Chapter XXVIII: Part 28

19372 f. ‘The wanton prelate, who is bound to God, separates himself grievously from him by reason of the sting’: ‘q’a dieu se joynt’ seems only meant to express the fact that by his office he is near to God.

19377. Referring to some such passage as Gal. v. 16 f.

19380. ‘would be in better case if they had no sting.’

19407. Cp. Chaucer, _Persones Tale_, 618 (Skeat): ‘And ofte tyme swich cursinge wrongfully retorneth agayn to him that curseth, as a brid that retorneth agayn to his owene nest.’

19411. _Du quelle part_, ‘in whatever direction.’

19457. _S’en fuit_: apparently used in the same sense as ‘fuit,’ with ‘sainte oreisoun’ as direct object.

19501 f. Evidently a play upon the words ‘phesant,’ ‘faisant,’ and ‘vin,’ ‘divin,’ as afterwards ‘coupe,’ ‘culpe.’

19505 f. ‘Rather than to correct and attend to the fault of the Christian man.’ This use of ‘pour’ has been noticed before, 6328, &c.

19891. The two leaves which are lost contained the full number of 384 lines, and we are still on the subject of bishops.

19897. Not Solinus, so far as I know.

19907. 1 Tim. iii. 1.

19941. _la divine creature_, ‘God’s creature.’

19945. 1 Sam. xii. 19 ff.

19948. ‘was not disturbed in his charity.’

19949. _ne place a dieu_, &c., ‘God forbid that I should not pray for you.’

19957. Jer. ix. 1, ‘Quis dabit capiti meo aquam, et oculis meis fontem lacrymarum?’ &c.

19968. Presumably we should read either ‘du prelat’ or ‘des prelatz.’

19971. Possibly Is. lxiii. 3, 5, but it is not an exact quotation.

19972 f. ‘He looked, but there was none of the people who regarded, or who sighed for his sufferings.’

19981. Val. Max. v. 6, but he does not give the name of the enemy against whom the war was made, therefore the story is perhaps not taken directly from him. The story is in _Conf. Am._ vii. 3181 ff., beginning,

‘for this Valeire tolde,
And seide hou that be daies olde
Codrus,’ &c.

19984. _ceaux d’Orense_: in the _Conf. Am._ ‘ayein Dorrence.’ The war is said by some authorities to have been ‘in Dorienses,’ and this is no doubt what is meant, but there is evidently a discrepancy here between the _Mirour_ and the _Confessio Amantis_ with regard to the name. The MS. reading here is of course ‘dorense.’

19995. _proprement_, ‘for his own part,’ i.e. ‘himself.’

19996. ‘or suffer his people to be killed.’

20014. _mais pour cherir_, ‘except for taking care of.’

20016. Judas is the type of those who fall by transgression from their bishoprics.

20019. Luke x. 30 ff. The ‘deacon’ here stands for the Levite of the parable.

20035. Zech. x. 3, ‘Super pastores iratus est furor meus, et super hircos visitabo.’

20042. Perhaps Is. xxix. 15.

20053. This must be a reference to Matt. xxiii. 13, attributed by mistake to Isaiah.

20065 ff. This is also in _Conf. Am._ v. 1900 ff. with a reference to Gregory’s Homilies, and referred to more shortly in _Vox Clam._ iii. 903 ff.

20109. _de celle extente_, ‘to that extent.’ This seems practically to be the meaning; that is, so far forth as the purse extends.

20120. _la coronne_: evidently this indicates the tonsured priest, whose circle of unshorn hair was supposed to represent the crown of thorns. As to the following lines, we must take them to mean ‘if you read the sequence of the Gospel you will know who is meant,’ the relative being used in the same way as in 1244, &c.

20123. _son incest_: see note on 9085.

20126 f. ‘offices fall to the lot of different persons at different times.’

20140. ‘There is no one by whom they may be corrected.’

20153 ff. ‘There are those who farm out prostitution as if it were property of land and tillage.’

20161. This stanza is very closely parallel with _Conf. Am. Prol._ 407-413,

‘And upon this also men sein,
That fro the leese which is plein
Into the breres thei forcacche
Here Orf, for that thei wolden lacche,
With such duresce and so bereve
That schal upon the thornes leve
Of wulle, which the brere hath tore.’

Cp. also _Vox Clam._ iii. 195 f.

20178. _Pour dire_ &c., to be connected with ‘ce ne te puet excuser’: ‘it cannot excuse you to say’ &c., ‘pour’ standing for ‘de,’ as often.

20195. _ma bource estuet_: this looks like a personal use of ‘estovoir,’ but presumably ‘ma bource’ is a kind of object, ‘it is necessary for my purse,’ as in phrases like ‘m’estuet.’

20197 ff. Cp. Chaucer, _C. T. Prol._ 658,

‘Purs is the erchedeknes helle.’

20200. ‘It is of a piece with this, that he uses no other virtue to correct me, provided that I give him my substance.’

20225 ff. The substance of this is repeated in _Vox Clam._ iii. 1403 ff.

20244. _entribole_: we might equally well read ‘en tribole,’ ‘disturbs by it.’

20247 ff. To this corresponds _Vox Clam._ iii. 1351 ff.

20250. _puist_, properly pret. subjunctive.

20287 ff. Cp. _Vox Clamantis_, iii. 1375 ff.,

‘Littera dum Regis papales supplicat aures,
Simon et est medius, vngat vt ipse manus,’ &c.

20294. _s’absentont._ Note the rhyme on the weak final syllable, so below ‘esperont’: the irregularity is perhaps due to the similarity in appearance of the future form, e.g. ‘avanceront,’ ‘responderont.’

20305 ff. With this compare _Vox Clam._ iii. 1487 ff.

20308. _easera_: fut. for pres. subj. expressing purpose: cp. 364.

20313. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1509 ff.,

‘Stat sibi missa breuis, devocio longaque campis,
Quo sibi cantores deputat esse canes:
Sic lepus et vulpes sunt quos magis ipse requirit;
Dum sonat ore deum stat sibi mente lepus.’

20318. _avant_, to be taken here perhaps as strengthening ‘Plus’: but see note on 20537.

20344 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1549-1552.

20355. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1519 ff.,

‘Dum videt ipse senem sponsum sponsam iuuenemque,
Tales sub cura visitat ipse sua;
Suplet ibi rector regimen sponsi, que decore
Persoluit sponse debita iura sue.’

20401. Matt. xv. 14.

20425 ff. Note the loose usage of the conditional in this stanza for future, pres. subj., and in the sense noticed on l. 1688.

20441. _au primer divis_, ‘firstly’; so ‘au droit devis,’ ‘rightly.’

20449. Cp. Greg. _Ep._ vi. 57 (end).

20462. Probably Hos. v. 4-7.

20488. _s’elle_, &c., ‘as to whether she,’ &c.

20492. Perhaps Prov. vi. 27 ff.

20497 ff. The meaning of the word ‘annueler’ which occurs in the heading of the section is sufficiently explained in these lines. The corresponding passage in the _Vox Clamantis_ is iii. 1555 ff.

20527. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1559, ‘Plus quam tres dudum nunc exigit unus habendum.’

