THE PARLEMENT OF FOULES This charming fancy is the only poem of any length written during the years that Chaucer was engaged upon his great masterpiece, the Troilus and Cresseida. As Dr. Koch has shown, the poet must have been commissioned in the summer of 1382 to celebrate the wooing and winning of Anne of Bohemia by Richard II. The marriage had taken place on January 14th of that year, after the successful mission of the English ambassadors to Bohemia in the previous January. Anne is represented in the poem by the formel (i.e. female) eagle and Richard by the royal eagle, while the two tercels (i.e. males), of lower kind,' who plead for her love, are the Prince of Bavaria and the Margrave of Misnia, to each of whom Anne had been in turn contracted. The material supplied him was too slight in itself for a poem of sufficient length and dignity, so the poet elaborated and ornamented his theme by a summary of Cicero's Somnium Scipionis, a description of the Garden of Love taken from the Teseide of Boccaccio and a description of Nature and her birds based upon a passage in the Planctus Nature of Alain de l'Isle, though the Cistercian bishop had represented them in medieval manner as embroidered on the garment of the Goddess, not, as Chaucer does, full of life and wit. His use of other men's work is seen to be much freer than it once was, and the poem is in all real senses an original one. These There are fourteen MSS. and one printed edition (Caxton's) which serve as authority for this poem, but some of them are so corrupt and show so much evidence of contamination that it is very difficult to discover their relation to the rest. doubtful MSS. are printed below the remainder, which I agree with Koch in arranging as follows: The best group of MS. is C, and this is the one used as the basis of the text. BOECE (MARK H. Liddell) The Consolation of Philosophy was one of the most popular books of the fourteenth century, and it is not to be wondered that Chaucer should have undertaken a translation of it. How great an interest this classic had over him can be seen from the numerous quotations from it he makes all through his work. His Latin scholarship, however, was by no means adequate to the task, a deficiency which he probably felt himself, for he makes very free use of an existing French version now commonly ascribed to Jehan de Meung. He used also the paraphrase which was common in early texts of the Consolation, as well as the commentary ascribed by tradition to Thomas Aquinas, and printed in fifteenth century editions of Boethius. Despite these props and stays, however, Chaucer makes blunders which cannot be charged to the incompetent scholarship of the time, but must be laid directly to his own insufficient knowledge of Latin idiom, a fault doubtless due to the fact that the Bocce is one of the earliest of his longer works. This edition contains a critical text made from all the known MSS. in which the translation has been preserved to us (including two newly-discovered ones). It follows MS. Ii i. 38 (C1) Cambridge University Library, with such departures as are justified by critical examination of the other known MSS. These are :-MS. Additional 16,165 (A); MS. Harleian 2421 (H); MS. Bodley 797 (B); MS. Hengwrt 393 (Hn), at Peniarth; MS. Ii 3. 21 (C) of the Cambridge University Library; MS. Additional 10,340 (A1); MS. Salisbury 13 (Sal.), in Salisbury Cathedral; MS. Auct. 3. 5 (Com.), in the Bodleian Library. Caxton's edition, made from a with frequent readings from Hn., is denoted by Cx.; Jehan de Meung's French translation is quoted from MS. Fr. 1079 (Fr.) unless otherwise noted. The text is based upon the following arrangement of the MSS., each of which, except Sal., which is a copy of A1, has been collated all through the work. The orthography is that of C1, except where the few northern forms peculiar to the MS. have been changed to Chaucer's spelling. Several nonsensical sentences are set right for the first time by the critical method followed, but there still remain some passages which evidently got wrong in the original; it is very fortunate for us that the French version makes almost all of these clear. TROILUS AND CRISEYDE (W. S. MCCORMICK) Troilus and Criseyde is based upon Boccaccio's Il Filostrato, from which nearly a third is translated or adapted. The characters of the hero and heroine are, however, considerably modified, and Pandarus, who is transformed from the cousin to the uncle of Cressida, is practically Chaucer's own creation. For the development of the story in Book v., Chaucer evidently consulted the Roman de Troie of Benoît de Sainte-More, possibly also the Historia Troiana of Guido delle Colonne ; and for the incidents in Cassandra's exposition of Troilus' dream Chaucer is indebted to Ovid and Statius. Chaucer's further borrowings are few. Petrarch's eighty-eighth sonnet forms Troilus' love-song in Book i. 400-420. There are three considerable passages from Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophia, which Chaucer was probably translating about the time of the composition of Troilus. The first (iii. 813-833) on 'fals felicité' is put into the mouth of Cressida; in the second (iii. 1744-1768) Boethius' celebration of divine love serves Troilus for another love-song; while the third (iv. 953-1085), Troilus' dreary moralising in the temple, is a fairly close rendering of Boethius' chapter on Free Will and Predestination. In Book v. two passages (11. 