Part 108

66*. the hevene king, ‘the king of hevene.’ Gower regularly writes the final ‘e’ in ‘hevene,’ ‘evene,’ ‘evere,’ ‘nevere,’ &c. The preceding syllable is of course syncopated in pronunciation.

69*. what befalle, ‘whatsoever may befall’: cp. iii. 325, ‘what it were.’

75*. bit, i.e. ‘biddeth.’

85*. The true reading is probably ‘listen pleie,’ which is preferable both as regards form and construction: cp. iv. 3147, ‘whan the wommen listen pleie.’ The readings are as follows: ‘listen pleye’ J, ‘lusten pleie’ M, ‘luste pley’ B₂; the rest mostly ‘lust to pleye.’ The verb seems usually to be followed by a preposition when used impersonally, as i. 147, 1403, and otherwise more generally not, as i. 2741, iv. 3147, but there are exceptions both ways, e.g. iv. 907 and iii. 111, iv. 3187.

90*. Cp. 54 ff.

92*. for to newe. This is the reading of the better MSS., and ‘schewe’ is probably the correction of a copyist who did not understand it. The word ‘newe’ means here ‘produce,’ but in l. 59 ‘neweth’ is intransitive and means ‘comes into being.’

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Latin Verses, ii. 2. vertit in orbe, ‘turns round,’ as upon her wheel.

4. Cp. 111 f.

11. ‘And thus those regions which were once the strongest fall into decay throughout the world, and have no centre of rest there.’ (The first ‘que’ is the relative, for ‘quae.’) It is possible however that ‘per orbem’ may refer again to Fortune’s wheel, cp. 138 ff., where the sense of this couplet seems to be expressed, and in that case the meaning is, ‘fall into decay as they turn upon the wheel.’

116. the vertu: for this French use of the article, which is often found in Gower, see note on l. 72.

122 ff. ‘And in witness of that I take the common voice of every land, which may not lie.’ This appeal to the common voice, the ‘commune dictum,’ is characteristic of our author, who repeats the proverb ‘Vox populi vox dei’ several times in various forms, e.g. Mirour, 12725. For the use of ‘that’ in such expressions cp. l. 907, and iv. 2040.

133. to loke &c., ‘when we look on all sides’: cp. 31, i. 1060, 2278, &c.

139. blinde fortune. ‘Fortune’ must here be taken as a proper name, and hence the definite form of adjective: cp. i. 3396, ‘wyse Peronelle,’ ii. 588, 2721, ‘of grete Rome,’ ii. 2304, ‘false Nessus,’ iii. 2100, ‘false Egiste,’ &c.

143. upon a weer, i.e. in doubt or distress: cp. iii. 1148, and Chaucer, House of Fame, 979,

‘Tho gan I wexen in a wer.’

144 ff. ‘And especially if the power of the rulers of the world be not kept upright by good counsel in such wise that’ &c.

152. heved, always a monosyllable in the metre: the word also appears as ‘hefd’ i. 199, and frequently as ‘hed.’

154. her trowthe allowe, ‘approve of their loyalty,’ i.e. accept it.

155. ‘And welcome them with all his heart.’ For the position of the conjunction cp. 521, 756, 759, 1014, i. 854, 863, &c., and note on Mirour, 415. Mr. Liddell points out to me that the same usage occurs frequently in the ME. Palladius.

156 (margin). The quotation is from Ecclus. xxxii. 24, ‘Fili, sine consilio nihil facias.’ This book is often cited as Solomon in the Mirour.

162. A truce with both France and Scotland was made for three years in 1389, but peace was not finally concluded till 1396.

166 f. Cp. Praise of Peace, 190.

172. at alle assaies, ‘in every way’: cp. ii. 2447.

Latin Verses. iii. 1. Iohannes: St. John the Evangelist, who is mentioned either as the teacher of brotherly love or because his Gospel contains the exhortations to St. Peter, ‘Feed my sheep,’ ‘Feed my lambs.’

2. ista, ‘this.’

3. bina virtute, perhaps charity and chastity, cp. 464 ff.

4. inculta, nominative in spite of metre, so auaricia in l. 8.