23. or who: 'Aut quis ualeat nescita sequi? Quoue inueniat, quisue repertam Queat ignarus noscere formam?'

26. But whan: not a statement, as here taken, but a question. 'An cùm mentem cerneret altam Pariter summam et singula norat?' The translation is quite incorrect, and the passage is difficult. The reference seems to be to the supposition that the soul, apart from the body, sees both universals and particulars, but its power in the latter respect is impeded by the body; ideas taken from Plato's Meno and Phædo.

32, 33. withholdeth, retains: 'tenet.' singularitees, particulars: 'singula.'

34. in neither nother, put for in ne either ne other, i.e. not in one nor in the other; or, in modern English, 'he is neither in one position nor the other': 'Neutro est habitu.' This curious phrase is made clearer by comparing it with the commoner either other. Thus, in P. Plowman, B. v. 148: 'either despiseth other'; in the same, B. v. 164: 'eyther hitte other'; and again, in B. xi. 173: 'that alle manere men .. Louen her eyther other'; and, in B. vii. 138: 'apposeden either other'; and lastly, in B. xvi. 207: 'either is otheres Ioye.'

36. retreteth, reconsiders: 'altè uisa retractans.'

Prose 4. 2. Marcus Tullius, i.e. Cicero; De Diuinatione, lib. ii. 60.

8. moeven to: 'ad diuinae praescientiae simplicitatem non potest admoueri.'

15. y-spended, spent; but the right sense of the Latin is weighed or considered: 'si prius ea quibus moueris, expendero.'

22. from elles-where: 'aliunde'; compare Chaucer's gloss.

24. unbityde, not happen: 'non euenire non possunt.'

27. thou thyself. The reference is to Bk. v. Pr. 3. l. 27, above—'ne it ne bihoveth nat, nedes, that thinges bityden that ben purvyed.'

28, 9. what cause: 'quid est, quod uoluntarii exitus rerum ad certum cogantur euentum?' endes, results: 'exitus;' and so again below.

30. by grace of position, for the sake of a supposition, by way of supposition: 'positionis gratia.' Cf. Chaucer's use of pose for 'suppose' in the next line. The reading possessioun (in both MSS.) is obviously wrong; it sounds as if taken down from dictation.

31. I pose, I suppose, I put the case: 'statuamus nullam esse praescientiam.' The words 'per impossibile' are inserted by Chaucer, and mean, 'to take an impossible case.'

56. But, certes, right; only, indeed, just as, &c. It is difficult to give the right force intended; and, probably, Chaucer quite mistook the sense. 'Quasi uero nos ea, quae prouidentia futura esse praenoscit, non esse euentura credamus.'

62. in the torninge: 'in quadrigis moderandis atque flectendis.'

63. And by: 'atque ad hunc modum caetera.'

100. and for that this thing shal mowen shewen, and in order that this may appear (lit. may be able to appear). The whole clause merely means—'And to make this clearer by an easy example.' Lat. 'Nam ut hoc breui liqueat exemplo.'

101. roundnesse is here in the objective case: 'eandem corporis rotunditatem aliter uisus aliter tactus agnoscit.'

107. And the man: 'Ipsum quoque hominem.' wit, i.e. sense. The 'five wits' were the five senses.

113. spece, species. peces, parts; in the singuler peces, i.e. in the particular parts.

114. intelligence, understanding; 'intelligentiae.'

115. universitee, that which is universal: 'uniuersitatis ambitum.'

133. by a strok: 'illo uno ictu mentis formaliter.'

137. diffinissheth, defines the universality of her conception.

Metre 4. 1. The Porche; in Latin, Porticus; in Gk. στοά, a roofed colonnade or porch in Athens, frequented by Zeno and his followers, who hence obtained the name of Stoics.

10. Text. The Latin text continues thus:—

11. pointel; see note to Somn. Tale, D 1742. And cf. Troilus, i. 365; Cant. Ta. E 1581, 2.

15. But yif:

32. passioun, passive feeling, impression: 'passio.'

Prose 5. 1. But what yif ... and al be it so, Nevertheless, even if it be so: 'Quod si ... quamuis.'

4. entalenten, affect, incline, stimulate: 'afficiant.'

18. For the wit, i.e. the sense, the external senses.

21. as oystres ... see: the Latin merely has: 'quales sunt conchae maris.'

