‘At si quem manibus Cephalum complexa teneres,Clamares, Lente currite, noctis equi.’Amor.i. 13, 39.
‘At si quem manibus Cephalum complexa teneres,Clamares, Lente currite, noctis equi.’Amor.i. 13, 39.
‘At si quem manibus Cephalum complexa teneres,Clamares, Lente currite, noctis equi.’
‘At si quem manibus Cephalum complexa teneres,
Clamares, Lente currite, noctis equi.’
Amor.i. 13, 39.
3222. The sun enters Capricorn on Dec. 21.
3273.that he arise: so 3374, ‘Til it be dai that I arise,’ and v. 3422, ‘Til dai cam that sche moste arise.’
The verb seems here to be attracted into the subjunctive by the indefinite meaning of ‘Til.’ In the other passages the mood is uncertain.
3317 ff. Ovid,Metam.i. 588-723, much abbreviated. It was, however, Jupiter who turned Io into a cow.
3386.for thou thee schalt avise, ‘in order that thou mayest consider.’
3414.that I nere of this lif, ‘would that I were out of this life.’ For ‘that I nere’ cp. note on 1422. For ‘of this lif’ cp. vii. 2883, ‘whan he were of dawe.’
3438 f. ‘And yet he (Obstinacy) cannot support his own cause by any argument but by headstrong wilfulness.’
For the expression ‘of hed’ we may compare the Latin expressionquoted by Du Cange ‘de testa esse,’ explained ‘esse obstinatum’ (Ital. ‘essere di testa’), and the French adjective ‘testu,’
‘Car fol estoient et testu,’ &c.
‘Car fol estoient et testu,’ &c.
‘Car fol estoient et testu,’ &c.
‘Car fol estoient et testu,’ &c.
Froissart says of Pope Urban VI that after his election ‘il s’en outrecuida et enorguilli, et volt user de poissance et de teste,’ which is translated by Berners, ‘he waxed proude and worked all on heed.’ We find also the Latin adjective ‘capitosus’ used by Gower in the margin at the beginning of theCronica Tripertita, and the adverb ‘capitose,’ meaning ‘in a headstrong manner,’ in Walsingham,Hist. Anglica, e.g. ‘Regem contra regni consuetudinem Cancellarium deposuisse capitose,’ vol. ii. p. 70 (Rolls Series).
The usual way of reading the sentence has been to punctuate after ‘skile’ and to take ‘bot of hed’ with the next line, ‘but he wastes away in his condition’ (‘hed’ from a supposed ‘hǣd’ akin to the suffix ‘-hed’ or ‘-hede’). This word perhaps occursConf. Am.ii. 2066, but it would give no very good sense here, and it is doubtful whether it would be rhymed with ‘ded.’ The suffix ‘-hed’ ‘-hede’ apparently has ‘ẹ’ in Gower’s rhymes. Again, if so marked a break in the middle of the line were intended, the Fairfax MS. would almost certainly have had a stop to indicate it, as in 3423, 3431, 3458, 3459, 3484, 3485, to quote instances only from the same page of the MS.
For the use of ‘avowe’ in this sense, cp. v. 124.
3515 ff. The story is based upon Ovid,Metam.xiv. 698-761. Our author, however, has reversed the position of the lover and his mistress. In Ovid Anaxarete is a high-born maid of the race of Teucer, while Iphis is ‘humili de stirpe creatus.’ Moreover, the story is considerably developed by Gower, to whom belong the speech of Iphis, the whole account of the grief and self-condemnation of Araxarathen, the details of the funeral and the tomb, and finally the very successful epitaph. Ovid says that she saw from a window the body of Iphis being carried by for burial, and was forthwith turned into stone, and that as witness of the truth of his tale a statue may still be seen at Salamis. There is nothing said about remorse on her part, rather the opposite is implied.
3516. Our author supposes this to be the same as the person mentioned in iii. 2645 ff. (who is really Teuthras king of Mysia). This is Teucer son of Telamon, founder of Salamis in Cyprus.
3520 f. These lines are transposed for the sake of the rhyme. It means ‘on a maid of low estate compared with his’: cp. ii. 709, and below, l. 3616.
3542. Punctuated in accordance with F.
3589.Thi Daunger, ‘thy unwillingness to love’: see note on i. 2443.
3658 f. Naturally the expression of Ovid,
‘Veneris quoque nomine templumProspicientis habet,’
‘Veneris quoque nomine templumProspicientis habet,’
‘Veneris quoque nomine templumProspicientis habet,’
‘Veneris quoque nomine templum
Prospicientis habet,’
was not understood.
