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Title: Chaucer's Translation of Boethius's 'De Consolatione Philosophiae'

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

Editor: Richard Morris

Release Date: February 12, 2013 [EBook #42083]

Language: English

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Chaucer's Translation of
BOETHIUS'S "DE CONSOLATIONE
PHILOSOPHIAE"


EARLY ENGLISH TEXT SOCIETY

Extra Series, No. 5

1868
(Reprinted 1889, 1894, 1895, etc. , 1969)

Price 40s.




Chaucer's Translation of
BOETHIUS'S "DE CONSOLATIONE
PHILOSOPHIAE"

Edited From
British Museum Additional MS. 10,340
Collated With
Cambridge University Library MS. Ii. 3. 21

By

RICHARD MORRIS


_Published for_
THE EARLY ENGLISH TEXT SOCIETY
_by the_
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
London New York Toronto




First Published 1868

Reprinted 1889, 1894, 1895, etc. ,
and 1969


Extra Series, No. 5

Originally printed by
Richard Clay & Sons Ltd. , London and Bungay
and now reprinted lithographically in Great Britain
at the University Press, Oxford
by Vivian Ridler
Printer to the University




INTRODUCTION.


When master hands like those of Gibbon and Hallam have sketched the life
of _Boethius_, it is well that no meaner man should attempt to mar their
pictures. They drew, perhaps, the most touching scene in Middle-age
literary history,--the just man in prison, awaiting death, consoled by
the Philosophy that had been his light in life, and handing down to
posterity for their comfort and strength the presence of her whose
silver rays had been his guide as well under the stars of Fortune as the
mirk of Fate. With Milton in his dark days, Boece in prison could say,--

'I argue not
Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope; but still bear up and steer
Right onward. What supports me, dost thou ask?
The conscience, friend, to have lost them overplied
In liberty's defence, my noble task,
Of which all Europe rings from side to side. '

For, indeed, the echoes of Boethius, Boethius, rang out loud from every
corner of European Literature. An Alfred awoke them in England, a
Chaucer, a Caxton would not let them die; an Elizabeth revived them
among the glorious music of her reign. [I-1] To us, though far off, they
come with a sweet sound. 'The angelic' Thomas Aquinas commented on him,
and many others followed the saint's steps. Dante read him, though,
strange to say, he speaks of the Consolation as 'a book not known by
many. '[I-2] Belgium had her translations--both Flemish[I-3] and
French[I-4]; Germany hers,[I-5] France hers,[I-6] Italy hers. [I-7] The
Latin editors are too numerous to be catalogued here, and manuscripts
abound in all our great libraries.

No philosopher was so bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh of
Middle-age writers as Boethius. Take up what writer you will, and you
find not only the sentiments, but the very words of the distinguished
old Roman. And surely we who read him in Chaucer's tongue, will not
refuse to say that his full-circling meed of glory was other than
deserved. Nor can we marvel that at the end of our great poet's life, he
was glad that he had swelled the chorus of Boethius' praise; and 'of the
translacioun of Boece de Consolacioun,' thanked 'oure Lord Ihesu Crist
and his moder, and alle the seintes in heuen. '

The impression made by Boethius on Chaucer was evidently very deep. Not
only did he translate him directly, as in the present work, but he read
his beloved original over and over again, as witness the following list,
incomplete of course, of passages from Chaucer's poems translated more
or less literally from the _De Consolatione_:

[Footnote I-1: Other translations are by John Walton of Osney, in
verse, in 1410 (Reg. MS. 18, A 13), first printed at Tavistock in
1525, and to be edited some time or other for the E. E. T. S. An
anonymous prose version in the Bodleian. George Coluile, alias
Coldewel, 1556; J. T. 1609; H. Conningesbye, 1664; Lord Preston,
1695, 1712; W. Causton, 1730; Redpath, 1785; R. Duncan, 1789;
anon. 1792 (Lowndes). ]

[Footnote I-2: Dante, in his _Convito_, says, "Misimi a legger
quello _non conosciuto da molti_ libro di Boezio, nel quale
captivo e discacciato consolato s'avea. "]

[Footnote I-3: Printed at Ghent, 1485. ]

[Footnote I-4: By Reynier de Seinct Trudon, printed at Bruges,
1477. ]

[Footnote I-5: An old version of the 11th cent. , printed by Graff,
and a modern one printed at Nuremberg, 1473. ]

[Footnote I-6: By Jean de Meung, printed at Paris, 1494. ]

[Footnote I-7: By Varchi, printed at Florence, 1551; Parma, 1798. ]


I. LOVE.

Wost thou nat wel the olde clerkes sawe,
That who schal yeve a lover eny lawe,
Love is a grettere lawe, by my pan,
Then may be yeve to (of) eny erthly man?

