‘So that these heraldz on him crie,“Vailant, vailant, lo, wher he goth!”’
‘So that these heraldz on him crie,“Vailant, vailant, lo, wher he goth!”’
‘So that these heraldz on him crie,“Vailant, vailant, lo, wher he goth!”’
‘So that these heraldz on him crie,
“Vailant, vailant, lo, wher he goth!”’
11721 ff. ‘But as for man,... by reason of sin which holds possession of his body, hell retains the soul for ever.’ For ‘celle’ see note on 301.
11724.fait a despire, ‘it is right to loathe’: see note on 1883.
11728.pour sa maisoun, like ‘de sa maisoun,’ ‘as regards his house.’ See 2 Kings xx.
11770. It is likely enough that Cassiodorus says something of this kind in his official letters, but it is hardly worth while to search for it. Expressions such as, ‘Multo melius proficitur, si bonis moribus serviatur,’ are common enough.
11822. Cp.Conf. Am.i. 299.
11846. John iv. 14: but it was said actually to the woman of Samaria, not to the disciples.
11848.au tiel exploit, ‘in such a manner’: properly ‘with such success (orresult).’
11865.desjoint: so in Chaucer,Troilusiii. 496, ‘Or of what wight that stant in swich disjoynte.’
11866.je quidoie: cp.Conf. Am.v. 7666, ‘Til ate laste he seith, “I wende.”’
11898. Ps. cxli. (Vulg.cxl.) 3, ‘Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo, et ostium circumstantiae labiis meis.’
11939. Perhaps the word is ‘enguarise.’
11978. Ecclus. xxxii. 14, ‘Ante grandinem praeibit coruscatio: et ante verecundiam praeibit gratia, et pro reverentia accedet tibi bona gratia.’
11989. 1 Tim. ii. 9.
11995. Ecclus. vii. 21, ‘gratia enim verecundiae illius super aurum.’
12003. Job iii. 25, ‘quod verebar accidit.’
12006. Ps. xliv. 15 (Vulg.xliii. 16), ‘Tota die verecundia mea contra me est.’
12025. Gen. ix. 22.
12038.doit: cp. 12669, and see note on 1193.
12044. Judith xii. 12 ff.
12056. Luke xii. 3.
12140.ne fais souffrir, ‘you do not endure.’
12161. Deut. xvii. 12.
12169. Eph. vi. 2 ff.
12180.demeine, an adjective, ‘thineownprofit.’
12188. Ecclus. iv. 7, ‘presbytero humilia animam tuam, et magnato humilia caput tuum.’
12200. Perhaps Rom. x. 9 f.
12202. Heb. xi. 6.
12206. Heb. x. 38.
12209. Mark xvi. 16, 18.
12217 ff. Cp. Heb. xi.
12228.De Abraham: for the hiatus cp. 12241, ‘De Isaak,’ 27367, ‘De Ire,’ andBal.xxxiv. 3, ‘De Alceone.’
12238. Eccles. iv. 17.
fait a loer: see note on 1883.
12240.ove tout, ‘together with,’ cp. l. 4.
12241.De Isaak: there is no elision, and ‘Isaak’ is a trisyllable. For the hiatus cp. 27367 ‘De Ire, Accidie et Gloutenie.’
12254.pour foy, equivalent apparently to ‘par foy’ 12293 ff., see Heb. xi. 23.
12289. Heb. xi. 33 ff.
12296.des ces lyons, i.e. de les lyons: see note on 301.
12303. 1 John v. 4 f.
12326. Eccles. iv. 12.
12331.du grein ou goute, ‘in any way whatsoever.’
12347.le plus, ‘the more,’ see note on 2700.
12350. The reference belongs apparently to the next line, ‘Him whom wind and sea obey,’ and presumably it is to Mark iv. 41; but, if so, there seems no reason for referring to St. Mark rather than to the Gospels generally.
12356. Ps. cxviii. 9.
12361. Seneca,Ep.lxxxviii. 29, ‘Fides sanctissimum humani pectoris bonum est, nulla necessitate ad fallendum cogitur, nullo corrumpitur praemio.’
12373. James ii. 14-20.
12406. Supply ‘porte’ from the next line: ‘he carries equally corn or beans.’
12409. Seneca,Ep.xxxvii. 4, ‘Si vis omnia tibi subicere, te subice rationi.’
12440.apparais future, cp. 1140; used here in the sense of command, ‘it shall not appear,’ ‘obeie’ above, and ‘requiere’ below, being subjunctive in imperative sense, ‘let a man obey,’ &c.
12448. Bed.in Luc.xi., ‘Clavis scientiae humilitas Christi est.’
12452. This is a reference to the series of maxims attributed to Ptolemy and prefixed in many MSS. and early printed editions to the Almagest. See the paper inAngliaxviii. pp. 133-140, by E. Flügel, who prints the whole set of sayings and shews that the Almagest references in theRoman de la Roseand in Chaucer are to these. We have here a reference to the ninth in order, ‘Qui inter sapientes humilior est, sapientior existit, sicut locus profundior magis abundat aquis aliis lacunis.’
