APPROACHE gan the fatal destinyThat Jovis hath in disposition,And to you angry Parcae,* Sisters three, *The FatesCommitteth to do execution;For which Cressida must out of the town,And Troilus shall dwelle forth in pine,* *painTill Lachesis his thread no longer twine.* *twist
The golden-tressed Phoebus, high aloft,Thries* had alle, with his beames clear, *thriceThe snowes molt,* and Zephyrus as oft *meltedY-brought again the tender leaves green,Since that *the son of Hecuba the queen* *Troilus <80>*Began to love her first, for whom his sorrowWas all, that she depart should on the morrow
In the morning, Diomede was ready to escort Cressida to theGreek host; and Troilus, seeing him mount his horse, could withdifficulty resist an impulse to slay him — but restrained himself,lest his lady should be also slain in the tumult. When Cressidawas ready to go,
This Troilus, in guise of courtesy,With hawk on hand, and with a huge rout* *retinue, crowdOf knightes, rode, and did her company,Passing alle the valley far without;And farther would have ridden, out of doubt,Full fain,* and woe was him to go so soon, *gladlyBut turn he must, and it was eke to do’n.
And right with that was Antenor y-comeOut of the Greekes’ host, and ev’ry wightWas of it glad, and said he was welcome;And Troilus, *all n’ere his hearte light,* *although his heartHe pained him, with all his fulle might, was not light*Him to withhold from weeping at the least;And Antenor he kiss’d and made feast.
And therewithal he must his leave take,And cast his eye upon her piteously,And near he rode, his cause* for to make *excuse, occasionTo take her by the hand all soberly;And, Lord! so she gan weepe tenderly!And he full soft and slily gan her say,“Now hold your day, and *do me not to dey.”* *do not make me die*
With that his courser turned he about,With face pale, and unto DiomedeNo word he spake, nor none of all his rout;Of which the son of Tydeus <81> tooke heed,As he that couthe* more than the creed <82> *knewIn such a craft, and by the rein her hent;* *tookAnd Troilus to Troye homeward went.
This Diomede, that led her by the bridle,When that he saw the folk of Troy away,Thought, “All my labour shall not be *on idle,* *in vain*If that I may, for somewhat shall I say;For, at the worst, it may yet short our way;I have heard say eke, times twice twelve,He is a fool that will forget himselve.”
But natheless, this thought he well enough,That “Certainly I am aboute naught,If that I speak of love, or *make it tough;* *make any violentFor, doubteless, if she have in her thought immediate effort*Him that I guess, he may not be y-broughtSo soon away; but I shall find a mean,That she *not wit as yet shall* what I mean.” *shall not yet know*
So he began a general conversation, assured her of not lessfriendship and honour among the Greeks than she had enjoyedin Troy, and requested of her earnestly to treat him as a brotherand accept his service — for, at last he said, “I am and shall beay, while that my life may dure, your own, aboven ev’rycreature.
“Thus said I never e’er now to woman born;For, God mine heart as wisly* gladden so! *surelyI loved never woman herebeforn,As paramours, nor ever shall no mo’;And for the love of God be not my foe,All* can I not to you, my lady dear, *althoughComplain aright, for I am yet to lear.* *teach
“And wonder not, mine owen lady bright,Though that I speak of love to you thus blive;* *soonFor I have heard ere this of many a wightThat loved thing he ne’er saw in his live;Eke I am not of power for to striveAgainst the god of Love, but him obeyI will alway, and mercy I you pray.”
Cressida answered his discourses as though she scarcely heardthem; yet she thanked him for his trouble and courtesy, andaccepted his offered friendship — promising to trust him, as wellshe might. Then she alighted from her steed, and, with her heartnigh breaking, was welcomed to the embrace of her father.Meanwhile Troilus, back in Troy, was lamenting with tears theloss of his love, despairing of his or her ability to survive the tendays, and spending the night in wailing, sleepless tossing, andtroublous dreams. In the morning he was visited by Pandarus,to whom he gave directions for his funeral; desiring that thepowder into which his heart was burned should be kept in agolden urn, and given to Cressida. Pandarus renewed his oldcounsels and consolations, reminded his friend that ten dayswere a short time to wait, argued against his faith in evildreams, and urged him to take advantage of the truce, andbeguile the time by a visit to King Sarpedon (a Lycian Princewho had come to aid the Trojans). Sarpedon entertained themsplendidly; but no feasting, no pomp, no music of instruments,no singing of fair ladies, could make up for the absence ofCressida to the desolate Troilus, who was for ever poring uponher old letters, and recalling her loved form. Thus he “drove toan end” the fourth day, and would have then returned to Troy,but for the remonstrances of Pandarus, who asked if they hadvisited Sarpedon only to fetch fire? At last, at the end of aweek, they returned to Troy; Troilus hoping to find Cressidaagain in the city, Pandarus entertaining a scepticism which heconcealed from his friend. The morning after their return,Troilus was impatient till he had gone to the palace of Cressida;but when he found her doors all closed, “well nigh for sorrowadown he gan to fall.”
