Book i

. 463.

1764. Here the story practically ends. Beyond this point, the lines taken from Boccaccio are less than twenty.

1771. _Dares_, i. e. Guido, who professes to follow Dares; see note to Book Duch. 1070.

1778. I. e. Chaucer was beginning to think of his Legend of Good Women.

1786. Here begins the Envoy (interrupted by ll. 1800-1827). Compare the last three lines of the Filostrato (ix. 8):--

'Or va'; ch' io prego Apollo che ti presti Tanto di grazia ch' ascoltata sii, E con lieta risposa a me t'invii.'

1787. 'Whereas may God send power to him that wrote thee to take part in composing some "comedy," before he die.'

1789. 'Do not envy any (other) poetry, but be humble.'

1791. Imitated from the concluding lines of the Thebaid, xii. 816:--

'nec tu diuinam Æneida tenta, Sed longe sequere, et _uestigia semper adora_.'

The sense is--'And kiss their footsteps, wherever you see Vergil, &c. pass along.' The reading _space_ is ridiculous; and, in l. 1792, the names _Virgíle_, &c., are accented on the second syllable. _Steppes_ means 'foot-prints,' Lat. _uestigia_; see Leg. Good Women, 2209.

1792. An important line. Chaucer, in this poem, has made use of Statius (see l. 1485), Ovid (in many places), Vergil (occasionally), and Homer (not at first hand). Lucan seems to be mentioned only out of respect; but see note to Bk. ii. 167. He is mentioned again in Boethius, Bk. iv. Pr. 6. 159.

1796. _mismetre_, scan wrongly. This shews that Chaucer was conscious of his somewhat archaic style, and that there was a danger that some of the syllables might be dropped.

1797. _red_, read (by a single person), _songe_, read aloud, recited in an intoned voice.

1802. _thousandes_ is to be taken in the literal sense. On one occasion, according to Guido, Troilus slew a thousand men at once. See the allit. Destruction of Troy, 9878; Lydgate, Siege of Troy, fol. U 3, back, l. 7.

1806. So in Guido; see allit. Destr. of Troy, 10302-11; Lydgate, Siege of Troye, Bk. iv. ch. 31. Cf. l. 1558, and the note.

1807-1827. These three stanzas are from Boccaccio's _Teseide_, xi. 1-3, where, however, they refer to Arcita:--

'Finito Arcita colei nominando La qual nel mondo più che altro amava, L'anima lieve se ne gì volando Vêr la concavità del cielo ottava: Degli elementi i conuessi lasciando, Quivi le stelle erratiche ammirava ... Suoni ascoltando pieni di dolcezza.

Quindi si volse in giù a rimirare Le cose abbandonate, e vide il poco Globo terreno, a cui d'intorno il mare Girava ... Ed ogni cosa da nulla stimare A respetto del ciel; e in fine al loco Là dove aveva il corpo suo lasciato Gli occhi fermò alquanto rivoltato.

E fece risa de' pianti dolenti Della turba lernea; la vanitate Forte dannando delle umane genti, Le qua' da tenebrosa cechitate Mattamente oscurate nelle menti Seguon del Mondo la falsa beltate: Lasciando il cielo, quindi se ne gio Nel loco a cui Mercurio la sortio.'

_holownesse_ translates 'concavità.' For _seventh_, B. has 'ottava,' eighth. The seventh sphere is that of Saturn, from which he might be supposed to observe the motion of Saturn and of all the inferior planets. But surely _eighth_ is more correct; else there is no special sense in 'holownesse.' The eighth sphere is that of the fixed stars; and by taking up a position on the _inner_ or _concave_ surface of this sphere, he would see all the planetary spheres revolving within it. (The 'spheres' were supposed to be concentric shells, like the coats of an onion.) The 'erratic stars,' or wandering stars, are the seven planets. As to the music of their spheres, see notes to Parl. Foules, ll. 59 and 61.

1810. _in convers leting_, leaving behind, on the other side. When, for example, he approached the sphere of Mars, it was _concave_ to him; after passing beyond it, it appeared _convex_. Some modern editions of the Teseide read _connessi_ (connected parts), but the right reading is _conuessi_ (convex surfaces), for which Chaucer substitutes _convers_. See _converse_ in the New E. Dictionary.

1815. Cf. Parl. Foules, 57. Boccaccio had in mind Cicero's _Somnium Scipionis_.

1825. _sholden_, and we ought; _we_ is understood.

1827. _sorted_, allotted; Ital. 'sortio.'

1828-1837. Chiefly from Il Filostrato, viii. 28, 29.

1838-1862. These lines are Chaucer's own, and assume a higher strain.

1840. 'This lyf, my sone, is but a chery-feyre.' Hoccleve, De Regim. Princ. ed. Wright, p. 47.

See four more similar comparisons in Halliwell's Dict., s. v. _Cherry-fair_.

1856. _moral Gower._ This epithet of Gower has stuck to him ever since; he moralises somewhat too much.

1857. _Strode._ Concerning this personage, Leland discovered the following note in an old catalogue of the worthies of Merton College, Oxford: 'Radulphus Strode, nobilis poeta fuit et versificavit librum elegiacum vocatum Phantasma Radulphi.' In the introduction to his edition of 'Pearl,' p. l., Mr. Gollancz says: 'This Ralph Strode is identical with the famous philosopher of that name whose philosophical works hold an important place in the history of medieval logic. He was also famous in his time as a controversialist with Wiclif, and from Wiclif MSS., still unprinted, it is possible to gain some insight into Strode's religious views.' He was, perhaps, related to the philosopher N. Strode, who is mentioned at the end of pt. ii. § 40 of the Treatise on the Astrolabe as being the tutor, at Oxford, of Chaucer's son Lewis.

1863-5. From Dante, Paradiso, xiv. 28-30:--

'Quell' uno e due e tre che sempre vive, E regna sempre in tre e due e uno, Non circonscritto, e tutto circonscrive.'

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO