thay arette it to the defaute of myn unconnyng, and not to my wille, that wolde fayn have sayd better if I hadde connyng; for the book saith, al that is writen for oure doctrine is writen.' Wherfore I biseke yow mekely for the mercy of God that ye pray for me, that Chaucer did not make the retractation voluntarily, or of his own accord; because, if he desired to revoke his writings, or to express his regret for them, there would have been no necessity for his spiritual adviser to persuade him to do so. Now we have in this very recantation itself, the most conclusive evidence that Chaucer did desire to recal certain portions of his writings, and that he had already actually done so in the most formal and deliberate shape; for he distinctly alludes to several of his poems which he had previously revoked in what he calls his Retracciouns, a book, or treatise, which he appears to have written for the express purpose, but which is now lost. This retractation, therefore, with which he concludes The Persones Tale, is, iu fact, neither more nor less than a summary or repetition at the end of his great labour, of that sentiment of regret which he had already more fully and carefully expressed. Nor are we at liberty to question the authenticity of this retractation, on the grounds that Chaucer might have exhibited his repentance still more effectually by suppressing his objectionable poems, since it is certain that, although The Canterbury Tales were not yet concluded, many of the detached parts and introductory dialogues had passed into extensive circulation, and could not be recalled. Besides, even if the MSS. could be recovered, and committed to the fire, the wish to remove the impression they had made would still animate the poet under the influence of the feelings so strongly and touchingly displayed in this remarkable passage. Upon the whole of the evidence the authority of the MSS., and the tenderness and pathos of the composition, in itself highly characteristic of Chaucer's manner-the authenticity of the retractation may be regarded as being fairly established; and the following considerations will clear up the only remaining apparent inconsistency. It was usual for theologians, from St. Augustin down, to wind up a treatise by submitting their opinions to the judgment of the Church, and retracting any which might be found repugnant to its doctrines. The probability is obvious enough that some such formulary was appended to the tract from which Chaucer derived The Persones Tale; and it would be quite in accordance with his general spirit, and his practice on more than one occasion, partly to reassume his own character, and to take leave of his readers by the mouth of the Persone, thus availing himself of the custom of theologians to close his last great literary work with a graceful and pathetic peroration. This hypothesis explains the confusion between the author and the character he assumes. The passage, as Tyrwhitt remarks, contains some expressions peculiarly applicable to the reciter of the tale. These we are enabled, by this hypothesis, to refer to the original from which Chaucer translates; while those that refer to the writings revoked by the poet constitute Chaucer's adaptation of the original to his own case. 1 Rom. xv. 4. God have mercy on me and forgeve me my giltes, and nameliche my translaciouns and of endityng in worldly vanitees, whiche I revoke in my retracciouns, as is the book of Troyles,' the book also of Fame, the book of twenty-five Ladies, the book of the Duchesses, the book of seint Valentines day and of the Parlement of briddes, the Tales of Caunturbury, alle thilke that sounen into synne, the book of the Leo, and many other bokes, if thay were in my mynde or remembraunce, and many a song and many a leccherous lay, of the whiche Crist for his grete mercy forgive me the synnes. But of the translacioun of Boce de consolacioun, and other bokes of consolacioun and of legend of lyves of seints, and Omelies, and moralitees, and devocioun, that thanke I oure Lord Jhesu Crist, and his moder, and alle the seintes in heven, bisekyng hem that thay fro hennysforth unto my lyves ende sende me grace to biwayle my gultes, and to studien to the savacioun of my soule, and graunte me grace and space of verray repentaunce, penitence, confessioun, and satisfaccioun, to don in this present lif, thurgh the benigne grace of him, that is king of kynges and prest of alle prestis, that bought us with his precious blood of his hert, so that I moote be oon of hem at the day of doom that schal be saved; qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis et regnas Deus per omnia secula. Amen. · 1 Of the works here enumerated, all are extant except that called The Book of the Leo. It is ascribed to Chaucer by Lydgate in his Prologue to Boccaccio. Tyrwhitt conjectures that it may possibly have been a translation of Le dit du Lion, a poem of Guillaume de Machault, written in the year 1342. The Book of Twenty-five Ladies is probably The Legende of Gode Women; but this consists of the lives of nineteen ladies only [or rather was intended to have nineteen, but is unfinished.] Tyrwhitt supposes