Chapter IV: Book V: Boethius asks questions concerning Chance (pr. 1). An example

from the courses of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates (met. 1). Boethius
asks questions concerning Free-will (pr. 2). God, who sees all things, is
the true Sun (met. 2). Boethius is puzzled by the consideration of God's
Predestination and man's Free-will (pr. 3). Men are too eager to inquire
into the unknown (met. 3). Philosophy replies to Boethius on the subjects
of Predestination, Necessity, and the nature of true Knowledge (pr. 4);
on the impressions received by the mind (met. 4); and on the powers of
Sense and Imagination (pr. 5). Beasts look downward to the earth, but man
is upright, and looks up to heaven (met. 5). This world is not eternal,
but only God is such; whose prescience is not subject to necessity, nor
altered by human intentions. He upholds the good, and condemns the
wicked; therefore be constant in eschewing vice, and devote all thy
powers to the love of virtue (pr. 6).

§ 9. It is unnecessary to enlarge here upon the importance of this treatise, and its influence upon medieval literature. Mr. Stewart, in the work already referred to, has an excellent chapter 'On Some Ancient Translations' of it. The number of translations that still exist, in various languages, sufficiently testify to its extraordinary popularity in the middle ages. Copies of it are found, for example, in Old High German by Notker, and in later German by Peter of Kastl; in Anglo-French by Simun de Fraisne; in continental French by Jean de Meun[10], Pierre de Paris, Jehan de Cis, Frere Renaut de Louhans, and by two anonymous authors; in Italian, by Alberto della Piagentina and several others; in Greek, by Maximus Planudes; and in Spanish, by Fra Antonio Ginebreda; besides various versions in later times. But the most interesting, to us, are those in English, which are somewhat numerous, and are worthy of some special notice. I shall here dismiss, as improbable and unnecessary, a suggestion sometimes made, that Chaucer may have consulted some French version in the hope of obtaining assistance from it; there is no sure trace of anything of the kind, and the internal evidence is, in my opinion, decisively against it.

§ 10. The earliest English translation is that by king Ælfred, which is particularly interesting from the fact that the royal author frequently deviates from his original, and introduces various notes, explanations, and allusions of his own. The opening chapter, for example, is really a preface, giving a brief account of Theodoric and of the circumstances which led to the imprisonment of Boethius. This work exists only in two MSS., neither being of early date, viz. MS. Cotton, Otho A VI, and MS. Bodley NE. C. 3. 11. It has been thrice edited; by Rawlinson, in 1698; by J. S. Cardale, in 1829; and by S. Fox, in 1864. The last of these includes a modern English translation, and forms one of the volumes of Bohn's Antiquarian Library; so that it is a cheap and accessible work. Moreover, it contains an alliterative verse translation of most of the _Metres_ contained in Boethius (excluding the _Proses_), which is also attributed to Ælfred in a brief metrical preface; but whether this ascription is to be relied upon, or not, is a difficult question, which has hardly as yet been decided. A summary of the arguments, for and against Ælfred's authorship, will be found in Wülker's _Grundriss zur Geschichte der angelsächsischen Litteratur_, pp. 421-435.

§ 11. I may here mention that there is a manuscript copy of this work by Boethius, in the original Latin, in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, No. 214, which contains a considerable number of Anglo-Saxon glosses. A description of this MS., by Prof. J. W. Bright and myself, is printed in the American Journal of Philology, vol. v, no. 4.

§ 12. The next English translation, in point of date, is Chaucer's; concerning which I have more to say below.

§ 13. In the year 1410, we meet with a _verse_ translation of the whole treatise, ascribed by Warton (Hist. E. Poetry, § 20, ed. 1871, iii. 39) to John Walton, Capellanus, or John the Chaplain, a canon of Oseney. 'In the British Museum,' says Warton, 'there is a correct MS. on parchment[11] of Walton's translation of Boethius; and the margin is filled throughout with the Latin text, written by Chaundler above mentioned [i. e. Thomas Chaundler, among other preferments dean of the king's chapel and of Hereford Cathedral, chancellor of Wells, and successively warden of Wykeham's two colleges at Winchester and Oxford.] There is another less elegant MS. in the same collection[12]. But at the end is this note:--'Explicit liber Boecij de Consolatione Philosophie de Latino in Anglicum translatus A.D. 1410, per Capellanum Ioannem. This is the beginning of the prologue:--"In suffisaunce of cunnyng and witte[13]." And of the translation:--"Alas, I wrecch, that whilom was in welth." I have seen a third copy in the library of Lincoln cathedral[14], and a fourth in Baliol college[15]. This is the translation of Boethius printed in the monastery of Tavistock in 1525[16], and in octave stanzas. This translation was made at the request of Elizabeth Berkeley.'

