8459. I substitute _devont_ for _devoit_: cp. 7507.
8482. _superflual_: the adjective form is used instead of the name
‘Superfluité’ for the sake of the rhyme.
8495. Some correction seems to be required. Perhaps read ‘Siqe’ for
‘Siq’il.’
8501. Cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 7755 f.,
‘For thanne is ther non other lawe,
Bot “Jacke was a good felawe.”’
8533. Senec. _Ep._ lx. 2, ‘Una silva elephantis pluribus sufficit: homo
et terra et mari pascitur.’
8553. Cp. _Conf. Am._ vi. 60, ‘And seith, “Nou baillez ça the cuppe.”’
8559. 1 Cor. vi. 13.
8581 ff. This stanza is a repetition, with slight variations, of
8041-8052.
8815. _conivreisoun._ The dictionaries quote no examples of ‘conniver’
or ‘connivence’ earlier than the sixteenth century.
8853. _si de vo teste noun_, cp. 6496.
8869. The bird meant is no doubt the lapwing: see note on _Trait._ xii.
l. 19.
8905. _ce que chalt_: cp. 3367.
8911. A reference to Wisd. iv. 3, ‘spuria vitulamina non dabunt radices
altas,’ a text not unknown in English history.
8916. Matt. vii. 26.
8924. ‘Whereby she will deliver up her body free,’ i.e. since she
gives presents as well as receiving them, she must be held not to sell
herself, but to give herself away to her lover; and this, observes the
author, is the worse alternative, because it impoverishes her husband.
8941. _creroie_, ‘ought to trust,’ see note on 1688.
8942. _verroie_, conditional for pret. subj.: see note on l. 25.
8952. Cp. _Bal._ xliii. 2, ‘Si es comun plus qe la halte voie’; also
9231 ff.
8984. _soubgite et abandonnée_, ‘as his subject and servant.’
9055. ‘If we consider well, we shall see that’ &c.: see note on 1244.
9068. The reference is to Job xxxi. 9-12. The verse quoted is ‘Ignis
est usque ad perditionem devorans, et omnia eradicans genimina.’
9085. ‘Incest’ is here used in a much wider sense than belongs to the
word in English. It includes the impure intercourse of those who are
near of kin, as we see in ll. 9181 ff.; but the cases of it which are
chiefly insisted on have to do with breach of the ecclesiastical vow
of purity, and this not only where the confessor corrupts his penitent
(who is his daughter in a spiritual sense), but also in general where
monk, nun, or priest commits fornication.
9130 ff. ‘so that at last by reason of his inconstancy and habitual sin
we see Incest throw off his vows and leave the order.’
9132. The ‘possessioners’ are the members of those religious orders
which held property, as distinguished from the mendicant orders
mentioned next.
9138. _ses Abbes._ If this is singular, the use of the subject form
after a preposition is very harsh: it is ‘son Abbes’ (though subject)
in l. 12115. Perhaps the monastic rent-collector is spoken of here
generally, and as coming from a variety of monasteries.
9139. _vois_, the usual form for ‘vais,’ as 440, &c.
9143. _irroit_, see 1688.
9148. _ly limitantz_, ‘the limitour’: cp. Chaucer’s ironical reference
to him at the beginning of the _Wyf of Bath’s Tale_.
9156. The woman’s husband passes for the father of the children.
9158. _au dieu demeine_, ‘in the possession of God.’
9168. ‘Than he who does (the same) as regards his neighbour’ (who is
not under a religious vow).
9171. This is the case of the widow’s marriage to the Church, the vow
of not marrying again, see 17827 ff. This was taken, for example,
by Eleanor, sister of Henry III, who afterwards married Simon de
Montfort. The vow of course would be dispensed with, and the relations
here contemplated are probably those of marriage, notwithstanding the
severity with which they are spoken of in ll. 9172-74: therefore the
author is doubtful about the punishment of this offence in a future
state, and suggests that the arrangements of human law, by which the
wife would often suffer in property by such a marriage, may be a
sufficient punishment. On this subject see Furnivall’s _Fifty Earliest
English Wills_, E.E.T.S.