Therewith, when he was ware, and gan beholdHow shut was ev’ry window of the place,As frost him thought his hearte *gan to cold;* *began to grow cold*For which, with changed deadly pale face,Withoute word, he forth began to pace;And, as God would, he gan so faste ride,That no wight of his countenance espied.
Then said he thus: “O palace desolate!O house of houses, *whilom beste hight!* *formerly called best*O palace empty and disconsolate!O thou lantern, of which quench’d is the light!O palace, whilom day, that now art night!Well oughtest thou to fall, and I to die,Since she is gone that wont was us to guy!* *guide, rule
“O palace, whilom crown of houses all,Illumined with sun of alle bliss!O ring, from which the ruby is out fall!O cause of woe, that cause hast been of bliss!Yet, since I may no bet, fain would I kissThy colde doores, durst I for this rout;And farewell shrine, of which the saint is out!”
. . . . . . . . . . .
From thence forth he rideth up and down,And ev’ry thing came him to remembrance,As he rode by the places of the town,In which he whilom had all his pleasance;“Lo! yonder saw I mine own lady dance;And in that temple, with her eyen clear,Me caughte first my righte lady dear.
“And yonder have I heard full lustilyMy deare hearte laugh; and yonder play:Saw I her ones eke full blissfully;And yonder ones to me gan she say,‘Now, goode sweete! love me well, I pray;’And yond so gladly gan she me behold,That to the death my heart is to her hold.* *holden, bound
“And at that corner, in the yonder house,Heard I mine allerlevest* lady dear, *dearest of allSo womanly, with voice melodious,Singe so well, so goodly and so clear,That in my soule yet me thinks I hearThe blissful sound; and in that yonder placeMy lady first me took unto her grace.”
Then he went to the gates, and gazed along the way by whichhe had attended Cressida at her departure; then he fancied thatall the passers-by pitied him; and thus he drove forth a day ortwo more, singing a song, of few words, which he had made tolighten his heart:
“O star, of which I lost have all the light,With hearte sore well ought I to bewail,That ever dark in torment, night by night,Toward my death, with wind I steer and sail;For which, the tenthe night, if that I fail* *miss; be left withoutThe guiding of thy beames bright an hour,My ship and me Charybdis will devour.”
By night he prayed the moon to run fast about her sphere; byday he reproached the tardy sun — dreading that Phaethon hadcome to life again, and was driving the chariot of Apollo out ofits straight course. Meanwhile Cressida, among the Greeks, wasbewailing the refusal of her father to let her return, the certaintythat her lover would think her false, and the hopelessness of anyattempt to steal away by night. Her bright face waxed pale, herlimbs lean, as she stood all day looking toward Troy; thinkingon her love and all her past delights, regretting that she had notfollowed the counsel of Troilus to steal away with him, andfinally vowing that she would at all hazards return to the city.But she was fated, ere two months, to be full far from any suchintention; for Diomede now brought all his skill into play, toentice Cressida into his net. On the tenth day, Diomede, “asfresh as branch in May,” came to the tent of Cressida, feigningbusiness with Calchas.
Cresside, at shorte wordes for to tell,Welcomed him, and down by her him set,And he was *eath enough to make dwell;* *easily persuaded to stay*And after this, withoute longe let,* *delayThe spices and the wine men forth him fet,* *fetchedAnd forth they speak of this and that y-fere,* *togetherAs friendes do, of which some shall ye hear.
He gan first fallen of the war in speechBetween them and the folk of Troye town,And of the siege he gan eke her beseechTo tell him what was her opinioun;From that demand he so descended downTo aske her, if that her strange thoughtThe Greekes’ guise,* and workes that they wrought. *fashion
And why her father tarried* so long *delayedTo wedde her unto some worthy wight.Cressida, that was in her paines strongFor love of Troilus, her owen knight,So farforth as she cunning* had or might, *abilityAnswer’d him then; but, as for his intent,* *purposeIt seemed not she wiste* what he meant. *knew
But natheless this ilke* Diomede *sameGan *in himself assure,* and thus he said; *grow confident*“If I aright have *taken on you heed,* *observed you*Me thinketh thus, O lady mine Cresside,That since I first hand on your bridle laid,When ye out came of Troye by the morrow,Ne might I never see you but in sorrow.
