Chaucer's Works, Volume 2 — Boethius and Troilus
By Chaucer, Geoffrey
Classic work by Chaucer, Geoffrey.
Table of Contents
NOTES TO BOETHIUS 419 NOTES TO TROILUS 461 INTRODUCTION TO BOETHIUS. §...
of these passages, Boethius recalls the manner in which he withstood one Conigastus, because he oppressed the poor (l. 40); and how he defeated the iniquities of Triguilla, 'provos...
him in a female form (pr. 2), and condoles with him in song (met. 2); after which she addresses him, telling him that she is willing to share his misfortunes (pr. 3). Boethius ...
addresses him in Fortune's name, asserting that her mutability is natural and to be expected (pr. 2). Adversity is transient (pr. 3), and Boethius has still much to be thankful...
discourses on the search for the Supreme Good (_summum bonum_; pr. 2). The laws of nature are immutable (met. 2). All men are engaged in the pursuit of happiness (pr. 3). Digni...
the system of rewards and punishments (pr. 1). Boethius describes the flight of Imagination through the planetary spheres till it reaches heaven itself (met. 1). The good are s...
from the courses of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates (met. 1). Boethius asks questions concerning Free-will (pr. 2). God, who sees all things, is the true Sun (met. 2). Boethius...
S'efforcent ostoir de mangier; Rom. Rose, 19506. Si cum tu fez, las _Sisifus_, &c.; R. R. 19499....
That scorneth many a creature. I cannot give the exact reference, because Jean de Meun's description of the various moods of Fortune extends to a portentous length. Chaucer reprod...
As _filth over y-strawed with floures_. Si di, par ma parole ovrir, Qui vodroit _un femier covrir_ De dras de soie ou _de floretes_...
'This version is complete, and faithful in all essential points. Chaucer had no other purpose than to disclose, if possible wholly, the meaning of this famous work to his contempor...
'But the Troyane gestes, as they felle, In Omer, or in Dares, or in Dyte, Who-so that can, may rede hem as they wryte.' The reference here is simply to Guido's history, whence...
also ll. 181-189. § 14. Book II. 618. 'The yate ... Of Dardanus.' The six gates of Troy are named in Guido, Book IV, 'Quarum vna _Dardanides_, secunda Tymbrea, tercia Helyas, quar...
rather a long account of the manner in which Criseyde upbraided her father Chalcas at their meeting. Chaucer says nothing about this matter in Book V. 193, but he here introduces a...
sense of it is in Guido, Book XIX, where the interview ends thus:--'Set diei Aurora quasi superueniente uicina, Troilus a Brisaida in multis anxietatibus et doloribus discessit; et...
is merely as follows:-- 'Egli era grande e bel della persona, Giovane fresco e piacevole assai, E forte e fier siccome si ragiona, E parlante quant'altro Greco mai, E ad ...
(Book XIX) that Cressid's hair was unbound in her hour of deepest sorrow:--'aureos crines suos a lege ligaminis absolutos a lactea sui capitis cute diuellit.' Cf. IV. 736....
last quoted. 'Associauit [Diomedes] eam vsquequo Brisaida recipere in sui patris tentoria se debebat. Et ea perueniente ibidem, ipse eam ab equo descendentem promptus adiuit, et vn...
seem to have been taken from Guido, Book XIX, whence I quote the following. 'Nondum dies illa ad horas declinauerat vespertinas, cum iam suas Brisaida recentes mutauerat voluntate...
'Troilus autem tunc amorem Brisaide Diomedi obprobriosis verbis improperat; set Greci Diomedem ... abstraxerunt' ... 'Interim Brisaida contra patris sui voluntatem videre Diomedem...
authority for the mighty deeds of Troilus. In Book XXV, I find:--'_Scripsit enim Dares_, quod illo die _mille_ milites interfecit [Troilus] ex Grecis'; cf. l. 1802 below. So in the...
unless we remember that, in Guido, the story of Troy is completely mixed up with invectives against idolatry. In Book X, there is a detailed account of the heathen gods, the worshi...
METRE I. _Carmina qui quondam studio florente peregi._ Allas! I, weping, am constreined to biginnen vers of sorowful matere, that whylom in florisching studie made delitable ...
PROSE I. _Postea paulisper conticuit._ After this she stinte a litel; and, after that she hadde gadered by atempre stillenesse myn attencioun, she seide thus: (_As who migh...
PROSE I. _Iam cantum illa finierat._ By this she hadde ended hir song, whan the sweetnesse of hir ditee hadde thorugh-perced me that was desirous of herkninge, and I astone...
PROSE I. _Hec cum Philosophia, dignitate uultus._ Whan Philosophye hadde songen softely and delitably the forseide thinges, kepinge the dignitee of hir chere and the weight...
PROSE I. _Dixerat, orationisque cursum._ She hadde seyd, and torned the cours of hir resoun to some othre thinges to ben treted and to ben y-sped. Thanne seyde I, 'Certes, ...
1. The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen, That was the king Priamus sone of Troye, In lovinge, how his aventures fellen Fro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye, My purpos is,...
INCIPIT PROHEMIUM SECUNDI LIBRI. 1. Out of these blake wawes for to sayle, O wind, O wind, the weder ginneth clere; For in this see the boot hath swich travayle, Of my con...
INCIPIT PROHEMIUM TERCII LIBRI. 1. O Blisful light, of whiche the bemes clere 1 Adorneth al the thridde hevene faire! O sonnes leef, O Ioves dought...
[PROHEMIUM.] 1. But al to litel, weylawey the whyle, Lasteth swich Ioye, y-thonked be Fortune! That semeth trewest, whan she wol bygyle, And can to foles so hir song entun...
INCIPIT LIBER QUINTUS. 1. Aprochen gan the fatal destinee That Ioves hath in disposicioun, And to yow, angry Parcas, sustren three, Committeth, to don execucioun; For wh...
METRE 1. In order to elucidate the English text, I frequently quote the original Latin, usually from the text of T. Obbarius, Jena, 1843. See further in the Introduction. 3. _rend...
PROSE 1. 13. _to begyle_; copied in Troil. iv. 2, 3:-- '---- y-thonked be Fortune, That semeth trewest whan she wol bigyle.' 22. _myn entree_: 'de nostro adyto.' But Cha...
PROSE 1. 3. _streighte_, pp., i.e. stretched; 'adrectis ... auribus.' The form _streight-e_ is plural. 6. _so_, i.e. so much. Better 'how much'; Lat. _quantum_. 8. _unparigal_, u...
PROSE 1. 5. _forbrak_, broke off, interrupted: 'abrupi.' 14. _so as_, seeing that, since: 'cùm.' 25. _alle thinges may_, is omnipotent: 'potentis omnia.' 27. _an enbasshinge ......
PROSE 1. 3. A mistranslation. 'Recta quidem exhortatio, tuaque prorsus auctoritate dignissima.' 9. _assoilen to thee the._ I prefer this reading, adopted from Caxton's edition, be...
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 indi...
The chief correspondences are shewn in the following table. CHAUCER: BOOK II. FILOSTRATO: BOOK II. ll. 265-6, 274-308. st. 35-37. 316-322. 46...
The following scheme gives a general idea of the relationship of this Book to the original. CHAUCER: BOOK III. FILOSTRATO: BOOK III. ll. 1-38. st. 74-79. ...
The following scheme gives some notion of the relationship of the contents of this book to the Filostrato, but Chaucer constantly expands and adds to the original, and not unfreque...
The following sketch gives a general notion of the relation of this Book to the Filostrato, though Chaucer often amplifies and transposes the material in a way that it would be ted...
971. _Orcades_, the Orkney islands, very remote from Rome; Juvenal, Sat. ii. 161. _Inde_, India, remote from Rome in the other direction; Vergil, Æn. vi. 794. Here the point of vie...
II. Tydeus sets out on an embassy to Eteocles at Thebes, and escapes an ambush by the way (ll. 1485-1491). He spares Mæon, one of his 50 assailants, and sends him to Thebes with th...