‘Contek, so as the bokes sein,Folhast hath to his Chamberlein,’ &c.
‘Contek, so as the bokes sein,Folhast hath to his Chamberlein,’ &c.
‘Contek, so as the bokes sein,Folhast hath to his Chamberlein,’ &c.
‘Contek, so as the bokes sein,
Folhast hath to his Chamberlein,’ &c.
4750.le court sure, ‘runs upon him’; so 10763 and elsewhere.
4752.l’un ne lesse, ‘he fails not to attain one or the other,’ i.e. either the object of his violence, or his own destruction.
4753. Is. ii. 22, ‘Quiescite ergo ab homine, cuius spiritus in naribus eius est.’ This illustrates the meaning, otherwise rather obscure, of the Latin line afterConf. Am.iii. 1088 (introducing the subject of ‘Contek’), which is seen by this to be a reference to the above passage of Isaiah.
4769.come fist a Asahel, ‘as it did to Asahel’: see note on 1135. The reference is to 2 Sam. ii. 18 ff.
4826. Cp. 3882.
4837. Ecclus. xxii. 30, ‘Ante ignem camini vapor et fumus ignis inaltatur: sic et ante sanguinem maledicta et contumeliae et minae.’
4850. Cp.Conf. Am.iii. 453 ff.
4858.voit, used forvait, as 3 sing. pres. ind.
4864 ff. This kind of repetition is often used by our author, cp. 8294 ff.,Vox Clam.iii. 11 ff., andConf. Am.v. 2469 ff.
4870.ou giroun, ‘in the bosom’: ‘giro(u)n’ is properly the bend or fold of a cloak (sinus).
4897. 2 Sam. iv.
4906. Matt. xxvi. 52, Rev. xiii. 10.
4945. Ex. xxi. 14.
4962. 2 Sam. vii. 4 ff., but it is not quite accurately cited.
4973. Gen. ix. 6.
5005. Ezek. xxv. 12 f.
5018. Is. xiv. 12, ‘Corruisti in terram, qui vulnerabas gentes.’ The rest is hardly a quotation, though it may give the general sense.
5029 ff. The same thing is related with the same application inConf. Am.iii. 2599-2616. There, as here, it is referred to Solinus, but this seems to be a mistaken reference.
5031.a diviser, ‘to describe’ (or ‘compare’), i.e. ‘to describe it, we may say that it has’ &c.: so, ‘pour deviser’ 11245, ‘au droit deviser’ 13204.
5055.faisont a redoubter: see note on 1883.
5059.fait periler, ‘imperils’:ainçois ... Que, ‘before that.’
5114 ff. Matt. v. 3, 5.
5126.D’Accidie: see note on 296.
5179. For the use of ‘lée’ in this phrase as a dissyllable cp. 15518, ‘ove lée chiere,’ 17122, 28337. When occurring in other connexions it seems to follow the usual rule, as in 28132, 28199, &c.
5190 f. Cp.Conf. Am.iv. 2739 f.,
‘And makth his exposicionAfter the disposicionOf that he wolde.’
‘And makth his exposicionAfter the disposicionOf that he wolde.’
‘And makth his exposicionAfter the disposicionOf that he wolde.’
‘And makth his exposicion
After the disposicion
Of that he wolde.’
The connexion is the same as here.
5205. On the subject of ‘Tirelincel’ cp. Waddington,Man. des Pech.4078 ff.
5216. ‘Hold thy nurture so dear’ (as to think of it in this matter): ‘norreture’ is that which has to do with physical development, and ‘preu’ I take to represent the Latin ‘prope,’ which appears in this form among others: see Godefroy.
5252. Cp. 8130. To judge by Littré’s examples for the fourteenth-century usage of ‘bout,’ it would seem to be specially used of the top or bottom of a cask.
5257. Prov. xxvi. 14.
5266. Cato,Distich.i. 2:
‘Plus vigila semper, neu somno deditus esto,Nam diuturna quies vitiis alimenta ministrat.’
‘Plus vigila semper, neu somno deditus esto,Nam diuturna quies vitiis alimenta ministrat.’
‘Plus vigila semper, neu somno deditus esto,Nam diuturna quies vitiis alimenta ministrat.’
‘Plus vigila semper, neu somno deditus esto,
Nam diuturna quies vitiis alimenta ministrat.’
5269. I do not know what passage is referred to.
5283. Jer. li. 39, ‘inebriabo eos, ut sopiantur et dormiant somnum sempiternum et non consurgant.’
5329. Ecclus. xli. 1, ‘O mors, quam amara est memoria tua homini pacem habenti in substantiis suis.’ The rest is our author’s addition.
5344. Deut. xxviii. 56 f.
5349.Cil homme tendre, equivalent to ‘l’omme tendre,’ so 5553, ‘celle alme peccheresse’: see note on 301.
5376.Luy dorra: usually in this form of expression (which is common alike in the French, Latin, and English of our author) a negative is used with the verb of the second clause, e.g.Bal.xviii. 2.
5377. ‘Peresce’ answers to ‘Ydelnesse’ in theConfessio Amantis.
5389 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.iv. 1090 f.,
‘In Wynter doth he noght for cold,In Somer mai he noght for hete.’
‘In Wynter doth he noght for cold,In Somer mai he noght for hete.’
‘In Wynter doth he noght for cold,In Somer mai he noght for hete.’
‘In Wynter doth he noght for cold,
In Somer mai he noght for hete.’
5395 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.iv. 1108 ff.,
‘And as a cat wolde ete fisshesWithoute wetinge of his cles,So wolde he do.’
‘And as a cat wolde ete fisshesWithoute wetinge of his cles,So wolde he do.’
