ll. 1675, 1683, 1685, 1691, 1702, whereas the other translator merely keeps

the word _botoun_; see ll. 1721, 1761, 1770.

It is easily seen that ll. 1706-5810 are by a second and less skilful hand. This portion abounds with non-Chaucerian rimes, as explained in the Introduction, and is not by any means remarkable for accuracy. Some of the false rimes are noted below.

As the remaining portion is of less interest and value, I only draw attention, in the notes, to the most important points. I here denote the second portion (ll. 1706-5810) by the name of Section B.

1713. _muche_, in Sect. B, is usually dissyllabic; perhaps the original had _mikel_.

1721. In sect. B, the word _botoun_ is invariably misspelt _bothum_ or _bothom_. That this ridiculous form is wrong, is proved by the occurrence of places where the pl. _botouns_ rimes with _sesouns_ (4011) and with _glotouns_ (4308). I therefore restore the form _botoun_ throughout.

1776. Sect. B is strongly marked by the frequent use of _withouten wene_, _withouten were_, _withouten drede_, and the like tags.

1820. A common proverb, in many languages. 'Chien eschaudé craint l'eau froide, the scaulded dog fears even cold water;' Cotgrave. 'Brend child fur dredeth' is one of the Proverbs of Hending, l. 184. The Fr. text has: 'Qu'eschaudés doit iaue douter.' See Cant. Ta. G 1407. At this point, the translation somewhat varies from the Fr. text, as usually printed. The _third_ arrow is here called Curtesye (1802, cf. 957) instead of Fraunchise (955).

1853, 4. Both _thore, more_, evidently for _thar, mar_; see ll. 1857, 8.

1871. _allegeaunce_, alleviation; F. text, _aleiance_. Cf. _aleggement_, 1890; F. text, _alegement_; and see l. 1923.

1906. Both texts have _Rokyng_. A better spelling is either _rouking_ or _rukking_. It means--'crouching down very closely on account of the pain.' See Kn. Ta. A 1308. (Not in the French text.)

1909. The other four arrows are Beauty (1750), Simplesse (1774), Curtesye (1802, and note to l. 1820), and Companye (1862). But the names, even in the F. text, are not exactly the same as in a former passage; see ll. 952-963 above.

2002. 'For I do not vouchsafe to churls, that they shall ever come near it.' For _of_ (suggested by _sauf_) we should read _to_.

2017. _Lord_ seems to be dissyllabic; read (perhaps) _laverd_.

2037. As in l. 4681, there is here an allusion to the mode of doing homage, wherein the kneeling vassal places his joined hands between those of his lord. This is still the attitude of one who receives a degree at Cambridge from the Vice-chancellor.

2044. For _taken_ read _tan_, the Northern form. So again in l. 2068.

2046. _Disteyned_ is, of course, a blunder for _Disceyued_.

2051. 'If I get them into my power.'

2063. _For-why_, i. e. why; F. 'por quoi.'

2076. _disseise_, oust you from possessing it. _Disseisin_ is the opposite of _seisin_, a putting in possession of a thing.

2087. _aumener_, purse, lit. bag for alms; F. _aumoniere_.

2092. I take _iowell_ (with a bar through the _ll_) to be the usual (Northern) contraction for _Iowellis_, jewels; F. text, _joiau_, pl. I can find no authority for making it a collective noun, as Bell suggests.

2099. _spered_, for _sperred_, fastened; F. _ferma_. See l. 3320.

2141. I supply _sinne_; perhaps the exact word is _erre_, as suggested by Urry; F. 'Tost porroie _issir de la voie_.'

2154. Read _ginn'th_; only one syllable is wanted here. Cf. l. 2168.

2161. _poyntith ille_, punctuates badly. This is a remarkable statement. As the old MSS. had no punctuation at all, the responsibility in this respect fell entirely on the reader. Ll. 2157-62 are not in the French.

2170. _Romaunce_, the Romance language, Old French.

2190. This important passage is parallel to one in the Wife of Bath's Tale, D 1109. Ll. 2185-2202 are not in the French; so they may have been suggested by Chaucer's Tale.

2203. 'Gravis est culpa, tacenda loqui'; Ovid, Ars Amat. ii. 604.

2206. _Keye_, Sir Kay, one of the knights of the Round Table, who was noted for his discourtesy. For his rough treatment of Sir Beaumains, see Sir T. Malory's Morte d'Arthur, bk. vii. c. 1. On the other hand, Sir Gawain was famed for his courtesy; see Squi. Ta. F 95.

2271. The word _aumenere_ is here used, as in l. 2087 above, to translate the F. _aumosniere_ or _aumoniere_. In Th., it is miswritten _aumere_, and in G. it appears as _awmere_. Hence _awmere_ has gained a place in the New E. Dict., to which it is certainly not entitled. It is not a 'contraction for _awmenere_,' as is there said, but a mere blunder.

2278. _Of Whitsonday_, suitable for Whitsunday, a time of great festivity; F. text--'a Penthecouste.'

2279. Both texts have _costneth_, which makes the line halt. _Cost_ (short for _costeth_) has the same sense, and suits much better; the F. text has simply _couste_.

2280-4. Copied from Ovid, Ars Amat. i. 515-9.

2285. It is clear that _Fard_, not _Farce_, is the right reading. _Farce_ would mean 'stuff' or 'cram'; see Prol. A 233. The F. text has--'Mais ne te _farde_ ne ne guigne.' Among the additions by Halliwell and Wright to Nares' Glossary will be found: '_Fard_, to paint the face'; with three examples. Cotgrave also has: '_Fardé_, Farded, coloured, painted.'

2294. _knowith_ is a strange error for _lowhith_, or _lauhwith_, forms of _laugheth_; F. text, _rit_.

2296. _meynd_, mingled; see Kn. Ta. A 2170.

2301-4. Not in the F. text. I alter _pleyneth_ in l. 2302 to _pleyeth_, to suit the context more closely.

2309. _sitting_, becoming; cf. _sit_, Clk. Ta. E 460.

2318. 'Make no great excuse'; F. _essoine_. From Ovid, Ars Am. i. 595.

2327. For _meuen_ I read _meve hem_, move them. Ll. 2325-8 are not in the French text.

2336. Read _Loves_. 'Whoever would live in Love's teaching must be always ready to give.' F. text, 'Se nus se vuelt _d'amors_ pener.'

2341. Cf. F. text:--'Doit bien, apres si riche don.' See ll. 2381.

2354. _alosed_, praised (for liberality); see _Alose_ in the New E. Dict.

2365. 'Against treachery, in all security.' _For_ is here used for 'against.' F. text, 'Tous entiers sans tricherie.'

2386. _maugre his_, in spite of himself; against the giver's will.

2463. 'That thou wouldst never willingly leave off.'

2471. _fere_, fire; spelt _fyr_ in l. 2467. But _desyr_ rimes with _nere_, l. 2441.

2473. Obscure. The French text helps but little; it means--'whenever thou comest nearer _her_.' Hence _Thought_ should be _That swete_, or some such phrase.

2522. 'To conceal (it) closely'; F. de soi celer.

2561. 'Now groveling on your face, and now on your back.'

2564. 'Like a man that should be defeated in war.' To get a rime to _abrede_ or _abreed_, abroad, read _forwerreyd_; see l. 3251.

2573. 'Thou shalt imagine delightful visions.' The 'castles in Spain' are romantic fictions. Cf. Gower, Conf. Am. ii. 99.

2617, 2624. In both lines, _wher_ is short for 'whether.'

2628. _To liggen_, to lie, is a Northern form; I alter _liggen_ to _ly_, which occurs in the next line.

2641. _contene_, contain (thyself). But the F. text has _te contendras_, which perhaps means 'shalt struggle.'

2650. _What whider_ gives no sense; read _What weder_, i. e. whatever weather it be; see next line.

2660. _score_, (perhaps) cut, i. e. crack; F. text, fendéure.

2669. I supply _a_, i. e. by; or we may supply _al_.

2676. There is something wrong here; the F. text has:--

'Si te dirai que tu dois faire Por l'amour de la debonnaire [_or,_ du haut seintueire] De qui tu ne pues avoir aise; Au departir la porte baise.'

The lover is here directed to kiss the door!

2684-6. From Ovid, Ars Amat. i. 729, 733.

2695. All from Ovid, Ars Amat. ii. 251-260.

2710. Read _fare_, short for _faren_, gone; cf. Ovid, Ars Am. ii. 357-8. A note in Bell says--'_fore_ means absent, from the Lat. _foris_, abroad.' This is a cool invention.

2775. _Hope_, do thou hope; imperative mood.

2824. The reading _not ben_ ruins sense and metre.

'Et se tu l'autre refusoies, Qui n'est mie mains doucerens, Tu seroies moult dangereus.'

2883. Such was the duty of sworn brethren; See Kn. Ta. A 1132.

2888. The trilled _r_ in _darst_ perhaps constitutes a syllable.

2951. 'When the God of Love had all day taught me.'

2971. _hay(e)_, hedge; F. _haie_. Perhaps not _hay-e_; see l. 2987.

2984. _Bial-Acoil_, another spelling of _Bel-Acueil_, i. e. 'a graceful address'; which would be useful in propitiating the lady.

3105. _doth me drye_, makes me suffer; Scotch 'gars me dree.'

3132. _chere_, face; _kid_, manifested, displayed.

3137. _kirked_, probably 'crooked,' as Morris suggests. It may be a mere dialectal form of 'crooked,' or it may be miswritten for _kroked_, the usual old spelling. Halliwell gives, '_kirked_, turning upwards,' on the authority of Skinner; but a reference to Skinner shows that his reason for giving the word this sense was solely owing to a notion of deriving it from A. S. _cerran_, to turn, which is out of the question. On the strength of this Wright, in his Provincial Dictionary, makes up the verb: '_Kirk_, to turn upwards.' This is how glossaries are frequently written. The F. text merely has: 'Le nes froncié.'

3144. _maugree_, disfavour, ill will.

3185. _with the anger_, against the pain.

3231. _trasshed_, betrayed; F. traï. _Trasshen_ is from the stem _traiss-_.

3234. _verger_, orchard; F. vergier; Lat. _uiridiarium_; so in ll. 3618, 3831.

3249. _to garisoun_, to protection, to safety; here, to your cure.

'Je ne voi mie ta santé, Ne ta garison autrement.'

3251. _thee to werrey_, to war against thee; F. guerroier.

3256. _musarde_, sluggard; one who delays; F. musarde; see l. 4034.

3264. G. has _seyne_; Th. _sayne_. I prefer _feyne_. Not in the F. text.

3277. _passioun_, suffering, trouble; F. _poine_ pain.

3284. _but in happe_, only in chance, i. e. a matter of chance.

3292. _a rage_, as in Th.; G. _arrage_. Cf. l. 3400.

3303. _leve_, believe; for the F. text has _croit_.

3326. _in the peine_, under torture; see Kn. Ta. A 1133.

3337. _chevisaunce_, resource, remedy. Both G. and Th., and all old editions, have _cherisaunce_, explained by Speght to mean 'comfort,' though the word is fictitious. Hence Kersey, by a misprint, gives '_cherisaunei_, comfort'; which Chatterton adopted.

3346. The F. text has 'Amis ot non'; so that 'Freend' is here a proper name.

3356. _meygned_, maimed. This word takes numerous forms both in M. E. and in Anglo-French.

3462. _at good mes_, at a favourable time (en bon point); see note to l. 1453.

3501. 'And Pity, (coming) with her, filled the Rosebud with gracious favour.' _of_ = with.

3508. Supply _word_; F. La parole a premiere prise.

3539. Cf. 'Regia, crede mihi, res est succurrere lapsis'; Ovid, Ex Ponto, Ep. lib. ii. ix. 11.

3548. _This_, put for _This is_; as in Parl. Foules, 411.

3579. _moneste_, short for _amoneste_, i. e. admonish.

3604. 'You need be no more afraid.' Here Thynne has turned _thar_ into _dare_; see l. 3761, and note to l. 1089.

3633. _to spanisshing_, to its (full) expansion. F. text, _espanie_, expanded, pp. fem. of _espanir_, which Cotgrave explains by 'To grow or spread, as a blooming rose.'

3645, 6. _vermayle_, ruddy, lit. vermilion. _abawed_, dismayed; variant of _abaved_, Book Duch. 614; cf. l. 4041 below.

3699. _werreyeth_, makes war upon; cf. Knight Ta. A 2235, 6. The corrections here made in the text are necessary to the sense.

3715. I. e. she did not belong to a religious order.

3718. _attour_; better _atour_; F. text _ator_; array, dress.

3740. _chasteleyne_, mistress of a castle; F. chastelaine.

3751. The reading is easily put right, by help of the French:--

'Car tant cum vous plus atendrez, Tant plus, sachies, de tens perdrez.'

3774. Read _it nil_, it will not; F. Qu'el ne soit troble (l. 3505).

3811. The F. text has _une vielle irese_, and M. Méon explains _irese_ by angry, or full of ire. Hence, a note in Bell suggests that _irish_ here means 'full of ire.' But I think M. Méon is wrong; for the O.F. for 'full of ire' is _irous_, whence M.E. _irous_; and M. Michel prints _Irese_ with a capital letter, and explains it by 'Irlandaise.' Besides, there is no point in speaking of 'an old angry woman'; whereas G. de Lorris clearly meant something disrespectful in speaking of 'an old Irishwoman.' M. Michel explains, in a note, that the Irish character was formerly much detested in France. I therefore believe that _Irish_ has here its usual sense.

3826. Where _Amyas_ is, is of no consequence; for the name is wrongly given. The F. text has 'a Estampes ou a Miaus,' i. e. at Étampes or at Meaux. Neither place is very far from Paris. _Reynes_ means Rennes in Brittany; see note to Book Duch. 255.

3827. _foot-hoot_, foot-hot, immediately; see note to Cant. Ta. B 438.

3832. _reward_, regard; as in Parl. Foules, 426.

3845. Insert _not_, because the F. text has 'Si _ne_ s'est _mie_.'

3855. We should probably insert _him_ after _hid_.

3856. _took_, i. e. caught; see l. 3858.

3880. Read _leye_, lay; both for rime and sense.

3882. _loigne_, leash for a hawk. Cotgrave gives: '_Longe_,... a hawks lune or leash.' This is the mod. F. _longe_, a tether, quite a different word from _longe_, the loin. _Longe_, a tether, was sometimes spelt _loigne_ in O.F. (see Godefroy), which accounts for the form here used. It answers to Low Lat. _longia_, a tether, a derivative of _longus_, long. Perhaps _lune_ is only a variant of the same word. The expression 'to have a long loigne' means 'to have too much liberty.'

3895. Read _trecherous_, i. e. treacherous people, for the sake of the metre and the rime. _Trechours_ means 'traitors.'

3907. Read _loude_; for _loude and stille_ is an old phrase; see Barbour's Bruce, iii. 745. It means, 'whether loudly or silently,' i. e. under all circumstances.

3912. _blered is myn ye_, I am made a fool of; see Cant. Ta. G 730.

3917. Read _werreyed_, warred against; see note to l. 3699.

3928. I. e. 'I must (have) fresh counsel.'

3938. 'And come to watch how to cause me shame.'

3940-3. The F. text has:--

'Il ne me sera ja peresce Que ne face une forteresce Qui les Roses clorra entor.'

3954. 'And to blind him with their imposture.'

3962. Perhaps read _he durste_.

3987. _purpryse_, enclosure; F. porprise, fem. Cotgrave has _pourpris_, m., in the same sense. See l. 4171.

4021. Read _in hy_, in haste, a common phrase; see l. 3591.

4032. 'No man, by taming it, can make a sparrow-hawk of a buzzard.' A buzzard was useless for falconry, but a sparrow-hawk was excellent. The F. text gives this as a proverb. Two similar proverbs are given in Cotgrave, s.v. _Esparvier_.

4034. _musarde_, a sluggish, and hence a useless person; see l. 3256.

4038. _recreaundyse_, recreant conduct; F. _recreantise_.

4073. _goth afere_, goes on fire, is inflamed.

4096. _me_ sometimes occurs in M. E. as a shorter form of _men_, in the sense of 'one'; but it is better to read _men_ at once, as it receives the accent. If written 'm[=e],' it might easily be copied as 'me.'

4126. 'Unless Love consent, at another time.'

4149. _querrour_, a quarrier, stone-cutter; see _quarrieur_ in Cotgrave.

4176. _ginne_, war-engine, _skaffaut_, scaffold; a wooden shed on wheels, to protect besiegers. See the description of one, called 'a sow,' employed at the siege of Berwick in 1319, in Barbour's Bruce, xvii. 597-600; together with other sundry 'scaffatis' in the same, l. 601.

4191. _Springoldes_ (F. _perrieres_, from Lat. _petrariae_), engines for casting-stones; spelt _spryngaldis_ in Barbour's Bruce, xvii. 247. From O. F. _espringale_, a catapult; from G. _springen_, to spring.

4195. _kernels_, battlements; F. text, _creniaus_. Cf. P. Plowm. C., viii. 235; B. v. 597.

4196. _arblasters_ (answering to Lat. _arcuballistra_), a variant form of _arblasts_ or _arbalests_ (answering to Lat. _arcuballista_), huge cross-bows, for discharging missiles. See _Arbalest_ in the New E. Dict.

4229. _for stelinge_, i. e. to prevent stealing.

4248. _distoned_, made different in tone, out of tune. Cotgrave gives: '_Destonner_, to change or alter a tune, to take it higher or lower.'

4249. _Controve_, compose or invent tunes, _foule fayle_, fail miserably.

4250. _horn-pypes_, pipes made of horn; but the F. text has _estives_, pipes made of straw. _Cornewayle_ is doubtful; some take it to mean Cornwall; but it was more probably the name of a place in Brittany. A note in Méon's edition of Le Roman de la Rose, iii. 300, suggests 'la ville de _Cornouaille_, aujourd'hui _Quimper-Corentin_, qui est en basse Bretagne.' The F. text has _Cornoaille_.

4286. _vekke_, an old woman; as in l. 4495. Cf. Ital. _vecchia_, the same; but it is difficult to see how we came by the Ital. form.

4291. Some late editions read _expert_, which is clearly right; _except_ gives no sense. _Expt_, with a stroke through the _p_, may have been misread as _except_.

