BOOK I.
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. _rendinge_, Lat. 'lacerae'; rather rent, or tattered. The sense
'rending' occurs in Ovid, Met. viii. 880.
6. _that is to seyn._ The words in italics are not in the original, but
were added by Chaucer as explanatory. Throughout the treatise, I print all
such passages in italics.
8. _werdes_, 'weirds,' fate.
'Gloria felicis olim uiridisque iuuentae
Solantur maesti nunc mea fata senis.'
12. _slake_, better _slakke_; cf. Cant. Ta. E. 1849. _empted_, 'effeto.'
MS. C. has _emty_.
13. _in yeres ... swete_: 'dulcibus annis.'
14. _y-cleped_, invoked; 'uocata,' sc. 'mors.' Cf. Troilus, iv. 503.
16. _naiteth_, refuseth; 'negat.' Icel. _neita_, to say nay.
17. _lighte_, i.e. transitory; 'leuibus ... bonis.' The gloss 'sc.
temporels' (in A) gives the right sense. _sc._ = scilicet, namely; the form
_temporels_ is the French plural.
18, 19. _But now_:
'Nunc quia fallacem mutauit nubila uultum,
Protrahit ingratas impia uita moras.'
The translation _unagreable dwellinges_ is an unhappy one.
22. _in stedefast degree_, in a secure position; 'stabili ... gradu.'
With regard to the last sentence, Mr. Stewart remarks, in his essay on
Boethius, that Chaucer here 'actually reproduces the original Latin metre,'
i.e. a hexameter and pentameter. The true M. E. pronunciation must, for
this purpose, be entirely neglected; which amounts to saying that Chaucer
must have been profoundly unconscious of any such intention.
PROSE 1. 2. _and markede_: 'querimoniamque lacrimabilem stili officio
designarem.' Hence _markede_ is 'wrote down'; and _pointel_ refers to the
_stilus_. Cf. Som. Tale, D 1742. _with office_, by the use (of).
6. _empted_, exhausted; 'inexhausti uigoris.' Of course the woman here
described is _Philosophia_.
9. _doutous_; 'statura discretionis ambiguae.'
12. _heef_, heaved; A. S. _h[=o]f_. In Layamon, _hof_, _haf_, _heaf_. I put
_heef_ for _hef_, because the _e_ is long.
13. _so that_: 'respicientiumque hominum frustrabatur intuitum.'
14. _delye_ (so in both MSS.) = _deli-[=e]_, O. F. _deliè_ (see Cotgrave),
delicate, thin, slender, from Lat. _delicatus_, with the usual loss of _c_
between two vowels and before the accented syllable; Lat. 'tenuissimis
filis.'
After _crafte_ it would have been better to insert _and_; Lat.
'indissolubili_que_ materiâ.' But some MSS., including C., omit _que_.
18. _as it is wont_: 'ueluti fumosas imagines solet.'
21. _a Grekissh P_; i.e. [PI]. _a Grekissh T_; i.e. [THETA], not [TAU]; the
Greek [theta] being pronounced as _t_ in Latin. The reference is to [Greek:
philosophia praktikê kai theôrêtikê]; in Latin, Philosophia Actiua et
Contemplatiua; i. e. Practical (or Active) and Theoretical (or
Contemplative) Philosophy. This is the same distinction as that between the
_Vita Actiua_ and _Vita Contemplatiua_, so common in medieval literature;
see note (3) to the Sec. Non. Tale, G 87; and note to P. Plowman, B. vi.
251.
26. _corven_, cut, cut away pieces from; Lat. 'sciderant.'
33. _cruel_, i. e. stern; 'toruis.'
34. _thise comune_: 'has scenicas meretriculas.'
39. _no-thing fructefyinge_; 'infructuosis.' Hence we may perhaps prefer to
read _no-thing fructuous_, as in Caxton and Thynne.
41. _holden_: 'hominumque mentes assuefaciunt morbo, non liberant.'
45. _for-why_, because (very common); seldom interrogative.
47. _me_, from me; and, in fact, Caxton and Thynne read _from me_ or _fro
me_. The forms _Eleaticis_, &c. are due to the Lat. text--'Eleaticis atque
Academicis studiis.' He should rather have said--'scoles of Elea and of the
Academie.' The _Eleatici philosophi_ were the followers of Zeno of Elea
(Zeno Eleates, born about B. C. 488 at Elea (Velia) in Italy), and the
favourite disciple of Parmenides (who is expressly mentioned in Book iii.
pr. 12, l. 143). The Academic philosophers were followers of Plato.
