NOTES

LIB. V. (continued)

1980. F has a stop after ‘Avarice,’ but see note on l. 3966.

1982 ff. The meaning seems to be that they make no distinction of day or night when there is work of this kind to be done.

2004. overhippeth, i. e. leaps over or omits something, so that he has not all that he desires. The word is used in Piers Plowman, xv. 379, of omitting passages in the services of the Church.

2015 ff. Cp. Mirour de l’Omme, 6253 ff.,

2031 ff. The tale of Virgil’s Mirror is from the French prose Roman des Sept Sages, as published by Le Roux de Lincy. It might easily be shown that Gower did not follow either the French metrical version or the Latin Historia Septem Sapientum. The English metrical version published by Weber is from a source similar to that of Gower’s story, but it differs in some points. Gower seems to be responsible for the introduction of Carthage and Hannibal.

2099. slepende a nyht, i. e. while they slept.

2101. Cp. Prol. 182.

2115. he his oghne body, i. e. ‘he himself.’

2150 f. This point is omitted in the English metrical version.

2157 f. The English metrical version is very similar, ‘We schulle the ymage so undersette, That we ne schal hit nothing lette.’

2168. That is, the timber having been set up.

2198 ff. This about Hannibal is introduced here as if taken from a different source, ‘For this I finde,’ &c.

2238f. Cp. Mirour, 10651, ‘Plus que gaigners son augst attent.’

2273 ff. The tale of the Two Coffers is essentially the same story as that which we have in Boccaccio Decam. x. i, and essentially different from that which is told in Vit. Barlaam et Josaphat, cap. vi, as a sequel to the story of the Trump of Death. The story which we have here and in Boccaccio is not at all connected with the idea of choosing by the outward appearance. The coffers are exactly alike, and the very point of the situation lies in the fact that the choice is a purely fortuitous one. The object was to show that they who complained were persons who had fortune against them, and that this was the cause of their having failed of reward, and not any neglect on the part of the king. I cannot say what the source was for Gower; certainly not Boccaccio, whose story is altogether different in its details.

2391 ff. With this story may be compared that in the Gesta Romanorum, 109, where by a choice between three pasties, one containing money, a decision is come to as to whether it is God’s will that a certain sum shall be restored to its owner, who is a miser.

2476. tall, i. e. comely, elegant.

2481. Cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, D 259.

2507. His thonkes, ‘of his own good will’: cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, A 1626, &c.

2543 ff. See Hist. Alexandri Magni de Preliis, f 1, ed. Argent. 1489.

2547 ff. Rom. de Troie, 23283 ff.

2563. Cp. ii. 2025.

2587. ‘If men shall estimate her value.’ The reading of the text is also that of S.

2643 ff. This story is to be found in the Roman des Sept Sages. Gower follows the same French prose version as before, 2031 ff.

2677. it stod. In this kind of expression the verb is usually subjunctive, as Prol. 481, i. 991, iv. 182, &c.

2752. a weie. This is also the reading of S.

2815 f. A rather more violent displacement than usual of the conjunction, ‘And fled away with all the haste,’ &c. Cp. l. 3947.

2835. hele seems here to mean ‘profit,’ in a worldly sense.

2872. According to the New Engl. Dict. this is the same as the Dutch ‘heepe,’ ‘heep,’ meaning a pruning-hook. ‘As there is no cognate word in O. E., its appearance in Gower, and this apparently in a proverbial phrase, is not easy to account for.’ In any case the phrase here seems equivalent to ‘by hook or by crook.’

2937. F has punctuation after ‘dai,’ but this is clearly a case of the inverted order of the conjunction: cp. note on Prol. 155, and below on l. 3966.

2961 ff. The story is probably taken from Statius, Achill. i. 197 ff., where however it is told at much greater length. For Gower’s acquaintance with the Achilleis, cp. iv. 1968 ff.

3002 ff. Cp. Achill. i. 338 ff.

3004 f. That is, howsoever his behaviour might be watched.

3082. Protheüs. According to Statius, Achill. i. 494 ff., Protesilaus rebuked Calchas for not having discovered Achilles, upon which Calchas revealed the truth. Perhaps the mention of Protesilaus suggested to Gower the idea of Proteus, of whom he had heard as one who could change his form at will, see l. 6672, and perhaps as having prophesied the birth and greatness of Achilles (Ovid, Metam. xi. 221 ff.).

3119. topseilcole, see note on viii. 1890.

3138 f. Cp. Achill. i. 812 ff.

3247 ff. The first part of the story of Jason and Medea (ll. 3247-3926) is taken from Benoît (Rom. de Troie, 703-2062), and not from Guido, as may be easily shown by comparison of the texts. For example, Guido tells all the conditions of the enterprise, about the fire-breathing bulls, the serpent’s teeth and so on, at the beginning of the story, whereas Benoît more dramatically introduces them into the instructions given to Jason by Medea (Rom. de Troie, 1337-1374, 1691-1748), and in this he is followed by Gower (3505-3540). Guido says nothing about the sleeplessness of the serpent (Rom. de Troie, 1357 f., Conf. Am. v. 3514), nor about repeating the charm ‘contre orient’ (Rom. de Troie, 1700), nor does he mention the thanksgiving which Jason is to offer up to the gods after his victory and before he takes the fleece (Rom. de Troie, 1735 f., Conf. Am. v. 3626 ff.). The sleep of Jason after leaving Medea is omitted by Guido (Rom. de Troie, 1755 ff., Conf. Am. v. 3665 ff.), and also the bath which he took after his adventure (Rom. de Troie, 1999, Conf. Am. v. 3801). There is no need to multiply instances, which will be observed by every careful reader. We have seen on other occasions that Gower prefers Benoît to Guido, and not without excellent reasons. Guido indeed makes this story even more prosaic than usual, and combines it with matter-of-fact discussions about the magic powers of Medea and the virtues of the various stones which she used.

Gower, however, does not follow Benoît in a slavish manner. He omits or alters the details of the story very happily at times, and he adds much of his own. Thus he omits all mention of the evil motives of Peleus (or Pelias), and makes the proposal to seek the golden fleece come from Jason; he passes over the story of the dispute with Laomedon, which was necessary to the Roman de Troie, but not to the story of Jason taken separately; he adds the discourse of Jason with Oëtes on his arrival; he omits the details about Medea’s hair and eyes, her arms and her chin (Rom. de Troie, 1254 ff.), and dwells rather upon the feelings which the two lovers had for one another at first sight (3376 ff.). When they are together at night, it is Medea, according to our author, and not Jason, who suggests that it is time to rise and to speak of what has to be done (3547 ff.); and Gower adds the scene of parting (3634-3659), the description of Jason’s return over the sea and of Medea’s feelings meanwhile upon her tower, and the sending of the maid to inquire how he did. Finally, he much improves the story by making the flight take place at once, instead of prolonging Jason’s stay for a month.

Chaucer, who tells the story in a rather perfunctory manner, follows Guido (Leg. of Good Women, 1396 ff.).

3291. And schop anon, &c. This might be understood of Peleus, who, according to the original story, gave orders for the building of the ship; but better perhaps of Jason, ‘And schop’ for ‘And he schop,’ cp. l. 4590 and vi. 1636.

3376. herd spoke: cp. 4485, ‘I have herd seid.’

3388. That is, ‘they took heed each of other.’ For the plural verb cp. 3439.

3416. That is, ‘he took St. John as his pledge’ of a good issue, ‘he committed himself to the care of St. John.’ The expression was often used in connexion with setting out on a journey: cp. Chaucer, Compl. of Mars, 9.

3422. Cp. iv. 3273, vi. 2104. The expression in vi. 1621 f., ‘to ful age, That he can reson and langage,’ that is, ‘till he is of full age and knows reason,’ &c., is much of the same kind.

3488. dede him helpe. We must take this second ‘helpe’ as a substantive, otherwise the rhyme would not be good. The rule is that words identical in form can only be combined in rhyme when they have some difference of meaning.

3509. to thyle. The idea was that the golden fleece was guarded in a small island adjacent to the larger ‘isle of Colchos.’ See Rom. de Troie, 1791 ff.,

3533. dethes wounde, ‘deadly wound’: cp. iii. 2657, ‘And smot him with a dethes wounde,’ and also the genitives ‘lyves’ for ‘living’ and ‘worldes’ for ‘worldly,’ i. 1771, iv. 382, &c.

3573. hold, i. e. let him hold: cp. viii. 1128, 1420.

3579 ff. According to Benoît Medea gave him first the magic figure, ‘une figure Fete par art et par conjure’ (cp. 3580), then the ointment and the ring, and after that a writing, the words of which he was to repeat three times when he came to the place. Gower changes the order of things, and combines the writing with the ‘hevenely figure,’ describing it as written over with names which he is to repeat in the manner mentioned.

3632. That thanne he were, &c., that is, she prayed that he would soon be gone.

3654. ‘It shall not be owing to any sloth of mine if I do not,’ &c.

3665 ff.

‘undren hih’ is in the French ‘halte tierce.’

3681. recorde, ‘take note of.’

3688. The reading of X here, ‘And forth with all his wey he fongeth,’ is also that of GOAd₂.

3707. scherded: perhaps the word is suggested by Benoît’s expression, ‘Les escherdes hérice’ (Rom. de Troie, 1905).

3711. A literal translation of Rom. de Troie, 1906, ‘Feu et venin gitot ensenble.’ With the lines that follow cp. Rom. de Troie, 1911 ff.

3731 ff. The picturesque elements here are perhaps partly suggested by Rom. de Troie, 1869 ff.

3747. That he ne were, expressing a wish: cp. iv. 3414, ‘Helas, that I nere of this lif,’ equivalent to ‘why ne were I,’ l. 5979.

3781 f. ‘leyhe’ seems to be modified in form for the sake of the rhyme, the usual form in Gower being ‘lawhe.’

3786. naght, in rhyme for ‘noght’: cp. ‘awht,’ ‘auht,’ i. 2770, v. 6073.

3789. So Ovid, Metam. vii. 144 ff.,

but it is also in Benoît, Rom. de Troie, 1991 f.

3793 ff. The sending of the maid, with the pretty touch in l. 3800, is an addition by Gower.

3890. Cp. i. 1516.

3904. this was conseil, ‘this was a secret’: cp. iii. 778, vi. 2326; so Chaucer, Cant. Tales, C 819, ‘Shal it be conseil?’ cp. D 966, E 2431.

3927 ff. Benoît tells no more of Jason’s life after his return to Greece, saying that Dares relates no more, and he does not wish to tell stories that may not be true, ‘N’en velt fere acreire mençonge.’ From this point then Gower follows Ovid, Metam. vii. 159-293, and it must be understood that the illustrative quotations in the notes are from this passage.

3947. ‘And prayed her that by the magic art which she knew,’ &c. For the order of words cp. 2815 f.

