Chapter 28

'Her chiefest foes did plaine confesseShe was a glorious wight.'

'Her chiefest foes did plaine confesse

She was a glorious wight.'

89, 90.sengle, single.oo-fold, one-fold, as distinct fromdouble. See the whimsical praise of 'double' things in Hood's Miss Kilmansegg, in the section entitled 'Her Honeymoon.'

XIV. A BALADE: WARNING MEN,ETC.

6.see at y, see by the outward appearance; cf. C. T., G 964, 1059. This Balade resembles no. XIII. Cf. l. 4 with XIII. 63, 81.

7.et, eateth, eats. This contracted form evidently best suits the scansion. The copy in MS. T. had originallyette, mis-spelt foret, withettythwritten above it, shewing that the old formetwas obsolescent.Et(eateth) occurs in P. Plowman, C. vii. 431; and again, in the same, B. xv. 175, the MSS. haveeet,eteth,ette, with the same sense. 'The blind eat many flies' is given in Hazlitt's Collection of Proverbs. Skelton has it, Works, ed. Dyce, i. 213; and Hazlitt gives four more references.

9.geson, scarce, rare, seldom found; see note to P. Plowman, B. xiii. 270.

19. Remember to pronouncethis is(this's) asthis.

25. A common proverb; see note to C. T., G 962.

26. 'But ay fortune hath in hir hony galle'; C. T., B 3537.

29. The proverbial line quoted in T. is here referred to, viz. 'Fallere, flere, nere, tria sunt hec in muliere.' In the margin of the Corpus MS. of the C. T., opposite D 402, is written—'Fallere, flere, nere, dedit Deus in muliere.' See that passage in the Wife's Preamble.

33.sleight; pronounced (sleit), riming withbait; shewing that theghwas by this time a negligible quantity.

36. The reference is to the proverb quoted in the note to C. T., B 2297 (vol. v. p. 208):—

'Vento quid leuius? fulgur; quid fulgure? flamma.Flamma quid? mulier. Quid muliere? nichil.'

'Vento quid leuius? fulgur; quid fulgure? flamma.

Flamma quid? mulier. Quid muliere? nichil.'

Hencelightin l. 37 should beleit, as it means 'lightning'; which explains 'passeth in a throw,' i.e. passes away instantly. We also see that Lydgate's original varied, and must have run thus:—

'Aëre quid leuius? fulgur; quid fulgure? uentus.Vento quid? mulier. Quid muliere? nichil.'

'Aëre quid leuius? fulgur; quid fulgure? uentus.

Vento quid? mulier. Quid muliere? nichil.'

43. Curiously imitated in the modern song for children:—

'If all the world were paper, And all the sea were ink,And all the trees were bread and cheese, Whatshouldwe do for drink?'The Baby's Bouquet, p. 26.

'If all the world were paper, And all the sea were ink,And all the trees were bread and cheese, Whatshouldwe do for drink?'

'If all the world were paper, And all the sea were ink,

And all the trees were bread and cheese, Whatshouldwe do for drink?'

The Baby's Bouquet, p. 26.

XV. THREE SAYINGS.

(A). 2.Honour, i.e. advancement. The Lat. proverb is—'Honores mutant mores'; on which Ray remarks—'As poverty depresseth and debaseth a man's mind, so great place and estate advance and enlarge it, but many times corrupt and puff it up.'outrage, extravagant self-importance.

XVI. LA BELLE DAME.

1-28. The first four stanzas are original; so also are the four at the end. These stanzas have seven lines; the rest have eight.

10. Readcalledascall'd;Bell-eandDam-eare dissyllabic.

11.Aleyn; i.e. Alain Chartier, a French poet and prose writer, born in 1386, who died in 1458. He lived at the court of Charles VI and Charles VII, to whom he acted as secretary. Besides La Belle Dame sans Merci, he wrote several poems; in one of these, called Le Livre de Quatre Dames, four ladies bewail the loss of their lovers in the battle of Agincourt. He also wrote some prose pieces, chiefly satirical; hisCurial, directed against the vices of the court, was translated by Caxton. Caxton's translation was printed by him in 1484, and reprinted by the Early English Text Society in 1888. The best edition of Chartier's works is that by A. Duchesne (Paris, 1617); a new edition is much wanted.

45. I here quote the original of this stanza, as it settles the right reading of l. 47, where some MSS. haveeyenoreynforpen.

'Qui vouldroit mon vouloir contraindreA ioyeuses choses escrire,Ma plumen'y sçauroit attaindre,Non feroit ma langue à les dire.Ie n'ay bouche qui puisse rireQue les yeulx ne la desmentissent:Car le cueur l'en vouldroit desdirePar les lermes qui des yeulx issent.'

'Qui vouldroit mon vouloir contraindre

A ioyeuses choses escrire,

Ma plumen'y sçauroit attaindre,

Non feroit ma langue à les dire.

