'And every tree stood by him-selveFro other wel ten foot or twelve.'
'And every tree stood by him-selveFro other wel ten foot or twelve.'
'And every tree stood by him-selve
Fro other wel ten foot or twelve.'
35. 'The young leaves of the oak, when they first burst from the bud, are of a red, cinereous colour'; Bell.
37. Cf. 'this procesfor to here'; A. L. 27. And again, 'pitousfor to here; A. L. 718.
39-42. This seems to be a direct allusion to the Cuckoo and the Nightingale, ll. 52-4:—
'I wolde go som whider to assayIf that I mighta nightingale here;For yet had I nonherd of al this yere.'
'I wolde go som whider to assayIf that I mighta nightingale here;For yet had I nonherd of al this yere.'
'I wolde go som whider to assay
If that I mighta nightingale here;
For yet had I nonherd of al this yere.'
43-5. From the Book of the Duch. 398-401:—
'Doun by a floury grene wenteFul thikke of gras, ful softe and swete,...And litel used, it semed thus.'
'Doun by a floury grene wenteFul thikke of gras, ful softe and swete,...And litel used, it semed thus.'
'Doun by a floury grene wente
Ful thikke of gras, ful softe and swete,...
And litel used, it semed thus.'
Cf. A. L. 47; 'into a strait passage,' and the context.
47.parde; a petty oath (being in French), such as a female writer might use; so in A. L. 753.
49, 50. For theherberandbenches, see A. L. 48-9; also L. G. W. 203-4. For the phrasewel y-wrought, see A. L. 165.
53. Bell and Morris readwool, which is obviously right; but neither of them mention the fact thatbothSpeght's editions havewel; and there is no other authority! Clearly, Speght's MS. hadwol, which he misread aswel.
56.eglantere, eglantine, sweet-briar. Entered undereglaterein the New E. Dict., though the earlier quotations, in 1387 and 1459, haveeglentere. I find no authority for the formeglatereexcept Speght's misprint in this line, which he corrects in l. 80 below. Tennyson'seglatere(Dirge, 23) is clearly borrowed from this very line.
58.by mesure; a tag which reappears in A. L. 81.
59.by and by; another tag, for which see A. L. 87, 717.
60.I you ensure; yet another tag; see l. 457, and A. L. 52, 199, 495, 517.
62. The finaleinpeyn-eis suppressed; so in A. L. 359, 416.
68. Cf. 'And as they sought hem-self thusto and fro'; A. L. 43.
75. Hereespyedrimes withsyde,wyde; in A. L. 193, it rimes withasydeandgyde.
89. Thegoldfinchis afterwards opposed to thenightingale. Hence he replaces thecuckooin the poem of the Cuckoo and Nightingale. Just as the Cuckoo and Nightingale represent the faithless and the constant, so the goldfinch and the nightingale are attached, respectively, to the bright Flower and the long-lasting Leaf. This is explicitly said below; see ll. 439, 444.
98.in this wyse; appears also at the end of a line in A. L. 589; cf.in her gyse, A. L. 603;in ful pitous wyse, A. L. 584;in no maner wyse, A. L. 605.
99, 100. These lines correspond to the Cuckoo and Nightingale, 98-100.
113.inly greet, extremely great; cf.inly fair, A. L. 515.
115. 'Ye wold itthinke averyparadyse'; A. L. 168.
118. BetterI set me doun, as in A. L. 77.
121. 'Withouten sleep, withouten mete or drinke'; L. G. W. 177 (note the context).
134. Here begins the description of the adherents of the Leaf, extending to l. 322, including the Nine Worthies, ll. 239-94. The reader must carefully bear in mind that the followers of the Leaf are clad inwhite(not in green, as we should now expect), though the nine Worthies are crowned with green laurel, and all the company gather under a huge Laurel-tree (l. 304). On the other hand the followers of the Flower, shortly described in ll. 323-50, are clad ingreen, though wearing chaplets of white and red flowers; for green was formerly an emblem ofinconstancy.
137. Cf. 'tosay youvery right'; A. L. 750.
144.oon and oon, every one of them. This phrase is rare in Chaucer; it seems only to occur once, in C. T., A 679; but see A. L. 368, 543, 710.
146.purfiloccurs in A. L. 87, in the same line withby and by; and in A. L. 522-4, we findcolour,sleves, andpurfylclose together.
148. Cf. 'Withgrete perles, ful fyneand orient'; A. L. 528. Fordiamonds, see A. L. 530.
150. Borrowed from Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 287: 'of whiche the name I wante.' Hencewante, i.e. lack, is the right reading. The rime is imperfect.
155. The missing word is notbranches, as suggested by Sir H. Nicolas, norfloures, as suggested by Morris, butleves; as the company ofthe Leafis being described; cf. l. 259. The epithetsfresh and greneare very suitable. The leaves were of laurel, woodbine, andagnus-castus.
