BOOK IV.

PROSE 1. 5. _forbrak_, broke off, interrupted: 'abrupi.'

14. _so as_, seeing that, since: 'cùm.'

25. _alle thinges may_, is omnipotent: 'potentis omnia.'

27. _an enbasshinge ... ende_: 'infiniti stuporis.'

30. _right ordenee_, well ordered: 'dispositissima domo.'

32. _heried_, praised. This resembles the language of St. Paul; 2 Tim. ii. 20.

41. _cesen_, cause to cease: 'sopitis querelis.'

45. _alle thinges_, all things being treated of: 'decursis omnibus.'

47. _fetheres_, wings; 'pennas.' The A. S. pl. _fethera_ sometimes means wings.

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 translates _trahas_ by _sledis_ (later version, _sleddis_).

METRE 1. 2-5. Quoted in Ho. Fame, 973-8.

5. _fyr_, fire. In the old astronomy, the region of air was supposed to be surrounded by a region of fire, which Boethius here says was caused by the swift motion of the ether: 'Quique agili motu calet aetheris Transcendit ignis uerticem.' Beyond this region were the planetary spheres, viz. those of the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This explains the allusion to the passage of Thought (Imagination) through 'the houses that bear the stars' (i. e. planets), in Latin _astriferas domos_, and so, past the sun, to the seventh sphere of Saturn. After this, Thought soars to the eighth sphere, called the Sphere of the Fixed Stars (denoted below by 'the circle of the stars' or 'the firmament'); and after 'wending on the back of it,' i. e. getting beyond it, reaches the _primum mobile_, where 'the lord of kings holds the sceptre of his might.'

'Donec in astriferas surgat domos, Phoeboque coniungat uias, Aut comitetur iter gelidi senis Miles corusci sideris; Vel quocunque micans nox pingitur, Recurrat astri circulum, Atque ubi iam exhausti fuerit satis, Polum relinquit extimum, Dorsaque uelocis premat aetheris Compos uerendi luminis.'

9. _Saturnus_, the planet Saturn; which Chaucer rightly gives as the sense of 'senis.'

_and he y-maked_, i.e. and he (Thought) becomes a knight. I hesitate to insert _is_ after _he_, because all the authorities omit it; in fact, the phrase _and he y-maked_ seems to be equivalent to 'he being made.' I do not understand what is meant by 'Miles corusci sideris,' unless it means that Boethius imagines Thought to become a companion of Mars, and thus to be made a soldier, in the service of that bright planet.

15. _images of sterres_, i.e. constellations, which were fancifully supposed to represent various objects.

18. _worshipful light._ MS. A has _dredefulle clerenesse_. Both are translations of 'uerendi luminis.'

22. _swifte cart_: 'uolucrem currum.' _Cart_ is sometimes used for car or chariot.

25. _but now_, &c. These words are supposed to be spoken by Boethius, when he remembers all the truth. 'Haec dices, memini, patria est mihi.'

26. _heer wol I fastne my degree_: 'hic sistam gradum.' The sense is rather, 'here will I [_or_, let me] fix my step,' or 'plant my foot'; i.e. remain. Cf. 'Siste gradum,' i. e. stop; Verg. Aen. vi. 465.

27. _But yif_:

'Quod si terrarum placeat tibi Noctem relictam uisere, Quos miseri toruos populi timent Cernes tyrannos exules.'

PROSE 2. 1. _owh_, an exclamation; 'Papae.'

13. _fey_, the faith, the certainty: 'fides.' _sentence_, opinion.

31. _And in that_: 'Quod uero quisque potest.' _may_, can do.

38. _lad_, led; _studies_, desires: 'quae diuersis studiis agitur.'

71. _Yif that_: 'Etsi coniecto, inquam, quid uelis.'

84. _knit forth_: 'Contexe, inquam, cetera.'

93. _shewinge_, evident; _is open and shewinge_: 'patet.'

97. _Iugement._ Evidently meant to translate _iudicium_. But Chaucer misread his text, which has _indicium_. 'Idque, ut medici sperare solent, indicium est erectae iam resistentisque naturae.'

