Chaucer's Works (ed. Skeat) Vol. II/Boethius Notes
NOTES TO BOETHIUS.
BOOK I.
Metre 1. In order to elucidate the English text, I frequently quote the original Latin, usually from the text of T. Obbarius, Jena, 1843. See further in the Introduction.
3. rendinge, Lat. 'lacerae'; rather rent, or tattered. The sense 'rending' occurs in Ovid, Met. viii. 880.
6. that is to seyn. The words in italics are not in the original, but were added by Chaucer as explanatory. Throughout the treatise, I print all such passages in italics.
8. werdes, 'weirds,' fate.
'Gloria felicis olim uiridisque iuuentae
Solantur maesti nunc mea fata senis.'
12. slake, better slakke; cf. Cant. Ta. E. 1849. empted, 'effeto.' MS. C. has emty.
13. in yeres ... swete: 'dulcibus annis.'
14. y-cleped, invoked; 'uocata,' sc. 'mors.' Cf. Troilus, iv. 503.
16. naiteth, refuseth; 'negat.' Icel. neita, to say nay.
17. lighte, i.e. transitory; 'leuibus ... bonis.' The gloss 'sc. temporels' (in A) gives the right sense. sc. = scilicet, namely; the form temporels is the French plural.
18, 19. But now:
'Nunc quia fallacem mutauit nubila uultum,
Protrahit ingratas impia uita moras.'
The translation unagreable dwellinges is an unhappy one.
22. in stedefast degree, in a secure position; 'stabili ... gradu.'
With regard to the last sentence, Mr. Stewart remarks, in his essay on Boethius, that Chaucer here 'actually reproduces the original Latin metre,' i.e. a hexameter and pentameter. The true M. E. pronunciation must, for this purpose, be entirely neglected; which amounts to saying that Chaucer must have been profoundly unconscious of any such intention.
Prose 1. 2. and markede: 'querimoniamque lacrimabilem stili officio designarem.' Hence markede is 'wrote down'; and pointel refers to the stilus. Cf. Som. Tale, D 1742. with office, by the use (of).
6. empted, exhausted; 'inexhausti uigoris.' Of course the woman here described is Philosophia.
9. doutous; 'statura discretionis ambiguae.'
12. heef, heaved; A. S. hōf. In Layamon, hof, haf, heaf. I put heef for hef, because the e is long.
13. so that: 'respicientiumque hominum frustrabatur intuitum.'
14. delye (so in both MSS.) = deli-ē, O. F. deliè (see Cotgrave), delicate, thin, slender, from Lat. delicatus, with the usual loss of c between two vowels and before the accented syllable; Lat. 'tenuissimis filis.'
After crafte it would have been better to insert and; Lat. 'indissolubilique materiâ.' But some MSS., including C., omit que.
18. as it is wont: 'ueluti fumosas imagines solet.'
21. a Grekissh P; i.e. Π. a Grekissh T; i.e. Θ, not Τ; the Greek θ being pronounced as t in Latin. The reference is to φιλοσοφία πρακτικὴ καὶ θεωρητική; in Latin, Philosophia Actiua et Contemplatiua; i. e. Practical (or Active) and Theoretical (or Contemplative) Philosophy. This is the same distinction as that between the Vita Actiua and Vita Contemplatiua, so common in medieval literature; see note (3) to the Sec. Non. Tale, G 87; and note to P. Plowman, B. vi. 251.
26. corven, cut, cut away pieces from; Lat. 'sciderant.'
33. cruel, i. e. stern; 'toruis.'
34. thise comune: 'has scenicas meretriculas.'
39. no-thing fructefyinge; 'infructuosis.' Hence we may perhaps prefer to read no-thing fructuous, as in Caxton and Thynne.
41. holden: 'hominumque mentes assuefaciunt morbo, non liberant.'
45. for-why, because (very common); seldom interrogative.
47. me, from me; and, in fact, Caxton and Thynne read from me or fro me. The forms Eleaticis, &c. are due to the Lat. text—'Eleaticis atque Academicis studiis.' He should rather have said—'scoles of Elea and of the Academie.' The Eleatici philosophi were the followers of Zeno of Elea (Zeno Eleates, born about B. C. 488 at Elea (Velia) in Italy), and the favourite disciple of Parmenides (who is expressly mentioned in Book iii. pr. 12, l. 143). The Academic philosophers were followers of Plato.
49. mermaidenes; Lat. 'Sirenes,' Sirens; cf. N. P. Tale, B 4461, and note.
til it be at the laste; a false translation. Rather unto destruction; 'usque in exitium.' But, instead of exitium, MS. C. has exitum.
55. plounged, drowned; 'mersa.' Cf. dreint, Met. 2, l. 1.
59. ner, nearer; comparative, not positive; 'propius.'
Metre 2. 2. mintinge, intending; 'tendit ... ire.' Still in use in Cambridgeshire.
8. sterres of the cold moon: 'gelidae sidera lunae.' I suppose this means the constellations seen by moonlight, but invisible in the day. The expression sidus lunae, the moon's bright form, occurs in Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 9. 6; but it is difficult to see how sidera can have the same sense, as some commentators say.
9. recourses, orbits; referring to the planets.
y-flit, moved or whirled along by their different spheres; alluding to the old Ptolemaic system of astronomy, which supposed that each planet was fastened to a revolving sphere, thus causing it to perform its orbit in a certain time, varying in the case of each.
this man: 'Comprensam [sc. stellam] in numeris uictor habebat.'
16. highteth, adorns; 'ornet.' Prob. from the sb. hight, hiht (A. S. hyht), joy, delight.
17. fleteth, flows (i.e. abounds); 'grauidis influat uuis.'
20. empted: 'Nunc iacet effeto lumine mentis.'
22. fool, i.e. foolish, witless, senseless; 'stolidam.'
Prose 2. 6. armures, i.e. defensive armour; 'arma.'
8. in sikernesse: 'inuicta te firmitate tuerentur.'
14. litargie; better letargye, i.e. lethargy. Cf. Troil. i. 730.
19. yplyted, pleated into a wrinkle; 'contracta in rugam ueste.'
Metre 3. 1. discussed, driven away; 'discussâ ... nocte.'
4. clustred; 'glomerantur'; or 'covered with clouds,' as Chaucer says.
5. Chorus, Corus, or Caurus, the north-west wind.
6. ploungy, stormy, rainy; 'nimbosis ... imbribus.'
8. Borias, Boreas, the north wind, from Thrace.
9. caves; better cave, as in Caxton and Thynne; Lat. 'antro.' beteth; 'uerberet'; hence Chaucer's gloss.
11. y-shaken, 'uibratus'; i.e. tremulous, sparkling.
Prose 3. 2. took, drew in, received light; 'hausi caelum.'
4. beholde, the present tense; 'respicio.'
10. norry, pupil, lit. nourished one; 'alumne.'
11. parten the charge, share the burden.
15. redoute my blame, fear blame. agrysen, shudder.
16. quasi diceret non, as if she would say no; as if she expected the answer no. This remark is often inserted by Chaucer.
19. Plato; B.C. 428-347. Before his time, Solon, Anaxagoras, and Pythagoras all met with opposition. The fate of Socrates is well known.
21. The heritage: 'Cuius hereditatem cum deinceps Epicureum uulgus ac Stoicum, ceterique pro sua quisque parte raptum ire molirentur, meque reclamantem renitentemque uelut in partem praedae detraherent, uestem, quam meis texueram manibus, disciderunt, abreptisque ab ea panniculis, totam me sibi cessisse credentes abiere.'
38. Anaxogore, Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher (B.C. 500-428); exiled from Athens (B.C. 450).
39. Zeno; Zeno of Elea (see p. 420), born about B.C. 488, is said to have risked his life to defend his country. His fate is doubtful.
40. Senecciens, apparently meant for 'the followers of Seneca.' The original has: 'at Canios, at Senecas, at Soranos ... scire potuisti.'
Canios, the Canii; i. e. men like Canius. The constancy and death of Julius Canius (or Canus) is related by Seneca, De Tranquillitate, cap. xiv. Cf. Pr. iv. 131, and note, p. 424.
41. Sorans, the Sorani; men like Soranus. Soranus is mentioned in Tacitus, Annal. xvi. 23. Caxton and Thynne read Soranos, as in the Latin text.
42. unsolempne, uncelebrated; 'incelebris.'
49. it is to dispyse, it (the host) is to be despised.
53. ententif, busy about seizing useless baggage as spoil.
sarpulers, sacks made of coarse canvas; in Caxton, sarpleris; 'sarcinulas.' Cotgrave has: 'Serpillere, a Sarpler, or Sarp-cloth, a piece of course canvas to pack up things in.' Cf. mod. F. serpillière.
56. palis, also spelt paleis (O. F. palis), lit. a palisading, or a piece of strong paling, a rampart, used to translate Lat. uallum. When spelt paleis, it must not be confused with paleis, a palace.
Metre 4. 3. either fortune, good fortune or bad.
5. hete: 'Versum funditus excitantis aestum.' I suppose that aestum is rather 'surge' than 'heat' here. See Met. vii. below, l. 3.
6. Vesevus, 'Veseuus'; the same as Vesuvius; cf. Vergil, Georg. ii. 224.
7. wrytheth, writhes out, throws forth wreaths of smoke. Here the old printed editions by Caxton and Thynne, as well as MS. Ii. 1. 38, happily restore the text; Lat. 'Torquet.'
8. Caxton and Thynne have thonder-leyte, which is perhaps better. MS. Ii. 1. 38 has thonder leit.
13. stable of his right: 'stabilis, suique iuris.'
Prose 4. 2. Artow lyk. The original is partly in Greek. 'An ὄνος λύρας?' Some MSS. have: 'Esne ὄνος πρὸς λύραν?' And MS. C. has: 'Esne asinus ad liram?' In an edition of Boethius by Renatus Vallinus, printed in 1656, I find the following note: 'Ut et omnes veteres scripsere, Varro in satyra quæ Testamentum inscribitur apud Agellium, lib. iii. cap. xvi: Ii liberi, si erunt ὄνοι λύρας, exheredes sunto. Suidas ex Menandro, Lucianus, Martian. Capella, lib. viii., atque alii quos refert Erasmus, in eo adagio. Imo et apud Varronem id nominis satyra extitit.' It has clearly a proverbial reference to dullness of perception. Ch. quotes it again in his Troilus, i. 731, where he so explains it.
3. why spillestow teres, why do you waste tears; 'Quid lacrimis manas?' After these words occur, in the original, four Greek words which Chaucer does not translate, viz.: Ἐξαύδα, μὴ κεῦθε νόῳ: i. e. speak out, do not hide them in your mind; quoted from Homer, Iliad i. 363.
With lines 3 and 4 compare Troilus, i. 857.
7. by him-self, in itself; 'per se.' Alluding to 'sharpnesse,' i. e. 'asperitas.'
15. enformedest, didst conform; 'formares.'
17. ordre of hevene; 'ad caelestis ordinis exemplar.' This refers to the words of Plato just at the end of the 9th book of The Republic: ἐν ὀυρανῷ ἴσως παράδειγμα ἀνάκειται. Cf. also the last lines of Book II of the present treatise.
18. confermedest (MS. A, enfourmedist), didst confirm; 'sanxisti.' The reading conformedest evidently arose from confusion with enformedest above, in l. 15.
19. mouth of Plato; referring to Book V (473 D) of the Republic: ἐὰν μὴ, ἢ ὁι φιλόσοφοι βασιλεύσωσιν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν, ἠ ὁι βασιλῆς τε νῦν λεγόμενοι κὶ δυνάσται φιλοσοφήσωσι γνησίως τε καὶ ἱκανῶς, καὶ τοῦτο ἐις ταὐτὸν ξυμπέσῃ, δύναμίς τε πολιτικὴ καὶ φιλοσοφία· τῶν δε νῦν πορευομένων χωρὶς ἐφ' ἑκάτερον ἁι πολλαὶ φύσεις ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀποκλεισθῶσιν, ὀυκ ἔστι κακῶν παῦλα ... ταῖς πόλεσι· δοκῶ δὲ, ὀυδὲ τῳ ἀνθρωπίνῳ γένει.
24. the same Plato; in the 6th Dialogue on the Republic.
25. cause, reason; 'caussam.' wyse, i.e. 'for wise men.'
27. felonous tormentours citizenes, citizens who are wicked and oppressive; the substantives are in apposition.
33. knowinge with me, my witnesses; 'mihi ... conscii.'
36. discordes ... preyeres; 'inexorabilesque discordiae.'
37. for this libertee, &c.; 'et quod conscientiae libertas habet.'
41. Conigaste, Conigastus, or Cunigastus; mentioned in Cassiodorus, Epist. lib. viii. ep. 28. The facts here referred to are known only from the present passage.
prospre fortunes translates 'fortunas' simply; it seems to mean 'success' or 'well-being.'
43. Trigwille, Triguilla; 'regiae praepositum domus.'
45. auctoritee; 'obiecta periculis auctoritate protexi.'
52. cariages, taxes; 'uectigalibus.' See a similar use in the Pers. Tale, I 752, and note.
59. inplitable, intricate: 'inexplicabilis.' coempcioun, an imposition so called; see Chaucer's explanation below, in l. 64. In Greek, συνωνή.
61. Campaigne, Campania, in Italy, provost; 'praefectum praetorii.'
64-67. See the footnote. I have here transposed this gloss, so as to make it follow, instead of preceding, the mention of coempcioun in the text.
68. Paulin, Decius Paulinus, consul in 498; mentioned in Cassiodorus, Epist. lib. i. epist. 23, lib. iii. epist. 29.
69. houndes; 'Palatini canes.'
73. Albin, perhaps Decius Albinus, to whom Theodoric addressed a letter preserved in Cassiodorus, lib. iv. ep. 30. See l. 156 below.
75. Ciprian, Cyprian. We know something of him from two letters in Cassiodorus, Epist. v. 40, 41. Theodoric esteemed him highly. See a discussion of his career in H. F. Stewart's Essay on Boethius, pp. 42-52.
78. to hem-ward, i.e. for the benefit of the officers around me; 'mihi ... nihil apud aulicos, quo magis essem tutior, reseruaui.'
81. Basilius. Not much is known of him; see H. F. Stewart, as above, p. 48.
82. compelled, i.e. bribed to accuse me. for nede of foreine moneye: 'alienae aeris necessitate.'
