Chaucerian and Other Pieces: Being a Supplement to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer
General
Chaucerian and Other Pieces: Being a Supplement to the Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400
A strange misprint occurs in Book III. ch. 4, ll. 30, 31 (p. 117), where
nearly two whole lines occur twice over; but the worst confusion is due to
an extraordinary dislocation of the text in Book III. (c. iv. l. 56--c. ix.
l. 46), as recently discovered by the sagacity of Mr. H. Bradley, and
explained more fully below.
I have also, for the first time, revised the punctuation, which in Thynne
is only denoted by frequent sloping strokes and full stops, which are not
always inserted in the right places. And I have broken up the chapters into
convenient paragraphs.
§ 8. A very curious point about this piece is the fact which I was the
first to observe, viz. that the initial letters of the various chapters
were certainly intended to form an acrostic. Unfortunately, Thynne did not
perceive this design, and has certainly begun some of the chapters either
with the wrong letter or at a wrong place. The sense shews that the first
letter of Book I. ch. viii. should be E, not O (see the note); and, with
this correction, the initial letters of the First Book yield the
words--MARGARETE OF.
In Book II, Thynne begins Chapters XI and XII at wrong places, viz. with
the word 'Certayn' (p. 86, l. 133), and the word 'Trewly' (p. 89, l. 82).
He thus produces the words--VIRTW HAVE MCTRCI. It is obvious that the last
word ought to be MERCI, which can be obtained by beginning Chapter XI with
the word 'Every,' which suits the sense quite as well.
For the chapters of Book III, we are again dependent on Thynne. If we
accept his arrangement as it stands, the letters yielded are--ON THSKNVI;
and the three books combined give us the sentence:--MARGARETE OF VIRTW,
HAVE MERCI ON THSKNVI. Here 'Margarete of virtw' means 'Margaret endued
with divine virtue'; and the author appeals either to the Grace of God, or
to the Church. The last word ought to give us the author's name; but in
that case the letters require rearrangement before the riddle can be read
with certainty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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