103. _ledeth hem_, i. e. leads them to: 'qui ne ad hoc quidem peruenire queunt, ad quod eos naturalis ducit, ac pene compellit, intentio.'

104. _And what_: 'Et quid? si hoc tam magno ac pene inuicto praeeuntis naturae desererentur auxilio?'

112. _Ne shrewes_: 'Neque enim leuia aut ludicra praemia petunt, quae consequi atque obtinere non possunt.'

120. _laye_, might lie (subjunctive): 'quo nihil ulterius peruium iaceret incessui.'

137. _for to ben_, even to exist. So below, _ben_ frequently means 'to exist,' as appears from the argument.

151. _mowen_, have power to act: 'possunt.'

161. _understonde_, mayest understand: 'ut intelligas.'

187. _Plato_, viz. in the Gorgias and Alcibiades I, where many of the arguments here used may be found.

METRE 2. The subject of this metre is from Plato, De Republica, x. Chaucer's translation begins with the 7th line of the Latin.

'Quos uides sedere celsos Solii culmine reges, Purpura claros nitente, Septos tristibus armis, Ore toruo comminantes, Rabie cordis anhelos, Detrahat si quis superbis Vani tegmina cultus, Iam uidebit intus arctas Dominos ferre catenas. Hinc enim libido uersat Auidis corda uenenis; Hinc flagellat ira mentem Fluctus turbida tollens, Moeror aut captos fatigat, Aut spes lubrica torquet. Ergo, cum caput tot unum Cernas ferre tyrannos, Non facit, quod optat, ipse Dominis pressus iniquis.'

12. _tyrannyes._ This reading (in C ed.) gives the sense better than the reading _tyrauntis_ (in A); although the latter is quite literal.

PROSE 3. 7. _stadie_, race-course: 'in stadio'; which Chaucer explains by 'furlong.'

10. _purposed_, equivalent to _proposed_; 'praemium commune propositum.'

14. _For which thing_: 'quare probos mores sua praemia non relinquunt.'

25, 26. _so as_, whereas. _for men_, because men.

27. _part-les_, without his share of: 'praemii ... expertem.'

35. _no day_: 'quod nullus deterat dies.'

39. _undepartable_, inseparable: 'inseparabili poena.'

49. _may it semen_: 'possuntne sibi supplicii expertes uideri, quos omnium malorum extrema nequitia non afficit modò, verumetiam uehementer inficit?'

70. _under_, beneath, below: 'infra hominis meritum.'

METRE 3. 1. _aryvede_, cause to arrive, drove: 'appulit.'

_the sailes_: 'Vela Neritii ducis;' Chaucer inserts _Ulixes_, i. e. Ulysses. The phrase is from Ovid: 'Dux quoque Neritius,' i. e. Ulysses; Fasti, iv. 69. Neritos was a mountain of Ithaca, the island of Ulysses. MS. C. reads _Naricii_, which accounts for the form _Narice_.

3. _Circes_, Circe, as in Ho. Fame, 1272; inserted by Chaucer.

7. _that oon of hem_: 'Hunc apri facies tegit.'--'One of them, his face is covered,' &c.

9. _Marmorike_: 'Marmaricus leo.' This refers to the country of Barca, on the N. African coast, to the W. of Egypt.

13. _But al-be-it_: 'Sed licet uariis modis Numen Arcadis alitis Obsitum miserans ducens Peste soluerit hospitis.' _Arcas ales_, the winged Arcadian, i. e. Mercury, because born on the Arcadian mountain Cyllene.

16. _algates_, at any rate; _by this_, already.

19. _akornes of okes_; this is not tautology, for an _acorn_ was, originally, any fruit of the field, as the etymology (from _acre_) shews.

23. _over-light_, too light, too feeble: 'O leuem nimium manum, Nec potentia gramina, Membra quae ualeant licet, Corda uertere non ualent.'

32. _for vyces_: 'Dira, quae penitus meant, Nec nocentia corpori Mentis uulnere saeuiunt.'

PROSE 4. 2. _ne I ne see nat_: 'nec iniuria dici uideo uitiosos, tametsi humani corporis speciem seruent, in belluas tamen animorum qualitate mutari.' Chaucer's 'as by right' should rather be 'as by wrong.' It means 'I do not see that it is wrongly said.'