4300. F. 'Qu'el scet toute la vielle dance'; see Prol. A 476.

4322. The old reading gives no sense; the corrected reading is due to Dr. Kaluza. It means 'I weened to have bought it very knowingly'; F. Ges cuidoie avoir achetés, I weened to have bought them. _Ges = Ge les_, i. e. _les biens_, the property. See note to l. 4352.

4333. For _also_ perhaps read _als_, or _so_.

4352. _wend,_ for _wende_, weened, supposed; F. cuidoie.

4372. For _wol_ read _wal_; F. 'Qui est entre les _murs_ enclose.'

4389. M. Méon here quotes a Latin proverb:--'Qui plus castigat, plus amore ligat.'

4432. G. de Lorris here ended his portion of the poem (containing 4070 lines), which he did not live to complete. His last line is:--

'A poi que ne m'en desespoir.'

When Jean de Meun, more than forty years later, began his continuation, he caught up the last word, commencing thus:--

'Desespoir, las! ge non ferai, Jà ne m'en desespererai.'

4464. _a-slope_, on the slope, i. e. insecure, slippery.

4472. Perhaps _stounde_ should be _wounde_. F. 'S'ele ne me fait desdoloir.' _Stounde_ arose from repeating the _st_ in _staunche_.

4499. _enforced_, made stronger, i. e. increased.

4510. Read _simpilly_; this trisyllabic form is Northern, occurring in Barbour's Bruce, i. 331, xvii. 134. Cf. l. 3861.

4525. 'Who was to blame?' Cf. l. 4529.

4532. _for to lowe_, to appraise; hence, to be valued at. F. 'De la value d'une pome.' See _Allow_ in the New E. Dict.

4549. _The develles engins_, the contrivances of the devil.

4556. _yolden_, requited; cf. Somp. Ta. D 2177.

4559. 'Ought I to shew him ill-will for it?'

4568. 'And lie awake when I ought to sleep.'

4574. _taken atte gree_, receive with favour.

4617, 8. _not_, know not; _nist_ (knew not) would suit better; see l. 4626. _eche_, eke out, assist.

4634. I insert _pyned_, punished; F. 'N'as tu mie éu mal assés?'

4646. 'Thou didst act not at all like a wise man.'

4668. 'See, there's a fine knowledge.' _Noble_ is ironical, as in 4639.

4681. _with myn honde_; see note to l. 2037 above.

4689, 90.

'Si sauras tantost, sans science, Et congnoistras, sans congnoissance.'

4697-4700. To him who flees love, its nature is explicable; to you, who are still under its influence, it remains a riddle.

4705. In Tyrwhitt's Gloss., s.v. _Fret_, he well remarks:--'In Rom. Rose, l. 4705, _And through the_ fret full, read _A trouthe_ fret full.' In fact, the F. text has: 'C'est loiautes la desloiaus.' _Fret full_ is adorned or furnished, so as to be full; from A. S. _frætwian_, to adorn; cf. _fretted full_, Leg. of Good Women, 1117; and see Mätzner. Cf. l. 7259. On the whole, I do not think it is an error for _bret-ful_, i. e. brimful.

4712. This line is not in the F. text; it seems to mean--'a wave, harmful in wearing away the shore.'

4713. _Caribdis_, Charybdis, the whirlpool; cf. Horace, Carm. i. 27. 19.

4720. _Havoir_, property; usually spelt _avoir_.

4722. 'A thirst drowned in drunkenness'; F. 'C'est la soif qui tous jors est ivre.'

4728. _drerihed_, sadness; F. 'tristor'; cf. G. _Traurigkeit_.

4732. F. 'De pechies pardon entechies.' _without_, on the outside.

4747. _Pryme temps_, spring-time; F. 'Printems.'

4751. _a slowe_, a moth; F. taigne (Lat. tinea). But I know of no other example. Hence _were_, in the next line, must mean to wear away, to fret; cf. note to 4712.

4755. 'And sweethearts are as good in black mourning as when adorned in shining robes.' Cotgrave, s. v. _Amourette_, quotes a proverb: 'Aussi bien sont amourettes Soubs bureau, que soubs brunettes; Love bides in cottages, as well as in courts.' A _burnet_ was a cloth of a superior quality; see note to l. 226.

4764. For _That_ read _But_, answering to the F. _Qui ... ne_.

4768. _Genius_ is one of the characters in a later part of the F. text, l. 16497 (ed. Méon).

4790. _avaunt_, forward; F. 'Ge n'en sai pas plus que devant.'

4793. For _ever_ read _er_, i. e. ere, before; for the rime.

4796. _can_, know. _parcuere_, by heart; F. 'par cuer.'

4831. 'For paramours only feign.' But the original has: 'Mes _par Amors_ amer ne daignent,' i. e. 'But they do not deign to love like true lovers'; unless it is a mere exclamation, 'I swear by Love.'

4859. 'To save the progeny (or strain) of our species'; cf. Cl. Ta. E 157.

4875, 6. Not in the original. It seems to mean--'who very often seek after destroyed increase (abortion) and the play of love.' Cf. _tenen_, to harm. But no other instance of _for-tened_ is known, nor yet of _crece_ as short for _increes_ (increase). However, the verb _cresen_, to increase, is used by Wyclif; see _cresce_ in Stratmann, ed. Bradley.

4882-4. Alluding to Cicero's treatise De Senectute.

4901. 'And considers himself satisfied with no situation.'

4904. _Yalt him_, yields himself, goes; F. 'se rent.'

4910. I. e. to remain till he professes himself, his year of probation being over. So, in l. 4914, _leve his abit_, to give up his friar's dress.

4923. _Conteyne_, contain or keep himself; F. 'le tiegne.'

4943. _And mo_ seems a mistake for _Demand_, i. e. 'he may go and ask them.' F. 'Ou le demant as anciens.'

5014. This sentence is incomplete; the translator has missed the line--'Et qu'ele a sa vie perdue.' And he missed it thus. He began: 'That, but [i. e. unless] aforn hir,' &c., and was going to introduce, further on, 'She findeth she hath lost hir lyf,' or something of that kind. But by the time he came to 'wade' at the end of l. 5022, where this line should have come in, he had lost the thread of the sentence, and so left it out!

5028. _Who list have Ioye_; F. 'Qui ... veut joir.'

5047. _arn_, with the trilled _r_, is dissyllabic; see l. 5484.

5051. _so_, clearly an error for _sho_, Northern form of _she_.

5064. _druery_, courtship; but here, apparently, improperly used in the sense of 'mistress,' answering to 'amie' in the F. text.

5080. _ado_, short for _at do_, i. e. to do; _at_ = to, is Northern.

5085. Read _they_; F. 'Més de la fole Amor se gardent.'

5107. Read _herberedest_; see Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 14. Pronounce it as _herb'redest_. F. 'hostelas,' from the verb _hosteler_.

5123, 4. As these lines are not in the original, the writer may have taken them from Chaucer's Hous of Fame, ll. 1257, 8. The converse seems to me unlikely; however, they are not remarkable for originality. Cf. note to l. 5486.

5124. _recured_, recovered; see examples in Halliwell.

5137. _That_ refers to _love_, not to the _sermon_; and _hir_ refers to Reason.

5162. The sense is doubtful; perhaps--'Then must I needs, if I leave it (i. e. Love), boldly essay to live always in hatred, and put away love from me, and be a sinful wretch, hated by all who love that fault.' Ll. 5165, 6 are both deficient, and require filling up.

5176. 'He who would not believe you would be a fool.' The omission of the relative is common; it appears (as _qui_) in the F. text. The line is ironical. Cf. ll. 5185-7.

5186. 'When that thou wilt approve of nothing.'

5191. 'But I know not whether it will profit.'

5223. I supply _Ne lak_ (defect) _in hem_, to make some sense; the F. text does not help here. Half the line is lost; the rest means--'whom they, that ought to be true and perfect in love, would wish to prove.'

5266. A proverbial phrase; not in the F. text.

5274. _him_ is here reflexive, and means 'himself.'

5278, 9, _fered_, fired, inflamed. _depart_, part, share.

5285. Read _amitee_; F. 'amitié.'

5286. Alluding to Cicero, De Amicitia: capp. xiii, xvii.

5292. The sense is; one friend must help another in every reasonable request; if the request seem unjust, he need not do so, except in two cases, viz. when his friend's life is in danger, or his honour is attacked: 'in quibus eorum aut caput agatur aut fama.' Read _in cases two_; F. 'en deux cas.'

5330. _bit not_, abides not, at any time; _bit_ = _bideth_.

5341. For _hir_ read _the_.

5353. The original reading would be _It hit_, i. e. it hideth; then _It_ was dropped, and _hit_ became _hidith_.

5384. _gote_, goat; but the F. text has _cers_, i. e. stag, _ramage_, wild.

5443. Obscure. The F. text has: 'Et que por seignors ne les tiengnent' Perhaps it means: 'They perform it (their will) wholly'; see l. 5447.

5452. Here _chere of_ is for _there of_, with the common mistake of _c_ for _t_.

5470. _Of_, i. e. off, off from.

5484. _arn_, with trilled _r_, is dissyllabic; as in l. 5047.

5486. 'Friend from affection (_affect_), and friend in appearance.' Chaucer, in his Balade on Fortune, l. 34, has 'Frend of _effect_ [i. e. in reality], and frend of countenance.' And as the passage is not in the French, but is probably borrowed from Chaucer, we see that _effect_ (not _affect_) is the right reading here; see l. 5549.

