found in Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 23.
12877. Ps. lxxiv. (_Vulg._ lxxiii.) 21, ‘Ne avertatur humilis factus
confusus: pauper et inops laudabunt nomen tuum.’
12885 f. ‘And (whereby) in this life neighbours are honourable each to
other.’
12925. Luke xv. 8, ‘si perdiderit drachmam unam,’ &c.
12926. _ert conjoÿs_, ‘was rejoiced with,’ a transitive use which we
find also in l. 12934, where ‘luy’ stands for direct object, as often.
The form ‘_conjoÿs_’ here is an example of that sacrifice of grammar to
rhyme which is so frequent.
13005. _Du tiele enprise_, &c., ‘for having accomplished such an
enterprise.’
13008. _ses amys_: the old subject-form of the possessive, cp. ‘mes,’
‘tes,’ 9782, _Bal._ iv*. 3.
13021. Cp. _Conf. Am._ ii. 1772 ff.
13026. ‘So that defeated and taken he led him away.’
13037. _Tout fuist que_, ‘albeit that’: apparently an imitation of the
English expression.
13040. Rom. xii. 15.
13056. ‘Whom this example does not bring back to the path.’
13064. ‘Makes endeavour to supplant them,’ i.e. ‘la bonne gent.’
13122. _Redrescer_, ‘correct’ by punishment, as we see by the last
lines of the stanza.
13129. Sen. _de Benef._ vii. 25.
13173. _je m’en vois dessassentant_, ‘I disagree.’
13178. Prov. xxvii. 6.
13204. _au droit deviser_, ‘to speak aright’: cp. 5031.
13264 ff. ‘For, simply because she loves God, no adversity of present
pain can harm her.’
13301. _ou balance_, i.e. ‘au balance.’
13302. Cp. 25607.
13309. This is Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspa in the sixth century. The
passage quoted is from _Serm._ iii. 6, ‘Caritas igitur est omnium fons
et origo bonorum, munimen egregium, via quae ducit ad caelum,’ &c. He
is cited also in l. 13861, but there I cannot give the reference.
13333. Greg. _Hom. in Ezech._ vii. It is a commentary on Ezek. xl.
13361. Cp. Isid. _Etym._ xvii. 7. 33, ‘Lignum vero iucundi odoris est,
nec a tinea unquam exterminatur.’
13435. The philosopher here may be supposed to be Socrates, of whom the
Middle Ages knew next to nothing except as a patient husband: cp. 4168.
13441. Phil. iv. 5, ‘Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus.’
13475 f. ‘And yet she does not omit to punish according to right.’
13485. Cato, _Distich._ i. 3,
‘Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam:
Proximus ille deo est, qui scit ratione tacere.’
13498 ff. ‘If anyone should take note of good and ill, he would often
see experience of both’: that is, of endurance leading to honour, and
of failure to endure leading to loss of honour. Perhaps we should read
‘en prenderoit,’ ‘take note of it, of the good and the evil,’ &c.
13503. _en la fin_: the MS. has ‘en fin,’ but a correction is required
for the metre and ‘en la fin’ is used elsewhere, e.g. 15299.
13528. ‘who being spiritual renders good for evil,’ &c.
13537. Aug. _Epist._ clv. 15, and other places.
13514. _Dame Pacience_: see note on 6733.
13550. _a soy mesmes_, ‘for his own part,’ i.e. speaking of himself.
13554. _a ce que soie_, ‘in order that I might be.’
13578. Eph. iv. 15 f.
13586. _dont sont tenant_, ‘from whom they hold,’ in the feudal sense.
13606. Matt. v. 46.
13669. Sen. _de Mor._ 16, ‘Quod tacitum esse velis, nemini dixeris. Si
tibi ipsi non imperasti, quomodo ab aliis silentium speras?’
13675. Petr. Alph. _Disc. Cler._ ii., ‘Consilium absconditum quasi
in carcere tuo est retrusum; revelatum vero te in carcere suo tenet
ligatum.’
13686. Ecclus. xiii. 1.
13695. ‘Pro amico occidi melius quam cum inimico vivere’: quoted as
‘Socrates’ in Caec. Balbus, _Nug. Phil._ p. 25 (ed. Woelfflin).
