The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 2 (of 2)Skelton, John
General
The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 2 (of 2)
Skelton, John
English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700
v. 1031. _The Indy saphyre blew_] _Indy_ may perhaps be used here
for—Indian; but I believe the expression is equivalent to—the azure
blue sapphire (Skelton in his _Garlande of Laurell_ has “_saphiris indy
blew_,” v. 478, vol. i. 381); see note, p. 101. v. 17.
v. 1032. _ennew_] See note on v. 775. p. 144.
Page 82. v. 1034. _lere_] i. e. skin.
v. 1035. _lusty_] i. e. pleasant, beautiful.
—— _ruddes_] i. e. ruddy tints of the cheek, complexion.
Page 83. v. 1048. _with fauour fret_]—_fauour_, i. e. beauty; so Skelton
has “feturs _fauorable_,” in the second of his _Balettys_, v. 8, vol.
i. 23: _fret_, I believe, does not here mean fraught (see Tyrwhitt’s
_Gloss._ to Chaucer’s _Cant. Tales_), but is equivalent to—wrought,
adorned,—in allusion to fret-work; so in our author’s _Garlande of
Laurell_,—
“_Fret_ all with orient perlys of Garnate.”
v. 485, vol. i. 381.
v. 1052.
_The columbine commendable,_
_The ielofer amyable_]
_Ielofer_ is perhaps what we now call gillyflower; but it was formerly
the name for the whole class of carnations, pinks, and sweetwilliams. So
Graunde Amoure terms La Bell Pucell;
“The gentyll _gyllofer_ the goodly _columbyne_.”
Hawes’s _Pastime of pleasure_, sig. N i. ed. 1555.
v. 1065. _denayd_] i. e. denied.
v. 1069. _conuenyently_] i. e. fittingly, suitably.
Page 84. v. 1077. _sker_] i. e. scar: see v. 1045.
v. 1078. _Enhached_] i. e. Inlaid: our author has the word again in his
_Garlande of Laurell_;
“_Enhachyde_ with perle and stones preciously.”
v. 40. vol. i. 363.
v. 1081. _To forget deadly syn_] Compare the first of our author’s
_Balettys_, v. 11. vol. i. 22.
v. 1096. _pastaunce_] i. e. pastime.
v. 1097. _So sad and so demure_]—_sad_, i. e. serious, grave, sober: so
afterwards, “_Sobre_, demure Dyane.” v. 1224.
v. 1100. _make to the lure_] A metaphor from falconry: “_Lure_ is that
whereto Faulconers call their young Hawks, by casting it up in the aire,
being made of feathers and leather, in such wise that in the motion it
looks not unlike a fowl.” Latham’s _Faulconry_ (_Explan. of Words of
Art_), 1658.
v. 1102. _hole_] i. e. whole.
Page 85. v. 1105. _crased_] i. e. crushed, enfeebled.
v. 1106. _dased_] i. e. dazzled.
v. 1116.
_And to amende her tale,_
_Whan she lyst to auale_]
—_auale_ is generally—to let down, to lower: but I know not how to
explain the present passage, which appears to be defective.
Page 85. v. 1118.
_And with her fyngers smale,_
_And handes soft as sylke,_
_Whyter than the mylke,_
_That are so quyckely vayned_]
—_quyckely vayned_, i. e. lively veined. Compare Hawes;
“By her propre _hande, soft as any sylke_.”
_The Pastime of pleasure_, sig. H iiii. ed. 1555.
“_Her fingers small_, and therto right longe,
_White as the milke, with blew vaynes_ among.”
_Id._ sig. S i.
v. 1124. _Vnneth_] i. e. Scarcely, not without difficulty. Here again the
text seems to be defective.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account