1 I have gret wonder, by this lighte, ,
I cannot understand, every day,
2 How that I live, for day ne nighte
how I survive, because neither day nor night,
3 I may nat slepe wel nigh noght;
can I sleep, not even a little;
4 I have so many an idel thought idel empty
I am so distracted
5 Purely for defaulte of slepe, defaulte lack
because of this sleeplessness,
6 That, by my trouthe, I take no kepe take no kepe pay no attention to
that, I swear, I cannot pay attention
7 Of no thing, how it comth or goth,
to anything, however it comes or goes,
8 Ne me nis no thing lief nor loth. lief pleasing; loth loathsome
nor is anything either pleasing or loathsome to me.
9 Al is iliche good to me— iliche the same
every thing seems just as good as the other to me—
10 Joye or sorow, wherso it be—
joy or sorrow, whatever it might be—
11 For I have feling in no thinge,
because I am aware of nothing,
12 But, as it were, a mased thinge, mased bewildered
but like a completely bewildered thing,
13 Alway in point to falle adoun; in point to about to
always about to fall down;
14 For sorwful imaginacioun imaginacioun thought
because such sad thoughts
15 Is alway hooly in my minde. is alway hooly in fills
always, so completely, fill my mind.
16 ¶And wel ye wote, agaynes kinde wote know; kinde nature
And you know well that it is unnatural
17 It were to liven in this wise; wise manner
to live in this way;
18 For Nature wolde nat suffise suffise permit
because Nature would not permit
19 Unto noon erthly creature
any earthly creature
20 Not longe time to endure
to live for a long time
21 Withoute slepe, and be in sorwe;
without sleep, and to be so sorrowful;
22 And I ne may, ne night ne morwe,
and I cannot, at any time,
23 Slepe; and this melancolie,
sleep; and this melancholy
24 And drede I have for to die,
and fear I have of dying,
25 Defaulte of slepe, and hevinesse
lack of sleep, and numbness
26 Hath slain my spirit of quiknesse, slain destroyed; quikness liveliness
has robbed my spirit of life,
27 That I have loste al lustihede. that so that; lustihede pleasure in living
so that I have lost all pleasure in living
28 Such fantasies ben in min hede
Such images are in my head
29 So I not what is best to do. not do not know
that I do not know what it would be best to do.
30 ¶But men might axe me, why so axe ask
But people might ask me, why
31 I may not slepe, and what me is. what me is what’s the matter with me
I cannot sleep, and what is the matter with me.
32 But natheles, who aske this
But, nevertheless, whoever asks this
33 Leseth his asking trewely. leseth wastes
wastes his time in asking, truly.
34 Myselven can not telle why
I cannot myself tell what
35 The soth; but trewly, as I gesse, soth truth
the truth is; but truly, I suppose,
36 I hold it be a sikenesse hold believe
I believe it to be a sickness
37 That I have suffred this eight yere,
that I have suffred the last eight years,
38 And yet my boote is never the nere; boote cure; nere nearer
and yet my cure is never nearer
39 For ther is phisicien but one but only
because there is only one doctor
40 That may me heel, but that is done. done not worth pursuing
who may heal me, but that is not worth pursuing.
41 Pass we over until efte; efte until another time
But let’s let this pass until another time;
42 That wil not be, moot needs be lefte; that what; moot needs must
what canot be must be put to one side.
43 Our first mater is good to kepe. mater subject; kepe pursue
It’s good to stay with our first subject.
44 So whan I saw I might not slepe might could
So when I saw that I might not be able to sleep
45 Til now late, this other night,
until late the other night.
46 Upon my bedde I sat upright,
I sat upright in my bed,
47 And bade one reche me a booke, one someone [i.e. his servant]; reche bring
I asked someone to bring me a book,
48 A romaunce, and he it me toke me tooke brought to me
say a romance, and he brought it to me
49 To rede and drive the night away; drive…away pass
to read and pass the night.
50 For me thought it better play play game
because it seemed to me a better game
51 Then play either at chesse or tables. tables backgammon
then to play either chess or backgammon.
52 ¶And in this book were written fables fables stories
And there were stories in this book
53 That clerkes had, in olde time, clerkes learned men
that learned men had, in earlier times,
54 And other poets, put in rime
along with other poets, told in verse
55 To rede, and for to be in minde be bear
for people to read, and to remember
56 Whil men loved the lawe of kinde. whil when; kinde nature
while people still paid close attention to the laws of nature.
57 This book ne spak but of such thinges, ne spak but of described nothing but
This book described nothing but the lives
58 Of quenes lives, and of kinges,
of queens and kings,
59 And many other thinges smalle. smalle insignificant
And many other insignificant things.
60 Amonge al this I fonde a tale
Among al this I found a story
61 That me thought a wonder thing. me thought seemed to me
that seemed just an amazing thing.
62 ¶This was the tale: Ther was a king
This was the story: There was once a king
63 That highte Seys, and had a wife, highte was called
who was called Ceyx, and he had a wife
64 The beste that might beare life; might beare life had ever lived
the best who might ever have lived.
65 And this queen highte Alcione.
And this queen was called Alcione.
66 So it befill, therafter sone,
It so happened soon thereafter, that
67 This king wol wenden over see. wol wenden wished to travel
this king wished to travel over the sea.
68 To tellen shortly, whan that he
And so, to be brief, when he
69 Was in the see, thus in this wise,
was sailing in the sea in his travels,
70 Soche a tempest gan to rise
such a storm arose
71 That brak hir mast, and made it falle, brak broke
that it broke their mast and made it fall down,
72 And clefte hir ship, and dreint hem alle, cleft broke up; dreint drowned
and split apart their, and drowned everyone,
73 That never was founden, as it telles, that so that
so that no one was ever found, according to the story,
74 Bord ne man, ne nothing elles.
not a plank nor a man, nor anything else.
75 Right thus this king Seys loste his lif.
It was in just this way that King Ceyx lost his life.
76 ¶Now for to speken of his wif:
Now I’ll turn to his wife:
77 This lady, that was left at home,
this lady, who was left at home,
78 Hath wonder, that the king ne come
wondered why the king did not come
79 Hom, for it was a longe terme.
home, for it was a very long time.
80 Anon her herte gan to erme; erme grieve
Soon her heart began to grieve;
81 And for that hir thoughte evermo for that because
and because she thought continually
82 It was not wel he dwelte so,
that it was not a good thing that he was so delayed,
83 She longed so after the king
she yearned so much for the king
84 That certes, it were a pitous thing pitous moving
that it certainly was a moving thing
85 To telle hir hertly sorwful life hertly extremely
to describe the extremely sad life
86 That she hadde alas, this noble wife;
that she had, alas, this worthy wife;
87 For him she loved alderbest.
because she loved him the best of all.
88 Anon she sent bothe eest and west anon at once
She sent people both east and west
89 To seke him, but they founde nought.
to look for him, but they found nothing.
90 ¶’Alas!’ quoth she, ‘that I was wrought! wroght made
‘Alas!’, she said, ‘that I was born!
91 And wher my lord, my love, be deed? wher whether
And until I am certain whether my love is dead
92 Certes, I nil never ete breed, nil will not
I will not eat anything,
93 I make a vow to my god here,
I vow to my god here,
94 But I mowe of my lorde here!’ but unless; here hear
unless I might hear something about my lord.
95 Such sorwe this lady to her toke
This woman was feeling such sorrow
96 That trewly I, which made this boke,
that truly I, who wrote this book,
97 Had such pite and suche rowthe rowthe concern
had such sympathy and concern for her,
98 To rede hir sorwe, that, bi my trowthe, rede read about
when I read about her sorrow, that, I swear,
99 I ferd the worse al the morwe morwe after next day
I felt even worse
100 After, to thenken on her sorwe.
the next day, thinking about her sadness.
101 ¶So whan she coude here no word
So when she could not hear anyone saying
102 That no man mighte finde hir lord,
that they might find her lord
103 Ful oft she swouned, and seide ‘alas!’ swouned fainted
she fainted often, and said, ‘alas’!
104 For sorwe ful nigh wood she was, ful nigh very nearly; wood mad
because she had very nearly gone mad,
105 Ne she coude no reed but oon: reed remedy
nor could she find any remedy but one;
106 But doun on knees she sat anoon
except to fall to her knees
107 And wept, that pite was to here.
and weep so much that it was pitiable to hear.
108 ¶’A mercy, swete ladi dere!’
‘Ah, have mercy, sweet, dear lady!’
109 Quod she to Juno, hir goddesse;
she said to Juno, her goddess;
110 ‘Help me out of this distresse,
‘Help me out of this distress,
111 And yeve me grace my lord to see yeve give
and give me the grace, my lord, to see
112 Soone, or wit, wher so he be, wit to know
soon, or to know, where he is,
113 Or how he fareth, or in what wise,
or how he is, or in what condition,
114 And I shal make you sacrifise,
and I will make a sacrifice to you,
115 And hooly youres become I shal
and I will become wholly yours
116 With good will, bodi, hert, and al;
with my best will, body, heart, and everything;
117 And but thou wilt this, ladi swete, but unless; wilt want
and unless you want me in this distress, my sweet lady,
118 Send me grace to slepe, and mete mete dream
give me grace enough to sleep, and dream
119 In mi sleep som certein sweven, sweven dream
in my sleep a vision
120 Wherthrough that I may knowe even
whereby I may know exactly
121 Whether mi lord be quik or deed.’ quik alive
whether my lord is alive or dead’.
122 ¶With that word she heng doun the heed,
When she had said all this she hung her head,
123 And felle aswowne as cold as ston; aswowne in a faint
and fell in a faint as cold as a stone;
124 Hir women caught her up anon,
Her servants picked her up at once,
125 And broghten hir in bed al naked,
and helped her undress, and put her in bed,
126 And she, forweped and forwaked,
and she, having wept so much, and sleepless
127 Was wery, and thus the dede slepe dede sound
was exhausted, and thus sleep, like death
128 Fil on her, or she tooke kepe, or before; tok kepe was aware of it
seized her, before she was aware of it,
129 Through Juno, that had herde hir bone, bone prayer
with the help of Juno, who had heard her prayer,
130 That made hir for to slepe sone;
and helped her to sleep soon;
131 For as she praid, right so was done,
for just has she had asked in her prayer, it was done
132 In deed; for Juno, right anone,
in deeds; and so June, at once,
133 Called thus her messagere
called a messenger
134 To do her erande, and he com nere.
to run an errand for her, and he approached her.
135 ¶Whan he was com, she bad him thus:
When he was near, she commanded him thus:
136 ‘Go bet’, quod Juno, ‘to Morpheus, Go bet make haste
‘Make haste’, Juno said, ‘and go to Morpheus,
137 Thou knowest him wel, the god of slepe;
who you know well, the god of sleep;
138 Now understonde, and take kepe. kepe care
Take note of what I say, now, and be careful.
139 Sey thus on mi halfe, that he half behalf
Ask him on my behalf to
140 Go faste into the grete see, faste quickly
go quickly into the vast sea
141 And bid him that, on alle thinge,
and ask him that, above all else,
142 He take up Seys body the kinge,
he pick up the body of Ceyx, the king,
143 That lith ful pale and nothing rody. lith lies; rody ruddy
which lies all pale, looking very unhealthy,
144 Bid him crepe into the body,
and ask him to enter into that body,
145 And do it goon to Alcione do it goon make it go
and make it go to Alicone
146 The quene, ther she lith alone,
the queen, where she lies all alone,
147 And shewe hir shortly, it is no nay, shortly briefly
and show her right away, that without a doubt,
148 How it was dreint this other day; dreint drowned
how that body was drowned the other day;
149 And do the bodi speke so do…speke make…speak
and make the body speak
150 Right as it was woned to do, woned accustomed
just as it was accustomed to do,
151 The whiles that it was alive.
while it was alive.
152 Go now faste, and hy thee blive!’ hie thee blyve hurry with speed
Go fast, now, and hurry, with speed!’
153 ¶This messager took leve and went
This messenger took his leave and went
154 Upon his wey, and never stent stent stopped
on his way, and never stopped
155 Til he com to the derk valeie
until he came back to the dark valley
156 That stant bitwene roches tweie
that stands between two rocks
157 Ther never yet grew corn ne gras, corn grain
where neither corn nor grass has ever grown,
158 Ne tre, ne noght that oughte was, oughte anything
nor any tree, nor nothing that was ever anything,
159 Best, ne man, ne nothing elles, best beast
neither beast, nor man, nor anything else
160 Sauf ther were a fewe welles sauf except; welles springs
except for a few springs
161 Cam renning fro the cliffs adoun,
that were running down from the cliffs,
162 That made a deedli sleping soun, deedli deathly; soun sound
which made a deathly sleeping sound,
163 And ronnen doun right by a cave
and ran down right by a cave
164 That was under a rokke ygrave ygrave hollowed out
that was under a hollowed out rock
165 Amid the valey, wonder depe.
in the middle of the valley, very deep.
166 Ther these goddis laye and slepe,
There, these gods lay and slept
167 Morpheus, and Eclympasteire,
Morpheus and Eclympasteire
168 That was the god of slepes eire, eire heir
who was the god of sleep’s heir
169 That slepe and did non other werke. that slepe who slept
who slept and did no other work.
170 ¶This cave was also as derke
This cave was also as dark
171 As hell pitte over al aboute;
as the pit of hell throughout;
172 They had good leiser for to route good leiser time on their hands; route snore
They had a lot of time on their hands to snore
173 To envie, who might slepe beste; envie compete
and to compete to see who could sleep the best;
174 Som henge her chin upon her breste henge hung
Some hung their chins on their chest
175 And slept upright, her hed yhedde, yhedde covered
and slept sitting up, with their heads covered.
176 And som lay naked in her bedde
and some lay naked in their bed.
177 And slepe whiles the dayes laste.
and slept all day long.
178 ¶This messager com fleying faste
This messenger came flying quickly
179 And cried, ‘O how! awak anon!’
and cried, ‘Listen! wake up right away!’
180 It was for noght; ther herde him non. for noght no use
It did no good though; no one heard him.
181 Awak!’ quod he, ‘who is lith there?’
Wake up!’, he said, ‘who is it lying there?’
182 And blew his horn right in her ere,
and blew his horn right in their ear,
183 And cried ‘awaketh!’ wonder hye. hye loudly
and cried, ‘wake up!’, very loudly.
184 This god of sleep, with his oon ye ye eye
This god of sleep, with his one eye
185 Caste up and axed, ‘who clepeth there?’ caste up looked up; clepeth calls
looked up and asked, ‘who, there, calls out?’
186 ¶It am I, ‘quod this messagere;
‘It is I’, said this messenger;
187 Juno bad thow shuldest goon’—
Juno says that you must come’–
188 And tolde him what he shulde doon
and he told what he must do
189 As I have told yow hertofore;
as I have told you already;
190 It is no need reherse it more;
There is no need to tell anymore;
191 And went his wey, whan he had saide.
And he left, when he had spoken.
192 ¶Anon this god of slepe abraide Anon right away; abreide awoke
This god of sleep awoke right away
193 Out of his slepe, and gan to goon,
and began to move,
194 And did as he had bede him doon; bede ordered
and did what had been asked to do;
195 Tooke up the dreinte body sone, dreinte drowned
He picked up the drowned body quickly
196 And bare it forth to Alcione,
and took it to Alcione,
197 His wif the queen, theras she lay,
his wife, the queen, where she lay
198 Right even a quarter before day, quarter three hours
at exactly three hours before dawn
199 And stood right at her beddis fete,
and stood right at the foot of her bed,
200 And called hir, right as she hete, hete was called
and called her, just as she was called
201 By name, and said, ‘my swete wife,
by name, and said, ‘my dear woman,
202 Awak! let be your sorwful life! let be put aside
Wake up! put aside your sorrowful life!
203 For in your sorwe ther lith no rede; ther lith no red there is no remedy
because there is no remedy in such sorrow;
204 For certes, swete, I am but dede;
for in fact, sweetheart, I am dead;
205 Ye shul me never on live yse. yse see
You will never see me alive.
206 But good sweet herte look that ye
But good, sweet heart, take care to
207 Bury my body, for suche a tide such a tide at such a time
bury my body, for at such and such a time
208 Ye mowe it find the see beside; beside next to the see beside on the shore
ye will be able to find it on the shore;
209 And farwel, sweet, my worldes blisse!
And farewell, sweetheart, who was all my happiness in this world.
210 I praye God your sorwe lisse; lisse lessen
I pray to God that your sorrow may lessen;
211 To litel while our blisse lasteth!’ to too
Our happiness lasts all too short a time!’
212 ¶With that hir eyen up she casteth,
Having said that she looked upward,
213 And sawe noght. Quod she, ‘for sorwe!’ noght nothing
and saw nothing. She said, ‘such sorrow!’
214 And died within the thridde morwe.
and died within three days.
215 But what she said more in that swow swow swoon
But what else she said in that fainting spell
216 I may not telle yow as now,
I may not tell you now,
217 It were to longe for to dwelle;
It would delay us for too long;
218 My first matere I wil yow telle, first matere main subject
I will focus on my first subject
219 Wherfore I have told this thinge wherefore why
which is why I have told this story
220 Of Alcione and Seys the kinge.
about Alcione and Ceyx, the king.
221 ¶For thus much dar I saye welle,
For I will say this much with certainty,
222 I had be dolven everydelle, had be dolven buried
I would have been buried completely
223 And ded, right through defaulte of slepe, defaulte lack
and dead, just for lack of sleep,
224 If I nad redde and take kepe
if I had not read and paid attention to
225 Of this tale next before: next before just told
this tale I just told
226 And I wol telle yow wherfore;
and I will tell you the reason;
227 For I ne might, for boot ne bale, for I ne might because I could not
because I could not for good or ill,
228 Slepe, or I had red this tale or before
sleep, before I had read this tale
229 Of this dreinte Seys the kinge, dreynte drowned
about this drowned Ceyx, the king,
230 And of the goddis of slepinge.
and about the gods of sleep.
231 Whan I had red this tale wel,
When I had read this tale carefully,
232 And overloked it everydel, overloked examined; everydel every part
and examined every part,
233 Me thoght wonder if it were so; me thoght it seemed
it seemed a marvel if it wre true;
234 For I had never herd speke, or tho, or tho before then
Because I had never heard anyone speak, before then,
235 Of no goddis that coude make
about gods who could make
236 Men for to sleep, ne for to wake;
men and women sleep or wake;
237 For I ne knew never God but oon.
for I only knew of one God
238 And in my game I said anoon— in my game in jest
and in jest I said at once—
239 And yet me list right evel to pley— me list I had no desire
and yet I had no real desire to play—
240 ‘Rather then that I shulde dey dey die
‘instead of dying
241 Through defaulte of sleping thus, defaulte lack
through lack of sleep in this way,
242 I wold yive thilke Morpheus, yive giv
I would give this same Morpheus,
243 Or his goddesse, dame Juno,
or his goddess, lady Juno,
244 Or som wight, I ne roghte who— wight person; ne roghte do not care
or some other person, I do not care who—
245 To make me slepe and have som reste—
to make me sleep and have some rest—
246 I wil yive him the alderbeste alderbeste the very best
I will give him the very best
247 Yift that ever he abode his live, yift gift
gift that he ever had in his life,
248 And here onward, right now, as blive; onward as an advance
and here, as an advance, right now, quickly;
249 Yif he wol make me slepe a lite,
if he will make me sleep a little,
250 Of downe of pure dowves white downe feathers; dowves doves
made of down from pure white doves
251 I wil yif him a feder bedde, yif give; feder feather
I will give him a feather bed,
252 Rayed with golde, and right wel cledde rayed striped; cledde covered
striped with gold, and very well covered
253 In fin blak satin doutremere, doutremer from overseas
in fine black satin, imported from overseas
254 And many a pilow, and every bere bere pillowcase
and many pillows, and ever pillowcase
255 Of clothe of Reines, to slepe softe;
made of linen from Reines, to sleep enfolded softly
256 Him thar not need to turnen ofte.
so he need not turn often.
257 And I wol yive him al that falles falles pertains
and I will give him all that pertains
258 To a chambre; and al his halles chambre bedroom
to a bedroom; and all of his halls
259 I wol do peint with pure golde, do peint have painted
I will have painted with pure gold,
260 And tapite hem ful many folde
and adorn with numerous tapestries
261 Of one sute; this shal he have, sute pattern
in a matching pattern; this he will have
262 If I wist where were his cave, wist knew
if I knew where his cave was,
263 If he can make me slepe sone,
if he can make me sleep soon,
264 As did the goddesse Alcione.
as this goddess Alcione did.
265 And thus this ilk god, Morpheus, ilk same
And, thus, this same god, Morpheus,
266 May winne of me mo fees thus mo fees a greater reward
may win a greater reward from me in this way
267 Than ever he wanne; and to Juno,
than he ever won before; and to Juno,
268 That is his goddesse, I shal so do; so the same
who is his goddesss, I will do the same;
269 I trow that she shal holde her paide.’
I believe that she will consider herself satisfied.
270 ¶I hadde unneth that worde ysaide unneth hardly
I had hardly said those words
271 Right thus as I have tolde it yow,
just as I have said them to you,
272 That sodeinly, I niste how, niste do not know
when suddenly, I do not know how,
273 Suche a lust anoon me tooke lust desire; me took seized me
such a desire to sleep seized me at once
274 To sleep, that right upon my booke
so that right there on my book
275 I fil aslepe, and therwith evene therwith evene right away
I fell asleep, and right away
276 Me met so inly swete a swevene, me met dreamed; swevene dreamed
I dreamed so inwardly sweet a dream,
277 So wonderful, that never yitte
so wonderful, that never yet
278 I trowe no man had the witte trowe believe
I believe, no man has had the intelligence
279 To konne wel my sweven rede; knonne know; rede to interpret
to know how to interpret my dream well;
280 No, not Joseph, withoute drede, drede doubt
No, not Joseph, without a doubt,
281 Of Egipte, he that redde so redde interpreted
of Egypt, he who interpreted so well
282 The kinges metinge Pharao, metinge dream
Pharao, the king’s dream,
283 No moor than coud the leste of us;
better than could the least intelligent among us;
284 Ne nat scarsly Macrobeus,
Nor scarcely could Marobeus,
285 (He that wrote al th’avisioun th’avisioun the vision
(He who wrote about the whole vision
286 That he met, king Scipioun,
that King Scipio dreamed,
287 The noble man, the Affrican—
the noble man, the African—
288 Suche mervailes fortuned than) fortuned than happened in those days
such marvels happened in those days)
289 I trowe, ared my dremes even. arede might interpret; even correctly
I believe, might interpret my dreams correctly.
290 Lo, thus it was; this was my sweven. sweven dream
So, it was thus; this was my dream.
291 Me thoghte thus: that it was May,
I thought thus: that it was May,
292 And in the dawning there I lay.
And in the dawn, I lay there.
293 ¶Me met thus, in my bed al naked:—
and dreamed thus, in my bed all naked:—
294 And loked forth, for I was waked
and looked around, because I was awakened
295 With smale foules a gret hepe, foules birds; hepe throng
with a great throng of small birds,
296 That had affraied me out of slepe affraied aroused
that had aroused me from sleep
297 Through noise and swetnesse of her song;
through the noise and sweetness of their song;
298 And, as me met, they sate among, among together
and, as I dreamed, they sat together,
299 Upon my chambre roof withoute
on the roof of my bedroom, outside
300 Upon the tiles, al aboute,
on the roof tiles, everywhere,
301 And songen, everich in his wise,
and sang, each one in their own manner
302 The moste solempne servise
the most solemn service
303 By note, that ever man, I trowe, by note in musical form
in musical form, that any person, I believe,
304 Had herd; for somme of hem song lowe,
had ever heard; for some of them sung low,
305 Som high, and al of oon acorde.
some high, and all in harmony.
306 To telle shortly, at oo worde,
To tell it shortly, in a word,
307 Was never herd so swete a steven, steven sound
so sweet a song was never heard,
308 But it had be a thing of heven; but it had be unless it had been
unless it had been a thing of heaven;
309 So mery a soun, so swete entunes, entunes melodies
so merry a sound, such sweet tunes,
310 That certes, for the toune of Tewnes,
that certainly, even in exchange for the town of Tunis,
311 I nold but I had herde hem singe,
I would rather have heard them sing,
312 For al my chambre gan to ringe
because all of my bedroom resounded
313 Through singinge of hir armonie.
with the singing of their harmony.
314 For instrument nor melodie
For neither instrument nor melody
315 Was nowher herd yet half so swete,
half so sweet was heard anywhere,
316 Nor of acorde half so mete; of acorde with harmony; mete agreeable
nor harmony half so agreeable;
317 For ther was noon of hem that feined feined pretended
For there was not one of them that pretended
318 To sing, for ech of hem him peined
to sing, but each of them took pains
319 To finde out mery crafty notes;
to invent merry, well-crafted notes;
320 They ne spared not hir throtes.
They did not spare their throats.
321 And, soth to seyn, my chambre was
And, it is true to say, my bedroom was
322 Ful wel depeinted, and with glas
very well painted,
323 Were al the windowes wel yglased, yglased glazed
and all of the windows were so well glazed with very clear glass,
324 Ful clere, and nat an hole ycrased, ycrased cracked
without a single crack,
325 That to beholde it was gret joye.
that it was a great joy to behold.
326 For holy al the storie of Troye
For the whole story of Troy
327 Was in the glasinge ywroghte thus,
was portrayed in the glass thus,
328 Of Ector and king Priamus,
of Hector and king Priam,
329 Of Achilles and Lamedon,
of Achilles and Lamedon,
330 Of Medea and of Jason,
of Medea and of Jason,
331 Of Paris, Eleine, and Lavine.
of Paris, Helen and Lavinia.
332 And al the walles with colours fine
And all of the walls were painted with fine colors
333 Were peinted, bothe text and glose, glose interpretation
both the text and glosses on
334 Of al the Romaunce of the Rose.
the whole of the Romance of the Rose.
335 My windows weren shet echon,
My windows were each shut
336 And through the glas the sonne shon
and the sun shone through the glass
337 Upon my bed with brighte bemes,
onto my bed with bright beams,
338 With many gladde gilde stremes; gladde joyful; gilde golden
with many joyful, golden streams;
339 And eek the welken was so faire, welken sky
and the sky was also so beautiful,
340 Blew, bright, clere was the aire,
the air was blue, bright, and clear,
341 And ful atempre, for sothe, it was; atempre temperate
and the weather was really very mild;
342 For nother cold nor hoot it was,
for it was neither cold nor hot,
343 Ne in al the welken was a cloude.
nor was there a cloud in the sky.
344 ¶And as I lay thus, wonder loude wonder very
And as I lay thus,
345 Me thoght I herde an hunte blowe hunte hunter
I thought I heard a hunter blow very loudly
346 T’assay his horn, and for to knowe t’assay to try out
to try out his horn, so he could tell
347 Whether it were clere or hors of soune. hors hoarse
whether it was clear or hoarse in its sound.
348 I herde goinge, up and doune,
I heard moving, up and down,
349 Men, horse, hounds, and other thinge;
men, horses, dogs and other things;
350 And al men speken of huntinge, speken were talking about
and everyone was talking about hunting,
351 How they wold slee the hert with strengthe, hert (male) red deer
how they would slay the hart in the chase,
352 And how the hert had, upon lengthe,
and how the hart had, eventually,
353 So moche embosed, I not now what.
become so exhausted, I do not now know just how much.
354 ¶Anon right, whan I herde that,
As soon as I heard that,
355 How that they wolde on hunting goon,
how that they would go hunting,
356 I was right glad, and up anoon,
I was very glad, and right away,
357 I took my hors, and forthe I went
I took my horse, and went forth
358 Out of my chambre; I never stent stent stopped
out of my bedroom. I never stopped
359 Til I com to the feld withoute. withoute outside
until I came to a field outside.
360 Ther overtoke I a gret route overtoke caught up with; route crowd
where I caught up with a great crowd
361 Of hunts and eke of foresters,
of hunters and also of trackers,
362 With many relaies and limers,
relaies reinforcement dogs; limers dogs trained to hunt by scent
with many dogs (positioned ahead of the hunt) as reinforcments and dogs trained to hunt by scent,
363 And hied hem to the forest faste, hied hem hurried
and they hurried to the forest quickly,
364 And I with hem;—so at the laste
and I with them;–so finally
365 I asked oon ladde a limere:
I asked one who led a dog on a leash:
366 ‘Say felow, who shal hunten here
‘Say fellow, who will hunt here
367 Quod I; and he answered agein,
I said; and he answered,
368 ¶‘Sir, th’emperour Octovien,’
Sir, the emperor Octavian’,
369 Quod he, ‘and is her faste by.’ her faste by close by
he said, ‘and he is close by’.
370 ¶‘A Gods halfe, in good time’, quod I
‘For God’s sake, that is very timely’, I said
371 Go we faste!’ and gan to ride.
Let’s go quickly!’ and he began to ride.
372 Whan we cam to the forest side,
When we came to the side of the forest,
373 Every man did, right anoon,
Every man did, right away,
374 As to hunting fel to doon. fel to doon it was necessary to do
what it was necessary to do for hunting.
375 The maister-hunte anon, fot-hote, hunte hunter; fot-hote immediately
The master-hunter then, right away,
376 With a gret horne blew three mote mote notes
blew three loud notes with a large horn
377 At the uncouplinge of his houndes.
when his hounds were unleashed.
378 Withinne a whil the herte founde is,
In a short time the hart was discovered
379 Yhalowed, and rechased faste
pursued with shouts, and hunted vigorously
380 Longe time; and at the laste,
for a long time; and finally,
381 This herte rused and stal away rused retraced his steps
this hart retraced his steps and stole away
382 Fro al the hounds a prive way. prive hidden
from all the hounds in a hidden path.
383 The hounds had overshette hem alle, overshette overshot
All of the hounds had overshot him,
384 And were on a defaulte yfalle; were on a default yfalle lost the scent
and had lost the scent;
385 Therwith the hunte wonder faste
And with that the master hunter
386 Blewe a forleigne at the laste. forleigne a hunting call
blew his horn to recall all of the other hunters.
387 ¶I was go walked fro my tre, was go walked walked away
I walked away from my tree,
388 And as I went, ther cam by me
and, as I went, a pup walked by me
389 A whelp, that fauned me as I stoode, whelp pup; fauned fawned on
that fawned on me as I stood there,
390 That hadde yfolowed, and coud no goode.
that had followed me and did not know what to do next.
391 It came and crept to me as lowe,
It came and approached me as low to the ground,
392 Right as it hadde me yknowe,
as if it knew me,
393 Held doun his heed and joined his eres,
and held its head low with its ears joined together,
394 And leide al smothe doun his heres. smothe smooth; heres fur
and smoothed out all of its fur.
395 I wolde have caught it, and anoon
I would have caught it, but it fled
396 It fled, and was fro me agoon;
quickly and was gone from me;
397 And I him folwed, and it forth went
And I followed it, and it went forward
398 Doun by a floury grene went went path
by way of a flowery, green path
399 Ful thikke of gras, ful softe and swete,
full of thick grass, very soft and sweet,
400 With floures fel, faire under fete, fel many
with many flowers, beautiful under foot,
401 And litel used, it semed thus;
and so it seemed to have been very little used;
402 For bothe Flora and Zephirus,
For both Flora and Zephirus,
403 They two that make floures growe,
Those two who make flowers grow,
404 Had mad hir dwelling ther, I trowe; trowe believe
had made their dwelling there, I believe;
405 For it was, on for to beholde,
For it was, to look upon
406 As thogh the erthe envie wolde envie compete
as though the earth wanted to compete
407 To be gayer than the heven,
to be more beautiful than heaven,
408 To have mo floures, swiche seven swiche seven seven times
to have more flowers, seven times more
409 As in the welken sterres be. welken sky
than there are stars in the sky.
410 It had forget the povertee
It had forgotten the poverty
411 That winter, through his colde morwes,
that winter, with its cold mornings
412 Had mad it suffren, and his sorwes;
had made it suffer, and its sorrows;
413 Al was forgete, and that was sene.
All was forgotten, and that was clear.
414 For al the wood was waxen grene, waxen become
For all the wood had become green,
415 Swetnesse of dewe had made it waxe. waxe grow
because the sweetness of the dew had made it grow.
416 ¶It is no nede eek for to axe
It is also not necessary to ask
417 Wher ther were many grene greves, wher whether; greves groves
whether there were many green groves,
418 Or thikke trees, so ful of leves;
of thick trees, so full of leaves;
419 And every tree stood by himselve
and every tree stood by itself
420 Fro other wel ten feet or twelve.
ten or twelve feet from the others.
421 So grete trees, so huge of strengthe,
Such large trees, so full of strength,
422 Of fourty or fifty fadme lengthe, fadme fathom
forty or fifty fathoms in height,
423 Clene withoute bough or stikke, stikke twig
free from any bough or branch,
424 With croppes brode, and eke as thikke— croppes foliage
with crowns of foliage wide and thick—
425 They were nat an inche asonder—
The treetops were not an inch apart—
426 That it was shadwe overal under; it was shadwe it was shaded
so that it was completely shaded underneath;
427 And many an hert and many an hinde hinde doe
and many a hart and many a doe
428 Was both befor me and behinde.
was both in front of and behind me.
429 Of fawnes, sowres, bukkes, does
The wood was full of fawns, four-year old deer, and bucks
430 Was ful the wode, and many roes, roes roe deer
and many roe deer,
431 And many squirelles, that sete
and many squirrels that sat
432 Ful high upon the trees, and ete,
very high on the trees, and ate,
433 And in hir maner made festes.
and feasted in their usual way.
434 Shortly, it was so ful of bestes,
Soon it was so full of animals,
435 That thogh Argus, the noble counter, counter mathematician
that even if Argus, the great mathematician,
436 Set to rekene in his counter, counter counting house
were to sit down to do the math in his counting house,
437 And reken with his figures ten—
and count with the ten Arabic numerals—
438 For by tho figures mowe al ken, ken know
since by those numerals everyone may know,
439 If they be crafty, rekene and noumbre, crafty skilful; rekene count
if they are skillful, how to calculate and enumerate
440 And tel of every thing the noumbre—
and count the number of every thing—
441 Yet shulde he fail to rekene evene
yet even he should fail to count all of the wonders
442 The wondres, me mette in my swevene. me mette I dreamed
that I dreamed in my dream.
443 ¶But forth they romed wonder faste
But the deer moved away very quickly
444 Doun the wood; so at the laste doun through
through the wood; until, finally,
445 I was war of a man in blak,
I was aware of a man dressed in black
446 That sat and had yturned his bak
who sat with his back turned
447 To an oke, an huge tree. oke oak
to an oak, a huge tree.
448 ‘Lord,’ thought I, ‘who may that be?
‘Lord’, I thought, ‘who could that be?
449 What aileth him to sitten here?’
What trouble makes him just sit here?’
450 Anoonright I wente nere;
Right away I went closer;
451 Than founde I sitte even upright
then I found sitting up straight
452 A wonder welfaringe knight— welfaring handsome
a very attractive knight—
453 By the maner me thoghte so—
in form, he seemed so to me—
454 Of good mochel, and yong therto, good mochel well proportioned
because he was so well proportioned and young,
455 Of the age of foure and twenty yere.
and twenty-four years of age.
456 Upon his berd but litel here, berd beard; here hair
He had very little hair on his chin,
457 And he was clothed al in blake.
and he was dressed entirely in black.
458 I stalked even unto his backe, stalked walked quietly; even to up to
I walked quietly right up to his back,
459 And there I stoode as stille as ought, ought anything
and there I stood, as still as anything
460 That, soth to saye, he saw me nought,
so that, in truth, he did not see me,
461 Forwhy he henge his hede adoune. forwhy because
because he hung his head down.
462 And with a dedly sorwful soune soune sound
and with a lifeless, sorrowful sound
463 He made of rime ten vers or twelve,
he composed ten or twelve verses in rhyme
464 Of a compleinte to himselve,
of a complaint to himself,
465 The most pitee, the moste routhe, routhe pitiable
the most pitiable, the most moving
466 That ever I herd; for, by my trouthe,
that I ever heard, for, I swear,
467 It was gret wonder that Nature
it was a cause for wonder that Nature
468 Might suffre any creature
might allow any creature
469 To have such sorwe, and be not ded.
to be so sorrowful, and yet not be dead.
470 Ful pitous, pale, and nothing red,
So pitiable, pale, and colorless,
471 He said a lay, a maner songe, lay poem
he recited a lay, a kind of song
472 Withoute note, withoute songe,
without notes, without melody,
473 And it was this; for wel I can
and it was this; for I can repeat it very accurately;
474 Reherse it; right thus it began.—
it began like this—
475 ¶’I have of sorwe so gret wone, wone habit
‘I have such an abundance of sorrow
476 That joye gete I never none,
that I never have any joy,
477 Now that I see my lady bright,
now that I see my beautiful lady
478 Which I have loved with al my might,
who I loved with all my might,
479 Is fro me ded, and is agoon.
is dead and gone away from me.
481 ¶Allas, O deth! what aileth thee
Alas, O death! what ails you
482 That thou noldest have taken me, noldest would not
that you did not want to take me,
483 Whan that thou took my lady swete?
when you took my sweet lady?
484 That was so fair, so fresh, so fre, fre generous
who was so fair, so young, so generous,
485 So good, that men may wel yse yse see
so good, that anyone might see well
486 Of al goodness she had no mete!’— mete equal
that she had no equal in goodness!’
487 ¶Whan he had mad thus his complaint,
When he had made his complaint in this way,
488 His sorwful hert gan faste faint,
His sorrowful heart quickly grew weak,
489 And his spirites wexen dede; wexen dede grew lifeless
and his spirits grew lifeless;
490 The blood was fled, for pure drede, pure drede utter fear
for his blood fleed, for utter fear,
491 Doun to his hert, to make him warme—
down to his heart, to warm him—
492 For wel it feled the hert had harme— feled sensed
for it rightly sensed that his heart was injured—
493 To wete eek why it was adrad wete eek to know also; adrad afraid
to learn, also, what in its nature made it afraid
494 By kinde, and for to make it glad; kinde nature
and to make it happy;
495 For it is membre principal membre organ
because it is the principal organ
496 Of the body; and that made al
of the body; and that movement made all of his complexion
497 His hewe chaunge and wexe grene hewe complexion
change and grow green
498 And pale, for ther no blood was sene
and pale, for there was no blood to be seen
499 In no maner limme of his. limme limb
in any of his limbs.
