The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Introduction to Boethius.
• Introduction to Troilus.
• Errata and Addenda.
• Boethius De Consolatione Philosophie.
• Book I.
• Book II.
• Book III.
• Book IV.
• Book V.
• Troilus and Criseyde.
• Book I.
• Book II.
• Book III.
• Book IV.
• Book V.
• Notes to Troilus

BOOK II.

Rubric.So Cp. H. 1-84. Lost in Cm.

Incipit prohemium Secundi Libri.

• • 1.

    OUT of these blake wawes for to sayle,^[ ]
  • O wind, O wind, the weder ginneth clere;
  • For in this see the boot hath swich travayle,
  • Of my conning that unnethe I it stere:
  • This see clepe I the tempestous matere5
  • Of desespeyr that Troilus was inne:
  • But now of hope the calendes biginne.^[ ]

• • 2.

    O lady myn, that called art Cleo ,^[ ]
  • Thou be my speed fro this forth, and my muse,
  • To ryme wel this book, til I have do;10
  • Me nedeth here noon other art to use.
  • For-why to every lovere I me excuse,
  • That of no sentement I this endyte,
  • But out of Latin in my tonge it wryte.^[ ]

• • 3.

    Wherfore I nil have neither thank ne blame15
  • Of al this werk, but pray yow mekely,
  • Disblameth me, if any word be lame,
  • For as myn auctor seyde, so seye I.
  • Eek though I speke of love unfelingly,
  • No wonder is, for it no-thing of newe is;20
  • A blind man can nat Iuggen wel in hewis.^[ ]

• • 4.

    Ye knowe eek, that in forme of speche is chaunge^[ ]
  • With-inne a thousand yeer, and wordes tho
  • That hadden prys, now wonder nyce and straunge
  • Us thinketh hem; and yet they spake hem so,25
  • And spedde as wel in love as men now do;
  • Eek for to winne love in sondry ages,
  • In sondry londes, sondry ben usages.^[ ]

• • 5.

    And for-thy if it happe in any wyse,
  • That here be any lovere in this place30
  • That herkeneth, as the story wol devyse,
  • How Troilus com to his lady grace,
  • And thenketh, so nolde I nat love purchace,
  • Or wondreth on his speche and his doinge,
  • I noot; but it is me no wonderinge;35

• • 6.

    For every wight which that to Rome went,^[ ]
  • Halt nat o path, or alwey o manere;
  • Eek in some lond were al the gamen shent,
  • If that they ferde in love as men don here,
  • As thus, in open doing or in chere,40
  • In visitinge, in forme, or seyde hir sawes;
  • For-thy men seyn , ech contree hath his lawes.

• • 7.

    Eek scarsly been ther in this place three
  • That han in love seyd lyk and doon in al;
  • For to thy purpos this may lyken thee,45
  • And thee right nought, yet al is seyd or shal;^[ ]
  • Eek som men grave in tree, som in stoon wal,
  • As it bitit; but sin I have begonne,
  • Myn auctor shal I folwen , if I conne.

Explicit prohemium Secundi Libri.

Incipit Liber Secundus.

Explicit Secundus Liber.

[P. 192, Book II, 113.]Delete ’ at the end.

[P. 194, Book II, 170.]Insert ‘ at the beginning.

[P. 205, Book II, 529.]For penaunc read penaunce.

[4. ]Ed. connyng; H. coniynge (!); Cl. H2. comynge; Cp. cōmyng.

[6. ]Cp. desespeir; H. desespeyre; Cl. desper.

[8. ]H2. Clyo; rest Cleo.

[11. ]Cl. H2. om. other.

[15. ]Cl. nel.

[17. ]H. Desblameth.

[21. ]can nat] Cl. ne kan.

[25. ]H. Ed. thynketh; Cl. Cp. thenketh.

[37. ]Cl. al o; rest om. al.

[38. ]H. Ed. gamen; rest game.

[39. ]Cl. om. that.

[40. ]Ed. open; rest opyn.

[41. ]H2. seying; rest seyde.

