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MEDIEVAL FIGURES OF DEATH (DRAWN FROM ANCIENT PRINTS). 
 
t!Lf)t Onibersitg of aif)icago 
 
 ENGLISH STUDIES 
 
 (No. I.) 
 
 THE ASSEMBLY OF GODS: 
 
 OR 
 
 THE ACCORD OF REASON AND SENSUALITY IN THE 
 FEAR OF DEATH 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN LYUGATE. 
 
 EDITED FROM THE MSS. WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, INDEX OF PERSONS AND 
 
 PLACES, AND GLOSSARY. 
 
 BY 
 
 OSCAR LOVELL TRIGGS, MA., Ph.D. 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 Ct)f Sanibersits of dti^icaqo ^ress 
 
 1895 
 
DEDICATED TO MY MASTER 
 
 CHANCELLOR GEORGE EDWIN MacLEAN 
 
 WITH HUMBLE AFFECTION. 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 This edition of Lydgate's Assemb/y of Gods serves a double pur- 
 pose. It is, first, a study in literature conducted at The University 
 of Chicago, a part of the work having been first offered in candi- 
 dacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ; it is, second, a study 
 of an English text undertaken for the Early English Text Society 
 of London. The two institutions are associated in the publication. 
 
 The critical and linguistic parts of the work and the notes are as 
 accurate and comprehensive as I am able to make them with the 
 materials at hand. The hardihood of venturing to work upon 
 ancient and foreign matters in a land that has no past at its back, 
 that neither possesses antiquarian materials nor engenders anti- 
 quarian enthusiasms, will be appreciated by those who, like myself, 
 have made the endeavor without what one may call a traditional 
 training for the event. 
 
 The literary discussion of the Introduction maintains the gen- 
 eral interest that any work of literature is wont to arouse. This 
 portion represents the reaction which the poem made upon my 
 mind with its own knowledge of mediaeval life and art. While this 
 part is necessarily somewhat pedantic I have tried to maintain my 
 natural interest in literature as an exponent of life, as the expression 
 of the imagination. The study of Allegory is a selection and con- 
 densation of materials that I have gathered for an extended history 
 of Allegory. 
 
 Every one who works in Lydgate will find himself indebted at 
 every turn to the investigations of Dr. Schick, now of Heidelberg, 
 who edited the Teiiiple of Glas — indebted not only for matters of 
 fact but also for judgments of critical and literary insight. Workers 
 in the same field will bear witness to the value of the edition of 
 Lydgate and Burgh's Secrees of Old Philisoffres by Mr. Robert 
 Steele, of London. For the facts relating to Lydgate's life and 
 works, reference may be made to the very accurate and complete 
 article on Lydgate by Mr. Sidney Lee in the Dictionary of National 
 Biography. 
 
iv Preface. 
 
 At home I have every reason to be grateful for the encourage- 
 ment and assistance given by Dr. George E. MacLean, formerly my 
 teacher in the University of Minnesota; also for kindly help ren- 
 dered by Professors McClintock, Blackburn, and Tolman, of the 
 Department of English in The University of Chicago. Dr. Klaeber, 
 of the University of Minnesota, has performed the offices of a friend 
 in reviewing the proofs. My brother, Mr. Flloyd W. Triggs, has 
 drawn from old prints the figures of Death for the frontispiece. 
 
 To Dr. Furnivall, the veteran Director of the work of the Early 
 English Text Society, every one is indebted. 
 
 Oscar Lovell Triggs. 
 
 The University of Chicago, 
 October 2, 1895. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Preface 
 Introduction 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 A. The Manuscripts — Texts A and B - - - 
 
 B. The Prints— Texts C and D - 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 A. The Title 
 
 B. The Authorship and Date - - . - 
 
 Chapter III. 
 The Metre— The Types A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H 
 
 The Mixture of Free and Regular Stress 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 The Rime — (i) End-Rime . - - - . 
 
 (a) Identical Rimes - - - 
 
 (b) Imperfect Rimes 
 
 (c) Feminine Rimes - - - 
 
 (d) Medial ^/i! . . - . 
 Rime-Index .... 
 
 (2) Alliteration . - . . . 
 
 Chapter V. 
 The Rime and the Final £^ - 
 
 (i) The -y -ye Rimes . . . - . 
 
 (2) The Infinitives among the Riming Words 
 
 in-iv 
 vii-lxxvi 
 
 vn 
 ix 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 The Language 
 
 A. Vocabulary 
 
 B. Grammar 
 
 XIV 
 
 xix 
 
 XXI 
 
 xxi 
 xxi 
 xxi 
 xxii 
 xxii 
 xxix 
 
 xxx 
 
 XXX 
 
 xxxii 
 
 XXXV 
 XXXV 
 
VI 
 
 Contents. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 The Poem 
 
 A. Literary Analysis ------- xxxvii 
 
 B. Literary Studies xl 
 
 (i) The Religious Character of the Poem - - xl 
 
 (2) The Fear of Death and the Scorn of the World xliii 
 
 (3) The Conventional Materials ... 1 
 
 (4) The Season motif ----- Hii 
 
 (5) The Vision Iv 
 
 (6) Proverbial Phrases ----- Ivi 
 
 (7) The Painted Wall Ivii 
 
 (8) The Admixture of Pagan and Christian 
 
 Traditions - Iviii 
 
 (9) The Allegorical Type ----- Ix 
 
 (10) The Relationship between the Allegory and 
 
 the Moral Play Ixi 
 
 (11) The Allegory of the ^'ices and \'irtues - - Ixiii 
 
 Text 1-61 
 
 Notes 11 
 
 Index of Names and Persons, and Glossary ... '^'j 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 A. The Manuscripts. 
 
 I. Text A^R.j. ig, Trin. Coll. Camb. — This is a quarto volume, 
 in paper, in handwriting of the second half of the fifteenth century. 
 It contains poems by Chaucer, Lydgate and others (v. Skeat, Chaiccer's 
 •Minor F. p. xliv. Trin : Legend of Good Women, p. xl. T. Skeat 
 dates the MS. before 1500). The earliest possible date for 
 the volume is fixed by a poem written by Geo. Ashby, entitled 
 Prisoner in the Fleet, and dated 1463. The present poem occupies 
 fols. 68a-98a. A table of Interpretations (v. Text p. i) pre- 
 cedes the poem. The volume belonged formerly to John Stowe 
 and was the source of most of Stowe's additions to Chaucer (Skeat). 
 
 This is the earliest and the only authoritative MS. known to me, 
 and its readings are followed with but a very few emendations in 
 the present text. The following are the textual changes made : 
 Eolus is printed for the Colus of the MS.; Morpheus for Morpleus; 
 in feere 166 for feere ; Phebe 243, 566 for Phebus ; foom 104 for 
 from ; presse 256 for preef ; she 412 for he; best 634 for bost ; 
 .ther 635 for the ; hys 815 for was; be 875 for he; comparyson 
 891 for a form not clear in MS.; with 976 for without ; fly ti85 for 
 sty; macrocosme 1420 for macocrosme ; omnipotent 1467 for 
 omnipotens. The punctuation and the capitalization of proper 
 names are mine. 
 
 The orthography is highly unphonetic, the most marked charac- 
 teristics being the confused uses of v and /, and the arbitrary doubling 
 of vowels. Y is either long or short : wys, whyle, myne ; but ys, 
 hys (also his), yn (also in), hyt (also hit), wyth (also with), tyll, wyll, 
 lytyll, shyp, fysshe, sylvyr, knyghtes, syttyng, begynne, etc. ; / is 
 used in king, philosophres, scisme, idylnesse, Diana, Cirus, Virgyle. 
 The scribe wrote indifferently se or see, fle or flee, fre or free, so or 
 soo, do or doo, wo or woo, mo or moo, whos or whoos, none or noon, 
 hope or hoope, hole or hoole, sore or soore, holy or hooly, wordes 
 
 vii 
 
viii The Manuscripts. 
 
 or woorde, god or good, ost oost or boost, blood or blody, sone or 
 soone ; regularly — deere, leede, scene, seere, reepe, roote, poore, 
 aboorde, stoode, goold, roode, woode, broode, stoon, loob, etc. 
 Final e (inorganic) is written with no regularity, occurring after 
 short as well as long vowels. The consonants generally follow the 
 rule of doubling after short vowels. 
 
 2. Text B— Bibl. Reg. 8.D. IT, Brit. J/wj.— This is written in color 
 on vellum and in two parts. The first part, in a 15th centurv hand, 
 contains Lydgate's Siege of Troy (5 books) and Siege of Thebes 
 (illustrated). The second part, beautifully written and illuminated, 
 is earlv i6th centurv work and contains a Treatise betn'cn Troivthe 
 ^ Enformaeioii by Will Cornish, an Elegy bv John Skelton, Stanzas by 
 Lydgate, his Testament and Assembly of Gods. The latter poem is 
 indexed in the MS. as Discord bet^veen Reason and Sensiialitie. 
 This MS. does not differ materiallv from the Camb. MS. except in 
 its omission of the table of Interpretations. It is, however, most 
 probablv a copv of the print by Wvnken de Worde (G.i 15S7), 
 since it follows that ])rint most closely in orthograjjhy and in the 
 omission of line 812. 
 
 The chief variations of this text from A are given in the follow- 
 ing collation. A few variants are given from Print D. To indicate 
 the differences in orthography the variations of the first fifty lines 
 are recorded complete. 
 
 I. hys I his. 2. toward | towarde ; iourne | iourney. 3. speere | spere ; 
 begonne | begon. 4. syttyng | sittinge ; solytary | solitary ; alone | allone. 5. 
 musyng | musinge ; myght | might. 6. sensualyte | sensualite ; oon | one ; acorde 
 
 I accorde. 7. cowde | coude ; nat ] not ; bryng | bringe ; about | aboute. 8. long | 
 longe -, myght | might ; oppresse | oppres. 9. cowde | coude. 10. heede | hede ; 
 heuynesse | heuynes. 11. myn | myne ; habytacle | habitacle. 12. pylow | pilow. 
 13. dyssese | disease. 14. anone | anon; came | cam. 15. so lay | soo laye; 
 traunse | traunsse. 16. slepyng | slepinge ; wakyng | wakinge. 17. seyde | 
 saide. 18. gret | grete ; court ] courte ; iustyse | iustice. ig. auaylyd | auayled; 
 sylogyse | silogyse. 20. hit | it; ys | is; seyde | saide. 21. nedys | nedis. 22. 
 when I whan ; sy | see ; bettyr | better ; must | muste. 23. seyde | saide ; hvs | 
 his; cowmaundment | commaundemente. 24. whedyr | wheder; wold | wolde ; 
 leede | lede. 25. forthe | forth. 26. tyll | till ; paHyament | parliament. 29. the- 
 dyrward | thederward. 30. hys | his. 31. seyde thow | saide thou. 32. seyd | 
 saide. 33. heuen | heuyn ; outlier | either ; elles | ellis. 34. seyde | saide ; myn | 
 myne ; abydyng ] abidinge. 35. ys | is ; lytyll | litill ; corner | cornoure ; callyd | 
 callede. 36. these wordys | thes wordes ; sayd | saide. 37. hys | his. 38. raggvs 
 
 I raggis ; arayd | arayde. 39. agayn ] agayne ; whom | whome ; Diana | Dyana. 
 40. seying | sayenge ; thow | thou. 41. yeue ] gyue ; ageyn [ ayen ; soo | so. 
 
The Prints. ix 
 
 42. preyse | preise ; lord | lorde. 43. proclamasion | proclamacioun. 44. Plutoys 
 Plutos ; cowmaundyd | commaundede. 45. vppon | vpon ; peyne ] payne ; 
 
 Strayte | straite. 46. Diana | Dyana ; niyght | might. 47. greefe | gref ; gret | 
 grete. 48. theym | theyme ; done | do; they | ^ei ; compleynyd | cowpleyned. 
 49. begyn | begynne ; Diana | Dyana ; constreynyd | constreynede. $0. whyche 
 
 I whiche. 56. j-ef | yf. 57. howe | hou. 70. thorough | thorugh. 71. syngler 
 
 I synguler. 72. shuld | sholde ; world | worlde. 73. dyspleser | displeasure. 77. 
 yeue | omitted. 94. yow | you. 98. thorough | thrugh. 99. furst | first. 102. 
 ferre | fer. 103. merueyle | meruaill. 104. from | come. 107. ebbe | eb. 109. 
 dykes | dyks. 117. 00 | one. 130. perysshe | perish. 132. pepyll | people. 
 135. requyreth | req?<?'ret. 155. vs ] hus. 166. feere | infeere. 1S3. togedyr 
 
 I togider. 186. alther | alder. 210. owne wele | one well. 216. pyne | 
 payne. 217. grogyng | grutching (D = grutchyng). 228. eft | oft. 233. lak | lacke. 
 234. cese j sease. 235. mery | mercy. 248. compaygnably | companably. 256. 
 preef | presse(D=presse). 269. good | god. 283. fawchon | fawcon. 325. frese 
 
 I frele (D = frese). 337. was then | than was (D = than was). 348. sythe | shithe. 
 355. chase | chose. 361. Phebus | Pheby. 434. forthe | for. 449. sewerte | 
 suerte. 462. smete | smote. 473. cosdras | coldras. 480. owther | eyther. 513- 
 leyte | lightnynge. 520. woU | will. 535. drowthe | drought. 569. I hope shall 
 
 I I hope I shall. 587. defaute | the faute (D = the faute). 607. at ] omitted 
 (D omits at). 634. bost | best. 648. foule rybaudy | foule and rybaudry (D has 
 and). 673. braggars | kraghers. 721. for sowght he | forsoth it. 753. to do a [ to 
 a. 763. row I route (D = rowe). 773. wore | were. 812 | omitted. 815. was ] 
 and. 825. standardes | standartis. 875. he | be. 966. haue ye lost | haue lost 
 (D omits ye). 970. guytornes | guytors. 974,981. dubbyd | doubled (D = doubled). 
 1094. rerewarde I reward. 11 13. meryt | might (D=myght). 1161. she ] he. 1185. 
 sty I fly. 1201. as they came by Conscience | as thei to C. cam (D follows B). 
 1243. bende | ben (D — ben). 1358. kept | kepe (D = kept). 1373- menetyme 
 whyle I meanewhill. 1467. omnipotens ] omnipotent. 1516. singlerly | sywgulerly 
 1537. awter | aulter. 1538. Osee | Ozee (D = Ozee.) 1539. Salwon | Salamon. 
 1591. brayne | barayne. 1701. shall 1 sail. 1705. nouelte | newelte (D=newelte). 
 1744. deuyacion | deuocyon. 1806. gnawyng | knawiwge. 1854. tryfyl | triphells. 
 i858.sauns | sauns (D=sanuz). 1975. a a | aha. 2020. dowtys | doubtes. 2062. 
 accusacion | actuacyon. 2103. descendyd | descewdeth. 
 
 B. The Prints. 
 
 3. TextC=G. 11587. Brit. Mits. — This is the first print of the 
 poem by Wynken de Worde, a folio dated 1498. It is an unique copy. 
 It contains the Canterbury Tales and Lydgate's Assembly of Gods. 
 Lydgate's "treatyse" is printed in double columns on the last 15 
 leaves without pagination. On the recto of the first leaf is a wood- 
 cut of the Canterbury pilgrims seated around a table. This print 
 is especially valuable in that it assigns the work to Lydgate in the 
 colophon: "Thus endeth this lytyll moralized treatyse compiled 
 by dan lohn Lydgat somtyme monke of Bury on whose soule 
 
X The Title. 
 
 have mercy." The print has commonlv the readings of MS.B. It 
 omits line 812 but has the table of Interpretations. 
 
 4. Text D=^C. 13. a. 21 . King's Collect. Brit. Mus. — This print is 
 also by W. de Worde and of about the same date as the first. The 
 Catalogue of the Brit. Mus. and Mr. Lee {Diet. Nat. Biog. Vol. 
 XXXIV, p. 313, V.) give the date 1500, but Dr. Schick, on the 
 authority of Mr. Gordon Duff (Brit. Mus.), says it is earlier, perhaps 
 149S. It contains L3'dgate's Story of Thebes, Assemble de dyeus and 
 Temple of Glas (v. Hazlitt, Bibl. p. 358, No. 3 under Lydgate ; 
 Schick, Temp, of Glas, E. E. T. Soc, p. xxvi, 9). This print exhib- 
 its no notable changes in the text. It follows most closely MS. A. 
 
 5. Later reprints by Pynson and Redman, under the title "The 
 Interpretacvon of the Natures of Goddvs and Goddesses," show no 
 important textual differences (v. Hazlitt, Bibl. p. 358, No. 4 (b) 
 (c) (d). Redman's last edition is dated 1540). 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 A. The Title. 
 
 \\ . de Worde's second print (D above) has the colophon : 
 "Here endeth a lytvll Tratyse named, Le Assemble de dyeus.'' This 
 is followed by de Worde's imprint and, on the following page, by 
 the cut of the Chaucer pilgrims seated about a table, also entitled 
 Le Assettible de dyeus. Redman's late reprint (1540) ends with the 
 colophon : " Here endeth a Ivtyll treatyse named the assemble of 
 goddis afid goddesses.'' The catalog of Lydgate's works, probably 
 made by John Stowe for the Chaucer-Lydgate volume, printed by 
 Adam Islip in London in 1598 and 1602, includes the Banket of 
 Gods and Goddesses with a discourse of Reason and Sensualitie by 
 Lydgate (ed. 1602 fol. 376; ed. 1598 fol. 394). 
 
 In the Camb. MS. the title, in the handwriting of Mr. Beauprei 
 Bell (Camb. c. 1727), is given as Assetnbly of Gods and Goddesses by 
 Lydgate. The Brit. Mus. MS. is cataloged as Discord between Reason 
 and Sensualitie. Lowndes {Bibl. Bohn Lib., p. 141 9) uses the title 
 Banquet of the Gods. Ritson {Bibl. Poet) lists the poem apparently 
 twice, as The interpretation of the names of goddes and goddesses (No. 
 13) and probably confusing it \\\\\i Reason and Sensuality (Fairfax 
 16), as Banket of gods and goddesses with a discourse of reason and 
 
The Authorship and Date. xi 
 
 sensiialitie (No. 113). Bale, probably noticing the list of Interpreta- 
 tions prefixed to W. de Worde's print, enumerates among Lydgate's 
 writings, De Nominihus Deorum. Collier (Hist, of Dram. P. I., 
 p. 30) refers to the poem under the title, Interpretation of the names 
 of Goddcs and Goddesses. Schick, in his chronology of Lydgate's 
 works {Temp, of Glas cix.), adopts the title, The Assembly of Gods ; 
 and so, following him, Dr. Furnivall in the Early Eng. Text 
 Society's Announcements, Sidney Lee in the Diet, of Natl. Biog. 
 (Vol. XXXIV., p. 313, v., 18) and Mr. Courthope in his History 
 of English Poetry (L p. 322). We may suppose, on the authority 
 of W. de Worde's print, that this was Lydgate's own title. It is not, 
 however, a sufficient title as titles go, inasmuch as it does not express 
 the central moral of the story. A truer name would be the Accora 
 of Reason and Sensuality. 
 
 B. The Authorship and Date. 
 
 I. The authorship. The external testimony is in itself quite suf- 
 ficient to establish the fact of Lydgate's authorship. W\ de Worde's 
 first print (C) ascribes the work to our monk of Bury in the colo- 
 phon : "Thus endeth this lytyll moralized treatyse compiled by dan 
 lohn Lydgat somtyme monke of Bury on whose soule have mercy." 
 All the early lists (of Bale, Dibdin, etc.) agree in the assignment. 
 Collier, in his History of Dramatie Poetry (Vol. I., p. 30), 
 printed, for the first time since the black-letter copies, a few stanzas 
 of the poem, referring the work to Lydgate. Dyce, in his notes on 
 Skelton's works (p. 144), makes the same reference. The MS. was not 
 known to Warton or Morley. A definite reference to our poem is 
 found in Hawes's Pastime of Pleasure (Chap. XIV.). Hawes was a 
 pupil of Lydgate and recounts as the works of his master, the Life 
 of St. Edmund, Ealls of Princes, Chorl and Bird, Court of Sapience, 
 Troy Book, Temple of Glas : 
 
 " And betwene vertue and the lyfe vycyous 
 Of goddes and goddes[ses] a boke solacyous 
 He did compyle." 
 
 This must refer to the Assembly of Gods. 
 
 That Lydgate's name was associated with the battle of the vices 
 and virtues is further indicated by the "extemporal play" of the 
 Seven Deadlie Sinns, contrived by Richard Tarleton and performed 
 before King Henry VI. (v. description by Collier, Hist. Dram. P., 
 III., p. 19S). Our monk Lydgate (here spelled Lidgate) is supposed 
 
xii The Authorship and Date. 
 
 to regulate the performance, to deliver the prolog and epilog and 
 to explain the dumb shows. 
 
 As to internal evidence Lydgate's finger marks are all here : the 
 monkish pietv, the nioralization, the allegory, the way in which he 
 dwells upon the themes of death ; then his stock words and phrases, 
 especially those repeated to fill up the lines (v. notes and Te7np. of 
 Glas p. cxxxvii.) the irregular lines (cf. Sccrees), the rime-forms, and 
 the peculiar Lydgatian metre (type, C. p. xvi ; v. Schick, Temple of 
 Glas,\\\\\)\ further, the saying of things as if "undir correccioun" 
 (cf. Secrees, p. i, 2), the self-depreciation in confessing his thin 
 brain (text, 1. 1591) and thin wit (text, 1. 1997) and the request to 
 take the very little wheat from the much chaff of the poem (text, 
 1. 2071-2; cf. Secrees, p. xx. and Temp, of Glas, p. cxl). Lydgate 
 is one of the easiest poets to detect for his conventional manner. 
 
 2. The Date. So far as I am able to determine from a study of 
 the contents there is nothing to indicate the exact date of the 
 poem's composition. The allegory of the poem is wholly removed 
 from historical place or time. Dr. Schick conjectures the date 
 1403. In consideration of the general temper of the work, quite 
 prosaic one must allow, the nature of the allegory, and its domi- 
 nant note of death, I am inclined to assign its writing to Lydgate's 
 second period, that is, after 141 2 (the date of the first lines of 
 the Troy-Book), as far removed as possible from the genial influence 
 of Chaucer which is so distinctly traceable in the monk's early works. 
 As a youth Lydgate was loath to enter the monastic life, and the 
 poems of his first period have a freshness, a humor, and a love of 
 nature, that belong to the world outside the cloister. But we have 
 the proof of the Legends and Secrees and the Testament that, as 
 he approached age, he grew more })ious and more prosaic. The 
 Assembly of Gods is the work of a thorough Benedictine both in 
 theory and in practise. And there is a positive lowering of the 
 poetic tone. There are no plaints of lovers, not a word about the 
 "floure of womanhede," not a ha])py thought of nature. Life is 
 grown serious, and the monk, anxious concerning the battle with 
 Vice and earnest to direct sinners to the Lord of Light, writes 
 in the repentant prayerful temper of the Testament. 
 
 In arguing for an earlier date it would be true to say that the 
 influence oi Xh& Romaunt of the Rose'i?, somewhat evident in the alle- 
 gorv, and that the work is rather more original and creative than his late 
 riming histories, and it appears in the classification of his works by 
 
The Authorship and Date. xiii 
 
 Sidney Lee {Diet. Natl. Biog., Vol. XXXIV, p. 313, 314) that most 
 if not all of the poems under the head of "Allegories, Fables and 
 Moral Romances" were written before 141 2. 
 
 On the other hand the decline in the Assembly of Gods in 
 poetic power is, as noted above, very marked, judging from 
 his known early works. In poetic conception and phrasing 
 the poem is in every way inferior to the Chorl a/id Bird and 
 the Temple of Glas ; the one written before 1400 and dedicated 
 to "his maister with humble affeccioun," the other written about 
 1403 in imitation of Chaucer's Hoiis of Fame. There is not a line 
 so poetic as these verses from the Temple of Glas : 
 
 "A world of beaute compassid in hir face 
 Whose persant loke do^ ^urugh myn hert[e] race " 755-6 ; 
 
 nor a maxim so unworldly wise as these from the Chorl and Bird: 
 
 "Songe and prison have noon accordaunce," Min. P., p. 183, 
 
 and 
 
 " Bettir is fredom withe litelle in gladnesse 
 Than to be thralle withe al worldly richesse," Min. P., p. 193; 
 
 not a moral so manly as 
 
 " When wo approche^ lat myr^ most habound, 
 As manhood axep; and ^ough pou fele smert, 
 Lat not to manie knowen of ^in hert." — Temple of Glas, I177-9. 
 
 The theme also, notwithstanding its place among the allegories, 
 seems to indicate a late date. While Lydgate was always familiar 
 with the thought of change and death, it being his frequent opinion 
 that "all do but show a shadow transitory" and that "all stant in 
 chaunges like a midsomer rose," it is fair to assume that the dread of 
 death would be most dominant after the period of his youth. The 
 Dance of Macabre, \\A\\c\\\^ dL&^cx\^\\\& of the painting of Death's 
 procession on the walls of St. Paul's, belongs to the second period, 
 perhaps to the year 1425 (Schick, Temple of Glas, cxii); likewise his 
 translation of De Deguileville's Pelerinage de /' Homme, repre- 
 senting life as a pilgrimage somewhat in the manner of Bunyan's 
 Pilgrim''s Progress, belongs to this period, the year 1426. 
 
 The proof from the metre and from the language is also, I think, 
 on the side of a late date. The measure, very broken and irregular 
 at one's best mending, is nearer the long lines of the Secrees than 
 the very good verses of the Temple of Glas. There is also a change 
 
xiv The Metre. 
 
 in the poetic phraseology, as will be seen by a study of the riming 
 words, which change compels a date as near as possible to the time 
 when the final e ceased to be spoken. Though, as to this, it is not 
 impossible that Burgh or some other of Lydgate's ])upils rewrote 
 the poem as we have it in the text. Still it is not probable that 
 anyone would alter the riming words. 
 
 On the whole I should wish to assign the composition of the 
 Assembly of Gods to about the year 1420 or perhaps, the Story of 
 Thebes being finished, to 1422 or even later. In the absence of 
 direct testimony, any more exact statement of the date must wait 
 the publication of Lydgate's other works, which will furnish a surer 
 basis for poetic, metrical and linguistic tests. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Metre. 
 
 In the MS. the metre is very irregular. Of course little depen- 
 dence can be placed upon MSS. of the fifteenth century, written 
 after the final e ceased to be sounded. We know that many little 
 words were inserted by the scribes, who regarded the lines as imper- 
 fect. So whether Lydgate himself failed in this poem in his meas- 
 ures or whether the fault is due to the scribes can not be determined. 
 However, it does not appear that Lydgate in any of his poems was 
 especially skillful in the mechanism of his art. He was himself 
 aware of the imperfections of his verse, and in the Troy-Book he 
 confessedly "sette asyde" truth of metre and took "none hede 
 nouther of shorte nor longe." Moreover, none of Lydgate's pupils 
 exhibit any especial grace of form. Burgh, his nearest pupil, 
 readily acknowledges in continuing the Secrccs that he is unable to 
 keep his measures in time and proportion {Sec. st. 219). If we take 
 Chaucer's line as the standard of melodv, it is ])robal)le that 
 Lowell's estimate of Lydgate's verse, a "barbarous jangle." is the 
 correct one. Old French verse with its great variety of lines and 
 measures (no less than sixteen — Skeat's Chaucer, Vol. VI, p. Ixxxvii) 
 and indeed Chaucer's own verse forms, may have given Lydgate his 
 license to vary his metres at will. If we forego a fixed metre and 
 read the lines with their natural accentuation, a fairly good rhythm 
 is secured. 
 
 Our present poem. The Assembly of Gods, is written in the com- 
 
The Metre. xv 
 
 mon seven line stanza, which came to be known as the Rhyme 
 Royal, riming ababbcc. The scheme of the Chaucerian stanza 
 cannot be rigidly applied. Every liberty in respect of length of line 
 and character of measure is taken by Lydgate. Some lines are 
 bald prose. 
 
 Type A. In the first place examples will be given of lines which 
 seem to have five iambic measures with the cresural pause after the 
 second measure. This may be called the standard-line form. 
 
 43: Then was | there made J! a proc | lama | sion. 
 45: \'ppon | the peyne [ of strayte | correc | cion. 
 57: Remem [ bre furst I, howe I | a godd | esse pure. 
 163: For hys | excuse |[ came yn | a mess | ynger. 
 750: And bade | hem come || in all | the haste | they myght. 
 816: He semyd | a lorde || of ryght | gret ex | cellence. 
 980: To Wynne | theyr spores ][ they seyde | thev wold ( asay. 
 1026: Whyche made | the grounde j| as slep | yr as | an yele. 
 1086: But all I the tyme [[ whyle Ver | tew was | away. 
 1 146: And fro | thens forth j| to Sat | ysfac | cion. 
 
 I. The caesura in the standard line falls generally after the sec- 
 ond measure, but Lydgate shifts its position at liberty. He has 
 more freedom than Chaucer in this respect, though the latter is by 
 no means regular in his pauses (v. Skeat's Chaucer, Introd. sec. 107). 
 The examples here given to illustrate this variation include lines of 
 different types (see below). The pause may fall 
 
 {a) after the first measure : 
 566: To compleyn ji than Phebe styrt vppon her fete. 
 1504: Sate [[ «& Scrypture was scrybe to theym all. 
 
 {I)) after the third : 
 iS: To the gret Court of Mynos || the iustyse. 
 782: But the felde was clene defaute || fonde he none. 
 
 {c) after the fourth : 
 62 1: Pryde was the furst ^at next hym roode || God woote. 
 879: And made hem be carved toward Vyce || y wys. 
 
 {d) twice or thrice in a line : 
 603: Wherfore || ^ow Cerberus || I now the dyscharge. 
 1 23 1: Ys he soo |j quod Vertu ]] well he shall be taught. 
 I2I0: Well 11 quoth Feythe 1| for hys sake || I shall do that I may do. 
 1377: Now Prayer || efte Fastyng || & oftyn tyme Penaunce. 
 
 Type B. An extra svllable may occur before the caesura and 
 at the end of the line. Two such syllables may also occur before 
 the caesura (v. 11. 38, 390, S08). 
 
xvi The Metre. 
 
 {a) Before caesura : 
 
 38: Brought theder Eolus in raggys euyll arayd. 
 
 160: Shape vs an answer j| to thyne accusement. 
 
 305: Rewler of knyghthode || of Prudence the goddese. 
 
 390: There was sad Sychero 1| and Arystotyll olde. 
 
 456: Thus haue I dewly || with all my dilygence. 
 
 808: Next whom came Pacyence 1| that nowhere hath no pere. 
 
 908: \Vell menyng merchauntes with trew artyfyceres. 
 
 {p) At end of line : 
 The form is comparatively infrequent (v. Chap. IV, c). 
 9: So ponderously || I cowde make noon obstacle. 
 12: To rowne with a pylow || me semyd best tryacle. 
 60: Thvs traytour Eolus || hath many of my places. 
 946: In thvs mene tvme || whyle \'eilu thus preuyded. 
 
 Type C. The thesis may be wanting at the caesura. 
 
 8: Eor long er I myght || slepe me gan oppresse. 
 
 68: So that the deere || shall haue no resort. 
 
 85: Thow knowest well jj that I haue the charge. 
 
 87: No shvp may sayle |i keruell boot ner barge. 
 233; For lak of shade |i I dar vndyrtake. 
 
 279: And next by her |1 sate the god Saturne. 
 
 600: No maner of th}Tig jj can hym hurt nor dere. 
 
 618: Hard as any horn \\ blakker fer then soot. 
 
 806: Roody as a roose |i ay he kept hys chere. 
 
 I. This is a form almost peculiar to Lydgate (v. Schick, Te77tp. of 
 Glas, p. Iviii. C), though Chaucer occasionally employed it (Skeat, 
 Chaucer, Vol. VI. Introd., sec. iio). It is easy however to read 
 some of these lines with four accents; thus line 85 may read: 
 "Thou knowest well that I haue the charge." Other lines, however, 
 as 618, 87, etc., can have no other reading than that given. 
 
 Tvpe D. A thesis may be wanting in the first measure. 
 
 17: For he seyde ij I must yeve atlendaunse. 
 106: Secundly |[ whereas my nature ys. 
 124: That to theym |[ shukl fall opon the see. 
 197: Madame ye shall haue all your plesere. 
 251: To be had j wherfore ye may nat let. 
 557: Walewvng with hys wawes ji & tomblyng as a ball. 
 640: Malyce \ Frowardness ]] gret lelacy. 
 645: Wrong i Rauyne || sturdy Vyolence. 
 654: Heresy i| Errour ]| with Idolatry. 
 
 Type E. A trochee may take the place of an iambic in the first 
 measure. These measures are best read, however, with " hovering 
 accent," as Ten Brink {Chaucer's Sp., p. 182, sec. 316) and Gum- 
 
The Metre. xvii 
 
 mere {Handbook of Poetics, pp. i86, 187, 206, 224) read similar lines 
 in Chaucer and other English poets. 
 
 5 
 374 
 418 
 472 
 
 631 
 648 
 
 747 
 
 760 
 
 1174 
 
 Musyng | on a maner jj how that I myght make. 
 Cryspe was | her skyn |j her eyen columbyne. 
 Seying to | her sylf |] that chere should ^ey repent, 
 lason ne | Hercules || went they neuer so wyde. 
 SlOwthe was | so slepy || he came all behynde. 
 Boldnes | in Yll || with Foule Rybaudy. 
 Pepyll I to reyse || hys quarrell to menteyn. 
 Gaderyd | to Vertew |j in all that they mowte. 
 Hauyng | in her hande |1 the palme of vyctory. 
 
 Type F. There may be a double thesis in any measure. In many 
 cases the extra syllable may be slurred over. But the trisyllabic 
 measure was without doubt an accepted poetic form (v. Ellis, Early 
 Eng. Fron., ch. iv, p. 334; ch. vii, p. 648. Ellis cites 69 examples 
 in the Prolog. See Skeat, ed. of Prioresses Tale,&ic., Introd. p. Ixiii). 
 
 7: But I cowde I nat bryng | about | that mon | acorde. 
 
 66: He breketh | hem asondre || or rendeth | hem roote | & rynde. 
 
 98: For hurt | of my name || thorough | thys gret | offence. 
 126: With a sod | eyn pyry || he lapp | yd hem | in care. 
 139: The more gre | uous peyne || and hast | y iug | ement. 
 199: But furst I I yow pray !| let me | the mat | er here. 
 361: And ones | in the moneth || with Phe | bus was | she meynt. 
 383: That he ther | with glad | yd all | the com | pany. 
 410: But there was | no rome | to set | hyr in | that hous. 
 472: lason. I ne Hercules [| went | they neu | er so wyde. 
 487: To the dynt | of my dart [| for doole | nor des | tyny. 
 
 Type G. Lydgate frequently expands the normal pentameter line 
 to six measures. Mr. Steele, the editor of the Secrees, remarks that 
 the greater part of that poem might be scanned on a six-beat basis. 
 If such lines were of sporadic occurrence they might be slurred 
 over, but there are so many lines with the longer rhythm that the 
 acceptance of the Alexandrine is rendered imperative. It is possi- 
 ble, of course, to read some of these lines with four accents, as if 
 they were formed on the model of the alliterative four-beat meas- 
 ures as found in the Mystery Plays (v. York Plays, ed. by Smith, 
 Introd., p. li), certain ballads (v. King John and the Abbot of 
 Canterbuiy) and the contemporary alliterative poems. The long 
 doggerel lines in Shakespeare may be reduced to this form (v. Quell, 
 u. For.,\'o\. 61, p. 119, 3). But the use of the Alexandrine was 
 now established both by itself and in association with other metres 
 (v. Schipper, Engl. Met., I, Kap. 5, 8, 13, and cf. its later usage by 
 
xviii The Metre. 
 
 Wyatt, and see Mirror for Magistrates, ed. by Haslewood, p. 123, 
 for mixture of pentameter and Alexandrine), and Lydgate would 
 naturally adopt the form at a time when every irregularity in yerse 
 was permissible. He himself was most attracted to the French 
 forms, though the English alliterative principle still had some force 
 in his verse. I think there can be no question about Lydgate's 
 Alexandrines. 
 
 Mr. Ellis {Early Eng. Pron., ch. vii, p. 649) thought that 
 Chaucer made use of this variation and noticed four instances in 
 the prolog of the Canterbury Talcs of what seemed to him to be a 
 six-measure line (11. 148, 232, 260, 764), all of w^hich have the jus- 
 tification of the best MSS. Zupitza and Skeat in their critical 
 texts of the Prologue rtdncQ these lines to the normal (1. 764 bv slur- 
 ring). 
 
 4: Syttyng | all sol | ytary alone | besyde | a lake. 
 54: Accord I yng to | the offence ^1 that he | to me | hath do. 
 
 161: And ellys | I most | precede 1| opon ] thy iug | ement. 
 
 253: And when | Apol | lo sy || hit wold | noon oth | er be. 
 
 267: Lyke | as she | had take |1 the man | tell & | the rvng. 
 
 298: The pal | eys ther | of shone || as though | hit had | be day. 
 
 325: Clad I in rus ] set frese |] and brech | ed lyke | a bere. 
 
 327: A shepe | crook in | hys hand j| he spar | yd for | no pryde. 
 
 340: Aboute I hymin | hysgyr | dyllstede i| hyngfyssh | esman | y a score. 
 
 347: She lok I ed eu I er about [j as though ] she had | be mad. 
 
 359: Fat I she was | of face || but of | complex | yon feynt. 
 
 364: And on | hyr hede | she weryd | a crowne | of sylj uyr pure. 
 
 367: He had | a gyld | yn tong j] as fyll | for hys | degree. 
 
 372: By I hym sate | Dame Venus || with col | our crys | tallyne. 
 
 385: In sygne | that he ] was mastyr !| & lord ] of that | banket. 
 So I read lines 401, 404, 420, 421, 422, 462, 476, 490, 495, 496, 
 497, 500, 504, 525, 542, 560, 634, 656, 817, 864, 937, 949, 952, 962, 
 995, 999, 1048, 1050, 1093, 1097, 1106, 1113, 1120, 1167, 1204, 
 1210, 1225, 1239, 1240, 1267, 1344, 1589, 1792, 2099, 2100, 2106, 
 2107. Lines 61, 102, 128, 130, 131, 338, 343, 578, 672, 856, 1000, 
 might be read either as Alexandrines or as pentameters of type F. 
 Type H. There are occasional four-measure lines. 
 
 232: So that I your game | shall nat | dyscrese. 
 
 307: Safe on | her hede || a crowne | ther stood. 
 
 444: All ye I gret goddys | yeue at ] tendaunce. 
 
 693: Getters 1| chyders |l causers | of frayes. 
 
 758: To Ver | tews frendys I| thus all | aboute. 
 
 979 : These four | tene knyghtes [ made Vyce j that daj'. 
 1659: Wherfore ] ar chyl | dren put | to scoole. 
 1834: Of eu I ery mans | oppyn | yon. 
 
The Metre. xix 
 
 In this manner may be read lines i6, 17, 22, 27, 28, 47, 50, 94, 
 134, 182, 204, 530, 550, 703, 722, 916, 1065, 1243, 1506, 1654, 1655, 
 1740, 1839, 2004, 2035, 2046. 
 
 2. Of course many lines can be scanned in more than one way. 
 Other prosodists will probably not agree with the scansion of the 
 examples given. It is difficult and often impossible to determine 
 the pronunciation of many words. I think the final ^'s are often, 
 if not generally, mute. The rhythm of many lines would be broken 
 by the requirements of the Chaucerian scheme of inflections. It is 
 evident that during Lydgate's lifetime the language was undergoing 
 transformation. The general irregularity of the metre, the intru- 
 sion into Chaucer's carefully constructed seven-line stanza of the 
 four and six-beat lines, and the frequent alliteration, suggest the 
 influence of the older English metrical forms. But it is further 
 obvious that Lydgate used in composition the principles both of 
 metre and of stress. 
 
 This mixture in his measures of free and regular stress, seems to 
 confirm the opinion' of Professor Gummere (v. Ainer. J. of Phil. 
 Vol. VII, I, p. 46) that the English iambic is not merely the French 
 measure introduced by a tour dc force, but a "harmonizing of two 
 great systems, the Germanic and the Romance, the rhythmic and 
 the metric, on the basis of two representative measures," the heroic 
 pentameter line being the "result of forcing the iambic movement 
 upon some late form of our old four-stress verse." The conditions 
 are thus stated by Professor Gummere: "On the one hand, four 
 stresses, fixed pause, indeterminate amount of light syllables ; on 
 the other, five stresses, shifting and slighter pause, strict ordering 
 and number of light syllables." Proofs of such compromise are 
 furnished by Chaucer, the majority of whose pentameter verses are 
 formed, to some extent, on the plan of the O. E. line of four stresses; 
 bv the Mystery and Morality Plays, whose irregular measures very 
 plainly display the continuance of the English traditions; by Skel- 
 ton, whose peculiar metre seems to be due to the splitting of the 
 O. E. long line and the riming of the parts; by Spenser in his 
 
 ' Little attention has been given hitherto to this view of Professor Gummere, 
 but the trend of opinion now seems to favor it. See Courthope's treatment of \.y^- 
 ga.te's verse m his recent //isiory 0/ £nff/isk Poetry, I., pp. 326-33. Cf. the state- 
 ment of Mr. I. Gollancz in his edition of Cyn. Ch7-ist, p. xvii : " The secret of 
 Marlowe's discovery (the secret of blank verse) lies in this that he Teutonized the 
 'versi sciolti' imported from Italy." 
 
XX The Metre. 
 
 Shepherd's Calendar, which combines free and regular stress in 
 a remarkable manner ; and again by the heroic verses of Shake- 
 speare and Spenser and of Dryden and Pope, many of which have 
 rhetorically but four stresses. 
 
 On the whole Lydgate followed his French models, or more 
 strictly his Chaucer. The many alliterative phrases in his poem 
 illustrate, however, the traditions of the older poetry ; such a line 
 as 66b 
 
 "or rendeth hem roote & rj^nde" 
 
 indicating the "rum ram ruf'' principle of composition. The varia- 
 ble measure and line reveal the confusion into which English verse 
 had fallen after Chaucer, it being still uncertain whether free or 
 regular stress would prevail. Had Lydgate been favored with 
 Chaucer's literary environment and gifted with his genius and ear 
 for rhythm it is probable that he might have maintained the master's 
 delicate Normanized literary English, but the influence of the vulgar 
 Suffolk tongue with its accentual principles of verse and its rapidly 
 disappearing inflections was too strong for the monk. Chaucer's 
 regular measures — regular because artificial — were given over to 
 confusion. The oral, in the rude times of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, superseded the literary. From Chaucer to Spenser no one 
 was able to give permanency to the forms of English verse. 
 
 That the metre is at best extremelv irregular is shown bv count- 
 ing the syllables. In the first one thousand lines, slurring wherever 
 possible and omitting, except where forbidden by the rhythm, the 
 final <?'s, the following result is given : 
 
 lines. See 66, 340. 
 
 See 404, 525. 
 
 2 
 
 14-sylla 
 
 5 
 
 13 " 
 
 47 
 
 12 " 
 
 210 
 
 II " 
 
 546 
 
 10 " 
 
 179 
 
 9 
 
 II 
 
 8 " 
 
 " See p. xvii. Type F. 
 
 Tvpes B and F make up the ii-syllable lines and D and C the 
 9-syllable lines. G has frequently but 11 syllables (v. line 359). 
 
The Rime. xxi 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Rime. 
 
 I. End-rime: — The rime is generally pure throughout. Correct 
 masculine rimes are the rule. The most numerous rime-endings are 
 -ace, -ake, -all, -aunce,- ay, -e, -ence, -ent, -ere, -esse, -y, -yde, -yght, 
 -o, -on, -ore, -ought, -o\v, -ure {v. Rime Index). 
 
 (a) Identical rimes occur in a number of cases. By identical 
 rimes I mean here those in which the riming syllables coincide in 
 sound throughout. These syllables may be etymologically different. 
 Acorde 6: monacorde 7; malapert 503: pert 504; dyscharge 603: 
 charge 605; ouerse 772: see 775; take 1388, 1409: vndyrtake 1390, 
 141 1 ; become 1406: welcome 1407; serue 1408: deserue 1410; goon 
 1836: ouergoon 1838; before 1871: therfore 1874; hande 1912: 
 hande 1914; dyffuse 1955: refuse 1957; dyscorde 2015: monacorde 
 2016; alone 923: euerychone 924 (14 cases). Identical suffix-rimes : (a) 
 with initial consonant : — iugement i39:auysment 140; resystence 228: 
 sentence 229; satysfaccion 834: dysposicion 836; sadnes 1380: glad- 
 nes 1382; royally 268: sykerly 270; herytykes 678: scismatykes 679; 
 pycture 15 14: creature 15 16; (b) with initial vowel : — varyaunce 
 244: ordynaunce 245; conuenyent 249: expedyent 250; precious 
 790: vyctoryous 791; swerers 702: morderers 704 etc. (about 140 cases 
 of such rimes (b) and (a). 
 
 (b) Imperfect rimes "AXQ occasional: — am 86: man 88; strong 260: 
 hand 262; came785: man 787; came 862: than 864; dooni2i7: com 
 1 2 18; come 1336: oblyuyone 1337; came 1702; woman 1704 (7 cases of 
 assonance^; beste 1056: lyste 1057 (v. lyst 1297: myst 1299); neere 
 1616: desyre 161 7 (v. desyre 1870: wyre 1872, — cf. Schick Intro. 
 Ixi); bedde 2038: vnderstande 2040; crysmatory 1444: sanctuary 
 14^6; probably imperfect :^syt 191: yet 193 (perhaps = yit as in 
 Chaucer); fete 566: yete 567 (cf. yet 193: syt 191); ende 1777: 
 mynde 1778 (mynde 1923: ende 1922: spende 1920; ende 1931: 
 mende 1932; but cf. mynde 1784: behynde 1785). 
 
 (c) Feminine rimes OCQ.WX in the following instances :—- obstacle 
 9: habytacle 11: tryacle 12; chases 58: places 60: manaces 61; 
 philosophres 272: cofres 273; centre 769: entre 770; seuyn 821: 
 heuyn 823: steuyn 824; euer 1203, 1974: neuer 1204, 1973; ? reson 
 1259: seson 1260; crysmatory 1444: sanctuary 1446: tary 1447; 
 story 1 5 13: memory 15 15; fable 1686: acceptable 1687; ymages 1731: 
 stages 1733: passages 1734; nother 1807: brother 1809; parable 1987: 
 
xxii Rime Index. 
 
 fable 1988; ? compleynyd 48: constreynyd 49 (cf. herde 498: con- 
 queryd 5oo = masc.); grauntyd 118, 874: hauntyd 119, 875; prorn- 
 ysyd 482: dyspysyd 483; preuydyd 946: guydyd 948; aqueyntyd 1345: 
 peyntyd 1347; deuydyd 1765: prouydyd 1767; ? declaryd 736:sparyd 
 738; Pretornyd 1119; mornyd 1120; ?e.\cusyd 1399: dysvsyd 
 1400; probably : — requyreth 135: expvreth 137: desvreth 138 (but 
 cf. gooth 426: wrooth427 =masc.); sygnyfyeth 2010: applveth 2012; 
 chaungeth 2094: estraungeth 2096. 
 
 Doubtful cases are : — colowres32i: shoures 322 (but cf. embas- 
 satours 1016: shoures 1018); oonys 499: boonys5oi: noonys 502; 
 goddys49i: pesecoddys 493; dreines 1854: stremes 1855 (but cf. 
 astronomers 1696: speres 1698: yeres 1699; laborers 911: freres 
 913); the final e's are perhaps pronounced in these taords : — releue 
 (inf.) 13: sleue (obi. sng.) 14; kep6 (inf.) 107: depe (adj. pi.) 109: 
 crepe (inf.) iio; more 149: store (obi. sng.) 151 : sore (adv.) 152; 
 Saturne 279: morne (inf.) 280; hede (obi. sng.) 286: leede (obi. sng.) 
 287; corne (obi. sng.) 293: home (obi. sng.) 294; leue (obi. sng.) 
 520: for3'eue (inf.) 522: myscheue (inf.) 523; carre (obi. sng.) 554: 
 marre (inf.) 556; wyde (obi. sng.) 664: abyde (inf.) 665; herte (obi. 
 sng.) 1451: aduerte (inf.) 1453: sterte (inf.) 1454; foole (obi. sng.) 
 1658: scoole (obi. sng.) 1659; pylgremage (obi. sng.) 1779: passage 
 (obi. sng.) 1781; holde 1821: olde 1823; sonne (obi. sng.) 1896: 
 tonne (obi. sng.) 1897. 
 
 (d) Medial gh (O. E. //), already weak in Chaucer, has ceased to 
 be pronounced in the cases following, and probably therefore in all 
 cases: — about 261: fought 263: mought 264 (cf. aboute 386: route 388; 
 mowte 760: dowte 761; abowte ii24:showte 1122: withowte 1125); 
 ryght 489: saf condyght 490; ipocrytes 701: rvghtes 703; sodomytes 
 708: svghtes 710; cj'rcute 757: myght 759; trvpartyte 1031: lyght 
 1033: wyght 1034; syght 1037: wyght 1039; fyght 11 12: meryt 11 13; 
 bryght 1367: whyte 1369: myght 1370 (cf. infynyte 1605: myte 1607: 
 whyte 160S; myte 1814: appetyte 1816); myght 1801: dvspyte 1803: 
 lyte 1804. 
 
 RIME INDEX. 
 
 A 
 -able 1686, 1687; 1987, 1988. 
 -ace 219, 221, 222; 300, 301; 316, 31S; 475, 476; 53S, 539; 1212, 1214; 1497; 1498; 
 
 1758, -as 1760; 1S26, 1827; 18S0, -as 1S78, 1881, 2099, 2100. See -as. 
 -acle II, 12. 
 -ad 345, 347, 348; 580, 581. 
 
Rime Index. xxiii 
 
 -ade 69, 70; 1560, 1561. 
 
 -adde 1415, 1417; 1875, 1876; 1982, 1984. 
 
 -af£ 2071, 2072. 
 
 -aft 1 133, 1134- 
 
 -age 1779, 1781; 1889, 1890; 1899, 1901, 1902; 1906, 1908, 1909. 
 
 -ages 1731, 1733, 1734- 
 
 -ak 366, 368, 369. 
 
 -ake 2, 4, 5; 233, 235, 236; 608, 609; 722, 724; 1014, 1015; 1052, 1054, 1055; 
 
 1220, 1222, 1223; 1388, 1390, 1391; 1409, 1411, 1412; 1420, 1421; 1457, 
 
 1459; 1812, 1813; 1905, 1907; 1947, 1949; 2043, 2044. 
 -ale 358, 360. 
 -ales 685, 686. 
 -all 114, 116, 117; 153, 154; 230, 231; 246, 248; 435, 437; 555, 557, 558; 776, 
 
 777; 1007, 1008; 1072, 1074; 1226, 1228; 1443, 1445; 1504, 1505; 15S8, 1589; 
 
 1597, 1599; 1612, 1614, 1615; 1707, 1708; 1819, 1820; 1898, 1900. 
 -am 86, -an 88, 89. See -an. 
 -ame 132, 133; 589, 591; 713.714; 785, -an 787; 862, -an 864; 1238, 1239; 1702, 
 
 -an 1704. 
 -an 925,927; 1395, 1397, 139S; 1518, 1519. See -am, -ame 
 -ane 2011,2013,2014. 
 
 -and 262, -ong 260 ; 370, 371; I177, I179. See -ang. 
 -ande 128, 130, 131; 1084, io85; 1161, 1162; 1562, 1564; 1574, i575; 1651, 1652; 
 
 1912, 1914; 1959, i960, 
 -ape 524, 525; 1315, 1316. 
 -ard 601, 602. 
 
 -are 125, 126; 723, 725, 726; 807, 809, 810. 
 -arge 85, 87; 545, 546; 603, 605; 1632, 1634. 
 -arke 937, 938. 
 -arpe 400, 402. 
 -arre 554, 556. 
 -art 876, 878; 1940, 1942. 
 -ary 1446, 1447, -cry 1444. 
 -aryd 736, 738. 
 -as 274, 276; 611, 613, 614; 1065, 1067; 1339, -ase 1341, 1342; 1878, -ace 1880, 
 
 1881. See -ase, -ace. 
 -ase 314, 315; 461, 462; 513, 515, 516; 632, 634, 635. See -as. 
 -ases 58, 60, 61. 
 -ast 72, 74, 75; 127, 129. 
 -aste 1045, 1047, 1048. 
 
 -ate 27, 28; 422, 424, 425; 1483, 1484; 1546, 1547; 1639, 1641, 
 -ates 706, 707. 
 -aught 1 23 1, 1232. 
 
 -aunce 244, 245; 335, 336; 398, 399; 407, 409; 442, 444; 659, 661 ; 797, 798; 835. 
 837, 838; 954, 956, 957; 989, 991, 992; 1094, 1096, 1097; 1147, 1 148; 1374, 
 1376, 1377; 1430, 1432, 1433; 1450, 1452; 1507, 1509, 1510; 1598, 1600, 
 1601; 1660, 1662; 1714, 1715; 1835, 1837; 2003, 2005; 2060, 2062, 2063. 
 -aunge 1402, 1404, 1405. 
 -aungeth 2094, 2096. 
 
xxiv Rime Index. 
 
 -aunse 15, 17; 996, 998, 999. 
 
 -aunt 883, 885; 1254, 1256; 1294, 1295. 
 
 -auntyd 118, I19; 874,875. 
 
 -ause 134, 136. 
 
 -aute 587, 588. 
 
 -ay 29, 31; 282, 284, 285; 296, 298, 299; 548, 550, 551; 666, 668; 715, 717; 727,. 
 
 728; 729, 731; 743, 745; 813, 815; 958, 959; 965, 966; 979, 980; 1028, 1029; 
 
 1086, 1088; 1245, 1246; 1276, 1278, 1279; 1324, 1326; 1464, 1466; 1590, 
 
 1592; 1661, 1663, 1664; 1828, 1830; 1968, 1970. 
 -ayd 36, 38. 
 
 -ayde 164, -eyde 162; 207, -eyde 205. 
 -ayed 1998, -eyde 1996. 
 -ayes 692, 693. 
 
 -ayll 615, 616; 751, 753, 754; 1219, 1221; 1969, 1971, 1972. 
 -ayn 1567, 1568. 
 
 -ayne 1668, 1670, -eyne 1671. See -eyne. 
 -awe 559, 560; 1227, 1229, 1230. 
 
 ! (gen. = -y) 121, 123, 124; 198, 200, 201; 253,255; 271, -y 270; 457, 459, 
 460; 492, 494,495; 519, 521; 552, 553; 617, 619; 650, 651; 772, 774, 775; 
 804, 805; 811, -ee 812; 828, 830, 831; 842, 844, 845; 919, 921, 922; 933, 
 935, 936; 1002, 1004; loio, 1012, 1013; 1080, 1082, 1083; 1105, -ee 1106; 
 1261, 1263; 1280, 12S1; 1329, 1330; 1416, 1418, 1419; 1423, 
 1425, 1426; 1700, 1701; 1800, 1802; 1868, 1869; 1926, 1928; 1945, 1946; 
 1980, 19S1; 1994, 1995; 2017, 2019; ? 2038, 2040; 2057, 2058; 2067, 2069, 
 2070. 
 !e 365, 367; 505, 507; 995, 997; 1 136, 1 138, -e 1 139; 1961, -e 1963. 
 
 -eare 421, -ere 423. 
 
 -ecte 895, 896; 1847, 1848. 
 
 i-ede 286, -cede 287; 569,571,572; 755,756; 832,833; 1000,1001; 1035,1036; 
 1129, 1131, 1132; 1360, 1362, 1363; 1378, 1379. 
 -cede 1023, 1025; 1583, 1585; 1815, 1817, 1818. 
 -eet 1064, -et 1063. 
 -eft 562, 564, 555. 
 
 J-elde 667, 669, 670; 932, 934; 1044, 1046; 1095, 1093-eelde. 
 \-eelde 1093, -elde 1095. 
 
 (-ele 55, 56; 1026, 1027, -eele 1024; 2068, -eele 2066. 
 C-eele 1024, -ele 1026, 1027; 1637, 1638; 2066, -ele 2068. 
 -ell 30, 32, 33; 433, 434; 590, 592, 593; 1331, 1333; 1532, 1533. 
 -erne 1609, 1610. 
 -ernes 1854, 1855. 
 
 -ence 44, 46,47; 76, 77; 79, 81, 82; 97, 98; 174, 175; 228. 229, -ense 226; 456 
 458; 639, 641, 642; 645, 647; 814,816,817; 1135, 1137; 1163,1165; 1436, 
 1438; 1490, 1491; 1611, 1613; 1863, 1865; 2001, 2002; 2025, -ens 2027, 
 2028; 2106, 2107. See -ens. -ense. 
 -ende 737, 739, 740; 1623, 1624; 1665, 1666; 1777, -ynde 1778; 1798, 1799; 1920, 
 1922, -ynde, 1923; 1931, 1932. See -ynde. 
 
Rime Index. xxv 
 
 <-ene 982, 984, 985; 1198, 1200; 1584, 1586, 1587. 
 (-eene 275, -ene 277, 278; 2045, 2047. 
 
 -ens 2027, 2028, -ence 2025. 
 
 -ense 226, -ence 228, 229; 653, 655, 656; 1247, 1249. See -ence. 
 
 -ent 23, 25, 26; 113, 115; 139, 140; 160, 161; 170, 172, 173; 247, 249, 250; 289, 
 291, 292; 415, 417, 418; 449, 451; 741, 742; 792, 794; 827, 829; 1003, 1005, 
 1006; 1092, -ente 1091; 1107,1109; 1140,1141; 1157, 1159, 1160; 1175, 
 1176; 1304, 1306, 1307; 1427, 1428; 1465, 1467, 1468; 1553, 1554; 1674, 
 1676; 1749, 1750; 1763, 1764; 1829, 1831, 1832; 1903, 1904; 2036, 2037. 
 
 -entes 839, 840; 909, 910; 918, 920. 
 
 -epe 107, 109, no; 1255, 1257, 1258; 1296, 1298. 
 
 -apt 510, 511; 944, 945; 1682, 1684, 1685. 
 
 -er 71, 73; 163, -ere 165, -eere 166; 547, 549. See -eere. 
 
 -erde 498, -eryd 500; 625, 627, 628. See -eryd. 
 
 ere 50, 52; 93, 95, 96; 155, 157; 183, 185; 197, 199; 323, 325; 394,396,397; 423, 
 -eare 421; 443, 445, 446; 541, 543, 544; 748, 749; 806, 808; 884, 887, -eere 
 886; 888, 889; 960, 962; 1128, 1130; 1233, 1235; 1541, 1543; 1556, 1558, 
 1559; 1602, 1603; 1626,1628, 1629; 1742, 1743; 1933,1935; 2004,2006, 
 2007; 2029, 2030; 2081, 2083, 2084. See -eare. 
 .-eere 166, -ere 165; 597, 599, -ere, 600; 1616, -yre 161 7; 1653, -ere 1655. See -yre. 
 
 -eeres 905, -ers 907, -eres 908. 
 
 -ers 674, 676, 677; 680, 682; 681, 683, 684; 688, 690, 691; 695, 697, 698; 702, 
 704, 705; 907, -eeres 905, -eres 908; 911, -eres 913; 1696, -eres 1698, 1699. 
 
 -erse 405, 406. 
 
 -ert 468, 469; 503, 504; 1 170, 1 172; 1266, 1267; 1591, 1593, 1594; 1786, 1788; 
 1843, 1845, 1846, 
 
 -erte 1451, 1453, 1454. 
 
 -erue 1408, 1410. 
 
 -eryd 500, -erde 498. 
 
 -es 391, 392; 881, 882; 902, 903; 1066. 1068, 1069; 1215,-esse 1213; 1380, 
 1382; 1640, 1642, 1643. 
 
 -ese 232, 234; 237, 238; 1752, 1754, 1755. 
 
 -esse 8, lO; 184, 186, 187; 240, 242, 243; 254, 256, 257; 303, 305, 306; 534, 536, 537; 
 1059, 1061, 1062; 1213,-es 1215, 1216; 1262, 1264, 1265; 1385, 1386; 1492, 
 1494; 1511, 1512; 1633, 1635, 1636; 1716, 1718; 1941, 1943, 1944. 
 
 -eson (or on) 1259, 1260. 
 
 -esshe 2080, 2082. 
 
 -est 223, 224; 342, 343; 573, 574; 820, 822; 2032, 2034, -este 2035. 
 
 -este 478, 480, 481; 1056, -yste 1057; 2035, -est 2032, 2034. See -yste. 
 
 -et 167, 168; 188, 189; 251, 252; 309, 311; 317. 319, 320; 337, 339; 384, 385; 
 1063, -eet 1064; 1154, 1155; 1184, 1186; 1654, -ete 1656, 1657; 1675, 1677, 
 1678; 1891, 1893. See -eet, -ete. 
 
 -ete 212, 214, 215; 239, 241; 344, 346; 419, 420; 527, 529, 530; 566. 567; 1030, 
 1032; 1287, 1288; 1332, 1334, 1335; 1656, 1657, -et 1654. See-et. 
 
 -ette 604, 606, 607; 1462, 1463. 
 
 -ettys 1695, -etys 1697. See -etys. 
 
 -etys 1697, -ettys 1695. See -ettys. 
 
 -eue 13, 14; 429, 431, 432; 520, 522, 523; 1679, 1680; 2031, 2033. 
 
xxvi Rime Index. 
 
 -euer (or er) 1203, 1204; 1973, 1974. 
 
 -euyn 821, 823, 824. 
 
 -ew 582, 584; 961, 963, 964; 1070, 1071; 1123, -u 1121; 1364, 136S; 1373, 1375; 
 
 1506, 1508; 2046, 2048, 2049. See -u. 
 -ewes 699, 700. 
 -ewre 930, -ure 931. 
 -ey 156, -ay 158, 159; 378, -y 377 ; 623, -y622; 873, -y 872, 870; Il88,-y 
 
 1 187, 1 185; 1630, -y 1631; 1728, -y 1729; 1856, 1858. See -y. 
 -eyde 162, -ayde 164; 205, -ayde 207, 208; 596, 598; 1996, -ayed 1998. See 
 
 -ayde, -ayed. 
 -eyn 62, 63; 146, 147; 176, 178; 561, 563; 744, 746, 747; 1359, 1361. 
 -eyne 37, 39, 40; iii, 112; 610, -eygne 612; 1156, 1158; 1581, 1582; 1671,-ayne, 
 
 1670; 1808, 1810, 181 1; 1966, 1967; 2085, 20S6. See-ayne. 
 -eyngth 967, 969. 
 
 -eynt 78, 80; 258, 259; 359, 361, 362; 1644, -eynte 1645; 1793, 1795. 
 -eynte 1645, -eynt 1644. 
 -eyntyd 1345, 1347. 
 -eynyd 48, 49. 
 -ext 1502, -exte 1500. 
 -exte 1502, -ext 1502. 
 
 Y, I, (E). 
 
 -y 34, 35; 104. 105; 148, 150; 202, 203; 26S, 270, -e 271; 281, 283; 302, 304; 
 
 330, 332; 377, -ey 378; 380, 382, 383; 401, 403, 404; 450, 452, 453; 463, 465; 
 
 485, 487, 488; 594, I 595; 622, -ey623; 629, 630; 638, 640; 646, 648, 649; 
 
 652, 654; 657, 658; 660, 662, 663; 765, 767, 768; 800, 802, 803; 841, 843; 
 
 846,847; 848,850; 853,854; 855, 857; 867, 868; 869, 871; 870, 872, -ey 873; 
 
 975,977,978; 1009, loii; 1021, 1022; 1073, 1075, 1076; 1171,1173, 1174; 
 
 1 185, 1 187, -ey 1 188; 1189, 1190; 1289, 1291; 1346, 1348, I 1349; 1458, 
 
 1460, 1461; 1485, i486; 1493, 1495, I 1496; 1513, 1515; 1534, 1536; 1549, 
 
 1551, 1552; 1570, 1572, 1573; 1631, -ey 1630; 1689, 1691, 1692; 1717, 1719, 
 
 -uy 1720; 1729,-ey 1728; 1787, 1789, 1790; 1822, 1825, I 1824; 1840, 1841; 
 
 1989, 1991; 2039, 2041, 2042; 2064, I 2065; 2095, 2097, 2098; 2102, 2104, 
 
 2105. See -e, -ey, -uy. 
 -yce 825, -vse 826; 863, -3-se 865, 866. See -yse. 
 -yde 216, 217; 288, 290; 324, 326, 327; 331, 333, 334; 349, 350; 470, 472; 624, 
 
 626; 664, 665; 716, 718, 719; 793, 795, 796; 891, 893, 894; 926, 928, 929; 
 
 940, 942, 943; 981, 983; 1283, 1285, 12S6; 1499, 1501; 1525, 1526; 1555, 
 
 1557. 
 -ydyd 946, -uydyd 948; 1765, 1767. See -iiydyd. 
 -yeth 2010, 2012. 
 -yght 373, 375, 376; 4S9, 490; 750, 752; 759, -ute 757; 778, 780; 972, 973; 986, 
 
 987:993,994; 1033, 1034,-yle 1031; 1037, 1039; Iii2,-yt 1113; 1199,1201, 
 
 1202; 1367, 1370, -yte 1369; 1381, 1383, 1384; 1392, 1393; 1471, 1473; 
 
 1476, 1477; 1801, -yte 1803, 1804; 2078, 2079. See -yt, -yte, -ute. 
 -yghtes, 710, -ytes 7o8."See-ytes. 
 -ygne 1224, -yne 1225; 1441, 1442. See -yne. 
 -yk 856, 858, 859. 
 
Rime Index. xxvii 
 
 -ykes 678, 679. 
 
 -yll 120, 122; 575, 577; 916, 917; 105S, 1060; 1079, loSi; 1990, 1992, 1993. 
 
 -yme 953, 955. 
 
 -yn 1049, 1050; 1857, 1859, i860. 
 
 -ynde 64, 66; 393, 395; 512, 514; 631, (^il\ I343, I344; 1387, 1389; 1542, 1544, 
 
 1545; 1647, 1649, 1650; 1756, 1757; 1778, -ende 1777; 1784, 17S5; 1923, 
 
 -ende 1922. See -ende. 
 
 -yne 265, 266; 372, 374; 1225, -ygne 1224; 2018, 2020, 2021. 
 
 -yng 267, 269; 1366, 1368; 1528, 1530, 1531; 1535, 1537, 1538; 1618, 1620. 
 
 -ynges 687, 689. 
 
 -ynke 2052, 2054. 
 
 -ynne 947, 949, 950; 1997, 1999, 2000. 
 
 -yre 1617, -eere 1616; 1S70, 1872. See -eere. 
 
 -yreth 135, 137, 138. 
 
 -ys 106, 108; 877, 879, 880; 1310, 1312. 
 
 -yse 16, 18, 19; 225, 227; 447, 448; 568, 570; 826, -yce 825; 865, -yce 863; 11 15, 
 
 1117, II18; 1352, 1354; 1780, 1782, 1783; 1962, 1964, 1965. See -vce. 
 
 -yst 1297, 1299, 1300. 
 
 -yste 1057, -este 1056. 
 
 -ysyd 482, 483. 
 
 -yt 191, -et 193, -yte 194; 11 13, -yght, 11 12. See -et. -vte, -yght. 
 
 -yte 211,213; 1031,-vght 1033,1034; 1369, -yght 1370; 1605, 1607, 1608; 1803, 
 
 -yght 1 801; 1814, 18 1 6. See -yght. 
 
 -ytes 701, 703; 708, -yghtes 710. 
 
 -yue 517, 518; 939, 941; 1849, 1851. 
 
 -yues 20, 21. 
 
 O 
 
 -o 22, 24; 41, 42; 51, 53, 54; 142, 144, 145; 169, 171; 195, 196; 218, 220; 295, 
 
 297; 471, 473, 474; 496, 497; 1210, 1211; 1248, 1250, 1251; 1322, 1323; 
 
 1353, 1355. 1356; 1527, 1529; 1539, 1540; 1563, -00 1565, 1566. 
 -00 41, -o 42; 92, 94; 1565, -o 1563. 
 
 -ood 307, 308; I126, II27; 1311, 1313, 1314; 1422, 1424; 1569, 1571. 
 -code 540, 542; 799, 801; 1038, 1040, 1041. 
 -oddys 491, 493. 
 -oft 99, lOI. 
 
 -00k II42, 1144; 1455, 1456; 1724. 1726, 1727. 
 oke 181, 182. 
 
 ■ooke 1303, 1305; 1S85, 1S87, 1SS8. 
 -olde 387,389,390; 428,430; 1766,1768, 1769; 1821, 1823; 1934, 1936, 1937; 
 
 1983, 1985, 1986; 2059, 2061; 2073, 2075. 
 -cole 1394, 1396; 1658, 1659; 1952, 1953. 
 -ome 190, 192; 1336, -one 1337; 1406, 1407. See -one. 
 -on 43, 45; 90, 91; 636, 637; 643, 644; 834, 836; 849, 851, 852; 974,976; 988, 
 
 990; iio3,-o\vne iioi; 1108, mo, mi; 1 143, 11 45, 1146; 11 78, 11 80, -own 
 
 1181; 1205, 1207; 1301, 1302; 1413, 1414; 1429, 1431; 1619, 1621, 1622; 
 
 1646, 1648; 1681, 1683; 1721, 1722; 1737, 1739; 1744, 1746; 1751, 1753; 
 
 1772, 1774; 1833, 1834; 1842, 1844; 1864, 1866, 1867; 1910, 1911; 1913, 
 
Rime Index. 
 
