Chaucer's Works, Volume 2 - Boethius and Troilus

BOOK III. (2)

Geoffrey Chaucer

Prose 1. 3. streighte, pp., i.e. stretched; 'adrectis ... auribus.' The form streight-e is plural.

6. so, i.e. so much. Better 'how much'; Lat. quantum.

8. unparigal, unequal; 'imparem.'

11. nat only that, it is not only the case that. It would be clearer if that were omitted.

12. agrisen, filled with dread; pp., with short i, of agrysen. Cf. agryseth, Bk. i. Met. 6, l. 7.

15. ravisshedest, didst greedily receive; 'rapiebas.'

32. for the cause of thee, for thy sake; 'tui caussa.'

33. but I wol, &c.; 'sed quae tibi caussa notior est, eam prius designare uerbis atque informare conabor.'

Metre 1. 2. hook, sickle; 'falce.'

4. Hony; cf. Troilus, i. 638, iii. 1219.

6. Nothus, Notus, the South wind. ploungy, stormy, rainy; 'imbriferos.'

9. bigin, do thou begin; imperative; 'incipe.'

Prose 2. 2. streite sete, narrow (retired) seat; 'in angustam sedem.'

3. cures, endeavours; 'omnis mortalium cura.'

7. over that, beyond it; 'ulterius.'

8. sovereyn good; 'omnium summum bonorum.'

11. out of ... good; 'extrinsecus.'

28. mesuren, &c.; 'Plurimi uerÒ boni fructum gaudio laetitiÂque metiuntur.'

34. is torned; a bad translation of 'uersatur,' i.e. 'resides.'

38. merinesse, enjoyment; 'iocunditatis.'

50. for which, on which account; 'quare.'

55. Epicurus. See Cant. Tales, Prol. 336-8, where this is quoted; and see Merch. Ta. E 2021; Troil. iii. 1691; 'Epicurus ... sibi summum bonum uoluptatem esse constituit.'

57. birefte awey. But the Lat. text has precisely the opposite sense: 'quod caetera omnia iocunditatem animo uideantur adferre.' For adferre [MS. C afferre], Chaucer has given us the sense of auferre.

58. studies, i.e. endeavours; 'studia.' corage; 'animus.'

59. al be it, &c.; 'et si caligante memoria.'

60. not, knows not; 'uelut ebrius, domum quo tramite reuertatur, ignorat.' See Cant. Tales, A 1262.

67. that ... it: 'qui quod sit optimum, id etiam ... putant.'

75. forsake, deny; 'sequestrari nequit.'

77. be anguissous, i.e. 'be neither full of anxiety.' The neither is implied in the following ne; 'non esse anxiam tristemque.' It is clearer if we supply nat, as in the text.

83. Than is it good, then it is the summum bonum.

86. lovinge, as if translating diligendo, which occurs in many MSS.; but the better reading is 'deligendo,' i.e. selecting.

Metre 2. 1. with slakke ... strenges; 'fidibus lentis.'

2. enclineth and flitteth; 'flectat.' flitteth here means 'shifts.'

3. purveyable, with provident care; 'prouida.'

6. of the contre of Pene; 'Poeni leones'; lions of North Africa, supposed to be extremely ferocious.

8. sturdy, cruel, hard; 'trucem ... magistrum.'

13. and hir mayster: 'Primusque lacer dente cruento Domitor rabidas imbuit iras.'

15. Iangelinge, garrulous; 'garrula.' This passage is imitated twice in the Cant. Tales, F 607-617, H 163-174.

17. pleyinge bisinesse; 'ludens cura.'

19. agreables; this form of the pl. adj. is only used in the case of words of French origin. Examples are not very common; cf. reverents below, Bk. iii. Met. 4, l. 6; and delitables, C. T. F 899.

26. by privee path, by an unseen route; 'secreto tramite.' Alluding to the apparent passage of the sun below the horizon and, as it were, underneath the world. Cf. Troil. iii. 1705.

27. Alle thinges: 'Repetunt proprios quaeque recursus.'

Prose 3. 1. beestes, animals; 'animalia.' Chaucer always uses beest for 'animal.'

15. fals beautee, a false beauty; 'falsa ... beatitudinis species.' But 'species' may simply mean 'semblance.'