160. Forwerereadware; see ll. 267, 329, 335, 340; the sense iswore. Chaucer's form iswered, as the verb was originally weak; Gower and Lydgate also use the formwered. The present is perhaps one of the earliest examples of the strong form of this preterite.
agnus-castus; 'from Gk.ἄγνος, the name of the tree, confused withἀγνός, chaste, whence the second word Lat.castus, chaste. A tree, species of Vitex (V. Agnus Castus), once believed to be a preservative of chastity, called also Chaste-tree and Abraham's Balm'; New E. Dict. The same Dict. quotes from Trevisa: 'The herbe agnus-castus is alwaye grene, and the flowre therof is namly callyd Agnus Castus, for wyth smelle and vse it makyth men chaste as a lombe.'
163. ForButMorris readsAnd, which is simpler.
164.oon, one. She was the goddess Diana (see l. 472), or the Lady of the Leaf.
171. Cf. 'That to beholde it was a greet plesaunce'; A. L. 59.
172. Cf. 'though it werefor a king'; A. L. 158.
177-8. Speght hasSuse le foyle de vert moyin l. 177, andSeen et mon joly cuer en dormyin l. 178. I see little good in guessing what it ought to be; so I leave it alone, merely correctingSuseandfoyletoSusandfoyl; as the O.F.foilwas masculine.
Bell altersde verttodevers, and forSeenputsSon; and suppliesestaftercuer; but it all gives no sense when it is done. We should have to readSus le foyl devers moy sied, et mon joli cuer est endormi; sit down upon the foliage before me, and my merry heart has gone to sleep. Which can hardly be right. The Assembly of Ladies has the same peculiarity, of presenting unintelligible scraps of French to the bewildered reader.
180.smal, high, treble; chiefly valuable for explaining the same word in Chaucer's Balade to Rosemounde.
188-9. A parallel passage occurs in A. L. 384-5.
201.the large wones, the spacious dwellings; cf. Ch. C. T., D 2105.
202. Speght hasPretir, an obvious error forPrester. The authoress may easily have obtained her knowledge of Prester John from a MS. of Mandeville's Travels; see cap. 27 of that work. And see Yule's edition of Marco Polo. He was, according to Mandeville, one of the greatest potentates of Asia, next to the Great Khan.
209.cereal; borrowed from Chaucer:—'Acorouneof a greneook cerial'; C. T., A 2290. And Chaucer took it from Boccaccio; see note in vol. v. p. 87.
210.trumpets, i.e. trumpeters; as several times in Shakespeare. Cf. l. 213.
212.tartarium, thin silk from Tartary. Fully explained in my note to P. Plowman, C. xvii. 299 (B. xv. 163), and in the Glossary to the same.bete, lit. beaten; hence, adorned with beaten gold; see note to C. T., A 978 (vol. v. p. 64).were, (all of which) were; hence the plural.
213. Readbere, as in l. 223; A.S.bǣron, pt. t. pl.
220.kinges of armes, kings-at-arms; who presided over colleges of heralds. Sir David Lyndsay was Lord Lion king-at-arms.
224. Cf. 'Set with saphyrs'; A. L. 480.
233.vel-u-etis trisyllabic; as in The Black Knight, 80.
234. 'And certainly, they had nothing to learn as to how they should place the armour upon them.'
238.in sute, in their master's livery.
240. The celebrated Nine Worthies; see notes to IV. 281, XII. 86.
243. Cf. 'and furredwelwith gray'; A. L. 305.
252.henshmen, youths mounted on horseback, who attended their lords. See numerous quotations for this word in A Student's Pastime, §§ 264, 272, 415-8. Each of them is calleda child, l. 259.
253. Forevery on, it is absolutely necessary to readthe first upon;for the sense. Each of the nine worthies had three henchmen; of these three, the first bore his helmet, the second his shield, and the third his spear.
257. Bell and Morris alternekketobakke; but wrongly. The shields were carried by help of a strap which passed round theneckand over the shoulders; called in Old French aguige. The convenience of this arrangement is obvious. See note to C. T., A 2504 (vol. v. p. 88).
272. In Lydgate's Temple of Glas, 508, we are told that hawthorn-leaves do not fade; see ll. 551-3 below.
274. Readhors, nothorses;horsis the true plural; see l. 293.
275. Cf. 'trompes, that ... blowenblody sounes'; C. T., A 2511-2.
286-7. 'Thatto beholde it was a greet plesaunce'; A. L. 59. And again—'I you ensure'; A. L. 52.
289. I. e. the Nine Worthies; see ll. 240, 249.
293. The readingninth(as in Speght) is an absurd error fornine; yet no one has hitherto corrected it. How could the ninth man alight fromtheir horses? The 'remnant' were the twenty-seven henchmen and the other knights.
295. Cf. 'See how they cometogider, twain and twain'; A. L. 350.
302. Cf. 'Ful womanlyshe gave me,' &c.; A. L. 196.
305. 'Laden with leaves, with boughs of great breadth.'
323. Here begins the description of the company of the Flower. They were clad ingreen.
330. Cf. 'Her gown waswel embrouded'; A. L. 85.
348.bargaret, a pastoral; a rustic song and dance; O.F.bergerete, fromberger, a shepherd. Godefroy notes that they were in special vogue at Easter.