“I cannot say what may the cause be,But if for love of some Trojan it were;*The which right sore would a-thinke me* *which it would muchThat ye for any wight that dwelleth there pain me to think*Should [ever] spill* a quarter of a tear, *shedOr piteously yourselfe so beguile;* *deceiveFor dreadeless* it is not worth the while. *undoubtedly
“The folk of Troy, as who saith, all and someIn prison be, as ye yourselfe see;From thence shall not one alive comeFor all the gold betwixte sun and sea;Truste this well, and understande me;There shall not one to mercy go alive,All* were he lord of worldes twice five. *although
. . . . . . . . . . . .
“What will ye more, lovesome lady dear?Let Troy and Trojan from your hearte pace;Drive out that bitter hope, and make good cheer,And call again the beauty of your face,That ye with salte teares so deface;For Troy is brought into such jeopardy,That it to save is now no remedy.
“And thinke well, ye shall in Greekes findA love more perfect, ere that it be night,Than any Trojan is, and more kind,And better you to serve will do his might;And, if ye vouchesafe, my lady bright,I will be he, to serve you, myselve, —Yea, lever* than be a lord of Greekes twelve!” *rather
And with that word he gan to waxe red,And in his speech a little while he quoke,* *quaked; trembledAnd cast aside a little with his head,And stint a while; and afterward he woke,And soberly on her he threw his look,And said, “I am, albeit to you no joy,As gentle* man as any wight in Troy. *high-born
“But, hearte mine! since that I am your man,* *leigeman, subjectAnd [you] be the first of whom I seeke grace, (in love)To serve you as heartily as I can,And ever shall, while I to live have space,So, ere that I depart out of this place,Ye will me grante that I may, to-morrow,At better leisure, telle you my sorrow.”
Why should I tell his wordes that he said?He spake enough for one day at the mest;* *mostIt proveth well he spake so, that CresseideGranted upon the morrow, at his request,Farther to speake with him, at the least,So that he would not speak of such mattere;And thus she said to him, as ye may hear:
As she that had her heart on TroilusSo faste set, that none might it arace;* *uproot <83>And strangely* she spake, and saide thus; *distantly, unfriendlily“O Diomede! I love that ilke placeWhere I was born; and Jovis, for his grace,Deliver it soon of all that doth it care!* *afflictGod, for thy might, so *leave it* well to fare!” *grant it*
She knows that the Greeks would fain wreak their wrath onTroy, if they might; but that shall never befall: she knows thatthere are Greeks of high condition — though as worthy menwould be found in Troy: and she knows that Diomede couldserve his lady well.
“But, as to speak of love, y-wis,” she said,“I had a lord, to whom I wedded was, <84>He whose mine heart was all, until he died;And other love, as help me now Pallas,There in my heart nor is, nor ever was;And that ye be of noble and high kindred,I have well heard it tellen, out of dread.* *doubt
“And that doth* me to have so great a wonder *causethThat ye will scornen any woman so;Eke, God wot, love and I be far asunder;I am disposed bet, so may I go,* *fare or prosperUnto my death to plain and make woe;What I shall after do I cannot say,But truely as yet *me list not play.* *I am not disposed *for sport“Mine heart is now in tribulatioun;And ye in armes busy be by day;Hereafter, when ye wonnen have the town,Parauntre* then, so as it happen may, *peradventureThat when I see that I never *ere sey,* *saw before*Then will I work that I never ere wrought;This word to you enough sufficen ought.
“To-morrow eke will I speak with you fain,* *willinglySo that ye touche naught of this mattere;And when you list, ye may come here again,And ere ye go, thus much I say you here:As help me Pallas, with her haires clear,If that I should of any Greek have ruth,It shoulde be yourselfe, by my truth!
“I say not therefore that I will you love;*Nor say not nay;* but, in conclusioun, *nor say I thatI meane well, by God that sits above!” I will not*And therewithal she cast her eyen down,And gan to sigh, and said; “O Troye town!Yet bid* I God, in quiet and in rest *prayI may you see, or *do my hearte brest!”* *cause my heart to break*
But in effect, and shortly for to say,This Diomede all freshly new againGan pressen on, and fast her mercy pray;And after this, the soothe for to sayn,Her glove he took, of which he was full fain,And finally, when it was waxen eve,And all was well, he rose and took his leave.
