BOOK V.

PROSE 1. 3. A mistranslation. 'Recta quidem exhortatio, tuaque prorsus auctoritate dignissima.'

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 MS. Ii. 1. 38, whence, by dropping one _the_, the reading _to the_ in C. and Ed. MS. A. alters it to _the to the_, absurdly. The fact is, that _to thee_ belongs to the next clause. 'Festino, inquit, debitum promissionis absoluere, uiamque _tibi_,' &c.

14. _to douten_, to be feared; 'uerendumque est.'

28. _left, or dwellinge_, left, or remaining (_reliquus_). 'Quis enim ... locus esse ullus temeritati reliquus potest?'

31. _nothing_: 'nihil ex nihilo exsistere.' Referring to the old saying:--'Ex nihilo nihil fit.'

34. _prince and beginnere_ oddly represents Lat. 'principio.' _casten it_, laid it down: 'quasi quoddam iecerint fundamentum.' I supply _it_.

44. _Aristotulis_, Aristotle. The reference is to Aristotle's Physics, bk. ii. ch. 5.

47. _for grace_, for the sake of; 'gratia.'

50. _Right as_, just as if. _by cause_, for the purpose.

55. _ne dolve_, had not digged; subj. mood.

57. _abregginge._ A mistranslation. 'Hae sunt igitur fortuiti caussae compendii'; these then are the causes of this fortuitous acquisition. _Compendium_ also means 'an abbreviating,' which Chaucer here expresses by _abbregginge_, introducing at the same time the word 'hap,' to make some sense.

66. _uneschuable_, inevitable; 'ineuitabili.'

METRE 1. 2. _Achemenie_: 'Rupis Achaemeniae scopulis,' in the crags of the Achæmenian rock or mountain. _Achaemenius_ signifies 'Persian,' from Achaemenes, the grandfather of Cyrus; but is here extended to mean Armenian. The sources of the Tigris and Euphrates are really different, though both rise in the mountains of Armenia; they run for a long way at no great distance apart, and at last join.

3. _fleinge bataile_, the flying troop; with reference to the well-known Parthian habit, of shooting arrows at those who pursue them; see Vergil, Georg. iii. 31.

5. _yif they_, when they; meaning that they _do_ converge.

9. _and the wateres_: 'Mixtaque fortuitos implicet unda modos: Quae tamen ipsa uagos terrae decliuia cursus Gurgitis et lapsi defluus ordo regit.'

14. _it suffereth_: 'Fors patitur frenos, ipsaque lege meat.'

PROSE 2. 4, 5. _destinal_, fatal; 'fatalis.' _corages_, minds.

10. _thinges ... fleen_, i.e. to be avoided: 'fugienda.'

13. _is_, i.e. is in, resides in: 'quibus in ipsis inest ratio.'

14. _ordeyne_, determine: 'constituo.'

16. _sovereines_, the supreme divine substances. This is a good example of adjectives of French origin with a plural in _-es_.

17, 18. _wil_: 'et incorrupta uoluntas.' _might_: 'potestas.'

27. _talents_, affections: 'affectibus.'

30. _caitifs_, captive: 'propriâ libertate captiuae.' Ll. 30-34 are repeated in Troilus, iv. 963-6; q.v.

34. _in Greek_: [Greek: pant' ephora kai pant' epakouei]. From Homer, Iliad, iii. 277--[Greek: Êelios th', hos pant' ephoras kai pant' epakoueis]. Cf. Odys. xii. 323.

METRE 2. 1, 2. _with the_, &c.; 'Melliflui ... oris.' _cleer_, bright; alluding to the common phrase in Homer: [Greek: lampron phaos êelioio]; Il. i. 605, &c.

8. _strok_: 'Uno mentis cernit in ictu.'

PROSE 3. A large portion of this Prose, down to l. 71, is paraphrased in Troilus, iv. 967-1078; q.v.

12. _libertee of arbitre_, freedom of will (arbitrii).

19. _proeve_, approve of: 'Neque ... illam probo rationem.'

30. _but ... ytravailed_: 'Quasi uero ... laboretur'; which means, rather, 'as if the question were.'

35. _But I ne_, &c. The translation is here quite wrong; and as in another place, Chaucer seems to have read _nitamur_ as _uitamus_. The text has: 'At nos illud demonstrare nitamur.' The general sense is: 'But let me endeavour to shew, that, in whatever manner the order of causes be arranged, the happening of things foreseen is necessary, although the foreknowledge does not seem to impose on future things a necessity of their happening.'

