of expression, and the arts of composition were not their objects1. In the mean time we must observe, that in Chaucer's Temple of Mars many personages are added: and that those which existed before in Statius have been retouched, enlarged, and rendered more distinct and picturesque by Boccacio and Chaucer. Arcite's address to Mars, at entering the temple, has great dignity, and is not copied from Statius.

O stronge god, that in the reignis cold
Of Thrace honourid art, and God yhold!
And hast in everie reign, and everie lond,
Of armis al the bridil in thy hond;
And them fortunist, as they lest devise,
Accept of me my pitous sacrifice2.

The following pourtrait of Lycurgus, an imaginary king of Thrace, is highly charged, and very great in the gothic style of painting.

Ther mayst ou3 see, commyng with Palamon,
Lycurgus himself, the grete king of Thrace;
Blake was his berde, and manly was his face:
The circles of his eyin in his hede
They glowdin betwixte yalowe and rede:
And like a lyon lokid he about,

With kempid heris on his browis stout:

His limis grete, his brawnis herd and strong,
His shulderes brode, his armis round and long.
And as the guise ywas in his contre
Full high upon a char of gold stode he:
With four grete white bullis in the tracis.
Instead of cote armur, on his harneis
With yalowe nailes, and bright as any gold,
He hath a beris1 skinn cole-blak for old.
His long here was kemped behind his bak,
As any raven's fether't shone for blak.

A wrethe of golde armgrete5, of huge weight,
Upon his hed, sett full of stonis bright,
Of fine rubies, and clere diamondes.
About his char ther wentin white alandes®,
Twentie and more, as grete as any stere,
To huntin at the lyon or wild bere;

In Troilus and Cresside he has translated the arguments of the twelve books of the Thebaid of Statius. See B. v. p. 1479, seq.

2 V. 2375-
4 A bear's.

3 You.
5 As big as your arm.

Greyhounds. A favourite species of dogs in the middle ages. In the ancient pipe-rolls, payments are frequently made in greyhounds. Rot. Pip, an. 4. Reg. Johann. [A.D. 1203.] Rog. Constabul. Cestrie debet D. Marcas, ex X. palfridos et X. laissas Leporariorum pro 'habenda terra Vidonis de Loverell de qubus debet reddere per ann. C. M.' Ten leashes of greyhounds. Rot. Pip. an. 9. Reg. Johann. [A.D. 1208.] SUTHANT. Johan. Teingre debet c. M. et X. leporarios magnos, pulchros, et bonos, de redemtione sua, &c.' Rot. Pip. an. 11. Reg. Johan. [A.D. 1210] EVERVEYCSIRE. Rog. de Mallvell redd. comp. de 1. palefrido velociter currente, et II. laisiis leporariorum pro habendis literis deprecatoriis 'ad Matildam de M.' I could give a thousand instances of this sort.

240

PARALLEL PASSAGES FROM STATIUS AND CHAUCER.

And folowid him with mosil1 fast ybound,
Coleres of gold2 and torretes3 filid1 round.
A hundrid lordis had he in his rout,

Armid ful wele, with hertis stern and stout.

The figure of Emetrius king of India, who comes to the Arcite, is not inferior in the same style, with a mixture of grace.

1 Muzzle.

With Arcite, in storys as men find,
The grete Emetrius, the king of Ind

aid of

2 In Hawes's PASTIME OF PLEASURE, [written temp. Hen. vii.] Fame is attended with two greyhounds; on whose golden collars Grace and Governaunce, are inscribed in diamond letters. See next note.

3 Rings. The fastening of dogs collars. They are often mentioned in the INVENTORY Of furniture, in the royal palaces of Henry VIII., above cited. MSS. Harl. 1419. In the Castle of Windsor. Article COLLARS. f. 409. Two greyhoundes collars of crimsun velvett and cloth of gold, lacking torrettes. Two other collars with the kings armes, and at the 'ende portcullis and rose.'-'Item, a collar embrawdered with pomegranates and roses with turrets of silver and gilt.'-'A collar garnished with stoleworke with one shallop shelle of 'silver and gilte, with torrettes and pendauntes of silver and guilte.'-'A collar of white velvette, embrawdered with perles, the swivels of silver.'-' But to be more particular as to these imitations.'

Ver. 900. p. 8. Urr. edit.

A company of ladys twey and twey, &c.

Thus Theseus, at his return in triumph from conquering Scythia, is accosted by the dames of Thebes, Stat. THEB. xii. 519.