‘And as a cat wolde ete fisshesWithoute wetinge of his cles,So wolde he do.’
‘And as a cat wolde ete fisshes
Withoute wetinge of his cles,
So wolde he do.’
5436.apres la mein: cp. 4558 andConf. Am.iv. 893: ‘Thanne is he wys after the hond,’ an exact translation of this line.
5437 ff. Cp.Vox Clam.iv. 877 ff.
5449. Prov. xx. 4.
5452.beguinage, equivalent to ‘beggerie’ (5800), as ‘beguyne’ (6898) is used for ‘beggar.’ The Beguins were mendicants.
5455. 2 Thess. iii. 10.
5458.le decré: the reference is probably to the Canon law; cp. 7480.
5492.des perils ymaginer.This form of expression, in which the preposition belonging to the infinitive is combined with the article of the object, occurs also 9339, 16303, and elsewhere. So also in other authors, asRom. de la Rose2875, ‘Or sunt as roses garder troi.’
5499. Prov. vii. 10-22.
5500.Qui, ‘whom.’
5572 f. ‘He who has growth in common with the trees’; an allusion to the text of Gregory quoted so often by our author: see 26869.
5580.apparant: I take this to mean ‘heir apparent,’ as inConf. Am.ii. 1711.
5606. Cp.Conf. Am.iv. 9,
‘And everemore he seith, “Tomorwe.”’
‘And everemore he seith, “Tomorwe.”’
‘And everemore he seith, “Tomorwe.”’
‘And everemore he seith, “Tomorwe.”’
5622. The kissing of the ‘pax’ came after the prayer of consecration.
5645 ff. Matt. x. 22, and Luke ix. 62.
5659. Deut. xxv. 18.
5701 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.iv. 3389 ff., where, however, ‘Tristesce’ is described as developed from ‘Slowthe’ generally, not (as here) from ‘Lachesce’ in particular. ‘Tristesce’ is there synonymous with ‘Desesperance.’
5714. Prov. xxv. 20, ‘Sicut tinea vestimento et vermis ligno, ita tristitia viri nocet cordi.’ The English version is quite different.
5729 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.iv. 3432 ff.,
‘For Tristesce is of such a kinde,That forto meintiene his folieHe hath with him Obstinacie,Which is withinne of such a sloutheThat he forsaketh alle trouthe,And wole unto no reson bowe.’
‘For Tristesce is of such a kinde,That forto meintiene his folieHe hath with him Obstinacie,Which is withinne of such a sloutheThat he forsaketh alle trouthe,And wole unto no reson bowe.’
‘For Tristesce is of such a kinde,That forto meintiene his folieHe hath with him Obstinacie,Which is withinne of such a sloutheThat he forsaketh alle trouthe,And wole unto no reson bowe.’
‘For Tristesce is of such a kinde,
That forto meintiene his folie
He hath with him Obstinacie,
Which is withinne of such a slouthe
That he forsaketh alle trouthe,
And wole unto no reson bowe.’
5758. Job vii. 16, ‘Desperavi: nequaquam ultra iam vivam.’
5762. Jer. xviii. 12 ff., ‘Qui dixerunt: Desperavimus: post cogitationes enim nostras ibimus ... Ideo haec dicit Dominus: Interrogate gentes: quis audivit talia horribilia?... Quia oblitus est mei populus meus,... ut fieret terra eorum in desolationem et in sibilum sempiternum: omnis qui praeterierit per eam obstupescet et movebit caput suum.’ This is a good example of our author’s method of dealing with a text.
5792. Cp. 8492.
5794.jure vent et voie: cp. 8685, ‘jure tout le monde.’
5822. Cp.Bal.vii. 2,
‘Tressalt et buile et court aval le prée’
‘Tressalt et buile et court aval le prée’
‘Tressalt et buile et court aval le prée’
‘Tressalt et buile et court aval le prée’
(speaking of a spring).
5839. Eccles. ii. 21, ‘Nam cum alius laboret in sapientia et doctrina et sollicitudine, homini otioso quaesita dimittit: et hoc ergo vanitas et magnum malum.’ I suspect we should read here
‘que c’est errourEt vanité,’ &c.
‘que c’est errourEt vanité,’ &c.
‘que c’est errourEt vanité,’ &c.
‘que c’est errour
Et vanité,’ &c.
5845. Perhaps Ecclus. xxxiii. 29, ‘Multam enim malitiam docuit otiositas,’ the rest being added by our author.
5854. The reference is perhaps really to Ezek. xvi. 49.
5868. Matt. xii. 44 f.
5879. After this, one leaf has been cut out, which contained 190 lines and one rubric, ‘La quinte file de Accidie, q’est appellée Necgligence,’ or something to that effect.
6070. The author seems here to be speaking of the negligence shown by overseers of some kind, who do not efficiently superintend those under their authority.
6082. 2 Tim. ii. 12.
6102.ou pis, for ‘au pis,’ ‘in his heart’: cp. 7100.
6103. James i. 23 f.
6109. Prov. xxxi. 4, 5.
6115. Hos. iv. 6.
6226.ne serroit partie, ‘should not be a party interested in the suit.’ The conditional is used for subjunctive, as often.
6253 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 2015 ff.,
‘Bote as the Luce in his degreOf tho that lasse ben than heThe fisshes griedili devoureth,’ &c.,
‘Bote as the Luce in his degreOf tho that lasse ben than heThe fisshes griedili devoureth,’ &c.,
‘Bote as the Luce in his degreOf tho that lasse ben than heThe fisshes griedili devoureth,’ &c.,
‘Bote as the Luce in his degre
Of tho that lasse ben than he
The fisshes griedili devoureth,’ &c.,
where the author is speaking, as here, of ‘Covoitise.’