(_Knightes Tale, Aldine Series_, vol. ii. p. 36, 37. )

But what is he ? at may ? eue a lawe to loueres. loue is a gretter
lawe and a strengere to hym self ? an any lawe ? at men may ? euen.

(_Chaucer's Prose Translation_, p. 108. )

_Quis legem det amantibus?
Major lex amor est sibi. _

(Boeth. , lib. iii. met. 12. )


II. A DRUNKEN MAN.

A dronke man wot wel he hath an hous,
But he not[I-8] which the righte wey is thider.

(_Knightes Tale_, vol. ii. p. 39. )

_Ry? t as a dronke man not nat[I-9] by whiche pa? e he may retourne
home to hys house. _

(Chaucer's Trans. , p. 67. )

_Sed velut ebrius, domum quo tramite revertatur, ignorat. _

(Boeth. , lib. iii. pr. 2. )

[Footnote I-8: The Harl. MS. reads _not nat_, to the confusion of
the metre. ]

[Footnote I-9: = ne wot nat = knows not. ]


III. THE CHAIN OF LOVE.

The firste moevere of the cause above,
Whan he first made the fayre cheyne of love,
Gret was theffect, and heigh was his entente;
Wel wist he why, and what therof he mente;
_For with that faire cheyne of love he bond
The fyr, the watir, the eyr, and eek the lond
In certeyn boundes, that they may not flee. _

(_Knightes Tale_, p. 92. )

That ? e world with stable feith / varieth acordable chaungynges //
? at the contraryos qualite of element? holden amonge hem self
aliaunce perdurable / ? at phebus the sonne with his goldene
chariet / bryngeth forth the rosene day / ? at the mone hath
commaundement ouer the nyhtes // whiche nyhtes hesperus the eue
sterre hat[h] browt // ? at ? e se gredy to flowen constreyneth with
a certeyn ende hise floodes / so ? at it is nat l[e]ueful to
strechche hise brode termes or bowndes vp-on the erthes // ? at is
to seyn to couere alle the erthe // Al this a-cordaunce of thinges
is bownden with looue / ? at gouerneth erthe and see / and [he]
hath also commaundement? to the heuenes / and yif this looue
slakede the brydelis / alle thinges ? at now louen hem to-gederes /
wolden maken a batayle contynuely and stryuen to fordoon the
fasoun of this worlde / the which they now leden in acordable
feith by fayre moeuynges // this looue halt to-gideres poeples /
ioygned with an hooly bond / and knytteth sacrement of maryages of
chaste looues // And loue enditeth lawes to trewe felawes // O
weleful weere mankynde / yif thilke loue ? at gouerneth heuene
gouerned yowre corages /.

(_Chaucer's Boethius_, bk. ii. met. 8. )

Quod mundus stabili fide
Concordes variat vices,
Quod pugnantia semina
Foedus perpetuum tenent,
Quod Phoebus roseum diem
Curru provehit aureo,
Ut quas duxerit Hesperus
Phoebe noctibus imperet,
Ut fluctus avidum mare
Certo fine coerceat,
Ne terris liceat vagis
Latos tundere terminos;
_Hanc rerum seriem ligat,
Terras ac pelagus regens,
Et coelo imperitans amor. _
Hic si fraena remiserit,
Quicquid nunc amat invicem,
Bellum continuo geret:
Et quam nunc socia fide
Pulcris motibus incitant,
Certent solvere machinam.
Hic sancto populos quoque
Junctos foedere continet,
Hic et conjugii sacrum
Castis nectit amoribus,
Hic fidis etiam sua
Dictat jura sodalibus.
O felix hominum genus,
Si vestros animos amor,
Quo caelum regitur, regat.

(_Boeth. _, lib. ii. met. 8. )

Love, that of erth and se hath governaunce!
Love, that his hestes hath in hevene hye!
Love, that with an holsom alliaunce
Halt peples joyned, as hym liste hem gye!
Love, that knetteth law and compaignye,
And couples doth in vertu for to dwelle!

(_Troylus & Cryseyde_, st. 243, vol. iv. p. 296. )

That, that the world with faith, which that is stable
Dyverseth so, his stoundes concordynge;--
That elementz, that ben so discordable,
Holden a bond, perpetualy durynge;--
That Phebus mot his rosy carte forth brynge,
And that the mone hath lordschip overe the nyghte;--
Al this doth Love, ay heryed be his myght!

That, that the se, that gredy is to flowen,
Constreyneth to a certeyn ende so
Hise flodes, that so fiersly they ne growen
To drenchen erth and alle for everemo;
And if that Love aught lete his brydel go,
Al that now loveth asonder sholde lepe,
And lost were al that Love halt now to kepe.

(_Ibid. _ st. 244, 245. )


IV. MUTABILITY DIRECTED AND LIMITED BY AN IMMUTABLE AND DIVINE
INTELLIGENCE.

That same prynce and moevere eek, quod he,
Hath stabled, in this wrecched world adoun,
Certeyn dayes and duracioun
To alle that er engendrid in this place,
Over the whiche day they may nat pace,
Al mowe they yit wel here dayes abregge;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Than may men wel by this ordre discerne
That thilke moevere stabul is and eterne.
[I-1] To us, though far off, they
come with a sweet sound. 'The angelic' Thomas Aquinas commented on him,
and many others followed the saint's steps. Dante read him, though,
strange to say, he speaks of the Consolation as 'a book not known by
many. '[I-2] Belgium had her translations--both Flemish[I-3] and
French[I-4]; Germany hers,[I-5] France hers,[I-6] Italy hers. [I-7] The
Latin editors are too numerous to be catalogued here, and manuscripts
abound in all our great libraries.

No philosopher was so bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh of
Middle-age writers as Boethius. Take up what writer you will, and you
find not only the sentiments, but the very words of the distinguished
old Roman. And surely we who read him in Chaucer's tongue, will not
refuse to say that his full-circling meed of glory was other than
deserved. Nor can we marvel that at the end of our great poet's life, he
was glad that he had swelled the chorus of Boethius' praise; and 'of the
translacioun of Boece de Consolacioun,' thanked 'oure Lord Ihesu Crist
and his moder, and alle the seintes in heuen. '

The impression made by Boethius on Chaucer was evidently very deep. Not
only did he translate him directly, as in the present work, but he read
his beloved original over and over again, as witness the following list,
incomplete of course, of passages from Chaucer's poems translated more
or less literally from the _De Consolatione_:

[Footnote I-1: Other translations are by John Walton of Osney, in
verse, in 1410 (Reg. MS. 18, A 13), first printed at Tavistock in
1525, and to be edited some time or other for the E. E. T. S. An
anonymous prose version in the Bodleian. George Coluile, alias
Coldewel, 1556; J. T. 1609; H. Conningesbye, 1664; Lord Preston,
1695, 1712; W. Causton, 1730; Redpath, 1785; R. Duncan, 1789;
anon. 1792 (Lowndes). ]

[Footnote I-2: Dante, in his _Convito_, says, "Misimi a legger
quello _non conosciuto da molti_ libro di Boezio, nel quale
captivo e discacciato consolato s'avea. "]

[Footnote I-3: Printed at Ghent, 1485. ]

[Footnote I-4: By Reynier de Seinct Trudon, printed at Bruges,
1477. ]

[Footnote I-5: An old version of the 11th cent. , printed by Graff,
and a modern one printed at Nuremberg, 1473. ]

[Footnote I-6: By Jean de Meung, printed at Paris, 1494. ]

[Footnote I-7: By Varchi, printed at Florence, 1551; Parma, 1798. ]


I. LOVE.

Wost thou nat wel the olde clerkes sawe,
That who schal yeve a lover eny lawe,
Love is a grettere lawe, by my pan,
Then may be yeve to (of) eny erthly man?

(_Knightes Tale, Aldine Series_, vol. ii. p. 36, 37. )

But what is he ? at may ? eue a lawe to loueres. loue is a gretter
lawe and a strengere to hym self ? an any lawe ? at men may ? euen.

(_Chaucer's Prose Translation_, p. 108. )

_Quis legem det amantibus?
Major lex amor est sibi. _

(Boeth. , lib. iii. met. 12. )


II. A DRUNKEN MAN.

A dronke man wot wel he hath an hous,
But he not[I-8] which the righte wey is thider.

(_Knightes Tale_, vol. ii. p. 39. )

_Ry? t as a dronke man not nat[I-9] by whiche pa? e he may retourne
home to hys house. _

(Chaucer's Trans. , p. 67. )

_Sed velut ebrius, domum quo tramite revertatur, ignorat. _

(Boeth. , lib. iii. pr. 2. )

[Footnote I-8: The Harl. MS. reads _not nat_, to the confusion of
the metre. ]

[Footnote I-9: = ne wot nat = knows not. ]


III. THE CHAIN OF LOVE.

The firste moevere of the cause above,
Whan he first made the fayre cheyne of love,
Gret was theffect, and heigh was his entente;
Wel wist he why, and what therof he mente;
_For with that faire cheyne of love he bond
The fyr, the watir, the eyr, and eek the lond
In certeyn boundes, that they may not flee. _

(_Knightes Tale_, p. 92. )

That ? e world with stable feith / varieth acordable chaungynges //
? at the contraryos qualite of element? holden amonge hem self
aliaunce perdurable / ? at phebus the sonne with his goldene
chariet / bryngeth forth the rosene day / ? at the mone hath
commaundement ouer the nyhtes // whiche nyhtes hesperus the eue
sterre hat[h] browt // ? at ? e se gredy to flowen constreyneth with
a certeyn ende hise floodes / so ? at it is nat l[e]ueful to
strechche hise brode termes or bowndes vp-on the erthes // ? at is
to seyn to couere alle the erthe // Al this a-cordaunce of thinges
is bownden with looue / ? at gouerneth erthe and see / and [he]
hath also commaundement? to the heuenes / and yif this looue
slakede the brydelis / alle thinges ? at now louen hem to-gederes /
wolden maken a batayle contynuely and stryuen to fordoon the
fasoun of this worlde / the which they now leden in acordable
feith by fayre moeuynges // this looue halt to-gideres poeples /
ioygned with an hooly bond / and knytteth sacrement of maryages of
chaste looues // And loue enditeth lawes to trewe felawes // O
weleful weere mankynde / yif thilke loue ? at gouerneth heuene
gouerned yowre corages /.

(_Chaucer's Boethius_, bk. ii. met. 8. )

Quod mundus stabili fide
Concordes variat vices,
Quod pugnantia semina
Foedus perpetuum tenent,
Quod Phoebus roseum diem
Curru provehit aureo,
Ut quas duxerit Hesperus
Phoebe noctibus imperet,
Ut fluctus avidum mare
Certo fine coerceat,
Ne terris liceat vagis
Latos tundere terminos;
_Hanc rerum seriem ligat,
Terras ac pelagus regens,
Et coelo imperitans amor. _
Hic si fraena remiserit,
Quicquid nunc amat invicem,
Bellum continuo geret:
Et quam nunc socia fide
Pulcris motibus incitant,
Certent solvere machinam.
Hic sancto populos quoque
Junctos foedere continet,
Hic et conjugii sacrum
Castis nectit amoribus,
Hic fidis etiam sua
Dictat jura sodalibus.
O felix hominum genus,
Si vestros animos amor,
Quo caelum regitur, regat.

(_Boeth. _, lib. ii. met. 8. )

Love, that of erth and se hath governaunce!
Love, that his hestes hath in hevene hye!
Love, that with an holsom alliaunce
Halt peples joyned, as hym liste hem gye!
Love, that knetteth law and compaignye,
And couples doth in vertu for to dwelle!

(_Troylus & Cryseyde_, st. 243, vol. iv. p. 296. )

That, that the world with faith, which that is stable
Dyverseth so, his stoundes concordynge;--
That elementz, that ben so discordable,
Holden a bond, perpetualy durynge;--
That Phebus mot his rosy carte forth brynge,
And that the mone hath lordschip overe the nyghte;--
Al this doth Love, ay heryed be his myght!

That, that the se, that gredy is to flowen,
Constreyneth to a certeyn ende so
Hise flodes, that so fiersly they ne growen
To drenchen erth and alle for everemo;
And if that Love aught lete his brydel go,
Al that now loveth asonder sholde lepe,
And lost were al that Love halt now to kepe.

(_Ibid. _ st. 244, 245. )


IV. MUTABILITY DIRECTED AND LIMITED BY AN IMMUTABLE AND DIVINE
INTELLIGENCE.

That same prynce and moevere eek, quod he,
Hath stabled, in this wrecched world adoun,
Certeyn dayes and duracioun
To alle that er engendrid in this place,
Over the whiche day they may nat pace,
Al mowe they yit wel here dayes abregge;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Than may men wel by this ordre discerne
That thilke moevere stabul is and eterne.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
And therfore of his wyse purveaunce
He hath so wel biset his ordenaunce,
That spices of thinges and progressiouns
Schullen endure by successiouns
And nat eterne be, withoute any lye.

(_Knightes Tale_, vol. ii. p. 92, 93. )

? e engendrynge of alle ? inges quod she and alle ? e progressiouns
of muuable nature. and alle ? at moeue? in any manere taki? hys
causes. hys ordre. and hys formes. of ? e stablenesse of ? e deuyne
? ou? t [and thilke deuyne thowht] ? at is yset and put in ? e toure.
? at is to seyne in ? e hey? t of ? e simplicite of god. stablisi?
many manere gyses to ? inges ? at ben to don.

(_Chaucer's Boethius_, bk. iv. pr. 6, p. 134. )


V. THE PART IS DERIVED FROM THE WHOLE, THE IMPERFECT FROM THE PERFECT.

Wel may men knowe, but it be a fool,
That every partye dyryveth from his hool.
For nature hath nat take his bygynnyng
Of no partye ne cantel of a thing,
But of a thing that parfyt is and stable,
Descendyng so, til it be corumpable.

(_Knightes Tale_, vol. ii. p. 92. )

For al ? ing ? at is cleped inperfit .