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IV.: THE COMPLEYNT OF MARS. - Geoffrey Chaucer, The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. 1 (Romaunt of the Rose, Minor Poems) [1899]

Edition used:

The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, edited from numerous manuscripts by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat (2nd ed.) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899). 7 vols.

Part of: The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, 7 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


IV.

THE COMPLEYNT OF MARS.

The authorities here used are: F. (Fairfax 16); Tn. (Tanner 346); Ju. (Julian Notary’s edition); Harl. (Harleian 7333); T. (Trinity College, Cambridge, R. 3. 20); Ar. (Arch. Seld. B. 24, in the Bodleian Library). Also Th. (Thynne, ed. 1532). I follow F. mainly; and note variations from it.

  • The Proem.
    • With teres blewe , and with a wounded herte[ ]
    • Taketh your leve; and, with seynt Iohn to borow,[ ]
    • Apeseth somwhat of your sorowes smerte ,10
    • Tyme cometh eft , that cese shal your sorow;
    • The glade night is worth an hevy morow!’—
    • (Seynt Valentyne! a foul thus herde I singe[ ]
    • Upon thy day, er sonne gan up-springe).—
    • Yet sang this foul —‘I rede yow al a-wake,15
    • And ye, that han not chosen in humble wyse,

    • 17-19. in wrong order inF.Tn.

    • Without repenting cheseth yow your make.
    • And ye, that han ful chosen as I devyse,
    • Yet at the leste renoveleth your servyse;
    • Confermeth it perpetuely to dure,20
    • And paciently taketh your aventure.[ ]
    • And for the worship of this hyefeste ,
    • Yet wol I, in my briddes wyse, singe
    • The sentence of the compleynt, at the leste ,
    • That woful Mars made atte departinge[ ]25
    • Fro fresshe Venus in a morweninge ,
    • Whan Phebus, with his fyry torches rede,
    • Ransaked every lover in his drede.
  • The Story.
    • ¶ Whylom the thridde hevenes lord above,[ ]
    • As wel by hevenish revolucioun30
    • As by desert, hath wonne Venus his love,
    • And she hath take him in subieccioun,
    • And as a maistresse taught him his lessoun,
    • Comaunding him that never, in hir servyse,
    • He nere so bold no lover to despyse .35
    • For she forbad him Ielosye at alle,[ ]
    • And cruelte, and bost, and tirannye;
    • She made him at hir lust so humble and talle ,[ ]
    • That when hir deyned caste on him her yë,
    • He took in pacience to live or dye;40
    • And thus she brydeleth him in hir manere ,
    • With no-thing but with scourging of hir chere .[ ]
    • Who regneth now in blisse but Venus,
    • That hath this worthy knight in governaunce?
    • Who singeth now but Mars, that serveth thus45
    • The faire Venus, causer of plesaunce?
    • He bynt him to perpetual obeisaunce,
    • And she bynt hir to loven him for ever,
    • But so be that his trespas hit dissever .[ ]
    • Thus be they knit, and regnen as in heven50
    • By loking most; til hit fil, on a tyde,[ ]
    • That by hir bothe assent was set a steven,
    • That Mars shal entre, as faste as he may glyde,
    • Into hir nexte paleys, to abyde,[ ]
    • Walking his cours til she had him a-take ,[ ]55
    • And he preyde hir to haste hir for his sake.
    • Then seyde he thus—“myn hertes lady swete ,
    • Ye knowe wel my mischef in that place;
    • For sikerly , til that I with yow mete,
    • My lyf stant ther in aventure and grace;60
    • But when I see the beaute of your face,[ ]
    • Ther is no dreed of deth may do me smerte ,
    • For al your lust is ese to myn herte .”
    • She hath so gret compassion of hir knight,
    • That dwelleth in solitude til she come;[ ]65
    • For hit stood so, that ilke tyme, no wight
    • Counseyled him , ne seyde to him welcome,
    • That nigh hir wit for wo was overcome;
    • Wherfore she spedde hir as faste in hir weye ,[ ]
    • Almost in oon day , as he dide in tweye .70
    • The grete Ioye that was betwix hem two,[ ]
    • Whan they be met , ther may no tunge telle ,
    • Ther is no more, but unto bed they go,
    • And thus in Ioye and blisse I let hem dwelle ;[ ]
    • This worthy Mars, that is of knighthod welle ,75
    • The flour of fairnes lappeth in his armes,
    • And Venus kisseth Mars, the god of armes.
    • Soiourned hath this Mars, of which I rede,
    • In chambre amid the paleys prively
    • A certeyn tyme, til him fel a drede,80
    • Through Phebus, that was comen hastely[ ]
    • Within the paleys-yates sturdely ,
    • With torche in honde, of which the stremes brighte
    • On Venus chambre knokkeden ful lighte.[ ]
    • The chambre, ther as lay this fresshe quene,85
    • Depeynted was with whyte boles grete,[ ]
    • And by the light she knew, that shoon so shene,
    • That Phebus cam to brenne hem with his hete;
    • This sely Venus, dreynt in teres wete,[ ]
    • Enbraceth Mars, and seyde, “alas! I dye!90
    • The torch is come, that al this world wol wrye.”
    • Up sterte Mars, him liste not to slepe,
    • Whan he his lady herde so compleyne;
    • But, for his nature was not for to wepe,
    • In stede of teres, for his eyen tweyne95
    • The fyry sparkes brosten out for peyne;[ ]
    • And hente his hauberk , that lay him besyde;
    • Flee wolde he not, ne mighte him-selven hyde.
    • He throweth on his helm of huge wighte ,
    • And girt him with his swerde; and in his honde[ ]100
    • His mighty spere, as he was wont to fighte ,
    • He shaketh so that almost it to-wonde ;
    • Ful hevy he was to walken over londe;
    • He may not holde with Venus companye,[ ]
    • But bad hir fleen, lest Phebus hir espye.[ ]105
    • O woful Mars! alas! what mayst thou seyn,
    • That in the paleys of thy disturbaunce[ ]
    • Art left behinde, in peril to be sleyn?
    • And yet ther-to is double thy penaunce,
    • For she, that hath thyn herte in governaunce,110
    • Is passed halfe the stremes of thyn yën;[ ]
    • That thou nere swift, wel mayst thou wepe and cryen.
    • Now fleeth Venus un-toCyleniustour ,[ ]
    • With voide cours, for fere of Phebus light.[ ]
    • Alas! and ther ne hath she no socour,115
    • For she ne fond ne saw no maner wight;
    • And eek as ther she had but litil might;[ ]
    • Wher-for, hir-selven for to hyde and save,
    • Within the gate she fledde into a cave.[ ]
    • So feble he wex, for hete and for his wo,
    • That nigh he swelt, he mighte unnethe endure;
    • He passeth but oosteyre in dayes two,[ ]
    • But ner the les , for al his hevy armure,130
    • He foloweth hir that is his lyves cure;[ ]
    • For whos departing he took gretter yre
    • Thanne for al his brenning in the fyre.[ ]
    • After he walketh softely a pas ,
    • Compleyning, that hit pite was to here .135
    • He seyde, “O lady bright, Venus! alas!
    • That ever so wyde a compas is my spere ![ ]
    • Alas! whan shal I mete yow, herte dere,
    • This twelfteday of April I endure,[ ]
    • Through Ielous Phebus, this misaventure.”140
    • Now god helpe sely Venus allone!
    • But, as god wolde, hit happed for to be,
    • That, whyl that Venus weping made hir mone,
    • Cylenius , ryding in his chevauchè ,[ ]
    • Fro Venus valance mighte his paleys see,[ ]145
    • And Venus he salueth, and maketh chere,
    • And hir receyveth as his frend ful dere.
    • Mars dwelleth forth in his adversite,
    • Compleyning ever on hir departinge ;
    • And what his compleynt was, remembreth me;[ ]150
    • And therfore, in this lusty morweninge ,
    • As I best can, I wol hit seyn and singe,
    • And after that I wol my leve take;
    • And God yeve every wight Ioye of his make!