13713. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 109.
13717. Ecclus. vi. 15, ‘Amico fideli nulla est comparatio, et non est
digna ponderatio auri et argenti contra bonitatem fidei illius.’
13732. Ambr. _de Spir. Sanct._ ii. 154, ‘Unde quidam interrogatus quid
amicus esset, Alter, inquit, ego.’
13741. The reference no doubt is to 2 Tim. iii. 2, ‘Erunt homines
seipsos amantes,’ &c. The explanation suggested by our author of the
double word ‘se-ipsos’ is that these men would love themselves with a
double love, that due to God and that due to their neighbour.
13779. ‘But it is a covetous bargain.’
13798. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 120 ff.
13805. 1 John iii. 14.
13853. Ps. cxxxiii. 1.
13893. _qui descorde_, ‘whosoever may be at variance.’
13897. _paciente_, ‘of Patience.’
13918. Cassiod. _Var._ xii. 13, ‘Pietas siquidem principum totum
custodit imperium’: cp. l. 23059, and _Conf. Am._ vii. 3161*.
13921. The saying is thus quoted in the _Liber Consolationis_ of
Albertano: ‘Omnium etenim se esse verum dominum comprobat, qui verum se
servum pietatis demonstrat.’ Cp. l. 23055, and _Conf. Am._ vii. 3137.
The story connected with it is told in the _Legenda Aurea_, ‘De sancto
Silvestro.’
13929. James ii. 13: cp. _Conf. Am._ vii. 3149*.
13947. ‘But it is never less worthy in consequence of this.’ The
alteration to ‘n’est meinz vailable’ is not necessary, for ‘ja’ is
sometimes used for ‘never’ without the negative particle, e.g. 10856.
13953. 1 Tim. iv. 8, ‘Pietas autem ad omnia utilis est.’ The original
of ‘pietas’ is εὐσέβεια.
13964. _dont elle est pure_, ‘of which she is wholly composed.’
14014. ‘That I may not be bent by adversity,’ the reflexive verb in a
passive sense.
14017. Ps. xxxvi. 39, &c.
14026. For ‘deinzeine’ see Skeat’s _Etymol. Dict._ under ‘denizen,’
where it is pointed out that ‘deinzein’ was a term legally used ‘to
denote the trader within the privileges of the city franchise as
opposed to “forein.”’ Here ‘la deinzeine’ is the inner part of man’s
nature, the soul, as opposed to that which is without (‘forein’).
14042. Perhaps 1 Pet. i. 6, 7: cp. Ecclus. ii. 5.
14105. The adjective ‘regente’ seems to be used as a participle with
‘et corps et alme’ as object, ‘ruling both body and soul.’
14126. _souleine._ Genders of course are of no consequence in
comparison with rhymes.
14134. _ly autre seculer_, ‘the secular priests also,’ those mentioned
above being regular.
14143. See note on 5266.
14155. Matt. xxiv. 46.
14163. Matt. xxvi. 41. The interpretation here put upon the latter part
of the verse is curious, and not authorised by the Latin: ‘Spiritus
quidem promptus est, caro autem infirma.’
14172. _ce que faire doit_, ‘that which he ought to guard,’ ‘faire’
being used to supply the place of the verb, as so often: cp. 14133 f.
14197. _celle de Peresce_, i.e. the vice of indolence, cp. 253.
14209. Sen. _Ep._ lxxiv. 13, ‘magnanimitas, quae non potest eminere,
nisi omnia velut minuta contempsit.’
14255. Apparently ‘honnesteté’ means here ‘honourable deed.’
14262. _par chivallerie_, ‘in warfare’: cp. 15111.
14296. Sen. _Ep._ lix. 18, ‘Quod non dedit fortuna, non eripit.’
14307. _quelle part soit_, for ‘quelle part que soit,’ ‘wherever,’
or ‘on whichever side’; so ‘combien’ in l. 14310 for ‘combien que,’
‘however much.’
14343. Perhaps Sen. _Ep._ lxvii. 10, ‘constantia, quae deici loco non
potest et propositum nulla vi extorquente dimittit.’
14365. 1 Cor. ix. 24, ‘omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bravium.’
14392. Matt. x. 22.
14413. Cp. Prov. xxx. 8. There is nothing exactly like it in the book
of Tobit.
14425. 2 Thess. iii. 10.
14434 f. _cil qui serra_, &c., ‘if a man be industrious, it will avail
him much.’
14437. Ps. cxxviii. 2.
14440. A proverb, meaning that God helps those who help themselves.
14443. 1 Kings xix.
14449. The reference is to a dramatic love-poem in Latin elegiac
verse with the title _Pamphilus_, or _Pamphilus de Amore_, which was
very popular in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Pamphilus
(or Panphylus) is the name of the lover who sustains the chief part,
but others besides Gower have supposed it to be also the name of the
author. The line referred to here is,
‘Prouidet et tribuit deus et labor omnia nobis,’ (f. 6 v^o).
I quote from a copy of a rare fifteenth-century edition (without date
or place, but supposed to have been printed about 1490 at Rome), in
the Douce collection, Bodleian Library. It has the title ‘Panphylus
de amore,’ and ends, ‘Explicit amorem per tractus (i.e. pertractans)
Panphyli codex.’ The book is not without some merit of its own, though
to a great extent it is an imitation of Ovid. It is quoted several
times by Albertano of Brescia in his _Liber Consolationis_, and was
evidently regarded as a serious authority: see Chaucer’s _Tale of
Melibee_, which is ultimately derived from the _Liber Consolationis_.
It is referred to also in the _Frankeleins Tale_, 381 f.,
‘Under his brest he bar it more secree
Than ever did Pamphilus for Galathee.’
14462. _au labourer covient_, ‘it is necessary to labour.’
14466. ‘Whoso wishes,’ &c., i.e. ‘if a man wishes’: see note on 1244.
14473. _dispense_, ‘deals favourably’: cp. l. 1400.
14496. _le meulx_: see note on 2700.
14551. Matt. vi. 33.
14568. The alteration of ‘contemplacioun’ to ‘contempler,’ used as a
substantive as in l. 10699, is the simplest way of restoring the metre:
but cp. 3116, and _Bal._ xxvii. 1.
14581. Isid. _Diff._ ii. 153.
14619. Rom. xii. 3, ‘Non plus sapere quam oportet sapere, sed sapere ad
sobrietatem.’
14623. Bern. _Serm. in Cant._ xxxvi. 4, ‘Cibus siquidem indigestus
... et corrumpit corpus et non nutrit. Ita et multa scientia ingesta
stomacho animae,’ &c.
14653. Bern. _Serm. in Cant._ xxxvi. 3, ‘Sunt namque qui scire volunt
eo fine tantum ut sciant, et turpis curiositas est. Et sunt qui scire
volunt ut sciantur ipsi, et turpis vanitas est.’
14670. A reference to the story of St. Jerome being chastised in a
dream by an angel because he studied the style of his writing overmuch,
and was becoming ‘Ciceronianus’ rather than ‘Christianus.’
14701. For the four bodily temperaments, cp. _Conf. Am._ vii. 393 ff.
14707. ‘If I be tempered so as to be phlegmatic’: cp. _Bal._ l. 2, ‘Ceo
q’ainz fuist aspre, amour le tempre suef.’
14725. This refers to the so-called ‘Salvatio Romae,’ the story of
which is told (for example) in the _Seven Sages_.
14730. _fesoit avant_, ‘he proceeded to make’: cp. 17310, 18466, 20537.
14757. An absolute construction, ‘with the sword of penitence in his
hand.’
14769. _en tiel devis_, answered by ‘Dont,’ ‘in the manner by which,’
&c.
14776. I do not understand this. ‘Malgré le soen’ might perhaps mean
‘in spite of itself,’ as ‘malgré soen’ is sometimes used, but how about
‘de sa casselle’?
14797. 1 John iv. 1.