6303. The ‘lot,’ as a measure of wine, is about half a gallon.
6313 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 2859 ff., where Coveitise has two especial counsellors, Falswitness and Perjurie.
6315. ‘Chalenge’ (Lat. calumnia) is a claim or accusation against a person in a court of law, usually in a bad sense.
6328.falt ... pour retenir, ‘it is necessary to retain’: ‘pour’ is often used by our author instead of ‘de’ or ‘a,’ representing perhaps the English ‘forto’: cp. ll. 7650, 10639, 29078,Bal.iv*. 1, xlv. 1, 2, &c.
6345. Mal. iii. 5, ‘et ero testis velox maleficis et adulteris et periuris et qui calumniantur mercedem mercenarii,’ &c.
6363. Jer. l. 33 ff. ‘Haec dicit Dominus exercituum: Calumniam sustinent filii Israel ... Gladius ad Chaldaeos, ait Dominus, et ad habitatores Babylonis,’ &c.
6386. Can this be Is. xix. 9, ‘Confundentur qui operabantur linum ... texentes subtilia’?
6389.Conjecture, cp. 3365.
6391. Luke xvi. 8.
6397. Ambrose tells the story,Hex.v. 8, of thecraband the oyster, ‘tunc clanculo calculum immittens, impedit conclusionem ostrei.’ I do not know the word ‘areine.’
6409.Perjurie: see note on l. 296.
6434. This was a charge commonly brought against swearers by the preachers of the day: cp. Chaucer,Pardoneres Tale, l. 12, &c.,Persones Tale, 591 (Skeat).
6445. Cp. Matt. xxiii. 21 f.
6451. Probably Is. xlviii. 1.
6482. Zech. v. 1-4.
6496.si tresfalse noun, ‘except (what was) utterly false’: cp. 8853,Bal.xxiv. 1.
6498. Ps. lxiii. 11.
6499. Mal. iii. 5: cp. 6345.
6528. Perhaps Prov. i. 18, ‘moliuntur fraudes contra animas suas.’
6529. Levit. vi. 2-7.
6539. ‘Fails to do right at the risk of his soul,’ and not merely of his worldly goods, as by the old law.
6544. Cp.Bal.xlii. 3, where ‘fraude et malengin’ go together, as here.
6545 f. ‘It were well if they were caught in the snare, to be thrown far into the deep sea.’
6553 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 4396 ff., where the practice here mentioned is ascribed to ‘Usure.’
6556.au creance, ‘on credit,’ meaning apparently that they charge exorbitant prices when credit is given, cp. 7246, 7273 ff.
6561. Deut. xxv. 14.
6640.tout son propre adune, ‘gathers together everything for himself,’ i.e. appropriates everything.
6672.qu’il doit vivre, ‘that he should live’: for this use of ‘doit,’ cp. 1193.
6685 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 4917-4922.
6733. For this treatment ofdameas a monosyllable in the metre, cp. 13514, 16579, andBal.xix. 3, xx. 2, &c.
6745. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 1971 (for the form of expression).
6750. Matt. xix. 24.
6758. 1 Tim. vi. 10.
6760. Senec.Dial.xii. 13, ‘si avaritia dimisit, vehementissima generis humani pestis.’
6769. Prov. xxvii. 20.
6781.Conf. Am.vii. 2551.
6783 ff. 2 Chron. xxi. Our author is evidently familiar with every part of the Old Testament history.
6798. Ambros.Hex.vi. 24.
6841. Probably Ezek. xxii. 25.
6855. Job iv. 11, ‘Tigris periit, eo quod non haberet praedam.’ The English version is different.
6859. Prov. xi. 24.
6865. Is. xxxiii. 1.
6869. Jer. xxx. 16.
6877. This time ‘Baruch’ stands for Nahum, ii. 8 ff.
6886. Nahum ii. 10, ‘et facies omnium eorum sicut nigredo ollae.’
6925 ff. The same three that are mentioned here, Robbery, Stealth, and Sacrilege, are dealt with in the same order in theConfessio Amantisimmediately after ‘Ravine’ (v. 6075 ff.), though not as dependent upon it.
6940 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 6089 ff.,
‘Forthi to maken his pourchasHe lith awaitende on the pas,’ &c.
‘Forthi to maken his pourchasHe lith awaitende on the pas,’ &c.
‘Forthi to maken his pourchasHe lith awaitende on the pas,’ &c.
‘Forthi to maken his pourchas
He lith awaitende on the pas,’ &c.
6958.m’encordie: see note on l. 296; but perhaps we should read ‘m’encorde,’ cp. l. 7574.
6967.ne fait pas a demander, ‘there is no need to ask’: an impersonal form of the construction noticed on l. 1883.
6987. Ps. lxii. 10.
6991. Prov. xxi. 7.
6999. Joshua vii.
7015. Ambros.Hex.v. 18, ‘Accipitres feruntur in eo duram adversum proprios fetus habere inclementiam, quod ubi eos adverterint tentare volatus primordia, nidis eiciunt suis,’ &c.
7025 f. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 6501-6516, a close parallel. ‘Stelthe’ (in the Latin margin ‘secretum latrocinium’) corresponds to ‘Larcine’ here.
7033 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 6517-6521.
7081. Gen. xxxi. 19 ff.
7093. This story is toldConf. Am.v. 7105*-7207* under the head of Sacrilege, with no essential difference except in the greater detail and in the name of the person involved. Here it is ‘Dyonis,’ apparently for convenience of rhyming, there Lucius.
d’Appollinis: the genitive form is also used inConf. Am.v. 7109*,
‘Unto the temple Appollinis.’
