Some to wexe and wane sone, As dooth the faire whyte mone, And leet hem gon. Ther mighte I seen Twenty thousand in a route, As Eolus hem blew aboute. And, lord this hous, in alle tymes, Folk can singe hit bet than I; For al mot out, other late or rathe, I herde a gret noise withalle Ther men of love tydings tolde, 2115 (1030) 2120 2125 (1040) 2130 2135 (1050) 2140 And clamben up on othere faste, And stampe, as men don after eles. Atte laste I saugh a man, Which that I [nevene] naught ne can; A man of greet auctoritee (Unfinished.) 2151, 3. F. other; B. othir; read othere (oth're), plural. 2155 (1c68) 2158 2152. F. noyse an highen (!); Th. noyse on hyghen (`; B. nose and yen; read on hye (Koch). 2153. F. B. other; Th. others. add 12 spurious lines. Th. stampe. 2154. F. B. stampen; 2158. Here F. B. end; Cx. Th. THE Prologue to this Poem exists in two different versions, which differ widely from each other in many passages. The arrangement of the material is also different. For the sake of clearness, the earlier version is here called 'Text A,' and the later version 'Text B.' 'Text A' exists in one MS. only, but this MS. is of early date and much importance. It is the MS. marked Gg. 4. 27 in the Cambridge University Library, and is here denoted by the letter 'C.' It is the same MS. as that denoted by the abbreviation 'Cm.' in the footnotes to the Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. This text is printed in the upper part of the following pages. The footnotes give the MS. spellings, where these are amended in the text. 'Text B' occupies the lower part of the following pages. It follows the Fairfax MS. mainly, which is denoted by 'F.' In many places, the inferior spellings of this MS. are relegated to the footnotes, amended spellings being given in the text. Various readings are given from Tn. (Tanner MS. 346); T. (Trinity MS., R. 3. 19); A. (Arch. Seld. B. 24 in the Bodleian Library); Th. (Thynne's Edition, 1532); B. (Bodley MS. 638); P. (Pepys MS. 2006); and sometimes from C. (already mentioned) or Add. (Addit. 9832). Lines which occur in one text only are marked (in either text) by a prefixed asterisk. Lines marked with a dagger (†) stand just the same in both texts. The blank space after A 60 (p. 70) shews that there is nothing in Text A corresponding to B 69-72. Where the corresponding matter is transposed to another place, one or other text has a portion printed in smaller type. The prologe of .ix. goode Wimmen. A THOUSAND sythes have I herd men telle, The prologe of .ix. goode Wimmen. B. 1. T. C. A. have I herd; rest I have herd. F. B. P. om. men; the rest have it. 2. F. B. (only) om. That. F And I acorde wel that hit be so; But natheles, this wot I wel also, That ther nis noon that dwelleth in this contree, 5 †Ne may of hit non other weyes witen, †But as he hath herd seyd, or founde hit writen; 10 For that he seigh it nat of yore ago. †Than mote we to bokes that we finde, And I acorde wel that hit is so; But natheles, yit wot I wel also, 15 That ther nis noon dwelling in this contree, 5 †Ne may of hit non other weyes witen, But as he hath herd seyd, or founde hit writen; 10 15 †And to the doctrine of these olde wyse, And trowen on these olde aproved stories 20 YRR. 25 And, as for me, though that my wit be lyte, †On bokes for to rede I me delyte, 30 †And in myn herte have hem in reverence; And to hem yeve swich lust and swich credence, That from my bokes make me to goon, †And to the doctrine of these olde wyse, 20 25 30 T. A. om. 16. F. monke; all. 23. 8. F. seyde. 27. F. ought; thanne. F. sondry. 25. F. awey; C. Tn. A. aweye. 26. F. Y-lorne; C. I-loryn; P. I-lore. F. key; C. Tn. A. keye. there; noon. 31. F. yiue; rest yeue. A. hertfully. 28. F. 29. F. though. A. Th. P. can; T. con; F. Tn. konne. |