Chapter XXVII: Part 27

10297. James v. 16, ‘multum enim valet deprecatio iusti assidua.’

10301. Ex. xvii. 8 ff.

10306. ‘When he was a lowerer of his hands,’ the pres. part. being used as an adjective or substantive.

10311. 2 Chron. xx.

10324. There is nothing, so far as I know, corresponding with this reference. It is possible that the author may have mistaken the application of Jer. xxix. 7, where the Jews who are in captivity are bidden to pray for the peace of the city where they now dwell, namely Babylon. This occurs in close proximity with anticipations of an eventual return.

10335. Baruch i. 11.

10341. _Puisqu’il._ As ‘il’ for ‘ils’ is found in rhyme l. 25064, I have not altered it here: cp. 23922, 24635.

10347. The reference is not quite correct, for the decree of Cyrus was before the time of Ezra, though it did not take full effect until that time.

10358. 2 Macc. xii. 41-45.

10371. Ezra ix. f.

10374. _del oïr_, ‘in order to hear.’

10405. Isid. _Sent._ iii. 7. 8, ‘Pura est oratio quam in suo tempore saeculi non interveniunt curae; longe autem a Deo animus qui in oratione cogitationibus saeculi fuerit occupatus.’

10411. Aug. _in Ps._ cxviii., _Serm._ xxix. 1, ‘Clamor ad Dominum qui fit ab orantibus, si sonitu corporalis vocis fiat, non intento in Deum corde, quis dubitet inaniter fieri?’ Or _Serm._ lxxxviii. 12, ‘ne forte simus strepentes vocibus et muti moribus.’ Cp. 1194, 20547.

10441. Exod. xxiii. 15.

10450. ‘But he who bears himself humbly,’ &c. For this use of ‘qe’ cp. _Bal. Ded._ i. 1 ff.,

‘Q’en dieu se fie, il ad bel avantage.’

10453. 2 Chron. xxx f.

10467. Exod. xxxv.

10479. Num. xvi.

10498. I do not think that what follows will be found in Jerome. The classification of the seven deadly sins is of later date.

10505. ‘Lest Sloth should seize him’: the subjunctive was to be expected, but syntax gives way to rhyme.

10526 ff. Cp. Chaucer, _Pers. Tale_ 133 ff. (Skeat), where there are six causes which ought to move a man to contrition; but they are not quite the same as those which we have here.

10553. _Q’il n’en deschiece_, ‘lest he should fall by reason of it.’

10554. 1 Cor. x. 12.

10574. Luke vi. 21, much expanded.

10605. _solait_, for ‘soloit,’ which is used as a present in several passages, 15405, 20419.

10612. 2 Cor. xii. 2.

10623. Here and in 10628 we have a pause after the first half of the verse, with a superfluous syllable: see Introduction, p. xlv.

10637. _par semblance_, ‘as it were,’ implying that ‘morir’ is metaphorical.

10639. _pour despire_: I take ‘pour’ to be dependent on ‘commence,’ and to be used as a variation of ‘de’: cp. 6328, 10664, 11520, &c.

10642. _tant luy tarde_, as in Mod. French, ‘so eager is he.’

10643. _fait sentir_, ‘feels’: see note on 1135.

10649. _fait_ here, and in l. 10653, supplies the place of the verb ‘desire,’ like ‘doth’ or ‘does’ in English: see note on 1135.

10651. Cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 2238 ff., where, however, the connexion is different.

10669. _ot_, ‘there were’: so ‘ad’ is not uncommonly thus used for ‘il y a,’ e.g. 2174.

10707 ff. _la chalandre_. This bird, which seems to be a kind of lark, is mentioned also in _Bal._ xii. 1. Bozon, _Contes Moralizés_, p. 63, calls it ‘calabre,’ and says that if a man is ill, and they wish to know whether he will live or die, they may bring in this bird, and if it turns away from him, he will die. See M. Paul Meyer’s note on the passage.

10717. The story is probably taken from Solinus, who combines the story of the Arimaspians, as told by Herodotus and Pliny, with the account of the emeralds produced in the country: _Collect._ 15.

10718. ‘the land which is called Scythia.’

10747. _Pour nostre essample._ The idea that these things were _done_, not only related, for our example is merely an extension of the usual medieval view of Natural History.

10748. _nous attrait_, ‘teaches us,’ (‘brings before us’). For the various meanings of ‘attraire’ compare the following passages, 567, 1550, 14480, 16637, 17800, 21623, 23361.

St. Remigius does not, so far as I know, mention the story of the griffons and Arimaspians, but probably the following passage, where the truth is compared to a treasure, may be the one referred to: ‘Habemus namque magnum depositum fidei et doctrinae veritatis ... velut pretiosum multiplicem thesaurum divinitus nobis ad custodiendum commendatum: quem sine intermissione domino auxiliante delemus inspicere, extergere, polire atque excutere ac diligentissime servare, ne per incuriam et ignaviam nostram aut pulvere sordescat aut ... malignorum spirituum insidiis vel a nocturnis et occultis furibus effodiatur et deripiatur.’ (_De tenenda Script. Verit._ i. 1.)

10800. ‘And in it he rejoices’: ‘fait demener’ is equivalent to ‘demeine,’ and ‘demener ses joyes’ means ‘to rejoice,’ cp. 444, 5038, &c.

10801. Probably referring to Albertus Magnus _de Animalibus_, but I do not know the passage.

10813. This comparison does not appear to be in Isidore, though he gives much the same account as we have here of the origin of pearls. (Isid. _Etym._ xii. 6. 49). Isidore no doubt borrowed the story from Solinus (ch. 53), who had it indirectly from Pliny, _N. H._ ix. 54. In Bozon, _Contes Moralizés_, p. 41, we have the story with nearly the same application as here.

10882. ‘He who considers this’ &c.

10903. ‘That which pleases the one’ &c., the verb being used here with a direct object.

10909. Cp. _Bal._ xxx. 2, and _Conf. Am._ i. 515 ff.

10912. _remedie_: see note on 296.

10934. Prov. xxviii. 14.

10942. Cp. _Bal._ xx. 1.

10948. Ovid, _Pont._ iv. 3. 35. Cp. _Conf. Am._ vi. 1513, where the original Latin is quoted in the margin and attributed (as here) to ‘Oracius.’

10959. Perhaps a reminiscence of the line in _Pamphilus_, ‘Ex minima magnus scintilla nascitur ignis.’

10962. The quotation is really from Ovid, _Rem. Am._ 421, ‘Parva necat morsu spatiosum vipera taurum.’ It has perhaps been confused with Sen. _Dial._ i. 6. 8, ‘corpora opima taurorum exiguo concidunt volnere.’

10965. Ecclus. xix. 1, ‘qui spernit modica, paulatim decidet.’

10969. Ecclus. v. 4-9, ‘Ne dixeris: Peccavi, et quid mihi accidit triste?’ &c.

11004. ‘And it awaits them after their death.’

11018. 2 Kings xvii.

11020. _Evehi_ stands for the Avites, who are ‘Hevaei’ in the Latin version.

11044. August. _Ep._ cxl. (_De Grat. Nov. Test._) 21, and many other places.

11056. Probably Rom. viii. 15, with amplifications.

11065. _Quiconque ait_: there is an elision, though it is not indicated in the text.

11069. Esther iii ff.

11102. Matt. x. 28.

11114. Judith xi. 8, 9.

11126. Ps. xxv. (_Vulg._ xxiv.) 14, ‘Firmamentum est Dominus timentibus eum.’

11128. Ps. cxi. (_Vulg._ cx.) 5.

11137. Lev. xxvi. 2 ff.

11149. Lev. xxvi. 5.

11160. _arestu_, a past participle from the form ‘aresteir’, used here for the rhyme.

11177. Neh. i. 11.

11185. Tobit i. 10.

11191. Judith xvi. 19.

11197. Is. xix.

11203. _ly futur_, ‘they that should come after.’

11209. Deut. xxviii.

11221. Deut. xxviii. 58 ff.

11243. ‘There shall be no bodily fear by which’ &c.

11245. _pour deviser_, cp. 12852, so ‘a diviser’ 5031.

11305. Prov. xxiii. 34, amplified: ‘Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo.’

11309. _prist_: this tense is for the sake of the rhyme instead of ‘prent.’

11332. Job iv. 13.

11343. Luke xv. 11.

11354. _Tout quatre_: for this use of ‘tout’ with numerals cp. 11570, ‘Ad tout quatre oils.’ It seems to be an adverb, as in the expression ‘ove tout’ ll. 4, 12240, &c., and has no particular meaning apparently.

11396. _au fin que_, ‘until.’

11404. This ‘Mestre Helemauns’ is Hélinand, the monk of Froidmont, whose _Vers de la Mort_ were so popular in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The lines which are quoted here are quoted also in the _Somme des Vices et des Vertus_, with a slight difference of text. See M. Paul Meyer in _Romania_ i. 365, where a preliminary list of the MSS. is given. Death is supposed to be the speaker here, ‘Do away your mockery and your boasting, for many a man who thinketh himself sound and strong hath me already hatching within him.’ The usual reading is ‘Laissiez vos chiffles’ (or ‘chifflois’), but ‘Ostez’ and ‘trufes’ are also found in the MSS.

11410. ‘Death has warned thee of his tricks,’ because in the preceding lines Death is supposed to be the speaker.

11412. _atteins_, ‘caught unawares.’

11434. _a luy_, ‘to her,’ so 626, 2151, &c.

11466. _Dont_ here seems to stand for ‘que,’ as it does so commonly in a consecutive sense after ‘tant,’ ‘si,’ &c.

11504. _Mais d’une chose_, ‘except for one thing.’

11510. _sentence_, perhaps here ‘feeling of pain,’ ‘suffering.’

11520. _Pour venir_, after ‘assure,’ equivalent to ‘de venir’: see 6328.

11521. Ecclus. i. 22, 25, ‘Corona sapientiae, timor Domini ... Radix sapientiae est timere dominum.’

11535. Is. xxxiii. 6, ‘divitiae salutis sapientia et scientia: timor Domini ipse est thesaurus eius.’

11536. Ps. xiv. 4, ‘timentes autem Dominum glorificat.’

11540. Luke i. 50.

11548. Jer. x. 7, ‘Quis non timebit te, O Rex gentium? tuum est enim decus.’

11570. See note on 11354.

11572. Rev. iv. 6.

11600. That is, ‘everything depends, as it were, on the cast of the dice.’

11611. Ps. ci. (_Vulg._ c.) 7, ‘Non habitabit in medio domus meae qui facit superbiam.’

11616. ‘Which is a true child of Arrogance.’

11647. Rom. vi. 23.

11653. _ly discret_, i.e. Discretion.

11668. Eccles. iii. 19, ‘cuncta subiacent vanitati, et omnia pergunt ad unum locum.’

11671. Matt. xxiv. 35, &c.

11676. i.e, ‘His word of everlasting doctrine.’

11680. ‘Three things make me sure that the state of man’ &c., referring to what follows.

11685. Job xiv. 2.

11694. Cp. _Conf. Am._ iv. 1632 f.,

‘So that these heraldz on him crie,
“Vailant, vailant, lo, wher he goth!”’

11721 ff. ‘But as for man,... by reason of sin which holds possession of his body, hell retains the soul for ever.’ For ‘celle’ see note on 301.

11724. _fait a despire_, ‘it is right to loathe’: see note on 1883.

11728. _pour sa maisoun_, like ‘de sa maisoun,’ ‘as regards his house.’ See 2 Kings xx.

11770. It is likely enough that Cassiodorus says something of this kind in his official letters, but it is hardly worth while to search for it. Expressions such as, ‘Multo melius proficitur, si bonis moribus serviatur,’ are common enough.

11822. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 299.

11846. John iv. 14: but it was said actually to the woman of Samaria, not to the disciples.

11848. _au tiel exploit_, ‘in such a manner’: properly ‘with such success (_or_ result).’

11865. _desjoint_: so in Chaucer, _Troilus_ iii. 496, ‘Or of what wight that stant in swich disjoynte.’

11866. _je quidoie_: cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 7666, ‘Til ate laste he seith, “I wende.”’

11898. Ps. cxli. (_Vulg._ cxl.) 3, ‘Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo, et ostium circumstantiae labiis meis.’

11939. Perhaps the word is ‘enguarise.’

11978. Ecclus. xxxii. 14, ‘Ante grandinem praeibit coruscatio: et ante verecundiam praeibit gratia, et pro reverentia accedet tibi bona gratia.’

11989. 1 Tim. ii. 9.

11995. Ecclus. vii. 21, ‘gratia enim verecundiae illius super aurum.’

12003. Job iii. 25, ‘quod verebar accidit.’

12006. Ps. xliv. 15 (_Vulg._ xliii. 16), ‘Tota die verecundia mea contra me est.’

12025. Gen. ix. 22.

12038. _doit_: cp. 12669, and see note on 1193.

12044. Judith xii. 12 ff.

12056. Luke xii. 3.

12140. _ne fais souffrir_, ‘you do not endure.’

12161. Deut. xvii. 12.

12169. Eph. vi. 2 ff.

12180. _demeine_, an adjective, ‘thine _own_ profit.’

12188. Ecclus. iv. 7, ‘presbytero humilia animam tuam, et magnato humilia caput tuum.’

12200. Perhaps Rom. x. 9 f.

12202. Heb. xi. 6.

12206. Heb. x. 38.

12209. Mark xvi. 16, 18.

12217 ff. Cp. Heb. xi.

12228. _De Abraham_: for the hiatus cp. 12241, ‘De Isaak,’ 27367, ‘De Ire,’ and _Bal._ xxxiv. 3, ‘De Alceone.’

12238. Eccles. iv. 17.

_fait a loer_: see note on 1883.

12240. _ove tout_, ‘together with,’ cp. l. 4.

12241. _De Isaak_: there is no elision, and ‘Isaak’ is a trisyllable. For the hiatus cp. 27367 ‘De Ire, Accidie et Gloutenie.’

12254. _pour foy_, equivalent apparently to ‘par foy’ 12293 ff., see Heb. xi. 23.

12289. Heb. xi. 33 ff.

12296. _des ces lyons_, i.e. de les lyons: see note on 301.

12303. 1 John v. 4 f.

12326. Eccles. iv. 12.

12331. _du grein ou goute_, ‘in any way whatsoever.’

12347. _le plus_, ‘the more,’ see note on 2700.

12350. The reference belongs apparently to the next line, ‘Him whom wind and sea obey,’ and presumably it is to Mark iv. 41; but, if so, there seems no reason for referring to St. Mark rather than to the Gospels generally.

12356. Ps. cxviii. 9.

12361. Seneca, _Ep._ lxxxviii. 29, ‘Fides sanctissimum humani pectoris bonum est, nulla necessitate ad fallendum cogitur, nullo corrumpitur praemio.’

