140. _Vicaire_, deputed ruler; not in the original. See note to Parliament
of Foules, l. 379.
141. _Governeresse_; copied from the French text, l. 214. This rare word
occurs, as the last word, in a poem beginning 'Mother of norture, printed
in the Aldine Edition of Chaucer's Poems, vi. 275. Chaucer himself uses it
again in the Complaint to Pity, l. 80 (p. 275).
144. Compare the expressions _Regina Celi, Veni coronaberis_, 'Heil crowned
queene,' and the like; Polit., Religious, and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall, p.
147; Hymns to the Virgin, ed. Furnivall, pp. 1, 4. Suggested by Rev. xii.
1.
146. Koch notes that the reading _depriued_ arose from its substitution for
the less familiar form _priued_.
150. The reference is, obviously, to Gen. iii. 18; but thorns here mean
sins. Cf. 'Des espines d'iniquite'; F. text, l. 224.
158. Copied from the French, l. 239--'Ou tu a la court m'ajournes.' It
means 'fix a day for me to appear at thy court,' cite me to thy court.
159. Not in the original. Chaucer was thinking of the courts of the Common
Bench and King's Bench, as mentioned, for example, in Wyclif's Works, ed.
Arnold, iii. 215.
161. The word _Xristus_, i. e. _Christus_, is written Xpc (with a mark of
contraction) in MSS. C., Gl., Gg., and Xp[=u]s in F. Xpc is copied from the
French; but it is very common, being the usual contracted form of the Gk.
[Greek: Christos], or, in capital letters, XPICTOC, obtained by taking the
two first and the last letters. The old Greek _sigma_ was written C; as
above. De Deguileville could think of no French word beginning with X; so
he substituted for it the Greek _chi_, which resembled it in form.
163, 164. These lines answer to ll. 243, 247 of the French; 'For me He had
His side pierced; for me His blood was shed.' Observe that the word
_Christus_ has no verb following it; it is practically an objective case,
governed by _thanke_ in l. 168. 'I thank thee because of Christ and for
what He has done for me.' In l. 163, the word _suffre_ is understood from
the line above, and need not be repeated. Unfortunately, all the scribes
_have_ repeated it, to the ruin of the metre; for the line then contains
two syllables too many. However, it is better omitted. _Longius_ is
trisyllabic, and _herte_ (as in the next line) is dissyllabic. The sense
is--'to suffer His passion on the cross, and also (to suffer) that Longius
should pierce His heart, and make,' &c. _Pighte_, _made_, are in the
subjunctive. The difficulty really resides in the word _that_ in l. 161. If
Chaucer had written _eek_ instead of it, the whole could be parsed.
Koch reads '_Dreygh_ eek' for 'And eek,' in l. 163, where 'Dreygh' means
'endured.' But I do not think _Dreygh_ could be used in this connection,
with the word _that_ following it.
The story of Longius is very common; hence Chaucer readily introduced an
allusion to it, though his original has no hint of it. The name is spelt
_Longeus_ in Piers Plowman, C. xxi. 82 (and is also spelt _Longinus_). My
note on that passage says--'This story is from the Legenda Aurea, cap.
xlvii. Longinus was a blind centurion, who pierced the side of Christ; when
drops of the Sacred Blood cured his infirmity. The day of St. Longinus is
Mar. 15; see Chambers, Book of Days. The name _Longinus_ is most likely
derived from [Greek: lonchê], a lance, the word used in John xix. 34; and
the legend was easily developed from St. John's narrative. The name
Longinus first appears in the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus.' See also the
Chester Plays, ed. Wright; Cursor Mundi, p. 962; Coventry Mysteries, ed.
Halliwell, p. 334; York Mystery Plays, p. 368; Lamentation of Mary
Magdalen, st. 26; &c.
164. _Herte_ is the true M. E. genitive, from the A. S. gen. _heortan_.
_Herte blood_ occurs again in the Pardoneres Tale, C 902.
169-171. Close to the French, ll. 253-5; and l. 174 is close to l. 264 of
the same. Cf. Heb. xi. 19; Jo. i. 29; Isaiah, liii. 7.
176. This line can best be scanned by taking _That_ as standing _alone_, in
the first foot. See note to Compl. to Pite, l. 16. Koch suggests that
_our-e_ is dissyllabic; but this would make an unpleasing line; 'That yé |
ben fróm | veng'áunce | ay oú | re targe ||.' I hope this was not intended;
'fróm | veng'áun | cë áy | our' would be better.
177. The words of Zechariah (xiii. 1) are usually applied to the blood of
Christ, as in Rev. i. 5. Chaucer omits ll. 266-7 of the French.