Todd, in his Illustrations of Gower and Chaucer, p. xxxi, mentions another MS. 'in the possession of Mr. G. Nicol, his Majesty's bookseller,' in which the above translation is differently attributed in the colophon, which ends thus: 'translatus anno d_omi_ni millesimo ccccx^o. per Capellanum Iohannem Tebaud, alius Watyrbeche.' This can hardly be correct[17].

I may here note that this verse translation has _two_ separate Prologues. One Prologue gives a short account of Boethius and his times, and is extant in MS. Gg. iv. 18 in the Cambridge University Library. An extract from the other is quoted below. MS. E Museo 53, in the Bodleian Library, contains both of them.

§ 14. As to the work itself, Metre 1 of Book i. and Metre 5 of the same are printed entire in Wülker's Altenglisches Lesebuch, ii. 56-9. In one of the metrical prologues to the whole work the following passage occurs, which I copy from MS. Royal 18 A xiii:--

'I have herd spek and sumwhat haue y-seyne,
Of diuerse men[18], that wounder subtyllye,
In metir sum, and sum in prosë pleyne,
This book translated haue[19] suffishantlye
In-to[20] Englissh tongë, word for word, wel nye[21];
Bot I most vse the wittes that I haue;
Thogh I may noght do so, yit noght-for-thye,
With helpe of god, the sentence schall I saue.

To Chaucer, that is floure of rethoryk
In Englisshe tong, and excellent poete,
This wot I wel, no-thing may I do lyk,
Thogh so that I of makynge entyrmete:
And Gower, that so craftily doth trete,
As in his book, of moralitee,
Thogh I to theym in makyng am vnmete,
[Gh]it most I schewe it forth, that is in me.'

This is an early tribute to the excellence of Chaucer and Gower as poets.

§ 15. When we examine Walton's translation a little more closely, it soon becomes apparent that he has largely availed himself of Chaucer's prose translation, which he evidently kept before him as a model of language. For example, in Bk. ii. met. 5, l. 16, Chaucer has the expression:--'tho weren the cruel clariouns ful hust and ful stille.' This reappears in one of Walton's lines in the form:--'Tho was ful huscht the cruel clarioun.' This is poetry made easy, no doubt.

In order to exhibit this a little more fully, I here transcribe the whole of Walton's translation of this metre, which may be compared with Chaucer's rendering at pp. 40, 41 below. I print in italics all the words which are common to the two versions, so as to shew this curious result, viz. that Walton was here more indebted to Chaucer, than Chaucer, when writing his poem of 'The Former Age,' was to himself. The MS. followed is the Royal MS. mentioned above (p. xvi).

BOETHIUS: BOOK II: METER V.

A VERSE TRANSLATION BY JOHN WALTON.

Full wonder _blisseful was_ that rather _age_,
When mortal men couthe _holde hem_-selven[22] _payed_
To fede hem-selve[23] with-oute suche _outerage_,
_With mete that trewe feeldes_[24] have arrayed;
_With acorne[s] thaire hunger_ was alayed,
And so thei couthe sese thaire talent;
Thei had[den] yit no queynt[e] craft assayed,
As _clarry_ for to _make_ ne _pyment_[25].

_To de[y]en purpure couthe thei noght_ be-thynke,
_The white flees, with venym Tyryen_;
_The rennyng_ ryver yaf hem lusty drynke,
And _holsom sleep the[y]_ took _vpon the_ grene.
_The pynes_, that so full of braunches been,
That was thaire hous, to kepe[n] _vnder schade_.
_The see[26] to kerve_ no _schippes_ were there seen;
Ther was no man that _marchaundise_ made.

They liked not to sailen vp and doun,
But kepe hem-selven[27] where thei weren bred;
_Tho was ful huscht the cruel clarioun_,
For _eger hate_ ther was _no blood I-sched_,
Ne therwith was non _armour_ yet be-bled;
_For_ in that tyme who durst have be so _wood_
Suche bitter _woundes_ that he nold have dred,
With-outen réward, for to lese his _blood_.

_I wold oure tyme_ myght _turne_ certanly,
And wise[28] _maneres_ alwey with vs dwelle;
_But love of hauyng brenneth_ feruently,
_More_ fersere _than the_ verray _fuyre_ of helle.
_Allas!_ who _was_ that man _that_ wold him melle
With[29] _gold and_ gemmes that were _kevered_ thus[30],
_That first_ began to myne; I can not telle,
But that he fond _a perel[31] precious_.

§ 16. MS. Auct. F. 3. 5, in the Bodleian Library, contains a _prose_ translation, different from Chaucer's. After this, the next translation seems to be one by George Colvile; the title is thus given by Lowndes: 'Boetius de Consolatione Philosophiæ, translated by George Coluile, alias Coldewel. London: by John Cawoode; 1556. 4to.' This work was dedicated to Queen Mary, and reprinted in 1561; and again, without date.

There is an unprinted translation, in hexameters and other metres, in the British Museum (MS. Addit. 11401), by Bracegirdle, temp. Elizabeth. See Warton, ed. Hazlitt, iii. 39, note 6.

Lowndes next mentions a translation by J. T., printed at London in 1609, 12mo.

A translation 'Anglo-Latine expressus per S. E. M.' was printed at London in quarto, in 1654, according to Hazlitt's Hand-book to Popular Literature.

Next, a translation into English verse by H. Conningesbye, in 1664, 12mo.

The next is thus described: 'Of the Consolation of Philosophy, made English and illustrated with Notes by the Right Hon. Richard (Graham) Lord Viscount Preston. London; 1695, 8vo. Second edition, corrected; London; 1712, 8vo.'

A translation by W. Causton was printed in London in 1730; 8vo.

A translation by the Rev. Philip Ridpath, printed in London in 1785, 8vo., is described by Lowndes as 'an excellent translation with very useful notes, and a life of Boethius, drawn up with great accuracy and fidelity.'

A translation by R. Duncan was printed at Edinburgh in 1789, 8vo.; and an anonymous translation, described by Lowndes as 'a pitiful performance,' was printed in London in 1792, 8vo.

In a list of works which the Early English Text Society proposes shortly to print, we are told that 'Miss Pemberton has sent to press her edition of the fragments of Queen Elizabeth's Englishings (in the Record Office) from Boethius, Plutarch, &c.'

§ 17. I now return to the consideration of Chaucer's translation, as printed in the present volume.

I do not think the question as to the probable date of its composition need detain us long. It is so obviously connected with 'Troilus' and the 'House of Fame,' which it probably did not long precede, that we can hardly be wrong in dating it, as said above, about 1377-1380; or, in round numbers, about 1380 or a little earlier. I quite agree with Mr. Stewart (Essay, p. 226), that, 'it is surely most reasonable to connect its composition with those poems which contain the greatest number of recollections and imitations of his original;' and I see no reason for ascribing it, with Professor Morley (English Writers, v. 144), to Chaucer's youth. Even Mr. Stewart is so incautious as to suggest that Chaucer's 'acquaintance with the works of the Roman philosopher ... would seem to date from about the year 1369, when he wrote the Deth of Blaunche.' When we ask for some tangible evidence of this statement, we are simply referred to the following passages in that poem, viz. the mention of 'Tityus (588); of Fortune the debonaire (623); Fortune the monster (627); Fortune's capriciousness and her rolling wheel (634, 642); Tantalus (708); the mind compared to a clean parchment (778); and Alcibiades (1055-6);' see Essay, p. 267. In every one of these instances, I believe the inference to be fallacious, and that Chaucer got all these illustrations, _at second hand_, from Le Roman de la Rose. As a matter of fact, they are all to be found there; and I find, on reference, that I have, in most instances, already given the parallel passages in my notes. However, to make the matter clearer, I repeat them here.

Book Duch. 588. Cf. Comment li juisier _Ticius_
S'efforcent ostoir de mangier;
Rom. Rose, 19506.
Si cum tu fez, las _Sisifus_, &c.;
R. R. 19499.

Book Duch. 623. The dispitouse debonaire,
That scorneth many a creature.

I cannot give the exact reference, because Jean de Meun's description of the various moods of Fortune extends to a portentous length. Chaucer reproduces the general impression which a perusal of the poem leaves on the mind. However, take ll. 4860-62 of Le Roman:--

Que miex vaut asses et profite
Fortune _perverse et contraire_
Que la mole et _la debonnaire_.

Surely 'debonaire' in Chaucer is rather French than Latin. And see _debonaire_ in the E. version of the Romaunt, l. 5412.

Book Duch. 627. She is the monstres heed y-wryen,
As _filth over y-strawed with floures_.

Si di, par ma parole ovrir,
Qui vodroit _un femier covrir_
De dras de soie ou _de floretes_; R. R. 8995.

As the second of the above lines from the Book of the Duchesse is obviously taken from _Le Roman_, it is probable that the first is also; but it is a hard task to discover the particular word _monstre_ in this vast poem. However, I find it, in l. 4917, with reference to Fortune; and her _wheel_ is not far off, six lines above.

B. D. 634, 642. Fortune's capriciousness is treated of by Jean de Meun at intolerable length, ll. 4863-8492; and elsewhere. As to her wheel, it is continually rolling through his verses; see ll. 4911, 5366, 5870, 5925, 6172, 6434, 6648, 6880, &c.

B. D. 708. Cf. Et de fain avec _Tentalus_; R. R. 19482.

B. D. 778. Not from Le Roman, nor from Boethius, but from Machault's _Remède de Fortune_, as pointed out by M. Sandras long ago; see my note.

B. D. 1055-6. Cf. Car le cors Alcipiades
Qui de biauté avoit adés ...
_Ainsinc le raconte Boece_; R. R. 8981.

See my note on the line; and note the spelling of _Alcipiades_ with a _p_, as in the English MSS.

