The following scheme gives a general idea of the relationship of this Book to the original.

Chaucer: Book III.	Filostrato: Book III.
ll. 1-38.	st. 74-79.
239-287.	5-10.
344-441.	11-20.
813-833.	[Boethius, II. Pr. 4. 86-120.]
1310-1426.	31-43.
1443-1451.	44.
1471-1492.	44-48.
1513-1555.	50-56.
1588-1624.	56-60.
1625-1629.	[Boethius, II. Pr. 4. 4-10.]
1639-1680.	61-65.
1695-1743.	70-73.
1744-1768.	[Boethius, II. Met. 8.]
1772-1806.	90-93.
1807-1813.	Bk. I, st. 3. 1.

1-38. This is an exceptionally difficult passage, and some of the editions make great nonsense of it, especially of ll. 15-21. It is, however, imitated from stanzas 74-79 of the Filostrato, Book III; where the invocation is put into the mouth of Troilus.

The key to it is that it is an address to Venus, both the planet and the goddess.

2. The planet Venus was considered to be in 'the third heaven.' The 'heavens' or spheres were named, respectively, after the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the 'fixed stars;' beyond which was the Primum Mobile, the earth being in the centre of all, and immoveable. Sometimes the spheres of the seven planets were reckoned backwards from Saturn, Venus being then in the fifth heaven; see Lenvoy a Scogan, 9, and the note.

3. 'O favourite of the Sun, O dear daughter of Jove!' Venus was considered a fortunate planet. Perhaps it is best to quote the Italian text here:—

11. vapour, influence; Ital. Vapor (l. 598).

15. The readings in this stanza are settled by the Ital. text. Thus, in ll. 17, 19, 20, read him, not hem. Comeveden, didst move or instigate; agreeing with ye, for which Mod. E. uses thou. 'Thou didst first instigate Jove to those glad effects (influences), through which all things live and exist; and didst make him amorous of mortal things; and, at thy pleasure, didst ever give him, in love, success or trouble; and, in a thousand forms, didst send him down to (gain) love on earth; and he caught those whom it pleased you (he should catch).'

In l. 17 we find Comeveden sometimes turned into Comenden, or even Commodious! The Italian text has Movesti (l. 603).

22. Venus was supposed to appease the angry planet Mars; see Compl. of Mars, 36-42.

27. 'According as a man wishes.'

29. 'Tu in unitÀ le case e li cittadi, Li regni, ... Tien.'

31-34.

I.e. 'Thou only knowest the hidden qualities of things, whence thou formest such a construction, that thou makest to marvel any one who knows not how to estimate thy power.' Chaucer seems to have used construe because suggested by costrutto, but he really uses it as answering to sa (in the fourth line), and omits the words 'l costrutto vi metti tal altogether. Hence ll. 33-35 mean: 'when they cannot explain how it may come to pass that she loves him, or why he loves her; (so as to shew) why this fish, and not that one, comes to the weir.'

Io (= jo), come to pass. This word is not in the dictionaries, and has been coolly altered into go (!) in various editions. But it answers to O. F. joer (F. jouer), to play, hence, to play a game, to make a move (as in a game); here, to come about, come to pass.

35. were, weir, pool where fish are caught; see Parl. Foules, 138, and note.

36. 'You have imposed a law on folks in this universe;' Ital. 'Tu legge, o dea, poni all' universo.'

44, 45. Inhelde, pour in. Caliope, Calliope, muse of epic poetry; similarly invoked by Dante, Purg. i. 9.

87. 'Though he was not pert, nor made difficulties; nor was he too bold, (as if about) to sing a mass for a fool.' The last expression was probably proverbial; it seems to mean to speak without hesitation or a feeling of respect.

115. to watre wolde, would turn to water; cf. Squi. Ta. F 496.

120. 'I? what?' i.e. 'I? what (am I to do)?' In l. 122, Pandarus repeats her words, mockingly: 'You say I? what? why, of course you should pity him.'

136-138. 'And I (am) to have comfort, as it pleases you, (being at the same time) under your correction, (so as to have what is) equal to my offence, as (for instance) death.' See Cant. Ta. B 1287.