12464 ff. Cp.Bal.xxxviii. 1.
12505. The adjective ‘vrais’ seems here to fill the place of an adverb.
12518. Ecclus. iii. 20.
12520. Prov. xvi. 19.
12528.compleindre le contraire, ‘bewail thy disobedience to it.’
12529. Luke xiv. 11.
12565 ff. The story may be found in theLegenda Aurea. St. Macariuswas a recluse of Upper Egypt, who is described as ‘ingeniosus contra daemonis fallaciam.’ Several of his personal encounters with the devil are recorded in legend: cp. l. 20905.
12577.je te vois passant, ‘I surpass you’: ‘vois’ for ‘vais,’ as often.
12601. Cp.Conf. Am.i. 3103 ff.
12624.privé, substantive, ‘intimate friend.’
12628. The reference is to the ‘Benedicite,’ Dan. (Vulg.) iii. 58 ff.
12664. Perhaps 1 Pet. iii. 12.
12668. Ecclus. xv. 9, ‘Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris.’
12669.Q’om doit, ‘that one should,’ &c., see note on 1193.
12674. Ps. li. 15, (Vulg.l. 17).
12681. Ps. lvi. 10, 11, (Vulg.lv. 11).
12685. The reference to Judith is wrong: it should be to Esther (Vulg.) xiii. 17, ‘ut viventes laudemus nomen tuum, Domine.’
12689. Ps. cxv. 17.
12696.plier, ‘turn away (from us).’
12697. The form ‘fas’ is presumably for the rhyme.
12709. Probably Ecclus. xliv. 1.
12725. ‘Vox populi, vox Dei.’
12727. See below on 12733. TheDistichaof Dionysius Cato are supposed to be addressed to the author’s son.
12732.le puet celer avant, ‘can continue to conceal it,’ i.e. ‘can conceal it for ever.’
12733. Cato,Distich.ii. 16,
‘Nec te conlaudes, nec te culpaveris ipse;Hoc faciunt stulti, quos gloria vexat inanis.’
‘Nec te conlaudes, nec te culpaveris ipse;Hoc faciunt stulti, quos gloria vexat inanis.’
‘Nec te conlaudes, nec te culpaveris ipse;Hoc faciunt stulti, quos gloria vexat inanis.’
‘Nec te conlaudes, nec te culpaveris ipse;
Hoc faciunt stulti, quos gloria vexat inanis.’
12754. 1 Cor. xi. 2, 17.
12775.Ainz que voir sciet, &c., ‘But what she truly knows in the matter,’ &c.
12780. Cp. 1416.
12835. Zephaniah iii. 19.
12850 f.en son affaire, ‘for his part’: ‘secretaire’ means ‘private adviser,’ ‘privy-councillor.’
12852.pour deviser, ‘to describe him,’ i.e. ‘if one would describe him rightly’: cp. 11245.
12855.cuillante: the participles are here inflected as adjectives; so ‘flairante,’ ‘fuiante,’ ‘considerante.’ Perhaps ‘bien parlante’ and ‘volante’ may be regarded as really adjectives; but, even so, the author would have had no scruple in saying ‘parlant,’ ‘volant,’ if it had been more convenient.
12856.de nature, ‘by nature.’
12865. ‘Solyns’ seems to be a false reference: the statement may be found in Pliny,Nat. Hist.viii. 23.
12877. Ps. lxxiv. (Vulg.lxxiii.) 21, ‘Ne avertatur humilis factus confusus: pauper et inops laudabunt nomen tuum.’
12885 f. ‘And (whereby) in this life neighbours are honourable each to other.’
12925. Luke xv. 8, ‘si perdiderit drachmam unam,’ &c.
12926.ert conjoÿs, ‘was rejoiced with,’ a transitive use which we find also in l. 12934, where ‘luy’ stands for direct object, as often. The form ‘conjoÿs’ here is an example of that sacrifice of grammar to rhyme which is so frequent.
13005.Du tiele enprise, &c., ‘for having accomplished such an enterprise.’
13008.ses amys: the old subject-form of the possessive, cp. ‘mes,’ ‘tes,’ 9782,Bal.iv*. 3.
13021. Cp.Conf. Am.ii. 1772 ff.
13026. ‘So that defeated and taken he led him away.’
13037.Tout fuist que, ‘albeit that’: apparently an imitation of the English expression.
13040. Rom. xii. 15.
13056. ‘Whom this example does not bring back to the path.’
13064. ‘Makes endeavour to supplant them,’ i.e. ‘la bonne gent.’
13122.Redrescer, ‘correct’ by punishment, as we see by the last lines of the stanza.
13129. Sen.de Benef.vii. 25.
13173.je m’en vois dessassentant, ‘I disagree.’