‘Unto the temple Appollinis.’
‘Unto the temple Appollinis.’
‘Unto the temple Appollinis.’
7109.Conf. Am.v. 7186* ff.,
‘Gold in his kinde, as seith the bok,Is hevy bothe and cold also,’ &c.
‘Gold in his kinde, as seith the bok,Is hevy bothe and cold also,’ &c.
‘Gold in his kinde, as seith the bok,Is hevy bothe and cold also,’ &c.
‘Gold in his kinde, as seith the bok,
Is hevy bothe and cold also,’ &c.
7153 ff. The distinctions of various kinds of Sacrilege, indicated in this stanza, are more fully developedConf. Am.v. 7015* ff.: cp. Chaucer,Persones Tale, 801 ff. (Skeat).
7177 ff. The same examples occur inConf. Am.v. 7007 ff., with the addition of Antiochus.
7181. 2 Kings xxv. 8 ff.
7193. Jer. l., li.
7209. Cp. Neh. x. 31, &c.
7215. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 4395, ‘Usure with the riche duelleth.’
7227 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 4387.
7249. Lev. xxv. 37, &c., Luke vi. 35.
7270.Qe, repeated from the line above.
7282.ou mein, apparently for ‘au meinz,’ ‘at least.’
7315. The reference seems to be a mistaken one.
7319.le tresor de Pavie, cp. l. 1944. Pavia no doubt has its reputation of wealth from having been the capital of the Lombard kingdom.
7379.Les lettres: cp.Conf. Am. Prol.209.
7393 ff. Cp.Vox Clam.iii. 1233 ff.
7416.Poverte avoir, ‘that Poverty has.’
7429. Matt. xxi. 12.
7441. Rev. xi. 1.
7453. Ezek. vii. 12.
7454. Is. xxiv. 2.
7459. 2 Kings v. 20 ff.
7475.concordance: that is, what we should call a ‘harmony’ of the Gospels or other parts of the Bible.
7499. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 4678, and the marginal Latin.
7507. Probably we should read ‘tenont,’ or ‘tienont,’ for ‘tenoit’: cp. 8459.
7511.privé de son secroy, ‘privy to his secret counsels.’
7549. The reference is not really to the Psalter, but to the song of Moses, Deut. xxxii. 13.
7562. Ecclus. xxxi. 29, ‘Nequissimo in pane murmurabit civitas.’
7569. 2 Cor. ix. 6.
7587. ‘the right pit of helle,’ as they said in English. The same comparison is madeConf. Am.v. 29 ff. With these cp. Chaucer,Tale of Melibeus: ‘And therefore seith seint Austyn that the averous man is likned unto helle’ &c.
7597. I fear that this is a rendering of ‘Avaro autem nihil est scelestius,’ with additions by our author: Ecclus. x. 9.
7603 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 249 ff.
7609. Col. iii. 5, ‘avaritiam, quae est simulacrorum servitus.’
7611. 2 Kings xxi. 21 ff.
7621 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 363 ff., where the same comparison is made in fuller detail.
7640. The author referred to as ‘Marcial’ here and in ll. 15505, 15949, is in fact Godfrey of Winchester, popularly called by the name of the epigrammatist whom he not unhappily imitated. He was a native of Cambrai, and prior of St. Swithin’s in the twelfth century. His epigrams are repeatedly quoted under the name of Martial by Albertano of Brescia in theLiber Consolationis. They will be found in Wright’sSatirical Poets of theTwelfth Century(Rolls series). The reference here is toEp.cxxxvi,
‘Non sibi, non aliis prodest, dum vivit, avarus:Et prodest aliis et sibi, dum moritur.’
‘Non sibi, non aliis prodest, dum vivit, avarus:Et prodest aliis et sibi, dum moritur.’
‘Non sibi, non aliis prodest, dum vivit, avarus:Et prodest aliis et sibi, dum moritur.’
‘Non sibi, non aliis prodest, dum vivit, avarus:
Et prodest aliis et sibi, dum moritur.’
7645 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 49 ff., a very close parallel,
‘To seie hou such a man hath good,Who so that reson understod,It is impropreliche seid,For good hath him and halt him teid,’ &c.
‘To seie hou such a man hath good,Who so that reson understod,It is impropreliche seid,For good hath him and halt him teid,’ &c.
‘To seie hou such a man hath good,Who so that reson understod,It is impropreliche seid,For good hath him and halt him teid,’ &c.
‘To seie hou such a man hath good,
Who so that reson understod,
It is impropreliche seid,
For good hath him and halt him teid,’ &c.
7650.Pour ... faire: cp. 6328.
7678. Perhaps Jer. xv. 13.
7694. Bern.Serm. Resurr.iii. 1, ‘Et vero magna abusio et magna nimis, ut dives esse velit vermiculus vilis, propter quem Deus maiestatis et Dominus sabaoth voluit pauper fieri.’
7728.farin: a form of ‘frarin’ (‘frerin’), ‘beggarly,’ hence ‘wretched.’
7731. For this use of ‘tire’ cp.Conf. Am.vi. 817.
7739. See note on 415.
7777. Job xv. 27, ‘Operuit faciem eius crassitudo, et de lateribus eius arvina dependet.’ Perhaps our author read ‘anima’ for ‘arvina,’ unless he was also thinking of xl. 15 (11).
7791.ces, for ‘les,’ see note on 301.
7825 ff. Cp. Chaucer,Pardoneres Tale, 76 ff.
7827. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 870 (margin), ‘Iupiter deus deliciarum.’
