518 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 187. 



him ample opportunities of becoming thoroughly 

 acquainted with the language and literature of 

 Italy ; the acquisition of which must have been of 

 easy accomplishment to Chaucei', already familiar 

 with Latin and French. So that it is not neces- 

 sary. to endow Chaucer "with all human attain- 

 ments as proof of his having spoken Italian." 



Chaucer's own writings, however, afford the 

 strongest evidence against the opinion entertained 

 by Sir Harris Nicolas, and such evidence as can- 

 not be controverted. 



Chaucer loves to refer to Dante, and often 

 translates passages from the Divine Comedy. The 

 following lines are very closely rendered from the 

 Paradiso, xiv. 28. : — 



" Thou one, two, and thre, eterne on live, 

 That raignest aie in thre, two, and one, 

 Uncircumscript, and all maist circumscrive." 

 Last stanza of Troilus and Creseide. 

 " QuelV uno e due e tre die sempre vive, 

 E regna sempre in tre e due ed uno, 

 Non circonscritto, e tutto circonscrive." 



Dante, II Paradiso, xiv, 28. 

 *' Wei can the wise poet of Florence, 

 That highte Dant, speken of this sentence : 

 Lo, in swiche maner rime is Dantes tale. 

 Ful selde up riseth hy his branches smale 

 Frowesse of man, for God of his goodnesse 

 Wol that we claime of him our gentillesse." 



Wif of Bathes Tale, 6707. 

 " Rade volte risurge per U rami 



X' umana probitd : e qiiesto vuole 



Quei che la da, perche da lui si chiami." 



Purgatorio, vii. 121. 



After relating the dread story of the Conte 

 TJgolino, Chaucer refers to Dante, from whom 

 perhaps he derived it. (Conf. Inferno, xxxiii.) 



" Who so wol here it in a longer wise, 

 Redeth the grete poete of Itaille, 

 That highte Dante, for he can it devise 

 Fro point to point, not o word wol he faille." 



The Monkes Tale, 14,769. 

 " Bet than Vergile, while lie was on live. 

 Or Dant also." — The Freres Tale, 7101. 



The following lines refer to the Inferno, xiii. 64. : 



" Envie is lavender of the court alway. 

 For she ne parteth neither night ne day. 

 Out of the house of Cesar, thus saith Dant." 

 Prologue to the Legend of Good Women, 359. 



" Dant that it tellen can " is mentioned in the 

 House of Fame, book i. ; and Chaucer is indebted 

 to him for some lines in that fine poem, as in tlie 

 description of the " egle, that with feathers shone 

 all of gold " =^ un^ aquila nel del con penne (Toro ; 

 and the following line : 



" O thought, that wrote all that I met." 



House of Fame, ii. 1 8. 

 " mente, che scrivesti cid ch' io vidi." 



Inferno, ii. 8. 



The Knightes Tale exhibits numerous pas- 

 sages, lines, and expressions verbally translated 

 from the Teseide of Boccaccio, upon which it is 

 founded; such as Idio armipotente^= 'Mars armi- 

 potent ; Eterno admante =: Athamant eterne ; 

 Paura palida = pale drede ; Le ire rosse come 

 focho^ the cruel ire red as any glede. Boccaccio 

 describes the wood in which " Mars hath his sove- 

 reine mansion as — 



" Una gelva sterile de rdbusti 



Cerri, 



Nodosi aspri e rigidi e vetusti. 



Vi si sentia grandissimo romore, 



Ne vera bestia anchora ne pastore." 



Teseide, book vii. 



There is a purposed grisly ruggedness in the 

 corresponding passage of the Knightes Tale, which 

 heightens the horrors of " thiike colde and frosty 

 region : " 



" First on the wall was peinted a forest, 

 In which ther wonneth neyther man ne best, 

 With knotty knarry barrein trees old 

 Of stubbes sharpe and hidous to behold ; 

 In which ther ran a romble and a swough, 

 As though a storme shuld bresten every bough." 

 The Knightes Tale, 1977. 



The death of Arcite is thus related by Boccac- 

 cio: 



" La morte in ciascun membro era venuta 

 Da piedi in su, venendo verso il petto, 

 Ed ancor nelle braecia era perduta 

 La vital forza ; sol nello intelletto 

 E nel cuore era ancora sostenuta 

 La poca vita, ma gia si ristretto 

 Eragli '1 tristo cor del mortal gelo 

 Che agli occhi fe' subitamente velo. 



" Ma po' ch' egli ebbe perduto il vedere, 

 Con seco comincio a mormorare, 

 Ognor mancando piu del suo podere : 

 No troppo fece in cio lungo durare ; 

 Ma il mormorare trasportato in vere 

 Parole, con assai basso parlare 

 Addio Emilia ; e piu oltre non disse, 

 Che r anima convenne si partisse." 



Teseide, book x. 112. 



Chaucer loses nothing of this description in his 

 condensed translation : 



" For from his feet up to his brest was come 

 The cold of deth, that had him overnome. 

 And yet moreover in his amies two 

 The vital strength is lost, and all ago. 

 Only the intellect, withouten more. 

 That dwelled in his herte sike and sore, 

 Gan feillen, whan the herte felte deth ; 

 Dusked his eyen two, and failled his breth. 

 But on his ladie yet cast he his eye ; 

 His laste word was ; Mercy, Emelie !" 



The Knightes Tale, 2801. 



Troilus and Creseide seems to have been trans- 

 lated from the Filostrato of Boccaccio, when Chau- 



