2265. 'I swear by the soul of my mother's sire'; i. e. by Saturn (Ovid,
Fasti, vi. 285). The wisdom of Saturn is referred to in A. 2444. Tyrwhitt
altered _sires_ into _Ceres_, for which I find no authority. Wright notes
that Hl. has _sires_, and Ln. _sire_; and adds--'Ceres is of course the
word intended.' I see no evidence for it; and I do not admit that an editor
should alter all that he fails to understand.
2273. _visage_, pronounced (vizaa·j), the _e_ being elided. We still say
'to _face_ a thing out.' 'Suffolk doth not flatter, _face_, or feign'; 1
Hen. VI. v. 3. 142; and see Com. Errors, iii. 1. 6; Tam. Shrew, ii. 291;
Tw. Nt. iv. 2. 201; &c.
2279-2281. Repeated from B. 2266, 7; so also ll. 2286-2290 is taken from B.
2268, 9.
2283. Cf. The Second Nonnes Tale, G. 512.
2284. Here 'the Romayn gestes' simply means Roman history. The Gesta
Romanorum also contains a story of a devoted wife, in ch. vi; the story of
Lucretia, ch. cxxxv; and of the faithful wife of Guido, ch. clxxii. But
there are other stories of a very different character.
2300. Referring to 1 Kings, xi. 12.
2304. _ye_, i. e. ye men. So in all the seven MSS. Tyrwhitt alters it
to--That _he_ of women _wrote_. But why? Cf. D. 688-696.
2308. 'As ever I desire to keep my tresses whole.' See _Brouke_ in the
Glossary.