The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chaucerian and Other Pieces

'And every tree stood by him-selve

Fro other wel ten foot or twelve.'

35. 'The young leaves of the oak, when they first burst from the bud, are of a red, cinereous colour'; Bell.

37. Cf. 'this proces for to here'; A. L. 27. And again, 'pitous for to here; A. L. 718.

39-42. This seems to be a direct allusion to the Cuckoo and the Nightingale, ll. 52-4:—

'I wolde go som whider to assay

If that I might a nightingale here;

For yet had I non herd of al this yere.'

'Doun by a floury grene wente

Ful thikke of gras, ful softe and swete,...

And litel used, it semed thus.'

47. parde; a petty oath (being in French), such as a female writer might use; so in A. L. 753.

49, 50. For the herber and benches, see A. L. 48-9; also L. G. W. 203-4. For the phrase wel y-wrought, see A. L. 165.

53. Bell and Morris read wool, which is obviously right; but neither of them mention the fact that both Speght's editions have wel; and there is no other authority! Clearly, Speght's MS. had wol, which he misread as wel.

56. eglantere, eglantine, sweet-briar. Entered under eglatere in the New E. Dict., though the earlier quotations, in 1387 and 1459, have eglentere. I find no authority for the form eglatere except Speght's misprint in this line, which he corrects in l. 80 below. Tennyson's eglatere (Dirge, 23) is clearly borrowed from this very line.

75. Here espyed rimes with syde, wyde; in A. L. 193, it rimes with asyde and gyde.

89. The goldfinch is afterwards opposed to the nightingale. Hence he replaces the cuckoo in the poem of the Cuckoo and Nightingale. Just as the Cuckoo and Nightingale represent the faithless and the constant, so the goldfinch and the nightingale are attached, respectively, to the bright Flower and the long-lasting Leaf. This is explicitly said below; see ll. 439, 444.

98. in this wyse; appears also at the end of a line in A. L. 589; cf. in her gyse, A. L. 603; in ful pitous wyse, A. L. 584; in no maner wyse, A. L. 605.

121. 'Withouten sleep, withouten mete or drinke'; L. G. W. 177 (note the context).

134. Here begins the description of the adherents of the Leaf, extending to l. 322, including the Nine Worthies, ll. 239-94. The reader must carefully bear in mind that the followers of the Leaf are clad in white (not in green, as we should now expect), though the nine Worthies are crowned with green laurel, and all the company gather under a huge Laurel-tree (l. 304). On the other hand the followers of the Flower, shortly described in ll. 323-50, are clad in green, though wearing chaplets of white and red flowers; for green was formerly an emblem of inconstancy.

144. oon and oon, every one of them. This phrase is rare in Chaucer; it seems only to occur once, in C. T., A 679; but see A. L. 368, 543, 710.

146. purfil occurs in A. L. 87, in the same line with by and by; and in A. L. 522-4, we find colour, sleves, and purfyl close together.

148. Cf. 'With grete perles, ful fyne and orient'; A. L. 528. For diamonds, see A. L. 530.

150. Borrowed from Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 287: 'of whiche the name I wante.' Hence wante, i.e. lack, is the right reading. The rime is imperfect.

155. The missing word is not branches, as suggested by Sir H. Nicolas, nor floures, as suggested by Morris, but leves; as the company of the Leaf is being described; cf. l. 259. The epithets fresh and grene are very suitable. The leaves were of laurel, woodbine, and agnus-castus.

160. For were read ware; see ll. 267, 329, 335, 340; the sense is wore. Chaucer's form is wered, as the verb was originally weak; Gower and Lydgate also use the form wered. The present is perhaps one of the earliest examples of the strong form of this preterite.

agnus-castus; 'from Gk. ἄγνος, the name of the tree, confused with ἀγνός, chaste, whence the second word Lat. castus, chaste. A tree, species of Vitex (V. Agnus Castus), once believed to be a preservative of chastity, called also Chaste-tree and Abraham's Balm'; New E. Dict. The same Dict. quotes from Trevisa: 'The herbe agnus-castus is alwaye grene, and the flowre therof is namly callyd Agnus Castus, for wyth smelle and vse it makyth men chaste as a lombe.'