4, 5. _But I nolde_, but I would rather that it were not so with regard to evil men: 'eis licere noluissem.'

18. _to mowen don_, to be able to do: 'potuisse.'

22. _three_, i. e. the triple misfortune of _wishing_ to do evil, of _being able_ to do it, and of _doing_ it.

26. _thilke unselinesse_: 'hoc infortunio'; i. e. the ability to sin.

28. _So shullen_: 'Carebunt, inquit, ocius, quàm uel tu forsitan uelis, uel illi sese existiment esse carituros.'

30. _For ther_: 'Neque enim est aliquid in tam breuibus uitae metis ita serum, quod exspectare longum immortalis praesertim animus putet.'

39. _by the outtereste_: 'eorum malitiam ... mors extrema finiret.'

42. _ben perdurable_, i. e. to exist eternally: 'infinitam liquet esse miseriam, quam constat esse aeternam.'

51. _ther is not why_, there is no reason why.

54. _but of the thinges_: 'sed ex his, quae sumpta sunt, aeque est necessarium.'

64. _but I understande_: 'sed alio quodam modo infeliciores esse improbos arbitror impunitos, tametsi nulla ratio correctionis, nullus respectus habeatur exempli.' Thus 'non ensaumple of lokinge' is wrong; it should rather be 'non lokinge of ensaumple,' i. e. no regard to the example thus set.

90. _which defaute_: 'quam iniquitatis merito malum esse confessus es.' Hence 'for the deserte of felonye' means 'when we consider what wickedness deserves.'

102. _to leten_, to leave: 'nullane animarum supplicia ... relinquis?'

132. _briddes_, i. e. owls. See Parl. Foules, 599.

142. _right as thou_: 'ueluti si uicibus sordidam humum caelumque respicias, cunctis extra cessantibus, ipsa cernendi ratione nunc coeno nunc sideribus interesse uidearis.'

153. Wrong. It should rather run: 'sholde we wene that _we_ were blinde?' Lat. 'num uidentes eadem caecos putaremus?'

193. _in al_, altogether: 'tota,' sc. opera defensorum.

197, 8. _at any clifte_: 'aliqua rimula.'

_sawen_, if they should perceive: 'uiderent.'

200. _right for_: 'compensatione adipiscendae probitatis.' Hence _for to geten hem_ means 'of obtaining for themselves.'

205. _y-leten_, left: 'nullus prorsus odio locus relinquatur.'

METRE 4. 1. _What delyteth you_, Why does it delight you? 'Quid tantos iuuat excitare motus?'

Lines 8-10 are put interrogatively in the Latin text.

9. _and wilnen_: 'Alternisque uolunt perire telis.'

10. _But the resoun_: 'Non est iusta satis saeuitiae ratio.'

PROSE 5. 9. _y-shad_, shed, spread abroad: 'transfunditur.'

20. _hepeth_: 'Nunc stuporem meum Deus rector exaggerat.'

METRE 5. The Latin text begins thus:--

'Si quis Arcturi sidera nescit Propinqua summo cardine labi, Cur legat tardus plaustra Boötes, Mergatque seras aequore flammas, Cum nimis celeres explicet ortus, Legem stupebit aetheris alti.'

1. _sterres of Arcture_, the stars of the constellation Arcturus. Arcturus was (as here) another name for Boötes, though it properly meant the brightest star in that constellation. It is at no great distance from the north pole, and so appears to revolve round it. The passage, which is somewhat obscure, seems to refer to the manner of the rising and setting of Boötes; and the argument is, that a person ignorant of astronomy, must be puzzled to understand the laws that rule the motions of the sky.

3. _the sterre_, the constellation. Chaucer uses _sterre_ in this sense in several passages; see Kn. Tale, A 2059, 2061, and the notes.

8. _the fulle mone._ This alludes to an eclipse of the moon, as appears from below.

9. _infect_: 'Infecta metis noctis opacae.'

_confuse_, confounded, overcome; the light of the moon disappears in a full eclipse, rendering the stars brighter.

