BOOK 4: NOTES
154 it were no nede. Bergen emends to that it were no nede.
159 How I th'estat. Grammatically parallel with that I have governaunce as direct objects of muse and grucchen.
163 brocage. MS: procage.
196 dewly may. Bergen emends to may dewely.
208 shuld. Bergen emends to shulde.
215 obeied. MS: ben obeied.
220 compleyne. Bergen emends to pleyne.
279 highe. Bergen emends to your highe.
287 a. Bergen emends to the.
301 In Lydgate as in Chaucer, newe usually carries a pejorative sense and represents a self-indulgent wish for novelty rather than stability and proven worth. In politics as much as in love, the poets censure newfongilnes. See note to 1.2090.
317 in every cost. Bergen emends to aboute in every cost, but the couplet remains a metrical problem. One alternative is to emend the next line to The emperour.
553 sothly. MS: soth.
556 unto. Bergen emends to to.
556-57 Achilles's attendance at the rites in Apollo's temple, where he falls in love with Polyxena, recalls Troilus's first sight of Criseyde in the temple at the feast of the Palladium (Troilus and Criseyde 1.161).
561 wer. Bergen emends to was.
564 gadered. Bergen reads gadred.
575 lowe. MS: lawe.
590 to. MS: unto.
592 Of. Accepting Bergen's addition.
603 percyng stremys of hir eyen two. Achilles falls in love with Polyxena in a way that recalls Troilus's falling in love with Criseyde as Love dwells "[w]ithinne the subtile stremes of hir yen" (Troilus and Criseyde 1.305; see also Troilus and Criseyde 3.129). Lydgate repeats the image at 4.673.
612 lyke. Bergen emends to lykly.
619 lovis snare. See Troilus's and Pandarus's descriptions of his predicament (Troilus and Criseyde 1.507 and 663), echoed later by Criseyde in the Greek camp (Troilus and Criseyde 5.748).
622 best to do. See Troilus and Criseyde 1.828 and 2.1485.
629 This to seyn, the sonne wente doun. Typical Chaucerian phrasing in the Canterbury Tales (I.181, I.1839, I.1857), perhaps best exploited for the effect of rhetorical deflation in The Franklin's Tale (V.1017-18).
640-43 See Troilus's taking to bed and making a mirror of his mind in which to see the image of Criseyde (Troilus and Criseyde 1.358-67). Lydgate injects a perhaps unconscious irony by using Troilus as a model for the figure who will dispatch him without pity later in the poem and "Despitously" in Chaucer's poem (Troilus and Criseyde 5.1806).
645 final cause. In Aristotle's analysis of cause, the final cause is the reason for which an action is undertaken, as distinct from the formal, material, and instrumental causes. Lydgate conspicuously modifies Guido, who portrays Polyxena as the efficient cause of Achilles's love sickness.
673 the stremys of hir eyen tweyne. See above, 4.603.
674 corve. Bergen emends to corven; see 2.988.
686 availlen. Bergen emends to availle. or. Bergen emends to nor.
686-701 Once he falls in love with Polyxena, Achilles changes his assessment of Hector's worth.
690 outrage. MS: autrage.
698-701 Once he falls in love with Polyxena, Achilles changes his perception of Hector's worth.
712 provyde. MS: pvyde.
725 fretyng. The term used here to describe Achilles's lovesickness is applied elsewhere to anger; see Peleus's anger toward Jason (1.229) and Lamedon's fury in battle (1.4167).
730 or. Accepting Bergen's emendation for MS: and.
742 mene. See above, 3.4217. Lydgate's allusion to Chaucer's Pandarus plays off his straightforward use of the term earlier (4.709) to signify a course of action.
756 And. Accepting Bergen's addition.
756-84 Lydgate goes beyond Guido's spare account of the messenger's mission and describes his speech as a logical argument, proceeding through an ordered sequence of premises to a necessary conclusion. The messenger proposes that marrying Polyxena to Achilles will end a war caused in part by the loss of Hesione and Paris's abduction of Helen.
761 Effectuously. Bergen emends to Effectuelly.
773 thorugh. Bergen emends to by and avoids repetition with next line, which seems to be the rhetorical aim.
778 performyd. Bergen reads parformyd.
