BOOK IV.
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 unfrequently transposes the order of the text.
TROILUS: BOOK IV. FILOSTRATO.
1-10. Bk. III. st. 94.
29-35. Bk. IV. st. 1.
47-110. " 2-10.
127-166. " 12-16.
211-217. " 17.
218-385. " 22, 23, 26-46.
393-406. " 47, 48.
414-451. " 49, 50.
459-497. " 52, 54, 56-58.
501-787. " 60-89, 92, 93, 88-91.
799-821. " 95, 96.
848-925, 939-946. " 98-109 (l. 1).
1089-1095, 1108-1260. " 109 (l. 4)-127.
1310-1400. " 131-136.
1422-1446. " 137-140.
1464-1542, 1555-1694. " 141-167.
1. In the Proem, ll. 1-3 correspond to Fil. iii. st. 94, ll. 1-3; and ll. 8
and 10 to the same stanza, ll. 4 and 7. The rest is original.
3. Cf. Boethius, lib. ii. Pr. 1: 'Intelligo ... illius [Fortunae] ... cum
his, quos eludere nititur, blandissimam familiaritatem.'
5. _hent and blent_, for _hendeth and blendeth_, catches and blinds.
6, 7. Cf. Boethius, lib. ii. Met. 2: 'Ultroque gemitus, dura quos fecit
[Fortuna], ridet.' Whence, in Le Roman de la Rose, 8076-9, the passage
which Chaucer here imitates; _the mowe_ = F. _la moe_.
22. _Herines_ i. e. Furies; used as the pl. of _Erynis_ or _Erinnys_; see
note to Compl. to Pite, 92. Their names (see l. 24) were Megaera, Alecto,
and Tisiphone. Bell's remark, that Chaucer found these names in Boccaccio,
does not seem to be founded on fact. He more likely found them in Vergil,
who has _Erinnys_, Æn. ii. 336, 573; vii. 447, 570; _Alecto_, id. vii. 324,
341, 405, 415, 445, 476; _Megæra_, id. xii. 846; _Tisiphone_, vi. 571, x.
761. But I suppose that, even in Chaucer's time, MS. note-books existed,
containing such information as the names of the Furies. Chaucer even knew
that some (as Æschylus) considered them to be the daughters of Night.
25. _Quiryne_, Quirinus. Ovid, Fasti, ii. 476, tells us that Quirinus was
Romulus; and just above, ii. 419, that Romulus and Remus were sons of Mars.
29. _Ligginge ... The Grekes_, while the Greeks lay.
32. _Hercules Lyoun_, Hercules' lion, the lion of Hercules; alluding to the
lion's skin which Hercules wore. Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon, lib. i.
263, has 'Herculeo ... leoni;' and Chaucer seems to have read this author,
or at any rate his first book; see Leg. of Good Women, l. 1457, and the
note. However, Chaucer shews his knowledge of the story clearly enough in
his tr. of Boethius, Bk. iv. Met. 7. The reference is, simply, to the sign
Leo. The sun was in this sign during the latter part of July and the former
part of August; but we are further told that he was in the 'breast' of Leo,
and therefore near the very bright star Regulus, called in Arabic
_Kalbalased_, or the Lion's Heart, which was situated almost on the zodiac,
and (at that time) near the 20th degree of the sign. This gives the date as
being the first week in August.
41. _in the berd_, in the beard, i. e. face to face.
47. _shour_, assault, attack; see note to Bk. iii. 1064.
50-4. From Boccaccio. The right names are Antenor, Polydamas, Menestheus or
Mnestheus, Xanthippus, Sarpedon, Polymnestor, Polites, Riphaeus, all
mentioned by Boccaccio, who probably took them from Guido delle Colonne.
But Boccaccio omits 'Phebuseo,' and I do not know who is meant. Several of
these names may be found in the allit. Destruction of Troy, ed. Panton and
Donaldson; as Antenor and his son Polydamas, at ll. 3947, 3954; Xanthippus,
king of Phrygia, l. 6107; Sarpedon, prince of Lycia, l. 5448; and in
Lydgate's Siege of Troy, Bk. ii. capp. 16, 20. Polymestor, or Polymnestor,
was king of the Thracian Chersonese, and an ally of the Trojans. Polites
was a son of Priam (Æneid. ii. 526). Mnestheus is repeatedly mentioned in
Vergil (Æn. v. 116, &c.), and is also called Menestheus (id. x. 129); he is
a different person from Menestheus, king of Athens, who fought on the other
side. For Riphaeus, see Verg. Aen. ii. 339. The Ital. forms are Antenorre,
Polidamas, Monesteo, Santippo, Serpedon, Polinestorre, Polite, Rifeo.
Observe that Monostéo, Riphéo, Phebuséo rime together, with an accent on
the penultimate.
62. _thassege_, for _the assege_, the siege; Barbour has _assege_, siege,
in his Bruce, xvii. 270, xx. 8; pl. _assegis_, xx. 12. MS. H. wrongly has
_thessage_. See l. 1480 below.
64. _Calkas_, Calchas; see Bk. i. 66, 71.
79. _This town to shende_, i. e. (it will be best for you) to despoil this
town.
86. _resport_, regard. This strange word is certified by its reappearance
in l. 850, where it rimes to _discomfórt_. It is given in Roquefort, but
only in a technical sense. It was, doubtless, formed from O. F. _esport_,
deportment, demeanour, regard (Godefroy), by prefixing _re-_; and means
'demeanour towards,' or (here) simply 'regard,' as also in l. 850. The
etymology is from Lat. _re-_, _ex_, and _portare_. Cf. F. _rapport_, from
_re-_, _ad_, and _portare_.
96. _in hir sherte_, in her smock only; i.e. without much rich clothing;
'as she was.'
99. 'For because I saw no opportunity.'
112. _as yerne_, as briskly as possible, very soon; so in l. 201.
120-4. Laomedon, father of Priam, founded Troy. Apollo and Poseidon
(Neptune) had been condemned for a while to serve him for wages. But
Laomedon refused them payment, and incurred their displeasure.
133. Antenor had been taken prisoner by the Greeks; see Lydgate, Siege of
Troye, Bk. iii. ch. 24. Lydgate's version is that Antenor was to be
exchanged for Thoas, king of Calydon; and, at the request of Chalcas, it
was arranged that Antenor should be exchanged for both Thoas and Criseyde
(see l. 138); to which Priam consented.
_withoute more_, without further ado; cf. l. 376.
143. _parlement_; here Boccaccio has _parlamento_, i.e. a parley. Chaucer
gives it the English sense.
168. 'The love of you both, where it was before unknown.'
197. From Juvenal, Sat. x. ll. 2-4:--
'pauci dignoscere possunt
Vera bona atque illis multum diuersa, remota
Erroris nebula.'
Cf. Dryden's translation and Dr. Johnson's poem on the Vanity of Human
Wishes.
198, 9. _what is to yerne_, what is desirable. _offence_, disappointment.
203. _mischaunce_; because Antenor contrived the removal from Troy of the
Palladium, on which the safety of the city depended. Cf. Lydgate, Siege of
Troye, Bk. iv. ch. 34; or the account by Caxton, quoted in Specimens of
English from 1394-1579, ed. Skeat, p. 89.
210. _here and howne._ The sense of this phrase is not known; but, judging
by the context, it seems to mean--'thus said every one, such was the common
rumour.' It has been explained as 'thus said _hare_ and _hound_,' i.e.
people of all sorts; but the M. E. form of _hare_ is _hare_ (A. S. _hara_),
and the M. E. form of 'hound' never appears as _howne_, which, by the way,
is evidently dissyllabic. In the absence of further evidence, guesswork is
hardly profitable; but I should like to suggest that the phrase may mean
'gentle and savage.' The M. E. _here_, gentle, occurs in Layamon, 25867;
and in Amis and Amiloun, 16 (Stratmann); from A. S. _h[=e]ore_. _Houne_
answers, phonetically, to an A. S. _H[=u]na_, which may mean a Hun, a
savage; cf. Ger. _Hüne_.
225. From Dante, Inf. iii. 112:--
'Come d'autunno si levan le foglie
L'una appresso dell' altra infin che 'l ramo
Rende alla terra tutte le sue spoglie.'
239. This stanza follows Boccaccio closely; but Boccaccio, in his turn,
here imitates a passage in Dante, Inf. xii. 22:--
'Qual è quel toro che si slaccia in quella
C'ha ricevuto già 'l colpo mortale,
Che gir non sa, ma qua e là saltella.'
251, 2. Almost repeated in the Clerk Ta. E 902, 3; see note to the latter
line, and cf. Gower, Conf. Amant. ii. 14--'Right as a lives creature She
semeth,' &c.
263. In MS. H., _thus_ is glossed by 'sine causa.'
272. Accent _misérie_ on _e_; 'Nella miseria;' Inf. v. 123.
279. _combre-world_, encumbrance of the world, a compound epithet. It is
used by Hoccleve, in his lament for Chaucer, De Regim. Principum, st. 299.
'A _cumber-world_, yet in the world am left;' Drayton, Pastorals, Ecl. ii.
25.
286. _gerful_, changeable; see note to Kn. Ta. A 1536.
300. _Edippe_, Oedipus, king of Thebes, who put out his own eyes on finding
that he had slain his father Laius and married his mother Jocasta; Statius,
Theb. i. 46.
302. Rossetti thus translates Fil. iv. st. 34: 'O soul, wretched and
astray, Why fliest thou not out of the most ill-fortuned body that lives? O
soul brought low, part from the body, and follow Chryseis.'
305. _unneste_, glossed in H. by 'go out of thi nest;' correctly.
318. Read _my_, not _the_ or _thy_; Rossetti thus translates Fil. iv. st.
36: 'O my Chryseis, O sweet bliss of the sorrowing soul which calls on
thee! Who will any more give comfort to _my_ pains?'
330. _unholsom_; Boccaccio has _insano_, Fil. iv. st. 38. 'I think it
pretty clear that B. means _insane_ in our ordinary sense for that word;
but Chaucer's _unholsom_ is no doubt founded on B.'s epithet, and is highly
picturesque.'--Rossetti.
356, 7. Nearly repeated in Man of Lawes Ta. B 608, 9. See l. 882.
381. 'As certainly do I wish it were false, as I know it is true.'
392. _propretee_, his own indefeasible possession; see Boethius, Bk. ii.
Pr. 2. 9 (p. 27), 61 (p. 28).
407. Pandarus took his morality from Ovid; cf. Amorum lib. ii. 4. 10-44:
'Centum sunt causae, cur ego semper amem;' &c.
413. _heroner_, a large falcon for herons; _faucon for rivere_, a goshawk
for waterfowl. See note to Sir Thopas, B 1927.
414, 5. From Boccaccio, who does not, however, give the name of the author
of the saying. The remark 'as Zanzis writeth' is Chaucer's own. It is quite
clear that _Zanzis_ in this passage is the same as the _Zanzis_ in the
Physiciens Tale, C 16; and he is no other than Zeuxis the painter. I do not
suppose that Chaucer had any special reason for assigning to him the
saying, but his name was as useful as that of any one else, and the
medieval method of reference is frequently so casual and light-hearted that
there is nothing to wonder at. Besides, we are distinctly told (l. 428)
that Pandarus was speaking _for the nonce_, i.e. quite at random. The real
author is Ovid: 'Successore nouo uincitur omnis amor;' Remed. Amor. 462.
460. _pleyen raket_, play at rackets, knocking the ball forwards and
backwards; alluding to the rebound of the ball after striking the wall.
461. _Netle in, dokke out_ means, as Chaucer says, first one thing and then
another. The words are taken from a charm for curing the sting of a nettle,
repeated whilst the patient rubs in the juice from a dock-leaf. The usual
formula is simply, 'in dock, out nettle,' for which see Brockett's Glossary
of North-Country Words, s. v. _dockon_ (dock); but Chaucer is doubtless
correct. He refers to a fuller form of words, given in Notes and Queries,
1st Ser. iii. 368:--
'Nettle in, dock out--Dock in, nettle out;
Nettle in, dock out--Dock rub nettle out.'
Akermann's Glossary of Wiltshire Words gives a third formula, as follows:--
'Out 'ettle, in dock--Dock shall ha' a new smock;
'Ettle zhan't ha' narrun.'
i.e. nettle shan't have ne'er one. See also N. and Q. 1st Ser. iii. 205,
368; xi. 92; Athenæum, Sept. 12, 1846; Brand, Pop. Antiq. iii. 315.
In the Testament of Love, Bk. i., the present passage is quoted in the
following form: 'Ye wete wel, lady, eke (quod I) that _I haue not playde
racket, nettyl in, docke out_, and with the wethercocke waued;' ed. 1550,
fol. cccv. col. 2. This shews that the text is correct.
462. 'Now ill luck befall her, that may care for thy wo.'
481-3. _gabbestow_, liest thou. Ll. 482, 3 are a reproduction of Pandarus'
own saying, in Bk. iii. 1625-8.
493. Deficient in the first foot; read--'I | that liv'd' | &c.
497. _formely_; Cm. _formaly_; for _formelly_, i.e. formally.
503. From Boethius, Bk. i. Met. 1. 13, 14 (p. 1).
506. Troilus speaks as if dead already. 'Well wot I, whilst I lived in
peace, before thou (death) didst slay me, I would have given (thee) hire;'
i.e. a bribe, not to attack me.
520. _alambyk_, alembic; i.e. a retort, or vessel used in distilling; in
Cant. Ta. G 794, MS. E. has the pl. _alambikes_, and most other MSS. have
_alembikes_. The word was afterwards split up into _a lembick_ or _a
limbeck_; see Macb. i. 7. 67. Chaucer took this from Le Rom. de la Rose,
6406-7:--
'Je vois maintes fois que tu plores
Cum alambic sus alutel.'
556. 'Then think I, this would injure her reputation.'
583. 'But if I had so ardent a love, and had thy rank.'
588. Cf. the phrase 'a nine days' wonder.' Lat. _nouendiale sacrum_; Livy,
i. 31.
600. 'Audentes Fortuna iuuat;' Æneid. x. 284; 'Fortes Fortuna adiuuat';
Terence, Phormio, i. 4. 26.
602. 'Unhardy is unsely;' Reves Ta. A 4210.
603. For _litel_, MS. H. and Thynne have _lite_. It makes no difference,
either to the sense or the scansion.
607. _for ferd_, for fear (H2. _for drede_; Thynne, _for feare_). Properly
_for ferde_, as in Ho. Fame, 950; but often shortened to _for ferd_.
_Ferde_ or _ferd_ is tolerably common as a sb., but some scribes hardly
understood it. Hence MSS. Cl. and H. have _of-fered_, i.e. greatly
frightened.
618. Cf. Kn. Ta. A 1163-8; and the notes.
622. 'Boldly stake the world on casts of the dice.' Cf. Cant. Tales, B 125,
C 653, and the notes.
627. Nearly repeated in Kn. Tale, A 1010.
630. 'The devil help him that cares about it.'
659-61. From Boccaccio, Fil. iv. st. 78; cf. Æneid. iv. 188.
683. 'And expected to please her.' _For pitous Ioye_ represents 'pietosa
allegrezza,' Fil. iv. st. 80.
684. 'Dear enough at a mite;' cf. note to L. G. Wom. 741.
692. _on every syde_; 'd'ogni partito;' Fil. iv. 81. I suppose it means,
literally, 'on every side;' Troy being subject to attacks at various
points.
708-14. Certainly genuine; found also in Fil. iv. 84.
716. Deficient in the first foot.
735. Dr. Furnivall says that MSS. Cl., H., and others have here misplaced a
stanza, meaning that ll. 750-6 should have come next, as shewn by
Boccaccio's text. But only MS. Cm. has such an order, and it is quite
certain that the other MSS. are right. The order in Boccaccio's text
furnishes no real guide, as Chaucer often transposes such order; and it is
odd that only this _one_ instance should have been noted. It is better to
consider the order in MS. Cm. as wrong, and to say that it transposes the
text by placing ll. 750-6 after l. 735, and gives a somewhat different
version of ll. 750-2.
736. _ounded_, waved, wavy; see Ho. Fame, 1386, and note. Cf. 'Tear my
bright hair,' &c.; Shak. Troilus, iv. 2. 112.
750. Cf. note to l. 735. MS. Cm., which inserts this stanza after l. 735,
begins thus:--
'The salte teris from hyre ey[gh]yn tweyn
Out ran, as schour of Aprille ful swythe;
Hyre white brest sche bet, and for the peyne,' &c.
762. This line, giving the name of Criseyde's mother, is not in Boccaccio
(Fil. iv. stt. 89-93). I do not know where Chaucer found the form _Argyve_;
in Statius, Theb. ii. 297, _Argia_ is the name of the wife of Polynices,
and Ch. calls her _Argyve_; see Bk. v. l. 1509 below.
769, 70. _by-word_, proverb: 'plants without a root soon die.'
782. _ordre_, order. She will pass her life in mourning and abstinence, as
if she had entered a religious order.
790. _Elysos_, Elysium. It looks as if Chaucer was thinking of Vergil's
'Elysios ... campos;' Georg. i. 38; for the story of Orpheus and Eurydice
occurs in Georg. iv. 453-527. Cf. Ovid, Met. x. 1-85.
829. _cause causinge_, the primary cause. '_Causa causans_, a primary or
original cause; _causa causata_, a secondary or intermediate cause;' New E.
Dict., s. v. _Causa_.
831. _Wher_, short for _whether_; as in Cant. Ta. B 3119, &c.
836. 'Extrema gaudii luctus occupat;' Prov. xiv. 13. See note to Man of
Lawes Ta. B 421.
842. The first foot is deficient: 'Peyn | e tor | ment,' &c.
843. 'There is no misery that is not within my body.'
850. _resport_, regard; see note to l. 86 above.
865. Compare the similar lines in Kn. Ta. A 1400, 1.
866. _men_, weakened form of _man_, takes a sing. verb.
870. _Bi-trent_, winds round; see note to iii. 1231.
884. _into litel_, within a little, very nearly.
887. _fawe_, gladly; cf. Cant. Ta. D 220.
907. _bane_, destruction; see Kn. Ta. A 1097, 1681.
927. 'Be to him rather a cause of the _flat_ than of the _edge_,' i.e. of
healing rather than of harming. A curious allusion which is fully explained
by reference to the Squieres Tale, F 156-165. See also note to the same, F
238.
947-1085. This passage is not in Boccaccio, but some of it is in Boethius;
see below.
963-1078. A considerable portion of this passage is copied, more or less
closely, from Boethius, lib. v. Pr. 2 and Pr. 3. The correspondences are
all pointed out below. Chaucer's own prose translation should be compared.
For example, the word _wrythen_ (l. 986) appears in that also (Bk. v. Pr.
3. 15).
963-6. 'Quae tamen ille, ab aeterno cuncta prospiciens, prouidentiae cernit
intuitus, et suis quaeque meritis praedestinata disponit;' Boeth. v. Pr. 2
(end).
968. _grete clerkes_; such as Boethius, Saint Augustine, and bishop
Bradwardine; see Non. Pr. Ta. B 4431, 2.
974-80. 'Nam si cuncta prospicit Deus, neque falli ullo modo potest,
euenire necesse est, quod prouidentia futurum esse praeuiderit. Quare si ab
aeterno non facta hominum modo, sed etiam consilia uoluntatesque
praenoscit, nulla erit arbitrii libertas;' Boeth. v. Pr. 3. 981-7
(_continued_): 'neque enim uel factum aliud ullum, uel quaelibet existere
poterit uoluntas, nisi quam nescia falli prouidentia diuina praesenserit.
Nam si res aliorsum, quam prouisae sunt, detorqueri ualent, non iam erit
futuri firma praescientia.' 988-994 (_continued_): 'sed opinio potius
incerta: quod de Deo credere nefas iudico.'
996. I.e. who have received the tonsure.
997-1001. 'Aiunt enim, non ideo quid esse euenturum, quoniam id prouidentia
futurum esse prospexerit: sed è contrario potius, quoniam quid futurum est,
id diuinam prouidentiam latere non posse;' Boeth. v. Pr. 3. 1002-1008
(_continued_): 'eoque modo necessarium hoc in contrariam relabi partem.
Neque enim necesse est contingere, quae prouidentur; sed necesse esse, quae
futura sunt, prouideri.' 1009-1015 (_continued_): 'Quasi uero, quae
cuiusque rei caussa sit, praescientiane futurorum necessitatis, an
futurorum necessitas prouidentiae, laboretur.' 1016-1022 (_continued_): 'At
nos illud demonstrare nitamur, quoquo modo sese habeat ordo caussarum,
necessarium esse euentum praescitarum rerum, etiam si praescientia futuris
rebus eueniendi necessitatem non uideatur inferre.'
(The negative in l. 1016 is remarkable, but Chaucer's prose rendering
presents the same form. Surely he has taken _nitamur_ as if it were
_uitamus_.)
1023-9. (_continued_): 'Etenim si quispiam sedeat, opinionem quae eum
sedere coniectat ueram esse necesse est: atque è conuerso rursus, (1030-6)
si de quopiam uera sit opinio, quoniam sedet, eum sedere necesse est. In
utroque igitur necessitas inest: in hoc quidem sedendi, at uerò in altero
ueritatis.' 1037-1047 (_continued_): 'Sed non idcirco quisque sedet,
quoniam uera est opinio; sed haec potius uera est, quoniam quempiam sedere
praecessit. Ita cùm caussa ueritatis ex altera parte procedat, inest tamen
communis in utraque necessitas. Similia de prouidentia futurisque rebus
ratiocinari patet.' 1051-78 (_continued_): 'Nam etiam si idcirco, quoniam
futura sunt, prouidentur; non uero ideo, quoniam prouidentur eueniunt:
nihilo minus tamen à Deo uel uentura prouideri, uel prouisa euenire necesse
est: quod ad perimendam arbitrii libertatem solùm satis est. Iam uero quam
praeposterum est, ut aeternae praescientiae temporalium rerum euentus
caussa esse dicatur? Quid est autem aliud arbitrari, ideo Deum futura,
quoniam sunt euentura, prouidere, quam putare quae olim acciderunt, caussam
summae illius esse prouidentiae? Ad haec, sicuti cum quid esse scio, id
ipsum esse necesse est: ita cum quid futurum noui, id ipsum futurum necesse
est. Sic fit igitur, ut euentus praescitae rei nequeat euitari.'
1094. _ferd_, fared; not the pp. of _faren_ (l. 1087), but of the weak verb
_feren_ (A. S. _f[=e]ran_). The correct pp. of _faren_ is _faren_. See
Stratmann.
1105. 'A man may offer his neck soon enough when it (i. e. his head) must
come off.'
1136. 'Beyond the nature of tears.'
1139. Myrrha, daughter of Cinyras, king of Cyprus, who was changed into a
myrrh-tree; Ovid, Met. x. 298. The tree wept tears of myrrh; id. x. 500.
1146. _hir-e_ (MS. Cl. _here_), their, is here dissyllabic. _unswelle_,
cease to swell, as in Bk. v. 214.
1147. 'All hoarse, and exhausted with shrieking.' _forshright_ is the pp.
of _forshriken_, to shriek excessively. Bell wrongly has _for shright_; but
_shright_ is not a noun. The Ital. has 'con _rotta_ voce,' with broken
voice; Fil. iv. st. 116.
1153. 'Being always on the point of departing.'
1162. 'Whether it was sad for him.'
1174. Cf. 'And _bisily_ gan,' &c.; Prol. A 301.
1179. _preignant_ (F. _preignant_, _pregnant_, Cotgrave), catching hold of
tightly, hence, forcible; pres. part. of _prendre_, to seize. Quite
distinct from _pregnant_ when representing Lat. _praegnans_.
1181. _woon_, hope, resource. This answers to Early E. _w[=a]n_ (see
Stratmann), and is allied to Icel. _ván_, hope, expectation; cf. Icel.
_væna_, to hope for, to ween. The word is monosyllabic, and the long _o_ is
'open,' as shewn by its riming with _noon_, _goon_, from A. S. _n[=a]n_,
_g[=a]n_. Bell quite fails to explain it, and Morris suggests 'remedy,'
without assigning any reason. It is common in Rob. of Gloucester, with
similar rimes, and does not mean 'custom' or 'habit' or 'manner,' as
suggested in Mr. Wright's Glossary, nor has it any connection with M. E.
_wone_, custom, which was dissyllabic, and had a short vowel in the former
syllable; but it means, as here, 'hope' or 'resource.' For example: 'tho he
ne sey other _won_' = when he saw nothing else to be done; Rob. Glouc. ed.
Hearne, p. 12; ed. Wright, l. 275. 'And flowe in-to hor castles, vor hii
nadde other _won_,' i. e. no other resource; id. p. 19, ed. Hearne, l. 442.
This is one of the rather numerous words in Chaucer that have not been
rightly understood.
1185. _twighte_, plucked; pt. t. of _twicchen_.
1188. 'Where the doom of Minos would assign it a place.' Boccaccio here
uses the word _inferno_ (Fil. iv. 120) to denote the place where Troilus'
soul would dwell; which Rossetti explains to mean simply Hades. Chaucer's
meaning is the same; he is referring to Æneid. vi. 431-3.
1208. Atropos is the Fate who cuts the thread of life; see note to v. 7.
1237. _a forlong wey_, two minutes and a half, to speak exactly; see note
to C. T., A 3637.
1241. Either _slayn_ is here expanded into _slayen_, or the pause after
this word does duty for a syllable, in the scansion.
1242. _ho_, stop, cease; see Kn. Ta. A 1706.
1244. _ther-e_ is here made into a dissyllable.
1245. _morter_, mortar. The Century Dict. quotes from Dugdale's Hist. of
St. Paul's (ed. Ellis), p. 27: 'A _mortar_ was a wide bowl of iron or
metal; it rested upon a stand or branch, and was filled either with fine
oil or wax, which was kept burning by means of a broad wick [at funerals or
on tombs].' It was named from its similarity in shape to the _mortar_ in
which things were pounded. I remember the word in common use; it came to
denote what is now called a _night-light_, and the word _night-light_ seems
to have nearly displaced it. In this modern contrivance, the old 'mortar'
is sometimes represented by a paper casing. The term was frequently
applied, not merely to the saucer which held the grease, but to the light
itself, which sometimes took the shape of a short candle. Cotgrave explains
F. _mortier_ as 'a kind of small chamber-lamp.' Instead of _morter_, MS.
Cm. has _percher_, which meant a kind of wax candle placed upon a branch or
bar called a _perche_ (perch).
1295. 'About that (there) is no question.' Cf. l. 1694.
1374. _wether_, sheep. I. e. it is advisable to give the wolf a limb of a
sheep, in order to save the rest.
1377. _grave_, incise, make an impression upon.
1380. _moble_ (H., H2. _moeble_), movable property; cf. F. _meubles_.
1404. 'Whilst he is making his divination; and I will make him believe.'
Ll. 1401-14 are due to a passage in Guido; see allit. Destruction of Troy,
8101-40.
1406. _amphibologyes_, ambiguities. A more correct form is _amphiboly_,
from Gk. [Greek: amphibolia]; see New E. Dict. The ambiguous character of
the old oracular responses is well known.
1411. 'When he started away from Delphi for fear.' Cf. l. 607.
1422. See note to Book i. 463.
1425. _the selve wit_, the same opinion.