500 ¶Anoon therwith whan I saw this,
As soon as I saw this,
501 He ferd thus evel there he sete, ferd fared; thus evel so badly; there where
how he fared so badly where he sat,
502 I went and stood right at his fete,
I went and stood right at his feet,
503 And grette him, but he spake noght,
and greeted him, but he said nothing,
504 But argued with his owne thoght,
but was lost in his own thoughts
505 And in his wit disputed faste
and seemed to be thinking very hard
506 Why and how his lif might laste;
about how and why he might stay alive;
507 Him thought his sorwes were so smerte smerte painful
it seemed to him that his sorrows were so painful
508 And lay so colde upon his herte;
and lay so coldly on his heart;
509 So, throgh his sorwe and hevy thoght,
that his sorrow and sadness
510 Made him that he herd me noght;
prevented him from hearing me at all;
511 For he had wel nigh lost his minde,
for he had nearly lost his mind,
512 Thogh Pan, that men clep god of kinde, clep call; kinde Nature
even if Pan, who men call the god of nature,
513 Were for his sorwes never so wrothe. wrothe angry
might be very angry with him for indulging in such sorrows.
514 ¶But at the last, to sayn right sothe,
But, finally, to tell you how it happened truly,
515 He was war of me, how I stoode war aware
he was aware of me, and how I stood
516 Before him, and did of min hoode, did of took off
in front of him, and took off my hood,
517 And grette him, as I best coude.
and greeted him, as best I could.
518 Debonairly, and nothing loude, debonairly courteously
courteously, and quietly,
519 He sayde, I prey thee, be not wrothe’
he said, ‘please do not be angy;
520 I herd thee not, to seyn the sothe,
I did not hear you, to tell you the truth,
521 Ne I saw the not, sir, trewly.’
nor did I see you, sir, truly’.
522 ¶’A! goode sir, no fors,’ quod I, no fors no matter
‘Ah, good sir, it does not matter’, I said,
523 I am right sory if I have ought
I am very sorry if I have in any way
524 Destroubled yow out of your thoughte;
drawn you out of your thoughts;
525 Forgif me if I have mistake.’ mistake done wrong
forgive me if I have done wrong’.
526 ¶’Yis, th’amendes is light to make,’ light easy
‘Yes, it is very easy to make amends’,
5276 Quod he, ‘for ther lith noon therto;
he said, ‘because there is nothing to it;
528 There is nothing missaid nor do.’
there is nothing down nor missaid’.
529 ¶Lo! how goodly spak this knighte,
Look! how well this knight spoke,
530 As it had ben another wighte; wighte person
as if he were another person;
531 He made it nouther tough ne queinte
he made it neighert difficult nor complicated
532 And I saw that, and gan me aqueinte
and I saw that, and began to get to know him
533 With him, and found him so tretable,
and found him so affable
534 Right wonder skilful and resonable,
so very discerning and rationale,
535 As me thoght, for al his bale. bale grief
it seemed to me, despite all his grief.
536 Anoonright I gan finde a tale finde a tale speak
Right away I began to speak to him
537 To him, to loke wher I might oughte
to see whether I might in any way
538 Have more knowinge of his thoughte.
better understand his thoughts.
539 ‘‘Sir,’ quod I, ‘this game is doon; this game the hunt
Sir’, I said, ‘the hunt is over;
540 I holde that this hert be goon; holde think
I think that this hart has escaped;
541 These huntes can him nowher see.’ huntes hunters
these hunters cannot see him anywhere’.
542 ¶’I do no fors therof,’ quod he, do no fors do not care
‘I do not care about that’, he said,
543 My thought is theron never a dele.’ never a dele not at all
my thought is not at all on that’.
544 ¶’By our Lord,’ quod I, ‘I trow yow wele, trow believe
‘By our Lord’, I said, ‘I certainly believe you,
545 Right so me thinketh by your chere.
your face makes it seem exactly so.
546 But, sir, oo thinge wol ye here? oo one
But, sir, will you listen to one thing?
547 Me thinketh, in great sorwe I you see;
I thought I saw you in great sorrow;
548 But certes, sire, yif that ye
but, certainly, sir, if you
549 Wolde ought discure me your woo, discure disclose to
want to disclose any of your sorrow to me,
550 I wolde, as wis God help me soo, wis certainly
I would, as our wise God me help me do so,
551 Amende it, if I can or may;
relieve it, if I know how or am able to;
552 Ye mowe prove it by assay. mowe may; assay trial
Ye might test this by trying it out with me.
553 For, by my trouth, to make you hool, trouth faith; hool whole
For, truly, to make you whole,
554 I wol do al my power hool;
I will use all my power;
555 And telleth me of your sorwes smerte,
and if you tell me of your painful sorrow
556 Paraunter it may ease your herte, paraunter perhaps
perhaps it might ease your heart,
557 That semeth ful seke under your side.’ seke ill
that seems so sick in your body’.
558 ¶With that he loked on me aside,
With that he looked askance at me,
559 As who saith, ‘nay, that wol not be.’
like someone who says, ‘no, that will not happen’.
560 ‘Graunt mercy, goode frend,’ quod he,
‘Pardon me, good friend’, he said,
561 I thank the that thou woldest soo,
I thank you that you want to do this,
562 But it may never the rather be doo. rather sooner
but it can not be done quickly.
563 No man may my sorwe glade,
No man may gladden my sorrow,
564 That maketh my hew to fal and fade, hew complexion
that makes my complexion to grow pale and feeble,
565 And hath min understonding lorne, lorne lost
and has destroyed my very understanding,
566 That me is wo that I was borne!
so that I regret that I was born!
567 May nothing mak my sorwes slide, may nothing nothing can; slide diminish
Nothing can diminish my sorrows,
568 Nought the remedies of Ovidel
Not the cures of Ovid,
569 Ne Orpheus, god of melodie,
nor Orpheus, the god of song,
570 Ne Dedalus, with playes slie; playes inventions; slie cunning
nor Dedalus, with his cunning inventsions;
571 Ne heel me may no phisicien, ne nor
nor might any physician heal me,
572 Noght Ypocras, ne Galien;
not Hippocrates, nor Galen;
573 Me is wo that I live oures twelve;
it is sad to me that I live twelve more hours;
574 But who so wol assay himselve assay test
but whoever will test himself
575 Whether his hert can have pite
to see whether his heart can have pity
576 Of any sorwe, lat him see me.
on any sorrow, let him look at me.
577 I wrech, that deth hath made al naked
I, wretch, who death has made barren
578 Of al the bliss that ever was maked,
of all the bliss that ever was made
579 Yworthe worste of alle wightes, yworthe am become; wightes people
am become the worst of all people,
580 That hate my dayes and my nightes;
who hates my days and my nights;
581 My lif, my lustes be me loothe, lustes pleasures
My life, my pleasures are unpleasant to me
582 For al welfare and I be wroothe. wroothe at odds
For I am at odds with all happiness.
583 The pure deth is so my foo,
Death itself is my foe,
584 That I wold deye, it wold not so;
because I want to die and it does not want it so;
585 For whan I folwe it, it wol flee;
For when I pursue it, it wants to flee;
586 I wolde have it, it nil not me. nil will not
I want to have it, but it will not have me.
587 This is my pein withoute rede, rede remedy
This is my pain, without remedy,
588 Alway deyinge, and be not dede,
Always dying, but not to be dead,
589 That Sesiphus, that lith in helle
so that Sisyphus, who lies in hell
590 May not of more sorwe telle.
may not describe greater sorrow.
591 And whoso wiste al, by my trouthe, wiste knew
And whoever knew all my sorrow, truly,
592 My sorwe, but he hadde routhe but unless
unless he had compassion for me
593 And pite of my sorwes smerte,
and pity for my deep sorrows,
594 That man hath a feendly herte. feendly devilish
that man has a devilish heart.
595 For who so seeth me firste on morwe
For whoever sees me first in the morning
596 May seyn, he hath ymet with sorwe;
may say, he has met with sorrow;
597 For I am sorwe and sorwe is I.
for I am sorrow and sorrow is me.
598 ¶’Allas! and I wol tel the why;
‘Alas! and I will tell you why;
599 My sorwe is turned to pleyninge, pleyninge lament
my sorrow is turned into lament
600 And al my laughter to wepinge,
and all my laughter to weeping,
601 My gladde thoughts to hevinesse,
my glad thoughts to sorrow,
602 In travaile is min idelnesse travaile hard labor
my idelness and also my rest have become hard labor
603 And eek my rest; my wele is wo.
my happiness into woe.
604 My goode is harme, and ever mo
what was good for me is now harmful, and always
605 In wrathe is turned my pleyinge,
my pleasure is turned into anger,
606 And my delite into sorwinge;
and my delight into lamenting;
607 Min hele is turned into seeknesse, hele health
my health is turned into sickness,
608 In drede is al my sikernesse; drede uncertainty; sikernesse certainty
my certainty is turned into uncertainty;
609 To derke is turned al my lighte,
all my light is turned into darkness,
610 My witte is foly, my day is nighte,
my reason is foolishness, my day is night,
610 My love is hate, my sleep wakinge,
my love is hate, my sleep wakefulness,
611 My mirthe and meles is fastinge, meles food
my joy and feasting is fasting,
612 My countenaunce is nicete, countenance composure; nicete foolishness
my composure is foolishness
613 And al abaved wherso I be, abaved befuddled
and all befuddled wherever I am
614 My pees, in pledinge and in werre; pledinge debate
my peace has now turned into argument and war;
615 Allas! how might I fare werre? werre worse
Alas! how might I fare the worse?
616 My boldenesse is turned to shame,
my confidence is turned to embarrassment,
617 For fals Fortune hath pleide a game
because falls Fortune has played a game
618 At ches with me, allas! the while!
of chess with me. Alas! alas!
619 The traiteress fals and ful of gile,
The false traitor, full of guile
620 That al behoteth and nothing halte, behoteth promises
that promises all and follows through with nothing
621 She goth upright and yet she halte, goth walks; halte limps
she walks upright and yet she limps,
622 That baggeth foule and loketh faire, baggeth leers
who leers wickedly and appears fair
623 The dispitouse debonaire,
the cruel courteous one,
624 That scorneth many a creature!
who scorns many a creature!
625 An idole of fals portraiture idole idol
an idol falsly painted
626 Is she, for she wol sone wryen; wryen turn away
is she, for she will soon turn away;
627 She is the monstres hed ywrien, ywrien covered
she is the monster’s covered head,
628 As filthe over ystrawed with floures; over ystrawed strewn over
like filth covered over with flowers;
629 Hir moste worship and hir flour is worship virtue
hir greatest virtue and her greatest achievement
630 To lyen, for that is hir nature; lyen lie
is to lie, because that is her nature;
631 Withoute feithe, lawe, or mesure mesure moderation
without loyalty, rule, or moderation
632 She is fals; and ever laughing
she is false; and always laughing
633 With one eye, and that other wepinge.
with one eye, and weeping with the other.
634 That is broght up, she sette al doun. that what
Whatever is brought up, she puts it down.
635 I likne hir to the scorpioun,
I compare her to a scorpion,
636 That is a false flatering beste;
who is a false, flattering animal;
637 For with his hede he maketh feste, maketh feste is welcoming
for with his head he is welcoming
638 But al amidde his flateringe
but in the middle of his flattering
639 With his taile he wol stinge,
he will stinge with his tail,
640 And envenime; and so wol she. envenime poison
and poison; and so will she.
641 She is th’envious charite
She is the envious generosity
642 That is ay fals, and semeth wele,
that is always false, and seems good,
643 So turneth she hir false whele
And so she turns her false wheel about
644 About, for it is nothing stable,
for it is in no way stable,
645 Now by the fire, now at the table;
now by the fireplace, now at the table;
646 For many hath she thus yblent. yblent blinded
for she has blinded many thus.
647 She is pley of enchauntement,
She is a trick of magic,
648 That semeth oon and is nat so,
that seems something that it is not,
649 The false theef! what hath she do,
the false theif! what has she done
650 Trowest thou? by our Lorde, I wol thee sey’. trowest thou do you think; sey tell you
do you think? Lord, I will tell you.
651 At ches with me she gan to pley;
She began to play chess with me;
652 With hir false draughtes divers draughtes moves
with her various deceitful moves
653 She staale on me, and took my fers. stale on crept up on; fers queen
She crept up on me, and took my queen.
654 And whan I saw my fers away,
And when I saw my queen was gone,
655 Allas! I couth no lenger play,
Alas! I could no longer play,
656 But seide, ‘farwel, swete, ywis,
but said, ‘farewell, sweetheart, indeed,
657 And farwel al that ever ther is!’
and farewell to all that there is!’
658 ¶Therwith Fortune said ‘chek here!’ chek here check mate
And with that Fortune said, “check mate”!
659 And ‘mate!’ in mid point of the chekkere chekkere chess board
and “defeated!” in the middle of the chess board
660 With a poune errante, allas! poune errante wandering pawn
with a wandering pawn, alas!
661 Ful craftier to pley she was
She was more skillful in playing
662 Than Athalus, that mad the game
than Athalus, who invented the game
663 First of the ches: so was his name.
of chess first; this was his name.
664 But God wolde I had ones or twies God wolde had God wished it that
But had God wished it that I had been expert once or twice
665 Ykoude and know the jeopardies jeupardies chess moves
and known the chess moves
666 That coud the Greek Pithagores,
that the Greek Pythagoras knew,
667 I shulde have pleyd the bet at ches, the bet better
I would have played chess much better,
668 And kept my fers the bet therby;
and in that way protected my queen better;
669 And though wherto? for trewely
and yet to what end? for truly
670 I hold that wish nat worthe a stre! stre straw
I think that very wish is worthless!
671 It had be never the bet for me.
It would never have gone better for me.
672 For Fortune can so many a wile, can knows; wile trick
For Fortune knows so many tricks,
673 Ther be but few can hir begile,
there are only a few who know how to trick her,
674 And eek she is the las to blame: eek also
and also she is less to blame:
675 Myselfe I wolde have do the same,
for I myself would have done the same,
676 Befor God, had I ben as she;
before God, if I had been she;
677 She ought the more excused be.
she ought to be more readily excused.
678 For this I say yet moor therto:
I also would say more about this:
679 Had I be God and mighte have do
had I been God and had been able to do
680 My wille, whan my fers she caught,
what I wished when my queen was captured,
681 I wolde have draw the same draught.
I would have made the same move.
682 For, also wis God yif me reste, wis certainly
For as surely as God may let me die,
683 I dar wel swer she took the beste!
I would swear that she took the very best!
684 ¶’But through that draughte I have lorne lorne lost
But because of that move I have lost
685 My blisse; allas that I was borne!
my happiness; alas, that I was borne!
686 For evermore, I trowe trewly, trowe believe
For forever, I believe truly,
687 For al my will, my luste holly luste pleasure
despite all I want, my pleasure is wholly overthrown
688 Is turned; but yet, what to doone?
and yet, what is to be done?
689 By our Lorde, it is to die soone;
As our Lord wills, it is to die soon;
690 For nothinge I ne leve it noght, leve believe
For I am sure of nothing
691 But live and dey right in this thoght. dey die
but that I will live and die in this one thought.
692 Ther nis planete in firmament,
There is neither planet in the heavens,
693 Ne in air, ne in erth, non element,
nor element in the air or in the earth,
694 That they ne yive me a yifte echon yive give
that does not each give me the gift
695 Of weping, whan I am allon.
of weeping, when I am alone.
696 For whan that I avis me wel, avis me take account
For when I think about things carefully,
697 And bethenk me every del, del part
and consider every part of this,
698 How that ther lith in rekeninge,
how that there is nothing in my account
699 In my sorwe, for nothinge;
to balance my sorrow;
700 And how ther leveth no gladnesse leveth remains
and how no gladness remains
701 May gladde me of my distresse,
that may relieve me of my distress,
702 And how I have lost suffisance, suffisance all that I need
and how I have lost all that I need
703 And therto I have no plesance,
and for that reason I have no pleasure,
704 Than may I say, I have right noght. right noght absolutely nothing
then my I say that I have absolutely nothing.
705 ¶And whan this falleth in my thoght,
And when I think of this,
706 Allas! than am I overcome!
Alas! I am then overcome!
707 For that is doon is not to come!
for what is done cannot be done again!
708 I have moor sorwe than Tantale.’
I have more sorrow than Tantalus’.
709 And whan I herd him tel this tale
And when I heard him tell this tale
710 Thus pitously, as I you telle,
so pitiably, as I am telling you,
711 Unnethe might I lenger dwelle, unnethe hardly
I could hardly remain there
712 It did min herte so much wo.
it all made me so sad.
713 ¶’A! good sir!’ quod I, ‘say not so!
‘Ah!, good sir!’, I said, ‘say it isn’t so!’
714 Have som pite on your nature
Make some allowance for nature
715 That formed you to creature;
that shaped you as a human being;
716 Remembre you of Socrates,
Remind yourself of Socrates
717 For he ne counted nat three strees strees straw
since he did not give three straws
718 Of noght that Fortune coude do.’ noght anything
for anything that Fortune could do’.
719 ¶’No,’ quod he, ‘I can not so.’
‘No’, he said, ‘I cannot do that’.
720 ¶’Why so? good sir! parde!’ quod I;
‘Why is that? good sir! indeed’, I said;
721 Ne say noght so, for trewely,
do not say so, for truly,
722 Thogh ye had lost the ferses twelve, ferses queens
Even if you had lost twelve queens,
723 And ye for sorwe mordred yourselve,
and if you had killed yourself for sorrow,
724 Ye shold be dampned in this cas
you would be damned in this case
725 By as good right as Medea was good much
as justly as Medea was
726 That slough hir children for Jason;
who slew her children because of Jason;
727 And Phyllis als for Demophon
and Phyllis also, who hanged herself for Demophon
728 Henge hirself, so weylaway!
alas for that!
729 For he had broke his terme-day
for he had failed to return on the day he promised
730 To com to hir. Another rage
to come to her. Dido had another frenzy,
731 Had Dido, quene eek of Cartage,
queen of Carthage,
732 That slough hirself, for Eneas
who slew herself because Aeneas
733 Was false: whiche a fool she was! whiche what
was false: what a fool she was!
734 And Ecquo died for Narcisus
And Echo died because Narcissus
735 Nold nat love hir; and right thus
would not love her; and in just this way
736 Hath many another foly don.
have so many others behaved foolishly.
737 And for Dalida died Sampson,
As Delihlah died for Sampson
738 That slough himself with a pilere.
who killed himself with a pillar.
739 But ther is noon alive here
But there is no one alive now
740 Wolde for a fers make this woo!’
who would feel such sorrow for a queen!’
741 ¶’Why so?’ quod he; ‘it is nat soo;
‘Why so?’, he said; ‘it is not so;
742 Thou wost ful litel what thou menest; menest are saying
you understand very little of what you are saying;
743 I have lost more than thou wenest.’ wenest think
I have lost more than you think’.
744 ¶’Lo, sir, how may that be?’ quod I;
‘Sir, how can that be?’, I said;
745 ‘Good sir, tel me al holely
‘Good sir, tell me the whole story
746 In what wise, how, why, and wherefore
in what way, how, why, and for which reason
747 That ye have thus your blisse lore’.
you have thus lost all your happiness’.
748 ¶’Blithly,’ quod he, ‘com sitte adoun; blithly gladly
‘Gladly’, he said, ‘come sit down;
749 I tell thee up a condicioun
I will tell you on one condition
750 That thou shalt hooly, with al thy wit,
that you will wholly, and with all your understanding,
751 Do thin entent to herkene it.’
do all you can to listen to it’.
752 ¶’Yis, sir.’ ‘Swere thy trouth therto.’
‘Yes, sir’. ‘Give your word to do this’.
753 ¶’Gladly.’ ‘Do than hold herto!’
‘Gladly’. ‘Make sure you keep your promise!’
754 ¶’I shal right blithely, God me save,
‘I will very gladly, God preserve me,
755 Hooly, with al the witte I have,
wholly, with all the understanding that I have,
756 Here you, as wel as I can.’
listen to you as well as I can’.
757 ¶’A Goddes half!’ quod he, and began:— A on
‘I swear on God’s behalf!’ he said, and began:—
758 ‘Sir,’ quod he, ‘sith firste I couthe couthe could
‘Sir’, he said, ‘since I was first able
760 Have any maner wit fro youthe, wit judgment
to possess any kind of judgment from my youth,
761 Or kindely understondinge kindely natural
or natural understanding
762 To comprehende, in any thinge,
to comprehend, in any part,
763 What love was, in min owne witte,
what love was, in my own mind,
764 Dredles, I have ever yitte
fearlessly, I have always
765 Be tributarie, and yive rente tributarie been a subject; rente tribute
been a subject of, and paid tribute to
766 To Love hooly with goode entente,
love, always with the best of intentions,
767 And throgh plesaunce become his thralle,
and through pleasure becomes its servant
768 With good will, body, hert, and alle.
with my good will, body, heart, and everything.
769 Al this I putte in his servage,
All this I put in Love’s service
770 As to my lorde, and did homage;
as my lord, and paid him homage;
771 And ful devoutly praid him to,
and very devoutly prayed to him,
772 He shuld beset min herte so, beset bestow
that he should bestow my heart
773 That it plesaunce to him were,
so that it would be pleasing to him
774 And worship to my lady dere. worship honor
and an honor to my dear lady.
775 ¶’And this was longe, and many a yere
And it was a long time, and many years,
776 Or that min hert was set owhere, or that before; owher anywhere
before my heart was set anywhere,
777 That I did thus, and niste why; niste knew not
that I did this; and did not know why;
778 I trowe it cam me kindely. trowe believe; kindely naturally
I believe it came to me naturally.
779 Paraunter I was therto moste able paraunter perhaps
Perhaps I was particularly susceptible
780 As a white walle or a table table writing tablet
like a white wall or a table,
781 For it is redy to cacche and take
which is ready to capture and receive
782 Al that men wil therin make,
all that a person might make there:
783 Wherso men wil portrey or peint, wherso whatever
whatever someone wants to draw or paint,
784 Be the werkes never so queint. queinte elaborate
however elaborate the design.
785 ¶And thilke time I ferd right so thilke time at that time; ferd right so lived in such a way
And at that time I lived in such a way
786 I was able to have lerned tho,
that I was able to learn things,
787 And to have kende as wel or better, kende learned
and to have learned well or better,
788 Paraunter, other arte or letter
perhaps, some other discipline or subject
789 But for love cam firste in my thought for because
but because love was first in my thoughts
790 Therfore I forgate it noght.
I, therefore, never forgot it.
791 I ches love to my firste craft. craft trade
I chose love as my first trade.
792 Therfor it is with me ylaft. ylaft remained
Therefore it remained with me,
793 Forwhy I toke it of so yonge age, forwhy because
because I took to it at such a young age,
794 That malice hadde my corage
that malice had not yet turned my desires
795 Nat that time turned to nothinge
into nothing
796 Through to mochel knowlachinge.
because of too much knowledge.
797 For that time youthe, my maistresse,
For at that time youth, my mistress,
798 Governed me in idelnesse;
encouraged me in laziness.
799 For it was in my firste youthe,
For it was in my early youth,
800 And tho ful litel goode I couthe
and I knew how to do very little well
801 For al my werkes were flittinge flittinge temporary
because all that I did was temporary,
802 That time, and al my thoght varyinge;
at that time, and all my thought changeable;
803 Al were to me yliche goode, al all things; yliche equally
all things were equally good to me,
804 That I knew tho; but thus it stoode. tho then
that I knew then; but that is how it was.
805 ¶’It happed that I cam on a day
It happened that I came one day
806 Into a place, ther that I say say saw
into a place where I saw
807 Trewly, the fairest companye
truly, the fairest company
808 Of ladies, that ever man with ye ye eye
of ladies that any one with eyes
809 Had seen togedres in oo place.
had ever seen together in one place.
810 Shal I clepe it happe other grace clepe call; happe chance; other or
Shall I call it chance or grace
811 That broght me ther? nay, but Fortune,
that brought me there? no, only Fortune,
812 That is to lyen ful comune, ful comune accustomed
who is so accustomed to lying,
813 The false traiteress, pervers,
that false traitor, perverse,
814 God wolde I coude clepe hir wers!
God, I wish that I could call her worse!
815 For now she worcheth me ful wo,
because now she causes me great sorrow,
816 And I wol telle soon why so.
and I will soon explain why.
817 ¶’Among these ladies thus echon,
‘Among each of these ladies,
818 Soth to seyn, I saugh ther oon
truth to tell, I saw one there
819 That was lik noon of al the route; route company
who was like none of all the company;
820 For I dar swer, withoute doute,
For I would dare to swear, without a doubt,
821 That as the sommers sonne brighte
that as the summer’s bright son
822 Is fairer, clerer, and hath mor lighte
is more beautiful, clearer, and brighter
823 Than any other planet in hevene,
than any other planet in the heavens,
824 The moone, or the sterres sevene,
than the moon, or the seven stars,
825 For al the worlde, so had she
for all the world, she had so
826 Surmountede hem al of beaute,
exceeded them all in beauty
827 Of maner and of comlinesse,
in manners and graciousness,
828 Of stature and wel set gladnesse,
in shape and befitting happiness,
829 Of goodlihed so wel besey— besey provided
in virtue, so well provided—
830 Shortly, what shal I more sey?
In brief, what can I say more?
831 By God, and by his halwes twelve, halwes saints
By God, and by his twelve saints,
832 It was my sweet, right as hirselve!
it was my sweetheart, just as herself!
833 She had so stedfast countenaunce,
She had such a composed appearance,
834 So noble porte and meintenaunce. port and meintenaunce comportment and bearing
such noble comportment and bearing,
835 And Love, that had wel herd my boone, boone prayer
And Love, who had heard my prayer well,
836 Had espied me thus soone,
had seen me thus so soon,
837 That she ful sone, in my thoght,
that she was very quickly, in my thought,
838 As help me God, so was ycaught
so help me God, caught up
839 So sodenly, that I ne toke
so suddenly, that I took
840 No maner reed but at hir loke reed advice
no advice except from her gaze
841 And at min hert; forwhy hir eyen forwhy because
and from my heart; because my heart
842 So gladly, I trow, min herte seyen, trow believe; seyen saw
so gladly saw her eyes, I believe,
843 That purely tho min owne thought tho then
that my mind, completely, then said
844 Seide it were bet serve hir for noght bet better; for noght without reward
said that it would be better to serve her without reward
845 Than with another to be wel.
than to be rewarded by another.
846 And it was soth, for, everydel, soth true
and it was true in every way,
847 I wil anonright tel thee why.
and I will now tell you why.
848 ¶’I saugh hir daunce so comlily, comlily gracefully
I saw her dance so gracefully,
849 Carole and sing so swetely, carole dance
dance and sing so sweetly,
850 Laughe and pley so womanly,
laugh and play so like a woman,
851 And loke so debonairly, debonairly graciously
and appear so courteous,
852 So goodly speke and so frendly,
speak so well and so warmly,
853 That certes, I trow, that evermore
that certainly, I believe, that there was never
854 Nas seyn so blisful a tresore. nas seyn there was not seen
seen so praiseworthy a treasure.
855 For every heer upon hir hede, here hair
For every hair on her head,
856 Soth to seyne, it was not rede,
truth to tell, it was not red,
857 Ne nouther yelw, ne broune it nas;
nor yellow, nor was it brown;
858 Me thoghte, most lik gold it was.
It seemed to me most like gold.
859 ¶And which eyen my lady hadde!
And what eyes my lady had!
860 Debonair, goode, glade, and sadde, sadde composed
courteous, good, joyful, and trustworthy
861 Simple, of good mochel, noght to wide; good mochel perfect size
modest, a perfect size, not at all wide
862 Therto hir look nas not aside, nas was not
and her look was not at all sly,
863 Ne overthwert, but beset so wele, overthwert askance
nor askance, but directed so well,
864 It drew and toke up, everydele, everydele entirely
it drew in and gathered up entirely
865 Al that on hir gan beholde.
all who looked at her.
866 Hir eyen semed anon she wolde
Her eyes made it seem that she would quickly
867 Have mercy; fooles wenden so;
be merciful; fools thought it so;
868 But it was never the rather do. but it was never the case.
869 It nas no countrefeted thinge, countrefeted counterfeited It was not a counterfeit thing
870 It was hir owne pure lokinge,
it was her own, unadorned eyes
871 That the goddess, dame Nature,
that the goddess, lady Nature.
872 Had made hem open by mesure,
had made open moderately
873 And clos; for, were she never so glad,
and close; because, however happy she might be
874 Hir loking was not foly sprad, loking gaze; foly sprad foolishly cast about
her gaze did not foolishly cast about,
875 Ne wildely, thogh that she pleide; though that even if
nor heedlessly, even if she just played;
876 But ever, me thoght, hir eyen seide,
but always, it seemed to me, her eyes said,
877 ‘By God, my wrathe is al foryive!’ foryive forgiven
By God, your anger is entirely forgiven!’
878 ¶’Therwith hir list so wel to live, hir list it pleased her
And so life so pleased her
879 That dulness was of hir adrad. adrad afraid
that boredom was afraid of her.
880 She nas to sobre ne to glad; sobre serious
She was neither too serious nor too happy;
881 In alle thinges moor mesure
No creature was ever more measured
882 Had never, I trowe, creature.
in all things, I believe.
883 But many with hir look she hert, hert injured
But she injured many with her gaze
884 And that sat hir ful lite at hert, sat hir ful lite did not trouble her
and that did not trouble her,
885 For she knew nothinge of hir thoght; hir their
for she knew nothing of their feelings;
886 But whether she knew, or knew it noght
But whether she knew, or did not know
887 Algate she ne rought of hem a stree! algate in any case; rought cared; stree straw
nevertheless she did not give a straw for them!
888 To gete hir love no ner nas he ner nearer
He was no nearer to getting her to love him
889 That woned at hom, than he in Inde;
who stayed at home, than he who lived in India;
890 The formest was alway behinde. formest first
The first in line was always last.
891 But goode folk, over al other,
But good people, above all others,
892 She loved as man may do his brother;
she loved as a man may love his brother;
893 Of which love she was wonder large, large generous
and of this kind of love she was very generous,
894 In skilful places that bere charge. skilful suitable; charge importance
in suitable places of real importance.
895 ¶’Which a visage had she therto!
‘What a face she had though!
896 Allas! min hert is wonder wo
Alas! my heart is so sorrowful
897 That I ne can discriven it! descriven describe
That I cannot describe it!
898 Me lakketh both English and wit
I lack both the English and the intelligence
899 For to undo it at the fulle;
to describe it fully;
900 And eek my spirits be so dulle
And also my spirits are too slow
901 So grete a thing for to devise.
to explain such a large matter.
902 I have no wit that can suffise
I am not intelligent enough
903 To comprehenden hir beaute;
to understand her beauty;
904 But thus much dar I seyn: that she
But I do dare to say this much: that she
905 Was rody, fresh, and lively hewed;
was rosy, fresh, and vividly colored;
906 And every day hir beaute newed.
and every day her beauty was renewed.
907 And negh hir face was alderbest; negh nearly; alderbest the very best
and her face was nearly the very best;
908 For certes, Nature had swich lest lest desire
for certainly, Nature had such a desire
909 To make that fair, that trewly she
to make that fair one that she was truly
910 Was hir chief patrone of beaute, patroune model
her finest model of beauty,
911 And chief ensample of al hir werke,
and best example of all her work,
912 And moustre; for, be it never so derke, moustre pattern
and a pattern; for, however dark it might be,
913 Me thinketh I see hir evermo.
it seems to me I see her always.
914 And yet, moreover, thogh al tho
And yet, moreover, even if everyone
915 That ever lived were now alive,
who had ever lived were now alive,
916 Ne sholde have founde to discrive discrive discover
they would not have been able to discover
917 In al hir face a wikked signe;
in all of her face any sign of wickedness,
918 For it was sad, simple, and benigne. sad modest
because it was sober, modest, and kind.
919 ¶’And which a goodly softe speche which such
And what pleasing, soft speech
920 Had that sweet, my lives leche! leche physician
had my sweet lady, my life’s physician!
921 So frendly, and so wel ygrounded, ygrounded settle
So friendly, and so very well-trained
922 Upon al resoun wel yfounded,
in well-established reason.
923 And so tretable to al goode, tretable amenable
and so amenable to all good things,
924 That I dar swere by the roode, roode cross
that I would sweart on the cross,
925 Of eloquence was never founde
that, in eloquence, no one was ever found
926 So swete a sowninge facounde, sowninge facounde sounding expressiveness
with so sweet a manner of speaking,
927 Ne trewer tonged, ne scorned lasse,
nor truer tongued, nor scorned others less,
928 Ne bet coud heel that, by the masse
nor could heal others better that, I would swear by the mass,
929 I durst swere, thogh the pope it songe, durst dared
than had the Pope sung it;
930 That ther was never throgh hir tonge
that no man nor woman, by means of her tongue,
931 Man ne woman gretly harmed;
was ever greatly harmed;
932 As for hir was al harme hid; for hir by her
since all harm was hidden from her;
933 Ne lasse flateringe in hir worde,
nor less flattery in her words,
934 That purely hir simple recorde
so that her word alone
935 Was founde as trewe as any bonde, bonde contract
was understood to be as secure as any contract.
936 Or trouthe of any mannes honde. trouthe oath
or oath made by any man’s hand.
937 Ne chide she coude never a dele, never a dele not at all
nor did she ever scold at all,
938 That knoweth al the world ful wele.
she who knows the world so very well.
939 ¶’But swiche a fairnesse of a nekke
But she had such a beautiful neck
940 Had that sweet, that boon nor brekke brekke flaw
that neither bone nor blemish
941 Nas ther non sene, that missatte.
was seen there that was unsuitable.
942 It was whit, smooth, streght, and pure flatte,
It was white, smooth, straight and completely even,
943 Withouten hole or canel-boon, hole hollow; canel-bone collar bone
without hollow or collar bone
944 As by seminge, had she noon.
so that it seemed as if she had none.
945 Hir throte, as I have now memoire,
her throat, as I now remember it,
946 Semed a rounde toure of ivoire, ivoire ivory
seemed a round tower of ivory,
947 Of good gretnesse, and noght to grete.
of a good size, but not too large.
948 ¶’And goode faire White she hete; hete was called
And she was called good, fair White;
949 That was my lady name righte.
that was righly my lady’s name.
950 She was bothe faire and brighte,
She was both beautiful and radiant;
951 She hadde not hir name wronge.
Her name was not wrong.
952 Right faire shuldres, and body longe longe tall
She had very beautiful shoulders, and was tall
953 She had, and armes, every lith lith limb
and arms, and every limb
954 Fattish, flesshy, not great therwith;
was well-rounded and shapely, but not plump;
955 Right white handes, and nailes rede,
she had very white hands, and red nails,
956 Rounde brestes; and of good brede brede breadth
round breasts; and her hips were of a good width
957 Hir hippes were, a streight flat bakke.
with a straight, flat back.
958 I knewe on hir noon other lakke lakke default
I knew of no other fault in her
959 That al hir limmes nere sewinge, nere were not
that all her limbs were not in proportion
960 In as ferre as I had knowinge.
so far as I knew.
961 ¶’Therto she coude so wel pley,
She was also so playful
962 Whan that hir list, that I dar sey,
when she wished to be that I would say
963 That she was lik to torche bright,
that she was like a bright torch,
964 That every man may take of light
that every person might receive enough light from
965 Ynogh, and it hath never the lesse.
and it would never be less.
966 ‘Of maner and of comlinesse comliness graciousness
In her manner and graciousness
967 Right so ferd my lady dere, ferd behaved
my dear lady behaved just so
968 For every wight of hir manere wight person
that every man might perceive her ways
969 Might cacche ynogh, if that he wolde,
if he wished,
970 If he had eyen hir to beholde.
if he had the eyes to see them.
971 For I dar sweren, if that she
For I swear, if she
972 Had among ten thousand be,
if she had been among ten thousand people,
973 She wolde have be, at the lest,
she would have been, at the very least,
974 A cheef mirour of al the fest, mirour model
best exemplar all in that group
975 Thogh they had stonden in a rowe,
even if they had all been placed in a row
976 To mennes eyen that coude knowe.
so that everyone’s eyes could examine them.
977 For wherso men had pleid or waked,
For wherever people had enjoyed themselves, staying up at feasts,
978 Me thoght the feliwshippe as naked naked deprived
it seemed to me the household was deprived
979 Withouten hir, that saw I ones,
without her, who I saw once
980 As a corown withoute stones. stones jewels
as a crown without jewels.
981 Trewly she was, to min eye,
She was, truly, as I saw her,
982 The solein fenix of Arabye, solein sole; fenix phoenix
the sole phoenix of Arabia,
983 For ther liveth never but oon; never but oon only one
for only one lives at any one time;
984 Ne swich as she ne knowe I noon.
and I know no one like her.
985 ¶To speke of goodness: trewly she
To speak of goodness: she truly
986 Had as moche debonairte debonairte graciousness
had as much graciousness
987 As ever had Hester in the bible,
as Esther ever had in the bible,
988 And more, if more were possible.
and even more than that, if that were possible.
989 And, soth to seyne, therwithalle
And, truth to tell, along with that
990 She had a wit so generalle,
she had an intelligence that was so inclusive,
991 So hoole enclined to alle goode,
so wholly inclined toward all that was good,
992 That al hir wit was set, by the roode, rood cross
that all her thoughts were fixed, I swear on the cross,
993 Withoute malice, upon gladnesse;
without any malice, on happiness;
994 Therto I saw never yet a lesse
I also never saw before now anyone less
995 Harmful, than she was in doinge.
harmful than she was in her actions.
996 I sey nat that she nad knowinge nad did not have
I would even say that she had no knowledge of
997 What harme was; or elles she elles otherwise
what doing harm was; or else she
998 Had coud no good, so thinketh me. had coud would not have known
would not have known goodness, it seems to me.
999 ¶And trewly, for to speke of trouthe, trouthe fidelity
And, truly, to speak of honesty
1000 But she had hadde, it had be routhe. but unless; routhe a pity
unless she had it, it would have been a pity.
1001 Therof she had so moche hir dele— dele portion
She had such a large portion of it—
1002 And I dar seyn and swere it wele—
and I would venture to say it well—
1003 That Trouthe himselfe, over al and al,
that Truth himself, over one and all,
1004 Had chose his maner principal maner manor
had made his chief dwelling
1005 In hir, that was his resting place.
in her, which was his home.