12373. James ii. 14-20.

12406. Supply ‘porte’ from the next line: ‘he carries equally corn or beans.’

12409. Seneca, _Ep._ xxxvii. 4, ‘Si vis omnia tibi subicere, te subice rationi.’

12440. _appara_ is future, cp. 1140; used here in the sense of command, ‘it shall not appear,’ ‘obeie’ above, and ‘requiere’ below, being subjunctive in imperative sense, ‘let a man obey,’ &c.

12448. Bed. _in Luc._ xi., ‘Clavis scientiae humilitas Christi est.’

12452. This is a reference to the series of maxims attributed to Ptolemy and prefixed in many MSS. and early printed editions to the Almagest. See the paper in _Anglia_ xviii. pp. 133-140, by E. Flügel, who prints the whole set of sayings and shews that the Almagest references in the _Roman de la Rose_ and in Chaucer are to these. We have here a reference to the ninth in order, ‘Qui inter sapientes humilior est, sapientior existit, sicut locus profundior magis abundat aquis aliis lacunis.’

12464 ff. Cp. _Bal._ xxxviii. 1.

12505. The adjective ‘vrais’ seems here to fill the place of an adverb.

12518. Ecclus. iii. 20.

12520. Prov. xvi. 19.

12528. _compleindre le contraire_, ‘bewail thy disobedience to it.’

12529. Luke xiv. 11.

12565 ff. The story may be found in the _Legenda Aurea_. St. Macarius was a recluse of Upper Egypt, who is described as ‘ingeniosus contra daemonis fallaciam.’ Several of his personal encounters with the devil are recorded in legend: cp. l. 20905.

12577. _je te vois passant_, ‘I surpass you’: ‘vois’ for ‘vais,’ as often.

12601. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 3103 ff.

12624. _privé_, substantive, ‘intimate friend.’

12628. The reference is to the ‘Benedicite,’ Dan. (_Vulg._) iii. 58 ff.

12664. Perhaps 1 Pet. iii. 12.

12668. Ecclus. xv. 9, ‘Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris.’

12669. _Q’om doit_, ‘that one should,’ &c., see note on 1193.

12674. Ps. li. 15, (_Vulg._ l. 17).

12681. Ps. lvi. 10, 11, (_Vulg._ lv. 11).

12685. The reference to Judith is wrong: it should be to Esther (_Vulg._) xiii. 17, ‘ut viventes laudemus nomen tuum, Domine.’

12689. Ps. cxv. 17.

12696. _plier_, ‘turn away (from us).’

12697. The form ‘fas’ is presumably for the rhyme.

12709. Probably Ecclus. xliv. 1.

12725. ‘Vox populi, vox Dei.’

12727. See below on 12733. The _Disticha_ of Dionysius Cato are supposed to be addressed to the author’s son.

12732. _le puet celer avant_, ‘can continue to conceal it,’ i.e. ‘can conceal it for ever.’

12733. Cato, _Distich._ ii. 16,

‘Nec te conlaudes, nec te culpaveris ipse;
Hoc faciunt stulti, quos gloria vexat inanis.’

12754. 1 Cor. xi. 2, 17.

12775. _Ainz que voir sciet_, &c., ‘But what she truly knows in the matter,’ &c.

12780. Cp. 1416.

12835. Zephaniah iii. 19.

12850 f. _en son affaire_, ‘for his part’: ‘secretaire’ means ‘private adviser,’ ‘privy-councillor.’

12852. _pour deviser_, ‘to describe him,’ i.e. ‘if one would describe him rightly’: cp. 11245.

12855. _cuillante_: the participles are here inflected as adjectives; so ‘flairante,’ ‘fuiante,’ ‘considerante.’ Perhaps ‘bien parlante’ and ‘volante’ may be regarded as really adjectives; but, even so, the author would have had no scruple in saying ‘parlant,’ ‘volant,’ if it had been more convenient.

12856. _de nature_, ‘by nature.’

12865. ‘Solyns’ seems to be a false reference: the statement may be found in Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 23.

12877. Ps. lxxiv. (_Vulg._ lxxiii.) 21, ‘Ne avertatur humilis factus confusus: pauper et inops laudabunt nomen tuum.’

12885 f. ‘And (whereby) in this life neighbours are honourable each to other.’

12925. Luke xv. 8, ‘si perdiderit drachmam unam,’ &c.

12926. _ert conjoÿs_, ‘was rejoiced with,’ a transitive use which we find also in l. 12934, where ‘luy’ stands for direct object, as often. The form ‘_conjoÿs_’ here is an example of that sacrifice of grammar to rhyme which is so frequent.

13005. _Du tiele enprise_, &c., ‘for having accomplished such an enterprise.’

13008. _ses amys_: the old subject-form of the possessive, cp. ‘mes,’ ‘tes,’ 9782, _Bal._ iv*. 3.

13021. Cp. _Conf. Am._ ii. 1772 ff.

13026. ‘So that defeated and taken he led him away.’

13037. _Tout fuist que_, ‘albeit that’: apparently an imitation of the English expression.

13040. Rom. xii. 15.

13056. ‘Whom this example does not bring back to the path.’

13064. ‘Makes endeavour to supplant them,’ i.e. ‘la bonne gent.’

13122. _Redrescer_, ‘correct’ by punishment, as we see by the last lines of the stanza.

13129. Sen. _de Benef._ vii. 25.

13173. _je m’en vois dessassentant_, ‘I disagree.’

13178. Prov. xxvii. 6.

13204. _au droit deviser_, ‘to speak aright’: cp. 5031.

13264 ff. ‘For, simply because she loves God, no adversity of present pain can harm her.’

13301. _ou balance_, i.e. ‘au balance.’

13302. Cp. 25607.

13309. This is Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspa in the sixth century. The passage quoted is from _Serm._ iii. 6, ‘Caritas igitur est omnium fons et origo bonorum, munimen egregium, via quae ducit ad caelum,’ &c. He is cited also in l. 13861, but there I cannot give the reference.

13333. Greg. _Hom. in Ezech._ vii. It is a commentary on Ezek. xl.

13361. Cp. Isid. _Etym._ xvii. 7. 33, ‘Lignum vero iucundi odoris est, nec a tinea unquam exterminatur.’

13435. The philosopher here may be supposed to be Socrates, of whom the Middle Ages knew next to nothing except as a patient husband: cp. 4168.

13441. Phil. iv. 5, ‘Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus.’

13475 f. ‘And yet she does not omit to punish according to right.’

13485. Cato, _Distich._ i. 3,

‘Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam:
Proximus ille deo est, qui scit ratione tacere.’

13498 ff. ‘If anyone should take note of good and ill, he would often see experience of both’: that is, of endurance leading to honour, and of failure to endure leading to loss of honour. Perhaps we should read ‘en prenderoit,’ ‘take note of it, of the good and the evil,’ &c.

13503. _en la fin_: the MS. has ‘en fin,’ but a correction is required for the metre and ‘en la fin’ is used elsewhere, e.g. 15299.

13528. ‘who being spiritual renders good for evil,’ &c.

13537. Aug. _Epist._ clv. 15, and other places.

13514. _Dame Pacience_: see note on 6733.

13550. _a soy mesmes_, ‘for his own part,’ i.e. speaking of himself.

13554. _a ce que soie_, ‘in order that I might be.’

13578. Eph. iv. 15 f.

13586. _dont sont tenant_, ‘from whom they hold,’ in the feudal sense.

13606. Matt. v. 46.

13669. Sen. _de Mor._ 16, ‘Quod tacitum esse velis, nemini dixeris. Si tibi ipsi non imperasti, quomodo ab aliis silentium speras?’

13675. Petr. Alph. _Disc. Cler._ ii., ‘Consilium absconditum quasi in carcere tuo est retrusum; revelatum vero te in carcere suo tenet ligatum.’

13686. Ecclus. xiii. 1.

13695. ‘Pro amico occidi melius quam cum inimico vivere’: quoted as ‘Socrates’ in Caec. Balbus, _Nug. Phil._ p. 25 (ed. Woelfflin).

13713. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 109.

13717. Ecclus. vi. 15, ‘Amico fideli nulla est comparatio, et non est digna ponderatio auri et argenti contra bonitatem fidei illius.’

13732. Ambr. _de Spir. Sanct._ ii. 154, ‘Unde quidam interrogatus quid amicus esset, Alter, inquit, ego.’

13741. The reference no doubt is to 2 Tim. iii. 2, ‘Erunt homines seipsos amantes,’ &c. The explanation suggested by our author of the double word ‘se-ipsos’ is that these men would love themselves with a double love, that due to God and that due to their neighbour.

13779. ‘But it is a covetous bargain.’

13798. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 120 ff.

13805. 1 John iii. 14.

13853. Ps. cxxxiii. 1.

13893. _qui descorde_, ‘whosoever may be at variance.’

13897. _paciente_, ‘of Patience.’

13918. Cassiod. _Var._ xii. 13, ‘Pietas siquidem principum totum custodit imperium’: cp. l. 23059, and _Conf. Am._ vii. 3161*.

13921. The saying is thus quoted in the _Liber Consolationis_ of Albertano: ‘Omnium etenim se esse verum dominum comprobat, qui verum se servum pietatis demonstrat.’ Cp. l. 23055, and _Conf. Am._ vii. 3137. The story connected with it is told in the _Legenda Aurea_, ‘De sancto Silvestro.’

13929. James ii. 13: cp. _Conf. Am._ vii. 3149*.

13947. ‘But it is never less worthy in consequence of this.’ The alteration to ‘n’est meinz vailable’ is not necessary, for ‘ja’ is sometimes used for ‘never’ without the negative particle, e.g. 10856.

13953. 1 Tim. iv. 8, ‘Pietas autem ad omnia utilis est.’ The original of ‘pietas’ is εὐσέβεια.

13964. _dont elle est pure_, ‘of which she is wholly composed.’

14014. ‘That I may not be bent by adversity,’ the reflexive verb in a passive sense.

14017. Ps. xxxvi. 39, &c.

14026. For ‘deinzeine’ see Skeat’s _Etymol. Dict._ under ‘denizen,’ where it is pointed out that ‘deinzein’ was a term legally used ‘to denote the trader within the privileges of the city franchise as opposed to “forein.”’ Here ‘la deinzeine’ is the inner part of man’s nature, the soul, as opposed to that which is without (‘forein’).

14042. Perhaps 1 Pet. i. 6, 7: cp. Ecclus. ii. 5.

14105. The adjective ‘regente’ seems to be used as a participle with ‘et corps et alme’ as object, ‘ruling both body and soul.’

14126. _souleine._ Genders of course are of no consequence in comparison with rhymes.

14134. _ly autre seculer_, ‘the secular priests also,’ those mentioned above being regular.

14143. See note on 5266.

14155. Matt. xxiv. 46.

14163. Matt. xxvi. 41. The interpretation here put upon the latter part of the verse is curious, and not authorised by the Latin: ‘Spiritus quidem promptus est, caro autem infirma.’

14172. _ce que faire doit_, ‘that which he ought to guard,’ ‘faire’ being used to supply the place of the verb, as so often: cp. 14133 f.

14197. _celle de Peresce_, i.e. the vice of indolence, cp. 253.

14209. Sen. _Ep._ lxxiv. 13, ‘magnanimitas, quae non potest eminere, nisi omnia velut minuta contempsit.’

14255. Apparently ‘honnesteté’ means here ‘honourable deed.’

14262. _par chivallerie_, ‘in warfare’: cp. 15111.

14296. Sen. _Ep._ lix. 18, ‘Quod non dedit fortuna, non eripit.’

14307. _quelle part soit_, for ‘quelle part que soit,’ ‘wherever,’ or ‘on whichever side’; so ‘combien’ in l. 14310 for ‘combien que,’ ‘however much.’

14343. Perhaps Sen. _Ep._ lxvii. 10, ‘constantia, quae deici loco non potest et propositum nulla vi extorquente dimittit.’

14365. 1 Cor. ix. 24, ‘omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bravium.’

14392. Matt. x. 22.

14413. Cp. Prov. xxx. 8. There is nothing exactly like it in the book of Tobit.

14425. 2 Thess. iii. 10.

14434 f. _cil qui serra_, &c., ‘if a man be industrious, it will avail him much.’

14437. Ps. cxxviii. 2.

14440. A proverb, meaning that God helps those who help themselves.

14443. 1 Kings xix.

14449. The reference is to a dramatic love-poem in Latin elegiac verse with the title _Pamphilus_, or _Pamphilus de Amore_, which was very popular in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Pamphilus (or Panphylus) is the name of the lover who sustains the chief part, but others besides Gower have supposed it to be also the name of the author. The line referred to here is,

‘Prouidet et tribuit deus et labor omnia nobis,’ (f. 6 v^o).

I quote from a copy of a rare fifteenth-century edition (without date or place, but supposed to have been printed about 1490 at Rome), in the Douce collection, Bodleian Library. It has the title ‘Panphylus de amore,’ and ends, ‘Explicit amorem per tractus (i.e. pertractans) Panphyli codex.’ The book is not without some merit of its own, though to a great extent it is an imitation of Ovid. It is quoted several times by Albertano of Brescia in his _Liber Consolationis_, and was evidently regarded as a serious authority: see Chaucer’s _Tale of Melibee_, which is ultimately derived from the _Liber Consolationis_. It is referred to also in the _Frankeleins Tale_, 381 f.,

‘Under his brest he bar it more secree
Than ever did Pamphilus for Galathee.’

14462. _au labourer covient_, ‘it is necessary to labour.’

14466. ‘Whoso wishes,’ &c., i.e. ‘if a man wishes’: see note on 1244.

14473. _dispense_, ‘deals favourably’: cp. l. 1400.

14496. _le meulx_: see note on 2700.

14551. Matt. vi. 33.

14568. The alteration of ‘contemplacioun’ to ‘contempler,’ used as a substantive as in l. 10699, is the simplest way of restoring the metre: but cp. 3116, and _Bal._ xxvii. 1.

14581. Isid. _Diff._ ii. 153.

14619. Rom. xii. 3, ‘Non plus sapere quam oportet sapere, sed sapere ad sobrietatem.’

14623. Bern. _Serm. in Cant._ xxxvi. 4, ‘Cibus siquidem indigestus ... et corrumpit corpus et non nutrit. Ita et multa scientia ingesta stomacho animae,’ &c.

14653. Bern. _Serm. in Cant._ xxxvi. 3, ‘Sunt namque qui scire volunt eo fine tantum ut sciant, et turpis curiositas est. Et sunt qui scire volunt ut sciantur ipsi, et turpis vanitas est.’

14670. A reference to the story of St. Jerome being chastised in a dream by an angel because he studied the style of his writing overmuch, and was becoming ‘Ciceronianus’ rather than ‘Christianus.’

14701. For the four bodily temperaments, cp. _Conf. Am._ vii. 393 ff.

14707. ‘If I be tempered so as to be phlegmatic’: cp. _Bal._ l. 2, ‘Ceo q’ainz fuist aspre, amour le tempre suef.’

14725. This refers to the so-called ‘Salvatio Romae,’ the story of which is told (for example) in the _Seven Sages_.

14730. _fesoit avant_, ‘he proceeded to make’: cp. 17310, 18466, 20537.