9229. _en cest escrit_, ‘in the scripture,’ cp. 9277: so ‘celle’ is
used for the definite article, 9786 and elsewhere; see note on 301.
9230. The reference seems to be a general one to such passages as Jer.
iii. 1 ff.
9240. _en ton despit_, ‘in hatred of thee.’
9265. _El viele loy_, e.g. Deut. xxiii. 17.
9281. Perhaps ‘burette’ is here the same as ‘birette,’ used for a
lady’s head-covering, see Littré: usually it means a small phial, and
‘burettes’ might stand here for scent-bottles.
9292. For ‘mie’ without negative particle cp. 2589, and _Bal._ xliv. 1.
9311. _au petit loisir_ seems to mean ‘in a small space of time,’
‘loisir’ (‘leisour’) being ordinarily used in its modern sense,
referring to restrictions of time: so in the phrase ‘par loisir’
5693, and ‘a bon leisour’ 9222. In the next stanza, however, it has a
somewhat different sense, ‘femme a son loisir faldra,’ 9315, meaning
apparently ‘the woman shall not be at his (_or_ her) own disposal’; and
later (9322) ‘au bon loisir’ means ‘with ease.’
9314. _sur luy_, that is ‘on her’: cp. 2151, 9351.
9320. _luy_, here equivalent to ‘la’: cp. _Bal._ xxiii. 2.
9359. The reference probably is to Matt. v. 28, ‘Whosoever looketh on a
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart.’
9410. _s’ordinaire_: cp. 1477.
9496. ‘Compels hearts to love’: so ‘par destresce’ 5549, ‘by force.’
9553. 1 Cor. ii. 14, ‘Animalis autem homo non percipit ea quae
sunt Spiritus Dei.’ Our author not unnaturally fails to understand
‘animalis.’
9557. Wisd. 1. 4, ‘in malevolam animam non introibit sapientia.’
_tal_: used here for the rhyme, but it is in fact the older Norman
form, as in _Rom. de Rou_, 2270, quoted by Burguy, _Gramm._ i. 193.
9565. Nihil est enim tam mortiferum ingenio quam luxuria est: quoted as
‘Socrates’ by Caec. Balbus, p. 43 (ed. Woelfflin).
9579. Amos i. 5, ‘disperdam habitatorem de campo idoli et tenentem
sceptrum de domo voluptatis.’ The English version is different.
9588. _Que_, ‘that which’: cp. 9646.
9591. _climant._ This is the reading of the MS., but possibly the
author wrote ‘cliniant’ (for ‘cligniant’).
9601. I do not know the reference.
9611. ‘unto the enemy’s throat.’
9613. The sense of this line is repeated by the word ‘Luxure,’ 9616.
9616. Cic. _de Off._ i. 123, ‘luxuria ... cum omni aetati turpis, tum
senectuti foedissima.’
9620. ‘Others will excuse themselves ill, but the old worse than the
rest,--or rather, none will be able to excuse themselves at all’: this
seems to be the meaning.
9656. _serroit_: note on 1688.
9671. _la halte voie_, &c., the high-way to hell: ‘remeine’ instead of
‘remeint’ for the rhyme.
9678. _feis_, 2 sing. pret.
9687. _fait a loer_, ‘she ought to be praised,’ see note on 1883.
9720. _Qui corps_, ‘whose body,’ cp. 3491.
9782. _mes amis_: the subject form of the possessive pronoun is used
here, as ‘tes’ in _Bal._ iv*. 3.
9786. The slight alteration of ‘mettroit’ to ‘metteroit’ is required by
the metre.
9816. _tient_ may be preterite, though ‘tint’ occurs 3322: cp. 4561 ff.
9820. _dont fuist a baniere_, ‘whose leader she was.’
9889. Rev. xiii.
9907. ‘Seven heads, because he devotes himself to the seven sins.’
9956. ‘When she plays with the mouse’: ‘se fait juer’ is simply
equivalent to ‘se jue,’ cp. 39, 1135, 1320, &c.
10071. _De resoun_, &c., explaining ‘le faisoit.’
10117. I take ‘pareies’ to be for ‘parées’ (past part.), as ‘journeies’
for ‘journées,’ see Introduction, p. xx.