782 him. MS: hem. The emendation reflects the two conditions of the proposal: that the Greeks end the war and Priam (him) live in peace thereafter.
784 knyt up in a cheyne. The same image is used earlier to describe Achilles's relationship with Patroclus (3.611, 3.3835-39).
787 or that. MS: that or.
798 To. MS: For.
for. Accepting Bergen's addition.
817 to. Bergen emends to into.
820 for. Accepting Bergen's addition.
835 how. Bergen emends to that.
881 the treté. Bergen emends to this treté.
907 th'effect of this mater. Chaucerian phrasing (Sir Thopas VII.958 and Troilus and Criseyde 4.890).
914 alway. MS: away.
918 cast. Bergen emends to caste.
920 cruellé. Bergen emends to cruelly.
933 take. MS: toke.
935 a verray impossible. See Aurelius's exclamation at the task Dorigen gives him in The Franklin's Tale: "this were an inpossible" (V.1009).
936 ben so. Bergen emends to ben ay so.
966 flouring yit in fame. Bergen emends to floureth yit the fame for grammar, but the MS phrasing is consistent with Lydgate's style.
974 liften. Bergen emends to lifte.
987 Was. MS: As.
993 desolat; see 3.5487-88.
1017 Bergen (4:223) notes that the phrase refers to Achilles rather than Hector.
1019 yit. Accepting Bergen's addition.
1035 into. MS: to.
1049 gilt. Bergen emends to gilte.
1051 dyvos. Bergen (4:223) notes that Guido does not mention divorce and that Lydgate here moves from canon to Roman law.
1052 knowe. Bergen emends to iknowe.
1089-90 The lines echo the beginning of Book 4 of Troilus and Criseyde, as Fortune withdraws her favor from Troilus: "From Troilus she gan hire brighte face / Awey to writhe, and tok of hym non heede, / But caste hym clene out of his lady grace" (4.8-10).
1095 home that we. Bergen emends to that we home.
1108 to. MS: in.
1109 Whiche. Bergen emends to While.
1111 so. Accepting Bergen's addition.
1119-29 Achilles ironically echoes the argument made earlier by Paris (2.2341-47) that a Greek woman should be taken as recompense for Telamon's seizing Hesione after the fall of Lamedon's Troy.
1134 Repeats the last line of Chaucer's The Franklin's Tale (V.1624).
1142 perturbid. Bergen reads parturbid.
1147 nold. Bergen emends to nolde.
1162 the felde. Bergen emends to felde.
1164 yaf. MS: yaf in.
1170 the. Bergen emends to his.
1197 the request. Bergen emends to request.
1213 mendyn. Bergen emends to amendyn. repeire. Bergen emends to repare to clarify rhyme with spare; see 4.857-58, where contrarie rhymes with apaire.
1221 purpos. Bergen emends to purpose.
2036 That as the deth thei fledde fro his sight. See Chaucer's description of Troilus's martial valor: "the Grekes as the deth him dredde" (Troilus and Criseyde 1.483).
2058 tariyng. Bergen emends to lettyng.
2059 throwe. MS: threwe.
2075 myghty. MS: myghte.
2085 han. Bergen emends to had.
2088 the knyghthod. MS: his knyghthod. the highe. MS: his highe.
2095 ridyng. Bergen emends to hym ridyng, to emphasize that the knights are riding around Agamemnon in an escort.
2103 ther. MS: thei.
2110 hym. Bergen emends to hem. In the MS reading, Agamemnon sees the distress Troilus has inflicted on him and how the Greeks are unable to resist Troilus.
2111 the. Bergen emends to his.
2139 Lydgate adds reminiscences of Criseyde's interviews with Troilus in Book 3 of Troilus and Criseyde; Guido says that Diomede is lying in bed, not that Briseida sits on the side of it.
2144 Lydgate, unlike Chaucer, identifies the point at which Criseyde shifts her love from Troilus to Diomede. The source is Guido, Book 26.
2148 Loo, what pité is in wommanhede. Pearsall (1990), p. 48, relates this passage to Troilus and Criseyde 5.1048-50. See 4.2172, where Criseyde would rather be thought changeable than lacking pity. Lydgate's references to Criseyde's pity offer an ironic comment on Chaucer's repeated assertion in the Canterbury Tales, "pitee renneth soone in gentil herte." See above, 1.4266.