Cressida retired to rest:
Returning in her soul ay up and downThe wordes of this sudden Diomede,<85>His great estate,* the peril of the town, *rankAnd that she was alone, and hadde needOf friendes’ help; and thus began to dreadThe causes why, the soothe for to tell,That she took fully the purpose for to dwell.* *remain (with the Greeks)The morrow came, and, ghostly* for to speak, *plainlyThis Diomede is come unto Cresseide;And shortly, lest that ye my tale break,So well he for himselfe spake and said,That all her sighes sore adown he laid;And finally, the soothe for to sayn,He refte* her the great** of all her pain. *took away **the greater part ofAnd after this, the story telleth usThat she him gave the faire baye steedThe which she ones won of Troilus;And eke a brooch (and that was little need)That Troilus’ was, she gave this Diomede;And eke, the bet from sorrow him to relieve,She made him wear a pensel* of her sleeve. *pendant <86>
I find eke in the story elleswhere,When through the body hurt was DiomedeBy Troilus, she wept many a tear,When that she saw his wide woundes bleed,And that she took to keepe* him good heed, *tend, care forAnd, for to heal him of his sorrow’s smart,Men say, I n’ot,* that she gave him her heart. *know not
And yet, when pity had thus completed the triumph ofinconstancy, she made bitter moan over her falseness to one ofthe noblest and worthiest men that ever was; but it was now toolate to repent, and at all events she resolved that she would betrue to Diomede — all the while weeping for pity of the absentTroilus, to whom she wished every happiness. The tenth day,meantime, had barely dawned, when Troilus, accompanied byPandarus, took his stand on the walls, to watch for the return ofCressida. Till noon they stood, thinking that every corner fromafar was she; then Troilus said that doubtless her old father borethe parting ill, and had detained her till after dinner; so theywent to dine, and returned to their vain observation on thewalls. Troilus invented all kinds of explanations for hismistress’s delay; now, her father would not let her go till eve;now, she would ride quietly into the town after nightfall, not tobe observed; now, he must have mistaken the day. For five orsix days he watched, still in vain, and with decreasing hope.Gradually his strength decayed, until he could walk only with astaff; answering the wondering inquiries of his friends, by sayingthat he had a grievous malady about his heart. One day hedreamed that in a forest he saw Cressida in the embrace of aboar; and he had no longer doubt of her falsehood. Pandarus,however, explained away the dream to mean merely thatCressida was detained by her father, who might be at the pointof death; and he counselled the disconsolate lover to write aletter, by which he might perhaps get at the truth. Troiluscomplied, entreating from his mistress, at the least, a “letter ofhope;” and the lady answered, that she could not come now, butwould so soon as she might; at the same time “making him greatfeast,” and swearing that she loved him best — “of which hefound but bottomless behest [which he found but groundlesspromises].” Day by day increased the woe of Troilus; he laidhimself in bed, neither eating, nor drinking, nor sleeping, norspeaking, almost distracted by the thought of Cressida’sunkindness. He related his dream to his sister Cassandra, whotold him that the boar betokened Diomede, and that,wheresoever his lady was, Diornede certainly had her heart, andshe was his: “weep if thou wilt, or leave, for, out of doubt, thisDiomede is in, and thou art out.” Troilus, enraged, refused tobelieve Cassandra’s interpretation; as well, he cried, might sucha story be credited of Alcestis, who devoted her life for herhusband; and in his wrath he started from bed, “as though allwhole had him y-made a leach [physician],” resolving to findout the truth at all hazards. The death of Hector meanwhileenhanced the sorrow which he endured; but he found time towrite often to Cressida, beseeching her to come again and holdher truth; till one day his false mistress, out of pity, wrote himagain, in these terms:
“Cupide’s son, ensample of goodlihead,* *beauty, excellenceO sword of knighthood, source of gentleness!How might a wight in torment and in dread,And healeless,* you send as yet gladness? *devoid of healthI hearteless, I sick, I in distress?Since ye with me, nor I with you, may deal,You neither send I may nor heart nor heal.
“Your letters full, the paper all y-plainted,* *covered withCommoved have mine heart’s pitt; complainingsI have eke seen with teares all depaintedYour letter, and how ye require meTo come again; the which yet may not be;But why, lest that this letter founden were,No mention I make now for fear.
“Grievous to me, God wot, is your unrest,Your haste,* and that the goddes’ ordinance *impatienceIt seemeth not ye take as for the best;Nor other thing is in your remembrance,As thinketh me, but only your pleasance;But be not wroth, and that I you beseech,For that I tarry is *all for wicked speech.* *to avoid malicious gossip*“For I have heard well more than I wend* *weened, thoughtTouching us two, how thinges have stood,Which I shall with dissimuling amend;And, be not wroth, I have eke understoodHow ye ne do but holde me on hand; <87>But now *no force,* I cannot in you guess *no matter*But alle truth and alle gentleness.
“Comen I will, but yet in such disjoint* *jeopardy, criticalI stande now, that what year or what day positionThat this shall be, that can I not appoint;But in effect I pray you, as I may,For your good word and for your friendship ay;For truely, while that my life may dure,As for a friend, ye may *in me assure.* *depend on me*
“Yet pray I you, *on evil ye not take* *do not take it ill*That it is short, which that I to you write;I dare not, where I am, well letters make;Nor never yet ne could I well endite;Eke *great effect men write in place lite;* *men write great matterTh’ intent is all, and not the letter’s space; in little space*And fare now well, God have you in his grace! “La Vostre C.”
