Geoffrey Chaucer

“ The Tale of the Man of Lawe.
A story, agreeing closely with The Man of Lawes Tale, is found in Book II. of Gower's Confessio Amantis, from which Tyrwhitt supposed that Chaucer borrowed it. But Gower's version seems to be later than Chaucer's, whilst Chaucer and Gower were both alike indebted to the version of the story in French prose (by Nicholas Trivet) in MS. Arundel 56, printed for the Chaucer Society in 1872. In some places Chaucer agrees with this French version rather closely, but he makes variations and additions at pleasure. Cf. vol. iii. p. ”

“ Extrema gaudii luctus occupat. Audi ergo salubre consilium; in die bonorum ne immemor sis malorum.' This is one of the passages from Innocent's treatise de Contemptu Mundi, of which I have already spoken in the note to B. 99-121 above (p. 140) . Lib. i. c. 23 has the heading—'De inopinato dolore.' It begins:—'Semper enim mundanae letitiae tristitia repentina succedit. Et quod incipit a gaudio, desinit in moerore. Mundana quippe felicitas multis amaritudinibus est respersa. ”

“ Alceste. The story of Alcestis—'that turned was into a dayesie'—is sketched by Chaucer in his Prologue to the Legend, l. 511, &c. No doubt he intended to include her amongst the Good Women, as the very queen of them all.
78. Canacee; not the Canace of the Squieres Tale, whom Chaucer describes as so kind and good as well as beautiful, but Ovid's Canace. The story is told by Gower, Confess. Amantis, book iii. It is difficult to resist the conclusion that Chaucer is here making a direct attack upon Gower, his former friend ”

“ In Chaucer, cas often means chance, hap.
124. ambes as, double aces, two aces, in throwing dice. Ambes is Old French for both, from Lat. ambo. The line in the Monkes Tale—'Thy sys fortune hath turned into as' (B. 3851) —helps us out here in some measure, as it proves that a six was reckoned as a good throw, but an ace as a bad one. So in Shakespeare, Mids. Nt. Dream, v. 1. 314, we find less than an ace explained as equivalent to nothing. ”

“ This exactly corresponds with Chaucer's language. He addresses the outermost sphere or primum mobile (which is the ninth if reckoning from within, but the first from without) , and accuses it of carrying with it everything in its irresistible westward motion; a motion contrary to that of the 'natural' motion, viz. that in which the sun advances along the signs of the zodiac. The result was that the evil influence of the planet Mars prevented the marriage. It is clear that Chaucer was thinking of certain passages in Boethius, as will appear from consulting his own translation of Boethius, ed. ”

“ In Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe, pt. ii. ch. 7 (vol. iii. 194) , is the proposition headed—'to knowe the arch of the day, that some folk callen the day artificial, from the sonne arysing til hit go to reste.' Thus, while the 'day natural' is twenty-four hours, the 'day artificial' is the time during which the sun is above the horizon. ”

“ The whole zodiacal circle was divided into twelve equal parts, or 'houses.' Of these, four (beginning from the cardinal points) were termed 'angles,' four others (next following them) 'succedents,' and the rest 'cadents.' It appears that Mars was not then situate in an 'angle,' but in his 'darkest (i. e. darker) house.' Mars had two houses, Aries and Scorpio. ”

“ It will be observed that if Chaucer, as is probable, has preserved extracts from this juvenile work of his without much alteration, it must have been originally composed in seven-line stanzas, like his Second Nonnes Tale and Man of Lawes Tale.
I here transcribe the original of the present passage from Innocent's above-named treatise, lib. i. c. 16, marking the places where the stanzas begin.
De miseria divitis et pauperis. (99) Pauperes enim premuntur inedia, cruciantur aerumna, fame, siti, frigore, nuditate; vilescunt, tabescunt, spernuntur, et confunduntur. O miserabilis mendicantis conditio ”

“ Shakespeare writes ouphes for elves. 'The Edda distinguishes between Ljósálfar, the elves of light, and Dökkálfar, elves of darkness; the latter are not elsewhere mentioned either in modern fairy tales or in old writers.... In the Alvismál, elves and dwarfs are clearly distinguished as different. The abode of the elves in the Edda is Álfheimar, fairy land, and their king the god Frey, the god of light. In the fairy tales the Elves haunt the hills ”