LIB. V.
18.it cam to londe, wherof, ‘the occasion arose, whence,’ &c.
22.him supposeth: the verb is used impersonally, like ‘him thenketh.’ Probably the confusion between ‘thinke’ and ‘thenke’ gave rise to this expression.
29 ff. So below, 348 ff.: cp.Mirour, 7585 ff.
47 f. This seems, as it stands at present, to be an application of the instances to the case of the avaricious man, ‘Thus he so possesses his wealth that he in truth possesses nothing,’ (‘that’ for ‘so that’). The original couplet however, as read by all the unrevised class of manuscripts, applies to the case of the sheep, and we may take it so also in its revised form (‘Thus’ being answered by ‘that’).
49 ff. Cp.Mirour, 7645 ff.,
‘L’en dist, mais c’est inproprement,Qe l’averous ad grant argent;Mais voir est que l’argent luy a:En servitude ensi le prent,’ &c.
‘L’en dist, mais c’est inproprement,Qe l’averous ad grant argent;Mais voir est que l’argent luy a:En servitude ensi le prent,’ &c.
‘L’en dist, mais c’est inproprement,Qe l’averous ad grant argent;Mais voir est que l’argent luy a:En servitude ensi le prent,’ &c.
‘L’en dist, mais c’est inproprement,
Qe l’averous ad grant argent;
Mais voir est que l’argent luy a:
En servitude ensi le prent,’ &c.
65.nevere hier.Note that there is no elision before ‘hier.’
81 f. ‘And yet, though I held her fast (as a miser his hoard), my life would be a perpetual feast, even on Fridays.’ If he possessed the treasure, his avarice would not allow him to let it go, and yet he would not keep it unused, as a miser does his gold. So later, 93, ‘Though I should hold it fast, I should so be doing that which I were bound to do.’
95.pipe, ‘be content’: perhaps from the idea of a bird-catcher piping or whistling for birds, but failing to snare them.
127-136. Note the repetition of the word ‘gold’ in an emphatic position.
141 ff. Ovid,Metam.xi. 85-147, freely treated as usual. The debate of Midas as to which of three things he should prefer (ll. 180-245) is all due to our author. In Ovid he chooses without hesitation.
143.Cillenus, i.e. Silenus.
154 f. Gower attributes the action of the king to pure courtesy, Ovid to the fact that Midas recognized in Silenus a fellow-mystic.
249 ff. Cp.Mirour, 7603 ff.
272 ff. Ovid,Metam.xi. 106,
‘Laetus abit gaudetque malo Berecyntius heros:Pollicitique fidem tangendo singula temptat.Ilice detraxit virgam, virga aurea facta est:Tollit humo saxum, saxum quoque palluit auro’: &c.
‘Laetus abit gaudetque malo Berecyntius heros:Pollicitique fidem tangendo singula temptat.Ilice detraxit virgam, virga aurea facta est:Tollit humo saxum, saxum quoque palluit auro’: &c.
‘Laetus abit gaudetque malo Berecyntius heros:Pollicitique fidem tangendo singula temptat.Ilice detraxit virgam, virga aurea facta est:Tollit humo saxum, saxum quoque palluit auro’: &c.
‘Laetus abit gaudetque malo Berecyntius heros:
Pollicitique fidem tangendo singula temptat.
Ilice detraxit virgam, virga aurea facta est:
Tollit humo saxum, saxum quoque palluit auro’: &c.
298. See note on i. 10.
315-332. This is an expansion ofMetam.xi. 146 f.,
‘Ille perosus opes silvas et rura colebat,Panaque montanis habitantem semper in antris.’
‘Ille perosus opes silvas et rura colebat,Panaque montanis habitantem semper in antris.’
‘Ille perosus opes silvas et rura colebat,Panaque montanis habitantem semper in antris.’
‘Ille perosus opes silvas et rura colebat,
Panaque montanis habitantem semper in antris.’
363 ff. The punishment referred to is certainly more appropriate foravarice than for the offence committed by Tantalus: cp. Hor.Sat.i. 1. 68. The story of Tantalus is alluded to several times in Ovid, asMetam.iv. 458, and told by Hyginus, Fab. lxxxii. Perhaps our author rather followed Fulgentius,Mythol.ii. 18, who quotes from Petronius,
‘Divitis haec magni facies erit, omnia lateQui tenet, et sicco concoquit ore famem.’
‘Divitis haec magni facies erit, omnia lateQui tenet, et sicco concoquit ore famem.’
‘Divitis haec magni facies erit, omnia lateQui tenet, et sicco concoquit ore famem.’