17. After axe, Caxton and Thynne insert the, i.e. thee; 'te ipsum.'

24. thee lakked: 'uel aberat quod abesse non uelles, uel aderat quod adesse noluisses.' This sentence much impressed Chaucer. He again recurs to it in the Complaint to Pite, 99-104; Parl. Foules, 90, 91; and Complaint to his Lady, 47-49. This fact helps to prove the genuineness of the last-named poem.

36. No. Observe the use of no after a sentence containing nis nat. If there had been no negative in the preceding sentence, the form would have been Nay. Such is the usual rule.

40, 41. maken, cause, bring it about. bihighten, promised.

48. foreyne ... pletinges; 'forenses querimoniae.' But forenses means 'public.'

69. be fulfild ... and axe any thing; rather paraphrastic; 'aliquid poscens opibus expletur.' fulfild here means 'plentifully supplied,' not 'completely satisfied,' whereas in the very next line it means 'completely satisfied.'

71. I holde me stille, and telle nat, I say nothing about; 'Taceo.' Seven E. words for one of Latin.

74. what may ... be, why is it; 'quid est quod,' &c.

Metre 3. 1. After river, Caxton and Thynne insert or a gutter; Lat. 'gurgite.'

2. yit sholde it never. This gives quite a false turn to the translation, and misses the sense intended. I quote the whole Metre.

'Quamuis fluente diues auri gurgite

Non expleturas cogat auarus opes,

Oneretque baccis colla rubri litoris;

Ruraque centeno scindat opima boue:

Nec cura mordax deserit superstitem,

Defunctumque leues non comitantur opes.'

3. rede see; lit. 'red shore.' However, the Red Sea is alluded to. Chaucer's translation of baccis by 'stones' is not happy; for 'pearls' are meant. Cf. Horace, Epod. viii. 14; Sat. ii. 3. 241. Pliny praises the pearls from the Red Sea; Nat. Hist. lib. xii. c. 18.

Prose 4. 9. postum, short for apostume, i.e. imposthume. boch, botch, pustule. Lat. struma. Catullus is the well-known poet, and the allusion is to his lines addressed to himself (Carm. 52):—

'Quid est, Catulle, quid moraris emori?

Sella in curuli struma Nonius sedet.'

14. Certes, thou, &c. Rather involved. 'Tu quoque num tandem tot periculis adduci potuisti, ut cum Decorato gerere magistratum putares, cÙm in eo mentem nequissimi scurrae delatorisque respiceres?' With is used for by: 'by so many perils' is intended. See Chaucer's gloss.

16. Decorat, Decoratus. He seems to have been in high favour with king Theodoric, who wrote him a letter which is preserved in Cassiodorus, lib. v. 31. It is clear that Boethius thought very ill of him.

32. that he is despysed, i.e. because he is despised. The argument is, that a wicked man seems the more wicked when he is despised by a very great number of people; and if he be of high rank, his rank makes him more conspicuous, and therefore the more generally contemned. The MSS. vary here; perhaps the scribes did not see their way clearly. See the footnote.

35. and ... nat unpunisshed; 'VerÙm non impunÈ.'

40. comen by, arise from; 'per has umbratiles dignitates non posse contingere.' See Chaucer's Balade on Gentilesse, l. 5.

42. many maner, a mistranslation: 'Si quis multiplici consulatu functus.'

46. to don his office, to perform its function. Cf. Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1144.

50. that wenen, i.e. (folk or people) who suppose.

56. provostrie, i.e. the prÆtorship; 'praetura.'

57. rente, income; 'et senatorii census grauis sarcina.'

58. the office; this alludes to the Praefectus annonae, once an honourable title. It was borne by Augustus, when emperor.

64. by the opinioun of usaunces; 'opinione utentium.' Chaucer's phrase seems to mean 'by estimation of the mode in which it is used.' He should have written 'by the opinioun of hem that usen it.'

66. of hir wille, of their own accord (as it were); 'ultro.'

68. what is it; 'quid est, quÒd in se expetendae pulcritudinis habeant, nedum aliis praestent?'

Metre 4. Cf. Monkes Tale, B 3653-60.

2. Tirie, Tyre; lit. 'Tyrian,' the adjectival form; 'Tyrio superbus ostro.' So above, Bk. ii. Met. 5, l. 8.

3. throf he, he flourished (lit. throve); 'uigebat.'

6. reverents, the pl. form of the adj. See above, Bk. iii. Met. 2, l. 19. unworshipful, &c.; 'indecores curules.'

Prose 5. 1. regnes, kingdoms; familiaritees, friendships.

2. How elles, why not? 'Quidni?' whan, whenever.

4. kinges ben chaunged. This is the subject of Chaucer's Monkes Tale. Examples are certainly numerous. In the time of Boethius (470-524), they were not wanting. Thus Basiliscus, emperor of the East, had a reign which Gibbon describes as 'short and turbulent,' and perished miserably of hunger in 476; and Odoacer was killed by Theodoric in 493; see Gibbon's History.

13. upon thilke syde that, on whichever side.

14. noun-power ... undernethe; 'impotentia subintrat.' nounpower, lack of power, occurs in P. Plowman, C. xx. 292; see my note.

17. A tyraunt; Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, in Sicily, who caused a sword to be hung by a slender thread over the head of his favourite Damocles, to teach him that riches could not make happy the man whose death was imminent. See Cicero, Tuscul. v. 21. 6; Horace, Carm. iii. 1. 17; Persius, Sat. iii. 40. And see Ch. Kn. Tale, A 2029.

27. seriaunts, serjeants (satellite), different from servauntes (seruientium) below. The difference is one of use only; for the form seriaunt, E. serjeant, represents the Lat. seruientem, whilst servaunt, E. servant, represents the O. F. pres. part. of the O. F. verb servir; which comes to much about the same thing.

30. what, why; what ... anything answers to Lat. 'quid.'

33. in hool, &c., whether that power is unimpaired or lost; Lat. 'incolumis ... lapsa.'

34. Nero; see note to Monkes Tale, B 3685.

35. Antonius, a mistake for Antoninus, as in the Lat. text. By Antoninus is meant the infamous emperor Caracalla, on whom Septimius Severus had conferred the title of Antoninus. Papinianus was a celebrated Roman jurist, who was put to death at the command of Caracalla; see Gibbon, Roman Empire, ch. vi.

39. Senek, Seneca; see Tacitus, Annal. xiv.

41. But whan; 'Sed dum ruituros moles ipsa trahit, neuter, quod uoluit, effecit.' I.e. neither Papinian nor Seneca found it possible to forego their position.

48. Certes, swiche folk; see Monkes Ta. B 3434-5.

50. pestilence; see Merch. Ta. E. 1784, and 1793-4.

Metre 5. 1. For corage, Caxton and Thynne have corages, but this may be an alteration due to the Latin which they quote as a heading: 'Qui se uolet esse potentem, Animos,' &c.

5. Tyle; 'ultima Thule.' Supposed to be Iceland, or one of the Shetland Islands.

Prose 6. 3. tragedies; see note to Cant. Ta. B 3163.

3, 4. O glorie. The original has: ? d??a d??a ?????s? d? ??t??, ??d?? ?e??s? ??t?? ????sa? ??a?. See Euripides, Andromache, 319. For this, MS. C. gives, as the Latin equivalent—'o gloria, gloria, in milibus hominum nichil aliud facta nisi auribus inflatio magna'; an interpretation which Chaucer here follows.

24. gentilesse. See remarks (in the notes) on Chaucer's Balade of Gentilesse.

Metre 6. 8. For yif thou loke your; the change from thy to your is due to the Latin: 'Si promordia uestra Auctoremque Deum spectes.'

9. forlived, degenerate; 'degener.' In Prose 6 (above), l. 37, outrayen or forliven translates 'degenerent.'

Prose 7. 1. delices; 'uoluptatibus.' The MSS. so confuse the words delices and delyts that it is hardly possible to say which is meant, except when the Lat. text has deliciae. Both E. words seem to correspond to uoluptates.

12. Iolitee: intended to translate 'lasciuiam,' a reading of some MSS.; MS. C. has this reading, glossed 'voluptatem.' Most MSS. read lacunam, i.e. void, want. were, would be; 'foret.'

14. that children: 'nescio quem filios inuenisse tortores.'

