Chapter 4

'It was a world to loke on her visage.'

There is a most characteristic touch of a female writer in lines 253-254:—

'So than I dressed me in myn aray,And asked her,whether it were wel or no?'

'So than I dressed me in myn aray,

And asked her,whether it were wel or no?'

To attribute such a question as 'how will my dress do' to a male writer is a little too dramatic for a mere narrative poem.

The two MSS. have now been collated for the first time and afford some important corrections, of which l. 61 presents remarkable instances. MS. Addit. 34360 is of some value.

§ 62. A considerable part of The Assembly of Ladies that is now of little interest may have been much appreciated at the time, as having reference to the ordering of a large medieval household, with its chambers, parlours, bay-windows, and galleries, carefully kept in good order by the various officers and servants; such as Perseverance the usher, Countenance the porter, Discretion the chief purveyor, Acquaintance the harbinger, Largesse the steward, Bel-cheer the marshal of the hall, Remembrance the chamberlain, and the rest. The authoress must have been perfectly familiar with spectacles and pageants and all the amusements of the court; but she was too humble to aspire to wear a motto.

'And for my "word," I have non; this is trew.It is ynough that my clothing be blewAs here-before I had commaundement;And so to do I am right wel content'; A. 312.

'And for my "word," I have non; this is trew.

It is ynough that my clothing be blew

As here-before I had commaundement;

And so to do I am right wel content'; A. 312.

We must not forget that the period of the Wars of the Roses, especially from 1455 to 1471, was one during which the composition of these poems was hardly possible. It is obviously very difficult to assign a date to them; perhaps they may be referred to the last quarter of the fifteenth century. We must not put them too late, because The Assembly exists in MSS. that seem to be as old as that period.

§ 63. XXII.A Goodly Balade.

For this poem there is but one authority, viz. Thynne's edition of 1532. He calls it 'A goodly balade of Chaucer'; but it is manifestly Lydgate's. Moreover, it is really a triple Balade, with an Envoy, on the model of Chaucer's Fortune and Compleynt of Venus; only it has seven-line stanzas instead of stanzas of eight lines. An inspection of Thynne's volume shews that it was inserted to fill a gap, viz. a blank page at the back of the concluding lines of The Legend of Good Women, so that the translation of Boethius might commence on a new leaf.

It is obvious that the third stanza of the second Balade was missing in Thynne's MS. He did not leave it out for lack of space; for there is plenty of room on his page.

That it is not Chaucer's appears from the first Balade, where the use of the monosyllablesshalandsmalin ll. 8 and 10 necessitates the use of the clipped formsalforal-le,calforcal-le,apalforapal-le, andbefalforbefal-le. Moreover, the whole style of it suggests Lydgate, and does not suggest Chaucer.

The sixth stanza probably began with the letterD; in which case, the initial letters of the stanzas give usM,M,M;D,D,D;J,C,Q. And, as it was evidently addressed to a lady namedMargaret(see the Notes), we seem to see hereMargaret, Dame Jacques. The name ofRobert Jacquesoccurs in the Writs of Parliament; Bardsley's English Surnames, 2nd ed., p. 565. Of course this is a guess which it is easy to deride; but it is very difficult to account otherwise for the introduction of the lettersJ,C,Qin the third Balade; yet it was evidently intentional, for much force was employed to achieve the result. To make the first stanza begin withJ, recourse is had to French; and the other two stanzas both begin with inverted clauses.

§ 64. XXIII.Go forth, King.

I give this from Thynne's first edition; but add the Latin lines from the copy printed in Schick's edition of The Temple of Glas, at p. 68. His text is from that printed by Wynken de Worde about 1498, collated with the second and third prints from the same press at somewhat later dates, and a still later copy printed by Berthelet.

The only difference between Thynne's text and that given by Schick is that Wynken de Worde printedarin the last line where Thynne has printedbe. Schick also notes that 'the Chaucer-Prints of 1561 and 1598 omitthou' in l. 9; and I find that it is also omitted in the third edition (undated, about 1550). But it occurs in the edition of 1532, all the same; shewing that the later reprints cannot always be relied upon.

I have already said (vol. i. p. 40)—'Surely it must be Lydgate's.' For it exhibits his love for 'catalogues,' and presents his peculiarities of metre. Dr. Schick agrees with this ascription, and points out that its appearance in the four prints above-mentioned, in all of which it is annexed to Lydgate's Temple of Glas, tends to strengthen my supposition. I think this may be taken as removing all doubt on the subject.

§ 65. I beg leave to quote here Schick's excellent remarks upon the poem itself.

'There are similar pieces to theseDuodecim Abusionesin earlierEnglish literature (see ten Brink,Geschichte der englischen Literatur, i. 268, and note).[32]The "twelf unþēawas" existed also in Old-English; a homily on them is printed in Morris,Old Eng. Homilies, pp. 101-119[33]. It is based on the Latin Homily "De octo viciis et de duodecim abusivis huius saeculi," attributed to St. Cyprian or St. Patrick; see Dietrich in Niedner'sZeitschrift für historische Theologie, 1855, p. 518; Wanley'sCatalogus, passim (cf. the Indexsub vocePatrick). In the Middle-English period we meet again with more or less of these "Abusions"; see Morris,Old Eng. Miscellany, p. 185 (11 Abusions); Furnivall,Early Eng. Poems, Berlin, 1862 (Phil. Soc.), p. 161; "Five Evil Things," Wright and Halliwell,Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 316, and ii. 14.'

§ 66. XXIV.The Court of Love.

This piece was first printed by Stowe in 1561. Stowe happened to have access to a MS. which was really a miscellaneous collection of Middle-English pieces of various dates; and he proceeded to print them as being 'certaine workes of Geffray Chauser,' without paying any regard to their contents or style. In vol. i. pp. 33, 34, I give a list of his additions, numbered 42-60[34]. By good fortune, the very MS. in question is now in Trinity College Library, marked R. 3. 19. We can thus tell that he was indebted to it for the pieces numbered 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, and 59. These eleven pieces are all alike remarkable for being non-Chaucerian; indeed, no. 56 is certainly Lydgate's. But it has so happened that no. 59, or The Court of Love, being the best of these pieces, was on that account 'attributed' to Chaucer, whilst the others were unhesitatingly rejected. And it happened on this wise.

§ 67. After Tyrwhitt had edited the Canterbury Tales afresh, it occurred to him to compile a Glossary. He rightly reasoned that the Glossary would be strengthened and made more correct if he included in it all the harder words found in thewholeof Chaucer's Works, instead of limiting the vocabulary to wordswhich occur in the Canterbury Tales only. For this purpose, he proceeded to draw up a List of what he conceived to be Chaucer'sgenuineworks; and we must remember that the only process open to him was to consider all the old editions, andrejectsuch as he conceived to be spurious. Hence his List is not really a list of genuine works, but one made by striking out from all previous lists the works which heknewto be spurious. A moment's reflection will show that this is a very different thing.

Considering that he had only his own acumen to guide him, and had no access to linguistic or grammatical tests, still less to tests derived from an examination of rimes or phonology, it is wonderful how well he did his work. In the matter of rejection, he did not make a single mistake. His first revision was made by considering only the pieces numbered 1-41, in thefirstpart of Stowe's print (see vol. i. pp. 31-33); and he struck out the following, on the express ground that they wereknown to have been written by other authors; viz. nos. 4, 11, 13, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, and 40[35].

Then he went over the list again, and struck out, on internal evidence, nos. 15, 18, 21, 22, and 32[36].

Truly, here was a noble beginning! The only non-Chaucerian pieces which he failed to reject explicitly, among nos. 1-41, were the following, viz. 6 (A Goodly Balade of Chaucer), 17 (The Complaint of the Black Knight), 20 (The Testament of Love), 31 (The Cuckoo and the Nightingale), 38 (Go forth, King), and 41 (A Balade in Praise of Chaucer). Of course he rejected the last of these, but it was not worth his while to say so; and, in the same way, he tacitly rejected or ignored nos. 6, 30, and 38. Hence it was that nos. 6, 30, 38, and 41 did not appear in Moxon's Chaucer, and even no. 32 was carefully excluded. In his final list, out of nos. 1-41, Tyrwhitt actually got rid of all but nos. 17, 20, and 31 (The Black Knight, The Testament of Love, and The Cuckoo).

As to the remaining articles, he accepted, among the longer pieces, nos. 59, 62, and 63, i.e. The Court of Love, Chaucer's Dream, and The Flower and the Leaf; to which he added nos.42, 43, and 60 (as to which there is no doubt), and also the Virelai (no. 50), on the slippery ground that itisa virelai (which, strictly speaking, it is not).

§ 68. One result of his investigations was that an edition of Chaucer was published by Moxon (my copy is dated 1855), in which all the poems were included which Tyrwhitt accepted, followed by Tyrwhitt's Account of the Works of Chaucer.

Owing to the popularity of this edition, many scholars accepted the poems contained in it as being certainly genuine; but it is obvious that this was a very risky thing to do, in the absence of external evidence; especially when it is remembered that Tyrwhitt merely wanted to illustrate his glossary to the Canterbury Tales by adding words from other texts. The idea of drawing up a canon by the process of striking out from luxuriant lists the names of pieces that are obviously spurious, is one that should never have found acceptance.

§ 69. There is only one correct method of drawing up a canon of genuine works, viz. that adopted by Mr. Henry Bradshaw, formerly our Cambridge University Librarian. It is simple enough, viz. to take a clean sheet of paper, and enter upon it, first of all, the names of all the pieces that are admittedly genuine; and then to see if it can fairly be augmented by adding such pieces as have reasonable evidence in their favour. In making a list of this character, The Court of Love has no claim to be considered at all, as I fully proved about twenty years ago[37]; and there is an end of the matter. The MS. copy is in a hand of the sixteenth century[38], and there is no internal evidence to suggest an earlier date.

§ 70. Our task is to determine what it really is, and what can be made of it as it stands. We learn from the author that hewas 'a clerk of Cambridge' (913), which we may readily accept. Beyond this, there is nothing but internal evidence; but of this there is much. That our 'clerk' had read Ovid and Maximian appears from the Notes; he even seems to have imbibed something of 'the new learning,' as he makes up the names Philo-genet and Philo-bone by help of a Greek adjective[39]. Dr. Schick has made it clear that he was well acquainted with Lydgate's Temple of Glas, which he imitates freely; see Schick's edition of that poem, p. cxxix. Mr. J. T. T. Brown, in his criticism on 'The Authorship of the Kingis Quair,' Glasgow, 1896, draws many parallels between The Court of Love and The Kingis Quair, and concludes that The Kingis Quair was indebted to The Court of Love; but it is tolerably certain that the indebtedness was in the other direction. For, in The Kingis Quair, some knowledge of the true use of Chaucer's final-eis still exhibited, even in a Northern poem, whilst in The Court of Love, it is almost altogether dead, though the poem is in the Midland dialect. I shall presently shew that our clerk, whilst very nearly ignoring the final-e, occasionally employs the final-en; but this he does in a way which clearly shews that he did not understand when to use it aright, a fact which is highly significant.

I am much indebted to my friend Professor Hales for pointing out another very cogent argument. He draws attention to the numerous instances in which the author of The Court of Love fails to end a stanza with a stop. There is no stop, for example, at the end of ll. 14, 567, 672, 693, 700, 763, 826, 1064, 1288; and only a slight pause at the end of ll. 28, 49, 70, 84, 189, 231, 259, 280, 371, 406, 427, &c. In Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, on the other hand, there is but one stanza without a stop at the end, viz. at l. 280; and but one with a slight pause, viz. at l. 154. The difference between these results is very marked, and would convince any mathematician. I should like to add that the same test disposes of the claims of The Flower and the Leaf to be considered as Chaucer's; it has no stop at the end of ll. 7, 70, 154, 161, 196, 231, 280, 308, 392, 476, and has mere commas at the end of ll. 28, 49, 56, 98, 119, 224, 259, 329, 336, &c. In the Assembly of Ladies this departure from Chaucer's usage has beennearly abandoned, which is one reason why that piece is in a less lively style.

§ 71. The sole MS. copy of The Court of Love belongs to the sixteenth century, and there is nothing to shew that the poem itself was of earlier date. Indeed, the language of it is remarkably like that of the former half of that century. If it be compared with Sackville's famous 'Induction,' the metrical form of the stanzas is much the same; there is the same smoothness of rhythm and frequent modernness of form, quite different from the halting lines of Lydgate and Hawes. This raises a suggestion that the author may have learnt his metre from Scottish authors, such as Henryson and Dunbar; and it is surprising to find him employing such words ascelsitudeandpulcritude, and even riming them together, precisely as Dunbar did (ll. 611-613, and the note). One wonders where he learnt to use such words, if not from Scottish authors. Curiously enough, a single instance of the use of a Northern inflexion occurs in the phraseme thynkes, 874. And I admit the certainty that he consulted The Kingis Quair.

I have no space to discuss the matter at length; so shall content myself with saying that the impression produced upon me is that we have here the work of one of the heralds of the Elizabethan poetry, of the class to which belonged Nicholas Grimoald, Thomas Sackville, Lord Surrey, Lord Vaux, and Sir Francis Bryan. There must have been much fairly good poetry in the time of Henry VIII that is lost to us. Tottell's Miscellany clearly shews this, as it is a mere selection of short pieces, which very nearly perished; but for this fortunate relic, we should not have known much about Wyat and Surrey. Sackville, when at Cambridge, acquired some distinction for Latin and English verse, but we possess none of it. However, Sackville was not the author of The Court of Love, seeing that it was published in a 'Chaucer' collection in 1561, long before his death.

The fact that our clerk was well acquainted with so many pieces by Chaucer, such as The Knight's Tale, the Complaint of Pity, The Legend of Good Women, Troilus, and Anelida, besides giving us reminiscences of The Letter of Cupid, and (perhaps) of The Cuckoo and Nightingale, raises the suspicion that he had access to Thynne's edition of 1532; and it is quite possible that this very book inspired him for his effort. This suspicion becomes almost a certainty if it be true that ll. 495-496are borrowed from Rom. Rose, 2819-20; see note at p.545. I can find no reason for dating the poem earlier than that year.

§ 72. However this may be, the chief point to notice is that his archaisms are affectations and not natural. He frequently dispenses with them altogether for whole stanzas at a time. When they occur, they are such as he found in Chaucer abundantly; I refer to such phrases asI-wisory-wis;as blyve; the use ofichforI(661);besy cure(36);gan me dresse(113; cf. C. T., G 1271);by the feith I shall to god(131; cf. Troil. iii. 1649); and many more. He rarely uses the prefixi-ory-with the pp.; we findy-born(976),y-formed(1176),y-heried(592),y-sped(977), all in Chaucer; besides these, I only notey-fed(975),y-ravisshed(153),y-stope(281), the last being used in the sense of Chaucer'sstope. The most remarkable point is the almost total absence of the final-e; I only observeHis len-ë body(1257);to serv-e(909);to dred-e(603); andin thilk-ë place(642); the last of which is a phrase (cf. R. R. 660). On the other hand, whilst thus abstaining from the use of the final-e, he makes large use of the longer and less usual suffix-en, which he employs with much skill to heighten the archaic effect. Thus we find the past participlesholden, 62;growen, 182;yovenoryeven, 742;shapen, 816, 1354;blowen, 1240; the gerundswriten, 35;dressen, 179;byden, 321;semen, 607;seken, 838;worshippen, 1165, and a few others; the infinitivesmaken, 81;byden, 189;quyten, 327, &c., this being the commonest use; the present pluralswailen, 256;foten, 586;speden, 945, &c.; with the same form for the first person, as inwailen, 1113;bleden, 1153; and for the second person, as inwaxen, 958;slepen, 999. Occasionally, this suffix is varied to-ynor-in, as inexilyn, v., 336;serchyn, v., 950;spakyn, pt. pl., 624;approchyn, pr. pl., 1212. This may be the scribe's doing, and is consistent with East Anglian spelling.

But the artificial character of these endings is startlingly revealed when we find-enadded in an impossible position, shewing that its true grammatical use was quite dead. Yet we find such examples. A serious error (hardly the scribe's) occurs in l. 347: 'Wheder that she meheldenlefe or loth.'Holdbeing a strong verb, the pt. t. isheld; we could however justify the use ofheld-e, by supposing it to be the subjunctive mood, which suits the sense; butheld-en(with-en) is thepluralform, whilesheis singular; and really this use of-ein the subjunctive must have been longdead. In l. 684, we have a case that is even worse, viz.I kepen in no wyse; here the use of-ensaves a hiatus, but the concord is false, like the Latinego seruamus. In l. 928, the same thing recurs, though the scribe has alteredgrevenintogrowen[40]; for this present tense is supposed to agree withI! A very clear case occurs in l. 725:For if by me this mater springen out; where the use of-en, again meant to save a hiatus, is excruciatingly wrong; formateris singular! This cannot be the fault of the scribe. Other examples of false grammar are:thou serven, 290;thou sene, 499. But the climax is attained in l. 526, where we meet withthay kepten ben, where the-enis required for the metre.Kepten, as apast participle, is quite unique; let us drop a veil over this sad lapse, and say no more about it[41].

We may, however, fairly notice the constant use of the Northern formstheirandthaimortheim, where Chaucer hashirandhem. The use oftheirandthem(notthaim) was well established by the year 1500 in literary English, as, e.g., in Hawes and Skelton. Caxton uses all four forms,hemandthem,herandtheir.

§ 73. I add a few notes, suggested by an examination of the rimes employed.

The final-eis not used at the end of a line. This is easily seen, if carefully looked into. Thuslette(1284) stands forlet, for it rimes withy-set;graceandtrespacerime withwas, 163;kenerimes withbene, misspelling ofbeen, 252;redde, put forred, rimes withspred, 302;yerde, put foryerd, rimes withaferd, 363;enderimes withfrendandfend, 530; and so on throughout[42]. The following assonances occur:here,grene, 253;kepe,flete, 309; and the following rimes are imperfect:plaint,talent,consent, 716;frend,mynd, 1056;nonne(fornon),boun, 1149;like(ilong),stike(ishort), 673; and perhapshold,shuld[43], 408;hard,ferd, 151.Hardis repeated, 149, 151; 1275, 1277. A curious rimeis that oflengthwiththynketh, 1059; readthenk'th, and it is good enough. Noteworthy are these:thryse(for Chaucer'sthry-ës),wyse, 537;hens(for Chaucer'shenn-ës),eloquence, 935;desire,here, 961, 1301;eke,like, 561;tretesse(for Chaucer'stretys),worthinesse, 28;write,aright, 13;sey(I saw),way, 692. In one place, he hasdiscryve, 778, to rime withlyve; and in anotherdiscry(miswrittendiscryve, 97), to rime withhigh. As in Chaucer, he sometimes hasdy, to die, riming withremedy, 340, and elsewheredey, to rime withpray, 582; and againfire,fyr, riming withhyre, 883, or withdesire, 1285, and at another time the Kentish formfere(borrowed from Chaucer), with the same sense, r. w.y-fere, 622. The most curious forms are those for 'eye.' When it rimes withdegree, 132,see, 768, we seem to have the Northern formeeore; but elsewhere it rimes withbesily, 299,pretily, 419,wounderly, 695,dispitously, 1139, or withI, 282; and the pluralyen(=y'n) rimes withlyne, 135. The sounds represented byēandyobviously afford permissible rimes; that the sounds were not identical appears from ll. 1051-1055, which end withme,remedy,be,dy,companyconsecutively.

§ 74. Perhaps an easier way for enabling a learner to recognise the peculiarities of The Court of Love, and the difference of its language from Chaucer, is to translate some lines of it into Chaucerian English. The effect upon the metre is startling.

So thanne I went-ë by straunge and fer-rë contrees; 57.Alceste it was that kept-ë there her sojour; 105.To whom obeyd-ën the ladies god-ë nynten-ë; 108.And yong-ë men fel-ë cam-ë forth with lusty pace; 110.O bright-ë Regina, who mad-ë thee so fair? 141.And mercy ask-ë for al my gret-ë trespas; 166.This eight-ë-ten-ë yeer have kept yourself at large; 184.In me did never worch-ë trew-ë-ly, yit I; 212.And ther I sey the fres-shë quene of Cartáge; 231.A! new-ë com-ën folk, abyde, and woot ye why; 271.Than gan I me present-ë tofor-ë the king; 274.That thou be trew-ë from henn-es-forth, to thy might; 289.And nam-ë-ly haw-ë-thorn brought-ën both-ë page and grom-ë; 1433.