We thus see that all these passages (except l. 778) are really taken from Le Roman, not to mention many more, already pointed out by Dr. Köppel (_Anglia_, xiv. 238). And, this being so, we may safely conclude that they were _not_ taken from Boethius directly. Hence we may further infer that, in all probability, Chaucer, in 1369, was not very familiar with Boethius in the Latin original. And this accounts at once for the fact that he seldom quotes Boethius at first hand, perhaps not at all, in any of his earlier poems, such as the Complaint unto Pite, the Complaint of Mars, or Anelida and Arcite, or the Lyf of St. Cecilie. I see no reason for supposing that he had closely studied Boethius before (let us say) 1375; though it is extremely probable, as was said above, that Jean de Meun inspired him with the idea of reading it, to see whether it was really worth translating, as the French poet said it was.

§ 18. When we come to consider the style and manner in which Chaucer has executed his self-imposed task, we must first of all make some allowance for the difference between the scholarship of his age and of our own. One great difference is obvious, though constantly lost sight of, viz. that the teaching in those days was almost entirely oral, and that the student had to depend upon his memory to an extent which would now be regarded by many as extremely inconvenient. Suppose that, in reading Boethius, Chaucer comes across the phrase 'ueluti quidam clauus atque gubernaculum' (Bk. iii. pr. 12, note to l. 55), and does not remember the sense of _clauus_; what is to be done? It is quite certain, though this again is frequently lost sight of, that he had no access to a convenient and well-arranged Latin Dictionary, but only to such imperfect glossaries as were then in use. Almost the only resource, unless he had at hand a friend more learned than himself, was to guess. He guesses accordingly; and, taking _clauus_ to mean much the same thing as _clauis_, puts down in his translation: 'and he is as a _keye_ and a stere.' Some mistakes of this character were almost inevitable; and it must not greatly surprise us to be told, that the 'inaccuracy and infelicity' of Chaucer's translation 'is not that of an inexperienced Latin scholar, but rather of one who was no Latin scholar at all,' as Mr. Stewart says in his Essay, p. 226. It is useful to bear this in mind, because a similar lack of accuracy is characteristic of Chaucer's other works also; and we must not always infer that emendation is necessary, when we find in his text some curious error.

§ 19. The next passage in Mr. Stewart's Essay so well expresses the state of the case, that I do not hesitate to quote it at length. 'Given (he says) a man who is sufficiently conversant with a language to read it fluently without paying too much heed to the precise value of participle and preposition, who has the wit and the sagacity to grasp the meaning of his author, but not the intimate knowledge of his style and manner necessary to a right appreciation of either, and--especially if he set himself to write in an uncongenial and unfamiliar form--he will assuredly produce just such a result as Chaucer has done.

'We must now glance (he adds) at the literary style of the translation. As Ten Brink has observed, we can here see as clearly as in any work of the middle ages what a high cultivation is requisite for the production of a good prose. Verse, and not prose, is the natural vehicle for the expression of every language in its infancy, and it is certainly not in prose that Chaucer's genius shews to best advantage. The restrictions of metre were indeed to him as silken fetters, while the freedom of prose only served to embarrass him; just as a bird that has been born and bred in captivity, whose traditions are all domestic, finds itself at a sad loss when it escapes from its cage and has to fall back on its own resources for sustenance. In reading "Boece," we have often as it were to pause and look on while Chaucer has a desperate wrestle with a tough sentence; but though now he may appear to be down, with a victorious knee upon him, next moment he is on his feet again, disclaiming defeat in a gloss which makes us doubt whether his adversary had so much the best of it after all. But such strenuous endeavour, even when it is crowned with success, is strange in a writer one of whose chief charms is the delightful ease, the complete absence of effort, with which he says his best things. It is only necessary to compare the passages in Boethius in the prose version with the same when they reappear in the poems, to realise how much better they look in their verse dress. Let the reader take Troilus' soliloquy on Freewill and Predestination (Bk. iv. ll. 958-1078), and read it side by side with the corresponding passage in "Boece" (Bk. v. proses 2 and 3), and he cannot fail to feel the superiority of the former to the latter. With what clearness and precision does the argument unfold itself, how close is the reasoning, how vigorous and yet graceful is the language! It is to be regretted that Chaucer did not do for all the Metra of the "Consolation" what he did for the fifth of the second book. A solitary gem like "The Former Age" makes us long for a whole set[32]. Sometimes, whether unconsciously or of set purpose, it is difficult to decide, his prose slips into verse:--

It lyketh me to shewe, by subtil song,
With slakke and délitáble soun of strenges (Bk. iii. met. 2. 1).

Whan Fortune, with a proud right hand (Bk. ii. met. 1. 1)[33].'

The reader should also consult Ten Brink's History of English Literature, Book iv. sect. 7. I here give a useful extract.

