Book III

; where the invocation is put into the mouth of Troilus.

The key to it is that it is an address to _Venus_, both the planet and the goddess.

2. The planet Venus was considered to be in 'the _third_ heaven.' The 'heavens' or spheres were named, respectively, after the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the 'fixed stars;' beyond which was the Primum Mobile, the earth being in the centre of all, and immoveable. Sometimes the spheres of the seven planets were reckoned backwards from Saturn, Venus being then in the _fifth_ heaven; see Lenvoy a Scogan, 9, and the note.

3. 'O favourite of the Sun, O dear daughter of Jove!' Venus was considered a fortunate planet. Perhaps it is best to quote the Italian text here:--

'O luce eterna, il cui lieto splendore 585 Fa bello il terzo ciel, dal qual ne piove Piacer, vaghezza, pietade ed amore; Del sole amica, e figliuola di Giove, Benigna donna d'ogni gentil core, Certa cagion del valor che mi muove 590 A' sospir dolci della mia salute, Sempre lodata sia la tua virtute.

Il ciel, la terra, lo mare e l'inferno Ciascuno in sè la tua potenzia sente, O chiara luce; e s'io il ver discerno, 595 Le piante, i semi, e l'erbe puramente, Gli uccei, le fiere, i pesci con eterno Vapor ti senton nel tempo piacente, E gli uomini e gli dei, nè creatura Senza di te nel mondo vale o dura. 600

Tu Giove prima agli alti affetti lieto, Pe' qua' vivono e son tutte le cose, Movesti, o bella dea; e mansueto Sovente il rendi all' opere noiose Di noi mortali; e il meritato fleto 605 In liete feste volgi e dilettose; E in mille forme già quaggiù il mandasti, Quand' ora d'una ed or d'altra il pregasti.

11. _vapour_, influence; Ital. _Vapor_ (l. 598).

15. The readings in this stanza are settled by the Ital. text. Thus, in ll. 17, 19, 20, read _him_, not _hem_. _Comeveden_, didst move or instigate; agreeing with _ye_, for which Mod. E. uses _thou_. 'Thou didst first instigate Jove to those glad effects (influences), through which all things live and exist; and didst make him amorous of mortal things; and, at thy pleasure, didst ever give him, in love, success or trouble; and, in a thousand forms, didst send him down to (gain) love on earth; and he caught those whom it pleased you (he should catch).'

In l. 17 we find _Comeveden_ sometimes turned into _Comenden_, or even _Commodious_! The Italian text has _Movesti_ (l. 603).

22. Venus was supposed to appease the angry planet Mars; see Compl. of Mars, 36-42.

27. 'According as a man wishes.'

29. 'Tu in unità le case e li cittadi, Li regni, ... Tien.'

31-34.

'Tu sola le nascosi qualitadi Delle cose conosci, onde 'l costrutto Vi metti tal, che fai maravigliare Chi tua potenza non sa riguardare.'

I. e. 'Thou only knowest the hidden qualities of things, whence thou formest such a construction, that thou makest to marvel any one who knows not how to estimate thy power.' Chaucer seems to have used _construe_ because suggested by _costrutto_, but he really uses it as answering to _sa_ (in the fourth line), and omits the words _'l costrutto vi metti tal_ altogether. Hence ll. 33-35 mean: 'when they cannot explain how it may come to pass that _she_ loves _him_, or why _he_ loves _her_; (so as to shew) why _this_ fish, and not _that_ one, comes to the weir.'

_Io_ (= _jo_), come to pass. This word is not in the dictionaries, and has been coolly altered into _go_ (!) in various editions. But it answers to O. F. _joer_ (F. _jouer_), to play, hence, to play a game, to make a move (as in a game); here, to come about, come to pass.

35. _were_, weir, pool where fish are caught; see Parl. Foules, 138, and note.

36. 'You have imposed a law on folks in this universe;' Ital. 'Tu legge, o dea, poni all' universo.'

44, 45. _Inhelde_, pour in. _Caliope_, Calliope, muse of epic poetry; similarly invoked by Dante, Purg. i. 9.

87. 'Though he was not pert, nor made difficulties; nor was he too bold, (as if about) to sing a mass for a fool.' The last expression was probably proverbial; it seems to mean to speak without hesitation or a feeling of respect.

115. _to watre wolde_, would turn to water; cf. Squi. Ta. F 496.

120. '_I? what?_' i. e. 'I? what (am I to do)?' In l. 122, Pandarus repeats her words, mockingly: 'You say I? what? why, of course you should pity him.'

136-138. 'And I (am) to have comfort, as it pleases you, (being at the same time) under your correction, (so as to have what is) equal to my offence, as (for instance) death.' See Cant. Ta. B 1287.

150. 'By the feast of Jupiter, who presides over nativities.' The reason for the use of _natal_ is not obvious. Cf. 'Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum;' Horat. Ep. ii. 2. 187.

188. 'I seem to hear the town-bells ringing for this miracle, though no hand pulls the ropes.'

193, 194. _and oon, And two_, 'both the one of you and the other.'

