BOOK I.

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 indicates the portions of these works which are more or less similar, down to the end of Book I. Similar tables are prefixed to the Notes on the other books. It often happens that a stanza in Chaucer has a mere general resemblance to the corresponding one in Boccaccio. The lines in Chaucer not mentioned below are, in the main, original; e.g. 1-20, 31-56, &c.; and so are many others that cannot be here more exactly specified.

CHAUCER: BOOK I. FILOSTRATO.

ll. 21-30. Bk. I. St. V, VI. 57-213. VII-XXV. 267-329. XXVI-XXXII. 6. 354-392. XXXII. 7-XXXVII. 400-420. [Petrarch: Sonnet 88.] 421-546. XXXVIII-LVII. 547-553. Bk. II. St. I. 568-630. II-X. 645-7, 666-7, 675-6. XI. 1, XIII. 7, 8, XI, 7, 8. 680-686. XII. 701-3, 708-9, 722-3. XIII, XV. 1. 860-889. XVI, XVII, XX-XXII. 897-900. XXIII. 1-3. 967-1060. XXIV-XXXIV.

2. 'That was the son of King Priam of Troy.'

5. _fro ye_, from you; observe the rime. The form _ye_ is not here the nom. case, but the _unemphatic form_ of the acc. _you_; pronounced (y[*e]), where ([*e]) is the indefinite vowel, like the _a_ in _China_. So in Shak. Two Gent. iv. 1. 3, 4, we have _about ye_ (unemphatic) in l. 3, and _you_ twice in l. 4.

6. _Thesiphone_, Tisiphone, one of the Furies, invoked as being a 'goddess of torment.' Cf. '_furial_ pyne of helle,' Sq. Ta. F 448.

13. _fere_, companion; viz. Tisiphone.

16. 'Nor dare pray to Love,' &c.

21. Cf. Boccaccio: 'Tuo sia l'onore, e mio si sia l'affanno,' Fil. I. st. 5. And see ll. 1042, 3 below.

57. Here begins the story; cf. Fil. I. st. 7. Bell remarks that 'a thousand shippes,' in l. 58, may have been suggested by 'mille carinae' in Verg. Æn. ii. 198; cf. 'anni decem' in the same line, with l. 60.

67. Read _éxpert_. _Calkas_ is Homer's Calchas, Il. i. 69. He was a Greek, but Guido makes him a Trojan, putting him in the place of Homer's Chryses. See the allit. Troy-book, 7886.

70. _Delphicus_, of Delphi; cf. Ovid, Met. ii. 543.

77. _Ye_, yea. _wolde who-so nolde_, whoever wished it or did not wish it. This idiomatic phrase is thus expressed in the MSS. Bell's edition has _wold who so or nolde_, where the _e_ in _wolde_ is suppressed and the word _or_ inserted without authority. I hesitate, as an editor, to alter an idiomatic phrase. Cf. _will he, nill he_, in which there is no _or_.

91. 'Deserve to be burnt, both skin and bones.'

99. _Criseyde_; Boccaccio has _Griseida_, answering to Homer's [Greek: Chrysêida], Il. i. 143. It was common, in the Middle Ages, to adopt the accusative form as the standard one, especially in proper names. Her father was Chryses; see note to l. 67. But Benoît de Sainte-Maure calls her _Briseida_, and _Chryseis_ and _Briseis_ seem to have been confused. The allit. Troy-book has _Bresaide_; l. 8029.

119. 'While it well pleases you'; _good_ is used adverbially. Ital. 'mentre t' aggrada.'

125. 'And would have done so oftener, if,' &c.

126. _and hoom_, and (went) home.

132, 133. This is a curious statement, and Chaucer's object in making it is not clear. Boccaccio says expressly that she had neither son nor daughter (st. 15); and Benoît (l. 12977) calls her 'la pucele.'

136. _som day_, one day; used quite generally.

138. 'And thus Fortune wheeled both of them up and down again.' Alluding to the wheel of Fortune; see the Ballade on Fortune, l. 46, and note.

145. _Troyane gestes_, Trojan history; cf. the title of Guido delle Colonne's book, viz. 'Historia Troiana,' which Chaucer certainly consulted, as shewn by several incidents in the poem.

146. _Omer_, Homer; whose account was considered untrustworthy by the medieval writers; see Ho. Fame, 1477, and note. _Dares_, Dares Phrygius; _Dyte_, Dictys Cretensis; see notes to Ho. Fame, 1467, 1468. These three authors really mean Guido delle Colonne, who professed to follow them.

153. _Palladion_, the Palladium or sacred image of Pallas, on the keeping of which the safety of Troy depended. It was stolen from Troy by Diomede and Ulysses; see Æneid, ii. 166. But Chaucer doubtless read the long account in Guido delle Colonne.