[42. ]Cl. seyth.

[46. ]H2. to me; rest thee.

[49. ]H. Cp. folwen; Cl. folwe.

[55. ]Cl. so it.

[58. ]H2. shottis; Ed. shottes; Cl. H. shotes.

[59. ]Cl. om. of loving.

[61. ]fil] Cl. felt (!).

[64. ]H. Proignee.

[68. ]Cl. hym so neigh. Cl. Cp. cheterynge; H. H2. chiteringe.

[69. ]H2. Ed. Thereus (for Tereus); Cl. Cp. Tireux; H. Tryeux.

[73. ]his] Cl. þe.

[75. ]Cl. tok weye soone.

[79. ]Cl. vn-to.

[80. ]Cl. in forth.

[81. ]Cl. sette; Cp. H. sete; H2. sate.

[86. ]Cl. Cp. H. faire book; rest om. faire.

[90. ]H. Cm. goode; Cl. good. H. Cm. mote; Cl. mot.

[94. ]Cl. om. that.

[95. ]H. herknen; rest herken (herkyn).

[97. ]Cp. H. o; Cm. Ed. or; Cl. om. H2. Is it of love, some good ye may me lere.

[99. ]Cl. om. tho.

[101. ]Cl. that the; rest om. the.

[102. ]All Edippus.

[107. ]Cp. H. Ed. thassege. Cl. al the care; rest om. al.

[110. ]barbe] Cm. wimpil.

[113. ]Cl. A; Ed. Eighe; rest I.

[115. ]So Cp. Cl. H. Ed.; Cm. H2. Ye makyn me be iouys sore adradde (a-drad).

[116. ]as] Cl. that.

[117. ]H. H2. sate; Cp. satte; rest sat; read sete. Cl. H. om. a.

[120. ]Cl. I thriue; om. this.

[123. ]Cp. H. Ed. thassege; Cm. H2 the sege.

[124. ]Cp. fered.

[126. ]So Cp. H. H2. Ed.; Cm. better (for wol bet); Cl. corrupt; see l. 128.

[128. ]Ed. eighe (better ey); Cl. Cp. H. Cm. I.

[131. ]Cl. om. vs.

[134. ]H2. borow; Cm. borw; Cp. H. borugh; Ed. borowe; Cl. bourgh.

[138. ]Cl. were; rest is.

[141. ]wondren] Cl. Iape.

[155. ]Cp. H. Ed. it; rest om.

[159. ]H2. Ed. euery; Cl. H. al; Cp. alle.

[160. ]H2. In; rest As (usually with al).

[164. ]Cl. trewly; Cp. H. trewelich; Cm. trewely.

[176. ]Cm. nought; H2. no thing (om. for); rest no more.

[177. ]H. Cm. ther; Cl. ner.

[179. ]Cp. H. Cm. than; Cl. that.

[185. ]H. Cp. dredelees; Cl. Cm. dredles.

[188. ]Cm. al the; Cl. Cp. H. alle; rest al.

[194. ]Cl. Cm. gonne fro him.

[195. ]Cl. field (for feld).

[201. ]Cl. lyf and sheld; Cp. H. Ed. sheld and lif; H2. sheld of lyf; Cm. schild and spere.

[202. ]as] Cl. al.

[204. ]H. Cm. freendlyeste; Cl. frendlyest.

[206. ]Cl. felawship; H. felaweschipe.

[207. ]Cl. thenketh.

[212. ]Cl. womman; H2. woman; rest wommen.

[215. ]Cl. two; Cm. to; rest tho.

[216. ]Cm. Ed. herde; rest herd.

[217. ]they two] Cl. that they.

[220. ]Cm. H2. it; rest om.

[221. ]Cl. Cm. H2. and lat.

[223. ]Cl. yow-; rest your-.

[224. ]Cl. it; rest is. fair] Cp. gladde; Cm. H2. Ed. glad.

[226. ]witen] Cl. wete.

[227. ]Cl. om. this and tho.

