Chaucer's Works, Volume 2 — Boethius and Troilus

1. Aprochen gan the fatal destinee That Ioves hath in disposicioun, And to yow, angry Parcas, sustren three, Committeth, to don execucioun; For which Criseyde moste out of the t...

1. O Blisful light, of whiche the bemes clere 1 Adorneth al the thridde hevene faire! O sonnes leef, O Ioves doughter dere, Plesaunce of love, O goodly debonaire, In gentil hert...

1. Out of these blake wawes for to sayle, O wind, O wind, the weder ginneth clere; For in this see the boot hath swich travayle, Of my conning that unnethe I it stere: This see...

1. But al to litel, weylawey the whyle, Lasteth swich Ioye, y-thonked be Fortune! That semeth trewest, whan she wol bygyle, And can to foles so hir song entune, That she hem hen...

By this she hadde ended hir song, whan the sweetnesse of hir ditee hadde thorugh-perced me that was desirous of herkninge, and I astoned hadde yit streighte myn eres, _that is t...

Whan Philosophye hadde songen softely and delitably the forseide thinges, kepinge the dignitee of hir chere and the weighte of hir wordes, I thanne, that ne hadde nat al-outerly...

After this she stinte a litel; and, after that she hadde gadered by atempre stillenesse myn attencioun, she seide thus: (_As who mighte seyn thus: After thise thinges she stinte...

1. The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen, That was the king Priamus sone of Troye, In lovinge, how his aventures fellen Fro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye, My purpos is, er t...

'This version is complete, and faithful in all essential points. Chaucer had no other purpose than to disclose, if possible wholly, the meaning of this famous work to his contem...

She hadde seyd, and torned the cours of hir resoun to some othre thinges to ben treted and to ben y-sped. Thanne seyde I, 'Certes, rightful is thyn amonestinge and ful digne by...

Allas! I, weping, am constreined to biginnen vers of sorowful matere, that whylom in florisching studie made delitable ditees. For lo! rendinge Muses of poetes endyten to me thi...

unless we remember that, in Guido, the story of Troy is completely mixed up with invectives against idolatry. In Book X, there is a detailed account of the heathen gods, the wor...

The following scheme gives some notion of the relationship of the contents of this book to the Filostrato, but Chaucer constantly expands and adds to the original, and not unfre...

II. Tydeus sets out on an embassy to Eteocles at Thebes, and escapes an ambush by the way (ll. 1485-1491). He spares Mæon, one of his 50 assailants, and sends him to Thebes with...

CHAUCER: BOOK III. FILOSTRATO: BOOK III. ll. 1-38. st. 74-79. 239-287. 5-10. 344-441. 11-20. 813-833. [Boethius, II. Pr. 4. 86-120.] 1310-1426. 31-43. 1443-1451. 44. 1471-1492....

19. _agreables_; this form of the pl. adj. is only used in the case of words of French origin. Examples are not very common; cf. _reverents_ below, Bk. iii. Met. 4, l. 6; and _d...

from the courses of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates (met. 1). Boethius asks questions concerning Free-will (pr. 2). God, who sees all things, is the true Sun (met. 2). Boethius...

6. _that is to seyn._ The words in italics are not in the original, but were added by Chaucer as explanatory. Throughout the treatise, I print all such passages in italics.

51. The MSS. usually agree in this clause. Chaucer's gloss is due to an obscure note in MS. C., viz. 'vel quam non relictam, secundum alios libros.' Other notes occur there, but...

50. _sledes_, sleds, i. e. sledges: 'uehiculis.' The Vulgate version of 1 Chron. xx. 3 has: 'et fecit super eos tribulas, et _trahas_, et ferrata carpenta transire.' Wycliffe tr...

ll. 265-6, 274-308. st. 35-37. 316-322. 46. 391-419, 428-455. 43, 54, 47-56. 501-523, 540-1. 55-57, 61. 554-578. 62-64. 584-588. 43. 589-602. 65, 66, 68. 645-665. 82-88, 71-78....

I must refer the student to Mr. Rossetti's work (Chaucer Soc. 1875) for a detailed comparison of Chaucer's poem with the _Filostrato_ of Boccaccio. The following table roughly i...

9. _assoilen to thee the._ I prefer this reading, adopted from Caxton's edition, because the others make no sense. The original reading was _to the the_ (= _to thee the_), as in...

The following sketch gives a general notion of the relation of this Book to the Filostrato, though Chaucer often amplifies and transposes the material in a way that it would be...

In my introductory remarks to the Legend of Good Women, I refer to the close connection that is easily seen to subsist between Chaucer's translation of Boethius and his Troilus...

971. _Orcades_, the Orkney islands, very remote from Rome; Juvenal, Sat. ii. 161. _Inde_, India, remote from Rome in the other direction; Vergil, Æn. vi. 794. Here the point of...

of these passages, Boethius recalls the manner in which he withstood one Conigastus, because he oppressed the poor (l. 40); and how he defeated the iniquities of Triguilla, 'pro...

'Nondum dies illa ad horas declinauerat vespertinas, cum iam suas Brisaida recentes mutauerat voluntates,' &c.. 'Et iam nobilis Troili amor ceperat in sua mente tepescere, et si...

sense of it is in Guido, Book XIX, where the interview ends thus:--'Set diei Aurora quasi superueniente uicina, Troilus a Brisaida in multis anxietatibus et doloribus discessit;...

the system of rewards and punishments (pr. 1). Boethius describes the flight of Imagination through the planetary spheres till it reaches heaven itself (met. 1). The good are st...

The reference here is simply to Guido's history, whence, and not at first hand, both Chaucer and his readers could easily get the required information. Guido constantly refers t...

discourses on the search for the Supreme Good (_summum bonum_; pr. 2). The laws of nature are immutable (met. 2). All men are engaged in the pursuit of happiness (pr. 3). Dignit...

rather a long account of the manner in which Criseyde upbraided her father Chalcas at their meeting. Chaucer says nothing about this matter in Book V. 193, but he here introduce...

authority for the mighty deeds of Troilus. In Book XXV, I find:--'_Scripsit enim Dares_, quod illo die _mille_ milites interfecit [Troilus] ex Grecis'; cf. l. 1802 below. So in...

'Egli era grande e bel della persona, Giovane fresco e piacevole assai, E forte e fier siccome si ragiona, E parlante quant'altro Greco mai, E ad amor la natura aveva prona.'

§ 14. Book II. 618. 'The yate ... Of Dardanus.' The six gates of Troy are named in Guido, Book IV, 'Quarum vna _Dardanides_, secunda Tymbrea, tercia Helyas, quarta Chetas, quint...

addresses him in Fortune's name, asserting that her mutability is natural and to be expected (pr. 2). Adversity is transient (pr. 3), and Boethius has still much to be thankful...

'Interim Brisaida contra patris sui voluntatem videre Diomedem in lecto suo iacentem ex vulnere sibi facto frequenter accedit, et licet sciuisset illum a Troilo dudum dilecto su...

him in a female form (pr. 2), and condoles with him in song (met. 2); after which she addresses him, telling him that she is willing to share his misfortunes (pr. 3). Boethius p...

last quoted. 'Associauit [Diomedes] eam vsquequo Brisaida recipere in sui patris tentoria se debebat. Et ea perueniente ibidem, ipse eam ab equo descendentem promptus adiuit, et...