10121. _preies_, i.e. ‘proies,’ the older form used for sake of the
rhyme. For the meaning cp. _Bal._ xv. 4.
10125. _les cornont_, ‘play music to them’: for ‘les’ cp. 2416, &c.;
‘par leur journeies’ seems to mean ‘on their way.’
10140. That is, the meeting will not be one of like with like.
10176. _oietz chançon flourie_: cp. _Bal. Ded._ i. 3, ‘Ore en balade, u
sont les ditz floriz.’
10176(R). _Puisq ‘il ad dit_, &c. We have the same form of expression
in the heading of the _Traitié_.
10215. 2 Kings iv. 33.
10221. Luke vi. 12.
10233. Ps. cxlv. (_Vulg._ cxliv.) 18.
10239. Ps. xxxvii. (_Vulg._ xxxvi.) 7, ‘Subditus esto Domino, et ora
eum,’ but there is nothing to explain ‘delacioun.’
10243. Dan. vi. 10.
10249. 1 Macc. iii. 44 ff., 2 Macc. viii. 1, and x. 25.
10262. Tobit iii. 7 ff.
10267. Tobit iii. 1 ff.
10273. 1 Sam. i.
10279. Luke vii. 38.
10286. Luke xxi. 36.
10297. James v. 16, ‘multum enim valet deprecatio iusti assidua.’
10301. Ex. xvii. 8 ff.
10306. ‘When he was a lowerer of his hands,’ the pres. part. being used
as an adjective or substantive.
10311. 2 Chron. xx.
10324. There is nothing, so far as I know, corresponding with this
reference. It is possible that the author may have mistaken the
application of Jer. xxix. 7, where the Jews who are in captivity are
bidden to pray for the peace of the city where they now dwell, namely
Babylon. This occurs in close proximity with anticipations of an
eventual return.
10335. Baruch i. 11.
10341. _Puisqu’il._ As ‘il’ for ‘ils’ is found in rhyme l. 25064, I
have not altered it here: cp. 23922, 24635.
10347. The reference is not quite correct, for the decree of Cyrus was
before the time of Ezra, though it did not take full effect until that
time.
10358. 2 Macc. xii. 41-45.
10371. Ezra ix. f.
10374. _del oïr_, ‘in order to hear.’
10405. Isid. _Sent._ iii. 7. 8, ‘Pura est oratio quam in suo tempore
saeculi non interveniunt curae; longe autem a Deo animus qui in
oratione cogitationibus saeculi fuerit occupatus.’
10411. Aug. _in Ps._ cxviii., _Serm._ xxix. 1, ‘Clamor ad Dominum qui
fit ab orantibus, si sonitu corporalis vocis fiat, non intento in Deum
corde, quis dubitet inaniter fieri?’ Or _Serm._ lxxxviii. 12, ‘ne forte
simus strepentes vocibus et muti moribus.’ Cp. 1194, 20547.
10441. Exod. xxiii. 15.
10450. ‘But he who bears himself humbly,’ &c. For this use of ‘qe’ cp.
_Bal. Ded._ i. 1 ff.,
‘Q’en dieu se fie, il ad bel avantage.’
10453. 2 Chron. xxx f.
10467. Exod. xxxv.
10479. Num. xvi.
10498. I do not think that what follows will be found in Jerome. The
classification of the seven deadly sins is of later date.
10505. ‘Lest Sloth should seize him’: the subjunctive was to be
expected, but syntax gives way to rhyme.
10526 ff. Cp. Chaucer, _Pers. Tale_ 133 ff. (Skeat), where there are
six causes which ought to move a man to contrition; but they are not
quite the same as those which we have here.
10553. _Q’il n’en deschiece_, ‘lest he should fall by reason of it.’
10554. 1 Cor. x. 12.
10574. Luke vi. 21, much expanded.
10605. _solait_, for ‘soloit,’ which is used as a present in several
passages, 15405, 20419.
10612. 2 Cor. xii. 2.
10623. Here and in 10628 we have a pause after the first half of the
verse, with a superfluous syllable: see Introduction, p. xlv.
10637. _par semblance_, ‘as it were,’ implying that ‘morir’ is
metaphorical.