'This version is complete, and faithful in all essential points. Chaucer had no other purpose than to disclose, if possible wholly, the meaning of this famous work to his contemporaries; and notwithstanding many errors in single points, he has fairly well succeeded in reproducing the sense of the original. He often employs for this purpose periphrastic turns, and for the explanation of difficult passages, poetical figures, mythological and historical allusions; and he even incorporates a number of notes in his text. His version thus becomes somewhat diffuse, and, in the undeveloped state of prose composition so characteristic of that age, often quite unwieldy. But there is no lack of warmth, and even of a certain colouring....

'The language of the translation shews many a peculiarity; viz. numerous Latinisms, and even Roman idioms in synthesis, inflexion, or syntax, which are either wholly absent or at least found very rarely in Chaucer's poems. The labour of this translation proved a school for the poet, from which his powers of speech came forth not only more elevated but more self-reliant; and above all, with a greater aptitude to express thoughts of a deeper nature.'

§ 20. Most of the instances in which Chaucer's rendering is inaccurate, unhappy, or insufficient are pointed out in the notes. I here collect some examples, many of which have already been remarked upon by Dr. Morris and Mr. Stewart.

i. met. 1. 3. rendinge Muses: 'lacerae Camenae.'

" 20. unagreable dwellinges[34]: 'ingratas moras.'

i. pr. 1. 49. til it be at the laste: 'usque in exitium;' (but see the note).

i. pr. 3. 2. I took hevene: 'hausi caelum.'

i. met. 4. 5. hete: 'aestum;' (see the note). So again, in met. 7. 3.

i. pr. 4. 83. for nede of foreine moneye: 'alienae aeris necessitate.'

i. pr. 4. 93. lykned: 'astrui;' (see the note).

i. met. 5. 9. cometh eft ayein hir used cours: 'Solitas iterum mutet habenas;' (see the note).

ii. pr. 1. 22. entree: 'adyto;' (see the note).

ii. pr. 1. 45. use hir maneres: 'utere moribus.'

ii. pr. 5. 10. to hem that despenden it: 'effundendo.'

" 11. to thilke folk that mokeren it: 'coaceruando.'

" 90. subgit: 'sepositis;' (see the note).

ii. met. 6. 21. _the gloss is wrong_; (see the note).

ii. met. 7. 20. cruel day: 'sera dies;' (see the note).

iii. pr. 2. 57. birefte awey: 'adferre.' Here MS. C. has _afferre_, and Chaucer seems to have resolved this into _ab-ferre_.

iii. pr. 3. 48. foreyne: 'forenses.'

iii. pr. 4. 42. many maner dignitees of consules: 'multiplici consulatu.'

iii. pr. 4. 64. of usaunces: 'utentium.'

iii. pr. 8. 11. anoyously: 'obnoxius;' (see the note).

" 29. of a beest that highte lynx: 'Lynceis;' (see the note).

iii. pr. 9. 16. Wenest thou that he, that hath nede of power, that him ne lakketh no-thing? 'An tu arbitraris quod nihilo indigeat egere potentia?' On this Mr. Stewart remarks that 'it is easy to see that _indigeat_ and _egere_ have changed places.' To me, it is not quite easy; for the senses of the M.E. _nede_ and _lakken_ are very slippery. Suppose we make them change places, and read:--'Wenest thou that he, that hath lak of power, that him ne nedeth no-thing?' This may be better, but it is not wholly satisfactory.

iii. pr.9. 39-41. that he ... yif him nedeth = whether he needeth. A very clumsy passage; see the Latin quoted in the note.

iii. pr. 10. 165. the soverein fyn and the cause: 'summa, cardo, atque caussa.'

iii. pr. 12. 55, 67. a keye: 'clauus;' and again, 'clauo.'

" 74. a yok of misdrawinges: 'detrectantium iugum.'

" 75. the savinge of obedient thinges: 'obtemperantium
salus.'

iii. pr. 12. 136. the whiche proeves drawen to hem-self hir feith and hir acord, everich of hem of other: 'altero ex altero fidem trahente ... probationibus.' (Not well expressed.)

iii. met. 12. 5. the wodes, moveable, to rennen; and had maked the riveres, &c.: 'Siluas currere, mobiles Amnes,' &c.

iii. met. 17-19. Obscure and involved.

iv. pr. 1. 22. of wikkede felounes: 'facinorum.'

iv. pr. 2. 97. Iugement: 'indicium' (_misread as_ iudicium).

iv. met. 7. 15. empty: 'immani;' (_misread as_ inani).

v. pr. 1. 3. ful digne by auctoritee: 'auctoritate dignissima.'

" 34. prince: 'principio.'

" 57. the abregginge of fortuit hap: 'fortuiti caussae compendii.'

v. pr. 4. 30. by grace of position (_or_ possessioun): 'positionis gratia.'

v. pr. 4. 56. right as we trowen: 'quasi uero credamus.'

v. met. 5. 6. by moist fleeinge: 'liquido uolatu.'

§ 21. In the case of a few supposed errors, as pointed out by Mr. Stewart, there remains something to be said on the other side. I note the following instances.

i. pr. 6. 28. Lat. 'uelut hiante ualli robore.' Here Mr. Stewart quotes the reading of MS. A., viz. 'so as the strengthe of the paleys schynyng is open.' But the English text in that MS. is corrupt. The correct reading is 'palis chyning;' where _palis_ means _palisade_, and translates _ualli_; and _chyning is open_ means _is gaping open_, and translates _hiante_.

ii. pr. 5. 16. Lat. 'largiendi usu.' The translation has: 'by usage of large yevinge _of him that hath yeven it_.' I fail to see much amiss; for the usual sense of _large_ in M. E. is _liberal_, _bounteous_, _lavish_. Of course we must not substitute the modern sense without justification.

ii. pr. 5. 35. 'of the laste beautee' translates Lat. 'postremae pulcritudinis.' For this, see my note on p. 431.

ii. pr. 7. 38. Lat. 'tum commercii insolentia.' Chaucer has: 'what for defaute of unusage and entrecomuninge of marchaundise.' There is not much amiss; but MS. A. omits the word _and_ after _unusage_, which of course makes nonsense of the passage.

ii. met. 8. 6. Lat. 'Ut fluctus auidum mare Certo fine coerceat.' Chaucer has: 'that the see, greedy to flowen, constreyned with a certein ende hise floodes.' Mr. Stewart understands 'greedy to flowen' to refer to 'fluctus auidum.' It seems to me that this was merely Chaucer's first idea of the passage, and that he afterwards meant 'hise floodes' to translate 'fluctus,' but forgot to strike out 'to flowen.' I do not defend the translation.

iii. pr. 11. 86. Lat. 'sede;' Eng. 'sete.' This is quite right. Mr. Stewart quotes the Eng. version as having 'feete,' but this is only a corrupt reading, though found in the best MS. Any one who is acquainted with M. E. MSS. will easily guess that 'feete' is merely mis-copied from 'seete,' with a long _s_; and, indeed, _sete_ is the reading of the black-letter editions. There is a blunder here, certainly; only it is not the author's, but due to the scribes.

iv. pr. 6. 176. Lat. 'quidam me quoque excellentior:' Eng. 'a philosophre, the more excellent by me.' The M. E. use of _by_ is ambiguous; it frequently means 'in comparison with.'

v. met. 5. 14. Lat. 'male dissipis:' Eng. 'wexest yvel out of thy wit.' In this case, _wexest out of thy wit_ translates _dissipis_; and _yvel_, which is here an adverb, translates _male_.

Of course we must also make allowances for the variations in Chaucer's Latin MS. from the usually received text. Here we are much assisted by MS. C., which, as explained below, appears to contain a copy of the very text which he consulted, and helps to settle several doubtful points. To take two examples. In Book ii. met. 5. 17, Chaucer has 'ne hadde nat deyed yit _armures_,' where the usual Lat. text has 'tinxerat _arua_.' But many MSS. have _arma_; and, of these, MS. C. is one.

Once more, in Book ii. met. 2. 11, Chaucer has 'sheweth _other_ gapinges,' where the usual Lat. text has '_Altos_ pandit hiatus.' But some MSS. have _Alios_; and, of these, MS. C. is one.

§ 22. After all, the chief point of interest about Chaucer's translation of Boethius is the influence that this labour exercised upon his later work, owing to the close familiarity with the text which he thus acquired. I have shewn that we must not expect to find such influence upon his earliest writings; and that, in the case of the Book of the Duchesse, it affected him at second hand, through Jean de Meun. But in other poems, viz. Troilus, the House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, some of the Balades, and in the Canterbury Tales, the influence of Boethius is frequently observable; and we may usually suppose such influence to have been direct and immediate; nevertheless, we should always keep an eye on Le Roman de la Rose, for Jean de Meun was, in like manner, influenced in no slight degree by the same work. I have often taken an opportunity of pointing out, in my Notes to Chaucer, passages of this character; and I find that Mr. Stewart, with praiseworthy diligence, has endeavoured to give (in Appendix B, following his Essay, at p. 260) 'An Index of Passages in Chaucer which seem to have been suggested by the De Consolatione Philosophiae.' Very useful, in connection with this subject, is the list of passages in which Chaucer seems to have been indebted to Le Roman de la Rose, as given by Dr. E. Köppel in _Anglia_, vol. xiv. 238-265. Another most useful help is the comparison between Troilus and Boccaccio's _Filostrato_, by Mr. W. M. Rossetti; which sometimes proves, beyond all doubt, that a passage which may seem to be due to Boethius, is really taken from the Italian poet. As this seems to be the right place for exhibiting the results thus obtained, I proceed to give them, and gladly express my thanks to the above-named authors for the opportunity thus afforded.

§ 23. COMPARISON WITH 'BOECE' OF OTHER WORKS BY CHAUCER.

TROILUS AND CRISEYDE: BOOK I.

365.[35] a mirour.--Cf. B. v. met. 4. 8.

638. sweetnesse, &c.--B. iii. met. 1. 4.