‘Divitis haec magni facies erit, omnia late
Qui tenet, et sicco concoquit ore famem.’
Cp.Mirour, 7621 ff.,
‘Dame Avarice est dite auciSemblable au paine Tantali,’ &c.
‘Dame Avarice est dite auciSemblable au paine Tantali,’ &c.
‘Dame Avarice est dite auciSemblable au paine Tantali,’ &c.
‘Dame Avarice est dite auci
Semblable au paine Tantali,’ &c.
370. This seems to mean that it serves for the punishment of the avaricious; but from what follows in 391 ff. we gather that the pains of avarice in this life also are to be compared with this particular pain of hell, and so the application is made in theMirour, 7621-7632.
388.which a wreche, ‘what a punishment.’
418.suie: cp. Prol. 460.
447. For the superfluous syllable at the pause in the middle of this line cp. iv. 1131.
496.berth an hond: equivalent to ‘berth on hond,’ l. 546.
519. Count ‘evel’ as a monosyllable for the verse; so regularly, e. g. iii. 1272, vii. 2773.
526.janglere.The final ‘-e’ is not pronounced here.
558 f.the gold ... The which was leid upon the bok.The gold in question is that which is laid upon the service-book in payment of the marriage fees: ‘and the Man shall give unto the Woman a Ring, laying the same upon the book with the accustomed duty to the Priest and Clerk.’Marriage Service.
564. ‘though he will not praise it,’ i.e. he gives her no credit for it: cp. Prol. 154.
635 ff. Ovid,Ars Am.ii. 561-592, but the original is not very closely followed.
665. Cp. iii. 1362 ff.
729 ff. From this arises the very ill-advised digression of ll. 747-1970 about the various forms of Religion. There is no more reason why this should come in here than anywhere else, indeed if the question of false gods was to be raised at all, it ought to have come in as an explanation of the appearance of Venus and Cupid in the first book. Many stories have been told, for example those of Acteon, of the Gorgons, of Tiresias, of Phoebus and Daphne, of Phaeton, of Ceix, of Argus, and of Midas, which required the explanation quite as much as this one, and the awkwardness of putting it all info the mouth of the priest of Venus is inexcusable.
The main authority followed in this account of the religions of Chaldea, Egypt, and Greece is theVita Barlaam et Josaphat, cap. xxvii. (Migne,Patrol.vol. 73, p. 548 ff.), but Gower adds much to it, especially as regards the gods and goddesses of Greece.
763.of Accidence: cp. ii. 3210.
774.hevenly: so Prol. 918, but ‘hevenely’ i. 834, 3136, the second syllable in that case being syncopated, as regularly in ‘hevene.’ So also in the case of ‘evermore’ and ‘everemore’ as compared with ‘evere.’
782.les, that is, ‘falsehood.’
798.Isirus, i.e. Osiris.
811.thegipcienes.This must be the true reading for the sake of the metre, both here and in l. 821, though the best copies fail to give it. A similar case occurs in l. 1119, but there the authority for ‘Jupiteres’ is made much stronger by the accession of S.
897.Mynitor, i.e. Numitor.
899 f.that Remus and Romulus.For the position of ‘that’ cp. 1166, 1249.
925.To gete him with: cp. i. 452.
1004.wel the more lete by, ‘much the more esteemed’: cp.Piers Plowman, A vi. 105, ‘to lete wel by thyselve,’ and xi. 29: also with ‘of,’ v. 5840; cp.Piers Plowm.iv. 160, ‘Love let of hire lighte and lewte yit lasse,’Orm.7523, ‘uss birrth ... lætenn wel off othre menn.’
1009.Nonarcigne.The name is taken no doubt from the adjective ‘Nonacrinus’ (from Nonacris), used as in Ovid,Met.i. 690, where it occurs in the story of Pan and Syrinx, told by Mercury to lull Argus to sleep: cp.Conf. Am.iv. 3345 ff.
1040. Cp. Prol. 118.
1043 ff. The sentence is interrupted and then begun again at l. 1051: see note on i. 98.
1063.That he, i.e. ‘In that he.’ Gower has here mistaken his authority, which says ‘post autem eum propter Tyndarei Lacedaemonii filium a Jove fulmine percussum interiisse narrant.’Vita Barl. et Jos.xxvii.
1071. Delphi and Delos are very naturally confused in the medieval Tale of Troy and elsewhere; but Delos is mentioned correctly enough below, 1256.
1097.no reason inne: cp. i. 3209.
1163.Philerem, presumably Philyra, but there is no authority for making her the mother of Jupiter.