13178. Prov. xxvii. 6.
13204.au droit deviser, ‘to speak aright’: cp. 5031.
13264 ff. ‘For, simply because she loves God, no adversity of present pain can harm her.’
13301.ou balance, i.e. ‘au balance.’
13302. Cp. 25607.
13309. This is Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspa in the sixth century. The passage quoted is fromSerm.iii. 6, ‘Caritas igitur est omnium fons et origo bonorum, munimen egregium, via quae ducit ad caelum,’ &c. He is cited also in l. 13861, but there I cannot give the reference.
13333. Greg.Hom. in Ezech.vii. It is a commentary on Ezek. xl.
13361. Cp. Isid.Etym.xvii. 7. 33, ‘Lignum vero iucundi odoris est, nec a tinea unquam exterminatur.’
13435. The philosopher here may be supposed to be Socrates, of whom the Middle Ages knew next to nothing except as a patient husband: cp. 4168.
13441. Phil. iv. 5, ‘Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus.’
13475 f. ‘And yet she does not omit to punish according to right.’
13485. Cato,Distich.i. 3,
‘Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam:Proximus ille deo est, qui scit ratione tacere.’
‘Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam:Proximus ille deo est, qui scit ratione tacere.’
‘Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam:Proximus ille deo est, qui scit ratione tacere.’
‘Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam:
Proximus ille deo est, qui scit ratione tacere.’
13498 ff. ‘If anyone should take note of good and ill, he would often see experience of both’: that is, of endurance leading to honour, andof failure to endure leading to loss of honour. Perhaps we should read ‘en prenderoit,’ ‘take note of it, of the good and the evil,’ &c.
13503.en la fin: the MS. has ‘en fin,’ but a correction is required for the metre and ‘en la fin’ is used elsewhere, e.g. 15299.
13528. ‘who being spiritual renders good for evil,’ &c.
13537. Aug.Epist.clv. 15, and other places.
13514.Dame Pacience: see note on 6733.
13550.a soy mesmes, ‘for his own part,’ i.e. speaking of himself.
13554.a ce que soie, ‘in order that I might be.’
13578. Eph. iv. 15 f.
13586.dont sont tenant, ‘from whom they hold,’ in the feudal sense.
13606. Matt. v. 46.
13669. Sen.de Mor.16, ‘Quod tacitum esse velis, nemini dixeris. Si tibi ipsi non imperasti, quomodo ab aliis silentium speras?’
13675. Petr. Alph.Disc. Cler.ii., ‘Consilium absconditum quasi in carcere tuo est retrusum; revelatum vero te in carcere suo tenet ligatum.’
13686. Ecclus. xiii. 1.
13695. ‘Pro amico occidi melius quam cum inimico vivere’: quoted as ‘Socrates’ in Caec. Balbus,Nug. Phil.p. 25 (ed. Woelfflin).
13713.Conf. Am. Prol.109.
13717. Ecclus. vi. 15, ‘Amico fideli nulla est comparatio, et non est digna ponderatio auri et argenti contra bonitatem fidei illius.’
13732. Ambr.de Spir. Sanct.ii. 154, ‘Unde quidam interrogatus quid amicus esset, Alter, inquit, ego.’
13741. The reference no doubt is to 2 Tim. iii. 2, ‘Erunt homines seipsos amantes,’ &c. The explanation suggested by our author of the double word ‘se-ipsos’ is that these men would love themselves with a double love, that due to God and that due to their neighbour.
13779. ‘But it is a covetous bargain.’
13798.Conf. Am. Prol.120 ff.
13805. 1 John iii. 14.
13853. Ps. cxxxiii. 1.
13893.qui descorde, ‘whosoever may be at variance.’
13897.paciente, ‘of Patience.’
13918. Cassiod.Var.xii. 13, ‘Pietas siquidem principum totum custodit imperium’: cp. l. 23059, andConf. Am.vii. 3161*.
13921. The saying is thus quoted in theLiber Consolationisof Albertano: ‘Omnium etenim se esse verum dominum comprobat, qui verum se servum pietatis demonstrat.’ Cp. l. 23055, andConf. Am.vii. 3137. The story connected with it is told in theLegenda Aurea, ‘De sancto Silvestro.’
13929. James ii. 13: cp.Conf. Am.vii. 3149*.
13947. ‘But it is never less worthy in consequence of this.’ The alteration to ‘n’est meinz vailable’ is not necessary, for ‘ja’ is sometimes used for ‘never’ without the negative particle, e.g. 10856.
13953. 1 Tim. iv. 8, ‘Pietas autem ad omnia utilis est.’ The original of ‘pietas’ is εὐσέβεια.
13964.dont elle est pure, ‘of which she is wholly composed.’
14014. ‘That I may not be bent by adversity,’ the reflexive verb in a passive sense.