Ie n'ay bouche qui puisse rire

Que les yeulx ne la desmentissent:

Car le cueur l'en vouldroit desdire

Par les lermes qui des yeulx issent.'

53. The original French is clearer:—

'Je laisse aux amoureulx malades,Qui ont espoir d'allegement,Faire chansons, ditz, et ballades.'

'Je laisse aux amoureulx malades,

Qui ont espoir d'allegement,

Faire chansons, ditz, et ballades.'

65, 66.forcer, casket;unshet, opened;sperd, fastened, locked up.

103 (footnote).deedly, inanimate, dull, sleepy; an unusual use of the word. Only in Thynne, who seems to be wrong.

105, 106.som, i.e. some male guests.their juges, (apparently) the ladies who ruled them, whom they wooed; cf. l. 137.demure, serious, grave; an early example of the word; cf. XX. 459, XXI. 82.

105.most fresshest, who had most newly arrived; 'Tels y ot qui à l'heure vinrent.'

137.scole-maister, i.e. his mistress who ruled him; cf.herin l. 139.

145. The right reading isshot, as in Thynne and MS. Ff., which are usually better authorities than MSS. F. and H. The original has:—

'I'apperceu letraitde ses yeulxTout empenné d'humbles requestes.'

'I'apperceu letraitde ses yeulx

Tout empenné d'humbles requestes.'

154, 156.mes, dish or course of meats.entremes, ill-speltentremassin Barbour's Bruce, xvi. 457; on which my note is: 'it is the O.F.entremes, now speltentremets, [to mark its connection with F.mettre; but]mets, O.F.mes, is the Lat.missum[accusative ofmissus], a dish assent inor served at table (Brachet). Anentremesis a delicacy or side-dish (lit. a between-dish)'; and I added a reference to the present passage. It is here used ironically.

166.chase, chose; apparently, a Northern form.

174.apert, as in MS. Ff., is obviously right;pert, as still in use, is due to the loss of the former syllable.prevy nor apert, neither secretly nor openly, i.e. in no way; just as in Ch. C. T., F 531.

176.frounter; answering here, not to O.F.frontier, forehead, but to O.F.frontiere, front rank of an army, line of battle; whence the phrasefaire frontiere a, to make an attack upon (Godefroy). So here, the lady's beauty was exactly calculated to make an attack upon a lover's heart. Sir R. Ros has 'a frounterfor'; he should rather have written 'a frounteron.' The original has:—'Pour faire au cueur d'amantfrontiere'; alsogarnisonin the preceding line.

182. 'Car ioye triste cueur traueille.' Sir R. Ros actually takestristewithioyeinstead of withcueur. There are several other instances in which he does not seem to have understood his original. See below.

184.trayle, trellis-work, or lattice-work, intertwined with pliant thick-leaved branches; Godefroy has O.F. 'treille,traille, treillis, treillage'; cf. l. 195. The original has:—'Si m'assis dessoubz une treille.' A note explainsdessoubzasderriere.

198.neer, nearer; as in l. 201.sought, attacked (him).

230. 'Et se par honneur et sans blasme Ie suis vostre.' That is, if I am yours, with honourto myself. But the translator transfers theworship, i.e. the honour, to the lady.

259. 'Which promised utterly to deprive me of my trust.'

265.Other or me, me or some one else. But the French is:—'Se moy ou autre vous regarde,' if I or some one else look at you; which is quite a different thing.

269-72. Obscure, and perhaps wrong; the original is:—

'S'aucun blesse autruy d'auenturePar coulpe de celuy qui blesse,Quoi qu'il n'en peult mais par droicture,Si en a il dueil et tristesse.'

'S'aucun blesse autruy d'auenture

Par coulpe de celuy qui blesse,

Quoi qu'il n'en peult mais par droicture,

Si en a il dueil et tristesse.'

282-3.

'Que peu de chose peult trop plaireEt vous vous voulez deceuoir.'

'Que peu de chose peult trop plaire

Et vous vous voulez deceuoir.'

300. 'It were less harm for one to be sad than two.'

303. Readsory: 'D'ungdolentfaire deux joyeulx.'

324.rechace, chasing it back, which gives small sense; and the readingrichesseis worse, and will not rime. The French hasrachatz= mod. F.rachat, redemption, ransom; which has been misunderstood.

340. 'Preuue ses parolles par oeuure.'

348.theiris an error forhis(Love's), due to the translator. 'Lors il [Amour] descouure sa fierté.'

351.

'Tant plus aspre en est la poincture,Et plus desplaisant le deffault.'

'Tant plus aspre en est la poincture,

Et plus desplaisant le deffault.'

357.oon, one; i.e. the same. MS. Ff. haswone, a very early example of the prefixed sound ofw, as in modern English. See Zupitza's notes to Guy of Warwick.

393. Something is wrong. The French is:—'La mesure faulx semblant porte'; meaning (I suppose) moderation has a false appearance.

400.As think, i.e. pray think; seeAsin the Gloss. in vol. vi.

443. 'A constrained reward, and a gift offered by way of thanks, cannot agree'; i.e. are quite different.

449.wanteth, is wanting, is lacking.

468. 'Qui soit donné à autre office.'

469. 'D'assez grant charge se cheuit,' he gets rid of a great responsibility. The translator gives the contrary sense.

506. 'D'en donner à qui les reffuse.'

509. ThatHe, notWho, should begin the line, is certain by comparison with the French:—'Ilne doit pas cuider muser.'

514.me mistook, that I mistook myself, that I made a mistake.

519, 520.prevayl you, benefit you;after, according to.

523-4.after-game, return-match, a second game played by one who has lost the first. I believe l. 524 to mean 'who cannot thoroughly afford to double his stakes.' Tosetoften means to stake. The French is:—

'Et celuy pert le ieu d'attenteQui ne scet faire son point double.'

'Et celuy pert le ieu d'attente

Qui ne scet faire son point double.'

531.it ar, they are. This use ofarwithitis due to the pl. sb.fantasyes(i.e. vain fancies) immediately following;other counsaylis equivalent to 'as for any other counsel,' which implies that there are more alternatives than one.

536. 'Who would like to conduct himself,' i.e. to regulate his conduct. 'Qui la veult conduire et ne peult.'

538. Readsute: 'Desespoir le met de sasuite.'

555. 'Ne de l'aprendre n'ay-ie cure.'

559. 'Et le deuoir d'amours payer Qui franc cueur a, prisé et droit.'

566.Thatis a mere conjunction; the readingWhichalters the sense, and gives a false meaning.

583.let, makes as though he knew not; French, 'scet celler.'

594, 595.Hath set; 'Mettroit en mes maulx fin et terme.' Line 595 should begin withThenrather thanYet, as there is no contrast.

605. 'De tous soit celuy deguerpiz.'

608.or anything at al, &c.; 'et le bien fait De sa Dame qui l'a reffait Et ramené de mort a vie'; i.e. and the kindness of his Lady, who has new made him, and brought him back from death to life. The English follows some different reading, and is obscurely expressed.

614. 'A qui l'en puisse recourir'; to whom he could have recourse. Butrecourirhas been read asrecovrir, giving no good sense.

627. The readinghighis right; 'Que iamaishaulthonneur ne chiet.'

634.reclaymed, taught to come back; a term in falconry; French, 'bien reclamez.' Opposed tohem to withholde, i.e. to keep themselves from coming back.

635.

'Et si bien aprins qu'ils retiennentA changer dés qu'ils ont clamez.'

'Et si bien aprins qu'ils retiennent

A changer dés qu'ils ont clamez.'

651.fol, foolish; F. text, 'fol plaisir.'

667.To have better, to get a better lover. But the sense is wrongly given. In the French, this clause goes with what follows:—'D'auoir mieulx ne vous affiez,' i.e. expect to get nothing better.

667.to have better, to get a better lover.

668. 'Et prenez en gré le reffus.'

673. The original shews thatshereally refers toPity, denoted byitin l. 671, not to the Lady herself.

680. 'Et iamais á bout n'en vendrez.'

706.By; French,De; henceByshould beOf. Readdefame of cruelty, an ill name for cruelty. The mistake is the translator's.

741.Male-bouche, Slander; a name probably taken from the Rom. de la Rose, 2847; calledWikked-Tongein the English version, 3027.

750.playn, (all equally) flat. 'La terre n'est pas toute unie.'

757.be nought, are naughty, are wicked; as in K. Lear, ii. 4. 136.

788. 'Que si tost mis en obli a.'

814.avantours, boasters; see l. 735. F. text, 'venteus'; cf. 'Vanteux, vaunting'; Cotgrave.

817.Refus, i.e. Denial; personified. 'Reffuz a ses chasteaulx bastiz.'

829. The last four stanzas are original. Note the change from the 8-line to the 7-line stanza.

XVII. THE TESTAMENT OF CRESSEID.

This sequel to Chaucer's 'Troilus,' written by Robert Henryson of Dunfermline, is in the Northern dialect of the Scottish Lowlands. Thynne has not made any special attempt to alter the wording of this piece, but he frequently modifies the spelling; printingsoinstead ofsa(l. 3),whanforquhen(l. 3),rightforricht(l. 4), and so on. I follow the Edinburgh edition of 1593. See further in the Introduction.

1.Ane, a; altered by Thynne toa, throughout.

dooly(Th.doly), doleful, sad; from the sb.dool, sorrow.