84. Opilion, Opilio; the Opilio mentioned in Cassiodorus, lib. v. epist. 41, and lib. viii. epist. 16, and brother of the Cyprian mentioned above, l. 75. His father's name was Opilio likewise.
89. aperceived, made known. the king, i.e. Theodoric, king of Italy for 33 years, A.D. 493-526. His reign was, on the whole, good and glorious, but he committed the great crime of putting to death both Boethius and his aged father-in-law Symmachus, for which he afterwards expressed his deep repentance. See Gibbon's Roman Empire. The chief record of his reign is in the collection of twelve books of public epistles composed in his name by Cassiodorus. The seat of his government was Ravenna, as mentioned below.
93. lykned; rather, added; Lat. 'posse adstrui uidetur.'
95-194. See a translation into modern English of the whole of this passage, in H. F. Stewart's Essay, pp. 37-41.
101. axestow in somme, if you ask particularly; 'summam quaeris?'
106, 107. forsake, deny. have wold, have willed, did wish.
109. and that I confesse. Here Chaucer's version seems to be quite at fault. 'At uolui, nec unquam uelle desistam. Fatebimur? [MS. C. Et fatebimur.] Sed impediendi delatoris opera cessabit.'
113. by me, with regard to me; 'de me.'
117. Socrates; in Plato's Republic, Book VI: τὴν ἀψεύδειαν ... μισεῖν, τὴν δ' ἀλήθειαν στέργειν (485 C).
120. preisen, appraise, judge of: 'aestimandum.'
131. Canius, better Canus, i.e. 'Julius Canus, whose philosophic death is described by Seneca, De Tranquillitate Animi, cap. xiv.'—Gibbon. He has already been mentioned above, Prose iii. l. 40.
132. Germeynes sone, the son of Germanicus. This Gaius Cæsar is better known as Caligula, the emperor who succeeded Tiberius.
143. famileres, friends, i.e. disciples, viz. Epicurus, in the De Ira Divina, cap. xiii (Stewart).
154. Verone, Verona; next to Ravenna, the favourite residence of Theodoric.
156. his real maiestee, high treason, lit. 'his royal majesty'; Lat. 'maiestatis crimen.' The king was intent upon repressing all freedom of speech.
167. submittede, subdued: 'summitteret.'
171. present, i.e. he would, even in such a case, have been allowed to appear in his defence, would have been called upon to confess his crime, and would have been condemned in a regular manner.
173. fyve hundred, nearly 500 miles. Boethius was imprisoned in a tower at Pavia.
176. as who seith, nay; i.e. it is said ironically. The senate well deserve that no one should ever defend them as I did, and be convicted for it.
181. sacrilege; glossed sorcerie: 'sacrilegio.' Sorcery or magic is intended. 'At the command of the barbarians, the occult science of a philosopher was stigmatised with the names of sacrilege and magic.'—Gibbon. See below, l. 196.
186. Pictagoras, Pythagoras. The saying here attributed to him is given in the original in Greek—ἕπου θεῷ. Some MSS. add the gloss, i. deo non diis seruiendum. MS. C. has: deo et non diis sacrificandum.
188. I, i. e. for me. A remarkable grammatical use.
190. right clene: 'penetral innocens domus.'
193. thorugh, i. e. for. Caxton and Thynne read for.
195. feith: 'de te tanti criminis fidem capiunt.'
198. it suffiseth nat only ... but-yif, this alone is insufficient ... unless thou also, &c. of thy free wille: 'ultro.'
212. good gessinge, high esteem: 'existimatio bona.'
215. charge, burden, load: 'sarcinam.'
219. by gessinge, in men's esteem: 'existimatione.'
223. for drede: 'nostri discriminis terrore.'
Metre 5. 1. whele, sphere: 'orbis.' Not only were there seven spheres allotted to the planets, but there was an eighth larger sphere, called the sphere of fixed stars, and a ninth 'sphere of first motion,' or primum mobile, which revolved round the earth once in 24 hours, according to the Ptolemaic astronomy. This is here alluded to. God is supposed to sit in an immoveable throne beyond it.
3. sweigh, violent motion; the very word used in the same connexion in the Man of Lawes Tale, B 296; see note to that passage.
4. ful hornes, i. e. her horns filled up, as at full moon, when she meets 'with alle the bemes' of the Sun, i. e. reflects them fully.
7. derke hornes, horns faintly shining, as when the moon, a thin crescent, is near the sun and nearly all obscured.
'The bente mone with hir hornes pale;' Troil. iii. 624.
9. cometh eft ayein hir used cours, returns towards her accustomed course, i. e. appears again, as usual, as a morning-star, in due course. I think the text is incorrect; for cometh read torneth, i. e. turns. Lat. text: 'Solitas iterum mutet habenas.' The planet Venus, towards one apparent extremity of her orbit, follows the sun, as an evening-star; and again, towards the other apparent extremity, precedes it as a morning-star. So Cicero, De Nat. Deorum, ii. 20. 53: 'dicitur Lucifer, cum antegreditur solem, cum subsequitur autem, Hesperus.'
11. restreinest, shortenest; the sun's apparent course being shorter in winter. Lat. 'stringis.'
13. swifte tydes, short times; viz. of the summer nights.
19. Arcturus, α Boötis, in the sign Libra; conspicuous in the nights of spring.
20. Sirius, α Canis Maioris, or the Dog-star, in the sign of Cancer; seen before sun-rise in the so-called dog-days, in July and August. It was supposed that the near approach of Sirius to the Sun caused great heat.
21. his lawe, i.e. 'its law'; and so again in his propre.
28. on. Caxton and Thynne rightly read on.
29. derke derknesses, obscure darkness: 'obscuris ... tenebris.' Not a happy expression.
31. covered and kembd: 'compta.' Cf. kembde in Squi. Ta. F 560.
37. erthes, lands; the pl. is used, to translate 'terras.'
41. bonde, i.e. the chain of love; see Bk. ii. Met. 8. l. 15.
Prose 5. 1. borken out, barked out; 'delatraui.' MS. A. changes borken into broken. The glossaries, &c., all seem to miss this excellent example of the strong pp. of berken. Borken appears as a pt. t. pl. in the King of Tars, l. 400. The A.S. pp. borcen appears in the A.S. Leechdoms, ed. Cockayne, i. 170, l. 17.
14. oo ... king. The original is in Greek—εἷς κοίρανος ἐστὶν, εἷς βασιλεύς: quoted from Homer, Iliad, ii. 204, with the change from ἔστω to ἐστίν.
18, 19. thy citee, i.e. the city of heaven; note the context.
22. palis, paling, rampart; 'uallo.' Clearer than paleis, as in A, which might mean palace; but both spellings occur in French.
25. face (facies), the look of this prison.
31. in comune good, for the common good: 'in commune bonum.'
34. thinges ... aposed, accusations; 'delatorum.'
45. thy wode Muse: 'Musae saeuientis'; cf. Met. 5 above, l. 22.
51. thilke passiouns: 'ut quae in tumorem perturbationibus influentibus induruerunt.'
54. by an esier touchinge refers to the preceding mowen ... softe: 'tactu blandiore mollescant.'
Metre 6. This Metre refers to the necessity of doing everything in its proper season.
2. 'When the sun is in Cancer'; i.e. in the month of June.
4. lat him gon, let him go and eat acorns.
6. whan the feld: 'Cùm saeuis Aquilonibus Stridens campus inhorruit.' Chirkinge, hoarse, rustling; alluding to the rustling of frozen grass in a high wind.
15. And forthy: 'Sic quod praecipiti uiâ Certum deserit ordinem, Laetos non habet exitus.'
Prose 6. 10. by fortunous fortune: 'fortuitis casibus.' Not well expressed.
14. the same ... thou, thou didst sing the same thing. See Met. v. 22.
17. owh! an exclamation of astonishment: Lat. 'papae.'
18. why that thou: 'cur in tam salubri sententiâ locatus aegrotes.'
20. I not ... what: 'nescio, quid abesse coniecto.'
22. with whiche governailes, by what sort of government.
28. the strengthe, the strength of the gaping stockade discloses an opening: 'uelut hiante ualli robore.' The corruption of chyning to schynyng in MS. A. makes sad nonsense of the passage.
42. they may nat al: 'sibique totum extirpare non possint.'
55. or elles the entree: 'uel aditum reconciliandae sospitatis inueni.'
56. For-why, for, Because, since. for-thy, therefore.
64. the auctor ... of hele: 'sospitatis auctori.'
65. norisshinges; perhaps better norisshing, as in Caxton and Thynne; 'fomitem,' i. e. furtherance.
71. faster, firmer, stronger: 'firmioribus.'
76. to maken thinne and wayk: 'attenuare.'
77. meneliche, moderate: 'mediocribus.'
Metre 7. 1. yeten a-doun, pour down; 'fundere.' Not geten, as in A.
2. trouble, turbid; 'Turbidus Auster.'
3. medleth the hete: 'Misceat aestum.' See above, Met. iv. l. 5.
5. clere as glas; cf. Knight's Tale, A 1958.
withstande: 'Mox resoluto Sordida caeno, Visibus obstat.'
7. royleth, wanders; 'uagatur.' Not 'rolls.'
11. holden, keep to; cf. 'Hold the hye wey'; Truth, l. 20. weyve: 'Gaudia pelle, Pelle timorem; Spemque fugato.'
BOOK II.
Prose 1. 13. to begyle; copied in Troil. iv. 2, 3:—
'—— y-thonked be Fortune,
That semeth trewest whan she wol bigyle.'
22. myn entree: 'de nostro adyto.' But Chaucer has translated 'adyto' as if it were 'aditu.' He translates aditum by entree in Bk. i. Pr. 6, l. 55. Adyto is 'sanctuary.'
28. Com, i. e. let (it) come; imperative: 'Adsit igitur rhetoricae suadela dulcedinis.'
32. moedes, moods, strains; 'modos.' prolaciouns, utterances.
35. Compare Chaucer's poem on Fortune; and see the long note at the beginning of the Notes to that poem.
45. use hir maneres; rather, make the best of her conduct: 'utere moribus.' agrysest, shudderest at, dreadest.
48. She hath forsaken: 'Reliquit enim te, quam non relicturam nemo umquam poterit esse securus.'
51. The MSS. usually agree in this clause. Chaucer's gloss is due to an obscure note in MS. C., viz. 'vel quam non relictam, secundum alios libros.' Other notes occur there, but do not help us.
68. floor: 'intra fortunae aream.' We say 'area' or 'domain.'
77. amonges, at various times, from time to time, now and then; see New E. Dict., s.v. Among, B. 2.
83. cesede, would cease; copied in Troil. i. 848:—
'For if hir wheel stinte any-thing to torne,
Than cessed she Fortune anoon to be.'
Metre 1. 3. Eurype, Euripus; a narrow channel, with a strong current; especially that between Boeotia and Euboea. This use of the word is here seen to be far older in English than the quotation from Holland's Pliny in the New E. Dict.
8. so hard: 'Ultroque gemitus, dura quos fecit, ridet.'
9. laugheth, laughs at; 'ridet.' It is impossible to accept the reading lyssheth in C. There seems to be no such word. It probably arose from the attempt of the scribe to represent the guttural sound of gh, because we actually find him writing neysshebour for neighbour twice, viz. in Bk. ii. Pr. 3. 24, and in Pr. 7. 57. This passage is imitated in Troil. iv. 7: 'Than laugheth she and maketh him the mowe.'
Prose 2. 1. Compare Chaucer's 'Fortune'; l. 25, &c.
4. every-dayes, daily: 'cottidianis querelis.'
37. I torne: 'Rotam uolubili orbe uersamus.'
39. Worth up, climb up: 'Ascende.' Cf. P. Plowman, B. vii. 91; Wars of Alexander, 2878, 2973.
42. Cresus, Croesus; see note to Monk. Tale, B 3917.
47. Perciens, Persians. But Chaucer is here wrong. The Lat. text has 'Persi regis,' i. e. king Perseus. Perseus, or Perses III, was the last king of Macedonia, who was defeated by L. Æmilius Paulus in a decisive battle fought near Pydna, in June, B.C. 168. 'When brought before Æmilius [here, Paulus], he is said to have degraded himself by the most abject supplications; but he was treated with kindness by the Roman general;' Smith, Class. Dict. See Livy, xl. 57; xli. 53; xliv. 32; &c.; Plutarch, Life of Æmilius.
51. Tragedie. Cf. the definition in the Monk. Prol. B 3163; and note to Anelida, 320.
53. in Greke. These two words are not in the original, but the following quotation is given in Greek: δύο τοὺς πίθους, τὸν μὲν ἕνα κακῶν, τὸν δὲ ἕτερον καλῶν. Some MSS. add: 'duo dolia quidem malum alterum bonum.' From Homer, Iliad, xxiv. 527:
δοιοὶ γάρ τε πίθοι κατακείαται ἐν Διὸς οὔδει,
δώρων, οἷα δίδωσι, κακῶν, ἕτερος δὲ ἐάων.
Cf. notes to Wyf of Bathes Prol. D 170, and to Leg. of Good Women, 195.
54. in the entree: 'in Iouis limine': ἐν Διὸς οὔδει.
61. realme: 'intra commune omnibus regnum locatus.'
Metre 2. 1. hielde, pour: 'Tantas fundat opes, nec retrahat manum Pleno copia cornu.'
8. as fool-large, like one that is foolishly lavish: 'Multi prodigus auri.'
11. other gapinges: 'Alios pandit hiatus.' Some MSS. have Altos, but Chaucer evidently read Alios, as in MS. C.
13. to any ... ende; rather, 'within a prescribed boundary'; 'Certo fine retentent.'
Prose 3. 22. princes. These were, in particular, Festus and Symmachus. Boethius married Rusticiana, the daughter of Symmachus. Hence the allusion to his fadres-in-lawe (socerorum) just below, in l. 26; where the right sense is parents-in-law. See Stewart's Essay, p. 24.
23. leef: 'delectusque in affinitatem principum ciuitatis, quod pretiosissimum propinquitatis genus est, priùs carus, quam proximus esse coepisti.' Hence the whiche thing really refers back to affinitee, which is hardly obvious in the E. version.
40. whan thou: 'cùm in Circo duorum medius consulum circumfusae multitudinis exspectationem triumphali largitione satiasti.'
43. gave thou wordes: 'Dedisti ... uerba fortunae.'
48. privee, a man of private station, not of noble rank: 'priuato.' The reference is to the election of his two sons as consuls in one day.