3957 f. Ovid makes it full moon, l. 180, but afterwards, l. 188, says ‘Sidera sola micant.’

3962 ff.

The comparison to the adder in l. 3967 is Gower’s own.

3966. F has a stop after ‘specheles,’ there being a natural tendency even in the best copies to treat ‘and’ or ‘for’ as the beginning of a new clause: so (to take examples from the fifth book only) v. 231, 410, 444, 2318, 2937, 5096, in all which places F has apparently wrong punctuation in connexion with this kind of inverted order.

3971 ff.

3981. The punctuation is that of F, but perhaps we ought rather to read,

3986. help. For this use of the imperat. sing, (with ‘helpeth’ just above) see Introduction, p. cxviii.

3994.

Gower very naturally understood this to mean that Medea visited Crete, and hence the confusion of geography. He could not be expected to know that Othrys and Olympus were mountains of Thessaly, and hence that the ‘Creteis’ or ‘cretis’ of his manuscript was probably a corruption.

4000 f.

4005. Eridian, i. e. Apidanus.

4006.

4011. the rede See. Perhaps Gower read ‘rubrum mare’ for ‘refluum mare’ in Metam. vii. 258.

4031 ff.

4039. ‘verbenis, silvaque incinxit agresti,’ 242. Gower took ‘silva agrestis’ as the name of a herb and ingeniously translated it into ‘fieldwode.’

4052 f. ‘Umbrarumque rogat rapta cum coniuge regem,’ 249. Our author is able to supply the names correctly.

4064-4114. This picturesque passage is for the most part original.

4127 ff. ‘Nec defuit illic Squamea Cinyphii tenuis membrana chelydri,’ 272. Gower understood this to mean ‘the scales of Cinyphius (or Cimphius) and the skin of Chelidrus.’

4134. ‘novem cornicis saecula passae,’ 274.

4137. Ovid speaks of the entrails of a werwolf, ‘Ambigui prosecta lupi,’ &c.

4156. For omission of relative cp. l. 4205 and note on i. 10.

4175 ff. The story here is only summarized by Ovid, Metam. vii. 394-401. Gower of course knew it from other sources.

4219. ‘intrat Palladias arces,’ Metam. vii. 398. This means Athens, but it is misunderstood by Gower.

4251. Philen, i. e. Nephele. Hyginus tells this story much as it is told here (except that it was the mother of the children who provided the ram), but he gives the name in its Latin form, as ‘Nebula.’ Note the mistake as to this name in the margin, appearing in all MSS. except SΔΛ.

4299 ff. Note the confused construction of the sentence: cp. note on i. 98.

4391. The metaphor of hunting is still kept up: the gain which they pursue is started like a hare and driven into the net.

4399. Outward, that is, when he gives things out, cp. ‘withinne’ below.

4452. I were a goddeshalf. This seems to mean, ‘I should be content,’ that is, I should be ready to say ‘In God’s name let it be so.’ For the expression cp. l. 5016, ‘Thanne a goddes half The thridde time assaie I schal.’ In the New Engl. Dict. (‘half’) it is said to be used ‘to add emphasis to a petition, command, or expression of consent or resignation’: cp. Chaucer, Book of the Duchess, 370, 757.

4455. I biede nevere ... Bot, ‘I demand only.’ In this expression ‘biede’ and ‘bidde’ have been confused, as often. Thus we have ‘I bidde nevere a betre taxe,’ i. 1556, ‘That I ne bede nevere awake,’ iv. 2905, in the latter of which ‘bede’ may be either pret. subj. of ‘bidde,’ or pres. ind. equivalent to ‘biede,’ and vi. 1356, ‘He bede nevere fare bet’ where ‘bede’ is apparently pret. subj. of bidde; while in the English Rom. of the Rose, 791, we have ‘Ne bode I nevere thennes go,’ in which ‘bode’ must be pret. subj. of ‘biede.’

4465. lete: see note on i. 3365.

4549 ff. Cp. i. 42 ff.

4557 f. ‘No law may control him either by severity or by mildness.’ For the use of ‘compaignie’ in the sense of ‘friendliness’ cp. i. 1478, and below, l. 7759.

4583 ff. Ovid, Metam. iii. 362 ff., but the circumstances are somewhat modified to suit Gower’s purpose. According to Ovid Echo’s fault was that she talked too much and diverted Juno’s attention, and her punishment was that her speech was confined to a mere repetition of what she heard. Here the crime is rather that she cunningly concealed in her speech what she ought to have told, and the punishment is that she is obliged to tell everything that comes to her ears.

4590. ‘And through such brocage he was untrue,’ &c. For the omission of the pronoun see note on i. 1895.

4623. maken it so queinte, ‘be so cunning’: cp. iv. 2314, where however ‘queinte’ has a different meaning.

4642. hire mouth ascape, i. e. escape being repeated by her mouth.

4661. The aspiration of ‘hem,’ so as to prevent elision, is very unusual: cp. Introduction, p. cxxv.

4668 ff. ‘I shall arrange in their due order those branches of Avarice on which no wealth is well bestowed,’ that is, those which make no return for what is bestowed upon them, viz. Usury and Ingratitude.

4708. of som reprise, i. e. ‘of some cost,’ cp. i. 3414,

that is, it costs nothing.

4724. with ydel hand, ‘with empty hand,’ that is, without a lure. This seems to be the original meaning of the adjective: see New Eng. Dict. ‘idle.’

4731. the gold Octovien. The treasures of Octovien (or Octavian) were proverbial: cp. Rom. de Troie, 1684 f.,

and again 28594,

The expression here seems to be in imitation of the French form without preposition, as in the latter of the above quotations.

The French Roman d’Othevien, found in the Bodleian MS. Hatton 100, and reproduced in two English versions, has nothing to do with the treasures of Octovien, for which see William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum, ii. § 169 f. The treasures were supposed to be buried at Rome or elsewhere, and several persons, especially the Pope Silvester (Gerbert), were said to have seen them, but not to have been permitted to carry them away. They appear also in the Roman des Sept Sages.

4748. eschu of. The adjective is used by Chaucer with ‘to’ (or ‘for to’) and infin., Cant. Tales, E 1812, I 971. We may note the spelling here with reference to Chaucer’s rhyme in the former passage.

4763. ‘It may not by any means be avoided that,’ &c.

4774. as to tho pars, ‘as regards those matters’: ‘pars’ is the French plural form, cp. Mirour, 7386, where apparently ‘pars’ means ‘duties.’

4787. Cp. l. 7716, where the saying has a different application. The proverb is here used of those who are, as we say, penny wise and pound foolish. In the other passage it is applied to the opposite case of gaining the coat for the hood.

4808 ff. This story is founded on the so-called Comedia Babionis, one of those Latin elegiac poems in a quasi-dramatic form which were popular in the fourteenth century. Others of the same class are Geta and Pamphilus. In the original, Viöla is Babio’s step-daughter, with whom he is in love, and who is taken in marriage against his will by Croceus. The serving-man is Fodius, not Spodius, and most of the piece is concerned with an intrigue between him and the wife of Babio. See Wright’s Early Mysteries, p. 65.

4899. comth to londe, ‘appears’: cp. l. 18.

4921. who that it kan, that is, as any one who knows it will witness: cp. l. 4927, ‘For, as any one who observes may know, a beast is,’ &c.

4937 ff. This story, which is of Eastern origin, is told near the end of the Speculum Stultorum (i. e. Burnellus), with which Gower was acquainted, as we know from the Vox Clamantis. The names there are Bernardus and Dryānus, and the animals are three, a serpent, an ape, and a lion. A similar tale is told by Matthew Paris, under the year 1195, as related by King Richard I in order to recommend liberality in the cause of Christendom. In this the rich man is Vitalis, a Venetian, and the poor man’s name is not given. The animals in the pit are a lion and a serpent. Vitalis thanks his deliverer, and appoints a time for him to come to his palace in Venice and receive the promised reward of half his goods; but when he comes, he is refused with contumely. The magic qualities of the gem which the serpent brings are not mentioned in the story of Vitalis.

5010 f. So in the Speculum Stultorum, ‘Tunc ita Bernardus, Sathanae phantasmate lusum Se reputans, dixit,’ &c.

5022. blessed, i. e. crossed himself. This ceremony plays a considerable part in the story of Vitalis, for by it he is preserved from the wild beasts while in the pit.

5025. Betwen him and his Asse, that is, he and his ass together: cp. l. 5381. The expression is imitated from the French, cp. Roman de Troie, 5837.

5093. There is a stop after ‘Purs,’ no doubt rightly, in F. On the other hand the stop after ‘wif’ in l. 5096 must be wrong.

5123 f. Cp. 4597 ff.

5215. standt. For this spelling cp. ‘bidt,’ iv. 1162.

5231 ff. The outline of this story might have been got from Ovid and from Hyginus, Fab. 40-43, but several points of detail suggest a different source. These are, for example, the idea that the son of Minos went to Athens to study philosophy, the statement of the number of persons sent as a tribute to Minos, the incident of the ball of pitch given by Ariadne to Theseus to be used against the Minotaur, and the name of the island where Ariadne was deserted. In the first and third of these Gower agrees with Chaucer, Legend of Good Women, 1894 ff., but his story is apparently quite independent, so that in regard to, these matters we must assume a common source: cp. L. Bech in Anglia, v. 337 ff.

as telleth the Poete. The authority referred to here must be Ovid (cp. i. 386, ii. 121, v. 6713, 6804, &c.). He slightly mentions the death of Androgeus, Metam. vii. 458, and relates the war of Minos against Megara at some length (Metam. viii. 1 ff), very briefly summarising the remainder of the story. Chaucer follows Ovid more fully here, telling the story of Nisus, to which Gower does not think it necessary to refer.

5248. dighte. This is the form of spelling here in S as well as F: so also in l. 5352.

5264 f. Hyginus says seven persons each year: Chaucer seems to conceive it as one every third year. The usual account is seven youths and seven maidens either every year or once in nine years.

5302. many on. Perhaps we should read ‘manye on’ with S and F, as vii. 2191, ‘manye an other.’

5319. This expression occurs also in ll. 5598 and 7553.

5360. fawht. Elsewhere this verb has preterite ‘foghte,’ as iii. 2651, iv. 2095, but the strong form ‘faught’ is used by Chaucer, e. g. Cant. Tales, B 3519, and this in fact is the originally correct form.

5413. Chyo. Ovid says ‘Dia,’ that is Naxos.

5507. His rihte name: cp. Mirour, 409, ‘par son droit noun Je l’oi nommer Temptacioun,’ 4243, ‘Si ot a noun par droit nommant,’ &c. and other similar expressions.

5510. as men telleth: cp. l. 6045, ‘men seith.’

5511. According to the margin Extortion is the mother of Ravine.

5550. femeline, used repeatedly both as adjective and as substantive in the Mirour de l’Omme.

