THE COURT OF LOVE: FOOTNOTES
1 To the paragon (flower) of feminine deportment
2 If my love is angry, [to] get away is a relief
3 Lines 498-99: And see [to it that] your heart, [neither] in repose nor in rest, / [Does not] passively await until the time that you see your lady again
4 [For] that chaste goddess (i.e., Diana) I care in no way
5 Lines 821-22: Then [neither] Callisto nor Alcmene / [Would] have ever lain in his arms
6 In virtue, disposition, deportment, and graciousness
7 And [to] uphold love, regardless of what others say
8 And nearer I went, and began to stare [at him] and examine [him]
THE COURT OF LOVE: EXPLANATORY NOTES
2-12 of cunnyng naked . . . Why nam I cunnyng? The opening represents the common modesty topos - the writer's claim of poetic ineptitude - which is usually belied, as in this case, by his knowledge of the chief authorities on the "flowers" of rhetoric. Both the De Inventione of Tullius (line 8, Marcus Tullius Cicero) and the Poetria Nova of Galfride (line 11, Geoffrey de Vinsauf) were influential sources on medieval rhetoric. See Murphy, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages.
19-24 Callyope . . . Mynerva . . . Melpomene. In Greek mythology, Calliope is the muse of eloquence and epic poetry, and Melpomene is the muse of tragedy; in Roman mythology, Minerva is the goddess of wisdom and invention.
22 Elicone. Mount Helicon on the Gulf of Corinth, sacred to Apollo and home to the Muses. According to Ovid (Metamorphoses 5.250-63) a blow from the hoof of Pegasus created a miraculous and sacred stream on the mount, a stream later interpreted as a font of poetic inspiration (Hippocrene).
45 full sadde and ripe corage. Suggesting both psychological and sexual maturity.
46 Love arted me. Friedman detects a pun here: "The poet is constrained by Love to create his art, to write this poem, his 'observauance,' for his lady's pleasure" ("In Love's Thrall," p. 176). Chaucer uses the verb in a similar way in Troilus and Criseyde: "And over al this, yet muchel more he thoughte / What for to speke, and what to holden inne; / And what to arten hire to love he soughte" (1.386-88).
48 Courte of Love. John Stevens suggests that courts of love in medieval literature (such as those found here and in The Kingis Quair) have four principal meanings: 1) they are social courts, "in which the lover is at school and receives instruction in polite behavior"; 2) they resemble courts of law, "with its statutes, presided over by a judge"; 3) they invoke the image of the feudal court, "in which the subject pays homage to a sovereign"; and 4) because love is a religion, the court is a "congregation of the faithful" (Music and Poetry, p. 164).
49-50 Citharee. Skeat (Chaucerian, p. 541) points out that this is a common confusion (found also in Chaucer) of the mountain Cithaeron and the island Cythera (Cerigo), where Venus was thought to have risen from the foam of the sea. Citherea (line 50) is another name for Venus based on her association with the island.
66 lich a mayde. The description calls into question the gender of the speaker. Is it a woman who speaks like a youthful girl? Or is it a man whom love has made effeminate? The one interpretation might speak well of love, but which is meant is unclear until line 69, where the speaker is finally identified as male.
80 turkes. Skeat (Chaucerian, p. 542) suggests the adjective "Turkish"; similarly, Friedman states that the Turkish ruby represents infidelity, "as in other works" ("In Love's Thrall," p. 177), but I have been unable to find any supporting references. I have therefore suggested the noun "turkes," or turquoise, considered a semiprecious stone in the Middle Ages: "Turtogis, țat hatte turkeys also, is a white ʒelow stoon and haț țat name of țe contre of Turkeys țer it is ybred. Țis stoon kepeț and saveț țe sight and bredeț gladnesse and confort" (Trevisa, On the Properties of Things, 2.878 [xvi.lxxxxvi]).
83-91 Phebus shone, to make his pease . . . aftir loves grace. Following Ovid and Chaucer (Complaint of Mars), it is Phoebus (the sun) that is faulted for discovering the adultery of Venus and Mars, those "high estates tweyne" (line 84) caught in Vulcan's net ("in armes cheyned faste" - line 86). Friedman suggests that since Phoebus is in the service of Venus, "light and wisdom are subservient to sensuality in this place" ("In Love's Thrall," p. 177).
94 Jove, Pluto. Jove is another name for the Roman god Jupiter, renowned for his extramarital sexual exploits; Pluto (also known as Hades or Dis) is the god of the underworld. Both usually resort to kidnap and rape rather than laborious courtship.
99 unto Heven it streccheth. The idea of a building so high that it reaches for Heaven itself might remind readers of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9. Associating the court of love with that which gave rise to the confusion of tongues (and perhaps also with the vanity and egotism behind it) is another means of subtly undercutting the subject matter.
104-05 the quenes floure / Alceste. The flower of Queen Alceste (i.e., the daisy). Although the story of Alceste and Admetus is also found in Gower (Confessio Amantis 7.1917-43), the allusion is probably more directly to Chaucer's Legend of Good Women in which Alceste is the paragon of wifely fidelity who "for hire housbonde chees to dye, / And eke to goon to helle, rather than he" (F 513-14). She is later transformed into a daisy. The speaker's ignorance of what "tho deyses myght do signifie" is perhaps meant to be facetious given not only Chaucer's own ruminations on the flower but also the corpus of dits amoreaux by Machaut (Dit de la marguerite), Froissart (Dittie de la flour de la marguerite), and Deschamps (Lay de Franchise) known as the "marguerite" poems. See Wimsatt, Chaucer and the French Love Poets.
108 the ladyes gode nineteen. A reference to Chaucer's Legend of Good Women (F 283). Chaucer describes ten good women in nine tales, although manuscripts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales variously refer to the number as twenty-five, nineteen, and fifteen. See Hammond, "Chaucer's 'Book,'" pp. 514-16.
119 Helise. Elysium, in Greek mythology, the eternal dwelling place of the virtuous, noted chiefly for its clement climate.
129-30 Daunger . . . Disdeyne. These two are also paired in Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls (line 136), and Lydgate's Temple of Glass (line 156). Daunger (Resistance) is the usual foil of Fair Welcoming; see RR (lines 2823-3325).
136 liche a darte. The queen's eyes being like darts might be an oblique reference to the medieval commonplace that love casts a dart into the heart of the lover. The poet's immediate source here is perhaps Chaucer's Knight's Tale, where Arcite proclaims that Emily has slain him with her eyes (CT I[A]1567): "Love hath his firy dart so brennyngly / Ystiked thurgh my trewe, careful herte" (1564-65), though in RR Cupid shoots several of his arrows into the lover's eye.
140 A yarde in length. In this feature this poet's Alceste resembles Chaucer's Emily in The Knight's Tale, whose "yelow heer was broyded in a tresse / Bihynde hir bak, a yerde long, I gesse" (CT I[A]1049-50). See also our poet's description of Rosiall's hair (lines 810-12).
160 Philobone. The name suggests either "good to lovers" (Neilson, Origins and Sources, p. 240), "love of the good," or the "good of love" (Friedman, "In Love's Thrall," p. 178).
171 Mercurius. Mercury, the messenger of the gods. Although he sometimes serves as Jupiter's henchman, his appearance is perhaps a bad omen since in the Aeneid Mercury delivers Jove's command that Aeneas fulfill his duty and leave Carthage for Italy (see Chaucer's Legend of Good Women, F 1297, and House of Fame, lines 427-32).
181 a woman from a swan. An allusion to a popular story, adopted by Boccaccio (Decameron, Introduction to Fourth Day) and La Fontaine (Les Oies de Frere Philippe), in which a boy who has been raised in a cave and shielded from worldly temptations visits Florence and, immediately attracted to some young ladies, is told by his father that they are geese (papere). The point is that young men have an innate affection for females, even though they may not be able to name it properly.
182 spanne. The distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the middle or the little finger when the hand is fully extended.