20528. _mais_, for ‘maisque,’ ‘provided that.’

20537. _avant_: used often with no particular meaning, cp. 20318. Here we may take it with ‘dirrons,’ ‘what shall we go on to say then,’ &c. It might, however, go with what follows, ‘takes beforehand.’

20539. _a largesce_, ‘freely bestowed’: it would be of course a provision in the will of the dead person.

20542. _ardante_, i.e. in purgatory.

20547. Cp. 1194, 10411.

20574. ‘Si diaconus sanctior episcopo suo fuerit, non ex eo quod inferior gradu est apud Christum deterior erit.’

20576. _Par si q’_: cp. 3233.

20582. ‘that however great his learning may be.’

20594. Matt. v. 13, 14.

20621. _fait baraigner_: I take _fait_ as auxiliary and _baraigner_ to mean ‘make barren.’

20700. _legende._ This probably means the passages of the Gospel appointed to be read in the service of the Mass.

20713. The argument used by the priest is that his sin is no worse than the same act in a layman. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1727 ff,

‘Dicunt presbiteri, non te peccant magis ipsi,
Dum carnis vicio fit sua victa caro:
Sicut sunt alii fragili de carne creati,
Dicit quod membra sic habet ipse sua.’ &c.

20725 f. _Vox Clam._ iii. 1761,

Presbiter et laicus non sunt bercarius vnum,
Nec scelus in simili condicione grauat.

20740. Mal. i. 6, 7.

20785 ff. _Vox Clam._ iii. 2049 ff. The author is here dealing with young students, ‘scolares.’

20793. _le meulx_: see note on 2700, so ‘le plus’ below.

20798. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iii. 2071 ff.

20827. _Vox Clam._ iii. 2074, ‘Si malus est iuvenis, vix bonus ipse vetus.’

20832. _Qui_, ‘whom.’

20833 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 1-676.

20845. This is a very hackneyed quotation, but the origin of it does not seem quite clear; see note on Chaucer, _C.T. Prol._ 179 in Skeat’s edition: cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 277.

20866. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 26 f., ‘Pellicibus calidis frigus et omne fugant.’

20892. _mye et crouste_, ‘crumb and crust’ in the modern sense of the expression.

20905. See note on 12565. I do not know where this story comes from, but somewhat similar tales of the devil visiting Macarius and his monastery are to be found in the _Legenda Aurea_ and elsewhere.

20952. _esloigner_, used with a personal object, ‘flee from.’

20989. Jerome, _Ep._ cxxv. 7, ‘Sordidae vestes candidae mentis indicia sunt.’

20999. Cp. Chaucer, _C.T. Prol._ 193 f.

21001. I do not know anything about this story.

21061 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 371-388.

21076. _cloistrers_: i.e. those who remain within the monastery walls.

21094. _qui s’est rendu_, ‘who has delivered himself to God,’ by his profession: cp. 20988.

21118. _mais petit voy_, &c., ‘but I see small number of them who,’ &c.

21133 ff. This passage, in which monastic virtues and vices are personified with the title ‘danz’ (Lat. ‘dompnus’) which was given to monks, has a parallel in _Vox Clam._ iv. 327 ff.

21134. _n’ad mais refu_: apparently ‘refu’ is here a past participle; ‘has been again no more,’ i.e. has not survived.

21157. The criticism of the life of Canons follows here in the _Vox Clamantis_ also, iv. 347 ff.,

‘Ut monachos, sic Canonicos quos deuiat error,’ &c.

The ‘Canons regular’ differed but little in their discipline from monks.

21166. _devant_: see 20909 ff.

21181. On the Mendicant orders see _Vox Clamantis_ iv. 677 ff.

21190 f. ‘I have found out this about the order, that friars seek after the world,’ &c.: the perfect is used loosely for present. For ‘querre’ in this sense cp. 21528.

21197. 2 Cor. vi. 10.

21241. ‘The friars go together in pairs’: so in Chaucer, _Sompnours Tale_, whence we learn that after having been fifty years in the order they were relieved from this rule. In the next line ‘sanz partie’ means ‘without separating.’ The same word used in a different sense is admissible as a rhyme: so ‘mestier,’ 21275, and cp. note on 2353.

21250. Here, as elsewhere, it is implied that the friars made themselves by preference the confessors of women, cp. 9148, Chaucer, _C.T. Prol._ 215 ff.

21266. The marginal note opposite this stanza has lost the ends of its lines by the cutting of the leaves of the MS. Its purport however is clear enough, and it is certainly from the author. In _Vox Clam._ iv. 689, we have the substance of it,

‘Non volo pro paucis diffundere crimen in omnes,
Spectetur meritis quilibet immo suis;
Quos tamen error agit, veniens ego nuncius illis,
Que michi vox tribuit verba loquenda fero.’ &c.

The note perhaps may be read thus:

‘Nota quod super hii<s> que in ista pa<gina> secundum commune dictum d<e fra>tribus scripta pa<tent>, transgressos simp<liciter> et non alios mater<ia> tangit: vnde h<ii> qui in ordine transgressi sunt ad <viam> reuertentes prius<quam> in foueam cada<nt> hac eminente <scrip>tura cercius pre<mu>niantur.’

21301. _Flaterie professé_, i.e. Flattery the friar.

21325 ff. This stanza is nearly a repetition of ll. 9145-9156.

21369. In Chaucer, _Sompnours Tale_, the sack is carried by a ‘sturdy harlot,’ who accompanied the two friars. At the present day the Capuchin in his begging expeditions often goes alone and carries his own sack.

21373 ff. Observe how clearly this agrees in substance with Chaucer’s humorous description in the _Sompnours Tale_.

21376. ‘If the woman has little or nothing to give,’ like the widow in Chaucer’s _Prologue_,

‘Yet wolde he have a ferthing or he wente.’

21377. _meinz_ is rather confusedly put in with ‘ne s’en abstient.’ The writer meant to say ‘none the less does he demand,’ &c.

21382. Matt. xxiii. 14.

21399. The quotation is actually from Hos. iv. 8. In _Vox Clam._ iv. 767, the same quotation is given in the same connexion and attributed rightly to Hosea.

21403. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 1141 ff. The passage of the _Plowmans Crede_ relating to this subject is well known.

21449. An allusion to the story current about the death of the Emperor Henry VII in the year 1313.

21455. _s’il volt lesser_, &c., ‘if you ask whether he will spare us,’ &c.

21469 ff. Chaucer, _C. T. Prol._ 218 ff.,

‘For he hadde power of confessioun,
As seyde himself, more than a curat.’

The confessor would claim the right of burial, if it were worth having: cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 735 ff.,

‘Mortua namque sibi, quibus hic confessor adhesit,
Corpora, si fuerint digna, sepulta petit;
Sed si corpus inops fuerit, nil vendicat ipse,’ &c.

21477. For baptism there would be no fee: so _Vox Clam._ iv. 739 f.,

‘Baptizare fidem nolunt, quia res sine lucro
Non erit in manibus culta vel acta suis.’

21481. Matt. vi. 25.

21499 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 815,

‘Appetit ipse scolis nomen sibi ferre magistri,
Quem post exemptum regula nulla ligat:
Solus habet cameram, propriat commune, que nullum
Tunc sibi claustralem computat esse parem.’