23. remuable, capable of motion from place to place: 'mobilibus belluis.'

talent, inclination, desire, wish: 'affectus.'

30. But how ... yif that, but how will it be if?

33. that that that, that that thing which.

35. ne that ther nis, so that there is: 'nec quicquam esse sensibile.'

49. maner stryvinge, sort of strife: 'In huiusmodi igitur lite.'

62. parsoneres, partners of, endowed with. The modern partner represents the M. E. parcener, variant of parsoner, from O. F. parsonier, representing a Latin form *partitionarius. Lat. 'participes.'

66. For which: 'Quare in illius summae intelligentiae cacumen, si possumus, erigamur.'

Metre 5. 1. passen by, move over: 'permeant.'

6. by moist fleeinge: 'liquido ... uolatu.' gladen hemself, delight: 'gaudent.'

7. with hir goings ... feet: 'gressibus.'

9. to walken under, to enter: 'subire.'

10. enclined, i.e. enclined earthwards: 'Prona.'

11. hevieth, oppresses: 'Prona tamen facies hebetes ualet ingrauare sensus.' From Aristotle, On the Parts of Animals, Bk. iv. Διὸ πλείονος γενομένου τοῦ βάρους καὶ τοῦ σωματώδους, ἀνάγκη ῥέπειν τὰ σώματα πρὸς τὴν γῆν (chap. 10). As to the upright carriage of man, see the same chapter. Cf. Ovid, Met. i. 84, and see note to Chaucer's 'Truth,' l. 19.

12. light, i.e. not bowed down: 'leuis recto stat corpore.'

14. axest, seemest to seek: 'caelum ... petis.'

Prose 6. 21. as Aristotle demed; in De Caelo, lib. i.

33. present: 'et sui compos praesens sibi semper assistere.'

42. Plato. This notion is found in Proclus and Plotinus, and other followers of Plato; but Plato himself really expressed a contrary opinion, viz. that the world had a definite beginning. See his Timæus.

48. For this ilke: 'Hunc enim uitae immobilis praesentarium statum infinitus ille temporalium rerum motus imitatur; cumque eum effingere atque aequare non possit, ex immobilitate deficit in motum, et ex simplicitate praesentiae decrescit in infinitam futuri ac praeteriti quantitatem;' &c.

53. disencreseth; a clumsy form for decreseth: 'decrescit.'

65. therfor it: 'infinitum temporis iter arripuit.'

81. it is science: 'sed scientiam nunquam deficientis instantiae rectius aestimabis.'

82. For which: 'Unde non praeuidentia, sed prouidentia, potius dicitur.' The footnote to l. 83 is wrong, as Dr. Furnivall's reprint of MS. C. is here at fault. That MS. (like MS. Ii. 1. 38) has here the correct reading 'preuydence,' without any gloss at all. The gloss 'prouidentia' belongs to the word 'purviaunce.' Hence the reading 'previdence,' which I thought to be unsupported, is really supported by two good MSS.

86. Why axestow ... thanne: 'Quid igitur postulas?'

112. he ne unwot: 'quod idem exsistendi necessitate carere non nesciat.'

116. it ne may nat unbityde: 'id non euenire non posse.'

119. but unnethe: 'sed cui uix aliquis nisi diuini speculator accesserit.'

150, 1. in beinge, in coming to pass: 'exsistendo.'

by the which: 'qua prius quam fierent, etiam non euenire potuissent.' MS. C. has the contraction for 'que,' i.e. 'quae'; but Chaucer clearly adopted the reading 'qua.' The usual reading is 'quia' or 'quae.'

154. so as they comen, since they come: 'cum ... eueniant.'

159. the sonne arysinge. See above, p. 148, l. 102: 'Right so,' &c.

185. And thilke: 'illa quoque noscendi uices alternare uideatur?'

191. For the devyne: 'Omne namque futurum diuinus praecurrit intuitus, et ad praesentiam propriae cognitionis retorquet ac reuocat.' Hence retorneth hem means 'makes them return.'

193. ne he ne: 'nec alternat, ut existimas, nunc hoc, nunc illud praenoscendi uices; sed uno ictu mutationes tuas manens praeuenit atque complectitur.'

199. a litel her-biforn. See above, Bk. v. Pr. 3, ll. 62-65; &c.