[238. ]Cl. Cm. wete; Cp. H. Ed. weten; H2. wite. your] Cl. yow.

[239. ]Cl. Cp. H. om. myn.

[247. ]Cl. Cm. truste.

[248. ]Cl. om. to me. Cp. H. frende (error for fremde); H2. frend; Ed. fremed; Cl. Cm. frendly.

[250. ]Cl. here he keste; rest om. he.

[255. ]Cl. lo alwey.

[259. ]Cl. tales (!).

[260. ]H. sithen; Cp. Cm. sithe; Cl. sith. Cl. Cm. H2. the ende. Cl. ins. of after is.

[262. ]H2. Ed. peynt; Cm. pente; rest poynte.

[265. ]Cl. loke.

[266. ]Cp. H. goode; rest good.

[269. ]Cl. litel (!).

[276. ]Cl. om. faste. Cp. H. mauise.

[279. ]Cm. thoughte; Cl. Cp. thought.

[284. ]that] Cl. than. Cl. weylen (!).

[287. ]Cl. om. a.

[289. ]and] Cl. if.

[291. ]H. it slake; rest om. it.

[296. ]Cl. toforn; rest biforn.

[299. ]Cl. to yow; rest om. to. Cl. H. Ed. sworne; rest sworn.

[300. ]or] Cl. and.

[303. ]chaungeth] Cl. quaketh (!).

[308. ]Cl. nolde; rest wolde.

[309. ]Cl. H. Cp. om. my.

[315. ]Cl. shal yow; rest om. yow.

[317. ]H. Cm. goode; Cl. Cp. good.

[323. ]Cl. thow; rest ye. H2. lete; Cl. Cp. Cm. late; H. lat.

[324. ]Cl. nel. Cl. H. lye.

[325. ]Cl. myn owene; rest my (myn).

[328. ]Cl. giltles; H. Cm. gilteles.

[329. ]mende] H2. wyn.

[338. ]H. Cm. liste; Ed. lysteth; Cl. lyst.

[349. ]If] Cl. And.

[350. ]Cl. that ye; rest om. that.

[351. ]this] Cm. H2. it; H. om.

[359. ]Cl. behest.

[368. ]Cl. to se; Cp. H. sen.

[369. ]H2. a-yens; Ed. ayenst; H. ayeyn; Cm. ayen.

[370. ]fool] Cl. fel (for fol).

[371. ]Cl. frenship.

[372. ]Cl. om. What.

[374. ]Cl. om. wel and.

[380. ]Ed. wrie; Cm. wri; Cl. Cp. wre; H. were (!); H2. couere.

[381. ]Cp. H. Cm. Ed. sauacioun; rest saluacioun.

[383. ]Cm. H2. Ed. put alwey after nece. Cm. goode; rest good.

[384. ]Ed. H2. sugred.

[385. ]Cp. Cm. for; Ed. al; Cl. H. om.

[386. ]Cl. herd.

[387. ]meneth] H. Cm. mene.

[388. ]Cl. wole.

[389. ]sholde] Cl. shal.

[395. ]Cl. H2. om. that.

[401. ]Read think’th, ber’th (Cl. thenketh; Cp. H. berth). Cl. Cp. H. heighe; Ed. Cm. hye.

[403. ]Cl. ben growen; Cp. H. be growe; Ed. growe; Cm. hem waxen;H2. be wox. All eye (eighe, ey, eyen).

[405. ]H. H2. whiche; Cl. Cm. which; Cp. Ed. which that.

[406. ]Cm. H2. om. Nece. Cm. I bidde with (!); H2. I kepe than wisshe; (read Nec’ I bidd’ wisshë).

[411. ]Cl. Cp. Ed. strannge; H. H2. straunge folk; Cm. straunge men.

[413. ]Cp. H2. Ret; Ed. Rate; Cm. Redith; Cl. Bet (!); H. Let (!).

[414. ]H. tristed.

[421. ]this] Cl. that.

[423. ]Cl. behest.

[429. ]Cl. Ay; Cm. O; Ed. Ne; rest A.