10639. _pour despire_: I take ‘pour’ to be dependent on ‘commence,’ and
to be used as a variation of ‘de’: cp. 6328, 10664, 11520, &c.
10642. _tant luy tarde_, as in Mod. French, ‘so eager is he.’
10643. _fait sentir_, ‘feels’: see note on 1135.
10649. _fait_ here, and in l. 10653, supplies the place of the verb
‘desire,’ like ‘doth’ or ‘does’ in English: see note on 1135.
10651. Cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 2238 ff., where, however, the connexion is
different.
10669. _ot_, ‘there were’: so ‘ad’ is not uncommonly thus used for ‘il
y a,’ e.g. 2174.
10707 ff. _la chalandre_. This bird, which seems to be a kind of lark,
is mentioned also in _Bal._ xii. 1. Bozon, _Contes Moralizés_, p. 63,
calls it ‘calabre,’ and says that if a man is ill, and they wish to
know whether he will live or die, they may bring in this bird, and if
it turns away from him, he will die. See M. Paul Meyer’s note on the
passage.
10717. The story is probably taken from Solinus, who combines the story
of the Arimaspians, as told by Herodotus and Pliny, with the account of
the emeralds produced in the country: _Collect._ 15.
10718. ‘the land which is called Scythia.’
10747. _Pour nostre essample._ The idea that these things were _done_,
not only related, for our example is merely an extension of the usual
medieval view of Natural History.
10748. _nous attrait_, ‘teaches us,’ (‘brings before us’). For the
various meanings of ‘attraire’ compare the following passages, 567,
1550, 14480, 16637, 17800, 21623, 23361.
St. Remigius does not, so far as I know, mention the story of the
griffons and Arimaspians, but probably the following passage, where
the truth is compared to a treasure, may be the one referred to:
‘Habemus namque magnum depositum fidei et doctrinae veritatis ...
velut pretiosum multiplicem thesaurum divinitus nobis ad custodiendum
commendatum: quem sine intermissione domino auxiliante delemus
inspicere, extergere, polire atque excutere ac diligentissime servare,
ne per incuriam et ignaviam nostram aut pulvere sordescat aut ...
malignorum spirituum insidiis vel a nocturnis et occultis furibus
effodiatur et deripiatur.’ (_De tenenda Script. Verit._ i. 1.)
10800. ‘And in it he rejoices’: ‘fait demener’ is equivalent to
‘demeine,’ and ‘demener ses joyes’ means ‘to rejoice,’ cp. 444, 5038,
&c.
10801. Probably referring to Albertus Magnus _de Animalibus_, but I do
not know the passage.
10813. This comparison does not appear to be in Isidore, though he
gives much the same account as we have here of the origin of pearls.
(Isid. _Etym._ xii. 6. 49). Isidore no doubt borrowed the story from
Solinus (ch. 53), who had it indirectly from Pliny, _N. H._ ix. 54. In
Bozon, _Contes Moralizés_, p. 41, we have the story with nearly the
same application as here.
10882. ‘He who considers this’ &c.
10903. ‘That which pleases the one’ &c., the verb being used here with
a direct object.
10909. Cp. _Bal._ xxx. 2, and _Conf. Am._ i. 515 ff.
10912. _remedie_: see note on 296.
10934. Prov. xxviii. 14.
10942. Cp. _Bal._ xx. 1.
10948. Ovid, _Pont._ iv. 3. 35. Cp. _Conf. Am._ vi. 1513, where the
original Latin is quoted in the margin and attributed (as here) to
‘Oracius.’
10959. Perhaps a reminiscence of the line in _Pamphilus_, ‘Ex minima
magnus scintilla nascitur ignis.’
10962. The quotation is really from Ovid, _Rem. Am._ 421, ‘Parva necat
morsu spatiosum vipera taurum.’ It has perhaps been confused with Sen.
_Dial._ i. 6. 8, ‘corpora opima taurorum exiguo concidunt volnere.’
10965. Ecclus. xix. 1, ‘qui spernit modica, paulatim decidet.’
10969. Ecclus. v. 4-9, ‘Ne dixeris: Peccavi, et quid mihi accidit
triste?’ &c.
