1067. _surquidrie_, too great confidence; see 403 above, and the note.
1069. From S. Gregorii Moralium lib. xxxiv. cap. xix. § 36 (ed. Migne, vol.
76, col. 738):--'Ad districti ergo iudicis iustitiam pertinet, ut nunquam
careant supplicio, quorum mens in hac uita nunquam uoluit carere peccato.'
1073. There is here a sad oversight. For 'the _seconde_ wanhope,' we should
read 'the _same_ wanhope.' The _second_ kind of despair is discussed in
1074. All the MSS. have this mistake.
1080. _poverte espirituel_; this refers to the 'poor in spirit'; Matt. v.
3. _lowenesse_, i. e. meekness; Matt. v. 5. _hunger_; Matt. v. 6.
_travaille_; Matt. v. 4, 10, 11. _lyf_; Rom. viii. 13. This concluding
passage may be compared with the concluding passage of the Ayenbite, p.
261. [475]
1081. This final paragraph is variously headed in the MSS. E. has: 'Here
taketh the makere of this book his leue.' So also Cm. So also Pt., preceded
by 'Explicit fabula Rectoris.' Hl. has: 'Preces de Chauceres.' The words
'this litel tretis' refer, of course, to the Persones Tale _as originally
written_, so that some part of this concluding address was certainly added
afterwards. The interpolation (due to Chaucer himself, if we may trust the
evidence) probably extends (as Tyrwhitt suggested) from the words _and
namely_ in 1085 to the words _salvacioun of my soule_ in 1090. This
accounts for the unusual length of the sentence in 1084-1092. The addition
was made at the time of revision, when Chaucer had made up his mind that
the Persones Tale was to be the last; and he took the opportunity of
writing the _conclusion_ of the work before it was, in reality, completed.
This accounts for the whole matter.
1083. Alluding to Rom. xv. 4.
1085. _I revoke in my retracciouns_, I recall by retracting what I may have
said amiss. There is no need to lay an undue stress on this expression, as
if the author had been compelled to denounce and retract most of his works.
We may fairly understand the expression 'thilke that sownen into sinne' as
applicable to _all_ the works, and not to the Tales alone. Whilst thanking
God for his devotional works, it was not out of place for him to 'recall'
his more secular ones; for this expression seems to mean no more than that
he could not claim that they were written in God's service. To 'revoke'
cannot here mean 'to withdraw,' because the poems named were _not_
withdrawn, nor was there any way in which such a result could have been
brought about. Cf. vol. iii. p. 503.
1086. _The book of the xix. Ladies_ is, of course, the Legend of Good
Women. For _xix._, most MSS. have 'xxv.'; MS. Harl. 1758 has '25'; MS. Ln.
has 'xv.'; and MS. Hl. has '29'; but we know, from the Poem itself, that
'xix.' is correct. Numbers, as the various readings shew, easily went
wrong; see note to 565 above.
'The book of seint Valentynes day of the Parlement of Briddes' is all one
title; the poem itself is well known.
1087. 'The book of the Lion' is now lost; most likely, as Tyrwhitt
suggests, it was a translation from, or adaptation of, Le Dit du Lione, a
poem by G. de Machault, composed in the year 1342. It is printed among
Machault's poems. Lydgate, in his Prologue to the Falls of Princes,
ascribes this work to Chaucer in the words:--
'And of the Lyon a boke he did wryte.'
But it is probable that Lydgate is merely quoting from the present passage,
and knew no more of the matter than we do.
I may here note that Tyrwhitt expresses his astonishment that Chaucer does
not expressly 'revoke' his translation of the Romaunt of the Rose; but it
is sufficiently indicated by the words 'and namely [i. e. _especially_] of
my _translacions_'; see 1085. [476]
1088. _Boece_, i. e. his translation of Boethius. _Legendes_, i. e. the
Legend of St. Cecilia and the Legend of the boy-saint in the Prioresses
Tale. _Omelies_, homilies; such as the Parson's Tale and the Tale of
Melibeus. _moralitee and devocioun_; such as Chaucer's A B C, and his
Balades on Fortune, Truth, Gentilesse, and Lack of Steadfastness; also the
Monkes Tale, which is expressly called 'a Tragedie.' The Pardoneres Tale,
moreover, is called 'an honest thing'; and even of the Nonnes Prestes Tale
we are bidden, at the end, to 'take the moralitee.'
* * * * *
[477]