15. bytinge; 'mordax.' anguissous: 'anxium.'

16. or, ere; in fact, Caxton has ere, and Thynne, er.

18. Euripidis; in the gen. case, as in the Lat. text. The reference is to Euripides, Andromache, 418: p?s? d' ?????p??? ??' ?? ????, te??'? ?st?? d' ??t' ?pe???? ?? ???e?, ?ss?? ?? ???e?, d?st???? d' ??da???e?.

Metre 7. 3. he fleeth: 'Fugit et nimis tenaci Ferit icta corda morsu.' As to the use of flyes for 'bees,' see note to Parl. Foules, 353.

Prose 8. 1. that thise weyes: 'quin hae ad beatitudinem uiae deuiae quaedam sint.'

8. supplien, supplicate, beg: 'danti supplicabis.'

11. awaytes, snares: 'subiectorum insidiis obnoxius periculis subiacebis.' anoyously; a mistranslation of 'obnoxius,'; see above.

12. destrat, distracted: 'distractus.'

16. brotel, brittle, frail: 'fragilissimae.'

28. of the somer-sesoun: 'uernalium.' So elsewhere, somer-sesoun really means the spring. Cf. P. Plowman, line 1.

Aristotle. The reference is not known; but the belief was common. It is highly probable that the fable about the lynx's sharp sight arose from a confusion with the sharp sight of Lynceus; and it is Lynceus who is really meant in the present passage; 'Lynceis oculis.' Cf. Horace, Sat. i. 2. 90:

—'ne corporis optima Lyncei

Contemplere oculis.'

Metre 8. 5. ginnes, snares: 'laqueos.'

7. Tyrene; 'Tyrrhena ... uada'; see Vergil, Aen. i. 67.

14. echines: 'uel asperis Praestent echinis litora.'

Prose 9. 10. thorugh a litel clifte: 'rimulÂ.'

14. misledeth it and transporteth: 'traducit.'

16. Wenest thou: 'An tu arbitraris, quod nihilo indigeat, egere potentia?'

38. Consider: 'Considera uero, ne, quod nihilo indigere, quod potentissimum, quod honore dignissimum esse concessum est, egere claritudine, quam sibi praestare non possit, atque ob id aliqua ex parte uideatur abiectius.'

53. This is a consequence: 'Consequitur.'

69. they ne geten hem: 'nec portionem, quae nulla est, nec ipsam, quam minimÈ affectat, assequitur.'

77. that power forleteth: 'ei, quem ualentia deserit, quem molestia pungit, quem uilitas abicit, quem recondit obscuritas.' Hence that means 'whom,' and refers to the man.

95. that shal he not finde. This is turned into the affirmative instead of the interrogative form: 'sed num in his eam reperiet, quae demonstrauimus, id quod pollicentur, non posse conferre?'

119. norie, pupil; Lat. 'alumne.'

136. that lyen: 'quae autem beatitudinem mentiantur.'

142. in Timeo; 'uti in Timaeo Platoni.' Here Chaucer keeps the words in Timaeo without alteration, as if they formed the title of Plato's work. The passage is: ???' ? S???ate?, t??t? ?e d? p??te? ?s?? ?a? ?at? ?a?? s?f??s???? et????s?? ?p? p?s? ??? ?a? s????? ?a? e????? p???at?? ?e?? ?e? p?? ?a???s?? (27 C).

Metre 9. 3. from sin that age hadde biginninge, since the world began: 'ab aeuo.' thou that dwellest: cf. Kn. Tale, A 3004.

5. necesseden, compelled, as by necessity: 'pepulerunt.'

6. floteringe matere: 'materiae fluitantis'; see below, Pr. xi. 156.

8. beringe, &c.; see Leg. of Good Women, 2229, and note.

13. Thou bindest: 'Tu numeris elementa ligas.'

14. colde. Alluding to the old doctrine of the four elements, with their qualities. Thus the nature of fire was thought to be hot and dry, that of water cold and moist, that of air cold and dry, that of earth hot and moist. Cf. Ovid, Met. i. 19:—

'Frigida pugnabant calidis, humentia siccis,

Mollia cum duris, sine pondere habentia pondus.

Hanc Deus et melior litem Natura diremit ...