150. 'By the feast of Jupiter, who presides over nativities.' The reason for the use of natal is not obvious. Cf. 'Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum;' Horat. Ep. ii. 2. 187.

188. 'I seem to hear the town-bells ringing for this miracle, though no hand pulls the ropes.'

193, 194. and oon, And two, 'both the one of you and the other.'

198. bere the belle, take the former place, take precedence; like the bell-wether that heads the flock. See the New E. Dict.

228. 'Straight as a line,' i.e. directly, at once.

294. See Manc. Ta. H 333, and note.

299. 'Thou understandest and knowest enough proverbs against the vice of gossiping, even if men spoke truth as often as they lie.'

308. 'No boaster is to be believed, in the natural course of things.'

328, 329. drat, dreadeth. Cf. 'Felix, quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum.' But Chaucer took it from Le Rom. de la Rose, 8041-2: 'Moult a benÉurÉe vie Cil qui par autrui se chastie.'

340. 'And a day is appointed for making up the charters' (which will particularise what she has granted you); metaphorical.

349. richesse, abundance; not a happy word, but suggested by the Ital. text: 'I sospir ch'egli aveva a gran dovizia;' Fil. iii. 11. Dovizia (Lat. diuitiae) is precisely 'richesse.' Bell has rehetyng, i.e. comforting (from O. F. rehaiter, reheiter), which gives no sense; and explains it by 'reheating!'

354. lusty, lusty person; cf. Cant. Ta. A 165, 208.

377. 'Or durst (do so), or should know (how).'

380. stokked, fastened in the stocks; cf. Acts xvi. 24.

404. Departe it so, make this distinction.

410. frape, company, troop. Marked by Tyrwhitt as not understood. Other examples occur. 'With hem a god gret frape;' Adam Davy, &c., ed. Furnivall, p. 60, col. 1, text 3, l. 390; and see Allit. Morte Arthure, ed. Brock, 2163, 2804, 3548. Godefroy gives O. F. frap, a multitude, and frapaille, rabble.

445. 'And wished to be seised of that which he lacked.'

497. 'Or to enumerate all the looks and words of one that is in such uncertainty.'

502. as seith; but it does not appear that Boccaccio says anything of the kind. The same remark applies to l. 575.

510. Fulfelle is a Kentish form, the e answering to A. S. y. Similar forms occur in Gower. See note to Book Duch. 438.

526. Scan: DrÉd " elÉes " it cleer,' &c. The sense is: 'it was clear, in the direction of the wind, from every magpie and every spoil-sport.' I.e. no one could detect them; they kept (like hunters) well to leeward, and there were no magpies or telltale birds to windward, to give an alarm.

529. Scan: In this matÉr-e, both-e frem'd. fremed, strange, wild.

542. holy, i.e. sacred to Apollo. From Ovid, Met. i. 566: 'laurea .. uisa est agitasse cacumen.'

545. 'And therefore let no one hinder him.'

572. The readings all shew various corruptions of thurfte, which none of the scribes understood; see thurfen, tharf, in Stratmann. This is not the only place where thurfte has been ousted from the text. Cf. thar (for tharf) in the Reves Ta. A 4320, &c. Yow thurfte have, you would need (to) have. Yow is the dat. case, governed by the impers. verb. The reading yow durste turns yow (an accusative) into an imaginary nominative; but the nom. form is ye, which the scribes did not venture to substitute.

584. goosish, goose-like, silly. This delicious epithet was turned into gofysshe by Thynne, and modern editions perpetuate the blunder. Tyrwhitt derived gofish from F. goffe, a word which is much later than Chaucer, and was probably merely adapted from Ital. goffo, stupid. The Century Dict. goes a step further, inserting a second f, and producing a form goffish, against all authority. Cf. Parl. Foules, 568, 586.

601. stewe, small chamber, closet; cf. G. Stube.

602. 'Where he was shut in, as in a coop.'

609. 'There was no dainty to be fetched'; they were all there.

614. Wade; this is the hero mentioned in the Merch. Tale, E 1424; see note.

617-620. Cf. Boethius, Bk. iv. Pr. 6. 60-68.

