tormentith hem on that oon syde with gredy venyms and troubable Ire, that araisith in hem the floodes of troublynges, tourmentith upon that other side hir thought, or sorwe halt hem wery or ycaught, or slidyng and disseyvyng hope tourmentith hem. And therfore syn thou seest oon heed-that is to seyne oon tyraunt-bere so many tyrauntis, than ne doth thilke tyraunt nat that he desirith, syn he is cast doune with so many wicked lordes—that is to seyn with so many vices, that han so wicked lordshipes over hym." Compare with this the conclusion of the passage in the original (iv., Metr. 2):— "Hinc enim libido versat Non facit, quod optat, ipse This translation of Boethius, diffuse and disfigured, like Wiclif's more famous translation of the Bible, by frequent Latinisms, proves that since the days of Alfred, the first translator, English prose has made by no means the same strides as English verse. In fact, it is still infantile. For the production of good prose a more or less advanced civilisation appears to be a necessary condition. Nevertheless such efforts —and in this connection we must not forget Trevisa translation of Higden's Polychronicon to employ prose CENTRAL C as a vehicle, whether successful or otherwise, are extremely significant, attesting alike the growing prosperity of the middle and lower orders, and the participation of the learned class in the general European literary movement towards prose. Chaucer could not translate a work like Boethius' Consolation without being profoundly influenced by the thought, if indeed interest in the Philosophy. thought did not occasion the translation. The interest and influence are visible in two ways. First, in modifying Chaucer's conceptions of love-in substituting for the chivalrous notion expounded in his earlier works the more philosophic idea of love as a chain binding earth and sea, as a universal, allpervading bond of union. Secondly, in inducing a sort of scepticism. How is it possible to reconcile the freedom of the human will with the fact of Divine providence? The problem is insoluble, and so Chaucer found it. It is poor Troilus that discusses the point "For certeynly, this woote I wel,' he sayde, Hathe seyn alwey me to forgon Criseyde, And hem disponeth thorugh his ordinaunce,'" &c.1 This discussion of the prescience of God and necessity is evidently founded on the fifth book of the Troilus and Consolation of Philosophy, and the theme of Cryseide. the poem is man in relation to Fortune. Although the story of Troilus is borrowed from 1 Troilus and Cryseide, bk. iv., stanza 134 et seqq. For Chaucer's philosophy of love see the same poem, bk. ii., stanzas 243-245. Boccaccio, and, indeed, based on the Filostrato, Chaucer, when writing it, was still under the spell of Dante. The style, the landscapes, prove this, and in the envoy Chaucer translates a terzine of the Paradiso literally : "Quell' uno e due e tre che sempre vive E regna sempre in tre e due ed uno, Non circonscritto, e tutto circonscrive." "Thow One, and Two, and Thre! eterne on live, Towards the close the poet speaks as though conscious that he had not yet achieved his mission. He terms his "litel boke" a tragedy, and expresses the hope that God will vouchsafe that he may compose, ere he dies, some comedy. It is probable that he uses this word "comedy" much in Dante's sense, and that he is alluding to the House of Fame, of which he had already conceived the plan, and in which Dante's influence is still more apparent. We, however, with our knowledge of what was to befall, are tempted to read into this utterance a prophecy of the Canterbury Tales. It seems to be generally accepted that the Glasgow fragment printed in some editions as part of Chaucer's translation of the Romance of of the Rose. the Rose, is not that which procured for him Deschamps' well-meant but woefully inadequate compliment, "Grant translateur, noble Geoffroy Chaucier." The fact of the translation is rendered absolutely certain by his own allusions and the The Romance It belonged to evidence of his immediate successors. the period of recreancy in which he half-abjured his old faiths and ideals. What attracted him in the Romance was Jean de Meung's satirical turn and attacks on women, and in the prologue of the Legende of Goode Women the God of Love takes him to task for the achievement : "Thou mayst it nat denye, For in pleyne text, withouten nede of glose, Thou hast translated the Romaunce of the Rose, And makest wise folk fro me withdrawe." The Complaynt of Mars and Venus. Closely connected with the translation of the Romance of the Rose are two occasional poems-The Complaynt of Mars and Venus and The Parlement of Briddes (or, The Assembly of Foules). Both are allegorical renderings of court incidents, and the first, oddly enough, is a poetical version of a scandalous intrigue. Neither John of Gaunt nor Chaucer himself were persons of strict morals, and it would appear that the Duke of Lancaster had watched with Pan-like satisfaction the progress of an adulterous game, in which the principals were Isabella, the younger sister of his wife, Constance of Castille, and John Holland, a great-grandson of Edward I. The injured husband was his own brother, Edmund, Earl of Cambridge. The Complaynt consists of three divisions: (i.) an Introduction, supplying what purports to be the history of the affair; (ii.) the Complaynt of Mars; (iii) the Complaynt of Venus. The last-named division is practically a distinct poem, dating from a later period, and translated from Oto de Granson. The whole concludes with an envoy. The metre is varied with each new departure. The Introduction is in "rhyme royal." Next we have a nine-lined stanza (aabaabbcc), an extension or development of "rhyme royal," while Venus complains in a seven-lined stanza augmented by a refrain, which changes after each set of three stanzas. The envoy approximates to the Old French and Provençal forms, from which "rhyme royal" was evolved, and runs aabaabbaab. The Complaynt opens with an address to the birds, with whom Chaucer, in his capacity as songster, identiThe Parlement fies himself. He quotes very solemnly the of Briddes. speech of a certain biped, from which it results that the date of the Complaynt is St Valentine's Day. This circumstance forms a connecting link between the allegory of Mars and Venus and the Parlement of Briddes, which is throughout in "rhyme royal." The real subject of the latter poem is the wooing of Princess Ann of Luxemburg by Richard II. The English king was opposed by the rivalry of two German princes, and the negotiations were protracted over a year. At length the object was attained, and the young couple were married on the 14th of January 1382. As with the Boke of the Duchesse, so here Chaucer finds inspiration in an old-world story. This time it is "Scipio's Dream," of which he gives an account based, no doubt, on Macrobius. Then follows the inevitable "swevene," which contains reminiscences of the Divine Comedy. Chaucer's guide is, |