2150 olde. MS: newe.
2151 late slyppe asyde. See Chaucer's description of Criseyde: "Ne nevere mo ne lakked hire pite; / Tendre-herted, slydynge of corage" (Troilus and Crisyde 5.824-25).
2155 Lombard Strete. Lombard merchants settled in London in the twelfth century. In 1318 Langbourn Street changed its name to Lombard Street. The name was in common use in the fourteenth century. From the early years of Edward I's reign onwards, Lombards served as bankers to the English crown. Their influence caused frequent resentment. In 1359, Lombards were attacked during riots. In 1376, the Mayor, Aldermen, and commons of London petitioned the King to forbid Lombards to live in the city or act as brokers in retail sales. Lombards were a target during the Rising of 1377.
2175 to. Accepting Bergen's addition.
2660 And withinne. Bergen emends to Withinne.
2679 worthiest. Bergen emends to worthieste.
2681 I fele myn herte. Bergen emends to myn herte I fele.
2697 of highe. Accepting Bergen's addition to MS: highe.
2726 to lasse and to discres. Bergen emends to gan to lasse and discrese without repairing the meter fully.
2732 at. Bergen emends to under.
2734 worthy. MS: manly.
2741 grounde. Bergen emends to ygrounde.
2748 severed. Bergen emends to severe.
2750 man. Bergen emends to wight.
2763 cruel cursed. Bergen emends to cursed cruel.
2764 thought pleynly. Bergen emends to thoughte platly.
2773-79 Achilles's mistreatment of Troilus's body is the same that he shows Hector's corpse in the Iliad.
2783 that he. Bergen emends to he.
2801 unto. MS: to.
2836 arace. MS: race.
2840 so foule is. MS: is so foule.
2849 for. Accepting Bergen's addition.
3105 with hevy. Bergen emends to ful hevy.
3113 of Troylus. Bergen emends to Troylus.
3121 of right and equyté. Hecuba's justification for plotting Achilles's death is the same that Priam uses earlier (2.1203, 2.1214, 2.1253) to urge retaliation for Hesione's abduction; Hector uses the phrasing in his interview with Achilles (3.3897), and Priam repeats it in arguing that King Thoas should be put to death after his capture (3.3139).
3155 firé. Bergen emends to firy; see Pro.11 and 2.3748
3161 whan. MS: wan.
3171 temple. Bergen emends to the temple.
3190 the. Bergen emends to his.
3191 therwithal. MS: therwith.
3204 body was. MS: bodies wern.
3210-11 See Chaucer's reproval of the pagan world at the end of Troilus and Criseyde (5.1849-55).
3213 knot. See Chaucer's The Squire's Tale: "The knotte why that every tale is toold" (V.401). The term is repeated at 5.2301.
3227 thei. MS: the.
3228 hem. Accepting Bergen's addition.
3766 custom. Bergen emends to custome.
3772 The Amazons' service to Mars is an ironic echo of the service to Venus conventionally offered by chivalric heroes; see, for example, Palamon's wish to die in Venus's service in The Knight's Tale (I.2243).
3835 the. MS: hir.
3843 to. Bergen emends to hir.
3864 famous. MS: grete.
3865 kyng. MS: quene.
3885 Rounde. MS: Ronde.
3888 And. Bergen emends to But.
3896 myght. Bergen emends to myghte.
3905 that. Accepting Bergen's addition.
3908 the. Bergen emends to this.
3941 had. Bergen emends to hadde.
3946 as a sturdy wal. The image used to describe Hector (3.4938) and Troilus as well as Nestor (1.4084) is applied to Diomede. Guido says only that Diomedes offered wondrous resistance to the Amazons (Book 28).
4307 gan. Bergen emends to dide.
4318 maked. MS: maketh.
4326 the Grekis. Accepting Bergen's emendation for MS: Grekis.
4340 The dismemberment of Penthesilea looks forward to Pyrrhus's dismemberment of Polyxena after the fall of Troy (4.6852-57).
4341 so. Bergen emends to to. See 4.4427
4398 al. Bergen reads all.
4414 burie. Bergen emends to burie it, but the syntax suggests that the Trojans want the body to bury and inter (grave).
