§ 1. It has been usual, in editions of Chaucer's Works, to mingle with
those which he is known to have written, a heterogeneous jumble of poems by
Gower, Lydgate, Hoccleve, Henrysoun, and various anonymous writers (some of
quite late date), and then to accept a quotation from any one of them as
being a quotation 'from Chaucer.' Some principle of selection is obviously
desirable; and the first question that arises is, naturally, this: which of
the Minor Poems are genuine? The list here given partly coincides with that
adopted by Dr. Furnivall in the publications of the Chaucer Society. I
have, however, added six, here numbered VI, XI, XII, XXI, XXII, and XXIII;
my reasons for doing so are given below, where each poem is discussed
separately. At the same time, I have omitted the poem entitled 'The Mother
of God,' which is known to have been written by Hoccleve. The only known
copy of it is in a MS. now in the library of the late Sir Thomas Phillipps,
which contains sixteen poems, all of which are by the same hand, viz. that
of Hoccleve. After all, it is only a translation; still, it is well and
carefully written, and the imitation of Chaucer's style is good. In
determining which poems have the best right to be reckoned as Chaucer's, we
have to consider both the external and the internal evidence.
We will therefore consider, in the first place, the external evidence
generally.
§ 2. TESTIMONY OF CHAUCER REGARDING HIS WORKS.
The most important evidence is that afforded by the poet himself. In an
Introduction prefixed to the Man of Law's Prologue (Cant. Tales, B 57), he
says--
'In youth he made of _Ceys and Alcion_'--
a story which is preserved at the beginning of the Book of the Duchesse.
In the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women (see vol. iii.), he refers to
his translation of the Romaunce of the Rose, and to his Troilus; and,
according to MS. Fairfax 16, ll. 417-423, he says--
'He made the book that hight the _Hous of Fame_,
And eke the Deeth of _Blaunche the Duchesse_,
And the _Parlement of Foules_, as I gesse,
And al the love of Palamon and Arcite
Of Thebes, thogh the story ys knowen lyte,
And many an ympne for your halydayes
That highten Balades, Roundels, Virelayes,' &c.
The rest of the passage does not immediately concern us, excepting ll. 427,
428, where we find--
'He made also, goon ys a grete while,
_Origenes vpon the Maudeleyne_.'
In the copy of the same Prologue, as extant in MS. Gg. 4. 27, in the
Cambridge University Library, there are two additional lines, doubtless
genuine, to this effect--
'And of the _wrechede engendrynge of mankynde_,
As man may in pope Innocent I-fynde.'
There is also a remarkable passage at the end of his Persones Tale, the
genuineness of which has been doubted by some, but it appears in the MSS.,
and I do not know of any sound reason for rejecting it. According to the
Ellesmere MS., he here mentions--'the book of Troilus, the book also of
Fame, the book of the xxv. Ladies[196], the book of the Duchesse, the book
of seint Valentynes day of the parlement of briddes ... the book of the
Leoun ... and many a song,' &c.
Besides this, in the House of Fame, l. 729, he mentions his own name, viz.
'Geffrey.' We thus may be quite certain as to the genuineness of this poem,
the longest and most important of all the Minor Poems[197], and we may at
once add to the list the Book of the Duchesse, the next in order of length,
and the Parliament of Foules, which is the third in the same order.
We also learn that he composed some poems which have not come down to us,
concerning which a few words may be useful.
1. 'Origines vpon the Maudeleyne' must have been a translation from a piece
attributed to Origen. In consequence, probably, of this remark of the poet,
the old editions insert a piece called the 'Lamentacion of Marie
Magdaleine,' which has no pretence to be considered Chaucer's, and may be
summarily dismissed. It is sufficient to notice that it contains a
considerable number of rimes such as are never found in his genuine works,
as, for example, the dissyllabic _dy-e_[198] riming with _why_ (st. 13);
the plural adjective _ken-e_ riming with _y-ën_, i. e. eyes, which would,
with this Chaucerian pronunciation, be no rime at all (st. 19); and
thirdly, _disgised_ riming with _rived_, which is a mere assonance, and
saves us from the trouble of further investigation (st. 25). See below, p.
37.
2. 'The wrechede engendrynge of mankynde' is obviously meant to describe a
translation or imitation of the treatise by Pope Innocent III, entitled _De
Miseria Conditionis Humanae_. The same treatise is referred to by Richard
Rolle de Hampole, in his Pricke of Conscience, l. 498. It should be noted,
however, that a few stanzas of this work have been preserved, by being
incorporated (as quotations) in the Canterbury Tales, viz. in B 99-121,
421-7, 771-7, 925-31, 1135-8; cf. C 537-40, 551-2. See notes to these
passages.
3. 'The book of the Leoun,' i. e. of the lion, was probably a translation
of the poem called _Le Dit du Lion_ by Machault; see the note to l. 1024 of
the Book of the Duchesse in the present volume.
§ 3. LYDGATE'S LIST OF CHAUCER'S POEMS.
The next piece of evidence is that given in what is known as 'Lydgate's
list.' This is contained in a long passage in the prologue to his poem
known as the 'Fall of Princes,' translated from the French version (by
Laurens de Premierfait) of the Latin book by Boccaccio, entitled 'De
Casibus Virorum Illustrium[199].' In this Lydgate commends his 'maister
Chaucer,' and mentions many of his works, as, e. g. Troilus and Creseide,
the translation of Boethius' _De Consolatione Philosophiae_, the treatise
on the Astrolabe addressed to his 'sonne that called was Lowys,' the Legend
of Good Women, and the Canterbury Tales. The whole passage is given in
Morris's edition of Chaucer, vol. i. pp. 79-81; but I shall only cite so
much of it as refers to the Minor Poems, and I take the opportunity of
doing so directly, from an undated black-letter edition published by John
Wayland.
'He wrote also full many a day agone
_Dant in English_, him-selfe doth so expresse,
The piteous story of _Ceix and Alcion_:
And the death also of _Blaunche the duches_:
And notably [he] did his businesse
By great auise his wittes to dispose,
To translate the _Romaynt of the Rose_.
'Thus in vertue he set all his entent,
Idelnes and vyces for to fle:
Of _fowles_ also he wrote _the parliament_,
Therein remembring of royall Eagles thre,
Howe in their choyse they felt aduersitye,
To-fore nature profered the battayle,
Eche for his partye, if it woulde auayle.
'He did also his diligence and payne
In our vulgare to translate and endite
_Orygene upon the Maudelayn_:
And of _the Lyon a boke_ he did write.
_Of Annelida and of false Arcite_
He made _a complaynt_ dolefull and piteous;
And of _the broche which that Uulcanus_
'_At Thebes_ wrought, ful diuers of nature.
Ouide[200] writeth: who-so thereof had a syght,
For high desire, he shoulde not endure
But he it had, neuer be glad ne light:
And if he had it once in his myght,
Like as my master sayth & writeth in dede,
It to conserue he shoulde euer liue in dred.'
It is clear to me that Lydgate is, _at first_, simply repeating the
information which we have already had upon Chaucer's own authority; he
begins by merely following Chaucer's own language in the extracts above
cited. Possibly he knew no more than we do of 'Orygene vpon the Maudelayn,'
and of the 'boke of the Lyon.' At any rate, he tells us no more about them.
Naturally, in speaking of the Minor Poems, we should expect to find him
following, as regards the three chief poems, the order of length; that is,
we should expect to find here a notice of (1) the House of Fame; (2) the
Book of the Duchesse; and (3) the Parliament of Foules. We are naturally
disposed to exclaim with Ten Brink (_Studien_, p. 152)--'Why did he leave
out the House of Fame?' But we need not say with him, that 'to this
question I know of no answer.' For it is perfectly clear to me, though I
cannot find that any one else seems to have thought of it, that 'Dant in
English' and 'The House of Fame' are one and the same poem, described in
the same position and connexion. If anything about the House of Fame is
clear at all, it is that (as Ten Brink so clearly points out, in his
_Studien_, p. 89) the influence of Dante is more obvious in this poem than
in any other. I would even go further and say that it is the _only_ poem
which owes its chief inspiration to Dante in the whole of English
literature during, at least, the Middle-English period. There is absolutely
nothing else to which such a name as 'Dante in English' can with any
fitness be applied. The phrase 'himselfe doth so expresse' is rather
dubious; but I take it to mean: '(I give it that name, for) he, i. e.