1249.that: cp. 899. Apparently it means, ‘that Diane of whom I am to speak.’ The necessities of rhyme are responsible for these forms of speech.
1276. ‘Which may not attain to reason.’
1323. The paragraph is made to begin here in the MSS. with what is, strictly speaking, its second line, because it is marked by a proper name which indicates its subject, the first line being a mere formal introduction. So also below, 1453: cp. ii. 2451.
1337. The name ‘Dorus’ seems to have been suggested by that of Doris, mother of the Nereids.
1389.alle danger, that is, all reluctance or coyness.
1397.Armene, i.e. Harmonia.
1398.AndrageneAndrogynus or Hermaphroditus.
1428.noght forsake To ben, i.e. ‘not refuse to be.’
1449. ‘whether it was of weal or wo’; ‘wher’ for ‘whether.’
1453. See note on 1323.
As for the letters said to have been exchanged between Alexander and the king of the Bragmans (or Brahmins), we find them at length in theHistoria Alexandri Magni de Preliis, which was the source of most of the current stories about Alexander. The passage referred to is as follows: ‘Tot deos colis quot in tuo corpore membra portas. Nam hominem dicis paruum mundum, et sicut corpus hominis habet multa membra, ita et in celo dicis multos deos existere. Iunonem credis esse deum cordis, eo quod iracundia nimia mouebatur. Martem vero deum pectoris esse dicis, eo quod princeps extitit preliorum. Mercurium deum lingue vocas, ex eo quod plurimum loquebatur. Herculem deum credis brachiorum, eo quod duodecim virtutes exercuit preliando. Bachum deum gutturis esse putas, eo quod ebrietatem primus inuenit. Cupidinem esse deam dicis, eo quod fornicatrix extitit; tenere dicis facem ardentem, cum qua libidinem excitat et accendit, et ipsam deam iecoris etiam existimas. Cererem deam ventris esse dicis, et Venerem, eo quod fuit mater luxurie, deam genitalium membrorum esse profers’ (e 2, ed. Argent. 1489).
Cp. the English alliterativeWars of Alexander, E.E.T.S., 1886, ll. 4494 ff. There is no mention of Minerva in either of these.
1520 ff. The usual account is to the effect that Ninus set up the first idol: see below, 1541. What we have here seems to be taken from Fulgentius,Mythol.ii. 9, where the authorities here cited, Nicagoras and Petronius, are quoted. The passage is apparently corrupt, and our author obviously did not quite understand it: ‘Et quamvis Nicagoras in Disthemithea libro quem scripsit, primum illum formasse idolum referat, et quod vulturi iecur praebeat livoris quasi pingat imaginem: unde et Petronius Arbiter ait,
“Qui vultur iecor intimum pererrat”’ &c.
“Qui vultur iecor intimum pererrat”’ &c.
“Qui vultur iecor intimum pererrat”’ &c.
“Qui vultur iecor intimum pererrat”’ &c.
From the same author,Mythol.i. 1, he got the story about Syrophanes, who set up an image of his dead son, to which offerings were made by those who wished to gain his favour.
1541. Cp. Godfr. Vit.,Panth.iv. (p. 102), whose account agrees very nearly with what we have here, though he represents this image as the first example of an idol, under the heading, ‘Quare primum idolum in mundo et quo tempore fuit.’ Cp. Guido,Hist. Troiana, lib. x (e 5, ed. Argent. 1494).
1559. Godf. Vit,Panth.iv. (p. 112): ‘His temporibus apud Egyptios constructum est idolum magnum in honorem Apis, Regis Argivorum; quidam tamen dicunt in honorem Ioseph, qui liberavit eos a fame; quod idolum Serapis vocabatur, quasi idolum Apis.’
1571 ff.Hist. Alexandri, f 1 vo, ed. Argent. 1489: ‘Exiens inde Alexander cum Candeolo profecti sunt iter diei vnius, et venerunt ad quandam speluncam magnam et hospitati sunt ibi. Dixitque Candeolus,“Omnes dii concilium in ista spelunca concelebrant.” Cum hoc audisset Alexander, statim fecit victimas diis suis, et ingressus in speluncam solus vidit ibi caligines maximasque nubes stellasque lucentes, et inter ipsas stellas quendam deum maximum,’ &c.
Cp. the English alliterativeWars of Alexander, ll. 5387 ff.
1624.herd me seid: see note on i. 3153.
1636. There is a stop after ‘Forbad’ in F. The meaning is that he gave a prohibition commanding them not to bow to an image.
1677.Riht as who sette: the verb apparently is subjunctive.
