House / Legend / Astrolabe

'Sche saide, sire, ich wille help the,

So that thou wille spousi me.'—Seven Sages, ed. Weber, 2663.

As to the expression with the nones, we may compare it with such expressions as with-than, with-thon-that, with-tho-the, with-that, all meaning 'provided that,' and all occurring in the Glossary to Spec. of Eng., Part I. And since for the nones means 'for the occasion' (see Prologue to C. T., 379), so with the nones is 'with the occasion,' and hence 'provided that.' I cannot at all agree with what seems to me the ludicrous emendation in some late editions, which change nones into bones, and delete the comma after live; 'provided that I might live with the bones.' At any rate, there is no authority for this. The old editions and MSS. all alike read nones; and we have the phrase again (pronounced with th' non-es), in the Ho. Fame, 2099.

1558. Thoriginal, the original. As this 'tells all the case,' i.e. all Jason's subtlety, he is probably referring to Ovid, Her. Ep. vi. Flaccus says that Hercules induced Jason to quit Lemnos, and proceed on his voyage. Statius mentions Hypsipyle's twin sons, and relates some of her later history.

1564. Chaucer here follows the sixth letter of Ovid's Heroides. Lines 1569-1575 follow four lines of the Latin text, viz. 123-4, and 159-60, which refer to the twins and Medea:—

'Si quaeris, cui sunt similes; cognosceris illis.

Fallere non norunt; caetera patris habent....

Quam fratri germana fuit, miseroque parenti

filia; tam natis, tam sit acerba uiro.'

Part II. THE LEGEND OF MEDEA.

1580. From this line to l. 1655 Chaucer mainly follows the second book of Guido delle Colonne's Historia Troiana, which he epitomises. See Gower, C. A. ii. 236-258.

1581. 'Who is a devourer of love, and a very dragon'; with reference to the supposed insatiability of dragons.

1582. 'As matter always seeks to have a definite form, and may pass from one form into another.' Mr. Archer Hind refers me to Aristotle, Metaphysica, Λ. vii. 1072 b. 3:—κινεῖ δὲ ὡς ἐρώμενον, κινούμενον δὲ τἆλλα κινεῖ. Bech shews that this is all from Guido, who has: 'Scimus enim mulieris animum semper uirum appetere, sicut appetit materia semper formam.... Sed sicut ad formam de forma procedere materiam notum est, sic mulieris concupiscentia dissoluta procedere de uiro ad uirum ... sine fine, cum sit quaedam profunditas sine fundo,' &c. Hence Lydgate, in his Troy-book, bk. i. c. 5 (fol. C 6, back) has:—

'For as nature by kyndly appetyte

Kyndly seketh to sewen after fourme,' &c.

1590. Iaconitos, Iaconites. This is a clear proof that Chaucer follows Guido. At p. 12* of the alliterative Troy-book, ed. Panton and Donaldson, the following passage is quoted from Guido, lib. ii.: 'In insula igitur Colcos erat tunc temporis quaedam ciuitas nomine Iaconites, caput regni pro sua magnitudine constituta.' Further extracts from this Latin text are given by Horstmann, in his edition entitled 'Barbours Legendensammlung,' vol. ii. (Heilbronn, 1882), p. 221; where will also be found a parallel passage in a fifteenth-century poem which has wrongly been ascribed to Barbour. Hence Lydgate, in his Troy-book, bk. i. c. 5 (fol. C 3, back), says of the chief city of Colchos:—'And Iaconites tho it bare the name.'

'The kyng was full curtais, calt on a maiden,

Bede his doughter come downe, and his dere heire,

To sit by that semely, and solas to make.

This mayden full mylde Medea was callid.'

'That causes me with counsell to caste for your helpe,

And put you in plite your purpos to wyn,

In sound for to saile home, and your sute all.'

'Now louely and leell, for your lefe speche

I thanke you a thowsande tymes in my thro hert,

That ye kythe me suche kyndnes withouten cause why;

And here I put me full plainly in your pure wille,

To do with me, damsell, as your desyre thynke.'

1631. Disioint, perilous situation, peril. Cf. Kn. Ta., A 2962. 'But sith I see I stonde in this disioint'; Shipman's Tale, B 1601.

'Yow swiftly shall sweire vppon swete goddes,

This couenaunt to kepe and for no case chaunge.'