21517. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 971 ff.

21536. _acomparas_: for this form of future cp. ‘compara’ 26578, ‘dura’ 3909, &c.

21544. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 981 ff.

21562. _Vox Clam._ iv. 991 f.,

‘Set vetus vsus abest, nam circumvencio facta
Nunc trahit infantes, qui nichil inde sciunt.’

21580. Rom. xvi. 17, 18.

21604. Ps. lxxxiii. (_Vulg._ lxxxii.) 6, 7.

21607. _Brev. in Psalm._ lxxxii. 6; but our author has not quite understood the explanation.

21610. _ou pitz_, i.e. ‘au pitz,’ ‘in the breast.’

21625 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ iv. 787 f.,

‘Nomine sunt plures, pauci tamen ordine fratres;
Vt dicunt aliqui, Pseudo prophetat ibi.’

It seems that the word ‘pseudopropheta’ used Rev. xix. 20 and elsewhere was read ‘pseudo propheta,’ and ‘pseudo’ taken as a proper name. At the same time this was combined with the idea of the wolf in sheep’s clothing suggested by Matt. vii. 15, ‘Attendite a falsis prophetis,’ &c.

21637. ‘The Pseudos whom men call friars.’

21641. ‘Cannot fail to suffer for it’: ‘compere’ for ‘compiere’ from ‘comparer,’ which is usually transitive, like ‘acomparer’ 21536, meaning ‘to pay for.’

21647. The reference is to 2 Pet. ii. 1-3, where ‘pseudoprophetae’ is the word used in the Vulgate.

21663 ff. The same argument as was before applied to the monks, 21061 ff.

21676. _n’en puet chaloir_: the meaning apparently is ‘it cannot be doubted,’ but I cannot clearly explain the phrase.

21739. The Apocalypse does not exactly say this, but it is apparently our author’s interpretation of ch. viii. 10, 12, or some such passage.

21754. ‘But, before it do trouble us worse, it were well,’ &c., ‘face’ being used as auxiliary with ‘grever.’

21769. _m’en soit au travers_, ‘should be of the opposite opinion to me on the subject.’

21776. _Mais_ &c.: answering apparently to the conditional clause, ‘s’aucun,’ &c.

21780. _Encore ... plus_, ‘even more (than I have said).’

21979. One leaf with its full number of 192 lines has here been cut out. We find ourselves in the favourite story of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and punishment: cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 2785 ff., where it is told in full detail. Here it is one of a series of examples to illustrate the inconstancy of Fortune to those at the head of empires.

22002. The sense seems to require a negative here and in 22004.

22004. _de halt en bass_, ‘(bringing him) down from his height.’

22009. It is difficult to say what occasion precisely is referred to here.

22026. _mella_: ‘Fortune’ is the subject of the verb.

22033. With this review of the succession of empires compare _Conf. Am. Prol._ 670 ff.

22081 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ ii. 93 ff.

22101. _Vox Clam._ ii. 61, ‘Mobilis est tua rota nimis,’ a nearly exact translation.

22125. _mal partie_, ‘badly ordered.’

22158 ff. With these references to the former greatness and present decay of Rome cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 834-848.

22159. _emperere_: apparently used here as a feminine form, but not so in 17120.

22168. _Troian_: this form of the name is used also in _Conf. Am._ vii. 3144, and ‘Troianus’ in _Vox Clam._ vi. 1273. The justice and humanity of Trajan were proverbial in the Middle Ages, owing chiefly to the legend about him connected with Gregory the Great.

22182. ‘Well know I that this has not happened (for nought), but it is because of our wanton life.’

22191. _deux chiefs_, i.e. the Pope and the Emperor.

22192. ‘The one is he who sets forth the will of holy Church,’ i.e. the Pope.

22201. This stanza seems to be a reference to the helplessness of the Empire.

22273 ff. With these stanzas compare _Vox Clam._ vi. 589 ff., where there is the same reiterated personal address, ‘O rex,’ ‘O bone rex,’ &c., but the substance of the advice is there specially adapted to the age and circumstances of Richard II, whereas here it is general.

22292. _par halte enprise_, ‘loftily’: cp. l. 22077, and elsewhere.

22294. ‘and forces him to confess his error’: ‘recreandise’ is properly the admission that one is vanquished, or the faintheartedness which might lead to such an admission.

22333. 2 Maccabees xi. 1-12.

22341. The number given is 11,000 footmen and 1600 horsemen.

22350. Lev. xxvi. 17.

22744. After the omission of 384 lines (two leaves cut out), we find ourselves again in the story of Nebuchadnezzar: cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 7017 ff. Here it seems to be used as a warning against excess of drinking and other such vices, whereas there it is an example of sacrilege. For the form of sentence here, ‘Mais cil q’estoit,’ &c., cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 6925, vi. 2250, &c.

22765. 3 Esdras iii. f. The story is told at length in _Conf. Am._ vii. 1783 ff., where the number of persons who give answers is three, the third giving two opinions, as in the original. Here no doubt the author is trusting to his memory.

22804. _Ore_, see note on 37.

22819. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 861 f.

22827 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 501 f.,

‘Propter peccatum regis populi perierunt,
Quicquid et econtra litera raro docet.’

See also _Conf. Am._ vii. 3925 ff.

22835. _Vox Clam._ vi. 498, ‘Nam caput infirmum membra dolere facit.’

22843. 2 Sam. xxiv.

22866. _fait blemir_, ‘injures.’

22874. The MS. has ‘dix,’ but the author evidently meant ‘six.’

22883. _au parler_, ‘so to say.’

22894. _fait plus ne meinz_, ‘does just the same thing.’

22962. ‘There is no one whom David will teach by his example,’ i.e. who will follow David’s example.

22965. That is, for the French the harping is out of tune, because they do not accept their rightful ruler.

22967. With this question cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 1053 ff.,

‘Bot wolde god that now were on
An other such as Arion,’ &c.

22975 f. Apparently the meaning is ‘And the sorrow that David felt for his sins is now changed.’

22981. _si fretz que sage_, see note on 16700.

22982. Perhaps _Cic. de Off._ i. 68, ‘Non est autem consentaneum, qui metu non frangatur, eum frangi cupiditate.’

22984 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 807-810.

22995. Is. xxviii. 1.

23006. 2 Sam. xvi. 5 ff.

23011. 1 Sam. xxiv.

23021. 2 Kings xix. The number of the slain is given in the Bible as 185,000.

23041 ff. For Justice and Mercy as royal virtues cp. _Conf. Am._ vii. 2695 ff., where they are the third and fourth points of policy, the first and fifth being Truth and Chastity, which have been dealt with in 22753 ff., and the second Liberality, which may have been spoken of in the lines which are lost.

23053. Sen. _Clem._ iii. 2 ff.

23055. Cp. 13921 and _Conf. Am._ vii. 3137.

23059. Cp. 13918 and _Conf. Am._ vii. 3161.*

23072. 1 Macc. iii. 18, 19.

23082. Ps. lxxxv. 10: cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 109.

23089. Observe the mixture of tenses, present ind., conditional, and imperfect ind., in the conditional clauses.

23116. _tant amonte_, ‘is in the same position.’