5491. The reading of Th. and G. is clearly wrong. The F. text helps but little. I read _al she_, i. e. all that she.

5507. _flaterye_ is very inappropriate; we should expect _iaperye_, i. e. mockery. F. text, 'a vois jolie.'

5510. I. e. 'Begone, and let us be rid of you.' See Troilus, iii. 861, and note. (Probably borrowed from Chaucer.)

5513. From Prov. xvii. 17.

5523-9. 'This appears to be taken from Ecclus. xxii. 26.'--Bell. This reference is to the Vulgate; in the A.V., it is Ecclus. xxii. 22. Compare ll. 5521-2 with the preceding verse. With l. 5534 cf. Eccles. vii. 28.

5538. _valoure_, value; F. text, 'valor.' See 5556.

5541. So in Shakespeare; 2 Hen. IV. v. 1. 34. Michel cites: 'Verus amicus omni praestantior auro.'

5569. F. text; 'Que vosist-il acheter lores'; &c.

5585, 6. I fill up the lines so as to make sense. _miches_, F. 'miches.' A _miche_ is a loaf of fine manchet bread, of good quality; see Cotgrave. _chiche_ (l. 5588) is 'niggardly.'

5590. _mauis_, (as in G. and Th.) is clearly an error for _muwis_, or, _muis_, bushels. The F. text has _muis_, i. e. bushels (from Lat. _modius_). For the M.E. form _muwe_ or _mue_, cf. M.E. _puwe_ or _pue_ (Lat. _podium_). The A.F. form _muy_ occurs in the Liber Custumarum, ed. Riley, i. 62.

5598. _that_, perhaps 'that gold'; see l. 5592. 'And though that (gold) lie beside him in heaps.' It is better to read _it_.

5600. _Asseth_, a sufficiency, enough; see note to P. Plowman, C. xx. 203; and the note to Catholicon Anglicum, p. 13, n. 6.

5619. _maysondewe_, hospital, lit. 'house of God.' See Halliwell.

5649. _Pictagoras_, Pythagoras; the usual form, as in Book Duch. 1167. He died about B. C. 510. He was a Greek philosopher, who taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and he is here said to have taught the principle of the absorption of the soul into the supreme divinity. None of his works are extant. Hierocles of Alexandria, in the fifth century, wrote a commentary on the Golden Verses, which professed to give a summary of the views of Pythagoras.

5661. From Boethius, de Consolatione Philosophiæ, lib. i. pr. 5; lib. v. pr. 1. See notes to the Balade of Truth, ll. 17, 19.

5668. 'According as his income may afford him means.'

5673. _ribaud_, here used in the sense of 'a labouring man.' In the F. text he is spoken of as carrying 'sas de charbon,' i. e. sacks of coal.

5683. It is quite possible that Shakespeare caught up the phrase 'who would fardels bear,' &c., from this line in a black-letter edition of Chaucer. His next line--'To grunt and sweat under a weary life'--resembles ll. 5675-6; and 'The undiscovered country' may be from ll. 5658-5664. And see note to l. 5541. (But it is proper to add that Shakespearian scholars in general do not accept this as a possibility.)

5699. Read 'in sich a were'; F. 'en tel guerre.'

5700. Insert 'more'; F. 'Qu'il art tous jors de _plus_ acquerre.'

5702. _yeten_, poured; a false form; correctly, _yoten_, pp. of _yeten_, to pour (A. S. _g[=e]otan_, pp. _goten_).

5710. _Seyne_; F. 'Saine'; the river Seine (at Paris).

5739-5744. Not in the F. text, but inserted as a translation of some lines by Guiot de Provins, beginning: 'Fisicien sont apelé Sanz _fi_ ne sont-il pas nommé.' See La Bible Guiot de Provins, v. 2582, in Fabliaux et Contes, édit. de Méon, tom. ii. p. 390. We must spell the words _fysyk_ and _fysycien_ as here written. A mild joke is intended. These words begin with _fy_, which (like E. _fie!_) means 'out upon it'; and go on with _sy_ (= _si_), which means 'if,' and expresses the precariousness of trusting to doctors. Cf. Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 222.

5749. 'Because people do not live in a holy manner.' This is ironical. The word 'Her' refers to 'tho that prechen,' i. e. the clergy; F. 'devins.' But the F. text has--'_Cil_ [i. e. the preachers] ne vivent pas loiaument.' See ll. 5750-1.

5759. Proverbial. F. 'Deceus est tex decevierres.' See Reves Ta. A 4321; P. Plowman, C. xxi. 166, and the note.

5799. _yeve_, gave, i. e. were to give; past pl. subjunctive.

5810. This answers to l. 5170 of the original; after which there is a gap of some 6000 lines, which are entirely lost in the translation. L. 5811 answers to l. 10717 of the F. text. The last portion, or part C, of the E. text (ll. 5811-7698) may be by a _third_ hand. Part C is considerably better than Part B, and approaches very much nearer to Chaucer's style; indeed, Dr. Kaluza accepts it as genuine, but I am not myself (as yet) fully convinced upon this point. See further in the Introduction.

5811. At l. 10715 of the original, we have the lines:--

'Ainsinc Amors a eus parole, Qui bien reçurent sa parole. _Quant il ot sa raison fenie,_ _Conseilla soi la baronnie._'

Ll. 5811-2 of the E. text answer to the two last of these.

5824. _lyf_ answers to F. _âme_; but the F. text has _arme_, a weapon.

5837. _To-moche-yeving_; F. 'Trop-Donner.'

5855, 6. _To_, i. e. against; F. 'Contre.' _Fair-Welcoming_; F. 'Bel-Acueil'; called _Bialacoil_ in Fragment B of the translation.

5857. _Wel-Helinge_, good concealment; F. 'Bien-Celer.'

5894. _tan_, taken; common in the Northern dialect. So, perhaps, in l. 5900.

5931. _letting_, hindrance; F. 'puisse empéeschier.' He cannot prevent another from having what he has himself paid for.

5953. According to one account, Aphrodite was the daughter of Cronos and Euonyme; and the Romans identified Aphrodite with Venus, and Cronos with Saturnus. The wife of Cronos was Rhea.

5962. Two of the fathers were Mars and Anchises; and there are several other legends about the loves of Venus.

5966. _pole_, pool; F. 'la palu d'enfer.'

5978. Here _sparth_, with trilled _r_, appears to be dissyllabic; cf. ll. 3962, 5047, 5484, 6025. Or supply _with_ before _gisarme_.

5984. _pulle_, pluck; as in Prol. A 652, &c.

5988. 'Unless they continue to increase (F. sourdent) in his garner.'

6002. _chinchy_, niggardly. For _grede_ read _gnede,_ i. e. stingy (person); A. S. _gn[=e]ð_.

6006. _beautee_; F. 'volonte'; read _leautee_; see l. 5959.

6009. For _wol_ read _wolde_; F. 'Tous les méisse."

6017. _they_; i. e. a number of barons; see l. 5812.

6024. 'They act like fools who are outrageous,' i. e. they act foolishly. F. 'Il ne feront mie que sage'; which seems to mean just the contrary.

6025. _forsworn_, with trilled _r_, seems to be trisyllabic; see note to l. 5978. But it is better to read _forsworen_.

6026. _Ne lette_, nor cease. Cf. l. 5967. But read _let_, pp. prevented.

6027. _piment_ is much the same as _clarree_; in fact, in l. 5967, where the E. has _clarree_, the F. text has _piment_. Tyrwhitt says, s. v. _clarre_; 'wine mixed with honey and spices, and afterwards strained till it is clear. It is otherwise called _Piment_, as appears from the title of the following receipt, in the _Medulla Cirurgiae Rolandi_, MS. Bodl. 761, fol. 86: Claretum bonum, sive Pigmentum,' &c., shewing that _piment_ is spiced wine, with a third part of honey; see _Piment_ in Halliwell.

6033. _vicaire_, deputy. In Méon's edition, the F. text has: 'Ja n'i querés autres victaires'; but Kaluza quotes five MSS. that read _vicaires_.

6037. _Lat ladies worche_, let ladies deal.

6044. 'Shall there never remain to them' (F. demorra).

6057. _This_, a common contraction for _This is_; cf. E. _'tis_; see 3548.

6068. _King of harlots_; F. 'rois des ribaus.' The sense is 'king of rascals.' There is a note on the subject in Méon's edition. It quotes Fauchet, Origine des Dignités, who says that the _roi des ribauds_ was an officer of the king's palace, whose duty it was to clear out of it the men of bad character who had no business to be there. M. Méon quotes an extract from an order of the household of king Philippe, A.D. 1290:--'_Le Roy des Ribaus_, vi. d. de gages, une provende de xl. s. pour robbe pour tout l'an, et mengera à court et n'aura point de livraison.' It further appears that the title of _Roi des ribaus_ was often jocularly conferred on any conspicuous vagabond; as e.g. on the chief of a gang of strolling minstrels. See the note at p. 369 of Political Songs, ed. T. Wright, where it is shewn that the _ribaldi_ were usually 'the lowest class of retainers, who had no other mode of living than following the courts of the Barons, and who were employed on all kinds of disgraceful and wicked actions.' The word _harlot_ had, in Middle English, a similar sense.

6078. _mister_, need, use; F. 'mestier.'

6083. 'Which I do not care should be mentioned'; cf. l. 6093, which means--'They do not care to hear such tales.'