164. oon, one. She was the goddess Diana (see l. 472), or the Lady of the Leaf.

177-8. Speght has Suse le foyle de vert moy in l. 177, and Seen et mon joly cuer en dormy in l. 178. I see little good in guessing what it ought to be; so I leave it alone, merely correcting Suse and foyle to Sus and foyl; as the O.F. foil was masculine.

Bell alters de vert to devers, and for Seen puts Son; and supplies est after cuer; but it all gives no sense when it is done. We should have to read Sus le foyl devers moy sied, et mon joli cuer est endormi; sit down upon the foliage before me, and my merry heart has gone to sleep. Which can hardly be right. The Assembly of Ladies has the same peculiarity, of presenting unintelligible scraps of French to the bewildered reader.

180. smal, high, treble; chiefly valuable for explaining the same word in Chaucer's Balade to Rosemounde.

202. Speght has Pretir, an obvious error for Prester. The authoress may easily have obtained her knowledge of Prester John from a MS. of Mandeville's Travels; see cap. 27 of that work. And see Yule's edition of Marco Polo. He was, according to Mandeville, one of the greatest potentates of Asia, next to the Great Khan.

209. cereal; borrowed from Chaucer:—'A coroune of a grene ook cerial'; C. T., A 2290. And Chaucer took it from Boccaccio; see note in vol. v. p. 87.

212. tartarium, thin silk from Tartary. Fully explained in my note to P. Plowman, C. xvii. 299 (B. xv. 163), and in the Glossary to the same. bete, lit. beaten; hence, adorned with beaten gold; see note to C. T., A 978 (vol. v. p. 64). were, (all of which) were; hence the plural.

220. kinges of armes, kings-at-arms; who presided over colleges of heralds. Sir David Lyndsay was Lord Lion king-at-arms.

234. 'And certainly, they had nothing to learn as to how they should place the armour upon them.'

252. henshmen, youths mounted on horseback, who attended their lords. See numerous quotations for this word in A Student's Pastime, §§ 264, 272, 415-8. Each of them is called a child, l. 259.

253. For every on, it is absolutely necessary to read the first upon; for the sense. Each of the nine worthies had three henchmen; of these three, the first bore his helmet, the second his shield, and the third his spear.

257. Bell and Morris alter nekke to bakke; but wrongly. The shields were carried by help of a strap which passed round the neck and over the shoulders; called in Old French a guige. The convenience of this arrangement is obvious. See note to C. T., A 2504 (vol. v. p. 88).

272. In Lydgate's Temple of Glas, 508, we are told that hawthorn-leaves do not fade; see ll. 551-3 below.

286-7. 'That to beholde it was a greet plesaunce'; A. L. 59. And again—'I you ensure'; A. L. 52.

293. The reading ninth (as in Speght) is an absurd error for nine; yet no one has hitherto corrected it. How could the ninth man alight from their horses? The 'remnant' were the twenty-seven henchmen and the other knights.

323. Here begins the description of the company of the Flower. They were clad in green.

348. bargaret, a pastoral; a rustic song and dance; O.F. bergerete, from berger, a shepherd. Godefroy notes that they were in special vogue at Easter.

350. We have here the refrain of a popular French pastoral. Warton suggests it may have been Froissart's; but the refrain of Froissart's Ballade de la Marguerite happens to be different: 'Sur toutes flours j'aime la margherite'; see Spec. of O. French, ed. Toynbee, p. 302. In fact, Warton proceeds to remark, that 'it was common in France to give the title of Marguerites to studied panegyrics and flowery compositions of every kind.' It is quite impossible to say if a special compliment is intended; most likely, the authoress thought of nothing of the kind. She again mentions margarettes in A. L. 57.

351. in-fere, together; very common at the end of a line, as in ll. 384, 450; A. L. 407, 469, 546, 602, 719.

369. withouten fail; this tag recurs in A. L. 567, 646, in the form withouten any fail; and, unaltered, in A. L. 188, 537.