23136. _de son aguait_, ‘by the snare which he sets for him.’

23149. Cp. _Conf. Am._ vii. 3891 ff.

23191. _Cusy_: in the Vulgate ‘Chusai,’ A. V. Hushai.

23216. Cp. 5459.

23370. The quotation is actually from Juvenal, but it is attributed to Horace both here and in _Conf. Am._ vii. 3581. The lines are _Sat._ viii. 269 ff.,

‘Malo pater tibi sit Thersites, dummodo tu sis
Aeacidae similis Vulcaniaque arma capessas,
Quam te Thersitae similem producat Achilles.’

Our author no doubt picked up the quotation in a common-place book. He refers to ‘Orace’ also in ll. 3804 and 10948, the true reference in the latter case being to Ovid, while the former quotation is really from Horace.

23393. The ‘pigas’ is the long-pointed shoe worn by fashionable people at the time. ‘Not one of these rich men is born with his pointed shoe,’ says the author.

23413. ‘Much is that bird to be blamed,’ &c. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 835 f.,

‘Turpiter errat auis, proprium que stercore nidum,
Cuius erit custos, contaminare studet.’

23492. _si te pourvoie_, ‘and provide thyself (accordingly).’

23500. Probably Matt. vi. 19.

23534. ‘That the law excuses you’: ‘despenser avec’ is used similarly in l. 1400.

23573 f. _se delitera ... tout avant_, ‘will go on taking pleasure.’

23582. _a ce q’en ce termine_, &c., ‘according as the matter appears in regard to this order,’ i.e. what lies within the limits of this class: cp. 16151.

23607. _Qe nous ne devons_, ‘so that we may not,’ so also in 23640; see note on 1193.

23638. ‘At the making of the new knight’: a curious use of the gerund.

23659. _au prodhomme_, ‘to be valiant.’

23671. _l’onour de France_: the particular name of the country is of no consequence and is determined probably by the rhyme. That the general point of view is not a continental one is shown by 23713.

23683. _jours d’amour_, ‘love-days,’ for reconciliation of those who had differences.

23701 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 519 f.

23704 ff. ‘If anyone pays him well, he will show himself valiant at the sessions.’

23722 ff. ‘Though the heralds cry little to him for largess, yet he gives the poor reason to complain’: he robs the poor without the excuse of being generous to others out of the proceeds.

23726. _un chivaler de haie_, ‘a hedgerow knight.’

23732 ff. Terms of war are ironically used: he draws up his court in order of battle and throws into confusion the jury-panell, to support his friends and dismay their poorer opponents.

23755. _du loy empereour_, ‘by the law of the emperor.’

23815. _n’ad garde de_, ‘does not keep himself from.’

23844. _quatorsze._ The precise number is of no importance, cp. 24958. In _Conf. Am._ ii. 97, the author says ‘mo than twelve’ in a similar manner.

23869. _Sisz chivalers._ The author apparently will not admit the three pagan worthies, Hector, Alexander, and Julius Cæsar.

23895. Cp. _Conf. Am._ iv. 1630 f.,

‘Somtime in Prus, somtime in Rodes,
And somtime into Tartarie.’

23907. _vois_, for ‘vais.’

23920 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am._ iv. 1634 ff.,

‘And thanne he yifth hem gold and cloth,
So that his fame mihte springe,’ &c.

also _Vox Clam._ v. 257 ff.

23922. See note on 10341.

23933 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am._ iv. 1664 f., and _Vox Clam._ v. 267 ff.

23982. _trop sont petit_: probably, ‘there are too few.’

24097. This denunciation of war is quite characteristic of the author: cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 122-192.

24129. _voldroiont_, ‘ought to desire’: see note on 1688.

24170 f. Cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 833,

‘The world empeireth every day.’

24216. _Vei la_: so ‘vei cy,’ 23688.

24226 ff. i.e. he will not undertake the cause which is not favoured by fortune. The ‘double ace’ would of course be the lowest throw with two dice, and ‘sixes’ the highest.

24255 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 241-244.

24265. ‘Ne quid nimis.’

24267. _Des tieux_, ‘such persons,’ subject of the verb.

24272 f. ‘Neither his nature nor his strain is seasoned with justice.’

24290. The word ‘mire’ seems here to be used for a surgeon as distinguished from a physician: that, however, is not its ordinary use.

24325. _Qui_, like ‘Quique’ in 24313, ‘Whosoever may have to pay, these will get exemption, if they can.’

24326. _appaier._ I take this to be for ‘a paier,’ like ‘affaire’ for ‘a faire’: ‘estovoir’ is used with or without ‘a,’ cp. l. 42.

24338. _volt_, imperf. subj., cp. 327.

24362. _encharné._ The metaphor is from hounds being trained for hunting, as we see from ‘quirée,’ ‘courre,’ ‘odour,’ &c., in the succeeding lines.

24379. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 251,

‘Si cupit in primo, multo magis ipse secundo,’

i.e. ‘in primo gradu,’ which is that of ‘Apprentis,’ the second being that of ‘Sergant.’

24398. Matt. xix. 29, but the quotation is not quite accurate.

24435. _Sur son sergant_: the double meaning of ‘sergant’ is played upon, as in ‘Qui sert au siecle,’ 24415.

24440. _coronne_: alluding to the French coin so called from the crown upon it.

24469 ff. I do not know the origin of this curious statement.

24481. Probably Is. v. 21 ff.

24485 f. _mais la partie_, &c., ‘but as for the side that is poor, justice sleeps.’

24519. Job xxi. 7-13.

24530. Gen. xxxii. 10.

24543. Is. v. 8, 9, ‘Vae, qui coniungitis domum ad domum, et agrum agro copulatis usque ad terminum loci’: &c.

24544. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 141.

24582. _la verrour_, i.e. the truth expressed in the preceding line, that they make their gains by wrongful means. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 144,

‘Set de fine patet quid sibi iuris habet.’

24583. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 145 ff.

24605. _a demesure_, i.e. at an extravagant price, so that, as the author goes on to say, poor people cannot afford to buy in their market.

24625. For the metre cp. 2742, 26830: see Introd. p. xlv.

24646. ‘But advanced my unjust cause,’ &c. This position of ‘ainz’ is quite characteristic of the author: see note on 415.

24678. Ex. xxiii. 8.

24697. James i. 19.

24715. Gal. iii. 19, and Rom. xiii. 4.

24722. Deut. xxvii. 19.

24733 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 387 ff.

24748. _comme tant_, ‘how much.’

24769. Is. i. 23.

24782. _Ad_, ‘there is.’

24817 ff. The _Vox Clamantis_ as usual runs parallel to this, with the heading, ‘Hic loquitur de errore Vicecomitum, Balliuorum necnon et in assisis Iuratorum,’ &c., vi. 419 ff.

24832. For the order of words cp. 24646.

24852. ‘His conscience will not fail him,’ that is, will not be an obstacle.

24858. _il n’est pas si nice_, ‘he is not so nice,’ i. e. not so careful about it. The word ‘nice,’ meaning originally ‘ignorant,’ ‘foolish,’ passes naturally to the meaning of ‘foolishly scrupulous’ in a half ironical sense, as here.