 -oun 
 
 -ound 
 
 -ounde 
 
 -ous 
 -out 
 
 -oute 
 
 1915, 1916; 1919, 1921; 1975, 1977; 2008, 2009; 2022, 2023; 2053, 2055, 
 
 2056; 2101, 2003. See -eson, -own. 
 
 440, 441; 1217-om 1218; 1667, -on 1669; 1759, 1761, 1762; 1S05, 1806; 1S36, 
 
 1838, -on 1839. See -om, -on. 
 
 1712, -ounde 1710; 1735, -ounde 1736. See -ounde. 
 
 720, 721; 779, 781, 782; 923, 924; 1337, -ome 1336; 1745, 1747, 1748; 1839. 
 
 -oon 1838. See -ome. 
 
 730, 732, 733; 1269, 1271, 1272. 
 
 I, 3; 1896, 1897. 
 
 499, 501, 502. 
 
 272, 273. 
 
 6, 7; 1252, 1253; 1434, 1435; 2015, 2016. 
 
 1240, 1242. 
 
 149, 151, 152; 338, 340, 341; 771, 773; 968, 970, 971; 130S, 1309: 1472, 1474. 
 
 1475; 1604, 1606; 1794, 1797, -oore 1796; 1871, 1873, 1874; i8q2, 1894, 1895. 
 
 1791,-ore 1792; 2074, 2076, 2077. 
 
 673, 675- 
 
 818, 819. 
 
 280, -urne 279; 293, 294. See -urne. 
 
 1119, 1120. 
 
 65, 67, 68; 204, 206; 531, 532: 671, 672. 
 
 1 150, 1 152, 1 153; i486, 1488, 1489. 
 
 1444, -ary 1446, 1447. See -ary. 
 
 1576, 1578. 
 
 1595, 1596- 
 
 764, 766; 783, 784; 951, 952; 1 192, -ost 1 194, 1 195. 
 
 620, 621, -ote 618; 1350, 1351. 
 
 2092, 2093. 
 
 426, 427; 1338, 1340. 
 
 1S07, 1809. 
 
 141, 143; 209, 210; 263, 264, -out 261; 412, 413; 526, 528; 786, 788, 
 
 789; I05I, 1053; 1 196, 1 197; 1234, 1236, 1237; 1478, 1480; 1625, 1627; 
 
 1672, 1673; 1882, 1883; 2050, 2051. 
 
 20S7, 2089. 
 
 506, -ownd 508, 509; 533, 535; 1042, 1043; 1521, 1523, 1524. 
 
 1690, -ownde 1688; 1709, 171 1; 17IO, -onde 1712, 1713; 1736, -onde 1735 
 
 See -onde, -ownde. 
 
 464, 466, 467; 576, 578, 579; 734, 735; 1078, -owre 1077; 1100,1102; 1206 
 
 1208, 1209; 1290, 1292, 1293; 1850, -oure 1852, 1853. See -owre. 
 
 709, 711, 712; 897, 899; 904, 906; 912, -oures 914, 915; 1016, -oures 1018; 
 
 1 182, 1 183; 1357, 1358; 1577, 1578, 1580. 
 
 322, -owres 321; 694, 696; 914, -ours 912; 1018, -ours 1 01 6. See -ours, 
 
 -owres. 
 
 408, 410, 411; 790, 791; 898, 900, 901. 
 
 261, -ought 263, 264; 436, 438, 439; 1437, -owte 1439. 1440; 1479,1481, 
 
 1482; 1930, -oute 1929. See -ought, -owte. 
 
 310, 312, 313; 386, 388; 758, -owte 760, 761; 1017. 1019, 1020; 1273, 1274; 
 
 1927, 1929, 1930. See -owte. 
 
AUiteratioti. xxix 
 
 -ow 762, 763; 1149, 1151; 1164, 1166, 1167; 1191, 1 193; 1 24 1, -owe 1243, 
 1244; 1317, 1319; 1371, 1372; 1401, 1403; 1954, 1956; 2024, 2026. 
 
 -owe 484, 486; 1243, -ow 1 24 1. See -ow. 
 
 -own 1 181, -on 1 180. 
 
 -ownd 508, -ound 506. See -ound. 
 
 -ownde 1688, -ounde 1689. See -ounde. 
 
 -owne 379, 381; iioi,-on 1103, 1104. See -on. 
 
 -owre 1077, -our 1078. See -our. 
 
 -owres 321, -oures 322. See -cures. 
 
 -owte 760, -oute 758; 1087, 1089, 1090; 1122, 1124, 1125; 1318, 1320, 1321; 
 1439, -out 1437; 1861, 1862; 1924, 1925; 1948, 1950, 1951; 1976, 1978, 
 1979. 
 
 U 
 
 -u 1121, -ew 1123. See -ew. 
 
 -ude 890, 892; 1703, 1705, 1706, 
 
 -are 57, 59; 83, 84; 100, 102, 103; 363, 364; 414, 416; 454, 455; 477, 479; 860, 
 861; 931, -ewre 930; 1268, 1270; 1325, 1327, 1328; 1448, 1449; 1514, 1516, 
 1517; 1520, 1522; 1693, 1694; 1723. 1725; 1770, 1771; 1773, 1775, 1776; 
 1877, 1879; 1884, 1886; 2088, 2090, 2091. See -ewre. 
 
 -urre 328, 329. 
 
 -urne 279, -orne 280. 
 
 -us 177, 179, 180; 1168, 1169; 1469, 1470; 1938, 1939. 
 
 -use 1917, 1918; 1955, 1957, 1958. 
 
 -ust 1098, 1099; 1275, 1277. 
 
 -usyd 1390, 1400. 
 
 -ute 757 -yght 759. See -yght. 
 
 -uy 1720, -y 1 7 19. 
 
 — uydyd 948, -ydyd 946. 
 
 2. Alliteration is a marked feature of the verse. As is well known, 
 the usage of combining alliteration and end-rime, which became 
 conspicuous in western and northern England about the middle of 
 the fourteenth century, grew in favor through the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries, reaching its highest popularity in Scotland 
 during the second half of the fifteenth century (v. Scottish A/lit. 
 Poems, ed. by Amours in Scot. Text Soc). The alliterative phrases 
 record, clearly enough, the influence of the Old-English method of 
 verse. In this poem alliteration occurs chiefly in formal phrases, as 
 an ornament of the verse, rarely having any constructive significance. 
 Lydgate followed no fixed method, though of course accent most 
 often determines the phrase. For Chaucer's usage consult Ten 
 Brink, Ch. Sp. p. 196, et. seq., and The Alliteration of Chaucer, a 
 thesis by Dr. C. F. McClumpha (Univ. of Minn.). I cite a few 
 of the most notable instances : 
 
XXX The Rime a/id iJie Final e. 
 
 4: 5yttyng all ralytary a/one ben-de a /ake. 5: wusvng on a waner how that 
 I wyght wake. 13: so /eyde 1 me a'owne my t/yssese to re/eue. 35: ys in a lytyll 
 corner (Tallyd Fantasy. 66: roote and rynde. 127: (^oystous ^last. 26i:/lameof 
 /yre. 270: full .fad and wyse he 5emyd .fykerly. 303: worldly «'vsdom. 320: hyr 
 ^owne was of g-awdy ^'^rene chamelet. 345: in airas <rlad. 354: dad in clustres. 
 372: colour m'stallyne. 379: copyr crowne. 382: ^eames M'ght. 425: ^/euyll's 
 (fate. 487: obole nor (/estyny. 501: (Joody, (^lood and /^oonys. 557: walewyng with 
 hys wawes. 556: wake and warre. 631: jlowthe so .ylepy. 673: Fosters, ^raggars 
 and (^rybores. 675: jhamefull Aakerles, joleyn .fhaueldores. 684: walycious wur- 
 murers. 688: robbers, reuers, rauenouse ;^'felers. 690: warrers of waters and 
 woney wakers. 806: roody as a roose. 848: refuse of r3'chesse. 899: /erpetuell 
 ;*restes. 902: /ysshers of /owles. 907: on/eynfull /oore /yteous com/assioners. 
 gi2: hoo\y //eremytes. 913: wonasteriall wonkes. 996: f/^aunger of the c/zaunse. 
 1 166: /eyne /erpetuell. 1362: wylde Tfantones wede. 1603: coloryd <rrvstall clere. 
 1743: /eynyd/ables. 1886: ^/aryng as a (/astard. 2071-2: Try out the irorne dene 
 from the chaff And then may ye .ray ye have a jure Jtaff. 
 
 C?l AFTER V. 
 The Rime and the Final c. 
 
 See Paul's Grund. II. p. 1034, sec. 24. — The language and metre 
 of the poem seem to be in such confusion that evidence either for 
 or against the pronunciation of the final e is rarelv conclusive. So 
 far as I am able to judge from a study of the metre and of the rim- 
 ing words the final e is quite generally mute. Double forms were 
 evidently permissible, especially in words of Old-English origin. 
 Still the riming words show a very considerable loss of the final e, 
 and a consequent change in poetic phraseology, as compared with the 
 Chorl and Bird ■A.wiS. the Temple of Glas, which conform much more 
 closely to the phraseology of Chaucer. On this latter evidence I 
 should argue for the later date of the Assembly of Gods. For while 
 a skillful copyist, by the addition of monosyllabic words, might 
 make the measure run without the e\, he would not change the rim- 
 ing words themselves. 
 
 I. A study of the common riming words from Chaucer to 
 Spenser will illusti-ate the changes in operation during the fifteenth 
 century which affected the final e sound. It will be observed that 
 the adverbial suffix -ly (O. E. lie), which in Chaucer' and contempor- 
 ary works rimed onlv with itself, -y or the pronoun I, rimes in Lvd- 
 
 'The Romaunt has cases of -y and -ye rime; but the date of the MS. is late, 
 c. 1450 (Skeat). 
 
The Rime ami tlie Finai e. xxxi 
 
 g2iX€'%Assembiy of Gods, King James' Qiiair and in other poems suc- 
 ceeding these, with endings of Romance nouns such as company 
 (O. F. companie, M. L. compania), melody (O. F. melodic, L. L. 
 melodia, Gk. /xcAwSta), etc., and of infinitives as testify, multiply, spy, 
 etc. The usage of riming the ending -y and -ye became customary 
 before the middle of the fifteenth century. Chaucer rimes regu- 
 larly -ye with -ye. Thus companye rimes with maystrie, ielousye, 
 hye, espye, envye, hostelrie, dayesye, etc.; ielousye with maystrie, 
 folye, espye, maladye, etc. So -ly rimes regularly with itself, -y 
 or I. Thus I rimes with properly, utterly, verraily, trewely, wik- 
 kedly, boldely, certeynly, bv ; utterly rimes with trewely, esely, 
 sikerly ; why rimes with casually. Chaucer has no exception to these 
 rules. 
 
 Gower in his Confessio A»ianiis (1386- 1393), Hoccleve in his 
 Minor Poems (c. 1425) have Chaucer's usage verv strictly. I find 
 no instance in Lydgate's Tempie of Gias (c. 1403) of the -y -ye rime. 
 In the Assembly of Gods, however, the rule is no longer maintained. 
 Thus company rimes with pleasauntly 38o,feruently 382, melody 401, 
 ly 404, chyualry 463, by 663, Apostasy 977, vyctory 1190, Sodechy 
 1549, Sophony 1551. Ey rimes with enuy 622, Pawmestry 870, 
 deny 872, fly 1185, sodenly 1187, foly 1631, generally 1729. Hy 
 rimes with testyfy 104, thereby 1461, certeynly 1495, I 1496, glory- 
 osly 1572, by 1570, naturally 1691, glory 1841, magnyfy 2102, 
 Mary 2105. Multyply rimes with indyfferency 846, deyfy 1719. 
 Comonly rimes with Fantasy 35. Curtesy rimes with innocency 841. 
 Memory rimes with glory 848, story 15 13. Victory rimes with 
 party 1009, glory 1789, occupy 1787. Spy rimes with pryuyly io2i» 
 cry with sodeynly 1075 and myghtyly 1073; stody with espy 1989; 
 occupy with testyfy 452 and deny 453. 
 
 In Lydgate and Burgh's Secrees (c. 1446) the latter usage obtains. 
 The final e is there rarely sounded (Steele, Intro, to Sec. p. xx. § xvil.). 
 Applye rimes with partye 15 16, fantasye 303. Victorye rimes with 
 pryncipally 2181, prudently 2182, hastely 2445, remedy 2448. 
 Remedy rimes with hevyly 1 735, specially 2008. Hastily rimes with 
 denye 1846. Partye rimes with streyghtlye 2 131. Mallady rimes 
 with specially 1700; foly with discretly 2281, angry 2652 ; leccherye 
 with fynally 2503 and velony 2504. 
 
 The change had already been accomplished in the Qiiair (1423) 
 of King James I., who rimed armory with contynually, ielousye with 
 melancholye and quhy (N. E. why), philosophye with properly, partye 
 
XXX ii The Rime a /id the Fi>ml e. 
 
 with I, quhy with companye, ielousye, folve, onelv, I with humility, 
 gye, supplye, etc. 
 
 In the Pastifne of Pleasure {c. 1506), the work of Stephen Hawes, 
 the pupil of Lydgate, and in Spenser's poems and in other sixteenth 
 century works, the new usage is completely established. The period 
 of transition would seem to be from about 1415 to 1450. Lydgate's 
 own works exhibit the change, and very likely his poems can be 
 approximately dated by reference to his treatment of this -y rime. 
 
 2. The infinitives among the riming words present the phenomena 
 given in the following word list. The inflectional ending has dis- 
 appeared in most cases. It is maintained somewhat in verbs of English 
 origin but is almost completely lost in verbs of Romance origin. I 
 use etc indicate the conjectural pronunciation of the infinitive end- 
 ing. In the table the first word in each series is the infinitive, 
 which is followed by the words with which it rimes : 
 
 (a) Of Teutonic Origin. 
 
 abyde: wyde 664: tvde 718: ryde (inf.) 719: pryde (obi. sng.) 928: syde (obi. sng.) 
 
 929: gyde (inf.) 793: hyde (inf.) 894. 
 aryse: iustyse (obi. sng.) 18: sylogyse (inf.) 19. 
 astert: hert (obi. sng.) 468. 
 awake: take (inf.) 1015: shake (inf.) 2044. 
 be: perplexyte (obi. sng.) 200: se (inf.) 201: me 255: pyte (obi, sng.) 921: vnyte 
 
 (obi. sng.) 919. 
 beware: care (obi. sng.) 126. 
 blyn: syn (inf.) 1857: wyn (inf.) 1859. 
 borow: sorow 1166: folow (inf.) 1164. 
 bow: how 2026. 
 call: fall 1008: wall 1898. 
 crepe: depe (obi. pi.) 109: kepe (inf.) 107. 
 deele: wele (obi. sng.) 2068. 
 do: so 144: to 145. 
 dwell: tell (inf.) 5S5: rebel! 583. 
 fall: shall 231: all 246. 
 fare: care (obi. sng.) 809: bare 807. 
 feele: yele 1026: dele (obi. sng.) 1027. 
 fet: banket (obi. sng.) 167: met 1154: get 1678. 
 fly: sodenly 1187: ey (obi. sng.) 1188. 
 folow: sorow 1 166: borow (inf.) 1167. 
 forsake: take (inf.) 1052: make (inf.) 1055. 
 forvete: entrete (inf.) 241. 
 
 foryeue: leue (obi. sng.) 520: myscheue (inf.) 523. 
 fulfyll: wyll (obi. sng.) 575. 
 fyght: myght 993. 
 fyndii: rynde (obi. sng.) 66: behynde 514. 
 
The Rime and the Final e. xxxiii 
 
 gete: conterfete (inf.) 212: entrete (inf.) 214: whete 1334. 
 
 go: fro 24. 
 
 here: fere (obi. sng.) 52 (nere 396: Omere 397): daungere (obi. sng.) 96: prysonere 
 
 93: apere 157: plesere 197: offycere (obi, sng.) 446. 
 hy: redely 767: ny 768. 
 
 hyde: syde (obi. sng.) 891: abyde (inf.) 893. 
 
 kepe: depe (obi. pi.) 109: crepe (inf.) no: wepe (inf.) 1257: slepe (inf.) 1258. 
 lere: geere (obi. sng.) 886: were 884. 
 lowte: rowte (obi. sng.) 1087: dowte 1090: abowte' 1924. 
 Iv: company 403: melody (obi. sng.) 401: Pyromancy 869. 
 make: lake (obi. sng.) 4: take (inf.) 2. 
 marke: parke (obi. sng.) 938. 
 mete: shete (obi. sng.) 420. 
 morne: Saturne 279. 
 mys: wys 879: thys 877. 
 nede: spede (inf.) 571: dede (obi. sng.) 572. 
 Guerse: meyne (obi. sng.) 774: see (inf.) 775. 
 ryde: wvde 626: tyde 718: abyde (inf.) 716. 
 say: day 1830: deley (obi. sng.) 1858. 
 se: perplexyte (obi. sng.) 200: be (inf.) 198: meyne 774: ambyguyte 1012: lyberte 
 
 1013: benygnyte 1426. 
 shake: awake (inf.) 2043. 
 slepe: wepe (inf.) 1257: kepe (inf.) 1255. 
 spede: nede (inf.) 569: dede (obi. sng.) 572. 
 steuyn: heuyn (obi. sng.) 823: seuyn 821. 
 syn: wvn (inf.) 1859: blyn (inf.) i860, 
 syt: yet 193: abyte 194. 
 
 take: lake (obi. sng.) 4: make (inf.) 5: awake (inf.) 1014: forsake (inf.) 1054. 
 tell: dwell 32: hell (obi. sng.) 33: fell (obi. pi.) 434: rebell 583. 
 wepe: kepe (inf.) 1255: slepe (inf.) 1258. 
 Wynne: ynne 949: synne 950: syn (inf.) 1857: blyn (inf.) i860: thynne 1997: 
 
 theryn 1050. 
 wythstande: hande (obi. sng.) 1084. 
 
 (b) Of Romance Origin. 
 
 acorde: monacorde (obi. sng.) 7. 
 
 apele: wele (obi. sng.) 56. 
 
 appere: herbere (obi. sng.) 1935: fere (obi. sng.) 2006: here (inf.) 2004. 
 
 asaute: defaute (obi. sng.) 587. 
 
 asay: day 979: may 1278: nay 1276. 
 
 assent: content 172: iugement (obi. sng.) 170. 
 
 auale: pale (obi. sng.) 358. 
 
 auaunce: puruyaunce 956: daunce (obi. sng.) 957. 
 
 auowe: bowe (inf.) 486. 
 
 carpe: harpe (obi. sng.) 400. 
 
 cese: dyscrese (inf.) 232: doutlese 1754: prese (obi. sng.) 1755. 
 
 chastyse: dispyse (inf.) 448. 
 
 compleyn: Iweyn (obi. pi.) 146. 
 
xxxiv The Rime and the Fitial e. 
 
 conclude: multitude S90. 
 
 confound: drownd 508: fownd 509. 
 
 counterfete: entrete (inf.) 214: gete (inf.) 215. 
 
 cry: sodeynly 1075: myghtyly 1073. 
 
 daunce: penaunce (obi. sng.) 1148. 
 
 deny: testify (inf.) 452: occupy (inf.) 450: Pawmestry S70: ey (obi. sng.) 873. 
 
 depart: cart (obi. sng.) 878. 
 
 depryue: lyue 518. 
 
 dereygne: cheyne (obi. sng.) 610. 
 
 deyfy: multyply 1717: guy (inf.) 1720. 
 
 dyscrese: cese (inf.) 234. 
 
 dyspyse: chastyse (inf.) 447. 
 
 dysuse: muse (inf.) 19 17. 
 
 endure: mesure (obi. sng.) 102: nature (obi. sng.) 100: creature (obi. sng.) 2088: 
 
 sure 2091. 
 enhaunse: remembraunse 998: chaunse (obi. sng.) 996. 
 enlumyne: discyplyne (obi. sng.) 2018: Doctryne 2021. 
 entrete: counterfete (inf.) 212: gete (inf.) 215: foryete 239: banket 1654: gete 
 
 (obi. sng.) 1657. 
 escape: iape (obi. sng.) 525. 
 eschew: Vertew (obi. sng.) 963: sew (inf.) 964. 
 espy: stody (obi. sng.) 199 1, 
 exorte: reporte i486: sorte 1489. 
 fade: shade (obi. sng.) 69. 
 greue: leue (obi. sng.) 429: meue (inf.) 431. 
 gyde: tyde 795: abyde (inf.) 796. 
 magnyfy: hy 2104: Mary 2105. 
 menteyn: peyn 746: ageyn 744. 
 
 meue: leue (obi. sng.) 429: greue (inf.) 432: sleue (obi. sng.) 2033. 
 multyply: guy (inf.) 1720: deyfy (inf.) 1719. 
 muse: disvse (inf.) 1918. 
 
 myscheue: leue (obi. sng.) 520: foryeue (inf.) 522. 
 
 occupy: testyfy (inf.)452: deny (inf.) 453: hy(obl.sng.) I173: vyctory (obl.sng.) 1174 
 oppresse: heuynesse 10: neuerthelesse 1059: duresse (obi. sng.) 1062. 
 peruert: hert 1786: desert (obi. sng.) 1843: smert 1845. 
 promyse: wyse (obi. sng.) 225. 
 rebell: tell 592: well 593. 
 recompense: audyence (olil. sng.) 1249. 
 refuse: diffuse 1955: vse (inf.) 1958. 
 reherse: werse 405. 
 releue: sleue (obi. sng.) 14. 
 repent: went 417: inconuenyent (obl.sng.) 415. 
 resorte: comforte (obi. sng.) 1 152: porte (obl.sng.) 1153. 
 sew: Vertew (obi. sng.) 963: eschew (inf.) 961. 
 sylogvse: iustyse (obi. sng.) 18: aryse (inf.) 16. 
 tary: sanctuary 1446: crysmatory 1444. 
 testyfy: hy 105: occupy (inf.) 450: deny (inf.) 453. 
 vse: diffuse 1955: refuse (inf.) 1957. 
 
The La>igiiage. xxxv 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Language. 
 
 A. Vocabulary - 
 
 The modern character of Lydgate's language has often been 
 remarked. Warton long ago gave his judgment to the effect 
 "that Lydgate made considerable additions to those amplifications 
 of our language in which Chaucer, Gowerand Occleve led the way; 
 and that he is the first of our writers whose style is clothed with 
 that perspicuity in which the English phraseology appears at this 
 day to an English reader" {Hist, of Eng. Poet., II., 270). The 
 influence of French and Latin is more apparent in his vocabulary 
 than in that of any other East Midland writer (v. Diet. Natl. Biog., 
 XXXIV., p. 310 ; Skeat Frin. Engl. Ety., II., ch. viii). The Assem- 
 bly of Gods is especially rich in words of Romance origin, and, as 
 compared with contemporary writings, in words of recent adoption 
 from the French. The poem is therefore especially helpful in 
 tracing the gradual assimilation of foreign words into the language. 
 In the Prolog to the Canterbury Tales in 303 words in the first 42 
 lines, Chaucer used 263 native English words, leaving 13 per cent. 
 of foreign words. In 84 lines of the Assembly of Gods, of 669 
 words, the total number employed, 153, or nearly 2t, per cent., are 
 foreign; of the 305 different words used in the same lines, 107 are 
 of foreign origin. As Lydgate was popular long in the reign of 
 Elizabeth, his service in naturalizing the foreign vocabulary was 
 considerable. It will be seen that the number of obsolete words is 
 comparatively small, the proportion of such words being less than 
 in Chaucer or Wyclif or Pecock (Lee, Diet. Natl. Biog.). 
 
 B. Grammar. 
 
 Lydgate's grammar has been well treated by Dr. Schick in his 
 Introduction to the Temple of Glas (chap. vi. p. Ixiii). This MS., 
 being of a late date, can aid but little in the construction of Lyd- 
 gate's own speech. In the main, it is probable that Lydgate's 
 phonological and inflexional system did not differ much from that 
 of Chaucer. There was, however, in the case of Lydgate a much 
 less certain use of inflexional endings. In the present MS. the 
 pronunciation of many endings is purely conjectural, the metre, 
 owing to its irregularity, being seldom conclusive. The language 
 
xxxvi The Language. 
 
 is seen to be in a state of greatest confusion about the year 1450. 
 I note below a few of the grammatical forms of this text. 
 
 I. Declension. Nouns. In Substantives of English origin, the 
 final e of the sng. nom. is rnaintained in sotne cases : tyme 137, 1751 ; 
 name 132; erthe 535. Inorganic e occurs in frende 1798, 1807; 
 wytte 1887. Genitives have regularly the endings (e)s, es,ys; whales 
 1535; foes 1126; feldys 1451; the genitive form ladyes is found 
 in 1 1 78. 
 
 The dative and accusative maintain the e in crabbe i ; erthe 67, 
 1627; tyme 69; hede 271 (: sykerly) 286, 356, 384 (perhaps hede 
 379); tyde 334; felde 959; ende 1799; sonne 1896; tonne 1897; 
 tylthe 1 7 10; and others. Plurals conwionly end in {e)s, es,ys; other 
 plurals are found, as deere 65, 68 ; thyng 1064 5 eyen 220 ; men 759 ; 
 foon 1762; chyldren 1659. 
 
 /// Substantives of Romance origin the final e in the sng. nom. is 
 found in only a few cases: hooste 11 24; bande 1162; chere 375; 
 gowne 320. The genitives end regularly in (e)s, es. With proper names 
 hys is sometimes used to indicate the genitive, as Vertew hys men 1072 ; 
 Yvce hys quarrell 1055. The dative and accusative are most of ten 
 without endings, though a final e occurs in pese 238; chare 792; 
 scorge 1 1 70; scoole 1396, 1659. Plurals are regularly found in {e)s, 
 es, ys. 
 
 II. The Adjectives are generally without case endings. The final 
 e appears, however, in all cases, sng. and pi. : as nom. sng. foule, 
 dymme, 313; olde 390, 1749;//. olde 294; in oblique cases sng., 
 derke 310 ; crystallyne 372 ; rewde 438 ; foule 648 ; hoole 1172 ;//., 
 sage 389; blake 141 2. 
 
 III. The Pronouns have the comtjion M. E. for 7ns ; ye is used as 
 singular in 32, 95, as plural in 150; she is found i/i 378, se in 376; 
 hit occurs regularly ; theym is used in 48, 415, hem in 66, 126 ; her 
 (their) is used in 47, 65, 123, 867, and regularly. The indefinite 
 som, without ending, occurs in 865, 11 96, 1198, 1199. For relatives, 
 which that and who {ya.r€), are used; by hem that lyues 20; he 
 that 21 ; poetes whyche 1743; [he] who 769. 
 
 IV. Adverbs are found with endings e, es or ys, ly and without 
 endings: sone 36, 461, 721, 1345; while 181, 72; ferre 1627; newe 
 562 ; nedys 21, 1372 ; nedes 1245 ; elles 33, 1033 ; ellys 1614, 1385 ; 
 eftsones 1007. 
 
 V. Conjugation of Verbs. The formation of the tenses of the 
 verbs, strong and weak, is the same as in Chaucer. Infinitives end 
 
Literary Analysis. xxxvii 
 
 in e, though perhaps more often they are without endings, as fall 
 230, riming with shall ; syt 191 riming with yet ; fly 1185 riming with 
 sodenly ; bow 2024 riming with how; tell 30 riming with hell, etc. 
 The third person, indicative, present, has regularly the e>iding eth, efh. 
 The northern es is found in two places : dryues 21, manaces 61 [in pi. 
 lyues 20). The past participle is without a prefix ge-, i- or y-; the 
 strong verbs end commonly in en and e, the weak in yd, ed, t: 
 knowen 1141; beholdyn 1866; taken 501; take 59, 267, 547, 722, 
 725; tane 2013; broke 182; spoke 181; ronne i; dreven 1080; 
 cropyn 1953; ouerthrow 1149 rimes with know (inf.) and 1191 with 
 low. The form beene occurs in 2047 riming with seene, also bene 
 420, 1343, ben 627, byn 1798, be 115, 298,460; bee 1136. So 
 occur the forms goon 757, go 1396 ; done 48, 563, doon 84, do 195, 
 1248 (riming with lo), 496,; seene 545, seyne 1671. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE POEM. 
 
 A. Literary Analysis.' 
 
 A. Introduction {stanzas /-j). The time : when Phoebus had 
 nearly finished his course in the Crab. The place : I was sitting 
 alone beside a lake. The theme : musing how I might make Rea- 
 son and Sensuality to accord. The framework of the action : a 
 dream. The director of the dream : Morpheus. 
 
 B. The Action of the Dream : the Theme illustrated {6-2gi). Act 
 I. The case of Eolus (6-8/'). Scene 1. At the Court of Minos in Hell 
 {6-26). — Characters at the Court: Pluto, Ruler of Hell; Minos, the 
 Justice ; Cerberus, the Constable ; Diana and Neptune, plaintiffs ; 
 Eolus, the defendant; Morpheus and Lydgate, spectators, {a) Eolus 
 led in by Cerberus (6). (/') Silence proclaimed by Pluto (7). (^) The 
 complaint of Diana: Eolus had destroyed her forests with his blasts 
 wherefore the deer were without shelter (8-1 1). [d) The complaint 
 of Neptune: Eolus had disputed with him the jurisdiction of the 
 sea and had caused him to turn against his natural course and to 
 labor far out of measure, making him to ebb and flow out of his 
 season. Moreover, Eolus had destroyed those to whom he had 
 granted protection (12-20). (<") The case in judgment (21-23). 
 
 ' I have analyzed the poem according to its dramatic divisions as if it were a 
 Moral Plav. 
 
xxxviii Literary Analysis. 
 
 (/) The court dismissed, witliout action, at the invitation of Apollo 
 to a banquet (24-27). Scene IF. At the palace of Apollo {2'/-8'j). (a) 
 Apollo sues for Diana's forgiveness of Eolus (27-34). (d) Neptune 
 accepts Phebe as arbiter of his case (35). (c) The banquet (36- 
 59): Apollo seats his guests at the table, Aurora and Apollo, Diana 
 and Mars, Juno and Jupiter, Ceres and Saturn, Othea (Athena) and 
 Cupid, Fortune and Pluto, Isis and Pan, Minerva and Neptune, 
 Phoebus and Bacchus, Venus and Mercurv. The waiters were 
 philosophers and poets. Orpheus and Pan made miisic. Of dain- 
 ties and meats there was a plenteous store, (il) Discord enters but 
 is denied a y)lace at the table (59-60). (e) Discord departs 
 in wrath and meets with Atropos (60). (/) Atropos takes her 
 part and enters the palace (6 1-52). (g) He rudelv salutes the Gods 
 (63); recites his services to them in destroying Hector, Alexander, 
 Caesar, etc. (64-69); charges them with assisting one whom he can 
 not destroy (70); refuses to serve them longer (71). (//) The Gods 
 in dismay swear to help Atropos and to confound this rebel. But 
 Eolus will not help them (72-75). (/) Excursus: how Eolus came 
 into the power of Pluto (76-80). (/) Eolus, forgiven by Neptune 
 at the request of Phebe, promises to afflict the rebel if he be in the 
 air (81-84). (1:) The name of this rebel is Virtue (85-86). Pluto 
 sends for his son Vice (87). 
 
 Act II. The Battle hettceeii the Vices aud Virtues in the field of 
 Microcosm (88-210). Scene I. The gathering of the hosts {88-133). 
 {(.i) Vice and his head-captains. Pride, Envv, Wrath, Covetousness, 
 Glutton}', Lechery, Sloth (88-91); inferior captains, Sacrilege, 
 Simony, etc., a great companv (91-95); such a host of commons 
 man never beheld — they were led by Idleness (95-102). {b) Virtue 
 and his head-captains. Humility, Charity, Patience, Liberality, Absti- 
 nence, Chastity, Good-Business (103-118); inferior captains and 
 common soldiers numbering a tenth of Vice's host (i 19-133). 
 Scene II. The preparation for the combat {134-/38). The field is 
 Microcosm. It is entered by five highways. Conscience is judge 
 of the battle. Freewill is Lord of the l-'ield. {a) Vice and \'irtue 
 dub fourteen knights each (140-142). (/') They send ambassadors 
 to Freewill (143-146). {c) Sensuality sows the field with wicked 
 seeds (146-147). Scene III. The battle {148-162). {a) Virtue tar- 
 ries under the Sign of the Cross and wards off the shots bv the Shield 
 of the Holy Trinity (149-150). (b) Virtue, abandoned by Freewill, 
 retreats (151-154). {c) Other captains hold the ground and Per- 
 
Literary Analysis. ' xxxix 
 
 severance brings reinforcements (155-159). (d) Vice is overthrown 
 (160-162). Scene IF. The result, (a) Freewill repents (163-164). 
 (/>) Vice is met by Despair (165). (e) Prescience drives Vice and 
 his host through the gates of Hell (166-167). (d) Predestination 
 gives Virtue the palm of Victory and to all a heavenly habitation 
 (168-170). (<;') Some of Vice's host repent (i 71-174). (/) Free- 
 will recompenses Virtue. Freewill is made bailiff in IVIicrocosm 
 under Reason. Sensuality is guided by Sadness. To Morpheus 
 are given the five keys of the highways (178-187). (g) Atropos, 
 angry at the Gods, seeks another master. He is called Death and 
 given possession of Microcosm (188-209). (//) Virtue is exalted 
 above the firmament to receive the Crown of Glory (210). 
 
 Act HI. The School and Lessons of Doctrine : The Doubt Solved 
 (21 i-2go). The place, a garden with four pictured walls; the por- 
 ter, Wit ; the teachers. Doctrine, Holy Text, Gloss and Moralization ; 
 the scribe. Scripture. Scene I. (a). The I)iterpretation by Doctrine 
 of the dream and of the four " Tifnes'" pictured on the walls {211— 
 27j). First, the imprisonment of Eolus signifies that wealth increases 
 misrule. Every man is judged by Minos according to his wicked- 
 ness. The complaint of Diana and Neptune signifies the folly of 
 fools in seeking to bring the winds to correction. When they came 
 to the banquet of Apollo like fools they gave up the matter to 
 oblivion. The Gods resemble false idols. In the beginning the 
 people slept in pagan law. The poets feigned many fables which 
 were given places and names. Idolatry was the rule during the 
 Time of Deviation from Adam to Moses. With Moses began the Time 
 of Revocation which endured to the Incarnation of Christ. The 
 New Testament opens the time of Reconciliation. The Time of 
 Pilgrimage or War is signified by the battle between Vice and Vir- 
 tue. As for Atropos his complaint signifies the constraint of friend- 
 ship. Discord must needs be avenged by Death. The battle 
 betokens the moral struggle in the soul. Microcosm is the world 
 of man. Perseverance betokens the continuance of virtuous living. 
 Prescience and Predestination are therewarders of Vice and Virtue. 
 The five keys are man's five wits. The return of man to sin is pre- 
 vented bv Reason and Sadness. Scene II. The reconciliation of 
 Reason and Sensuality: the theme completed {2y6-288). a. Death, 
 Reason and Sensuality enter. Of Death Lydgateis afraid. Reason 
 argues that Death ought to be shunned. In this sentiment Sen- 
 suality accords. (/;). Doctrine vanishes (289-290). 
 
xl The Religious Character. 
 
 C. The Conclusion {2g2-joi^. (a). The dream broken (291-293). 
 (f). Lest fault be found with me I record the vision (294-296). (< ). 
 The exhortation (297-301) : Gentle Reader, walk ahvay in the path 
 of Virtue. Fight daily against the World, the Flesh, and the 
 Devil. Thine shall be the glory and the heavenly mansions. Let 
 us pray that the Lord of Glory give us grace. Let us magnify his 
 name. To you may Jesus grant eternal joy. 
 
 B. Literary Studies. 
 
 I. The Religious Character of the Poem. — The Assembly of Gods is 
 one of Lydgate's numerous moral treatises so sounding in virtues 
 that Bishop Alcock of Ely (b. 1430), in sermons addressed to the 
 generation succeeding the poet, might praise it as leading to "the 
 encrease of vertue and the oppression of vyce.'" It is a sermon in 
 verse, only the moral truth is "cloked," as Stephen Hawes phrases it, 
 "with cloudy fygures." By this time Lydgate at Bury St. Edmunds 
 must have become an excellent ecclesiastic. In the poem he freely 
 employs the vocabulary of mediaeval monasticism. The explanation 
 by Doctrine, for instance, of the pagan deities, and indeed the 
 whole discourse of Doctrine, is in the manner of the early theolo- 
 gians and schoolmen. Thus the writings of Fulgentius, the gram- 
 marian (c. 480-550), notably his Mythologiarum {Mythologicori) 
 Libri, which explains the pagan names and legends, mav be cited 
 as the far source of that portion of the poem which interprets 
 the deities, and the Hamartigenia and Psychomachia of Prudentius, 
 the Christian hynm writer, a little earlier than Fulgentius, may be 
 consulted for the origin of that part which contains the battle of 
 the vices and virtues. Lydgate's immediate masters in opinion and 
 sentiment were the compilers of tlie Gesta Romanorum. 
 
 The definite teachings of the treatise might indeed be gathered 
 into a system.* The one God is thought of as a Supreme Judge, 
 Alpha and Omega omnipotent, standing above the lirmamcnt 
 and apportioning infinite rewards and punishments. Life is a pil- 
 grimage, a war with the sins. Sin is the parent of all woe. Death 
 
 ^ Sermo on Luke viii., printed c. 1496. " Frendes I remembre daves here 
 before in my vouthe that there was a vertuous monke of Bury called Lydgate, 
 whiche wrote many noble histories and made many vertuous balettes to the encrease 
 of vertue and op])rcssion of vyce." Brydges' Brit. Bibliog., iii, p. 533. 
 
 'That Lydgate knew his creed well is shown by Londoji Lackpentiy, Minor 
 Poems, p. 106. 
 
The Religious Character. xli 
 
 is the supreme object of dread. Salvation is sacramental and sacer- 
 dotal. Remedies against sin are found in the Seven Blessings of 
 the Gospel, the Seven Virtues of God, the Ten Commandments, the 
 Twelve Articles of the Faith, the Seven Sacraments, Veneration of 
 the Cross and the Saints, the Doctrine of Unity and the System of 
 Redemption in Christ. The necessity of penance is especially 
 enjoined. The chief sacraments are Baptism and the Eucharist, the 
 one being regarded as the sacrament of the new birth, the other as 
 the sacrament of sanctification which maintains the new life. Of 
 course the church is built on the stone of Peter who keeps the keys 
 of Heaven. In all the poem there is not the least suggestion of 
 the coming Reformation or of the work of Wyclif. A digression 
 is made at one point to notice the error of Origen (st. 227.) And 
 circumcision is. held in derision (st. 173.). The work closes appro- 
 priately with a prayer to the Son of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 Of the artistic merits of such a treatise little can be said. The 
 poem is simply one of the many moral poems which were so popular 
 during the Middle Ages throughout Europe and which were calcu- 
 lated to gratify the almost universal taste for poetry of a serious and S 
 didactic nature. We can now consider these works hardly other 
 than monuments of the bad taste that accompanies a low literary 
 culture. Such writings belong however to the history of literature 
 and without their consideration that history would be incomplete. 
 
 The Assembly of Gods is worthy of special attention for its complex 
 allegory, which is one of the best of its kind. I admit at the begin- 
 ning that it will furnish no pleasure to those who seek in literature 
 for originality and imaginative power. No one today would think of 
 echoing the praise of Lydgate's poet-friends, or of placing Lydgate's 
 name by the side of Chaucer, though he may be fair companion for 
 Gower and Hoccleve. That Burgh should think his master knew the 
 muses well {Secrees, st. 226), that Stephen Hawes should maintain that 
 Lydgate was the "most dulcet sprynge of famous rhethoryke" 
 {Pastime of Pleasure), that Dunbar should write that Lydgate had 
 with his "mellifluate " speech illumined the English language, and 
 that before his coming the English Isle was "bare and desolate of 
 rethorike or lusty fresch endyte" {The Golden Targe) — that this 
 chorus of eulogy should be at all received only illustrates the 
 imperfect literary sense of the late Middle Ages in England, that 
 period which Taine calls appropriately, for its almost utter lack alike 
 of the " grand style " and any high imagination, the Dark Age. Lau- 
 
xlii The Religions Character. 
 
 reate Skelton, alone among these early writers, has a bit of discerning 
 criticism of Lydgate's work in his Phyllyp Sparrowe (11. 804-12) : 
 " It is dyffuse to fynde (difficult to understand) 
 
 The sentence of his mynde. 
 
 Yet wryteth he in his kynd, 
 
 No man that can amend 
 
 Those maters that he hath pende ; 
 
 Yet some men fynde a faute, 
 
 And say he wryteth to haute (loftily)." 
 
 But while we cannot greatly admire a poem of this moralizing 
 kind, it mustbe remembered that the work is no worse than very 
 much of the prose and poetry of the Middle -English period, nearly 
 all of which is ethical if not distinctly religious in character, and 
 which might be assigned with propriety to the alcoves of the theo- 
 logical library. Chaucer is almost the only writer apiid the multi- 
 tude of preachers and satirists who obeyed his artistic rather than 
 his moral conscience. The moral and artistic blend happily, it is 
 true, in Langland who, although a reformer, was gifted with such 
 Dantean earnestness and strength as to elevate his noble Piers the 
 Plowman into a true and poetic allegory of the soul. Beautiful too 
 is the poem of the Pearl in its perfect union of religious earnestness 
 and deep and delicate poetic feeling, the lyric gem of all this period. 
 Still on the whole it must be said that while England was ready 
 ripe for an artistic literature in the period of the Renaissance, 
 during the Middle Ages the secret of art was wanting. For liter- 
 ature with the artistic stamp we must go to the continent, especially 
 to Italy. To Provencal poetry England presents no counterpart 
 save perhaps the people's ballads and songs of Robin Hood. 
 Not until the advent of the "courtly makers" of the reign of 
 Henry VHI. was there any sign of change to an artistic literature. 
 Religion and not Art, in short, was the "Time-spirit" of the age. 
 So prevalent is the moral motive, indeed, that it is not surprising to 
 find even Chaucer professing himself in his last years to be more 
 thankful that he had translated the Consolation of Boethius and 
 repeated Saints' Lives and religious homilies than that he had written 
 the great works of his artistic imagination, the worldly vanities of 
 which filled his senile mind with concern. As Mr. Lowell observes 
 in comparing Chaucer and Dante, the main question with the former 
 was after all the conduct of life. The conduct of life — this concern 
 has been the characteristic English trait from Caedmon to Browning. 
 That Lydgate's life tended to moral good if not to artistic purpose 
 
The Fear of DeatJi. xliii 
 
 is evidenced by the prayer of Hawes in his Excusation of the Pastime 
 of Pleasure, vilio prayed God to give him grace to compile books of 
 "moral vertue" — 
 
 " Of my maister Lidgate to folowe the trace, 
 His noble fame for laude and renue, 
 Whiche in his lyfe the slouthe did eschue ; 
 Makyng great bokes to be in memory, 
 On whose soule I pray God have mere)'." 
 
 2. The Fear of Death and the Seorn of the World. — It is now quite 
 generally acknowledged that the mediseval conception of life is very 
 accurately signified by a line in Dante's Piirgatorio (xxxiii, 54-5) : 
 "To those who live the life that is a race to death." It is notable 
 that the same sentiment is repeated in almost the same words, 
 though in broad Scotch, by William Dunbar, whose death year was 
 just two centuries after the passing of Dante, his daily sombre line 
 running : " Quhat is this lyfe bot ane straucht way to deid ?" 
 
 These lines expressly point to what was the most characteristic 
 feature of mediaevalism, the almost universal dualism of thought. 
 In art there was developed during the early Christian era a complete 
 system of allegory and symbolism. A world of sense images on the 
 one hand was set over against a universe of analogical and mystical 
 meanings on the other, the former being strictly subordinated to 
 the latter. This exaltation of the spiritual at the expense of the 
 natural characterised the religious life of the whole people. As Mr. 
 Kidd makes clear, the first fourteen centuries of our civilization were 
 devoted to the growth and development of a stupendous system of 
 otherworldliness. The supernatural became the object of the popular 
 faith. And the conception of a future life simply overshadowed 
 every consideration of the present. During the two centuries that 
 I have noted, reckoning roughly from Dante to Dunbar, this faith 
 in the other-world reached its culmination. Before Dante the 
 boundaries of the dual realm had not been perfectly limned ; the 
 construction of the circles of the supernatural was the work of the 
 poet in whom thirteen centuries of Christianity actuallv came to 
 expression. After Dunbar the spirit of the Renaissance is working, 
 introducing into this divided universe the principle of unity. It is 
 certain that in Shakespeare unity is well nigh established. The 
 development of the English drama away from the supernaturalism of 
 the Miracle Play and the abstraction of the Moralities and towards a 
 more or less consistent realism indicates the breaking-up of dualistic 
 
xliv The Fear of Death. 
 
 thought. Shakespeare having seen that men and women arrive at 
 judgment in the world could disregard the life to come. Taking 
 then into our view the dramatic realm of Dante, the other-world, and 
 of Shakespeare, the present world, we discover in the centuries 
 intervening between the life-work of these two artists the incidents 
 of a remarkable transition in thought, the break-up of a dualistic 
 system. In the art of the i6th century, which was more immediately 
 the producj: of the Renaissance, the new principle of unity is seen to 
 be confirmed. Naturally the tradition of religion continued longer 
 in force. Still the Reforujation church destroyed one feature of 
 supernaturalism, the belief in Purgatory, and though it was under 
 the necessity of maintaining the theory of Paradise and Hell, it 
 laid greater stress than before upon the actual life of men upon the 
 earth. It was after all a problem of the earth that Milton tried to 
 solve — the justification of the ways of God to men. 
 
 Following the rise of the system of otherworldliness there grew in 
 the heart of man, century by century from the founding of the 
 church, an ever present fear, a fear that for sinful men was only 
 increased by the joy of the martyrs, the fear of Him who was called 
 Death, the Foeman, the invincible Archer. During the 14th and 15th 
 centuries this dread of death was at its uttermost. On the physical side 
 the fear at this period was heightened by the helplessness of all 
 Europe before the ravages of the Black Plague, at the approach of 
 which householders could only cry, "The Lord have mercy upon 
 us." Spiritually the Day of Doom with its attendant terrors was a 
 fully realized conception, and no man was so sure of victory that 
 he did. not tremble on the verge of the grave. 
 
 By reference to the homiletic and didactic literature of the 14th 
 and 15th centuries in England the fear of death is found to be part 
 and parcel of the religious feeling of the time. In the Fricke of 
 Conscience, which contains the religious meditations of that strange 
 hermit and visionary, Richard Rolle of Hampole, most of whose life 
 was contemporary with that of Dante and who bore about with him 
 a certain Dantean mysticism, we learn of the Unstableness of the 
 World, of Death and why it is to be dreaded, of Purgatory, Dooms- 
 day, and the Pains of Hell. Dan Michel's Ayenbite of I/nvyt, 
 contemporary with Hampole's work, and illustrative likewise of the 
 teachings of the church, takes a similar view of the present and future 
 life. Comparing these and other typical treatises with reference to 
 the report which they make upon death, it is seen that they accord 
 
The Fear of Death. xlv 
 
 in assigning to Death, who is invariably heralded by Dread, the 
 execution upon all creatures of the awful sentence of doom. 
 
 It was taught, to be sure, that to good men death may be the 
 end of evils and the beginning of every blessing. Yet the righteous 
 could not escape from the terrors that attend death — the death that 
 might be eternal. On the day of Doom even angels and archangels 
 shall tremble. In a parable it was written that at the door of the 
 house of the Spirit, Dread, the messenger of Death, should knock and 
 demand entrance. He comes from Hell, the torments of which 
 surpass the picturing of the imagination : in a great deep below 
 Hell yawns, bottomless and frightful. Out of the stench and dark- 
 ness rise the songs of sorrow from loathsome fiends in chains. Rest- 
 less are the souls encumbered there, that are tormented by hunger 
 and thirst, that are driven by heat and cold and bathed in burning 
 pitch, withal feeling the turnings of the worm of conscience. Satan 
 is there with his rake, having horns upon his head and knees, yawn- 
 ing with his mouth, venting fire from mouth and nostril and eyepits. 
 This was the background of terror upon which were pictured the 
 glories of heaven. By hopeful ones it was remembered that Christ 
 had descended into Hell and broken the gates asunder. Gentle spirits 
 taught that " Loue is more stranger /ianne drede" [Ay. of Inw. p. 75) 
 that "Love of God driveth out fear" (^aet'/ifi- Warde, O. E. Hom.^. 259). 
 Yet upon the foundation of fear the medineval church was erected. 
 The church then seemed to have been established for little else 
 than to harass the human race. 
 
 The homiletic treatment of death' and doom precedes the poetic 
 by about a century. The characteristic utterance on these themes 
 in English poetry is subsequent to 1400 and well along in the i6th 
 century.' Yet Langland's great poem (about 1362-1393) has a con- 
 tent typical of the century to which it belongs. Perhaps the most 
 striking and vigorous passage in all his Vision of the World at work 
 is the one descriptive of the procession of Death amid the "field full 
 of folk": 
 
 " Elde pe hore he was in pQ vauntwarde, 
 And bare ps banere bifor deth by righte he it claymed. 
 Kynde come after with many kene sores, 
 As pokkes and pestilences and moche people shente ; 
 
 'See Sackville's picture in the Induction to the Mirroiir for Magistrates 
 and Southwell's Image of Death, and many others of like import even in the days 
 of the Renaissance. 
 
xlvi The Fear of Death. 
 
 So kvnde poxw corupciouns kulled ful manve. 
 Deth cam dryuende after and al to doust passhed 
 Kvnges & knyghtes, kavseres and popes ; 
 Lered ne lewed he let no man stonde, 
 That he hitte euene ^at euere stired after. 
 Many a louely lady and lemmanes of knyghtes 
 Swouned and swelled for sorwe of dethes dyntes." 
 
 — P. PL Pas. XX. II. 94-104. 
 
 So in the fear of death, Dunbar, a characteristic inelancholv 
 figure of the 15th century, wrote his startling and horrible Danee 
 of the Sevin Deidly Syniiis. For "This fals warld," he said, "is bot 
 transitory." A\'hen Beauty won her victory over the poet — so ran 
 his allegory — he was consigned to the custody of Grief. Youth 
 and loveliness, bravery and wit, all come to an end : 
 
 " Onto the ded gois all estatis, 
 Princis, prelates, and potestatis, 
 Baith riche and pur of all degre ; 
 
 Timor mortis conturbat me." — Lament. 
 
 The poets, "the makers" themselves, for all their sweet service 
 cannot escape the end : " I see the makers among the rest." 
 
 " He hes done petuouslv devour 
 The noble Chaucer, of makaris flour, 
 The monk of Bery, and Gower, all thre; 
 Timor mortis conturbat me." ' — Laniait. 
 
 At length the man that feared not Death found a place in Barc- 
 lay's Ship of Fools (85th), the author knowing well : 
 
 "There never was man of so greate pryde ne pompe 
 Nor of such myght, youth nor man of age 
 That myght gaynsay the sounde of dethes trompe. 
 He makes man daunce and that without courage 
 As well the state as man of lowe lynage 
 His cruell cours is ay so intretable 
 That mannys myght to withstand is nat able." 
 
 ■ — Barclay, Ship of Fools, II. p. 119. 
 
 In this manner the Fool who thought to escape Death became a 
 prominent character in the spectacle-plays. The Fool always ended 
 bv becoming perforce Death's servant. Shakspeare refers to the 
 action in Measure for Measure (Act. III. Sc. i.): 
 
 ' This line occurs in one of Lydgate's poems and forms the burden of more 
 than one of the popular songs of the day, indicating the rather "sad sincerity" of 
 English life. And cf. Villon's ballad with the refrain: "Ou sont des neiges 
 d'antan ? " 
 
The Fear of Death. xlvii 
 
 "Merely, thou art death's fool ; 
 For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun, 
 And yet runn'st toward him still." 
 
 There were many sides, of course, to mediaeval life. The monks 
 often forgot their professions of sanctity and, living for the moment 
 for the world, incurred — rightly, no doubt — the satire of the poets 
 and preachers. Chaucer's gay, worldling monk who "loved vene- 
 rie," and the churchman who knew rimes about Robin Hood better 
 than his prayers and could hunt a hare in the fields better than a 
 clause in a Saints' Lives, were not, perhaps, uncommon types. 
 Dunbar said, after all, "best to be blyth " in the face of the false 
 world, and to his verses he often gave, like Villon, the sweetness of 
 melancholy. Among the poems of the Percy MS. (Vol. IIL 56) is one 
 entitled Death and Life and thought to be late Middle- English work. 
 It contains a gracious picture of Lady Dame Life, brighter than the 
 sun, redder than the rose, ever laughing for love, awakening life 
 and love in grass and tree, in bird and beast and man, as she speeds, 
 with Comfort, Hope, Love, Courtesy, Honor, Mirth, Mercy and • 
 Disport in her train, in her conquest over Death. The sense of the * 
 piece, despite the intrusion of the "ugly fiend Dame Death," is that 
 of gladness in the thought of life. Still the ballad shines by con- 
 trast. It was most common, it appears, to scoff at the world — that was 
 vanity and mockery. Where there was one like Chaucer who could 
 take a calm, sane delight in life, seeing too deeply into the nature of 
 things to despair, there were many like Pope Innocent III. to enu- 
 merate without a gleam of hope the miseries of human conditions.' 
 "/e worldeycleped pt daneof tyeeres," expresses Dan Michel's judg- 
 ment. Langland, the English Mystic, had likewise an austere and 
 frowning face, and, having in his view the "field full of folk," 
 burned with indignation at the worldlings there that Chaucer loved, 
 the latter poet's sunny and sensuous tales being regarded as mortal 
 sin. Death it was that made the world a mockery. When 
 Graund Amoure, in Hawes' Pastime of Pleasure, became eager to 
 heap up the world's riches it was Death that stood by to warn that 
 these are valueless. So it was Death that rendered Nature 
 unlovely. In the Example of Virtue Hawes brought Lusty Juven- 
 tus within the glorious mansion of Dame Nature, whose perfect 
 loveliness the youth admired ; but Discretion, as was his part, led 
 
 ' De Contemptu Mundi sive de Miseria Conditionis Humanis. 
 
 ■^ OF THK 
 
xlviii TJic Fear of Death. 
 
 to a place where the goddess's back was seen, which was all marred 
 by an image of Death. 
 
 Taking now into consideration these two sentiments of medioeval 
 life, the scorn -of the world, and the fear of death, it is noteworthy 
 that Lydgate represents most fully the religious attitude. In his 
 youth he loved the pleasures of the world. In his Testament, refer- 
 ring to his wayward youth, he tells how he was converted : 
 
 " When Ver is fresshest of blosmys and of flourys. 
 An vnwar storm his fresshnesse may apayre. 
 Who may withstande the sterne sharp shourys 
 Of dethys power, wher hym list repavre? 
 Thouhe the feturis fresshe, angelik and fayre, 
 Shewe out in childhood, as any cristal cleer, 
 Dethe can difface hem witheyne fyfteene yeere. 
 
 " Which now rememljrvng in my latter age, 
 Tymc of my childhood, as I reherse shal, 
 Witheyne fifteene holdyng my passage. 
 Mid of a cloistre depict vpon a wal ; 
 I sauhe a crucifix, whos woundys were nat smal, 
 With this woord VIDE writen ther besyde, 
 ' Behold my meeknesse, O child, and lefe thy pride.' " 
 
 From various sources we have the outward aspect of the monk 
 in this "latter age" revealed. In a Shirley MS. (Addit. 16,165 Brit. 
 Mus.) reference is made to "Lydgate the Monk clothed in blakke." 
 Douglas, mentioning Lydgate among the poets in the Court of the 
 Muses, witnesses that he "raid musing him allone" {Pa/ice of 
 Honour) In the prolog to the Sto?y of Thebes, written by Lydgate 
 to complete the Canterbury Tales, he describes himself as looking 
 pale and bloodless and wearing a cape of black — no fit companion 
 for Chaucer's gayer pilgrims one would think. But the most per- 
 fect description is given by William Bullein in his Dialogue against 
 the Fever Pestilence (Lond. 1573). Having spoken of Homer, 
 Hesiod, Ennius and Lucan as favorites of the Muses, Bullein adds 
 to the list of beneficiaries Gower, Skelton, Chaucer, and Lydgate. 
 The last he thus describes: "Lamenting Lidgate, lurking emong 
 the lilies with a bold skons, with a garland of willowes about his pate; 
 booted he was after Sainct Bcnet's guise, and a black stamell robe, 
 with a lothly monsterous hoode, hanging backwarde ; his stoopyng 
 forward, bewavling euery estate, with the spirite of prouidence for- 
 seyng the falles of wicked men, and the slipprie seates of Princes, 
 the ebbyng and flowyng, the risyng and falling of men in auctoritie. 
 
The Fear of Death. xlix 
 
 and how vertue doth aduaunce the simple, and vice ouerthrowe 
 the most noble of the worlde." (Bullein's Dialogue, E. E. T. S., 
 p. 17.) 
 
 Of these accounts there is every justification in Lydgate's writings. 
 The dominant themes are without question those connected with the 
 thought of death and change. The painting at St. Paul's of the 
 procession of Death seemed to impress his mind deeply. Beside 
 his translation of the French verses of the Dance Macawbre more 
 than one reference occurs in his lyrics to the "Daunce of Poules" 
 {Minor Poems, p. 34, 77). Often he pictures life as a hard pilgrim- 
 age, "in which there is no stedfast abyding." He harps recurrently 
 upon the wretchedness of human affairs — the note being taken, he 
 affirms, from his master Chaucer ! One of his favorite topics is to 
 show the greatness of mankind and how they are brought low : "All 
 do but show a shadow transitory." 
 
 "Stabilnesse is founde in nothyng, 
 
 In worldly honour who so lokithe wele ; 
 For dethe ne sparithe emperour ne kyng, 
 
 Thoughe they be armed in plates made of Steele ; 
 He castithe downe princes from fortunes wheele, 
 
 As hir spokes rounde about goo, 
 To exemplifye, who that markithe wele, 
 
 How this world is a thurghfare ful of woo." 
 
 Oti the Wretchedness of Worldly Affairs, M. P., p. 126. 
 
 "Considre and see the transmutacioun. 
 How the sesoun of greene lusty age. 
 Force of juventus, hardy as lioun, 
 
 Tyme of manhood, wisdom, sad corage. 
 And how decrepitus turneth to dotage, 
 
 Al cast in ballaunce, bewar, forget nothyng. 
 And thu shalt fynde this lyff a pylgrymage. 
 In which there is no stedfast abydyng." 
 
 — 0)1 the Mutability of Human Affairs, p. 198. 
 
 The Daunce of Poules or the Dautice Macawbre consists of verses 
 spoken by Death to the various persons he is leading to the 
 grave and of their responses. All must go upon this dance, the 
 Pope, the highest in the land, the Emperor, the Cardinal, the Em- 
 press, the King and all the lower ranks — there is none escape. 
 
 " In this myrrour every man may fvnde 
 That hym behoveth to gon upon this daunce 
 Who goth to forne or who schal go behynde 
 Al dependeth in goddes ordynaunce. 
 
1 The Co)ivc)itional Materials. 
 
 Wherfor eche man lowly take his chaunce. 
 Deth spareth not pore ne blode ryal, 
 Eche man therfor haue this in remembraunce 
 Of on matere God hath forged al." 
 
 The Asse77ibly of Gods is the consummate expression of Lydgate's 
 fear of death. Death is here the central figure throughout. In the 
 fear all accord — Lydgate, Reason and Sensuality. Very appropri- 
 ately the last recorded line written bv this somewhat sombre monk, 
 line 1 49 1 of the Secrces of Old PhiUsoffres, is of Death : 
 
 "Deth al consumyth which may nat be denved." 
 3. The Conve7itional Materials. — The Assembly of Gods in respect 
 to its materials, its machinery, so to speak, is anything but original. 
 The poet is thrown into the conventional sleep bv a lake side, on 
 the hackneyed spring morning. At once we e.xpect the poem to be 
 crammed full of stereotyped theology, mythologv and allegorv. 
 Indeed the work as a whole is merely a mosaic of current traditions, 
 the different parts being fitted together with more or less perfect skill. 
 When, then, we come to estimate the literary effects of compositions 
 of this sort, their origins and history must be taken into account. 
 Mediaeval ideas had alwavs a definite pedigree. While modern 
 romantic literature is most characterized by its personal element, 
 medicxval literature may be divided rather into impersonal classes, as 
 romances, chronicles, lays, etc. Individuality rarely appeared as an 
 element of poetic composition. Each writer, being under no com- 
 pulsion to originate or invent, simply threw what he had to say into 
 the prevailing form. The genius of poetry, both with respect to 
 form and materials, was conventionality.' An artist was held in esti- 
 mation according to his skill in plagiarizing from the world's 
 literatures. It was sufficient that he could wiselv quote, that he had 
 won a reputation for scholarship, and that the epithet "learned" be 
 attached to him. It is characteristic of the age that Dante, after a 
 youth spent in writing love songs, should plan a Co/ivito, to be avast 
 encyclopaedic work, so anxious was he that the title of "learned" 
 might offset the reproach of a vouth misspent in composing love 
 sonnets. So Chaucer was called with approbation "learned" and 
 
 'This feature of mediaeval literature is commonly spoken of by readers 
 slightingly and with meagre patience. But a traditional literature is cumulative, 
 so to speak, in its effects. Repetition is then a virtue and not a weakness. Tra- 
 ditions are most effective at the moment of most common use. A later age is 
 quite incapable of giving full and due credit to conventions that have passed ; it 
 should at least exercise charity. 
 
TJie Conventional Materials. li 
 
 the "great translator." In his case, by reason of the blending in 
 his works of his own stream of romantic fancy and feeling with this 
 remote traditional tide, often strange anomalies of thought were 
 produced. In fact Chaucer was differentiated from the writers of 
 the period by his originality which worked with new results upon 
 the materials that tradition had given him. Yet it was for his learn- 
 ing that he was most admired. It is not necessary to disprove the 
 extent or accuracy of Chaucer's attainment in this respect.' Like 
 other writers of the period he was learned enough to refer sugges- 
 tively to matters more or less familiar to his readers, who held their 
 own knowledge loosely, and in the manner of all middle-age erudi- 
 tion, without critical accuracy. A work of this period is not then to 
 be interpreted by itself but by the class of literature to which it 
 belongs by virtue of associated themes and motifs. When one first 
 reads the opening stanzas of the Assembly of Gods he exclaims 
 that it is a dream like Fiers the Plozvman, like the Poem of the 
 Pearl, like the Eoman de la Rose and the Divina Comedia. These 
 poems and many more add their several contributions to one's 
 delight. A phrase here, a thought there, the dream, the allegory, 
 the pictured walls, the theme of death, in one way or another 
 serve to recall pretty much the whole of mediaeval literatures — just 
 probably as the author intended. Only by thus recovering the past 
 and setting a work in the historical current, can we understand the 
 pleasure and profit with which a poem of this kind was read by 
 contemporaries and by those of a later time to whom its literary 
 traditions were familiar. We must remember that to Lydgate,^ for 
 a century after his death, the distinction was given of belong- 
 ing with Gower and Chaucer to the great triumvirate of letters. 
 Not alone for his " sugurit lippis and toungis aureate" was this 
 fame acquired, though for these he seems to have been most admired 
 by Hawes, the Scottish poets, the critic Webb, and the poet Gray; 
 but his praise was in the mouth of his nearest disciple, Benedict 
 Burgh, for that "ye have gadred flouris in this motli mede," — in the 
 literature, that is, of the past — and on this account "to yow is yeven 
 the verray price of excellence." Of course a succeeding age, intent 
 upon the Reformation and the New Learning, forgot the mediaeval 
 traditions, the dream, the allegory, the teachings of Doctrine, and 
 
 ' Cf. Lounsbury Studies in Chancer, ch. v. 
 
 * For the subject of Lydgate's literary fame v. Sidney Lee's summary in Did. 
 of Natl. Biog. XXXIV., p. 309-10. 
 
Hi The Coiivciitio)ial Materials. 
 
 Lydgate and his school were relegated to obscurity. Chaucer sur- 
 vives now not for his learning but because of the perrennial char:;! of 
 his native genius. No one of us cares much for Boethius or 
 Fulgentius or Prudentius, or even Dante in his doctor's robes, dead^ 
 all of them, to modern comprehension. 
 
 No one will question Lydgate's learning or the extent of his 
 reading. He was more or less faniiliar with ancient and mediaeval 
 literatures, especially that written in Latin and French. His library 
 contained nmch the same books that Chaucer, Gower and Langland 
 read. He is as pedantic as thevin filling his pages with the names 
 of authors and famous men. He illustrates, as thev. the influence 
 exercised in poetry by the scholastic and encyclopaedic training of 
 the Church and School. Mr. Lee's statement on this point is suf- 
 ficient : 
 
 "Lvdgate mentions familiarly all the great writers of classical 
 and mediaeval antiquity. Of Greek authors he claims some aquaint- 
 ance with 'grete' Homer, Euripides, Demosthenes, Plato, Aristotle 
 and Josephus. Among Latin writers he refers constantly to Ovid, 
 Cicero, Virgil, and his commentator Servius, Livy, Juvenal and 
 'noble' Persius ; to 'moral' Seneca, Lucan, Statins, Aulus Gellius, 
 Valerius Maxinms, Prudentius, Lactantius, Prosper the 'dogmatic' 
 epigrammatist, Vegetius, Boethius, Fulgentius, Alanus ab Insulis, 
 and Guido di Colonna. Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are 
 repeatedly commended by him among Italian writers, and he was 
 clearly acquainted with the 'Roman de la Rose,' with French 
 fabliaux, romances, and chronicles." — Diet. Natl. Biog. XXXIV., 
 p. 309. 
 
 The mosaic of the Assembly of Gods is made up of the following 
 materials, all of which are traditional and common. 
 
 Introduction with the season fnotif. 
 
 The dream. 
 
 The painted walls. 
 
 The School of Doctrine. 
 
 The pagan Divinities. 
 
 The court scene and the banquet of the Gods. 
 
 The Nine Worthies and the learned men of antiquity. 
 
 The allegory. 
 
 Proverbial phrases. 
 
 The teaching of the Church. 
 
 The Seven Sins and Virtues. 
 
The Season Motif, liii 
 
 The battle of Antichrist. 
 
 The Liberal Sciences. 
 
 The five Wits. 
 
 The fear of Death. 
 
 The romance of Paris and Helen. 
 
 4. The Season Motifs The introduction of Middle-English 
 poems by reference to the season of the year and the position of the 
 planets seems generally to have been merely a part of the machinery 
 of composition — a happy way of getting started. The same pre- 
 lude is met with in the Provencal, French and German lyrics of the 
 period with wearisome regularity. The May landscape especially 
 was stereotyped into set forms that could have had but a rhetorical 
 significance. With Chaucer and most of the Scottish poets, the 
 nature-prelude was, one feels, something more than derivative. 
 Chaucer, King James, Dunbar, and Douglas especially appear to 
 draw quite directly from nature with a heartfelt feeling for the 
 season. They write with an unction and an eye for delicate effects 
 never exhibited in the purely conventional prelude. Chaucer's love 
 of nature amounted almost to a passion. Whatever he touched 
 broke into full blossom. Reading him, as Lowell says, is like brush- 
 ing through the dewy grass at sunrise. Poets with Chaucer's spirit 
 had naturally a sense for nature as a dramatic background for their 
 compositions. Thus it was agreed that May^ was the "mirthful 
 month," the " quicking" season, the month of "joy and disport," 
 the one that "among months sittith like a queen " — the time, there- 
 fore, for beginning love-poems and romantic allegories. Chaucer 
 tells us that in the Spring he would say farewell to his books and 
 walk out in the meadow; this was the time to compose "Seyntes 
 Legends of Cupid." The association of the romances with the 
 Spring was so common that there came to be a saying that "Arthur 
 is the man of May." Where the dramatic motive was present other 
 seasons would be employed as the occasion required. The Pearl 
 occurred in the high season of August when the reapers' sickles 
 were in the corn. Lyndesay's Drcnie opens appropriately with a 
 
 ' See McLaughlin, Studies hi Alediaval Life and Literature, c\\. i.; also Veitch, 
 Nattire in Scottish Poetry. 
 
 * There is a primitive feeling among poets that Spring is the season of delights. 
 Keats had this sense in a large degree when he began to write Endyjuion "while 
 the early budders are just new," hoping that no wintry season should find his work 
 incomplete. 
 
liv The Season Motif 
 
 dreary winter's night in January. Dunbar's liorrible Dance of the 
 Sinns is seen in February. Sackville's Mirroiir for Magistrates, 
 which harks back to the Chaucer School, begins in the " wrathful 
 winter." In one instance Chaucer opens a poem, the Hoits of Fame, 
 modelling his work upon Dante, with the December season. In 
 Henryson's melancholy story of Troylus and Creseyde there is an 
 open effort to construct a dramatic background, for the poet says 
 in beginning : 
 
 " Ane doolie sesouii to anc cairfidl dyte 
 Suld coj-respofid, and be equivalent ; 
 Richt sa it wes quhen I began to write 
 This tragedie, the wedder richt fervent, 
 Quhen Aries, in middis of the Lent, 
 Schouris of haill can fra the north descend, 
 That scantlie fra the cauld I micht defend." 
 