5551 ff. The tale of Tereus is from Ovid, Metam. vi. 424-674, in some parts abbreviated and in others expanded, with good judgement usually in both cases, so that this is one of Gower’s best-told tales. He omits the long account given by Ovid of the way in which Pandion was persuaded to allow Philomela to accompany Tereus (Metam. vi. 447-510), the incidents of the rescue of Philomela from her imprisonment, which no doubt he felt would be unintelligible to his readers (587-600), and many of the more shocking details connected with the death of Itys and the feast upon his flesh. On the other hand he has added the prayer and reflections of Philomene in her prison (ll. 5734-5768), the prayers of the two sisters (5817-5860), the words of Progne to Tereus (5915-5927), and especially the reflections on the nightingale and the swallow at the end of the story (5943-6029). This latter part is quite characteristic of our author, and as usual it is prettily conceived.

Chaucer, who tells the story in the Legend of Good Women, 2228-2393, was weary of it even from the beginning (2257 f.), and omits the conclusion altogether, either as too shocking or as not suiting with his design. So far as he goes, however, he follows Ovid more closely than Gower.

5555. See note on Prol. 460.

5598. So also ll. 5319, 7553.

5623. Ovid’s comparison is to fire catching dry straw and leaves, Metam. vi. 456 f.

5643 ff. Ovid compares her state after the deed was done to that of a lamb hurt by a wolf and still trembling, or a dove which has escaped wounded from a bird of prey (527-530). Here, on the other hand, the idea is of being held fast, so that she cannot move or escape; while Chaucer, using the same similes as Ovid, applies the comparison less appropriately to her fear of the violence yet to come.

5651. Cp. Metam. vi. 531, ‘Mox ubi mens rediit.’

5663 ff.

5670. I suspect the combination ‘tale and ende’ may have arisen from some such phrase as ‘to sette tale on ende’ (or ‘an ende’), meaning to begin a speech: see New Engl. Dict. under ‘ende.’

5676. where is thi fere? that is, ‘where is thy fear of the gods?’ We must not take ‘fere’ in the sense of ‘companion’ or ‘equal,’ because in that case it could not properly rhyme with ‘Ere.’

5690 f.

Gower must be commended for omitting the tasteless lines which follow in Ovid about the severed tongue, and still more the shocking statement, which even Ovid accompanies with ‘vix ausim credere,’ of 561 f.

5709. tyh, preterite of ‘ten,’ from OE. ‘tēon,’ meaning ‘draw,’ and hence ‘come.’

5724. The punctuation follows F, ‘To hire’ meaning ‘in her case,’ cp. l. 4182, vii. 4937. It would suit the sense better perhaps to set the comma after ‘forsake,’ and to take ‘To hire’ with what follows: cp. note on l. 3966, where it is shown that the punctuation of F is often wrong in such cases as this.

5726. hir Sostres mynde, ‘her sister’s memory.’

5730. guile under the gore, that is, deceit concealed, as it were, under a cloak: cp. l. 6680. The expression ‘under gore’ is common enough, meaning the same as ‘under wede,’ and this alliterative form looks like a proverbial expression.

5734-5768. All this is original.

5737. so grete a wo: cp. l. 6452, and see Introduction, p. cx.

5778. ‘nec scit quid tradat in illis,’ Metam. vi. 580.

5793. ‘Non est lacrimis hic, inquit, agendum, Sed ferro,’ Metam. vi. 611.

5802 ff. According to Ovid this was done under cover of a Bacchic festival (587 ff.).

5816-5860. This is all original.

5840. to lytel of me let: see note on l. 1004.

5891 ff. Gower does well in omitting the circumstances of this which Ovid gives (619-646), and in partially covering the horror of it by the excuse of madness, but there is one touch which ought to have been brought in, ‘Ah, quam Es similis patri!’ (621).

5910 ff. Ovid says that Philomela threw the gory head into the father’s face, and that Tereus endeavoured to vomit up that which he had eaten. Our author has shown good taste in not following him.

5915 ff. This speech is not in Ovid.

5943-6029. Nearly all this is Gower’s own. Ovid only says, ‘Quarum petit altera silvas: Altera tecta subit’ (668 f.). We have already observed upon our author’s tendency to make additions of this symbolical kind to the stories which he takes from Ovid: see note on i. 2355.

6020. The reading ‘here’ is given both by S and F, but ‘hire’ (‘hir’), supported by AJMXGCB₂, BT, W, seems to be required by the sense. She informs them of the falseness of her husband, that they also may learn to beware of them, that is of husbands. The combination of ‘here’ with the singular ‘housebonde,’ meaning ‘their husbands,’ would be very harsh.

6041 ff.

Metam. vi. 671 ff.

The lapwing is identified with the hoopoe because of its crest. In the Traitié, xii, where this story is shortly told, Tereus is changed into a ‘hupe,’

while at the same time in the Mirour, 8869 ff., the ‘hupe’ is represented as the bird which tries to deceive those who search for its nest, a description which obviously belongs to the lapwing.

6047. Cp. Chaucer, Parl. of Foules, 347, ‘The false lapwyng ful of trecherye.’

6053. goddes forebode: cp. Chaucer, Leg. of Good Women, 10,

where the second form of text has

We must take ‘forebode’ as a substantive.

6073. auht: modified to suit the rhyme: so ‘awht,’ i. 2770, and ‘naght,’ l. 3786, rhyming with ‘straght.’ The regular forms for Gower are ‘oght,’ ‘noght.’

6145 ff. This is from Ovid, Metam. ii. 569-588. Gower has judiciously kept it apart from the story of Coronis and the raven, told by him in the second book, with which it is combined in rather a confusing manner by Ovid. The story is somewhat expanded by Gower.

6150. wif to Marte: cp. 1214 f.

6169. And caste: cp. l. 4590, and see note on i. 1895.

6197. ‘mota est pro virgine virgo, Auxiliumque tulit,’ Metam. ii. 579 f., but Ovid says nothing of any special prayer to Pallas for help, nor does he represent that Cornix was before in attendance upon that goddess.

6207 ff. This is original and characteristic of our author.

6225 ff. This story is from Ovid, Metam. ii. 409-507, but Gower evidently knew it from other sources also, for the name Calistona (or Callisto) is not given by Ovid, who calls her ‘virgo Nonacrina’ and ‘Parrhasis.’ Hyginus tells it in various forms, Fab. 177 and Poet. Astr. ii. 2.

6255. According to Ovid, Diana was quite ignorant of the fact, though the nymphs suspected it.

6258. in a ragerie, that is ‘in sport’: cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, E 1847, and the use of the verb ‘rage,’ e. g. i. 1764 and Cant. Tales, A 257, 3273, 3958.

6275 ff. ‘I procul hinc, dixit, nec sacros pollue fontes,’ Metam. ii. 464.

6281. F has a stop after ‘schame.’

6291 ff. This address is mostly original: cp. Metam. ii. 471 ff.

6334 ff.

Metam. ii. 505 ff.

Latin Verses, x. The idea expressed is that though examples of virginity can only be produced through marriage, yet virginity is nobler than marriage, as the flower of a rose is nobler than the stock from which it springs. Marriage, in fact, replenishes the earth, but virginity heaven: cp. Trait. ii.

6359 ff. Cp. Mirour, 17119 ff., where the saying is attributed to Jerome, who says in fact that precedence was given in the streets to the Vestal Virgins by the highest magistrates, and even by victors riding in the triumphal car (adv. Jovin. ii. 41).

6372 ff. Cp. Mirour, 18301 ff. The anecdote is taken from Valerius Maximus, Mem. iv. 5, but the name in the original is ‘Spurina,’ and he does not thrust out his eyes, but merely destroys the beauty of his face. In the Mirour it is ‘Coupa ses membres.’

6385 ff. ‘So may I prove that, if a man will weigh the virtues, he will find that virginity is to be praised above all others.’ The sentence is disordered for the sake of the rhymes: cp. ii. 709 ff.

6389. The quotation from the Apocalypse is given in the margin of SΔ and in Mirour, 17053 ff. The reference is to Rev. xiv. 4.

6395* ff. Cp. Mirour, 17067 and note.

6398 ff. This also appears in Mirour, 17089 ff., and Traitié, xvi. It may have been taken from the Epistola Valerii ad Rufinum.

6402. The margin makes him ‘octogenarius,’ and so it is also in the Mirour and Traitié, as well as in the Epistola Valerii.

6435 ff. This shows more knowledge than could have been got from the Roman de Troie. The story is told by Hyginus, Fab. 121, but not exactly as we have it here. This ‘Criseide douhter of Crisis’ should be distinguished from the Criseide daughter of Calchas (Briseïda in the Roman de Troie), who is associated with Troilus, if it is worth while making distinctions where so much confusion prevails.

6442. dangerous, that is, ‘grudging’ or ‘reluctant’: cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, D 1090, and see note on i. 2443.

6452. So grete a lust: cp. l. 5737 and Introduction, p. cx.

6498. as a Pocok doth. It is difficult to see the appropriateness of the comparison, for to ‘stalke’ is to go cautiously or secretly, and that is evidently the meaning here, so that any idea of display is out of the question. The peacock was supposed to be ashamed of its ugly feet, cp. Mirour, 23459, and in the Secretum Secretorum we actually have the expression ‘humilis et obediens ut pavo,’ translated by Lydgate (or Burgh) ‘Meeke as a pecock.’ Albertus Magnus says, ‘Cum aspicitur ad solem, decorem ostentat, et alio tempore occultat quantum poterit’ (De Animalibus, 23). There seems to have been a notion that it was liable to have its pride humbled and to slink away ashamed.

6526. bile under the winge, that is, concealed, as a bird’s head under its wing: apparently proverbial.

6541. I mai remene ... mene. This is apparently the reading of the MSS. The meaning of ‘remene’ is properly to bring back. It is used earlier, i. 279, with reference to the application of the teaching about vices generally to the case of love, and here it seems to have much the same sense. ‘So that I may apply what has been said about this craft directly’ (‘Withouten help of eny mene’) to the case of lovers, they being very evidently offenders in this way.

6581. hire it is: but in l. 4470, ‘It schal ben hires.’

6608 ff. For the construction see note on i. 718.

6620. Danger: see note on i. 2443.

6634. slyke: cp. l. 7092*, ‘He can so wel hise wordes slyke.’ The word means properly to smoothe, hence to flatter: cp. the modern ‘sleek.’

6635. Be him, &c., i. e. by his own resources or by the help of any other.

6636. To whom: see note on i. 771.

6654. a nyht, i. e. by night, also written ‘anyht,’ ii. 2857.

6672. Protheüs, that is Proteus: cp. note on l. 3082.

6674. in what liknesse, ‘into any form whatsoever.’

