Kind of. ↩
Little. ↩
Male; German, knabe, boy. ↩
Caused to come forth. ↩
The messenger. ↩
Promote his own interest. ↩
Swiftly. ↩
Greets. ↩
Times. ↩
Pleases. ↩
Steadily. ↩
Bold, brave. ↩
Had by ill-chance become an elf, a witch. ↩
The will, sending. ↩
By his conversion. ↩
Will, pleasure. ↩
Preserve. ↩
Do. ↩
Lost. ↩
Aspect. ↩
Company. ↩
Worthy. ↩
Unwomanly woman. ↩
Alighted. ↩
Glad. ↩
Packed, stuffed his belt, stowed away liquor under. ↩
Again. ↩
Judgement, doom. ↩
Kingdom. ↩
A fourth of the time. ↩
Push. ↩
Spirit. ↩
Pain, trouble. ↩
Contrived. ↩
Plan, plot. ↩
Nearest. ↩
Cruel. ↩
Saw. ↩
Be destroyed. ↩
Die. ↩
Strand, shore. ↩
They will; whatever Thou sendest. ↩
Rudder; guide. ↩
Took, drew. ↩
Incitement, egging on. ↩
Lost. ↩
Torn, pierced. ↩
By my faith. ↩
Maid. ↩
Take pity. ↩
Sorrowful. ↩
Par Dieu; by God. ↩
Cruel, stern. ↩
Destroyed. ↩
Pitiless. ↩
Multitude. ↩
Doubt. ↩
Be needed. ↩
Honoured, praised; from Anglo-Saxon, herian. Compare German, herrlich, glorious, honourable. ↩
Provide. ↩
Tortured. ↩
Confess; German, bekennen. ↩
Doubt. ↩
Allegiance. ↩
Decree, command. ↩
Land. ↩
Again. ↩
In danger of perishing. ↩
Gaze, stare. ↩
Denied our faith. ↩
Illicit lover. ↩
Would not. ↩
Was drowned. ↩
Unblemished. ↩
Weakeness. ↩
Destroy. ↩
Abashed, overthrown. ↩
Devoid. ↩
Gibraltar and Ceuta. ↩
Resolved, arranged. ↩
A short time; as long as a cast of the dice. ↩
Caused. ↩
Die. ↩
To meet him. ↩
Courtesy, profession of welcome. ↩
The poet here refers to Gower’s version of the story. ↩
Command. ↩
Meal time. ↩
Know not. ↩
Short time. ↩
Rather. ↩
Wicked. ↩
Point. ↩
Could by any chance be she. ↩
Sighed. ↩
Fast as he could. ↩
By my faith. ↩
A phantasm, mere fancy. ↩
I should be certain. ↩
Message, summons. ↩
Not easily, with difficulty. ↩
Greeted. ↩
Saints. ↩
Surely. ↩
Mourn, complain. ↩
Truth is known. ↩
Sorrow. ↩
Rude, foolish. ↩
Guess, know. ↩
Prepared. ↩
So far as his skill. ↩
Make ready. ↩
Condemned, doomed. ↩
Hinder. ↩
Res gestae; histories, exploits. ↩
Saw. ↩
Promise. ↩
Disturbance. ↩
Judgement, opinion. ↩
Snatched. ↩
Praises. ↩
Times. ↩
Among the evidences that Chaucer’s great work was left incomplete, is the absence of any link of connection between the “Wife of Bath’s” prologue and tale, and what goes before. This deficiency has in some editions caused the Squire’s and the “Merchant’s Tales” to be interposed between those of the Man of Law and the Wife of Bath; but in “Merchant’s Tale” there is internal proof that it was told after the jolly Dame’s. Several manuscripts contain verses designed to serve as a connection; but they are evidently not Chaucer’s, and it is unnecessary to give them here. Of this prologue, which may fairly be regarded as a distinct autobiographical tale, Tyrwhitt says: “The extraordinary length of it, as well as the vein of pleasantry that runs through it, is very suitable to the character of the speaker. The greatest part must have been of Chaucer’s own invention, though one may plainly see that he had been reading the popular invectives against marriage and women in general; such as the ‘Roman de la Rose,’ ‘Valerius ad Rufinum, De non Ducenda Uxore,’ and particularly ‘Hieronymus contra Jovinianum.’ St. Jerome, among other things designed to discourage marriage, has inserted in his treatise a long passage from Liber Aureolus Theophrasti de Nuptiis.” ↩
Authorities, written opinions, texts. ↩
Lives eternally. ↩
Great part
