ARCITA'S DYING ADDRESS.

13

ARCITA, DYING IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE WOUND RECEIVED
IN THE COMBAT WITH PALAMON, ADDRESSES PALAMON AND
EMELIE.

"NOUGHT may the woeful spirit in mine heart
Declare o point' of all my sorrows smart
To you, my lady, that I lové most,
But I bequeath the services of my ghost
Το you aboven every creature,

Sin that my life ne may no longer dure."
"Alas the wo! alas, the painés strong
That I for you have suffered, and so long!
Alas, the death!-alas mine Emelie !
Alas, departing of our company!

Alas, mine herté's queen !-alas, my wife,

Mine herté's lady-ender of my life!

What is this world? What axenR men to have?

Now with his love-now in his colde grave-
Alone-withouten any company!

Farewell, my sweet! farewell, mine Emelie !
And softé take me in your armés tway,
For love of God, and hearkeneth10 what I say.
"I have here, with my cousin" Palamon,
Had strife and rancour many a day agon
For love of you, and for my jealousy.
And Jupiter so wis12 my soul gie13
To speaken of a servant14 properly,
With allé circumstances trewély-

That is to sayn,-truth, honour, and knighthède,

Wisdom, humblesse,15 estate,16 and high kindrède,"

4 Spirit.

2 Only.

5 Since. 7 Separation of our society.

brings such objects before us, as when we look at wild beasts in a menagerie; their claws are pared; their eyes glitter harmless lightning; but we gaze at them with a pleasing awe, clothed in beauty, and formidable in the sense of abstract power." 1 Completely, accurately. French, à point. A lover's attachment. Last; we now write endure. 8 Ask. ? There is perhaps an intended beauty in the transition from the general reflection implied in the plural "axen men;" to the specialty of Arcita's own case implied in the singular "his." 10 The imperative has often this form, especially in the plural. 11 Denoting friendly connection or relationship; alleged etymologies, Lat. cognatus, of same birth; consanguineus, of same blood;-"Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son."-Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 2.

12 Certainly; from Ang. Sax. wittan, to know.

13 Guide. So may Jupiter certainly guide my soul to speak, etc. This is a common use of so in oaths and vows: Comp. Horace, Odes i 3. "Sic te diva," etc. 14 A lover: one of the terms of the worship chivalry paid to woman; applied to any knight who chose a lady, as the lady of his worship, without any idea of the character lover. Thus James IV. of Scotland made himself knight of the Queen of France; and, as bound by the laws of chivalry to obey his lady's request, he marched for her sake "three miles" and more on English ground, and lost his life by his devotion. For the use of the term "servant" in this sense, see "The two Gentlemen of Verona," Act ii. Sc. I and Sc. 4.

15 Modesty. The termination esse in English now takes n before it.

16 Rank.

17 Kindred; almost the only instance in which we retain this shape of the termination is Godhead; but Chaucer and Spencer write knighthed, lustyhed, etc.

Freedom, and all that 'longeth to that art—
So Jupiter have of my soul a part,1

As in this world right now ne know I none
So worthy to be loved as Palamon,
That serveth you, and wol done3 all his life;
And if that ever ye shall ben a wife,
Forget not Palamon, the gentle man."

6

And with that word his speeché fail began ;
For from his feet up to his breast was come
The cold of death, that had him over nome.
And yet moreover in his armés two
The vital strength is lost and all ago.
Only the intellect withouten more
That dwelled in his herté sikeR and sore,
Gan faillen when the herté felté death;
Dusked his eyën two, and failed his breath;
But on his lady yet cast he his eye;
His lasté word was-" Mercy! Emelie !"9

PRAISE OF WOMEN.

FOR, this ye know well, tho' I wouldin lie,
In women is all truth and steadfastness;
For, in good faith, I never of them sie1o
But much worship, bounty, and gentleness,
Right coming," fair, and full of meekéness;
Good, and glad, and lowly, I you ensure,
Is this goodly and àngelic creature.

And if it hap a man be in disease,

13

She doth12 her business and her full pain13

With all her might him to comfort and please,

1 It must be remembered that some of the theology of the "Knight's Tale" is of

the age of Theseus and Hippolyta.