Dissociata locis concordi pace ligauit.'

Sometimes the four elements are represented as lying in four layers; the earth at the bottom, and above it the water, the air, and the fire, in due order. This arrangement is here alluded to. Cf. Kn. Ta. A 2992.

18. Thou knittest, &c.

'Tu triplicis mediam naturae cuncta mouentem

Connectens animam per consona membra resoluis.

Quae cum secta duos motum glomerauit in orbes,

In semet reditura meat mentemque profundam

Circuit, et simili conuertit imagine caelum.

Tu caussis animas paribus uitasque minores

Prouehis, et leuibus sublimes curribus aptans

In caelum terramque seris, quas lege benigna

Ad te conuersas reduci facis igne reuerti.

Da pater angustam menti conscendere sedem,

Da fontem lustrare boni, da luce reperta

In te conspicuos animi defigere uisus.'

24. cartes, vehicles; the bodies which contain the souls.

34. berer: 'uector, dux, semita, terminus idem.'

Prose 10. 8. for that veyn, in order that vain, &c.

11. ne is, exists. We should now drop the negative after 'deny.' nis right as, is precisely as.

12. is proeved: 'id imminutione perfecti imperfectum esse perhibetur.'

14. in every thing general: 'in quolibet genere.'

21. descendeth: 'in haec extrema atque effeta dilabitur.' Cf. Kn. Ta. 3003-10.

31, 2. that nothing nis bettre, i.e. than whom nothing is better. So below (l. 70) we have—'that nothing nis more worth.'

32. nis good, is good. The ne is due to the preceding 'douted.'

39. for as moche: 'ne in infinitum ratio procedat.'

51. this prince; Caxton and Thynne have the fader; Lat. 'patrem.'

62. feigne: 'fingat qui potest.'

88. thanne ne may: 'quare neutrum poterit esse perfectum, cum alterutri alterum deest.' Thus we must read may (sing.), not mowen (pl.).

98. Upon thise thinges, besides this: 'Super haec.'

100. porismes: 'p???sata'; corollaries, or deductions from a foregoing demonstration.

101. as a corollarie: 'ueluti corollarium.' Corollary is derived from corolla, dimin. of corona, a garland. It meant money paid for a garland of flowers; hence, a gift, present, gratuity; and finally, an additional inference from a proposition. Chaucer gives the explanation mede of coroune, i.e. gift of a garland.

106. they ben maked iust: these four words must be added to make sense; it is plain that they were lost by the inadvertence of the scribes. Lat. text: 'Sed uti iustitiae adeptione iusti, sapientiae sapientes fiunt, ita diuinitatem adeptos, Deos fieri simili ratione necesse est.'

165. the soverein fyn; Lat. text: 'ut summa, cardo, atque caussa.' Chaucer seems to have taken summa to be the superl. adjective; and fyn, i.e. end, is meant to represent cardo.

Metre 10. 8. Tagus; the well-known river flowing by Toledo and Lisbon, once celebrated for its golden sands; see Ovid, Am. i. 15. 34; Met. ii. 251, &c.

10. Hermus, an auriferous river of Lydia, into which flowed the still more celebrated Pactolus. 'Auro turbidus Hermus;' Verg. Georg. ii. 137.

rede brinke: 'rutilante ripa.'

Indus; now the Sind, in N. W. India.

11. that medleth: 'candidis miscens uirides lapillos'; which Chaucer explains as mingling smaragdes (emeralds) with margaretes (pearls); see footnote on p. 80.

17. that eschueth: 'Vitat obscuras animae ruinas.'

Prose 11. 3. How mochel; i.e. at what price will you appraise it: 'quanti aestimabis.'

24. The thinges thanne: 'Quae igitur, cÙm discrepant, minimÈ bona sunt; cÙm uero unum esse coeperint, bona fiunt: nonne haec ut bona sint, unitatis fieri adeptione contingit?'

55. non other; i.e. no other conclusion: 'minimÈ aliud uidetur.'

63. travaileth him, endeavours: 'tueri salutem laborat.'

71. thar thee nat doute, thou needst not doubt.

81. What woltow: 'Quid, quod omnes, uelut in terras ore demerso trahunt alimenta radicibus, ac per medullas robur corticemque diffundunt?' (maryes, marrows.)

