Walter William Skeat

“ Remember that the old accent is frequently different from the modern; as in orácles, mirácles (11, 12) : distaúnc-e (18) , aventúres, figúres (47, 48) : povért (88) : málicióus (93) : &c. The endings -i-al, -i-oun, -i-ous, usually form two distinct syllables.
For further remarks on Metre and Grammar, see vol. v.
§ 7. Imitations. The chief imitations of the House of Fame are The Temple of Glas, by Lydgate [6] ; The Palice of Honour, by Gawain Douglas; The Garland of Laurell, by John Skelton; and The Temple of Fame, by Pope. Pope's poem should not be compared with Chaucer's ”

“ There are no doores to shut. The doores stand open night and day.
The house is all of sounding brasse, and roreth euery way,
Reporting double euery word it heareth people say.
There is no rest within, there is no silence any-where. ”

“ It is clear that, at the time of writing, Vergil was, in the main, a new book to him, whilst Ovid was certainly an old acquaintance.↑ By this, I only mean that Lydgate seems to have been indebted to Chaucer for the general idea of his poem, and even for the title of it (cf. Ho. Fame, 120) . For a full account of all its sources, see the admirable edition of Lydgate's Temple of Glas by Dr. J. Schick, p. cxv. (Early Eng. Text Society) .↑ Misprinted 'bright,' as the final e has 'dropped out' at press ”

“ Cx. (Caxton's edition, undated) ; and Th. (Thynne's edition, 1532) . None of the later editions are of much value, except the critical edition by Hans Willert (Berlin, 1883) . Of these, F. and B., which are much alike, form a first group; P. and Cx. form a second group; whilst Th. partly agrees with Cx., and partly with F. The text is chiefly from F., with collations of the other sources, as given in the footnotes, which record only the more important variations.
§ 9. Some emendations. In constructing the text, a good deal of emendation has been necessary ”

“ And what is wrought in all the world he layes to vnderstand.'
§ 5. Date of the Poem. Ten Brink, in his Chaucer Studien, pp. 120, 121, concludes that The House of Fame was, in all probability, composed shortly after Troilus, as the opening lines reproduce, in effect, a passage concerning dreams which appears in the last Book of Troilus, ll. ”

“ I accept this passage as genuine.↑ In Dante's Inferno, this invocation begins Canto II.; for Canto I. forms a general introduction to the whole.↑ Where Chaucer says 'leet the reynes goon' (l. 951) , and Dante has 'abbandonò li freni' (Inf. xvii. 107) , we find in Ovid 'equi ... colla iugo eripiunt, abruptaque lora relinquunt' (Met. ii. 315) . ”

“ The best general account of the poem is that in Ten Brink's History of English Literature.
In conclusion, I add a few 'last words.'
L. 399. We learn, from Troil. i. 654, that Chaucer actually supposed 'Oënone' to have four syllables. This restores the metre. Read:—And Paris to Oënone.
503. Read 'brighte,' with final e; 'bright' is a misprint.
859. Compare Cant. Tales, F 726.
1119. 'To climbe hit,' i.e. to climb the rock; still a common idiom.
2115. Compare Cant. Tales, A 2078. Perhaps read 'wanie.'
↑ It is also mentioned as 'the book of Fame' at the end of the Persones Tale, I 1086. ”