14812. Ecclus. xxxii. 24.
14833. It is needless to say that Boethius gives no such directions.
They are the usual questions of the priest in enjoining penance,
‘Quis, quid, ubi, per quos, quotiens, quomodo, quando’: cp. Myrc’s
_Instructions for Parish Priests_ (E.E.T.S. 1868). The name of ‘Boece’
perhaps crept in by accident in the place of some other, because the
writer had in his mind the quotation given at 14899.
14854. _qu’il est atteins_, ‘to which he has reached,’ i.e. ‘in which
he is.’
14862. _forain_, here used in opposition to ‘benoit,’ ‘sacred,’ meaning
that which is outside the consecrated limits.
14899. This is from Boethius, _Cons. Phil._ i. Pr. 4, ‘Si operam
medicantis expectas, oportet ut vulnus detegas tuum.’
14901. _Sicomme la plaie_, &c. This seems to depend on ‘descoverir,’
‘how large and grievous the wound is.’
14932. _Y falt_, ‘there is needed.’
14945 f. ‘According to the exact measure of the delight taken in the
sin.’ I do not know the passage referred to.
14947. ‘But as to the meditation which intercession for sin makes,’ &c.
14951. Bern. _Serm. de Div._ xl. 5, ‘Tertius gradus est dolor, sed et
ipse trina legatione connexus,’ &c.
14961. _om doubteroit_, ‘one ought to fear’: see note on 1688.
14973. ‘and has reflected with a tender heart.’ This position of ‘et’
is quite usual; see note on 415.
15088. _qant ot fait le tour_, &c., ‘when he had done the deed of
denying his creator.’
15090. Matt. xxvi. 75.
15110. Job vii. 1, ‘Militia est vita hominis super terram.’ Not the
same in A. V.
15194. These are the opening words of the Institutions of Justinian:
‘Iustitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius suum cuique tribuens.’
15205. The sense of this might easily be got from Plato, but of course
the citation is not at first hand.
15217. _Civile_ is no doubt ‘la loy civile,’ referred to in 14138,
15194, &c. We find ‘Civile’ as here in l. 16092 in a connexion which
leaves no doubt of its meaning, and again 22266. Civile, it will be
remembered, is a personage in _Piers Plowman_.
15227. Cp. _Trait._ xviii. 3, ‘Deinz son recoi la conscience exponde.’
15241. Aug. _de Mus._ vi. 37, ‘Haec igitur affectio animae vel motus,
quo intelligit aeterna, et his inferiora esse temporalia,... et haec
appetenda potius quae superiora sunt, quam illa quae inferiora esse
nouit, nonne tibi prudentia videtur?’
15253. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 463 ff.
15260. Matt. x. 16.
15266 ff. The use of the future in these lines is analogous to that
noticed in the note on 1184, ‘We must extend,’ &c.
15326. _cil Justice_, ‘those judges.’
15336. _en Galice_: a reference to the shrine of St. James at
Compostella and the rich offerings made there.
15337. This might be a reference to Aristotle, _Eth. Nic._ v. 3, but of
course it is not taken at first hand.
15371. ‘Even though he should have to pay double the (usual) price,’
i.e. for the food that he gave to the poor in time of dearth.
15383 f. ‘He will not neglect by such payment to keep his neighbour
from ruin.’
15396. _tant du bienfait_, ‘so many benefits,’ ‘du’ as usual for ‘de.’
15445. Tobit iv. 7.
15448. Prov. iii. 9.
15459. 1 Kings xvii.
15463. ‘As Elisha prophesied’: but it is in fact Elijah, not Elisha, of
whom the story is told.
15470. Tobit xii. 12 ff.
15475. Acts x.
15486. Luke xxi. 2.
15500. _du quoy doner._ Here ‘du quoy’ is used like the modern ‘de
quoi,’ and so elsewhere, e.g. 15819, and ‘quoy’ 15940; but sometimes
we have ‘du quoy dont,’ e.g. 3339, where it seems to pass from an
interrog. pron. into a substantive, and ‘quoy’ is used simply as a
substantive in some passages, e.g. 1781, 12204, meaning ‘thing’: cp.
the use of ‘what’ in English, _Conf. Am._ i. 1676.
15505. See note on l. 7640. The reference here is to Godfrey of
Winchester, _Ep._ clxiv, ‘Si donas tristis, et dona et praemia perdis.’
