JOHN LYDGATE, THE FLOURE OF CURTESYE: FOOTNOTES

1 Wrongly conveying [an impression] that should damage his name

JOHN LYDGATE, THE FLOURE OF CURTESYE: NOTES

2 Phebus. Phoebus (Apollo); the sun.

4-7 Saynt Valentyne . . . Everyche his make. Lydgate is almost certainly situating himself in relation to Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls, lines 309-10: "Seynt Valentynes day, / Whan every foul cometh there to chese his make."

20 Cipride. "Cypriot," another name for Venus derived from Cyprus, a center for Venusian worship. The "doubling" of Venus here perhaps derives from a misunderstanding of Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls, lines 260-79, where the goddess is first called "Venus" (line 261) when seen, then called "Cypride" in a later reference (line 277).

27 closed. Thynne: closet.

33-35 faste gan me hye . . . to sene everyche chose his make. The narrator's eagerness to see nature in operation echoes the dreamer's eagerness in Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls and Legend of Good Women to see and hear the birds choose their mates and see the flowers open.

45 laurer grene. A tree for poets and lovers, where Daphne, Apollo's first love, was preserved against the eager god's assault by being turned into a laurel tree. Feeling her heart beating still beneath the bark, Apollo even so still loved her and made the laurel his sacred tree as the leaves of the laurel crown perpetually proclaim her beauty (see Ovid's Metamorphoses 1.452-567).

49 crampisshed. Thynne: crampessh at. Both MacCracken and Skeat emend Thynne's reading.

84 Male Bouche. An allegorical figure, in English known as Wicked Tongue or Foul Mouth (i.e., slander or gossip); this figure, as well as "Daunger" (line 81) and Envye (line 84), all representing impediments to successful courtship, are originally found in The Romance of the Rose.

96 shake. Thynne: slake.

142 secree. So Skeat. Thynne reads "wyse"; MacCracken supplies "fre."

157 tonges that ben large. Cp. Troilus and Criseyde 5.804, where Diomede is said by some to be "of tonge large" (i.e., deceitful, dishonest). See Floure of Curtesye, line 160.

158 hem that lysten to hewe. Skeat (Chaucerian, p. 509) notes an allusion to the proverb, "He that hews above his head, the chip falls in his eye," a warning to men who attack their betters. See Whiting C235 and Tilley C357.

188 her commende. Thynne: commende.

190ff. A very similar list of exemplary female worthies is found in Lydgate's A Valentine to Her that Excelleth All (IMEV 3065), though both seem mainly to be echoing the dreamer's spontaneous song when he first meets Alceste, who exceeds in beauty Esther, Penelope, Marcia Cato, Adriane, Phyllis, Canace, Dido, Hypsipyle, and others (LGW F249-69). See various notes below.

190-96 Polycene . . . Antygoné. Polyxena (Polycene [line 190]), the daughter of Priam of Troy and, by some accounts, betrothed to Achilles, was sacrificed on Achilles' tomb in order to appease his ghost. See Lydgate, Troy Book 4.6640-6893, and Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.448-80. Helen of Troy (Helayne [line 191]) was, of course, proverbially beautiful. Dorigen (Dorigene [line 192]), the heroine of Chaucer's Franklin's Tale, considers suicide when her wifely fidelity is threatened. In Chaucer's version of the legend, in the wake of Anthony's suicide, the despondent Cleopatra (Cleopatre [line 195]) throws herself into a snake-pit (LGW 580-705). As Skeat notes (Chaucerian, p. 509), in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, "fresshe Antigone the white" (2.876) is Criseyde's circumspect niece.

195 secree. Thynne: setrone.

197 Hester . . . Judith. In the Old Testament Book of Esther, Esther's meek and humble supplications to her husband, King Assuerus, saved the Israelites from massacre (15:1-19). Her meekness was proverbial; see Lydgate, A Valentine to Her That Excelleth All (lines 36-42), and Chaucer, The Merchant's Tale (CT IV[E] 1744-45). As described in the Book of Judith, the eponymous heroine beheads Holofernes and helps to deliver the Israelites from the Assyrians. Chaucer regularly lists her, along with Esther, Sarah, Rebecca, and Abigail, as an exemplary figure for wives.

198-99 Alcest . . . Marcia Catoun . . . Grisylde. Alceste is the heroine of Chaucer's Legend of Good Women, who, "for hire housbonde chees to dye, / And eke to goon to helle, rather than he" (LGW F513-14). For the story of Alceste and Admetus see also Confessio Amantis 7.1917-43. Marcia Cato is perhaps either the wife of Marcus Cato Uticensis who remained devoted to her husband even after his divorce, or their daughter, who remained faithful to her first love. She is also mentioned by Chaucer (LGW F252). Griselda is the patient and obedient heroine of Chaucer's Clerk's Tale.

200-03 Ariadné . . . Lucrece . . . Penelopé. Ariadne is deserted on an island after Theseus absconds with her sister (LGW 1886-2227, Ovid's Heroides 10, Confessio Amantis 5.5231-5495). Lucretia commited suicide after being raped by Tarquin (LGW 1680-1885, Confessio Amantis 7.4754-5130). Penelope is Ulysses' patient and faithful spouse (Confessio Amantis 4.146-233, Heroides 1).

204-06 Phyllis . . . Hipsyphilee . . . Canacé. Phyllis hanged herself after being abandoned by Demophon (LGW 2394-2561, Heroides 2, Confessio Amantis 4.731-878). Jason deserted Hipsyphilee and their two children (LGW 1368-1579; Heroides 6). Canacee most likely refers to the comely heroine of Chaucer's Squire's Tale.

211-14 Dydo . . . Medee. Dido committed suicide after Aeneas departed for Italy (LGW 924-1366, Heroides 7). Medea, having been spurned by Jason, killed their two children (Confessio Amantis 5.3227-4222, Heroides 12, LGW 1580-1670).

220-21 And beautie foloweth . . . That she ne fende. That is, beauty is ruled so completely by virtue that she does not offend or fight virtue in any way.

232 supprise. Skeat (Chaucerian, p. 510) suggests "undertake, endeavor to do," which the MED tentatively accepts.

234 out of lose. Skeat (Chaucerian, p. 510) suggests the phrase means "out of praise, discreditable," but the phrase appears to mean something closer to "out of turn; loosely." The claim of poetic ineptitude, itself a rhetorical trope, is common both with Lydgate and among many fifteenth-century writers. See Lawton, "Dullness."

236-38 Chaucer is deed . . . / Of fayre makyng . . . / Fayrest in our tonge, as the laurer grene. Compare the naming of the death of "Fraunceys Petrak, the lauriat poete" in the Clerk's prologue - "He is now deed" (CT IV[E]29-38).

237 that was. Thynne: that. I have followed Skeat's emendation.

242 Clye and Caliopé. Chaucer invokes both Clio (the muse of history) and Calliope (muse of epic poetry) in Troilus and Criseyde (2.8 and 3.45).

256 lynde. Thynne: lyne.

257 ynde. Blue is the color of constancy.

261 wodde-bynde. Skeat (Chaucerian, p. 510) notes that the woodbine "is an emblem of constancy, as it clings to its support.