49. _mermaidenes_; Lat. 'Sirenes,' Sirens; cf. N. P. Tale, B 4461, and
note.
_til it be at the laste_; a false translation. Rather _unto destruction_;
'usque in exitium.' But, instead of _exitium_, MS. C. has _exitum_.
55. _plounged_, drowned; 'mersa.' Cf. _dreint_, Met. 2, l. 1.
59. _ner_, nearer; comparative, not positive; 'propius.'
METRE 2. 2. _mintinge_, intending; 'tendit ... ire.' Still in use in
Cambridgeshire.
8. _sterres of the cold moon_: 'gelidae sidera lunae.' I suppose this means
the constellations seen by moonlight, but invisible in the day. The
expression _sidus lunae_, the moon's bright form, occurs in Pliny, Nat.
Hist. ii. 9. 6; but it is difficult to see how _sidera_ can have the same
sense, as some commentators say.
9. _recourses_, orbits; referring to the planets.
_y-flit_, moved or whirled along by their different spheres; alluding to
the old Ptolemaic system of astronomy, which supposed that each planet was
fastened to a revolving sphere, thus causing it to perform its orbit in a
certain time, varying in the case of each.
_this man_: 'Comprensam [sc. stellam] in numeris uictor habebat.'
16. _highteth_, adorns; 'ornet.' Prob. from the sb. _hight_, _hiht_ (A. S.
_hyht_), joy, delight.
17. _fleteth_, flows (i.e. abounds); 'grauidis influat uuis.'
20. _empted_: 'Nunc iacet effeto lumine mentis.'
22. _fool_, i.e. foolish, witless, senseless; 'stolidam.'
PROSE 2. 6. _armures_, i.e. defensive armour; 'arma.'
8. _in sikernesse_: 'inuicta te firmitate tuerentur.'
14. _litargie_; better _letargye_, i.e. lethargy. Cf. Troil. i. 730.
19. _yplyted_, pleated into a wrinkle; 'contracta in rugam ueste.'
METRE 3. 1. _discussed_, driven away; 'discussâ ... nocte.'
4. _clustred_; 'glomerantur'; or 'covered with clouds,' as Chaucer says.
5. _Chorus_, Corus, or Caurus, the north-west wind.
6. _ploungy_, stormy, rainy; 'nimbosis ... imbribus.'
8. _Borias_, Boreas, the north wind, from Thrace.
9. _caves_; better _cave_, as in Caxton and Thynne; Lat. 'antro.' _beteth_;
'uerberet'; hence Chaucer's gloss.
11. _y-shaken_, 'uibratus'; i.e. tremulous, sparkling.
PROSE 3. 2. _took_, drew in, received light; 'hausi caelum.'
4. _beholde_, the present tense; 'respicio.'
10. _norry_, pupil, lit. nourished one; 'alumne.'
11. _parten the charge_, share the burden.
15. _redoute my blame_, fear blame. _agrysen_, shudder.
16. _quasi diceret non_, as if she would say no; as if she expected the
answer no. This remark is often inserted by Chaucer.
19. _Plato_; B.C. 428-347. Before his time, Solon, Anaxagoras, and
Pythagoras all met with opposition. The fate of Socrates is well known.
21. _The heritage_: 'Cuius hereditatem cum deinceps Epicureum uulgus ac
Stoicum, ceterique pro sua quisque parte raptum ire molirentur, meque
reclamantem renitentemque uelut in partem praedae detraherent, uestem, quam
meis texueram manibus, disciderunt, abreptisque ab ea panniculis, totam me
sibi cessisse credentes abiere.'
38. _Anaxogore_, Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher (B.C. 500-428); exiled
from Athens (B.C. 450).
39. _Zeno_; Zeno of Elea (see p. 420), born about B.C. 488, is said to have
risked his life to defend his country. His fate is doubtful.
40. _Senecciens_, apparently meant for 'the followers of Seneca.' The
original has: 'at Canios, at Senecas, at Soranos ... scire potuisti.'
_Canios_, the Canii; i. e. men like Canius. The constancy and death of
Julius Canius (or Canus) is related by Seneca, De Tranquillitate, cap. xiv.
Cf. Pr. iv. 131, and note, p. 424.
41. _Sorans_, the Sorani; men like Soranus. Soranus is mentioned in
Tacitus, Annal. xvi. 23. Caxton and Thynne read _Soranos_, as in the Latin
text.
42. _unsolempne_, uncelebrated; 'incelebris.'
49. _it is to dispyse_, it (the host) is to be despised.
53. _ententif_, busy about seizing useless baggage as spoil.
_sarpulers_, sacks made of coarse canvas; in Caxton, _sarpleris_;
'sarcinulas.' Cotgrave has: '_Serpillere_, a Sarpler, or Sarp-cloth, a
piece of course canvas to pack up things in.' Cf. mod. F. _serpillière_.
56. _palis_, also spelt _paleis_ (O. F. _palis_), lit. a palisading, or a
piece of strong paling, a rampart, used to translate Lat. _uallum_. When
spelt _paleis_, it must not be confused with _paleis_, a palace.
METRE 4. 3. _either fortune_, good fortune or bad.
5. _hete_: 'Versum funditus excitantis aestum.' I suppose that _aestum_ is
rather 'surge' than 'heat' here. See Met. vii. below, l. 3.
6. _Vesevus_, 'Veseuus'; the same as Vesuvius; cf. Vergil, Georg. ii. 224.
7. _wrytheth_, writhes out, throws forth wreaths of smoke. Here the old
printed editions by Caxton and Thynne, as well as MS. Ii. 1. 38, happily
restore the text; Lat. 'Torquet.'
8. Caxton and Thynne have _thonder-leyte_, which is perhaps better. MS. Ii.
1. 38 has _thonder leit_.
13. _stable of his right_: 'stabilis, suique iuris.'
PROSE 4. 2. _Artow lyk_. The original is partly in Greek. 'An [Greek: onos
luras]?' Some MSS. have: 'Esne [Greek: onos pros luran]?' And MS. C. has:
'Esne asinus ad liram?' In an edition of Boethius by Renatus Vallinus,
printed in 1656, I find the following note: 'Ut et omnes veteres scripsere,
Varro in satyra quæ Testamentum inscribitur apud Agellium, lib. iii. cap.
xvi: _Ii_ liberi, _si erunt_ [Greek: onoi luras], _exheredes sunto_. Suidas
ex Menandro, Lucianus, Martian. Capella, lib. viii., atque alii quos refert
Erasmus, in eo adagio. Imo et apud Varronem id nominis satyra extitit.' It
has clearly a proverbial reference to dullness of perception. Ch. quotes it
again in his Troilus, i. 731, where he so explains it.
3. _why spillestow teres_, why do you waste tears; 'Quid lacrimis manas?'
After these words occur, in the original, four Greek words which Chaucer
does not translate, viz.: [Greek: Exauda, mê keuthe noô]: i. e. speak out,
do not hide them in your mind; quoted from Homer, Iliad i. 363.
With lines 3 and 4 compare Troilus, i. 857.
7. _by him-self_, in itself; 'per se.' Alluding to 'sharpnesse,' i. e.
'asperitas.'
15. _enformedest_, didst conform; 'formares.'
17. _ordre of hevene_; 'ad caelestis ordinis exemplar.' This refers to the
words of Plato just at the end of the 9th book of The Republic: [Greek: en
ouranô isôs paradeigma anakeitai.] Cf. also the last lines of Book II of
the present treatise.
18. _confermedest_ (MS. A, _enfourmedist_), didst confirm; 'sanxisti.' The
reading _conformedest_ evidently arose from confusion with _enformedest_
above, in l. 15.
19. _mouth of Plato_; referring to Book V (473 D) of the Republic: [Greek:
ean mê, ê hoi philosophoi basileusôsin en tais polesin, ê hoi basilês te
nyn legomenoi ki dynastai philosophêsôsi gnêsiôs te kai hikanôs, kai touto
eis tauton xympesê, dynamis te politikê kai philosophia; tôn de nyn
poreuomenôn chôris eph' hekateron hai pollai physeis ex anankês
apokleisthôsin, ouk esti kakôn paula ... tais polesi; dokô de, oude tô
anthrôpinô genei.]
