[SOME difference of opinion exists as to the date atwhich Chaucer wrote “The Legend of GoodWomen.” Those who would fix that date at aperiod not long before the poet’s death — whowould place the poem, indeed, among his closinglabours — support their opinion by the fact that thePrologue recites most of Chaucer’s principalworks, and glances, besides, at a long array ofother productions, too many to be fully catalogued.But, on the other hand, it is objected that the“Legend” makes no mention of “The CanterburyTales” as such; while two of those Tales — theKnight’s and the Second Nun’s — are enumeratedby the titles which they bore as separatecompositions, before they were incorporated in thegreat collection: “The Love of Palamon andArcite,” and “The Life of Saint Cecile” (see note 1to the Second Nun’s tale). Tyrwhitt seems perfectlyjustified in placing the composition of the poemimmediately before that of Chaucer’s magnumopus, and after the marriage of Richard II to hisfirst queen, Anne of Bohemia. That event tookplace in 1382; and since it is to Anne that the poetrefers when he makes Alcestis bid him give hispoem to the queen “at Eltham or at Sheen,” the“Legend” could not have been written earlier. Theold editions tell us that “several ladies in the Courttook offence at Chaucer’s large speeches againstthe untruth of women; therefore the queen enjoin’dhim to compile this book in the commendation ofsundry maidens and wives, who show’d themselvesfaithful to faithless men. This seems to have beenwritten after The Flower and the Leaf.” Evidently itwas, for distinct references to that poem are to befound in the Prologue; but more interesting is theindication which it furnishes, that “Troilus andCressida” was the work, not of the poet’s youth,but of his maturer age. We could hardly expect thequeen — whether of Love or of England — todemand seriously from Chaucer a retractation ofsentiments which he had expressed a fullgeneration before, and for which he had madeatonement by the splendid praises of true love sungin “The Court of Love,” “The Cuckoo and theNightingale,” and other poems of youth and middlelife. But “Troilus and Cressida” is coupled with“The Romance of the Rose,” as one of the poemswhich had given offence to the servants and theGod of Love; therefore we may suppose it to havemore prominently engaged courtly notice at a laterperiod of the poet’s life, than even its undoubtedpopularity could explain. At whatever date, or inwhatever circumstances, undertaken, “The Legendof Good Women” is a fragment. There are severalsigns that it was designed to contain the stories oftwenty-five ladies, although the number of thegood women is in the poem itself set down atnineteen; but nine legends only were actuallycomposed, or have come down to us. They are,those of Cleopatra Queen of Egypt (126 lines),Thisbe of Babylon (218), Dido Queen of Carthage(442), Hypsipyle and Medea (312), Lucrece ofRome (206), Ariadne of Athens (340), Phiomela(167), Phyllis (168), and Hypermnestra (162).Prefixed to these stories, which are translated orimitated from Ovid, is a Prologue containing 579lines — the only part of the “Legend” given in thepresent edition. It is by far the most original, thestrongest, and most pleasing part of the poem; thedescription of spring, and of his enjoyment of thatseason, are in Chaucer’s best manner; and thepolitical philosophy by which Alcestis mitigates thewrath of Cupid, adds another to the aboundingproofs that, for his knowledge of the world,Chaucer fairly merits the epithet of “many-sided”which Shakespeare has won by his knowledge ofman.]