91. renovelen and puplisshen hem: 'propagentur.'

92. that they ne ben, that they are; the superfluous ne is due to the ne preceding.

110. But fyr: 'Ignis uero omnem refugit sectionem.'

112. wilful: 'de uoluntariis animae cognoscentis motibus.'

123. som-tyme: 'gignendi opus ... interdum coËrcet uoluntas.'

128. And thus: 'AdeÒ haec sui caritas.'

142. for yif that that oon: 'hoc enim sublato, nec esse quidem cuiquam permanebit.'

156. floteren, fluctuate, waver; 'fluitabunt'; see above, Met. ix. 6.

161. for thou hast: 'ipsam enim mediae ueritatis notam mente fixisti.'

163. in that, in that thing which: 'in hoc ... quod.'

Metre 11. 2. mis-weyes, by-paths: 'nullis ... deuiis.'

rollen and trenden: 'reuoluat.' Chaucer here uses the causal verb trenden, to revolve, answering to an A.S. form *trendan, causal of a lost verb *trindan. The E. trund-le is from the same strong verb (pp. *getrunden).

'Longosque in orbem cogat inflectens motus,

Animumque doceat quidquid extra molitur

Suis retrusum possidere thesauris.'

7. Cf. Troilus, iv. 200.

8. lighten, i.e. shine: 'Lucebit.'

10. Glosa. This gloss is an alternative paraphrase of all that precedes, from the beginning of the Metre.

32. Plato. From Plato's Phaedo, where Socrates says: ?t? ??? ? ???s?? ??? ???? t? ? ?????s?? t?????e? ??sa (72 E).

Prose 12. 18. Wendest, didst ween: 'Mundum, inquit, hunc Â Deo regi paullo antÈ minimÈ dubitandum putabas.' Surely Chaucer has quite mistaken the construction. He should rather have said: 'Thou wendest, quod she, a litel her-biforn that men ne sholden nat doute,' &c.

19. nis governed, is governed; the same construction as before. So also but-yif there nere = unless there were (l. 25).

28. yif ther ne were: 'nisi unus esset, qui quod nexuit contineret.'

30. bringe forth, bring about, dispose, arrange: 'disponeret.'

so ordenee: 'tam dispositos motus.'

38. that thou: 'ut felicitatis compos, patriam sospes reuisas.'

55. a keye and a stere: 'ueluti quidam clauus atque gubernaculum.' Here Chaucer unluckily translates clauus as if it were clauis.

63. ne sheweth: 'non minÙs ad contuendum patet'; i.e. is equally plain to be seen.

67. by the keye: 'bonitatis clauo'; see note to l. 55.

73. It mot nedes be so: 'Ita, inquam, necesse est; nec beatum regimen esse uideretur, si quidem detrectantium iugum foret, non obtemperantium salus.' The translation has here gone wrong.

87. softely, gently, pleasurably: 'suauiter.'

91. so at the laste: 'ut tandem aliquando stultitiam magna lacerantem sui pudeat.' Another common reading is latrantem, but this was evidently not the reading in Chaucer's copy; MS. C. has lacerantem.

97. the poetes. See Ovid, Met. i. 151-162; Vergil, Georg. i. 277-283.

116. Scornest thou me: 'Ludisne, inquam, me, inextricabilem labyrinthum rationibus texens, quae nunc quidem, qua egrediaris, introeas; nunc uerÒ qua introieris, egrediare; an mirabilem quemdam diuinae simplicitatis orbem complicas?'

117. the hous of Dedalus; used to translate 'labyrinthum.' See Vergil, Aen. vi. 24-30, v. 588. No doubt Boethius borrowed the word inextricabilis from Aen. vi. 27.

125. for which: 'ex quo neminem beatum fore, nisi qui pariter Deus esset, quasi munusculum dabas.' Here munusculum refers to corollarium, which Chaucer translates by 'a mede of coroune'; see above, Pr. x. 101.

132. by the governements: 'bonitatis gubernaculis.'

135. by proeves in cercles and hoomlich knowen: 'atque haec nullis extrinsecus sumptis, sed altero ex altero fidem trahente insitis domesticisque probationibus.' Chaucer inserts in cercles and, by way of reference to arguments drawn from circles; but the chief argument of this character really occurs later, viz. in Bk. iv. Pr. vi. 81.