2 Truly; this sense is retained in "right well; right trusty," etc.

3 Will do; done, i.e., doen, infinitive governed by wol; wol, past tense wold (would). 4 Infinitive governed by shall

5 Overtaken: German, nehmen, to take; part. genommen, taken.

• Gone; the prefix a (on, to, or in) is obsolete except in poetry :

"Does Lord Eneas go afield to-day."-Shakesp. Troilus and Cressida.
"How jocund did they drive their team afield.”—Gray.

and in the adverbs away, against, etc.; ago is applied only to time;-" as some have long agone."-Bunyan. A was very often prefixed to the present participle awanting, adying, a-fishing.

7 The heart, the liver, and the kidneys (reins) have been made the seat of passion and feeling, hence chicken-hearted, "lily-livered"—(Shakesp.), “that searchest the heart and triest the reins."-Psalms. 8 Sick.

9 This whole picture is as truly pathetic as any to be found in the whole range of poetry. The fervour of his love represented as maintaining the principle of life in the vital seat, while death is creeping over the members of his body, is peculiarly affecting; and the supremacy of this feeling when all is dissolving, when "dusked his eyen two, and failed his breath," is pictured in the most intense style of pathos. 10 Saw.

11 Demeanour; if the punctuation be altered, coming may be viewed as one of the predicates of the succeeding verb is. 12 Exerts. 13 Endeavour.

THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF.

If fro his disease him she might restrain:
In word ne deed, I wis, she woll not faine;
With all her might she doth her business
To bringen him out of his heaviness.

Lo, here what gentleness these women have,
If we could know it for our rudéness!
How busy they be us to keep and save
Both in hele and also in sickness,
And alway right sorry for our distress!
In every manère thus shew they ruth,3
That in them is all goodness and all truth.

INTRODUCTION TO "THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF."

WHEN that Phoebus his chair" of gold so high
Had whirled up the starry sky aloft,
And in the Bull" was entered certainly;
When showers sweet of rain descended soft,
Causing the ground, felé times and oft,
Up for to give many an wholesome air,
And every plainé was yclothed fair

With newé green, and maketh smallé flowers
To springen, here and there, in field and mead;
So very good and wholesome be the showers,
That they renewen that1o was old and dead
In winter time; and out of every seed
Springeth the herbé, so that every wight11
Of this season waxeth right glad and light.

15

1 Our rudeness being an obstacle to our knowing it. For the etymology and applications of for, see Tooke and the dictionaries.

2 Health; the cognates are hail, hale, whole.

3 Compassion; from rue (Ang.-Sax. Hreowan, to lament); the same analogy exists in true, truth. Rue, the herb, said to be from Puew (ruein), to deliver; "quia, ut Dioscorides docet, valetudinem conservat."-(Vossius.)

4 The Sun-god. The names of the Greek deities are said to be of uncertain etymology. Phœbus is traced both to paw (phao), I shine; and poßew (phobeo), I terrify. The name Apollo is said to be from arouμ (apollumi), I destroy.

This is a frequent image in the elder poetry; so Ben Johnson, in the Hymn to Cynthia :

"" 'Seated in thy silver chair,

State in wonted manner keep."-(Cynthia's Revels.)

The second sign of the zodiac

7 Many. (German viel.)

8 There seems a confusion of nominatives here between Phœbus, showers, and

plain.

Be was formerly used indicatively; we employ it now only in the subjunctive or conditional sense.

10 Supply the relative which.

11 A person; from Ang. -Sax. witan, to know; hence wight is a being that knows and feels. It is an appellation of warriors in Scottish poetry,-"Wallace wight." It is often used as an epithet of contempt or ridicule.

And so I, gladé of the season sweet
Was happd' thus; upon a certain night,
As I lay in my bed, sleep full unmeet
Was unto me; but why that I ne might
Rest, I ne wist; for there n' 'as2 earthly wight,
As I suppose, had more of hertís ease
Than I, for I n' 'ad3 sickness nor disease.

Wherefore I marvell'd greatly of myself
That I so long withouten sleepé lay,
And up I rose three hourés after twelve,
About the springing of the gladsome day.
And on I put my gear and mine array,
And to a pleasant grove I 'gan to pass,
Long ere the bright sun uprisen was;

In which were oakés great, straight as a line,
Under the which the grass so fresh of hue
Was newly sprung, and an eight foot or nine
Every tree well from his fellow grew
With branches broad, laden with leavés new,
That springen out against the sonné sheen,
Some very red, and some a glad light green,

Which, as me thought, was a right pleasant sight;
And eke the burdís songís for to hear,
Would have rejoiced any earthly wight,
And I, that couth not yet in no manère
Hearen the nightingale of all the year,
Full busily hearkened with heart and ear
If I her voice perceive could anywhere.

