“The Court Of Love” was probably Chaucer’s first poem of anyconsequence. It is believed to have been written at the age, andunder the circumstances, of which it contains express mention;that is, when the poet was eighteen years old, and resided as astudent at Cambridge, — about the year 1346. The compositionis marked by an elegance, care, and finish very different fromthe bold freedom which in so great measure distinguishes theCanterbury Tales; and the fact is easily explained when weremember that, in the earlier poem, Chaucer followed a beatenpath, in which he had many predecessors and competitors, allseeking to sound the praises of love with the grace, theingenuity, and studious devotion, appropriate to the theme. Thestory of the poem is exceedingly simple. Under the name ofPhilogenet, a clerk or scholar of Cambridge, the poet relatesthat, summoned by Mercury to the Court of Love, he journeysto the splendid castle where the King and Queen of Love,Admetus and Alcestis, keep their state. Discovering among thecourtiers a friend named Philobone, a chamberwoman to theQueen, Philogenet is led by her into a circular temple, where, ina tabernacle, sits Venus, with Cupid by her side. While he issurveying the motley crowd of suitors to the goddess,Philogenet is summoned back into the King’s presence, chiddenfor his tardiness in coming to Court, and commanded to swearobservance to the twenty Statutes of Love — which are recitedat length. Philogenet then makes his prayers and vows toVenus, desiring that he may have for his love a lady whom hehas seen in a dream; and Philobone introduces him to the ladyherself, named Rosial, to whom he does suit and service of love.At first the lady is obdurate to his entreaties; but, Philogenethaving proved the sincerity of his passion by a fainting fit,Rosial relents, promises her favour, and orders Philobone toconduct him round the Court. The courtiers are then minutelydescribed; but the description is broken off abruptly, and we areintroduced to Rosial in the midst of a confession of her love.Finally she commands Philogenet to abide with her until theFirst of May, when the King of Love will hold high festival; heobeys; and the poem closes with the May Day festival service,celebrated by a choir of birds, who sing an ingenious, but whatmust have seemed in those days a more than slightly profane,paraphrase or parody of the matins for Trinity Sunday, to thepraise of Cupid. From this outline, it will be seen at once thatChaucer’s “Court of Love” is in important particulars differentfrom the institutions which, in the two centuries preceding hisown, had so much occupied the attention of poets and gallants,and so powerfully controlled the social life of the noble andrefined classes. It is a regal, not a legal, Court which the poetpictures to us; we are not introduced to a regularly constitutedand authoritative tribunal in which nice questions of conduct inthe relations of lovers are discussed and decided — but to thecentral and sovereign seat of Love’s authority, where thestatutes are moulded, and the decrees are issued, upon whichthe inferior and special tribunals we have mentioned frame theirproceedings. The “Courts of Love,” in Chaucer’s time, had lostnone of the prestige and influence which had been conferredupon them by the patronage and participation of Kings, Queens,Emperors, and Popes. But the institution, in its legal or judicialcharacter, was peculiar to France; and although the whole spiritof Chaucer’s poem, especially as regards the esteem andreverence in which women were held, is that which animatedthe French Courts, his treatment of the subject is broader andmore general, consequently more fitted to enlist the interest ofEnglish readers.(Transcriber’s note: Modern scholars believe that Chaucer wasnot the author of this poem)
The poem consists of 206 stanzas of seven lines each; of which,in this edition, eighty-three are represented by a proseabridgement.
With timorous heart, and trembling hand of dread,Of cunning* naked, bare of eloquence, *skillUnto the *flow’r of port in womanhead* *one who is the perfectionI write, as he that none intelligence of womanly behaviour*Of metres hath, <1> nor flowers of sentence,Save that me list my writing to convey,In that I can, to please her high nobley.* *nobleness
The blossoms fresh of Tullius’* garden swoot** *Cicero **sweetPresent they not, my matter for to born:* <2> *burnish, polishPoems of Virgil take here no root,Nor craft of Galfrid <3> may not here sojourn;Why *n’am I* cunning? O well may I mourn, *am I not*For lack of science, that I cannot writeUnto the princess of my life aright!
No terms are dign* unto her excellence, *worthySo is she sprung of noble stirp* and high; *stock <4>A world of honour and of reverenceThere is in her, this will I testify.Calliope, <5> thou sister wise and sly,* *skilfulAnd thou, Minerva, guide me with thy grace,That language rude my matter not deface!
Thy sugar droppes sweet of HeliconDistil in me, thou gentle Muse, I pray;And thee, Melpomene, <6> I call anonOf ignorance the mist to chase away;And give me grace so for to write and say,That she, my lady, of her worthiness,Accept *in gree* this little short treatess,* *with favour* *treatise
That is entitled thus, The Court of Love.And ye that be metricians,* me excuse, *skilled versifiersI you beseech, for Venus’ sake above;For what I mean in this ye need not muse:And if so be my lady it refuseFor lack of ornate speech, I would be woeThat I presume to her to write so.
But my intent, and all my busy cure,* *careIs for to write this treatise, as I can,Unto my lady, stable, true, and sure,Faithful and kind, since first that she beganMe to accept in service as her man;To her be all the pleasure of this book,That, when *her like,* she may it read and look. *it pleases her*
When [he] was young, at eighteen year of age,Lusty and light, desirous of pleasance,Approaching* full sad and ripe corage,<7> *gradually attaining
Then — says the poet — did Love urge him to dohim obeisance, and to go “the Court of Love tosee, a lite [little] beside the Mount of Citharee.”<8> Mercury bade him, on pain of death, toappear; and he went by strange and far countriesin search of the Court. Seeing at last a crowd ofpeople, “as bees,” making their way thither, thepoet asked whither they went; and “one thatanswer’d like a maid” said that they were bound tothe Court of Love, at Citheron, where “the Kingof Love, and all his noble rout [company],
“Dwelleth within a castle royally.”So them apace I journey’d forth among,And as he said, so found I there truly;For I beheld the town — so high and strong,And high pinnacles, large of height and long,With plate of gold bespread on ev’ry side,And precious stones, the stone work for to hide.
No sapphire of Ind, no ruby rich of price,There lacked then, nor emerald so green,Balais, Turkeis, <9> nor thing, *to my devise,* *in my judgement*That may the castle make for to sheen;* *be beautifulAll was as bright as stars in winter be’n;And Phoebus shone, to make his peace again,For trespass* done to high estates twain, — *offence
When he had found Venus in the arms of Mars, and hastened totell Vulcan of his wife’s infidelity <10>. Now he was shiningbrightly on the castle, “in sign he looked after Love’s grace;” forthere is no god in Heaven or in Hell “but he hath been rightsubject unto Love.” Continuing his description of the castle,Philogenet says that he saw never any so large and high; withinand without, it was painted “with many a thousand daisies, redas rose,” and white also, in signification of whom, he knew not;unless it was the flower of Alcestis <11>, who, under Venus,was queen of the place, as Admetus was king;
To whom obey’d the ladies good nineteen <12>,With many a thousand other, bright of face.And young men fele* came forth with lusty pace, *many <13>And aged eke, their homage to dispose;But what they were, I could not well disclose.