4-6. Hereferventseems to mean 'stormy' or 'severe,' as it obviously does not mean hot.Discendis used transitively;can discendmeans 'caused to descend.' This is an earlier example than that from Caxton in the New Eng. Dictionary.Ariesclearly means the influence of Aries, and implies that the sun was in that sign, which it entered (at that date) about the 12th of March; see vol. iii. p. 188 (footnote).Lentis 'spring'; and the Old Germanic method is here followed, which divided each of the seasons into three months. In this view, the spring-months were March, April, and May, called, respectively, foreward Lent, midward Lent, and afterward Lent; see A Student's Pastime, p. 190. Hence the phrase inmiddis of the Lentdoes not mean precisely in the middle of the spring, but refers to the month of April; indeed, the sun passed out of Aries into Taurus on the 11th of the month. The date indicated is, accordingly, thefirst week in April, when the sun was still in Aries, and showers of hail, with a stormy north wind, were quite seasonable.

10.sylit under cure, covered up, (as if) under his care. The verbto syleis precisely the mod. E.ceil; which see in the New E. Dict.

12.unto, i.e. over against. The planet Venus, rising in the east, set her face over against the west, where the sun had set.

20.shill, shrill.Shilleoccurs as a variant ofschrillein C. T., B 4585; seeschilin Stratmann.

32.douf(speltdoifin the old edition) is the Northern form of 'deaf,' answering to the Icel.daufr; thus a nut without a kernel is called in the South 'a deaf nut,' but in Scotland 'a douf nit'; see Jamieson. Fordeafin the senses of 'dull' and 'unproductive,' see the New E. Dict.

39.cut, curtail; illustrated from Lydgate in the New E. Dict.

42. Readlusty, to avoid the repetition ofworthy; cf. l. 41. It should have been stated, in the footnotes, that the readings are: E. worthy; Th. lusty.

43. Referring to Troil. bk. v. In l. 92, we are told how Diomede led Criseyde away. Note particularly that, in l. 45, Henryson quotes Chaucer rather closely. Cf. 'For which wel neigh out of my wit I breyde'; Troil. v. 1262. And cf. ll. 47-9 with—'Betwixen hope and drede his herte lay'; Troil. v. 1207.

48.Quhill, till. The readingEsperusin E. is comic enough. Even Thynne has misreadesperans, and has turned it intoesperous. There can be little doubt thatesperanshere means 'hope,' as it is opposed towanhopein the line above. The word was known to Henryson, as we find, in st. 8 of his Garment of Gude Ladyis: 'Hir slevis suld be ofesperance, To keip hirfra dispair.' Cf. l. 49.

50.behest, promise; because she had promised to return to Troy within ten days; Troil. iv. 1595.

65.this narratioun, i.e. the sequel of the story, which he is aboutto tell. He does not tell us whence he derived it, but intimates that it is a fiction; I suppose he invented it himself.

74.lybel of répudy, Lat. 'libellum repudii,' as in Matt. xix. 7.

77. 'And, as some say, into the common court'; i.e. she became a courtesan.

78.A-per-se, i.e. the first letter of the alphabet, standing alone. A letter that was also a word in itself, asA, orI, orO, was called 'per se,' because it could stand alone. Of these, theA-per-sewas a type of excellence. One of Dunbar's Poems (ed. Small, i. 276) begins:—'London, thou art of townesA-per-se.'

79.fortunait, the sport of fortune; oddly used, as it implies that she was 'an unfortunate.' Cf. l. 89.

94.but, without; and Thynne actually printswithoutin place of it.

97.quhair, where her fatherCalchas(was). He was living among the Greeks; Troil. i. 80, 87.

106. In the medieval legend, Calchas was not a priest of Venus, but of Apollo, as Chaucer notes; see Troil. i. 66-70. So also in Lydgate, Siege of Troy, bk. ii. c. 17. Henryson probably altered this intentionally, because it enabled him to represent Criseyde as reproaching her father's god; see ll. 124, 134.

129.outwaill, outcast; one who is chosen out and rejected; from the verbwail,wale, to choose. There seems to be no other example of the word, though Jamieson gives 'outwailins, leavings, things of little value.'

140.forlanecan hardly mean 'left alone.' If so, it would be a word invented for the occasion, and improperly formed fromlane, which is itself a docked form ofalane. In all other passagesforlaneorforlainis the pp. offorliggen; and the sense of 'defiled' is quite applicable. And further, it rimes withslane, which means 'slain.'

143. 'And, as it seemed, she heard, where she lay,' &c.

147. The seven planets; which, in the order of the magnitude of their orbits, are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. And to this order the author carefully adheres throughout ll. 151-263.

155.fronsit, wrinkled;frounseis the mod. E.flounce, which formerly meant 'a pleat'; seefrounce,frouncenin Stratmann, and the Gloss. to Chaucer. Misprintedfrosnitin E.

'His complexion was like lead.' Lead was Saturn's metal; see C. T., G 828, and the note.

164. Thatgyteis the correct reading, is obvious from ll. 178, 260, where Thynne has preserved it. It is a Chaucerian word; see the Glossary in vol. vi. It seems to mean 'mantle.' The Edinburgh printer altered it togyis, which is too general a term, at least in l. 260.

182. 'To ward off from us the wrath of his father (Saturn).'