198. _bere the belle_, take the former place, take precedence; like the bell-wether that heads the flock. See the New E. Dict.

228. 'Straight as a line,' i. e. directly, at once.

294. See Manc. Ta. H 333, and note.

299. 'Thou understandest and knowest enough proverbs against the vice of gossiping, even if men spoke truth as often as they lie.'

308. 'No boaster is to be believed, in the natural course of things.'

328, 329. _drat_, dreadeth. Cf. 'Felix, quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum.' But Chaucer took it from Le Rom. de la Rose, 8041-2: 'Moult a benéurée vie Cil qui par autrui se chastie.'

340. 'And a day is appointed for making up the charters' (which will

## particularise what she has granted you); metaphorical.

349. _richesse_, abundance; not a happy word, but suggested by the Ital. text: 'I sospir ch'egli aveva a gran dovizia;' Fil. iii. 11. _Dovizia_ (Lat. _diuitiae_) is precisely 'richesse.' Bell has _rehetyng_, i. e. comforting (from O. F. _rehaiter_, _reheiter_), which gives no sense; and explains it by '_reheating_!'

354. _lusty_, lusty person; cf. Cant. Ta. A 165, 208.

377. 'Or durst (do so), or should know (how).'

380. _stokked_, fastened in the stocks; cf. Acts xvi. 24.

404. _Departe it so_, make this distinction.

410. _frape_, company, troop. Marked by Tyrwhitt as not understood. Other examples occur. 'With hem a god gret _frape_;' Adam Davy, &c., ed. Furnivall, p. 60, col. 1, text 3, l. 390; and see Allit. Morte Arthure, ed. Brock, 2163, 2804, 3548. Godefroy gives O. F. _frap_, a multitude, and _frapaille_, rabble.

445. 'And wished to be seised of that which he lacked.'

497. 'Or to enumerate all the looks and words of one that is in such uncertainty.'

502. _as seith_; but it does not appear that Boccaccio says anything of the kind. The same remark applies to l. 575.

510. _Fulfelle_ is a Kentish form, the _e_ answering to A. S. _y_. Similar forms occur in Gower. See note to Book Duch. 438.

526. Scan: Dréd | elées | it cleer,' &c. The sense is: 'it was clear, in the direction of the wind, from every magpie and every spoil-sport.' I. e. no one could detect them; they kept (like hunters) well to leeward, and there were no magpies or telltale birds to windward, to give an alarm.

529. Scan: In this matér-e, both-e frem'd. _fremed_, strange, wild.

542. _holy_, i. e. sacred to Apollo. From Ovid, Met. i. 566: 'laurea .. uisa est agitasse cacumen.'

545. 'And therefore let no one hinder him.'

572. The readings all shew various corruptions of _thurfte_, which none of the scribes understood; see _thurfen_, _tharf_, in Stratmann. This is not the only place where _thurfte_ has been ousted from the text. Cf. _thar_ (for _tharf_) in the Reves Ta. A 4320, &c. _Yow thurfte have_, you would need (to) have. _Yow_ is the dat. case, governed by the impers. verb. The reading _yow durste_ turns _yow_ (an accusative) into an imaginary nominative; but the nom. form is _ye_, which the scribes did not venture to substitute.

584. _goosish_, goose-like, silly. This delicious epithet was turned into _gofysshe_ by Thynne, and modern editions perpetuate the blunder. Tyrwhitt derived _gofish_ from F. _goffe_, a word which is much later than Chaucer, and was probably merely adapted from Ital. _goffo_, stupid. The Century Dict. goes a step further, inserting a second _f_, and producing a form _goffish_, against all authority. Cf. Parl. Foules, 568, 586.

601. _stewe_, small chamber, closet; cf. G. _Stube_.

602. 'Where he was shut in, as in a coop.'

609. 'There was no dainty to be fetched'; they were all there.

614. _Wade_; this is the hero mentioned in the Merch. Tale, E 1424; see note.

617-620. Cf. Boethius, Bk. iv. Pr. 6. 60-68.

622. 'Without her leave, at the will of the gods.'

624. _bente_, i. e. curved, crescent; see l. 549. Cf. Boeth. Bk. I. Met. 5. 6, 7.

625. The Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter were all in conjunction in Cancer, which was the mansion of the moon. We are to understand that this caused the great rain.

640. _ron_, rained; so also in l. 677. The usual pt. t. is _reinede_, but we also find _roon_, _ron_, as in P. Plowm. B. xiv. 66 (C. xvi. 270), and in Trevisa, tr. of Higden, ii. 239. The pt. t. of A. S. _rignan_, _r[=i]nan_, is usually _r[=i]nde_; but the strong pt. _r[=a]n_ occurs in the Blickling Glosses.

648. _a game_, in game; _a_ = _an_, _on_; Cm. has _on_.

671. _The wyn anon_, the wine (shall come) at once; alluding to the wine drunk just before going to bed. See Prol. A 819, 820.