Yet nere* and nere* forth in I gan me dress, *nearerInto a hall of noble apparail,* *furnishingsWith arras <14> spread, and cloth of gold, I guess,And other silk *of easier avail;* *less difficult, costly, to attain*Under the *cloth of their estate,* sans fail, *state canopy*The King and Queen there sat, as I beheld;It passed joy of *Elysee the feld.* *The Elysian Fields*
There saintes* have their coming and resort, *martyrs for loveTo see the King so royally beseen,* *adornedIn purple clad, and eke the Queen *in sort;* *suitably*And on their heades saw I crownes twain,With stones frett,* so that it was no pain, *adornedWithoute meat or drink, to stand and seeThe Kinge’s honour and the royalty.
To treat of state affairs, Danger <15> stood by theKing, and Disdain by the Queen; who cast her eyeshaughtily about, sending forth beams that seemed“shapen like a dart, sharp and piercing, and small andstraight of line;” while her hair shone as gold so fine,“dishevel, crisp, down hanging at her back a yard inlength.” <16> Amazed and dazzled by her beauty,Philogenet stood perplexed, till he spied a Maid,Philobone — a chamberwoman of the Queen’s — whoasked how and on what errand he came thither.Learning that he had been summoned by Mercury, shetold him that he ought to have come of his free will,and that he “will be shent [rebuked, disgraced]”because he did not.
“For ye that reign in youth and lustiness,Pamper’d with ease, and jealous in your age,Your duty is, as far as I can guess,To Love’s Court to dresse* your voyage, *direct, addressAs soon as Nature maketh you so sageThat ye may know a woman from a swan, <17>Or when your foot is growen half a span.
“But since that ye, by wilful negligence,This eighteen year have kept yourself at large,The greater is your trespass and offence,And in your neck you must bear all the charge:For better were ye be withoute barge* *boatAmid the sea in tempest and in rain,Than bide here, receiving woe and pain
“That ordained is for such as them absentFrom Love’s Court by yeares long and fele.* manyI lay* my life ye shall full soon repent; *wagerFor Love will rive your colour, lust, and heal:* *healthEke ye must bait* on many a heavy meal: *feed*No force,* y-wis; I stirr’d you long agone *no matter*To draw to Court,” quoth little Philobone.
“Ye shall well see how rough and angry faceThe King of Love will show, when ye him see;By mine advice kneel down and ask him grace,Eschewing* peril and adversity; *avoidingFor well I wot it will none other be;Comfort is none, nor counsel to your ease;Why will ye then the King of Love displease?”
Thereupon Philogenet professed humble repentance,and willingness to bear all hardship and chastisementfor his past offence.
These wordes said, she caught me by the lap,* *edge of the garmentAnd led me forth into a temple round,Both large and wide; and, as my blessed hapAnd good. adventure was, right soon I foundA tabernacle <18> raised from the ground,Where Venus sat, and Cupid by her side;Yet half for dread I gan my visage hide.
And eft* again I looked and beheld, *afterwardsSeeing *full sundry people* in the place, *people of many sorts*And *mister folk,* and some that might not weld *craftsmen <19>*Their limbes well, — me thought a wonder case. *useThe temple shone with windows all of glass,Bright as the day, with many a fair image;And there I saw the fresh queen of Carthage,
Dido, that brent* her beauty for the love *burntOf false Aeneas; and the waimenting* *lamentingOf her, Annelide, true as turtle doveTo Arcite false; <20> and there was in paintingOf many a Prince, and many a doughty King,Whose martyrdom was show’d about the walls;And how that fele* for love had suffer’d falls.** *many **calamities
Philogenet was astonished at the crowd of people thathe saw, doing sacrifice to the god and goddess.Philobone informed him that they came from othercourts; those who knelt in blue wore the colour insign of their changeless truth <21>; those in black,who uttered cries of grief, were the sick and dying oflove. The priests, nuns, hermits, and friars, and all thatsat in white, in russet and in green, “wailed of theirwoe;” and for all people, of every degree, the Courtwas open and free. While he walked about withPhilobone, a messenger from the King entered, andsummoned all the new-come folk to the royalpresence. Trembling and pale, Philogenet approachedthe throne of Admetus, and was sternly asked why hecame so late to Court. He pleaded that a hundredtimes he had been at the gate, but had been preventedfrom entering by failure to see any of hisacquaintances, and by shamefacedness. The Kingpardoned him, on condition that thenceforth he shouldserve Love; and the poet took oath to do so, “thoughDeath therefor me thirle [pierce] with his spear.”When the King had seen all the new-comers, hecommanded an officer to take their oaths ofallegiance, and show them the Statutes of the Court,which must be observed till death.
And, for that I was letter’d, there I readThe statutes whole of Love’s Court and hail:The first statute that on the book was spread,Was, To be true in thought and deedes allUnto the King of Love, the lord royal;And, to the Queen, as faithful and as kindAs I could think with hearte, will, and mind.
The second statute, Secretly to keepCounsel* of love, not blowing** ev’rywhere *secrets **talkingAll that I know, and let it sink and fleet;* *floatIt may not sound in ev’ry wighte’s ear:Exiling slander ay for dread and fear,And to my lady, which I love and serve,Be true and kind, her grace for to deserve.
The third statute was clearly writ also,Withoute change to live and die the same,None other love to take, for weal nor woe,For blind delight, for earnest nor for game:Without repent, for laughing or for grame,* *vexation, sorrowTo bide still in full perseverance:All this was whole the Kinge’s ordinance.
The fourth statute, To *purchase ever to her,* *promote her cause*And stirre folk to love, and bete* fire *kindleOn Venus’ altar, here about and there,And preach to them of love and hot desire,And tell how love will quite* well their hire: *rewardThis must be kept; and loth me to displease:If love be wroth, pass; for thereby is ease.
The fifth statute, Not to be dangerous,* *fastidious, angryIf that a thought would reave* me of my sleep: *depriveNor of a sight to be over squaimous;* *desirousAnd so verily this statute was to keep,To turn and wallow in my bed and weep,When that my lady, of her cruelty,Would from her heart exilen all pity.
The sixth statute, It was for me to useAlone to wander, void of company,And on my lady’s beauty for to muse,And thinken it *no force* to live or die; *matter of indifference*And eft again to think* the remedy, *think uponHow to her grace I might anon attain,And tell my woe unto my sovereign.
The sev’nth statute was, To be patient,Whether my lady joyful were or wroth;For wordes glad or heavy, diligent,Whether that she me helde *lefe or loth:* *in love or loathing*And hereupon I put was to mine oath,Her for to serve, and lowly to obey,And show my cheer,* yea, twenty times a day. *countenance
The eighth statute, to my rememberance,Was, For to speak and pray my lady dear,With hourly labour and great entendance,* *attentionMe for to love with all her heart entere,* *entireAnd me desire and make me joyful cheer,Right as she is, surmounting every fair;Of beauty well,* and gentle debonair. *the fountain
The ninth statute, with letters writ of gold,This was the sentence, How that I and allShould ever dread to be too overboldHer to displease; and truly so I shall;But be content for all thing that may fall,And meekly take her chastisement and yerd,* *rod, ruleAnd to offend her ever be afear’d.