Chaucer, expresses himself like Dante (therein).' In any case, I refuse to
take any other view until some competent critic will undertake to tell me,
what poem of Chaucer's, other than the House of Fame, can possibly be
intended.
To which argument I have to add a second, viz. that Lydgate mentions the
House of Fame in yet another way; for he refers to it at least three times,
in clear terms, in other passages of the same poem, i. e. of the Fall of
Princes.
'Fame in her palice hath tru_m_pes mo than one,
Some of golde, that geueth a freshe soun'; &c.--Book I. cap. 14.
'Within my house called the house of Fame
The golden trumpet w_i_t_h_ blastes of good name
Enhaunceth on to ful hie parties,
Wher Iupiter sytteth amo_n_g the heue_n_ly skies.
'Another tru_m_pet of sownes ful vengeable
Which bloweth vp at feastes funerall,
Nothinge bright, but of colour sable'; &c.--Prol. to Book VI.
'The golden trumpe of the house of Fame[201]
Through the world blew abrode his name.'--Book VI. cap. 15.
Lydgate describes the Parliament of Foules in terms which clearly shew that
he had read it. He also enables us to add to our list the Complaint of
Anelida and the Complaint of Mars; for it is the latter poem which contains
the story of the _broche_ of Thebes. We have, accordingly, complete
authority for the genuineness of the House of Fame and the four longest of
the Minor Poems, which, as arranged in order of length, are these: The
House of Fame (2158 lines); Book of the Duchesse (1334 lines); Parliament
of Foules (699 lines); Anelida and Arcite (357 lines); and Complaint of
Mars (298 lines). This gives us a total of 4846 lines, furnishing a very
fair standard of comparison whereby to consider the claims to genuineness
of other poems. Lydgate further tells us that Chaucer
'Made and compiled many a freshe dittie,
Complaynts, ballades, rou_n_dels, vyrelaies.'
§ 4. TESTIMONY OF JOHN SHIRLEY.
The next best evidence is that afforded by notes in the existing MSS.; and
here, in particular, we should first consider the remarks by Chaucer's
great admirer, John Shirley, who took considerable pains to copy out and
preserve his poems, and is said by Stowe to have died Oct. 21, 1456, at the
great age of ninety, so that he was born more than 30 years before Chaucer
died. On his authority, we may attribute to Chaucer the A. B. C.; the
Complaint to Pity; the Complaint of Mars (according to a heading in MS.
T.); the Complaint of Anelida (according to a heading in MS. Addit. 16165);
the Lines to Adam, called in MS. T. 'Chauciers Wordes a. Geffrey vn-to Adam
his owen scryveyne'; Fortune; Truth; Gentilesse; Lak of Stedfastnesse; the
Compleint of Venus; and the Compleint to his Empty Purse. The MSS. due to
Shirley are the Sion College MS., Trin. Coll. Cam. R. 3. 20, Addit. 16165,
Ashmole 59, Harl. 78, Harl. 2251, and Harl. 7333. See also § 23, p. 75.
§ 5. TESTIMONY OF SCRIBES OF THE MSS.
The Fairfax MS. 16, a very fair MS. of the fifteenth century, contains
several of the Minor Poems; and in this the name of Chaucer is written at
the end of the poem on Truth and of the Compleint to his Purse; it also
appears in the title of Lenvoy de _Chaucer_ a Scogan; in that of Lenvoy de
_Chaucer_ a Bukton; in that of the Compleint of _Chaucer_ to his empty
Purse, and in that of 'Proverbe of _Chaucer_.'