403. Bell thinks this corrupt. I think it means, that, before engaging with them in jousts in a friendly manner, they procured some logs of wood and thoroughly dried them. Hence To make hir justës = in order to joust with them afterwards.

417. for any thing, in any case, whatever might happen; cf. C. T., A 276, and the note (vol. v. p. 30).

457. The meeting with a 'fair lady' was convenient, as she wanted information. In the Assembly of Ladies, this simple device is resorted to repeatedly; see ll. 79, 191, 260, 400.

462, 467. My doughter; this assumes that the author was a female; so in ll. 500, 547; and in A. L. throughout.

512. Speght prints bowes for boughes; but the meaning is certain, as the reference is to ll. 270-1. Bows are not made of laurel; yet Dryden fell into the trap, and actually wrote as follows:—

'Who bear the bows were knights in Arthur's reign;

Twelve they, and twelve the peers of Charlemagne;

For bows the strength of brawny arms imply,

Emblems of valour and of victory.'

This is probably the only instance, even in poetry, of knights being armed with bows and arrows.

516. Douseperes; les douze pers, the twelve peers of Charlemagne, including Roland, Oliver, Ogier the Dane, Otuel, Ferumbras, the traitor Ganelon, and others. The names vary.

520. in hir tyme, formerly, in their day; shewing that the institution of the Knights of the Garter on April 23, 1349, by Edward III, was anything but a recent event.

530. I. e. 'Witness him of Rome, who was the founder of knighthood.' Alluding to Julius Cæsar, to whom was decreed by the senate the right of wearing a laurel-crown; Dryden mentions him by name.

580. Male-Bouche, Slander; borrowed from the Rom. de la Rose. See note above, to VIII. 260.

589. Cf. 'to put it in wryting'; A. L. 664; 'she put it in wryting'; A. L. 629.

592. 'How darest thou thrust thyself among the throng?' i.e. enter into contest. Cf. 'In suych materys to putte mysylff in prees'; Lydgate, Secrees of Philosophers, ed. Steele, l. 555.

Though apparently written by the authoress of the Flower and the Leaf, it is of later date, and much less use is made of the final e. That the author was a woman, is asserted in ll. 7, 18, 259, 284, 370, 379-85, 407, 450, 625.

17. the mase. They amused themselves by trying to find a way into a maze, similar to that at Hampton Court. Cf. l. 32.

29. Ll. 1-28 are introductory. The story of the dream now begins, but is likewise preceded by an introduction, down to l. 77.

34. The word went is repeated; the second time, it is an error for wend, weened. 'Some went (really) inwards, and imagined that they had gone outwards.' Which shews that the maze was well constructed. So, in l. 36, those who thought they were far behind, found themselves as far forward as the best of them.

42. That is, they cheated the deviser of the maze, by stepping over the rail put to strengthen the hedge. That was because they lost their temper.

44. The authoress got ahead of the rest; although sorely tired, she had gained a great advantage, and found the last narrow passage which led straight to the arbour in the centre. This was provided with benches (doubtless of turf, Flower and Leaf, l. 51) and well enclosed, having stone walls and a paved floor with a fountain in the middle of it.

54. There were stairs leading downwards, with a 'turning-wheel.' I do not think that turning-wheel here means a turn-stile, or what was formerly called a turn-pike. It simply means that the stair-case was of spiral form. Jamieson tells us that, in Lowland Scotch, the term turn-pike was applied (1) to the winding stair of a castle, and (2) to any set of stairs of spiral form; and quotes from Arnot to shew that a spiral stair-case was called a turnpike stair, whereas a straight one was called a scale stair. The pot of marjoram may have been placed on a support rising from the newel.

It may be noted that arbours, which varied greatly in size and construction, were often set upon a small 'mount' or mound; in which case it would be easy to make a small spiral stair-case in the centre. In the present case, it could hardly have been very large, as it occupied a space in the centre of a maze. For further illustration, see A History of Gardening in England, by the Hon. Alicia Amherst, pp. 33, 52, 78, 116, 118, 314.

60. 'And how they (the daisies) were accompanied with other flowers besides, viz. forget-me-nots and remember-mes; and the poor pansies were not ousted from the place.'

