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Title: Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 — Romaunt of the Rose; Minor
Poems

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

Editor: Walter W. Skeat

Release date: July 3, 2013 [eBook #43089]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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WORKS, VOLUME 1 — ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE; MINOR POEMS
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Vol. I. Frontispiece.
GEOFFREY CHAUCER: FROM MS. HARL. 4866

THE COMPLETE WORKS
OF

GEOFFREY CHAUCER
EDITED, FROM NUMEROUS MANUSCRIPTS
BY THE

Rev. WALTER W. SKEAT, M.A.
Litt.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Ph.D.
ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON
AND FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

*
ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE
MINOR POEMS

——'blanda sonantibus
Chordis carmina temperans.'
Boethius, De Cons. Phil. Lib. III. Met. 12.

'He temprede hise blaundisshinge songes by resowninge strenges.'
Chaucer's Translation.

SECOND EDITION

Oxford
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
MDCCCXCIX

Oxford
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BY HORACE HART, M.A.,
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

CONTENTS.
* *
* The Portrait of Chaucer in the frontispiece is noticed at p. lix.

PAGE

General Introduction vii

Life of Chaucer ix
List of Chaucer's Works lxii
Errata and Addenda lxiv
Introduction to the Romaunt of the 1
Rose.—§ 1. Why (the chief part of)
the Romaunt of the Rose is not
Chaucer's. § 2. The English Version
of the Romaunt. § 3. Internal
evidence. § 4. Dr. Lidner's opinion.
§ 5. Dr. Kaluza's opinion. The three
Fragments. § 6. Discussion of
Fragment B. Test. I.—Proportion of
English to French. § 7. Test II.—
Dialect. § 8. Test III.—The Riming
of -y with -yë. § 9. Test IV.—
Assonant Rimes. § 10. Result:
Fragment B is not by Chaucer. § 11.
Discussion of Fragment C. § 12.
Rime-tests. § 13. Further
considerations. § 14. Result:
Fragment C is not by the author of
Fragment B, and perhaps not by
Chaucer. § 15. Discussion of
Fragment A. (1) Rimes in -y. (2)
Rimes in -yë § 16. No false rimes. §
17. The three Fragments seem to be
all distinct. § 18. Fragment A is
probably Chaucer's. § 19.
Summary. § 20. Probability of the
results. § 21. The external evidence.
§ 22. The Glasgow MS. § 23. Th.—
Thynne's Edition; 1532. § 24.
Reprints. § 25. The Present Edition.
§ 26. Some corrections. § 27. The
French Text. §§ 28, 29. Brief

Analysis of the French Poem: G. de
Lorris. § 30. Jean de Meun; to the
end of Fragment B. § 31. Gap in the
Translation. § 32. Fragment C. §
33. Chaucer's use of 'Le Roman.' §
34. Méon's French text
Introduction to the Minor Poems.—§ 20
1. Principles of selection. § 2.
Testimony of Chaucer regarding his
Works. § 3. Lydgate's List. § 4.
Testimony of Shirley. § 5.
Testimony of Scribes. § 6.
Testimony of Caxton. § 7. Early
Editions of Chaucer. § 8. Contents
of Stowe's Edition (1561): Part I.—
Reprinted Matter. § 9. Part II.—
Additions by Stowe. § 10. Part I.
discussed. § 11. Part II. discussed. §
12. Poems added by Speght. § 13.
Poems added by Morris. § 14.
Description of the MSS. List of the
MSS. § 15. Remarks on the MSS.
at Oxford. § 16. MSS. at
Cambridge. § 17. London MSS. §
18. I.—A. B. C. § 19. II.—The
Compleynt unto Pitè. § 20. III.—
The Book of the Duchesse. § 21.
IV.—The Compleynt of Mars. § 22.
V.—The Parlement of Foules. § 23.
VI.—A Compleint to his Lady. §
24. VII.—Anelida and Arcite. § 25.
VIII. Chaucers Wordes unto Adam.
§ 26. IX.—The Former Age. § 27.
X.—Fortune. § 28. XI.—Merciless
Beauty. § 29. XII.—To
Rosemounde. § 30. XIII.—Truth. §
31. XIV.—Gentilesse. § 32. XV.—

Lak of Stedfastnesse. § 33. XVI—
Lenvoy to Scogan. § 34. XVII.—
Lenvoy to Bukton. § 35. XVIII.—
Compleynt of Venus. § 36. XIX.—
The Compleint to his Purse. § 37.
XX.—Proverbs. § 38. XXI.—
Against Women Unconstaunt. § 39.
XXII.—An Amorous Complaint. §
40. XXIII.—Balade of Compleynt.
§ 41. Concluding Remarks
The Romaunt of the Rose.
Fragment A. (with the French Text) 93
Fragment B. (containing Northern
forms) 164
Fragment C. 229
The Minor Poems.
I. An A. B. C. (with the 261
French original)
II. The Compleynte unto Pitè 272
III. The Book of the Duchesse 277
IV. The Compleynt of Mars 323
V. The Parlement of Foules 335
VI. A Compleint to his Lady 360
VII. Anelida and Arcite 365
VIII. Chaucers Wordes unto 379
Adam
IX. The Former Age 380
X. Fortune 383
XI. Merciles Beautè 387
XII. Balade to Rosemounde 389
XIII. Truth 390
XIV. Gentilesse 392
XV. Lak of Stedfastnesse 394
XVI. Lenvoy to Scogan 396

XVII. Lenvoy to Bukton 398
XVIII. The Compleynt of Venus 400
(with the French original)
XIX. The Compleint of Chaucer 405
to his empty Purse
XX. Proverbs of Chaucer 407
XXI. Appendix: Against Women 409
Unconstaunt
XXII. An Amorous Complaint 411
XXIII. A Balade of Compleynt 415
Notes to the Romaunt of the Rose 417
Notes to the Minor Poems 452

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
The present edition of Chaucer contains an entirely new Text, founded
solely on the manuscripts and on the earliest accessible printed editions. For
correct copies of the manuscripts, I am indebted, except in a few rare
instances, to the admirable texts published by the Chaucer Society.
In each case, the best copy has been selected as the basis of the text, and has
only been departed from where other copies afforded a better reading. All
such variations, as regards the wording of the text, are invariably recorded
in the footnotes at the bottom of each page; or, in the case of the Treatise on
the Astrolabe, in Critical Notes immediately following the text. Variations
in the spelling are also recorded, wherever they can be said to be of
consequence. But I have purposely abstained from recording variations of
reading that are certainly inferior to the reading given in the text.
The requirements of metre and grammar have been carefully considered
throughout. Beside these, the phonology and spelling of every word have
received particular attention. With the exception of reasonable and
intelligible variations, the spelling is uniform throughout, and consistent
with the highly phonetic system employed by the scribe of the very
valuable Ellesmere MS. of the Canterbury Tales. The old reproach, that

Chaucer's works are chiefly remarkable for bad spelling, can no longer be
fairly made; since the spelling here given is a fair guide to the old
pronunciation of nearly every word. For further particulars, see the
Introduction to vol. iv. and the remarks on Chaucer's language in vol. v.
The present edition comprises the whole of Chaucer's Works, whether in
verse or prose, together with a commentary (contained in the Notes) upon
every passage which seems to present any difficulty or to require
illustration. It is arranged in six volumes, as follows.
Vol. I. commences with a Life of Chaucer, containing all the known facts
and incidents that have been recorded, with authorities for the same, and
dates. It also contains the Romaunt of the Rose and the Minor Poems, with
a special Introduction and illustrative Notes. The Introduction discusses the
genuineness of the poems here given, and explains why certain poems,
formerly ascribed to Chaucer with more rashness than knowledge, are here
omitted.
The attempt to construct a reasonably good text of the Romaunt has
involved great labour; all previous texts abound with corruptions, many of
which have now for the first time been amended, partly by help of diligent
collation of the two authorities, and partly by help of the French original.
Vol. II. contains Boethius and Troilus, each with a special Introduction. The
text of Boethius is much more correct than in any previous edition, and
appears for the first time with modern punctuation. The Notes are nearly all
new, at any rate as regards the English version.
The text of Troilus is also a new one. The valuable 'Corpus MS.' has been
collated for the first time; and several curious words, which have been
hitherto suppressed because they were not understood, have been restored
to the text, as explained in the Introduction. Most of the explanatory Notes
are new; others have appeared in Bell's edition.
Vol. III. contains The House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women, and the
Treatise on the Astrolabe; with special Introductions. All these have been
previously edited by myself, with Notes. Both the text and the Notes have
been carefully revised, and contain several corrections and additions. The

latter part of the volume contains a discussion of the Sources of the
Canterbury Tales.
Vol. IV. contains the Canterbury Tales, with the Tale of Gamelyn appended.
The MSS. of the Canterbury Tales, and the mode of printing them, are
discussed in the Introduction.
Vol. V. contains a full Commentary on the Canterbury Tales, in the form of
Notes. Such as have appeared before have been carefully revised; whilst
many of them appear for the first time. The volume further includes all
necessary helps for the study of Chaucer, such as remarks on the
pronunciation, grammar, and scansion.
Vol. VI. contains a Glossarial Index and an Index of Names.

LIFE OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER.
* *
* Many of the documents referred to in the foot-notes are printed at length
in Godwin's Life of Chaucer, 2nd ed. 1804 (vol. iv), or in the Life by Sir H.
Nicolas. The former set are marked (G.); the latter set are denoted by a
reference to 'Note A,' or 'Note B'; &c.
§ 1. The name Chaucer, like many others in England in olden times, was
originally significant of an occupation. The Old French chaucier (for which
see Godefroy's Old French Dictionary) signified rather 'a hosier' than 'a
shoemaker,' though it was also sometimes used in the latter sense. The
modern French chausse represents a Low Latin calcia, fem. sb., a kind of
hose, closely allied to the Latin calceus, a shoe. See Chausses, Chaussure,
in the New English Dictionary.
It is probable that the Chaucer family came originally from East Anglia.
Henry le Chaucier is mentioned as a citizen of Norfolk in 1275; and Walter
le Chaucer as the same, in 1292[1]. But Gerard le Chaucer, in 1296, and
Bartholomew le Chaucer, in 1312-3, seem to have lived near Colchester[2].
In several early instances, the name occurs in connexion with Cordwainer
Street, or with the small Ward of the City of London bearing the same

name. Thus, Baldwin le Chaucer dwelt in 'Cordewanerstrete' in 1307; Elyas
le Chaucer in the same, in 1318-9; Nicholas Chaucer in the same, in 1356;
and Henry Chaucer was a man-at-arms provided for the king's service by
Cordwanerstrete Ward[3]. This is worthy of remark, because, as we shall see
presently, both Chaucer's father and his grandmother once resided in the
same street, the northern end of which is now called Bow Lane, the
southern end extending to Garlick Hithe. (See the article on Cordwainer
Street Ward in Stowe's Survey of London.)
§ 2. Robert le Chaucer. The earliest relative with whom we can certainly
connect the poet is his grandfather Robert, who is first mentioned, together
with Mary his wife, in 1307, when they sold ten acres of land in Edmonton
to Ralph le Clerk, for 100s.[4] On Aug. 2, 1310, Robert le Chaucer was
appointed 'one of the collectors in the port of London of the new customs
upon wines granted by the merchants of Aquitaine[5].' It is also recorded
that he was possessed of one messuage, with its appurtenances, in
Ipswich[6]; and it was alleged, in the course of some law-proceedings (of
which I have more to say below), that the said estate was only worth 20
shillings a year. He is probably the Robert Chaucer who is mentioned under
the date 1310, in the Early Letter-books of the City of London[7].
Robert Chaucer was married, in or before 1307 (see above), to a widow
named Maria or Mary Heyroun[8], whose maiden name was probably
Stace[9]; and the only child of whom we find any mention was his son and
heir, named John, who was the poet's father. At the same time, it is
necessary to observe that Maria had a son still living, named Thomas
Heyroun, who died in 1349[10].
John Chaucer was born, as will be shewn, in 1312; and his father Robert
died before 1316 (Close Rolls, 9 Edw. II., p. 318).
§ 3. Richard le Chaucer. Some years after Robert's death, namely in
1323[11], his widow married for the third time. Her third husband was
probably a relative (perhaps a cousin) of her second, his name being
Richard le Chaucer, a vintner residing in the Ward of Cordwainer Street;
respecting whom several particulars are known.

Richard le Chaucer was 'one of the vintners sworn at St. Martin's, Vintry, in
1320, to make proper scrutiny of wines[12]'; so that he was necessarily
brought into business relations with Robert, whose widow he married in
1323, as already stated.
A plea held at Norwich in 1326, and entered on mem. 13 of the Coram Rege
Roll of Hilary 19 Edw. II.[13], is, for the present purpose, so important that I
here quote Mr. Rye's translation of the more material portions of it from the
Life-Records of Chaucer (Chaucer Soc.), p. 125:—

'London.—Agnes, the widow of Walter de Westhale, Thomas Stace,
Geoffrey Stace, and Laurence 'Geffreyesman Stace[14],' were attached
to answer Richard le Chaucer of London and Mary his wife on a plea
that whereas the custody of the heir and land of Robert le Chaucer,
until the same heir became of full age, belonged to the said Richard
and Mary (because the said Robert held his land in socage, and the
said Mary is nearer in relationship to the heir of the said Robert,) and
whereas the said Richard and Mary long remained in full and peaceful
seizin of such wardship, the said Agnes, Thomas, Geoffrey, and
Laurence by force and arms took away John, the son and heir of the
said Robert, who was under age and in the custody of the said Richard
and Mary, and married him[15] against the will of the said R. and M.
and of the said heir, and also did other unlawful acts against the said R.
and M., to the grave injury of the said R. and M., and against the
peace.
'And therefore the said R. and M. complain that, whereas the custody
of the land and heir of the said Robert, viz. of one messuage with its
appurtenances in Ipswich, until the full age of, &c., belonged, &c., ...
because the said Robert held the said messuage in socage, and the said
Mary is nearer in relationship to the said Robert, viz. mother of the
said heir, and formerly the wife of the said Robert, and (whereas) the
said R. and M. remained in full and peaceful seizin of the said
wardship for a long while, viz. for one year; they, the said Agnes, T.,
G., and L., on the Monday [Dec. 3] before the feast of St. Nicholas, in
the eighteenth year of the present king [1324], ... stole and took away
by force and arms ... the said John, son and heir of the said Robert,

who was under age, viz. under the age of fourteen years, and then in
the wardship of the said R. and M. at London, viz. in the Ward of
Cordwanerstrete, and married him to one Joan, the daughter of Walter
de Esthale [error for Westhale], and committed other unlawful acts,
&c.
'Wherefore they say they are injured, and have suffered damage to the
extent of 300l.'

The defence put in was—

'That, according to the customs of the borough of Ipswich ... any heir
under age when his heirship shall descend to him shall remain in the
charge of the nearest of his blood, but that his inheritance shall not
descend to him till he has completed the age of twelve years ... and
they say that the said heir of the said Robert completed the age of
twelve years before the suing out of the said writ[16].'

And it was further alleged that the said Agnes, T., G., and L. did not cause
the said heir to be married.
'Most of the rest of the membrane,' adds Mr. Rye, 'is taken up with a long
technical dispute as to jurisdiction, of which the mayor and citizens of
London apparently got the best; for the trial came on before R. Baynard and
Hamo de Chikewell [Chigwell] and Nicholas de Farndon (the two latter
sitting on behalf of the City) at St. Martin's the Great (le Grand), London,
on the Sunday [Sept. 7, 1326] next before the Nativity of the B.V.M. [Sept.
8]; when, the defendants making default, a verdict was entered for the
plaintiffs for 250l. damages.'
Further information as to this affair is given in the Liber Albus, ed. Riley,
1859, vol. i. pp. 437-444. A translation of this passage is given at pp. 376-
381 of the English edition of the same work, published by the same editor
in 1861. We hence learn that the Staces, being much dissatisfied with the
heavy damages which they were thus called upon to pay, attainted Richard
le Chaucer and his wife, in November, 1328, of committing perjury in the
above-mentioned trial. But it was decided that attaint does not lie as to the
verdict of a jury in London; a decision so important that the full particulars

of the trial and of this appeal were carefully preserved among the city
records.
Mr. Rye goes on to give some information as to a third document relating to
the same affair. It appears that Geoffrey Stace next 'presented a petition to
parliament (2 Edw. III., 1328, no. 6), praying for relief against the damages
of 250l., which he alleged were excessive, on the ground that the heir's
estate was only worth 20s. a year[17]. This petition sets out all the
proceedings, referring to John as "fuiz [fiz] et heire Robert le Chaucier," but
puts the finding of the jury thus: "et trove fu qu'ils avoient ravi le dit heire,
mes ne mie mariee," and alleges that "le dit heire est al large et ove [with]
les avantditz Richard et Marie demourant et unkore dismarie."' The result of
this petition is unknown.
From the above particulars I draw the following inferences.
The fact that Mary le Chaucer claimed to be nearer in relationship to the
heir (being, in fact, his mother) than the Staces, clearly shews that they also
were very near relations. We can hardly doubt that the maiden name of
Mary le Chaucer was Stace, and that she was sister to Thomas and Geoffrey
Stace.
In Dec. 1324, John le Chaucer was, according to his mother's statement,
'under age'; i. e. less than fourteen years old. According to the Staces, he
had 'completed the age of twelve before the suing out, &c.' We may safely
infer that John was still under twelve when the Staces carried him off, on
Dec. 3, 1324. Hence he was born in 1312, and we have seen that his father
Robert married the widow Maria Heyroun not later than 1307 (§ 2). She
was married to Richard in 1323 (one year before 1324), and she died before
1349, as Richard was then a widower.
The attempt to marry John to Joan de Westhale (probably his cousin) was
unsuccessful. He was still unmarried in Nov. 1328, and still only sixteen
years old. This disposes at once of an old tradition, for which no authority
has ever been discovered, that the poet was born in 1328. The earliest date
that can fairly be postulated for the birth of Geoffrey is 1330; and even then
his father was only eighteen years old.

We further learn from Riley's Memorials of London (Pref. p. xxxiii), that
Richard Chaucer was a man of some wealth. He was assessed, in 1340, to
lend 10l. towards the expenses of the French war; and again, in 1346, for 6l.
and 1 mark towards the 3,000l. given to the king. In 1345, he was witness to
a conveyance of a shop situated next his own tenement and tavern in La
Reole or Royal Street, near Upper Thames Street.
The last extant document relative to Richard Chaucer is his will. Sir H.
Nicolas (Life of Chaucer, Note A) says that the will of Richard Chaucer,
vintner, of London, dated on Easter-day (Apr. 12), 1349, was proved in the
Hustings Court of the City of London by Simon Chamberlain and Richard
Litlebury, on the feast of St. Margaret (July 20), in the same year. He
bequeathed his tenement and tavern, &c., in the street called La Reole, to
the Church of St. Aldermary in Bow Lane, where he was buried; and left
other property to pious uses. The will mentions only his deceased wife
Mary and her son Thomas Heyroun; and appointed Henry at Strete and
Richard Mallyns his executors[18]. From this we may infer that his stepson
John was, by this time, a prosperous citizen, and already provided for.
The will of Thomas Heyroun (see the same Note A) was dated just five days
earlier, April 7, 1349, and was also proved in the Hustings Court. He
appointed his half-brother, John Chaucer, his executor; and on Monday after
the Feast of St. Thomas the Martyr[19] in the same year, John Chaucer, by
the description of 'citizen and vintner, executor of the will of my brother
Thomas Heyroun,' executed a deed relating to some lands. (Records of the
Hustings Court, 23 Edw. III.)
It thus appears that Richard Chaucer and Thomas Heyroun both died in
1349, the year of the first and the most fatal pestilence.
§ 4. John Chaucer. Of John Chaucer, the poet's father, not many particulars
are known. He was born, as we have seen, about 1312, and was not married
till 1329, or somewhat later. His wife's name was Agnes, described in 1369
as the kinswoman (consanguinea) and heiress of the city moneyer, Hamo de
Copton, who is known to have owned property in Aldgate[20]. He was a
citizen and vintner of London, and owned a house in Thames Street[21],
close to Walbrook, a stream now flowing underground beneath Walbrook
Street[22]; so that it must have been near the spot where the arrival platform

of the South-Eastern railway (at Cannon Street) now crosses Thames Street.
In this house, in all probability, Chaucer was born; at any rate, it became his
own property, as he parted with it in 1380. It is further known that John and
Agnes Chaucer were possessed of a certain annual quit-rent of 40d. sterling,
arising out of a tenement in the parish of St. Botolph-without-Aldgate[23].
In 1338 (on June 12), John Chaucer obtained letters of protection, being
then on an expedition to Flanders, in attendance on the king[24]. Ten years
later, in the months of February and November, 1348, he is referred to as
being deputy to the king's butler in the port of Southampton[25]. In 1349, as
we have seen, he was executor to the will of his half-brother, Thomas
Heyroun. There is a mention of him in 1352[26]. His name appears, together
with that of his wife Agnes, in a conveyance of property dated Jan. 16,
1366[27]; but he died shortly afterwards, aged about fifty-four. His widow
married again in the course of a few months; for she is described in a deed
dated May 6, 1367, as being then the wife of Bartholomew atte Chapel,
citizen and vintner of London, and lately wife of John Chaucer, citizen and
vintner[28]. The date of her death is not known.
§ 5. Chaucer's Early Years. The exact date of Geoffrey's birth is not
known, and will probably always remain a subject of dispute. It cannot, as
we have seen, have been earlier than 1330; and it can hardly have been later
than 1340. That it was nearer to 1340 than 1330, is the solution which best
suits all the circumstances of the case. Those who argue for an early date do
so solely because the poet sometimes refers to his 'old age'; as for example
in the Envoy to Scogan, 35-42, written probably in 1393; and still earlier,
probably in 1385, Gower speaks, in the epilogue to the former edition of his
Confessio Amantis, of the 'later age' of Chaucer, and of his 'dayes olde';
whereas, if Chaucer was born in 1340, he was, at that time, only forty-five
years old. But it is essential to observe that Gower is speaking
comparatively; he contrasts Chaucer's 'later age' with 'the floures of his
youth,' when he 'fulfild the land,' in sundry wise, 'of ditees and of songes
glade.' And, in spite of all the needless stress that has been laid upon such
references as the above, we must, if we really wish to ascertain the truth
without prejudice, try to bear in mind the fact that, in the fourteenth century,
men were deemed old at an age which we should now esteem as almost
young. Chaucer's pupil, Hoccleve, describes himself as worn out with old

age, and ready to die, at the age of fifty-three; all that he can look forward to
is making a translation of a treatise on 'learning to die.'

'Of age am I fifty winter and thre;
Ripeness of dethe fast vpon me hasteth.'
Hoccleve's Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 119[29].

And further, if, in order to make out that Chaucer died at the age of nearly
70, we place his birth near the year 1330, we are at once confronted with
the extraordinary difficulty, that the poet was already nearly 39 when he
wrote 'The Book of the Duchesse,' certainly one of the earliest of his poems
that have been preserved, and hardly to be esteemed as a highly satisfactory
performance. But as the exact date still remains uncertain, I can only say
that we must place it between 1330 and 1340. The reader can incline to
whichever end of the decade best pleases him. I merely record my opinion,
for what it is worth, that 'shortly before 1340' fits in best with all the facts.
The earliest notice of Geoffrey Chaucer, on which we can rely, refers to the
year 1357. This discovery is due to Mr. (now Dr.) E. A. Bond, who, in 1851,
found some fragments of an old household account which had been used to
line the covers of a MS. containing Lydgate's Storie of Thebes and
Hoccleve's De Regimine Principum, and now known as MS. Addit. 18,632
in the British Museum. They proved to form a part of the Household
Accounts of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, wife of Lionel, Duke of
Clarence, the third son of King Edward III., for the years 1356-9[30]. These
Accounts shew that, in April, 1357, when the Countess was in London, an
entire suit of clothes, consisting of a paltock or short cloak, a pair of red and
black breeches, and shoes, was provided for Geoffrey Chaucer at a cost of
7s., equal to about 5l. of our present money. On the 20th of May another
article of dress was purchased for him in London. In December of the same
year (1357), when the Countess was at Hatfield (near Doncaster) in
Yorkshire, her principal place of residence, we find a note of a donation of
2s. 6d. to Geoffrey Chaucer for necessaries at Christmas. It further appears
that John of Gaunt, the Countess's brother-in-law, was a visitor at Hatfield
at the same period; which indicates the probable origin of the interest in the
poet's fortunes which that illustrious prince so frequently manifested, during
a long period of years.

It is further worthy of remark that, on several occasions, a female attendant
on the Countess is designated as 'Philippa Pan', which is supposed to be the
contracted form of Panetaria, i. e. mistress of the pantry. 'Speculations
suggest themselves,' says Dr. Bond, 'that the Countess's attendant Philippa
may have been Chaucer's future wife.... The Countess died in 1363, ... and
nothing would be more likely than that the principal lady of her household
should have found shelter after her death in the family of her husband's
mother,' i. e. Queen Philippa. It is quite possible; it is even probable.
Perhaps it was at Hatfield that Chaucer picked up some knowledge of the
Northern dialect, as employed by him in the Reves Tale. The fact that the
non-Chaucerian Fragment B of the Romaunt of the Rose exhibits traces of a
Northern dialect is quite a different matter; for Fragment A, which is
certainly Chaucer's, shews no trace of anything of the kind. What was
Chaucer's exact position in the Countess of Ulster's household, we are not
informed. If he was born about 1340, we may suppose that he was a page; if
several years earlier, he would, in 1357, have been too old for such service.
We only know that he was attached to the service of Lionel, duke of
Clarence, and of the Countess of Ulster his wife, as early as the beginning
of 1357, and was at that time at Hatfield, in Yorkshire. 'He was present,'
says Dr. Bond, 'at the celebration of the feast of St. George, at Edward III's
court, in attendance on the Countess, in April of that year; he followed the
court to Woodstock; and he was again at Hatfield, probably from
September, 1357, to the end of March, 1358, and would have witnessed
there the reception of John of Ghent, then Earl of Richmond.' We may well
believe that he accompanied the Countess when she attended the funeral of
Queen Isabella (king Edward's mother), which took place at the Church of
the Friars Minors, in Newgate Street, on Nov. 27, 1358.
§ 6. Chaucer's first expedition. 1359-60. A year later, in November, 1359,
Chaucer joined the great expedition of Edward III. to France. 'There was
not knight, squire, or man of honour, from the age of twenty to sixty years,
that did not go[31].' The king of England was 'attended by the prince of
Wales and three other sons,' including 'Lionel, earl of Ulster[32]'; and we
may be sure that Chaucer accompanied his master prince Lionel. The march
of the troops lay through Artois, past Arras to Bapaume; then through
Picardy, past Peronne and St. Quentin, to Rheims, which Edward, with his

whole army, ineffectually besieged for seven weeks. It is interesting to note
that the army must, on this occasion, have crossed the Oise, somewhere
near Chauny and La-Fère, which easily accounts for the mention of that
river in the House of Fame (l. 1928); and shews the uselessness of Warton's
suggestion, that Chaucer learnt the name of that river by studying Provençal
poetry! In one of the numerous skirmishes that took place, Chaucer had the
misfortune to be taken prisoner. This appears from his own evidence, in the
'Scrope and Grosvenor' trial, referred to below under the date of 1386; he
then testified that he had seen Sir Richard Scrope wearing arms described
as 'azure, a bend or,' before the town of 'Retters,' an obvious error for
Rethel[33], not far from Rheims; and he added that he 'had seen him so
armed during the whole expedition, until he (the said Geoffrey) was taken.'
See the evidence as quoted at length at p. xxxvi. But he was soon ransomed,
viz. on March 1, 1360; and the King himself contributed to his ransom the
sum of 16l.[34] According to Froissart, Edward was at this time in the
neighbourhood of Auxerre[35].
After a short and ineffectual siege of Paris, the English army suffered
severely from thunder-storms during a retreat towards Chartres, and Edward
was glad to make peace; articles of peace were accordingly concluded, on
May 8, 1360, at Bretigny, near Chartres. King John of France was set at
liberty, leaving Eltham on Wednesday, July 1; and after stopping for three
nights on the road, viz. at Dartford, Rochester, and Ospringe, he arrived at
Canterbury on the Saturday[36]. On the Monday he came to Dover, and
thence proceeded to Calais. And surely Chaucer must have been present
during the fifteen days of October which the two kings spent at Calais in
each other's company; the Prince of Wales and his two brothers, Lionel and
Edmund, being also present[37]. On leaving Calais, King John and the
English princes 'went on foot to the church of our Lady of Boulogne, where
they made their offerings most devoutly, and afterward returned to the
abbey at Boulogne, which had been prepared for the reception of the King
of France and the princes of England[38].'
On July 1, 1361, prince Lionel was appointed lieutenant of Ireland,
probably because he already bore the title of Earl of Ulster. It does not
appear that Chaucer remained in his service much longer; for he must have
been attached to the royal household not long after the return of the English

army from France. In the Schedule of names of those employed in the
Royal Household, for whom robes for Christmas were to be provided,
Chaucer's name occurs as seventeenth in the list of thirty-seven esquires.
The list is not dated, but is marked by the Record Office '? 40 Edw. III,' i. e.
1366[39]. However, Mr. Selby thinks the right date of this document is 1368.
§ 7. Chaucer's Marriage: Philippa Chaucer. In 1366, we find Chaucer
already married. On Sept. 12, in that year, Philippa Chaucer received from
the queen, after whom she was doubtless named, a pension of ten marks (or
6l. 13s. 4d.) annually for life, perhaps on the occasion of her marriage; and
we find her described as 'una domicellarum camerae Philippae Reginae
Angliae[40].' The first known payment on behalf of this pension is dated
Feb. 19, 1368[41]. Nicolas tells us that her pension 'was confirmed by
Richard the Second; and she apparently received it (except between
1370[42] and 1373, in 1378, and in 1385, the reason of which omissions
does not appear) from 1366 until June 18, 1387. The money was usually
paid to her through her husband; but in November, 1374, by the hands of
John de Hermesthorpe, and in June, 1377 (the Poet being then on his
mission in France), by Sir Roger de Trumpington, whose wife, Lady
Blanche de Trumpington, was [then], like herself[43], in the service of the
Duchess of Lancaster.' As no payment appears after June, 1387, we may
conclude that she died towards the end of that year[44].
Philippa's maiden name is not known. She cannot be identified with
Philippa Picard, because both names, viz. Philippa Chaucer and Philippa
Picard, occur in the same document[45]. Another supposition identifies her
with Philippa Roet, on the assumption that Thomas Chaucer, on whose
tomb appear the arms of Roet, was her son. This, as will be shewn hereafter,
is highly probable, though not quite certain.
It is possible that she was the same person as Philippa, the 'lady of the
pantry,' who has been already mentioned as belonging to the household of
the Countess of Ulster. If so, she doubtless entered the royal household on
the Countess's death in 1363, and was married in 1366, or earlier. After the
death of the queen in 1369 (Aug. 15), we find that (on Sept. 1) the king
gave Chaucer, as being one of his squires of lesser degree, three ells of cloth

for mourning; and, at the same time, six ells of cloth, for the same, to
Philippa Chaucer[46].
In 1372, John of Gaunt married (as his second wife) Constance, elder
daughter of Pedro, king of Castile; and in the same year (Aug. 30), he
granted Philippa Chaucer a pension of 10l. per annum, in consideration of
her past and future services to his dearest wife, the queen of Castile[47].
Under the name of Philippa Chaucy (as the name is also written in this
volume), the duke presented her with a 'botoner,' apparently a button-hook,
and six silver-gilt buttons as a New Year's gift for the year 1373[48]. In
1374, on June 13, he granted 10l. per annum to his well-loved Geoffrey
Chaucer and his well-beloved Philippa, for their service to Queen Philippa
and to his wife the queen [i. e. of Castile], to be received at the duke's
manor of the Savoy[49]. In 1377, on May 31, payments were made to
Geoffrey Chaucer, varlet, of an annuity of 20 marks that day granted, and of
10 marks to Philippa Chaucer (granted to her for life) as being one of the
damsels of the chamber to the late queen, by the hands of Geoffrey
Chaucer, her husband[50]. In 1380, the duke gave Philippa a silver hanap (or
cup) with its cover, as his New Year's gift; and a similar gift in 1381 and
1382[51]. A payment of 5l. to Geoffrey 'Chaucy' is recorded soon after the
first of these gifts. In 1384, the sum of 13l. 6s. 8d. (20 marks) is transmitted
to Philippa Chaucer by John Hinesthorp, chamberlain[52]. The last recorded
payment of a pension to Philippa Chaucer is on June 18, 1387; and it is
probable, as said above, that she died very shortly afterwards.
Sir H. Nicolas mentions that, in 1380-2, Philippa Chaucer was one of the
three ladies in attendance on the Duchess of Lancaster, the two others being
Lady Senche Blount and Lady Blanche de Trompington; and that in June,
1377, as mentioned above, her pension was paid to Sir Roger de
Trumpington, who was Lady Blanche's husband. This is worth a passing
notice; for it clearly shews that the poet was familiar with the name of
Trumpington, and must have known of its situation near Cambridge. And
this may account for his laying the scene of the Reves Tale in that village,
without necessitating the inference that he must have visited Cambridge
himself. For indeed, it is not easy to see why the two 'clerks' should have
been benighted there; the distance from Cambridge is so slight that, even in

those days of bad roads, they could soon have returned home after dark
without any insuperable difficulty.
§ 8. 1367. To return to Chaucer. In 1367, we find him 'a valet of the king's
household'; and by the title of 'dilectus valettus noster,' the king, in
consideration of his former and his future services, granted him, on June 20,
an annual salary of 20 marks (13l. 6s. 8d.) for life, or until he should be
otherwise provided for[53]. Memoranda are found of the payment of this
pension, in half-yearly instalments, on November 6, 1367, and May 25,
1368[54]; but not in November, 1368, or May, 1369. The next entry as to its
payment is dated October, 1369[55]. As to the duties of a valet in the royal
household, see Life-Records of Chaucer, part ii. p. xi. Amongst other
things, he was expected to make beds, hold torches, set boards (i. e. lay the
tables for dinner), and perform various menial offices.
§ 9. 1368. The note that he received his pension, in 1368, on May 25, is of
some importance. It renders improbable a suggestion of Speght, that he
accompanied his former master, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, to Italy in this
year. Lionel set off with an unusually large retinue, about the 10th of
May[56], and passed through France on his way to Italy, where he was
shortly afterwards married, for the second time, to Violante, daughter of
Galeazzo Visconti. But his married life was of short duration; he died on
Oct. 17 of the same year, not without suspicion of poison. His will, dated
Oct. 3, 1368, is given in Testamenta Vetusta, ed. Nicolas, p. 70. It does not
appear that Chaucer went to Italy before 1372-3; but it is interesting to
observe that, on his second journey there in 1378, he was sent to treat with
Barnabo Visconti, Galeazzo's brother, as noted at p. xxxii.
§ 10. 1369. In this year, Chaucer was again campaigning in France. An
advance of 10l. is recorded as having been made to him by Henry de
Wakefeld, the Keeper of the King's Wardrobe; and he is described as
'equitanti de guerre (sic) in partibus Francie[57].' In the same year, there is a
note that Chaucer was to have 20s. for summer clothes[58].
This year is memorable for the last of the three great pestilences which
afflicted England, as well as other countries, in the fourteenth century.
Queen Philippa died at Windsor on Aug. 15; and we find an entry, dated
Sept. 1, that Geoffrey Chaucer, a squire of less estate, and his wife Philippa,

were to have an allowance for mourning[59], as stated above. Less than a
month later, the Duchess Blaunche died, on Sept. 12; and her death was
commemorated by the poet in one of the earliest of his extant poems, the
Book of the Duchesse (see p. 277).
§ 11. 1370-1372. In the course of the next ten years (1370-80), the poet was
attached to the court, and employed in no less than seven diplomatic
services. The first of these occasions was during the summer of 1370, when
he obtained the usual letters of protection, dated June 10, to remain in force
till the ensuing Michaelmas[60]. That he returned immediately afterwards,
appears from the fact that he received his half-yearly pension in person on
Tuesday, the 8th of October[61]; though on the preceding occasion
(Thursday, April 25), it was paid to Walter Walssh instead of to himself[62].

In 1371 and 1372, he received his pension himself[63]. In 1372 and 1373 he
received 2l. for his clothes each year. This was probably a customary annual
allowance to squires[64]. A like payment is again recorded in 1377.
Towards the end of the latter year, on Nov. 12, 1372, Chaucer, being then
'scutifer,' or one of the king's esquires, was joined in a commission with
James Provan and John de Mari, the latter of whom is described as a citizen
of Genoa, to treat with the duke, citizens, and merchants of Genoa, for the
purpose of choosing an English port where the Genoese might form a
commercial establishment[65]. On Dec. 1, he received an advance of 66l.
13s. 4d. towards his expenses[66]; and probably left England before the
close of the year.
§ 12. 1373. Chaucer's First Visit to Italy. All that is known of this mission
is that he visited Florence as well as Genoa, and that he returned before
Nov. 22, 1373, on which day he received his pension in person[67]. It further
appears that his expenses finally exceeded the money advanced to him; for
on Feb. 4, 1374, a further sum was paid to him, on this account, of 25l. 6s.
8d.[68] It was probably on this occasion that Chaucer met Petrarch at Padua,
and learnt from him the story of Griselda, reproduced in the Clerkes Tale.
Some critics prefer to think that Chaucer's assertions on this point are to be
taken as imaginative, and that it was the Clerk, and not himself, who went
to Padua; but it is clear that in writing the Clerkes Tale, Chaucer actually

had a copy of Petrarch's Latin version before him; and it is difficult to see
how he came by it unless he obtained it from Petrarch himself or by
Petrarch's assistance. For further discussion of this point, see remarks on the
Sources of the Clerkes Tale, in vol. iii., and the notes in vol. v.[69] We must,
in any case, bear in mind the important influence which this mission to
Italy, and a later one in 1378-9 to the same country, produced upon the
development of his poetical writings.
It may be convenient to note here that Petrarch resided chiefly at Arquà,
within easy reach of Padua, in 1370-4. His death took place there on July
18, 1374, soon after Chaucer had returned home.
§ 13. 1374. We may fairly infer that Chaucer's execution of this important
mission was satisfactorily performed; for we find that on the 23rd of April,
1374, on the celebration at Windsor of the festival of St. George, the king
made him a grant of a pitcher of wine daily, to be received in the port of
London from the king's butler[70]. This was, doubtless, found to be rather a
troublesome gift; accordingly, it was commuted, in 1378 (April 18), for the
annual sum of 20 marks (13l. 6s. 8d.)[71]. The original grant was made
'dilecto Armigero nostro, Galfrido Chaucer.'
On May 10, in the same year, the corporation of London granted Chaucer a
lease for his life of the dwelling-house situate above the city-gate of
Aldgate, on condition that he kept the same in good repair; he seems to
have made this his usual residence till 1385, and we know that he retained
possession of it till October, 1386[72].
Four weeks later, on June 8, 1374, he was appointed Comptroller of the
Customs and Subsidy of wools, skins, and tanned hides in the Port of
London, with the usual fees. Like his predecessors, he was to write the rolls
of his office with his own hand, to be continually present, and to perform
his duties personally (except, of course, when employed on the King's
service elsewhere); and the other part of the seal called the 'coket' (quod
dicitur coket) was to remain in his custody[73]. The warrant by which, on
June 13, 1374, the Duke of Lancaster granted him 10l. for life, in
consideration of the services of himself and his wife, has been mentioned at
p. xxi. In the same year, he received his half-yearly pension of 10 marks as
usual; and again in 1375.

§ 14. 1375. On Nov. 8, 1375, his income was, for a time, considerably
increased. He received from the crown a grant of the custody of the lands
and person of Edmond, son and heir of Edmond Staplegate of Kent[74], who
had died in 1372[75]; this he retained for three years, during which he
received in all, for his wardship and on Edmond's marriage, the sum of
104l. This is ascertained from the petition presented by Edmond de
Staplegate to Richard II. at his coronation, in which he laid claim to be
permitted to exercise the office of chief butler to the king[76]. And further,
on Dec. 28, 1375, he received a grant from the king of the custody of five
'solidates' of rent for land at Soles, in Kent, during the minority of William
de Solys, then an infant aged 1 year, son and heir of John Solys, deceased;
together with a fee due on the marriage of the said heir[77]. But the value of
this grant cannot have been large.
§15. 1376. In 1376, on May 31, he received at the exchequer his own half-
yearly pension of ten marks and his wife's of five marks, or 10l. in all (see
Notes and Queries, 3rd Ser. viii. 63); and in October he received an advance
from the exchequer of 50s. on account of his pension[78]. He also duly
received his annuity of 10l. from the duke of Lancaster (Oct. 18, 1376, and
June 12, 1377)[79].
In the same year, we also meet with the only known record connected with
Chaucer's exercise of the Office of Comptroller of the Customs. On July 12,
1376, the King granted him the sum of 71l. 4s. 6d., being the value of a fine
paid by John Kent, of London, for shipping wool to Dordrecht without
having paid the duty thereon[80].
Towards the end of this year, Sir John Burley and Geoffrey Chaucer were
employed together on some secret service (in secretis negociis domini
Regis), the nature of which is unknown; for on Dec. 23, 1376, Sir John 'de
Burlee' received 13l. 6s. 8d., and Chaucer half that sum, for the business
upon which they had been employed[81].
§16. 1377. On Feb. 12, 1377, Chaucer was associated with Sir Thomas
Percy (afterwards Earl of Worcester) in a secret mission to Flanders, the
nature of which remains unknown; and on this occasion Chaucer received
letters of protection during his mission, to be in force till Michaelmas in the

same year[82]. Five days later, on Feb. 17, the sum of 33l. 6s. 8d. was
advanced to Sir Thomas, and 10l. to Chaucer, for their expenses[83]. They
started immediately, and the business was transacted by March 25; and on
April 11 Chaucer himself received at the exchequer the sum of 20l. as a
reward from the king for the various journeys which he had made abroad
upon the king's service (pro regardo suo causâ diuersorum viagiorum per
ipsum Galfridum factorum, eundo ad diuersas partes transmarinas ex
precepto domini Regis in obsequio ipsius domini Regis)[84].
While Sir Thomas Percy and Chaucer were absent in Flanders, viz. on Feb.
20, 1377, the Bishop of Hereford, Lord Cobham, Sir John Montacu (i. e.
Montague), and Dr. Shepeye were empowered to treat for peace with the
French King[85]. Their endeavours must have been ineffectual; for soon
after Chaucer's return, viz. on April 26, 1377, Sir Guichard d'Angle and
several others were also appointed to negotiate a peace with France[86].
Though Chaucer's name does not expressly appear in this commission, he
was clearly in some way associated with it; for only six days previously
(Apr. 20), letters of protection were issued to him, to continue till Aug. 1,
whilst he was on the king's service abroad[87]; and on April 30, he was paid
the sum of 26l. 13s. 4d. for his wages on this occasion[88]. We further find,
from an entry in the Issue Roll for March 6, 1381 (noticed again at p. xxix),
that he was sent to Moustrell (Montreuil) and Paris, and that he was
instructed to treat for peace.
This is clearly the occasion to which Froissart refers in the following
passage. 'About Shrovetide[89], a secret treaty was formed between the two
kings for their ambassadors to meet at Montreuil-sur-Mer; and the king of
England sent to Calais sir Guiscard d'Angle, Sir Richard Sturey, and sir
Geoffrey Chaucer. On the part of the French were the lords de Coucy and
de la Rivieres, sir Nicholas Bragues and Nicholas Bracier. They for a long
time discussed the subject of the above marriage [the marriage of the
French princess with Richard, prince of Wales]; and the French, as I was
informed, made some offers, but the others demanded different terms, or
refused treating. These lords returned therefore, with their treaties, to their
sovereigns; and the truces were prolonged to the first of May.'—Johnes, tr.
of Froissart, bk. i. c. 326.

I think Sir H. Nicolas has not given Froissart's meaning correctly.
According to him, 'Froissart states that, in Feb. 1377, Chaucer was joined
with Sir Guichard d'Angle, &c., to negociate a secret treaty for the marriage
of Richard, prince of Wales, with Mary, daughter of the king of France,'
&c.; and that the truce was prolonged till the first of May. And he concludes
that Froissart has confused two occasions, because there really was an
attempt at a treaty about this marriage in 1378 (see below). It does not
appear that Froissart is wrong. He merely gives the date of about Shrovetide
(Feb. 10) as the time when 'a secret treaty was formed'; and this must refer
to the ineffectual commission of Feb. 20, 1377. After this 'the king of
England' really sent 'Sir Guiscard d'Angle' in April; and Chaucer either went
with the rest or joined them at Montreuil. Neither does it appear that
discussion of the subject of the marriage arose on the English side; it was
the French who proposed it, but the English who declined it, for the reason
that they had received no instructions to that effect. On the other hand, the
English ambassadors, having been instructed to treat for peace, procured, at
any rate, a short truce. This explanation seems to me sufficient, especially
as Froissart merely wrote what he had been informed; he was not present
himself. The very fact that the marriage was proposed by the French on this
occasion explains how the English came to consider this proposal seriously
in the following year.
Fortunately, the matter is entirely cleared up by the express language
employed in the Issue Roll of 4 Ric. II., under the date Mar. 6, as printed in
Nicolas, Note R; where the object of the deliberations at Montreuil is
definitely restricted to a treaty for peace, whilst the proposal of marriage
(from the English side) is definitely dated as having been made in the reign
of Richard, not of Edward III. The words are: 'tam tempore regis Edwardi ...
in nuncium eiusdem ... versus Moustrell' et Parys ... causa tractatus pacis ...
quam tempore domini regis nunc, causa locutionis habite de maritagio inter
ipsum dominum regem nunc et filiam eiusdem aduersarii sui Francie.'
The princess Marie, fifth daughter of Charles V., was born in 1370 (N. and
Q., 3 S. vii. 470), and was therefore only seven years old in 1377; and died
in the same year. It is remarkable that Richard married Isabella, daughter of
Charles VI., in 1396, when she was only eight.

It is worth notice that Stowe, in his Annales, p. 437, alludes to the same
mission. He mentions, as being among the ambassadors, 'the Earle of
Salisbury and Sir Richard Anglisison a Poyton [can this be Sir Guiscard
D'Angle?], the Bishop of Saint Dauids, the Bishop of Hereford, [and]
Geffrey Chaucer, the famous Poet of England.' See Life-Records of
Chaucer, p. 133, note 3.
The payments made to Chaucer by John of Gaunt on May 31 of this year
have been noticed above in § 7, at p. xxi.
The long reign of Edward III. terminated on June 21, 1377, during which
Chaucer had received many favours from the king and the Duke of
Lancaster, and some, doubtless, from Lionel, Duke of Clarence. At the same
time, his wife was in favour with the queen, till her death in August, 1369;
and afterwards, with the second duchess of Lancaster. The poet was
evidently, at this time, in easy circumstances; and it is not unlikely that he
was somewhat lavish in his expenditure. The accession of Richard, at the
early age of eleven, made no difference to his position for some nine years;
but in 1386, the adverse supremacy of Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, caused
him much pecuniary loss and embarrassment for some time, and he
frequently suffered from distress during the later period of his life.
§ 17. Chaucer's earlier poems: till the death of Edward III. It is probable
that not much of Chaucer's extant poetry can be referred to the reign of
Edward III. At the same time, it is likely that he wrote many short pieces, in
the form of ballads, complaints, virelayes, and roundels, which have not
been preserved; perhaps some of them were occasional pieces, and chiefly
of interest at the time of writing them. Amongst the lost works we may
certainly include his translation of 'Origenes upon the Maudelayne,' 'The
Book of the Lion,' all but a few stanzas (preserved in the Man of Lawes
Tale) of his translation of Pope Innocent's 'Wrecched Engendring of
Mankinde,' and all but the first 1705 lines of his translation of Le Roman de
la Rose. His early work entitled 'Ceyx and Alcioun' is partly preserved in
the Book of the Duchesse, written in 1369-70. His A. B. C. is, perhaps, his
earliest extant complete poem.
It seems reasonable to date the poems which show a strong Italian influence
after Chaucer's visit to Italy in 1373. The Compleint to his Lady is, perhaps,

one of the earliest of these; and the Amorous Complaint bears so strong a
resemblance to it that it may have been composed nearly at the same time.
The Complaint to Pity seems to belong to the same period, rather than, as
assumed in the text, to a time preceding the Book of the Duchesse. The
original form of the Life of St. Cecily (afterwards the Second Nonnes Tale)
is also somewhat early, as well as the original Palamon and Arcite, and
Anelida. I should also include, amongst the earlier works, the original form
of the Man of Lawes Tale (from Anglo-French), of the Clerkes Tale (from
Petrarch's Latin), and some parts of the Monkes Tale. But the great bulk of
his poetry almost certainly belongs to the reign of Richard II. See the List of
Works at p. lxii.
§ 18. 1377. (CONTINUED). In the commencement of the new reign, Chaucer
was twice paid 40s. by the keeper of the king's Wardrobe, for his half-yearly
allowance for robes as one of the (late) king's esquires[90]. He also received
7l. 2s. 6½d. on account of his daily allowance of a pitcher of wine,
calculated from October 27, 1376, to June 21, 1377, the day of king
Edward's death[91].
§ 19. 1378. In 1378, on Jan. 16, Chaucer was again associated with Sir
Guichard d'Angle (created Earl of Huntingdon at the coronation of the new
king), with Sir Hugh Segrave, and Dr. Skirlawe, in a mission to France to
negotiate for the king's marriage with a daughter of the king of France[92];
this is in accordance with a suggestion which, as noted at p. xxix.,
originated with the French. The negotiations came, however, to no result.
On Mar. 9, 1378, Geoffrey Chaucer and John Beauchamp are mentioned as
sureties for William de Beauchamp, Knight, in a business having respect to
Pembroke Castle[93].
On Mar. 23, 1378, Chaucer's previous annuity of 20 marks was confirmed
to him by letters patent[94]; on April 18, his previous grant of a pitcher of
wine was commuted for an annual sum of twenty marks[95]; and, on May
14, he received 20l. for the arrears of his pension, and 26s. 8d. in advance,
for the current half-year[96].
Chaucer's second visit to Italy: Barnabo Visconti. On May 10, 1378, he
received letters of protection, till Christmas[97]; on May 21, he procured

letters of general attorney, allowing John Gower (the poet) and Richard
Forrester to act for him during his absence from England[98]; and on May
28, he received 66l. 13s. 4d. for his wages and the expenses of his journey,
which lasted till the 19th of September[99]. All these entries refer to the
same matter, viz. his second visit to Italy. On this occasion, he was sent to
Lombardy with Sir Edward Berkeley, to treat with Barnabo Visconti, lord of
Milan, and the famous free-lance Sir John Hawkwood, on certain matters
touching the king's expedition of war (pro certis negociis expeditionem
guerre regis tangentibus); a phrase of uncertain import. This is the Barnabo
Visconti, whose death, in 1385, is commemorated by a stanza in the
Monkes Tale, B 3589-3596. Of Sir John Hawkwood, a soldier of fortune,
and the most skilful general of his age, a memoir is given in the Bibliotheca
Topographica Britannica, vol. vi. pp. 1-35. The appointment of Gower as
Chaucer's attorney during his absence is of interest, and shews the amicable
relations between the two poets at this time. For a discussion of their
subsequent relations, see Sources of the Canterbury Tales, vol. iii. § 38, p.
413.
§ 20. 1379-80. In 1379 and 1380, the notices of Chaucer refer chiefly to the
payment of his pensions. In 1379, he received 12l. 13s. 4d. with his own
hands on Feb. 3[100]; on May 24, he received the sums of 26s. 4d. and 13l.
6s. 4d. (the latter on account of the original grant of a pitcher of wine), both
by assignment[101], which indicates his absence from London at the time;
and on Dec. 9 he received, with his own hands, two sums of 6l. 13s. 4d.
each on account of his two pensions[102]. In 1380, on July 3, he received the
same by assignment[103]; and on Nov. 28, he received the same with his own
hands[104], together with a sum of 14l. for wages and expenses in connexion
with his mission to Lombardy in 1378[104], in addition to the 66l. 13s. 4d.
paid to him on May 28 of that year. He also received 5l. from the Duke of
Lancaster on May 11 (N. and Q., 7 S. v. 290).
By a deed dated May 1, 1380, a certain Cecilia Chaumpaigne, daughter of
the late William Chaumpaigne and Agnes his wife, released to Chaucer all
her rights of action against him 'de raptu meo[105].' We have no means of
ascertaining either the meaning of the phrase, or the circumstances referred
to. It may mean that Chaucer was accessory to her abduction, much as
Geoffrey Stace and others were concerned in the abduction of the poet's

father; or it may be connected with the fact that his 'little son Lowis' was ten
years old in 1391, as we learn from the Prologue to the Treatise on the
Astrolabe.
§ 21. 1381. On March 6, Chaucer received 22l. for his services in going to
Montreuil and Paris in the time of the late king, i. e. in 1377, in order to
treat for peace; as well as for his journey to France in 1378 to treat for a
marriage between king Richard and the daughter of his adversary
(adversarii sui)[106]. The Treasury must, at this time, have been slack in
paying its just debts. On May 24, he and his wife received their usual half-
yearly pensions[107].
By a deed dated June 19, 1380, but preserved in the Hustings Roll, no. 110,
at the Guildhall, and there dated 5 Ric. II. (1381-2), Chaucer released his
interest in his father's house to Henry Herbury, vintner, in whose occupation
it then was; and it is here that he describes himself as 'me Galfridum
Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii Londonie [108].' This is the best
authority for ascertaining his father's name, occupation, and abode. Towards
the close of the year we find the following payments to him; viz. on Nov.
16, sums of 6l. 13s. 4d. and 6s. 8d.; on Nov. 28, the large sum of 46l. 13s.
4d., paid to Nicholas Brembre and John Philipot, Collectors of Customs,
and to Geoffrey Chaucer, Comptroller of the Customs; and on Dec. 31,
certain sums to himself and his wife[109].
§ 22. 1382. We have seen that, in 1378, an ineffectual attempt was made to
bring about a marriage between the king and a French princess. In 1382, the
matter was settled by his marriage with Anne of Bohemia, who exerted
herself to calm the animosities which were continually arising in the court,
and thus earned the title of the 'good queen Anne.' It was to her that Chaucer
was doubtless indebted for some relaxation of his official duties in
February, 1385, as noted below.
On May 8, 1382, Chaucer's income was further increased. Whilst retaining
his office of Comptroller of the Customs of Wools, the duties of which he
discharged personally, he was further appointed Comptroller of the Petty
Customs in the Port of London, and was allowed to discharge the duties of
the office by a sufficient deputy[110]. The usual payments of his own and his
wife's pensions were made, in this year, on July 22 and Nov. 11. On Dec.