55. Art thou: 'An tu in hanc uitae scenam nunc primum subitus hospesque uenisti.' Thus shadwe or tabernacle is meant to translate scenam.
60. laste day; quoted in Chaucer's 'Fortune,' l. 71; see note to the line.
61. and also, i. e. even to such Fortune as abides and does not desert the man: 'fortunae ... etiam manentis.'
62. thar recche; it is absolutely necessary to insert thee after thar; i. e. And therefore, what, do you suppose, need you care? yif thou, i. e. whether thou.
Metre 3. 10. the fairnesse: 'Iam spinis abeat decus.'
13. over-whelveth, turns over: 'Verso concitat aequore.' whelveth is the right form, as noted by Stratmann; it occurs in MS. Ii. 1. 38, and in the black-letter editions. It occurs again in Palladius on Husbandry, i. 161: 'For harme ... may ... perchaunce the overwhelve,' i.e. for perhaps harm may overthrow thee. And again, in the same, i. 781: 'overwhelve hit upsodowne,' i.e. turn it (the land) right over.
16. tomblinge, fleeting, transitory; 'caducis.'
18. nis, is; we must disregard the second negative.
Prose 4. 3. ne be comen, is not come; i.e. did not come. It refers to past time.
5. For in alle: 'Nam in omni aduersitate fortunae infelicissimum genus est infortunii, fuisse felicem.' This famous sentence has been several times copied. See, e.g., Troil. iii. 1625-8; Dante, Inferno, v. 121-3; Tennyson, Locksley Hall, 76.
8. But that thou, i.e. 'but the fact that thou.' abyest, sufferest: 'falsae opinionis supplicium luis.'
12. For al be it: 'Nam si te hoc inane nomen fortuitae felicitatis mouet.'
20. Symacus, Symmachus. There were several distinguished men of this family. Q. Aurelius Symmachus was a statesman and author in the latter half of the fourth century. The one here referred to is Q. Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, who had been consul under Odoacer in 485, and was involved in the fate of Boethius, being put to death by Theodoric in 525, shortly after the execution of Boethius in 524. He had two daughters, Rusticiana and Galla, of whom the former married Boethius. See Procopius, de Bello Gothico, lib. i., and several Epistles in Cassiodorus, viz. lib. iv. epist. 22, 37, 66.
25. thy wyf; i. e. Rusticiana, daughter of Symmachus; for there is no proof that Boethius was twice married (Stewart, p. 24). She survived the capture of Rome by the Goths under Totila, A.D. 546. 'The riches of Rusticiana, the daughter of Symmachus and widow of Boethius, had been generously devoted to alleviate the calamities of famine. But the barbarians were exasperated by the report, that she had prompted the people to overthrow the statue of the great Theodoric; and the life of that venerable matron would have been sacrificed to his memory, if Totila had not respected her birth, her virtues, and even the pious motive of her revenge.'—Gibbon, Rom. Empire, ch. 43.
31. two sones; the two spoken of just above (Pr. iii. l. 35), as being both made consuls together. This was in 522.
conseilours, i.e. of consular rank: 'consulares.'
40. thyne ancres. Hence the line, 'Yit halt thyn ancre.' Fortune, l. 38.
52. thy delices: 'delicias tuas.' The sense here intended is 'effeminacy,' or 'unmanly weakness.'
56. ful anguissous, very full of anxieties: 'Anxia enim res,' &c. Repeated in Troilus, iii. 816, q.v.
68. for alwey, &c. Very obscure. Chaucer seems to mean—'for always, in every man's case, there is, in something or other, that which (if he has not experienced it) he does not understand; or else he dreads that which he has already experienced.' The Latin is clearer: 'inest enim singulis, quod inexpertus ignoret, expertus exhorreat.'
79. nothing [is] wrecched. The insertion of is completes the sense: 'adeo nihil est miserum, nisi cùm putes.' Observe 'nis a wrecche' in Chaucer's own gloss (l. 81); and see l. 25 of 'Fortune.'
83. by the agreabletee, by means of the equanimity: 'aequanimitate tolerantis.' Not having the word 'equanimity' at command, Chaucer paraphrases it by 'agreeabletee or egalitee,' i. e. accommodating or equable behaviour. Cf. l. 92.
86. The swetnesse, &c. Cf. Troilus, iii. 813-5; and Man of Lawes Tale, B 421-2, and note.
89. withholden, retained: 'retineri non possit.' that, so that.
107. sheweth it wel, it is plain: 'manifestum est.'
110. either he woot, &c.; copied in Troilus, iii. 820-833.
115. lest he lese that ... it, lest he lose that which. MS. A. omits 'it'; but the phrase is idiomatic.
119. this is to seyn that men, that is to say that, in such a case, men, &c.
120. lost, loss. This form of the sb. occurs elsewhere; as in Gower, i. 147 (goth to lost); and in P. Plowman, C. vii. 275; &c. See Stratmann.
131. it ne maketh, it does not make men miserable.
Metre 4. 7. lause, loose; Icel. lauss: 'solutae.' Usually loos, as in Cant. Ta. A 4064, 4352.
8. forthy if thou: 'Fugiens periculosam Sortem sedis amoenae, Humili domum memento Certus figere saxo.' Chaucer's translation is hardly correct; sortem and sedis must be taken in close connection. 'Avoiding the perilous condition of a fair (and exposed) situation, take care to found thy house securely on a low-lying (and sheltered) rock.'
12. weleful: 'Felix robore ualli Duces serenus aeuum.' palis, stockade, rampart; as before, Bk. i. Pr. 3. 56, Pr. 5. 22.
Prose 5. 10. to hem that despenden it; rather, by spending it; Lat. 'effundendo.' So again, in l. 11, to thilke folke that mokeren it answers to the Lat. gerund 'coaceruando.'
11. mokeren it, hoard it. Perhaps related to O.F. mucier; see Curmudgeon in my Etym. Dict. See mokereres, misers, below.
15. stenteth to ben had, ceases to be possessed: 'desinit possideri.'
16. large, lavish; 'largiendi usu desinit possideri.'
18. as of that, as regards that hoard.
19. a voys al hool, a voice not yet dispersed: 'uox ... tota.'
32. yif it wanteth, if it lacks: 'carens animae motu atque membrorum compage.'
35. of the laste: 'postremae aliquid pulcritudinis.' Perhaps it means 'of the lowest kind of beauty.' Mr. Stewart, in his Essay, p. 225, reads postremo, for which I find no authority. MS. C. has postreme.
36. through the distinccioun: 'suique distinctione.'
40. Why sholde it nat, &c. In some editions, this passage is not marked as being assigned to Boethius. In others, it is.
85. ostelments, furniture, household goods: 'supellectilis.' O.F. ostillement, oustillement, furniture; cf. mod. F. outil, a word of doubtful origin. Cf. l. 94.
90. subgit; as if for 'suppositis'; but the Lat. text has 'sepositis,' i.e. separate, independent.
92. beest, animal: 'diuinum merito rationis animal.'
97. of the lowest, &c., 'by means of vilest things.'
101. yif that al, &c., 'if all the good possessed is more valuable than the thing possessing it.'
105. and certes: 'quod quidem haud immerito cadit.'
111. it cometh: 'it arises from some defect in them.'
121. Gabbe I of this, do I lie concerning this?
125. weneth. The texts have and weneth; but I suppress and to make sense, and to make the translation agree with the Latin. 'Atqui diuitiae possidentibus persaepè nocuerunt, cùm pessimus quisque, eóque alieni magis auidus, quidquid usquam auri gemmarumque est, se solum qui habeat dignissimum putat.'
128. way-feringe; MS. A, way-faryng. Both forms, feringe and faring(e) occur; see Stratmann. Feringe = A. S. fērende, from the weak verb fēran, to go, travel; whilst faringe = A. S. farende, from the strong verb faran, to go. Fēran (= *fōrian) is derived, with vowel-mutation, from the stem *fōr, appearing in fōr, the pt. t. of faran.
130. singe, &c. Doubtless from Juvenal, Sat. x. 22; see Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1191, and the note.
Metre 5. Largely imitated in Chaucer's poem called 'The Former Age,' which see. See also the Notes to the same.
5. They ne coude, they knew not how: 'Non Bacchica munera norant Liquido confundere melle.'
6. piment, usually spiced wine; here, wine mixed with honey. See Rom. of the Rose, 6027, and the note. clarree, wine mixed with honey and spices, and then strained till it is clear; clarified wine. See Rom. of the Rose, 5967, 6026; Former Age, 16; Kn. Tale, A 1471. Chaucer uses these two words here in conjunction, for the simple reason that he was thinking of the parallel passage in the French Rom. de la Rose, which is imitated from the present passage in Boethius. Ll. 8418-9 are:—
'Et de l'iaue simple bevoient
Sans querre piment ne claré.'
7. ne they coude: 'Nec lucida uellera Serum Tyrio miscere ueneno.' Hence the Seriens are the Seres, or Chinese; and the venim of Tyrie should rather be the venim of Tyre, but Chaucer follows the adjectival form in the original, both here and in Bk. iii. Met. 4, l. 2. Venim is not the right word here; 'ueneno' merely means 'dye.' The reference is to the murex or purple shell-fish. See Vergil, Aen. iv. 262: 'Tyrioque ardebat murice laena'; and Georg. ii. 465: 'alba nec Assyrio fucatur lana ueneno.'
13. gest ne straungere: 'hospes.' Cf. Former Age, 21.
17. armures, defensive armour: 'arma.' The usual reading is arua, i. e. fields; but more than six MSS. have arma, and Chaucer's copy had the same; as appears from MS. C.
18. For wherto: 'for to what purpose, or what sort of madness of enemies would first take up arms, when they saw but cruel wounds (as the result) and no rewards for the blood that was shed?'
22. But the anguissous: 'Sed saeuior ignibus Aetnae Feruens amor ardet habendi.'
24. Allas! &c. Cf. Former Age, 27-32. the gobetes or the weightes of gold: 'Auri ... pondera.'
26. He dalf: 'Pretiosa pericula fodit.'
Prose 6. 8. the imperie of consulers, consular rank: 'consulare imperium.' The reference is to the creation of Decemviri; see Livy, iii. 32.
20. so requerable, in such request: 'expetibilis.'
29. into the ... body: 'in secreta quaeque.'
32. the whiche I clepe, by which I mean; so again below, l. 39.
35. a thought, a mind; 'mentem firma sibi ratione cohaerentem.'
36. a free man; Anaxarchus of Abdera, B.C. 323. The tyraunt was Nicocreon, king of Cyprus. See Valerius Maximus, iii. 3.
44. But what: 'Quid autem est, quod in alium quisquam facere possit, quod sustinere ab alio ipse non possit?'
47. Busirides, Busiris (gen. case, Busiridis), a king of Egypt, who sacrificed all strangers on his altars. But Hercules, coming to Egypt, slew him and abolished the custom. See Vergil, Georg. iii. 5; Ovid, Tr. iii. 11. 39. In the Monkes Tale, B 3293, Chaucer calls him Busirus.
49. Regulus; M. Regulus, taken prisoner by the Carthaginians, B.C. 255. The story of his embassy to Rome is well known.
63. may I. It is necessary to insert I (only found in the black-letter editions) to complete the sense. 'Quod quidem de cunctis fortunae muneribus dignius existimari potest.'
71. as of wil, i.e. when it can: 'ultro.'
80. reproeved, disproved: 'redarguuntur.'
Metre 6. 2. Nero. Cf. Monkes Tale, B 3653-84.
4. his brother; Britannicus, poisoned by Nero; Tacitus, Annal. xiii. 16; Suetonius, Nero, 33.
8. domesman, judge; see Monk. Ta. B 3680, and note.
15. septem triones, properly, the seven chief stars in the Lesser Bear; also sometimes used of the seven bright stars in the Greater Bear. The leading star in the Lesser Bear is the pole-star; and as that remains fixed in the north, the whole constellation came to signify the north. Hence, in the Monk. Ta. B 3657, we are told that Nero ruled over 'Both Est and West, South and Septemtrioun'; see note to that line.
18. Nothus, Notus, the south wind; see below. scorkleth, scorches; MS. A has scorchith. The Prompt. Parv. has: 'Scorkelyn, ustulo, ustillo'; and 'Scorklyd, ustillatus.' As Mr. Bradley notes, it is a variant of scorknen or scorpnen. The orig. Icel. verb is skorpna, to become shrivelled, allied to skorpinn, shrivelled. This is a pp. form as if from *skerpa, pt. t. *skarp; cf. skera, pt. t. skar, pp. skorinn. The adj. skarpr means 'sharp,' whence the weak verb skerpa, to sharpen. The sense of the primitive verb *skerpa was, doubtless, 'to cut'; and scorklen is, lit., 'to cause to be cut about,' when used as a transitive verb; hence, 'to shrivel up,' from the appearance of plants 'cut' with frost or parched with heat.
21. Allas!
'Heu grauem sortem, quoties iniquus
Additur saeuo gladius ueneno!'
More correctly, 'lordshippe to venimous crueltee.' MS. C has 'gladius, i. potestas exercendi gladium'; and 'ueneno, i. venenose crudelitati.'
Prose 7. 3. I have wel desired: 'materiam gerendis rebus optauimus, quo ne uirtus tacita consenesceret.'
10. drawen to governaunce: 'allicere,' i. e. allure (simply).
18. a prikke, a point; cf. Parl. of Foules, 57; Troil. v. 1815; Ho. Fame, 907. From Ptolemy, Syntaxis, lib. i. cap. 6; cf. Macrobius, In Somnium Scipionis, lib. ii. c. 9.
23. Tholomee, Ptolemy; viz. in the beginning of book ii. of his Megale Syntaxis. See the same in Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 68.
28. wel unnethe, scarcely, hardly at all: 'uix angustissima inhabitandi hominibus area relinquetur.'
34. And also sette: 'Adde, quod hoc ipsum breuis habitaculi septum plures incolunt nationes.'
38. defaute ... marchaundise; Lat. only: 'tum conmercii insolentia.'
41. Marcus Tullius, i.e. Cicero, in his Somnium Scipionis, which originally formed part of the sixth book of the De Republica. See cap. vi. of that work, and Note to Parl. Foules, 31.
43. Caucasus; mentioned again in the Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1140.
45. Parthes, Parthians.
59. hath the wrecched: 'scriptorum inops deleuit obliuio.'