14017. Ps. xxxvi. 39, &c.
14026. For ‘deinzeine’ see Skeat’sEtymol. Dict.under ‘denizen,’ where it is pointed out that ‘deinzein’ was a term legally used ‘to denote the trader within the privileges of the city franchise as opposed to “forein.”’ Here ‘la deinzeine’ is the inner part of man’s nature, the soul, as opposed to that which is without (‘forein’).
14042. Perhaps 1 Pet. i. 6, 7: cp. Ecclus. ii. 5.
14105. The adjective ‘regente’ seems to be used as a participle with ‘et corps et alme’ as object, ‘ruling both body and soul.’
14126.souleine.Genders of course are of no consequence in comparison with rhymes.
14134.ly autre seculer, ‘the secular priests also,’ those mentioned above being regular.
14143. See note on 5266.
14155. Matt. xxiv. 46.
14163. Matt. xxvi. 41. The interpretation here put upon the latter part of the verse is curious, and not authorised by the Latin: ‘Spiritus quidem promptus est, caro autem infirma.’
14172.ce que faire doit, ‘that which he ought to guard,’ ‘faire’ being used to supply the place of the verb, as so often: cp. 14133 f.
14197.celle de Peresce, i.e. the vice of indolence, cp. 253.
14209. Sen.Ep.lxxiv. 13, ‘magnanimitas, quae non potest eminere, nisi omnia velut minuta contempsit.’
14255. Apparently ‘honnesteté’ means here ‘honourable deed.’
14262.par chivallerie, ‘in warfare’: cp. 15111.
14296. Sen.Ep.lix. 18, ‘Quod non dedit fortuna, non eripit.’
14307.quelle part soit, for ‘quelle part que soit,’ ‘wherever,’ or ‘on whichever side’; so ‘combien’ in l. 14310 for ‘combien que,’ ‘however much.’
14343. Perhaps Sen.Ep.lxvii. 10, ‘constantia, quae deici loco non potest et propositum nulla vi extorquente dimittit.’
14365. 1 Cor. ix. 24, ‘omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bravium.’
14392. Matt. x. 22.
14413. Cp. Prov. xxx. 8. There is nothing exactly like it in the book of Tobit.
14425. 2 Thess. iii. 10.
14434 f.cil qui serra, &c., ‘if a man be industrious, it will avail him much.’
14437. Ps. cxxviii. 2.
14440. A proverb, meaning that God helps those who help themselves.
14443. 1 Kings xix.
14449. The reference is to a dramatic love-poem in Latin elegiac verse with the titlePamphilus, orPamphilus de Amore, which wasvery popular in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Pamphilus (or Panphylus) is the name of the lover who sustains the chief part, but others besides Gower have supposed it to be also the name of the author. The line referred to here is,
‘Prouidet et tribuit deus et labor omnia nobis,’ (f. 6 vo).
‘Prouidet et tribuit deus et labor omnia nobis,’ (f. 6 vo).
‘Prouidet et tribuit deus et labor omnia nobis,’ (f. 6 vo).
‘Prouidet et tribuit deus et labor omnia nobis,’ (f. 6 vo).
I quote from a copy of a rare fifteenth-century edition (without date or place, but supposed to have been printed about 1490 at Rome), in the Douce collection, Bodleian Library. It has the title ‘Panphylus de amore,’ and ends, ‘Explicit amorem per tractus (i.e. pertractans) Panphyli codex.’ The book is not without some merit of its own, though to a great extent it is an imitation of Ovid. It is quoted several times by Albertano of Brescia in hisLiber Consolationis, and was evidently regarded as a serious authority: see Chaucer’sTale of Melibee, which is ultimately derived from theLiber Consolationis. It is referred to also in theFrankeleins Tale, 381 f.,
‘Under his brest he bar it more secreeThan ever did Pamphilus for Galathee.’
‘Under his brest he bar it more secreeThan ever did Pamphilus for Galathee.’
‘Under his brest he bar it more secreeThan ever did Pamphilus for Galathee.’
‘Under his brest he bar it more secree
Than ever did Pamphilus for Galathee.’
14462.au labourer covient, ‘it is necessary to labour.’
14466. ‘Whoso wishes,’ &c., i.e. ‘if a man wishes’: see note on 1244.
14473.dispense, ‘deals favourably’: cp. l. 1400.
14496.le meulx: see note on 2700.
14551. Matt. vi. 33.
14568. The alteration of ‘contemplacioun’ to ‘contempler,’ used as a substantive as in l. 10699, is the simplest way of restoring the metre: but cp. 3116, andBal.xxvii. 1.
14581. Isid.Diff.ii. 153.
14619. Rom. xii. 3, ‘Non plus sapere quam oportet sapere, sed sapere ad sobrietatem.’
14623. Bern.Serm. in Cant.xxxvi. 4, ‘Cibus siquidem indigestus ... et corrumpit corpus et non nutrit. Ita et multa scientia ingesta stomacho animae,’ &c.