A THOUSAND times I have hearde tell,That there is joy in heav’n, and pain in hell;And I accord* it well that it is so; *grant, agreeBut, natheless, yet wot* I well also, *knowThat there is none dwelling in this countryThat either hath in heav’n or hell y-be;* *beenNor may of it no other wayes witten* *knowBut as he hath heard said, or found it written;For by assay* there may no man it preve.** *practical trial **prove, testBut God forbid but that men should believeWell more thing than men have seen with eye!Men shall not weenen ev’ry thing a lie*But if* himself it seeth, or else do’th; *unlessFor, God wot, thing is never the less sooth,* *trueThough ev’ry wighte may it not y-see.Bernard, the Monke, saw not all, pardie! <1>Then muste we to bookes that we find(Through which that olde thinges be in mind),And to the doctrine of these olde wise,Give credence, in ev’ry skilful* wise, *reasonableThat tellen of these old approved stories,Of holiness, of regnes,* of victories, *reigns, kingdomsOf love, of hate, and other sundry thingsOf which I may not make rehearsings;And if that olde bookes were away,Y-lorn were of all remembrance the key.Well ought we, then, to honour and believeThese bookes, where we have none other preve.* *proof
And as for me, though that I know but lite,* *littleOn bookes for to read I me delight,And to them give I faith and good credence,And in my heart have them in reverence,So heartily, that there is *game none* <2> *no amusement*That from my bookes maketh me to go’n,But it be seldom on the holyday;Save, certainly, when that the month of MayIs comen, and I hear the fowles sing,And that the flowers ginnen for to spring,Farewell my book and my devotion!
Now have I then such a condition,That, above all the flowers in the mead,Then love I most these flowers white and red,Such that men calle Day’s-eyes in our town;To them have I so great affectioun,As I said erst, when comen is the May,That in my bed there dawneth me no dayThat I n’am* up, and walking in the mead, *am notTo see this flow’r against the sunne spread,When it upriseth early by the morrow;That blissful sight softeneth all my sorrow,So glad am I, when that I have presenceOf it, to do it alle reverence,As she that is of alle flowers flow’r,Fulfilled of all virtue and honour,And ever alike fair, and fresh of hue;As well in winter, as in summer new,This love I ever, and shall until I die;All* swear I not, of this I will not lie, *althoughThere loved no wight hotter in his life.And when that it is eve, I runne blife,* *quickly, eagerlyAs soon as ever the sun begins to west,* *decline westwardTo see this flow’r, how it will go to rest,For fear of night, so hateth she darkness!Her cheer* is plainly spread in the brightness *countenanceOf the sunne, for there it will unclose.Alas! that I had English, rhyme or prose,Sufficient this flow’r to praise aright!But help me, ye that have *cunning or might;* *skill or power*Ye lovers, that can make of sentiment,In this case ought ye to be diligentTo further me somewhat in my labour,Whether ye be with the Leaf or the Flow’r; <3>For well I wot, that ye have herebeforeOf making ropen,* and led away the corn; <4> *reapedAnd I come after, gleaning here and there,And am full glad if I may find an earOf any goodly word that you have left.And though it hap me to rehearsen eft* *againWhat ye have in your freshe songes said,Forbeare me, and be not *evil apaid,* *displeased*Since that ye see I do it in th’honourOf love, and eke in service of the flow’rWhom that I serve as I have wit or might. <5>She is the clearness, and the very* light, *trueThat in this darke world me winds* and leads; *turns, guidesThe heart within my sorrowful breast you dreads,And loves so sore, that ye be, verily,The mistress of my wit, and nothing I.My word, my works, are knit so in your bond,That, as a harp obeyeth to the hand,That makes it sound after his fingering,Right so may ye out of my hearte bringSuch voice, right as you list, to laugh or plain;* *complain, mournBe ye my guide, and lady sovereign.As to mine earthly god, to you I call,Both in this work, and in my sorrows all.
