As fer as God hath maked see or lond,
Nas, of so fewe, so good a company.
For every wight that loveth chyvalry,
And wold, his thankes, have a passant name,
Hath preyed that he might be of that game;
And wel was him, that therto chosen was.
For if ther felle to morwe such a caas,
I knowe wel, that every lusty knight,
That loveth paramours, and hath his might,
Were it in Engelond, or elleswhere,
They wold, here thankes, wilne to be there.
To fighte for a lady; benedicite!

It were a lusty sighte for to see.

And right so ferden they with Palamon.

With him ther wente knyghtes many oon:
Some wol ben armed in an haburgoun,
In a bright brest plat and a gypoun;
And som wold have a peyre plates large;
And som wold have a Pruce scheld, or a targe;
Som wol been armed on here legges weel,
And have an ax, and eek a mace of steel.
Ther nys no newe gyse, that it nas old.
Armed were they, as I have you told,
Everich after his owen opinioun.

Ther maistow se comyng with Palamoun
Ligurge himself, the grete kyng of Trace:

Blak was his berd, and manly was his face.

2110

2120

2130

2124.-Pruce. This is the reading of most of the MSS: The MS. Harl. has prys.

The cercles of his eyen in his heed
They gloweden bytwixe yolw and reed,
And lik a griffoun loked he aboute,

With kempe heres on his browes stowte;

His lymes greet, his brawnes hard and stronge,
His schuldres brood, his armes rounde and longe.
And as the gyse was in his contré,

Ful heye upon a chare of gold stood he,
With foure white boles in a trays.

In stede of cote armour in his harnays,
With nayles yolwe, and bright as eny gold,
He had a bere skyn, cole-blak for old.
His lange heer y-kempt byhynd his bak,
As eny raven fether it schon for blak.

A wrethe of gold arm-gret, and huge of wight,
Upon his heed, set ful of stoones bright,
Of fyne rubeus and of fyn dyamauntz.
Aboute his chare wente white alaunz,
Twenty and mo, as grete as eny stere,
To hunte at the lyoun or at the bere,
And folwed him, with mosel fast i-bounde,
Colerd with golde, and torettes fyled rounde.
An hundred lordes had he in his route

Armed ful wel, with hertes stern and stoute.

With Arcita, in stories as men fynde,
The gret Emetreus, the kyng of Ynde,
Uppon a steede bay, trapped in steel,
Covered with cloth and of gold dyapred wel,
Cam rydyng lyk the god of armes Mars.

2140

2150

2160

His coote armour was of a cloth of Tars,
Cowched of perlys whyte, round and grete.
His sadil was of brend gold newe bete;
A mantelet upon his schuldre hangyng
Bret-ful of rubies reed, as fir sparclyng.
His crispe her lik rynges was i-ronne,
And that was yalwe, and gliteryng as the sonne.
His nose was heigh, his eyen were cytryne,
His lippes rounde, his colour was sangwyn,
A fewe freknes in his face y-spreynd,
Betwixe yolwe and somdel blak y-meynd,
And as a lyoun he his lokyng caste.
Of fyve and twenty yeer his age I caste.
His berd was wel bygonne for to sprynge;
His voys was as a trumpe thunderynge.
Upon his heed he wered of laurer grene
A garlond freisch and lusty for to sene.
Upon his hond he bar for his delyt
An egle tame, as eny lylie whyt.

An hundred lordes had he with him ther,
Al armed sauf here hedes in here ger,

Ful richely in alle maner thinges.

For trusteth wel, that dukes, erles, kynges
Were gadred in this noble companye,

For love, and for encres of chivalrye.
Aboute the kyng ther ran on every part
Ful many a tame lyoun and lepart.

2170

2180

2162.-cloth of Tars. A kind of silk, said to be the same as in other places is called Tartarine (tartarinum), but the exact derivation of which appears to be somewhat uncertain.

And in this wise, thes lordes alle and some
Been on the Sonday to the cité come
Aboute prime, and in the toun alight.
This Theseus, this duk, this worthy knight,
Whan he had brought hem into his cité,
And ynned hem, everich at his degré,
He festeth hem, and doth so gret labour
To esen hem, and do hem al honour,
That yit men wene that no mannes wyt
Of non estat that cowde amenden it.
The mynstralcye, the servyce at the feste,
The grete giftes to the most and leste,
The riche aray of Theseus paleys,
Ne who sat first ne last upon the deys,
What ladies fayrest ben or best daunsyng,
Or which of hem can daunce best or sing,
Ne who most felyngly speketh of love;
What haukes sitten on the perche above,
What houndes lyen in the floor adoun,
Of al this make I now no mencioun ;

But of theffect; that thinketh me the beste;

2190

2200

Now comth the poynt, and herkneth if you leste. 2210
The Sonday night, or day bigan to springe,

When Palamon the larke herde synge,
Although it were nought day by houres tuo,
Yit sang the larke, and Palamon also
With holy herte, and with an heih corage
He roos, to wenden on his pilgrymage

2201.-Theseus paleys. The MS. Harl. reads of Thebes his paleys.

Unto the blisful Cithera benigne,

I mene Venus, honorable and digne.
And in hire hour, he walketh forth a paas
Unto the lystes, ther hir temple was,

And doun he kneleth, and with humble cheer

And herte sore, he seide as ye schal heer.

66

Fairest of faire, o lady myn Venus, Doughter of Jove, and spouse to Vulcanus, Thou glader of the mount of Citheroun, For thilke love thou haddest to Adeoun Have pité on my bitter teeres smerte,

2220

2219. And in hire hour. "I cannot better illustrate Chaucer's astro logy than by a quotation from the old Kalendrier de Bergiers, Edit. 1500, sign. K. ii. b. Qui veult savoir comme bergiers scevent quel planete regne chascune heure du jour et de la nuit, doit savoir la planete du jour qui veult s'enquerir; et la premiere heure temporelle du soleil levant ce jour est pour celluy planete, la seconde heure est pour la planete ensuivant, et la tierce pour l'autre, &c. in the following order, viz. Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury, Luna. To apply this doctrine to the present case. The first hour of the Sunday, reckoning from sun-rise, belonged to the Sun, the planet of the day; the second to Venus, the third to Mercury, &c. and continuing this method of allotment, we shall find that the twenty-second hour also belonged to the Sun, and the twenty-third to Venus; so that the hour of Venus, really was, as Chaucer says, two hours before sun-rise of the following day. Accordingly we are told in ver. 2273, that the third hour after Palamon set out for the temple of Venus, the Sun rose, and Emelie began to go to the temple of Diane. It is not said, that this was the hour of Diane, or the Moon, but it really was, for, as we have just seen, the twenty-third hour of Sunday belonging to Venus, the twenty-fourth must be given to Mercury, and the first hour of Monday falls in course to the Moon, the presiding planet of that day. After this Arcite is described as walking to the temple of Mars, ver. 2369, in the nexte houre of Mars, that is, the fourth hour of the day. It is necessary to take these words together, for the nexte houre, singly, would signify the second hour of the day; but that, according to the rule of rotation mentioned above, belonged to Saturn, as the third did to Jupiter. The fourth was the nexte houre of Mars, that occurred after the hour last named."-Tyrwhitt.

2223.-Fairest of faire. The MS. Harl. reads fairest, O fairest.