198. Compare Ch. C. T., F 1031—'god and governour Of every plaunte, herbe, tree, and flour.'

205. Alluding to Phaethon's misguidance of the chariot of the sun;'And that his faders cart amis he dryve'; Troil. v. 665. Laing printsunricht; but omits to say that E. hasupricht.

211.soyr, sorrel-coloured, reddish-brown; seeSorrelin my Etym. Dict.

212-6. The names of the four horses are curiously corrupted from the names given in Ovid, Met. ii. 153, viz. Eöus, Æthon, Pyröeis, and Phlegon. AsEousmeans 'belonging to the dawn,' we may consider the wordsinto the Orient, i.e. in the East, as explanatory of the nameEoy; 'called Eoy, (which signifies) in the East.' As to the name of the last horse, it was obviously meant to take the formPhilegoney, in order to rime withsey(sea), and I have therefore restored this form. The two authorities, E. and Th., give it in the amazing formPhilologie(Philologee), which can only mean 'philology'!

231.lauchandweipare infinitives, but appear to be meant for past tenses. If so, the former should beleuch;weipmay answer to the strong pt. t.weepin Chaucer (A.S.wēop).

246. He seems to be thinking of Chaucer's Doctor of Phisyk; cf. Ch. Prol. A 425-6, 439.

254. 'The last of all (in order), and swiftest in her orbit.'

256. Thynne hastapere= to appear; this passage is curiously cited, in Richardson's Dictionary, in illustration of the sb.taper!

261.churl, man; this is Chaucer'scherl, in Troil. i. 1024. See the note to that line.

263.na nar, no nearer; the moon's orbit, being the least, was the most remote from the outer heaven that enclosed theprimum mobile.

273.shew, shewed; but it is false grammar, for the verb toshew(orshow) was weak. Formed by analogy withblew,grew,knew; cf.rew,mew,sew, old strong preterites ofrow,mow, andsow.

290. As Henryson usually refrains from the addition of a syllable at the cæsura, we should probably readinjure, notinjury; see Troil. iii. 1018.

297, 298.hyest, i.e. Saturn;lawest(lowest), i.e. Cynthia.

299.modify, determine, specify; not here used in the modern sense.

318. Heat and moisture characterised thesanguinetemperament (see vol. v. p. 33); coldness and dryness characterised the melancholy temperament (see P. Plowman, B-text, p. xix). Cf. l. 316.

343. 'With cup and clapper, like a leper.' It was usual for lepers to carry a cup (for their own use), and a clapper or clap-dish, which was used in order to give warning of their approach, and also as a receptacle for alms, to prevent actual contact; cf. l. 479 below. Compare the following:—

'Coppe and claper he bare ...As he a mesel [leper] were.'—Sir Tristrem, 3173.

'Coppe and claper he bare ...

As he a mesel [leper] were.'—Sir Tristrem, 3173.

'Than beg her bread with dish and clap' (referring to Criseyde).Turbervile's Poems: The Lover in utter dispaire.

'Than beg her bread with dish and clap' (referring to Criseyde).

Turbervile's Poems: The Lover in utter dispaire.

See further underClapperin the New Eng. Dict.

lazarousis formed as an adj. in-ousfrom the sb.lazar, a leper; see l. 531.

350.wa, woful; 'God knows if she was woful enough.'

382. The accent on the second syllable ofhospitalwas not uncommon; hence its frequent contraction tospittalorspittel-house; for which see l. 391 below.

386. Readbevarorbever(Th. hasbeuer); the readingbawarin E. gives no sense. I see no connection with Lowl. Sc.bevar, 'one who is worn out with age,' according to Jamieson, who merely guesses at the sense, as being perhaps allied tobavard, which he also explains as 'worn out'; although, if from the F.bavard, it rather means talkative, babbling, or idle. I believe thatbevar hatsimply means 'beaver hat,' formerly used by women as well as by men. Even Dickens alludes to 'farmer's wives in beaver bonnets,' in Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. 5. No doubt a beaver hat was, when new, an expensive luxury, as worn by Chaucer's 'Merchant' (Prol. l. 272); but they wore well and long, and were doubtless gladly used by beggars when cast off by their original owners.

407. The metre, in ll. 407-69, is borrowed from Chaucer's Anelida.

410.blaiknit, is not a derivative of M.E.blak, black, but of M.E.blāk,bleik, bleak, pallid, cheerless. It is here used in the sense of 'rendered cheerless'; andbairmeans 'bare' or 'barren.' Seeblākienin Stratmann.

413. 'Thy bale is in the growth,' or is sprouting. SeeBraird, the first shoots of corn or grass, in the New E. Dict., where two more examples of this phrase are cited from Henryson.

