Read Ebook: Chaucer's Works Volume 6 — Introduction Glossary and Indexes by Chaucer Geoffrey Skeat Walter W Walter William Editor

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GLOSSARIAL INDEX 1

GLOSSARY TO FRAGMENTS B AND C OF THE ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE 311

GLOSSARY TO GAMELYN 347

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 359

INDEX OF BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE NOTES 390

LIST OF MANUSCRIPTS 399

GENERAL LIST OF ERRATA 400

GENERAL INDEX 410

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

In the first place, my endeavour has been to produce a thoroughly sound text, founded solely on the best MSS. and the earliest prints, which shall satisfy at once the requirements of the student of language and the reader who delights in poetry. In the interest of both, it is highly desirable that Chaucer's genuine works should be kept apart from those which were recklessly associated with them in the early editions, and even in modern editions have been but imperfectly suppressed. It was also desirable, or rather absolutely necessary, that the recent advances in our knowledge of Middle-English grammar and phonetics should be rightly utilised, and that no verbal form should be allowed to appear which would have been unacceptable to a good scribe of the fourteenth century.

The Glossary has been compiled on a much larger scale than any hitherto attempted, wherein the part of speech of almost every word is duly marked, and every verbal form is sufficiently parsed. A special feature of the Glossary is the exclusion from it of non-Chaucerian words and forms; and in order to secure this result, separate Glossaries are given of the chief words occurring in Fragments B and C of the Romaunt of the Rose and in Gamelyn; and we are thus enabled to detect a marked difference in the vocabulary employed in these pieces from that which was employed by Chaucer. And I cannot refrain from here expressing the hope, that the practical usefulness of the Glossary and Indexes may predispose the critic to forgive some errors in other parts of the work. And further, also in the interest of every true student, much pains have been bestowed on the mode of numbering the lines. It is not so easy a matter as it would seem to be. Many editors give no numbering at all; and, where it is given, it is not always correct. The numbering of the Canterbury Tales, in particular, was especially troublesome. I give three distinct systems of counting the lines, and even thus have failed in giving the numbering of Wright's edition beyond l. 11928, where he suddenly begins a new numbering of his own.

I append a few remarks on the text of the various pieces.

s. 2. ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE. The old text is often extremely and even ludicrously corrupt. Thanks to the patient labours of Dr. Max Kaluza, and his restoration, by the collation of MSS., of the French original, many emendations have been made, for several of which I am much indebted to him. A paper containing a summary of the principal passages which are thus, for the first time, rendered intelligible, has lately appeared in the Transactions of the Cambridge Philological Society, vol. iii. p. 239; but the whole subject is treated, in an exhaustive and highly satisfactory manner, in two works by Kaluza. The former of these is his edition of the Romaunt, from the Glasgow MS., side by side with the French text in an emended form, as published for the Chaucer Society; and the other work is entitled 'Chaucer und der Rosenroman,' published at Berlin in 1893.

See also the valuable paper on 'The Authorship of the English Romaunt of the Rose' by Prof. G. L. Kittredge, printed in 'Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature,' and published by Ginn and Co., Boston, U.S.A., in 1892. This essay shews, in opposition to Prof. Lounsbury, that there is no reason for attributing to Chaucer the Fragments B and C of the Romaunt.

The notes to the Romaunt of the Rose are largely my own. Some are borrowed from the notes to Bell's edition.

s. 3. MINOR POEMS. In preparing a new edition of the Minor Poems, I have been much assisted by the experience acquired from the publication of my separate edition of the same in 1888. A large number of criticisms were made by Prof. Koch, which have been carefully considered; and some of them have been gratefully adopted.

s. 4. All the other Minor Poems in Moxon's reprint are well known to be genuine, and are therefore included in my first volume. I add a few last words on the poems which are also printed there, though they do not appear in Tyrwhitt's list.

THE FORMER AGE. Well known to be genuine, as occurring in two MSS., both of which give Chaucer's name.

MERCILESS BEAUTE. Discussed in vol. i. p. 80. The external evidence is, that it is the last poem in a MS., in which it is immediately preceded by nine of Chaucer's acknowledged pieces.

BALADE TO ROSEMOUNDE. The unique MS. copy appends Chaucer's name.

