tapestry. He is represented with grey hair and beard, which is biforked; he wears a dark-coloured dress and hood; his right hand is extended, and in his left he holds a string of beads. From his vest a black case is suspended, which appears to contain a knife, or possibly a 'penner,' or pen-case 183. The expression of the countenance is intelligent; but the fire of the eye seems quenched, and evident marks of advanced age appear on the countenance.' Hoccleve did not paint this portrait himself, as is often erroneously said; he 'leet do make it,' i. e. had it made. It thus became the business of the scribe, and the portraits in different copies of Hoccleve's works vary accordingly. There is a full-length portrait in MS. Reg. 17 D. vi, marked as 'Chaucers ymage'; and another in a MS. copy once in the possession of Mr. Tyson, which was engraved in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1792, vol. lxii. p. 614; perhaps the latter is the copy which is now MS. Phillipps 1099. A representation of Chaucer on horseback, as one of the pilgrims, occurs in the Ellesmere MS.; an engraving of it appears as a frontispiece to Todd's Illustrations of Chaucer. A small full-length picture of Chaucer occurs in the initial letter of the Canterbury Tales, in MS. Lansdowne 851. Other portraits, such as that in MS. Addit. (or Sloane) 5141, the painting upon wood in the Bodleian Library, and the like, are of much later date, and cannot pretend to any authenticity. Lydgate has frequent references to his 'maister Chaucer.' The most important is that in the Prologue to his Fall of Princes, which begins thus: 'My maister Chaucer, with his fresh comédies, Is deed, allas! cheef poete of Bretayne, That somtym made ful pitous tragédies; As he that was of making soverayne, Whom al this land of right[e] ought preferre, Sith of our langage he was the loodsterre.' The 'fall of princes' refers to the Monkes Tale, as explained in vol. iii. p. 431. He next refers to 'Troilus' as being a translation of a book which called is Trophe' (see vol. ii. p. liv.); and to the Translation of Boethius and the Treatise of the Astrolabe. 183 I think not; it is too short. I take it to be a small pen-knife in a sheath; useful for making erasures. So Todd, Illustrations of Chaucer, s. v. Anelace; Fairholt, on Costume in England, s. v. Knives. He then mentions many of the Minor Poems (in the stanzas quoted below, p. 23), the Legend of Good Women (see vol. iii. p. xx.), and the Canterbury Tales; and concludes thus: 'This sayd poete, my maister, in his dayes For which men shulde, of right and equitee, So also, in his Siege of Troye, fol. K 2 :— And again, in the same, fol. R 2, back: 'For he our English gilt[e] with his layes, Til that he cam, and with his poetrye Gan our tungë first to magnifye, And adourne it with his eloquence'; &c. And yet again, at fol. Ee 2 :— 'And, if I shal shortly him discryve, Was never noon [un]to this day alyve, Similar passages occur in some of his other works, and shew that he regarded Chaucer with affectionate reverence. Allusions in later authors have only a literary value, and need not be cited in a Life of Chaucer. I subjoin (on p. lxii.) a List of Chaucer's genuine works, arranged, as nearly as I can conjecture, in their chronological order. Of his poetical excellence it is superfluous to speak; Lowell's essay on 'Chaucer' in My Study Windows gives a just estimate of his powers. LIST OF CHAUCER'S WORKS. THE following list is arranged, conjecturally, in chronological order. It will be understood that much of the arrangement and some of the dates are due to guesswork; on a few points scholars are agreed. See further in pp. 20-91 below, &c. Of the Poems marked (a), there seem to have been two editions, (a) being the earlier. The letters and numbers appended at the end denote the metres, according to the following scheme. A=octosyllabic metre; B=ballad metre, in Sir Thopas; C= 4-line stanza, in the Proverbes ; P=Prose. The following sixteen metres are original (i. e. in English); viz. 1=8-line stanza, ababbcbc; 1b=the same, thrice, with refrain. 