207. purposen, propose, assign: 'proponunt.'

208. to the willinges: 'solutis omni necessitate uoluntatibus.'

211. renneth ... with, concurs with: 'concurrit.'

214. put, set: 'positae.' that ne mowen: 'quae cum rectae sunt, inefficaces esse non possunt.'

217. areys thy corage: 'animum subleuate.' yilde: 'humiles preces in excelsa porrigite.'

220. sin that ye: 'cum ante oculos agitis iudicis cuncta cernentis.' With the word 'cernentis' the Lat. treatise ends.

The words—'To whom ... Amen' occur in the Cambridge MS. only; and, in all probability, were merely added by the scribe. However, the Latin copy in that MS. adds, after 'cernentis,' the following: 'Qui est dominus noster Iesus Christus, cui sit honor et gloria in secula seculorum. Amen.'

NOTES TO TROILUS.

BOOK I.

I must refer the student to Mr. Rossetti's work (Chaucer Soc. 1875) for a detailed comparison of Chaucer's poem with the Filostrato of Boccaccio. The following table roughly indicates the portions of these works which are more or less similar, down to the end of Book I. Similar tables are prefixed to the Notes on the other books. It often happens that a stanza in Chaucer has a mere general resemblance to the corresponding one in Boccaccio. The lines in Chaucer not mentioned below are, in the main, original; e.g. 1-20, 31-56, &c.; and so are many others that cannot be here more exactly specified.

2. 'That was the son of King Priam of Troy.'

5. fro ye, from you; observe the rime. The form ye is not here the nom. case, but the unemphatic form of the acc. you; pronounced (yə), where (ə) is the indefinite vowel, like the a in China. So in Shak. Two Gent. iv. 1. 3, 4, we have about ye (unemphatic) in l. 3, and you twice in l. 4.

6. Thesiphone, Tisiphone, one of the Furies, invoked as being a 'goddess of torment.' Cf. 'furial pyne of helle,' Sq. Ta. F 448.

13. fere, companion; viz. Tisiphone.

16. 'Nor dare pray to Love,' &c.

21. Cf. Boccaccio: 'Tuo sia l'onore, e mio si sia l'affanno,' Fil. I. st. 5. And see ll. 1042, 3 below.

57. Here begins the story; cf. Fil. I. st. 7. Bell remarks that 'a thousand shippes,' in l. 58, may have been suggested by 'mille carinae' in Verg. Æn. ii. 198; cf. 'anni decem' in the same line, with l. 60.

67. Read éxpert. Calkas is Homer's Calchas, Il. i. 69. He was a Greek, but Guido makes him a Trojan, putting him in the place of Homer's Chryses. See the allit. Troy-book, 7886.

70. Delphicus, of Delphi; cf. Ovid, Met. ii. 543.

77. Ye, yea. wolde who-so nolde, whoever wished it or did not wish it. This idiomatic phrase is thus expressed in the MSS. Bell's edition has wold who so or nolde, where the e in wolde is suppressed and the word or inserted without authority. I hesitate, as an editor, to alter an idiomatic phrase. Cf. will he, nill he, in which there is no or.

91. 'Deserve to be burnt, both skin and bones.'

99. Criseyde; Boccaccio has Griseida, answering to Homer's Χρυσηΐδα, Il. i. 143. It was common, in the Middle Ages, to adopt the accusative form as the standard one, especially in proper names. Her father was Chryses; see note to l. 67. But Benoît de Sainte-Maure calls her Briseida, and Chryseis and Briseis seem to have been confused. The allit. Troy-book has Bresaide; l. 8029.

119. 'While it well pleases you'; good is used adverbially. Ital. 'mentre t' aggrada.'

125. 'And would have done so oftener, if,' &c.

126. and hoom, and (went) home.

132, 133. This is a curious statement, and Chaucer's object in making it is not clear. Boccaccio says expressly that she had neither son nor daughter (st. 15); and Benoît (l. 12977) calls her 'la pucele.'

136. som day, one day; used quite generally.

138. 'And thus Fortune wheeled both of them up and down again.' Alluding to the wheel of Fortune; see the Ballade on Fortune, l. 46, and note.

145. Troyane gestes, Trojan history; cf. the title of Guido delle Colonne's book, viz. 'Historia Troiana,' which Chaucer certainly consulted, as shewn by several incidents in the poem.

146. Omer, Homer; whose account was considered untrustworthy by the medieval writers; see Ho. Fame, 1477, and note. Dares, Dares Phrygius; Dyte, Dictys Cretensis; see notes to Ho. Fame, 1467, 1468. These three authors really mean Guido delle Colonne, who professed to follow them.

153. Palladion, the Palladium or sacred image of Pallas, on the keeping of which the safety of Troy depended. It was stolen from Troy by Diomede and Ulysses; see Æneid, ii. 166. But Chaucer doubtless read the long account in Guido delle Colonne.

171. Hence Henrysoun, in his Testament of Criseyde, st. 12, calls her 'the flower and A-per-se Of Troy and Greece.' Cf. 'She was a woman A-per-se, alon'; Romance of Partenay, 1148. Boccaccio's image is much finer; he says that she surpassed other women as the rose does the violet. On the other hand, l. 175 is Chaucer's own.

172. makelees, matchless, peerless; cf. A.S. gemaca.

189. lakken, to blame; see P. Pl. B. v. 132.

192. bayten, feed, feast (metaphorically); E. bait.

205. Ascaunces, as if; in l. 292, the Ital. text has Quasi dicesse, as if she said. See Cant. Ta. D 1745, G 838. It is tautological, being formed from E. as and the O.F. quanses, as if (Godefroy); so that the literal force is 'as as if.'

210. 'And nevertheless [or, still] he (Cupid) can pluck as proud a peacock (as was Troilus).' Cf. Prol. A 652.

214-266. These lines are Chaucer's own.

217. falleth, happens; ne wenden, would not expect. In Ray's Proverbs, ed. 1737, p. 279, is a Scotch proverb—'All fails that fools thinks' (sic); which favours the alternative reading given in the footnote.

218. Bayard, a name for a bay horse; see Can. Yem. Ta. G 1413.

229. wex a-fere, became on fire. Fere is a common Southern form, as a variant of fyre, though a-fyre occurs in Ho. Fame, 1858. The A.S. vowel is ȳ, the A.S. form being fȳr.

239. 'Has proved (to be true), and still does so.'

257. 'The stick that will bend and ply is better than one that breaks.' Compare the fable of the Oak and the Reed; see bk. ii. 1387.

266. ther-to refere, revert thereto. Halliwell gives: 'Refeere, to revert; Hoccleve.' Chaucer here ends his own remarks, and goes back to the Filostrato.

292. Ascaunces, as if (she said); see note to l. 205.

316. awhaped, amazed, stupefied; see Anelida, 215; Leg. of Good Women, 132, 814, 2321; he was 'not utterly confounded,' but only dazed; cf. l. 322.

327. borneth, burnishes, polishes up; i.e. makes bright and cheerful. The rime shews that it is a variant spelling of burneth; cf. burned, burnished, Ho. Fame, 1387; Kn. Ta. A 1983.

MS. Harl. 3943 has vnournith, an error for anorneth, adorns; with a like sense.

333. Him tit, to him betideth; tit is for tydeth.

336. ordre, sect, brotherhood; a jesting allusion to the religious orders. So also ruled = under a religious rule.

337. noun-certeyn, uncertainty; cf. O.F. noncerteit, uncertainty (Godefroy); nounpower, want of power (P. Plowman); and F. nonchalance. Again spelt noun-certeyn, Compl. Venus, 46.

340. lay, law, ordinance; see Sq. Ta. F 18.

344. 'But observe this—that which ye lovers often avoid, or else do with a good intention, often will thy lady misconstrue it,' &c.

363. a temple, i.e. in the temple.

381. First stands alone in the first foot. Cf. ll. 490, 603, 811.

385. Yelt, short for yeldeth, yields.

394. writ, writeth. Lollius; Chaucer's reason for the use of this name is not known. Perhaps we may agree with Dr. Latham, who suggested (in a letter to the Athenæum, Oct. 3, 1868, p. 433), that Chaucer misread this line in Horace (Epist. i. 2. 1), viz. 'Troiani belli scriptorem, maxime Lolli'; and thence derived the notion that Lollius wrote on the Trojan war. This becomes the more likely if we suppose that he merely saw this line quoted apart from the context. Chaucer does not seem to have read Horace for himself. As a matter of fact, ll. 400-420 are translated from the 88th sonnet of Petrarch. See note to Ho. of Fame, 1468. The following is the text of Petrarch's sonnet:

In l. 401, whiche means 'of what kind.'

