Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Troilus and Criseyde
    Troilus and Criseyde
    Troilus and Criseyde
    Ebook362 pages6 hours

    Troilus and Criseyde

    By Geoffrey Chaucer

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Remarkable for his beauty and bravery, the warrior Troilus is an engaging youth who lives, and eventually dies, for Cressida, a virtuous, tender-hearted woman driven to infidelity by circumstance. Regarded by many as Chaucer's most noble work of art, Troilus and Cressida is an outstanding choice for readers of mythology and medieval poetry.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStart Publishing LLC
    Release dateDec 11, 2012
    ISBN9781625581297
    Troilus and Criseyde
    Author

    Geoffrey Chaucer

    Often referred to as the father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer was a fourteenth-century philosopher, alchemist, astrologer, bureaucrat, diplomat, and author of many significant poems. Chaucer’s writing was influential in English literary tradition, as it introduced new rhyming schemes and helped develop the vernacular tradition—the use of everyday English—rather than the literary French and Latin, which were common in written works of the time. Chaucer’s best-known—and most imitated—works include The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, The Book of the Duchess, and The House of Fame.

    Read more from Geoffrey Chaucer

    Related to Troilus and Criseyde

    Related ebooks

    Poetry For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Love’s Labour’s Found

      Dec 6, 2020

      From late summer 1592 until the end of the following year, the plague was rife in London, and to stop packed crowds from spreading infection, theatres were closed. William Shakespeare, who had just begun to make a name for himself as a playwright, tu

      7 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Jul 1, 2022

      After centuries of deferralto the white sky cloud cover God, who kept me on orange alert,babbling for mercies that were batted away sloppilylike dustballs in the wake of a sock, I turned to the Divine Creatrix,who built the short night, I was convinc

      2 min read

    • Article

      DULCE DOMUM From The Wind In The Willows

      Nov 1, 2022

      DULCE DOMUM From The Wind In The Willows
      11 min read

    • Article

      Patricia Smith

      Mar 15, 2019

      but which verbs do you employ when it’s clear that you are tryingto side-eye murder your mother, when you are the chilling moral of every blazing honor thy Sunday sermon, when you are nothingless than blasphemy blown wide? How you do lift the bleatin

      1 min read

    • Article

      Saint Cuthbert’s Incorruptible Body

      Sep 8, 2020

      In the year of our Lord 687, in cause of an early, wet spring, the body of Saint Cuthbert was laid in the ground to rest. On the tomb were figured angels and seraphim of plain but wonderful design. And among these flitted cherubs, like apricots set i

      19 min read

    • Article

      Carningli

      Mar 22, 2024

      Carningli
      4 min read

    • Article

      Jeremias Gotthelf

      Feb 28, 2020

      Jeremias Gotthelf
      27 min read

    • Article

      HERNAN BAS New and Recent Work

      Dec 15, 2018

      HERNAN BAS New and Recent Work
      6 min read

    • Article

      Chitchat

      Nov 24, 2023

      Chitchat
      12 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      Sep 4, 2018

      In London. England. Who knows why?Perhaps this rumpled guyFrom central casting or a page of Dickens.He’s taking ordinary usTo haunts of the illustrious,Where even dull pulse quickens. A red felt hat’s dark fingered brim,Food-spotted vest are—him.A mo

      4 min read

    • Article

      Press Ganged!

      May 1, 2020

      Press Ganged!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Bard In The Woods

      Nov 30, 2020

      Bard In The Woods
      4 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems by Geoffrey Hill

      Dec 15, 2018

      62. Why such irony in re the mystical context when a graph of even the most commonplace exchange would appear perplexed; when we drop out from the plainest statement in the posture of a bat? So, decide to make something of that, the style to resemble

      2 min read

    • Article

      John Ashbery

      Mar 15, 2019

      He could understand the things at home.—Wallace Stevens, “Things of August” Scribbled on the expansive mist, the desireof many dwindles to usand our “activities,” wholesomeor otherwise. Soon it becomes apparentthat neither they nor I have any prise o

      4 min read

    • Article

      Rome: Prince Rogers Nelson Dead

      Mar 1, 2020

      I had stage fright before the baroqueof Rome, afraid some part of mewould get loose in the volutes and the cork-screwedcolumns like the minds of the melancholyarchitects that overshot the human. I was dizzy.I was thirsty. I didn’t know the bodyof wor