10, a payment to him is recorded, in respect of his office as Comptroller of
the Customs [111].
§ 23. 1383. In 1383, the recorded payments are: on Feb. 27, 6s. 8d.; on May
5, his own and his wife's pensions; and on Oct. 24, 6l. 13s. 4d. for his own
pension[112]. Besides these, is the following entry for Nov. 23: 'To Nicholas
Brembre and John Philipot, Collectors of Customs, and Geoffrey Chaucer,
Comptroller; money delivered to them this day in regard of the assiduity,
labour, and diligence brought to bear by them on the duties of their office,
for the year late elapsed, 46l. 13s. 4d.'; being the same amount as in
1381[113]. It is possible that the date Dec. 10, on which he tells us that he
began his House of Fame, refers to this year.
§ 24. 1384. In 1384, on Apr. 30, he received his own and his wife's
pensions[114]. On Nov. 25, he was allowed to absent himself from his duties
for one month, on account of his own urgent affairs; and the Collectors of
the Customs were commanded to swear in his deputy[115]. On Dec. 9, one
Philip Chaucer is referred to as Comptroller of the Customs, but Philip is
here an error for Geoffrey, as shewn by Mr. Selby[116].
§ 25. 1385. In 1385, a stroke of good fortune befell him, which evidently
gave him much relief and pleasure. It appears that Chaucer had asked the
king to allow him to have a sufficient deputy in his office as Comptroller at
the Wool Quay (in French, Wolkee) of London[117]. And on Feb. 17, he was
released from the somewhat severe pressure of his official duties (of which
he complains feelingly in the House of Fame, 652-660) by being allowed to
appoint a permanent deputy[118]. He seems to have revelled in his newly-
found leisure; and we may fairly infer from the Prologue to the Legend of
Good Women, which seems to have been begun shortly afterwards, that he
was chiefly indebted for this favour to the good queen Anne. (See the
Introduction to vol. iii. p. xix.) On April 24, he received his own pensions as
usual, in two sums of 6l. 13s. 4d. each; and, on account of his wife's
pension, 3l. 6s. 8d.[119]
§ 26. 1386. In 1386, as shewn by the Issue Rolls, he received his pensions
as usual. In other respects, the year was eventful. Chaucer was elected a
knight of the shire[120] for the county of Kent, with which he would

therefore seem to have had some connexion, perhaps by the circumstance of
residing at Greenwich (see § 32). He sat accordingly in the parliament
which met at Westminster on Oct. 1, and continued its sittings till Nov. 1.
He and his colleague, William Betenham, were allowed 24l. 8s. for their
expenses in coming to and returning from the parliament, and for
attendance at the same; at the rate of 8s. a day for 61 days[121]. The poet
was thus an unwilling contributor to his own misfortunes; for the
proceedings of this parliament were chiefly directed against the party of the
duke of Lancaster, his patron, and on Nov. 19 the king was obliged to grant
a patent by which he was practically deprived of all power. A council of
regency of eleven persons was formed, with the duke of Gloucester at their
head; and the partisans of John of Gaunt found themselves in an unenviable
position. Among the very few persons who still adhered to the king was Sir
Nicholas Brembre[122], Chaucer's associate in the Customs (see note above,
Nov. 23, 1383); and we may feel confident that Chaucer's sympathies were
on the same side. We shall presently see that, when the king regained his
power in 1389, Chaucer almost immediately received a valuable
appointment.
It was during the sitting of this parliament, viz. on Oct. 15, that Chaucer
was examined at Westminster in the case of Richard, lord Scrope, against
the claim of Sir Robert Grosvenor, as to the right of bearing the coat of
arms described as 'azure, a bend or.' The account of Chaucer's evidence is
given in French[123]; the following is a translation of it, chiefly in the words
of Sir H. Nicolas:—

'Geoffrey Chaucer, Esquire, of the age of 40 years and upwards, armed
for 27 years, produced on behalf of Sir Richard Scrope, sworn and
examined.
'Asked, whether the arms, "azure, a bend or," belonged or ought to
belong to the said Sir Richard of right and heritage? Said—Yes, for he
had seen them armed in France before the town of Retters[124], and Sir
Henry Scrope armed in the same arms with a white label, and with a
banner, and the said Sir Richard armed in the entire arms, Azure, a
bend Or, and he had so seen them armed during the whole expedition,
till the said Geoffrey was taken.

'Asked, how he knew that the said arms appertained to the said Sir
Richard? Said—by hearsay from old knights and squires, and that they
had always continued their possession of the said arms; and that they
had always been reputed to be their arms, as the common fame and the
public voice testifies and had testified; and he also said, that when he
had seen the said arms in banners, glass, paintings, and vestments, they
were commonly called the arms of Scrope.
'Asked, if he had ever heard say who was the first ancestor of the said
Sir Richard who first bore the said arms? Said—No; nor had he ever
heard otherwise than that they were come of old ancestry and of old
gentry, and that they had used the said arms.
'Asked, if he had ever heard say how long a time the ancestors of the
said Sir Richard had used the said arms? Said—No; but he had heard
say that it passed the memory of man.
'Asked, if he had ever heard of any interruption or claim made by Sir
Robert Grosvenor or by his ancestors or by any one in his name,
against the said Sir Richard or any of his ancestors? Said—No; but
said, that he was once in Friday Street, London, and, as he was walking
in the street, he saw a new sign, made of the said arms, hanging out;
and he asked what inn it was that had hung out these arms of Scrope?
And one answered him and said—No, sir; they are not hung out as the
arms of Scrope, nor painted for those arms; but they are painted and
put there by a knight of the county of Chester, whom men call Sir
Robert Grosvenor; and that was the first time that he had ever heard
speak of Sir Robert Grosvenor, or of his ancestors, or of any one
bearing the name of Grosvenor.'

The statement that Chaucer was, at this time, of the age of 'forty and
upwards' (xl. ans et plus) ought to be of assistance in determining the date
of his birth; but it has been frequently discredited on the ground that similar
statements made, in the same account, respecting other persons, can easily
be shewn to be incorrect. It can hardly be regarded as more than a mere
phrase, expressing that the witness was old enough to give material
evidence. But the testimony that the witness had borne arms for twenty-
seven years (xxvii. ans) is more explicit, and happens to tally exactly with

the evidence actually given concerning the campaign of 1359; a campaign
which we may at once admit, on his own shewing, to have been his first.
Taken in connexion with his service in the household of the Countess of
Ulster, where his position was probably that of page, we should expect that,
in 1359, he was somewhere near 20 years of age, and born not long before
1340. It is needless to discuss the point further, as nothing will convince
those who are determined to make much of Chaucer's allusions to his 'old
age' (which is, after all, a personal affair), and who cannot understand why
Hoccleve should speak of himself as 'ripe for death' when he was only fifty-
three.
It was during the session of this same parliament (Oct. 1386) that Chaucer
gave up the house in Aldgate which he had occupied since May, 1374; and
the premises were granted by the corporation to one Richard Forster,
possibly the same person as the Richard Forrester who had been his proxy
in 1378[125]. In this house he must have composed several of his poems;
and, in particular, The Parlement of Foules, The House of Fame, and
Troilus, besides making his translation of Boethius. The remarks about 'my
house' in the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women, 282, are inconsistent
with the position of a house above a city-gate. If, as is probable, they have
reference to facts, we may suppose that he had already practically resigned
his house to his friend in 1385, when he was no longer expected to perform
his official duties personally.
Meanwhile, the duke of Gloucester was daily gaining ascendancy; and
Chaucer was soon to feel the resentment of his party. On Dec. 4, 1386, he
was deprived of his more important office, that of Comptroller of the
Customs of Wool, and Adam Yerdeley was appointed in his stead. Only ten
days later, on Dec. 14, he lost his other office likewise, and Henry Gisors
became Comptroller of the Petty Customs[126]. This must have been a heavy
loss to one who had previously been in good circumstances, and who seems
to have spent his money rather freely[127]. He was suffered, however, to
retain his own and his wife's pensions, as there was no pretence for
depriving him of them.
§ 27. 1387. In 1387, the payment of his wife's pension, on June 18, appears
for the last time[128]. It cannot be doubted that she died during the latter part
of this year. In the same year, and in the spring of 1388, he received his own

pensions, as usual[129]; but his wife's pension ceased at her death, at a time
when his own income was seriously reduced.
§ 28. 1388. In 1388, on May 1, the grants of his two annual pensions, of 20
marks each, were cancelled at his own request, and assigned, in his stead, to
John Scalby[130]. The only probable interpretation of this act is that he was
then hard pressed for money, and adopted this ready but rather rash method
for obtaining a considerable sum at once. He retained, however, the pension
of 10l. per annum, granted him by the duke of Lancaster in 1374. Chaucer
was evidently a hard worker and a practical man. We have every reason for
believing that he performed his duties assiduously, as he himself asserts;
and the loss of his offices in Dec. 1386 must have occasioned a good deal of
enforced leisure. This explains at once why the years 1387 and 1388 were,
as appears from other considerations, the most active time of his poetical
career; he was then hard at work on his Canterbury Tales. And though the
loss of his wife, at the close of 1387, must have caused a sad interruption in
his congenial task, we can hardly wonder if, after a reasonable interval, he
resumed it; it was perhaps the best thing that he could do.
§ 29. 1389. This period of almost complete leisure came to an end in July,
1389; owing, probably, to the fact that the king, on May 3 in that year,
suddenly took the government into his own hands. The influence of the
duke of Gloucester was on the wane; the duke of Lancaster returned to
England; and the cloud that had lain over Chaucer's fortunes was once more
dispersed. His public work required some attention, though he was allowed
to have a deputy, and the time devoted to the Canterbury Tales was
diminished. It is doubtful whether, with the exception of a few occasional
pieces, Chaucer wrote much new poetry during the last ten years of his life.
On July 12, Chaucer received the valuable appointment of Clerk of the
King's Works at the palace of Westminster, the Tower of London, the Mews
at Charing Cross, and other places. Among them are mentioned the Castle
of Berkhemsted (Berkhamstead, Herts.), the King's manors of Kennington
(now in London), Eltham (Kent), Clarendon (near Salisbury), Sheen (now
Richmond, Surrey)[131], Byfleet (Surrey), Childern Langley (i. e. King's
Langley, Hertfordshire), and Feckenham (Worcestershire); also the Royal
lodge of Hatherbergh in the New Forest, and the lodges in the parks of
Clarendon, Childern Langley, and Feckenham. He was permitted to execute

his duties by deputy, and his salary was 2s. per day, or 36l. 10s. annually, a
considerable sum[132]. A payment to Chaucer, as Clerk of the Works, is
recorded only ten days later (July 22); and we find that, about this time, he
issued a commission to one Hugh Swayn to provide materials for the king's
works at Westminster, Sheen, and elsewhere[133].
§ 30. 1390. In 1390, on March 13, Chaucer was appointed on a
commission, with five others, to repair the banks of the Thames between
Woolwich and Greenwich (at that time, probably, his place of residence);
but was superseded in 1391[134].
In the same year, Chaucer was entrusted with the task of putting up
scaffolds in Smithfield for the king and queen to see the jousts which took
place there in the month of May; this notice is particularly interesting in
connexion with the Knightes Tale (A 1881-92). The cost of doing this,
amounting to 8l. 12s. 6d., was allowed him in a writ dated July 1, 1390; and
he received further payment at the rate of 2s. a day[135].
About this time, in the 14th year of king Richard (June 22, 1390-June 21,
1391), he was appointed joint forester, with Richard Brittle, of North
Petherton Park, in Somersetshire, by the earl of March, the grandson of his
first patron, Prince Lionel. Perhaps in consequence of the death of Richard
Brittle, he was made sole forester in 21 Ric. II. (1397-8) by the countess of
March; and he probably held the appointment till his death in 1400. No
appointment, however, is known to have been then made, and we find that
the next forester, appointed in 4 Hen. V. (1416-17), was no other than
Thomas Chaucer, who may have been his son[136]. It is perhaps worthy of
remark that some of the land in North Petherton, as shewn by Collinson,
descended to Emma, third daughter of William de Placetis, which William
had the same office of 'forester of North Petherton' till his death in 1274;
and this Emma married John Heyron, who died in 1326-7, seised of lands at
Enfield, Middlesex, and at Newton, Exton, and North Petherton, in the
county of Somerset (Calend. Inquis. post Mortem, 1806, vol. i. p. 333; col.
1). If this John Heyron was related to the Maria Heyron who was Chaucer's
grandmother, there was perhaps a special reason for appointing Chaucer to
this particular office.

On July 12, 1390, he was ordered to procure workmen and materials for the
repair of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, then in a ruinous condition; this
furnishes a very interesting association[137].
On Sept. 6, 1390, a curious misfortune befell the poet. He was robbed twice
on the same day, by the same gang of robbers; once of 10l. of the king's
money, at Westminster, and again of 9l. 3s. 2d., of his horse, and of other
property, near the 'foul oak' (foule ok) at Hatcham, Surrey (now a part of
London, approached by the Old Kent Road, and not far from Deptford and
Greenwich). One of the gang confessed the robberies; and Chaucer was
forgiven the repayment of the money[138].
§ 31. 1391. In 1391, on Jan. 22, Chaucer appointed John Elmhurst as his
deputy, for superintending repairs at the palace of Westminster and the
tower of London; this appointment was confirmed by the king[139]. It was in
this year that he wrote his Treatise on the Astrolabe, for the use of his son
Lowis. By this time, the Canterbury Tales had ceased to make much
progress. For some unknown reason, Chaucer lost his appointment in the
summer; for on June 17, a writ was issued, commanding him to give up to
John Gedney[140] all his rolls, &c. connected with his office[141]; and on
Sept. 16, we find, accordingly, that the office was held by John Gedney[142];
nevertheless, payments to Chaucer as 'late Clerk of the Works' occur on
Dec. 16, 1391, Mar. 4 and July 13, 1392, and even as late as in 1393[143].
§ 32. 1392-3. Chaucer was now once more without public employment. No
doubt the Canterbury Tales received some attention, and perhaps we may
assign to this period various alterations in the original plan of the poem. The
author must by this time have seen the necessity of limiting each of his
characters to the telling of one Tale only. The Envoy to Scogan and the
Complaint of Venus were probably written in 1393. According to a note
written opposite l. 45 of the former poem, Chaucer was then residing at
Greenwich, a most convenient position for frequent observation of pilgrims
on the road to Canterbury. See §§ 26 and 30.
§ 33. 1394. Chaucer was once more a poor man, although, as a widower, his
expenses may have been less. Probably he endeavoured to draw attention to
his reduced circumstances, or Henry Scogan may have done so for him, in
accordance with the poet's suggestion in l. 48 of the Envoy just mentioned.

In 1394, on Feb. 28, he obtained from the king a grant of 20l. per annum for
life, payable half-yearly at Easter and Michaelmas, being 6l. 13s. 8d. less
than the pensions which he had disposed of in 1388[144]; but the first
payment was not made till Dec. 20, when he received 10l. for the half-year
from Easter to Michaelmas, and the proportional sum of 1l. 16s. 7d. for the
month of March[145].
§ 34. 1395. The difficulties which Chaucer experienced at this time, as to
money matters, are clearly illustrated during the year 1395. In this year he
applied for a loan from the exchequer, in advance of his pension, no less
than four times. In this way he borrowed 10l. on April 1; 10l. on June 25;
1l. 6s. 8d. on Sept. 9; and 8l. 6s. 8d. on Nov. 27. He repaid the first of these
loans on May 28; and the second was covered by his allowance at
Michaelmas. He must also have repaid the small third loan, as the account
was squared by his receipt of the balance of 1l. 13s. 4d. (instead of 10l.) on
March 1, 1396[146]. All the sums were paid into his own hands, so that he
was not far from home in 1395. The fact that he borrowed so small a sum as
1l. 6s. 8d. is significant and saddening.
In 19 Ric. II. (June, 1395-June, 1396), Chaucer was one of the attorneys of
Gregory Ballard, to receive seizin of the manor of Spitalcombe, and of
other lands in Kent[147].
§ 35. 1396. In 1396, as noted above, he received the balance of his first
half-year's pension on March 1. The second half-year's pension was not
paid till Dec. 25[148]. The Balades of Truth, Gentilesse, and Lak of
Stedfastnesse possibly belong to this period, but some critics would place
the last of these somewhat earlier.
§ 36. 1397. In 1397, the payment of the pension was again behindhand;
there seems to have been some difficulty in obtaining it, due, probably, to
the lavish extravagance of the king. Instead of receiving his half-yearly
pension at Easter, Chaucer received it much later, and in two instalments;
viz. 5l. on July 2, and 5l. on Aug. 9. But after this, things mended; for his
Michaelmas pension was paid in full, viz. 10l., on Oct 26[149]. It was
received for him by John Walden, and it is probable that at this time he was
in infirm health.

§ 37. 1398. We may certainly infer that, at this time, Chaucer was once
more in great distress for money, and considerably in debt. It is also
probable that he was becoming infirm; for indeed, his death was now
approaching. In the Easter term of 1398 (Apr. 24-May 20), one Isabella
Buckholt sued him for the sum of 14l. 1s. 11d. He did not, however, put in
an appearance; for the sheriff's return, in the Michaelmas term (Oct. 9-Nov.
28), was—'non est inventus'; and a similar return was again made in the
Trinity term of 1399 (June 4-25)[150].
We are tempted to suspect that the sheriff was not particularly diligent in his
search after the debtor. That Chaucer was well aware of the awkwardness of
his position, is shewn by the fact that on May 4, 1398, just at the very time
when the suit was brought, he applied for, and obtained, letters of protection
from the king against his enemies, forbidding any one to sue or arrest him
on any plea, except it were connected with land, for the term of two
years[151]. This furnishes an additional reason why the sheriff did not 'find'
him. When the two years terminated, in May, 1400, he had not half a year to
live.
On June 3, 1398, Chaucer was again unable to receive his pension himself,
but it was conveyed to him by William Waxcombe[152]. At the close of the
next month, he was reduced to such pitiable straits that we find him
applying personally to the exchequer, for such a trifling advance as 6s. 8d.,
on July 24; and for the same sum only a week later, on July 31[152].

On Aug. 23, he personally received a further advance of 5l. 6s. 8d.[152]
In his distress, he determined to send in a petition to the king. A copy of
this, in French, is still preserved. On Oct. 13, 1398, he prayed to be allowed
a hogshead of wine (tonel de vin), to be given him by the king's butler[153];
he even asked this favour 'for God's sake and as a work of charity' (pur Dieu
et en œure de charitee). It is satisfactory to find that his request met with a
prompt response; for only two days afterwards, on Oct. 15, the king made
him a grant of a tun of wine annually for life, from the king's butler or his
deputy; Sir H. Nicolas computes the value of this grant at about 5l. a year.
Moreover, the grant was made to date as from Dec. 1, 1397; so that he

necessarily received from it some immediate benefit[154]. He also received
from the exchequer, with his own hands, the sum of 10l. on Oct. 28[155].
§ 38. 1399. In 1399, the great change in political affairs practically brought
his distress to an end; and it is pleasant to think that, as far as money
matters were concerned, he ended his days in comparative ease. Henry of
Lancaster was declared king on Sept. 30; and Chaucer lost no time in laying
his case before him. This he did by sending in a copy of his 'Compleint to
his Empty Purse,' a poem which seems to have been originally written on
some other occasion. He added to it, however, an Envoy of five lines,
which, like a postscript to some letters, contained the pith of the matter:—

'O conquerour of Brutes Albioun,
Which that by lyne and free eleccioun
Ben verray king, this song to you I sende;
And ye, that mowen al our harm amende,
Have mind upon my supplicacioun!'

The king was prompt to reply; it must have given him real satisfaction to be
able to assist the old poet, with whom he must have been on familiar terms.
On Oct. 3, only the fourth day after the king's accession, the answer came.
He was to receive 40 marks yearly (26l. 13s. 4d.), in addition to the annuity
of 20l. which king Richard had granted him; so that his income was more
than doubled. Even then, he met with a slight misfortune, in losing his
letters patent; but, having made oath in Chancery, that the letters patent of
Feb. 28, 1394 (referring to king Richard's grant of 20l.), and the new letters
patent of Oct. 3, 1399, had been accidentally lost, he procured, on Oct. 13,
exemplifications of these records[156]. These grants were finally confirmed
by the king on Oct. 21[157].
On Christmas eve, 1399, he covenanted for a lease of 53 years (a long term
for one at his age to contemplate) of a house situate in the garden of the
Chapel of St. Mary, Westminster, near Westminster Abbey, at the annual
rent of 2l. 13s. 4d. This lease, from the Custos Capellae Beatae Mariae to
Geoffrey Chaucer, dated Dec. 24, 1399, is in the Muniment Room of
Westminster Abbey. The house stood on or near the spot now occupied by
Henry the Seventh's Chapel[158]. We find, however, that he had only a life-

interest in the lease, as the premises were to revert to the Custos Capellae if
the tenant died within the term.
§ 39. 1400. In 1400, payments to him are recorded on Feb. 21, of the
pension of 20l. granted by king Richard[159], in respect of the half-year
ending at Michaelmas, 1399; and on June 5, the sum of 5l., being part of a
sum of 8l. 13s. 5d. due for a portion of the next half-year, calculated as
commencing on Oct. 21, 1399, and terminating on the last day of March,
1400, was sent him by the hands of Henry Somere[160].
We should notice that this Henry Somere was, at the time, the Clerk of the
Receipt of the Exchequer; he was afterwards Under Treasurer, at which
time Hoccleve addressed to him a Balade, printed in Furnivall's edition of
Hoccleve's Works, at p. 59, followed by a Roundel containing a pun upon
his name; as well as a second Balade, addressed to him after he had been
made a Baron, and promoted to be Chancellor (see the same, p. 64).
Perhaps he was related to John Somere, the Frere, mentioned in the Treatise
on the Astrolabe (Prol. 62).
Chaucer died on Oct. 25, 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The
date of his death is only known from an inscription on the tomb of gray
marble erected near his grave, in 1556, by Nicholas Brigham, a man of
letters, and an admirer of the poet's writings; but it is probably correct, and
may have rested on tradition[161]. We have no note of him after June 5, and
no record of a payment of the pension in October. According to Stowe,
Chaucer's grave is in the cloister, where also lies the body of 'Henrie
Scogan, a learned poet,' i. e. the Scogan who was Chaucer's friend.
§ 40. Chaucer's Arms and Tomb. 'In front of the tomb,' says Sir. H. Nicolas,
'are three panelled divisions of starred quarterfoils (sic), containing shields
with the Arms of Chaucer, viz. Per pale argent and gules, a bend
counterchanged; and the same Arms also occur in an oblong compartment
at the back of the recess, where the following inscription was placed, but
which is now almost obliterated, from the partial decomposition and
crumbling state of the marble. A small whole-length portrait of Chaucer was
delineated in plano on the north side of the inscription, but not a vestige of
it is left; and the whole of the recess and canopy has recently been coloured
black.

M.S.
Qui fuit Anglorum Vates ter maximus olim,
Galfridus Chaucer conditur hoc tumulo:
Annum si quaeras domini, si tempora vitae,
Ecce notae subsunt, quae tibi cuncta notant.
25 Octobris 1400.
Ærumnarum requies mors.
N. Brigham hos fecit musarum nomine sumptus
1556.

On the ledge of the tomb the following verses were engraved:—

'Si rogites quis eram, forsan te fama docebit:
Quod si fama negat, mundi quia gloria transit,
Haec monumenta lege.'

We learn from an interesting note at the end of Caxton's edition of Boethius,
that the good printer was not satisfied with printing some of Chaucer's
works, but further endeavoured to perpetuate the poet's memory by raising a
pillar near his tomb, to support a tablet containing an epitaph consisting of
34 Latin verses. This epitaph was composed by Stephanus Surigonus of
Milan, licentiate in decrees, and is reprinted in Stowe's edition of Chaucer's
Works (1561), at fol. 355, back. The last four lines refer to Caxton's pious
care:—

'Post obitum Caxton voluit te viuere cura
Willelmi, Chaucer, clare poeta, tui.
Nam tua non solum compressit opuscula formis,
Has quoque sed laudes iussit hic esse tuas.'

A description, by Dean Stanley, of the Chaucer window in Westminster
Abbey, completed in 1868, is given in Furnivall's Temporary Preface (Ch.
Soc.), p. 133. Some of the subjects in the window are taken from the poem
entitled 'The Flower and the Leaf,' which he did not write.
It will be observed that Sir H. Nicolas speaks, just above, of 'the arms of
Chaucer,' which he describes. But it should be remembered that this is,
practically, an assumption, which at once launches us into an uncertain and

debateable position. These arms certainly belonged to Thomas Chaucer, for
they occur on a seal of his of which a drawing is given in MS. Julius C 7,
fol. 153; an accurate copy of which is given by Sir H. Nicolas. It is
therefore quite possible that the same arms were assigned to the poet in
1556, only because it was then assumed that Thomas was Geoffrey's son;
the fact being that the relationship of Thomas to Geoffrey is open to doubt,
and the case requires to be stated with great care.
§ 41. Thomas Chaucer. Few things are more remarkable than the utter
absence of unequivocal early evidence as to the above-mentioned point.
That Geoffrey Chaucer was a famous man, even in his own day, cannot be
doubted; and it is equally certain that Thomas Chaucer was a man of great
wealth and of some consequence. Sir H. Nicolas has collected the principal
facts relating to him, the most important being the following. On Oct. 26,
1399, Henry IV. granted him the offices of Constable of Wallingford Castle
and Steward of the Honours of Wallingford and St. Valery and of the
Chiltern Hundreds for life, receiving therefrom 40l. a year, with 10l.
additional for his deputy[162]. On Nov. 5, 1402, he was appointed Chief
Butler for life to King Henry IV.[163]; and there is a note that he had
previously been Chief Butler to Richard II.[164], but the date of that
appointment has not been ascertained. He was also Chief Butler to Henry V.
until March, 1418, when he was superseded[165]; but was again appointed
Chief Butler to Henry VI. after his accession. He represented Oxfordshire in
Parliament in 1402, 1408, 1409, 1412, 1414, 1423, 1427, and 1429; and
was Speaker of the House of Commons in 1414[166], and in other years. 'He
was employed on many occasions of trust and importance during the reigns
of Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VI.;' to which Sir H. Nicolas adds, that
he 'never attained a higher rank than that of esquire.'
His wealth, at his death in 1434, was unusually great, as shewn by the long
list of his landed possessions in the Inquisitiones post Mortem. This wealth
he doubtless acquired by his marriage with an heiress, viz. Matilda, second
daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Burghersh, who died Sept. 21, 1391,
when Matilda was 12 years old. Unfortunately, the date of this marriage is
uncertain, though Sir H. Nicolas shews that it was probably earlier than
1403. The exact date would be very useful; for if it took place before 1399,

it becomes difficult to understand why the poet was left so poor, whilst his
son had vast possessions.
It should be noticed that there is but little to connect even Thomas Chaucer
(still less Geoffrey) with Woodstock, until 1411; when the Queen (Joan of
Navarre) granted Thomas the farm of the manors of Woodstock, Hanburgh,
Wotton, and Stonfield, which, by the king's assignment, he enjoyed for
life[167]. That the poet visited Woodstock in 1357, when in the service of
Prince Lionel, is almost certain; but beyond this, we have no sure
information on the matter. It is true that 'Wodestok' is mentioned in the last
line of the Cuckow and the Nightingale, but this supposed connecting link
is at once broken, when we find that the said poem was certainly not of his
writing[168]. The suggested reference to Woodstock in the Parliament of
Foules, l. 122, is discussed below, at p. 510.
The only child of Thomas and Matilda Chaucer was Alice, whose third
husband was no less a person than William de la Pole, then Earl and
afterwards Duke of Suffolk, who was beheaded in 1450. Their eldest son
was John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, who married Elizabeth, sister of King
Edward IV. Their eldest son bore the same name, and was not only created
Earl of Lincoln, but was actually declared heir-apparent to the throne by
Richard III; so that there was, at one time, a probability that Thomas
Chaucer's great-grandson would succeed to the throne. But the battle of
Bosworth, in 1485, set this arrangement aside; and the Earl of Lincoln was
himself killed two years later, in the battle of Stoke.
§ 42. The relationship of Thomas to Geoffrey Chaucer. Considering the
great eminence of these two men, the almost total silence of early evidence,
establishing a connexion between them, is in a high degree remarkable.
The earliest connecting link is the fact that a deed by Thomas Chaucer still
exists, written (in English) at Ewelme, and dated May 20, 1409, to which a
seal is appended. This seal exhibits the arms which were certainly borne by
Thomas Chaucer (viz. party per pale, argent and gules, a bend
counterchanged); but the legend, though somewhat indistinct, can only be
read as: 'S' Ghofrai Chaucier[169]'; where S' signifies 'Sigillum.'

The spelling 'Ghofrai' is hardly satisfactory; but if Geoffrey be really meant,
we gain a piece of evidence of high importance. It proves that Geoffrey
bore the same arms as Thomas, and not the same arms as his father John;
whose seal displays a shield ermine, on a chief, three birds' heads issuant
(The Academy, Oct. 13, 1877, p. 364). Moreover, the use of Geoffrey's seal
by Thomas goes far to establish that the latter was the son of the former.
The next link is that Geoffrey Chaucer was succeeded by Thomas Chaucer
in the office of forester of North Petherton in Somersetshire; but even here
there is a gap in the succession, as Thomas was not appointed till 1416-7,
the fourth year of Henry V.[170]
It is not till the reign of Henry VI. that we at last obtain an unequivocal
statement. Thomas Gascoigne, who died in 1458, wrote a Theological
Dictionary, which still exists, in MS., in the Library of Lincoln College,
Oxford. He tells us that Chaucer, in his last hours, frequently lamented the
wickedness of his writings, though it is transparent that he here merely
repeats, in a varied form, the general tenour of the well-known final
paragraph of the Persones Tale. But he adds this important sentence: 'Fuit
idem Chawserus pater Thomae Chawserus, armigeri, qui Thomas sepelitur
in Nuhelm iuxta Oxoniam[171].' The statement is the more important
because Gascoigne ought to have known the exact truth. He was Chancellor
of Oxford, and Thomas Chaucer held the manor of Ewelme, at no great
distance, at the same date. As he mentions Thomas's sepulture, he wrote
later than 1434, yet before 1458. Even in the case of this decisive statement,
it were to be wished that he had shewn greater accuracy in the context;
surely he gives a quite unfair turn to the poet's own words.
On the whole, I can only admit at present, that there is a high probability
that Thomas was really Geoffrey's son. Perhaps we shall some day know
the certainty of the matter.
§ 43. Thomas's Mother. The chief reason why it is so desirable to know the
exact truth as to the relationship of Thomas to Geoffrey, is that a good deal
depends upon it. If such was the case, it follows that Philippa Chaucer was
Thomas's mother; in which case, we may feel tolerably confident that her
maiden name was Roet or Rouet. This has been inferred from the fact that
the arms (apparently) of Roet 'occur repeatedly on Thomas Chaucer's tomb,

as his paternal coat, instead of the arms usually attributed to him and to the
poet.' These arms bore 'three wheels, evidently in allusion to the name[172].'
Having thus assigned to Philippa Chaucer the name of Roet, the next step
(usually accepted, yet not absolutely proved) is to assume that she was the
sister of the Katherine de Roet of Hainault[173], who married Sir Hugh
Swynford, and afterwards became the mistress, and, in 1396, the third wife
of John of Gaunt. Her father is supposed to have been Sir Payne Roet, of
Hainault, upon the evidence of his epitaph, which (in Weever's Funeral
Monuments, p. 413) is thus given:—'Hic jacet Paganus Roet, Miles,
Guyenne Rex Armorum, Pater Catherine Ducisse Lancastriae[174].' It is
obvious that, if all the inferences are correct, they clearly establish an
important and close connexion between the poet and John of Gaunt. Further
arguments, whether in favour of or against this connexion, need hardly be
repeated here. They may be found in Nicolas's Life of Chaucer, and in
Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer, vol. i.
Thynne has the following remark in his Animadversions, &c. (ed. Furnivall,
p. 22): 'Althoughe I fynde a recorde of the pellis exitus, in the tyme of
Edwarde the thirde, of a yerely stypende to Elizabethe Chawcer, Domicelle
regine Philippe, whiche Domicella dothe signyfye one of her weytinge
gentlewomen: yet I cannott ... thinke this was his wyfe, but rather his sister
or kinneswoman, who, after the deathe of her mystresse Quene Philippe,
did forsake the worlde and became a nonne at Seinte Heleins in London.'
And we find, accordingly (as Nicolas shews), that 'on July 27, 1377, the
King exercised his right to nominate a Nun in the Priory of St. Helen's,
London, after the coronation, in favour of Elizabeth Chausier.' Another
Elizabeth Chaucy (who may have been the poet's daughter) is also noticed
by Nicolas, for whose noviciate, in the Abbey of Berking in Essex, John of
Gaunt paid 51l. 8s. 2d., on May 12, 1381. But these are mere matters for
conjecture.
§ 44. The preceding sections include all the most material facts that have
been ascertained with respect to Geoffrey Chaucer, and it is fortunate that,
owing to his connexion with public business, they are so numerous and so
authentic. At the same time, it will doubtless be considered that such dry
details, however useful, tell us very little about the man himself; though
they clearly shew the versatility of his talents, and exhibit him as a page, a

soldier, a valet and esquire of the royal household, an envoy, a comptroller
of customs, a clerk of works, and a member of Parliament. In the truest
sense, his own works best exhibit his thoughts and character; though we
must not always accept all his expressions as if they were all his own. We
have to deal with a writer in whom the dramatic faculty was highly
developed, and I prefer to leave the reader to draw his own inferences, even
from those passages which are most relied upon to support the theory that
his domestic life may have been unhappy, and others of the like kind. We
can hardly doubt, for example, that he refers to his wife as 'oon that I coude
nevene,' i. e. one that I could name, in the Hous of Fame, 562; and he
plainly says that the eagle spoke something to him in a kindly tone, such as
he never heard from his wife. But when we notice that the something said
was the word 'awake,' in order that he should 'the bet abrayde,' i. e. the
sooner recover from his dazed state, it is possible that a sentence which at
first seems decidedly spiteful is no more than a mild and gentle jest.
§ 45. Personal allusions in Chaucer's Works. Instead of drawing my own
inferences, which may easily be wrong, from various passages in Chaucer's
Works, I prefer the humbler task of giving the more important references,
from which the reader may perform the task for himself, to his greater
satisfaction. I will only say that when a poet complains of hopeless love, or
expresses his despair, or tells us (on the other hand) that he has no idea as to
what love means, we are surely free to believe, in each case, just as little or
as much as we please. It is a very sandy foundation on which to build up a
serious autobiographical structure.
The only remark which I feel justified in making is, that I believe his wife's
death to have been a serious loss to him in one respect at least. Most of his
early works are reasonably free from coarseness; whereas such Tales as
those of the Miller, the Reeve, the Shipman, the Merchant, and the Prologue
to the Wife's Tale, can hardly be defended. All these may confidently be
dated after the year 1387.
I have also to add one caution. We must not draw inferences as to Chaucer's
life from poems or works with which he had nothing to do. Even Sir H.
Nicolas, with all his carefulness, has not avoided this. He quotes the
'Cuckoo and Nightingale' as mentioning Woodstock; and he only distrusts
the 'Testament of Love' because it is 'an allegorical composition[175].' As to

the numerous fables that have been imported into the early Lives of
Chaucer, see the excellent chapter in Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer,
entitled 'The Chaucer Legend.'
§ 46. References. I here use the following abbreviations. Ast. (Treatise on
the Astrolabe); B. D. (Book of the Duchesse); C. T. (Canterbury Tales);
H. F. (Hous of Fame); L. G. W. (Legend of Good Women); T. (Troilus and
Criseyde).
1. Personal Allusions. The poet's name is Geffrey, H. F. 729; and his
surname, Chaucer, C. T., B 47. He describes himself, C. T., B 1886; Envoy
to Scogan, 31. His poverty, H. F. 1349; Envoy to Scogan, 45; Compl. to his
Purse. Refers to the sale of wine (his father being a vintner), C. T., C 564. Is
despondent in love, Compl. unto Pity; B. D. 1-43; T. i. 15-18. His
Complaints, viz. unto Pity; to his Lady; and an Amorous Complaint. Has
long served Cupid and Venus; H. F. 616. Is no longer a lover, P. F. 158-166;
H. F. 639; T. ii. 19-21; L. G. W. 490. Is love's clerk, T. iii. 41. Is love's foe,
L. G. W. 323. His misery, H. F. 2012-8. His religious feeling, A. B. C.,
Second Nun's Tale, Prioress's Tale, &c. Refers to his work when
Comptroller of the Customs, H. F. 652. Is unambitious of fame, H. F. 1870-
900; and has but little in his head, ib. 621. Is sometimes a mere compiler,
Ast. prol. 43. Addresses his little son Lowis, Ast. prol. 1-45[176]. Expresses
his gratitude to the queen, L. G. W. 84-96, 445-461, 496. His old age, L. G.
W., A 262, A 315; Envoy to Scogan, 31-42; Compl. of Venus, 76[177]. He
will not marry a second time, Envoy to Bukton, 8. He exhibits his
knowledge of the Northern dialect in the Reeve's Tale. The whole of the
Prologue to the Legend of Good Women deserves particular attention.
Chaucer mentions several friends, viz. Gower the poet, T. v. 1856; Strode,
T. v. 1857 (cf. the colophon to Ast. pt. ii. § 40); and a lady named
Rosemounde, in the Balade addressed to her. He also addresses Envoys to
Henry Scogan and to Bukton. The Envoy to the Compleint to his Purse is
addressed to king Henry IV.
He is fond of books and of reading, P. F. 15; H. F. 657; L. G. W. 17-35; and
even reads in bed, B. D. 50, 274, 1326. For a full account of the books
which he quotes, see vol. vi. I may just notice here the lists in C. T., B 2088;
L. G. W., A 272-307; and his references to his own works in L. G. W. 329,

332, 417-28; C. T., B 57-76; C. T., I 1086[178]. His love of nature appears in
several excellent descriptions; we may particularly notice his lines upon the
sunrise, C. T., A 1491, F 385; on the golden-tressed Phoebus, T. v. 8; on the
daisy, L. G. W. 41; his description of the birds, P. F. 330; of a blooming
garden, P. F. 182; of the golden age, The Former Age; of fine weather for
hunting, B. D. 336, and of the chase itself, B. D. 360, L. G. W. 1188. He
frequently mentions the fair month of May, L. G. W. 36, 45, 108, 176, T. ii.
50, C. T. A 1500, 1510; and St. Valentine's day, Compl. of Mars, 13; P. F.
309, 322, 386, 683; Amorous Compleint, 85.
He was our first great metrist, and has frequent references to his poetical
art. He never slept on Parnassus, C. T., F 721; and the Host (in the C. T.)
even accused him of writing 'dogerel,' B 2115. He cannot write alliterative
verse, C. T., I 43. He admits that his rime is 'light and lewed,' and that some
lines fail in a syllable, H. F., 1096-8. Yet he hopes that none will 'mismetre'
him, T. v. 1796. He writes books, songs, and ditties in rime or 'cadence,'
H. F. 622; also hymns, balades, roundels, and virelays, L. G. W. 422; and
complaints, such as the Complaint to Pity, to his Lady, to his Purse, the
Complaints of Mars, Anelida, and Venus, and the Complaint D'amours (or
Amorous Complaint). Specimens of his graphic and dramatic power, of his
skill in story and metre, of his tenderness and his humour, need not be here
specified. He is fond of astronomy, as shewn by his Treatise on the
Astrolabe; and, though he has but little faith in astrology (Ast. ii. 4. 37), he
frequently refers to it as well as to astronomy; see B. D. 1206; Compl.
Mars, 29, 54, 69, 79, 86, 113, 120, 129, 139, 145; P. F., 56, 59, 67, 117;
Envoy to Scogan, 3, 9; H. F. 932, 936, 965, 993-1017; T. ii. 50, iii. 2, 618,
625, 716, iv. 1592, v. 1809; L. G. W. 113, 2223, 2585-99; C. T., A 7, 1087,
1328, 1463, 1537, 1566, 1850, 2021, 2035, 2059, 2217, 2271, 2367, 2454-
69, 3192, 3209, 3516; B 1-14, 191, 308, 312, 4045-8, 4378-89; D 613, 704;
E 1795, 1969, 2132, 2222; F 47-51, 263-5, 386, 906, 1032-5, 1045-59,
1130, 1245-9, 1261-6, 1273-96; I 2-12. Even his alchemy has some
reference to astrology; C. T., G 826-9; cf. H. F. 1430-1512.
He refers to optics, C. T., F 228-235; to Boethius on music, C. T., B 4484,
H. F. 788-818; and to magical arts, H. F. 1259-81, C. T., F 115, 132, 146,
156, 219, 250, 1142-51, 1157-62, 1189-1208.

2. Historical Allusions. The references to contemporary history are but
few. The death of the Lady Blaunche is commemorated in the Book of the
Duchesse. He refers to good queen Anne, L. G. W. 255, 275, 496; to the
archbishop of Canterbury, C. T., B 4635; to 'this pestilence,' C 679; to
Tyler's rebellion, A 2459; and Jack Straw, B 4584. Perhaps the Complaints
of Mars and Venus refer to real personages; see the Notes to those poems.
He mentions Dante, H. F. 450, L. G. W. 360, C. T. B 3651, D 1126;
Petrarch, C. T., E 31, 1147; Pedro the Cruel, king of Spain, C. T., B 3565,
Bertrand du Gueschlin, 3573, and Sir Oliver Mauny, 3576; Peter, king of
Cyprus, 3581; Bernabo Visconti, duke of Milan, 3589, and the 'tyrants' of
Lombardy, L. G. W. 374; Ugolino of Pisa and the archbishop Ruggieri,
C. T., B 3597, 3606. There are several allusions to recent events in the
Prologue, A 51-66, 86, 276, 399; and perhaps in C. T., E 995-1001.
His literary allusions are too numerous to be here recited. The reader can
consult the Index in vol. vi.
§ 47. Allusions to Chaucer. One of the earliest allusions to Chaucer as a
poet occurs in the works of Eustache Deschamps, a contemporary poet of
France. It is remarkable that he chiefly praises him as being 'a great
translator.' Perhaps this was before his longest poems were written; there is
express reference to his translation of Le Roman de la Rose, and, possibly,
to Boethius. The poem tells us that Deschamps had sent Chaucer a copy of
some of his poems by a friend named Clifford, and he hopes to receive
something of Chaucer's in return. The poem is here quoted entire, from the
edition of Deschamps by le Marquis de Queux de Saint-Hilaire, published
for the Société des Anciens Textes Français, t. ii. p. 138:—

'O Socrates plains de philosophie,
Seneque en meurs et Anglux en pratique,
Ovides grans en ta poeterie,
Bries en parler, saiges en rethorique,
Aigles treshaulz, qui par ta theorique
Enlumines le regne d'Eneas,
L'Isle aux Geans, ceuls de Bruth, et qui as
Semé les fleurs et planté le rosier,
Aux ignorans de la langue pandras,
Grant translateur, noble Geffroy Chaucier.

Tu es d'amours mondains Dieux en Albie:
Et de la Rose, en la terre Angelique,
Qui d'Angela saxonne, est puis flourie
Angleterre, d'elle ce nom s'applique
Le derrenier en l'ethimologique;
En bon anglès le livre translatas;
Et un vergier ou du plant demandas
De ceuls qui font pour eulx autorisier,
A ja longtemps que tu edifias,
Grant translateur, noble Geffroy Chaucier.

A toy pour ce de la fontaine Helye
Requier avoir un buvraige autentique,
Dont la doys est du tout en ta baillie,
Pour rafrener d'elle ma soif ethique,
Qui en Gaule seray paralitique
Jusques a ce que tu m'abuveras.
Eustaces sui, qui de mon plant aras:
Mais pran en gré les euvres d'escolier
Que par Clifford de moy avoir pourras,
Grant translateur, noble Geffroy Chaucier.

Lenvoy.

Poete hault, loenge destruye,
En ton jardin ne seroye qu'ortie:

Consideré ce que j'ay dit premier
Ton noble plant, ta douce mélodie,
Mais pour sçavoir, de rescripre te prie,
Grant translateur, noble Geffroy Chaucier.'

Gower alludes to Chaucer in the first edition of the Confessio Amantis; see
the passage discussed in vol. iii. p. 414.
Henry Scogan wrote 'a moral balade' in twenty-one 8-line stanzas, in which
he not only refers to Chaucer's poetical skill, but quotes the whole of his
Balade on Gentilesse; see vol. i. p. 83.
Hoccleve frequently refers to Chaucer as his 'maister,' i. e. his teacher, with
great affection; and, if he learnt but little more, he certainly learnt the true
method of scansion of his master's lines, and imitates his metres and rimes
with great exactness. The passages relating to Chaucer are as follows[179].
(1) From the Governail of Princes, or De Regimine Principum (ed. Wright,
p. 67, st. 267):—

'Thou were acqueynted with Chaucer, pardee—
God save his soule—best of any wight.'

(2) From the same, p. 75, stanzas 280, 281-283, 297-299, 301:—

'But weylawey! so is myn herte wo
That the honour of English tonge is deed,
Of which I wont was han conseil and reed.

O maister dere and fader reverent,
My maister Chaucer, flour of eloquence,
Mirour of fructuous entendement,
O universel fader in science,
Allas! that thou thyn excellent prudence
In thy bed mortel mightest not bequethe!
What eyled Deeth? Allas! why wolde he slee thee?

O Deeth! thou didest not harm singuler
In slaghtre of him, but al this land it smerteth!

But nathelees, yit hast thou no powèr
His name slee; his hy vertu asterteth
Unslayn fro thee, which ay us lyfly herteth
With bokes of his ornat endyting,
That is to al this land enlumining....

My dere maister—God his soule quyte—
and fader, Chaucer, fayn wolde han me taught;
But I was dul, and lernede right naught[180].

Allas! my worthy maister honorable,
This landes verray tresor and richesse!
Deeth, by thy deeth, hath harm irreparable
Unto us doon; hir vengeable duresse
Despoiled hath this land of the swetnesse
Of rethoryk; for unto[181] Tullius
Was never man so lyk amonges us.

Also who was heyr[182] in philosophye
To Aristotle, in our tonge, but thou?
The steppes of Virgyle in poesye
Thou folwedest eek, men wot wel y-now.
That combre-world, that thee (my maister) slow—
Wolde I slayn werë—Deeth, was to hastyf
To renne on thee, and reve thee thy lyf....

She mighte han taried hir vengeance a whyle
Til that som man had egal to thee be;
Nay, lat be that! she knew wel that this yle
May never man forth bringe lyk to thee,
And hir offyce nedes do mot she:
God bad hir so, I truste as for the beste;
O maister, maister, God thy soule reste!

(3) From the same, p. 179, stanzas 712-4:—

The firste finder of our fair langage
Hath seyd in caas semblable, and othere mo,

So hyly wel, that it is my dotage
For to expresse or touche any of tho.
Allas! my fader fro the worlde is go,
My worthy maister Chaucer, him I mene:
Be thou advóket for him, hevenes quene?

As thou wel knowest, O blessèd virgyne,
With loving herte and hy devocioun
In thyn honour he wroot ful many a lyne.
O, now thy help and thy promocioun!
To God, thy Sonë, mak a mocioun
How he thy servaunt was, mayden Marië,
And lat his lovë floure and fructifyë.

Al-thogh his lyf be queynt, the résemblaunce
Of him hath in me so fresh lyflinesse
That, to putte othere men in rémembraunce
Of his persone, I have heer his lyknesse
Do makë, to this ende, in sothfastnesse,
That they, that have of him lest thought and minde,
By this peynturë may ageyn him finde.'

Here is given, in the margin of the MS., the famous portrait of Chaucer
which is believed to be the best, and probably the only one that can be
accepted as authentic. A copy of it is prefixed to the present volume, and to
Furnivall's Trial-Forewords, Chaucer Soc., 1871; and an enlarged copy
accompanies the Life-Records of Chaucer, part 2. It is thus described by Sir
H. Nicolas:—'The figure, which is half-length, has a back-ground of green
tapestry. He is represented with grey hair and beard, which is biforked; he
wears a dark-coloured dress and hood; his right hand is extended, and in his
left he holds a string of beads. From his vest a black case is suspended,
which appears to contain a knife, or possibly a 'penner,' or pen-case[183].
The expression of the countenance is intelligent; but the fire of the eye
seems quenched, and evident marks of advanced age appear on the
countenance.' Hoccleve did not paint this portrait himself, as is often
erroneously said; he 'leet do make it,' i. e. had it made. It thus became the
business of the scribe, and the portraits in different copies of Hoccleve's

works vary accordingly. There is a full-length portrait in MS. Reg. 17 D. vi,
marked as 'Chaucers ymage'; and another in a MS. copy once in the
possession of Mr. Tyson, which was engraved in the Gentleman's Magazine
for 1792, vol. lxii. p. 614; perhaps the latter is the copy which is now MS.
Phillipps 1099. A representation of Chaucer on horseback, as one of the
pilgrims, occurs in the Ellesmere MS.; an engraving of it appears as a
frontispiece to Todd's Illustrations of Chaucer. A small full-length picture of
Chaucer occurs in the initial letter of the Canterbury Tales, in MS.
Lansdowne 851. Other portraits, such as that in MS. Addit. (or Sloane)
5141, the painting upon wood in the Bodleian Library, and the like, are of
much later date, and cannot pretend to any authenticity.
Lydgate has frequent references to his 'maister Chaucer.' The most
important is that in the Prologue to his Fall of Princes, which begins thus:—

'My maister Chaucer, with his fresh comédies,
Is deed, allas! cheef poete of Bretayne,
That somtym made ful pitous tragédies;
The "fall of princes" he dide also compleyne,
As he that was of making soverayne,
Whom al this land of right[e] ought preferre,
Sith of our langage he was the loodsterre.'

The 'fall of princes' refers to the Monkes Tale, as explained in vol. iii. p.
431. He next refers to 'Troilus' as being a translation of a book 'which called
is Trophe' (see vol. ii. p. liv.); and to the Translation of Boethius and the
Treatise of the Astrolabe. He then mentions many of the Minor Poems (in
the stanzas quoted below, p. 23), the Legend of Good Women (see vol. iii.
p. xx.), and the Canterbury Tales; and concludes thus:—

'This sayd poete, my maister, in his dayes
Made and composed ful many a fresh ditee,
Complaintes, balades, roundels, virelayes,
Ful delectable to heren and to see;
For which men shulde, of right and equitee,
Sith he of English in making was the beste,
Praye unto God to yeve his soule reste.'

So also, in his Siege of Troye, fol. K 2:—

'Noble Galfryde, chefe Poete of Brytayne,
Among our English that caused first to rayne
The golden droppes of Rethorike so fyne,
Our rudë language onely t'enlumine,' &c.

And again, in the same, fol. R 2, back:—

'For he our English gilt[e] with his layes,
Rude and boystous first, by oldë dayes,
That was ful fer from al perfeccioun
And but of lytel reputacioun,
Til that he cam, and with his poetrye
Gan our tungë first to magnifye,
And adourne it with his eloquence'; &c.

And yet again, at fol. Ee 2:—

'And, if I shal shortly him discryve,
Was never noon [un]to this day alyve,
To reken all[e], bothe of yonge and olde,
That worthy was his inkhorn for to holde.'

Similar passages occur in some of his other works, and shew that he
regarded Chaucer with affectionate reverence.
Allusions in later authors have only a literary value, and need not be cited in
a Life of Chaucer.

I subjoin (on p. lxii.) a List of Chaucer's genuine works, arranged, as nearly
as I can conjecture, in their chronological order. Of his poetical excellence
it is superfluous to speak; Lowell's essay on 'Chaucer' in My Study
Windows gives a just estimate of his powers.

LIST OF CHAUCER'S WORKS.

The following list is arranged, conjecturally, in chronological order. It will
be understood that much of the arrangement and some of the dates are due
to guesswork; on a few points scholars are agreed. See further in pp. 20-91
below, &c. Of the Poems marked (a), there seem to have been two editions,
(a) being the earlier. The letters and numbers appended at the end denote
the metres, according to the following scheme.
A = octosyllabic metre; B = ballad metre, in Sir Thopas; C = 4-line stanza,
in the Proverbes; P = Prose.
The following sixteen metres are original (i. e. in English); viz. 1 = 8-line
stanza, ababbcbc; 1 b = the same, thrice, with refrain. 2 = 7-line stanza,
ababbcc; 2 b = the same, thrice, with refrain; 2 c = 7-line stanza, ababbab.
3 = terza rima. 4 = 10-line stanza, aabaabcddc. 5 = 9-line stanza,
aabaabbab; 5 b = the same, with internal rimes. 6 = virelai of 16 lines. 7 =
9-line stanza, aabaabbcc. 8 = roundel. 9 = heroic couplet. 10 = 6-line
stanza, ababcb, repeated six times. 11 = 10-line stanza, aabaabbaab. 12 =
5-line stanza, aabba.
* *
* C. T. = Canterbury Tales; L. G. W. = Legend of Good Women; M. P. =
Minor Poems.

Origenes upon the Maudeleyne (See L. G. W., A 418; lost.)
Book of the Leoun (C. T., I. 1087; lost).
(a) Ceys and Alcion (C. T., B. 57; Bk. Duch. 62-214).—A.
Romaunt of the Rose, ll. 1-1705; rest lost.—A.
A. B. C.; in M. P. I.—1.
1369. Book of the Duchesse; M. P. III.—A.
(a) Lyf of Seynt Cecyle (L. G. W., B 426; C. T., G. 1-553).—
2[184].
(a) Monkes Tale (parts of); except B. 3565-3652.—1.
ab. (a) Clerkes Tale; except E. 995-1008, and the Envoy.—2.
1372-3. (a) Palamon and Arcite (scraps preserved).—2.
Compleint to his Lady; M. P. VI.—2. 3. 4.
An Amorous Compleint, made at Windsor; M. P. XXII.—2.
Compleint unto Pitè; M. P. II.—2.
Anelida and Arcite (10 stt. from Palamon); M. P. VII.—2. 5.
6. 5 b.

(a) The Tale of Melibeus.—P.
(a) The Persones Tale.—P.
(a) Of the Wreched Engendring of Mankinde (L. G. W., A.
414; cf. C. T., B. 99-121, &c.)—2.
(a) Man of Lawes Tale; amplified in C. T.—2.
1377-81. Translation of Boethius.—P.
1379? Compleint of Mars; M. P. IV.—2. 7.
1379-83. Troilus and Criseyde (3 stt. from Palamon).—2.
Wordes to Adam (concerning Boece and Troilus); M. P. VIII.
—2.
The Former Age (from Boece); M. P. IX.—1.
Fortune (hints from Boece); M. P. X.—1 b. 2 c.
1382. Parlement of Foules (16 stt. from Palamon); M. P. V.—2. 8.
1383-4. House of Fame.—A.
1385-6. Legend of Good Women.—9.
1386. Canterbury Tales begun.
1387-8. Central period of the Canterbury Tales.
1389, The Tales continued.—B. 1. 2. 9. 10. P.
&c.
1391. Treatise on the Astrolabe.—P.
1393? Compleint of Venus; M. P. XVIII.—1 b. 11.
1393. Lenvoy to Scogan; M. P. XVI.—2.
1396. Lenvoy to Bukton; M. P. XVII.—1.
1399. Envoy to Compleint to his Purse; M. P. XIX.—12.

The following occasional triple roundel and balades may have been
composed between 1380 and 1396:—

Merciless Beautè; M. P. XI—8.
Balade to Rosamounde; M. P. XII.—1 b.
Against Women Unconstaunt; M. P. XXI—2 b.
(a) Compleint to his Purse; M. P. XIX.—2 b.
Lak of Stedfastnesse; M. P. XV.—2 b.
Gentilesse; M. P. XIV.—2 b.
Truth; M. P. XIII.—2 b.
Proverbes of Chaucer; M. P. XX.—C.

ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
P. 95: l. 47. Insert a comma after 'oughte'
P. 98: l. 114. Omit the comma at the end of the line.
P. 123: l. 705. It would be better to read 'Withoute.' The scansion then
is:

Without | e fabl' | I wol | descryve.

P. 126: l. 793. Delete the comma at the end of the line.
P. 127: l. 806. Delete the comma at the end of the line.
P. 135: l. 997. For shall read shal
P. 136: ll. 1015-6. Improve the punctuation thus:—

As whyt as lilie or rose in rys
Hir face, gentil and tretys.

P. 136: l. 1021. Delete the comma after 'yelowe'
P. 141: l. 1154. Delete the comma after 'seide'
P. 168: l. 1962. For Bu -if read But-if
P. 176: l. 2456. For joy read Ioy
P. 201: l. 4035. For the comma substitute a semicolon.
P. 249: l. 7087. For echerye read trecherye
P. 253: l. 7324. For weary read wery
P. 255: l. 7437. Supply a comma at the end of the line.
P. 258: l. 7665. Insert a comma after 'helle'
P. 269: l. 145. The stop at the end should be a comma.

P. 278: l. 49. For aud read and
P. 282: l. 145. For Aud read And
P. 301: l. 716. The comma should perhaps be a semicolon or a full
stop.
P. 313: l. 1069. For 'Antilegius,' a better form would be 'Antilogus,' a
French form of Antilochus.
P. 326: l. 74. Perhaps 'let' should be 'lete'
P. 330: l. 206. For folke read folk
P. 338: l. 91. For Aud read And
P. 340: l. 133. For the read thee
P. 362: l. 76. The final stop should be a comma.
P. 374: ll. 243, 248. For desteny and ful better forms are destinee and
fulle
P. 377: l. 328. For furlong wey read furlong-wey

INTRODUCTION.
THE ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE.
§ 1. In the Third Edition of my volume of Chaucer Selections, containing
the Prioress's Tale, &c., published by the Clarendon Press in 1880, I
included an essay to shew 'why the Romaunt of the Rose is not Chaucer's,'
meaning thereby the particular English version of Le Roman de la Rose
which happens to be preserved. I have since seen reason to modify this
opinion as regards a comparatively short portion of it at the beginning (here
printed in large type), but the arguments then put forward remain as valid as
ever as regards the main part of it (here printed in smaller type, and in

double columns). Some of these arguments had been previously put forward
by me in a letter to the Academy, Aug. 10, 1878, p. 143. I ought to add that
the chief of them are not original, but borrowed from Mr. Henry Bradshaw,
whose profound knowledge of all matters relating to Chaucer has been
acknowledged by all students.
§ 2. That Chaucer translated the French poem called Le Roman de la Rose,
or at least some part of it[185], no one doubts; for he tells us so himself in the
Prologue of his Legend of Good Women (A 255, B 329), and the very
frequent references to it, in many of his poems, shew that many parts of it
were familiarly known to him. Nevertheless, it does not follow that the
particular version of it which happens to be preserved, is the very one
which he made; for it was a poem familiar to many others besides him, and
it is extremely probable that Middle English versions of it were numerous.
In fact, it will presently appear that the English version printed in this
volume actually consists of three separate fragments, all by different hands.
The English version, which I shall here, for brevity, call 'the translation,' has
far less claim to be considered as Chaucer's than unthinking people
imagine. Modern readers find it included in many editions of his Works,
and fancy that such a fact is conclusive; but it is the merest prudence to
enquire how it came there. The answer is, that it first appeared in Thynne's
edition of 1532, a collection of Chaucer's (supposed) works made more than
a hundred and thirty years after his death. Such an attribution is obviously
valueless; we must examine the matter for ourselves, and on independent
grounds.
§ 3. A critical examination of the internal evidence at once shews that by far
the larger part of 'the translation' cannot possibly be Chaucer's; for the
language of it contradicts most of his habits, and presents peculiarities such
as we never find in his genuine poems. I shewed this in my 'Essay' by the
use of several unfailing tests, the nature of which I shall explain presently.
The only weak point in my argument was, that I then considered 'the
translation' as being the production of one author, and thought it sufficient
to draw my examples (as I unconsciously, for the most part, did) from the
central portion of the whole.

§ 4. The next step in this investigation was made by Dr. Lindner. In a
painstaking article printed in Englische Studien, xi. 163, he made it appear
highly probable that at least two fragments of 'the translation' are by
different hands. That there are two fragments, at least, is easily discerned;
for after l. 5810 there is a great gap, equivalent to an omission of more than
5000 lines.
§ 5. Still more recently, Dr. Max Kaluza has pointed out that there is
another distinct break in the poem near l. 1700. The style of translation, not
to speak of its accuracy, is much better in the first 1700 lines than in the
subsequent portions. We may notice, in particular, that the French word
boutons is translated by knoppes in ll. 1675, 1683, 1685, 1691, 1702, whilst,
in l. 1721 and subsequent passages, the same word is merely Englished by
botoun or botouns. A closer study of the passage extending from l. 1702 to
l. 1721 shews that there is a very marked break at the end of l. 1705. Here
the French text has (ed. Méon, l. 1676):—

'L'odor de lui entor s'espent;
La soatime qui en ist
Toute la place replenist.'

The English version has:—

'The swote smelle sprong so wyde
That it dide al the place aboute'—

followed by:—

'Whan I had smelled the savour swote,
No wille hadde I fro thens yit go'; &c.

It will be observed that the sentence in the two former lines is incomplete;
dide is a mere auxiliary verb, and the real verb of the sentence is lost; whilst
the two latter lines lead off with a new sentence altogether. It is still more
interesting to observe that, at this very point, we come upon a false rime.
The word aboute was then pronounced (abuu·tə), where (uu) denotes the
sound of ou in soup, and (ə) denotes an obscure vowel, like the a in China.
But the vowel o in swote was then pronounced like the German o in G. so

(nearly E. o in so), so that it was quite unlike the M.E. ou; and the rime is
no better than if we were to rime the mod. E. boot with the mod. E. goat. It
is clear that there has been a join here, and a rather clumsy one. The supply
of 'copy' of the first translation ran short, perhaps because the rest of it had
been torn away and lost, and the missing matter was supplied from some
other source. We thus obtain, as the result to be tested, the following
arrangement:—
Fragment A.—Lines 1-1705. French text, 1-1678.
Fragment B.—Lines 1706-5810. French text, 1679-5169.
Fragment C.—Lines 5811-7698. French text, 10716-12564.
It should be noted, further, that l. 7698 by no means reaches to the end. It
merely corresponds to l. 12564 of the French text, leaving 9510 lines
untouched towards the end, besides the gap of 5547 lines between
Fragments B and C. In fact, the three fragments, conjointly, only represent
7018 lines of the original, leaving 15056 lines (more than double that
number) wholly untranslated.
§ 6. Discussion of Fragment B.
Test I.—Proportion of English to French.—As regards these fragments,
one thing strikes us at once, viz. the much greater diffuseness of the
translation in fragment B, as may be seen from the following table:—
A.—English, 1705 lines; French, 1678; as 101.6 to 100.
B.—English, 4105 lines; French, 3491; as 117.5 to 100.
C.—English, 1888 lines; French, 1849; as 102.1 to 100.
Thus, in A and C, the translation runs nearly line for line; but in B, the
translator employs, on an average, 11 lines and three-quarters for every 10
of the original.
§ 7. Test II.—Dialect.—But the striking characteristic of Fragment B is the
use in it of a Northern dialect. That this is due to the author, and not merely
to the scribe, is obvious from the employment of Northern forms in rimes,
where any change would destroy the rime altogether. This may be called the

Dialect-test. Examples abound, and I only mention some of the most
striking.
1. Use of the Northern pres. part. in -and. In l. 2263, we have wel sittand
(for wel sitting), riming with hand. In l. 2708, we have wel doand (for wel
doing), riming with fand. Even fand is a Northern form. Chaucer uses fond,
riming with hond (Cant. Ta. A 4116, 4221, &c.), lond (A 702, &c.); cf. the
subj. form fond-e, riming with hond-e, lond-e, bond-e (B 3521).
2. In l. 1853, we have the rimes thar, mar (though miswritten thore, more in
MS. G.), where the Chaucerian forms there, more, would not rime at all.
These are well-known Northern forms, as in Barbour's Bruce. So again, in l.
2215, we find mar, ar (though mar is written as more in MS. G.). In l. 2397,
we find stat, hat; where hat is the Northern form of Chaucer's hoot, adj.,
'hot.' So also, in 5399, we have North. wat instead of Ch. wot or woot,
riming with estat. In l. 5542, we find the Northern certis (in place of
Chaucer's certes), riming with is.
3. Chaucer (or his scribes) admit the use of the Northern til, in place of the
Southern to, very sparingly; it occurs, e.g. in Cant. Ta. A 1478, before a
vowel. But it never occurs after its case, nor at the end of a line. Yet, in
fragment B, we twice find him til used finally, 4594, 4852.
4. The use of ado (for at do), in the sense of 'to do,' is also Northern; see the
New E. Dict. It occurs in l. 5080, riming with go.
5. The dropping of the inflexional e, in the infin. mood or gerund, is also
Northern. In fragment B, this is very common; as examples, take the rimes
lyf, dryf, 1873; feet, lete (= leet), 1981; sit, flit, 2371; may, convay, 2427;
may, assay, 2453; set, get, 2615; spring, thing, 2627; ly, by, 2629; ly, erly,
2645; &c. The Chaucerian forms are dryv-e, let-e, flit-te, convey-e, assay-e,
get-e, spring-e, ly-e. That the Northern forms are not due to the scribe, is
obvious; for he usually avoids them where he can. Thus in l. 2309, he writes
sitting instead of sittand; but in l. 2263, he could not avoid the form sittand,
because of the rime.
§ 8. Test III.—The riming of -y with -y-ë.—With two intentional
exceptions (both in the ballad metre of Sir Thopas, see note to Cant. Ta. B
2092), Chaucer never allows such a word as trewely (which etymologically

ends in -y) to rime with French substantives in -y-ë, such as fol-y-ë, Ielos-y-
ë (Ital. follia, gelosia). But in fragment B, examples abound; e. g. I,
malady(e)[186], 1849; hastily, company(e), 1861; generally, vilany(e), 2179;
worthy, curtesy(e), 2209; foly(e), by, 2493, 2521; curtesy(e), gladly, 2985;
foly(e), utterly, 3171; foly(e), hastily, 3241; and many more.
This famous test, first proposed by Mr. Bradshaw, is a very simple but
effective one; it separates the spurious from the genuine works of Chaucer
with ease and certainty in all but a few cases, viz. cases wherein a spurious
poem happens to satisfy the test; and these are rare indeed.
§ 9. Test IV.—Assonant rimes. Those who know nothing about the
pronunciation of Middle English, and require an easy test, appreciable by
any child who has a good ear, may observe this. Chaucer does not employ
mere assonances, i. e. rimes in which only the vowel-sounds correspond. He
does not rime take with shape, nor fame with lane. But the author of
fragment B had no ear for this. He actually has such rimes as these: kepe,
eke, 2125; shape, make, 2259; escape, make, 2753; take, scape, 3165;
storm, corn, 4343; doun, tourn, 5469.
Other strange rimes.—Other rimes which occur here, but not in Chaucer,
are these and others like them: aboute, swote, 1705 (already noticed);
desyre, nere, 1785, 2441; thar (Ch. there), to-shar, 1857; Ioynt, queynt[187],
2037; soon (Ch. son-e), doon, 2377; abrede, forweried, 2563; anney (Ch.
annoy), awey, 2675; desyre, manere, 2779; Ioye, convoye (Ch. conveye),
2915, &c. It is needless to multiply instances.
§ 10. It would be easy to employ further tests; we might, for example, make
a minute critical examination of the method in which the final -e is
grammatically employed. But the results are always the same. We shall
always find irrefragable proof that fragment B exhibits usages far different
from those which occur in the undoubted works of Chaucer, and cannot
possibly have proceeded from his pen. Repeated investigations, made by
me during the past thirteen years, have always come round to this result,
and it is not possible for future criticism to alter it.
Hence our first result is this. Fragment B, consisting of ll. 1706-5810 (4105
lines), containing more than fragments A and C together, and therefore more

than half of 'the translation,' is not Chaucer's, but was composed by an
author who, to say the least, frequently employed Northern English forms
and phrases. Moreover, his translation is too diffuse; and, though spirited,
it is not always accurate.
§ 11. Discussion of Fragment C.
I shall now speak of fragment C. The first noticeable point about it is, that it
does not exhibit many of the peculiarities of B. There is nothing to indicate,
with any certainty, a Northern origin, nor to connect it with B. In fact, we
may readily conclude that B and C are by different authors. The sole
question that remains, as far as we are now concerned, is this. Can we
attribute it to Chaucer?
The answer, in this case, is not quite so easily given, because the differences
between it and Chaucer's genuine works are less glaring and obvious than in
the case above. Nevertheless, we at once find some good reasons for
refraining to attribute it to our author.
§ 12. Rime-tests.—If, for instance, we apply the simple but effective test of
the rimes of words ending in -y with those ending in -y-e, we at once find
that this fragment fails to satisfy the text.
Examples: covertly, Ipocrisy(e), 6112; company(e), outerly, 6301; loteby,
company(e), 6339; why, tregetry(e), 6373; company(e), I, 6875; mekely,
trechery(e), 7319. These six instances, in less than 1900 lines, ought to
make us hesitate.
If we look a little more closely, we find other indications which should
make us hesitate still more. At l. 5919, we find hors (horse) riming with
wors (worse); but Chaucer rimes wors with curs (Cant. Ta. A 4349), and
with pervers (Book Duch. 813). At l. 6045, we find fare, are; but Chaucer
never uses are at the end of a line; he always uses been. At l. 6105, we find
atte last, agast; but Chaucer only has atte last-e (which is never
monosyllabic). At l. 6429, we find paci-ence, venge-aunce, a false rime
which it would be libellous to attribute to Chaucer; and, at l. 6469, we find
force, croce, which is still worse, and makes it doubtful whether it is worth
while to go on. However, if we go a little further, we find the pl. form
wrought riming with nought, 6565; but Chaucer usually has wrought-e,

which would destroy the rime. This, however, is not decisive, since Chaucer
has bisought for bisoughte, Cant. Ta. A. 4117, and brought for broughte, id.
F. 1273. But when, at l. 6679, we find preched riming with teched, we feel
at once that this is nothing in which Chaucer had a hand, for he certainly
uses the form taughte (Prologue, 497), and as certainly does not invent such
a form as praughte to rime with it. Another unpleasant feature is the use of
the form Abstinaunce in l. 7483, to gain a rime to penaunce, whilst in l.
7505, only 22 lines lower down, we find Abstinence, to rime with sentence;
but the original has similar variations.
§ 13. I will just mention, in conclusion, one more peculiarity to be found in
fragment C. In the Cant. Tales, B 480 (and elsewhere), Chaucer uses such
rimes as clerkes, derk is, and the like; but not very frequently. The author of
fragment C was evidently much taken with this peculiarity, and gives us
plenty of examples of it. Such are: requestis, honést is, 6039; places, place
is, 6119; nede is, dedis, 6659; apert is, certis, 6799; chaieris, dere is, 6915;
enquestes, honést is, 6977; prophetis, prophete is, 7093; ypocritis, spite is,
7253. Here are eight instances in less than 1900 lines. However, there are
five examples (at ll. 19, 75, 387, 621, 1349) in the Hous of Fame, which
contains 2158 lines in the same metre as our 'translation'; and there are 19
instances in the Cant. Tales.
We should also notice that the character called Bialacoil throughout
Fragment B is invariably called Fair-Welcoming in C.
We should also remark how Dr. Lindner (Engl. Studien, xi. 172) came to the
conclusion that Chaucer certainly never wrote fragment C. As to the rest he
doubted, and with some reason; for he had not before him the idea of
splitting lines 1-5810 into two fragments.
§ 14. A consideration of the above-mentioned facts, and of others similar to
them, leads us to our second result, which is this. Fragment C, containing
1888 lines, and corresponding to ll. 12564 of the French original, is neither
by the author of fragment B, nor by Chaucer, but is not so glaringly unlike
Chaucer's work as in the case of fragment B.
§ 15. Discussion of Fragment A.

It remains to consider fragment A. The first test to apply is that of rimes in
-y and -y-e; and, when we remember how indiscriminately these are used in
fragments B and C, it is at least instructive to observe the perfect regularity
with which they are employed in fragment A. The student who is
unacquainted with the subtle distinctions which this test introduces, and
who probably is, on that account, predisposed to ignore it, may learn
something new by the mere perusal of the examples here given.
1. Words that should, etymologically, end in -y (and not in -y-e) are here
found riming together, and never rime with a word of the other class.
Examples: covertly, openly, 19; redily, erly, 93; by, I, 111; bisily, redily,
143; by, I, 163; I, by, 207; povrely, courtepy[188], 219; beggarly, by, 223;
enemy, hardily, 269; awry[189], baggingly, 291; certeinly, tenderly, 331;
prively, sikerly, 371; redily, by, 379; Pope-holy, prively, 415; I, openly, 501;
queyntely, fetisly, 569; fetisly, richely, 577; only, uncouthly, 583; I, namely,
595; sikerly, erthely, 647; lustily, semely, 747; parfitly, sotilly, 771;
queyntely, prively, 783; fetisly, richely, 837; sotilly, I, 1119; enemy[190],
tristely, 1165; sotilly, therby, 1183; newely, by, 1205; fetisly, trewely, 1235;
I, by, 1273; trewely, comunly, 1307; lustily, sikerly, 1319; merily, hastely,
1329; I, sikerly, 1549; I, craftely, 1567; openly, therby, 1585; diversely,
verily, 1629; openly, by, 1637. Thirty-eight examples.
We here notice how frequently words in -ly rime together; but this
peculiarity is Chaucerian; cf. semely, fetisly, C. T. prol. A 123, &c.
2. Words that, etymologically, should end in -y-e, rime together. These are
of two sorts: (a) French substantives; and (b) words in -y, with an
inflexional -e added.
Examples: (a) felony-e, vilany-e, 165; envy-e, masonry-e, 301; company-e,
curtesy-e, 639; melody-e, reverdy-e, 719; curtesy-e, company-e, 957; vilany-
e, felony-e, 977; envy-e, company-e, 1069; chivalry-e, maistry-e, 1207;
villany-e, sukkeny-e, 1231; envye, Pavie, 1653.
(b) dy-e, infin. mood, dry-e, dissyllabic adj. (A. S. drȳge), 1565.
(a) and (b) mixed: melody-e, F. sb., dy-e, infin. mood, 675; espy-e, gerund,
curtesy-e, F. sb., 795; hy-e, dat. adj., maistry-e, 841; dy-e, gerund, flatery-e,

F. sb., 1063; curtesy-e, F. sb., hy-e, dat. case, pl. adj., 1251; dy-e, infin.
mood, remedy-e, F. sb., 1479. Seventeen examples. (In all, fifty-five
examples.)
Thus, in more than fifty cases, the Chaucerian habit is maintained, and there
is no instance to the contrary. Even the least trained reader may now fairly
begin to believe that there is some value in this proposed test, and may see
one reason for supposing that fragment A may be genuine.
§ 16. A still closer examination of other rimes tends to confirm this. There
are no Northern forms (as in B), no merely assonant rimes (as in B), nor any
false or bad or un-Chaucerian rimes (as in both B and C), except such as
can be accounted for. The last remark refers to the fact that the scribe or the
printer of Thynne's edition frequently misspells words so as to obscure the
rime, whereas they rime perfectly when properly spelt; a fact which tells
remarkably in favour of the possible genuineness of the fragment. Thus, at
l. 29, Thynne prints befal, and at l. 30, al. Both forms are wrong; read
befalle, alle. Here Thynne has, however, preserved the rime by making a
double mistake; as in several other places. A more important instance is at l.
249, where the Glasgow MS. has farede, herede, a bad rime; but Thynne
correctly has ferde, herde, as in Chaucer, Cant. Ta. A 1371. So again, at ll.
499, 673, where the Glasgow MS. is right (except in putting herd for herde
in l. 673).
At l. 505, there is a false rime; but it is clearly due to a misreading, as
explained in the notes. A similar difficulty, at l. 1341, is explicable in the
same way.
§ 17. So far, there is no reason why fragment A may not be Chaucer's; and
the more closely we examine it, the more probable does this supposition
become. Dr. Kaluza has noticed, for instance, that the style of translation in
fragment A is distinctly better, clearer, and more accurate than in fragment
B. I find also another significant fact, viz. that in my essay written to shew
that 'the translation' is not Chaucer's (written at a time when I unfortunately
regarded the whole translation as being the work of one writer, a position
which is no longer tenable), nearly all my arguments were drawn from
certain peculiarities contained in fragments B and C, especially the former. I

have therefore nothing, of any consequence, to retract; nor do I even now
find that I made any serious mistake.
§ 18. The third result may, accordingly, be arrived at thus. Seeing that
Chaucer really translated the 'Roman de la Rose,' and that three fragments
of English translations have come down to us, of which two cannot be his,
whilst the third may be, we may provisionally accept fragment A as
genuine; and we find that, the more closely we examine it, the more
probable does its genuineness become.
§ 19. Summary.—Having now discussed the three fragments A, B, C,
successively and separately (though in a different order), we may
conveniently sum up the three results as follows.
1. Fragment A appears to be a real portion of Chaucer's own translation. Its
occurrence, at the beginning, is, after all, just what we should expect. The
scribe or editor would naturally follow it as far as it was extant; and when it
failed, would as naturally piece it out with any other translation or
translations to which he could gain access. This fragment ceases suddenly,
at the end of l. 1705, in the middle of an incomplete sentence. The junction
with the succeeding portion is clumsily managed, for it falsely assumes that
the previous sentence is complete, and leads off with a false rime.
2. Fragment B is obviously from some other source, and is at once
dissociated from both the other fragments by the facts (a) that it was
originally written in a Northumbrian dialect, though this is somewhat
concealed by the manipulation of the spelling by a later scribe; (b) that it
was written in a more diffuse style, the matter being expanded to the extent,
on an average, of nearly twelve lines to ten; (c) that many licences appear in
the rimes, which sometimes degenerate into mere assonances; and (d) that it
is less exact and less correct in its method of rendering the original.
3. After fragment B, there is a large gap in the story, more than 5000 lines
of the original being missing. Hence Fragment C is from yet a third source,
not much of which seems to have been accessible. It neither joins on to
Fragment B, nor carries the story much further; and it comes to an end
somewhat suddenly, at a point more than 9000 lines from the end of the
original. It is, however, both more correct than Fragment B, and more in
Chaucer's style; though, at the same time, I cannot accept it as his.

§ 20. There is little that is surprising in this result. That translations of this
then famous and popular French poem should have been attempted by many
hands, is just what we should expect. At the same time, the enormous length
of the original may very well have deterred even the most persevering of
the translators from ever arriving at the far end of it. Chaucer's translation
was evidently the work of his younger years, and the frequent use which he
made of the French poem in his later works may have made him careless of
his own version, if indeed he ever finished it, which may be doubted. All
this, however, is mere speculation, and all that concerns us now is the net
result. It is clear, that, in the 1705 lines here printed in the larger type, we
have recovered all of Chaucer's work that we can ever hope to recover. With
this we must needs rest satisfied, and it is a great gain to have even so much
of it; the more so, when we remember how much reason there was to fear
that the whole of Chaucer's work was lost. It was not until Dr. Kaluza
happily hit upon the resolution of lines 1-5810 into two fragments, that
Chaucer's portion was at last discovered.
§ 21. The External Evidence.
In what has preceded, we have drawn our conclusions from the most helpful
form of evidence—the internal evidence. It remains to look at the external
form of the poem, and to enquire how it has come down to us.
The apparent sources are two, viz. Thynne's edition of 1532 (reprinted in
1542, 1550, 1561, and at later dates), and a MS. in the Hunterian collection
at Glasgow. But a very slight examination shews that these are nearly
duplicate copies, both borrowed from one and the same original, which is
now no longer extant. I shall denote these sources, for convenience, by the
symbols Th., G., and O., meaning, respectively, Thynne, Glasgow MS., and
the (lost) Original.
The resemblance of Th. and G. is very close; however, each sometimes
corrects small faults in the other, and the collation of them is, on this
account, frequently helpful. Both are remarkable for an extraordinary
misarrangement of the material, in which respect they closely agree; and we
are enabled, from this circumstance, to say, definitely, that the C-portion of
O. (i. e. their common original) was written (doubtless on vellum) in quires
containing 8 leaves (or 16 pages) each, there being, on an average, 24 lines

upon every page. Of these quires, the fourth had its leaves transposed, by
mistake, when the MS. was bound, in such a manner that the middle pair of
leaves of this quire was displaced, so as to come next the two outer pair of
leaves; and this displacement was never suspected till of late years, nor ever
(so far as I am aware[191]) fully appreciated and explained till now[192]. This
displacement of the material was first noticed in Bell's edition, where the
editor found it out by the simple process of comparing the English
'translation' with the French 'Roman'; but he gives no account of how it
came about. But a closer investigation is useful as showing how exactly
'Th.' and 'G.' agree in following an original displacement in 'O.', or rather in
the still older MS. from which the C-portion of O. was copied.
In the fourth sheet (as said above), the pair of middle leaves, containing its
7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th pages (G, H, I, K, with the contents recorded in note
2 below) was subtracted from the middle of the quire, and placed so that the
7th page (G) followed the 2nd (B), whilst at the same time, the 10th page
(K) came to precede the 15th page (P). The resulting order of pages was,
necessarily, A, B, G, H, C, D, E, F, L, M, N, O, I, K, P, Q; as is easily seen
by help of a small paper model. And the resulting order of the lines was,
accordingly, 6965-6988, 6989-7012, 7109-7133, 7134-7158, 7013-7036,
7037-60, 7061-84, 7085-7108, 7209-7232, 7233-7256, 7257-7280, 7281-
7304, 7159-7183, 7184-7208, 7305-7328, 7329-7352; or, collecting the
successive numbers, ... -7012, 7109-7158, 7013-7108, 7209-7304, 7159-
7208, 7305, &c. And this is precisely the order found, both in Th. and G.
We see further that the fourth and last quire of this C-portion of O.
consisted of 7 leaves only, the rest being torn away. For 7 leaves containing
48 lines apiece give a total of 336 lines, which, added to 7352, make up
7688 lines; and, as 10 of the pages seem to have had 25 lines, we thus
obtain 7698 lines as the number found in O.
The A-portion of O. was probably copied from a MS. containing usually 25
lines on a page, and occasionally 26. Four quires at 50 lines to the leaf give
32 × 50, or 1600 lines; and 2 leaves more give 100 lines, or 1700 lines in
all. If 5 of the pages had 26 lines, we should thus make up the number, viz.
1705. Of the B-portion we can tell nothing, as we do not know how it was
made to join on.

As O. was necessarily older than G., and G. is judged by experts[193] to be
hardly later than 1440, it is probable that O. was written out not much later
than 1430; we cannot say how much earlier, if earlier it was.
§ 22. G. (the Glasgow MS.) is a well-written MS., on vellum; the size of
each page being about 11 inches by 7½, with wide margins, especially at
the bottom. Each page contains about 24 lines, and each quire contains 8
leaves. The first quire is imperfect, the 1st leaf (ll. 1-44) and the 8th (ll.
333-380) being lost. Nine other leaves are also lost, containing ll. 1387-
1482, 2395-2442, 3595-3690, and 7385-7576; for the contents of which (as
of the former two) Th. remains the sole authority. The date of the MS. is
about 1440; and its class-mark is V. 3. 7.
It begins at l. 45—'So mochel pris,' &c. At the top of the first extant leaf is
the name of Thomas Griggs, a former owner. On a slip of parchment at the
beginning is a note by A. Askew (from whom Hunter bought the MS.) to
this effect:—'Tho. Martinus. Ex dono dom' Iacobi Sturgeon de Bury scī
Edmundi in agro Suffolc: Artis Chirurgicæ Periti. Nov. 9, 1720.' It ends
very abruptly in the following manner:—

'Ne half so lettred as am I
I am licenced boldely
To Reden in diuinite
And longe haue red
Explicit.'

The third of these lines is incorrect, and the fourth is corrupt and imperfect;
moreover, Thynne's copy gives four more lines after them. It would thus
appear that G. was copied from O. at a later period than the MS. used by
Thynne and now lost, viz. at a period when O. was somewhat damaged or
torn at the end of its last page. A careful and exact copy of this MS. is now
(in 1891) being printed for the Chaucer Society, edited by Dr. Kaluza.
§ 23. Th.—The version printed in Thynne's edition, 1532, and reprinted in
1542, 1550, 1561, &c. The first four editions, at least, are very much alike.
The particular edition at first used by me for constructing the present text is
that which I call the edition of 1550. (It is really undated, but that is about
the date of it.) Its variations from the earlier editions are trifling, and I

afterwards reduced all the readings to the standard of the first edition
(1532). The MS. used by Thynne was obviously a copy of 'O.', as explained
above; and it shews indications of being copied at an earlier date than 'G.',
i. e. before 1440. On the whole, 'Th.' appears to me more correct than 'G.',
and I have found it very serviceable. We learn from it, for example, that the
scribe of 'G.' frequently dropped the prefix y- in past participles, giving l.
890 in the form 'For nought clad in silk was he,' instead of y-clad. Cf. ll.
892, 897, 900, &c.; see the foot-notes.
'Th.' supplies the deficiencies in G., viz. ll. 1-44, 333-380, &c., as well as
four lines at the end; and suggests numerous corrections.
§ 24. The various later reprints of the 'Romaunt,' as in Speght (1598) and
other editions, are merely less correct copies of 'Th.', and are not worth
consulting. The only exceptions are the editions by Bell and Morris. Bell's
text was the first for which 'G.' was consulted, and he follows the MS. as his
general guide, filling up the deficiencies from Speght's edition, which he
describes as 'corrupt and half-modernised.' Why he chose Speght in
preference to Thynne, he does not tell us. In consequence, he has left lines
incomplete in a large number of instances, owing to putting too much faith
in the MS., and neglecting the better printed sources. Thus, in l. 890, he
gives us 'clad' instead of 'y-clad'; where any of the printed texts would have
set him right.
Morris's edition is 'printed from the unique MS. in the Hunterian Museum,
Glasgow'; but contains numerous corrections, apparently from Thynne.
Thus, in l. 890, he reads 'y-clad'; the y- being printed in italics to shew that
it is not in the MS.
§ 25. The Present Edition.
The present edition principally follows 'G.', but it has been collated with
'Th.' throughout. Besides this, a large number of spellings in Fragment A.
have been slightly amended on definite principles, the rejected spellings
being given in the footnotes, whenever they are of the slightest interest or
importance. Silent alterations are changes such as i for y in king for kyng (l.
10), and whylom for whilom (in the same line), to distinguish vowel-length;
the use of v for consonantal u in avisioun for auisioun (l. 9); the use of ee
for (long) e in Iolitee for Iolite (l. 52) for the sake of clearness; and a few

other alterations of the like kind, which make the text easier to read without
at all affecting its accuracy. I have also altered the suffix -is into -es in such
words as hertes for hertis (l. 76); and changed the suffixes -id and -ith into
the more usual -ed and -eth, both of which are common in the MS., usually
giving notice; and in other similar minute ways have made the text more
like the usual texts of Chaucer in appearance. But in Fragments B and C
such changes have been made more sparingly.
I have also corrected numerous absolute blunders, especially in the use of
the final e. For example, in l. 125, I have no hesitation in printing wissh for
wysshe, because the use of final e at the end of a strong past tense, in the
first person singular, is obviously absurd. Owing to the care with which the
two authorities, 'G.' and 'Th.', have been collated, and my constant reference
to the French original, I have no hesitation in saying that the present edition,
if fairly judged, will be found to be more correct than its predecessors. For
Dr. Kaluza's help I am most grateful.
§ 26. For example, in l. 1188, all the editions have sarlynysh, there being no
such word. It is an obvious error for Sarsinesshe (riming with fresshe); for
the F. text has Sarrazinesche, i. e. Saracenic.
In l. 1201, the authorities and Bell have gousfaucoun, which Morris alters to
gounfaucoun in his text, and to gownfaucoun in his glossary. But all of
these are 'ghost-words,' i. e. non-existent. Seeing that the original has
gonfanon, it is clear that Chaucer wrote gonfanoun, riming with renoun.
In l. 1379, late editions have lorey; in l. 1313, Bell has loreryes, which
Morris alters to loreyes. There is no such word as lorey. Thynne has laurer,
laurelles. Considering that loreres rimes with oliveres, it is obvious that the
right forms are lorer and loreres (French, loriers); see laurer in Stratmann.
In l. 1420, where the authorities have veluet, the modern editions have
velvet. But the u (also written ou) was at that time a vowel, and velu-et (or
velou-et) was trisyllabic, as the rhythm shews. The modern velvet seems to
have arisen from a mistake.
Several other restorations of the text are pointed out in the notes, and I need
not say more about them here.

N.B. After l. 4658, the lines in Morris's edition are misnumbered. His l.
4670 is really l. 4667; and so on. Also, 5700 is printed in the wrong
place; and so is 6010; but without throwing out the numbering. Also,
6210 is only nine lines after 6200, throwing out the subsequent
numbering, so that his l. 6220 is really 6216. At his l. 6232, 6231 is
printed, and so counted; thus, his 6240 is really 6237. His 6380 is
eleven lines after 6370, and is really 6378. After l. 7172, I insert two
lines by translation, to fill up a slight gap. This makes his l. 7180 agree
with my l. 7180, and brings his numbering right again.

For a few of the Notes, I am indebted to Bell's edition; but most of the work
in them is my own.
§ 27. The French Text.
For some account of the famous French poem entitled 'Le Roman de la
Rose,' see Morley's English Writers, 1889, iv. 1. It was commenced by
Guillaume de Lorris, born at Lorris, in the valley of the Loire, who wrote it
at the age of five-and-twenty, probably between the years 1200 and
1230[194]. He must have died young, as he left the poem incomplete, though
it then extended to 4070 lines. It was continued, a little more than 40 years
after Guillaume's death, by Jean de Meun (or Meung), born (as he tells us)
at Meung-sur-Loire, and surnamed le Clopinel (i. e. the hobbler, the lame).
See, for these facts, the French text, ll. 10601, 10603, 10626. He added
18004 lines, so that the whole poem finally extended to the enormous
length of 22074 lines.
Jean de Meun was a man of a very different temperament from his
predecessor. Guillaume de Lorris merely planned a fanciful allegorical
love-poem, in which the loved one was represented as a Rose in a beautiful
garden, and the lover as one who desired to pluck it, but was hindered by
various allegorical personages, such as Danger, Shame, Jealousy, and Fear,
though assisted by others, such as Bel Accueil (Fair Reception), Frankness,
Pity, and the like. But Jean de Meun took up the subject in a keener and
more earnest spirit, inserting some powerful pieces of satire against the
degraded state of many women of the day and against various corruptions
of the church. This infused a newer life into the poem, and made it
extremely popular and successful. We may look upon the former part, down

to l. 4432 of the translation, as a pretty and courtly description of a fanciful
dream, whilst the remaining portion intersperses with the general
description many forcible remarks, of a satirical nature, on the manners of
the time, and affords numerous specimens of the author's erudition. Jean de
Meun was the author of several other pieces, including a poem which he
called his 'Testament.' He probably lived into the beginning of the
fourteenth century, and died about 1318.
§ 28. Professor Morley gives a brief analysis of the whole poem, which will
be found to be a useful guide through the labyrinth of this rambling poem.
The chief points in it are the following.
The poet's dream begins, after a brief introduction, with a description of
allegorical personages, as seen painted on the outside of the walls of a
garden, viz. Hate and Felony, Covetousness, &c.; ll. 147-474 of the
translation.
We may next note a description of Idleness, the young girl who opens the
door of the garden (531-599); of Sir Mirth (600-644); of the garden itself
(645-732); again, of Sir Mirth, the lady Gladness, Cupid, or the God of
Love, with his two bows and ten arrows, and his bachelor, named Sweet-
looking (733-998). Next comes a company of dancers, such as Beauty,
Riches, Largesse (Bounty), Frankness, Courtesy, and Idleness again (999-
1308). The poet next describes the trees in the garden (1349-1408), and the
wells in the same (1409-1454); especially the well of Narcissus, whose
story is duly told (1455-1648). The Rose-tree (1649-1690). The Rose-bud
(1691-1714).
At 1. 1705, Fragment A ends.
§ 29. Just at this point, the descriptions cease for a while, and the action, so
to speak, begins. The God of Love seeks to wound the poet, or lover, with
his arrows, and succeeds in doing so; after which he calls upon the lover to
yield himself up as a prisoner, which he does (1715-2086). Love locks up
the lover's heart, and gives him full instructions for his behaviour (2087-
2950); after which Love vanishes (2951-2966). The Rose-tree is defended
by a hedge; the lover seeks the assistance of Bialacoil or Belacoil (i. e. Fair-
Reception), but is warned off by Danger, Wicked-Tongue, and Shame
(2967-3166); and at last, Fair-Reception flees away (3167-3188). At this

juncture, Reason comes to the lover, and gives him good advice; but he
rejects it, and she leaves him to himself (3189-3334).
He now seeks the help of a Friend, and Danger allows him to come a little
nearer, but tells him he must not pass within the hedge (3335-3498).
Frankness and Pity now assist him, and he enters the garden, rejoined by
Fair-Reception (3499-3626). The Rose appears more beautiful than ever,
and the lover, aided by Venus, kisses it (3627-3772). This leads to trouble;
Wicked-tongue and Jealousy raise opposition, Danger is reproved, and
becomes more watchful than before (3773-4144). Jealousy builds a strong
tower of stone, to guard the Rose-tree; the gates of the tower are guarded by
Danger, Shame, Dread, and Wicked-tongue (4145-4276); and Fair-
Reception is imprisoned within it (4277-4314). The lover mourns, and is
inclined to despair (4315-4432).
§ 30. At this point, the work of G. de Lorris ceases, and Jean de Meun
begins by echoing the word 'despair,' and declaring that he will have none
of it. The lover reconsiders his position (4433-4614). Reason (in somewhat
of a new character) revisits the lover, and again instructs him, declaring
how love is made up of contrarieties, and discussing the folly of youth and
the self-restraint of old-age (4615-5134). The lover again rejects Reason's
advice, who continues her argument, gives a definition of Friendship, and
discusses the variability of Fortune (5135-5560), the value of Poverty
(5561-5696), and the vanity of Covetousness (5697-5810).
§ 31. Here ends Fragment B, and a large gap occurs in the translation. The
omitted portion of the French text continues the discourse of Reason, with
examples from the stories of Virginia, Nero, and Crœsus, and references to
the fall of Manfred (conquered by Charles of Anjou) and the fate of
Conradin. But all this is wasted on the lover, whom Reason quits once
more. The lover applies a second time to his Friend, who recommends
bounty or bribery. Here Jean de Meun discourses on prodigality, on women
who take presents, on the Age of Gold, and on jealous husbands, with much
satire interspersed, and many allusions, as for example, to Penelope,
Lucretia, Abelard, Hercules, and others.
At last Love pities the lover, and descends to help him; and, with the further
assistance of Bounty, Honour, and other barons of Love's court, proceeds to

lay siege to the castle in which Jealousy has imprisoned Fair-Reception.
§ 32. Here begins Fragment C; in which the ranks of the besiegers are
joined by other assistants of a doubtful and treacherous character, viz.
False-Semblant and Constrained-Abstinence (5811-5876). Love discusses
buying and selling, and the use of bounty and riches (5877-6016). Love's
Barons ask Love to take False-Semblant and Constrained-Abstinence into
his service (6017-6057). Love consents, but bids False-Semblant confess
his true character (6058-6081). False-Semblant replies by truly exposing his
own hypocrisy, with keen attacks upon religious hypocrites (6082-7334).
Love now begins the assault upon the castle of Jealousy (7335-7352). A
digression follows, regarding the outward appearance of False-Semblant
and Constrained-Abstinence (7353-7420). The assailants advance to the
gate guarded by Wicked-Tongue, who is harangued by Constrained-
Abstinence (7421-7605), and by False-Semblant (7606-7696). And here the
English version ends.
The above sketch gives a sufficient notion of the general contents of the
poem. Of course the lover is ultimately successful, and carries off the Rose
in triumph.
§ 33. It deserves to be noted, in conclusion, that, as the three Fragments of
the English version, all taken together, represent less than a third of the
French poem, we must not be surprised to find, as we do, that Chaucer's
numerous allusions to, and citations from, the French poem, usually lie
outside that part of it that happens to be translated. Still more often, they lie
outside the part of it translated in Fragment A. Hence it seldom happens that
we can compare his quotations with his own translation. In the chief
instances where we can do so, we find that he has not repeated his own
version verbatim, but has somewhat varied his expressions. I refer, in
particular, to the Book of the Duchess, 284-6, as compared with Rom. Rose,
7-10; the same, 340-1, beside R.R., 130-1; the same, 410-2, beside R.R.,
61-2; and the same, 419-426, 429-432, beside R.R., 1391-1403.
§ 34. In the present edition I have supplied the original French text, in the
lower part of each page, as far as the end of Fragment A, where Chaucer's
work ends. This text is exactly copied from the edition by M. Méon,
published at Paris in four volumes in 1813[195]. I omit, however, the

occasional versified headings, which appear as summaries and are of no
consequence. Throughout the notes I refer to the lines as numbered in this
edition. The later edition by M. Michel is practically useless for the purpose
of reference, as the numbering of the lines in it is strangely incorrect. For
example, line 3408 is called 4008, and the whole number of lines is made
out to be 22817, which is largely in excess of the truth.
Fragments B and C are printed in smaller type, to mark their distinction
from Fragment A; and the corresponding French text is omitted, to save
space.

THE MINOR POEMS.
§ 1. It has been usual, in editions of Chaucer's Works, to mingle with those
which he is known to have written, a heterogeneous jumble of poems by
Gower, Lydgate, Hoccleve, Henrysoun, and various anonymous writers
(some of quite late date), and then to accept a quotation from any one of
them as being a quotation 'from Chaucer.' Some principle of selection is
obviously desirable; and the first question that arises is, naturally, this:
which of the Minor Poems are genuine? The list here given partly coincides
with that adopted by Dr. Furnivall in the publications of the Chaucer
Society. I have, however, added six, here numbered VI, XI, XII, XXI, XXII, and
XXIII; my reasons for doing so are given below, where each poem is
discussed separately. At the same time, I have omitted the poem entitled
'The Mother of God,' which is known to have been written by Hoccleve.
The only known copy of it is in a MS. now in the library of the late Sir
Thomas Phillipps, which contains sixteen poems, all of which are by the
same hand, viz. that of Hoccleve. After all, it is only a translation; still, it is
well and carefully written, and the imitation of Chaucer's style is good. In
determining which poems have the best right to be reckoned as Chaucer's,
we have to consider both the external and the internal evidence.
We will therefore consider, in the first place, the external evidence
generally.
§ 2. Testimony of Chaucer regarding his works.

The most important evidence is that afforded by the poet himself. In an
Introduction prefixed to the Man of Law's Prologue (Cant. Tales, B 57), he
says—

'In youth he made of Ceys and Alcion'—

a story which is preserved at the beginning of the Book of the Duchesse.
In the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women (see vol. iii.), he refers to his
translation of the Romaunce of the Rose, and to his Troilus; and, according
to MS. Fairfax 16, ll. 417-423, he says—

'He made the book that hight the Hous of Fame,
And eke the Deeth of Blaunche the Duchesse,
And the Parlement of Foules, as I gesse,
And al the love of Palamon and Arcite
Of Thebes, thogh the story ys knowen lyte,
And many an ympne for your halydayes
That highten Balades, Roundels, Virelayes,' &c.

The rest of the passage does not immediately concern us, excepting ll. 427,
428, where we find—

'He made also, goon ys a grete while,
Origenes vpon the Maudeleyne.'

In the copy of the same Prologue, as extant in MS. Gg. 4. 27, in the
Cambridge University Library, there are two additional lines, doubtless
genuine, to this effect—

'And of the wrechede engendrynge of mankynde,
As man may in pope Innocent I-fynde.'

There is also a remarkable passage at the end of his Persones Tale, the
genuineness of which has been doubted by some, but it appears in the
MSS., and I do not know of any sound reason for rejecting it. According to
the Ellesmere MS., he here mentions—'the book of Troilus, the book also of
Fame, the book of the xxv. Ladies[196], the book of the Duchesse, the book

of seint Valentynes day of the parlement of briddes ... the book of the Leoun
... and many a song,' &c.
Besides this, in the House of Fame, l. 729, he mentions his own name, viz.
'Geffrey.' We thus may be quite certain as to the genuineness of this poem,
the longest and most important of all the Minor Poems[197], and we may at
once add to the list the Book of the Duchesse, the next in order of length,
and the Parliament of Foules, which is the third in the same order.
We also learn that he composed some poems which have not come down to
us, concerning which a few words may be useful.
1. 'Origines vpon the Maudeleyne' must have been a translation from a
piece attributed to Origen. In consequence, probably, of this remark of the
poet, the old editions insert a piece called the 'Lamentacion of Marie
Magdaleine,' which has no pretence to be considered Chaucer's, and may be
summarily dismissed. It is sufficient to notice that it contains a considerable
number of rimes such as are never found in his genuine works, as, for
example, the dissyllabic dy-e[198] riming with why (st. 13); the plural
adjective ken-e riming with y-ën, i. e. eyes, which would, with this
Chaucerian pronunciation, be no rime at all (st. 19); and thirdly, disgised
riming with rived, which is a mere assonance, and saves us from the trouble
of further investigation (st. 25). See below, p. 37.
2. 'The wrechede engendrynge of mankynde' is obviously meant to describe
a translation or imitation of the treatise by Pope Innocent III, entitled De
Miseria Conditionis Humanae. The same treatise is referred to by Richard
Rolle de Hampole, in his Pricke of Conscience, l. 498. It should be noted,
however, that a few stanzas of this work have been preserved, by being
incorporated (as quotations) in the Canterbury Tales, viz. in B 99-121, 421-
7, 771-7, 925-31, 1135-8; cf. C 537-40, 551-2. See notes to these passages.
3. 'The book of the Leoun,' i. e. of the lion, was probably a translation of the
poem called Le Dit du Lion by Machault; see the note to l. 1024 of the Book
of the Duchesse in the present volume.
§ 3. Lydgate's List of Chaucer's Poems.

The next piece of evidence is that given in what is known as 'Lydgate's list.'
This is contained in a long passage in the prologue to his poem known as
the 'Fall of Princes,' translated from the French version (by Laurens de
Premierfait) of the Latin book by Boccaccio, entitled 'De Casibus Virorum
Illustrium[199].' In this Lydgate commends his 'maister Chaucer,' and
mentions many of his works, as, e. g. Troilus and Creseide, the translation
of Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophiae, the treatise on the Astrolabe
addressed to his 'sonne that called was Lowys,' the Legend of Good
Women, and the Canterbury Tales. The whole passage is given in Morris's
edition of Chaucer, vol. i. pp. 79-81; but I shall only cite so much of it as
refers to the Minor Poems, and I take the opportunity of doing so directly,
from an undated black-letter edition published by John Wayland.

'He wrote also full many a day agone
Dant in English, him-selfe doth so expresse,
The piteous story of Ceix and Alcion:
And the death also of Blaunche the duches:
And notably [he] did his businesse
By great auise his wittes to dispose,
To translate the Romaynt of the Rose.

'Thus in vertue he set all his entent,
Idelnes and vyces for to fle:
Of fowles also he wrote the parliament,
Therein remembring of royall Eagles thre,
Howe in their choyse they felt aduersitye,
To-fore nature profered the battayle,
Eche for his partye, if it woulde auayle.

'He did also his diligence and payne
In our vulgare to translate and endite
Orygene upon the Maudelayn:
And of the Lyon a boke he did write.
Of Annelida and of false Arcite
He made a complaynt dolefull and piteous;
And of the broche which that Uulcanus

'At Thebes wrought, ful diuers of nature.
Ouide[200] writeth: who-so thereof had a syght,
For high desire, he shoulde not endure
But he it had, neuer be glad ne light:
And if he had it once in his myght,
Like as my master sayth & writeth in dede,
It to conserue he shoulde euer liue in dred.'

It is clear to me that Lydgate is, at first, simply repeating the information
which we have already had upon Chaucer's own authority; he begins by
merely following Chaucer's own language in the extracts above cited.
Possibly he knew no more than we do of 'Orygene vpon the Maudelayn,'
and of the 'boke of the Lyon.' At any rate, he tells us no more about them.
Naturally, in speaking of the Minor Poems, we should expect to find him
following, as regards the three chief poems, the order of length; that is, we
should expect to find here a notice of (1) the House of Fame; (2) the Book
of the Duchesse; and (3) the Parliament of Foules. We are naturally
disposed to exclaim with Ten Brink (Studien, p. 152)—'Why did he leave
out the House of Fame?' But we need not say with him, that 'to this question
I know of no answer.' For it is perfectly clear to me, though I cannot find
that any one else seems to have thought of it, that 'Dant in English' and 'The
House of Fame' are one and the same poem, described in the same position
and connexion. If anything about the House of Fame is clear at all, it is that
(as Ten Brink so clearly points out, in his Studien, p. 89) the influence of
Dante is more obvious in this poem than in any other. I would even go
further and say that it is the only poem which owes its chief inspiration to
Dante in the whole of English literature during, at least, the Middle-English
period. There is absolutely nothing else to which such a name as 'Dante in
English' can with any fitness be applied. The phrase 'himselfe doth so
expresse' is rather dubious; but I take it to mean: '(I give it that name, for)
he, i. e. Chaucer, expresses himself like Dante (therein).' In any case, I
refuse to take any other view until some competent critic will undertake to
tell me, what poem of Chaucer's, other than the House of Fame, can
possibly be intended.
To which argument I have to add a second, viz. that Lydgate mentions the
House of Fame in yet another way; for he refers to it at least three times, in

clear terms, in other passages of the same poem, i. e. of the Fall of Princes.

'Fame in her palice hath trumpes mo than one,
Some of golde, that geueth a freshe soun'; &c.—Book I. cap.
14.

'Within my house called the house of Fame
The golden trumpet with blastes of good name
Enhaunceth on to ful hie parties,
Wher Iupiter sytteth among the heuenly skies.

'Another trumpet of sownes ful vengeable
Which bloweth vp at feastes funerall,
Nothinge bright, but of colour sable'; &c.—Prol. to Book VI.

'The golden trumpe of the house of Fame[201]
Through the world blew abrode his name.'—Book VI. cap.
15.

Lydgate describes the Parliament of Foules in terms which clearly shew that
he had read it. He also enables us to add to our list the Complaint of Anelida
and the Complaint of Mars; for it is the latter poem which contains the story
of the broche of Thebes. We have, accordingly, complete authority for the
genuineness of the House of Fame and the four longest of the Minor Poems,
which, as arranged in order of length, are these: The House of Fame (2158
lines); Book of the Duchesse (1334 lines); Parliament of Foules (699 lines);
Anelida and Arcite (357 lines); and Complaint of Mars (298 lines). This
gives us a total of 4846 lines, furnishing a very fair standard of comparison
whereby to consider the claims to genuineness of other poems. Lydgate
further tells us that Chaucer

'Made and compiled many a freshe dittie,
Complaynts, ballades, roundels, vyrelaies.'