11004. ‘And it awaits them after their death.’
11018. 2 Kings xvii.
11020. _Evehi_ stands for the Avites, who are ‘Hevaei’ in the Latin
version.
11044. August. _Ep._ cxl. (_De Grat. Nov. Test._) 21, and many other
places.
11056. Probably Rom. viii. 15, with amplifications.
11065. _Quiconque ait_: there is an elision, though it is not indicated
in the text.
11069. Esther iii ff.
11102. Matt. x. 28.
11114. Judith xi. 8, 9.
11126. Ps. xxv. (_Vulg._ xxiv.) 14, ‘Firmamentum est Dominus timentibus
eum.’
11128. Ps. cxi. (_Vulg._ cx.) 5.
11137. Lev. xxvi. 2 ff.
11149. Lev. xxvi. 5.
11160. _arestu_, a past participle from the form ‘aresteir’, used here
for the rhyme.
11177. Neh. i. 11.
11185. Tobit i. 10.
11191. Judith xvi. 19.
11197. Is. xix.
11203. _ly futur_, ‘they that should come after.’
11209. Deut. xxviii.
11221. Deut. xxviii. 58 ff.
11243. ‘There shall be no bodily fear by which’ &c.
11245. _pour deviser_, cp. 12852, so ‘a diviser’ 5031.
11305. Prov. xxiii. 34, amplified: ‘Et eris sicut dormiens in medio
mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo.’
11309. _prist_: this tense is for the sake of the rhyme instead of
‘prent.’
11332. Job iv. 13.
11343. Luke xv. 11.
11354. _Tout quatre_: for this use of ‘tout’ with numerals cp. 11570,
‘Ad tout quatre oils.’ It seems to be an adverb, as in the expression
‘ove tout’ ll. 4, 12240, &c., and has no particular meaning apparently.
11396. _au fin que_, ‘until.’
11404. This ‘Mestre Helemauns’ is Hélinand, the monk of Froidmont,
whose _Vers de la Mort_ were so popular in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries. The lines which are quoted here are quoted also
in the _Somme des Vices et des Vertus_, with a slight difference of
text. See M. Paul Meyer in _Romania_ i. 365, where a preliminary
list of the MSS. is given. Death is supposed to be the speaker here,
‘Do away your mockery and your boasting, for many a man who thinketh
himself sound and strong hath me already hatching within him.’ The
usual reading is ‘Laissiez vos chiffles’ (or ‘chifflois’), but ‘Ostez’
and ‘trufes’ are also found in the MSS.
11410. ‘Death has warned thee of his tricks,’ because in the preceding
lines Death is supposed to be the speaker.
11412. _atteins_, ‘caught unawares.’
11434. _a luy_, ‘to her,’ so 626, 2151, &c.
11466. _Dont_ here seems to stand for ‘que,’ as it does so commonly in
a consecutive sense after ‘tant,’ ‘si,’ &c.
11504. _Mais d’une chose_, ‘except for one thing.’
11510. _sentence_, perhaps here ‘feeling of pain,’ ‘suffering.’
11520. _Pour venir_, after ‘assure,’ equivalent to ‘de venir’: see 6328.
11521. Ecclus. i. 22, 25, ‘Corona sapientiae, timor Domini ... Radix
sapientiae est timere dominum.’
11535. Is. xxxiii. 6, ‘divitiae salutis sapientia et scientia: timor
Domini ipse est thesaurus eius.’
11536. Ps. xiv. 4, ‘timentes autem Dominum glorificat.’
11540. Luke i. 50.
11548. Jer. x. 7, ‘Quis non timebit te, O Rex gentium? tuum est enim
decus.’
11570. See note on 11354.
11572. Rev. iv. 6.
11600. That is, ‘everything depends, as it were, on the cast of the
dice.’
11611. Ps. ci. (_Vulg._ c.) 7, ‘Non habitabit in medio domus meae qui
facit superbiam.’
11616. ‘Which is a true child of Arrogance.’
11647. Rom. vi. 23.
11653. _ly discret_, i.e. Discretion.