53. _For althogh that_; cf. Troil. iv. 1051-7, which is clearer.

55. _therfore ne bityde they nat_, it is not on _that_ account that they happen. Cf. 'Nat that it comth for it purveyed is'; Troil. iv. 1053.

71. _at the laste_, finally: 'Postremò.'

78. _that I ne wot it._ The _ne_ is superfluous, though in all the copies. The sense is--'if I know a thing, it cannot be false (must be true) that I know it.'

80. _wanteth lesing_, is free from falsehood: 'mendacio careat.'

90, 1. _egaly_, equally: 'aeque.' _indifferently_, impartially.

94. _Iape-worthy,_ ridiculous: 'ridiculo.' From Horace, Sat. ii. 5. 59--'O Laërtiade, quicquid dicam, aut erit, aut non.'

116. _sent_, for _sendeth_, sends: 'mittit.'

117. _constreineth_: 'futuri cogit certa necessitas.'

121. _discrecioun_, discernment: 'indiscreta confusio.'

_And yit_, &c. To make sense, read _than whiche_ for _of the whiche_. The whole clause, from _And yit_ down to _wikke_ is expanded from 'Quoque nihil sceleratius excogitari potest.'

131. _sin that_: 'quando optanda omnia series indeflexa connectit?'

141. _that nis nat ... or that_, that cannot be approached before. The Latin is: 'illique inaccessae luci, prius quoque quam impetrent, ipsa supplicandi ratione coniungi.'

142. _impetren_, ask for it; such is the reading of MS. Ii. 1. 38. A coined word, from the Lat. _impetrent_; see the last note.

146. _linage of mankind_, the human race; to which _his_ (its) twice refers below.

147. _a litel her-biforn_; i.e. in Bk. iv. Met. 6. 34, where we find--'they sholden departen from hir welle, that is to seyn, from hir biginninge, and faylen.' See p. 122.

METRE 3. 1. _What_, &c.: 'Quaenam discors foedera rerum Caussa resoluit?'

2. _the coniunccioun_; but this gloss seems to be wrong, for the reference is rather (as Chaucer, following a sidenote in MS. C., says in l. 5) to foreknowledge and free will.

3. _Whiche god_, i.e. what divinity: 'Quis tanta deus Veris statuit bella duobus?'

7. _But ther nis._ The Lat. text is put interrogatively: 'An nulla est discordia ueris, Semperque sibi certa cohaerent?'

10. _by fyr_: 'oppressi luminis igne.'

12. _But wherefore_: 'Sed cur tanto flagrat amore Veri tectas reperire notas?' It thus appears that _y-covered_, i.e. 'that are hidden,' refers to _thilke notes_, not to _sooth_; cf. l. 15. But the translation is not at all happy.

16. _Wot it_: 'Scitne, quod appetit anxia nosse?'

18. _seith thus_: 'Sed quis nota scire laborat? At si nescit, quid caeca petit? Quis enim quidquam nescius optet?'

23. _or who_: 'Aut quis ualeat nescita sequi? Quoue inueniat, quisue repertam Queat ignarus noscere formam?'

26. _But whan_: not a statement, as here taken, but a question. 'An cùm mentem cerneret altam Pariter summam et singula norat?' The translation is quite incorrect, and the passage is difficult. The reference seems to be to the supposition that the soul, apart from the body, sees both universals and particulars, but its power in the latter respect is impeded by the body; ideas taken from Plato's Meno and Phædo.

32, 33. _withholdeth_, retains: 'tenet.' _singularitees_, particulars: 'singula.'

34. _in neither nother_, put for _in ne either ne other_, i.e. not in one nor in the other; or, in modern English, 'he is neither in one position nor the other': 'Neutro est habitu.' This curious phrase is made clearer by comparing it with the commoner _either other_. Thus, in P. Plowman, B. v. 148: '_either_ despiseth _other_'; in the same, B. v. 164: '_eyther_ hitte _other_'; and again, in B. xi. 173: 'that alle manere men .. Louen her _eyther other_'; and, in B. vii. 138: 'apposeden _either other_'; and lastly, in B. xvi. 207: '_either_ is _otheres_ Ioye.'

36. _retreteth_, reconsiders: 'altè uisa _retractans_.'

PROSE 4. 2. _Marcus Tullius_, i.e. Cicero; De Diuinatione, lib. ii. 60.

8. _moeven to_: 'ad diuinae praescientiae simplicitatem non potest admoueri.'

15. _y-spended_, spent; but the right sense of the Latin is weighed or considered: 'si prius ea quibus moueris, _expendero_.'