that xxv. was written by inistake for xix. For The Book of the Duchesses Tyrwhitt reads Duchess. By the 'legend of lyves of seints' may possibly be meant the stories related by the Prioresse and Second Nonne in The Canterbury Tales. The allusions in The Legend of Gode Women to some of these pieces as distinct works, confirms the fact that the tales and poems had got into circulation from time to time as they were written. [ON THE ORDER OF THE CANTERBURY TALES. THE order in which Chaucer intended that The Canterbury Tules should be placed is a question of some difficulty. Mr. Furnivall has endeavoured, in his "Temporary Preface" to the six-text edition of The Canterbury Tales published by the Chaucer Society, to solve it, and a summary of his results is, with his permission, here reproduced. The internal evidence on which this is based is mostly collected from the prologues, and the few indications of time which occur in them or the Tales are plainly opposed to the theory that they were meant to occupy one day only. Some editors have, therefore, suggested either that the journey took two days, or that some of the tales belong to a return journey (see ante, p. 24, note 1). To dispose of the latter theory first, we may say that there is no other indication of a return journey, and that other writers contemporary with, or little later than, Chaucer, altogether ignored the notion. This is proved by the fact that two spurious continuations inserted in Urry's edition both start at Canterbury.1 Assuming, then, that the tales were all told on the down journey, which occupied more than one day, we find it probable that at least three, and more likely four days were so occupied. For, 1stly. If we suppose that only two days were taken up in the 56 miles between London and Canterbury, the first day's journey must, from the allusions, have been 46 miles, whilst nearly another whole day was devoted to the remaining 10 miles, a difference of rate which is unreasonable. 2ndly. When it is remembered what a miscellaneous company the pilgrims were, how some were badly mounted, and moreover got drunk on the way, how they started "at litel 1 One of these is the Tale of Beryn, the prologue of which gives the nocturnal adventures of the Pardoner in the inn at Canterbury; it is perhaps by the writer of The Cook's Tale of Gamelyn. The other is the Siege of Thebes, which is known to be by Lydgate, and purports to be the first tale on the return journey. more than paas" (vol. i. p. 110), and that, at the same time, they were telling or listening to a continuous string of tales, it will seem impossible that they can have accomplished more than fifteen or twenty miles in a day at the most. [? End of First Day's Journey at Dartford, 15 miles.] MAN OF LAW's Prol. and (Host concludes that it is Tale. SHIPMAN'S Prol. and Tale3 10 o'clock, vol. i., p. 267. [? End of Second Day's Journey at ROCHESTER, 30 miles.] DOCTOR'S Tale III. PARDONER'S Prol. and Tale 6 (Pardoner requires first to drink and byten on a cake,' vol. ii., p. 68.4 1 The reading 'past prime' of the Harl. MS. is probably wrong 2 Here it might have been intended to insert other tales, either of the Ploughman or of some of the five city livery-men (see vol. i., p. 93), to whom none are assigned in any MS. 3 The connecting link between The Man of Law's Tale and the Shipman's will be found in the first few lines of the Prologue to the latter (vol. ii., p. 90), where the expression "learned men of lore" evidently points to the Lawyer who had just spoken, and to the Parson, who was asked to give a tale next. They are also connected by a repetition of phrase which does not occur in the Harl. MS. See Mr. Furnivall's 'Temporary Preface.' 4 Mr. Furnivall considers that this reference indicates an early hour of the day, before dinner. This group might be referred to any other morning, but it fits in here best. 3rdly. Mr. Furnivall cites the details of two real journeys between London and Canterbury, in which the travellers stopped for three nights on the road, viz., at Dartford, Rochester, and Ospringe, doing 15, 15, 16, and 10 miles on [? End of Third Day's Journey, say at OSPRINGE, 46 miles.] SQUIRE's Prol. and Tale. (465 FRANKLIN'S Prol. and Tale SECOND NUN's Tale. CANON'S YEOMAN'S Prol. MANCIPLE'S Prol. and Tale PARSON'S Prol. and Tale. (They are at Boughton- [? End of Fourth Day's Journey at Canterbury, 56 miles.] 1 It is absolutely necessary to divide The Squire's Prologue (the first 22 lines of which refer only to the preceding tale), because The Squire's Tale was narrated early in the morning (at prime), whilst the Merchant's must have been tolerably late in the preceding day. 2 This locality is doubtful: it may be Harbledown, or Chartham Hatch. Sat. Review, March 14th, 1874. 3 As The Canon's Yeoman's Tale is told in the morning, it is difficult to account for its being 4 P.M. when The Manciple's Tale ends, unless we suppose that they had a long halt before he began. Perhaps the difficulty with the Cook induced them to delay, which they might well be supposed to do at so short a distance from the end of their journey. See note 1, p. 249, above. VOL. II. 2 |