425. Ital. text—'Non so s'io dico a donna, ovvero a dea'; Fil. I. 38. Cf. Æneid, i. 327. Hence the line in Kn. Ta. A 1101.

457. That; in modern E., we should use But, or else said not for seyde.

463. Fled-de is here a plural form, the pp. being treated as an adjective. Cf. sprad-de, iv. 1422; whet-te, v. 1760.

464. savacioun; Ital. 'salute.' Mr. Rossetti thinks that salute here means 'well-being' or 'health'; and perhaps savacioun is intended to mean the same, the literal sense being 'safety.'

465. fownes, fawns; see Book of the Duch. 429. It is here used, metaphorically, to mean 'young desires' or 'fresh yearnings.' This image is not in Boccaccio.

470. I take the right reading to be felle, as in Cm. Ed., with the sense 'destructive.' As it might also mean 'happened,' other MSS. turned it into fille, which makes a most awkward construction. The sense is: 'The sharp destructive assaults of the proof of arms [i.e. which afforded proof of skill in fighting], which Hector and his other brothers performed, not once made him move on that account only'; i.e. when he exerted himself, it was not for mere fighting's sake. Chaucer uses fel elsewhere; the pl. felle is in Troil. iv. 44; and see Cant. Ta. D 2002, B 2019. For preve, proof, see l. 690.

473, 4. riden and abiden (with short i) rime with diden, and are past tenses plural. l. 474 is elliptical: 'found (to be) one of the best, and (one of those who) longest abode where peril was.'

483. the deeth, i.e. the pestilence, the plague.

488. title, a name; he said it was 'a fever.'

517. daunce, i.e. company of dancers. Cf. Ho. Fame, 639, 640.

530-2. 'For, by my hidden sorrow, (when it is) blased abroad, I shall be befooled more, a thousand times, than the fool of whose folly men write rimes.' No particular reference seems to be intended by l. 532; the Ital. text merely has 'più ch' altro,' more than any one.

557. attricioun, attrition. 'An imperfect sorrow for sin, as if a bruising which does not amount to utter crushing (contrition); horror of sin through fear of punishment ... while contrition has its motive in the love of God;' New E. Dict.

559. ley on presse, compress, diminish; cf. Prol. A 81.

560. holinesse, the leanness befitting a holy state.

626. 'That one, whom excess causes to fare very badly.'

631-679. Largely original; but, for l. 635, see note to Bk. III. 329.

638-644. There is a like passage in P. Pl. C. xxi. 209-217. Chaucer, however, here follows Le Roman de la Rose, 21819-40, q.v.

648. amayed, dismayed; O.F. esmaier. So in Bk. IV. l. 641.

654. Oënone seems to have four syllables. MS. H. has Oonone; MS. Cm. senome (over an erasure); MS. Harl. 3943, Tynome. Alluding to the letter of Œnone to Paris in Ovid, Heroid. v.

659-665. Not at all a literal translation, but it gives the general sense of Heroid. v. 149-152:

Ipse repertor opis means Phœbus, who 'first fond art of medicyne;' Pheraeas, i.e. of Pherae, refers to Pherae in Thessaly, the residence of king Admetus. Admetus gained Alcestis for his wife by the assistance of Apollo, who, according to some accounts, served Admetus out of attachment to him, or, according to other accounts, because he was condemned to serve a mortal for a year. Chaucer seems to adopt a theory that Apollo loved Admetus chiefly for his daughter's sake. The usual story about Apollo is his love for Daphne.

674. 'Even though I had to die by torture;' cf. Kn. Ta. A 1133.

686. 'Until it pleases him to desist.'

688. 'To mistrust every one, or to believe every one.'

694. The wyse, Solomon; see Eccles. iv. 10.

699. Niobe; 'lacrimas etiamnum marmora manant;' Ovid, Met. vi. 311.

705. 'That eke out (increase) their sorrows,' &c.

707. 'And care not to seek for themselves another cure.'

708. A proverb; see note to Can. Yem. Ta. G 746.