14757. An absolute construction, ‘with the sword of penitence in his hand.’

14769. _en tiel devis_, answered by ‘Dont,’ ‘in the manner by which,’ &c.

14776. I do not understand this. ‘Malgré le soen’ might perhaps mean ‘in spite of itself,’ as ‘malgré soen’ is sometimes used, but how about ‘de sa casselle’?

14797. 1 John iv. 1.

14812. Ecclus. xxxii. 24.

14833. It is needless to say that Boethius gives no such directions. They are the usual questions of the priest in enjoining penance, ‘Quis, quid, ubi, per quos, quotiens, quomodo, quando’: cp. Myrc’s _Instructions for Parish Priests_ (E.E.T.S. 1868). The name of ‘Boece’ perhaps crept in by accident in the place of some other, because the writer had in his mind the quotation given at 14899.

14854. _qu’il est atteins_, ‘to which he has reached,’ i.e. ‘in which he is.’

14862. _forain_, here used in opposition to ‘benoit,’ ‘sacred,’ meaning that which is outside the consecrated limits.

14899. This is from Boethius, _Cons. Phil._ i. Pr. 4, ‘Si operam medicantis expectas, oportet ut vulnus detegas tuum.’

14901. _Sicomme la plaie_, &c. This seems to depend on ‘descoverir,’ ‘how large and grievous the wound is.’

14932. _Y falt_, ‘there is needed.’

14945 f. ‘According to the exact measure of the delight taken in the sin.’ I do not know the passage referred to.

14947. ‘But as to the meditation which intercession for sin makes,’ &c.

14951. Bern. _Serm. de Div._ xl. 5, ‘Tertius gradus est dolor, sed et ipse trina legatione connexus,’ &c.

14961. _om doubteroit_, ‘one ought to fear’: see note on 1688.

14973. ‘and has reflected with a tender heart.’ This position of ‘et’ is quite usual; see note on 415.

15088. _qant ot fait le tour_, &c., ‘when he had done the deed of denying his creator.’

15090. Matt. xxvi. 75.

15110. Job vii. 1, ‘Militia est vita hominis super terram.’ Not the same in A. V.

15194. These are the opening words of the Institutions of Justinian: ‘Iustitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius suum cuique tribuens.’

15205. The sense of this might easily be got from Plato, but of course the citation is not at first hand.

15217. _Civile_ is no doubt ‘la loy civile,’ referred to in 14138, 15194, &c. We find ‘Civile’ as here in l. 16092 in a connexion which leaves no doubt of its meaning, and again 22266. Civile, it will be remembered, is a personage in _Piers Plowman_.

15227. Cp. _Trait._ xviii. 3, ‘Deinz son recoi la conscience exponde.’

15241. Aug. _de Mus._ vi. 37, ‘Haec igitur affectio animae vel motus, quo intelligit aeterna, et his inferiora esse temporalia,... et haec appetenda potius quae superiora sunt, quam illa quae inferiora esse nouit, nonne tibi prudentia videtur?’

15253. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 463 ff.

15260. Matt. x. 16.

15266 ff. The use of the future in these lines is analogous to that noticed in the note on 1184, ‘We must extend,’ &c.

15326. _cil Justice_, ‘those judges.’

15336. _en Galice_: a reference to the shrine of St. James at Compostella and the rich offerings made there.

15337. This might be a reference to Aristotle, _Eth. Nic._ v. 3, but of course it is not taken at first hand.

15371. ‘Even though he should have to pay double the (usual) price,’ i.e. for the food that he gave to the poor in time of dearth.

15383 f. ‘He will not neglect by such payment to keep his neighbour from ruin.’

15396. _tant du bienfait_, ‘so many benefits,’ ‘du’ as usual for ‘de.’

15445. Tobit iv. 7.

15448. Prov. iii. 9.

15459. 1 Kings xvii.

15463. ‘As Elisha prophesied’: but it is in fact Elijah, not Elisha, of whom the story is told.

15470. Tobit xii. 12 ff.

15475. Acts x.

15486. Luke xxi. 2.

15500. _du quoy doner._ Here ‘du quoy’ is used like the modern ‘de quoi,’ and so elsewhere, e.g. 15819, and ‘quoy’ 15940; but sometimes we have ‘du quoy dont,’ e.g. 3339, where it seems to pass from an interrog. pron. into a substantive, and ‘quoy’ is used simply as a substantive in some passages, e.g. 1781, 12204, meaning ‘thing’: cp. the use of ‘what’ in English, _Conf. Am._ i. 1676.

15505. See note on l. 7640. The reference here is to Godfrey of Winchester, _Ep._ clxiv, ‘Si donas tristis, et dona et praemia perdis.’

15522. Prov. xxi. 13, ‘Qui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, et ipse clamabit et non exaudietur.’

15529. 2 Cor. ix. 7.

15533. Sen. _de Ben._ ii. 1, ‘nulla res carius constat, quam quae precibus empta est.’

15538 f. The logical sequence is somewhat inverted: it means, ‘Hence a reluctant giver gets no reward, for his gift is bought at so high a price.’

15563. _par sa ruine S’en vole_ means perhaps, ‘he precipitated himself from his place and flew away.’

15566. Is. lxvi. 1, 2: but the quotation is not exact.

15578. Job xxvii. 8; but, as in the quotation above from Isaiah, something is added to make a special application. The original is only, ‘Quae est enim spes hypocritae, si avare rapiat?’ with no mention of almsgiving.

15593. Jer. xii. 13, but again the quotation has its special application given by our author. The original is ‘Seminaverunt triticum et spinas messuerunt:... confundemini a fructibus vestris propter iram furoris Domini.’

15613. Ecclus. iii. 33.

15627. Matt. xxv. 14 ff. For the word ‘besant’ in this connexion cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 1930.

15650. Ecclus. xiv. 13 ff.

15662. Prov. xix. 17.

15665. Matt. xxv. 40, compared with x. 42.

15674. Tobit xii. 8.

15680. Ps. xli. 1.

15691. Is. lviii. 7 ff.

15711. Dan. iv. 24, ‘peccata tua eleemosynis redime, et iniquitates tuas misericordiis pauperum.’

15756. ‘is for a rich man to turn to poverty.’

15757. This story will be found in any Life of St. Nicholas.

15776. Prov. xxi. 14.

15788. Ecclus. xx. 32 f.

15793 ff. ‘This, in short, is a great charity,--he who has more knowledge or power, when he sees his neighbour in distress from a burden too heavy for him, ought to give him aid, and speedily,’ &c.

15801. Galat. vi. 2.

15808. Acts iii. 6.

15817. _du petit poy_: cp. _Bal._ xxviii, ‘Om voit sovent de petit poi doner.’

15821. _lée_: a form (properly fem.) of ‘let,’ from Lat. ‘latus,’ equivalent to ‘large,’ 15824, to be distinguished from ‘liet,’ ‘lée,’ from ‘laetus.’

15822. _allegger_, ‘allege as an excuse’ (allegare); to be distinguished from ‘allegger,’ ‘alleviate.’

15867. Matt. xix. 29.

15941. _sur tiele gent et toy_: apparently for ‘sur toy et tiele gent,’ ‘on thyself and on such people as thou shalt see most worthy of thy liberality.’

15949. See note on 7640. The reference here is to Godfrey of Winchester, _Ep._ cx.,

‘Ne noceas tibi, sic aliis prodesse memento.’

15954. Cic. _de Off._ i. 43, ‘Videndum est igitur ut ea liberalitate utamur, quae prosit amicis, nemini noceat,’ &c.

15963. ‘Attemprance’ however is already in the retinue of Justice, see 15232, and ‘Discrecioun,’ who is the third daughter of Humility, 11562, and therefore herself the mistress of a household, is also in the employ of Abstinence, 16323.