143. Parmenides, a Greek philosopher who, according to Plato, accompanied Zeno to Athens, where he became acquainted with Socrates, who was then but a young man. Plato, in his Sophistes, quotes the line of Parmenides which is here referred to: p??t??e? ???????? sfa??a? ??a??????? ????. This the MSS. explain to mean: 'rerum orbem mobilem rotat, dum se immobilem ipsa conseruat.' The Greek quotation is corruptly given in the MSS., but is restored by consulting Plato's text (244 E); hence we do not know what reading Boethius adopted. It can hardly have been the one here given, which signifies that God is 'like the mass of a sphere that is well-rounded on all sides.' Perhaps he took the idea of God's immobility from the next two verses:—

ess??e? ?s?pa??? p??t?, t? ??? ??te t? e????

??te ea??te??? p??e?.

i.e. 'equidistant from the centre in all directions; for there is nothing greater (than Him), and nothing more immoveable.'

152. Plato. From Plato's Timaeus, 29 B: ?? ??a t??? ?????? ??pe? ??s?? ?????ta?, t??t?? ??t?? ?a? s???e?e?? ??ta?. Chaucer quotes this saying twice; see Cant. Tales, A 741-2, H 207-210.

Metre 12. 3. Orpheus. This well-known story is well told in Vergil, Georg. iv. 454-527; and in Ovid, Met. x. 1-85.

Trace, Thrace; as in Cant. Ta. A 1972.

4. weeply, tearful, sorrowful: 'flebilibus.'

5. moevable should precede riveres; 'Silvas currere, mobiles Amnes stare coegerat.' Chaucer took these two lines separately.

12. hevene goddes, gods of heaven: 'superos.'

'Illic blanda sonantibus Chordis carmina temperans

Quicquid praecipuis deae Matris fontibus hauserat,

Quod luctus dabat impotens, Quod luctum geminans amor

Deflet Taenara commouens, Et dulci ueniam prece

Umbrarum dominos rogat.'

16. laved out, drawn up (as from a well). The M. E. laven, to draw up water, to pour out, is from the A. S. lafian, to pour; for which see Cockayne's A. S. Leechdoms, ii. 124, ii. 74, iii. 48. It is further illustrated in my Etym. Dict., s. v. Lavish, its derivative. No doubt it was frequently confused with F. laver, to wash; but it is an independent Teutonic word, allied to G. laben. In E. Friesic we find lafen sÜk or laven sÜk, to refresh oneself. It is curious that it appears even in so late an author as Dryden, who translates Lat. egerit (Ovid, Met. xi. 488) by laves, i.e. bales out. And see laven in MÄtzner.

16. Calliope. Orpheus was son of Oeagrus, king of Thrace, and of Calliope, chief of the Muses; cf. Ovid, Ibis, 484.

17. and he song. This does not very well translate the Latin text; see note to l. 12.

21. of relesinge: 'ueniam'; i.e. for the release (of Eurydice).

22. Cerberus, the three-headed dog; cf. Verg. Georg. iv. 483; Aen. vi. 417; Ovid, Met. iv. 449.

23. Furies; the Eumenides; cf. Verg. Georg. iv. 483; Ovid, Met. x. 46.

26. Ixion, who was fastened to an ever-revolving wheel; see Georg. iv. 484; iii. 38; Ovid, Met. iv. 460.

overthrowinge, turning over: 'Non Ixionium caput Velox praecipitat rota.'

27. Tantalus, tormented by perpetual thirst; Ovid, Met. x. 41; iv. 457.

29. Tityus: 'Vultur dum satur est modis Non traxit Tityi iecur.' Cf. Verg. Aen. vi. 595-600; Ovid, Met. iv. 456. And see Troilus, i. 786-8.

34. But we wol: 'Sed lex dona coËrceat.'

37. But what; quoted in Kn. Tale, A 1164.

42. and was deed: 'occidit.' The common story does not involve the immediate death of Orpheus.

49. loketh, beholds: 'uidet inferos.' The story of Orpheus is excellently told in King Alfred's translation of Boethius, cap. xxxv. §6.

Clyx.com