61. Ne-m'oublie-mies; from O.F. ne m'oublie-mie, a forget-me-not. Littré, s.v. ne m'oubliez pas, quotes, from Charles d'Orléans, 'Des fleurs de ne m'oubliez mie'; and again, from a later source, 'Un diamant taillé en fleur de ne m'oblie mie.' The recovery of this true reading (by the help of MS. A.) is very interesting; as all the editions, who follow Thynne, are hopelessly wrong. Thynne, misreading the word, printed Ne momblysnesse; whence arose the following extraordinary entry in Bailey's Dictionary:—'Momblishness, talk, muttering; Old Word.' This ghost-word is carefully preserved in the Century Dictionary in the form:—'Momblishness, muttering talk; Bailey (1731).'

sovenez doubtless corresponds to the name remember-me, given in Yorkshire and Scotland to the Veronica chamædrys, more commonly called the germander speedwell, and in some counties forget-me-not. But we should rather, in this passage, take forget-me-not (above) to refer, as is most usual, to the Myosotis; as Littré also explains it. Here Thynne was once more at a loss, and printed the word as souenesse, which was 'improved' by Stowe into sonenesse. Hence another ghost-word, recorded by Bailey in the entry:—'Sonenesse, noise.' Cf. l. 86.

62. pensees, pansies; alluding, of course, to the Viola tricolor. The spelling is correct, as it represents the O.F. pensee, thought; and it seems to have been named, as Littré remarks, in a similar way to the forget-me-not, and (I may add) to the remember-me.

73. The authoress had to wait till the other ladies also arrived in the centre of the maze. Cf. note to l. 736.

83. blewe, blue; which was the colour of constancy; see note to C. T., F 644 (vol. v. p. 386). For the lady's name was Perseverance. It is convenient to enumerate here the officers who are mentioned. They are: Perseveraunce, usher (91); Diligence (133, 198, 728); Countenance, porter (177, 277, 295); Discretion, purveyour (263); Acquaintance, herbergeour (269); Largesse, steward (318); Belchere, marshall (322); Remembrance, chamberlain (336); Avyseness, or Advisedness, secretary (343); and Attemperance, chancellor (508). The chief Lady is Loyalty (98), dwelling in the mansion of Pleasant Regard (170).

87. Here word means 'motto.' I here collect the French mottoes mentioned, viz. Bien et loyalement (88); Tant que je puis (208); A moi que je voy (308); Plus ne purroy (364); A endurer (489). Afterwards, four ladies are introduced, with the mottoes Sans que jamais (583); Une sanz chaungier (590); Oncques puis lever (598); and Entierment vostre (616). These ladies afterwards present petitions, on which were written, respectively, the phrases Cest sanz dire (627); En dieu est (645); Soyez en sure (666); and Bien moneste (675). The words, or mottoes, were embroidered on the sleeves of the ladies (119). See Lydgate's Temple of Glas, 308-10.

224. They said a pater-noster for the benefit of St. Julian, because he was the patron-saint of wayfarers. 'Of this saynt Julyen somme saye that this is he that pylgryms and wey-faryng men calle and requyre for good herberowe, by-cause our lord was lodgyd in his hows'; Caxton's Golden Legend. The story occurs in the Gesta Romanorum, c. xviii., and in the Aurea Legenda. The following extract from an old translation of Boccaccio, Decam. Day 2. Nov. 2, explains the point of the allusion. 'Nevertheless, at all times, when I am thus in journey, in the morning before I depart my chamber, I say a pater-noster and an Ave-Maria for the souls of the father and mother of St. Julian; and after that, I pray God and St. Julian to send me a good lodging at night'; &c. Dunlop, in his Hist. of Fiction, discussing this Novella, says: 'This saint was originally a knight, and, as was prophecied to him by a stag, he had the singular hap to kill his father and mother by mistake. As an atonement for his carelessness, he afterwards founded a sumptuous hospital for the accommodation of travellers, who, in return for their entertainment, were required to repeat pater-nosters for the souls of his unfortunate parents.'