AGAINST WOMEN UNCONSTAUNT. Discussed in vol. i. p. 88; and in vol. v. p. xv. We must give great weight to the connection of this poem with Machault, from whom Chaucer certainly borrowed, though his works do not appear to have influenced any other English author; see s. 55 below. However, this poem is placed in the Appendix.

AN AMOROUS COMPLEINT. Likewise placed in the Appendix. I believe it to be genuine, on the strength of the internal evidence, and its obvious connection with Troilus and other genuine poems; see the Notes, vol. i. p. 567. All the rimes are perfect, according to Chaucer's use, though it extends to 91 lines.

A BALADE OF COMPLEYNT. In the Appendix. The genuineness of this poem is not insisted on. It is added rather by way of illustration of the peculiar style of poems entitled 'Complaint,' of which Chaucer was so fond. He must have written many which have not been preserved.

WOMANLY NOBLESSE. Printed in vol. iv. p. xxv. Attributed to Chaucer in the unique MS. copy. A unique example of rhythm, in which Chaucer was an experimentalist. I know of no other poem having 33 lines on only 3 rimes, similarly arranged. Cf. vol. v. p. xvi.

One reason for printing the Balade to Rosemounde, An Amorous Complaint, A Balade of Compleynt, Womanly Noblesse, and the two Complaints last-mentioned is, that they have never been printed before, and are wholly unknown. The Balade to Rosemounde and Womanly Noblesse are certainly genuine; and there is a high probability that An Amorous Complaint is the same.

The piece called A Compleint to his Lady was first printed in Stowe's edition of 1561, but without the last stanza, and was reprinted in the same imperfect state by Chalmers. It was omitted in Moxon's reprint, which accounts for its being usually neglected. It is strange that poems which are certainly spurious should be much better known and more highly prized.

s. 5. BOETHIUS. It is sufficiently explained in the Preface to vol. ii. that this piece is now printed, for the first time, with modern punctuation, and with Chaucer's glosses in italics. This is also the first edition with explanatory notes.

A few notes to Troilus occur in Bell's edition. I have added to them largely, and supplied the schemes in vol. ii. pp. 461, 467, 474, 484, 494, which enable ready reference to be made to the corresponding passages in Boccaccio's Filostrato.

The valuable work on 'The Language of Troilus,' by Prof. Kittredge, is of great importance. I regret that I was unable to use it at the time when my own text was in course of preparation.

s. 7. THE HOUSE OF FAME. Previously edited by me in 1888 among the 'Minor Poems,' and again, separately, in 1893. Much help has been received from the edition by Hans Willert . As some lexicographers number the lines of each book separately, this mode of numbering is duly given, as well as a continuous one.

s. 8. THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN. Previously edited by me in 1889, when I made the curious discovery that the MSS. can be divided into two sets of types, which may be called A and B; that type A is considerably the better; and yet, that no MS. of type A had ever before been made the basis of an edition! The natural result was the easy correction of many corrupt passages, the publication of the Prologue in its earlier as well as in its later form, and the addition of a few previously unknown lines. As regards the Notes, the most help was obtained from the edition by Prof. Corson. The admirable article by Bech deserves a special mention.

My edition for the E.E.T.S. also contains an edition of Messahala's Latin treatise, from which Chaucer derived about two-thirds of his work; see vol. iii. p. lxx.

This Treatise is of more importance than might be supposed, owing to Chaucer's frequent allusions to astronomical subjects. Every editor of Chaucer should know that there are nine spheres; otherwise, he may fall into the trap prepared by the scribe of the Harleian MS., who gives lines 1280 and 1283 of Group F of the Canterbury Tales in this extraordinary form:--

It was a special pleasure to find that Chaucer's star Aldiran was one of the stars marked on the 'Rete' or web of a Parisian astrolabe in A.D. 1223, and is described as being 'in fronte Leonis.' See vol. v. p. 380.

s. 10. THE CANTERBURY TALES. The great gain in this poem has been the foundation of the text upon the basis of the Ellesmere MS., the most satisfactory of all existing MSS. having any reference to Chaucer.

The general excellence and correctness of its spellings and readings render it the safest on which to found rules for our guidance as to pronunciation, syntax, and prosody. For further remarks, see the Introduction to vol. iv. p. xvii.

The Prioresses Tale, Sire Thopas, the Monkes Tale, the Clerkes Tale, and the Squieres Tale were first edited by me, with Notes and a Glossary, as far back as 1874; and the book has passed through several editions since that date.

The Tale of the Man of Lawe, the Pardoneres Tale, the Second Nonnes Tale, and the Chanouns Yemannes Tale, were first edited by me, with Notes and a Glossary, in 1877; and have been several times revised in subsequent editions.

Nevertheless, provided that correct explanations are given, it makes but little difference to the reader by whom they were first made. Hence notes have been included from all accessible sources, and it has not always seemed to be necessary, in minor instances, to specify whence they are derived; though this has usually been done.

s. 11. It remains for me to express my great obligations to the labours of others, and to acknowledge, with thankfulness, their assistance and guidance.

As regards the texts, my chief debt is to the Chaucer Society, which means, practically, Dr. Furnivall, through whose zeal and energy so many splendid and accurate prints of the MSS. have been produced, thus rendering the actual readings and spellings of the scribes accessible to students in all countries. It is obvious that, but for such work, no edition of Chaucer could have been attempted without an enormous increase of labour and a prodigal expenditure of time.

Stowe's edition of 1561 is useful in the case of A Complaint to his Lady and Words to Adam. Otherwise, it may usually be ignored.

As regards later editions, I am most indebted to the following.

To Dr. Max Lange, whose dissertation on the Book of the Duchesse is careful and useful.

To Professor Lounsbury, who has published an edition of the Parliament of Foules, though I have not made much use of it. On the other hand, I am deeply indebted to him, as many other Chaucer students must be also, for his great work, in three large volumes, entitled Studies in Chaucer. I would draw particular attention to his excellent chapters on Chaucer's Life, in which he separates the true accounts from the false, giving the latter under the title of 'The Chaucer Legend,' in a chapter which is highly instructive and furnishes a good example of true criticism. The subjects entitled 'The Text of Chaucer,' 'The Writings of Chaucer,' 'The Learning of Chaucer,' 'Chaucer in Literary History,' and 'Chaucer as a Literary Artist' are all admirably handled, and command, in general, the reader's assent; though he may wish, at times, that the material could have been condensed into a shorter space. It seems invidious, in the midst of so much that is good and acceptable, to express any adverse criticism; but it is difficult to believe that the linguistic part of the work is as sound as that which is literary; and many must hope that a time may come when the author will cease to maintain that The Romaunt of the Rose, in its known form, is all the product of one author. However this may be, it should be clearly understood that I fully recognise and thankfully acknowledge the general value of this helpful book. It is a special pleasure to record that the study of Chaucer has received much encouragement from America.

Dr. Piaget has completely solved the construction of the Compleynt of Venus, by his recovery of the three original Balades by Sir Otes de Granson, which are somewhat freely translated by Chaucer in this poem. See vol. i. pp. 86, 559.

The best general commentary on Boethius is the essay by Mr. H. F. Stewart; see vol. ii. p. x.

The best commentary on Troilus is Mr. W. M. Rossetti's line by line collation of Chaucer's work with the Filostrato of Boccaccio. Besides this, remarkably little has been done with regard to this important poem, with the splendid exception of the Remarks on the Language of 'Troilus' by Prof. Kitteredge, only recently issued by the Chaucer Society.

I have already acknowledged the usefulness of Dr. Willert's dissertation on the House of Fame; see vol. iii. p. xiii. Also of the articles by Dr. Koch; see the same, p. xv; and of the article by Rambeau, which is surely somewhat extravagant, though right in the main contention.

Of the Legend of Good Women it has already been said that the chief article is that by Bech ; and that some useful notes are given by Corson. The discovery that the Prologue exists in two separate forms, both of them being genuine, was really made by Mr. Henry Bradshaw, who was familiar with the Cambridge MS. for some time before he disclosed the full significance of it.

s. 12. As regards the Canterbury Tales, my debts are almost too numerous to recount. First and foremost, must be mentioned the honoured name of Thomas Tyrwhitt, whose diligence, sagacity, and discrimination have never been surpassed by any critic, and to whom are due nearly all the more important discoveries as to Chaucer's sources. See the admirably just remarks on this 'great scholar' in Lounsbury's Studies in Chaucer, vol. i. pp. 300-5. 'The sanest of English poets had the good fortune to meet with the sanest of editors.' And again--'It seems almost too much to hope that a combination of learning, of critical sagacity, of appreciation of poetry as poetry, will ever again meet in the person of another willing to assume and discharge the duties of an editor of Chaucer.'

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