But wherefore that I spake to give credenceTo old stories, and do them reverence,And that men muste more things believeThan they may see at eye, or elles preve,* *proveThat shall I say, when that I see my time;I may not all at ones speak in rhyme.My busy ghost,* that thirsteth always new *spiritTo see this flow’r so young, so fresh of hue,Constrained me with so greedy desire,That in my heart I feele yet the fire,That made me to rise ere it were day, —And this was now the first morrow of May, —With dreadful heart, and glad devotion,For to be at the resurrectionOf this flower, when that it should uncloseAgainst the sun, that rose as red as rose,That in the breast was of the beast* that day *the sign of the BullThat Agenore’s daughter led away. <6>And down on knees anon right I me set,And as I could this freshe flow’r I gret,* *greetedKneeling alway, till it unclosed was,Upon the smalle, softe, sweete grass,That was with flowers sweet embroider’d all,Of such sweetness and such odour *o’er all,* *everywhere*That, for to speak of gum, or herb, or tree,Comparison may none y-maked be;For it surmounteth plainly all odours,And for rich beauty the most gay of flow’rs.Forgotten had the earth his poor estateOf winter, that him naked made and mate,* *dejected, lifelessAnd with his sword of cold so sore grieved;Now hath th’attemper* sun all that releaved** *temperate **furnishedThat naked was, and clad it new again. anew with leavesThe smalle fowles, of the season fain,* *gladThat of the panter* and the net be scap’d, *draw-netUpon the fowler, that them made awhap’d* *terrified, confoundedIn winter, and destroyed had their brood,In his despite them thought it did them goodTo sing of him, and in their song despiseThe foule churl, that, for his covetise,* *greedHad them betrayed with his sophistry* *deceptionsThis was their song: “The fowler we defy,And all his craft:” and some sunge clearLayes of love, that joy it was to hear,In worshipping* and praising of their make;** *honouring **mateAnd for the blissful newe summer’s sake,Upon the branches full of blossoms soft,In their delight they turned them full oft,And sunge, “Blessed be Saint Valentine! <7>For on his day I chose you to be mine,Withoute repenting, my hearte sweet.”And therewithal their heals began to meet,Yielding honour, and humble obeisances,To love, and did their other observancesThat longen unto Love and to Nature;Construe that as you list, I *do no cure.* *care nothing*And those that hadde *done unkindeness,* *committed offenceAs doth the tidife, <8> for newfangleness, against natural laws*Besoughte mercy for their trespassingAnd humblely sange their repenting,And swore upon the blossoms to be true;So that their mates would upon them rue,* *take pityAnd at the laste made their accord.* *reconciliationAll* found they Danger** for a time a lord, *although **disdainYet Pity, through her stronge gentle might,Forgave, and made mercy pass arightThrough Innocence, and ruled Courtesy.But I ne call not innocence follyNor false pity, for virtue is the mean,As Ethic <9> saith, in such manner I mean.And thus these fowles, void of all malice,Accorded unto Love, and lefte viceOf hate, and sangen all of one accord,“Welcome, Summer, our governor and lord!”And Zephyrus and Flora gentillyGave to the flowers, soft and tenderly,Their sweete breath, and made them for to spread,As god and goddess of the flow’ry mead;In which me thought I mighte, day by day,Dwellen alway, the jolly month of May,Withoute sleep, withoute meat or drink.Adown full softly I began to sink,And, leaning on mine elbow and my sideThe longe day I shope* to abide, *resolved, preparedFor nothing elles, and I shall not lieBut for to look upon the daisy;That men by reason well it calle mayThe Daye’s-eye, or else the Eye of Day,The empress and the flow’r of flowers allI pray to God that faire may she fall!And all that love flowers, for her sake:But, nathelesse, *ween not that I make* *do not fancy that IIn praising of the Flow’r against the Leaf, write this poem*No more than of the corn against the sheaf;For as to me is lever none nor lother,I n’am withholden yet with neither n’other.<10>*Nor I n’ot* who serves Leaf, nor who the Flow’r; *nor do I know*Well *brooke they* their service or labour! *may they profit by*For this thing is all of another tun, <11>Of old story, ere such thing was begun.