“ Even a globe will shew that the sun's altitude, when in the 6th degree of Taurus, and at 10 o'clock in the morning, is somewhere about 45 or 46 degrees. But Mr. Brae has calculated it exactly, and his result is, that the sun attained its altitude of 45 degrees at two minutes to ten exactly. This is even a closer approximation than we might expect, and leaves no doubt about the right date being the eighteenth of April. For fuller particulars, see Chaucer on the Astrolabe, ed. Brae, p. 69; and ed. ”

“ The phrase was already used proverbially before Chaucer's time. In the metrical Life of St. Brandan, ed. T. Wright, p. 23, we find, 'hi caste an ambes as,' they cast double aces, i. e. they wholly failed. See Ambs-ace in the New E. Dict. Dr. Morris notes that the phrase 'aums ace' occurs in Hazlitt's O. E. Plays, ii. 35, with the editorial remark—'not mentioned elsewhere' (!) .
126. At Cristemasse, even at Christmas, when the severest weather comes. In olden times, severe cold must have tried the poor even more than it does now. ”

“ Haws are mentioned as given to feed hogs in the Vision of Piers Plowman, B. x. 10; but in The Romance of William of Palerne, l. 1811, a lady actually tells her lover that they can live in the woods on haws, hips, acorns, and hazel-nuts. There is a somewhat similar passage in the Legend of Good Women, Prol. ll. 73-77. I see no difficulty in this explanation. That proposed by Mr. Jephson—'hark back'—is out of the question; we cannot rime bak with makë, nor does it make sense.
Baken was a strong verb in M. E., with the pp. baken or bake (A. S. bacen) . Dr. ”

“ Donegild pretends to be very pleased at the news, and gives the man a rich present.
736. lettres; so in all seven MSS.; Tyrwhitt reads lettre. But it is right as it is. Lettres is sometimes used, like Lat. literae, in a singular sense, and the French text has 'les lettres.' Examples occur in Piers Plowman, B. ix. 38; Bruce, ii. 80. See l. 744, and note to l. 747.
738. If ye wol aught, if you wish (to say) anything.
740. Donegild is dissyllabic here, as in l. 695, but in l. 805 it appears to have three syllables. Chaucer constantly alters proper names so as to suit his metre. ”

“ Trivet says—'Puis a vn demy aan passe, vint nouele al Roy que les gentz de Albanie, qe sountz les Escotz, furent passes lour boundes et guerrirent les terres le Roy. Dount par comun counseil, le Roi assembla son ost de rebouter ses enemis. Et auant son departir vers Escoce, baila la Reine Constaunce sa femme en la garde Elda, le Conestable du chastel, et a Lucius, leuesqe de Bangor; si lour chargea que quant ele fut deliueres denlaunt, qui lui feisoient hastiuement sauoir la nouele' ”

“ Chaucer so frequently varies the length and accent of a proper name that there is no objection to the supposition that we are here to read Cústancë in three syllables, with an accent on the first syllable. In exactly the same way, we find Grísildis in three syllables (E. 948) , though in most other passages it is Grisíld. We have had Cústance, accented on the first syllable, several times; see ll. 438, 556, 566, 576, &c.; also Custáncë, three syllables, ll. 184, 274, 319, 612, &c. Tyrwhitt inserts a second your before Custance, but without authority.
1109. It am I ”

“ See the translation in Hymns Ancient and Modern, No. 97, part 2 (new edition) , beginning—'Now the thirty years accomplished.'
We come still nearer to the original of Chaucer's lines when we consider the form of prayer quoted in the Ancren Riwle, p. 34, which is there given as follows:—'Salue crux sancta, arbor digna, quae sola fuisti digna portare Regem celorum et Dominum.... O crux gloriosa! o crux adoranda! o lignum preciosum, et admirabile signum, per quod et diabolus est victus, et mundus Christi sanguine redemptus.'
460. him and here, him and her, i. e. man and woman ”

“ Chaucer was thinking, in particular, of the following passage, which is written in the margins of the Ellesmere and Hengwrt MSS.: 'Omnes concordati sunt quod elecciones sint debiles nisi in diuitibus: habent enim isti, licet debilitentur eorum elecciones, radicem, i. [id est] natiuitates eorum, que confortat omnem planetam debilem in itinere.' The sense of which is—'For all are agreed, that "elections" are weak, except in the case of the rich ”