15985. Ps. xx. 4 (_Vulg._ xix. 5), ‘Tribuat tibi secundum cor tuum,’ the meaning of which is not what our author supposes.

15997. Cic. _de Off._ i. 21, ‘Sunt autem privata nulla natura ... naturam debemus ducem sequi, communes utilitates in medium afferre,’ &c.

16011. Matt. xiv. 15 ff.

16022. Matt. xxii. 21.

16025. Gen. xxviii. 22.

16026. _ainçois_, often used, as here, for ‘but.’

16045. Ecclus. xli. 15, but the special application is by our author.

16060. Prov. xxii. 1.

16073. The cry of heralds was ‘Largesce!’ addressed to the knights whose prowess they recorded. Here the poor with their cry of ‘Largesce!’ are the heralds by whom the praise of the liberal man is brought before the throne of God.

16092. ‘By breach of Canon law or Civil.’

16100. Cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 207 ff., where the ‘letters’ are also mentioned.

16138. The MS. has ‘Sa viele loy,’ which can hardly stand.

16181. _de celles s’esvertue_, ‘strives after these,’ that is the offspring of ‘Franchise’: cp. 16237.

16192. _comblera_: fut. for subj. in dependent command, as 416, 1184, &c.

16203 ff. This passage seems to need some emendation. Perhaps we might read ‘est’ for ‘a’ in l. 16203, and ‘Les’ for ‘Des’ in 16206, setting a colon after ‘trahi.’ But I have no confidence that this is what the author intended.

16231. _pour temptacioun_, perhaps ‘because of temptation,’ i.e. to avoid it.

16285. _Quiconque_, ‘He whom.’

16288. _asseine_, ‘approaches,’ i.e. drinks.

16303. _des tieus delices savourer_, ‘from tasting such delicacies’: cp. 5492, ‘des perils ymaginer’ and often elsewhere.

16327. _toute voie_, nevertheless, like the modern ‘toutefois.’

16338. _parentre deux_, ‘between two things’: cp. 1178, _Bal._ xxvii. 4, &c. In the Table of Contents ‘parentre deux’ seems to be for ‘parentre d’eux,’ and so it might be in some other places, e.g. _Trait._ xv. 2, as ‘entre d’eux’ in _Mir._ 874; but this is not the case in 1178, nor probably in the other passages where it occurs.

16347. Greg. _Reg. Past._ iii. 19, ‘Non enim Deo sed sibi quisque ieiunat, si ea quae ventri ad tempus subtrahit non egenis tribuit, sed ventri postmodum offerenda custodit.’

16360. Isid. _Sent._ ii. 44. 8, ‘Qui autem a cibis abstinent et prave agunt, daemones imitantur, quibus esca non est et nequitia semper est.’

16381. _son pour quoy_, ‘his purpose,’ that is, the object of his life.

16425. Ecclus. xxxi. 35 ff.

16506. That is, he will not exceed his income.

16513. Luke xiv. 28.

16524. _oultrage_, ‘extravagance,’ of boasting or expense.

16532. Cp. 15499.

16535. _au commun_, ‘for the common good’: cp. 14574.

16539. _orine_: properly ‘origin,’ hence ‘stock,’ ‘race,’ (‘de franche orine,’ ‘ceux de ourine ou ancieneté,’ Godefr.). Here it is almost equivalent to ‘offspring.’

16541. _Qui bien se cure_, ‘if a man takes good heed’: note on 1244.

16597 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 299 ff.,

‘For tho be proprely the gates,
Thurgh whiche as to the herte algates
Comth alle thing unto the feire,
Which may the mannes Soule empeire.’

The substance of the stanza is taken from Jerome _adv. Jov._ ii. 8, ‘Per quinque sensus, quasi per quasdam fenestras, vitiorum ad animam introitus est. Non potest ante metropolis et arx mentis capi, nisi per portas eius irruerit hostilis exercitus.’

16600. _par si fort estal_, i.e. coming into so strong a position for fighting.

16605. ‘The fortress of judgment in the heart.’

16633. ‘Quae facere turpe est, haec ne dicere honestum puta:’ quoted as ‘Socrates’ by Caec. Balbus, p. 18: cp. 13695.

16646. _s’en remort_, ‘feels sorrow for its offences.’

16670. Perhaps Ecclus. xx. 7.

16673. A similarly severe moral judgment is pronounced upon Ulysses in _Trait._ vi. 3; the story of the Sirens referred to below is repeatedly mentioned, e.g. ll. 9949, 10911, _Bal._ xxx. 2, _Conf. Am._ i. 481 ff. In all these places the spelling ‘Uluxes’ is the same.

16700. _ne fist que sage_: an elliptical form of expression common in old French, ‘ne fist ce que sage feroit,’ ‘did not act as a wise man’: see Burguy _Gramm._ ii. 168.

16701. For this cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 7468 ff.

16710. ‘Tanque’ here answers to ‘tiele’ in the same manner as ‘dont’ so often does.

16717. I do not know the passage.

16721. _ruer luy font_, ‘cast it down,’ the auxiliary use of ‘faire’: ‘envers’ is an adjective, ‘inversus.’

16725. _pervers_, used as a substantive, ‘a pervert.’

16729. Not Isaiah, but Jer. ix. 21.

16740. ‘which cannot be extinguished.’

16741. Job xxxi. 1, ‘Pepigi foedus cum oculis meis ut ne cogitarem quidem de virgine.’

16753. Ps. cxix. 37.

16756. Matt. vi. 22.

16768. Perhaps we should read ‘soul ove sole.’

16769. 2 Sam. xiii. This example is quoted also in _Conf. Am._ viii. 213 ff.

16797. For the opposite effect produced by love of a higher kind see _Bal._ l. 1,

‘De l’averous il fait franc et loial,
Et de vilein courtois et liberal.’

16817. 1 Cor. vi. 18.

16875. Bern. _Super ‘Missus est’ Hom._ i. 5, ‘Pulchra permistio virginitatis et humilitatis.’

16880. _meist_: this must be pret. subj. used for conditional, as in 16883.

16890. _enterine_, ‘perfect,’ notwithstanding her motherhood.

16906. _clamour_, standing for an adjective, ‘loudly expressed.’

16909. _serront_, ‘should be,’ i.e. ought to be, see note on 1184.

16919. ‘If he have nothing wherewith to give support to his hand’: cp. 13102, where the verb is transitive.

16924. _suppoer._ This need not be altered to ‘supponer,’ but may be the same as the French ‘soupoier’ ‘to support,’ cp. Lydgate’s ‘sopouaille’ or ‘sowpowaylle,’ in the _Tale of Troy_: see MS. Digby 232, f. 29, l. 79. (The printed editions do not give it.)

16931. ‘So that she allows not her flower to be found elsewhere and seized.’

16952. Eccles. iv. 10.

16955. _N’est autre ... luy puet_: relative omitted, ‘there is no other can help him.’ This use of ‘pour’ is rather remarkable.

16957. Gen. xxxiv. 1, 2.

16974. _La dist_: cp. 13268. Sometimes ‘le’ is used as indirect object fem. as well as masc.; see Glossary.

16980. _quoi signefie_, ‘what the meaning is,’ that is, what the discourse means.

16987. ‘whether in grief or in joy.’

16990. Cp. _Bal._ xxv. ‘Car qui bien aime ses amours tard oblie.’

17000. Matt. xxv. 1 ff.

17010. _bealté_ seems here to be counted as three syllables. Regularly it is a dissyllable, as 18330, _Bal._ iv. 2.