The compleynt of Mars.

Title.In F. Ar. Ju; T. Complaint of mars.

  • The Proem of the Compleynt.
  • ¶ The ordre of compleynt requireth skilfully,[ ]155
  • That if a wight shal pleyne pitously,
  • There mot be cause wherfor that men pleyne ;
  • Or men may deme he pleyneth folily
  • And causeles; alas! that am not I!
  • Wherfor the ground and cause of al my peyne ,160
  • So as my troubled wit may hit ateyne ,
  • I wol reherse; not for to have redresse,
  • But to declare my ground of hevinesse.
  • Devotion.
    • ¶ The firste tyme, alas! that I was wroght,[ ]
    • And for certeyn effectes hider broght165
    • By him that lordeth ech intelligence,
    • I yaf my trewe servise and my thought,
    • For evermore—how dere I have hit boght!—
    • To hir, that is of so gret excellence ,
    • That what wight that first sheweth his presence,[ ]170
    • When she is wroth and taketh of him no cure,
    • He may not longe in Ioye of love endure.
    • This is no feyned mater that I telle;
    • My lady is the verrey sours and welle
    • Of beaute, lust, fredom , and gentilnesse,175
    • Of riche aray—how dere men hit selle!—[ ]
    • Of al disport in which men frendly dwelle,
    • Of love and pley, and of benigne humblesse,
    • Of soune of instruments of al swetnesse;
    • And therto so wel fortuned and thewed,
    • That through the world hir goodnesse is y-shewed.
    • What wonder is then, thogh that I besette
    • My servise on suche oon , that may me knette
    • To wele or wo, sith hit lyth in hir might?
    • Therfor my herte for ever I to hir hette ;[ ]185
    • Ne trewly , for my dethe, I shal not lette
    • To ben hir trewest servaunt and hir knight.
    • I flater noght, that may wite every wight;
    • For this day in hir servise shal I dye;
    • But grace be, I see hir never with yë.[ ]190
  • A Lady in fear and woe.
    • ¶ To whom shal I than pleyne of my distresse?[ ]
    • Who may me helpe, who may my harm redresse?
    • Shal I compleyne unto my lady free?
    • Nay, certes! for she hath such hevinesse,
    • For fere and eek for wo, that, as I gesse,195
    • In litil tyme hit wol hir bane be.
    • But were she sauf , hit wer no fors of me.[ ]
    • Alas! that ever lovers mote endure,
    • For love, so many a perilous aventure!
    • For thogh so be that lovers be as trewe200
    • As any metal that is forged newe,
    • In many a cas hem tydeth ofte sorowe.
    • Somtyme hir ladies will not on hem rewe,
    • Somtyme, yif that Ielosye hit knewe,
    • They mighten lightly leye hir heed to borowe;[ ]205
    • Somtyme envyous folke with tunges horowe[ ][ ]
    • Depraven hem; alas! whom may they plese?
    • But he be fals, no lover hath his ese.
  • Instability of Happiness.
    • ¶ To what fyn made the god that sit so hye,[ ]
    • Benethen him , love other companye,[ ]
    • And streyneth folk to love, malgre hir hede?220
    • And then hir Ioye , for oght I can espye,
    • Ne lasteth not the twinkeling of an yë ,
    • And somme han never Ioye til they be dede.
    • What meneth this? what is this mistihede?
    • Wherto constreyneth he his folk so faste225
    • Thing to desyre, but his shulde laste ?
    • And thogh he made a lover love a thing,
    • And maketh hit seme stedfast and during,
    • Yet putteth he in hit such misaventure,[ ]
    • That reste nis ther noon in his yeving.230
    • And that is wonder, that so Iust a king
    • Doth such hardnesse to his creature.
    • Thus, whether love breke or elles dure,
    • Algates he that hath with love to done
    • Hath ofter wo then changed is the mone.235
    • Hit semeth he hath to lovers enmite ,
    • And lyk a fissher, as men alday may see,
    • Baiteth his angle-hook with som plesaunce,
    • Til mony a fish is woodtil that he be
    • Sesed ther-with; and then at erst hath he240
    • Al his desyr , and ther-with al mischaunce;
    • And thogh the lyne breke, he hath penaunce;
    • For with the hoke he wounded is so sore,
    • That he his wages hath for ever-more.
  • The Brooch of Thebes.
    • And whan hit was fro his possessioun,
    • Than had he double wo and passioun255
    • For he so fair a tresor had forgo;
    • But yet this broche, as in conclusioun,
    • Was not the cause of this confusioun;
    • But he that wroghte hit enfortuned hit so,[ ]
    • That every wight that had hit shuld have wo;260
    • And therfor in the worcher was the vyce,
    • And in the covetour that was so nyce.[ ]
    • So fareth hit by lovers and by me;
    • For thogh my lady have so gret beaute,
    • That I was mad til I had gete hir grace,265
    • She was not cause of myn adversite,
    • But he that wroghte hir, also mot I thee,
    • That putte suche a beaute in hir face,
    • That made me to covete and purchace
    • Myn owne deth ; him wyte I that I dye,[ ]270
    • And myn unwit , that ever I clomb so hye.
  • An Appeal for Sympathy.
    • ¶But to yow, hardy knightes of renoun,[ ]
    • Sin that ye be of my divisioun ,[ ]
    • Al be I not worthy to so grete a name,
    • Yet, seyn these clerkes, I am your patroun;275
    • Ther-for ye oghte have som compassioun
    • Of my disese, and take it noght a-game.
    • The proudest of yow may be mad ful tame;
    • Wherfor I prey yow, of your gentilesse,
    • That ye compleyne for myn hevinesse.[ ]280
    • And ye, my ladies, that ben trewe and stable,
    • By way of kinde, ye oghten to be able
    • To have pite of folk that be in peyne :
    • Now have ye cause to clothe yow in sable;
    • Sith that your emperice , the honorable,285
    • Is desolat, wel oghte ye to pleyne;
    • Now shuld your holy teres falle and reyne.
    • Alas! your honour and your emperice ,
    • Nigh deed for drede, ne can hir not chevise.
    • Compleyneth eek , ye lovers, al in-fere,290
    • For hir that, with unfeyned humble chere,
    • Was ever redy to do yow socour;
    • Compleyneth hir that ever hath had yow dere;[ ]
    • Compleyneth beaute, fredom, and manere;
    • Compleyneth hir that endeth your labour;295
    • Compleyneth thilke ensample of al honour,
    • That never dide but al gentilesse;
    • Kytheth therfor on hir som kindenesse.’[ ]298