'And swiftly he sware on that swete^[70] god,

All tho couenaundes to kepe, and for no cause let,

Whill hym lastes the lyffe; he laid on his hond.'

'Then leuyt thai the lond, and no leue toke,

Stale from the styth king stylle by night;

With the maiden Medea and myche other goodes,

Thai turne into Tessaile with-outen tale more.'

'And thou hedis not the harme of that hend lady,

Ne tentes not thy trouth that thou tynt has;

Soche a maiden to mar that the most louet,

That forsec hir fader and hir fre londe.'

1667. Vassalage, prowess; cf. Kn. Ta., A 3054. It is here used ironically. Trench refers us to Lydgate's Minor Poems, ed. Halliwell, p. 176:—

'And Catoun seith, is noon so greet encress

Of wordly tresour, as for to live in pees,

Which among vertues hath the vasselage.'

1670. Lettre, letter; i.e. the 12th letter in Ovid's Heroides; see l. 1678. Lines 1672-7 answer to lines 13, 14, and 19 in Ovid:—

'Cur mihi plus aequo flaui placuere capilli,

et decor, et linguae gratia ficta tuae?...

Quantum perfidiae tecum, scelerate, perîsset!'

1672. Why lyked me, why did it please me? But, in l. 1674, lyked is a personal verb.

V. THE LEGEND OF LUCRETIA.

Chaucer cites Ovid and Livy, and in l. 1873 again appeals to Livy as the authority. The story is in Livy, bk. i. c. 57-59; and in Ovid, Fasti, ii. 721-852. Chaucer doubtless appeals to Livy as being a professed historian, but the reader will find that, as a matter of fact, he follows mainly the account in Ovid from beginning to end, and sometimes almost word for word. Livy and Ovid were contemporary; the former was born B.C. 59, and died A.D. 17; the latter was born B.C. 43, and died A.D. 18. Gower also tells this story, and likewise follows Ovid and (near the end) Livy; C. A. iii. 251.

1680. Ovid tells the story of Lucretia under the date Feb. 22 (viii Kal. Martii), which was commemorated as 'Fuga Tarquinii Superbi,' and begins his account in the Fasti, ii. 685. Chaucer here borrows from Ovid's first line, viz.:—'Nunc mihi dicenda est regis fuga.'

1682. The 'last king' of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus, father of the Tarquinius Sextus whom Chaucer calls in l. 1698 'Tarquinius the yonge.' The word And, at the beginning of the line, though absolutely necessary to the sense, is preserved only in MS. Addit. 12524, a bad copy from a good type. It reads:—'And specially off the last king Tarquinius'; but no other MS. retains specially, and of course it makes the line too long.

1690. 'St. Augustin, commenting on the story in the milder and more rational spirit of Christian morality, while he admires the purity of Lucrece, blames her folly in committing the crime of self-murder as a punishment on herself for that of which she was really innocent. "Si adultera," he asks, "cur laudata? Si pudica, cur occisa?" See August. De Civitate Dei, c. xix.'—Bell.

1694. Here Chaucer begins his close copy of Ovid, Fast. ii. 721:—'Cingitur interea Romanis Ardea signis.' The original should be compared throughout. Ardea, capital of the Rutuli; in Latium.

1696. Wroghte, pt. t. 'The siege (or the besiegers) lay before the city long, and accomplished little'; G. L. Kittredge, Harvard Studies, p. 7.

1705. Colatyne. Chaucer found the name in Livy (or Augustine). Ovid merely has: 'cui dederat clarum Collatia nomen.' Livy has: 'ubi et Collatinus cenebat Tarquinius, Egerii filius.' Collatinus was the cousin of Sextus, and took his name from Collatia, an ancient town of the Sabines, in the neighbourhood of Rome.

1708. From Livy: 'paucis id quidem horis posse sciri, quantum ceteris praestet Lucretia sua.'

1715. Cf. 'And knew the estres bet than dide this John'; C. T., A 4295 (Reves Tale); and see Kn. Ta., A 1971; also, in particular, the Romaunt of the Rose, 1448, where the F. text has l'estre (shewing where Ch. found the word); see vol. i. p. 153.

We may explain estres by 'inner premises' of a house or building. Godefroy's O. Fr. Dict. gives numerous examples. Cotgrave gives the verb estre, to be; whence the sb. estre, a being, substance, state; and then cites: 'les estres d'une maison, the inward conveyances, private windings and turnings within, entries into, issues out of, a house.' The word is very common in Old French, and not uncommon in Middle English. Gower even has the sing. estre in the sense of 'state'; C. A. i. 272. Cf. F. 'il sait tous les êtres de cette maison.'

For all this, the old editions turned the form into efters, and Bell follows them! Moreover, eftures is gravely quoted in Halliwell's Dictionary, with a reference to Sir T. Malory. The passage is:—'Pleaseth it you to see the eftures of this castle?' bk. xix. c. 7 (p. 444 in the Globe edition). Here eftures is a mere misprint (in Caxton's original edition) for estres, due to reading the long s (ſ) as an f. Efters and Eftures are mere 'ghost-words,' the products of ignorance.

1721. 'Ante torum calathi lanaque mollis erat'; l. 742. Of course 'our book' means Ovid; yet Thynne reads 'saith Liui.'

1729. A fine line; but I think Chaucer has wholly misunderstood l. 752 of the original.

'Desinit in lacrimas, intentaque fila remittit,

in gremium uultum deposuitque suum.

Hoc ipsum decuit: lacrimae decuere pudicae,

et facies animo dignaque parque fuit'; l. 755.

1771. 'Or a wicked inclination, with malice.' 'The original meaning (as of talento in Italian, talante in Spanish) was will, inclination, from talentum (τάλαντον), balance, scales, and then inclination of balance.'—Trench, Select Glossary, s.v. Talent.

1773. 'Audentes Forsque deusque iuuant.' We say, 'Fortune favours the bold.' Cf. 'Audentes fortuna iuuat'; Verg. Æn. x. 284; 'Audentes deus ipse iuuat'; Ovid, Met. x. 586.

1774. 'Whatever the event may be, my resolve is taken.' Audebimus ultima, dixit'; l. 781.

1781. Gan he stalke, he moved stealthily; as in Clerk. Ta. E 525. It is remarkable that Shakespeare uses the same word in his Lucrece, l. 365:—'Into the chamber wickedly he stalks.' Prof. Corson notices its use by Gower; see Pauli's edition, vol. i. pp. 72, 187; ii. 256, 346, 347, 353, 360.

'Quid faciat? Pugnet? uincetur femina pugna;

Clamet? at in dextra, qui uetet, ensis erat.'

1847-53. Compare Ovid, 829, 830. But Chaucer here follows Livy, who has: 'Dant ordine omnes fidem; consolantur aegram animi, auertendo noxam ab coacta in auctorem delicti; mentem peccare, non corpus; et unde consilium afuerit, culpam abesse.' Cf. Gower, C. A. iii. 261.

'Tunc quoque, iam moriens, ne non procumbat honeste,

respicit. Haec etiam cura cadentis erat.'

1861. Chaucer here tells the tale more succinctly. Ll. 1864-5 answer to ll. 849, 850 in Ovid; l. 1866 answers to l. 847 and l. 1869 to l. 852. The rest is, practically, all Chaucer's own.

1871. This canonisation of Lucretia is strikingly medieval. It was evidently suggested by the fact that Ovid gives her story under a particular date, so that she seemed to have her own day, like a saint. Cf. note to l. 1680.

1880. Probably the syllables That in Is- form the first foot of the line. Otherwise, Israel is dissyllabic.

1881. The reference must be to the Syro-phenician woman; Matt. xv. 28; Mark, vii. 29. But it may be feared that Chaucer was really thinking of the centurion; Matt. viii. 10; Luke, vii. 9. Read he ne as he n'.

1883, 4. As of, in the case of. Alday, always; F. toujours. 'Let whoever wishes (it) test them.'

VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE.

It is difficult to say whence Chaucer derived all of this Legend. The beginning is from Ovid, Metam. vii. 456-8, viii. 6-176; the main part of the story is like Plutarch's Life of Theseus, or some similar source; and the conclusion from Ovid's Heroides, epist. x. Further, ll. 2222-4 refer to Met. viii. 176-182. See also Hyginus, Fabulae, capp. xli-xliii; Æneid, vi. 20-30; and cf. Gower, C. A. ii. 302-311.

1886. 'O Minos, king of Crete, judge in the infernal regions, now comes thy lot, now comest thou into the ring (concourse).' In l. 1894 we again have mention of Minos, king of Crete; which looks as if Chaucer has confused the two kings of this name. The 'infernal judge' was, however, the grandfather of the second Minos; at least, such is the usual account. The mention of 'the lot' in connection with Minos looks as if Chaucer was thinking of Vergil's lines, Æn. vi. 431, 2:—

'Nec uero hae sine sorte datae, sine iudice sedes.

Quaesitor Minos urnam mouet.'

1895. Hadde, had, possessed; referring to Crete. This seems better than the reading wan (i.e. won), referring to Minos. Cf. Ovid, Her. x. 67:—'Non ego te, Crete, centum digesta per urbes.'

'Bella parat Minos ...

Androgeique necem iustis ulciscitur armis.'

'There came certain of king Minos' ambassadors out of Creta, to ask a tribute, being now the third time that it was demanded; which the Athenians paid for this cause. Androgeus, the eldest son of king Minos, was slain by treason within the country of Attica: for which cause Minos, pursuing the revenge of his death, made very hot and sharp wars upon the Athenians, and did them great hurt.'—Shakespeare's Plutarch, p. 280.

1900. From this point to l. 1921 Chaucer follows Ovid, Met. viii. 6-176, but gives a mere outline of the story of Scylla. See note to l. 1908.

1902. Alcathoe, the citadel of Megara, and hence a name for Megara. It was named after Alcathous, founder of Megara; indeed, in Ovid, Met. viii. 8, it is called Alcathoi urbs; but Chaucer found the right form in Met. vii. 443.

1908. Nisus' daughter was named Scylla. In order to gain the love of Minos, she cut off her father's purple hair, on which the safety of his kingdom depended; whereupon Nisus was changed into a sparrow-hawk, and Scylla into the bird ciris; Met. viii. 9-151. But Chaucer omits these details. Cf. Parl. of Foules, 292, and the note.

1922. Chaucer here leaves Ovid; this part of the story is partly given in Plutarch and Hyginus, but Chaucer seems to have filled in details from some source unknown to me.

1925. 'Whereupon the Athenians sent immediately unto him, and intreated him for peace: which he granted them, with condition that they should be bound to send him yearly, into Creta, seven young boys and as many young girls. Now thus far all the historiographers do very well agree, but in the rest not. And they which seem furthest off from the troth [including Chaucer] do declare, that when these young boys were delivered in Creta, they caused them to be devoured by the Minotaur within the labyrinth.'—Shakespeare's Plutarch, p. 280.

1928. The Minotaur was a monster, half bull and half man, dwelling in a labyrinth at Crete, constructed by Dædalus. He annually devoured the fourteen Athenian young people, as above said, till slain by Theseus. Cf. Ovid, Met. viii. 155.

1932. Every thridde yeer, every third year. This is due to Ovid's expression—'tertia sors annis domuit repetita nouenis' (Met. viii. 171), which Golding translates by—'The third time at the ninth yeares end the lot did chance to light On Theseus,' &c. But Hyginus (Fab. xli) says:—'Instituit autem ut anno unoquoque septenos liberos suos Minotauro ad epulandum mitterent.'

1960. 'Furthermore, after he [Theseus] was arrived in Creta, he slew there the Minotaur ... by the means and help of Ariadne: who being fallen in fancy with him, did give him a clue of thread, by the help wherof she taught him, how he might easily wind out of the turnings and crancks of the labyrinth.'—Shak. Plutarch, p. 283. Cf. Ovid, Met. viii. 172; Hyginus, Fab. xlii.

1962. Foreyne, outer chamber; belonging to the chambres grete, or set of larger rooms occupied by the daughters of the king. It seems to answer to the A.S. búr, mod. E. bower, explained in Murray's Dict. as 'an inner apartment, esp. as distinguished from the "hall," or large public room; also, esp. applied to a lady's private apartment; boudoir.' It is merely a peculiar use of our word foreign; the O. Fr. forain (fem. foraine) often meant 'outer,' as in the phrases une foraine rue, an outer (more retired) street; es tenebres forennes, into outer darkness; see Godefroy's F. Dict. I agree with Mätzner, that there is no sufficient reason for explaining the word in this passage by 'privy,' though it admittedly has that meaning also (as given in Levins).