350. We have here the refrain of a popular French pastoral. Warton suggests it may have been Froissart's; but the refrain of Froissart's Ballade de la Marguerite happens to be different: 'Sur toutes flours j'aime la margherite'; see Spec. of O. French, ed. Toynbee, p. 302. In fact, Warton proceeds to remark, that 'it was common in France to give the title of Marguerites to studied panegyrics and flowery compositions of every kind.' It is quite impossible to say if a special compliment is intended; most likely, the authoress thought of nothing of the kind. She again mentionsmargarettesin A. L. 57.
351.in-fere, together; very common at the end of a line, as in ll. 384, 450; A. L. 407, 469, 546, 602, 719.
369.withouten fail; this tag recurs in A. L. 567, 646, in the formwithouten any fail; and, unaltered, in A. L. 188, 537.
373. Those in white, the party of the Leaf.
379.oon, one of those in green; this was queen Flora; see l. 534.
403. Bell thinks this corrupt. I think it means, that, before engaging with them in jousts in a friendly manner, they procured some logs of wood and thoroughly dried them. HenceTo make hir justës= in order to joust with them afterwards.
410. 'Quickly anointing the sick, wherever they went.'
417.for any thing, in any case, whatever might happen; cf. C. T., A 276, and the note (vol. v. p. 30).
427. 'For nothing was lacking that ought to belong to him.'
450. Here the story ends, and the telling of the moral begins.
457. The meeting with a 'fair lady' was convenient, as she wanted information. In the Assembly of Ladies, this simple device is resorted to repeatedly; see ll. 79, 191, 260, 400.
459. We findful demureat the end of A. L. 82.
462, 467.My doughter; this assumes that the author was a female; so in ll. 500, 547; and in A. L. throughout.
475. Referring to l. 173; so l. 477 refers to l. 160; l. 479, to l. 158.
493.some maner way, some kind of way; cf.what maner way, A. L. 234.
502. Refers to ll. 240, 249. With l. 510, cf. C. T., A 1027.
512. Speght printsbowesforboughes; but the meaning is certain, as the reference is to ll. 270-1. Bows are not made of laurel; yet Dryden fell into the trap, and actually wrote as follows:—
'Who bear the bows were knights in Arthur's reign;Twelve they, and twelve the peers of Charlemagne;For bows the strength of brawny arms imply,Emblems of valour and of victory.'
'Who bear the bows were knights in Arthur's reign;Twelve they, and twelve the peers of Charlemagne;For bows the strength of brawny arms imply,Emblems of valour and of victory.'
'Who bear the bows were knights in Arthur's reign;
Twelve they, and twelve the peers of Charlemagne;
For bows the strength of brawny arms imply,
Emblems of valour and of victory.'
This is probably the only instance, even in poetry, of knights being armed with bows and arrows.
515. For the knights of Arthur's round table, see Malory's Morte Arthure.
516.Douseperes;les douze pers, the twelve peers of Charlemagne, including Roland, Oliver, Ogier the Dane, Otuel, Ferumbras, the traitor Ganelon, and others. The names vary.
520.in hir tyme, formerly, in their day; shewing that the institution of the Knights of the Garter on April 23, 1349, by Edward III, was anything but a recent event.
530. I. e. 'Witnesshimof Rome, who was the founder of knighthood.' Alluding to Julius Cæsar, to whom was decreed by the senate the right of wearing a laurel-crown; Dryden mentions him by name.
550. Cf. 'De mieulx en mieulx'; Temple of Glas, 310.
551-6. Apparently imitated from The Temple of Glas, 503-16.
567. Cf. 'Wethankedherin our most humble wyse'; A. L. 729.
580.Male-Bouche, Slander; borrowed from the Rom. de la Rose. See note above, to VIII. 260.
589. Cf. 'toputitin wryting'; A. L. 664; 'sheputitin wryting'; A. L. 629.
590. I. e. in the hope that it will be patronised.
591. Cf. 'As for thisbook'; A. L. (last stanza).
592. 'How darest thou thrust thyself among the throng?' i.e. enter into contest. Cf. 'In suych materys toputte mysylff in prees'; Lydgate, Secrees of Philosophers, ed. Steele, l. 555.
XXI. THE ASSEMBLY OF LADIES.
For numerous references to this poem, see Notes to the preceding poem.
Though apparently written by the authoress of the Flower and the Leaf, it is of later date, and much less use is made of the finale. That the author was a woman, is asserted in ll. 7, 18, 259, 284, 370, 379-85, 407, 450, 625.
17.the mase. They amused themselves by trying to find a way into a maze, similar to that at Hampton Court. Cf. l. 32.
29. Ll. 1-28 are introductory. The story of the dream now begins, but is likewise preceded by an introduction, down to l. 77.
34. The wordwentis repeated; the second time, it is an error forwend, weened. 'Some went (really) inwards, and imagined that they had gone outwards.' Which shews that the maze was well constructed. So, in l. 36, those who thought they were far behind, found themselves as far forward as the best of them.
