Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343-1400)
Troilus and Criseyde: Book V
(excerpt)
From Book V
1030The morwen com, and gostly for to speke,
1031This Diomede is come un-to Criseyde;
1032And shortly, lest that ye my tale breke,
1033So wel he for hym-selven spak and seyde,
1034That alle hire sikes soore adown he leyde.
1035And finaly, the sothe for to seyne,
1036He refte hir of the grete of al hire peyne.
1037And after this the storie telleth us
1038That she hym yaf the faire baye stede,
1039The which he ones wan of Troilus;
1040And ek a broche (and that was litel nede)
1041That Troilus was, she yaf this Diomede.
1042And ek, the bet from sorwe him to releve,
1043She made hym were a pencel of hire sleve.
1044I fynde ek in the stories elles-where,
1045Whan thorugh the body hurt was Diomede
1046Of Troilus, tho wepte she many a teere,
1047Whan that she saugh his wyde wowndes blede;
1048And that she took, to kepen hym, good hede;
1049And for to hele hym of his sorwes smerte,
1050Men seyn, I not, that she yaf hym hire herte.
1051But trewely, the storie telleth us,
1052Ther made nevere woman moore wo
1053Than she, whan that she falsed Troilus.
1054She seyde, "Allas! for now is clene a-go
1055My name of trouthe in love, for evere-mo!
1056For I have falsed oon the gentileste
1057That evere was, and oon the worthieste!
1058"Allas, of me, un-to the worldes ende,
1059Shal neyther been y-writen nor y-songe
1060No good word, for thise bokes wol me shende.
1061O, rolled shal I ben on many a tonge!
1062Thorugh-out the world my belle shal be ronge;
1063And wommen moost wol haten me of alle.
1064Allas, that swich a cas me sholde falle!
1065"Thei wol seyn, in as muche as in me is,
1066I have hem don dishonour, weylawey!
1067Al be I nat the firste that dide amys,
1068What helpeth that to don my blame awey?
1069But syn I see ther is no bettre way,
1070And that to late is now for me to rewe,
1071To Diomede algate I wol be trewe.
1072"But, Troilus, syn I no bettre may,
1073And syn that thus departen ye and I,
1074Yet prey I God, so yeve yow right good day,
1075As for the gentileste, trewely,
1076That evere I say, to serven feythfully,
1077And best kan ay his lady honour kepe;"--
1078And with that word she brast anon to wepe.
1079"And certes, yow ne haten shal I nevere;
1080And frendes love, that shal ye han of me,
1081And my good word, al sholde I lyven evere.
1082And, trewely, I wolde sory be
1083For to seen yow in adversitee.
1084And giltelees, I woot wel, I yow leve;
1085But al shal passe; and thus take I my leve."
1086But trewely, how longe it was bytwene,
1087That she forsok him for this Diomede,
1088Ther is non auctor telleth it, I wene.
1089Take every man now to his bokes heede;
1090He shal no terme fynden, out of drede.
1091For though that he bigan to wowe hire sone,
1092Er he hire wan, yet was ther more to doone.
1093Ne me ne list this sely womman chyde
1094Forther than the storye wol devyse.
1095Hire name, allas! is publisshed so wyde
1096That for hire gilt it oughte ynough suffise.
1097And if I myghte excuse hire any wyse,
1098For she so sory was for hire untrouthe,
1099I-wis, I wolde excuse hire yet for routhe.
...
1786Go, litel book, go, litel myn tragédye,
1787Ther God thi makere yet, er that he dye,
1788So sende myght to make in som comédye!
1789But litel book, no makyng thou nenvie,
1790But subgit be to alle poesye;
1791And kis the steppes, whereas thou seest pace
1792Virgile, Ovide, Omer, Lucan, and Stace.
1793And for ther is so gret diversité
1794In Englissh and in writyng of oure tonge,
1795So prey I God that noon myswrite thee,
1796Ne thee mysmetre for defaute of tonge.
1797And red wher-so thou be, or elles songe,
1798That thow be understonde God I beseche!
1799But yet to purpos of my rather speche.--
1800The wrath, as I bigan yow for to seye,
1801Of Troilus, the Grekis boughten deere;
1802For thousandes his hondes maden deye,
1803As he that was with-outen any peere,
1804Save Ector, in his tyme, as I kan heere.