The tenth statute was, Equally* to discern *justlyBetween the lady and thine ability,And think thyself art never like to earn,By right, her mercy nor her equity,But of her grace and womanly pity:For, though thyself be noble in thy strene,* *strain, descentA thousand fold more noble is thy Queen.
Thy life’s lady and thy sovereign,That hath thine heart all whole in governance,Thou may’st no wise it take to disdain,To put thee humbly at her ordinance,And give her free the rein of her pleasance;For liberty is thing that women look,* *look for, desireAnd truly else *the matter is a crook.* *things go wrong*
Th’ eleventh statute, Thy signes for to knowWith eye and finger, and with smiles soft,And low to couch, and alway for to show,For dread of spies, for to winken oft:And secretly to bring a sigh aloft,But still beware of over much resort;For that peradventure spoileth all thy sport.
The twelfth statute remember to observe:For all the pain thou hast for love and woe,All is too lite* her mercy to deserve, *littleThou muste think, where’er thou ride or go;And mortal woundes suffer thou also,All for her sake, and think it well beset* *spentUpon thy love, for it may not be bet.* *better (spent)
The thirteenth statute, Whilom is to thinkWhat thing may best thy lady like and please,And in thine hearte’s bottom let it sink:Some thing devise, and take for it thine ease,And send it her, that may her heart appease:Some heart, or ring, or letter, or device,Or precious stone; but spare not for no price.
The fourteenth statute eke thou shalt assayFirmly to keep, the most part of thy life:Wish that thy lady in thine armes lay,And nightly dream, thou hast thy nighte’s wifeSweetly in armes, straining her as blife:* *eagerly <22>And, when thou seest it is but fantasy,See that thou sing not over merrily;
For too much joy hath oft a woeful end.It *longeth eke this statute for to hold,* *it belongs to the properTo deem thy lady evermore thy friend, observance of this statute*And think thyself in no wise a cuckold.In ev’ry thing she doth but as she sho’ld:Construe the best, believe no tales new,For many a lie is told, that seems full true.
But think that she, so bounteous and fair,Could not be false: imagine this algate;* *at all eventsAnd think that wicked tongues would her apair,* *defameSland’ring her name and *worshipful estate,* *honourable fame*And lovers true to setten at debate:And though thou seest a fault right at thine eye,Excuse it blife, and glose* it prettily. *gloss it over
The fifteenth statute, Use to swear and stare,And counterfeit a leasing* hardily,** *falsehood **boldlyTo save thy lady’s honour ev’rywhere,And put thyself for her to fight boldly;Say she is good, virtuous, and ghostly,* *spiritual, pureClear of intent, and heart, and thought, and will;And argue not for reason nor for skill
Against thy lady’s pleasure nor intent,For love will not be counterpled* indeed: *met with counterpleasSay as she saith, then shalt thou not be shent;* *disgraced“The crow is white;” “Yea truly, so I rede:”* *judgeAnd aye what thing that she will thee forbid,Eschew all that, and give her sov’reignty,Her appetite to follow in all degree.
The sixteenth statute, keep it if thou may: <23>Sev’n times at night thy lady for to please,And sev’n at midnight, sev’n at morrow day,And drink a caudle early for thine ease.Do this, and keep thine head from all disease,And win the garland here of lovers all,That ever came in Court, or ever shall.
Full few, think I, this statute hold and keep;But truly this my reason *gives me feel,* *enables me to perceive*That some lovers should rather fall asleep,Than take on hand to please so oft and weel.* *wellThere lay none oath to this statute adele,* *annexedBut keep who might *as gave him his corage:* *as his heartNow get this garland, folk of lusty age! inspired him*
Now win who may, ye lusty folk of youth,This garland fresh, of flowers red and white,Purple and blue, and colours full uncouth,* *strangeAnd I shall crown him king of all delight!In all the Court there was not, to my sight,A lover true, that he was not adread,When he express* had heard the statute read. *plainly
The sev’nteenth statute, When age approacheth on,And lust is laid, and all the fire is queint,* *quenchedAs freshly then thou shalt begin to fon,* *behave fondlyAnd doat in love, and all her image paintIn thy remembrance, till thou gin to faint,As in the first season thine heart began:And her desire, though thou nor may nor can
Perform thy living actual and lust;Register this in thine rememberance:Eke when thou may’st not keep thy thing from rust,Yet speak and talk of pleasant dalliance;For that shall make thine heart rejoice and dance;And when thou may’st no more the game assay,The statute bids thee pray for them that may.
The eighteenth statute, wholly to commend,To please thy lady, is, That thou eschewWith sluttishness thyself for to offend;Be jolly, fresh, and feat,* with thinges new, *dainty <24>Courtly with manner, this is all thy due,Gentle of port, and loving cleanliness;This is the thing that liketh thy mistress.
And not to wander like a dulled ass,Ragged and torn, disguised in array,Ribald in speech, or out of measure pass,Thy bound exceeding; think on this alway:For women be of tender heartes ay,And lightly set their pleasure in a place;When they misthink,* they lightly let it pace. *think wrongly
The nineteenth statute, Meat and drink forget:Each other day see that thou fast for love,For in the Court they live withoute meat,Save such as comes from Venus all above;They take no heed, *in pain of great reprove,* *on pain of greatOf meat and drink, for that is all in vain, reproach*Only they live by sight of their sov’reign.
The twentieth statute, last of ev’ry one,Enrol it in thy hearte’s privity;To wring and wail, to turn, and sigh, and groan,When that thy lady absent is from thee;And eke renew the wordes all that sheBetween you twain hath said, and all the cheerThat thee hath made thy life’s lady dear.
And see thy heart in quiet nor in restSojourn, till time thou see thy lady eft,* *againBut whe’er* she won** by south, or east, or west, *whether **dwellWith all thy force now see it be not leftBe diligent, *till time* thy life be reft, *until the time that*In that thou may’st, thy lady for to see;This statute was of old antiquity.
The officer, called Rigour — who is incorruptible bypartiality, favour, prayer, or gold — made them swearto keep the statutes; and, after taking the oath,Philogenet turned over other leaves of the book,containing the statutes of women. But Rigour sternlybade him forbear; for no man might know the statutesthat belong to women.
“In secret wise they kepte be full close;They sound* each one to liberty, my friend; *tend, accordPleasant they be, and to their own purpose;There wot* no wight of them, but God and fiend, *knowsNor aught shall wit, unto the worlde’s end.The queen hath giv’n me charge, in pain to die,Never to read nor see them with mine eye.
“For men shall not so near of counsel be’nWith womanhead, nor knowen of their guise,Nor what they think, nor of their wit th’engine;* *craft*I me report to* Solomon the wise, <25> *I refer for proof to*And mighty Samson, which beguiled thriceWith Delilah was; he wot that, in a throw,There may no man statute of women know.
“For it peradventure may right so befall,That they be bound by nature to deceive,And spin, and weep, and sugar strew on gall, <26>The heart of man to ravish and to reave,And whet their tongue as sharp as sword or gleve:* *glaive, swordIt may betide this is their ordinance,So must they lowly do their observance,
“And keep the statute given them *of kind,* *by nature*Of such as Love hath giv’n them in their life.Men may not wit why turneth every wind,Nor waxe wise, nor be inquisitifeTo know secret of maid, widow, or wife;For they their statutes have to them reserved,And never man to know them hath deserved.”
Rigour then sent them forth to pay court to Venus,and pray her to teach them how they might serve andplease their dames, or to provide with ladies thosewhose hearts were yet vacant. Before Venus knelt athousand sad petitioners, entreating her to punish “thefalse untrue,” that had broken their vows, “barren ofruth, untrue of what they said, now that their lust andpleasure is allay’d.” But the mourners were in aminority;
Yet eft again, a thousand million,Rejoicing, love, leading their life in bliss:They said: “Venus, redress* of all division, *healerGoddess eternal, thy name heried* is! *glorifiedBy love’s bond is knit all thing, y-wis,* *assuredlyBeast unto beast, the earth to water wan,* *paleBird unto bird, and woman unto man; <27>
“This is the life of joy that we be in,Resembling life of heav’nly paradise;Love is exiler ay of vice and sin;Love maketh heartes lusty to devise;Honour and grace have they in ev’ry wise,That be to love’s law obedient;Love maketh folk benign and diligent;
“Aye stirring them to dreade vice and shame:In their degree it makes them honourable;And sweet it is of love to bear the name,So that his love be faithful, true, and stable:Love pruneth him to seemen amiable;Love hath no fault where it is exercis’d,But sole* with them that have all love despis’d:” *only
And they conclude with grateful honours to the goddess— rejoicing hat they are hers in heart, and all inflamedwith her grace and heavenly fear. Philogenet nowentreats the goddess to remove his grief; for he alsoloves, and hotly, only he does not know where —
“Save only this, by God and by my troth;Troubled I was with slumber, sleep, and slothThis other night, and in a visionI saw a woman roamen up and down,
“Of *mean stature,* and seemly to behold, *middling height*Lusty and fresh, demure of countenance,Young and well shap’d, with haire sheen* as gold, *shiningWith eyne as crystal, farced* with pleasance; *crammedAnd she gan stir mine heart a lite* to dance; *littleBut suddenly she vanish gan right there:Thus I may say, I love, and wot* not where.” *know
If he could only know this lady, he would serve and obey herwith all benignity; but if his destiny were otherwise, he wouldgladly love and serve his lady, whosoever she might be. Hecalled on Venus for help to possess his queen and heart’s life,and vowed daily war with Diana: “that goddess chaste I keepen[care] in no wise to serve; a fig for all her chastity!” Then herose and went his way, passing by a rich and beautiful shrine,which, Philobone informed him, was the sepulchre of Pity. “Atender creature,” she said,
“Is shrined there, and Pity is her name.She saw an eagle wreak* him on a fly, *avengeAnd pluck his wing, and eke him, *in his game;* *for sport*And tender heart of that hath made her die:Eke she would weep, and mourn right piteously,To see a lover suffer great distress.In all the Court was none, as I do guess,
“That could a lover half so well avail,* *helpNor of his woe the torment or the rageAslake;* for he was sure, withoute fail, *assuageThat of his grief she could the heat assuage.Instead of Pity, speedeth hot CourageThe matters all of Court, now she is dead;*I me report in this to womanhead.* *for evidence I refer to the behaviour of women themselves.*
“For wail, and weep, and cry, and speak, and pray, —Women would not have pity on thy plaint;Nor by that means to ease thine heart convey,But thee receive for their own talent:* *inclinationAnd say that Pity caus’d thee, in consentOf ruth,* to take thy service and thy pain, *compassionIn that thou may’st, to please thy sovereign.”
Philobone now promised to lead Philogenet to “the fairest ladyunder sun that is,” the “mirror of joy and bliss,” whose name isRosial, and “whose heart as yet is given to no wight;”suggesting that, as he also was “with love but light advanc’d,”he might set this lady in the place of her of whom he haddreamed. Entering a chamber gay, “there was Rosial, womanlyto see;” and the subtle-piercing beams of her eyes woundedPhilogenet to the heart. When he could speak, he threw himselfon his knees, beseeching her to cool his fervent woe:
For there I took full purpose in my mind,Unto her grace my painful heart to bind.
For, if I shall all fully her descrive,* *describeHer head was round, by compass of nature;Her hair as gold, she passed all alive,And lily forehead had this creature,With lively *browes flaw,* of colour pure, *yellow eyebrows <28>Between the which was mean disseveranceFrom ev’ry brow, to show a due distance.
Her nose directed straight, even as line,With form and shape thereto convenient,In which the *goddes’ milk-white path* doth shine; *the galaxy*And eke her eyne be bright and orientAs is the smaragd,* unto my judgment, *emeraldOr yet these starres heav’nly, small, and bright;Her visage is of lovely red and white.
Her mouth is short, and shut in little space,Flaming somedeal,* not over red I mean, *somewhatWith pregnant lips, and thick to kiss, percase* *as it chanced(For lippes thin, not fat, but ever lean,They serve of naught, they be not worth a bean;For if the bass* be full, there is delight; *kiss <29>Maximian <30> truly thus doth he write).
