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
Understond wel, that evere-mo, fro the arysing of the sonne til
it go to reste, the nadir of the sonne shal shewe the houre of the
planete, and fro that tyme forward al the night til the sonne
aryse; than shal the verrey degree of the sonne shewe the houre
of the planete. Ensample as thus. The 13 day of March fil 5
up-on a Saterday per aventure, and, at the arising of the sonne, I
fond the secounde degree of Aries sitting up-on myn est orisonte,
al-be-it that it was but lite; than fond I the 2 degree of Libra,
nadir of my sonne, dessending on my west orisonte, up-on which
west orisonte every day generally, at the sonne ariste, entreth 10
the houre of any planete, after which planete the day bereth his
name; and endeth in the nexte stryk of the plate under the
forseide west orisonte; and evere, as the sonne climbeth uppere
and uppere, so goth his nadir dounere and dounere, teching by
swich strykes the houres of planetes by ordre as they sitten in 15
the hevene. The first houre inequal of every Satterday is to
Saturne; and the secounde, to Iupiter; the 3, to Mars; the 4,
to the Sonne; the 5, to Venus; the 6, to Mercurius; the 7, to
the Mone; and thanne agayn, the 8 is to Saturne; the 9, to
Iupiter; the 10, to Mars; the 11, to the Sonne; the 12, to 20
Venus; and now is my sonne gon to reste as for that Setterday.
Thanne sheweth the verrey degree of the sonne the houre of
Mercurie entring under my west orisonte at eve; and next him
succedeth the Mone; and so forth by ordre, planete after
planete, in houre after houre, al the night longe til the sonne 25
aryse. Now ryseth the sonne that Sonday by the morwe; and
the nadir of the sonne, up-on the west orizonte, sheweth me the
entring of the houre of the forseide sonne. And in this maner
succedeth planete under planete, fro Saturne un-to the Mone,
and fro the Mone up a-gayn to Saturne, houre after houre 30
generaly. And thus knowe I this conclusioun. And for the
more declaracioun, lo here the figure.
13. TO KNOWE THE ALTITUDE OF THE SONNE IN MIDDES OF THE DAY, THAT IS
CLEPED THE ALTITUDE MERIDIAN.
[AD COGNOSCENDUM ALTITUDINEM SOLIS IN MEDIO DIEI, QUE VOCATUR ALTITUDO
MERIDIANA.]
Set the degree of the sonne up-on the lyne meridional, and
rikene how many degrees of almikanteras ben by-twixe thyn est
orisonte and the degree of the sonne. And tak ther thyn altitude
meridian; this is to seyne, the heyest of the sonne as for that day.
So maystow knowe in the same lyne, the heyest cours that any 5
sterre fix climbeth by night; this is to seyn, that whan any sterre
fix is passed the lyne meridional, than by-ginneth it to descende,
and so doth the sonne. And for the more declaracioun, lo here
thy figure.
14. TO KNOWE THE DEGREE OF THE SONNE BY THY RIET, FOR A MANER CURIOSITEE,
&C.
[AD COGNOSCENDUM GRADUM SOLIS CURIOSE.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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