 But there are other cases, as Langland's Piers the Phni'ina)!,^ where 
 no aesthetic value in the prelude can be determined. The last of 
 these derivative forms, as in Skelton's Bowge of Court, or Fletcher's 
 Purple Island, seem but rhetorical. The conventional aspect of the 
 introduction is well displayed by Lvndesav when he begins his 
 doleful Monarchie with the May morning, as if he were unable to 
 get started in any other way, but realizing that his purpose is to 
 describe mortal miseries, he calls a truce to his vain descriptions 
 and turns to the matter in hand. 
 
 In the minds of some writers there may have been a thought of 
 the planetary influences that ever streamed down from the heavens 
 upon the earth. Astrology is known to have been an attractive 
 theme to the mediaeval poets. "It was the delight of Dante," says 
 Dean Church, "to interweave the poetry of feeling and of the out- 
 ward sense with the grandeur of order, proportion, measured mag- 
 nitudes, the relation of abstract forces displayed on such a scene as 
 the material universe." Chaucer constantly makes a literary use of 
 astrology though personally skeptical of the pretentions of the 
 science. This perception of the starry forces at work in the lives 
 of men must have been present in the first of the preludes. Thus 
 the introduction served almost the function of an invocation to the 
 Muses. King James, indeed, invoking the Muses Nine, passes at 
 once to consider the Spring "that full of vertu is and gude." In 
 one of the very earliest of the poems containing the typical season 
 
 'Langland seemed to have had Mapes' Golias satire in mind when he began 
 to write. Note Mapes' "Inter prodigia plebem innumeram." 
 
The Visioti. Iv 
 
 motive, the Apocalypse of Go/ias, written toward the close of the 12th 
 century, the astronomical allusion is prominent • 
 
 "A Tauro torrida lampade Cynthii 
 Fundente jacula ferventis radii 
 Umbrosas nemoris latebras adii, 
 Explorans gratiam levis Favonii. 
 
 Aestivae medio diei tempore, 
 Frondosa recubans Jovis sub arbore, 
 Astantis video formam Pythiagorae : 
 Deus scit, nescio, utrum in corpore." 
 
 May was the month of life because the planets at that season had 
 special power of hot and moist/ 
 
 With Lydgate and his immediate pupils, as Hawes in the Pas- 
 time of Pleasure, the astronomical introduction is apparently a 
 matter of pure literary habit. The vision of the Temple of Glas 
 takes place in December, after its model the JToiis of Fame. The 
 opening of the Assembly of Gods — the only reference to nature in 
 the work — is conventional. It is barely possible that in the monk's 
 scholastic mind there was in the reference to the spheres the sug- 
 gestion of the harmony to be achieved by Reason and Sensuality. 
 
 5. The Vision.- In the psychology of the Middle Ages the 
 vision is perhaps the most remarkable phenomenon displayed. The 
 records of dreams constitute in Europe and England an entire lit- 
 erature with features peculiar to the kind. Some of this dream- 
 work is in imitation of the revelations of Scripture ; some works 
 are clearly due to the hallucinations of an ascetic life ; some are as 
 plainly the results of adoration, the fruits of "contemplative life," 
 in the exercise of which men passed from the knowledge of things 
 of sense to knowledge of things eternal ; others reveal the passion 
 for dogmatic definition that characterized the schoolmen however 
 mystical the theme ; other forms are secular and merely a part of 
 the higher rhetoric of poetry as then conceived and developed. 
 After the Bible, the head sources of the mediaeval visions seem to 
 have been the " Dialogues " of St. Gregory, a compilation of many 
 religious dreams, the De Consolatione Philosophice of Boethius, and 
 the Somnium Scipioiiis in Cicero's treatise on The Republic. In 
 
 ' For the effects of the seasons upon the lives of men see Lydgate's Testament, 
 The Mutability of Human Affairs, and the Secrees. 
 
 *See 'Lecky's History of European Af orals, II., pp. wd et seq., 220. For fur- 
 ther references to the literature of the vision see Schick's Intro., p. cxviii. 
 
Ivi Proverbial Phrases. 
 
 general, two tvpes of vision are distinguishable, in accordance uith 
 their monastic or worldly origin. In the visions of one class the 
 dreamer takes into his view the circles of the supernatural, and 
 reports as man may of the revelations accorded him either of 
 Heaven or Hell or the intermediate states. In the other class the 
 objects of contemplation are in the "wilderness of this world," and 
 the dream may be but a poetical device, a kind of framework for 
 any secular action or incident, as the experiences of a lover 
 in the Romauiit of the Rose. In English literature illustration 
 of the first type is furnished by The Pearl, with its view of the 
 heavenly citv ; Dunbar's Da7ice of the Seven Deadly Si/ifis, with its 
 vision of Hell ; and Lyndesay's Dreme, which gives the reader sight 
 of all the circles of the Infinite. Probably the earliest instance in 
 England of this kind of dream is the Apocalypse of Golias, written 
 in Latin by Walter Mapes (b. 1143), a work w^hich enjoyed an 
 extraordinary popularity during the 13th and 14th centuries. The 
 chief examples of the second type are Langland's Piers the Plow- 
 man, Chaucer's several dreams, King James's Quair, Dunbar's 
 Golden Targe, Skelton's Bowge of Court, etc. 
 
 The Assembly of Gods is in its scope a vision of the first order, 
 though the battle takes place in Microcosm. Probably Lydgate 
 did not have anv very real sense of the other worlds, nor could he 
 ever loose his imagination so that he really saw visions — at best he 
 asked but for dogmatic definition as the schoolmen before him. 
 
 6. Proverbial Phrases. Like other writers of the period Lyd- 
 gate makes a conspicuous use of conventional phrases and pro- 
 verbial sayings. A considerable body of proverbs, rhetorical figures, 
 and phrases mav be gathered from his works, some of which are 
 peculiar to his own usage and style, while others are the common 
 property of literature. On a later page is given a list of the prov- 
 erbs and phrases emploved in this poem. The manner of the 
 employment of a stock simile by writers is well illustrated by the 
 history of the phrase " hair like gold wire" which seems to have been 
 given currencv by Lydgate. The simile first occurs in Layamon's j^r///" 
 (11. 7047-8), where it is emploved to describe King Pir who was so 
 wondrous fair. Bv Lvdgate it was first used to characterize the 
 feathers of a bird in the Cliorl and Bird. In the Temple of Glas 
 and the Assefnbly of Gods (1. 373) the reference is to Venus with her 
 ever sunnish hair." In the Troy-Book it occurs no less than seven 
 times being applied both to men and women. The larger compari- 
 
The Painted Wall. Ivii 
 
 son "hair like gold" is often found in European literature before 
 Lydgate as in the Roman de la Rose, but this special phrase is Lyd- 
 gate's own. From this time to the close of the sixteenth century 
 the figure is in constant employment', generally descriptive of 
 women of ideal beauty. Its force is partly spent in Shakespeare's 
 time, for the reverence for gold hair is satirized by the saying of 
 Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing (II., 3, 36) : "Her hair shall 
 be of what colour it please God." In sonnet cxxx. reference is 
 made to Lydgate's simile in the line, "If hairs be wires, black wires 
 grow on her head." 
 
 7. The Painted Wall.^ The pictured wall was another rhetorical 
 device common to mediseval poetry— an elastic framework into which 
 any subject could be made to fit. It was a convenient means of 
 extending indefinitely the scope of one's work. To such an extent 
 was the method carried that a secondary poet like Stephen Hawes 
 cannot mention a wall without covering it over with pictures. 
 Instances of the usage will be found in Boccaccio's Thesiad, in the 
 romance of Guigemar by Marie de France, Lorris's Roman de la 
 Rose, Chaucer's Boke of the Duchesse, Lydgate's Temple of Glas and 
 Assembly of Gods, Hawes's Pastime of Pleasure, Dunbar's Di-eam, 
 Barclay's Towre of Vertue and Honour, etc. In the romances the 
 stories depicted are commonly those of love. In Guigemar, for 
 instance, the walls are painted with images of Venus and scenes 
 from Ovid's Art of Love, and in the Boke of the Duchesse the 
 imagery is that of the Roman de la Rose. In descriptions of the 
 temples of Mars and Diana scenes of war and the hunt will appear. 
 The siege of Troy or Thebes was a favorite theme for the walls of 
 palaces. Scriptural scenes occur in cathedrals and cloisters. Dun- 
 bar saw on his chamber walls 
 
 "All the nobill stoiyis old and new, 
 Sen oure first father formed was of clay." 
 
 ' For many instances of its usage see Schick's Temple of Glas, notes, pp. 88- 
 90 ; and Kolbing, Bevis of Hainioun, notes, pp. 244-5 ! ^^d for a full discussion of 
 its usage and resthetical meaning see a paper by the present editor read before the 
 English Club (Chicago) and reported in outline in the University Quarterly Calen- 
 dar (May, 1895), p. 80. 
 
 ^See Warton, Hist, of En g. Poetry, II., pp. 131, 275, 402; TIL, p. 63; on 
 page 402, Vol. 11., is reprinted a passage from an Itinerary written in 1322 describ- 
 ing Westminster palace ; see Longfellow's Golden Legend for instances of picture 
 and play ; a description of convent walls is given in Piers the Ptowinan^s Crede, 
 11. 1 86, tt seq. 
 
Iviii Pagan and Christian Traditions. 
 
 While this method is an open piece of machinery when viewed 
 as rhetoric, quite ludicrous too when as elaborate as Lydgate's arbor 
 walls which reveal the history of the world in small, yet it should 
 be remembered that during the Middle Ages the picture was the 
 favorite means of conveying story and doctrine. It is a remark- 
 able feature of mediaeval art that often no positive line of division 
 can be drawn between literature and picture or spectacular show. 
 The paintings on royal palaces of the scenes of war, the weaving on 
 ladies' tapestries of the incidents of romance, the picturing on 
 cloister walls of the saints and scenes from Scripture, the depiction 
 in public places as on the bridge at Lucerne and in the churches in 
 France and England of such instructional processionals as the 
 Dance of Death, the scenic representation of sacred things in 
 liturgies, and pageants and street plays — these constituted the 
 popular literature of the period, of far greater influence than the 
 written page that issued from the scriptorium of the monastery. 
 Allegory, the written picture, necessarily adopted the scenic method 
 for which the mind was already prepared. This interplav of 
 imagery between picture and allegory contributed much to the 
 later establishment of an independent literature. But for the 
 present the pictorial was the literary. Even Chaucer was not 
 freed from the necessitv of "drawing of picture." 
 
 8. The Admixture of Pagan and Christian Traditions.— Or\& 
 characteristic of the Assembly of Gods is the curious admixture in 
 it of pagan and Christian traditions. The pagan deities are all 
 ranged on the side of the Vices of Christendom. The Christian 
 Vice is represented as the son of Pluto, who is the Lord of the 
 Christian Hell. The ancient Fateful Atropos, wlio cut with shears 
 the thread of pagan life, is transformed into Death with a lance, the 
 dread of the Christian Church. 
 
 It was the almost universal practice of the poets of late Middle 
 English to confound the mythology of all peoples and to mix up 
 incongruously the pagan myths and Christian allegories, constitut- 
 ing in fact a veritable mythology of their own. Gower in his Confessio 
 Amantis, Douglas in his Palicc of Honour, King James in his Quair, 
 and others of the allegorical school disj)lay their learning in this man- 
 ner. Such usage points to the renaissance of paganism, accompany- 
 ing the temporary decay of Christianity in the 14th century, and to the 
 rise of a new mythology, and foreshadows the new learning of the next 
 century. The results of this renaissance in Europe a century later 
 
Pagan and Christian Traditions. lix 
 
 are well exhibited by Browning in his poem, The Bishop Orders his 
 Tomb, where Pans and Nymphs, symbols of Delphic wisdom and 
 Bacchic revels, the Saviour on the Mount, St. Praxed in his glory 
 and Moses with his tables are brought into juxtaposition on the 
 sculptured tomb. We know too that in Italy Plato was called the 
 second Moses and Orpheus, Empedocles, Parmenides and others 
 were placed on a level with David and the prophets. 
 
 In some cases there seems to be more than a poetic use of the 
 machinery of mythology — as if some profound meaning was 
 read into the ancient myths. Always when traditional currents 
 from different sources blend, the underlying human meanings are 
 transferred and commonly understood. When Angelo painted in the 
 Last Judgment an Herculean Christ he was clearly not irreverent. 
 Dante wrote Olympus for Paradise {Fi/rg. c. xxiv. 1. 15). He spoke 
 of Christ as "Sommo Giove" who was crucified for us {Pnrg. c. vi. 1. 
 118). In canto xxix, the Grifon naturally symbolizes the Christ. In 
 a like spirit Milton and others have spoken of Christ as the "mighty 
 Pan," and Milton's Deity, as Lowell observes, was a Calvanistic Zeus. 
 Even Bunyan introduces, into his Holy War, Cerberus, who swears 
 by St. Mary, and the Furies, Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone, and 
 the incongruity of their presence there seems to have escaped his 
 attention. Chaucer in calling one of his works the Seintes Legend of 
 Cupyde must have entered into the spirit of the heathen pantheism 
 as a real form of religion.' 
 
 It is not so clear that Lydgate entered very deeply into the spirit 
 of mythology. His usage is not very consistent. In the Assembly 
 of Gods Cupid is counted among the vices. But in another piece 
 attributed to Lydgate (Fairfax MSS. xvi. Eibl. Bodl.) the rubrics of 
 the missal are applied to the god Cupid for whose sake many were 
 martyrs. In the Life of Our Lady the beauty of the Virgin Mary 
 is compared with that of Helen, Polyxena, Lucretia, Dido, Bath- 
 sheba and Rachel. The clearest case of insight is in his Testament 
 where Jesus is spoken of as 
 
 " Our Orpheus that fro captyvyte ^ 
 Feit Erudice to his celestial tour." 
 
 In the present instance Doctrine is under the necessity of explain- 
 ing away the heathen worship. 
 
 ' Cf. Mr. Jephson's remark, Skeat's ed. Pr. Tale, notes p. 136. 
 
 ''Jesus was frequently represented in early Christian paintings in the form of 
 Orpheus, who overcame death. 
 
Ix The Allegorical Type. 
 
 9. The Allegorical Type. — Middle- Englisli literature exhibits two 
 types of allegory : the one religious and scholastic, having its origin 
 in the exegetical and honiiletic literature of the monks and leading 
 on to the literature of the Reformation ; the other secular and pro- 
 fane, embodying the spirit of romance, {)ersonifying especially the 
 God of Love, who was the central object of the song and worship 
 of the continental minnesinger and troubadour, leading on in its 
 turn to the literature of the Renaissance. The two types, differing 
 thus in origin, while often confused with respect to form, are always 
 distinguishable in motive. 
 
 The original Roman de la ^^^.y^ represents in one composition the 
 double type already established on the continent. The first part, 
 being conceived in a love of beauty and composed with the fancy 
 and imagination actively at play, is pure poetry. Lorris, though a 
 belated troiivere,\\a^ true at heart and sang as the impulse prompted 
 him. The second part of the Roman, written forty years after the 
 first by a reformer and moralist, Jean de Meung, not to be mistaken 
 for a poet, is didactic, satirical, and metaphysical. By the aid of 
 Lorns's personification, Meung was enabled to expound and popu- 
 larize his ideas of reform, but his impersonations recall nothing so 
 well as the entities of the schoohnen. The personifications and 
 materials of the didactic svstem were adopted by the poets whose 
 purpose was moral or satirical, by Langland, Gower, Lydgate, Lynde- 
 say, Skelton and Barclay, and by the Moral-plays so soon as person- 
 ification became necessary in the advance of the drama from scenic 
 representation to dramatic characterization. 
 
 Upon the model of the Ro?nan de la Rose, which was translated 
 into English with amplifications of the first part and omission of 
 much of the second part, were formed the love allegories and 
 romances which, being all in the " May morning " style, with sunny 
 gardens and birdies manifold, contain whatever of poetic insj)ir- 
 ation the later Middle Ages in England possessed. The new 
 Romaunt of the Rose provided the staple model for the poets of 
 the court. It directed the composition of the Court of Love, and 
 was the chief influence that entered the Dreme, Chaucer's Boke 
 of the Duchesse and perhaps his Hous of Fame. To the list we 
 may add Lydgate's Temple of Glas, which was modeled upon 
 Chaucer's Hous of Fame, and probablv Hawes's Pastime of Plea- 
 sure. To the same family of romance allegorv belongs much 
 of the literature of Scotland written during the 15th centurv, that 
 
The Allegory and the Moral Play. Ixi 
 
 at least of most refinement and delicacy, notably Dunbar's Thissil 
 and the Rois and the Golden Targe, and the beautiful Quair by 
 James, "the best poet who ever was a king." In the romantic vein 
 Gawain Douglas wrote his Palace of Honour, a more serious style 
 appearing in King Hart, which allegorizes the progress of human life. 
 This stream of romantic allegory flows on to Spenser, forming in the 
 Faery Queene the supreme type of poetic allegory. Though Spenser 
 was an artist of the Renaissance he was yet the literary descendant of 
 Chaucer and the mediaeval romanticists, of those who were too great 
 as artists to be ever dominated by the moralities. 
 
 As for the rest of the allegorical literature in late Middle-English 
 the tendency is to sermonize. In the case of Langland and perhaps 
 of Lyndesay their seriousness is of such a nature as to claim our atten- 
 tion as artistic. Gower might have been a romancer if he had not 
 seen behind every tale some hidden form of Vice. John Skelton, 
 laureate of Henry VII, the last of the school which called Chaucer 
 master, while writing some pieces in the romantic spirit, yet is more 
 pleased to satirize follies and vices as in h'xs Bowge of Court. Char- 
 acteristic of the times now that the Reformation was near at hand 
 is the Ship of Fools (1508), a satirical allegory after the model of 
 Brandt's Swabian poem, by Barclay who caught up for the purpose 
 of satire the idea of a navy of practical vices sailing out presum- 
 ably into the ocean of ruin. Erasmus in a corresponding spirit 
 wrote his satirical Praise of Folly. The allegory of the Reformation 
 culminates at length in Bunyan's Visions. 
 
 To this now primary and now secondary stream of moral and 
 allegorical literature Lydgate's Assettibly of Gods belongs. This is 
 not, however, satirical or very serious concerning reform, and it 
 strives after certain effects of the Romauiit of the Rose. But so 
 far as Lydgate is concerned the romantic tide has ebbed — he is a 
 monk with the interest of the church at heart. 
 
 10. The Relationship betivccn the Allegory and the Aloral Play. — 
 The close relationship between the moral plays and the Assembly of 
 Gods is clearly seen. In an earlier period' such poems ns the 
 Cursor Mundi and the contemporarv miracle plavs exactly corre- 
 sponded, the only difference being that one was recited and the 
 
 ' It is conjectured with good reasons that the demon frolics in Dante's Ivfcruo, 
 c. xxi and xxiv, were reproduced from some dramatic mystery plavs of which the 
 performances on the Ponte Carraia at Florence in 1304 are conspicuous instances 
 (Plumptre). 
 
Ixii The Allegory and the Moral Play. 
 
 other acted. The same correspondence existed later between the 
 moral plays, which represented the natural dramatic evolution from 
 the miracle plays, and the allegories, which exhibit a like advance in 
 dramatic expression. This interaction between the two forms of 
 art is important to -observe. The moral play involved allegory as 
 an essential part of its artistic apparatus. In the very earliest 
 pageants and plays, allegorical characters, taken from both profane 
 and sacred writings, played a more or less important part. The 
 miracle plays required the introduction of such characters as Sin 
 and Death, Faith, Hope and Charity. Among the first innovations 
 were representations of Veritas, Justitia, Pax and Misericordia, as in 
 the "Parliament of Heaven" in the English Coventry series (XI). 
 As early as Henry \T., whose reign may be fixed upon as the epoch 
 of the permanent adoption of the moral play (Collier, A>i. of the 
 St., p. 32), personification of the Sciences, Nature, Grace, Fortune, 
 and the moral qualities was well known. The World, Flesh and 
 Devil appeared in character in Originale de Sancta Maria Magdalena, 
 a play of the time of Henry VII. The play of Everyman, belong- 
 ing perhaps to the time of Edward IV., is one of the most perfect 
 allegories ever given form. In the Vices and Virtues especially 
 there was something inevitably dramatic in the very nature of con- 
 trast. So that with few exceptions the allegorv of the Moral-plays 
 is based on the contest between good and evil in the mind of man ; 
 of this character is the allegory of the Castle of Perseverance, Min 
 Will and Understanding, Nature, The World and the Child, Hick- 
 ' Scorner, Everyman, Lusty Jiiventus, etc. It is probable indeed that 
 the one allegorical figure Vice, in his Protean character of Infidel- 
 ity, Iniquity, Hvpocrisy, Desire and the like, has played a more 
 conspicuous part ujion the stage than anv other single dramatic 
 personage. 
 
 Thus the familiar use of allegorical personages upon the stage 
 contributed to the popular taste for allegorical poems. The names 
 representing abstract qualities recalled so vividly the actual persons 
 seen upon the stage that the mere recitation of the qualities was 
 sufificient to body forth the form. The catalog of names in the 
 Assembly of Gods is tedious enough to the modern reader, but in an 
 age of objective dramatic presentation the names and persons were 
 intimately associated. 
 
 The Assembly of Gods finds its analogue then in the contempo- 
 rary Moral-plays. The poem may actually be divided into scenes 
 
77/1? Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. Ixiii 
 
 and i\iQ perso)i(e speak in character. Some portions, as the assem- 
 bly of the gods and the gathering of the different hosts, might take 
 the form of a masque.' Poem and play differ only in the method of 
 presenting the same form of thought. 
 
 The dramatic cast of the poem might well be expected in the 
 case of Lydgate, who seemed as well able to direct a street pageant 
 as to write verses in a cloistre. He devised pageants for the Mer- 
 cers' and Goldsmiths' Companies in honor of Wm. Estfield, who 
 was London's mayor in 1429 and 1437 (v. Diet. Natl. Biog., XXXIV, 
 p. 306). Stowe in his Ainials of England i(^. 385) witnesses that in 
 T445, at the reception in London of Queen Margaret, the wife of 
 Henry VL, several pageants were exhibited at Paul's gate with 
 verses written by Lydgate (v. Hist. Eng. Pageants, ed. Howes, p. 
 385; Fur le Roy, M. P.). According to Ritson {Bibl. Poet, p. 
 79) Lydgate wrote a Disguising or Mumming before the King at 
 Eltham. Ritson also inserts in his list of Lydgate's works "a pro- 
 cession of pageants from the creation." This is exceedingly doubt- 
 ful, for, as Halliwell says (M. P. p. 94), Ritson only copied from 
 Tanner, whose conjecture it was that the Coventry Series of Miracle 
 Plays was written by Lydgate. But the Processioun of Corpus Christi 
 (title given by Shirley), attributed by Ritson to Lydgate and so 
 printed by Halliwell, while not dramatic in form, contains an enu- 
 meration and description, as if in procession, of Patriarchs and 
 Saints from Adam to Thomas Aquinas. The Dance of Death and 
 the Pilgrimage of the JVorld are essentially dramatic. The dramatic 
 element of Bycorne and Chichevache, which was doubtless borrowed 
 from a French mystery play,^ is also worthy of note. Certainly not 
 the least excellence of the Assembly of Gods is its dramatic pictur- 
 esqueness. It was this characteristic which Collier noted that he 
 remarked "the story is very dramatic, and far less dull than most 
 pieces of the kind" {An. of the St. p. 31). 
 
 II. The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. — In considering the 
 central allegory of the Assembly of the Gods the reader is brought 
 into relation with one of the great themes of literature, the almost 
 universal subject of war, the war that proceeds within the soul — 
 
 ' It seems to be well established that the English masque, and the pageants, 
 derived their popularity and meaning from the allegorical poems and plays. 
 Dunbar's Dance of the Sins is a masque in form. The Dance of Death was a 
 graveyard processional. 
 
 ' See Dodsley's Old Plays, XII. p. 302. 
 
Ixiv The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 how man battles through trials and temptations to heaven's gate, 
 how he falls oft but rises again, how he wins at length the victory over 
 Sin and Death. This is in truth the dominant allegor}' of man. 
 So universal, indeed, is the treatment in the literature of Christen- 
 dom of the theme of man's salvation that the collected volumes of 
 that literature may be said to constitute a veritable Epic of Penance. 
 For note how often in great literatures, in the works of Dante, Lang- 
 land, Chaucer, Spenser, Bunyan, Goethe, Tennyson and Browning, 
 to name the greatest, the real content of life is described in the 
 terms of pilgrimage and battle — the life that in the Middle Age 
 was in very fact a Crusade and a Tournament, an ascent up the ISIount 
 of Purgatory, that was in Reformation times a Pilgrim's Progress 
 and a Holy War, that is still a " War of Sense with Soul," where the 
 obligation never ceases to "Fight on, fare ever." The literature of 
 this struggle, wherein not only the soul of man is involved but also 
 the spiritual powers beyond our world, where Earth and Heaven and 
 Hell are mingled in contest, constitutes in its entirety the most stu- 
 pendous epic which the genius of man has conceived. 
 
 In some form the subject is older than Christianity. War itself is 
 a primitive theme. The heathen myths pictured the agents of nature 
 as engaged in warfare, the healing and harmful forces, the Light and 
 the Darkness, the Summer and the Winter, the sun-gods and the 
 frost-giants. In one of the earliest of historic religions, Zoro- 
 asterism, the idea of antagonism in the moral life occurs, the 
 contest between the Prince of Light and the Prince of Darkness 
 being figured upon the earthly sphere. On the spiritual side 
 Plato's myth of the contending steeds is again a record of the primi- 
 tive soul. Thus the necessity has been laid on man from the first 
 of "working out the beast" and "letting the ape and tiger die." 
 It is true that Christianity brought into greater j)rominence the 
 need of warfare. "■Estate fortes in beUo et piigiiato cum antiquo 
 serpente'' — thus the Scriptures exhorted the Christian convert to 
 the fearful battle against sin. Then when paganism came in 
 contact with Christianity the terms of war and of military society 
 were naturally applied to the new life and to the kingdom of 
 Heaven. Christ was King. His apostles were thegns who went 
 forth to the wars. With the spiritual conceptions of tlie new 
 gospels was mingled the mythology which dealt with the war- 
 fare of Nature. The conflict between Day and Night was trans- 
 ferred to Christ and Satan, to Eternal Light and Eternal Darkness. 
 
The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. Ixv 
 
 Chivalry, gathering from paganism all that was best in war, strength, 
 prudence, courage, knightly honor, and from Christianity an ideal 
 of spiritual perfection, now became the established principle of 
 society, a society that received its personal ideal in the figure of 
 King Arthur and its social ideal in the Order of the Round 
 Table. 
 
 While society itself was thus being organized in accordance with 
 the ideal of militant Christianity, the severest of spiritual battles 
 were being fought out within the cloisters of the monks. A severer 
 morality was naturally exacted from the monks than from the ordi- 
 nary Christian. It was then within the monasteries of the third and 
 fourth centuries that the " Olympian battle with Sin " began. By 
 Ambrose (340-397) and his pupil Augustine (354-430) the Platonic 
 virtues called "cardinal," Wisdom, Justice, Fortitude, and Temper- 
 ance, were resolved into Christian graces. To these were added the 
 triad of theological virtues. Faith, Hope and Love. Against these 
 seven were arrayed for the trial of the saints seven deadly sins. Pride, 
 Avarice, Anger, Gluttony, Lust, with two others selected from Envy, 
 Vain-glory, Tristitia or Accidia. An intense and concentrated 
 struggle against human weakness was thus set on foot. On the basis 
 of these sins a penitential system was devised, some form of pil- 
 grimage up the mount of Purgatory. 
 
 By the time that Dante wrote his Comedia the exactions of 
 monastic virtue were enforced upon all the children of the Church 
 and a penitential pilgrimage enjoined. In the Inferno a classifica- 
 tion of the sins is given as found in the Summa Tlieologica of St. 
 Thomas Aquinas, which is based upon the ethical principles of Aris- 
 totle as interpreted, probably, by Averrhoes. Sin, having been tri- 
 umphant, is come to punishment in Hell according to what Dante 
 calls the law of "contrapass" [retribution] {Inferno xxviii, 142.). 
 But in Purgatory sin is not allowed to develop into act but appears 
 as an inner incitement. It is shown, therefore, not as punishment 
 but as recreation where struggle must enter, the will for holiness 
 being victorious. 
 
 "And I will sing that second realm instead, 
 Wherein man's spirit frees itself from stain, 
 And groweth worthy Heaven's high courts to tread." 
 
 —Purs:. 11. 4-6. 
 
 For this purpose Dante employed the popular penitential system 
 of the Church which brought into prominence the necessity of dis- 
 
Ixvi The Allegory of the Vices and Jlrtues. 
 
 cipline by struggle against sin in the pilgrimage of this world. Thus 
 the various stairs of Penitence are named after the seven monastic 
 moralities. 
 
 When Dante is resting on the fourth terrace of Purgatory, 
 Virgil explains to him the nature and relation to each other of 
 the seven mortal sins. He is explaining the teachings of St. Augus- 
 tine and considers sin with respect to its causes. Love is the 
 common ground. Love perverted by selfishness and erring in its 
 object is pride, envy and anger. Love remiss, defective in vigor, 
 is sloth. Love excessive is avarice, gluttonv and lust. (So earlier 
 Augustine defined virtue as amor onlinatus, vice as amor no)i ordi- 
 natiis {Civ. D. XV. 221). Sin is mortal because it attacks the 
 conditions of spiritual life, preventing in societv the exercise of 
 love. Pride is the most deadly, nearest therefore to the state of 
 hell, because it strikes directly at love and hinders to the utmost 
 the soul's higher life. 
 
 The current ethics of the church during the thirteenth and four- 
 teenth centuries respecting the nature of the vices is also contained 
 in a poem entitled Septem Peccata Mortalia, of doubtful authorship 
 but ascribed bv some (Witte, Krafft and others) to Dante. 
 
 " In Pride the root of every sin doth lie ; 
 
 Hence man himself doth hold in loftier fame 
 Than others, and deserving lot more high. 
 Envy is that which makes us blush for shame, 
 
 With grief beholding others' happiness, 
 Like him, whom we the face of God proclaim. 
 Wrath still more woe doth on the wrathful press, 
 
 For its fierce mood lights up hell's fiery heat; 
 Then ill deeds come, and loss of holiness. 
 Sloth looks with hate on everv action meet. 
 
 And to ill-doing ever turns the will. 
 Is slow to work, and quick to make retreat. 
 Then Avarice comes, through which the whole world still 
 
 Vexes its soul, and breaks through everv law. 
 And tempts with gain to everv deed f)f ill. 
 Both fool and wise foul Gluttony doth draw. 
 
 And he who pampers still his appetite, 
 Shortens his life, to fill his greedv maw. 
 And Lust that comes the seventh in order right, 
 
 The lionds of friendship breaks and brotherhood, 
 At variance still with Truth and Reason's light." 
 
 — Trans, by Plumptre, II., p. 324. 
 
The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. Ixvii 
 
 In tracing now in literature this allegory of life we are led back 
 to a favorite classic of the dark ages, the Psycho7nachia of Prudentius, 
 the work of a Christian poet who flourished during the early part of '^ 
 the fifth century, who is best known to the modern world for his 
 Hymns, repeated editions of which were issued during the fifteenth, 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 
 The Psychomachia^ (Migne, Patrol. Ser. L. Vol. 60), written in 
 hexameters in ecclesiastical Latin, represents allegorically the con- 
 flict between the vices and virtues for the soul of man. The poem 
 is an expansion of an earlier work by the same writer entitled 
 Hamartigenia (Migne, Patrol., Vol. 59, p. 1007) which is theological 
 in character, an explanation of the origin of evil in refutation of 
 the heresies of the day, notably that of Marcion, the dualist. The 
 Psychomachia is an expansion of a portion of the Hamartigenia, 
 where Anger, Superstition, Sadness, Strife and Luxury, war against 
 the soul. The allegory in the later poem is carried out into great 
 detail, being intended to represent the successive stages of Christian 
 conflict amid the temptations of the world. A first struggle is neces- 
 sary to overcome the worship of the pagan gods and to become a Chris- 
 tian. The next conflicts occur between Chastity and Lust, and between 
 Patience and Wrath, resulting in victory for the virtues. Pride then 
 attacks Humility, Righteousness, Temperance, Fasting, Shame and 
 Simplicity. But a pit is dug for Pride by Treachery and by Hope 
 the vice is slain. Then comes the battle between Luxury, 'who is 
 driven in a chariot bv Love scattering flowers, and Temperance who 
 bears the standard of the cross. These Desires having been 
 vanquished Avarice with her train appears and attacks the Christian 
 under the guise of Frugality, but Almsgiving rescues the soul. 
 The last battle is with Heresy, who is slain, and the soul is at 
 peace. 
 
 For the popular theological confirmation of such a warfare one 
 may turn to St. Augustine's City of God, the latter part of which was 
 contemporary with the Psychomachia and written perhaps with the 
 poem in mind. The 19th Book of the City of God rQweaXs the dis- 
 cords between the heavenly and earthly cities and in the tenth 
 chapter announcement is made of the rewards prepared for the 
 saints: "There the virtues shall no longer be struggling against 
 any vice or evil but shall enjoy the reward of victory, the eternal 
 peace which no adversary shall disturb." 
 
 'Cf. Hist, of Latin Lit., G. A. Simcox, II., p. 360. 
 
Ixviii The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 The Psychomachia,^ sanctioned by the usages and doctrines of the 
 church, became the model for a series of poems, generally moral 
 and didactic in motive, called variously Bataille, Debat, Tournoie- 
 ment, Disputoison and Pelerinage (v. Lit. Fr. an Moyen Age, par 
 Gaston Paris, pp. 158, 159, 169, 227, 228). Among the later works 
 of this class are the Anticlaudianiis (12th century) by Alanus; Debat 
 du corps ct d r ame (i 2th century); Toiirnoiement d' Antcchrist (i 235) 
 by Huon de Meri, which contains the battle between the Vices and 
 Virtues under the leadership of Antichrist and Christ respectively; 
 Pelerinage de la vie hiimainc (1330-5), by Guil. De Deguilville, a 
 favorite work in England and the prototype of Bunyan's Pilgritn's 
 Progress; certain of the Bestiares which satirize the vices of the 
 time, as the Renart le Nouvel (1288), by Jacquemart Gielee, the 
 animals of which, attacking the holy castle Maupertius, fight like the 
 seven deadly sins with which they are for the first time mixed ; 
 episodes also found in the love poems, that series of Ars d'Amour 
 which ended with the Roman de la Rose, as the battle for the rose 
 in the Roman {Lit. Fr. G. Paris, p. 169). 
 
 Typical of these mediaeval works that deal with the war of the 
 vices and virtues is the Anticlaudianiis, sire de Officio Viri Boni et 
 Perfecti,'' one of the most important books of the period, and one 
 familiar to Lydgate and his fellow monks. It was written by 
 Alanus de Insulis, during the second half of the 12th century, to 
 oppose an invective of Claudian against Rufinus, the prime minister 
 of Theodosius the Great, who was represented as the embodiment of 
 all that is vicious, having been perverted by all the passions of hell. 
 The poem is well summarized by Mr. Steele in his edition of 
 Lydgate's Secrees (note, p. 109) whose outline is here quoted. 
 
 "Nature, perceiving its failure in bringing about perfection, 
 decides to join in one being all the virtues and excellences possible. 
 She therefore summons all these allegorical personages, and lavs 
 
 'The De Consolatione Philosophitr by Boethius may be mentioned as one other 
 source of the battle motif. A French version of a part of this work is found in a 
 poem called De Fortune et de Felicite which is said by Warton (II, p. 216) to be 
 the source of the Totirnoyement de f Antichrist (c. 1228) by Huon de Meri, which 
 contains a combat of the Vices and Virtues ; this latter work was employed by 
 Langland for the battle scene of the Antichrist at the close of Piers the Plotuman 
 (Skeat). Gaston Paris, however, thinks that most of these scenes of moral war- 
 fare may be referred to the Psychomachia. 
 
 "v. Migne, Patrol, t. 210, or Ang!o-Lat. Satir. Poets, Roll's Series, ed. Wright. 
 Cf. Lounsbury's Chaucer Studies, II, p. 348. 
 
The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. Ixix 
 
 before them her plan. Prudence (Phronesis) and Reason remark 
 that none of them can give to man the highest of all gifts — a soul, 
 and that they must ask it from God. This mission is imposed on 
 them ; they at first refuse it, but Concord gets them to accept it. A 
 car is made for them by the seven liberal arts, to which five horses 
 representing the senses are yoked. Grammar lays the framework, 
 Logic makes the .axles of the wheels, Rhetoric adorns the frame with 
 gems and flowers of silver, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry and 
 Astronomy make the wheels, and Reason drives the chariot. 
 
 "They pass through the air, the clouds, the home of the evil 
 spirits of the air, the spheres of the planets, and arrive at the firma- 
 ment, when Reason faints and the senses become useless. Theology 
 appears, and on the condition that Reason and the senses — except 
 that of hearing — are abandoned, offers to guide Phronesis. The 
 firmament, the empyrean heavens, the dwellings of saints, angels, 
 and the Mother of God are next described. Here Prudence faints, 
 but Faith revives her, and explains the mysteries of human destiny, 
 grace, etc. 
 
 "God now orders Intelligence to frame a model of a soul such as 
 was asked for, and making it, it is sent to Nature, who makes a body 
 which Harmony, Music and Arithmetic fit for and join to the soul. 
 All the allegorical divinities add a gift — even Nobility and Fortune 
 bring theirs — which Wisdom checks and moderates. 
 
 "But Hell learning of this new creation resolves to destroy it, 
 and Allecto unites all the vices against it. After a long battle the 
 new man puts them all to flight, and inaugurates upon the earth the 
 reign of Justice and Happiness." 
 
 The English books of Penance are many in number. Among 
 the theological works in prose which treat in whole or in part the 
 subject of the vices and virtues there are to be mentioned especially 
 a Homilv by yElfric (Thorpe's ed. ^Ifric Soc. H, p. 219), Old 
 English Homilies (E. E. T. ed. Morris), the Ancren Riwle (Morton's 
 ed. p. 198-204), Dan Michel's Ayenbite of Inwyt (Morris' ed. p. 16), 
 Vices and Virtues (E. E. T. ed. Holthausen), Dan Jolm Gavtrvge's 
 Sermo)i on Shrift and the Mirrour of St. Edmund {Relig. P. ed. 
 Perry, p. i, 15), a sermon by Wyclif (Works ed. by Arnold HI., p. 
 225) and Chaucer's Persones Tale. Among the religious pieces in 
 verse which treat the theme are Aldhelm's Dc Octo Principalibus 
 Vitiis (in Latin, Migne, Patrol. Ser. Lat. 89, p. 282), the book of 
 Penance added to the Cursor Alundi (E. E. T. pt. V., p. 1524 
 
Ixx The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 et seq.), verses in Religious Pieces and in Political Religious and Love 
 Poems (E. E. T. ed. Furnivall, p. 215), the Matiuel of Sins, translated 
 from a work by Bishop Grosseteste by Robert Mannyng, tracts in 
 the Vernon MS. (ed. Horstmann, E. E. T.) entitled How to Live 
 Perfectly No. XXXII.) and The Spur of Love (No. XXXV.), being 
 translations from the popular Speculum of Edmund Rich, in the 
 same MS. the Dispute Between a Good Man and the Devil (No. 
 XXXVII.), The Mirrour of the Periods of Man' s Life \Xi Hymns to 
 the Virgin and Christ (E. E. T. ed. Furnivall, p. 5S), and a poem 
 by William de Shoreham entitled De Septcfii Mortalibus Peccatis 
 (Percy Soc, Vol. 28, p. 102), etc. 
 
 These treatises set forth the common theory of ethics as taught 
 by the Latin Church. In classification and definition of the principal 
 vices and virtues the works generally accord. There is occasional 
 difference in the number, in the order of mention of the cardinals 
 and in the names and number of the "branches" which spring 
 from the parent stems. 
 
 The English Benedictine monks, following the older continental 
 system, enumerate eight principal vices and virtues. ^Ifric (Hom. 
 ed. Thorpe, Vol. II, p. 219) sets in opposition, on the one hand the 
 vices gifernys (greediness), galnyss (lust), gitsung (covetousness), 
 weamet (anger) unrotnys (discontent), asolcennys oddit semelnys 
 (sloth or aversion), idel gylp (vain-glor)-), and modignys (pride) ; 
 on the other hand the healing virtues gemetegung (moderation), 
 claennys (chastity), cystignys (bounty) gedyld (patience), gastlicer 
 blis (ghostly joy), anrasdnys (steadfastness), lufe (love) and 
 eadmodnys (humility). 
 
 In the mediaeval treatises the number of each class is regularly 
 seven. The classification in the Parable of the Castle of Love in 
 the Cursor Mundi (\\. 10040-10052) is the following: })ride, envie, 
 glotony, lust, gredines, wreth, hevynes, with the corresponding 
 virtues, buxumnes, charite, abstinens, chastite, liberality, mekenes, 
 and gostly gladnes. In the Cursor Mundi's Book of Penance the 
 list is : pride, envy, wra/, slau^e, couatyse, glotori and drunkenhede, 
 licherv; and mekeness, loue, thalmodenes, gastely ioy, lele of hert 
 and fre of gvft, abstinence and sobirte, chastite. 
 
 The Aycnbite of Inwyt has in one place (p. 16 and 123) prede, 
 envye, wre/e, sleau^e, icinge (avarice) couaytise, glotounye, lecherie ; 
 and for virtues the Pauline triad of beleave, hope and charite, and 
 the cardinals of the "yealde philosofes" sley^e (prudence) temper- 
 
The Allegory of the Vices a>id Virtues. Ixxi 
 
 ance, streng^e, and dom (justice); in another place (p. 159) 
 prede, enuye, felhede (hate), slacnes, scarsnes, lecherie, glotounye 
 and boysamnes (humility) loue, mildenes, proues, larges, chastete, 
 sobrete. 
 
 In the Mirrour of St. Edmund occur pryde, envy, ire, slouth, 
 couetyse, glotony, lechery ; and wysdom, vndirstandynge, consaile, 
 stalworthenes, cunnynge, pete, drede of Godde, four of which are 
 said to be needful for the active life and three for the contempla- 
 tive life. Dan Jon Gaytryge's sermon recounts the regular vices 
 and for virtues, trouthe.hope and charyte, the theological virtues, and 
 ryghtwysenes, sleghte (prudence), strenghe, and methe (temper- 
 ance), the natural virtues. The Latin titles occur in Gyf me 
 Lysens to Lyve in Ease {Fol., Rel., and Love P. E. E. T. ed. Furn- 
 ivall p. 215) superbia, invidia, ira, avoryssia, accidia, gula, luxuria, 
 with the corresponding umylitas, carytas, amor cum paciencia, vigi- 
 late et orate, elymosina, abstinaunce, chastite. In the tract How to 
 Live Perfectly (Vernon MS. E. E. T. No. 32) the remedies for sin 
 are the Seven Blessings of the Gospel and the medicine for the sins 
 are Wisdom, Understanding, Strength, Counsel, AVit, Pity, Fear of 
 God. 
 
 Chaucer's list in the Personcs Tale is pride, envye, ire, accidie, 
 avarice, glotenye, leccherie ; and humilite, love, mansuetude and 
 pacience, strengthe, misericorde and pite, abstinence, and chastite. 
 Gower employs the same classification in his Co/ifessio Amantis. 
 
 The most original treatise on the theme is perhaps Wyclif's tract 
 on the Seven Deadly Sins {Works, ed. Arnold III, p. 119). The 
 cardinals are the conventional ones but the condemnation of the 
 practical sins of the clergy and people is from the Lollard point of 
 view. The sins have this origin: " /5e fende, and ^o worlde, and 
 monnis owne flesche, stiren hvm to couyte ageynes God's wille. And 
 so ich one takes at other, and ^ese make seven. Pride, envye, and 
 wrath ben synnes of po fende ; wrathe, slouthe, and avarice ben 
 synnes of pQ world ; avarice, and glotenye, and po synne of 
 lechorye ben synnes of po flesche" (p. 121). These are thus 
 defined: " Pride is wicked liif of a monnis hyenesse ; " " Envye is 
 unordvnel wille of mon to his neghtbore ; " " Wrathe is unskillful 
 wille of vengeaunce ; " Slouthe is "slouthe in God's service;" Cov- 
 etise is "avarice of worldly godis ; " " Glutonye falles /en to mon, 
 when he takes mete or drink more /en profites to his soule ; " 
 "Lechorye stondis in /is /ing, /at mon mysusis lymes or powers of 
 
Ixxii The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 his body, /at God haves ordeyned unto men for liis kyndely gen- 
 drure" (p. 121 ct seq). 
 
 In the more imaginative treatises various mystical and allegorical 
 features appear. Chaucer's Parson pictures the life of God's chosen 
 as a pathway filled with stumbling blocks. In the Mirrour of the 
 Periods of Man' s Life a man is tempted from birth to age. In Gyf 
 me Lyscns to Lyvc in Ease the sins are as wounds to be healed by 
 medicines in the form of plasters and herbs, the remedial virtues. 
 In Piers the Plon'mau the sins are the muck with which Haukvn, the 
 active man, has soiled his coat (Pas. xiii). Often sin is described 
 as a tree with branches and twigs as in \\i^ Ayenbite of Inwyt. When 
 personified the sins may come as warriors in armor on horse or a 
 foot, as in the Parable of the Castle of Love in the Cursor Mundi, or 
 as in Lydgate's Assembly of Gods, Spenser's Faery Queene, Fletcher's 
 Purple Island and Bunyon's Holy War. In the moral play, 
 The World and the Child, the vices are exhibited as seven kings. 
 Chaucer in the "A B C" laments that he is chased bv "theves 
 seven." Dunbar pictures the sins as dancers down in hell. Gower 
 assigns the vices to a lover. Langland describes the virtues as 
 "sisters," Pride alone among the vices being personified as a woman. 
 Dan Michel declares Pride to be the devil's own daughter. In the 
 Sawles Warde the cardinal virtues are the daughters of the lord of 
 the house. In the Ancren Riwle each sin is symbolized bv an ani- 
 mal : Pride by a Lion, Envy by an Adder, Wrath by a Unicorn, 
 Lechery by a Scorpion, Avarice by a Fox, Gluttony bv a Sow, 
 Sloth by a Bear. The Ayenbite of Inwyt presents most mystical 
 features : St. John in a vision saw a beast come out of the sea having 
 a leopard's body, a bear's feet, a lion's throat, and it had seven 
 heads and ten horns. This beast, explains Michel, betokeneth the 
 devil who cometh from the sea of hell; its guile is denoted bv the 
 leopard's spots, his strength bv the bear's feet, his cruelty by the 
 lion's throat. The seven heads are the seven deadly sins and the 
 ten horns the guilts of the commandments. 
 
 Without exception these writings accord in assigning to Pride 
 the first place among the sins. Pride, said ..^Ifric, is " ord and ende 
 selces yfeles : se geworhte englas to deoflum and celcre synne anginn 
 is modignys." Pride in the Cursor J/z/z/r// is the chief sin that fights 
 against Love : it is said that Lucifer fell by pride, that it is fouler than 
 any devil in hell. The Ayenbite of Imvyt pictures Pride as the devil's 
 own daughter, the sin of Lucifer and the angels, the first to assail 
 
The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. Ixxiii 
 
 our Lord and the last to abandon Him. In Gyf me Ly sens to Lyve 
 in Ease, Pride is the first wound "more bytter than ever was gall." 
 By Wyclif Pride is considered to be the chief sin, being accorded to 
 the Fiend. Said Gower "Pride is the heaved of all sinne" (I, p. 
 153). Barclay, at the beginning of the period of the Reformation, 
 wrote of Pride that it is 
 
 " A vyce so moche abhomynable 
 That it surmountvth without any fable 
 All other vyces in furour and vylenes 
 And of all synne is it rote and maystres. " 
 
 — Ship of Fools, II, p. 159. 
 
 So Pride leads the dance of the sins in hell in Dunbar's poem. It 
 was the first to receive punishment in the ShephearcT s Kalendar. It 
 cast Satan and the rebel angels out from heaven in Milton's 
 Paradise Lost. With Shakespeare it appears as ambition : 
 
 "By that sin fell the angels." Henry VIII, III, 2, 441. 
 
 The consensus of mankind seems then to be written by Sir Thomas 
 Browne that Pride is "the first and father sin, not only of man but 
 of the devil ; a vice whose name is comprehended in a monosyllable, 
 but in its nature not circumscribed with a world (Works, II, 
 
 P- 435)- 
 
 Turning from the theological treatises on the moralities, and 
 taking up the works of real artistic value wherein the imagination of 
 writers was truly kindled by a perception of the poetic capacities of 
 the theme of battle and pilgrimage, we enter a most important field, 
 perhaps to be called, when considering the actual epical and dramatic ,' 
 development of the theme, the most important field in early English I 
 literature. The many chivalric Romances would be included in the 
 survey, perhaps also the earlier Guthlac. With a more specific 
 treatment is the long series beginning with Bishop Grosseteste's 
 Chateau d'amour, which received several translations at the hands 
 of later writers, continuing in the parable of the Castle of Love in 
 the Cursor Mundi, the English Bestiares, the Moral-plays, Langland's 
 Piers the Plowman, Gower's Confcssio Amantis, perhaps the Romauntof 
 the Rose, Lydgate's Assembly of Gods, Hawes's Pastime of Pleasure, 
 Dunbar's Z'a//^^ of the Sins, 'Baivclsiy'' s Ship of Pools and Mirrour of 
 Good Manners, the anonymous Shepheard s Kalendar, religious pieces 
 of the type of the Mirrour of the Periods of Man's Life, Spenser's 
 Faery Queene, John Day's Peregrinatio Scholastica, Bernard's Lsle of 
 Man, and, last of these stirring allegories, Fletcher's Purple Lsland 
 
Ixxiv The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 (1633), and Bunyan's Pilgritn's Progress (1678) and Holy War 
 (1682). 
 
 In almost the earliest teaching on the subject of sin, in yElfric's 
 Honiilv on Midlent Sunday (ed. Thorpe, II, 212) the Christian life 
 is described as a warfare. In the homilies the word commonly used 
 for Virtues was niihtaii {Old-Eng. Hotn. I, p. 105), it being explained 
 that by God's helj), if fight were keen, the devilish sins would be 
 overcome (p. 107).' The Psychomachia of Prudentius was known to 
 the English monks as it is referred to by Beda in his De Ratio)ie 
 Metrica as the book " quem de virtutum vitiorumcpie j)ugna heroico 
 carmine composuit." There is an echo of its triumph in Giithlac 
 where the hero meets in deadly combat with Satan and his troops of 
 sin-smiths that roar and rage like wild beasts. In the manner of 
 the Psychomachia Aldhelm wrote in Latin his De Octo Principalibus 
 Vitiis (Migne, Patrol. Lat. Ser., 89, p. 282) arraying the opposing 
 forces in battle form. 
 
 For this warfare man was given the gift of Power. This is 
 a Virtue described by Dan Michel {Ayefibite of Jnwyt, p. i6g) as 
 a tree with seven boughs which betokened the seven battles that 
 the Christian must wage. This Christian battle is again likened by 
 Michel to the gladiatorial fights at Rome, wherein those who desired 
 fame must overcome all who are sent against them by the master of the 
 field ; the holy Christ is the master who suffers no one to be tried above 
 his strength. Bishop Grosseteste, employing the chivalric idea, figures 
 Love as a strong castle standing high on a polished rock. The castle 
 is enclosed by four stone walls and a deep moat, and fortified 
 with four towers and seven barbicans. A clear, all healing well 
 springs from the central tower. Within the tower is a brilliant 
 throne. Being interj)reted, the castle is a shield to the human soul. 
 The rock is Mary's heart. The four towers are the cardinal Virtues, 
 Strength, Skill, Rightfulness, and Temperance. The seven barbicans 
 are the seven virtues that receive the attacks of the deadly sins. The 
 well is Mary's mercy. The throne is Christ. This figuration, so 
 beautiful in its symbolism, caught the fancy of succeeding writers. 
 The castle betokens refuge and strength and victory. As a symbol 
 of the Virgin Mary it is employed in the Cursor Mundi, in the 
 Abbaye of Say nte Sprite {Relig. Pieces, ed. Perry, E. E. T. p. 49) in 
 a miracle play entitled Originale de Saticta Afaria Magdaleiia (v. 
 Collier, ^/V/. Dr. P. II, p. 153-6) and in Lydgate's Life of St. Mary. 
 
 'Virtue is also called t/iewe in Gaytryge's Sermon, p. 10. 
 
The Allegory of tJie Vices and J^irtues. Ixxv 
 
 In Langland's vision the tower on the toft, partly drawn from 
 Grosseteste's Chateau d' amour, is the abode of Truth or God the Father 
 (v. Prol. 1. 14; Pass. v. 11. 594 et seq). Grace is the doorward there 
 and seven sisters the porters of the posterns, Abstenence, Humilite, 
 Charite, Chestite, Pacience, Pees, and Largenesse. Mercy, or the 
 Virgin Mary, mediates between the sinful ones at the gates and 
 Christ and the Father. The chief battle in Langland's poem is that 
 waged against the church of Unity (Pass, xx) by Antichrist and 
 seven giants. Sloth and Avarice lead the assault. Peace bars the 
 gates. But the virtues sleep and Conscience is forced to become a 
 pilgrim over the world, seeking the Plowman. In a 13th century 
 homily, Sawles IVarde, man is represented as a castle inhabited by 
 Wit, his wife Will, five servants, the five senses, and four daughters, the 
 cardinal virtues. 
 
 Among the Moral-plays the Cast/e of Perseverance well illustrates 
 the prevailing conception. The play was performed during the 
 reign of Henry VI., but it is thought from its completeness that it 
 must have had predecessors of the same kind (Collier, Hist. Dr. 
 P., II. p. 200 et seq.). Huraanum Genus has been conducted by 
 Good Angels to the Castle of Perseverance, which is under the ward- 
 ship of the vSeven Virtues. The Seven Deadly Sins attack the castle 
 but are repulsed by the Virtues, being made " blak and bio" by the 
 beating of roses which Charity and Patience fling from the walls. 
 "Drery Death" alone has power over Humanura Genus whose soul 
 is at last saved by the grace of Deity. 
 
 The later development of the theme needs only to be mentioned 
 here. The Faery Qiieene was a natural evolution of the medh'eval 
 chivalric idea. Though the theological dogmatism is abandoned 
 mankind is yet in the wilderness of this world, beset by sins on 
 every side. In Book II. there is set forth the struggle of the Soul 
 against its enemies. In Mammon's Cave the World is overcome. 
 Arthur prevails against the Devil in the person of Maleger, the 
 captain of the vices. Guyon, in the bower of Acrasia, resists the 
 temptations of the Flesh. The ninth canto shadows forth the 
 struggle of the Soul within the body. Milton and Bunyan picture 
 the redemptive system from the Protestant point of view. For the 
 ^r'i\.'i\v[\Q\\\lsl\\'io\\''~> Paradise Regained \\\& struggle is pictured as 
 being withdrawn within the self — this is the beginning of the 
 modern treatment of the theme. But Bunyan writes directlv in 
 the manner of the "old fables" that dealt with " Mansoul's wars." 
 
Ixxvi The Allegory of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 One of the last of these inicrocosniic 'encounters and tl:e most 
 ingenious and involved of all, is the Purple Island, published in 
 1633 by the poet Fletcher, who is called by Francis Quarles "the 
 Spenser of this age." The Purple Island is Man. Its prince is 
 Intellect. The Senses constitute a pentarchy. Cosmos captains 
 the rout of Vices that attack the Island. The Virtues defend and 
 conquer (v. cantos vii-viii, ix-x, xi-xii). 
 
 Considering the possibilities of Lydgate's theme it is to be regret- 
 ted that he did not grapple with it more successfully. His work 
 exhibits intelligence, some degree of imagination, but is devoid of 
 passion and aesthetic apprehension. He marshaled numberless 
 hosts, his design was so comprehensive as to include the upper 
 firmament, the lowest hell, and the earth and man, yet the Assembly 
 of Gods is almost the least of the poems attempting to portray the 
 Holy War. 
 
THE ASSEMBLY OF GODS. 
 
 By Don John Lydgate. 
 
 * Here foloweth the Intr/'pretacion of the names of goddys & 
 goddesses as ys rehersyd in pis tretyse folowy//g as poet^s wryte : 
 
 Phebus: 
 
 ys as moche to sey as Se Sonne. 
 
 Ceres: 
 
 Apollo : 
 
 ys the same or ellys God of 
 
 CupiDO: 
 
 
 Lyght. 
 
 Othea: 
 
 Morpheus 
 
 : Shewer of Dremes. 
 
 Fortune: 
 
 Pluto : 
 
 God of Hell. 
 
 Pan: 
 
 Mynos : 
 
 luge of Hell. 
 
 Isys: 
 
 Cerberus: 
 
 Porter oi Hell. 
 
 Neptunus: 
 
 Eolus: 
 
 pe Wynde or. God of pe Eyre. 
 
 MYNfi^UE : 
 
 Diana: 
 
 Goddesse of Woode & Chace. 
 
 
 Phebe: 
 
 pe Mone or Goddes of Watyrw. 
 
 B.\CHUS : 
 
 Aurora: 
 
 Goddes of pe Morow or the 
 
 Mfj^CURIUS 
 
 
 Spryng of the Day. 
 
 Venus: 
 
 Mars: 
 
 God of Batayll. 
 
 Discorde: 
 
 Iubyter: 
 
 God of Wysdoin. 
 
 
 lUNO: 
 
 Goddesse of Rychesse. 
 
 Attropos : 
 
 Saturne : 
 
 God of Colde. 
 
 
 Goddesse of Corne. 
 God of Loue. 
 Goddes of Wysdom. 
 pe variaunt Goddesse. 
 God of Shepard^j. 
 Goddesse of Frute. 
 God of the See. 
 Goddesse of Batayll, or of 
 
 Harueyst. 
 God of Wyne. 
 : God of Langage. 
 Goddesse of Loue. 
 Goddesse of Debate and 
 
 Stryfe. 
 Dethe. 
 
 Whan Phebus in the Crabbe had nere hys cours ronne 
 
 And toward the leon his iourne gan take, 
 To loke on Pictagoras speere I had begonne, 
 Syttyng all solytary alone besyde a lake, 
 Musyng on a uiant'r how that I myght make 
 Reason & Sensualyte in oon to acorde; 
 But I cowde nat bryng about that monacorde. 7 
 
 * Oviitted in B. C foUozvs the Camb. MS., closing: Here endyth the Interpretac/on of the 
 names of Goddis and Goddesses as is rehercyd in thys treatyse folowynge. 
 
 I 
 
 When Phebus 
 had nearly run 
 his course in 
 the Crab, alone 
 beside a lake, 
 I was musing 
 how I might 
 make Reason 
 and Sensuality 
 to accord. 
 
The Journey to Hell. 
 
 In heaviness 
 1 fell asleep. 
 
 Morpheus 
 enters and 
 takes me by 
 the sleeve, 
 
 For long er I myght, slepe me gan oppresse 8 
 
 So ponderously, I cowde make noon obstacle, 
 In niyne heede was fall suche an heuynesse, 
 
 I was fayne to drawe to myn habytacle, 1 1 
 
 To rowne w/'t/^ a pylow me semvd best trvacle. 
 So leyde I me downe my dyssese to releue. 
 Anone came in Morpheus & toke me by the sleue. 14 
 
 bidding me 
 arise and 
 attend the 
 Court of 
 Minos. 
 
 I obey and 
 go with him 
 towards the 
 parliament of 
 Pluto and 
 Minos. 
 
 On the way I 
 
 ask him his 
 
 name. He 
 
 replies, 
 
 " Morpheus." 
 
 "Where do you 
 dwell?" He 
 answers, "in 
 Fantasy." 
 
 Having arrived 
 in Hell, 
 Cerberus, the 
 porter, brings 
 thither Eolus 
 in chains, 
 charged by 
 Neptune and 
 Diana with 
 traitorous 
 action. 
 
 And as I so lay half in a traunse, 15 
 
 Twene slepyng and wakyng he bad me aryse. 
 For he seyde I must yeue attendaunse 
 
 To the gret Court of Mynos, the iustyse. 18 
 
 Me nought auaylyd ayene hym to sylogyse ; 
 For hit ys oft seyde by hem that yet lyues 
 He must nedys go that the deuell dryues. 21 
 
 4 
 When I sy no bettyr but I must go 22 
 
 I seyde I was redy at hys cowmaundment, 
 Whedyr that he wold me leede to or fro. 
 
 So vp I aroose and forthe whh hym went, 25 
 
 Tyll he had me brought to the pr/z-lyament. 
 Where Pluto sate and kept hys estate, 
 And wkh hym Mynos, the luge desperate. 28 
 
 5 
 But as we thedyrward went by the way, 29 
 
 I hym besought hys name me to tell. 
 "Morpheus," he seyde, "thow me call may." 
 
 "A syr," seyd I, "than where do ye dwell, 32 
 
 In heuen or in erthe outher elles in hell ?" 
 
 "Nay," he seyde, "myn abydyng most comonly 
 Ys in a lytyll corner callyd Fantasy." 35 
 
 6 
 And as sone as he these wordys had sayd, 36 
 
 Cerberus, the porter of hell, ^\i\.h hys cheyne 
 Brought theder Eolus in raggys euyll arayd, 
 
 Agayn whom Neptunus and Diana dyd cowpleyne 39 
 Seying thus, "O Mynos, thow luge souereyne, 
 Yeue thy cruell iugement ageyn thys trayto/^-/- soo 
 That we may haue cause to preyse thy lord Pluto." 42 
 
In the Court of Alinos. 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 Then was there made a proclamasion, 43 
 
 In Plutoys name coz/nnaundyd silence 
 Vppon the peyne of strayte correccion, 
 
 That Diana and Neptunz^-j myght haue audience 46 
 To declare her greefe of the gret offence 
 
 To theym done by Eohis, wheron they compleynyd. 
 And to begyfi Diana was constreynyd. 49 
 
 8 
 Whyche thus began as ye shall here 50 
 
 Seying in thys wyse, " O thow lord Pluto, 
 \Nkh thy luge Mynos, syttyng w/t// the in fere, 
 
 Execute your fury vppon Eolus so 53 
 
 Accordyng to the offence that he to me hath do. 
 That I haue no cause forther to apele, 
 Whiche yef I do shall nat be for your wele. 56 
 
 9 
 "Remembre furst howe I a goddesse pure 57 
 
 Ouer all desertys, forestes and chases, 
 Haue take the guydyng and vndyr my cure. 
 
 Thys trayto^/r Eolus, hath many of my places 60 
 
 Dystroyed with hys blastes and dayly me manaces. 
 Where any wood ys he shall make hyt pleyn 
 Yef he to hvs lyberte may resorte ayeyh. 63 
 
 10 
 " The grettest trees that any man may fynde 64 
 
 In forest to shade the deere for her comfort. 
 He breketh hem asondre or rendeth hem roote & rynde 
 Out of the erthe — thys ys hys dysport, 67 
 
 So that the deere shall haue no resort 
 W/t/zyn short tyme to no man^r shade ; 
 Whef thorough the game ys lykly to fade. 70 
 
 1 1 
 "Whyche to my name a reproche syngler 71 
 
 Shuld be for twcr whyle the world last, 
 And to all the godd^^ an hygh dyspleser 
 
 To see the game so dystroyed by hys blast ; 74 
 
 Wherfore a remedy puruev in hast, 
 
 And let hym be punvsshyd aftyr hys offence. 
 Consydef the cryme and yeue your sentence." 77 
 
 Silence is 
 proclaimed by 
 Pluto that 
 Neptune and 
 Diana may 
 declare their 
 grievance. 
 
 Diana, first, 
 begins to 
 speak, 
 
 demanding 
 from Minos 
 the execution 
 of fury upon 
 Eolus, 
 
 the traitor, who 
 had destroyed 
 her forests, 
 
 breaking and 
 uprooting the 
 trees, where- 
 fore the deer 
 are without 
 shelter. 
 
 This brings 
 reproach to 
 Diana and dis- 
 pleasure to all 
 the gods, and 
 requires 
 punishment. 
 
The Co)npIaiiit against Eohis. 
 
 Neptune next 
 rehearses his 
 complaint to 
 Minos. 
 
 For himself 
 he claims 
 jurisdiction 
 over the sea, 
 
 but Eolus 
 causes him to 
 turn against 
 his course, 
 
 and ebb and 
 flow out of his 
 season. 
 
 And when thus Diana had made her compleynt 78 
 
 To Mynos, the luge, in Plutoys p/rsence, 
 Came forthe Neptunz/i-, w/t// vysage pale & feynt, 
 
 Desyryng of iz.wour to haue audyence, 81 
 
 Saying thus, "Pluto to thy magnyfycence 
 I shall reherse what thys creature 
 Eolus hath dooii to nie out of mesure. 84 
 
 13 
 "Thow knowest well that I haue the charge 85 
 
 Ouer all the see, and therof god I am. 
 No shyp may savle. keruell, boot ner barge, 
 
 Gret karyk, nor hulke \\ix.h any lyuyng man, 88 
 
 But yef he haue my safe condyte than. 
 
 Who me offendeth w/tZ/vn mv iurysdiccion 
 
 Oweth to subinvt liviii to niv correccion. 91 
 
 14 
 "But in as mekvll as hit vs now soo 92 
 
 That ye hym here haue as \our prvsonere, 
 I shall yow shew my compleynt loo, 
 
 Wherfore I pray yow that ye woll hit here, 95 
 
 And let hym nat escape out of your daungere, 
 Tyll he haue made full seethe and recompence 
 For hurt of my name thorough thys gret offence. 98 
 
 15 
 " Furst, to begynne, thys Eolus hath oft 99 
 
 Made me to retourne my course agayh nature 
 W/t// hys gret blastys, when he hath be a loft, 
 
 And chargyd me to labour ferre out of mesure, 102 
 That hit was gret merueyle how I myght endure. 
 The [foom] of my swet, wyll hit testyfy, 
 That on the see bankes lythe betyn full hy. 105 
 
 16 
 "Secundly, where as my nature ys 106 
 
 Bothe to ebbe and flowe and so my course to kepe, 
 Oft of myn entent hath he made me mys. 
 
 Where as I shuld haue fyllyd dykes depe 109 
 
 At a full watyr I might nat thedyr crepe 
 Before my seson came to retorne ayeyne, 
 And then went I fastyf than I wold certeyne. 1 1 2 
 
In the Court of Mi/ios. 
 
 17 
 
 "Thus he hath me dryuen ayen myn entent 113 
 
 And contrary to my course naturall. 
 Where I shuld haue be he made me be absent 
 
 To my gret dyshonour, & in especiall 116 
 
 00 thyng he vsyd that worst was of all, 
 For where as I my sauegard grauntyd, 
 
 Ay in that cost he comonly hauntyd. 119 
 
 18 
 "Of VdVTcy pure malyce and of sylfe wyll, 120 
 
 Theym to dystroy in dyspyte of me 
 To whom I promysyd, bothe in good and yll, 
 
 To be her protectouf in adu^rsyte, 123 
 
 That to theym shuld fall opon the see, 
 And euyn sodenly, er they coude beware, 
 W/t// a sodeyn pyry, he lappyd hem in care. 126 
 
 19 
 "And full oft sythe w/t/i hys boystous blast, 127 
 
 Er they myghtbeware he drofe hym on the sande. 
 And other whyle ht brak top seyle and mast, 
 
 Whyche causyd they;« toperysshe er they came to lande. 
 Then cursyd they the tyme that tuer they me fande. 
 Thus among the pepyll lost ys my name 
 And so by hys labo///'' put I am to shame. 133 
 
 20 
 " Consydre thys mater and ponder my cause; 134 
 
 Tendre my cowpleynt as rygour requyreth ; 
 Shew forthe your sentence w/tA a breef clause. 
 
 1 may nat long tary, the tyme fast expyreth, 137 
 The offence ys gret, wherfore hyt desyreth 
 
 The more greuous peyne and hasty iugement. 
 For offence doofi wylfully woll noon auysment." 140 
 21 
 And, when the god Pluto awhyle had hym bethought, 141 
 
 He rownyd w/t/i Mynos to know what was to do. 
 Then he seyd opynly, " Loke thow fayle nought 
 
 Thy sentence to yeue w/t/iout idivoiir so, 144 
 
 Lyke as thow hast herde the causys meuyd the to ; 
 And so euenly dele twene these partyes tweyn, 
 That noofi of hem haue cause on the other cowpleyfi." 
 
 This Eolus had 
 done to his dis- 
 honour. 
 
 Out of very 
 malice Eolus 
 destroyed those 
 to whom he had 
 granted protec- 
 tion, 
 
 or else brought 
 them to wreck; 
 wherefore his 
 name is held in 
 dishonor. 
 
 The great of- 
 fense requiresa 
 grievous pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 Pluto advises 
 Minos to judge 
 fairly between 
 the parties. 
 
Invitation of Apollo, 
 
 Minos asks for 
 
 further 
 
 charges. 
 
 Then seyd Mynos full indyfferently, 148 
 
 To Dyane & Neptun?/j-, " Ys ther any more 
 That ye wyll declare agayii hvm opynly ?" 
 
 "Nay in dede," they seyde,"we kepe noon in store. 151 
 We haue seyde ynough to punysshe hym sore. 
 Yef ye in thys matyr be nat parciall, 
 Renienibre your name was wont to be egall." 154 
 
 and wishes to 
 hear what 
 Eolus can say 
 for himself. 
 