1006 Therto she had the moste grace,
In addition, she had the most good will
1007 To have stedfast perseveraunce,
toward firm constancy
1008 And esy, attempre governaunce, attempre modest
and easy, restrained comportment,
1009 That ever I knewe or wiste yitte;
that I ever knew before or have known since;
1010 So pure suffraunt was hir witte. suffrant flexible
so very patient was her understanding.
1011 And reson gladly she understoode,
She understood reason willingly
1012 It folwed wel she coude goode.
so it followed that she knew well how to be good.
1013 She used gladly to do wel;
She was accustomed to do well gladly;
1014 Thes were hir maners everydel. everydel in every thing
These were her manners in everything.
1015 ¶’Therwith she loved so wel right,
And so she loved what is right so well,
1016 She wrong do wolde to no wight; wight person
that she would do no wrong to anyone;
1017 No wight ne mighte do hir shame,
No person might bring her any shame,
1018 She loved so wel hir owne name.
she cared so much for her good name.
1019 Hir lust to hold no wight in honed, Hir lust she had no desire; hold. . . in honde deceive
She did not wish to deceive anyone,
1020 Ne, be thou siker, she nolde fonde siker certain; nolde would not; fonde try
nor, you can be sure, would she try
1021 To holde no wight in balaunce, in balaunce in uncertainty
to leave anyone in uncertainty,
1022 By half word ne by countenaunce,
with a hint or by an expresssion
1023 But if men wolde upon hir lie; but if unless
unless someone lied about her;
1024 Ne sende men into Walakie, Walakie Wallachia (Romania)
nor would she send men to Romania,
1025 To Pruyse and into Tartarie, Pruyse Prussia; Tartarie Asia
to Prussia and to Asia,
1026 To Alisaundre, ne into Turkye, Alisaundre Alexandria
to Alexandria, nor to Turkey
1027 And bid him faste anoon that he faste strictly
and ask him to go quickly
1028 Go hoodles to the drye see, drye see Gobi Desert
and uncovered to the Gobi Desert,
1029 And com hom by the Carrenare; Carrenare Kara Nor (Mongolia)
and come home by way of Mongolia,
1030 And seye, “Sir, be now right ware
and say, “Sir, be very careful
1031 That I may of yow here seyn
that I may hear good things said of you
1032 Worshippe, or that ye come ageyn!” or that before
before you come here again!”
1033 She ne used no such knakkes smale. knakkes ruses
She did not indulge in such small ruses.
1034 ¶’But wherfor that I tel my tale?
‘But on what subject do I tell my story?
1035 Right on this same, as I have seide,
on this very same woman, as I have already said,
1036 Was hooly al my love leid;
was all my affection completely bestowed;
1037 For certes, she was, that swete wife,
for, certainly, she was that sweet woman
1038 My suffisaunce, my lust, my life, lust pleasure
my satisfaction, my desire, my life,
1039 Min hap, min hele, and al my blisse, hap chance; hele health
my good fortune, my health, and all my happiness,
1040 My worlds welfare and my goddesse
my whole world’s well-being and my goddess
1041 And I hirs hooly, everydel.’ everydel entirely
and I wholly hers, in every way’.
1042 ¶’By our Lord,’ quod I, ‘I trow yow wel! trow believe
‘By Lord’, I said, ‘I believe you well!’
1043 Hardly, your love was wel besette, hardly completely
Your love was certainly well bestowed
1044 I not how ye might have do bette.’ not do not know; bet better
I do not know how you might have done better’.
1045 ‘Bet? ne no wight so wel!’ quod he.
‘Better?’ No man has done so well!’, he said.
1046 ‘I trowe it, sir,’ quod I, ‘parde!’
‘I believe it, sir’, I said, ‘indeed!’
1047 ‘Nay, leve it wel!’ ‘Sir, so do I; leve believe
‘Nay, believe it well!’ ‘Sir, I do;
1048 I leve yow wel, that trewely
I believe you well, that truly
1049 Yow thoghte, that she was the beste,
you thought that she was the best,
1050 And to behold the alderfaireste, alderfaireste fairest of all
and the fairest of all to behold,
1051 Who so had loked with your eyen.’
whoever had looked at her with your eyes’.
1052 ¶’With min? nay, al that hir seyen seyen saw
‘With mine? no, all who saw her
1053 Seide, and swore it was so.
said and swore that it was so.
1054 And thogh they nadde, I wolde tho though even if; tho then
And even if they had not, I would
1055 Have loved best my lady free, free generous
have loved my generous lady best,
1056 Thogh I had hadde al the beautee
even if I had possessed all the beauty
1057 That ever had Alcipiades,
that Alcibiades ever had,
1058 And al the strengthe of Ercules,
and all the strength of Hercules,
1059 And therto had the worthinesse
and also had the excellence
1060 Of Alisaundre, and the richesse
of Alexander, and all the riches
1061 That ever was in Babiloine,
that ever were in Babilon
1062 In Cartage, or in Macedoine,
in Carthage, or in Macedonia
1063 Or in Rome, or in Ninive;
or in Rome, or in Ninevah
1064 And therto also hardy be hardy courageous
and was also as courageous
1065 As was Ector, so have I joye,
as Hector was, as I may be happy,
1066 That Achilles slough at Troye—
who Achilles slew at Troy—
1067 And therfor was he slain also
and therefore he was also slain
1068 In a temple, for bothe two
in a temple, for both of them
1069 Were slaine, he and Antilegius,
were slain, he and Antilochus
1070 And so seith Dares Frigius,
as says Dares Phrygius,
1071 For love of hir, Polixena—
for the love of her, Polyxena—
1072 Or ben as wis as Minerva,
or if I were wise as Minerva,
1073 I wolde ever, withoute drede, drede doubt
I would always, without a doubt
1074 Have loved hir, for I most nede! most nede had to
have loved her, because I needed to!
1075 “Nede!” nay, I gabbe nowe,
“Nede!” I babble now,
1076 Noght “nede”, and I wol telle howe,
for it was not “need,” and I will tell you how
1077 For of good will min hert it wolde, of good will voluntarily
my heart wishes it of my own free will
1078 And eek to love hir I was holde
and also I was certain to love her
1079 As for the fairest and the beste.
since she was the fairest and the best.
1080 ¶’She was as good—so have I reste—
She was so good—may I have rest—
1081 As ever was Penelope of Grece,
as Penelope of Greece ever was,
1082 Or as the noble wif, Lucrece,
or as good as the noble wife, Lucrece,
1083 That was the best—he telleth thus,
who was the best—he tells us so,
1084 The Romain Titus Livius—
the Roman Titus Livius—
1085 She was as good, and nothing like,
she was as good, but also nothing like them,
1086 Thogh hir stories be autentike;
although their stories may be true;
1087 Algate she was as trewe as she.
all the same she was as true as she.
1088 ¶’But wherfor that I telle thee wherefor that why do
But why do I tell you
1089 Whan I first my lady say?
when I first saw my lady?
1090 I was right yonge, soth to say,
I was very young, truth to tell
1091 And ful gret nede I had to lerne;
and I had a great deal to learn;
1092 Whan my herte wolde yerne yern desire
when my heart desired
1093 To love, it was a grete emprise. emprise undertaking
to love, it was a great undertaking.
1094 But as my wit coud best suffise, suffise manage
But as my understanding could do best
1095 After my yonge childly wit,
according to my my young, childish skills,
1096 Withoute drede, I besette it
without a doubt, I set about
1097 To love hir in my beste wise,
to love her in the best way I could,
1098 To do hir worship and servise worship honor
to honor and serve her
1099 That I tho coude by my trouthe,
as I was then able to, in truth,
1100 Withoute feining outher slouthe; slouthe negligence
without pretense or negligence
1101 For wonder feine I wolde hir se. wonder feine with great eagerness
for I wanted to see her with great eagerness.
1102 So mochel it amended me, amended me lifted my spirits
It lifted my spirits so much
1103 That, whan I saw hir first amorwe, first amorwe early in the day
that, when I saw her early in the day,
1104 I was warished of al my sorwe warished cured
I was cured of all my sorrow
1105 Of al day after, til it were eve;
for the whole day after, until it was evening;
1106 Me thoghte nothing might me greve,
it seemed to me that mothing might upset me,
1107 Were my sorwes never so smerte.
not matter how painful my sorrows were.
1108 And yet she sit so in min herte,
And yet she sits so firmly in my heart
1109 That, by my trouthe, I nolde noght, nolde noght would not want
that, in truth, I would not want,
1110 For al this worlde, oute of my thoght
for all the world to let my lady go out of my thoughts;
1111 Leve my lady; no, trewly!’
no, truly!’
1112 ¶’Now, by my trouthe, sir,’ quod I,
‘Now, in truth, sir’, I said,
1113 Me thinketh ye have suche a chaunce
it seems to me you have a great opportunity
1114 As shrift withoute repentaunce.’ shrift confession
to have confession without repentaunce.
1115 ¶’Repentaunce! nay fy,’ quod he;
‘Repentance! no, not at all’, he said;
1116 Shulde I now repente me
Should I now repent to love?
1117 To love? nay, certes, than were I wel
no, certainly, I would then be
1118 Wers than was Achitofel,
much worse than Achitophel
1119 Or Anthenor, so have I joye,
or Antenor, so may I have joy,
1120 The traitor that betraised Troye,
the traitor who betrayed Troy,
1121 Or the false Genellon,
or the false Ganelon
1122 He that purchased the treson
who committed treason
1123 Of Rowlande and of Olivere.
against Roland and Oliver.
1124 Nay, while I am alive here
No, while I am alive
1125 I nil foryete hir nevermo.’ nil will not
I will not forget her ever’.
1126 ¶’Now, goode sir,’ quod I right tho,
‘Now, good sir’, I said right then
1127 ‘Ye han wel told me herbefore.
‘You have told me earlier.
1128 It is no need reherse it more:
it is not necessary to repeat it further:
1129 How ye sawe hir firste, and where;
how you saw her first, and where;
1130 But wold ye tel me the manere,
but would you tell me the manner
1131 To hir which was your firste speche—
in which you first spoke to her—
1132 Therof I wolde yow beseche—
I would like to know about that—
1133 And how she knewe first your thoght,
and how she knew your mind
1134 Whether ye loved hir or noght,
whether you loved her or not
1135 And telleth me eek what ye have lore; lore lost
and tell me also what you have lost;
1136 I herd you telle herbefore.’
I heard you talk about that earlier’.
1137 ¶’Ye,’ seid he, ‘thou nost what thou menest; nost do not know
‘Yes’, he said, ‘you do not know what you mean;
1138 I have lost more than thou wenest.’ thou wenest you think
I have lost more than you think’.
1139 ¶’What losse is that, sir?’ quod I tho;
‘What loss is that, sir?’, I said then;
1140 ‘Nil she not love yow? is it so?
‘Will she not love you? is that it?
1141 Or have ye oght ydon amis,
or have you done something wrong,
1142 That she hath left yow? is it this?
so that she has left you?
1143 For Goddes love, tel me alle.’
For the love of God, tell me everything’.
1144 ¶’Befor God,’ quod he, ‘and I shalle.
‘Before God’, he said, ‘and so I shall’.
1145 I saye right as I have seide,
I say just as I have said,
1146 On hir was al my love leide;
that all my love was bestowed on her
1147 And yet she niste it never a del niste did not know
and yet she did not know it in any way
1148 Noght longe time—leve hit wel. leve believe
for a long time—believe it well.
1149 For be right siker, I durste noght durste dared
For rest assured, I dared not
1150 For al this world tel hir my thoght,
for all the world to tell her my thoughts,
1151 Ne I wolde have wrathed hir, trewly. wrathed angered
nor would I have angered her, truly.
1152 For wostow why? she was lady
And do you know why? she was a mistress
1153 Of the body; she had the hert,
of my body; she had my heart
1154 And who hath that, may not astert.
and whoever has that, may not escape.
1155 ¶To kepe me fro idelnesse,
To keep myself away from idleness,
1156 Trewly I did my besinesse
truly I made a great effort
1157 To make songs, as I best coude, coude knew how
to make songs, as well as I knew how to,
1158 And ofte time I songe hem loude;
and often I would sing them loudly;
1159 And made songs a grete dele, made composed
and I composed a great number of songs
1160 Althogh I coud not mak so wele
and even if I was not able to compose songs so well
1161 Songs, ne know the arte alle,
nor did I know that art as well
1162 As coude Lameks son Tuballe,
as Lamech’s son Tubal knew it,
1163 That founde out first the art of songe,
who first discovered the art of song,
1164 For, as his brothers hamers ronge
for, as his brother’s hammer rung
1165 Upon his anvelt up and doun, anvelt anvil
upon his anvil up and down,
1166 Therof he took the firste soun;
he took the first sound from that;
1167 But Grekes seyn, Pictagoras,
but the Greeks say, Pythagoras
1168 That he the firste finder was first finder inventor
that he was the inventor
1169 Of the arte; Aurora telleth so,
of the art; Aurora says the same,
1170 But therof no fors, of hem two. no fors no matter
but it does not matter what those two say.
1171 Algates songes thus I made algates in any case
In any case, I made songs
1172 Of my feling, min hert to glade;
about my feelings, in order to comfort myself;
1173 And lo! this was the altherfirst, althefirst the very first
And look! this was the very first
1174 I not wher that it were the werst.— not do not know; wher whether
I do not know whether it was the worst
1175 ¶ ‘Lorde, it maketh min herte light,
“Lord, it lightens my heart
1176 Whan I thenke on that swete wight wight creature
when I think about that sweet creature
1177 That is so seemly on to see; seemly beautiful
who is so beautiful to look upon;
1178 And wissh to God it might so be,
and I wish to God that it would be the case
1179 That she wold hold me for hir knight, hold…for think of…as
that she would thnk of me as her knight,
1180 My lady, that is so faire and bright!’—
my lady, who is so fair and beautiful!”—
1181 ¶’Now have I told thee, soth to say,
Now I have told you, truth to tell,
1182 My firste songe. Upon a day
my first song. One day
1183 I bethoghte me what wo
I thought about what woe
1184 And sorwe that I suffred tho
and sorrow I suffered then
1185 For hir, and yet she wist it noght, wist knew
for her, and yet she did not know it,
1186 Ne tel hir durst I nat my thoght.
nor did I dare tell her my thoughts.
1187 ‘Allas!’ thoght I, ‘I can no rede; rede plan
“Alas!” I thought, “I do not have any plan;
1188 And, but I telle hir, I am but dede but unless
and, unless I tell her, I will surely die
1189 And if I telle hir, to sey right sothe,
and if I tell her, to tell the truth,
1190 I am adred she wol be wrothe;
I am afraid that she will be angry;
1191 Allas! what shal I thanne do?’
Alas! what should I do then?”
1192 ¶’In this debate I was so wo, wo woebegone
‘In debating this I was so woeful,
1193 Me thoght min herte brast atweine! brast atweyne burst in two
I thought my heart would burst in two!
1194 So at the laste, soth to seyne,
So at last, truth to tell,
1195 I me bethoghte that nature
I realized that nature
1196 Ne formed never in creature
had never formed in a living thing
1197 So moche beaute, trewely,
so much beauty, truly,
1198 And bounte, withouten mercy. bounte goodness
and virtue, without mercy.
1199 ¶’In hope of that, my tale I tolde
‘In hope of that, I told my tale
1200 With sorwe, as that I never sholde,
with sorrow, as one who never had to
1201 For nedes; and, maugree my hede, for nedes out of necessity
out of necessity; and, despite my wishes
1202 I most have tolde hir or be dede.
I would have to tell her or be dead.
1203 I not wel how that I began, not do not know
I do not know how I began,
1204 Ful evel reherse it I can; reherse repeat
I can only repeat it very badly
1205 And eke, as help me God withalle,
and also, as God may also help me
1206 I trowe it was in the dismalle, trowe believe; dismalle unlucky days
I believe it was in the unlucky days,
1207 That was the ten wounds of Egipte; wounds plagues
that were the ten wounds of Egypt;
1208 For many a worde I overskipte
for I skipped over many words
1209 In my tale, for pure fere
in my tale, out of pure fear
1210 Lest my wordes misset were. misset misplaced
lest my words were misplaced.
1211 With sorweful herte, and woundes dede, dede mortal
with a sorrowful heart, and mortal wounds
1212 Softe, and quaking for pure drede softe in a low voice
softly, and shaking out of great fear
1213 And shame, and stintinge in my tale stintinge stuttering
and shame, and stuttering as I spoke
1214 For ferde, and min hewe al pale,
out of fear, and my face so pale,
1215 Ful ofte I wex both pale and rede; very often I grew both ashen and flushed
1216 Bowing to hir, I heng the heed;
bowing to her, I hung my head;
1217 I durste nat ones loke hir on, durste dared
I did not dare to look on her once
1218 For wit, manere, and al was gon.
for sense, manners, and everything else was gone.
1219 I seide ‘mercy!’ and no more;
I said “mercy!” and no more;
1220 It nas no game, it sat me sore.
it was not some game, it was so painful.
1221 ¶’So at the laste, soth to seyne,
‘So, finally, truth to tell
1222 Whan that min hert was come ageyne,
when I had come to my senses again,
1223 To telle shortly al my speche,
to narrate briefly all I said ,
1224 With hool herte I gan hir beseche
I began to beg her with all my heart
1225 That she wold be my lady swete;
to be my dear lady;
1226 And swore, and gan hir hertly hete hertly hete promise earnestly
and swore, and began to promise her earnestly
1227 Ever to be stedfast and trewe,
always to be steadfast and true,
1228 And love hir alwey freshly newe,
and love her always as if anew,
1229 And never other lady have,
and never to take another lady,
1230 And al hir worship for to save worship reputation
and always to preserve her reputation,
1231 As I best coude; I swore hir this— best coude knew best how
as well as I knew how; I swore this to her—
1232 ‘For yours is al that ever ther is
“For all that is yours is all that there ever is
1233 For evermore, min herte swete!
forever, my sweetheart!
1234 And never fals yow, but I mete, but I mete unless I dream
and never to betray you, unless I dream
1235 I nil, as wis God help me so!’ nil will not; as wis as certainly
I will not, as certainly as God will help me!”
1236 ¶’And whan I had my tale ydo,
‘And when I had said all this
1237 God wot, she acounted nat a stre wot knows; stre straw
God knows, she did not give a straw
1238 Of al my tale, so thoghte me.
for my tale, it seemed to me.
1239 To telle shortly as it is,
To tell briefly as it is
1240 Trewly hir answere, it was this:
truly her answer, it was this:
1241 I can not now wel counterfete countrefete replicate I cannot now replicate
1242 Hir wordes, but this was the grete grete essence
her words, but this was the essence
1243 Of hir answere; she said, ‘nay’
of her answer; she said, “no”
1244 Alle outerly. Allas! that day alle outrely utterly
utterly. Alas! that day
1245 The sorwe I suffred, and the wo!
the sorrow I suffered, and the woe!
1246 That trewly Cassandra, that so
that truly Cassandra, who so
1247 Bewailed the destruccioun bewailed lamented
lamented the destruction
1248 Of Troye and of Ilion,
of Troy and of Ilium
1249 Had never swich sorwe as I tho.
never had such sorrow as I did then.
1250 I durste no more say therto durste dared
I dared say no more about it
1251 For pure fear, but stale away;
for utter fear, but stole away;
1252 And thus I lived ful many a day.
and thus I lived very many days.
1253 That trewely, I had no need
That truly, I did not need
1254 Ferther than my beddes hede hede head
no further than the head of my bed
1255 Never a day to seche sorwe; seche seek
to look for sorrow at any time;
1256 I fonde it redy every morwe,
I discovered it at the ready every morning
1257 Forwhy I loved hir in no gere. because I did not love her lightly.
1258 ¶’So it befel, another yere,
So it happened, another year
1259 I thoughte ones I wolde fonde fonde attempt
I thought I would try once again
1260 To do hir knowe and understonde do hir knowe let her know
to let her know and understand
1261 My wo; and she wel understode
my woe; and she understood wel
1262 That I ne wilned thing but gode,
that I wished nothing but good
1263 And worshippe, and to kepe hir name
and honor, and to preserve her reputation
1264 Over al thing, and dred hir shame,
over all things, and protect her from shame,
1265 And was so besy hir to serve;—
and was so eager to serve her;—
1266 And pitee were I shulde sterve, sterve die
and it would be such a shame if I should die
1267 Sith that I wilned noon harme, ywis. sith since
since I wished her no harm, indeed.
1268 So whan my lady knewe al this,
So when my lady knew all this
1269 My lady yaf me al hooly
she gave me, wholly,
1270 The noble yifte of hir mercy,
the noble gift of her mercy,
1271 Savinge hir worship, by al weyes; savinge preserving
preserving her honor in every way;
1272 Dredles, I mene noon other weyes.
certainly, I intend nothing else.
1273 And therwith she yaf me a ringe; yaf gave
And with that she gave me a ringe;
1274 I trowe it was the firste thinge;
I believe it was the first thing;
1275 But yif min herte was ywaxe ywaxe grown
But whether my heart had grown
1276 Glad, that is no need to axe! axe ask
happy, there is no need to ask!
1277 As help me God, I was as blive, blive rapidly
So help me God, I was quickly
1278 Reised, as fro dethe to live,
raised, as from death to life,
1279 Of alle haps the alderbeste, haps chances
of every chance the very best
1280 The gladdest and the moste at reste. at reste assure the happiest and the most assured.
1281 For trewely, that swete wight, wight person
For truly, that sweet person
1282 Whan I had wrong and she the right,
1283 when I was wrong and she was right,
1284 She wolde alwey so goodely
she would always so graciously
1285 Foryeve me so debonairly.
1286 forgive me so courteously.
1287 In al my youthe, in alle chaunce, alle chaunce every occasion
throughout my youth, at every occasion
1288 She took me in hir governaunce.
she took me into her keeping.
1289 ¶’Therwith she was alway so trewe, trewe faithful
Also, she was always so faithful
1290 Our joy was ever yliche newe; yliche newe renewed
our joy was always renewed;
1291 Our hertes wern so evene a paire, evene well matched
our hearts were so well matched,
1292 That never nas that oon contraire
that never was one contrary
1293 To that other, for no wo.
to the other, for any woe.
1294 For sothe, ylich they suffred tho ylich in the same manner
For in truth, they suffered in the same manner then
1295 Oo blisse and eke oo sorwe bothe;
one blisse and also one sorrow for both of them;
1296 Ylich they were both glad and wrothe; wrothe angry
they were equally happy and angry;
1297 Al was us oon, withoute were. were doubt
they were all one to us, without a doubt.
1298 And thus we lived ful many a yere
and thus we lived very many years
1299 So wel, I can nat telle how.’
so well, I can not now describe how’.
1300 ¶’Sir,’ quod I, ‘where is she now?’
‘Sir’, I said, ‘where is she now?’
1301 ‘Now’? quod he, and stinte anoon. stinte anoon stopped suddenly
‘Now’? he said, and stopped suddenly.
1302 ¶Therwith he waxe as dede as stoon, waxe became
With that he grew as still as a stone,
1303 And seide, ‘allas! that I was bore! bore born
and said, ‘alas! that I was born!
1304 That was the los, that herbifore
that was the loss that
1305 I tolde thee, that I had lorne. lorne lost
I told you about before, what I had lost
1306 Bethenk how I seid herbeforne,
Remember how I said earlier,
1307 ‘Thou wost ful litel what thou menest;
‘You understand very little of what you are saying;
1308 I have lost more than thou wenest’—
I have lost more than you think’—
1309 God wote, allas! right that was she!’
God knows, alas! she was exactly that!”
1310 ¶’Allas! sir, how? what may that be?’
‘Alas! sir, how? what might that be?’
1311 ¶’She is ded!’ ‘Nay!’ ‘Yis, by my trouthe!’
‘She is dead!’ ‘No!’, ‘Yes, I swear!’
1312 ¶’Is that your los? by God, it is routhe!’
‘Is that your loss? by God, that is a great pity!’
1313 And with that worde, right anon,
And having said that, straightaway
1314 They gan to strake forth; al was don,
they set off; all was done,
1315 For that time, the herte-huntinge. herte-huntinge hunting of the hart/heart
For the moment, the hunting of the hart.
1316 ¶With that, me thoghte, that this kinge
With that, it seemed to me, that this king
1317 Gan quikly hoomward for to ride
began to ride homeward quickly
1318 Unto a place was ther beside,
to a place that was nearby
1319 Which was from us but a lite, but a lite only a short distance
only a shot distance from us,
1320 A long castel with walles white,
A tall castle with white walls,
1321 By Seint Johan! on a rich hille,
By Saint John! on a splendid hill
1322 As me met; but thus it fille. me met I dreamed
as I dreamed, but thus it happened.
1323 Right thus me mette, as I you telle,
I dreamed just as I am telling you,
1324 That in the castel was a belle,
that there was a bell in the castle
1325 As it had smite houres twelve, as when; smite struck
when it had struck twelve,
1326 Therewith I awook myselve,
with that I woke myself,
1327 And fond me lyinge in my bedde;
and found myself lying in my bed;
1328 And the book that I had redde,
and the book that I had read,
1329 Of Alcione and Seys the kinge,
of Alcione and Ceyx the king,
1330 And of the goddes of slepinge
and about the gods of sleep
1331 I fond it in min hond ful evene. ful evene exactly as before
I discovered it in my hand exactly as before.
1332 Thoght I, ‘this is so queint a swevene, queinte remarkable
I thought, ‘this is so remarkable a dream,
1333 That I wol, by processe of time,
that I will, by process of time
1334 Fond to put this swevene in rime fond attempt
attempt to put this dream into rhyme
1335 As I can best’; and that anon.—
as best I can’; and do that soon.—
1336 This was my sweven; now it is don.
That was my dream; now it is done.