6103. 'If I say anything to impair (or lessen) their fame.'

6111. _Let_, short for _ledeth_: 'that he leads his life secretly.'

6120. 'Whilst every one here hears.'

6146. _to hulstred be_, to be concealed; cf. A. S. _heolstor_, a hiding-place.

6149. Remember that the speaker is Fals-Semblant, who often speaks ironically; he explains that he has nothing to do with _truly_ religious people, but he dotes upon hypocrites. See l. 6171.

6169. _lete_, let alone, abandon; _lette_ gives no sense.

6186. 'They offer the world an argument.'

6192. 'Cucullus non facit monachum'; a proverb.

'Non tonsura facit monachum, nec horrida uestis, Sed uirtus animi, perpetuusque rigor'; &c. Alex. de Neckam (Michel).

6198. _cut_, for _cutteth_, cuts; F. trenche. 'Whom Guile cuts into thirteen branches.' I. e. Guile makes thirteen tonsured men at once; because the usual number in a convent was thirteen, viz. a prior and twelve friars.

6204. _Gibbe_, Gib (Gilbert); a common name for a tom-cat. Shak. has _gib-cat_, 1 Hen. IV. i. 2. 83. The F. text has _Tibers_, whence E. _Tibert_, _Tybalt_.

6205. A blank line in G.; Th. has--'That awayteth mice and rattes to killen,' which will not rime, and is spurious. I supply a line which, at any rate, rimes; _went his wyle_ means 'turns aside his wiliness.' F. text--'Ne tent qu'a soris et a ras.'

6220. _aresoneth_, addresses him, talks to him.

6223. _what, devel_; i. e. what the devil.

6247. The legend of St. Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins, who were martyred by the Huns at Cologne in the middle of the fifth century, is mentioned by Alban Butler under the date of Oct. 21, and is told in the Legenda Aurea. The _ciergis_ (in l. 6248) are wax-candles.

6256. Read _mak'th_, and (in 6255) _the god-e_.

6260. _wolf_; F. Sire Isangrin; such is the name given to the wolf in the Roman de Renard.

6264. _wery_, worry. Thynne has _wirry_. In P. Plowman, C. x. 226, we find the pl. _wyryeth_, with the various readings _wirieth_, _werien_, _werrieth_, _wery_. See _wur[gh]en_ in Stratmann.

6267. _treget_, trickery; cf. Frank. Ta. F 1141, 1143.

6279. _trepeget_, a machine for casting stones; see _trepeget_ in Halliwell, and my note to P. Plowman, A. xii. 91. A _mangonel_ is a similar machine.

6280. _pensel_, banner; cf. P. Plowm. C. xix. 189. Short for _penoncel_.

6290. _stuffen_, furnish the wall with defenders.

6305. _my lemman_, my sweetheart (Abstinence); see l. 6341.

6317-8. Kaluza supplies the words within square brackets: G. has only 'But so sligh is the aperceyuyng,' followed by a blank line, in place of which Th. has the spurious line--'That al to late cometh knowyng.' F. text; 'Mès tant est fort la decevance Que trop est grief l'apercevance.'

6332. 'I am a man of every trade.'

6337. Sir Robert was a knight's name; Robin, that of a common man, as Robin Hood.

6338. _Menour._ The Friars Minors were the Franciscan, or Grey Friars; the Jacobins were the Dominicans, or Black Friars.

6339. _loteby_, wench; see P. Plowman, B. iii. 150, and note.

6341. Elsewhere called 'Streyned-Abstinence,' as in ll. 7325, 7366; F. 'Astenance-Contrainte,' i. e. Compulsory-Abstinence.

6345. I. e. 'Sometimes I wear women's clothes.'

6352. 'Trying all the religious orders.'

6354. All the copies wrongly have _bete_ or _beate_ for _lete_, i. e. leave. Some fancy the text is wrong, because Méon's edition has 'G'en pren le grain et laiz la paille.' But (says Kaluza) three MSS. have--'Je les le grain et pren la paille'; which better suits the context.

6355. _To blynde_, to hoodwink; F. 'avugler.' For _blynde_, G. and Th. actually have _Ioly_! I supply _ther_, i. e. where; for sense and metre.

6359. _bere me_, behave; _were me_, defend myself. The F. text varies.

6365. _lette_, hinder. The friars had power of absolution, independently of the bishop; and it was a bitter grievance.

6374. _tregetry_, a piece of trickery; see l. 6267.

6379. 'Through their folly, whether man or woman.'

6385. I. e. at Easter; see Pers. Tale, I 1027. See l. 6435.

6390. Note that the penitent is here supposed to address his own parish-priest. Thus _he_ in l. 6391 means the friar.

6398. This is like the argument in the Somn. Ta. D 2095.

6418. _I_, for _me_, would be better grammar. As it stands, _me_ is governed by _pleyne_, and _I_ is understood. The F. text has: 'Si que _ge m_'en aille complaindre.'

6423. That is, the penitent will again apply to the friar.

6424. 'Whose name is not.' This means; such is his right name, but he does not answer to it; see l. 6428.

6425. 'He will occupy himself for me,' i. e. will take my part; see _Chevise_ in the New E. Dict., sect. 4b.

6434. 'Unless you admit me to communion.'

6449. _may never have might_, will never be able. If the priest is not confessed to, he will not understand the sins of his flock.

6452. _this_, i. e. this is; see notes to ll. 3548, 6057.

6454. See Prov. xxvii. 23; and cf. John, x. 14.

6464. 'I care not a bean for the harm they can do me.'

6469. 'Shall lose, by the force of the blow.' The rime is a bad one.

6491. Read _the acqueyntance_, as in Th.; F. 'l'acointance.'

6500. _yeve me dyne_, give me something to dine off.

6532. Read _thrittethe_, i. e. thirtieth. See Prov. xxx. 8, 9.

6541, 2. _Unnethe that he nis_, it is hard if he is not; i. e. he probably is. _micher_, a petty thief, a purloiner; F. 'lierres.' See the examples of _mich_ in Halliwell. For _goddis_, read _god is_; F. 'ou Diex est mentieres.' See Prov. xxx. 9.

6556. 'The simple text, and neglect the commentary.'

6571. _bilden_ is here used as a pt. tense; 'built.' In the next line, read _leye_, lay, lodged. There is an allusion to the splendid houses built by the friars.

6584. Not in the F. text.

6585. _writ_, writeth. Alluding to St. Augustine's work De Opere Monachorum, shewing how monks ought to exercise manual labour. His arguments are here made to suit the friars.

6615. '_De Mendicantibus validis_; Codex Justin. xi. 25. Justinian, whose celebrated code (called the Pandects) forms the basis of the Civil and Canon Law, was emperor of the Eastern Empire in 527.'--Bell.

6636. 'The allusion seems to be to Matt. xxiii. 14.'--Bell.

6645-52. Not in the F. text, ed. Méon; but found in some MSS.

6653. See Matt. xix. 21.

6665. Alluding, probably, to Eph. iv. 28.

6682. Alluding to Acts xx. 33-35.

6691. Alluding to St. Augustine's treatise De Opere Monachorum ad Aurelium episc. Carthaginensem. Of course he does not mention the Templars, &c.; these are only noticed by way of example.

6693. _templers_; 'the Knights Templars were founded in 1119 by Hugh de Paganis. Their habit was a white garment with a red cross on the breast. See Fuller, Holy Warre, ii. 16, v. 2.'--Bell. The Knights Hospitallers are described in the same work, ii. 4. The Knights of Malta belonged to this order.

6694. _chanouns regulers_, Canons living under a certain rule; see the Chan. Yemannes Tale.

6695. 'The White Monks were Cistercians, a reformed order of Benedictines; the Black, the unreformed.'--Bell.

6713. _I may abey_, 'I may suffer for it'; see Cant. Ta. C 100. The F. text varies.

6749. 'In the rescue of our law (of faith)'; i. e. of Christianity.

6763. William of Saint-Amour, a doctor of the Sorbonne, and a canon of Beauvais, about A.D. 1260, wrote a book against the friars, entitled De Periculis nouissimorum Temporum. He was answered by St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas, his book was condemned by Pope Alexander IV, and he was banished from France (see l. 6777). See the note in Méon's edition of Le Roman.

6782. _This noble_, this brave man; F. 'Le vaillant homme.'

6787. _ich reneyed_, that I should renounce.

6796. _papelardye_, hypocrisy; see note to l. 415.

6810. _garners_; i. e. their garners contain things of value.

6811. _Taylagiers_ (not in F. text), tax gatherers. Cf. _taillage_, tax, tribute; P. Plowm. C. xxii. 37.

6814. 'The poor people must bow down to them.'

6819. _wryen himself_, cover himself, clothe himself.

6820. _pulle_, strip them, skin them. A butcher scalds a hog to make the hair come off more easily (Bell).

6824. 'And beguile both deceived men and deceivers.'

6831. _entremees._ Cotgrave has: '_Entremets_, certain choice dishes served in between the courses at a feast.'

6834. 'For, when the great bag (of treasure) is empty, it comes right again (i. e. is filled again) by my tricks.'

6838. Quoted in the Freres Tale, D 1451.

6861. _Bigyns_, Beguines; these were members of certain lay sisterhoods in the Low Countries, from the twelfth century onwards.

6862. _palasyns_ (F. dames palasines), ladies connected with the court. Allied to F. _palais_, palace; cf. E. _palatine_.