But to my purpose: I say, white as snowBe all her teeth, and in order they standOf one stature; and eke her breath, I trow,Surmounteth all odours that e’er I fand* *foundIn sweetness; and her body, face, and handBe sharply slender, so that, from the headUnto the foot, all is but womanhead.* *womanly perfection
I hold my peace of other thinges hid:Here shall my soul, and not my tongue, bewray;But how she was array’d, if ye me bid,That shall I well discover you and say:A bend* of gold and silk, full fresh and gay, *bandWith hair *in tress, y-broidered* full well, *plaited in tresses*Right smoothly kempt,* and shining every deal. *combed
About her neck a flow’r of fresh deviceWith rubies set, that lusty were to see’n;And she in gown was, light and summer-wise,Shapen full well, the colour was of green,With *aureate seint* about her sides clean, *golden cincture*With divers stones, precious and rich:Thus was she ray’d,* yet saw I ne’er her lich,** *arrayed **like
If Jove had but seen this lady, Calisto and Alcmena had neverlain in his arms, nor had he loved the fair Europa, nor Danae,nor Antiope; “for all their beauty stood in Rosial; she seemedlike a thing celestial.” By and by, Philogenet presented to her hispetition for love, which she heard with some haughtiness; shewas not, she said, well acquainted with him, she did not knowwhere he dwelt, nor his name and condition. He informed herthat “in art of love he writes,” and makes songs that may besung in honour of the King and Queen of Love. As for his name—
“My name? alas, my heart, why mak’st thou strange?* *why so coldPhilogenet I call’d am far and near, or distant?*Of Cambridge clerk, that never think to changeFrom you, that with your heav’nly streames* clear *beams, glancesRavish my heart; and ghost, and all in fere:* *all togetherSince at the first I writ my bill* for grace, *petitionMe thinks I see some mercy in your face;”
And again he humbly pressed his suit. But the lady disdained theidea that, “for a word of sugar’d eloquence,” she should havecompassion in so little space; “there come but few who speedehere so soon.” If, as he says, the beams of her eyes pierce andfret him, then let him withdraw from her presence:
“Hurt not yourself, through folly, with a look;I would be sorry so to make you sick!A woman should beware eke whom she took:Ye be a clerk: go searche well my book,If any women be so light* to win: *easyNay, bide a while, though ye were *all my kin.”* *my only kindred*
He might sue and serve, and wax pale, and green, and dead,without murmuring in any wise; but whereas he desired herhastily to lean to love, he was unwise, and must cease thatlanguage. For some had been at Court for twenty years, andmight not obtain their mistresses’ favour; therefore shemarvelled that he was so bold as to treat of love with her.Philogenet, on this, broke into pitiful lamentation; bewailing thehour in which he was born, and assuring the unyielding lady thatthe frosty grave and cold must be his bed, unless she relented.
With that I fell in swoon, and dead as stone,With colour slain,* and wan as ashes pale; *deathlikeAnd by the hand she caught me up anon:“Arise,” quoth she; “what? have ye drunken dwale?* *sleeping potion <31>Why sleepe ye? It is no nightertale.”* *night-time“Now mercy! sweet,” quoth I, y-wis afraid;“What thing,” quoth she, “hath made you so dismay’d?”
She said that by his hue she knew well that he was a lover; andif he were secret, courteous, and kind, he might know how allthis could be allayed. She would amend all that she had missaid,and set his heart at ease; but he must faithfully keep the statutes,“and break them not for sloth nor ignorance.” The loverrequests, however, that the sixteenth may be released ormodified, for it “doth him great grievance;” and she complies.
And softly then her colour gan appear,As rose so red, throughout her visage all;Wherefore methinks it is according* her *appropriate toThat she of right be called Rosial.Thus have I won, with wordes great and small,Some goodly word of her that I love best,And trust she shall yet set mine heart in rest.
Rosial now told Philobone to conduct Philogenet all over theCourt, and show him what lovers and what officers dwelt there;for he was yet a stranger.
And, stalking soft with easy pace, I sawAbout the king standen all environ,* *around <32>Attendance, Diligence, and their fellawFurtherer, Esperance,* and many one; *HopeDread-to-offend there stood, and not alone;For there was eke the cruel adversair,The lover’s foe, that called is Despair;
Which unto me spake angrily and fell,* *cruellyAnd said, my lady me deceive shall:“Trow’st thou,” quoth she, “that all that she did tellIs true? Nay, nay, but under honey gall.Thy birth and hers they be no thing egal:* *equalCast off thine heart, <33> for all her wordes white,For in good faith she loves thee but a lite.* *little
“And eke remember, thine abilityMay not compare with her, this well thou wot.”Yea, then came Hope and said, “My friend, let be!Believe him not: Despair he gins to doat.”“Alas,” quoth I, “here is both cold and hot:The one me biddeth love, the other nay;Thus wot I not what me is best to say.
“But well wot I, my lady granted meTruly to be my wounde’s remedy;Her gentleness* may not infected be *noble natureWith doubleness,* this trust I till I die.” *duplicitySo cast I t’ avoid Despair’s company,And take Hope to counsel and to friend.“Yea, keep that well,” quoth Philobone, “in mind.”
And there beside, within a bay window,Stood one in green, full large of breadth and length,His beard as black as feathers of the crow;His name was Lust, of wondrous might and strength;And with Delight to argue there he think’th,For this was alway his opinion,That love was sin: and so he hath begun
To reason fast, and *ledge authority:* *allege authorities“Nay,” quoth Delight, “love is a virtue clear,And from the soul his progress holdeth he:Blind appetite of lust doth often steer,* *stir (the heart)And that is sin; for reason lacketh there:For thou dost think thy neighbour’s wife to win;Yet think it well that love may not be sin;
“For God, and saint, they love right verily,Void of all sin and vice: this know I weel,* *wellAffection of flesh is sin truly;But very* love is virtue, as I feel; *trueFor very love may frail desire akele:* *coolFor very love is love withoute sin.”“Now stint,”* quoth Lust, “thou speak’st not worth a pin.” *cease
And there I left them in their arguing,Roaming farther into the castle wide,And in a corner Liar stood talkingOf leasings* fast, with Flattery there beside; *falsehoodsHe said that women *ware attire of pride, *woreAnd men were found of nature variant,And could be false and *showe beau semblant.* *put on plausible appearances to deceive*Then Flattery bespake and said, y-wis:“See, so she goes on pattens fair and feat;* *pretty, neatIt doth right well: what pretty man is thisThat roameth here? now truly drink nor meatNeed I not have, my heart for joy doth beatHim to behold, so is he goodly fresh:It seems for love his heart is tender and nesh.”* *soft <34>
This is the Court of lusty folk and glad,And well becomes their habit and array:O why be some so sorry and so sad,Complaining thus in black and white and gray?Friars they be, and monkes, in good fay:Alas, for ruth! great dole* it is to see, *sorrowTo see them thus bewail and sorry be.
See how they cry and ring their handes white,For they so soon* went to religion!, *youngAnd eke the nuns with veil and wimple plight,* *plaitedTheir thought is, they be in confusion:“Alas,” they say, “we feign perfection, <35>In clothes wide, and lack our liberty;But all the sin must on our friendes be. <36>
“For, Venus wot, we would as fain* as ye, *gladlyThat be attired here and *well beseen,* *gaily clothed*Desire man, and love in our degree,’Firm and faithful, right as would the Queen:Our friendes wick’, in tender youth and green,Against our will made us religious;That is the cause we mourn and waile thus.”
Then said the monks and friars *in the tide,* *at the same time*“Well may we curse our abbeys and our place,Our statutes sharp to sing in copes wide, <37>Chastely to keep us out of love’s grace,And never to feel comfort nor solace;* *delightYet suffer we the heat of love’s fire,And after some other haply we desire.
“O Fortune cursed, why now and whereforeHast thou,” they said, “bereft us liberty,Since Nature gave us instrument in store,And appetite to love and lovers be?Why must we suffer such adversity,Dian’ to serve, and Venus to refuse?Full *often sithe* these matters do us muse. *many a time*
“We serve and honour, sore against our will,Of chastity the goddess and the queen;*Us liefer were* with Venus bide still, *we would rather*And have regard for love, and subject be’nUnto these women courtly, fresh, and sheen.* *bright, beautifulFortune, we curse thy wheel of variance!Where we were well, thou reavest* our pleasance.” *takest away
Thus leave I them, with voice of plaint and care,In raging woe crying full piteously;And as I went, full naked and full bareSome I beheld, looking dispiteously,On Poverty that deadly cast their eye;And “Well-away!” they cried, and were not fain,For they might not their glad desire attain.
For lack of riches worldly and of good,They ban and curse, and weep, and say, “Alas!That povert’ hath us hent,* that whilom stood *seizedAt hearte’s ease, and free and in good case!But now we dare not show ourselves in place,Nor us embold* to dwell in company, *make bold, ventureWhere as our heart would love right faithfully.”
And yet againward shrieked ev’ry nun,The pang of love so strained them to cry:“Now woe the time,” quoth they, “that we be boun’!* *boundThis hateful order nice* will do us die! *into which we foolishlyWe sigh and sob, and bleeden inwardly, enteredFretting ourselves with thought and hard complaint,That nigh for love we waxe wood* and faint.” *mad
And as I stood beholding here and there,I was ware of a sort* full languishing, *a class of peopleSavage and wild of looking and of cheer,Their mantles and their clothes aye tearing;And oft they were of Nature complaining,For they their members lacked, foot and hand,With visage wry, and blind, I understand.
They lacked shape and beauty to preferThemselves in love: and said that God and Kind* *NatureHad forged* them to worshippe the sterre,** *fashioned **starVenus the bright, and leften all behindHis other workes clean and out of mind:“For other have their full shape and beauty,And we,” quoth they, “be in deformity.”
And nigh to them there was a company,That have the Sisters warray’d and missaid,I mean the three of fatal destiny, <38>That be our workers: suddenly abraid,* *arousedOut gan they cry as they had been afraid;“We curse,” quoth they, “that ever hath NatureY-formed us this woeful life t’endure.”
And there eke was Contrite, and gan repent,Confessing whole the wound that Cythere <39>Had with the dart of hot desire him sent,And how that he to love must subject be:Then held he all his scornes vanity,And said that lovers held a blissful life,Young men and old, and widow, maid, and wife.
“Bereave me, Goddess!” quoth he, “of thy might,My scornes all and scoffes, that I haveNo power for to mocken any wightThat in thy service dwell: for I did rave;This know I well right now, so God me save,And I shall be the chief post* of thy faith, *prop, pillarAnd love uphold, the reverse whoso saith.”
Dissemble stood not far from him in truth,With party* mantle, party hood and hose; *parti-colouredAnd said he had upon his lady ruth,* *pityAnd thus he wound him in, and gan to glose,Of his intent full double, I suppose:In all the world he said he lov’d her weel;But ay me thought he lov’d her *ne’er a deal.* *never a jot*
Eke Shamefastness was there, as I took heed,That blushed red, and durst not be y-knowShe lover was, for thereof had she dread;She stood and hung her visage down alow;But such a sight it was to see, I trow,As of these roses ruddy on their stalk:There could no wight her spy to speak or talk
In love’s art, so gan she to abash,Nor durst not utter all her privity:Many a stripe and many a grievous lashShe gave to them that woulde lovers be,And hinder’d sore the simple commonalty,That in no wise durst grace and mercy crave,For *were not she,* they need but ask and have; *but for her*
Where if they now approache for to speak,Then Shamefastness *returneth them* again: *turns them back*They think, “If we our secret counsel break,Our ladies will have scorn us certain,And peradventure thinke great disdain:”Thus Shamefastness may bringen in Despair;When she is dead the other will be heir.
“Come forth Avaunter! now I ring thy bell!” <40>I spied him soon; to God I make avow,* *confessionHe looked black as fiendes do in Hell:“The first,” quoth he, “that ever I did wow,* *woo*Within a word she came,* I wot not how, *she was won withSo that in armes was my lady free, a single word*And so have been a thousand more than she.
“In England, Britain,* Spain, and Picardy, *BrittanyArtois, and France, and up in high Holland,In Burgoyne,* Naples, and in Italy, *BurgundyNavarre, and Greece, and up in heathen land,Was never woman yet that would withstandTo be at my commandment when I wo’ld:I lacked neither silver coin nor gold.
“And there I met with this estate and that;And her I broach’d, and her, and her, I trow:Lo! there goes one of mine; and, wot ye what?Yon fresh attired have I laid full low;And such one yonder eke right well I know;I kept the statute <41> when we lay y-fere:* *togetherAnd yet* yon same hath made me right good cheer.” *also
Thus hath Avaunter blowen ev’rywhereAll that he knows, and more a thousand fold;His ancestry of kin was to Lier,* *LiarFor first he maketh promise for to holdHis lady’s counsel, and it not unfold; —Wherefore, the secret when he doth unshit,* *discloseThen lieth he, that all the world may wit.* *know
For falsing so his promise and behest,* *trustI wonder sore he hath such fantasy;He lacketh wit, I trow, or is a beast,That can no bet* himself with reason guy** *better **guideBy mine advice, Love shall be contraryTo his avail,* and him eke dishonour, *advantageSo that in Court he shall no more sojour.* *sojourn, remain
“Take heed,” quoth she, this little Philobone,“Where Envy rocketh in the corner yond,* *yonderAnd sitteth dark; and ye shall see anonHis lean body, fading both face and hand;Himself he fretteth,* as I understand devoureth(Witness of Ovid Metamorphoseos); <42>The lover’s foe he is, I will not glose.* *gloss over
“For where a lover thinketh *him promote,* *to promote himself*Envy will grudge, repining at his weal;It swelleth sore about his hearte’s root,That in no wise he cannot live in heal;* *healthAnd if the faithful to his lady steal,Envy will noise and ring it round about,And say much worse than done is, out of doubt.”
And Privy Thought, rejoicing of himself, —Stood not far thence in habit marvellous;“Yon is,” thought I, “some spirit or some elf,His subtile image is so curious:How is,” quoth I, “that he is shaded thusWith yonder cloth, I n’ot* of what color?” *know notAnd near I went and gan *to lear and pore,* *to ascertain and gaze curiously*And frained* him a question full hard. *asked“What is,” quoth I, “the thing thou lovest best?Or what is boot* unto thy paines hard? *remedyMe thinks thou livest here in great unrest,Thou wand’rest aye from south to east and west,And east to north; as far as I can see,There is no place in Court may holde thee.
“Whom followest thou? where is thy heart y-set?But *my demand assoil,* I thee require.” *answer my question*“Me thought,” quoth he, “no creature may let* *hinderMe to be here, and where as I desire;For where as absence hath out the fire,My merry thought it kindleth yet again,That bodily, me thinks, with *my sov’reign* *my lady*
“I stand, and speak, and laugh, and kiss, and halse;* *embraceSo that my thought comforteth me full oft:I think, God wot, though all the world be false,I will be true; I think also how softMy lady is in speech, and this on loftBringeth my heart with joy and great gladness;This privy thought allays my heaviness.