Again, the Pepys MS. no. 2006 attributes to Chaucer the A. B. C., the title
there given being 'Pryer a nostre Dame, per Chaucer'; as well as the
Compleint to his Purse, the title being 'La Compleint de Chaucer a sa
Bourse Voide.' It also has the title 'Lenvoy de Chaucer a Scogan.' See also
p. 80, note 2.
The 'Former Age' is entitled 'Chawcer vp-on this fyfte metur of the second
book' in the Cambridge MS. Ii. 3. 21; and at the end of the same poem is
written 'Finit etas prima. Chaucers' in the Cambridge MS. Hh. 4. 12. The
poem on Fortune is also marked 'Causer' in the former of these MSS.;
indeed, these two poems practically belong to Chaucer's translation of
Boethius, though probably written at a somewhat later period. After all,
the most striking testimony to their authenticity is the fact that, in MS.
Ii. 3. 21, these two poems are inserted in the very midst of the prose text
of 'Boethius,' between the fifth metre and the sixth prose of Book II.
The Cambridge MS. Gg. 4. 27, which contains an excellent copy of the
Canterbury Tales, attributes to Chaucer the Parliament of Foules; and gives
us the title 'Litera directa de Scogon per G. C.' Of course 'G. C.' is
Geoffrey Chaucer.
From Furnivall's _Trial Forewords_, p. 13, we learn that there is a verse
translation of De Deguileville's _Pèlerinage do la Vie Humaine_, attributed
to Lydgate, in MS. Cotton, Vitellius C. XIII. (leaf 256), in which the 'A.
B. C.' is distinctly attributed to Chaucer[202].
The Balade 'To Rosamounde' is assigned to Chaucer in the unique copy of it
in the Rawlinson MS. 'A Compleint to his Lady' is assigned to Chaucer in
the only _complete_ copy of it.
We ought also to assign _some_ value to the manner in which the poems
appear in the MS. copies. This can only be appreciated by inspection of the
MSS. themselves. Any one who will _look for himself_ at the copies of
Gentilesse, Lak of Stedfastnesse, Truth, and Against Women Inconstaunt in
MS. Cotton, Cleop. D. 7, will see that the scribe clearly regarded the last
of these as genuine, as well as the rest. And the same may be said of some
other poems which are not absolutely marked with Chaucer's name. This
important argument is easily derided by those who cannot read MSS., but it
remains valuable all the same.
§ 6. TESTIMONY OF CAXTON.
At p. 116 of the same _Trial Forewords_ is a description by Mr. Bradshaw of
a very rare edition by Caxton of some of Chaucer's Minor Poems. It
contains: (1) Parliament of Foules; (2) a treatise by Scogan, in which
Chaucer's 'Gentilesse' is introduced; (3) a single stanza of 7 lines,
beginning--'Wyth empty honde men may no hawkes lure'; (4) Chaucer's
'Truth,' entitled--'The good counceyl of Chawcer'; (5) the poem on
'Fortune'; and (6) part of Lenvoy to Scogan, viz. the first three stanzas.
The volume is imperfect at the end. As to the article No. 3, it was
probably included because the first line of it is quoted from l. 415 of the
Wyf of Bathes Prologue (Cant. Ta. 5997, vol. iv. p. 332).
At p. 118 of the same is another description, also by Mr. Bradshaw, of a
small quarto volume printed by Caxton, consisting of only ten leaves. It
contains, according to him: (1) Anelida and Arcite, ll. 1-210; (2) The
Compleint of Anelida, being the continuation of the former, ll. 211-350,
where the poem ends; (3) The Compleint of Chaucer vnto his empty purse,
with an Envoy headed--'Thenuoye of Chaucer vnto the kynge'; (4) Three[203]
couplets, beginning--'Whan feyth failleth in prestes sawes,' and
ending--'Be brought to grete confusio_u_n'; (5) Two couplets,
beginning--'Hit falleth for euery gentilman,' and ending--'And the soth in
his presence'; (6) Two couplets, beginning--'Hit cometh by kynde of gentil
blode,' and ending--'The werk of wisedom berith witnes'; followed by--'Et
sic est finis.' The last three articles only make fourteen lines in all,
and are of little importance[204].
§ 7. EARLY EDITIONS OF CHAUCER'S WORKS.