17019. _virginal endroit_, ‘condition of virginity.’

17020. ‘Candor vestium sempiternus virginitatis est puritas.’

17030. Jerome, _Comm. Ezech._ xiv. 46, ‘Unde et virginitas maior est nuptiis, quia non exigitur ... sed offertur.’

17041. _q’om doit nommer_, ‘whom one may mention’: for the use of ‘devoir’ see note on 1193. Just below we have ‘doit tesmoigner,’ which seems to mean ‘may be a witness.’

17044. Rev. xiv. 1-4. Cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 6389.

17064. _endie_: perhaps this should be separated, ‘en die,’ but ‘endire’ seems to be used in several passages; see Glossary.

17067. Cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 6395* ff. Gregory says (i. _Reg. Expos._ v. 3) ‘incomparabili gratia Spiritus sancti efficitur, ut a manentibus in carne carnis corruptio nesciatur.’ But the quotation here and in the _Conf. Am._ seems to be not really from Gregory, but from Guibert or Gilbert (Migne _Patrol._ vol. clvi.), who says of virginity ‘adeo excellit ut in carne praeter carnem vivere ut vere angelica dicta sit,’ _Mor. in Gen._ v. 17; unless indeed he is quoting from Gregory. For Gilbert see 17113.

17074. Gen. i. 27.

17089. Cp. _Trait._ xvi. and _Conf. Am._ v. 6395 ff. The text of the _Confessio Amantis_ makes Valentinian’s age ‘an hundred wynter,’ but the Latin margin both there and in the _Traitié_ calls him ‘octogenarius.’

17103. Num. xxxi. 17 f.

17113. This is the Gilbert mentioned in the note on l. 17067. He was abbot of S. Marie de Nogent in the early part of the twelfth century. His ‘sermoun’ is the _Opusculum de Virginitate_, to which this is a rather general reference.

17119. Jerome _adv. Jovin._ i. 41.

17122. See note on 5179.

17125. Cyprian, _Tract._ ii. ‘Flos est ille ecclesiastici germinis, decus atque ornamentum gratiae spiritualis.’

17149 ff. Cp. _Trait._ iii. 2.

17166. _Soubz cel habit_, &c., cp. _Trait._ v. 2.

17200. Gen. ii. 18.

17208. _acompaigner_, ‘take as a companion.’

17223. 1 Cor. vii. 9.

17228. ‘which cause us to take matrimony upon us.’

17238 ff. Cp. _Trait._ iv.

17268. ‘I call in the world as my witness to this.’

17293. ‘If a man thus takes a wife’: cp. 1244, &c.

17308. Cp. _Trait._ v.

17310. _jure avant_, ‘proceeds to swear’: cp. 14730.

17336. Compare the popular lines,

‘When Adam dalf and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?’

Much the same argument as we have here is to be found in _Conf. Am._ iv. 2204 ff.

17366. ‘the ladies are not of that mind.’

17374. _ainçois demein_, ‘before the morrow’; ‘ançois’ as a preposition.

17417. Tobit iii. 8, and vi. 13, 14, but nothing is said distinctly of the reason here assigned. It may be thought that it is implied in Tobit viii. 9. The idea is fully developed in the _Confessio Amantis_, where the whole story is told with this motive and in connexion with the same argument about chastity in the state of marriage. See _Conf. Am._ vii. 5307-5381.

17450. _regent_, used here as a present participle.

17469. _Naman_: more correctly ‘Aman’ in 11075.

17472. _retient_, ‘saved’: it seems to be a preterite, cp. 8585, 9816, &c.

17484. _volt avoir malbailly_: so ‘volt avoir confondu’ below; perhaps a translation of the English ‘would have illtreated’ &c.

17497. _fait bien a loer_: see note on 1883.

17498. ‘it is good to marry the good’: ‘du’ for ‘de.’

17500. Ecclus. vii. 21.

17532. ‘to be companions by Holy Church,’ that is by ordinance of Holy Church.

17593. Ecclus. ix. 2, xxv. 30.

17608. 2 Sam. vi.

17616. _puis tout jour_, ‘ever after.’

17630. _ou_, for ‘au,’ see Glossary.

17641. Cat. _Distich._ i. 8,

‘Nil temere uxori de seruis crede querenti,
Semper enim mulier quem coniux diligit odit.’

17689. _ert_: future in imperative sense, ‘shall be’; so in the lines that follow.

17702. _Anne_, called ‘Edna’ in the A. V.

17705. Tobit x. 12. The Authorised English version has but one of the five points, and that in a somewhat different form from our author’s: ‘Honour thy father and thy mother in law, which are now thy parents, that I may hear good report of thee.’ The Vulgate reading is, ‘Monentes eam honorare soceros, diligere maritum, regere familiam, gubernare domum, et seipsam irreprehensibilem exhibere.’

17714 ff. _estrive ... quiert ... labourt_: apparently present indicative, stating what the good wife does.

17743. ‘For if a woman’ &c. The construction is confused, cp. 89.

17776. _n’ait homme tant pecché_, ‘however much a man may have sinned.’

17785. Ez. xxxiii. 14 ff.

17801. _Cil_, i.e. ‘the latter,’ as the following lines show.

17827. The widow’s marriage: cp. 9170 and note.

17845. 1 Tim. v. 3-6.

17864. _le vou Marie_: see 27734 ff.

17874. Ps. lxxvi. 11 (_Vulg._ lxxv. 12), ‘Vovete et reddite Domino Deo vestro.’

17876. ‘that purpose has little merit, which’ &c.: ‘decert’ for ‘desert,’ from ‘deservir,’ so also the substantive ‘decerte’ for ‘deserte.’

17882. _sanz en faire glose_, ‘without need of comment.’

17904. Nevertheless according to 17302 ff. he is bound to do so.

17935 ff. Cp. _Trait._ ii. 1,

‘Des bones almes l’un fait le ciel preignant,
Et l’autre emplist la terre de labour.’

The original of it is perhaps Jerome _adv. Jovin._ i. 16, ‘Nuptiae terram replent, virginitas paradisum.’ Much the same thing is said by Augustine and by others.

17945. Jerome, _Ep._ xxii. 20, ‘Laudo nuptias, laudo coniugium, sed quia mihi virgines generant: lego de spinis rosam.’

17948. 1 Cor. vii. 9.

17952. ‘as the highest teaching.’

17996. _trestout ardant_ belongs of course to ‘fornaise’ in the next line. These inversions are characteristic of the author’s style: cp. 15941.

18004. Bern. _de Ord. Vit._ ii. 4, ‘Et ne incentivis naturalibus superentur, necesse est ut lasciviens caro eorum crebris frangatur ieiuniis.’ _De Convers._ 21, ‘Quidni periclitetur castitas in deliciis.’

18018. _chalt pas_, ‘at once.’

18025. Ambr. _Hex._ vi. 4. 28, ‘Ieiuni hominis sputum si serpens gustaverit, moritur. Vides quanta vis ieiunii sit, ut et sputo suo homo terrenum serpentem interficiat, et merito spiritalem.’

18067. _q’est d’aspre vie_, ‘which belongs to hard life.’

18097. Matt. xiii.

18154. ‘And then performs the circumstance of it,’ that is the deeds suggested by it.

18159 ff. With this passage on the power of the divine word compare that on the power of the human word in _Conf. Am._ vii. 1545 ff.

18172. John xv. 3.

18292. Ps. cxxvi. (_Vulg._ cxxv.) 6, ‘Euntes ibant et flebant, mittentes semina sua. Venientes autem venient cum exsultatione, portantes manipulos suos.’