194 bayte on many an hevy mel. Although not listed in Whiting, this sounds proverbial. See also Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale: "On many a sory meel now may she bayte" (CT II[B1]466).
229 glasse. Similarly, in both in Chaucer's House of Fame and Lydgate's Temple of Glass, Venus' temple is made of glass, suggesting, perhaps, not only the privileged nature of courtly erotic desire but also its insubstantiality and impermanence. Painted glass windows depicting faithful (and therefore usually unhappy) lovers are also common in these abodes. But glasse also means mirror, thus, narcissism, as one looks about in a house of mirrors to see only oneself. This scene is most closely imitated from Lydgate's Temple of Glass (lines 44-142).
232 Dydo. Dido is the archetypal betrayed lover; her story is found in Virgil's Aeneid 4, Ovid's Heroides 7, and Chaucer's House of Fame (lines 239-432) and The Legend of Good Women (lines 924-1367).
234-35 Anelida, true . . . Arcite fals. In Chaucer's Anelida and Arcite, Anelida, who was faithful to "fals Arcite" (line 11), describes her ordeal in a long complaint.
255 in white, in russet, and in grene. Skeat suggests that white refers to the Carmelites and russet to hermits (Chaucerian, p. 543). Bell reads the green garments as alluding to "the unfaithfulness of these ecclesiastics to their religious vows" (Poetical Works, p. 140).
266 Another longer lament by cloistered lovers (at lines 1093-1176) somewhat incoherently interrupts Philogenet's introduction to the allegorical denizens of Love's court; although the transition is still rickety, it would make some sense if those twelve stanzas (consisting of two manuscript pages) were inserted here. See my note to line 1092.
270 an ho and crye. To make an outcry or clamor; distinct from the legalistic hue and cry which is more specifically the alarm raised against criminals (MED).
304-504 The firste statute . . . of old antiquité. Such statutes are quite common (compare Ovid's Art of Love, Capellanus' De Amore, and The Ten Commandments of Love [IMEV 590]); those statutes listed here most closely resemble the rules found in RR (lines 2023-2577) and Lydgate's Temple of Glass (lines 1152-1213). The more ribald rules (particularly sixteen and seventeen) are apparently the author's invention.
323 To purchace ever to here. Bell interprets this difficult phrase as "to acquire, or gain over proselytes" (Poetical Works, p. 142).
329 passe forby is an ease. Skeat suggests that this line means that "to pass by, i.e. to get out of his [Love's] way" is "a relief, a way of escape" (Chaucerian, p. 544). Stow reads, "If love be wroth, passe for there by is an ease" (Workes, p. 349v). Even emended, this line makes no sense since the second half of the line should have some bearing on the consequences of love's wrath.
431 The crowe is white. In Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book 2), in an effort to prevent the raven from revealing to Phoebus his wife's infidelity, the crow relates how his own plumage was changed from white to black for telling tales (i.e., the truth). See also Chaucer's Manciple's Tale: "Whit was this crowe as is a snow-whit swan, / And countrefete the speche of every man / He koude, whan he sholde telle a tale" (CT IX[H]133-35). The point of the fifteenth statute is, of course, to tell lies.
506 Rigour. Bell suggests that this personified official denotes "the strictness of the obedience required of his subjects" (Poetical Works, p. 148). But see note to line 521.
521 Rigour. MED n.1a: "Hardness of heart (obdurancy)." Compare La Belle Dame sans Mercy, lines 717-20: "O marble hert, and yet more harde . . . What vayleth you to shewe so gret rigoure?" See Symons, ed., Chaucerian Dream Visions.
536-37 Salamon and Sampson. The standard examples of wisdom and fortitude, neither of which is adequate defense against women's perfidy. For Sampson, see Chaucer's Monk's Tale (CT VII[B2]2015-94). Solomon is, of course, proverbially wise; sometimes his sagacity is attributed to his vast experience with women.
629 sauf that I wist nat where. The comic futility of the poet's presentation of love is neatly summed up by the speaker's impassioned, honest admission that he knows that he loves a lady, knows that he must give a fervent prayer for her graces, yet has no idea who she is or where she might be. He is left to request assignment to "som blissid place" (line 637).