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Definition Of True Friendship

      Aug 3, 2022

      THERE are ways of finding out who your true friends are. Coming out as an evangelist for the Holy Trinity Brompton Alpha programme has been known to winnow the wheat from the chaff for some. Or being a pyramid-scheme salesman when that was in vogue.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS

      Aug 5, 2021

      profanisaurus@viz.co.uk aroma diffuser 1. n. A scientific device that breaks “essential oils” down into smaller molecules, dispersing them into the air for a pleasant or calming effect on the gullible. 2. n. The arsehole. Barbie’s minge sim. Somethin

      8 min read

    • Article

      Ordinary Lives

      Sep 11, 2023

      I’ve so enjoyed the summer of family history programmes on TV, Who Do You Think You Are?, Long Lost Family and the various DNA journeys. Informative, entertaining, and often poignant, stories of other peoples’ origins never fail to bring an empatheti

      3 min read

    • Article

      Peace Comes With A Smile

      Nov 11, 2019

      Peace Comes With A Smile
      8 min read

    • Article

      Why Opera Will Never Die

      Nov 11, 2020

      Why Opera Will Never Die
      5 min read

    • Article

      Press-ganged!

      Jun 13, 2019

      Press-ganged!
      3 min read

    • Article

      THE BLACK SPIDER Part Two

      Oct 30, 2019

      THE BLACK SPIDER Part Two
      25 min read

    • Article

      A Literary Zoo

      Dec 9, 2021

      A Literary Zoo
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Troilus and Criseyde