24917. _enmy la main._ As ‘devant la main,’ ‘apres la main,’ mean ‘beforehand’ and ‘afterwards,’ this apparently is ‘meanwhile.’

24949. _Des soubz baillifs_, &c. Cp. 25014. ‘Des’ depends on ‘tout plein’ (toutplein), ‘a quantity’; as ‘toutplein des flours,’ _Bal._ xxxvii. 2, ‘tout plein des autres,’ _Mir._ 74. Join ‘soubz’ with ‘baillifs,’ ‘under-reeves,’ the ‘visconte’ being regarded as a superior ‘baillif or reeve,’ which of course in a certain sense he was, witness the name ‘sheriff.’

24955. _Vei la_, cp. 24216: ‘ministre’ is of course plural.

24958. Cp. 23844.

24962. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 467 f.,

‘Ut crati bufo maledixit, sic maledico
Tot legum dominis et sine lege magis.’

24973. _Vox Clam._ 463 f.,

‘Quid seu Balliuis dicam, qui sunt Acherontis
Vt rapide furie?’

24981. _ribalds_: observe the rhyme, showing that the ‘d’ is not sounded.

24996. A proverbial expression, which occurs also in 15405 f.

25021 ff. I do not clearly understand the first lines of the stanza. Perhaps it means, ‘For the expense to which you go in buying their perjury they pay (or suffer) the burdening of their conscience.’ Then afterwards, ‘The bribe is enough for them by way of evidence, for covetousness dispenses them from anything more’: ‘ove leur dispense,’ ‘arranges with them’ that this shall be enough.

25064. _il_, for ‘ils,’ cp. 10341.

25071. _sanz culpe d’enditer_, ‘free from indictable fault.’

25110. _tesmoignal_: the original idea of a jury, as a body of persons living in the locality and able to bear witness to the facts of the case, had not disappeared in the fourteenth century.

25127. _le pot hoster_, ‘might have stopped it.’

25151. _serra vendu_, ‘will prove to have been bought by you’ (at a high price).

25153. ‘Truth is no libel,’ the author’s justification for speaking freely.

25166. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vi. 439,

‘Causidici lanam rapiunt, isti quoque pellem
Tollunt, sic inopi nil remanebit oui.’

25177 ff. With this compare the heading of Bk. v. ch. ii. in the _Vox Clamantis_: ‘Quia varias rerum proprietates vsui humano necessarias nulla de se prouincia sola parturit vniuersas,’ &c.

25216 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 489 ff.

25239. In the _Vox Clamantis_ also we have cheating personified (under the name of Fraus), and its operations classified as affecting (1) Usurers, (2) Merchants and shopkeepers, (3) Artificers, (4) Victuallers. See _Vox Clam._ v. 703-834.

25240. _pour sercher_, &c. For the form of expression cp. _Bal._ xi. l. 5, _Conf. Am._ i. 2278,

‘To sechen al the worldes riche,’

and other similar passages.

25254. _Brutus_, i. e. Brut of Troy: so London is referred to in the _Confessio Amantis_, Prol. 37*,

‘Under the toun of newe Troie,
Which tok of Brut his ferste joie.’

25261 ff. ‘Fraud may have large dealings, but he has small honesty when he buys and sells by different standards of weight.’ The idea is apparently that the buyer is deceived as to the true market price when wholesale dealings are carried on with weights nominally the same but really different, as when the merchant buys coal by the ton of 21 cwt.

25269. See note on 3367.

25270. _la crois_, &c.: cp. 18580.

25287. Cp. _Bal._ xviii. l. 8.

25289. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 749 ff.

25302. ‘Chalk for cheese,’ a proverbial expression used also in _Conf. Am. Prol._ 415: still current in some parts of England.

25321. John iii. 20.

25327. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 779 f.,

‘Fraus eciam pannos vendit, quos lumine fusco
Cernere te faciet, tu magis inde caue.’

25332. _du pris la foy_, ‘the true price.’

25333. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 757 ff.,

‘Ad precium duplum Fraus ponit singula, dicens
Sic, “Ita Parisius Flandria siue dedit.”
Quod minus est in re suplent iurancia verba,’ &c.

25350. _a son dessus_, so ‘at myn above’ in _Conf. Am._ vi. 221.

25556. _tu plederas_, ‘you will have to sue him.’

25558. ‘He pays no regard to honesty.’

25569. _parasi_, equivalent to ‘parisi,’ properly an adjective used with names of various coins, as ‘livre parisie,’ but often also by itself to denote some coin of small value, in phrases such as we have here.

25607. For this function of St. Michael cp. 13302. Here the point suggested is that the seller ought to be reminded by his balance of that in which his merits must eventually be weighed.

25618. _enclinez_: this is simply a graphical variation of _enclines_, rhyming with ‘falsines,’ &c.

25631. Cp. 20912.

25657 ff. ‘I would not desire a better stomach than could be ruined by medicines, or a longer purse than could be drained by an apothecary,’ i. e. the best of stomachs and the longest of purses may be thus ruined.

25691. ‘But if they had worn wool,’ &c.

25717 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 793 ff.,

‘Si quid habes panni, de quo tibi vis fore vestem,
Fraus tibi scindit eam, pars manet vna sibi;
Quamuis nil sit opus vestis mensuraque fallit,
Plus capit ex opere quam valet omne tibi.’

25729 ff. _Vox Clam._ v. 805.

25753 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 745 ff.

25801 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 111 ff.

25826. ‘Will see their halls carpeted’ (or ‘covered with tapestry’), so ‘encourtiner’ below; a loose employment of the infinitive.

25839 ff. Observe the confusion of 2nd pers. sing. and 2nd pers. plur. in this stanza, especially ‘tu gaignerez’ in 25842. Even if we take ‘baillerez,’ ‘gaignerez,’ &c., as rhyme-modifications of ‘gaigneras,’ &c., this will not go for ‘avisez,’ which must be meant for 2nd pers. plur. pres. subj.: cp. 442, &c.

25853. This would be to avoid arrest. The liberty of St. Peter would perhaps be the precincts of Westminster Abbey, that of St. Martin might be the Church of St. Martin in the Fields: but perhaps no definite reference is intended. He takes advantage of the sanctuary to make terms with his creditors.

25887. Ecclus. xiii. 24 (30), ‘Bona est substantia cui non est peccatum in conscientia.’

25898. Matt. xvi. 26.

25975 f. The author returns to the observation made at the beginning of his remarks on the estate of Merchants, that the calling is honourable, though some may pursue it in a dishonest manner.

26019. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 777 f.,

‘Fraus manet in doleo, trahit et vult vendere vinum,
Sepeque de veteri conficit ipsa novum.’

26112. _maisq’elles soient lieres_, ‘even though they should be robbers’ (of their husbands): _maisque_ can hardly have here its usual meaning ‘provided that’; cp. 26927.

26120. _brusch._ The occurrence of this word here in a connexion which leaves no doubt of its identity is worth remark: see _New Engl. Dict._ under ‘brusque,’ ‘brisk,’ ‘brussly.’