69. ended: 'definitum.' We now say 'finite.'
73. endeles: 'interminabilem.' We now say 'infinite.'
77. were thought, were considered in comparison with eternity.
89. This rather man, this former man, the former.
95. seyde: 'Iam tandem, inquit, intelligis me esse philosophum? Tum ille nimium mordaciter, Intellexeram, inquit, si tacuisses.' This story is alluded to in Piers Plowman; see my note to that poem, C. xiv. 226.
108. despyseth it; cf. Troilus, v. 1821-7.
Metre 7. 1. with overthrowing thought: 'mente praecipiti.'
3. shewinge, evident, open to the view: 'Latè patentes ... plagas.'
7. dedly, mortal, perishable: 'mortali iugo.'
8. ferne, distant: 'remotos.' This is important, as settling the sense of 'ferne halwes' in the Prologue to the Tales, l. 14.
13. Fabricius, the conqueror of Pyrrhus; censor in B.C. 275. Brutus, the slayer of Cæsar.
14. Catoun, Cato of Utica (B.C. 95-46).
17. Liggeth, lie ye; 'Iacetis.' The imperative mood.
20. cruel; Lat. 'sera,' which Chaucer has taken as 'seua.' 'Cum sera uobis rapiet hoc etiam dies.' thanne is: 'Iam uos secunda mors manet.'
Prose 8. 2. untretable, not to be treated with, intractable, inexorable: 'inexorabile.'
7. unpleyten, unplait, explain: 'explicare.'
17. windinge. Read windy, i.e. unstable; Lat. 'uentosam.' Caxton's edition has wyndy, which proves the point. So also other old black-letter editions.
23. aspre: 'haec aspera, haec horribilis fortuna.'
26. visages, faces. See Notes to the poem on Fortune.
Metre 8. 1. It begins 'Quòd mundus stabile fide Concordes uariat uices; Quòd pugnantia semina Foedus perpetuum tenent.' The whole of this metre reappears in Troilus, iii. 1744-1764.
6. hath brought, hath led in, introduced: 'duxerit.'
greedy to flowen; the Lat. text merely has auidum; 'Ut fluctus auidum mare Certo fine coerceat.' The Lat. fluctus answers to 'hise flodes.'
7. ende, boundary: 'fine.'
8. termes or boundes, borders: 'terminos.'
10. Love: 'Et caelo imperitans amor.' On this passage is founded one in the Knightes Tale, A 2991-3.
11. slakede, were to relax. The last lines are:—
'Et quam nunc socia fide Pulcris motibus incitant,
Certent soluere machinam. Hic sancto populos quoque
Iunctos foedere continet: Hic et coniugii sacrum
Castis nectit amoribus: Hic fidis etiam sua
Dictat iura sodalibus. O felix hominum genus,
Si uestros animos amor, Quo caelum regitur, regat!'
BOOK III.
Prose 1. 3. streighte, pp., i.e. stretched; 'adrectis ... auribus.' The form streight-e is plural.
6. so, i.e. so much. Better 'how much'; Lat. quantum.
8. unparigal, unequal; 'imparem.'
11. nat only that, it is not only the case that. It would be clearer if that were omitted.
12. agrisen, filled with dread; pp., with short i, of agrysen. Cf. agryseth, Bk. i. Met. 6, l. 7.
15. ravisshedest, didst greedily receive; 'rapiebas.'
32. for the cause of thee, for thy sake; 'tui caussa.'
33. but I wol, &c.; 'sed quae tibi caussa notior est, eam prius designare uerbis atque informare conabor.'
Metre 1. 2. hook, sickle; 'falce.'
4. Hony; cf. Troilus, i. 638, iii. 1219.
6. Nothus, Notus, the South wind. ploungy, stormy, rainy; 'imbriferos.'
9. bigin, do thou begin; imperative; 'incipe.'
Prose 2. 2. streite sete, narrow (retired) seat; 'in angustam sedem.'
3. cures, endeavours; 'omnis mortalium cura.'
7. over that, beyond it; 'ulterius.'
8. sovereyn good; 'omnium summum bonorum.'
11. out of ... good; 'extrinsecus.'
28. mesuren, &c.; 'Plurimi uerò boni fructum gaudio laetitiâque metiuntur.'
34. is torned; a bad translation of 'uersatur,' i.e. 'resides.'
38. merinesse, enjoyment; 'iocunditatis.'
50. for which, on which account; 'quare.'
55. Epicurus. See Cant. Tales, Prol. 336-8, where this is quoted; and see Merch. Ta. E 2021; Troil. iii. 1691; 'Epicurus ... sibi summum bonum uoluptatem esse constituit.'
57. birefte awey. But the Lat. text has precisely the opposite sense: 'quod caetera omnia iocunditatem animo uideantur adferre.' For adferre [MS. C afferre], Chaucer has given us the sense of auferre.
58. studies, i.e. endeavours; 'studia.' corage; 'animus.'
59. al be it, &c.; 'et si caligante memoria.'
60. not, knows not; 'uelut ebrius, domum quo tramite reuertatur, ignorat.' See Cant. Tales, A 1262.
67. that ... it: 'qui quod sit optimum, id etiam ... putant.'
75. forsake, deny; 'sequestrari nequit.'
77. be anguissous, i.e. 'be neither full of anxiety.' The neither is implied in the following ne; 'non esse anxiam tristemque.' It is clearer if we supply nat, as in the text.
83. Than is it good, then it is the summum bonum.
86. lovinge, as if translating diligendo, which occurs in many MSS.; but the better reading is 'deligendo,' i.e. selecting.
Metre 2. 1. with slakke ... strenges; 'fidibus lentis.'
2. enclineth and flitteth; 'flectat.' flitteth here means 'shifts.'
3. purveyable, with provident care; 'prouida.'
6. of the contre of Pene; 'Poeni leones'; lions of North Africa, supposed to be extremely ferocious.
8. sturdy, cruel, hard; 'trucem ... magistrum.'
13. and hir mayster: 'Primusque lacer dente cruento Domitor rabidas imbuit iras.'
15. Iangelinge, garrulous; 'garrula.' This passage is imitated twice in the Cant. Tales, F 607-617, H 163-174.
17. pleyinge bisinesse; 'ludens cura.'
19. agreables; this form of the pl. adj. is only used in the case of words of French origin. Examples are not very common; cf. reverents below, Bk. iii. Met. 4, l. 6; and delitables, C. T. F 899.
26. by privee path, by an unseen route; 'secreto tramite.' Alluding to the apparent passage of the sun below the horizon and, as it were, underneath the world. Cf. Troil. iii. 1705.
27. Alle thinges: 'Repetunt proprios quaeque recursus.'
Prose 3. 1. beestes, animals; 'animalia.' Chaucer always uses beest for 'animal.'
15. fals beautee, a false beauty; 'falsa ... beatitudinis species.' But 'species' may simply mean 'semblance.'
17. After axe, Caxton and Thynne insert the, i.e. thee; 'te ipsum.'
24. thee lakked: 'uel aberat quod abesse non uelles, uel aderat quod adesse noluisses.' This sentence much impressed Chaucer. He again recurs to it in the Complaint to Pite, 99-104; Parl. Foules, 90, 91; and Complaint to his Lady, 47-49. This fact helps to prove the genuineness of the last-named poem.
36. No. Observe the use of no after a sentence containing nis nat. If there had been no negative in the preceding sentence, the form would have been Nay. Such is the usual rule.
40, 41. maken, cause, bring it about. bihighten, promised.
48. foreyne ... pletinges; 'forenses querimoniae.' But forenses means 'public.'
69. be fulfild ... and axe any thing; rather paraphrastic; 'aliquid poscens opibus expletur.' fulfild here means 'plentifully supplied,' not 'completely satisfied,' whereas in the very next line it means 'completely satisfied.'
71. I holde me stille, and telle nat, I say nothing about; 'Taceo.' Seven E. words for one of Latin.
74. what may ... be, why is it; 'quid est quod,' &c.
Metre 3. 1. After river, Caxton and Thynne insert or a gutter; Lat. 'gurgite.'
2. yit sholde it never. This gives quite a false turn to the translation, and misses the sense intended. I quote the whole Metre.
'Quamuis fluente diues auri gurgite
Non expleturas cogat auarus opes,
Oneretque baccis colla rubri litoris;
Ruraque centeno scindat opima boue:
Nec cura mordax deserit superstitem,
Defunctumque leues non comitantur opes.'
3. rede see; lit. 'red shore.' However, the Red Sea is alluded to. Chaucer's translation of baccis by 'stones' is not happy; for 'pearls' are meant. Cf. Horace, Epod. viii. 14; Sat. ii. 3. 241. Pliny praises the pearls from the Red Sea; Nat. Hist. lib. xii. c. 18.
Prose 4. 9. postum, short for apostume, i.e. imposthume. boch, botch, pustule. Lat. struma. Catullus is the well-known poet, and the allusion is to his lines addressed to himself (Carm. 52):—
'Quid est, Catulle, quid moraris emori?
Sella in curuli struma Nonius sedet.'
14. Certes, thou, &c. Rather involved. 'Tu quoque num tandem tot periculis adduci potuisti, ut cum Decorato gerere magistratum putares, cùm in eo mentem nequissimi scurrae delatorisque respiceres?' With is used for by: 'by so many perils' is intended. See Chaucer's gloss.
16. Decorat, Decoratus. He seems to have been in high favour with king Theodoric, who wrote him a letter which is preserved in Cassiodorus, lib. v. 31. It is clear that Boethius thought very ill of him.
32. that he is despysed, i.e. because he is despised. The argument is, that a wicked man seems the more wicked when he is despised by a very great number of people; and if he be of high rank, his rank makes him more conspicuous, and therefore the more generally contemned. The MSS. vary here; perhaps the scribes did not see their way clearly. See the footnote.
35. and ... nat unpunisshed; 'Verùm non impunè.'
40. comen by, arise from; 'per has umbratiles dignitates non posse contingere.' See Chaucer's Balade on Gentilesse, l. 5.
42. many maner, a mistranslation: 'Si quis multiplici consulatu functus.'
46. to don his office, to perform its function. Cf. Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1144.
50. that wenen, i.e. (folk or people) who suppose.
56. provostrie, i.e. the prætorship; 'praetura.'
57. rente, income; 'et senatorii census grauis sarcina.'
58. the office; this alludes to the Praefectus annonae, once an honourable title. It was borne by Augustus, when emperor.
64. by the opinioun of usaunces; 'opinione utentium.' Chaucer's phrase seems to mean 'by estimation of the mode in which it is used.' He should have written 'by the opinioun of hem that usen it.'
66. of hir wille, of their own accord (as it were); 'ultro.'
68. what is it; 'quid est, quòd in se expetendae pulcritudinis habeant, nedum aliis praestent?'
Metre 4. Cf. Monkes Tale, B 3653-60.
2. Tirie, Tyre; lit. 'Tyrian,' the adjectival form; 'Tyrio superbus ostro.' So above, Bk. ii. Met. 5, l. 8.
3. throf he, he flourished (lit. throve); 'uigebat.'
6. reverents, the pl. form of the adj. See above, Bk. iii. Met. 2, l. 19. unworshipful, &c.; 'indecores curules.'
Prose 5. 1. regnes, kingdoms; familiaritees, friendships.
2. How elles, why not? 'Quidni?' whan, whenever.
4. kinges ben chaunged. This is the subject of Chaucer's Monkes Tale. Examples are certainly numerous. In the time of Boethius (470-524), they were not wanting. Thus Basiliscus, emperor of the East, had a reign which Gibbon describes as 'short and turbulent,' and perished miserably of hunger in 476; and Odoacer was killed by Theodoric in 493; see Gibbon's History.
13. upon thilke syde that, on whichever side.
14. noun-power ... undernethe; 'impotentia subintrat.' nounpower, lack of power, occurs in P. Plowman, C. xx. 292; see my note.
17. A tyraunt; Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, in Sicily, who caused a sword to be hung by a slender thread over the head of his favourite Damocles, to teach him that riches could not make happy the man whose death was imminent. See Cicero, Tuscul. v. 21. 6; Horace, Carm. iii. 1. 17; Persius, Sat. iii. 40. And see Ch. Kn. Tale, A 2029.
27. seriaunts, serjeants (satellite), different from servauntes (seruientium) below. The difference is one of use only; for the form seriaunt, E. serjeant, represents the Lat. seruientem, whilst servaunt, E. servant, represents the O. F. pres. part. of the O. F. verb servir; which comes to much about the same thing.
30. what, why; what ... anything answers to Lat. 'quid.'
33. in hool, &c., whether that power is unimpaired or lost; Lat. 'incolumis ... lapsa.'
34. Nero; see note to Monkes Tale, B 3685.
35. Antonius, a mistake for Antoninus, as in the Lat. text. By Antoninus is meant the infamous emperor Caracalla, on whom Septimius Severus had conferred the title of Antoninus. Papinianus was a celebrated Roman jurist, who was put to death at the command of Caracalla; see Gibbon, Roman Empire, ch. vi.
39. Senek, Seneca; see Tacitus, Annal. xiv.
41. But whan; 'Sed dum ruituros moles ipsa trahit, neuter, quod uoluit, effecit.' I.e. neither Papinian nor Seneca found it possible to forego their position.
48. Certes, swiche folk; see Monkes Ta. B 3434-5.
50. pestilence; see Merch. Ta. E. 1784, and 1793-4.
Metre 5. 1. For corage, Caxton and Thynne have corages, but this may be an alteration due to the Latin which they quote as a heading: 'Qui se uolet esse potentem, Animos,' &c.
5. Tyle; 'ultima Thule.' Supposed to be Iceland, or one of the Shetland Islands.
Prose 6. 3. tragedies; see note to Cant. Ta. B 3163.
3, 4. O glorie. The original has: ὦ δόξα δόξα μυρίοισι δὴ βροτῶν, ὀυδὲν γεγῶσι βίοτον ὤγκωσας μέγαν. See Euripides, Andromache, 319. For this, MS. C. gives, as the Latin equivalent—'o gloria, gloria, in milibus hominum nichil aliud facta nisi auribus inflatio magna'; an interpretation which Chaucer here follows.
24. gentilesse. See remarks (in the notes) on Chaucer's Balade of Gentilesse.
Metre 6. 8. For yif thou loke your; the change from thy to your is due to the Latin: 'Si promordia uestra Auctoremque Deum spectes.'