    3.5/5

    10 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      You know what I just don't get this play. Apparently a lot of people don't get it and it's labeled one of the "problem plays", but you know what, Timon of Athens was one of those too and that play made perfect sense to me. But this one.. just seems like a bunch of random shit that happens. Looking at the wikipedia writeup (which is not really the best source for this kind of information) I see it suggested that the joke is that a variety of conventionally epic tragedies are set up, and then subverted by either not resolving themselves or resolving themselves in the sort of petty venal way they'd happen in real life. In retrospect I can kind of sort of see that but it's not funny to me. Also the structure/pacing is really bizarre. Practically nothing happens in the first four acts and then the fifth act has like a dozen scenes and takes up a third of the page count.
    • 4/5
      Shakespeare's brutal and brilliant deconstruction of the Iliad is one of the most enjoyable surprises I've had in reading. Achilles is a brute and a fraud. Ajax is a chivalrous dunce. Agamemnon is a cipher. Menelaus is just a cuckold. Ulysses and Nestor are puppeteers whose main military virtue is their ability to manipulate the two strongmen. Thersites isn't a troublemaker but the most bitter of Shakespeare's jesters, tolerated by the powerful Grecians instead of beaten. Hector on the other hand is even nobler than he was in the Iliad and is murdered in the most cowardly way imaginable.Nothing is more surprising that the characters of the star crossed lovers, whose story ends with the woman changing her heart with her fortune and her enraged former lover consigning her to blazes and becoming a cruel killing machine. The play thus ends not with the tragic deaths of the lovers but with Cressida's pandering uncle complaining about the physical ailments his career has caused him.Did I say that Shakespeare was deconstructing Homer? On second thought, Shakespeare was deconstructing Shakespeare.
    • 4/5
      ** spoiler alert **This is a pretty good play. It doesn't fit the usual categories, being filled with comic scenes and speeches but following with an abrupt bleak ending. I found the dialogue throughout to be entertaining and clever, and the spoof of the Iliad very funny. The eponymous love affair is satirical. Troilus is a narcissistic and wordy brat, and Cressida a rather winning girl who can't say no. The love affair is at best a subplot to the Iliad satire, and it's most entertaining character the go-between Pandarus, who remarks that his name will be inherited by all panders to follow. Most of the main Iliad characters are presented satirically. All ends in a lengthy battle with many short scenes of individual combat, ending with the death of Hector in a rather unheroic attack by Achilles and his Myrmidons. Then a final comic soliloquy by Pandarus. If you like bawdy Shakespeare there is a lot of it here, including a large stock of gay humor in the Greek camp.
    • 4/5
      This is a cynical version of incidents in the Trojan war. An over-romantic Troilus thinks he is in love with Cressida. (She has the part of a life time.) She is young, sexy, flirtatious and aware of her need to make our for herself while the time is ripe. She is traded to the Greeks for a warrior and immediately starts flirting. Troilus is devasted by this when he sees her behavior. The other incident is Achilles' murder of Hector. It is ugly.
    • 3/5
      This is one of Shakespeare's problem plays, meaning it doesn't fit neatly into the category of tragedy or comedy, but occupies its own hybrid niche. "Black comedy" or "scathing satire" would probably be a fairly apt description for this outing. It's actually a lot of fun to read, especially if you like humor flavored with a heavy dose of cynicism.The "romantic" leads of the play's title, Troilus and Cressida, are no Romeo and Juliet. Not even by a long shot. Troilus is a superficial lad, concerned only with glory and momentary pleasures, and his love for Cressida lasts only about as long as her maidenhood. Cressida is just as fickle as her lover, swiftly shifting her physical affections to the enemy camp when she gets traded for ransom. This play is very anachronistic. It's not the sort of tale that resides in the ancient dusty battles of Greek times; it's very much a product of Shakespeare's era. This is what makes it such an interesting read for me. It reflects the rapidly changing world of a burgeoning global market, a place where chaos, hypocrisy, and corruption were rife. There are numerous references in the play to venereal disease, especially the notorious pox (syphilis), which was just beginning its lengthy reign in Europe.I do love it when Shakespeare gets gross, and he obliges his disgusting side with unapologetic alacrity here. "Thou crusty botch of nature", "thou sarsenet flap for a sore eye", and so on.. Shakespeare is a demigod when it comes to heinous insults, and Troilus and Cressida is brimful of humdingers.I also love Shakespeare plays for the treasure-trove of words, some of which should still be in use instead of being consigned to obscurity.Two words from this play that caught my fancy:Oppugnancy - meaning opposition. I like its bouncy character, like a rubber ball on the tongue.Gloze - a verb meaning to comment, make excuses for, or to use ingratiating language.
    • 4/5
      A landmark for me. In this ?Year of Reading All the Shakespeare,? this play, the twenty-first in the list, is the first one that I'd never read before and really enjoyed. To me, Titus Andronicus was a pointless gorefest, Two Gentlemen of Verona was just dumb, and King Edward III was simply incoherent, but this ? well, it's not great ? not a Hamlet or Macbeth or Richard II ? but it's very good. While I'm quite familiar with the Iliad, the story of Troilus and Cressida was new to me. Aside from knowing that they were famous ?sundered lovers,? I came to their story pretty much cold. So now I'm curious about Chaucer's take on their tale. Shakespeare keeps to tradition with some characters ? Hector is noble, Ulysses is crafty, Nestor is ? verbose ? but several ?regulars? lose the sheen they generally have and are merely (if fairly plausibly) thugs (or, in Helen's case, a ?floozy?). Achilles in particular, comes off dreadfully. Thersites, though, who I didn't even remember from the Iliad, is transformed from ?nonentity? in Homer to a vividly realized dynamo of evil in Shakespeare's play. His equal opportunity hatred for everyone and everything ? Greek or Trojan, male or female ? is almost overwhelming in its intensity. Pandarus, another character from the Iliad I'd completely forgotten about, is also memorable in Shakespeare's telling, though in his case it is his sheer creepiness that makes him stand out. Marjorie Garber, in her brilliant Shakespeare After All, points out Pandarus's similarities to Juliet's nurse (in Romeo and Juliet), but, while the nurse is certainly foolish and shows an unwholesome enthusiasm for her young charge's deflowering, her prurience is nothing next to that of Cressida's uncle. Pandarus's eagerness to put his niece and the Trojan prince in bed together and his salacious comments in regard to their activities there are impressively icky. Cressida, unattractive though she is (except physically, I suppose) is at least interesting. A practical girl, with no illusions about her status as an object to be sold. The frequent comparisons between Helen and Cressida, so similar in appearance that the only difference is said to be that Cressida's hair is a shade darker, highlight the hypocrisies of their varying treatments. As Troilus says in the meeting over whether to return Helen and thus end the war...?Were it not glory that we more affectedThan the performance of our heaving spleens,I would not wish a drop of Trojan bloodSpent more in her defense. But, worthy Hector,She is a theme of honor and renown,A spur to valiant and magnanimous deeds,Whose present courage may beat down our foes,And fame in time to come canonize us?Cressida, however, is traded to the Greeks in return for a captured Trojan leader without a second thought (we are spared the scene where Paris prances around Priam's palace teasing Troilus with a rousing rendition of ?Mom and Dad and everyone love me best!). Poor Troilus. He gets marquee status, but his character is distinctly lacking in pizazz. The play's ?Ken doll,? he gets the girl, only to immediately lose her to a more powerful, more interesting man. Oh well. Their long term prospects weren't promising anyway.Along with reading the Folger Shakespeare Library edition, which has reasonable size print and fine notes, I listened to the Arkangel recording of this play, which is very well done. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      Ordinarily I wouldn't reread a book or play, even one I read for class, so soon after reading it for the first time, but with Shakespeare (and indeed Chaucer) I think it's necessary. Plus, this edition came with notes, which are very extensive and -- even though I need no help with the language in general -- help to shed light on puns, double entendres, and potential confused transmission of the plays, etc. It has an extensive introduction which covers a lot of different aspects of the play, too.

