‘And seyde, “Thou hast desclaundred giltelesThe doughter of holy chirche in heigh presence:Thus hastou doon and yet holde I my pees.”’
‘And seyde, “Thou hast desclaundred giltelesThe doughter of holy chirche in heigh presence:Thus hastou doon and yet holde I my pees.”’
‘And seyde, “Thou hast desclaundred giltelesThe doughter of holy chirche in heigh presence:Thus hastou doon and yet holde I my pees.”’
‘And seyde, “Thou hast desclaundred gilteles
The doughter of holy chirche in heigh presence:
Thus hastou doon and yet holde I my pees.”’
895. This line occurs several times, e.g. i. 2106, ii. 2670.
905.Lucie, apparently to be pronounced ‘Lucíe.’ Such names usually appear either in the Latin forms ‘Lucius,’ ‘Tiberius,’ ‘Claudius,’ ‘Virginius,’ or with accent on the antepenultimate syllable ‘Tibérie,’ ‘Mercúrie,’ the ‘i’ not being counted as a syllable.
947. What the right name really is we can hardly say for certain. The printed text of the French gives ‘Domulde’ or ‘Domilde,’ the Rawlinson MS. has ‘Downilde,’ and Chaucer makes it ‘Donegild.’
964.which is of faierie.In the French book the letter states that the queen has been transformed since the king’s departure into the likeness of another creature and is an evil spirit in woman’s form.
994 f. ‘comaunda qe sanz nul countredit feissent sa femme sauvement garder’ f. 34 vo.
1001. I punctuate after ‘Knaresburgh’ on the authority of F.
1010. The manuscript has a stop after ‘drunke’ and this seems best.
1020. Here we have apparently one of the original corruptions of the author’s text.
1046 ff. The original has only ‘grant duel et grant dolour demeneient.’
1081.To rocke with: cp. i. 452.
1110.if sche him daunger make, ‘if she resist his desire’: see note on i. 2443.
1123.menable: see note on i. 1067.
1132.er it be falle And hath&c.; that is, ‘until it be so come that it hath,’ &c.
1152.scholden: note the plural verb after ‘I forth with my litel Sone’: cp. 736.
1163. Trivet adds ‘qar issit l’apelerent les Sessoneis’ f. 35 vo.
1164.for noght he preide&c., ‘for none of his prayers to be told,’ &c.
1173. The stop after ‘Romeward’ is on the authority of F, with which A agrees. We can say either, ‘He was coming from Barbarie towards Rome, and was going home,’ or ‘He was coming from Barbarie, and was going home towards Rome’; but the latter perhaps is the more natural.
1191.made sche no chiere.This must mean here, ‘she gave no outward sign of her thought.’ Usually ‘to make cheer’ means to be cheerful.
1243.what child that were, subjunctive in indirect question: cp. 1943, iii. 708, 771, &c. See note on Prol. 41.
1259.alle well: ‘wel’ seems to be a substantive.
1275.as seith the bok.The ‘book’ only says ‘ia tut enflammé de ire.’
1285.I schal be venged: cp. v. 6766. The first and second recensions have ‘It schal.’
1300.was after sunge.The French book does not say this. It seems probable that Gower was acquainted with ballads on the subject, such as that ofEmaré, printed in Ritson’sMetrical Romances, ii. 204 ff. It is to be noted thatEmaréis taken from a Breton lay:
‘Thys ys of Brytayne layes,That was used by olde dayesMen callys playn the garye.’
‘Thys ys of Brytayne layes,That was used by olde dayesMen callys playn the garye.’
‘Thys ys of Brytayne layes,That was used by olde dayesMen callys playn the garye.’
‘Thys ys of Brytayne layes,
That was used by olde dayes
Men callys playn the garye.’
1317. According to Trivet he came especially to get absolution for having killed his mother, and Chaucer follows him here.
1329.In help to ben his herbergour.This seems to mean that the question was asked with a view to helping to provide a lodging for the king. The expression is rather obscure however.
1351.seknesse of the See.This is absurd here, but not so in the original story. Constance attributes her weakness to the effects producedby her long wanderings at sea, ‘se acundut par feblesce de sa cervele que lui avint en la mere’ f. 36.
1369.sihe, subjunctive, ‘so that the king might see him.’
1381 f. Cp. viii. 1702 ff.
1393. ‘a ship which was,’ cp. i. 10.
1405 f. See note on 1163. Trivet speaks here only of the name of Moris.
1423 f. Gower’s more usual form would be, ‘Desireth not the heaven so much, that he ne longeth more,’ as i. 718, &c.
1464 ff. The connexion of this remark is clearer in the original story, which says that Constance told her husband, if the Emperor should refuse his prayer, to ask ‘pur l’amur q’il avoit al alme sa fille Constaunce’; because she knew that he denied no one who prayed in this form.
1586 ff.after that, ‘according as’: cp. Prol. 544, iii. 1074. The book says in fact with much apparent accuracy that Alla died nine months after his return, that Constance returned to Rome half a year after, ‘pur la novele qe ele oit de la maladie son pere,’ that on the thirteenth day after her arrival the Emperor died in the arms of his daughter, and she followed him in a year, the date being St. Clement’s day of the year 585. It is further stated that Elda, who had accompanied Constance to Rome, died at Tours on his way back to England.
1599.the wel meninge of love.In spite of the variations there can hardly be a doubt about the true reading here. The word is clearly ‘meninge’ both in F and S, and the change to ‘whel’ was suggested no doubt by the misreading ‘meuinge.’ For the expression cp. iii. 599, ‘To love and to his welwillinge.’
1613 ff. Gower apparently pieced together this story of Demetrius and Perseus from several sources, for it does not seem to occur in any single authority precisely as he gives it. The first part, which has to do with the false accusation brought against Demetrius and its consequences, agrees with the account given in Justin,Epitome, lib. xxxii. The story of the daughter of Paulus Emilius and her little dog is told by Valerius Maximus,Mem.i. 5. 3. Finally, the details of the defeat of Perseus seem to be taken from the account of a catastrophe which about the same time befell the Basternae, a Thracian tribe allied with Perseus, who according to Orosius (iv. 20), when crossing the Danube in winter with large numbers of men and horses, were almost annihilated by the breaking of the ice. The same author mentions that after the defeat and capture of Perseus his son exercised the craft of a brass-worker at Rome.
It is possible of course that Gower had before him some single account in which these elements were already combined. In Vincent of Beauvais,Speculum Hist.v. 65 f., we find first the catastrophe of the Basternae, taken from Orosius, then the Macedonian war from Justin and Orosius, with the incident of the dog inserted from Valerius.
1631 (margin).testibus que iudicibus, ‘witnesses and judges,’ a commonuse of the conjunction in Gower’s Latin: cp. ‘Celsior est Aquila que Leone ferocior,’Latin Verses afteri. 574.
1633.dorst, so here in the best MSS. for ‘dorste.’
1711.apparant, for ‘heir apparant,’ which was the original reading of the first recension: cp.Mirour, 5580,
‘Car d’autre bien n’est apparant.’
‘Car d’autre bien n’est apparant.’
‘Car d’autre bien n’est apparant.’
‘Car d’autre bien n’est apparant.’
1723.livende his father: for this absolute use cp. 752.
1757.upon depos, that is, having his power given to him as a temporary charge. See the examples in theNew Engl. Dict.
1778.And he.‘As he’ is an error which crept into the third recension. The interchange of ‘As’ with ‘And’ in Gower MSS. is very common.
1793 f. ‘For such an omen of an hound was most like to him,’ the words being transposed for the sake of the metre.
1799.do slain.This is apparently past participle by attraction for infinitive: cp. i. 3153, iv. 249, 816.
1817 ff. This incident is not related of the army of Perseus in any history, so far as I know: see note on 1613.
Latin Verses.iv. 7 f. As punctuated in F the couplet runs,
‘Quod patet esse fides in eo, fraus est que politiPrincipium pacti, finis habere negat.’
‘Quod patet esse fides in eo, fraus est que politiPrincipium pacti, finis habere negat.’
‘Quod patet esse fides in eo, fraus est que politiPrincipium pacti, finis habere negat.’
‘Quod patet esse fides in eo, fraus est que politi
Principium pacti, finis habere negat.’
This does not seem to give any sense. The text may be translated thus: ‘What appears to be faith in him is in fact fraud, and the end of the smooth covenant disowns the beginning’ (lit.‘denies that it has the beginning’).
1921.it scheweth, ‘there appeareth’: cp. iii. 809.
1943.how it were: subjunctive of indirect question; cp. 1243.
1950.of love, and.The punctuation is that of F.
2016.byme: see note on i. 232.
2018.For this I weene, ‘the other cause is because I ween,’ &c.
2025.Forwhy and, ‘provided that’: the same line occurs again in v. 2563. Compare the use of ‘for why that’ inLe Morte Arth.389 (Roxb.), ‘Thou shalt haue yiftis good, For why þat thou wilte dwelle wyth me,’ quoted in theNew Engl. Dict.
2066.of his oghne hed.It may be questioned whether ‘hed’ is not here from an O.E. ‘*hǣd,’ a collateral form of ‘hád,’ like the termination ‘-hed’ for ‘-hod.’ SeeNew Engl. Dict., ‘hede.’ In that case, ‘of his oghne hed’ would mean ‘about his own condition.’ The rhyme with ‘red’ is no guide to us.
2071.Bot hield, i.e. ‘But I held’; see note on i. 1895.
2098 ff. With this attack on the Lombards compareMirour de l’omme, 25429 ff. It is the usual popular jealousy of foreign rivals in trade.
2122.Fa crere, ‘make-believe,’ the art by which they acquired credit in business. The form ‘crere’ is used in Gower’s French, e. g.Mirour, 4474.
2124.hem stant no doute, ‘they have no fear,’ ‘they are sure’: cp. iii. 1524, v. 7244. In v. 2118, ‘which stant of him no doute,’ we have a somewhat different form of the expression: cp. iii. 2536.
