In honest cause, and namely in his ryghte.
Me thinketh no wyghte ought us hereof blame,
Ne beren us therfore an yvel name.'

And shortely of this matere for to make,

This Theseus of hire hath leve ytake,

2135

And every poynt was performed in dede,

As ye have in the covenaunt herde me rede;

Hys wepne, his clywe, hys thing that I have sayde,

Was by the gayler in the house ylayde,

Ther as this Mynotaure hath hys dwellynge,

2140

Ryghte faste by the dore at hys entrynge,
And Theseus is ladde unto hys dethe;
And forthe unto this Mynotaure he gethe,
And by the techynge of thys Adriane,
He overcome thys beste and was hys bane,
And oute he cometh by the clywe agayne
Ful prively. Whan he this beste hath slayne,
And by the gayler gotten hath a barge,
And of his wives tresure gan it charge,
And toke hys wif, and eke hire suster free,
And by the gayler, and with hem alle three
Ys stole away out of the londe by nighte,

2145

2150

And to the countree of Ennapye hym dyghte,
There as he had a frende of his knowynge.

There festen they, there dauncen they and synge, 2155 And in hys armes hath thys Adriane,

That of the beste hath kepte him from hys bane.

And gate hym there a noble barge anoon,

2138. clywe, clue.

2143. gethe, goeth.

2145. bane, destruction.

2149. of, with ;-charge, to load.

2150. This, and the two preceding lines, are omitted in the Fairfax MS.-Bell.

2153. hym dyghte, addressed him, directed his course.

And of his countre folke a grete woon,

And taketh hys leve, and homewarde sayleth hee; 2160
And in an yle, amydde the wilde see,
There as ther dwelleth creature noon
Save wilde bestes, and that ful many oon,

He made his shippe a-londe for to sette,

And in that ile halfe a day he lette,

2165

And sayde on the londe he moste hym reste.

Hys maryneres han doon ryghte as hym leste;
And, for to telle schortly in thys case,

Whanne Adriane hys wyf aslepe was,

For that hire suster fairer was than she,

2170

He taketh hire in hys honde, and forth gooth he

To shippe, and as a traytour stale hys way,
While that thys Adriane aslepe lay,

And to hys countree warde he sayleth blyve,
(A twenty devel way the wynde him dryve!)
And fonde hys fader drenched in the see.
Me lyste no more to speke of hym, pardee!
These fals loveres, poyson be hire bane!

But I wol turne ageyne to Adryane,
That ys with slepe for werynesse ytake;
Ful sorwfully hire herte may awake.
Allas, for the myn herte hath pitee!
Ryght in the dawenynge awaketh shee,

And gropeth in the bed, and fonde ryghte noghte.

2159. woon, concourse, multitude.

2165. lette, tarried.

2170. for that, because.

2175

2180

2174. to hys countree warde, i. e., toward his country; this tmesis is common in early English :

"His baner he desplayeth, and forth rood

To Thebes-ward, and al his oost bysyde."-C. T. 969.

So, in the New Testament, we have "to God ward;" 2 Cor. iii. 4; "The Lord. . . . is long suffering to us-ward,'' 2 Pet. iii. 9.

2174. blyve, quickly.

2176. drenched, drowned.

2177. pardee, Fr. pardi.

'Allas,' quod she, 'that ever I was wroghte!

2185

I am betrayed,' and hire heer to-rent,

And to the stronde barefote faste she went,

And cryed, 'Theseus, myn herte swete !

Where be ye, that I may not wyth yow mete?
And myghte thus with bestes ben yslayne.'
The holowe roches answerde her agayne.
No man she sawe, and yet shone the moone,
And hye upon a rokke she went soone,

And sawe hys barge saylynge in the see.

2190

Colde waxe hire herte, and ryghte thus sayde she: 2195 'Meker then ye fynde I the bestes wilde!'

(Hath he not synne, that he hire thus begylde?)