9. forlived, degenerate; 'degener.' In Prose 6 (above), l. 37, outrayen or forliven translates 'degenerent.'
Prose 7. 1. delices; 'uoluptatibus.' The MSS. so confuse the words delices and delyts that it is hardly possible to say which is meant, except when the Lat. text has deliciae. Both E. words seem to correspond to uoluptates.
12. Iolitee: intended to translate 'lasciuiam,' a reading of some MSS.; MS. C. has this reading, glossed 'voluptatem.' Most MSS. read lacunam, i.e. void, want. were, would be; 'foret.'
14. that children: 'nescio quem filios inuenisse tortores.'
15. bytinge; 'mordax.' anguissous: 'anxium.'
16. or, ere; in fact, Caxton has ere, and Thynne, er.
18. Euripidis; in the gen. case, as in the Lat. text. The reference is to Euripides, Andromache, 418: πᾶσι δ' ἀνθρώποις ἄρ' ἦν ψυχὴ, τεκν'· ὅστις δ' ἄυτ' ἄπειρος ὢν ψέγει, ἧσσον μὲν ἀλγεῖ, δυστυχῶν δ' ἐυδαιμονεῖ.
Metre 7. 3. he fleeth: 'Fugit et nimis tenaci Ferit icta corda morsu.' As to the use of flyes for 'bees,' see note to Parl. Foules, 353.
Prose 8. 1. that thise weyes: 'quin hae ad beatitudinem uiae deuiae quaedam sint.'
8. supplien, supplicate, beg: 'danti supplicabis.'
11. awaytes, snares: 'subiectorum insidiis obnoxius periculis subiacebis.' anoyously; a mistranslation of 'obnoxius,'; see above.
12. destrat, distracted: 'distractus.'
16. brotel, brittle, frail: 'fragilissimae.'
28. of the somer-sesoun: 'uernalium.' So elsewhere, somer-sesoun really means the spring. Cf. P. Plowman, line 1.
Aristotle. The reference is not known; but the belief was common. It is highly probable that the fable about the lynx's sharp sight arose from a confusion with the sharp sight of Lynceus; and it is Lynceus who is really meant in the present passage; 'Lynceis oculis.' Cf. Horace, Sat. i. 2. 90:
—'ne corporis optima Lyncei
Contemplere oculis.'
Metre 8. 5. ginnes, snares: 'laqueos.'
7. Tyrene; 'Tyrrhena ... uada'; see Vergil, Aen. i. 67.
14. echines: 'uel asperis Praestent echinis litora.'
Prose 9. 10. thorugh a litel clifte: 'rimulâ.'
14. misledeth it and transporteth: 'traducit.'
16. Wenest thou: 'An tu arbitraris, quod nihilo indigeat, egere potentia?'
38. Consider: 'Considera uero, ne, quod nihilo indigere, quod potentissimum, quod honore dignissimum esse concessum est, egere claritudine, quam sibi praestare non possit, atque ob id aliqua ex parte uideatur abiectius.'
53. This is a consequence: 'Consequitur.'
69. they ne geten hem: 'nec portionem, quae nulla est, nec ipsam, quam minimè affectat, assequitur.'
77. that power forleteth: 'ei, quem ualentia deserit, quem molestia pungit, quem uilitas abicit, quem recondit obscuritas.' Hence that means 'whom,' and refers to the man.
95. that shal he not finde. This is turned into the affirmative instead of the interrogative form: 'sed num in his eam reperiet, quae demonstrauimus, id quod pollicentur, non posse conferre?'
119. norie, pupil; Lat. 'alumne.'
136. that lyen: 'quae autem beatitudinem mentiantur.'
142. in Timeo; 'uti in Timaeo Platoni.' Here Chaucer keeps the words in Timaeo without alteration, as if they formed the title of Plato's work. The passage is: ἀλλ' ὦ Σώκρατες, τοῦτό γε δὴ πάντες ὅσοι καὶ κατὰ βραχύ σωφροσύνης μετέχουσιν ἐπὶ πάσῃ ὁρμῇ καὶ σμικροῦ καὶ μεγάλου πράγματος θεὸν ἀεί που καλοῦσιν (27 C).
Metre 9. 3. from sin that age hadde biginninge, since the world began: 'ab aeuo.' thou that dwellest: cf. Kn. Tale, A 3004.
5. necesseden, compelled, as by necessity: 'pepulerunt.'
6. floteringe matere: 'materiae fluitantis'; see below, Pr. xi. 156.
8. beringe, &c.; see Leg. of Good Women, 2229, and note.
13. Thou bindest: 'Tu numeris elementa ligas.'
14. colde. Alluding to the old doctrine of the four elements, with their qualities. Thus the nature of fire was thought to be hot and dry, that of water cold and moist, that of air cold and dry, that of earth hot and moist. Cf. Ovid, Met. i. 19:—
'Frigida pugnabant calidis, humentia siccis,
Mollia cum duris, sine pondere habentia pondus.
Hanc Deus et melior litem Natura diremit ...
Dissociata locis concordi pace ligauit.'
Sometimes the four elements are represented as lying in four layers; the earth at the bottom, and above it the water, the air, and the fire, in due order. This arrangement is here alluded to. Cf. Kn. Ta. A 2992.
18. Thou knittest, &c.
'Tu triplicis mediam naturae cuncta mouentem
Connectens animam per consona membra resoluis.
Quae cum secta duos motum glomerauit in orbes,
In semet reditura meat mentemque profundam
Circuit, et simili conuertit imagine caelum.
Tu caussis animas paribus uitasque minores
Prouehis, et leuibus sublimes curribus aptans
In caelum terramque seris, quas lege benigna
Ad te conuersas reduci facis igne reuerti.
Da pater angustam menti conscendere sedem,
Da fontem lustrare boni, da luce reperta
In te conspicuos animi defigere uisus.'
24. cartes, vehicles; the bodies which contain the souls.
34. berer: 'uector, dux, semita, terminus idem.'
Prose 10. 8. for that veyn, in order that vain, &c.
11. ne is, exists. We should now drop the negative after 'deny.' nis right as, is precisely as.
12. is proeved: 'id imminutione perfecti imperfectum esse perhibetur.'
14. in every thing general: 'in quolibet genere.'
21. descendeth: 'in haec extrema atque effeta dilabitur.' Cf. Kn. Ta. 3003-10.
31, 2. that nothing nis bettre, i.e. than whom nothing is better. So below (l. 70) we have—'that nothing nis more worth.'
32. nis good, is good. The ne is due to the preceding 'douted.'
39. for as moche: 'ne in infinitum ratio procedat.'
51. this prince; Caxton and Thynne have the fader; Lat. 'patrem.'
62. feigne: 'fingat qui potest.'
88. thanne ne may: 'quare neutrum poterit esse perfectum, cum alterutri alterum deest.' Thus we must read may (sing.), not mowen (pl.).
98. Upon thise thinges, besides this: 'Super haec.'
100. porismes: 'πορίσματα'; corollaries, or deductions from a foregoing demonstration.
101. as a corollarie: 'ueluti corollarium.' Corollary is derived from corolla, dimin. of corona, a garland. It meant money paid for a garland of flowers; hence, a gift, present, gratuity; and finally, an additional inference from a proposition. Chaucer gives the explanation mede of coroune, i.e. gift of a garland.
106. they ben maked iust: these four words must be added to make sense; it is plain that they were lost by the inadvertence of the scribes. Lat. text: 'Sed uti iustitiae adeptione iusti, sapientiae sapientes fiunt, ita diuinitatem adeptos, Deos fieri simili ratione necesse est.'
165. the soverein fyn; Lat. text: 'ut summa, cardo, atque caussa.' Chaucer seems to have taken summa to be the superl. adjective; and fyn, i.e. end, is meant to represent cardo.
Metre 10. 8. Tagus; the well-known river flowing by Toledo and Lisbon, once celebrated for its golden sands; see Ovid, Am. i. 15. 34; Met. ii. 251, &c.
10. Hermus, an auriferous river of Lydia, into which flowed the still more celebrated Pactolus. 'Auro turbidus Hermus;' Verg. Georg. ii. 137.
rede brinke: 'rutilante ripa.'
Indus; now the Sind, in N. W. India.
11. that medleth: 'candidis miscens uirides lapillos'; which Chaucer explains as mingling smaragdes (emeralds) with margaretes (pearls); see footnote on p. 80.
17. that eschueth: 'Vitat obscuras animae ruinas.'
Prose 11. 3. How mochel; i.e. at what price will you appraise it: 'quanti aestimabis.'
24. The thinges thanne: 'Quae igitur, cùm discrepant, minimè bona sunt; cùm uero unum esse coeperint, bona fiunt: nonne haec ut bona sint, unitatis fieri adeptione contingit?'
55. non other; i.e. no other conclusion: 'minimè aliud uidetur.'
63. travaileth him, endeavours: 'tueri salutem laborat.'
71. thar thee nat doute, thou needst not doubt.
81. What woltow: 'Quid, quod omnes, uelut in terras ore demerso trahunt alimenta radicibus, ac per medullas robur corticemque diffundunt?' (maryes, marrows.)
91. renovelen and puplisshen hem: 'propagentur.'
92. that they ne ben, that they are; the superfluous ne is due to the ne preceding.
110. But fyr: 'Ignis uero omnem refugit sectionem.'
112. wilful: 'de uoluntariis animae cognoscentis motibus.'
123. som-tyme: 'gignendi opus ... interdum coërcet uoluntas.'
128. And thus: 'Adeò haec sui caritas.'
142. for yif that that oon: 'hoc enim sublato, nec esse quidem cuiquam permanebit.'
156. floteren, fluctuate, waver; 'fluitabunt'; see above, Met. ix. 6.
161. for thou hast: 'ipsam enim mediae ueritatis notam mente fixisti.'
163. in that, in that thing which: 'in hoc ... quod.'
Metre 11. 2. mis-weyes, by-paths: 'nullis ... deuiis.'
rollen and trenden: 'reuoluat.' Chaucer here uses the causal verb trenden, to revolve, answering to an A.S. form *trendan, causal of a lost verb *trindan. The E. trund-le is from the same strong verb (pp. *getrunden).
'Longosque in orbem cogat inflectens motus,
Animumque doceat quidquid extra molitur
Suis retrusum possidere thesauris.'
7. Cf. Troilus, iv. 200.
8. lighten, i.e. shine: 'Lucebit.'
10. Glosa. This gloss is an alternative paraphrase of all that precedes, from the beginning of the Metre.
32. Plato. From Plato's Phaedo, where Socrates says: ὅτι ἡμῖν ἡ μάθησις ὀυκ ἄλλο τι ἢ ἀνάμνησις τυγχάνει οὖσα (72 E).
Prose 12. 18. Wendest, didst ween: 'Mundum, inquit, hunc â Deo regi paullo antè minimè dubitandum putabas.' Surely Chaucer has quite mistaken the construction. He should rather have said: 'Thou wendest, quod she, a litel her-biforn that men ne sholden nat doute,' &c.
19. nis governed, is governed; the same construction as before. So also but-yif there nere = unless there were (l. 25).
28. yif ther ne were: 'nisi unus esset, qui quod nexuit contineret.'
30. bringe forth, bring about, dispose, arrange: 'disponeret.'
so ordenee: 'tam dispositos motus.'
38. that thou: 'ut felicitatis compos, patriam sospes reuisas.'
55. a keye and a stere: 'ueluti quidam clauus atque gubernaculum.' Here Chaucer unluckily translates clauus as if it were clauis.
63. ne sheweth: 'non minùs ad contuendum patet'; i.e. is equally plain to be seen.
67. by the keye: 'bonitatis clauo'; see note to l. 55.
73. It mot nedes be so: 'Ita, inquam, necesse est; nec beatum regimen esse uideretur, si quidem detrectantium iugum foret, non obtemperantium salus.' The translation has here gone wrong.
87. softely, gently, pleasurably: 'suauiter.'
91. so at the laste: 'ut tandem aliquando stultitiam magna lacerantem sui pudeat.' Another common reading is latrantem, but this was evidently not the reading in Chaucer's copy; MS. C. has lacerantem.
97. the poetes. See Ovid, Met. i. 151-162; Vergil, Georg. i. 277-283.
116. Scornest thou me: 'Ludisne, inquam, me, inextricabilem labyrinthum rationibus texens, quae nunc quidem, qua egrediaris, introeas; nunc uerò qua introieris, egrediare; an mirabilem quemdam diuinae simplicitatis orbem complicas?'
117. the hous of Dedalus; used to translate 'labyrinthum.' See Vergil, Aen. vi. 24-30, v. 588. No doubt Boethius borrowed the word inextricabilis from Aen. vi. 27.
125. for which: 'ex quo neminem beatum fore, nisi qui pariter Deus esset, quasi munusculum dabas.' Here munusculum refers to corollarium, which Chaucer translates by 'a mede of coroune'; see above, Pr. x. 101.
132. by the governements: 'bonitatis gubernaculis.'
135. by proeves in cercles and hoomlich knowen: 'atque haec nullis extrinsecus sumptis, sed altero ex altero fidem trahente insitis domesticisque probationibus.' Chaucer inserts in cercles and, by way of reference to arguments drawn from circles; but the chief argument of this character really occurs later, viz. in Bk. iv. Pr. vi. 81.
143. Parmenides, a Greek philosopher who, according to Plato, accompanied Zeno to Athens, where he became acquainted with Socrates, who was then but a young man. Plato, in his Sophistes, quotes the line of Parmenides which is here referred to: πάντοθεν ἐυκύκλου σφαίρας ἐναλίγκιον ὄγκῳ. This the MSS. explain to mean: 'rerum orbem mobilem rotat, dum se immobilem ipsa conseruat.' The Greek quotation is corruptly given in the MSS., but is restored by consulting Plato's text (244 E); hence we do not know what reading Boethius adopted. It can hardly have been the one here given, which signifies that God is 'like the mass of a sphere that is well-rounded on all sides.' Perhaps he took the idea of God's immobility from the next two verses:—
μεσσόθεν ἰσοπαλὲς πάντη, τὸ γὰρ ὄυτε τι μεῖζον
οὔτε βεβαίοτερον πέλει.
i.e. 'equidistant from the centre in all directions; for there is nothing greater (than Him), and nothing more immoveable.'
152. Plato. From Plato's Timaeus, 29 B: ὡς ἄρα τοὺς λόγους ὧνπερ ἐισὶν ἐξηγηταί, τούτων ἀυτῶν καὶ συγγενεῖς ὄντας. Chaucer quotes this saying twice; see Cant. Tales, A 741-2, H 207-210.
Metre 12. 3. Orpheus. This well-known story is well told in Vergil, Georg. iv. 454-527; and in Ovid, Met. x. 1-85.
Trace, Thrace; as in Cant. Ta. A 1972.
4. weeply, tearful, sorrowful: 'flebilibus.'
5. moevable should precede riveres; 'Silvas currere, mobiles Amnes stare coegerat.' Chaucer took these two lines separately.
12. hevene goddes, gods of heaven: 'superos.'
'Illic blanda sonantibus Chordis carmina temperans
Quicquid praecipuis deae Matris fontibus hauserat,
Quod luctus dabat impotens, Quod luctum geminans amor
Deflet Taenara commouens, Et dulci ueniam prece
Umbrarum dominos rogat.'
16. laved out, drawn up (as from a well). The M. E. laven, to draw up water, to pour out, is from the A. S. lafian, to pour; for which see Cockayne's A. S. Leechdoms, ii. 124, ii. 74, iii. 48. It is further illustrated in my Etym. Dict., s. v. Lavish, its derivative. No doubt it was frequently confused with F. laver, to wash; but it is an independent Teutonic word, allied to G. laben. In E. Friesic we find lafen sük or laven sük, to refresh oneself. It is curious that it appears even in so late an author as Dryden, who translates Lat. egerit (Ovid, Met. xi. 488) by laves, i.e. bales out. And see laven in Mätzner.
16. Calliope. Orpheus was son of Oeagrus, king of Thrace, and of Calliope, chief of the Muses; cf. Ovid, Ibis, 484.
17. and he song. This does not very well translate the Latin text; see note to l. 12.
21. of relesinge: 'ueniam'; i.e. for the release (of Eurydice).
22. Cerberus, the three-headed dog; cf. Verg. Georg. iv. 483; Aen. vi. 417; Ovid, Met. iv. 449.
23. Furies; the Eumenides; cf. Verg. Georg. iv. 483; Ovid, Met. x. 46.
26. Ixion, who was fastened to an ever-revolving wheel; see Georg. iv. 484; iii. 38; Ovid, Met. iv. 460.
overthrowinge, turning over: 'Non Ixionium caput Velox praecipitat rota.'
27. Tantalus, tormented by perpetual thirst; Ovid, Met. x. 41; iv. 457.
29. Tityus: 'Vultur dum satur est modis Non traxit Tityi iecur.' Cf. Verg. Aen. vi. 595-600; Ovid, Met. iv. 456. And see Troilus, i. 786-8.
34. But we wol: 'Sed lex dona coërceat.'
37. But what; quoted in Kn. Tale, A 1164.
42. and was deed: 'occidit.' The common story does not involve the immediate death of Orpheus.
49. loketh, beholds: 'uidet inferos.' The story of Orpheus is excellently told in King Alfred's translation of Boethius, cap. xxxv. §6.
BOOK IV.
Prose 1. 5. forbrak, broke off, interrupted: 'abrupi.'
14. so as, seeing that, since: 'cùm.'
25. alle thinges may, is omnipotent: 'potentis omnia.'
27. an enbasshinge ... ende: 'infiniti stuporis.'
30. right ordenee, well ordered: 'dispositissima domo.'
32. heried, praised. This resembles the language of St. Paul; 2 Tim. ii. 20.
41. cesen, cause to cease: 'sopitis querelis.'
45. alle thinges, all things being treated of: 'decursis omnibus.'
47. fetheres, wings; 'pennas.' The A. S. pl. fethera sometimes means wings.
50. sledes, sleds, i. e. sledges: 'uehiculis.' The Vulgate version of 1 Chron. xx. 3 has: 'et fecit super eos tribulas, et trahas, et ferrata carpenta transire.' Wycliffe translates trahas by sledis (later version, sleddis).
Metre 1. 2-5. Quoted in Ho. Fame, 973-8.
5. fyr, fire. In the old astronomy, the region of air was supposed to be surrounded by a region of fire, which Boethius here says was caused by the swift motion of the ether: 'Quique agili motu calet aetheris Transcendit ignis uerticem.' Beyond this region were the planetary spheres, viz. those of the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This explains the allusion to the passage of Thought (Imagination) through 'the houses that bear the stars' (i. e. planets), in Latin astriferas domos, and so, past the sun, to the seventh sphere of Saturn. After this, Thought soars to the eighth sphere, called the Sphere of the Fixed Stars (denoted below by 'the circle of the stars' or 'the firmament'); and after 'wending on the back of it,' i. e. getting beyond it, reaches the primum mobile, where 'the lord of kings holds the sceptre of his might.'
'Donec in astriferas surgat domos,
Phoeboque coniungat uias,
Aut comitetur iter gelidi senis
Miles corusci sideris;
Vel quocunque micans nox pingitur,
Recurrat astri circulum,
Atque ubi iam exhausti fuerit satis,
Polum relinquit extimum,
Dorsaque uelocis premat aetheris
Compos uerendi luminis.'
9. Saturnus, the planet Saturn; which Chaucer rightly gives as the sense of 'senis.'
and he y-maked, i.e. and he (Thought) becomes a knight. I hesitate to insert is after he, because all the authorities omit it; in fact, the phrase and he y-maked seems to be equivalent to 'he being made.' I do not understand what is meant by 'Miles corusci sideris,' unless it means that Boethius imagines Thought to become a companion of Mars, and thus to be made a soldier, in the service of that bright planet.
15. images of sterres, i.e. constellations, which were fancifully supposed to represent various objects.
18. worshipful light. MS. A has dredefulle clerenesse. Both are translations of 'uerendi luminis.'
22. swifte cart: 'uolucrem currum.' Cart is sometimes used for car or chariot.
25. but now, &c. These words are supposed to be spoken by Boethius, when he remembers all the truth. 'Haec dices, memini, patria est mihi.'
26. heer wol I fastne my degree: 'hic sistam gradum.' The sense is rather, 'here will I [or, let me] fix my step,' or 'plant my foot'; i.e. remain. Cf. 'Siste gradum,' i. e. stop; Verg. Aen. vi. 465.
27. But yif:
'Quod si terrarum placeat tibi
Noctem relictam uisere,
Quos miseri toruos populi timent
Cernes tyrannos exules.'
Prose 2. 1. owh, an exclamation; 'Papae.'
13. fey, the faith, the certainty: 'fides.' sentence, opinion.
31. And in that: 'Quod uero quisque potest.' may, can do.
38. lad, led; studies, desires: 'quae diuersis studiis agitur.'
71. Yif that: 'Etsi coniecto, inquam, quid uelis.'
84. knit forth: 'Contexe, inquam, cetera.'
93. shewinge, evident; is open and shewinge: 'patet.'
97. Iugement. Evidently meant to translate iudicium. But Chaucer misread his text, which has indicium. 'Idque, ut medici sperare solent, indicium est erectae iam resistentisque naturae.'
103. ledeth hem, i. e. leads them to: 'qui ne ad hoc quidem peruenire queunt, ad quod eos naturalis ducit, ac pene compellit, intentio.'
104. And what: 'Et quid? si hoc tam magno ac pene inuicto praeeuntis naturae desererentur auxilio?'
112. Ne shrewes: 'Neque enim leuia aut ludicra praemia petunt, quae consequi atque obtinere non possunt.'
120. laye, might lie (subjunctive): 'quo nihil ulterius peruium iaceret incessui.'
137. for to ben, even to exist. So below, ben frequently means 'to exist,' as appears from the argument.
151. mowen, have power to act: 'possunt.'
161. understonde, mayest understand: 'ut intelligas.'
187. Plato, viz. in the Gorgias and Alcibiades I, where many of the arguments here used may be found.
Metre 2. The subject of this metre is from Plato, De Republica, x. Chaucer's translation begins with the 7th line of the Latin.
'Quos uides sedere celsos Solii culmine reges,
Purpura claros nitente, Septos tristibus armis,
Ore toruo comminantes, Rabie cordis anhelos,
Detrahat si quis superbis Vani tegmina cultus,
Iam uidebit intus arctas Dominos ferre catenas.
Hinc enim libido uersat Auidis corda uenenis;
Hinc flagellat ira mentem Fluctus turbida tollens,
Moeror aut captos fatigat, Aut spes lubrica torquet.
Ergo, cum caput tot unum Cernas ferre tyrannos,
Non facit, quod optat, ipse Dominis pressus iniquis.'
12. tyrannyes. This reading (in C ed.) gives the sense better than the reading tyrauntis (in A); although the latter is quite literal.
Prose 3. 7. stadie, race-course: 'in stadio'; which Chaucer explains by 'furlong.'
10. purposed, equivalent to proposed; 'praemium commune propositum.'
14. For which thing: 'quare probos mores sua praemia non relinquunt.'
25, 26. so as, whereas. for men, because men.
27. part-les, without his share of: 'praemii ... expertem.'
35. no day: 'quod nullus deterat dies.'
39. undepartable, inseparable: 'inseparabili poena.'
49. may it semen: 'possuntne sibi supplicii expertes uideri, quos omnium malorum extrema nequitia non afficit modò, verumetiam uehementer inficit?'
70. under, beneath, below: 'infra hominis meritum.'
Metre 3. 1. aryvede, cause to arrive, drove: 'appulit.'
the sailes: 'Vela Neritii ducis;' Chaucer inserts Ulixes, i. e. Ulysses. The phrase is from Ovid: 'Dux quoque Neritius,' i. e. Ulysses; Fasti, iv. 69. Neritos was a mountain of Ithaca, the island of Ulysses. MS. C. reads Naricii, which accounts for the form Narice.
3. Circes, Circe, as in Ho. Fame, 1272; inserted by Chaucer.
7. that oon of hem: 'Hunc apri facies tegit.'—'One of them, his face is covered,' &c.
9. Marmorike: 'Marmaricus leo.' This refers to the country of Barca, on the N. African coast, to the W. of Egypt.
13. But al-be-it: 'Sed licet uariis modis Numen Arcadis alitis Obsitum miserans ducens Peste soluerit hospitis.' Arcas ales, the winged Arcadian, i. e. Mercury, because born on the Arcadian mountain Cyllene.
16. algates, at any rate; by this, already.
19. akornes of okes; this is not tautology, for an acorn was, originally, any fruit of the field, as the etymology (from acre) shews.
23. over-light, too light, too feeble: 'O leuem nimium manum, Nec potentia gramina, Membra quae ualeant licet, Corda uertere non ualent.'
32. for vyces: 'Dira, quae penitus meant, Nec nocentia corpori Mentis uulnere saeuiunt.'
Prose 4. 2. ne I ne see nat: 'nec iniuria dici uideo uitiosos, tametsi humani corporis speciem seruent, in belluas tamen animorum qualitate mutari.' Chaucer's 'as by right' should rather be 'as by wrong.' It means 'I do not see that it is wrongly said.'
4, 5. But I nolde, but I would rather that it were not so with regard to evil men: 'eis licere noluissem.'
18. to mowen don, to be able to do: 'potuisse.'
22. three, i. e. the triple misfortune of wishing to do evil, of being able to do it, and of doing it.
26. thilke unselinesse: 'hoc infortunio'; i. e. the ability to sin.
28. So shullen: 'Carebunt, inquit, ocius, quàm uel tu forsitan uelis, uel illi sese existiment esse carituros.'
30. For ther: 'Neque enim est aliquid in tam breuibus uitae metis ita serum, quod exspectare longum immortalis praesertim animus putet.'
39. by the outtereste: 'eorum malitiam ... mors extrema finiret.'
42. ben perdurable, i. e. to exist eternally: 'infinitam liquet esse miseriam, quam constat esse aeternam.'
51. ther is not why, there is no reason why.
54. but of the thinges: 'sed ex his, quae sumpta sunt, aeque est necessarium.'
64. but I understande: 'sed alio quodam modo infeliciores esse improbos arbitror impunitos, tametsi nulla ratio correctionis, nullus respectus habeatur exempli.' Thus 'non ensaumple of lokinge' is wrong; it should rather be 'non lokinge of ensaumple,' i. e. no regard to the example thus set.
90. which defaute: 'quam iniquitatis merito malum esse confessus es.' Hence 'for the deserte of felonye' means 'when we consider what wickedness deserves.'
102. to leten, to leave: 'nullane animarum supplicia ... relinquis?'
132. briddes, i. e. owls. See Parl. Foules, 599.
142. right as thou: 'ueluti si uicibus sordidam humum caelumque respicias, cunctis extra cessantibus, ipsa cernendi ratione nunc coeno nunc sideribus interesse uidearis.'
153. Wrong. It should rather run: 'sholde we wene that we were blinde?' Lat. 'num uidentes eadem caecos putaremus?'
193. in al, altogether: 'tota,' sc. opera defensorum.
197, 8. at any clifte: 'aliqua rimula.'
sawen, if they should perceive: 'uiderent.'
200. right for: 'compensatione adipiscendae probitatis.' Hence for to geten hem means 'of obtaining for themselves.'
205. y-leten, left: 'nullus prorsus odio locus relinquatur.'
Metre 4. 1. What delyteth you, Why does it delight you? 'Quid tantos iuuat excitare motus?'
Lines 8-10 are put interrogatively in the Latin text.
9. and wilnen: 'Alternisque uolunt perire telis.'
10. But the resoun: 'Non est iusta satis saeuitiae ratio.'
Prose 5. 9. y-shad, shed, spread abroad: 'transfunditur.'
20. hepeth: 'Nunc stuporem meum Deus rector exaggerat.'
Metre 5. The Latin text begins thus:—
'Si quis Arcturi sidera nescit
Propinqua summo cardine labi,
Cur legat tardus plaustra Boötes,
Mergatque seras aequore flammas,
Cum nimis celeres explicet ortus,
Legem stupebit aetheris alti.'
1. sterres of Arcture, the stars of the constellation Arcturus. Arcturus was (as here) another name for Boötes, though it properly meant the brightest star in that constellation. It is at no great distance from the north pole, and so appears to revolve round it. The passage, which is somewhat obscure, seems to refer to the manner of the rising and setting of Boötes; and the argument is, that a person ignorant of astronomy, must be puzzled to understand the laws that rule the motions of the sky.
3. the sterre, the constellation. Chaucer uses sterre in this sense in several passages; see Kn. Tale, A 2059, 2061, and the notes.