[P. 326: l. 74.]Perhaps ‘let’ should be ‘lete’

[P. 330: l. 206.]For folke read folk

[1. ]Ar. foules; Ju. fowles; T. fooles (!); Harl. floures (see l. 3); F. Tn. lovers (wrongly). F. Harl. on; Tn. in; rest of.

[2. ]Ar. the; F. Harl. yow; Tn. Ju. you; T. your (wrongly; Thynne (1532) has yon, which, after all, is clearly right).

[3. ]T. Ar. honoureth; F. Tn. honouren. F. the (!); rest ye. F. Tn. T. day; Ju. Harl. Ar. may (!)

[4. ]F. Harl. sunne; rest sonne. Ar. vp risith. Ju. T. Ar. ye; F. they (!); Tn. the (!); Harl. he (!!).

[5. ]Ar. any; F. eny.

[7. ]F. Loo yonde; sunne; Ialosye.

[8. ]F. blew; hert.

[9. ]F. sent; Ar. seynt.

[10. ]F. sum-; smert.

[11. ]Ar. eft; Th. efte; T. efft; F. ofte.

[12. ]Tn. Th. glade; F. glad.

[13. ]F. foule; herd.

[14. ]F. your; Ar. the; rest thy. F. sunne.

[15. ]F. sange; foule.

[17. ]T. you; Ar. ȝow; Ju. ye; rest om.

[19. ]F. this fest; rest the leste (lest, leest).

[22. ]F. highe; Tn. high; rest hye. F. fest.

[24. ]F. lest.

[25. ]F. departyng; see l. 149.

[26. ]F. morwnyng (see Kn. Tale, 204).

[28. ]F. ins. hath bef. every; Tn. hat; Ju. had; rest om.

[29. ]T. thridde; F. thrid.

[35. ]Ju. Ar. nere; F. T. ner. F. bolde; dispise.

[38. ]F. (only) om. him. F. calle (for talle); Harl. talle; Ju. Ar. tall; T. tal.

[39. ]F. to cast; Ju. T. rightly omit to.

[40. ]F. toke.

[41. ]F. maner.

[42. ]Ju. scourgyng; T. skowrginge; Ar. scurgeing; Tn. schouryng (sic); F. stering; Th. scornyng, and ed. 1561 scorning (probably a substitution). F. cher.

[46. ]F. fair.

[48. ]T. Ar. loven; rest loue.

[49. ]Tn. trespas; F. trespace. T. Ar. disseuer; F. deseuer.

[51. ]T. Ju. Tn. By; F. Be.

[53. ]F. fast.

[54. ]Tn. nexte; F. next.

[55. ]Ar. oure-take.

[56. ]T. preyde; F. preiede. F. faste (!); Harl. hasten; rest haste.

[57. ]F. hertis; suete.

[58. ]F. myschefe.

[59. ]F. sikirly.

[60. ]F. lyfe.

[62. ]F. smert.

[63. ]F. alle; hert.

[64. ]F. grete. F. on; rest of.

[66. ]F. stode.

[67. ]Jn. Harl. T. Ar. ins. there after 1st him.

[68. ]F. nyghe; witte. F. sorowe; Tn. sorow; rest wo, woo.

[69. ]T. spedde; F. sped. T. Ar. als; rest as. F. fast; wey.

[70. ]F. dyd; twey.

[71. ]Ar. betuix; F. betwex; rest bytwene.

[72. ]F. When; mette; tel.

[74. ]F. duel.

[75. ]F. knyghthode wel.

[76. ]F. feyrenesse.

[81. ]F. Through.

[82. ]F. (alone) inserts ful before sturdely.

[83. ]F. bryght.

[84. ]Ju. Th. knockeden; Harl. knokkide; Tn. knokked; F. knokken (wrongly; a copy in MS. Pepys 2006 rightly has knokkeden).

[87. ]F. shone.

[88. ]Tn. T. brenne; F. bren.

[89. ]F. cely (for sely); Tn. Ju. sely. MSS. nygh dreynt; omit nygh

[92. ]Tn. sterte; F. stert. Tn. liste; F. lust.

[95. ]Tn. stede; F. stid. F. twyne

[97. ]F. hent; hauberke; ley.

[98. ]F. wold; myght.

[99. ]Tn. Ju. T. throweth; F. thrwe (badly). F. helme; wyght.

[101. ]F. fyght.

[102. ]Ar. to-wound; Harl. to-wond; rest to-wonde.

[103. ]Ar. he was; rest was he.

[108. ]F. (alone) inserts thou after Art.

[110. ]F. hert.

[112. ]Tn. Ju. Th. nere F. ner.

[113. ]F. Tn. in to; Harl. to; rest vn to. Ju. Cylenius; Harl. Cylenyus; Ar. Cilenius; T. Celenius; Tn. cilinius; F. cilinios. F. toure.

[115. ]Harl. T. ne; Ar. so; rest om.

[116. ]F. founde; saugh.

[117. ]F. eke.

[119. ]Harl. T. fledde; Tn. Ju. Ar. fled; F. fel.

[120. ]F. Derke; hel.

