. chare. D. ladde; Lt. lade; rest lad. 40. Harl. ground; F. grounde. D. spradde; rest sprad. 41. Harl. Cx. the; rest omit. 42. F. Fulfilled; al.

43. D. Cx. Lt. crowned; rest corouned. 44. F. yevyng; Tn. gifeynge. 45. F. B. Let; rest Lete. 46. F. ryding; Tn. ridinge. 47. F. bring; Tn. brynge. 48. D. slye (rightly); Tn. sly; F. sley. 50. F. thro. Harl. Tn. D. furious; F. furiouse. 51. Harl. Tn. wrath; F. wrethe. 52. F. hertis. 53. F. B. Tn. insert and after Grece; which D. Lt. Harl. Cx. omit. Harl. yche othir for to kylle (a good reading). Cf. l. 56. F. eueriche. 55. D. among; F. amonge. D. bothe; F. both (but wrothe in l. 56). 56. F. eueriche. 58. Harl. Parthonopee; Cx. Parthonope; D. Partonope; Tn. Partinope; F. B. Prothonolope(!). 59. Harl. Tn. dede; F. ded. I supply was, which sense and metre require; Cx. supplies and. F. proude. 60. So F. Tn. B. Lt.; Harl. D. Cx. put wrechid (wrecchid) for wrecches. 61. Cx. hom; rest home. 62. F. stode. 66. F. helde. 70. F. folke.

72. Tn. dwellynge; F. duellyng. 73. F. sunne; Harl. Tn. D. Cx. sonne. 74. D. Through; F. Thorogh. Tn. sprynge; F. spring. 75. Tn. likynge; F. likyng. 77. Harl. Tn. D. Cx. the; F. thes. 78. twenty is written xxti in the MSS. D. olde; Cx. olde; Lt. of olde; Harl. eld; rest of elde. 79. Tn. mydelle; F. mydil. F. suche. 80. F. Ioy. 81. D. stedfastnesse; F. stidfastnesse. 82. F. B. both; rest hath. Harl. Th. penelope; F. and others penolope. 84. Harl. ne; rest om. Tn. myghte; F. myght. 85. I supply Arcite; line too short. F. seyne. 86. Harl. yong; F. yonge. Harl. there with alle (so D. Cx. Lt.); rest therto with al. 87. F. pleyne. 88. Harl. any; F. eny. 89. D. Lt. Cx. wan; F. whan (!). 90. F. ferforthe. F. can; rest gan. 91. Th. Tn. Harl. trusteth; rest trusted; read trust. D. any; F. eny. 93. F. eny throw. 94. F. thoght; hert. 95. F. bare. 96. F. hert.

101. Harl. Tn. D.B. swore (for swoor); Cx. sware; F. sworne. 105. Tn. thenketh; F. thinketh. 106. F. fonde; suche. 107. F. B. wrongly insert both before moche; rest omit. F. B. and; rest or. 109. Harl. Cx. that; rest omit. 110. F. wiche; myght. 111. Tn. yeuen; F. yevin. 112. F. dyd her hert an ese; Harl. Cx. omit hert an; others vary. 114, 118. D. any; F. eny. 116. Tn. D. B. fulle; rest ful. 119. (See 126.) Harl. Cx. heste; rest herte, hert. 120. F. eke. Tn. Ielous; F. Ielouse. D. Cx. here (for the rime); F. her. 121. Harl. any; F. eny. F. seyde. 123. F. worde. Harl. Tn. apayde; F. apaied; D. B. apaid. 124. F. wend. Cx. brayd; Tn. breyde; F. breyed. 125. Harl. Cx. this nas; rest was. D. sleight; Cx. sleyght; F. sleght. 126. Harl. Withouten; F. With out; (and so in 119).

127. F. toke. F. B. as; rest so. 128. Harl. Tn. wille; F. wil. F. thoght. Koch proposes to omit hit. 129. All ins. she after lenger; it is not wanted. 131. F. ringe. 132. Harl. Cx. So; rest For so. Harl. Tn. entente; F. entent. 133. Tn. herte; F. hert. Harl. Tn. wente; F. went. 135. F. toke; kepe. 136. Harl. Cx. that; rest omit. Harl. D. Cx. reste; F. rest. 137. Tn. thoghte; F. thoght. Harl. Tn. Cx. alwey; F. ay. F. slepe. 138. F. wepe. 139. Cx. fayr; F. feire. 141. D. newfangilnesse; Tn. newfangulnes; F. new fanglesse 143. F. Toke. D. sted-; F. stid-. 144. F. proude. 145. Harl. D. cladde; F. clad. 146. F. whethir. 148. F. lesse grete. 149. Harl. Cx. omit the, which F. and others insert after is. 152. Harl. Tn. firste; F. first. 154. F. founde.

156. Harl. Tn. D. couer; Cx. couere; F. coueren. 157. F. Tn. pleyn. 159, 161. All swore. 160. Harl. Tn. mente; F. ment. 161. D. Cx. theef; F. thefe. Harl. Tn. wente; F. went. 162. Tn. herte; F. hert. Cx. enduren; rest endure. 167. F. feir. 169. Cx. swowneth; D. sownyth; F. swoneth. 170. Harl. Tn. D. grounde; F. ground. F. dede; ston. 171. Harl. Al; rest om. Cx. Crampissheth; Lt. Crampuissheth; Tn. Crampicheth; F. cravmpysshe. 172. F. agon. 174. Harl. Noon; Cx. None; the rest insert Ne before Noon. For she speketh, all the MSS. have speketh she. 175. F. mercie; hert. 178. F. B. for; rest forth. 179. Tn. D. nothir; F. nouther. 180. F. wher; rest where. 182. Harl. nought; Cx. not (for never). Harl. D. Cx. whether; but wher is short for whether. Cf. Compt. unto Pite, 110; see note.

183. All but Harl. Cx. Th. insert up before so; see next line. 184. F. bridil. 185. F. worde. B. D. Lt. dredith; F. Tn. dred hit; Harl. Cx. drad; read dradde hit. 187. Tn. Cx. liste; Harl. lyste; F. lust. 190. Harl. Cx. vnnethe; F. vnneth. F. list. 191. All un-to; read to. 192. Cx. proud; F. proude. Harl. Cx. held; F. helde. 193. Harl. withouten; F. with out. Harl. Cx. mete; rest fee. F. B. Lt. shippe; D. shipe; Cx. sype; Harl. shepe (!); Tn. shep (!). 195. D. yaf; F. yafe. 196. Harl. owne; F. ovne. 197. Harl Tn. D. thrifty; F. thrifte. 198. B. here; F. her (i. e. here); Tn. D. here of; Cx. Lt. hede of. 199. Tn. Cx. liste (pt. t.); F. list. Harl. Cx. dere herte; F. her der hert. 200. All meke. 201. All kynde (kinde). F. hert. 203. Harl. Cx. he (twice); F. and others wrongly have they the 2nd time. 205. F. Tn. be; rest by. 206. F. sawe. 208. Harl. Tn. caste; F. cast. 209. Harl. owne; F. ovne. 210. Th. sente; D. Cx. sende; rest sent. F. B. omit hit; rest retain.

211. Harl. thirllethe; Cx. thirleth; F. B. thirled (!). 212. B. swerd; F. suerde. F. y-whet; B. I-whet; rest whet. 213. Tn. herte; F. hert. Harl. Tn. D. blak; F. blake. 214. Harl. Cx. in. rest to; see 215. 215. Tn. B. Lt. surete; F. suerte. F. B. in to; rest in. D. Cx. a whaped; Harl. a whaaped; F. a waped. 216. Harl. for; rest om. 217. Harl. trewest; F. truest. Harl. hir; Cx. her; F. and others him (but see l. 218). 218. F. dothe. 220. Harl. any; F. eny. 221. F. hert. 223. F. B. cleped; rest called. F. hertis life. 227. Harl. D. Cx. B. plight; F. I-plyght. 229. So Tn. Harl. Cx. D; F. B. Alas now hath he left me causeles. 232. Tn. herte, pees; F. hert, pes. 233. B. caught; F. caght. Tn. D. Cx. lees; F. les.

234. F. B. me (!); rest him. 235. F. hert. 238. F. pleyn. Harl. Tn. harde; F. hard. 239. F. yafe; hert. 240. F. harme. 241. F. certis. All be founde; but be is copied in from the line above; see l. 47. 242. F. helpe. 243. Tn. desteny; F. destany. F. B. om. ful. 246. F. seide (twice.) 252. F. souereigne. 253. I supply and from Cx.; Harl. has And is there nowe neyther. 254. Lt. vouchesauf; Cx. vouchen sauf; F. vouchesafe. 256. F. certis. 257. F. B. causer (for caus-e); rest cause. 258. F. dedely. 259. F. oght. 260. Harl. Lt. slee; Tn. D. Cx. sle; F. slene. F. frende. 263. Harl. wot; F. wote.

264, 265. Harl. Cx. But for I was so pleyne, Arcyte, In alle my werkes, much and lyte; and omit was in l. 266. 267. F. honor. Tn. saue; F. D. safe; Harl. Cx. sauf. 268. F. put. 269. Harl. Tn. recche; F. rek. 270. F. B. om. that. F. suerde. 271. Tn. herte; F. hert. F. thro. 272. F. suete. 274. Harl. Tn. vntrewe; F. vntrew. 275. Harl. putte; F. put. 278. Tn. D. Ff. Lt. turne; rest come. 279. Tn. Harl. Cx. D. Lt. And then shall this that now is mis ben (be); F. B. And turne al this that hath be mys to. 280. F. foryeve; Tn. foryife; Harl. 372, foryiue (rightly). 281. F. hert. Harl. seyne (gerund); F. seyn. 282. F. wheder; prey; pleyn. 284, 5, 8. F. cheyn, tweyn, peyn. 287. D. Cx. on; Harl. of; F. Tn. B. vpon. 288. D. verily; F. verrely.

290. Harl. Cx. omit this stanza. F. dethe (wrongly); rest deth. All soght, sought; read y-soght. 291. D. B. mordre; F. mourdre. 292. F. vnkyndnesse. 293. Tn. D. faste; F. fast. 296. F. avaunt. Tn. B. Lt. bet; F. beter. 298. Tn. Lt. With oute; F. With out. 299. Some of the final rimes in this stanza are forced ones. F. B. shal; rest sholde (shulde). F. prey. 300. F. dethe; Harl. Cx. dye. F. foule. 301. F. mercie. Tn. gilteles; F. giltles. 302. Harl. pleyne; F. pleyn. F. lyfe. Harl. Cx. ins. that; F. and others omit. 304. Tn. D. unto; F. to. 305. F. skorne. 306. F. B. om. hit. 307. F. and others insert to before have; Tn. D. Lt. Cx. omit. 308. D. hadde; F. had. 309. F. Apprile; Harl. Aueryll. 310. F. B. yow be; rest om. be. F. stidfast. 311. F. souereigne. 312. F. slayn. 313. Tn. D. Lt. She; Harl. Sheo; rest Who. F. B. insert she before shal. 314. F. om. 1st a. 315. Is] F. this (!) 316. Harl. fleen; Cx. fle (for renne). F. lest.

317. Harl. Cx. But; rest Now. F. mercie. F. myssey (omitting e in-eye throughout, wrongly); Harl. myssaye, &c. 318. So F. B.; rest Have I ought seyd out of the weye. F. seyde. 319. Harl. Cx. half (for al). 320. F. dothe; songe. F. chaunt plure; Harl. Chaunte pleure. 321. F. pleyn. 323. F. borne. 325. Harl. Cx. nys; F. B. D. ther is no; Tn. ther nis no (too many syllables). 328. F. furlonge. F. B. other (for or); rest or. 329. F. thenketh; Tn. thynketh. 330. Tn. stant; F. stont. 331. Harl. Cx. To profren efte; D. Tn. Lt. Efte to profre; F. B. To suere yet. Tn. D. Cx. Lt. assure; F. asure. 332. F. trew; mercie. Harl. and love me til I dye; Cx. and love me til he deye. 334. F. B. this; D. Tn. suche; Harl. Cx. thilke. 335. F. reche; Tn. D. recche; and so with feche, &c. 339. F. destany; Tn. destyne (for the rime). 341. F. weyke. 343. Harl. D. Cx. yeve; F. yf; Tn. gife.

344. F. efte. Tn. Cx. putten; F. put. 347. Tn. deth; F. dethe. Tn. D. Lt. Ff. insert in; rest om. 348. Harl. Tn. destenye; D. destynye; F. destany. 349. F. Analida. F. B. to; rest so. 351. This stanza only occurs in Tn. D. Lt. Ff. Th.; I follow Tn. mainly. Tn. Annelida; wofull. 352. Tn. Lt. Ff. of; D. with. 353. D. Th. deed; rest dede. D. betwixe; Th. betwyxe; Ff. bitwixte; Tn. Lt. betwix. 354. Tn. felle; Th. fel. Ff. a swowe; Tn. a swow. 355. Lt. Th. avoweth; D. avowith; Tn. avoyth. 356. Tn. With-Inne; rest With-in. Tn. sorofulle. 357. Tn. shapyn; aftyr. shal after] Lt. Th. may plainly.

VIII. CHAUCERS WORDES UNTO ADAM, HIS OWNE SCRIVEYN.

Adam scriveyn, if ever it thee bifalle

Boece or Troilus to wryten newe,

Under thy lokkes thou most have the scalle,

But after my making thou wryte trewe.

So ofte a daye I mot thy werk renewe,

Hit to correcte and eek to rubbe and scrape;

And al is through thy negligence and rape.

From T. (= MS. R. 3. 20 in Trin. Coll. Library, Cambridge). It also occurs in Stowe's edition (1561).

Title; T. has—Chauciers wordes .a. Geffrey vn-to Adame his owen scryveyne; Stowe has—Chaucers woordes vnto his owne Scriuener.

1. T. scryveyne; byfalle. 2. T. Troylus for to; nuwe. 3. T. thy long lokkes (see note); thowe. 4. T. affter; makyng thowe wryte more truwe (see note). 5. T. offt; renuwe. 6. T. It; corect; Stowe has correcte. T. eke. 7. T. thorugh; neclygence.

IX. THE FORMER AGE.

A blisful lyf, a paisible and a swete

Ledden the peples in the former age;

They helde hem payed of fruites, that they ete,

Which that the feldes yave hem by usage;

They ne were nat forpampred with outrage;

Unknowen was the quern and eek the melle;

They eten mast, hawes, and swich pounage,

And dronken water of the colde welle.

Yit nas the ground nat wounded with the plough,

But corn up-sprong, unsowe of mannes hond,

The which they gniden, and eete nat half y-nough

No man yit knew the forwes of his lond;

No man the fyr out of the flint yit fond;

Un-korven and un-grobbed lay the vyne;

No man yit in the morter spyces grond

To clarre, ne to sause of galantyne.

No mader, welde, or wood no litestere

Ne knew; the flees was of his former hewe;

No flesh ne wiste offence of egge or spere;

No coyn ne knew man which was fals or trewe;

No ship yit karf the wawes grene and blewe;

No marchaunt yit ne fette outlandish ware;

No trompes for the werres folk ne knewe,

No toures heye, and walles rounde or square.

What sholde it han avayled to werreye?

Ther lay no profit, ther was no richesse,

But cursed was the tyme, I dar wel seye,

That men first dide hir swety bysinesse

To grobbe up metal, lurkinge in darknesse,

And in the riveres first gemmes soghte.

Allas! than sprong up al the cursednesse

Of covetyse, that first our sorwe broghte!

Thise tyraunts putte hem gladly nat in pres,

No wildnesse, ne no busshes for to winne

Ther poverte is, as seith Diogenes,

Ther as vitaile is eek so skars and thinne

That noght but mast or apples is ther-inne.

But, ther as bagges been and fat vitaile,

Ther wol they gon, and spare for no sinne

With al hir ost the cite for tassaile.

Yit were no paleis-chaumbres, ne non halles;

In caves and [in] wodes softe and swete

Slepten this blissed folk with-oute walles,

On gras or leves in parfit quiete.

No doun of fetheres, ne no bleched shete

Was kid to hem, but in seurtee they slepte;

Hir hertes were al oon, with-oute galles,

Everich of hem his feith to other kepte.

Unforged was the hauberk and the plate;

The lambish peple, voyd of alle vyce,

Hadden no fantasye to debate,

But ech of hem wolde other wel cheryce;

No pryde, non envye, non avaryce,

No lord, no taylage by no tyrannye;

Humblesse and pees, good feith, the emperice,

[Fulfilled erthe of olde curtesye.]

Yit was not Iupiter the likerous,

That first was fader of delicacye,

Come in this world; ne Nembrot, desirous

To reynen, had nat maad his toures hye.

Allas, allas! now may men wepe and crye!

For in our dayes nis but covetyse

[And] doublenesse, and tresoun and envye,

Poysoun, manslauhtre, and mordre in sondry wyse.

Finit Etas prima.Chaucers.

1. I. Blysful; paysyble. 2. I. poeples; Hh. peplis. 3. I. paied of the; Hh. paied with the (but omit the). I. fructes; Hh. frutes. 4. I. Whiche. 5. I. weere; Hh. were. I. Hh. owtrage. 6. I. Onknowyn. I. quyerne; Hh. qwerne. I. ek. 7. I. swych pownage. 9. I. grownd; wownded; plowh. 11. I. gnodded; Hh. knoddyd; read gniden; see note. I. I-nowh. 12. I. knewe; Hh. knew. 13. I, owt; flynt; fonde. 15. I. spices. 16. I. sawse; Hh. sause. I. galentyne; Hh. galantine. 17. I. madyr; Hh. madder. Hh. wellyd (wrongly), I. wod; Hh. woode. 18. I. knewh. I. fles; Hh. flese (for flees). I. is (for his); Hh. hys. 19. I. flessh; wyste. 20. I. knewh. Hh. was; I. is.

22. I. owt-. 23. I. inserts batails (Hh. batayllys) after No. 24. I. towres; rownde. 26. I. profyt; rychesse. 27. I. corsed; Hh. cursyd. 28. I. fyrst; Hh. first. I. dede; bysynesse. 29. I. lurkynge. Hh. derknesse; I. dirkenesse. 30. I. Ryuerys fyrst gemmys sowhte. 31. I. cursydnesse. 32. Hh. couetyse; I. coueytyse. I. fyrst owr; browhte. 33. I. Thyse tyrauntz. Both put. 34. I. inserts places (Hh. place of) after No. I. wynne. 36. I. vitayle; ek. 37. I nat (for noght); Hh. nowt. 39. I. synne. 40. I. Cyte. I. forto asayle; Hh. for to asayle. 41. Hh. were; I. was. 42. I. kanes. I. Hh. om. 2nd in; which I supply. 43. I. Sleptin; blyssed; with-owte. 44. Hh. On; I. Or. I. parfyt Ioye reste and quiete (!); Hh. parfite Ioy and quiete (!). 45. I. down. 46. I. kyd. I. surte; Hh. surt. 47. I. weere; on; -owte. 48. I. Euerych; oother.

49. I. hawberke. 50. I. lambyssh. I. poeple; Hh. pepyl. Hh. voyd; I. voyded. Hh. vice; I. vyse. 51. I. fantesye. 52. I. eche; oother. 53. I. pride. 54. I. tyranye. 55. Hh. Humblesse; I. Vmblesse. I. pes. 56. Not in the MSS.; I supply it. Koch suggests—Yit hadden in this worlde the maistrye. 57. I. Iuppiter; Hh. Iupiter. I. lykerous. 58. I. fyrst; fadyr; delicasie. 59. I. desyrous. 60. I. regne; towres. 61. Hh. men; which I. omits. 62. I. owre. 63. I. Hh. omit first And, which I supply. I. Hh. Dowblenesse. 64. I. Poyson and manslawtre; Hh. Poysonne manslawtyr. Finit, &c.; in Hh. only.

X. FORTUNE.

Balades de visage sanz peinture.

I. Le Pleintif countre Fortune.

This wrecched worldes transmutacioun,

As wele or wo, now povre and now honour,

With-outen ordre or wys discrecioun

Governed is by Fortunes errour;

But natheles, the lak of hir favour

Ne may nat don me singen, though I dye,

Iay tout perdu mon temps et mon labour:'

For fynally, Fortune, I thee defye!

Yit is me left the light of my resoun,

To knowen frend fro fo in thy mirour.

So muche hath yit thy whirling up and doun

Y-taught me for to knowen in an hour.

But trewely, no force of thy reddour

To him that over him-self hath the maystrye!

My suffisaunce shal be my socour:

For fynally, Fortune, I thee defye!

O Socrates, thou stedfast champioun,

She never mighte be thy tormentour;

Thou never dreddest hir oppressioun,

Ne in hir chere founde thou no savour.

Thou knewe wel deceit of hir colour,

And that hir moste worshipe is to lye.

I knowe hir eek a fals dissimulour:

For fynally, Fortune, I thee defye!

II. La respounse de Fortune au Pleintif.

No man is wrecched, but him-self hit wene,

And he that hath him-self hath suffisaunce.

Why seystow thanne I am to thee so kene,

That hast thy-self out of my governaunce?

Sey thus: 'Graunt mercy of thyn haboundaunce

That thou hast lent or this.' Why wolt thou stryve?

What wostow yit, how I thee wol avaunce?

And eek thou hast thy beste frend alyve!