622. 'Without her leave, at the will of the gods.'

624. bente, i.e. curved, crescent; see l. 549. Cf. Boeth. Bk. I. Met. 5. 6, 7.

625. The Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter were all in conjunction in Cancer, which was the mansion of the moon. We are to understand that this caused the great rain.

640. ron, rained; so also in l. 677. The usual pt. t. is reinede, but we also find roon, ron, as in P. Plowm. B. xiv. 66 (C. xvi. 270), and in Trevisa, tr. of Higden, ii. 239. The pt. t. of A. S. rignan, rinan, is usually rinde; but the strong pt. ran occurs in the Blickling Glosses.

648. a game, in game; a = an, on; Cm. has on.

671. The wyn anon, the wine (shall come) at once; alluding to the wine drunk just before going to bed. See Prol. A 819, 820.

674. 'The voidÈ being drunk, and the cross-curtain drawn immediately afterwards.' The best reading is voyde or voydee. This seems to be here used as a name for the 'loving-cup' or 'grace-cup,' which was drunk after the table had been cleared or voided. Properly, it was a slight dessert of 'spices' and wine; where spices meant sweetmeats, dried fruits, &c. See Notes and Queries, 2 S. xi. 508. The traverse was a screen or curtain drawn across the room; cf. Cant. Ta. E 1817; King's Quair, st. 90. See Additional Note, p. 506.

690. This refers to the attendants. They were no longer allowed to skip about (run on errands) or to tramp about noisily, but were packed off to bed, with a malediction on those who stirred about. Traunceth, tramps about, is used of a bull by Gower, C. A. ii. 72. In Beaumont and Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, v. 2, we find—'but, traunce the world over, you shall never,' &c. For traunce, Thynne reads praunce, which has a similar sense. Morris explains traunce here as a sb., which seems impossible.

695. The olde daunce, the old game; see Prol. A 476.

696. sey, saw; perhaps read seye, subj., might perceive. If so, read al, i.e. every.

702. 'Beginning and end;' see note to bk. II. 1495.

711. I.e. or else upset everything; cf. the phrase, 'all the fat is in the fire.'

716. Mars and Saturn both had an evil influence.

717. combust, quenched, viz. by being too near the sun; see Astrolabe, pt. ii. § 4. Venus and Mercury, when thus 'combust,' lost their influence. let, hindered.

721. Adoon, Adonis; see Ovid, Met. x. 715.

722. Europe, Europa; see Leg. of Good Women, 113, and note.

725. Cipris, Venus; see Ho. Fame, 518.

726. Dane, Daphne; see Kn. Ta. A 2062.

729. MercÚrie, Mercury; Herse, daughter of Cecrops, beloved by Mercury. Her sister, Aglauros, had displeased Minerva (Pallas); whereupon Minerva made Aglauros envious of Herse. Mercury turned Aglauros into stone because she hindered his suit. See Ovid, Met. ii. 708-832.

733. 'Fatal sisters;' i.e. the Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. 'Which spun my destiny, before any cloth (infant's covering) was made for me.' See Kn. Ta. A 1566; Leg. G. Wom. 2629.

764. Let sleeping dogs lie; a proverb.

773. 'To hold in hand' is to feed with false hopes, to delude by pretended love.

775. Lit. 'and make him a hood above a cap.' A calle (caul) was a close-fitting cap, a skull-cap. To put on a hood over this evidently means to cover up the eyes, to cajole, to hoodwink.

791, 797. shal, owe to. sholde love, i.e. are reported to love.

813-836. Founded on Boethius, lib. II. Pr. 4. 'QuÀm multis amaritudinibus humanae felicitatis dulcedo respersa est!... Anxia enim res est humanorum conditio bonorum, et quae uel numquam tota proueniat, uel numquam perpetua subsistat.... Ad haec, quem caduca ista felicitas uehit, uel scit eam, uel nescit esse mutabilem. Si nescit, quaenam beata sors esse potest ignorantiae caecitate? Si scit, metuat necesse est, ne amittat, quod amitti potest non dubitat; quare continuus timor non sinit esse felicem.... quonam modo praesens uita facere beatos potest?' See the E. version, ll. 86, 56, 109.