11668. Eccles. iii. 19, ‘cuncta subiacent vanitati, et omnia pergunt ad
unum locum.’
11671. Matt. xxiv. 35, &c.
11676. i.e, ‘His word of everlasting doctrine.’
11680. ‘Three things make me sure that the state of man’ &c., referring
to what follows.
11685. Job xiv. 2.
11694. Cp. _Conf. Am._ iv. 1632 f.,
‘So that these heraldz on him crie,
“Vailant, vailant, lo, wher he goth!”’
11721 ff. ‘But as for man,... by reason of sin which holds possession
of his body, hell retains the soul for ever.’ For ‘celle’ see note on
301.
11724. _fait a despire_, ‘it is right to loathe’: see note on 1883.
11728. _pour sa maisoun_, like ‘de sa maisoun,’ ‘as regards his house.’
See 2 Kings xx.
11770. It is likely enough that Cassiodorus says something of this kind
in his official letters, but it is hardly worth while to search for
it. Expressions such as, ‘Multo melius proficitur, si bonis moribus
serviatur,’ are common enough.
11822. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 299.
11846. John iv. 14: but it was said actually to the woman of Samaria,
not to the disciples.
11848. _au tiel exploit_, ‘in such a manner’: properly ‘with such
success (_or_ result).’
11865. _desjoint_: so in Chaucer, _Troilus_ iii. 496, ‘Or of what wight
that stant in swich disjoynte.’
11866. _je quidoie_: cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 7666, ‘Til ate laste he seith,
“I wende.”’
11898. Ps. cxli. (_Vulg._ cxl.) 3, ‘Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo, et
ostium circumstantiae labiis meis.’
11939. Perhaps the word is ‘enguarise.’
11978. Ecclus. xxxii. 14, ‘Ante grandinem praeibit coruscatio: et
ante verecundiam praeibit gratia, et pro reverentia accedet tibi bona
gratia.’
11989. 1 Tim. ii. 9.
11995. Ecclus. vii. 21, ‘gratia enim verecundiae illius super aurum.’
12003. Job iii. 25, ‘quod verebar accidit.’
12006. Ps. xliv. 15 (_Vulg._ xliii. 16), ‘Tota die verecundia mea
contra me est.’
12025. Gen. ix. 22.
12038. _doit_: cp. 12669, and see note on 1193.
12044. Judith xii. 12 ff.
12056. Luke xii. 3.
12140. _ne fais souffrir_, ‘you do not endure.’
12161. Deut. xvii. 12.
12169. Eph. vi. 2 ff.
12180. _demeine_, an adjective, ‘thine _own_ profit.’
12188. Ecclus. iv. 7, ‘presbytero humilia animam tuam, et magnato
humilia caput tuum.’
12200. Perhaps Rom. x. 9 f.
12202. Heb. xi. 6.
12206. Heb. x. 38.
12209. Mark xvi. 16, 18.
12217 ff. Cp. Heb. xi.
12228. _De Abraham_: for the hiatus cp. 12241, ‘De Isaak,’ 27367, ‘De
Ire,’ and _Bal._ xxxiv. 3, ‘De Alceone.’
12238. Eccles. iv. 17.
_fait a loer_: see note on 1883.
12240. _ove tout_, ‘together with,’ cp. l. 4.
12241. _De Isaak_: there is no elision, and ‘Isaak’ is a trisyllable.
For the hiatus cp. 27367 ‘De Ire, Accidie et Gloutenie.’
12254. _pour foy_, equivalent apparently to ‘par foy’ 12293 ff., see
Heb. xi. 23.
12289. Heb. xi. 33 ff.
12296. _des ces lyons_, i.e. de les lyons: see note on 301.
12303. 1 John v. 4 f.
12326. Eccles. iv. 12.
12331. _du grein ou goute_, ‘in any way whatsoever.’
12347. _le plus_, ‘the more,’ see note on 2700.
12350. The reference belongs apparently to the next line, ‘Him whom
wind and sea obey,’ and presumably it is to Mark iv. 41; but, if so,
there seems no reason for referring to St. Mark rather than to the
Gospels generally.