22. _from elles-where_: 'aliunde'; compare Chaucer's gloss.

24. _unbityde_, not happen: 'non euenire non possunt.'

27. _thou thyself._ The reference is to Bk. v. Pr. 3. l. 27, above--'ne it ne bihoveth nat, nedes, that thinges bityden that ben purvyed.'

28, 9. _what cause_: 'quid est, quod uoluntarii exitus rerum ad certum cogantur euentum?' _endes_, results: 'exitus;' and so again below.

30. _by grace of position_, for the sake of a supposition, by way of supposition: 'positionis gratia.' Cf. Chaucer's use of _pose_ for 'suppose' in the next line. The reading _possessioun_ (in both MSS.) is obviously wrong; it sounds as if taken down from dictation.

31. _I pose_, I suppose, I put the case: 'statuamus nullam esse praescientiam.' The words 'per impossibile' are inserted by Chaucer, and mean, 'to take an impossible case.'

56. _But, certes, right_; only, indeed, just as, &c. It is difficult to give the right force intended; and, probably, Chaucer quite mistook the sense. 'Quasi uero nos ea, quae prouidentia futura esse praenoscit, non esse euentura credamus.'

62. _in the torninge_: 'in quadrigis moderandis atque flectendis.'

63. _And by_: 'atque ad hunc modum caetera.'

100. _and for that this thing shal mowen shewen_, and in order that this may appear (lit. may be able to appear). The whole clause merely means--'And to make this clearer by an easy example.' Lat. 'Nam ut hoc breui liqueat exemplo.'

101. _roundnesse_ is here in the objective case: 'eandem corporis rotunditatem aliter uisus aliter tactus agnoscit.'

107. _And the man_: 'Ipsum quoque hominem.' _wit_, i.e. sense. The 'five wits' were the five senses.

113. _spece_, species. _peces_, parts; _in the singuler peces_, i.e. in the particular parts.

114. _intelligence_, understanding; 'intelligentiae.'

115. _universitee_, that which is universal: 'uniuersitatis ambitum.'

133. _by a strok_: 'illo uno ictu mentis formaliter.'

137. _diffinissheth_, defines the universality of her conception.

METRE 4. 1. _The Porche_; in Latin, _Porticus_; in Gk. [Greek: stoa], a roofed colonnade or porch in Athens, frequented by Zeno and his followers, who hence obtained the name of Stoics.

'Quondam Porticus attulit Obscuros nimium senes, Qui sensus, et imagines E corporibus extimis Credant mentibus imprimi.'

10. TEXT. The Latin text continues thus:--

'Vt quondam celeri stilo Mos est aequore paginae Quae nullas habeat notas, Pressas figere litteras.'

11. _pointel_; see note to Somn. Tale, D 1742. And cf. Troilus, i. 365; Cant. Ta. E 1581, 2.

15. _But yif_:

'Sed mens si propriis uigens Nihil motibus explicat Sed tantùm patiens iacet Notis subdita corporum, Cassasque in speculi uicem Rerum reddit imagines. Vnde haec sic animis uiget Cernens omnia notio? Quae uis singula prospicit, Aut quae cognita diuidit? Quae diuisa recolligit, Alternumque legens iter Nunc summis caput inserit, Nunc desidit in infima, Tum sese referens sibi, Veris falsa redarguit?'

32. _passioun_, passive feeling, impression: 'passio.'

PROSE 5. 1. _But what yif ... and al be it so_, Nevertheless, even if it be so: 'Quod si ... quamuis.'

4. _entalenten_, affect, incline, stimulate: 'afficiant.'

18. _For the wit_, i.e. the sense, the external senses.

21. _as oystres ... see_: the Latin merely has: 'quales sunt conchae maris.'

23. _remuable_, capable of motion from place to place: 'mobilibus belluis.'

_talent_, inclination, desire, wish: 'affectus.'

30. _But how ... yif that_, but how will it be if?

33. _that that that_, that _that_ thing which.

35. _ne that ther nis_, so that there is: 'nec quicquam esse sensibile.'

49. _maner stryvinge_, sort of strife: 'In huiusmodi igitur lite.'

62. _parsoneres_, partners of, endowed with. The modern _partner_ represents the M. E. _parcener_, variant of _parsoner_, from O. F. _parsonier_, representing a Latin form _*partitionarius_. Lat. 'participes.'

66. _For which_: 'Quare in illius summae intelligentiae cacumen, si possumus, erigamur.'

METRE 5. 1. _passen by_, move over: 'permeant.'