§ 4. Testimony of John Shirley.
The next best evidence is that afforded by notes in the existing MSS.; and
here, in particular, we should first consider the remarks by Chaucer's great

admirer, John Shirley, who took considerable pains to copy out and preserve
his poems, and is said by Stowe to have died Oct. 21, 1456, at the great age
of ninety, so that he was born more than 30 years before Chaucer died. On
his authority, we may attribute to Chaucer the A. B. C.; the Complaint to
Pity; the Complaint of Mars (according to a heading in MS. T.); the
Complaint of Anelida (according to a heading in MS. Addit. 16165); the
Lines to Adam, called in MS. T. 'Chauciers Wordes a. Geffrey vn-to Adam
his owen scryveyne'; Fortune; Truth; Gentilesse; Lak of Stedfastnesse; the
Compleint of Venus; and the Compleint to his Empty Purse. The MSS. due
to Shirley are the Sion College MS., Trin. Coll. Cam. R. 3. 20, Addit.
16165, Ashmole 59, Harl. 78, Harl. 2251, and Harl. 7333. See also § 23, p.
75.
§ 5. Testimony of Scribes of the MSS.
The Fairfax MS. 16, a very fair MS. of the fifteenth century, contains
several of the Minor Poems; and in this the name of Chaucer is written at
the end of the poem on Truth and of the Compleint to his Purse; it also
appears in the title of Lenvoy de Chaucer a Scogan; in that of Lenvoy de
Chaucer a Bukton; in that of the Compleint of Chaucer to his empty Purse,
and in that of 'Proverbe of Chaucer.'
Again, the Pepys MS. no. 2006 attributes to Chaucer the A. B. C., the title
there given being 'Pryer a nostre Dame, per Chaucer'; as well as the
Compleint to his Purse, the title being 'La Compleint de Chaucer a sa
Bourse Voide.' It also has the title 'Lenvoy de Chaucer a Scogan.' See also p.
80, note 2.
The 'Former Age' is entitled 'Chawcer vp-on this fyfte metur of the second
book' in the Cambridge MS. Ii. 3. 21; and at the end of the same poem is
written 'Finit etas prima. Chaucers' in the Cambridge MS. Hh. 4. 12. The
poem on Fortune is also marked 'Causer' in the former of these MSS.;
indeed, these two poems practically belong to Chaucer's translation of
Boethius, though probably written at a somewhat later period. After all, the
most striking testimony to their authenticity is the fact that, in MS. Ii. 3. 21,
these two poems are inserted in the very midst of the prose text of
'Boethius,' between the fifth metre and the sixth prose of Book II.

The Cambridge MS. Gg. 4. 27, which contains an excellent copy of the
Canterbury Tales, attributes to Chaucer the Parliament of Foules; and gives
us the title 'Litera directa de Scogon per G. C.' Of course 'G. C.' is Geoffrey
Chaucer.
From Furnivall's Trial Forewords, p. 13, we learn that there is a verse
translation of De Deguileville's Pèlerinage do la Vie Humaine, attributed to
Lydgate, in MS. Cotton, Vitellius C. XIII. (leaf 256), in which the 'A. B. C.'
is distinctly attributed to Chaucer[202].
The Balade 'To Rosamounde' is assigned to Chaucer in the unique copy of it
in the Rawlinson MS. 'A Compleint to his Lady' is assigned to Chaucer in
the only complete copy of it.
We ought also to assign some value to the manner in which the poems
appear in the MS. copies. This can only be appreciated by inspection of the
MSS. themselves. Any one who will look for himself at the copies of
Gentilesse, Lak of Stedfastnesse, Truth, and Against Women Inconstaunt in
MS. Cotton, Cleop. D. 7, will see that the scribe clearly regarded the last of
these as genuine, as well as the rest. And the same may be said of some
other poems which are not absolutely marked with Chaucer's name. This
important argument is easily derided by those who cannot read MSS., but it
remains valuable all the same.
§ 6. Testimony of Caxton.
At p. 116 of the same Trial Forewords is a description by Mr. Bradshaw of
a very rare edition by Caxton of some of Chaucer's Minor Poems. It
contains: (1) Parliament of Foules; (2) a treatise by Scogan, in which
Chaucer's 'Gentilesse' is introduced; (3) a single stanza of 7 lines, beginning
—'Wyth empty honde men may no hawkes lure'; (4) Chaucer's 'Truth,'
entitled—'The good counceyl of Chawcer'; (5) the poem on 'Fortune'; and
(6) part of Lenvoy to Scogan, viz. the first three stanzas. The volume is
imperfect at the end. As to the article No. 3, it was probably included
because the first line of it is quoted from l. 415 of the Wyf of Bathes
Prologue (Cant. Ta. 5997, vol. iv. p. 332).
At p. 118 of the same is another description, also by Mr. Bradshaw, of a
small quarto volume printed by Caxton, consisting of only ten leaves. It

contains, according to him: (1) Anelida and Arcite, ll. 1-210; (2) The
Compleint of Anelida, being the continuation of the former, ll. 211-350,
where the poem ends; (3) The Compleint of Chaucer vnto his empty purse,
with an Envoy headed—'Thenuoye of Chaucer vnto the kynge'; (4)
Three[203] couplets, beginning—'Whan feyth failleth in prestes sawes,' and
ending—'Be brought to grete confusioun'; (5) Two couplets, beginning
—'Hit falleth for euery gentilman,' and ending—'And the soth in his
presence'; (6) Two couplets, beginning—'Hit cometh by kynde of gentil
blode,' and ending—'The werk of wisedom berith witnes'; followed by—'Et
sic est finis.' The last three articles only make fourteen lines in all, and are
of little importance[204].
§ 7. Early Editions of Chaucer's Works.
The first collected edition of Chaucer's Works is that edited by W. Thynne
in 1532, but there were earlier editions of his separate poems. The best
account of these is that which I here copy from a note on p. 70 of Furnivall's
edition of F. Thynne's 'Animaduersions vpon the Annotacions and
Corrections of some imperfections of impressiones of Chaucer's Workes';
published for the Chaucer Society in 1875.
Only one edition of Chaucer's Works had been published before the date of
Thynne's, 1532, and that was Pynson's in 1526, without a general title, but
containing three parts, with separate signatures, and seemingly intended to
sell separately; 1. the boke of Caunterbury tales; 2. the boke of Fame ...
with dyuers other of his workes [i. e. Assemble of Foules[205], La Belle
Dame[206], Morall Prouerbes]; 3. the boke of Troylus and Cryseyde. But of
separate works of Chaucer before 1532, the following had been published:
—

Canterbury Tales. 1. Caxton, about 1477-8, from a poor MS.; 2.
Caxton, ab. 1483, from a better MS.; 3. Pynson, ab. 1493; 4. Wynkyn
de Worde, 1498; 5. Pynson, 1526.
Book of Fame. 1. Caxton, ab. 1483; 2. Pynson, 1526.
Troylus. 1. Caxton, ab. 1483; 2. Wynkyn de Worde, 1517; 3. Pynson,
1526.

Parliament of Foules[207]. 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8; 2. Pynson, 1526; 3.
Wynkyn de Worde, 1530.

Gentilnesse[207] (in Scogan's poem). 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8.

Truth[207]. (The good counceyl of chawcer.) 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8.

Fortune[207]. (Balade of the vilage (sic) without peyntyng.) 1. Caxton,
ab. 1477-8.

Envoy to Skogan[207]. 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8 (all lost, after the third
stanza).

Anelida and Arcyte[208]. 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8.

Purse[208]. (The compleynt of Chaucer vnto his empty purse.) 1.
Caxton, ab. 1477-8.
Mars; Venus; Marriage (Lenvoy to Bukton). 1. Julian Notary, 1499-
1502.

After Thynne's first edition of the Works in 1532 (printed by Thomas
Godfray), came his second in 1542 (for John Reynes and Wyllyam
Bonham), to which he added 'The Plowman's Tale' after the Parson's Tale,
i. e. at the end.
Then came a reprint for the booksellers (Wm. Bonham, R. Kele, T. Petit,
Robert Toye), about 1550, which put the Plowman's Tale before the
Parson's. This was followed by an edition in 1561 for the booksellers (Ihon
Kyngston, Henry Bradsha, citizen and grocer of London, &c.), to which,
when more than half printed, Stowe contributed some fresh pieces, the
spurious Court of Love, Lydgate's Sege of Thebes, and other poems. Next
came Speght's edition of 1598—on which William Thynne comments in his
Animadversions—which added the spurious 'Dreme,' and 'Flower and Leaf.'
This was followed by Speght's second edition, in 1602, in which Francis
Thynne helped him, and to which were added Chaucer's 'A. B. C.', and the
spurious 'Jack Upland[209].' Jack Upland had been before printed, with
Chaucer's name on the title-page, about 1536-40 (London, J. Gough, no
date, 8vo.).

In an Appendix to the Preface to Tyrwhitt's edition of the Canterbury Tales,
there is a similar account of the early editions of Chaucer, to which the
reader may refer. He quotes the whole of Caxton's preface to his second
edition of the Canterbury Tales, shewing how Caxton reprinted the book
because he had meanwhile come upon a more correct MS. than that which
he had first followed.
If we now briefly consider all the earlier editions, we find that they may be
thus tabulated.
Separate Works. Various editions before 1532; see the list above, on p. 28.
Collected Works. Pynson's edition of 1526, containing only a portion, as
above; La Belle Dame being spurious. Also the following:—
1. Ed. by Wm. Thynne; London, 1532. Folio. Pr. by Godfray.
2. Reprinted, with additional matter; London, 1542. Folio.
The chief addition is the spurious Plowman's Tale.
3. Reprinted, with the matter rearranged; London, no date, about 1550.
Folio. (Of this edition I possess a copy.)
Here the Plowman's Tale is put before the Parson's. Moreover, the three
pieces numbered 66-68 below (p. 45), are inserted at the end of the Table of
Contents.
4. Reprinted, with large additions by John Stowe. London, 1561. Folio. (See
further below, p. 31). I possess a copy.
5. Reprinted, with additions and alterations by Thomas Speght; London,
1598. Folio.
Here, for the first time, appear 'Chaucer's Dream' and 'The Flower and the
Leaf'; both are spurious.
6. Reprinted, with further additions and alterations by Thomas Speght;
London, 1602. Folio.

Here, for the first time, appear the spurious Jack Upland[210] and the
genuine A. B. C.
7. Reprinted, with slight additions; London, 1687. Folio.
8. Reprinted, with additions and great alterations in spelling, by John Urry;
London, 1721. Folio.
This edition is the worst that has appeared. It is not necessary for our
purpose to enumerate the numerous later editions. An entirely new edition
of the Canterbury Tales was produced by Thomas Tyrwhitt in 1775-8, in 5
vols., 8vo.; to which all later editions have been much indebted[211].
The manner in which these editions were copied one from the other renders
it no very difficult task to describe the whole contents of them accurately.
The only important addition in the editions of 1542 and 1550 is the spurious
Plowman's Tale, which in no way concerns us. Again, the only important
additional poems after 1561 are the spurious Chaucer's Dream, The Flower
and the Leaf, and the genuine A. B. C. The two representative editions are
really those of 1532 and 1561. Now the edition of 1561 consists of two
parts; the former consists of a reprint from former editions, and so differs
but little from the edition of 1532; whilst the latter part consists of
additional matter furnished by John Stowe. Hence a careful examination of
the edition of 1561 is, practically, nearly sufficient to give us all the
information which we need. I shall therefore give a complete table of the
contents of this edition.

§ 8. Table of Contents of Stowe's Edition (1561)[212].
Part I. Reprinted Matter.
1. Caunterburie Tales. (The Prologue begins on a page with the signature A
2, the first quire of six leaves not being numbered; the Knightes Tale begins
on a page with the signature B ii., and marked Fol. i. The spurious
Plowman's Tale precedes the Parson's Tale.)

2. The Romaunt of the Rose[213]. Fol. cxvi.
3. Troilus and Creseide. Fol. cli., back.

4. The testament of Creseide. [By Robert Henryson.] Fol. cxciiii. Followed
by its continuation, called The Complaint of Creseide; by the same.
5. The Legende of Good Women. Fol. cxcvij.
6. A goodlie balade of Chaucer; beginning—'Mother of norture, best
beloued of all.' Fol. ccx.
7. Boecius de Consolatione Philosophie. Fol. ccx., back.
8. The dreame of Chaucer. [The Book of the Duchesse.] Fol. ccxliiij.
9. Begins—'My master. &c. When of Christ our kyng.' [Lenvoy to
Buckton.] Fol. ccxliiii[214].
10. The assemble of Foules. [Parlement of Foules.] Fol. ccxliiii., back.
11. The Floure of Curtesie, made by Ihon lidgate. Fol. ccxlviij. Followed by
a Balade, which forms part of it.
12. How pyte is deed, etc. [Complaint unto Pite.] Fol. ccxlix., back.
13. La belle Dame sans Mercy. [By Sir R. Ros.] Fol. ccl.
14. Of Quene Annelida and false Arcite. Fol. cclv.
15. The assemble of ladies. Fol. ccxlvij.
16. The conclucions of the Astrolabie. Fol. cclxi.
17. The complaint of the blacke Knight. [By Lydgate; see p. 35, note 3.] Fol.
cclxx.
18. A praise of Women. Begins—'Al tho the lyste of women euill to speke.'
Fol. cclxxiii.[215], back.
19. The House of Fame. Fol. cclxxiiij., back.
20. The Testament of Loue (in prose). Fol. cclxxxiiij., back.
21. The lamentacion of Marie Magdaleine. Fol. cccxviij.
22. The remedie of Loue. Fol. cccxxj., back.

23, 24. The complaint of Mars and Venus. Fol. cccxxiiij., back. (Printed as
one poem; but there is a new title—The complaint of Venus—at the
beginning of the latter.)
25. The letter of Cupide. [By Hoccleve; dated 1402.] Fol. cccxxvj., back.
26. A Ballade in commendacion of our Ladie. Fol. cccxxix. [By Lydgate;
see p. 38.]
27. Ihon Gower vnto the noble King Henry the .iiij. Fol. cccxxx., back. [By
Gower.]

28. A saiyng of dan Ihon. [By Lydgate.] Fol. cccxxxii., back[216].
29. Yet of the same. [By Lydgate.] On the same page.
30. Balade de bon consail. Begins—If it be fall that God the list visite.
(Only 7 lines.) On the same page.
31. Of the Cuckowe and the Nightingale. Fol. cccxxxiij. [By Hoccleve?]
32. Balade with Envoy (no title). Begins—'O leude booke with thy foule
rudenesse.' Fol. cccxxxiiij., back.
33. Scogan, vnto the Lordes and Gentilmen of the Kinges house. (This
poem, by H. Scogan, quotes Chaucer's 'Gentilesse' in full.) Fol. cccxxxiiij.,
back.
34. Begins—'Somtyme the worlde so stedfast was and stable.' [Lak of
Stedfastnesse.] Fol. cccxxxv., back.
35. Good counsail of Chaucer. [Truth.] Same page.
36. Balade of the village (sic) without paintyng. [Fortune.] Fol. cccxxxvj.
37. Begins—'Tobroken been the statutes hie in heauen'; headed Lenuoye.
[Lenvoy to Scogan.] Fol. cccxxxvj., back.
38. Poem in two stanzas of seven lines each. Begins—'Go foorthe kyng,
rule thee by Sapience.' Same page.
39. Chaucer to his emptie purse. Same page.

40. A balade of good counseile translated out of Latin verses in-to Englishe,
by Dan Ihon lidgat cleped the monke of Buri. Begins—'COnsyder well
euery circumstaunce.' Fol. cccxxxvij.
41. A balade in the Praise and commendacion of master Geffray Chauser
for his golden eloquence. (Only 7 lines.) Same leaf, back. [See p. 56.]
§ 9. Part II. Additions by John Stowe.
At the top of fol. cccxl. is the following remark:—
¶ Here foloweth certaine woorkes of Geffray Chauser, whiche hath not
heretofore been printed, and are gathered and added to this booke by Ihon
Stowe.

42. A balade made by Chaucer, teching what is gentilnes[217]. [Gentilesse.]
Fol. cccxl.
43. A Prouerbe [read Prouerbs] agaynst couitise and negligence. [Proverbs.]
Same page.
44. A balade which Chaucer made agaynst women vnconstaunt. Same page.
[Certainly genuine, in my opinion; but here relegated to an Appendix, to
appease such as cannot readily apprehend my reasons. Cf. p. 26.]
45. A balade which Chaucer made in the praise or rather dispraise, of
women for their doublenes. [By Lydgate.] Begins—'This world is full of
variaunce.' Same page.
46. This werke folowinge was compiled by Chaucer, and is caled the craft of
louers. Fol. cccxli. [Written in 1448.]
47. A Balade. Begins—'Of their nature they greatly them delite.' Fol.
cccxli., back. [Quotes from no. 56.]
48. The .x. Commaundementes of Loue. Fol. cccxlij.
49. The .ix. Ladies worthie. Fol. cccxlij., back.
50. [Virelai; no title.] Begins—'Alone walkyng.' Fol. cccxliij.

51. A Ballade. Begins—'In the season of Feuerere when it was full colde.'
Same page.
52. A Ballade. Begins—'O Mercifull and o merciable.' Fol. cccxliij., back.
[Made up of scraps from late poems; see p. 57.]
53. Here foloweth how Mercurie with Pallas, Venus and Minarua, appered
to Paris of Troie, he slepyng by a fountain. Fol. cccxliiij.
54. A balade pleasaunte. Begins—'I haue a Ladie where so she bee.' Same
page. At the end—'Explicit the discriuyng of a faire Ladie.'
55. An other Balade. Begins—'O Mossie Quince, hangyng by your stalke.'
Fol. cccxliiij., back.
56. A balade, warnyng men to beware of deceitptfnll women (sic). Begins
—'LOke well aboute ye that louers bee.' Same page. [By Lydgate.]
57. These verses next folowing were compiled by Geffray Chauser, and in
the writen copies foloweth at the ende of the complainte of petee. Begins
—'THe long nyghtes when euery [c]reature.' [This is the 'Compleint to his
Lady,' as I venture to call it.] Fol. cccxlv[218].
58. A balade declaring that wemens chastite Doeth moche excel all treasure
worldly. Begins—'IN womanhede as auctours al write.' Back of same leaf.
59. The Court of Loue. Begins—'WIth temerous herte, and trembling hand
of drede.' Fol. cccxlviij.

60. Chaucers woordes vnto his owne Scriuener[219]. Fol. ccclv., back. At the
end—Thus endeth the workes of Geffray Chaucer. (This is followed by 34
Latin verses, entitled Epitaphium Galfridi Chaucer, &c.)
61. The Storie of Thebes. [By Lydgate.] Fol. ccclvj.
§ 10. Discussion of the Poems in Part I. of Ed. 1561.
Of the 41 pieces in Part I. of the above, we must of course accept as
Chaucer's the four poems entitled Canterbury Tales, Troilus, Legend of
Good Women, and House of Fame; also the prose translation of Boethius,
and the prose treatise on the Astrolabie. The remaining number of Minor

Poems (excluding the Romaunt of the Rose) is 34; out of which number I
accept the 13 numbered above with the numbers 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 23, 24, 33
(so far as it quotes Chaucer), 34, 35, 36, 37, and 39. Every one of these has
already been shewn to be genuine on sufficient external evidence, and it is
not likely that their genuineness will be doubted. In the present volume they
appear, respectively, as nos. III, XVII, V, II, VII, IV, XVIII, XIV, XV, XIII,
X, XVI, XIX. Of the remaining 21, several may be dismissed in a few
words. No. 4 is well known to have been written by Robert Henryson. Nos.
11, 28, 29, and 40 are distinctly claimed for Lydgate in all the editions; and
no. 27 is similarly claimed for Gower. No. 25 was written by Hoccleve[220];
and the last line gives the date—'A thousande, foure hundred and seconde,'
i. e. 1402, or two years after Chaucer's death. No. 13 is translated from
Alain Chartier, who was only four years old when Chaucer died; see p. 28,
note 2. Tyrwhitt remarks that, in MS. Harl. 372, this poem is expressly
attributed to a Sir Richard Ros[221]. No one can suppose that no. 41 is by
Chaucer, seeing that the first line is—'Maister Geffray Chauser, that now
lithe in graue.' Mr. Bradshaw once assured me that no. 17 is ascribed, on
MS. authority, to Lydgate; and no one who reads it with care can doubt that
this is correct[222]. It is, in a measure, an imitation of the Book of the
Duchesse; and it contains some interesting references to Chaucer, as in the
lines—'Of Arcite, or of him Palemoun,' and 'Of Thebes eke the false Arcite.'
No. 20, i. e. the Testament of Love, is in prose, and does not here concern
us; still it is worth pointing out that it contains a passage (near the end) such
as we cannot suppose that Chaucer would have written concerning
himself[223].
After thus removing from consideration nos. 4, 11, 13, 17, 20, 25, 27, 28,
29, 40, and 41, half of the remaining 21 pieces have been considered. The
only ones left over for consideration are nos. 6, 15, 18, 21, 22, 26, 30, 31,
32, 38. As to no. 6, there is some external evidence in its favour, which will
be duly considered; but as to the rest, there is absolutely nothing to connect
them with Chaucer beyond their almost accidental appearance in an edition
by Wm. Thynne, published in 1532, i. e. one hundred and thirty-two years
after Chaucer's death; and it has just been demonstrated that Thynne is
obviously wrong in at least eleven instances, and that he wittingly and
purposely chose to throw into his edition poems which he knew to have
been written by Lydgate or by Gower! It is ridiculous to attach much

importance to such testimony as this. And now let me discuss, as briefly as I
can, the above-named poems separately.
6. A goodlie balade of Chaucer; begins—'Mother of norture, best beloued
of all'; printed in Morris's edition, vi. 275; and in Bell's edition, iii. 413. I
have little to say against this poem; yet the rime of supposeth with riseth (st.
8) is somewhat startling. It is clearly addressed to a lady named
Margaret[224], as appears from her being likened to the daisy, and called the
sun's daughter. I suspect it was merely attributed to Chaucer by association
with the opening lines of the Legend of Good Women. The suggestion, in
Bell's Chaucer, that it possibly refers to the Countess of Pembroke, is one of
those bad guesses which are discreditable. Tyrwhitt shews, in note n to his
'Appendix to the Preface,' that she must have died not later than 1370,
whereas this Balade must be much later than that date; and I agree with him
in supposing that le Dit de la fleur de lis et de la Marguerite, by Guillaume
de Machault (printed in Tarbé's edition, 1849, p. 123), and the Dittié de la
flour de la Margherite, by Froissart, may furnish us with the true key to
those mystical compliments which Chaucer and others were accustomed to
pay to the daisy.
I wish to add that I am convinced that one stanza, probably the sixth is
missing. It ought to form a triple Balade, i. e. three Balades of 21 lines each,
each with its own refrain; but the second is imperfect. There seems to be
some affectation about the letters beginning the stanzas which I cannot
solve; these are M, M, M (probably for Margaret) in the first Balade; D, D
in the second; and J, C, Q in the third. The poet goes out of his way to bring
in these letters. The result looks like Margaret de Jacques; but this guess
does not help us.
The poem is rather artificial, especially in such inversions as It receyve,
Cauteles whoso useth, and Quaketh my penne; these things are not in
Chaucer's manner. In the second stanza there is a faulty rime; for we there
find shal, smal, answering to the dissyllabic rimes alle, calle, appalle,
befalle, in stanzas 1 and 3. Lydgate has: 'My pen quake,' &c.; Troy Book,
ch. x., fol. F2, back.
15. The assemble of Ladies. This poem Tyrwhitt decisively rejects. There is
absolutely nothing to connect it with Chaucer. It purports to have been

written by 'a gentlewoman'; and perhaps it was. It ends with the rime of
done, pp., with sone (soon); which in Chaucer are spelt doon and son-e
respectively, and never rime. Most of the later editions omit this poem. It is
conveniently printed in Chalmers' English Poets, vol. i. p. 526; and consists
of 108 7-line stanzas. For further remarks, see notes on The Flower and the
Leaf (p. 44).
At p. 203 of the Ryme-Index to Chaucer's Minor Poems (Chaucer Society),
I have printed a Ryme-Index to this poem, shewing that the number of non-
Chaucerian rimes in it is about 60.
18. A praise of Women. In no way connected with Chaucer. Rejected by
Tyrwhitt. Printed in Bell's edition, iv. 416, and in Chalmers' English Poets,
vol. i. p. 344; also in Morris's Aldine edition, vol. vi. p. 278. In twenty-five
7-line stanzas. The rime of lie (to tell a lie) with sie (I saw), in st. 20, is
suspicious; Chaucer has ly-e, sy. The rime of queen-e (usually dissyllabic in
Chaucer) with beene (miswritten for been, they be, st. 23) is also
suspicious. It contains the adjective sere, i. e. various (st. 11), which
Chaucer never uses.
21. The lamentacion of Marie Magdaleine. Printed in Bell's Chaucer, iv.
395; and in Chalmers, i. 532. Tyrwhitt's remarks are admirable. He says, in
his Glossary, s. v. Origenes:—'In the list of Chaucer's Works, in Legend of
Good Women, l. 427, he says of himself:—

"He made also, gon is a grete while,
Origenes upon the Maudeleine"—

meaning, I suppose, a translation, into prose or verse, of the Homily de
Maria Magdalena, which has been commonly, though falsely, attributed to
Origen; v. Opp. Origenis, T. ii. p. 291, ed. Paris, 1604. I cannot believe that
the poem entitled The Lamentation of Marie Magdaleine, which is in all the
[older] editions of Chaucer, is really that work of his. It can hardly be
considered as a translation, or even as an imitation, of the Homily; and the
composition, in every respect, is infinitely meaner than the worst of his
genuine pieces.' To those who are interested in Chaucer's rimes I will
merely point out the following: die, why (Ch. dy-e, why); kene, iyen (Ch.
ken-e, y-ën); disguised, to-rived, a mere assonance; crie, incessauntly (Ch.

cry-ë, incessauntly); slaine, paine (Ch. slein, pein-e); y-fet, let (Ch. y-fet,
let-te); accept, bewept (Ch. accept-e, bewept); die, mihi (Ch. dy-e, mihi). To
those interested in Chaucer's language, let me point out 'dogges
rabiate'—'embesile his presence'—'my woful herte is inflamed so
huge'—'my soveraine and very gentilman.' See st. 34, 39, 54, 99.
22. The remedie of Loue. Printed in Chalmers' British Poets, i. 539. In sixty-
two 7-line stanzas. Rejected by Tyrwhitt. The language is extremely late; it
seems to have been written in the 16th century. It contains such words as
incongruitie, deduction, allective, can't (for cannot), scribable (fit for
writing on), olibane, pant, babé (baby), cokold (which Chaucer spells
cokewold), ortographie, ethimologie, ethimologise (verb). The provincial
word lait, to search for, is well known to belong to the Northern dialect. Dr.
Murray, s. v. allective, dates this piece about A.D. 1560; but it must be
somewhat earlier than this, as it was printed in 1532. I should date it about
1530.
26. A Ballade in commendacion of our Ladie. Tyrwhitt remarks that 'a poem
with the same beginning is ascribed to Lydgate, under the title of Invocation
to our Lady; see Tanner, s. v. Lydgate.' The poem consists of thirty-five 7-
line stanzas. It has all the marks of Lydgate's style, and imitates Chaucer's
language. Thus the line—'I have none English conuenient and digne' is an
echo of the Man of Law's Tale, l. 778—'O Donegild, I ne haue noon English
digne.' Some of the lines imitate Chaucer's A. B. C. But the most
remarkable thing is his quotation of the first line of Chaucer's Merciless
Beauty, which he applies to the Virgin Mary! See note to that poem, l. 1.
A poem called an 'Invocation to our Lady' is ascribed to Lydgate in MS.
Ashmole 59, fol. 39, back. It agrees with the present Ballade; which settles
the question.
30. Balade de bon consail. Not in previous editions. Printed in Chalmers, i.
552. Only 7 lines, and here they are, duly edited:—

'If it befall that God thee list visite
With any tourment or adversitee,
Thank first the Lord, and [fond] thy-self to quite;
Upon suffraunce and humilitee

Found thou thy quarel, what ever that it be;
Mak thy defence, and thou shalt have no losse,
The remembraunce of Christ and of his crosse.'

In l. 1, ed. 1561 has the; 2. aduersite; 3. Thanke; lorde; I supply fond, i. e.
endeavour; thy-selfe; 4. (scans ill); 5. Founde; 6. Make.
31. Of the Cuckowe and the Nightingale. Printed in Bell's Chaucer, iv. 334;
and in Morris's Chaucer, iv. 75. Not uncommon in MSS.; there is a copy in
MS. Ff. 1. 6 in the Cambridge University Library; another in MS. Fairfax
16; another in MS. Bodley 638; another in MS. Tanner 346; and a fifth
(imperfect) in MS. Arch. Selden B. 24, in the Bodleian Library. A sixth is in
MS. Harl. 7333, in the British Museum. From some of these, Morris's better
text was constructed; see his edition, pref. p. ix.
It is worth a note, by the way, that it is not the same poem as one entitled
The Nightingale, extant in MS. no. 203 in Corpus Christi College, Oxford,
and in MS. Cotton, Calig. A. ii., fol. 59, and attributed to Lydgate.
That the first two lines are by Chaucer, we cannot doubt, for they are quoted
from the Knightes Tale, ll. 927, 928. Chaucer often quotes his own lines,
but it is not likely that he would take them as the subject of a new poem. On
the other hand, this is just what we should expect one of his imitators to do.
The present poem is a very fair imitation of Chaucer's style, and follows his
peculiarities of metre far more closely than is usually the case with Lydgate.
The notion, near the end, of holding a parliament of birds, with the Eagle
for lord, is evidently borrowed from Chaucer's Parliament of Foules. Whilst
admitting that the present poem is more worthy of Chaucer than most of the
others with which it has been proposed to burden his reputation, I can see
no sufficient reason for connecting him with it; and the external evidence
connects it, in fact, with Hoccleve. For the copy in MS. Bodley 638 calls it
'The boke of Cupide god of loue,' at fol. 11, back; whilst Hoccleve's Letter
of Cupid is called 'The lettre of Cupide god of loue' in the same, fol. 38,
back. The copy in the Fairfax MS. ends with the colophon—Explicit liber
Cupidinis. The rimes are mostly Chaucerian; but the rime of day with the
gerund to assay-e in st. 11 is suspicious; so also is that of now with the
gerund to rescow-e in st. 46. In st. 13, grene rimes with been, whereas gren-
e, in Chaucer, is always dissyllabic. Chaucer's biographers have been

anxious to father this poem upon him, merely because it mentions
Woodstock in l. 285.
One point about this poem is its very peculiar metre; the 5-line stanza,
riming a a b b a, is certainly rare. If the question arises, whence is it copied,
the answer is clear, viz. from Chaucer's Envoy to his Compleint to his
Purse. This is a further reason for dating it later than 1399.
32. Balade with envoy; 'O leude book,' &c. Printed in Bell's Chaucer, iv.
347, and in Morris's Chaucer, iv. 85, as if it were part of The Cuckoo and
the Nightingale; but obviously unconnected with it. A Balade in the usual
form, viz. three 7-line stanzas, with a refrain; the refrain is—'For of all good
she is the best living.' The envoy consists of only six lines, instead of seven,
rimed a b a b c c, and that for a sufficient reason, which has not been
hitherto observed. The initial letters of the lines form, in fact, an anagram
on the name Alison; which is therefore the name of the lady to whom the
Balade is addressed. There is a copy of this poem in MS. Fairfax 16, and
another in MS. Tanner 346. It is therefore as old as the 15th century. But to
attribute to Chaucer the fourth line of the Envoy seems hazardous. It runs
thus—'Suspiries whiche I effunde in silence.' Perhaps it is Hoccleve's.
38. Poem in two 7-line stanzas. There is nothing to connect this with
Chaucer; and it is utterly unworthy of him. I now quote the whole poem,
just as it stands in the edition of 1561:—

'Go foorthe king, rule thee by Sapience,
Bishoppe, be able to minister doctrine,
Lorde, to true counsale yeue audience,
Womanhode, to chastitie euer encline;
Knight, let thy deedes worship determine;
Be righteous, Iudge, in sauyng thy name;
Rich, do almose, lest thou lese blisse with shame.

'People, obeie your kyng and the lawe;
Age, be ruled by good religion;
True seruaunt, be dredfull & kepe the vnder awe;
And, thou poore, fie on presumpcion;
Inobedience to youth is vtter destruccion;

Remembre you, how God hath set you, lo!
And doe your parte, as ye be ordained to.'

In l. 7, ed. 1532 has almesse instead of almose. Surely it must be Lydgate's.
Many of his poems exhibit similar catalogues, if I may so term them.
I have now gone through all the poems published in 1532 and copied into
the later editions (with the exception of nos. 66-68, for which see p. 45);
and I see no way of augmenting the list of Chaucer's Minor Poems any
further from this source.
§ 11. Discussion of the Poems in Part II. of Ed. 1561.
It is hardly worth while to discuss at length all the poems which it pleased
John Stowe to fling together into the edition of 1561. But a few remarks
may be useful.
Nos. 42, 43, and 60 are admittedly genuine; and are printed below, nos.
XIV., XX., and VIII. I believe nos. 44 and 57 to be so also[225]; they are
discussed below, and are printed as nos. XXI. and VI. No. 61 is, of course,
Lydgate's. Besides this, no. 45 is correctly ascribed to Lydgate in the MSS.;
there are copies of it in MS. Fairfax 16 and in MS. Ashmole 59. No. 56 is
also Lydgate's, and is so marked in MS. Harl. 2251. As to no. 46, called the
Craft of Lovers, it is dated by help of two lines in the last stanza, which are
thus printed by Stowe:—

'In the yere of our lorde a .M. by rekeninge
CCCXL. .&. UIII. yere folowing.'

This seems to give the date as 1348; whereas the language is palpably that
of the fifteenth century. Whether Stowe or his printer thought fit to alter the
date intentionally, I cannot say. Still, the fact is, that in the MS. marked R.
3. 19 in Trinity College Library, at fol. 156, the reading is 'CCCCXL & VIII
yere,' so that the true date is rather 1448, or nearly half a century after
Chaucer's death[226]. The same MS., which I suppose belonged to Stowe,
contains several other of these pieces, viz. nos. 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55,
56, and perhaps others. The language and, in some cases, the ruggedness of
the metre, forbid us to suppose that Chaucer can have had anything to do
with them, and some are palpably of a much later date; one or more of these

considerations at once exclude all the rest of Stowe's additions. It may,
however, be noted that no. 47 quotes the line 'Beware alwaye, the blind eats
many a fly,' which occurs as a refrain in no. 56, and it is therefore later than
the time of Lydgate. The author of no. 48 says he is 'a man vnknowne.'
Many lines in no. 49 are of abnormal length; it begins with—'Profulgent in
preciousnes, O Sinope the queen.' The same is true of no. 51, which is
addressed to a Margaret, and begins with—'In the season of Feuerere when
it was full colde.' Of no. 52, Tyrwhitt says that the four first stanzas are
found in different parts of an imperfect poem upon the Fall of Man, in MS.
Harl. 2251; whilst the 11th stanza makes part of an Envoy, which in the
same MS. is annexed to the poem entitled the Craft of Lovers. No. 53 is a
poor affair. No. 54, called a Balade Pleasaunte, is very unpleasant and
scurrilous, and alludes to the wedding of 'queene Iane[227]' as a
circumstance that happened many years ago. No. 55 is scurrilous, odious,
and stupid. I doubt if no. 58 is good enough for Lydgate. No. 59 belongs to
the sixteenth century.
All the poems here rejected were rejected by Tyrwhitt, with two strange
exceptions, viz. nos. 50 and 59, the Virelai and the Court of Love. Of both
of these, the language is quite late. The Virelai is interesting from a metrical
point of view, because such poems are scarce; the only similar poem that I
can call to mind is the Balet (or rather Virelai) composed by Lord Rivers
during his imprisonment in 1483, and printed by Percy in his Reliques of
Ancient English Poetry. Percy says that Lord Rivers copies the Virelai
mentioned above, which he assumes to be Chaucer's; but it is quite as likely
that the copying was in the other direction, and that Lord Rivers copied
some genuine Virelai (either Chaucer's or in French) that is now lost[228].
The final rime of end with find, is bad enough; but the supposition that the
language is of the 14th century is ridiculous. Still the Virelai is good in its
way, though it can hardly be older than 1500, and may be still later.
Of all poems that have been falsely ascribed to Chaucer, I know of none
more amazing than The Court of Love. The language is palpably that of the
16th century, and there are absolutely no examples of the occurrence in it of
a final -e that is fully pronounced, and forms a syllable! Yet there are critics
who lose their heads over it, and will not give it up. Tyrwhitt says—'I am
induced by the internal evidence (!) to consider it as one of Chaucer's

genuine productions.' As if the 'internal evidence' of a poem containing no
sonant final -e is not enough to condemn it at once. The original MS. copy
exists in MS. R. 3. 19 in Trinity College, and the writing is later than 1500.
The poem itself has all the smoothness of the Tudor period[229]; it excels the
style of Hawes, and would do credit to Sackville. One reference is too
interesting to be passed over. In the second stanza, the poet regrets that he
has neither the eloquence of Tully, the power of Virgil, nor the 'craft of
Galfride.' Tyrwhitt explains Galfride as 'Geoffrey of Monmouth,' though it
is difficult to understand on what ground he could have been here thought
of. Bell's 'Chaucer' explains Galfride as 'Geoffrey of Vinsauf,' which is still
more curious; for Geoffrey of Vinsauf is the very Gaufride whom Chaucer
holds up to eternal ridicule in the Nonne Prestes Tale (l. 526).
I have no doubt at all that the Galfrid here referred to is no other than
Geoffrey Chaucer, who was called, indifferently, Galfrid or Geoffrey. This
appears from the testimony of Lydgate, who speaks, in his 'Troy-book,' of
'Noble Galfryde, chefe Poete of Brytayne,' and again, of 'My mayster
Galfride'; see Lydgate's Siege of Troye, bk. ii. ch. 15, and bk. iii. ch. 25; ed.
1557, fol. K 2, col. 1, and fol. R 2, back, col. 2. Hence we are not surprised
to find that the author makes frequent reference to Chaucer's Works, viz. to
Anelida (l. 235), the Death of Pity (701), Troilus (872), the Legend of Good
Women (104, 873), and the Parl. of Foules (near the end). The two allusions
to the Legend of Good Women at once make the poem later than 1385; and
in fact, it must be quite a century later than that date. There are more than
70 rimes that differ from those employed by Chaucer. The Poet introduces
to our notice personages named Philogenet, Philobone, and Rosial. Of
these, at least the two former savour of the time of the Renaissance; for,
although Chaucer uses the name Philostrate in the Knightes Tale (A 1428,
1558, 1728), he merely copies this name from Boccaccio; and it is amusing
to find that Boccaccio himself did not understand it.[230]
§ 12. Poems added in Speght's Editions of 1598 and 1602.
We have now to consider the additions made by Speght in 1598. These were
only two, viz. Chaucer's Dream and The Flower and the Leaf.
62. Chaucer's Dream. A long poem of 2206 short lines, in metre similar to
that of The House of Fame; accepted by Tyrwhitt, and in all the editions.

But there is no early trace of it; and we are not bound to accept as Chaucer's
a poem first ascribed to him in 1598, and of which the MS. (at Longleat)
was written about 1550. The language is of late date, and the sonant final -e
is decidedly scarce. The poem is badly named, and may have been so
named by Speght; the proper title is 'The Isle of Ladies.' We find such rimes
as be, companie (Ch. be, company-e); know, low, i. e. law (Ch. know-e, law-
e); grene, yene, i. e. eyes (Ch. gren-e, y-ën); plesaunce, fesaunce (Ch.
plesaunc-e, fesaunts); ywis, kisse (Ch. ywis, kis-se); and when we come to
destroied riming with conclude, it is time to stop. The tediousness of this
poem is appalling[231].
63. The Flower and the Leaf. This is rather a pretty poem, in 7-line stanzas.
The language is that of the fifteenth century. It professes to be written by a
gentlewoman, like the Assemble of Ladies; and perhaps it was[232]. Very
likely, the same 'gentlewoman' wrote both these poems. If so, the Flower
and the Leaf is the better finished, and probably the later of the two. It
contains the word henchman, for which the earliest dated quotation which I
have yet found is 1415 (Royal Wills, ed. Nichols, p. 220). An interesting
reference is given in the lines—

'Eke there be knightes old of the garter
That in hir time did right worthily.'

The order of the Garter was established in 1349; and we should expect that more than half a century
would elapse before it would be natural to refer to the Knights as old knights, who did worthily in their
time. Of course the poem cannot be Chaucer's, and it is hardly necessary to look for rimes such as he
never uses; yet such may easily be found, such as grew, pt. t. sing., riming with the dissyllabic hew-e,
new-e; sid-e with espide, pp. (Ch. espy-ed); eie, eye (Ch. y-ë) with sie, saw (Ch. sy); and plesure[233] with
desire; after which we may stop.
In 1602, Speght issued another edition, in which, according to Bonn's edition of Lowndes'
Bibliographer's Manual, two more pieces were added, viz. the prose treatise against Friars called Jack
Upland, and the genuine poem entitled 'A. B. C.' But this is not all; for I find, in a still later edition, that
of 1687, which is said to be a 'reimpression of Speght's edition of 1602,' that, at the very end of all the
prefatory matter, on what was probably a spare blank leaf, three more poems appear, which might as well
have been consigned to oblivion. But the editors of Chaucer evidently thought that a thing once added
must be added for ever, and so these three productions are retained in Bell's Chaucer, and must therefore
be noticed with the rest. I find, however, that they had been printed previously, viz. at the end of the
Table of Contents in ed. 1542 and ed. 1550, where they are introduced quite casually, without a word of
explanation. Moreover, they are copied from MS. Trin. Coll. Cam. R. 3. 15, a MS. which also contains
the Canterbury Tales; and no doubt, this fact suggested their insertion. See Todd's Illustrations of
Chaucer, p. 120.
64. Jack Upland. An invective against friars, in prose, worth printing, but obviously not Chaucer's.
65. Chaucer's A. B. C. Genuine; here printed as poem no. I.
66. Eight goodly questions with their answers; printed in Bell's Chaucer, vol. iv. p. 421; nine 7-line
stanzas. In st. 3, tree rimes with profer; but tree is an obvious misprint for cofer! In st. 5, the gerund to lie
(Ch. ly-e) rimes with honestie (Ch. honestee). This is quite enough to condemn it. But it may be
Lydgate's.
67. To the Kings most noble Grace, and to the Lords and Knights of the Garter; pr. as above, p. 424;
eight 8-line stanzas. In MS. Phillipps 8151, and written by Hoccleve; it much resembles his poem printed
in Anglia, v. 23. The date may be 1416. The 'King' is Henry V.
68. Sayings. Really three separate pieces. They are all found on the fly-leaf of the small quarto edition of
Caxton, described above, p. 27. When Caxton printed Chaucer's Anelida and Purse on a quire of ten
leaves, it so happened that he only filled up nine of them. But, after adding explicit at the bottom of the
ninth leaf, to shew that he had come to the end of his Chaucer, he thought it a pity to waste space, and so
added three popular sayings on the front of leaf 10, leaving the back of it still blank. Here is what he
printed:—

'Whan feyth failleth in prestes sawes
And lordes hestes ar holden for lawes
And robbery is holden purchas
And lechery is holden solas
Than shal the lond of albyon
Be brought to grete confusioun.

Hit falleth for euery gentilman
To saye the best that he can

In mannes absence
And the soth in his presence.

'Hit cometh by kynde of gentil blode
To cast away al heuynes
And gadre to-gidre wordes good
The werk of wisedom berith witnes
Et sic est finis ****.'

The first of these sayings was probably a bit of popular rime, of the character quoted in Shakespeare's
King Lear, iii. 2. 81. Shakespeare calls his lines Merlin's prophecy; and it has pleased the editors of
Chaucer to call the first six lines Chaucer's Prophecy[234]. They appear in Bell's Chaucer, vol. iii. p. 427,
in an 'improved' form, not worth discussing; and the last eight lines are also printed in the same, vol. iv.
p. 426. Why they are separated, is mysterious. Those who think them genuine may thank me for giving
them Caxton's spelling instead of Speght's.
§ 13. Pieces added in Morris's Edition, 1866.
In Morris's edition are some pieces which either do not appear in previous editions, or were first printed
later than 1700.
69. Roundel; pr. in vol. vi. p. 304. The same as Merciless Beaute; here printed as no. XI. It first appeared,
however, in Percy's Reliques of English Poetry. See p. 80 below.
70. The Former Age; pr. in vol. vi. p. 300, for the first time. Here printed as no. IX. See p. 78.
71. Prosperity; pr. in vol. vi. p. 296, for the first time. This is taken from MS. Arch. Selden B. 24, fol.
119, where it follows Chaucer's Poem on 'Truth.' It has but one stanza of eight lines, and I here give it
precisely as it stands in this Scottish MS.:—

'Richt as pouert causith sobirnes,
And febilnes enforcith contenence,
Rycht so prosperitee and grete riches
The moder is of vice and negligence;
And powere also causith Insolence;
And honour oftsiss changith gude thewis;
Thare is no more perilouss pestilence
Than hie estate geven vnto schrewis.
Quod Chaucere.'

I have no belief in the genuineness of this piece, though it is not ill written. In general, the ascription of a
piece to Chaucer in a MS. is valuable. But the scribe of this particular MS. was reckless. It is he who
made the mistake of marking Hoccleve's 'Mother of God' with the misleading remark—'Explicit oracio
Galfridi Chaucere.' At fol. 119, back, he gives us a poem beginning 'Deuise prowes and eke humylitee' in
seven 7-line stanzas, and here again at the end is the absurd remark—'Quod Chaucer quhen he was rycht
auisit.' But he was himself quite 'wrongly advised'; for it is plainly not Chaucer's at all. His next feat is to
mark Lydgate's Complaynt of the Black Knight by saying—'Here endith the Maying and disporte of
Chaucere'; which shews how the editors were misled as to this poem. Nor is this all; for he gives us, at
fol. 137, back, another poem in six 8-line stanzas, beginning 'O hie Emperice and quene celestial'; and
here again at the end is his stupid—'Quod Chaucere.' The date of this MS. appears to be 1472; so it is of
no high authority; and, unless we make some verbal alteration, we shall have to explain how Chaucer
came to write oftsiss in two syllables instead of ofte sythe in four; see his Can. Yem. Tale, Group G, l.
1031.

72. Leaulte vault Richesse; pr. in vol. vi. p. 302, for the first time. This is from the same MS., fol. 138,
and is as follows:—

'This warldly Ioy is onely fantasy,
Of quhich non erdly wicht can be content;
Quho most has wit, leste suld In It affy,
Quho taistis It most, most sall him repent;
Quhat valis all this richess and this rent,
Sen no man wate quho sall his tresour haue?
Presume nocht gevin that god has done but lent,
Within schort tyme the quhiche he thinkis to craue.
Leaulte vault richess.'

On this poem, I have three remarks to make. The first is that not even the reckless Scottish scribe
attributes it to Chaucer. The second is that Chaucer's forms are content and lent without a final e, and
repent-e and rent-e with a final -e, so that the poem cannot be his; although content, repent, rent, and lent
rime well enough in the Northern dialect. The third is that if I could be sure that the above lines were by
a well-known author, I should at once ascribe them to King James I., who might very well have written
these and the lines called Prosperity above. It is somewhat of a coincidence that the very MS. here
discussed is that in which the unique copy of the Kingis Quair is preserved.
73. Proverbs of Chaucer; printed in vol. vi. p. 303. The first eight lines are genuine; here printed as no.
XX. But two 7-line stanzas are added, which are spurious. In MS. Addit. 16165, Shirley tells us that they
were 'made by Halsham Esquyer'; but they seem to be Lydgate's, unless he added to them. See Lydgate's
Minor Poems (Percy Soc. 1840), pp. 193 and 74. And see pp. 52, 57.
It thus appears that, of the 73 pieces formerly attributed to Chaucer, not more than 26, and a part of a
27th, can be genuine. These are: Canterbury Tales, Troilus, Legend of Good Women, House of Fame,
about a quarter of The Romaunt of the Rose, the Minor Poems printed in the present volume and
numbered I-XI, XIII-XXI, and two pieces in prose.
§ 14. Description of the MSS.
After the preceding somewhat tedious, but necessary discussion of the contents of the black-letter and
other editions (in many of which poems were as recklessly attributed to Chaucer as medieval proverbs
used to be to King Solomon), it is some relief to turn to the manuscripts, which usually afford much
better texts, and are altogether more trustworthy.
The following is a list of the MSS. which have been followed. I must here acknowledge my great debt to
Dr. Furnivall, whose excellent, careful, and exact reproduction in print of the various MSS. leaves
nothing to be desired, and is a great boon to all Chaucer scholars. They are nearly all[235] printed among
the Chaucer Society's publications. At the same time, I desire to say that I have myself consulted most of
the MSS., and have thus gleaned a few hints which could hardly have been otherwise acquired; it was by
this process that I became acquainted with the poems numbered XXII. and XXIII., which are probably
genuine, and with the poem numbered XII., which is certainly so. An editor should always look at the
MSS. for himself, if he can possibly contrive to do so.
List of the MSS.; with abbreviations.
N.B. The roman numbers following the name of each MS. denote the numbers of the poems in the
present edition.
A.—Ashmole 59, Bodleian Library (Shirley's).—X. XIV. XVIII.

Ad.—Addit. 16165, British Museum.—VII. XX. XXIII.
Add.—Addit. 22139, British Museum.—XIII. XIV. XV. XIX.
Ar.—Arch. Selden B. 24, Bodleian Library.—IV. V. XIII. XVIII.
Arch.—Arch. Selden B. 10, Bodleian Library.—X. XIII.
At.—Addit. 10340, British Museum.—XIII.
B.—Bodley 638 (Oxford).—I. II. III. V. VII. X. XXII.
Bannatyne MS. 1568, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow.—XV.
Bedford MS. (Bedford Library).—I.
C.—Cambridge Univ. Library, Ff. 5. 30.—I.
Corpus.—Corpus Chr. Coll., Oxford, 203.—XIII.
Ct.—Cotton, Cleopatra D. 7; Brit. Mus.—XIII. XIV. XV. XXI.
Cx.—Caxton's editions; see above (p. 27).—V. VII. X. XIII. XIV. XVI. (part); XIX.
D.—Digby 181, Bodleian Library.—V. VII.
E.—Ellesmere MS. (also has the Cant. Tales).—XIII.
ed. 1561.—Stowe's edition, 1561.—VI. VIII. XX. XXI., &c.
F.—Fairfax 16, Bodleian Library.—I. II. III. IV. V. VII. X. XIII. (two copies); XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII.
XIX. XX. XXI. XXII.
Ff.—Cambridge Univ. Library, Ff. 1. 6.—II. V. VII. (part); XVIII. XIX.

Gg.[236]—Cambridge Univ. Library, Gg. 4. 27.—I. V. XIII. XVI.
Gl.—Glasgow, Hunterian Museum, Q. 2. 25.—I.
H.—Harleian 2251, Brit. Mus.—I. X. XIV. XIX.
Ha.—Harleian 7578, Brit. Mus.—I. II. XIV. XV. XX. XXI.
Harl.—Harleian 7333, Brit. Mus.—IV. V. VII. XIII. XIV. XV. XIX. XXII.
Harleian 78, Brit. Mus. (Shirley's). See Sh. below.
Harleian 372, Brit. Mus.—VII.
Hat.—Hatton 73, Bodleian Library.—XIII. XV.
Hh.—Cambridge Univ. Library, Hh. 4. 12.—V (part); IX.
I.—Cambridge Univ. Library, Ii. 3. 21.—IX. X.
Jo.—St. John's College, Cambridge, G. 21.—I.
Ju.—Julian Notary's edition (see p. 28).—IV. XVII. XVIII.
Kk.—Cambridge Univ. Library, Kk. 1. 5.—XIII.

L.—Laud 740, Bodleian Library.—I.
Lansdowne 699, Brit. Mus.—X. XIII.
Laud.—Laud 416, Bodleian Library.—V (part).
Lt.—Longleat MS. 258 (Marquis of Bath).—II. IV. V. VII.
O.—St. John's College, Oxford (no. lvii.); fol. 22, bk.—V.
P.—Pepys 2006, Magd. Coll., Cambridge.—I. (two copies); IV. V. VII (part); X. XI. XIII. XVI. XVIII.
(two copies); XIX.
Ph.—Phillipps 9053 (Cheltenham).—II. VI. VII. (part); XIX.
Phil.—Phillipps 8299 (Cheltenham).—XIII.
R.—Rawlinson Poet. 163, Bodleian Library.—XII.
Sh.—Shirley's MS. Harl. 78, Brit. Mus.—II. VI.
Sion College MS. (Shirley's).—I.
T.—Trinity College, Cambridge, R. 3. 20.—IV. VII (part); VIII. X. XIII. (two copies); XIV. XV. XVIII.
Th.—W. Thynne's edition, 1532.—III. XV. XVII., &c.
Tn.—Tanner 346, Bodleian Library.—II. III. IV. V. VII. XVIII.
Trin.—Trinity College, Cambridge, R. 3. 19.—II. V.
Trinity College, Cambridge, R. 14. 51.—XIV. XV.
Conversely, I here give a list of the Poems in the present volume, shewing from which MSS. each one is
derived. I mention first the MSS. of most importance. I also note the number of lines in each piece.

I. A. B. C. (184 lines).—C. Jo. Gl. L. Gg. F.; other copies in H. P.[237] Bedford. Ha. Sion. B.[238]
II. Pite (119).—Tn. F. B. Sh. Ff. Trin.; also Ha. Lt. Ph.
III. Duchess (1334).—F. Tn. B. Th.

IV. Mars (298).—F. Tn. Ju. Harl. T. Ar.; also P.[237] Lt.
V. Parl. Foules (699).—F. Gg. Trin. Cx. Harl. O. Ff. Tn. D.; also Ar. B. Lt. P.; Hh. (365 lines); Laud (142
lines).
VI. Compleint to his Lady (133).—Ph. Sh.; ed. 1561.
VII. Anelida (357).—Harl. F. Tn. D. Cx.; also B. Lt. Ad.; Harl. 372; partly in T. Ff. P. Ph.
VIII. Lines to Adam (7).—T.; ed. 1561.
IX. Former Age (64).—I. Hh.
X. Fortune (79).—I. A. T. F. B. H.; also P. Cx.; Arch.; Lansd. 699.
XI. Merciless Beaute (39).—P.
XII. To Rosemounde (24).—R.

XIII. Truth (28).—At. Gg. E. Ct. T.[239]; also Arch. Harl. Hat. P. F.[240] Add. Cx.; Ar. Kk. Corpus; Lansd.
699; Phil.
XIV. Gentilesse (21).—A. T. Harl. Ct. Ha. Add. Cx; also H. and Trinity.
XV. Lak of Stedfastnesse (28).—Harl. T. Ct. F. Add.; also Th. Ha.; Hat., Trinity, and Bannatyne.
XVI. To Scogan (49).—Gg. F. P.; also Cx. (21 lines).
XVII. To Bukton (32).—F. Th.; also Ju.