When that the sun out of the south gan west,And that this flow’r gan close, and go to rest,For darkness of the night, the which she dread;* *dreadedHome to my house full swiftly I me sped,To go to rest, and early for to rise,To see this flower spread, as I devise.* *describeAnd in a little arbour that I have,That benched was of turfes fresh y-grave,* <12> *cut outI bade men shoulde me my couche make;For dainty* of the newe summer’s sake, *pleasureI bade them strowe flowers on my bed.When I was laid, and had mine eyen hid,I fell asleep; within an hour or two,Me mette* how I lay in the meadow tho,** *dreamed **thenTo see this flow’r that I love so and dread.And from afar came walking in the meadThe God of Love, and in his hand a queen;And she was clad in royal habit green;A fret* of gold she hadde next her hair, *bandAnd upon that a white corown she bare,With flowrons* small, and, as I shall not lie, *florets <13>For all the world right as a daisyY-crowned is, with white leaves lite,* *smallSo were the flowrons of her crowne white.For of one pearle, fine, oriential,Her white crowne was y-maked all,For which the white crown above the greenMade her like a daisy for to see’n,* *look uponConsider’d eke her fret of gold above.Y-clothed was this mighty God of LoveIn silk embroider’d, full of greene greves,* *boughsIn which there was a fret of red rose leaves,The freshest since the world was first begun.His gilt hair was y-crowned with a sun,lnstead of gold, for* heaviness and weight; *to avoidTherewith me thought his face shone so bright,That well unnethes might I him behold;And in his hand me thought I saw him holdTwo fiery dartes, as the gledes* red; *glowing coalsAnd angel-like his winges saw I spread.And *all be* that men say that blind is he, *although*Algate* me thoughte that he might well see; *at all eventsFor sternly upon me he gan behold,So that his looking *did my hearte cold.* *made my heartAnd by the hand he held this noble queen, grow cold*Crowned with white, and clothed all in green,So womanly, so benign, and so meek,That in this worlde, though that men would seek.Half of her beauty shoulde they not findIn creature that formed is by Kind;* *NatureAnd therefore may I say, as thinketh me,This song in praising of this lady free:
“Hide, Absolon, thy gilte* tresses clear; *goldenEsther, lay thou thy meekness all adown;Hide, Jonathan, all thy friendly mannere,Penelope, and Marcia Catoun,<14>Make of your wifehood no comparisoun;Hide ye your beauties, Isoude <15> and Helene;My lady comes, that all this may distain.* *outdo, obscure
“Thy faire body let it not appear,Lavine; <16> and thou, Lucrece of Rome town;And Polyxene, <17> that boughte love so dear,And Cleopatra, with all thy passioun,Hide ye your truth of love, and your renown;And thou, Thisbe, that hadst of love such painMy lady comes, that all this may distain.
“Hero, Dido, Laodamia, y-fere,* *togetherAnd Phyllis, hanging for Demophoon,And Canace, espied by thy cheer,Hypsipyle, betrayed by Jasoun,Make of your truthe neither boast nor soun’;Nor Hypermnestr’ nor Ariadne, ye twain;My lady comes, that all this may distain.”
This ballad may full well y-sungen be,As I have said erst, by my lady free;For, certainly, all these may not suffice*T’appaire with* my lady in no wise; *surpass in beautyFor, as the sunne will the fire distain, or honour*So passeth all my lady sovereign,That is so good, so fair, so debonair,I pray to God that ever fall her fair!For *n’hadde comfort been* of her presence, *had I not theI had been dead, without any defence, comfort of*For dread of Love’s wordes, and his cheer;As, when time is, hereafter ye shall hear.Behind this God of Love, upon the green,I saw coming of Ladies nineteen,In royal habit, a full easy pace;And after them of women such a trace,* *trainThat, since that God Adam had made of earth,The thirde part of mankind, or the ferth,* *fourth*Ne ween’d I not* by possibility, *I never fancied*Had ever in this wide world y-be;* *beenAnd true of love these women were each one.Now whether was that a wonder thing, or non,* *notThat, right anon as that they gan espyThis flow’r, which that I call the daisy,Full suddenly they stenten* all at once, *stoppedAnd kneeled down, as it were for the nonce,And sange with one voice, “Heal and honourTo truth of womanhead, and to this flow’r,*That bears our aller prize in figuring;* *that in its figure bearsHer white crowne bears the witnessing!” the prize from us all*And with that word, *a-compass enviroun* *all around in a ring*They sette them full softely adown.First sat the God of Love, and since* his queen, *afterwardsWith the white corowne, clad in green;And sithen* all the remnant by and by, *thenAs they were of estate, full courteously;And not a word was spoken in the place,The mountance* of a furlong way of space. *extent <18>