7883.allaita, apparently here ‘sucked (milk)‘: ‘he thinks not of the former time when he sucked the simple milk and longed for it.’
7896. ‘Nor will they hunt in that wood,’ that is, they will not share in the sport: ‘brosser,’ ‘bruisser,’ a term of the chase, meaning to ride or run through thick underwood, see Littré under ‘brosser,’ andNew Eng. Dict.‘brush.’
7940. ‘Martinmas beef’ was the meat salted in the autumn for the supply of the household during the winter, in times when keep for cattle in winter was hard to get.
7969. Cp.Trait.xv. 1 ff., ‘Car beal oisel par autre se chastie,’ a proverbial expression meaning that one should take example by others.
7972. The story is told in the same connexionConf. Am.vi. 986 ff.
7993. 2 Pet. ii. 12 ff.
8049. Deut. xxxii. 15 ff.
8053. Is. xlvii. 8, 9.
8072. For the position of ‘et’ see note on 415.
8077. Job xx. 15 f. The preceding stanza is mostly the invention of our author.
8089. Job xx. 19 ff.
8103. Lam. iv. 5, ‘qui nutriebantur in croceis, amplexati sunt stercora.’ Our author misunderstood ‘in croceis.’
8138 f. Cp.Conf. Am.vi. 19-23.
8191.serroit governé, ‘should be ruled.’
8236. Gen. xix. 30 ff.
8246 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.vi. 71 f.,
‘He drinkth the wyn, bot ate lasteThe wyn drynkth him and bint him faste.’
‘He drinkth the wyn, bot ate lasteThe wyn drynkth him and bint him faste.’
‘He drinkth the wyn, bot ate lasteThe wyn drynkth him and bint him faste.’
‘He drinkth the wyn, bot ate laste
The wyn drynkth him and bint him faste.’
8266.puis la mort, ‘after death,’ ‘puis’ used as a preposition.
8269. Is. v. 11.
8278. Prov. xxiii. 31 f., or Ecclus. xxxi. 32 ff.
8289. Jer. xxv. 15.
8294 ff. See note on 4864.
8376.ou= ‘ove.’
8403. The ‘sestier’ would be about a gallon and a half.
8459. I substitutedevontfordevoit: cp. 7507.
8482.superflual: the adjective form is used instead of the name ‘Superfluité’ for the sake of the rhyme.
8495. Some correction seems to be required. Perhaps read ‘Siqe’ for ‘Siq’il.’
8501. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 7755 f.,
‘For thanne is ther non other lawe,Bot “Jacke was a good felawe.”’
‘For thanne is ther non other lawe,Bot “Jacke was a good felawe.”’
‘For thanne is ther non other lawe,Bot “Jacke was a good felawe.”’
‘For thanne is ther non other lawe,
Bot “Jacke was a good felawe.”’
8533. Senec.Ep.lx. 2, ‘Una silva elephantis pluribus sufficit: homo et terra et mari pascitur.’
8553. Cp.Conf. Am.vi. 60, ‘And seith, “Nou baillez ça the cuppe.”’
8559. 1 Cor. vi. 13.
8581 ff. This stanza is a repetition, with slight variations, of 8041-8052.
8815.conivreisoun.The dictionaries quote no examples of ‘conniver’ or ‘connivence’ earlier than the sixteenth century.
8853.si de vo teste noun, cp. 6496.
8869. The bird meant is no doubt the lapwing: see note onTrait.xii. l. 19.
8905.ce que chalt: cp. 3367.
8911. A reference to Wisd. iv. 3, ‘spuria vitulamina non dabunt radices altas,’ a text not unknown in English history.
8916. Matt. vii. 26.
8924. ‘Whereby she will deliver up her body free,’ i.e. since she gives presents as well as receiving them, she must be held not to sell herself, but to give herself away to her lover; and this, observes the author, is the worse alternative, because it impoverishes her husband.
8941.creroie, ‘ought to trust,’ see note on 1688.
8942.verroie, conditional for pret. subj.: see note on l. 25.
8952. Cp.Bal.xliii. 2, ‘Si es comun plus qe la halte voie’; also 9231 ff.
8984.soubgite et abandonnée, ‘as his subject and servant.’
9055. ‘If we consider well, we shall see that’ &c.: see note on 1244.
9068. The reference is to Job xxxi. 9-12. The verse quoted is ‘Ignis est usque ad perditionem devorans, et omnia eradicans genimina.’
9085. ‘Incest’ is here used in a much wider sense than belongs to the word in English. It includes the impure intercourse of those who are near of kin, as we see in ll. 9181 ff.; but the cases of it which are chiefly insisted on have to do with breach of the ecclesiastical vow of purity, and this not only where the confessor corrupts his penitent (who is his daughter in a spiritual sense), but also in general where monk, nun, or priest commits fornication.
9130 ff. ‘so that at last by reason of his inconstancy and habitual sin we see Incest throw off his vows and leave the order.’
9132. The ‘possessioners’ are the members of those religious orders which held property, as distinguished from the mendicant orders mentioned next.
9138.ses Abbes.If this is singular, the use of the subject form after a preposition is very harsh: it is ‘son Abbes’ (though subject) in l. 12115. Perhaps the monastic rent-collector is spoken of here generally, and as coming from a variety of monasteries.
9139.vois, the usual form for ‘vais,’ as 440, &c.
9143.irroit, see 1688.
9148.ly limitantz, ‘the limitour’: cp. Chaucer’s ironical reference to him at the beginning of theWyf of Bath’s Tale.
9156. The woman’s husband passes for the father of the children.
9158.au dieu demeine, ‘in the possession of God.’