8. the fulle mone. This alludes to an eclipse of the moon, as appears from below.
9. infect: 'Infecta metis noctis opacae.'
confuse, confounded, overcome; the light of the moon disappears in a full eclipse, rendering the stars brighter.
11. The comune errour: 'Commouet gentes publicus error.' The people who do not understand an eclipse, are excited by it; they bring out basins, and beat them with a loud din, to frighten away the spirit that is preying on the moon. Chaucer calls them Corybantes, but these were the priests of Cybele. Still, they celebrated her rites to the sound of noisy music; and he may have been thinking of a passage in Ovid, Fasti, iv. 207-14. C. adds a gloss: 'i. vulgaris error, quo putatur luna incantari.'
12. thikke strokes, frequent strokes. The word resembles thilke in C., because lk is not unfrequently written for kk in the fifteenth century, to the confusion of some editors; see my paper on Ghost-words, in the Philol. Soc. Trans. 1886, p. 370.
18. by quakinge flodes: 'frementi ... fluctu.'
23. alle thinges: 'Cuncta, quae rara prouehit aetas.'
24. troubly errour: 'nubilus error.'
Prose 6. 9. laven it, to exhaust the subject: 'cui uix exhausti quidquam satis sit.' As to lave, see note to Bk. iii. Met. 12-16.
13. Ydre, Hydra; see note below to Met. 7. The form is due to hydrae (MS. hydre) in the Latin text.
Ne ther ... ende: 'nec ullus fuerit modus.' Manere is not the sense of modus here; it rather means ende or 'limit.'
14. but-yif: 'nisi quis eas uiuacissimo mentis igne coërceat.'
24, 5. But althogh: 'Quòd si te musici carminis oblectamenta delectant, hanc oportet paullisper differas uoluptatem, dum nexas sibi ordine contexo rationes.' This is said, because this 'Prose' is of unusual length. For sibi, another reading is tibi; hence Chaucer's 'weve to thee resouns.'
30. muable, mutable, changeable: 'mutabilium naturarum.' Cf. Kn. Tale, A 2994-3015.
33. in the tour: 'Haec in suae simplicitatis arce composita, multiplicem rebus gerendis modum statuit.'
48. but destinee: 'fatum uero singula digerit in motum, locis, formis, ac temporibus distributa.'
59. and ledeth: 'et quod simpliciter praesentarieque prospexit, per temporales ordines ducit.' Cf. Troilus, i. 1065-9.
67. by some sowle; glossed 'anima mundi.' This idea is from Plato, De Legibus, bk. x: ψυχὴν δὴ διοικοῦσαν καὶ ἐνοικοῦσαν ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς πάντῃ κινουμένοις μῶν ὀυ καὶ τὸν ὀυρανὸν ἀνάγκη διοικεῖν φάναι; (896 D).
68. by the celestial, &c.; alluding to the old astrology.
81. a same centre; i.e. concentric circles, as on a target.
87. and yif ther be: 'si quid uero illi se medio connectat et societ, in simplicitatem cogitur, diffundique ac diffluere cessat.'
93. laus, loose; from Icel. lauss. Also spelt loos, los. it axeth: 'quantò illum rerum cardinem uicinius petit.' Thus it axeth is due to 'petit,' i.e. seeks, tends to.
97. Thanne right swich: 'Igitur uti est ad intellectum ratiocinatio; ad id quod est, id quod gignitur; ad aeternitatem tempus; ad puncti medium circulus: ita est fati series mobilis ad prouidentiae stabilem simplicitatem.'
108. whan they passen: 'cùm ... proficiscantur.' Thus whan should rather be so as, i.e. whereas, because.
112. unable to ben ybowed: 'indeclinabilem caussarum ordinem promat.'
114. sholden fleten: 'res ... temerè fluituras.'
For which it is: 'Quo fit.'
116. natheles: 'nihilominus tamen suus modus ad bonum dirigens cuncta disponat.'
121. ne the ordre: 'ne dum ordo de summi boni cardine proficiscens, a suo quoquam deflectat exordio.' MS. C. has 'deflectatur.'
123. 'Quae uero, inquies, potest ulla iniquior esse confusio.' For 'iniquior,' MS. C. has the extraordinary reading 'inquiescior,' which Chaucer seems to have tried to translate.
138. Ne it ne is nat: 'Non enim dissimile est miraculum nescienti.'
145. hele of corages: 'animorum salus.'
148. lecher, i.e. leech-er, healer: 'medicator mentium Deus.'
151. leneth hem, gives them: 'quod conuenire nouit, accommodat.' Printed leueth in Dr. Furnivall's print of MS. C., but leneth in Morris's edition of MS. A. There is no doubt as to the right reading, because accommodare and lenen are both used in the sense 'to lend.'
154. for to constreine: 'ut pauca ... perstringam,' i.e. 'to touch lightly on a few things.' Chaucer has taken it too literally, but his paraphrase is nearly right.
157. right kepinge: 'aequi seruantissimum.'
159. my familer: 'familiaris noster Lucanus.' Alluding to the famous line:—'Victrix caussa deis placuit, sed uicta Catoni'; Pharsalia, i. 128.
168. with-holden, retain: 'retinere fortunam.'
176. by me, by my means, by my help: 'Nam ut quidam me quoque excellentior ait.' This looks like a slip on the part of Boethius himself, for the supposed speaker is Philosophy herself. The philosopher here alluded to still remains unknown. MS. C. has 'me quidem'; and 'me' is glossed by 'philosophus per me.'
177. in Grek. Some MSS. have: ἀνδρὸς ἱεροῦ σῶμα δυνάμεις ὀικοδομοῦσι. There are various readings, but Chaucer had before him only the interpretation: 'Viri sacri corpus aedificauerunt uirtutes.' Such is the reading in MS. C.
179. taken, delivered, entrusted. 'Fit autem saepe, uti bonis summa rerum gerenda deferatur.'
182. remordeth: 'remordet,' i.e. plagues, troubles.
186. And other folk: 'Alii plus aequo metuunt, quod ferre possunt.'
201. of wikkede merite: 'eos male meritos omnes existimant.'
206. serven to shrewes: 'famulari saepe improbis.' I trowe: 'illud etiam dispensari credo.'
207, 8. overthrowinge to yvel: 'praeceps.'
209. egren him: 'eum ... exacerbare possit.'
219. shal be cause: 'ut exercitii bonis, et malis esset caussa supplicii.' Hence continuacion seems to mean 'endurance' or 'continuance.'
242. sin that: the original is in Greek, with (in MS. C.) the false gloss:—'fortissimus in mundo Deus omnia regit.' The Greek is—Ἀργαλέον δέ με ταῦτα θεὸν ὣς πάντ' ἀγορεύειν. From Homer, Il. xii. 176, with the change from ἀγορεῦσαι to ἀγορεύειν.
247. with-holden, to retain, keep, maintain; 'retinere.'
253. ben outrageous or haboundant: 'abundare.' Hence outrageous is 'superfluous' or 'excessive.'
257. and whan: 'quo refectus, firmior in ulteriora contendas.'
Metre 6. 1. 'Si uis celsi iura tonantis Pura sollers cernere mente, Adspice summi culmina caeli'; &c.
5. cercle: 'Non Sol ... Gelidum Phoebes impedit axem.'
6. Ne the sterre: 'Nec quae summo uertice mundi Flectit rapidos Ursa meatus, Numquam occiduo lota profundo, Cetera cernens sidera mergi, Cupit Oceano tingere flammas.' Hence deyen is to dye, to dip.
10. Hesperus, the evening-star; Lucifer, the morning-star.
13. And thus: 'Sic aeternos reficit cursus Alternus amor; sic astrigeris Bellum discors exsulat oris. Haec concordia temperat aequis Elementa modis, ut pugnantia Vicibus cedant humida siccis'; &c.
20, 1. in the firste somer-sesoun warminge: 'uere tepenti.' This is not the only place where uer is translated somer-sesoun, a phrase used as applicable to May in P. Plowman, Prol. 1. Another name for 'spring' was Lent or Lenten.
24. and thilke: 'Eadem rapiens condit et aufert Obitu mergens orta supremo.'
29. And tho: 'Et quae motu concitat ire, Sistit retrahens, ac uaga firmat.'
31. For yif: 'Nam nisi rectos reuocans itus, Flexos iterum cogat in orbes, Quae nunc stabilis continet ordo, Dissepta suo fonte fatiscant.'
37. This is: 'Hic est cunctis communis amor Repetuntque boni fine teneri, Quia non aliter durare queunt, Nisi conuerso rursus amore Refluant caussae, quae dedit esse.'
Prose 7. 57. ne also it: 'ita uir sapiens molestè ferre non debet, quotiens in fortunae certamen adducitur.'
60. matere, material, source.
62. vertu. Boethius here derives uirtus from uires: 'quod suis uiribus nitens non superetur aduersis.'
64. Ne certes: 'Neque enim uos in prouectu positi uirtutis, diffluere deliciis, et emarcescere uoluptate uenistis; proelium cum omni fortuna nimis acre conseritis, ne uos aut tristis opprimat, aut iucunda corrumpat: firmis medium uiribus occupate.'
72. in your hand: 'In uestra enim situm est manu.'
Metre 7. 1. wreker, avenger; Attrides, Atrides, i.e. Agamemnon, son of Atreus. Chaucer derived the spelling Agamenon from a gloss in MS. C. Gower (C. A. ii. 344) has the same form.
2. recovered: 'Fratris amissos thalamos piauit.'
5. Menelaus, &c.; 'that was his brother Menelaus' wife.' The usual idiom; see note to Squieres Tale, E 209.
9. doughter, i.e. Iphigenia; Ovid, Met. xii. 27-38.
13. Itacus: 'Fleuit amissos Ithacus sodales.' The well-known story of Ulysses of Ithaca; from Homer, Od. ix.
15. empty; as if translating 'inani.' But the right reading is inmani (or immani); i.e. 'vast.' MS. C. 'inmani,' glossed 'magno.'
20. Hercules. See Monkes Tale, B 3285, and the notes. In the first note, this passage from Boethius is given at length.
21. Centaures, Centaurs; Hercules was present at the fight between the Centauri and Lapithae; Ovid, Met. xii. 541; ix. 191.
22. lyoun, the Nemean lion; Ovid, Met. ix. 197, 235; Her. ix. 61.
23. Arpyes, the Harpies; with reference to the destruction of the Stymphalian birds, who ate human flesh; Met. ix. 187. The gloss in the footnote—in the palude of lyrne (in the marsh of Lerna) is a mistake; it should refer to the Hydra mentioned below.
25. dragoun, the dragon in the garden of the Hesperides; Met. ix. 190. The 'golden metal' refers to the golden apples.
26. Cerberus; Ovid, Met. ix. 185.
27. unmeke, proud; see note to Monkes Tale, B 3293; and Ovid, Met. ix. 194-6. Note that hors (= horses) is plural.
29. Ydra, Hydra; Ovid, Met. ix. 192.
30. Achelous; see the story in Ovid, Met. ix. 1-97. Boethius imitates Ovid, l. 97, viz. 'Et lacerum cornu mediis caput abdidit undis.'
35. Antheus, Antaeus; Ovid, Met. ix. 184. For the story, see Lucan, Phars. iv. 590-660; Lucan refers to Lybia as the place of combat; l. 582.
36. Cacus; see the story in Ovid, Fasti, i. 543-86.
39. boor, the boar of Erymanthus; Ovid, Her. ix. 87. For scomes (lit. scums), Caxton and Thynne have vomes, for fomes (foams).
40. the whiche, 'which shoulders were fated to sustain (lit. thrust against) the high sphere of heaven.' Alluding to Hercules, when he took the place of Atlas.
45. nake, expose your unarmed backs (Lat. nudatis), like one who runs away. An unarmed man was usually said to be naked; as in Othello, v. 2. 258; 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 234; &c.
BOOK V.
Prose 1. 3. A mistranslation. 'Recta quidem exhortatio, tuaque prorsus auctoritate dignissima.'
9. assoilen to thee the. I prefer this reading, adopted from Caxton's edition, because the others make no sense. The original reading was to the the (= to thee the), as in MS. Ii. 1. 38, whence, by dropping one the, the reading to the in C. and Ed. MS. A. alters it to the to the, absurdly. The fact is, that to thee belongs to the next clause. 'Festino, inquit, debitum promissionis absoluere, uiamque tibi,' &c.
14. to douten, to be feared; 'uerendumque est.'
28. left, or dwellinge, left, or remaining (reliquus). 'Quis enim ... locus esse ullus temeritati reliquus potest?'
31. nothing: 'nihil ex nihilo exsistere.' Referring to the old saying:—'Ex nihilo nihil fit.'
34. prince and beginnere oddly represents Lat. 'principio.' casten it, laid it down: 'quasi quoddam iecerint fundamentum.' I supply it.
44. Aristotulis, Aristotle. The reference is to Aristotle's Physics, bk. ii. ch. 5.
47. for grace, for the sake of; 'gratia.'
50. Right as, just as if. by cause, for the purpose.
55. ne dolve, had not digged; subj. mood.
57. abregginge. A mistranslation. 'Hae sunt igitur fortuiti caussae compendii'; these then are the causes of this fortuitous acquisition. Compendium also means 'an abbreviating,' which Chaucer here expresses by abbregginge, introducing at the same time the word 'hap,' to make some sense.
66. uneschuable, inevitable; 'ineuitabili.'
Metre 1. 2. Achemenie: 'Rupis Achaemeniae scopulis,' in the crags of the Achæmenian rock or mountain. Achaemenius signifies 'Persian,' from Achaemenes, the grandfather of Cyrus; but is here extended to mean Armenian. The sources of the Tigris and Euphrates are really different, though both rise in the mountains of Armenia; they run for a long way at no great distance apart, and at last join.
3. fleinge bataile, the flying troop; with reference to the well-known Parthian habit, of shooting arrows at those who pursue them; see Vergil, Georg. iii. 31.
5. yif they, when they; meaning that they do converge.
9. and the wateres: 'Mixtaque fortuitos implicet unda modos: Quae tamen ipsa uagos terrae decliuia cursus Gurgitis et lapsi defluus ordo regit.'
14. it suffereth: 'Fors patitur frenos, ipsaque lege meat.'
Prose 2. 4, 5. destinal, fatal; 'fatalis.' corages, minds.
