Geoffrey Chaucer

“ The passage in Chaucer means, 'Beware of being too patient, lest Chichevache swallow you down.'
1189. Folweth Ekko, imitate Echo, who always replies.
1196. The forms chamail, kamail, a camel, occur in the A. F. Romance of King Horn, ed. Brede and Stengel, l. 4177. For the M. E. camayl, see Rich. Cuer de Lion, 2323; Cursor Mundi, 3304 (Trin. MS.) .
1200. 'Always talk (or rattle) on, like a mill' (that is always going round and making a noise) . 'Janglinge is whan men speken to muche biforn folk, and clappen as a mille, and taken no kepe what they seye'; Ch. Persones Tale, De Superbia (I. 406) . ”

“ Not only the context, but the Latin text, justifies the reading homlinesse. Feet is fact, i. e. act. The Latin is—'Neque uero solers sponsa muliebria tantum haec domestica, sed, ubi res posceret, publica etiam obibat officia.' Lines 432-434 are Chaucer's own. ”

“ Ll. 915-917 are Chaucer's own.
916. 'For the cloth was poor, and many days older now than on the day of her marriage.'
932. 'Men speak of Job, and particularly of his humility.' Cf. Job, xl. 4, xlii. 1-6.
934. Namely of men, especially of men, where men is emphatic. The whole of this stanza (932-938) is Chaucer's.
938. but, except, unless; falle, fallen, happened; of-newe, newly, an adverbial expression. It means then, 'unless it has happened very lately.' In other words, 'If there is an example of a man surpassing a woman in humility, it must have happened very lately ”

“ Here the people means the common people; Lat. 'uulgi oculis.' In the next line he is emphatic, meaning that his eyes were quicker to perceive than theirs.
253. hath don make, hath caused to be made. Lat. 'Ipse interim et anulos aureos et coronas et balteos conquirebat.' Chaucer inserts asure, the colour of fidelity ”

“ Tum Gualtherus, aduentanti ueluti sponsae obuiam profecturus, domo egreditur, prosequente uirorum et matronarum nobilium caterua. Griseldis omnium quae erga se pararentur ignara, peractis quae agenda domi erant, aquam e longinquo fonte conuectans paternum limen intrabat: ut, expedita curis aliis, ad uisendam domini sui sponsam cum puellis comitibus properaret.'
322. governeth, arrange, dispose of. Observe the use of the plural imperative, as a mark of respect. When the marquis addresses Griseldis as ye, it is a mark of extreme condescension on his part; the Latin text has tu and te. ”

“ The first stanza (995-1001) is supposed to be uttered by the sober and discreet part of the population; see l. 1002.
1031. lyketh thee, pleases thee. The marquis addresses her as thou, because all suppose her to be a menial.
1039. mo, lit. more; but also used in the sense of others, or, as here, another. The modern phrase would be, 'as you did somebody else.' The extreme delicacy of the hint is admirable. This use of mo is common in Chaucer; see the Glossary. So also, in Specimens of English, ed. Morris and Skeat, we have, at p. 47, l. 51—
'Y sike for vnsete ”

“ The latter part of l. 888, and l. 889, are Chaucer's own.
903. lyves, alive; a lyves creature, a creature alive, a living being. Lyves is an adverb, formed like nedes, from the genitive case of the substantive. ”

“ Pars Sexta. This indication of a new part comes in a fitting place, and is taken from Tyrwhitt, who may have found it in a MS. But there is no break here in the Latin original, nor in any of the MSS. of Chaucer which I have consulted. erl of Panik; Lat. 'Panicius comes.'
940. more and lesse, greater or smaller; i. e. everybody. So also in the Frank. Tale, 'riveres more and lesse'; F. 1054. So also moche and lyte, great and small, Prol. 494; moste and leste, greatest and least, A. 2198. Spenser has, F. Q. vi. 6. 12,—
Gainst all, both bad and good, both most and least. ”

“ Boccaccio has Panago. I observe in the map the river Panaro flowing between Modena and Bologna; perhaps there is some connexion between the names. Tyrwhitt has Pavie (Pavia) in his text, but corrects it in the notes.
602. in oon, in one and the same state: ever in oon, always alike, continually; so also in l. 677. Cf. Kn. Ta. 913 (A. 1771) .
607. This must mean—'no accidental sign of any calamity.'
612. A knave child, a male child, boy; as in Barbour's Bruce, xiii. 693; English Gilds, ed. T. Smith, p. 30.
615. merië; three syllables; cf. A. 1386, B. 4156. Ll. 621-623 are Chaucer's own. ”

“ Petrarch has—'sed uirilis senilisque animus uirgineo latebat in pectore.'
223. spinning; i. e. she spun whilst keeping the sheep; see a picture of St. Geneviève in Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art. Line 224 is Chaucer's.
227. shredde and seeth, sliced and sod (or boiled) . Lat. 'domum rediens oluscula et dapes fortunae congruas praeparabat, durumque cubiculum sternebat,' &c.
229. on lofte, aloft. She kept up her father's life, i. e. sustained him. His death is recorded in l. 1134.
234. For this line the Latin has only the word transiens. ”