417. 'With goodly bed, and convenient embroidered bench-covers.'Burelie(mod. E.burly, prov. E.bowerly) answers to an A.S. formbūr-līc, i.e. suitable for a lady's bower. This explains why it was appropriately used as an epithet for a bed. Cf. 'Quhair aneburelybed was wrocht in that wane'; Rauf Coilyear, 264. Hence 'a burly knight' was one suitable for a lady's bower, and therefore handsome, strong, well-grown, large; and by a degradation of meaning, huge, corpulent. The changes in sense are curious and instructive. In the New E. Dict., the etymology is not given. Forbene, seebainin the New E. Dict.; and forbankouris, seebanker.

421.saipheroun sals, saffron sauce.Saffronandsaltwere often used together in medieval cookery; see Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books, ed. Austin (E. E. T. S.). The Glossary to that book gives the spellingssafroun,saferon,saferoun, andsapheron.

423. This is a very early mention oflawn. It is also mentioned in st. 10 of Lydgate's 'London Lickpeny.'

429.walk, wake. The history of this spelling is not quite clear; but thelwas, in any case, mute; another spelling iswauk. I suspect that it originated in the misunderstanding of a symbol. The scribe, who wished to writewakk, used a symbol resemblinglk, where thelwasreallythe firstk, indicated by its down-stroke only. For example,the wordrokkewas (apparently) writtenrolke. See my article on Ghost-words; Phil. Soc. Trans. 1885, p. 369.

tak the dew, gather May-dew. The old custom of bathing the face with fresh dew on the 1st of May is referred to in Brand's Popular Antiquities. He gives an example as late as 1791. See Pepys' Diary, May 28, 1667, May 11, 1669; where we find thatanyday in May was then considered suitable for this health-giving operation.

433. I takeon every graneto mean 'in every particular'; cf. 'agrainof sense.' We may also note the Fr.teindre en graine, to dye in grain, to dye of a fast colour; and we occasionally findgrainin the sense of 'tint.' Godefroy cites 'ung couvertoer d'unegraignevermeille'; and 'une manche vermeille, ne sçay se c'estgraineou autre taincture.'Granealso means 'groan,' and 'groin,' and 'fork of a tree'; but none of these senses suit.

438. 'Take this leper-lodge in place of thy stately bower.'

450. In l. 407, we havesop of sorrow, i.e. sop, or sup, of sorrow. So heresowpit in syte, sopped, or drenched, in sorrow; an expression which Jamieson illustrates from Holland's Houlate, i. 4, and Douglas's Vergil, prologue to Book viii, l. 5.

463. This expression is imitated from Chaucer's Boethius, bk. iii. pr. 6. 3—'O glorie, glorie, thou art nothing elles but a greet sweller of eres!' See note to I. ii. 8. 68 (p. 472).

480.leir(Th.lerne); surely miscopied from l. 479. Readlive.

490.lipperseems to be used collectively; so also in l. 494.

492.shuik coppis, shook their cups; it implies that they waved them aloft, to attract attention. They also used their clappers.

501.ply, plight. I know of no other example ofplyin this sense; butply(usually, a fold) andplight(incorrect spelling of M.E.plyte) are closely related; the former represents Lat.plicitum, the latter, Lat.plicita; fromplicare, to fold (whence E.ply, verb, to bend).

541. 'With many a sorrowful cry and coldorsad (cry of) O hone!' Herecald= sad; andOchaneis the Irish and Scotch cry ofO hone!orOch hone!SeeO honein the Century Dict., s.v.O.

543.will of wane, lit. wild of weening, at a loss what to do. See Gloss. to Barbour's Bruce, s.v.Will.

550. 'And climbed so high upon the fickle wheel' (of Fortune). Cf. Troil. iv. 6, 11.

567. 'For they (women) are as constant as a weathercock in the wind.' Cf. 'unsad... and chaunging as a vane'; Ch. C. T., E 995.

588.wellis, streams, rills; as in Book Duch. 160.

589.broche and belt; Criseyde gave Diomede the brooch she had received from Troilus; see Troil. v. 1661, 1669, 1688. Thebeltis Henryson's addition.

600. 'His heart was ready to burst.'

XVIII. THE CUCKOO AND THE NIGHTINGALE.

In this piece, the final-eis much used as forming a distinct syllable; indeed, more freely than in Chaucer.

1, 2. Quoted from the Knightes Tale, A 1785-6.

4. The wordofis inserted in Th., Ff. and S., and seems to be right; but ashy-eshould be two syllables, perhaps the wordsAnd ofwere rapidly pronounced, in the time of a single syllable. Or omitAnd.

11-5. The lines of this stanza are wrongly arranged in Thynne, and in every printed edition except the present one; i.e. the lines 12 and 13 are transposed. But as the rime-formula isaabba, it is easy to see thatsuffyse,devyse,agryserime together on the one hand, andnyce,vyce, on the other. The pronunciationsufficeis comparatively modern; in Chaucer, the suffix-ysewas pronounced with a voiceds, i.e. asz. Note the rimesdevyse,suffysein the Book of the Duch. 901-2;suffyse,wyse,devyse, in the C. T., B 3648-9; &c. The MSS. Ff., F., and B. all give the right arrangement.

