THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Chaucer, Geoffrey and Purves, David Laing
“And for the great delight and the pleasance They have to the flow’r, and so rev’rently They unto it do such obeisance As ye may see.” “Now, fair Madame,”quoth I, “If I durst ask, what is the cause, and why, That knightes have the ensign* of honour *insignia Rather by the leaf than by the flow’r?”
“Soothly, daughter,” quoth she, “this is the troth: For knights should ever be persevering, To seek honour, without feintise* or sloth, *dissimulation From well to better in all manner thing: In sign of which, with leaves aye lasting They be rewarded after their degree, Whose lusty green may not appaired* be, *impaired, decayed
“But ay keeping their beauty fresh and green; For there is no storm that may them deface, Nor hail nor snow, nor wind nor frostes keen; Wherefore they have this property and grace: And for the flow’r, within a little space, Wolle* be lost, so simple of nature *will They be, that they no grievance* may endure; *injury, hardship
“And ev’ry storm will blow them soon away, Nor they laste not but for a season; That is the cause, the very truth to say, That they may not, by no way of reason, Be put to no such occupation.” “Madame,” quoth I, “with all my whole service I thank you now, in my most humble wise;
“For now I am ascertain’d thoroughly Of ev’ry thing that I desir’d to know.” “I am right glad that I have said, soothly, Aught to your pleasure, if ye will me trow,”* *believe Quoth she again; “but to whom do ye owe Your service? and which wolle* ye honour, *will Tell me, I pray, this year, the Leaf or the Flow’r?”
“Madame,” quoth I, “though I be least worthy, Unto the Leaf I owe mine observance:” “That is,” quoth she, “right well done, certainly; And I pray God, to honour you advance, And keep you from the wicked remembrance Of Malebouche,* and all his cruelty; *Slander <24> And all that good and well-condition’d be.
“For here may I no longer now abide; I must follow the greate company, That ye may see yonder before you ride.” And forthwith, as I coulde, most humbly I took my leave of her, and she gan hie* *haste After them as fast as she ever might; And I drew homeward, for it was nigh night,
And put all that I had seen in writing, Under support of them that list it read. <25> O little book! thou art so uncunning,* *unskilful How dar’st thou put thyself in press, <26> for dread? It is wonder that thou waxest not red! Since that thou know’st full lite* who shall behold *little Thy rude language, full *boistously unfold.* *unfolded in homely and unpolished fashion*
Explicit.* *The End
Notes to the Flower and the Leaf
1. The Bull: the sign of Taurus, which the sun enters in May.
2. The young oak leaves are red or ashen coloured.
3. Chaucer here again refers to the superstition, noticed in “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale,” that it was of good omen to hear the nightingale before the cuckoo upon the advent of both with spring.
4. The arbour was furnished with seats, which had been newly covered with turf.
5. “Yede” or “yead,” is the old form of go.
6. Sote: fool — French “sot.”
7. See note 59 to The Court of Love
8. Agnus castus: the chaste-tree; a kind of willow.
9. Roundell: French, “rondeau;” a song that comes round again to the verse with which it opened, or that is taken up in turn by each of the singers.
10. In modern French form, “Sous la feuille, devers moi, son et mon joli coeur est endormi” — “Under the foliage, towards me, his and my jolly heart is gone to sleep.”
11. Prester John: The half-mythical Eastern potentate, who is now supposed to have been, not a Christian monarch of Abyssinia, but the head of the Indian empire before Zenghis Khan’s conquest.
12. Oak cerrial: of the species of oak which Pliny, in his “Natural History,” calls “cerrus.”
13. Tartarium: Cloth of Tars, or of Tortona.
14. Bargaret: bergerette, or pastoral song.
15. “Si douce est la margarete.”: “So sweet is the daisy” (“la marguerite”).
16. To make their joustes: the meaning is not very obvious; but in The Knight’s Tale “jousts and array” are in some editions made part of the adornment of the Temple of Venus; and as the word “jousts” would there carry the general meaning of “preparations” to entertain or please a lover, in the present case it may have a similar force.
17. Gramercy: “grand merci,” French; great thanks.
18. The Nine Worthies, who at our day survive in the Seven Champions of Christendom. The Worthies were favourite subjects for representation at popular festivals or in masquerades.
19. The famous Knights of King Arthur, who, being all esteemed equal in valour and noble qualities, sat at a round table, so that none should seem to have precedence over the rest.
20. The twelve peers of Charlemagne (les douze pairs), chief among whom were Roland and Oliver.
21. Chaucer speaks as if, at least for the purposes of his poetry, he believed that Edward III. did not establish a new, but only revived an old, chivalric institution, when be founded the Order of the Garter.
22. Laurer: laurel-tree; French, “laurier.”
23. The meaning is: “Witness the practice of Rome, that was the founder of all knighthood and marvellous deeds; and I refer for corroboration to Titus Livius” — who, in several passages, has mentioned the laurel crown as the highest military honour. For instance, in 1. vii. c. 13, Sextus Tullius, remonstrating for the army against the inaction in which it is kept, tells the Dictator Sulpicius, “Duce te vincere cupimus; tibi lauream insignem deferre; tecum triumphantes urbem inire.” (“Commander, we want you to conquer; to bring you the laurel insignia; to enter the city with you in triumph”)
24. Malebouche: Slander, personified under the title of Evil-mouth — Italian, “Malbocca;” French, “Malebouche.”
25. Under support of them that list it read: the phrase means — trusting to the goodwill of my reader.
26. In press: into a crowd, into the press of competitors for favour; not, it need hardly be said, “into the press” in the modern sense — printing was not invented for a century after this was written.