      I was reading this time specifically for Cressida's character, and for the play's relationship to Chaucer's version. She's at once more brazen -- deliberately stating that she's holding out on Troilus, because he won't want her as much once he's won her -- and more pitiable in the conclusion, in her pathetic little fight with Diomede over the belt. She came alive for me in that scene, in her pleading.

      I noticed, though, that this is much less involved with the couple than Chaucer's version. There's whole sections set in the Greek camp, which you don't see in Chaucer. Shakespeare's more interested in the war as a whole than Chaucer, it seems -- or maybe the war as a whole sheds light on Troilus and Cressida? I wonder. The repeated references to Helen and her falseness do throw a shadow over Cressida.
    • 3/5
      I've read all of Shakespeare's tragedies and "Troilus and Cressida" is definitely my least favorite by far. Set during the seventh year of the Trojan War, the play sprinkles a little bit of everything from romance to battle, but mostly focuses on people taunting each other. Much of action happens off-stage in the fifth act, as the actors dash on stage to mutter a few taunts and then leap off to fight with their swords. (As written anyway... I've never seen it performed.)Overall, I felt that Shakespeare took a story told so well in "The Iliad" (with the addition of a couple of star-crossed lovers) and made it boring. It didn't help that there seemed to be no motivation for Cressida's quick betrayal. Anyway, there are loads of Shakespeare's plays that feature similar set ups that are much better than this.
    • 5/5
      ?She is a pearl, whose price hath launch'd above a thousand ships.? The story of the Trojan War and the beautiful Helen is well-known, but this Shakespearean tragedy about it is not. Troilus and Cressida is the story of two young Trojans caught in the midst of a nation at war. Despite being surrounded by the problems of others they find themselves falling in love. Troilus is the brother of the infamous warrior Hector and the lovesick Paris who ran away with the married Helen, incurring the wrath of the Greeks. The entire play is filled with passionate declarations of both love and war. The Greeks, like King Agamemnon and the hotheaded Ajax, are itching for a fight. Ajax doesn?t realize until too late that he is only a pawn in the hands of the generals. The Trojans on the other hand aren?t sure how they want to respond. Paris wants to defend Helen?s honor, but his older brother Hector has to decide if she is worth the fall of an entire nation. From his opening scene he has an impossible task. He knows the right thing to do in theory, but the obligations of honor and family loyalty prevent him from doing it. The play is full to the brim with remarkable supporting characters. From the tragic Cassandra, whose prophetic wails go unheeded to Pandarus, Cressida?s uncle the meddling matchmaker. I was surprised to find one of the most poignant wooing scenes I?ve ever come across in a play. Usually the man takes the lead in these scenes, but in this one a guarded Cressida finally reveals how much she cares for Troilus. She been attempting to play hard to get, but she can?t hide her feelings any more. She gushes then quickly chides herself, finally begging him to kiss her so she?ll stop talking. ?And yet, good faith, I wish'd myself a man; Or that we women had men's privilege Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue; For, in this rapture, I shall surely speak The thing I shall repent. See, see ! your silence, Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws My very soul of counsel: Stop my mouth.?This is a tricky play though because there are so many different plots. There?s the romance between Troilus and Cressida and another one between Paris and Helen. There?s the central story of war between nations. In the midst of all of this the title characters often feel secondary, which can make it hard to become invested in their relationship. The title may be Troilus and Cressida, but that?s really a misnomer. While their romance is sweet, it?s truly the story of the Trojan War and the dicey decisions that warriors must face in battle. What is a single life worth? For Achilles, his love for one man is enough to make him fight or to stay his hand. For the love of his brothers Hector is willing to pick up his sword. The tragedy of war is that it?s a cyclical game; one death always leads to the desire for vengeance from the other side. Grief and bloodshed fuel only more of the same and this play is a poignant reminder of that.BOTTOM LINE: A powerful story of the destructive force of war intertwined with a doomed love story. Bard enthusiasts must read it. ?
    • 5/5
      This is one of my favorites of Shakespeare's work. It's been a LONG time since I've read it, so I plan to reread it at some point.
    • 3/5
      I didn't think that Shakespeare, one of my favorite authors, was even capable of writing a bad play. However, this one is far from perfect, especially when compared to his other works."Troilus and Cressida" is about a young man, Troilus, and his lover, Cressida. It is set during the Trojan War, and among other characters are the recognizable Achilles, Hector, Helen, and others.However, the main character's love story never seems very convincing. Troilus is constantly praising his beloved highly, while another character does his best to convince him of her low morals. And, the characters are never together all that often. Most of their supposed "romance" is via them talking or thinking about each other in separate scenes. The character of Cressida is not very built up at all. It takes a few scenes for her to enter the story, and once she does, virtually nothing about her is revealed. One catches fleeting glimpses of a feisty nature, but other than this, all we seem to really know of Cressida is that she is beautiful (as proclaimed by Troilus over and over). Shakespeare even goes so far as to say that her beauty rivals that of Helen's. I kept waiting for Shakespeare to focus a bit more on his female character, yet he never did. As a result, the love story here is not a very convincing one.Another thing that I disliked about this play was how much dialogue there was. About half the book was simply talking - and not about anything interesting, unless you love hearing about endless politics, battle strategies, and so on. These things can be interesting, but in this Renaissance play, they seemed oddly out of place. I couldn't resist skimming over them slightly, wondering where Troilus has gone to. These endless talks are not involved with the book's plot in any major way, save that the Trojan War is its setting, of course. They also seem to lead nowhere, and are simply dry and dull. I had never before seen Shakespeare write such dreadfully tedious scenes.And besides the endless talking, I disliked the ending, in which Cressida is caught being unfaithful by Troilus. After that, she simply disappears altogether! She is not brought back into the story again for the entire book, besides when a letter arrives from her. All in all, I disliked this one - something I was sure I would never say about a Shakespeare play.