“And what I think, or where, to be, no manIn all this Earth can tell, y-wis, but I:And eke there is no swallow swift, nor swanSo wight* of wing, nor half so yern** can fly; *nimble **eagerlyFor I can be, and that right suddenly,In Heav’n, in Hell, in Paradise, and here,And with my lady, when I will desire.
“I am of counsel far and wide, I wot,With lord and lady, and their privityI wot it all; but, be it cold or hot,They shall not speak without licence of me.I mean, in such as seasonable* be, *prudentTho* first the thing is thought within the heart, *whenEre any word out from the mouth astart.”* *escape
And with the word Thought bade farewell and yede:* *went awayEke forth went I to see the Courte’s guise,And at the door came in, so God me speed,Two courtiers of age and of assise* *sizeLike high, and broad, and, as I me advise,The Golden Love and Leaden Love <43> they hight:* *were calledThe one was sad, the other glad and light.
At this point there is a hiatus in the poem, which abruptly ceasesto narrate the tour of Philogenet and Philobone round theCourt, and introduces us again to Rosial, who is speaking thusto her lover, apparently in continuation of a confession of love:
“Yes! draw your heart, with all your force and might,To lustiness, and be as ye have said.”
She admits that she would have given him no drop of favour,but that she saw him “wax so dead of countenance;” then Pity“out of her shrine arose from death to life,” whisperinglyentreating that she would do him some pleasance. Philogenetprotests his gratitude to Pity, his faithfulness to Rosial; and thelady, thanking him heartily, bids him abide with her till theseason of May, when the King of Love and all his company willhold his feast fully royally and well. “And there I bode till thatthe season fell.”
On May Day, when the lark began to rise,To matins went the lusty nightingale,Within a temple shapen hawthorn-wise;He might not sleep in all the nightertale,* *night-timeBut “Domine” <44> gan he cry and gale,* *call out“My lippes open, Lord of Love, I cry,And let my mouth thy praising now bewry.”* *show forth
The eagle sang “Venite,” <45> bodies all,And let us joy to love that is our health.”And to the desk anon they gan to fall,And who came late he pressed in by stealthThen said the falcon, “Our own heartes’ wealth,‘Domine Dominus noster,’ <46> I wot,Ye be the God that do* us burn thus hot.” *make
“Coeli enarrant,” <47> said the popinjay,* *parrot“Your might is told in Heav’n and firmament.”And then came in the goldfinch fresh and gay,And said this psalm with heartly glad intent,“Domini est terra;” <48> this Latin intent,* *meansThe God of Love hath earth in governance:And then the wren began to skip and dance.
“Jube Domine; <49> O Lord of Love, I prayCommand me well this lesson for to read;This legend is of all that woulde dey* *dieMartyrs for love; God yet their soules speed!And to thee, Venus, sing we, *out of dread,* *without doubt*By influence of all thy virtue great,Beseeching thee to keep us in our heat.”
The second lesson robin redbreast sang,“Hail to the God and Goddess of our lay!”* *law, religionAnd to the lectern amorously he sprang:“Hail now,” quoth be, “O fresh season of May,*Our moneth glad that singen on the spray!* *glad month for us thatHail to the flowers, red, and white, and blue, sing upon the bough*Which by their virtue maken our lust new!”
The third lesson the turtle-dove took up,And thereat laugh’d the mavis* in a scorn: *blackbirdHe said, “O God, as might I dine or sup,This foolish dove will give us all a horn!There be right here a thousand better born,To read this lesson, which as well as he,And eke as hot, can love in all degree.”
The turtle-dove said, “Welcome, welcome May,Gladsome and light to lovers that be true!I thank thee, Lord of Love, that doth purveyFor me to read this lesson all *of due;* *in due form*For, in good sooth, *of corage* I pursue *with all my heart*To serve my make* till death us must depart:” *mateAnd then “Tu autem” <50> sang he all apart.
“Te Deum amoris” <51> sang the throstel* cock: *thrushTubal <52> himself, the first musician,With key of harmony could not unlockSo sweet a tune as that the throstel can:“The Lord of Love we praise,” quoth he than,* *thenAnd so do all the fowles great and lite;* *little“Honour we May, in false lovers’ despite.”
“Dominus regnavit,” <53> said the peacock there,“The Lord of Love, that mighty prince, y-wis,He is received here and ev’rywhere:Now Jubilate <54> sing:” “What meaneth this?”Said then the linnet; “welcome, Lord of bliss!”Out start the owl with “Benedicite,” <55>“What meaneth all this merry fare?”* quoth he. *doing, fuss
“Laudate,” <56> sang the lark with voice full shrill;And eke the kite “O admirabile;” <57>This quire* will through mine eares pierce and thrill; *choirBut what? welcome this May season,” quoth he;“And honour to the Lord of Love must be,That hath this feast so solemn and so high:”“Amen,” said all; and so said eke the pie.* *magpie
And forth the cuckoo gan proceed anon,With “Benedictus” <58> thanking God in haste,That in this May would visit them each one,And gladden them all while the feast shall last:And therewithal a-laughter* out he brast;”** *in laughter **burst“I thanke God that I should end the song,And all the service which hath been so long.”
Thus sang they all the service of the feast,And that was done right early, to my doom;* *judgmentAnd forth went all the Court, both *most and least,* *great and smallTo fetch the flowers fresh, and branch and bloom;And namely* hawthorn brought both page and groom, *especiallyWith freshe garlands party* blue and white, <59> *parti-colouredAnd then rejoiced in their great delight.
Eke each at other threw the flowers bright,The primerose, the violet, and the gold;So then, as I beheld the royal sight,My lady gan me suddenly behold,And with a true love, plighted many a fold,She smote me through the very heart *as blive;* *straightway*And Venus yet I thank I am alive.
Explicit* *The End
Notes to The Court of Love
1. So the Man of Law, in the prologue to his Tale, is made tosay that Chaucer “can but lewedly (ignorantly or imperfectly) onmetres and on rhyming craftily.” But the humility of thoseapologies is not justified by the care and finish of his earlierpoems.
2. Born: burnish, polish: the poet means, that his verses do notdisplay the eloquence or brilliancy of Cicero in setting forth hissubject-matter.
3. Galfrid: Geoffrey de Vinsauf to whose treatise on poeticalcomposition a less flattering allusion is made in The Nun’sPriest’s Tale. See note 33 to that Tale.
- Stirp: race, stock; Latin, “stirps.”
- Calliope is the epic muse — “sister” to the other eight.
- Melpomene was the tragic muse.
7. The same is said of Griselda, in The Clerk’s Tale; though shewas of tender years, “yet in the breast of her virginity there wasinclos’d a sad and ripe corage”
8. The confusion which Chaucer makes between Cithaeron andCythera, has already been remarked. See note 41 to theKnight’s Tale.
9. Balais: Bastard rubies; said to be so called from Balassa, theAsian country where they were found. Turkeis: turquoisestones.