674. 'The _voidè_ being drunk, and the cross-curtain drawn immediately afterwards.' The best reading is _voyde_ or _voydee_. This seems to be here used as a name for the 'loving-cup' or 'grace-cup,' which was drunk after the table had been cleared or _voided_. Properly, it was a slight dessert of 'spices' and wine; where _spices_ meant sweetmeats, dried fruits, &c. See Notes and Queries, 2 S. xi. 508. The _traverse_ was a screen or curtain drawn across the room; cf. Cant. Ta. E 1817; King's Quair, st. 90. See Additional Note, p. 506.

690. This refers to the attendants. They were no longer allowed to skip about (run on errands) or to tramp about noisily, but were packed off to bed, with a malediction on those who stirred about. _Traunceth_, tramps about, is used of a bull by Gower, C. A. ii. 72. In Beaumont and Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, v. 2, we find--'but, _traunce_ the world over, you shall never,' &c. For _traunce_, Thynne reads _praunce_, which has a similar sense. Morris explains _traunce_ here as a sb., which seems impossible.

695. _The olde daunce_, the old game; see Prol. A 476.

696. _sey_, saw; perhaps read _seye_, subj., might perceive. If so, read _al_, i. e. every.

702. 'Beginning and end;' see note to bk. II. 1495.

711. I. e. or else upset everything; cf. the phrase, 'all the fat is in the fire.'

716. Mars and Saturn both had an evil influence.

717. _combust_, quenched, viz. by being too near the sun; see Astrolabe, pt. ii. § 4. Venus and Mercury, when thus 'combust,' lost their influence. _let_, hindered.

721. _Adoon_, Adonis; see Ovid, Met. x. 715.

722. _Europe_, Europa; see Leg. of Good Women, 113, and note.

725. _Cipris_, Venus; see Ho. Fame, 518.

726. _Dane_, Daphne; see Kn. Ta. A 2062.

729. _Mercúrie_, Mercury; _Herse_, daughter of Cecrops, beloved by Mercury. Her sister, Aglauros, had displeased Minerva (_Pallas_); whereupon Minerva made Aglauros envious of Herse. Mercury turned Aglauros into stone because she hindered his suit. See Ovid, Met. ii. 708-832.

733. 'Fatal sisters;' i.e. the Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. 'Which spun my destiny, before any cloth (infant's covering) was made for me.' See Kn. Ta. A 1566; Leg. G. Wom. 2629.

764. Let sleeping dogs lie; a proverb.

773. 'To hold in hand' is to feed with false hopes, to delude by pretended love.

775. Lit. 'and make him a hood above a cap.' A _calle_ (caul) was a close-fitting cap, a skull-cap. To put on a hood over this evidently means to cover up the eyes, to cajole, to hoodwink.

791, 797. _shal_, owe to. _sholde love_, i.e. are reported to love.

813-836. Founded on Boethius, lib. II. Pr. 4. 'Quàm multis amaritudinibus humanae felicitatis dulcedo respersa est!... Anxia enim res est humanorum conditio bonorum, et quae uel numquam tota proueniat, uel numquam perpetua subsistat.... Ad haec, quem caduca ista felicitas uehit, uel scit eam, uel nescit esse mutabilem. Si nescit, quaenam beata sors esse potest ignorantiae caecitate? Si scit, metuat necesse est, ne amittat, quod amitti potest non dubitat; quare continuus timor non sinit esse felicem.... quonam modo praesens uita facere beatos potest?' See the E. version, ll. 86, 56, 109.

839. 'Why hast thou made Troilus distrust me?'

853, 854. 'Danger is drawn nearer by delay.' We say, 'Delays are dangerous.' Cf. Havelok, l. 1352. _abodes_, abidings, tarryings.

855. _Néc'_, with elided _e_, forms the first foot. 'Every thing has its time;' cf. Eccl. iii. 1.

861. _farewel feldefare_, (and people will say) farewell, fieldfare! Cf. Rom. Rose, 5510. In the Rom. Rose, it refers to false friends, who, when fortune frowns, say 'Go! farewell fieldfare,' i.e. Begone, we have done with you. As fieldfares come here in the winter months, people are glad to see them go, as a sign of approaching summer. In the present case, the sense appears to be that, when an opportunity is missed, the harm is done; and people will cry, 'farewell, fieldfare!' by way of derision. We might paraphrase the line by saying: 'the harm is done, and nobody cares.'

885. _blewe_, blue; the colour of _constancy_.

890. 'Hazle-bushes shake.' This is a truism known to every one, and no news at all; in like manner, your ring will tell him nothing, and is useless.

901. _feffe him_, enfeoff him, bestow on him. _whyte_, fair.

919. _at pryme face_, at the first glance; _primâ facie_.

931. _At dulcarnon_, at a non-plus, in extreme perplexity. _Dulcarnon_, as pointed out by Selden, in his Pref. to Drayton's Polyolbion, represents the Pers. and Arab. _d[=u]'lkarnayn_, lit. two-horned; from Pers. _d[=u]_, two, and _karn_, horn. It was a common medieval epithet of Alexander the Great, who was so called because he claimed descent from Jupiter Ammon, whose image was provided with horns like a ram. Speght rightly says that _Dulcarnon_ was also a name for the 47th prop. of Euclid,