[435. ]H. dispitouse; Cm. dispituse; rest dispitous (despitous).

[438. ]Cl. ins. ony (Cp. H. any, H2. eny) before vilanye. Cl. vylonye.

[446. ]Cl. certaynly.

[448. ]Cl. hym agayn.

[456. ]Cl. falles (sic).

[460. ]Cl. wyl; Cp. H. wol.

[461. ]Cl. of hit wold.

[466. ]lyth] Cp. H. is.

[468. ]Cl. don so.

[474. ]Cl. H2. y-wis; rest wis.

[480. ]Cm. H2. plese; rest plesen.

[482. ]Cp. Ed. dredde; rest drede.

[483. ]H. Ed. Cp. cesse; Cm. sese; (see l. 1388); Cl. cesseth.

[486. ]H. Cm. Ed. sauacioun; rest saluacioun.

[490. ]Cp. Ed. H2. Pandare; rest Pandarus.

[491. ]Cp. H. truste; Cm. troste; rest trust.

[494. ]Cp. Cm. doutelees; Cl. doutles.

[496. ]Cm. Cp. after; H. efter; rest ofter (!).

[500. ]love of god] Cl. Cp. H. his love.

[505. ]a litel gan to] Cl. bygan for to.

[507. ]Cl. go. Cp. H. Ed. longe; rest long.

[516. ]Cm. Ed. after; Cl. Cp. H. ther-after.

[519. ]Cl. softly hym.

[523. ]upon] Cl. on.

[535. ]Cl. om. botme.

[536. ]Cl. Cp. Cm. deyen.

[537. ]Cp. Cm. Ed. bywreyen; Cl. H2. bywryen; H. wryen.

[539. ]hem] Cl. hym. asshen] Cl. asshe.

[540. ]Cl. adown his hed.

[541. ]Cp. H. Cm. trewely; rest trewly.

[542. ]Cl. puts awey after I.

[543. ]Cp. leet; H. lete; Cl. Cm. let.

[1-3.]These lines somewhat resemble Dante, Purgat. i. 1-3.

• ‘Per correr miglior acqua alza le vele
• Omai la navicella del mio ingegno,
• Che lascia dietro a sè mar sì crudele;’ &c.

[7.]calendes, the introduction to the beginning; see bk. v. l. 1634. Thus the ‘kalends of January’ precede that month, being the period from Dec. 14 to Dec. 31.

[8.]Cleo; so in most copies; H2. has Clyo; Clio, the muse of history.

[14.]Latin seems, in this case, to mean Italian, which was called Latino volgare.

[21.]‘A blind man cannot judge well of colours;’ a proverb.

[22.]Doubtless from Horace’s Ars Poetica, 71-3; probably borrowed at second-hand.

[28.]A proverb. In the Proverbs of Hendyng, l. 29, we have: ‘Ase fele thede, ase fele thewes,’ i. e. so many peoples, so many customs. See l. 42 below. Cf. Boethius, Bk. ii. Pr. 7. 49 (p. 47).

[36.]went, for wendeth; i. e. goes; pres. tense.

[46.]‘Yet all is told, or must be told.’

[48.]bitit, for bitydeth; i. e. betides, happens.

[55.]Bole, Bull, the sign Taurus. On the third of May, in Chaucer’s time, the sun would be in about the 20th degree of Taurus. The epithet white is from Ovid, Met. ii. 852.

[63.]wente, sb., a turn; i. e. he tossed about.

[64-68.]forshapen, metamorphosed. Progne was changed into a swallow; Ovid, Met. vi. 668. Tereus carried off Progne’s sister Philomela; see Leg. of Good Women (Philomela).

[74.]‘And knew that the moon was in a good plight (position) for him to take his journey.’ That is, the moon’s position was propitious; see note to Man of Lawes Tale, B 312.

[77.]‘Janus, god of (the) entry;’ see Ovid, Fasti, i. 125.

[81.]‘And found (that) she and two other ladies were sitting.’ Sete (A. S. sǣton) is the pt. t. pl., not the pp.