12356. Ps. cxviii. 9.
12361. Seneca, _Ep._ lxxxviii. 29, ‘Fides sanctissimum humani pectoris
bonum est, nulla necessitate ad fallendum cogitur, nullo corrumpitur
praemio.’
12373. James ii. 14-20.
12406. Supply ‘porte’ from the next line: ‘he carries equally corn or
beans.’
12409. Seneca, _Ep._ xxxvii. 4, ‘Si vis omnia tibi subicere, te subice
rationi.’
12440. _appara_ is future, cp. 1140; used here in the sense of command,
‘it shall not appear,’ ‘obeie’ above, and ‘requiere’ below, being
subjunctive in imperative sense, ‘let a man obey,’ &c.
12448. Bed. _in Luc._ xi., ‘Clavis scientiae humilitas Christi est.’
12452. This is a reference to the series of maxims attributed to
Ptolemy and prefixed in many MSS. and early printed editions to the
Almagest. See the paper in _Anglia_ xviii. pp. 133-140, by E. Flügel,
who prints the whole set of sayings and shews that the Almagest
references in the _Roman de la Rose_ and in Chaucer are to these. We
have here a reference to the ninth in order, ‘Qui inter sapientes
humilior est, sapientior existit, sicut locus profundior magis abundat
aquis aliis lacunis.’
12464 ff. Cp. _Bal._ xxxviii. 1.
12505. The adjective ‘vrais’ seems here to fill the place of an adverb.
12518. Ecclus. iii. 20.
12520. Prov. xvi. 19.
12528. _compleindre le contraire_, ‘bewail thy disobedience to it.’
12529. Luke xiv. 11.
12565 ff. The story may be found in the _Legenda Aurea_. St. Macarius
was a recluse of Upper Egypt, who is described as ‘ingeniosus contra
daemonis fallaciam.’ Several of his personal encounters with the devil
are recorded in legend: cp. l. 20905.
12577. _je te vois passant_, ‘I surpass you’: ‘vois’ for ‘vais,’ as
often.
12601. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 3103 ff.
12624. _privé_, substantive, ‘intimate friend.’
12628. The reference is to the ‘Benedicite,’ Dan. (_Vulg._) iii. 58 ff.
12664. Perhaps 1 Pet. iii. 12.
12668. Ecclus. xv. 9, ‘Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris.’
12669. _Q’om doit_, ‘that one should,’ &c., see note on 1193.
12674. Ps. li. 15, (_Vulg._ l. 17).
12681. Ps. lvi. 10, 11, (_Vulg._ lv. 11).
12685. The reference to Judith is wrong: it should be to Esther
(_Vulg._) xiii. 17, ‘ut viventes laudemus nomen tuum, Domine.’
12689. Ps. cxv. 17.
12696. _plier_, ‘turn away (from us).’
12697. The form ‘fas’ is presumably for the rhyme.
12709. Probably Ecclus. xliv. 1.
12725. ‘Vox populi, vox Dei.’
12727. See below on 12733. The _Disticha_ of Dionysius Cato are
supposed to be addressed to the author’s son.
12732. _le puet celer avant_, ‘can continue to conceal it,’ i.e. ‘can
conceal it for ever.’
12733. Cato, _Distich._ ii. 16,
‘Nec te conlaudes, nec te culpaveris ipse;
Hoc faciunt stulti, quos gloria vexat inanis.’
12754. 1 Cor. xi. 2, 17.
12775. _Ainz que voir sciet_, &c., ‘But what she truly knows in the
matter,’ &c.
12780. Cp. 1416.
12835. Zephaniah iii. 19.
12850 f. _en son affaire_, ‘for his part’: ‘secretaire’ means ‘private
adviser,’ ‘privy-councillor.’
12852. _pour deviser_, ‘to describe him,’ i.e. ‘if one would describe
him rightly’: cp. 11245.
12855. _cuillante_: the participles are here inflected as adjectives;
so ‘flairante,’ ‘fuiante,’ ‘considerante.’ Perhaps ‘bien parlante’
and ‘volante’ may be regarded as really adjectives; but, even so, the
author would have had no scruple in saying ‘parlant,’ ‘volant,’ if it
had been more convenient.
12856. _de nature_, ‘by nature.’