647-48 For hote I love . . . by my trouth. Left to his own imagination, the would-be lover at last thinks of someone he saw in a dream. He wonders if she might be the object of his desires. There is, perhaps, a pun on the word hote, as well. Read one way, the speaker swears (be God and by my trouth - line 648) that he calls (hote - line 647) love, no matter where it is, nothing but the effects that it has on him (line 649). This reading would neatly parallel the beginning of Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls, where the narrator likewise knows love by its reported effects and not "in dede" (line 8). Yet one might also read hote as meaning "hotly"; thus the speaker claims that he loves most passionately, even if he does not know anything specific about the object of his love (not even where she is) aside from the mere fact that he swears he was troubled one night.
685 a figge for all her chastité. The OED lists this as an instance of a construction that conveys the meaning "not at all"; that is, the speaker cares not at all for Diana's chastity. The association with chastity (and thereby with sex), however, could mean that a sexual connotation is also implied. This indecent meaning (usually associated with the phrase "giving the fig" - i.e., making a gesture meant to replicate the female genitalia) is first cited by the OED in Fulwell's Art of Flattery (1579), over 100 years later than the present poem.
701 Pité. Although the personified figure of Pity is commonplace, there is a possible allusion here to Chaucer's Complaint Unto Pity, in which, in a "Bill of Complaint," the speaker unsuccessfully attempts to rally the moribund Pity to ward off Cruelty. Our poem's Pity is, of course, a personification in extremis, for she dies from pity at an eagle eating a fly (lines 702-03).
778-819 The poet's description of Rosiall, including her round head, golden hair, lily forehead, separated eyebrows, starry eyes, pregnant lips, straight and snowy teeth, sweet breath, and braided hair, closely follows Geoffrey of Vinsauf's rhetorical model for how to describe a beautiful woman found in his Nova Poetria. See Murphy, Three Medieval Rhetorical Arts, pp. 54-55.
787 mylke white path. The Milky Way, also referred to in the Middle Ages as the galaxye. Skeat suggests (Chaucerian, p. 547) that the poet refers to the "prominent ridge of Rosial's nose"; Seaton suggests the white skin betweeen the eyebrows (Sir Richard Roos, p. 452); and Friedman suggests the poet is describing Rosiall's "milk-white nose" ("In Love's Thrall," p. 182). Our poet appears to be following Vinsauf: "let the appearance of her eyebrow be like dark blueberries; let a milk-white path divide those twin arches" (Murphy, Three Medieval Rhetorical Arts, p. 54).
798 Maximyan. Cornelius Maximianus Gallus. The reference is to his First Elegy, lines 97-98: "flammea dilexi modicumque tumentia labra, / quae gustata mihi basia plena darent" ("I loved flaming and somewhat swollen lips, which gave me full kisses when tasted"). See Maximianus, Elegies of Maximianus, ed. Webster.
816 grene. Green can be an ambiguous color, associated with not only inconstancy, fickleness, and frivolity, but also youth and fecundity. See Chaucer's "Against Women Unconstant," with its refrain "In stede of blew, thus may ye were al grene." The color can also be emblematic of constancy: in Lydgate's Temple of Glass, his Lady wears green and white (line 299), and in the Legend of Good Women, Chaucer's Alceste is also dressed in green (F 214).
821-24 These lines are lifted from Vinsauf's Nova Poetria (Murphy, Three Medieval Rhetorical Arts, p. 55). Incidentally, it would, no doubt, be better if one's beauty did not catch Jove's attention. Jove's seduction/rape of each of these ladies, as well as the usually unhappy aftermath (occasioned by the jealous Juno) is described in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Calixto (Callisto) bore Jove's son and was turned into a bear (Book 2). Alcenia (Alcmene), the mother of Hercules, was forced to undergo her own Herculean labor as Juno delayed the birth of her son for a week (Book 9). Europa was seduced by Jove in the form of a bull (Book 2). Dane (Danae) was impregnated through the form of a golden shower and bore Perseus (Book 4). And Jove seduced Antiopa as a satyr; she later delivered twins (Book 6).
862 ure, i-blisse. The word ure derives from Latin augurium through the Old French eure, and carries with it the connotations of fortune, destiny, and, as I have glossed it here, luck (see MED eure [n]). The term i-blisse is idiomatic, meaning something like "may God bless me," or "if I may be so blessed by God."
890-96 The entrance of the lady's voice is abrupt and somewhat jarring. Perhaps we are meant to think of this "dialogue" as an internal debate of sorts, possibly akin to discussions between Amans and Genius in Gower's Confessio Amantis.
904-10 The "lady" is understandably confused and concerned. She does not know who this "lover" is, much less what he intends.
912 Philogenet. Our lover's name has been variously interpreted: Friedman suggests "he who generates love" or "love of generation" ("In Love's Thrall," p. 183), and Neilson guesses "a lover born" (Origins and Sources, p. 240).
995 in sounde. Here, the swoon, as in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, is an outward sign of the lover's sincerity, and is usually quite efficacious in eliciting the lady's pity.
1016 her coloure gan appeire. For Leonard, it is here that the poem has real "allegorical vitality," insofar as Rosiall's blush suggests "not only her namesake, the Rose of the Roman [de la Rose], but also Christ, the Rose of Sharon, and, more abstractly, Charity, whose symbolic color is red" (Laughter, p. 103).
1040 under hony gall. Proverbial; see Whiting G7; H505.
1092 tender nessh. Nessh[e] (adj.) is often used in conjunction with "tender" to describe a softened, compassionate, or receptive heart, but never as a compound adjective. This reflects the author's practice of sometimes joining two adjectives: e.g., "gentill debonayre" (line 357), "godely fressh" (line 832), "feithfull true" (line 993).
There appears to be a lacunae in the text here with the transition between Flattery's blandishments and the introduction of the malcontent religious having been lost. It seems to me that at line 1093 Philobone is speaking to Philogenet and I have placed the quotation marks accordingly. In addition, the twelve stanzas (lines 1093-1176) which describe the unhappy clerics and nuns seem out of place, since they interrupt Philogenet's discourse with the various allegorical personifications. Having reached this conclusion independently, I nonetheless agree with Neilson (Origins and Sources, pp. 6-7) that it would make some sense if this section followed line 266, where those constrained by religion are first introduced. The three stanzas (lines 1177-90) that follow this section could conceivably be attributed to Flattery, who stands "not ferre" (line 1191) from Dissemble. Neilson suggests that the speaker at line 1177 could be an allegorical figure, Contrite. See note below, line 1177.
1095-1155 The clerical laments are borrowed from Lydgate's Temple of Glass (lines 196-208); see Schick, Lydgate's Temple, pp. cxxix-cxxxi.
1096 blak and white and gray. The colors, respectively, of the Dominican, Carmelite, and Franciscan friars (Skeat, Chaucerian, p. 550).
1157 a sorte full languysshyng. In a scene reminiscent of Dante's Inferno, these grossly deformed lovers may be lepers, who were proverbially thought to be lecherous.
1172 thre of fatall destyné. The three fates of Greek myth: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos.
1177 he was contrite. I.e., one of the company (line 1170) who has slandered the three sisters "of fatall destyné" (line 1172). In order to make sense of this confusing section, Bell (Poetical Works, p. 173) and Neilson (Origins and Sources, pp. 5-6) suggest that a personified abstraction, Contrite, is the subject of the line. Bell emends to "And there [eek] was Contrite, and gan repent," an emendation that Neilson does not follow.
1192 party mantill. Bell suggests that Dissemble's multicolored clothing represents his duplicity (Poetical Works, p. 173).
1234 broched. Perhaps a double entendre suggesting both pierced and decorated with ornaments.
1259 For the figure of Envy, see Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book 2) where, in an attempt to prevent Mercury from seducing Herse, Minerva visits Envy's house in order to arouse the jealousy of Herse's sister, Aglauros. For meddling in the affair, Aglauros is turned into a statue.