11. _The comune errour_: 'Commouet gentes publicus error.' The people who do not understand an eclipse, are excited by it; they bring out basins, and beat them with a loud din, to frighten away the spirit that is preying on the moon. Chaucer calls them _Corybantes_, but these were the priests of Cybele. Still, they celebrated her rites to the sound of noisy music; and he may have been thinking of a passage in Ovid, Fasti, iv. 207-14. C. adds a gloss: 'i. vulgaris error, quo putatur luna incantari.'

12. _thikke strokes_, frequent strokes. The word resembles _thilke_ in C., because _lk_ is not unfrequently written for _kk_ in the fifteenth century, to the confusion of some editors; see my paper on Ghost-words, in the Philol. Soc. Trans. 1886, p. 370.

18. _by quakinge flodes_: 'frementi ... fluctu.'

23. _alle thinges_: 'Cuncta, quae rara prouehit aetas.'

24. _troubly errour_: 'nubilus error.'

PROSE 6. 9. _laven it_, to exhaust the subject: 'cui uix exhausti quidquam satis sit.' As to _lave_, see note to Bk. iii. Met. 12-16.

13. _Ydre_, Hydra; see note below to Met. 7. The form is due to _hydrae_ (MS. _hydre_) in the Latin text.

_Ne ther ... ende_: 'nec ullus fuerit modus.' _Manere_ is not the sense of _modus_ here; it rather means _ende_ or 'limit.'

14. _but-yif_: 'nisi quis eas uiuacissimo mentis igne coërceat.'

24, 5. _But althogh_: 'Quòd si te musici carminis oblectamenta delectant, hanc oportet paullisper differas uoluptatem, dum nexas sibi ordine contexo rationes.' This is said, because this 'Prose' is of unusual length. For _sibi_, another reading is _tibi_; hence Chaucer's 'weve _to thee_ resouns.'

30. _muable_, mutable, changeable: 'mutabilium naturarum.' Cf. Kn. Tale, A 2994-3015.

33. _in the tour_: 'Haec in suae simplicitatis arce composita, multiplicem rebus gerendis modum statuit.'

48. _but destinee_: 'fatum uero singula digerit in motum, locis, formis, ac temporibus distributa.'

59. _and ledeth_: 'et quod simpliciter praesentarieque prospexit, per temporales ordines ducit.' Cf. Troilus, i. 1065-9.

67. _by some sowle_; glossed 'anima mundi.' This idea is from Plato, De Legibus, bk. x: [Greek: psychên dê dioikousan kai enoikousan en hapasi tois pantê kinoumenois môn ou kai ton ouranon anankê dioikein phanai]; (896 D).

68. _by the celestial_, &c.; alluding to the old astrology.

81. _a same centre_; i.e. concentric circles, as on a target.

87. _and yif ther be_: 'si quid uero illi se medio connectat et societ, in simplicitatem cogitur, diffundique ac diffluere cessat.'

93. _laus_, loose; from Icel. _lauss_. Also spelt _loos_, _los_. _it axeth_: 'quantò illum rerum cardinem uicinius petit.' Thus _it axeth_ is due to 'petit,' i.e. seeks, tends to.

97. _Thanne right swich_: 'Igitur uti est ad intellectum ratiocinatio; ad id quod est, id quod gignitur; ad aeternitatem tempus; ad puncti medium circulus: ita est fati series mobilis ad prouidentiae stabilem simplicitatem.'

108. _whan they passen_: 'cùm ... proficiscantur.' Thus _whan_ should rather be _so as_, i.e. whereas, because.

112. _unable to ben ybowed_: 'indeclinabilem caussarum ordinem promat.'

114. _sholden fleten_: 'res ... temerè fluituras.'

_For which it is_: 'Quo fit.'

116. _natheles_: 'nihilominus tamen suus modus ad bonum dirigens cuncta disponat.'

121. _ne the ordre_: 'ne dum ordo de summi boni cardine proficiscens, a suo quoquam deflectat exordio.' MS. C. has 'deflectatur.'

123. 'Quae uero, inquies, potest ulla iniquior esse confusio.' For 'iniquior,' MS. C. has the extraordinary reading 'inquiescior,' which Chaucer seems to have tried to translate.

