Til sche out of hir masidnesse abrayde.
'Grisild,' quod he, by God that for us deyde,
Thou art my wyf, ne noon other I have,
Ne never had, as God my soule save.

'This is my doughter, which thou hast supposed
To be my wif; that other faithfully
Schal be myn heir, as I have ay purposed;
Thow bar hem in thy body trewely.
At Boloyne have I kept him prively;
Tak hem agayn, for now maistow not seye,
That thou hast lorn noon of thy children tweye.
'And folk, that other weyes han seyd of me,
I warn hem wel, that I have doon this deede
For no malice, ne for no cruelte,

But for tassaye in the thy wommanhede;
And not to slen my children, (God forbede!)
But for to kepe hem prively and stille,
Til I thy purpos knewe and al thy wil.'

Whan sche this herd, aswoned doun sche fallith

For pitous joy, and after her swownyng

Sche bothe hir yonge children to hir callith,
And in hir armes pitously wepyng

Embraseth hem, and tenderly kissyng,
Ful lik a moder with hir salte teris

Sche bathis bothe hir visage and hir eeris.
O, such a pitous thing it was to see

Her swownyng, and hir humble vois to heere!
'Graunt mercy, lord, God thank it yow,' quod sche,
'That ye han saved me my children deere.'
Now rek I never to be deed right heere,
Sith I stond in your love and in your grace,
No fors of deth, ne whan my spirit pace.

'O tender deere yonge children myne, Youre woful moder wende stedefastly, That cruel houndes or som foul vermyne

Harl. MS.

'That ye han kept my children so deers.'

Had eten yow; but God of his

mercy,

And your benigne fader tenderly

Hath doon yow kepe.' And in that same stounde Al sodeinly sche swapped doun to grounde.

And in hir swough so sadly holdith sche
Hir children tuo, whan sche gan hem tembrace,
That with gret sleight and gret difficulte
The children from her arm they gonne arace.
O! many a teer on many a pitous face
Doun ran of hem that stooden hir bisyde,
Unnethe aboute hir mighte thay abyde.

Waltier hir gladith, and hir sorwe slakith,
Sche rysith up abaisshed from hir traunce,
And every wight hir joy and feste makith,
Til sche hath caught agayn her continaunce.
Wauter hir doth so faithfully plesaunce,
That it was daynte to see the cheere
Bitwix hem tuo, now thay be met in feere.
These ladys, whan that thay her tyme say,
Han taken hir, and into chambre goon,
And strippe hir out of hir rude array,
And in a cloth of gold that brighte schon,
With a coroun of many a riche stoon
Upon hir heed, thay into halle hir brought;
And ther sche was honoured as hir ought.

Thus hath this pitous day a blisful ende;
For every man and womman doth his might
This day in mirth and revel to despende,
Til on the welken schon the sterres bright;
For more solempne in every mannes sight
This feste was, and gretter of costage,
Than was the revel of hir mariage.

Ful many a yer in heigh prosperite
Lyven these tuo in concord and in rest,
And richeliche his doughter maried he
Unto a lord, on of the worthiest

Of al Ytaile, and thanne in pees and rest

His wyves fader in his court he kepith,
Til that the soule out of his body crepith
His sone succedith in his heritage,
In rest and pees, after his fader day;
And fortunat was eek in mariage,
Al put he not his wyf in gret assay.
This world is not so strong, it is no nay,
As it hath ben in olde tymes yore,

And herknith, what this auctor saith therfore.
This story is sayd, not for that wyves scholde
Folwe Grisild, as in humilite,

For it were importable, though thay wolde;
But for that every wight in his degre
Schulde be constant in adversite.