1435. _clere_, clear of woe, free, light. MS. H. has _chere_.
1453. 'The bear has one opinion, and his leader another.'
1456. Repeated in Kn. Ta. A 2449; see note.
1459. 'With eyes like Argus;' i. e. seeing everywhere. Argus had a hundred
eyes; Ovid, Met. i. 625.
1483. _fere_, frighten, terrify; as in Bk. ii. 124.
1505. 'To lose the substance, for the sake of something accidentally
representing it;' as when the dog dropped the piece of meat, in his anxiety
to get the shadow (or reflected image) of it. As to the famous words
_substance_ and _accident_, see note to Pard. Ta. C 539.
1525. _go we_, let us go; also written _gowe_, P. Plowm. B. Pr. 226.
1538-40. Juno caused Athamas, the husband of Ino, to run mad. As Ovid tells
the story, Juno descended into hell, and crossed the Styx, in order to
persuade the fury Tisiphone to haunt Athamas. Hence the mention of the Styx
was readily suggested. See Ovid, Met. iv. 416-561, esp. l. 434. Styx was
not, as Chaucer says, 'the pit of hell,' but a river that flowed through
it.
1544. _Satiry and Fauny_, Satyri and Fauni, Satyrs and Fauns. Chaucer was
probably thinking of Ovid, Met. vi. 392-4, where the _Fauni_, _Satyri_, and
_Nymphae_ are described as 'ruricolae, siluarum numina.' For _halve
goddes_, we now say _demigods_.
1548. _Simois_, a river of Troas; Æneid. i. 100.
1560. _laye_, would lie; subj. The _e_ is elided.
1562. _take_, take place, be made. Thynne has _be take_, but _be_ clogs the
line, and is not in the MSS.
1584. 'Vincit qui patitur;' see Frank. Ta. F 773.
1585. 'He who will have what he wants must give up what he likes.' Such
seems to be the sense intended. _Leef_ means 'dear.' One of Heywood's
proverbs is--'Nought lay down, nought take up;' and very similar to this
is--'Nothing venture, nothing have.' For the second _leef_, MS. H. has
_lyfe_, a reading adopted by Bell and Morris. This takes all point out of
the saying, and does not seem applicable to the case. Ll. 1587 and 1588
repeat the saying in another form, and confirm the reading in the text. Cf.
Boeth. Bk. ii. Pr. 4. 98.
1591, 2. _Lucina_, i. e. Diana, or the moon; cf. Kn. Ta. A 2085. 'Before
the moon pass out of the sign of Aries beyond that of Leo.' In order to
this, the moon would have to pass wholly through Taurus, Gemini, Cancer,
and Leo, thus traversing a distance represented by about 4 signs, or a
third part of the whole zodiac: this would take up about the third part of
28 days, or more than 9 days. This brings us, as Criseyde says, to the 10th
day (l. 1595). Such a method of counting is natural enough to those that
watch the moon's course; and lovers are generally credited with taking a
special interest in that luminary; cf. l. 1608. In the sequel, a good deal
turns upon this 'tenth day.' Cf. ll. 1320, 1328, 1685; V. 239, 642, 681,
1103, 1206.
1608. _Cynthia_, i. e. Diana, the moon; Ovid, Met. ii. 465.
1612. 'To lose one opportunity, in order to gain another.'
1620. _pure_, very; as in Kn. Ta. A 1279.
1628. 'Who can hold a thing that tries to get away?'
'An eel and woman,
A learned poet says, unless by th' tail
And with thy teeth thou hold, will either fail.'
The Two Noble Kinsmen, A. iii. sc. 5. l. 49.
1645. 'Res est solliciti plena timoris amor;' Ovid, Her. i. 12.
1667-73. In Boccaccio, a stanza of a similar character is assigned to
Troilus, not to Criseyde.
1677. _poeplish_; Boccaccio (Fil. iv. st. 165) has _popolesco_, which
Rossetti translates by 'low-bred.' Florio's Ital. Dict. has: '_popolesco_,
popular, of the common people.'
1682. _fórtun-è_ is trisyllabic.