10. thinges ... fleen, i.e. to be avoided: 'fugienda.'
13. is, i.e. is in, resides in: 'quibus in ipsis inest ratio.'
14. ordeyne, determine: 'constituo.'
16. sovereines, the supreme divine substances. This is a good example of adjectives of French origin with a plural in -es.
17, 18. wil: 'et incorrupta uoluntas.' might: 'potestas.'
27. talents, affections: 'affectibus.'
30. caitifs, captive: 'propriâ libertate captiuae.' Ll. 30-34 are repeated in Troilus, iv. 963-6; q.v.
34. in Greek: πάντ' ἐφορᾷ καὶ πάντ' ἐπακούει. From Homer, Iliad, iii. 277—Ἠελιος θ', ὃς πάντ' ἐφορᾷς καὶ πάντ' ἐπακούεις. Cf. Odys. xii. 323.
Metre 2. 1, 2. with the, &c.; 'Melliflui ... oris.' cleer, bright; alluding to the common phrase in Homer: λαμπρὸν φάος ἠελίοιο; Il. i. 605, &c.
8. strok: 'Uno mentis cernit in ictu.'
Prose 3. A large portion of this Prose, down to l. 71, is paraphrased in Troilus, iv. 967-1078; q.v.
12. libertee of arbitre, freedom of will (arbitrii).
19. proeve, approve of: 'Neque ... illam probo rationem.'
30. but ... ytravailed: 'Quasi uero ... laboretur'; which means, rather, 'as if the question were.'
35. But I ne, &c. The translation is here quite wrong; and as in another place, Chaucer seems to have read nitamur as uitamus. The text has: 'At nos illud demonstrare nitamur.' The general sense is: 'But let me endeavour to shew, that, in whatever manner the order of causes be arranged, the happening of things foreseen is necessary, although the foreknowledge does not seem to impose on future things a necessity of their happening.'
53. For althogh that; cf. Troil. iv. 1051-7, which is clearer.
55. therfore ne bityde they nat, it is not on that account that they happen. Cf. 'Nat that it comth for it purveyed is'; Troil. iv. 1053.
71. at the laste, finally: 'Postremò.'
78. that I ne wot it. The ne is superfluous, though in all the copies. The sense is—'if I know a thing, it cannot be false (must be true) that I know it.'
80. wanteth lesing, is free from falsehood: 'mendacio careat.'
90, 1. egaly, equally: 'aeque.' indifferently, impartially.
94. Iape-worthy, ridiculous: 'ridiculo.' From Horace, Sat. ii. 5. 59—'O Laërtiade, quicquid dicam, aut erit, aut non.'
116. sent, for sendeth, sends: 'mittit.'
117. constreineth: 'futuri cogit certa necessitas.'
121. discrecioun, discernment: 'indiscreta confusio.'
And yit, &c. To make sense, read than whiche for of the whiche. The whole clause, from And yit down to wikke is expanded from 'Quoque nihil sceleratius excogitari potest.'
131. sin that: 'quando optanda omnia series indeflexa connectit?'
141. that nis nat ... or that, that cannot be approached before. The Latin is: 'illique inaccessae luci, prius quoque quam impetrent, ipsa supplicandi ratione coniungi.'
142. impetren, ask for it; such is the reading of MS. Ii. 1. 38. A coined word, from the Lat. impetrent; see the last note.
146. linage of mankind, the human race; to which his (its) twice refers below.
147. a litel her-biforn; i.e. in Bk. iv. Met. 6. 34, where we find—'they sholden departen from hir welle, that is to seyn, from hir biginninge, and faylen.' See p. 122.
Metre 3. 1. What, &c.: 'Quaenam discors foedera rerum Caussa resoluit?'
2. the coniunccioun; but this gloss seems to be wrong, for the reference is rather (as Chaucer, following a sidenote in MS. C., says in l. 5) to foreknowledge and free will.
3. Whiche god, i.e. what divinity: 'Quis tanta deus Veris statuit bella duobus?'
7. But ther nis. The Lat. text is put interrogatively: 'An nulla est discordia ueris, Semperque sibi certa cohaerent?'
10. by fyr: 'oppressi luminis igne.'
12. But wherefore: 'Sed cur tanto flagrat amore Veri tectas reperire notas?' It thus appears that y-covered, i.e. 'that are hidden,' refers to thilke notes, not to sooth; cf. l. 15. But the translation is not at all happy.
16. Wot it: 'Scitne, quod appetit anxia nosse?'
18. seith thus: 'Sed quis nota scire laborat? At si nescit, quid caeca petit? Quis enim quidquam nescius optet?'
23. or who: 'Aut quis ualeat nescita sequi? Quoue inueniat, quisue repertam Queat ignarus noscere formam?'
26. But whan: not a statement, as here taken, but a question. 'An cùm mentem cerneret altam Pariter summam et singula norat?' The translation is quite incorrect, and the passage is difficult. The reference seems to be to the supposition that the soul, apart from the body, sees both universals and particulars, but its power in the latter respect is impeded by the body; ideas taken from Plato's Meno and Phædo.
32, 33. withholdeth, retains: 'tenet.' singularitees, particulars: 'singula.'
34. in neither nother, put for in ne either ne other, i.e. not in one nor in the other; or, in modern English, 'he is neither in one position nor the other': 'Neutro est habitu.' This curious phrase is made clearer by comparing it with the commoner either other. Thus, in P. Plowman, B. v. 148: 'either despiseth other'; in the same, B. v. 164: 'eyther hitte other'; and again, in B. xi. 173: 'that alle manere men .. Louen her eyther other'; and, in B. vii. 138: 'apposeden either other'; and lastly, in B. xvi. 207: 'either is otheres Ioye.'
36. retreteth, reconsiders: 'altè uisa retractans.'
Prose 4. 2. Marcus Tullius, i.e. Cicero; De Diuinatione, lib. ii. 60.
8. moeven to: 'ad diuinae praescientiae simplicitatem non potest admoueri.'
15. y-spended, spent; but the right sense of the Latin is weighed or considered: 'si prius ea quibus moueris, expendero.'
22. from elles-where: 'aliunde'; compare Chaucer's gloss.
24. unbityde, not happen: 'non euenire non possunt.'
27. thou thyself. The reference is to Bk. v. Pr. 3. l. 27, above—'ne it ne bihoveth nat, nedes, that thinges bityden that ben purvyed.'
28, 9. what cause: 'quid est, quod uoluntarii exitus rerum ad certum cogantur euentum?' endes, results: 'exitus;' and so again below.
30. by grace of position, for the sake of a supposition, by way of supposition: 'positionis gratia.' Cf. Chaucer's use of pose for 'suppose' in the next line. The reading possessioun (in both MSS.) is obviously wrong; it sounds as if taken down from dictation.
31. I pose, I suppose, I put the case: 'statuamus nullam esse praescientiam.' The words 'per impossibile' are inserted by Chaucer, and mean, 'to take an impossible case.'
56. But, certes, right; only, indeed, just as, &c. It is difficult to give the right force intended; and, probably, Chaucer quite mistook the sense. 'Quasi uero nos ea, quae prouidentia futura esse praenoscit, non esse euentura credamus.'
62. in the torninge: 'in quadrigis moderandis atque flectendis.'
63. And by: 'atque ad hunc modum caetera.'
100. and for that this thing shal mowen shewen, and in order that this may appear (lit. may be able to appear). The whole clause merely means—'And to make this clearer by an easy example.' Lat. 'Nam ut hoc breui liqueat exemplo.'
101. roundnesse is here in the objective case: 'eandem corporis rotunditatem aliter uisus aliter tactus agnoscit.'
107. And the man: 'Ipsum quoque hominem.' wit, i.e. sense. The 'five wits' were the five senses.
113. spece, species. peces, parts; in the singuler peces, i.e. in the particular parts.
114. intelligence, understanding; 'intelligentiae.'
115. universitee, that which is universal: 'uniuersitatis ambitum.'
133. by a strok: 'illo uno ictu mentis formaliter.'
137. diffinissheth, defines the universality of her conception.
Metre 4. 1. The Porche; in Latin, Porticus; in Gk. στοά, a roofed colonnade or porch in Athens, frequented by Zeno and his followers, who hence obtained the name of Stoics.
'Quondam Porticus attulit Obscuros nimium senes,
Qui sensus, et imagines E corporibus extimis
Credant mentibus imprimi.'
10. Text. The Latin text continues thus:—
'Vt quondam celeri stilo Mos est aequore paginae
Quae nullas habeat notas, Pressas figere litteras.'
11. pointel; see note to Somn. Tale, D 1742. And cf. Troilus, i. 365; Cant. Ta. E 1581, 2.
15. But yif:
'Sed mens si propriis uigens Nihil motibus explicat
Sed tantùm patiens iacet Notis subdita corporum,
Cassasque in speculi uicem Rerum reddit imagines.
Vnde haec sic animis uiget Cernens omnia notio?
Quae uis singula prospicit, Aut quae cognita diuidit?
Quae diuisa recolligit, Alternumque legens iter
Nunc summis caput inserit, Nunc desidit in infima,
Tum sese referens sibi, Veris falsa redarguit?'
32. passioun, passive feeling, impression: 'passio.'
Prose 5. 1. But what yif ... and al be it so, Nevertheless, even if it be so: 'Quod si ... quamuis.'
4. entalenten, affect, incline, stimulate: 'afficiant.'
18. For the wit, i.e. the sense, the external senses.
21. as oystres ... see: the Latin merely has: 'quales sunt conchae maris.'
23. remuable, capable of motion from place to place: 'mobilibus belluis.'
talent, inclination, desire, wish: 'affectus.'
30. But how ... yif that, but how will it be if?
33. that that that, that that thing which.
35. ne that ther nis, so that there is: 'nec quicquam esse sensibile.'
49. maner stryvinge, sort of strife: 'In huiusmodi igitur lite.'
62. parsoneres, partners of, endowed with. The modern partner represents the M. E. parcener, variant of parsoner, from O. F. parsonier, representing a Latin form *partitionarius. Lat. 'participes.'
66. For which: 'Quare in illius summae intelligentiae cacumen, si possumus, erigamur.'
Metre 5. 1. passen by, move over: 'permeant.'
6. by moist fleeinge: 'liquido ... uolatu.' gladen hemself, delight: 'gaudent.'
7. with hir goings ... feet: 'gressibus.'
9. to walken under, to enter: 'subire.'
10. enclined, i.e. enclined earthwards: 'Prona.'
11. hevieth, oppresses: 'Prona tamen facies hebetes ualet ingrauare sensus.' From Aristotle, On the Parts of Animals, Bk. iv. Διὸ πλείονος γενομένου τοῦ βάρους καὶ τοῦ σωματώδους, ἀνάγκη ῥέπειν τὰ σώματα πρὸς τὴν γῆν (chap. 10). As to the upright carriage of man, see the same chapter. Cf. Ovid, Met. i. 84, and see note to Chaucer's 'Truth,' l. 19.
12. light, i.e. not bowed down: 'leuis recto stat corpore.'
14. axest, seemest to seek: 'caelum ... petis.'
Prose 6. 21. as Aristotle demed; in De Caelo, lib. i.
33. present: 'et sui compos praesens sibi semper assistere.'
42. Plato. This notion is found in Proclus and Plotinus, and other followers of Plato; but Plato himself really expressed a contrary opinion, viz. that the world had a definite beginning. See his Timæus.
48. For this ilke: 'Hunc enim uitae immobilis praesentarium statum infinitus ille temporalium rerum motus imitatur; cumque eum effingere atque aequare non possit, ex immobilitate deficit in motum, et ex simplicitate praesentiae decrescit in infinitam futuri ac praeteriti quantitatem;' &c.
53. disencreseth; a clumsy form for decreseth: 'decrescit.'
65. therfor it: 'infinitum temporis iter arripuit.'
81. it is science: 'sed scientiam nunquam deficientis instantiae rectius aestimabis.'
82. For which: 'Unde non praeuidentia, sed prouidentia, potius dicitur.' The footnote to l. 83 is wrong, as Dr. Furnivall's reprint of MS. C. is here at fault. That MS. (like MS. Ii. 1. 38) has here the correct reading 'preuydence,' without any gloss at all. The gloss 'prouidentia' belongs to the word 'purviaunce.' Hence the reading 'previdence,' which I thought to be unsupported, is really supported by two good MSS.
86. Why axestow ... thanne: 'Quid igitur postulas?'
112. he ne unwot: 'quod idem exsistendi necessitate carere non nesciat.'
116. it ne may nat unbityde: 'id non euenire non posse.'
119. but unnethe: 'sed cui uix aliquis nisi diuini speculator accesserit.'
150, 1. in beinge, in coming to pass: 'exsistendo.'
by the which: 'qua prius quam fierent, etiam non euenire potuissent.' MS. C. has the contraction for 'que,' i.e. 'quae'; but Chaucer clearly adopted the reading 'qua.' The usual reading is 'quia' or 'quae.'
154. so as they comen, since they come: 'cum ... eueniant.'
159. the sonne arysinge. See above, p. 148, l. 102: 'Right so,' &c.
185. And thilke: 'illa quoque noscendi uices alternare uideatur?'
191. For the devyne: 'Omne namque futurum diuinus praecurrit intuitus, et ad praesentiam propriae cognitionis retorquet ac reuocat.' Hence retorneth hem means 'makes them return.'
193. ne he ne: 'nec alternat, ut existimas, nunc hoc, nunc illud praenoscendi uices; sed uno ictu mutationes tuas manens praeuenit atque complectitur.'
199. a litel her-biforn. See above, Bk. v. Pr. 3, ll. 62-65; &c.
207. purposen, propose, assign: 'proponunt.'
208. to the willinges: 'solutis omni necessitate uoluntatibus.'
211. renneth ... with, concurs with: 'concurrit.'
214. put, set: 'positae.' that ne mowen: 'quae cum rectae sunt, inefficaces esse non possunt.'
217. areys thy corage: 'animum subleuate.' yilde: 'humiles preces in excelsa porrigite.'
220. sin that ye: 'cum ante oculos agitis iudicis cuncta cernentis.' With the word 'cernentis' the Lat. treatise ends.
The words—'To whom ... Amen' occur in the Cambridge MS. only; and, in all probability, were merely added by the scribe. However, the Latin copy in that MS. adds, after 'cernentis,' the following: 'Qui est dominus noster Iesus Christus, cui sit honor et gloria in secula seculorum. Amen.'