But finally, this is my conclusion,

That she her selfe shall have her election

Of whom her list, who so be wrothe or blithe;
Him that she cheseth, he shall her have as swithe.

'For sith it may not here discussed be
Who loveth her best, as said the tercelet,
Than wol I done this favour to her, that she
Shal have right him on whom her herte is set;
And he her, that his herte hath on her knet:
This judge I, Nature, for I may not lie
To none estate, I have none other eye.

'But as for counsaile for to chuse a make,
If I were reason,1 thanne wolde I
Counsaile you the ryal tercel take,

2

As said the tercelet, ful skilfully,

As for the gentillest, and most worthy,
Which I have wroght so wel to my plesaunce,
That to you it ought ben a suffisaunce.'

With dredeful voice that formel her answerd :
'My rightful lady, goddess of Nature,
Soth is, that I am ever under your yerd,*
As is everich other creature,

And must be yours while my life may dure;
And therefore graunte me my firste boone,
And mine entent you woll I say right soone.'

'I graunt it you,' quod she, and right anone
This formel eagle spake in this degree:-
'Almighty quene, unto this year be done

1 The meaning of this line, as it stands, would be, 'If I were Reason,' meaning the Goddess Reason,' I would counsel you,' &c. But the true reading is probably, 'If it were reason,' that is, 'If it were reasonable.' [Five MSS. rightly have it, not I.-W. W. S.]

2 The Cambridge MS. for the tercelet, reads Nature, which would make the passage unintelligible.

3 Dredeful here means 'full of dread,' not, as with us, causing dread. 4 Sce vol. ii., p. 95, note 2.

I aske respite for to avisen mee;

And after that to have my choice al free;

This all and some that I would spek and seye;
Ye get no more, although ye do me deye.
'I wol not serven Venus ne Cupide,
Forsooth as yet, by no manner waye.'
'Now sens it may none other wayes betide,'
Quod Nature, 'here is no more to saye:
Than wold I that these foules were awaye,
Ech with his make, for tarying lenger here.'
And said hem thus, as ye shal after here.
'To you speke I, ye tercelets,' quod Nature;
'Beth of good herte, and serveth alle three;
A yeare is not so longe1 to endure,

And ech of you paine him in his degree
For to do welle; for, God wote, quit is she
Fro you this year, what after so befalle;
This entremes is dressed for you all.'

2

And whan this werk brought was to an end,
To every foule Nature yave his make
By even accord, and on hir way they wend:
And, Lord! the blisse and joye that they make!
For ech of hem gan other in his winges take,
And with hir neckes ech gan other winde,
Thanking alway the noble goddess of kinde.
But first were chosen foules for to singe,-
As yere by yere was alway hir usaunce,
To sing a roundel at hir departinge,
To do Nature honour and pleasaunce;
The note, I trow, maked was in Fraunce;

1 Speght reads long, which is both metrically and grammatically incorrect, longe being the adverbial form. But in his text grammatical inflections are throughout disregarded.

2 An entremet, or as it is here spelt, entremes, is a small dish brought in, as its name implies, between the more substantial viands, and generally something very dainty. Nature says playfully, This decision, which obliges you to wait for a year, is a dainty morsel for you to enjoy in the interval. [The form entremes occurs in Barbour's Bruce.— W. W. S.]

VOL. II.

2 c

The wordes were such as ye may here finde
The next verse, as I now have in mind.

Qui bien ayme tard oublye.'

'Now welcome summer, with thy sunnes softe,
That hast this winter weatheres overshake;
Saint Valentine, thou art ful high on lofte,
Which drivest away the longe nightes blake;—
Thus singen smale foules for thy sake—
Wel have they cause for to gladen ofte,
Sens each of hem recovered hath his make,
Ful blisful may they singe whan they awake.'

And with the shouting whan hir song was do,
That the foules made at hir flight away,
I woke, and other bookes took me to
To rede upon; and yet I rede alway.
I hope ywis to rede so some day,
That I shall mete something for to fare
The bet, and thus to rede I nil not spare.

EXPLICIT.

Though the conclusion of this poem is somewhat similar to that of The Court of Love, it differs in two important details: in The Court of Love the birds sing a religious service to the God of Love; here they sing a roundel in thanksgiving to Nature. The motto or refrain of the song, Qui bien aime, tard oublye, He who loves well does not soon forget, gives, as it were, the keynote of the whole poem, the object of which is to show, that where all profess equal love the criterion must be constancy. The Court of Love, be it remembered, is a late imitation of Chaucer, not Chaucer's own work.-W. W. S.]

CHAUCERES A. B. C.

CALLED

LA PRIERE DE NOSTRE DAME.

[THIS poem was first printed by Speght in his edition of 1597, where it appears deformed by the corruptions of orthography generally found in the printed books of that period. The text has been, as far as possible, purified and restored to some degree of conformity with the grammatical and metrical structure of the other poems.

There was a tradition current, in Speght's time, that the A. B. C. was written at the request of Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, as a prayer for her private use, being a woman in her religion very devout.' This vague report, however inconclusive, has been deemed sufficient to determine the position of the A. B. C. as before The Boke of the Duchesse, which relates to her death. [It must in fact be one of the earliest poems.]

The A. B. C. is a prayer to the Blessed Virgin some what in the manner of an acrostic. It consists of twenty. three stanzas, each of which begins with one of the letters of the alphabet, arranged in their order. The Lamentations of Jeremiah are divided in the same manner, and probably suggested the idea. The attributes ascribed to the Mother of our Lord are chiefly derived from the anagogical interpretation of Scripture, which had been handed down from the Fathers.]

A.

ALMIGHTY and al merceable Quene,

To whom al this world fleeth for succour
To have relees of sinne, of sorwe, of tene!
Glorious Virgine, of alle flouris floure,
To the I fle, confounded in errour!
Helpe, and releve, almighty debonaire,'

1 Debonaire is here used as a substantive.-See vol. iii. p. 313, note г.

Have mercy of myn perilous langour!
Venquist me hath my cruel adversaire.

B.

Bounte so fixe hath in thy herte his tente
That wele I wote thou wil my succour be;
Thou canst not werne that, with gode entente,
Axith thyn helpe, thyn herte is ay so fre!'
Thou art largesse' of pleyne felicite,
Haven and refutes of quiete and reste!

Lo! how that thevis seven chasen me!

Helpe, Lady brighte, or that my schippe" to-breste!

C.

Comfort is none, but in you, Lady dere!
For lo, myn sinne and myn confusioun,

Which oughte not in thyn presence for to apere,
Han taken on me a grevous actioun,

Of verrey right and disperatioun !

And, as by right, they mighten wele sustene,
That I were worthy myn damnatioun,

Nere mercy of you, blisful quene!

1 That is, Thou canst not refuse one that, with pure intention, asketh thy help.'

2 Largesse, the abstract quality, is put for the concrete, meaning Thou that art largesse, or liberality itself.'

3 This is probably taken from the Litany, called that of Loretto, in which the Blessed Virgin is addressed as Refugium peccatorum.

4 The seven deadly sins. The allusion is probably to the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the man who went from Jerusalem to Jericho is generally interpreted by the Fathers to mean the human soul; and the thieves, who left him naked and wounded, the seven deadly sins, which despoil it of divine grace, and impair its power of choosing virtue.

5 It is the Church, not, as here, an individual Christian, which is generally compared to a ship. Thus, in the English office for baptism:that he (the catechumen) being delivered from thy wrath, may be received into the ark of Christ's church; and being steadfast in faith, &c., may so pass the waves of this troublesome world,' &c.

6 Actioun seems to mean control, from the verb to acte, to drive (agere).