Chaucerian and Other Pieces. Various
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and to prepare a somewhat full glossary, may thus practically convince himself, as I have done, that not a single piece in the present volume ought ever to have been 'attributed' to Chaucer. That any of them should have been so attributed—and some of them never were—has been the result of negligence, superficiality, and incapacity, such as (it may be hoped) we have seen the last of.
I wish once more to acknowledge my obligations to Mr. E. B. Nicholson, for the loan of his transcript of The Praise of Peace; to Mr. Bradley, for his discovery of the authorship of The Testament of Love and for other assistance as regards the same; to Dr. E. Krausser, for his edition of The Complaint of the Black Knight; to Dr. Gröhler, for his dissertation on La Belle Dame sans Mercy; and to Professor Hales for his kind help as to some difficult points, and particularly with regard to The Court of Love.
THE TESTAMENT OF LOVE.
PROLOGUE.
Many men there ben that, with eeres openly sprad, so
moche swalowen the deliciousnesse of jestes and of ryme,
by queynt knitting coloures, that of the goodnesse or of the
badnesse of the sentence take they litel hede or els non.
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Soothly, dul wit and a thoughtful soule so sore have myned
and graffed in my spirites, that suche craft of endyting wol not
ben of myn acqueyntaunce. And, for rude wordes and boystous
percen the herte of the herer to the in[ne]rest point, and planten
there the sentence of thinges, so that with litel helpe it is able
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to springe; this book, that nothing hath of the greet flode of
wit ne of semelich colours, is dolven with rude wordes and
boystous, and so drawe togider, to maken the cacchers therof
ben the more redy to hente sentence.
Some men there ben that peynten with colours riche, and
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some with vers, as with red inke, and some with coles and
chalke; and yet is there good matere to the leude people of
thilke chalky purtreyture, as hem thinketh for the tyme; and
afterward the sight of the better colours yeven to hem more
joye for the first leudnesse. So, sothly, this leude clowdy occupacion
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is not to prayse but by the leude; for comunly leude
leudnesse commendeth. Eke it shal yeve sight, that other
precious thinges shal be the more in reverence. In Latin
and French hath many soverayne wittes had greet delyt to
endyte, and have many noble thinges fulfild; but certes, there
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ben some that speken their poysye-mater in Frenche, of whiche
speche the Frenche men have as good a fantasye as we have
in hering of Frenche mennes English. And many termes there
ben in English, [of] whiche unneth we Englishmen connen declare
the knowleginge. How shulde than a Frenche man born suche
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termes conne jumpere in his mater, but as the jay chatereth
English? Right so, trewly, the understanding of Englishmen
wol not strecche to the privy termes in Frenche, what-so-ever we
bosten of straunge langage. Let than clerkes endyten in Latin,
for they have the propertee of science, and the knowinge in that
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facultee; and let Frenchmen in their Frenche also endyten their
queynt termes, for it is kyndely to their mouthes; and let us
shewe our fantasyes in suche wordes as we lerneden of our dames
tonge.
And although this book be litel thank-worthy for the leudnesse
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in travaile, yet suche wrytinges excyten men to thilke thinges that
ben necessarie; for every man therby may, as by a perpetual
mirrour, seen the vyces or vertues of other, in whiche thing
lightly may be conceyved to eschewe perils, and necessaries to
cacche, after as aventures have fallen to other people or persons.
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Certes, [perfeccion is] the soveraynest thing of desyre, and
moste †creatures resonable have, or els shulde have, ful appetyte
to their perfeccion; unresonable beestes mowen not, sith reson
hath in hem no werking. Than resonable that wol not is comparisoned
to unresonable, and made lyke hem. For-sothe, the
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most soverayne and fynal perfeccion of man is in knowing of
a sothe, withouten any entent disceyvable, and in love of oon
very god that is inchaungeable; that is, to knowe and love his
creatour.
¶ Now, principally, the mene to bringe in knowleging and
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loving his creatour is the consideracion of thinges made by the
creatour, wherthrough, by thilke thinges that ben made understonding
here to our wittes, arn the unsene privitees of god
made to us sightful and knowing, in our contemplacion and
understonding. These thinges than, forsoth, moche bringen us
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to the ful knowleginge [of] sothe, and to the parfit love of the
maker of hevenly thinges. Lo, David sayth, 'thou hast delyted
me in makinge,' as who sayth, to have delyt in the tune, how god
hath lent me in consideracion of thy makinge.
Wherof Aristotle, in the boke de Animalibus, saith to naturel
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philosophers: 'it is a greet lyking in love of knowinge their
creatour; and also in knowinge of causes in kyndely thinges.'
Considred, forsoth, the formes of kyndly thinges and the shap,
a greet kindely love me shulde have to the werkman that
hem made. The crafte of a werkman is shewed in the werke.
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Herfore, truly, the philosophers, with a lyvely studie, many
noble thinges right precious and worthy to memory writen;
and by a greet swetande travayle to us leften of causes [of] the
propertees in natures of thinges. To whiche (therfore) philosophers
it was more joy, more lykinge, more herty lust, in
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kyndely vertues and maters of reson,