6680. under the palle, ‘in secret,’ like ‘under the gore,’ l. 5730.

6713 ff. From Ovid, Metam. iv. 192-255, but with several changes. In the original story the Sun-god came to Leucothoe by night and in the form of her mother. Clytie (not Clymene) discovered the fact (without the aid of Venus) and told it to the father; and it was an incense plant which grew from the place where Leucothoe was buried.

6757. For the expression cp. iii. 2555, ‘Achastus, which with Venus was Hire priest.’

6779. This change into a flower which follows the sun is suggested by Metam. iv. 266 ff., where we are told that Clytie was changed into a heliotrope. Here it is a sun-flower apparently.

6807 ff. From Ovid, Fasti, ii. 305-358. The ‘mistress’ of whom Ovid speaks is Omphale, but Gower supposed it to be Iole. He gets ‘Thophis’ as the name of the cave from a misunderstanding of l. 317, and apparently he read ‘Saba’ for ‘Lyda’ in l. 356, out of which he has got his idea of a goddess Saba with attendant nymphs. This feature, though based on a mistake, is a decided improvement of the story, which is told by Gower in a spirited and humorous manner.

6848 ff. The reading of X in this passage is also that of GOAd₂.

6899. The punctuation is that of F.

6932. al a route: so iv. 2145, cp. l. 6257, ‘al a compainie.’

7013. Cp. Mirour, 7181 ff.

7048. This is a nautical metaphor, ‘so near the wind will they steer.’ The verb ‘love’ is the modern ‘luff,’ meaning to bring a ship’s head towards the wind. The substantive ‘lof’ (genit. ‘loves’) means in ME. a rudder or some similar contrivance for turning the ship, and ‘love’ here seems to mean simply to steer. The rhyme with ‘glove’ makes ‘love’ from ‘lufian’ out of the question, even if it gave a satisfactory sense.

7140. gon offre. The ceremony of ‘offering’ after mass was one which involved a good deal of etiquette as regards precedence and so on, cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, A 449 ff., and ladies apparently were led up to the altar on these occasions by their cavaliers.

7179. ‘If I might manage in any other way,’ like the expression ‘(I cannot) away with,’ &c.

7195 ff. The story comes no doubt from Benoît, Rom. de Troie, 2851-4916, where it is told at much greater length. Guido does not differ much as regards the incidents related by Gower, but by comparing the two texts in some particular places we can tell without much difficulty which was Gower’s source. For example, in the speech of Hector Benoît has,

while Guido says, ‘Nostis enim ... totam Affricam et Europam hodie Grecis esse subiectam, quanta Greci multitudine militum sunt suffulti,’ &c. See below, 7340 ff.

The story is told by Gower with good judgement, and he freely omits unnecessary details, as those of the mission of Antenor to Greece. The debate in Priam’s parliament is shortened, and the speeches of Hector and Paris much improved.

7197 ff. Cp. 3303 ff.

7202. The sentence is broken off and resumed in a different form: see note on i. 98.

7015* ff. Cp. Mirour, 7156 ff.

7033*. And that, i. e. ‘And provided that.’

7092*. See note on l. 6634.

7105* ff. The tale is told also in the Mirour de l’Omme, 7093-7128. It is to be found in the Gesta Romanorum (which however is not Gower’s source), and in various other places. Cicero tells what is practically the same story of Dionysius of Syracuse (De Nat. Deorum, iii. 34), but the acts of sacrilege were committed by him in various places. The golden mantle was taken from the statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the beard from that of Aesculapius at Epidaurus, the justification in this latter case being that Apollo, the father of Aesculapius, was always represented without a beard. Those who repeated the anecdote in the Middle Ages naturally missed this point. We may note that Dyonis is the name given in the Mirour.

7213 ff. Cp. Rom. de Troie, 2779 ff.

7235 ff. Rom. de Troie, 3029 ff. Gower has judiciously cut short the architectural details.

7275. Esionam: see note on l. 6719.

7307. in his yhte, ‘in his possession.’ For the substance of these lines cp. Rom. de Troie, 2915-2950.

7372. schape ye, imperative, for schapeth; so ‘Sey ye’ in l. 7435.

7377. Strong thing, i. e. a hard thing to bear. This is apparently a translation of the French ‘fort,’ which was very commonly used in the sense of ‘difficult’: see the examples in Godefroy’s Dictionary, e. g. ‘forte chose est de çou croire,’ ‘fors choses est a toi guerroier ancontre moi.’

7390 ff. ‘Ten men have been seen to deal with a hundred and to have had the better.’

7400. Rom. de Troie, 3842, ‘L’autrier ès kalendes de Mai,’ &c. The word ‘ender’ is an adjective meaning ‘former,’ originally perhaps an adverb. It is used only in the expressions ‘ender day’ and ‘ender night.’ The combination ‘enderday’ occurs in i. 98.

7420. Rom. de Troie, 3889 f.,

7451 ff. For Cassandra as the Sibyl cp. Godfrey of Viterbo, Pantheon, p. 214 (ed. 1584).

7497 f.

Rom. de Troie, 4299 ff.

7555 ff. The further incidents of the embarkation and of the voyage home, Rom. de Troie, 4505-4832, are omitted.

7576 f. Cp. Rom. de Troie, 4867 ff.

7591 ff. This incident is related in the Rom. de Troie, 17457 ff. The occasion was an anniversary celebration at the tomb of Hector, and though the temple of Apollo is not actually named here by Benoît, it has been previously described at large as Hector’s burial place.

7597 ff. The scene in Chaucer’s Troilus, i. 155 ff., is well known. He took it from Boccaccio.

7612. In the treatment of Avarice Gower has departed entirely from the plan of fivefold division which he follows in the first three books, as throughout in the Mirour. In the sixth book he deliberately declines to deal with more than two of the branches of Gule (vi. 12f.), and the treatment of Lechery is also irregular.

7651. here tuo debat, i. e. the strife of those two.

7716. the Cote for the hod: that is, he gets a return larger than the amount that he gave; a different form of the expression from that which we have in l. 4787.

7719. hors: probably plural in both cases.

7724. ‘If a man will go by the safe way.’

7736 ff. This saying is not really quoted from Seneca, but from Caecilius Balbus, Nug. Phil. xi. It must have been in Chaucer’s mind when he wrote ‘Suffice unto thy good, though it be smal,’ that is, ‘Adapt thy life to thy worldly fortune.’

7830 f. I take this to mean, ‘And suddenly to meet his flowers the summer appears and is rich.’ For the meaning of ‘hapneth’ see the examples in the New English Dictionary.

7838. be war: written as one word in F and afterwards divided by a stroke.

LIB. VI.

Latin Verses. i. 6. ruit seems to be transitive, ‘casts down.’

i. 7. Rather involved in order: ‘on the lips which Bacchus intoxicates and which are plunged in sleep.’

4. mystymed, ‘unhappily produced.’ In other places, as i. 220, iii. 2458, the word seems to mean to order or arrange wrongly. The OE. ‘mistīmian’ means to happen amiss.

7. dedly, ‘mortal,’ i. e. subject to death.

34. wext, ‘he waxeth’: for the omission of the pronoun see note on i. 1895 and cp. ll. 149, 213, 367, below.

57. For the form of expression cp. i. 380, ii. 2437, and below, l. 106.

59. sterte is for ‘stert,’ pres. tense.

70. in vers, that is ‘in order.’ The word ‘vers’ is given in Godefroy’s Dictionary with the sense ‘state,’ ‘situation’; e. g. Rom. de la Rose, 9523 ff.,

71 f. Cp. Mirour, 8246 f.

84. the jolif wo: cp. i. 88, vii. 1910, and Balades, xii. 4, ‘Si porte ades le jolif mal sanz cure.’

105. of such a thew, ‘by such a habit’ (i. e. of love), to be taken with ‘dronkelew.’

144. hovedance, ‘court dance’: see New Eng. Dictionary.

145. the newefot: written thus as one word in S and F: it must be regarded as the name of some dance.

160. it am noght I: cp. Chaucer, Leg. of G. Women, 314, ‘sir, hit am I,’ Cant. Tales, A 1736, &c.

188. holde forth the lusti route: perhaps simply, ‘continue to be with the merry company.’ See ‘forth’ in the Glossary.

218. vernage: the same wine that is called ‘gernache’ or ‘garnache’ in the Mirour de l’Omme, ‘vernaccia’ in Italian, but whether a wine of Italy or Greece seems uncertain.

221. at myn above: see note on iv. 914.

239. the blanche fievere: cp. Chaucer, Troilus, i. 916, with Skeat’s note.

249. Cp. Chaucer, Troilus, i. 420, ‘For hete of cold, for cold of hete, I dye.’

253. of such reles: this seems to men ‘of such strength,’ and ‘relais’ perhaps has a somewhat similar sense in Mirour, 3021,

As in the modern ‘relay,’ the idea of ceasing or of relaxation may be accompanied by the notion of fresh vigour taking the place of exhaustion, and so the word may stand simply for strength or freshness.

If this explanation is not admissible, we must suppose that ‘reles’ means here the power of relaxing or dissolving.

285 f. Cp. Rom. de la Rose, 4326 f.,

290. liste: perhaps pret. subjunctive; so l. 606, and ‘leste,’ 357.

296. be the bend, i. e. ‘by the band,’ at his girdle.

311 f. ‘This for the time alleviates the pain for him who has no other joy.’ ‘As for the time yit’ means simply ‘for the time,’ cp. ll. 738, 893.

321. For ‘men’ with singular verb cp. ii. 659, v. 5510, 6045, vii. 1352, and Chaucer, Cant. Tales, A 149, &c.

330 ff. Cp. viii. 2252 ff. and. Traitié, xv. 2. The poet referred to in the margin is perhaps Homer, who is quoted in the Rom. de la Rose as authority for an arrangement somewhat similar to that described here:

Gower has applied the idea especially to the subject of love, and has made Cupid the butler instead of Fortune. The basis in Homer is Il. xxiv. 527 ff.,

360. trouble is properly an adjective, cp. v. 4160. The corrupt reading ‘chere’ for ‘cler’ has hitherto obscured the sense.

399 ff. This story of Bacchus is told by Hyginus, Poet. Astr. ii, under the heading ‘Aries.’

437. a riche temple. This was the temple of Jupiter Ammon.

439. ‘To remind thirsty men’ of the power of prayer.

485 ff. The story is from Ovid, Metam. xii. 210 ff.

502 f. thilke tonne drouh, wherof, &c., ‘drew such wine for them that by it,’ &c. See note on i. 771 and cp. ll. 618 and 1249 of this book.

537. I do not know what authority is referred to.

598. unteid, ‘set free,’ so ‘wandering abroad.’

609. The name of this second branch of Gluttony has not been mentioned before.

632 f. ‘so long as he has wealth by which he may be provided with the means.’ For the use of ‘founde’ cp. v. 2690 and Chaucer, Cant. Tales, C 537, ‘How gret labour and cost is thee to fynde!’ (addressing the belly).

640. for the point of his relief, ‘in order to please him,’ so below ‘he is noght relieved,’ l. 678.

656. toke, subjunctive, ‘how he should take it.’

662. After this line a couplet is inserted by Pauli from the Harleian MS. 7184 (H₃),

The lines are nonsense and have no metre. They come originally from K, the copyist of which apparently inserted them out of his own head, to fill up a space left by the accidental omission of two lines (645 f.) a little above in the same column. He was making his book correspond column for column with the copy, and therefore discovered his mistake when he reached the bottom, but did not care to draw attention to it by inserting what he had omitted.

663. ‘Physique’ is apparently meant for the Physics of Aristotle, and something very like this maxim is to be found there, but the quotation, ‘Consuetudo est altera natura,’ is actually taken from the Secretum Secretorum (ed. 1520, f. 21).

664. The transposition after this line of the passage ll. 665-964, which occurs in MSS. of the second recension, is not accidental, as we see by the arrangements made afterwards for fitting in the passage (l. 1146). The object apparently was to lay down the principle ‘Delicie corporis militant aduersus animam,’ illustrated by the parable of Dives and Lazarus, before proceeding to the discussion of ‘Delicacie’ in the case of love, and this is perhaps the more logical arrangement; but the alteration, as it is made, involves breaking off the discussion here of the ill effects of change, and resuming it after an interval of nearly two hundred lines.

674. Avise hem wel, i. e. ‘let them take good heed.’

683. ‘Without regard to her honour’: cp. Balades, xxii. 4, ‘Salvant toutdis l’estat de vostre honour.’

709. abeched, from the French ‘abechier,’ to feed, used properly of feeding young birds. The word ‘refreched’ is conformed to it in spelling.

728. The reading of Pauli, ‘I say I am nought gilteles,’ just reverses the sense. Berthelette has the text right here.

738. for a time yit: cp. 311, ‘As for the time yit,’ and 893, ‘As for the while yit.’

770. ‘Without wrinkle of any kind,’ cp. Mirour, 10164, ‘Car moult furont de noble grein’; or perhaps ‘Without the smallest wrinkle,’ ‘grein’ being taken to stand for the smallest quantity of a thing: cp. ii. 3310.

778. Cp. Chaucer, Book of the Duchess, 939 ff.

785. schapthe. For this form, which is given by S and F, cp. the word ‘ssepþe,’ meaning ‘creature’ or ‘form,’ which occurs repeatedly in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.

800. ‘And if it seemed so to all others.’ The person spoken of throughout this passage as ‘he,’ ‘him,’ is the eye of the lover. This seems to itself to have sufficient sustenance by merely gazing on the beloved object, and if it seemed so to all others also, that is, to the other senses, the eye would never cease to feed upon the sight: but they, having other needs, compel it to turn away.

809. as thogh he faste: the verb seems to be pret. subjunctive, as ‘syhe’ down below.

817. tireth. This expresses the action of a falcon pulling at its prey: cp. Chaucer, Troilus, i. 787, ‘Whos stomak foules tiren everemo.’ The word is used in the same sense also in the Mirour, 7731.

845. mi ladi goode, ‘my lady’s goodness.’

857. Lombard cooks were celebrated, and there was a kind of pastry called ‘pain lumbard,’ Mirour, 7809.

879. The romance of Ydoine and Amadas is one of those mentioned at the beginning of the Cursor Mundi. It has been published in the ‘Collection des poètes français du moyen âge’ (ed. Hippeau, 1863). Amadas is the type of the lover who remains faithful through every kind of trial.

891. a cherie feste: cp. Prol. 454. It is an expression used for pleasures that last but a short time: cp. Audelay’s Poems (Percy Soc. xiv) p. 22,

(speaking of the glory of this world).

893. Cp. 311, 738.

897. he, i. e. my ear.

908. me lacketh: the singular form is due perhaps to the use of the verb impersonally in many cases.

961. excede, subjunctive, ‘so as to go beyond reason.’

986 ff. This story furnishes a favourable example of our author’s style and versification. It is told simply and clearly, and the verse is not only smooth and easy, but carefully preserved from monotony by the breaking of the couplet very frequently at the pauses: see 986, 998, 1006, 1010, 1016, &c.

995. We have remarked already upon Gower’s fatalism, iii. 1348, &c. Here we may refer also to ll. 1026, 1613, 1702, for further indications of the same tendency.

1059. is overronne, that is, ‘has passed beyond.’

1110. descryve, apparently ‘understand,’ ‘discern,’ perhaps by that confusion with ‘descry’ which is noted in the New Engl. Dictionary.

1149 f. These two lines are omitted without authority by Pauli.

1176. That is, though they had rendered no services for which they ought to be so distinguished.

1180. sojorned: the word is used in French especially of a horse kept in stable at rack and manger and refreshed for work: see Mirour, Glossary.

1216. ‘So that that pleasure should not escape him.’

1245. out of feere, ‘without fear.’

1262. unwar, here ‘unknown’: cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, B 427, ‘The unwar wo or harm that comth behinde.’

1295. Originally geomancy seems to have been performed, as suggested in this passage, by marks made in sand or earth, then by casual dots on paper: see the quotations under ‘geomancy’ in the New Engl. Dictionary. Gower here mentions the four recognized kinds of divination, by the elements of earth, water, fire, and air.

1306 ff. It is practically certain that Gower was acquainted with the treatise ascribed to Albertus Magnus, called Speculum Astronomiae or De libris licitis et illicitis (Alberti Magni Opera, v. 655 ff.), since he seems to follow it to a great extent not only here, but also in his list of early astronomers (vii. 1449 ff.). There are however some things here which he must have had from other sources; for there is no mention in the above-mentioned treatise of ‘Spatula,’ ‘Babilla,’ ‘Cernes,’ ‘Honorius.’

1312. comun rote, that is, apparently, ‘common custom.’ The word ‘rote’ is used also below, l. 1457, where it appears to mean ‘condition.’ It must be the same as that which appears in the phrase ‘by rote,’ and it is difficult to believe that it can be the French ‘route,’ as is usually said. The rhyme here and in l. 1457, as well as those in Chaucer (with ‘cote,’ ‘note’), show that the ‘o’ had an open sound, and this would be almost impossible from French ‘ou.’ The expression ‘par routine’ or ‘par rotine’ is given by Cotgrave as equivalent to the English ‘by rote,’ but I am not aware of any use of such an expression in French as early as the fourteenth century. Many of the examples of the phrase ‘by rote’ seem to have to do with singing or church services (cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, B 1712, Piers Plowmans Crede, 379), and Du Cange gives a quotation in which ‘rotae’ seems to mean ‘chants’ or ‘hymns’ (‘rota,’ 6). From such a sense as this the idea of a regular order of service, and thence of ‘custom,’ ‘habit,’ might without much difficulty arise.

1314 ff. The following passage from the Spec. Astronomiae, cap. 10, gives most of the names and terms which occur in these lines: ‘Ex libris vero Toz Graeci est liber de stationibus ad cultum Veneris, qui sic incipit: Commemoratio historiarum ... Ex libris autem Salomonis est liber de quatuor anulis, quem intitulat nominibus quatuor discipulorum suorum, qui sic incipit: De arte eutonica et ideica, &c. Et liber de nouem candariis.... Et alius paruus de sigillis ad dæmoniacos, qui sic incipit: Caput sigilli gendal et tanchil.’

1316. Razel. ‘Est autem unus liber magnus Razielis, qui dicitur liber institutionum,’ &c. In MS. Ashmole 1730 there is a letter to Dr. Richard Napier from his nephew at Oxford, speaking of a book of Solomon in the University Library called Cephar Raziel, that is, he explains, ‘Angelus magnus secreti Creatoris,’ of which he proposes to make a copy, having obtained means of entering the library at forbidden hours. Again, in MS. Ashmole 1790 there is a description of this book.

1320. ‘cui adiungitur liber Beleni de horarum opere,’ Spec. Astron. p. 661. The seal of Ghenbal is the ‘sigillum gendal,’ mentioned in the former citation.

1321 f. thymage Of Thebith. Thebith (or Thebit) stands for Thabet son of Corah, a distinguished Arabian mathematician, to whom were attributed certain works on astrology and magic that were current in Latin. Thus we find Thebit de imaginibus very commonly in MSS., and a Liber Thebit ben Corat de tribus imaginibus magicis was printed in 1559 at Frankfort. In this latter book the author says, ‘Exercentur quoque hae imagines in amore vel odio, si fuerit actor earum prouidus et sapiens in motibus coeli ad hoc utilibus.’ Thebith is mentioned several times in the Spec. Astronomiae, e. g. p. 662, ‘Super istis imaginibus reperitur unus liber Thebith eben Chorath,’ &c. We must take ‘therupon’ in l. 1321 to mean ‘moreover,’ for it is not to be supposed that the image of Thebith was upon the seal of Ghenbal.

1338. The ‘Naturiens’ are those who pursue the methods of astrology, as opposed to those who practise necromancy (‘nigromance’) or black magic.

1356. He bede nevere: see note on v. 4455.

1359. red, originally written ‘rede’ in F, but the final letter was afterwards erased. See Introduction, p. cxiv.

1371 f. The rhyme requires that ‘become,’ ‘overcome’ shall either be both present or both preterite (subjunctive), and ‘wonne’ seems to decide the matter for preterite. The only difficulty is ‘have I’ for ‘hadde I’ in l. 1370, the latter being required also by the sense (for the reference is to the former time of youth), but not given by the MSS. ‘So that I wonne’ means ‘Provided that I won.’

1391 ff. This story is from the Roman de Troie, 28571-28666, 29629-30092. Guido does not differ as to the main points, but there are several details given by Gower from Benoît which are not found in Guido. In particular the ensign carried by Telegonus is mentioned by Guido only in telling of the dream of Ulysses. Some of the passages which tend to show that Benoît was our author’s authority are noted below.

1408. al the strengthe of herbes: a poem De Viribus Herbarum passed in the Middle Ages under the name of Macer.

1422. The mention of ‘nedle and ston’ in this connexion is a rather daring anachronism, for which of course Gower is responsible.

1424. Cilly. Benoît says ‘les isles d’Oloi,’ and Guido ‘in Eolidem insulam,’ but Sicily has been mentioned shortly before.

1438 f. Cp. Rom. de Troie, 28594 ff. Guido does not mention it.

1441. ‘S’el sot des arz, il en sot plus,’ Rom. de Troie, 28641.

1445 ff. Benoît says nothing of this, but the story of the adventures of Ulysses was to some extent matter of common knowledge in the Middle Ages. Gower may have had it from Ovid, Metam. xiv. 277 ff. Guido says in a general way that Circe was in the habit of transforming those who resisted her power into beasts.