1746 ff. What purports to be the original passage is quoted in the margin of the second recension.
1747. For the form of expression cp. vi. 56 f.,
‘O which a sorweIt is a man be drinkeles!’
‘O which a sorweIt is a man be drinkeles!’
‘O which a sorweIt is a man be drinkeles!’
‘O which a sorwe
It is a man be drinkeles!’
1756 ff. The substance of this is to be found in Gregory,Ini.Reg.viii. 7f. (Migne,Patrol.vol. 79. p. 222): ‘Et quidem, nisi Adam peccaret, Redemptorem nostrum carnem suscipere nostram non oporteret.... Si ergo pro peccatoribus venit, si peccata deessent, eum venire non oporteret.... Magna quippe sunt mala quae per primae culpae meritum patimur, sed quis electus nollet peiora perpeti, quam tantum Redemptorem non habere?’
1781 ff. Note that here twelve lines are replaced in the second recension by ten, one of the couplets (or the substance of it) having been inserted earlier, after l. 1742.
1826. ‘So that his word explained his deed’: ‘arawhte’ from ‘arechen’ (āreccan).
1831 ff.Roman de Troie, 25504-25559.
1848-1959. With this compare Prol. 193-498.
1865. ‘And they do every man what he pleases,’ the verb being plural.
1879.Pseudo: cp.Mirour, 21625 ff.,
‘Il estoit dit grant temps y aQ’un fals prophete a nous vendra,Q’ad noun Pseudo le decevant;Sicomme aignel se vestira,Et cuer du loup il portera.O comme les freres maintenantA Pseudo sont bien resemblant!’
‘Il estoit dit grant temps y aQ’un fals prophete a nous vendra,Q’ad noun Pseudo le decevant;Sicomme aignel se vestira,Et cuer du loup il portera.O comme les freres maintenantA Pseudo sont bien resemblant!’
‘Il estoit dit grant temps y aQ’un fals prophete a nous vendra,Q’ad noun Pseudo le decevant;Sicomme aignel se vestira,Et cuer du loup il portera.O comme les freres maintenantA Pseudo sont bien resemblant!’
‘Il estoit dit grant temps y a
Q’un fals prophete a nous vendra,
Q’ad noun Pseudo le decevant;
Sicomme aignel se vestira,
Et cuer du loup il portera.
O comme les freres maintenant
A Pseudo sont bien resemblant!’
So alsoVox Clam.iv. 787 f.,
‘Nomine sunt plures, pauci tamen ordine fratres;Vt dicunt aliqui, Pseudo prophetat ibi.’
‘Nomine sunt plures, pauci tamen ordine fratres;Vt dicunt aliqui, Pseudo prophetat ibi.’
‘Nomine sunt plures, pauci tamen ordine fratres;Vt dicunt aliqui, Pseudo prophetat ibi.’
‘Nomine sunt plures, pauci tamen ordine fratres;
Vt dicunt aliqui, Pseudo prophetat ibi.’
It seems that the word ‘pseudopropheta,’ used Rev. xix. 20 and elsewhere, was read ‘Pseudo propheta,’ and ‘Pseudo’ was taken as a proper name. This was combined with the idea of the wolf in sheep’s clothing suggested by Matt. vii. 15, ‘Attendite a falsis prophetis,’ &c., and the application was made especially to the friars.
1888. ‘And this I am brought to believe by the argument that where those above neglect their duty, the people are ignorant of the truth, (as they now are).’
1900 ff. Cp.Mirour, 20065 ff., andVox Clamantis, iii. 903. The reference is to Gregory,Hom. in Evang.xvii. (Migne,Patrol.vol. 76, p. 1148): ‘Ibi Petrus cum Iudaea conversa, quam post se traxit, apparebit: ibi Paulus conversum, ut ita dixerim, mundum ducens. Ibi Andreas post se Achaiam, ibi Iohannes Asiam, Thomas Indiam in conspectum sui regis conversam ducet.... Cum igitur tot pastores cum gregibus suis ante aeterni pastoris oculos venerint, nos miseri quid dicturi sumus, qui ad Dominum nostrum post negotium vacui redimus?’
1919. Cp.Mirour, 16662, ‘U q’il ert mesmes auditour.’ The metaphor from rendering accounts in the Exchequer is especially appropriate here for the prelates.
1930.his lordes besant hedde: Matt. xxv. 18.
1944.every Prelat holde, ‘let every Prelate hold.’
1952 ff. Coloss. iii. 5, ‘avaritiam, quae est simulacrorum servitus.’
END OF VOL. II