I, kneeling by this flow’r, in good intentAbode, to knowe what this people meant,As still as any stone, till, at the last,The God of Love on me his eyen cast,And said, “Who kneeleth there? “and I answer’dUnto his asking, when that I it heard,And said, “It am I,” and came to him near,And salued* him. Quoth he, “What dost thou here, *salutedSo nigh mine owen flow’r, so boldely?It were better worthy, truely,A worm to nighe* near my flow’r than thou.” *approach, draw nigh“And why, Sir,” quoth I, “an’ it liketh you?”“For thou,” quoth he, “art thereto nothing able,It is my relic,* dign** and delectable, *emblem <19> **worthyAnd thou my foe, and all my folk warrayest,* *molestest, censurestAnd of mine olde servants thou missayest,And hind’rest them, with thy translation,And lettest* folk from their devotion *preventestTo serve me, and holdest it follyTo serve Love; thou may’st it not deny;For in plain text, withoute need of glose,* *comment, glossThu hast translated the Romance of the Rose,That is a heresy against my law,And maketh wise folk from me withdraw;And of Cresside thou hast said as thee list,That maketh men to women less to trust,That be as true as e’er was any steel.Of thine answer *advise thee right weel;* *consider right well*For though that thou *renied hast my lay,* *abjured my lawAs other wretches have done many a day, or religion*By Sainte Venus, that my mother is,If that thou live, thou shalt repente this,So cruelly, that it shall well be seen.”
Then spake this Lady, clothed all in green,And saide, “God, right of your courtesy,Ye mighte hearken if he can replyAgainst all this, that ye have *to him meved;* *advanced against him*A godde shoulde not be thus aggrieved,But of his deity he shall be stable,And thereto gracious and merciable.* *mercifulAnd if ye n’ere* a god, that knoweth all, *were notThen might it be, as I you telle shall,This man to you may falsely be accused,Whereas by right him ought to be excused;For in your court is many a losengeour,* *deceiver <20>And many a *quaint toteler accusour,* *strange prating accuser <21>*That tabour* in your eares many a soun’, *drumRight after their imaginatioun,To have your dalliance,* and for envy; *pleasant conversation,These be the causes, and I shall not lie, companyEnvy is lavender* of the Court alway, *laundressFor she departeth neither night nor day <22>Out of the house of Caesar, thus saith Dant’;Whoso that go’th, algate* she shall not want. *at all eventsAnd eke, parauntre,* for this man is nice,** *peradventure **foolishHe mighte do it guessing* no malice; *thinkingFor he useth thinges for to make;* *compose poetryHim *recketh naught of * what mattere he take; *cares nothing for*Or he was bidden *make thilke tway* *compose those two*Of* some person, and durst it not withsay;* *by **refuse, denyOr him repenteth utterly of this.He hath not done so grievously amiss,To translate what olde clerkes write,As though that he of malice would endite,* *write down*Despite of* Love, and had himself it wrought. *contempt for*This should a righteous lord have in his thought,And not be like tyrants of Lombardy,That have no regard but at tyranny.For he that king or lord is naturel,Him oughte not be tyrant or cruel, <23>As is a farmer, <24> to do the harm he can;He muste think, it is his liegeman,And is his treasure, and his gold in coffer;This is the sentence* of the philosopher: *opinion, sentimentA king to keep his lieges in justice,Withoute doubte that is his office.All* will he keep his lords in their degree, — *althoughAs it is right and skilful* that they be, *reasonableEnhanced and honoured, and most dear,For they be halfe* in this world here, — *demigodsYet must he do both right to poor and rich,All be that their estate be not y-lich;* *alikeAnd have of poore folk compassion.For lo! the gentle kind of the lion;For when a fly offendeth him, or biteth,He with his tail away the flye smiteth,All easily; for of his gentery* *noblenessHim deigneth not to wreak him on a fly,As doth a cur, or else another beast.