839. 'Why hast thou made Troilus distrust me?'

853, 854. 'Danger is drawn nearer by delay.' We say, 'Delays are dangerous.' Cf. Havelok, l. 1352. abodes, abidings, tarryings.

855. NÉc', with elided e, forms the first foot. 'Every thing has its time;' cf. Eccl. iii. 1.

861. farewel feldefare, (and people will say) farewell, fieldfare! Cf. Rom. Rose, 5510. In the Rom. Rose, it refers to false friends, who, when fortune frowns, say 'Go! farewell fieldfare,' i.e. Begone, we have done with you. As fieldfares come here in the winter months, people are glad to see them go, as a sign of approaching summer. In the present case, the sense appears to be that, when an opportunity is missed, the harm is done; and people will cry, 'farewell, fieldfare!' by way of derision. We might paraphrase the line by saying: 'the harm is done, and nobody cares.'

885. blewe, blue; the colour of constancy.

890. 'Hazle-bushes shake.' This is a truism known to every one, and no news at all; in like manner, your ring will tell him nothing, and is useless.

901. feffe him, enfeoff him, bestow on him. whyte, fair.

919. at pryme face, at the first glance; prim facie.

931. At dulcarnon, at a non-plus, in extreme perplexity. Dulcarnon, as pointed out by Selden, in his Pref. to Drayton's Polyolbion, represents the Pers. and Arab. du’lkarnayn, lit. two-horned; from Pers. du, two, and karn, horn. It was a common medieval epithet of Alexander the Great, who was so called because he claimed descent from Jupiter Ammon, whose image was provided with horns like a ram. Speght rightly says that Dulcarnon was also a name for the 47th prop. of Euclid, Book I, but gives a false reason and etymology. The real reason is plain enough, viz. that the two smaller squares in the diagram stick up like two horns. And, as this proposition is somewhat difficult for beginners, it here takes the sense of 'puzzle;' hence Criseyde was at Dulcarnon, because she was in perplexity. Speght refers to Alex. Neckam, De Naturis Rerum; see Wright's edition, p. 295.

But this is not all. In l. 933, Pandarus explains that Dulcarnon is called 'fleming of wrecches.' There is a slight error here: 'fleming of wrecches,' i.e. banishment of the miserable, is a translation of Fuga miserorum, which is written opposite this line in MS. Harl. 1239; and further, Fuga miserorum is a sort of Latin translation of EleËfuga or Eleufuga, from ??e?? pity, and f???, flight. The error lies in confusing Dulcarnon, the 47th proposition, with Eleufuga, a name for the 5th proposition; a confusion due to the fact that both propositions were considered difficult. Roger Bacon, Opus Tertium, cap. 6, says: 'Quinta propositio geometricae Euclidis dicitur Elefuga, id est, fuga miserorum.' Ducange, s. v. Eleufuga, quotes from Alanus, Anticlaudiani lib. iii. cap. 6—'Huius tirones curantis [read cur artis] Eleufuga terret,' &c. The word also occurs in Richard of Bury's Philobiblon, cap. xiii, somewhat oddly translated by J.B. Inglis in 1832. 'How many scholars has the Helleflight of Euclid repelled!'

This explanation, partly due to the Rev. W.G. Clark (joint-editor of the Globe Shakespeare), was first given in the AthenÆum, Sept. 23, 1871, p. 393, in an article written by myself.

934. It, i.e. Dulcarnon, or Euclid's proposition. 'It seems hard, because the wretched pupils will not learn it, owing to their very sloth or other wilful defects.'

936. This = this is; as elsewhere. fecches, vetches.

947. Understand be; 'where (I hope) good thrift may be.' Cf. 966.

978. fere, fire; as in Bk. i. 229. Usually fyre.

979. fond his contenaunce, lit. found his demeanour, i.e. composed himself as if to read.

1010. wivere, viper; O. F. wivre (F. givre), from Lat. uipera. The heraldic wiver or wyvern became a wondrous winged dragon, with two legs; wholly unlike the original viper. See Thynne's Animadversions, &c., ed. Furnivall, p. 41.