 A messenger 
 enters from 
 Apollo inviting 
 the gods to a 
 banquet and 
 
 requests the 
 suspension of 
 judgment upon 
 Eolus, if Diana 
 and Neptune 
 should be 
 therewith 
 content. 
 
 The Court is 
 therefore dis- 
 missed. 
 
 "Well then," seyd Mynos, "now let vs here 155 
 
 What thys boystous Eolus for hy/'//self can sey, 
 For here, pr/ma facie, to vs he doth apere 
 
 That he hath offendyd — no man can sey nay. 158 
 
 Wherfore thow Eolus, w/t/iout more delay, 
 Shape vs an answer to thyne accusement. 
 And ellys I most p-r^cede opon thy iugement." 161 
 24 
 And euyn as Eolus was onwarde to haue seyde 162 
 
 For hys excuse, came yn a messynger 
 Fro god Apollo to Pluto, and hym prayde 
 
 On hys behalfe that he w/t/^out daungere 165 
 
 Wold to hym come & bryng w/t/^ hym [in] feere 
 Diane & Neptunz^j on to hys banket; 
 And yef they dysdeynyd hy»/sylf he wold hem fet. 168 
 
 25 
 Moreouf?/' he seyde to the god, Apollo 169 
 
 Desyryd to haue respyte of the iugement 
 Of Eolus, bothe of Mynos & Pluto. 
 
 So Dyane and Neptunus were therw/t// content, 172 
 And yef they were dysposyd to assent 
 That he myght come vnto hys prifsence. 
 He hit desyryd to know hvs offence. 175 
 
 26 
 "What sey ye herto," seyd Pluto to hem tweyn, 176 
 
 "Wyll ye bothe assent that hit shall be thus?" 
 " Ye," seyde the goddesse, " for my part certeyn." 
 
 "And 1 also," seyde thys Neptunus. 179 
 
 "I am well plesvd," quod thys Eolus. 
 
 And when they had a whyle thus togedyr spoke, 
 Pluto co;«raaundyd the court to be broke. 182 
 
To Apollo's Palace. 
 
 27 
 And then togedyf went they in fere, 183 
 
 Phito & Neptun/^j- ledyng the goddesse, 
 Whom folowyd Cerberus w/t/^ hys prysonere. 
 
 And alther last w/t/; gret heuynesse 186 
 
 Came I & Morpheus to the forteresse 
 Of the god Apollo vnto hys banket, 
 Where many goddys & goddesses met. 189 
 
 28 
 When Apollo sye that they were come, 190 
 
 He was ryght glad and prayed hem to syt. 
 "Nay," seyd Diane, " thys ys all and some. 
 
 Ye shall me pardone, I shall nat syt yet. 193 
 
 I shall fyrst know why Eolus abyte 
 
 And what execucion shall on hym be do 
 For hys offence." " Well," seyd Apollo, 196 
 
 29 
 "Madame, ye shall haue all your plesere, 197 
 
 Syth that hit woll none other wyse be. 
 But furst I yow pray let me the mater here. 
 
 Why he ys brought in thys ptvplexyte." 200 
 
 "Well," seyde Pluto, "that shall ye sone se." 
 And gan to declare euen by and by 
 Bothe her compleyntes ordynatly. 203 
 
 And when Apollo had herd the report 204 
 
 Of Pluto, in a manifA smylyng he seyde, 
 "I see well, Eolus, thow hast small comfort 
 
 Thy sylf to excuse; thow mayst be dysmayde 207 
 
 To here so gret compleyntffj" ayene the layde. 
 That natw/t//standyng, yef thow can sey ought 
 For thyne owne wele, sey and tary nought." 210 
 
 31 
 "Forsothe," seyd Eolus, "yef I had respyte, 211 
 
 Her to an answere cowde I counterfete. 
 But to haue her grace more ys my delyte. 
 
 Wherfore, I pray you all for me entrete, 2\\ 
 
 That I may, by your request, her good grace gete. 
 And what pyne or greef ye for me prouyde, 
 W/t/iout any grogyng I shall hit abyde." 217 
 
 Pluto, Nep- 
 tune and 
 Diana, Cer- 
 berus and 
 Eolus, Mor- 
 pheus and I, 
 come to the 
 palace of 
 Apollo, where 
 many gods 
 and goddesses 
 are met. 
 
 Apollo wel- 
 comes them 
 with gladness. 
 
 Diana refuses 
 to sit until 
 judgment is 
 pronounced on 
 Eolus. 
 
 Pluto recounts 
 the complaints 
 against Eolus, 
 
 who is 
 requested to 
 give his 
 excuses. 
 
 Eolus speaks 
 suing for the 
 grace of 
 Diana. 
 
The Complaint Dismissed. 
 
 Apollo pleads 
 for Eolus that 
 the goddess 
 show pity, on 
 account of his 
 great sorrow, 
 
 "Lo, good Madame," seyd god Apollo, 218 
 
 "What may he do more but sew to your grace. 
 Beholde how the teares from hys even go. 
 
 Hit ys satysfaccion half for hys trespase. 221 
 
 Now gloryous goddesse shewe your pvteous face 
 To thys poore pryson<fr at my request. 
 All we for your honour thynke thus vs best. 224 
 
 and assures 
 her if she for- 
 give Eolus and 
 he afterwards 
 rebel that for 
 every tree 
 destroyed a 
 hundred shall 
 grow 
 
 for the pro- 
 tection of 
 
 22S 
 
 231 
 
 Diana grants 
 release. 
 
 " And yef hit lyke yow to do in thys wyse, 
 And to foryeue hym clerely hys offense, 
 Oofi thyng suerly I will yow promyse, 
 Yef he eft rebelle and make resystence 
 Or dysobey vnto your sentence, 
 For eu<?/y tree that he maketh fall. 
 Out of the erthe an hundred aryse shall. 
 
 34 
 "So that your game shall nat dvscrese 
 For lak of shade, I dar vndyrtake." 
 "Well, syr Apollo," seyde she than, "woll I cese 
 Of all my ranco^^r and mery wiih vow make." 
 And then god Neptunz/j- of hys mater spake, 
 
 Seying thus, " Apollo, though Diana hym relese, 
 Yet shall he su to me to haue hys pese." 23S 
 
 235 
 
 For Neptune's 
 case Phebe is 
 accepted as 
 arbiter. 
 
 -Apollo prays 
 the gods and 
 goddesses to 
 fall to the 
 banquet. 
 
 -■Xthena 
 requests that 
 due order be 
 preserved. 
 
 "A," seyde Apollo, "ye wend I had foryete 239 
 
 Yow for my lady Diane, the goddesse. 
 Nay, thynke nat so, for I woll yow entrete 
 
 As well as hyr w/t/^out long processe. 242 
 
 Wyll ye agre that Pheb[e] your mastresse 
 May haue the guvdvng of your varyaunce?" 
 "I shall abyde," quod he, "her ordvnaunce." 245 
 
 36 
 "Well then," quod Apollo, "I pray you godd<f^ all, 246 
 
 And goddesses eke, that be heere p/rsent. 
 That ve compavgnablv wyll aboorde fall." 
 
 "Nay then." seyde Othea, "hit ys nat conuenvent, 249 
 A dew ordre in tucry place vs expedvent 
 To be had, wherfore ye mav nat let 
 To be vouf owne marchall at vouf owne banket. "252 
 
Assembly of the Gods. 
 
 37 
 And when Apollo sy hit wold noon other be, 253 
 
 He callyd to hym Aurora, the goddesse. 
 And seyde, " Thowgh ye wepe yet shal ye before me 
 Ay kepe your course & put your sylf in [presse]." 256 
 So he her set furst at hys owne messe, 
 
 W/t/i her moyst clothes w/t/^ teares all be spreynt. 
 The medewes in May shew therof her co»2pleynt.2 59 
 
 38 
 Next hyr sate Mars, myghty god & strong, 260 
 
 W/t/i a flame of fyre enuyround all about, 
 A crowne of yron on hys hede, a spere in hys hand. 
 Hyt semyd by hys chere as he wold haue fought. 263 
 And next vnto hym, as I p^/'ceue mought, 
 Sate the goddese Diana, in a mantell fyne 
 Of blak sylke, purfylyd wMi poudryd hermyne, 266 
 
 39 
 Lyke as she had take the mantell & the ryng. 267 
 
 And next vnto hyr, arayed royally. 
 Sate the good lupyter, in hys demenyng 
 
 Full sad, and wyse he semyd sykerly. 270 
 
 A crown of tynne stoode on hys hede. 
 And that I recorde of all philosophres 
 That lytyll store of coyne kepe in her cofres. 273 
 40 
 loynyd to hym in syttyng next ther was 274 
 
 The goddesse luno, full rvchely beseene 
 In a sercote that shone as bryght as glas. 
 
 Of goldsmythes werke wkh spanglys wrought be-dene. 
 Of royall rychesse wantyd she noone I wene. 
 And next by her sate the god Saturne, 
 That oft sythe causeth many oofi to morne. 280 
 
 41 
 But he was clad me thought straungely, 281 
 
 For of frost & snow was all his arav; 
 In hys hand he helde a fawchon all blody. 
 
 Hyt semyd by hys chere as he wold make a fray. 284 
 A bawdryk of isykles about hys nek gav 
 
 He had, and aboue an hygh on hvs hede, [leede. 
 Cowchyd wilh hayle stonys, he wervd a crowne of 
 
 First, with 
 Apollo, is set 
 Aurora, wet 
 with morning 
 tears. 
 
 Next, Mars, 
 environed with 
 flame, an iron 
 crown upon 
 his head, a 
 spear in his 
 hand. 
 
 With him is 
 Diana, in a 
 mantle of silk 
 and ermine. 
 
 Jupiter sits 
 next, sad and 
 wise, wearing a 
 crown of tin. 
 
 With him is 
 Juno, dressed 
 in royal rich- 
 ness. 
 
 Saturn next, 
 
 arrayed In 
 frost and snow, 
 a bloody fal- 
 chion in his 
 hand, a ring of 
 icicles about 
 his neck, a 
 crown of lead 
 on high. 
 
lO 
 
 Assembly of tJic Gods. 
 
 With him sits 
 Ceres in a gar- 
 ment of sack- 
 cloth embroid- 
 ered with 
 sheaves and 
 sickles. 
 
 Next Cupid, 
 dressed in 
 gallant array 
 with jewels, so 
 that the palace 
 shone. He 
 sits embracing 
 Ceres with one 
 arm. 
 
 With him is 
 Athena, clad 
 in purple with 
 a pearly crown. 
 
 Pluto next, 
 environed in 
 mist and 
 clothed in a 
 smoky net, 
 smelling of 
 fire and sul 
 phur. 
 
 Fortune sits 
 with him; she 
 is dressed 
 gaudily in 
 green. 
 
 And next in ordre was set bv hvs svde 288 
 
 Ceres, the goddesse, in a garment 
 Of sak clothe made wMi sleues hirge & wyde, 
 
 Embrowderyd wkh sheiies & sykelvs bent. 291 
 
 Of all man^/- greynes she sealvd the patent, 
 In token that she was the goddesse of corne. 
 Olde poetys sey she bereth the heruest home. 294 
 
 43 
 Then was there set the god Cupido, 295 
 
 All fresshe & galaunt & costlew in arav. 
 W/t/^ ouches & ryngd'j- he was beset so 
 
 The paleys therof shone as though hit had be dav. 298 
 A kerchyef of plesaunce stood ouer hvs helme ay. 
 The goddesse Ceres he lookvd in the face 
 And w/t/i! oon arme he hyr dyd enbrace. 301 
 
 44 
 Next to Cupido in ordyr by and by, 302 
 
 Of worldly wysdoii], sate the forteresse 
 Callyd Othea, chyef grounde of polycy, 
 
 Rewler of knvghthode, of Prudence the goddese. 305 
 Clad all in p/c>'-pur was she more & lesse, 
 Safe on her hede a crowne thef stood, 
 Cowchyd w/t/^ perles, oryent, fyne and good. 30S 
 
 45 
 And next to her was god Pluto set, 309 
 
 W/t// a derke myst enuyrond all aboute, 
 Hvs clothyng was made of a smoky net. 
 
 Hys colo//r was, bothe w/t//yn & w/t/zoute, 312 
 
 Foule, derke & dy;//me ; hys eyen gret & stoute. 
 Of fyre and sulphure all hys odo//r wase ; 
 That wo was me whyle I behelde hys fase. 315 
 
 46 
 Fortune, the goddesse, w/t/^ her party face 316 
 
 Was vnto Pluto next in ordre set. 
 Varyaunt she was ; ay in short space 
 
 Hyr whele was redy to turne w/t/;out let. 319 
 
 Hyr gowne was of gawdy grene chamelet, 
 Chaungeable of sondry dyuc/'se colowres, 
 To the condycyons accordyng of hyr shoures. 322 
 
Assembly of the Gods. 
 
 II 
 
 47 
 
 323 
 
 326 
 
 329 
 
 330 
 
 333 
 
 536 
 
 337 
 
 And by her sate though he vnworthy were, 
 
 The rewde god Pan, of shep<?rdys the gyde, 
 Clad in russet frese, & breched lyke a bere, 
 W/t/i a gret tar box hangyng by hys syde. 
 A shepecrook in hys hand he sparyd for no pryde 
 And at hys feete Lay a prykeryd curre. 
 He ratelyd in the throte as he had the murre. 
 48 
 Ysys, the goddesse, bare hym company. 
 
 For at the table next she sat by hys syde, 
 In a close kyrtyll enbrowderyd curyously, 
 W/t/^ braunches & leues, brood, large & wyde, 
 Grene as any gresse in the som^rtyde. 
 
 Of all mani^r frute she had the goucrnaunce. 
 Of sauerys odoryferous was her sustynaunce. 
 
 49 
 Next hyr was then god Neptun//'j- set. 
 
 He sauoryd lyke a fysshef — of \vjm I spake before. 
 Hyt semyd by hys clothes as they had be wet. [score. 
 Aboute hym, in hys gyrdyll stede, hyng fysshes many a 
 Of hys straunge aray m^ruelyd I sore. 
 
 A shyp w/t/i a toppe & seyle was hys crest. 
 Me thought he was gayly dysgysyd at that fest. 
 
 50 
 Then toke Mynerue, the goddesse, her sete 
 
 Joyntly to Neptun/^'j', all in curas clad, 
 Gauntlett^i' on hyr handys, & sabatouns on hyr fete. 
 She loked eud'r about as though she had be mad. 
 An hamer and a sythe on her hede she had. 
 
 She weryd ii bokelers, oofi by her syde, [pryde. 
 
 That other ye wote where ; thys was all her 350 
 
 51 
 Then came the good Bachus, and by her set hym downe, 
 
 Holdyng in hys hande a cup full of wyne. 
 Of grene vyne leues he weryd a ioly crowne. 
 
 He was clad in clustres of grapes good and fyne. 354 
 A garland of yuy he chase for hys sygne ; 
 
 On hys hede he had a thredebare kendall hood ; 
 A gymlot and a fauset theropon stood. 357 
 
 By her is god 
 Pan dressed 
 rudely, a tar- 
 box by his 
 side, a sheep- 
 crook in his 
 hand, 
 
 at his feet a 
 cur. 
 
 Isys keeps him 
 company in a 
 dress embroid- 
 ered with 
 leaves and 
 branches. 
 
 343 
 
 344 
 
 347 
 
 Neptune sits 
 next. Fishes 
 hang at his 
 girdle. A ship 
 is his crest. 
 
 With him sits 
 Minerva, clad 
 in armor, a 
 hammer and 
 scythe upon 
 her head. 
 
 Bacchus sits 
 by her, clad in 
 grape clusters, 
 a cup of wine 
 in his hand. 
 His sign is a 
 garland of 
 yew. 
 
12 Assembly of the Gods. 
 
 52 
 With him sits Next hvm sate Phebfe], w/t// hvr coXoiir pale. ^=;8 
 
 pale Phebe, " '- -" - ^ ^ -^ 
 
 boasting of her Fat shc was of facc but of complexvon fevnt. 
 
 rule. I . . 
 
 She seyde she rewlyd Nejitun//i- and made \\\ni to avale, 
 And ones in the moneth wilh Phebus was she nievnt. 
 Also ne were she Ceres were ateynt. 
 
 Thus she sate <Sc tolde the nivs^ht of hvr nature, 
 
 She wears a .0.7 
 
 silver crown. And on hyr hede she wervd a crowne of svluvr pure. 
 
 53 
 Mercury seats lovntlv to her Mfrcurius tooke hvs see -?6^ 
 
 himself ne.\t, a • • - o j 
 
 god of golden As came to hvs course — wvtnesse the zodyak. 
 
 tongue. In 
 
 his hand he He had a sryldyn tons:, as fvU for hvs desfree. 
 
 has a box of o. . o? .' . ft 
 
 quicksilver. In eloquence of langage he passyd all the pak, 368 
 
 For in hys talkyng no man cowde fynde lak. 
 A box wkh quyksylu(?r he had in hvs hand, 
 Multyplyers know hit well in eu^rv land. 371 
 
 54 
 His companion gy j^j,^;, j^^jg Dame Vcnus wiili colour crvstallvne, ^72 
 
 IS Venus, - . . ' .J ' 
 
 ''i'^'^S' A Whoos long here shone as wyre of goold brvght. 
 
 chere, dressed o .0.0 
 
 curiously, her Crvspe was her skvn, her even coluwbvne, 
 
 hair like gold - 1 ^ ' ./ . ' 
 
 "''^^- Rauysshyd myn hert her chere was so lyght. 375 
 
 Patronesse of plesaunce, be namyd well se myght. 
 A smokke was her wede, garnysshyd curvously. 
 But aboue all other she had a wanton ey. 378 
 
 55 
 Shewearsa On her hede she weryd a rede copvr crowne. 379 
 
 copper crown. 
 
 A nosegay she had made full pleasauntly. 
 Between Betwene her and Aurora, Apollo set hym downe. 
 
 Aurora and '■ 
 
 Venus Apollo W/t// hvs bcames brvght he shone so feruentlv ^82 
 
 sits him down. - -' "-" • ^ 
 
 He gives light That hc iherw/t/i gladyd all the companv. 
 
 to the com- o j j. . 
 
 pany. His \ crowne of pure gold was on hys hede set, 
 
 crown IS of 10 y 
 
 go'd. In sygne that he was mastyr & lord of that banket. 
 
 56 " 
 Waiting at the Thus was the table set rownde aboute 386 
 
 table are poets 
 
 and phiioso- With fifoddvs & goddesscs, as I haue vow tolde. 
 
 phers: O . » 
 
 Cicero, Aris- Awaytynsf on the boorde was a gret route 
 
 totle, Ptolemy, .^ ^ » O 
 
 Dorothe, Of sage phvlosophyrs & poetes many folde. 389 
 
 Plato, Me's- Thcr was sad Sychero & Arystctyll olde, 
 
 sala, Socrates, 
 
 Tholome, Dorothe, wnvi Dyogenes, 
 
 Plato, Messehala, & wyse Socrates. 392 
 
Discord and Atropos. 
 
 13 
 
 57 
 
 393 
 
 96 
 
 399 
 
 Sortes and Saphyrus w/t/^ Hermes stood behynde. 
 
 Auycen and Aueroys with hem were in fere. 
 Galyen & Ipocras, that physylc haue in mynde, 
 WVt/i helpe of Esculapion, toward hem drow nere. 
 Virgyle, Orace, Ouyde and Omere, 
 
 Euclyde, and Albert vaue her attendaunce, 
 To do the goddys and goddesses plesaunce. 
 58 
 Whore berdyd Orpheus was there w/t/^ hys harpe 
 
 And as a poet musykall made he melody. 
 Othyr mynstrall had they none, safe Pan gan to carpe 
 Of hyslewde bagpvpe, whyche causyd the company 403 
 To lawe. Yet many mo the? were, yef I shuld nat ly, 
 Som yong, som olde, bothe bettyr and werse, 
 But mo of her names can I not reherse. 
 
 Sortes, 
 
 Saphirus, 
 
 Hermes, 
 
 Avicen, 
 
 Averroes, 
 
 Galen, 
 
 Hypocras, 
 
 Esculapius, 
 
 Virgil, 
 
 Horace, Ovid 
 
 Homer, 
 
 Euclid and 
 
 Albert. 
 
 400 Orpheus and 
 
 Pan act as 
 minstrels. 
 
 59 
 
 406 
 
 407 
 
 Of all manrr deyntees tner was habundaunce, 
 
 Of metys & drynkes foyson plenteuous. 
 In came Dyscord to haue made varyaunce. 
 
 But there was no rome to set hyf in that hous. 410 
 The goddys remembryd the scisme odyous 
 
 Among the three goddesses that [s]he had wrought 
 At the fest of Peleus, wherfor they thought 413 
 
 60 
 They wold nat \\ix.h her dele in auenture 414 
 
 Lest she theym brought to som inconuenyent. 
 She, seyng thys, was wrothe out of mesure 
 
 And in that gret wrethe out of the paleyce went, 417 
 Seying to hersylf that chere shuld /ey repent. 
 And anone w/t/^ Attropos happyd she to raete, 
 As he had bene a goste came in wyndyng shete. 420 
 61 
 She toke hym by the hande & rownyd in hys eare 421 
 
 And told hym of the banket that was so delycate, 
 Howe she was resceuyd, what chere she had there, 
 
 And howe eu(?ry god sate in hys estate. [date!" 
 
 " Ys hit thus!" quod Attropos, "what in the deuyllys 
 
 " Well," he seyde, " I see well howe the game gooth, 
 
 Ones yet for your sake shall I make hem wrooth." 427 
 
 Discord enters 
 but can gain 
 no seat, 
 
 thence departs 
 in wrath, 
 meeting on the 
 way with 
 Atropos, 
 
14 Qmiplaiiit of Atropos. 
 
 62 
 
 And when she had hym all togedyr tolde, 428 
 
 par°, Lt " From her he departyd and of hyr toke hys leue, 
 paUct.'"° ^ Seying that for hyr sake hys wev take he wolde 
 
 In to the paleyce hys matyrs to nieue. 431 
 
 And er he thens went he trowvd hem to greue 
 W/t// suche tydyngffj- as he shuld hem tell. 
 So forthe yn he went & spake wordvs fell. 434 
 
 He looks like When he came in the iwrsence of the ■s.o^^es all, AXt. 
 
 a madman and ^ ~ ' -r^j 
 
 salutes the As he had be woode he lookvd hym about. 
 
 company 
 
 rudely. His shetc from his bodv dowii he let fall, 
 
 And on a rewde man^v he salutyd all the rout, 438 
 W/t/^ a bold voyse, carpyng wordvs stout. 
 But he spake all holow, as hit had be ooii 
 i- Had spoke in another world paX. had woo begoofi. 441 
 
 64 
 Atropos makes He stood forthe boldly whh grvm countenaunce, 442 
 
 his charge : . o ^ i -,-, 
 
 Saying in thys wyse as ye shall here, 
 "All ye gret goddys yeue attendaunce 
 He reminds Vnto my wordys w/t//out all daungere, 441; 
 
 the gods of his ' ^ » ' -ttj 
 
 office of death- Remcmbre howe ye made me your offycere 
 
 bringing - - ■' 
 
 All tho whh my dart fynally to chastyse 
 
 That yovv dysobeyed or wold your law dyspyse. 448 
 
 65 
 "And for the more sewerte ye seelyd my patent, 449 
 
 Yeuyng me full power soo to occupy, 
 Wherto I haue enployed myh entent 
 
 And that can Dame Nature well testyfy ; 452 
 
 Yef she be examynyd she woll hit nat deny. 
 For when she forsaketh any creature, 
 I am ay redy to take hym to my cure. 455 
 
 66 
 unto every " Thus hauc I dewly, wkh all my dilygence, 456 
 
 Executyd the offyce of olde antiquyte. 
 To me by yow grauntyd, by your comon sentence. 
 
 For I spared nooii hygh nor low degre, 459 
 
 So that on my part no defaute hath be. 
 For as sone as any to me cownnyttyd wase 
 I smete hym to the hert — he had noon other grase. 
 
 man 
 
Complaint of Atropos. 
 
 15 
 
 67 
 
 463 
 
 466 
 
 469 
 
 470 
 
 473 
 
 " Ector of Troy, for all hys chyualry, 
 
 Alexaunder, the grete «&: myghty conquero//r, 
 lulius Cesar, w/t/^ all hys company, 
 Dauid, nor losue, nor worthy Artour, 
 Charles the noble, that was so gret of honour. 
 Nor ludas Machabee for all hys trew hert, 
 Nor Godfrey of Boleyn cowde me nat astert 
 68 
 "Nabugodonozor, for all hys gret pryde. 
 Nor the King of Egypt, cruell Pharao, 
 lason, ne Hercules, went they xv^wer so wyde, 
 Cosdras, Hanyball, nor gentyll Sypio, 
 Cirus, Achilles, nor many another mo. 
 For feyre or foule gat of me no grace. 
 But all be at the last I sesyd hem whh my mace. 476 
 69 
 "Thus hav I brought eud'^y creature 
 
 To an ende bothe man, fysshe, foule & beste. 
 And eu^z-y other thyng in whom Dame Nature 
 Hath any iurysdiccion, owther most or leste, 
 Except oonly oon in whom yo^/r beheste 
 Ys to me broke ; for ye me promysyd 
 -j That my myght of nooii shuld haue be dyspysyd 
 70 
 "Wherof the contrary, dar I well avowe, 
 
 Ys trew ; for ooii there ys that wyll nat apply 
 Vnto my correccion nor in no wyse bowe 
 
 To the dynt of my dart for doole nor destyny. 
 What comfort he hath, nor the cause why 
 
 That hesorebelleth, I can nat thynkeof ryght [dyght 
 But yef ye haue hym grauntyd yo//r aldyrs saf con- 
 
 71 
 "And yef ye so haue, then do ye nat as goddys, 
 For agodd^i' wrytyng may nat reu^rsyd be. > 
 Yef hit shuld I wold nat yeue 11 pesecoddys 
 For graunt of your patent of offyce ner of fee. 
 Wherfore in thys mater do me equyte 
 
 Accordyng to my patent, for tyll thys be do 
 
 Ye haue no more my s^-^uyce nor my good wvll lo." 
 
 477 
 480 
 
 483 
 484 
 
 487 
 
 491 
 
 494 
 
 All have 
 
 fallen: 
 
 Hector, 
 
 Alexander, 
 
 Ca;sar, David, 
 
 Joshua, 
 
 Arthur, 
 
 Charles, 
 
 Judas Macha- 
 
 beus, Godfrey, 
 
 Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, 
 Pharao, 
 Jason, Her- 
 cules, Cosdras 
 Hannibal, 
 Scipio, 
 Cyrus and 
 Achilles. 
 
 All have been 
 brought to 
 their end 
 except one. 
 
 This one the 
 gods guard 
 contrary to 
 their agree- 
 ment. 
 
 Therefore 
 justice is 
 demanded. 
 
1 6 Compact of Atropos and the Gods. 
 
 72 
 And when all the godd^^ had Attropos herde, 498 
 
 The gods all As tlicv had bc woode they brayde vp at oonys 
 
 promise their ^ j j i. . 
 
 aid in destroy- And scydc they wold nat reste tvH he were conqueryd, 
 
 ing the man. " 
 
 Taken and dystroyed, boody, blood and boonys; 501 
 And that they swere gret othes for the noonys 
 
 Her lawe to dyspyce, that was so malapert. 
 
 They seyde he shuld be taught for to be so pert. 504 
 
 73 
 Apollo will "Well," seyde A])ollo, "yef he on erthe bee, 505 
 
 wi"h°hi" car.'"^ Wyth my brcnnyng chare I shall hym confound." 
 " In feythe," quod Neptun^j-, " & yef he kepe the see, 
 
 Neptune will f^g ^^^^, j^g f^,]! g^,J.g |-,g gj^g^]] ^ ^ drOWUd." So8 
 
 drown nim. - J 
 
 "A syr," seyd Mars, "thys haue we well fownd 
 That any dysobeyed owre godly precept, 
 We may well thynke we haue to long slept. 511 
 
 74 
 Mars will piir- " But neu^'/lhelesc where I may hym fynde 512 
 
 sue him with -itt-;! i ii i 
 
 thunder and \N till thuudrc and leyte about I shall hym chase. 
 
 lightning, 
 Saturn wil 
 
 "And I," quod Saturn/zj-, "before and behynde 
 
 Mercury will 
 
 freeze him, W/t/^ my bytter coldc shall shew hyw hard grase." 515 
 
 "Well," seyd M^xurius, "yef I may see hys fase, 
 depnve'him of For cucr of hys spechc I shall hym depryue: 
 
 speech. ^ j l j 
 
 So that hym were bettyr be dede than a lyue." 518 
 
 75 
 Athena siig- "Ye," quod Othea, "yet may he well be qio 
 
 gests that the -^ •' -^ 
 
 offender may In the eyrc whcrc he woll & ax yow no leue, 
 
 be in the air, " -^ 
 
 and without Whcrforc, iiiv counscll ys that all we 
 
 help of EoUis 
 
 their anger is May cntrctc Ncptuttus hys ranco/^r to foryeue, S22 
 
 in vain ; there- " .- ^ 
 
 fore she coun- And then I dowte not Eolus wyll hym myscheue ; 
 
 sels that Nep- j . . 
 
 time forgive So may yc be sewre he shall vow nat escape, 
 
 his rancor. " 
 
 And ellcs of all your angre woll he make but a iape." 
 
 6 
 
 power. 
 
 But I have But for to tcll VOW how Eolus was brought 526 
 
 forgotten to ,- -ni 
 
 tell you how In daung^r of Pluto vet had I foryete, 
 
 Eolus came ''- , ' r i i ,' t 
 
 into Pluto's Wherfore on thys mater ferther wyll I nought 
 
 Procede, tvll I therof haue knowleche yow lete. 529 
 Hyt fell on a day the wedyr was wete 
 
 we^hLr Eolus, And Eolus thought he wold on hvs disport 
 
 to revive his r^ ^ • \ 4. j r ^ 
 
 spirits, ^o to reioyse hys spyryt.?.? and comfort. 532 
 
Sfo/y of Eohis. 
 
 17 
 
 77 
 He thought he wold see what was in the grownd, 533 
 
 And in a krauers forthe he gan hym dresse. 
 A drowthe had the erthe late before fownd 
 
 That causyd hit to chyne & krany more and lesse. 536 
 Sodeynly by weet constreynyd by duresse 
 
 Was the ground to close hys sup^^vfyciall face 
 So strayte that to scape Eolus had no space. 539 
 78 
 Thvs seyng Eolus he stvll w/t//yn aboode, 540 
 
 Sekyng where he myght haue goon out fef or nere. 
 Anone he was aspyed and ooii to Pluto roode 
 
 And told hym how Eolus was in hys daungere. 543 
 Then seyde he to Cerberus, " Fet me that prysonere ■ 
 Till I haue hym scene; let him nat go at large. 
 As thow wylt answeP of hym I yeue pQ charge." 546 
 
 79 
 Thus was thys Eolus take prvsoner. 547 
 
 Then happyd hit so that the same day 
 Pluto had p/rfyxyd for a gret mater 
 
 Mynos to syt in his roob of ray. 550 
 
 Wherfore Cerberus tooke the next way 
 
 And led hym to the place where the court shalbe, 
 Whedyr as I tolde yow Morpheus brought me. 553 
 80 
 So thedyr came Diana caryed in a carre, 554 
 
 To make her compleynt as I told yow all. 
 And so dyd Neptun/zi-, that dothe bothe make & marre, 
 Walewyng w/t/i hys wawes & tomblyng as a ball. 5^7 
 Her matyrs they meuyd fall what may befall. 
 Ther was the furst svght that Q.\\er I they;,'/! sawe, 
 And yef I neu,-';- do efte I rekke nat a strawe. 560 
 81 
 Bot now to my matvr to returne ageyfi 561 
 
 x\nd to begynne newe where I left — 
 When all the godd/fi- had done her besy peyfi 
 
 The wey to contryue how he shuld be reft 564 
 
 Of hys lyfe, that Attropos had no cause eft 
 
 To compleyn, than Pheb[e] styrt vppon her fete 
 And seyd, " I pray yow let me speke a worde yete: 567 
 
 entered the 
 earth by a 
 crevice, which 
 was com- 
 pressed by the 
 water, shutting 
 Eolus in. 
 
 He was 
 reported to 
 Pluto, who 
 ordered Cer- 
 berus to take 
 charge of the 
 prisoner. 
 
 On that day 
 the court of 
 Minos sat, 
 whither Eolus 
 was brought as 
 I have told 
 you, 
 
 and there 
 Diana and 
 Neptune made 
 their com- 
 plaints as I 
 said. 
 
 To return to 
 my matter of 
 Atropos. 
 
 Phebe wishes 
 to speak. 
 
Reconciliation with Eolus. 
 
 She alone 
 dares to entreat 
 Neptune 
 
 to leave all old 
 rancor. 
 
 Neptune 
 forgives. 
 
 Eolus agrees 
 to afflict the 
 offender with 
 his blasts. 
 
 Pluto asks 
 their enemy's 
 name. 
 
 Atropos 
 replies that it 
 is Virtue ; 
 whereat Pluto 
 grants his 
 assistance 
 
 82 
 
 "Othea meneth well to sey on thys wyse, 568 
 
 But all to entrete Neptunz/.r, I hope, shall iiat nede. 
 Me semeth I alone durst take that entyrpryse 
 
 Er 1 am begylyd, or elles I shall spede. 571 
 
 How say ye, Neptun/^j-, shall I do thys dede? 
 Wyll ye your rancour sese at mv request?" 
 " Madame," quod he,"reule me as ye lykethbest." 574 
 
 S3 
 "Gramr/-cy," sevd she, "of \our good wvU 575 
 
 That hit pleseth yow to shew me that fauo^r, 
 Wherefore the godd^j- hygh plesure to fulfvll, 
 
 Pr/'forme my desyre & leeue all olde x'Awcoiir, 5 78 
 
 For our aldyrs wele & sauyng of our hono/^r, 
 Ageyn thys Eolus that ye long haue had." 
 " Hyt ys doon," quoth he, " forsoth then am I glad." 
 84 
 Seyde he, "iVbw then, Eolus, be thow to vs trew, 582 
 
 Kepe well the eyr, and owre gret rebell 
 May we then soone Q.wer to vs subdew." 
 
 "Yes and that," quod Eolus, "shall ve here tell 585 
 No where in the eyre shall he reste nor dwell. 
 Yef he do therof, put me in defaute, 
 W/t// my bytter blastys so shall I hvni asaute." 588 
 '85 
 "What," seyde the god Pluto, "what ys hvs name 589 
 
 That thus p/rsumeth agevh vs to rebell?" 
 "V(!';-tew," quod Attropos, "that haue he mykyll shame, 
 He ys neu^r confoundyd, thus of hym here I tell." 592 
 "A," seyde thys Pluto, " in dede I know hym well, 
 He hathe be eu^r myn vtter enemy. 
 Wlierfore thys mater agevii hvm take wvll I. 595 
 86 
 "For all the bavtys that ye for hvm haue leyde, 596 
 
 W/t//out myn helpe, be nat worth a peere. 
 For though ye all the contrary had seyde, 
 
 Yet wolde he breede ryght nygh your althrys eere. 599 
 No man^r of thyng can hym hurt nor dere 
 Saue oonly ooh, a sofi of mvn bastard, 
 Whos name ys Vyce — he kepeth my vaward. 602 
 
Tlie Vices. 
 
 19 
 
 87 
 "Wherfore, yovv Cerberus, now I the dyscharge 603 
 
 Of Eolus, and wyll that thow hydyr fette 
 My dere son Vyce, & sey that I hym charge 
 
 That he to me come w/t/^out any lette, 606 
 
 Armyd at all poyntes, for a day ys sette, 
 
 That he wiih Vertew for all the godd^J sake, 
 In our defense must on hym batayll take." 609 
 
 88 
 Forthe then went Cerberus w/t// hys fyry cheyne 610 
 
 And brought thedyr Vyce, as he coz/zmaundyd was, 
 Ageyn noble Vertew that batayll to dereygne. 
 
 On a glydyng sifrpent rydyng a gret pas, 613 
 
 Formyd lyke a dragori, scalyd harde as glas, 
 Whos mouth fiamyd feere w/t//out fayll. 
 Wjngys had hit s^rpentyne and a long_tayll. 616 
 89 
 Armyd was Vyce all in cure boyle, 617 
 
 Hard as any horn, blakker fef then soot. 
 An vngoodly soort folowyd hym parde, 
 
 Of vnhappy capteyns of myschyef croppe & roote. 620 
 Pryde was the furst pa\. next hy;« roode, God woote, 
 On a roryng lyoii ; next whom came Enuy, 
 Syttyng on a wolfe — he had a scorhfull ey. 623 
 
 90 
 Wrethe bestrode a wylde bore, and next hem gan ryde. 
 
 In hys hand he bare a blody nakyd swerde. 
 Next whom came Couetyse, that goth so fer and wyde, 
 Rydyng on a olyfaunt, as he had beii aferde. 627 
 
 Aftyr whom rood Glotony, w/t/^ hys fat berde, 
 Syttyng on a bere, w/t/; hys gret bely. 
 And next hym on a goot folowyd Lechery. 630 
 
 91 
 Slowthe was so slepy he came all behynde 631 
 
 On a dull asse, a full wery pase. 
 These were the capyteyns that Vyce cowde fynde 
 
 B[e]st to set hys felde and folow on the chase. 634 
 As for pety capteyns many mo the[r] wase; 
 As Sacrylege, Symony, & Dyssimulacion, 
 Manslaughti^r, Mordre, Theft iS: Extorcion, 637 
 
 and sends 
 Cerberus to 
 bring Vice to 
 make battle 
 with Virtue. 
 
 Cerberus leads 
 forward Vice 
 who comes 
 riding on a 
 winged serpent 
 breathing fire. 
 
 Following him 
 is a host of 
 captains, Pride 
 on a lion, 
 Envy on a 
 wolf, 
 
 Wrath on a 
 wild-boar, 
 
 Covetousness 
 on an elephant 
 
 Gluttony on a 
 bear. 
 
 Lechery on a 
 goat, 
 
 Sloth on 
 an ass. 
 
 Inferior 
 captains are: 
 Sacrilege, 
 Simony, etc. 
 
20 The Vices. 
 
 92 
 Arrogaunce, P^rsiinipcion, w/t// Contumacy, 638 
 
 Contewpcion, Contempt, (Sc Inobedicnce, 
 Malyce, Frowardnes, Gret lelacy, 
 
 Woodnesse, Hate, Stryfe, and Impacience, 641 
 
 Vnkyndnesse, Opj)ression, w/t// Wofull Negl^-gence, 
 Murmo^r, Myschyef, Falshood & Detraccion, 
 Vsury, IVriury, Ly, and Adulacion, 644 
 
 93 
 Wrong, Rauyne, Sturdy Vyolence, 645 
 
 False lugement, wilh Obstynacy, 
 Dysseyte, Dronkenes, and Improuydence, 
 
 Boldnes in Yll, wMi Foule Rybaudy, 648 
 
 Fornycacion, Incest, and Auoutry, 
 Vnshamefastnes, w/t// Prodygalyte, 
 Blaspheme, Veynglory, &: Wordly Vanvte, 651 
 
 94 
 Ignoraunce, Diffydence, w/t// Ipocrysy, 652 
 
 Scysme, Rancoz^r, Debate, & Offense, 
 Heresy, Erro//r, whh Idolatry, 
 
 New-Fangylnes, & sotyll False Pretense, 655 
 
 Inordinat Desyre of Worldly Excellense, 
 Feynyd Pouert, w/t// Apostas}-, 
 Disclaundyr, Skorne, & Vnkynde lelousy, 658 
 
 95 
 Hoordam, Bawdry, False Mayntenaunce, 659 
 
 Treson, Abusion, & Pety Brybry ; 
 Vsurpacion, w/t// Horryble Vengeaunce, 
 
 Came alther last of that company. 662 
 
 All these pety capteyns folowyd by & by, 
 Shewyng theyz/^sylf in the palyse wyde, 
 And seyde they were redy that batayll to abyde. 665 
 96 
 There is a host Idylncssc sct the comoHS in arav 666 
 
 of commons •" •' 
 
 led by Idleness, W/t//out the palcysc OH a fayre felde. 
 
 But there was an oost for to make a fray ! 
 
 I trow suche another neu(?r man behelde ! 669 
 
 Many was the wepyn among hew ^at ^ey welde ! 
 What pepyll they were that came to that dysport 
 I shall yow declare of many a sondry sort. 672 
 
The Vices. 
 
 21 
 
 97 
 
 Ther were bosters, braggars, & brybores, 
 
 Praters, fasers, strechers, & wrythers, 
 Shamefull shakerles, soleyn shaueldores, 
 
 Oppressours of pepyll, and myghty crakers, 
 Meyntenours of querelles, horryble lyers, 
 Theues, traytours, w/t/^ false herytykes, 
 Charmers, sorcerers, & many scismatykes, 
 98 
 Prvuy symonyak<?i-, w/t/; false vsurers, 
 
 Multyplyers, coyn wasshers & clyppers, 
 Wrong vsurpers, w/t/i gret extorcioners, 
 Bakbyters, glosers, & fayre flaterers, 
 Malycious murmurers, wixh grete claterers, 
 Tregetours, tryphelers, feyners of tales, 
 Lastyuyous lurdeyns, & pykers of males, 
 
 99 
 Rowners, uagabound^J", forgers of lesyng^^, 
 
 Robbers, reuers, rauenouse ryfelers. 
 Choppers of churches, fynders of tydyng(fj, 
 Marrers of maters, & money makers. 
 Stalkers by nyght, wkh euesdroppers, 
 Fyghters, brawlers, brekers of lofedayes, 
 Getters, chyders, causers of frayes, 
 100 
 Tytyuyllys, tyrauntifi", w/t/2 turmentoures, 
 
 Cursyd apostatifj-, relygyous dyssymulers, 
 Closshers, carders, \vi\h comon hasardoures, 
 Tyburne coloppys, and pursekytters, 
 Pylary knyght<?^, double tollyng myllers, 
 
 Gay ioly tapsters, w/t/z hostelers of the stewes, 
 Hoores, and baudys — that many bale brewes, 
 
 lOI 
 
 Bolde blasphemers, w/t/z false ipocrytes, 
 
 Brothelles, brokers, abhomynable swerers, 
 Dryuylles, dastard<?i-, dyspysers of ryghtes, 
 Homycydes, poyseners, & comon morderers, 
 Skoldes, caytyffys, comborouse clappers, 
 
 Idolatres, enchauntours, w/t/i false renegates, 
 Sotyll ambidextres, & sekers of debates. 
 
 673 boasters, 
 
 braggers, etc. 
 
 676 
 679 
 
 683 
 
 686 
 687 
 
 690 
 
 693 
 694 
 
 697 
 
 700 
 
 701 
 
 704 
 
 707 
 
22 
 
 The Vices. 
 
 Apollo wishes 
 to send a 
 herald to warn 
 Virtue, 
 
 Pseudo pr^phetes, false sodomytes, 708 
 
 Ouelmers of chvldren, wMi fornvcatours, 
 Wetewold^j- that suffre svn in her svghtes, 
 
 Auouterers, & abhominable aiiauntours 711 
 
 Of syn, gret clappers, & makers of clamours ; 
 Vnthryftys, & vnlustes came also to that game, 
 AV/t// luskes, &:losellesthatmvght nat thrvue for shame. 
 103 
 These were the comons came thedyr that day 715 
 
 Redy bowne in batayll V^rtew to abyde. 
 Apollo, theym beholdyng, began for to say 
 
 To the godd^J & goddesses beyng there that tvde, 718 
 "Me seemeth conuenvent an herowde to rvde 
 
 To V^/'tew, & byd hvm to bata_vll make hym bone, 
 Hvnisylf to defende, for sought he shalbe sone. 721 
 104 
 "And let hvm nat be sodenlv take 722 
 
 All dyspurueyde or then he beware, 
 For then shuld our dyshono//r awake 
 Vice protests. Yef he were cowardly take in a snare." 725 
 
 " Ee," quod Vyce, " for that haue I no care. 
 I will auauntage take where I may." 
 That heryng, Morpheus pryuyly stale away, 728 
 
 105 
 But Morpheus And went to warne V<r/-tew of all thys afray, 729 
 
 pr"parrvirtue And bade hym awake & make hymsylf strong, 
 For he was lyke to endure that day 
 
 A gret mortall shoure, er hit were euesong, 732 
 
 W/t// Vyce, wherfore he bade him nat long 
 Tary to sende aftvr more socour — 
 Yef he dede, hit shuld turnc hym to dolour. 735 
 106 
 And brefely the matvr to hvm he dcclaryd, 736 
 
 Lyke as ye haue herde begynnyng & ende. 
 **Well," quoth V^rtu,"he shall nat be sparyd. 
 
 To the felde I wyll wende how hit wende. 739 
 
 But gram^/'cy, Morpheus, myii owne dere frende. 
 Of your trew hert & feythefull entent 
 That ve in thvs mater to mc ward haue ment." 742 
 
The Virtues. 
 
 23 
 
 107 
 Thys doon, Morpheous departyd away 743 
 
 Fro V(?;-tu to the palyce retornyng ageyn. 
 Nooii hym aspved, that I dar well say. 
 
 In whyche tyme Vrrtew dyd hys besy peyn 746 
 
 Pepyll to reyse hys quarell to menteyn. 
 Ymaginacion was hys messyngere — 
 He went to warne pepyll bothe fef & nere. 749 
 
 108 
 And bade hem come in all the haste they myght 750 
 
 For to streyngthe V^rtu, for, w/t/^out fayll, 
 He seyde he shuld haue, long or hit were nyght, 
 
 W/tA Vyce to do a myghty strong batayll ; 753 
 
 Of vngracious gastes he bryngeth a long tayll. 
 " Wherfore hit behoueth to helpe at thys nede 
 And aftyr thys shall V<f/-tu rewarde yowre mede." 756 
 109 
 When Imaginacion had goofi hys cyrcute 757 
 
 To V<:7-tews frendys thus all aboute, 
 W/t//yn short tyme many men of myght 
 
 Gaderyd to V^rtew in all that they mowte. 760 
 
 They hym com forty d & bad hym put no dowte 
 Hys vttyr enemy Vyce to ouerthrow, 
 Though he w/t/; hym brought neuifr so gret arow. 
 1 10 
 And when V(?/-tew sy the substaunce of hys oost, 764 
 
 He prayed all the coraons to the felde hem hy, 
 W/t// her pety capteynys both lest & moost, 
 
 And he w/t/^ hys capteynys shuld folow redyly. 767 
 For he seyde he knew well that Vyce was full ny. 
 And who myght furst of the felde recouer the centre 
 Wold kepe out that other he shuld natesyly entre. 770 
 
 Virtue makes 
 ready, sending 
 out his 
 messenger, 
 Imagination, 
 to bid his 
 people to come 
 into his help. 
 
 Virtue's host 
 
 assembles. 
 
 They are led 
 towards the 
 field. 
 
 Then sent he forthe Baptym to the felde before, 771 
 
 And prayed hym hertyly hit to ouerse, 
 That no man^r trayne nor caltrop theryn wore 
 
 To noy nor hurt hym nor hys meyne. 774 
 
 And whefi he thedyr came he began to see 
 How Vyce hys purseuaunte, Cryme Oryginall, 
 Was entryd before and had sesvd vp all. 777 
 
 Baptism is 
 sent to spy out 
 the ground. 
 
 Original Sin 
 had entered 
 before him 
 
24 
 
 The J'irtues. 
 
 but fled at 
 Baptism's 
 approach. 
 
 Virtue and his 
 host follow. 
 
 Virtue leads, 
 sitting in a car 
 adorned with 
 gold and 
 stones, and 
 crowned with 
 laurel. 
 
 Four knights 
 guide the car. 
 Righteousness, 
 Prudence, 
 Strength and 
 Temperance. 
 
 Following 
 Virtue come 
 seven captains 
 each with an 
 appropriate 
 crest, Humility 
 on a lamb, 
 
 Charity on a 
 tiger, 
 
 Patience on a 
 camel, 
 
 Liberality on a 
 dromedary, 
 
 But as sone as herof Baptym had a syght, 778 
 
 He fled fast awey and left tlie felde alone. 
 And anone Bablyiu cntred \\h/i hys mvght, 
 
 Serchyng all about where thys Crynie had gone. 781 
 But the felde was clene defaute; fonde he none. 
 Then cam V^vtew aftvr wii/i hys gret oost, 
 And hys myglity capytayns, bothe leste & moost. 784 
 
 113 
 
 But to enforme vow howe he thcdyr came, 785 
 
 And what mzncr capyteyns he to the felde brought — 
 Hymsylfe, sekerly, was the furst man 
 
 Of all hys gret boost that thedyrward sought, 
 Syttyng in a chare that rychely was wrought, 
 With golde & peerles & gemmes prii'cious, 
 Crownyd wixh laurer as lord vyctorvous. 
 
 788 
 
 791 
 
 114 
 
 792 
 
 795 
 
 Foure dowty knyghtys about the chare went 
 
 At enery corncv on hit for to gyde, 
 And convey accordvng to V^;-tew hys entent. 
 At the furst comer was Ryghtwysnes that tyde, 
 Prudence at the second was set to abyde, 
 
 At the thryd Streyngth, the fourth kept Temp<fraunce. 
 These the chare gydyd to Yeritw hys plesaunce.798 
 
 115 
 Next to the chare, seuen capteyns the? roode, 799 
 
 Ychone aftyr other in ordre by and by. 
 Humylyte was the furst ; a lambe he bestroode. 
 
 W/t/i countenaunce demure he roode full soburly. 802 
 A fawcmi gentyll stood on hys helme on hy. 
 And next aftvr hvm came there Charyte 
 Rydyng on a tvgre, as fvU to hys degre. 
 116 
 Roody as a roose ay he kept hvs chere. 
 
 On hys helme on hygh a pellycan he bare. 
 Next whom came Pacyence, pciX. nowhere hath no pere, 
 On a camell rvdyng, as vovde of all care. 809 
 
 A fenyx on hys helme stood. So forthe gan he fare. 
 Who next hym folowyd but Lyberalyte, 
 Syttyng on a dromedary, ^(?t was bothe good & free. 
 
 805 
 
 806 
 
Abstinence on 
 
 The Virtues. 25 
 
 117 
 On hys helme for hys crest he bare an ospray. 813 
 
 And next aftyr hym folowyd Abstynence, 
 Rydyng on an hert, hys trapure was gay, a hart, 
 
 He semyd a lorde of ryght gret excellence. 816 
 
 A popyniay was hys crest ; he was of gret dyffence. 
 
 Next hvm folowyd Chastyte on an unycorn, Chastity on a 
 
 -' - -' J ^ unicorn, 
 
 Arymd at all poyntd'jr behynde and beforfi. 819 
 
 118 
 A turtyldoue he bare an hygh for hys crest. 820 
 
 Then came Good Besynesse, last of the seuyn, ^ a^Vfr"-^'""* 
 
 Rydyng on a panter, a sondry colouryd best, coloured beast. 
 
 Gloryously beseene as he had come from heuyn. 823 
 A crane on hys hede stood, hys crest for to steuyn. 
 
 All these seuyn capteynes had standardifi' of pryce, bifa'r^ "^*^'° 
 Eche of hem acordyng aftyr hys deuyse. 826 T^^llt^'"^ 
 
 119 
 Many pety capteyns aftyr these went, 827 Manj; minor 
 
 J >• - ^ ■■ - ' captains come 
 
 AsTrew Feythe, & Hoope, Mercy, Peese, & Pyte, next True 
 
 '■ •' ' J ' Faith, Hope, 
 
 Ryght, Trowthe, Mekenesse, wiih Good Entent, etc. 
 
 Goodness, Concorde, & Parfyte Vnyte, 830 
 
 Honest Trew Loue, w/t// Symplycyte, 
 Prayer, Fastyng, Preuy Almysdede, 
 loynyd \\ix.h the Artycles of the Crede, 833 
 
 120 
 Confession, Contrycion, and Satysfaccion, 834 
 
 W/t/i Sorow for Synne, & Gret Repentaunce, 
 Foryeuenes of Trespas, \Mi\h Good Dysposicion, 
 
 Resystence of Wrong, P(?rformyng of Penaunce, 837 
 Hooly Deuocion, whh Good Contynuaunce, 
 
 Preesthood theym folowyd w/t// the Sacr<zment^5-, 
 And Sadnesse also w/t// the Cowmaundement^'i', 840 
 121 
 Sufferaunce in Trowble, w/t// Innocency, 841 
 
 Clennesse, Continence, and Virginite, 
 Kyndnesse, Reu,f;-ence, w/'t// Curtesy, 
 
 Content & Plesyd w/t// Pyteous Pou^rte, 844 
 
 Entendyng Well, Mynystryng Equyte 
 
 Twene ryght & wrong, Hoole Indyfferency, 
 
 And Laboryng the Sifruyce of God to Multyply, 847 
 
26 
 
 The Virtues. 
 
 Virtue refuses 
 some captains, 
 Nigromancy, 
 etc. 
 
 Refuse of Rychesse & Worldly Veynglory, S48 
 
 P^rfeccion, \v/t>^ Parfyte Contemplacion, 
 Relygyon, Profession well kept in Memory, 
 
 Verrey Drede of God, whh Holy Prifdycacion, 851 
 Celestiall Sapience, \\i\.h Goostly Inspiracion ; 
 Grace was the guyde of all thys gret rneyny. 
 Whom folowyd Konnyng w/t// hys genalogy — 854 
 123 
 That ys to sey, Gramrr, and Sophystry, 855 
 
 Philosophy Naturall, Logyk, & Rethoryk, 
 Arsmetry, Geometry W7t// Astronomy, 
 
 Canon & Cyuyle, melodyous Musyk, 858 
 
 Nobyll Theology, and Corporall Physyk, 
 Moralizacion of Holy Scripture, 
 Profounde Poetry and Drawyntr of Picture- 
 
 who then 
 choose Vice as 
 their master 
 
 124 
 
 861 
 
 862 
 
 These folowyd Konnyng & thedyr w/t// hym came, 
 
 W/t/; many oofi moo offryng her sr;-uyce 
 To V^/'tevv at that nede; but natw/t//standyng than 
 
 Som he refusyd and seyde in nowyse 865 
 
 They shuld w/t// hym go, and, as 1 coude auyse, 
 These were her names: fyrst, Nygromansy, 
 Geomansy, Magyk, and Glotony, 868 
 
 125 
 Adryomancy, Ornomancy, w/t// Pyromancy, 869 
 
 Fysenamy also, and Pawmestry, 
 And all her sequelys, yef I shult nat ly. 
 
 Yet Konnyng prayed Ncr\.w he wold nat deny 872 
 Theym for to know nor dysdeyne w/t// hys ey 
 On hem to loke, wherto V^rtew grauntyd. 
 Ho\v[be]hitinhyswerreshewoldnaty5eyhau;/tyd.S75 
 126 
 So had they Connyng lyghtly to depart 876 
 
 From V^rtew hys felde, and they seyng thys 
 By comon assent hyryd theym a cart 
 
 And made hem be caryed toward Vyce y-w\-s. 879 
 
 Fro thensforth to s<?rue hym they wold nat mys. 
 Full lothe they were to he mastyrles; 
 In stede of the bettyf the worse the? they ches. 882 
 
The Virtues. 
 
 27 
 
 127 
 But foorth to relese all the remenaunt 883 
 
 Of pety captevns that wz't/^ Vtrtu were, 
 Moderat Dyete, & Wysdom auenaunt, 
 
 Euyn Wyght & Mesure, Ware of Contagious Geere, 886 
 Lothe to Offende, and Louyng ay to Lere, 
 Worshyp, & Profyt, w/tA Myrthe in Manere, 
 These pety capteyns w/t/; Vf^rtew were in fere. 889 
 128 
 Comones hem folowyd a gret multitude. 890 
 
 But in [comparyson] to that other syde 
 I trow ther was nat, brefely to conclude, 
 
 The x"" man that batayll to abyde. 893 
 
 Yet neudTthelese, I shall nat fro yow hyde 
 
 What man^r pepyll they were & of what secte. 
 As neere as my wvt therto wyll me dyrecte. 896 
 
 129 
 Thei" were notable and famous doctours, 
 
 Example yeuers of lyuyng gracyous, 
 Pifrpetuell prestes and dyscrete confessours, 
 
 Of Holy Scriptur declares fructuous, 900 
 
 Rebukers of synne & myschefe'i" odyous, 
 Fysshers of fowles, & lovers of clennes, 
 Dyspysers of veyii & worldly ryches, 903 
 
 130 
 Pesyble p/'rlates, iustyciall gou^z-nours, 904 
 
 Founders of churches, w/t/? m^/-cyfull peeres, 
 Reformers of wrong of her progenitours 
 
 On peynfull poore pyteous compassioners, 907 
 
 Well menyng m^rchauntifi', w/t// trew artyfyceres, 
 Vyrgyns pure, and also innocentif^-, 
 Hooly matronys, with chaste contynentifi', 910 
 
 131 
 Pylgryms, & palmers, w/t/? trew laborers, 911 
 
 Hooly heremytes, goddifi' solycitours, 
 Monasteriall monkes, & well dysposyd freres, 
 
 Chanons, & nonnes, feythfull professoures, 914 
 
 Of worldly peple trew coniugatoures, 
 Louers of Cryst, confounders of yll, 
 And all that to godward yeue her good wyll, 917 
 
 Other minor 
 captains with 
 Virtue are 
 Moderate 
 Diet, etc. 
 
 A great 
 multitude of 
 commons 
 follows, yet 
 numbering no 
 one -tenth of 
 Vice's host. 
 
 Qqw There are 
 
 famous 
 doctors etc. 
 
28 
 
 The Virtues; the Field. 
 
 TTie name of 
 the field is 
 Microcosm. 
 
 In the midst 
 is Conscience, 
 the judge of 
 the combat. 
 
 Five highways 
 lead to the 
 field. 
 
 Thither Virtue 
 hastens. 
 
 Meanwhile 
 Original 
 Sin had 
 reported to 
 Vice. 
 
 Mayntenours of ryght, verrey penytent^j, 918 
 
 Distroyers of errour, causers of Vnyte, 
 Trew actyf lyuers that set her ententri- 
 
 The dedes to pr/-fornie of xwercy and pvte, 921 
 
 Conteinplatyf peple that desyre to be 
 Solvtarv srruaiinti''j- vnto God alone, 
 Rather then to haboundc in rvchesse eu^?-vchone. 924 
 
 These, w/th many mo then I reherse can, 925 
 
 Were come thedyr redy that batavll to abvde, 
 And take such part as fyll to V^^rtew than. 
 
 Vyce to ou<r/-come they hopyd for all hys prvde, 928 
 All though that he had more pepyll on hys syde, 
 For the men that V<^/-tu had were full sewre 
 To trust on at Nede & Konnyng in arniure. 931 
 
 134 
 Macrocosine was the name of the felde 
 
 Where thys gret bataylewas set for to be. 
 In the mvddes therof stood Conscience, & behelde 
 Whyche of hem shuld be brought to captyuyte. 
 Of that nobyll tryuwphe iuge wold he be. 
 
 Synderesys sate hyw w/t//yn closyd as in a parke, 
 W/t/i hys tables in hys hand her dedys to marke. 938 
 
 135 
 To come in to the felde were hygh weyes fyue, 939 
 
 Free to bothe partyes, large, broode and wyde. 
 Vertu wold nat tary, but hyghyd hym thydyr blyue, 
 Lest he were by Vyce deceuyd at that tyde. 942 
 
 Long out of the felde lothe he was to abyde, 
 In auentur that he out of hyt were nat kept. 
 For then wolde he haue thought he had to long slept. 
 136 
 In thys mene tyme whyle W/-tu thus preuvdvd 946 
 
 For hym and hys pepyll the feld for to wvnne, 
 He chargvd eurrv man by Grace to be guydvd, 
 
 And all that eurr myght the felde to entre ynne. 949 
 In all that seson went Orygynall Synne 
 
 To lete Vyce know how Baptym, w/t// hys oost, 
 Had entryd Macrocosme & serchyd euf^y coost. 952 
 
 932 
 
 935 
 
The Battle of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 29 
 
 137 
 
 953 
 
 956 
 
 "A," seyde Vyce, " than I se well hit ys tyme 
 Ban^rs to dysplay & standardys to auaunce. 
 Allmost to long haddyst thow taryed, Cryme, 
 To let vs haue knowlege of thys puruyaunce. 
 Yet I trow I shall lerne hem a new daunce. 
 Wherfore I co;«maunde yow all w/t/fout delay 
 Toward the felde drawe, in all the haste ye may." 959 
 138 
 Then seyde the god Pluto that all men mvght here, 960 
 
 "Vyce, I the charge, as thow wylt eschew 
 Our heynous indignacion, thow draw nat arere 
 
 But put the forthe boldly to ou^rthrow V<?rtew." 963 
 "In feythe," quoth Attropos, "and I shall aftyr sew 
 
 For yef he escape your handys thys day, 
 / I tell yow my scvuyce haue ye lost for ay." 966 
 
 139 
 Forthe then rode Vyce w/t// all hvs hoole streyngth, 967 
 
 On hys steede s^rpentyfi, as I tolde yow before. 
 The oost that hym folowyd was of a gret leyngth. 
 
 Among whom were penowns & guytornes many a score. 
 But as he went thederward — I shall tell yow more 
 Of hys pety capteyns — -he made many a knyght, 
 For they shuld nat fie but manly w/t/i hym fyght. 973 
 140 
 He dubbyd Falshood, wilh Dyssymulacion, 
 
 Symony, Vsure, Wrong, and Rebawdy, 
 Malyce, Deceyte, Ly, wiX-h Extorcion, 
 Pifnury, Diffidence, and Apostasy, 
 W/t/i Boldnesse in Yll to bere hem company — 
 These kiiii knyghtifj- made Vyce that day ; 
 To Wynne theyr spores they seyde they wold asay. 
 141 
 In lyke wyse, Vertew dubbyd on hys syde 981 
 
 Of hys pety capteynes other fourtene, 
 Whyche made her avowe w/t/? hym to abyde. 
 
 Her spores wold they wynne paX. day, hit shuld be sene 
 These were her names, yef hit be as I wene : 
 
 Feythe, Hope and yiercy, Trouthe, & also Ryght, 
 W/t/i Resystence of Wrong, a full hardy wyght, 987 
 
 974 
 
 977 
 
 Vice com- 
 mands the 
 standards to 
 advance. 
 
 Pluto charges 
 yice to over- 
 throw Virtue. 
 
 If he fail, 
 Atropos 
 threatens to 
 withdraw his 
 
 Vice and his 
 host advance. 
 
 As they 
 march Vice 
 dubs fourteen 
 knights, 
 Falsehood, etc 
 
 Virtue makes 
 a similar 
 number, 
 Faith, etc. 
 
3° 
 
 The Battle of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 The lord of 
 Microcosm 
 is Freewill, to 
 whom Virtue 
 sends three 
 ambassadors 
 to sue his 
 favor. 
 
 In like wise 
 Vice sends 
 three. 
 
 Freewill gives 
 an ambiguous 
 answer. 
 
 Vice sends 
 forth as a spy 
 Sensuality, 
 
 142 
 
 Confession, Contricion, wi\.h Satisfaccion, 988 
 
 Verrey Drede of God, Performvng of Penaunce, 
 P^rfeccvon, Konnvng, and Good Dysposicion. 
 
 And all knyt to Wrtu they were by allyaunce. 991 
 
 Wherfore to hym they made assewraunce, 
 That felde to kepe as long as they myght 
 And in hvs quarell agevh Vvce to fvght. 994 
 
 M3 
 The Lord of Macrocosme and rewier of that fee 995 
 
 Was callyd Frewyll, chaunger of the chaunse, 
 To whom V^rtew sent embassatours three, 
 
 Reson, Discresion, & Good Rernembraunse, 998 
 
 And prayed hym be fauorable hys hono/zr to enhaunse, 
 For but he had hys favo/cr at that poynt of nede 
 He stoode in gret doute he coude nat Ivghtly spede. 
 
 144 
 In lyke wvse, Vvce embassatours thre, 1002 
 
 [For hys partv, vnto Frewyll sent, 
 Teniptacion, Foly, & Sensualyte, 
 
 Praying hvm of fauoz^r that he wold assent 1005 
 
 To hyw, as he wolde at hys co;;;maundment 
 Haue hvm, eftsones, when he lyst to call 
 Oil hym for any thyng/5f7t aftyrward myght fall. looS 
 
 145 
 Answere yaue he noon to neyther party, 1009 
 
 Saue oonly he seyde the batayle wold he se. 
 To wete whvche of hem shuld haue the victory. 
 
 Hit hyng in hys balaunce the ambyguyte. 1012 
 
 He seyde he wold nat restrayne hys lyberte. 
 When he come where sorow shuld awake. 
 Then hit shuld be know what part he woll take. loi 5 
 146 
 Whan Vrytcw and Vvce, be her embassatours, 10 16 
 
 Knew of thys answere, they stood in gret doute. 
 Neu^Tthelese, they seyde they wold endure tho shoures 
 And make an ende shortly of that they went aboute. 
 So forthe came Vvce w/t// all hys gret route. 
 Er he came at the felde he sent vet pryuyly 
 Sensual vte before, in mauiiv- of a spy, 1022 
 
The Battle of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 31 
 
 147 
 
 1023 
 
 1026 
 
 Whyche sewe the felde \\i\h hys vnkynde seede 
 That causyd Vertu aftyr mykyll woo to feele. 
 For therof grew nought but all oonly weede, 
 Whyche made the grounde as slepyr as an yele. 
 He went ayene to Vyce and told hym eu<?ry dele 
 How he had done, and bade hvm com away [day. 
 For he had so purueyde that Vyce shuld haue the 
 14S 
 Soo, as hit happyd, at the felde they mete, 1030 
 
 Freewyll, V(?;-tew & Vyce, as trypartyte, 
 Safe V^rtew a lytell before the felde had gete, 
 
 And elles hys auauntage forsothe had he full lyght 
 Nat for then encombryd so was neu(?r wyght 
 
 As Vivtew and hys men were w/t/^ the ranke wede 
 That in the felde grew of Sensualytees sede. 1036 
 149 
 But as sone as Vyce of Vertu had a syght. 
 
 He gan swage gonnes as he had be woode. 
 That heryng, V^rtew cowmaundyd eu<?/'y wyght 
 To pauyse hym vndyr the sygne of the roode. 
 And bad hem nat drede but kepe styll wher they stoode. 
 Hyt wasbutashoure shuld soone confound, [ground. 
 Wherfore he cowmaundyd they;« stand & kepe her 
 
 150 
 And when Vyce came nerer to the felde, 1044 
 
 He callyd soore for bowes and bade hem shote faste. 
 But V^rtew and hys meyny bare of w/t/i the shelde 
 Of the blessyd Trynyte ay tyll shot was paste. 1047 
 And when shot was doon, Vyce came forthe at laste, 
 Purposyng the felde w/t// assawte to wyn. [theryn. 
 But Vi?;-tew kept hit long — he myght nat entyr 
 
 151 
 All that tyme Frewyll & hyih bethought 1051 
 
 To whyche he myght leue & what part he wold take. 
 At last Sensiialyte had hym so fer brought 
 
 That he seyde pleynly he Vertu wold forsake, 1054 
 And in Vyce hys quarell all hys power make. 
 
 "Y-wis," quoth Reason, "that ys nat for the beste." 
 " No forse," seyde Frewyll, "I wyll do as my lyste." 
 
 1037 
 
 1040 
 
 who sows the 
 field with 
 wicked seed of 
 weeds. 
 
 Virtue's men 
 are 
 
 encumbered 
 by Sensu- 
 ality's weeds. 
 
 Virtue com- 
 mands every 
 man to pause 
 under the sign 
 of the cross. 
 
 They ward off 
 the shots of 
 Vice by the 
 shield of the 
 Holy Trinity. 
 
 Vice proposes 
 to make 
 assault. 
 
 Freewill 
 inclines to the 
 side of Vice. 
 
32 
 
 The Battle of the Vices and Virtues. 
 
 Virtue is 
 compelled to 
 retreat. 
 
 Baptism, 
 Faith, Hope 
 and others 
 hold their 
 ground. 
 
 Vertu was full heuy, when he sy Frewyll 1058 
 
 Take part with Vvce, but yet neu^rthelesse 
 He dyd that he myght the felde to kepe styll. 
 
 Tyll Vyce, w/t// Frewyll, so sore gan hym oppresse 
 That he was constreynvd clerely by duresse 
 A Ivtvll tvne abak to make abew retret. 
 All thyng consvdervd hit was the best feet. 1064 
 
 153 
 Furst to remembre how Vvces part was 1065 
 
 Ten ayene oofi strengor by lyklynes, 
 And than how Frewyll was w/t/i hym alias, 
 
 Whoo cowde deme V^rtew but in heuvnes; 1068 
 
 Moreou^r to thynke how that slvper gres, 
 That of Sensualyte hys vnkvnde seede grew 
 Vndyr foote in standvng encombrvd Virrtew. 107 1 
 
 154 
 Yet natw/t//standyng, V^rtew hvs men all 1072 
 
 Nobully theyM bare and faught myghtyly. 
 Howe be hyt, the slepyr grasse made many of hem fall, 
 And from thense in man^r depart sodeynly. 1075 
 
 That seyng, Vyce hys oost began to showt and cry 
 And seyde, "On in Plutoname! On ! & all ys owre! 
 For thys day shall Vyce be made a conquerowrl" 
 
 155 
 Thus Vertew was by myght of Vvce & Frewyll 1079 
 
 Dreuen out of the felde — hit was the more pyte. 
 Howe be hit, yet Baptym kept hys ground styll, 
 
 And w/t// hym aboode Feythe, Hoope and Unyte, 1082 
 And Kunnyng also, w/t/i comons a gret meyne, 
 Confessyon, Contricion were redy at her hande, 
 And Satysfaccion, Vvce to wythstande. 1085 
 
 ' 156 
 But all the tyme whyle Vertew was away 1086 
 
 A myghty conflycte kept they w/tA Vyce his rowte. 
 And yet neu^rthelese for all that gret affray 
 
 Hoope stood vpryght& Feythe wold neu^r lowte ; 1089 
 And eu^rrmore seyd Baptyni, "Syres put no dowte 
 Vertu shall retorne & haue hys entente. 
 Thvs felde shalbe our &: elles let me be shent." 
 