1457. into such a rote, that is, ‘into such a habit’ (or ‘condition’): see note on l. 1312.

1467. toswolle bothe sides, ‘with both her sides swollen’: cp. Rom. de Troie, 28660 f.,

1474. understode: subj., see note on Prol. 460.

1481. on of al the beste, see note on iv. 2606.

1513 f. margin. This quotation is not from Horace, but from Ovid, Pont. iv. 3. 35. Cp. Mirour, 10948, where the same quotation occurs and is attributed as here to ‘Orace.’

1524. The form ‘stature’ is required by the metre here, and is given by the best MSS. of the second and third recensions. In Prol. 891, where ‘statue’ occurs, it is reduced to a monosyllable by elision, and so it is in Chaucer, Cant. Tales, A 975, 1955. The forms ‘statura,’ ‘stature,’ are found with this sense in the Latin and French of the time.

1541 ff.

Rom. de Troie, 29670 ff.

The prediction, however, that one of the two would have his death by reason of their meeting comes later, 29699, whereas Guido combines the materials here much in the same way as Gower.

1552 ff. This idea of a pennon embroidered with a device is Gower’s own conception, constructed from the not very clear or satisfactory account of the matter given by his authority here and later, 29819 ff. The fact is that Benoît did not understand the expression used in the Latin book (the so-called ‘Dictys Cretensis’) which he was here following, the passage being probably corrupt in his copy, and consequently failed to make it intelligible to his readers. The original statement (made with reference to the ensign carried afterwards by Telegonus) is, ‘Ithacam venit gerens manibus quoddam hastile, cui summitas marinae turturis osse armabatur, scilicet insigne insulae eius in qua genitus erat.’ The meaning apparently is that his spearhead was made of a sea-turtle’s shell. Benoît, in recounting the vision, says that the figure which appeared bore upon the steel head of his lance a crown worked of the bone of a sea-fish,

Then afterwards, in telling of the departure of Telegonus to seek his father, he says that, to show of what country he was, he bore on the top of his lance the sign of a sea-fish worked like a tower,

Guido apparently was not able to make much of this, and after saying, in the account of the dream, that at the top of the lance there appeared ‘quedam turricula tota ex piscibus artificiose composita’ (Bodl. MS. Laud 645, with variants ‘craticula,’ MS. Add. 365, ‘curricula,’ printed editions), he subsequently omitted mention of the recognisance.

1561 f. A signe it is ... Of an Empire. Benoît has,

which may perhaps mean, ‘that it was the cognisance of a kingdom and a sign that they should be divided.’ In Guido, however, it is ‘hoc est signum impie disiunccionis’ (MS. Laud 645 and printed text), or ‘hoc est signum impii et disiunccionis’ (MS. Add. 365).

1567 f. Cp. 2296 ff.

1603 ff. For the order of the clauses here cp. ii. 709, iv. 3520 ff.

1622 ff. That, for ‘Til that’; cp. iv. 3273, v. 3422.

1636. ‘And he made himself ready forthwith.’ For the omission of the pronoun even where the subject is changed cp. v. 3291, 4590.

1637 ff. Cp. Rom. de Troie, 29824 ff. Guido says nothing about it.

1643. That is, ‘to avoid espial and wrong suspicions.’

1656. Rom. de Troie, 29801 f.,

Guido says nothing about this.

1660. Nachaie, a mistake for ‘Acaie,’

and this again seems to be from ‘Ithaca.’

1685. and welnyh ded: cp. Rom. de Troie, 29906 f. Guido says only ‘et ab illis est grauiter vulneratus.’

1689. Gower has judiciously reduced the number from fifteen (Rom. de Troie, 29902).

1696. for wroth, that is, ‘by reason that he was wroth’: see note on iv. 1330. We can hardly take ‘wroth’ as a substantive.

1701. ‘Se il ne fust un poi guenchiz,’ Rom. de Troie, 29939.

1707. With al the signe, ‘together with the signe,’ like the French ‘ove tout’; cp. Mirour 4 (note).

1745 f. Rom. de Troie, 30022 ff. Guido omits this.

1769 ff. For this repetition cp. 2095 ff.

1785. The ‘Cronique imperial’ is evidently the story itself, and not any particular book in which it is to be found.

1789 ff. The authority which is mainly followed by our author for this story is the Anglo-Norman Roman de toute Chevalerie, by Eustace (or Thomas) of Kent. The beginning of this, including all that we have to do with here, has been printed by M. Paul Meyer in his book on the Alexander romances, ‘Bibliothèque française du moyen âge’ vol. iv. pp. 195-216. Gower was acquainted, however, also with the Latin Historia Alexandri de Preliis, and has made use of this in certain places, as (1) in the account of Philip’s vision (2129-2170) where he probably found the French unintelligible, and (2) in the story of the death of Nectanabus (2289 ff.), of which the Latin authority certainly gives the more satisfactory account.

The following are some of the points in which Gower agrees with the Roman de toute Chevalerie against the two Latin versions of the story, viz. the Historia de Preliis and the Res Gestae Alexandri of Valerius: (1) the celebration by Olympias of the festival of her nativity, when she rides out on a white mule and is first seen by Nectanabus, ll. 1823-1880; (2) the omission of the sealing of the queen’s womb by Nectanabus, this being introduced only in Philip’s vision; (3) the question of the queen as to how she shall procure further interviews with the god, and the answer of Nectanabus, ll. 2109 ff.; (4) the circumstances connected with the egg from which the serpent was hatched, ll. 2219 ff. The English metrical Romance of Alexander, printed by Weber, is also taken from the Roman de toute Chevalerie, and consequently the details of it are for the most part the same as those in Gower. It is certain, however, that Gower does not follow this. It would be quite contrary to his practice to follow an English authority, and apart from this there are many small matters here in which he agrees with the French as against the English, e. g. the name Nectanabus, which is Neptanabus in the English (Anectanabus in the Hist. de Preliis), the mention of the nativity of Olympias as the occasion of her festival, ‘Grant feste tint la dame de sa nativité,’ the use of the word ‘artemage,’ l. 1957, the incident of the dragon being changed into an eagle, l. 2200; and such points of correspondence as may seem to suggest a connexion between the two English writers, as in ll. 1844 f., 2231 f., are also to be found in the French. The English alliterative Romance of Alexander follows the Hist. de Preliis, and consequently it agrees with Gower in the two passages which have been referred to above.

1798. The sentence is broken off and finished in a different manner. See note on i. 98, and cp. vii. 3632.

1811. Thre yomen, &c. This is an addition by Gower. According to the original story Nectanabus was alone, and this would evidently be the better for his purpose.

1828. list. This may be present tense, ‘it pleases.’ Loss of the final e in the preterite would hardly occur except before a vowel: see Introduction, p. cxv. The French original lays stress here on the extravagant desire that women have to display themselves.

1831. At after, i. e. ‘After,’ used especially of meals, cp. l. 1181, and Chaucer, Cant. Tales, B 1445, F 918 ‘at after diner,’ E 1921 ‘At after mete,’ F 302, 1219 ‘At after soper,’ for which references, as for many others elsewhere, I am indebted to Prof. Skeat’s very useful Glossary.

1844 f. The French has

and later

The English version of the second line,

comes very near to Gower.

1924. Bot if I sihe, ‘unless I should see,’ pret. subj.

1943 ff. This promise is not in the French.

1959 ff. The astrological terms in these lines are due to Gower. The original says that Nectanabus laid the image in a bed with candles lighted round it, bathed it in the juice of certain herbs, and said his charms over it.

1997. such thing ... Wherof: cp. ll. 502, 2398.

2005 f.

2062. putte him. We should rather read ‘put him’ with S and F: see Introduction, p. cxvi. The French romance here grotesquely represents Nectanabus as making up a disguise for himself with a ram’s head and a dragon’s tail, which he joins together with wax, ‘e puis dedens se mist.’ The Latin Hist. de Preliis says simply that he changed himself into a dragon.

2074 ff. The French has,

The punctuation after ‘tok’ is that of F, but I suspect that ‘in signe of his noblesse’ belongs really in sense to 2076 f., and refers rather to the crown than to the horns, in which case we ought to set a full stop after ‘bar.’

2113. seth hire grone, that is, in child-bed.

2128 ff. The French romance, following Valerius in the main, gives a rather confused account of Philip’s dream. Gower has turned from it to the Historia de Preliis.

2160. Amphion. The name apparently is got from ‘Antifon,’ which occurs below in connexion with the incident of the pheasant’s egg.

2182. rampende. The French has ‘mult fierement rampant.’

2199 ff. The transformation into an eagle is found in Valerius and the French romance, and not in the Hist. de Preliis. It may be noted, however, that the picturesque description which we have here of the eagle pruning himself and then shaking his feathers, so that the hall was moved as by an earthquake, is Gower’s own.

2219 ff. The Latin accounts say that a bird, according to Valerius a hen, came and laid an egg in Philip’s lap as he sat in his hall. The Rom. de toute Chevalerie makes the incident take place out in the fields, and the bird, as here, is a pheasant. The expression used, ‘Un oef laissat chaïr sur les curs Phelippun,’ seems to mean that the egg was laid in Philip’s lap. There is nothing about the heat of the sun in the Latin versions.

2250 ff. These lines refer to the precautions taken by Nectanabus to secure that the child shall be born precisely at the right astrological moment: cp. Rom. de toute Chevalerie, 401-425. Gower has chosen to omit the details.

2274. Calistre, i. e. Callisthenes, who was reputed to be the author of the history of Alexander which Valerius translated.

2299 ff. The question of Alexander and the answer of Nectanabus is given as here in the Hist. de Preliis. In Valerius and the French romance Alexander throws Nectanabus down merely in order to surprise him, and the suggestion that Nectanabus knew that he should die by the hands of his son is not made till afterwards.

2368. Zorastes. The statement here about the laughter of Zoroaster at his birth is ultimately derived from Pliny, Hist. Nat. vii. 15. It is repeated by Augustine, with the addition ‘nec ei boni aliquid monstrosus risus ille portendit. Nam magicarum artium fuisse perhibetur inventor; quae quidem illi nec ad praesentis vitae vanam felicitatem contra suos inimicos prodesse potuerunt; a Nino quippe rege Assyriorum, cum esset ipse Bactrianorum, bello superatus est’ (De Civ. Dei, xxi. 14).

2381. ‘Like wool which is ill spun’: cp. i. 10.

2387. Phitonesse, cp. iv. 1937.

2411. betawht To Aristotle, ‘delivered over to Aristotle’: ‘betawht’ is the past partic. of ‘beteche,’ which occurs afterwards, vii. 4234, and in Chaucer, Cant. Tales, B 2114, ‘Now such a rym the devel I beteche.’