241. Because she was to change her dress, and put on blue; see ll. 258-9, 313-4, 413.

457. The reference is to the Legend of Good Women, which contains the story of Phyllis, Thisbe, and 'Cleopataras.' Cf. l. 465.

463. Hawes, probably the same name as Havise, which occurs in the old story of Fulke Fitzwarine. But it is remarkable that MS. A. has the reading:—'That other sydë was, how Enclusene'; and this looks like an error for Melusene, variant of Melusine. This would agree with the next line, which means 'was untruly deceived in her bath.' The story of Melusine is given in the Romance of Partenay. She was a fairy who married Raymound, son of the Earl of Forest, on the understanding that he was never to watch what she did on a Saturday. This he at last attempts to do, and discovers, through a hole in the door, that she was in a bath, and that her lower half was changed into a serpent. He tries to keep the knowledge of the secret, but one day, in a fit of anger, calls her a serpent. She reproaches him, and vanishes from his sight. See the Romans of Partenay, ed. Skeat (E.E.T.S.).

465. From Chaucer's poem of Anelida and the false Arcite; vol. i. p. 365; for her Complaint, see the same, p. 373.

471. umple (MS. T. vmpylle), smooth gauze; from O.F. omple, smooth, used as an epithet of cloth, satin, or other stuff (Godefroy). Here evidently applied to something of a very thin texture, as gauze; see l. 473.

477. stages, steps. The chair or throne was set on a platform accessible by five steps, which were made of cassidony. Cotgrave explains O.F. cassidonie as meaning not only chalcedony, but also a kind of marble; and this latter sense may be here intended.

488. Her word, her motto; her must refer to the great lady (l. 501) to whom the throne belonged.

499. tapet, a hanging cloth (Halliwell); here a portion of the hangings that could be lifted up, to give entrance.

526. After a sort, of one kind, alike. vent, slit in front of a gown. 'Vente, the opening at the neck of the tunic or gown, as worn by both sexes during the Norman period, and which was closed by a brooch'; Gloss. to Fairholt's Costume in England. O.F. fente, a slit, cleft; from Lat. findere. The collar and slit were alike bordered with ermine, covered with large pearls, and sprinkled with diamonds. Cf. also: 'Wyth armynes powdred bordred at the vent'; Hawes, Pastime of Pleasure, ed. Wright, p. 80.

536. balays, a balas-ruby; 'a delicate rose-red variety of the spinel ruby'; New. E. Dict. of entail, lit. 'of cutting,' i.e. carefully cut; the usual phrase; see New E. Dict.

539. a world, worth a world; cf. a world (great quantity) of ladies; Flower and the Leaf, 137.

576-8. Alluding to the proverb: 'first come, first served'; cf. C. T., D 389, and the note (vol. v. p. 301).

581. We find that the 'bills' are petitions made by the four ladies regarding their ill success in love-affairs.

592. I. e. yet not so much as she ought to have been, as she had all the trouble; she refers to the lady herself.

598. Oncques, ever; Lat. unquam. 'I can ever rise' seems at first sight to be meant; but ne must be understood; the true sense is, 'I can never rise'; i.e. never succeed. See the context, ll. 605-9.

680. Here, and in l. 689, the speaker is the lady of the castle. In l. 682 (as in l. 690), the speaker appears to be the fourth lady; it is none too clear.

689. I hate you, I command you. Hate should rather be written hote; perhaps it was confused with the related pt. t. hatte, was called. The reference to Saint James of Compostella is noteworthy.

697-8. And, if. ye wolde, i.e. ye wolde seme, (see l. 696), ye would think so. Seem is still common in Devonshire in the sense of think or suppose; usually pronounced zim.

699. her refers to the lady of the castle; at least, it would appear so from l. 705. Else, it refers to Fortune.

736. the water, water thrown in her face by one of her companions, who had by this time entered the arbour.

1. Moder of norture, model of good breeding. The poem is evidently addressed to a lady named Margaret.

15. Mieulx un, one (is) better; evidently cited from a motto or device. The meaning seems to be: it is better to have but one lover, and you have found one in a heart that will never shrink. In the Temple of Glas, 310, Lydgate uses the motto de mieulx en mieulx.