6875. _Ayens me_, in comparison with me.

6887-6922. See Matt. xxiii. 1-8.

6911. _burdens_, repeated from ll. 6902, 6907, is clearly wrong. Perhaps read _borders_; F. 'philateres.'

6912. _hemmes_, borders of their garments, on which were phylacteries.

6948. _our alder dede_, the action of us all.

6952. _parceners_, partners; see _Partner_ in my Etym. Dict.

6964. See 2 Cor. vi. 10.

6971. 'I intermeddle with match-makings.' See my note to P. Plowman, C. iii. 92 (B. ii. 87); and cf. Ch. Prol. A 212.

6976. I. e. 'yet it is no real business of mine.'

7000. The friars did not seek retirement, like the monks.

7016. _ravisable_ (F. ravissables), ravenous, ravening; Matt. vii. 15.

7017. Imitated from Matt. xxiii. 15.

7018. _werreyen_, war; F. 'avons pris guerre.'

7022. _bougerons_, sodomites; see Godefroy; F. 'bogres.' This long sentence goes on to l. 7058; _if_ (7021) is answered by _He shal_ (7050).

7029. In G. and Th., _thefe_ has become _these_, by confusion of _f_ with long _s_; hence also _or_ has become _that_. But the F. text has--'Ou lerres ou simoniaus.'

7038. _But_, unless; unless the sinners bribe the friars.

7043. _caleweys_, sweet pears of Cailloux in Burgundy. See my note to P. Plowman, B. xvi. 69. _pullaille_, poultry.

7044. _coninges_, conies, rabbits; F. 'connis.'

7049. _groine_, murmur; see note to Kn. Ta. A 2460.

7050. _loigne_, a length, long piece; see l. 3882.

7057. _smerten_, smart for; F. 'sera pugni.'

7063. _vounde_ (so in G. and Th.), if a genuine word, can only be another form of _founde_, pp. of the strong verb _finden_, to find. I suppose 'found stone' to mean good building-stone, _found_ in sufficient quantities in the neighbourhood of a site for a castle. The context shews that it here means stone of the first quality, such as could be wrought with the _squire_ (mason's square) and to any required _scantilone_ (scantling, pattern). The general sense clearly is, that the friars oppress the weak, but not the strong. If a man is master of a castle, they let him off easily, even if the castle be not built of freestone of the first quality, wrought by first-rate workmen. (Or read _founded_.)

7071. _sleightes_, missiles. The translator could think of no better word, because the context is jocular. If the lord of the castle pelted the friars, not exactly with stones, but with barrels of wine and other acceptable things, then the friars took his part.

7076. _equipolences_, equivocations. The next line suggests that he should refrain from coarse and downright lies (_lete_ = let alone).

7089. 'And if it had not been for the good keeping (or watchfulness) of the University of Paris.' Alluding to William de St. Amour and his friends; see ll. 6554, 6766.

7092. See the footnote. We must either read _They had been turmented_ (as I give it) or else _We had turmented_ (as in Bell). I prefer _They_, because it is a closer translation, and suits better with _Such_ in the next line.

7093. I insert _fals_, for the metre; it is countenanced by _traitours_ in l. 7087. The reference is to the supporters of the book mentioned below.

7102. The book here spoken of really emanated from the friars, but was too audacious to succeed, and hence Fals-Semblant, for decency's sake, is made to denounce it. We may note how the keen satire of Jean de Meun contrives to bring in a mention of this work, under the guise of a violent yet half-hearted condemnation of it by a representative of the friars.

The book appeared in 1255 (as stated in the text), and was called Euangelium Eternum, siue Euangelium Spiritus Sancti. It was compiled by some Dominican and Franciscan friars, from notes made by an abbot named Joachim, and from the visions of one Cyril, a Carmelite. It is thus explained in Southey's Book of the Church, chap. xi. 'The opinion which they started was ... that there should be _three_ Dispensations, one from each Person. That of the Father had terminated when the Law was abolished by the Gospel; ... the uses of the Gospel were obsolete; and in its place, they produced a book, in the name of the Holy Ghost, under the title of the Eternal Gospel.... In this, however, they went too far: the minds of men were not yet subdued to this. The Eternal Gospel was condemned by the church; and the Mendicants were fain to content themselves with disfiguring the religion which they were not allowed to set aside.'

7108. 'In the porch before the cathedral of Notre Dame, at Paris.' A school was for some time held in this porch; and books could be bought there, or near it. Any one could there buy this book, 'to copy it, if the desire took him.'

7113. This is a quotation from the Eternal Gospel. L. 7118 means: 'I am not mocking you in saying this; the quotation is a true one.'

7116. _troubler_, dimmer; F. 'plus troble.'

7152. This shews that Fals-Semblaunt does not _really_ condemn the book; he only says it is best to suppress it _for the present_, till Antichrist comes to strengthen the friars' cause. The satire is of the keenest. Note that, in l. 7164, Fals-Semblaunt shamelessly calls the Eternal Gospel '_our_ book.' See also ll. 7211-2.

7173. I am obliged to supply two lines by guess here, to make out the sense. The F. text has:--

'Par Pierre voil le Pape entendre, Et les clers seculiers comprendre Qui la loi Iesu-Crist tendront,' &c.

I. e. By Peter I wish you to understand the pope, and to include also the secular clerks, &c. John represents the friars (l. 7185).

7178. I. e. 'against those friars who maintain all (this book), and falsely teach the people; and John betokens those (the friars) who preach, to the effect that there is no law so suitable as that Eternal Gospel, sent by the Holy Ghost to convert such as have gone astray.' The notion is, that the teaching of John (the type of the law of love, as expounded by the friars) is to supersede the teaching of Peter (the type of the pope and other obsolete secular teachers). Such was the 'Eternal Gospel'; no wonder that the Pope condemned it as being too advanced.

7197-7204. Obscure; and not fully in the F. text.

7217. The mother of Faux-Semblaunt was Hypocrisy (l. 6779).

7227. 'But he who dreads my brethren more than Christ subjects himself to Christ's wrath.'

7243. _patren_, to repeat Pater-nosters; see Plowm. Crede, 6.

7256. _Beggers_ is here used as a proper name, answering to F. _Beguins_. The _Beguins_, members of certain lay brotherhoods which arose in the Low Countries in the beginning of the thirteenth century, were also called _Beguards_ or _Begards_, which in E. became _Beggars_. There can be now no doubt that the mod. E. _beggar_ is the same word, and the verb _to beg_ was merely evolved from it. See the articles on _Beg_, _Beggar_, _Beghard_, and _Beguine_ in the New E. Dict. All these names were derived from a certain Lambert Bègue. The Béguins were condemned at the council of Cologne in 1261, and at the general council of Vienne, in 1311. It seems probable that the term _Beggars_ (_Beguins_) is here used derisively; the people really described seem to be the Franciscan friars, also called Gray friars; see l. 7258.

7259. _fretted_, ornamented, decked; from A. S. _frætwian_, to adorn; cf. l. 4705, and Leg. of Good Women, 1117; here ironical.

_tatarwagges_, ragged shreds, i. e. patches coarsely sewn on. See _tatter_ in my Etym. Dict. The ending _-wagges_ is allied to _wag_.

The F. text has: 'Toutes fretelées de crotes,' which means all bedaubed with dirt; see _frestelé_ in Godefroy. The translation freely varies from the original, in a score of places. See next line.

7260. _knopped_, knobbed, _dagges_, clouts, patches. A more usual sense of _dagge_ is a strip of cloth; see _dagge_ in Stratmann.

7261. _frouncen_, shew wrinkles; cf. ll. 155, 3137. The comparison to a quail-pipe seems like a guess; in the F. text, we have _Hosiaus froncis_, wrinkled hose, and 'large boots like a _borce à caillier_,' said (in Méon) to mean a net for quails. Any way, the translation is sufficiently inaccurate.

7262. _riveling_, shewing wrinkles; _gype_, a frock or cassock; cf. _gipoun_ in Prol. A 75.

7265. _Take_, betake, offer.

7282. Here again, _Beggar_ answers to F. _Beguin_; see l. 7256.

7283. _papelard_, hypocrite; see l. 6796 and note to l. 415.

7288. _casting_, vomit; see 2 Pet. ii. 22.

7302. See note to l. 6068.

7316. 'Read _flayn_ for _slayn_; F. Tant qu'il soit escorchiés.'--Kaluza.

7325. _Streyned_, constrained; F. 'Contrainte-Astenance.'

7348. _batels_, battalions, squadrons; see Gloss. to Barbour's Bruce.

7363. _in tapinage_, in secret. Cotgrave has: '_Tapinois_, _en tapinois_, Crooching, lurking ... also, covertly, secretly.' Also: '_Tapineux_, lurking, secret'; '_Tapi_, hidden'; '_Tapir_, to hide; _se tapir_, to lurk.'

7367. _camelyne_, a stuff made of camel's hair, or resembling it.

7372. _peire of bedis_, set of beads, rosary; see Prol. A 159.

7374. _bede_, might bid; pt. s. subjunctive.

7388. I. e. they often kissed each other.

7392. _that salowe horse_, that pale horse; Rev. vi. 8.

7403. _burdoun_, staff; F. 'bordon'; see ll. 3401, 4092.

