§ 6. But the data are not yet all disposed of: for we can fix the very days of the month on which the pilgrims travelled. This is discussed in the note to B 5[83], where the day recognised by the Host is shown to have been the 18th of April, and not the 28th, as in some editions; which agrees with the expression in the Prologue, l. 8[84].
Putting all the results together, we get the following convenient scheme for the Groups of tales. It is copied from Dr. Furnivall's Preface, with the mere addition of the dates.
April 16. The guests arrive at the Tabard, late in the evening (Prol. 20, 23).
April 17. Group A. General Prologue; Knight's Tale; Miller's Prologue and Tale; Reeve's Prologue and Tale; Cook's Prologue and Tale (the last unfinished). Gap.
Notes of time and place. In the Miller's Prologue, he tells the company to lay the blame on the ale of Southwark if his tale is not to their liking; he had hardly yet recovered from its effects.
In the Reeve's Prologue, A 3906, 3907, are the lines—
'Lo Depeford, and it is half-way pryme;
Lo Grenewich, ther many a shrewe is inne.'
That is, they are in sight of Deptford and Greenwich at about half-past 7 o'clock in the morning.
This Group is incomplete; I shall give my reasons presently for supposing that the Yeoman's Tale was to have formed a part of it. Probably the pilgrims reached Dartford that night, and halted there, at a distance of fifteen miles from London.
April 18. Group B. Man-of-Law Head-link, his Prologue, and Tale (1-1162); Shipman's Prologue and Tale (1163-1624); Shipman End-link (1625-1642); Prioress's Tale (1643-1880); Prioress End-link (1881-1901); Sir Thopas (1902-2156); Tale of Melibeus (2157-3078); Monk's Prologue and Tale (3079-3956); Nun's Priest's Prologue and Tale (3957-4636); End-link (4637-4652). Gap.
Notes of time and place. In the Man-of-Law Head-link, we learn that it was 10 o'clock (l. 14), and that it was the 18th of April (l. 5). In the Monk's Prologue, l. 3116, we find that the pilgrims were soon coming to Rochester. This Group is probably incomplete, rather at the beginning than at the end. Something is wanted to bring the time to 10 o'clock, whilst the travellers would hardly have cared to pass Rochester that night. Suppose them to have halted there, at thirty miles from London.
April 19. Group C. Doctor's Tale (1-286); Words of the Host to the Doctor and the Pardoner (287-328); Pardoner's Preamble, Prologue, and Tale (329-968). Gap.
Group D. Wife of Bath's Preamble (1-856); Wife's Tale (857-1264); Friar's Prologue and Tale (1265-1664); Sompnour's Prologue and Tale (1665-2294). Gap.
Group E. Clerk's Prologue and Tale (1-1212); Merchant's Prologue and Tale (1213-2418); Merchant End-link (2419-2440). Gap; but the break is less marked than usual.
Notes of place, &c. At the end of the Wife of Bath's Preamble is narrated a verbal quarrel between the Sompnour and the Friar, in which the former promises to tell some strange tales about friars before the company shall arrive at Sittingbourne. Again, at the end of his Tale, he says—
'My tale is doon, we been almost at toune.'—D 2294.
After which, we may suppose the company to have halted awhile at Sittingbourne, forty miles from London.
It must also be noted that there are at least two allusions to the Wife of Bath's Preamble in the course of Group E; namely, in the Clerk's Tale, l. 1170, and in the Merchant's Tale, E 1685; and probably a third allusion in the Merchant End-link, E 2438. These prove that Group D should precede Group E, and suggest that it should precede it immediately.
April 20. Group F. Squire's Tale (1-672); Squire-Franklin Link (673-708); Franklin's Tale (709-1624). Gap.
Group G. Second Nun's Tale (1-553); Canon's Yeoman's Tale (554-1481). Gap.
Group H. Manciple's Prologue and Tale (1-362). Gap.
Group I. Parson's Prologue and Tale.
Notes of time and place. In the Squire's Tale, F 73, the narrator remarks that he will not delay the hearers, 'for it is prime,' i.e. 9 a.m.
In the Canon's Yeoman's Prologue (G 588) is a most explicit statement, which is certainly most easily understood as having reference to a halt for the night on the road, at a place (probably Ospringe) five miles short of Boughton-under-Blee (G 555). The Canon's Yeoman says plainly that he had seen the pilgrims ride out of their hostelry in the morrow-tide. In the Manciple's Prologue (H 2) there is mention of a little town called Bob-up-and-down, 'under the Blee, in Canterbury way'; and the Cook is taken to task for sleeping on the road in the morning (H 16), which cannot, in any case, be the morning of the day on which they started from Southwark. In the Parson's Prologue (I 5) there is mention of the hour of 4 p.m., and the Parson undertakes to tell the last tale before the end of the journey.
§ 7. The above account is useful as shewing the exact extent to which Chaucer had carried out his intention; and at the same time shews what is, on the whole, the best arrangement of the Tales. This arrangement is not much affected by the question of the number of days occupied by the pilgrims on the journey. It possesses, moreover, the great advantage of stamping upon the whole work its incomplete and fragmentary character. The arrangement of the Tales in the various MSS. varies considerably, and hence Tyrwhitt found it necessary in his edition to consider the question of order, and to do his best to make a satisfactory arrangement. The order which he finally adopted is easily expressed by using the names already given to the Groups, only Group B must be subdivided into two parts (a) and (b), the first of these containing the Man of Law's Prologue and Tale only, and the second all the rest of the Tales, &c. in the Group. This premised, his result is as follows: viz. Groups A, B (a), D, E, F, C, B (b), G, H, I. The only two variations between the two lists are easily explained. In the first place, Group C is entirely independent of all the rest, and contains no note of time or place, so that it may be placed anywhere between A and G; in this case therefore the variation is of no importance[85]. In the other case, however, Tyrwhitt omitted to see that the parts of Group B are really bound together by the expressions which occur in them. For, whereas the Man of Law declares in l. 46, Group B—
'I can right now no thrifty tale seyn,'
the Host, at the beginning of the Shipman's Prologue, l. 1165, is pleased to give his verdict thus—
'This was a thrifty tale for the nones,'
and proceeds to ask the Parson for a tale, declaring that 'ye lerned men in lore,' i.e. the Man of Law and the Parson, know much that is good: whence it is evident that B (b) must be advanced so as to follow B (a) immediately; and the more so, as there is authority for this in MS. Arch. Seld. B 14 in the Bodleian Library; while many MSS. suggest a similar arrangement (§ 39). The correctness of this emendation is proved by the fact that it is necessary for the mention of Rochester in B (b) to precede that of Sittingbourne in D.
It deserves to be mentioned further, that, of the four days supposed to be consumed on the way, some of them are inadequately provided for. This furnishes no real objection, because the unwritten tales of the Yeoman, Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer, Tapiser, and Ploughman, would have helped in some degree to fill up the gaps which have been noticed above.
§ 8. The whole of Group A is so admirably fitted together, and its details so well worked out, that it may fairly be looked upon as having been finally revised, as far as it goes; and I am disposed accordingly to look upon the incomplete Cook's Tale as almost the last portion of his great work which the poet ever revised in its intended final form. There is, in this Group A, only one flaw, one that has often been noted, viz. the mention of three Priests in the Prologue (l. 164), whereas we know that there was but one Nun's Priest, his name being Sir John. At the same place there is a notable omission of the character of the Nun, and the two things together point to the possibility that Chaucer may have drawn her character in too strong strokes, and have then suddenly determined to withdraw it, and to substitute a new character at some future time[86]. If we suppose him to have left the line 'That was hir chapeleyne' unfinished, it is easy to see how another hand would have put in the words 'and preestes three' for the mere sake of the rime, without having regard to reason. We ought to reject those three words as spurious.
§ 9. That Chaucer's work did receive, in some small degree, some touching-up, is rendered yet more probable by observing how Group A ends. For here, in several of the MSS., we come upon an additional fragment which, on the face of it, is not Chaucer's at all, but a work belonging to a slightly earlier period; I mean the Tale of Gamelyn. Some have supposed, with great reason, that this tale occurs amongst the rest because it is one which Chaucer intended to recast, although, as a fact, he did not live to rewrite a single line of it. This is the more likely because the tale is a capital one in itself, well worthy of being rewritten even by so great a poet; indeed, it is well known that the plot of the favourite play known to us all by the title of As You Like It, was derived from it at second-hand. But I cannot but protest against the stupidity of the botcher whose hand wrote above it 'The Cokes Tale of Gamelyn.' That was done because it happened to be found next after the Cook's Tale, which, instead of being about Gamelyn, is about Perkin the reveller, an idle apprentice.
The fitness of things ought to shew at once that this Tale of Gamelyn, a tale of the woods, in the true Robin-Hood style, could only have been placed in the mouth of him 'who bare a mighty bow,' and who knew all the usage of woodcraft; in one word, of the Yeoman. (Gandelyn is the name of an archer in Ritson's Ancient Songs, i. 82). And we get hence the additional hint, that the Yeoman's Tale was to have followed the Cook's Tale, a tale of fresh country-life succeeding one of the close back-streets of the city. No better place can be found for it.
§ 10. There is yet one more Tale, found only in the edition of 1542 and some later printed editions, but in none of the MSS., viz. the Ploughman's Tale. This is admittedly spurious, in the sense that it is not Chaucer's; but it is a remarkable poem in its way. The author never intended it for an imitation of Chaucer, nor pretended any disguise about it; on the contrary, he says plainly that he was the author of the well-known poem in alliterative verse commonly known as Pierce the Ploughman's Crede. It can only have been inserted by inadvertence, but we need not blame the editor for doing this, since otherwise the poem would not have been preserved at all, no MS. of it being now in existence.
§ 11. The next question that presents itself is this—Have we any means of telling which of the Tales are of early, and which of late workmanship? In reply to this, we may note, in the first place, the following facts and probabilities.
The Knight's Tale was certainly re-written from beginning to end. In its original form, Chaucer took a good deal of it from Boccaccio's Teseide, and gave it the name of 'Palamon and Arcite'; see Prologue to Legend of Good Women, l. 420; this he would naturally do not long before writing his Troilus, in which he follows the same author. Moreover, this original 'Palamon' was written in the seven-line stanza; see notes to Anelida.
It must next be noted that Dr. Furnivall, who has drawn up, tentatively, a list of Chaucer's works in their supposed order, puts down amongst the works of the 'Second Period,' i.e. prior to the Canterbury Tales, that Tale which is now known as the Second Nun's, though formerly called by Chaucer himself the Life of Saint Cecile. Of this result there has never been a doubt; Tyrwhitt says expressly, 'The Tale of the Nonne is almost literally translated from the Life of St. Cecilia in the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus Januensis. It is mentioned by Chaucer as a separate work in his Legend of Good Women, l. 426, under the title of the Life of Seint Cecile, and it still retains evident marks that it was not originally composed in the form of a Tale to be spoken by the Nonne[87].' It is, then, little more than a translation, and it is in seven-line stanzas.
Dr. Furnivall assigns to the Second Nun's Tale the conjectural date of 1373, being the very year when Chaucer perhaps met Petrarch at Padua (see note to E 27), and learnt from him the tale of Griseldis, now known as the Clerk's Tale. This tale is likewise, for the most part, a translation, and in seven-line stanzas.
The Prioress's Tale is a short one. Although written in seven-line stanzas, it is probably later than others in the same metre.
The Man of Law's Tale will be considered hereafter; and it will be shewn that it was written independently of other Tales.
The Monk's Tale is in a very peculiar metre, which appears nowhere else in Chaucer, except in the unoriginal poem called the ABC (probably written before A.D. 1369), and in some other of Chaucer's minor poems, such as the Former Age, Fortune, the Envoy to Bukton, &c.; so that, considered with reference to metre, this Tale may be of any date. The main part of it shews very little originality, and is clearly rather early than late.
§ 12. Having premised these considerations, it is easy to see that the metrical form suggests, to a useful extent, a possible distinction between the earlier and the later Tales. Nearly all of Chaucer's tales that are in stanzas are early, whilst all that are in decasyllabic couplets are late. We have seen that this is known to be true in the case of the Second Nun's Tale, that it is highly probable in the case of the Clerk's Tale (of which more hereafter), and there is nothing against it in the case of the Monk's Tale, written in the same metre as a poem which was probably his very first, or nearly so, if there be any truth in the statement that it was written for the use of the Duchess Blanche, who died in 1369. At the same time, it can be shewn that 'Palamon and Arcite' was written in stanzas, so that the present metre of the Knight's Tale presents no difficulty. Of course it will be understood that there is, in these stanza-tales, some of Chaucer's latest work, but I shall presently shew that this late work is easily picked out. I have already pointed out that the Prioress's Tale (of unusual brevity) is an exception to the general rule.