I have thee taught divisioun bi-twene

Frend of effect, and frend of countenaunce;

Thee nedeth nat the galle of noon hyene,

That cureth eyen derke fro hir penaunce;

Now seestow cleer, that were in ignoraunce.

Yit halt thyn ancre, and yit thou mayst arryve

Ther bountee berth the keye of my substaunce:

And eek thou hast thy beste frend alyve.

How many have I refused to sustene,

Sin I thee fostred have in thy plesaunce!

Woltow than make a statut on thy quene

That I shal been ay at thyn ordinaunce?

Thou born art in my regne of variaunce,

Aboute the wheel with other most thou dryve.

My lore is bet than wikke is thy grevaunce,

And eek thou hast thy beste frend alyve.

III. La respounse du Pleintif countre Fortune.

Thy lore I dampne, hit is adversitee.

My frend maystow nat reven, blind goddesse!

That I thy frendes knowe, I thanke hit thee.

Tak hem agayn, lat hem go lye on presse!

The negardye in keping hir richesse

Prenostik is thou wolt hir tour assayle;

Wikke appetyt comth ay before seknesse:

In general, this reule may nat fayle.

La respounse de Fortune countre le Pleintif.

Thou pinchest at my mutabilitee,

For I thee lente a drope of my richesse,

And now me lyketh to with-drawe me.

Why sholdestow my realtee oppresse?

The see may ebbe and flowen more or lesse;

The welkne hath might to shyne, reyne, or hayle;

Right so mot I kythen my brotelnesse.

In general, this reule may nat fayle.

Lo, thexecucion of the magestee

That al purveyeth of his rightwisnesse,

That same thing 'Fortune' clepen ye,

Ye blinde bestes, ful of lewednesse!

The hevene hath propretee of sikernesse,

This world hath ever resteles travayle;

Thy laste day is ende of myn intresse:

In general, this reule may nat fayle.

Lenvoy de Fortune.

Princes, I prey you of your gentilesse,

Lat nat this man on me thus crye and pleyne,

And I shal quyte you your bisinesse

At my requeste, as three of you or tweyne;

And, but you list releve him of his peyne,

Preyeth his beste frend, of his noblesse,

That to som beter estat he may atteyne.

Explicit.

The spelling is conformed to that of the preceding poems; the alterations though numerous are slight; as y for i, au for aw, &c. The text mainly follows MS. I. (= Ii. 3. 21, Camb. Univ. Library). Other MSS. are A. (Ashmole 59); T. (Trin. Coll. Camb.); F. (Fairfax 16); B. (Bodley 638); H. (Harl. 2251).

2: F. pouerte; rest poure (poore, pore, poeere). 8, 16: I. fynaly; deffye. 11: I. mochel; the rest muche, moche. 13: I. fors; thi reddowr. 17: I. stidfast chaumpyoun. 18: I. myht; thi tormentowr. 20: I. fownde thow.

21. I. the deseyte; A. T. H. om. the. 22. I. most. 23. I. knew; rest knowe. I. ek. 24. I. fynaly; the deffye. 27. H. seystow; I. seysthow. I. (only) om. to. 30. So I.; rest Thou shall not stryue. 31. I. woost thow; B. wostow; A. T. wostowe. 36. I. derkyd; rest derke (derk). T. from hir; H. from ther; A. frome theire; F. B. fro; I. for. 37. H. seestow; A. T. seestowe; I. partly erased. 43. I. Wolthow; B. Woltow. 46. I. most thow; H. thow must; the rest maystow, maisthow, maistow.

49: I. dempne; F. B. H. dampne. 50: I. maysthow; B. maistou; H. maystow. 51: I. thanke to; F. thanke yt; B. thanke it; H. thank it nat: (Lansdowne and Pepys also have thank it). 60: I. apresse; rest oppresse. 61: I. A. or; rest and. 62: I. welkne; A. B. H. welkin; F. welkene; T. sky. 63: I. brutelnesse; T. brutilnesse; F. B. H. brotelnesse; A. brittelnesse. After l. 64, a new rubric is wrongly inserted, thus: I. Le pleintif; F. B. H. Le pleintif encontre Fortune; A. The Pleyntyff ageinst Fortune; T. Thaunswer of the Lover ayenst Fortune; see note. 65: A. F. þexecucion; B. thexecucyon; I. excussyoun. I. maieste; rest magestee (mageste). 71: I. intersse (sic); (Lansd. and Pepys intresse); T. F. B. interesse; A. H. encresse.

73. I. gentilesses; the rest gentilesse. 76. In I. only; the rest omit this line. 77. A. F. B. H. And; I. T. That. I. lest; rest list (liste). At end—B. Explicit.

XI. MERCILES BEAUTE: A TRIPLE ROUNDEL.

I. Captivity.

Your yën two wol slee me sodenly,

I may the beautè of hem not sustene,

So woundeth hit through-out my herte kene.

And but your word wol helen hastily

My hertes wounde, whyl that hit is grene,

Your yën two wol slee me sodenly,

I may the beautè of hem not sustene.

Upon my trouthe I sey yow feithfully,

That ye ben of my lyf and deeth the quene;

For with my deeth the trouthe shal be sene.

Your yën two wol slee me sodenly,

I may the beautè of hem not sustene,

So woundeth hit through-out my herte kene.

II. Rejection.

So hath your beautè fro your herte chaced

Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne;

For Daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.

Giltles my deeth thus han ye me purchaced;

I sey yow sooth, me nedeth not to feyne;

So hath your beautè fro your herte chaced

Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne.

Allas! that nature hath in yow compassed

So greet beautè, that no man may atteyne

To mercy, though he sterve for the peyne.

So hath your beautè fro your herte chaced

Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne;

For Daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.

III. Escape.

Sin I fro Love escaped am so fat,

I never thenk to ben in his prison lene;

Sin I am free, I counte him not a bene.

He may answere, and seye this or that;

I do no fors, I speke right as I mene.

Sin I fro Love escaped am so fat,

I never thenk to ben in his prison lene.

Love hath my name y-strike out of his sclat,

And he is strike out of my bokes clene

For ever-mo; [ther] is non other mene.

Sin I fro Love escaped am so fat,

I never thenk to ben in his prison lene;

Sin I am free, I counte him not a bene.

Explicit.

This excellent text is from P. (MS. Pepys 2006, p. 390). I note all variations from the MS.]

1. P. Yowre two yen; but read Your yen two; for in ll., 6, II, the MS. has Your yen, &c. P. wolle sle. 2. them; read hem. 3. wondeth it thorowout (out in the margin). 4. wille. 5. Mi hertis wound while; it. 6, 7. Your yen, &c. 8. trouth. 9. liffe; deth. 10. deth; trouth. 11-13. Your yen, &c. 14. yowre. 15. nauailleth; pleyn. 16. danger.

17. deth. 18. soth; fayn. 19, 20. So hath your, &c. 21. compased. 22. grete; atteyn. 23. peyn. 24-26. So hath your beaute, &c. 28. neuere. 29. fre. 30. answere & sey. 32, 33. Syn I fro loue, &c. 34. I strike. 36. this is (read ther is). 37-39. Syn I fro loue, &c.

XII. TO ROSEMOUNDE. A BALADE.

Madame, ye ben of al beautè shryne

As fer as cercled is the mappemounde;

For as the cristal glorious ye shyne,

And lyke ruby ben your chekes rounde.

Therwith ye ben so mery and so iocounde,

That at a revel whan that I see you daunce,

It is an oynement unto my wounde,

Thogh ye to me ne do no daliaunce.

For thogh I wepe of teres ful a tyne,

Yet may that wo myn herte nat confounde;

Your seemly voys that ye so smal out-twyne

Maketh my thoght in Ioye and blis habounde.

So curteisly I go, with lovë bounde,

That to my-self I sey, in my penaunce,

Suffyseth me to love you, Rosemounde,

Thogh ye to me ne do no daliaunce.

Nas never pyk walwed in galauntyne

As I in love am walwed and y-wounde;

For which ful ofte I of my-self divyne

That I am trewe Tristan the secounde.

My love may not refreyd be nor afounde;

I brenne ay in an amorous plesaunce.

Do what you list, I wil your thral be founde,

Thoghe ye to me ne do no daliaunce.

Tregentil.Chaucer.

From MS. Rawl. Poet. 163, leaf 114.

No title in the MS. Readings. 2. mapamonde. 3. cristall. 4. chekys. 5. ioconde. 6. Reuell; se; dance. 8. Thoght (see 16); daliance. 11. semy (sic); read seemly; fynall, for final(misreading of fmal). 12. Makyth; ioy; blys. 13. curtaysly. 18. I wounde. 19. deuyne. 20. trew. 21. refreyde (with be above the line, just before it); affounde. 22. amorouse. 23. lyst; wyl. 24. daliance.

XIII. TRUTH.

Balade de bon conseyl.

Flee fro the prees, and dwelle with sothfastnesse,

Suffyce unto thy good, though hit be smal;

For hord hath hate, and climbing tikelnesse,

Prees hath envye, and wele blent overal;

Savour no more than thee bihove shal;

Werk wel thy-self, that other folk canst rede;

And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede.

Tempest thee noght al croked to redresse,

In trust of hir that turneth as a bal:

Gret reste stant in litel besinesse;

And eek be war to sporne ageyn an al;

Stryve noght, as doth the crokke with the wal.

Daunte thy-self, that dauntest otheres dede;

And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede.

That thee is sent, receyve in buxumnesse,

The wrastling for this worlde axeth a fal.

Her nis non hoom, her nis but wildernesse:

Forth, pilgrim, forth! Forth, beste, out of thy stal!

Know thy contree, look up, thank God of al;

Hold the hye wey, and lat thy gost thee lede:

And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede.

Envoy.

Therfore, thou vache, leve thyn old wrecchednesse

Unto the worlde; leve now to be thral;

Crye him mercy, that of his hy goodnesse

Made thee of noght, and in especial

Draw unto him, and pray in general

For thee, and eek for other, hevenlich mede;

And trouthe shal delivere, hit is no drede.

Explicit Le bon counseill de G. Chaucer.

Title. Gg. has—Balade de bone conseyl; F. has—Balade.

The MSS. are At. (Addit. 10340, Brit. Museum); Gg. (Camb. Univ. Library, Gg. 4. 27); E. (Ellesmere MS.); Ct. (Cotton, Cleop. D. 7); T. (Trin. Coll. Camb. R. 3. 20); F. (Fairfax 16); and others. The text is founded on E.

2. E. Suffise. E. good; T. goode; At. Ct. thing; Gg. þyng. 4. At. blent; T. blenteþe; Gg. blyndyþ; E. blyndeth; Ct. blindeth; see note. 5. E. the. 7. T. inserts thee before shal. 8. Tempest] Harl. F. T. Peyne. 9. E. trist; the rest trust. 10. Gg. Gret reste; T. Gret rest; E. For gret reste; Ct. For greet rest; At. Mych wele. E. bisynesse; rest besynesse. 11. E. ek; agayn. 13. E. Ct. Daunt; the rest Daunte. 14. T. inserts thee before shal. 15. E. the; boxomnesse.

19. Know thy contree] Harl. F. T. Loke vp on hie. E. lok; the rest loke, looke. 20. For Hold the hye wey, Harl. F. and others have Weyve thy lust. E. the (for thee). 21. T. inserts thee before shal. 22-28. This stanza is in At. only. 22. At. þine olde wrechedenesse. 23. At. world. 24. At. Crie hym; hys hie. 25. At. þe; nouȝt. 26. At. Drawe; hym. 27. At. þe; eke; heuenelyche. 28. At. schal delyuere. Colophon: so in F.

XIV. GENTILESSE.

Moral Balade of Chaucer.

The firste stok, fader of gentilesse—

What man that claymeth gentil for to be,

Must folowe his trace, and alle his wittes dresse

Vertu to sewe, and vyces for to flee.

For unto vertu longeth dignitee,

And noght the revers, saufly dar I deme,

Al were he mytre, croune, or diademe.

This firste stok was ful of rightwisnesse,

Trewe of his word, sobre, pitous, and free,

Clene of his goste, and loved besinesse,

Ageinst the vyce of slouthe, in honestee;

And, but his heir love vertu, as dide he,

He is noght gentil, thogh he riche seme,

Al were he mytre, croune, or diademe.

Vyce may wel be heir to old richesse;

But ther may no man, as men may wel see,

Bequethe his heir his vertuous noblesse;

That is appropred unto no degree,

But to the firste fader in magestee,

That maketh him his heir, that can him queme,

Al were he mytre, croune, or diademe.

1. Cx. first; Harl. ffirste; Ct. firste. T. gentilesse; rest gentilnesse. 3. Cx. om. alle. 4. A. T. suwe; Harl. shew (for sewe); Cx. folowe (!). 5. Cx. vertue; dignyte. 6. Cx. not; rest nouȝt, nought, noȝte. 7. Cx. mytor; A. T. Harl. Add. mytre. Cx. crowne; dyademe. 8. Cx. rightwisnes. 9. A. Ct. Ha. pitous; Cx. pyetous. 10. Cx. besynes. 11. A. Ageinst; T. Ageynst; Cx. Agayn. Cx. om. the. Cx. honeste. 12. Cx. eyer; rest heire, heyre, eyre. 13. Cx. not; Ct. Ha. nought. Cx. though; Add. thogh. 14. Cx. mytor; crowne. 15. Cx. omits heir. Cx. holde; rest olde; but read old. 16. Cx. al; rest as. 17. Cx. eyer.

18. Cx. degre. 19. Cx. first; mageste. 20. Ct. That maketh his heires hem that hym queme (omitting can); A. That maþe his heyre him that wol him qweme; T. That makeþe heos heyres hem þat wol him qweeme; Add. That maketh his eires hem that can him queme; Cx. That makes hem eyres that can hem queme; with other variations. I follow Cx., supplying his, and putting him and heir in the singular; cf. he in l. 21. 21. Cx. crowne mytor.

XV. LAK OF STEDFASTNESSE.

Balade.

Som tyme this world was so stedfast and stable

That mannes word was obligacioun,

And now hit is so fals and deceivable,

That word and deed, as in conclusioun,

Ben no-thing lyk, for turned up so doun

Is al this world for mede and wilfulnesse,

That al is lost for lak of stedfastnesse.

What maketh this world to be so variable

But lust that folk have in dissensioun?

Among us now a man is holde unable,

But-if he can, by som collusioun,

Don his neighbour wrong or oppressioun.

What causeth this, but wilful wrecchednesse,

That al is lost, for lak of stedfastnesse?

Trouthe is put doun, resoun is holden fable;

Vertu hath now no dominacioun,

Pitee exyled, no man is merciable.

Through covetyse is blent discrecioun;

The world hath mad a permutacioun

Fro right to wrong, fro trouthe to fikelnesse,

That al is lost, for lak of stedfastnesse.

Lenvoy to King Richard.

O prince, desyre to be honourable,

Cherish thy folk and hate extorcioun!

Suffre no thing, that may be reprevable

To thyn estat, don in thy regioun.

Shew forth thy swerd of castigacioun,

Dred God, do law, love trouthe and worthinesse,

And wed thy folk agein to stedfastnesse.

Explicit.

The MSS are: Harl. (Harl. 7333); T. (Trin. Coll. R. 3. 20); Ct. (Cotton, Cleop. D. 7); F. (Fairfax 16); Add. (Addit. 22139); Bann. (Bannatyne); and others. Th. = Thynne (1532). I follow Ct. chiefly. The title Balade is in F.

1. Ct. Sumtyme. Ct. F. the; Harl. T. Add. this. Ct. worlde. 2. Ct. worde. 3. Ct. nowe it; false; deseiuable. 4. Ct. worde; dede. 5. Harl. T. Beon; Add. Ar; Ct. Is; F. Ys. Ct. lyke. 6. Ct. all; worlde. 8. Ct. worlde; veriable. 9. Ct. folke; discension. 10. The MSS. have For among vs now, or For nowe a dayes; but Bann. omits For, which is not wanted. 11. Bann. Harl. T. Th. collusion; Ct. F. Add. conclusioun (but see l. 4). 12. Ct. Do; neyghburgh. 15. Ct. putte. 17. Ct. Pite. 18. Ct. Thorugh. 19. Ct. worlde. T. F. Add. Th. a; Bann. ane; Ct. om.

20. Ct. trought; F. trouthe. Title. T. Lenvoye to Kyng Richard; F. Harl. Th. Lenvoy. 22. Ct. honurable. 23. Ct. Cherice thi. 25. Ct. thine estaat doen; thi. 26. Ct. Shewe; swerde. 27. Ct. Drede; truthe. 28. Ct. thi; ayen. Ct. Th. add Explicit.

XVI. LENVOY DE CHAUCER A SCOGAN.

To-broken been the statuts hye in hevene

That creat were eternally to dure,

Sith that I see the brighte goddes sevene

Mow wepe and wayle, and passioun endure,

As may in erthe a mortal creature.

Allas, fro whennes may this thing procede?

Of whiche errour I deye almost for drede.

By worde eterne whylom was hit shape

That fro the fifte cercle, in no manere,

Ne mighte a drope of teres doun escape.

But now so wepeth Venus in hir spere,

That with hir teres she wol drenche us here.

Allas, Scogan! this is for thyn offence!

Thou causest this deluge of pestilence.

Hast thou not seyd, in blaspheme of this goddes,

Through pryde, or through thy grete rakelnesse,

Swich thing as in the lawe of love forbode is?

That, for thy lady saw nat thy distresse,

Therfor thou yave hir up at Michelmesse!

Allas, Scogan! of olde folk ne yonge

Was never erst Scogan blamed for his tonge!

Thou drowe in scorn Cupyde eek to record

Of thilke rebel word that thou hast spoken,

For which he wol no lenger be thy lord.

And, Scogan, thogh his bowe be nat broken,

He wol nat with his arwes been y-wroken

On thee, ne me, ne noon of our figure;

We shul of him have neyther hurt ne cure.

Now certes, frend, I drede of thyn unhappe,

Lest for thy gilt the wreche of Love procede

On alle hem that ben hore and rounde of shape,

That ben so lykly folk in love to spede.

Than shul we for our labour han no mede;

But wel I wot, thou wilt answere and seye:

'Lo! olde Grisel list to ryme and pleye!'

Nay, Scogan, sey not so, for I mexcuse,

God help me so! in no rym, doutelees,

Ne thinke I never of slepe wak my muse,

That rusteth in my shethe stille in pees.

Whyl I was yong, I putte hir forth in prees,

But al shal passe that men prose or ryme;

Take every man his turn, as for his tyme.

Envoy.

Scogan, that knelest at the stremes heed

Of grace, of alle honour and worthinesse,

In thende of which streme I am dul as deed,

Forgete in solitarie wildernesse;

Yet, Scogan, thenke on Tullius kindenesse,

Minne thy frend, ther it may fructifye!

Far-wel, and lok thou never est Love defye!

Title: so in F. and P.; Gg. has—Litera directa de Scogon per G. C. The MSS. are: Gg. (Camb. Univ. Library, Gg. 4. 27); F. (Fairfax 16); P. (Pepys 2006). Th. = Thynne (1532). I follow F. mainly.

1. F. statutez. 2. F. weren eternaly. 3. F. bryght goddis. 4. F. Mowe. 5. F. Mortale. 6. F. thys thinge. 8. F. whilome. F. yshape; Gg. it schape; P. Th. it shape. 9. F. fyfte sercle; maner. 10. F. myght; teeres; eschape. 11. F. wepith. 12. F. teeres. 14. F. cawsest; diluge. 15. Gg. Hast þu; F. Hauesthow. F. this goddis; Gg. the goddis; P. Th. the goddes. 16. F. Thurgh; thrugh. F. they (wrongly); Gg. þyn; P. thi. F. rekelnesse; P. Th. reklesnesse; Gg. rechelesnesse; see note. 17. F. P. forbede; Gg. forbodyn; Th. forbode. 18. Gg. saw; F. sawgh. 19. F. Therfore thow. Gg. Mychel-; F. Mighel-. 20. F. folke.

22. F. skorne; eke; recorde. 23. F. worde; thow. 24. F. lorde. 25. F. thow; P. Th. though. F. thy (for his, wrongly); Gg. P. his. 27. F. the. Th. our; Gg. oure; P. owre; F. youre. 28. F. hurte. Gg. P. Th. ne; F. nor. 29. F. dreed. 30. F. gilte. 31. Gg. P. hore; F. hoor. F. shappe; P. shape; Gg. schap. 32. F. folke. 33. P. shull; F. Gg. shal. Gg. P. han; F. haue. F. noo. 34. F. thow. F. wolt; Gg. wilt. 35. Gg. P. Lo olde; F. Loo tholde. F. lyste. 36. F. say; Gg. P. sey. F. soo. 37. P. help; Gg. F. helpe. F. soo. F. ryme dowteles. 38. F. Gg. to wake; P. Th. om. to. 40. F. While; yonge. Gg. putte; F. put. P. Th. her; F. hyt; Gg. it. 41. F. alle. 42. F. hys turne. 43. F. hede; Gg. hed. 45. F. dede; Gg. P. ded. 48. F. Mynne; there. 49. F. Fare; loke thow; dyffye.

N.B. All have—.i. a Windesore, and—.i. a Grenewich opposite ll. 43, 45.

XVII. LENVOY DE CHAUCER A BUKTON.

The counseil of Chaucer touching Mariage, which

was sent to Bukton.