4429 that. Bergen emends to how.
5121 thei. MS: ye.
5152 ben. Bergen emends to were.
5166 that. MS: that ye.
5193 the. Bergen emends to this.
5198 foreyns. MS: forereyns.
5220 Lydgate here tropes the repeated phrase crop and rote, meaning "the whole."
5221 of. MS: of a.
5236 to holde champartie. In OF champart is the Lord's share in the crop of a tenant's land (MED). "To hold champartie" means "to hold one's own" or "to contend successfully."
5245 though. MS: yough.
5256 that. Accepting Bergen's addition.
5259 with. Bergen emends to by.
5262 also. MS: also of.
5274 Wherfore. Bergen emends to Therfore.
5280 in mewe. Antenor's use of the term contrasts with earlier associations with love and desire; see 1.1901 and 2.3600.
5286 al. Bergen reads all.
5294 pes. Bergen emends to a pes. with. Bergen emends to for.
5553 goddes. MS: goodes.
5575 The clause requires the verb was to be understood.
5579 it in. Bergen emends to in.
5588 ywrought. MS: wrought.
5590 in the Rose. Lydgate refers anachronistically to the story of Pygmalion in the Roman de la Rose, lines 20817-21214.
5596 sent. MS: it sent.
5634 immortal. Bergen reads inmortal.
5636 that. Accepting Bergen's addition.
5638 of. MS: in.
5639 and. Bergen emends to of and glosses "from all assault and danger; dangerous attack."
5670 Bergen (4:224) suggests a colon after dwelle to indicate that the priest will be spoken to privately. Antenor seems, however, to be telling Ulysses to stay calm.
5671 outher. MS: outhe.
5695 and. Bergen emends to to.
5732 as. Bergen emends to that.
5742 And. MS: And to.
5752 in. MS: and.
5756 pleinly. Bergen emends to platly.
5767 ensclaundrid. Bergen emends to esclaundrid.
5768 shal shape. Bergen emends to shape shal.
5775 with. Bergen emends to of.
5783 partener. MS: parcener.
5788 that. Accepting Bergen's addition.
5791 aweye. Bergen reads aweie.
5795 his. MS: to his.
5818 no. Bergen emends to in. There is nothing in Isidore, Pliny, or Trevisa to suggest that gold can penetrate steel and marble; Lydgate seems to suggest that these substances resist gold but the priest does not. See 3.2063 and 4.1529.
5820 shal his purpos. MS: his purpos shal.
5829-30 The verb were must be understood with dismaied and outtraied.
6023 Bysshop Calchas. Lydgate's syntax is convoluted here, but the phrase stands in apposition to hym in the main clause at 4.6038: Recorde of hym.
6028 To. MS: Te.
6045 How. MS: How the.
6047 shal yow. Bergen emends to shal.
6102 of the. Bergen emends to of.
6135 be. Bergen emends to was.
6163 Duringe. MS: Durige.
6185 the. Bergen emends to this.
6202 into. MS: unto.
6212 whiche. MS: the whiche.
6277 Tenedoun. Tenedos is an island off the coast of Troy that the Greeks captured (see summary of Book 2.4896-6576) and used as a mustering point. In their ruse it remains a secure place from which to rally their troops in short order.
6285 he. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6290 to. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6294 On. MS: An.
horsebak. MS: horsbak.
6295 Troye. Bergen reads Troy.
6314 toke. Bergen emends to ne toke.
6331 Now. MS: And now.
6338 Wherof. MS: Wherfore.
6345 her. MS: the.
6347 bareyn and bare ymaked. Bergen emends to bare and bareyne maked.
6356-60 The Greeks' despoiling of the Trojan temples recalls Paris's desecration of the temple at Cythera (2.3809-27).
6365 in. Bergen emends to and.
6366 And. MS: And of.
the. Bergen emends to that.
6376 Mi penne shuld of verray routhe rive. See the narrator's phrase in Troilus and Crisyde: "Thise woful vers, that wepen as I write" (1.7).
6388 on the. Bergen emends to the.
6389 fals. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6400 raught. Bergen emends to raught away.
6402 party. MS: part.
6403 nor. Bergen emends to or.