1805But weilaway, save only Goddes wille!
1806Despitously hym slough the fierse Achille.
1807And whan that he was slayn in this manére,
1808His lighte goost ful blisfully is went
1809Up to the holownesse of the eighthe spere,
1810In convers letynge everich element;
1811And ther he saugh, with ful avysement,
1812The erratik sterres, herkenyng armonye
1813With sownes fulle of hevenyssh melodie.
1814And doun from thennes faste he gan avyse
1815This litel spot of erthe, that with the se
1816Embraced is, and fully gan despise
1817This wrecched world, and held al vanité
1818To réspect of the pleyn felicité
1819That is in hevene above; and at the laste,
1820Ther he was slayn, his lokyng doun he caste;
1821And in hym-self he lough right at the wo
1822Of hem that wepten for his deth so faste;
1823And dampned al oure werk that foloweth so
1824The blynde lust, the which that may not laste,
1825And sholden al our herte on heven caste.
1826And forth he wente, shortly for to telle,
1827Ther as Mercúrye sorted hym to dwelle.--
1828Swich fyn hath, lo, this Troilus for love,
1829Swich fyn hath al his grete worthynesse;
1830Swich fyn hath his estat reál above,
1831Swich fyn his lust, swich fyn hath his noblesse:
1832Swich fyn hath false worldes brotelnesse!
1833And thus bigan his lovyng of Criseyde,
1834As I have told, and in this wise he deyde.
1835O yonge fresshe folkes, he or she,
1836In which that love up groweth with your age,
1837Repeyreth hoom fro worldly vanyté,
1838And of youre herte up-casteth the visage
1839To thilke God that after his ymage
1840Yow made, and thynketh al nys but a faire
1841This world, that passeth soone as floures faire.
1842And loveth hym, the which that right for love
1843Upon a crois, oure soules for to beye,
1844First starf, and roos, and sit in hevene above;
1845For he nyl falsen no wight, dar I seye,
1846That wol his herte al holly on him leye.
1847And sin he best to love is, and most meke,
1848What nedeth feynede loves for to seke?
1849Lo here, of payens corsed olde rites,
1850Lo here, what alle hir goddes may availle;
1851Lo here, thise wrecched worldes appetites;
1852Lo here, the fyn and guerdoun for travaille
1853Of Jove, Appollo, of Mars, of swich rascaille!
1854Lo here, the forme of olde clerkis speche
1855In poetrie, if ye hir bokes seche.--
1856O moral Gower, this book I directe
1857To the, and to the, philosophical Strode,
1858To vouchen sauf, ther nede is, to correcte,
1859Of youre benignités and zeles goode.
1860And to that sothfast Crist, that starf on rode,
1861With al myn herte of mercy evere I preye;
1862And to the Lord right thus I speke and seye:
1863Thou oon, and two, and three, eterne on lyve,
1864That regnest ay in three, and two, and oon,
1865Uncircumscript, and al maist circumscrive,
1866Us from visible and invisible foon
1867Defende; and to thy mercy, everichon,
1868So make us, Jesus, for thi mercy digne,
1869For love of mayde and moder thyn benigne! Amen.
Notes
1030] After Troilus and Criseyde have become secret lovers she is forced to go to her father at the Greek camp, in exchange for the Trojan Antenor, who has been taken prisoner. She promises Troilus that she will return in ten days. But the Greek Diomede, who is her escort to the camp and who has fallen in love with her, convinces her that the city is doomed and return impossible.
morwen. Morrow.
gostly for to speke. To speak spiritually, that is religiously, truly.
1032] breke. Interrupt.
1034] sikes. Sighs.
1036] Deprived her of the great(er part) of all her pain.
1038] Diomede captured a bay horse from Troilus and gave it to Criseyde. Later, when Troilus had captured the horse of Diomede, Criseyde out of sympathy, returned his present. (From Benoit).
1040] ek. Also.
1042] the bet. The better.
1043] pencel. Small pennon (Old French penoncel). A lady's sleeve was often worn as a favour in the chivalric romances.
1044] In the stories elles-where. The incident that follows is also from Benoit.
1046] Of. By.
tho. Then.
1048] kepen. Care for, nurse.
1050] Men say, (though) I do not know, that she gave him her heart. Note the poet's reluctance to admit Criseyde's infidelity.