2157 ff. The story is mainly taken from Ovid,Metam.ix. 101 ff., but probably Gower was acquainted also with the epistle,Deianira Herculi, and he has (naturally enough) supposed that what is there said of Hercules and Omphale, the exchange of clothes &c., referred to the relations of Hercules and Iole: see 2268 ff. ‘The kinges dowhter of Eurice’ is no doubt derived from the expression ‘Eurytidosque Ioles’: cp.Traitié, vii. 2. Ovid’s account of the death of Hercules is very much shortened by our author, and not without good reason.
2160. That is, ‘it befell him to desire,’ &c.
2297. Ovid,Met.ix. 229 ff.
2299.al of: so the first and second recension copies generally, and also W. The sense seems to require it, rather than ‘of al,’ given by FH₃.
2341.his slyh compas: a clear case of the loss of inflexion in the adjective, notwithstanding that it is a native English stem. The same word occurs in the definite form in l. 2374 ‘with his slyhe cast.’
2346.chalk for chese: cp. Prol. 416.
2366.axeth no felawe, ‘requires none to share it.’
2392. The metre requires the form ‘bote,’ which is etymologically correct, and is given in the best MSS.
2403.Me roghte noght: pret. subjunctive, ‘I should not care.’
2423.I wolde: cp. iii. 78. We should expect the negative ‘I nolde,’ as in i. 2750 f.,
‘I wol noght sayThat I nam glad on other side.’
‘I wol noght sayThat I nam glad on other side.’
‘I wol noght sayThat I nam glad on other side.’
‘I wol noght say
That I nam glad on other side.’
The conditional clause thrown in has broken the thread of the sentence.
2430.tant ne quant: soMirour de l’omme, 3654, 23358.
2437.A man to ben, cp. vi. 57.
2447.in a wayt: so given by the best copies, cp. 2999, but ‘upon await’ iii. 955, 1016.
2451 ff. In the MSS. the paragraph is marked as beginning with the next line, ‘At Troie how that,’ the line before being insignificant. As to the first story referred to in the text, Gower may have known it from Hyginus (Fab.cvi), or from Ovid,Her. Ep.iii. The example of Diomede and Troilus had been popularized by Chaucer, who had the name ‘Criseide’ from Boccaccio’s ‘Griseida.’ In Benoît and Guido the name is ‘Briseida,’ but Boccaccio was aware that Briseis was a different person (Gen. Deorum, xii. 52).
2459 ff.The name Geta was taken by Gower from the Geta of Vitalis Blesensis, a dramatic piece in Latin elegiacs founded on Plautus, in which Geta takes the place of Sosia: see Wright’s Early Mysteries, &c., pp. 79-90. It may be suspected that our author himself modified the story in order to make it more suitable for his purpose by substituting a mortalfriend for Jupiter. We may note that he has also reversed the part played by Amphitryon.
2501 ff. I cannot indicate the source of this tale.
2537.As thei.The sense seems to require this reading, which is found however in only two MSS., so far as I know, and those not the best. It appears as a correction in Berthelet’s second edition.
2550.which that him beclipte.Either this means ‘who was encompassing him,’ that is pressing upon his borders, referring to the Caliph of Egypt, or ‘which encircled his territory,’ referring to what follows, ‘in a Marche costeiant.’ In the latter case we should have a very bold inversion of clauses for the sake of rhyme, but hardly more so than in 709 ff.
2558.unto Kaire.It is evident that the author conceives this as the capital not of Egypt but of Persia: cp. 2648.
2578.hair.The form of the word is accommodated to the rhyme: so iv. 1252.
2642.Upon hire oth&c., inverted order, ‘how it was a token that she should be his wife upon her oath,’ i.e. in accordance with her oath.
2670. The same line occurs also i. 2106, ii. 895.
2680.tome, i.e. ‘leisure,’ ‘opportunity,’ from the adjective ‘tom,’ empty. The reading ‘come’ is due probably to the misunderstanding of a rather unusual word, but the rhyme ‘Rome: come’ (past partic.) is not an admissible one (cp. K. Fahrenburg inArchiv für neuere Sprachen, vol. 89, p. 406, who of course is not aware of the corruption).
2803. The account of Boniface VIII which was most current in England is that which we find given in Rishanger’s Chronicle and repeated by Higden and Walsingham. It is as follows, under the year 1294:—
Papa cedit.
‘Coelestinus Papa se minus sufficientem ad regendam Ecclesiam sentiens, de consilio Benedicti Gaietani cessit Papatui, edita prius constitutione super cessione Pontificum Romanorum.
Supplantatio Papae.
‘In vigilia Natalis Domini apud Neapolim in Papam eligitur Benedictus Gaietanus.... De quo praedecessor eius Coelestinus, vir vitae anachoriticae, eo quod eum ad cedendum Papatui subdole induxisset, prophetavit in hunc modum, prout fertur: “Ascendisti ut vulpes, regnabis ut leo, morieris ut canis.” Et ita sane contigit; nam ipsum Papam ut Papatui cederet et ut Papa quilibet cedere posset, constitutionem edere fecit; quam quidem postmodum ipsemet Papa effectus revocavit. Deinde rigide regens generosos quosdam de Columpna Cardinales deposuit; Regi Francorum in multis non solum obstitit, sed eum totis viribus deponere insudavit. Igitur Senescallus Franciae, Willelmus de Longareto, vir quidem in agibilibus admodum circumspectus, et fratres de Columpna praedicti, foederatis viribus BonifaciumPapam comprehenderunt et in equum effrenem, versa facie ad caudam, sine freno posuerunt; quem sic discurrere ad novissimum halitum coegerunt, ac tandem fame necaverunt.’
It remains to be asked where Gower found the story of the speaking-trumpet by means of which Celestin was moved to his abdication, why he supposed that the capture of Boniface took place near Avignon, and whence came such additional details as we have in l. 3028.
As to the first, it was certainly a current story, because we find it repeated by later writers, as Paulus Langius,Chron. Citiz., ann. 1294, ‘Per fistulam etiam frequentius noctu in cubili per parietem missam, velut coelica vox esset, loquebatur ei: “Celestine, Celestine, renuncia papatui, quia aliter saluari non poteris, nam vires tuas excedit.”’
As to the death of Boniface, it was commonly reported that he had been starved in prison, the fact being that after the episode of his captivity he refused to take food, and the biting of his hands was observed as a symptom of extreme vexation, ‘saepe caput muro concussit et digitos momordit,’ ‘per plures dies ira feruidus manus sibi arrodere videbatur,’ &c. Ciacon.Vita Pont.p. 655.
2837 f. cp. Prol. 329.
2875.of such prolacioun,’with so prolonged a note.’
2889.hedde: cp. v. 1254.
2966.Lowyz.This of course is a mistake historically.
2985.And seiden.For omission of pronoun cp. i. 1895.
2995.de Langharet.We find this form of the name, or something equivalent, in the English Chronicles quoted, and also in Villani. The true name was apparently ‘de Nogaret.’
3001.at Avinoun.This is quite unhistorical, and the precise mention of ‘Pontsorge’ (or as our author first wrote it, ‘Poursorge’) seems to point to the use of some particular form of the story, which cannot at present be indicated.
3033 ff. This saying is sometimes given in the form of a prophecy, and attributed to the predecessor of Boniface, whose resignation he was said to have procured: see the passage quoted on l. 2803.
3037.to the houndes like, ‘after the likeness of the hound’: cp. i. 2791, ‘to his liche.’ The form ‘like’ would hardly be admissible here as an adjective for ‘lik.’
3056. This prophecy no doubt was current among the many attributed to the Abbot Joachim, but I do not find it exactly in the form here given. The quotation of it in the margin of F is in a different hand from that of the text and of the heading ‘Nota de prophecia’ &c. The omission of the Latin altogether in some manuscripts, as AdT, W, has no special significance for this passage.
3081 f. ‘He shall not be able to abstain from hindering him.’
3095. This saying, which is here attributed to Seneca, and which appears also in theMirour de l’ommein a slightly different form, 3831 ff., may be based really upon the well-known passage of Dante,Inf.xiii. 64.
Latin Verses.vi. 4.Dumque, for ‘Dum,’ as sometimes in theVox Clamantis.
ethnica flamma: see note on l. 20.
3122 ff. Cp.Mirour, 3819 ff.
3160. See note on i. 232.
3187. The Latin books referred to are the current lives of Saint Silvester, the substance of which is reproduced in theLegenda Aurea. Gower tells the story in considerably better style than we have it there, with amplifications of his own, especially as regards the reflections of Constantine, 3243 ff., and the preaching of Silvester to the Emperor, 3383 ff. There are some variations in detail from the current account which may or may not point to a special source. For example, in the Life of Silvester we are told that the Emperor met the lamenting mothers as he was riding up to the Capitol to take his bath of blood, and in all forms of the legend that I have seen the mountain where Silvester lay in hiding was Soracte (or Saraptis) and not Celion. The name may however have been altered by Gower for metrical reasons, as was sometimes his habit; see note on i. 1407 (end).
3210.of Accidence.‘Accidentia’ in its medical sense is explained as ‘affectus praeter naturam’: cp. v. 763.
3243 ff. These reflections, continued to l. 3300, are an expanded and improved form of the rather tasteless string of maxims given in the legend, the most pointed of which is that with which our author concludes, ‘Omnium se esse dominum comprobat, qui servum se monstraverit pietatis.’
3260.his oghne wone.This appears to mean ‘according to his own habits,’ like ‘his oghne hondes’ (i. 1427), ‘his oghne mouth’ (v. 5455), for ‘with his own hands,’ &c.