18301. Val. Max. iv. 5. The story is also given in the _Confessio Amantis_ v. 6372 ff. with a slight variation in the details, and it is alluded to in _Vox Clam._ vi. 1323. It is to be noted that the same corruption of the original name Spurina, into ‘Phirinus,’ is found in all three.

The lines corresponding to 18301 f. are _Conf. Am._ v. 6359 f.,

‘Of Rome among the gestes olde
I finde hou that Valerie tolde’ &c.

18303. _Ot_, ‘there was,’ for ‘y ot.’

18317. _dont_, ‘because of which.’

18324. _Celle alme_, ‘the soul’: see note on 301.

18329. _Dont_ answering to ‘ensi,’ in consecutive sense, as often.

18348. _qant s’esbanoie_, ‘in his glory’; lit. ‘when he diverts himself.’

18371. ‘What can I say more except that God honours thee?’

18420. _L’escoles_, for ‘les escoles,’ ‘li’ (or ‘le’) being used for ‘les’: see Glossary ‘ly,’ ‘le.’

18421. The part of the work which begins here runs parallel with a large portion of the _Vox Clamantis_, viz. Books iii.-vi. inclusive.

18445. The assertion that he is merely giving voice to public opinion is more than once repeated by our author in his several works, e.g. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 122 ff.

18451. Simon Magus is the representative of spiritual corruption, called ‘simony.’ His name is similarly used in our author’s other works, e.g. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 204, 439, and often in the _Vox Clamantis_. With the argument here compare _Vox Clam._ iii. ch. 4, where nearly the same line is followed.

18462. _deux pointz_, ‘two points,’ instead of one: ‘ou ... ou,’ ‘whether ... or.’

18466. ‘Or if not so, then proceed to tell me’ &c. For ‘avant’ cp. 14730.

18469. ‘I cannot believe.’

18505. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 265 ff.,

‘In quanto volucres petit auceps carpere plures,
Vult tanto laqueos amplificare suos’: &c.

Here the speech is put into the mouth of a member of the Roman court, for which cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 817 ff., where a similarly cynical avowal is put into the mouth of the Pope.

18539. _perchera._ I am disposed to take this as a future of ‘percevoir,’ in the sense ‘receive,’ ‘collect,’ (‘parcevoir rentes’ Godefr.). Roquefort (Suppl.) gives ‘perchoir’ as a possible form of the word.

18542. _serrons_, from ‘serrer.’

18553. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 141,

‘Clauiger ethereus Petrus extitit, isteque poscit
Claues thesauri regis habere sibi.’

18556. Cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 206 ff., where the parallel is very close.

18580. The allusion is to the cross upon the reverse of the English gold coinage of Edward III’s time, as also on that of some other countries and perhaps on the pound sterling, see 25270.

18584. _cil huissier_, ‘the doorkeepers.’

18589. This form of sentence is characteristic of our author: cp. _Bal._ xviii. 2,

‘Tiel esperver crieis unqes ne fu,
Qe jeo ne crie plus en ma maniere.’

Also _Bal._ vii. 4, xxx. 2, _Conf. Am._ i. 718 and frequently in the _Vox Clamantis_, e.g. i. 499 ff.

18631. Referring to the payments made by Jews and prostitutes at Rome for liberty to live and exercise their professions.

18637. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 283 ff. and _Conf. Am._ ii. 3486 ff.

18649. John xiv. 27. The discourse however is not to St. Peter alone, cp. 18733.

18663. _des bonnes almes retenir_, for ‘de retenir les bonnes almes,’ ‘in keeping guard over souls’: cp. 5492, &c. For the substance of the passage cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 344,

‘Hic animas, alius querit auarus opes,’

where ‘Hic’ is St. Peter and ‘alius’ the modern Pope.

18672. ‘As long as physic may avail’ to save us from it.

18673. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 343 ff. and _Conf. Am. Prol._ 212 ff. In the latter we have a pretty literal translation of l. 18675,

‘Of armes and of brigantaille,’

which seems to mean ‘of regular or irregular troops.’

18721. _faisons que sage_: cp. 16700.

18733. Matt. xxiii. 8-10.

18737. Rev. xix. 10. Precisely the same application of this passage is made in _Vox Clam._ iii. 957 ff.

18761 f. ‘that he distinguished his cardinals by their red hats.’

18779. With this stanza cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 11 ff.

18783. _Innocent._ This must be taken to be a reference to the Pope generally and not pressed as an evidence of date. Innocent VI, the only pope of this name in the fourteenth century, died in 1362, whereas we see from 18829 ff. that this work was not completed until after the schism of the year 1378.

18793 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1247 ff.,

‘Antecristus aget que sunt contraria Cristo,
Mores subuertens et viciosa fouens:
Nescio si forte mundo iam venerat iste,
Eius enim video plurima signa modo.’

18797. ‘What think you of whether such an one has yet come? Yes, for truly pride now rises above humility’ &c. That this is the meaning is clear from the above-quoted passage of the _Vox Clamantis_. I assume that the author is now speaking in his own person again, notwithstanding ‘nostre court’ below, which occurs also in other places, e.g. 18873.

18805. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1271,

‘In cathedram Moysi nunc ascendunt Pharisei,
Et scribe scribunt dogma, nec illud agunt’

and _Conf. Am. Prol._ 304 ff.,

‘And thus for pompe and for beyete
The Scribe and ek the Pharisee
Of Moïses upon the See
In the chaiere on hyh ben set.’

18829 ff. A reference to the schism of the papacy, which must have taken place during the composition of this work: see Introduction p. xlii.

18840 (R). _solonc ce que l’en vait parlant_: cp. 19057 ff. and such expressions as ‘secundum commune dictum’ in the headings of the chapters of the _Vox Clamantis_, e.g. iii. ch. 15.

18848. _Maisque_, apparently here the same as ‘mais.’

18876. _verra_: fut. of ‘venir’ instead of the usual ‘vendra.’ Burguy (i. 397) does not admit the form for the Norman dialect, but it was used in Picardy. Usually ‘verrai’ is the future of ‘veoir,’ e.g. 19919, as in modern French.

18889 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1341 ff.,

‘Cuius honor, sit onus; qui lucris participare
Vult, sic de dampnis participaret eis:
Sic iubet equa fides, sic lex decreuit ad omnes,
Set modo qui curant ipsa statuta negant.’

18925. 2 Kings v.

18997. The story is alluded to in much the same connexion _Vox Clam._ iii. 249,

‘Alcius ecce Simon temptat renouare volatum.’

19031. _s’il sa garde pance_, &c., ‘if he neglects his belly-armour of antidote’: ‘garde pance’ is to be taken as practically one word, though not written so in the MS. The idea is that the Pope has to take the precaution of an antidote against poison with all his meals.

19044. ‘as a chicken does the hen,’ i.e. ‘follows the hen’; a good instance of the use of ‘faire’ often noted before.

19057 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. _Prol._ 11 ff.,

‘A me non ipso loquor hec, set que michi plebis
Vox dedit, et sortem plangit vbique malam;
Vt loquitur vulgus loquor,’ &c.

There, as here, the excuse is prefatory to an attack on Church dignitaries.

19113. _persuacioun_: five syllables in the metre.

19117. The application of this reference, which is here lost, may be supplied from _Vox Clam._ iii. 1145 ff., where the instance is quoted, as here, in condemnation of the laxity of bishops.

19315. The leaf which is here lost contained the full number of 192 lines without any rubric, as we may see by the point at which the present stanza begins. The author is still on the subject of bishops.

19333 ff. With the substance of this and the following stanza cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 449 ff.

19345. An unfavourable view of the bee is generally taken by our author: cp. 5437 ff.