26130. _au sojour_, ‘at their ease’ in their tavern: ‘sojour’ means properly ‘stay’ in a place, hence ‘rest’ or ‘refreshment’: cp. the uses of the verb ‘sojourner.’

26133. _ne pil ne crois_, ‘neither head nor tail’ of a coin, i. e. no money: ‘cross and pile’ was once a familiar English phrase.

26185 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 809 f.,

‘Fraus facit ob panes pistores scandere clatas,
Furca tamen furis iustior esset eis.’

26231. _les chars mangiers_, &c., ‘flesh will not be food for the common people.’

26288 ff. ‘His conscience does not remind him of the truth until after he has been paid.’

26342 ff. ‘Of all those who live by buying and selling I will not except a single one as not submissive to Fraud.’

26365. This complaint, directed against some particular Mayor of London, whose proceedings were disapproved of by the author, is repeated in the _Vox Clamantis_, v. 835 ff.

26374. Cp. _Vox Clam._ v. 1005 ff.

26391. _celle autre gent_, ‘the other people.’

26401. Matt. v. 29 f.

26427. _guardessent_, for ‘guardassent,’ or rather ‘guardeissent.’

26477. _en orguillant_: perhaps rather ‘enorguillant.’

26480. _au servir souffrirent_, ‘submitted to service.’

26497 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ after l. 498,

‘Ignis, aqua dominans duo sunt pietate carentes,
Ira tamen plebis est violenta magis.’

26571. Hos. iv. 1-3, ‘non est enim veritas, et non est misericordia, et non est scientia Dei in terra ... Propter hoc lugebit terra et infirmabitur omnis qui habitat in ea,’ &c.

26581 ff. With this discussion cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 520 ff.

26590 ff. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vii. 361,

‘O mundus, mundus, dicunt, O ve tibi mundus!’

26699. _la malice seculier_, ‘the evil of the world.’

26716. _pluvie._ For the suppression of the ‘i’ see note on 296.

26737. _Commete_: the reference is probably to that of the year 1368.

26745. _diete_, ‘influence,’ from the idea of regularity in the physical effect which the heavenly bodies are supposed to produce, like that of food or medicine: cp. _Conf. Am._ vii. 633 ff.

26748. _Nous n’avons garde de_, apparently for ‘que nous n’avions garde,’ ‘that we should not pay regard to.’

26749. Albumasar’s books on astrology, especially the _Introductorium in Astronomiam_ and the _Liber Florum_, were very well known in Latin translations, apparently abridged from the originals. This reference is to _Introduct._ iii. 3: ‘Ut vero sol aerem calefacit, purgat, attenuat, sic pro modo suo luna et stellae. Unde Ypocras in libro climatum, Nisi luna et stellae, inquit, nocturnam densitatem attenuarent, elementa impenetrabilis aeris pinguetudine corporum omnium vitam corrumperent.’ (Quoted from the Bodleian copy of the edition printed at Venice, 1506.)

26799. _Qui_, ‘for whom.’

26810. Referring perhaps to Hos. iv. 3, quoted above.

26830. For the metre, cp. 2742.

26851. ‘For that in which he is alone to blame’: ‘dont que’ used for ‘dont,’ cp. 1779.

26857. Job v. 6, ‘Nihil in terra sine causa fit’: it is different in A. V.

26869. This is a citation which occurs in all the three books of our author: cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 945 ff. and _Vox Clam._ vii. 639 ff. In both places the argument is the same as here. The quotation is from Greg. _Hom. in Evang._ ii. 39, ‘Omnis autem creaturae aliquid habet homo. Habet namque commune esse cum lapidibus, vivere cum arboribus, sentire cum animalibus, intelligere cum angelis.’ Cp. _Moral._ vi. 16.

26885. _Et en aler._ Similarly in the _Vox Clam._ vii. 641 motion is made one of the five senses to the exclusion of smelling,

‘Sentit et audit homo, gustat, videt, ambulat.’

26927. _maisq’il le compiere_, ‘that he should abye it’: for this use of ‘maisqe’ instead of ‘que’ cp. 26112.

26931. Aristotle speaks of animals as microcosms (e. g. _Phys._ viii. 2) and argues from them to the μέγας κόσμος, but of course the quotation here is at second hand.

26934. Cp. _Vox Clam._ vii. 645 ff., ‘Sic minor est mundus homo, qui fert singula solus,’ &c.

26955. The rhyme requires ‘mer et fieu’ for ‘fieu et mer.’

26989. Lev. xxvi. 3 ff.

27001 f. With what follows compare _Vox Clam._ ii. 217-348, where the whole subject is worked out at length with many examples, including nearly all those which occur in this passage.

27015. _Vox Clam._ ii. 243, ‘Sol stetit in Gabaon iusto Iosue rogitante,’ &c.

27019. _Vox Clam._ ii. 247 f.

27022. _Vox Clam._ ii. 249 f.

27031. _Vox Clam._ ii. 259 f. The story is in the _Legenda Aurea_: it is to the effect that in an assembly of prelates Hilarius found himself elbowed out of all the honourable seats and compelled to sit on the ground. Upon this the floor rose under him and brought him up to a level with the rest.

27037. _Vox Clam._ ii. 253 f.

27040. _Vox Clam._ ii. 255 f.

27046 ff. _Vox Clam._ ii. 265-274.

27061. Paul, the first eremite, is said to have been fed daily by a raven for over sixty years.

27065 ff. _Vox Clam._ ii. 277-280.

27077. _Vox Clam._ ii. 287 f.

27079. _Vox Clam._ ii. 315 f.

27081 ff. _Vox Clam._ ii. 281-284.

27088. _soy vivant_, ‘while he is living.’

27165. That is, ‘he passes by his death into a life of damnation’: the antithesis ‘vit du mort’ and ‘moert du vie’ is a very strained one.

27367. _De Ire_: cp. 12241.

27372. ‘With no compensating goodness’: ‘refaire’ must mean here ‘to do in return’ (or in compensation).

27411. _que me renovelle_, ‘which is ever renewed in me’: for ‘renoveller’ in this sense cp. 11364.

27568 f. _vais ... tien_: indicative for subjunctive, ‘tien’ for ‘tiens,’ unless it is meant for imperative.

27662. _ove tout l’enfant_, ‘together with the child’: cp. ll. 4, 12240, &c.

27722. _Tiels jours y ot_, ‘on some days.’

27814 f. ‘He it is whom you will espouse to the virgin,’ i.e. the bearer of that rod.

27841. _a coustummance_, ‘after the custom’: the MS. has ‘acoustummance,’ but this can hardly stand. The same in 28190.

27867. Cp. _Bal._ xxv., ‘Car qui bien aime ses amours tard oblie.’

27935. _eustes_: apparently 2nd pers. pl. preterite. If so, it is combined rather boldly with the 2nd pers. sing. in ‘as’ and ‘avras’: cp. 442.

27942. _Comme cil q’est toutpuissant_: a very common form of expression in the _Confessio Amantis_, e.g. i. 925, 1640, &c. See also _Bal._ vii. l. 7, xi. l. 16. It occurs more than once in this narrative portion of the _Mirour_, e.g. 28248, 28883, 28900.