My maister Bukton, whan of Criste our kinge

Was axed, what is trouthe or sothfastnesse,

He nat a word answerde to that axinge,

As who saith: 'no man is al trewe,' I gesse.

And therfor, thogh I highte to expresse

The sorwe and wo that is in mariage,

I dar not wryte of hit no wikkednesse,

Lest I my-self falle eft in swich dotage.

I wol nat seyn, how that hit is the cheyne

Of Sathanas, on which he gnaweth ever,

But I dar seyn, were he out of his peyne,

As by his wille, he wolde be bounde never.

But thilke doted fool that est hath lever

Y-cheyned be than out of prisoun crepe,

God lete him never fro his wo dissever,

Ne no man him bewayle, though he wepe.

But yit, lest thou do worse, tak a wyf;

Bet is to wedde, than brenne in worse wyse.

But thou shalt have sorwe on thy flesh, thy lyf,

And been thy wyves thral, as seyn these wyse,

And if that holy writ may nat suffyse,

Experience shal thee teche, so may happe,

That thee were lever to be take in Fryse

Than eft to falle of wedding in the trappe.

Envoy.

This litel writ, proverbes, or figure

I sende you, tak kepe of hit, I rede:

Unwys is he that can no wele endure.

If thou be siker, put thee nat in drede.

The Wyf of Bathe I pray you that ye rede

Of this matere that we have on honde.

God graunte you your lyf frely to lede

In fredom; for ful hard is to be bonde.

Explicit.

Title: so in MS. Fairfax 16. Second Title from Ju.

The authorities are: F. (Fairfax 16); Th. (Thynne's edition, 1532); and a printed copy by Julian Notary (Ju.). I follow F. mainly.

2. F. ys; sothefastnesse. 3. F. worde. 4. F. noo. Ju. Th. trewe; F. trew. 5. F. therfore though; hight (Ju. hyghte). 6. F. woo. 7. F. writen; hyt noo. 8. Ju. Lest; F. Leste. 9. F. hyt. 10. F. euere. 11. F. oute. 12. F. neuere. 13. F. foole. Th. efte; F. ofte; Ju. oft. F. leuere. 15. F. woo disseuere. 16. F. noo. 17. F. yet; thow doo; take; wyfe. 19. F. thow; flessh; lyfe. 20. F. ben. F. wifes; Ju. Th. wynes.

21. F. yf; hooly writte. 22. F. the. 23. F. the. 24. F. Ju. om. to; which Th. inserts. 25. F. writte; Th. writ; Ju. wryt. 26. F. yow take; hyt. 27. F. Vnwise; kan noo. 28. F. thow; the. 29. F. wyfe; yow. 31. F. yow; lyfe. 32. F. fredam. F. harde it is; Ju. hard is; Th. foule is (omitting ful). All add Explicit.

XVIII. THE COMPLEYNT OF VENUS.

I. (The Lover's worthiness.)

Ther nis so hy comfort to my plesaunce,

Whan that I am in any hevinesse,

As for to have leyser of remembraunce

Upon the manhod and the worthinesse,

Upon the trouthe, and on the stedfastnesse

Of him whos I am al, whyl I may dure;

Ther oghte blame me no creature,

For every wight preiseth his gentilesse.

In him is bountee, wisdom, governaunce

Wel more then any mannes wit can gesse;

For grace hath wold so ferforth him avaunce

That of knighthode he is parfit richesse.

Il n'est confort que tant de biens me face,

Quant je ne puis a ma dame parler,

Comme d'avoir temps, loisir et espace

De longuement en sa valour penser,

Et [de] ses doulz fais femenins recorder

Dedens mon cuer. C'est ma vie, par m'ame,

Ne je ne truis nul homme qui me blasme,

Car chascun a joye de li loer.

Il a en li bonté, beauté et grace,

Plus que nulz homs ne saroit deviser.

C'est grant ëur quant en si pou de place

Dieux a voulu tous les biens assembler.

Honour honoureth him for his noblesse;

Therto so wel hath formed him Nature,

That I am his for ever, I him assure,

For every wight preiseth his gentilesse.

And not-withstanding al his suffisaunce,

His gentil herte is of so greet humblesse

To me in worde, in werke, in contenaunce,

And me to serve is al his besinesse,

That I am set in verrey sikernesse.

Thus oghte I blesse wel myn aventure,

Sith that him list me serven and honoure;

For every wight preiseth his gentilesse.

II. (Disquietude caused by Jealousy.)

Now certes, Love, hit is right covenable

That men ful dere bye thy noble thing,

As wake a-bedde, and fasten at the table,

Weping to laughe, and singe in compleyning,

Honneur la vuelt sur toutes honnorer.

Oncques ne vi si [douce et] plaisant dame

De toutes gens avoir si noble femme;

Car chascun a joye de li loer.

Ou qu'elle soit, bien fait et mal efface.

Moult bien li siet le rire et le jouer.

Son cuer esbat et les autres soulace

Si liement qu'on ne l'en doit blasmer.

De li veoir ne se puet nulz lasser.

Son regart vault tous les biens d'un royaume.

Il semble bien qu'elle est tres noble femme,

Car chascun a joye de li loer.

II.

Certes, Amours, c'est chose convenable

Que voz grans biens [vous] faciez comparer:

Veillier ou lit et jeuner a la table,

Rire plourant et en plaignant chanter,

And doun to caste visage and loking,

Often to chaungen hewe and contenaunce,

Pleyne in sleping, and dremen at the daunce,

Al the revers of any glad feling.

Ialousye be hanged by a cable!

She wolde al knowe through hir espying;

Ther doth no wight no-thing so resonable,

That al nis harm in hir imagening.

Thus dere abought is love in yeving,

Which ofte he yiveth with-outen ordinaunce,

As sorow ynogh, and litel of plesaunce,

Al the revers of any glad feling.

A litel tyme his yift is agreable,

But ful encomberous is the using;

For sotel Ialousye, the deceyvable,

Ful often-tyme causeth destourbing.

Baissier les yeux quant on doit regarder,

Souvent changier couleur et contenance,

Plaindre en dormant et songier a la dance

Tout a rebours de ce qu'on vuelt trouver.

Jalousie, c'est l'amer du deable;

Elle vuelt tout veoir et escouter,

Ne nulz ne fait chose si raisonnable

Que tout a mal ne le vueille tourner.

Amours, ainsi fault voz dons acheter,

Et vous donnez souvent sanz ordonnance

Assez douleur et petit de plaisance,

Tout a rebours de ce qu'on vuelt trouver.

Pour un court temps le gieu est agreable;

Mais trop par est encombreux a user.

Et, ja soit il a dames honnorable,

A leurs amis est trop grief a porter.

Thus be we ever in drede and suffering,

In nouncerteyn we languisshe in penaunce,

And han ful often many an hard meschaunce,

Al the revers of any glad feling.

III. (Satisfaction in Constancy.)

But certes, Love, I sey nat in such wyse

That for tescape out of your lace I mente;

For I so longe have been in your servyse

That for to lete of wol I never assente;

No force thogh Ialousye me tormente;

Suffyceth me to see him whan I may,

And therfore certes, to myn ending-day

To love him best ne shal I never repente.

And certes, Love, whan I me wel avyse

On any estat that man may represente,

Than have ye maked me, through your franchyse,

Chese the best that ever on erthe wente.

Toudiz convient souffrir et endurer,

Sans nul certain languir en esperance,

Et recevoir mainte male meschance,

Tout a rebours de ce qu'on vuelt trouver.

III.

Amours, sachiez que pas ne le vueil dire

Pour moy getter hors des amoureux las;

Car j'ay porté si long temps mon martire

Que mon vivant ne le guerpiray pas.

Il me souffist d'avoir tant de soulas

Que veoir puisse la [belle et] gracieuse;

Combien qu'el est [en]vers moy dangereuse,

De li servir ne serai jamaiz las.

Certes, Amours, quant bien droit [je] remire

Les haulx estas, les moyens et les bas,

Vous m'avez fait de tous les bons eslire,

A mon avis, le meilleur, en tous cas.

Now love wel, herte, and look thou never stente;

And let the Ielous putte hit in assay

That, for no peyne wol I nat sey nay;

To love him best ne shal I never repente.

Herte, to thee hit oghte y-nogh suffyse

That Love so hy a grace to thee sente,

To chese the worthiest in alle wyse

And most agreable unto myn entente.

Seche no ferther, neyther wey ne wente,

Sith I have suffisaunce unto my pay.

Thus wol I ende this compleynt or lay;

To love him best ne shal I never repente.

Lenvoy.

Princess, receyveth this compleynt in gree,

Unto your excellent benignitee

Direct after my litel suffisaunce.

For eld, that in my spirit dulleth me,

Hath of endyting al the soteltee

Wel ny bereft out of my remembraunce;

And eek to me hit is a greet penaunce,

Sith rym in English hath swich scarsitee,

To folowe word by word the curiositee

Of Graunson, flour of hem that make in Fraunce.

Or aime, cuer, ainsy que tu pourras;

Car ja n'aras paine si doulereuse,

Pour ma dame, que ne me soit joieuse;

De li servir ne seray jamaiz las.

Cuer, il te doit assez plus que souffire

D'avoir choisy ce[lle] que choisi as.

Ne quiers [or] plus royaume ne empire,

Car si bonne jamaiz ne trouveras,

Ne si belle par mes yeux ne verras:

C'est jeunesce sachant et savoureuse.

Ja soit elle de m'amour desdaigneuse,

De li servir ne seray jamaiz las.

Title: so in F. Ff. Ar.; see Notes. The MSS. are: T. (Trin. Coll. Cambridge, R. 3. 20); A. (Ashmole 59); Tn. (MS. Tanner 346); F. (Fairfax 16); Ff. (MS. Ff. I. 6. Camb. Univ. Library); Ar. (Arch. Seld. P. 24); P. (Pepys 2006); etc. Th.=Thynne (1532). I follow F. mainly.

1. F. high; T. A. hye (hy is better). 2. F. When; eny. 4. F. manhod; the rest have final e. 5. F. stidfastnesse. 6. F. whiles; A. whilest; rest while. 7. F. oght; Tn. oghte to. 9. F. ys bounte. F. T. A. Th. insert and after wisdom; but the rest omit it. 10. F. eny manes witte. 11. F. wolde (wrongly); Ff. wold. F. fersorthe. 12. F. parfite.

14. F. well. 16. F. preysith. 18. F. hert; grete. 19. F. werk. 21. F. sikirnesse. 22. F. oght. 25. F. certis. 26. T. A. Tn. Th. thy; F. Ff. the. 27. F. a-bed; T. A. a-bedde. 28. F. Wepinge; laugh; sing; compleynynge.

29. F. cast; the rest caste. F. lokynge. 30. F. chaunge visage (wrongly); change hewe in MS. Arch. Selden, B. 24; T. A. chaunge huwe. 31. MSS. Pley, Pleye; read Pleyne (F. Plaindre). F. dreme; T. Tn. Ff. Th. dremen. 32. F. reuerse; eny. 33. Ff. T. Ialousye; F. Ielosie. Ff. P. be; F. Th. he (!). Ialousye be] T. þaughe Ialousye wer. T. Tn. Th. by; F. be; Ff. with. 34. F. wold; thro; espyinge. 35. F. dothe. 36. F. nys harme; ymagenynge. 37. F. yevynge. 38. F. yifeth. Ff. withouten; rest withoute. 40. F. reuerse; felynge. 42. T. Ff. encomberous; F. encombrouse. F. vsynge. 43. Tn. sotell; F. subtil. F. Ielosie. 44. T. destourbing; F. derturbynge (sic).

45. F. suffrynge; P. sufferyng; T. souffering. 46. F. Ff. noun-certeyn; T. noun-certaine; A. nouncerteine. F. langvisshen. 47. F. harde. F. wrongly repeats penaunce; T. A. meschaunce. 48. F. reuerse; ony; felynge. 49. F. certys; not. 50. F. youre; ment. 51. F. be; the rest ben or been. 52. F. wil; T. A. Ff. wol. F. assent. 53. F. fors; turment. 55. F. certys. 56. F. om. ne, which T. A. P. insert; Ar. has that. Tn. inserts me before never. 57. F. certis; when. 58. F. eny estate; represent. 59. F. Tn. Then; rest Than, Thanne, Thane. T. Ff. P. maked; rest made. F. thro. 60. F. went.

61. F. hert; loke; stent. 62. P. Ielous; A. Ialous; T. Ialouse; F. Ielousie. A. putte; F. put. 63. F. peyn wille I not. 64. F. yow (for him); T. A. Tn. Ar. him (see l. 56). 65. F. Hert; the; ought ynogh. 66. F. highe; T. A. hye. T. A. Ff. Ar. thee; F. yow; Tn. you. F. sent. 67. F. al. 68. F. entent. 69. F. went. 70. F. Sithe. F. Tn. ye (for I); rest I. 71. All but Ju. (Julian Notary's edition) repeat this before lay. 72. See l. 56. 73. T. A. Pryncesse; rest Princes. F. resseyueth. 74. F. excelent benignite. 75. F. Directe aftir. 76. F. elde. 77. Tn. soteltee; F. subtilite. 78. F. nighe. 79. F. eke; grete. 80. F. ryme; englissh hat (sic) such skarsete. 81. F. worde by worde; curiosite. 82. F. floure; maken.

XIX. THE COMPLEINT OF CHAUCER TO HIS EMPTY PURSE.

To you, my purse, and to non other wight

Compleyne I, for ye be my lady dere!

I am so sory, now that ye be light;

For certes, but ye make me hevy chere,

Me were as leef be leyd up-on my bere;

For whiche un-to your mercy thus I crye:

Beth hevy ageyn, or elles mot I dye!

Now voucheth sauf this day, or hit be night,

That I of you the blisful soun may here,

Or see your colour lyk the sonne bright,

That of yelownesse hadde never pere.

Ye be my lyf, ye be myn hertes stere,

Quene of comfort and of good companye:

Beth hevy ageyn, or elles mot I dye!

Now purs, that be to me my lyves light,

And saveour, as doun in this worlde here,

Out of this toune help me through your might,

Sin that ye wole nat been my tresorere;

For I am shave as nye as any frere.

But yit I pray un-to your curtesye:

Beth hevy ageyn, or elles mot I dye!

Lenvoy de Chaucer.

O conquerour of Brutes Albioun!

Which that by lyne and free eleccioun

Ben verray king, this song to you I sende;

And ye, that mowen al our harm amende,

Have minde up-on my supplicacioun!

The MSS. are: F. (Fairfax 16); Harl (Harl. 7333); Ff. (Camb. Univ. Library, Ff. I.6): P. (Pepys 2006); Add. (Addit. 22139); also Cx. (Caxton's edition); Th. (Thynne, 1532). I follow F. mainly.

Title. So in Cx. (but with Un-to for to); F. om. empty; P. La compleint de Chaucer a sa Bourse Voide.

1. F. yow. 2. F. Complayn; Harl. P. Compleyne. 3. Harl. be; F. been. 4. Add. That; P. But; rest For. P. Add. but ye; F. Harl. but yf ye; Ff. but yif ye; Cx. Th. ye now. 5. Add. leyd; F. layde. 7. F. Beeth; ageyne; mote. 8. F. hyt; nyght. 9. F. yow; sovne. 10. F. lyke; bryght. 11. Read That of yél-ownés-se. 12. F. lyfe; hertys. 14. F. ageyne; moote. 15. P. Cx. purs; F. Add. purse. F. ben. 17. F. Oute; helpe; thurgh. 18. F. bene. 19. Harl. P. Th. any; Add. eny; Cx. ony; F. is a.

21. F. Bethe; ayen; moote. F. Lenvoy de Chaucer; Harl. P. Lenvoye; Cx. Thenuoye of Chaucer vnto the kynge. 23. F. Whiche. F. lygne; Harl. Cx. Ff. P. lyne. 24. F. Been; kynge; yow. 25. F. alle myn harme; Ff. alle oure harmes; Harl. all oure harmous; P. Cx. alle harmes.

XX. Proverbs.

Proverbe of Chaucer.

What shul thise clothes many-fold,

Lo! this hote somers day?—

After greet heet cometh cold;

No man caste his pilche away.

II.

Of al this world the wyde compas

Hit wol not in myn armes tweyne.—

Who-so mochel wol embrace

Litel therof he shal distreyne.

The MSS. are: F. (Fairfax 16); Ha. (Harl. 7578); Ad. (Addit. 16165). I follow F. mainly. Title; in F. Ha.; Ad. Prouerbe.

1. Ad. þees; F. Ha. these. All needlessly insert thus after clothes. F. many-folde. 2. F. Loo; hoote. 3. F. grete hete; Ha. greet hete; Ad. heet. F. colde. 4. Ha. pilche; F. pilch. 5. F. all; worlde. Ad. wyde; F. Ha. large. Ad. Ha. compas; F. compace. 6. Ad. Hit; F. Yt. Ad. wol; F. Ha. wil. Ad. myn; F. Ha. my. 7. F. Whoo-so.

APPENDIX.

[The following Poems are also probably genuine; but are placed here for lack of external evidence.]

XXI. AGAINST WOMEN UNCONSTANT.

Balade.

Madame, for your newe-fangelnesse,

Many a servaunt have ye put out of grace,

I take my leve of your unstedfastnesse,

For wel I wot, whyl ye have lyves space,

Ye can not love ful half yeer in a place;

To newe thing your lust is ever kene;

In stede of blew, thus may ye were al grene.

Right as a mirour nothing may enpresse,

But, lightly as it cometh, so mot it pace,

So fareth your love, your werkes bereth witnesse.

Ther is no feith that may your herte enbrace;

But, as a wedercok, that turneth his face

With every wind, ye fare, and that is sene;

In stede of blew, thus may ye were al grene.

Ye might be shryned, for your brotelnesse,

Bet than Dalyda, Creseide or Candace;

For ever in chaunging stant your sikernesse,

That tache may no wight fro your herte arace;

If ye lese oon, ye can wel tweyn purchace;

Al light for somer, ye woot wel what I mene,

In stede of blew, thus may ye were al grene.

Explicit.

Title. None in Ct.; Balade in F.; ed. 1561 has—A Balade which Chaucer made agaynst woman unconstaunt.

The text is from Ct. (Cotton, Cleopatra D. 7); that in ed. 1561 is much the same, except in spelling. Another copy in F. (Fairfax 16). A third in Ha. (Harl. 7578); of less value.

2. Ct. Manie; F. many. Ct. F. of youre; Ha. om. youre. 4. Ct. wote while. F. have lyves; Ct. to lyve haue. 5. Ct. kunnought; F. Ha. kan not. 6. F. thing; Ct. Ha. thinges. Ct. inserts so before kene; ed. (1561) omits so; F. has ay so. 7. Ct. sted; F. stede. Ct. Blue; F. blew. 8. Ct. Mirrour; ed. mirour. Ct. Ha. ed. ins. that bef. nothing; F. om. 11. Ct. F. hert; Ha. ed. herte. 12. Ha. om. a. Ha. wethirkoc. 14. Ct. om. al; F. Ha. ed. retain it.

15. Ct. om. your; F. Ha. ed. retain it. 16. Ct. Bettir; F. Ha. ed. Better; read Bet. F. Dalyda; Ct. Dalide. Ct. Cresside; F. Creseyde. 17. Ct. Changeng; F. chaungyng. All stondeth; read stant. 18. F. tache; Ct. tacche: ed. tatche. F. Ha. herte; Ct. ed. hert. 19. Ct. Ha. lese; F. ed. lose. Ct. kunne; F. kan; ed. can; Ha. kanne. Ct. ed. tweine; F. tweyn. 20. Ct. All; ed. Al. Ct. F. wote; Ha. woote; ed. wot; cf. Cant. Ta. A 740, 829. 21. Ct. om. al; F. ed. retain it. Ct. adds Explicit.

XXII. AN AMOROUS COMPLEINT.

(COMPLEINT DAMOURS.)

An amorous Compleint, made at Windsor.

I, which that am the sorwefulleste man

That in this world was ever yit livinge,

And leest recoverer of him-selven can,

Beginne thus my deadly compleininge

On hir, that may to lyf and deeth me bringe,

Which hath on me no mercy ne no rewthe

That love hir best, but sleeth me for my trewthe.

Can I noght doon ne seye that may yow lyke,

[For] certes, now, allas! allas! the whyle!

Your plesaunce is to laughen whan I syke,

And thus ye me from al my blisse exyle.

Ye han me cast in thilke spitous yle

Ther never man on lyve mighte asterte;

This have I for I lovë you, swete herte!

Sooth is, that wel I woot, by lyklinesse,

If that it were thing possible to do

Tacompte youre beutee and goodnesse,

I have no wonder thogh ye do me wo;

Sith I, thunworthiest that may ryde or go,

Durste ever thinken in so hy a place,

What wonder is, thogh ye do me no grace?

Allas! thus is my lyf brought to an ende,

My deeth, I see, is my conclusioun;

I may wel singe, 'in sory tyme I spende

My lyf;' that song may have confusioun!

For mercy, pitee, and deep affeccioun,

I sey for me, for al my deedly chere,

Alle thise diden, in that, me love yow dere.

And in this wyse and in dispayre I live

In lovë; nay, but in dispayre I dye!

But shal I thus [to] yow my deeth for-give,

That causeles doth me this sorow drye?