171. Hence Henrysoun, in his Testament of Criseyde, st. 12, calls her 'the flower and A-per-se Of Troy and Greece.' Cf. 'She was a woman A-per-se, alon'; Romance of Partenay, 1148. Boccaccio's image is much finer; he says that she surpassed other women as the rose does the violet. On the other hand, l. 175 is Chaucer's own.

172. _makelees_, matchless, peerless; cf. A.S. _gemaca_.

189. _lakken_, to blame; see P. Pl. B. v. 132.

192. _bayten_, feed, feast (metaphorically); E. _bait_.

205. _Ascaunces_, as if; in l. 292, the Ital. text has _Quasi dicesse_, as if she said. See Cant. Ta. D 1745, G 838. It is tautological, being formed from E. _as_ and the O.F. _quanses_, as if (Godefroy); so that the literal force is 'as as if.'

210. 'And nevertheless [or, still] he (Cupid) can pluck as proud a peacock (as was Troilus).' Cf. Prol. A 652.

214-266. These lines are Chaucer's own.

217. _falleth_, happens; _ne wenden_, would not expect. In Ray's Proverbs, ed. 1737, p. 279, is a Scotch proverb--'All fails that fools thinks' (_sic_); which favours the alternative reading given in the footnote.

218. _Bayard_, a name for a bay horse; see Can. Yem. Ta. G 1413.

229. _wex a-fere_, became on fire. _Fere_ is a common Southern form, as a variant of _fyre_, though _a-fyre_ occurs in Ho. Fame, 1858. The A.S. vowel is _[=y]_, the A.S. form being _f[=y]r_.

239. 'Has proved (to be true), and still does so.'

257. 'The stick that will bend and ply is better than one that breaks.' Compare the fable of the Oak and the Reed; see bk. ii. 1387.

266. _ther-to refere_, revert thereto. Halliwell gives: '_Refeere_, to revert; _Hoccleve_.' Chaucer here ends his own remarks, and goes back to the _Filostrato_.

292. _Ascaunces_, as if (she said); see note to l. 205.

316. _awhaped_, amazed, stupefied; see Anelida, 215; Leg. of Good Women, 132, 814, 2321; he was 'not utterly confounded,' but only dazed; cf. l. 322.

327. _borneth_, burnishes, polishes up; i.e. makes bright and cheerful. The rime shews that it is a variant spelling of _burneth_; cf. _burned_, burnished, Ho. Fame, 1387; Kn. Ta. A 1983.

MS. Harl. 3943 has _vnournith_, an error for _anorneth_, adorns; with a like sense.

333. _Him tit_, to him betideth; _tit_ is for _tydeth_.

336. _ordre_, sect, brotherhood; a jesting allusion to the religious orders. So also _ruled_ = under a religious rule.

337. _noun-certeyn_, uncertainty; cf. O.F. _noncerteit_, uncertainty (Godefroy); _nounpower_, want of power (P. Plowman); and F. _nonchalance_. Again spelt _noun-certeyn_, Compl. Venus, 46.

340. _lay_, law, ordinance; see Sq. Ta. F 18.

344. 'But observe this--that which ye lovers often avoid, or else do with a good intention, often will thy lady misconstrue it,' &c.

363. _a temple_, i.e. in the temple.

381. _First_ stands alone in the first foot. Cf. ll. 490, 603, 811.

385. _Yelt_, short for _yeldeth_, yields.

394. _writ_, writeth. _Lollius_; Chaucer's reason for the use of this name is not known. Perhaps we may agree with Dr. Latham, who suggested (in a letter to the _Athenæum_, Oct. 3, 1868, p. 433), that Chaucer misread this line in Horace (_Epist._ i. 2. 1), viz. 'Troiani belli scriptorem, maxime _Lolli_'; and thence derived the notion that Lollius wrote on the Trojan war. This becomes the more likely if we suppose that he merely saw this line quoted apart from the context. Chaucer does not seem to have read Horace for himself. As a matter of fact, ll. 400-420 are translated from the 88th sonnet of Petrarch. See note to Ho. of Fame, 1468. The following is the text of Petrarch's sonnet:

'S'amor non è, che dunque è quel ch' i'sento? Ma s'egli è amor, per Dio, che cosa e quale? Se buona, ond' è l'effetto aspro mortale? Se ria, ond' è si dolce ogni tormento? S'a mia voglia ardo, ond' è 'l pianto e'l lamento? S'a mal mia grado, il lamentar che vale? O viva morte, o dilettoso male, Come puoi tanto in me s'io nol consento? E s'io 'l consento, a gran torto mi doglio. Fra si contrari venti, in frale barca Mi trovo in alto mar, senza governo. Sì lieve di saver, d'error sì carca Ch' i' medesmo non so quel ch'io mi voglio, E tremo a mezza state, ardendo il verno.'