As was Grisild, therfore Petrark writeth
This story, which with high stile he enditeth.
For sith' a womman was so pacient
Unto a mortal man, wel more us oughte
Receyven al in gre that God us sent.
For gret skil is he prove that he wroughte,
But he ne temptith no man that he boughte,'
As saith seint Jame, if ye his pistil rede;
He provith folk al day, it is no drede;
And suffrith us, as for our exercise,
With scharpe scourges of adversite
Ful ofte to be bete in sondry wise;
Nought for to knowe oure wille, for certes he,
Er we were born, knew al our frelte;
And for oure best is al his governauuce;
Let us thanne lyve in vertuous suffraunce.
But oo word, lordes, herkneth er I go:
It were ful hard to fynde now a dayes
As Grisildes in al a toun thre or tuo;
For if that thay were put so such assayes,
The gold of hem hath now so badde alayes

1 Harl. MS., swich. The reading in he text is that of the Laned. MS 2 James i. 13.

coyn

With bras, that though the be fair at ye,
It wolde rather brest in tuo than plye.

For which heer, for the wyves love of Bathe, -
Whos lyf and alle of hir secte God meyntene
In high maistry, and elles were it scathe,—
I wil with lusty herte freisch and grene,
Say yow a song to glade yow, I wene;
And lat us stynt of ernestful matiere.
Herknith my song, that saith in this manere.
Balle de

L'ENVOYE DE CHAUCER'

GRISILD is deed, and eek hir pacience,

And bothe at oones buried in Itayle;
For whiche I crye in open audience,
No weddid man so hardy be to assayle
His wyves pacience, in hope to fynde
Grisildes, for in certeyn he schal fayle.

O noble wyves, ful of heigh prudence,
Let noon humilite your tonges nayle;
Ne lat no clerk have cause or diligence
To write of yow a story of such mervayle,
As of Grisildes pacient and kynde,

Lost Chichivache' yow swolwe in hir entraile.
Folwith ecco, that holdith no silence,
But ever answereth at the countretayle;

= àla

1 In the Envoye, Chaucer seems to indemnify himself for his patient adoption of Petrarch in the foregoing tale, by giving the reins to his characteristic wit and irony.

2 The allusion is to the subject of an old ballad, still preserved in the MS. Harl., 2251, fol. 270, b. It is a kind of Pageant, in which two beasts are introduced, called Bycorne and Chichcrache. The former is supposed to feed upon obedient husbands, and the latter upon patient wives; and the humour of the piece consists in representing Bycorne as pampered with a superfluity of food, and Chichevache as half-starved. The name Chichevache is French, vacca parca.-T.

Tyrwhitt is in error in calling the ballad a Pageant. It is a set of verses intended to be inscribed on a tapestry representing the two beasts. There is a broadside woodcut of them in the Society of Antiquaries' Library. For a poem by Lydgate on this subject, see Lydgate's Minor l'oems, edited by Mr. Halliwell for the Percy Society.

Beth nought bydaffed for your
your innocence,
But scharply tak on yow the governayle;
Empryntith wel this lessoun on your mynde,
For comun profyt, sith it may avayle.

Ye archewyves, stondith at defens,
Syn ye ben strong, as is a greet chamayle,
Ne suffre not that men yow don offens.
And sclendre wyves, felle as in batayle,
Beth egre as is a tyger yond in Inde;
Ay clappith as a mylle, I yow counsaile.

Ne drede hem not, do hem no reverence,
For though thin housbond armed be in mayle,
The arwes of thy crabbid eloquence1

Schal perse his brest, and eek his adventayle:
In gelousy I rede eek thou him bynde,

And thou schalt make him couche as doth a quayle.
If thou be fair, ther folk ben in presence
Schew thou thy visage and thin apparaile;
If thou be foul, be fre of thy despense,
To gete the frendes do ay thy travayle;
Be ay
of chier as light as lef on lynde,
And let hem care and wepe, and wryng
and wayle.'

THE PROLOGE OF THE MARCHAUNDES TALE.

EPYNG and wailyng, care and other sorwe

I knowe y-nough, bothe on even and on morwe,' Quod the Marchaund, and so doon other mo,

That weddin ben; I trowe that it be so,

1 These three lines possess a force of diction that will remind the reader of Dryden. ['And eek his adventayle' means 'and even his helmet,' i.e. will bruise his head, however securely protected.-W.W.S.] 2 Tyrwhitt states that in some MSS. the following stanza is interposed: