59. _youthe_, youth; such is the reading in MSS. E. Hn., and edd. 1532 and
1561. MS. Cm. has lost a leaf; the rest have _thought_, which gives no
sense. It is clear that the reading _thought_ arose from misreading the _y_
of _youthe_ as _þ_ (_th_). How easily this may be done appears from
Wright's remark, that the Lansdowne MS. has _youthe_, whilst, in fact, it
has _þouht_.
Tyrwhitt objects to the reading _youthe_, and proposes _slouthe_, wholly
without authority. But _youthe_, meaning 'youthful vigour,' is right
enough; I see no objection to it at all. Rather, it is simply taken from
Ovid, Ars Amat. i. 243:--
'Illic saepe _animos iuuenum_ rapuere puellae;
_Et Venus in uinis, ignis in igne fuit_.'
Only a few lines above (l. 232), _Bacchus_ occurs, and there is a reference
to _wine_, throughout the context. Cf. the Romaunt of the Rose, l. 4925:--
'For _Youthe_ set man in al folye ...
In leccherye and in outrage.'
Cf. note to l. 65.
60. Alluding to a proverbial phrase, occurring in Horace, Sat. ii. 3. 321,
viz. 'oleum adde camino'; and elsewhere.
65. This probably refers to the same passage in Ovid as is mentioned in the
note to l. 59. For we there find (l. 229):--
'Dant etiam positis aditum conuiuia mensis;
Est aliquid, praeter uina, quod inde petas ...
Vina parant animos, faciuntque caloribus aptos'; &c.
79. See A. 476, and the note. Chaucer is here thinking of the same passage
in Le Roman de la Rose. I quote a few lines (3930-46):--
'Une vielle, que Diex honnisse!
Avoit o li por li guetier,
Qui ne fesoit autre mestier
[263]
Fors espier tant solement
Qu'il ne se maine folement....
Bel-Acueil se taist et escoute
Por la vielle que il redoute,
Et n'est si hardis qu'il se moeve,
Que la vielle en li n'aperçoeve
Aucune fole contenance,
Qu'el scet toute la vielle dance.'
See the English version in vol. i. p. 205, ll. 4285-4300.
82. See the footnote for another reading. The line there given may also be
genuine. It is deficient in the first foot.
85. This is like our proverb:--'Set a thief to catch [_or_ take] a thief.'
An old poacher makes a good gamekeeper.