27949. There may be some doubt here as to the arrangement of the inverted commas; but it seems best to take the whole of this stanza as direct report, in which case ‘Il’ in 27950 refers to ‘God.’ The sentence below is a little disordered, as is often the case with our author: ‘He showed thee a special sign six months since in thy cousin Elizabeth, who was barren, but God,’ &c. Cp. 17996, _Conf. Am._ vi. 1603 ff., and many other passages.

28091. Probably Ps. cxxxviii. 6.

28110. _Maisque_, here apparently ‘moreover’: cp. 28276.

28112. _te lie_, ‘binds thee (in swaddling bands).’

28115 f. That is, all these characters, daughter, wife, nurse, mother, sister, &c., were summed up in one woman: ‘forsqe’ here means ‘only,’ the negative being omitted, much as we say ‘but’ in English.

28139. Luke ii. 14, from the text ‘et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.’

28160. _y venoit_, ‘there came,’ a kind of impersonal expression.

28183. _estoit finis_, ‘was brought to an end.’

28190. _a coustumance_: cp. 27841.

28205. Luke ii. 29 ff.

28247. _qu’il serroit desfait_, &c., ‘planned that he might be destroyed.’

28310. _fiere_, ‘strange.’

28349. ‘By agreement between thee and them.’

28358. _fecis_, for ‘fesis,’ 2nd sing. pret.

28383. That is ‘A Nazareth a ton parenté.’

28394. _Maisque_, ‘except that,’ cp. 1920.

28395. _Archideclin_: a corruption from ‘architriclinus,’ used in the Latin version of John ii. to represent the Greek ἀρχιτρίκλινος, ‘master of the feast,’ and commonly supposed to be the name of the entertainer: cp. 28762.

28409. _fesoiont a loer_, ‘were fit to be praised’: cp. 28506, and see note on 1883.

28414 ff. ‘But above all he showed great joy in your lineage, each in his degree,’ that is in keeping company with those of the Virgin’s family: but it might mean ‘he caused great joy to be felt by those of your lineage.’

28475. _de son affere_, ‘for his part,’ one of those rather meaningless phrases, such as ‘endroit de soy,’ ‘en son degré,’ ‘au droit devis,’ with which our author fills up lines on occasion.

28502. _se pourvoit_, ‘considers with himself’: cp. 14973.

28547. _toute pleine_: rather a more unscrupulous disregard than usual of gender and number for the sake of metre and rhyme.

28762. _Centurio_, taken as a proper name: cp. 28395.

28790. _pour estovoir_, ‘for their need,’ i.e. to accomplish that which had to be done.

28813. For the form of expression cp. 22744 and _Trait._ xiv. l. 15: it is common also in the _Confessio Amantis._

28847. _la sentence_, ‘the sentence’ in a judicial sense, i.e. the judgment executed by the spear.

28914. _compassioun_, used especially of the sufferings of the Virgin during the passion of Christ.

28919. _ta meditacioun_, ‘meditation upon thee,’ if the text is right, but I am disposed to suggest ‘ta mediacioun.’

28941 f. These two lines are written over an erasure and perhaps in a different hand: cp. 4109, 4116.

29078. _Pour ... avoir_, see note on 6328.

29178. _n’en doubte mie._ The author shows here an unexpectedly clear perception of the difference between Gospel history and unauthorized legend.

29222. _Qe nous devons_, ‘in order that we may,’ so below, ‘Ainçois q’om doit par tout conter,’ ‘but that we may tell it everywhere.’ For this use of ‘devoir’ see note on 1193.

29264. _t’encline_, ‘bows to thee’: the verb is intransitive and the pronoun dative.

29390. The word ‘pensée’ counts as three syllables in this line, whereas usually the termination ‘-ée’ in Anglo-Norman verse of this period is equivalent to ‘-é’; cp. 29415. Perhaps we should read ‘penseie;’ see Introduction p. xx.

29411 f. ‘Well fitting was the love which he had for thee, through whom,’ &c.

29421. _de son halt estage_: cp. _Conf. Am._ iv. 2977,

‘This Yris, fro the hihe stage
Which undertake hath the message,’ &c.

29585. _la disme joye_, ‘the tenth part of the joy.’

29604. _tu vendretz_: see note on 442.

29636. Probably we should read _que_ for _qui_: ‘(I pray) that thou wouldest send.’

29746. _de sa covine_, ‘by his purpose.’

29769. _pourloignasse_: pret. subj. for past conditional, cp. 29778.

29784. _Ussont moustré_, ‘they ought to show,’ used for conditional in the sense referred to in the note on l. 1688.

29798. ‘Witness thy Gospels,’ i.e. ‘the witness is that of thy Gospels.’

29821. _le livre_: cp. 27475 ff., where it is implied that the author follows a Latin book.

29869. _me donne_, ‘tells me.’

29878 ff. ‘But in order that it may perchance please thee, I set all my business, as best I may, to do honour to thy person.’ I have separated ‘Maisque,’ because that seems necessary for the sense. The author hopes that, though his Lady has the crown of heaven, yet she may be pleased by his humble endeavours to do her honour on earth.

29890. _t’en fais continuer_, ‘thou dost continue in the work,’ a reflexive use of ‘continuer’ with ‘faire’ as auxiliary.

DEDICATION OF BALADES

I. 7. ‘He who trusts in God,’ &c. ‘Qe’ is used for ‘Qui.’

15. _Vostre oratour._ The poet means no doubt to speak of himself as one who is bound to pray for the king. At the same time it is to be noticed that ‘Orator regius’ was at the beginning of the sixteenth century an official title, borne by Skelton in the reign of Henry VIII, and perhaps nearly equivalent to the later ‘Poet-laureate.’ Skelton was ‘laureatus’ of the Universities, that is he had taken a degree in rhetoric and poetry at Oxford, and apparently something equivalent at Cambridge.

16. The pronunciation of the name ‘Gower’ as a dissyllable with the accent on the termination, which is required here and in the Envoy to the _Traitié_, is the same as that which we have in the _Confessio Amantis_ viii. 2908, where it rhymes with ‘-er.’

23. _perfit_: so written in full in the MS. and correctly given by the Roxburghe editor. Dr. Stengel gives ‘parfit’ on the assumption that there is a contraction. That is not so here, but in many cases of this kind he is right.

24. _sentence_: so in MS. (not with a capital as in the Roxb. ed.). The same remark applies to ‘valour’ in ii. l. 33, ‘s’est’ in _Bal._ vii. l. 18, ‘lettre’ xviii. l. 24, xx. l. 25, xxii. l. 27, ‘lors’ xxxvi. l. 3, ‘se,’ xxxvi. l. 10, ‘helas’ xliii. l. 6, ‘vous’ xlix. l. 23.

O RECOLENDE, &c.

8. After this line probably one has dropped out, for when this piece appears (in a somewhat different form) among the Latin poems of the All Souls’ and Glasgow MSS. we have

‘Rex confirmatus, licet vndique magnificatus,
Sub Cristo gratus viuas tamen immaculatus,’

and ‘licet’ seems to require some such addition.

The quotation ‘Nichil proficiet’ is from Ps. lxxxix. (_Vulg._ lxxxviii.) 23, and the other from Ps. xli. (_Vulg._ xl.) 2.