42. That is, they cheated the deviser of the maze, by stepping over the rail put to strengthen the hedge. That was because they lost their temper.
44. The authoress got ahead of the rest; although sorely tired, she had gained a great advantage, and found the last narrow passage which led straight to the arbour in the centre. This was provided with benches (doubtless of turf, Flower and Leaf, l. 51) and well enclosed, having stone walls and a paved floor with a fountain in the middle of it.
54. There were stairs leading downwards, with a 'turning-wheel.' I do not think that turning-wheel here means a turn-stile, or what was formerly called a turn-pike. It simply means that the stair-case was of spiral form. Jamieson tells us that, in Lowland Scotch, the termturn-pikewas applied (1) to the winding stair of a castle, and (2) to any set of stairs of spiral form; and quotes from Arnot to shew that a spiral stair-case was called aturnpike stair, whereas a straight one was called ascale stair. The pot of marjoram may have been placed on a support rising from the newel.
It may be noted that arbours, which varied greatly in size and construction, were often set upon a small 'mount' or mound; in which case it would be easy to make a small spiral stair-case in the centre. In the present case, it could hardly have been very large, as it occupied a space in the centre of a maze. For further illustration, see A History of Gardening in England, by the Hon. Alicia Amherst, pp. 33, 52, 78, 116, 118, 314.
60. 'And how they (the daisies) were accompanied with other flowers besides, viz. forget-me-nots and remember-mes; and the poor pansies were not ousted from the place.'
61.Ne-m'oublie-mies; from O.F.ne m'oublie-mie, a forget-me-not. Littré, s.v.ne m'oubliez pas, quotes, from Charles d'Orléans, 'Desfleurs dene m'oubliez mie'; and again, from a later source, 'Un diamant taillé en fleur dene m'oblie mie.' The recovery of this true reading (by the help of MS. A.) is very interesting; as all the editions, who follow Thynne, are hopelessly wrong. Thynne, misreading the word, printedNe momblysnesse; whence arose the following extraordinary entry in Bailey's Dictionary:—'Momblishness, talk, muttering; Old Word.' This ghost-word is carefully preserved in the Century Dictionary in the form:—'Momblishness, muttering talk; Bailey (1731).'
sovenezdoubtless corresponds to the nameremember-me, given in Yorkshire and Scotland to theVeronica chamædrys, more commonly called the germander speedwell, and in some counties forget-me-not. But we should rather, in this passage, take forget-me-not (above) to refer, as is most usual, to theMyosotis; as Littré also explains it. Here Thynne was once more at a loss, and printed the word assouenesse, which was 'improved' by Stowe intosonenesse. Hence another ghost-word, recorded by Bailey in the entry:—'Sonenesse, noise.' Cf. l. 86.
62.pensees, pansies; alluding, of course, to theViola tricolor. The spelling is correct, as it represents the O.F.pensee, thought; and it seems to have been named, as Littré remarks, in a similar way to the forget-me-not, and (I may add) to the remember-me.
68.stremes, jets of water; there was a little fountain in the middle.
73. The authoress had to wait till the other ladies also arrived in the centre of the maze. Cf. note to l. 736.
82.sad, settled, staid.demure, sober; lit. mature.
83.blewe, blue; which was the colour of constancy; see note to C. T., F 644 (vol. v. p. 386). For the lady's name was Perseverance. It is convenient to enumerate here the officers who are mentioned. They are: Perseveraunce, usher (91); Diligence (133, 198, 728); Countenance, porter (177, 277, 295); Discretion, purveyour (263); Acquaintance, herbergeour (269); Largesse, steward (318); Belchere, marshall (322); Remembrance, chamberlain (336); Avyseness, or Advisedness, secretary (343); and Attemperance, chancellor (508). The chief Lady is Loyalty (98), dwelling in the mansion of Pleasant Regard (170).
87. Herewordmeans 'motto.' I here collect the French mottoes mentioned, viz. Bien et loyalement (88); Tant que je puis (208); A moi que je voy (308); Plus ne purroy (364); A endurer (489). Afterwards, four ladies are introduced, with the mottoes Sans que jamais (583); Une sanz chaungier (590); Oncques puis lever (598); and Entierment vostre (616). These ladies afterwards present petitions, on which were written, respectively, the phrases Cest sanz dire (627); En dieu est (645); Soyez en sure (666); and Bien moneste (675). The words, or mottoes, were embroidered on the sleeves of the ladies (119). See Lydgate's Temple of Glas, 308-10.