Ye, certes, I! For she of my folye

Hath nought to done, although she do me sterve;

Hit is nat with hir wil that I hir serve!

Than sith I am of my sorowe the cause

And sith that I have this, withoute hir reed,

Than may I seyn, right shortly in a clause,

It is no blame unto hir womanheed

Though swich a wrecche as I be for hir deed;

[And] yet alwey two thinges doon me dyë,

That is to seyn, hir beutee and myn yë.

So that, algates, she is the verray rote

Of my disese, and of my dethe also;

For with oon word she mighte be my bote,

If that she vouched sauf for to do so.

But [why] than is hir gladnesse at my wo?

It is hir wone plesaunce for to take,

To seen hir servaunts dyen for hir sake!

But certes, than is al my wonderinge,

Sithen she is the fayrest creature

As to my dome, that ever was livinge,

The benignest and beste eek that nature

Hath wrought or shal, whyl that the world may dure,

Why that she lefte pite so behinde?

It was, y-wis, a greet defaute in kinde.

Yit is al this no lak to hir, pardee,

But god or nature sore wolde I blame;

For, though she shewe no pite unto me,

Sithen that she doth othere men the same,

I ne oughte to despyse my ladies game;

It is hir pley to laughen whan men syketh,

And I assente, al that hir list and lyketh!

Yit wolde I, as I dar, with sorweful herte

Biseche un-to your meke womanhede

That I now dorste my sharpe sorwes smerte

Shewe by worde, that ye wolde ones rede

The pleynte of me, the which ful sore drede

That I have seid here, through myn unconninge,

In any worde to your displesinge.

Lothest of anything that ever was loth

Were me, as wisly god my soule save!

To seyn a thing through which ye might be wroth;

And, to that day that I be leyd in grave,

A trewer servaunt shulle ye never have;

And, though that I on yow have pleyned here,

Forgiveth it me, myn owne lady dere!

Ever have I been, and shal, how-so I wende,

Outher to live or dye, your humble trewe;

Ye been to me my ginning and myn ende,

Sonne of the sterre bright and clere of hewe,

Alwey in oon to love yow freshly newe,

By god and by my trouthe, is myn entente;

To live or dye, I wol it never repente!

This compleynt on seint Valentynes day,

Whan every foul [ther] chesen shal his make,

To hir, whos I am hool, and shal alwey,

This woful song and this compleynt I make,

That never yit wolde me to mercy take;

And yit wol I [for] evermore her serve

And love hir best, although she do me sterve.

Explicit.

In MS. Harl. 7333, fol. 133 b and 134. Title—And next folowyng begynnith an amerowse compleynte made at wyndesore in the laste May tofore Novembre (sic). Also in F. (Fairfax) and B. (Bodley 638); entitled Complaynt Damours. N. B. Unmarked readings are from Harl.

1. sorowfullest. 2. worlde; leving (F. lyvinge). 3. F. lest; Harl. B. leste. B. rekeuerer. 4. Begynne right thus; so F. B.; I omit right. 5. lyff; dethe. 6. Whiche hathe; rought (for rewthe). 7. beste; sleethe. 8. F. Kan I noght doon to seyn; B. Kan I nought don to seyn; Harl. Cane I nought ne saye. 9. All Ne; read For. 10. Youre. 11. frome. 12. Yee. F. B. han; Harl. haue. caste. F. B. thilke; Harl. that. All spitouse. 13. Harl. ne (after lyve); F. B. om. 14. beste (after you); F. B. om.

15. Soothe; weele. 16. F. B. that; Harl. om. F. B. a thing; Harl. om. a. thinge; doo. 17. F. B. Tacompte youre; Harl. For to acounte your. 18. noo wondre; yee; woo. 19. Sithe; goo. 20. F. neuer; B. euyr; Harl. euer. hie. 21. wondir; doo; noo. 22. Ellas; Eonde. F. myshefe; B. myschef (for my lyf). 23. dethe; conclucioun. 24. wele. F. sing; B. singe; Harl. say. Harl. sorye. 25. B. ys my (for may have). Confucioun. 26. B. my saluacioun (for deep affeccioun). 27, 28. B. I sey for me I haue noun [neuer?] felte Alle thes diden me in despeire to melte. 27. fo (? for for). 28. Alle this; yowe deere. 29. Harl. om. 2nd in. 30. F. B. nay; Harl. nay nay. 31. I supply to; yowe; dethe for-geve. 32. dothe. 33. certe (!); sheo. 34. Hathe; Al-thoughe sheo. 35. nought (for nat). 36. Thane sithe. 37. sitthe; rede. 38. seyne. 39. noo; womanhede. 40. Thaugh suche; dede.

41. Yette; I supply And; twoo; doone. 42. seyne; beaute; eye. 43. Harl. om. that. F. B. om. the. verraye Roote. 44. diseese; alsoo. 45. worde sheo myght; boote. 46. sheo wovched saufe; soo. 47. I supply why; woo. 48. wonne; all ins. to after wonne. 49. seon; sarvauntes; B. seruaunte. 50. thanne; alle; wondering. 51. sheo. 53. eke. 54. Hathe; shalle; Harl. om. that; worlde. 55. Whi; sheo lefe pitte; byhinde. Harl. so; F. alle; B. all. 56. ewisse; grete. 57. Yitte; noo. F. B. om. al. 58. Harl. ins. hem before soore (sic); F. B. hem (but om. sore). 59. thowe (for though); sheo; pette. 60. sheo doothe. 61. ought. 62. Harl. om. hir; pleye; lawhe when that men sikith. 63. liste; likethe. 64. B. Yit; F. Yet; Harl. Yeo (sic); see 57. dare; sorowfull. 65. F. B. meke; Harl. mekly. 66. F. sorwes; B. sorwys; Harl. shoures. 67. Harl. and; F. B. that, yee; onys.

68. compleynte (for pleynte); which I Fulle. 69. saide; thorowe. B. vnkonnynge; F. vnkunnynge; Harl. vnknowynge. F. B. om. here and myn. 70. yowre. 71. Loothest; loothe. 72. als; sowle safe. 73. seyne; thorughe; yee; wrothe. 74. leyde. 75. sarvaunt ne shulde yee. F. shul; B. shall; Harl. shulde. 76. thaughe. F. B. on yow haue pleyned; Harl. haue playned vnto yow. 77. For-gyvethe yt me, myne oune lady so dere. 78. howe. 79. youre. 80. Yee ben; gynnynge. 81. Harl. of; F. ouer; B. ovyr. F. B. om. and clere. Sterre so bright; huwe. 82. Harl. And I ay oon; F. B. Alwey in oon. fresshely. 84. wolle. 85. Conpleynte; valantines. 86. foughel cheesen shall; I supply ther from Parl. Foules, 310. 87. was (F. B. whos); hole; shall. 88. wofulle songe; conplaynte. 90. wolle; I supply for. 91. alle-thowhe sheo. F. B. Explicit; Harl. om.

XXIII. A BALADE OF COMPLEYNT.

Compleyne ne coude, ne might myn herte never

My peynes halve, ne what torment I have,

Though that I sholde in your presence ben ever,

My hertes lady, as wisly he me save

That bountee made, and beutee list to grave

In your persone, and bad hem bothe in-fere

Ever tawayte, and ay be wher ye were.

As wisly he gye alle my Ioyes here

As I am youres, and to yow sad and trewe,

And ye, my lyf and cause of my good chere,

And deeth also, whan ye my peynes newe,

My worldes Ioye, whom I wol serve and sewe,

My heven hool, and al my suffisaunce,

Whom for to serve is set al my plesaunce.

Beseching yow in my most humble wyse

Taccepte in worth this litel povre dyte,

And for my trouthe my service nat despyse,

Myn observaunce eek have nat in despyte,

Ne yit to long to suffren in this plyte,

I yow beseche, myn hertes lady dere,

Sith I yow serve, and so wil yeer by yere.

In MS. Addit. 16165, fol. 256, back; headed Balade of compleynte.

1. koude; hert. 2. turment. 3. Thaughe; shoulde; youre. 4. wissely. 5. beaute liste. 6. youre; bade; in-feere. 7. beo. 8. wissely. 9. yowe sadde; truwe. 10. lyff; gode. 11. dethe; whane; reewe, altered by the scribe to newe. 12. whome; suwe. 13. hole; souffisaunce. 14. sette. 15. yowe; moste. 16. Taccept; worthe; pore. 17. not despice. 18. eke; not. 19. longe; suffre. 20. here (error for dere; see XXII. 77). 21. yowe; yere by yere.

NOTES

THE ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE.

The French text, a portion of which is given in the lower part of pp. 93-164, is reprinted from Le Roman de la Rose, ed. Méon, Paris, 1814.

1. Scan:—Many | men seyn | that in | swev'níng-es ||. So, in the next line, read:—lesíng-es. In l. 3, read:—swev'nes. In l. 4, read 'hard-e-ly' as three syllables, and 'fals-e' as two; and, in general, throughout ll. 1-1705, apply the usual rules of Chaucerian pronunciation.

sweveninges, dreamings; see l. 3; cf. A.S. swefen, a dream, pl. swefnu; swefnian, v., to dream. The translation should be compared with the original F. text, as given below it.

On the subject of dreams, cf. Hous of Fame, ll. 1-52, and the notes to ll. 1, 7.

5. apparaunte, apparent, as coming true.

6. 'To warrant this, I may cite an author named Macrobius.' Macrobius, the commentator on Cicero's Somnium Scipionis (as here said); see notes to Parl. of Foules, 31; Book Duch. 284.

8-10. halt, holds, considers; lees, deceptive. 'But explains to us the vision that king Scipio formerly dreamt.'

22. taketh his corage, assumes fresh confidence from the support of the young, is encouraged by the young, receives their tribute. The O.F. paage is the mod. F. péage, toll, lit. 'footing.'

24. Cf. 'Right ther as I was wont to done'; Ho. Fame, 113.

27. Read—'That hit me lyked wonder wel.' wonder wel, wonderfully well. This use of wonder is common; see Cant. Ta., G 751, 1035. At a later time, wonder, when thus used adverbially, received the adverbial suffix -s; hence Th. has 'wonders wel' here. So also 'wonders dere' in the Test. of Love; see Wondrous in my Etym. Dict.

38. hote, be called; a less ambiguous spelling than hatte, as in Thynne; cf. Cant. Ta. D 144. rede you here, advise you to hear.

44. she. These and similar allusions are merely translated, and have therefore no special significance.

49. 'Me thoghte thus; that hit was May'; Book Duch. 291.

56. wreen, cover; A. S. wrēon. Cf. wrye, I cover, Cant. Ta. D 1827.

59. Read:—And th'erth-e. Cf. Book Duch. 410-5; Good Wom. 125.

61. Forget, i. e. forgetteth; pres. tense. So in Ayenb. of Inwyt, p. 18, l. 9, we find the form uoryet. I supply al.

67. inde, azure; see Cursor Mundi, 9920. pers; see Prol. 439.

73. grille, keen, rough. 'Grym, gryl, and horryble'; Prompt. Parv.

81. chelaundre, (cf. l. 663), a kind of lark; O. F. calandre, caladre, Lat. caradrius, Gk. χαραδριός. Cf. Land of Cockaigne, l. 97. papingay, parrot; Sir Topas, B 1957.

98. aguiler, needle-case. It occurs nowhere else. The rime drow, y-now occurs in Leg. Good Women, 1458.

118. Seine, the river of Paris. In the next line, wel away straighter means 'a good deal broader' or more expanded (F. text, plus espandue), though less in volume. Wel away, in this sense, occurs in P. Plowman, B. xii. 263, xvii. 42.

129. Beet, beat, struck, i. e. bordered closely; a translation of F. batoit.

131. So also 'And ful atempre'; Book Duch. 341.

147. The descriptions of allegorical personages in this poem are clearly imitated from similar descriptions in Latin poets. Compare the celebrated description of Envy in Ovid, Metam. ii. 775, and the like. MS. G. absurdly reads a hate for Hate.

149. The reading must, of course, be moveresse, as in the Fr. text; Speght corrected it in 1598; it means a mover or stirrer up of strife.

196. Read miscounting (Kaluza); F. text, mesconter.

197. maketh; pronounced mak'th. Note, once for all, that 'th for final -eth is extremely common throughout all parts of this poem.

206. thing, pl. goods (A. S. þing, pl.). Cf. l. 387.

207. Avarice, i. e. Penuriousness, as distinct from Coveitise, i. e. Covetousness of the wealth of others. Compare the description of Avarice in Piers Plowman, B. v. 188.

220. courtepy, short coat, cape; see Prol. 290.

225. perche, a horizontal pole, on which clothes were sometimes hung.

226. burnet, a cloth of dyed wool, orig. of a dark brown colour. Gowns were nearly always trimmed with fur, but in this case only a common lambskin fur was used, instead of a costly fur such as miniver.

240. I supply doun, down. Cf. 'heng ... doun'; Cant. Ta. G 574.

247. Envy. Cf. Ovid, Met. ii. 775; P. Plowman, B. v. 76.

273. maltalent, ill-will; see 330. Cf. talent, Cant. Ta. C 540.

276. Read melt'th. for pure wood, as if entirely mad. The simple phrase for wood, as if mad, occurs in Ho. Fame, 1747; Leg. of Good Women, 2420 (unless For-wood is there a compound adjective).

292. baggingly, askant, sideways; cf. baggeth, looks askant, Book Duch. 623.

311. fade, withered. 'Thi faire hewe is al fade'; Will. of Palerne, 891. Compare the description of Sorrow in Sackville's 'Induction'; see my Specimens of Eng. Literature, iii. 286.

360. dwyned, dwindled, wasted; cf. for-dwyned, 366.

361. forwelked, much wrinkled; cf. welked, Cant. Ta. C 738.

368. potente, a crutch, staff; cf. Cant. Ta. D 1776.

369, 381. With these lines cf. Cant. Tales, B 20-24.

380. F. trois tens, three moments. It is here asserted that no one can think of the present moment; for while he tries to do so, three moments have fled.

387. fret, for freteth, devours. 'Tempus edax rerum'; Ovid, Met. xv. 234. and shal, and will ever do so. thing is pl., as in 206.

396. Bell and Morris here print elde with a capital letter, shewing that they did not make out the sense. But it is here a verb, as in 391, 392. The sense is:—'Time ... had made her grow so extremely old that, as far as I knew, she could in no wise help herself.'

401. inwith, for within, is common in Chaucer; the occurrence of pith, just before, probably caused the scribe to omit with.

413. doon ther write, caused to be written (or described) there.

415. Pope-holy; properly an adjective, meaning 'holy as a pope,' hence, hypocritical. Here used as a sb., as equivalent to 'hypocrite,' to translate F. Papelardie. Used as an adj. in P. Plowman, C. vii. 37; see my note, which gives references to Dyce's Skelton, i. 209, 216, 240, 386; Barclay, Ship of Fools, ed. Jamieson, i. 154; and Polit. Poems, ed. Wright, ii. 251.

429. 'Devoted to a religious life,' viz. by having joined one of the religious orders. See note to P. Plowman, C. xi. 88.

438. haire, hair-shirt; the F. text has la haire, borrowed from O. H. G. hārrā, with the same sense. The A. S. word is hǣre, a derivative from hǣr, hair. See Haar in Kluge. See Cant. Ta., G 133; P. Plowman, C. vii. 6, and the note.

442. The reading ay possibly stands for aȝ, i. e. agh or ogh. Ogh (A. S. āh) is the (obsolete) pres. t. of ought, which takes its place in mod. E. Cf. ye owen, in Melibeus, B 2691. See ah in Stratmann. 'From her the gate of Paradise ought to be kept.' But it is simpler to read shal (F. text, ert = Lat. erit).

445. Alluding to Matt. vi. 16. For grace, read face (l. 444).

454. Cf. 'like a worm'; Clerkes Ta. E 880.

464. halke, corner; Can. Yem. Ta. G 311.

482. shepherd-e, is trisyllabic; cf. herd-e, in Prol. 603.

490. daungerous, stingy; contrasted with riche (l. 492).

501. It is impossible to make sense without reading nolde for wolde. The Fr. text clearly shews that nolde is meant:—'Que n'en preisse pas ... Que ge n'entrasse.' The scribe stumbled over the double negative.

505. G. has:—'Thassemble, god kepe it fro care Of briddis, whiche therynne ware'; and Th. has the same reading. It cannot be right, because care and were give a false rime. Even the scribe has seen this, and has altered were to ware, to give a rime to the eye. Perhaps such a rime may have passed in Northern English, but certainly not in Midland. I have no hesitation in restoring the reading, which must have been 'God it kepe and were,' or something very near it. It is obvious that were is the original word in this passage, because it is the precise etymological equivalent of garisse in the French text; and it is further obvious that the reason for expelling it from the text, was to avoid the apparent repetition of were in the rime; a repetition which the scribe too hastily assumed to be a defect, though examples of it are familiar to the student of Chaucer; cf. Prol. 17, 18. Chaucer has were, to defend, riming with spere, Cant. Ta. A 2550; and were (were) also riming with spere, Ho. Fame, 1047. He would therefore have had no hesitation in riming these words together; and we cannot doubt that he here did so. Cf. ll. 515, 516 below.

516. where would mean 'by which'; read o-where, i. e. anywhere.

520. The spelling angwishis is a false spelling of anguissous, i. e. full of anguish. For this form, see Pers. Tale, I 304.

535. Read oft; F. text, 'par maintes fois.'

562. orfrays, gold embroidered work, cloth-of-gold; cf. ll. 869, 1076. 'The golden bands fastened to, or embroidered on chasubles, copes, and vestments ... Fringes or laces appended to the garments, as well as the embroidered work upon them, were so termed'; Fairholt, Costume in England. See Way's note on Orfrey in the Prompt. Parvulorum. Cotgrave has: 'Orfrais, m. Broad welts, or gards of gold or silver imbroidery laid on Copes, and other Church-vestments'; &c. There is a long note upon it, with quotations, in Thynne's Animadversions on Speght's Chaucer, ed. Furnivall, pp. 33-35; he says it is 'frised or perled cloothe of gold,' or 'a weued clothe of gold.' Here it seems to mean a gold-embroidered band, worn as a chaplet.

568. tressour; so spelt in Gawain and the Grene Knight, 1739, where a lady is described as having precious stones, in clusters of twenty, 'trased aboute hir tressour.' Roquefort also gives the O. F. forms tressour, tressoir, tresson, 'ornement de tête pour les femmes, ruban pour attacher les cheveux.' It differs from the heraldic term tressure (Lat. tricatura) in the form of the suffix. Tressour can rime with mirrour, whilst tressure (strictly) cannot do so. Her hair was entwined with gilt ribbons or threads.

574. Gaunt, Ghent; see Cant. Ta. A 448.

579, 580. Iournee, day's work. wel bigoon, might mean richly adorned; cf. 'With perle and gold so wel begoon'; Gower, C. A. ii. 45. But it is here equivalent to mery; see l. 693.

584. graythe hir, dress or adorn herself. uncouthly, strikingly, in an unusual way.

593. This is 'the porter Ydlenesse' of the Knightes Tale; A 1940.

602. Alexandryn, of Alexandria; for of may well be omitted. It means that many trees have been imported from the east by way of Alexandria. Many MSS. of the Fr. text read 'de la terre Alexandrins.' The damson, for example, came from Damascus.

603. I put be hider for hider be; but be, after all, is better omitted. Made hider fet is a correct idiom; see note to Cant. Ta. E 1098.

610. The images and pictures on the outside of the wall were made repellent, to keep strangers aloof.

624. oon, one; i. e. a place. intil Inde, as far as India.

656. The rime is only a single one, in -ing.

658. Alpes, bullfinches; also called an awp, or, corruptly, a nope. 'Alp, or Nope, a bulfinch. I first took notice of this word in Suffolk, but find since that it is used in other counties, almost generally all over England'; Ray's Collection of South and E. Country Words (1691).

wodewales, witwalls. In the Prompt. Parvulorum, the wodewale is identified with the wodehake, woodpecker; whilst Hexham explains Du. Weduwael as 'a kinde of a yellow bird.' There is often great confusion in such names. The true witwall is the Green Woodpecker (Gecinus viridis). We may omit and, and even were in l. 657.

662. laverokkes, larks. The A. S. lāwerce, lāferce, became laverk; then the final k was exchanged for the diminutive suffix -ok.

663. Chalaundres; see note to l. 81 above.

664. wery, weary (F. lassees); nigh forsongen, nearly tired out with singing.

665. thrustles, throstles, thrushes; see Parl. Foules, 364.

terins; F. tarin, which, Littré says, is the Fringilla spinus. Cotgrave has: 'Tarin, a little singing bird, having a yellowish body, and an ash-coloured head'; by which (says Prof. Newton) he means the siskin, otherwise called the aberdevine.

mavys, mavises, song-thrushes. If we take the mavis to be the song-thrush, Turdus musicus, then the throstle may be distinguished as the missel-thrush, Turdus viscivorus. But the mavis is also called throstle. In Cambridge, the name is pronounced mavish (romic mei·vish).

672. 'As spiritual angels do.'

676. 'Of man liable to death'; by mortal man.

684. sereyns, i. e. Sirens. Cotgrave has: 'Sereine, f. a Mermaid.' Chaucer takes no notice of G. de Lorris' notable etymology, by which he derives Seraines from the adj. seri. Cotgrave gives (marked as obsolete): 'Seri, m. ie, f. Quiet, mild, calm, still; fair, clear.'