1268 Prevye Thought. Skeat suggests (Chaucerian, p. 551) that this figure is inspired by Douz Penser (Sweet-Thought) in RR (lines 2640-68).
1315 Skeat suggests (Chaucerian, pp. 551-52) for comparison RR (lines 907-85), and Ovid's Metamorphoses (1.470-71), where Cupid has two sets of arrows, one gold and the other iron or lead, corresponding, respectively, to attraction and repulsion. See also Gower's Confessio Amantis 3.1700-05 and The Kingis Quair, stanzas 94-95.
1317 Rosiall is speaking.
1353 To matens went. The notion of the birds' songs or matins in spring as a service or office in praise of love is a popular courtly conceit. In this case, opening phrases from Matins and Lauds of the Divine Office are appropriated to praise the power of erotic love. For a similar macaronic use of scripture see the Birds' Devotions (IMEV 357), Jean de Condé's La Messe des Oiseaux, As I went on a Yol Day (IMEV 377), and The Lovers' Mass (IMEV 4186). On the tradition of bird poems, see Neilson, Origins and Sources, pp. 216-27, and Davenport, "Bird Poems."
1356 Domine, labia. From the Oratio or opening prayer of Matins: "Domine, labia mea aperies" ("O Lord, open my lips").
1359 Venite. From Vulgate Psalm 94, the Invitatory: "Venite, exsultemus Domino" ("Come, let us give praise to the Lord").
1364 Domine, dominus noster. From Vulgate Psalm 8: "Domine, Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra!" ("Lord our Lord, how admirable is your name in the whole earth!").
1366 Cely enarant. From Vulgate Psalm 18: "Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei" ("The heavens show forth the glory of God").
1370 Domini este terra. Vulgate Psalm 23: "The earth is the Lord's."
1373 Jube, domine. From "Jube, Domine, benedicere" ("Lord, command us to bless"). The versicle of the Absolutio immediately preceeding the first lesson.
1390 gife us all an horne. To scorn or mock (Skeat, Chaucerian, p. 553). Later, of course, to make a cuckold.
1400 tue autem. From "Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis" ("But you, O Lord, have mercy on us"). The versicle repeated at the conclusion of each lesson.
1401 Te deum amoris. A parody of "Te Deum laudamus" ("God, we praise you") recited at the end of Matins.
1402 Tuball. Tubal was a metalworker (see Gower, Confessio Amantis 4.2425); his brother, Jubal, "was the father of them that play upon the harp and the organs" (Genesis 4:21). Chaucer and others make the same mistake. See Book of the Duchess, line 1162.
1408 Dominus regnavit. From Vulgate Psalm 92, recited at the beginning of Lauds: "Dominus regnavit, decorem indutus est" ("The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty").
1411 Jubilate. From Vulgate Psalm 99, the second psalm of Lauds: "Jubilate Deo, omnis terra" ("Sing joyfully to God, all the earth").
1413 Benedicite. From the "Canticle of the Three Children" (Daniel 3:57-8:56): "Benedicite, omnia opera Domini, Domino" ("All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord").
1415 Laudaté. Vulgate Psalm 148: "Laudate Dominum de caelis" ("Praise ye the Lord from the heavens").
1416 O admiribile. The antiphon or refrain following the chapter and hymn.
1423 Benedictus. From the Canticle of Zachary (Luke 1:68-79): "Benedictus Dominus, Deus Israel" ("Blessed be the Lord God of Israel").
1433 hawthorn. In Lydgate's Temple of Glass (lines 503-23), the hawthorn represents fidelity and constancy in love, even under adverse circumstances; appropriately, the hawthorn is an evergreen shrub.
1440 trewe love. The herb paris (Paris quadrifolia), whose leaves and flowers are arranged in whorls of four, and which is usually symbolic of fidelity (MED); Skeat suggests the term may also refer to a truelove knot of herb paris used for ornamentation (Chaucerian, p. 553). See "The Four Leaves of the Truelove" in Fein, Moral Love Songs and Laments, pp. 161-254, where the leaf is linked to the Trinity and Mary.