    Book preview

    Troilus and Criseyde - Geoffrey Chaucer

    Book I

    The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen,

    That was the kyng Priamus sone of Troye,

    In lovynge, how his aventures fellen

    Fro wo to wele, and after out of joie,

    5

    My purpos is, er that I parte fro ye.

    Thesiphone, thow help me for t’ endite

    Thise woful vers, that wepen as I write.

    To the clepe I, thow goddesse of torment,

    Thow cruwel Furie, sorwynge evere in peyne,

    10

    Help me, that am the sorwful instrument,

    That helpeth loveres, as I kan, to pleyne;

    For wel sit it, the sothe for to seyne,

    A woful wight to han a drery feere,

    And to a sorwful tale, a sory chere.

    15

    For I, that God of Loves servantz serve,

    Ne dar to Love, for myn unliklynesse,

    Preyen for speed, al sholde I therfore sterve,

    So fer am I from his help in derknesse.

    But natheles, if this may don gladnesse

    20

    Unto any lovere, and his cause availle,

    Have he my thonk, and myn be this travaille!

    But ye loveres, that bathen in gladnesse,

    If any drope of pyte in yow be,

    Remembreth yow on passed hevynesse

    25

    That ye han felt, and on the adversite

    Of othere folk, and thynketh how that ye

    Han felt that Love dorste yow displese,

    Or ye han wonne hym with to gret an ese.

    And preieth for hem that ben in the cas

    30

    Of Troilus, as ye may after here,

    That Love hem brynge in hevene to solas;

    And ek for me preieth to God so dere

    That I have myght to shewe, in som manere,

    Swich peyne and wo as Loves folk endure,

    35

    In Troilus unsely aventure.

    And biddeth ek for hem that ben despeired

    In love, that nevere nyl recovered be,

    And ek for hem that falsly ben apeired

    Thorugh wikked tonges, be it he or she;

    40

    Thus biddeth God, for his benignite,

    So graunte hem soone owt of this world to pace,

    That ben despeired out of Loves grace.

