The 'Szveet Breath' of Zephyr 25 



It cureth me of al my sorwe. 

 To me is noon so high plesaunce 

 As of his persone daliaunce.' 



Chaucer, as translator of the Roman de la Rose (L. G. W. 

 255 : 329) would of course have known of this passage of Old 

 French. It is generally denied.'' however, that he was the trans- 

 lator of B ( 1 706-5810). As bearing on this point, I subjoin 

 indications of Chaucer's probable translatorship of the above 

 lines : 



(a) Rhymes : 



minde: finde (common in Chaucer). 



knewe: hewe {K. T. 789-790; L. G. W. 55-6 (57-8), 1760-1). 

 song: among {Bk. Duch. 297-8; T. and C. 2. 883-5; 3- 1814-6). 

 here: dere (K. T. 1905-6; Man of L. T. 139-140; Clerk's T. 



275-8). 



herte: smerte (Prol. 149-150; K. T. 1367-8, 1533-4, 1907-8; 

 Franklin's T. 127-8, 245-6, 531-2, etc.). 



morwe: sorwe (common). 



plesaunce: daliaunce (To Rosemonnde 22-4). 



Observe particularly the rhyme-sequence in K. T. 1905-8: 

 dere: here: herte: smerte; cf. R. R. 2843-6, above. • 



(b) Correspondences of phrase: 



in olde dawes (so Franklin's T. 452). 



as I finde (so T. and C. 4. 1138; cf. Sec. N. T. 94, 124; T. 

 and C. 4. 1415; Man of L. T. 807; Prior. T. 200; K. T. 1297; 

 T. and C. 5. 375, 1463 ; Monk's Prol. 99). 



fresh of hewe (so L. G. W. 57: 55, cf. L. G. W. 1761 ; R. R. 

 3629). 



sit so nere myn herte (cf. sit so in myn herte (rhyming with 

 smerte), Bk. Duch. 1108). 



eve and morwe (K. T. 1963; Wife's Prol. 152; T. and C. 

 I. 487; 5. 725; cf. on even and amorwe, Prol. Merch. T. 2; ne 

 night ne morwe, Bk. Duch. 22; either on morwes or on evenes, 

 H. F. 4). 



Cf . my remarks on R. R. 3809-14 in The Historical Background 

 of Chaucer's Knight {Trans. Conn. Acad, of Arts and Sciences 

 20. 181, note 4). 



' Wells, Manual, p. 650. 