24. _the same Plato_; in the 6th Dialogue on the Republic.
25. _cause_, reason; 'caussam.' _wyse_, i.e. '_for_ wise men.'
27. _felonous tormentours citizenes_, citizens who are wicked and
oppressive; the substantives are in apposition.
33. _knowinge with me_, my witnesses; 'mihi ... conscii.'
36. _discordes ... preyeres_; 'inexorabilesque discordiae.'
37. _for this libertee_, &c.; 'et quod conscientiae libertas habet.'
41. _Conigaste_, Conigastus, or Cunigastus; mentioned in Cassiodorus,
Epist. lib. viii. ep. 28. The facts here referred to are known only from
the present passage.
_prospre fortunes_ translates 'fortunas' simply; it seems to mean 'success'
or 'well-being.'
43. _Trigwille_, Triguilla; 'regiae praepositum domus.'
45. _auctoritee_; 'obiecta periculis auctoritate protexi.'
52. _cariages_, taxes; 'uectigalibus.' See a similar use in the Pers. Tale,
I 752, and note.
59. _inplitable_, intricate: 'inexplicabilis.' _coempcioun_, an imposition
so called; see Chaucer's explanation below, in l. 64. In Greek, [Greek:
synônê].
61. _Campaigne_, Campania, in Italy, _provost_; 'praefectum praetorii.'
64-67. See the footnote. I have here transposed this gloss, so as to make
it _follow_, instead of _preceding_, the mention of _coempcioun_ in the
text.
68. _Paulin_, Decius Paulinus, consul in 498; mentioned in Cassiodorus,
Epist. lib. i. epist. 23, lib. iii. epist. 29.
69. _houndes_; 'Palatini canes.'
73. _Albin_, perhaps Decius Albinus, to whom Theodoric addressed a letter
preserved in Cassiodorus, lib. iv. ep. 30. See l. 156 below.
75. _Ciprian_, Cyprian. We know something of him from two letters in
Cassiodorus, Epist. v. 40, 41. Theodoric esteemed him highly. See a
discussion of his career in H. F. Stewart's Essay on Boethius, pp. 42-52.
78. _to hem-ward_, i.e. for the benefit of the officers around me; 'mihi
... nihil apud aulicos, quo magis essem tutior, reseruaui.'
81. _Basilius_. Not much is known of him; see H. F. Stewart, as above, p.
48.
82. _compelled_, i.e. bribed to accuse me. _for nede of foreine moneye_:
'alienae aeris necessitate.'
84. _Opilion_, Opilio; the Opilio mentioned in Cassiodorus, lib. v. epist.
41, and lib. viii. epist. 16, and brother of the Cyprian mentioned above,
l. 75. His father's name was Opilio likewise.
89. _aperceived_, made known. _the king_, i.e. Theodoric, king of Italy for
33 years, A.D. 493-526. His reign was, on the whole, good and glorious, but
he committed the great crime of putting to death both Boethius and his aged
father-in-law Symmachus, for which he afterwards expressed his deep
repentance. See Gibbon's Roman Empire. The chief record of his reign is in
the collection of twelve books of public epistles composed in his name by
Cassiodorus. The seat of his government was Ravenna, as mentioned below.
93. _lykned_; rather, _added_; Lat. 'posse _adstrui_ uidetur.'
95-194. See a translation into modern English of the whole of this passage,
in H. F. Stewart's Essay, pp. 37-41.
101. _axestow in somme_, if you ask particularly; 'summam quaeris?'
106, 107. _forsake_, deny. _have wold_, have willed, did wish.
109. _and that I confesse_. Here Chaucer's version seems to be quite at
fault. 'At uolui, nec unquam uelle desistam. Fatebimur? [MS. C. Et
fatebimur.] Sed impediendi delatoris opera cessabit.'
113. _by me_, with regard to me; 'de me.'
117. _Socrates_; in Plato's Republic, Book VI: [Greek: tên apseudeian ...
misein, tên d' alêtheian stergein] (485 C).
120. _preisen_, appraise, judge of: 'aestimandum.'
131. _Canius_, better _Canus_, i.e. 'Julius Canus, whose philosophic death
is described by Seneca, De Tranquillitate Animi, cap. xiv.'--Gibbon. He has
already been mentioned above, Prose iii. l. 40.
132. _Germeynes sone_, the son of Germanicus. This Gaius Cæsar is better
known as Caligula, the emperor who succeeded Tiberius.
143. _famileres_, friends, i.e. disciples, viz. Epicurus, in the De Ira
Divina, cap. xiii (Stewart).
154. _Verone_, Verona; next to Ravenna, the favourite residence of
Theodoric.
156. _his real maiestee_, high treason, lit. 'his royal majesty'; Lat.
'maiestatis crimen.' The king was intent upon repressing all freedom of
speech.
167. _submittede_, subdued: 'summitteret.'
171. _present_, i.e. he would, even in such a case, have been allowed to
appear in his defence, would have been called upon to confess his crime,
and would have been condemned in a regular manner.
173. _fyve hundred_, nearly 500 miles. Boethius was imprisoned in a tower
at Pavia.
176. _as who seith, nay_; i.e. it is said ironically. The senate well
deserve that no one should ever defend them as I did, and be convicted for
it.
181. _sacrilege_; glossed _sorcerie_: 'sacrilegio.' Sorcery or magic is
intended. 'At the command of the barbarians, the occult science of a
philosopher was stigmatised with the names of sacrilege and
magic.'--Gibbon. See below, l. 196.
186. _Pictagoras_, Pythagoras. The saying here attributed to him is given
in the original in Greek--[Greek: hepou theô]. Some MSS. add the gloss, _i.
deo non diis seruiendum_. MS. C. has: _deo et non diis sacrificandum_.
188. _I_, i. e. for me. A remarkable grammatical use.
190. _right clene_: 'penetral innocens domus.'
193. _thorugh_, i. e. for. Caxton and Thynne read _for_.
195. _feith_: 'de te tanti criminis fidem capiunt.'
198. _it suffiseth nat only ... but-yif_, this alone is insufficient ...
unless thou also, &c. _of thy free wille_: 'ultro.'
212. _good gessinge_, high esteem: 'existimatio bona.'
215. _charge_, burden, load: 'sarcinam.'
219. _by gessinge_, in men's esteem: 'existimatione.'
223. _for drede_: 'nostri discriminis terrore.'
METRE 5. 1. _whele_, sphere: 'orbis.' Not only were there seven spheres
allotted to the planets, but there was an eighth larger sphere, called the
sphere of fixed stars, and a ninth 'sphere of first motion,' or _primum
mobile_, which revolved round the earth once in 24 hours, according to the
Ptolemaic astronomy. This is here alluded to. God is supposed to sit in an
immoveable throne beyond it.
3. _sweigh_, violent motion; the very word used in the same connexion in
the Man of Lawes Tale, B 296; see note to that passage.
4. _ful hornes_, i. e. her horns filled up, as at full moon, when she meets
'with alle the bemes' of the Sun, i. e. reflects them fully.
7. _derke hornes_, horns faintly shining, as when the moon, a thin
crescent, is near the sun and nearly all obscured.
'The bente mone with hir hornes pale;' Troil. iii. 624.
9. _cometh eft ayein hir used cours_, returns towards her accustomed
course, i. e. appears again, as usual, as a morning-star, in due course. I
think the text is incorrect; for _cometh_ read _torneth_, i. e. turns. Lat.
text: 'Solitas iterum mutet habenas.' The planet Venus, towards one
apparent extremity of her orbit, follows the sun, as an evening-star; and
again, towards the other apparent extremity, precedes it as a morning-star.
So Cicero, De Nat. Deorum, ii. 20. 53: 'dicitur Lucifer, cum antegreditur
solem, cum subsequitur autem, Hesperus.'
11. _restreinest_, shortenest; the sun's apparent course being shorter in
winter. Lat. 'stringis.'
13. _swifte tydes_, short times; viz. of the summer nights.
19. _Arcturus_, [alpha] Boötis, in the sign Libra; conspicuous in the
nights of spring.
20. _Sirius_, [alpha] Canis Maioris, or the Dog-star, in the sign of
Cancer; seen before sun-rise in the so-called dog-days, in July and August.
It was supposed that the near approach of Sirius to the Sun caused great
heat.
21. _his lawe_, i.e. '_its_ law'; and so again in _his propre_.