224. They said a pater-noster for the benefit of St. Julian, becausehe was the patron-saint of wayfarers. 'Of this saynt Julyen somme saye that this is he that pylgryms and wey-faryng men calle and requyre for good herberowe, by-cause our lord was lodgyd in his hows'; Caxton's Golden Legend. The story occurs in the Gesta Romanorum, c. xviii., and in the Aurea Legenda. The following extract from an old translation of Boccaccio, Decam. Day 2. Nov. 2, explains the point of the allusion. 'Nevertheless, at all times, when I am thus in journey, in the morning before I depart my chamber, I say apater-nosterand anAve-Mariafor the souls of the father and mother of St. Julian; and after that, I pray God and St. Julian to send me a good lodging at night'; &c. Dunlop, in his Hist. of Fiction, discussing this Novella, says: 'This saint was originally a knight, and, as was prophecied to him by a stag, he had the singular hap to kill his father and mother by mistake. As an atonement for his carelessness, he afterwards founded a sumptuous hospital for the accommodation of travellers, who, in return for their entertainment, were required torepeat pater-nostersfor the souls of his unfortunate parents.'
241. Because she was to change her dress, and put on blue; see ll. 258-9, 313-4, 413.
457. The reference is to the Legend of Good Women, which contains the story of Phyllis, Thisbe, and 'Cleopataras.' Cf. l. 465.
463.Hawes, probably the same name asHavise, which occurs in the old story of Fulke Fitzwarine. But it is remarkable that MS. A. has the reading:—'That other sydë was, how Enclusene'; and this looks like an error forMelusene, variant ofMelusine. This would agree with the next line, which means 'was untruly deceived in her bath.' The story of Melusine is given in the Romance of Partenay. She was a fairy who married Raymound, son of the Earl of Forest, on the understanding that he was never to watch what she did on a Saturday. This he at last attempts to do, and discovers, through a hole in the door, that she wasin a bath, and that her lower half was changed into a serpent. He tries to keep the knowledge of the secret, but one day, in a fit of anger, calls her a serpent. She reproaches him, and vanishes from his sight. See the Romans of Partenay, ed. Skeat (E.E.T.S.).
465. From Chaucer's poem of Anelida and the false Arcite; vol. i. p. 365; for her Complaint, see the same, p. 373.
471.umple(MS. T.vmpylle), smooth gauze; from O.F.omple, smooth, used as an epithet of cloth, satin, or other stuff (Godefroy). Here evidently applied to something of a very thin texture, as gauze; see l. 473.
477.stages, steps. The chair or throne was set on a platform accessible by five steps, which were made ofcassidony. Cotgrave explains O.F.cassidonieas meaning not onlychalcedony, but also a kind of marble; and this latter sense may be here intended.
488.Her word, her motto;hermust refer to the great lady (l. 501) to whom the throne belonged.
499.tapet, a hanging cloth (Halliwell); here a portion of the hangings that could be lifted up, to give entrance.
526.After a sort, of one kind, alike.vent, slit in front of a gown. 'Vente, the opening at the neck of the tunic or gown, as worn by both sexes during the Norman period, and which was closed by a brooch'; Gloss. to Fairholt's Costume in England. O.F.fente, a slit, cleft; from Lat.findere. The collar and slit were alike bordered with ermine, covered with large pearls, and sprinkled with diamonds. Cf. also: 'Wyth armynes powdred bordred at the vent'; Hawes, Pastime of Pleasure, ed. Wright, p. 80.
536.balays, a balas-ruby; 'a delicate rose-red variety of the spinel ruby'; New. E. Dict.of entail, lit. 'of cutting,' i.e. carefully cut; the usual phrase; see New E. Dict.
539.a world, worth a world; cf.a world(great quantity) of ladies; Flower and the Leaf, 137.
576-8. Alluding to the proverb: 'first come, first served'; cf. C. T., D 389, and the note (vol. v. p. 301).
581. We find that the 'bills' are petitions made by the four ladies regarding their ill success in love-affairs.
592. I. e. yet not so much as she ought to have been, as she had all the trouble;sherefers to the lady herself.
598.Oncques, ever; Lat.unquam. 'I can ever rise' seems at first sight to be meant; butnemust be understood; the true sense is, 'I can never rise'; i.e. never succeed. See the context, ll. 605-9.
645. 'I trust in God'; see l. 655.
675. 'Admonish well'; from O.F.monester, to admonish, warn.
680. Here, and in l. 689, the speaker is the lady of the castle. In l. 682 (as in l. 690), the speaker appears to be the fourth lady; it is none too clear.
689.I hate you, I command you.Hateshould rather be writtenhote; perhaps it was confused with the related pt. t.hatte, was called. The reference to Saint James of Compostella is noteworthy.
693.it, i.e. the bill, or petition; it takes the form of a Complaint.
697-8.And, if.ye wolde, i.e.ye wolde seme, (see l. 696), ye would think so.Seemis still common in Devonshire in the sense of think or suppose; usually pronouncedzim.
699.herrefers to the lady of the castle; at least, it would appear so from l. 705. Else, it refers to Fortune.
736.the water, water thrown in her face by one of her companions, who had by this time entered the arbour.
752. A headless line; accent the first syllable.
754-5. The Flower and the Leaf has a similar ending (ll. 582-3).
XXII. A GOODLY BALADE.
Obviously Lydgate's. See the Introduction.
1.Moder of norture, model of good breeding. The poem is evidently addressed to a lady named Margaret.
2.flour, daisy (for Margaret); see ll. 22, 23.