Though he found this letter “all strange,” and thought it like “akalendes of change,” <88> Troilus could not believe his lady socruel as to forsake him; but he was put out of all doubt, one daythat, as he stood in suspicion and melancholy, he saw a “coat-armour” borne along the street, in token of victory, beforeDeiphobus his brother. Deiphobus had won it from Diomede inbattle that day; and Troilus, examining it out of curiosity, foundwithin the collar a brooch which he had given to Cressida on themorning she left Troy, and which she had pledged her faith tokeep for ever in remembrance of his sorrow and of him. At thisfatal discovery of his lady’s untruth,
Great was the sorrow and plaint of Troilus;But forth her course Fortune ay gan to hold;Cressida lov’d the son of Tydeus,And Troilus must weep in cares cold.Such is the world, whoso it can behold!In each estate is little hearte’s rest;God lend* us each to take it for the best! *grant
In many a cruel battle Troilus wrought havoc among theGreeks, and often he exchanged blows and bitter words withDiomede, whom he always specially sought; but it was not theirlot that either should fall by the other’s hand. The poet’spurpose, however, he tells us, is to relate, not the warlike deedsof Troilus, which Dares has fully told, but his love-fortunes:
Beseeching ev’ry lady bright of hue,And ev’ry gentle woman, *what she be,* *whatsoever she be*Albeit that Cressida was untrue,That for that guilt ye be not wroth with me;Ye may her guilt in other bookes see;And gladder I would writen, if you lest,Of Penelope’s truth, and good Alceste.
Nor say I not this only all for men,But most for women that betrayed beThrough false folk (God give them sorrow, Amen!)That with their greate wit and subtiltyBetraye you; and this commoveth meTo speak; and in effect you all I pray,Beware of men, and hearken what I say.
Go, little book, go, little tragedy!There God my maker, yet ere that I die,So send me might to make some comedy!But, little book, *no making thou envy,* *be envious of no poetry* <89>But subject be unto all poesy;And kiss the steps, where as thou seest space,Of Virgil, Ovid, Homer, Lucan, Stace.
And, for there is so great diversityIn English, and in writing of our tongue,So pray I God, that none miswrite thee,Nor thee mismetre for default of tongue!And read whereso thou be, or elles sung,That thou be understanden, God I ’seech!* *beseechBut yet to purpose of my *rather speech.* *earlier subject* <90>
The wrath, as I began you for to say,Of Troilus the Greekes boughte dear;For thousandes his handes *made dey,* *made to die*As he that was withouten any peer,Save in his time Hector, as I can hear;But, well-away! save only Godde’s will,Dispiteously him slew the fierce Achill’.
And when that he was slain in this mannere,His lighte ghost* full blissfully is went *spiritUp to the hollowness of the seventh sphere <91>In converse leaving ev’ry element;And there he saw, with full advisement,* *observation, understandingTh’ erratic starres heark’ning harmony,With soundes full of heav’nly melody.
And down from thennes fast he gan advise* *consider, look onThis little spot of earth, that with the seaEmbraced is; and fully gan despiseThis wretched world, and held all vanity,*To respect of the plein felicity* *in comparison withThat is in heav’n above; and, at the last, the full felicity*Where he was slain his looking down he cast.
And in himself he laugh’d right at the woeOf them that wepte for his death so fast;And damned* all our works, that follow so *condemnedThe blinde lust, the which that may not last,And shoulden* all our heart on heaven cast; *while we shouldAnd forth he wente, shortly for to tell,Where as Mercury sorted* him to dwell. *allotted <92>
Such fine* hath, lo! this Troilus for love! *endSuch fine hath all his *greate worthiness!* *exalted royal rank*Such fine hath his estate royal above!Such fine his lust,* such fine hath his nobless! *pleasureSuch fine hath false worlde’s brittleness!* *fickleness, instabilityAnd thus began his loving of Cresside,As I have told; and in this wise he died.
O young and freshe folke, *he or she,* *of either sex*In which that love upgroweth with your age,Repaire home from worldly vanity,And *of your heart upcaste the visage* *“lift up the countenanceTo thilke God, that after his image of your heart.”*You made, and think that all is but a fair,This world that passeth soon, as flowers fair!
And love Him, the which that, right for love,Upon a cross, our soules for to bey,* *buy, redeemFirst starf,* and rose, and sits in heav’n above; *diedFor he will false* no wight, dare I say, *deceive, failThat will his heart all wholly on him lay;And since he best to love is, and most meek,What needeth feigned loves for to seek?
Lo! here of paynims* cursed olde rites! *pagansLo! here what all their goddes may avail!Lo! here this wretched worlde’s appetites! *end and rewardLo! here the *fine and guerdon for travail,* of labour*Of Jove, Apollo, Mars, and such rascaille* *rabble <93>Lo! here the form of olde clerkes’ speech,In poetry, if ye their bookes seech!* *seek, search
L’Envoy of Chaucer.