3507.vertu sovereine: a clear case of the French feminine inflexion, which must have been a very natural variation in such expressions as this; cp. i. 2677. In French as in English our author would feel at liberty to adapt the form to the rhyme or metre: so we have ‘sa joye soverein’Mir.4810, but ‘ma sovereine joie’Bal.ix. 7.
3517.betwen ous tweie, i.e. ‘together’; cp. l. 653.
LIB. III.
4.ther nis on.Note the repetition of the negative from the clause above.
71.the leng the ferre, i.e. ‘the lengere the ferre.’
78.mihte I, for ‘ne mihte I’: cp. ii. 2423.
83.redy to wraththe: cp. ii. 3444, ‘redi to the feith.’
143 ff. The story is from Ovid,Her. Ep.xi. It is that which is referred to by Chaucer,Cant. Tales, B 77,
‘But certeinly no word ne writeth heOf thilke wikke ensample of Canacee,That loved hir owene brother synfully.’
‘But certeinly no word ne writeth heOf thilke wikke ensample of Canacee,That loved hir owene brother synfully.’
‘But certeinly no word ne writeth heOf thilke wikke ensample of Canacee,That loved hir owene brother synfully.’
‘But certeinly no word ne writeth he
Of thilke wikke ensample of Canacee,
That loved hir owene brother synfully.’
(Note that the name ‘Canace’ is used by Gower so as to rhyme with ‘place.’)
In spite of the character of the subject, it must be allowed that Gower tells the story in a very touching manner, and he shows good taste in omitting some of Ovid’s details, as for example those inEp.39-44. The appeal of Canace to her father as given by Gower is original, and so for the most part is the letter to her brother and the picturesque and pathetic scene of her death. On the whole this must be regarded as a case in which our author has greatly improved upon his authority. Lydgate obviously has Gower’s story before him when he introduces the tale (quite needlessly) into hisFall of Princes. It may be noted that in Ovid also the catastrophe is given as a consequence of ungoverned anger:
‘Imperat, heu! ventis, tumidae non imperat irae.’
‘Imperat, heu! ventis, tumidae non imperat irae.’
‘Imperat, heu! ventis, tumidae non imperat irae.’
‘Imperat, heu! ventis, tumidae non imperat irae.’
172.lawe positif: see note on Prol. 247. Gower’s view is that there is nothing naturally immoral about an incestuous marriage, but that it is made wrong by the ‘lex positiva’ of the Church. This position he makes clear at the beginning of the eighth book, by showing that in the first ages of the world such marriages must have been sanctioned by divine authority, and that the idea of kinship as a bar to marriage had grown up gradually, cousins being allowed to marry among the Jews, though brother and sister might not, and that finally the Church had ordered,
‘That non schal wedden of his kenNe the seconde ne the thridde.’ viii. 147 f.
‘That non schal wedden of his kenNe the seconde ne the thridde.’ viii. 147 f.
‘That non schal wedden of his kenNe the seconde ne the thridde.’ viii. 147 f.
‘That non schal wedden of his ken
Ne the seconde ne the thridde.’ viii. 147 f.
If attacked by Chaucer with regard to the subject of this story, he would no doubt defend himself by arguing that the vice with which it dealt was not against nature, and that the erring brother and sister were in truth far more deserving of sympathy than the father who took such cruel vengeance. Notwithstanding his general strictness in matters of morality, Gower was something of a fatalist, cp. the recurring phrases of 1222, 1348, 1677, iv. 1524, &c., and he repeatedly emphasizes the irresistible character of the impulses of nature in love; cp. i. 17 ff., 1051 ff., 2621, vi. 1261 ff., and here l. 161 (margin), ‘intollerabilem iuuentutis concupiscenciam.’
219. ‘the child which was,’ cp. i. 10.
253 f. Ovid,Her. Ep.xi. 96,
‘Et iubet ex merito scire quid iste velit.’
‘Et iubet ex merito scire quid iste velit.’
‘Et iubet ex merito scire quid iste velit.’
‘Et iubet ex merito scire quid iste velit.’
279 ff. This letter is for the most part original. That which we have in Ovid is mainly narrative.
292.If that&c. The point of this as it occurs in Ovid depends upon the fact that her child has already been exposed and, as she conceives, torn by wild beasts, and she entreats her brother if possible to collect his remains and lay them by her,—a very natural and pathetic request. Gower has chosen for the sake of picturesque effect in thisscene to make the exposure of the child come after the death of the mother, and he should therefore perhaps have omitted the reference to the child’s burial.
300 f. Ovid,Her. Ep.xi. 3, 4,
‘Dextra tenet calamum, strictum tenet altera ferrum,Et iacet in gremio charta soluta meo.’
‘Dextra tenet calamum, strictum tenet altera ferrum,Et iacet in gremio charta soluta meo.’
‘Dextra tenet calamum, strictum tenet altera ferrum,Et iacet in gremio charta soluta meo.’
‘Dextra tenet calamum, strictum tenet altera ferrum,
Et iacet in gremio charta soluta meo.’
315. The word ‘baskleth’ is perhaps a genuine alternative reading.
331. ‘Of such a thing done as that was.’ We must not be tempted by the correction ‘tho’ for ‘that.’