9168. ‘Than he who does (the same) as regards his neighbour’ (who is not under a religious vow).
9171. This is the case of the widow’s marriage to the Church, the vow of not marrying again, see 17827 ff. This was taken, for example, by Eleanor, sister of Henry III, who afterwards married Simon de Montfort. The vow of course would be dispensed with, and the relations here contemplated are probably those of marriage, notwithstanding the severity with which they are spoken of in ll. 9172-74: therefore the author is doubtful about the punishment of this offence in a future state, and suggests that the arrangements of human law, by which the wife would often suffer in property by such a marriage, may be a sufficient punishment. On this subject see Furnivall’sFifty Earliest English Wills, E.E.T.S.
9229.en cest escrit, ‘in the scripture,’ cp. 9277: so ‘celle’ is used for the definite article, 9786 and elsewhere; see note on 301.
9230. The reference seems to be a general one to such passages as Jer. iii. 1 ff.
9240.en ton despit, ‘in hatred of thee.’
9265.El viele loy, e.g. Deut. xxiii. 17.
9281. Perhaps ‘burette’ is here the same as ‘birette,’ used for a lady’s head-covering, see Littré: usually it means a small phial, and ‘burettes’ might stand here for scent-bottles.
9292. For ‘mie’ without negative particle cp. 2589, andBal.xliv. 1.
9311.au petit loisirseems to mean ‘in a small space of time,’ ‘loisir’ (‘leisour’) being ordinarily used in its modern sense, referring to restrictions of time: so in the phrase ‘par loisir’ 5693, and ‘a bon leisour’ 9222. In the next stanza, however, it has a somewhat different sense, ‘femme a son loisir faldra,’ 9315, meaning apparently ‘the woman shall not be at his (orher) own disposal’; and later (9322) ‘au bon loisir’ means ‘with ease.’
9314.sur luy, that is ‘on her’: cp. 2151, 9351.
9320.luy, here equivalent to ‘la’: cp.Bal.xxiii. 2.
9359. The reference probably is to Matt. v. 28, ‘Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.’
9410.s’ordinaire: cp. 1477.
9496. ‘Compels hearts to love’: so ‘par destresce’ 5549, ‘by force.’
9553. 1 Cor. ii. 14, ‘Animalis autem homo non percipit ea quae sunt Spiritus Dei.’ Our author not unnaturally fails to understand ‘animalis.’
9557. Wisd. 1. 4, ‘in malevolam animam non introibit sapientia.’
tal: used here for the rhyme, but it is in fact the older Norman form, as inRom. de Rou, 2270, quoted by Burguy,Gramm.i. 193.
9565. Nihil est enim tam mortiferum ingenio quam luxuria est: quoted as ‘Socrates’ by Caec. Balbus, p. 43 (ed. Woelfflin).
9579. Amos i. 5, ‘disperdam habitatorem de campo idoli et tenentem sceptrum de domo voluptatis.’ The English version is different.
9588.Que, ‘that which’: cp. 9646.
9591.climant.This is the reading of the MS., but possibly the author wrote ‘cliniant’ (for ‘cligniant’).
9601. I do not know the reference.
9611. ‘unto the enemy’s throat.’
9613. The sense of this line is repeated by the word ‘Luxure,’ 9616.
9616. Cic.de Off.i. 123, ‘luxuria ... cum omni aetati turpis, tum senectuti foedissima.’
9620. ‘Others will excuse themselves ill, but the old worse than the rest,—or rather, none will be able to excuse themselves at all’: this seems to be the meaning.
9656.serroit: note on 1688.
9671.la halte voie, &c., the high-way to hell: ‘remeine’ instead of ‘remeint’ for the rhyme.
9678.feis, 2 sing. pret.
9687.fait a loer, ‘she ought to be praised,’ see note on 1883.
9720.Qui corps, ‘whose body,’ cp. 3491.
9782.mes amis: the subject form of the possessive pronoun is used here, as ‘tes’ inBal.iv*. 3.
9786. The slight alteration of ‘mettroit’ to ‘metteroit’ is required by the metre.
9816.tientmay be preterite, though ‘tint’ occurs 3322: cp. 4561 ff.
9820.dont fuist a baniere, ‘whose leader she was.’
9889. Rev. xiii.
9907. ‘Seven heads, because he devotes himself to the seven sins.’
9956. ‘When she plays with the mouse’: ‘se fait juer’ is simply equivalent to ‘se jue,’ cp. 39, 1135, 1320, &c.
10071.De resoun, &c., explaining ‘le faisoit.’
10117. I take ‘pareies’ to be for ‘parées’ (past part.), as ‘journeies’ for ‘journées,’ see Introduction, p. xx.
10121.preies, i.e. ‘proies,’ the older form used for sake of the rhyme. For the meaning cp.Bal.xv. 4.
10125.les cornont, ‘play music to them’: for ‘les’ cp. 2416, &c.; ‘par leur journeies’ seems to mean ‘on their way.’
10140. That is, the meeting will not be one of like with like.
10176.oietz chançon flourie: cp.Bal. Ded.i. 3, ‘Ore en balade, u sont les ditz floriz.’
10176(R).Puisq ‘il ad dit, &c. We have the same form of expression in the heading of theTraitié.
10215. 2 Kings iv. 33.
10221. Luke vi. 12.
10233. Ps. cxlv. (Vulg.cxliv.) 18.
10239. Ps. xxxvii. (Vulg.xxxvi.) 7, ‘Subditus esto Domino, et ora eum,’ but there is nothing to explain ‘delacioun.’
10243. Dan. vi. 10.
10249. 1 Macc. iii. 44 ff., 2 Macc. viii. 1, and x. 25.