So thanne I went-ë by straunge and fer-rë contrees; 57.

Alceste it was that kept-ë there her sojour; 105.

To whom obeyd-ën the ladies god-ë nynten-ë; 108.

And yong-ë men fel-ë cam-ë forth with lusty pace; 110.

O bright-ë Regina, who mad-ë thee so fair? 141.

And mercy ask-ë for al my gret-ë trespas; 166.

This eight-ë-ten-ë yeer have kept yourself at large; 184.

In me did never worch-ë trew-ë-ly, yit I; 212.

And ther I sey the fres-shë quene of Cartáge; 231.

A! new-ë com-ën folk, abyde, and woot ye why; 271.

Than gan I me present-ë tofor-ë the king; 274.

That thou be trew-ë from henn-es-forth, to thy might; 289.

And nam-ë-ly haw-ë-thorn brought-ën both-ë page and grom-ë; 1433.

Very many more such examples may be given. Or take the following; Chaucer has (L. G. W. 476):—

For Love ne wól nat countrepleted be.

And this is how it reappears in C. L. 429:—

For Love wil not be counterpleted, indede!

Here the melody of the line is completely spoilt.

In the present state of our knowledge of the history of the English language, any notion of attributing The Court of Love to Chaucer is worse than untenable; for it is wholly disgraceful. Everything points to a very late date, and tends to exclude it, not only from the fourteenth, but even from the fifteenth century.

At the same time, it will readily be granted that the poem abounds with Chaucerian words and phrases to an extent that almost surpasses even the poems of Lydgate. The versification is smooth, and the poem, as a whole, is pleasing. I have nothing to say against it, when considered on its own merits.

§ 75. Space fails me to discuss the somewhat vexed question of the Courts of Love, of which some have denied the existence. However, there seems to be good evidence to shew that they arose in Provence, and were due to the extravagances of the troubadours. They were travesties of the courts of law, with a lady of rank for a judge, and minstrels for advocates; and they discussed subtle questions relating to affairs of love, usually between troubadours and ladies. The discussions were conducted with much seriousness, and doubtless often served to give much amusement to many idle people. Not unfrequently they led to tragedies, as is easily understood when we notice that the first of one set of thirty-one Laws of Love runs as follows:—'Marriage cannot be pleaded as an excuse for refusing to love.' The reader who requires further information is referred to 'The Troubadours and Courts of Love,' by J. F. Rowbotham, M.A., London, Swan Sonnenschein and Co., 1895.

It is perhaps necessary to observe that the said Courts have very little to do with the present poem, which treats of a Court of Cupid in the Chaucerian sense (Leg. Good Women, 352). Even the statutes of the Court are largely imitated from Lydgate.

§ 76.Pieces numbered XXV-XXIX.

XXV.Virelay.This piece, from the Trinity MS., belongs to the end of the fifteenth century, and contains no example of the final-eas constituting a syllable. Chaucer would have usedsore(l. 2),more(l. 12),trouth(l. 13), as dissyllables; and he would not have rimedpleynanddisdaynwithcompleynandabsteyn, as the two latter require a final-e. The rime offindewithendeis extraordinary.

The title 'Virelai' is given to this piece in Moxon's Chaucer, and is, strictly speaking, incorrect; in the MS. and in Stowe's edition, it has no title at all! Tyrwhitt cautiously spoke of it as being 'perhaps by Chaucer'; and says that 'it comes nearer to the description of aVirelay, than anything else of his that has been preserved.' This is not the case; see note to Anelida, 256; vol. i. p. 536. Tyrwhitt quotes from Cotgrave—'Virelay, a round, freemen's song,' and adds—'There is a particular description of aVirlai, in theJardin de plaisance, fol. xii, where it makes thedecima sexta species Rhetorice Gallicane.' For further remarks, see p. 554.

XXVI.Prosperity: by John Walton.'To Mr. [Mark] Liddell belongs the honour of the discovery of John Walton as the author of the little poem on fol. 119 [of MS. Arch. Seld. B. 24]. The lines occur as part of the Prologue (ll. 83-90) to Walton's translation of Boethius'De Consolatione.'—J. T. T. Brown,The Authorship of the Kingis Quair, Glasgow, 1896; p. 71. See the account of Walton in Warton's Hist. E. Poetry, sect. xx. The original date of the stanza was, accordingly, 1410; but we here find it in a late Scottish dress. The ascription of it to 'Chaucer,' in the MS., is an obvious error; it was written ten years after his death.

XXVII.Leaulte vault Richesse.This piece, like the former, has no title in the MS.; but the wordsLeaulte vault Richesse(Loyalty deserves riches) occur at the end of it. If the original was in a Midland dialect, it must belong to the latter part of the fifteenth century. Even in these eight lines we find a contradiction to Chaucer's usage; for he always useslent, pp., as a monosyllable, andrent-eas a dissyllable. It is further remarkable that he never usescontentas an adjective; it first appears in Rom. Rose, 5628.

XXVIII.Sayings.I give these sayings as printed by Caxton; see vol. i. p. 46, where I note that Caxton did not ascribe them to Chaucer. They are not at all in his style.

In MS. Ashmole 59, fol. 78, I find a similar prophecy:—

Prophecia merlini doctoris perfecti.Whane lordes wol leefe theire olde lawes,And preestis been varyinge in theire sawes,And leccherie is holden solace,And oppressyounfor truwe purchace;And whan the moon is on dauid stall,And the kynge passe Arthures hall,Than[44]is [the] lande of AlbyonNexst to his confusyoun.

Prophecia merlini doctoris perfecti.

Whane lordes wol leefe theire olde lawes,And preestis been varyinge in theire sawes,And leccherie is holden solace,And oppressyounfor truwe purchace;And whan the moon is on dauid stall,And the kynge passe Arthures hall,Than[44]is [the] lande of AlbyonNexst to his confusyoun.

Whane lordes wol leefe theire olde lawes,

And preestis been varyinge in theire sawes,

And leccherie is holden solace,

And oppressyounfor truwe purchace;

And whan the moon is on dauid stall,

And the kynge passe Arthures hall,

Than[44]is [the] lande of Albyon

Nexst to his confusyoun.

It is extremely interesting to observe the ascription of these lines toMerlin; see King Lear, iii. 2. 95.

XXIX.Balade.This poor stanza, with its long-drawn lines, appears in Stowe at the end of 'Chaucer's Works.' In the Trinity MS., it occurs at the end of a copy of The Parlement of Foules.

§ 77. An examination of the pieces contained in the present volume leads us to a somewhat remarkable result, viz. that we readily distinguish in them the handiwork ofat leasttwelve different authors, of whom no two are much alike, whilst every one of them can be distinguished from Chaucer.

These are: (1) the author of The Testament of Love, who writes in a prose style all his own; (2) the author of The Plowmans Tale and Plowmans Crede, with his strong powers of invective and love of alliteration, whose style could never have been mistaken for Chaucer's in any age[45]; (3) the author of Jack Upland, with his direct and searching questions; (4) John Gower, with his scrupulous regularity of grammatical usages; (5) Thomas Hoccleve, who too often accents a dissyllable on the latter syllable when it should be accented on the former; (6) Henry Scogan, whose lines are lacking in interest and originality; (7) John Lydgate[46], who allows his verse too many licences, so that it cannot always be scanned at the first trial; (8) Sir Richard Ros, who writes in English of a quite modern cast, usingtheirandthemas in modern English, and wholly discarding the use of final-eas an inflexion; (9) Robert Henryson, who writes smoothly enough and with a fine vein of invention, but employs the Northern dialect; (10) Sir Thomas Clanvowe, who employs the final-emuch more frequently than Chaucer or even Gower; (11) the authoress of The Flower and the Leaf and The Assembly of Ladies, to whom the final-ewas an archaism, very convenient for metrical embellishment; and (12) the author of The Court of Love, who, while discardingthe use of the final-e, was glad to use the final-ento save a hiatus or to gain a syllable, and did not hesitate to employ it where it was grammatically wrong to do so.

§ 78. If the reader were to suppose that this exhausts the list, he would be mistaken; for it is quite easy to add at least one known name, and to suggest three others. For the piece numbered XXVI, on p. 449, has been identified as the work of John Walton, who wrote a verse translation of Boethius in the year 1410; whilst it is extremely unlikely that no. XXVII, written in Lowland Scottish, was due to Henryson, the only writer in that dialect who has been mentioned above. This gives a total offourteenauthors already; and I believe that we require yet two more before the Virelai and the Sayings printed by Caxton (nos. XXV and XXVIII) can be satisfactorily accounted for. As for no. XIX—the Envoy to Alison—itmaybe Lydgate's, but, on the other hand, it may not. And as for no. XXIX, it is of no consequence.

Moreover, it must be remembered that I here only refer to the selected pieces printed in the present volume. If we go further afield, we soon find several more authors, all distinct from those above-mentioned, from each other, and from Chaucer. I will just instance the author of the Isle of Ladies, the authoress (presumably) of The Lamentation of Mary Magdalen, the author of The Craft of Lovers, the 'man unknown' who wrote The Ten Commandments of Love, and the author of the clumsy lines dignified by the title of The Nine Ladies Worthy. It is quite certain thatnot lessthan twenty authors are represented in the mass of heterogeneous material which appears under Chaucer's name in a compilation such as that which is printed in the first volume of Chalmers' British Poets; which, precisely on that very account, is useful enough in its own peculiar way.

§ 79. I believe it may be said of nearly every piece in the volume, that it now appears in an improved form. In several cases, I have collated MSS. that have not previously been examined, and have found them to be the best. The Notes are nearly all new; very few have been taken from Bell's Chaucer. Several are due to Schick's useful notes to The Temple of Glas; and some to Krausser's edition of The Black Knight, and to Gröhler's edition of La Belle Dame, both of which reached me after my own notes were all in type. I have added a Glossaryof the harder words; for others, see the Glossary already printed in vol. vi.

In extenuation of faults, I may plead that I have found it much more difficult to deal with such heterogenous material as is comprised in the present volume than with pieces all written by the same author. The style, the grammar, the mode of scansion, the dialect, and even the pronunciation are constantly shifting, instead of being reasonably consistent, as in the genuine works of Chaucer. Any one who will take the pains to observe these points, to compile a sufficient number of notes upon difficult passages, and to prepare a somewhat full glossary, may thus practically convince himself, as I have done, that not a single piece in the present volume ought ever to have been 'attributed' to Chaucer. That any of them should have been so attributed—and some of them never were—has been the result of negligence, superficiality, and incapacity, such as (it may be hoped) we have seen the last of.

I wish once more to acknowledge my obligations to Mr. E. B. Nicholson, for the loan of his transcript of The Praise of Peace; to Mr. Bradley, for his discovery of the authorship of The Testament of Love and for other assistance as regards the same; to Dr. E. Krausser, for his edition of The Complaint of the Black Knight; to Dr. Gröhler, for his dissertation on La Belle Dame sans Mercy; and to Professor Hales for his kind help as to some difficult points, and particularly with regard to The Court of Love.

THE TESTAMENT OF LOVE.

PROLOGUE.Many men there ben that, with eeres openly sprad, somoche swalowen the deliciousnesse of jestes and of ryme,by queynt knitting coloures, that of the goodnesse or of thebadnesse of the sentence take they litel hede or els non.5Soothly, dul wit and a thoughtful soule so sore have mynedand graffed in my spirites, that suche craft of endyting wol notben of myn acqueyntaunce. And, for rude wordes and boystouspercen the herte of the herer to the in[ne]rest point, and plantenthere the sentence of thinges, so that with litel helpe it is able10to springe; this book, that nothing hath of the greet flode ofwit ne of semelich colours, is dolven with rude wordes andboystous, and so drawe togider, to maken the cacchers therofben the more redy to hente sentence.Some men there ben that peynten with colours riche, and15some with vers, as with red inke, and some with coles andchalke; and yet is there good matere to the leude people ofthilke chalky purtreyture, as hem thinketh for the tyme; andafterward the sight of the better colours yeven to hem morejoye for the first leudnesse. So, sothly, this leude clowdy occupacion20is not to prayse but by the leude; for comunly leudeleudnesse commendeth. Eke it shal yeve sight, that otherprecious thinges shal be the more in reverence. In Latinand French hath many soverayne wittes had greet delyt toendyte, and have many noble thinges fulfild; but certes, there25ben some that speken their poysye-mater in Frenche, of whichespeche the Frenche men have as good a fantasye as we havein hering of Frenche mennes English. And many termes thereben in English, [of] whiche unneth we Englishmen connen declarethe knowleginge. How shulde than a Frenche man born suche30termes conne jumpere in his mater, but as the jay chaterethEnglish? Right so, trewly, the understanding of Englishmenwol not strecche to the privy termes in Frenche, what-so-ever webosten of straunge langage. Let than clerkes endyten in Latin,for they have the propertee of science, and the knowinge in that35facultee; and let Frenchmen in their Frenche also endyten theirqueynt termes, for it is kyndely to their mouthes; and let usshewe our fantasyes in suche wordes as we lerneden of our damestonge.And although this book be litel thank-worthy for the leudnesse40in travaile, yet suche wrytinges excyten men to thilke thinges thatben necessarie; for every man therby may, as by a perpetualmirrour, seen the vyces or vertues of other, in whiche thinglightly may be conceyved to eschewe perils, and necessaries tocacche, after as aventures have fallen to other people or persons.45Certes, [perfeccion is] the soveraynest thing of desyre, andmoste †creatures resonable have, or els shulde have, ful appetyteto their perfeccion; unresonable beestes mowen not, sith resonhath in hem no werking. Than resonable that wol not is comparisonedto unresonable, and made lyke hem. For-sothe, the50most soverayne and fynal perfeccion of man is in knowing ofa sothe, withouten any entent disceyvable, and in love of oonvery god that is inchaungeable; that is, to knowe and love hiscreatour.¶ Now, principally, the mene to bringe in knowleging and55loving his creatour is the consideracion of thinges made by thecreatour, wherthrough, by thilke thinges that ben made understondinghere to our wittes, arn the unsene privitees of godmade to us sightful and knowing, in our contemplacion andunderstonding. These thinges than, forsoth, moche bringen us60to the ful knowleginge [of] sothe, and to the parfit love of themaker of hevenly thinges. Lo, David sayth, 'thou hast delytedme in makinge,' as who sayth, to have delyt in the tune, how godhath lent me in consideracion of thy makinge.Wherof Aristotle, in the bokede Animalibus, saith to naturel65philosophers: 'it is a greet lyking in love of knowinge theircreatour; and also in knowinge of causes in kyndely thinges.'Considred, forsoth, the formes of kyndly thinges and the shap,a greet kindely love me shulde have to the werkman thathem made. The crafte of a werkman is shewed in the werke.70Herfore, truly, the philosophers, with a lyvely studie, manynoble thinges right precious and worthy to memory writen;and by a greet swetande travayle to us leften of causes [of] thepropertees in natures of thinges. To whiche (therfore) philosophersit was more joy, more lykinge, more herty lust, in75kyndely vertues and maters of reson, the perfeccion by busystudy to knowe, than to have had al the tresour, al the richesse,al the vainglory that the passed emperours, princes, or kingeshadden. Therfore the names of hem, in the boke of perpetualmemory, in vertue and pees arn writen; and in the contrarye, that80is to sayne, in Styx, the foule pitte of helle, arn thilke pressedthat suche goodnesse hated. And bycause this book shal be oflove, and the pryme causes of steringe in that doinge, with passionsand diseses for wantinge of desyre, I wil that this book be clepedThe Testament of Love.85But now, thou reder, who is thilke that wil not in scornelaughe, to here a dwarfe, or els halfe a man, say he wil rendeout the swerde of Hercules handes, and also he shuld setteHercules Gades a myle yet ferther; and over that, he hadpower of strengthe to pulle up the spere, that Alisander the90noble might never wagge? And that, passing al thinge, to benmayster of Fraunce by might, there-as the noble gracious Edwardthe thirde, for al his greet prowesse in victories, ne might al yetconquere?Certes, I wot wel, ther shal be mad more scorne and jape95of me, that I, so unworthily clothed al-togider in the cloudy cloudeof unconninge, wil putten me in prees to speke of love, or elsof the causes in that matter, sithen al the grettest clerkes hanhad ynough to don, and (as who sayth) †gadered up clene tofornhem, and with their sharpe sythes of conning al mowen, and100mad therof grete rekes and noble, ful of al plentees, to fede meand many another. Envye, forsothe, commendeth nought hisreson that he hath in hayne, be it never so trusty. And al-thoughthese noble repers, as good workmen and worthy their hyre,han al drawe and bounde up in the sheves, and mad many105shockes, yet have I ensample to gadere the smale crommes,and fullen my walet of tho that fallen from the borde amongthe smale houndes, notwithstandinge the travayle of thealmoigner, that hath drawe up in the cloth al the remissailes,as trenchours, and the relief, to bere to the almesse.110Yet also have I leve of the noble husbande Boëce, al-thoughI be a straunger of conninge, to come after his doctrine, andthese grete workmen, and glene my handfuls of the shedingeafter their handes; and, if me faile ought of my ful, to encresemy porcion with that I shal drawe by privitees out of the shocke.115A slye servaunt in his owne helpe is often moche commended;knowing of trouth in causes of thinges was more hardyer in thefirst sechers (and so sayth Aristotle), and lighter in us that hanfolowed after. For their passing †studies han fresshed our wittes,and our understandinge han excyted, in consideracion of trouth,120by sharpnesse of their resons. Utterly these thinges be nodremes ne japes, to throwe to hogges; it is lyflich mete forchildren of trouthe; and as they me betiden, whan I pilgrimagedout of my kith in winter; whan the †weder out of mesure wasboystous, and the wylde wind Boreas, as his kind asketh, with125dryinge coldes maked the wawes of the occian-see so to aryseunkyndely over the commune bankes, that it was in poynte tospille al the erthe.Thus endeth the Prologue; and here-after foloweth thefirst book of the Testament of Love.

PROLOGUE.

Many men there ben that, with eeres openly sprad, somoche swalowen the deliciousnesse of jestes and of ryme,by queynt knitting coloures, that of the goodnesse or of thebadnesse of the sentence take they litel hede or els non.

Many men there ben that, with eeres openly sprad, so

moche swalowen the deliciousnesse of jestes and of ryme,

by queynt knitting coloures, that of the goodnesse or of the

badnesse of the sentence take they litel hede or els non.

5Soothly, dul wit and a thoughtful soule so sore have mynedand graffed in my spirites, that suche craft of endyting wol notben of myn acqueyntaunce. And, for rude wordes and boystouspercen the herte of the herer to the in[ne]rest point, and plantenthere the sentence of thinges, so that with litel helpe it is able10to springe; this book, that nothing hath of the greet flode ofwit ne of semelich colours, is dolven with rude wordes andboystous, and so drawe togider, to maken the cacchers therofben the more redy to hente sentence.

Soothly, dul wit and a thoughtful soule so sore have myned

and graffed in my spirites, that suche craft of endyting wol not

ben of myn acqueyntaunce. And, for rude wordes and boystous

percen the herte of the herer to the in[ne]rest point, and planten

there the sentence of thinges, so that with litel helpe it is able

to springe; this book, that nothing hath of the greet flode of

wit ne of semelich colours, is dolven with rude wordes and

boystous, and so drawe togider, to maken the cacchers therof

ben the more redy to hente sentence.

Some men there ben that peynten with colours riche, and15some with vers, as with red inke, and some with coles andchalke; and yet is there good matere to the leude people ofthilke chalky purtreyture, as hem thinketh for the tyme; andafterward the sight of the better colours yeven to hem morejoye for the first leudnesse. So, sothly, this leude clowdy occupacion20is not to prayse but by the leude; for comunly leudeleudnesse commendeth. Eke it shal yeve sight, that otherprecious thinges shal be the more in reverence. In Latinand French hath many soverayne wittes had greet delyt toendyte, and have many noble thinges fulfild; but certes, there25ben some that speken their poysye-mater in Frenche, of whichespeche the Frenche men have as good a fantasye as we havein hering of Frenche mennes English. And many termes thereben in English, [of] whiche unneth we Englishmen connen declarethe knowleginge. How shulde than a Frenche man born suche30termes conne jumpere in his mater, but as the jay chaterethEnglish? Right so, trewly, the understanding of Englishmenwol not strecche to the privy termes in Frenche, what-so-ever webosten of straunge langage. Let than clerkes endyten in Latin,for they have the propertee of science, and the knowinge in that35facultee; and let Frenchmen in their Frenche also endyten theirqueynt termes, for it is kyndely to their mouthes; and let usshewe our fantasyes in suche wordes as we lerneden of our damestonge.