*In noble corage ought to be arrest,* *in a noble nature oughtAnd weighen ev’rything by equity, to be self-restraint*And ever have regard to his degree.For, Sir, it is no mastery for a lordTo damn* a man, without answer of word; *condemnAnd for a lord, that is *full foul to use.* *most infamous practice*And it be so he* may him not excuse, *the offenderBut asketh mercy with a dreadful* heart, *fearing, timidAnd proffereth him, right in his bare shirt,To be right at your owen judgement,Then ought a god, by short advisement,* *deliberationConsider his own honour, and his trespass;For since no pow’r of death lies in this case,You ought to be the lighter merciable;Lette* your ire, and be somewhat tractable! *restrainThis man hath served you of his cunning,* *ability, skillAnd further’d well your law in his making.* *composing poetryAlbeit that he cannot well endite,Yet hath he made lewed* folk delight *ignorantTo serve you, in praising of your name.He made the book that hight the House of Fame,And eke the Death of Blanche the Duchess,And the Parliament of Fowles, as I guess,And all the Love of Palamon and Arcite, <25>Of Thebes, though the story is known lite;* *littleAnd many a hymne for your holydays,That highte ballads, roundels, virelays.And, for to speak of other holiness,He hath in prose translated Boece, <26>And made the Life also of Saint Cecile;He made also, gone is a greate while,Origenes upon the Magdalene. <27>Him oughte now to have the lesse pain;* *penaltyHe hath made many a lay, and many a thing.Now as ye be a god, and eke a king,I your Alcestis, <28> whilom queen of Thrace,I aske you this man, right of your grace,That ye him never hurt in all his life;And he shall sweare to you, and that blife,* *quicklyHe shall no more aguilten* in this wise, *offendBut shall maken, as ye will him devise,Of women true in loving all their life,Whereso ye will, of maiden or of wife,And further you as much as he missaidOr* in the Rose, or elles in Cresseide.” *either
The God of Love answered her anon:“Madame,” quoth he, “it is so long agoneThat I you knew, so charitable and true,That never yet, since that the world was new,To me ne found I better none than ye;If that I woulde save my degree,I may nor will not warne* your request; *refuseAll lies in you, do with him as you lest.I all forgive withoute longer space;* *delayFor he who gives a gift, or doth a grace,Do it betimes, his thank is well the more; <29>And deeme* ye what he shall do therefor. *adjudgeGo thanke now my Lady here,” quoth he.I rose, and down I set me on my knee,And saide thus; “Madame, the God aboveForyielde* you that ye the God of Love *rewardHave made me his wrathe to forgive;And grace* so longe for to live, *give me graceThat I may knowe soothly what ye be,That have me help’d, and put in this degree!But truely I ween’d, as in this case,Naught t’ have aguilt,* nor done to Love trespass;** *offendedFor why? a true man, withoute dread, **offenceHath not *to parte with* a thieve’s deed. *any share in*Nor a true lover oughte me to blame,Though that I spoke a false lover some shame.They oughte rather with me for to hold,For that I of Cressida wrote or told,Or of the Rose, *what so mine author meant;* *made a true translation*Algate, God wot, it was mine intent *by all waysTo further truth in love, and it cherice,* *cherishAnd to beware from falseness and from vice,By such example; this was my meaning.”
And she answer’d; “Let be thine arguing,For Love will not counterpleaded be <30>In right nor wrong, and learne that of me;Thou hast thy grace, and hold thee right thereto.Now will I say what penance thou shalt doFor thy trespass;* and understand it here: *offenceThou shalt, while that thou livest, year by year,The moste partie of thy time spendIn making of a glorious LegendOf Goode Women, maidenes and wives,That were true in loving all their lives;And tell of false men that them betray,That all their life do naught but assayHow many women they may do a shame;For in your world that is now *held a game.* *considered a sport*And though thou like not a lover be, <31>Speak well of love; this penance give I thee.And to the God of Love I shall so pray,That he shall charge his servants, by any way,To further thee, and well thy labour quite:* *requiteGo now thy way, thy penance is but lite.And, when this book ye make, give it the queenOn my behalf, at Eltham, or at Sheen.”