693. wel bigo, the opposite of 'woe begone'; as in l. 580. Cf. 'glad and wel begoon'; Parl. Foules, 171.

700. leten, pp. of leten, to let; 'and had let me in.'

705. Morris reads Withoute, which improves the line:—'Without-e fabl' I wol descryve.'

714. sete, sat; A. S. sǣton, pt. t. pl. (The correct form).

716. Iargoning, chattering; cf. E. jargon.

720. Read reverdye (see footnote). It means 'rejoicing'; from the renewal of green things in spring.

731. mentes, mints; Th. has myntes.

735. 'Where he abode, to amuse himself.'

744. carole, a dance; orig. a dance in a ring, accompanied with song. Hence, in l. 745, the verb carolen, to sing, in accompaniment to a dance of this character. In Rob. of Brunne's Handlyng Synne, 9138, there is a description of a company carolling 'hand in hand.' And see below, ll. 759-765, 781; Book Duch. 849.

746. I insert the (as Urry does) before blisful; cf. l. 797.

749. The line—'And couthe make in song swich refreininge' is obviously too long. The word couthe is needlessly repeated from l. 747, and must be omitted. The Fr. text shews that refreininge means the singing of a refrain at the end of each verse.

768. in this contree. This is an adaptation; the original Fr. says 'in any country.' Warton calmly observes: 'there is not a syllable of these songs and singers of Lorraine in the French.' But he consulted a defective copy.

769. timbestere, a female player on a timbrel. Tyrwhitt confuses the matter by quoting Lye, who mixed up this word with tombestere, a female tumbler; for which see Cant. Ta. C 477. They are quite unconnected, but are formed with the same fem. suffix, viz. that which appears also in the mod. E. spin-ster, and in the old words webb-estere, bak-estere, whence the surnames Webster, Baxter. In l. 772, timbres simply mean timbrels, and tambourine-players may still be performing the easy trick of throwing up a tambourine and catching it, spinning, on a finger-point. There is therefore no reason for explaining timbre as a basin. Nevertheless, such a mistake arose, and Junius quotes (s.v. Timbestere) some lines from an edition of Le Roman de la Rose, printed in 1529, in which the following lines here occur:—

'Apres y eut farces joyeuses,

Et batelleurs et batelleuses,

Qui de passe passe jouoyent,

Et en l'air ung bassin ruoyent,

Puis le scavoyent bien recueillir

Sur ung doy, sans point y faillir.'

It is tolerably certain that this is a corrupt form of the passage, and only makes the matter darker. All it proves is, that timbre was, by some, supposed to mean a basin! No doubt it had that sense (see Cotgrave), but not here.

Timbestere is a mere English form of the O.F. tymberesse, a player on a timbre. Diez, in his Dictionary, cites a passage from a commentary on the Psalms, given in Roquefort, Poés. franç, p. 127, to this effect:—'li tymbres est uns estrumenz de musique qui est couverz d'un cuir sec de bestes'; i. e. it is the Lat. tympanum. So also, in Wright's Vocab. col. 616, l. 28, we have:—'Timpanum, a taber, or a tymbre.' In Allit. Poems, ed. Morris, ii. 1414, we read of the sound of 'tymbres and tabornes,' and of 'symbales,' i. e. cymbals. In King Alisaunder, ed. Weber, 191, we again have tymbres meaning 'timbrels.' Wyclif, in his tr. of Isaiah, v. 12, has 'tymbre and trumpe,' to translate 'tympanum et tibia'; and the word is well preserved in the mod. E. dimin. timbr-el.

770. saylours, dancers; from O. F. saillir, Lat. salere; cf. 'Salyyn, salio'; Prompt. Parv. The M. E. sailen, to dance, occurs in P. Plowman, C xvi. 208 (see my note); and in Rob. of Glouc. l. 5633 (or p. 278, ed. Hearne).

791. Ne bede I. The Fr. text means—'I would never seek to go away.' As e and o are constantly confused, I change bode (which gives no sense) into bede; i. e. 'I would never pray.' Bede is the pt. t. subj. of bidden, to pray. Gower uses ne bede in the same sense; 'That I ne bede never awake'; Conf. Am. ii. 99.

826. girdilstede, the stead or place of the girdle, i. e. the waist.

836. samyt, samite, a very rich silk; see Halliwell and my Etym. Dict.

840. to-slitered, very much 'slashed' with small cuts. It is well known that slashed or snipped sleeves, shewing the colour of the lining beneath them, were common in the Tudor period; and it here appears that they were in vogue much earlier. Sliteren is the frequentative form of sliten, to slit.

843. decoped, cut, slashed. The shoes were slashed like the dress; the Fr. text has here decopes, which, only just above, is translated by to-slitered. Cf. the expression 'galoches y-couped' in P. Plowman, C. xxi. 12, and see my note on that passage. Halliwell is quite wrong in confusing decoped with coppid, i. e. peaked. See note to Mill. Ta. A 3318.

860. The readings pleye, pley are evidently false; the scribe has omitted the stroke for n above the vowel. The right reading is obviously playn, i. e. plain, smooth; it translates F. poli, just as frounceles translates sans fronce, without a wrinkle.

865. If the reader prefers to keep eleven (or twelve) syllables in this line, I am sorry for him.

869. orfrays, gold embroidery; see note to l. 562. In this case, the gold seems to have been embroidered on silk; see l. 872.

886. quistroun, a kitchen-boy, scullion. Godefroy gives the forms coistron, coitron, coisteron, quistron, coestron, with the sense 'marmiton.' His examples include the expressions 'coitron de la cuisine,' and 'un quistroun de sa quisyne.' The addition of de la (sa) cuisine shew that the word meant no more than 'boy' or 'lad'; such a lad as was often employed in the kitchen.

'Ther nas knave, ne quystron,

That he ne hadde god waryson';

King Alisaunder, ed. Weber, 2511.

892. amorettes, (probably) love-knots. Such seems also to be the meaning in the passage in the Kingis Quair, st. 47, which was probably imitated from the present one. But both passages are sufficiently obscure. The word occurs again, below, in l. 4755, where the meaning is different, viz. young girls, sweethearts; but we must remember that it is there employed by a different translator. In the present passage, the Fr. text is obscure, and it is possible that par fines amoretes means 'by beautiful girls.' The note in Bell's Chaucer says accordingly:—'these flowers were painted by amorous young ladies;' and adds that 'with here means by.' But this will hardly serve. We have no proof that Chaucer so understood the French; and if 'with means by' here, it must have the same sense in l. 894, which would mean that birds, leopards, and lions all lent a hand in painting. On the whole, the sense 'love-knots' seems the safest.

893. losenges and scochouns, lozenges (or diamond-shaped figures) and escutcheons.

911. felden, caused to fall, knocked off.

914. chalaundre; see note to l. 81. wodewale; see note to l. 658.

915. archaungel, supposed to mean 'a titmouse,' answering to F. mesange. But no other example of this use is known.

923. This line is too long; I omit ful wel devysed, which is not in the original.

933. thwiten, cut, shaped; pp. of thwyten, to cut (see Hous of Fame, 1938); cf. thwitel in the Reves Ta. A 3933, and E. whittle.

938. gadeling, vagabond; see Gamelyn, 102, 106.

971. The idea of the two sets of arrows is taken from Ovid, Met. i. 468-471.

998. William de Lorris did not live to fulfil this promise.

1008. I. e. Beauty was also the name of an arrow; see l. 952. The allegory is rather of a mixed kind.

1014. byrde, i. e. bride (though the words are different); Fr. espousee. bour, bower; the usual name for a lady's chamber.

1018. I alter the wintred of the old copies to windred, to make the form agree with that in l. 1020. To windre is evidently a form suggested by the Fr. guignier. There are two verbs of this form; the more common is guigner, to wink (see Cotgrave); the other is given by Godefroy as guignier, guigner, guingnier, guinier, gignier, with the senses 'parer, farder,' i. e. to trick out. Note the original line: 'Ne fu fardee ne guignie'; and again in l. 2180: 'Mais ne te farde ne guigne.' The sense, in the present passage, is evidently 'to trim,' with reference to the eyebrows. 'Her eyebrows were not artificially embellished.'

Poppen, in l. 1019, has much the same sense, and is evidently allied to F. popin, 'spruce, neat, briske, trimme, fine,' in Cotgrave.

1031. I read Wys for want of a better word; it answers to one sense of Lat. sapidus, whence the F. sade is derived. However, Cotgrave explains sade by 'pretty, neat, spruce, fine, compt, minion, quaint.' Perhap Queint or Fine would do better.

1049. in hir daungere, under her control; see Prol. A 663, and the note. And see l. 1470.

1050. losengere, deceiver, flatterer; see Non. Pr. Ta. B 4516; Legend of Good Women, 352. Cf. ll. 1056, 1064 below.

1057. 'And thus anoint the world with (oily) words.'

1058. I cannot find that there is any such word as prill (as in Th.) or prile (as in G.) in any suitable sense; the word required is clearly prikke. As it was usual to write kk like lk, the word probably looked, to the eye, like prilke, out of which prille may have been evolved. Numerous mistakes have thus arisen, such as rolke for rokke (a rock) in Gawain Douglas, and many more of the same kind. M. Michel here quotes an O. F. proverb—'Poignez vilain, il vous oindra: Oignez vilain, il vous poindra.'

1068. Read aryved, for the Fr. text has arives; cf. Ho. Fame, 1047.

1079. bend, band, strip; as used in heraldry.

1080. Read améled, as in Speght; of which enameled is a lengthened form, with the prefix en-. It signifies 'enamelled.' Palsgrave gives a good example. 'I ammell, as a goldesmyth dothe his worke, Iesmaille. Your broche is very well amelled: vostre deuise est fort bien esmaillee.' See Ameled in the New Eng. Dict. See also the long note in Warton (sect. xiii, where this passage is quoted) on enamelling in the middle ages. He cites the Latin forms amelitam and amelita in the sense 'enamelled,' and shews that the art flourished, in particular, at Limoges in France.

1081. of gentil entaile, of a fine shape, referring to her neck, apparently; or it may refer to the collar. Halliwell quotes from MS. Douce 291 'the hors of gode entaile,' i. e. of a good shape. Cf. entaile, to shape, in l. 609 above; and see l. 3711.

1082. shet, shut, i. e. clasped, fastened. Chevesaile, a collar; properly, the neckband of the robe, as explained in the New E. Dict. Though it does not here occur in the Fr. text, it occurs below in a passage which Chaucer does not exactly translate, though it answers to the 'colere' of l. 1190, q.v. There seems to be no sufficient reason for explaining it by 'necklace' or 'gorget,' as if it were a separable article of attire. It answers to a Lat. type capitiale, from capitium, the opening in a tunic through which the head passed; which explains how the word arose.

1089. The right word is thurte, which the scribe, not understanding, has turned into durst; both here, and in l. 1324 below. Thurte him means 'he needed,' the exact sense required. The use of the dative him is a clear trace of the use of this phrase.

The idea that a gem would repel venom was common; see P. Plowman, B. ii. 14, and my note.

1093. and Fryse, and Friesland. Not in the original, and merely added for the rime.

1094. mourdaunt, mordant, chape, tag. Halliwell explains it 'the tongue of a buckle,' which is probably a guess; it is often mentioned as if it were quite distinct from it. It was probably 'the metal chape or tag fixed to the end of a girdle or strap,' viz. to the end remote from the buckle; see Fairholt's 'Costume.' Godefroy explains it in the same way; it terminated the dependent end of the girdle; and this explains how it could be made of a stone. Warton, in a note on this passage (sect. xiii.), quotes from a wardrobe roll, in which there is mention of one hundred garters 'cum boucles, barris, et pendentibus de argento.'

1103. barres, bars; fixed transversely to the satin tissue of the girdle, and perforated to receive the tongue of the buckle. See note to Prol. A 329.

1106. 'In each bar was a bezant-weight of gold.' A bezant was a gold coin, originally struck at Byzantium, whence the name. It 'varied in weight between the English sovereign and half-sovereign, or less'; New E. Dict.

1117. The false reading ragounces is easily corrected by the original. In Lydgate's Chorle and Bird, st. 34, we find:—'There is a stone which called is iagounce.' Warton rather hastily identifies it with the jacinth. Godefroy says that some make it to be a jacinth, but others, a garnet. Warnke explains iagunce (in Marie de France, Le Fraisne, 130) by 'ruby.'

1120. carboucle, carbuncle; see notes to Ho. Fame, 1352, 1363.

1137. That is, he would have expected to be accused of a crime equal to theft or murder, if he had kept in his stable such a horse as a hackney. The F. text has roucin, whence Chaucer's rouncy, in Prol. A 390.

1148. I. e. as if his wealth had been poured into a garner, like so much wheat. daungere here means 'parsimony.'

1152. I. e. Alexander was noted for his liberality.

1163. to hir baundon, (so as to be) at her disposal.

1182. adamaunt, lodestone; leyd therby, laid beside it.

1188. The form sarlynysh (in G.) evidently arose from the common mistake of reading a long s (ſ) as an l. The right reading is, of course, Sarsinesshe, i. e., Saracenic, or coloured by an Eastern dye. Compare the mod. E. sarsnet, a derivative from the same source.

1190. Her neck-band was thrown open, because she had given away the brooch, with which she used to fasten it.

1199. The knight is said to be sib, i. e., akin, to king Arthur, because of the great celebrity of that flower of chivalry.

1201. The reading gousfaucoun is a queer mistake; the scribe seems to have thought that it meant a goshawk! But the sense is war-banner.' See Gonfanon in my Etym. Dict.

1215. at poynt devys, with great exactness, with great regularity; cf. l. 830. The same expression occurs in the Ho. of Fame, 917.

1216. tretys, long and well-shaped; hence this epithet, as applied to the nose of the Prioress; see Prol. A 152. See ll. 932, 1016.

1227. bistad, bestead; i. e. hard beset.

1232. sukkenye, an E. adaptation of the O.F. sorquanie. Cotgrave has: 'Souquenie, f. a canvas Jacket, frock, or Gaberdine; such a one as our Porters wear.' Mod. F. souquenille, a smock-frock. It was therefore a loose frock, probably made, in this case, of fine linen. For a note in the glossary to Méon's edition says that linen was sometimes the material used for it; and we are expressly told, in the text, that it was not made of hempen hards. Cf. Russ. sukno, cloth.

1235. rideled, 'gathered,' or pleated; F. coillie. Not 'pierced like a riddle,' as suggested in Bell's Chaucer, but gathered in folds like a curtain or a modern surplice; from O.F. ridel (F. rideau), a curtain. Cf. 'filettis, and wymplis, and rydelid gownes and rokettis, colers, lacis,' &c.; Reliquiæ Antiquæ, i. 41. Hence, in ll. 1236, 7, the statement that every point was in its right place; because it was so evenly gathered.

1240. 'A roket, or rochet, is a loose linen frock synonymous with sukkenye. The name is now appropriated to the short surplice worn by bishops over their cassocks.'—Bell.

1249, 50. Al hadde he be, even if he had been. As the French copy consulted by Warton here omitted two lines of the original, Warton made the singular mistake of supposing that, in l. 1250, Chaucer intended 'a compliment to some of his patrons.' But William de Lorris died in 1260, so that the seignor de Gundesores was 'Henry of Windsor,' as he was sometimes termed, i. e. no other than Henry III; and the reference was probably suggested by the birth of prince Edward in 1239, unless these two lines were added somewhat later.

1263. avenant, comely, graceful; see the New E. Dict.

1282. The absolutely necessary correction in this line was suggested by Ten Brink, in his Chaucer Studien, p. 30.

1284. volage, flighty, giddy; see Manc. Ta. H 239.

1294. I should like to read—'They ne made force of privetee'; pronounced They n' mad-e, &c. But no fors is usual.

1321. his thankes, willingly; see Kn. Ta. A 1626, 2107.

1324. durst is an error for thurte; see note to l. 1089.

1334. For hadde (which gives no sense), read bad; confusion of b and h is not uncommon. And for bent, read bende it; see l. 1336.

1341. Some mending of the text is absolutely necessary, because shette is altogether a false form; the pp. of sheten, to shoot, is shoten. The suggested emendation satisfies the conditions, and makes better sense. So, in l. 1343, read wol me greven.

1348. In ll. 1461, 1582, the F. vergier is translated by yerde. So here, and in l. 1447 (as Dr. Kaluza suggests) we must read yerde in, to make sense. The scribe easily turned yerde in into gardin, but ruined the sense by it. So in l. 1366, yerde would be better than gardin.

1359. greet foisoun, a great abundance (of them).

1361. notemygge is the form given in the Prompt. Parv. In Sir Topas, 1953, notemuge occurs in all the seven MSS. See note to the same, B 1950, which explains clow-gelofre, i. e. clove, and setewale, i. e., zedoary.

1363. The form alemandres is justified by the Fr. text, which has Alemandiers. The O. F. for 'almond' was at first alemande, before it was shortened to almande; see Almond in the New E. Dict. The sense is 'almond-trees.'

1369. parys or paris is a stupid blunder for paradys, as the Fr. text shews. It was a well-known term. Cotgrave has 'Graine de paradis, the spice called Grains.' Philips explains Paradisi grana as 'cardamum-seed.' Compare the quotation from Langham in the New E. Dict., s. v. Cardamom. Canelle (in l. 1370) is 'cinnamon.'

1374. coyn is the word which has been twisted into quin; and the pl. quins has become the sing. quince.

1377. aleys. 'Aley [adapted from O. Fr. alie, alye (also alis), mod. Fr. alise, alize, from O. H. G. eliza, mod. G. else(beere); the suppression of the s in the O. Fr. is anomalous.] The fruit of the Wild-Service tree'; New E. Dict. No other example of the word is known in English. bolas, bullace; the rime is only a single one.

1379. lorer, laurel; miswritten lorey in G.; cf. l. 1313 above, where loreres is miswritten loreyes.

1384. Compare the tree-lists in Parl. Foules, 176, and in the Kn. Ta. A 2921.

1385. I should read Pyn, ew, instead of Fyn ew; only we have had pyn already, in l. 1379.

1391. Imitated in the Book Duch. 419; again, l. 1401 is imitated in the same, 429.

1397, 8. The rimed words must needs be knet, set, as in the Parl. Foules, 627, 628.

1405. claperes, burrows. 'Clapier, m. A clapper of conies, a heap of stones, &c., whereinto they retire themselves'; Cotgrave. See Clapper in the New E. Dict.

1414. condys, conduits; Fr. text, conduis. Godefroy gives numerous examples of conduis as the pl. of O. F. conduit, in the sense of safe-conduct, &c. So, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 91, we find:—'Thise uif wytes byeth ase uif condwys,' i. e. these five wits (senses) are as five channels. by devys, by contrivances (l. 1413).

1420. vel-u-et is here a trisyllabic word; and the u is a vowel, as in A. F. veluet. The mod. E. velvet arose from misreading the u as a v. The Prompt. Parv. has also the form velwet. So in Lydgate, Compl. of the Black Knight, l. 80: 'And soft as vel-u-et,' &c.

1426. as mister was, as was need, as was necessary.

1447. As garden makes no sense here, Kaluza reads yerde in; see note to l. 1348.

1448. estres (F. text, l'estre), inner parts; see Rev. Ta. A 4295, and the note.

1453. at good mes, to advantage, from a favourable position; Fr. en bel leu. In l. 3462, the phrase translates F. en bon point. Mes (Lat. missum) is an old Anglo-French hunting-term, answering (nearly) to mod. E. shot. Thus, in Marie de France, Guigemar, 87:—'Traire voleit, si mes ëust,' he wished to shoot, if he could get a good shot. See Ducange, ed. 1887, ix. 270, for two more examples.

1458. Pepyn; the F. text says 'Charles, the son of Pepin.' Charles the Great, who died in 814, was the son of Pepin Le Bref, king of the Franks, who died in 768.

1469. This story of Narcissus is from Ovid, Met. iii. 346.

1470. in his daungere, within his control; in l. 1492, daungerous means 'disdainful.' See note to l. 1049.

1498. The right spelling is vilaynsly; it occurs in the Pers. Tale, I 279; and the adj. vilayns in the same, I 627, 715, 854.

1517, 18. The right spellings are sene, adj., visible, and shene, adj., showy, bright.

1525. bere, bore; but it is in the subjunctive mood; A. S. bǣre.

1537. warisoun, reward; F. guerredon. But this is not the usual sense; it commonly means healing, cure, or remedy; see Guarison in Cotgrave. However, it also means provision, store, assistance; whence it is no great step to the sense of 'reward.' To 'winne a warisun' is to obtain a reward; Will. of Palerne, 2253, 2259. Cf. note to l. 886.

1550. scatheles, without harm. There is actually a touch of humour here; the poet ran no risk of falling in love with such a face as his own.

1561. welmeth up, boils up, bubbles up; from A. S. wylm, a spring.

1564. For moiste, because it was moist, because of its moisture. The adj. has almost the force of a sb. Cf. note to l. 276.

1591. entrees is, of course, a blunder for estres, as the F. text shews. See l. 1448 above, where estres rightly occurs, to represent F. l'estre. accuseth, reveals, shews; see the New Eng. Dict.

1604. 'That made him afterwards lie on his back,' i. e. lie dead (F. mors). The alteration of lye to ligge in MS. G. is a clear example of the substitution of a Northern form.

1608. Here laughyng is a very queer travesty of loving, owing to a similarity in the sound. But the F. text has d'amer, which settles it.

1621. panteres, nets; see Leg. of Good Women, 131, and the note.

1624. lacche, trap. The usual sense is 'the latch of a door'; but the sense here given is clearly caught from the related verb lacchen, which sometimes meant to catch birds. Thus in P. Plowman, B. v. 355, we find 'forto lacche foules,' i. e. to catch birds. We must not confuse lacche, as here used, with lace, a snare.

1641. We must read syked, not sighede, in order to rime with entryked. Observe that syketh rimes with entryketh in the Parl. of Foules, 404. Further, as the rime is a double one, the word have must be inserted, to fill up the line. It is in the Fr. text, 'tant en ai puis souspire.'

1652. enclos, enclosed; a French form, used for the rime. Cf. clos, in the same sense; The Pearl, l. 2.

1663. Speght made the obvious correction of be, for me.

1666. My thankes, with my goodwill; cf. his thankes, l. 1321.

1673. gret woon, a great quantity.

1674. roon (in place of Rone); F. text, sous ciaus, 'under the skies.' Bell suggests that there is a reference to the river Rhone, and to the roses of Provence. But the prep. in must mean 'in' or 'upon'; and as roses do not grow on a river, but upon bushes, perhaps roon answers to Lowland Scotch rone, a bush; see Jamieson. Thus Henrysoun, Prol. to Moral Fables, l. 15, has:—'The roisis reid arrayit on rone and ryce'; and G. Douglas has ronnis, bushes. In Roon might mean 'in Rouen'; spelt Roan in Shakespeare.

1677. moysoun, size; Cotgrave has: 'Moyson, size, bignesse, quantity'; from Lat. mensionem, a measuring. See P. Plowman, C. xii. 120, and my note. Not connected with moisson, harvest, as suggested in Bell.

1701. 'The stalk was as upright as a rush.'

1705. Here ends Chaucer's portion of the translation, in the middle of an incomplete sentence, without any verb. It may have been continued thus (where dide fulfild = caused to be filled):—

The swote smelle sprong so wyde,

That it dide al the place aboute

Fulfild of baume, withouten doute.

We can easily understand that the original MS. ended here suddenly, the rest being torn away or lost. An attempt was made to join on another version, without observing the incompleteness of the sentence. Moreover, the rime is a false one, since swote and aboute have different vowel-sounds. Hence the point of junction becomes visible enough.

Dr. Max Kaluza was the first to observe the change of authorship at this point, though he made Chaucer's portion end at l. 1704. He remarked, very acutely, that Chaucer translates the F. bouton by the word knoppe; see ll. 1675, 1683, 1685, 1691, 1702, whereas the other translator merely keeps the word botoun; see ll. 1721, 1761, 1770.

It is easily seen that ll. 1706-5810 are by a second and less skilful hand. This portion abounds with non-Chaucerian rimes, as explained in the Introduction, and is not by any means remarkable for accuracy. Some of the false rimes are noted below.

As the remaining portion is of less interest and value, I only draw attention, in the notes, to the most important points. I here denote the second portion (ll. 1706-5810) by the name of Section B.

1713. muche, in Sect. B, is usually dissyllabic; perhaps the original had mikel.

1721. In sect. B, the word botoun is invariably misspelt bothum or bothom. That this ridiculous form is wrong, is proved by the occurrence of places where the pl. botouns rimes with sesouns (4011) and with glotouns (4308). I therefore restore the form botoun throughout.

1776. Sect. B is strongly marked by the frequent use of withouten wene, withouten were, withouten drede, and the like tags.

1820. A common proverb, in many languages. 'Chien eschaudé craint l'eau froide, the scaulded dog fears even cold water;' Cotgrave. 'Brend child fur dredeth' is one of the Proverbs of Hending, l. 184. The Fr. text has: 'Qu'eschaudés doit iaue douter.' See Cant. Ta. G 1407. At this point, the translation somewhat varies from the Fr. text, as usually printed. The third arrow is here called Curtesye (1802, cf. 957) instead of Fraunchise (955).

1853, 4. Both thore, more, evidently for thar, mar; see ll. 1857, 8.

1871. allegeaunce, alleviation; F. text, aleiance. Cf. aleggement, 1890; F. text, alegement; and see l. 1923.

1906. Both texts have Rokyng. A better spelling is either rouking or rukking. It means—'crouching down very closely on account of the pain.' See Kn. Ta. A 1308. (Not in the French text.)

1909. The other four arrows are Beauty (1750), Simplesse (1774), Curtesye (1802, and note to l. 1820), and Companye (1862). But the names, even in the F. text, are not exactly the same as in a former passage; see ll. 952-963 above.

2002. 'For I do not vouchsafe to churls, that they shall ever come near it.' For of (suggested by sauf) we should read to.

2017. Lord seems to be dissyllabic; read (perhaps) laverd.

2037. As in l. 4681, there is here an allusion to the mode of doing homage, wherein the kneeling vassal places his joined hands between those of his lord. This is still the attitude of one who receives a degree at Cambridge from the Vice-chancellor.

2044. For taken read tan, the Northern form. So again in l. 2068.

2046. Disteyned is, of course, a blunder for Disceyued.

2051. 'If I get them into my power.'

2063. For-why, i. e. why; F. 'por quoi.'

2076. disseise, oust you from possessing it. Disseisin is the opposite of seisin, a putting in possession of a thing.

2087. aumener, purse, lit. bag for alms; F. aumoniere.

2092. I take iowell (with a bar through the ll) to be the usual (Northern) contraction for Iowellis, jewels; F. text, joiau, pl. I can find no authority for making it a collective noun, as Bell suggests.

2099. spered, for sperred, fastened; F. ferma. See l. 3320.

2141. I supply sinne; perhaps the exact word is erre, as suggested by Urry; F. 'Tost porroie issir de la voie.'

2154. Read ginn'th; only one syllable is wanted here. Cf. l. 2168.

2161. poyntith ille, punctuates badly. This is a remarkable statement. As the old MSS. had no punctuation at all, the responsibility in this respect fell entirely on the reader. Ll. 2157-62 are not in the French.

2170. Romaunce, the Romance language, Old French.

2190. This important passage is parallel to one in the Wife of Bath's Tale, D 1109. Ll. 2185-2202 are not in the French; so they may have been suggested by Chaucer's Tale.

2203. 'Gravis est culpa, tacenda loqui'; Ovid, Ars Amat. ii. 604.

2206. Keye, Sir Kay, one of the knights of the Round Table, who was noted for his discourtesy. For his rough treatment of Sir Beaumains, see Sir T. Malory's Morte d'Arthur, bk. vii. c. 1. On the other hand, Sir Gawain was famed for his courtesy; see Squi. Ta. F 95.

2271. The word aumenere is here used, as in l. 2087 above, to translate the F. aumosniere or aumoniere. In Th., it is miswritten aumere, and in G. it appears as awmere. Hence awmere has gained a place in the New E. Dict., to which it is certainly not entitled. It is not a 'contraction for awmenere,' as is there said, but a mere blunder.

2278. Of Whitsonday, suitable for Whitsunday, a time of great festivity; F. text—'a Penthecouste.'

2279. Both texts have costneth, which makes the line halt. Cost (short for costeth) has the same sense, and suits much better; the F. text has simply couste.

2280-4. Copied from Ovid, Ars Amat. i. 515-9.

2285. It is clear that Fard, not Farce, is the right reading. Farce would mean 'stuff' or 'cram'; see Prol. A 233. The F. text has—'Mais ne te farde ne ne guigne.' Among the additions by Halliwell and Wright to Nares' Glossary will be found: 'Fard, to paint the face'; with three examples. Cotgrave also has: 'Fardé, Farded, coloured, painted.'

2294. knowith is a strange error for lowhith, or lauhwith, forms of laugheth; F. text, rit.

2296. meynd, mingled; see Kn. Ta. A 2170.

2301-4. Not in the F. text. I alter pleyneth in l. 2302 to pleyeth, to suit the context more closely.

2309. sitting, becoming; cf. sit, Clk. Ta. E 460.

2318. 'Make no great excuse'; F. essoine. From Ovid, Ars Am. i. 595.

2327. For meuen I read meve hem, move them. Ll. 2325-8 are not in the French text.

2336. Read Loves. 'Whoever would live in Love's teaching must be always ready to give.' F. text, 'Se nus se vuelt d'amors pener.'

2341. Cf. F. text:—'Doit bien, apres si riche don.' See ll. 2381.

2354. alosed, praised (for liberality); see Alose in the New E. Dict.

2365. 'Against treachery, in all security.' For is here used for 'against.' F. text, 'Tous entiers sans tricherie.'

2386. maugre his, in spite of himself; against the giver's will.

2463. 'That thou wouldst never willingly leave off.'

2471. fere, fire; spelt fyr in l. 2467. But desyr rimes with nere, l. 2441.

2473. Obscure. The French text helps but little; it means—'whenever thou comest nearer her.' Hence Thought should be That swete, or some such phrase.

2522. 'To conceal (it) closely'; F. de soi celer.

2561. 'Now groveling on your face, and now on your back.'

2564. 'Like a man that should be defeated in war.' To get a rime to abrede or abreed, abroad, read forwerreyd; see l. 3251.

2573. 'Thou shalt imagine delightful visions.' The 'castles in Spain' are romantic fictions. Cf. Gower, Conf. Am. ii. 99.

2617, 2624. In both lines, wher is short for 'whether.'

2628. To liggen, to lie, is a Northern form; I alter liggen to ly, which occurs in the next line.

2641. contene, contain (thyself). But the F. text has te contendras, which perhaps means 'shalt struggle.'

2650. What whider gives no sense; read What weder, i. e. whatever weather it be; see next line.

2660. score, (perhaps) cut, i. e. crack; F. text, fendéure.

2669. I supply a, i. e. by; or we may supply al.

2676. There is something wrong here; the F. text has:—

'Si te dirai que tu dois faire

Por l'amour de la debonnaire [or, du haut seintueire]

De qui tu ne pues avoir aise;

Au departir la porte baise.'

The lover is here directed to kiss the door!

2684-6. From Ovid, Ars Amat. i. 729, 733.

2695. All from Ovid, Ars Amat. ii. 251-260.

2710. Read fare, short for faren, gone; cf. Ovid, Ars Am. ii. 357-8. A note in Bell says—'fore means absent, from the Lat. foris, abroad.' This is a cool invention.

2775. Hope, do thou hope; imperative mood.

2824. The reading not ben ruins sense and metre.

'Et se tu l'autre refusoies,

Qui n'est mie mains doucerens,

Tu seroies moult dangereus.'

2883. Such was the duty of sworn brethren; See Kn. Ta. A 1132.

2888. The trilled r in darst perhaps constitutes a syllable.

2951. 'When the God of Love had all day taught me.'

2971. hay(e), hedge; F. haie. Perhaps not hay-e; see l. 2987.

2984. Bial-Acoil, another spelling of Bel-Acueil, i. e. 'a graceful address'; which would be useful in propitiating the lady.

3105. doth me drye, makes me suffer; Scotch 'gars me dree.'

3132. chere, face; kid, manifested, displayed.

3137. kirked, probably 'crooked,' as Morris suggests. It may be a mere dialectal form of 'crooked,' or it may be miswritten for kroked, the usual old spelling. Halliwell gives, 'kirked, turning upwards,' on the authority of Skinner; but a reference to Skinner shows that his reason for giving the word this sense was solely owing to a notion of deriving it from A. S. cerran, to turn, which is out of the question. On the strength of this Wright, in his Provincial Dictionary, makes up the verb: 'Kirk, to turn upwards.' This is how glossaries are frequently written. The F. text merely has: 'Le nes froncié.'

3144. maugree, disfavour, ill will.

3185. with the anger, against the pain.

3231. trasshed, betrayed; F. traï. Trasshen is from the stem traiss-.

3234. verger, orchard; F. vergier; Lat. uiridiarium; so in ll. 3618, 3831.

3249. to garisoun, to protection, to safety; here, to your cure.

'Je ne voi mie ta santé,

Ne ta garison autrement.'

3251. thee to werrey, to war against thee; F. guerroier.

3256. musarde, sluggard; one who delays; F. musarde; see l. 4034.

3264. G. has seyne; Th. sayne. I prefer feyne. Not in the F. text.

3277. passioun, suffering, trouble; F. poine pain.

3284. but in happe, only in chance, i. e. a matter of chance.

3292. a rage, as in Th.; G. arrage. Cf. l. 3400.

3303. leve, believe; for the F. text has croit.

3326. in the peine, under torture; see Kn. Ta. A 1133.

3337. chevisaunce, resource, remedy. Both G. and Th., and all old editions, have cherisaunce, explained by Speght to mean 'comfort,' though the word is fictitious. Hence Kersey, by a misprint, gives 'cherisaunei, comfort'; which Chatterton adopted.

3346. The F. text has 'Amis ot non'; so that 'Freend' is here a proper name.

3356. meygned, maimed. This word takes numerous forms both in M. E. and in Anglo-French.

3462. at good mes, at a favourable time (en bon point); see note to l. 1453.

3501. 'And Pity, (coming) with her, filled the Rosebud with gracious favour.' of = with.

3508. Supply word; F. La parole a premiere prise.

3539. Cf. 'Regia, crede mihi, res est succurrere lapsis'; Ovid, Ex Ponto, Ep. lib. ii. ix. 11.

3548. This, put for This is; as in Parl. Foules, 411.

3579. moneste, short for amoneste, i. e. admonish.

3604. 'You need be no more afraid.' Here Thynne has turned thar into dare; see l. 3761, and note to l. 1089.

3633. to spanisshing, to its (full) expansion. F. text, espanie, expanded, pp. fem. of espanir, which Cotgrave explains by 'To grow or spread, as a blooming rose.'

3645, 6. vermayle, ruddy, lit. vermilion. abawed, dismayed; variant of abaved, Book Duch. 614; cf. l. 4041 below.

3699. werreyeth, makes war upon; cf. Knight Ta. A 2235, 6. The corrections here made in the text are necessary to the sense.

3715. I. e. she did not belong to a religious order.

3718. attour; better atour; F. text ator; array, dress.

3740. chasteleyne, mistress of a castle; F. chastelaine.

3751. The reading is easily put right, by help of the French:—

'Car tant cum vous plus atendrez,

Tant plus, sachies, de tens perdrez.'

3774. Read it nil, it will not; F. Qu'el ne soit troble (l. 3505).

3811. The F. text has une vielle irese, and M. Méon explains irese by angry, or full of ire. Hence, a note in Bell suggests that irish here means 'full of ire.' But I think M. Méon is wrong; for the O.F. for 'full of ire' is irous, whence M.E. irous; and M. Michel prints Irese with a capital letter, and explains it by 'Irlandaise.' Besides, there is no point in speaking of 'an old angry woman'; whereas G. de Lorris clearly meant something disrespectful in speaking of 'an old Irishwoman.' M. Michel explains, in a note, that the Irish character was formerly much detested in France. I therefore believe that Irish has here its usual sense.

3826. Where Amyas is, is of no consequence; for the name is wrongly given. The F. text has 'a Estampes ou a Miaus,' i. e. at Étampes or at Meaux. Neither place is very far from Paris. Reynes means Rennes in Brittany; see note to Book Duch. 255.

3827. foot-hoot, foot-hot, immediately; see note to Cant. Ta. B 438.

3832. reward, regard; as in Parl. Foules, 426.

3845. Insert not, because the F. text has 'Si ne s'est mie.'

3855. We should probably insert him after hid.

3856. took, i. e. caught; see l. 3858.

3880. Read leye, lay; both for rime and sense.

3882. loigne, leash for a hawk. Cotgrave gives: 'Longe,... a hawks lune or leash.' This is the mod. F. longe, a tether, quite a different word from longe, the loin. Longe, a tether, was sometimes spelt loigne in O.F. (see Godefroy), which accounts for the form here used. It answers to Low Lat. longia, a tether, a derivative of longus, long. Perhaps lune is only a variant of the same word. The expression 'to have a long loigne' means 'to have too much liberty.'

3895. Read trecherous, i. e. treacherous people, for the sake of the metre and the rime. Trechours means 'traitors.'

3907. Read loude; for loude and stille is an old phrase; see Barbour's Bruce, iii. 745. It means, 'whether loudly or silently,' i. e. under all circumstances.

3912. blered is myn ye, I am made a fool of; see Cant. Ta. G 730.

3917. Read werreyed, warred against; see note to l. 3699.

3928. I. e. 'I must (have) fresh counsel.'

3938. 'And come to watch how to cause me shame.'

3940-3. The F. text has:—

'Il ne me sera ja peresce

Que ne face une forteresce

Qui les Roses clorra entor.'

3954. 'And to blind him with their imposture.'

3962. Perhaps read he durste.

3987. purpryse, enclosure; F. porprise, fem. Cotgrave has pourpris, m., in the same sense. See l. 4171.

4021. Read in hy, in haste, a common phrase; see l. 3591.

4032. 'No man, by taming it, can make a sparrow-hawk of a buzzard.' A buzzard was useless for falconry, but a sparrow-hawk was excellent. The F. text gives this as a proverb. Two similar proverbs are given in Cotgrave, s.v. Esparvier.

4034. musarde, a sluggish, and hence a useless person; see l. 3256.

4038. recreaundyse, recreant conduct; F. recreantise.

4073. goth afere, goes on fire, is inflamed.

4096. me sometimes occurs in M. E. as a shorter form of men, in the sense of 'one'; but it is better to read men at once, as it receives the accent. If written 'mē,' it might easily be copied as 'me.'

4126. 'Unless Love consent, at another time.'

4149. querrour, a quarrier, stone-cutter; see quarrieur in Cotgrave.

4176. ginne, war-engine, skaffaut, scaffold; a wooden shed on wheels, to protect besiegers. See the description of one, called 'a sow,' employed at the siege of Berwick in 1319, in Barbour's Bruce, xvii. 597-600; together with other sundry 'scaffatis' in the same, l. 601.

4191. Springoldes (F. perrieres, from Lat. petrariae), engines for casting-stones; spelt spryngaldis in Barbour's Bruce, xvii. 247. From O. F. espringale, a catapult; from G. springen, to spring.

4195. kernels, battlements; F. text, creniaus. Cf. P. Plowm. C., viii. 235; B. v. 597.

4196. arblasters (answering to Lat. arcuballistra), a variant form of arblasts or arbalests (answering to Lat. arcuballista), huge cross-bows, for discharging missiles. See Arbalest in the New E. Dict.

4229. for stelinge, i. e. to prevent stealing.

4248. distoned, made different in tone, out of tune. Cotgrave gives: 'Destonner, to change or alter a tune, to take it higher or lower.'

4249. Controve, compose or invent tunes, foule fayle, fail miserably.

4250. horn-pypes, pipes made of horn; but the F. text has estives, pipes made of straw. Cornewayle is doubtful; some take it to mean Cornwall; but it was more probably the name of a place in Brittany. A note in Méon's edition of Le Roman de la Rose, iii. 300, suggests 'la ville de Cornouaille, aujourd'hui Quimper-Corentin, qui est en basse Bretagne.' The F. text has Cornoaille.

4286. vekke, an old woman; as in l. 4495. Cf. Ital. vecchia, the same; but it is difficult to see how we came by the Ital. form.

4291. Some late editions read expert, which is clearly right; except gives no sense. Expt, with a stroke through the p, may have been misread as except.

4300. F. 'Qu'el scet toute la vielle dance'; see Prol. A 476.

4322. The old reading gives no sense; the corrected reading is due to Dr. Kaluza. It means 'I weened to have bought it very knowingly'; F. Ges cuidoie avoir achetés, I weened to have bought them. Ges = Ge les, i. e. les biens, the property. See note to l. 4352.

4333. For also perhaps read als, or so.

4352. wend, for wende, weened, supposed; F. cuidoie.

4372. For wol read wal; F. 'Qui est entre les murs enclose.'

4389. M. Méon here quotes a Latin proverb:—'Qui plus castigat, plus amore ligat.'

4432. G. de Lorris here ended his portion of the poem (containing 4070 lines), which he did not live to complete. His last line is:—

'A poi que ne m'en desespoir.'

When Jean de Meun, more than forty years later, began his continuation, he caught up the last word, commencing thus:—

'Desespoir, las! ge non ferai,

Jà ne m'en desespererai.'

4464. a-slope, on the slope, i. e. insecure, slippery.

4472. Perhaps stounde should be wounde. F. 'S'ele ne me fait desdoloir.' Stounde arose from repeating the st in staunche.

4499. enforced, made stronger, i. e. increased.

4510. Read simpilly; this trisyllabic form is Northern, occurring in Barbour's Bruce, i. 331, xvii. 134. Cf. l. 3861.

4525. 'Who was to blame?' Cf. l. 4529.

4532. for to lowe, to appraise; hence, to be valued at. F. 'De la value d'une pome.' See Allow in the New E. Dict.

4549. The develles engins, the contrivances of the devil.

4556. yolden, requited; cf. Somp. Ta. D 2177.

4559. 'Ought I to shew him ill-will for it?'

4568. 'And lie awake when I ought to sleep.'

4574. taken atte gree, receive with favour.

4617, 8. not, know not; nist (knew not) would suit better; see l. 4626. eche, eke out, assist.