Jamque domos patrias, Scythicæ post aspera gentis
Prælia, laurigero subeuntem Thesea curru

Lætifici plausus, &c. &c.

Paulum et ab insessis mæstæ Pelopeides aris

Promovere gradum, seriemque et dona triumphi

Mirantur, victique animo rediere mariti.

Atque ubi tardavit currus, et ab axe superbo
Explorat causas victor, poscitque benigna

Aure preces; orsa ante alias Capaneia conjux,
Belliger Ægide, &c.

Chaucer here copies Statius, (v. 861,-966.) KN. T. from v. 519. to v. 600. THEB. See also ibid. 465. seq.

V. 930. p. 9.-Here in the Temple of the goddess Clemence, &c.

Statius mentions the temple of Clemency as the asylum where these ladies were assembled
THEB. xii. 481.

Urbe fuit media, nulli concessa potentum
Ara deum, mitis posuit Clementia sedem, &c.
V. 2947.-Ne what jewillis men into the fire cast, &c.

Literally from Statius, THEB. vi. 206.

Ditantur flammæ, non unquam opulentior illa
Ante cinis; crepitant gemmæ, &c.

But the whole of Arcite's funeral is minutely copied from Statius. More than a hundred parallel lines on this subject might be produced from each poet. In Statius the account of the trees felled for the pyre, with the consternation of the Nymphs, takes up more than twenty-four lines. v. 84,-116. In Chaucer about thirteen, v. 2922.-2937. In Boccacio, six stanzas. B. xi. Of the three poets, Statius is most reprehensible, the first author of this illplaced and unnecessary description, and who did not live in a Gothic age. The statues of Mars and Venus I imagined had been copied from Fulgentius, Boccacio's favorite mythogra pher. But Fulgentius says nothing of Mars: and of Venus, that she only stood in the sea on a couch, attended by the Graces. It is from Statius that Theseus became a hero of 5 v. 2129.

romance.

4 Filed. Highly polished.

Upon a stede bay, trappid in stele,
Coverid with clothe of gold diaprid wel,
Cam riding like the god of armis Mars:
His cote armure was of the clothes of Tars1,
Couchid with perles white and round and grete;
His sadill was of brent2 gold new ybete,
And mantlet upon his shulderes hanging,
Bretfull3 of rubies redde as fire sparkling.
His crispe here like ringes was yronne,
And yt was yalowe, glittering as the sonne.
His nose was high, his eyin bright citryn",
Ruddy his lippes, his colour was sangyn.
And a fewe frekles in his face yspreint",
Betwixt yalowe and somedele blak ymeint.
And as a lyon he his eyis kestR.

Of five and twenty yere his age I ghest.
His berde was well begonning for to spring
His throte was as a trompet thondiring.
Upon his hede he wered, of laurer grene
A garloud freshe, and lustie for to sene.
Upon his honde he bore for his delite
An egle tame, as ony lilie white.

An hundrid lordis had he with them there,
All armid, saaf their heddis, in their gere.
About this king ther ran on every part
Full many a tame lyon, and libart10.

The banner of Mars displayed by Theseus, is sublimely conceived.

The red statue of Mars, with spere and targe,

So shineth in his white banner large

That all the feldis glittrin up and down11

This poem has many strokes of pathetic description, of which these specimens may be selected.

Upon that other side when Palamon

Wist that his cosin Arcite was ygon,

Such sorowe makith he, that the grete tour

Resoundid of his yelling and clamour:
The fetteris upon his shinnis grete
Werin of his bitter salt teris wete!2,

1 Not of Tarsus in Cilicia. It is rather an abbreviation for Tartarin, or Tartarium. See Chaucer's Floure and Leafe, v. 212.

On every trumpe hanging a brode bannere

Of fine Tartarium full richely bete.

That it was a costly stuff appears from hence. Et ad faciendum unum Jupoun de Tartaryn blu pouderat, cum garteriis blu paratis cum boucles et pendants de argento deaurato Com. J. Coke Provisoris Magn. Garderob. temp. Edw. iii. ut supr. It often curs in the wardrobe accounts for furnishing tournaments. Du Cange says, that this was a e cloth manufactured in Tartary. Gloss. Tartarium. But Skinner in V. derives it from Tortona in the Milanese. He cites Stat. 4. Hen. viii. c. vi.

Barnt. Burnished.

Lemon-colour. Lat. Citrinus.

4 Rings.

10 Libbard. v. 2157.

Cast. Darted. 11 V. 977

12 V. 1277.

7' A mixture of black and yellow.'

9 Armour.

242

CHAUCER'S BEAUTIFUL LINES ON THE MORNING.

Arcite is thus described, after his return to Thebes, where he des pairs of seeing Emilia again.

His slepe, his mete, his drink, is hym byreft ;
That lene he waxith, and drie as a sheft:
His eyin hollow, grislie to behold

His hew sallowe, and pale as ashin1 cold:
Solitary he was, evir alone,

And wayling all the night making his mone.
And if he herde song or instrument,

Than would he wepin, he might not be stent2

So febyll were his spirits and so low,

And chaungid so that no man might him know3.

Palamon is thus introduced in the procession of his rival Arcite's funeral.

Tho gan this wofull Theban Palamon

With slotery berde, and ruggy ashey heres,

In clothis blak bedropped all with teres,
And, passing ovir weping Emily,

Was rufullist of all the company.

To which may be added the surprise of Palamon, concealed in the forest, at hearing the disguised Arcite, whom he supposes to be the squire of Theseus, discover himself at the mention of the name of Emilia.

Through his herte

He felt a cold swerde suddenly to glide:
For ire he quoke, no longer wold he bide,
And whan that he had heard Arcitis tale,
As he were wode, wyth face al dede and pale,
He sterte him up out of the bushis thick, &c.

A description of the morning must not be omitted; which vies, both in sentiment and expression, with the most finished modern poetical landscape, and finely displays our author's talent at delineating the beauties of nature.

The mery lark, messengere of the day,
Salewith in her song the morowe gray;
The firie Phebus rysith up so bright,
That all the orient laughith at the sights:
And with his stremis dryeth in the greves9
The silver dropis hanging in the leves1o.

Nor must the figure of the blooming Emilia, the most beautiful object of this vernal picture, pass unnoticed.

1 Ashes.

7 Saluteth.

8 In the Greek,

4 Squallid. ili. Signat. ie iii.

5 V. 2884.

6 V. 1576. etc. See Dante,

Purgat. c. I. P. 234. For Orient, perhaps Orisount, or the horison, is the true reading. So the edition of Chaucer in 1561. So also the barbarous-Greek poem on this story, Dryden seems to have read, or to have made out of this 9 Groves. Bushes. 10 1493.

misspelling of Horison, ORIENT.

Emilie, that fairir was to sene
Than is the lillie upon the stalk grene;
And freshir than the May with flouris newe,
For with the rosy colour strofe hir hewe1.

In other parts of his works he has painted morning scenes con amore: and his imagination seems to have been peculiarly struck with the charms of a rural prospect at sun-rising.

We are surprised to find, in a poet of such antiquity, numbers so nervous and flowing: a circumstance which greatly contributed to render Dryden's paraphrase of this poem the most animated and harmonious piece of versification in the English language. I cannot leave the KNIGHT'S TALE without remarking, that the inventor of this poem, appears to have possessed considerable talents for the artificial construction of a story. It exhibits unexpected and striking turns of fortune; and abounds in those incidents which are calculated to strike the fancy by opening resources to sublime description, or interest the heart by pathetic situations. On this account, even without considering the poetical and exterior ornaments of the piece, we are hardly disgusted with the mixture of manners, the confusion of times, and the like violations of propriety, which this poem, in common with all others of its age, presents in almost every page. The action is supposed to have happened soon after the marriage of Theseus with Hippolita, and the death of Creon in the siege of Thebes: but we are soon transported into more recent periods. Sunday, the celebration of matins, judicial astrology, heraldry, tilts and tournaments, knights of England, and targets of Prussia2, occur in the city of Athens under the reign of Theseus.

SECTION XIII.

CHAUCER'S ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE is translated from a French poem entitled, LE ROMAN DE LA ROSE. It was begun by William of Lorris, a student in jurisprudence, who died about the year 12603. Being left unfinished, it was completed by John of Meun, a native of a little town of that name, situated on the river Loire near Orleans, who seems to have flourished about the year 1310*. This poem is esteemed by the

1. V. 1037.

Ch. Prol. v. 53.

The knights of the Teutonic order were settled in Prussia, before 1300. Where tournaments in Prussia are mentioned: Arcite quotes a fable from Æsop, v. 1179: Fauchet, p. 198,

4 Id. ibid. p. 200. He also translated Boethius De Consolatione, and Abelard's Letters, and wrote Answers of the Sybils, &c.