The Battle of the Vices and Virtues. 33 
 
 157 
 And whvle these pety-capteynes susteynydthus the feelde, Vin^^J^^j^^ 
 W/t// V^rtew hys rerewarde came Good P^rseueraunce, p^;^7^^^^^^'^'= 
 An hogy myghty hoost, & when he behelde "fZtl^'^ 
 
 How V^rtew hym w/t//drew he toke dysplesaunce, 1096 
 And when he to hym came he seyde, "Ye shall ^oiir chaunce 
 Take as hit falleth, wherfore returne ye must. 
 Yet oonvs for your sake w/t// Vyce shall I lust. 1099 
 158 
 "Alias that euer ye shuld leese thus yoz/r honour, iioo 
 
 And thefw/U also, the hygh p^rpetuell crowne, 
 Whyche ys for yow kept in the celestiall tour. 
 
 Wherfore be ye callyd Crist^.y Champyoh? 1103 
 
 How ys hit that ye haue no compassyon 
 
 On Baptym, Feythe, & Hoope, Konnyng, & Vnyte, 
 That stant so harde be stadde & fyght as ye may see? 
 
 159 
 "All the tresouf erthely vndyr the fyrmament, 1 107 
 
 That eu^r was made of godd<?^ creacion 
 To rewarde theym euynly, were nat equyualent 
 
 For her noble labo/zr in hys afflyccion. mo 
 
 Wherfore take vppon yow your iurysdyccion. 
 Rescu yondyr knyght<?5- & recontynu fyght. 
 \ And elles adew your crowne for all yo///- gret meryt." 
 160 
 W/t// these & suche wordys, as I haue yow tolde, 11 14 
 
 , . , Virtue returns 
 
 By good P^rseu^'raunce vttryd m thys wyse, to the struggle 
 
 Vertu hyw remembryd & gan to wex bolde 
 
 And seyd, "Yeue trew knyght<?.s- to rescu I auyse. 11 17 
 Let vs no lengor tary from thys entrepryse." 
 Agayh to the felde so V,?v-tew retornyd, 
 That causyd hem be mery^^t long afore had mornyd. 
 161 
 " Avaunt banef," quoth he, " in the name of Ih.?5U." 1 1 2 1 in the name of 
 
 And w/t/i that hys pepyll set vp a gret showte 
 And cryed w/t/z a lowde voyce, " A V^rtew ! A V^/-tew!" 
 Then began Vyce hys hooste for to loke abowte, 1124 
 But I trowe P^rseu^raunce was nat long w/t/^owte 
 He bathvd hvs swerde in hys foes blood. 
 The boldyst of hem all nat oonys hym w/t/^stood. 
 
34 
 
 The Victory of Virtue. 
 
 They are 
 victorious. 
 
 Freewill comes 
 to Conscience 
 to repent and 
 asks counsel ; 
 
 Conscience 
 sends him to 
 Humility, 
 
 Humility to 
 Confession ; 
 
 thence to 
 Contrition, 
 
 Satisfaction, 
 and lastly to 
 Penance. 
 
 Vice is carried 
 from the field, 
 meeting 
 Despair who 
 fetches his 
 reward. 
 
 Alpha and 
 Omega 
 despatch from 
 the heavens 
 two goodly 
 ladies ; one 
 named 
 Prescience to 
 chastise Vice 
 and his host; 
 
 162 
 
 Constaunce hym folowvd & brought \\\m h3's spere. 11 28 
 
 But when P^vseueraunce saw Vyce oh hvs stede, 
 No man cowde hym let tyll lie came there. 
 
 For to byd hym ryde, I trow hit was no nede. 1131 
 All Vf^rtew hys ost prayde for hys good spede. 
 Agayh Vyce he roode w/t/i hys gret shaft 
 And hym ou^rthrew for all hys sotyll craft. 1134 
 
 163 
 That seyng, Frewyll came to Conscience, 11 35 
 
 And gan hym to repent that he whh hyw had bee, 
 Praying hym of counsell for hys gret offence 
 
 That he agayh V^^vtew had made hys armee, 11 38 
 
 What was best to do. "To Humylyte," [sent 
 
 Quoth Conscience," must ^fu go." So he hymthedyr 
 
 Disguysyd that he were nat knowen as he went. 1 141 
 
 164 
 
 And when he thedyr came, Humylyte hym took 1142 
 
 A token, & bad hym go to Confessyon. 
 And shew hym hys mater w/t/^ a peteous look. 
 
 Whyche dooh he hym sent to Contrycion, 1145 
 
 And fro thensforth to Satysfaccion. 
 
 Thus fro poost to y^yXour was he made to daunce, 
 And at the last he went forthe to Penaunce. 1148 
 
 165 
 But now for to tell yow — when Vyce was ou^rthrow 1149 
 
 A gret parte of his oost about hym gan resorte. 
 But he was so febyll that he cowde no man know. 
 
 And when they sy pal they knew no comforte, 1152 
 But caryed hym awey be a pryuy porte. 
 
 And as they hym caryed Dyspeyre \\i\.h \\\in met ; 
 W/t// Vyce hys reward he came they/// for to fet. 1 1 55 
 166 
 Then came the? downe goodly ladyes tweyne, 1156 
 
 From the hygh heuyn aboue the firmament, 
 And seyde the gret Alpha & Oo, most souereyne, 
 
 For that nobyll tryu///phe, had hem thedyr sent ; 1 1 59 
 Ooii of hem to dryue Vyce to gret torment 
 
 W/'t/^ a fyry scourge that she bare in her hande. 
 And so he dede dyspeyre and all his hoole bande. 
 
Rewards and Piuiishmcnts. 
 
 35 
 
 167 
 
 The name of thys lady was callyd Prescience. 1163 
 
 She neu^;- left Vyce, ne noofi that wold hym folow, 
 Tyll they wer co»?myttyd by the diuine sentence 
 
 All to peyne pi?rpetuell and infynyte sorow. 1166 
 
 Ryghtwysnes went to see that no man shuld hem borow. 
 Thus all entretyd sharpely were they, tyll Cerberus 
 Had hem beshut w/t//yn hys gates tenebrus. 11 69 
 16S 
 And all the whyle that Prescience w/t// her scorge smert 
 
 To rewarde Vj^ce gan hyr thus occup)', 
 W/t/i all hys hoole bende, aftyr her desert, 
 
 That other gloryous lady that came fro heuy n on hy , 1 1 7 3 
 Hauyng in her hande the palme of vyctory, 
 
 Came downe to V^rtu and toke hyw to that present, 
 Seying thus that Alpha & Oo haue hym sent. 11 76 
 169 
 And as ferre as I aryght cowde vndyrstand ii77 
 
 That ladyes name was Predestinacion. 
 V<?rtu & hys boost she blessyd w/t// her hand 
 
 And in heuen grauntyd hem habitacion, 11 80 
 
 Where to eche of hem resrruyd was a crown, 
 She seyde, in token that they enherytours 
 Of the glory were and gracious conquerours. 11 83 
 170 
 Whyche dooh, thoo ladyes ayene togedyr met 11 84 
 
 And toward heuyn vp they gan to [fly], 
 Embrasyd in armes as they had be knet 
 
 Togedyr w/t/z a gyrdyll ; but so sodenly 1187 
 
 As they were vanysshyd saw I neu^/- thyng w/tA ey. 
 And anon V^rtew wkh all hys company 
 Knelyd dowii and thankyd God of that vyctory. 1 190 
 171 
 Yet had I forvete when Vyce was ou<?'rthrow 1191 
 
 To haue tolde yow how many of Vyce hys oost 
 Gan to seek Peese, and darkyd downe full low, 
 
 And besought Mercy, what so ^wer hys cost, 1194 
 
 To be her mene to Vd'rtew, elles they were but lost. 
 And som in lyke wyse to Feythe & Hoope sought 
 What to do, for peese they seyde they ne rought. 1 197 
 
 she pursues 
 them through 
 the gate of 
 Hell. 
 
 The other lady 
 bears to Virtue 
 the palm of 
 victory. 
 
 Her name is 
 Predestina- 
 tion; she 
 grants them a 
 heavenly 
 habitation. 
 
 Which done, 
 the ladies 
 depart 
 suddenly. 
 
 Virtue and his 
 host thank 
 God for the 
 victory. 
 
 Some of Vice's 
 host seek 
 Peace, 
 beseeching 
 mercy to plead 
 to Virtue, or 
 Faith, or 
 Hope, 
 
36 
 
 Repentance of the Vices. 
 
 or Baptism. 
 
 All must go to 
 Confession. 
 
 172 
 
 Som also to Baptyifi sewyd to be her mene; 11 98 
 
 Som to oon, som to other, as they hem gete mvght. 
 But all to Confession went to make hem dene. [Ivght, 
 And as they came by Conscience he theym bad goo 
 Er than olde Attropos of hem had a svght. 
 
 For yef he so theyw tooke lost thev were for eu^r. 
 He seyde Vyce to forsake ys bettyr late then n^wer. 
 
 Some seek 
 Circumcision 
 who bids them 
 go to Faith ; 
 he to Baptism 
 and Virtue by 
 process. 
 
 Virtue 
 commands 
 Freewill to 
 come near 
 
 and charges 
 him for taking 
 Vice's part. 
 
 Freewill lays 
 the blame 
 
 upon 
 Sensuality. 
 
 Som eke for socour drew to Circu/z/cysion, 1205 
 
 But by hym cowde they gete but small fauo//r, 
 For he in that company was had but in derysion. 
 
 NeutV'thelese to Feythe he bade hem go labo///"', 1208 
 Praying theyw for olde acqueyntance theyw soco«r. 
 " Well," quoth Feythe, " for hys sake, I shall do that I 
 But furst for the best wey Baptyin go 3'e to. [may do 
 
 174 
 " For by \\\i)i sonnest shull ye recoucr grace, 121 2 
 
 Whyche shall to V^rtu bryng yow by processe ; 
 Wherfore in any wyse looke ye make good face, 
 
 And let no man know of your heuynes." 1215 
 
 So they were by Baptym brought out of dvstres — 
 Turnyd all to V^rtew ; & when thys was dooh, 
 V^'/'tu co?«maundyd Frewyll before hym com. 12 18 
 
 175 
 To whom thus he seyde, " I haue gret mr/-uayll 12 19 
 
 Ye durst be so bolde Vyces part to take. 
 Who bade vow do so & yaue yow that counsayll ? 
 
 lustly vnto that ye shall me pryuy make." 1222 
 
 Then seyde Frewyll & swemfully spake, 
 Knelyng on hys kne w/t// a chere benvgne, 
 "I pray yow, syf, let pyte yo///- cares to me enclyne 
 176 
 "And I shall yow tcU the v<'7-rey sothe of all, 1226 
 
 Howe hit was, & who made me that wey drawe. 
 For sothe, Sensualite, hys pr(?pre name thev call." 
 "A," seyde Reason, "then I know well that felawe. 
 Wylde he ys & wanton, of me stant hym noon awe." 
 " Ys he soo ?" q//^d V^rtu, " well he shalbe taught ■ / 
 As a pleyer shuld to drawe another draught?* 12^2 
 
Virtue^ s Judgments. 37 
 
 177 
 And w/t/i that came Sadnesse w/t/i hys sobre chere, 1233 Sadness brings 
 
 Sensuality 
 
 Bryngyng Sensualyte, beyng full of thought, prisoner to 
 
 And seyde that he had take hym prysonere. [sought. 
 "A welcome !" seyde V^rtew, "now haue I that I 
 Blessyd be that good lord as thow wolde ys hit nought." 
 
 " Why art thow so wantoun & wylde," he seyde, " for shame ! 
 Er thow go at large thow shalt be made more tame. 
 178 
 " But stande apart awhyle tyll I haue spoke a woorde 1 240 
 
 W/t/i Frewyll a lytell, & then shalt thow know 
 What shalbe thy finaunce ;" & then he seyde in boorde 
 
 Vnto Frewyll, "The bende of your bowe 1243 requkw 
 
 Begynneth to slake, but suche as ye haue sowe 
 Must ye nedes reepe — the? ys noofi other way. 
 Natw/t/zstandyng that let see what ye can say. i 246 
 179 
 "What ys yo//r habylyte me to recompense 1247 
 
 For the gret harme that ye to me haue do?" recompense 
 
 ^ -^ from FreewilK 
 
 " Forsothe," seyd Frewyll in opyn audyense, 
 
 "But oonly Macrocosme more haue I nat lo. 1250 Freewill 
 
 QPTCCS to 
 
 Take that, yef hit plese yow, I wvll that hit be so. deliver 
 
 -.r r T 1 1 1 " , , 1 ,, Microcosm 
 
 Yer i may vndvrstand, ye be my good lorde. 
 "In dede," seyde V^Ttu, "to that wyll I acorde." 1253 
 180 
 Then made Vertu Reson hys lyeftenaunt, i2e;4 which is given 
 
 •' ~' again to the 
 
 And yaue hym a gret charge Macrocosme to kepe. charge of 
 
 ■^ -> ^ ^ r Reason and 
 
 That doofi, Sensualyte yelde hym recreaunt, Freewill. 
 
 And began for to angre byttyrly to wepe. 1257 
 
 For he demyd sewerly hys sorow shuld nat slepe. 
 Then made Vertu Frewyll bayll[e] vndyr Reson, 
 The felde for to occupy to hys behoue that seson. 1260 
 181 
 And then seyde Vertu to Sensualyte, 1261 virtue orders 
 
 "Thow shalt be rewardyd for thy besynesse. forsake his 
 
 TT 1 1 r 11 !• " 1 fragility and 
 
 Vndyr thys fourme all fragylyte be guided by 
 
 Shalt thow forsake, bothe more & lesse, 1264 
 
 And vnder the guydyng shalt thow be of Sadnesse. 
 All though hit somewhat be ageyn thy hert, 
 Thyiugement ys yeuyn — thow shalt hit nat astert." 
 
 Sadness. 
 
38 
 
 Virtue'' s Judgments. 
 
 With that 
 Nature enters, 
 protesting that 
 Sensuality, 
 her servant, 
 should be 
 given liberty. 
 
 Virtue grants 
 Sensuality 
 freedom within 
 Microcosm 
 under the 
 restraint of 
 Sadness. 
 
 This done. 
 Virtue sees 
 Morpheus 
 Standing by, 
 
 and thanks 
 him for his 
 troth and labor. 
 
 He is given 
 care of the five 
 gates. 
 
 1S2 
 
 And euen v^kh that came in Dame Nature, 1268 
 
 Saying thus to V^rtew, " Syr ye do me wrong 
 By duresse & constreynt to put thys creature, 
 
 Gentyll Sensualyte, that hath me s^ruyd long, 1271 
 Cleerly from hys liberte, & set hyw among 
 
 They;« that loue hym nat, to be her vnderlowte, 
 As hit were a castaway or a shoo clowte. 1274 
 
 "And, parde, ye know well a rewle haue I must 1275 
 
 Withyn Macrocosme; forsoth, I sey nat nay." 
 Quoth V<?rtu, " But Sensualyte shall nat p(?rformeyo//r lust 
 Lyke as he hath do before thys, yef I may. 1278 
 
 Therfro hym restrayn Sadnesse shall assay. 
 Howe be hit, ye shall haue your hoole lyberte 
 W/t//yn Macrocosme, as ye haue had, fre." 1281 
 
 184 
 And when V^rtu had to Nature seyd thus, 1282 
 
 A lytyll tyne hys ey castyng hym besyde. 
 He sy in a corner standyng, Morpheus, 
 
 That hy;« before warnyd of the verryly tyde. 1285 
 
 "A syres," seyd Vertu, "yet we must abyde. 
 Here ys a frende of owre may nat be foryete. 
 Aftyr hys desert we shall hym entrete." 1288 
 
 185 ' 
 "Morpheus," seyd Vertu, "I thanke yow hertyly 1289 
 
 For your trew hert & your gret labour. 
 That ye lyst to come to me soo redyly. 
 
 When ye undyrstood the co;«myng of that shour. 1292 
 I thanke God & yow of sauyng of myh hono?//-. 
 Wherfore thys pryuylege now to you I graunt. 
 That w/t/^yn Macrocosme ye shall haue your haunt. 
 186 
 "And of fyue posternes the keyes shall ye kepe, 1296 
 
 Lettyng in and out at hem whom ye lyst. 
 As long as in Macrocosme yoz/r fadyr woll crepe. 
 
 Blere whos ey ye woll hardyly w/t^ yo«r myst, 1299 
 And kepe your werkes close there as in a chyst. 
 
 Safe I wold desyre vow spare Pollucion, [cioii." 
 
 For nothyng may me plese that sowneth to corrup- 
 
Complaint of Atropos. 
 
 39 
 
 187 
 And when he had thus seyde, pt keyes he hym tooke, 1303 
 
 And toward hys castell wkh hys pepyll went, 
 Byddyng Reason take good heede & about looke, 
 
 That Sensualyte by Nature were nat shent. 1306 
 
 " Kepe hym short," he seyde, "tyll hys lust be spent. 
 •■ For bettvr were a chylde to be vnbore, 
 V Then let hyt haue the wvll & for euer be lore." 1309 
 188 
 And when olde Attropos had seen & herde all thys, 1310 
 
 How V^rtew had opteynyd, astonyed as he stood. 
 He seyd to hymsylf, " Somwhat the? ys amys, 
 
 I trow well my patent be nat all good," '^Z'^Z 
 
 And ran to the palyse as he had be wood, 
 Seying to the goddif'^-, " I see ye do but iape, 
 Aftyr a worthy whew haue ye made me gape. 131 6 
 189 
 "Howe a deuyll way shuld I Vertu ou^rthrow, 131 7 
 
 When he dredyth nat all your hoole rowte ! 
 How can ye make good your patent, wold I know. 
 
 Hyt ys to impossybyll to bryng that abowte ; 1320 
 
 For stryke hym may I nat — that ys out of dowte." 
 "A, good Attropos," seyd god Apollo, 
 "An answer conuenyent shalt thow haueherto. 
 190 
 "The wordys of thy patent, dar I well say, 
 
 Streche to no ferther but where dame Nature 
 Hath iurisdiccion ; there to haue thy way. 
 And largesse to stryke as longeth to thy cure. 
 And as for Vertu he ys no creature 
 
 Vnder the p;rdicament conteynyd of quantyte. 
 Wherfore hys destruccion longeth nat to the." 
 191 
 "A haa !" seyd Attropos, " then I se well 
 
 That all ye goddifi' be but counterfete. 
 For 00 God the? ys tha^can ^wery dell 
 
 Turne as hym lyst, bothe dry & whete, 
 / In to whos s^ruyce I shall assay to gete.-—?^ 
 And yef I may ones to hys s^ruyce come 
 Your names shalbe put to oblyuyone." 1337 
 
 Virtue and his 
 people leave 
 for the castle. 
 
 Atropos again 
 complains to 
 the gods. 
 
 1323 
 
 1324 
 
 1327 
 
 1330 
 
 I33I 
 
 1334 
 
 Apollo 
 answers: 
 
 His patent is 
 legal only 
 within the 
 jurisdiction 
 of Nature. 
 The destruc- 
 tion of Virtue 
 is therefore no 
 for him. 
 
 Atropos 
 departs in 
 wrath. 
 
 ^ OF TH 
 
 F?^ 
 
 T1 ■KTT'^T'Tr'.'RGiTTV" 
 
40 
 
 Repulse of Residivacion. 
 
 Meanwhile 
 Residivacion, 
 disguised like 
 a pilgrim, 
 makes his way 
 to Micro- 
 cosm. 
 
 He becomes 
 acquainted 
 with Sensu- 
 ality but is 
 ordered by 
 Reason to 
 depart. 
 
 No help is 
 found in 
 Nature. 
 
 Residivacion 
 leaves full of 
 sorrow. 
 
 Then Reason 
 and Sadness 
 clear the 
 ground of the 
 seeds of 
 Sensuality. 
 
 New grass 
 springs up in a 
 marvelous 
 manner. 
 
 192 
 
 Thus went Attropos fro the paleyce wrooth. 1338 
 
 But in the mene tyme, whyle that he there was, 
 Glydyng by the palyce, Resydyuacion gooth 
 
 Toward Macrocosme, w/t// a peyntyd fasc, 1341 
 
 Clad lyke a pylgrym, walkvng a gret pase, 
 In the forme as he had bene a man of Ynde. 
 He wende haue made Reson &: Sadnesse bo/e blynde. 
 
 193 
 W/t// Sensualyte was he soone aquevnlvd, I345 
 
 To whom he declaryd hys matyr pryuvh'. 
 Yet he was espyed for all hys face pevntvd. 
 
 Then Reson hym cowmaundyd pyke Xwjii thens Ivghtlv. 
 
 "For hys ease," quoth Sadnes,"socounsevIl hvwwvll I." 
 
 So was Sensualyte ay kept vndyr foote, 
 
 That to Resydyuacion mvght he doo no boote. 1351 
 
 194 
 
 Then went he to Nature & askvd hvr au_vse, 1352 
 
 Hys entent to optevgne what was best to do. 
 She seyde: " Y,\\er syth Vrrtew of Vyce wan the prvse, 
 Reson whh Sadnes hath rewlyd the fylde so, ^355 
 
 That I and Sensualyte ma}' lytyll for the do. 
 For I may no more but oonlv kepe my cours. 
 And yet ys Sensualyte strengor kept & wours." 1358 
 
 195 
 Thus heryng, Residiuacion fro thens he went agevfi, 1359 
 
 Full of thought & sorow pa'i he myght nat spede. 
 Then Reson & Sadnesse toke wede hok^'j- twevii, 
 
 And all wylde wantones out of the fyldegan wede, 1362 
 W/t/i all the slyper grasse that grew of the sede 
 That Sensualyte before thefyn sew ; 
 And for thens forthe kept hit clene for Vertew. 1365 
 196 
 Then began new gresse in the fylde to sprvng, 1366- 
 
 All vnlyke that other, of colour fayre & bryght. 
 But then I aspyed a m^ruelous thyng. 
 
 For the grounde of the felde gan wcx hoore «S: whyte. 
 I cowde nat conceyue how that be mvght, 
 Tyll I was enformyd & tau^-ht hit to know, 
 But where V(?rtew occupvcth must nedys well grow. 
 
Atropos named Death. 
 
 41 
 
 197 
 Yet in the mene tyme, whyle the fylde thus grew, 1373 
 
 And Reson w/t/^ Sadnesse therof had gou<"/-naunce, 
 Many a pryuy messyng^r thedyr sent V^'rtew, 
 
 To know yef hit were guydyd to hys plesaunce ; 1376 
 Now Praver, efte Fastyng, & oftyn tyme Penaunce, 
 And when he nivght goo pryuyly, Ahiiesdede, 
 And bade hym to hys power helpe wher he sy nede. 
 198 
 Whyle that fylde thus rewlyd Resoii w/t// Sadnes, 13S0 
 
 Mawgre Dame Nature for all her carnall myght, 
 Came thedyr Attropos, voyde of all gladnes, 
 
 Wrappyd in hys shete, & axyd yef any wyght 1383 
 
 Cowde wysshe hym the wey to the Lorde of Lyght, 
 Or ellys where men m_yght fynd Rj^ghtwysnesse. 
 " Forsothe," seyde Reason, " I trow, as I gesse, 1386 
 199 
 "At V<r/-tu hys castell ye may soone hym fynde, 1387 
 
 Yef ye lyst ^e labo///- thedyr to take, 
 And there shall ye know, yef ye be nat blynde, 
 
 The next wey to the Lorde of Lyght, I vndyrtake." 1 390 
 So thedyr went Attropos, peticion to make 
 To Ryghtwysnes, praying that he myght 
 Be take in to the s^ruyce of the Lord of Lyght. 1393 
 
 Virtue sends 
 secret 
 
 messengers to 
 Microcosm. 
 
 Atropos draws 
 near and asks 
 Reason the 
 way to the 
 Lord of Light. 
 
 He is directed 
 to Virtue's 
 castle. 
 
 Atropos seeks 
 from 
 
 Righteousness 
 to serve the 
 Lord of Light. 
 
 "What," seyde Ryghtwysnes, "thow olde dotyng fo_ole, 
 
 Whome hast thow s<?'ruyd syth the world began 
 But oonly hvm? Where hast thow go to scoole? 
 
 Whether art thow double, or elles the same man 1397 
 That thow were furst?" "A syr," seyde he than, 
 " I pray yow hertyly holde me excusyd. 
 I am olde & febyll ; my witt^j a? dysvsyd." 1400 
 
 He is assured 
 by Righteous- 
 ness that the 
 Lord is his 
 master. 
 
 "Well," seyde Ryghtwysnes, "for as mocheas thow 1401 
 
 Knowest nat thy mastyr, thy name shall I chaunge. 
 Dethe shalt thow be callyd, from hens forward now, 
 ^ Among all the pepyll thow shalt be had straunge. 1404 
 But when thow begynnest to make thy chalaunge, 
 Dredde shalt thow be, wher so thow become, 
 And to no creature shalt thow be welcome. 1407 
 
 His name is 
 changed to 
 DEATH, and 
 to no creature 
 shall he be 
 welcome. 
 
42 
 
 Tlic Rule of ]'irtue. 
 
 Those whom 
 he formerly 
 served shall be 
 put tooblivion. 
 
 Death is given 
 a place in 
 Microcosm. 
 
 Virtue then 
 despatches 
 Priesthood to 
 the field with 
 the sacraments. 
 
 Previously had 
 come thither 
 Confession, 
 etc. 
 
 The field is 
 cleansed 
 within and 
 without, and 
 the Lord of 
 Light is 
 received with 
 fitness. 
 
 "And as for theym whom thow dedyst serue, 1408 
 
 For as moche as they pr^'sume on hem to take 
 That hygh name of God, they shall as they deserue 
 Therfore be rewardyd, I dar vndyrtake, 141 1 
 
 W/'t/i peyn prrpetuell, among fend^j- blake, 
 And her names shall be put to oblvuyon 
 Among men, but hit be in dervsvon." 1414 
 
 203 
 "A ha !" seyde Attropos, "now begyn I wex gladde 1415 
 
 That I shall thus avengyd of hem be, 
 Syth they so long tyme haue made me so madde." 
 "Yee," quoth Ryghtwysnes, " here what I sev to the: 
 The Lord of Lyght sent the worde by me 
 That in Macrocosme sesyne shalt thow take ; 
 Whcrfore thy darte redy loke thow make." 1421 
 
 204 
 And as sone as Vertu that vndvrstood, 1422 
 
 He seyde he was plesyd that hit shuld so be. 
 And euyn forthew/t// he C(?wmaundyd Presthood 
 
 To make hyiTi redy the felde for to se. 1425 
 
 Soo thedyr went Presthood whh benygnyte, 
 Conueying thedyr the blessyd sacrament 
 Of Eukaryst. But furst were theder sent 1428 
 
 205 
 Confession, Contricion, and Satisfaccion, 1429 
 
 Sorow for Synne, & gret Repentaunce, 
 Holy Deuocion, w/t/i Good Dysposicion — 
 
 All these thedyr came & also Penaunce, 1432 
 
 As her dewte was to make puruyaunce 
 
 Ageyfi the cowmyng of that blessyd Lorde. 
 Feythe, Hoope, & Charyte therto were acorde. 1435 
 206 
 Reason \\i\.h Sadnes dyd hys dylygence 1436 
 
 To dense the fylde w/t/^yn & w/t//out. 
 And when they sy the bodyly presence 
 
 Of that hooly Eukaryst, lowly gan they lowte. 1439 
 So was that Lord receuyd, out of dowte, 
 
 W/t// all humble chere, debonayr & benvgne, 
 Lykly to hys plesure — hit was a gret svgne. 1442 
 
The Rule of Death. 
 
 43 
 
 207 
 Then came to the fylde the mynystre fynall, 1443 
 
 Called Holy Vnccion, w/t/^ a crysmatory. 
 The V hygh weyes in especiall 
 
 Therof he anoyntyd & made hit sanctuary. 1446 
 
 Whom folowyd Dethe, whych wold nat tary 
 Hys feruent power there to put in vre, 
 As he was co;/'miaundyd, grauntyng Dame Nature. 
 208 
 He toke hys darte, callyd hys mortall launce, 1450 
 
 And bent hys stroke toward the feldys herte. 
 That seyng, Presthoode bade Good Remembraunce 
 Toward the felde turne hy»z & aduerte. ^453 
 
 For except hy;« all virtues thense must sterte. 
 And euvn w/t// that, Dethe there sesyne took ; 
 And then all the company clerely hit forsook. 1456 
 209 
 And as sone as Dethe thus had sesyn take, i457 
 
 The coXour of the felde was chaungyd sodenly, 
 The grasse theryn, seere as though hit had be bake. 
 And the fyue hygh weyes were muryd opon hy, 1460 
 That fro thensforward noofi entre shuld therby. 
 The posternes also were w/t//out lette, 
 Bothe inward & outward, fyn fast shette. 1463 
 
 210 
 Whyche dooii, sodenly Dethe vanysshvd away, 1464 
 
 And Vertu exaltyd was aboue the firmament. 
 Where he toke the crowne of glory that ys ay 
 
 Preparate by Alpha & Oo omnipoten[t]. 1467 
 
 The swete Frute of Macrocosme ^edyr w/t// hy;« went. 
 And on all thys mater as I stood musyng thus, 
 Agayn fro the felde to me came Morpheus, 1470 
 211 
 Seying thus, "What chere ! howe lyketh the thys syght ? y 
 Hast thow sene ynowgh, or wyll thow se more ? " 1 
 
 "Nay syr," I seyde," my trouthe I ^ow plyght, 
 
 Thys ys suffysyent, yef I knew wherfore I474 
 
 Thys was to me shewyd, for therof the lore 
 Coueyte I to haue, yef I gete myght." 
 " Folow me," quod he, " and haue thy delyght." 1477 
 
 Holy Unction 
 anoints the five 
 highways. 
 
 Then enters 
 Death his 
 power to try. 
 
 None can 
 resist. 
 
 The grass 
 becomes sere 
 and the gates 
 shut. 
 
 Suddenly 
 Death vanishes 
 and Virtue is 
 exahed above 
 the firmament. 
 
 To me musing 
 again comes 
 Morpheus. 
 
 I ask 
 
 Morpheus the 
 meaning of the 
 sight. 
 
 sj 
 
44 
 
 The School of Doctrine. 
 
 I am brought 
 to an arbor 
 with four walls 
 
 and admitted 
 by Wit. 
 
 It is the school 
 of Doctrine. 
 
 Doctrine is 
 crowned with 
 three crowns — 
 I cannot tell 
 you all. 
 
 On one side 
 sit Holy Text 
 Glose and 
 Moralization. 
 
 Scripture 
 serves as 
 scribe. 
 
 1 look upon 
 the walls 
 
 So I hyin folowyd, tyll he had me brought 1478 
 
 To a fouresquare herber wallvd round about. 
 '•Loo, "quoth Morpheus, "here niavst tho\v^(Zt pow sought 
 Fynde, yef thow wyll, I put the out of dout." 14S1 
 
 A lytyll whyle we stood styll there w/tZ/out, 
 Tyll Wytte, chyef j)orter of that herber gate, 
 Requvrvd bv stodv. let vs in ther ate. 1484 
 
 213 
 But when I came in I nuvuelvd gretly 1485 
 
 Of that I behelde & herde there reporte. 
 For furst, in a chayar. apparavlvd rovallv. 
 
 There sate Dame Doctryne, her chvldren to exorte. 
 And about her was many a sondry sorte ; 
 Som wyllyng to lerne dyu^rse scvence, 
 And som for to have pcrfyte intellvgence. 1491 
 
 214 
 Crownyd she was lyke an Emp<r,'-esse, 1492 
 
 W/t// iii crownes standyng on her hede on hv. 
 All thyng about hyr an infynyte processe 
 
 Were to declare, I tell vow certevnlv. i495 
 
 Neurrthelese som in mynde therof haue I, 
 
 Whyche I shall to yow, as God wyll yeue me grace, 
 As I sawe & herde, tell in short space. 1498 
 
 215 
 Fast by Doctryne on that ooii syde, I499 
 
 As I remembre, sate Holy Texte, 
 That openvd hvs mouthe to the pepvll wyde, 
 
 But nat in compc/Aysoii to Glose that sate next. 1502 
 Moralyzacion \\i\.h a cloke context 
 
 Sate ; & Scrypture was scrvbe to thevw all. 
 He sate av wrvtyng of that that shuld fall. 1505 
 
 216 
 These were tho that I there knew — 1506 
 
 By no man*"/- wey of olde aqueyntaunce, 
 But as I before saw theym w/t// V^;-tew 
 
 Company in fclde cv: hauvng dalvaunce. 1509 
 
 And as I thus stood half in a traunce, 
 
 Whyle thev were occupyed in her besynesse, 
 Abowtc the walles myn ey gan I dresse. 15 12 
 
The School of Doctrine. 
 
 45 
 
 217 
 Where I behelde the meruelous story 
 That eud-r I yet saw in any pycture, 
 For on tho walles was made memory 
 Singlerlv of eiuv-y creature 
 That there had byn, bothe forme and stature; 
 Whos names reherse I wyll, as I can 
 Brvng they;;/ to nivnde in ordre — eucry man 
 218 
 Furst, to begvh, there was in portrature 
 
 Adam ; & Eue holdyng an appyll round ; 
 Noe in a shyp ; & Abraham hauyng sure 
 
 A flynt stone in hys hand ; & Isaac lay bound 
 On an hygh mount ; Jacob slepyng sound, 
 And a long laddyf stood hym besyde ; 
 Joseph in a cysterne was also there that tyde. 
 219 
 Next whom stood Moyses, w/t// hys tables two ; 
 
 Aaron & Vrre, hys armes supportyng ; 
 Ely in a brennyng chare was there also. 
 
 And Elyze stood, clad in an hermyt^i- clothyng ; 
 Dauid with an harpe & a stooh slyng. 
 Isaye, leremy, and Ezechiell ; 
 And closyd w/t/; lyons, holy Danyell ; 
 220 
 Abacuc, Mychee, w/t// Malachv ; 
 
 And lonas out of a whales body co;;/myng ; 
 Samuell in a temple ; & holy Zakary 
 Besyde an awter all blody standyng ; 
 Osee \\i\.h ludyth stoode there conspyryng 
 The dethe of Oloferne ; and Sal[a];;;on also, 
 A chylde w/t/; hys swerde dyuydyng in two. 
 221 
 Many moo p/-^phetys certeynly there were, 
 
 Whos names now come nat to my mynde. 
 Melchisedech also aspyed I there, 
 
 Bred & wyne offryng as fyll to hys kynde. 
 loachym and Anne stood all behynde, 
 Embrasyd in armes to the gyldyn gate. 
 And holy lohfi Bantyst in a desert sate. 
 
 I C I 2 where is 
 
 portrayed a 
 marvelous 
 
 I5IO 
 
 I519 
 
 I ^20 First on one 
 •^ wall in 
 
 portraiture is 
 the storj' of 
 Adam and 
 Eve, Noah, 
 J r 2 •? e*c. (Old 
 ^ "^ Testament) . 
 
 1526 
 1527 
 
 1530 
 
 1533 
 1534 
 
 1537 
 
 1540 
 I54I 
 
 1544 
 
 1547 
 
46 
 
 The School of Doctrine. 
 
 Upon the 
 opposite wall 
 I see Peter, 
 Paul, etc. 
 (New Testa 
 ment and 
 Church 
 Fathers). 
 
 And now co/^myth to my remeuibraunce 1548 
 
 I am avysyd I saw Sodechy, 
 And Amos also, w/t// sobre countenaunce, 
 
 Standyng wkh her faces toward Sophony. 1551 
 
 Neemy &: Esdras bare hem company. 
 The holy man loob as an impotent, 
 Then folowyd in pycture wiXh Thobv pacyent. 1554 
 223 
 These, w/t// many mo, on that oon svde ^555 
 
 Of that grene herber portrayed were. 
 "A," seyde Morpheous, "a lytyll tyme abyde. 
 
 Turne thy face where thy bak was ere 1558 
 
 And beholde well what thou seest there." 
 Than I me turnyd as he me bade, 
 W/t// hert stedefast & countenaunce sade 1561 
 
 224 
 Where I saw Petyr, with hys keyes, stande ; 1562 
 
 Poule w/t/; a swerde ; lames also 
 W/t/i a scalop ; & Thomas holdyng in hys hande 
 
 A spere ; & Phylyp aprochyd hym too. 1565 
 
 lames, the lesse, next hem in j)ycture loo 
 Stood, wilh Bartyhnew, whyche was all flayfi. 
 Symon & Thadee shewyd how they were slayii. 1568 
 225 
 Mathy and Barnabe, drawyng lottys, stood. 1569 
 
 Next whom was Marke, a lyon hym by 
 Hys booke holdyng; cS: Mathew, in hys mood, 
 
 Resemblyd an Aungell wilh \\\\\ges gloryosly. 1572 
 Luke had a calfe to holde hys booke on hy. 
 And lohfi wkh a cupp tSc palme in hys hande; 
 An Egle bare hys booke — thus saw I hem stande. 
 226 
 Gregory and lerome, Austyn and Ambrose, 1576 
 
 W/t/i pylyons on her hedys, stood lyke doctours. 
 Bernard wkh Anselme, and, as I suppose, 
 
 Thomas of Alquyfi, & Domynyk, confessours, 1579 
 Benet, & Hew, relygyous gourrnours, 
 Martyne, & lohn, wkh bysshops tweyne, 
 Were there also, & Crysostom certeyne. 1582 
 
The School of Doctrine. 
 
 47 
 
 227 
 Behynde all these was worshipfull Beede. 1583 
 
 All behynde & next him stood Orygene, 
 Hydyng hys face, as he of hys deede 
 
 Had hem ashamyd — ye woot what I mene ; 1586 
 
 For of erroz/T was he nat all clene. 
 
 And on that syde stood there, last of all. 
 The nobyll p/7;phetyssa, Sybyll men hyr call. 1589 
 228 
 Let me remembre me, now I yow pray, 159° 
 
 My brayne ys so thynne, I deme in myfi hert 
 Som of the felyshyp that I there say, 
 
 In all thys whyle, have I ouif;stert. ^593 
 
 A benedycyte nooii ere cowde I aduert 
 
 To thvnke on Andrew the Apostyll w/t/^ hys crosse, 
 Whom to forgete were a gret losse. 1596 
 
 229 
 Many ooii moo were peyntyd on that wall, ^597 
 
 Whos names now come nat to my remembraunce. 
 But these I markyd in especiall. 
 
 And moo cowde I tell, in contyniiaunce 
 Of tyme, but forthe to shewe yow the substaunce 
 '' Of thys matyr, in the mydd^i' of that herbere, 
 Sate Doctryne, coloryd as any crystall clere. 
 230 
 Crownyd as I tolde yow late here before, 
 
 Whos apparayll was worthe tresour infynyte — 
 All erthely rychesse count I no more 
 
 To that in comparyson valewyng then a myte. 1607 
 Ouer her heede houyd a culuer fayre & whyte, 
 Oute of whos byll procedyd a gret leme 
 Downward to Doctryne, lyke a son beme. 
 231 
 The wordys of Doctryne yaue gret redolence, 
 In swetness of sauo/^r, to her dysciples all. 
 Hyt ferre excedyd myrre and frankensence 
 
 Or any other tre spyce or ellys gall. 161 4 
 
 And when she me aspved, anon she gan me call. 
 
 And C6i?;/maundvd Morpheus that he shuld bryng me neere ; 
 For she wolde me shew the effecte of my desyre. 161 7 
 
 In the midst 
 , of the harbor 
 
 1000 sits Doctrine 
 richly 
 appareled. 
 
 1603 
 1604 
 
 Over her head 
 hovers a 
 I 6 I O culver. 
 
 1 6 I I Her words 
 savor sweet. 
 
 She bids me 
 come near. 
 
48 
 
 Doctrine' s Interpretation . 
 
 Doctrine 
 
 interprets the 
 vision. 
 
 Imprisonment 
 
 of Eolus 
 
 signifies that 
 
 unbridled 
 
 wealth 
 
 increaseth 
 
 misrule. 
 
 Minos judges 
 every man 
 according to 
 his wiclced- 
 ness. 
 
 The complaint 
 of Diana and 
 Neptune 
 against Kohis 
 signifies the 
 folly of fools 
 in attempting 
 the impossible. 
 
 232 
 
 She seyde, "I know the cause of thy cowmyng 1618 
 
 Ys to vndyrstand, be mvn enforinacion, 
 Sensybly, the mater of Morjjheus hvs shewyng 
 
 As he hath the ledde aboute in vvsvon. 1621 
 
 Wherfore now I apply thy naturall resoii 
 Vnto HIV wordys, &, ef thow hens wende, 
 Thow shalt hit know, begynnyng & ende. 1624 
 
 233 
 " Furst, where Eolus to Pluto was brought, 1625 
 
 By hys owne neglygence takyn prysonere 
 W/t//yn the erthe : for he to ferre sought — 
 
 Sygnyfyed ys nomore be that niatere 1628 
 
 But oonly to shew the howe hit dothe apere 
 That welthe. vnbrydelyd dayly at thyne ey, 
 Encreseth niysrewle & oft causyth foly. 1631 
 
 234 
 "For lyke as Eolus, beyng at hys large, 1632 
 
 Streytyd hy;;/ sylf thorow his owne lewdenesse — 
 For he wold deele where he had no charge — 
 
 Ryght so wantons, by her wyldenesse, 1635 
 
 Oft sythe bryng hem sylf in dystresse. 
 Because they somtynie to largely deele. 
 What may worse be suffryd than ou^r mykyll weele 
 
 235 
 "By Mynos, the iuge of hell desp<:';-ate, 1639 
 
 May he vndyrstand Godd^J ryghtwysnes, 
 That to eucvy w'yght hys peyne deputate 
 
 Assygneth, acordyng to hys wykydnes. 1642 
 
 Wherfore he ys callyd luge of crewelnes. 
 And as for Diana & Neptuiiwj co?;/pleynt, 
 Fyguryd may be fooles reson feynte. 1645 
 
 236 
 "For lyke as they made her suggestion 1646 
 
 To haue me Eolus from course of hys kynde 
 Whyche was impossible to bryng to correccion. 
 
 For eur?-more hys liberte haue wyll the wynde. 1649 
 In lyke wyse, fooles otherwhyle be blynde, 
 Wenyng to subdew, w/t// her ooii hande. 
 That ys ower mekyll for all .xw hoole lande. 1653 
 
Doctrine' s Interpretation. 
 
 49 
 
 237 
 "But what foloweth therof that shall thow heere : 
 
 When they were come to the banket, 
 The gret Apollo, w/t/^ hys sad chere, 
 
 So fayre & curteysly gan theym entrete, 
 That he made her beerdys on the new gete. 
 Loo, what wysdom dothe to a foole — 
 Wherfore ar chyldren put to scoole. 
 238 
 *' Oft ys hit seene, wivh sobre contenaunce, 
 
 That wyse men fooles oucvcome ay, 
 Turnyng as hem lyst and all her varyaunce, 
 Chau;/ge from ernest in to mery play. 
 What were they bothe amendyd that day? 
 When they were dreuyn to her wytti^j' ende, 
 Were they nat fayne to graunt to be hys frende? 
 
 239 
 " Ryght so fooles, when thev haue doofi 
 All that they can, than be they fayne 
 Yeue vp her mater to oblyuyoii. 
 
 W/t//out rewarde they haue no more brayne. 
 And yet full oft hath hit be seyne, 
 
 When they hit haue foryete and set at nought. 
 That thev full deere haue aftyrward hit bought. 
 240 
 "And as for all tho that rep^rsent 
 
 To be callvd goddys at that banket. 
 Resemble false vdollys ; but to thys entent 
 
 Was Morpheous cowmaundyd thedvr the to fet. 
 That thow shuldest know the man<!V- & the get 
 Of the paynym lawe and of her beleue. 
 How false idolatry ledeth hem by the sleue. 
 241 
 " For soone vppon the worldys creacion. 
 
 When Adam & Eue had broke the precept — 
 Whyche clerked call the Tyme of Deuyacion, 
 The worldly pepvll in paynym law slept, 
 Tyll Moyses vndyr God the tables of stone kept. 
 In whvche tvme poetys feynvd many a fable 
 Todyscrete reson rvght acceptable. 
 
 1653 
 
 Apollo at his 
 banquet 
 -- ^ causes their 
 1050 complaint to 
 be forgotten. 
 
 1659 
 1660 
 
 1663 
 
 1666 
 1667 
 
 1670 
 1673 
 
 So fools give 
 up their matter 
 to oblivion. 
 
 1674 The Gods 
 
 resemble false 
 idols. 
 
 1677 
 
 16SO 
 
 1681 
 
 In the begin- 
 . o "'"g people 
 1004 slept in pagan 
 
 The poets 
 1687 feigned many 
 
50 Doctrine'' s Interprctatioi. 
 
 242 
 
 "And to the entent that they should sownde 1688 
 
 To the eares of hem the more plesauntly 
 eiven ^oITpd i'hat thev shuld reede or here, /ev vaue thevw a grounde 
 calledTods!"'^ And addvd names vnto they/;/ naturally: 1691 
 
 Of whom thev spake & callvd hem godd/^j- hv, 
 Som for the strevngthe &: mvght of her nature, 
 And som for her sotyll wyttv conjecture. 1694 
 
 243 
 "By nature thus as the seuvn j)lanettvs 1695 
 
 Haue her pr^pre names by astronomers. 
 But goddvs were they called by oold j)oetys. 
 
 For her gret feruency of wyrkyng in her speres — 1698 
 Exp^^ryence preueth thys at all yeres. 
 And for as other that goddi^j' callyd be 
 For sotyll wytte, that shall I teche the. 1701 
 
 244 
 
 "How they by that hygh name of god came. 1702 
 
 In thys seyd tyme, the pepyll was so rude 
 That what man^*/- creature, man or woman, 
 
 Cowde any nouelte contryue & conclude 1705 
 
 For the comon wele, all the multitude 
 
 Of the comon peple a god shuld hy;// call. 
 
 Or a goddesse, aftyr hit was fall 1708 
 
 245 
 "Of the same thyng that was so new founde — 1709 
 
 ^sthmightto As Ceres, for she the craft of tylthe founde, 
 prod^ucTo'/"^ Wherby more plenteuosly corne dyd habounde, 
 therefore'"''' The pepyll he? callyd thorout eurry londe 1712 
 
 of Cor?.°'^'^"' Goddesse of Corne, wenyng in her honde 
 
 Had leyfi all power of cornys habundaunce. 
 Thus wer the paynemes deceyuyd by ignoraunce. 
 246 
 Soisis.Pan, "In lykc raanr/--, Isys was callyd the Goddesse 1716 
 
 Of Frute, for she fyrst made hit multyply 
 By the meane of gryffyng : and so by processe 
 
 The name of Pan gan to deyfy, 17 19 
 
 For he furst founde the mene shepe to guy. 
 Som tooke hit also by her condiciofi 
 As Pluto, Fortune, & suche other dofi. 1722 
 
 etc, 
 
Doctrine' s Interpretation. 
 
 51 
 
 247 
 "Thus all that poetys put vndyr couerture 1723 
 
 OH^le the rurall pepyll hit took 
 Propyrly as acte, refusyng the fygure ; 
 
 Which errour som of hem neucv forsook. 1726 
 
 Oft a false myrro/^r deceyueth a mannys look, 
 As thow mayst dayly pr^ue at thyne ey.^ 
 Thus were the paynyms deseuyd genr/-ally. 1729 
 
 248 
 "That seyng, the dedely enemy of mankynde, 1730 
 
 By hys power p^rmyssyue, entryd the ymag^^y 
 Wit/iyn the temples to make the pepyll blynde 
 
 In her idolatry, standyng on hygh stag.^i'; I733 
 
 In so moche, whoo vsyd daungerous passag.fj', 
 Any manifr wey by watyr or be londe, 
 When hyd hys sacryfyce, hys answere redy founde. 
 249 
 "Thus duryng the Tyme of Deuyacion. i737 
 
 From Adam to Moyses, was idolatry 
 Thorow the world vsyd in comon opynyoii. 
 
 These were the goddys that thow there sy. 1740 
 
 And as for the awayters that stood hem by 
 They polytyk philcsophyrs & poet^^ were, 
 Whyche feynyd the fables that I speke of here. 1743 
 250 
 "Then sesyd the Tyme of Deuyacion, i744 
 
 When Moyses receuyd that tables of stone, 
 Entryng the Tyme of Reuocacion. 
 
 On the Mount of Synay, stondyng alone, 1747 
 
 God yaue hym myght ayene all hys fone. 
 And then began the Olde Testament 
 Whyche to the pepyll by Moyses was sent. 1750 
 
 251 
 "And that tyme duryd to the incarnacion 1751 
 
 Of Cryst, & then began hit to sese. 
 For then came the Tyme of Reconsylyacion 
 
 Of man to God — I tell the doutlese — i754 
 
 When the Son of Man put hym in prese, 
 Wylfully to suffre dethe for mankynde. 
 In holy scrypture thys mayst thow fynde. 1757 
 
 The gods at 
 the banquet 
 are the idols, 
 the waiters are 
 the poets and 
 philosophers 
 who feigned 
 the fables. 
 
 The three 
 times. 
 Deviation, 
 Revocation, 
 
 Reconcilia- 
 tion, 
 
52 
 
 Doctrine' s l7itc?-prciation . 
 
 are portrayed 
 upon the walls. 
 
 The time of 
 Pilgrimage or 
 of War is 
 figured upon 
 the fourth wall. 
 
 This is 
 signified by 
 the battle 
 between Vice 
 and Virtue. 
 
 252 
 
 "Thys Reconsylyacion was the Tyme of Grace, 1758 
 
 When foundyd was the churche vppon the feyr stoon, 
 And to holy Petvr the key delyiuvvd was 
 
 Of heuvn ; then helle dvsj)ovled was anooii. 1761 
 
 Thus was inankvnde delviuvvd from hys foofi. 
 And then began the New Testament 
 That the Crystyn i)epvll beleue in p;rsent. 1764 
 
 253 
 "Whyche iii tymes, a sondry deuydyd, 1765 
 
 Mayst thow here see, yef thow lyst beholde. 
 The furst behynde the yn pycture ys prouydyd. 
 
 The second of the lyft hande shewe p/'^phet<'jr olde. i 768 
 The iii''" on the ryght hande here hit ys to the tolde. 
 Thus hast thow in vysyon the verrey fygure 
 Of these iii tymes here shewyd in purtrayture. 1771 
 
 254 
 "That ys to sey, furst, of Deuyacion 1772 
 
 From Adam to Moyses, recordyng Scripture ; 
 Secund, fro Moyses to the incarnacion 
 
 Of Cryst kepeth Reuocac/ons cure. i775 
 
 And as for the thryd, thow mayst be \crxQy sure, 
 Wyll dure from thens to the worldi^j' ende. 
 But now the iiii"' must thow haue in mynde, 1778 
 
 255 
 "Whycheyscallyd p;7^purly, theTymeof Pylgremage 1779 
 
 Aftyr som ; & som name hit otherwyse 
 And call hyt the Tyme of Daungerous Passage ; 
 
 And som Tyme of Werre, that fully hyt dyspyse. 1782 
 But what so hit be namyd, I woll the auvse — 
 
 Remembre hit well and prynte hit in thy mynde, 
 Wherof the fygure mayst thow me behynde. 17S5 
 256 
 "And elles remembre thysylf in thyn hert, 17S6 
 
 Howe Vyce & V^rtu dayly theyw occupy, 
 In manr/-, oon of hem hym to p^ruert. 
 
 Another, to bryng hym to endeles glory. 1789 
 
 Thus they contynu fyght for the victory. 
 Hyt ys no nede herof to tell the moore. 
 For in thys short vysyon thow hast seen hit before. 
 
Doctrine' s Interpretation. 
 
 53 
 
 257 
 
 1793 
 
 1796 
 
 1799 
 
 iSoo 
 
 1803 
 
 "And as for Attropos greuous co^-'/pIeynt 
 
 Vnto the goddi^'j' betokeneth noniore 
 But oonly to shewe the how frendely constreynt 
 On a stedfast hert weyeth full soore. 
 Good wyll requyreth good wyll ayene therfore. 
 Dyscorde to Dethe hathe ay byn a frende, 
 For Dyscorde bryngeth many to her ende. 
 258 
 "Wherfore Dethe thought he wolde avengyd be 
 
 Oil hys frendc'jr quarell yef that he myght, 
 For her gret vnkyndnes, in so moche as she 
 Was among hem all had so in despyte 
 And at that banket made of so lyte; 
 
 Whyche causyd hy;;/ among hem to cast in a booii, 
 That found theyw gnawyng ynough eu^vychooii. 1806 
 259 
 "Thus oft ys seen 00 frende for a nothef 
 
 Wyll say & do & somtyme matyrs feyne ; 
 And also kynnysmen, a cosyii, or a brother, 
 Woll for hvs aly, er he haue cause, compleyne. 
 And where that he loueth do hys besy peyne, 
 Hys frendrj- matyf as hys owne to take, 
 Whyche oft sythe causeth mochyll sorovv awake. 181 3 
 260 
 "Be hyt ryght or wrong, he changeth nat a myte— 1814 
 
 As toward that poynt he taketh lytell heede. 
 So that he may haue hys froward appetyte 
 
 Pd'rformyd, he careth nat howe hys soule speede, 1817 
 Of God or deuyll have suche lytyll dreede. 
 Howe be hyt, ooii the? ys paX. Lorde ys of all, 
 Whyche to eu^/y wyght at last rewarde shall. 1820 
 261 
 "And as for the batayll betwene Vyce & V^rtew holde, 
 
 So pleynly appereth to the inwardly, 
 To make exposicion therof, new or olde, 
 
 Were but supi^rfluyte — therfore refuse hit I. 1824 
 
 In man shall thow fynde that werre kept dayly, 
 Lyke as thow hast seen hit fowtyn before thy face; 
 The pyctuf me behynde shewyth hit in lytyll space. 
 
 1807 
 
 l«IO 
 
 The complaint 
 of Atropos 
 signifies the 
 constraint of 
 friendship — 
 Discord and 
 Death. 
 
 The alliance 
 of friends often 
 causes sorrow. 
 
 The battle of 
 Vice and 
 Virtuesignifies 
 the moral 
 struggle in the 
 human soul. 
 
54 
 
 Doctrine's Interpretation. 
 
 Microcosm is 
 the world of 
 man. 
 
 Perseverance 
 betokens the 
 continuance of 
 virtuous 
 living. 
 
 Whoso 
 perseveres is 
 rewarded with 
 
 Prescience and 
 Predestination 
 are the 
 rewarders of 
 vice and 
 virtue. 
 
 The five keys 
 are man's five 
 wits. 
 
 Residivacion 
 signifies the 
 return of man 
 to sin. 
 
 Reason and 
 Sadness 
 prevent such 
 conclusion. 
 
 262 
 
 "And as for Macrocosme, hit ys no more to say 1828 
 
 But the lesse worlde, to the conion entent 
 Whyche applyed ys to man both nvi^^lit and day — 
 
 So ys man the felde to whyche all were sent 1831 
 
 On both partyes; & they that thedyr went 
 Sygnyfy nomore but aftyr the condicioh 
 Of Q-wery mans oi)ynyon. 1834 
 
 263 
 "And as for the nobvll knyght Prrseueraunce, 1835 
 
 Whyche gate the felde when hit was almost gooii, 
 Betokeneth nomore but the contynuaunce 
 
 Of w/'tuous lyuyng tyll dethe hath oU(r;'goon. 1S38 
 Who so wyll doo, rewardyd ys anon, 
 As Vertu was w/t^ the crowne on hy, 
 Whyche ys nomore but eucvlastyng glory. 1841 
 
 264 
 "And as for Prescience and Predestinacion, 1842 
 
 That eche of hem rewardyd aftyr hys desert, 
 Is to vndyrstond nomore but dampnacion 
 
 To vycyous pepyll ys the \erxty scourge smert 1S45 
 Rewarde; for they fro V^rtu wolde p^ruert. 
 And endelese ioy ys to hem that be electe 
 Rewardyd & to all that folow the same secte. 1S48 
 265 
 "And as for the keyes of the posterns fyue, 1S49 
 
 Whyche were to Morpheus rewardyd for hys labo///-, 
 Sygnyfy nat ellys but whvle man ys on lyue 
 
 Hys V inwarde wyttri' shall)e evir/y houre 1852 
 
 In hj^s slepe occupyed, in hele and in langoure, 
 W/t/i fantasyes, tryfyls, illusions & dremes, 
 Whyche poetys call Morpheus stremes. 1S55 
 
 266 
 "And as for Resydiuacion ys nomore to sey 1856 
 
 But aftyr confession turnyng ayene to syn, 
 Whyche to eui?ry man retorneth sauns deley 
 
 To vycyous lyuyng ageyn liym to wyn. 1859 
 
 Whyle any man lyueth wyll hit neurr blyn, 
 That cursyd conclusion for to brvng abowte, 
 But Rcson w/t// Sadnes kepe hit styll owte. 1S62 
 
Doctrine^ s Interpretation. 
 
 55 
 
 267 
 "Here hast thow pr^purly the v^rrey sentence 1863 
 
 Herde now declaryd of thys vysyon. 
 The pycture also yeueth clere intellygence, 
 
 Therof beholdyn w/t// good discresyon. 1866 
 
 Loke well aboute & take consyderasion, 
 As I haue declaryd, whether hit so be." 
 "A syr," quoth Morpheus, "what tolde I the! 1869 
 268 
 "Hast thow nat now thyne hert^^i' desyre? 1870 
 
 Loke on yon wall yonder before." 
 And all that tyme stood I in a wyre 
 
 Whyche way furst myn hert wold yeue more 1873 
 
 To looke; in a stody stood I therfore. 
 
 Neui^rthelese at last, as Morpheus me badde, 
 I lokyd forward w/t// countenaunce sadde, 1876 
 
 269 
 Where I behelde in portrayture 1877 
 
 The man^r of the felde, euyfi as hit was 
 Shewyd me before ; & eurry creature 
 
 Oil boothe sydes beyng drawyn in small space 1880 
 So curyously, in so lytell a compace, 
 
 In all thys world was neurr thyng wrought ; 
 It were impossyble in erthe to be thought. 1883 
 
 270 
 And when I had long beholde that pycture — 1884 
 
 "What," quoth Morpheous, " how long shalt thow looke, 
 Daryng as a dastard, on yoii portrayture? 
 
 Come of for shame; thy wytte stant a crooke." 1887 
 I heryng that myfi hert to me tooke, 
 
 Towarde the iiii"' wall turnyng my vysage, 
 Where I sawe poetys & phylosophyrs sage, 1890 
 
 271 
 Many ooii mo then at the banket i8gi 
 
 Seruyd the goddi?^, as I seyde before. 
 Som were made standyng, & som in chayer<?i- set, 
 
 Som lookyng oh book^j-, as they had stodyed sore, 1894 
 Som drawyng almenak^i", & in her handi?^ bore 
 Astyrlabes, takyng the altytude of the sonne — 
 Among whom Dyogenes sate in a tonne. 1897 
 
 All things as 
 described are 
 portrayed upon 
 the wall. 
 
 I look to the 
 fourth wall, 
 where are 
 poets and 
 philosophers. 
 
56 
 
 Doctrine's Iiitcrprctdiion. 
 
 272 
 And as I was lokyng on that fourthe wall, 1898 
 
 Of Dyogenes beholdyng the ymage, 
 Sodeynly Doctryne began me to call, 
 
 And bad me turne toward hyr my vysage. 1901 
 
 And so then I dyd w/t>^ humble corage. [thentent 
 
 "What thynkest thow," she sayde, "hast thow nat 
 Yet of these foure wallys — what they represent? 1904 
 
 Doctrine 
 explains the 
 pictures of the 
 Times. 
 
 Spend well the 
 Time of 
 Reconcilia- 
 tion. 
 
 This reminds 
 me of my 
 former doubt. 
 
 I prajr 
 Doctrine to 
 reconcile 
 Reason and 
 Sensuality, 
 
 "The pycture on the fyrst, that standeth at mv bake, 1905 
 
 Sheweth the the pyrsent Tyme of Pvlgremage, 
 Of whyche before I vnto the spake, 
 
 Whyche ys the Tyme of Daungerus Passage. 1908 
 
 The secund, dyrectly ageyfi my vysage. 
 The Tyme expresseth of Deuyacion, 
 Whyle paynym lawe had the domynacion. 191 1 
 
 274 
 "The thryd wall, standyng on my lyft hande, 191 2 
 
 The Tyme repz-^senteth of Reuocacion. 
 And the fourth, standyng on my ryght hande, 
 
 Deti^/'inyneth the Tyme of Reconsylyacion. 191 5 
 
 Thys ys the effect -of thy vysion. 
 
 Wherfore the nedyth nomore theron to muse — 
 Hit were but veyn thy witt^j' to dysvse. 1918 
 
 275 
 "But duryng the Tyme of Reconsiliacion 1919 
 
 Thy Tyme of Pylgremage looke well thow spende 
 And then woll gracious Predestinacion 
 
 Bryng the to glory at thy last ende." 1922 
 
 And euyn with that cam to my mynde 
 My furst conclusion that I was abowte 
 To haue drevyii, er slepe made me to lowte — 1925 
 276 
 That ys to sey, howe Sensualyte 1926 
 
 W/t// Reason to acorde myght be brought aboute. 
 Whyche causyd me to knele downe on my kne 
 
 And beseke Doctryne detdrmvne that doute. 1929 
 
 "Oo Lord God I" seyde Doctryne, "canst thow nat wkh 
 Me that conclusion bryng to an ende? [oute 
 
 Ferre ys fro the wytte &: ferther good mende." 1932 
 
Accord of Reason atid Sensuality. 
 
 57 
 
 of whom I am 
 afraid. 
 
 Reason and 
 Sensuality- 
 come thither. 
 
 277 
 
 And euen w/t// that Dethe gan appere, 1933 Death enters; 
 
 Shewyng hymsylf as though that he wolde 
 Hys darte haue occupyed \\7t//yn that herbere. 
 
 But thef was noon for hym, yong nor olde, 1936 
 
 Saue oonly I, Doctryne hym tolde, 
 
 And when I herde hyr w/t// hy;;; comon thus, 
 I me w/t//drew behynde Morpheus, ^939 
 
 278 
 Dredyng full soore lest he w/t// hys dart, 1940 
 
 Thorow Doctrynes word<^^, any entresse 
 In me wolde haue had or claymed any part — ■ 
 
 Whyche shuld haue causyd me gret heuynesse. 1943 
 W/t//yn whyche tyme & short processe. 
 Came theder Reason & Sensualyte. 
 "A," quoth Doctryne, "ryght welcome be ye. 1946 
 279 
 *' Hyt ys nat long syth we of yow spake. 1947 
 
 Ye must, er ye go, det(^;'myne a dowte." 
 And euyfi whh that she the mater brake 
 
 To they/« and tolde hit t-wery where abowte. 1950 
 
 I wold haue be thens, yef I had mowte. 
 For feere I lookyd as blak as a coole. 
 I wold haue cropyn in a mouse hoole. 1953 
 
 280 
 "What!" quoth Doctryne, "where ys he now, i954 
 
 That meuyd thys mater straunge & diffuse ? 
 He ys a coward — I make myfi avow. 
 
 He hydeth hys hede, hys mocion to refuse." ^957 
 
 "Blame hym nat," quoth Reson, "alwey that to vse 
 When he seeth Dethe so neere at hys hande. 
 Yet ys h\-s part hym to wythstande. 1960 
 
 281 
 "Or, at the leste way, ellys fro hym flee 1961 
 
 As long as he may — who dothe otherwyse 
 As an ydiote." Quoth Sensualyte, 
 
 'Who dredvth nat Dethe wyse men hym dyspyse." 
 "What!" seyde Doctryne, "how long hathe thys gyse 
 Beholdyn & vsyd thus atwyx yow tweyne ? 
 Yee were nat wont to acorde certeyne." 1967 
 
 I am more 
 afraid. 
 
 Reason 
 excuses my 
 fear, since 
 Death is to be 
 shunned. 
 
 With which 
 sentiment 
 Sensuality 
 accords. 
 
58 
 
 Accord of Reason and Sensuality. 
 
 This solves 
 my question. 
 
 Death, 
 Reason, and 
 Sensuality 
 vanish. 
 
 The matter is 
 not wholly 
 clear. 
 
 282 
 
 "Yes," quoth Reson, "in thys poynt, ahvay 1968 
 
 To eurrv man haue we veuen ou^ counsayll 
 Detlie for to flee as long as they may. 
 
 All though we otherwyse haue done our trauayll 197 1 
 Yche other to represse, yet w/t/;oute fayll 
 In that poynt oonlv dvscordyd we neurr. 
 Thus condescendyd theryn be we for eu<rr." 1974 
 283 
 "A! A!" seyde Doctryne, "then ys the conclusion 1975 
 
 Clerely determynyd of the gret dowte 
 That here was meuvd" — & halfe in derysion 
 
 She me then callyd &: bade me loke owte. 1978 
 
 "Come forthe," she seyde, "and feere nat thys rowte." 
 
 And euen w/t/; that, Reson and Sensualyte 
 
 And Dethe fro thens were vanysshyd all thre. 1981 
 
 284 
 
 Then lokyd I forthe as Doctryne me badde. 1982 
 
 When Dethe was gooii, me thought I was bolde 
 To shew my sylf, but yet was I sadde. 
 
 Me thought my dowte was nat as I wolde, 1985 
 
 Clerely and opynly declaryd &: tolde. 
 Hit sownyd to me as a parable, 
 
 Derke as a myste, or a feynyd fable. 1988 
 
 285 
 And Doctryne my conceyte gan espy. 1989 
 
 "Wherfore," seyde she, "standyst thow so styll ? 
 Whereyn ys thy thought? Art thow in stody 
 
 Of thy question ? Hast thow nat thy fyll 1992 
 
 To the declaryd? Tell me thy wyll. 
 Hardest thow nat Reson & Sensualyte 
 Declare thy dowte here before the?" 1995 
 
 2S6 
 "Forsothe," quoth I, "I herde what they seyde. 1996 
 
 But neu^rthelese my wyt ys so thynne, 
 And also of Dethe I Avas so afrayed, 
 
 That hit ys oute where hyt went ynne. ^999 
 
 And so that matyr can I nat wynne 
 W/t//out yo«r helpe & benyuolence 
 Thefof to expresse the yerray sentence." 2002 
 
 / 
 
Accord of Reason and Sensuality. 
 
 59 
 
 287 
 "Well," quoth Doctryne "then yeue attendaunce 
 
 Vnto my wordes, & thow shalt here 
 Opynly declarvd the concordaunce 
 Atwene Sensualyte & Reson in fere. 
 Yef thow take hede, hit clerely dothe apere 
 How they were knette in ooii opynyon. 
 Bothe agayh Dethe helde contradyccyon. 
 288 
 "Whyche concordaunce nomore sygnyfyeth 
 
 To pleyne vndyrstandyng, but in eu^/y mane 
 Bothe Sensualyte & Reson applyeth 
 
 Rather Dethe to fle then wiih hit to be tane. 
 Loo in that poynt accorde they holly thane. 
 And in all other they clerely dyscorde. 
 Thus ys trewly set thy doutfull monacorde." 
 289 
 I, heryng that, knelyd on my kne 
 
 An thankyd her lowly for hyr dyscyplyne, 
 That she vouchesafe, of hyr benygnyte, 
 Of tho gret dowtys -me to enlumyne. 
 Well was she worthy to be called Doctryne, 
 Yef hit had be nomore but for the solucion 
 Of my demaunde and of thys straunge vysyon. 
 290 
 And as I with myne heede began for to bow. 
 
 As me well ought to do hyr reu^rence, 
 She thens departyd — I cannat tell how. 
 But w/t//yn a moment gooii was she thens. 
 Then seyde Morpheus, " Let vs go hens. 
 What shuld we heere tary lengere? 
 Hast thow nat herde a gtwersW answere 
 291 
 To all thy matyrs that thow lyst to meue? 
 
 My tyme draweth nere that I must rest." 
 And euyn therw/t/z he tooke me by the sleue 
 And seyde, "Goo we hens, for that hold I best. 
 As good ys ynowgh as a gret feste. 
 
 Thow hast seen ynowgh; hold the content." 
 And euyn wiih that forthe wiih hym I went, 
 
 2003 Doctrine 
 
 interprets my 
 vision. 
 
 2006 
 
 2009 
 
 In one point 
 Reason and 
 Sensuality 
 20 I "2 accord — in the 
 •-* fear of Death. 
 
 2016 
 2017 
 
 2023 
 2024 
 
 2027 
 
 2030 
 2031 
 
 2034 
 
 2037 
 
 Doctrine 
 suddenly 
 vanishes. 
 