7406. _elengeness_, cheerlessness; F. 'soussi,' i. e. _souci_, care, anxiety. See Wyf of B. Ta. D 1199.

7408. _saynt_, probably 'girt,' i. e. with a girdle on him like that of a Cordelier (Franciscan). The F. has 'qui bien se ratorne,' who attires himself well. (The epithet 'saint' is weak.) A better spelling would be _ceint_, but no other example of the word occurs. We find, however, the sb. _ceint_, a girdle, in the Prol. A 329, spelt _seint_ in MS. Ln., and _seynt_ in MSS. Cm. and Hl. _ie vous dy_, I tell you, occurs in the Somn. Ta. D 1832.

7422. _Coupe-Gorge_, Cut-throat; F. 'Cope-gorge.'

7455. _Joly Robin_, Jolly Robin, a character in a rustic dance; see Troil. v. 1174, and note.

7456. _Jacobin_, a Jacobin or Dominican friar. They were also called Black Friars and Friars Preachers (as in l. 7458). Their black robes gave them a melancholy appearance.

7459. 'They would but wickedly sustain (the fame of) their order, if they became jolly minstrels.'

7461. _Augustins_, Austin Friars; _Cordileres_, Cordeliers, Franciscan Friars; _Carmes_, Carmelites, or White Friars; _Sakked Friars_, Friars of the Sack. The orders of friars were generally counted as _four_; see note to Prol. A 210. These were the Dominican, Austin, Franciscan, and Carmelite Friars, all of whom had numerous houses in England. There were also Croutched Friars and Friars de Penitentia or de Sacco. The last had houses at Cambridge, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Lynne, Newcastle, Norwich, Oxford, and Worcester; see Godwin, Archæologist's Handbook, p. 178.

7467. 'But you will never, in any argument, see that a good result can be concluded from the mere outward appearance, when the inward substance has wholly failed.' Cf. Hous of Fame, 265-6.

7492. _fisshen_, fish for; see Somn. Ta. D 1820. Cf. Matt. iv. 19.

7520. We are here referred back to ll. 3815-3818, where Wicked-Tongue reports evil about the author (here called the 'young man') and Bialacoil (here called Fair-Welcoming).

7534. 'You have also caused the man to be chased.'

7538. The repetition of _thought_ (in the rime) is correct; the F. text repeats _pensee_.

7562. 'Meditate there, you sluggard, all day.'

7573. 'Take it not amiss; it were a good deed.'

7578. F. text--'Vous en irez où puis [pit] d'enfer.' And, for _puis_, some MSS. have _cul_; a fact which at once sets aside the argument in Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer, ii. 119.

7581. 'What? you are anything but welcome.'

7588. _tregetours_, deceivers; cf. _treget_ above, l. 6267.

7605. _bemes_, trumpets; see Ho. Fame, 1240.

7628. _come_, coming; see _cume_ in Stratmann.

7633. 'You would necessarily see him so often.'

7645. 'The blame (lit. the ill will) would be yours.' For the use of _maugre_ as a sb., compare l. 4399.

7664. _Iolyly_, especially; a curious use; F. 'bien.'

7680. 1. 'To shrive folk that are of the highest dignity, as long as the world lasts.' So in the F. text.

7682. I. e. the Mendicant friars had license to shrive in any parish whatever.

7693. 'To read (i. e. give lectures) in divinity'; a privilege reserved for doctors of divinity.

7694. Here G. merely has a wrong half-line:--'And longe haue red'; with which it abruptly ends, the rest of the page being blank, except that _explicit_ is written, lower down, on the same page.

The last four lines in the F. text are:--

'Se vous volés ci confessier, Et ce pechié sans plus lessier Sans faire en jamés mencion, Vous auréz m'asolucion.'

The last of these lines is l. 12564 in Méon's edition. The last line in the whole poem is l. 22052; leaving 9488 lines untranslated, in addition to the gap of 5546 lines of the F. text at the end of Fragment B. Thus the three fragments of the translation make up less than a third of the original.

The fact that Thynne gives the last six lines correctly shews that his print was _not_ made from the Glasgow MS. Indeed, it frequently preserves words which that MS. omits.

* * * * *

NOTES

TO

THE MINOR POEMS.

I. AN A B C.

This poem is a rather free translation of a similar poem by Guillaume de Deguileville, as pointed out in the Preface, p. 60. The original is quoted beneath the English text.

Explanations of the harder words should, in general, be sought for in the Glossarial Index, though a few are discussed in the Notes.

The language of this translation is, for the most part, so simple, that but few passages call for remark. I notice, however, a few points.

Chaucer has not adhered to the complex metre of the original, but uses a stanza of eight lines of five accents in place of de Deguileville's stanza of twelve lines of four accents.

3. Dr. Koch calls attention to the insertion of a second _of_, in most of the MSS., before _sorwe_. Many little words are often thus wrongly inserted into the texts of nearly all the Minor Poems, simply because, when the final _e_ ceased to be sounded, the scribes regarded some lines as imperfect. Here, for example, if _sinne_ be regarded as monosyllabic, a word seems required after it; but when we know that Chaucer regarded it as a dissyllabic word, we at once see that MSS. Gg. and Jo. (which omit this second _of_) are quite correct. We know that _sinne_ is properly a dissyllabic word in Chaucer, because he rimes it with the infinitives _biginne_ (Cant. Ta. C 941) and _winne_ (same, D 1421), and never with such monosyllables as _kin_ or _tin_. This is easily tested by consulting Mr. Cromie's very useful Rime-index to the Canterbury Tales. The above remark is important, on account of its wide application. The needless insertions of little words in many of the 15th-century MSS. are easily detected.

4. Scan the line by reading--Glorióus virgín', of all-e flóur-es flóur. Cf. l. 49.

6. _Debonaire_, gracious lady; used as a sb. Compare the original, l. 11.

8. Answers to l. 6 of the original--'Vaincu m'a mon aversaire.' Perhaps _Venquisht_ is here the right form; similarly, in the Squieres Tale, F 342, the word _vanisshed_ is to be read as _vanísh'd_, with the accent on the second syllable, and elision of e. See Ten Brink, Chaucers Sprache, § 257. Otherwise, read _Venquis-shed m'hath_; cf. _mexcuse_, XVI. 37 (p. 397).

11. _Warne_, reject, refuse to hear. So in P. Plowman, C. xxiii. 12, 'whanne men hym _werneth_' means 'when men refuse to give him what he asks for.'

12. _Free_, liberal, bounteous. So in Shak. Troilus, iv. 5. 100--'His heart and hand both open and both _free_.' It may be remarked, once for all, that readers frequently entirely misunderstand passages in our older authors, merely because they forget what great changes may take place in the sense of words in the course of centuries.

13. _Largesse_, i. e. the personification of liberality; 'thou bestowest perfect happiness.'

14. Cf. original, l. 15--'Quer [_for_] tu es de salu porte.' Scan by reading--Háv'n of refút. But in l. 33, we have _réfut_.

15. _Theves seven_, seven robbers, viz. the seven deadly sins. We could easily guess that this is the meaning, but it is needless; for the original has--'Par sept larrons, pechies mortez,' l. 17; and a note in the Sion Coll. MS. has--'i. seven dedly synnes.' The theme of the Seven Deadly Sins is one of the commonest in our old authors; it is treated of at great length in Chaucer's Persones Tale, and in Piers Plowman.

16. 'Ere my ship go to pieces'; this graphic touch is not in the original.

17. _Yow_, you. In addressing a superior, it was customary to use the words _ye_ and _you_, as a mark of respect; but, in prayer, the words _thou_ and _thee_ were usual. Hence, Chaucer has mixed the two usages in a very remarkable way, and alternates them suddenly. Thus, we have _thee_ in l. 5, _thou_ in l. 6, &c., but _yow_ in l. 17, _thy_ in l. 19, _you_ in l. 24; and so on. We even find the plural verbs _helpen_, l. 104; _Beth_, l. 134; and _ben_, l. 176.

20. _Accioun_, action, is here used in the legal sense; 'my sin and confusion have brought an action (i. e. plead) against me.' It is too close a copy of the original, l. 25--'Contre moy font une accion.'

21. I. e. 'founded upon rigid justice and a sense of the desperate nature of my condition.' Cf. 'Rayson et desperacion Contre moy veulent maintenir'; orig. l. 29. _Maintenir_, to maintain an action, is a legal term. So, in l. 22, _sustene_ means 'sustain the plea.'

24. 'If it were not for the mercy (to be obtained) from you.'

25. Literally--'There is no doubt that thou art not the cause'; meaning, 'Without doubt, thou art the cause.' _Misericorde_ is adopted from the original. According to the usual rule, viz. that the syllable _er_ is usually slurred over in Chaucer when a vowel follows, the word is to be read as _mis'ricord-e_. So also _sov'reyn_, l. 69.

27. _Vouched sauf_, vouchsafed. _Tacorde_, to accord; cf. _talyghte_, _tamende_, &c. in the Cant. Tales.

29. Cf. 'S'encore fust l'arc encordé'; orig, l. 47; and 'l'arc de justice,' l. 42. The French expression is probably borrowed (as suggested in Bell's Chaucer) from Ps. vii. 13--'arcum suum tetendit.' Hence the phrase _of Iustice and of yre_ refers to _the bowe_.

30. _First_, at first, before the Incarnation.