In l. 401, _whiche_ means 'of what kind.'

425. Ital. text--'Non so s'io dico a donna, ovvero a dea'; Fil. I. 38. Cf. Æneid, i. 327. Hence the line in Kn. Ta. A 1101.

457. _That_; in modern E., we should use _But_, or else _said not_ for _seyde_.

463. _Fled-de_ is here a plural form, the pp. being treated as an adjective. Cf. _sprad-de_, iv. 1422; _whet-te_, v. 1760.

464. _savacioun_; Ital. 'salute.' Mr. Rossetti thinks that _salute_ here means 'well-being' or 'health'; and perhaps _savacioun_ is intended to mean the same, the literal sense being 'safety.'

465. _fownes_, fawns; see Book of the Duch. 429. It is here used, metaphorically, to mean 'young desires' or 'fresh yearnings.' This image is not in Boccaccio.

470. I take the right reading to be _felle_, as in Cm. Ed., with the sense 'destructive.' As it might also mean 'happened,' other MSS. turned it into _fille_, which makes a most awkward construction. The sense is: 'The sharp destructive assaults of the proof of arms [i.e. which afforded proof of skill in fighting], which Hector and his other brothers performed, not once made him move on _that_ account only'; i.e. when he exerted himself, it was not for mere fighting's sake. Chaucer uses _fel_ elsewhere; the pl. _felle_ is in Troil. iv. 44; and see Cant. Ta. D 2002, B 2019. For _preve_, proof, see l. 690.

473, 4. _riden_ and _abiden_ (with short _i_) rime with _diden_, and are past tenses plural. l. 474 is elliptical: 'found (to be) one of the best, and (one of those who) longest abode where peril was.'

483. _the deeth_, i.e. the pestilence, the plague.

488. _title_, a name; he said it was 'a fever.'

517. _daunce_, i.e. company of dancers. Cf. Ho. Fame, 639, 640.

530-2. 'For, by my hidden sorrow, (when it is) blased abroad, I shall be befooled more, a thousand times, than the fool of whose folly men write rimes.' No particular reference seems to be intended by l. 532; the Ital. text merely has 'più ch' altro,' more than any one.

557. _attricioun_, attrition. 'An imperfect sorrow for sin, as if a bruising which does not amount to utter crushing (_contrition_); horror of sin through fear of punishment ... while _contrition_ has its motive in the love of God;' New E. Dict.

559. _ley on presse_, compress, diminish; cf. Prol. A 81.

560. _holinesse_, the leanness befitting a holy state.

626. 'That one, whom excess causes to fare very badly.'

631-679. Largely original; but, for l. 635, see note to Bk. III. 329.

638-644. There is a like passage in P. Pl. C. xxi. 209-217. Chaucer, however, here follows Le Roman de la Rose, 21819-40, q.v.

648. _amayed_, dismayed; O.F. _esmaier_. So in Bk. IV. l. 641.

654. _Oënone_ seems to have four syllables. MS. H. has _Oonone_; MS. Cm. _senome_ (over an erasure); MS. Harl. 3943, _Tynome_. Alluding to the letter of _Oenone_ to Paris in Ovid, Heroid. v.

659-665. Not at all a literal translation, but it gives the general sense of Heroid. v. 149-152:

'Me miseram, quod amor non est medicabilis herbis! Deficior prudens artis ab arte mea. Ipse repertor opis uaccas pauisse Pheraeas Fertur, et a nostro saucius igne fuit.'

_Ipse repertor opis_ means Phoebus, who 'first fond art of medicyne;' _Pheraeas_, i.e. of Pherae, refers to Pherae in Thessaly, the residence of king Admetus. Admetus gained Alcestis for his wife by the assistance of Apollo, who, according to some accounts, served Admetus out of attachment to him, or, according to other accounts, because he was condemned to serve a mortal for a year. Chaucer seems to adopt a theory that Apollo loved Admetus chiefly for his daughter's sake. The usual story about Apollo is his love for Daphne.

674. 'Even though I had to die by torture;' cf. Kn. Ta. A 1133.

686. 'Until it pleases him to desist.'

688. 'To mistrust every one, or to believe every one.'

694. _The wyse_, Solomon; see Eccles. iv. 10.

699. _Niobe_; 'lacrimas etiamnum marmora manant;' Ovid, Met. vi. 311.

705. 'That eke out (increase) their sorrows,' &c.

707. 'And care not to seek for themselves another cure.'