[121. ]F. pales; rest pas (pace). F. stode.

[122. ]F. let; duel.

[123. ]So all. F. wode.

[124. ]F. wold; sene; hert blode.

[125. ]F. myght. Harl. done hir; Ju. doo her; T. Ar. do hir; F. Tn. haue done her; read hir don.

[126. ]Tn. roghte; Ju. Harl. Ar. rought; F. thoght (!).

[128. ]F. myght.

[129. ]Harl. o; T. oon; Ju. one; rest a. Tn. Ju. Harl. steyre; T. stayre; F. sterre (!).

[130. ]F. lesse.

[132. ]F. toke.

[133. ]Harl. T. Thanne; F. Then.

[134. ]F. paas.

[135. ]F. heree.

[137. ]F. speree.

[138. ]F. hert.

[139. ]T. twelfft (but read twelfte); Ju. twelfth; Harl. Ar. twelf (wrongly); F. Tn. xij. F. dayes; Tn. days; rest day (rightly).

[140. ]F. Throgh Ielouse.

[141. ]Read helpe god (Koch).

[143. ]F. while.

[144. ]Ju. Cylenius; F. Cilinius. Tn. Lt. cheuauche; F. cheuache.

[145. ]F. Ju. Fro; Ar. From; Tn. Harl. T. For. Ar. valance; Tn. valauns; F. Valaunses; Th. (ed. 1532) Valanus (for Valauns?); Ju. balance; Harl. T. balaunce.

[147. ]F. frende.

[151. ]F. morwnynge.

[154. ]Ju. Th. yeue; F. yif. F. Ioy.

[156. ]F. pleyn.

[157. ]F. wherfore; pleyn.

[158. ]F. Other; rest Or. Ju. Ar. folily; F. folely.

[160. ]F. grounde; peyn.

[161. ]F. witte; ateyn.

[163. ]F. grounde.

[164. ]F. first.

[166. ]Tn. By; F. Be.

[167. ]F. trwe; Tn. trewe.

[169. ]F. That (by mistake); rest To. F. excelence.

[171. ]F. wrothe.

[175. ]F. fredam.

[179. ]F. Instrumentes.

[181. ]F. thorow; worlde.

[182. ]All but Tn. Th. om. that. T. besette; F. beset.

[183. ]T. oone; Tn. Ar. one; F. on (twice). F. knet; Ar. knett; rest knette.

[184. ]F. lythe.

[185. ]F. Therfore. F. hert. Ju. Th. hette; Ar. het; F. T. hight; Tn. set; (Longleat MS. has hette).

[186. ]F. truly. Tn. Ju. T. shal I. F. let.

[187. ]F. truest; Tn. Ar. trewest.

[188. ]Tn. wite; F. wete; T. wit; Ju. knowe.

[191. ]T. thane (for than); rest omit.

[192. ]F. harme.

[193. ]F. compleyn.

[195. ]F. eke.

[197. ]Ju. Ar. sauf; T. sauff; F. Tn. safe.

[200. ]Tn. thogh; F. tho.

[201. ]Tn. any; F. eny.

[202. ]Tn. many; F. mony. T. Ar. cas; F. case.

[203. ]F. Somme; rest Somtyme. Ju. T. Ar. lady.

[204. ]Ar. gif; rest if, yf; read yif.

[205. ]F. ley; hede.

[207. ]Ju. T. Th. Deprauen; Ar. Depeynen; F. Tn. Departen.

[209. ]F. longe.

[210. ]Read lov-e (e unelided). F. dovne.

[213. ]Tn. righte; F. right. F. sauacyoun; rest saluacioun.

[214. ]F. pleyn.

[215. ]F. hert suete. F. Tn. o; Ar. and; T. and my; Ju. om.

[216. ]F. I oght wel; Tn. I oghte wel; Ju. T. Ar. wel ought I. Ju. swowne; Ar. suoun; T. swoone; Tn. swone; F. sowne. F. swelt.

[217. ]F. none; harme; felt.

[218. ]Ju. fyn; rest fyne. F. sitte; T. sit.

[219. ]T. Tn. Ju. him; Ar. thame; F. om. F. other (= or); Tn. othyr (= or); Ju. T. or.

[220. ]F. folke.

[221. ]F. Ioy.

[222. ]Tn. ye; rest eye.

[223. ]F. Ioy.

[225. ]F. folke; fast.

[226. ]F. shuld last.

[228. ]F. stidfast.

[229. ]Ju. put; Ar. puttis.

[230. ]Tn. T. reste; F. rest. T. noon; Ar. non; Ju. none; F. om.

[231. ]F. luste.

[236. ]Tn. enmyte; F. enemyte.

[237. ]F. lyke.

[238. ]Tn. Ju. Bayteth; F. Bateth. Ju. hook; F. hoke. Tn. som; F. summe.

[239. ]F. fissch; wode. F. to; rest til.

[241. ]F. desire.

[244. ]F. hathe.

[245. ]F. such.

[246. ]F. Tn. Ar. stones of; Ju. T. om. of; see Rom. Rose, 67.

[247. ]T. Th. sette; Ar. sett; rest set.

[248. ]Tn. wende; F. wend.

[249. ]F. wold; hert.

[250. ]T. hade; rest had. F. thoght. Tn. moste; F. must.

[251. ]F. Ju. om. that. F. (only) om. his. F. shuld.

[252. ]Ju. T. hadde; F. had.

[253. ]Ju. sholde madde; F. shuld mad.

[256. ]F. feir; tresore (Tn. Iuel).

[259. ]F. wroght. Tn. Th. enfortuned; T. enfortund; F. enfortune (!).

[261. ]F. therfore.

[267. ]F. wroght. Ju. Ar. also; T. als; F. Tn. as.

[268. ]F. Tn. Ju. Ar. put (for putte); T. list to putte. Tn. Ju. a; F. T. Ar. om.

[269. ]T. Ar. to; rest om. F. coueten; Tn. Ju. coueyten; (but to covete is better).

[270. ]F. ovne; Th. owne; Ju. T. Ar. owen. F. dethe.

[271. ]F. ovne witte; Tn. and rest vnwit. F. clombe.

[273. ]F. deuisioun.

[274. ]Perhaps omit to (as T.).

[276. ]F. Therefore; oght; somme.

[278. ]Tn. proudest; F. pruddest. Ar. maid; rest made (for mad, pp.).

[279. ]F. Wherfore.

[280. ]F. Tn. compleyn; Ju. Ar. compleyne; T. compleynen.

[281. ]Ar. trewe; F. true.

[282. ]Ar. By; F. Be.