4634. I insert pyned, punished; F. 'N'as tu mie éu mal assés?'

4646. 'Thou didst act not at all like a wise man.'

4668. 'See, there's a fine knowledge.' Noble is ironical, as in 4639.

4681. with myn honde; see note to l. 2037 above.

4689, 90.

'Si sauras tantost, sans science,

Et congnoistras, sans congnoissance.'

4697-4700. To him who flees love, its nature is explicable; to you, who are still under its influence, it remains a riddle.

4705. In Tyrwhitt's Gloss., s.v. Fret, he well remarks:—'In Rom. Rose, l. 4705, And through the fret full, read A trouthe fret full.' In fact, the F. text has: 'C'est loiautes la desloiaus.' Fret full is adorned or furnished, so as to be full; from A. S. frætwian, to adorn; cf. fretted full, Leg. of Good Women, 1117; and see Mätzner. Cf. l. 7259. On the whole, I do not think it is an error for bret-ful, i. e. brimful.

4712. This line is not in the F. text; it seems to mean—'a wave, harmful in wearing away the shore.'

4713. Caribdis, Charybdis, the whirlpool; cf. Horace, Carm. i. 27. 19.

4720. Havoir, property; usually spelt avoir.

4722. 'A thirst drowned in drunkenness'; F. 'C'est la soif qui tous jors est ivre.'

4728. drerihed, sadness; F. 'tristor'; cf. G. Traurigkeit.

4732. F. 'De pechies pardon entechies.' without, on the outside.

4747. Pryme temps, spring-time; F. 'Printems.'

4751. a slowe, a moth; F. taigne (Lat. tinea). But I know of no other example. Hence were, in the next line, must mean to wear away, to fret; cf. note to 4712.

4755. 'And sweethearts are as good in black mourning as when adorned in shining robes.' Cotgrave, s. v. Amourette, quotes a proverb: 'Aussi bien sont amourettes Soubs bureau, que soubs brunettes; Love bides in cottages, as well as in courts.' A burnet was a cloth of a superior quality; see note to l. 226.

4764. For That read But, answering to the F. Qui ... ne.

4768. Genius is one of the characters in a later part of the F. text, l. 16497 (ed. Méon).

4790. avaunt, forward; F. 'Ge n'en sai pas plus que devant.'

4793. For ever read er, i. e. ere, before; for the rime.

4796. can, know. parcuere, by heart; F. 'par cuer.'

4831. 'For paramours only feign.' But the original has: 'Mes par Amors amer ne daignent,' i. e. 'But they do not deign to love like true lovers'; unless it is a mere exclamation, 'I swear by Love.'

4859. 'To save the progeny (or strain) of our species'; cf. Cl. Ta. E 157.

4875, 6. Not in the original. It seems to mean—'who very often seek after destroyed increase (abortion) and the play of love.' Cf. tenen, to harm. But no other instance of for-tened is known, nor yet of crece as short for increes (increase). However, the verb cresen, to increase, is used by Wyclif; see cresce in Stratmann, ed. Bradley.

4882-4. Alluding to Cicero's treatise De Senectute.

4901. 'And considers himself satisfied with no situation.'

4904. Yalt him, yields himself, goes; F. 'se rent.'

4910. I. e. to remain till he professes himself, his year of probation being over. So, in l. 4914, leve his abit, to give up his friar's dress.

4923. Conteyne, contain or keep himself; F. 'le tiegne.'

4943. And mo seems a mistake for Demand, i. e. 'he may go and ask them.' F. 'Ou le demant as anciens.'

5014. This sentence is incomplete; the translator has missed the line—'Et qu'ele a sa vie perdue.' And he missed it thus. He began: 'That, but [i. e. unless] aforn hir,' &c., and was going to introduce, further on, 'She findeth she hath lost hir lyf,' or something of that kind. But by the time he came to 'wade' at the end of l. 5022, where this line should have come in, he had lost the thread of the sentence, and so left it out!

5028. Who list have Ioye; F. 'Qui ... veut joir.'

5047. arn, with the trilled r, is dissyllabic; see l. 5484.

5051. so, clearly an error for sho, Northern form of she.

5064. druery, courtship; but here, apparently, improperly used in the sense of 'mistress,' answering to 'amie' in the F. text.

5080. ado, short for at do, i. e. to do; at = to, is Northern.

5085. Read they; F. 'Més de la fole Amor se gardent.'

5107. Read herberedest; see Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 14. Pronounce it as herb'redest. F. 'hostelas,' from the verb hosteler.

5123, 4. As these lines are not in the original, the writer may have taken them from Chaucer's Hous of Fame, ll. 1257, 8. The converse seems to me unlikely; however, they are not remarkable for originality. Cf. note to l. 5486.

5124. recured, recovered; see examples in Halliwell.

5137. That refers to love, not to the sermon; and hir refers to Reason.

5162. The sense is doubtful; perhaps—'Then must I needs, if I leave it (i. e. Love), boldly essay to live always in hatred, and put away love from me, and be a sinful wretch, hated by all who love that fault.' Ll. 5165, 6 are both deficient, and require filling up.

5176. 'He who would not believe you would be a fool.' The omission of the relative is common; it appears (as qui) in the F. text. The line is ironical. Cf. ll. 5185-7.

5186. 'When that thou wilt approve of nothing.'

5191. 'But I know not whether it will profit.'

5223. I supply Ne lak (defect) in hem, to make some sense; the F. text does not help here. Half the line is lost; the rest means—'whom they, that ought to be true and perfect in love, would wish to prove.'

5266. A proverbial phrase; not in the F. text.

5274. him is here reflexive, and means 'himself.'

5278, 9, fered, fired, inflamed. depart, part, share.

5285. Read amitee; F. 'amitié.'

5286. Alluding to Cicero, De Amicitia: capp. xiii, xvii.

5292. The sense is; one friend must help another in every reasonable request; if the request seem unjust, he need not do so, except in two cases, viz. when his friend's life is in danger, or his honour is attacked: 'in quibus eorum aut caput agatur aut fama.' Read in cases two; F. 'en deux cas.'

5330. bit not, abides not, at any time; bit = bideth.

5341. For hir read the.

5353. The original reading would be It hit, i. e. it hideth; then It was dropped, and hit became hidith.

5384. gote, goat; but the F. text has cers, i. e. stag, ramage, wild.

5443. Obscure. The F. text has: 'Et que por seignors ne les tiengnent' Perhaps it means: 'They perform it (their will) wholly'; see l. 5447.

5452. Here chere of is for there of, with the common mistake of c for t.

5470. Of, i. e. off, off from.

5484. arn, with trilled r, is dissyllabic; as in l. 5047.

5486. 'Friend from affection (affect), and friend in appearance.' Chaucer, in his Balade on Fortune, l. 34, has 'Frend of effect [i. e. in reality], and frend of countenance.' And as the passage is not in the French, but is probably borrowed from Chaucer, we see that effect (not affect) is the right reading here; see l. 5549.

5491. The reading of Th. and G. is clearly wrong. The F. text helps but little. I read al she, i. e. all that she.

5507. flaterye is very inappropriate; we should expect iaperye, i. e. mockery. F. text, 'a vois jolie.'

5510. I. e. 'Begone, and let us be rid of you.' See Troilus, iii. 861, and note. (Probably borrowed from Chaucer.)

5513. From Prov. xvii. 17.

5523-9. 'This appears to be taken from Ecclus. xxii. 26.'—Bell. This reference is to the Vulgate; in the A.V., it is Ecclus. xxii. 22. Compare ll. 5521-2 with the preceding verse. With l. 5534 cf. Eccles. vii. 28.

5538. valoure, value; F. text, 'valor.' See 5556.

5541. So in Shakespeare; 2 Hen. IV. v. 1. 34. Michel cites: 'Verus amicus omni praestantior auro.'

5569. F. text; 'Que vosist-il acheter lores'; &c.

5585, 6. I fill up the lines so as to make sense. miches, F. 'miches.' A miche is a loaf of fine manchet bread, of good quality; see Cotgrave. chiche (l. 5588) is 'niggardly.'

5590. mauis, (as in G. and Th.) is clearly an error for muwis, or, muis, bushels. The F. text has muis, i. e. bushels (from Lat. modius). For the M.E. form muwe or mue, cf. M.E. puwe or pue (Lat. podium). The A.F. form muy occurs in the Liber Custumarum, ed. Riley, i. 62.

5598. that, perhaps 'that gold'; see l. 5592. 'And though that (gold) lie beside him in heaps.' It is better to read it.

5600. Asseth, a sufficiency, enough; see note to P. Plowman, C. xx. 203; and the note to Catholicon Anglicum, p. 13, n. 6.

5619. maysondewe, hospital, lit. 'house of God.' See Halliwell.

5649. Pictagoras, Pythagoras; the usual form, as in Book Duch. 1167. He died about B. C. 510. He was a Greek philosopher, who taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and he is here said to have taught the principle of the absorption of the soul into the supreme divinity. None of his works are extant. Hierocles of Alexandria, in the fifth century, wrote a commentary on the Golden Verses, which professed to give a summary of the views of Pythagoras.

5661. From Boethius, de Consolatione Philosophiæ, lib. i. pr. 5; lib. v. pr. 1. See notes to the Balade of Truth, ll. 17, 19.

5668. 'According as his income may afford him means.'

5673. ribaud, here used in the sense of 'a labouring man.' In the F. text he is spoken of as carrying 'sas de charbon,' i. e. sacks of coal.

5683. It is quite possible that Shakespeare caught up the phrase 'who would fardels bear,' &c., from this line in a black-letter edition of Chaucer. His next line—'To grunt and sweat under a weary life'—resembles ll. 5675-6; and 'The undiscovered country' may be from ll. 5658-5664. And see note to l. 5541. (But it is proper to add that Shakespearian scholars in general do not accept this as a possibility.)

5699. Read 'in sich a were'; F. 'en tel guerre.'

5700. Insert 'more'; F. 'Qu'il art tous jors de plus acquerre.'

5702. yeten, poured; a false form; correctly, yoten, pp. of yeten, to pour (A. S. gēotan, pp. goten).

5710. Seyne; F. 'Saine'; the river Seine (at Paris).

5739-5744. Not in the F. text, but inserted as a translation of some lines by Guiot de Provins, beginning: 'Fisicien sont apelé Sanz fi ne sont-il pas nommé.' See La Bible Guiot de Provins, v. 2582, in Fabliaux et Contes, édit. de Méon, tom. ii. p. 390. We must spell the words fysyk and fysycien as here written. A mild joke is intended. These words begin with fy, which (like E. fie!) means 'out upon it'; and go on with sy (= si), which means 'if,' and expresses the precariousness of trusting to doctors. Cf. Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 222.

5749. 'Because people do not live in a holy manner.' This is ironical. The word 'Her' refers to 'tho that prechen,' i. e. the clergy; F. 'devins.' But the F. text has—'Cil [i. e. the preachers] ne vivent pas loiaument.' See ll. 5750-1.

5759. Proverbial. F. 'Deceus est tex decevierres.' See Reves Ta. A 4321; P. Plowman, C. xxi. 166, and the note.

5799. yeve, gave, i. e. were to give; past pl. subjunctive.

5810. This answers to l. 5170 of the original; after which there is a gap of some 6000 lines, which are entirely lost in the translation. L. 5811 answers to l. 10717 of the F. text. The last portion, or part C, of the E. text (ll. 5811-7698) may be by a third hand. Part C is considerably better than Part B, and approaches very much nearer to Chaucer's style; indeed, Dr. Kaluza accepts it as genuine, but I am not myself (as yet) fully convinced upon this point. See further in the Introduction.

5811. At l. 10715 of the original, we have the lines:—

'Ainsinc Amors a eus parole,

Qui bien reçurent sa parole.

Quant il ot sa raison fenie,

Conseilla soi la baronnie.'

Ll. 5811-2 of the E. text answer to the two last of these.

5824. lyf answers to F. âme; but the F. text has arme, a weapon.

5837. To-moche-yeving; F. 'Trop-Donner.'

5855, 6. To, i. e. against; F. 'Contre.' Fair-Welcoming; F. 'Bel-Acueil'; called Bialacoil in Fragment B of the translation.

5857. Wel-Helinge, good concealment; F. 'Bien-Celer.'

5894. tan, taken; common in the Northern dialect. So, perhaps, in l. 5900.

5931. letting, hindrance; F. 'puisse empéeschier.' He cannot prevent another from having what he has himself paid for.

5953. According to one account, Aphrodite was the daughter of Cronos and Euonyme; and the Romans identified Aphrodite with Venus, and Cronos with Saturnus. The wife of Cronos was Rhea.

5962. Two of the fathers were Mars and Anchises; and there are several other legends about the loves of Venus.

5966. pole, pool; F. 'la palu d'enfer.'

5978. Here sparth, with trilled r, appears to be dissyllabic; cf. ll. 3962, 5047, 5484, 6025. Or supply with before gisarme.

5984. pulle, pluck; as in Prol. A 652, &c.

5988. 'Unless they continue to increase (F. sourdent) in his garner.'

6002. chinchy, niggardly. For grede read gnede, i. e. stingy (person); A. S. gnēð.

6006. beautee; F. 'volonte'; read leautee; see l. 5959.

6009. For wol read wolde; F. 'Tous les méisse."

6017. they; i. e. a number of barons; see l. 5812.

6024. 'They act like fools who are outrageous,' i. e. they act foolishly. F. 'Il ne feront mie que sage'; which seems to mean just the contrary.

6025. forsworn, with trilled r, seems to be trisyllabic; see note to l. 5978. But it is better to read forsworen.

6026. Ne lette, nor cease. Cf. l. 5967. But read let, pp. prevented.

6027. piment is much the same as clarree; in fact, in l. 5967, where the E. has clarree, the F. text has piment. Tyrwhitt says, s. v. clarre; 'wine mixed with honey and spices, and afterwards strained till it is clear. It is otherwise called Piment, as appears from the title of the following receipt, in the Medulla Cirurgiae Rolandi, MS. Bodl. 761, fol. 86: Claretum bonum, sive Pigmentum,' &c., shewing that piment is spiced wine, with a third part of honey; see Piment in Halliwell.

6033. vicaire, deputy. In Méon's edition, the F. text has: 'Ja n'i querés autres victaires'; but Kaluza quotes five MSS. that read vicaires.

6037. Lat ladies worche, let ladies deal.

6044. 'Shall there never remain to them' (F. demorra).

6057. This, a common contraction for This is; cf. E. 'tis; see 3548.

6068. King of harlots; F. 'rois des ribaus.' The sense is 'king of rascals.' There is a note on the subject in Méon's edition. It quotes Fauchet, Origine des Dignités, who says that the roi des ribauds was an officer of the king's palace, whose duty it was to clear out of it the men of bad character who had no business to be there. M. Méon quotes an extract from an order of the household of king Philippe, A.D. 1290:—'Le Roy des Ribaus, vi. d. de gages, une provende de xl. s. pour robbe pour tout l'an, et mengera à court et n'aura point de livraison.' It further appears that the title of Roi des ribaus was often jocularly conferred on any conspicuous vagabond; as e.g. on the chief of a gang of strolling minstrels. See the note at p. 369 of Political Songs, ed. T. Wright, where it is shewn that the ribaldi were usually 'the lowest class of retainers, who had no other mode of living than following the courts of the Barons, and who were employed on all kinds of disgraceful and wicked actions.' The word harlot had, in Middle English, a similar sense.

6078. mister, need, use; F. 'mestier.'

6083. 'Which I do not care should be mentioned'; cf. l. 6093, which means—'They do not care to hear such tales.'

6103. 'If I say anything to impair (or lessen) their fame.'

6111. Let, short for ledeth: 'that he leads his life secretly.'

6120. 'Whilst every one here hears.'

6146. to hulstred be, to be concealed; cf. A. S. heolstor, a hiding-place.

6149. Remember that the speaker is Fals-Semblant, who often speaks ironically; he explains that he has nothing to do with truly religious people, but he dotes upon hypocrites. See l. 6171.

6169. lete, let alone, abandon; lette gives no sense.

6186. 'They offer the world an argument.'

6192. 'Cucullus non facit monachum'; a proverb.

'Non tonsura facit monachum, nec horrida uestis,

Sed uirtus animi, perpetuusque rigor'; &c.

Alex. de Neckam (Michel).

6198. cut, for cutteth, cuts; F. trenche. 'Whom Guile cuts into thirteen branches.' I. e. Guile makes thirteen tonsured men at once; because the usual number in a convent was thirteen, viz. a prior and twelve friars.

6204. Gibbe, Gib (Gilbert); a common name for a tom-cat. Shak. has gib-cat, 1 Hen. IV. i. 2. 83. The F. text has Tibers, whence E. Tibert, Tybalt.

6205. A blank line in G.; Th. has—'That awayteth mice and rattes to killen,' which will not rime, and is spurious. I supply a line which, at any rate, rimes; went his wyle means 'turns aside his wiliness.' F. text—'Ne tent qu'a soris et a ras.'

6220. aresoneth, addresses him, talks to him.

6223. what, devel; i. e. what the devil.

6247. The legend of St. Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins, who were martyred by the Huns at Cologne in the middle of the fifth century, is mentioned by Alban Butler under the date of Oct. 21, and is told in the Legenda Aurea. The ciergis (in l. 6248) are wax-candles.

6256. Read mak'th, and (in 6255) the god-e.

6260. wolf; F. Sire Isangrin; such is the name given to the wolf in the Roman de Renard.

6264. wery, worry. Thynne has wirry. In P. Plowman, C. x. 226, we find the pl. wyryeth, with the various readings wirieth, werien, werrieth, wery. See wurȝen in Stratmann.

6267. treget, trickery; cf. Frank. Ta. F 1141, 1143.

6279. trepeget, a machine for casting stones; see trepeget in Halliwell, and my note to P. Plowman, A. xii. 91. A mangonel is a similar machine.

6280. pensel, banner; cf. P. Plowm. C. xix. 189. Short for penoncel.

6290. stuffen, furnish the wall with defenders.

6305. my lemman, my sweetheart (Abstinence); see l. 6341.

6317-8. Kaluza supplies the words within square brackets: G. has only 'But so sligh is the aperceyuyng,' followed by a blank line, in place of which Th. has the spurious line—'That al to late cometh knowyng.' F. text; 'Mès tant est fort la decevance Que trop est grief l'apercevance.'

6332. 'I am a man of every trade.'

6337. Sir Robert was a knight's name; Robin, that of a common man, as Robin Hood.

6338. Menour. The Friars Minors were the Franciscan, or Grey Friars; the Jacobins were the Dominicans, or Black Friars.

6339. loteby, wench; see P. Plowman, B. iii. 150, and note.

6341. Elsewhere called 'Streyned-Abstinence,' as in ll. 7325, 7366; F. 'Astenance-Contrainte,' i. e. Compulsory-Abstinence.

6345. I. e. 'Sometimes I wear women's clothes.'

6352. 'Trying all the religious orders.'

6354. All the copies wrongly have bete or beate for lete, i. e. leave. Some fancy the text is wrong, because Méon's edition has 'G'en pren le grain et laiz la paille.' But (says Kaluza) three MSS. have—'Je les le grain et pren la paille'; which better suits the context.

6355. To blynde, to hoodwink; F. 'avugler.' For blynde, G. and Th. actually have Ioly! I supply ther, i. e. where; for sense and metre.

6359. bere me, behave; were me, defend myself. The F. text varies.

6365. lette, hinder. The friars had power of absolution, independently of the bishop; and it was a bitter grievance.

6374. tregetry, a piece of trickery; see l. 6267.

6379. 'Through their folly, whether man or woman.'

6385. I. e. at Easter; see Pers. Tale, I 1027. See l. 6435.

6390. Note that the penitent is here supposed to address his own parish-priest. Thus he in l. 6391 means the friar.

6398. This is like the argument in the Somn. Ta. D 2095.

6418. I, for me, would be better grammar. As it stands, me is governed by pleyne, and I is understood. The F. text has: 'Si que ge m'en aille complaindre.'

6423. That is, the penitent will again apply to the friar.

6424. 'Whose name is not.' This means; such is his right name, but he does not answer to it; see l. 6428.

6425. 'He will occupy himself for me,' i. e. will take my part; see Chevise in the New E. Dict., sect. 4b.

6434. 'Unless you admit me to communion.'

6449. may never have might, will never be able. If the priest is not confessed to, he will not understand the sins of his flock.

6452. this, i. e. this is; see notes to ll. 3548, 6057.

6454. See Prov. xxvii. 23; and cf. John, x. 14.

6464. 'I care not a bean for the harm they can do me.'

6469. 'Shall lose, by the force of the blow.' The rime is a bad one.

6491. Read the acqueyntance, as in Th.; F. 'l'acointance.'

6500. yeve me dyne, give me something to dine off.

6532. Read thrittethe, i. e. thirtieth. See Prov. xxx. 8, 9.

6541, 2. Unnethe that he nis, it is hard if he is not; i. e. he probably is. micher, a petty thief, a purloiner; F. 'lierres.' See the examples of mich in Halliwell. For goddis, read god is; F. 'ou Diex est mentieres.' See Prov. xxx. 9.

6556. 'The simple text, and neglect the commentary.'

6571. bilden is here used as a pt. tense; 'built.' In the next line, read leye, lay, lodged. There is an allusion to the splendid houses built by the friars.