22-3. 'Daisy (born) of light; you are called the daughter of the sun.' Alluding to the name day's eye, which was also applied by Lydgate to the sun; see note in vol. iii. p. 291 (l. 43). Imitated from Legend of Good Women, 60-4.

29. 'When the day dawns, (repairing) to its natural place (in the east), then your father Phœbus adorns the morrow.'

34. 'Were it not for the comfort in the day-time, when (the sun's) clear eyes make the daisy unclose.' Awkward and involved; cf. Legend of Good Women, 48-50, 64-5.

48-9. god saith; implying that it is in the Bible. I do not find the words; cf. Prov. xxi. 3; 1 Pet. ii. 20.

50. Cautels, artifices, deceits; a word not used by Chaucer, but found in Lydgate; see New E. Dict.

57. Quaketh my penne, my pen quakes; an expression used once by Chaucer, Troil. iv. 13, but pounced upon by Lydgate, who employs it repeatedly. See more than twenty examples in Schick's note to the Temple of Glas, 947. Cf. IX. 229.

59. Read roseth, grows rosy, grows red, as opposed to welkeneth, withers, fades. We find the pp. rosed twice in Shakespeare; 'a maid yet rosed over,' Henry V, v. 2. 423; and 'thy rosed lips'; Titus And. ii. 4. 24. The emendation seems a safe one, for it restores the sense as well as the rime.

welkeneth should probably be welketh; I find no other example of the verb welkenen, though welwen occurs in a like sense; and welketh suits the rhythm.

60. eft, once again hot. These sudden transitions from cold to heat are common; see Temple of Glas, 356:—'For thoughe I brenne with feruence and with hete.'

64. Lydgate is always deploring his lack of eloquence; cf. notes to Temple of Glas, ed. Schick, ll. 1393, 1400.

69. I can find no such word as jouesse, so I alter it to jonesse, i.e. youth. For the spelling jonesce in the 14th century, see Littré, s.v. jeunesse. The expression have more yet implies that the phrase or motto je serve jonesse is added as a postscript, and that there was some special point in it; but the application of it is now lost to us. Cf. 'Princes of youthe, and flour of gentilesse,' Temple of Glas, 970.

This poem really consists of twelve precepts, intended to redress twelve abuses. The twelve abuses are given by the Latin lines above, which should be compared throughout. The whole poem is thus easily understood.

The accent is on the first syllable of the line in most of the lines. In l. 3, the word Lord stands alone in the first foot. The lines are somewhat unsteady, quite in Lydgate's usual manner. In l. 6, jug-e is probably dissyllabic. See further in the Introduction.

This late piece abounds with imitations of Lydgate, especially of his Temple of Glas; many of the resemblances are pointed out in Schick's edition of that poem, which I refer to by the contraction 'T. G.'

'Another feature characteristic of Lydgate is his self-deprec[i]atory vein'; T. G., Introd. p. cxl. We have here an instance of an imitation of it.

8. He refers to Cicero's flowers of rhetoric. He may have found the name in Chaucer, P. F. 31. But he probably took the whole idea from a line of Lydgate's:—'Of rethoriques Tullius fond the floures': Minor Poems, p. 87.

11. Galfrid, Geoffrey de Vinsauf; his 'craft' refers to his treatise on the art of poetry, entitled 'Nova Poetria'; see note to C. T., B 4537 (vol. v. p. 257). [I once thought (see vol. i. p. 43) that Galfrid here means Chaucer himself, as he also is twice called Galfrid in Lydgate's Troy-book. But I find that Dr. Schick thinks otherwise, and the use of the word craft is on his side. At the same time, this renders it impossible for Chaucer to have written 'The Court of Love'; his opinion of his namesake was the reverse of reverential.] With ll. 4-11 compare the opening lines of Benedict Burgh's Poem in Praise of Lydgate, pr. at p. xxxi of Steele's edition of Lydgate's Secrees of Philosophers.

