May 10, 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



363 



But Lord the perrie and the richesse, 

 I saw sitting on the goddesse, 

 And the heavenly melodie 

 Of songes full of armonie 

 I heard about her trone 3'song 

 That all the palais wall rong. 



Tho saw I standen hem behind 

 A farre from hem, all by hemselve 

 Many a thousand times twelve, 

 That made loud minsiralcies, 

 In conemuse and sliahnies, 

 And many another pipe, 

 That craftely began to pipe. 

 And Pursevauntes and Heraudes * 



That erien riche folkes laudes. 

 It weren, all and every man 

 Of hem, as I you tellen can. 

 Had on him throwe a vesture 

 Which men clepe a coate armure. 



Then saw I in anothir place. 

 Standing in a large space, 

 Of hem that maken bloudy soun. 

 In trumpet, heme, and clarioun. 



Then saw I stande on thother side 

 Straight downe to the doores wide, 

 From tlie dels many a pillere 

 Of metall, that shone not full clere. 

 But though ther were of no richesse 

 Yet were tliey made for great noblesse. 



There saw I, and knew by name 

 That by such art done, men have fame. 



There saw I Coll Tragetour 

 Upon a table of sicamour 

 Play an uncouth thing to tell, 

 I saw him carry a wind-mell 

 Under a walnote shale. 



Then saw I sitting in other sees, 

 Playing upon sundrie other glees, 

 Of whicli 1 n' ill as now not rime, 

 For ease of you and losse of time. 

 For time ylost, this know ye. 

 By no way may recovered be. 



What should 1 make longer tale? 

 Of all the people that I sey 

 I could not tell till domisdey. 



Then gan I loke about and see 

 That there came entring into the hall 

 A right great company wiihall. 

 And that of sondry regions 

 Of all kind of condicious 

 That dwelle in yearth under the Moone, 

 Poore and riche ; and all so scrf)ne 

 As they were come into the hall 

 They gan on knees doune to fall 

 Before this ilke noble queene. 

 " Madame" sayd they, " we bee 

 Folke that here besechvn thee 

 That thou graunt us now good fame, 

 And let our workes have good name ; 



In full 7-ecompensacioun 



Of good ii:o7-ke, give us good renounr 

 And some of hem she graunted sone, 

 And some she warned well and faire, 

 And some she graunted the contraire. 



Now certainly I ne wist how, 



Ne where that Fame dwelled or now, 



Ne eke of her descripciun, 



Ne also her condicion, 



Ne the order of her dome 



Knew I not till I hider come. 

 * * * * ^ 



At the last I saw a man, 

 Which that I nought ne can, 

 But he semed for to bee, 

 A man of great auctoritie 



And therewithall I abraide, 

 Out of my slepe halfe afraide, 

 llemembring well what I had sene, 

 And how hie and farre I had bene 

 In my gost, and had gi-eat wonder 

 Of that the God of thonder 

 Had let me knowen, and began to write 

 Like as you have herd me endite. 

 Wherefore to study and rede alway, 

 I purj)ose to do day by day. 



Thus in dreaming and in game, 

 Endeth this litell booke of Fame. 



We are indebted for this interesting communication 

 to our correspondent A. E. B., whose admirable Il- 

 lustrations OP Chaucer, in our columns have given so 

 much pleasure to the admirers of the old poet. Our 

 correspondent has sent it to us in the hope that it may 

 be made available in helping forward the good work 

 of restoring Chaucer's tomb. We trust it will. The 

 Committee who have undertaken that task could, 

 doubtless, raise the hundred pounds required, by ask- 

 ing those who have already come forward to help them, 

 to change their Crown subscriptions into Pounds. 

 With a right feeling for what is due to the poet, they 

 prefer, however, accomplishing the end they have in 

 view by small contributions from the admiring many, 

 rather than by larger contributions from the few. As 

 we doubt not we number among the readers of " Notes 

 AND Queries " many admirers of 



" Old Dan Chaucer, in whose gentle spright, 

 The pure well-head of poetry did dwell," 



to them we appeal, that the monument which was 

 erected by the affectionate respect of Nicholas Brigbam, 

 nearly three centuries ago, may not in our time be 

 permitted to crumble into dust ; reminding them, in 

 Chaucer's own beautiful language, 



" That they are gentle who do gentle dedes." 