18.whom him lyketh, him whom it pleases him (to gladden or sadden).

20, 23.May; cf. Troil. ii. 50-63; Rom. Rose, 51-2, 74-6, 85-6; Legend of Good Women, 108; C. T., A 1500-2.

36.of feling, from experience.Spek-eis dissyllabic.

39.hoot, hot, i.e. hopeful;cold, full of despair;acces, feverish attack, as in Troil. ii. 1315, 1543, 1578.

41.fevers whyte, feverish attacks (of love) that turn men pale; the same asblaunche feverein Troil. i. 916; see note to that line.

48.a comune tale, a common saying. As a fact, one would expect to hear the cuckoo first. Prof. Newton, in his Dict. of Birds, says of the cuckoo, that it 'crosses the Mediterranean from its winter-quarters in Africa at the end of March or beginning of April. Its arrival is at once proclaimed by the peculiar ... cry of the cock.' Of the nightingale he says—'if the appearance of truth is to be regarded, it is dangerous to introduce a nightingale as singing in England before the 15th of April or after the 15th of June.'

As the change of style makes a difference of 12 days, this 15th of April corresponds to the 3rd of April in the time of Chaucer. It is remarkable that Hazlitt, in his Proverbs, p. 305, gives the following:—'On the third of April, comes in the cuckoo and the nightingale'; which may once have been correct as regards the latter. Hazlitt also says that, in Sussex, the 14th of April is supposed to be 'first cuckoo-day'; whereas it would better apply to the nightingale. And again, another proverb says (p. 380)—'The nightingale and the cuckoo sing both in one month.' It is clear that, whatever the facts may be, our ancestors had a notion that these birds arrived nearly at the same time, and attached some importance, by way of augury, to the possibility of hearing the nightingale first. They must frequentlyhave been disappointed. See Milton's sonnet, as quoted in the Introduction.

54.of, during; exactly as in l. 42.

62. Readinne, the adverbial form; for the sake of the grammar and scansion. SeeInnein the Gloss. in vol. vi. p. 135.beengives a false rime togren-eandsen-e; shewing thatgreneandseneare here monosyllabic (reallygreenandseen), instead of being dissyllabic, as in Chaucer.Seneis the adj., meaning visible, not the pp., which then took the formseyn.

70. Forbegan, which is singular, substitute the pl. formbegonne.to don hir houres, to sing their matins, &c.; referring to the canonical hours of church-service. Bell has the readingto don honoures, for which there is no early authority. Morris unluckily adopts the meaningless reading found in MSS. F. and B.

71. 'They knew that service all by rote,' i.e. by heart. Bell actually explainsroteas a hurdy-gurdy; as to which seeRote(in senses 2 and 3) in the Gloss. in vol. vi. p. 218.

80.Feverereseems to have been pronouncedFev'rer'. Surely it must be right. Yet all the MSS. (except T.) actually haveMarche(writtenMarsin Ff.), followed byupon, noton. Even Th. and T. haveupon, noton; but it ruins the scansion, unless we adopt the readingMarch. It looks as if the author reallydidwriteMarche!

82, 85.ron,mon, forran,man, are peculiar. As such forms occur in Myrc and Audelay (both Shropshire authors) and in Robert of Gloucester, they are perfectly consistent with the supposition that they are due to Clanvowe's connection with Herefordshire.

87.swow, swoon; cf. Book Duch. 215.

90. Asbridis a monosyllable (cf. ll. 212, 260, 270, 271), it is necessary to makelew-ed-ea trisyllable; as also in l. 103. But it becomeslew'dein ll. 50, 94. Chaucer haslew-ëd, P. F. 616, &c.

105.him; the cuckoo is male, but the nightingale, by way of contrast, is supposed to be female.

118.playn, simple, having simple notes; cf. 'the plain-song cuckoo,' Mids. Nt. Dr. iii. 1. 134.

119.crakel, 'trill or quaver in singing; used in contempt'; New E. Dict.

124.Iseems to be strongly accented. It is a pity that there is no authority for insertingForbefore it. Otherwise, readI hav-ë.

In Old French,oci oci, represented the cry of the nightingale; Godefroy gives examples from Raoul de Houdenc, Froissart, and Deschamps. Moreover,ociwas also the imperative of the O.F. verbocire, to kill; with which it is here intentionally confused. Accordingly, the nightingale retorts thatocimeans 'kill! kill!' with reference to the enemies of love.

135.grede, exclaim, cry out. Not used by Chaucer, though found in most dialects of Middle-English. Clanvowe may have heard it in Herefordshire, as it occurs in Langland, Layamon, Robert ofGloucester, and in the Coventry Mysteries, and must have been known in the west. But it was once a very common word. From A.S.grǣdan.

137.to-drawe, drawn asunder; cf. Havelok, 2001; Will. of Palerne, 1564.