 Morpheus 
 leads me back 
 
6o 
 
 The Jlsio/i Broken. 
 
 to my bed 
 
 and secretly 
 steals away. 
 
 Then I awake 
 
 in great dread. 
 
 It is all a 
 dream. 
 
 Lest fault be 
 found in me, 
 I write down 
 what I have 
 seen. 
 
 Take from my 
 writing the 
 best and leave 
 the chaff. 
 
 292 
 
 Tyll he hade me brought agene to rnv bedde, 203S 
 
 Where he me founde, and then pryuyly 
 He stale awey. I rowde nat vndvrstande 
 
 Where he became, but sodenly 2041 
 
 As lie came, he went — I tell vow vervly. 
 Whyche dooh, fro slepe I gan to awake. 
 My body all in swet began for to shake 2044 
 
 For drede of the syght that I had seene, 2045 
 
 Wenyng to me all had be trew 
 Actuelly doofi where I had beene, 
 
 The batayll holde twene Vyce & V^rtew. 2048 
 
 But when I sy hit, hit was but a whew, 
 A dreme, a fantasy, & a thyng of nought. 
 To study theron I had nomore thought. 2051 
 
 294 
 Tyll at the last I gan me bethynke 2052 
 
 For what cause shewyd was thys vysyon. 
 I knew nat ; wherfore I toke pen & ynke 
 
 i\nd paper to make therof mencion 2055 
 
 In wrytyng, takyng consideracion 
 That no defaute were founde in me, 
 Wheron accusyd I ought for to be 2058 
 
 295 
 For slowthe, that I had left hit vntolde — 2059 
 
 Nowthyr by mowthe nor in remewbraunce 
 Put hit in wrytyng; wher thorow manvfolde 
 
 Weyes of accusacion myght turne me to greuatince. 2062 
 All thys I saw as I lay in a traunce, 
 ,.^But whedyr hit was with myne ev bodvly 
 Or nat in certayii, God knoweth and nat I. 2065 
 296 
 That to dyscerne I purpose nat to deele. 2066 
 
 So large by my wyll hit longeth nat to me. 
 Were hit dreme or vysion, for your owii wele, 
 
 All that shall hit rede, here rad, or se, 2069 
 
 Take therof the best & let the worst be — 
 Try out the corne clene from the chaff 
 And then may ye say ye have a sure staff 2072 
 
Exhortation to Virtue. 6 1 
 
 297 
 
 To stande by at nede, yef ye woll hit holde 2073 
 
 And walke by the way of V^rtu hys loore. 
 But alwey beware, be ye yong or olde, 
 
 That your frewyll ay to NcrVw moore 2076 ^vL'ul.'^^^ 
 
 Apply than to Vyce, the eysyer may be boore 
 The burdyn of the fylde, that ye dayly fyght 
 
 , ^ ' ^ ... r ,,, , ,, Fight against 
 
 Agayn your \\\ enemyes, for all her gret myght. 2079 your enemies, 
 298 
 That vs to sey, the Deuyll & the Flesshe 2080 the Devil, 
 
 ■' ■ ■ the Flesh, and 
 
 And also the Worlde, w/t/; hys glosyng chere, «i>e Worid. 
 
 Whyche oh yow looketh eu^r newe & fresshe — 
 
 But he ys nat as he doth apere. 2083 
 
 Lok ye kepe yow ay out of hys daungere. 
 And so the vyctory shall ye obteyne, 
 
 Vyce fro yow exylyd & V^-ztew in yow reyne. 2086 you reign. 
 299 
 And then shall ye haue the triuwphall guerdoufi 2087 Thine be the 
 
 ■' 10 glory and the 
 
 That God resi^/'ueth to eu<fry creature celestial 
 
 mansion. 
 
 Aboue in hys celestiall mansioun, 
 
 Joy and blys infinite, eternally to endure. 2090 
 
 Wherof we say we wold fayii be sure. 
 
 But the wey thedyrward to holde be we lothe, 
 That oft sythe causeth the good Lorde to be wrothe. 
 300 
 And by oure desert oure h<^z^itacion chaungeth 2094 
 
 Fro ioy to peyne & woo p<^rpetuelly. 
 From hys gloryous syght thus he vs estraungeth, 
 
 For our vycyous lyuyng, thorough owre owne foly. 2097 
 Wherfore let vs pray to that Lord of Glory, 
 
 ,,,, , . , , , , ,, ■ Let us pray 
 
 Whyle we in erthe bee, that he wyll yeue vs grace, the Lord of 
 
 C 1 4. A ^\ ^ ' \ ' \^ Glory to give 
 
 bo vs here to guyde that we may haue a place, 2100 us grace. 
 301 
 Accordyng to oure regeneracion, 2101 
 
 W/t/z heuynly spyryt(?j-, hys name to magnyfy Let us magnify 
 
 Whyche downe descendyd for our redempcion, His name. 
 
 Offryng hym sylf on the crosse to hys fadyr on hy. 2104 
 Now benygne Ih<fj-u, that borii was of Mary, 
 
 All that to thys vysion haue yovyn her audyence, et^naUoy^o 
 Graunt eternall ioy aftyr thy last sentence. 2107 mytTc^k"^"* 
 
 Amen. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 In the notes and introduction references are made to the following 
 editions : 
 
 Lydgate's Minor Poems, including Pur le Roy, Chorle and Bird, and 
 Testament, Halliwell, Percy Soc. 
 ALsop, Sauerstein (Anglia, IX). 
 Temple of Glas, Schick, E. E. T. Soc. 
 Dance of Macabre, MS. Bodl. 686. 
 Falls of Princes, Pynson's print, Brit. Mus. 
 Story of Thebes, Speght's Chaucer, Lond. 1598. 
 Secrees of Old Philisoffres, Steele, E. E. T. Soc. 
 Chaucer's Works, Skeat, one vol. (Macmillan) ; also the Aldine. 
 Langland's Piers the Plowman, Skeat, E. E. T. Soc. Text B. 
 Gower's Confessio Amantis, Pauli, 3 vols. 
 Mapes's Latin Works, Wright, Camden Soc. 
 Michel's Ayenbite of Inwyt, Morris. 
 Rolle of Hampole's Pricke of Conscience, Morris. 
 Ancren Riwle, Morton. 
 Wyclif's Works, Arnold, 3 vols. 
 Chronicle of Robert of Brunne (Anglia, IX). 
 Hawes's Pastime of Pleasure, Percy Soc. 
 Douglas's Works, Small, 4 vols. 
 Dunbar's Works, Small, Scot. Text. Soc. 
 Lyndesay's Works, E. E. T. Soc. 
 King James's Quair, Skeat, Scot. T. Soc. 
 Skelton's Works, Dyce. 
 Barclay's Ship of Fools, Jamieson, 2 vols. 
 Spenser's Works, Morris, one vol. (Macmillan). 
 Other works, as specially indicated. 
 
 P. I, 1. I. The time is near the middle of July. Lydgate has a similar opening 
 in A Poem against Self- Love (M. P., p. 156): 
 
 " Toward the eende of froosty lanuar^'e, 
 Whan watry Phehus had his purpoose take 
 For a sesoun to soiourne in Aquarye 
 And Capricorn hadde uttirlv forsake. 
 
 Toward Aurora a-morwe as I gan wake " 
 
 Cf. the imitation hy Ilawes in the Pastime of Pleasure i 
 " When I'hehus entred was in Geniiny, 
 Shynyng above in his fay re golden spere. 
 And horned Uyane then but one degree 
 In the Crabbe had entred favre and cleare ; 
 When that Aurora did well appeare 
 .In tlie depured ayre and cruddy firmament, 
 Forth then I walked without impediment." 
 The prototype is found in Mapes' poem ^'Apocalypsis Goliae Episcopi" which 
 contains also a reference to Pythagoras as the teacher to the Greeks of the 
 seven Arts of the Schools. P. is there represented as having the signs of 
 
 62 
 
Notes. (i2i 
 
 the Arts on different portions of tiie body. Astrology, the highest form of 
 knowledge, is marked prominently on the forehead. (Works, Camden 
 Soc., ed., Wright.) 
 Hawes, in his Past, of Pleas., p. 105, afiirms that 
 
 "Thus God hym selfe is chief astronomyer." 
 
 1. 2. gan. This usage is maintained to the present. See Browning's Easter 
 Day: 
 
 "Which gan suspire." 
 Used as auxiliary in 1. 624. 
 
 1.3. Pictagoras speere. The spelling " Pictagoras " occurs in the Rom. of 
 the Rose (1. 5649) for the French "Pythagoras" (1. 5007). Chaucer has 
 "Pictagoras" \\\ \\\t Bk. of the Duck. {\. 1167). Lydgate uses " Pictagoras " 
 in Min. P. (p. 84, 87). The philosopher was known in England for his 
 science of number. Cf. Lydgate's Pur le Roy (M. P., p. 11): 
 
 "And Arsmetryk, be castvng of nombrary, 
 Chees Pyktegoras for her parte." 
 Chaucer notes he "the firste finder was of the art (of music)" — Bk. of the 
 Duch, 1. 1 168. 
 
 The sphere is according to his mathematics the most perfect figure ; it is the 
 circle of the heavens. It was used to symbolize the Soul, the Microcosm, 
 implying final harmony in "the Diapason closing full in man." Other 
 figures were the triangle, the least perfect figure, symbolizing the body, and 
 the quadrate, in the perfect proportion of 7 to 9, embracing all the powers 
 of man. Cf. Spenser, Faery Qiieene, Bk. II., c. 9, st. 22 : 
 "The frame thereof seemd partly circulare. 
 
 And part triangulare, O worke divine, .... 
 
 And twixt them both a quadrate was the base, 
 
 Proportiond equally by seven and nine ; 
 
 Nine was the circle set in heavens place ; 
 
 All which compacted made a goodly Diapase." 
 The ninth or cosmological sphere represented harmony, to which end, accord- 
 ing to the philosophy, opposing elements were united. The Pythagorean 
 sphere thus taught the poet the lesson he was seeking of concord. 
 
 P. 2, 1. 9. obstacle, habytacle, tryacle. Other sets of rimes occur thus : obstacle, 
 spectacle, myracle, tryacle (Test., Min. P. p. 236); triacle, obstacle (^tS'w/, Fab. 
 4, 11. 148-50); obstacle, myracle {Seer., 11. 120-22); obstacle, oracle {Seer., 
 11.624-26); obstacle, miracle (Chau. ^r. Tale, 11. 571-72); miracle, triacle 
 (Chau. Man of L. Tale, 11. 379-81), etc. 
 
 I. II. habytacle. Cf. Chau. Ho. of Fame, 1. 11 94: 
 
 " Weren sondry habitacles ; " 
 Lydgate, Min. P. p. 140 : 
 
 "Whan th'olygoost made his habitacle ; " 
 Hawes, Past, of Pleas., p. 218 : 
 
 "First God made heaven is propre habitacle," etc. 
 
 1. 12. rowne. Commonly in M. E. a distinction is made between rowne (to 
 mutter) and whisper. Here = to commune. 
 
 1. 12. tryacle. Theriaca was the name given to a medicine compounded by 
 a Roman physician Andromachus. I"or the history of the word see Morley, 
 Lib. of Engl. Lit., ^. 21. Lj'dgate uses the term frequently; thus " Gostly 
 tryacle", Min. P. p. 98 ; 
 
 " Ther is no venome so parlious in sharpnes 
 
 Os whan it hathe of treacle a lyknes — " Ch. and Bd., Min. P. p. 186; 
 " Ageyne verray poyson ordeyned is triacle — " yEsop, Fab. 4, 1. 148 ; 
 " The name of Ihesu ! swettest of namvs alle ! 
 
 Geyn goostly venyms, holsomest tryacle — "Test., M. P. p. 236. 
 It is found in Chaucer, Ma9i of L. Tale, 1. 381 : 
 
 " Crist, which that is to every harm triacle ;" 
 
64 Notes. 
 
 and in Piers PL Pas. 2, 1. I46: 
 
 " Love is triacle of hevene." 
 Cf. Beau, and Fi., Sea Voyajre (Dyce, viii., p. 360): 
 " This may be treacle 
 
 Sent to preserve me after a long fast." 
 The figurative use is very common. 
 
 \, 14. Morpheus. These dreamers almost invariably have guides. Boethius 
 was directed by Philosophy, Dante by Virgil and Beatrice, Mapes by Pytha- 
 goras, King James by Good Hope, etc.; Morpheus as a shewer of fancies 
 appears again in Higgin's A/irrour for Alagistrales (1576). 
 
 1. 18. Mynos the iustyse. Minos is first seen as Judge of the lower world in 
 the Odyssev. Virgil followed Homer {Aen. 6, 431). Dante selected him 
 as the typical judge in the Inferno (c. v.) in the second circle of which he 
 abides and examines sins at the entrance. 
 
 1. 19. sylogyse. A general term. Cf. TIawes, Past, of Pleas, p. 32 : 
 " Agaynst your fables wyll often solisgyse." 
 
 1. 21. ke must nedys go,etc. The proverb occurs again in Skelton's Garl. of 
 Laur., 1. 1434 : 
 
 "Nedes must he rin that the devyll dryvith." 
 Greene uses it in The Carde of Fancie, ed. Grosart, p. 79, 1. 4. Hazlitt in 
 his Proverbs quotes an instance from Triall of Treasure (1567). 
 
 1. 34. ahydytig. Used as a noun. Cf. ALsop, Fab. 6, 11. 122-23 : 
 " Vender on that other side 
 Is myn abidyng." 
 Cf. guydyng, 1. 59. 
 
 I, 35. Fantasy. For the dwelling place of Morpheus see Chaucer's Ho. of 
 Fame, Invoc; Bk. of the Duch.. 1. 153 ; Spenser, Faery Queene, Bk. I., c. I, 
 St. 39 ; Ariosto, Orl. Fur., xiv., 92 ; Ovid, Met., xi., 592. Gower describes 
 the Cave of Sleep in Confes. Am., II., pp. 102-3. Cf. " The House of Sleep," 
 Cook, Mod. L. Notes, V., p. 10. 
 
 1. 37. Cerberus. The constable is a somewhat new role for Cerberus, whom 
 Dante describes as a demon, a cruel and monstrous beast tearing and flaying 
 and rending the spirits in Hell {Infer., c. 6). As opposing Christ he appears 
 in Lydgate's Test, p. 236 : 
 
 " Ihesu 
 
 Took out of helle soulys many a peyre, 
 
 Mawgre Cerberus and al his cruelte." 
 He is called "chief porter of hell" in Story of Thebes, {o\. 375. He was 
 known to Bunyan as the Porter of Hell, serving also as one of the captains 
 of Diabolus in the Holy War. 
 
 P- 3i 1- 45- strayte correccion. Cf. Aisop, Fab., 4, 1. 36 : 
 
 " Straitly requyreng the iuge in this matiere ;" 
 Secrees, 11. 762-3 : 
 
 " Twen moche and Ivte a mene to devise 
 Of to mekyl and streight coveitise ;" 
 idem, 1. 799 : 
 
 " But he that is streyght in his kepyng." 
 
 1.52. in fere^m company, together; O. E. ge-fera, a companion; M. E. 
 in f era is a corruption of yfera which is restored in Spenser; and cf. Tenny- 
 son, Conf. of Sens. Mind: 
 
 " And in the flocks 
 
 The lamb rejoiceth in the year. 
 
 And raceth freely with his fere." 
 Chaucer has yfere in Leg. of G. IV., Pr., 1. 263. Douglas uses yfeir. 
 
Notes. 6 s 
 
 1. 58. chases. Technically a chase is a private open hunting ground to which 
 game resorts, differing from a "forest" in being open and private. Cf. 
 Cheviot Chase or Chevy Chase. 
 
 1. 59. cure. Cf. Chaucer, Ho. of Fame, 1. 464: 
 
 "For lupiter took of him cure." 
 
 1. 65. comfort. This word has a variety of meanings in M. E. Cf. Glossary. 
 
 1. 66. roofe and rynde^v/hoWy. Cf. 1. 620, "croppe and roote." See Gower, 
 Conf. Avian. I, p. 152 : 
 
 "Of flour and gras and roote and rinde." 
 
 1. 69. 7naner. For this use of maner see Chaucer, Compleynte unto Pite, 
 
 1.24: 
 
 " What maner man dar now holde up his heed ?" 
 77/1? Compl. of Mars, 1. 116 : 
 
 "For she ne fond ne saw no maner wight." 
 See 1. 5 : . 
 
 " Musyng on a maner," 
 
 1- 1735 : 
 
 " Any maner wey." 
 Cf. Secrees, 1. 7 : 
 
 " To euery maneer wyght ;" 
 idem, 1. 741 : 
 
 " In no maner wyse." 
 
 1. 71. syngler. Cf. Secrees, 1. 332 : 
 
 " For my moost vertuous and singuleer counfort ;" 
 idem, 1. 1128 : 
 
 "To his noblesse and his singuler glorye." 
 
 4, 1. 87. kervell. Cf. Kersey's Diet.: " Caravel or carvel, a kind of light round 
 ship with a square Poop, rigg'd and fitted out like a Galley, holding about 
 six score or seven score Tun." Columbus's ships were called "caravels." 
 The vessel which Douglas saw in his vision {Pal. of H.) that was driven 
 upon the sands was called the "Carwell of the State of Grace." 
 
 1. 88. karyk-=c2ix\i, a large ship. Cf. Chaucer, Som. Tale, Pr., 1. 24 : 
 
 " Brodder than of a carrik is the sayl" (the first use of word in Engl.). 
 The " Universal Ship " that carried Barclay's fools is called a " carake "; 
 and see Ship of Fools, II., p. 220: 
 
 " That all the shyppes ne galeys vnto Spayne 
 Nor myghty carakes cannot them well contayne." 
 Cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, T^i'o Nob. Kins: 
 '■ Then would I make 
 A carrack of a cockle-shell." 
 
 1. 90. who. Note the use of who as relative. See 1. 769. 
 
 1. 96. daiingere. The M. L. damnum signified (l) a fine (2) the territory over 
 which a lord ruled (3) the enclosed field of a proprietor (4) power to exact a 
 penalty. In M. E. danger meant in general simply power or jurisdiction. 
 Cf. yEsop, Fab. 5, 1. 39 : 
 
 " Thow were in my daungere." 
 See 1. 543 = territory or jurisdiction. It had also the modern meaning of 
 danger as in the Secrees, 1. 1103 : 
 
 "Avoydyng al daungeer." 
 See Wedgwood for the history of the word. 
 
 1, 97. j-ff///^ = satisfaction. Cf. Digby Myst., N. Shak. Soc, p. 143, 1. 121-3: 
 "Wysdom that was god and man right, 
 Made a full seth to the fader of hevyn 
 By the dredfull deth to hym was dight." 
 
66 Notes. 
 
 1. 10 1, a loft. Cf. Temp, of Glas, 1. 41 : 
 
 " Now lowe and eft aloft ;" 
 
 idem, 1. 645 : 
 
 " I am set on loft ;" 
 Secrees, 1. 1244 : 
 
 " Planetvs a-lofte." 
 
 1. 104. foam. This was often used of sweat as in Chaucer, Ch. Yeo, Tale, 
 Pr., 1. 12: 
 
 " He was of fome (from sweat) al flekked as a pve." 
 
 1. 105. betyn. Cf. Lydgate, Min. P., p. 168: 
 
 " Abydithe so longe til lie be betyn doune." 
 
 P. 5, 1. 116. in especial!. A very common phrase in Lydgate. Cf. Secrees, W. 536, 
 653, 1041, 10S8, etc. I find a modern use of the phrase in Poe's FAil. of 
 Composition : 
 
 " It is this latter, in especial, etc." 
 
 1. IIQ. cost. Frequently used for neighboring country. Cf. Piers Plow., 
 Pas. ii., 1. 85 (B): 
 
 " The counte of coueitise and alle the costes aboute." 
 
 1. 126. pyry. Cf. Ir. piorra, a blast of wind. This is an earlier instance 
 than that given in the Cent. Diet. Cf. Hawes, Past, of Pleas, p. 53 : 
 
 " In the stormy pery." 
 /a//j'^= wrapped. Cf. Rob. of B. Ckroti. 1. 1149: 
 
 " And bylapped hem on ylk a side ; " 
 Ode by Rich. Barnfield, 1. 24 : 
 
 " All thy friends are lapt in lead ; " 
 Breton, Arb. of Am. Delights (1593): 
 
 "Sing lullaby and lap it warm." 
 Browning uses it in Strafford, Act V, 2, 1. 332 : 
 
 "lapped round with horror." 
 
 1. 127. boystous. This i", the form of the word in Chaucer. Cf. J/ann. 
 Tale, 1. 107 : 
 
 " I am a boistous man ; " 
 Morte Arthure, Th. MS., 1. 615 : 
 
 "Thosbustous churlles." 
 The Story of Thebes has "boistouslie " (fol. 370). 
 Boisterous is found by Shakespeare's time. 
 
 1. 140. anysment. Cf. Chaucer, Pari, of F., 11. 554—55: 
 " The water-foules han her hedes leyd 
 Togeder, and of short avysement ; " 
 Troy, and Oris., II, 1. 343 : 
 
 " Avvsement is good bifore the nede." 
 
 P. 6, 1. 154. ifg-fl// = equall. Cf. Lydgate, Secrees, 1. 386: 
 
 " Ve wer of lyff egal with hooly seyntes ; " 
 Min. P. p. 210 : 
 
 "So egally ther doomys to avaunce." 
 Paregall occurs often in Skelton. Unperegall is found in Marston, Dutch 
 Courtezan, IV, v. 
 
 1. 157. prima facie. The date of the first instance of the Engl, usage of 
 this phrase given in the Stanford Diet. (Latin in Engl.) is 1646. Cf. Chaucer 
 in Trail, and Cris. Ill, 1. 918 : 
 
 "This accident so pitous was to here 
 And eek so. lyk a sooth, at pryme face." 
 
 1. 162. onwarde. Skeat says this did not appear before Sir Th. More ! 
 (Diet.). 
 
Notes. 67 
 
 1. 163. messynger. Formed from the Fr. message. When was the n intro- 
 duced? 
 
 Gower has messagere in Conf. Atn., Ill, p. 249. Lydgate in Story of Thebes 
 uses messengers (fol. 372) and messagere (fol. 380, 386), Chaucer has both 
 messager and messanger (see Glossary of Ch.). 
 
 1. 167. banket. In the fourteenth century the cloth or cushion covering a 
 bank or bench on which dessert was served was called a " banker " ; a feast 
 came to be called a " banket " {Mem. of Loud., ed. Riley, I, p. 179 and p. 44). 
 
 7, 1. 191. ryght glad. Right used in this manner is generally considered to 
 be an Americanism (Southern) but this usage, like the American "I guess," 
 is good Middle English. 
 
 I. 192. all and some = the long and short of it (Skeat). This is one of 
 the most common phrases in L. M. E. Cf. Chaucer, J^r. Tale, 1. 878 : 
 
 " This al and som, there is no more to seyn ; " 
 Pari. ofF., 1. 650: 
 
 "This al and som, that I wolde speke and seye," etc., etc. 
 Rom. of the Rose, 1. 740: 
 
 " So faire they weren alle and some ; " 
 Gower, Conf. Am., II, p. 379 : 
 
 "There ben the lordes all and some;" 
 Lydgate, Temp, of Glas, 1. 1037 : 
 
 "This is al and some, the fine of my request," etc. 
 Cf. Spenser, Faerie Queeti, III, xii, 30. 
 
 I remember to have seen the phrase used by Swinburne. Browning has in 
 Ring and Book : 
 
 " So do I see, pronounce on all and some." 
 
 1.202. by and by ^= or\Q after the other, separately. See 1. 302. Chaucer 
 has in Rv. Tale, 1. 223 : 
 
 "Right in the same chambre, by and by;" 
 Rom. of the Rose, 1. 4581 : 
 
 "These were his wordis by and by." 
 
 1.217. grogyng. The most common word of its class in Lydgate's vocab- 
 ulary, commonly spelled grucchyng. 
 Min. P. p. 67 : 
 
 " Nat grucchyng, but mery like thi degre ; " 
 idem, p. 83 : 
 
 "List thank God vo3'de al grucchyng;" 
 ALsop, Fab. 2, 1. 161 : 
 
 "Nor grucche in pouerte." 
 Often in Temp, of Glas (see 11. 187, 424, 853, 879, 1266) and Secrees (11. I13, 
 775, 778, 780). 
 Piers the Plow., Pr., 1. 153 : 
 
 " And gif we grucche of his gamen." 
 In Chaucer's Pers. Tale grucching is declared a species of Envy. 
 Cf. Mary Wilkin's Pembroke, Ch. 12 : 
 
 " 1 don't begrutch it to her." 
 
 8, 1. 232. dyscrese. From L.L. discrescere. Gower has discreseth {Conf, Am. 
 
 II, p. 189). 
 
 1. 233. / dar vndyrtake. A common formula ; Chaucer has it in the Ml, Tale, 
 1. 355. Cf. Prol. 1. 288 : 
 
 "And he nas nat right fat, I undertake." 
 
 1. 243. Neptune's mastresse. Cf. Chaucer, Fr. Tale, 11. 319-20 : 
 " Though Neptunus have deite in the see. 
 Yet emperesse aboven him is she (Lucina)." 
 
68 Notes. 
 
 1. 249. Othea. I have retained the spelling in the text, though I am confi- 
 dent that Athena is the right reading. 
 
 1. 252. marchall. It was the office of the marshal of a feast to set the guests 
 in order of rank. 
 
 P. 9, 1. 253. The Gods. The delineation of the pagan deities in the manner of 
 pictorial art is perhaps the best thing done in the poem. For models of 
 these images he had, perchance, the work of Albricus Philosophus, entitled 
 De Deorum Imaginibus, containing sketches of the heathen gods (Van Stav- 
 ernes Auctores Mythog. Lat.); also, of course, the work of Fulgentius 
 (Introd. p. xl) ; or for that he would not need to go much farther than Gower's 
 Conf. Amatt. Bk. IV. In 1. 294 he refers to " olde poetys " for his authority. 
 There is a minor assembly of gods in Lydgate's yEsop where judgment is 
 given concerning the marriage of Phebus. See also The Assembly in 
 Dunbar's Golden Targe. 
 
 1. 256. presse. The MS. preef is changed to presse because of the riming 
 word messe. 
 
 1. 258. be spreynt. Cf. Chaucer, ContpL, 1. 10: 
 
 " To Pite ran 1, al bespreynt with teres ; " 
 " dew-besprent " occurs in Comus, 1. 541. Browne notes that besprent is Spen- 
 serian. 
 
 1. 260. Pilars 7nyglily god and strong. A translation of the more common 
 epithet of Mars, " armypotent " — borrowed from N'irgil {.'■En. IX, 717). Cf. 
 Boccaccio, Ttseide, VII. 32. 
 
 I. 262. yron and the other metals. The association of the different metals 
 with the planets is attributed to Geber (see Thomson, Hisf. of Chem., I, 117). 
 The temple of Mars built by Theseus [Knight's Tale) was all of steel. In 
 Chaucer's Ho. of Fame (II.1446-8) it is said that " Vren Martes metal is : " 
 " And the leed, withouten faile, 
 Is, lo, the metal of Saturne." 
 The Chanouns Yeman explains the seven " bodies" [C/i. V. Tale, 11. 273-6): 
 " Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe ; 
 Mars yren, Mercuric quicksilver we clepe ; 
 Saturnus leed, and lubiter is tin, 
 And Venus co])er, by my fader kin." 
 Gower gives the complete list in Conf. Am., Bk. 4, II, p. 84 : 
 " The gold is titled to the Sonne ; 
 The mone of silver hath his part ; 
 And iron, that stond upon Mart ; 
 The leed after Satorne groweth ; 
 And lupiter the brass bestoweth ; 
 The copper set is to Venus, 
 And to his part Mercurius 
 Hath the quick-silver." 
 Note the description by Hawes of the monster of the seven metals whose 
 head and face were golcl, the neck silver, the breast and heart steel, the fore- 
 legs brass, the back copper, the hindlegs tin, the tail lead (Past, of Fleas. 
 p. 192). 
 
 1. 266. pondryd. A term in heraldry for sprinkled. 
 
 1. 267. take the mantell and the ryng. This saving refers to the assumption 
 by a widow of a ring and a " widow's mantel," probably of black silk, as 
 evidence of a vow of perpetual widowhood. See l.vdgate, Z)a«<rf of Mac: 
 
 "Chastelv recevved the mantel and the rvnge ; " 
 Min. P., p. 34 : 
 
 "She wol perhappous maken hir avowe 
 That she wol take the mantle and the ryng." 
 
Notes. 69 
 
 P. 9, 1. 269. demenyng. Cf. the Secrees, I. 1082 : 
 
 "Sad of his cheer, in his demenyng stable;" 
 Tevip. of Glas, 1. 750 : 
 
 " Hir sad demening." 
 
 1. 270. Words like sad, wise and end are dissyllabic in Chaucer, sad | de, 
 wys I e, end | e. 
 
 1. 272. philosophres : cofres. A stock rime from Chaucer; cf. Cant. Tales Pr. 
 1. 297-8 : 
 
 "And albe that he was a philosophre 
 Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre ; " 
 see also Man of L. Tale, 11. 25-6 ; Fr. Tale, 11. 843-4 ; Ch. V. Tale, 11. 
 283-4; Dr. of Ph. Tale, Pr. 1. 5-6; Leg. of G. IV., Pr. 11. 380-I ; Gower uses 
 it In Conf. Am., II., p. 197 and III., p. 163; Lydgate employs it again in 
 ALsop, 11. 1-3, in Secrees, 11. 34-5, 435-7, 540-2. Chaucer rimes philosophre 
 again with profre {Sec. N.Tale, 11. 489-90 ; Ch. Y. Tale, 11. III-12). 
 
 ]. 275. rychely beseene. Cf. Skelton. Carl, of Laur., 11. 482-3 : 
 "Wherein was set of Fame the noble Quene, 
 All other transcendynge, most rychely besene ; " 
 Temp, of Glas, 1. 1167 : 
 
 "Ai fressh and welbesein." 
 
 1. 280. morne: Sattirne. Cf. Temp, of Glas, 11. 480-I, moiirne: tiirne, 858-9, 
 nioiirne: refourme. 
 
 P. 10, 1. 296.//'Vi-5//(?=gorgeous, gay. Cf. Skelton, Garl. of Lau., 1. 39: 
 
 " Garnysshed fresshe after my fantasy." 
 1. 306. purpur. The M. E. spelling. Cf. Chaucer, Leg. of G. W., I., 1. 75 : 
 
 " With al her purpre sayle." 
 i. 2,0%. perles oryent. Cf. Chaucer, Leg. of G. W., Pr., 1. 221 : 
 
 " For of 00 perle, fyne, oriental ; " 
 see the Flow, afid Leaf line 148 : 
 
 " As greate pearles, round and oriente ; " 
 Skelton, Garl. of Lau.. 1. 4S5 : 
 
 "Fret all with orient perlys of garnete ; " 
 Lydgate's ^Esop., 1. 26 : 
 
 "Perils white, cliere, and oriental;" 
 John Day's Works (ed. Bullen, p. 37): "And as jewels, so the stones be 
 orient, artfully cut and ordgrlie sett." 
 
 1. 314. sulphure. Cf. Chaucer, LLo. of Fatne, 11. 1507-II : 
 "And next him on a piler stood, 
 Of sulfre .... 
 Dan Claudian .... 
 That bar up al the fame of helle, 
 Of Pluto, and of Proserpyne." 
 
 I. 316. Fortune the goddesse. This is that Fortune that was known to the 
 Middle Ages. Boethius gave her form and figure in the second book of 
 De Cons. Phil. Dante places her in the Fourth Circle of Hell (c. vii), say- 
 ing that for the splendors of the world there was ordained a general mistress 
 and guide who should ever and anon transfer the vain goods from race to 
 race, and from one blood to another beyond the resistance of human vyit 
 (Norton). This is the import of Cavalcante's fine Song of Fortune, begin- 
 ning, 
 
 " Lo ! I am she who makes the wheel to turn ; 
 Lo ! I am she who gives and takes away." 
 She is shewn in full form with her wheel in the Roman de la Rose (2d part, 
 
 II. 4863-8492). The English Romaunt speaks of "The froward Fortune 
 and contraire" (1. 5414). Chaucer describes her as going upright and yet 
 halting, as looking fair and yet foul {Bk. of the Duch., 11. 642-5): 
 
•JO Notes. 
 
 'She is th' envyous charite 
 
 That is av fals, and semeth wele 
 
 So turneth she her false whele 
 
 Aboute, for it is no-thing stable." 
 Lydgate savs in the Min. P., p. 122: 
 
 " Fortune shewithe ay, by chaungyng hir see, 
 How this world is a thurghefare ful of woo." 
 For a later description of Fortune and her wheel see King James' Quair, 
 St. 158-172. Fluellen said to Pistol {K. Hen. V., Act III., Sc. 6): "P'or- 
 tune is painted blind with a muffler afore her eyes, to signify to you that 
 Fortune is blind ; and she is painted also with a wheel, to signify to vou, 
 which is the moral of it, that she is turning and inconstant, and mutability, 
 and variation; and her foot, look you, is fixed upon a spherical stone, which 
 rolls and rolls." Note the painting of Fortune and her wheel by E. Burne- 
 Jones. The medigeval P'ortune was pictured by Raphael on the walls of the 
 Vatican. 
 
 1. 316. party face. Cf. Coitrt of Love, 11. 1 191-2 : 
 
 "Dissemble stode not ferre from hym in trouth, 
 With party mantill, party hode and hose." 
 The Temp, of Glas, 1. II55> '^^s the formula "in parti or in al." 
 
 1. 320. gawdy grene chamclet. Chamelet was a cloth made of camel's hair 
 and silk. Cf. Chaucer, A'iiif;/i/s Tale, 1. 122 1 : 
 
 "In gaude greene hir statue clothed was (Diana)." 
 
 1. 2)22. s ho u res. Figuratively = distribution, bestowment. See another usage 
 in 1. 732 = assault of battle. 
 
 P. II, 1. 325. russet. Russet was a name given to a coarse woolen cloth, reddish 
 brown in color and commonly worn by shepherds ; "clad in russet" was 
 proverbial for homeliness. See Skeat's note in Piers Plow., p. 208. The 
 color is taken from the cloth. Cf. Shaks. hamlet. Act I., i. 166 : 
 
 "The morn in russet mantle clad." 
 Prese'=irieze, a coarse woolen cloth. 
 
 1. 326. tar box. Every shepherd carried a box containing tar, which was 
 used to annoint the sores in sheep. Cf. Chest. PL, p. 120 : 
 "Heare is tarre in a potte 
 To heale from the rotte." 
 Skeat cites a carol in a Balliol MS., 354 (4iotes to Piers Plow., p. 195): 
 "The sheperd upon a hille he satt, 
 he had on hym his tabard and his hat, 
 hys tarbox, hys pype, and hys flagat." 
 See Percy's Rcliq., II., p. 256 : 
 
 "And least his tarbox should offend, he left it at the folde." 
 
 1. 329. the tnurre^=2i cold with hoarseness. Cf. Skelton, Magnyf., 1. 2287: 
 "And I gyve hym the cowghe, the murre, and the pose" (pose = rheum 
 in the head). 
 
 1. 330. Isys the goddesse. Lydgate, in his Fall of Princes, describes again a 
 number of the Divinities. Of Isis he says: 
 
 "She was right wise above other creatures. 
 
 Secrete of cunnynge, wele experte in science, 
 
 She taught first letters and figures 
 
 To I'-gipciens by pleyn experience, 
 
 Yave theym cunnynge and intelligence 
 
 To till the londe, taught the labourerys 
 
 To sowe their greyne and multiplie by yeres." 
 
 1. 340. in hys gyrdyll stede='\n place of his girdle. But cf. Stubbes' Anai, 
 of Abuses where gyrdlestead, used as a noun, signifies waist (1., p. 60). 
 
Notes. 
 
 71 
 
 1. 343. dysgysyd^^AtciktA out in strange guise. Cf. Lang., Piers Plow., Pr., 
 1.24: 
 
 "And some putten liem to pruyde .... comen disgised.^'' 
 Cf. Sec7'ees, 1. 1 170 : 
 
 "As the Sonne sliewith in liis gu\'se." 
 
 1. 344. Mynerue. Minerva as Pallas appears in Lydgate's Temp, of Glas, 
 "with her crista! sheld" (see Schick's notes, p. 87). 
 
 1. 350. that other ye wote where, i. e., on her breast. 
 
 \. ^i,(i. kendall. Probably the " Kendal Green," formerly manufactured by 
 the Flemish weavers who had established themselves in Kendall in the 14th 
 century. 
 
 12, 1. 361. iiieyfit^']o\ntd, p.p. of mingen. Cf. Tetnp. of Glas, 1. 276: 
 "That Rose and lileis togedir were so meint ; " 
 Spenser, F. Q. III. xi. 36 : 
 
 "When she with Mars was meynt in joyfulnesse." 
 
 I. 362. ne wer she. A common M. E. idiom. Cf. Piers Plow., Pr., 1. 199 : 
 
 "Nere (ne were) that cat of that courte that can yow ouerlepe ;" 
 idem, Pas iii., 1. 134 : 
 
 "Shireues of shires were shent gif she nere; " 
 idem, Pr., 1. 82 : 
 
 "Gif thei nere;" 
 Chaucer, Man of L. Tale, I. 34 : 
 
 "Nere (ne were) that a marchaunt, goon is many a yere ; " 
 Lydgate in Dannce of Pottles: 
 
 "Also ne were it mvn entent." 
 See Glossary of Chaucer's Works under "nere." 
 
 ]. 365. Mercurius. Mercury, as god of eloquence, appears in Tetnp. of Glas, 
 
 II. 130-32, and in Hawes' Past, of Pleas., p. 34. Lydgate speaks of him in 
 Falls of Princes as " Right fresshe, ryght lusty and full of hardyness." See 
 Schick's notes, pp. 80-1. Cf. Secrees, i. 1207: 
 
 "In Rethoryk helpith Mercuryvs." 
 I. 365. see^=se&\.. Cf. O. F. se; used in the sense of seat or throne in 
 Faery Queene, iv., 10, 30. 
 
 1. 368. /i7«jY/= surpassed, excelled. Cf. Flo-w. and Leaf, I. 168 : 
 "That of beautie she past hem everichone." 
 
 1. 371. mnltyplyers. For the "cursed craft" of multiplying, its materials 
 and processes, see the Prolog to the Chanouns Yeman's Tale and Gower's 
 Conf. Am., II., p. 84. The "spirits" employed were quicksilver, armoniac, 
 sulphur and arsenic. The multipliers, along with coin washers and clippers, 
 are classed among the vices (1. 681). 
 
 1. 373. ivhoos long here shone as wyre of goold bryght, i. e., as the fine glitter- 
 ing threads of goldsmiths' work. A favorite and tell-tale simile of Lyd- 
 gate's. See Schick, Temp, of Glas, notes, p. 88-90 ; Kolbing, Sir B. of 
 Hamtoun, notes, pp. 244-5 ; also the introduction to this text, p. Ivi. 
 
 1. 374. cryspe = iresh or firm. Most often crisp meant curled, as when 
 describing hair (cf. Chaucer, Knights Tale, 1. 1307) or rippled, as Milton's 
 "crisped shades" {Camus, 1. 984). Leigh Hunt has the present use in "It 
 (laurel) has been plucked nine months, and yet looks as hale and crisp as if 
 it would last ninety years." Cf. Browning, Ring and Book: 
 " The first crisp youth that tempts a jaded taste." 
 
 1. 374. columbyne = €i'Catx dove-like or in color like the columbine. In 
 Lydgate's Pur le Roy (Min. P., p. 8) the word is used in the first sense : 
 " Most columbyne of chere and of lokyng." 
 
7 2 Notes. 
 
 Chaucer (in March. Tale, 1. 897) has, 
 
 " Come forth now with thin eyghen columbine." 
 Venus is always, of course, associated with doves and roses. Cf. the 
 Knights Tale, 11. 1 1 02-4 : 
 
 "And on her heed, ful semely for to see, 
 A rose garland ful swete and wel smellyng. 
 And aboven hire heed dowves flikervng.'' 
 Cf. any mediaeval or modern painting of Venus when represented as the 
 " patronesse of plesaunce." 
 
 1. 383. 5-/(3^^= made glad. For this transitive use of glad cf. Chaucer, 
 Bk. of the Duck, \. 702 : 
 
 "May gladde me of my distresse ; " 
 Ho. of Fame, 1. 962 : 
 
 "And gladded me ay more and more ; " 
 Piers PlotLK, Pas. vi., 1. 12 1 : 
 
 "Shal no grevne that groweth glade yow at nede ; " 
 Temp, of Glas, 1. 1 2 1 1 ': 
 
 " Hertes to glade itroubled with derkness ;" 
 Browning, Ring and Book, p. 57 = 
 
 "What else shall glad our gaze." 
 Cf. Wyclif Magnificat: "My spiryt hath gladed in God myn helthe." 
 Lydgate also uses, 1. 532, "reioyse" ( = make glad) which came to take the 
 place of glad in this sense. 
 
 1. 389. phylosophyrs and poetes. Lydgate follows Dante in placing the 
 pagan philosophers and poets in Hell. See hiferno, c. iv. Dante men- 
 tions among the ancient teachers Socrates, Plato, Democritus, Diogenes, 
 Anaxagoras, Thales, Empedocles, Ileraciilus, Zeno, Dioscorides, Orpheus, 
 Tully, Linus, Seneca, Euclid, Ptolemv, Hippocrates, Avicenna, Galen, and 
 Averrhoes, and of course, Virgil, Homer, Ilorace, Ovid and Lucan. These 
 were in the First Circle, which contained the spirits of those who lived vir- 
 tuously but without Christianity. This is such a list as Hawes gives of 
 those who have achieved fame, and also Douglas of those who inhabit the 
 Palace of Honor. 
 
 P« I3> '• 397- Orace, Ouyde and Omere. This is the common spelling of these 
 names. Cf. Chaucer, Ho. of Fame \\. 1466, 1477, 1487. Omerus is found 
 in Secrees\. 378, etc. Euclyte occurs in Min. P. p. 88. 
 
 1. 400. Orpheus. He is mentioned also in Temp, of Glas (1. 1308), playing 
 upon a harp. 
 
 1. 402. carpe. Commonly meaning to talk, the term is sometimes found 
 applied to music, as here. Often in Lydgate in the sense of talk. Cf. 
 Chorl and Bird, Min. P., p. 19 1 : 
 
 " It ware but foly withe the more to carpe "; 
 Secrees, 1. 708 : 
 
 "To whoos counsayl in Arrabye folk carpe," etc. 
 See carpyng, 1. 439. 
 
 1. 404. to lawe. Cf. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, Pr. 1. 474, " lawghe ; " Piers Plow., 
 iv, 1. 153, "lawghyng ;" and .decrees, 1. 2535 : 
 
 " Man which lawheth with wyl and herte." 
 
 1. 408. foyson. Cf. Chaucer, Ml. Tale, Pr., 1. 57 : 
 
 "So that he fvnde Goddes foyson there " ; 
 Lydgate, Chorl and Bird, Min. P., p. 184 : 
 
 " And of alle devntes plente and foisoun ; " 
 Secrees, 1. 1644 : 
 
 "Or drynk old wyn in greet foysoun." 
 It is used in The Tempest, H. i. 
 
Notes. 7 3 
 
 1. 413. the festof Peleus. The story is that Discord (Eris), being excluded from 
 the feast of Peleus and Thetis, threw among the company a golden apple 
 inscribed "To the fairest." Then arose the dispute between Here, Aphro- 
 dite and Athena, wherein Paris was involved as judge of the fairest. The 
 prize fell to Aphrodite, who gave to Paris Helen, whence rose the Trojan 
 war. This was one of the most famous of the mediaeval tales of romance. 
 The strife of the goddesses is recorded in Gower's Conf. Am. Bk. V. The 
 story is referred to in Temp, of Glas, 11. 461-67. Robert of Bruune gives a 
 full account of the rape of Helen and the causes thereto in his Chroi. 11. 
 459 f/ seq. 
 
 1. 425. what in the denylh date. The meaning of this exclamation is indicated 
 by a passage in Skelton's Speke, Parrot, 11. 437-38 : 
 
 " Ryn God, rynne Devyll ! vet the date of ower Lord 
 And the date of the Devyll dothe shrewlye accord." 
 The Marriage charter of Lady Mede in Piers Plow. (Pass, ii) is sealed "in 
 the date of the devil," as other documents are written in the date of the 
 Lord. Cf Skelton, Bozvge of Court, 11. 375 and 455 : 
 
 " Lete thevm go, lowse ihevm, in the deuvHes date " ; 
 Magnificence 11. 2198 and 954 : 
 
 "What neded that, in the dyuyls date ! " 
 
 1. 426. hozve the game gooth. Cf. Rom. of the Rose, 1. 5030 : 
 " But how that evere the game go." 
 
 P. 14, 1. 441. 7V00 begoon. The opposite phrase is "well begon " as in Roman of 
 the Rose, 1. 693. 
 
 I. 447. my dart. In mediaeval imagery Death is most often represented as a 
 skeleton figure hurling against all men a spear or a dart. Cf. Mirrour of 
 the Per. of Alans Life: 
 
 " Now schaketh he his spere to smite me " ; 
 Court of Love, 1. 294 : 
 
 "Though Deth therefore me thirlith with his spere " ; 
 Occleve, De Reg. Prin. (ed. Wright, p. 76) : 
 
 " Death might have stayed his dart for a time." 
 See text 1. 1935. 
 
 The identification of Atropos (here a male figure) with Death is one of the 
 curious features of the poem. Cf Temp, of G las, 1. 782-3: 
 " Right so shall I, til Antropos me sleithe 
 For wele or wo, hir faithful man be found." 
 Atropos is one of the fates in Story of Thebes, fol. 374. 
 Cf. Bullein, .i Dialogue against the Fev. Pest. (E. E. T, p. II4) : 
 "Me thinke I doe see the fearful horseman lighted in the valley with a mar- 
 velous fearful saying, £tt adsum vobis viors vltima linia rerum, etc. Oh, 
 where shall we hide vs from him? He casteth forthe his HI dartes, and 
 taketh them vp again it is merciless Death most fearful," etc. 
 
 II. 449 ef. seq. Death's patent. It was one of the favorite subjects of contem- 
 plation how death brought every man to an end, however exalted his estate. 
 It was customary to refer to the " Nine Worthies" ' by way of illustration; 
 these were Joshua, Gideon, Samson, David, Judas Maccabaeus, Alexander, 
 Julius Caesar, Charles the Great, and Godfrey of Boulogne. When it was 
 desirous to prove that the world was false and vain, the question would be 
 asked. Where now is Solomon, Samson, Absalom, Jonathan, C?esar, Dives, 
 
 1 The Nine Worthies furnished stock illustrations to a late date. They are constantly referred 
 to by the dramatists as by Beaumont and Fletcher in Thierry and Theodoret f Dyceed. I, p. 
 x^-3,). Laws of Candy (V, p. 331), The Double Marriage (VI, p. 387), The Prophetess 
 (VIII, p. 266). They appear on the stage in character in ftliddleton's The ll'ortd Lost at 
 Tennis (Bullen ed. VII, p. 165), where fhey are described by Pallas as they dance in the 
 masque. They were favorite subjects for tapestry (Weber) as appears in Beau, and Fl. 
 Doub. .Mar. (Dyce ed. VI, p. 387) : 
 
 " Thou woven Worthy in a piece of arras. 
 Fit only to enjoy a wall." 
 
7 4 Notes. 
 
 Tully, or Aristotle (see I/ymns to the Virgin, E. E. T., p. 86 — c. 1400). 
 Chaucer's list of those who have been brought low is given in the Monk's 
 Tale; they are Lucifer, Adam, Sampson, Ercules, Nabugodonosore, Balthazar, 
 Zenobia, Petro (of Spayne), Petro (of Cipres), Barnabo, Hugilin, Nero, Oli- 
 phern, Antiochius, Alisaunder, Julius Cesar and Cresus. Hawes enumerates 
 these whom Eame holds in remembrance: Hector, Josue, Judas Machabeus, 
 Davyd, Alexander, Julius Sesar, Arthur, Charles and Godfrey (/'(/.f/. of Pleas.) 
 To illustrate the theme that all stand in change like a midsummer rose, 
 Lydgate cites elsewhere David, Salamon, Jonathas, Julius, Pirrus of Vnd, 
 Alexander, Nabigodonosor, Sadociopall, Tullius, Crisostomus, Omerus, Senec, 
 and many knights (Min. P., p. 22; see also p. 122). Cf. the tone of the 
 Roxbury Ballad Fareivell to the World: 
 "for worldlie pleasure is but vanitie; 
 
 None can redeeme this life from death, I see ; 
 
 Nor Cresus' wealth, nor Alexander's fame. 
 
 Nor .Sanii)son's strength, that could Death's fury tame." Rox. B. II, p. 25. 
 In that most doleful of poems Wiggleworth's Vanity of Vanities the motive 
 is repeated in a new land : 
 
 "If Beauty could the Beautiful defend 
 From Death's dominion, then fair Absalom 
 Had not been brought to such a shameful end ; 
 But fair and foul unto the Grave must come. 
 
 If Wealth or Scepters couUl Immortal make, 
 Then wealthy Croesus, wherefore art thou dead ? 
 If Warlike-force which makes the World to quake. 
 Then why is Julius Caesar perished ? 
 
 Where are the Scipio's Thunderbolts of War ? 
 
 Renowned Pompey, Caesar's Enemy ? 
 
 Stout Hannibal, Rome's Terror known so far? 
 
 Great Alexander, what's become of thee ? 
 
 — Libr. Amer. Lit. II, p. 17. 
 See also Lydgate's Dance of Macaivbre and Story of Thebes, fol. 387 ; Barc- 
 lay's Ship of Fools, I, p. 264 ; Love's Labor's Lost, VI, 130 ; V, Sc. I. 1. 130 ; 
 Southwell's Image of Death, etc. Petrarch's Triumph of Death may also be 
 compared. 
 
 P. 15, 1. 470- Nabtigodonozbr. This is the pronunciation in Chaucer. The spell- 
 ing Nabuchodonosor occurs in the Vulgate (Dan. I., iv) ; this is the usage of 
 Gower (v. Conf. Am. Bk. I, near end), and Chaucer {Monk's Tale, 1. 155 ; 
 Ho. of F. 1. 515), and Langland {Piers Plow. Pas. vii, 1. 153). 
 
 1. 471, Pharao is the spelling of the Vulgate ; Chaucer has Pharo {Ho. of F. 
 1. 516) but Pharao in Bk. of the Duck. 1. 282. 
 
 1. 490. aldyrs. The final s must be a scribal error; but cf. 11. 579, 599. 
 
 1. 492. Cf. Chaucer, Knights Tale, 11. 445-8 : 
 
 "() cruel goddes, that governe 
 This world with byndyng of voure word eterne 
 And wryten in the table of alhamaunt 
 Your parlement and your eterne graunt." 
 
 1. 493. pesecoddys. This is the form employed bv Lydgate in Min. P. p. 105, 
 Secrees 1. 1374, and by Langland in Piers Phnc. Pas. vi, 1. 294, xiii (C), 
 1. 221, and by Skelton IVhy come, etc., 1. 108. The Secrees has 
 " Benys rype and pesecoddys grene." 
 
 P. 16, 1. 499. i';;-(7j7/t'= started up. Cf. yEsop, Fab. 2. 1. 90 : 
 "Til sodainly al abrayde"; 
 Temp of Glas, 1. 1054 : 
 
 "Til at the last of routhe she did abraide "; 
 
Notes. 7 5 
 
 Secrees, 1. 308 : 
 
 "Till I abrayde in purpoos to resorte." 
 See "braid," N. E. Diet. 
 
 1. 501. boody, blood and boonys. " Blood and bone " is a common formula in 
 the Metrical Romances. 
 
 1. 503. malapert. Cf. Lydgate. Min. P., p. 23 : 
 
 "Clatering pyes .... 
 Most malapert there verdit to purpose " ; 
 idem p. 166 : 
 
 " Maleapert of chiere and of visage " (said of a jay). 
 
 1. 513. leyte. The other texts read " leytenynge " — which is, of course, meant. 
 
 1. 530. hyt fell on a day. Lydgate has this formula in Min. P., p. 74 : " It fil 
 on a tyme." 
 
 1. 530. wedyr. Weddiris still the folk pronunciation in portions of Scotland. 
 Cf. Barbour's ^mr^ III., 1. 387: 
 
 " Till wyntir weddir war away." 
 
 P. 17, 1. 534. dresse^=d\reci. See 1. 1512 : " Myn ey gan I dresse." Cf. Chaucer, 
 Ml. Tale, 1. 282 : 
 
 " And to the chambre dore he gan him dresse ;" 
 Gentl., 1. 3 : 
 
 " Must folowe his trace and alle his wittes dresse." 
 
 1. 550. ray. Ray means properly a ray, streak, stripe ; but was commonly 
 used to designate a striped cloth (Skeat). See Lyd., Lond. Lackpetiny, 
 "a long gown of raye.''' The plural is found in P. PI. Pas. v, 1. 211, 
 "Among the riche rayes." Barclay (^Ship of Fools, I, p. 35) refers to honest 
 ray=striped cloth. See Mem. of Lond. ed. Riley. I. p. 109 for definition^ 
 "one piece of striped cloth." Cf. Peele, Edtvard I., Sc. 6, 1. 22 : 
 "My milk-white steed treading on cloth of ray." 
 
 1. 561. Cf. Chaucer, Man of L. Talc 1. 483: 
 " But tourne ayein I wil to my mateere ; " 
 Lydgate Min. P. p. 140 : 
 
 " But to resorte ageyn to my mateere." 
 
 1. 562. And to I begyn | ne new | e where | I left. Few lines run as 
 smoothly as this. The final e comes naturally into use. 
 
 1.563. liesy peyn. The phrases " besy peyn " and " besy cure " are very 
 common in Lydgate and Chaucer. See Lydgate's Min. P., p. 87 ; ^sop. 
 Fab. 2, I. 55, Fab. 6, 1. 136; Secrees, 1. 738, 1012; Chaucer, Pari, of F. 1. 
 369; Compl. 1. 2, 119, etc. This text has it again in 1. 746. Spenser uses 
 the phrase as in Faerie Qneene V. xii. 26. 
 
 P. 18, 1. 597- nat worth a pcere. The writers of the period had a variety of ex- 
 pressions signifying worthlessness. See 1. 493, not give 2 pesecoddes; 
 1. 560, rekke nat a strawe ; 1. 1607, then a myte. Cf. JMort. d' Art. XV., cap. 
 vi (ed. Southey, II. p. 254) : 
 
 " Vayne glory of the world, the whiche is not worth a pere." 
 Chaucer has "Not worth a mvte" in Knights Tale, 1. ']00, Samp. Tale, 1. 253, 
 Sec. N. Tale, 1. 5 1 1, Ch. Vem. Tale, Pr. 1. 80 ; " Not worth a flye " in Pari, of F., 
 1. 501 ; "Not worth a bene" in Merch. Tale. In the Rom. of the Rose are 
 "Not worth a croked brere," 1. 6191 ; and "Not worth an hen," 1. 6856. In 
 Piers Plow, is "She counteth nought a russhe," Pas. iii, 1. 141. Gower 
 uses "Not worth a kerse," Conf. Am. I, p. 334, and "Not worth a stre," I, 
 p. 364. Skelton has "Set not a nut shell," Col. CI. 1. 1227. Cf. Dunbar, 
 Fre. Hon. and Nob. 1. 42 : 
 
 "Set not by this warld a chirrv." 
 Douglas says (Works II, p. 1 16, 1. 19) : "I compt it neuir a myte." 
 
76 Notes. 
 
 1. 600. rt't'^^'^injiire. Cf. Rom. of the Rose. 1. 4336 : 
 
 "Mav falle a weder that shal it dere." 
 
 1. 601. a son of iiiyne. With what an imperfect imagination Lydgate grasps 
 the symbolism of his poem may he gathered by comparing this mere refer- 
 ence of \'ice as the bastard son of I'luto with the mighty passage in Mil- 
 ton's Par. Lost (Bk. X) which describes the relationship of Satan and Sin 
 and Death. Then I have misgivings for having attempted to revive this 
 Lydgate ; one then realizes the force of Prof. Lounsburv's remark in his 
 Studies in Chaucer that it is unfortunate that the dead j)ast cannot bury 
 not only its dead but its bores. 
 
 1. 602. ^'awrtn/= reduction of vantward. Cf. Sliakes. I/e>i. V, iv, 3 : 
 
 "Ibeg 
 My lord, most humbly on mv knee 
 The leading of the vaward." 
 This form is found as late as Drayton's Agincourt, Ode XII : 
 "The eager vaward." 
 
 P. 19, 11. 610 et seq. the battle. Bunyan's Holy War offers many parallels to the 
 conduct of this battle. Thus we are told that the P'ather appointed his Son 
 to captain the forces of Good, that Emanuel chose five captains to accom- 
 pany him, captains Credence, Good-hope, Charity, Innocent, and Patience, 
 each with a standardbearer and holy escutcheon to advance ten thousand 
 men. Emanuel rode at their head in a chariot. The army of Diabolushad 
 set over it other captains : Diabolusthe King, Incredulity, the Lord-general, 
 the seven chief captains Beelzebub, Lucifer, Legion, Appollvon, Python, 
 Cerberus and Belial, and minor captains Rage, Furv, Damnation, Insatiable, 
 Brimstone, Torment, No-ease, Sepulchre and Past-Hope. This armv, 
 uncountable in number, set out from Hell-gate Hill and came by a straight 
 course toward Mansoul, whose five gates (the five senses) they attack with 
 varying fortune though with ultimate defeat. The general question of 
 Bunyan's sources and models has not been fully considered. While it is 
 apparent that he drew almost wholly from the Bible and his own conscience, 
 yet his work must have been in part determined bv the traditional accounts 
 of Mansoul's Wars. 
 
 1. 612. dereygne^^i>(tt in order, prepare. Cf. Chaucer, A'nights Tale, 1. 773: 
 
 " Bothe suffisient and mete to darreyne." 
 Cf. Spenser, F. Q. IV. iv. 26 : 
 
 " Unable he new battell to darraine." 
 
 1. 617. Vyce, etc. It is possible to form from the drawings. Moral Plavs and 
 literature of the period a very accurate picture of the different vices as 
 objectified in human symbol. If Lydgate is wanting here in descriptiveness 
 it is probably because the work of delineation had been done before him 
 and nothing more was needed beyond mere mention. Langland in Piers the 
 Plowman (Pas. v) is especially realistic and dramatic : 
 " Now awaketh Wratthe with two whvte even. 
 
 And nyuelvnge with the nose and his nekke hangynge ; " 
 "Thanne come Sleuthe al bislabered, with two slymy eighen ; " 
 "Eche a worde that he (envy) warpe was of an addres tonge, 
 Of chydvnge and of chalangynge was his chief lyflode, 
 With bakbitvnge and bismer and bervng of fals witnesse." 
 See especially Covetousness rjuoteil below (1. 626). 
 - In such character the \'ices were kept constantly before the people in play and 
 / pageant, which i)ractice was continued until late as witnessed bv Richard 
 Tarlton's play of the Seven Deadly Sins, in which Lvdgate himself is 
 presented as moving the scenes (cf. Collier, Hist. Dr. P. Ill, p. 394), and by 
 such a remark as that "made bv Dick Bowyer in Tryall of Che~'alry (c. 1605, 
 Old Plays, ed. Bullen, III): "If I had a pageant to present of the seven 
 deadly sinnes, he should play Slouth." So long as these characters remained 
 
Notes. 7 7 
 
 before the people Lydgate's description was sufficient. I make this note 
 because everywhere the relation between the pictorial, scenic and literary 
 art of the period must be emphasized. 
 
 For the subjective conception see Chaucer's Pers. Tale and Gower s Conf. 
 Am. etc. For a later characterization see Day's Tractates (c. 1600) ed. 
 Bulien. 
 
 1. 617. cure boyle. This is one of many expressions relating to tournament 
 which were introduced into literature, in this case from the P>ench, during 
 the Middle Ages. It means literally "boiled leather." It seems that the 
 knights wore under their coat of mail a garment made either of silk and 
 then called " wafenhemd" or of leather and called "curie." The latter 
 garment was worn in France. It was made of strong leather made pliable 
 by boiling. Chaucer in Tale of Sir Th. 1. 164 uses the phrase, "His 
 jambeaux were of quirboily," the term being interpreted as "tanned 
 leather." Prof. Skeat (notes to Pr. T. p. 166) gives references to Marco 
 Polo (ed. Yule, II, 49) where the men of Carajan are said to wear " armes 
 cuiraces "de cuir bouille ;" also to Froissart (V. IV, cap. 19) who says 
 the Saracens covered their targes with " cuir bouille." The term occurs in 
 Barbour's Bruce XII 1. 21-2: 
 
 " And on his basnet hye he bar 
 Ane hat off qwyrbolle ay-quhar." 
 
 In Recuyell of the Hist, of Troye '' armed well with quyer boullye " translates 
 
 thfe Fr. "armez de moult beaux habillemens courroyez.'' 
 
 See Cutts, Scenes and Char, of M. A., p. 344- 
 
 1. 620. croppeand roote. Lydgate makes a very frequent use of this formula. 
 
 See Temp, of Glas, 1. 455 : ' 
 
 " Humble and benygne, of trouth crop and rote." 
 
 See Schick's references in notes to Temp, of Glas, p. 98. Chaucer has it in 
 
 Troyl. and Crys., II., 1. 348 : 
 
 " And ye, that be of beaute crop and roote." 
 
 It occurs in Dunbar, The Flyting, 1. 73 : 
 
 " Thow crop and rute of traitouris tressonable." 
 
 It is an expression still common in Scotland (W. Gregor). Dunbar has 
 
 also " crop and grayne " ( The Warldis Instab., 1. 99)- Lydgate in Mm. P. 
 
 uses "roote and grounde " (p. 123), " gynnyng and roote" (p. 125) 
 
 "gynnyng and ground" (238), and in this poem "roote and rynde"_(l. 66). 
 
 Caine in "77/^ Mafixinan (ch. xxii.) has "neck and crop" and Meredith the 
 
 same phrase in The Ordeal of Pich. Feverel. 
 
 1. 621. Pryde. Pride is put the first as the master sin; by that sin fell the 
 
 angels : 
 
 "For Lucifer with hem that felle 
 Bar Pride with him in to helle " — Gow., Conf. Am., I., p. 153. 
 
 He appears again as General of the Army of Sin in Day's Tractates (Tract. 
 
 7, ed., BuUen, p. 55). See Introd. p. Ixxii. 
 
 1. 622. Pryde on a lyon, etc. In the symbolism of the Middle Ages animals 
 were used as signs of vices and virtues. The custom was started by the 
 theologians, notably Jerome. In certain of the early Bestiares, as the Renart 
 k A^o«W(i288) the animals were first associated with the Moralities. Dante 
 in entering the dark wood was confronted by a leopard, a lion and a wolf, 
 typical of certain sins. In the Ancren Riivle the symbolism is well estab- 
 lished. In the processional described in the Faerie Qiieene (I., iv.) Idleness 
 is seen riding upon an ass, Gluttony on a swine, Lechery on a goat, Avarice 
 on a camel, Envv on a wolf and Wrath upon a lion. Bunyan makes some use 
 of this traditional symbolism in the lions that guarded the palace Beautiful. 
 
 1.622. Eiiiiv. Envy is personified in the Temp, of Glas, 1. 147; cf. also 
 Ro»i.ofthe'Rose,\.2i,^; Court of Love, 1. 1254, etc. For the portrait of 
 Envy see Spenser, F. Q., V., xii., 29-32. 
 
78 Notes. 
 
 1. 626. Cottelyse. A fine description of Covetousness is drawn by Langland 
 in Piers Plow. Pas. v., 11. 188-94 : 
 
 "And thanne cam Couevtise .... 
 
 So hungriliche and hohve, sire llervv hvm loked, 
 
 He was bitelbrowed and baberlipped also, 
 
 With two blered eyghen as a blynde hagge ; 
 
 And as a letheren purs lolled his chekes, 
 
 Wei sydder than his chyn thei chiueled for elde ; 
 
 And as a bondman of his bacoun his berde was bidraueled." 
 This Vice is often mounted upon a horse that he may speed more quickly, 
 as in Evil Times of Ed., II. (Polit. Songs, p. 326) : 
 
 "Coveytise upon his hors he wole be sone there 
 
 And bringe the bishop silver, and rounen in his ere." 
 Covetise is personified in the Temp, of Glas, 1. 244. The fifth book of 
 Gower's Con}'. Am. is devoted to Avarice. 
 
 1. 627. olyfatuit. This is the spelling of Maundeville and Skelton. " Oli- 
 phantes " is found in l.vndesay's iMonarc/te, 1. 2295. 
 
 1. 631. Slo-othe. Sloth is personified in Temp, of Glas, 1. 244. See Rom. of 
 (he Pose, 11. 531, 593, 1273, etc. ; Faery Queene, I., iv, 18, etc. 
 
 1. 636. Symony. Note the feeling of Langland in this matter, Piers Plow., 
 Pas. ii., 11. 62-3, 86: 
 
 " Ac Symonve and cyuile and sisoures of courtes 
 Were most prvue with Mede ;" 
 the priests wish to live in London 
 
 "And syngen there for symonye for silver is swete." 
 See Dante's Inferno (c. xix.) for the punishment of the guilt of Simony. 
 
 P. 20, 1. 640. lelacy. Jealousy is personified in the Temp, of Glas, 1. 1 48. See Pom. 
 of the Pose, 1. 3820 ; Pari, of F., 1. 252 ; Quair, 877. 
 
 1. 644. Vsury. Usury was the special sin of Avarice (v. P. PL, Pas. v., 1. 
 240-52). All usury was prohibited as a sin by the Canon Law (Southey, 
 Bk. of the Church, p. 187). It was the theory of the schoolmen that the tak- 
 ing of interest was unholy since money was not of itself productive. Dante 
 consigned usurers to one of the lowest regions of Hell. The ctmtinued pre- 
 judice in England against the money lender is testified by Shakespeare's 
 Merchant of Venice, and Bacon repeated the old theory, " It is against nature 
 for money to beget money." Cf. a Roxbury Ballad (I., p. 426): 
 " The Usurers follow, 
 
 That pawnes have in hand ; 
 With whoop and with hollow 
 
 They call for the Land 
 W'hich spend-thrifts pawne to them 
 
 While for cash they hye ; 
 To live to undoe them 
 
 This bargaine they'l buy." 
 1. 648. Boldnes \ in Yll \ with Foul \ e Ry \ bandy. In this line the final e 
 in foule seems to be pronounced. But Text B and the Prints read Foule 
 and Rybaudy. 
 
 1. 655- New-fa7igylnes. The love of novelty seems to have been considered 
 a special vice of the times. Lydgate in Min. P. (p. 71) speaks of "the ser- 
 pent of newfangelnesse " and says (p. 60) : 
 
 " I-bannysshed have newfangelnesse 
 And put in his ])lace persevcraunce." 
 Chaucer writes against "Women Unconstant": 
 " Madame, for your newe fangelnesse 
 Many a servaunt have ye put out of grace .... 
 To newe thing your lust is ever kene." 
 See also An. a7id Arc, 1. 141; Leg. of G. Worn., Pr., 1. 154. Nichol New- 
 
Notes. 
 
 79 
 
 fangle is the "Vice " in the interlude Like will to Like (1568). This is also 
 one of Stubbes' "Abuses " (p. 31). 
 
 1.666. Idylnesse. Lydgate calls Idleness the " Moder to vices" (Min. P., 
 p. 88) and the "Chief porteresse " of the vices (Min. P., p. 68). In yEsop 
 he says again that "Vice alle proceden of idelnesse." Cf. Chaucer, Sec. AF. 
 Tale, 11. 1-3 : 
 
 "The ministre and the norice unto vices, 
 
 Which that men clepe in English ydelnesse, 
 
 The porter of the gate is of delyces." 
 
 I. 668. bid there 7vas an \^h'\ost! Considering the chief vices as roots and 
 stems, the secondary branches and twigs become innumerable. Thus Chaucer 
 enumerates in the Pers. 7 ale among the tviigs from the root of pride inobe- 
 dience, avaunting, ypocrisve, despit, arragaunce, impudence, swellyng of 
 hert, insolence, elacioun, impacience, strif, contumacie, presumpcioun, irrev- 
 erence, pertinacie, and veinglorie. This gives material and scope for incal- 
 culable growth and differentiation. Give the fancy play and in a moment 
 one exclaims with Barclay {Skip of Fools, I., p. 4) : 
 
 "For yf 1 had tunges an hundreth : and wyt to fele 
 
 Al thinges natural and supernaturall, 
 
 A thousand mouthes : and voyce as harde as stele, 
 
 And sene al the seven sciences lyberal, 
 
 Ytt cowde I neuer touche the vyces all, 
 
 And syn of the worlde : ne theyr braunches comprehende : 
 
 Nat thoughe I lyued vnto the worlds ende." 
 For the abundance of vices of the time of Henry VIII., v. Tlie Hy Way to 
 /■//if 6"/i///-//()«JC (Bartholomew's Hospital, London): description in Furnivall's 
 ed.of Capt. Cox, etc. (Ballad Soc.) p. ci-ciii. — twenty-three sets of unfortunates. 
 See especially the list of "unthrifts," p. ciii. Cf. Wyclif's list of sins in 
 Fifty Heresies and Errors of Friars (ed., Arnold, HI., p. 366). Cf. the 
 vices that voyage in Barclay's Ship of Fools ; also those satirized in Skel- 
 ton's Bowge of C^urt 2ir\A ih.Q list of rogues in the Miracle Plav, The Last 
 Judgment {KoxhuTge C\uh). For the species of rogues and vagabondes in 
 Elizabethan England, cf. Thornbury, Shales. Engl., I., ch. viii.; Decker's 
 English Villanies, Harrison's England, II., ch. xi., passim: Three Tracts 
 about Old Rogues, ed. by Viles and Furn. (N. Shaks. Soc); Stubbes' Anat- 
 omy of Abuses (N. Shaks. Soc). These enumerations throw much light upon 
 the practical life of the time. Many of the Commons in Lydgate's list are 
 not known to us even by name. 
 