[84.]The celebrated story of the Siege of Thebes, known to Chaucer through the Thebais of Statius; see bk. v. 1484. And see l. 100.

[87.]Ey, eh! a note of exclamation, of frequent occurrence in the present poem.

[103.]lettres rede, i. e. the rubric describing the contents of the next section.

[100-105.]Œdipus unwittingly slew his father Laius; and the two sons of Œdipus contended for Thebes. For Amphiorax, see note to bk. v. 1500, and to Anelida, 57.

[108.]bokes twelve; the 12 Books of the Thebais. The death of Amphioraus is related at the end of Book vii.

[110.]barbe, ‘part of a woman’s dress, still sometimes worn by nuns, consisting of a piece of white plaited linen, passed over or under the chin, and reaching midway to the waist;’ New E. Dict. She wore it because she was a widow; see the quotations in the New E. Dict., esp. ‘wearing of barbes at funerals.’ And see Barbuta in Ducange.

[112.]‘Let us perform some rite in honour of May;’ see note to Kn. Ta. A 1500.

[117.]The right reading is necessarily sete, for A. S. sǣte, 3 p. s. pt. t. subj. of sitten; ‘it would befit.’ Cf. seten, they sat, 81, 1192.

[134.]‘And I am your surety,’ i.e. you may depend upon me; see bk. i. 1038.

[151.]unkouth, unknown, strange; hence, very; Sc. unco’.

[154.]wal, wall, defence; yerde, rod, scourge, as in bk. i. 740.

[167.]From Le Rom. de la Rose, 5684-6:—

• ‘Lucan redit, qui moult fu sages,
• C’onques vertu et grant pooir
• Ne pot nus ensemble veoir.’

Cf. Lucan, Phar. i. 92.

[236.]Withoute, excepting sweethearts; or, excepting by way of passionate love. The latter is the usual sense in Chaucer.

[273.]‘Therefore I will endeavour to humour her intelligence.’

[294.]so well bigoon, so well bestead, so fortunate. Cf. Parl. Foules, 171.

[318.]Which . . his, whose; cf. that . . his, Kn. Ta. A 2710.

[328.]‘Then you have fished to some purpose;’ ironical. To fish fair is to catch many fish.

[329.]What mende ye, what do you gain, though we both lose?

[344.]Gems were supposed to have hidden virtues.

[387.]fele, find out, investigate.

[391, 2.]Cf. Ovid, Art. Amat. ii. 107: ‘Ut ameris, amabilis esto.’

[393.]In the same, 113, we find: ‘Forma bonum fragile est,’ &c.

[396.]‘Go and love; for, when old, no one will have you.’

[398.]‘I am warned too late, when it has past away, quoth Beauty.’

[400.]The ‘king’s fool’ got the hint from Ovid, Art. Amat. ii. 118: ‘Iam uenient rugae,’ &c.

[403.]crowes feet, crow’s feet; wrinkles at the corners of the eyes; from the shape. So in Spenser, Shep. Kal. December, 136: ‘And bv myne eie the crow his clawe doth write.’

[408.]breste a wepe, burst out a-weeping.

[413.]Ret, for redeth, advises; cf. P. Plowman C. iv. 410, and note.

[425.]Pallas; perhaps invoked with reference to the Palladium of Troy; bk. I. l. 153. Moreover, Pallas was a virgin goddess.

[434.]‘Of me no consideration need be taken.’

[477.]‘Except that I will not give him encouragement;’ see 1222.

[483.]‘But when the cause ceases, the disease ceases.’

[507.]gon, gone; ‘not very long ago.’

[525.]mea culpa, by my fault; words used in confession: see P. Plowman, B. v. 77, and note.

[527.]Ledest the fyn, guidest the end; cf. Boeth. Bk. iv. Pr. 6. 149.

[537.]biwryen, used in place of biwreyen, to bewray. The same rather arbitrary form appears in Parl. Foules, 348.

[539.]‘Because men cover them up,’ &c.