The thridde part of mankynde, or the ferthe, Ne wende I nat by possibilitee,

Had ever in this wide worlde ybee;

289

And trewe of love thise women were echon. Now wheither was that a wonder thing or

non,

That ryght anoon, as that they gonne espye
This flour, which that I clepe the daysie,
Ful sodeynly they stynten al attones,

And knelede doune, as it were, for the nones,
And songen with o vois, "Heel and honour
To trouthe of womanhede, and to this flour
That bereth our alder pris in figurynge,1
Hire white corowne beryth the witnessynge!"
And with that word, a-compas enviroun, 300
They setten hem ful softely adoun.

First sat the god of Love, and syth his quene
With the white corowne, clad in grene;
And sithen al the remenaunt by and by,2
As they were of estaat, ful curteysly,
Ne nat a worde was spoken in the place,
The mountaunce of a furlong wey of space.

I, knelyng by this floure, in good entente
Aboode, to knowen what this peple mente,
As stille as any ston; til at the laste
This god of Love on me hyse eighen caste,
And seyde, "Who kneleth there?
answerde

3IC

And I

1 The prize from all of us in a figure. 2 Side by side. A shor

space of time.

4 Waited.

"THOW MYSSEYEST."

Unto his askynge, whan that I it herde,

And seyde, “It am I,” and come him nere,1

91

And salwed him. Quod he, "What dostow

here,

So nygh myn oune floure, so boldely?

Yt were better worthy trewely

3

A worme to neghen 2 ner my flour than thow." "And why, sire," quod I, "and yt lyke yow?" "For thow," quod he, "art therto nothing able.

Yt is my relyke, digne and delytable,

320

And thow my foo, and al my folke werrey

And of myn olde servauntes thow mysseyest, And hynderest hem, with thy translacioun,

5

And lettest folke from hire devocioun

To serve me, and holdest it folye

To serve Love. Thou maist it nat denye,

For in pleyne text, withouten nede of glose,

Thou hast translated the Romaunce of the

1 Nearer. 2 Approach. 3 Please. 4 Warrest. 5 Hinderest. At this point the MS. we are following omits a long passage which well worthy of preservation. We quote it from MS. Gg, 4, 27:

258

"And thynkest in thyn wit that is ful cole,

That he nys but a verray propre fole,

That lovyth paramoures to harde and hote.

Wel wote I therby thow begynnyst dote

As olde folis when her spiryt fayleth,

Thanne blame they folk, and wete nat what hem eayleth.
"Hast thow nat mad in Englys ek the bok

How that Crisseyde Troylis forsok,

In schewynge how that wemen han don mis?

⚫ Bit, natheles, answere me now to this,
Why noldest thow as wel a-seyd goodnes
Of women as thow hast seyd wekednes?
"Was there no good matyr in thyn mynde?

265

270

That is an heresye ageins my lawe,

330

And makest wise folke fro me withdrawe;'

Ne in alle thyne bokys ne coudist thow nat fynde
Sum story of wemen that were goode and trewe?
"Yis, God wot, sixty bokys olde and newe
Hast thow thy-self, alle ful of storyis grete
That bothe Romaynys and ek Grekis trete

275

Of sundery wemen, whiche lyf that they ledde,

And evere an hunderede goode ageyn on badde.
This knoweth God and alle clerkes eke

That usvn sweche materis for to seke.

"What seith Valerye, Titus or Claudyan?

280

What seith Jerome agayns Jovynyan?
How clene maydenys and how trewe wyvys,

How stedefaste wedewys durynge alle here lyvys
Tellyth Jerome, and that nat of a fewe,
But, I dar seyn, an hunderede on a rewe,
That it is pete for to rede, and routhe
The wo that they endure for here trouthe.

285

For to here love were they so trewe
That, rather than they wole take a newe,

They chose to be ded in sundery wyse,

290

And deiedyn, as the story wele devyse.

And som were brend, and some were cut the hals,

And some dreynkt, for they woldyn not be fals.

For alle keped they here maydynhed,

Or elles wedlok, or here wedewehed.

295

"And this thing was nat kept for holynesse,
But al for verray vertu and clennesse,
And for men shulde sette on hem no lak, -
And yit they were hethene, al the pak,
That were so sore a-drad of alle schame.
"These olde wemen kepte so here name
That in this world I trowe men schal nat fynde
A man that coude be so trewe and kynde

300

"Be Seynt Venus! of whom that I was born,
Althogh thow reneyist hast myn lav.
As othere olde folis, manye a day,

Thow schalt repente it so that it schal be sene!"
Thanne spak Alceste, the worthyere queene,
And seyde," God, right of youre curteseye"

315 ·

318 1 This is considered evidence that the text of Chaucer's translation is lost, for the one now extant is not open to the censure here given The Heroides. 3 Vincent of Beauvais, a learned Dominican of the thirteenth century.

ALCESTE SPEAKS.

93

And of Cresyde thou hast seyde as the lyste,
That maketh men to wommen lasse triste,
That ben as trewe as ever was any steel?
Of thyn answere avise the ryght weel,
For thogh thou reneyed hast my lay,1
As other wrecches han doon many a day,
By Seynte Venus, that my moder ys,
If that thou lyve, thou shalt repenten this
So cruelly, that it shal wele be sene." 340
Thoo spake this lady,2 clothed al in greene,
And seyde, "God, ryght of youre curtesye,
Ye moten herken yf he can replye
Agayns al this that ye have to him meved;
A god ne sholde nat be thus agreved,
But of hys deitee he shal be stable,
And therto gracious and merciable.

And yf ye nere a god that knowen alle,
Thanne myght yt be as I yow tellen shalle;
This man to yow may falsly ben accused, 350
Ther as by right him oughte ben excused;
For in youre courte ys many a losengeour,3
And many a queinte totolere accusour,
That tabouren" in youre eres many a swoun,
Ryght aftir hire ymagynacioun,

To have youre daliance, and for envie.
Thise ben the causes, and I shal nat lye,
Envie ys lavendere of the court alway;
For she ne parteth neither nyght ne day,

Denied hast my law. Liar. • Artful tattling.

Cf. 1. 317 in the note above given
Drum.
Noise. Gutter or sewer.

Who so that gooth, algate she wol nat wante.
"And eke, parauntere, for this man ys nyce,
He myghte doon yt, gessyng no malice;
For he useth thynges for to make ;*

8

Hym rekketh noght of what matere he take; Or him was boden 5 maken thilke tweye

Of somme persone, and durste yt nat withseye, Or him repenteth outrely of this.

370

He ne hath nat doon so grevously amys,
To translaten that olde clerkes writen,
As thogh that he of malice wolde editen,
Despite of Love, and had himselfe yt wroght.
This shoolde a ryghtwis lord have in his

thought,

And nat be lyke tirauntes of Lumbardye,

That han no reward but at tyrannye.
For he that kynge or lorde ys naturel,

Hym oghte nat be tiraunt ne crewel,

As is a fermour, to doon the harme he kan;
He moste thinke yt is his leege man,

And is his tresour, and his gold in cofre. 380

7

This is the sentence of the philosophre:

A kyng to kepe hise leeges in justice,

Withouten doute that is his office.

Al wol he kepe hise lordes in hire degree,

As it ys ryght and skilful

that they bee

3 The earlier MS. reads, "H

1 Inferno, xiii. 64. 2 Ignorant. may translate a thynge." 4 That is, to make poetry. 5 Bidden A farmer (as of the revenues). 7 Opinion. Reasonable.