COURT OF LOVE: TEXTUAL NOTES
1 Marginalia. A later hand (probably Beaupré Bell's) has written "by G. Chaucer" in the right-hand margin. John Stow has provided the title "The courte of love" at the top of the page.
With. MS: ith. Space has been left for a 3-line initial that was never filled in. The same thing occurs at lines 43, 302, 1023, and 1352.
8 Tullius. MS: Tulluis.
105 A different hand as written in the margin:"Alceste țe dayse."
143 woneth. MS: weneth.
150 But. MS: B.
189 Than. MS: That.
235 Arcite. MS: Artice.
in peynting. MS: inpenytyng.
246 Lo. MS: To.
270 Throughoute. MS: Though oute, with r inserted above the line.
333 verely. MS: veryeuly.
356 faire. MS: fire.
377 ys. MS: yo.
386 remember. MS: reve canceled before.
403 hartes. MS: nyghtes hartes. See also line 679.
461 As. MS: And.
481 been. MS: but.
483 they. MS: the.
490 soverain. MS: savioure.
494-95 These lines are transposed in MS, corrected by Stow.
495 renewe. MS: revowe.
506 cleped. MS: clepes.
508 prayer. MS: payer.
519 leaves. MS: loves.
530 In MS this line appears at the end of the stanza and marginal markings indicate the correct order.
552 For. MS: Or.
561 pray her. MS: prayer.
595 unto man. MS: unto woman.
605 to. MS omits.
632 Lucerne. MS: Lucorne.
634 ure. MS: use.
639-40 These lines are transposed in MS.
640 This line repeats line 633.
654 that. MS: omits.
679 hartes. See note to line 403.
684 I kepen. MS: in kepen.
694 sormownting. MS: sormowting.
695 force. MS: fore.
703 ete. MS: eke.
710 Aslake. MS: Asshke.
733 mirth. MS: mir.
747 thank. MS: think.
760 hote. MS: ote.
770 gove. MS: you.
798 be. MS: he.
823 Europa. MS: Eurosa.
843 ye. MS: I.
846 grief. MS: give.
847 harm. MS: harte.
853 not. Inserted into MS in a later hand.
860 Loves. MS: Love.
884 refute. MS: refuce.
897 I. MS: and.
901 In MS this line occurs out of place, at the end of the stanza.
911 make it straunge?. Supplied by Skeat.
928 greven. MS: growen.
970 gife. MS: gise.
wounde. MS: wounder.
984 harde. Corrected from harte in MS.
1004 ye might. MS: might.
1009 statutes. MS: steutes.
1012 I I. MS: I.
1036 Dispaire. MS: Displesire.
1039 he. MS: she.
1041 hers. MS: his.
1076 love. MS: verray love.
1077 verray. MS omits.
1083 that women. MS: thou woman.
1108 here. MS: hire.
1116 copes. MS: copies.
1127 matier. MS: matiers.
1146 This line is missing from MS; supplied by Stow.
ourself. Stow: nor selfe.
1203 As. MS: And.
1205 arte. MS: harte.
1222 I ded wowe. MS: ded vowe.
1233 this. MS: the.
1246 Than lieth. MS: That leith.
1270 I. MS omits.
1294 to. MS: from.
1299 so. MS omits.
1305 cold or hoote. MS: hoote or cold.
1313 Twey. MS: Twenty.
1324 shryne. MS: shyne.
1325 ere. MS: eke.
1326 servaunte. MS: servnte, with a written above the line.
1327 brak. MS: blak.
1328 reuth. MS: reich.
1329 than. MS: and.
1331 but. MS: not.
1333 thou. MS: she.
1335 thanken. MS: taken.
1341 here. MS: heree.
1369 this. MS: thus.
1370 Domini. MS: Domine.
1377 singe. MS: signe.
1383 he. MS omits.
1411 sing. MS: sang.
1432 blome. MS: bleme.