2418. Yit for a time: to be taken as one phrase; cp. ‘for a while yit,’ &c., ll. 311, 738, 893.

LIB. VII.

The account given in the earlier part of this book of the parts of Philosophy, that is, of the objects of human knowledge, represents in its essentials the Aristotelian system. The division into ‘Theorique,’ ‘Rethorique,’ and ‘Practique’ is in effect the same as Aristotle’s classification of knowledge as Theoretical, Poetical, and Practical, and the further division of ‘Theorique’ into Theology, Physics, and Mathematics, and of ‘Practique’ into Ethics, Economics, and Politics, is that which is made by Aristotle. The statement of Pauli and others that this part of Gower’s work is ‘very likely borrowed’ from the Secretum Secretorum is absolutely unfounded. This treatise is not in any sense an exposition of the Aristotelian philosophy, indeed it is largely made up of rules for diet and regimen with medical prescriptions. Gower is indebted to it only in a slight degree, and principally in two places, vii. 2014-2057, the discussion of Liberality in a king, and 3207*-3360*, the tale of the Jew and the Pagan.

The most important authority, however, for the earlier part of the seventh book has hitherto been overlooked. It is the Trésor of Brunetto Latini. This book is very largely based upon Aristotle, with whose works Latini was exceptionally well acquainted, and it is from this that Gower takes his classification of the sciences, though in regard to the place of Rhetoric he does not quite agree with Latini, who brings it in under the head of ‘Politique,’ making Logic the third main branch of philosophy. Gower takes from the Trésor also many of his physical and geographical statements and his reference to the debate on the conspiracy of Catiline. On the other hand his astronomy is for the most part independent of the Trésor, and so also is his method of dealing with the principles of Government, under the five points of Policy. Brunetto Latini does not treat of politics generally so much as of the practical rules to be observed by the Podestà of an Italian republic. It may be observed that Gower has drawn on the Trésor also in the sketch of general history given in the Prologue (ll. 727-820). I refer to pages of the edition of Chabaille, 1863.

26 ff. ‘As to which Aristotle ... declares the “intelligences” under three heads especially.’ The meaning of ‘intelligences’ here and in l. 176, and of ‘intelligencias’ in the margin, l. 149, seems to be nearly the same as ‘sciences,’ that is to say, divisions or provinces of knowledge.

155. Algorisme. This stands properly for the decimal system of numeration, but the use of the word in the plural, l. 158, shows that Gower did not use it in this sense only. The association of the word ‘Algorismes’ below with the letters a, b, c (‘Abece’) seems to suggest some kind of algebraical expression, but this is perhaps due to a misunderstanding by Gower of the word ‘abaque’ (or ‘abake’) in the Trésor, p. 6: ‘Et de ce sont li enseignement de l’abaque et de l’augorisme.’

183 ff. ‘Ce est la science par laquele li vii sage s’esforcierent par soutillece de geometrie de trover la grandeur dou ciel et de la terre, et la hautesce entre l’un et l’autre.’ Trésor, pp. 6, 7.

207 ff. Cp. Trésor, p. 15, ‘Cele matiere de quoi ces choses furent formées les desvance de naissance, non mie de tens, autressi comme li sons est devant le chant, ... et neporquant andui sont ensemble.’ Cp. pp. 104, 105.

216. Ylem, this is ‘hyle’ (Gr. ὕλη), the Aristotelian term for matter. For what follows cp. Trésor, p. 105.

245. This comparison of the movement of water within the earth to the circulation of blood in the veins, is taken from the Trésor, p. 115: ‘autressi comme li sangs de l’ome qui s’espant par ses vaines, si que il encherche tout le cors amont et aval.’

256 ff. Cp. Trésor, p. 117.

265 ff. This which follows about the Air seems to be partly independent of the Trésor, and the word ‘periferie’ is not there used. Aristotle divides the atmosphere into two regions only, that of ἀτμίς or moist vapour, corresponding to the first and second periferies here, and that of exhalation (ἀναθυμίασις) or fiery vapour, corresponding to the third, Meteor. i. 3.

283 f. ‘According to the condition under which they take their form.’ I suppose the word ‘intersticion’ to be taken from ‘interstitium,’ as used with a technical sense in astrology. Albumasar, for example, says, ‘Quicquid in hoc mundo nascitur et occidit ex quatuor elementis est compositum, tribus interstitiis educatum, scilicet principio, medio et fine, quae tria in illa quatuor ducta duodecim producunt.’ This is the cause, he says, why there are twelve signs of the zodiac, ‘Praesunt siquidem haec signa quatuor elementis eorumque tribus interstitiis.’ He then explains that the first ‘interstitium’ of each element is that condition of it which is favourable to production, growth and vigour, the second that which is stationary, and the third that which tends to decay and corruption, so that the word is almost equivalent to condition or quality. (Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Nat. xv. 36.)

302. Cp. Trésor, p. 119, ‘mais li fors deboutemenz dou vent la destraint et chace si roidement que ele fent et passe les nues et fait toner et espartir.’

307 ff. Cp. Trésor, p. 120.

323 ff. Trésor, p. 120, ‘dont aucunes gens cuident que ce soit li dragons ou que ce soit une estele qui chiet.’ What follows about ‘exhalations’ is not from the Trésor.

334. Assub. This word is used in Latin translations of Aristotle as an equivalent of ‘stella cadens.’

339. exalacion. This stands for fiery vapour only, originally a translation of Aristotle’s ἀναθυμίασις.

351 ff. The names ‘Eges’ and ‘Daaly’ (l. 361), must be taken originally from Aristotle’s expression δαλοὶ καὶ αἶγες, which he says are names given by some people to various forms of fire in the sky, Meteor. i. 4. Our author simply repeated the terms after his authorities and without understanding them. In fact, ‘Eges’ stands for the same as the ‘Capra saliens’ of the preceding lines.

389. The idea of the four complexions of man, corresponding to the four elements, is not due to Aristotle, but we find it in the Trésor. The application to matters of love in ll. 393-440 is presumably Gower’s own.

405 f. Aristotle says on the contrary, οἱ μελαγχολικοὶ οἱ πλεῖστοι λάγνοι εἰσίν, Probl. 30.

437. To thenke. For this use of ‘may’ with the gerund cp. ii. 510, ‘I myhte noght To soffre.’

510. ‘While the flesh has power to act,’ that is during the life of the body.

521 ff. For the geography which follows cp. Trésor, pp. 151-153.

534. the hevene cope: cp. l. 1579, ‘under the coupe of hevene,’ where the spelling suggests the Latin ‘cupa,’ rather than ‘capa,’ as the origin of the word in this common phrase. The quality of the ‘o’ in Europe is perhaps doubtful.

536. Begripeth: used here as plural, cp. l. 1107: ‘calleth’ in l. 561 with ‘men’ (indef.) as the subject is not a case of the same kind.

545. who that rede: subj., cp. Prol. 460.

559. That is, presumably, double as much as either of the other two: cp. Trésor, p. 152, ‘car Asie tient bien l’une moitié de toute la terre.’

566. Canahim: a mistake for ‘Tanaim’ (or ‘Tanain’), see Trésor, p. 152, where the extent of Asia is said to be from the mouths of the Nile and the ‘Tanain’ (i. e. the Don) as far as the Ocean and the terrestrial Paradise.

593 ff. Cp. Trésor, p. 115.

597. Latini says that this is the explanation given by some people of the tides, but he adds that the astronomers do not agree with them (Trésor, p. 172).

611. Aristotle does in fact make of αἰθήρ a fifth element, of which the heaven and the heavenly bodies consist, but Gower takes this account of it and the name Orbis from the Trésor, p. 110, where also we find the comparison to the shell of an egg.

652 ff. ‘Sapiens dominabitur astris,’ an opinion which is developed in the Vox Clamantis, ii. 217 ff.

694. Bot thorizonte, ‘beyond the horizon’: so perhaps in the first text of v. 3306, ‘But of his lond’ stood for ‘Out of his lond.’ However, this use of ‘but’ is not clearly established in Southern ME. and perhaps the reading of the second recension, ‘Be thorizonte,’ may be right. As regards sense, one is much the same as the other: neither is very intelligible, unless ‘thorizonte’ means the ecliptic.

699. thei, that is the planets, not the signs.

725 ff. Cp. Trésor, p. 141.

831. is that on, i. e. ‘is one,’ or ‘is the first.’

853. The sun’s horses are named by Fulgentius, Mythol. ii, in the same order as we have here, ‘Erythreus, Actæon, Lampos, Philogeus.’ They are said there to represent four divisions of the day, Erythreus, for example, having his name from the red light of morning, and Philogeus from the inclination of the sun towards the earth at evening. Ovid gives a different set of names.

944. ‘In whatever degree he shall exercise his powers.’

978. as it appendeth, ‘as it is fitting,’ lit. ‘as it belongs’: cp. ‘appent,’ Mir. 1535.

979. natheles. This word is frequently used by Gower with no sense of opposition, meaning ‘moreover’ or something similar: cp. i. 21, vii. 3877, &c.

983. It may be observed that (in spite of this reference and that in l. 1043) our author’s statements about the number and arrangement of stars in the constellations of the zodiac do not at all correspond with those in the Almagest.

983 (margin). produxit ad esse, ‘brought forth into existence’: the infinitive is often used as a substantive in Gower’s Latin: e. g. Prol. Lat. Verses, iv. 4, v. 6.

989. hot and drye. According to the astrologers, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius preside over the element of fire, and are hot and dry by nature; Taurus, Virgo, Capricornus over that of earth, being dry and cold; Gemini, Libra, Aquarius preside over air, and are hot and moist; while Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are moist and cold, having dominion over water (Albumasar, cited by Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Nat. xv. 36).

991 f. Aries and Scorpio are the ‘houses’ or ‘mansions’ of Mars, Taurus and Libra of Venus, Gemini and Virgo of Mercury, Cancer of the Moon, Leo of the Sun, Sagittarius and Pisces of Jupiter, Capricornus and Aquarius of Saturn.

1021. somdiel descordant: the hot and moist Libra is more in accordance with her nature: see 1111 ff.

1036 f. This statement and the others like it below, 1073, 1089, 1127, 1147, 1198, 1222, may be taken to indicate that the division of the signs was very uncertain in our author’s mind. It may be observed that the usual representation of Taurus in star-maps is with his head, not his tail, towards Gemini.

1085. the risinge: that is to say, Virgo is the ‘exaltation’ of Mercury, as well as one of his houses.

1100. For the sense of ‘applied’ cp. v. 913.

1115 f. Libra is the exaltation of Saturn.

1135. That is to say, Scorpio is the ‘fall’ of Venus, being the sign opposite to one of her houses, namely Taurus.

1155 f. Sagittarius is a house of Jupiter, and it is opposite to Gemini, which is one of the houses of Mercury.