[283. ]F. folke; peyn.

[285. ]Tn. emperice; F. emperise (and in l. 288).

[286. ]Tn. oghte; F. oght; Ar. aughten.

[289. ]F. Negh ded.

[290. ]F. eke.

[293. ]Tn. Compleyneth; F. Complen (by mistake); see next line.

[297. ]Tn. dide; Ju. dyde; rest did. T. al; Ju. all; Ar. alway; F. Tn. om.

[298. ]Ar. sum; F. summe.

[1.]Foules. The false reading lovers was caught from l. 5 below. But the poem opens with a call from a bird to all other birds, bidding them rejoice at the return of Saint Valentine’s day. There is an obvious allusion in this line to the common proverb—‘As fain as fowl of a fair morrow,’ which is quoted in the Kn. Tale, 1579 (A 2437), in P. Plowman, B. x. 153, and is again alluded to in the Can. Yeom. Tale, G 1342. In l. 3, the bird addresses the flowers, and finally, in l. 5, the lovers.

[2.]Venus, the planet, supposed to appear as a morning-star, as it sometimes does. See note to Boethius, bk. i. met. 5. l. 9.

Rowes, streaks or rays of light, lit. rows. In the Complaint of the Black Knight, l. 596, Lydgate uses the word of the streaks of light at eventide—‘And while the twilight and the rowes rede Of Phebus light,’ &c. Also in Lydgate’s Troy-Book, bk. i. c. 6, ed. 1555, fol. E 1, quoted by Warton, Hist. E. Poetry, 1871, iii. 84:—‘Whan that the rowes and the rayes rede Estward to us full early gonnen sprede.’ Hence the verb rowen, to dawn; P. Plowm. C. ii. 114, xxi. 28; see my Notes to P. Plowman. Tyrwhitt’s Glossary ignores the word.

[3.]For day, Bell’s edition has May! The month is February.

[4.]Uprist, upriseth. But in Kn. Tale, 193 (A 1051), uprist-e (with final e) is the dat. case of a sb.

[7.]The final e in sonn-e occurs at the cæsural pause; candle is pronounced nearly as candl’. The sun is here called the candle of Ielosye, i. e. torch or light that discloses cause for jealousy, in allusion to the famous tale which is the foundation of the whole poem, viz. how Phœbus (the Sun) discovered the amour between Mars and Venus, and informed Vulcan of it, rousing him to jealousy; which Chaucer doubtless obtained from his favourite author Ovid (Metam. bk. iv). See the description of ‘Phebus,’ with his ‘torche in honde,’ in ll. 27, 81-84 below. Gower also, who quotes Ovid expressly, has the whole story; Conf. Amant. ed. Pauli, ii. 149. The story first occurs in Homer, Odys. viii. 266-358. And cf. Statius, Theb. iii. 263-316; Chaucer’s Kn. Tale, 1525 (A 2383), &c. Cf. also Troil s, iii. 1457.

[8.]Blewe; ‘there seems no propriety in this epithet; it is probably a corruption’; Bell. But it is quite right; in M. E., the word is often applied to the colour of a wale or stripe caused by a blow, as in the phrase ‘beat black and blue’; also to the gray colour of burnt-out ashes, as in P. Plowman, B. iii. 97; also to the colour of lead; ‘as blo as led,’ Miracle-Plays, ed. Marriott, p. 148. ‘Ashen-gray’ or ‘lead-coloured’ is not a very bad epithet for tears:—

  • ‘And round about her tear-distained eye
  • Blue circles streamed.’ Shak. Lucrece, 1586.

[9.]Taketh, take ye. With seynt Iohn, with St. John for a surety; borwe being in the dat. case; see note to Squi. Tale, F 596. It occurs also in the Kingis Quair, st. 23; Blind Harry’s Wallace, bk. ix. l. 46; &c.

[13.]Seynt Valentyne; Feb. 14. See note to Sect, V. l. 309.

[21.]Cf. ‘And everich of us take his aventure’; Kn. Tale, 328 (A 1186).

[25.]See note to line 7 above; and cf. Troilus, iii. 1450-70:—‘O cruel day,’ &c.

[29.]In the Proem to Troilus, bk. iii. st. 1, Chaucer places Venus in the third heaven; that is, he begins to reckon from the earth outwards, the spheres being, successively, those of the Moon, Mercury, Venus. Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; see the description of the planets in Gower’s Confessio Amantis, bk. vii. So also, in Troilus, v. 1809, by the seventh sphere he means the outermost sphere of Saturn. But in other poems he adopts the more common ancient mode, of reckoning the spheres in the reverse order, taking Saturn first; in which case Mars comes third. In this he follows Macrobius, who, in his Commentary on the Somnium Scipionis, lib. i. c. 19, has:—‘A sphaera Saturni, quae est prima de septem,’ &c.; see further on this borrowing from Macrobius in the note to l. 69. The same mode of reckoning places Venus in the fifth sphere, as in Lenvoy to Scogan, l. 9. In the curious manual of astronomy called The Shepheards Kalendar (pr. in 1604) we find, in the account of Mars, the following: ‘The planet of Mars is called the God of battel and of war, and he is the third planet, for he raigneth next vnder the gentle planet of Jupiter . . . And Mars goeth about the twelue signes in two yeare.’ The account of Venus has:—‘Next after the Sun raigneth the gentle planet Venus, . . . and she is lady ouer all louers: . . and her two signes is Taurus and Libra . . . This planet Venus runneth in twelue months ouer the xii. signes.’ Also:—‘Next under Venus is the faire planet Mercury . . and his principall signes be these: Gemini is the first . . and the other signe is Virgo,’ &c. See Furnivall’s Trial Forewords, p. 121.

Hence the ‘third heaven’s lord’ is Mars; and Chaucer tells us, that by virtue of his motion in his orbit (as well as by desert) he had won Venus. That is, Venus and Mars were seen in the sky very near each other. We may explain wonne by ‘approached.’

[36.]At alle, in any and every case. There is a parallel passage to this stanza in Troilus, bk. iii. st. 4 of the Proem.

[38.]Talle, obedient, docile, obsequious. See the account of this difficult word in my Etym. Dictionary, s. v. tall.

[42.]Scourging, correction. Compare the phr. under your yerde; Parl. Foules, 640, and the note. I see no reason for suspecting the reading.

[49.]‘Unless it should be that his fault should sever their love.’

[51.]Loking, aspect; a translation of the Latin astrological term aspectus. They regard each other with a favourable aspect.