XVIII. Venus (82).—T. A. Tn. F. Ff.; also Ar. Ju. P.[241]
XIX. Purse (26).—F. Harl. Ff. P. Add.; also H. Cx. Ph.
XX. Proverbs (8).—F. Ha. Ad.; ed. 1561.
XXI. Against Women Unconstaunt (21).—Ct. F. Ha.; ed. 1561.
XXII. An Amorous Complaint (91).—Harl. F. B.
XXIII. Balade of Complaint (21).—Ad.
§ 15. Remarks on some of the MSS.
Some of these MSS. deserve a few special remarks.
Shirley's MSS. are—A. Ad. H. Harl. Sh. Sion, and T.
MSS. in Scottish spelling are—Ar. Bannatyne. Kk.; L. shews Northern tendencies.
MSS. at Oxford.
F. (Fairfax 16) is a valuable MS.; not only does it contain as many as sixteen of these Minor Poems, but
it is a fairly written MS. of the fifteenth century. The spelling does not very materially differ from that of
such an excellent MS. as the Ellesmere MS. of the Canterbury Tales, excepting in the fact that a great
number of final e's are added in wrong places, and are dropped where they are required. This is a matter
that can be to a large extent rectified, and I have endeavoured to do so, taking it in many instances as the
standard text. Next to this misuse of final e's, which is merely due to the fact that it was written out at a
time when the true use of them was already lost, its most remarkable characteristic is the scribe's
excessive love of the letter y in place of i; he writes hyt ys instead of hit is, and the like. In a great
number of instances I have restored i, where the vowel is short. When the text of the Fairfax MS. is thus
restored, it is by no means a bad one. It also contains fair copies of many poems by Hoccleve and
Lydgate, such as the former's Letter of Cupide[242], and the latter's Complaint of the Black Knight,
Temple of Glass, and Balade against Women's Doubleness, being the very piece which is introduced into
Stowe's edition, and is numbered 45 above (see p. 33). We are also enabled, by comparing this MS. with
MS. Harl. 7578, to solve another riddle, viz. why it is that Chaucer's Proverbs, as printed in Morris's and
Bell's editions, are followed by two 7-line stanzas which have nothing whatever to do with them. In MS.
Harl. 7578 these two stanzas immediately follow, and MS. F. immediately precede Chaucer's Proverbs,
and therefore were near enough to them to give an excuse for throwing them in together. However, both
these stanzas are by Lydgate, and are mere fragments[243]. The former of them, beginning 'The worlde so
wide, thaire so remuable,' really belongs to a poem of 18 stanzas, printed in Halliwell's edition of
Lydgate's Minor Poems (Percy Soc.), p. 193. The latter of them, beginning 'The more I goo, the ferther I
am behinde,' belongs to a poem of 11 stanzas, printed in the same, p. 74. Perhaps this will serve as a hint
to future editors of Chaucer, from whose works it is high time to exclude poems known to be by some
other hand.

In this MS. there is also a curious and rather long poem upon the game of chess; the board is called the
cheker, and the pieces are the kyng, the quene or the fers (described on fol. 294), the rokys (duo Roci),
the knyghtys, the Awfyns (duo alfini), and the povnys (pedini). This is interesting in connection with the
Book of the Duchess; see note to l. 654 of that poem. The author tells us how 'he plaid at the chesse,' and
'was mated of a Ferse.'
B. (Bodley 638) is very closely related to MS. F.; in the case of some of the poems, both must have been
drawn from a common source. MS. B. is not a mere copy of F., for it sometimes has the correct reading
where F. is wrong; as, e.g. in the case of the reading Bret in the House of Fame, l. 1208. It contains seven
of these Minor Poems, as well as The boke of Cupide god of loue (Cuckoo and Nightingale), Hoccleve's
Lettre of Cupide god of loue, Lydgate's Temple of Glass (oddly called Temple of Bras (!), a mistake
which occurs in MS. F. also), his Ordre of Folys, printed in Halliwell's Minor Poems of Lydgate, p. 164,
and his Complaint of the Black Knight, imperfect at the beginning.
A. (Shirley's MS. Ashmole 59) is remarkable for containing a large number of pieces by Lydgate, most
of which are marked as his. It corroborates the statement in MS. F. that he wrote the Balade against
Women's Doubleness. It contains the whole of Scogan's poem in which Chaucer's Gentilesse is quoted:
see the complete print of it, from this MS., in the Chaucer Society's publications.
Another poem in this MS. requires a few words. At the back of leaf 38 is a poem entitled 'The Cronycle
made by Chaucier,' with a second title to this effect:—'Here nowe folowe the names of the nyene
worshipfullest Ladyes that in alle cronycles and storyal bokes haue beo founden of trouthe of constaunce
and vertuous or reproched (sic) womanhode by Chaucier.' The poem consists of nine stanzas of eight
lines (in the ordinary heroic metre), and is printed in Furnivall's Odd Text of Chaucer's Minor Poems,
Part I. It would be a gross libel to ascribe this poem to Chaucer, as it is very poor, and contains execrable
rimes (such as prysoun, bycome; apply-e, pyte; thee, dy-e). But we may easily see that the title is likely to
give rise to a misconception. It does not really mean that the poem itself is by Chaucer, but that it gives a
brief epitome of the 'Cronicle made by Chaucier' of 'the nyene worshipfullest Ladyes.' And, in fact, it
does this. Each stanza briefly describes one of the nine women celebrated in Chaucer's Legend of Good
Women. It is sufficient to add that the author makes a ludicrous mistake, which is quite enough to acquit
Chaucer of having had any hand in this wholly valueless production; for he actually addresses 'quene
Alceste' as sorrowing for 'Seyse her husbande.' Seyse is Chaucer's Ceyx, and Alceste is the author's comic
substitution for Alcyone; see Book of the Duchess, l. 220. This is not a fault of the scribe; for Alceste
rimes with byheste, whereas Alcione does not. I much suspect that Shirley wrote this poem himself. His
verses, in MS. Addit. 16165, are very poor.
Tn. (Tanner 346) is a fair MS. of the 15th century, and contains, besides six of the Minor Poems, the
Legend of Good Women, Hoccleve's Letter of Cupid (called litera Cupidinis dei Amoris directa subditis
suis Amatoribus), the Cuckoo and Nightingale (called the god of loue), Lydgate's Temple of Glas and
Black Knight, &c. One of them is the Ballad no. 32 discussed above (p. 40). At fol. 73 is a poem in
thirteen 8-line stanzas, beginning 'As ofte as syghes ben in herte trewe.' One stanza begins with these
lines:—

'As ofte tymes as Penelapye
Renewed her werk in the raduore,' &c.

I quote this for the sake of the extremely rare Chaucerian word spelt radevore in the Legend of Good
Women. The same line occurs in another copy of the same poem in MS. Ff., fol. 12, back.
Ar. (Arch. Seld. B. 24) is a Scottish MS., apparently written in 1472, and contains, amongst other things,
the unique copy of the Kingis Quair, by James I. of Scotland. This is the MS. wherein the scribe
attributes pieces to Chaucer quite recklessly: see p. 47. It is also the authority for the pieces called
Prosperity and Leaulte vault Richesse. Here, once more, we find the Letter of Cupid and the Cuckoo and

Nightingale; it is remarkable how often these poems occur in the same MS. It also contains Troilus and
the Legend of Good Women.
D. (Digby 181) contains, besides two of the Minor Poems, an imperfect copy of Troilus; also the Letter
of Cupid and Complaint of the Black Knight. At fol. 52 is a piece entitled 'Here Bochas repreuyth hem
that yeue hasti credence to euery reporte or tale'; and it begins—'All-though so be in euery maner age'; in
nineteen 7-line stanzas. This is doubtless a part of chapter 13 of Book I. of Lydgate's Fall of Princes.
R. (Rawlinson, Poet. 163) contains a copy of Chaucer's Troilus, followed by the Balade to Rosemounde.
Both pieces are marked 'Tregentyll' or 'Tregentil' to the left hand, and 'Chaucer' to the right.
§ 16. Cambridge MSS.
Ff. (Ff. 1. 6) contains, besides five of the Minor Poems, many other pieces. One is a copy of Pyramus
and Thisbe, being part of the Legend of Good Women. There are four extracts from various parts of
Gower's Confessio Amantis; the Cuckoo and Nightingale and Letter of Cupid; the Romance of Sir
Degrevaunt; La Belle Dame sans Merci. Some pieces from this MS. are printed in Reliquiae Antiquae, i.
23, 169, 202; and two more, called The Parliament of Love and The Seven Deadly Sins, are printed in
Political, Religious, and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall (E. E. T. S.), pp. 48, 215. We also find here a copy of
Lydgate's Ballad of Good Counsail, printed in the old editions of Chaucer (piece no. 40; see above, p.
33).
Gg. (Gg. 4. 27) is the MS. which contains so excellent a copy of the Canterbury Tales, printed as the
'Cambridge MS.' in the Chaucer Society's publications. Four leaves are lost at the beginning. On leaf 5 is
Chaucer's A. B. C.; on leaf 7, back, the Envoy to Scogan; and on leaf 8, back, Chaucer's Truth, entitled
Balade de bone conseyl. This is followed by a rather pretty poem, in 15 8-line stanzas, which is
interesting as quoting from Chaucer's Parliament of Foules. Examples are: 'Qui bien ayme tard oublye'
(l. 32; cf. P. F. 679): 'The fesaunt, scornere of the cok Be nihter-tyme in frostis colde' (ll. 49, 50; cf. P. F.
357); 'Than spak the frosty feldefare' (l. 89; cf. P. F. 364). Line 41 runs—'Robert redbrest and the
wrenne'; which throws some light on the etymology of robin. This valuable MS. also contains Troilus
and the Legend of Good Women, with the unique earlier form of the Prologue; The Parlement of Foules;
and Lydgate's Temple of Glas. At fol. 467 is a Supplicacio amantis, a long piece of no great value, but the
first four lines give pretty clear evidence that the author was well acquainted with Chaucer's Anelida, and
aspired to imitate it.

'Redresse of sorweful, O Cytherea,
That with the stremys of thy plesaunt hete
Gladist the cuntreis of al Cirrea,
Wher thou hast chosyn thy paleys and thy sete.'

It seems to be a continuation of the Temple of Glas, and is probably Lydgate's own.
Hh. (Camb. Univ. Lib. Hh. 4. 12) contains much of Lydgate, and is fully described in the Catalogue.
P. (Pepys 2006) consists of 391 pages, and contains Lydgate's Complaint of the Black Knight, and
Temple of Glass, part of the Legend of Good Women, the A. B. C., House of Fame, Mars and Venus (two
copies), Fortune, Parlement of Foules, The Legend of the Three Kings of Cologne, The War between
Caesar and Pompey, a Translation of parts of Cato, the Tale of Melibeus and Parson's Tale, Anelida,
Envoy to Scogan, A. B. C. (again), Purse, Truth, and Merciless Beauty.
Trin. (Trin. Coll. Camb. R. 3. 19) not only contains two of the Minor Poems, but a large number of other
pieces, including the Legend of Good Women and many of Lydgate's Poems. In particular, it is the source
of most of Stowe's additions to Chaucer: I may mention The Craft of Lovers, dated 1448 in the MS. (fol.
156), but 1348 in Stowe; the Ten Commandments of Love, Nine Ladies worthy, Virelai (fol. 160), Balade

beginning In the seson of Feuerer (fol. 160), Goddesses and Paris (fol. 161, back), A balade plesaunte
(fol. 205), O Mossie Quince (fol. 205), Balade beginning Loke well aboute (fol. 207); and The Court of
Love; see the pieces numbered 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 59, (p. 33). The piece numbered 41 also
occurs here, at the end of the Parliament of Foules, and is headed 'Verba translatoris.' One poem, by G.
Ashby, is dated 1463, and I suppose most of the pieces are in a handwriting of a later date, not far from
1500. It is clear that Stowe had no better reason for inserting pieces in his edition of Chaucer than their
occurrence in this MS. to which he had access. If he had had access to any other MS. of the same
character, the additions in his book would have been different, and The Court of Love would never have
been 'Chaucer's.' Yet this is the sort of evidence which some accept as being quite sufficient to prove that
Chaucer learnt the language of a century after his own date, in order to qualify himself for writing that
poem.
§ 17. London MSS.
Ad. (MS. Addit. 16165). One of Shirley's MSS., marked with his name in large letters. It contains a copy
of Chaucer's Boethius; Trevisa's translation of the gospel of Nichodemus; the Maistre of the game (on
hunting); the Compleint of the Black Knight and the Dreme of a Lover, both by Lydgate. The latter is the
same poem, I suppose, as The Temple of Glas. It is here we learn from Shirley that the Complaint of the
Black Knight is Lydgate's. Not only is it headed, on some pages, as 'The complaynte of a knight made by
Lidegate,' but on fol. 3 he refers to the same poem, speaking of it as being a complaint—

'al in balade[244],
That daun Iohan of Bury made,
Lydgate the Munk clothed in blakke.'

Here also we find two separate fragments of Anelida[245]; the two stanzas mentioned above (p. 52, l. 20),
called by Shirley 'two verses made in wyse of balade by Halsham, Esquyer'; Chaucer's Proverbs; the
poem no. 45 above (p. 33), attributed in this MS. to Lydgate; &c. At fol. 256, back, is the Balade of
compleynte printed in this volume as poem no. XXIII.
Add. (MS. Addit. 22139). This is a fine folio MS., containing Gower's Confessio Amantis. At fol. 138 are
Chaucer's Purse, Gentilesse, Lak of Stedfastnesse, and Truth.
At. (MS. Addit. 10340). Contains Chaucer's Boethius (foll. 1-40); also Truth, with the unique envoy, and
the description of the 'Persone,' from the Canterbury Tales, on fol. 41, recto[246].
Ct. (MS. Cotton, Cleopatra, D. 7). The Chaucer poems are all on leaves 188, 189. They are all ballads,
viz. Gentilesse, Lak of Stedfastness, Truth, and Against Women Unconstaunt. All four are in the same
hand; and we may remark that the last of the four is thus, in a manner, linked with the rest; see p. 58, l. 5,
p. 26, l. 29.
H. (MS. Harl. 2251). Shirley's MS. contains a large number of pieces, chiefly by Lydgate. Also
Chaucer's Prioresses Tale, Fortune (fol. 46), Gentilesse (fol. 48, back), A. B. C. (fol. 49), and Purse (fol.
271). The Craft of Lovers also occurs, and is dated 1459 in this copy. Poem no. 56 (p. 34) also occurs
here, and is marked as Lydgate's. We also see from this MS. that the first four stanzas of no. 52 (p. 33)
form part of a poem on the Fall of Man, in which Truth, Mercy, Righteousness, and Peace are introduced
as allegorical personages. The four stanzas form part of Mercy's plea, and this is why the word mercy
occurs ten times. At fol. 153, back (formerly 158, back), we actually find a copy of Henry Scogan's poem
in which Chaucer's Gentilesse is not quoted, the requisite stanzas being entirely omitted. At fol. 249,
back, Lydgate quotes the line 'this world is a thurghfare ful of woo,' and says it is from Chaucer's
'tragedyes.' It is from the Knightes Tale, l. 1989 (A 2847).

Ha. (Harl. 7578). Contains Lydgate's Proverbs; Chaucer's Pite (fol. 13, back), Gentilesse and Lak of
Stedfastnesse (fol. 17), immediately followed by the Balade against Women unconstaunt, precisely in the
place where we should expect to find it; also Chaucer's Proverbs, immediately followed by the wholly
unconnected stanzas discussed above; p. 52, l. 20. At fol. 20, back, are six stanzas of Chaucer's A. B. C.
Harl. (MS. Harl. 7333). This is a fine folio MS., and contains numerous pieces. At fol. 37, recto, begins
a copy of the Canterbury Tales, with a short prose Proem by Shirley; this page has been reproduced in
facsimile for the Chaucer Society. At fol. 129, back, begins the Parliament of Foules, at the end of which
is the stanza which appears as poem no. 41 in Stowe's edition (see p. 33). Then follow the Broche of
Thebes, i. e. the Complaint of Mars, and Anelida. It also contains some of the Gesta Romanorum and of
Hoccleve's De Regimine Principum. But the most remarkable thing in this MS. is the occurrence, at fol.
136, of a poem hitherto (as I believe) unprinted, yet obviously (in my opinion) written by Chaucer; see
no. XXII. in the present volume. Other copies occur in F. and B.
Sh. (MS. Harl. 78; one of Shirley's MSS.). At fol. 80 begins the Complaint to Pity; on fol. 82 the last
stanza of this poem is immediately followed by the poem here printed as no. VI; the only mark of
separation is a star-like mark placed upon the line which is drawn to separate one stanza from another. At
the end of fol. 83, back, l. 123 of the poem occurs at the bottom of the page, and fol. 84 is gone; so that
the last stanza of 10 lines and the ascription to Chaucer in the colophon do not appear in this MS.
MS. Harl. 372. This MS. contains many poems by Lydgate. Also a copy of Anelida; followed by La Belle
Dame sans mercy, 'translatid out of Frenche by Sir Richard Ros,' &c.
MS. Lansdowne 699. This MS. contains numerous poems by Lydgate, such as Guy of Warwick, the
Dance of Macabre, the Horse, Sheep, and Goose, &c.; and copies of Chaucer's Fortune and Truth.
§ 18. I. A. B. C.
This piece was first printed in Speght's edition of 1602, with this title: 'Chaucer's A. B. C. called La
Priere de Nostre Dame: made, as some say, at the Request of Blanch, Duchesse of Lancaster, as a praier
for her priuat vse, being a woman in her religion very deuout.' This is probably a mere guess, founded on
the fact that Chaucer wrote the Book of the Duchess. It cannot be literally true, because it is not strictly
'made,' or composed, but only translated. Still, it is just possible that it was translated for her pleasure
(rather than use); and if so, must have been written between 1359 and 1369. A probable date is about
1366. In any case, it may well stand first in chronological order, being a translation just of that
unambitious character which requires no great experience. Indeed, the translation shews one mark of
want of skill; each stanza begins by following the original for a line or two, after which the stanza is
completed rather according to the requirements of rime than with an endeavour to render the original at
all closely. There are no less than thirteen MS. copies of it; and its genuineness is attested both by
Lydgate and Shirley.[247] The latter marks it with Chaucer's name in the Sion College MS. Lydgate's
testimony is curious, and requires a few words of explanation.

Guillaume De Deguilleville, a Cistercian monk in the royal abbey of Chalis[248], in the year 1330 or
1331[249], wrote a poem entitled Pèlerinage de la Vie humaine. Of this there are two extant English
translations, one in prose and one in verse, the latter being attributed to Lydgate. Of the prose
translation[250] four copies exist, viz. in the MSS. which I call C., Gl., Jo., and L. In all of these,
Chaucer's A. B. C. is inserted, in order to give a verse rendering of a similar prayer in verse in the
original. Of Lydgate's verse translation there is a copy in MS. Cotton, Vitell. C. xiii. (see foll. 255, 256);
and when he comes to the place where the verse prayer occurs in his original, he says that, instead of
translating the prayer himself, he will quote Chaucer's translation, observing:—

'My mayster Chaucer, in hys tyme,
Affter the Frenchs he dyde yt ryme.'

Curiously enough, he does not do so; a blank space was left in the MS. for the scribe to copy it out, but it
was never filled in[251]. However, it places the genuineness of the poem beyond doubt; and the internal
evidence confirms it; though it was probably, as was said, quite an early work.
In order to illustrate the poem fully, I print beneath it the French original, which I copy from the print of
it in Furnivall's One-text Print of Chaucer's Minor Poems, Part I. p. 84.
It is taken from Guillaume De Deguilleville's Pèlerinage de l'Ame, Part I, Le Pèlerinage de la Vie
humaine. Edited from the MS. 1645, Fonds Français, in the National Library, Paris (A), and collated with
the MSS. 1649 (B), 376 (C), and 377 (D), in the same collection, by Paul Meyer. I omit, however, the
collations; the reader only wants a good text.
Chaucer did not translate the last two stanzas. I therefore give them here.

'Ethiques[252] s'avoie leü,
Tout recordé et tout sceü,
Et après riens n'en ouvrasse
280
Du tout seroie deceü.
Aussi con cil qui est cheü,
En sa rois et en sa nasse.
Vierge, m'ame je claim lasse,
Quar en toy priant se lasse
Et si ne fait point son deü.
Pou vault chose que je amasse;
Ma priere n'est que quasse
S'a bien je ne sui esmeü.

'Contre[253] moy doubt que ne prie
290
Ou que en vain merci ne crie.
Je te promet amandement;
Et pour ce que je ne nie
Ma promesse, je t'en lie
L'ame de moy en gaigement;
Puis si te pri finablement
Que quant sera mon finement
Tu ne me defailles mie:
Pour moy soies au jugement
Afin que hereditablement
300
J'aie pardurable vie. Amen.'

MS. C. affords, on the whole, the best text, and is therefore followed, all variations from it being duly
noted in the footnotes, except (occasionally) when i is put for y, or y for i. The scribes are very capricious
in the use of these letters, using them indifferently; but it is best to use i when the vowel is short (as a
general rule), and y when it is long. Thus, it is is better than yt ys, and wyse than wise, in order to shew
that the vowel is long in the latter case. I also use y at the end of a word, as usual; as in lady, my. When
the spelling of the MS. is thus slightly amended, it gives a fair text, which can easily be read with the old
and true pronunciation.

We may roughly divide the better MSS. into two sets, thus: (a) C. Gl. L. Jo.; (b) F. B. Gg. The rest I have
not collated. See Koch, in Anglia, iv. b. 100.
The metre of this poem is worthy of notice. Chaucer uses it again, in the Former Age (IX), Lenvoy to
Bukton (XVII), and in the Monkes Tale. More complex examples of it, with repeated rimes, are seen in
the Balade to Rosemounde (XII), Fortune (X), and Venus (XVIII). See also the two stanzas on p. 47.
§ 19. II. The Compleynt Unto Pite.
The word compleynt answers to the O. F. complaint, sb. masc., as distinguished from O. F. complainte,
sb. fem., and was the technical name, as it were, for a love-poem of a mournful tone, usually addressed
to the unpitying loved one. See Godefroy's Old French Dictionary[254]. Dr. Furnivall's account of this
poem begins as follows: 'In seventeen 7-line stanzas: 1 of Proem, 7 of Story, and 9 of Complaint,
arranged in three Terns [sets of three] of stanzas; first printed by Thynne in 1532.... The poem looks not
easy to construe; but it is clearly a Complaint to Pity, as 5 MSS. read, and not of Pity, as Shirley reads in
MS. Harl. 78. This Pity once lived in the heart of the loved-one of the poet.... But in his mistress's heart
dwells also Pity's rival, Cruelty; and when the poet, after waiting many years[255], seeks to declare his
love, even before he can do so, he finds that Pity for him is dead in his mistress's heart, Cruelty has
prevailed, and deprived him of her.' His theory is, that this poem is Chaucer's earliest original work, and
relates to his own feelings of hopeless love; also, that Chaucer was not married till 1374, when he
married his namesake Philippa Chaucer[256]. If this be so, a probable conjectural date for this poem is
about 1367. I have remarked, in the note to l. 14, that the allegory of the poem is somewhat confused;
and this implies a certain want of skill and clearness, which makes the supposition of its being an early
work the more probable[257]. It is extremely difficult to determine to what extent the sentiments are
artificial. If a French poem of a similar character should one day be found, it would not be very
surprising. Meanwhile, it is worth observing that the notion of personifying Pity is taken from Chaucer's
favourite author Statius; see the Thebaid, bk. xi. 458-496, and compare the context, ll. 1-457. It is this
which enables us to explain the word Herenus in l. 92, which is an error for Herines, the form used by
Chaucer to denote the Erinnyes or Furies[258]. The Erinnyes are mentioned in Statius, Theb. xi. 345 (cf.
ll. 58, 60, 383); and Statius leads up to the point of the story where it is an even chance whether there
will be peace or war. The Furies urge on the combatants to war; and at this crisis, the only power who
can overrule them is Pietas, personified by Statius for this express purpose (ll. 458, 465, 466). The
struggle between Pity and Cruelty in Chaucer's poem is parallel to the struggle between Pietas and the
fury Tisiphone as told in Statius. Pity is called Herines quene, or queen of the Furies, because she alone
is supposed to be able to control them. See my notes to ll. 57, 64, and 92.
The poem is extant in nine MSS. It is attributed to Chaucer by Shirley in MS. 'Sh.,' and the internal
evidence confirms this. There is a fairly good copy in MS. F., on which my edition of it is based. There
is, further, an excellent critical edition of this poem by Prof. Ten Brink, in Essays on Chaucer, Part II, p.
170 (Chaucer Soc.); this I carefully consulted after making my own copy, and I found that the differences
were very slight. The least valuable MSS. seem to be Ff., Ph., and Lt. Omitting these, the MSS. may be
divided into three sets, viz. A, Ba, and Bb, the two last going back to a common source B. These are:
(A.)—Sh. Ha.; (Ba.)—F. B.; (Bb.)—Tn. Trin. See Koch, in Anglia, iv. b. 96.
In this poem we have the earliest example, in English, of the famous 7-line stanza.
§ 20. III. The Book of the Duchesse.
Here we are on firm ground. The genuineness of this poem has never been doubted. It is agreed that the
word Whyte in l. 948, which is given as the name of the lady lately dead, is a translation of Blanche, and
that the reference is to the wife of the Duke of Lancaster (John of Gaunt), who died Sept. 12, 1369, at the
age of twenty-nine, her husband being then of the same age. As the poem would naturally be written
soon after this event, the date must be near the end of 1369. In fact, John of Gaunt married again in 1372,

whereas he is represented in the poem as being inconsolable. Chaucer's own testimony, in the Legend of
Good Women, l. 418, is that he made 'the deeth of Blaunche the Duchesse'; and again, in the Introduction
to the Man of Law's Prologue, l. 57, that 'In youthe he made of Ceys and Alcion.' In 1369, Chaucer was
already twenty-nine years of age (taking the year of his birth to be 1340, not 1328), which is rather past
the period of youth; and the fact that he thus mentions 'Ceys and Alcion' as if it were the name of an
independent poem, renders it almost certain that such was once the case. He clearly thought it too good
to be lost, and so took the opportunity of inserting it in a more ambitious effort. The original 'Ceys and
Alcion' evidently ended at l. 220; where it began, we cannot say, for the poem was doubtless revised and
somewhat altered. Ll. 215, 216 hint that a part of it was suppressed. The two subjects were easily
connected, the sorrow of Alcyone for the sudden and unexpected loss of her husband being the
counterpart of the sorrow of the duke for the loss of his wife. The poem of 'Ceys and Alcion' shews
Chaucer under the influence of Ovid, just as part of his Complaint to Pity was suggested by Statius; but
in the later part of the poem of the Book of the Duchesse we see him strongly influenced by French
authors, chiefly Guillaume de Machault and the authors of Le Roman de la Rose. His familiarity with the
latter poem (as pointed out in the notes) is such as to prove that he had already been previously employed
in making his translation of that extremely lengthy work, and possibly quotes lines from his own
translation[259].
The relationship between the MSS. and Thynne's edition has been investigated by Koch, in Anglia, vol.
iv. Anzeiger, p. 95, and by Max Lange, in his excellent dissertation entitled Untersuchungen über
Chaucer's Boke of the Duchesse, Halle, 1883. They both agree in representing the scheme of relationship
so as to give the following result:
β —— Thynne.
α —— Tanner MS.
γ —— Fairfax MS.
δ ——
Bodley MS.
Here α represents a lost original MS., and β and γ are lost MSS. derived from it. Thynne follows β;
whilst γ is followed by the Tanner MS. and a lost MS. δ. The Fairfax and Bodley MSS., which are much
alike, are copies of δ. The MS. γ had lost a leaf, containing ll. 31-96; hence the same omission occurs in
the three MSS. derived from it. However, a much later hand has filled in the gap in MS. F, though it
remains blank in the other two MSS. On the whole, the authorities for this poem are almost unusually
poor; I have, in general, followed MS. F, but have carefully amended it where the other copies seemed to
give a better result. Lange gives a useful set of 'Konjecturen,' many of which I have adopted. I have also
adopted, thankfully, some suggestions made by Koch and Ten Brink; others I decline, with thanks.
This poem is written in the common metre of four accents, which was already in use before Chaucer's
time, as in the poem of Havelok the Dane, Robert of Brunne's Handling Synne, Hampole's Pricke of
Conscience, &c. Chaucer only used it once afterwards, viz. in his House of Fame. It is the metre
employed also in his translation (as far as we have it) of the French Roman de la Rose.
§ 21. IV. The Compleynt of Mars.
Lydgate tells us that this poem is Chaucer's, referring to it as containing the story of 'the broche which
that Vulcanus At Thebes wrought,' &c. Internal evidence clearly shews that it was written by the author
of the Treatise on the Astrolabie. In MS. Harl. 7333, Shirley gives it the title 'The broche of Thebes, as of
the love of Mars and Venus.' Bale oddly refers to this poem as De Vulcani veru, but broche is here an
ornament, not a spit. With the exception of two lines and a half (ll. 13-15), the whole poem is supposed
to be sung by a bird, and upon St. Valentine's day. Such a contrivance shews a certain lack of skill, and is
an indication of a comparatively early date. The poem begins in the ordinary 7-line stanza, rimed a b a b
b c c; but the Complaint itself is in 9-line stanzas, rimed a a b a a b b c c, and exhibits a considerable

advance in rhythmical skill. This stanza, unique in Chaucer, was copied by Douglas (Palace of Honour,
part 3), and by Sir D. Lyndesay (Prol. to Testament of Papyngo).
At the end of the copy of this poem in MS. T., Shirley appends the following note:—'Thus eondethe here
this complaint, whiche some men sayne was made by [i. e. with respect to] my lady of York, doughter to
the kyng of Spaygne, and my lord huntingdon, some tyme Duc of Excestre.' This tradition may be
correct, but the intrigue between them was discreditable enough, and would have been better passed over
in silence than celebrated in a poem, in which Mars and Venus fitly represent them. In the heading to the
poem in the same MS., Shirley tells us further, that it was written to please John of Gaunt. The heading
is:—'Loo, yee louers, gladethe and comfortethe you of thallyance etrayted[260] bytwene the hardy and
furyous Mars the god of armes and Venus the double [i. e. fickle] goddesse of loue; made by Geffrey
Chaucier, at the comandement of the renommed and excellent Prynce my lord the Duc Iohn of
Lancastre.' The lady was John of Gaunt's sister-in-law. John of Gaunt married, as his second wife, in
1372, Constance, elder daughter of Pedro, king of Castile; whilst his brother Edmund, afterwards duke of
York, married Isabel, her sister. In Dugdale's Baronage, ii. 154, we read that this Isabel, 'having been
somewhat wanton in her younger years, at length became a hearty penitent; and departing this life in
1394, was buried in the Friers Preachers at Langele,' i. e. King's Langley in Hertfordshire; cf. Chauncy's
Hertfordshire, p. 455; Camden's Anglica, p. 350. It is possible that Chaucer addressed his Envoy to the
Complaint of Venus to the same lady, as he calls her 'Princess.'
Mars is, accordingly, intended to represent John Holande, half-brother to Richard II, Earl of Huntingdon,
and afterwards Duke of Exeter. He actually married John of Gaunt's daughter, Elizabeth, whose mother
was the Blaunche celebrated in the Book of the Duchess.
If this tradition be true, the date of the poem must be not very many years after 1372, when the Princess
Isabel came to England. We may date it, conjecturally, about 1374. See further in Furnivall's Trial
Forewords, pp. 78-90. I may add that an attempt has been made to solve the problem of the date of this
poem by astronomy (see Anglia, ix. 582). It is said that Mars and Venus were in conjunction on April 14,
1379. This is not wholly satisfactory; for Chaucer seems to refer to the 12th of April as the time of
conjunction. If we accept this result, then the year was 1379. The date 1373-9 is near enough.
The poem is remarkable for its astronomical allusions, which are fully explained in the notes. The story
of Mars and Venus was doubtless taken from Ovid, Metam. iv. 170-189. The story of the brooch of
Thebes is from Statius, ii. 265, &c.; see note to l. 245.
I shall here add a guess of mine which possibly throws some light on Chaucer's reason for referring to
the brooch of Thebes. It is somewhat curious that the Princess Isabel, in a will made twelve years before
her death, and dated Dec. 6, 1382, left, amongst other legacies, 'to the Duke of Lancaster, a Tablet of
Jasper which the King of Armonie gave her'; see Furnivall's Trial Forewords, p. 82. Here Armonie
means, of course, Armenia; but it is also suggestive of Harmonia, the name of the first owner of the
brooch of Thebes. It seems just possible that the brooch of Thebes was intended to refer to this tablet of
jasper, which was doubtless of considerable value and may have been talked about as being a curiosity.
MSS. F. Tn. and Lt. are much alike; the rest vary. I follow F. mainly, in constructing the text.
§ 22. V. The Parlement of Foules.
This poem is undoubtedly genuine; both Chaucer and Lydgate mention it. It is remarkable as being the
first of the Minor Poems which exhibits the influence upon Chaucer of Italian literature, and was
therefore probably written somewhat later than the Complaint of Mars. It is also the first of the Minor
Poems in which touches of true humour occur; see ll. 498-500, 508, 514-6, 563-575, 589-616. Dr.
Furnivall (Trial Forewords, p. 53) notes that the MSS. fall into two principal groups; in the first he places
Gg., Trin., Cx., Harl., O., the former part of Ff., (part of) Ar., and the fragments in Hh. and Laud 416; in
the second he places F., Tn., D., and the latter part of Ff. Lt. also belongs to the second group. See further

in Anglia, vol. iv. Anzeiger, p. 97. The whole poem, except the Roundel in ll. 680-692, is in Chaucer's
favourite 7-line stanza, often called the ballad-stanza, or simply balade in the MSS.
The poem itself may be roughly divided into four parts. The first part, ll. 1-84, is mainly occupied with
an epitome of the general contents of Cicero's Somnium Scipionis. The second part, ll. 85-175, shews
several instances of the influence of Dante, though the stanza containing ll. 99-105 is translated from
Claudian. The third part, ll. 176-294, is almost wholly translated or imitated from Boccaccio's Teseide.
And the fourth part, ll. 295 to the end, is occupied with the real subject of the poem, the main idea being
taken, as Chaucer himself tells us, from Alanus de Insulis. The passages relating to the Somnium
Scipionis are duly pointed out in the notes; and so are the references to Dante and Claudian. The history
of the third and fourth parts requires further explanation.
We have already seen that Chaucer himself tells us, in the Prol. to the Legend, 420, that he made—'al the
love of Palamon and Arcyte Of Thebes, thogh the story is knowen lyte.' (N.B. This does not mean that
Chaucer's version of the story was 'little known,' but that Boccaccio speaks of the story as being little
known—'che Latino autor non par ne dica'; see note to Anelida, l. 8.) Now, in the first note on Anelida
and Arcite, it is explained how this story of Palamon and Arcite was necessarily translated, more or less
closely, from Boccaccio's Teseide, and was doubtless written in the 7-line stanza; also that fragments of it
are preserved to us (1) in sixteen stanzas of the Parliament of Foules, (2) in the first ten stanzas of
Anelida, and (3) in three stanzas of Troilus. At a later period, the whole poem was re-written in a
different metre, and now forms the Knightes Tale. The sixteen stanzas here referred to begin at l. 183 (the
previous stanza being also imitated from a different part of the Teseide, bk. xi. st. 24), and end at l. 294.
Chaucer has somewhat altered the order; see note to l. 183. I here quote, from Furnivall's Trial
Forewords, pp. 60-66, a translation by Mr. W. M. Rossetti, of Boccaccio's Teseide, bk. vii. stanzas 51-66;
and I give, beneath it, the Italian text, from an edition published at Milan in 1819. This passage can be
compared with Chaucer's imitation of it at the reader's leisure.
I note, beforehand, that, in the first line of this translation, the word whom refers to Vaghezza, i. e. Grace,
Allurement; whilst she is the prayer of Palemo, personified.
Tes. vii. stanzas 51-60; cf. Parl. Foules, ll. 183-259.

whom going forward, she saw that [i. e. Mount Cithaeron] Colla quale oltre andando vide quello
ry view suave and charming; Per ogni vista soave ed ameno,
se of a garden bosky and beautiful, A guisa d'un giardin fronzuto e bello
reenest, full of plants, E di piante verdissimo ripieno,
sh grass, and every new flower; D'erbetta fresca e d'ogni fior novello;
herein rose fountains living and clear; E fonti vive e chiare vi surgieno,
mong the other plants it abounded in, E in fra l'altre piante, onde abbondava,
e seemed to her more than other. Mortine più che altro le sembrava.

P. F. 190. Quivi sentì pe' rami dolcemente
he heard amid the branches sweetly Quasi d'ogni maniera ucce' cantare,
singing of almost all kinds: Sopra de' quali ancor similemente
which [branches] also in like wise Gli vide con diletto i nidi a fare:
w them with delight making their nests. Poscia fra l'ombre fresche prestamente
mong the fresh shadows quickly Vidi conigli in qua e in là andare,
w rabbits go hither and thither, E timidenti cervi e cavrioli,
mid deer and fawns, E molti altri carissimi bestiuoli.
many other dearest little beasts.

P. F. 197. Similemente quivi ogni stromento
wise here every instrument Le parve udire e dilettoso canto;

emed to hear, and delightful chaunt: Onde passando con passo non lento,
fore passing with pace not slow, E rimirando, in sè sospesa alquanto
ooking about, somewhat within herself suspended Dell' alto loco e del bell' ornamento;
lofty place and beautiful adornment Ripieno il vide quasi in ogni canto
w it replete in almost every corner Di spirite', che qua e là volando
piritlings which, flying here and there, Gieno a lor posta; a' quali essa
o their bourne. Which she looking at, guardando,

P. F. 211. Tra gli albuscelli ad una fonta allato
g the bushes beside a fountain Vide Cupido a fabbricar saette,
upid forging arrows— Avendo egli a' suoi piè l'arco posato,
ving the bow set down by his feet; Le qua' sua figlia Voluttade elette
[arrows when] selected his daughter Voluptas Nell' onde temperava, ed assettato
ered in the waves. And settled down Con lor s'era Ozio, il quale ella
hem was Ease [Ozio, Otium]; whom she saw vedette,
e, with Memory, steeled his darts Che con Memoria l'aste sue ferrava
he steel that she [Voluptas] first tempered. De' ferri ch' ella prima temperava.

P. F. 218. E poi vide in quel passo Leggiadria
hen she saw in that pass Grace [Leggiadria], Con Adornezza ed Affabilitate,
Adorning [Adornezza] and Affability, E la ismarrita in tutto Cortesia,
he wholly estrayed Courtesy; E vide l'Arti ch' hanno potestate
he saw the Arts that have power Di fare altrui a forza far follia,
ke others perforce do folly, Nel loro aspetto molto isfigurate:
r aspect much disfigured. Delia immagine nostra il van Diletto
ain Delight of our form Con Gentilezza vide star soletto.
w standing alone with Gentilesse.

P. F. 225. Poi vide appresso a sè passar Bellezza
he saw Beauty pass her by, Sanz' ornamento alcun sè riguardando,
ut any ornament, gazing on herself; E vide gir con lei Piacevolezza,
with her she saw Attraction [Piacevolezza] go,— E l'una e l'altra seco commendando,
he prayer] commending to herself both one and other. Vide con loro starsi Giovinezza
hem she saw standing Youth, Destra ed adorna, molto festeggiando:
and adorned, making great feast: E d'altra parte vide il folle Ardire
n the other side she saw madcap Audacity Con Lusinghe e Ruffiani insieme gire.
along with Glozings and Pimps.

P. F. 232. In mezzo il loco sur alte colonne
the place, on lofty columns, Di rame vide un tempio, al qual
w a temple of copper; round which d'intorno
w youths dancing and women— Danzanti giovinetti vide e donne,
ne of them beautiful, and that one in fine raiment, Qual d'esse bella, e qual d'abito
dled, barefoot, only in their hair and gowns, adorno,
pent the day in this alone. Iscinte, iscalze, in capei soli e'n gonne,
over the temple she saw doves hover Che in questo solo disponeano il
ettle and coo. giorno:
Poi sopra il tempio vide volitare
E posarsi colombe e mormorare.

P. F. 239. E all'entrata del tempio vicina
ear to the entry of the temple Vide che si sedava pianamente

w that there sat quietly Monna Pace, la quale una cortina
dy Peace, who a curtain Movea innanzi alla porta lievemente;
d lightly before the door. Appresso a lei in vista assai tapina
her, very subdued in aspect, Pacienza sedea discretamente;
tience discreetly, Pallida nell' aspetto, e d'ogni parte
in look; and on all sides Intorno a lei vide Promesse ad arte.
d her she saw artful Promises.

P. F. 246. Poi dentro al tempio entrata, di sospiri
entering the temple, of Sighs Vi senti un terremoto, che girava
lt there an earthquake, which whirled Focoso tutto di caldi disiri:
ry with hot desires. Questi gli altari tutti alluminava
t up all the altars Di nuove fiamme nate di martiri,
new flames born of pangs; De' qua' ciascun di lagrime grondava,
of which dripped with tears Mosse da una donna cruda e ria,
ced by a woman cruel and fell Che vide lì, chiamata Gelosia:
m she there saw, called Jealousy

P. F. 253. Ed in quel vide Priapo tenere
n that [temple] she saw Priapus hold Più sommo loco, in abito tal quale
ghest place—in habit just such as Chiunque il volle la notte vedere
ver would at night see him Potè, quando ragghiando l'animale
[do] when, braying, the animal Più pigro destò Vesta, che in calere
t of all awoke Vesta, who to his mind Non poco gli era, in vêr di cui cotale
ot a little—towards whom he in like guise Andava; e simil per lo tempio grande
and likewise throughout the great temple Di fior diversi assai vide grillande.
w many garlands of diverse flowers.'

Tes. vii. 61, 62; cf. P. F. 281-294.

P. F. 281. Quivi molti archi a' Cori di Diana
many bows of the Chorus of Diana Vide appiccati e rotti, in tra quali era
w hung up and broken; among which was Quel di Callisto fatta tramontana
f Callisto, become the Arctic Orsa; le pome v'eran della fiera
The apples were there of haughty Atalanta che 'n correr fu sovrana;
ta, who was sovereign in racing; Ed ancor l'armi di quell' altra altiera
lso the arms of that other proud one Che partorì il bel Partenopeo
rought forth Parthenopaeus, Nipote al calidonio Re Eneo.
son to the Calydonian King Oeneus.

P. F. 288. Videvi storie per tutto dipinte,
w there histories painted all about; In tra le qua' con più alto lavoro
g which with finer work Della sposa di Nino ivi distinte
spouse of Ninus she there L'opere tutte vide; e a piè del moro
ll the doings distinguished; and at foot of the mulberry-tree Piramo e Tisbe, e già le gelse tinte:
us and Thisbe, and the mulberries already distained; E'l grand' Ercole vide tra costoro
he saw among these the great Hercules In grembo a Jole, e Bibli dolorosa
lap of Iole, and woeful Biblis Andar pregando Cauno pietosa.
piteous, soliciting Caunus.'

Tes. vii. 63-66; cf. P. F. 260-280.

P. F. 260. Ma non vedendo Vener, le fu detto,

s she saw not Venus, it was told her Nè conobbe da cui: 'In più sagreta
new she by whom)—"In secreter Parte del tempio stassi ella a diletto:
f the temple stays she delighting. Se tu la vuoi, per quella porta, cheta
u wantest her, through that door quietly Te n'entra': ond' essa, sanza altro
" Wherefore she, without further demur, rispetto,
of manner as she was, In abito qual era mansueta,
ached thither to enter within, Là si appressò per entrar dentro ad
o the embassy to her committed. essa,
E l'ambasciata fare a lei commessa.

P. F. 261. Ma essa lì nel primo suo venire
ere she, at her first coming, Trovò Richezza la porta guardare;
Riches guarding the portal— La qual le parve assai da riverire;
eemed to her much to be reverenced: E lasciata da lei quiv'entro entrare,
being by her allowed to enter there, Oscuro le fu il loco al primo gire;
ace was dark to her at first going. Ma poca luce poscia nello stare
terwards, by staying, a little light Lì prese, e vide lei nuda giacere
ained there; and saw her lying naked Sopra un gran letto assai bella a
reat bed very fair to see. vedere.

P. F. 267. Ma avie d'oro i crini e rilucenti
e had hair of gold, and shining Intorno al capo sanza treccia alcuna:
her head without any tress. Il suo viso era tal che le più genti
ce was such that most people Hanno a rispetto bellezza nissuna:
n comparison no beauty at all. Le braccia, il petto e le poma eminenti
ms, breast, and outstanding apples, Si vedien tutte, e ogni altra parte d'una
all seen; and every other part with a Testa tanto sottil si ricopria,
e so thin was covered Che quasimente nuda comparia.
shewed forth almost as [if] naked.

P. F. 274. Olíva il collo ben di mille odori:
eck was fragrant with full a thousand odours. Dall' un de' lati Bacco le sedea,
of her sides Bacchus was seated, Dall' altro Ceres cogli suoi savori:
other Ceres with her savours. Ed essa il pomo per le man tenea,
he in her hands held the apple, Sè dilettando, il quale alle sorori
hting herself, which, to her sisters Prelata vinse nella valle Idea:
red, she won in the Idean vale. E tutto ciò veduto posse il prego,
having seen all this, she [the prayer] made her request, Il qual fu conceduto senza niego.
was conceded without denial.'

At l. 298 we are introduced to a queen, who in l. 303 is said to be the noble goddess Nature. The general
idea is taken from Aleyn's Pleynt of Kynde (l. 316), i. e. from the Planctus Naturae of Alanus de Insulis;
see note to l. 298 of the poem. I here quote the most essential passage from the Anglo-Latin Satirical
Poets, ed. T. Wright, ii. 437. It describes the garment worn by the goddess Nature, on which various birds
were represented. The phrase animalium concilium may have suggested the name given by Chaucer to
our poem. But see the remark on p. 75, l. 21.

'Haec autem [vestis] nimis subtilizata, subterfugiens oculorum indaginem, ad tantam materiae
tenuitatem advenerat, ut ejus aerisque eandem crederes esse naturam, in qua, prout oculis pictura
imaginabatur, animalium celebratur concilium. Illic aquila, primo juvenem, secundo senem,
induens, tertio iterum reciprocata priorem, in Adonidem revertebatur a Nestore. Illic ancipiter

(sic), civitatis praefectus aeriae, violenta tyrannide a subditis redditus exposcebat. Illic milvus,
venatoris induens personam, venatione furtiva larvam gerebat ancipitris. Illic falco in ardeam
bellum excitabat civile, non tamen aequali lance divisum. Non enim illud pugnae debet
appellatione censeri, ubi tu pulsas, ego vapulo tantum. Illic struthio, vita seculari postposita, vitam
solitariam agens, quasi heremita factus, desertarum solitudines incolebat. Illic olor, sui funeris
praeco, mellitae citherizationis organo vitae prophetabat apocopam. Illic in pavone tantum
pulcritudinis compluit Natura thesaurum, ut eam postea crederes mendicasse. Illic phoenix, in se
mortuus, redivivus in alio, quodam Naturae miraculo, se sua morte a mortuis suscitabat. Illic avis
concordiae (ciconia) prolem decimando Naturae persolvebat tributum. Illic passeres in atomum
pygmeae humilitatis relegati degebant, grus ex opposito in giganteae quantitatis evadebat
excessum.
'Illic phasianus, natalis insulae perpessus angustias, principum futurus deliciae, nostros evolabat
in orbes. Illic gallus, tanquam vulgaris astrologus, suae vocis horologio horarum loquebatur
discrimina. Illic gallus silvestris, privatioris galli deridens desidiam, peregre proficiscens,
nemorales peragrabat provincias. Illic bubo, propheta miseriae, psalmodias funereae lamentationis
praecinebat. Illic noctua tantae deformitatis sterquilinio sordescebat, ut in ejus formatione
Naturam crederes fuisse somnolentam. Illic cornix, ventura prognosticans, nugatorio concitabatur
garritu. Illic pica, dubio picturata colore, curam logices perennebat insomnem. Illic monedula,
latrocinio laudabili reculas thesaurizans, innatae avaritiae argumenta monstrabat. Illic columba,
dulci malo inebriata Diones, laborabat Cypridis in palaestra. Illic corvus, zelotypiae abhorrens
dedecus, suos foetus non sua esse pignora fatebatur, usque dum comperto nigri argumento coloris,
hoc quasi secum disputans comprobat. Illic perdix nunc aeriae potestatis insultus, nunc venatorum
sophismata, nunc canum latratus propheticos abhorrebat. Illic anas cum ansere, sub eodem jure
vivendi, hiemabat in patria fluviali. Illic turtur, suo viduata consorte, amorem epilogare
dedignans, in altero bigamiae refutabat solatia. Illic psittacus cum sui gutturis incude vocis
monetam fabricabat humanae. Illic coturnicem, figurae draconis ignorantem fallaciam,
imaginariae vocis decipiebant sophismata. Illic picus, propriae architectus domunculae, sui rostri
dolabro clausulam fabricabat in ilice. Illic curruca, novercam exuens, materno pietatis ubere
alienam cuculi prolem adoptabat in filium; quae tamen capitali praemiata stipendio, privignum
agnoscens, filium ignorabat. Illic hirundo, a sua peregrinatione reversa, sub trabe nidi lutabat
hospitium. Illic philomena, deflorationis querelam reintegrans, harmoniaca tympanizans
dulcedine, puritatis dedecus excusabat. Illic alauda, quasi nobilis citharista, non studii artificio,
sed Naturae magisterio, musicae praedocta scientiam, citharam praesentabat in ore.... Haec
animalia, quamvis illic quasi allegorice viverent, ibi tamen esse videbantur ad litteram.'

As to the date of this poem, Ten Brink (Studien, p. 127) shews that it must have been written later than
1373; and further, that it was probably written earlier than Troilus, which seems to have been finished in
1383. It may therefore have been written in 1382, in which case it may very well refer to the betrothal (in
1381) of King Richard II to Queen Anne of Bohemia. See, on this subject, Dr. Koch's discussion of the
question in Essays on Chaucer, p. 407, published by the Chaucer Society. Prof. Ward (who follows
Koch) in his Life of Chaucer, p. 86, says:—'Anne of Bohemia, daughter of the great Emperor Charles
IV., and sister of King Wenceslas, had been successively betrothed to a Bavarian prince and to a
Margrave of Meissen, before—after negotiations which, according to Froissart, lasted a year[261]—her
hand was given to young King Richard II. of England. This sufficiently explains the general scope of the
Assembly of Fowls, an allegorical poem written on or about St. Valentine's Day, 1381[262]—eleven
months or nearly a year after which date the marriage took place[263].'
I here note that Lydgate's Flour of Curtesie is a palpable imitation of the Parliament of Foules; so also is
the earlier part of his Complaint of the Black Knight.

On the other hand, it is interesting to find, in the Poésies de Marie de France, ed. Roquefort, Paris, 1820,
that Fable 22 (vol. i. p. 130) is entitled:—'Li parlemens des Oiseax por faire Roi.' In this fable, the Birds
reject the Cuckoo, and choose the Eagle as king.
§ 23. VI. A Compleint to his Lady.
We may fairly say that this poem is attributed to Chaucer by Shirley, since in MS. Harl. 78 it is copied
out by him as if it were a continuation of the Complaint to Pity, and the pages are, throughout, headed
with the words—'The Balade of Pytee. By Chauciers.' Stowe implies that he had seen more than one MS.
copy of this poem, and says that 'these verses were compiled by Geffray Chauser,' for which he may have
found authority in the MSS.[264] Moreover, the internal evidence settles the matter. It is evident that we
have here a succession of metrical experiments, the last of which exhibits a ten-line stanza resembling
the nine-line stanza of his Anelida; in fact, we here have that Complaint in a crude form, which was
afterwards elaborated; see the references, in the Notes, to the corresponding passages in that poem. But a
very great and unique interest is attached to lines 16 to 43. For here we have the sole example, in English
literature of that period, of the use of terza rima, obviously copied from Dante; and Chaucer was the only
writer who then had a real acquaintance with that author. I know of no other example of the use of this
metre before the time of Lord Surrey and Sir Thomas Wiat, when Englishmen once more sought
acquaintance with Italian poetry. Consequently, we have here the pleasure of seeing how Chaucer
handled Dante's metre; and the two fragments here preserved shew that he might have handled it quite
successfully if he had persevered in doing so.
It is to be regretted that Shirley's spelling is so indifferent; he was rather an amateur than a professional
scribe. Some of his peculiarities may be noticed, as they occur not only here, but also in the two last
pieces, nos. XXII. and XXIII. He constantly adds a final e in the wrong place, producing such forms
fallethe, howe, frome, and the like, and drops it where it is necessary, as in hert (for herte). He is fond of
eo for ee or long e, as in beo, neodethe. He writes ellas for allas; also e in place of the prefix y-, as in
eknytte for y-knit. This last peculiarity is extremely uncommon. I have removed the odd effect which
these vagaries produce, and I adopt the ordinary spelling of MSS. that resemble in type the Ellesmere
MS. of the Canterbury Tales.
This piece exhibits three distinct metres, viz. the 7-line stanza, terza rima, and the 10-line stanza. Of the
last, which is extremely rare, we have here the earliest example. Lines 56 and 59 are lost, and some
others are imperfect.
§ 24. VII. Anelida and Arcite.
The genuineness of this poem is obvious enough, and is vouched for both by Lydgate and Shirley, as
shewn above. It is further discussed in the Notes. I may add that Lydgate incidentally refers to it in his
Complaint of the Black Knight, l. 379:—'Of Thebes eke the false Arcite.' Much later allusions are the
following:—

'There was also Annelida the queene,
Upon Arcite how sore she did complaine';
Assembly of Ladies, l. 465.

...... 'and the weimenting
Of her Annelida, true as turtle-dove
To Arcite fals.'
Court of Love, l. 233.