4.Al be I, although I am; common in Lydgate.
9.Thing, i.e. anything, everything, whatever thing.
15.Mieulx un, one (is) better; evidently cited from a motto or device. The meaning seems to be: it is better to have butonelover, and you have found one in a heart that will never shrink. In the Temple of Glas, 310, Lydgate uses the mottode mieulx en mieulx.
22-3. 'Daisy (born) of light; you are called the daughter of the sun.' Alluding to the nameday's eye, which was also applied by Lydgate to the sun; see note in vol. iii. p. 291 (l. 43). Imitated from Legend of Good Women, 60-4.
29. 'When the day dawns, (repairing) to its natural place (in the east), then your father Phœbus adorns the morrow.'
34. 'Were it not for the comfort in the day-time, when (the sun's) clear eyes make the daisy unclose.' Awkward and involved; cf. Legend of Good Women, 48-50, 64-5.
43.Je vouldray, I should like; purposely left incomplete.
44.casuel, uncertain; see New E. Dict.
48-9.god saith; implying that it is in the Bible. I do not find the words; cf. Prov. xxi. 3; 1 Pet. ii. 20.
50.Cautels, artifices, deceits; a word not used by Chaucer, but found in Lydgate; see New E. Dict.
57.Quaketh my penne, my pen quakes; an expression used once by Chaucer, Troil. iv. 13, but pounced upon by Lydgate, who employs it repeatedly. See more than twenty examples in Schick's note to the Temple of Glas, 947. Cf. IX. 229.
59. Readroseth, grows rosy, grows red, as opposed towelkeneth, withers, fades. We find the pp.rosedtwice in Shakespeare; 'a maid yetrosed over,' Henry V, v. 2. 423; and 'thyrosedlips'; Titus And. ii. 4. 24. The emendation seems a safe one, for it restores the sense as well as the rime.
welkenethshould probably bewelketh; I find no other example of the verbwelkenen, thoughwelwenoccurs in a like sense; andwelkethsuits the rhythm.
60.eft, once again hot. These sudden transitions from cold to heat are common; see Temple of Glas, 356:—'For thoughe I brenne withferuenceand with hete.'
64. Lydgate is always deploring his lack of eloquence; cf. notes to Temple of Glas, ed. Schick, ll. 1393, 1400.
69. I can find no such word asjouesse, so I alter it tojonesse, i.e. youth. For the spellingjonescein the 14th century, see Littré, s.v.jeunesse. The expressionhave more yetimplies that the phrase or mottoje serve jonesseis added as a postscript, and that there was some special point in it; but the application of it is now lost to us. Cf. 'Princesof youthe, and flour of gentilesse,' Temple of Glas, 970.
XXIII. GO FORTH, KING.
This poem really consists of twelve precepts, intended to redress twelve abuses. The twelve abuses are given by the Latin lines above, which should be compared throughout. The whole poem is thus easily understood.
The accent is on the first syllable of the line in most of the lines. In l. 3, the wordLordstands alone in the first foot. The lines are somewhat unsteady, quite in Lydgate's usual manner. In l. 6,jug-eis probably dissyllabic. See further in the Introduction.
XXIV. THE COURT OF LOVE.
This late piece abounds with imitations of Lydgate, especially of his Temple of Glas; many of the resemblances are pointed out in Schick's edition of that poem, which I refer to by the contraction 'T. G.'
1. Cf. 'With quaking hert[e] of myn inward drede'; T. G. 978.
'Another feature characteristic of Lydgate is his self-deprec[i]atory vein'; T. G., Introd. p. cxl. We have here an instance of an imitation of it.
6. Cf. 'Save that he wol conveyen his matere'; C. T., E 55.
8. He refers to Cicero's flowers of rhetoric. He may have found the name in Chaucer, P. F. 31. But he probably took the whole idea from a line of Lydgate's:—'Of rethoriquesTulliusfond thefloures': Minor Poems, p. 87.
9.borne, burnish, adorn; it rimes (as here) withsojornein Troil. i. 327.
11.Galfrid, Geoffrey de Vinsauf; his 'craft' refers to his treatise on the art of poetry, entitled 'Nova Poetria'; see note to C. T., B 4537 (vol. v. p. 257). [I once thought (see vol. i. p. 43) thatGalfridhere means Chaucer himself, as he also is twice calledGalfridin Lydgate's Troy-book. But I find that Dr. Schick thinks otherwise, and the use of the wordcraftis on his side. At the same time, this renders it impossible for Chaucer to have written 'The Court of Love';hisopinion of his namesake was the reverse of reverential.] With ll. 4-11 compare the opening lines of Benedict Burgh's Poem in Praise of Lydgate, pr. at p. xxxi of Steele's edition of Lydgate's Secrees of Philosophers.
19.Calliope; twice mentioned by Chaucer; also by Lydgate, T. G. 1303. Lydgate's Troy-book opens with an invocation to Mars, followed by one to Calliope:—'Helpe me also, o thou Callyope'; and onlyfour lines above there is a mention of 'Helicon the welle' (see l. 22 below).