19. Calliope; twice mentioned by Chaucer; also by Lydgate, T. G. 1303. Lydgate's Troy-book opens with an invocation to Mars, followed by one to Calliope:—'Helpe me also, o thou Callyope'; and only four lines above there is a mention of 'Helicon the welle' (see l. 22 below).

22. Elicon, mount Helicon in Bœotia, sacred to Apollo and the Muses; confused by Chaucer and his followers with the fountain Hippocrene; see note in vol. i. p. 531. Hence Lydgate's expression 'Helicon the welle' in the last note and in T. G. 706, and the reference in the text to its dropes.

suger-dropes; Lydgate was fond of sugar; he has 'soote sugred armonye,' Minor Poems, p. 182; and 'sugrid melody,' ib., p. 11. Also 'sugred eloquence'; XII. 200 (p. 288); with which cf. l. 933 below. I have observed several other examples.

28. Cf. 'This simpil tretis for to take in gre'; T. G. 1387. 'Taketh at gre the rudness of my style'; Lydgate, Secrees of Philosophers, 21.

30. metriciens, skilful in metre, poets; a word which has a remarkably late air about it. Richardson gives an example of it from Hall's Chronicle.

'I purpos here to maken and to write

A litil tretise, and a processe make

In pris of women, oonli for hir sake.'

40. man, servant, one who does her homage; cf. Chaucer, C. T., I 772; La Belle Dame, 244; T. G. 742.

49, 50. Here the mountain of Cithæron, in Bœotia, is confused with the island of Cythera, sacred to Venus, whence her name Cytherea was derived. The mistake arose, of course, from the similarity of the names, and occurs (as said in vol. v. p. 78, note to A 1936), in the Roman de la Rose, where we find:—

'Citeron est une montaigne ...

Venus, qui les dames espire,

Fist là son principal manoir'; ll. 15865-71.

Hence Chaucer makes the same confusion, but in a different way. Chaucer preserves the right name of the mountain, in the form Citheroun, which he rimes with mencioun (A 1936) and with Adoun (A 2223); but here we have the form Citharee, riming with see. For all this, the scribe corrects it to Citheron in l. 69, where he has no rime to deal with.

58. The MS. has costes that it drewe; Bell alters this to had to it drew, under the impression that drew is the pp. of draw! So again, in l. 78, he alters saphir ind, which is correct, to saphir of Inde; and in general, alters the text at will without the least hint that he has done so.

80. Baleis Turkeis (MS. Bales turkes). Baleis is a better spelling, answering to F. balais in Littré. It also occurs as balai in O.F.; and the word was probably suggested by the mention of it in Rom. de la Rose, 20125:—'Que saphirs, rubis, ne balai.' Hence also the mention of it in the King's Quhair, st. 46, which see; and in the Assembly of Ladies, 536. Turkeis is the A. F. equivalent of O.F. Turkois, i.e. Turkish, as in C. T., A 2895, on which see the note (vol. v. p. 93).

81. shene, a misspelling of shine, intimating that the author has confused the adj. shene with the verb; or rather, that the poem was written at a time when the word shine could be used as riming to been; since we find similar examples in lines 561, 768. So also we find pretily riming with be in The Flower and the Leaf, 89. The pt. t. shoon occurs in l. 83.

82. Cf. 'As doon the sterres in the frosty night'; C. T., A 268. And again: 'bryght As sterrys in the wyntyr nyght'; Lydgate, Compleint following T. G., l. 548.

86. Cf. Compl. of Mars, 78-84, 104-5; C. T., A 2388 (and note); and T. G. 126-8.

92. Cf. Troil. iii. 8-21: 'In hevene and helle,' &c.; from Boccaccio; see note (vol. ii. p. 475).

105. Alceste; evidently borrowed from Ch., Legend of Good Women, 224, 293-9, 432; cf. T. G. 70-4. The quenes flour Alceste = the flower of queen Alcestis; a common idiom; see note to C. T., F 209 (vol. v. p. 376).

108. ninetene; copied from the Legend of Good Women, 283; just as the next line is from the same, 285-9. This is the more remarkable, because Chaucer never finished the poem, but mentions ten ladies only, in nine Legends. Cf. 'the book of the nynetene Ladies'; C. T., I 1086. Hawes also refers to Chaucer's 'tragidyes ... of the xix. ladyes'; Pastime of Pleasure, ed. Wright, p. 53.