O moral Gower! <94> this book I direct.To thee, and to the philosophical Strode, <95>To vouchesafe, where need is, to correct,Of your benignities and zeales good.And to that soothfast Christ that *starf on rood* *died on the cross*With all my heart, of mercy ever I pray,And to the Lord right thus I speak and say:
“Thou One, and Two, and Three, *etern on live,* *eternally living*That reignest ay in Three, and Two, and One,Uncircumscrib’d, and all may’st circumscrive,* *comprehendFrom visible and invisible fone* *foesDefend us in thy mercy ev’ry one;So make us, Jesus, *for thy mercy dign,* *worthy of thy mercy*For love of Maid and Mother thine benign!”
Explicit Liber Troili et Cresseidis. <96>
Notes to Troilus and Cressida
1. The double sorrow: First his suffering before his love wassuccessful; and then his grief after his lady had been separatedfrom him, and had proved unfaithful.
2. Tisiphone: one of the Eumenides, or Furies, who avenged onmen in the next world the crimes committed on earth. Chaucermakes this grim invocation most fitly, since the Trojans wereunder the curse of the Eumenides, for their part in the offenceof Paris in carrying off Helen, the wife of his host Menelaus,and thus impiously sinning against the laws of hospitality.
3. See Chaucer’s description of himself in “The House OfFame,” and note 11 to that poem.
4. The Palladium, or image of Pallas (daughter of Triton andfoster-sister of Athena), was said to have fallen from heaven atTroy, where Ilus was just beginning to found the city; and Iluserected a sanctuary, in which it was preserved with greathonour and care, since on its safety was supposed to depend thesafety of the city. In later times a Palladium was any statue ofthe goddess Athena kept for the safeguard of the city thatpossessed it.
- “Oh, very god!”: oh true divinity! — addressing Cressida.
6. Ascaunce: as if to say — as much as to say. The wordrepresents “Quasi dicesse” in Boccaccio. See note 5 to theSompnour’s Tale.
- Eft: another reading is “oft.”
- Arten: constrain — Latin, “arceo.”
9. The song is a translation of Petrarch’s 88th Sonnet, whichopens thus:“S’amor non e, che dunque e quel ch’i’sento.”
10. If maugre me: If (I burn) in spite of myself. The usualreading is, “If harm agree me” = if my hurt contents me: butevidently the antithesis is lost which Petrarch intended when,after “s’a mia voglia ardo,” he wrote “s’a mal mio grado” = ifagainst my will; and Urry’s Glossary points out the probabilitythat in transcription the words “If that maugre me” may havegradually changed into “If harm agre me.”
11. The Third of May seems either to have possessed peculiarfavour or significance with Chaucer personally, or to have had aspecial importance in connection with those May observancesof which the poet so often speaks. It is on the third night ofMay that Palamon, in The Knight’s Tale, breaks out of prison,and at early morn encounters in the forest Arcita, who has goneforth to pluck a garland in honour of May; it is on the thirdnight of May that the poet hears the debate of “The Cuckoo andthe Nightingale”; and again in the present passage the favoureddate recurs.
12. Went: turning; from Anglo-Saxon, “wendan;” German,“wenden.” The turning and tossing of uneasy lovers in bed is,with Chaucer, a favourite symptom of their passion. See thefifth “statute,” in The Court of Love.
13. Procne, daughter of Pandion, king of Attica, was given towife to Tereus in reward for his aid against an enemy; butTereus dishonoured Philomela, Procne’s sister; and his wife, inrevenge, served up to him the body of his own child by her.Tereus, infuriated, pursued the two sisters, who prayed thegods to change them into birds. The prayer was granted;Philomela became a nightingale, Procne a swallow, and Tereusa hawk.
14. Fished fair: a proverbial phrase which probably may be bestrepresented by the phrase “done great execution.”
15. The fair gem virtueless: possessing none of the virtueswhich in the Middle Ages were universally believed to beinherent in precious stones.
16. The crop and root: the most perfect example. See note 29to the Knight’s Tale.
17. Eme: uncle; the mother’s brother; still used in Lancashire.Anglo-Saxon, “eame;” German, “Oheim.”
18. Dardanus: the mythical ancestor of the Trojans, after whomthe gate is supposed to be called.
19. All the other gates were secured with chains, for betterdefence against the besiegers.
20. Happy day: good fortune; French, “bonheur;” both “happyday” and “happy hour” are borrowed from the astrologicalfiction about the influence of the time of birth.
21. Horn, and nerve, and rind: The various layers or materialsof the shield — called boagrion in the Iliad — which was madefrom the hide of the wild bull.
- His brother: Hector.
23. Who gives me drink?: Who has given me a love-potion, tocharm my heart thus away?
24. That plaited she full oft in many a fold: She deliberatedcarefully, with many arguments this way and that.
25. Through which I mighte stand in worse plight: in a worseposition in the city; since she might through his anger lose theprotection of his brother Hector.
26. I am not religious: I am not in holy vows. See the complaintof the nuns in “The Court of Love.”
- The line recalls Milton’s “dark with excessive bright.”
28. No weal is worth, that may no sorrow drien: the meaning is,that whosoever cannot endure sorrow deserves not happiness.
- French, “verre;” glass.
30. From cast of stones ware him in the werre: let him bewareof casting stones in battle. The proverb in its modern formwarns those who live in glass houses of the folly of throwingstones.
31. Westren: to west or wester — to decline towards the west;so Milton speaks of the morning star as sloping towardsheaven’s descent “his westering wheel.”
32. A pike with ass’s feet etc.: this is merely another version ofthe well-known example of incongruity that opens the “ArsPoetica” of Horace.
33. Tristre: tryst; a preconcerted spot to which the beatersdrove the game, and at which the sportsmen waited with theirbows.
34. A kankerdort: a condition or fit of perplexed anxiety;probably connected with the word “kink” meaning in sea phrasea twist in an rope — and, as a verb, to twist or entangle.
35. They feel in times, with vapour etern: they feel in theirseasons, by the emission of an eternal breath or inspiration (thatGod loves, &c.)
36. The idea of this stanza is the same with that developed inthe speech of Theseus at the close of The Knight’s Tale; and it isprobably derived from the lines of Boethius, quoted in note 91to that Tale.
37. In this and the following lines reappears the noble doctrineof the exalting and purifying influence of true love, advanced in“The Court of Love,” “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale,” &c.
38. Weir: a trap or enclosed place in a stream, for catching fish.See note 10 to The Assembly of Fowls.
39. Nor might one word for shame to it say: nor could heanswer one word for shame (at the stratagem that broughtCressida to implore his protection)
40. “All n’ere he malapert, nor made avowNor was so bold to sing a foole’s mass;”i.e. although he was not over-forward and made no confession(of his love), or was so bold as to be rash and ill-advised in hisdeclarations of love and worship.
41. Pandarus wept as if he would turn to water; so, in TheSquire’s Tale, did Canace weep for the woes of the falcon.
42. If I breake your defence: if I transgress in whatever you mayforbid; French, “defendre,” to prohibit.
43. These lines and the succeeding stanza are addressed toPandarus, who had interposed some words of incitement toCressida.
44. In “The Court of Love,” the poet says of Avaunter, that“his ancestry of kin was to Lier; and the stanza in which thatline occurs expresses precisely the same idea as in the text.Vain boasters of ladies’ favours are also satirised in “The Houseof Fame”.
- Nice: silly, stupid; French, “niais.”
46.”Reheating” is read by preference for “richesse,” whichstands in the older printed editions; though “richesse” certainlybetter represents the word used in the original of Boccaccio —“dovizia,” meaning abundance or wealth.
47. “Depart it so, for widewhere is wistHow that there is diversity requer’dBetwixte thinges like, as I have lear’d:”i.e. make this distinction, for it is universally known that there isa great difference between things that seem the same, as I havelearned.
48. Frepe: the set, or company; French, “frappe,” a stamp (oncoins), a set (of moulds).
49. To be “in the wind” of noisy magpies, or other birds thatmight spoil sport by alarming the game, was not less desirablethan to be on the “lee-side” of the game itself, that the hunter’spresence might not be betrayed by the scent. “In the wind of,”thus signifies not to windward of, but to leeward of — that is, inthe wind that comes from the object of pursuit.
50. Bothe fremd and tame: both foes and friends — literally,both wild and tame, the sporting metaphor being sustained.
51. The lovers are supposed to say, that nothing is wanting butto know the time at which they should meet.
- A tale of Wade: see note 5 to the Merchant’s Tale.
53. Saturn, and Jove, in Cancer joined were: a conjunction thatimported rain.
- Smoky rain: An admirably graphic description of dense rain.
55. For the force of “cold,” see note 22 to the Nun’s Priest’sTale.
56. Goddes seven: The divinities who gave their names to theseven planets, which, in association with the seven metals, arementioned in The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale.
57. Assayed: experienced, tasted. See note 6 to the Squire’sTale.
58. Now is it better than both two were lorn: better this happyissue, than that both two should be lost (through the sorrow offruitless love).
59. Made him such feast: French, “lui fit fete” — made holidayfor him.
60. The cock is called, in “The Assembly of Fowls,” “thehorologe of thorpes lite;” [the clock of little villages] and in TheNun’s Priest’s Tale Chanticleer knew by nature each ascensionof the equinoctial, and, when the sun had ascended fifteendegrees, “then crew he, that it might not be amended.” Here heis termed the “common astrologer,” as employing for the publicadvantage his knowledge of astronomy.