138. _Ne it ne is nat_: 'Non enim dissimile est miraculum nescienti.'

145. _hele of corages_: 'animorum salus.'

148. _lecher_, i.e. leech-er, healer: 'medicator mentium Deus.'

151. _leneth hem_, gives them: 'quod conuenire nouit, accommodat.' Printed _leueth_ in Dr. Furnivall's print of MS. C., but _leneth_ in Morris's edition of MS. A. There is no doubt as to the right reading, because _accommodare_ and _lenen_ are both used in the sense 'to lend.'

154. _for to constreine_: 'ut pauca ... perstringam,' i.e. 'to touch lightly on a few things.' Chaucer has taken it too literally, but his paraphrase is nearly right.

157. _right kepinge_: 'aequi seruantissimum.'

159. _my familer_: 'familiaris noster Lucanus.' Alluding to the famous line:--'Victrix caussa deis placuit, sed uicta Catoni'; Pharsalia, i. 128.

168. _with-holden_, retain: 'retinere fortunam.'

176. _by me_, by my means, by my help: 'Nam ut quidam me quoque excellentior ait.' This looks like a slip on the part of Boethius himself, for the supposed speaker is Philosophy herself. The philosopher here alluded to still remains unknown. MS. C. has 'me quidem'; and 'me' is glossed by 'philosophus per me.'

177. _in Grek._ Some MSS. have: [Greek: andros hierou sôma dynameis oikodomousi]. There are various readings, but Chaucer had before him only the interpretation: 'Viri sacri corpus aedificauerunt uirtutes.' Such is the reading in MS. C.

179. _taken_, delivered, entrusted. 'Fit autem saepe, uti bonis summa rerum gerenda deferatur.'

182. _remordeth_: 'remordet,' i.e. plagues, troubles.

186. _And other folk_: 'Alii plus aequo metuunt, quod ferre possunt.'

201. _of wikkede merite_: 'eos male meritos omnes existimant.'

206. _serven to shrewes_: 'famulari saepe improbis.' _I trowe_: 'illud etiam dispensari credo.'

207, 8. _overthrowinge to yvel_: 'praeceps.'

209. _egren him_: 'eum ... exacerbare possit.'

219. _shal be cause_: 'ut exercitii bonis, et malis esset caussa supplicii.' Hence _continuacion_ seems to mean 'endurance' or 'continuance.'

242. _sin that_: the original is in Greek, with (in MS. C.) the false gloss:--'fortissimus in mundo Deus omnia regit.' The Greek is--[Greek: Argaleon de me tauta theon hôs pant' agoreuein]. From Homer, Il. xii. 176, with the change from [Greek: agoreusai] to [Greek: agoreuein].

247. _with-holden_, to retain, keep, maintain; 'retinere.'

253. _ben outrageous or haboundant_: 'abundare.' Hence _outrageous_ is 'superfluous' or 'excessive.'

257. _and whan_: 'quo refectus, firmior in ulteriora contendas.'

METRE 6. 1. 'Si uis celsi iura tonantis Pura sollers cernere mente, Adspice summi culmina caeli'; &c.

5. _cercle_: 'Non Sol ... Gelidum Phoebes impedit axem.'

6. _Ne the sterre_: 'Nec quae summo uertice mundi Flectit rapidos Ursa meatus, Numquam occiduo lota profundo, Cetera cernens sidera mergi, Cupit Oceano tingere flammas.' Hence _deyen_ is to dye, to dip.

10. _Hesperus_, the evening-star; _Lucifer_, the morning-star.

13. _And thus_: 'Sic aeternos reficit cursus Alternus amor; sic astrigeris Bellum discors exsulat oris. Haec concordia temperat aequis Elementa modis, ut pugnantia Vicibus cedant humida siccis'; &c.

20, 1. _in the firste somer-sesoun warminge_: 'uere tepenti.' This is not the only place where _uer_ is translated _somer-sesoun_, a phrase used as applicable to May in P. Plowman, Prol. 1. Another name for 'spring' was _Lent_ or _Lenten_.

24. _and thilke_: 'Eadem rapiens condit et aufert Obitu mergens orta supremo.'