[54.]Hir nexte paleys, the next palace (or mansion), which belonged to Venus. In astrology, each planet was said to have two mansions, except the sun and moon, which had but one apiece. A mansion, or house, or palace, is that Zodiacal sign in which, for some imaginary reason, a planet was supposed to be peculiarly at home. (The whole system is fanciful and arbitrary.) The mansions of Venus were said to be Taurus and Libra; those of Mars, Aries and Scorpio; and those of Mercury, Gemini and Virgo. See the whole scheme in the introduction to Chaucer’s Astrolabe. The sign here meant is Taurus (cf. l. 86); and the arrangement was that Mars should ‘glide’ or pass out of the sign of Aries into that of Taurus, which came next, and belonged specially to Venus.

[55.]A-take, overtaken; because the apparent motion of Venus is swifter than that of Mars. This shews that Mars was, at first, further advanced than Venus along the Zodiac.

[61.]Actually repeated in the Nonne Prestes Tale, l. 340 (B 4350):—‘For whan I see the beautee of your face.’ Compare also l. 62 with the same, l. 342; and l. 63 with the same, l. 350.

[65.]come, may come; pres. subj. (Lounsbury says ‘preterite’).

[69.]That is, the apparent motion of Venus was twice as great as that of Mars. Chaucer here follows Macrobius, Comment. in Somnium Scipionis, lib. i. ch. 19, who says:—‘Rursus tantum a Iove sphæra Martis recedit, ut eundum cursum biennio peragat. Venus autem tanto est regione Martis inferior, ut ei annus satis sit ad zodiacum peragrandum’; that is, Mars performs his orbit in two years, but Venus in one; accordingly, she moves as much in one day as Mars does in two days. Mars really performs his orbit in rather less than two years (about 687 days), and Venus in less than one (about 225 days), but Chaucer’s statement is sufficiently near to facts, the apparent motion of the planets being variable.

[71.]This line resembles one in the Man of Lawes Tale, B 1075:—‘And swich a blisse is ther bitwix hem two’; and ll. 71, 72 also resemble the same, ll. 1114, 1115:—

  • ‘Who can the pitous Ioye tellen al
  • Betwix hem three, sin they ben thus y-mette?’

[81.]Phebus here passes the palace-gates; in other words, the sun enters the sign of Taurus, and so comes into Venus’ chamber, within her palace. Cf. note to l. 54.

In Chaucer’s time, the sun entered Taurus on the twelfth of April. This is actually mentioned below, in l. 139.

[84.]Knokkeden, knocked at the door, i. e. demanded admission.

[86.]That is, both Mars and Venus are now in Taurus. The entry of Venus is noticed in l. 72.

[89.]The latter syllable of Venus comes at the cæsural pause; but the scansion is best mended by omitting nygh; see footnote.

[96.]In the Shepheards Kalendar, Mars is said to be ‘hot and dry’; and Venus to be ‘moist and colde.’ Thus Mars was supposed to cause heat, and Venus to bring rain. The power of Venus in causing rain is fully alluded to in Lenvoy to Scogan, st. 2.

[100.]Girt, short for girdeth; not gerte, pt. t.

[104.]Nearly repeated in Kn. Tale, 1091 (A 1949):—‘Ne may with Venus holde champartye.’

[105.]Bad her fleen, bade her flee; because her motion in her orbit was faster than his. Cf. l. 112.

[107.]‘In the palace (Taurus) in which thou wast disturbed.’

[111.]Stremes, beams, rays; for the eyes of Mars emitted streams of fire (l. 95). Venus is already half past the distance to which Mars’s beams extend. Obscure and fanciful.

[113.]Cylenius, Cyllenius, i. e. Mercury, who was born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia; Vergil, Æn. viii. 139. Tour, tower; another word for mansion. The tower of Cyllenius, or mansion of Mercury, is the sign Gemini; see note to l. 29. Venus passes out of Taurus into the next sign Gemini. ‘The sign Gemini is also domus Murcurii, so that when Venus fled into “the tour” of Cyllenius, she simply slipped into the next door to her own house of Taurus, leaving poor Mars behind to halt after her as he best might’; A. E. Brae, in Notes and Queries, 1st Series, iii. 235.

[114.]Voide, solitary; Mars is left behind in Taurus. Besides (according to l. 116) there was no other planet in Germini at that time.

[117.]But litil myght. A planet was supposed to exercise its greatest influence in the sign which was called its exaltation; and its least influence in that which was called its depression. The exaltation of Venus was in Pisces; her depression, in Virgo. She was now in Gemini, and therefore halfway from her exaltation to her depression. So her influence was slight, and waning.

[119.]A cave. In l. 122 we are told that it stood only two paces within the gate, viz. of Gemini. The gate or entrance into Gemini is the point where the sign begins. By paces we must understand degrees; for the F. word pas evidently represents the Lat. gradus. Venus had therefore advanced to a point which stood only two degrees within (or from the beginning of) the sign. In plain words, she was now in the second degree of Gemini, and there fell into a cave, in which she remained for a natural day, that is (taking her year to be of nearly the same length as the earth’s year) for the term during which she remained within that second degree. Venus remained in the cave as long as she was in that second degree of the sign; from the moment of entering it to the moment of leaving it.

A natural day means a period of twenty-four hours, as distinguished from the artificial day, which was the old technical name for the time from sunrise to sunset. This Chaucer says plainly, in his Treatise on the Astrolabe, pt. ii. § 7, l. 12—‘the day natural, that is to seyn 24 houris.’

We thus see that the cave here mentioned is a name for the second degree of the sign Gemini.

This being so, I have no doubt at all, that cave is here merely a translation of the Latin technical astrological term puteus. In Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Naturale, lib. xv. c. 42, I find:—‘Et in signis sunt quidam gradus, qui dicuntur putei; cum fuerit planeta in aliquo istorum, dicitur esse in puteo, vt 6 gradus Arietis, et 11, etc.’ There are certain degrees in the signs called putei; and when a planet is in one of these, it is said to be in puteo; such degrees, in Aries, are the 6th, 11th, &c. Here, unfortunately, Vincent’s information ceases; he refers us, however, to Alcabitius.

Alcabitius (usually Alchabitius), who should rather be called Abdel-Aziz, was an Arabian astrologer who lived towards the middle of the tenth century. His treatise on judicial astrology was translated into Latin by Johannes Hispalensis in the thirteenth century. This translation was printed at Venice, in quarto, in 1481, 1482, and 1502; see Didot, Nouv. Biograph. Universelle.

