And therewithalle she wepte tenderly,

And quok for fere, pale and pitously,

2315

Ryghte as the lambe that of the wolfe ys byten,

Or as the colver that of thegle ys smyten,

And ys out of his clawes forthe escaped,

Yet hyt ys aferde and awhaped

Lest hit be hent eftesones: so sate she.

2320

But utterly hyt may none other be,

By force hath this traytour done a dede,

That he hathe refte hire hire maydenhede

Maugree hire hede, be strengthe and by his myghte.

Loo, here a dede of men, and that aryghte!

2325

She crieth 'Suster!' with ful longe steven,
And 'Fader dere! helpe me God in hevene!'
Al helpeth not. And yet this fals thefe,
Hath doon thys lady yet a more myschefe,
For-ferde lest she sholde hys shame crye,
And done hym openly a vilanye,

2330

And with his swerde hire tonge of kerf he,
And in a castel made hire for to be,
Ful prively in prison evermore,

And kept hire to his usage and to hys store,

2335

So that she ne myght never more asterte.

2315. quok, past tense of quake, quaked, trembled.

2317. colver, culver, a pigeon, or dove ;-thegle, the eagle;smyten, past part. of smite, struck.

2319. awhaped, confounded, bewildered.

2320. hent, past part. of hente, caught;-eftesones, i. e., soon

after, presently, immediately.

2323. refte, past part. of reve, bereft, taken away.

2324. maugree, in spite of; Fr. malgré.

2326. steven, voice.

2329. more, greater.

2330. for-ferde, much afraid; the prefix for- is here intensive, corresponding with the Ger. ver.

2332. kerf, past tense of kerve, cut.

2335. to his usage and to hys store; these two expressions are quite synonymous; store is anything that is laid up for use.

2336. asterte, escape.

O sely Philomene, woo ys in thyn herte!
Huge ben thy sorwes, and wonder smerte!
God wreke the, and sende the thy boone!
Now ys hyt tyme I make an ende soone.
This Tereus ys to hys wyf ycome,
And in hise armes hath hys wyf ynome,
And pitously he wepe, and shoke hys hede,

2340

And swore hire that he fonde hire suster dede ;

For which the sely Proigne hath suche woo,
That nyghe hire sorwful herte brak atwoo.
And thus in teres lat I Proigne dwelle,
And of hire suster forthe I wol yow telle.

2345

This woful lady ylerned had in yowthe,

So that she werken and embrowden kouthe,
And weven in stole the radevore,

2350

As hyt of wymmen hath be woved yore.

And, shortly for to seyne, she hath hire fille

Of mete and drynke, of clothyng at hire wille,

And kouthe eke rede wel ynough and endyte,

2355

But with a penne she kouthe nat write;

But letteres kan she weve to and froo,

So that by the yere was agoo,

She had woven in a stames large,

How she was broghte from Athenes in a barge, 2360

2337. sely, simple, innocent;-woo, sorrowful.

2338. smerte, pain.

2339. wreke, avenge;-boone, petition.

2342. ynome, past part. of nime, taken.

2346. brak, past tense sing. of breke, broke.

2350. kouthe, past tense of conne, knew or could.

2351. radevore, tapestry; ras, in Fr. signifies stuff generally, as ras de Chalons, ras de Gennes. Ras de Vore or Vaur, may be stuff made at a place so named. Urry's Glossary. In Languedoc is a town called La Vaur, but I know not that it was ever famous for tapestry.-Tyrwhitt.

2352. yore, for a long time.

2359. stames, a kind of fine worsted.

And in a cave how that she was broghte,
And al the thinge that Tereus hath wroghte,
She wave hyt wel, and wrote the story above,
How she was served for hire suster love.
And to a knave a rynge she yaf anoon,
And prayed hym by signes for to goon

2365

Unto the queene, and beren hire that clothe;
And by sygne swore many an othe,

She shulde hym yeve what she geten myghte.

Thys knave anoon unto the queene hym dyghte, 2370 And toke hit hire, and al the maner tolde.