15522. Prov. xxi. 13, ‘Qui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, et
ipse clamabit et non exaudietur.’
15529. 2 Cor. ix. 7.
15533. Sen. _de Ben._ ii. 1, ‘nulla res carius constat, quam quae
precibus empta est.’
15538 f. The logical sequence is somewhat inverted: it means, ‘Hence
a reluctant giver gets no reward, for his gift is bought at so high a
price.’
15563. _par sa ruine S’en vole_ means perhaps, ‘he precipitated himself
from his place and flew away.’
15566. Is. lxvi. 1, 2: but the quotation is not exact.
15578. Job xxvii. 8; but, as in the quotation above from Isaiah,
something is added to make a special application. The original is only,
‘Quae est enim spes hypocritae, si avare rapiat?’ with no mention of
almsgiving.
15593. Jer. xii. 13, but again the quotation has its special
application given by our author. The original is ‘Seminaverunt triticum
et spinas messuerunt:... confundemini a fructibus vestris propter iram
furoris Domini.’
15613. Ecclus. iii. 33.
15627. Matt. xxv. 14 ff. For the word ‘besant’ in this connexion cp.
_Conf. Am._ v. 1930.
15650. Ecclus. xiv. 13 ff.
15662. Prov. xix. 17.
15665. Matt. xxv. 40, compared with x. 42.
15674. Tobit xii. 8.
15680. Ps. xli. 1.
15691. Is. lviii. 7 ff.
15711. Dan. iv. 24, ‘peccata tua eleemosynis redime, et iniquitates
tuas misericordiis pauperum.’
15756. ‘is for a rich man to turn to poverty.’
15757. This story will be found in any Life of St. Nicholas.
15776. Prov. xxi. 14.
15788. Ecclus. xx. 32 f.
15793 ff. ‘This, in short, is a great charity,--he who has more
knowledge or power, when he sees his neighbour in distress from a
burden too heavy for him, ought to give him aid, and speedily,’ &c.
15801. Galat. vi. 2.
15808. Acts iii. 6.
15817. _du petit poy_: cp. _Bal._ xxviii, ‘Om voit sovent de petit poi
doner.’
15821. _lée_: a form (properly fem.) of ‘let,’ from Lat. ‘latus,’
equivalent to ‘large,’ 15824, to be distinguished from ‘liet,’ ‘lée,’
from ‘laetus.’
15822. _allegger_, ‘allege as an excuse’ (allegare); to be
distinguished from ‘allegger,’ ‘alleviate.’
15867. Matt. xix. 29.
15941. _sur tiele gent et toy_: apparently for ‘sur toy et tiele gent,’
‘on thyself and on such people as thou shalt see most worthy of thy
liberality.’
15949. See note on 7640. The reference here is to Godfrey of
Winchester, _Ep._ cx.,
‘Ne noceas tibi, sic aliis prodesse memento.’
15954. Cic. _de Off._ i. 43, ‘Videndum est igitur ut ea liberalitate
utamur, quae prosit amicis, nemini noceat,’ &c.
15963. ‘Attemprance’ however is already in the retinue of Justice, see
15232, and ‘Discrecioun,’ who is the third daughter of Humility, 11562,
and therefore herself the mistress of a household, is also in the
employ of Abstinence, 16323.
15985. Ps. xx. 4 (_Vulg._ xix. 5), ‘Tribuat tibi secundum cor tuum,’
the meaning of which is not what our author supposes.
15997. Cic. _de Off._ i. 21, ‘Sunt autem privata nulla natura ...
naturam debemus ducem sequi, communes utilitates in medium afferre,’ &c.
16011. Matt. xiv. 15 ff.
16022. Matt. xxii. 21.
16025. Gen. xxviii. 22.
16026. _ainçois_, often used, as here, for ‘but.’
16045. Ecclus. xli. 15, but the special application is by our author.
16060. Prov. xxii. 1.
16073. The cry of heralds was ‘Largesce!’ addressed to the knights
whose prowess they recorded. Here the poor with their cry of
‘Largesce!’ are the heralds by whom the praise of the liberal man is
brought before the throne of God.
16092. ‘By breach of Canon law or Civil.’
16100. Cp. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 207 ff., where the ‘letters’ are also
mentioned.
16138. The MS. has ‘Sa viele loy,’ which can hardly stand.
16181. _de celles s’esvertue_, ‘strives after these,’ that is the
offspring of ‘Franchise’: cp. 16237.
16192. _comblera_: fut. for subj. in dependent command, as 416, 1184,
&c.
16203 ff. This passage seems to need some emendation. Perhaps we might
read ‘est’ for ‘a’ in l. 16203, and ‘Les’ for ‘Des’ in 16206, setting
a colon after ‘trahi.’ But I have no confidence that this is what the
author intended.
16231. _pour temptacioun_, perhaps ‘because of temptation,’ i.e. to
avoid it.
16285. _Quiconque_, ‘He whom.’
16288. _asseine_, ‘approaches,’ i.e. drinks.
16303. _des tieus delices savourer_, ‘from tasting such delicacies’:
cp. 5492, ‘des perils ymaginer’ and often elsewhere.
16327. _toute voie_, nevertheless, like the modern ‘toutefois.’
16338. _parentre deux_, ‘between two things’: cp. 1178, _Bal._
xxvii. 4, &c. In the Table of Contents ‘parentre deux’ seems to be
for ‘parentre d’eux,’ and so it might be in some other places, e.g.
_Trait._ xv. 2, as ‘entre d’eux’ in _Mir._ 874; but this is not the
case in 1178, nor probably in the other passages where it occurs.
16347. Greg. _Reg. Past._ iii. 19, ‘Non enim Deo sed sibi quisque
ieiunat, si ea quae ventri ad tempus subtrahit non egenis tribuit, sed
ventri postmodum offerenda custodit.’
16360. Isid. _Sent._ ii. 44. 8, ‘Qui autem a cibis abstinent et prave
agunt, daemones imitantur, quibus esca non est et nequitia semper est.’
16381. _son pour quoy_, ‘his purpose,’ that is, the object of his life.
16425. Ecclus. xxxi. 35 ff.
16506. That is, he will not exceed his income.
16513. Luke xiv. 28.
16524. _oultrage_, ‘extravagance,’ of boasting or expense.
16532. Cp. 15499.
16535. _au commun_, ‘for the common good’: cp. 14574.
16539. _orine_: properly ‘origin,’ hence ‘stock,’ ‘race,’ (‘de franche
orine,’ ‘ceux de ourine ou ancieneté,’ Godefr.). Here it is almost
equivalent to ‘offspring.’
16541. _Qui bien se cure_, ‘if a man takes good heed’: note on 1244.
16597 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 299 ff.,
‘For tho be proprely the gates,
Thurgh whiche as to the herte algates
Comth alle thing unto the feire,
Which may the mannes Soule empeire.’
The substance of the stanza is taken from Jerome _adv. Jov._ ii. 8,
‘Per quinque sensus, quasi per quasdam fenestras, vitiorum ad animam
introitus est. Non potest ante metropolis et arx mentis capi, nisi per
portas eius irruerit hostilis exercitus.’
16600. _par si fort estal_, i.e. coming into so strong a position for
fighting.
16605. ‘The fortress of judgment in the heart.’
16633. ‘Quae facere turpe est, haec ne dicere honestum puta:’ quoted as
‘Socrates’ by Caec. Balbus, p. 18: cp. 13695.
16646. _s’en remort_, ‘feels sorrow for its offences.’
16670. Perhaps Ecclus. xx. 7.
16673. A similarly severe moral judgment is pronounced upon Ulysses in
_Trait._ vi. 3; the story of the Sirens referred to below is repeatedly
mentioned, e.g. ll. 9949, 10911, _Bal._ xxx. 2, _Conf. Am._ i. 481 ff.
In all these places the spelling ‘Uluxes’ is the same.
16700. _ne fist que sage_: an elliptical form of expression common in
old French, ‘ne fist ce que sage feroit,’ ‘did not act as a wise man’:
see Burguy _Gramm._ ii. 168.