The first three stanzas are from Boccaccio's Teseide, as shewn in the Notes; so also are stanzas 8, 9, and
10. Stanzas 4-7 are partly from Statius. The origin of ll. 71-210 is at present unknown. It is difficult to

date this poem, but it must be placed after 1373, because of its quotations from the Teseide, or rather
from Chaucer's own Palamon and Arcite. The mention of 'the quene of Ermony' in l. 72 suggests that
Chaucer's thoughts may have been turned towards Armenia by the curious fact that, in 1384, the King of
Armenia came to England about Christmas time, stayed two months, and was hospitably entertained by
King Richard at Eltham; see Fabyan's Chronicles, ed. Ellis, p. 532. At an earlier time, viz. in 1362,
Walsingham says that some knights of Armenia appeared at a tournament in Smithfield. In the
Transactions of the Cambridge Philological Society, May 13, 1886, there is a short paper by Prof.
Cowell, from which we learn that Mr. Bradshaw believed the name of Anelida to be identical 'with
Anáhita (Ἀναΐτις), the ancient goddess of Persia and Armenia.... He supposed that Chaucer got the name
Anelida from a misreading of the name Anaetidem or Anaetida in some Latin MS., the t being mistaken
for l.' We must remember that Creseide represents a Greek accusative form Χρυσηΐδα, of which the gen.
Χρυσηΐδος occurs in Homer, Il. i. 111; and perhaps the form Dalida (for Dalilah) in the Septuagint is
also due to association with Greek accusatives in -ιδα. The genitive Anaetidos occurs in Pliny, xxxiii. 4;
in Holland's translation of Pliny, ii. 470, she appears as 'the goddesse Diana syrnamed Anaitis.' It may be
as well to explain to those who are unaccustomed to MSS. of the fourteenth century, that it was then
usual to write e in place of ae or æ, so that the name would usually be written, in the accusative case,
Anetida. This suggests that Anelida should be spelt with but one n; and such is the practice of all the
better MSS.
It remains to be added that one source of the part of the poem called the Complaint (ll. 211-350) is the
piece printed in this volume as no. VI. That piece is, in fact, a kind of exercise in metrical experiments,
and exhibits specimens of a 10-line stanza, resembling the nine-line stanza of this Complaint. Chaucer
seems to have elaborated this into a longer Complaint, with additional varieties in the metre; and then to
have written the preceding story by way of introduction. One line (vi. 50) is repeated without alteration
(vii. 237); another (vi. 35) is only altered in the first and last words (vii. 222). Other resemblances are
pointed out in the Notes.
It is also worth while to notice how the character of the speaking falcon in the second part of the Squire's
Tale is precisely that of Anelida. The parallel lines are pointed out in the Notes. The principal MSS. may
be thus grouped: Aa.—F. B. Ab.—Tn. D. Lt. B.—Harl. Cx. Here A and B are two groups, of which the
former is subdivided into Aa and Ab. See Koch, in Anglia, iv. b. 102.
§ 25. VIII. Chaucer's Wordes unto Adam.
This is evidently a genuine poem, written by the author of the translation of Boethius and of the story of
Troilus.
§ 26. IX. The Former Age.
First printed in 1866, in Morris's Chaucer, from a transcript made by Mr. Bradshaw, who pointed out its
genuineness. It is ascribed to Chaucer in both MSS., and belongs, in fact, to his translation of Boethius,
though probably written at a later date. In MS. I. the poem is headed:—'Chawcer vp-on this fyfte metur
of the second book.' In MS. Hh., the colophon is: 'Finit Etas prima: Chaucers.' Dr. Koch thinks that the
five poems here numbered IX. X. XIII-XV. 'form a cyclus, as it were, being free transcriptions of
different passages in Boethius' Consolatio Philosophiae.' There is, in fact, a probability that these were
all written at about the same period, and that rather a late one, some years after the prose translation of
Boethius had been completed; and a probable date for this completion is somewhere about 1380.
Both MS. copies are from the same source, as both of them omit the same line, viz. l. 56; which I have
had to supply by conjecture. Neither of the MSS. are well spelt, nor are they very satisfactory. The
mistake in riming l. 47 with l. 43 instead of l. 45 may very well have been due to an oversight on the part
of the poet himself. But the poem is a beautiful one, and admirably expressed; and its inclusion among
the Minor Poems is a considerable gain.

Dr. Furnivall has printed the Latin text of Boethius, lib. ii. met. 5, from MS. I., as well as Chaucer's prose
version of the same, for the sake of comparison with the text of the poem. The likeness hardly extends
beyond the first four stanzas. I here transcribe that part of the prose version which is parallel to the poem,
omitting a few sentences which do not appear there at all; for the complete text, see vol. ii.
'Blisful was the first age of men. They helden hem apayed with the metes that the trewe feldes broughten
furthe. They ne distroyede nor deceivede not hem-self with outrage. They weren wont lightly to slaken
hir hunger at even with acornes of okes. [Stanza 2.] They ne coude nat medly[265] the yifte of Bachus to
the clere hony; that is to seyn, they coude make no piment nor clarree. [Stanza 3.] ... they coude nat
deyen whyte fleeses[266] of Serien contree with the blode of a maner shelfisshe that men finden in Tyrie,
with whiche blode men deyen purpur. [Stanza 6.] They slepen hoolsum slepes upon the gras, and
dronken of the renninge wateres [cf. l. 8]; and layen under the shadwes of the heye pyn-trees. [Stanza 3,
continued.] Ne no gest ne no straungere ne carf yit the heye see with ores or with shippes; ne they ne
hadde seyn yit none newe strondes, to leden marchaundyse in-to dyverse contrees. Tho weren the cruel
clariouns ful hust[267] and ful stille.... [Stanza 4.] For wherto or whiche woodnesse of enemys wolde first
moeven armes, whan they seyen cruel woundes, ne none medes[268] be of blood y-shad[269]?... Allas!
what was he that first dalf[270] up the gobetes[271] or the weightes of gold covered under erthe, and the
precious stones that wolden han ben hid? He dalf up precious perils; ... for the preciousnesse of swiche
thinge, hath many man ben in peril.'
The metre is the same as that of the ABC.
§ 27. X. Fortune.
Attributed to Chaucer by Shirley in MSS. A. and T.; also marked as Chaucer's in MSS. F. and I. In MS.
I., this poem and the preceding are actually introduced into Chaucer's translation of Boethius, between
the fifth metre and the sixth prose of the second book, as has been already said. The metre is the same as
that of the ABC and The Former Age, but the same rimes run through three stanzas. The Envoy forms a
7-line stanza, but has only two rimes; the formula is ababbab. For further remarks, see the Notes.
§ 28. XI. Merciles Beaute.

The unique copy of this poem is in MS. P[272]. It is the last poem in the MS., and is in excellent
company, as it immediately follows several other of Chaucer's genuine poems[273]. This is probably why
Bp. Percy attributed it to Chaucer, who himself tells us that he wrote 'balades, roundels, virelayes.' It is
significant that Mätzner, in his Altenglische Sprachproben, i. 347, chose this poem alone as a specimen
of the Minor Poems. It is, in fact, most happily expressed, and the internal evidence places its
authenticity beyond question. The three roundels express three 'movements,' in the poet's usual manner;
and his mastery of metre is shewn in the use of the same rime in -en-e in the first and third roundels,
requiring no less than ten different words for the purpose; whilst in the second roundel the corresponding
lines end in -eyn-e, producing much the same effect, if (as is probable) the old sounds of e and ey were
not very different. We at once recognise the Chaucerian phrases I do no fors (see Cant. Ta. D 1234,
1512), and I counte him not a bene (see Troil. v. 363).
Very characteristic is the use of the dissyllabic word sen-e (l. 10), which is an adjective, and means
'manifest,' from the A. S. geséne, (gesýne), and not the past participle, which is y-seen. Chaucer rimes it
with clen-e (Prol. to C. T. 134), and with gren-e (Kn. Tale, A 2298). The phrase though he sterve for the
peyne (l. 23) reminds us of for to dyen in the peyne (Kn. Ta. A 1133).
But the most curious thing about this poem is the incidental testimony of Lydgate, in his Ballade in
Commendacion of our Ladie; see poem no. 26 above, discussed at p. 38. I here quote st. 22 in full, from
ed. 1561, fol. 330:

'Where might I loue euer better beset
Then in this Lilie, likyng to beholde?
That lace of loue, the bonde so well thou knit,
That I maie see thee, or myne harte colde,
And or I passe out of my daies olde,
Tofore [thee] syngyng euermore vtterly—
Your iyen twoo woll slea me sodainly.'

I ought to add that this poem is the only one which I have admitted into the set of Minor Poems (nos. I-
XX) with incomplete external evidence. If it is not Chaucer's, it is by some one who contrived to surpass
him in his own style. And this is sufficient excuse for its appearance here.
Moreover, Lydgate's testimony is external evidence, in a high degree. Even the allusion in l. 27 to the
Roman de la Rose points in the same direction; and so does Chaucer's statement that he wrote roundels.
Excepting that in the Parl. of Foules, ll. 680-692, and the three here given, no roundels of his have ever
been found[274].
§ 29. XII. To Rosemounde.
This poem was discovered by me in the Bodleian Library on the 2nd of April, 1891. It is written on a fly-
leaf at the end of MS. Rawlinson Poet. 163, which also contains a copy of Chaucer's Troilus. At the end
of the 'Troilus' is the colophon: 'Here endith the book of Troylus and of Cresseyde.' This colophon is
preceded by 'Tregentyll,' and followed by 'Chaucer.' On the next leaf (no. 114) is the Balade, without any
title, at the foot of which is 'Tregentil'——'Chaucer,' the two names being written at a considerable
distance apart. I believe 'Tregentil' to represent the name of the scribe[275]. In any case, 'Chaucer'
represents the name of the author. It is a happy specimen of his humour.
§ 30. XIII. Truth.
This famous poem is attributed to Chaucer in MS. F., also (thrice) by Shirley, who in one of the copies in
MS. T. (in which it occurs twice) calls it a 'Balade that Chaucier made on his deeth-bedde'; which is
probably a mere bad guess[276]. The MSS. may be divided into two groups; the four best are in the first
group, viz. At., E., Gg., Ct., and the rest (mostly) in the second group. Those of the first group have the
readings Tempest (8), Know thy contree (19), and Hold the hye wey (20); whilst the rest have, in the same
places, Peyne (8), Look up on hy (19), and Weyve thy lust (20). It is remarkable that the Envoy occurs in
MS. At. only. It may have been suppressed owing to a misunderstanding of the word vache (cow), the
true sense of which is a little obscure. The reference is to Boethius, bk. v. met. 5, where it is explained
that quadrupeds look down upon the earth, whilst man alone looks up towards heaven; cf. lok up in l. 19
of the poem. The sense is therefore, that we should cease to look down, and learn to look up like true
men; 'only the linage of man,' says Chaucer, in his translation of Boethius, 'heveth heyeste his heye
heved[277] ... this figure amonesteth[278] thee, that axest the hevene with thy righte visage, and hast
areysed thy fore-heved to beren up a-heigh thy corage, so that thy thoght ne be nat y-hevied[279] ne put
lowe under fote.'
§ 31. XIV. Gentilesse.
It is curious that this Balade not only occurs as an independent poem, as in MSS. T., Harl., Ct., and
others, but is also quoted bodily in a poem by Henry Scogan in MS. A. It is attributed to Chaucer by
Shirley in MSS. T. and Harl.; and still more satisfactory is the account given of it by Scogan. The title of
Scogan's poem is:—'A moral balade made by Henry Scogan squyer. Here folowethe nexst a moral balade
to my lorde the Prince, to my lord of Clarence, to my lord of Bedford, and to my lorde of Gloucestre; by
Henry Scogan, at a souper of feorthe merchande (sic) in the vyntre in London, at the hous of Lowys
Iohan.' It is printed in all the old editions of Chaucer; see poem no. 33, p. 32. Scogan tells us that he was

'fader,' i. e. tutor, to the four sons of Henry IV. above-mentioned[280]. His ballad is in twenty-one 8-line
stanzas, and he inserts Chaucer's Gentilesse, distinguished by being in 7-line stanzas, between the 13th
and 14th stanzas of his own work. He refers to Chaucer in the 9th stanza thus (in MS. A.):—

'My maistre Chaucier, God his soule have,
That in his langage was so curyous,
He saide that the fader, nowe dede and grave,
Beqwathe no-thing his vertue with his hous
Un-to his sone.'

This is a reference to ll. 16, 17 of Chaucer's poem. Again, in his 13th stanza, he says:—

'By auncetrye thus may yee no-thing clayme,
As that my maistre Chaucier dothe expresse,
But temporell thing, that man may hurte and mayme;
Thane is gode stocke of vertuous noblesse;
And, sithe that he is lord of blessednesse
That made us alle, and for mankynde that dyed,
Folowe his vertue with full besynesse;
And of this thinge herke howe my maistre seyde.'

He here refers to lines 15-17, and lines 1-4 of Chaucer's poem; and then proceeds to quote it in full.
Having done so, he adds:—

'Loo, here this noble poete of Brettayne
Howe hyely he, in vertuouse sentence,
The losse [MS. lesse] in youthe of vertue can compleyne.'

Scogan's advice is all good; and, though he accuses himself of having misspent his youth, this may very
well mean no more than such an expression means in the mouth of a good man. He is doubtless the very
person to whom Chaucer's 'Lenvoy a Scogan' was addressed, and Chaucer (l. 21) there gives him an
excellent character for wisdom of speech. Accordingly, he is not to be confused with the Thomas Scogan
or Scogin to whom is attributed an idle book called 'Scoggins Iests,' which were said to have been
'gathered' by Andrew Boord or Borde, author of the Introduction of Knowledge[281]. When Shakespeare,
in 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 33, says that Sir John Falstaff broke Scogan's head, he was no doubt thinking of the
supposed author of the jest-book, and may have been led, by observation of the name in a black-letter
edition of Chaucer, to suppose that he lived in the time of Henry IV. This was quite enough for his
purpose, though it is probable that the jester lived in the time of Edward IV.; see Tyrwhitt's note on the
Envoy to Scogan. On the other hand, we find Ben Jonson taking his ideas about Scogan solely from
Henry Scogan's poem and Chaucer's Envoy, without any reference to the jester. See his Masque of the
Fortunate Isles, in which Scogan is first described and afterwards introduced. The description tells us
nothing more than we know already.
As for Lewis John (p. 82), Tyrwhitt says he was a Welshman, 'who was naturalised by Act of Parliament,
2 Hen. V., and who was concerned with Thomas Chaucer in the execution of the office of chief butler;
Rot. Parl. 2 Hen. V. n. 18.'
Caxton's printed edition of this poem seems to follow a better source than any of the MSS.
§ 32. XV. Lak of Stedfastnesse.
Attributed to Chaucer by Shirley in MSS. Harl. and T., and sent to King Richard at Windsor, according to
the same authority. The general idea of it is from Boethius; see the Notes. Shirley refers it to the last

years of Richard II., say 1397-9. We find something very like it in Piers Plowman, C. iv. 203-210, where
Richard is told that bribery and wicked connivance at extortion have almost brought it about—

'That no lond loveth the, and yut leest thyn owene.'

In any case, the date can hardly vary between wider limits than between 1393 and 1399. Richard held a
tournament at Windsor in 1399[282], which was but thinly attended; 'the greater part of the knights and
squires of England were disgusted with the king.'
Of this poem, MS. Ct. seems to give the best text.
§ 33. XVI. Lenvoy a Scogan.
This piece is attributed to Chaucer in all three MSS., viz. F., P., and Gg.; and is obviously genuine. The
probable date of it is towards the end of 1393; see the Notes.
For some account of Scogan, see above (p. 83).
§ 34. XVII. Lenvoy a Bukton.
This piece is certainly genuine. In MS. F., the title is—'Lenvoy de Chaucer a Bukton.' In Julian Notary's
edition it is—'Here foloweth the counceyll of Chaucer touching Maryag, &c. whiche was sente te (sic)
Bucketon, &c.' In all the other early printed editions it is inserted without any title immediately after the
Book of the Duchess.
The poem is one of Chaucer's latest productions, and may safely be dated about the end of the year 1396.
This appears from the reference, in l. 23, to the great misfortune it would be to any Englishmen 'to be
take in Fryse,' i. e. to be taken prisoner in Friesland. There is but one occasion on which this reference
could have had any point, viz. during or just after the expedition of William of Hainault to Friesland, as
narrated by Froissart in his Chronicles, bk. iv. capp. 78, 79. He tells that William of Hainault applied to
Richard II. for assistance, who sent him 'some men-at-arms and two hundred archers, under the
command of three English lords[283].' The expedition set out in August, 1396, and stayed in Friesland
about five weeks, till the beginning of October, when 'the weather began to be very cold and to rain
almost daily.' The great danger of being taken prisoner in Friesland was because the Frieslanders fought
so desperately that they were seldom taken prisoners themselves. Then 'the Frieslanders offered their
prisoners in exchange, man for man; but, when their enemies had none to give in return, they put them to
death.' Besides this, the prisoners had to endure all the miseries of a bad and cold season, in an inclement
climate. Hence the propriety of Chaucer's allusion fully appears. From l. 8, we learn that Chaucer was
now a widower; for the word eft means 'again.' His wife is presumed to have died in the latter part of
1387. We should also observe the allusion to the Wife of Bath's Tale in l. 29.
§ 35. XVIII. The Compleynt of Venus.
This poem is usually printed as if it formed part of the Complaint of Mars; but it is really distinct. It is
attributed to Chaucer by Shirley both in MS. T. and in MS. A. It is not original, but translated from the
French, as appears from l. 82. Shirley tells us that the author of the French poem was Sir Otes de
Graunson, a worthy knight of Savoy. He is mentioned as receiving from King Richard the grant of an
annuity of 126l. 13s. 4d. on 17 Nov. 1393; see Furnivall's Trial Forewords, p. 123. The association of
this poem with the Complaint of Mars renders it probable that the Venus of this poem is the same as the
Venus of the other, i. e. the Princess Isabel of Spain, and Duchess of York. This fits well with the word
Princess at the beginning of the Envoy; and as she died in 1394, whilst Chaucer, on the other hand,
complains of his advancing years, we must date the poem about 1393, i. e. just about the time when
Graunson received his annuity. Chaucer, if born about 1340, was not really more than 53, but we must
remember that, in those days, men often aged quickly. John of Gaunt, who is represented by Shakespeare

as a very old man, only lived to the age of 59; and the Black Prince died quite worn out, at the age of 46.
Compare the notes to ll. 73, 76, 79, and 82.
Much new light has lately been thrown upon this poem by Dr. A. Piaget, who contributed an article to
Romania, tome xix., on 'Oton de Granson et ses Poésies,' in 1890. The author succeeded in discovering a
large number of Granson's poems, including, to our great gain, the three Balades of which Chaucer's
'Compleynt of Venus' is a translation. I am thus enabled to give the original French beneath the English
version, for the sake of comparison.
He has also given us an interesting account of Granson himself, for which I must refer my readers to his
article. It appears that Froissart mentions Granson at least four times (twice in bk. i. c. 303, A.D. 1372,
once in c. 305, and once in c. 331, A.D. 1379), as fighting on the side of the English; see Johnes'
translation. He was in Savoy from 1389 to 1391; but, in the latter year, was accused of being concerned
in the death of Amadeus VII., count of Savoy, in consequence of which he returned to England, and in
1393 his estates in Savoy were confiscated. It was on this occasion that Richard II. assigned to him the
pension above mentioned. With the hope of clearing himself from the serious charge laid against him,
Granson fought a judicial duel, at Bourg-en-Bresse, on Aug. 7, 1397, in which, however, he was slain.
Now that we have the original before us, we can see clearly, as Dr. Piaget says, that Chaucer has
certainly not translated the original Balades 'word for word' throughout. He does so sometimes, as in ll.
27, 28, 30, 31, in which the closeness of the translation is marvellous; but, usually, he paraphrases the
original to a considerable extent. In the first Balade, he has even altered the general motive; in the
original, Granson sings the praises of his lady; in Chaucer, it is a lady who praises the worthiness of her
lover.
It also becomes probable that the title 'The Compleynt of Venus,' which seems to have been suggested by
Shirley, is by no means a fitting one. It is not suitable for Venus, unless the 'Venus' be a mortal; neither is
it a continuous 'Compleynt,' being simply a linking together of three separate and distinct Balades.
It is clear to me that, when Chaucer added his Envoy, he made the difficulties of following the original
'word by word' and of preserving the original metre his excuse; and that what really troubled him was the
difficulty of adapting the French, especially Balade I., so as to be acceptable to the 'Princess' who
enjoined him to translate these Balades. In particular, he evidently aimed at giving them a sort of
connection, so that one should follow the other naturally; which accounts for the changes in the first of
them. It is significant, perhaps, that the allusion to 'youth' (F. jeunesce) in l. 70 is entirely dropped.
On the whole, I think we may still accept the theory that this poem was written at the request (practically,
the command) of Isabel, duchess of York, the probable 'Venus' of the 'Compleynt of Mars.' Chaucer
seems to have thrown the three Balades together, linking them so as to express a lady's constancy in love,
and choosing such language as he deemed would be most acceptable to the princess. He then
ingeniously, and not without some humour, protests that any apparent alterations are due to his own
dulness and the difficulties of translating 'word for word,' and of preserving the rimes.
In l. 31, the F. text shews us that we must read Pleyne, not Pleye (as in the MSS.). This was pointed out
by Mr. Paget Toynbee.
§ 36. XIX. The Compleint to his Purse.
Attributed to Chaucer by Shirley, in MS. Harl. 7333; by Caxton; by the scribes of MSS. F., P., and Ff.;
and by early editors. I do not know on what grounds Speght removed Chaucer's name, and substituted
that of T. Occleve; there seems to be no authority for this change. I think it highly probable that the poem
itself is older than the Envoy; see note to l. 17. In any case, the Envoy is almost certainly Chaucer's latest
extant composition.

§ 37. XX. Proverbs.
Attributed to Chaucer in MSS. F. and Ha.; see further in the Notes. From the nature of the case, we
cannot assign any probable date to this composition. Yet it was, perhaps, written after, rather than before,
the Tale of Melibeus.
§ 38. XXI. Against Women Unconstaunt.
For the genuineness of this Balade, we have chiefly the internal evidence to trust to; but this seems to me
to be sufficiently strong. The Balade is perfect in construction, having but three rimes (-esse, -ace, -ene),
and a refrain. The 'mood' of it strongly resembles that of Lak of Stedfastnesse; the lines run with perfect
smoothness, and the rimes are all Chaucerian. It is difficult to suppose that Lydgate, or even Hoccleve,
who was a better metrician, could have produced so good an imitation of Chaucer's style. But we are not
without strong external evidence; for the general idea of the poem, and what is more important, the
whole of the refrain, are taken from Chaucer's favourite author Machault (ed. Tarbé, p. 56); whose
refrain is—'En lieu de bleu, Damë, vous vestez vert.' Again, the poem is only found in company with
other poems by Chaucer. Such collocation frequently means nothing, but those who actually consult[284]
MSS. Ct. and Ha. will see how close is its association with the Chaucerian poems in those MSS. I have
said that it occurs in MSS. F., Ct., and Ha. Now in MS. Ct. we find, on the back of fol. 188 and on fol.
189, just four poems in the same hand. These are (1) Gentilesse; (2) Lak of Stedfastnesse; (3) Truth; and
(4) Against Women Unconstaunt. As three of these are admittedly genuine, there is evidence that the
fourth is the same. We may also notice that, in this MS., the poems on Lak of Stedfastnesse and Against
Women Unconstaunt are not far apart. On searching MS. Ha. (Harl. 7578), I again found three of these
poems in company, viz. (1) Gentilesse; (2) Lak of Stedfastnesse; and (3) Against Women Unconstaunt;
the last being, in my view, precisely in its right place. (This copy of the poem was unknown to me in
1887.)
§ 39. XXII. An Amorous Complaint.
Whilst searching through the various MSS. containing Minor Poems by Chaucer in the British Museum,
my attention was arrested by this piece, which, as far as I know, has never before been printed. It is in
Shirley's handwriting, but he does not claim it for Chaucer. However, the internal evidence seems to me
irresistible; the melody is Chaucer's, and his peculiar touches appear in it over and over again. There is,
moreover, in the last stanza, a direct reference to the Parliament of Foules[285].
I cannot explain the oracular notice of time in the heading; even if we alter May to day, it contradicts l.
85, which mentions 'seint Valentines day.' The heading is—'And next folowyng begynnith an amerowse
compleynte made at wyndesore in the laste May tofore Nouembre' (sic). The date is inexplicable[286]; but
the mention of locality is interesting. Chaucer became a 'valet of the king's chamber' in 1367, and must
frequently have been at Windsor, where the institution of the Order of the Garter was annually celebrated
on St. George's Day (April 23). Some of the parallelisms in expression between the present poem and
other passages in Chaucer's Works are pointed out in the Notes.
This Complaint should be compared with the complaint uttered by Dorigen in the Cant. Tales, F. 1311-
1325, which is little else than the same thing in a compressed form. There is also much resemblance to
the 'complaints' in Troilus; see the references in the Notes.
Since first printing the text in 1888, I found that it is precisely the same poem as one extant in MSS. F.
and B., with the title 'Complaynt Damours.' I had noticed the latter some time previously, and had made a
note that it ought to be closely examined; but unfortunately I forgot to do so, or I should have seen at
once that it had strong claims to being considered genuine. These claims are considerably strengthened
by the fact of the appearance of the poem in these two Chaucerian MSS., the former of which contains
no less than sixteen, and the latter seven of the Minor Poems, besides the Legend and the Hous of Fame.

In reprinting the text in the present volume, I take occasion to give all the more important results of a
collation of the text with these MSS. In most places, their readings are inferior to those in the text; but in
other places they suggest corrections.
In MS. F. the fourth stanza is mutilated; the latter half of lines 24-28 is missing.
In B., below the word Explicit, another and later hand has scrawled 'be me Humfrey Flemyng.' 'Be me'
merely means—'this signature is mine.' It is a mere scribble, and does not necessarily relate to the poem
at all.
The readings of F. and B. do not help us much; for the text in Harl., on the whole, is better.
It is not at all improbable that a better copy of this poem may yet be found.
§ 40. XXIII. Balade of Compleynt.
This poem, which has not been printed before, as far as I am aware, occurs in Shirley's MS. Addit.
16165, at fol. 256, back. It is merely headed 'Balade of compleynte,' without any note of its being
Chaucer's. But I had not read more than four lines of it before I at once recognised the well-known
melodious flow which Chaucer's imitators (except sometimes Hoccleve) so seldom succeed in
reproducing. And when I had only finished reading the first stanza, I decided at once to copy it out, not
doubting that it would fulfil all the usual tests of metre, rime, and language; which it certainly does. It is
far more correct in wording than the preceding poem, and does not require that we should either omit or
supply a single word. But in l. 20 the last word should surely be dere rather than here; and the last word
in l. 11 is indistinct. I read it as reewe afterwards altered to newe; and newe makes very good sense. I
may notice that Shirley's n's are very peculiar: the first upstroke is very long, commencing below the
line; and this peculiarity renders the reading tolerably certain. Some lines resemble lines in no. VI., as is
pointed out in the Notes. Altogether, it is a beautiful poem, and its recovery is a clear gain.
§ 41. Concluding Remarks.
I regret that this Introduction has run to so great a length; but it was incumbent on me to shew reasons for
the rejection or acceptance of the very large number of pieces which have hitherto been included in
editions of Chaucer's Works. I have now only to add that I have, of course, been greatly indebted to the
works of others; so much so indeed that I can hardly particularise them. I must, however, mention very
gratefully the names of Dr. Furnivall, Professor Ten Brink, Dr. Koch, Dr. Willert, Max Lange, Rambeau,
and various contributors to the publications of the Chaucer Society; and though I have consulted for
myself such books as Le Roman de la Rose, the Teseide, the Thebaid of Statius, the poems of Machault,
and a great many more, and have inserted in the Notes a large number of references which I discovered,
or re-discovered, for myself, I beg leave distinctly to disclaim any merit, not doubting that most of what I
have said may very likely have been said by others, and said better. Want of leisure renders it impossible
for me to give to others their due meed of recognition in many instances; for I have often found it less
troublesome to consult original authorities for myself than to hunt up what others have said relative to
the passage under consideration.
I have relegated Poems no. XXI., XXII., and XXIII. to an Appendix, because they are not expressly
attributed to Chaucer in the MSS. Such evidence has its value, but it is possible to make too much of it;
and I agree with Dr. Koch, that, despite the MSS., the genuineness of no XX. is doubtful; for the rime of
compas with embrace is suspicious. It is constantly the case that poems, well known to be Chaucer's, are
not marked as his in the MS. copies; and we must really depend upon a prolonged and intelligent study
of the internal evidence. This is why I admit poems nos. XXI-XXIII into the collection; and I hope it will
be conceded that I am free from recklessness in this matter. Certainly my methods differ from those of
John Stowe, and I believe them to be more worthy of respect.

THE ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE.
FRAGMENT A. LE ROMAN DE LA ROSE.
men seyn that in sweveninges Maintes gens dient que en songes
is but fables and lesinges; N'a se fables non et mençonges;
en may somme swevenes seen, Mais l'en puet tiex songes songier
hardely ne false been, Qui ne sunt mie mençongier;
Ains sunt
5 après bien apparant.
terward ben apparaunte. Si en puis bien trere à garant
may I drawe to waraunte Ung acteur qui ot non Macrobes,
thour, that hight Macrobes, Qui ne tint pas songes à lobes;
alt not dremes false ne lees, Ainçois escrist la vision
ndoth us the avisioun 10
Qui avint
10 au roi Cipion.
whylom mette king Cipioun. Quiconques cuide ne qui die
d who-so sayth, or weneth it be Que soit folor ou musardie
, or elles [a] nycetee De croire que songes aviengne,
ne that dremes after falle, Qui ce voldra, pour fol m'en tiengne;
ho-so liste a fool me calle.
Car endroit
15 moi ai-je fiance
is trowe I, and say for me, Que songe soit senefiance
remes signifiaunce be Des biens as gens et des anuiz,
od and harme to many wightes, Car li plusors songent de nuitz
remen in her slepe a-nightes Maintes choses couvertement
any thinges covertly, 20
Que l'en
20 voit puis apertement.
allen after al openly. Où vintiesme an de mon aage,
The Dream.
Où point qu'Amors prend le paage
hin my twenty yere of age, Des jones gens, couchiez estoie
that Love taketh his corage Une nuit, si cum je souloie,
nge folk, I wente sone Et me dormoie moult forment,
dde, as I was wont to done, Si vi ung songe en mon dormant,
Qui moult
25 fut biax, et moult me plot,
ast I sleep; and in sleping, Mès onques riens où songe n'ot
ette swiche a swevening, Qui avenu trestout ne soit,
ykede me wonders wel; 30
that sweven is never a del Si cum li songes recontoit.
nis afterward befalle, Or veil cel songe rimaier,
Por vos
30 cuers plus fere esgaier,
as this dreem wol telle us alle. Qu'Amors le me prie et commande;
his dreem wol I ryme aright, Et se nus ne nule demande
ke your hertes gaye and light; Comment ge voil que cilz Rommanz
ove it prayeth, and also Soit apelez, que ge commanz:
maundeth me that it be so
35
ther any aske me,
er that it be he or she,
that] this book [the] which is here
ote, that I rede you here;
e Romance of the Rose, Ce est li Rommanz de la Rose,
Où l'art
40 d'Amors est tote enclose.

ch al the art of love I close. La matire en est bone et noeve:
e mater fair is of to make; 40
raunte in gree that she it take Or doint Diez qu'en gré le reçoeve
hom that it begonnen is! Cele por qui ge l'ai empris.
hat is she that hath, y-wis, C'est cele qui tant a de pris,
Et tant
45est digne d'estre amée,
chel prys; and ther-to she Qu'el doit estre Rose clamée.
rthy is biloved be, Avis m'iere qu'il estoit mains,
he wel oughte of prys and right, Il a jà bien cincq ans, au mains,
ped Rose of every wight. En Mai estoie, ce songoie,
at it was May me thoughte tho, El tems amoreus plain de joie,
El tens
50où tote riens s'esgaie,
ve yere or more ago; 50
was May, thus dremed me, Que l'en ne voit boisson ne haie
e of love and Iolitee, Qui en Mai parer ne se voille,
l thing ginneth waxen gay, Et covrir de novele foille;
er is neither busk nor hay Li bois recovrent lor verdure,
Qui sunt
55 sec tant cum yver dure,
y, that it nil shrouded been, La terre méisme s'orgoille
with newe leves wreen. Por la rousée qui la moille,
wodes eek recoveren grene, Et oblie la poverté
rye in winter been to sene; Où ele a tot l'yver esté.
he erthe wexeth proud withalle,
60
wote dewes that on it falle,
al] the pore estat forget
ch that winter hadde it set,
han bicometh the ground so proud Lors devient la terre si gobe,
wol have a newe shroud, 60
Qu'ele65volt avoir novele robe;
maketh so queynt his robe and fayr Si scet si cointe robe faire,
hath hewes an hundred payr Que de colors i a cent paire,
s and floures, inde and pers, D'erbes, de flors indes et perses,
many hewes ful dyvers: Et de maintes colors diverses.
s the robe I mene, y-wis, C'est la robe que ge devise,
Por quoi
70 la terre miex se prise.
gh which the ground to preisen is. Li oisel, qui se sunt téu
e briddes, that han left hir song, Tant cum il ont le froit éu,
they han suffred cold so strong Et le tens divers et frarin,
dres grille, and derk to sighte, 70
May, for the sonne brighte, Sunt en Mai, por le tens serin,
Si lié75
qu'il monstrent en chantant
de, that they shewe in singing, Qu'en lor cuer a de joie tant,
n hir herte is swich lyking, Qu'il lor estuet chanter par force.
hey mote singen and be light. Li rossignos lores s'efforce
doth the nightingale hir might De chanter et de faire noise;
ke noyse, and singen blythe. Lors s'esvertue, et lors s'envoise
Li papegaus
80 et la kalandre:
s blisful, many a sythe, Lors estuet jones gens entendre
helaundre and the papingay. A estre gais et amoreus
yonge folk entenden ay 80

ben gay and amorous, Por le tens bel et doucereus.
me is than so savorous. Moult a dur cuer qui en Mai n'aime,
85
s his herte that loveth nought
y, whan al this mirth is wrought;
he may on these braunches here Quant il ot chanter sus la raime
male briddes singen clere As oisiaus les dous chans piteus.
sful swete song pitous; En iceli tens déliteus,
Que tote
90 riens d'amer s'effroie,
n this sesoun delytous, Sonjai une nuit que j'estoie,
love affrayeth alle thing, Ce m'iert avis en mon dormant,
oughte a-night, in my sleping, Qu'il estoit matin durement;
in my bed, ful redily, De mon lit tantost me levai,
was by the morowe erly, 90
Chauçai
95 moi et mes mains lavai.
p I roos, and gan me clothe; Lors trais une aguille d'argent
n I wissh myn hondes bothe; D'un aguiller mignot et gent,
re nedle forth I drogh Si pris l'aguille à enfiler.
an aguiler queynt y-nogh, Hors de vile oi talent d'aler,
an this nedle threde anon; Por oïr des oisiaus les sons
Qui100
chantoient par ces boissons.
t of toun me list to gon En icele saison novele,
wne of briddes for to here, Cousant mes manches à videle,
n thise busshes singen clere. M'en alai tot seus esbatant,
n the swete sesoun that leef is, 100
threde basting my slevis, Et les oiselés escoutant,
Qui105
de chanter moult s'engoissoient
I wente in my playing, Par ces vergiers qui florissoient.
male foules song harkning; Jolis, gais et plains de léesce,
eyned hem ful many a payre
ge on bowes blosmed fayre.
nd gay, ful of gladnesse,
Vers110
une riviere m'adresce.
d a river I gan me dresse, Que j'oi près d'ilecques bruire;
herde renne faste by; Car ne me soi aillors déduire
irer playing non saugh I Plus bel que sus cele riviere.
playen me by that riveer, D'ung tertre qui près d'iluec iere
om an hille that stood ther neer, Descendoit l'iaue grant et roide,
115 110
oun the streem ful stif and bold. Clere, bruiant, et aussi froide
was the water, and as cold Comme puiz, ou comme fontaine,
y welle is, sooth to seyne; Et estoit poi mendre de Saine,
omdel lasse it was than Seine, Mès qu'ele iere plus espanduë.
was straighter wel away. Onques mès n'avoie véuë
Cele120
iaue qui si bien coroit:
ever saugh I, er that day, Moult m'abelissoit et séoit
ater that so wel lyked me; A regarder le leu plaisant.
wonder glad was I to see De l'iaue clere et reluisant
usty place, and that riveer; Mon vis rafreschi et lavé.
with that water that ran so cleer 120
Si vi125
tot covert et pavé

ce I wissh. Tho saugh I wel Le fons de l'iaue de gravele;
otme paved everydel La praérie grant et bele
gravel, ful of stones shene. Très au pié de l'iaue batoit.
edewe softe, swote, and grene, Clere et serie et bele estoit
ight on the water-syde. La matinée et atrempeé;
Lors130
m'en alai parmi la prée
eer was than the morow-tyde, Contre val l'iaue esbanoiant,
ul attempre, out of drede.
an I walke through the mede,
ward ay in my pleying,
ver-syde costeying. Tot le rivage costoiant.
Quant
135 j'oi ung poi avant alé,
d whan I had a whyle goon, 130
The Garden.
Si vi ung vergier grant et lé,
h a Gardin right anoon, Tot clos d'ung haut mur bataillié,
ng and brood, and everydel Portrait defors et entaillié
s it was, and walled wel, A maintes riches escritures.
hye walles enbatailled, Les ymages et les paintures
Ai moult
140 volentiers remiré:
yed without, and wel entailled Si vous conteré et diré
many riche portraitures; De ces ymages la semblance,
othe images and peyntures Si cum moi vient à remembrance.
biholde bisily.
wol telle you, redily,
145 Haïne.
ke images the semblaunce, Ens où milieu je vi Haïne
as I have remembraunce. 140
Qui
Hate.
de corrous et d'ataïne
midde saugh I Hate stonde, Sembloit bien estre moverresse,
or hir wrathe, ire, and onde, Et correceuse et tencerresse,
d to been a moveresse, Et plaine de grant cuvertage
Estoit
150par semblant cele ymage.
gry wight, a chideresse; Si n'estoit pas bien atornée,
ul of gyle, and fel corage, Ains sembloit estre forcenée,
mblaunt was that ilke image. Rechignie avoit et froncié
he was no-thing wel arrayed, Le vis, et le nés secorcié.
k a wood womman afrayed;
155
nced foule was hir visage,
renning for dispitous rage;
se snorted up for tene.
dous was she for to sene, Par grant hideur fu soutilliée,
ul and rusty was she, this. 150
Et si160
estoit entortillée
ed y-writhen was, y-wis, Hideusement d'une toaille.
imly with a greet towayle.
Felonye. Felonnie.
image of another entayle, Une autre ymage d'autel taille
half, was hir faste by; A senestre vi delez lui;
me above hir heed saugh I, Son non desus sa teste lui;
Apellée
165 estoit Felonnie.

he was called Felonye. Vilennie.
Vilanye.
Une ymage qui Vilonie
other image, that Vilanye Avoit non, revi devers destre,
ed was, saugh I and fond Qui estoit auques d'autel estre
the walle on hir right hond. Cum ces deus et d'autel féture;
e was lyk somdel 160
Bien170
sembloit male créature,
ther image; and, trusteth wel, Et despiteuse et orguilleuse,
med a wikked creature. Et mesdisant et ramponeuse.
untenaunce, in portrayture, Moult sot bien paindre et bien portraire
med be ful despitous, Cil qui tiex ymages sot faire:
ek ful proud and outrageous. Car bien sembloit chose vilaine,
De dolor
175 et de despit plaine;
oude he peynte, I undertake, Et fame qui petit séust
wiche image coude make. D'honorer ceus qu'ele déust.
ul and cherlish semed she,
ek vilaynous for to be,
tel coude of norture,
180
rshipe any creature.
Coveityse. Couvoitise.
d next was peynted Coveityse, Après fu painte Coveitise:
ggeth folk, in many gyse, 170
e and yeve right nought ageyn, C'est cele qui les gens atise
rete tresours up to leyn. De prendre et de noient donner,
Et les
185grans avoirs aüner.
hat is she that for usure C'est cele qui fait à usure
h to many a creature Prester mains por la grant ardure
sse for the more winning, D'avoir conquerre et assembler.
veitous is her brenning. C'est cele qui semont d'embler
hat is she, for penyes fele, Les larrons et les ribaudiaus;
Si est
190grans pechiés et grans diaus
echeth for to robbe and stele Qu'en la fin en estuet mains pendre.
theves, and these smale harlotes; 180
hat is routhe, for by hir throtes C'est cele qui fait l'autrui prendre,
any oon hangeth at the laste. Rober, tolir et bareter,
aketh folk compasse and caste Et bescochier et mesconter;
C'est195
cele qui les trichéors
en other folkes thing, Fait tous et les faus pledéors,
gh robberie, or miscounting. Qui maintes fois par lor faveles
hat is she that maketh trechoures; Ont as valés et as puceles
he [that] maketh false pledoures, Lor droites herites toluës.
with hir termes and hir domes Recorbillies et croçües
Avoit
200les mains icele ymage;
maydens, children, and eek gromes 190
ritage to forgo. Ce fu drois: car toz jors esrage
oked were hir hondes two; Coveitise de l'autrui prendre.
oveityse is ever wood
pen other folkes good. Coveitise ne set entendre
A riens
205 qu'à l'autrui acrochier;
yse, for hir winning, Coveitise à l'autrui trop chier.

ef hath other mennes thing. Avarice.
Avarice.
Une autre ymage y ot assise
other image set saugh I Coste à coste de Coveitise,
Coveityse faste by, Avarice estoit apelée:
he was cleped Avarice. Lede estoit et sale et foulée
Cele210
ymage, et megre et chetive,
ul in peynting was that vice; 200
d and caytif was she eek, Et aussi vert cum une cive.
l-so grene as any leek. Tant par estoit descolorée
el hewed was hir colour, Qu'el sembloit estre enlangorée;
med have lived in langour. Chose sembloit morte de fain,
Qui215
ne vesquit fors que de pain
as lyk thing for hungre deed, Petri à lessu fort et aigre;
adde hir lyf only by breed Et avec ce qu'ele iere maigre,
n with eisel strong and egre; Iert-ele povrement vestuë,
herto she was lene and megre. Cote avoit viés et desrumpuë,
he was clad ful povrely, Comme s'el fust as chiens remese;
220 210
an old torn courtepy, Povre iert moult la cote et esrese,
were al with dogges torn; Et plaine de viés palestiaus.
othe bihinde and eek biforn Delez li pendoit ung mantiaus
d was she beggarly. A une perche moult greslete,
tel heng hir faste by, Et une cote de brunete;
Où mantiau
225 n'ot pas penne vaire,
a perche, weyke and smalle;
net cote heng therwithalle,
with no menivere,
ith a furre rough of here, Mes moult viés et de povre afaire,
mbe-skinnes hevy and blake; D'agniaus noirs velus et pesans.
Bien230
avoit la robe vingt ans;
ful old, I undertake. Mès Avarice du vestir
varice to clothe hir wel 220
steth hir, never a del; Se sot moult à tart aatir:
rteynly it were hir loth Car sachiés que moult li pesast
ren ofte that ilke cloth; Se cele robe point usast;
Car 235
s'el fust usée et mauvese,
it were forwered, she Avarice éust grant mesese
have ful greet necessitee De noeve robe et grant disete,
thing, er she boughte hir newe, Avant qu'ele éust autre fete.
re it bad of wolle and hewe. Avarice en sa main tenoit
Avarice held in hir hande Une borse qu'el reponnoit,
Et la240
nooit si durement,
, that heng [doun] by a bande; 230
hat she hidde and bond so stronge, Que demorast moult longuement
must abyde wonder longe Ainçois qu'el en péust riens traire,
that purs er ther come ought, Mès el n'avoit de ce que faire.
at ne cometh not in hir thought; El n'aloit pas à ce béant
Que245
de la borse ostat néant.
not, certein, hir entente Envie.
ro that purs a peny wente. Après refu portrete Envie,
Qui
Envye.
ne rist oncques en sa vie,

d by that image, nygh y-nough, N'oncques de riens ne s'esjoï,
eynt Envye, that never lough, S'ele ne vit, ou s'el n'oï
ever wel in herte ferde
250
she outher saugh or herde
reet mischaunce, or greet disese. Aucun grant domage retrere.
ng may so moch hir plese 240
schef and misaventure; Nule riens ne li puet tant plere
an she seeth discomfiture Cum mefet et mesaventure;
Quant
255el voit grant desconfiture
any worthy man falle, Sor aucun prodomme chéoir,
yketh hir [ful] wel withalle. Ice li plest moult à véoir.
ful glad in hir corage, Ele est trop lie en son corage
see any greet linage Quant el voit aucun grant lignage
ught to nought in shamful wyse. Dechéoir et aler à honte;
Et quant
260 aucuns à honor monte
a man in honour ryse, Par son sens ou par sa proéce,
his witte, or by prowesse, 250
t hath she gret hevinesse; C'est la chose qui plus la bléce.
usteth wel, she goth nigh wood Car sachiés que moult la convient
any chaunce happeth good. Estre irée quant biens avient.
Envie
265est de tel cruauté,
is of swich crueltee, Qu'ele ne porte léauté
eith ne trouthe holdeth she A compaignon, ne à compaigne;
end ne felawe, bad or good. N'ele n'a parent, tant li tiengne,
e hath kin noon of hir blood, A cui el ne soit anemie:
he nis ful hir enemy; Car certes el ne vorroit mie
Que270
biens venist, neis à son pere.
olde, I dar seyn hardely, 260
wne fader ferde wel. Mès bien sachiés qu'ele compere
ore abyeth she everydel Sa malice trop ledement:
alice, and hir maltalent:
e is in so greet turment Car ele est en si grant torment,
Et a275
tel duel quant gens bien font,
ath such [wo], whan folk doth good, Par ung petit qu'ele ne font.
igh she melteth for pure wood; Ses felons cuers l'art et detrenche,
rte kerveth and to-breketh Qui de li Diex et la gent venche.
od the peple wel awreketh. Envie ne fine nule hore
, y-wis, shal never lette D'aucun blasme as gens metre sore;
Je cuit
280que s'ele cognoissoit
lame upon the folk to sette. 270
e that if Envye, y-wis, Tot le plus prodome qui soit
e the beste man that is Ne deçà mer, ne delà mer,
s syde or biyond the see, Si le vorroit-ele blasmer;
mwhat lakken him wolde she. Et s'il iere si bien apris
Qu'el
285ne péust de tot son pris
he were so hende and wys, Rien abatre ne deprisier,
he ne mighte al abate his prys, Si vorroit-ele apetisier
lde she blame his worthinesse, Sa proéce au mains, et s'onor
hir wordes make it lesse. Par parole faire menor.
Lors vi qu'Envie en la painture

280
h Envye, in that peynting, Avoit trop lede esgardéure;
Ele 290
ne regardast noient
a wonderful loking; Fors de travers en borgnoiant;
e ne loked but awry, Ele avoit ung mauvès usage,
erthwart, al baggingly. Qu'ele ne pooit où visage
he hadde [eek] a foul usage; Regarder reins de plain en plaing,
ighte loke in no visage Ains clooit ung oel par desdaing,
295
n or womman forth-right pleyn,
ette oon yë for disdeyn;
envye brenned she Qu'ele fondoit d'ire et ardoit,
she mighte any man [y]-see, Quant aucuns qu'ele regardoit,
air, or worthy were, or wys, Estoit ou preus, ou biaus, ou gens,
300 290
es stood in folkes prys. Ou amés, ou loés de gens.
Sorowe. Tristesse.
rowe was peynted next Envye Delez Envie auques près iere
that walle of masonrye. Tristece painte en la maisiere;
el was seen in hir colour Mès bien paroit à sa color
he hadde lived in langour; Qu'ele avoit au cuer grant dolor,
Et sembloit
305 avoir la jaunice.
med have the Iaunyce. Si n'i feïst riens Avarice
ht half so pale was Avaryce, Ne de paleur, ne de mégrece,
o-thing lyk, [as] of lenesse; Car li soucis et la destrece,
rowe, thought, and greet distresse, Et la pesance et les ennuis
he hadde suffred day and night 300
Qu'el
310
soffroit de jors et de nuis,
hir ful yelwe, and no-thing bright, L'avoient moult fete jaunir,
de, pale, and megre also. Et megre et pale devenir.
ever wight yit half so wo Oncques mès nus en tel martire
t hir semed for to be, Ne fu, ne n'ot ausinc grant ire
fulfilled of ire as she. Cum il sembloit que ele éust:
Je cuit
315que nus ne li séust
e that no wight mighte hir plese, Faire riens qui li péust plaire:
o that thing that mighte hir ese; N'el ne se vosist pas retraire,
he ne wolde hir sorowe slake, Ne réconforter à nul fuer
omfort noon unto hir take; 310
Du duel qu'ele avoit à son cuer.
pe was hir wo bigonnen, Trop avoit son cuer correcié,
Et son
320duel parfont commencié.
ek hir herte in angre ronnen, Moult sembloit bien qu'el fust dolente,
wful thing wel semed she. Qu'ele n'avoit mie esté lente
he hadde no-thing slowe be D'esgratiner tote sa chiere;
forcracchen al hir face, N'ele n'avoit pas sa robe chiere,
or to rende in many place Ains l'ot en mains leus descirée
Cum325cele qui moult iert irée.
othes, and for to tere hir swire, Si cheveul tuit destrecié furent,
that was fulfilled of ire; 320
l to-torn lay eek hir here Et espandu par son col jurent,
e hir shuldres, here and there, Que les avoit trestous desrous

that hadde it al to-rent De maltalent et de corrous.
Et sachiés
330 bien veritelment
gre and for maltalent. Qu'ele ploroit profondément:
ek I telle you certeynly Nus, tant fust durs, ne la véist,
hat she weep ful tenderly. A cui grant pitié n'en préist,
ld nis wight so hard of herte Qu'el se desrompoit et batoit,
adde seen hir sorowes smerte, Et ses poins ensemble hurtoit.
Moult
335iert à duel fere ententive
olde have had of hir pitee, 330
-bigoon a thing was she. La dolereuse, la chetive;
to-dasshte hir-self for wo, Il ne li tenoit d'envoisier,
moot togider her handes two. Ne d'acoler, ne de baisier:
we was she ful ententyf, Car cil qui a le cuer dolent,
340
woful recchelees caityf;
ughte litel of pleying,
clipping or [of] kissing;
ho-so sorweful is in herte
ste not to pleye ne sterte, Sachiés de voir, il n'a talent
De dancier,
345 ne de karoler,
r to daunsen, ne to singe, Ne nus ne se porroit moller
y his herte in temper bringe Qui duel éust, à joie faire,
ke Ioye on even or morowe; Car duel et joie sont contraire.
ye is contraire unto sorowe. Vieillesse.
Après
Elde.fu Viellece portraite,
de was peynted after this, 340
Qui350
estoit bien ung pié retraite
horter was a foot, ywis, De tele cum el soloit estre;
he was wont in her yonghede. A paine se pooit-el pestre,
he hir-self she mighte fede; Tant estoit vielle et radotée.
le and eek so old was she Bien estoit si biauté gastée,
aded was al hir beautee. Et moult ert lede devenuë.
Toute
355sa teste estoit chenuë,
lowe was waxen hir colour, Et blanche cum s'el fust florie.
ed for-hoor was, whyt as flour. Ce ne fut mie grant morie
gret qualm ne were it noon, S'ele morust, ne grans pechiés,
ne, although hir lyf were gon. 350
xen was hir body unwelde, Car tous ses cors estoit sechiés
De viellece
360 et anoiantis:
rye, and dwyned al for elde. Moult estoit jà ses vis fletris,
forwelked thing was she Qui jadis fut soef et plains;
whylom round and softe had be. Mès or est tous de fronces plains,
es shoken fast withalle, Les oreilles avoit mossues,
m her heed they wolde falle. Et trestotes les dents perdues,
Si qu'ele
365 n'en avoit neis une.
ce frounced and forpyned, Tant par estoit de grant viellune,
othe hir hondes lorn, fordwyned.
she was that she ne wente Qu'el n'alast mie la montance
, but it were by potente. 360
De
Time.
quatre toises sans potance.
e Tyme, that passeth night and day, Li tens qui s'en va nuit et jor,

Sans370
repos prendre et sans sejor,
estelees travayleth ay, Et qui de nous se part et emble
eleth from us so prively, Si celéement, qu'il nous semble
o us seemeth sikerly Qu'il s'arreste adés en ung point,
in oon point dwelleth ever, Et il ne s'i arreste point,
ertes, it ne resteth never, Ains ne fine de trepasser,
Que375nus ne puet néis penser
th so faste, and passeth ay, Quex tens ce est qui est présens;
her nis man that thinke may 370
tyme that now present is: Sel' demandés as clers lisans,
h at these clerkes this; Ainçois que l'en l'éust pensé,
r] men thinke it redily, Seroit-il jà trois tens passé.
Li tens
380qui ne puet sejourner,
tymes been y-passed by. Ains vait tous jors sans retorner,
me, that may not soiourne, Cum l'iaue qui s'avale toute,
th, and never may retourne, N'il n'en retorne arriere goute:
ter that doun renneth ay, Li tens vers qui noient ne dure,
ver drope retourne may; Ne fer ne chose tant soit dure,
Car 385
il gaste tout et menjue;
may no-thing as tyme endure, 380
nor erthely creature; Li tens qui tote chose mue,
e thing it fret and shal: Qui tout fait croistre et tout norist,
me eek, that chaungeth al, Et qui tout use et tout porrist;
l doth waxe and fostred be,
390
lle thing distroyeth he:
me, that eldeth our auncessours Li tens qui enviellist nos peres,
ldeth kinges and emperours, Et viellist roys et emperieres,
hat us alle shal overcomen Et qui tous nous enviellira,
t deeth us shal have nomen: Ou mort nous desavancera;
Li tens
395qui toute a la baillie
me, that hath al in welde Des gens viellir, l'avoit viellie
en folk, had maad hir elde Si durement, qu'au mien cuidier
y, that, to my witing, 390
ighte helpe hir-self no-thing, El ne se pooit mès aidier,
rned ageyn unto childhede; Ains retornoit jà en enfance,
Car 400
certes el n'avoit poissance,
ad no-thing hir-self to lede, Ce cuit-je, ne force, ne sens
t ne pith in[with] hir holde Ne plus c'un enfés de deus ans.
than a child of two yeer olde. Ne porquant, au mien escient,
theles, I trowe that she Ele avoit esté sage et gent,
air sumtyme, and fresh to see, Quant ele iert en son droit aage;
Mais405
ge cuit qu'el n'iere mès sage,
she was in hir rightful age: Ains iert trestote rassotée.
e was past al that passage 400
was a doted thing bicomen. Si ot d'une chape forrée
ed cope on had she nomen; Moult bien, si cum je me recors,
ad she clad hir-self and warm, Abrié et vestu son corps:
Bien410
fu vestue et chaudement,
ld mighte elles doon hir harm. Car el éust froit autrement.
olde folk have alwey colde, Les vielles gens ont tost froidure;

nde is swiche, whan they ben olde. Bien savés que c'est lor nature.
Papelardie.
Une ymage ot emprès escrite,
Pope-holy.
Qui sembloit bien estre ypocrite;
other thing was doon ther write,
emede lyk an ipocrite,
Papelardie
415 ert apelée.
was cleped Pope-holy. 410
ke is she that prively C'est cele qui en recelée,
areth never a wikked dede, Quant nus ne s'en puet prendre garde,
men of hir taken non hede; De nul mal faire ne se tarde.
maketh hir outward precious, El fait dehors le marmiteus,
Si a420
le vis simple et piteus,
pale visage and pitous, Et semble sainte créature;
emeth a simple creature; Mais sous ciel n'a male aventure
er nis no misaventure Qu'ele ne pense en son corage.
he ne thenketh in hir corage. Moult la ressembloit bien l'ymage
k to hir was that image, Qui faite fu à sa semblance,
425 420
maked was lyk hir semblaunce. Qu'el fu de simple contenance;
as ful simple of countenaunce, Et si fu chaucie et vestue
he was clothed and eek shod, Tout ainsinc cum fame rendue.
were, for the love of god, En sa main ung sautier tenoit,
n to religioun, Et sachiés que moult se penoit
De faire
430 à Dieu prieres faintes,
semed hir devocioun. Et d'appeler et sains et saintes.
er held she faste in honde, El ne fu gaie, ne jolive,
isily she gan to fonde Ains fu par semblant ententive
ke many a feynt prayere Du tout à bonnes ovres faire;
d, and to his seyntes dere. 430
Et si435
avoit vestu la haire.
e was gay, fresh, ne Iolyf, Et sachiés que n'iere pas grasse,
med be ful ententyf
de werkes, and to faire,
herto she had on an haire.
tes, she was fat no-thing,
De jeuner
440 sembloit estre lasse,
med wery for fasting; S'avoit la color pale et morte.
our pale and deed was she. A li et as siens ert la porte
hir the gate [shal] werned be Dévéée de Paradis;
adys, that blisful place; Car icel gent si font lor vis
wich folk maketh lene hir face, Amegrir, ce dit l'Evangile,
Por 445
avoir loz parmi la ville,
st seith in his evangyle, Et por un poi de gloire vaine
e hem prys in toun a whyle; 440
or a litel glorie veine Qui lor toldra Dieu et son raine.
esen god and eek his reine. Povreté.
Povert.
Portraite fu au darrenier
d alderlast of everichoon, Povreté, qui ung seul denier
N'éust
450pas, s'el se déust pendre,
eynted Povert al aloon, Tant séust bien sa robe vendre;

ot a peny hadde in wolde, Qu'ele iere nuë comme vers:
ugh [that] she hir clothes solde, Se li tens fust ung poi divers,
hough she shulde anhonged be; Je cuit qu'ele acorast de froit,
ked as a worm was she. Qu'el n'avoit c'ung vié sac estroit
Tout455
plain de mavès palestiaus;
the weder stormy were, 450
lde she shulde have deyed there. Ce iert sa robe et ses mantiaus.
adde on but a streit old sak, El n'avoit plus que afubler,
many a clout on it ther stak; Grant loisir avoit de trembler.
was hir cote and hir mantel,
460
ore was there, never a del,
the her with; I undertake,
eyser hadde she to quake.
he was put, that I of talke, Des autres fu un poi loignet;
o these other, up in an halke; Cum chien honteus en ung coignet
Se cropoit
465 et s'atapissoit,
lurked and there coured she, Car povre chose, où qu'ele soit,
vre thing, wher-so it be, Est adès boutée et despite.
mfast, and despysed ay. L'eure soit ore la maudite,
ed may wel be that day, Que povres homs fu concéus!
ovre man conceyved is; 460
Qu'il470
ne sera jà bien péus,
d wot, al to selde, y-wis, Ne bien vestus, ne bien chauciés,
povre man wel fed, Néis amés, ne essauciés.
l arayed or y-cled, Ces ymages bien avisé,
l biloved, in swich wyse Qui, si comme j'ai devisé,
our that he may aryse. Furent à or et à asur
De toutes
475 pars paintes où mur.
e these thinges, wel avysed, Haut fu li mur et tous quarrés,
ave you er this devysed, Si en fu bien clos et barrés,
gold and asure over alle En leu de haies, uns vergiers,
nted were upon the walle. 470
was the wal, and high somdel; Où onc n'avoit entré bergiers.
Cis 480
vergiers en trop bel leu sist:
sed, and y-barred wel, Qui dedens mener me vousist
de of hegge, was that gardin; Ou par échiele ou par degré,
never shepherde therin. Je l'en séusse moult bon gré;
at gardyn, wel [y-]wrought,
o that me coude have brought,
485
dre, or elles by degree,
de wel have lyked me.
wich solace, swich Ioye, and play, Car tel joie ne tel déduit
e that never man ne say, Ne vit nus hons, si cum ge cuit,
hat place delitous. Cum il avoit en ce vergier:
Car 490
li leus d'oisiaus herbergier
ardin was not daungerous N'estoit ne dangereux ne chiches.
berwe briddes many oon. 480
he a yerd was never noon Onc mès ne fu nus leus si riches
ddes songe, and braunches grene. D'arbres, ne d'oisillons chantans:

were briddes mo, I wene, Qu'il i avoit d'oisiaus trois tans
Qu'en
495tout le remanant de France.
been in alle the rewme of Fraunce. Moult estoit bele l'acordance
sful was the accordaunce De lor piteus chant à oïr:
ete and pitous songe they made, Tous li mons s'en dust esjoïr.
this world it oughte glade. Je endroit moi m'en esjoï
my-self so mery ferde, Si durement, quant les oï,
Que500
n'en préisse pas cent livres,
I hir blisful songes herde, 490
or an hundred pound nolde I,— Se li passages fust delivres,
the passage openly Que ge n'entrasse ens et véisse
been unto me free— L'assemblée (que Diex garisse!)
nolde entren for to see Des oisiaus qui léens estoient,
Qui505
envoisiement chantoient
emblee, god [it kepe and were!]— Les dances d'amors et les notes
ddes, whiche therinne were, Plesans, cortoises et mignotes.
ongen, through hir mery throtes, Quant j'oï les oisiaus chanter,
es of love, and mery notes. Forment me pris à dementer
an I thus herde foules singe,
510
ste in a weymentinge,
ich art, or by what engyn Par quel art ne par quel engin
te come in that gardyn; 500
ay I couthe finde noon Je porroie entrer où jardin;
at gardin for to goon. Mès ge ne poi onques trouver
Leu515par où g'i péusse entrer.
ught wiste I if that ther were Et sachiés que ge ne savoie
hole or place [o]-where, S'il i avoït partuis ne voie,
ich I mighte have entree; Ne leu par où l'en i entrast,
r was noon to teche me; Ne hons nés qui le me monstrast
was al aloon, y-wis, N'iert illec, que g'iere tot seus,
Moult520destroit et moult angoisseus;
o and anguissous of this. Tant qu'au darrenier me sovint
e laste bithoughte I me, 510
y no weye ne mighte it be; C'oncques à nul jor ce n'avint
her nas laddre or wey to passe, Qu'en si biau vergier n'éust huis,
e, into so fair a place. Ou eschiele ou aucun partuis.
Lors
525 m'en alai grant aléure
o gan I go a ful gret pas Açaignant la compasséure
oning even in compas Et la cloison du mur quarré,
osing of the square wal, Tant que ung guichet bien barré
t I fond a wiket smal Trovai petitet et estroit;
t, that I ne mighte in goon, Par autre leu l'en n'i entroit.
A l'uis
530commençai à ferir,
ther entree was ther noon. 520
TheAutre
Door.entrée n'i soi querir.
on this dore I gan to smyte, Assez i feri et boutai,
was [so] fetys and so lyte; Et par maintes fois escoutai
her wey coude I not seke.
ng I shoof, and knokked eke,
Se j'orroie
535 venir nulle arme.

ood ful long and of[t] herkning Le guichet, qui estoit de charme,
I herde a wight coming; M'ovrit une noble pucele
t the dore of thilke entree Qui moult estoit et gente et bele.
Ydelnesse.
Cheveus ot blons cum uns bacins,
den curteys opened me. La char plus tendre qu'uns pocins,
er was as yelowe of hewe Front reluisant, sorcis votis.
540 530
y basin scoured newe. Son entr'oil ne fu pas petis,
sh [as] tendre as is a chike, Ains iert assez grans par mesure;
bente browes, smothe and slike; Le nés ot bien fait à droiture,
y mesure large were Les yex ot plus vairs c'uns faucons,
pening of hir yën clere. Por faire envie à ces bricons.
Douce
545alene ot et savorée,
se of good proporcioun, La face blanche et colorée,
n greye as a faucoun, La bouche petite et grocete,
wete breeth and wel savoured. S'ot où menton une fossete.
ce whyt and wel coloured, Le col fu de bonne moison,
itel mouth, and round to see; 540
Gros550assez et lons par raison,
e chin eek hadde she. Si n'i ot bube ne malen.
kke was of good fasoun N'avoit jusqu'en Jherusalen
gthe and gretnesse, by resoun, Fame qui plus biau col portast,
ute bleyne, scabbe, or royne. Polis iert et soef au tast.
rusalem unto Burgoyne La gorgete ot autresi blanche
Cum555 est la noif desus la branche
is a fairer nekke, y-wis,
e how smothe and softe it is.
rote, al-so whyt of hewe
ow on braunche snowed newe.
dy ful wel wrought was she Quant il a freschement negié.
Le cors
560 ot bien fait et dougié,
eded not, in no cuntree, L'en ne séust en nule terre
er body for to seke. 550
f fyn orfrays had she eke Nul plus bel cors de fame querre.
pelet: so semly oon D'orfrois ot un chapel mignot;
red never mayde upon;.... Onques nule pucele n'ot
Plus565
cointe ne plus desguisié,
aire above that chapelet Ne l'aroie adroit devisié
gerland had she set. En trestous les jors de ma vie.
adde [in honde] a gay mirour, Robe avoit moult bien entaillie;
with a riche gold tressour Ung chapel de roses tout frais
ed was tressed queyntely; Ot dessus le chapel d'orfrais:
En sa
570
main tint ung miroër,
ves sewed fetisly. 560
or to kepe hir hondes faire Si ot d'ung riche treçoër
ves whyte she hadde a paire. Son chief trecié moult richement,
he hadde on a cote of grene Bien et bel et estroitement
th of Gaunt; withouten wene, Ot ambdeus cousues ses manches;
Et por
575garder que ses mains blanches
med by hir apparayle Ne halaissent, ot uns blans gans.
as not wont to greet travayle. Cote ot d'ung riche vert de gans,

han she kempt was fetisly, Cousue à lignel tout entour.
wel arayed and richely, Il paroit bien à son atour
e had she doon al hir Iournee; Qu'ele iere poi embesoignie.
580 570
ery and wel bigoon was she. Quant ele s'iere bien pignie,
Et bien parée et atornée,
Ele avoit faite sa jornée.
dde a lusty lyf in May, Moult avoit bon tems et bon May,
adde no thought, by night ne day, Qu'el n'avoït soussi ne esmay
thing, but it were oonly De nule riens, fors solement
ythe hit wel and uncouthly. De soi atorner noblement.
Quant
585 ainsinc m'ot l'uis deffermé
an that this dore hadde opened me La pucele au cors acesmé,
mayden, semely for to see, Je l'en merciai doucement,
ked hir as I best mighte, 580
xede hir how that she highte, Et si li demandai comment
what she was, I axede eke. Ele avoit non, et qui ele iere.
Ele 590
ne fu pas envers moi fiere,
he to me was nought unmeke, Ne de respondre desdaigneuse:
hir answer daungerous, Je me fais apeler Oiseuse,'
ire answerde, and seide thus:— Dist-ele, 'à tous mes congnoissans;
, my name is Ydelnesse; Si sui riche fame et poissans.
pe men me, more and lesse. S'ai d'une chose moult bon tens,
Car 595
à nule riens je ne pens
ghty and ful riche am I, Qu'à moi joer et solacier,
hat of oon thing, namely; 590
ntende to no-thing Et mon chief pignier et trecier:
my Ioye, and my pleying, Quant sui pignée et atornée,
or to kembe and tresse me. Adonc est fete ma jornée.
Privée
600sui moult et acointe
nted am I, and privee De Déduit le mignot, le cointe;
Mirthe, lord of this gardyn, C'est cil cui est cest biax jardins,
ro the lande of Alexandryn Qui de la terre as Sarradins
the trees be hider fet, Fist çà ces arbres aporter,
n this gardin been y-set. Qu'il fist par ce vergier planter.
Quant
605li arbres furent créu,
whan the trees were woxen on highte, 600
wal, that slant here in thy sighte, Le mur que vous avez véu,
Mirthe enclosen al aboute; Fist lors Deduit tout entor faire,
hese images, al withoute, Et si fist au dehors portraire
de hem bothe entaile and peynte, Les ymages qui i sunt paintes,
Que610ne sunt mignotes ne cointes;
either ben Iolyf ne queynte, Ains sunt dolereuses et tristes,
ey ben ful of sorowe and wo, Si cum vous orendroit véistes.
u hast seen a whyle ago. Maintes fois por esbanoier
d ofte tyme, him to solace, Se vient en cest leu umbroier
rthe cometh into this place, Déduit et les gens qui le sivent,
615 610
ek with him cometh his meynee, Qui en joie et en solas vivent.
ven in lust and Iolitee. Encores est léens, sans doute,
ow is Mirthe therin, to here Déduit orendroit qui escoute

iddes, how they singen clere, A chanter gais rossignolés,
avis and the nightingale, Mauvis et autres oiselés.
Il s'esbat
620 iluec et solace
ther Ioly briddes smale. O ses gens, car plus bele place
hus he walketh to solace Ne plus biau leu por soi joer
nd his folk; for swetter place Ne porroit-il mie trover;
yen in he may not finde, Les plus beles gens, ce sachiés,
ugh he soughte oon in-til Inde. 620
Que625
vous jamès nul leu truissiés,
ther-fairest folk to see Si sunt li compaignon Déduit
n this world may founde be Qu'il maine avec li et conduit.'
Mirthe with him in his route,
olowen him alwayes aboute.'
en Ydelnesse had told al this, Quant Oiseuse m'ot ce conté,
Et j'oi
630moult bien tout escouté,
hadde herkned wel, y-wis, Je li dis lores: 'Dame Oiseuse,
eide I to dame Ydelnesse, Jà de ce ne soyés douteuse,
l-so wisly god me blesse, Puis que Déduit li biaus, li gens
Mirthe, that is so fair and free, Est orendroit avec ses gens
his yerde with his meynee, En cest vergier, ceste assemblée
635 630
ilke assemblee, if I may, Ne m'iert pas, se je puis, emblée,
o man werne me to-day, Que ne la voie encore ennuit;
this night ne mote it see. Véoir la m'estuet, car ge cuit
el wene I, ther with him be Que bele est cele compaignie,
and Ioly companye Et cortoise et bien enseignie.'
Lors640
m'en entrai, ne dis puis mot,
ed of alle curtesye.' Par l'uis que Oiseuse overt m'ot,
orth, withoute wordes mo, Où vergier; et quant je fui ens
he wiket wente I tho, Je fui liés et baus et joiens.
Ydelnesse hadde opened me, Et sachiés que je cuidai estre
at gardin fair to see. 640
Por 645
voir en Paradis terrestre,
d whan I was [ther]in, y-wis, Tant estoit li leu delitables,
The Garden.
Qu'il sembloit estre esperitables:
erte was ful glad of this. Car si cum il m'iert lors avis,
el wende I ful sikerly Ne féist en nul Paradis
been in paradys erth[e]ly; Si bon estre, cum il faisoit
r it was, that, trusteth wel, Où vergier qui tant me plaisoit.
650
ed a place espirituel.
rtes, as at my devys,
s no place in paradys
od in for to dwelle or be
hat Gardin, thoughte me;
D'oisiaus
655 chantans avoit assés
ere was many a brid singing, Par tout le vergier amassés;
ghout the yerde al thringing. En ung leu avoit rossigniaus,
ny places were nightingales, 650
finches, and wodewales, En l'autre gais et estorniaus;
n her swete song delyten Si r'avoit aillors grans escoles

De roietiaus
660 et torteroles,
ke place as they habyten. De chardonnereaus, d'arondeles,
mighte men see many flokkes D'aloes et de lardereles;
tles and [of] laverokkes. Calendres i ot amassées
undres fele saw I there, En ung autre leu, qui lassées
wery, nigh forsongen were. De chanter furent à envis:
Melles
665y avoit et mauvis
hrustles, terins, and mavys, Qui baoient à sormonter
ongen for to winne hem prys, 660
ek to sormounte in hir song Ces autres oisiaus par chanter.
other briddes hem among. Il r'avoit aillors papegaus,
te made fair servyse Et mains oisiaus qui par ces gaus
Et par
670ces bois où il habitent,
briddes, that I you devyse; En lor biau chanter se délitent.
onge hir song as faire and wel Trop parfesoient bel servise
gels doon espirituel. Cil oisel que je vous devise;
rusteth wel, whan I hem herde, Il chantoient ung chant itel
stily and wel I ferde; Cum s'il fussent esperitel.
De voir
675 sachiés, quant les oï,
ver yit swich melodye 670
erd of man that mighte dye. Moult durement m'en esjoï:
Que mès si douce mélodie
Ne fu d'omme mortel oïe.
swete song was hem among, Tant estoit cil chans dous et biaus,
me thoughte it no briddes song, Qu'il ne sombloit pas chans d'oisiaus,
was wonder lyk to be Ains le péust l'en aesmer
A chant
680 de seraines de mer,
of mermaydens of the see; Qui par lor vois, qu'eles ont saines
or her singing is so clere, Et series, ont non seraines.
h we mermaydens clepe hem here
glish, as in our usaunce,
lepen hem sereyns in Fraunce. A chanter furent ententis
685 680
entif weren for to singe Li oisillon qui aprenti
briddes, that nought unkunninge Ne furent pas ne non sachant;
of hir craft, and apprentys, Et sachiés quant j'oï lor chant,
[hir] song sotyl and wys. Et je vi le leu verdaier,
ertes, whan I herde hir song, Je me pris moult à esgaier;
Que690
n'avoie encor esté onques
aw the grene place among, Si jolif cum je fui adonques;
e I wex so wonder gay, Por la grant délitableté
was never erst, er that day, Fui plains de grant jolieté.
yf, nor so wel bigo, Et lores soi-je bien et vi
ry in herte, as I was tho. 690
Que695
Oiseuse m'ot bien servi,
han wiste I, and saw ful wel, Qui m'avoit en tel déduit mis:
Ydelnesse me served wel, Bien déusse estre ses amis,
me putte in swich Iolitee. Quant ele m'avoit deffermé
end wel oughte I for to be, Le guichet du vergier ramé.
he the dore of that gardyn
700

opened, and me leten in.
m hennesforth how that I wroughte, Dès ore si cum je sauré,
you tellen, as me thoughte. Vous conterai comment j'ovré.
whereof Mirthe served there, Primes de quoi Déduit servoit,
ek what folk ther with him were, Et quel compaignie il avoit
Sans705
longue fable vous veil dire,
ute fable I wol descryve. 700
f that gardin eek as blyve Et du vergier tretout à tire
you tellen after this. La façon vous redirai puis.
ire fasoun al, y-wis, Tout ensemble dire ne puis,
wel [y-]wrought was for the nones, Mès tout vous conteré par ordre,
Que710
l'en n'i sache que remordre.
not telle you al at ones:
I may and can, I shal
dre tellen you it al. Grant servise et dous et plaisant
fair servyse and eek ful swete Aloient cil oisel faisant;
briddes maden as they sete. Lais d'amors et sonnés cortois
Chantoit
715 chascun en son patois,
of love, ful wel sowning Li uns en haut, li autre en bas;
ongen in hir Iargoning; 710
e highe and summe eek lowe songe De lor chant n'estoit mie gas.
the braunches grene y-spronge. La douçor et la mélodie
weetnesse of hir melodye Me mist où cuer grant reverdie;
Mès720
quant j'oi escouté ung poi
al myn herte in reverdye. Les oisiaus, tenir ne me poi
whan that I hadde herd, I trowe, Que dant Déduit véoir n'alasse;
briddes singing on a rowe, Car à savoir moult desirasse
mighte I not withholde me
ne wente in for to see
Son725
contenement et son estre.
rthe; for my desiring
im to seen, over alle thing,
untenaunce and his manere:
ighte was to me ful dere. Lors m'en alai tout droit à destre,
o wente I forth on my right hond Par une petitete sente
730 720
by a litel path I fond Plaine de fenoil et de mente;
ntes ful, and fenel grene; Mès auques près trové Déduit,
aste by, withoute wene, Car maintenant en ung réduit
Sir Mirthe.
M'en entré où Déduit estoit.
rthe I fond; and right anoon Déduit ilueques s'esbatoit;
ir Mirthe gan I goon, S'avoit si bele gent o soi,
Que735
quant je les vi, je ne soi
s he was, him to solace. Dont si tres beles gens pooient
with him, in that lusty place, Estre venu; car il sembloient
r folk and so fresh hadde he, Tout por voir anges empennés,
whan I saw, I wondred me 730
hennes swich folk mighte come, Si beles gens ne vit homs nés.
740
re they weren, alle and some; Ceste gent dont je vous parole,
ey were lyk, as to my sighte, S'estoient pris à la carole,

gels, that ben fethered brighte. Et une dame lor chantoit,
s folk, of which I telle you so, Qui Léesce apelée estoit:
a carole wenten tho. Bien sot chanter et plesamment,
Ne nule
745 plus avenaument,
caroled hem, that highte Ne plus bel ses refrains ne fist,
Gladnesse.
A chanter merveilles li sist;
es, [the] blisful and the lighte;
oude she singe and lustily,
alf so wel and semely,
make in song swich refreininge,
750
hir wonder wel to singe.
is ful cleer was and ful swete. Qu'ele avoit la vois clere et saine;
as nought rude ne unmete, 740
uthe y-now of swich doing Et si n'estoit mie vilaine;
geth unto caroling: Ains se savoit bien desbrisier,
Ferir755
du pié et renvoisier.
e was wont in every place Ele estoit adès coustumiere
gen first, folk to solace; De chanter en tous leus premiere:
nging most she gaf hir to; Car chanter estoit li mestiers
aft had she so leef to do. Qu'ele faisoit plus volentiers.
o mightest thou caroles seen, Lors véissiés carole aler,
Et gens
760 mignotement baler,
olk [ther] daunce and mery been, Et faire mainte bele tresche,
make many a fair tourning 750
the grene gras springing. Et maint biau tor sor l'erbe fresche.
mightest thou see these floutours, Là véissiés fléutéors,
ales, and eek Iogelours, Menesterez et jougléors;
Si chantent
765 li uns rotruenges,
wel to singe dide hir peyne. Li autres notes Loherenges,
e songe songes of Loreyne; Por ce qu'en set en Loheregne
Loreyne hir notes be Plus cointes notes qu'en nul regne.
wetter than in this contree. Assez i ot tableterresses
was many a timbestere, Ilec entor, et tymberresses
Qui770
moult savoient bien joer,
aylours, that I dar wel swere 760
e hir craft ful parfitly. Et ne finoient de ruer
mbres up ful sotilly Le tymbre en haut, si recuilloient
caste, and henten [hem] ful ofte Sor ung doi, c'onques n'i failloient.
a finger faire and softe,
Deus775
damoiseles moult mignotes,
hey [ne] fayled never-mo. Qui estoient en pures cotes,
is damiselles two, Et trecies à une tresce,
yonge, and fulle of semlihede, Faisoient Déduit par noblesce
les, and non other wede, Enmi la karole baler;
aire tressed every tresse, Mès de ce ne fait à parler
Comme
780 el baloient cointement.
Mirthe doon, for his noblesse, 770
de the carole for to daunce; L'une venoit tout belement
r-of lyth no remembraunce, Contre l'autre; et quant el estoient
hat they daunced queyntely. Près à près, si s'entregetoient

on wolde come al prively Les bouches, qu'il vous fust avis
Que785
s'entrebaisassent où vis:
that other: and whan they were Bien se savoient desbrisier.
e almost, they threwe y-fere Ne vous en sai que devisier;
outhes so, that through hir play Mès à nul jor ne me quéisse
ed as they kiste alway; Remuer, tant que ge véisse
uncen wel coude they the gyse; Ceste gent ainsine efforcier
790 780
shulde I more to you devyse? De caroler et de dancier.
de I never thennes go, La karole tout en estant
s that I saw hem daunce so. Regardai iluec jusqu'à tant
on the carole wonder faste, C'une dame bien enseignie
biholde; til atte laste Me tresvit: ce fu Cortoisie
La vaillant
795 et la debonnaire,
gan me for to espye, Que Diex deffende de contraire.
Curtesye.
he was cleped Curtesye,
orshipful, the debonaire;
god ever falle hir faire!
rteisly she called me, Cortoisie lors m'apela:
Biaus
800amis, que faites-vous là?'
do ye there, beau sire?' quod she, Fait Cortoisie, 'ça venez,
[neer], and if it lyke yow 790
uncen, daunceth with us now.' Et avecque nous vous prenez
withoute tarying, A la karole, s'il vous plest.'
into the caroling. Sans demorance et sans arrest
A la805
karole me sui pris,
abasshed never a del, Si n'en fui pas trop entrepris,
me lykede right wel, Et sachiés que moult m'agréa
Curtesye me cleped so, Quant Cortoisie m'en pria,
ad me on the daunce go. Et me dist que je karolasse;
I hadde durst, certeyn Car de karoler, se j'osasse,
Estoie
810envieus et sorpris.
e have caroled right fayn, 800
n that was to daunce blythe. A regarder lores me pris
gan I loken ofte sythe Les cors, les façons et les chieres,
hap, the bodies, and the cheres, Les semblances et les manieres
ountenaunce and the maneres Des gens qui ilec karoloient:
Si vous
815 dirai quex il estoient.
e the folk that daunced there, Déduit fu biaus et lons et drois,
shal telle what they were. Jamés en terre ne venrois
Mirthe.
Où vous truissiés nul plus bel homme:
fair was Mirthe, ful long and high; La face avoit cum une pomme,
er man I never sigh. Vermoille et blanche tout entour,
und as appel was his face, 810
Cointes
820 fu et de bel atour.
dy and whyt in every place.
he was and wel beseye,
metely mouth and yën greye;
se by mesure wrought ful right; Les yex ot vairs, la bouche gente,
was his heer, and eek ful bright. Et le nez fait par grant entente;

Cheveus
825 ot blons, recercelés,
uldres of a large brede, Par espaules fu auques lés,
malish in the girdilstede. Et gresles parmi la ceinture:
med lyk a portreiture, Il resembloit une painture,
ble he was of his stature, Tant ere biaus et acesmés,
r, so Ioly, and so fetys, Et de tous membres bien formés.
Remuans
830 fu, et preus, et vistes,
imes wrought at poynt devys, 820
r, smert, and of gret might; Plus legier homme ne véistes;
we thou never man so light. Si n'avoit barbe, ne grenon,
de unnethe hadde he no-thing, Se petiz peus folages non,
was in the firste spring. Car il ert jones damoisiaus.
D'un835
samit portret à oysiaus,
ng he was, and mery of thought, Qui ere tout à or batus,
n samyt, with briddes wrought, Fu ses cors richement vestus.
with gold beten fetisly, Moult iert sa robe desguisée,
dy was clad ful richely. Et fu moult riche et encisée,
ght was his robe in straunge gyse, Et décopée par cointise;
840 830
l to-slitered for queyntyse Chauciés refu par grant mestrise
ny a place, lowe and hye. D'uns solers décopés à las;
hod he was with greet maistrye, Par druerie et par solas
hoon decoped, and with laas. Li ot s'amie fet chapel
uerye, and by solas, De roses qui moult li sist bel.
845
ef a rosen chapelet
maad, and on his heed it set.
d wite ye who was his leef? Savés-vous qui estoit s'amie?
Gladnesse.
Léesce qui nel' haoit mie,
Gladnes ther was him so leef, L'envoisie, la bien chantans,
ingeth so wel with glad corage, Qui dès lors qu'el n'ot que sept ans
De s'amor
850 li donna l'otroi;
rom she was twelve yeer of age, 840
hir love graunt him made. Déduit la tint parmi le doi
rthe hir by the finger hadde A la karole, et ele lui,
aunsing, and she him also; Bien s'entr'amoient ambedui:
ove was atwixe hem two. Car il iert biaus, et ele bele,
Bien855
resembloit rose novele
were they faire and brighte of hewe; De sa color. S'ot la char tendre,
mede lyk a rose newe Qu'en la li péust toute fendre
our, and hir flesh so tendre, A une petitete ronce.
with a brere smale and slendre Le front ot blanc, poli, sans fronce,
mighte it cleve, I dar wel sayn. Les sorcis bruns et enarchiés,
860 850
rheed, frounceles al playn. Les yex gros et si envoisiés,
were hir browes two, Qu'il rioient tousjors avant
n greye, and gladde also, Que la bouchete par convant.
aughede ay in hir semblaunt, Je ne vous sai du nés que dire,
r the mouth, by covenaunt. L'en nel' féist pas miex de cire.
Ele 865
ot la bouche petitete,
what of hir nose descryve; Et por baisier son ami, preste;

r hath no womman alyve.... Le chief ot blons et reluisant.
er was yelowe, and cleer shyning, Que vous iroie-je disant?
no lady so lyking. Bele fu et bien atornée;
860
D'ung fil d'or ere galonnée,
S'ot ung chapel d'orfrois tout nuef;
Je qu'en oi véu vint et nuef,
rays fresh was hir gerland; A nul jor mès véu n'avoie
Chapel
870 si bien ouvré de soie.
che seen have a thousand, D'un samit qui ert tous dorés
never, y-wis, no gerlond yit, Fu ses cors richement parés,
l [y]-wrought of silk as it. De quoi son ami avoit robe,
n an over-gilt samyt Si en estoit assés plus gobe.
he was, by gret delyt,
875
ich hir leef a robe werde, A li se tint de l'autre part
yrier she in herte ferde. 870
Cupide.
Li Diex d'Amors, cil qui départ
d next hir wente, on hir other syde, Amoretes à sa devise.
od of Love, that can devyde C'est cil qui les amans justise,
as him lyketh it [to] be. Et qui abat l'orguel des gens,
Et si880
fait des seignors sergens,
can cherles daunten, he, Et des dames refait bajesses,
maken folkes pryde fallen. Quant il les trove trop engresses.
e can wel these lordes thrallen, Li Diex d'Amors, de la façon,
adies putte at lowe degree, Ne resembloit mie garçon:
he may hem to proude see. De beaulté fist moult à prisier,
885 880
s God of Love of his fasoun Mes de sa robe devisier
yk no knave, ne quistroun; Criens durement qu'encombré soie.
autee gretly was to pryse. Il n'avoit pas robe de soie,
his robe to devyse Ains avoit robe de floretes,
e encombred for to be. Fete par fines amoretes
890
ught y-clad in silk was he,
in floures and flourettes,
ted al with amorettes;
with losenges and scochouns, A losenges, à escuciaus,
briddes, libardes, and lyouns, A oiselés, à lionciaus,
Et à895
bestes et à liépars;
ther beestes wrought ful wel. Fu la robe de toutes pars
rnement was everydel Portraite, et ovrée de flors
reyd and y-wrought with floures, 890
vers medling of coloures. Par diverseté de colors.
s ther were of many gyse Flors i avoit de maintes guises
Qui900
furent par grant sens assises;
by compas in assyse; Nulle flor en esté ne nest
akked no flour, to my dome, Qui n'i soit, neis flor de genest,
ught so muche as flour of brome, Ne violete, ne parvanche,
lete, ne eck pervenke, Ne fleur inde, jaune ne blanche;
ur non, that man can on thenke, Si ot par leus entremeslées

Foilles
905de roses grans et lées.
many a rose-leef ful long Il ot où chief ung chapelet
ntermedled ther-among: 900
lso on his heed was set De roses; mès rossignolet
es rede a chapelet. Qui entor son chief voletoient,
ghtingales, a ful gret route, Les foilles jus en abatoient:
Car 910
il iert tout covers d'oisiaus,
lyen over his heed aboute, De papegaus, de rossignaus,
ves felden as they flyen; De calandres et de mesanges;
e was al with briddes wryen, Il sembloit que ce fust uns anges
popiniay, with nightingale,
halaundre, and with wodewale,
915
inch, with lark, and with archaungel.
mede as he were an aungel
oun were comen fro hevene clere. Qui fust tantost venus du ciau.
ve hadde with him a bachelere, Amors avoit ung jovenciau
e made alweyes with him be; Qu'il faisoit estre iluec delés;
920 910
-Loking cleped was he. Douz-Regard estoit apelés.
Swete-Loking.
Ici bachelers regardoit
achelere stood biholding Les caroles, et si gardoit
aunce, and in his honde holding Au Diex d'Amors deux ars turquois.
bowes two hadde he. Li uns des ars si fu d'un bois
on of hem was of a tree Dont li fruit iert mal savorés;
Tous925
plains de nouz et bocerés
ereth a fruyt of savour wikke; Fu li ars dessous et dessore,
oked was that foule stikke, Et si estoit plus noirs que mores.
notty here and there also, Li autres ars fu d'un plançon
lak as bery, or any slo. 920
ther bowe was of a plante Longuet et de gente façon;
Si fu930
bien fait et bien dolés,
ute wem, I dar warante, Et si fu moult bien pipelés.
en, and by proporcioun Dames i ot de tous sens pointes,
and long, of good fasoun. Et valés envoisiés et cointes.
was peynted wel and thwiten, Ices deux ars tint Dous-Regars
ver-al diapred and writen Qui ne sembloit mie estre gars,
Avec 935
dix des floiches son mestre.
adies and with bacheleres, Il en tint cinq en sa main destre;
htsom and [ful] glad of cheres.
bowes two held Swete-Loking,
emed lyk no gadeling.
n brode arowes held he there,
940
ich five in his right hond were.
ey were shaven wel and dight, Mès moult orent ices cinq floiches
d and fethered a-right; 930
l they were with gold bigoon, Les penons bien fais, et les coiches:
ronge poynted everichoon, Si furent toutes à or pointes,
Fors945
et tranchans orent les pointes,
harpe for to kerven weel. Et aguës por bien percier,

en was ther noon ne steel; Et si n'i ot fer ne acier;
was gold, men mighte it see, Onc n'i ot riens qui d'or ne fust,
ke the fetheres and the tree. Fors que les penons et le fust:
Car el furent encarrelées
De sajetes d'or barbelées.
e swiftest of these arowes fyve La meillore et la plus isnele
950 940
a bowe for to dryve, De ces floiches, et la plus bele,
est [y]-fethered for to flee, Et cele où li meillor penon
Beautee.
Furent entés, Biautes ot non.
airest eek, was cleped Beautee. Une d'eles qui le mains blece,
ther arowe, that hurteth lesse, Ot non, ce m'est avis, Simplece.
Simplesse.
Une autre en i ot apelée
eped, as I trowe, Simplesse. Franchise; cele iert empenée
De Valor
955 et de Cortoisie.
ridde cleped was Fraunchyse, La quarte avoit non Compaignie:
Fraunchyse.
En cele ot moult pesant sajete.
ethered was, in noble wyse, 950
valour and with curtesye. Ele n'iert pas d'aler loing preste;
Companye.
Mès qui de près en vosist traire,
urthe was cleped Companye Il en péust assez mal faire.
evy for to sheten is;
960
ho-so sheteth right, y-wis,
herwith doon gret harm and wo.
fte of these, and laste also,
LaFair-
quinte avoit non Biau-Semblant,
emblaunt men that arowe calle, Ce fut toute la mains grévant.
Semblaunt.
Ne porquant el fait moult grant plaie;
este grevous of hem alle; Mès cis atent bonne menaie,
Qui965
de cele floiche est plaiés,
n it make a ful gret wounde, Ses maus en est mielx emplaiés;
may hope his sores sounde, Car il puet tost santé atendre,
urt is with that arowe, y-wis; 960
o the bet bistowed is. S'en doit estre sa dolor mendre.
may soner have gladnesse, Cinq floiches i ot d'autre guise,
Qui970furent lédes à devise:
ngour oughte be the lesse. Li fust estoient et li fer
ve arowes were of other gyse, Plus noirs que déables d'enfer.
een ful foule to devyse; La premiere avoit non Orguex,
aft and ende, sooth to telle, L'autre qui ne valoit pas miex,
al-so blak as feend in helle. Fu apelée Vilenie;
Pryde.
Icele975
fu de felonie
e first of hem is called Pryde; Toute tainte et envenimée.
ther arowe next him bisyde, 970
Vilanye.
La tierce fu Honte clamée,
[y]-cleped Vilanye; Et la quarte Desesperance:
rowe was as with felonye Novel-Penser fu sans doutance
imed, and with spitous blame. Apelée la darreniere.
Shame.Ces
980cinq floiches d'une maniere
ridde of hem was cleped Shame. Furent, et moult bien resemblables;

Wanhope.
Moult par lor estoit convenables
urthe, Wanhope cleped is,
Newe-
fte, the Newe-Thought, y-wis.
Thought.
ese arowes that I speke of here,
alle fyve of oon manere,
985
lle were they resemblable.
m was wel sitting and able
ule croked bowe hidous, Li uns des arcs qui fu hideus,
notty was, and al roynous. Et plains de neus, et eschardeus;
owe semede wel to shete Il devoit bien tiex floiches traire,
990 980
arowes fyve, that been unmete, Car el erent force et contraire
arie to that other fyve. As autres cinq floiches sans doute.
ough I telle not as blyve Mès ne diré pas ore toute
power, ne of hir might, Lor forces, ne lor poestés.
ter shal I tellen right Bien vous sera la verités
Contée,
995 et la sénefiance
the, and eek signifiaunce, Nel'metré mie en obliance;
as I have remembraunce: Ains vous dirai que tout ce monte,
ll be seid, I undertake, Ainçois que je fine mon conte.
his boke an ende I make. Or revendrai à ma parole:
w come I to my tale ageyn. 990
Des1000
nobles gens de la karole
derfirst, I wol you seyn M'estuet dire les contenances,
soun and the countenaunces Et les façons et les semblances.
he folk that on the daunce is. Li Diex d'Amors se fu bien pris
od of Love, Iolyf and light, A une dame de haut pris,
on his honde a lady bright, Et delez lui iert ajoustés:
Icele
1005
dame ot non Biautés,
h prys, and of greet degree. Ainsinc cum une des cinq fleches.
Beautee.
En li ot maintes bonnes teches:
ady called was Beautee, El ne fu oscure, ne brune,
as] an arowe, of which I tolde. 1000
el [y]-thewed was she holde; Ains fu clere comme la lune,
e was derk ne broun, but bright,
1010
leer as [is] the mone-light,
whom alle the sterres semen Envers qui les autres estoiles
male candels, as we demen. Resemblent petites chandoiles.
sh was tendre as dewe of flour, Tendre ot la char comme rousée,
ere was simple as byrde in bour; Simple fu cum une espousée,
Et 1015
blanche comme flor de lis;
yt as lilie or rose in rys, Si ot le vis cler et alis,
ce gentil and tretys. Et fu greslete et alignie;
she was, and smal to see; Ne fu fardée ne guignie:
ndred browes hadde she, Car el n'avoit mie mestier
pped hir, for it neded nought 1010
De1020
soi tifer ne d'afetier.

ndre hir, or to peynte hir ought. Les cheveus ot blons et si lons
sses yelowe, and longe straughten, Qu'il li batoient as talons;
hir heles doun they raughten: Nez ot bien fait, et yelx et bouche.
se, hir mouth, and eye and cheke Moult grant douçor au cuer me touche,
rought, and al the remenaunt eke. Si m'aïst Diex, quant il me membre
De1025
la façon de chascun membre
gret savour and a swote Qu'il n'ot si bele fame où monde.
nketh in myn herte rote, Briément el fu jonete et blonde,
pe me god, whan I remembre Sade, plaisant, aperte et cointe,
fasoun of every membre! 1020
ld is noon so fair a wight; Grassete et grele, gente et jointe.
1030
ng she was, and hewed bright,
plesaunt, and fetys withalle, Près de Biauté se tint Richece,
and in hir middel smalle. Une dame de grant hautece,
Richesse.
yde Beaute yede Richesse,
gh lady of greet noblesse,
De1035
grant pris et de grant affaire.
reet of prys in every place. Qui à li ne as siens meffaire
ho-so durste to hir trespace, Osast riens par fais, ou par dis,
hir folk, in worde or dede, Il fust moult fiers et moult hardis;
re ful hardy, out of drede; Qu'ele puet moult nuire et aidier.
the she helpe and hindre may: Ce n'est mie ne d'ui ne d'ier
Que1040
riches gens out grant poissance
hat is nought of yisterday 1030
iche folk have ful gret might De faire ou aïde, ou grévance.
pe, and eek to greve a wight. Tuit li greignor et li menor
este and grettest of valour Portoient à Richece honor:
Richesse ful gret honour, Tuit baoient à li servir,
Por1045
l'amor de li deservir;
esy weren hir to serve; Chascuns sa dame la clamoit,
at they wolde hir love deserve, Car tous li mondes la cremoit;
cleped hir 'Lady,' grete and smalle; Tous li mons iert en son dangier.
wyde world hir dredeth alle; En sa cort ot maint losengier,
world is al in hir daungere. Maint traïtor, maint envieus:
1050 1040
urt hath many a losengere, Ce sunt cil qui sunt curieus
many a traytour envious, De desprisier et de blasmer
een ful besy and curious Tous ceus qui font miex à amer.
dispreisen, and to blame Par devant, por eus losengier,
est deserven love and name. Loent les gens li losengier;
Tout
1055le monde par parole oignent,
the folk, hem to bigylen, Mès lor losenges les gens poignent
losengeres hem preyse, and smylen,
hus the world with word anoynten;
terward they [prikke] and poynten
lk right to the bare boon, Par derriere dusques as os,
Qu'il
1060abaissent des bons les los,
de her bak whan they ben goon, Et desloent les aloés,
oule abate the folkes prys. 1050

any a worthy man and wys, Et si loent les desloés.
ndred, have [they] don to dye, Maint prodommes ont encusés,
losengeres, through flaterye; Et de lor honnor reculés
Li 1065
losengier par lor losenges;
maketh folk ful straunge be, Car il font ceus des cors estranges
s hem oughte be prive. Qui déussent estre privés:
vel mote they thryve and thee, Mal puissent-il estre arivés
vel aryved mote they be, Icil losengier plain d'envie!
losengeres, ful of envye! Car nus prodons n'aime lor vie.
1070
Richece ot une porpre robe,
od man loveth hir companye. 1060
hesse a robe of purpre on hadde, Ice ne tenés mie à lobe,
we not that I lye or madde; Que je vous di bien et afiche
this world is noon it liche, Qu'il n'ot si bele, ne si riche
a thousand deel so riche, Où monde, ne si envoisie.
La1075
porpre fu toute orfroisie;
on so fair; for it ful wel Si ot portraites à orfrois
orfrays leyd was everydel, Estoires de dus et de rois.
ortrayed in the ribaninges Si estoit au col bien orlée
kes stories, and of kinges. D'une bende d'or néélée
with a bend of gold tasseled, Moult richement, sachiés sans faille.
1080 1070
noppes fyne of gold ameled. Si i avoit tretout à taille
e hir nekke of gentil entaile
het the riche chevesaile,
ch ther was ful gret plentee De riches pierres grant plenté
nes clere and bright to see. Qui moult rendoient grant clarté.
1085
Richece ot ung moult riche ceint
chesse a girdel hadde upon, Par desus cele porpre ceint;
okel of it was of a stoon La boucle d'une pierre fu
tu greet, and mochel of might; Qui ot grant force et grant vertu:
ho-so bar the stoon so bright, Car cis qui sor soi la portoit,
nim [thurte] him no-thing doute, Nes uns venins ne redotoit:
Nus
1090
nel pooit envenimer,
he the stoon hadde him aboute. 1080
toon was greetly for to love, Moult faisoit la pierre à aimer.
l a riche mannes bihove Ele vausist à ung prodomme
al the gold in Rome and Fryse. Miex que trestous li ors de Romme.
ourdaunt, wrought in noble wyse, D'une pierre fu li mordens,
Qui1095
garissoit du mal des dens;
f a stoon ful precious, Et si avoit ung tel éur,
was so fyn and vertuous, Que cis pooit estre asséur
ool a man it coude make Tretous les jors de sa véue,
asye, and of tooth-ake. Qui à géun l'avoit véue.
it the stoon hadde suche a grace, Li clou furent d'or esmeré,
1100 1090
e was siker in every place, Qui erent el tissu doré;
ke day, not blind to been, Si estoient gros et pesant,
asting mighte that stoon seen. En chascun ot bien ung besant.
arres were of gold ful fyne, Richece ot sus ses treces sores
a tissu of satyne, Ung cercle d'or; onques encores

1105
vy, greet, and no-thing light,
rich was a besaunt-wight.
on the tresses of Richesse
et a cercle, for noblesse,
nd gold, that ful lighte shoon; Ne fu si biaus véus, ce cuit,
Car1110
il fu tout d'or fin recuit;
r, trowe I, was never noon. Mès cis seroit bons devisierres
were cunning, for the nones, Qui vous sauroit toutes les pierres,
oude devysen alle the stones Qui i estoient, devisier,
n that cercle shewen clere; 1100
wonder thing to here. Car l'en ne porroit pas prisier
L'avoir
1115 que les pierres valoient,
man coude preyse or gesse Qui en l'or assises estoient.
m the valewe or richesse. Rubis i ot, saphirs, jagonces,
s there were, saphyres, iagounces, Esmeraudes plus de dix onces.
meraudes, more than two ounces. Mais devant ot, par grant mestrise,
bifore, ful sotilly, Une escharboucle où cercle assise,
Et 1120
la pierre si clere estoit,
carboucle set saugh I. Que maintenant qu'il anuitoit,
oon so cleer was and so bright, L'en s'en véist bien au besoing
al-so sone as it was night, 1110
mighte seen to go, for nede, Conduire d'une liue loing.
e or two, in lengthe and brede. Tel clarté de la pierre yssoit,
Que1125
Richece en resplendissoit
light [tho] sprang out of the stoon, Durement le vis et la face,
Richesse wonder brighte shoon, Et entor li toute la place.
hir heed, and al hir face, Richece tint parmi la main
ke aboute hir al the place. Ung valet de grant biauté plain,
me Richesse on hir hond gan lede Qui fu ses amis veritiez.
C'est
1130
uns hons qui en biaus ostiez
g man ful of semelihede,
he best loved of any thing;
st was muche in housholding.
hing was he ful fetys, Maintenir moult se délitoit.
ovede wel have hors of prys. 1120
Cis1135
se chauçoit bien et vestoit,
nde to have reproved be Si avoit les chevaus de pris;
fte or mordre, if that he Cis cuidast bien estre repris
in his stable an hakeney. Ou de murtre, ou de larrecin,
herfore he desyred ay S'en s'estable éust ung roucin.
n aqueynted with Richesse; Por ce amoit-il moult l'acointance
De1140
Richece et la bien-voillance,
his purpos, as I gesse, Qu'il avoit tous jors en porpens
or to make greet dispense, De demener les grans despens,
ute werning or defence. Et el les pooit bien soffrir,
ichesse mighte it wel sustene, 1130
ir dispenses wel mayntene, Et tous ses despens maintenir;
El 1145
li donnoit autant deniers
im alwey swich plentee sende Cum s'el les puisast en greniers.
d and silver for to spende Après refu Largece assise,

ute lakking or daungere, Qui fu bien duite et bien aprise
were poured in a garnere. De faire honor, et de despendre:
Largesse.
El fu du linage Alexandre;
d after on the daunce wente Si n'avoit-el joie de rien
Cum1150
quant el pooit dire, 'tien.'
sse, that sette al hir entente Neis Avarice la chétive
be honourable and free; 1140
xandres kin was she; N'ert pas si à prendre ententive
oste Ioye was, y-wis,
that she yaf, and seide, 'have this.'
1155
varice, the foule caytyf,
alf to grype so ententyf,
rgesse is to yeve and spende. Cum Largece ere de donner;
od y-nough alwey hir sende, Et Diex li fesoit foisonner
t the more she yaf awey, Ses biens si qu'ele ne savoit
Tant
1160
donner, cum el plus avoit.
ore, y-wis, she hadde alwey. Moult a Largece pris et los;
oos hath Largesse, and gret prys; Ele a les sages et les fos
the wys folk and unwys Outréement à son bandon,
hoolly to hir baundon brought, Car ele savoit fere biau don;
l with yiftes hath she wrought. S'ainsinc fust qu'aucuns la haïst,
1165 1150
she hadde an enemy, Si cuit-ge que de ceus féist
e, that she coude craftily Ses amis par son biau servise;
him ful sone hir freend to be, Et por ce ot-ele à devise
ge of yift and free was she; L'amor des povres et des riches.
ore she stood in love and grace Moult est fos haus homs qui est chiches!
Haus
1170
homs ne puet avoir nul vice,
he and povre in every place. Qui tant li griet cum avarice:
gret fool is he, y-wis, Car hons avers ne puet conquerre
othe riche and nigard is. Ne seignorie ne grant terre;
may have no maner vice Car il n'a pas d'amis plenté,
reveth more than avarice. 1160
Dont
1175
il face sa volenté.
gard never with strengthe of hond Mès qui amis vodra avoir
winne him greet lordship or lond. Si n'ait mie chier son avoir,
eendes al to fewe hath he Ains par biaus dons amis acquiere:
on his wil perfourmed be. Car tout en autretel maniere
who-so wol have freendes here,
1180
y not holde his tresour dere.
ensample I telle this,
as an adamaunt, y-wis,
rawen to him sotilly Cum la pierre de l'aïment
en, that is leyd therby, Trait à soi le fer soutilment,
Ainsinc
1185 atrait les cuers des gens
weth folkes hertes, y-wis, Li ors qu'en donne et li argens.
and gold that yeven is. Largece ot robe toute fresche
gesse hadde on a robe fresshe 1170
he purpur Sarsinesshe. D'une porpre Sarrazinesche;

urmed was hir face and clere, S'ot le vis bel et bien formé;
Mès1190
el ot son col deffermé,
pened had she hir colere; Qu'el avoit iluec en présent
e right there hadde in present A une dame fet présent,
a lady maad present N'avoit gueres, de son fermal,
old broche, ful wel wrought. Et ce ne li séoit pas mal,
ertes, it missat hir nought; Que sa cheveçaille iert overte,
Et 1195
sa gorge si descoverte,
rough hir smokke, wrought with silk, Que parmi outre la chemise
esh was seen, as whyt as milk. 1180
se, that worthy was and wys, Li blanchoioit sa char alise.
y the honde a knight of prys, Largece la vaillant, la sage,
b to Arthour of Bretaigne. Tint ung chevalier du linage
Au1200
bon roy Artus de Bretaigne;
hat was he that bar the enseigne Ce fu cil qui porta l'enseigne
rship, and the gonfanoun. De Valor et le gonfanon.
it he is of swich renoun, Encor est-il de tel renom,
men of him seye faire thinges Que l'en conte de li les contes
barouns, erles, and kinges. Et devant rois et devant contes.
Cil1205
chevalier novelement
night was comen al newely 1190
urneyinge faste by; Fu venus d'ung tornoiement,
adde he doon gret chivalrye Où il ot faite por s'amie
gh his vertu and his maistrye; Mainte jouste et mainte envaïe,
or the love of his lemman Et percié maint escu bouclé,
Maint
1210hiaume i avoit desserclé,
cast doun many a doughty man. Et maint chevalier abatu,
Et pris par force et par vertu.
Après tous ceus se tint Franchise,
d next him daunced dame Fraunchyse, Qui ne fu ne brune ne bise,
Fraunchyse.
Ains ere blanche comme nois;
ed in ful noble gyse. 1200
as not broun ne dun of hewe, Et si n'ot pas nés d'Orlenois,
hyt as snowe y-fallen newe. Ainçois l'avoit lonc et traitis,
Iex1215
vairs rians, sorcis votis:
se was wrought at poynt devys, S'ot les chevous et blons, et lons,
was gentil and tretys; Et fu simple comme uns coulons.
yen gladde, and browes bente; Le cuer ot dous et debonnaire:
er doun to hir heles wente. Ele n'osast dire ne faire
he was simple as dowve on tree, A nuli riens qu'el ne déust;
Et 1220
s'ele ung homme cognéust
bonaire of herte was she. Qui fust destrois por s'amitié,
urste never seyn ne do 1210
at [thing] that hir longed to. Tantost éust de li pitié,
a man were in distresse, Qu'ele ot le cuer si pitéable,
or hir love in hevinesse, Et si dous et si amiable,
Que1225
se nus por li mal traisist,
rte wolde have ful greet pitee, S'el ne li aidast, el crainsist
as so amiable and free. Qu'el féïst trop grant vilonnie.
ere a man for hir bistad, Vestue ot une sorquanie,
olde ben right sore adrad

he dide over greet outrage,
1230
e him holpe his harm to aswage;
oughte it elles a vilanye. Qui ne fu mie de borras:
he hadde on a sukkenye, N'ot si bele jusqu'à Arras;
ot of hempen herdes was; Car el fu si coillie et jointe,
r was noon in alle Arras. 1220
Qu'il
1235n'i ot une seule pointe
it was rideled fetysly! Qui à son droit ne fust assise.
as nat oo poynt, trewely, Moult fu bien vestue Franchise;
nas in his right assyse. Car nule robe n'est si bele
el y-clothed was Fraunchyse; Que sorquanie à damoisele.
er is no cloth sitteth bet Fame est plus cointe et plus mignote
En1240
sorquanie que en cote:
miselle, than doth roket. La sorquanie qui fu blanche,
mman wel more fetys is Senefioit que douce et franche
et than in cote, y-wis. Estoit cele qui la vestoit.
hyte roket, rideled faire,
ned, that ful debonaire
1245 1230
wete was she that it bere. Uns bachelers jones s'estoit
hir daunced a bachelere; Pris à Franchise lez à lez,
not telle you what he highte, Ne soi comment ert apelé,
ir he was, and of good highte, Mès biaus estoit, se il fust ores
dde he be, I sey no more, Fiex au seignor de Gundesores.
1250
Après se tenoit Courtoisie,
rdes sone of Windesore. Qui moult estoit de tous prisie,
Curtesye.
Si n'ere orguilleuse ne fole.
d next that daunced Curtesye, C'est cele qui à la karole
reised was of lowe and hye,
ither proud ne fool was she.
r to daunce called me,
La1255
soe merci m'apela
y god yeve hir right good grace!) 1240
I com first into the place. Ains que nule, quant je vins là.
as not nyce, ne outrageous, El ne fu ne nice, n'umbrage,
ys and war, and vertuous, Mès sages auques sans outrage,
re speche, and faire answere; De biaus respons et de biaus dis,
Onc1260
nus ne fu par li laidis,
ever wight misseid of here; Ne ne porta nului rancune.
ar no rancour to no wight. El fu clere comme la lune
broun she was, and therto bright Est avers les autres estoiles
e, of body avenaunt; Qui ne resemblent que chandoiles.
no lady so plesaunt. Faitisse estoit et avenant,
1265 1250
ere worthy for to bene Je ne sai fame plus plaisant.
mperesse or crouned quene. Ele ere entoutes cors bien digne
D'estre emperieris, ou roïne.
A li se tint uns chevaliers
d by hir wente a knight dauncing Acointables et biaus parliers,
worthy was and wel speking, Qui sot bien faire honor as gens.

ul wel coude he doon honour. Li chevaliers fu biaus et gens,
Et 1270
as armes bien acesmés,
night was fair and stif in stour, Et de s'amie bien amés.
n armure a semely man, La bele Oiseuse vint après,
wel biloved of his lemman. 1260
Ydelnesse.
Qui se tint de moi assés près.
r Ydelnesse than saugh I, De cele vous ai dit sans faille
lwey was me faste by. Toute la façon et la taille;
Jà 1275
plus ne vous en iert conté,
have I, withouten fayle, Car c'est cele qui la bonté
ow the shap and apparayle
s I seide) lo, that was she
ide me so greet bountee,
he the gate of the gardin Me fist si grant qu'ele m'ovri
Le1280
guichet del vergier flori.
e, and leet me passen in. Après se tint mien esciant,
Youthe.
Jonesce, au vis cler et luisant,
d after daunced, as I gesse, Qui n'avoit encores passés,
he], fulfild of lustinesse, 1270
as not yit twelve yeer of age, Si cum je cuit, douze ans d'assés.
herte wilde, and thought volage; Nicete fu, si ne pensoit
Nul1285
mal, ne nul engin qui soit;
she was, but she ne mente Mès moult iert envoisie et gaie,
harm ne slight in hir entente, Car jone chose ne s'esmaie
nly lust and Iolitee. Fors de joer, bien le savés.
nge folk, wel witen ye, Ses amis iert de li privés
itel thought but on hir play. En tel guise, qu'il la besoit
Toutes
1290les fois que li plesoit,
mman was bisyde alway, Voians tous ceus de la karole:
ch a gyse, that he hir kiste 1280
tymes that him liste, Car qui d'aus deus tenist parole,
l the daunce mighte it see; Il n'en fussent jà vergondeus,
make no force of privetee; Ains les véissiés entre aus deus
Baisier
1295 comme deus columbiaus.
ho spak of hem yvel or wel, Le valés fu jones et biaus,
were ashamed never-a-del, Si estoit bien d'autel aage
en mighte seen hem kisse there, Cum s'amie, et d'autel corage.
wo yonge douves were.
ng was thilke bachelere,
1300
Ainsi karoloient ilecques,
aute wot I noon his pere; Ceste gens, et autres avecques,
e was right of swich an age
uthe his leef, and swich corage.
e lusty folk thus daunced there,
lso other that with hem were,
Qui1305
estoient de lor mesnies,
weren alle of hir meynee; 1290
nde folk, and wys, and free, Franches gens et bien enseignies,
olk of fair port, trewely, Et gens de bel afetement
weren alle comunly. Estoient tuit communément.
an I hadde seen the countenaunces Quant j'oi véues les semblances

De1310
ceus qui menoient les dances,
m that ladden thus these daunces, J'oi lors talent que le vergier
hadde I wil to goon and see Alasse véoir et cerchier,
ardin that so lyked me, Et remirer ces biaus moriers,
oken on these faire loreres, Ces pins, ces codres, ces loriers.
n-trees, cedres, and oliveres. Les karoles jà remanoient,
1315 1300
aunces than y-ended were; Car tuit li plusors s'en aloient
any of hem that daunced there O lor amies umbroier
with hir loves went awey Sous ces arbres por dosnoier.
the trees to have hir pley. Diex, cum menoient bonne vie!
lord! they lived lustily! Fox est qui n'a de tel envie;
Qui1320
autel vie avoir porroit,
fool were he, sikerly, De mieudre bien se sofferroit,
olde, his thankes, swich lyf lede! Qu'il n'est nul greignor paradis
is dar I seyn, out of drede, Qu'avoir amie à son devis.
who-so mighte so wel fare,
tter lyf [thurte] him not care;
1325
D'ilecques me parti atant,
er nis so good paradys 1310
ve a love at his devys. Si m'en alai seus esbatant
t of that place wente I tho,
n that gardin gan I go,
g along ful merily. Par le vergier de çà en là;
Et 1330
li Diex d'Amors apela
od of Love ful hastely Tretout maintenant Dous-Regart:
him Swete-Loking clepte, N'a or plus cure qu'il li gart
nger wolde he that he kepte Son arc: donques sans plus atendre
we of golde, that shoon so bright. L'arc li a commandé à tendre,
ad] him [bende it] anon-right; Et cis gaires n'i atendi,
Tout
1335
maintenant l'arc li tendi,
e ful sone [it] sette on ende, Si li bailla et cinq sajetes
t a braid he gan it bende, 1320
ook him of his arowes fyve, Fors et poissans, d'aler loing prestes.
arpe and redy for to dryve. Li Diex d'Amors tantost de loing
god that sit in magestee Me prist à suivir, l'arc où poing.
Or1340
me gart Diex de mortel plaie!
edly woundes kepe me, Se il fait tant que à moi traie,
e that he [wol] me shete; Il me grevera moult forment.
I with his arowe mete, Je qui de ce ne soi noient,
l me greven] sore, y-wis! Vois par la vergier à délivre,
that no-thing wiste of this, Et cil pensa bien de moi sivre;
Mès1345
en nul leu ne m'arresté,
up and doun ful many a wey, 1330
e me folwed faste alwey; Devant que j'oi par tout esté.
-wher wolde I reste me, Li vergiers par compasséure
adde al the [yerde in] be. Si fu de droite quarréure,
e gardin was, by mesuring, S'ot de lonc autant cum de large;
Nus1350
arbres qui soit qui fruit charge,
even and squar in compassing;
as long as it was large.