    And biddeth ek for hem that ben at ese,

    That God hem graunte ay good perseveraunce,

    45

    And sende hem myght hire ladies so to plese

    That it to Love be worship and plesaunce.

    For so hope I my sowle best avaunce,

    To prey for hem that Loves servauntz be,

    And write hire wo, and lyve in charite,

    50

    And for to have of hem compassioun,

    As though I were hire owne brother dere.

    Now herkneth with a good entencioun,

    For now wil I gon streght to my matere,

    In which ye may the double sorwes here

    55

    Of Troilus in lovynge of Criseyde,

    And how that she forsook hym er she deyde.

    Yt is wel wist how that the Grekes stronge

    In armes with a thousand shippes wente

    To Troiewardes, and the cite longe

    60

    Assegeden, neigh ten yer er they stente,

    And in diverse wise and oon entente,

    The ravysshyng to wreken of Eleyne,

    By Paris don, they wroughten al hir peyne.

    Now fel it so that in the town ther was

    65

    Dwellynge a lord of gret auctorite,

    A gret devyn, that clepid was Calkas,

    That in science so expert was that he

    Knew wel that Troie sholde destroied be,

    By answere of his god, that highte thus:

    70

    Daun Phebus or Appollo Delphicus.

    So whan this Calkas knew by calkulynge,

    And ek by answer of this Appollo,

    That Grekes sholden swich a peple brynge,

    Thorugh which that Troie moste ben fordo,

    75

    He caste anon out of the town to go;

    For wel wiste he by sort that Troye sholde

    Destroyed ben, ye, wolde whoso nolde.

    For which for to departen softely

    Took purpos ful this forknowynge wise,

    80

    And to the Grekes oost ful pryvely

    He stal anon; and they, in curteys wise,

    Hym diden bothe worship and servyce,

    In trust that he hath konnynge hem to rede

    In every peril which that is to drede.

    85

    Gret rumour gan, whan it was first aspied

    Thorugh al the town, and generaly was spoken,

    That Calkas traitour fled was and allied

    With hem of Grece, and casten to be wroken

    On hym that falsly hadde his feith so broken,

    90

    And seyden he and al his kyn at-ones

    Ben worthi for to brennen, fel and bones.

    Now hadde Calkas left in this meschaunce,

    Al unwist of this false and wikked dede,

    His doughter, which that was in gret penaunce,

    95

    For of hire lif she was ful sore in drede,

    As she that nyste what was best to rede;

    For bothe a widewe was she and allone

    Of any frend to whom she dorste hir mone.

    Criseyde was this lady name al right.

    100

    As to my doom, in al Troies cite

    Nas non so fair, forpassynge every wight,

    So aungelik was hir natif beaute,

    That lik a thing inmortal semed she,

    As doth an hevenyssh perfit creature,

    105

    That down were sent in scornynge of nature.

    This lady, which that alday herd at ere

    Hire fadres shame, his falsnesse and tresoun,

    Wel neigh out of hir wit for sorwe and fere,

    In widewes habit large of samyt broun,

    110

    On knees she fil biforn Ector adown

    With pitous vois, and tendrely wepynge,

    His mercy bad, hirselven excusynge.

    Now was this Ector pitous of nature,

    And saugh that she was sorwfully bigon,

    115

    And that she was so fair a creature;

    Of his goodnesse he gladede hire anon,

    And seyde, "Lat youre fadres treson gon

    Forth with meschaunce, and ye youreself in joie

    Dwelleth with us, whil yow good list, in Troie.

    120

    "And al th’ onour that men may don yow have,

    As ferforth as youre fader dwelled here,

    Ye shul have, and youre body shal men save,

    As fer as I may ought enquere or here."

    And she hym thonked with ful humble chere,

    125

    And ofter wolde, and it hadde ben his wille,

    And took hire leve, and hom, and held hir stille.

    And in hire hous she abood with swich meyne

    As til hire honour nede was to holde;

    And whil she was dwellynge in that cite,

    130

    Kepte hir estat, and both of yonge and olde

    Ful wel biloved, and wel men of hir tolde.

    But wheither that she children hadde or noon,

    I rede it naught, therfore I late it goon.

    The thynges fellen, as they don of werre,

    135

    Bitwixen hem of Troie and Grekes ofte;

    For som day boughten they of Troie it derre,

    And eft the Grekes founden nothing softe

    The folk of Troie; and thus Fortune on lofte

    And under eft gan hem to whielen bothe

    140

    Aftir hir course, ay whil that thei were wrothe.

    But how this town com to destruccion

    Ne falleth naught to purpos me to telle,

    For it were a long digression

    Fro my matere, and yow to long to dwelle.

    145

    But the Troian gestes, as they felle,

    In Omer, or in Dares, or in Dite,

    Whoso that kan may rede hem as they write.

    But though that Grekes hem of Troie shetten,

    And hir cite biseged al aboute,

    150

    Hire olde usage nolde they nat letten,

    As for to honoure hir goddes ful devoute;

    But aldirmost in honour, out of doute,

    Thei hadde a relik, heet Palladion,

    That was hire trist aboven everichon.

    155

    And so bifel, whan comen was the tyme

    Of Aperil, whan clothed is the mede

    With newe grene, of lusty Veer the pryme,

    And swote smellen floures white and rede,

    In sondry wises shewed, as I rede,

    160

    The folk of Troie hire observaunces olde,

    Palladiones feste for to holde.

    And to the temple, in al hir beste wise,

    In general ther wente many a wight,

    To herknen of Palladions servyce;

    165

    And namely, so many a lusty knyght,

    So many a lady fressh and mayden bright,

    Ful wel arayed, both meeste, mene, and leste,

    Ye, bothe for the seson and the feste.

    Among thise othere folk was Criseyda,

    170

    In widewes habit blak; but natheles,

    Right as oure firste lettre is now an A,

    In beaute first so stood she, makeles.

    Hire goodly lokyng gladed al the prees.

    Nas nevere yet seyn thyng to ben preysed derre,

    175

    Nor under cloude blak so bright a sterre

    As was Criseyde, as folk seyde everichone

    That hir behelden in hir blake wede.

    And yet she stood ful lowe and stille allone,

    Byhynden other folk, in litel brede,

    180

    And neigh the dore, ay undre shames drede,

    Simple of atir and debonaire of chere,

    With ful assured lokyng and manere.

    This Troilus, as he was wont to gide

    His yonge knyghtes, lad hem up and down

    185

    In thilke large temple on every side,

    Byholding ay the ladies of the town,

    Now here, now there; for no devocioun

    Hadde he to non, to reven hym his reste,

    But gan to preise and lakken whom hym leste.

    190

    And in his walk ful faste he gan to wayten

    If knyght or squyer of his compaignie

    Gan for to syke, or lete his eighen baiten

    On any womman that he koude espye.

    He wolde smyle and holden it folye,

    195

    And seye hym thus, "God woot, she slepeth softe

    For love of the, whan thow turnest ful ofte!

    "I have herd told, pardieux, of youre lyvynge,

    Ye loveres, and youre lewed observaunces,

    And which a labour folk han in wynnynge

    200

    Of love, and in the kepyng which doutaunces;

    And whan youre prey is lost, woo and penaunces.

    O veray fooles, nyce and blynde be ye!

    Ther nys nat oon kan war by other be."

    And with that word he gan caste up the browe,

    205

    Ascaunces, Loo! is this naught wisely spoken?

    At which the God of Love gan loken rowe

    Right for despit, and shop for to ben wroken.

    He kidde anon his bowe nas naught broken;

    For sodeynly he hitte hym atte fulle —

    210

    And yet as proud a pekok kan he pulle.

    O blynde world, O blynde entencioun!

    How often falleth al the effect contraire

    Of surquidrie and foul presumpcioun;

    For kaught is proud, and kaught is debonaire.

    215

    This Troilus is clomben on the staire,

    And litel weneth that he moot descenden;

    But alday faileth thing that fooles wenden.

    As proude Bayard gynneth for to skippe

    Out of the weye, so pryketh hym his corn,

    220

    Til he a lasshe have of the longe whippe —

    Than thynketh he, "Though I praunce al byforn

    First in the trays, ful fat and newe shorn,

    Yet am I but an hors, and horses lawe

    I moot endure, and with my feres drawe" —

    225

    So ferde it by this fierse and proude knyght:

    Though he a worthy kynges sone were,

    And wende nothing hadde had swich myght

    Ayeyns his wille that shuld his herte stere,

    Yet with a look his herte wex a-fere,

    230

    That he that now was moost in pride above,

    Wax sodeynly moost subgit unto love.