22.Elicon, mount Helicon in Bœotia, sacred to Apollo and the Muses; confused by Chaucer and his followers with the fountain Hippocrene; see note in vol. i. p. 531. Hence Lydgate's expression 'Helicon the welle' in the last note and in T. G. 706, and the reference in the text to itsdropes.
suger-dropes; Lydgate was fond of sugar; he has 'sootesugredarmonye,' Minor Poems, p. 182; and 'sugridmelody,' ib., p. 11. Also 'sugredeloquence'; XII. 200 (p. 288); with which cf. l. 933 below. I have observed several other examples.
24.Melpomene; the muse who presided over tragedy.
28. Cf. 'This simpil tretis for to takein gre'; T. G. 1387. 'Takethat grethe rudness of my style'; Lydgate, Secrees of Philosophers, 21.
30.metriciens, skilful in metre, poets; a word which has a remarkably late air about it. Richardson gives an example of it from Hall's Chronicle.
36. Compare the following, from T. G. 1379-81.
'I purpos here to maken and to writeA litil tretise, and a processe makeIn pris of women, oonli for hir sake.'
'I purpos here to maken and to writeA litil tretise, and a processe makeIn pris of women, oonli for hir sake.'
'I purpos here to maken and to write
A litil tretise, and a processe make
In pris of women, oonli for hir sake.'
40.man, servant, one who does her homage; cf. Chaucer, C. T., I 772; La Belle Dame, 244; T. G. 742.
42. Cf. 'So that here-after my ladi may itloke'; T. G. 1392.
45. Cf. 'Ther was enclosedrype and sad corage'; C. T., E 220.
49, 50. Here the mountain of Cithæron, in Bœotia, is confused with the island of Cythera, sacred to Venus, whence her name Cytherea was derived. The mistake arose, of course, from the similarity of the names, and occurs (as said in vol. v. p. 78, note to A 1936), in the Roman de la Rose, where we find:—
'Citeron est une montaigne ...Venus, qui les dames espire,Fist là son principal manoir'; ll. 15865-71.
'Citeron est une montaigne ...Venus, qui les dames espire,Fist là son principal manoir'; ll. 15865-71.
'Citeron est une montaigne ...
Venus, qui les dames espire,
Fist là son principal manoir'; ll. 15865-71.
Hence Chaucer makes the same confusion, but in a different way. Chaucer preserves the right name of the mountain, in the formCitheroun, which he rimes withmencioun(A 1936) and withAdoun(A 2223); but here we have the formCitharee, riming withsee. For all this, the scribe corrects it toCitheronin l. 69, where he has no rime to deal with.
56. Cf. 'thewingedgod, Mercurie'; C. T., A 1385.
58. The MS. hascostes that it drewe; Bell alters this tohad to it drew, under the impression thatdrewis the pp. ofdraw! So again, in l. 78, he alterssaphir ind, which is correct, tosaphir of Inde; andin general, alters the text at will without the least hint that he has done so.
78.ind, blue; as in The Black Knight, 127.
80.Baleis Turkeis(MS.Bales turkes).Baleisis a better spelling, answering to F.balaisin Littré. It also occurs asbalaiin O.F.; and the word was probably suggested by the mention of it in Rom. de la Rose, 20125:—'Que saphirs, rubis, nebalai.' Hence also the mention of it in the King's Quhair, st. 46, which see; and in the Assembly of Ladies, 536.Turkeisis the A. F. equivalent of O.F.Turkois, i.e. Turkish, as in C. T., A 2895, on which see the note (vol. v. p. 93).
81.shene, a misspelling ofshine, intimating that the author has confused the adj.shenewith the verb; or rather, that the poem was written at a time when the wordshinecould be used as riming tobeen; since we find similar examples in lines 561, 768. So also we findpretilyriming withbein The Flower and the Leaf, 89. The pt. t.shoonoccurs in l. 83.
82. Cf. 'As doon the sterres in the frosty night'; C. T., A 268. And again: 'bryght As sterrys inthewyntyrnyght'; Lydgate, Compleint following T. G., l. 548.
86. Cf. Compl. of Mars, 78-84, 104-5; C. T., A 2388 (and note); and T. G. 126-8.
88. Cf. 'Long asa mast,' &c.; C. T., A 3264.
92. Cf. Troil. iii. 8-21: 'In hevene and helle,' &c.; from Boccaccio; see note (vol. ii. p. 475).
105.Alceste; evidently borrowed from Ch., Legend of Good Women, 224, 293-9, 432; cf. T. G. 70-4.The quenes flour Alceste= the flower of queen Alcestis; a common idiom; see note to C. T., F 209 (vol. v. p. 376).
107.Admete, Admetus; see Troil. i. 664, and the note; T. G. 72.
108.ninetene; copied from the Legend of Good Women, 283; just as the next line is from the same, 285-9. This is the more remarkable, because Chaucer never finished the poem, but mentions ten ladies only, in nine Legends. Cf. 'the book ofthe nynetene Ladies'; C. T., I 1086. Hawes also refers to Chaucer's 'tragidyes ... of the xix. ladyes'; Pastime of Pleasure, ed. Wright, p. 53.
