Chaucer's Works, Volume 3 — The House of Fame; The Legend of Good Women; The Treatise on the Astrolabe; The Sources of the Canterbury TalesChaucer, Geoffrey
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Chaucer's Works, Volume 3 — The House of Fame; The Legend of Good Women; The Treatise on the Astrolabe; The Sources of the Canterbury Tales
Chaucer, Geoffrey
English poetry -- Middle English, 1100-1500
Thy Zodiak of thyn Astrolabie is shapen as a compas which that
conteneth a large brede, as after the quantite of thyn Astrolabie; 25
in ensample that the zodiak in hevene is imagened to ben a superfice
contening a latitude of twelve degrees, wheras al the remenant
of cercles in the hevene ben imagined verrey lynes with-oute eny
latitude. Amiddes this celestial zodiak ys imagined a lyne, which
that is cleped the Ecliptik Lyne, under which lyne is evermo the 30
wey of the sonne. Thus ben ther six degrees of the zodiak on
that on side of the lyne, and six degrees on that other. This
zodiak is devided in twelve principal devisiouns, that departen the
twelve signes. And, for the streitnes of thin Astrolabie, than is
every smal devisioun in a signe departid by two degrees and two; 35
I mene degrees contening sixty minutes. And this forseide
hevenissh zodiak is cleped the Cercle of the Signes, or the Cercle
of the Bestes; for _zodia_ in langage of Greek sowneth 'bestes' in
Latin tonge; and in the zodiak ben the twelve signes that ban
names of bestes; or elles, for whan the sonne entreth in any of the 40
signes, he taketh the propretee of swich bestes; or elles, for that
the sterres that ben there fixed ben disposed in signes of bestes,
or shape like bestes; or elles, whan the planetes ben under thilke
signes, they causen us by hir influence operaciouns and effectes
lyk to the operaciouns of bestes. And understonde also, that whan 45
an hot planete cometh in-to an hot signe, than encresseth his hete;
and yif a planete be cold, thanne amenuseth his coldnesse, by-cause
of the hote signe. And by this conclusioun maystow take ensample
in alle the signes, be they moist or drye, or moeble or fix; rekening
the qualitee of the planete as I first seide. And everich of 50
thise twelve signes hath respecte to a certein parcelle of the body
of a man and hath it in governance; as Aries hath thyn heved, and
Taurus thy nekke and thy throte, Gemini thyn armholes and thyn
armes, and so forth; as shal be shewed more pleyn in the fifte
partie of this tretis. This zodiak, which that is part of the eighte 55
spere, over-kerveth the equinoxial; and he over-kerveth him again
in evene parties; and that on half declineth southward, and that
other northward, as pleynly declareth the tretis of the spere. And
for more declaracioun, lo here thy figure.
22. Thanne hastow a label, that is schapen lyk a rewle, save that
it is streit and hath no plates on either ende with holes; but, with
the smale point of the forseide label, shallow calcule thyne
equaciouns in the bordure of thin Astrolabie, as by thyn almury.
And for the more declaracioun, lo here thy figure. 5
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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