So thanne I went-ë by straunge and fer-rë contrees; 57. Alceste it was that kept-ë there her sojour; 105. To whom obeyd-ën the ladies god-ë nynten-ë; 108. And yong-ë men fel-ë cam-ë forth with lusty pace; 110. O bright-ë Regina, who mad-ë thee so fair? 141. And mercy ask-ë for al my gret-ë trespas; 166. This eight-ë-ten-ë yeer have kept yourself at large; 184. In me did never worch-ë trew-ë-ly, yit I; 212. And ther I sey the fres-shë quene of Cartáge; 231. A! new-ë com-ën folk, abyde, and woot ye why; 271. Than gan I me present-ë tofor-ë the king; 274. That thou be trew-ë from henn-es-forth, to thy might; 289. And nam-ë-ly haw-ë-thorn brought-ën both-ë page and grom-ë; 1433. Very many more such examples may be given. Or take the following; Chaucer has (L. G. W. 476):-- For Love ne wól nat countrepleted be. And this is how it reappears in C. L. 429:-- For Love wil not be counterpleted, indede! Here the melody of the line is completely spoilt. In the present state of our knowledge of the history of the English language, any notion of attributing The Court of Love to Chaucer is worse than untenable; for it is wholly disgraceful. Everything points to a very late date, and tends to exclude it, not only from the fourteenth, but even from the fifteenth century. At the same time, it will readily be granted that the poem abounds with Chaucerian words and phrases to an extent that almost surpasses even the poems of Lydgate. The versification is smooth, and the poem, as a whole, is pleasing. I have nothing to say against it, when considered on its own merits. § 75. Space fails me to discuss the somewhat vexed question of the Courts of Love, of which some have denied the existence. However, there seems to be good evidence to shew that they arose in Provence, and were due to the extravagances of the troubadours. They were travesties of the courts of law, with a lady of rank for a judge, and minstrels for advocates; and they discussed subtle questions relating to affairs of love, usually between troubadours and ladies. The discussions were conducted with much seriousness, and doubtless often served to give much amusement to many idle people. Not unfrequently they led to tragedies, as is easily understood when we notice that the first of one set of thirty-one Laws of Love runs as follows:--'Marriage cannot be pleaded as an excuse for refusing to love.' The reader who requires further information is referred to 'The Troubadours and Courts of Love,' by J. F. Rowbotham, M.A., London, Swan Sonnenschein and Co., 1895. It is perhaps necessary to observe that the said Courts have very little to do with the present poem, which treats of a Court of Cupid in the Chaucerian sense (Leg. Good Women, 352). Even the statutes of the Court are largely imitated from Lydgate. § 76. PIECES NUMBERED XXV-XXIX.