The firste moevere of the cause above,
Whan he first made the fayre cheyne of love,
Gret was theffect, and heigh was his entente;
Wel wist he why, and what therof he mente;
_For with that faire cheyne of love he bond
The fyr, the watir, the eyr, and eek the lond
In certeyn boundes, that they may not flee._
(_Knightes Tale_, p. 92.)
That þe world with stable feith / varieth acordable chaungynges //
þat the contraryos qualite of elementȝ holden amonge hem self
aliaunce perdurable / þat phebus the sonne with his goldene
chariet / bryngeth forth the rosene day / þat the mone hath
commaundement ouer the nyhtes // whiche nyhtes hesperus the eue
sterre hat[h] browt // þat þe se gredy to flowen constreyneth with
a certeyn ende hise floodes / so þat it is nat l[e]ueful to
strechche hise brode termes or bowndes vp-on the erthes // þat is
to seyn to couere alle the erthe // Al this a-cordaunce of thinges
is bownden with looue / þat gouerneth erthe and see / and [he]
hath also commaundementȝ to the heuenes / and yif this looue
slakede the brydelis / alle thinges þat now louen hem to-gederes /
wolden maken a batayle contynuely and stryuen to fordoon the
fasoun of this worlde / the which they now leden in acordable
feith by fayre moeuynges // this looue halt to-gideres poeples /
ioygned with an hooly bond / and knytteth sacrement of maryages of
chaste looues // And loue enditeth lawes to trewe felawes // O
weleful weere mankynde / yif thilke loue þat gouerneth heuene
gouerned yowre corages /.
(_Chaucer’s Boethius_, bk. ii. met. 8.)
Quod mundus stabili fide
Concordes variat vices,
Quod pugnantia semina
Fœdus perpetuum tenent,
Quod Phœbus roseum diem
Curru provehit aureo,
Ut quas duxerit Hesperus
Phœbe noctibus imperet,
Ut fluctus avidum mare
Certo fine coerceat,
Ne terris liceat vagis
Latos tundere terminos;
_Hanc rerum seriem ligat,
Terras ac pelagus regens,
Et cœlo imperitans amor._
Hic si fræna remiserit,
Quicquid nunc amat invicem,
Bellum continuo geret:
Et quam nunc socia fide
Pulcris motibus incitant,
Certent solvere machinam.
Hic sancto populos quoque
Junctos fœdere continet,
Hic et conjugii sacrum
Castis nectit amoribus,
Hic fidis etiam sua
Dictat jura sodalibus.
O felix hominum genus,
Si vestros animos amor,
Quo cælum regitur, regat.
(_Boeth._, lib. ii. met. 8.)
Love, that of erth and se hath governaunce!
Love, that his hestes hath in hevene hye!
Love, that with an holsom alliaunce
Halt peples joyned, as hym liste hem gye!
Love, that knetteth law and compaignye,
And couples doth in vertu for to dwelle!
(_Troylus & Cryseyde_, st. 243, vol. iv. p. 296.)
That, that the world with faith, which that is stable
Dyverseth so, his stoundes concordynge;--
That elementz, that ben so discordable,
Holden a bond, perpetualy durynge;--
That Phebus mot his rosy carte forth brynge,
And that the mone hath lordschip overe the nyghte;--
Al this doth Love, ay heryed be his myght!
That, that the se, that gredy is to flowen,
Constreyneth to a certeyn ende so
Hise flodes, that so fiersly they ne growen
To drenchen erth and alle for everemo;
And if that Love aught lete his brydel go,
Al that now loveth asonder sholde lepe,
And lost were al that Love halt now to kepe.
(_Ibid._ st. 244, 245.)
IV. MUTABILITY DIRECTED AND LIMITED BY AN IMMUTABLE AND DIVINE
INTELLIGENCE.
That same prynce and moevere eek, quod he,
Hath stabled, in this wrecched world adoun,
Certeyn dayes and duracioun
To alle that er engendrid in this place,
Over the whiche day they may nat pace,
Al mowe they yit wel here dayes abregge;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Than may men wel by this ordre discerne
That thilke moevere stabul is and eterne.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
And therfore of his wyse purveaunce
He hath so wel biset his ordenaunce,
That spices of thinges and progressiouns
Schullen endure by successiouns
And nat eterne be, withoute any lye.
(_Knightes Tale_, vol. ii. p. 92, 93.)
Þe engendrynge of alle þinges quod she and alle þe progressiouns
of muuable nature. and alle þat moeueþ in any manere takiþ hys
causes. hys ordre. and hys formes. of þe stablenesse of þe deuyne
þouȝt [and thilke deuyne thowht] þat is yset and put in þe toure.
þat is to seyne in þe heyȝt of þe simplicite of god. stablisiþ
many manere gyses to þinges þat ben to don.
(_Chaucer’s Boethius_, bk. iv. pr. 6, p. 134.)