§ 13. The above distinction was suggested to me by the simple fact, that Chaucer cannot be proved to have used his couplets till he was well advanced in composition. Indeed, it has always been remarked that no English poet before him ever dreamt of such a metre, and it has been a source of wonder, for hundreds of years, whence he derived it. To say that it was derived from the French ten-syllable verse is not a complete solution of the mystery; for nearly all such verse is commonly either in stanzas, or else a great number of successive lines are rimed together. We have to discover a specimen of French ten-syllable verse in which only two successive lines are rimed together; and these, I believe, are very scarce. After some search I have, however, fortunately lighted upon a very interesting specimen, among the poems of Guillaume de Machault, a French writer whom Chaucer is known to have imitated[88], and who died in 1377. In the edition of Machault's poems edited by Tarbé, Reims and Paris, 1849, p. 89, there is a poem of exactly this character, of no great length, and fortunately dated; for its title is—'Complainte écrite après la bataille de Poitiers et avant le siège de Reims par les Anglais' (1356-1358). The first four lines run thus:—
'A toy, Henry, dous amis, me complain,
Pour ce que ne cueur ne mont ne plein[89];
Car a piet suy, sans cheval et sans selle,
Et si n'ay mais esmeraude, ne belle.'
The last couplet (the second line of which has two examples of the fully-sounded final e) is as follows:—
'Et que jamais ne feray chant ne lay,
Adieu te di: car toutë joië lay.'
As some of Machault's poems seem to have been lost, he may have written several more poems in the same metre. In any case, we know that Chaucer was well acquainted with his works, and it is also almost certain that the earliest attempt to use this metre in English was made by Chaucer, in his Legend of Good Women, commenced, according to Professor Ten Brink, in the year 1385 (Furnivall's Trial Forewords, p. 111). Surely this date is one of considerable importance; for we at once derive from it the probability that all of the Canterbury Tales written in this metre were written after 1385, whilst those not in this metre may have been earlier, though one of them and a part of some others appear to be later.
§ 14. It appears that the original scheme, whereby each pilgrim was to tell two Tales on the way to Canterbury, and two on his return, was modified, at the time of writing the Parson's Prologue, to a less ambitious scheme whereby each pilgrim was to tell but one Tale apiece. Indeed, the expressions—'Almost fulfild is al myn ordinaunce' in the Parson's Prologue (I 19), and again—'To knitte up al this feeste, and make an ende' in the same (I 47), clearly indicate that the author would, by that time, have been content with the far humbler task of providing but one Tale apiece for the outward journey only. This would have reduced the original scheme to only a quarter of what had been intended; but even thus far the work was never completed. All that finally appeared consists of nine separate fragments; yet they amount to more than 17,000 lines, besides two Tales in prose. It would have been well if the latest scheme, i.e. the quarter of the first scheme, could have been thoroughly carried out; but we must be thankful for what we have.
§ 15. Two attempts were made by subsequent authors to continue the Canterbury Tales; it may be worth while to give here a brief notice of them.
The Tale of Beryn, by an anonymous author, belongs to the early part of the fifteenth century. It has been printed for the Chaucer Society from the Duke of Northumberland's MS. no. 55, where it occurs at leaf 180, after the Canon's Yeoman's Tale. This Tale is supposed to have been the first one told after leaving Canterbury on the return journey, and is put into the mouth of the Merchant, who volunteers to tell it without troubling the host to go through the process of casting lots. It is preceded by a Prologue, which accounts for the manner in which the time was passed in Canterbury. A considerable portion of it is taken up by an account of an amour of the Pardoner; but we also learn several particulars which are of interest, as they refer to the pilgrimage of the characters imagined by Chaucer, and serve to fill in the general idea.
Following this guide, we learn that, on arriving at Canterbury, the Pilgrims lodged at an inn called 'The Cheker of the Hope,' or Chequer of the Hoop; and as soon as they had taken up their quarters there, proceeded to the cathedral, headed by the Knight, to make their offerings at the shrine, of silver brooches and the like. On arriving at the door, the question of precedence arose, as to which should first enter; but this was settled by the Knight, who gave way to 'the prelatis, the person and his fere[90].' Hereupon a monk appears, who sprinkles the company with holy water; and we find that the Friar was very anxious to be allowed to perform this duty for him—'so longid his holy conscience to se the Nonnys face.' The Knight and others repair to the shrine, but the Pardoner and the Miller, with others of like mind, chiefly occupy themselves with wandering about the cathedral, poring upon the stained glass in the windows, and discussing the coats-of-arms there displayed, as well as the chief subjects there depicted. However, the Host goes after them, and persuades them to visit the shrine, and pay their offerings. After kneeling down before the shrine, and kissing the various relics, they stay to hear the service, and afterwards repair to the inn to dinner, as it is now near noon.
On their way, they buy, according to custom, some pilgrims' 'signs' or tokens; on which occasion the Miller and Pardoner obtain several 'Canterbury brooches' by the cheap process of stealing them. They afterwards display the signs, as usual, by wearing them stuck in their hats.
On returning to the inn, they wash and sit down to dinner, and are soon in loud talk, greatly enjoying themselves. The Host then formally thanks the company for having, each of them, told 'a tale' according to the original compact[91]. All that is now required, he says, is 'that wee must so, homward, eche man tel anothir.' The Friar reminds the Host that they were all to sup with him on their return to Southwark (Prol. 799, 815). The Host says he is ready to do his part, and the company disperse for a time. They again meet at supper; and afterwards go to bed for the night.
The next morning, the Knight and his son the Squire each 'cast on a fressher gown,' an example followed by several others, and all sally out to see the town. The Knight and Squire are particularly interested in the town-walls and the fortifications, which they examine critically, though the Squire's mind is occasionally distracted by irrepressible thoughts of his lady-love. The Clerk of Oxford harangues the Sompnour, and tells him that he ought not to be angry with the Friar for knowing so much about evil-doings, and for telling a Tale about a false Sompnour; for it is well to have some knowledge both of good and evil, and it is admitted that there must always be some evil members of every calling; of which doctrine the Knight approves. The Monk takes the Parson and the Grey Friar[92] to call on a friend of his; and we are told that they did not drink water together on this occasion; 'for spycys and eke wyne Went round aboute.' The Wife of Bath and the Prioress repair to the garden behind the inn, which they greatly admire; whilst the Merchant, the Manciple, the Miller, the Reeve, and others roam about the town. In the evening, all the pilgrims meet at supper-time, after which the steadier members of the company go early to bed, whilst the Miller and the Cook sit up drinking. Here follows, at considerable length, the adventure of the Pardoner. Next morning, the whole company leave Canterbury early, in splendid weather, and are all in excellent spirits. The tale-telling commences, and the Merchant undertakes to tell the Tale of Beryn.
§ 16. The other projected continuation of the Canterbury Tales is Lydgate's poem called the Storie of Thebes, first printed as an appendix to the Tales in Stowe's edition of 1561[93]. It is preceded by a Prologue in which Lydgate, with some humour, makes the Host remark that the poet's bridle has neither boss nor bell, and that the poet himself is pale, and 'all deuoide of blood', and wears upon his head 'a wonder thredbare hood', being moreover 'Well araied for to ride late'; which I take to mean that, if his late riding caused him to fall among thieves, there was not much spoil to be obtained from him.
Lydgate had, he tells us, just recovered from a sickness, and went on a pilgrimage to Canterbury on his own account. By good fortune, he went to the same inn as Chaucer's pilgrims, and found there the whole company. The Host invites him to supper, offering him a great pudding or a round haggis, and prescribing for him, after supper, some red fennel, anise, cummin, or coriander-seed. The pilgrims are to leave Canterbury next morning at daybreak, and Lydgate agrees to accompany them.
Accordingly, on the morrow, they make an early start, designing to reach Ospringe by dinner-time, i.e. by about ten o'clock in the forenoon. They had only just left the precincts of the town, when the Host calls upon Lydgate to tell the first Tale of the day; whereupon he commences the long 'Storie of Thebes', in three parts. He succeeded in finishing the first part just at nine o'clock, as they 'passed the thrope[94] of Broughton on the Blee'. Near the end of the third part there is an interesting allusion to the opening lines of the Knightes Tale, where the mourning ladies await the coming of Theseus—
'And, as my master Chaucer list to endite,
All clad in blacke with hir wimples white'—
take up their position 'in the temple of the goddesse Clemence.' When Theseus comes, they beseech him to redress their harms:—
'But if ye list to see the gentillesse
Of Theseus, and how he hath him borne,
If ye remember, ye[95] have heard to-forne
Well rehearsed, at Depeford in the vale,
In the beginning of the Knightes tale.'
It should be particularly noted that, like the author of the Tale of Beryn, Lydgate assumes that each pilgrim tells one Tale only on the journey to Canterbury, and one on the way home. The Host explains to him that it is 'the custome of this companie' for each member of it 'To tell a tale,' and that they 'will homeward the same custome vse.' It is clear that Chaucer's theory about the scheme of his Tales was entirely lost sight of, and that only his practice was regarded, which implied that half the number would suffice. Tyrwhitt's proposal, to alter the text of the Prologue so as to make it square better with the facts, contradicts all that we know about Chaucer. To formulate larger schemes than he could carry out was his constant habit.
Group A.
§ 17. The Prologue is chiefly occupied with the description of the company. As to their number, there is a little difficulty. In l. 24, we are told that it was 'wel nyne and twenty,' i.e. about 29. The question as to whether this number includes Chaucer himself seems to be settled by l. 29, where he employs the word 'we'; and we shall find that to include the poet among the 29 suits best with all that is said about them; cf. l. 544. Nevertheless, the actual number described (if we include Chaucer) is 31, owing to the mention of 'the preestes three' in l. 164. This has been commented on in § 8; and, as we have the authority of Chaucer himself for supposing that one of the tellers of Tales is the Nonnes Preest, which presupposes but one Preest, we are justified in looking upon these three words as having been interpolated. We might even suppose that Chaucer himself made such an alteration himself at a later time, forgetting the inconsistency which was thus introduced. I shall now assume the truth of this correction, and give the list of the 29. At the same time, I print in italics the names of those who are tellers of Tales, and we thus see the result at a glance.
1. The Knight. 2. The Squyer. 3. The Yeman. 4. The Prioresse. 5. The Second Nonne. 6. The Nonnes Preest. 7. The Monk. 8. The Frere. 9. The Marchaunt. 10. The Clerk. 11. The Sergeant of the Lawe, or Man of Lawe. 12. The Frankeleyn. 13. The Haberdasher. 14. The Carpenter. 15. The Webbe. 16. The Dyere. 17. The Tapicer. 18. The Cook. 19. The Shipman. 20. The Doctour, or Phisicien. 21. The Wyf of Bathe. 22. The Persoun. 23. The Plowman. 24. The Miller. 25. The Manciple. 26. The Reve. 27. The Somnour. 28. The Pardoner. 29. Chaucer. Besides these, we find (ll. 803, 4) that mine Host of the Tabard, by name Harry Bailly (A 4358), volunteered to accompany and guide the pilgrims, thus bringing their total number up to thirty. To which it is very necessary to add, that the number of pilgrims was increased, during the journey, by the accession of the Chanouns Yeman (G 703).
The Host proposes that each pilgrim shall tell two Tales on the outward, and two on the homeward journey; a proposal which afterwards dwindled down, as explained above, to one only, on the outward journey alone. Even this scheme was not fulfilled, nor did the pilgrims ever arrive at their destination. We only know that the Persones Tale was to have been the last, as the Knightes was the first. The best tale-teller, in the judgment of mine host, was to have a supper in his honour, at the expense of all the rest; but the prize was never awarded.
Chaucer's description of his characters is dramatic and masterly; and nothing more need be said about them here, though some further particulars are given in the Notes[96]. His sketches are doubtless original, with the remarkable exception of certain lines in the descriptions of the Prioresse and the Wyf of Bathe, which are transcribed or imitated from Le Roman de la Rose. We even find in Marsh (Eng. Language, p. 419) the remark, that Chaucer was 'a dramatist before that which is technically known as the drama was invented.'
§ 18. The Knightes Tale. It is certain that this poem was rewritten, for the purpose of being placed at the head of the Tales. In its original form, it constituted the poem of 'Palemon and Arcite' as referred to in the Legend of Good Women; see the note to l. 420 of that poem, and the introductory remarks to Anelida and Arcite in vol. i. p. 529. We thus see (as was duly noted by Ten Brink[97]) that the original Palemon and Arcite was written in seven-line stanzas, and that some fragments that once belonged to it have found their way into other poems. The opening stanzas of Palemon and Arcite are preserved in the poem of Anelida, ll. 22-46; and we can easily see how they were rewritten so as to form ll. A 859-873 of the Knightes Tale. Above Anelida, l. 22, and again above A 859, the same quotation from Statius is still found in the MSS.
Sixteen stanzas which probably belonged to Palemon and Arcite are preserved in the Parl. Foules, 183-294. These lines were entirely recast and condensed, with additions of Chaucer's own, and answer to Kn. Ta., A 1918-1935. The likeness is so slight that it is worth while to shew wherein it consists. I quote first from the Parl. Foules, and afterwards from the Knightes Tale, merely giving such lines as shew a faint likeness, and printing unchanged words in italics.