1162. The Plowed Oxe, i. e. the ox that has ploughed the land.

1166. Then the swine are killed and the larder, or bacon-tub, comes into use.

1175. Capricorn is the ‘fall’ of the Moon, being opposite to her house, Cancer, as the next sign Aquarius is that of the Sun, see l. 1190.

1216. ‘Piscis’ is the reading of the MSS. here in text and margin, but ‘Pisces’ in l. 1253.

1229 ff. That is, Pisces is a house of Jupiter and the exaltation of Venus.

1239 ff. The reference is apparently to the Introductorium of Albumasar, but the printed editions of this give an abbreviated text which does not help us here. A fuller translation of the original may be found in manuscript, e. g. MS. Digby 194, where something more or less corresponding to this may be found on f. 55, but the Arabic names of places make it difficult to follow.

1281 ff. This account of the fifteen stars with their herbs and stones is taken by Gower from a treatise called ‘Liber Hermetis de xv stellis et de xv lapidibus et de xv herbis, xv figuris,’ &c., which may be found in several manuscripts, e. g. MSS. Ashmole 341 (f. 123) and 1471 (f. 120 v^o): cp. l. 1437, where Hermes is mentioned as the authority. Some information as to the names of the stars here mentioned may be found in Ideler’s Untersuchungen über den Ursprung und die Bedeutung der Sternnamen, 1809.

1292 ff. ‘Et scias quod stelle fixe habent fortunia et infortunia quemadmodum et planete’ (Lib. Herm.).

1317. ‘anabulla seu titimallum.’

1329. Algol, or Caput Algol, the Arabic ‘Ras el-ghûl’ (devil’s head), in Perseus.

1338. Alhaiot, probably for ‘Alhaioc,’ that is Capella, from the Arabic ‘El-‛aijûk.’

1343. ‘prassium seu marrubium.’

1345. Canis maior, ‘Alhabor,’ i. e. Sirius.

1356. Canis minor, ‘Algomeiza,’ i. e. Procyon.

1362. Primerole: in the Liber Hermetis we have here ‘solsecium, quam elitropiam vocant.’

1364. Arial, apparently ‘Cor Leonis,’ i. e. Regulus.

1367. Gorgonza: ‘gregonza’ in MS. Ash. 341.

1375. ‘lappacium maius.’

1378. gret riote: ‘color huius niger est, faciens hominem iratum, animosum et audacem et mala cogitantem et maledicentem ... et faciens fugere demones et congregare.’

1379 ff. ‘Nona stella dicitur Atimet Alaazel, ... et est ex natura Veneris et Mercurii, et dicitur stella pulchritudinis et racionis,’ &c. The name ‘Atimet Alaazel’ is from the Arabic ‘El-simâk el-a‛zal,’ that is the star which we call Spica.

1385. Salge, Lat. ‘saluia.’

1387. ‘Decima vero stella Atimet Alrameth, et dicitur saltator, et est ex natura Martis et Iouis.’ This is the Arabic ‘El-simâk el-râmih,’ which we call Arcturus.

1393. Venenas: ‘Vndecima stella dicitur Benenais et est postrema de ii stellis que sunt in cauda urse maioris.’ In Arabic ‘Banat Na‛sh.’

1401. Alpheta, ‘Elfetah,’ from the Arabic ‘El-fak‛ah’ (the beggar’s dish), meaning the constellation which we call the Northern Crown. Here the name stands for the principal star of that constellation, Gemma.

1419. Botercadent. The Latin says ‘Vultur cadens,’ that is perhaps Vega; but ‘Botercadent’ would probably be a different star, namely that called in Arabic ‘Batn-Kaitos’ or Whale’s belly.

1426. Tail of Scorpio: in the Latin ‘Cauda Capricorni.’

1449 ff. These names of the chief authors of the science of astronomy seem to be partly taken from the treatise called Speculum Astronomiae or De libris licitis et illicitis, cap. ii. (Alberti Magni Opera, v. 657): cp. note on vi. 1311 ff. The passage is as follows, under the heading ‘De libris astronomicis antiquorum’: ‘Ex libris ergo qui post libros geometricos et arithmeticos inueniuntur apud nos scripti super his, primus tempore compositionis est liber quem edidit Nembroth gigas ad Iohathonem discipulum suum, qui sic incipit: Sphaera caeli &c., in quo est parum proficui et falsitates nonnullae, sed nihil est ibi contra fidem quod sciam. Sed quod de hac scientia vtilius inuenitur, est liber Ptolemaei Pheludensis, qui dicitur Graece Megasti, Arabice Almagesti, ... quod tamen in eo diligentiae causa dictum est prolixe, commode restringitur ab Azarchele Hispano, qui dictus est Albategni in libro suo.... Voluitque Alpetragius corrigere principia et suppositiones Ptolemaei,’ &c.

It would seem that, either owing to corruption of his text or to misunderstanding, our author separated the name ‘Megasti’ from its connexion with Ptolemy and the Almagest, and made of it a book called ‘Megaster,’ which he attributes to Nembrot.

1461. Alfraganus was author of a book called in Latin Rudimenta Astronomica.

1576 f. out of herre ... entriketh, that is, ‘involves (this world) in perplexity, so that it is disordered.’

1579. coupe of hevene, see note on l. 534.

1595 ff. The discussion in the Roman Senate on the fate of the accomplices of Catiline is here taken as a model of rhetorical treatment. The idea is a happy one, but it is borrowed from the Trésor, where Latini, after laying down the rules of rhetoric, illustrates them (pp. 505-517) by a report and analysis of the speeches in this debate, as they are given by Sallust. The ‘Cillenus’ mentioned below is D. Junius Silanus, who as consul-designate gave his opinion first. It is tolerably evident in this passage, as it is obvious in iv. 2647 ff., that Gower did not identify Tullius with Cicero, though Latini actually says, ‘Marcus Tullius Cicero, cils meismes qui enseigne l’art de rectorique, estoit adonques consule de Rome.’

1615 ff. Cp. Trésor, p. 509, ‘mais Jules Cesar, qui autre chose pensoit, se torna as covertures et as moz dorez, porce que sa matiere estoit contraire,’ &c.

1623. after the lawe. It may be observed as a matter of fact that the law was on the side of Caesar, and that this was his chief argument against the death penalty.

1706. Fyf pointz. The Secretum Secretorum recommends to rulers the virtues of Liberality, Wisdom, Chastity, Mercy, Truth, and afterwards of Justice, but there is no very systematic arrangement there, nor in general does the treatment of the subject, except partly as regards Liberality, resemble Gower’s. It has been already observed that the treatment of Politics in the Trésor is altogether different from that which we have here.

1783 ff. This story comes originally from 3 Esdras, ch. iii, iv. The names, however, of Arpaghes and Manachaz are not found in the text of that book, and the story of Alcestis, which Zorobabel tells, is of course a later addition, made no doubt by our author.

1809. ‘Having his mind so disposed.’

1856. behelde, an archaic form, used here for the rhyme.

1884 ff. 3 Esdr. iv. 29, ‘Videbam tamen Apemen filiam Bezacis, mirifici concubinam regis, sedentem iuxta regem ad dexteram,’ &c.

1961 f. ‘He that is true shall never rue,’ or some such jingle. Cp. Shaksp. K. John, v. 7,

2000. laste, pret. ‘lasted’: cp. Prol. 672, iv. 2315.

2017 ff. This seems to be suggested by a passage in the Secretum Secretorum. ‘Reges sunt quattuor. Rex largus subditis et largus sibi, Rex auarus subditis et auarus sibi, Rex auarus sibi et largus subditis, Rex largus sibi et auarus subditis.’ This last is pronounced to be the worst, as the first is the best.

2031 ff. This refers to a passage in the Secretum Secretorum (ed. 1520, f. 8), which runs thus in the printed edition: ‘Que fuit causa destructionis regni calculorum: vnde quia superfluitas expensarum superat redditus ciuitatum, et sic deficientibus redditibus et expensis reges extenderunt manus suas ad res et redditus aliorum. Subditi ergo propter iniuriam clamauerunt ad deum excelsum gloriosum, qui immittens ventum calidum afflixit eos vehementer, et insurrexit populus contra eos et nomina eorum penitus de terra deleuerunt.’

This is obviously corrupt, and it is evident that ‘calculorum’ stands for a proper name, which Gower read ‘Caldeorum,’ as it is in MS. Laud 708. Other Bodleian MSS. to which I have referred give ‘Saldeorum’ (Bodley 181), ‘cangulorum’ (Add. C. 12), ‘singulorum ’ (Laud 645), ‘Anglorum’ (Digby 170). ‘Nonne’ is the reading of the MSS. for ‘vnde,’ and it seems that ‘Que fuit’ &c. is also a question.

2039. So in the Secretum Secretorum (shortly before the passage quoted above), ‘Debes igitur dona dare iuxta posse tuum cum mensura, hominibus indigentibus atque dignis.’

2050. of ken, here apparently ‘of quality.’

2061 ff. The basis of this story is to be found in Seneca, De Beneficiis, v. 24, ‘Causam dicebat apud divum Iulium ex veteranis quidam,’ &c., but there is no question there of an advocate; the veteran simply gains his case by recalling his personal services. The story appears in a form more like that of Gower in the Gesta Romanorum, 87 (ed. Oesterley), but the name Julius is not there mentioned, only ‘Quidam imperator.’ It may be observed also in general, that though many stories are common to the Gesta Romanorum and the Confessio Amantis, there is no instance in which Gower can be proved to have used the Gesta Romanorum as his authority. Indeed the tales are there so meagrely and badly told for the most part, that there would be little temptation to turn to it if any other book were available.

Such references as ‘dicitur in gestis Romanorum’ are not to this book but to Roman History.

Hoccleve tells this story much as we have it here, in his Regement of Princes, 3270 ff., e. g.

2115 ff. This anecdote is perhaps taken from the Trésor, where it occurs more appropriately as an example of hypocritical excuses for not giving, ‘Li Maistres dit: Après te garde de malicieus engin de escondire, si comme fist le rois Antigonus, qui dist à un menestrier qui li demandoit un besant, que il demandoit plus que à lui n’aferoit; et quant il li demanda un denier, il dist que rois ne devoit pas si povrement doner. Ci ot malicieus escondit; car il li pooit bien doner un besant, porce que il estoit rois, ou un denier, porce que il estoit menestrel. Mais Alixandres le fist mieulx; car quant il dona une cité à un home, cil li dist que il estoit de trop has afaire à avoir cité; Alixandres li respondit: Je ne pren pas garde quel chose tu dois avoir, mais quel chose je doi doner’ (p. 412). This may serve as a rather favourable example of Latini’s style.

2132. is in manere: cp. l. 4344. It seems to mean that the virtue of giving depends on the measure with which it is done: cp. Praise of Peace, 53.