28. _on._ Caxton and Thynne rightly read _on_.
29. _derke derknesses_, obscure darkness: 'obscuris ... tenebris.' Not a
happy expression.
31. _covered and kembd_: 'compta.' Cf. _kembde_ in Squi. Ta. F 560.
37. _erthes_, lands; the pl. is used, to translate 'terras.'
41. _bonde_, i.e. the chain of love; see Bk. ii. Met. 8. l. 15.
PROSE 5. 1. _borken out_, barked out; 'delatraui.' MS. A. changes _borken_
into _broken_. The glossaries, &c., all seem to miss this excellent example
of the strong pp. of _berken_. _Borken_ appears as a pt. t. pl. in the King
of Tars, l. 400. The A.S. pp. _borcen_ appears in the A.S. Leechdoms, ed.
Cockayne, i. 170, l. 17.
14. _oo ... king._ The original is in Greek--[Greek: heis koiranos estin,
heis basileus]: quoted from Homer, Iliad, ii. 204, with the change from
[Greek: estô] to [Greek: estin].
18, 19. _thy citee_, i.e. the city of heaven; note the context.
22. _palis_, paling, rampart; 'uallo.' Clearer than _paleis_, as in A,
which might mean palace; but both spellings occur in French.
25. _face_ (facies), the look of this prison.
31. _in comune good_, for the common good: 'in commune bonum.'
34. _thinges ... aposed_, accusations; 'delatorum.'
45. _thy wode Muse_: 'Musae saeuientis'; cf. Met. 5 above, l. 22.
51. _thilke passiouns_: 'ut quae in tumorem perturbationibus influentibus
induruerunt.'
54. _by an esier touchinge_ refers to the preceding _mowen ... softe_:
'tactu blandiore mollescant.'
METRE 6. This Metre refers to the necessity of doing everything in its
proper season.
2. 'When the sun is in Cancer'; i.e. in the month of June.
4. _lat him gon_, let him go and eat acorns.
6. _whan the feld_: 'Cùm saeuis Aquilonibus Stridens campus inhorruit.'
_Chirkinge_, hoarse, rustling; alluding to the rustling of frozen grass in
a high wind.
15. _And forthy_: 'Sic quod praecipiti uiâ Certum deserit ordinem, Laetos
non habet exitus.'
PROSE 6. 10. _by fortunous fortune_: 'fortuitis casibus.' Not well
expressed.
14. _the same ... thou_, thou didst sing the same thing. See Met. v. 22.
17. _owh!_ an exclamation of astonishment: Lat. 'papae.'
18. _why that thou_: 'cur in tam salubri sententiâ locatus aegrotes.'
20. _I not ... what_: 'nescio, quid abesse coniecto.'
22. _with whiche governailes_, by what sort of government.
28. _the strengthe_, the strength of the gaping stockade discloses an
opening: 'uelut hiante ualli robore.' The corruption of _chyning_ to
_schynyng_ in MS. A. makes sad nonsense of the passage.
42. _they may nat al_: 'sibique totum extirpare non possint.'
55. _or elles the entree_: 'uel aditum reconciliandae sospitatis inueni.'
56. _For-why, for_, Because, since. _for-thy_, therefore.
64. _the auctor ... of hele_: 'sospitatis auctori.'
65. _norisshinges_; perhaps better _norisshing_, as in Caxton and Thynne;
'fomitem,' i. e. furtherance.
71. _faster_, firmer, stronger: 'firmioribus.'
76. _to maken thinne and wayk_: 'attenuare.'
77. _meneliche_, moderate: 'mediocribus.'
METRE 7. 1. _yeten a-doun_, pour down; 'fundere.' Not _geten_, as in A.
2. _trouble_, turbid; 'Turbidus Auster.'
3. _medleth the hete_: 'Misceat aestum.' See above, Met. iv. l. 5.
5. _clere as glas_; cf. Knight's Tale, A 1958.
_withstande_: 'Mox resoluto Sordida caeno, Visibus obstat.'
7. _royleth_, wanders; 'uagatur.' Not 'rolls.'
11. _holden_, keep to; cf. 'Hold the hye wey'; Truth, l. 20. _weyve_:
'Gaudia pelle, Pelle timorem; Spemque fugato.'