10262. Tobit iii. 7 ff.
10267. Tobit iii. 1 ff.
10273. 1 Sam. i.
10279. Luke vii. 38.
10286. Luke xxi. 36.
10297. James v. 16, ‘multum enim valet deprecatio iusti assidua.’
10301. Ex. xvii. 8 ff.
10306. ‘When he was a lowerer of his hands,’ the pres. part. being used as an adjective or substantive.
10311. 2 Chron. xx.
10324. There is nothing, so far as I know, corresponding with this reference. It is possible that the author may have mistaken the application of Jer. xxix. 7, where the Jews who are in captivity are bidden to pray for the peace of the city where they now dwell, namelyBabylon. This occurs in close proximity with anticipations of an eventual return.
10335. Baruch i. 11.
10341.Puisqu’il.As ‘il’ for ‘ils’ is found in rhyme l. 25064, I have not altered it here: cp. 23922, 24635.
10347. The reference is not quite correct, for the decree of Cyrus was before the time of Ezra, though it did not take full effect until that time.
10358. 2 Macc. xii. 41-45.
10371. Ezra ix. f.
10374.del oïr, ‘in order to hear.’
10405. Isid.Sent.iii. 7. 8, ‘Pura est oratio quam in suo tempore saeculi non interveniunt curae; longe autem a Deo animus qui in oratione cogitationibus saeculi fuerit occupatus.’
10411. Aug.in Ps.cxviii.,Serm.xxix. 1, ‘Clamor ad Dominum qui fit ab orantibus, si sonitu corporalis vocis fiat, non intento in Deum corde, quis dubitet inaniter fieri?’ OrSerm.lxxxviii. 12, ‘ne forte simus strepentes vocibus et muti moribus.’ Cp. 1194, 20547.
10441. Exod. xxiii. 15.
10450. ‘But he who bears himself humbly,’ &c. For this use of ‘qe’ cp.Bal. Ded.i. 1 ff.,
‘Q’en dieu se fie, il ad bel avantage.’
‘Q’en dieu se fie, il ad bel avantage.’
‘Q’en dieu se fie, il ad bel avantage.’
‘Q’en dieu se fie, il ad bel avantage.’
10453. 2 Chron. xxx f.
10467. Exod. xxxv.
10479. Num. xvi.
10498. I do not think that what follows will be found in Jerome. The classification of the seven deadly sins is of later date.
10505. ‘Lest Sloth should seize him’: the subjunctive was to be expected, but syntax gives way to rhyme.
10526 ff. Cp. Chaucer,Pers. Tale133 ff. (Skeat), where there are six causes which ought to move a man to contrition; but they are not quite the same as those which we have here.
10553.Q’il n’en deschiece, ‘lest he should fall by reason of it.’
10554. 1 Cor. x. 12.
10574. Luke vi. 21, much expanded.
10605.solait, for ‘soloit,’ which is used as a present in several passages, 15405, 20419.
10612. 2 Cor. xii. 2.
10623. Here and in 10628 we have a pause after the first half of the verse, with a superfluous syllable: see Introduction, p. xlv.
10637.par semblance, ‘as it were,’ implying that ‘morir’ is metaphorical.
10639.pour despire: I take ‘pour’ to be dependent on ‘commence,’ and to be used as a variation of ‘de’: cp. 6328, 10664, 11520, &c.
10642.tant luy tarde, as in Mod. French, ‘so eager is he.’
10643.fait sentir, ‘feels’: see note on 1135.
10649.faithere, and in l. 10653, supplies the place of the verb ‘desire,’ like ‘doth’ or ‘does’ in English: see note on 1135.
10651. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 2238 ff., where, however, the connexion is different.
10669.ot, ‘there were’: so ‘ad’ is not uncommonly thus used for ‘il y a,’ e.g. 2174.
10707 ff.la chalandre. This bird, which seems to be a kind of lark, is mentioned also inBal.xii. 1. Bozon,Contes Moralizés, p. 63, calls it ‘calabre,’ and says that if a man is ill, and they wish to know whether he will live or die, they may bring in this bird, and if it turns away from him, he will die. See M. Paul Meyer’s note on the passage.
10717. The story is probably taken from Solinus, who combines the story of the Arimaspians, as told by Herodotus and Pliny, with the account of the emeralds produced in the country:Collect.15.
10718. ‘the land which is called Scythia.’
10747.Pour nostre essample.The idea that these things weredone, not only related, for our example is merely an extension of the usual medieval view of Natural History.
10748.nous attrait, ‘teaches us,’ (‘brings before us’). For the various meanings of ‘attraire’ compare the following passages, 567, 1550, 14480, 16637, 17800, 21623, 23361.
St. Remigius does not, so far as I know, mention the story of the griffons and Arimaspians, but probably the following passage, where the truth is compared to a treasure, may be the one referred to: ‘Habemus namque magnum depositum fidei et doctrinae veritatis ... velut pretiosum multiplicem thesaurum divinitus nobis ad custodiendum commendatum: quem sine intermissione domino auxiliante delemus inspicere, extergere, polire atque excutere ac diligentissime servare, ne per incuriam et ignaviam nostram aut pulvere sordescat aut ... malignorum spirituum insidiis vel a nocturnis et occultis furibus effodiatur et deripiatur.’ (De tenenda Script. Verit.i. 1.)
10800. ‘And in it he rejoices’: ‘fait demener’ is equivalent to ‘demeine,’ and ‘demener ses joyes’ means ‘to rejoice,’ cp. 444, 5038, &c.