(1) From the Parliament of Foules:—
246. Within the temple [sc. of Venus], of syghes hote as fyr
I herde a swogh that ganne aboute renne;
Which syghes were engendred with desyr....
218. Tho was I war of Plesaunce anon-right,
225. I saw Beautee, withouten any atyr,
And Youthe, ful of game and Iolitee
Fool-hardinesse, Flaterye, and Desyr,
Messagerye, and Mede, and othere three....
261. Fond I Venus and her porter Richesse.
221. To doon by force a wight to do folye.
252. ... the bitter goddesse Ialousye.
197. Of instruments of strenges....
232. Aboute the temple daunceden alway....
219. And of Aray, and Lust.
(2) From the Knightes Tale: A 1918, &c.:—
First in the temple of Venus maystow see....
The broken slepes and the sykes colde....
The fyry strokes of the desiring....
Plesaunce and hope, desyr, fool-hardinesse,
Beautee and youthe, bauderie, richesse,
Charmes and force, lesinges, flaterye,
Dispense, bisynesse, and Ielousye....
Festes, instruments, caroles, daunces,
Lust and array.
The above is an excellent example of the manner in which Chaucer was capable of absorbing ideas, and reproducing them in a form almost wholly his own. If we were not aware beforehand that both these passages are due to stanzas 53-64 of Book VII. of Boccaccio's Teseide, it would be easy to miss even their general resemblance.
Lastly, we find that the lines in Troilus, v. 1807-27, are really imitated from the Teseide, xi. stt. 1-3, where they refer to the death of Arcite. In the Knightes Tale, all that answers to the same passage is a part of lines A 2809-15; and all the resemblance is in the following expressions.
(1) From Troilus, v. 1808, &c.:—
His lighte goost ful blisfully is went
Up to the holownesse of the seventh spere....
And forth he wente, shortly for to telle,
Theras Mercurie sorted him to dwelle.
(2) From the Knightes Tale; A 2809:—
His spirit chaunged hous, and wente ther,
As I cam never, I can nat tellen wher....
... wher they dwelle;
Arcite is cold, ther Mars his soule gye.
The change from Mercury, as the conductor of souls in general, to Mars, as the conductor of the martial soul of Arcite, is well worth notice.
§ 19. These specimens furnish good examples of Chaucer's method. Palemon and Arcite was, at first, a reasonably close imitation of Boccaccio's poem of the Teseide, which took its name from the hero Theseus. But in its second form, it was so much altered as to become, to all intents, a truly original poem. Thanks to the patient labour of Mr. Henry Ward, who collated the Teseide and the Knightes Tale throughout, line by line, we can now tell that 'out of 2250 of Chaucer's lines, he has only translated 270 (less than one-eighth); that only 374 more lines bear a general likeness to Boccaccio's, and only 132 more, a slight likeness; [so that] any talk of the Knightes Tale being a "translation only," or "taken bodily from the Teseide" (of 9054 lines), is of course absurd. Chaucer's work is an adaptation of his original.'—F. J. Furnivall, A Temporary Preface of the Six-text Edition of the Canterbury Tales, p. 104.
A table shewing the general resemblance between certain lines in the Knightes Tale and lines in the Teseide, is given in the Notes; to which I must refer the reader for further information. I will merely add here that Chaucer also consulted the Thebais of Statius, which was one of Boccaccio's authorities.
§ 20. In order to give a clear idea of the general contents of Boccaccio's poem, I here quote in full the analysis of it made by Tyrwhitt, and printed in his Introductory Discourse:—
'The Teseide is distributed into twelve Books or Cantoes.
'Bk. i. Contains the war of Theseus with the Amazons, their submission to him, and his marriage with Hippolyta.
'Bk. ii. Theseus, having spent two years in Scythia, is reproached by Perithous in a vision, and immediately returns to Athens with Hippolyta and her sister Emilia. He enters the city in triumph; finds the Grecian ladies in the temple of Clemenzia; marches to Thebes; kills Creon, &c., and brings home Palemone and Arcita who are "Damnati—ad eterna presone."
'Bk. iii. Emilia, walking in a garden and singing, is heard and seen first by Arcita[98], who calls Palemone. They are both equally enamoured of her, but without any jealousy or rivalship. Emilia is supposed to see them at the window, and to be not displeased with their admiration. Arcita is released at the request of Perithous; takes his leave of Palemone, with embraces, &c.