730. What? slombrestow as in a lytargye?--See B. i. pr. 2. 14.

731. an asse to the harpe.--B. i. pr. 4. 2.

786. Ticius.--B. iii. met. 12. 29.

837. Fortune is my fo.--B. i. pr. 4. 8.

838-9. May of hir cruel wheel the harm withstonde.--B. ii. pr. 1. 80-82.

840. she pleyeth.--B. ii. met. 1. 10; pr. 2. 36.

841. than blamestow Fortune.--B. ii. pr. 2. 14.

846-7. That, as hir Ioyes moten overgoon,
So mote hir sorwes passen everichoon.--B. ii. pr. 3. 52-4.

848-9. For if hir wheel stinte any-thing to torne,
Than cessed she Fortune anoon to be.
B. ii. pr. 1. 82-4.

850. Now, sith hir wheel by no wey may soiorne, &c.--B. ii. pr. 2. 59.

857. For who-so list have helping of his leche.--B. i. pr. 4. 3.

1065-71. For every wight that hath an hous to founde.--B. iv. pr. 6. 57-60.

TROILUS: BOOK II.

*42.[36] Forthy men seyn, ech contree hath his lawes.--B. ii. pr. 7. 49-51. (This case is doubtful. Chaucer's phrase--_men seyn_--shews that he is quoting a common proverb. 'Ase fele thedes, as fele thewes, quoth Hendyng.' 'Tant de gens, tant de guises.'--Ray. So many countries, so many customs.--Hazlitt).

526. O god, that at thy disposicioun
Ledest the fyn, by Iuste purveyaunce,
Of every wight. B. iv. pr. 6. 149-151.

766-7. And that a cloud is put with wind to flighte
Which over-sprat the sonne as for a space.
B. i. met. 3. 8-10.

TROILUS: BOOK III.

617.[37] But O, Fortune, executrice of wierdes,
O influences of thise hevenes hye!
Soth is, that, under god, ye ben our hierdes.
B. iv. pr. 6. 60-71.

624. The bente mone with hir hornes pale.--B. i. met. 5. 6.

813. O god--quod she--so worldly selinesse ...
Y-medled is with many a bitternesse.--B. ii. pr. 4. 86, 87.

816. Ful anguisshous than is, god woot--quod she--
Condicioun of veyn prosperitee.
B. ii. pr. 4. 56.

820-833.--B. ii. pr. 4. 109-117.

*836. Ther is no verray wele in this world here.
B. ii. pr. 4. 130.

1219. And now swetnesse semeth more swete.--B. iii. met. 1. 4.

1261. Benigne Love, thou holy bond of thinges.--B. ii. met. 8. 9-11.

1625-8. For of Fortunes sharp adversitee, &c.--B. ii. pr. 4. 4-7.

1691-2. Feicitee.--B. iii. pr. 2. 55.

1744-68. Love, that of erthe and see hath governaunce, &c.
B. ii. met. 8. 9-11; 15, 16; 3-8; 11-14; 17, 18.

TROILUS: BOOK IV.

*1-7. (Fortune's changes, her wheel, and her scorn).--B. ii. pr. 1. 12; met. 1. 1, 5-10; pr. ii. 37. (But note, that ll. 1-3 are really due to the _Filostrato_, Bk. iii. st. 94; and ll. 6, 7 are copied from _Le Roman de la Rose_, 8076-9).

200. cloud of errour.--B. iii. met. 11. 7.

391. Ne trust no wight to finden in Fortune
Ay propretee; hir yeftes ben comune.
B. ii. pr. 2. 7-9; 61-2.

*481-2. (Repeated from Book III. 1625-8. But, this time, it is copied from the _Filostrato_, Bk. iv. st. 56).

503. For sely is that deeth, soth for to seyne,
That, oft y-cleped, comth and endeth peyne.
B. i. met. 1. 12-14.

*835. And alle worldly blisse, as thinketh me,
The ende of blisse ay sorwe it occupyeth.
B. ii. pr. 4. 90.

(A very doubtful instance; for l. 836 is precisely the same as Prov. xiv. 13. The word _occupyeth_ is decisive; see my note to Cant. Ta. B 421).

958; 963-6. (Predestination).--B. v. pr. 2. 30-34.

974-1078. (Necessity and Free Will).--B. v. pr. 3. 7-19; 21-71.

*1587. ... thenk that lord is he
Of Fortune ay, that nought wol of hir recche;
And she ne daunteth no wight but a wrecche.
B. ii. pr. 4. 98-101.

(But note that l. 1589 really translates two lines in the _Filostrato_, Bk. iv. st. 154).

TROILUS: BOOK V.

278. And Phebus with his rosy carte.--B. ii. met. 3. 1, 2.

763. Felicitee clepe I my suffisaunce.--B. iii. pr. 2. 6-8.

*1541-4. Fortune, whiche that permutacioun
Of thinges hath, as it is hir committed
Through purveyaunce and disposicioun
Of heighe Iove. B. iv. pr. 6. 75-77.