The first collected edition of Chaucer's Works is that edited by W. Thynne
in 1532, but there were earlier editions of his separate poems. The best
account of these is that which I here copy from a note on p. 70 of
Furnivall's edition of F. Thynne's 'Animaduersions vpon the Annotacions and
Corrections of some imperfections of impressiones of Chaucer's Workes';
published for the Chaucer Society in 1875.
Only one edition of Chaucer's _Works_ had been published before the date of
Thynne's, 1532, and that was Pynson's in 1526, without a general title, but
containing three parts, with separate signatures, and seemingly intended to
sell separately; 1. the boke of Caunterbury tales; 2. the boke of Fame ...
with dyuers other of his workes [i. e. Assemble of Foules[205], La Belle
Dame[206], Morall Prouerbes]; 3. the boke of Troylus and Cryseyde. But of
separate works of Chaucer before 1532, the following had been published:--
_Canterbury Tales._ 1. Caxton, about 1477-8, from a poor MS.; 2.
Caxton, ab. 1483, from a better MS.; 3. Pynson, ab. 1493; 4. Wynkyn de
Worde, 1498; 5. Pynson, 1526.
_Book of Fame._ 1. Caxton, ab. 1483; 2. Pynson, 1526.
_Troylus._ 1. Caxton, ab. 1483; 2. Wynkyn de Worde, 1517; 3. Pynson,
1526.
_Parliament of Foules[207]._ 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8; 2. Pynson, 1526; 3.
Wynkyn de Worde, 1530.
_Gentilnesse_[207] (in Scogan's poem). 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8.
_Truth[207]._ (The good counceyl of chawcer.) 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8.
_Fortune[207]._ (Balade of the vilage (_sic_) without peyntyng.) 1.
Caxton, ab. 1477-8.
_Envoy to Skogan[207]._ 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8 (all lost, after the
third stanza).
_Anelida and Arcyte[208]._ 1. Caxton, ab. 1477-8.
_Purse[208]._ (The compleynt of Chaucer vnto his empty purse.) 1.
Caxton, ab. 1477-8.
_Mars_; _Venus_; _Marriage_ (Lenvoy to Bukton). 1. Julian Notary,
1499-1502.
After Thynne's first edition of the _Works_ in 1532 (printed by Thomas
Godfray), came his second in 1542 (for John Reynes and Wyllyam Bonham), to
which he added 'The Plowman's Tale' _after_ the Parson's Tale, i. e. at the
end.
Then came a reprint for the booksellers (Wm. Bonham, R. Kele, T. Petit,
Robert Toye), about 1550, which put the Plowman's Tale _before_ the
Parson's. This was followed by an edition in 1561 for the booksellers (Ihon
Kyngston, Henry Bradsha, citizen and grocer of London, &c.), to which, when
more than half printed, Stowe contributed some fresh pieces, the spurious
_Court of Love_, Lydgate's _Sege of Thebes_, and other poems. Next came
Speght's edition of 1598--on which William Thynne comments in his
_Animadversions_--which added the spurious 'Dreme,' and 'Flower and Leaf.'
This was followed by Speght's second edition, in 1602, in which Francis
Thynne helped him, and to which were added Chaucer's 'A. B. C.', and the
spurious 'Jack Upland[209].' Jack Upland had been before printed, with
Chaucer's name on the title-page, about 1536-40 (London, J. Gough, no date,
8vo.).
In an Appendix to the Preface to Tyrwhitt's edition of the Canterbury
Tales, there is a similar account of the early editions of Chaucer, to
which the reader may refer. He quotes the whole of Caxton's preface to his
second edition of the Canterbury Tales, shewing how Caxton reprinted the
book because he had meanwhile come upon a more correct MS. than that which
he had first followed.
If we now briefly consider all the earlier editions, we find that they may
be thus tabulated.
SEPARATE WORKS. Various editions before 1532; see the list above, on p. 28.
COLLECTED WORKS. Pynson's edition of 1526, containing only a portion, as
above; _La Belle Dame_ being spurious. Also the following:--