“ So also tak'th, l. 1142 below. of, for. So in Chaucer's Balade of Truth, l. 19, we have 'thank God of al,' i. e. for all things. See my notes to Chaucer's Minor Poems, vol. i. p. 552.
1123. The French text tells us that he was named Maurice of Cappadocia, and was also known, in Latin, as Mauritius Christianissimus Imperator. Trivet tells us no more about him, except that he accounts for the title 'of Cappadocia' by saying that Arsemius (the senator who found Constance and Maurice and took care of them) was a Cappadocian. Gibbon says—'The Emperor Maurice derived his origin from ancient Rome ”

“ Nullum enim latet secretum ubi regnat ebrietas.' This is obviously the original of the stanza, ll. 771-777; cf. note to B. 99 above. There is nothing answering to it in Trivet, but it is to be found in Pope Innocent's treatise De Contemptu Mundi, lib. ii. c. 19—De ebrietate. Migne's edition has 'promittit multa' for 'promit stulta.' The last clause is quoted from Prov. xxxi. 4 in the Vulgate version; our English versions omit it. See B. 2384.
778. 'O Donegild, I have no language fit to tell,' &c.
782. mannish, man-like, i. e. harsh and cruel, not mild and gentle like a woman. ”

“ Here again, Tyrwhitt supposes Chaucer to follow Gower. But, in fact, Chaucer and Gower both consulted Trivet, who says here—'Constaunce charga son fitz Morice del messager [or message] .... Et puis, quant Morice estoit deuaunt lempereur venuz, oue la compaignie honurable, et auoit son message fest de part le Roi son pere,' &c.; i. e. 'Constance charged her son Maurice with the message ... and then, when Maurice was come before the emperor, with the honourable company, and had done his message on behalf of the king his father,' &c. Or, as before, Gower may have copied Chaucer.
1090. As he ”

“ The French text adds that Domulde (Donegild) was, moreover, jealous of hearing the praises of Constance's beauty.
701. Me list nat, it pleases me not, I do not wish to. He does not wish to give every detail. In this matter Chaucer is often very judicious; Gower and others often give the more unimportant matters as fully as the rest. ”

“ Gower quotes the same passage from Boethius in the prologue to his Confessio Amantis. The next sentence is from Prov. xiv. 13—'Risus dolore miscebitur, et extrema gaudii luctus occupat.' The last clause (see ll. 426, 427) is from Ecclesiasticus, xi. 27 (in the Vulgate version) . Cf. Troil. iv. 836.
438. Compare Trivet's French prose version:—'Dount ele fist estorier vne neef de vitaile, de payn quest apele bisquit, & de peis, & de feues, de sucre, & de meel, & de vyn, pur sustenaunce de la vie de la pucele pur treis aunx ”

“ MS. Harl. 2270. Occleve has versified the whole story'; Tyrwhitt. See vol. iii. p. 410, for further information. Compare the conduct of Iachimo, in Cymbeline.
609. See Troil. iv. 357.
620. Berth hir on hond, affirms falsely; lit. bears her in hand. Chaucer uses the phrase 'to bere in hond' with the sense of false affirmation, sometimes with the idea of accusing falsely, as here and in the Wyf of Bathes Prologue, D. 393; and sometimes with that of persuading falsely, D. 232, 380. In Shakespeare the sense is rather—'to keep in expectation, to amuse with false pretences' ”

“ In the Morality entitled Everyman, in Hazlitt's Old Eng. Plays, i. 137, is the proverb—'Yet promise is debt.' Mr. Hazlitt wrongly considers that as the earliest instance of the phrase.—M. Cf. Hoccleve, De Regim. Principum, p. 64:—'And of a trewe man beheest is dette.'
holde fayn, &c.; gladly perform all my promise.
43. man ... another = one ... another. The Cambridge MS. is right.—M. 'For whatever law a man imposes on others, he should in justice consider as binding on himself.' This is obviously a quotation, as appears from l. ”

“ Putting all the information together, it is sufficiently clear that Chaucer's intended scheme must have been very nearly as follows, the number of women (if we include Alcestis) being twenty.
1. Cleopatra. 2. Thisbe. 3. Dido. 4. and 5. Hypsipyle and Medea. 6. Lucretia. 7. Ariadne. 8. Philomela. 9. Phyllis. 10. Hypermnestra (unfinished) . After which, 11. Penelope. 12. Briseis. 13. Hermione. 14. Deianira. 15. Laodamia. 16. Helen. 17. Hero. 18. Polyxena (see the Ballad) . 19. either Lavinia (see the Ballad) , or Oenone (mentioned in Ovid, and in the House of Fame) . 20. ”