I found a copy of the edition of 1482 in the Cambridge University Library, entitled Libellus ysagogicus abdilazi .i. serui gloriosi dei. qui dicitur alchabitius ad magisterium iudiciorum astrorum; interpretatus a ioanne hispalensi. At sign. a 7, back, I found the passage quoted above from Vincent, and a full list of the putei. The putei in the sign of Gemini are the degrees numbered 2, 12, 17, 26, 30. After this striking confirmation of my conjecture, I think no more need be said.

But I may add, that Chaucer expressly mentions ‘Alkabucius’ by name, and refers to him; Treat. on Astrolabe, i. 8. 9. The passage which he there quotes occurs in the same treatise, sign. a 1, back.

[120.]Derk, dark. I think it is sufficient to suppose that this word is used, in a purely astrological sense, to mean inauspicious; and the same is true of l. 122, where Venus remains under this sinister influence as long as she remained in the ill-omened second degree of Gemini. There is no need to suppose that the planet’s light was really obscured.

[129.]The Fairfax MS. and some editions have the false reading sterre. As Mars was supposed to complete his orbit (360 degrees) in two years (see note to l. 69), he would pass over one degree of it in about two days. Hence Mr. Brae’s note upon this line, as printed in Furnivall’s Trial Forewords, p. 121:—‘The mention of dayes two is so specific that it cannot but have a special meaning. Wherefore, either sterre is a metonym for degree; or which is more probable, Chaucer’s word was originally steppe (gradus), and was miscopied sterre by early scribes.’ Here Mr. Brae was exceedingly near the right solution; we now see that sterre was miswritten (not for steppe, but) for steyre, by the mere alteration of one letter. If the scribe was writing from dictation, the mistake was still more easily made, since steyre and sterre would sound very nearly alike, with the old pronunciation. As to steyre, it is the exact literal translation of Lat. gradus, which meant a degree or stair. Thus Minsheu’s Dict. has:—‘a Staire, Lat. gradus.’ This difficulty, in fact, is entirely cleared up by accepting the reading of the majority of the MSS.

[131.]He foloweth her, i. e. the motions of Mars and Venus were in the same direction; neither of them had a ‘retrograde’ motion, but advanced along the signs in the direction of the sun’s apparent motion.

[133.]Brenning, burning in the fire of the sun’s heat.

[137.]‘Alas; that my orbit has so wide a compass’; because the orbit of Mars is so very much larger than that of Venus. Still larger was the orbit of Saturn; Kn. Tale, 1596 (A 2454). Spere is sphere, orbit.

[139.]Twelfte, twelfth. The false reading twelve arose from misreading the symbol ‘.xij.,’ which was used as an abbreviation both for twelfte and for twelve. See Furnivall, Trial Forewords, p. 88. As a fact, it was on the 12th day of April that the sun entered Taurus; see note to l. 81.

[144.]Cylenius, Mercury; as in l. 113. Chevauche, equestrian journey, ride. Used ludicrously to mean a feat of horsemanship in l. 50 of the Manciple’s Prologue. The closely related word chivachye, in Prologue to C. T. 85, means a military (equestrian) expedition. In the present case it simply means ‘swift course,’ with reference to the rapid movement of Mercury, which completes its orbit in about 88 days. Thus the line means—‘Mercury, advancing in his swift course.’

[145.]Fro Venus valance. This is the most difficult expression in the poem, but I explain it by reading fallance, which of course is only a guess. I must now give my reasons, as every preceding commentator has given up the passage as hopeless.

The readings of the MSS. all point back to a form valance (as in Ar.) or valauns (as in Tn.); whence the other readings, such as Valaunses, valanus (for valauns), balance, balaunce, are all deduced, by easy corruptions. But, as no assignable sense has been found for valance, I can only suppose that it is an error for falance or fallance. I know of no instance of its use in English, but Godefroy gives examples of fallance and falence in O. French, though the usual spelling is faillance. The change from faillance or fallance to vallance or valance would easily be made by scribes, from the alliterative influence of the initial letter of the preceding word Venus. Moreover, we have v for f in E. vixen (for fixen), and in Southern English generally. Even in a Chaucer MS., the curious spelling vigour or vigur for figure occurs over and over again; viz. in the Cambridge MS. (Dd. 3. 53) of Chaucer’s ‘Astrolabe.’

The sense of fallance or faillance is failure, defective. Cotgrave gives us: ‘Faillance, f. a defection, failing, decaying.’ The numerous examples in Godefroy shew that it was once a common word. It represents a Lat. fem. *fallentia.

I hold it to be the exact literal translation into French of the Lat. technical (astrological) term detrimentum. In my edition of Chaucer’s Astrolabe (E. E. T. S.), p. lxvii., I explained that every planet had either one or two mansions, and one or two detrimenta. The detrimentum is the sign of the Zodiac opposite to the planet’s mansion. The mansions of Venus were Taurus and Libra (see note to l. 54); and her detrimenta were Scorpio and Aries. The latter is here intended; so that, after all, this apparently mysterious term ‘Venus valance’ is nothing but another name for the sign Aries, which, from other considerations, must necessarily be here intended.

If the correction of valance to fallance be disallowed, I should plead that valance might be short for avalance (mod. E. avalanche, literally descent), just as every reader of our old literature knows that vale is a common form instead of avale, to descend or lower, being the verb from which avalance is derived. This valance (= avalance) is a fair translation of the Lat. occasus, which was an alternative name for the sign called detrimentum; see my edition of the Astrolabe, as above. The result would then be just the same as before, and would bring us back to the sign of Aries again.

But we know that Aries is meant, from purely astronomical considerations. For the planet Mercury is always so near the sun that it can never have a greater elongation, or angular distance, from it than 29°, which is just a little less than the length of a sign, which was 30°. But, the sun being (as said) in the 1st degree of Taurus on the 12th of April, it is quite certain that Mercury was either in Taurus or in Aries. Again, as there was no mention of Mercury being in Taurus when Mars and Venus were there and were undisturbed (see note to l. 114), we can only infer that Mercury was then in Aries.

Moreover, he continued his swift course, always approaching and tending to overtake the slower bodies that preceded him, viz. the Sun, Mars, and Venus. At last, he got so near that he was able to ‘see’ or get a glimpse of his mansion Gemini, which was not so very far ahead of him. This I take to mean that he was swiftly approaching the end of Aries.

We can now tell the exact position of all the bodies on the 14th of April, two days after the sun had burst into Taurus, where he had found Mars and Venus at no great distance apart. By that time, Venus was in the second degree of Gemini, Mars was left behind in Taurus, the sun was in the third degree of Taurus, and Mercury near the end of Aries, sufficiently near to Venus to salute and cheer her with a kindly and favourable aspect.