10801. Probably referring to Albertus Magnusde Animalibus, but I do not know the passage.
10813. This comparison does not appear to be in Isidore, though he gives much the same account as we have here of the origin of pearls. (Isid.Etym.xii. 6. 49). Isidore no doubt borrowed the story from Solinus (ch. 53), who had it indirectly from Pliny,N. H.ix. 54. In Bozon,Contes Moralizés, p. 41, we have the story with nearly the same application as here.
10882. ‘He who considers this’ &c.
10903. ‘That which pleases the one’ &c., the verb being used here with a direct object.
10909. Cp.Bal.xxx. 2, andConf. Am.i. 515 ff.
10912.remedie: see note on 296.
10934. Prov. xxviii. 14.
10942. Cp.Bal.xx. 1.
10948. Ovid,Pont.iv. 3. 35. Cp.Conf. Am.vi. 1513, where the original Latin is quoted in the margin and attributed (as here) to ‘Oracius.’
10959. Perhaps a reminiscence of the line inPamphilus, ‘Ex minima magnus scintilla nascitur ignis.’
10962. The quotation is really from Ovid,Rem. Am.421, ‘Parva necat morsu spatiosum vipera taurum.’ It has perhaps been confused with Sen.Dial.i. 6. 8, ‘corpora opima taurorum exiguo concidunt volnere.’
10965. Ecclus. xix. 1, ‘qui spernit modica, paulatim decidet.’
10969. Ecclus. v. 4-9, ‘Ne dixeris: Peccavi, et quid mihi accidit triste?’ &c.
11004. ‘And it awaits them after their death.’
11018. 2 Kings xvii.
11020.Evehistands for the Avites, who are ‘Hevaei’ in the Latin version.
11044. August.Ep.cxl. (De Grat. Nov. Test.) 21, and many other places.
11056. Probably Rom. viii. 15, with amplifications.
11065.Quiconque ait: there is an elision, though it is not indicated in the text.
11069. Esther iii ff.
11102. Matt. x. 28.
11114. Judith xi. 8, 9.
11126. Ps. xxv. (Vulg.xxiv.) 14, ‘Firmamentum est Dominus timentibus eum.’
11128. Ps. cxi. (Vulg.cx.) 5.
11137. Lev. xxvi. 2 ff.
11149. Lev. xxvi. 5.
11160.arestu, a past participle from the form ‘aresteir’, used here for the rhyme.
11177. Neh. i. 11.
11185. Tobit i. 10.
11191. Judith xvi. 19.
11197. Is. xix.
11203.ly futur, ‘they that should come after.’
11209. Deut. xxviii.
11221. Deut. xxviii. 58 ff.
11243. ‘There shall be no bodily fear by which’ &c.
11245.pour deviser, cp. 12852, so ‘a diviser’ 5031.
11305. Prov. xxiii. 34, amplified: ‘Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo.’
11309.prist: this tense is for the sake of the rhyme instead of ‘prent.’
11332. Job iv. 13.
11343. Luke xv. 11.
11354.Tout quatre: for this use of ‘tout’ with numerals cp. 11570, ‘Ad tout quatre oils.’ It seems to be an adverb, as in the expression ‘ove tout’ ll. 4, 12240, &c., and has no particular meaning apparently.
11396.au fin que, ‘until.’
11404. This ‘Mestre Helemauns’ is Hélinand, the monk of Froidmont, whoseVers de la Mortwere so popular in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The lines which are quoted here are quoted also in theSomme des Vices et des Vertus, with a slight difference of text. See M. Paul Meyer inRomaniai. 365, where a preliminary list of the MSS. is given. Death is supposed to be the speaker here, ‘Do away your mockery and your boasting, for many a man who thinketh himself sound and strong hath me already hatching within him.’ The usual reading is ‘Laissiez vos chiffles’ (or ‘chifflois’), but ‘Ostez’ and ‘trufes’ are also found in the MSS.
11410. ‘Death has warned thee of his tricks,’ because in the preceding lines Death is supposed to be the speaker.
11412.atteins, ‘caught unawares.’
11434.a luy, ‘to her,’ so 626, 2151, &c.
11466.Donthere seems to stand for ‘que,’ as it does so commonly in a consecutive sense after ‘tant,’ ‘si,’ &c.
11504.Mais d’une chose, ‘except for one thing.’
11510.sentence, perhaps here ‘feeling of pain,’ ‘suffering.’
11520.Pour venir, after ‘assure,’ equivalent to ‘de venir’: see 6328.
11521. Ecclus. i. 22, 25, ‘Corona sapientiae, timor Domini ... Radix sapientiae est timere dominum.’
11535. Is. xxxiii. 6, ‘divitiae salutis sapientia et scientia: timor Domini ipse est thesaurus eius.’
11536. Ps. xiv. 4, ‘timentes autem Dominum glorificat.’
11540. Luke i. 50.
11548. Jer. x. 7, ‘Quis non timebit te, O Rex gentium? tuum est enim decus.’
11570. See note on 11354.
11572. Rev. iv. 6.
11600. That is, ‘everything depends, as it were, on the cast of the dice.’
11611. Ps. ci. (Vulg.c.) 7, ‘Non habitabit in medio domus meae qui facit superbiam.’
11616. ‘Which is a true child of Arrogance.’
11647. Rom. vi. 23.
11653.ly discret, i.e. Discretion.
11668. Eccles. iii. 19, ‘cuncta subiacent vanitati, et omnia pergunt ad unum locum.’
11671. Matt. xxiv. 35, &c.
11676. i.e, ‘His word of everlasting doctrine.’
11680. ‘Three things make me sure that the state of man’ &c., referring to what follows.
11685. Job xiv. 2.
11694. Cp.Conf. Am.iv. 1632 f.,