'Bk. iv. Arcita, having changed his name to Pentheo, goes into the service of Menelaus at Mycenae, and afterwards of Peleus at Aegina. From thence he returns to Athens and becomes a *favourite servant of Theseus, being known to Emilia, though to nobody else; till after some time he is overheard making his complaint in a wood, to which he usually resorted for that purpose, by Pamphilo, a servant of Palemone.
'Bk. v. Upon the report of Pamphilo, Palemone begins to be jealous of Arcita, and is desirous to get out of prison in order to fight with him. This he accomplishes with the assistance of Pamphilo, by changing clothes with Alimeto, a physician. He goes armed to the wood in quest of Arcita, whom he finds sleeping. At first, they are very civil and friendly to each other. Then Palemone calls upon Arcita to renounce his pretensions to Emilia, or to fight with him. After many long expostulations on the part of Arcita, they fight, and are discovered first by Emilia, who sends for Theseus. When he finds who they are, and the cause of their difference, he forgives them, and proposes the method of deciding their claim to Emilia by a combat of a hundred on each side, to which they gladly agree.
'Bk. vi. Palemone and Arcita live splendidly at Athens, and send out messengers to summon their friends, who arrive; and the principal of them are severally described, viz. Lycurgus, Peleus, Phocus, Telamon, &c.; Agamemnon, Menelaus, Castor and Pollux, &c.; Nestor, Evander, Perithous, Ulysses, Diomedes, &c.; with a great display of ancient history and mythology.
'Bk. vii. Theseus declares the laws of the combat, and the two parties of a hundred on each side are formed. The day before the combat, Arcita, after having visited the temples of all the gods, makes a formal prayer to Mars. The prayer, being personified, is said to go and find Mars in his temple in Thrace, which is described; and Mars, upon understanding the message, causes favourable signs to be given to Arcita. In the same manner Palemone closes his religious observances with a prayer to Venus. His prayer, being also personified, sets out for the temple of Venus on Mount Citherone, which is also described; and the petition is granted. Then the sacrifice of Emilia to Diana is described, her prayer, the appearance of the goddess, and the signs of the two fires. In the morning they proceed to the theatre with their respective troops and prepare for the action. Arcita puts up a private prayer to Emilia, and harangues his troop publickly; and Palemone does the same.
'Bk. viii. Contains a description of the battle, in which Palemone is taken prisoner.
'Bk. ix. The horse of Arcita, being frighted by a Fury, sent from Hell at the desire of Venus, throws him. However, he is carried to Athens in a triumphal chariot with Emilia by his side; is put to bed dangerously ill; and there by his own desire espouses Emilia.
'Bk. x. The funeral of the persons killed in the combat. Arcita, being given over by his physicians, makes his will, in discourse with Theseus, and desires that Palemone may inherit all his possessions and also Emilia. He then takes leave of Palemone and Emilia, to whom he repeats the same request. Their lamentations. Arcita orders a sacrifice to Mercury, which Palemone performs for him, and dies.
'Bk. xi. Opens with the passage of Arcita's soul to heaven, imitated from the Ninth Book of Lucan. The funeral of Arcita. Description of the wood felled takes up six stanzas. Palemone builds a temple in honour of him, in which his whole history is painted. The description of this painting is an abridgement of the preceding part of the Poem.
'Bk. xii. Theseus proposes to carry into execution Arcita's will by the marriage of Palemone and Emilia. This they both decline for some time in formal speeches, but at last are persuaded and married. The kings, &c. take their leave, and Palemone remains—in gioia e in diporto con la sua dona nobile e cortese.'
§ 21. It is remarkable how many expressions that occur in the Knightes Tale are repeated from Troilus. Examples are: A 925, from Tr. iv. 2; A 1010, from Tr. iv. 627; A 1101, from Tr. i. 425; 1133, cf. Tr. i. 674; 1155, cf. Tr. v. 332; 1163, cf. Tr. iv. 618; 1401, from Tr. iv. 865; 1500, from Tr. ii. 112; 1509, from Tr. ii. 920; 1566, from Tr. iii. 733; 1838, from Tr. v. 1433; 2449, from Tr. iv. 1456. Besides this, l. 301 of the Prologue is from Tr. iv. 1174. This tends to shew that the Knightes Tale (rather than the original Palamon and Arcite) was written not very long after Troilus; rather in 1386 or 1387 than in 1388.
I also note that ll. 1035-6, 1196, and 1502, are echoes of ll. 2425-6, 2282, and 1204, of the Legend of Good Women.