14653. Bern.Serm. in Cant.xxxvi. 3, ‘Sunt namque qui scire volunt eo fine tantum ut sciant, et turpis curiositas est. Et sunt qui scire volunt ut sciantur ipsi, et turpis vanitas est.’
14670. A reference to the story of St. Jerome being chastised in a dream by an angel because he studied the style of his writing overmuch, and was becoming ‘Ciceronianus’ rather than ‘Christianus.’
14701. For the four bodily temperaments, cp.Conf. Am.vii. 393 ff.
14707. ‘If I be tempered so as to be phlegmatic’: cp.Bal.l. 2, ‘Ceo q’ainz fuist aspre, amour le tempre suef.’
14725. This refers to the so-called ‘Salvatio Romae,’ the story of which is told (for example) in theSeven Sages.
14730.fesoit avant, ‘he proceeded to make’: cp. 17310, 18466, 20537.
14757. An absolute construction, ‘with the sword of penitence in his hand.’
14769.en tiel devis, answered by ‘Dont,’ ‘in the manner by which,’ &c.
14776. I do not understand this. ‘Malgré le soen’ might perhaps mean ‘in spite of itself,’ as ‘malgré soen’ is sometimes used, but how about ‘de sa casselle’?
14797. 1 John iv. 1.
14812. Ecclus. xxxii. 24.
14833. It is needless to say that Boethius gives no such directions. They are the usual questions of the priest in enjoining penance, ‘Quis, quid, ubi, per quos, quotiens, quomodo, quando’: cp. Myrc’sInstructions for Parish Priests(E.E.T.S. 1868). The name of ‘Boece’ perhaps crept in by accident in the place of some other, because the writer had in his mind the quotation given at 14899.
14854.qu’il est atteins, ‘to which he has reached,’ i.e. ‘in which he is.’
14862.forain, here used in opposition to ‘benoit,’ ‘sacred,’ meaning that which is outside the consecrated limits.
14899. This is from Boethius,Cons. Phil.i. Pr. 4, ‘Si operam medicantis expectas, oportet ut vulnus detegas tuum.’
14901.Sicomme la plaie, &c. This seems to depend on ‘descoverir,’ ‘how large and grievous the wound is.’
14932.Y falt, ‘there is needed.’
14945 f. ‘According to the exact measure of the delight taken in the sin.’ I do not know the passage referred to.
14947. ‘But as to the meditation which intercession for sin makes,’ &c.
14951. Bern.Serm. de Div.xl. 5, ‘Tertius gradus est dolor, sed et ipse trina legatione connexus,’ &c.
14961.om doubteroit, ‘one ought to fear’: see note on 1688.
14973. ‘and has reflected with a tender heart.’ This position of ‘et’ is quite usual; see note on 415.
15088.qant ot fait le tour, &c., ‘when he had done the deed of denying his creator.’
15090. Matt. xxvi. 75.
15110. Job vii. 1, ‘Militia est vita hominis super terram.’ Not the same in A. V.
15194. These are the opening words of the Institutions of Justinian: ‘Iustitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius suum cuique tribuens.’
15205. The sense of this might easily be got from Plato, but of course the citation is not at first hand.
15217.Civileis no doubt ‘la loy civile,’ referred to in 14138, 15194, &c. We find ‘Civile’ as here in l. 16092 in a connexion which leaves no doubt of its meaning, and again 22266. Civile, it will be remembered, is a personage inPiers Plowman.
15227. Cp.Trait.xviii. 3, ‘Deinz son recoi la conscience exponde.’
15241. Aug.de Mus.vi. 37, ‘Haec igitur affectio animae vel motus, quo intelligit aeterna, et his inferiora esse temporalia,... et haec appetenda potius quae superiora sunt, quam illa quae inferiora esse nouit, nonne tibi prudentia videtur?’
15253. Cp.Conf. Am.i. 463 ff.
15260. Matt. x. 16.
15266 ff. The use of the future in these lines is analogous to that noticed in the note on 1184, ‘We must extend,’ &c.
15326.cil Justice, ‘those judges.’
15336.en Galice: a reference to the shrine of St. James at Compostella and the rich offerings made there.
15337. This might be a reference to Aristotle,Eth. Nic.v. 3, but of course it is not taken at first hand.
15371. ‘Even though he should have to pay double the (usual) price,’ i.e. for the food that he gave to the poor in time of dearth.
15383 f. ‘He will not neglect by such payment to keep his neighbour from ruin.’
15396.tant du bienfait, ‘so many benefits,’ ‘du’ as usual for ‘de.’
15445. Tobit iv. 7.
15448. Prov. iii. 9.
15459. 1 Kings xvii.
15463. ‘As Elisha prophesied’: but it is in fact Elijah, not Elisha, of whom the story is told.
