book viii

. of his Speculum Naturale. There is a note about this in Warton, Hist. E. P. ed. 1871, ii. 324. And see note to l. 1363.

1360. _Dees_, daïs; see the note to Prol. 370, in vol. v. Lines 1360-7 may be compared with various passages in Boccaccio's Amorosa Visione, which describe a lady in a rich vesture, seated on a royal throne:--

'Tutti li _soprastava_ veramente Di _ricche pietre_ coronata e d'oro' ... 'Il suo vestire a guisa _imperiale_ Era, e teneva nella man sinestra Un pomo d'oro; e'n _trono_ alla reale Vidi sedeva' ... 'Odi: che mai _natura_ con sua arte _Forma_ non diede a si bella figura' ... 'Donna pareva li leggiadra e pura'....

See Am. Vis. vi. 49, 58, 43, 48. See note to l. 1311 above.

1361. The reading _Sit_ would mean 'sitteth' or 'sits'; the reading _Sat_ would mean 'sat.' Both are wrong; the construction is _sitte I saugh_ = _I saugh sitte_, I saw sit; so that _sitte_ is the infin. mood.

1363. _Carbuncle._ Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Nat bk. viii. c. 51, has: '_Carbunculus_, qui et Græcè _anthrax_ dicitur, vulgariter _rubith_.' An account of the _Carbunculus_ is given in King's Natural History of Precious Stones and Gems. He remarks that the ruby 'must also be included among the numerous species of the _carbunculus_ described by Pliny, although he gives the first rank to the _Carbunculi amethystizontes_, our Almandines or Garnets of Siam.' See also his Antique Gems, where he translates sect. 23 of the Lapidarium of Marbodus thus:--

'The _Carbuncle_ eclipses by its blaze All shining gems, and casts its fiery rays Like to the burning coal; whence comes its name, Among the Greeks as _Anthrax_ known to fame. Not e'en by darkness quenched, its vigour tires; Still at the gazer's eye it darts its fires; A numerous race; within the Lybian ground Twelve kinds by mining Troglydytes are found.'

1368-76. Cf. Boethius, in Chaucer's translation; bk. i. pr. 1, ll. 8-13 (vol. ii. p. 2).

1376. _Sterres sevene_, the seven planets.

1380. _Tolde_, counted; observe this sense.

1383. _Bestes foure_, four beasts; Rev. iv. 6. Cf. Dante, Purg. xxix. 92.

1386. Thynne remarks that _oundy_, i.e. wavy, is a term in heraldry; cf. E. _ab-ound_, _red-ound_, _surr-ound_ (for _sur-ound_); all from Lat. _unda_. Cf. Chaucer's use of _ounded_ in Troilus, iv. 736, and Le Roman de la Rose, 21399, 21400:--

'Et voit ses biaus crins blondoians Comme undes ensemble ondoians.'

1390. 'And tongues, as (there are) hairs on animals.' 'Her feet are furnished with partridge-wings to denote swiftness, as the partridge is remarkable for running with great swiftness with outstretched wings. This description is taken almost literally from the description of Fame in the Æneid [iv. 176-183], except the allusion to the Apocalypse and the partridge-wings'; note in Bell's Chaucer. But it is to be feared that Chaucer simply blundered, and mistook Vergil's _pernicibus_ as having the sense of _perdicibus_; cf. '_pedibus_ celerem et _pernicibus alis_'; Aen. iv. 180.

1400. _Caliopee_, Calliope the muse; her eight sisters are the other Muses. With ll. 1395-1405 cf. Dante, Par. xxiii. 97-111.

1411. Read--Bóth-e th'ármes. _Armes_, i.e. coats of arms. _Name_, name engraved on a plate or written on a scroll.

1413. _Alexander_; see Monkes Tale, in C. T., B 3821. _Hercules_; see the same; the story of the shirt is given in B 3309-3324. In Le Roman de la Rose, l. 9238, it is called 'la venimeuse chemise.' Cf. Dante, Inf. xii. 68.

1431. _Lede_, lead, the metal of Saturn; _yren_, iron, the metal of Mars. See note to Can. Yeom. Tale, G 820, and ll. 827, 828 of the same; also ll. 1446, 1448 below.

1433. Read--Th'Ebráyk Jósephús. In a note on Gower's Conf. Amantis, Warton remarks--'Josephus, on account of his subject, had long been placed almost on a level with the Bible. He is seated on the first pillar in Chaucer's House of Fame. His Jewish History, translated into Latin by Rufinus in the fourth century, had given rise to many old poems and romances; and his Maccabaics, or History of the seven Maccabees, martyred with their father Eleazar under the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, a separate work translated also by Rufinus, produced the Judas Maccabee of Belleperche in the year 1240, and at length enrolled the Maccabees among the most illustrious heroes of romance.'--ed. Hazlitt, iii. 26.

1436. _Iewerye_, kingdom of the Jews; cf. Prior. Tale, B 1679.

1437. Who the other seven are, we can but guess; the reference seems to be to Jewish historians. Perhaps we may include Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Isaiah, Daniel, Nehemiah; and, in any case, Ezra. The number _seven_ was probably taken at random. With l. 1447 cf. Troil. ii. 630.

1450. _Wheel_, orbit. The orbit of Saturn is the largest of the (old) seven planets; see Kn. Tale, 1596 (A 2454). The reason why Josephus is placed upon Saturn's metal, is because history records so many unhappy casualties, such as Saturn's influence was supposed to cause. All this is fully explained in the Kn. Tale, 1597-1611 (A 2455-69).

1457. _Yren_, the metal of Mars; see note to l. 1431.

1459. This allusion to 'tiger's blood' is curious; but is fully accounted for by the account of the two tigers in bk. vii. of the Thebaid. A peace had nearly been made up between the Thebans and the other Greeks, when two tigers, sacred to Bacchus, broke loose, and killed three men. They were soon wounded by Aconteus, whereupon 'They fly, and flying, draw upon the plain A bloody line'; according to Lewis's translation. They fall and die, but are avenged; and so the whole war was renewed. Lydgate reduces the two tigers to one; see his chapter 'Of a tame Tigre dwelling in Thebes'; in

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