The God of Love gan smile, and then he said:“Know’st thou,” quoth he, “whether this be wife or maid,Or queen, or countess, or of what degree,That hath so little penance given thee,That hath deserved sorely for to smart?But pity runneth soon in gentle* heart; <32> *nobly bornThat may’st thou see, she kitheth* what she is. *showethAnd I answer’d: “Nay, Sir, so have I bliss,No more but that I see well she is good.”“That is a true tale, by my hood,”Quoth Love; “and that thou knowest well, pardie!If it be so that thou advise* thee. *bethinkHast thou not in a book, li’th* in thy chest, *(that) liesThe greate goodness of the queen Alceste,That turned was into a daisyShe that for her husbande chose to die,And eke to go to hell rather than he;And Hercules rescued her, pardie!And brought her out of hell again to bliss?”And I answer’d again, and saide; “Yes,Now know I her; and is this good Alceste,The daisy, and mine own hearte’s rest?Now feel I well the goodness of this wife,That both after her death, and in her life,Her greate bounty* doubleth her renown. *virtueWell hath she quit* me mine affectioun *recompensedThat I have to her flow’r the daisy;No wonder is though Jove her stellify, <33>As telleth Agathon, <34> for her goodness;Her white crowne bears of it witness;For all so many virtues hadde sheAs smalle flowrons in her crowne be.In remembrance of her, and in honour,Cybele made the daisy, and the flow’r,Y-crowned all with white, as men may see,And Mars gave her a crowne red, pardie!Instead of rubies set among the white.”
Therewith this queen wax’d red for shame a liteWhen she was praised so in her presence.Then saide Love: “A full great negligenceWas it to thee, that ilke* time thou made *that same‘Hide Absolon thy tresses,’ in ballade,That thou forgot her in thy song to set,Since that thou art so greatly in her debt,And knowest well that calendar* is she *guide, exampleTo any woman that will lover be:For she taught all the craft of true loving,And namely* of wifehood the living, *especiallyAnd all the boundes that she ought to keep:Thy little wit was thilke* time asleep. *thatBut now I charge thee, upon thy life,That in thy Legend thou make* of this wife, *poetise, composeWhen thou hast other small y-made before;And fare now well, I charge thee no more.But ere I go, thus much I will thee tell, —Never shall no true lover come in hell.These other ladies, sitting here a-row,Be in my ballad, if thou canst them know,And in thy bookes all thou shalt them find;Have them in thy Legend now all in mind;I mean of them that be in thy knowing.For here be twenty thousand more sittingThan that thou knowest, goode women all,And true of love, for aught that may befall;Make the metres of them as thee lest;I must go home, — the sunne draweth west, —To Paradise, with all this company:And serve alway the freshe daisy.At Cleopatra I will that thou begin,And so forth, and my love so shalt thou win;For let see now what man, that lover be,Will do so strong a pain for love as she.I wot well that thou may’st not all it rhyme,That suche lovers didden in their time;It were too long to readen and to hear;Suffice me thou make in this mannere,That thou rehearse of all their life the great,* *substanceAfter* these old authors list for to treat; *according asFor whoso shall so many a story tell,Say shortly, or he shall too longe dwell.”
And with that word my bookes gan I take,And right thus on my Legend gan I make.
Thus endeth the Prologue.
Notes to The prologue to The Legend of Good Women
1. Bernard, the Monke, saw not all, pardie!: a proverbial saying,signifying that even the wisest, or those who claim to be thewisest, cannot know everything. Saint Bernard, who was thelast, or among the last, of the Fathers, lived in the first half ofthe twelfth century.
2. Compare Chaucer’s account of his habits, in “The House ofFame.”
- See introductory note to “The Flower and the Leaf.”
4. “ye have herebeforeOf making ropen, and led away the corn”The meaning is, that the “lovers” have long ago said all that canbe said, by way of poetry, or “making” on the subject. See note89 to “Troilus and Cressida” for the etymology of “making”meaning “writing poetry.”
- The poet glides here into an address to his lady.
6. Europa was the daughter of Agenores, king of Phrygia. Shewas carried away to Crete by Jupiter, disguised as a lovely andtame bull, on whose back Europa mounted as she was sportingwith her maidens by the sea-shore. The story is beautifully toldin Horace, Odes, iii. 27.
7. See “The Assembly of Fowls,” which was supposed tohappen on St. Valentine’s day.
8. The tidife: The titmouse, or any other small bird, whichsometimes brings up the cuckoo’s young when its own havebeen destroyed. See note 44 to “The Assembly of Fowls.”
- Ethic: the “Ethics” of Aristotle.
10. “For as to me is lever none nor lother,I n’am withholden yet with neither n’other.”i.e For as neither is more liked or disliked by me, I am notbound by, holden to, either the one or the other.
11. All of another tun i.e. wine of another tun — a quitedifferent matter.
12. Compare the description of the arbour in “The Flower andthe Leaf.”
13. Flowrons: florets; little flowers on the disk of the mainflower; French “fleuron.”
14. Mr Bell thinks that Chaucer here praises the complaisanceof Marcia, the wife of Cato, in complying with his will when hemade her over to his friend Hortensius. It would be in betterkeeping with the spirit of the poet’s praise, to believe that weshould read “Porcia Catoun” — Porcia the daughter of Cato,who was married to Brutus, and whose perfect wifehood hasbeen celebrated in The Franklin’s Tale. See note 25 to theFranklin’s Tale.
- Isoude: See note 21 to “The Assembly of Fowls”.
16. Lavine: Lavinia, the heroine of the Aeneid, who became thewife of Aeneas.
17. Polyxena, daughter of Priam, king of Troy, fell inlove with Achilles, and, when he was killed, she fled to theGreek camp, and slew herself on the tomb of her hero-lover.
18. Mountance: extent, duration. See note 84 to “The House ofFame”.
19. Relic: emblem; or cherished treasure; like the relics atthe shrines of saints.
20. Losengeour: deceiver. See note 31 to the Nun’s Priest’sTale.
21. “Toteler” is an old form of the word “tatler,” from theAnglo-Saxon, “totaelan,” to talk much, to tattle.
22. Envy is lavender of the court alway: a “lavender” is awasherwoman or laundress; the word represents “meretrice”inDante’s original — meaning a courtezan; but we can wellunderstand that Chaucer thought it prudent, and at the sametime more true to the moral state of the English Court, tochange the character assigned to Envy. He means that Envy isperpetually at Court, like some garrulous, bitter old womanemployed there in the most servile offices, who remains at herpost through all the changes among the courtiers. The passagecited from Dante will be found in the “Inferno,” canto xiii. 64 —69.
23. Chaucer says that the usurping lords who seized on thegovernment of the free Lombard cities, had no regard for anyrule of government save sheer tyranny — but a natural lord, andno usurper, ought not to be a tyrant.
24. Farmer: one who merely farms power or revenue for hisown purposes and his own gain.
25. This was the first version of the Knight’s tale. See theintroductory note, above
26. Boece: Boethius’ “De Consolatione Philosophiae;” to whichfrequent reference is made in The Canterbury Tales. See, forinstances, note 91 to the Knight’s Tale; and note 34 to theSquire’s Tale.
27. A poem entitled “The Lamentation of Mary Magdalene,”said to have been “taken out of St Origen,” is included in theeditions of Chaucer; but its authenticity, and consequently itsidentity with the poem here mentioned, are doubted.
28. For the story of Alcestis, see note 11 to “The Court ofLove.”
29. “For he who gives a gift, or doth a grace, Do it betimes, his thank is well the more”A paraphrase of the well-known proverb, “Bis dat qui cito dat.”(“He gives twice who gives promptly”)
30. The same prohibition occurs in the Fifteenth Statute of “TheCourt of Love.”
31. Chaucer is always careful to allege his abstinence from thepursuits of gallantry; he does so prominently in “The Court ofLove,” “The Assembly of Fowls,” and “The House of Fame.”
32. Pity runneth soon in gentle heart: the same is said ofTheseus, in The Knight’s Tale, and of Canace, by the falcon, inThe Squire’s Tale.
33. Stellify: assign to a place among the stars; as Jupiter did toAndromeda and Cassiopeia.
34. Agathon: there was an Athenian dramatist of this name,who might have made the virtues and fortunes of Alcestis histheme; but the reference is too vague for the author to beidentified with any confidence.