But finally, this is my conclusion, That she her selfe shall have her election Of whom her list, who so be wrothe or blithe; 'For sith it may not here discussed be 'But as for counsaile for to chuse a make, 2 As said the tercelet, ful skilfully, As for the gentillest, and most worthy, With dredeful voice that formel her answerd : And must be yours while my life may dure; 'I graunt it you,' quod she, and right anone 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; And ech of you paine him in his degree 2 And whan this werk brought was to an end, 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 Qui bien ayme tard oublye.' 'Now welcome summer, with thy sunnes softe, And with the shouting whan hir song was do, 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 1 Debonaire is here used as a substantive.-See vol. iii. p. 313, note г. Have mercy of myn perilous langour! B. Bounte so fixe hath in thy herte his tente 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! Which oughte not in thyn presence for to apere, Of verrey right and disperatioun ! And, as by right, they mighten wele sustene, 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). |