120. saintes, saints, martyrs for love; cf. V. 316, above (p. 227), and the note. Cf. T. G. 414.

129. 'The king had Danger standing near him, and the queen had Disdain, who were chief of the council, to treat of affairs of state'; Bell.

148. In mewet, in an inaudible voice, to myself; like mod. F. à la muette (Littré).

167. non erst; false grammar for non er, no sooner; 'no soonest' is nonsense. We find, however, the phrases not erst and never erst elsewhere; see New E. Dict., s.v. Erst, § B. 4.

170. This is the earliest quotation given in the New E. Dict., s.v. Assummon; and the next is from the poet Daniel.

177. Chaucer has the compound for-pampred; Former Age, 5. I read jolif, joyful, to make sense; the MS. has the absurd word ioylof (sic); and Stowe has ialous, jealous, which is quite out of place here.

181. 'An allusion to the monkish story of the man who brought up a youth ignorant of women, and who, when he first saw them, told him they were geese. The story is in the Promptuarium Exemplorum. It was adopted by Boccaccio, from whom it was taken by Lafontaine, liv. iii. conte 1. See Latin Stories, edited by Mr. Ṭ Wright.'—Bell.

207. how, however. Cf. 'that boghten love so dere'; Legend of Good Women, 258.

229. See the Book of the Duchess, 323-34, where the painted glass windows contain subjects from the Romance of the Rose and others. The story of Dido is common enough; but the reference to Chaucer's Anelida and the false Arcite, is remarkable, especially as it occurs also in XXI. 465 above (p. 395). 'The turtel trewe' is from the Parl. Foules, 577. See the parallel passage in T. G. 44-142, where Lydgate's first example is that of Dido, while at the same time he mentions Palamon, Emilie, and Canacee, all from Chaucer.

255. grene only gives an assonance with here, not a rime. Green was the colour of inconstancy, and was sometimes used for despyt, to use Chaucer's phrase; see note to C. T., F 644 (vol. v. p. 386). White may refer to the White Friars or Carmelites, and russet to the hermits; cf. P. Plowman, C. prol. 3, C. xi. 1.

270. an ho, a proclamation commanding silence; see C. T., 2533. Quite distinct from hue (and cry), with which Bell confuses it. A hue and cry was only raised against fleeing criminals.

280. Clearly suggested by the God of Love's stern question in the Legend of Good Women, 315:—'What dostow heer So nigh myn owne flour, so boldely?' At the same time the phrase fer y-stope in yeres is from Chaucer's somdel stape in age, C. T., B 4011, on which see the note (vol. v. p. 248). See the next note.

288. Similarly the God of Love pardoned Chaucer (L. G. W. 450), but upon a condition (ib. 548).

302. Here follow the twenty statutes; ll. 302-504. They are evidently expanded from the similar set of injunctions given by Venus to the Knight in The Temple of Glas, ll. 1152-213; as clearly shewn by Schick in his Introduction, p. cxxxi. The similarity extends to the first, second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, tenth, twelfth, fourteenth and eighteenth statutes, which resemble passages found in the Temple of Glas, ll. 1152-213, or elsewhere in the same poem. It is also possible that the author, or Lydgate, or both of them, kept an eye upon Ovid's Art of Love. See also Rom. Rose (Eng. version), 2355-950, which is much to the point.

305. This is also the first injunction in T. G. 1152-3, and is immediately followed by the second, which enjoins secrecy. The reader should compare the passages for himself.

311. MS. synk and flete; which must of course be corrected to 'sink or flete,' as in Anelida, 182; C. T., A 2397.

319. The MS. has brynde, and Stowe has brinde; so I let the reading stand. Morris has blynde, and Bell blind; neither of them has a note as to the change made. Perhaps brind = brend = burnt, in the sense of 'inflamed by passion'; or it may be an error for brim = breme, furious, applied especially to the desire of the boar for the sow. The sense intended is clear enough; we should now write 'base.'