Some men there ben that peynten with colours riche, and

some with vers, as with red inke, and some with coles and

chalke; and yet is there good matere to the leude people of

thilke chalky purtreyture, as hem thinketh for the tyme; and

afterward the sight of the better colours yeven to hem more

joye for the first leudnesse. So, sothly, this leude clowdy occupacion

is not to prayse but by the leude; for comunly leude

leudnesse commendeth. Eke it shal yeve sight, that other

precious thinges shal be the more in reverence. In Latin

and French hath many soverayne wittes had greet delyt to

endyte, and have many noble thinges fulfild; but certes, there

ben some that speken their poysye-mater in Frenche, of whiche

speche the Frenche men have as good a fantasye as we have

in hering of Frenche mennes English. And many termes there

ben in English, [of] whiche unneth we Englishmen connen declare

the knowleginge. How shulde than a Frenche man born suche

termes conne jumpere in his mater, but as the jay chatereth

English? Right so, trewly, the understanding of Englishmen

wol not strecche to the privy termes in Frenche, what-so-ever we

bosten of straunge langage. Let than clerkes endyten in Latin,

for they have the propertee of science, and the knowinge in that

facultee; and let Frenchmen in their Frenche also endyten their

queynt termes, for it is kyndely to their mouthes; and let us

shewe our fantasyes in suche wordes as we lerneden of our dames

tonge.

And although this book be litel thank-worthy for the leudnesse40in travaile, yet suche wrytinges excyten men to thilke thinges thatben necessarie; for every man therby may, as by a perpetualmirrour, seen the vyces or vertues of other, in whiche thinglightly may be conceyved to eschewe perils, and necessaries tocacche, after as aventures have fallen to other people or persons.

And although this book be litel thank-worthy for the leudnesse

in travaile, yet suche wrytinges excyten men to thilke thinges that

ben necessarie; for every man therby may, as by a perpetual

mirrour, seen the vyces or vertues of other, in whiche thing

lightly may be conceyved to eschewe perils, and necessaries to

cacche, after as aventures have fallen to other people or persons.

45Certes, [perfeccion is] the soveraynest thing of desyre, andmoste †creatures resonable have, or els shulde have, ful appetyteto their perfeccion; unresonable beestes mowen not, sith resonhath in hem no werking. Than resonable that wol not is comparisonedto unresonable, and made lyke hem. For-sothe, the50most soverayne and fynal perfeccion of man is in knowing ofa sothe, withouten any entent disceyvable, and in love of oonvery god that is inchaungeable; that is, to knowe and love hiscreatour.

Certes, [perfeccion is] the soveraynest thing of desyre, and

moste †creatures resonable have, or els shulde have, ful appetyte

to their perfeccion; unresonable beestes mowen not, sith reson

hath in hem no werking. Than resonable that wol not is comparisoned

to unresonable, and made lyke hem. For-sothe, the

most soverayne and fynal perfeccion of man is in knowing of

a sothe, withouten any entent disceyvable, and in love of oon

very god that is inchaungeable; that is, to knowe and love his

creatour.

¶ Now, principally, the mene to bringe in knowleging and55loving his creatour is the consideracion of thinges made by thecreatour, wherthrough, by thilke thinges that ben made understondinghere to our wittes, arn the unsene privitees of godmade to us sightful and knowing, in our contemplacion andunderstonding. These thinges than, forsoth, moche bringen us60to the ful knowleginge [of] sothe, and to the parfit love of themaker of hevenly thinges. Lo, David sayth, 'thou hast delytedme in makinge,' as who sayth, to have delyt in the tune, how godhath lent me in consideracion of thy makinge.

¶ Now, principally, the mene to bringe in knowleging and

loving his creatour is the consideracion of thinges made by the

creatour, wherthrough, by thilke thinges that ben made understonding

here to our wittes, arn the unsene privitees of god

made to us sightful and knowing, in our contemplacion and

understonding. These thinges than, forsoth, moche bringen us

to the ful knowleginge [of] sothe, and to the parfit love of the

maker of hevenly thinges. Lo, David sayth, 'thou hast delyted

me in makinge,' as who sayth, to have delyt in the tune, how god

hath lent me in consideracion of thy makinge.

Wherof Aristotle, in the bokede Animalibus, saith to naturel65philosophers: 'it is a greet lyking in love of knowinge theircreatour; and also in knowinge of causes in kyndely thinges.'Considred, forsoth, the formes of kyndly thinges and the shap,a greet kindely love me shulde have to the werkman thathem made. The crafte of a werkman is shewed in the werke.70Herfore, truly, the philosophers, with a lyvely studie, manynoble thinges right precious and worthy to memory writen;and by a greet swetande travayle to us leften of causes [of] thepropertees in natures of thinges. To whiche (therfore) philosophersit was more joy, more lykinge, more herty lust, in75kyndely vertues and maters of reson, the perfeccion by busystudy to knowe, than to have had al the tresour, al the richesse,al the vainglory that the passed emperours, princes, or kingeshadden. Therfore the names of hem, in the boke of perpetualmemory, in vertue and pees arn writen; and in the contrarye, that80is to sayne, in Styx, the foule pitte of helle, arn thilke pressedthat suche goodnesse hated. And bycause this book shal be oflove, and the pryme causes of steringe in that doinge, with passionsand diseses for wantinge of desyre, I wil that this book be clepedThe Testament of Love.

Wherof Aristotle, in the bokede Animalibus, saith to naturel

philosophers: 'it is a greet lyking in love of knowinge their

creatour; and also in knowinge of causes in kyndely thinges.'

Considred, forsoth, the formes of kyndly thinges and the shap,

a greet kindely love me shulde have to the werkman that

hem made. The crafte of a werkman is shewed in the werke.

Herfore, truly, the philosophers, with a lyvely studie, many

noble thinges right precious and worthy to memory writen;

and by a greet swetande travayle to us leften of causes [of] the

propertees in natures of thinges. To whiche (therfore) philosophers

it was more joy, more lykinge, more herty lust, in

kyndely vertues and maters of reson, the perfeccion by busy

study to knowe, than to have had al the tresour, al the richesse,

al the vainglory that the passed emperours, princes, or kinges

hadden. Therfore the names of hem, in the boke of perpetual

memory, in vertue and pees arn writen; and in the contrarye, that

is to sayne, in Styx, the foule pitte of helle, arn thilke pressed

that suche goodnesse hated. And bycause this book shal be of

love, and the pryme causes of steringe in that doinge, with passions

and diseses for wantinge of desyre, I wil that this book be cleped

The Testament of Love.