- Fortuna Major: the planet Jupiter.
62. When Jupiter visited Alcmena in the form of her husbandAmphitryon, he is said to have prolonged the night to the lengthof three natural nights. Hercules was the fruit of the union.
63. Chaucer seems to confound Titan, the title of the sun, withTithonus (or Tithon, as contracted in poetry), whose couchAurora was wont to share.
64. So, in “Locksley Hall,” Tennyson says that “a sorrow’scrown of sorrow is rememb’ring better things.” The original is inDante’s words:- -“Nessun maggior doloreChe ricordarsi del tempo feliceNella miseria.” — “Inferno,” v. 121.(“There is no greater sorrow than to remember happy timeswhen in misery”)
65. As great a craft is to keep weal as win: it needs as muchskill to keep prosperity as to attain it.
66. To heap: together. See the reference to Boethius in note 91to the Knight’s Tale.
67. The smalle beastes let he go beside: a charming touch,indicative of the noble and generous inspiration of his love.
68. Mew: the cage or chamber in which hawks were kept andcarefully tended during the moulting season.
- Love of steel: love as true as steel.
70. Pandarus, as it repeatedly appears, was an unsucsessfullover.
71. “Each for his virtue holden is full dear,Both heroner, and falcon for rivere”:—That is, each is esteemed for a special virtue or faculty, as thelarge gerfalcon for the chase of heron, the smaller goshawk forthe chase of river fowl.
- Zausis: An author of whom no record survives.
73. And upon new case lieth new advice: new counsels must beadopted as new circumstances arise.
74. Hid in mew: hidden in a place remote from the world — ofwhich Pandarus thus betrays ignorance.
75. The modern phrase “sixes and sevens,” means “inconfusion:” but here the idea of gaming perhaps suits the sensebetter — “set the world upon a cast of the dice.”
76. The controversy between those who maintained the doctrineof predestination and those who held that of free-will ragedwith no less animation at Chaucer’s day, and before it, than ithas done in the subsequent five centuries; the Dominicansupholding the sterner creed, the Franciscans taking the otherside. Chaucer has more briefly, and with the same care not tocommit himself, referred to the discussion in The Nun’s Priest’sTale.
77. That have their top full high and smooth y-shore: that areeminent among the clergy, who wear the tonsure.
78. Athamante: Athamas, son of Aeolus; who, seized withmadness, under the wrath of Juno for his neglect of his wifeNephele, slew his son Learchus.
79. Simois: one of the rivers of the Troad, flowing into theXanthus.
- Troilus was the son of Priam and Hecuba.
81. The son of Tydeus: Diomedes; far oftener called Tydides,after his father Tydeus, king of Argos.
82. Couthe more than the creed: knew more than the mereelements (of the science of Love).
83. Arache: wrench away, unroot (French, “arracher”); theopposite of “enrace,” to root in, implant.
84. It will be remembered that, at the beginning of the firstbook, Cressida is introduced to us as a widow.
85. Diomede is called “sudden,” for the unexpectedness of hisassault on Cressida’s heart — or, perhaps, for the abruptabandonment of his indifference to love.
86. Penscel: a pennon or pendant; French, “penoncel.” It wasthe custom in chivalric times for a knight to wear, on days oftournament or in battle, some such token of his lady’s favour, orbadge of his service to her.
- She has been told that Troilus is deceiving her.
88. The Roman kalends were the first day of the month, when achange of weather was usually expected.
89. Maker, and making, words used in the Middle Ages tosignify the composer and the composition of poetry, correspondexactly with the Greek “poietes” and “poiema,” from “poieo,” Imake.
90. My rather speech: my earlier, former subject; “rather” is thecormparative of the old adjective “rath,” early.
91. Up to the hollowness of the seventh sphere: passing upthrough the hollowness or concavity of the spheres, which allrevolve round each other and are all contained by God (see note5 to the Assembly of Fowls), the soul of Troilus, lookingdownward, beholds the converse or convex side of the sphereswhich it has traversed.
- Sorted: allotted; from Latin, “sors,” lot, fortune.
93. Rascaille: rabble; French, “racaille” — a mob or multitude,the riff-raff; so Spencer speaks of the “rascal routs” of inferiorcombatants.
94. John Gower, the poet, a contemporary and friend ofChaucer’s; author, among other works, of the “ConfessioAmantis.” See note 1 to the Man of Law’s Tale.
95. Strode was an eminent scholar of Merton College, Oxford,and tutor to Chaucer’s son Lewis.
96. Explicit Liber Troili et Cresseidis: “The end of the book ofTroilus and Cressida.”