1966. Most MSS. begin the line with Of Athenes, as in l. 2306. This would be a most extraordinary oversight, as the scene is laid in Crete, in the town of Gnossus. MS. T. substitutes 'In mochell myrthe'; and the old printed editions have 'Of the towne,' which scans badly, though 'Of thilke toune' would do well enough. We seem justified in rejecting the reading Of Athenes, because Chaucer distinctly mentions Athenes in ll. 1940, 1944, as being the place whence Theseus was sent 'unto the court of Minos'; l. 1949. Besides this, in l. 2122 Theseus calls Ariadne by the prospective title of 'duchess of Athens'; on which Ariadne playfully remarks that she and her sister are now 'assured to royal positions in Athens'; l. 2128. From all which it does not seem fair to charge the error upon Chaucer himself; and I therefore make the bold alteration suggested by MS. T., and supported by MS. Addit. 9832, which has 'In moche myrth.' In the title of the poem, Ariadne is called 'Adriane de Athenes,' but this is another matter, and has reference to l. 2122. She became 'duchess of Athens' in the right of her husband Theseus.

1969. Adrian or Adriane, the M.E. spellings of Ariadne: see Ho. Fame, 407; Prol. to Man of Law, B 67. Ariadne and Phædra were the daughters of Minos; Theseus took both of them away from Crete; and, on the voyage, deserted Ariadne for her sister.

1992. Quit, free, delivered. It seems to have been an understood thing, that if a captive Athenian should succeed in slaying the Minotaur, he should go free, and the tribute paid by the Athenians should be remitted. One account in Plutarch says that Minos himself 'chose Theseus, upon condition agreed between them; ... and that after the death of the Minotaur this tribute should cease.'—Sh. Plut. p. 282. One condition was, that the captives should be unarmed. This explains Phædra's plan, in l. 1994, for arming Theseus surreptitiously; cf. l. 2011.

1993. Taste, test. The word test was formerly used only as a sb., of a vessel in which gold or silver was tested; the place of the mod. E. verb to test was supplied by the M.E. tasten, and there can be little doubt that the words taste and test have been partially confused; see these words in my Etym. Dict., whence I quote the following: 'The M.E. tasten meant both to feel and to taste. "I rede thee, lat thyn hand upon it falle, And taste it wel, and stoon thou shalt it finde"; Ch. C. T. 15970 (G 502). "Every thyng Himseolf schewith in tastyng;" King Alisaunder, 4042.—F. taster, to taste or take an assay of; also to handle, feel, touch; Cotgrave. Cf. mod. F. tâter; Ital. tastare, "to taste, to assaie, to feele, to grope, to trye, to proofe, to touch"; Florio.'

2004. Bell remarks that this resembles the stratagem by which Daniel destroyed the dragon at Babylon. 'Tulit igitur Daniel picem, et adipem, et pilos, et coxit pariter: fecitque massas, et dedit in os draconis, et diruptus est draco'; Dan. xiv. 26 (Vulgate).

2009. To-hepe, together; i.e. 'before they come to closer quarters.' Bell alters this, the reading of all the MSS. and old editions, to to kepe, which gives no sense; and Morris and Corson follow suit. Yet to-hepe, lit. 'to a heap,' but used adverbially in the precise sense of 'together,' is not a recondite expression. Morris explains it rightly elsewhere, viz. in Chaucer's tr. of Boethius, bk. iv. pr. 6, l. 182, where 'y-medled to-hepe' means 'mixed together.' It is also in Troil. iii. 1764:—'that Love halt now to-hepe,' which Love now holds together. And yet again, in Ch. Astrolabe, pt. i. § 14. 5. See also P. Plowm. Crede, 727.

2012. The hous, i.e. the famous labyrinth. Crinkled, full of turns or 'cranks'; see note to l. 1960. Cf. Mid. Du. krunckel-winckel, or krinckel-winckel, 'crooked here and there'; Hexham (A.D. 1658); Du. krinkel, a winding, krinkelen or kronkelen, to wind about; all allied to E. crank, a twist, hence a twisted handle. Cf. Ovid, Met. viii. 173; Æn. vi. 27. And see Trevisa, tr. of Higden, i. 9.

2020. Read drede, dread; not stede, place. The Rime-indexes shew that, in the ending -ede in Chaucer, the former e is usually long (-ēde, -eede). However, stĕde, in the sense of 'stead' (A.S. stĕde), rimes once with drēde, in Ho. Fame, 829.

2028. Sit on his knee, kneels down. We also find to setten him on knees, to fallen on knees, to knelen on knees, he lay on kne, &c. See Mätzner, s.v. cneo, p. 442. 'On knes she sat adoun'; Lay le Freine, 159. Cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 638.