29. _And tho_: 'Et quae motu concitat ire, Sistit retrahens, ac uaga firmat.'

31. _For yif_: 'Nam nisi rectos reuocans itus, Flexos iterum cogat in orbes, Quae nunc stabilis continet ordo, Dissepta suo fonte fatiscant.'

37. _This is_: 'Hic est cunctis communis amor Repetuntque boni fine teneri, Quia non aliter durare queunt, Nisi conuerso rursus amore Refluant caussae, quae dedit esse.'

PROSE 7. 57. _ne also it_: 'ita uir sapiens molestè ferre non debet, quotiens in fortunae certamen adducitur.'

60. _matere_, material, source.

62. _vertu._ Boethius here derives _uirtus_ from _uires_: 'quod suis _uiribus_ nitens non superetur aduersis.'

64. _Ne certes_: 'Neque enim uos in prouectu positi uirtutis, diffluere deliciis, et emarcescere uoluptate uenistis; proelium cum omni fortuna nimis acre conseritis, ne uos aut tristis opprimat, aut iucunda corrumpat: firmis medium uiribus occupate.'

72. _in your hand_: 'In uestra enim situm est manu.'

METRE 7. 1. _wreker_, avenger; _Attrides_, Atrides, i.e. Agamemnon, son of Atreus. Chaucer derived the spelling _Agamenon_ from a gloss in MS. C. Gower (C. A. ii. 344) has the same form.

2. _recovered_: 'Fratris amissos thalamos piauit.'

5. _Menelaus_, &c.; 'that was his brother Menelaus' wife.' The usual idiom; see note to Squieres Tale, E 209.

9. _doughter_, i.e. Iphigenia; Ovid, Met. xii. 27-38.

13. _Itacus_: 'Fleuit amissos Ithacus sodales.' The well-known story of Ulysses of Ithaca; from Homer, Od. ix.

15. _empty_; as if translating 'inani.' But the right reading is _inmani_ (or _immani_); i.e. 'vast.' MS. C. 'inmani,' glossed 'magno.'

20. _Hercules._ See Monkes Tale, B 3285, and the notes. In the first note, this passage from Boethius is given at length.

21. _Centaures_, Centaurs; Hercules was present at the fight between the Centauri and Lapithae; Ovid, Met. xii. 541; ix. 191.

22. _lyoun_, the Nemean lion; Ovid, Met. ix. 197, 235; Her. ix. 61.

23. _Arpyes_, the Harpies; with reference to the destruction of the Stymphalian birds, who ate human flesh; Met. ix. 187. The gloss in the footnote--_in the palude of lyrne_ (in the marsh of Lerna) is a mistake; it should refer to the Hydra mentioned below.

25. _dragoun_, the dragon in the garden of the Hesperides; Met. ix. 190. The 'golden metal' refers to the golden apples.

26. _Cerberus_; Ovid, Met. ix. 185.

27. _unmeke_, proud; see note to Monkes Tale, B 3293; and Ovid, Met. ix. 194-6. Note that _hors_ (= horses) is plural.

29. _Ydra_, Hydra; Ovid, Met. ix. 192.

30. _Achelous_; see the story in Ovid, Met. ix. 1-97. Boethius imitates Ovid, l. 97, viz. 'Et lacerum cornu mediis caput abdidit undis.'

35. _Antheus_, Antaeus; Ovid, Met. ix. 184. For the story, see Lucan, Phars. iv. 590-660; Lucan refers to _Lybia_ as the place of combat; l. 582.

36. _Cacus_; see the story in Ovid, Fasti, i. 543-86.

39. _boor_, the boar of Erymanthus; Ovid, Her. ix. 87. For _scomes_ (lit. scums), Caxton and Thynne have _vomes_, for _fomes_ (foams).

40. _the whiche_, 'which shoulders were fated to sustain (lit. thrust against) the high sphere of heaven.' Alluding to Hercules, when he took the place of Atlas.

45. _nake_, expose your unarmed backs (Lat. nudatis), like one who runs away. An unarmed man was usually said to be _naked_; as in Othello, v. 2. 258; 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 234; &c.