Part 120

3369 ff. Several corrections have been made by the author in this passage, either to make the verse run more smoothly, as 3369 ‘it mot ben holde’ for ‘mot nede be holde,’ 3374 ‘mad a Pier’ for ‘an Erl hier,’ 3412 ‘vice be received’ for ‘vice schal be received,’ or to improve the sense and expression, as 3381 ‘maide’ for ‘place,’ 3396 ‘wyse Peronelle’ for ‘name Peronelle,’ 3414 ‘worth, and no reprise’ for ‘worthy, and no prise,’ 3416 ‘If eny thing stond in contraire’ for ‘And it is alway debonaire,’ an awkward parenthesis. It should be noted that Λ (the Wollaton copy of the second recension) here goes with the unrevised first recension, whereas B agrees with the revised form, except in ll. 3369, 3381.

3381. the maide asterte, ‘escape the influence of the maiden.’

3442 f. The hellish nature of Envy consists in the fact that it wrongs both itself and others without cause, that is without having any further object to gain. It rejoices in evil for the sake of the evil itself and not for any advantage to be won from it. Cp. ii. 3132 ff.

LIB. II.

11. if it be so, equivalent to ‘is it so,’ from the form ‘I ask if it be so.’

20. Ethna: cp. Mirour, 3805 ff.,

‘Ly mons Ethna, quele art toutdiz, Nulle autre chose du paiis Forsque soy mesmes poet ardoir; Ensi q’ Envie tient ou pis En sentira deinz soy le pis.’

The idea is that Envy, like Mount Etna, burns within itself continually, but is never consumed: cp. Ovid, Met. xiii. 867 (in the tale which follows below of Acis and Galatea),

‘Uror enim, laesusque exaestuat acrius ignis, Cumque suis videor translatam viribus Aetnam Pectore ferre meo.’

83. Write in Civile. ‘Civile’ is certainly the Civil Law, for so we find it in Mirour, 15217, 16092, &c., and also personified in Piers Plowman. The reference here has puzzled me rather, but the following, I believe, is the explanation of it, strange as it may seem at first sight.

In the Institutions of Justinian, i. 7, ‘De lege Furia Caninia sublata,’ we read that this law, which restricted the power of owners of slaves to manumit them by will, was repealed ‘quasi libertatibus impedientem et quodammodo invidam.’ It seems that medieval commentators upon this, reading ‘canina’ for Caninia in the title of the law, explained the supposed epithet by reference to the adjective ‘invidam’ used in the description of it, and conceived the law to have been called ‘canina’ because it compelled men to imitate the dog in the manger by withholding liberty from those for whom they no longer had any use as slaves. In Bromyard’s Summa Predicantium we find the following under the head of ‘Invidia’: ‘Omnes isti sunt de professione legis Fusie canine. Ille enim Fusius inventor fuit legis cuius exemplum seu casus est iste. Quidam habet fontem quo non potest proprium ortum irrigare ... posset tamen alteri valere sine illius nocumento; ipse tamen impedit ne alteri prosit quod sibi prodesse non potest, ad modum canis, sicut predictum est: a cuius condicione lex canina vocata est inter leges duodecim tabularum, que quia iniqua fuit, in aliis legibus correcta est, sicut patet Institut. lib. i. de lege Fusia canina tollenda.’

It seems likely then that Gower took the fable from some comment on this passage of the Institutions.

88. who that understode, ‘if a man understood,’ subjunctive: see notes on Prol. 13, 460.

104 ff. From Ovid, Met. xiii. 750 ff., where it is told at greater length. The circumstance, however, of Polyphemus running round Etna and roaring with rage and jealousy before he killed Acis, is added by Gower, possibly from a misunderstanding of l. 872. It is certainly an improvement.

128. it myhte noght be let &c. See note on i. 3365.

196. as he whilom &c. This suggestion is due to our author: cp. i. 2355 ff.

252. who overthrowe, Ne who that stonde. The verbs are probably singular and subjunctive: cp. iii. 665.

258. And am: cp. note on i. 1895.

261. Cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, G 746 ff., where the Ellesmere MS. has in the margin ‘Solacium miseriorum’ &c. The quotation does not seem to be really from Boethius.

265 f. ‘When I see another man labour where I cannot achieve success.’ For this use of ‘to’ cp. Prol. 133, &c.

283. to hindre with, ‘whereby to hinder’: cp. i. 452, 2172.

291 ff. This story, as Prof. Morley points out, is to be found among the fables of Avian, which were widely known. Gower has amplified it considerably. The fable is as follows:

xxii. ‘Iuppiter, ambiguas hominum praediscere mentes, Ad terram Phoebum misit ab arce poli. Tunc duo diversis poscebant numina votis, Namque alter cupidus, invidus alter erat; His sese medium Titan scrutatus utrumque Obtulit et, “Precibus Iuppiter aecus,” ait, “Praestandi facilis; nam quae speraverit unus, Protinus haec alter congeminata feret.” Sed cui longa iecur nequiit satiare cupido, Distulit admotas in sua dona preces, 10 Spem sibi confidens alieno crescere voto, Seque ratus solum munera ferre duo. Ille ubi captantem socium sua praemia vidit, Supplicium proprii corporis optat ovans; Nam petit extincto iam lumine degat ut uno, Alter ut hoc duplicans vivat utroque carens. Tum sortem sapiens humanam risit Apollo, Invidiaeque malum rettulit ipse Iovi, Quae dum proventis aliorum gaudet iniquis, Laetior infelix et sua damna cupit.’ 20

l. 6. Iuppiter aecus Lachmann vt peteretur codd.

309. Now lowde wordes &c., i.e. Now with loud words, &c.; cp. vii. 170.

317. That on, ‘The one.’

323 (margin). maculauit. Du Cange has, ‘Maculare, Vulnerare, vel vulnerando deformare.’

389. Malebouche, cp. Roman de la Rose, 2847 ff., Mirour de l’omme, 2677 ff.