1013. 'Alas! that he, either entirely, or a slice of him.'

1021. 'That sufferest undeserved jealousy (to exist).'

1029. after that, accordingly; his, its.

1035. See note to Bk. ii. 784.

1046. ordal, ordeal, trial by ordeal, i.e. by fire or water. See Thynne's Animadversions, ed. Furnivall, p. 66.

1056. wreigh, covered; A. S. wrah; see wrihen in Stratmann.

1064. shoures, assaults. Bell actually substitutes stouris, as being 'clearly the true reading.' But editors have no right to reject real words which they fail to understand. Shour sometimes means a shower of arrows or darts, an assault, &c.; cf. A.S. hildescur, a flight of missiles. In fact, it recurs in this sense in Bk. iv. 47, where Bell again turns it into stoure, against authority.

1067. 'For it seemed to him not like (mere) strokes with a rod ... but he felt the very cramp of death.'

1106. al forgeve, all is forgiven. stint, stopped.

1154. bar him on honde, assured him.

1177. 'For a crime, there is mercy (to be had).'

1194. sucre be or soot, may be like sugar or like soot, i.e. pleasant or the reverse. We must read soot (not sote, sweet, as in Bell) because it rimes with moot. Moreover, soot was once proverbially bitter. 'Bittrore then the sote' occurs in Altenglische Dichtungen, ed. Boddeker, p. 121; and in Rutebuef's Vie Sainte Marie l'Egiptianne, ed. Jubinal, 280, we find 'plus amer que suie;' cf. Rom. Rose, 10670: 'amer Plus que n'est suie.'

1215. Cf. 'Bitter pills may have sweet effects;' Hazlitt's Proverbs.

1231. Bitrent, for bitrendeth, winds round; cf. iv. 870. wryth, for wrytheth, writhes.

1235. 'When she hears any shepherd speak.'

1249. 'And often invoked good luck upon her snowy throat.'

1257. welwilly, full of good will, propitious.

1258. Imeneus, HymenÆus, Hymen; cf. Ovid, Her. xiv. 27.

1261-4. Imitated from Dante, Parad. xxxiii. 14:—

1282. 'Mercy prevails over (lit. surpasses) justice.'

1344. 'Or else do I dream it?'

1357. sooth, for sooth is, i.e. it is true.

1369. Bell takes scripture to mean the mottos or posies on the rings. Perhaps this is right.

1374. holt, holds; 'that holds it in despite.'

1375. 'Of the money, that he can heap up and lay hold of.' For mokren, cf. Chaucer's Boethius, Bk. ii. Pr. 5. 11. Pens, pence, is a translation of Ital. denari, money, in the Filostrato, Book iii. st. 38.

1384. the whyte, silver coins; the rede, gold coins.

1389. Myda, Midas; see Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 951.

1391. Crassus; wantonly altered to Cresus in Bell's edition, on the ground that the story is told of Croesus. But Chaucer knew better. M. Crassus, surnamed Dives (the Rich), was slain in battle against the Parthians, B. C. 53. Orodes, king of Parthia, caused molten gold to be poured into the mouth of his dead enemy, saying, 'Sate thyself now with that metal of which, in life, thou wast so greedy;' Cicero, Att. vi. 1. 14; Florus, iii. 11. 4.

1407. 'And to counterbalance with joy their former woe'.

1415. The cock is called a common astrologer (i.e. astronomer), because he announces to all the time of day; cf. Non. Pr. Ta. B 4043; Parl. Foules, 350. Translated from 'vulgaris astrologus;' Alanus.

1417, 9. Lucifer, the morning-star, the planet Venus. Fortuna maior, the planet Jupiter. Mars and Saturn were supposed to have an evil influence; the Sun, Mercury, and Moon, had no great influence either way; whilst Jupiter and Venus had a good influence, and were therefore called, respectively, Fortuna maior and Fortuna minor. See G. Douglas, ed. Small, ii. 288. The MSS. have that anoon, (it happened) that anon; but this requires us to suppose so awkward an ellipsis that it is better to read than, answering to whan.