15470. Tobit xii. 12 ff.
15475. Acts x.
15486. Luke xxi. 2.
15500.du quoy doner.Here ‘du quoy’ is used like the modern ‘de quoi,’ and so elsewhere, e.g. 15819, and ‘quoy’ 15940; but sometimes we have ‘du quoy dont,’ e.g. 3339, where it seems to pass from an interrog. pron. into a substantive, and ‘quoy’ is used simply as a substantive in some passages, e.g. 1781, 12204, meaning ‘thing’: cp. the use of ‘what’ in English,Conf. Am.i. 1676.
15505. See note on l. 7640. The reference here is to Godfrey of Winchester,Ep.clxiv, ‘Si donas tristis, et dona et praemia perdis.’
15522. Prov. xxi. 13, ‘Qui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, et ipse clamabit et non exaudietur.’
15529. 2 Cor. ix. 7.
15533. Sen.de Ben.ii. 1, ‘nulla res carius constat, quam quae precibus empta est.’
15538 f. The logical sequence is somewhat inverted: it means, ‘Hence a reluctant giver gets no reward, for his gift is bought at so high a price.’
15563.par sa ruine S’en volemeans perhaps, ‘he precipitated himself from his place and flew away.’
15566. Is. lxvi. 1, 2: but the quotation is not exact.
15578. Job xxvii. 8; but, as in the quotation above from Isaiah, something is added to make a special application. The original is only, ‘Quae est enim spes hypocritae, si avare rapiat?’ with no mention of almsgiving.
15593. Jer. xii. 13, but again the quotation has its special application given by our author. The original is ‘Seminaverunt triticum etspinas messuerunt:... confundemini a fructibus vestris propter iram furoris Domini.’
15613. Ecclus. iii. 33.
15627. Matt. xxv. 14 ff. For the word ‘besant’ in this connexion cp.Conf. Am.v. 1930.
15650. Ecclus. xiv. 13 ff.
15662. Prov. xix. 17.
15665. Matt. xxv. 40, compared with x. 42.
15674. Tobit xii. 8.
15680. Ps. xli. 1.
15691. Is. lviii. 7 ff.
15711. Dan. iv. 24, ‘peccata tua eleemosynis redime, et iniquitates tuas misericordiis pauperum.’
15756. ‘is for a rich man to turn to poverty.’
15757. This story will be found in any Life of St. Nicholas.
15776. Prov. xxi. 14.
15788. Ecclus. xx. 32 f.
15793 ff. ‘This, in short, is a great charity,—he who has more knowledge or power, when he sees his neighbour in distress from a burden too heavy for him, ought to give him aid, and speedily,’ &c.
15801. Galat. vi. 2.
15808. Acts iii. 6.
15817.du petit poy: cp.Bal.xxviii, ‘Om voit sovent de petit poi doner.’
15821.lée: a form (properly fem.) of ‘let,’ from Lat. ‘latus,’ equivalent to ‘large,’ 15824, to be distinguished from ‘liet,’ ‘lée,’ from ‘laetus.’
15822.allegger, ‘allege as an excuse’ (allegare); to be distinguished from ‘allegger,’ ‘alleviate.’
15867. Matt. xix. 29.
15941.sur tiele gent et toy: apparently for ‘sur toy et tiele gent,’ ‘on thyself and on such people as thou shalt see most worthy of thy liberality.’
15949. See note on 7640. The reference here is to Godfrey of Winchester,Ep.cx.,
‘Ne noceas tibi, sic aliis prodesse memento.’
‘Ne noceas tibi, sic aliis prodesse memento.’
‘Ne noceas tibi, sic aliis prodesse memento.’
‘Ne noceas tibi, sic aliis prodesse memento.’
15954. Cic.de Off.i. 43, ‘Videndum est igitur ut ea liberalitate utamur, quae prosit amicis, nemini noceat,’ &c.
15963. ‘Attemprance’ however is already in the retinue of Justice, see 15232, and ‘Discrecioun,’ who is the third daughter of Humility, 11562, and therefore herself the mistress of a household, is also in the employ of Abstinence, 16323.
15985. Ps. xx. 4 (Vulg.xix. 5), ‘Tribuat tibi secundum cor tuum,’ the meaning of which is not what our author supposes.
15997. Cic.de Off.i. 21, ‘Sunt autem privata nulla natura ... naturam debemus ducem sequi, communes utilitates in medium afferre,’ &c.
16011. Matt. xiv. 15 ff.
16022. Matt. xxii. 21.
16025. Gen. xxviii. 22.
16026.ainçois, often used, as here, for ‘but.’
16045. Ecclus. xli. 15, but the special application is by our author.
16060. Prov. xxii. 1.
16073. The cry of heralds was ‘Largesce!’ addressed to the knights whose prowess they recorded. Here the poor with their cry of ‘Largesce!’ are the heralds by whom the praise of the liberal man is brought before the throne of God.
16092. ‘By breach of Canon law or Civil.’