708. A proverb; see note to Can. Yem. Ta. G 746.

713. _harde grace_, misfortune; cf. Cant. Ta. G 665, 1189. Tyrwhitt quotes Euripides, Herc. Furens, 1250: [Greek: Gemô kakôn dê, kouket' esth' hopou tethê].

730, 731. From Boethius, Bk. I. Pr. 2. l. 14, and Pr. 4. l. 2.

739. 'On whose account he fared so.'

740. Compare: 'He makes a rod for his own breech'; Hazlitt's Proverbs.

745. 'For it (love) would sufficiently spring to light of itself.'

747. Cf. Rom. de la Rose, 7595-6.

763. 'But they do not care to seek a remedy.'

780. Pronounced _ben'cite_; see note to Cant. Ta. B 1170.

786. _Ticius_, Tityos. MS. H2. wrongly has _Siciphus_. 'The fowl that highte _voltor_, that eteth the stomak or the giser of Tityus, is so fulfild of his song that it nil eten ne tyren no more;' tr. of Boeth. Bk. III. Met. 12. 28. The original has:

'Vultur, dum satur est modis, Non traxit Tityi iecur.'

See also Verg. Æn. vi. 595; Ovid, Met. iv. 456.

811. First foot deficient, as in ll. 603, 1051, 1069, &c. _winter_, years. Perhaps imitated from Le Rom. de la Rose, 21145-9.

846, 847. See Boethius, Bk. ii. Pr. 3. 52-54.

848. From Boethius, Lib. II. Pr. 1: 'si manere incipit, fors esse desistit.' See p. 26 above, l. 83.

887. 'And, to augment all this the more.'

890-966. This is all Chaucer's own; so also 994-1008.

916. _a blaunche fevere_, a fever that turns men white; said jocosely. Lovers were supposed to be pale; Ovid, Art. Am. i. 729. Cotgrave is somewhat more precise. He gives: '_Fievres blanches_, the agues wherewith maidens that have the green sickness are troubled; hence, _Il a les fievres blanches_, either he is in love, or sick of wantonness.' In the Cuckoo and the Nightingale, l. 41, we find: 'I am so shaken with _the feveres white_.'

932. _beet_; beat thy breast (to shew thy repentance). Cf. P. Plowm. B. v. 454.

956. A proverb. 'The more haste, the worse speed (success).' Cf. Bk. iii. 1567, and The Tale of Melibeus, B 2244.

964. Dr. Köppel says--cf. Albertano of Brescia, Liber de Amore Dei, 45b: 'Iam et Seneca dixit, Non conualescit planta, quae saepe transfertur.'

969. 'A bon port estes arrivés'; Rom. de la Rose, 12964.

977. Fil. ii. st. 27: 'Io credo certo, ch' ogni donna in voglia Viva amorosa.'

1000. _post_, pillar, support; as in Prol. A 214.

1002. Cf. 'The greater the sinner, the greater the saint.'

1011. Understand _he_. 'He became, as one may say, untormented of his wo.'

1024. _cherl_, man. 'You are afraid the man will fall out of the moon!' Alluding to the old notion that the spots on the moon's surface represent a man with a bundle of sticks. See the curious poem on this subject in Wright's Specimens of Lyric Poetry, p. 110; also printed in Ritson's Ancient Songs, i. 68, and in Böddeker's Altenglische Dichtungen, p. 176, where a fear is expressed that the man may fall out of the moon. Cf. Temp. ii. 2. 141; Mids. Nt. Dr. v. 1. 249; and see Alex. Neckam, ed. Wright, pp. xviii, 54.

1026. 'Why, meddle with that which really concerns you,' i.e. mind your own business. Some copies needlessly turn this into a question and insert _ne_ before _hast_.

1038. 'And am I to be thy surety?'

1050. _Scan_: 'And yet m' athink'th ... m'asterte.' The sense is: 'And yet it repents me that this boast should escape me.'

1051. Deficient in the first foot: 'Now | Pandáre.' So in l. 1069.

1052. 'But thou, being wise, thou knowest,' &c. In this line, _thou_ seems to be emphatic throughout.

1058. Read _désiróus_; as in Book ii. 1101, and Sq. Ta. F 23.

1070. _Pandare_ is here trisyllabic; with unelided _-e_.

1078. The same line occurs in the Clerk. Ta. E 413.

1088. 'And is partly well eased of the aching of his wound, yet is none the more healed; and, like an easy patient (i.e. a patient not in pain), awaits (lit. abides) the prescription of him that tries to cure him; and thus he perseveres in his destiny.' _Dryveth forth_ means 'goes on with,' or 'goes through with.' The reading _dryeth_, i.e. endures, is out of place here, as it implies suffering; whereas, at the present stage, Troilus is extremely hopeful.