2= 7-line stanza, ababbcc; 2 b=the same, thrice, with refrain; 2 c= 7-line stanza, ababbab. 3=terza rima. 4=10-line stanza, aabaabcddc. 5=9-line stanza, aabaabbab; 5 b=the same, with internal rimes. 6=virelai of 16 lines. 7=9-line stanza, aabaabbcc. 8=roundel. 9 heroic couplet. 10-6-line stanza, ababcb, repeated six times. 11=10-line stanza, aabaabbaab. 12=5-line stanza, aabba. *** C. T. = Canterbury Tales; L. G. W. = Legend of Good Women ; M. P. Minor Poems. 1369. = Origenes upon the Maudeleyne (See L. G. W., A 418; lost.) (a) Ceys and Alcion (C. T., B. 57; Bk. Duch. 62-214).—A. A. B. C.; in M. P. I.—1. Book of the Duchesse; M. P. III.—A. (a) Lyf of Seynt Cecyle (L. G. W., B 426; C. T., G. 1-553).-21. (a) Monkes Tale (parts of); except B. 3565-3652.-1. 1 I see no reason for placing this after 1372; surely 11. 36-56 (from Dante) are a later insertion. Observe 'us wrecches' in G. 32, and 'Me wrecche' in G. 58. These parallel lines must (I think) have once been in closer proximity. ab. 1372-3. (a) Clerkes Tale; except E. 995-1008, and the Envoy.-2. (a) Palamon and Arcite (scraps preserved).—2. Compleint to his Lady; M. P. VI.-2. 3. 4. An Amorous Compleint, made at Windsor; M. P. XXII.—2. Anelida and Arcite (10 stt. from Palamon); M. P. VII.—2. 5. 6. 5 b. (a) The Tale of Melibeus.-P. (a) The Persones Tale.-P. (a) of the Wreched Engendring of Mankinde (L. G. W., A. 414; cf. C. T., B. 99–121, &c.)—2. (a) Man of Lawes Tale; amplified in C. T.—2. 1377-81. Translation of Boethius.-P. 1379? Compleint of Mars; M. P. IV.—2. 7. 1379-83. Troilus and Criseyde (3 stt. from Palamon).-2. Wordes to Adam (concerning Boece and Troilus); M. P. The Former Age (from Boece); M. P. IX.—1. Fortune (hints from Boece); M. P. X.—1 b. 2 c. Parlement of Foules (16 stt. from Palamon); M. P. V.—2. 8. Legend of Good Women.-9. Canterbury Tales begun. Central period of the Canterbury Tales. 1382. 1383-4. 1385-6. 1386. 1387-8. 1389, &c. The Tales continued.—B. 1. 2. 9. 10. P. 1399. Envoy to Compleint to his Purse; M. P. XIX.-12. Treatise on the Astrolabe.-P. The following occasional triple roundel and balades may have been composed between 1380 and 1396: Merciless Beautè; M. P. XI.-8. M. P. XII.-1 b. Balade to Rosamounde; Against Women Unconstaunt; M. P. XXI. Lak of StedGentilesse; M. P. XIV.-2 b. 2 b. (a) Compleint to his Purse; M. P. XIX.—2 b. Proverbes of Chaucer; M. P. XX.-C. P. 95: 1. 47. P. 98: 1. 114. P. 123: 1. 705. P. 126: 1. 793. P. 127: 1. 806. P. 135: 1. 997. ERRATA AND ADDENDA. Insert a comma after 'oughte' Omit the comma at the end of the line. It would be better to read Withoute.' The scansion then is: Delete the comma at the end of the line. P. 301 1. 716. P. 313: 1. 1069. P. 326: 1. 74. Improve the punctuation thus :-- For joy read Ioy For the comma substitute a semicolon. For weary read wery Supply a comma at the end of the line. The stop at the end should be a comma. For Aud read And The comma should perhaps be a semicolon or a full stop. For 'Antilegius,' a better form would be 'Antilogus,' a Perhaps 'let' should be 'lete' For folke read folk P. 374 11. 243, 248. For desteny and ful better forms are destinee and fulle |