That slepyn so that no man may yow wake; Who sey ever or this so dul a man?'
'Ye, frend,' quod he, 'do ye your hedys ake
For love, and lete me lyve as I can.'
But thogh that he for wo was pale and wan,
Yet made he tho as fresshe countenaunce,
As thogh he shold have led the newe daunce.
"This passid forth, til now this other day
Hit fel that I come romyng al alone
Into his chambre, and fond how that he lay
Upon his bed; but man so sore grone
Ne herd I never, and that was his mone
Ne wist I not, for as I was comyng
Al sodenly he left his compleynyng.
'Of which I toke sumwhat suspeccioun,
And ner I come, and fond he wepte sore;
And God so wys be my savacioun,
As never of thing had I routhe more;
For neither with engyne, ne with lore,
Unnethis might I fro the dethe hym kepyn,
That yet fele I myn herte for him wepyn.
'And, God wote, never seth that I was borne
Was I so bysy no man for to preche,
Ne never was to wight so depe sworne,
Or he me tolde, ho myght be his leche;
But now to yow rehercyn al his speche,
Or alle his woful wordis for to sowne,
Bid ye me not, but ye wol se me swowne.
'But for to save his lyfe, and ellis not,
And to none harme of yow, thus I dryvyn;
And for the love of God that us hath wroght
Suche chere hym dothe, that he and I may lyvyn;
Now have I plat to yow my herte shryvyn,
And seth ye wyte that myn entent is clene,
Take hede therof, for I non evil mene.
rally, that Chaucer admits rhymes absolutely identical in sound, when the words, as in this instance, bear a different meaning.
And right good thrift, I prey to God, have ye,
That have such on caght into your nette,
And be ye wys, as ye be fair to se,
Wel in the ring is than the rubie sette;
Ther were never two so wele ymette
Whan ye
be his al hole, as he is youres:
That mighty God us graunt to se the houres!'
"Nay, therof spak I not:"1 A ha!' quod she,
'As help me God, ye shende every dele:'
" A! mercy, dere nece,' anone, quod he,
'What so I spak I ment nought but wele,
By Mars the god, that helmyd is of stele:
Now be not wrothe, my blood, my nece dere.'
'Now wele,' quod she, 'foryevyn be hit here.'
With this he toke his leve, and home is went;
A, Lord! so he was glad, and wel bygone!
Cryseyde aros, no lenger wold she stynt,
But streight into her chambre went anone,
And sette her doune, as stille as eny stone,
And every word gan up and doun to wynd,
That he had seyd as it cam to her mynd.
And wax sumdele astonyed in her thoght,
Right for the newe cas; but whan that she
Was ful avysid, tho fonde she right noght
Of peril, why she oght aferd to be:
For a man may love of possibilite
A woman so, his herte may to-brest,
And she not love ayen, but if her lest.
But as she sat alone and thoght thus,
Ascrye' aros at scarmysche al withowte,
And men cried in the strete tho, Troylus
Hath right now put to flight the Grekis rout.'
With that gan al the meyne for to shout:
1 Pandarus appears to perceive the bad effect which this incautious speech has had upon Cryseyde, and hastens to recal it.
2 The Harl. MS. 3943 reads, evidently by mistake, In the skye. The correction is from MS. 1239.
'A! go we se, cast up the latis wide,
For thurgh this strete he must to paleys ride ?
For other wey is fro the gatis none,
Of Dardanus,' there opyn is the cheyne:
With that come he, and al his folk anone,
An esy pas ridyng, in routes tweyne,
Right as his happy day' was, sothe to seyne:
For which men sey may not destourblid be
That shal betyde of necessite.
This Troylus sate upon his bay stede
Al armyd save his hede ful richely,
And woundid was his hors, and gan to blede,
On which he rood a pas ful softely:
But such a knyghtly sight trewly
As was on hym, was nat, withouten faile,
To loke on Mars, that god is of battaille.
So lyke a man of armys and a knyght,
He was to sene, fulfild of hye prowesse;
For bothe he had a body, and a myght
To do that thing, as wel as hardynesse:
And eke to se hym in his gere hym dresse,
So fresshe, so yung, so weldy semyd he,
Hit was an hevyn on him for to se.
His helm to-hewyn was in twenty places,
That by a tissewe hing his bak behind,
His sheld to-dasshyd was with swerd and macis,
1 The Harl. MS. 3943 reads Cardamys; but as the MS. 1239 reads Dardanus, and is supported by the editions, it has been preferred. Dardanus was the founder of Troy; it is therefore probable that Chaucer intended us to suppose that one of the gates was called after him. There is nothing about it in the Filostrato. This gate is supposed to be the only one kept unchained for the convenience of the inhabitants.
2 Instead of happy day, the reading of Harl. MS. 1239, the MS. 3943 reads hit happyd. The expressions happy day, happy hour (bonheur), meaning good fortune, are derived from Astrology, which taught that prosperity and misfortune through life depended upon the day and hour of birth.
3 A pas appears to be the French, à pas, at a foot-pace.
In which men mightyn meny an arwe fynd,
That thrilled hath both horn, nerfe, and rynd;1
And ay the peple cried, 'Here comith our joy,
And, next his brother, holder up of Troy.'
For which he wax a littil rede for shame
Whan he so herd the peple on him crien,
That to byhold it was a noble game,
How sobrely he cast adoun his eyen:
Cryseyde anon gan al the chere aspyen,
And lete it in her herte so softely synke,
That to her self she seyd,' Ho gevith me drinke?”
For of her owne thoght she wax al rede,
Remembring her right thus, 'Lo! this is he,
Which that myn uncle swerith he mote be dede,
But I on hym have mercy or pite:'
And for that thoght, for pure ashamyd she
Gan inne her hede pulle, and that as fast,
While he and al the peple for by past.
1 The shield here described appears to have been made of horn, sinews or nerfe, and skin or rynd. The shield in Homer is made of wicker work, upon which skins are stretched, and the whole covered with a brazen plate. The shield of Ajax is thus described :—
Ος οἱ ἐποίησεν σάκος αἰόλον, ἑπταβόειον,
ταύρων ζατρεφέων, ἐπὶ δ ̓ ὄγδοον ἤλασε χαλκόν.
Ιλιάδος, Η. 222.
2 The meaning appears to be, 'Who has given me a love potion, that I should be so suddenly captivated?'
3 The whole scene at the window is a remarkable example of Chaucer's superiority over Boccaccio in tenderness and delicacy of feeling. In the Filostrato, Griseida yields at once to the suggestions of Pandarus, and apologizes for a little apparent reluctance at first, by alleging a care for her reputation.
'Cugin, io ben m'aveggio
Che retrarmi non posso al tuo desiro,
E lo farò che soddisfar ti deggio.
Egli lo vale, bastite s'io il miro;
Ma vergogna a fuggir, e forsi peggio,
Pregal che saggio sia, e faccia quello
Che biasmo non porti a me, ne 'a elle.
Then Pandarus and Troilo agree to walk past her house; and when she sees them she throws herself into an attitude calculated to display
And gan to cast, and rolle it up and doun
Within her thoght his excellent prowesse,
And his astate, and also his renoun,
His wit, his shap, and eke his gentilnesse;
But most her favour was for his distresse
Was al for her, and thoght it were routhe
To sle such on, if that he ment but trouthe.
Now myght some envious janglyn thus,
'This was a sodeyn love, how might this be,
That she so lightly lovyd Troylus,
Right for the ferst sight?' Ye, parde?
Now who seith so, never mote he the!
For every thing a bygynnyng hath nede
Or al be wroght, withouten eny drede.
For I sey not that she so sodenly
Yaf hym her love, but she bygan encline
To like hym tho, and I have told yow why:
And aftir that, his manhood, and his pine,
Made love within her herte for to myne;
For which by processe, and by good servise
He wan her love, and in no sodeyn wise.
her charms to the best advantage, and exchanges glance for glance with her lover, to whom she had never spoken.
'Stava Griseida ad una sua fenestra
Che forse quel che avvenne s'aspettava;
Non si mostrò ne selvaggia ne alpestra
Verso di Troilo, che la rimirava;
Ma la faccia appoggiata sù la destra
Onestamente verso lui mirava.'
Contrast Chaucer's conception with this. Troylus is first seen by Cryseyde under circumstances peculiarly calculated to gain a woman's affections. He returns in triumph from battle, with the tokens of his hair-breadth escapes, his helmet 'to-hewyn,' his shield' to-dashed,' and his horse bleeding, attended by a rout of Trojans, whose applause he receives with the modesty indicative of a noble nature. All this sinks into her heart; and the consciousness that she loves and is beloved, now first dawning upon her mind, covers her face with blushes, and she retires in confusion from the window. Compared with this exqui
site picture Boccaccio is coarse and vulgar.
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