And at the last a path of little brede9
I found, that greatly had not used be,

For it forgrowén10 was with grass and weed,
That well unneath" a wighté might it see.

Thought I, "this path some whider go'th, pardé!" 12

1 Situated by fortune.

2 Was not.

8 Had not.

The dawn is called the "day-spring." Job xxxviii. 12; Luke i. 78. 5 The indefinite article is often in plural expressions used in a collective sense:"a thousand things," 66 a few names," ་་ ་་ ཀ a many thousand warlike French."Shakesp; and the collective word seems to have a tendency to assume the singular shape; as, ten fish, thirty horse, eight foot.

At a convenient distance; well is often used as an adverb of extent or degree; good is taken in the same sense; bien is used similarly in French.

7 During; at any time selected from all the year. Cognates; Gothic, af; Lat. ab; Greek, απο, αφ'.

8 This is beautiful and natural.

9 Breadth.

10 For (prefix, German, ver); for, as a prefix, is sometimes privative, sometimes intensive; it is often used in the latter sense in Scotch, "forfeuchten."-Burns.

"And the heavy ploughman snores

All with weary task fordone."-Shakesp. Midsummer's Night's Dream. 12 Fr. par-dieu.

11 Beneath; the Scotch form is aneath.

THE HOUSE OF FAME.

And so I followed till it me brought

To a right pleasant herbir1 well ywrought,

Which that benchéd was, and with turvés3 new
Freshly turvéd, whereof the greené grass
So small, so thick, so soft, so fresh of hue,"
That most like to green wool, wot I, it was;
The hedge also that yedén in compass,"
And closed in allé the green herbère
With sycamore" was set and eglatere

Within, in fere so well and cunningly,
That every branch and leaf grew by measure
Plain as a board, of an height by and by ;"
I see1o never a thing, I you ensure,

So well ydone; for he that took the cure11
It for to make, I trow,12 did all his pain,13
To make it pass all tho1 that men have seen.15

1 Arbour.

THE HOUSE OF FAME.

And eke this house hath of entreès
As many as leaves ben16 on trees
In summer, when that they ben green;
And on the roof yet men may sene1?
A thousand bolis,18 and well mo,
To letten the sound out ygo.
And by day, in evéry tide,19
Ben all the doorés open wide;

Plural of turf.

2 This double relative is still used in the vulgar dialect.

This is marked with the minuteness of Shakespeare's eye.

$ Went round; surrounded: yede, part. yode, to go.

17

Applied to the great maple tree, though there is little resemblance between it and the oriental sycamore.

Eglantine. "Skinner and Junius both say rosa sylvestris (wild rose). Warton asserts the eglantine and the sweet-briar to be the same plant; and that by 'twisted eglantine,' Milton therefore meant the 'honey-suckle.'"-Richardson.

Together; in company: fere signifies also a companion, an associate, a lover. "Here's my hand, my trusty fere."-Burns. "Fresh feres will dry the bright blue eyes."-Byron. Chaucer uses the word in both these senses. The alleged etymology in Ang.-Sax. is faran, to go. It might seem to have some connection with friend. 9 All along.

10 Have seen. This expression is retained in the vulgar dialect.

11 Care (Lat. cura).

12 (From Ang. -Sax. treowa, faithful); hence true, truth.

13 Exerted his endeavour.

14 Surpass all those.

Tho' is also an adverb meaning then.

15 The sequel of this description is very beautiful. The whole poem is full of delightful imagery and pictures. It seems to have suggested Edwin's vision in Beattie's "Minstrel."

15 Are: plur. of be.

Act ii. Sc. 3.

17 See infinitive.

"With every thing that pretty bin."-Shakesp. Cymbeline,

18 Holes; apertures; retained in this sense in Scotch. Bole is also the trunk of a tree; Armenian bole; a species of earth.

19 A specific time, as noontide; eventide (German zeit): applied to the periods of