6584. Not in the F. text.

6585. writ, writeth. Alluding to St. Augustine's work De Opere Monachorum, shewing how monks ought to exercise manual labour. His arguments are here made to suit the friars.

6615. 'De Mendicantibus validis; Codex Justin. xi. 25. Justinian, whose celebrated code (called the Pandects) forms the basis of the Civil and Canon Law, was emperor of the Eastern Empire in 527.'—Bell.

6636. 'The allusion seems to be to Matt. xxiii. 14.'—Bell.

6645-52. Not in the F. text, ed. Méon; but found in some MSS.

6653. See Matt. xix. 21.

6665. Alluding, probably, to Eph. iv. 28.

6682. Alluding to Acts xx. 33-35.

6691. Alluding to St. Augustine's treatise De Opere Monachorum ad Aurelium episc. Carthaginensem. Of course he does not mention the Templars, &c.; these are only noticed by way of example.

6693. templers; 'the Knights Templars were founded in 1119 by Hugh de Paganis. Their habit was a white garment with a red cross on the breast. See Fuller, Holy Warre, ii. 16, v. 2.'—Bell. The Knights Hospitallers are described in the same work, ii. 4. The Knights of Malta belonged to this order.

6694. chanouns regulers, Canons living under a certain rule; see the Chan. Yemannes Tale.

6695. 'The White Monks were Cistercians, a reformed order of Benedictines; the Black, the unreformed.'—Bell.

6713. I may abey, 'I may suffer for it'; see Cant. Ta. C 100. The F. text varies.

6749. 'In the rescue of our law (of faith)'; i. e. of Christianity.

6763. William of Saint-Amour, a doctor of the Sorbonne, and a canon of Beauvais, about A.D. 1260, wrote a book against the friars, entitled De Periculis nouissimorum Temporum. He was answered by St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas, his book was condemned by Pope Alexander IV, and he was banished from France (see l. 6777). See the note in Méon's edition of Le Roman.

6782. This noble, this brave man; F. 'Le vaillant homme.'

6787. ich reneyed, that I should renounce.

6796. papelardye, hypocrisy; see note to l. 415.

6810. garners; i. e. their garners contain things of value.

6811. Taylagiers (not in F. text), tax gatherers. Cf. taillage, tax, tribute; P. Plowm. C. xxii. 37.

6814. 'The poor people must bow down to them.'

6819. wryen himself, cover himself, clothe himself.

6820. pulle, strip them, skin them. A butcher scalds a hog to make the hair come off more easily (Bell).

6824. 'And beguile both deceived men and deceivers.'

6831. entremees. Cotgrave has: 'Entremets, certain choice dishes served in between the courses at a feast.'

6834. 'For, when the great bag (of treasure) is empty, it comes right again (i. e. is filled again) by my tricks.'

6838. Quoted in the Freres Tale, D 1451.

6861. Bigyns, Beguines; these were members of certain lay sisterhoods in the Low Countries, from the twelfth century onwards.

6862. palasyns (F. dames palasines), ladies connected with the court. Allied to F. palais, palace; cf. E. palatine.

6875. Ayens me, in comparison with me.

6887-6922. See Matt. xxiii. 1-8.

6911. burdens, repeated from ll. 6902, 6907, is clearly wrong. Perhaps read borders; F. 'philateres.'

6912. hemmes, borders of their garments, on which were phylacteries.

6948. our alder dede, the action of us all.

6952. parceners, partners; see Partner in my Etym. Dict.

6964. See 2 Cor. vi. 10.

6971. 'I intermeddle with match-makings.' See my note to P. Plowman, C. iii. 92 (B. ii. 87); and cf. Ch. Prol. A 212.

6976. I. e. 'yet it is no real business of mine.'

7000. The friars did not seek retirement, like the monks.

7016. ravisable (F. ravissables), ravenous, ravening; Matt. vii. 15.

7017. Imitated from Matt. xxiii. 15.

7018. werreyen, war; F. 'avons pris guerre.'

7022. bougerons, sodomites; see Godefroy; F. 'bogres.' This long sentence goes on to l. 7058; if (7021) is answered by He shal (7050).

7029. In G. and Th., thefe has become these, by confusion of f with long s; hence also or has become that. But the F. text has—'Ou lerres ou simoniaus.'

7038. But, unless; unless the sinners bribe the friars.

7043. caleweys, sweet pears of Cailloux in Burgundy. See my note to P. Plowman, B. xvi. 69. pullaille, poultry.

7044. coninges, conies, rabbits; F. 'connis.'

7049. groine, murmur; see note to Kn. Ta. A 2460.

7050. loigne, a length, long piece; see l. 3882.

7057. smerten, smart for; F. 'sera pugni.'

7063. vounde (so in G. and Th.), if a genuine word, can only be another form of founde, pp. of the strong verb finden, to find. I suppose 'found stone' to mean good building-stone, found in sufficient quantities in the neighbourhood of a site for a castle. The context shews that it here means stone of the first quality, such as could be wrought with the squire (mason's square) and to any required scantilone (scantling, pattern). The general sense clearly is, that the friars oppress the weak, but not the strong. If a man is master of a castle, they let him off easily, even if the castle be not built of freestone of the first quality, wrought by first-rate workmen. (Or read founded.)

7071. sleightes, missiles. The translator could think of no better word, because the context is jocular. If the lord of the castle pelted the friars, not exactly with stones, but with barrels of wine and other acceptable things, then the friars took his part.

7076. equipolences, equivocations. The next line suggests that he should refrain from coarse and downright lies (lete = let alone).

7089. 'And if it had not been for the good keeping (or watchfulness) of the University of Paris.' Alluding to William de St. Amour and his friends; see ll. 6554, 6766.

7092. See the footnote. We must either read They had been turmented (as I give it) or else We had turmented (as in Bell). I prefer They, because it is a closer translation, and suits better with Such in the next line.

7093. I insert fals, for the metre; it is countenanced by traitours in l. 7087. The reference is to the supporters of the book mentioned below.

7102. The book here spoken of really emanated from the friars, but was too audacious to succeed, and hence Fals-Semblant, for decency's sake, is made to denounce it. We may note how the keen satire of Jean de Meun contrives to bring in a mention of this work, under the guise of a violent yet half-hearted condemnation of it by a representative of the friars.

The book appeared in 1255 (as stated in the text), and was called Euangelium Eternum, siue Euangelium Spiritus Sancti. It was compiled by some Dominican and Franciscan friars, from notes made by an abbot named Joachim, and from the visions of one Cyril, a Carmelite. It is thus explained in Southey's Book of the Church, chap. xi. 'The opinion which they started was ... that there should be three Dispensations, one from each Person. That of the Father had terminated when the Law was abolished by the Gospel; ... the uses of the Gospel were obsolete; and in its place, they produced a book, in the name of the Holy Ghost, under the title of the Eternal Gospel.... In this, however, they went too far: the minds of men were not yet subdued to this. The Eternal Gospel was condemned by the church; and the Mendicants were fain to content themselves with disfiguring the religion which they were not allowed to set aside.'

7108. 'In the porch before the cathedral of Notre Dame, at Paris.' A school was for some time held in this porch; and books could be bought there, or near it. Any one could there buy this book, 'to copy it, if the desire took him.'

7113. This is a quotation from the Eternal Gospel. L. 7118 means: 'I am not mocking you in saying this; the quotation is a true one.'

7116. troubler, dimmer; F. 'plus troble.'

7152. This shews that Fals-Semblaunt does not really condemn the book; he only says it is best to suppress it for the present, till Antichrist comes to strengthen the friars' cause. The satire is of the keenest. Note that, in l. 7164, Fals-Semblaunt shamelessly calls the Eternal Gospel 'our book.' See also ll. 7211-2.

7173. I am obliged to supply two lines by guess here, to make out the sense. The F. text has:—

'Par Pierre voil le Pape entendre,

Et les clers seculiers comprendre

Qui la loi Iesu-Crist tendront,' &c.

I. e. By Peter I wish you to understand the pope, and to include also the secular clerks, &c. John represents the friars (l. 7185).

7178. I. e. 'against those friars who maintain all (this book), and falsely teach the people; and John betokens those (the friars) who preach, to the effect that there is no law so suitable as that Eternal Gospel, sent by the Holy Ghost to convert such as have gone astray.' The notion is, that the teaching of John (the type of the law of love, as expounded by the friars) is to supersede the teaching of Peter (the type of the pope and other obsolete secular teachers). Such was the 'Eternal Gospel'; no wonder that the Pope condemned it as being too advanced.

7197-7204. Obscure; and not fully in the F. text.

7217. The mother of Faux-Semblaunt was Hypocrisy (l. 6779).

7227. 'But he who dreads my brethren more than Christ subjects himself to Christ's wrath.'

7243. patren, to repeat Pater-nosters; see Plowm. Crede, 6.

7256. Beggers is here used as a proper name, answering to F. Beguins. The Beguins, members of certain lay brotherhoods which arose in the Low Countries in the beginning of the thirteenth century, were also called Beguards or Begards, which in E. became Beggars. There can be now no doubt that the mod. E. beggar is the same word, and the verb to beg was merely evolved from it. See the articles on Beg, Beggar, Beghard, and Beguine in the New E. Dict. All these names were derived from a certain Lambert Bègue. The Béguins were condemned at the council of Cologne in 1261, and at the general council of Vienne, in 1311. It seems probable that the term Beggars (Beguins) is here used derisively; the people really described seem to be the Franciscan friars, also called Gray friars; see l. 7258.

7259. fretted, ornamented, decked; from A. S. frætwian, to adorn; cf. l. 4705, and Leg. of Good Women, 1117; here ironical.

tatarwagges, ragged shreds, i. e. patches coarsely sewn on. See tatter in my Etym. Dict. The ending -wagges is allied to wag.

The F. text has: 'Toutes fretelées de crotes,' which means all bedaubed with dirt; see frestelé in Godefroy. The translation freely varies from the original, in a score of places. See next line.

7260. knopped, knobbed, dagges, clouts, patches. A more usual sense of dagge is a strip of cloth; see dagge in Stratmann.

7261. frouncen, shew wrinkles; cf. ll. 155, 3137. The comparison to a quail-pipe seems like a guess; in the F. text, we have Hosiaus froncis, wrinkled hose, and 'large boots like a borce à caillier,' said (in Méon) to mean a net for quails. Any way, the translation is sufficiently inaccurate.

7262. riveling, shewing wrinkles; gype, a frock or cassock; cf. gipoun in Prol. A 75.

7265. Take, betake, offer.

7282. Here again, Beggar answers to F. Beguin; see l. 7256.

7283. papelard, hypocrite; see l. 6796 and note to l. 415.

7288. casting, vomit; see 2 Pet. ii. 22.

7302. See note to l. 6068.

7316. 'Read flayn for slayn; F. Tant qu'il soit escorchiés.'—Kaluza.

7325. Streyned, constrained; F. 'Contrainte-Astenance.'

7348. batels, battalions, squadrons; see Gloss. to Barbour's Bruce.

7363. in tapinage, in secret. Cotgrave has: 'Tapinois, en tapinois, Crooching, lurking ... also, covertly, secretly.' Also: 'Tapineux, lurking, secret'; 'Tapi, hidden'; 'Tapir, to hide; se tapir, to lurk.'

7367. camelyne, a stuff made of camel's hair, or resembling it.

7372. peire of bedis, set of beads, rosary; see Prol. A 159.

7374. bede, might bid; pt. s. subjunctive.

7388. I. e. they often kissed each other.

7392. that salowe horse, that pale horse; Rev. vi. 8.

7403. burdoun, staff; F. 'bordon'; see ll. 3401, 4092.

7406. elengeness, cheerlessness; F. 'soussi,' i. e. souci, care, anxiety. See Wyf of B. Ta. D 1199.

7408. saynt, probably 'girt,' i. e. with a girdle on him like that of a Cordelier (Franciscan). The F. has 'qui bien se ratorne,' who attires himself well. (The epithet 'saint' is weak.) A better spelling would be ceint, but no other example of the word occurs. We find, however, the sb. ceint, a girdle, in the Prol. A 329, spelt seint in MS. Ln., and seynt in MSS. Cm. and Hl. ie vous dy, I tell you, occurs in the Somn. Ta. D 1832.

7422. Coupe-Gorge, Cut-throat; F. 'Cope-gorge.'

7455. Joly Robin, Jolly Robin, a character in a rustic dance; see Troil. v. 1174, and note.

7456. Jacobin, a Jacobin or Dominican friar. They were also called Black Friars and Friars Preachers (as in l. 7458). Their black robes gave them a melancholy appearance.

7459. 'They would but wickedly sustain (the fame of) their order, if they became jolly minstrels.'

7461. Augustins, Austin Friars; Cordileres, Cordeliers, Franciscan Friars; Carmes, Carmelites, or White Friars; Sakked Friars, Friars of the Sack. The orders of friars were generally counted as four; see note to Prol. A 210. These were the Dominican, Austin, Franciscan, and Carmelite Friars, all of whom had numerous houses in England. There were also Croutched Friars and Friars de Penitentia or de Sacco. The last had houses at Cambridge, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Lynne, Newcastle, Norwich, Oxford, and Worcester; see Godwin, Archæologist's Handbook, p. 178.

7467. 'But you will never, in any argument, see that a good result can be concluded from the mere outward appearance, when the inward substance has wholly failed.' Cf. Hous of Fame, 265-6.

7492. fisshen, fish for; see Somn. Ta. D 1820. Cf. Matt. iv. 19.

7520. We are here referred back to ll. 3815-3818, where Wicked-Tongue reports evil about the author (here called the 'young man') and Bialacoil (here called Fair-Welcoming).

7534. 'You have also caused the man to be chased.'

7538. The repetition of thought (in the rime) is correct; the F. text repeats pensee.

7562. 'Meditate there, you sluggard, all day.'

7573. 'Take it not amiss; it were a good deed.'

7578. F. text—'Vous en irez où puis [pit] d'enfer.' And, for puis, some MSS. have cul; a fact which at once sets aside the argument in Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer, ii. 119.

7581. 'What? you are anything but welcome.'

7588. tregetours, deceivers; cf. treget above, l. 6267.

7605. bemes, trumpets; see Ho. Fame, 1240.

7628. come, coming; see cume in Stratmann.

7633. 'You would necessarily see him so often.'

7645. 'The blame (lit. the ill will) would be yours.' For the use of maugre as a sb., compare l. 4399.

7664. Iolyly, especially; a curious use; F. 'bien.'

7680. 1. 'To shrive folk that are of the highest dignity, as long as the world lasts.' So in the F. text.

7682. I. e. the Mendicant friars had license to shrive in any parish whatever.

7693. 'To read (i. e. give lectures) in divinity'; a privilege reserved for doctors of divinity.

7694. Here G. merely has a wrong half-line:—'And longe haue red'; with which it abruptly ends, the rest of the page being blank, except that explicit is written, lower down, on the same page.

The last four lines in the F. text are:—

'Se vous volés ci confessier,

Et ce pechié sans plus lessier

Sans faire en jamés mencion,

Vous auréz m'asolucion.'

The last of these lines is l. 12564 in Méon's edition. The last line in the whole poem is l. 22052; leaving 9488 lines untranslated, in addition to the gap of 5546 lines of the F. text at the end of Fragment B. Thus the three fragments of the translation make up less than a third of the original.

The fact that Thynne gives the last six lines correctly shews that his print was not made from the Glasgow MS. Indeed, it frequently preserves words which that MS. omits.

NOTES

THE MINOR POEMS.

I. An A B C.

This poem is a rather free translation of a similar poem by Guillaume de Deguileville, as pointed out in the Preface, p. . The original is quoted beneath the English text.

Explanations of the harder words should, in general, be sought for in the Glossarial Index, though a few are discussed in the Notes.

The language of this translation is, for the most part, so simple, that but few passages call for remark. I notice, however, a few points.

Chaucer has not adhered to the complex metre of the original, but uses a stanza of eight lines of five accents in place of de Deguileville's stanza of twelve lines of four accents.

3. Dr. Koch calls attention to the insertion of a second of, in most of the MSS., before sorwe. Many little words are often thus wrongly inserted into the texts of nearly all the Minor Poems, simply because, when the final e ceased to be sounded, the scribes regarded some lines as imperfect. Here, for example, if sinne be regarded as monosyllabic, a word seems required after it; but when we know that Chaucer regarded it as a dissyllabic word, we at once see that MSS. Gg. and Jo. (which omit this second of) are quite correct. We know that sinne is properly a dissyllabic word in Chaucer, because he rimes it with the infinitives biginne (Cant. Ta. C 941) and winne (same, D 1421), and never with such monosyllables as kin or tin. This is easily tested by consulting Mr. Cromie's very useful Rime-index to the Canterbury Tales. The above remark is important, on account of its wide application. The needless insertions of little words in many of the 15th-century MSS. are easily detected.

4. Scan the line by reading—Glorióus virgín', of all-e flóur-es flóur. Cf. l. 49.

6. Debonaire, gracious lady; used as a sb. Compare the original, l. 11.

8. Answers to l. 6 of the original—'Vaincu m'a mon aversaire.' Perhaps Venquisht is here the right form; similarly, in the Squieres Tale, F 342, the word vanisshed is to be read as vanísh'd, with the accent on the second syllable, and elision of e. See Ten Brink, Chaucers Sprache, § 257. Otherwise, read Venquis-shed m'hath; cf. mexcuse, XVI. 37 (p. ).

11. Warne, reject, refuse to hear. So in P. Plowman, C. xxiii. 12, 'whanne men hym werneth' means 'when men refuse to give him what he asks for.'

12. Free, liberal, bounteous. So in Shak. Troilus, iv. 5. 100—'His heart and hand both open and both free.' It may be remarked, once for all, that readers frequently entirely misunderstand passages in our older authors, merely because they forget what great changes may take place in the sense of words in the course of centuries.

13. Largesse, i. e. the personification of liberality; 'thou bestowest perfect happiness.'

14. Cf. original, l. 15—'Quer [for] tu es de salu porte.' Scan by reading—Háv'n of refút. But in l. 33, we have réfut.

15. Theves seven, seven robbers, viz. the seven deadly sins. We could easily guess that this is the meaning, but it is needless; for the original has—'Par sept larrons, pechies mortez,' l. 17; and a note in the Sion Coll. MS. has—'i. seven dedly synnes.' The theme of the Seven Deadly Sins is one of the commonest in our old authors; it is treated of at great length in Chaucer's Persones Tale, and in Piers Plowman.

16. 'Ere my ship go to pieces'; this graphic touch is not in the original.

17. Yow, you. In addressing a superior, it was customary to use the words ye and you, as a mark of respect; but, in prayer, the words thou and thee were usual. Hence, Chaucer has mixed the two usages in a very remarkable way, and alternates them suddenly. Thus, we have thee in l. 5, thou in l. 6, &c., but yow in l. 17, thy in l. 19, you in l. 24; and so on. We even find the plural verbs helpen, l. 104; Beth, l. 134; and ben, l. 176.

20. Accioun, action, is here used in the legal sense; 'my sin and confusion have brought an action (i. e. plead) against me.' It is too close a copy of the original, l. 25—'Contre moy font une accion.'

21. I. e. 'founded upon rigid justice and a sense of the desperate nature of my condition.' Cf. 'Rayson et desperacion Contre moy veulent maintenir'; orig. l. 29. Maintenir, to maintain an action, is a legal term. So, in l. 22, sustene means 'sustain the plea.'

24. 'If it were not for the mercy (to be obtained) from you.'

25. Literally—'There is no doubt that thou art not the cause'; meaning, 'Without doubt, thou art the cause.' Misericorde is adopted from the original. According to the usual rule, viz. that the syllable er is usually slurred over in Chaucer when a vowel follows, the word is to be read as mis'ricord-e. So also sov'reyn, l. 69.

27. Vouched sauf, vouchsafed. Tacorde, to accord; cf. talyghte, tamende, &c. in the Cant. Tales.

29. Cf. 'S'encore fust l'arc encordé'; orig, l. 47; and 'l'arc de justice,' l. 42. The French expression is probably borrowed (as suggested in Bell's Chaucer) from Ps. vii. 13—'arcum suum tetendit.' Hence the phrase of Iustice and of yre refers to the bowe.

30. First, at first, before the Incarnation.

36. For examples of the use of great assize, or last assize, to signify the Last Judgment, see the New E. Dict., s. v. Assize.

39. Most MSS. read here—'That but thou er [or or] that day correcte me'; this cannot be right, because it destroys the rime. However, the Bedford MS., instead of correcte me, has Me chastice; and in MS. C me chastyse is written over an erasure (doubtless of the words correcte me). Even thus, the line is imperfect, but is completed by help of the Sion MS., which reads me weel chastyce.

40. Of verrey right, in strict justice; not quite as in l. 21.

41. Rather close to the original—'Fuiant m'en viens a ta tente Moy mucier pour la tormente Qui ou monde me tempeste,' &c. Mucier means 'to hide,' and ou means 'in the,' F. au.

45. Al have I, although I have. So in l. 157.

49. MS. Gg. has Gracyouse; but the French has Glorieuse.

50. Bitter; Fr. text 'amere.' The allusion is to the name Maria, Gk. Μαρία, Μαριάμ, the same as Miriam, which is explained to mean 'bitterness,' as being connected with Marah, i. e. bitterness; see Exod. xv. 23 (Gesenius). Scan the line by reading: neíth'r in érth-ë nór.