6418 aside. Bergen emends to beside. In Guido (Book 30) Pyrrhus slays Priam in the sight of Aeneas and Antenor. MS reading gives the sense that the traitors both allow the murder to occur and witness it.
6425 her. Bergen emends to the.
6427 with. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6428 with his. Bergen emends to his.
6458 traitour. MS: troitour.
6460 him. MS: hm.
6488 the. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6500 be so. Bergen emends to so be.
6550 how. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6739 conselit. Bergen emends to conseled.
6747 now that I. MS: that I now.
6748 this. MS: the.
6772 The understood subject "I" must be supplied for this clause.
6779 wrathe. MS: wroth.
6794 bewepe hir virginité. Lydgate appears to echo Jephthah's daughter, another innocent destroyed by men's misguidance (Judges 11.37)
6795 pitous. Bergen emends to this pitous.
6805 unto. MS: to.
6818 me. Bergen emends to here.
6831 the. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6853 Dismembrid. Pyrrhus's vengeance recalls the death of Penthesilea (above, 4.4340-41). In Ovid (Metamorphoses 13.445-48), the ghost of Achilles demands that Polyxena be sacrificed on his tomb. swerd. Bergen reads swerde.
6866 ful. Accepting Bergen's addition. ybe. MS: be.
6880 wisly. Bergen emends to wistly but glosses the line under wysly.
6888 the. Bergen emends to this.
6899 a. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6914 ther men. Bergen emends to men ther.
6929 take. MS: toke.
6931 to. Accepting Bergen's addition.
6938 forget. Bergen emends to forged.
6940 confusioun. MS: conclusioun.
6944 the. MS: to do.
unto. MS: to.
6948 Lydgate's repudiation of the pagan gods, like Chaucer's rejection of "payens corsed olde rites" (Troilus and Criseyde 5.1849), also implies a repudiation of the poetic narratives associated with the gods. See also Lydgate's remarks at 4.7029-31.
6951 Mars, Pallas. MS: Pallas Mars.
6956 Nouther. MS: Nor.
6969-70 Lines transposed in MS.
6975 Genyus the prest. Genius was originally a deity assigned to individuals, but his most important role is as a god connected with the process of birth and regeneration. In this capacity, he appears as a figure in the Cosmographia of Bernardus Silvestris and the De planctu naturae of Alan of Lille. Jean de Meun incorporates and amplifies Alan's portrayal in the Roman de la Rose. Genius is the Lover's confessor in John Gower's Confessio Amantis.
6984-85 See Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Tale (III.873-75)
6986 fawny. MS: fauner. Bergen emends to fauni. The form fawny appears elsewhere in the MS (2.5652, 2.7702 - not in selections for this text) and in Chaucer (Troilus and Criseyde 4.1544).
6991 the. Accepting Bergen's addition.
7018 exanple. Bergen emends to example, but the MS form is attested elsewhere in Lydgate's works in the sense of instructive narrative (exemplum).
7027 have. Bergen reads han.
7033 May now ought. Bergen emends to What may now.
7035 allas. Accepting Bergen's addition.
7036 The lament for fallen cities is a common topic in classical, biblical, and Near Eastern literatures; one prominent example is the medieval poem Pergama flere volo.
7057 gret. Bergen emends to grete; see 4.2732.
7058 Jeremye. The Book of Lamentations, a sequence of five poems on the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 B.C., was commonly ascribed to the prophet Jeremiah.
7062 transmygracioun. MS: transmutacioun. Bergen's emendation fits the historical context. Chaucer uses transmutacioun in something close to Lydgate's sense in The House of Fame when he speaks of "dyvers transmutacions / Of estats, and eke of regions" (lines 1969-70). OED cites a rare late-sixteenth-century usage of the term that means the transmigration of souls from one body to another.
7066 Babilon. MS: Bailon.
7068 he that was departed with a sawe. According to apocryphal tradition, the prophet Isaiah was sawed in two during the reign of Manasseh. St. Paul makes reference in Hebrews 11.37, as does the ninth-century commentator Christianus Stabulensis in his Expositio in Euangelium Matthaei (chs. 4 and 35).
7095 sympelnesse. Bergen emends to symplesse; see Env.63.
7096 blottid. MS: blottid be.
7106 that. Accepting Bergen's addition.
7108 fifthe. MS: fithe.