1428. Almena, Alcmena; a note in MS. H. has: 'Almena mater Herculis.' Alcmena was the mother of Hercules by Jupiter. Jupiter lengthened the night beyond its usual limit. Plautus has a play on the subject, called Amphitruo, as Jupiter personated Amphitryon.

1437-9. ther, wherefore; 'wherefore (I pray that) God, creator of nature, may bind thee so fast to our hemisphere,' &c. A similar construction occurs in l. 1456.

1453. bore, aperture, chink; 'for every chink lets in one of thy bright rays.' See New E. Dict.

1462. Engravers of small seals require a good light.

1464. Tytan, Titan, frequently used as synonymous with the sun; as in Ovid, Met. i. 10. Chaucer has confused him with Tithonus, the husband of Aurora, whom he denotes by dawing in l. 1466, and by morwe in l. 1469.

1490. Read wer-e, in two syllables. these worldes tweyne seems to mean 'two worlds such as this.'

1495. This somewhat resembles Verg. Ecl. i. 60-4.

1502. 'Even if I had to die by torture;' as in Bk. i. 674.

1514. mo, others; see note to Cler. Ta. E 1039.

1546. 'Desire burnt him afresh, and pleasure began to arise more than at first.' Cf. the parallel line in Leg. Good Wom. 1156: 'Of which ther gan to breden swich a fyr.' Yet Bell rejects this reading as being 'not at all in Chaucer's manner,' and prefers nonsense.

1577. 'Christ forgave those who crucified him.'

1600. Cf. Æneid. vi. 550:—

1625. From Boethius, lib. ii. Pr. 4: 'Sed hoc est, quod recolentem uehementius coquit. Nam in omni aduersitate fortunae infelicissimum genus est infortunii, fuisse felicem.' Cf. Dante, Inf. v. 121; Tennyson, Locksley Hall—'That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things.'

1634. Cf. Rom. de la Rose, 8301-4; from Ovid, Art. Amat. ii. 13.

1642. Ne I, read N'I. rakle, behave rashly; it is plainly a verb, formed from the adj. rakel. Morris inserts ben after rakel, to the ruin of the scansion. Cf. Norweg. rakla, to ramble, totter, be unsteady (Aasen); Swed. dial. rakkla, to rove (Rietz); Icel. reka, to drive.

1649. I shal, I owe; A. S. ic sceal.

1687. comprende, comprehend; F. comprendre. This is clearly the right form. In the Sq. Ta. F 223, though the MSS. have comprehende, it is obvious that comprende is the real reading.

1703. Pirous, i.e. Pyroeis, one of the four horses that drew the chariot of the sun. The other three were EÖus, Æthon, and Phlegon; see Ovid, Met. ii. 153.

1705. 'Have taken some short cut, to spite me.'

1732. 'To the extent of a single knot.' It would not be necessary to explain this, if it were not for Bell's explanation of knot as 'gnat.'

1734. y-masked, enmeshed; cf. A. S. masc, a mesh.

1744-68. Paraphrased from Boethius, lib. ii. Met. 8; but note that the lines italicised are transposed, and represent ll. 1744-1750:

1764. halt to-hepe, holds together, preserves in concord. Bell and Morris have the corrupt reading to kepe. To hepe, to a heap, became the adv. to-hepe, together. It occurs again in Ch. Astrolabe, Part I. § 14, and in Boethius, Bk. iv. Pr. 6. 182. Cf. 'gaderen tresor to-hepe,' Polit. Songs, ed. Wright, p. 325; 'han brought it to-hepe,' P. Ploughman's Crede, l. 727.

1766. 'That Love, by means of his power, would be pleased,' &c.

1779. In tyme of trewe, in time of truce; as in Boccaccio, Fil. iii. st. 91. Bell wrongly has Out of Troy. Morris alters trewe to trewes; but see Bk. iv. l. 1312.

1805. These are four of the seven deadly sins; see Pers. Tale.

1807. lady, i.e. Venus, called Dionaea as being daughter of Dione; Æneid. iii. 19. Cf. Homer, Il. v. 370.

1809. The nine Muses. Helicon was a long way from Mount Parnassus; but see notes to Anelida, 15, and Ho. Fame, 521.

1817. 'As it pleases my author to relate.'