*1809. (The allusion here to the 'seventh spere' has but a remote reference to Boethius (iv. met. 1. 16-19); for this stanza 259 is translated from Boccaccio's _Teseide_, Bk. xi. st. 1).

It thus appears that, for this poem, Chaucer made use of B. i. met. 1, pr. 2, met. 3, pr. 4, met. 5; ii. pr. 1, met. 1, pr. 2, pr. 3, met. 3, pr. 4, pr. 7, met. 8; iii. met. 1, pr. 2, met. 2, pr. 3, met. 11, 12; iv. pr. 6; v. pr. 2, pr. 3.

THE HOUSE OF FAME.

*535 (Book ii. 27). Foudre. (This allusion to the thunderbolt is copied from Machault, as shewn in my note; but Machault probably took it from Boeth. i. met. 4. 8; and it is curious that Chaucer has _tour_, not _toun_).

730-746 (Book ii. 222-238).--Compare B. iii. pr. 11; esp. 98-111. (Also Le Roman de la Rose, 16957-69; Dante, _Purg._ xviii. 28).

972-8 (Book ii. 464-70).--B. iv. met. 1. 1-5.

1368-1375 (Book iii. 278-285).--Compare B. i. pr. 1. 8-12.

*1545-8 (Book iii. 455-8).--Compare B. i. pr. 5. 43, 44. (The likeness is very slight).

1920 (Book iii. 830). An hous, that _domus Dedali_, That _Laborintus_ cleped is.--B. iii. pr. 12. 118.

LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.

195 (p. 78). tonne.--B. ii. pr. 2. 53-5.

*2228-30. (_Philomela_, 1-3).--B. iii. met. 9. 8-10. (Doubtful; for the same is in _Le Roman de la Rose_, 16931-6, which is taken from Boethius. And Köppel remarks that the word _Eternally_ answers to nothing in the Latin text, whilst it corresponds to the French _Tous jors en pardurableté_).

MINOR POEMS.

III. BOOK OF THE DUCHESSE.

The quotations from Boethius are all taken at second-hand. See above, pp. xx, xxi.

V. PARLEMENT OF FOULES.

*380. That hoot, cold, hevy, light, [and] moist and dreye, &c.--B. iii. pr. 11. 98-103.

(Practically, a chance resemblance; these lines are really from Alanus, De Planctu Naturæ; see the note).

599. ... as oules doon by light;
The day hem blent, ful wel they see by night.
B. iv. pr. 4. 132-3.

IX. THE FORMER AGE.

Partly from B. ii. met. 5; see the notes.

X. FORTUNE.

1-4. Compare B. ii. met. 1. 5-7.

10-12. Compare B. ii. pr. 8. 22-25.

13. Compare B. ii. pr. 4. 98-101.

*17. Socrates.--B. i. pr. 3. 20. (But really from Le Roman de la Rose, 5871-4).

25. No man is wrecched, but himself it wene.--B. ii. pr. 4. 79, 80; cf. pr. 2. 1-10.

29-30. Cf. B. ii. pr. 2. 17, 18.

31. Cf. B. ii. pr. 2. 59, 60.

33, 34. Cf. B. ii. pr. 8. 25-28.

38. Yit halt thyn ancre.--B. ii. pr. 4. 40.

43, 44. Cf. B. ii. pr. 1. 69-72, and 78-80.

45, 46. Cf. B. ii. pr. 2. 60-62; and 37.

50-52. Cf. B. ii. pr. 8. 25-28.

57-64. Cf. B. ii. pr. 2. 11-18.

65-68. Cf. B. iv. pr. 6. 42-46.

68. Ye blinde bestes.--B. iii. pr. 3. 1.

71. Thy laste day.--B. ii. pr. 3. 60, 61.

XIII. TRUTH.

2. Cf. B. ii. pr. 5. 56, 57.

3. For hord hath hate.--B. ii. pr. 5. 11.

3. and climbing tikelnesse.--B. iii. pr. 8. 10, 11.

7. And trouthe shal delivere. Cf. B. iii. met. 11. 7-9; 15-20.

8. Tempest thee noght.--B. ii. pr. 4. 50.

9. hir that turneth as a bal.--B. ii. pr. 2. 37.

15. That thee is sent, receyve in buxumnesse.--B. ii. pr. 1. 66-68.

17, 19. Her nis non hoom. Cf. B. i. pr. 5. 11-15.

18. Forth, beste.--B. iii. pr. 3. 1.

19. Know thy contree, lok up.--B. v. met. 5. 14, 15.

XIV. GENTILESSE.

For the general idea, see B. iii. pr. 6. 24-38; met. 6. 2, and 6-10. With l. 5 compare B. iii. pr. 4. 25.

XV. LAK OF STEDFASTNESSE.

For the general idea, cf. B. ii. met. 8.

CANTERBURY TALES: GROUP A.