I will add that whilst the whole of the sign of Aries was called the occasus or detrimentum of Venus, it is somewhat curious that the last ten degrees of Aries (degrees 20 to 30) were called the face of Venus. Chaucer uses this astrological term face elsewhere with reference to the first ten degrees of Aries, which was ‘the face of Mars’ (see my note to Squieres Tale, F 47). Hence another possible reading is Fro Venus facë mighte, &c.

In any case, I think we are quite sufficiently near to Chaucer’s meaning; especially as he is, after all, only speaking in allegory, and there is no need to strain his words to suit rigid astronomical calculations.

I only give this as a guess, for what it is worth; I should not care to defend it.

[150.]Remembreth me, comes to my memory; the nom. case being the preceding part of the sentence. Me, by the way, refers to the extraordinary bird who is made responsible for the whole poem, with the sole exception of lines 13 and 14, and half of l. 15. The bird tells us he will say and sing the Complaint of Mars, and afterwards take his leave.

[155.]We now come to the part of the poem which exhibits great metrical skill. In order to shew the riming more clearly, I have ‘set back’ the 3rd, 6th, and 7th lines of each stanza. Each stanza exhibits the order of rimes a a b a a b b c c; i.e. the first rime belongs to lines 1, 2, 4, 5; the second rime to lines 3, 6, 7; and the last rime to lines 8 and 9. The first stanza forms an Introduction or Proem. The rest form five Terns, or sets of three stanzas, as has been already said. Each Tern has its own subject, quite separate from the rest.

The first line can only be scanned by reading The ordre as Th’ordr’ (monosyllable).

[164.]The first Tern expresses his Devotion to his love’s service. I gave my love, he says, to her for ever; She is the very source of all beauty; and now I will never leave her, but will die in her service.

[170.]That is—who ever approaches her, but obtains from her no favour, loses all joy in love, and only feels its bitterness.

[176.]Men, people; men hit selle = it is sold. This parenthetical ejaculation is an echo to that in l. 168.

[185.]Hette, promised (incorrectly). The M. E. haten, to promise, is a complicated verb; see the excellent examples in Mätzner’s Dictionary, and in Grein’s A. S. Dict., s. v. hátan. It had two past tenses; the first heet, a strong form, meaning ‘promised, commanded,’ answering to A.S. héht and Goth. haihait; and the second hette, hatte, a weak form, meaning ‘I was named,’ answering to A. S. hátte (used both as a present and a past tense without change of form) and to the Goth. present passive haitada. Chaucer has here used the intransitive weak past tense with the sense of the transitive strong one; just as he uses lernen with the sense of ‘teach.’ The confusion was easy and common.

[190.]But grace be, unless favour be shewn me. See, shall see; present as future.

[191.]Tern 2. Shall I complain to my lady? Not so; for she is in distress herself. Lovers may be as true as new metal, and yet suffer. To return: my lady is in distress, and I ought to mourn for her, even though I knew no other sorrow.

[197.]‘But if she were safe, it would not matter about me.’

[205.]‘They might readily leave their head as a pledge,’ i. e. might devote themselves to death.

[206.]Horowe, foul, unclean, filthy, scandalous; pl. of horow, an adj. formed from the A.S. sb. horu (gen. horwes). filth; cf. A. S. horweht, filthy, from the same stem horw-. The M. E. adj. also takes the form hori, hory, from A. S. horig, an adj. formed from the closely related A. S. sb. horh, horg, fifth. As the M. E. adj. is not common, I give some examples (from Mätzner). ‘Hit nis bote a hori felle,’ it is only a dirty skin; Early Eng. Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 19, l. 13. ‘Thy saule . . thorugh fulthe of synne Sone is mad wel hory wythinne,’ thy soul, by filth of sin, is soon made very foul within; Reliquiæ Antiquæ, ii. 243. ‘Eny uncleene, whos touchynge is hoory,’ any unclean person, whose touch is defiling; Wyclif, Levit. xxii. 5. ‘Still used in Devon, pronounced horry’; Halliwell.

[218.]Tern 3. Why did the Creator institute love? The bliss of lovers is so unstable, that in every case lovers have more woes than the moon has changes. Many a fish is mad after the bait; but when he is hooked, he finds his penance, even though the line should break.

[219.]Love other companye, love or companionship.

[229.]Read putt’th; as a monosyllable.

[245.]Tern 4. The brooch of Thebes had this property, that every one who saw it desired to possess it; when he possessed it, he was haunted with constant dread; and when he lost it, he had a double sorrow in thinking that it was gone. This was due, however, not to the brooch itself, but to the cunning of the maker, who had contrived that all who possessed it should suffer. In the same way, my lady was as the brooch; yet it was not she who caused me wo, but it was He who endowed her with beauty.

The story referred to occurs in the account of the war between Eteocles and Polynices for the possession of Thebes, as related in the Thebaïd of Statius.

In the second book of that poem, the story relates the marriage of Polynices and Tydeus to the two daughters of Adrastus, king of Argos. The marriage ceremony was marred by inauspicious omens, which was attributed to the fact that Argia, who was wedded to Polynices, wore at the wedding a magic bracelet (here called a brooch) which had belonged to Harmonia, a daughter of Mars and Venus, and wife of Cadmus. This ornament had been made by Vulcan, in order to bring an evil fate upon Harmonia, to whom it was first given, and upon all women who coveted it or wore it. See the whole story in Statius, Thebais, ii. 265; or in Lewis’s translation of Statius, ii. 313.

[246.]It must be remembered that great and magical virtues were attributed to precious stones and gems. See further in the note to Ho. of Fame, l. 1352.

[259.]Enfortuned hit so, endued it with such virtues. ‘He that wrought it’ was Vulcan; see note to l. 245.

[262.]Covetour, the one who coveted it. Nyce, foolish.

[270.]‘For my death I blame Him, and my own folly for being so ambitious.’

[272.]Tern 5. I appeal for sympathy, first to the knights who say that I, Mars, am their patron; secondly, to the ladies who should compassionate Venus their empress; lastly, to all lovers who should sympathise with Venus, who was always so ready to aid them.

[273.]Of my divisioun, born under my influence. The same word is used in the same way in Kn. Tale, 1166 (A 2024). Of course Mars was the special patron of martial knights.

[280.]‘That ye lament for my sorrow.’

[293.]Compleyneth hir, lament for her.

[298.]‘Therefore display, on her behalf, some kindly feeling.’

The Complaint of Venus, which formerly used to be printed as a part of this poem, is really a distinct piece. See Sect. XVIII.