1-14, and II. 1807-1837) are taken from Boccaccio's Teseide, and the first three lines of the last stanza from Dante's Paradiso. It is worth remarking that three of the above passages from Boethius and the Teseide, viz. iii. 1744-1768, iv. 953-1085, v. 1807-1827, are omitted in some MSS. The relations of the MSS. of Troilus and Criseyde to each other are so compli cated and variable, that a detailed statement is here impossible. In many cases portions of the same manuscript have been taken from different sources; and few manuscripts are without traces of contamination. They fall, however, for the most part, into three families (designated here a, B, and y), which seem to represent three distinct editions or revisions; although in a number of passages, more especially in Book v., the a and ẞ manuscripts frequently alter their relations to each other, and throughout the poem the variations among the ẞ manuscripts are considerable. It appears probable, from a comparison of the readings of the three types with the originals from which Chaucer was translating, that in a type we have the first draft of the poem, copied in parts during its composition; that manuscripts of the ẞ type give more than one partial revision by Chaucer of copies of his work before or after its completion; and that the type represents a later copy, either carelessiy corrected by the author, or collated by some hand after Chaucer's death. The following list of authorities may serve to indicate in a general way the relations of the MSS., or portions of MSS., to each type, at least for the first four Books. MANUSCRIPTS 1. P-MS. Phillipps 8252. a throughout. II. H-MS. Harl. 3943. a (close to P) till iv. 196; B (close to H) later. III. H-MS. Harl. 2392. a (with ẞ readings) till 111.231 (?); B (with a readings) later. IV. G-MS. Gg 4. 27, Cambridge (first and last leaves of all the Books cut out). ẞ till II. III.; a later. V. H--MS. Harl. 4912-(ends at iv.686). B till II. III.; a later. Throughout close to G. VI. J-MS. LI. St. John's College, Cambridge. VII. R-MS. Rawlinson Poet 163. Bodleian. B throughout; omits Prologues to Books II. III. and IV. VIII. H-MS. Harl. 1239. B till 11. 1033; y from II. 1034 till 11.231; later, collated from various sources, but keeping close to a through Book IV. XII. S-MS. Arch. Selden supra 56. Bodleian. y throughout (with occasional a or ẞ reading). XIII. Dg-MS. Digby 181. Bodleian. (Ends at III. 532.) close to Sq. XIV. Cp.-MS. 61 Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. [To these may be added two MS. fragments printed in Odd Texts of Chaucer's Minor Poems (Chaucer Society, 1880); and one MS. fragment of Book v. 1443-1498 in Cambridge University Library.] y throughout (with Cx. and a readings, more especially in Books 1. and 11.) [The Editions of Wynkyn de Worde (1517) and of Pynson (1526) are reprints of Caxton's text. In Sir Francis Kinaston's Latin Translation of the first two Books (1635), the English text is a reprint of Thynne's.] MSS. J, Cp., H1, and Cl. are the most accurate as to grammatical forms; but none can be depended upon. The present text is based upon J (MS. LI. St. John's College), and has been corrected throughout from readings of a and ẞ types alone. But all the authorities have been examined, and all the important variations of y type are given. In order to curtail the critical notes as much as possible, the mistakes occurring in J alone are corrected, and the spelling (including the insertion or deletion of final e) is normalised, in most cases, without special mention; also, where possible, a, ß, and y have been employed to represent the MSS., or the majority of the MSS., belonging to these types respectively. In printing the text for this edition, some assistance has been offered to the general reader by the indication of stressed syllables, by the use of the dotted è to denote a separate syllable in the middle of the line, and by marking elision in such words as n'as, n'il, n'olde, n'ot, th'ilke, th'effect, m'asterte, this' (for this is), etc. The modern use of i and j, and of u and ʊ, has been adopted, as well as the modern spelling of thou, you, our, etc. In her (= her), and hir (= their), o (interjection), and oo (=one), on and oon (= one), of and off, the, thee, and the (=thrive), the spelling has been differentiated to indicate the meaning; and in French words ending in é, the accent has been retained. The final e of evere, nevere, levere, etc., has been retained, as Chaucer's pronunciation was evidently ev'rẻ, nev'rè, lev'rẻ, etc. CHAUCER'S WORDS UNTO ADAM HIS OWNE SCRIVEYN This keen jeu d'esprit is only found in one manuscript (Trin. Coll. Camb. MS. R 3. 20) and in Shirley's edition of 1561. There can be no doubt as to its authenticity. Its probable date is 1385. (H. F. H.) THE HOUS OF FAME (H. FRANK HEATH) From With the Hous of Fame we leave the period of the poet's finished work. this time on his plans were far more ambitious, but they were doomed to remain unfinished. The Hous of Fame, the Legende of Good Women, and, greatest of all, the Canterbury Tales, were none of them completed. At the close of the Troilus Chaucer had uttered the hope that God would 'Sende (him) might to make in som comedie,' and most critics are agreed that the Hous of Fame was meant to be the fulfilment of this intention. There is some reason for thinking, I believe, that the Hous of Fame had been commenced some years before 1383, and then laid aside. When the Troilus was complete, this unfinished comedy' came to Chaucer's mind, and hence the prayer. It is difficult, on any other assumption, to understand the use of the short couplet, an unsatisfactory measure at best, particularly for such a theme as the story of Eneas, which takes up the major part of the first book. Having finished the second book-in which the story advances rapidly enough, and with a light humorous touch throughout-the work was laid aside. When it was again taken in hand on the completion of the Troilus a new tone is noticeable, and a new invocation to Apollo, god of science and of light,' marks the fresh start. This is followed by an apology for the light and lewd' verse. It is not craft' but sentence' which is his aim, and throughout the humour is no longer playful but deeply ironical, for the poet has learnt to see his art and life in the light of common day. The close of the fragment describing the hall of Fame and the petitioners to the goddess is the purest piece of satire Chaucer ever wrote. all this destroyed the original playful plan and rendered some striking close necessary. Failing this, no wonder the poet's golden eagle, having borne him up to the realm of Fame, finds it hard, as has been remarked, to get down again. No wonder the workmanship of the separate parts of the poem is much more masterly,' as the same critic adds, than the general plan.' The fragment we possess of the third book is longer than the first two put together. Chaucer had put new wine into an old 6 But |