115. 'So fair was noon in alle Arras'; R. R. 1234.
116.of esier availe, of less value; seeAvailin the New E. Dict.
117.saunz faile; thrice in Ch.; HF. 188, 429; C. T., B 501.
119.Helisee, Elysium; 'the feld... That hightElysos'; Troil. iv. 789.
120.saintes, saints, martyrs for love; cf. V. 316, above (p. 227), and the note. Cf. T. G. 414.
129. 'The king had Danger standing near him, and the queen had Disdain, who were chief of the council, to treat of affairs of state'; Bell.
138. Cf. T. G. 271, and the note, shewing how common gold hair is in Lydgate.
139, 140. 'Bihindeher bak, a yerde long'; C. T., A 1050.
148.In mewet, in an inaudible voice, to myself; like mod. F.à la muette(Littré).
167.non erst; false grammar fornon er, no sooner; 'no soonest' is nonsense. We find, however, the phrasesnot erstandnever erstelsewhere; see New E. Dict., s.v.Erst, § B. 4.
170. This is the earliest quotation given in the New E. Dict., s.v.Assummon; and the next is from the poet Daniel.
177. Chaucer has the compoundfor-pampred; Former Age, 5. I readjolif, joyful, to make sense; the MS. has the absurd wordioylof(sic); and Stowe hasialous, jealous, which is quite out of place here.
181. 'An allusion to the monkish story of the man who brought up a youth ignorant of women, and who, when he first saw them, told him they were geese. The story is in thePromptuarium Exemplorum. It was adopted by Boccaccio, from whom it was taken by Lafontaine, liv. iii. conte 1. SeeLatin Stories, edited by Mr. Ṭ Wright.'—Bell.
194. From C. T., B 466: 'On many asorymeelnowmay she bayte.'
202. Cf. 'Comfort is noon'; Chaucer's A B C, 17.
207.how, however. Cf. 'thatboghten lovesodere'; Legend of Good Women, 258.
229. See the Book of the Duchess, 323-34, where the painted glass windows contain subjects from the Romance of the Rose and others. The story of Dido is common enough; but the reference to Chaucer's Anelida and the false Arcite, is remarkable, especially as it occurs also in XXI. 465 above (p. 395). 'The turtel trewe' is from the Parl. Foules, 577. See the parallel passage in T. G. 44-142, where Lydgate'sfirstexample is that ofDido, while at the same time he mentions Palamon, Emilie, and Canacee, all from Chaucer.
246.blew, blue, the colour of constancy; see l. 248.
250. 'And why that ye ben clothed thusin blak?' C. T., A 911.
255.greneonly gives an assonance withhere, not a rime. Green was the colour of inconstancy, and was sometimes usedfor despyt, to use Chaucer's phrase; see note to C. T., F 644 (vol. v. p. 386). White may refer to the White Friars or Carmelites, and russet to the hermits; cf. P. Plowman, C. prol. 3, C. xi. 1.
270.an ho, a proclamation commanding silence; see C. T., 2533. Quite distinct fromhue(and cry), with which Bell confuses it. A hue and cry was only raised against fleeing criminals.
280. Clearly suggested by the God of Love's stern question in the Legend of Good Women, 315:—'What dostow heer So nigh myn owne flour, so boldely?' At the same time the phrasefer y-stope in yeresis from Chaucer'ssomdel stape in age, C. T., B 4011, on which see the note (vol. v. p. 248). See the next note.
288. Similarly the God of Love pardoned Chaucer (L. G. W. 450), but upon a condition (ib. 548).
290.serven, false grammar forserve.
302. Here follow the twenty statutes; ll. 302-504. They are evidently expanded from the similar set of injunctions given by Venus to the Knight in The Temple of Glas, ll. 1152-213; as clearly shewn by Schick in his Introduction, p. cxxxi. The similarity extends to the first, second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, tenth, twelfth, fourteenth and eighteenth statutes, which resemble passages found in the Temple of Glas, ll. 1152-213, or elsewhere in the same poem. It is also possible that the author, or Lydgate, or both of them, kept an eye upon Ovid's Art of Love. See also Rom. Rose (Eng. version), 2355-950, which is much to the point.
305. This is also the first injunction in T. G. 1152-3, and is immediately followed by the second, which enjoinssecrecy. The reader should compare the passages for himself.
311. MS.synk and flete; which must of course be corrected to 'sinkorflete,' as in Anelida, 182; C. T., A 2397.
317. 'Withoute chaungein parti or in al'; T. G. 1155.
319. The MS. hasbrynde, and Stowe hasbrinde; so I let the reading stand. Morris hasblynde, and Bellblind; neither of them has a note as to the change made. Perhapsbrind=brend= burnt, in the sense of 'inflamed by passion'; or it may be an error forbrim=breme, furious, applied especially to the desire of the boar for the sow. The sense intended is clear enough; we should now write 'base.'
324-5. From C. T., A 2252-3:—