Or he or I mot nedes lese our lyf.
Now certes,' quod she, 'sin I am his wyf,
And hath my feith, yit is hit bet for me
For to be deed in wyfly honestee
Than be a traitour living in my shame.
Be as be may, for ernest or for game,
He shal awake, and ryse and go his way
Out at this goter, or that hit be day!'-
And weep ful tenderly upon his face,
And in her armes gan him to embrace,
And him she roggeth and awaketh softe;
And at the window leep he fro the lofte
Whan she hath warned him, and doon him bote.
This Lino swifte was, and light of fote,
And from his wyf he ran a ful good pas.
This sely woman is so wayk, allas!

2700

(140)

2705

2710

(150)

And helples so, that, or that she fer wente,
Her cruel fader dide her for to hente.

2715

Allas! Lino! why art thou so unkynde?

Why ne haddest thou remembred in thy mynde
To taken her, and lad her forth with thee?
For, whan she saw that goon awey was he,
And that she mighte nat so faste go,
Ne folwen him, she sette her doun right tho,
Til she was caught and fetered in prisoun.
This tale is seid for this conclusioun

[Unfinished.]

2720 (160)

2712. So T. A.; C. from his wif ran; rest from her ran. 2714. C. A. or that; rest om. that. C. forth

2709. C. T. A. at a (for at the).

(for fer).

2717. C. T. haddist; rest hast.

rest And.

2718. C. T. To;

2721. C. set hire; T. A. sat hyr; rest sate (om. her).

2722. F. Tn. Th. And til (for Til).

THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.

NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE.

*N.B. The references are to the B-text, except where special mention of the A-text is made. The latter is denoted by the letter 'A,' preceded by a short line.

2. Compare Chaucer's Troilus, book ii. ll. 894-6.

5. Nis noon=ne is noon, is not none, i.e. is no one.

This use

of the double negative, as in modern provincial English, is extremely common, and need not be again remarked upon. Cf. 11. 7, 15, &c.

9. For there may no man prove it by actual trial.'

10. Leve, believe. Notice the numerous senses of leve, viz. (1) believe; (2) leave, v.; (3) grant; (4) dear; (5) leave, sb. ; (6) leaf (dat. case).

II. Wel more thing, many more things. The word thing was originally neuter, and remained unchanged in the plural. In 1. 23, we have thinges. The M. E. more usually means 'greater'; it is seldom used (as here) in the modern sense.

12. Men shal nat, people ought not to. The use of men in the general sense of 'people,' is extremely common in Chaucer, and the student should notice that it usually takes a singular verb, when thus used. With 11. 12, 13 cf. Hamlet, i. 5. 166.

13. But-if, unless, except. Great attention should be paid to the exact sense of these apparently less important words. Frequently the whole sense of a sentence is missed, even by editors, owing to inattention to their use.

14. 'For, God knoweth, a thing is none the less true, although no one can see it.'

16. In the margins of MSS. C. and F. is written the Latin proverb here referred to, viz.-' Bernardus monachus non uidit omnia'; i.e. Bernard the monk (even) did not see everything. The reference is to the great learning and experience of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (born A.D. 1091, died Aug. 20, 1153). See

an account of him in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, or in Chambers' Book of Days, under the date of Aug. 20.

I am disposed to suggest that the proverb looks as if the epithet 'de Clairvaux' had been jestingly interpreted as 'de claire vue,' i.e. of clear sight. But I am bound to add that this is a pure guess. The worst of making such suggestions is that they are likely to be quoted confidently as positive facts in a few

years.

18. Mynde, remembrance; see 1. 26. Cf. 'to bear in mind!

26. Rémembráunce; accented on the first and last syllables. The melody of innumerable lines in Chaucer is only apparent to those who perceive the difference between the present and the old accentuation, especially in the case of French words. Besides, such accent is frequently variable; Chaucer has hónour, rénoun, &c. at one time, and honour, renóun, &c. at another. Thus in 1. 27 we have honouren; and in 1. 31 credénce.

us.

27. Wel oghte us, it is very necessary for us, it well behoves Us is here the dative case, and oghte is the impersonal verb; in accordance with Chaucer's usual method. But, in this case, there is a grammatical difficulty; for the past tense oghte is here used with the sense of the present; the right form would be expressed, in modern English, by oweth, and in M. E. by ah (also awe, oze). Such use of the right form of the present tense is exceedingly rare; and (possibly owing to a sense of uncertainty about its true form) the form of the past tense was used both for past and present, whether personal or impersonal, precisely as we now use must in place both of M. E. mot (present) and moste (past). Mätzner only gives three examples of the present tense of this verb, when used impersonally; viz. ' Hym awe to rise,' it behoves him to rise, Metrical Homilies, p. 77; Vus oze,' it behoves us, Allit. Poems, ed. Morris, i. 552 ; ' Him owith to mynystre,' Reliquiæ Antiquæ, ii. 48.

The only right way of thoroughly understanding Chaucer's grammar is by comparing one passage with another, observing how particular expressions occur. This is best done by the proper process of reading the text; but even the usual glossarial indexes will often furnish ready examples. Thus the glossary to the Prioresses Tale gives the following examples :—

'And ther she was honoured as hir oughte'; E. 1120.
-'wel more us oughte

Receyven al in gree that god us sent'; E. 1150.

The glossary to the Man of Law's Tale gives :

Alla goth to his in, and, as him oughte,' &c.; B. 1097.
'But that they weren as hem oughte be'; G. 1340.
'Wel oughten we to doon al our entente'; G. 6.

'Wel oughte us werche, and ydelnes withstonde'; G. 14.

As to the spelling of the word, it may be remarked that oghte is the correct form, because ō answers to A.S. ā, and gh to A.S. h in the A.S. form ähte. But a confusion between the symbols ogh, ugh, and ough soon arose, and all three were merged in the form ough; hence neither ogh nor ugh occurs in modern English. See Skeat, Eng. Etymology, § 333, p. 361.

The full explanation of this and similar phrases would extend these notes to an inordinate length; the student is therefore advised to refer to the Glossarial Index for information, and to supplement the explanations there given by a careful study of other portions of our author. Only brief hints can here be given.

28. Ther, where. The sense 'where' is commoner than the sense 'there.'

29. Can but lyte, know but little. 1898.

Cf. Prior. Tale, B. 1726,

30. For to rede, to read. The use of for to with the gerundial infinitive is found in Layamon and the Ormulum, and may have been suggested by the like use of the French pour, O. Fr. por (and even por a). See Mätzner, Engl. Grammatik, ii. 2. 54. Compare Parl. Foules, 16, 695; Ho. Fame, 657.

36. This connection of 'the month of May' with song and poetry is common in Mid. Eng. poetry, from the natural association of spring with a time of joy and hope. We even find something of the kind in A.S. poetry. See The Phoenix, 1.250; Menologium, l. 75.

The earliest song in Middle English relates to the cuckoo ; and, before Chaucer, we already find, in the Romance of Alexander, 1. 2049, such lines as

'In tyme of May hot is in boure;
Divers, in medewe, spryngith floure;
The ladies, knyghtis honourith;

Treowe love in heorte durith'; &c.

See also the poem on Alisoun, in Morris and Skeat, Spec. of Eng., part ii. p. 43. Again, we have a like mention of the May