 P. 21,1. 673 et. seq. Langland groups "bakbiteres, breke-chestes, brawleres and 
 chideres" {P. PL, Pas. xvi., 1. 43). 
 
 II. 674, 676. /rtj£'r5=boasters, <:;'«/?'£';-.?= vaunters. See Skelton, Garl. ofLaur,, 
 11. 188-9 : 
 
 "Some lidderons, some losels, some noughty packis; 
 Some facers, some bracers, some make great crackis ;" 
 Borde, Bk. of Kno'vl.: 
 
 " I wyll boost myselfe, I wyll crake and face ;" 
 Barclay, Ship of Fools, I., p. 198 : 
 
 "For greatest crakers ar nat ay boldest men. 
 
 1. 679. scismatykes. Cf. Piers Ploiv., Pas. xi., 1. 1 14-15 : 
 "For Cryste cleped vs alle come if we wolde, 
 Sarasenes and scismatikes and so he dyd the lewes." 
 
 1. 681. coyn wasshers and clyppers. For the evil of counterfeiting, etc., cf. 
 Hoccleve's Complaint, Min. P., xxi. 
 
 1. 685. tregetours. For the pretentions of these tricksters see Frank. Tak,\\. 
 413-20: 
 
8o Notci. 
 
 "Which as the subtile tregetours pleyen 
 For oft at testes have I herd seyen, 
 That tret{ettoures, wilhinne an halle large, 
 I Ian made in come water and a barge, 
 And in the hall rowen up and doun ; 
 Sometyme hath semed come a grym leoun 
 Som tvme a castel al of lym and ston, 
 And whan hem liked voyded it anon." 
 
 1. 691. stalkers by night. A proclamation was made in London in 1329 
 to the effect that no one should be so daring as to go wandering about the 
 city after the hour of Curfew (see Meiiior. of Loud., ed. Rilev. 1, p. 173; II, 
 p. 482). 
 
 1. 692. brekers of lofedayes. Love-days were days fixed for settling differences 
 by umpire. Cf. Cov. Myit : 
 
 " Now is the love-day mad of us foure fyniallv, 
 Now may we leve in pes as we were wonte." 
 A passage in Wyclif's Tracts (Works, ed. Arnold III, p. 322) throws light 
 upon the custom. We see k'lights and yeomen kneeling in the castle 
 chapel, a general gathering in the hall, statements from both sides, arbitra- 
 tion and reconciliation (Arnold). 
 
 1. 693. getters. Cf. Barclay, Ship of Fools., I, p. 146 : 
 
 " Ye wasters and getters by nyght." 
 In Bunyan's Pilg. Prog, is a schoolmaster who taught the art of "getting" 
 either by violence or cozenage, flattery, lying, etc. 
 
 1.694. Tyiyuyllys. Any person with evil propensities (Collier). Douce derives 
 the name from Titivilitium, a word used by Plautus. Collier suggests its 
 derivation from lotus and vilis. He appears in Tlie Mirroure of Oure Ladye 
 (E. E. T. p. 54) saying "I am a poure dyvel and my name ys Tytyvyllus." 
 His ofifice was to bring to his master every day one thousand bags of sylla- 
 bles skipped in reading and singing the divine service in the churches. He 
 appears in this character in MS. Lansd. 762 ((juoted by Wright ): 
 " Hii sunt qui Psalmos corrumpunt nequitur almos : 
 Jangler cum jasper, lepar, galper quocjue, draggar, 
 Momeler, for-skvpper. for-revnner, sic et over-leper, 
 Fragmina verborum Tutivilliis zo\\\Q^\\. horum." 
 He became a common figure in the plays as any evil fellow. He is one of 
 the devils in the play of The Last fudgment, where he seems to be a church- 
 man opposing the heresy of Wyclif. He is a fiend in a Townely Mystery 
 (pp. 310, 319) and a lawless fellow in Kalf Roister Doister. He is a fiend in 
 Mankind representing the sin of the flesh. Skelton {Col. CI. 1. 41S) uses the 
 phrase " and talkvs Ivke tytvuelles," probably here a tale-bearer, in which 
 character he appears in Rogues and Fag. (N. Shaks. Soc. p. 15). In Stubbes' 
 Anal. 0/ Abuses he is a flatterer (p. 122). The word occurs again in Skel- 
 ton's Garl. of L.aur., 1. 642. See Collier, Hist. Dr. P. II, pp. 146, 297, 223; 
 Dvce's notes on Skelton ; notes to Afyrrour of O. Ladye, p. 342. 
 
 1. 6g6. far^/t'/'.i'— card-plavers. For the punishment for cheating at play see 
 Mem. of L^ond. (ed. Riley, II, p. 395). "Turning the tables" was one 
 method of cheating. 
 
 1. 696. closshers. This was a kind of game. Cf. Stubbes' Anat of Ab. 
 notes p. 316: an act of Hen. VHI. — "noe manner of person shall . . . . 
 kepe . . . any alley or place of bowlinge Coytinge, Cloyshe, Coyles, etc." 
 
 1. 697. Tyburne. The place of execution in London. Cf. Rowland's A 
 Fooles Bolt is soone Shot: 
 
 "Of Tybourne (i. e. the gallows) common liye-way cannot fayle." 
 Harrison {England II, ch. 16) calls the halter a " Tiburne tippet." This 
 was also the name of a prison in London. Coloppys means pieces of meat, 
 
Notes. 8 1 
 
 used figuratively often for children (as in T. Hen. vi, v. 5). " Tyburne 
 coloppys " may have been a slang phrase. Cf. Cocke Lorelles Bote, C. i. a. 
 
 1. 698. double tolly ng wj/Z/crj- ^ those millers who tolled with a too "golden 
 thumb." 
 
 1. 702. /^rti/'f/'i-^receivers of stolen goods etc. Cf. Stubbes' Anat. of Ab. 
 Pt. II., p. 40. 
 
 1. 707. sotyll rtw/)/£/^x/rf5 = Jacks-of-both-sides. "Ambidexter is that jurous 
 orembraceour that taketh of both parties for the giving of his verdict" (Cowell'r 
 Inter pretei'). A tricksey character called Ambidexter appears in Bullein's 
 Dialogue against the Fev. Pest. (E. E. T. p. 20), Cf. Middleton, Fam. 0/ 
 Love, V, 3 : " I'll play Ambidextei " ; also Peele, Sir Cly. and Sir Clam., sc. 
 vi, 1. 77. In an early American poem by Ebenezer Cook reference is made to 
 "an ambidexter Quack 
 
 Who learnedlv had got the knack 
 
 Of giving glisters, making pills. 
 
 Of tilling bonds and forging wills " — Libr. of Amer. Lit. II, 273. 
 Stubbes in his Anatomy of Abuses speaks of " doble dealing ambodexters" 
 (p. 141). 
 
 1. 708. Sodomy tes. Used by Stubbes to signify fornicators {Anat of Ab. 
 I. p. 145). 
 
 P. 22, 1. 710. ivetewoldes that suffre syn in her syghtes. A wittol was a tame 
 "cuckold "—one who had knowledge of his wife's infidelity. Skelton, 
 Garl. of Laur, 1. 187, refers to " wetewoldis." Middleton in Chast Maid of 
 Cheapside gives a picture of one. Cf. Shaks. Mer. W. of Wind., II, 2 : 
 
 " But cuckold ! wittol-cuckold ! the Devil himself hath not such a name." 
 Cf. Loves' s Labour's Lost, v, 904-12 : 
 
 "When Daisies pied and Violets blew 
 
 And Cockow-buds of vellow hew 
 
 And Ladie-smokes al silver white, 
 
 Do paint the Meadowes with delight, 
 
 The cuckow then on everie tree 
 
 Mocks married men ; for thus sings he. 
 
 Cuckow ! 
 
 Cuckow ! Cuckow ! O worde of feare, 
 
 Unpleasing to a married eare." 
 
 1. 711. abhominable. This is the regular spelling of the N. E. abominable in 
 
 0. Fr. and in English from Wyclif to the seventeenth century. This spelling 
 is defended by Holofeines in Love's Lab. Zoj/ against the " racker of orthog- 
 raphy" who would say abominable. 
 
 1. 711. auauntours. Cf. Chaucer, /'t'r.f. Tale: "Avauntour is he that bosteth 
 of the harm or of the bounte that he hath don." 
 
 1. 713. vnthryftys. Cf. Barclay, Ship of Fooles, I, p. 2 : 
 " But such Unthriftes as sue theyr canial lust." 
 
 1. 714. loselles. Cocke Losel or Lorel was a generic term for a rascal. Cf. 
 Browning, Sti-afford. Ill, 2, 1. 170. 
 
 1. 717. for to say. The common M. E. usage. "For to fet," 1. 1 1 55. 
 
 1. 727- L will auauntage take where I ?/iay. Cf. the words of Legion in Bun- 
 yan's Holy War: " Therefore let us assault them in all pretended fairness, 
 covering our intentions with all manner of lies, flatteries, delusive words." 
 
 1. 732. wor/'fl// = equivalent to "lethalis," deadly. Cf. yEsop, Fab. 4, 1. 34, 
 "Of mortal hunger." 
 
 1. 732. shoure — conflict, struggle. O. E. scur. Commonly applied to the 
 assault of battle. See line 1042. 
 
8 2 Notes. 
 
 1. 742. to me ward. Toward was frequently divided and the object inserted 
 between the parts as here. Cf. II Cor. 3: 4 : "And such trust have we 
 through Christ to God-ward." 
 
 P. 23, 1. 748. Ymaginacion. Note the part played by Imaginative in Piers Plow. 
 Pas. xii. 
 
 1. 760. mowle. Mowe and mowte are common in M. E. See 1. 264 where 
 mought rimes with fought. 
 
 1.766. lest and moost. A common formuhi in Lydgate, Chaucer and other 
 writers. Cf. Cli. Tale, 1. 460 : 
 
 " F"aire they were welcomed bothe lest and meste." 
 Langland (Piers Ilo-v., Pas. ii, 1. 45) has "the lasse and the more." 
 
 1- 773- trayne. Cf. Fairfax's Tasso, II, 1. 89: 
 
 "So lions roar, enclos'd in train or trap"; 
 Fairy Queetie, Bk. I, c. iii, st. 24 : 
 
 "By traynes into new troubles to have toste." 
 Milton has "wily trains" in Covins, 1. 151. Shakespeare uses it once in 
 this sense in Macbeth, W . 3. 
 
 1. 773. col/rop = a. pointed iron instrument strewn in battle fields to hinder 
 cavalry. Cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, Love's Pilgrimage : 
 "I think they ha' strew'd the highways with caltraps, 
 No horse dares pass 'em." 
 It occurs in Middeton, Women Be^vare Women. Cf. the proper name 
 Caultrap. 
 
 1.776. Vyce liys. See "Vertewhys," I. 798 etc. The corruption of his 
 for O.E.-es, the genitive termination, is found as early as Layamon's Brut; 
 "For Gwenayfer his love." "Inewas the forste mon that Peter his peny 
 bigan" Brut, (B.)III., 1. 285. The Prayer Book has "For Christ his sake." 
 Cf. Stubbes' Anat. of Abuses (1583) p. 75 : "Every poore Yeoman his 
 daughter, every Husbandman his daughter, and every Cottager his daughter." 
 This use occurs in Spenser, Shakespeare and Bacon and did not die out until 
 the eighteenth century. Ben Jonson, English Grammar XIII, calls it "the 
 monstrous svntax of the pronoun his joining with a noun betokening a 
 possessor"; and yet Addison, Spectator No. /jj, writes that " the same single 
 letter (s) . . . represents i\\e his and her of our forefathers"; v. Marsh Lec- 
 tures XVIII (Percival). In Guardian yVb. g8 Addison writes: " Mv paper 
 is the Ulysses //w bow." The use extended to the feminine gender and the 
 plural number (v. Cent. Diet, under his'). 
 
 1. 776. pu) seuaunte. Cf. Chaucer, Lto. of Fame, 1. 1321 : "The purse- 
 vauntes and heraudes"; Flow, and Leaf, 1. 232: "Of heraudes and purse- 
 vauntes eke." Shakespeare has: "These gray locks the pursuivants of 
 death" [Henry VL, II, 5, 5). Browning uses it in Blot in the Scut., Act I, 
 1. 4; and Tennyson in Balin and Balan: "A spangled pursuivant." 
 
 P. 24) 1. 792. foure dowty knyghty^ = the virtues called " Cardinal " in accordance 
 with the Platonic Ethics. These virtues together with the theological triad 
 appear as maidens in Dantes Purg. (c. xxix) accompanying the chariot 
 of the Church. This pageant of the advance of Virtue suggests that of the 
 last five cantos of the Purgatorio. No doubt, such scenes occurred in the 
 street processional plays. Note the pageant in tiie Anti-Claudianus with 
 Reason as charioteer. (There is a vicar in Piers Plow, who said the only 
 cardinals he knew were those sent by tlie Pope.) 
 
 I. 808. Pacyence. In Piers Plow. Patience is described as a tree which 
 grows in the heart and bears fruit of Charity. The tree is supported against 
 the winds of the world, the flesh, and the devil by three props denoting the 
 Trinity. 
 
Notes. S3 
 
 P. 25, 1. 815. This line seems to be corrupted in the MS. which reads "was tra- 
 pure was gay." Trapttre refers to the "trappings" of the steed. Cf. Flow. 
 and Leaf, 11. 244-5 : 
 
 "With cloth of gold and furred with ermine 
 Were the trappores of here stedes stronge, 
 Wide and large, that to the ground dide honge " ; 
 Lydgate, Min. P., p. 118 : 
 
 " Trappours of golde ordeyned were for stiedis " ; 
 Hawes, Past, of Pleas., p. 132 : 
 
 " Wvth haute courage betrapped fayre and gaye 
 Wyth shyning trappers of curiositie." 
 
 1. 824. to steiiyn. Stevene is always employed by Chaucer as a noun. It 
 has here a verbal use probably from the necessity of the rime. There was, 
 however, the older verb from stefnen (cf. M. E. Diet., Strat.-Brad.). 
 Douglas has (II., p. 225, 1. 8): " towart the port thai stevin" = directed 
 their ship; but this is from the Ici. stefna = prow. Chaucer has this set of 
 rimes in Kn. Tale, 11. 1720-21 ; Troil. and Cris., III., 11. 1723-25 ; Leg. of 
 G.W., 11. 1218-19. 
 
 I. 844. Pouerte. Poverty was a highly praised virtue in the Church. It is 
 said in Piers Plow., Pas. xiv., that this virtue preserves men from the Seven 
 Sins, for it (l) is hateful to Pride, (2) has few responsibilities, (3) does not 
 win wealth falsel)', (4) is the gift of God, (5) is the mother of health, (6) is 
 without peril of robbery, (7) is a source of wisdom, (8) deals fairly with 
 others, (9) is without care. Feigned Poverty is one of the Vices, 1. 657. 
 
 P. 26, 1. 854. Konnyng ivith hys genalogy. That is to say the Seven Arts and 
 Sciences. The seven sciences as originally distinguished were Mathematics, 
 Geometry, Astronomy, Music, Ethics, Physics and Metaphysics. The seven 
 arts were: Grammar, Dialectics, Rhetoric (the trivium) and Arithmetic, 
 Music, Geometry, and Astronomy (the quadrivium). These are mentioned 
 familiarly by all the learned writers of the Middle Ages. They were char- 
 acterized also in the plays and pageants and such objectification gives 
 meaning to the processional of the poem. In Lydgate's description of the 
 King's entry into London there is an account of a spectacle representing the 
 Seven Sciences The name of Priscian is associated with Grammar ("the 
 roote of alle connyng"), Aristotle with Logic, Cicero with Rhetoric, Boethius 
 with Music, Pythagoras with Arithmetic, Euclid with Geometry, and Albu- 
 masar with Astronomy (" alder-higiiest "). \n Piers Plo'v., the sciences ap- 
 pear as sons of the Clergy, serving the Lord of Life in a castle (Pas. xiii). 
 See Gower, Conf. Aman, Lydgate's Pnrle Roy, Chestre Plays (Wright, p. 241), 
 Hallam, Lit. of Europe, etc. 
 
 II. 867-870. The Magical and Black Arts. The specific "Black Arts" w«re 
 commonly five : Necromancy, Pyromancy, Geomancy, Hydromancy, and 
 Aerimancy, signifying divination by means of the dead, fire, the earth, water, 
 and the air respectively. These species are indicated by Huge de S. Vic- 
 tore (see Skeat's Notes to Piers Plow., p. 246). Gower Conf. Aman., III., 
 p. 45, describes these five kinds in detail ; see also Lydgate's Secrees. As 
 to the merits of the magical arts, opinion was divided. The Black Arts 
 were almost universally denounced in this period in England. Alchemy 
 and Physiognomy were, however, often employed. It seems that there was 
 a revival of Magic, and especially of Alchemv, during Chaucer's and Lyd- 
 gate's lifetime. But we find that sorcery, soothsaying and magic were pun- 
 ished in London as early as 1382, the affirmation being that "the art of 
 magic redounds against the doctrine of Sacred Writ " ; the punishment was 
 exposure upon the pillory [Mem. of Land., ed. Riley, II., pp. 462, 472, 518). 
 A statute forbidding the practice of Alchemy was passed in 1 403. The art 
 was revived again at about the end of the century, so that Henry VI. 
 appointed three Royal Commissioners to investigate the subject. Their 
 report is dated 1456 (see The Antiquary, Sept. 1891, for documents illus- 
 
84 Notes. 
 
 trating the revival of Alchemy at about the middle of the fifteenth century). 
 We find that Alchemy was condemned by Gower {Con/. Am. II., p. 88); 
 Alchemy and other arts by Langland {Piers Plow., Pas. x., II. 207-15) ; the 
 magical arts in general by Chaucer (in CIt. Yeo. Pale, and Pers. Tale) and 
 Lydgate (in the present instance and Secrees st. 82-84 — though favorable 
 to physiognomy, st. 353-54, and in Story of 77/t'/'« [fol. 390], where he 
 condemns Bishop .Amphiorax to hell as the mede of his idolatry and 
 magic) and \\7ixc\?Ly {Sin p of Fools, II., pp. 18, 191, 219). As a matter of fact. 
 Alchemy flourished in spite of condemnation and belief in it continued far 
 into the seventeenth century (see Faery Queene, I., c. i., st. 36-37 and Sir 
 Th. Browne, Works I., ch. x.). In Ward's O. E. Drama, Introduction to 
 Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus," the general attitude of the M. Ages toward magic 
 and magicians is shown. See Secrees, notes, p. 93-95. 
 
 1. 868. Glotony. This must be a mistake of the scribe for Alchemy. 
 
 1. 870. Pawmestry. Divination by the lines of the hand. 
 
 1.882. dies. Cf. .^50/, Fab. 5, 1. 71 : 
 
 "The crane chase a surgeon to be" ; 
 Temp of Glas., 1. 214, 336 : 
 
 "Would freli chese." 
 Note leese \. iioo. 
 
 1. 886. ware of coiiUif^iotis geere. Contagious geere = ? 
 
 P. 27, 1. 887. lere. " Lere " here means learn; "lerne"in 1. 957 means teach. 
 Cf. Temp, of Glas., I. 297, 102 1 = learn : 
 
 " Fro dai to dai that I myghte lere " ; 
 idem, 1. 656 = teach : 
 
 " Than cometh dispeire and ginneth me to lere." 
 Cf. Story of Thebes, fol. 378 : 
 
 "The which beasts as the story leres." 
 
 1. 895. secte. Cf. Rom. of the Pose, 1. 5745 : 
 
 "Eke in the same secte or sette." 
 
 1. 896. See note on 1. 1997. 
 
 P. 28, 1. 925. then I reherse can. Cf. Temp, of Glas., I. 560 : " as I reherse can" 
 and often. 
 
 I. 932. Macrocostne. I interpret this to mean Microcosm from the interpreta- 
 tion by Doctrine, st. 262. For the conception of Microcosm see Secrees, 
 
 II. 2313-17: 
 
 " In beeste nor thyng vegitable, 
 No thyng may be vnyuersally 
 But yif it be founde naturally 
 In mannys nature. Wherfore of oon accoord 
 Oold pliilisoffres callyd hym the litel woord (worlde)." 
 See also Stubbes, Anat. of Abuses, p. Ill : 
 
 "And therfore, wheras in making of other things he used only this Woord, 
 
 FlANT, be they made or let them be made, when he came to make Man, as 
 
 it weare advysing himselfc and asking councell at his wisdomc, he said 
 
 Faciamus Hominem, let us make Man ; that is a wonderful Creature : and 
 
 therfore is called in Greek MiCROCOSMOS, a litle world in himself. And 
 
 truely he is no lesse, whether we consider his spirituall soule, or his humaine 
 
 body, etc." 
 
 For a fuller account of Man, the Microcosm, assailed by Vices and defended 
 
 by Virtues, see Fletcher's Purple Island, the most dreadful of all the Holy 
 
 Wars. 
 
 1, 939. hygh weyes fyue. All the old books make much of man's five senses, 
 
Notes. 85 
 
 the high-ways of Mansoul. Note the use made by Bunyan of this conception 
 
 in Holy War: 
 
 "The famous town of Mansoul had five gates at which to come, and out 
 at which to go ; and these were made likewise answerable to the walls, to 
 wit, impregnable, and such as could never be opened nor forced but by the 
 will and leave of those within. The names of the gates were these : Ear- 
 gate, Eye-gate, Mouth-gate, Nose-gate, and Feel-gate." 
 
 I. 941. blyzie. Cf. Chaucer, Bk. of the Dtich. 1. 152 : 
 
 " Go now faste, and hy thee blyve ; " 
 AlsoP, Fab. 4, 1. 206 : 
 
 "With ravenous feete, wynged to flee blyue." 
 
 P. 20, 1. 957. lerne hem a ve7o daunce. A common saying with Chaucer and 
 others. Cf. Rom. of the Rose, 1. 4300 : 
 
 " For she knew alle the olde daunce." 
 Cf. Chaucer, Troyl and Crys. II. 1. 554; £>r. of Ph. Tale, 1. 79 ; Cant. Tales, 
 Pr. 1. 470. Cf. Gower Conf. Aman., I., p. 260 : 
 
 "Now shalt thou singe an other songe." 
 1. 974. diibbyd. Cf. Piers Pluw., Pas. i., 11. 102-3 = 
 " For Dauid in his dayes dubbed knightes 
 And did hem swere on here swerde to serue trewthe euere." 
 In Ad. Dav. Dream (E.E. T., 1. 76) "dubbing" is a substantive and means 
 decoration. 
 
 P. 30 1. 998. Reson. Reason is a common personification. See Ro?n. of the Rose, 
 3034,3193; Lydgate's Min. P., p. 219; Piers Ploiv. Pas. xv., xvi.; Dun- 
 bar's Gold. Targe, 151, etc. In Piers Ploiv. Reason has many names: 
 anima, animus, mens, memoria, ratio, sensus, conscientia, amor, spiritus. 
 He plays an important part in the poem. 
 
 1. 1009. One instance of a double negative. Cf. .-Esop, Fab. 4, 1. 53 : 
 " I may no favour do to nowther side." 
 
 I. 1012. hyng in hys balatince. A very common figure. Cf. Te7np. of Glas, 
 
 II. 641, 348; Chaucer, Troyl. and Crys. II., 1. 466 : 
 
 " And ek myn emes lyf is in balaunce." 
 In Barclay's Ship of Fools is a wood-cut showing the world and things 
 eternal in a balance. Cf. Spenser's figure in Faerie Queene V., ii., 30-49. 
 
 1. 1012. ambygnyte. Chaucer has amphibologyes. Trail, and Cris., iv., I. 
 1406. 
 P. 31, 1. 1023. sewe the felde. Lydgate probably had in mind the parable of the 
 Sower. Langland has a parable of the ploughman in Pas. xix.; there the 
 weeds of vice grow in the field but they are uprooted by the harrow of the 
 Law. 
 
 1. 1038. swage. I define as "discharge" but find no authority for it except 
 the context. 
 
 1. 1038. gonnes. The first mention of guns or "gonnes" as being in use in 
 England is found in an inventory of munitions of war in a London document 
 dated 1339 (see Mem. of London, ed. Riley, I., p. 205). These "gonnes" 
 were made of brass or "latone" and fired "pellets of lead," using gun- 
 powder. Cf. Chaucer House of Fame, III., 1. 553 : 
 
 "Swift as a pellet out of a gonne, 
 When fire is in the powder ronne " ; 
 Lydgate's Story of Thebes, fol. 392 : 
 
 " Noise more hideous then thunder 
 Of gonne shot." 
 The word was also employed to designate a machine that cast stones. 
 Cannon is mentioned in Barbour's Bruce (i375) Bk. XIX., 1. 399. Cannon 
 had been used in Florence in 1326. 
 
86 Notes. 
 
 P. 32, 1. 1063. abew=di beu. Gower has the phrase in Conf. Atnan., III., p. 356: 
 " Er thou make any such assaies 
 To love and faile upon thy fele 
 Better is to make beau retrete." 
 The word beau was commonly used in address as in Ro}?i. of the Rose, 1. 800 : 
 
 " What do ye there, beau sir ?" 
 Sir Gawain, E.E. T., 1. 1222 : 
 
 " Nay, for sothe, beau syr " ; 
 also House of Fame, 1. 643. Cf. Rich. Rede., Pas. iii., 1. I : 
 "Now leve we this beu brid." 
 
 1. 1063. lytyll tyne. Cf. Skelton, Garl. of Laiir. 1. 505: 
 
 " A lytyll tyne stande backe " ; 
 Heywood, Dialogue: 
 
 " For when prouender prickt them a little tine." 
 The two words generally occur together. See 1. 1283. 
 
 1. 1066. by lyklynes. Cf. Temp, of Glas., 1. 18; Chaucer, Am. Coinpl. 1. 15 
 CI. Tale, II., 1. 200, etc. 
 
 1. 1089. lowte. Cf. ALsop, Fab. 2, 11. 17-18 . 
 
 " Whan sulphur toward the dawenyng 
 Lowtith to the oryent" ; 
 Pie7-s Plow., Pas. iii., 1. 115: 
 
 " Knelynge, Conscience to the kynge louted." 
 See also text, 11. 1439, 1925, vnderlowte 1273. 
 Cf. Browning, Ring and Rook: 
 
 "1 have looted low." 
 
 P. 33, 1. 1094. Peiseueraunce. The accent as in Chaucer. 
 
 1. 1095. hogy. Cf. Marlowe, Tamb. tlie Gt.: "my hugy host." This was 
 Dryden's usage. 
 
 P. 3^, 11. 1 142-6. The way of repentance is made clear by Chaucer's Parson : "Now 
 shalt thou understonde what bihoveth and is necessarie to verray parfyt 
 penitence ; and this stondith in thre things, contricioun of hert, confessioun 
 of mouth, and satisfaccioun." The first, said Patience \n Piers Ploiv. {Vz.%. 
 xiv.), saves men, the second slays sins, the third uproots sin altogether. 
 Contrition and Confession appear as two horses that bear ripened grain to 
 the house of Unity (Piers Plow. Pas. xix.). They are good dames in 
 Hawes' Past, of Pleas., giving sure passage to Purgatory to Graunde Amour. 
 They are characters in the Moralities. The trinal stairs in Dante's Purga- 
 torio (c. ix.) refer to these stages of repentance. All these figures refer to 
 the creed of tlie Church as expounded for instance by Thomas Aquinas in 
 his great work Summa Theologica (III. p. 90). 
 
 1. 1 147. fro poost to pylour. Cf. Barclay, Eclogues: 
 
 " From post unto piller tost shall thou be." 
 
 1. 1 154. Despair appears in Temp, of G. 1. 656. He was a common figure in 
 the mediicval imagination. Cf. Spenser's treatment of Despair. (See a 
 paper by Dr. F. I. Carjienter reported in Univ. of Chicago Cal. Aug. '95.) 
 
 I. 1 158. Alpha cnidOo. This occurs in the Creation, sc. I., York Plays, in the 
 address of the Deity : 
 
 "I am Alpha and ()." 
 
 P. 35, 1. 1 167. 3(9r(jw=verbal. Cf. Chaucer, Ck. Tale 1. 204 : 
 
 " For he hath slayn my two sones, but if God hem borwe " ; 
 the old play. World and Child : 
 
 "Some good word that 1 mav sav 
 To borow man's soul from blame." 
 See also Piers Ploiu. Pas. iv, 1. 108-9. 
 
Notes. 87 
 
 This word was often used as a noun as in Tern, of Glas, 1. II45 : 
 
 "And as for him I will bene his borow," 
 and in the phrase "to borow" (^for a security). 
 
 1. 1 169. tenebrusy Cf. Hawes' Past, of Pleas, p. 15, 74 : 
 
 " Auster gan cover with clowde tenebrus" ; 
 " The night was wete, and also tenebrous." 
 
 1. 1 185. fly. This is the reading of MS. B. A has sty from stigen, to 
 ascend. 
 
 P. 36, 1. 1204. bettyr late then tteue): Cf. Chaucer, Ch. Yeo. Tale, 1. 399 : 
 " For bet than never is late." 
 
 1. 1226. sotlie. Cf. Chaucer, Pari. Foit., 1. 578, "sothe sadde"=sober truth. 
 
 1. 1232. as a pleyer. Collier in a note on this passage {Annals of the Stage, 
 p. 31) refers to player as an actor, interpreting the line to mean that Sen- 
 suality must change his character like an actor. But " to drawe a draught" 
 is used of games as chess. Thus Chaucer [Bk. of the Duch, \. 682) has 
 
 " I wolde have drawe the same draughte." 
 In a work described by Collier {An. of Stage, p. 63) entitled The Church of 
 Yvell tnen atidtuoinen players refers to gamesters, dicers, etc. 
 "Player" would seem to mean here "gamester"; though it is possible that 
 " draught " may be used here figuratively for " character " as Collier suggests,, 
 
 P. 37, 1. 1242. finaiince. Cf. Skelton, Erie of A^h., 1. 195: 
 
 " With thy bloud precious our finaunce thou did pay " ; 
 the same line occurs in Percy's Reliques, I, p. 125. 
 
 1. 1255. Reason in Microcosm. Cf. description of Reason in the Romaunt 
 of the Pose, U. 2^93 ^( Jf^f., where she warns against the follies of Love. 
 Chaucer's Parson says : 
 
 "For it is soth, that God, and reasoun, and sensualite, and the body of man, 
 be so ordeyned, that everich of these four thinges schulde have lordschipe 
 over that other, as thus : God scholde have lordschip over reasoun, and 
 reasoun over sensualite, and sensualite over the body of man." 
 Cf. Lydgate Min. P., p. 219 : 
 
 " Sith thu were wroughte to be celestial, 
 Let reson brydle thy sensualite." 
 
 1. 1256. recreaunt. This was a word which Knights uttered in acknowledg- 
 ing defeat. " Yelde hym recreaunt" = yielded himself as a defeated knight. 
 The oath taken by a combatant ran thus: "Je suis prest de le prouver de 
 mon corps contre le sien, et le rendre mort ou recreant . . . et veez ^y mon 
 gage." The customary form of demanding surrender was : "And but thou 
 yeeld thee as overcome and recreaunt thou shalt die." Cf. Sir Gawayne, E. 
 "E. T., 1. 456 : 
 
 "Therfore com other recreaunt be calde." 
 Piers /YoTf'. (Pas. xv, 1. 133) has "yelde hym creaunt" (as a believer?); 
 "creaunt" is sometimes used for recreaunt in the sense explained above. 
 
 1. 1267. astert. Cf. Chaucer, Fr. Tale, 1. 294: 
 
 "He seith, he may not fro his deth asterte." 
 
 P. 38, 1. 1268. Nature. Nature was given especial personification by Alanus de 
 Insulis in his Planctus Natures (Wright ed., Rec. Ser., pp. 431-456). Chau- 
 cer in the Pari, of Ponies describes her as a Queen surrounded by the ani- 
 mals of the earth and air (11. 298-301, etc.). In Langland's dream Nature 
 appears and shows the wonders of the world (Pas. xi, 1. 311-25). She was 
 an empress in the pageant that welcomed Henry VI. to London (/"/^r Z^ 
 Roy). See the Faerie Queene VII, vii. 
 
88 Notes. I 
 
 1. 1274. shoo ^Aj7<;'/^=shoe-clolh. Cf. Skelton, El. Rum, 11. 143-4 : 
 "Some wvth a sho clout 
 Bynde theyr hcddes about." 
 Browning his "clouted shoon " (King and Book, p. 321). 
 
 1. 1299. li/ere. Cf. Koin. of the Rose 1. 3912: 
 
 ■'That almoost blered is myn yhe " ; 
 Chaucer, iV(//^y/. Tale,\. 148: 
 
 " Far al thy waytyng, blered is thin ye." 
 See also Rv. Tale,\. 129; Piers Flow. Pr. 1. 74; Rox. Ballads I, p. 163; 
 Milton's Cotims, 11. 153-6: 
 
 " To cheat the eye with Ijlear illusion " ; 
 Shaks. Tarn, of Shreiv, V, i : 
 
 " While counterfeit supposes blear'd thine evne." 
 
 P« 39> 1- 1311- astonyed. Cf. Tern, of Glas, 1. 24: 
 
 " I wex astonyed." 
 1. 1 31 7. ko'we a deuyll 7i<ay! Cf. Chaucer, Ml. Tale. Pr., 1. 26 : 
 
 " Tel on, a devil way I " ; 
 idem, 1. 527 : 
 
 "And let me slepe, a twenty devvl way"; 
 Ch. Yeo. Tale, Pr. 11. 229-30 : 
 
 "And al the cost on twenty deyel waye 
 Is lost also " ; 
 Leg. ofG. Worn., VI, 1. 292 : 
 
 " A twenty devel way the wynde him dryve." 
 1. 1327. longeth. Cf. Seerees,\. 1029: 
 
 " Of all such yertues as longe to a kyng." 
 
 P. 40, 1. 1340. Resydyuacion = back-sliding. The term occurs again in Skelton, 
 Col. a. 11. 523-5 : 
 
 "And of resydeuacyon 
 They make interpretacyon 
 Of an aquarde facyon." 
 
 P. 41, 1. 1384. itysshe. Cf. Chaucer, A. B. C. 1. 155; Ho. of Fame 11. 489-9 I; 
 Temp, of Glas 1. 637 : 
 
 " So wisse me now what me is best to do " ; 
 Piers Plow. Pas. v, 11. 540-562 : 
 
 "I shal wisse you witterly the weye to his place." 
 1. 1386. as I gesse. Cf. Chaucer, j9/^. of Dnch. \. 2,5; Cotnpl. of M.\. 195; 
 Pari, of Foil. 11. 160, 200, 223; Cant. Tales, Pr. 1. 82; Knighfs Tale, 1, 192 ; 
 Lydgate, Min. P., p. 54. Cf. Dunbar, Gold. Targe, 1. 230 : 
 
 " God Eolus, his bugill blew I gesse." 
 1. 1403. Death and dread. Among the Roxburge Ballads (I, p. 312) is 
 one which runs as follows : 
 
 "Lament your sinnes, good people all, lament, 
 Vou plainly see the Messenger is sent, — 
 I meane grim Death, and he doth play his part ; 
 He stands prepar'd to strike you to the heart." 
 This is accompanied by the cut of a hideous skeleton with a dart. Cf. Piers 
 Plow. Pas. XX, 11. 198-200: 
 
 " And as I sect in this sorwe I say how kynde passed. 
 And deth drowgh niegh me, for drede gan I quake, 
 And cried to kynde out of care me brynge." 
 
 P. 43, 1. 1448. vre. This word occurs in French law — mis en ure (Kelham). 
 Its use was maintained in England through the 1 6th centur)'. I find it in 
 an early American poem, Wigglesworth's Day of Doom (1662) : 
 "The best of men had scarcely then 
 Their Lamps kept in good ure." 
 
Notes. 89 
 
 1.1455. sesyne. A law term denoting the ownership of property. To take 
 seizen refers to the ceremony of taking possession of one's freehold. Cf. R. 
 of G. Chr. Reign of \Vm. 1.^528 : 
 
 " Ac wende him out of Normandie anon to Engelande 
 Vorto nime hastiliche seisine of is lande." 
 See Morte Arthur (Th. MS.), 1. 3589. 
 
 1. 1463. fyn fast shut. I make fyn an adverb with the force of very or 
 completely. Ihe word finliche in the phrase "finliche well" (= very well) 
 occurs in Sir Bevis of Hamioun 1. 4052 ; also afin with the same meaning in 
 1.2577: "The beschop was glad afin." Chaucer uses fyn as an adj. in 
 Trail, and Cris. V. 421 : '"of fvne force " (=of very need). Cf. our use of 
 clean ^completely, as in "clean laid aside," and of pure as "the pure 
 death" (= death itself). 
 P, 44 1479. kerber wallyd round about. Doctrine's arbor is probably in imita- 
 tion of the Garden of Mirth in Kom. of the Ease : 
 
 " And when I had a while goon, 
 I saugt a gardyn right anoon, 
 Ful long and brood, and every delle 
 Enclosed was, and walled welle, 
 With highe walles enbatailled, 
 Portraied without and wel entailled 
 With many riche portraitures." — 11. 135-141. 
 Cf. the Tower of Doctrine in Hawes' Pastime of Pleasure, written in imita- 
 tion evidently of Lydgate's arbor : Graunde Amour is taught wisdom by 
 learned dames, the Seven Sciences. All these may be suggestions of the 
 Noble Castle of Learning in Dante's Inferno (c. iv)with its scholastic walls. 
 
 1. 1483. IVytte. In the homily of the Sawles Warde man is described as a 
 house whose master is Wit. SVit's wife is named Will. 
 
 1. i^qi. petfyte. Cf. Secrees, II. 365, 387, 273 : "In parfight clernesse." 
 
 1. 1509. dalyaunce. Dalyaunce in Lydgate seems always to refer to speech. 
 See Schick's quotations, notes p. 91. In the Pilgrimage of Man "longe 
 dalyaunce " translates the French " long parlement." Cf. Temp, of Glas, 
 I. 291 : 
 
 "Of port benygne, and of daliaunce (address) ;" 
 yEsop, Fab. 6, 1. 93 : 
 
 " That we togydre may have oure daliaunce ; " 
 Min. P., p. 71 : 
 
 " Countrefeteth in speche and daliaunce;" 
 Secrees, 1. 2706 : 
 
 " Lavi'hyng visage is good in daliaunce." 
 
 1. 15 12. myn ey gan I dresse. Cf. Temp, of Glas, 1. 850 : 
 "Gan cast hir eyen." 
 
 P. 45» ll- 151 5 ^^ ^^<7- '^'^ l^^o walles was made memory, etc. 
 
 Douglas evidently imitates these pictures of sacred history in his account of 
 the reflections seen in the mirror of Venus (Works I., pp. 57-59) — another 
 poetical device of the same kind. See Introd., p. Ivii. 
 
 1. 1538. ludyth. Judith is often mentioned in M. E. Lit. Cf. Chaucer, 
 M.ofL. Tale,%i,\; March. Tale, 1. 122; Monks Tale, 11. 561-584; Piers 
 Plow., Pas. xvii., 1. 21, etc. The account of the O. E. epic of Judith was 
 probably known by the side of the version in the Vulgate. 
 
 P. 46, 11. 1562 et seq. These pictures are drawn from the frescoes on monastery 
 walls vhereon it was customary to present the saints with their traditional 
 attributes. Lydgate's descriptions represent late traditions — those of the 
 13th and 14th centuries (note the attribute of St. James = the scallop shell, 
 given liim after the 13th century). The attribute of Peter was the key; 
 
Qo Notes. 
 
 Paul held a sword ; James the Great was a pilgrim with a long staff, wear- 
 ing a cape with a scallop shell on his shoulder or hat, etc. Other pictures 
 were the " Martyrtloms " which represented the manner in which the saints 
 were slain : Thomas by a spear, Philip on the cross, James the Less by a 
 club, Bartholomew by flaying, Simon and Jude, always together, by a sword 
 and clui), etc. There will be remembered in this connection Albert DUrer's 
 picture of St. Thomas who is seen holding a lance, and Angelo's Last 
 Judgment where Bartholomew appears holding his skin in one hand and 
 the knife with which he was flayn in the other. Many other pictures will 
 be recalled — and this is a iiecessary process in reading Lvdgate — of the 
 Apostles and Fathers as here displayed. For the emblems of the Apostles 
 and Saints cf. Jameson, Sao: and Leg. Art. Cf. the Ornntliim \ . i., p. 201 
 and note; Curs. Muii., p. 1218; Lyndesay's Monarche, 11. 2279 et seq. 
 
 P, 47, 1. 15S3. Beede. One does not meet with many late references to Baeda. 
 He is mentioned however, by Dante in Par. c. x., 1. T31; and by Wyclif 
 
 {Works, L, p. 35; IIL, p. 477)'. 
 
 1. 1584. 0?ygene. An Alexandrine Greek, born A. D. 185. Bitter contro- 
 versy arose regarding his views on the final salvation of men, the transfor- 
 mation of man's earthly bodv at the resurrection, etc. His "errors" are 
 contained chiefly in his work, wepVapx^i'. A private "error" is also recorded 
 of Origen to which reference here may be made. See Butler's Lives of Saints, 
 ix., p 360. 
 
 1. 1589. Sybyll. "The pictures of the Svbils are very common, and for their 
 prophecies of Christ in high esteem with Christians." — Sir Th. Browne. 
 In the account of Varro the sybils numbered ten. 
 
 1. 1608. koiiyd. Cf. CJiorl and Bird, 187: " Hovyng above his hedde " 
 (said of a bird). 
 
 1. 1614. gall. Gall-trees were those that, like the oak, bear bitter galls. 
 Spenser has "trees of bitter gall" {Faery Queefi, II., vii., st. 52). 
 
 P, 48, 11. 1618 et seq. 
 
 The whole discourse of Doctrine is written in the light of Catholic doctrine 
 and practice. There is a certain kind of ingenuity exercised in the handling 
 of the materials, but beyond a skillful presentation of doctrine there is not 
 the least display of poetic genius in all this part. 
 
 P. 49, 1. 1657. i?iade her hecrdys on the «i?7y ^1?/*^ = changed their purpose. Pals- 
 grave defines "new get" as "guise nouvelle." Cf. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, 
 I'r., line 682 : 
 
 "Him thought he rood al of the newe get;" 
 Ml. Tale, 1. 136: (a kirtil) 
 
 " Schapen with goores in the newe get ; " 
 Skelton, Magnif., 1. 458 : 
 
 " The courtly gyse of the newe iet." 
 Those who cut their beards in the latest fashion had a place in Barclay's 
 Ship of Fools (I., p. 35). Cf. the phrase, "To make one's beard" = to 
 deceive; as in Chaucer, Reeves Tale,\. 176: 
 
 "Yet can a miller make a clerkes herd." 
 Cf. IIo. of Fame, 1. 689; W. of B. Tale, Pr., 1. 361. 
 
 P. 50, 1. 1 7 14. habtindaunce. So in Chaucer's Fortune, 1. 29. 
 
 1. 1 7 18. gryffyng. Cf. Secrees, 1. 2373 : 
 
 " Which gryffyd on stokkys haue many braunchys." 
 
 P. 51, 1. 1728. Cf. yEsop, Fab. 7. 11. 64-5 : 
 
 " Men may at the ie se a pref 
 Of this matere." 
 
Notes. 9 1 
 
 11. 1737 et seq. The Times. In the Calendar of the Cursor Miindi there 
 are seven ages: (l) from Adam to Noah; (2) from Noah to Abraham ; 
 (3) from Abraham to David ; (4) from David to Solomon ; (5) from Solomon 
 to the birth of Christ ; (6) from the birth to the death of Christ ; (7) from the 
 death of Christ to the Day of Doom, the period of Antichrist. 
 Cf. also Wyclif, Works, I., p. 99. 
 
 Gower has a reading of the Times similar to Lydgate (Prol. Conf. Am.), 
 agreeing especially in the Time of War. 
 
 P. 52, 1. 1772. that ys to sey. Very common in T,ydgate. Cf. Temp, of Glas, 11. 31 1, 
 
 426, 512, 715, 1124, etc. 
 
 1. 1784. prynte hit in thy mynde. A favorite phrase with Lydgate. Cf. Min. 
 
 P., P- 36. 
 P. 53> 1- 1805. cast in a boon. Cf. Chaucer, Kn. Tale, 1. 319 : 
 " We stryve, as doth the houndes for the boon." 
 
 P. 54, 1. 1S29. the lesse 7vorlde. This is Milton's "less universe" {Par. Reg., iv., 
 '1.458). Said Sir Th. Browne (j'?^//^-. i^/l?a'.): " That we are the breath and 
 similitude of God, is indisputable and upon record of Hoi) Scripture; but 
 to call ourselves a microcosm, or little world, I thought it only a pleasant 
 trope of rhetorick, till my near judgment and second thoughts told me there 
 was a real truth therein." 
 1. 1844. dainpnacion. So Chaucer in Pd. Tale, 1. 38; A. B. C, 1. 167. 
 
 1. 1852. inwarde uyttes. Man was regarded as having five outward and 
 five inward wits. Cf. World atid Child, Dods, 1., p. 273: 
 Age "Of the five wits I would have knowing. 
 Pres. P'orsooth, sir, hearing, seeing, and smelling, 
 The remenant tasting and feeling : 
 These being the five wits bodily. 
 And, sir, other five wits there been. 
 Age. Sir Perseverance, I know not them. 
 Pres. Now, Repentance, I shall you ken. 
 They are the power of the soul : 
 Clear in mind, there is one 
 Imagination, and all reason. 
 Understanding and compassion." 
 Hawes, in Pastime of Pleasure, enumerates the five inward wits as com- 
 mon-wit, imagination, fancy, estimation and memory. The five senses per- 
 form the outward offices, being simply receptive gates, but the wits perceive 
 and judge. From this distinction arose the figure of the senses as gates, or 
 as highways of the soul. 
 
 "Thet inewyt hvs the dore-ward. 
 
 The doren wyttes fyve " — Shoreham, Per. Soc, p. 55. 
 "For tho (the five wits) be properly the gates, 
 Through which as to the hert algates 
 Cometh all thing unto the feire. 
 
 Which may the mannes soule empeire " — Conf. Am., I., p. 52. 
 The inward senses were then the faculties of the mind. Thus Lydgate 
 says {Temp, of Glas), 11. 380-I : 
 
 '•With al my reson and alle my ful mynde, and five wittes." 
 The Five Senses were personated in Middleton's Triumph of Truth (1613). 
 They appeared in character at the King's entry into London in 1603 and 
 again at the Lord Mayor's Pageant in 1681 (Bullen). 
 
 The different senses are enumerated in ^Ifric's Homilies, O. E. Homilies, 
 Sawles Warde, etc. Cf. Piers Ploiv., Pas. i., 11. 15-16 ; Wyclif's Tracts (III., 
 p. 117); Tale of Mel.; An Orysoun for sauynge of the 'fyve wyttes (Vern. 
 MS. E. E. T., xvii); Interlude of the Four Elements; Lydgate's Min. P., p. 
 253 ; Faery Queene (II., xi., st. 7); Fletcher's Purple Island; Bunyan's Holy 
 
92 Notes. 
 
 War, etc. Cf. a modern book entitled The Five Gateways of Knowledge, by 
 Dr. Geo. Wilson, and Led. and Addresses, by Sir \V. Thomson, on the Six 
 Gateways of Knowledge. 
 
 P. 54, 1. 1S55. stretiies. Cf. Temp, of G las, 11. 702, 582 : 
 
 "P"or with the stremes of hir eyen clere." 
 
 1. 185S. sauHs. Commonly found in the phrase "sauns faille," as in 
 Chaucer, Ho. of Fame, II. 188, 429; Man of L. Tale, 1. 403; the Court oj 
 Love, 1. 117 ("vvithouten faille," 1. 710); Rob. of B. Chron., 1. 4507. Piers 
 Plow. (Pas. xii, 1. 286) has " saunz reule; " Skelton, Why Come, 1. 426, 
 "saunz aulter remedy." 
 
 1. i860, blyn. Cf. Kob. of R. Chron., 1. 2263: 
 
 " Evere to brenne and nevere to blynne ; " 
 
 Percy, Reliq., Ill, p. 46 : 
 
 " On thy striking doe not blinne." 
 
 P. 55, 1. 1872. wyre. Cf. Chaucer, Ho. of Fame, 1. 979: 
 
 "Tho gan I wexen in a were ; " 
 Rom. of the Rose, 1. 4468 : 
 
 " Withoute deceyte or ony were ; " 
 Piers Plow., Pas. xi, 1. in ; xvi, 1. 3 ; Temp, of Glas, 11. 651, go6 and see 
 Schick's notes p. 104. Cf. Dunbar's Man, sen thy Lyfe is ay in IVeir. 
 
 1. 1886. daryng as a dastard. Said in irony. 
 
 1. 1887. Come o/'=make an end. Probably our modern slang phrase 
 " come off." It was in common usage in M. E. Cf. Chaucer, Troil. and 
 Cris., II, 310: 
 
 " Com of, and tel me what it is." 
 Temp, of Glas, 1. 1272 : 
 
 "Cometh off at ones, and do as I haue seide." 
 See Schick's notes, p. 119, for further references; also '^sV^W.O'sx, Magnif., 
 1. 103: 
 
 " Come of, therefore, let se." 
 
 1. 1887. thy wytte slant a crooke. See also 11. 19 18, 1 932. Cf. Chaucer, 
 Ho. of Fame, 1. 621 : 
 
 "Although that (wit) in thy hede full lyte is;" 
 Lydgate, Chorl and Bird, Min. P., p. igi : 
 
 " Thv brayne is dul, thy witte is almoste gone ; " 
 Pie?-s Plo7v., Pas. i, 1. 138 : 
 
 "'Thow doted daffe,' quod she, ' dulle arne thi wittes;'" 
 and cf, Emerson, The Sphinx : 
 
 " Dull Sphinx, Jove keep thy five wits." 
 
 1. 1897. tonne. Lydgate has again (Min. P., p. 176) the rime tonne, sonne, 
 and in Secrees, 11. 249-50. Referring to Diogenes Lydgate says : 
 " Mis paleys was a litel poore tonne." 
 
 P. S7i ^- 1952- as hlak as a coole. Other objects of comparison with blackness 
 were raven, crow, the devil, jet, ink and soot. Cf. Conf. Am., II, p. 335 : 
 "With ft'thers blacke as any cole." 
 
 1. 1953. cropyn in a mouse hoole, Cf. Skelton, Why Come, 11. 289-91 : 
 "Our barons be so bolde, 
 Into a mouse hole thev wolde 
 Rynne away and crepe." 
 
 P. 58, 1. 1997. my wyt ys soo thynne. See 1. 896. Middle Engl, writers were fond 
 of acknowledging the weakness of their wits. Thus Chaucer confesses in 
 the Prol. of the Tales (1. 746) "My wit is short." His Marchant said (1. 
 
Notes. 93 
 
 438) "My tale is doon, for my wit is thinne." Again the poet writes {Ho. 
 of Fame, 11. 1179-80: 
 
 " Ne can I not to yow devyse (Temp, of Fame) 
 My wit ne may me not suffyse ;" 
 and to describe the beauty of his lady {B,k. of the Duck., 1. 898) : 
 
 " Me lakketh bothe English and wit." 
 Lydgate was even more self-depreciatory (for references see Temp, of Glas 
 Introd. p. cxl-cxli and Secrees, p. xx;. 
 
 "Make his wittes thvnne " occurs in C/i. Veo. Tale, Pr. 1. 189; cf. R. of B, 
 C/irou. 1. 113. 
 
 P. 59, 1. 2008. knette. See line 991 knyt, 1186 knet. Cf. Temp, of Glas, 1. 1230, 
 " The cnott is knytt." 
 
 P. 60, 1. 2065. God knoweth and nat I. An allusion to Pad's saying, II Cor. xii, 
 2-3- 
 1. 2070. take the best, etc. Cf. Chaucer, N. Pr. Tale, 1. 623 : 
 
 "Takith the fruyt and let the chaf be stille ;" 
 Conf. Aman. 1, Pr. p. 32 : 
 
 " The chaf is take for the corne ; " 
 Lydgate's Min. P. p. 149 : 
 
 " Cheese we the roosys, cast away the thorn ;" 
 idem, p. 173 : 
 
 "Wedyde the cokkelle frome the puryd come;" 
 Secrees, 1. 734 : 
 
 "As vndir chaaf is closyd pure corn ;" 
 idem, 1. 1224. 
 
 "Woord is but wynd ; leff woord and take the dede ;" 
 Story of Thebes fol. 370 : 
 
 "Avoiding the chaffe . . . 
 Enlumining the true piked graine." 
 
 ^ .(i\^\.io']q. three enymyes. The World the Flesh and the Devil were figura- 
 tively spoken of as foes or robbers or wild beasts or adverse winds etc. In 
 
 0. E. Homilies (Morris p. 241) they are described as foes and again as 
 robbers. According to Boccaccio the three beasts which hindered Dante's 
 progress represented these forces. In Piers Plow. (Pas. xvi) these are winds 
 that blow against the tree of Patience. Chaucer's Tale of Ale I. reads "Thou 
 hast doon synne ageinst oure Lord Crist, for certes the thre enemyes of 
 mankinde, that is to saye, thy flessche, the feend, and the world, thou hast 
 y-suffred hem to entre into thin herte wilfully, by the wyndow of thy body, 
 and hast nought defended thiself sufficiently agayns here assautis, and here 
 temptaciouns, so that they have woundid thi soule in fyve places, that is to 
 sayn, the dediy synnes that ben entred into thin herte by thy fyve wittes." 
 
 "And thus it falleth 
 That thorugh the fende and the flesshe and the frele worlde 
 Synneth the sadman a day seuene sythes " [P. PI. Pas. viii, I. 38-44). 
 The Devil was thought to work by Pride, Wrath and Sloth ; the World by 
 Covetousness and Envy ; the P'lesli by Gluttony and Lechery. Hawes gives 
 a similar exhortation in Past, of Pleas: 
 
 "Than in your mynde inwardly despyse 
 The bryttle worlde, so full of doublenes, 
 With the vyle flesshe, and ryght sone aryse 
 Out of your slepe of mortal! hev^mes ; 
 Subdue the devill with grace and mekenes, 
 That after your Ivfe frayle and transitory. 
 You may than live in joye perdurably." 
 
 1. 2087. giterdoun. A favorite word of Lydgate's. Cf. ALsop, Fab. 3, 1. 64 ; 
 Fab. 5., 11. 21, 25, 315; f^ab. 6., 11. 145, 165; Min. P. p. 76, "a gwerdonles 
 guerdone "; Temp, of Glass, 11. 806, 1 139 ; Secrees, 1. 900, etc. 
 
94 Notes. 
 
 \. 210$. denygne Ihesu. Cf. Lydgate's Testament Min. P. p. 236: "O 
 gracious Ihesu ! benygne and debonayre." No one can question the 
 piety of these monkish writers. Cf. Havves' closing, the Past, of Pleas: 
 "Nowe blessed lady of the health eternall, 
 The quene of comfort and of heavenly glory, 
 Praye to thy swete sonne whiche is infmall, 
 To geve me grace to wynne the victory 
 Of the devill, the worlde, and of my body, 
 And that I may my selfe well apply 
 Thy Sonne and the to laude and magnifie." 
 
 Skelton, looking back upon such writers, especially upon Lydgate and his 
 Assembly of Gods, acknowledges their authority — those poets 
 
 "Whyche full craftely, 
 Vnder as couerte termes as could be, 
 Can touch a trouth and cloke it subtylly 
 Wyth fresshe vtteraunce full sentencvouslv ; 
 Dyuerse in style, some spared not vyce to vvryte, 
 Some of moralyte nobly dyde endyte." 
 
 — Bowge of Court, Pr. 
 
 To conclude, the significance of Lydgate in the history of literature I under- 
 stand to be this : Taking his work in its entiret)' he seems to embody the forces 
 that were shaping England during the late Middle Age in a more conspicuous 
 manner than any other Middle English author. Chaucer stands out, of course, the 
 supreme genius of the period, original and creative, the glory of the Court, the 
 herald of the Renaissance. After Chaucer, in point of creativeness, ranks Lang- 
 land the mystic, the scholar, the churchman, the prophet of the Reformation. Now 
 the progress of literary history is often most clearly marked, as Mr. Gosse well 
 maintains, in the less monumental figures of any period. The very genius of 
 Chaucer and Langland removed them somewhat from the effects of environment. 
 With Lydgate there is not much question of personal force. What is valuable in 
 his work arises from his lack of originality and very incapacity as a poet. He is 
 the product of his age — at one time yielding himself to the Romantic tendency, 
 spending his youth in pleasure, writing ballads, romances, plays and histories for 
 the King and Court. Then the love of Mother Church detains him, he assumes 
 the cowl, and lives and dies at Bury St. Edmund. As a result of living in his 
 environment no other early English author can equal him in the scope of his 
 interests. He copied and translated everything that came to his hand. His work 
 embraces ballads, lyrics, epics, allegories, fables, moral romances, social satires, 
 histories, philosophical and scientific treatises, hagiologies and devotional manuals. 
 The Romantic and the Scholastic blend in him in this remarkable manner. 
 Because of his contemporaneity his rewards accrued to him in his lifetime. He 
 was patronized by the Court and lived in the favor of his fellow-poets. Eor a 
 century his fame was maintained, and his influence was even stronger than Chaucer's 
 upon Burgh, Hawes, the Scottish poets, and laureate Skelton — his fame and influence 
 passing with the traditions that gave them effect. 
 
 In the matter of language Lydgate is perhaps more typical of his period than 
 Chaucer. Chaucer's whole linguistic system is ior his time forced and artificial. 
 Middle English does not have the regularity and certainty which Chaucer's usage 
 seems to imply. Not a one of his successors could support his literary dialect. 
 James's Quair, purposely composed in the Chaucerian manner, is artificial to the 
 extreme. Lydgate's poetic incapacity compelled him to fall back upon the current 
 speech. In short, in this, as in all other respects, Lydgate was the immediate 
 product of his environment. He wrote not for all time but for an age. 
 
CATALOG OF PERSONS. 
 
 (The numbers refer to lines except those marked st.= stanza). 
 
 LYDGATE. 
 
 The poet performs a twofold function ; 
 he is one of the prime movers in the 
 vision (v. especially his fear of Death, 
 St. 277-286) and at the same time the 
 conscious teller of the story, never 
 forgetting the "gentle reader." (a) 
 As an actor : goes forth to the lake's 
 side and dreams, St. i, 2 ; accompanies 
 Morpheus to the Court of Minos, st. 
 3-5 ; attends the banquet given to 
 
 the gods, St. 27-87 ; a spectator on 
 the field of battle, st. 88-210; at the 
 school of Doctrine, st. 211-290 (fears 
 Death, st. 277-286); returns to his 
 bed, St. 291, 292 ; awakes and writes 
 St. 293-296. 
 
 {6) References to himself as narrator, 
 St. 76, 81, 160, 171, 214, 222, 228, 
 229, 230, 294-301. 
 
 THE DIVINITIES (at the assembly). 
 
 Apollo, the God of Light, the giver and 
 director of the banquet, st. 24, 25, 27, 
 28, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 55, 73, 103, 
 189; interpretation by Doctrine, 237. 
 
 Atropos, the God of Death ; is met by 
 Discord, st. 60 ; makes complaint to 
 the gods, St. 61-71 ; is promised aid 
 against Virtue, st. 72-75, 81-87; 
 threatens the gods, st. 138 ; is anger- 
 ed at the success of Virtue, st. 188- 
 192 ; seeks the Lord of Light, st. 
 198-199; is called Death, st. 201 ; is 
 made master of Microcosm, st. 203, 
 207-209; vanishes, st. 210; inter- 
 pretation by Doctrine, st. 257-260 ; 
 makes Lydgate to fear, st. 277-279 ; 
 the fear of Death explained, st. 280- 
 288. 
 
 Aurora, the Goddess of the Dawn, the 
 companion of Apollo at the banquet, 
 
 St. 37, 55- 
 Bacchus, the God of Wine, at the banquet, 
 St. 51. 
 
 Cerberus, the Porter of Hell; brings Eolus 
 to the Court, st. 6, 79 ; to the banquet, 
 St. 27 ; is sent to summon Vice, st. 
 87-88; porter of Hell, St. 167. 
 
 Ceres, the Goddess of Corn, at the banquet 
 with Cupid, St. 42 ; said to be 
 influenced by Phoebe, st. 52 ; inter- 
 pretation by Doctrine, st. 245. 
 
 Cupid, the God of Love, at the banquet, 
 St. 43. 
 
 Diana, the Goddess of the Wood and the 
 Chase, complainant at the Court of 
 Minos, St. 6-1 1, 22, 80 ;^dismisses the 
 case to attend the banquet, st. 25-27 ; 
 is persuaded by Apollo to forgive 
 Eolus, st. 28-34 ; at the banquet with 
 Mars, St. 38-39 ; interpretation by 
 Doctrine, st. 235-239. 
 
 Discord, the Goddess of .Strife, comes to 
 the banquet but is given no seat and 
 departs in anger, st. 59-60; conspires 
 with Atropos, st. 60-62 ; interpreta- 
 tion by Doctrine, st. 257-260. 
 
 95 
 
96 
 
 Catalog of Persons. 
 
 Eolus, the God of the Winds, a prisoner 
 at the Court of Minos, st. 6-26, 76- 
 80 ; judgment is suspended for the 
 banquet, st. 28-35 > is forgiven, pro- 
 vided he give aid to Atropos against 
 Virtue, st. 75, 81-84; interpretation 
 by Doctrine, st. 233-234. 
 
 Fortune, the Goddess of Chance, at the 
 banquet, st. 46 ; interpretation by 
 Doctrine, st. 246. 
 
 Isis, the Goddess of Fruit, at the banquet, 
 St. 48 ; interpretation by Doctrine, st. 
 246. 
 
 Juno, the Goddess of Riches, at the ban- 
 quet, St. 40. 
 
 Jupiter, the God of Wisdom, at the ban- 
 quet, St. 39. 
 
 Mars, the God of War, at the banquet, st. 
 38 ; agrees to assist Atropos, st. 73- 
 
 74- 
 
 Mercury, the God of Language, at the 
 banquet, St. 53 ; agrees to assist 
 Atropos, St. 74. 
 
 Minerva, the Goddess of War, or of Har- 
 vest, at the banquet, st. 50. 
 
 Minos, the Judge of Hell, in Court, st. 4, 
 6-26, 79-80. 
 
 Morpheus, the Shewer of Dreams (dwells 
 in Fantasy 1. 35) ; leads Lydgate to 
 the Court of Minos, st. 2-5, 79, to the 
 palace of Apollo, st. 27 ; is sent to 
 warn Virtue, st. 103-107 ; is given 
 care of the five gates of Micro- 
 cosm, St. 184-186; conducts Lydgate 
 to the School of Doctrine, st. 210- 
 212, 223, 231, 268, 270, 277 ; inter- 
 pretation by Doctrine, st. 265 ; leads 
 Lydgate to his bed, st. 290-292. 
 
 Neptune, the God of the Sea, complainant 
 at the Court of Minos, st. 6-7, 12- 
 20, 80 ; dismisses the case to attend 
 the banquet, st. 25-27 ; accepts 
 rhrebe as arbitress, st. 34-35 ; at the 
 banquet, st. 49 ; said to be ruled by 
 Phcebe, St. 52; agrees to aid Atropos, 
 St. 73 ; is requested by Phoebe to for- 
 give Eolus and complies, st. 82-83 '. 
 interpretation by Doctrine, st, 235- 
 239- 
 
 Othea (Athena), the Goddess of Wisdom, 
 at the banquet, st. 44 ; counsels the 
 gods, St. 75 ; is referred to, st. 82. 
 
 Pan, the God of Shepherds, at the ban- 
 quet, St. 47 ; serves as minstrel, st. 
 58 ; interpretation by Doctrine, st. 
 246. 
 
 Phcebe, the Goddess of Waters, the Moon ; 
 the mistress of Neptune, st. 35 ; at 
 the banquet, st. 52 ; entreats Neptune, 
 St. 81-83. 
 
 Pluto, the God of Hell, father of Vice, st. 
 86-87 ; at the Court in Hell, st. 4, 6- 
 24 ; dismisses the Court for Apollo's 
 banquet, st. 24-27 ; declares the 
 complaint against Eolus, st. 29 ; at 
 the banquet, st. 45 (how Eolus came 
 into Pluto's power, st. 76-79); sends 
 for his son Vice to overthrow Virtue, 
 S5-87 ; commands Vice, st. 138; "On 
 in Pluto's name," 1. 1077. 
 
 Saturn, the God of Cold, at the banquet, 
 St. 40, 41 ; agrees to assist Atropos, 
 St. 74. 
 
 Venus, the Goddess of Love, at the ban- 
 quet, St. 54. 
 
 POETS AND PHILOSOPHERS. 
 
 (waiters at the banquet, ST. 56-58; INTERPRETATION BY DOCTRINE = 
 FEIGNERS OF FABLES, ST. 241-249.) 
 
 Albert, 398. Dorothe, 391. 
 
 Arystotyll, 390. Dyogenes, 391, 1397, 1399. 
 
 Aueroys, 394. Esculapion, 396. 
 
 Auycen, 394. Euclyde, 398. 
 
Catalog of Persons. 
 
 97 
 
 Galyen, 395. 
 Hermes, 393. 
 Ipocras, 395. 
 Messehala, 392. 
 Omere, 397. 
 Orace, 397. 
 Orpheus, 400. 
 Ouyde, 397. 
 
 Plato, 392. 
 Saphyrus, 393. 
 Socrates, 392. 
 Sortes, 393. 
 Sychero, 390. 
 Tholome, 391. 
 Virgyle, 397. 
 
 THOSE SLAIN BY ATROPOS WITH HIS DART (sT. 64-69) 
 
 Achilles, 474. 
 
 Alexaunder, 464. 
 
 Artour, 466. 
 
 Cesar, lulius, 465. 
 
 Charles, the Noble, 467. 
 
 Cirus, 474. 
 
 Cosdras, 473. 
 
 Dauid, 466. 
 
 Ector of Troy, 463. 
 
 Godfrey of Boleyn, 469. 
 Hanyball, 473. 
 Hercules, 472. 
 lason, 472. 
 losue, 466. 
 
 ludas Machabee, 468. 
 Nabugodonozor, 470. 
 Pharao, 471. 
 Sypio, 473. 
 
 THE MORALITIES. 
 
 Virtue, Christ's Champion (1. 1103). At- 
 ropos complains to the gods that 
 Virtue escapes his dart, st. 69-70 ; 
 the gods conspire to conquer, st. 72- 
 75, 81-87; is warned by Morpheus 
 to prepare for the battle with Vice, 
 St. 103-105 ; gathers his hosts, St. 
 107-133 ; hastens to the field Micro- 
 cosm, st. 135 ; charges his men to be 
 guided by Grace, st. 136 ; gives 
 knighthood to fourteen captains ; 
 sends embassadors to Freewill ; en- 
 gages in battle, st. 148-162; is com- 
 pelled to retreat, st. 152; returns to 
 the field, St. 160; overthrows Vice with 
 the help of Preseverance, st. 162; is 
 rewarded and blessed by Predestina- 
 tion.st. 168-169; thanks God for the 
 victory, st. 1 70 ; is sought for by some 
 of Vice's host,st. 171-174 ; seeks rec- 
 ompense from Freewill, st. 174-179 ; 
 puts Reason and Freewill in charge 
 of Microcosm, st. 180; charges Sen- 
 suality to be guided by Sadness, st. 
 1 8 1- 1 83 ; gives to Morpheus the care 
 
 of the five gates, st. 184-186; returns 
 to his castle, St. 187 ; (Apollo informs 
 Atropos that Virtue is not in his 
 jurisdiction, st. 190); sends messen- 
 gers to Microcosm, st. 197 ; prepares 
 the field against the coming of Death, 
 St. 204-207 ; is exalted above the 
 firmament, st. 210; interpretation by 
 Doctrine, st. 261-266 ; the moral, st. 
 297-301. 
 
 Virtue's host, st. 109-132, pauses under 
 the Sign of the Rood, st. 149 ; is pro- 
 tected by the Shield of the Holy Trin- 
 ity, St. 150. 
 
 Imaginacion, messenger of Virtue, 748, 
 
 757- 
 Messengers = 
 
 Prayer, 1377. 
 
 Fastyng, 1377. 
 
 Penaunce, 1377. 
 
 Almesdede, 1378. 
 Baptyme, the leading captain, 951, loSi, 
 
 1090, 1105, 1198, 1211, 1216. 
 Perseueraunce, captain of the rearguard, 
 
 1094, 1115, 1125, II29. 
 
98 
 
 Catalog of Persons. 
 
 Constaunce, 1128. 
 