2041. Swinke, toil, labour hard. It is curious that this word should be obsolete. Perhaps no word that is now obsolete was once more common. It occurs in Chaucer, Langland, Gower, Spenser, &c.; but not in Shakespeare.

2048. 'In order to have my life, and to retain your presence.' The sense is quite clear. The note in Corson—'presence seems to mean here presentiment or suspicion'—is due to some mistake.

2051. Only MS. C. retains now; and it would be better before is than after it.

Go, walk about, roam. He prays that he may be punished by being made to walk as a ghost after death. A reference to the supposed restlessness of the spirits of wicked men; see Parl. of Foules, 80. But good spirits also 'walked' sometimes; Wint. Tale, iii. 3. 17.

2069. For which, for which cause, on which account. Go, may walk; the subjunctive mood.

2070. Other degree, i.e. a higher degree than that of page. He professes not to aspire to this, unless she vouchsafes to give it him.

2072. 'May I die by a death of shame.' The of depends on deye; cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 819.

2075. A twenty, about twenty. A is here used as expressly an approximative result; as in 'an eight days,' Luke ix. 28; so 'a ten,' Squi. Tale, F 383. Only MS. C. retains a, but it is wanted for the metre.

2083. Leve, grant. We also find lene, to grant, give, but it is only used with a following case; whilst leve is only used with a following clause. Me is governed by befalle. 'And grant that such a case may never befall me,' i.e. for Theseus to be merely her page.

2094. The latter syllable of profit comes at the caesura, and is easily read quickly. We need not change unto into to, as in MS. A. only.

2099. That, (I propose) that. Sone, Hippolytus. Yet, in l. 2075, Theseus was only 23 years old! Perhaps she proposes, in banter, a purely whimsical condition; cf. ll. 2102, 2120, 2127.

2107. To draw blood on oneself was a frequent mode of attestation. Cf. Wright's note on K. Lear, ii. I. 34; and note how Faustus stabs his arm in Marlowe's play; Act ii. sc. 1.

2120. Servant, devoted lover; the usual phrase. This asseveration of Theseus shews that he thought Ariadne immeasurably credulous.

2122. Of Athenes duchesse, (whom I hail as) duchess of Athens. That is, he promises her marriage. In l. 2127 Ariadne grows pleasant on the subject.

2128. 'And assured to the royalties (or regal attributes) of Athens'; i.e. we are secure of our future royal rank.

2130. And saved, and we have saved. Chaucer has be just above; so that he has changed the idiom.

2132. Emforth hir might, even-forth with her might, to the extent of her power; cf. Kn. Ta., 1377 (A 2235).

2134. 'It seems to me, no one ought to blame us for this; nor give us an evil name on this account.'

2145. Geeth, goeth, goes; A.S. gǽð. For two more examples, see geð in Gloss. to Spec. of English, Part I.

2151. Of, with. Gan hit charge, did load it. 'And they say, that having killed this Minotaur, he returned back again the same way he went, bringing with him those other young children of Athens [whom Chaucer forgets to mention], whom with Ariadne also he carried afterwards away.'—Sh. Plutarch, p. 283.

2155. Ennopye, Œnopia, another name for Ægina; which was on their way from Crete to Athens. Chaucer got the name from Ovid, Met. vii. 472, 473, 490; and introduces it naturally enough, because Æacus, then dwelling there, was an old ally of the Athenians; id. 485; cf. l. 2156 in our poem. Gilman suggests that Enope (i.e. Gerenia in Messenia) is meant, which is merely a wild guess.

2161. Woon, number. Originally, a hope; also, a resource, a store, a quantity; and hence gret woon = a great number. For examples, see wān in Stratmann; and cf. note to Troil. iv. 1181.

2163. Yle, island; usually said to be Naxos, on the supposition that it is not much out of the way in sailing from Gnossus in Crete to Attica. Chaucer has inadvertently brought Theseus to Ægina already; but we need not trouble about the geographical conditions. The description of the island is from Ovid, Her. x. 59:—'Uacat insula cultu'; &c.

2167. Lette, tarried; pt. t. of the weak verb letten; quite distinct from leet or lēt (pt. t. of leten), which would not rime with set-te. This latter part of the story is nearly all from Ovid, Her. x.