II. This balade has been printed hitherto as if it consisted of four stanzas only, but in the MS., which is here damaged, there is not only space for another, but the initials of its lines still remain.

20. _vendra_: the reading ‘voudra’ is a mistake due to the Roxb. edition.

26. For the conjectural ending of the line cp. _Mirour_ 26423.

BALADES

TITLE.--This is partly lost by the damage to the leaf of the MS., which has been mentioned above. The fragments of the latter part seem to indicate that the whole series of balades was expressly written by the author for the entertainment of the court of Henry IV: cp. D. ii. l. 27 f. The end of it perhaps ran thus, ‘ad fait, dont les nobles de la Court se puissent duement desporter,’ or something to that effect.

I. All that remains of the first stanza is the endings of the first three lines, and more than half of the second stanza is also lost.

16. _Moun._ Forms such as this, e.g. ‘soun,’ ‘doun,’ ‘noun,’ ‘bounté,’ and the ‘-oun’ terminations in xxi. and elsewhere, usually appear with ‘o̅n̅’ in the MS. Note however that ‘noun’ is written fully in xxi. ll. 25, 27.

17. _voldroit_: a common use of the conditional in our author, cp. _Mir._ l. 25. Here it is answered by the future ‘averai.’ The meaning seems to be ‘If God should put an end to my happiness and to my life at once, my faith being unbroken, I should be content; but meanwhile I remain true to thee always, whatever may befall.’

II. 4. _q’il s’esjoiera._ The Roxb. editor gave by mistake ‘qils’ for ‘qil,’ out of which Dr. Stengel produces ‘qil ssesjoiera,’ with the remark ‘Verdoppelung anlautender Consonanten nach vocalischem Auslaut auch sonst häufig.’ The passages to which he refers in support of this curious statement are ix. l. 13, where the Roxb. edition has ‘tanquil lest’ by pure mistake for ‘tanquil sest,’ and ix. l. 31, where he has chosen to make ‘un ssi’ out of ‘uns si.’ This shows the danger of constructing a theory without ascertaining the facts.

9. _come._ Dr. Stengel is not right in proposing to read ‘com’ for ‘come’ and ‘ou’ for ‘ove,’ wherever the words occur. These words regularly count as monosyllables for the metre, but the author much more commonly wrote them with the final ‘-e.’ Occasionally we have ‘com’ in the _Balades_ (twice for instance in this stanza), and once in the _Mirour_ we have ‘ou’ for ‘ove’ (l. 8376). Similarly ‘povere,’ ‘yvere,’ are regularly dissyllables by slurring of the medial ‘e,’ and are occasionally written ‘povre,’ ‘yvre.’ On the other hand ‘ore’ is sometimes a dissyllable, as _Bal._ xxviii. 1, and sometimes a monosyllable, as _Mir._ 37, 1775, &c., and some words such as ‘averai,’ ‘overaigne,’ ‘yveresce,’ vary between the longer and the shorter form.

12. _com_: so in MS., wrongly ‘come’ in Roxb. edition, which also has ‘viveet’ wrongly for ‘vive et’ of the MS.

23. _Et pensetz, dame._ An additional weak syllable is occasionally found at the caesura in this metre: cp. xix. l. 20, xxiii. l. 14, xxv. l. 8, &c., xxxiii. l. 10, xxxviii. l. 23, xliv. l. 8, xlvi. l. 15, _Trait._ ii. l. 5, &c. In every case the additional syllable is at a break after the second foot (epic caesura). It may be a question, however, whether ‘dame’ should not be taken as a monosyllable in some cases: see Introd. p. xxx.

III. 1. _celle_, used for the definite article: see note on _Mir._ 301.

_peigne_: this form of spelling does not indicate any difference in pronunciation, for the rhymes ‘pleine,’ ‘meine,’ are used to correspond with it in the next stanza. It is intended to produce visible conformity with the verb ‘compleigne,’ to which it rhymes, and so in l. 15 we have ‘halteigne’ pairing with ‘atteigne.’ The verbal ending ‘eigne’ rhymes regularly with ‘eine’ both in the French and English of our author, and the ‘g’ often falls out of the spelling.

10. _Milfoitz_: one word in the MS.; so ‘millfoitz’ ix. l. 10.

IIII. 3. _s’ad fait unir_, ‘has united itself’: see note on _Mir._ 1135.

4. _As toutz jours mais_: cp. _Mir._ 2856.

11. _sufficaunce_: endings of this kind represent the MS. ‘-a̅n̅ce,’ cp. note on i. l. 16.

16. _la_: so in the MS. The Roxb. ed. gives ‘sa’ by mistake.

IIII*. The number is repeated by inadvertence, so that the whole series consists really of fifty-one balades, apart from the religious dedication at the end and the Envoy.

4. _Por toi cherir_: see note on _Mir._ 6328. The address in the second person singular is unusual in the _Balades_ and hardly occurs except here and in the contemptuously hostile pieces, xli-xliii.

11. _dont_, answering to ‘auci’: see note on _Mir._ 217.

17. _tes_: see Glossary under ‘ton’: cp. ‘vos amis,’ ix. l. 5.

22. The MS. has ‘De,’ as Dr. Stengel has rightly conjectured.

V. 19. _a tant_: cp. vi. l. 16 and _Mir._ 23953.

Margin: _d’amont jesqes enci_, ‘from the beginning up to this point: ‘d’amour’ is a mistake of the Roxb. editor.

VI. 6 f. _par quoi_, &c., ‘wherefore mine eye hath desire, to the end that I may see again your presence,’ i.e. desires to see, &c.

VII. 6. _l’estre_, ‘habitation,’ i.e. place of abode. ‘I desire your country as my dwelling-place.’

7. _Come cil qui_: cp. xi. l. 16, and see note on _Mir._ 27942.

9. Cp. _Mir._ 5822.

24. _Qe jeo n’ai plus_, &c., a variation of the form of expression used in xviii. l. 8 f. and common in our author: see _Mir._ 18589. Usually the ‘plus’ of the second clause answers to some such word as ‘tiel’ in the first.

VIII. 17. _retenue_, ‘engagement’ to follow or serve: cp. xv. l. 14.

IX. 6. The ‘trescentier’ of the Roxb. edition is a mistake.

16. _en voie_: see ‘envoie’ in Glossary.

24. _sicom jeo songeroie_: conditional for subjunctive: cp. _Mir._ 25.

36. _demorir_, ‘remain.’ Dr. Stengel wrongly alters to ‘de morir,’ which is nonsense.

37. _poestis_: cp. _Mir._ 1222.

41. _au droit devis_: see note on _Mir._ 83.

X. 2. The reading ‘jour’ for ‘jeo’ in this line is simply a mistake of the Roxb. editor.

5. _Maisqu’il vous pleust_, ‘provided that it might please you,’ pret. subj.: ‘maisque’ in this sense is used either with indicative or subjunctive, cp. xi. l. 8, xxiii. l. 10, &c.

7. _Q’avoir porrai_, ‘so that I may have’: cp. _Mir._ 364.

13. _s’allie_, ‘binds itself (to you).’

XI. 5. _pour sercher le monde_: cp. xxi. l. 18, and _Mir._ 25240.