She cried, 'O turne agayne for routhe and synne,
Thy barge hath not al thy meyny ynne.'

Hire kerchefe on a pole styked shee,

2200

Ascaunce that he shulde hyt wel ysee,

And hym remembre that she was behynde,

And turne agayne, and on the stronde hire fynde.
But al for noghte; hys wey he ys goon,
And downe she felle a-swowne on a stoon;
And up she ryste, and kyssed in al hire care

2205

The steppes of hys fete, there he hath fare,

And to hire bedde ryghte thus she speketh thoo :— "Thow bedde,' quoth she, 'that haste receyved twoo,

Thow shalt answere of twoo and not of oon,

2210

Where ys the gretter parte away goon?

Allas, where shal I wreched wyght become?
For though so be that bote noon here come,

2186. to-rent, see note, v. 820.

2191. The holowe roches answerde her agayne: this is a beautiful verse in itself, but how much is its beauty enhanced by the way in which it is here introduced! It does not occur in the Fairfax MS. 2199. meyny, company; see note on meinee, v. 1057.

2207. there, where ;-fare, past part. of fare, gone, or been. 2213. bote, help.

Home to my countree dar I not for drede;

I kan my selfe in this case not rede.'

What shulde I telle more hire compleynynge?

Hyt ys so longe hyt were an hevy thynge.
In hire epistel Naso telleth alle,

But shortly to the ende tel I shalle.
The goddys have hire holpen for pitee,
And in the sygne of Taurus men may see
The stones of hire corowne shyne clere;
I wol no more speke of thys matere.
But thus these false loveres kan begyle

2215

2220

Hire trewe love; the devel quyte hym hys while! 2225

EXPLICIT LEGENDA ADRIANE DE ATHENES.

2215. rede, advise, counsel.

2216. what, why.

2218. In hire epistel Naso telleth alle: See Ovid's Heroides, Ep. x. In Ariadne's address to her bed, Chaucer has followed his original very closely :

"Incumbo, lachrymisque toro manante profusis,
'Pressimus,' exclamo, 'te duo: redde duos.

Venimus huc ambo; cur nou discedimus ambo?

Perfide, pars nostri, lectule, major ubi est?'"-v. 55-58.

2225. quyte hym hys while, requite him his time, pains, labour,

etc.

"Satan, that ever us wayteth to begile,

Sawe of Constaunce al hir perfeccioun,

And cast anoon how he might quyt hir while."-C. T. 5004.

THO

INCIPIT LEGENDA PHILOMENE.

HOW yiver of the formes, that haste wroghte
The fayre worlde, and bare hit in thy thoghte
Eternally or thow thy werke began,

Why madest thow unto the sklaunder of man,
Or al be that hyt was not thy doynge,
As for that fyne to make suche a thynge,-
Why suffrest thou that Tereus was bore,
That ys in love so fals and so forswore,

2230

Incipit Legenda Philomene: Here beginneth the legend of Philomela. See Ovid's Metam. vi. 412-676.

2226-2228. Thow yiver of the formes, etc. In these verses the Platonic doctrine of forms or ideas is expressed.

"Plato agreed with the rest of the ancient philosophers in this— that all things consist of matter and form; and that matter of which all things were made, existed from eternity, without form; but he likewise believed that there are eternal forms of all possible things which exist, without matter; and to those eternal and immaterial forms he gave the name of ideas.

"In the Platonic sense, then, ideas were the patterns according to which the Deity fashioned the phenomenal or ectypal world."— Sir William Hamilton.

"What time this worlds great Workmaister did cast

To make al things such as we now behold,

It seems that he before his eyes had plast
A goodly paterne, to whose perfect mould
He fashiond them as comely as he could,
That now so faire and seemely they appeare
As nought may be amended any wheare."

Spenser's Hymne in Honour of Beautie, st. 5. For whatever knowledge Chaucer may have had of the philosophy of Plato, he was probably indebted to the Italian poets, with whom, especially Petrarch, Plato was a great favourite.