16100. Cp.Conf. Am. Prol.207 ff., where the ‘letters’ are also mentioned.
16138. The MS. has ‘Sa viele loy,’ which can hardly stand.
16181.de celles s’esvertue, ‘strives after these,’ that is the offspring of ‘Franchise’: cp. 16237.
16192.comblera: fut. for subj. in dependent command, as 416, 1184, &c.
16203 ff. This passage seems to need some emendation. Perhaps we might read ‘est’ for ‘a’ in l. 16203, and ‘Les’ for ‘Des’ in 16206, setting a colon after ‘trahi.’ But I have no confidence that this is what the author intended.
16231.pour temptacioun, perhaps ‘because of temptation,’ i.e. to avoid it.
16285.Quiconque, ‘He whom.’
16288.asseine, ‘approaches,’ i.e. drinks.
16303.des tieus delices savourer, ‘from tasting such delicacies’: cp. 5492, ‘des perils ymaginer’ and often elsewhere.
16327.toute voie, nevertheless, like the modern ‘toutefois.’
16338.parentre deux, ‘between two things’: cp. 1178,Bal.xxvii. 4, &c. In the Table of Contents ‘parentre deux’ seems to be for ‘parentre d’eux,’ and so it might be in some other places, e.g.Trait.xv. 2, as ‘entre d’eux’ inMir.874; but this is not the case in 1178, nor probably in the other passages where it occurs.
16347. Greg.Reg. Past.iii. 19, ‘Non enim Deo sed sibi quisque ieiunat, si ea quae ventri ad tempus subtrahit non egenis tribuit, sed ventri postmodum offerenda custodit.’
16360. Isid.Sent.ii. 44. 8, ‘Qui autem a cibis abstinent et prave agunt, daemones imitantur, quibus esca non est et nequitia semper est.’
16381.son pour quoy, ‘his purpose,’ that is, the object of his life.
16425. Ecclus. xxxi. 35 ff.
16506. That is, he will not exceed his income.
16513. Luke xiv. 28.
16524.oultrage, ‘extravagance,’ of boasting or expense.
16532. Cp. 15499.
16535.au commun, ‘for the common good’: cp. 14574.
16539.orine: properly ‘origin,’ hence ‘stock,’ ‘race,’ (‘de francheorine,’ ‘ceux de ourine ou ancieneté,’ Godefr.). Here it is almost equivalent to ‘offspring.’
16541.Qui bien se cure, ‘if a man takes good heed’: note on 1244.
16597 ff. Cp.Conf. Am.i. 299 ff.,
‘For tho be proprely the gates,Thurgh whiche as to the herte algatesComth alle thing unto the feire,Which may the mannes Soule empeire.’
‘For tho be proprely the gates,Thurgh whiche as to the herte algatesComth alle thing unto the feire,Which may the mannes Soule empeire.’
‘For tho be proprely the gates,Thurgh whiche as to the herte algatesComth alle thing unto the feire,Which may the mannes Soule empeire.’
‘For tho be proprely the gates,
Thurgh whiche as to the herte algates
Comth alle thing unto the feire,
Which may the mannes Soule empeire.’
The substance of the stanza is taken from Jeromeadv. Jov.ii. 8, ‘Per quinque sensus, quasi per quasdam fenestras, vitiorum ad animam introitus est. Non potest ante metropolis et arx mentis capi, nisi per portas eius irruerit hostilis exercitus.’
16600.par si fort estal, i.e. coming into so strong a position for fighting.
16605. ‘The fortress of judgment in the heart.’
16633. ‘Quae facere turpe est, haec ne dicere honestum puta:’ quoted as ‘Socrates’ by Caec. Balbus, p. 18: cp. 13695.
16646.s’en remort, ‘feels sorrow for its offences.’
16670. Perhaps Ecclus. xx. 7.
16673. A similarly severe moral judgment is pronounced upon Ulysses inTrait.vi. 3; the story of the Sirens referred to below is repeatedly mentioned, e.g. ll. 9949, 10911,Bal.xxx. 2,Conf. Am.i. 481 ff. In all these places the spelling ‘Uluxes’ is the same.
16700.ne fist que sage: an elliptical form of expression common in old French, ‘ne fist ce que sage feroit,’ ‘did not act as a wise man’: see BurguyGramm.ii. 168.
16701. For this cp.Conf. Am.v. 7468 ff.
16710. ‘Tanque’ here answers to ‘tiele’ in the same manner as ‘dont’ so often does.
16717. I do not know the passage.
16721.ruer luy font, ‘cast it down,’ the auxiliary use of ‘faire’: ‘envers’ is an adjective, ‘inversus.’
16725.pervers, used as a substantive, ‘a pervert.’
16729. Not Isaiah, but Jer. ix. 21.
16740. ‘which cannot be extinguished.’
16741. Job xxxi. 1, ‘Pepigi foedus cum oculis meis ut ne cogitarem quidem de virgine.’
16753. Ps. cxix. 37.
16756. Matt. vi. 22.
16768. Perhaps we should read ‘soul ove sole.’
16769. 2 Sam. xiii. This example is quoted also inConf. Am.viii. 213 ff.
16797. For the opposite effect produced by love of a higher kind seeBal.l. 1,
‘De l’averous il fait franc et loial,Et de vilein courtois et liberal.’
‘De l’averous il fait franc et loial,Et de vilein courtois et liberal.’
‘De l’averous il fait franc et loial,Et de vilein courtois et liberal.’
‘De l’averous il fait franc et loial,
Et de vilein courtois et liberal.’
16817. 1 Cor. vi. 18.
16875. Bern.Super ‘Missus est’ Hom.i. 5, ‘Pulchra permistio virginitatis et humilitatis.’
16880.meist: this must be pret. subj. used for conditional, as in 16883.
16890.enterine, ‘perfect,’ notwithstanding her motherhood.
16906.clamour, standing for an adjective, ‘loudly expressed.’
16909.serront, ‘should be,’ i.e. ought to be, see note on 1184.
16919. ‘If he have nothing wherewith to give support to his hand’: cp. 13102, where the verb is transitive.
16924.suppoer.This need not be altered to ‘supponer,’ but may be the same as the French ‘soupoier’ ‘to support,’ cp. Lydgate’s ‘sopouaille’ or ‘sowpowaylle,’ in theTale of Troy: see MS. Digby 232, f. 29, l. 79. (The printed editions do not give it.)
16931. ‘So that she allows not her flower to be found elsewhere and seized.’
16952. Eccles. iv. 10.
16955.N’est autre ... luy puet: relative omitted, ‘there is no other can help him.’ This use of ‘pour’ is rather remarkable.
16957. Gen. xxxiv. 1, 2.
16974.La dist: cp. 13268. Sometimes ‘le’ is used as indirect object fem. as well as masc.; see Glossary.
16980.quoi signefie, ‘what the meaning is,’ that is, what the discourse means.
16987. ‘whether in grief or in joy.’
16990. Cp.Bal.xxv. ‘Car qui bien aime ses amours tard oblie.’
17000. Matt. xxv. 1 ff.
17010.bealtéseems here to be counted as three syllables. Regularly it is a dissyllable, as 18330,Bal.iv. 2.
17019.virginal endroit, ‘condition of virginity.’
17020. ‘Candor vestium sempiternus virginitatis est puritas.’
17030. Jerome,Comm. Ezech.xiv. 46, ‘Unde et virginitas maior est nuptiis, quia non exigitur ... sed offertur.’
17041.q’om doit nommer, ‘whom one may mention’: for the use of ‘devoir’ see note on 1193. Just below we have ‘doit tesmoigner,’ which seems to mean ‘may be a witness.’
17044. Rev. xiv. 1-4. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 6389.
17064.endie: perhaps this should be separated, ‘en die,’ but ‘endire’ seems to be used in several passages; see Glossary.
17067. Cp.Conf. Am.v. 6395* ff. Gregory says (i.Reg. Expos.v. 3) ‘incomparabili gratia Spiritus sancti efficitur, ut a manentibus in carne carnis corruptio nesciatur.’ But the quotation here and in theConf. Am.seems to be not really from Gregory, but from Guibert or Gilbert (MignePatrol.vol. clvi.), who says of virginity ‘adeo excellit ut in carne praeter carnem vivere ut vere angelica dicta sit,’Mor. in Gen.v. 17; unless indeed he is quoting from Gregory. For Gilbert see 17113.
17074. Gen. i. 27.
17089. Cp.Trait.xvi. andConf. Am.v. 6395 ff. The text of theConfessio Amantismakes Valentinian’s age ‘an hundred wynter,’ but the Latin margin both there and in theTraitiécalls him ‘octogenarius.’
17103. Num. xxxi. 17 f.
17113. This is the Gilbert mentioned in the note on l. 17067. He was abbot of S. Marie de Nogent in the early part of the twelfth century. His ‘sermoun’ is theOpusculum de Virginitate, to which this is a rather general reference.
17119. Jeromeadv. Jovin.i. 41.
17122. See note on 5179.
17125. Cyprian,Tract.ii. ‘Flos est ille ecclesiastici germinis, decus atque ornamentum gratiae spiritualis.’
17149 ff. Cp.Trait.iii. 2.
17166.Soubz cel habit, &c., cp.Trait.v. 2.
17200. Gen. ii. 18.
17208.acompaigner, ‘take as a companion.’
17223. 1 Cor. vii. 9.
17228. ‘which cause us to take matrimony upon us.’
17238 ff. Cp.Trait.iv.
17268. ‘I call in the world as my witness to this.’
17293. ‘If a man thus takes a wife’: cp. 1244, &c.
17308. Cp.Trait.v.
17310.jure avant, ‘proceeds to swear’: cp. 14730.
17336. Compare the popular lines,