1054] ago. Gone.
1056] oon the gentileste. One of the noblest.
1060] shende. Disgrace.
1068] don. Put.
1069] syn. Since.
1071] algate. Anyway, at any rate.
1074] yeve. Give.
1076] say. Saw.
1077] lady. Lady's. Feminine noun without genitive ending.
1078] brast. Burst.
1088] auctor. Author.
1090] out of drede. Out of doubt.
1093] Nor does it please me (nor do I wish) to chide this poor unfortunate woman.
1095] publisshed. In some MSS. punysshed.
1099] I-wis. Certainly (O.E. gewis).
routhe. Pity.
1786] These concluding lines of the poem follow the account of Troilus's gradual discovery that Criseyde had been unfaithful.
1787] May God yet send to thy composer, before he die, the power to write in some comedy. Ther at the beginning of 1787 is a mere expletive.
1789] no makyng thou nenvie. Envy no composition.
1792] Stace. P. Papinius Statius (A.D. 61-96), author of the Thebaid.
1793] for. Because.
1796] Nor scan thee wrongly because of defective knowledge of thy language.
1798] understonde. Understood.
1799] rather. Earlier.
1802] deye. Die.
1805] But alas! (except only that it was God's will).
1806] slough. Slew.
1807] A late addition to the poem -- not found in some MSS. Taken from another poem of Boccaccio, the Teseide, where the hero's soul ascends into the heavens. influenced also by Cicero's Somnium Scipionis and Lucan's account of the death of Pompey in Pharsalia, IX, 1 ff.
1809] Up to the concavity or inner surface of the eighth sphere, that of the fixed stars. Up to the extreme limits of the universe; see note on Milton's Nativity Ode, 125.
1810] Leaving the four elements (earth, water, air, fire) on the other side. Boccaccio has "degli clementi i convessi lasciando", "leaving the convexities of the elements", which Chaucer has mistranslated.
1811] avysement. Attention, understanding.
1812] erratik sterres. Wandering stars, planets.
1813] sownes. Sounds. On the music of the spheres see the Milton note cited above under 1. 1809.
1814] gan avyse. Did perceive.
1818] In comparison with the full, complete happiness.
1820] Ther. Where.
1821] Tough. Laughed.
1827] Where Mercury alloted to him to dwell. (Mercury was the conductor of souls to the next world.)
1828] fyn. End.
1830] estat reál. Royal rank.
1831] lust. Pleasure, joy.
1832] brotelnesse. Brittleness, frailty.
1839] thilke. That ilke, that same.
floures faire. Note the rhyming of words of the same sound but different meaning (cf. the French rime riche).
1843] beye. Buy, redeem.
1844] start. Died.
sit. Contraction of sitteth.
1845] nyl falsen no wight. Will not deceive anyone.
1847] sin. Since.
1849] payens. Pagans'.
1853] rascaille. Worthless mob (usually applied to animals not worth hunting).
1855] seche. Seek.
1856] moral Gower. Gower's poetry is marked by its serious ethical outlook. Gower had power of attorney for Chaucer during his absence from England in 1378 and addresses an admonition to him at the end of his Confessio Amantis.
1857] to the, philosophical Strode. Skeat reads "to the philosophical Strode", The Globe Chaucer and Robinson, by inserting the comma, make the second personal pronoun, which seems more probable. The reference may be to Ralph Strode, a noted philosopher, or to a Ralph Strode who was a prominent London lawyer from 1373 to his death in 1387.
1860] sothfast. True, faithful.
start on rode. Died on the cross.
1863] eterne on lyve. Eternally living.
A close translation of Dante's Paradiso, XIV, 28-30.
1865] uncircumscript, and al maist circumscrive. Infinite, and comprehending everything.
1868] digne. Worthy.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Possibly adapted from Robert Kilburn Root, ed., The Book of Troilus and Criseyde (Princeton University Press, 1926). PR 1895 .R6 Robarts Library. Possibly also W. W. Skeat, ed., The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, 2nd edn. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899-1900): II.
First publication date:
1483
Publication date note: Caxton's edition.
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 2RP.1.9; RPO 1996-2000.
Recent editing: 1:2002/6/8
Composition date:
1382
-
1386
Form: rhyme royal
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