And whanne that Proigne hath this thing beholde,

No worde she spak for sorwe and eke for rage,
But feyned hire to goon on pilgrymage
To Bachus temple. And in a lytel stounde
Hire dombe suster syttynge hath she founde
Wepynge in the castel hire selfe allone.
Allas, the woo, constreynte, and the mone
That Proigne upon hire dombe suster maketh!
In armes everych of hem other taketh;

2375

2380

And thus I lat hem in hire sorwe dwelle.

The remnaunt ys no charge for to telle,

2363. wave, wove.

2365. knave, servant;-yaf, gave.

2370. dyghte, addressed.

2371. toke, delivered; see note on take, v. 1133.

2375. stounde, while.

2378. constreynte, anguish, torture.

2382. charge, a load, a burden, business of weight; no charge,

of no consequence.

"Here dremes schul not now be told of me;

Ful were here heedes of fumosité,

That causeth drem, of which ther is no charge."-C. T. 10673.

"Of that no charge."-C. T. 12677.

"I passe al that which chargeth not to seie."

i. e., no matter.

Troylus and Cryseyde, lib. 3, st. 119.

i. e., which it matters not to say.

For this is al and somme, thus was she served,
That never harme agilte ne deserved

Unto thys cruelle man, that she of wyste.
Ye may bewar of men yif that yow lyste.
For al be that he wol not for the shame
Doon as Tereus, to lese hys name,

2385

Ne serve yow as a morderere or a knave,

Ful lytel while shul ye trewe hym have.

2390

That wol I seyne, al were he nowe my brother,
But hit so be that he may have another.

EXPLICIT LEGENDA PHILOMENE.

INCIPIT LEGENDA PHILLIS.

Y preve, as wel as by auctorite,

BY

That may ye fynde yf that hyt liketh yow.
But for thys ende I speke thys as now,
To telle yow of fals Demophoon.

That wikked fruite cometh of wikked tree,

2395

In love a falser herde I never noon,

But hit were hys fader Theseus;

God for hys grace fro suche oon kepe us !

2400

Thus these wymmen prayen that hit here;

Now to theffect turne I of my matere.

2383. al and somme, the whole thing.

Incipit legenda Phillis: Here beginneth the legend of Phyllis. This legend is taken from Ovid's Heroides, ii., which Chaucer follows, in many places, literally.

2393. by auctorite: "Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit."-Matt. vii. 17.

2402. theffect of my matere, the main matter that I have in hand.

Distroyed is of Troye the citee;

This Demophoon come saylyng in the see

Towarde Athenes to hys paleys large.

2405

With hym come many a shippe, and many a barge

Ful of folke, of whiche full many oon

Ys wounded sore, and seke, and woo begoon,

And they han at the sege longe ylayne.

Behynde him come a wynde and eke a rayne,

2410

That shofe so sore, hys sayle myghte not stonde.

Hym were lever than al the world a-londe,

So hunteth hym the tempest to and fro!

So derke hyt was, he kouthe no wher go,

And with a wawe brosten was hys stere.
His shippe was rent so lowe, in suche manere,
That carpenter koude hit not amende.
The see by nyghte as any torche brende
For wode, and posseth hym up and doune;
Til Neptune hath of hym compassyoune,
And Thetis, Chorus, Triton, and they alle,
And maden him upon a londe to falle,
Wherof that Phillis lady was and queene,
Lycurgus doghter, fayrer on to seene,

2415

2420

2411. shofe, past tense of shove, pushed, drove.

2415. wawe, wave;-brosten, past tense of breste, bursted, broken; -stere, rudder.

2418. brende, past tense of brenne, burned.

2419. for wode, by reason of its fury; see note on for deyntee, v. 206;-posseth, pusheth.

2421. Triton is omitted in MS. Fairfax 16.—Bell.

2424. Lycurgus. Instead of Lycurgus the Fairfax MS. reads Bygurgus, and MS. Arch. Seld. B. 24, Lugurgus.—Bell ;—fayrer on to seene, fairer to look on:

"Emelie, that fairer was to seene

Than is the lilie on hire stalkes grene."-C. T. 1037.

"Sche was wel more blisful on to see

Than is the newe perjonette tree."-C. T. 3217.

Chaucer frequently uses the verb see with on, in the sense of to

look on, and sometimes without

on,

in the same sense.