85But now, thou reder, who is thilke that wil not in scornelaughe, to here a dwarfe, or els halfe a man, say he wil rendeout the swerde of Hercules handes, and also he shuld setteHercules Gades a myle yet ferther; and over that, he hadpower of strengthe to pulle up the spere, that Alisander the90noble might never wagge? And that, passing al thinge, to benmayster of Fraunce by might, there-as the noble gracious Edwardthe thirde, for al his greet prowesse in victories, ne might al yetconquere?

But now, thou reder, who is thilke that wil not in scorne

laughe, to here a dwarfe, or els halfe a man, say he wil rende

out the swerde of Hercules handes, and also he shuld sette

Hercules Gades a myle yet ferther; and over that, he had

power of strengthe to pulle up the spere, that Alisander the

noble might never wagge? And that, passing al thinge, to ben

mayster of Fraunce by might, there-as the noble gracious Edward

the thirde, for al his greet prowesse in victories, ne might al yet

conquere?

Certes, I wot wel, ther shal be mad more scorne and jape95of me, that I, so unworthily clothed al-togider in the cloudy cloudeof unconninge, wil putten me in prees to speke of love, or elsof the causes in that matter, sithen al the grettest clerkes hanhad ynough to don, and (as who sayth) †gadered up clene tofornhem, and with their sharpe sythes of conning al mowen, and100mad therof grete rekes and noble, ful of al plentees, to fede meand many another. Envye, forsothe, commendeth nought hisreson that he hath in hayne, be it never so trusty. And al-thoughthese noble repers, as good workmen and worthy their hyre,han al drawe and bounde up in the sheves, and mad many105shockes, yet have I ensample to gadere the smale crommes,and fullen my walet of tho that fallen from the borde amongthe smale houndes, notwithstandinge the travayle of thealmoigner, that hath drawe up in the cloth al the remissailes,as trenchours, and the relief, to bere to the almesse.

Certes, I wot wel, ther shal be mad more scorne and jape

of me, that I, so unworthily clothed al-togider in the cloudy cloude

of unconninge, wil putten me in prees to speke of love, or els

of the causes in that matter, sithen al the grettest clerkes han

had ynough to don, and (as who sayth) †gadered up clene toforn

hem, and with their sharpe sythes of conning al mowen, and

100

mad therof grete rekes and noble, ful of al plentees, to fede me

and many another. Envye, forsothe, commendeth nought his

reson that he hath in hayne, be it never so trusty. And al-though

these noble repers, as good workmen and worthy their hyre,

han al drawe and bounde up in the sheves, and mad many

105

shockes, yet have I ensample to gadere the smale crommes,

and fullen my walet of tho that fallen from the borde among

the smale houndes, notwithstandinge the travayle of the

almoigner, that hath drawe up in the cloth al the remissailes,

as trenchours, and the relief, to bere to the almesse.

110Yet also have I leve of the noble husbande Boëce, al-thoughI be a straunger of conninge, to come after his doctrine, andthese grete workmen, and glene my handfuls of the shedingeafter their handes; and, if me faile ought of my ful, to encresemy porcion with that I shal drawe by privitees out of the shocke.115A slye servaunt in his owne helpe is often moche commended;knowing of trouth in causes of thinges was more hardyer in thefirst sechers (and so sayth Aristotle), and lighter in us that hanfolowed after. For their passing †studies han fresshed our wittes,and our understandinge han excyted, in consideracion of trouth,120by sharpnesse of their resons. Utterly these thinges be nodremes ne japes, to throwe to hogges; it is lyflich mete forchildren of trouthe; and as they me betiden, whan I pilgrimagedout of my kith in winter; whan the †weder out of mesure wasboystous, and the wylde wind Boreas, as his kind asketh, with125dryinge coldes maked the wawes of the occian-see so to aryseunkyndely over the commune bankes, that it was in poynte tospille al the erthe.

110

Yet also have I leve of the noble husbande Boëce, al-though

I be a straunger of conninge, to come after his doctrine, and

these grete workmen, and glene my handfuls of the shedinge

after their handes; and, if me faile ought of my ful, to encrese

my porcion with that I shal drawe by privitees out of the shocke.

115

A slye servaunt in his owne helpe is often moche commended;

knowing of trouth in causes of thinges was more hardyer in the

first sechers (and so sayth Aristotle), and lighter in us that han

folowed after. For their passing †studies han fresshed our wittes,

and our understandinge han excyted, in consideracion of trouth,

120

by sharpnesse of their resons. Utterly these thinges be no

dremes ne japes, to throwe to hogges; it is lyflich mete for

children of trouthe; and as they me betiden, whan I pilgrimaged

out of my kith in winter; whan the †weder out of mesure was

boystous, and the wylde wind Boreas, as his kind asketh, with

125

dryinge coldes maked the wawes of the occian-see so to aryse

unkyndely over the commune bankes, that it was in poynte to

spille al the erthe.

Thus endeth the Prologue; and here-after foloweth thefirst book of the Testament of Love.

Thus endeth the Prologue; and here-after foloweth the

first book of the Testament of Love.

2. delyciousnesse; (and elsewhere, yis often replaced byi). 4. none. 5. Sothely. wytte. 8. inrest poynte. 10. spring. boke. great floode. 12. catchers. 13. hent. 18. afterwarde. 19. leudenesse. 20. comenly. 21. leudenesse. 23. gret delyte.

24. fulfylde. 27. englysshe. 28. englysshe;supplyof. englyssh-. 29. Howe. borne. 31. englyssh. englyssh-. 32. stretche. 34. propertie. 35. facultie. lette. 39. boke. thanke worthy. 42. sene. 44. catche. 45.I supplyperfeccion is;to make sense. soueraynst. 46. creature (sic). reasonable. 47, 50. perfection. 47. sythe reason. 48. reasonable. 51. one. 54. Nowe. meane. 56. be (forby). 57. arne.

60.I supplyof. parfyte. 61. haste. 62. delyte (this sentence is corrupt). 64. saythe. 65. great. 66, 67. thyngesconsydred. Forsoth (sic). 68. great. me (sic);formen. 72. great.Supplyof. 73. propertyes. 75. matters of reason. perfection. 76. treasour. 79. peace. 80. stixe. 81. boke. 83. dyseases. boke. 85. nowe. 87. set. 89. pul. 92. great. 94. wote. made. 95. vnworthely.

98. gathered. toforne. 100. made. great. plentyes. 102. reason. hayn (sic). 102.-thoughe.103. hyer. 104. made. 105. gader. 106. fullyn. amonge. 108. remyssayles. 109. relyef. 112. great. 113. encrease. 114. priuytyes. 116. knoweyng. 118. study (sic). 120. reasons. 121. lyfelyche meate. 122. betiden (sic);past tense. 123. wether. measure. 124. wynde Borias. kynde. 125. dryenge. 127. spyl. (rubric) boke.

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