The Trees.
yt hadde every tree his charge,
were any hidous tree Se n'est aucuns arbres hideus,
ich ther were two or three. Dont il n'i ait ou ung, ou deus
Où1355
vergier, ou plus, s'il avient.
were, and that wot I ful wel, Pomiers i ot, bien m'en sovient,
mgarnettes a ful gret del; Qui chargoient pomes grenades,
s a fruyt ful wel to lyke, 1340
y to folk whan they ben syke. C'est uns fruis moult bons à malades;
ees ther were, greet foisoun, De noiers i ot grant foison,
Qui1360
chargoient en la saison
aren notes in hir sesoun, Itel fruit cum sunt nois mugades,
as men notemigges calle, Qui ne sunt ameres, ne fades;
wote of savour been withalle. Alemandiers y ot planté,
lemandres greet plentee, Et si ot où vergier planté
and many a date-tree Maint figuier, et maint biau datier;
Si 1365
trovast qu'en éust mestier,
weren, if men hadde nede, Où vergier mainte bone espice,
gh the gardin in length and brede. 1350
was eek wexing many a spyce, Cloz de girofle et requelice,
w-gelofre, and licoryce, Graine de paradis novele,
re, and greyn de paradys, Citoal, anis, et canele,
Et 1370
mainte espice délitable,
e, and setewale of prys, Que bon mengier fait après table.
many a spyce delitable, Où vergier ot arbres domesches,
n whan men ryse fro table. Qui chargoient et coins et pesches,
many hoomly trees ther were, Chataignes, nois, pommes et poires,
eches, coynes, and apples bere, Nefles, prunes blanches et noires,
1375
rs, ploumes, peres, chesteynes,
se, of whiche many on fayn is,
aleys, and bolas, Cerises fresches vermeilletes,
or to seen it was solas; 1360
many high lorer and pyn Cormes, alies et noisetes;
De1380
haus loriers et de haus pins
enged clene al that gardyn; Refu tous pueplés li jardin,
ipres, and with oliveres, Et d'oliviers et de ciprés,
ich that nigh no plente here is. Dont il n'a gaires ici prés;
were elmes grete and stronge, Ormes y ot branchus et gros,
s, asshe, ook, asp, planes longe, Et avec ce charmes et fos,
Codres
1385 droites, trembles et chesnes,
w, popler, and lindes faire, Erables haus, sapins et fresnes.
there trees ful many a payre. Que vous iroie-je notant?
at sholde I telle you more of it? 1370
were so many treës yit, De divers arbres i ot tant,
sholde al encombred be Que moult en seroie encombrés,
Ains
1390
que les éusse nombrés.
ad rekened every tree. Sachiés por voir, li arbres furent
ese trees were set, that I devyse, Si loing à loing cum estre durent.
om another, in assyse, Li ung fu loing de l'autre assis
adome or sixe, I trowe so, Plus de cinq toises, ou de sis:

ey were hye and grete also: Mès li rain furent lonc et haut,
Et 1395
por le leu garder de chaut,
or to kepe out wel the sonne, Furent si espés par deseure,
oppes were so thikke y-ronne, 1380
very braunch in other knet, Que li solaus en nesune eure
ul of grene leves set, Ne pooit à terre descendre,
onne mighte noon descende, Ne faire mal à l'erbe tendre.
1400
t] the tendre grasses shende.
mighte men does and roes y-see, Où vergier ot daims et chevrions,
f squirels ful greet plentee, Et moult grant plenté d'escoirions,
bough to bough alwey leping. Qui par ces arbres gravissoient;
s ther were also playing, Connins i avoit qui issoient
Toute
1405jor hors de lor tesnieres,
omen out of hir claperes Et en plus de trente manieres
ndry colours and maneres, Aloient entr'eus tornoiant
maden many a turneying 1390
the fresshe gras springing. Sor l'erbe fresche verdoiant.
The Welles.
Il ot par leus cleres fontaines,
places saw I WELLES there, Sans barbelotes et sans raines,
Cui1410
li arbres fesoient umbre;
che ther no frogges were, Mès n'en sai pas dire le numbre.
air in shadwe was every welle; Par petis tuiaus que Déduis
ne can the nombre telle Y ot fet fere, et par conduis
emes smale, that by devys S'en aloit l'iaue aval, fesant
e had don come through condys, Une noise douce et plesant.
1415
Entor les ruissiaus et les rives
ich the water, in renning, 1400
make a noyse ful lyking. Des fontaines cleres et vives,
out the brinkes of thise welles, Poignoit l'erbe freschete et drue;
y the stremes over-al elles Ausinc y poïst-l'en sa drue
g up the gras, as thikke y-set Couchier comme sur une coite,
Car1420
la terre estoit douce et moite
ofte as any veluët, Por la fontaine, et i venoit
hich men mighte his lemman leye, Tant d'erbe cum il convenoit.
a fetherbed, to pleye,
erthe was ful softe and swete.
gh moisture of the welle wete
Mès
1425
moult embelissoit l'afaire
g up the sote grene gras, Li leus qui ere de tel aire,
r, as thikke, as mister was. Qu'il i avoit tous jours plenté
uche amended it the place, 1410
herthe was of swich a grace De flors et yver et esté.
of floures had plente, Violete y avoit trop bele,
Et 1430
parvenche fresche et novele;
oth in somer and winter be. Flors y ot blanches et vermeilles,
er sprang the violete al newe, De jaunes en i ot merveilles.
esshe pervinke, riche of hewe, Trop par estoit la terre cointe,
oures yelowe, whyte, and rede; Qu'ele ere piolée et pointe
plentee grew ther never in mede. De flors de diverses colors,
Dont
1435
moult sunt bonnes les odors.

y was al the ground, and queynt,
oudred, as men had it peynt,
many a fresh and sondry flour, Ne vous tenrai jà longue fable
asten up ful good savour. 1420
ol not longe holde you in fable Du leu plesant et délitable;
Orendroit
1440 m'en convenra taire,
his gardin delitable. Que ge ne porroie retraire
my tonge stinten nede, Du vergier toute la biauté,
ne may, withouten drede, Ne la grant délitableté.
t tellen you the beautee al, Tant fui à destre et à senestre,
f the bountee therewithal. Que j'oi tout l'afere et tout l'estre
Du1445
vergier cerchié et véu;
ente on right honde and on left Et li Diex d'Amors m'a séu
e the place; it was not left,
adde al the [yerde in] been,
estres that men mighte seen.
hus whyle I wente in my pley, Endementiers en agaitant,
1450 1430
od of Love me folowed ay, Cum li venieres qui atant
as an hunter can abyde Que la beste en bel leu se mete
este, til he seeth his tyde Por lessier aler la sajete.
te, at good mes, to the dere,
that him nedeth go no nere.
1455
En ung trop biau leu arrivé,
d so befil, I rested me Au darrenier, où je trouvé
e a welle, under a tree, Une fontaine sous ung pin;
tree in Fraunce men calle a pyn. Mais puis Karles le fils Pepin,
th the tyme of king Pepyn, Ne fu ausinc biau pin véus,
w ther tree in mannes sighte Et si estoit si haut créus,
Qu'où
1460vergier n'ot nul si bel arbre.
r, ne so wel woxe in highte; 1440
hat yerde so high was noon. Dedens une pierre de marbre
pringing in a marble-stoon Ot nature par grant mestrise
ature set, the sothe to telle, Sous le pin la fontaine assise:
that pyn-tree a welle. Si ot dedens la pierre escrites
Où1465
bort amont letres petites
n the border, al withoute, Qui disoient: 'ici desus
riten, in the stone aboute, Se mori li biaus Narcisus.'
s smale, that seyden thus, Narcisus fu uns damoisiaus
tarf the faire Narcisus.' Que Amors tint en ses roisiaus,
Narcisus.
Et tant le sot Amors destraindre,
rcisus was a bachelere, 1450
Et 1470
tant le fist plorer et plaindre,
ove had caught in his daungere, Que li estuet à rendre l'ame:
n his net gan him so streyne, Car Equo, une haute dame,
ide him so to wepe and pleyne,
ede him muste his lyf forgo.
air lady, hight Echo,
L'avoit
1475 amé plus que riens née.
oved over any creature, El fu par lui si mal menée
an for him swich peyne endure, Qu'ele li dist qu'il li donroit

n a tyme she him tolde, S'amor, ou ele se morroit.
f he hir loven nolde, Mès cis fu por sa grant biauté
ir behoved nedes dye, Plains de desdaing et de fierté,
Si 1480
ne la li volt otroier,
ay non other remedye. 1460
theles, for his beautee, Ne por chuer, ne por proier.
rs and daungerous was he, Quant ele s'oï escondire,
e nolde graunten hir asking, Si en ot tel duel et tel ire,
eping, ne for fair praying. Et le tint en si grant despit,
Que1485
morte en fu sans lonc respit;
whan she herde him werne hir so, Mès ainçois qu'ele se morist,
adde in herte so gret wo, Ele pria Diex et requist
ook it in so gret dispyt, Que Narcisus au cuer ferasche,
he, withoute more respyt, Qu'ele ot trové d'amors si flasche,
eed anoon. But, er she deyde, Fust asproiés encore ung jor,
1490 1470
ously to god she preyde, Et eschaufés d'autel amor
roude-herted Narcisus, Dont il ne péust joie atendre;
was in love so daungerous, Si porroit savoir et entendre
e on a day ben hampred so Quel duel ont li loial amant
ve, and been so hoot for wo, Que l'en refuse si vilment.
1495
ever he mighte Ioye atteyne;
hulde he fele in every veyne
sorowe trewe lovers maken,
een so vilaynsly forsaken.
s prayer was but resonable, Cele proiere fu resnable,
Et 1500
por ce la fist Diex estable,
or god held it ferme and stable: Que Narcisus, par aventure,
arcisus, shortly to telle, A la fontaine clere et pure
enture com to that welle Se vint sous le pin umbroier,
te him in that shadowing 1480
whan he com fro hunting. Ung jour qu'il venoit d'archoier,
Et 1505
avoit soffert grant travail
Narcisus had suffred paynes De corre et amont et aval,
nning alday in the playnes, Tant qu'il ot soif por l'aspreté
was for thurst in greet distresse Du chault, et por la lasseté
e, and of his werinesse Qui li ot tolue l'alaine.
adde his breeth almost binomen. Et quant il vint à la fontaine
Que1510
li pins de ses rains covroit,
he was to that welle y-comen, Il se pensa que il bevroit:
hadwed was with braunches grene, Sus la fontaine, tout adens
ughte of thilke water shene 1490
nke and fresshe him wel withalle; Se mist lors por boivre dedans.
oun on knees he gan to falle, Si vit en l'iaue clere et nete
Son1515
vis, son nés et sa bouchete,
orth his heed and nekke out-straughte Et cis maintenant s'esbahi;
nken of that welle a draughte Car ses umbres l'ot si trahi,
n the water anoon was sene Que cuida véoir la figure
se, his mouth, his yën shene, D'ung enfant bel à desmesure.
e ther-of was al abasshed;

1520
wne shadowe had him bitrasshed.
el wende he the forme see
hild of greet beautee.
outhe Love him wreke tho Lors se sot bien Amors vengier
unger and of pryde also, Du grant orguel et du dangier
Que
1525
Narcisus li ot mené.
Narcisus somtyme him bere. 1500
itte him wel his guerdon there; Lors li fu bien guerredoné,
so musede in the welle, Qu'il musa tant à la fontaine,
shortly al the sothe to telle, Qu'il ama son umbre demaine,
vede his owne shadowe so, Si en fu mors à la parclose.
Ce1530
est la somme de la chose:
tte laste he starf for wo. Car quant il vit qu'il ne porroit
han he saugh that he his wille Acomplir ce qu'il desirroit,
e in no maner wey fulfille, Et qu'il i fu si pris par sort,
hat he was so faste caught Qu'il n'en pooit avoir confort
e him couthe comfort naught, En nule guise, n'en nul sens,
1535 1510
te his wit right in that place, Il perdi d'ire tout le sens,
eyde within a litel space. Et fu mors en poi de termine.
hus his warisoun he took Ainsinc si ot de la meschine
e lady that he forsook. Qu'il avoit d'amors escondite,
Son guerredon et sa merite.
Dames, cest exemple aprenés,
dyes, I preye ensample taketh, Qui vers vos amis mesprenés;
Car1540
se vous les lessiés morir,
t ayeins your love mistaketh: Diex le vous sara bien merir.
hir deeth be yow to wyte, Quant li escris m'ot fait savoir
an ful wel your whyle quyte. 1520
an that this lettre, of whiche I telle, Que ce estoit tretout por voir
ught me that it was the welle La fontaine au biau Narcisus,
Je 1545
m'en trais lors ung poi en sus,
rcisus in his beautee,
anoon withdrawe me,
it fel in my remembraunce, Que dedens n'osai regarder,
im bitidde swich mischaunce. Ains commençai à coarder,
the laste than thoughte I, Quant de Narcisus me sovint,
Cui1550
malement en mesavint;
catheles, ful sikerly, Mès ge me pensai qu'asséur,
TheSans
Welle.
paor de mavés éur,
te unto The Welle go. A la fontaine aler pooie,
of shulde I abasshen so? 1530
he welle than wente I me, Por folie m'en esmaioie.
oun I louted for to see De la fontaine m'apressai,
Quant
1555ge fui près, si m'abessai
ere water in the stoon, Por véoir l'iaue qui coroit,
ek the gravel, which that shoon Et la gravele qui paroit
in the botme, as silver fyn; Au fons plus clere qu'argens fins,
the welle, this is the fyn, De la fontaine c'est la fins.
ld is noon so cleer of hewe. En tout le monde n'ot si bele,

L'iaue
1560est tousdis fresche et novele,
ater is ever fresh and newe Qui nuit et jor sourt à grans ondes
welmeth up with wawes brighte 1540
ountance of two finger highte. Par deux doiz creuses et parfondes.
en it is gras springing, Tout entour point l'erbe menue,
oiste so thikke and wel lyking, Qui vient por l'iaue espesse et drue,
Et 1565
en iver ne puet morir
ne may in winter dye, Ne que l'iaue ne puet tarir.
ore than may the see be drye. Où fons de la fontaine aval
Avoit deux pierres de cristal
Qu'à grande entente remirai,
wn at the botme set saw I Et une chose vous dirai,
ristal stones craftely
ke fresshe and faire welle.
1570
thing soothly dar I telle,
e wol holde a greet mervayle Qu'à merveilles, ce cuit, tenrés
it is told, withouten fayle. 1550
han the sonne, cleer in sighte, Tout maintenant que vous l'orrés.
n that welle his bemes brighte, Quant li solaus qui tout aguete,
Ses1575
rais en la fontaine giete,
hat the heet descended is, Et la clartés aval descent,
aketh the cristal stoon, y-wis, Lors perent colors plus de cent
the sonne an hundred hewes, Où cristal, qui por le soleil
, yelowe, and rede, that fresh and newe is. Devient ynde, jaune et vermeil:
th the merveilous cristal Si ot le cristal merveilleus
Itel1580
force que tous li leus,
strengthe, that the place overal, Arbres et flors et quanqu'aorne
fowl and tree, and leves grene, 1560
l the yerd in it is sene. Li vergiers, i pert tout aorne;
or to doon you understonde, Et por faire la chose entendre,
ke ensample wol I fonde; Un essample vous veil aprendre.
Ainsinc
1585 cum li miréors montre
as a mirour openly Les choses qui li sunt encontre,
th al thing that stant therby, Et y voit-l'en sans coverture
l the colour as the figure, Et lor color, et lor figure;
uten any coverture; Tretout ausinc vous dis por voir,
so the cristal stoon, shyning, Que li cristal, sans décevoir,
Tout
1590
l'estre du vergier accusent
uten any disceyving, 1570
tres of the yerde accuseth A ceus qui dedens l'iaue musent:
m that in the water museth; Car tous jours quelque part qu'il soient,
er, in which half that he be, L'une moitié du vergier voient;
y wel half the gardin see;
Et 1595
s'il se tornent maintenant,
he turne, he may right wel Pueent véoir le remenant.
he remenaunt everydel. Si n'i a si petite chose,
er is noon so litel thing Tant reposte, ne tant enclose,
, ne closed with shitting, Dont démonstrance n'i soit faite,
ne is sene, as though it were Cum s'ele iert es cristaus portraite.
1600
C'est li miréoirs périlleus,

ed in the cristal there. 1580
s is the mirour perilous, Où Narcisus li orguilleus
ch the proude Narcisus Mira sa face et ses yex vers,
l his face fair and bright, Dont il jut puis mors tout envers.
made him sith to lye upright. Qui en cel miréor se mire,
Ne1605
puet avoir garant de mire,
ho-so loke in that mirour, Que tel chose à ses yex ne voie,
may no-thing ben his socour Qui d'amer l'a tost mis en voie.
e ne shal ther seen som thing Maint vaillant homme a mis à glaive
hal him lede into [loving]. Cis miréors, car li plus saive,
any a worthy man hath it Li plus preus, li miex afetié
1610 1590
t; for folk of grettest wit I sunt tost pris et aguetié.
one caught here and awayted; Ci sourt as gens novele rage,
uten respyt been they bayted. Ici se changent li corage;
omth to folk of-newe rage, Ci n'a mestier sens, ne mesure,
haungeth many wight corage; Ci est d'amer volenté pure;
Ci 1615
ne se set conseiller nus;
yth no reed ne wit therto; Car Cupido, li fils Venus,
nus sone, daun Cupido,
owen there of love the seed,
elp ne lyth ther noon, ne reed,
cleth it the welle aboute. Sema ici d'Amors la graine
Qui1620
toute a çainte la fontaine;
nnes hath he set withoute Et fist ses las environ tendre,
for to cacche in his panteres 1600
damoysels and bacheleres. Et ses engins i mist por prendre
wil noon other bridde cacche, Damoiseles et Damoisiaus;
h he sette either net or lacche. Qu'Amors ne velt autres oisiaus.
Por1625
la graine qui fu semée,
or the seed that heer was sowen, Fu cele fontaine clamée
welle is cleped, as wel is knowen, La Fontaine d'Amors par droit,
Welle of Love, of verray right, Dont plusors ont en maint endroit
ich ther hath ful many a wight Parlé, en romans et en livre;
in bokes dyversely. Mais jamès n'orrez miex descrivre
La1630
verité de la matere,
ey shulle never so verily 1610
pcioun of the welle here, Cum ge la vous vodré retrere.
k the sothe of this matere,
shulle, whan I have undo
aft that hir bilongeth to. Adès me plot à demorer
A la
1635
fontaine, et remirer
way me lyked for to dwelle, Les deus cristaus qui me monstroient
n the cristal in the welle, Mil choses qui ilec estoient.
hewed me ful openly Mès de fort hore m'i miré:
usand thinges faste by. Las! tant en ai puis souspiré!
may saye, in sory houre Cis miréors m'a decéu;
Se1640
j'éusse avant cognéu
I to loken or to poure;
hen [have] I sore syked,
mirour hath me now entryked.

dde I first knowen in my wit Quex sa force ert et sa vertu,
ertue and [the] strengthe of it, 1620
Ne1645
m'i fusse jà embatu:
e not have mused there; Car meintenant où las chaï
dde bet ben elles-where; Qui meint homme ont pris et traï.
the snare I fel anoon,
ath bitraisshed many oon.
hilke mirour saw I tho, Où miroer entre mil choses,
Choisi
1650rosiers chargiés de roses,
g a thousand thinges mo, Qui estoient en ung détor
TheD'une
Roser.haie clos tout entor:
ER charged ful of roses, Adont m'en prist si grant envie,
with an hegge aboute enclos is. Que ne laissasse por Pavie,
ad I swich lust and envye, Ne por Paris, que ge n'alasse
or Parys ne for Pavye, 1630
Là1655
où ge vi la greignor masse.
I have left to goon and see Quant cele rage m'ot si pris,
rettest hepe of roses be. Dont maint ont esté entrepris,
I was with this rage hent, Vers les rosiers tantost me très;
aught hath many a man and shent, Et sachiés que quant g'en fui près,
d the roser gan I go. L'oudor des roses savorées
M'entra
1660 ens jusques es corées,
whan I was not fer therfro, Que por noient fusse embasmés:
vour of the roses swote Se assailli ou mesamés
moot right to the herte rote,
adde al embawmed [be.]
I ne hadde endouted me
1665
ve ben hated or assailed,
ankes, wolde I not have failed
le a rose of al that route Ne cremisse estre, g'en cuillisse,
en in myn honde aboute, 1640
mellen to it wher I wente; Au mains une que ge tenisse
En1670
ma main, por l'odor sentir;
er I dredde me to repente, Mès paor oi du repentir:
st it greved or for-thoughte Car il en péust de legier
rd that thilke gardyn wroughte. Peser au seignor du vergier.
es were ther gret woon, Des roses i ot grans monciaus,
re wexe never in roon. Si beles ne vit homs sous ciaus;
Boutons
1675 i ot petit et clos,
oppes clos, some saw I there, Et tiex qui sunt ung poi plus gros.
ome wel beter woxen were; Si en i ot d'autre moison
ome ther been of other moysoun, 1650
rowe nigh to hir sesoun, Qui se traient à lor soison,
pedde hem faste for to sprede; Et s'aprestoient d'espanir,
Et 1680
cil ne font pas à haïr.
wel swiche roses rede; Les roses overtes et lées
ode roses, and open also, Sunt en ung jor toutes alées;
assed in a day or two; Mès li bouton durent trois frois
noppes wilen fresshe be A tout le mains deux jors ou trois.
ayes atte leest, or three. Icil bouton forment me plurent,

Oncques
1685 plus bel nul leu ne crurent.
noppes gretly lyked me, Qui en porroit ung acroichier,
irer may ther no man see. 1660
o mighte haven oon of alle, Il le devroit avoir moult chier;
hte him been ful leef withalle. S'ung chapel en péusse avoir,
e I [a] gerlond of hem geten, Je n'en préisse nul avoir.
1690
richesse I wolde it leten.
The Knoppe.
Entre ces boutons en eslui
mong THE KNOPPES I chees oon Ung si très-bel, qu'envers celui
r, that of the remenaunt noon Nus des autres riens ne prisié,
yse I half so wel as it, Puis que ge l'oi bien avisié:
I avyse it in my wit. Car une color l'enlumine,
Qui1695
est si vermeille et si fine,
so wel was enlumyned Com Nature la pot plus faire.
olour reed, as wel [y]-fyned 1670
ure couthe it make faire. Des foilles i ot quatre paire
had leves wel foure paire, Que Nature par grant mestire
Kinde had set through his knowing I ot assises tire à tire.
La1700
coe ot droite comme jons,
e the rede rose springing. Et par dessus siet li boutons,
alke was as risshe right, Si qu'il ne cline, ne ne pent.
heron stood the knoppe upright, L'odor de lui entor s'espent;
ne bowed upon no syde. La soatime qui en ist
wote smelle sprong so wyde 1678
Toute
1705la place replenist.
dide al the place aboute—

G. = Glasgow MS.; Th. = Thynne's ed. (1532).
1-44. Lost in G.; from Th. 3. Th. some sweuen; but the pl. is required. 4. Th.
that false ne bene. 5. Th. apparaunt. 6. Th. warraunt. 12. Th. els; om. a. 13,
14. Th. fal, cal; fole.
23. Th. folke; went. 25. Th. slepte. 26. Th. suche. 27. Th. lyked; wele. 28.
Th. dele. 29. Th. afterwarde befal. 30. Th. dreme; tel; al. 31. Th. Nowe;
dreme. 35. Th. there. 37. Th. Howe; om. that and the. 38. Th. hatte; read
hote.
39. Ed. 1550, Romaunte. 40. Th. arte. 42. Th. graunt me in; omit me. 45.
Here begins G. 46. Th. to be; G. torn. 47. Th. G. ought. 49. G. Th. thought.
55. G. Th. bene. 56. G. Th. wrene. 59. G. erth. G. Th. proude. 61. G. Th.
forgette. 62. G. Th. had; sette.
66. G. Th. had. 69-72. Imperfect in G. 72. G. so; Th. ful. 73. Th. grylle; G.
gryl. 73, 74. G. Th. sight, bright. 76. Th. herte; G. hertis. G. sich. 80. G. om.
a. 81. G. om. the. 82. Th. yonge; G. yong. 84. Th. sauorous; G. sauerous.
85. Th. his herte; G. the hert.
89. G. blesful; Th. blysful. 91. G. affraieth; Th. affirmeth. G. Th. al. 96. G.
wisshe; hondis. 97. Th. nedyl. G. droughe; Th. drowe. 98. Th. aguyler; G.
Aguler. G. ynoughe; Th. ynowe. 101. Th. sowne; G. song. 102. Th. on; G.
in. Both buskes. 103. G. om. the. G. swete; Th. lefe. 107. Th. That; G. They.
G. om. a. 109. Th. Iolyfe; G. Ioly.
110. Both gan I. 111. G. herd; fast. 113. Both ryuere. 114. Both nere. 117-
120. Imperfect in G. 121. Perhaps om. that. 123, 4. G. Th. ryuere, clere.
126. Th. botome ypaued. 132. G. walk thorough.
138. G. Th. Enclosed was; see l. 1652. 139. Th. hye; G. high. 142. G. the
ymages and the peyntures; Th. the ymages and peyntures. 146. G. haue in;
Th. om. in. 147. Th. Amydde; G. Amyd. 149. Both mynoresse; French,
moverresse. 154. Both wode. 155. G. om. Y-.
160. Th. ywrithen; G. writhen. 163. G. om. faste. 165, 6. Both Felony,
Vil(l)any. 167. Th. Ycleped; G. Clepid. Both fonde. 168. G. wal; Th. wall.
Both honde. 174. Both outragious. 176. Th. suche an ymage.

184. G. gret tresouris; Th. gret treasours. G. leyne; Th. layne. 185. G. om.
she. 188. Th. couetous; G. coueitise. 189. G. om. she. Th. for; G. that. 196.
Both myscoueiting. 198. Both om. that. 203. Both wode.
204. Both gode. 208. Both fast. 212. Th. any; G. ony. 214. Both semed to
haue. 219. G. porely; Th. poorely. 220. Both courtpy. 224. Th. mantel; G.
mantyl. Both fast.
234. Th. ilke; G. ilk. 239. Th. helde; G. hilde. 240. Both om. doun. 241, 2.
Th. stronge, longe; G. strong, long. 245, 6. Both entent, went. 248. Both
peynted. 249, 250. Both in hir herte. G. farede, herede; Th. ferde, herde.
255. Perhaps read On ... to falle. 256. Both om. ful. 259. Th. shamful; G.
shynful. 261. Both or by his prowesse. 264. Th. chaunce; G. chaunge. 266.
G. trouth. 271. G. farede; Th. fared. 273. Both male talent; see 330.
275. G. hath; Th. hate. I supply wo. 276. Read melt'th or melt. 277. Both so
(for to-). 278. Th. people; G. puple. 282. Both best. 291. G. Th. awrie. 292.
G. -thart; Th. -twharte, misprint for -thwart. 293. I supply eek. G. om. a
foul. 296. G. hir eien; Th. her one eye.
298. Both se. 299. So Th.; G. fairer or worthier. 303. G. seyn; Th. sene. 305.
Both to haue; read hav-ë. Th. iaundice. 307. I supply as. 310. Th. yelowe;
G. yolare.
324. Both rent. 333-380. Lost in G; from Th. 334. Th. had sene. 340. Th.
rechelesse. 341. Th. rought. 342. I supply of.
344. Th. luste; play. 349. Th. contrarie. 352. Th. might. 356. Th. for hore.
367, 368. Th. went, potent. 370. Th. restlesse. 379. Supply er (Kaluza). 381.
G. begins again. 382. Both may neuer. 387. Both frette. Th. shal; G. shalle.
388. Th. al; G. alle. 389. Th. al; G. alle. 390. Both al.
398. Both myght. 401. Both witte; pithe; in. 404. Both faire. 408. Th. cappe.
421. Th. symple; G. semely. 435. G. ne fresh; Th. om. ne. 436. Both to be.
442. Both ay (giving no sense); read shal. 444. Both grace (for face). 446.
G. om. hem. 448. G. om. eek. 452. I supply that. 455. G. wedir; Th. wether.
456. G. deyd; Th. dyed. 462. Both had.

466. G. pouer. 467. G. shamefast; dispised. 471. G. ony pouere; fedde. Th.
yfedde. 472. G. cledde; Th. ycledde. 478. Th. were; G. newe. 479. Both
Square. 480. Th. ybarred; G. barred. 483. Both wrought. 485. G. laddris; Th.
ladders; read laddre; see 523.
489. Both As was in. 492. G. yeer; Th. yere; read yerd; see 656. 494. Th.
Therin; G. Therynne. 498. Both ought. 501. Th. hundred; G. hundreth. Both
wolde (by confusion). 503. Both be. 505. Both kepe it fro care; a false rime.
506. Both ware; a false spelling. 510. Both weymentyng.
512. Both into. 516. Both where; read o-where. 517. Both myght. 520. Both
For; read Ful. G. angwishis; see F. text. 532. I supply 1st so.
535. G. and of herknyng; Th. al herkenyng. 536. G. ony; Th. any; read a.
537. G. om. the. 540. G. ony; Th. any. 541. I supply 1st as. 542. Both bent.
546. Both as is a; omit is or a. 558. G. snawe; Th. snowe. G. snawed; Th.
snowed.
560. G. neded; Th. neden. 564. Some lines lost? 567. I supply in honde. 568.
Th. tressour; G. tresour; (cf. Gawain, 1739). 569. Both queyntly; see l. 783.
570. Both fetously; see l. 577.
583. Both but if; om. if. 586. Both may; see l. 538. 587, 588. Both myght,
hyght. 592. G. answeride; Th. answerde. 603. G. hidre be; Th. hyther be.
Both fette. 604. G. sette; Th. ysette.
605. Both hight. 606. Both sight. 617. Th. therin; G. therynne. 623. Th.
playen in; G. pleyn ynne.
631. Th. Than; G. Thanne. 645, 653. Th. in; G. Inne. 654. Both thought.
655. Th. byrde; G. bridde; read brid. 660. Both places (badly). 661. Both
might. 668. Both That (for These). 673. Th. whan; G. that. Th. herde; G.
herd. 676. Both myght.
684. Both clepe. 688. Th. But; G. For. Both om. hir. 699. Th. gardyn; G.
gardyne. 700. G. inne; Th. in.
701. G. hens-; wrought. 702. Both thought. 709. Both wrought. 716. Th.
her; G. their. Th. iargonyng; G. yarkonyng. 718. Th. ispronge; G. spronge.

720. Th. reuelrye; G. reuerye; see French. 724. Th. in; G. inne.
728. Both sight (wrongly). 732. Th. faste; G. fast. Both without. 739. Th.
whence; G. whenne. Both might. 741, 2. Both sight, bright. 743. Th. These;
G. This. 745. Both hyght. 746. Both blisfull. Th. and lyght; G. and the light;
see 797. 749. Both add couthe before make.
760. I supply ther. 761. Both made (for make). 770. Th. saylours; G.
saillouris. 773. Both, hente; I supply hem.
776. G. damysels; Th. damosels. 782. Both lieth. 783. Both queyntly; see l.
569. 791. Both bode; read bede; see note. 798. Both pray to God.
801. I supply neer. 806. Both it to me liked. 811. Both right blythe; om.
right. 812. Th. Than; G. Thanne. 819. Th. appel; G. appille.
834. Both first. 836. Both samette. 837. Both beten ful; om. ful. 844. Both
drury. 845. Th. rosen; G. rosyn.
848. Both gladnesse. 859. G. seye; Th. sey (for sayn). 860. G. pleye; Th.
pley (for pleyn). 861. Both Bent. 863. Both laugheden. 865. Both I wot not
what of hir nose I shal descryve (eleven syllables). 866. Two lines lost.
869. Th. orfrayes. 870. Th. whiche; G. which. Th. sene; G. seyen. 873. Th.
samyte; G. samet. 875, 6. Th. werde, ferde; G. werede, ferede. Both ins. hir
bef. herte. 877. Th. on; G. in. 879. Both Love, and as hym likith it be. 887.
Th. prise; G. preyse. 890. Th. ycladde; G. clad. 891. G. and in; Th. om. in.
892. From Th.; G. om.
893. Th. losenges; G. losynges. 897. Th. Ypurtrayed; G. Portreied. Th.
ywrought; G. wrought. 900. Th. Yset; G. Sett. 902. Th. moche; G. mych.
903, 4. Both peruynke, thynke. 906. G. -melled; Th. -medled; see l. 898.
923. Both Turke bowes two, full wel deuysed had he (too long). 928. Th.
any; G. ony. 929, 930. Th. plante, warante; G. plant, warant. Both Without.
932. G. Treitys; Th. Trectes. Both ins. ful after of. 933. G. twythen; Th.
thwitten (printed twhitten). 936. I supply ful. 939. Th. helde; G. hilde.
942. Th. aryght; G. right. 944. G. peynted (!). 945. Th. sharpe; G. sharp. Th.
wele; G. welle. 946. Th. stele; G. steelle. 948. Th. Out take; G. Outake. 953.

G. lasse; Th. lesse. 958. Th. companye; G. compaigny. 959. Both shoten;
see l. 989. 960. For right read nigh (K.).
964. Both leest. 969. Th. soner; G. sonner. 970. Th. Hys; G. Hir. Th. ought
be; G. ought to be. 973. Both for to telle. 984. Both on; read of (K.).
991. Both And contrarye. 998. Th. booke; G. book. 1007. G. Th. And; read
As was; F. Ainsinc cum. 1010. I supply is.
1015. For As read And (K.). 1017. Both smale. 1018. Both wyntred; see l.
1020. 1026. Both thought; read thinketh (K.). 1031. Both Sore (!); read Wys
(?). 1034. Both And hight (!).
1037. Both in werk (!). 1043. G. and the; Th. om. the. 1045. Th. weren; G.
were. 1058. Th. But; G. And. Th. prill; G. prile; prob. error for prike, or
prikke.
1062. Th. and wyse; G. ywys. 1063. G. haue do; Th. and ydon. 1065. Th.
And maketh; G. Haue maad. 1066. G. om. as. Both ought. 1068. Th. aryued;
G. achyued. 1071. G. purpur; Th. purple. 1073. Th. it; G. hir. 1080. Th.
amyled; Speght, ameled; G. enameled. 1082. G. shete; Th. shette.
1089. Both durst (!); read thurte or thurfte. 1092. Th. mannes; G. man.
1098. G. om. of. Both tothe. 1101. Th. thylke; G. thilk. 1102. Both myght.
1109. Both light. 1111. Th. he; G. she. 1112. Both deuyse. 1116. Th. the; G.
that. 1117. Both ragounces (!). 1125. Morris supplies tho. 1132. G. mych.
1134. Th. loued wel to haue; G. loued to haue well. 1137. Th. an; G. ony.
1139. Th. ben; G. be. 1141. Th. Was; G. And. 1142. Th. or defence; G. of
diffense. 1144. Th. dispences; G. dispence. 1146. Th. for to spende; G. for
to dispende; see 1157. 1147. Th. lackynge; G. lakke. 1150. Th. sette; G.
settith.
1162. G. om. wys. 1166. Th. craftely; G. tristely. 1172. Th. nygarde; G.
nygart. 1176. G. om. him. 1178. Th. wyl; G. wille. 1182. Th. adamant; G.
adamaund.
1187. Th. fresshe; G. fresh. 1188. G. sarlynysh; Th. Sarlynyssche. 1199.
Both sibbe. Th. Arthour; G. Artour. Th. Breteigne; G. Britaigne. 1200. Th.

enseigne; G, ensaigne. 1201. Both gousfaucoun. 1205. Both newly. 1206.
Th. tourneyeng; G. tourneryng.
1207. Th. There; G. The. 1210. Both He caste. 1214. Th. yfallen; G. falle.
1219. Th. on; G. of. 1221. Both durst. 1227, 8. Both bistadde, adradde.
1230. Th. taswage.
1233. Th. hempe; G. hempe ne (for hempene). 1235. G. ridled; Th.
ryddeled. 1236. G. om. nat. Both a; read oo. 1238. Th. yclothed; G. clothed.
1243; see 1235. 1244. Both Bitokeneth. 1247, 8. Both hight.
1255. Th. om. right. 1259. G. and of; Th. om. of. 1261. G. om. 1st no. 1263.
G. wenaunt (!). 1265. G. om. were. 1274. Both fast. 1275. Both without.
1282. Both And she; read Youthe; see 1302. 1288. Th. yonge; G. yong. Th.
wel; G. wole. 1303. Both that; read thus; see 1310.
1307. Both faire; truly (truely). 1308. Both were. 1313. G. loreyes; Th.
Laurelles. 1315. Th. ended; G. eended (=y-ended?). 1323. Both myght.
1324. Both durst (for thurte). 1326. Both As to haue.
1332. Both she (for 2nd he). 1334. Both hadde (for bad); bent; om. it. 1335.
I supply it. Both an (for on). 1339. Both sittith. 1340. Both he kepe me; (om.
he). 1341. G. hadde me shette; Th. had me shete. 1342. G. mette; Th. mete.
1343. Both had me greued. 1348. Both hadde in all the gardyn be.
1359. G. of gret; Th. om. of. 1360. Th. nuttes. 1363. Both almandres. 1365.
Th. weren; G. wexen. 1366. Read Throughout the yerd? 1369. Th. Gyngere;
G. Gyngevre. Both Parys (!). 1375. Th. plommes. Th. chesteynis; G.
chesteyns. 1376. G. Cherys; Th. Cheryse. G. which.
1379. Th. laurer; G. lorey (!). 1381. G. olyuers; Th. olyueris. 1384. Both
oke. 1386-1482. Lost in G. 1397, 8. Th. knytte, sytte; see Parl. Fo. 628.
1399. Th. myght there noon. 1400. I supply it.
1403. Th. bowe; Speght, bough (twice). 1404. Th. Connes. 1405, 6. Th.
clapers, maners. 1411, 2. Th. wel, tel. 1413, 4. Th. deuyse, condyse 1423.
Th. the erthe; see 1428. 1424. Th. wel.

1425. Th. Spronge; see l. 1419. 1428. Th. suche. 1429. Th. hath. 1431. Th.
vyolet. 1440. Th. dilectable. 1445, 6. Th. lefte. 1447. Th. garden; read yerde
in (K.); cf. 1366 (note). 1448. Th. efters (!).
1452. Th. beest. 1453. Th. shoten; read shete. 1453. Th. goodmesse; see
3462. 1456. Th. Besydes. 1474. Th. that hight; (om. that).
1482. Th. feirs. 1483. G. begins again. 1485. G. om. hir. 1486. Th. hert.
1488. Th. without. 1489. Th. deyde; G. dide. 1495. Both might to; I omit to.
1496. Th. Than; G. And that. Th. shulde he; G. he shulde. 1498. G.
velaynesly; Th. vilaynously.
1500. Th. ferme; G. forme. 1503. G. resten; Th. rest. G. that; Th. the. 1508.
G. heet; Th. herte (for heete). 1510. Both wel. Th. y-comen; G. comen.
1515. G. he straught; Th. out-straught. 1516. Both draught. 1517, 8. G. seen,
sheen; Th. sene, shene. 1520. Th. had; G. was.
1527. Both musede so. 1528. Th. om. al. 1534: Both comforte.
1550. G. scathles; Th. scathlesse. 1552. Th. abasshen; G. abaisshen. 1553.
From Th.; not in G. 1561, 2. Both bright, hight. 1563. Both Aboute.
1573, 4. Both sight, bright. 1581. Both foule. 1583. Both you to; I omit to.
1585. Both mirrour. 1586. G. stondith; Th. stondeth. 1591. Both entrees.
1593, 4. Both ye (for he).
1601, 1605. Both mirrour. 1604. So Th.; G. swithe to ligge. 1605. Th. loke;
G. loketh. 1608. Both laughyng (!); read loving. 1609. G. om. a. 1610. Th.
Y-blent; G. Blent. 1617. Th. sowen; G. sowne.
1621, 2. Both panters, bachelers. 1638. G. fast; Th. faste. 1641. I supply
have. Both sighed (for syked). 1642, 9. Both mirrour.
1644. Th. vertue; G. vertues. I supply the. Both strengthes; read strengthe.
1646. Both had. 1648. G. bitrisshed; Th. bytresshed. 1649. Th. thylke; G.
thilk. 1652. Th. enclos; G. enclosid. 1655. G. att (for and). 1663. Th. G. me;
read be (F. fusse). 1666. So Th.; G. Me thankis. G. wole; Th. wol; read
wolde.

1668. Both bere. 1671, 2. Both -thought, wrought. 1673. Both ther were;
both wone. 1674. Th. ware; G. waxe; both Rone. 1679. Th. faste; G. fast.
1683. G. wille; Th. wyl. Th. fresshe; G. fresh. 1687. Both myght haue.
1688. G. lief; Th. lefe. 1689. I supply a.
1694. G. it in; Th. om. it. 1695. G. enlomyned. 1698. Both hath; om. wel?
1700. Both roses. 1701. Th. rysshe; G. rish. 1705. Th. dyed (for dide;
wrongly). 1705, 6. A false rime; l. 1705 is incomplete in sense, as the
sentence has no verb. Here the genuine portion ends. L. 1706 is by another
hand.

FRAGMENT B.

Whan I had smelled the savour swote,
No wille hadde I fro thens yit go,
But somdel neer it wente I tho,
To take it; but myn hond, for drede,
1710
Ne dorste I to the rose bede,
For thistels sharpe, of many maneres,
Netles, thornes, and hoked breres;
[Ful] muche they distourbled me,
For sore I dradde to harmed be.
1715
The God of Love, with bowe bent,
That al day set hadde his talent
To pursuen and to spyen me,
Was stonding by a fige-tree.
And whan he sawe how that I
1720
Had chosen so ententifly
The botoun, more unto my pay
Than any other that I say,
He took an arowe ful sharply whet,
And in his bowe whan it was set,
1725
He streight up to his ere drough
The stronge bowe, that was so tough,

And shet at me so wonder smerte,
That through myn eye unto myn herte
The takel smoot, and depe it wente.
1730
And ther-with-al such cold me hente,
That, under clothes warme and softe,
Sith that day I have chevered ofte.
Whan I was hurt thus in [that] stounde,
I fel doun plat unto the grounde.
1735
Myn herte failed and feynted ay,
And long tyme [ther] a-swone I lay.
But whan I com out of swoning,
And hadde wit, and my feling,
I was al maat, and wende ful wel
1740
Of blood have loren a ful gret del.
But certes, the arowe that in me stood
Of me ne drew no drope of blood,
For-why I found my wounde al dreye.
Than took I with myn hondis tweye
1745
The arowe, and ful fast out it plight,
And in the pulling sore I sight.
So at the last the shaft of tree
I drough out, with the fethers three.
But yet the hoked heed, y-wis,
1750
The whiche Beautee callid is,
Gan so depe in myn herte passe,
That I it mighte nought arace;
But in myn herte stille it stood,
Al bledde I not a drope of blood.
1755
I was bothe anguissous and trouble
For the peril that I saw double;
I niste what to seye or do,

Ne gete a leche my woundis to;
For neithir thurgh gras ne rote,
1760
Ne hadde I help of hope ne bote.
But to the botoun ever-mo
Myn herte drew; for al my wo,
My thought was in non other thing.
For hadde it been in my keping,
1765
It wolde have brought my lyf agayn.
For certeinly, I dar wel seyn,
The sight only, and the savour,
Alegged muche of my langour.
Than gan I for to drawe me
1770
Toward the botoun fair to see;
And Love hadde gete him, in [a] throwe,
Another arowe into his bowe,
And for to shete gan him dresse;
The arowis name was Simplesse.
1775
And whan that Love gan nyghe me nere,
He drow it up, withouten were,
And shet at me with al his might,
So that this arowe anon-right
Thourghout [myn] eigh, as it was founde,
1780
Into myn herte hath maad a wounde.
Thanne I anoon dide al my crafte
For to drawen out the shafte,
And ther-with-al I sighed eft.
But in myn herte the heed was left,
1785
Which ay encresid my desyre,
Unto the botoun drawe nere;
And ever, mo that me was wo,
The more desyr hadde I to go

Unto the roser, where that grew
1790
The fresshe botoun so bright of hewe.
Betir me were have leten be;
But it bihoved nedes me
To don right as myn herte bad.
For ever the body must be lad
1795
Aftir the herte; in wele and wo,
Of force togidre they must go.
But never this archer wolde fyne
To shete at me with alle his pyne,
And for to make me to him mete.
1800
The thridde arowe he gan to shete,
Whan best his tyme he mighte espye,
The which was named Curtesye;
Into myn herte it dide avale.
A-swone I fel, bothe deed and pale;
1805
Long tyme I lay, and stired nought,
Til I abraid out of my thought.
And faste than I avysed me
To drawen out the shafte of tree;
But ever the heed was left bihinde
1810
For ought I couthe pulle or winde.
So sore it stikid whan I was hit,
That by no craft I might it flit;
But anguissous and ful of thought,
I felte such wo, my wounde ay wrought,
1815
That somoned me alway to go
Toward the rose, that plesed me so;
But I ne durste in no manere,
Bicause the archer was so nere.
For evermore gladly, as I rede,

1820
Brent child of fyr hath muche drede.
And, certis yit, for al my peyne,
Though that I sigh yit arwis reyne,
And grounde quarels sharpe of stele,
Ne for no payne that I might fele,
1825
Yit might I not my-silf withholde
The faire roser to biholde;
For Love me yaf sich hardement
For to fulfille his comaundement.
Upon my feet I roos up than
1830
Feble, as a forwoundid man;
And forth to gon [my] might I sette,
And for the archer nolde I lette.
Toward the roser fast I drow;
But thornes sharpe mo than y-now
1835
Ther were, and also thistels thikke,
And breres, brimme for to prikke,
That I ne mighte gete grace
The rowe thornes for to passe,
To sene the roses fresshe of hewe.
1840
I must abide, though it me rewe,
The hegge aboute so thikke was,
That closid the roses in compas.
But o thing lyked me right wele;
I was so nygh, I mighte fele
1845
Of the botoun the swote odour,
And also see the fresshe colour;
And that right gretly lyked me,
That I so neer it mighte see.
Sich Ioye anoon therof hadde I,
1850

That I forgat my malady.
To sene [it] hadde I sich delyt,
Of sorwe and angre I was al quit,
And of my woundes that I had thar;
For no-thing lyken me might mar
1855
Than dwellen by the roser ay,
And thennes never to passe away.
But whan a whyle I had be thar,
The God of Love, which al to-shar
Myn herte with his arwis kene,
1860
Caste him to yeve me woundis grene.
He shet at me ful hastily
An arwe named Company,
The whiche takel is ful able
To make these ladies merciable.
1865
Than I anoon gan chaungen hewe
For grevaunce of my wounde newe,
That I agayn fel in swoning,
And sighed sore in compleyning.
Sore I compleyned that my sore
1870
On me gan greven more and more.
I had non hope of allegeaunce;
So nigh I drow to desperaunce,
I rought of dethe ne of lyf,
Whither that love wolde me dryf.
1875
If me a martir wolde he make,
I might his power nought forsake.
And whyl for anger thus I wook,
The God of Love an arowe took;
Ful sharp it was and [ful] pugnaunt,
1880
And it was callid Fair-Semblaunt,