"nondimeno il peso dell' arme havra fatta l'operation sua su le carni et su l'ossa de Elisandro." 245. "La salsa de S. Bernardo"- -a phrase for hunger. 250. All the women fall in love with the inexorable Tristan at first sight, and one of them dies of love in the course of an hour or two. Perceval le Galloys. THE Preface calls it " ung ancien livre intitule Lhystoire de Perceval le gallois faict en ryme et langaige non usité, lesquelz ilz avoient faict traduyte de ryme en prose et langaige moderne pour imprimer." The prologue states that Philip, Count of Flanders, gave orders to bring to light the life and chivalrous deeds of Percival "suyvant le chronique diceluy Prince et traictie du S. Graal." Both he and his chronicler died before this could be accomplished; and a long time after Madame Jehanne, Countess of Flanders, seeing the beginning of the Chronicle, and knowing the intention of Count Philip her "ayeul," ordered "ung sien familier orateur" named Mennessier "traduire et achever" this work. The which he did, but because his language and that of his predecessor is not in usage in our common French but "fort non acoustumete estrange," to satisfy the desires, pleasures, and will of the princes, lords, and others following the mother tongue of France, I have employed myself" a traduire et mectre de Rithme en prose" the book, following closely according to my possibility and power the sense of my predecessor-translators. tement proprement vestue et par especial manches serrees et estroictes portoit, parquoy les aultres la nommerent la pucelle aux manches estroictes." 30. "Le superlatif du tournoy." 44. Arthur's mother turns out to be alive in this romance, living in a castle, where Gavain by great adventure discovers her. Mother and son, however, meet afterwards with great unconcern. 67. Gawain cut off a man's head-" actaignit ung de telle sorte que la teste envoia par terre, qui si doulcement et vistement fust decollé, que bien petit ne sentit lespee.” 71. "Tristan qui jamais ne rist." 112. After a long battle,-" il est assez a croire et a considerer que les deux chevalliers furent lors fort foibles et petit vertueux, car tant avoient de sang perdu qua grand peine se soubstenoient." 126. A chapter begins thus-"Icy fine et fault le compte delescu,"-but no tale of a shield has been told. 133. A chess board, where one set play themselves. It seems they were made at London. 146. Fighting with a knight whose sword breaks, Perceval throws away his own sword, and proposes to finish the battle with fists, so they set to and box, knock one another's helmets off (not considering the knuckles), and then hammer away at the face and the teeth, till the knight loses his wind and yields. This is the only boxing match I have met with. There are no regular squires in these romances. 155. "Ne peult homme estre du Dyable deceu du jour quil le graal veu aura; ne Was the metrical Romance then in Flem- sçauroit telle voye tenir quil puist faire ung ish or in Walloon ? peche mortel." 157. A huntsman "bien botté dugnes bottes dengleterre." 175. "Le beau descongneu is Guiglaius," son of Gavain. 177. "Gauchier de Doudain qui ceste hystoire nous a commemoree." 196. Here we have the Dame de Male hault, whose brother is here made the king of the hundred knights. 196. "Les oysillons chantent en leur latin divers mottetz en leur ramage." At the end Perceval has a brother called Agloal-the author forgetting that all his brothers had been killed at the beginning. He turns hermit, and when he dies the Graal and the Lana and "le digne tailloir dargent" are carried up to heaven with his soul. There are some good adventures of Gavan, whose history takes up as great a part of the work as Perceval's. One of these represents him as behaving very ill. This story is grossly inconsistent, strangely so; but on the whole the author considers him as a perfect knight. Perceval is by no means a hero who attracts the reader; he is far too indifferent to his plighted Blanchefleur. “TURN in, my mind, and wander not abroad, Only the Trinity, that made it, can Here's work enough at home." "Self-knowledge 'twixt a wise man and a fool Doth make the difference." "Hast thou an ear To listen but to what thou shouldst not hear ?" No chronological order is observed in these extracts, but they are given as they appear to have been written.--J. W. W. Suffice the vast triangled heart of man." 40." And antedate my own damnation by despair." Here, I think, Penn found his title.1 Job. P. 179. SATAN's account of his employment on earth. A stroke of satire, hardly to have been looked for here. 185. Alexander. "Wouldst thou by conquest win more fame than he ? Subdue thyself; thyself's a world to thee." P. 268. "Even when her bed-rid faith was grown so frail, That very hope grew heartless to prevail." But this whole Meditation is impressive The weakness of a lonely woman's breast." 276. -"some false delusion that possest as well as characteristic. 206. Meditation 8. The title alluded to is his No Cross no Crown, &c. 1682. 8vo. It is Jeremy Taylor that says (I quote memoriter), ." Every person shall in some sort bear his cross, and it is not well with those who do it not." 2 This is the old sense of the word. I instance the following, not found in NARES' Gloss. or elsewhere, "Which union must all divers things attone," &c. LORD BROOKE, Treat. of Monarchie. "And if some kind wight goe not to attone My surly master with me, wretched maid, I shall be beaten dead." BROWNE, Britannia's Pastorals. nature. 381. Here is Cowley's conceit, speaking of the temple which Samson pulled down, the ruins, he says, "with an unexpected blow, Gave every one his death and burial too." 382. The concluding Meditation. Sion's Sonnets. THIS is a paraphrase of Solomon's Song, cut into shreds of four couplets, in which I have not found a single line or expression worth noting. Sion's Elegies, wept by Jeremie the Prophet. THIS is a paraphrase of the Lamentations, in elegies of six couplets. And he follows the Hebrew form, by beginning them alphabetically. Is wit now went so wandering from thy mind?" As in the first edition of his "Hundred sundry Flowers, 1572," the account of his P. 445. "My joys are turn'd to sorrows, shipwreck is called "last voyage into Hol backt with fears, And I, poor I, lie pickled up in tears.” An Alphabet of Elegies upon Dr. Ailmer. In the same form as the Lamentations, concluded with an alphabetical epitaph,in which, however, he leaves out X and Z, and makes I and U stand each, as in the dictionary, for two letters. Elegy on Dr. Wilson of the Rolls. P. 505. “My passion has no April in her eyes. I cannot spend in mists; I cannot mizzle; And shine within an hour." "let such perfume Suspicious lines with skill, whilst I presume On strength of nature.” Spirit and evil he uses as monosyllables. Mildreiados. To the Memory of Mildred, In this poem he has imitated the manner of Phineas Fletcher. The epitaph is in shape of an hour-glass. Gascoigne. THE affair in which he was taken prisoner must be that which is so misrepresented in Grimestone's History, p. 558. See also P. Bor. i. 504, where, though still with an injurious suspicion, the matter is better explained. And the Commentarios of D. Bernardino de Mendoza, ff. 250. land in March," it appears that he had visited that country before. |