36. For examples of the use of _great assize_, or _last assize_, to signify the Last Judgment, see the New E. Dict., s. v. _Assize_.

39. Most MSS. read here--'That but thou er [_or_ or] that day correcte me'; this cannot be right, because it destroys the rime. However, the Bedford MS., instead of _correcte me_, has _Me chastice_; and in MS. C _me chastyse_ is written over an erasure (doubtless of the words _correcte me_). Even thus, the line is imperfect, but is completed by help of the Sion MS., which reads _me weel chastyce_.

40. _Of verrey right_, in strict justice; not quite as in l. 21.

41. Rather close to the original--'Fuiant m'en viens a ta tente Moy mucier pour la tormente Qui ou monde me tempeste,' &c. _Mucier_ means 'to hide,' and _ou_ means 'in the,' F. _au_.

45. _Al have I_, although I have. So in l. 157.

49. MS. Gg. has _Gracyouse_; but the French has _Glorieuse_.

50. _Bitter_; Fr. text 'amere.' The allusion is to the name _Maria_, Gk. [Greek: Maria], [Greek: Mariam], the same as _Miriam_, which is explained to mean 'bitterness,' as being connected with _Marah_, i. e. bitterness; see Exod. xv. 23 (Gesenius). Scan the line by reading: _neíth'r in érth-ë nór_.

55. _But-if_, except, unless (common).

56. _Stink_ is oddly altered to _sinke_ in some editions.

57, 58. Closely copied from the French, ll. 85-87. But the rest of the stanza is nearly all Chaucer's own. Cf. Col. ii. 14.

67. The French means, literally--'For, when any one goes out of his way, thou, out of pity, becomest his guide, in order that he may soon regain his way.'

70. The French means--'And thou bringest him back into the right road.' This Chaucer turns into--'bringest him out of the wrong road'; which is all that is meant by _the crooked strete_.

71. In the ending _-eth_ of the third pers. sing. present, the _e_ is commonly suppressed. Read _lov'th_. So also _com'th_ in l. 99.

73. The French means--'Calendars are illumined, and other books are confirmed (or authenticated), when thy name illumines them.' Chaucer has 'illuminated calendars, in this world, are those that are brightened by thy name.' 'An allusion to the custom of writing the high festivals of the Church in the Calendar with red, or illuminated, letters'; note in Bell's Chaucer. The name of Mary appears several times in old calendars; thus the Purification of Mary is on Feb. 2; the Annunciation, on Mar. 25; the Visitation, on July 2; the Assumption, on Aug. 15; the Nativity, on Sept. 8; the Presentation, on Nov. 21; the Conception, on Dec. 8. Our books of Common Prayer retain all of these except the Assumption and the Presentation. _Kalenderes_ probably has four syllables; and so has _enlumined_. Otherwise, read Kálendér's (Koch).

76. _Him thar_, i. e. it needs not for him to dread, he need not dread. It occurs again in the Cant. Tales, A 4320, D 329, 336, 1365, &c.

80. _Resigne_ goes back to l. 112 of the original, where _resiné_ (= _resigne_) occurs.

81. Here the French (l. 121) has _douceur_; Koch says it is clear that Chaucer's copy had _douleur_; which refers to the _Mater dolorosa_.

86. This line runs badly in the MSS., but is the same in nearly all. Read _both' hav-e_. I should prefer _hav' both-e_, where _bothe_ is dissyllabic; see ll. 63, 122. This runs more evenly. The sense of ll. 84-6 seems to be--'Let not the foe of us all boast that he has, by his wiles (_listes_), unluckily convicted (of guilt) that (soul) which ye both,' &c.

88. Slur over the last syllable of _Continue_, and accent _us_.

89. The French text refers to Exod. iii. 2. Cf. The Prioresses Tale, C. T. Group B, l. 1658.

97. Koch points out that _per-e_ is here dissyllabic; as in the Compleint to His Purse, l. 11. The French has _per_, l. 146. Read--Nóble princésse, &c.

100. _Melodye or glee_; here Koch remarks that Chaucer 'evidently mistook _tirelire_ for _turelure_.' The Fr. _tirelire_ means a money-box, and the sense of l. 150 of the original is--'We have no other place in which to secure what we possess.' See l. 107 of Chaucer's translation below. But Chaucer's mistake was easily made; he was thinking, not of the mod. Fr. _turelure_ (which, after all, does not mean a 'melody,' but the refrain of a song, like the Eng. _tooral looral_) but of the O. F. _tirelire_. This word (as Cotgrave explains) not only meant 'a box having a cleft on the lid for mony to enter it,' but 'also the warble, or song of a lark.' Hence Shakespeare speaks of 'the lark, that _tirra-lyra_ chants,' Wint. Tale, iv. 3. 9.

102. Read _N'advócat noón_. That the M. E. _advocat_ was sometimes accented on the _o_, is proved by the fact that it was sometimes cut down to _vócat_; see P. Plowman, B. ii. 60; C. iii. 61.

109. Cf. Luke, i. 38--'Ecce _ancilla_ Domini.'

110. _Oure bille_, &c., i. e. 'to bring forward (or offer) a petition on our behalf.' For the old expression 'to put up (or forth) a bill,' see my note to P. Plowman, C. v. 45. Compare also Compleynte unto Pite, l. 44 (p. 273).

113. Read _tym-e_. _Tenquere_, for _to enquere_; cf. note to l. 27. Cf. the French _d'enquerre_, l. 169.

116. _To werre_; F. 'pour guerre,' l. 173; i. e. 'by way of attack.' _Us_ may be taken with _wroughte_, i. e. 'wrought for us such a wonder.' _Werre_ is not a verb; the verb is _werreyen_, as in Squi. Ta. l. 10.

119. _Ther_, where, inasmuch as. 'We had no salvation, inasmuch as we did not repent; if we repent, we shall receive it.' But the sentence is awkward. Cf. Mark i. 4; Matt. vii. 7.

122. Pause after _both-e_; the _e_ is not elided.

125. _Mene_, mediator; lit. mean (intermediate) person. So in P. Plowman, B. vii. 196--'And Marie his moder be owre _mene_ bitwene.'

132. Koch thinks that the false reading _it_ in some MSS. arose from a reading _hit_ (= hitteth) as a translation of F. _fiert_, l. 196. Anyway, the reading _is_ seems best. Surely, 'his reckoning hits so hideous' would be a most clumsy expression.

136. _Of pitee_, for pity; the usual idiom. Cf. _of al_, XIII. 19 (p. 391).

140. _Vicaire_, deputed ruler; not in the original. See note to Parliament of Foules, l. 379.

141. _Governeresse_; copied from the French text, l. 214. This rare word occurs, as the last word, in a poem beginning 'Mother of norture, printed in the Aldine Edition of Chaucer's Poems, vi. 275. Chaucer himself uses it again in the Complaint to Pity, l. 80 (p. 275).

144. Compare the expressions _Regina Celi, Veni coronaberis_, 'Heil crowned queene,' and the like; Polit., Religious, and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 147; Hymns to the Virgin, ed. Furnivall, pp. 1, 4. Suggested by Rev. xii. 1.

146. Koch notes that the reading _depriued_ arose from its substitution for the less familiar form _priued_.

150. The reference is, obviously, to Gen. iii. 18; but thorns here mean sins. Cf. 'Des espines d'iniquite'; F. text, l. 224.

158. Copied from the French, l. 239--'Ou tu a la court m'ajournes.' It means 'fix a day for me to appear at thy court,' cite me to thy court.

159. Not in the original. Chaucer was thinking of the courts of the Common Bench and King's Bench, as mentioned, for example, in Wyclif's Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 215.

161. The word _Xristus_, i. e. _Christus_, is written Xpc (with a mark of contraction) in MSS. C., Gl., Gg., and Xp[=u]s in F. Xpc is copied from the French; but it is very common, being the usual contracted form of the Gk. [Greek: Christos], or, in capital letters, XPICTOC, obtained by taking the two first and the last letters. The old Greek _sigma_ was written C; as above. De Deguileville could think of no French word beginning with X; so he substituted for it the Greek _chi_, which resembled it in form.

163, 164. These lines answer to ll. 243, 247 of the French; 'For me He had His side pierced; for me His blood was shed.' Observe that the word _Christus_ has no verb following it; it is practically an objective case, governed by _thanke_ in l. 168. 'I thank thee because of Christ and for what He has done for me.' In l. 163, the word _suffre_ is understood from the line above, and need not be repeated. Unfortunately, all the scribes _have_ repeated it, to the ruin of the metre; for the line then contains two syllables too many. However, it is better omitted. _Longius_ is trisyllabic, and _herte_ (as in the next line) is dissyllabic. The sense is--'to suffer His passion on the cross, and also (to suffer) that Longius should pierce His heart, and make,' &c. _Pighte_, _made_, are in the subjunctive. The difficulty really resides in the word _that_ in l. 161. If Chaucer had written _eek_ instead of it, the whole could be parsed.

Koch reads '_Dreygh_ eek' for 'And eek,' in l. 163, where 'Dreygh' means 'endured.' But I do not think _Dreygh_ could be used in this connection, with the word _that_ following it.

The story of Longius is very common; hence Chaucer readily introduced an allusion to it, though his original has no hint of it. The name is spelt _Longeus_ in Piers Plowman, C. xxi. 82 (and is also spelt _Longinus_). My note on that passage says--'This story is from the Legenda Aurea, cap.