6. _by moist fleeinge_: 'liquido ... uolatu.' _gladen hemself_, delight: 'gaudent.'

7. _with hir goings ... feet_: 'gressibus.'

9. _to walken under_, to enter: 'subire.'

10. _enclined_, i.e. enclined earthwards: 'Prona.'

11. _hevieth_, oppresses: 'Prona tamen facies hebetes ualet ingrauare sensus.' From Aristotle, On the Parts of Animals, Bk. iv. [Greek: Dio pleionos genomenou tou barous kai tou sômatôdous, anankê rhepein ta sômata pros tên gên] (chap. 10). As to the upright carriage of man, see the same chapter. Cf. Ovid, Met. i. 84, and see note to Chaucer's 'Truth,' l. 19.

12. _light_, i.e. not bowed down: 'leuis recto stat corpore.'

14. _axest_, seemest to seek: 'caelum ... petis.'

PROSE 6. 21. _as Aristotle demed_; in De Caelo, lib. i.

33. _present_: 'et sui compos praesens sibi semper assistere.'

42. _Plato._ This notion is found in Proclus and Plotinus, and other followers of Plato; but Plato himself really expressed a contrary opinion, viz. that the world had a definite beginning. See his Timæus.

48. _For this ilke_: 'Hunc enim uitae immobilis praesentarium statum infinitus ille temporalium rerum motus imitatur; cumque eum effingere atque aequare non possit, ex immobilitate deficit in motum, et ex simplicitate praesentiae decrescit in infinitam futuri ac praeteriti quantitatem;' &c.

53. _disencreseth_; a clumsy form for _decreseth_: 'decrescit.'

65. _therfor it_: 'infinitum temporis iter arripuit.'

81. _it is science_: 'sed scientiam nunquam deficientis instantiae rectius aestimabis.'

82. _For which_: 'Unde non praeuidentia, sed prouidentia, potius dicitur.' The footnote to l. 83 is wrong, as Dr. Furnivall's reprint of MS. C. is here at fault. That MS. (like MS. Ii. 1. 38) has here the correct reading 'p_re_uydence,' without any gloss at all. The gloss 'p_ro_uidentia' belongs to the word 'purviaunce.' Hence the reading 'previdence,' which I thought to be unsupported, is really supported by two good MSS.

86. _Why axestow ... thanne_: 'Quid igitur postulas?'

112. _he ne unwot_: 'quod idem exsistendi necessitate carere non nesciat.'

116. _it ne may nat unbityde_: 'id non euenire non posse.'

119. _but unnethe_: 'sed cui uix aliquis nisi diuini speculator accesserit.'

150, 1. _in beinge_, in coming to pass: 'exsistendo.'

_by the which_: 'qua prius quam fierent, etiam non euenire potuissent.' MS. C. has the contraction for 'que,' i.e. 'quae'; but Chaucer clearly adopted the reading 'qua.' The usual reading is 'quia' or 'quae.'

154. _so as they comen_, since they come: 'cum ... eueniant.'

159. _the sonne arysinge._ See above, p. 148, l. 102: 'Right so,' &c.

185. _And thilke_: 'illa quoque noscendi uices alternare uideatur?'

191. _For the devyne_: 'Omne namque futurum diuinus praecurrit intuitus, et ad praesentiam propriae cognitionis retorquet ac reuocat.' Hence _retorneth hem_ means 'makes them return.'

193. _ne he ne_: 'nec alternat, ut existimas, nunc hoc, nunc illud praenoscendi uices; sed uno ictu mutationes tuas manens praeuenit atque complectitur.'

199. _a litel her-biforn._ See above, Bk. v. Pr. 3, ll. 62-65; &c.

207. _purposen_, propose, assign: 'proponunt.'

208. _to the willinges_: 'solutis omni necessitate uoluntatibus.'

211. _renneth ... with_, concurs with: 'concurrit.'

214. _put_, set: 'positae.' _that ne mowen_: 'quae cum rectae sunt, inefficaces esse non possunt.'

217. _areys thy corage_: 'animum subleuate.' _yilde_: 'humiles preces in excelsa porrigite.'

220. _sin that ye_: 'cum ante oculos agitis iudicis cuncta cernentis.' With the word 'cernentis' the Lat. treatise ends.

The words--'To whom ... Amen' occur in the Cambridge MS. only; and, in all probability, were merely added by the scribe. However, the Latin copy in that MS. adds, after 'cernentis,' the following: 'Qui est dominus noster Iesus Christus, cui sit honor et gloria in secula seculorum. AMEN.'

NOTES TO TROILUS.