 Knights, guic'es of Virtue's car= 
 
 Kyghtwysnes, 795, 1385, 1394, 1401, 
 
 1418. 
 
 Prudence, 796. 
 
 Streyngth, 797. 
 
 Temperaunce, 798. 
 Seven chief captains=: 
 
 Humylyle, 801, 1142. 
 
 Charyte, 804, 1435. 
 
 Pacyence, 808. 
 
 Lyberalyte, 811. 
 
 Abstynence, 814. 
 
 Chastyte,8i8. 
 
 Good Besynesse, 821. 
 Embassadors sent by Virtue to Freewill = 
 
 Reson, 998. 
 
 Discresion, 998. 
 
 Good Remembraunce, 998, 1452. 
 Minor captains dubbed knights by Virtue 
 
 (14) = 
 
 Feythe, 986, 1082, 1089, 1105, 1196, 
 
 1208, 1210, 1435. 
 
 Hope, 986, 1082, 1089, 1 105, 1 196, 
 
 1435- 
 
 Mercy, 986, 1194. 
 Trouthe, 986. 
 Ryght, 986. 
 
 Resystence of Wrong, 987. 
 Confession, 988. 
 Contricion, 988. 
 Satisfaccion, 988. 
 Verrey Drede of God, 989. 
 Performyng of Penaunce, 989. 
 Perfeccyon, 990. 
 Konnyng, 990. 
 Good Dysposicion, 990. 
 The minor captains led by Grace; 1st 
 group (57) = 
 Grace, 853, 948. 
 Trew Feythe, 828. 
 
 Hoope, 828, 986, 1082, 1089, 1 105, 
 I196, 1435. 
 Mercy, 828, 986. 
 Peese, 828. 
 Pyte, 828. 
 Ryght, 829. 
 Trowthe, 829, 986. 
 
 Mekenesse, 829. 
 
 Good Entent, 829. 
 
 Goodness, 830. 
 
 Concorde, 830. 
 
 Parfyte Vnyte, 830, 1082, 1 105. 
 
 Honest Trew Loue, 831. 
 
 Symplycyte, 831. 
 
 Prayer, 832, 1377. 
 
 Fastyng, 832, 1377. 
 
 Preuy Almysdede, 832, 1 378. 
 
 Artycies of the Crede, 833. 
 
 Confession, 834, 988, II43, 1429. 
 
 Contrycion, 834, 988, 1 145, 1429. 
 
 Satysfaccion, 834, 988, 1146, 1429. 
 
 Sorow for Synne, 835, 1430. 
 
 Gret Repentaunce, 835, 1430. 
 
 Foryeuenes of Trespas, 836. 
 
 Good Dysposicion, 836, 990, 1431. 
 
 Resystence of Wrong, 837, 987. 
 
 Performyng of Penaunce, 837, 989, 
 
 1148, 1377, 1432. 
 
 Hooly Deuocion, 838, 1431. 
 
 Good Contvnuaunce, 838. 
 
 Preesthood, 839, 1424, 1426. 
 
 Sacramentes, 839 ; the Sacrament of 
 
 Eukaryst, 1428, 1439; Holy Unccion, 
 
 1444. 
 
 Sadnesse, 840, 1233, 1265, 1279, 
 
 1349, 1355, 1361, 1374, 1380, 1436. 
 
 Commaundementes, 840. 
 
 Sufferaunce in Trowble, 84 1. 
 
 Innocencv, 841. 
 
 Clennesse, 842. 
 
 Continence, 842. 
 
 Virginite, 842. 
 
 Kyndnesse, 843. 
 
 Reuerence, 843. 
 
 Curtesy, 843. 
 
 Content, 844. 
 
 Plesyd with Pyteous Pouerte, 844. 
 
 Entendyng Well, 845. 
 
 Mynystryng Equyte, S45. 
 
 Hooly Indyfferency, 846. 
 
 Laboryng the Seruyce of God to 
 
 Multyply, 847. 
 
 Refuse of Rychesse, 848. 
 
 Perfeccion, 849. 990. 
 
 Parfyte Contemplacion, S49. 
 
Catalog of Persons. 
 
 99 
 
 Relygyon, 850. 
 
 Profession well kept in Memory, 850. 
 
 Verrey Drede of God, 851 (989). 
 
 Holy Predycacion, 851. 
 
 Celestiall Sapience, 852. 
 
 Goostly Inspiracion, 852. 
 Minor captains led by Cunning ; 2d 
 group (17) = 
 
 Konnyng, 854, 872, 876, 931, 990, 
 
 I105. 
 
 Cramer, 855- 
 
 Sophystry, 855. 
 
 Naturall Philosophy, 856. 
 
 Logyk, 856. 
 
 Rethoryk, 856. 
 
 Arsmetry, 857. 
 
 Geometrv, 857. 
 
 Astronomy, 857. 
 
 Canon, 858. 
 
 Cyuyle, 858. 
 
 Musyk, 858. 
 
 Theology, 859. 
 
 Physyk, 859. 
 
 Moralizacion of Holy Scripture, 860. 
 
 Poetry, 861. 
 
 Drawyng of Picture, 861. 
 Minor captains ; 3d group (9) = 
 
 Moderat Dyete, 885. 
 
 Wysdom, 885. 
 
 Euyn Wyght & Mesure, 886. 
 
 Ware of Contagious Geere, 886. 
 
 Lothe to Offende, 887. 
 
 Louyng ay to Lere, 887. 
 
 Worshyp, 888. 
 
 Profyt, 888. 
 
 Myrthe in Manere, 888. 
 Commons with Virtue, numbering one- 
 tenth of Vice's host = 
 
 Doctours, 897. 
 
 Prestes, 899. 
 
 Confessours, 899. 
 
 Declarers of Holy Scripture, 900. 
 
 Rebukers of synne, 901. 
 
 Fysshers of fowles, 902. 
 
 Lovers of clennes, 903. 
 
 Dyspysers of veyn & worldly ryches, 
 
 903- 
 
 Prelates (pesyble), 904. 
 
 Gouernours (iustyciall), 904. 
 Founders of churches, 905. 
 Peeres (mercyfull), 905. 
 Reformers of wrong, 906. 
 Merchauntes (well menyng), 908. 
 Artyfyceres (trew), 908. 
 Vyrgyns, 909. 
 Innocentes, 909. 
 Matronys (hooly), 910. 
 Contynentes, 910. 
 Pylgryms, 911. 
 Palmers, 911. 
 Laborers (trew), 911. 
 Hooly Heremytes, 912. 
 Goddes Solycitours, 912. 
 Menkes, 913. 
 
 Freres (well dysposyd), 913. 
 Chanons, 914. 
 Nonnes, 914. 
 
 Professours (feythfull), 914. 
 Coniugatoures of worldly people, 
 915. 
 
 Louers of Cryst, 916. 
 Confounders of yll, 916. 
 All that to godward yeue her good 
 wyll, 917. 
 
 Mayntenours of ryght, 918. 
 Verrey Penytentes, 918. 
 Distroyers of errour, 919. 
 Causers of Vnyte, 919. 
 Performers of mercy and pyte, 92 1. 
 Contemplatyf peple, 922. 
 Vyce, son of Pluto, st. 86, 87 ; summoned 
 by Pluto to do battle against Virtue, 
 St. 87, 88; leads towards the field of 
 Microcosm, st. 137-139; is charged 
 by Pluto to overthrow Virtue, st. 138 ; 
 dubbs fourteen knights; sends em- 
 bassadors to Freewill, st. 144 ; sends 
 Sensuality into the field to scatter 
 evil seeds, st. 146-147; engages in 
 battle, St. 149-150; is reinforced by 
 Freewill, st. 151-152; causes Virtue 
 to retreat, st. 152-155 ; is overthrown 
 by Virtue, st. 160-162; leaves the 
 field by a private gate and meets with 
 Despair, st. 165; is driven to tor- 
 ment by Prescience, st. 166-168; 
 
Catalog of Persons. 
 
 interpretation by Doctrine, st. 261- 
 
 266 ; moral, st. 297-298. 
 Vice's host, st. 89-103. 
 Oryginal cryme= 
 
 Messenger of Vice, 776, 781, 950, 
 
 955- 
 Seven chief captains=: 
 
 Pryde, 621. 
 
 Enuy, 622, 
 
 Wrethe, 624. 
 
 Couetyse, 626. 
 
 Glotony, 628. 
 
 Lechery, 630. 
 
 Slowthe, 631. 
 Embassadors sent by Vice to Freewill = 
 
 Temptacion, 1004. 
 
 Foly, 1004. 
 
 Sensualyte, 1004. 
 Minor Captains dubbed Knights by Vice 
 
 (14) = 
 
 Falshood, 974, 643. 
 Dyssymulacion 974, 636. 
 Symony, 975, 636. 
 Vsure, 975, 644. 
 Wrong, 975, 645. 
 Kebawdy, 975, 648. 
 Malyce, 976, 640. 
 Deceyte, 976, 647. 
 Ly, 976, 644. 
 Extorcion, 976, 637. 
 Periury, 977, 644. 
 Diffidence, 977, 652. 
 Apostasy, 977, 657. 
 Boldnesse in Vll, 978, 648. 
 The Minor Captains (75) = 
 Sacrylege, 636. 
 Symony 636, 975. 
 Dyssimulacion, 636, 974. 
 Manslaughter, 637. 
 Mordre, 637, 
 Theft, 637. 
 Extorcion, 637, 976. 
 Arrogaunce, 638. 
 Presumpcion, 638. 
 Contumacy, 638. 
 Contempcion, 639. 
 Contempt, 639. 
 Inobedience, 639. 
 
 Malyce, 640, 976. 
 Frowardnes, 640. 
 Gret lelacy, 640. 
 Woodnesse, 641. 
 Hate, 641. 
 Stryfe, 64 1. 
 Impacience, 641. 
 X'nkyndnesse, 642. 
 Oppression, 642. 
 Wofuil Neglygence, 642. 
 Murmour, 643. 
 Myschyef, 643. 
 Falshood, 643, 974. 
 Detraccion, 643. 
 Vsury, 644, 975. 
 Periury, 644, 977. 
 Ly, 644, 976. 
 Adulacion, 644. 
 Wrong, 645, 975. 
 Rauyne, 645. 
 Vyolence, 645. 
 False lugement, 646. 
 Obstynacy, 646. 
 Dysseyte, 647, 976. 
 Dronkenes, 647. 
 Improuydence, 647. 
 Boldnes in Vll, 648, 978. 
 Foule Rybaudy, 648, 975. 
 Fornycacion, 649. 
 Incest, 649. 
 Auoutry, 649. 
 Vnshamefastnes, 650. 
 Prodygalyte, 650. 
 Blaspheme, 651. 
 Veynglory, 651. 
 Worldly Vanyte, 65 1. 
 Ignoraunce, 652. 
 Diffydence, 652, 977. 
 Ipocrysy, 652. 
 Scysme, 653. 
 Rancour, 653. 
 Debate, 653. 
 Offense, 653. 
 Heresy, 654. 
 Errour, 654. 
 Idolatry, 654. 
 New Fangylnes, 655. 
 False Pretense, 655. 
 
Catalog of Persons. 
 
 lOI 
 
 Inordinat Desyre of Worldly Excel- 
 
 lense, 656. 
 
 Feynyd Pouert, 657. 
 
 Apostasy, 657, 977. 
 
 Disclaundyr, 658. 
 
 Skorne, 658. 
 
 lelousy, 658. 
 
 Hoordam, 659. 
 
 Bawdry, 659. 
 
 False Mayntenaunce, 659. 
 
 Treson, 660. 
 
 Abusion, 660. 
 
 Pety Brybery, 660. 
 
 Vsurpacion, 661. 
 
 Horryble Vengeaunce, 661. 
 
 Idylnesse, 666. 
 Captains refused by Virtue who enter the 
 service of Vice (st. 124-126) = 
 
 Nygromansy, 867. 
 
 Geomansy, 868. 
 
 Magyk, 868 
 
 (Glotony), 868. 
 
 Adr3-omancy, 869. 
 
 Ornomancy, 869. 
 
 Pyromancy, 869. 
 
 Fysenamy, 870. 
 
 Pawmestry, 870. 
 The Commons with Vice led by Idleness^ 
 
 Bosters, 673. 
 
 Braggars, 673. 
 
 Brybores, 673. 
 
 Praters, 674. 
 
 Fasers, 674. 
 
 Strechers, 674. 
 
 Wrythers, 674. 
 
 Shakerles, 675. 
 
 Shaueldores, 675. 
 
 Oppressours, 676. 
 
 Crakers, 676. 
 
 Meyntenours of querelles, 677. 
 
 Lyers, 677. 
 
 Theues, 678. 
 
 Traytours, 678. 
 
 Herytykes, 678. 
 
 Charmers, 679. 
 
 Sorcerers, 679. 
 
 Scismatykes, 679. 
 
 Symonyakes, 680. 
 
 Vsurers, 680. 
 Multyplyers, 681. 
 Coyn wasshers, 681. 
 Coyn clyppers, 681. 
 Vsurpers, 682. 
 Extorcioners, 682. 
 Bakbyters, 683. 
 Closers, 683. 
 Flaterers, 683. 
 Murmurers, 684. 
 Claterers, 684. 
 Tregetours, 685. 
 Tryphelers, 685. 
 Feyners of tales, 685. 
 Lurdeyns, 686. 
 Pykers of males, 686. 
 Rowners, 687. 
 Uagaboundes, 687. 
 Forgers of lesynges, 687. 
 Robbers, 688. 
 Reuers, 688; 
 Ryfelers, 688. 
 Choppers of churches, 689. 
 Fynders of tydynges, 689. 
 Marrers of maters, 690. 
 Money makers, 690. 
 Stalkers by nyght, 691. 
 Euesdroppers, 691. 
 Fyghters, 692. 
 Brawlers, 692. 
 Brekers of lofedayes, 692. 
 Getters, 693. 
 Chyders, 693. 
 Causers of frayes, 693. 
 Tytyuyllys, 694. 
 Tyrauntes, 694. 
 Turmentoures, 694. 
 Apostates, 695. 
 Relygyous dyssymulers, 695. 
 Closshers, 696. 
 Carders, 696. 
 Hasardoures, 696. 
 Tyburne coloppys, 697. 
 Pursekytters, 697. 
 Pylary knyghtes, 698. 
 Double tollyng myllers, 698. 
 Tapsters, 699. 
 Hostelers, 699. 
 
I02 
 
 Catalog of Persons. 
 
 Hoores, 700. 
 Baudys, 700. 
 Blasphemers, 701. 
 Ipocrytes, 701. 
 Brothelles, 702. 
 Brokers, 702. 
 Swerers, 702. 
 Dryuylles, 703. 
 Dastardes, 703. 
 Dyspysers of ryghtes, 703. 
 Honiycydes, 704. 
 Poyseners, 704. 
 Morderers, 704. 
 Skoldes, 705. 
 Caytyffys, 705. 
 Clappers, 705. 
 Idolatres, 706. 
 
 Enchauntours, 706. 
 Kenegates, 706. 
 Ambidextres, 707. 
 Sekers of debates, 707. 
 I'seudo prophetes, 708. 
 Sodomytes, 708. 
 Quelmers of chyldren, 709. 
 Fornycatours, 709. 
 Wetewoldes, 710. 
 Auouterers, 711. 
 Auauntours of syn, 71 1. 
 Clappers, 712. 
 Makers of clamours, 712. 
 Vnthryftys, 713. 
 Vnlustes, 713. 
 Luskes, 714. 
 Loselles, 714. 
 
 IN THE FIELD OF MICROCOSM (ms = macrocosm). 
 
 The Field : is named Microcosm, 932 ; in 
 the midst = Conscience, 934, Syn- 
 deresys, 937 ; its lord = Freewill, st. 
 143 ; approached by five highways 
 open to the Vices and Virtues, st. 135 ; 
 interpretation by Doctrine, st. 262, 
 265. 
 
 The battle : the field, first entered by 
 Original Crime, st. 11 1 = driven out 
 by Baptism, st. 112 ; sowed with evil 
 seeds by Sensuality, st. 146-148; the 
 battle between the vices and virtues, 
 St. 148-162 (won by Perseverance, st. 
 157-162). 
 
 Freewill, Lord of Microcosm, st. 143; 
 receives embassadors from Virtue, st. 
 143, from Vice, st. 144 ; gives an 
 ambiguous answer, st. 145 ; takes the 
 part of Vice,st. 151-152, 155; repents 
 and seeks the counsel of Conscience, 
 St. 163; is sent to Humility, Confes- 
 sion, Contrition, Satisfaction and Pen- 
 ance, St. 164; appears before Virtue, 
 St. 174; blames Sensuality, st. 175- 
 176; in recompense yields Microcosm 
 to Virtue, St. 178-179 ; is made bailiff 
 under Reason, st. 180. 
 
 Prescience, sent from above the firma- 
 
 ment by Alpha and Omega (v. 1. 1 1 58, 
 1 176, 1467) to punish Vice, st. 166- 
 167. 
 
 Predestinacion, sent to reward Virtue, st. 
 168-169; they vanish, st. 170. 
 
 Vice's host ; scourged by Prescience, st. 
 167 ; some seek Peace, Mercy, Faith, 
 Hope, Baptism, Confession, Con- 
 science, Circumcision, st. 171-174. 
 
 Sadnesse, takes Sensuality prisoner, st, 
 177 ; is given the guidance of Sensu- 
 ality in Microcosm, St. 181, 1S3, 193; 
 with Reason clears Microcosm of the 
 evil weeds of Sensuality, st. 195 ; with 
 Reason prepares the field for the 
 coming of the Lord of Light, st. 206. 
 
 Reason, rules in Microcosm, st, 180, 187, 
 193, 195, 197, 206. 
 
 Nature (has jurisdiction over living creat- 
 ures, St. 65, 69, 190 ; has "carnal 
 might," 1. 1 381) requires that Sensu- 
 ality be given his liberty, st. 182; is 
 powerless to help Atropos against 
 Virtue, st. 194. 
 
 Morpheus, is given charge of five gates 
 of Microcosm, st. 185-186, 
 
 Atropos, resolves to enter the service of 
 God, St. 191 ; inquires the way to 
 
Catalog of Persons. 
 
 103 
 
 Righteousness, st. 198, 199; is called 
 Death, st. 201 ; is given power in 
 Microcosm, St. 203,207-209; vanishes, 
 St. 210. 
 
 The Lord of Light, received in Microcosm, 
 
 St. 204-206. 
 Resydyuacion, enters Microcosm but is 
 
 repulsed, st. 192-195 ; interpretation 
 
 by Doctrine, st. 266. 
 
 THE ACCORD OF REASON AND SENSUALITY. 
 
 Reason, an embassador of Virtue and 
 ruler in Microcosm ; Lydgate muses 
 how he may make Reason and Sensu- 
 ality to accord, st. i ; Reason is sent 
 by Virtue as an embassador to Free- 
 will, St. 143 ; has no fear of Sensu- 
 ality, St. 176; is given charge of 
 Microcosm, St. 180 ; has guard over 
 Sensuality, st. 187, 193 (v. 266); is 
 superior to Nature, st, 194 ; with Sad- 
 ness clears Microcosm of weeds, st. 
 195; is directed by Prayer, Fasting, 
 Penance and Almsdeed st. 197 ; shows 
 Atropos the way to Righteousness, 
 St. 198-199; with Sadness, cleanses 
 the field against the coming of the 
 Lord, St. 206 ; comes with Sensuality 
 to Doctrine to clear up Lydgate's 
 doubt, St. 276-279 ; Reason and 
 Sensuality agree as to the fear of 
 Death, st. 280-282 ; vanishes, st. 283 ; 
 interpretation of the concordance by 
 Doctrine, st. 287-288. 
 
 Sensuality, an embassador of Vice to Free- 
 will, and an ally of Nature ; Lydgate 
 muses how he may make Sensuality 
 and Reason to accord, st. i ; Sensu- 
 ality is sent by Vice as embassador 
 to Freewill, st. 144 ; sows evil seeds 
 in Microcosm, st. 146-148, 153; is 
 charged with corrupting Freewill, st. 
 176; taken prisoner by Sadness and 
 brought to Virtue, st. 177; is placed 
 under the guidance of Sadness, st. 
 180-181 ; his liberty plead for by 
 Nature, st. 182; is denied freedom in 
 Microcosm, st. 183; guarded by 
 Reason, st. 187 ; meets with Residiva- 
 tion but can do no evil, st. 193, 194; 
 his evil weeds cut down by Reason 
 and Sadness, st. 195; enters with 
 Reason the School of Doctrine to 
 clear up Lydgate's doubt, st. 276- 
 279 ; agrees with Reason as to the 
 fear of Death, st. 281 ; vanishes, St. 
 283 ; interpretation of the concord 
 by Doctrine, st. 287-288. 
 
 IN THE SCHOOL OF DOCTRINE, st. 211-290. 
 (a four-square arbor). 
 
 Wytte, chief porter, st. 212. 
 
 Teachers of the people = 
 
 Dame Doctryne, st. 213-214, st. 229- 
 231 ; as interpreter, st. 232-288. 
 
 Holy Texte, st. 215. 
 Close, St. 215. 
 Moralyzacion, st. 215. 
 Scrypture, st. 215, the Scribe. 
 
I04 
 
 Catalog of Persons. 
 
 PICTURED ON THE WALLS : 
 
 1ST AND 2D WALLS : TIMES OF DEVIATION AND REVOCATION. 
 
 (The false gods are not here described). 
 
 K supporting Moses' arms. 
 
 Adam, 1521. 
 
 Eue, 1 52 1, holding an apple. 
 
 Noe, 1522, in a ship. 
 
 Abraham, 1522, holding a flintstone. 
 
 Isaac, 1523, bound on a mount. 
 
 lacob, 1524, sleeping by a ladder. 
 
 Joseph, 1526, in a cistern. 
 
 Moyses, 1527, with two tables. 
 
 Aaron, 1528, 
 
 Vrre, 1528, 
 
 Ely, 1529, in a burning car. 
 
 Elyze, 1530, clad as a hermit. 
 
 Dauid, 1 53 1, with a harp and stone sling. 
 
 leremy, 1532. 
 
 Ezechiell, 1532. 
 
 Danyell, 1533, in a lion's den. 
 
 Abacuc, 1534. 
 
 Mychee, 1534. 
 
 Malachy, 1534. 
 
 3D WALL = TIME OF 
 Petyr, 1 562, with keys. 
 Poule, 1563, with a sword, 
 lames, 1563, with a scallop. 
 Thomas, 1564, with a spear. 
 Phylyp, 1565. 
 lames the lesse, 1566. 
 Bartylmew, 1567, all flayn. 
 Symon, 1568. 
 Thadee, 1568. 
 Mathy, 1569, ) 
 Barnabe, 1569, S ^''^^'''"^ '°''- 
 Marke, 1570, a lion holding his book. 
 Mathew, 1571, like an angel. 
 Luke, 1573, a calf holding his book, 
 lohn, 1574, with a cup and palm in his 
 hand, an eagle holding his book. 
 
 lonas, 1535, coming out of a whale's body. 
 
 Samuell, 1536, in a temple. 
 
 Zakary, 1536, by an altar. 
 
 Osee, 1538, ) conspiring the death of 
 
 ludyth, 1538, ) Holofernes. 
 
 Salamon, 1539, dividing a child with his 
 
 sword. 
 Melchisedech, 1543, offering bread and 
 
 wine, 
 loachym, 1545, 
 Anne, 1545, 
 lohn Baptyst, 1547, in a desert. 
 
 at the golden gate. 
 
 Sodechy, 1549, 
 
 Amos, 1550, 
 
 Sophony, 1 55 1. 
 
 Neemy, 1552. 
 
 Esdras, 1552. 
 
 loob, 1553, as an impotent. 
 
 Thoby, 1554, as patient. 
 
 with faces toward 
 Sophony. 
 
 RECONCILIATION. 
 
 > as doctors. 
 
 Gregory, 1576, 
 
 lerome, 1576, 
 
 Austyn, 1576, 
 
 Ambrose, 1576, 
 
 Bernard, 1578. 
 
 Anselme, 1578. 
 
 Thomas of Alquyn, 1579. 
 
 Domynyk, 1579. 
 
 Benet, 1580. 
 
 I lew, 15S0. 
 
 Martyne, 1581. 
 
 lohn, 1581. 
 
 Crysostom, 1582. 
 
 Beede, 1583. 
 
 Orygene, 1584. 
 
 Sybyli, 1589. 
 
 Andrew, 1595, with a cross. 
 
Catalog of Persons. 
 
 105 
 
 4TH WALL = TIME OF PILGRIMAGE, OR DANGEROUS PASSAGE, OR OF WAR. 
 
 (See the battle of the vices and virtues.) 
 
 DAME DOCTRINE. 
 
 Dame Doctrine, interpreter of the vision, 
 summons Lydgate to draw near, st. 
 231-232; interprets the imprison- 
 ment of Eolus = unbridled wealth 
 increases misrule, st. 233-234 ; Minos 
 =Judge of Cruelness, st. 235 ; the 
 complaint of Diana and Neptune^ 
 the blindness of fools, st. 235-236 ; 
 the dismissal of the court = forgetful- 
 ness of fools, 237-239 ; the gods at the 
 banquet = false idols, st. 240-249 ; 
 the Time of Deviation, st. 241-249 
 =from Adam to Moses ; the poets 
 and philosphers=feigners of fables, 
 St. 249 ; Time of Revocation = from 
 Moses to Christ, st. 250-251 ; Time 
 of Reconciliation = time of Grace, st. 
 251-252; Time of Pilgrimage = time 
 
 of war, St. 255 ; (the present battle 
 between Vice and Virtue, st. 256) ; 
 the complaint of Atropos = the con- 
 straint of friendship (Discord and 
 Death) st. 257-260 ; the battle be- 
 tween Vice and Virtue = the moral 
 struggle in the human soul, st. 261 ; 
 Microcosm = the world of man, st. 
 262 ; Perseverance = continuance of 
 good living, st. 263 ; Prescience and 
 Predestination = rewarders of vice and 
 virtue, st. 264 ; the five keys given 
 to Morpheus = the five inward wits, 
 St. 265 ; Residivation^return to sin, 
 St. 266 ; the accord of Reason and 
 Sensuality = in the fear of Death, st. 
 275-288 ; Doctrine vanishes, st. 290. 
 
 OTHER NAMES. 
 
 God, 1293, 1333, 1410, 1497, 1640, 1685, 
 1748, 1754, 1818, 2065,2088; Lord 
 God, 1930 ; Lord, 1819 ; 2093, Lord 
 of Glory, 2098 ; Fadyr, 2104 ; Alpha 
 and Omega, 1158, 1176. 
 
 Ihesu, 1121, 2105; Cryst, 1103, 1752, 
 
 1775; Son of Man, 1755; Crystyn, 
 
 1764. 
 Mary, 2105. 
 Devyll, 21, 1818, 2080. 
 Peleus, feast of, 413. 
 Phebus, the sun, i, 361. 
 Pictagoras, 3. 
 
 CATALOG OF PLACES. 
 
 A lake, St., i. 
 
 Lydgate's habitation, st., 2. 
 
 The Court of Minos in Pluto's realm, st., 4. 
 
 The Palace of Apollo, st., 27, 36, 107, 192. 
 
 The Palace of Virtue, st., 187. 
 
 The field of Microcosm, st., 134, 135. 
 
 The school of Doctrine, a four-square 
 arbor, st., 212. 
 
 Fantasy, 35, the dwelling place of Mor- 
 pheus. 
 
 Synay, Mount of, 1747. 
 
GLOSSARY. 
 
 (For a fuller explanation of 
 
 Abew, 1063. See beu<. 
 
 Abhominable, adj., 711, abominable. 
 
 Aboorde, 24S. See borde. 
 
 Abusion, sb., 660, abuse. 
 
 Abydyng, sb., 34, dwelling place. 
 
 Abyte, vb., 194, abides, remains. 
 
 Accusement, sb., 160, accusation. 
 
 Adryomancy, sb., 869, (Aero-? or Hy- 
 dro-?) divination by air (or water). 
 
 Adulacion, sb., 644, flattery. 
 
 Afore, adv., 1 120, before. 
 
 Afray, sb., 729, battle. 
 
 Aftyr, prep., 76, in accordance with ; 
 aftyr, adv., 1 024, afterwards. 
 
 Agayn, prep., 100 and often, against. 
 See ayetie. 
 
 Aldyrs, 490, 579, gen. pi. of all, althrys 
 
 599- 
 Allyaunce, sb., 991, alliance. 
 All be, conj., 476, al-be-it. 
 Aloft, adv., loi, in the air, on high. 
 Altherlast, 186, last of all. 
 Aly, si)., 18 10, ally. 
 Ambidextres, sb., 707, double dealing 
 
 persons. 
 Ambyguyte, sb., 10 12, ambiguity. 
 Anone, adv., 14, 1615, soon. 
 Apply, vb., 485, incline. 
 Aray, sb., 282, 296, dress. 
 Arere, adv., 962, to the rear. 
 Armure, sb., 931, armor, weapons. 
 Arow, 763 = a row, host. 
 Asaute, vb., 5S8 ; sb., assawie, 1049, 
 
 assault. 
 Asay, vb., 980, try. 
 Asondre, adv., 66, asunder. 
 Aspyed, vb., 1368, spied. 
 Astert, vb., 1267, escape. 
 Astonyed, vb., 131 1, astounded, dis- 
 
 maved. 
 
 nianv words see the Notes.) 
 
 Astyrlabes, sb. pi., 1896, instruments for 
 
 taking altitudes of the sun and stars 
 
 (astrolobes). 
 Ateynt, vb., 362, disgraced, afflicted with 
 
 sorrow. 
 Atwene, prep., 2006, between. 
 Atwyx, prep., 1966, between. 
 Auaunce, vb., 954, advance ; imper., 
 
 ai'aioit, 1 121. 
 Auauntage, sb., 727, 1033, advantage. 
 Auauntours, sb., 711, boasters. 
 Auaylyd, vb., 19, helped ; ovale, vb., 360, 
 
 bow down — perhaps = to have force. 
 Auenaunt, adj., 885, agreeable, handsome. 
 Auentur, sb., 944, chance, adventure. 
 Auoutry, sb., 649, adultery; auouterers, 
 
 711. 
 Avowe, sb., 983, vow. 
 Auyse, vb., 866, advise; sb., 1352, advice. 
 Auysment, sb., 140, deliberation. 
 Awayters, sb., 1741, waiters. 
 Awter, sb., 1537, altar. 
 Ax, vb., 520, ask; axyd, 1383. 
 Ay, adv., 119, 256, 966, ever. 
 Ayene, prep., 19, and often, against. See 
 
 agayn. 
 Ayeyn, adv., 63 and often, again. 
 
 Bake, sb., 1905, back. 
 Balaunce, sb., 1012, scale, decision. 
 Bankes, sb. 105, shores of the sea. 
 Banket, sb., 188 and often, banquet. 
 Batayll, sb., 753, loio, etc., battle. 
 Baudys, sb., 700, bawds. 
 Bawdryk, sb., 285, belt. 
 Bayll, sb., 1259, bailiff. 
 Baytys, sb., 596, lures. 
 Be, vb., 115 and often, been. 
 Bedene, adv., 277, together, in order, or 
 perhaps an expletive. 
 
 106 
 
Glossary. 
 
 107 
 
 Beforn, adv., 819; before, 1792, before. 
 
 Begoon, vb., 441, suffered. 
 
 Begylyd, vb., 571, diverted. 
 
 Beheste, sb., 481, promise. 
 
 Behoue, sb., 1260, advantage. 
 
 Beleue, sb., 1679, belief. 
 
 Bende, sb., 1172, band, company. 
 
 Benedycyte, 1594, bless ye, equivalent to 
 thank God. 
 
 Benygne, adj., 1224, gracious, benignant. 
 
 Beseene, vb., 275, 823, bedecked adorned. 
 
 Beseke, vb., 1929, beseech. 
 
 Beset, vb., 297, beset, studded with orna- 
 ments. 
 
 Beshut, vb., 1 169, shut up. 
 
 Bespreynt, vb., 258, sprinkled. 
 
 Bestadde, vb., 1106, placed, sorely im- 
 perilled. 
 
 Besy, adj., 563, 746, 181 1, busy, anxious. 
 
 Bettyr, sb., 8S2, better. 
 
 Betyn, vb., 105, beating (?) or beaten. 
 
 Bew, adj., 1063 (beu) good, fine. 
 
 Blare, vb., 1299, make dim. 
 
 Blyn, vb., i860, cease from. 
 
 Blyue, adv., 941, quickly. 
 
 Bone, adj., 720, ready; bourne, vb., 716, 
 prepared. 
 
 Boorde, sb., 1242, conversation; boorde 
 3SS, table ; aboorde 248. 
 
 Boote, sb., 1351, help, succor. 
 
 Borow, vb., 1 1 67, bail out, secure. 
 
 Boystous, adj., 127, 156, boisterous, noisy. 
 
 Brayde, vb., 499, started up. 
 
 Breched, vb., 325, dressed with breeches. 
 
 Breede, vb., 599, grow, breed. 
 
 Brennyng, vb., 1529, burning. 
 
 Brokers, sb., 702, receivers of stolen 
 goods. 
 
 Brybores, sb., 673, robbers, beggars. 
 
 But yef, conj., 89, 490, unless. 
 
 Caltrop, sb., 773, an iron instrument scat- 
 tered in battlefields to impede cavalry. 
 
 Carders, sb., 696, card players. 
 
 Carnall, adj., 1381, worldly, fleshly. 
 
 Carpe,vb., 402, play, speak; carpyng,a,'^(). 
 
 Castaway, sb., 1274, something of no 
 value. 
 
 Caytyffys, sb., 705, caitiffs. 
 
 Certeyne, adv., 112 and often, certainly. 
 
 Chamelet, sb., 320, camlet, a woven fab- 
 rik of wool and cotton, or of goat's 
 hair and silk. 
 
 Chare, sb., 506, car. 
 
 Chases, sb., 58, open hunting grounds. 
 
 Chaunse, sb., 996, chance. 
 
 Chere, sb., 263, 284, face, countenance; 
 greeting, 418, 423. 
 
 Chese, vb., 882, chose. 
 
 Chyders, sb., 693, scolds. 
 
 Chyne, vb., 536, to open in cracks or 
 fissures. 
 
 Chyst, sb., 1300, chest. 
 
 Claterers, sb., 684, tattlers. 
 
 Clause, sb., 136, proviso. 
 
 Cloke, sb., 1503, cloak. 
 
 Closshers, sb., 696, " closh "-players. 
 
 Clowte, sb., 1274, clout, rag. 
 
 Cofres, sb., 273, coffers for money. 
 
 Coloppys, sb., 697. See note. 
 
 Columbyne, adj., 374, dovelike, like the 
 flower (?) 
 
 Comfort, sb., 65, 532, pleasure ; 206, con- 
 fidence ; 488, help, support ; coiti- 
 forty d, vb., 761. 
 
 Comon, adj., 1938, familiar. 
 
 Compace, sb., 1881, space. 
 
 Conceyte, sb., 1989, thought, idea. 
 
 Concordaunce, sb., 2005, agreement. 
 
 Condescendyd, vb., 1974, agreed. 
 
 Condycyons, sb., 322, states, circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Confound, vb., 506, destroy; 1042, ?pass; 
 confounders, 916, 
 
 Coniecture, sb., 1694, opinion. 
 
 Coniugatoures, sb., 915, uniters. 
 
 Constreynyd, vb., 49, urged, compelled. 
 
 Context, adj., 1503, woven firmly. 
 
 Contumacy, sb., 638, resistence to au- 
 thority. 
 
 Corner, sb., 35, secluded place. 
 
 Correccion, sb., 91, 486, correction, fine. 
 
 Cost, sb., 119, coast; 952, region. 
 
 Costlew, adj., 296, costly. 
 
 Couerture, sb., 1723, covering, conceal- 
 ment. 
 
io8 
 
 Glossary. 
 
 Coueyte, vb., 1476, covet. 
 Counterfete, vb., 212, construct. 
 Cowchyd, vb., 287, 308, inlaid, laid in 
 
 order. 
 Craft, sb., 17 10, liusiness, 1134 crafti- 
 
 ne.'^.'^. 
 Crakers, sb., 676, braggarts, noisy fellows. 
 Croppe, sb., 620, stem of a plant. 
 Cropyn, vb., 1953, crept. 
 Cruell, adj., 41, 471, harsh, severe, cruel ; 
 
 cre~u<ebies, sb., 1643. 
 Crysmatory, sb., 1444, a vessel for 
 
 chrism. 
 Cryspe, adj., 374, fresh. 
 Culuer, sb., 1608, dove. 
 Curas, sb., 345, cuirass, breastplate. 
 Cure, sb., 59, 455, care. 
 Cure boyle, 617, hard leather; v. note. 
 Cyrcute, sb., 757, circuit. 
 Cysterne, sb., 1526, cistern. 
 
 Dalyaunce, sb., 1509, talk. 
 Dampnacion, sb., 1844, damnation. 
 Darkyd, vb., 1193, lay hid. 
 Dastard, sb., 1886, coward ; pi. 703. 
 Date, sb., 425, date, time. See note. 
 Daungere, sb., 96, 527, 543, 2084, power; 
 
 165, 445 refusal. 
 Debonayr, adj., 1441, gentle. 
 Defaute, sb., 460, default; ? vb., 782. 
 Dele, vb., 146, deal, distribute; deele, 
 
 1634, have dealings. 
 Dell, sb., 1333, part; dele, 1027. 
 Deme, vb., 1068, think, judge. 
 Demenyng, sb., 269, demeanor. 
 Deputate, vb., 1641, appointed. 
 Dere, vb., 600, injure. 
 Dereygne, vb., 612, set in order, tight. 
 Desert, sb., 1288, merit. 
 Desperate, adj., 28, causing despair. 
 Desyreth, vb., 138, demands. 
 Disclaundyr, sb., 658, slander. 
 Disport, sb., 531, pleasure. 
 Do, vb., 54 and often, done. 
 Dolour, sb., 735, grief. 
 Domynacion, sb., 191 1, domination. 
 Doole, sb., 487, dole, portion. 
 Dotyng, adj., 1394, foolish, childish. 
 
 Dowte, sb., 761, looi, 1321, 1929, doubt; 
 vb., 523. 
 
 Dowty, adj., 792, brave. 
 
 Draught, sb., 1232, drawing, move at 
 chess. 
 
 Dresse, vb., 534, direct, reach, prepare; 
 myn ey gan I dresse, 15 12. 
 
 Dryuylles, sb., 703, idiots. 
 
 Dubbyd, vb., 974, conferred knighthood. 
 
 Dure, vb., 1777, last, extend; duryd, 751. 
 
 Duresse, sb., 1270, restraint. 
 
 Dynt, sb., 487, dint, stroke. 
 
 Dyscordyd, vb., 1973, differed. 
 
 Dyscrese, vb., 232, decrease. 
 
 Dysdeynyd, vb., 168, refused. 
 
 Dysgysyd, vb., 343, dressed, tricked out. 
 
 Dysport, sb., 67, 531, 671, pleasure, rec- 
 reation. 
 
 Dyspurueyde, vb., 723, unprepared. 
 
 Dysseyte, sb., 647, deceit. ^ 
 
 Dysvsyd, vb., 1400, disused, out of use. 
 
 Effecte, sb., 1617, 1916, conclusion, mean- 
 ing. 
 
 Efte, adv., 560, again. 
 
 Eftsones, adv., 1007, immediately. 
 
 Egall, sb., 154, equal. 
 
 Eke, adv., 247, also. 
 
 Ellas, adv., 33, else; ellys, 161. 
 
 Enbrowderyd, vb., 332, embroidered. 
 
 Enforme, vb., 785, inform. 
 
 Enhaunse, vb., 999, increase, raise. 
 
 Entent, sb., loS, purpose; 451, attention, 
 effort; thenteui, 1 904. 
 
 Entresse, sb., 1941, interest. 
 
 Equyte, sb., 495, justice. 
 
 Er, Ere, adv., 8, 155S, before. 
 
 Eschew, vb., 901, avoid. 
 
 Estate, sb., 27, 424, state, place, rank. 
 
 Euerychoon, 1806, each one. 
 
 Euesdroppers, sb., 691, eves-droppers. 
 
 Euyll, adv., 38, in an evil manner. 
 
 Evyn, adv., 162, at the time ; 202, evenly; 
 adj., 886, even. 
 
 Execute, vb., 53, bring to bear. 
 
 Exorte, vb., 1488, teach, advise. 
 
 Fade,vl)., 70, wither, decrease. 
 
Glossary. 
 
 109 
 
 Fall, vb., 230, fall ; 10, fallen, pp.; 124, 
 befall; 55S, happen; fell, 530, hap- 
 pened ; fyll, 367, was fitting. 
 
 Fande, vb., 131, found. 
 
 Fantasy, sb., 35, 2050, fancy ; fantasyes, 
 pi., 1854. 
 
 Fare, vb., 810, proceed. 
 
 Fasers, sb., 674, hypocrites (facers). 
 
 Fauset, sb., 357 faucet. 
 
 Fawchon, sb., 283, falchion. 
 
 Fawcon, sb., 803, falcon. 
 
 Fayne, adj., 11, inclined, desirous. 
 
 Fee, sb., 995, domain. 
 
 Feere, sb., 1952, fear. 
 
 Feet, sb., 1064, deed. 
 
 Fell, adj., 434, cruel (many ?). 
 
 Fendes, sb., 1412, fiendes. 
 
 Fenyx, sb., 810, phoenix. 
 
 Fere, 52, /« /dv-d'=in company. 
 
 Ferre, adv., 102, 1613, 1627, igisfar; 
 ferther, 1932. 
 
 Feruent, adj., 1448, vehement. 
 
 Fet, vb., 544, bring, fetch. 
 
 Feynt, adj., 80, 359, weak, lacking color 
 and energy. 
 
 Finaunce, sb., 1242, fine, forfeiture. 
 
 Flayn, vb., 1567, flayed. 
 
 Foly, sb., 1631, 2097, foolishness, sin. 
 
 Fone, sb., pi., 1748, foes. 
 
 Foom (?), sb., 104, foam. 
 
 Forteresse, sb., 1S7, palace; 303 figura- 
 tively as strong-hold. 
 
 Forse, sb., 1057, matter, consequence, no 
 forse^no matter. 
 
 Forsothe, adv., 211, 581, in truth. 
 
 Foryete, vb., 239, forgotten. 
 
 Fowtyn, vb., 1826, fought. 
 
 Foyson, sb., 408, abundance, plenty. 
 
 Frese, sb., 325, a cloth. 
 
 Froward, adj., 1816, ungovernable ; /ro- 
 wardtiess, 640. 
 
 Fructuous, adj., 900, fruitful, profitable. 
 
 Fury, sb., 53, judgment. 
 
 Fygure, sb., 1725, form of speech. 
 
 Fyn, adv., 1463, very. 
 
 Fysenamy, sb., 870, physiognomy. 
 
 Gaderyd, vb., 760, gathered. 
 
 Galaunt, adj., 296, splendid, gay. 
 
 Gall, sb., 1614, nut-gall. 
 
 Gan, vb., 202, 534, began, and used as 
 
 auxiliary = did. 
 Gape, vb., 1316, desire, stand in expecta- 
 tion of. 
 Garnysshyd, vb., 377, adorned. 
 Gastes, sb., 754, guests, (cf. Lat. hostis) 
 
 followers. 
 Gate, vb., 1836, won. 
 Gawdy, adj., 320, gaudy, perhaps dyed 
 
 with weld. 
 Geere, sb., 886 ? riches (or ? jeer). 
 Genalogy, sb., 854, lineage. 
 Geomansy, sb., 868, divination by earth. 
 Gesse, vb., 1386, think, suppose. 
 Get, sb., 1678, 1657, fashion. 
 Getters, sb. . 693, ? swaggerers or ? thieves. 
 Gladyd, vb., 383, made glad. 
 Glosyng, adj., 2081, flattering; glosers, 
 
 sb., 683, flatterers. 
 Go, vb., 1396, gone. 
 Gonnes, sb., 1038, guns. 
 Goostly, adj., 852, spiritual. 
 Gramercy, 575, many thanks. 
 Greefe, sb., 47, harm; 216, sorrow. 
 Grogyng, sb., 217 (grochyng) grumbling, 
 
 malice. 
 Grounde, sb., 304, reason, agency, 1690, 
 
 place. 
 Gryffyng, sb., 1718, grafting. 
 Guerdoun, sb., 2087, reward. 
 Guy, vb., 1720, guide. 
 Guytornes, 970, (Pguydons) cavalry flags. 
 Gyldyn, adj., 367, golden. 
 Gymlot, sb., 357, gimblet. 
 Gyse, sb., 1965, manner. 
 
 Habundaunce, sb., 1714, abundance. 
 Habylyte, sb., 1247, ability. 
 Habytacle, sb., 11, habitation. 
 Happyd, vb., 419, chanced. 
 Hasardoures, sb., 696, gamblers. 
 Haunt, sb., 1295, dwelling; hauntyd, 119. 
 Heede, sb., 10, head. 
 Heede, sb., 1815, care. 
 Hele, sb., 1853, health. 
 Hem, pr., 1636 and often, them. 
 
no 
 
 Glossary. 
 
 Her, pr., 47, 65, 1635, their. 
 Herber, ^l)., 1479, arbor. 
 Hermyne, sb., 266, ermine. 
 Herowde, sb., 719, herald. 
 Heuynesse, sb., 186, slowness, 10 heavi- 
 ness. 
 Heynous, adj., 962, hateful, reprehensible. 
 Hit, pr., 62 and often, it. 
 Hogy, adj., 1095, huge. 
 Holly, adv., 2014, wholly. 
 Hoole, adj., 967, whole. 
 Houyd, vb., 1608, hovered. 
 Howe be hit, conj., 1081, how-be-it. 
 Hulke, sb., 88. 
 
 Hy, vb., 765, hie; hyghyd, 941, hied. 
 Hydyr, adv., 604, hither. 
 Hygh, adj., 73, great. 
 Hygh-weyes, sb., 1460, high-ways. 
 Hyghyd, vb., 941, hastened. 
 Hym, pr., 128 and often, them ; also him. 
 
 Impotent, sb., 1553, sick man. 
 Inconuenyent, sb., 415, inconvenience. 
 
 lape, sb., 525, jest, mockery. 
 lugement, sb., 161, the court sentence, 
 lurysdyccion, sb., iiii, power, 
 lust, vb., 1099, joust. 
 
 Karyk, sb., 88, cark, a kind of ship. 
 Kendall, adj., 356, describing a kind of 
 
 cloth. 
 Keruell, sb., 87, caravel. 
 Knowleche, sb., 529, knowledge. 
 Knyt, vb., 991, united ; knet, 1 186 ; knette, 
 
 2008. 
 Konnyng, sb., 854, wisdom. 
 Krany, vb., 536, crack into fissures. 
 Krauers, sb., 534, crevice. 
 Kynde, sb., 1647, nature; 1544, kind. 
 Kyrtyll, sb., 332, an outer garment. 
 
 Lak, sb., 369, lack. 
 Langoure, sb., 1853, languor. 
 Lappyd, vb., 126, wrapped. 
 Large, sb., 1239, liberty. 
 Largely, adv., 1637, freely. 
 Largesse, sb., 1327, liberty. 
 
 Lastyuyous, adj., 686, lascivious. 
 
 Laurer, sb., 791, laurel. 
 
 Lawe, vb., 404, laugh. 
 
 Leese, vb., iioo, lose. 
 
 Leme, sb., 1609, light. 
 
 Lere, vb., 887, learn. 
 
 Leme, vb., 957, teach. 
 
 Lesynges, .sb., 687, lies. 
 
 Let, vb., 1 130, hinder ; 251, avoid, neglect; 
 529, given; 956, let; sb., 319, 
 hinderance. 
 
 Lewde, adj., 403, worthless, perhaps 
 loud; sh., le~a<denesse, 1633, free action. 
 
 Loft, see ahff. 
 
 Longeth, vb., 1327, belongs. 
 
 Loore, sb., 2074, wisdom, lore. 
 
 Lore, vb., 1309, lost. 
 
 Loselles, sb., 714, worthless fellows, lords. 
 
 Lothe, adj., 881, loath. 
 
 Lowte, vb., 1089, 1439, 1925, bow, yield. 
 
 Lurdeyns, sb., 686, block-heads. 
 
 Luskes, sb., 714, lazy fellows. 
 
 Lust, sb., 1307, strength, desire; 1277, 
 wish. 
 
 Lyeftenaunt, sb., 1254, lieutenant, repre- 
 sentative. 
 
 Lyght, adv., 1201, lightly. 
 
 Lyke, vl)., 225, please. 
 
 Lyklynes, sb., 1066, probability. 
 
 Lyst, vb., 1007, wished; 1291, wish. 
 
 Lythe, vb., 105, lies. 
 
 Mace, sb., 476, mace. 
 
 Malapert, adj., 503, impudent, forward. 
 
 Males, sb., 686, pockets. 
 
 Manaces, vb., 61, threatens. 
 
 Maner, sb., 69, kind of; on a maner, 5; 
 
 any maner wey, 1735' 
 Marre, vb., 556, destroy. 
 Mastresse, sb., 243, mistress, governess. 
 Mawgre, prep., 1381, in spite of. 
 Mede, sb., 756, merit. 
 Medewes, sb., 259, meadows. 
 Mekyll, 92, "inasmekyll as" ; mochyll, 
 
 1 8 1 3. 
 Mene, sb., 11 95, mediator; adj., 946, mean. 
 Mene, adj., 1720, mean, low. 
 Merueyle, sb., 103, marvel, wonder. 
 
Glossary. 
 
 Messe, sb., 257, plate, table. 
 
 Mesure, sb., 84, degree, out of viesure^ 
 
 beyond due degree or bounds. 
 Meuyd, vb., 145, proposed; meve, 431, 
 
 propose. 
 Meynt, vb., 361, mingled. 
 Meyny, sb., 853, followers, army ; meyne, 
 
 Monacorde, sb., 7, agreement. 
 
 Moo, 863, 1600; more, 1606, moore lygi. 
 
 Mood, sb., 1 57 1, manner. 
 
 Mortall, adj., 732, 1450, deadly. 
 
 Mowte, vb., 1951, been able. 
 
 Mowthe, sb., 2060, mouth. 
 
 Multyplyers, sb., 371, 681, money 
 
 makers. 
 Murre, sb., 329, murre, a cold in the 
 
 throat. 
 Muryd, vb., 1460, enclosed, walled. 
 Myscheue, vb., 523, do harm; sb., mys- 
 
 chyef, 620. 
 Myddes, sb., 934, midst. 
 Myte, sb., 1607, 1814, mite, thing of no 
 
 value. 
 
 Ne, 1 197 and often, not. 
 Nere, adv., i, nearly. 
 Newe, adv., 562, newly. 
 Next, adj., 551, nearest. 
 Noonys, 502, nonce. 
 Nouelte, sb., 1705, new thing. 
 Noy, vb., 774, annoy. 
 Nygromansy, sb., 867, divination by the 
 dead. 
 
 Obstacle, sb., 9, hinderance. 
 
 Odoryferous, adj., 336, fragrant. 
 
 Offyce, sb., 494, employment. 
 
 On, sometimes written 00, 117, one. 
 
 Onwarde, adj., 162, further. 
 
 On lyue, 1851, alive. 
 
 Oon, 6 and often, one. 
 
 Oonys, adv., 11 27, once. 
 
 Opteygne, vb., 1353, obtain. 
 
 Or, conj., 752, ere. 
 
 Ordynatly, adv., 203, in good order. 
 
 Ordynaunce, sb., 245, decision, law. 
 
 Ornomancy, sb., 869, divination by birds. 
 
 Ospray, sb., 813, the fish hawk. 
 
 Ost, sb., 668, host ; hooste, 1 124, cf. Fr. ost. 
 
 Othes, sb., 502, oathes. 
 
 Ouches, sb., 297, jewels. 
 
 Outher, conj., 33, either ; oivther, 480. 
 
 Overstert, vb., 1593, ? overlooked. 
 
 Oweth, vb., 91, is under obligation, fol- 
 lowed by an objective clause intro- 
 duced by an infinitive, with to, as in 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Pak, sb., 368, company. 
 
 Panter, sb., 822, panther. 
 
 Parable, sb., 1987, parable. 
 
 Parciall, adj., 153, partial. 
 
 Parde, 619, 1275, (par Dieu). 
 
 Party, adj., 316, partial, favoring one 
 party. 
 
 Pase, sb., 632, step, way. 
 
 Passyd, vb., 368, surpassed. 
 
 Patent, sb., 496, written bond of office. 
 
 Pauyse, vb., 1640, used refle.xively — bring 
 to pause. 
 
 Pawmestry, sb., 870, divination by the 
 hand. 
 
 Paynym, adj., 1679, pagan. 
 
 Penowns, sb., 970, small banners. 
 
 Pere, sb., 808, equal. 
 Perfyte, adj., 1491, perfect. 
 Permyssyue, adj., 1731, permitted. 
 Perpetuell, adj., 899, constant. 
 Pesecoddys, sb., 493, pea-pods. 
 Pety, adj., 827, inferior. 
 Peyne, sb., 746, 181 1, pain, trouble. 
 Plenteuous, adj., 408, plenty, cf. O. F. 
 
 plentevous. 
 Plesaunce, sb., 798, pleasure; plesere, 197. 
 Plyght, vb., 1473, pledge. 
 Polytyk, adj., 1742, wise. 
 Ponderously, adv., 9, heavily. 
 Posternes, sb., 1296, 1849, gates. 
 Poudryd, vb., 266, powdered. 
 Praters, sb., 674, trifling talkers. 
 Precept, sb., 1682, command. 
 Predicament, sb., 1329, in logic = a 
 
 general class. 
 Prefyxyd, vb., 549, appointed. 
 Preparate, vb., 1467, prepared. 
 
Glossary. 
 
 Presse, sb., 256, throng; 1755, torment. 
 Prima facie, 157, at first view. 
 Prophetyssa, sb., 1589, prophetess. 
 Proue, vb., 1728, test, determine. 
 Prykeryd, adj., 328, prick-eared. 
 Prynte, vb., 1784, impress. 
 Pryse, sb., 1354, contest. 
 Pseudo-prophetes, sb., 708, false prophets. 
 Purfylyd, vb., 266, trimmed. 
 Purpur, sb., 306, purple garments. 
 Purseuaunte, 776, messenger. 
 Puruey, vb., 75, provide; <^i,b, prevydyd ; 
 
 1029, pitrveyde. 
 Puruyaunce, sb., 956, 1433, provision, 
 
 plan. 
 Put, vb., 761, 1090, bring to a condition 
 
 of; put out, 1481, expel. 
 Pyke, vb., 1348, betake. 
 Pylary, adj., 698, pillory. 
 Pylow, sb., 12, pillow. Cf. Chaucer's 
 
 pil7i'e. 
 Pylyons, sb., 1577, priests' hats. 
 Pyne, sb., 216, punishment. 
 Pyromancy, sb., 869, divination by fire. 
 Pyry, sb., 126, storm of wind. 
 
 Quelmers, sb., 709, killers, (infanticides). 
 Quod, 1477, said; 1210, quoth. 
 
 Rancour, sb., 235, enmity, malice. 
 Ray, sb., 550, striped cloth. 
 Recorde, vb., 272, remember, 
 Recouer, vb., 769, ? cover over, win. 
 Recreaunt, adj. 1256, defeated. 
 Redolence, sb., 161 1, fragrance. 
 Reft, vb., 564, deprived. 
 Reherse, vb., 83, relate. 
 Reioyse, vb., 532, make glad. 
 Rekke, vb., 560, care, reck. 
 Relese, vb., 8S3, rehearse. 
 Reproche, sb., 71, reproach. 
 Rerewarde, sb., 1094, rear gaurd. 
 Resorte, vb., 63, return. 
 Respyte, si)., 170, postponement. 
 Resydyuacion, sb., 1340, back-sliding. 
 Retourne, vb., 100 (active), turn back. 
 Reuers, sb., 688, robbers. 
 Reyne, vb., 2086, reign. 
 
 Roode, sb., 1040, cross. 
 
 Route, sb., 388, 438, company. 
 
 Rought, vb., 1 197, reached. 
 
 Rowne, vb., 12, consult with; rownyd, 
 142, consulted with; roTVftyd, 421, 
 whispered; rowners, sb., 687, whis- 
 perers. 
 
 Russet, adj., 325, coarse. 
 
 Rybaudy, sb., 648, ribaldry. 
 
 Ryght, adv., IQI, very. 
 
 Rynde, sb., 66, bark (tree). 
 
 Sabatouns, sb., 346, sabbatons, armorial 
 
 coverings for the feet. 
 Sad, adj., 270, 390, 1 56 1, earnest, serious. 
 Safe, conj., 402, except. 
 Safecondyte, sb., 89, 490, safe-conduct. 
 Sakcloth, sb., 290, sackcloth. 
 Sanctuary, sb., 1446, a sacred place. 
 Sauns, prep., 1858, without, (v. Nares' 
 
 Glos.). 
 Sauerys, sb., 336, odors. 
 Sauoryd, vb., 338, smelled. 
 Scalop, sb., 1564, scallop-shell. 
 Scisme, sb., 411, division. 
 Se, pr., 376, she. 
 Secte, sb., 895, sect, kind. 
 See, sb., 365, seat. 
 Seere, adj., 1459, dry, withered. 
 Seethe, sb., 97, restoration. 
 Sekerly, adv., 787, surely. 
 Sentence, sb., 136, 458, decision; 1863, 
 
 trutli. 
 Sequelys, sb., 871, followers. 
 Sercote, sb., 276, surcoat, outer coat. 
 Sesyd, vb., 1744, ceased. 
 Sesyne, sb., 1455, possession (a law term). 
 Set, vb., 2016, settled. 
 Sew, vb.,219; 5«, 238, entreat; sewyd, 
 
 1 1 98. 
 Sewe, vb., 1023, sowed. 
 Sewerte, sb., 449, surety. 
 Sewre, adj., 524, sure. 
 Shakerles, sb., 675(?). 
 Shaueldores, sb., 675 (?). 
 Shent, vb., 1092, destroyed, shamed. 
 Shoures, sb., 322, gifts ; shoure, 732, 
 
 struggle. 
 
Glossary. 
 
 113 
 
 Slepyr, adj., 1026, 1069, slippery. 
 
 Smokke, sb., 377, smock. 
 
 Sobre, adj., 1233, sad ; 1660, sober. 
 
 Sodomytes, sb., 708, fornicators. 
 
 Soort, sb., 619, troop, company; sorte, 
 
 1489. 
 Soot, sb., 618, soot. 
 Sore, adv., 341, greatly, 
 Sothe, sb., 1226, truth. 
 Sotyll, adj., 1694, 1701, subtle. 
 Sought, vb., 788, went. 
 Sownde, vb., 1688, sound. 
 Sowneth, vb., 1302, tends, inclines; 
 
 so7i<nyd, 1987, seemed. 
 Spere, sb., 3, sphere; speres, pi., 1698. 
 Spreynt, see bespreynt. 
 Stadde, see bestadde. 
 Stale, vb., 2040, stole. 
 Stant, vb., 1887, stands. 
 Stede, sb., 340, place ; 1 129, steed. 
 Steuyn, vb., 824, proclaim, announce. 
 Stoute, adj., 313 — said of eyes; 439 — 
 
 said of words: haughty, resolute, bold- 
 Strayte, adj., 45, strict; adv., 539' 
 
 narrowly. 
 Strechers, sb., 674, Pilars. 
 Stremes, sb., 1855, streams. 
 Streyngthe, vb., 751, strengthen. 
 Streytyd, vb., 1633, restricted, put in 
 
 bonds. 
 Styrt, vb., 566, started. 
 Superfluyte, sb., 1824, superfluity. 
 Superfyciall, adj., 53S, pertaining to the 
 
 surface, 
 Sustynaunce, sb., 336, support, living. 
 Sy, vb., 1058, saw. 
 Sygne, sb., 1442, miracle. 
 Sykerly, adv., 270, surely. 
 Sylogyse, vb., 19, reason, contend, argue. 
 Symonyakes, sb., 680, simonists. 
 Synderesys, sb., 937, syneresis. 
 Syngler, adj., 71, special. 
 Syth, conj., 1354, since. 
 Sythe, sb., 127, time. 
 Swage, vb., 1038, ? discharge. 
 Swemfully, adv., 1223, sorrowfully. 
 Swat, si)., 104, 2044, sweat. In 2044 said 
 
 of bod v. 
 
 Take, vb., 59 and often, taken; iakyn 
 
 1626. 
 Tane, vb., 2013, taken. 
 Tayll, sb., 754, company, number. 
 Teche, vb., 1701, teach; taught, 1231. 
 Tendre, vb., 135, consider, have a care 
 
 for. 
 Tenebrus, adj., 1169, dark. 
 Than, adv., 89 and often, then. 
 The, pr., 52 and often, thee. 
 Then, conj., 1607, than. 
 Tho, pr., 447, those. 
 
 Thorough, prep., 70, on account of (pre- 
 ceded by where); thorow, 2061. 
 Thought, sb., 1234, 1360, 2051, anxiety, 
 
 care ; 1991, thought. 
 Thryd, 1776, third. 
 Thynne, adj., 1591, thin. 
 To, adv., 511 and often, too. 
 Tong, sb., 367, tongue. 
 Tonne, sb., 1897, tub. 
 Trapure, sb., 815, trappings. 
 Traunse, sb., 15, trance. 
 Trauayll, sb., 197 1, work. 
 Trayne, sb., 773, snare. 
 Tregetours, sb., 685, jugglers. 
 Trespase, sb., 221, injury, offense. 
 Triumphall, adj., 2087, triumphal. 
 Trouthe, sb., 1473, troth. 
 Trow, vb., 957, believe; 1386, know 
 
 trowyd, 432. 
 Try (out), vb., 2071, separate. 
 Tryacle, sb., 12, a medicine, (cf. treacle). 
 Tryfyls, sb., 1854, trifles, cheats. 
 Trypartyte, adj., 1031, divided into three 
 
 parties. 
 Tryphelers, sb., 685, cheaters. 
 Tweyne, sb., 1966, two. 
 Tyburne, sb., 697. See note to this line. 
 Tyde, sb., 334, time. 
 Tylthe, sb., 1710, cultivation. 
 Tyne, 1063, tiny (generally preceded by 
 
 little, as here).. 
 Tytyuyllys, sb., 694. See note on line 
 094. 
 
 Vnbrydelyd, vb., 1630, unrestrained. 
 Vnderlowte, sb., 1273, servant. 
 
114 
 
 Glossary. 
 
 Vndyrtake, vb., 233, 1390, 141 1, be surety, 
 
 promise. 
 Vnkynde, adj., 1023, unnatural, cruel. 
 Vnlustes, sb., 713, idle men. 
 Vre, sb., 1448, use, practice. 
 Vsyd, vb., 117, was accustomed to do. 
 Vtter, adj., 594, absolute. 
 
 Valewyng, vb., 1607, valuing. 
 Varyaunce, sb., 244, difference, dispute. 
 Vaward, sb., 602, van. 
 Verrey, adj., 918, 2002, true. 
 Veryly, adj., 2042, truly. 
 Vouchesafe, vb., 2019, granted. 
 
 Walewyng, vb., 557, wallowing. 
 
 Wanton, adj., 378, sportive; 1230, reck- 
 less; sb., wantones, 1362, 1635. 
 
 Ware, adj., 128, aware. 
 
 Wede, sb., 377, garment. 
 
 Wedyr, sb., 530, weather. 
 
 Welde, vb., 670, wielded. 
 
 Wele, sb., 56, 210, weal, prosperity. 
 
 Wende, vb., 739, 1623, go; see wene. 
 
 Wene, vb., 278, 985, think, suppose; 'tcen- 
 yng, 1 65 1, 17 13; wend, 239; wende, 
 
 1344- 
 Weryd, vb., 379, wore. 
 
 Wetewoldes, sb., 710, tame "cuckolds. 
 Wex, vb., 1369, 1415, grow. 
 Whan, conj., i, when. 
 Whedyr, conj., 24, whether. 
 Whereas, adv., 118, where. 
 Whereon, adv., 48, whereof. 
 Whew, sb., 1316, 2049, hue. 
 Whore, adj., 400, white; whore-berdyd- 
 
 hoar-bearded. 
 Whyle, sb., 129, time. 
 Wood, adj., 1314, mad (also mad 347). 
 Woote, vb., 621, knows; wete, lOII. 
 Wrapped, vb., 1383, wrapped. 
 Wrethe, sb., 417, wrath. 
 Wrought, vb., 1882, done. 
 Wrythers, sb., 674 ? 
 Wyght, sb., 987, 1034, man. 
 Wyre, sb., 1872, doubt. 
 Wyse, sb., 51, manner. 
 Wysshe, vb., 1384, direct, recommend. 
 Wyt, sb., 896, wisdom. 
 
 Ydiote, sb., 1963, idiot. 
 
 Yef, conj., 56, 63, etc., if. 
 
 Yeue, vb., 17, 77, give. 
 
 Yuy, sb., 355, yew. 
 
 Ywys, adv., 879, 1056, certainly. 
 
SPFXIAL" PHRASES AND PROVERBS. 
 
 All and some, 192, each and all, the 
 whole maltei". 
 
 In especial!, no, 1445; 1509. especially. 
 
 By and by, 202, Ihen; 302, J500, one 
 alter the other. 
 
 More and lesse, 306, 536, more or less ; 
 1264, altogether. 
 
 Lest and moost, 766, 784, high and low 
 ilegree. AIosl or leste, 480. 
 
 To or fro, 24. 
 
 For and wyde, 626. 
 
 Make and marre, 556. 
 
 For feyre or foule, 475. 
 
 For the nonnys, 502, for the nonce. 
 
 Out of mesure, 84, 102, beyond measure 
 or reason. 
 
 What in the deuyllys date, 425, exclam- 
 atory. 
 
 Howe a deuyll way, 131 7, exclamatory. 
 
 Croppe and roote, 620, the whole of any- 
 thing. 
 
 Roote and rynde, 66, the whole tree. 
 
 Kepe noon in store, 151, keep nothing in 
 reserve. 
 
 Not worth a peere (pear), 597. 
 
 Then a myte, 1007; nat a iiiyte, 1814, 
 »/y/e^^a small thing. 
 
 Rekke nat a strawe, 560. 
 
 Nat yeue two pesecoddys, 403. 
 
 Bryght as glas, 27b. 
 
 Breched lyke a bere, 325. 
 
 Grene as any gresse, 334. 
 
 Here shone as wyre of goold bryght, 
 
 373- 
 As a goste came in wyndj'ng shete, 420. 
 Tomblyng as a ball, 557. 
 Harde as glas, 614. 
 Hard as horn, 61S. 
 Blakker then soot, bi8. 
 Slepyr as an yele, 1026. 
 
 As a castaway or a shoo clowte, 1274. 
 
 Close as in a chyst, 1300. 
 
 Coloryd as a crystall, 1O03. 
 
 Darke as a myste or a feynyd fable, 
 
 108S. 
 
 Wyt ys oute where hyt went ynne, 
 
 1909. 
 Dreuyn to her wyttes ende, 1665. 
 My wyt ys so thynne, i()i)7. 
 Ferre ys fro the wytte and ferther good 
 
 mende, 1932. 
 Thy wytte stant acrooke, 1SS7. 
 For feere I lookyd as blak as a coole. I 
 
 wold haue cropyn in a mouse hoole, 
 
 1952-53- 
 
 Howe the game gooth, 426, how the 
 matter stands. 
 
 Ledeth by the sleue, 16S0, causes to fol- 
 low subni issivel V, cf . /c/v //u- liy the sieve 
 14, 2033. 
 
 Cast in a boon (of contention), 1S05. 
 
 Hit hyng in hys balaunce, 10 12, it de- 
 pended U[)on his decisions. 
 
 Of all maner greynes she sealyd the 
 patent, 292; cf. "wenyng in her 
 honde had levn all power of cornys 
 habundaunce" 1713-14; v. 449, ye 
 seelyd m\ patent. 
 
 Take the mantell and the ryng, 267, 
 vow perpetual widowhood. 
 
 Varyaunt Fortune, 31S. 
 
 Taught to drawe another draught, 1232, 
 taught to make another move — to do 
 differently. 
 
 Lerne hem a new daunce, 957, teach 
 them a new motion. 
 
 Fro poost to pylour was he made to 
 daunce, 1147, he was driven from 
 one thing to another without purpose. 
 
 "5 
 
ii6 
 
 Special Phrases and Proverhs. 
 
 Made her beerdys on the new gete, 1657, 
 
 changed their minds. 
 The bende of your bowe begynneth to 
 
 slake, 1243-44. 
 Put in prese, 1755, enter into torment. 
 
 He must nedys go that the deuelldryues, 
 
 21. 
 Where vertew occupyeth must nedys 
 
 well grow, 1372. 
 A false myrrour deceyueth a mannys 
 
 look, 1727. 
 Bettyr late then neuer, 1^04. 
 Bettyr be dede than a lyve, 51S. 
 
 He ys nat as he doth apere, 20S3. 
 
 As good ys ynowgh as a gret teste, 2035. 
 
 Such as ye haue sowe must ye nedes 
 
 reepe, 1244 45. 
 Bettyr were a chylde to be vnbore 
 
 then let hyt haue t>e wyll and for 
 
 euerbelore, 130S q. 
 Wealth unbrydelyd encreseth mys- 
 
 rewle, 1631. 
 Fooles ouercome ay wyse men, lOfji. 
 Try out the corne clene from the chaff, 
 
 2071 "take the best and let the 
 
 worst be," 2070. 
 
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