16701. For this cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 7468 ff.
16710. ‘Tanque’ here answers to ‘tiele’ in the same manner as ‘dont’ so
often does.
16717. I do not know the passage.
16721. _ruer luy font_, ‘cast it down,’ the auxiliary use of ‘faire’:
‘envers’ is an adjective, ‘inversus.’
16725. _pervers_, used as a substantive, ‘a pervert.’
16729. Not Isaiah, but Jer. ix. 21.
16740. ‘which cannot be extinguished.’
16741. Job xxxi. 1, ‘Pepigi foedus cum oculis meis ut ne cogitarem
quidem de virgine.’
16753. Ps. cxix. 37.
16756. Matt. vi. 22.
16768. Perhaps we should read ‘soul ove sole.’
16769. 2 Sam. xiii. This example is quoted also in _Conf. Am._ viii.
213 ff.
16797. For the opposite effect produced by love of a higher kind see
_Bal._ l. 1,
‘De l’averous il fait franc et loial,
Et de vilein courtois et liberal.’
16817. 1 Cor. vi. 18.
16875. Bern. _Super ‘Missus est’ Hom._ i. 5, ‘Pulchra permistio
virginitatis et humilitatis.’
16880. _meist_: this must be pret. subj. used for conditional, as in
16883.
16890. _enterine_, ‘perfect,’ notwithstanding her motherhood.
16906. _clamour_, standing for an adjective, ‘loudly expressed.’
16909. _serront_, ‘should be,’ i.e. ought to be, see note on 1184.
16919. ‘If he have nothing wherewith to give support to his hand’: cp.
13102, where the verb is transitive.
16924. _suppoer._ This need not be altered to ‘supponer,’ but may
be the same as the French ‘soupoier’ ‘to support,’ cp. Lydgate’s
‘sopouaille’ or ‘sowpowaylle,’ in the _Tale of Troy_: see MS. Digby
232, f. 29, l. 79. (The printed editions do not give it.)
16931. ‘So that she allows not her flower to be found elsewhere and
seized.’
16952. Eccles. iv. 10.
16955. _N’est autre ... luy puet_: relative omitted, ‘there is no other
can help him.’ This use of ‘pour’ is rather remarkable.
16957. Gen. xxxiv. 1, 2.
16974. _La dist_: cp. 13268. Sometimes ‘le’ is used as indirect object
fem. as well as masc.; see Glossary.
16980. _quoi signefie_, ‘what the meaning is,’ that is, what the
discourse means.
16987. ‘whether in grief or in joy.’
16990. Cp. _Bal._ xxv. ‘Car qui bien aime ses amours tard oblie.’
17000. Matt. xxv. 1 ff.
17010. _bealté_ seems here to be counted as three syllables. Regularly
it is a dissyllable, as 18330, _Bal._ iv. 2.
17019. _virginal endroit_, ‘condition of virginity.’
17020. ‘Candor vestium sempiternus virginitatis est puritas.’
17030. Jerome, _Comm. Ezech._ xiv. 46, ‘Unde et virginitas maior est
nuptiis, quia non exigitur ... sed offertur.’
17041. _q’om doit nommer_, ‘whom one may mention’: for the use of
‘devoir’ see note on 1193. Just below we have ‘doit tesmoigner,’ which
seems to mean ‘may be a witness.’
17044. Rev. xiv. 1-4. Cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 6389.
17064. _endie_: perhaps this should be separated, ‘en die,’ but
‘endire’ seems to be used in several passages; see Glossary.
17067. Cp. _Conf. Am._ v. 6395* ff. Gregory says (i. _Reg. Expos._ v.
3) ‘incomparabili gratia Spiritus sancti efficitur, ut a manentibus
in carne carnis corruptio nesciatur.’ But the quotation here and in
the _Conf. Am._ seems to be not really from Gregory, but from Guibert
or Gilbert (Migne _Patrol._ vol. clvi.), who says of virginity ‘adeo
excellit ut in carne praeter carnem vivere ut vere angelica dicta sit,’
_Mor. in Gen._ v. 17; unless indeed he is quoting from Gregory. For
Gilbert see 17113.
17074. Gen. i. 27.