958. This reading means--'I knew in her no other defect'; which, as _no_
defect has been mentioned, seems inconsistent. Perhaps we should read _no
maner lak_, i. e. no 'sort of defect in her (to cause) that all her limbs
should not be proportionate.'
964. A common illustration. See Rom. de la Rose, 7448; Alexander and
Dindimus, ll. 233-5. Duke Francesco Maria had, for one of his badges, a
lighted candle by which others are lighted; with the motto _Non degener
addam_, i. e. I will give without loss; see Mrs. Palliser's Historic
Devices, p. 263. And cf. Cant. Ta. D 333-5.
973. The accents seem to fall on _She_ and _have_, the _e_ in _wold-e_
being elided. Otherwise, read: She wóld-e háv' be.
982. Liddell and Scott explain Gk. [Greek: phoinix] as 'the fabulous
Egyptian bird phoenix, first in Hesiod, Fragment 50. 4; then in Herodotus,
ii. 73.' Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Naturale, bk. 16. c. 74, refers us
to Isidore, Ambrosius (lib. 5), Solinus, Pliny (lib. 10), and Liber de
Naturis Rerum; see Solinus, Polyhistor. c. 33. 11; A. Neckam, De Naturis
Rerum, c. 34. Philip de Thaun describes it in his Bestiaire, l. 1089; see
Popular Treatises on Science, ed. Wright, p. 113. 'The Phoenix of Arabia
passes all others. Howbeit, I cannot tell what to make of him; and first of
all, whether it be a tale or no, that there is neuer but one of them in all
the world, and the same not commonly seen'; Holland, tr. of Pliny, bk. 10.
c. 2.
'Tous jors est-il ung seul _Fenis_'; &c.
Rom. de la Rose, 16179.
'Una est, quæ reparet, seque ipsa reseminet, ales;
Assyrii phoenica uocant.'--Ovid, Met. xv. 392.
Scan: Th' soléyn | feníx | of A | rabye ||. Cf. 'Com la fenix souleine est
au sejour En Arabie': Gower, Balade 35.
987. Chaucer refers to Esther again; e.g. in his Merchant's Tale (E 1371,
1744); Leg. of G. Women, prol. 250; and in the Tale of Melibee (B 2291).