N.B. The spellings between marks of parenthesis indicate the
pronunciation, according to the scheme given in the Introduction.
References to other lines in the Canterbury Tales are denoted by the
Group and line. Thus 'B. 134' means Group B, l. 134, i. e. the first
line in the Man of Lawes Tale.
Notes taken from editions by Tyrwhitt, Wright, Bell, and Morris, are
usually marked accordingly; sometimes T. denotes Tyrwhitt, and M.,
Morris.
1. In the Man of Law's Prologue, B. 1-6, there is definite mention of the
18th day of April. The reference is, in that passage, to the second day of
the pilgrimage. Consequently, the allusion in ll. 19-23 below is to April
16, and in l. 822 to April 17. The year may be supposed to be 1387 (vol.
iii. p. 373).
'When that April, with his sweet showers.' _Aprille_ is here masculine,
like Lat. _Aprilis_; cf. l. 5.
_shoures_ (shuu·rez), showers; pl. of _shour_, A.S. _sc[=u]r_ (skuur). The
etymology of all words of this character, which are still in use, can be
found by looking out the modern form of the word in my Etymological
Dictionary. I need not repeat such information here.
_sote_, sweet, is another form of _swete_, which occurs just below in l. 5.
The _e_ is not, in this case, the mark of the plural, as the forms _sote_,
_swete_ are dissyllabic, and take a final _e_ in the singular also. _Sote_
is a less correct form of _swote_; and the variation between the long _o_
in _swote_ and the long _e_ in _swete_ is due to confusion between the
adverbial and adjectival uses. _Swote_ corresponds to A.S. _sw[=o]t_, adv.,
sweetly, and _swete_ to A.S. _sw[=e]te_, adj., sweet. The latter exhibits
mutation of _[=o]_ to _[=e]_; cf. mod. E. _goose_, pl. _geese_ (A.S.
_g[=o]s_, pl. _g[=e]s_).
In this Introduction, Chaucer seems to have had in his mind the [2] passage
which begins Book IV. of Guido delle Colonne's Historia Troiae, which is as
follows:--'Tempus erat quo sol maturans sub obliquo zodiaci circulo cursum
suum sub signo iam intrauerat Arietis ... celebratur equinoxium primi
veris, tunc cum incipit tempus blandiri mortalibus in aeris serenitate
intentis, tunc cum dissolutis ymbribus Zephiri flantes molliciter (_sic_)
crispant aquas ... tunc cum ad summitates arborum et ramorum humiditates ex
terre gremio examplantes extollunt in eis; quare insultant semina, crescunt
segetes, virent prata, variorum colorum floribus illustrata ... tunc cum
ornatur terra graminibus, cantant volucres, et in dulcis armonie modulamine
citharizant. Tunc quasi medium mensis Aprilis effluxerat'; &c.
We may also note the passage in Vincent of Beauvais, _Speculum Naturale_,
lib. xv. c. 66, entitled _De Vere_:--'Sol vero ad radices herbarum et
arborum penetrans, humorem quem ibi coadunatum hyeme reperit, attrahit;
herba vero, vel arbor suam inanitionem sentiens a terra attrahit humorem,
quem ibi sui similitudine adiuuante calore Solis transmutat, sicque
reuiuiscit; inde est quod quidam mensis huius temporis _Aprilis_ dicitur,
quia tunc terra praedicto modo aperitur.'
2. _droght-e_, dryness; A. S. _dr[=u]gathe_; essentially dissyllabic, but
the final _e_ is elided. Pron. (druuht'). _perced_, pierced, _rot-e_, dat.
of _root_, a root; Icel. _r[=o]t_; written for _roote_. The double _o_ is
not required to shew vowel-length, when a single consonant and an _e_
follow.
4. _vertu_, efficacy, productive agency, vital energy. 'And bathed every
vein (of the tree or herb) in such moisture, by means of which quickening
power the flower is generated.' Pron. (vertü').
5. _Zephirus_, the zephyr, or west wind. Cf. Chaucer's Book of the Duchess,
l. 402, and the note. There are two more references to Zephirus in the
translation of Boethius, bk. i. met. 5; bk. ii. met. 3.