10. Spenser, in his description of the House of Busirane, speaksof the sad distress into which Phoebus was plunged by Cupid, inrevenge for the betrayal of “his mother’s wantonness, when shewith Mars was meint [mingled] in joyfulness”
11. Alcestis, daughter of Pelias, was won to wife by Admetus,King of Pherae, who complied with her father’s demand that heshould come to claim her in a chariot drawn by lions and boars.By the aid of Apollo — who tended the flocks of Admetusduring his banishment from heaven — the suitor fulfilled thecondition; and Apollo further induced the Moirae or Fates togrant that Admetus should never die, if his father, mother, orwife would die for him. Alcestis devoted herself in his stead;and, since each had made great efforts or sacrifices for love, thepair are fitly placed as king and queen in the Court of Love.
12. In the prologue to the “Legend of Good Women,” Chaucersays that behind the God of Love, upon the green, he “sawcoming in ladies nineteen;” but the stories of only nine goodwomen are there told. In the prologue to The Man of Law’sTale, sixteen ladies are named as having their stories written inthe “Saints’ Legend of Cupid” — now known as the “Legend ofGood Women” — (see note 5 to the Prologue to the Man ofLaw’s Tale); and in the “Retractation,” at the end of the Parson’sTale, the “Book of the Twenty-five Ladies” is enumeratedamong the works of which the poet repents — but there “xxv” issupposed to have been by some copyist written for “xix.”
- fele: many; German, “viele.”
- Arras: tapestry of silk, made at Arras, in France.
15. Danger, in the Provencal Courts of Love, was theallegorical personification of the husband; and Disdain suitablyrepresents the lover’s corresponding difficulty from the side ofthe lady.
16. In The Knight’s Tale, Emily’s yellow hair is braided in atress, or plait, that hung a yard long behind her back; so that,both as regards colour and fashion, a singular resemblanceseems to have existed between the female taste of 1369 and thatof 1869.
17. In an old monkish story — reproduced by Boccaccio, andfrom him by La Fontaine in the Tale called “Les Oies de FrerePhilippe” — a young man is brought up without sight orknowledge of women, and, when he sees them on a visit to thecity, he is told that they are geese.
18. Tabernacle: A shrine or canopy of stone, supported bypillars.
19. Mister folk: handicraftsmen, or tradesmen, who havelearned “mysteries.”
20. The loves “Of Queen Annelida and False Arcite” formed thesubject of a short unfinished poem by Chaucer, which wasafterwards worked up into The Knight’s Tale.
21. Blue was the colour of truth. See note 36 to the Squire’sTale.
- Blife: quickly, eagerly; for “blive” or “belive.”
23. It will be seen afterwards that Philogenet does not relish it,and pleads for its relaxation.
24. Feat: dainty, neat, handsome; the same as “fetis,” oftenerused in Chaucer; the adverb “featly” is still used, as applied todancing, &c.
25. Solomon was beguiled by his heathenish wives to forsakethe worship of the true God; Samson fell a victim to the wiles ofDelilah.
26. Compare the speech of Proserpine to Pluto, in TheMerchant’s Tale.
- See note 91 to the Knight’s Tale for a parallel.
- Flaw: yellow; Latin, “flavus,” French, “fauve.”
29. Bass: kiss; French, “baiser;” and hence the more vulgar“buss.”
30. Maximian: Cornelius Maximianus Gallus flourished in thetime of the Emperor Anastasius; in one of his elegies, heprofessed a preference for flaming and somewhat swelling lips,which, when he tasted them, would give him full kisses.
31. Dwale: sleeping potion, narcotic. See note 19 to the Reeve’sTale.
- Environ: around; French, “a l’environ.”
- Cast off thine heart: i.e. from confidence in her.
- Nesh: soft, delicate; Anglo-Saxon, “nese.”
35. Perfection: Perfectly holy life, in the performance of vowsof poverty, chastity, obedience, and other modes of mortifyingthe flesh.
36. All the sin must on our friendes be: who made us take thevows before they knew our own dispositions, or ability, to keepthem.
37. Cope: The large vestment worn in singing the service in thechoir. In Chaucer’s time it seems to have been a distinctivelyclerical piece of dress; so, in the prologue to The Monk’s Tale,the Host, lamenting that so stalwart a man as the Monk shouldhave gone into religion, exclaims, “Alas! why wearest thou sowide a cope?”
- The three of fatal destiny: The three Fates.
39. Cythere: Cytherea — Venus, so called from the name ofthe island, Cythera, into which her worship was first introducedfrom Phoenicia.
- Avaunter: Boaster; Philobone calls him out.
- The statute: i.e. the 16th.
42. “Metamorphoses” Lib. ii. 768 et seqq., where a generaldescription of Envy is given.
43. Golden Love and Leaden Love represent successful andunsuccessful love; the first kindled by Cupid’s golden darts, thesecond by his leaden arrows.
44. “Domine, labia mea aperies — et os meam annunciabitlaudem tuam” (“Lord, open my lips — and my mouth willannounce your praise”) Psalms li. 15, was the verse with whichMatins began. The stanzas which follow contain a paraphrase ofthe matins for Trinity Sunday, allegorically setting forth thedoctrine that love is the all-controlling influence in thegovernment of theuniverse.
45. “Venite, exultemus,” (“Come, let us rejoice”) are the firstwords of Psalm xcv. called the “Invitatory.”
46. “Domine Dominus noster:” The opening words of Psalmviii.; “O Lord our Lord.”
47. “Coeli enarrant:” Psalm xix. 1; “The heavens declare (thyglory).”
48. “Domini est terra”: Psalm xxiv. I; “The earth is the Lord’sand the fulness thereof.” The first “nocturn” is now over, andthe lessons from Scripture follow.
49. “Jube, Domine:” “Command, O Lord;” from Matthew xiv.28, where Peter, seeing Christ walking on the water, says“Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee on the water.”
50: “Tu autem:” the formula recited by the reader at the end ofeach lesson; “Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis.” (“But dothou, O Lord, have pity on us!”)
- “Te Deum Amoris:” “Thee, God of Love (we praise).”
52. Not Tubal, who was the worker in metals; but Jubal, hisbrother, “who was the father of all such as handle the harp andorgan” (Genesis iv. 21).
53. “Dominus regnavit:” Psalm xciii. 1, “The Lord reigneth.”With this began the “Laudes,” or morning service of praise.
- “Jubilate:” Psalm c. 1, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.”
55. “Benedicite:” “Bless ye the Lord;” the opening of the Songof the Three Children
- “Laudate:” Psalm cxlvii.; “Praise ye the Lord.”
57. “O admirabile:” Psalm viii 1; “O Lord our God, howexcellent is thy name.”
58. “Benedictus”: The first word of the Song of Zacharias(Luke i. 68); “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel”
59. In The Knight’s Tale we have exemplifications of thecustom of gathering and wearing flowers and branches on MayDay; where Emily, “doing observance to May,” goes into thegarden at sunrise and gathers flowers, “party white and red, tomake a sotel garland for her head”; and again, where Arciterides to the fields “to make him a garland of the greves; were itof woodbine, or of hawthorn leaves”