352. A fatalistic maxim which is often repeated, e.g. i. 1714, ‘nede he mot that nede schal.’
355. The revision of this line for the third recension may indicate a preference for throwing back the accent of ‘nature’ in the English fashion: so ii. 1376, but ‘natúre’ ll. 175, 350.
361 ff. This is from Ovid,Met.iii. 324 ff. Gower has chosen to omit the sequel of the story, which was that after seven years Tiresias saw the same snakes again, and by striking them a second time recovered his former sex. This being so, he is obliged to make a separate story (736 ff.) of the dispute between Jupiter and Juno, which gave Ovid occasion for mentioning the incident of the snakes.
382.Wherof,’ In regard to which.’
390.menable, ‘apt to be led’; see note on i. 1067. For the variations of reading cp. ii. 1599, and below, 519.
417. ‘Cheste’ is that form of contention which expresses itself in angry words. Gower seems to have taken it to be connected with the verb ‘chide,’ see 443, 492, 534, 552 ff.
431. Cp.Mirour, 4146 ff.,
‘ly sage auciCe dist, que deinz le cuer de luyFolie buylle tresparmy,Comme du fontaine la liquour.’
‘ly sage auciCe dist, que deinz le cuer de luyFolie buylle tresparmy,Comme du fontaine la liquour.’
‘ly sage auciCe dist, que deinz le cuer de luyFolie buylle tresparmy,Comme du fontaine la liquour.’
‘ly sage auci
Ce dist, que deinz le cuer de luy
Folie buylle tresparmy,
Comme du fontaine la liquour.’
The reference is to Proverbs xv. 2, ‘os fatuorum ebullit stultitiam.’
436.oppose, ‘inquire.’
463 ff. See note on the Latin verses at the beginning of the Prologue, 5 f.
479. That is, rather than sing such a creed, I would choose to be unlearned and know no creed at all.
487.Upon hirself, i.e. upon her authority.
515.balketh.A ‘balk’ is a ridge left unploughed, and ‘to balk’ in ploughing is to leave a ridge either between two furrows or in the furrow itself, the plough being permitted to pass over a piece of ground without breaking it. Here it is referred to as an accident arising either from not ploughing straight or not keeping the ploughshare regularly at the proper depth. From this idea of leaving out something come most of the other meanings of the verb: seeNew Engl. Dict.
544.Hire oghte noght be.For this impersonal use with the simple infinitive cp. 704.
545.For I, i.e. ‘For that I’: cp. 820, &c.
585. This expression, which Pauli for some reason calls an ‘obscene proverb,’ seems to be nearly equivalent to the saying about the bird that fouls his own nest (cp.Mirour, 23413), and refers apparently to recriminations between the owl and the stock upon which he sits, on the matter of cleanliness. The application is to the case of the man who quarrels with his own performances, and naturally has the worst of it himself.
626. ‘World’ seems to be the true reading here, though ‘word’ stood in the earlier form of text. The meaning is ‘that state of things shall never be permitted by me.’ The use of ‘world’ is like that which we have in i. 178, where ‘mi world’ means ‘my condition’: cp. Prol. 383, 1081. The verb ‘asterte’ is used in the sense of escaping notice and so being allowed to pass or to happen: cp. i. 1934,
‘Bot that ne schal me noght asterte,To wene forto be worthi,’ &c.
‘Bot that ne schal me noght asterte,To wene forto be worthi,’ &c.
‘Bot that ne schal me noght asterte,To wene forto be worthi,’ &c.
‘Bot that ne schal me noght asterte,
To wene forto be worthi,’ &c.
Cp. i. 722.
The expression ‘that word schal me nevere asterte’ is a more ordinary one (and therefore more likely to have been introduced by a copyist), but it gives no satisfactory sense here.
641 ff. The story was a hackneyed one, and occurs in many places. It is shortly told by Jerome,Adv. Jovin.i. 48.
665.what labour that sche toke.The verb is subjunctive, either because the form of speech is indirect, cp. 708, or because the expression is indefinite.
699. Cp.Mirour, 4185 ff., where after telling the same story the author roundly declares that he shall not follow the example.
704.Him oghte ... bere: cp. 544, 1666.
708.how that it stode: subjunctive of indirect speech, under rhyme influence: cp. ii. 1243 and l. 771 below, and see note on Prol. 41.
736.Met.iii. 316 ff. We have here the rest of the story which was referred to above, 361 ff. The point of the incident as told by Ovid is (perhaps purposely) missed by Gower, who does not mention the reason why Tiresias was selected as judge.
737. That is, according to the religious belief which then prevailed.
762. ‘And yet the other state would have pleased him better, to have had’ &c.
771.what he mene: for the subjunctive cp. 708.
782.of olde ensample: for ‘olde’ in this expression cp. 1683; but ‘of old time,’ i. 1072, ‘an old ensample,’ iv. 75.
783. This is from Ovid,Met.ii. 542 ff. The Cornide of Gower’s story is Coronis. The story is told at greater length by Chaucer as theManciple’s Tale.
818 ff. From Ovid,Fasti, ii. 585 ff.
889.fals: see note on Prol. 221.
918. F alone gives ‘overmor,’ but it is probably what the author intended, though his first editions had the common variation ‘evermor.’ S is here defective.
957.sleth, ‘strikes.’
971.who so rede: subjunctive because indefinite; cp. 2508 and note on Prol. 460.
973 ff. This story may be found in Benoît’sRoman de Troie, 27551 ff. and in Guido, lib. 32 (n 3 vo, ed. Argent.). We must note however that for the classical Nauplius we find in Gower ‘Namplus,’ whereas in Benoît and Guido both it is ‘Naulus’: therefore it would seem that our author had before him also some other form of the story, where he found the name ‘Nauplius’ or ‘Nauplus,’ which he read ‘Nanplus’ or ‘Namplus.’ Perhaps this may have been Hyginus,Fab.cxvi. Elsewhere Gower usually follows Benoît rather than Guido, but here several expressions occur which seem to be suggested by Guido’s form of the story: see notes on 1030 and 1063. Also Gower says nothing of the incident of rocks being hurled down on the Greeks (Rom. de Troie, 27795 ff.), which is also omitted by Guido.
1002. The name which appears here and in the Latin margin as ‘Namplus,’ with no important variation of reading, is quite clearly ‘Nauplus’ in iv. 1816 ff.
1021.Homward, i.e. going towards home: cp. 2451.
1030 f.Hist. Troiana, n 4, ‘qui necesse habebant per confinia regni sui transire.’
1036.it sihe, ‘might see it.’
1049.ten or twelve.Guido says two hundred. Benoît does not specify the number of ships, but says that ten thousand men were lost. Gower has judiciously reduced the number.
1063. Cp.Hist. Troiana, n 4 vo, ‘fugiunt et se immittunt in pelagus spaciosum.’
1065. ‘what’ for ‘war,’ which appears in the unrevised form of the first recension, must be an error of the original scribe: on the other hand, ‘tyme’ for ‘dai’ proceeded no doubt originally from the author and was altered in order to make the verse run more smoothly.
Latin Verses.iv. 1.et sit spiritus eius Naribus: a reference to Isaiah ii. 22, ‘Quiescite ergo ab homine, cuius spiritus in naribus eius est.’ The same passage is quoted inMirour, 4754, and it is evident there that the ‘breath in the nostrils’ was understood by our author to stand for fury of anger.
1113.war hem wel, ‘let them beware.’
1158. The contest in the heart between Wit and Reason on the one hand and Will and Hope on the other is quite in the style of theRoman de la Rose, where Reason and the Lover have an endless controversy (2983 ff.). Though the agencies are clearly personified here, the author has not assigned capital letters to their names.
1166.out of retenue, ‘out of my service.’
1173.jeupartie, ‘discord,’ one side being matched against the other. The first reading was ‘champartie,’ which may have proceeded from the author. It is clear that this word was used by Lydgate in the sense of ‘rivalry’ or ‘contest’ in the phrase ‘holde champartie,’ and this may either have come from the idea of partnership, implying division of power and so rivalry, as in Chaucer,Cant. Tales, A 1949, or from the legal sense, with which Gower and Lydgate would doubtless be acquainted, meaning partnership for a contentious purpose. There seems no sufficient reason for supposing (with theNew Engl. Dict.) that Lydgate’s use was founded on a misunderstanding of Chaucer.
1183.and til.Caxton and Berthelet both have ‘tyl that’ for ‘and til,’ and one is tempted to suggest that ‘and til’ was meant to stand for ‘until.’
1201 ff. The story of the visit of Alexander to Diogenes was a common one enough, and it is hardly worth while to investigate its source for Gower. He probably here combined various materials into one narrative, for the usual form of the story as given by Vincent of Beauvais,Spec. Hist.iii. 68 f., and in theGesta Romanorum, does not include the conversation about the Reason and the Will. This may have been derived from Walter Burley,De Vita Philosophorum, cap. l., ‘Dum Alexander rex coram Diogene transiret, Diogenes tanquam illum spernens non respexit; cui dixit Alexander, “Quid est Diogenes quod me non respicis, quasi mei non indigeas?” Cui ille, “Ad quid necesse habeo servi servorum meorum?” Et Alexander, “Numquid servorum tuorum servus sum?” Ait, “Ego prevaleo cupiditatibus meis refrenans illas et subiciens mihi illas ut serviant: tibi autem cupiditates prevalent, et servus earum efficeris, earum obtemperans iussioni: servus igitur es servorum meorum.”’ Burley gives the other part of the conversation separately.
The incident of the messenger sent to inquire and of the answer which he brought back is no doubt due to Gower, as also the idea of the ‘tun’ being set on an axle and adapted for astronomical observations.
1212. The ‘dolium’ was of course popularly regarded as a wooden cask.
1222. ‘As fate would have it’: see note on 172 (end), and cp. 1442.
1224.the Sonne ariste, i.e. the rising of the sun: so iv. 1285, ‘and that was er the Sonne Ariste.’
1310.to schifte, ‘to dispose of.’ In Burley, ‘rogo ne auferas quod dare non potes.’
1331 ff. The tale of Pyramus and Thisbe is from Ovid,Met.iv. 55-166. Chaucer has taken it from the same source in theLegend of Good Women. When we compare the results, we find that in this instance it is Chaucer who has followed his authority closely, while Gower gives a paraphrase in his own language and with several variations of detail. He says, for example, that the lovers themselves made the hole in the wall through which they conversed; he omits Ninus’tomb; he speaks of a lion, not a lioness; he says that Thisbe hid herself in a bush (not a cave), and that then the lion slew and devoured a beast before drinking at the spring; he cuts short the speech of Pyramus before killing himself; he represents that Pyramus was slain at once instead of living until Thisbe came; he invents an entirely new speech for Thisbe; and he judiciously omits, as Chaucer does also, the mention of the mulberry-tree and its transformation.
In short, Gower writes apparently from a general recollection of the story, while Chaucer evidently has his Ovid before him and endeavours to translate almost every phrase, showing thereby his good taste, for Ovid tells the story well.
The following points in Ovid (among others) are reproduced by Chaucer and not by Gower: l. 56, ‘quas Oriens habuit’; 58, ‘Coctilibus muris’; 59, ‘Notitiam primosque gradus vicinia fecit’ (which Chaucer misunderstands, however); 62, ‘Ex aequo captis ’ &c.; 64, ‘Quoque magis tegitur, tectus magis aestuat ignis’; 65, ‘Fissus erat tenui rima,’ &c.; 68, ‘Quid non sentit amor?’; 73-77, the speeches of the lovers to the wall; 81 f., ‘Postera nocturnos aurora’ &c.; 85, ‘Fallere custodes’; 87, ‘Neve sit errandum’ &c.; 94, ‘adopertaque vultum’; 97, ‘leaena’; 99, ‘ad lunae radios’; 100, ‘in antrum’; 105, ‘vestigia vidit in alto Pulvere’ &c.; 108, ‘Una duos nox, inquit, perdet amantes,’ and the rest of this speech; 117 f., ‘Utque dedit notae lacrimas,’ &c.; 122, ‘Non aliter quam cum vitiato fistula plumbo Scinditur’; 130, ‘Quantaque vitarit narrare pericula gestit’; 133, ‘tremebunda videt pulsare cruentum Membra solum’; 134 f., ‘oraque buxo’ &c.; 140, ‘Vulnera supplevit’ &c.; 145, ‘oculos iam morte gravatos’; 148 ff., the speech of Thisbe, except the reference to the mulberry-tree.
Gower’s rendering of the story is inferior to that of Chaucer, as might be expected, but nevertheless it is simple and pathetic. It has even some points of superiority, as 1386 f., the passage of Thisbe through the town at night; 1400, ‘with his blodi snoute’; 1411, the terror of Thisbe when concealed in the bush; and finally 1486 ff., where instead of deliberately resolving on death and inflicting it with calm resolution, she is more naturally represented as overcome by a sudden impulse in the midst of her mourning and killing herself almost without consciousness of what she did.
1348.as it scholde be: cp. 1222, ‘As thing which scholde so betyde.’
1356. All the best copies have ‘miht’ or ‘might’ here: cp. 1440. The distinction, however, between ‘miht’ (= mayest) and ‘mihte’ is usually well preserved by our author.
1394.In haste and: so ll. 1396, 1415. On the other hand, in 1430 we have a stop after ‘folhaste’ (in F), while 1447 remains doubtful.
1442.as it schal betide, cp. 1222.
1448.For sche, a reference to the ‘folhaste’ of the previous line. It was his haste that destroyed him, for if he had waited but a little he would have seen her come.
1466 f. ‘If it be only by this mishap which has befallen my love andme together.’ For the use of ‘betwen’ see note on ii. 653. The position of ‘Only’ is affected by metrical requirements: see note on ii. 709.
1473.oure herte bothe, ‘the hearts of us both.’ The singular ‘herte’ is given by the best copies of each recension.
1496.Bewar: thus written several times in F, e.g. 1738. Here A also has ‘Bewar.’
1524.him stant of me no fere: cp. ii. 2124.
1537.Daunger: see note on i. 2443.
1593 ff. The construction of the sentence is interrupted, but the sense is clear: ‘For if I, who have given all my will and wit to her service, should in reward thereof be suffered to die, it would be pity.’ For this kind of irregularity cp. i. 98, 2948, &c.
1605. The reading ‘in such,’ though given by both S and F, must be wrong.
1630.overthrewe.The verb no doubt is intransitive, as often, e.g. i. 1886, 1962, and below, l. 1638.
1666.him oghte have be: cp. 704.
1685 ff. Ovid,Met.i. 453-567. Gower cuts the story short.
1701. Ovid,Met.i. 470,