140.yok, yoke; cf. Ch. C. T., E 113, 1285.

142.unthryve, become unsuccessful, meet with ill luck. A very rare word; but it also occurs in the Cursor Mundi (Fairfax MS.), l. 9450, where it is said of Adam that 'his wyf made himto unthryve.'

146. The first syllable of the line is deficient. AccentWhatstrongly. Cf. 153-8 below.

151. The sentiment that love teaches all goodness, is common at this time; see Schick's note to Lydgate's Temple of Glas, l. 450.

152. The true reading is doubtful.

153-8. Here the author produces a considerable metrical effect, by beginning all of these lines with a strong accent. There are three such consecutive lines in the Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 869-71. Cf. ll. 161, 232, 242, 252, 261, 265, 268, 270, 278.

180. Bell and Morris readhaire, without authority, and Bell explains it by 'he may full soon have thehair(!) which belongs to age,scil., grey hair, said to be produced by anxiety.' But the M.E. form of 'hair' isheer, which will not give a true rime; and the wordheyrrepresents the mod. E.heir. As thehwas not sounded, it is also writteneir(as in MS. T.) andair(as in MS. S.). The sense is—'For he who gets a little bliss of love may very soon find that his heir has come of age, unless he is always devoted to it.' This is a mild joke, signifying that he will soon find himself insecure, like one whose heir or successor has come of age, and whose inheritance is threatened. On the other hand, 'to have one's hair of age' is wholly without sense. Compare the next note.

185. 'And then you shall be called asIam.' I. e. your loved one will forsake you, and you will be called a cuckold. This remark is founded on the fact that the O.F.coucouorcocuhad the double sense of cuckoo and cuckold. Seecocuin Littré. This explains l. 186.

201-5. Bell, by an oversight, omits this stanza.

203. This reading (from the best MS., viz. Ff.) is much the best. The sense is—'And whom he hits he knows not, or whom he misses'; because he is blind.

216-25. All the early printed editions crush these two stanzas into one, by omitting ll. 217-9, and 224-5, and alteringthoughte me(l. 223) tome aloon. This is much inferior to the text.

237.leve, believe; yet all the authorities but S. have the readingloue! Cf. l. 238.

243.dayesye, daisy. Cf. Legend of Good Women, 182-7, 201-2, 211.

266.Ye witenis the right reading; turned intoye knowein F. and B. The old printed editions actually readThe cuckowe!

267. A syllable seems lacking afterI; such lines are common inLydgate. The readingy-chidwould render the line complete; or we may readhav-ë, as perhaps in l. 124.

275. An obvious allusion to Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, in which he gives 'the royal egle' the first place (l. 330).

284.The quene; queen Joan of Navarre, second wife of Henry IV, who received the manor of Woodstock as part of her dower.

285.lay, lea; not a common word in M.E. poetry, though occurring in P. Plowman. The parliament of birds required a large open space.

289.Terme: during the whole term of my life; cf. C. T., G 1479.

XIX. ENVOY TO ALISON.

1.lewde book, unlearned book. It is not known to what book this refers. It has nothing to do with the preceding poem. My guess, in vol. i. p. 40, that this piece might be Hoccleve's, is quite untenable. His pieces are all known, and the metrical form is of later date. See the next note.

11. Too long; perhapsservantshould be struck out. So in l. 13 we could spare the wordals. But ll. 17, 18, 19, 20, are all of an unconscionable length.

22-7. I believe I was the first to detect the obvious acrostic on the name of Alison; see vol. i. p. 40. The sense of ll. 25-6 (which are forced and poor) is—'I beseech (you) of your grace, let your writing (in reply) alleviate the sighs which I pour out in silence.'

XX. THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF.

I give numerous references below to 'A. L.', i.e. the Assembly of Ladies, printed at p. 380. The two poems have much in common.

1-2. Imitated from C. T., F 671; see note in vol. v. p. 386.

3.Bole, Bull, Taurus. The sun then entered Taurus about the middle of April; hence the allusion to April showers in l. 4. Compare the opening lines of Chaucer's Prologue. But we learn, from l. 437, that it was already May. Hence the sun had really run half its course in Taurus.certeinly; used at the end of the line, as in A. L. 85.

10.very good; this adverbial use ofveryis noticeable; cf. ll. 35, 315, 409, and A. L. 479. I believe Chaucer never usesveryto qualify an adjective. It occurs, however, in Lydgate.

20. Cf. 'moreathertes ese'; A. L. 672.

25. Cf. 'atspringing of the day'; A. L. 218.

26. Cf. 'That ye wold help meonwithmyn aray'; A. L. 241.

27-8. This rime ofpassewithwasoccurs again below (114-6); and in A. L. 436-8.

30. Chaucer hashew-ë,new-ë; but herehew,newrime with the pt. t.grew. So, in A. L. 65-8,hew,newrime with the pt. t.knew.

31-2. Copied from the Book of the Duch. 419-20:—

Back to Index Next