    Forthy ensample taketh of this man,

    Ye wise, proude, and worthi folkes alle,

    To scornen Love, which that so soone kan

    235

    The fredom of youre hertes to hym thralle;

    For evere it was, and evere it shal byfalle,

    That Love is he that alle thing may bynde,

    For may no man fordon the lawe of kynde.

    That this be soth, hath preved and doth yit.

    240

    For this trowe I ye knowen alle or some,

    Men reden nat that folk han gretter wit

    Than they that han be most with love ynome;

    And strengest folk ben therwith overcome,

    The worthiest and grettest of degree:

    245

    This was, and is, and yet men shall it see.

    And trewelich it sit wel to be so,

    For alderwisest han therwith ben plesed;

    And they that han ben aldermost in wo,

    With love han ben comforted moost and esed;

    250

    And ofte it hath the cruel herte apesed,

    And worthi folk maad worthier of name,

    And causeth moost to dreden vice and shame.

    Now sith it may nat goodly ben withstonde,

    And is a thing so vertuous in kynde,

    255

    Refuseth nat to Love for to ben bonde,

    Syn, as hymselven liste, he may yow bynde;

    The yerde is bet that bowen wole and wynde

    Than that that brest, and therfore I yow rede

    To folowen hym that so wel kan yow lede.

    260

    But for to tellen forth in special

    Of this kynges sone of which I tolde,

    And leten other thing collateral,

    Of hym thenke I my tale forth to holde,

    Both of his joie and of his cares colde;

    265

    And al his werk, as touching this matere,

    For I it gan, I wol therto refere.

    Withinne the temple he wente hym forth pleyinge,

    This Troilus, of every wight aboute,

    On this lady, and now on that, lokynge,

    270

    Wher so she were of town or of withoute;

    And upon cas bifel that thorugh a route

    His eye percede, and so depe it wente,

    Til on Criseyde it smot, and ther it stente.

    And sodeynly he wax therwith astoned,

    275

    And gan hir bet biholde in thrifty wise.

    O mercy, God, thoughte he, "wher hastow woned,

    That art so feyr and goodly to devise?"

    Therwith his herte gan to sprede and rise,

    And softe sighed, lest men myghte hym here,

    280

    And caught ayeyn his firste pleyinge chere.

    She nas nat with the leste of hire stature,

    But alle hire lymes so wel answerynge

    Weren to wommanhod, that creature

    Was nevere lasse mannyssh in semynge;

    285

    And ek the pure wise of hire mevynge

    Shewed wel that men myght in hire gesse

    Honour, estat, and wommanly noblesse.

    To Troilus right wonder wel with alle

    Gan for to like hire mevynge and hire chere,

    290

    Which somdel deignous was, for she let falle

    Hire look a lite aside in swich manere,

    Ascaunces, What, may I nat stonden here?

    And after that hir lokynge gan she lighte,

    That nevere thoughte hym seen so good a syghte.

    295

    And of hire look in him ther gan to quyken

    So gret desir and such affeccioun,

    That in his herte botme gan to stiken

    Of hir his fixe and depe impressioun.

    And though he erst hadde poured up and down,

    300

    He was tho glad his hornes in to shrinke:

    Unnethes wiste he how to loke or wynke.

    Lo, he that leet hymselven so konnynge,

    And scorned hem that Loves peynes dryen,

    Was ful unwar that Love hadde his dwellynge

    305

    Withinne the subtile stremes of hire yen;

    That sodeynly hym thoughte he felte dyen,

    Right with hire look, the spirit in his herte:

    Blissed be Love, that kan thus folk converte!

    She, this in blak, likynge to Troilus

    310

    Over alle thing, he stood for to biholde;

    Ne his desir, ne wherfore he stood thus,

    He neither chere made, ne word tolde;

    But from afer, his manere for to holde,

    On other thing his look som tyme he caste,

    315

    And eft on hire, whil that servyse laste.

    And after this, nat fullich al awhaped,

    Out of the temple al esilich he wente,

    Repentynge hym that he hadde evere ijaped

    Of Loves folk, lest fully the descente

    320

    Of scorn fille on hymself; but what he mente,

    Lest it were wist on any manere syde,

    His woo he gan dissimilen and hide.

    Whan he was fro the temple thus departed,

    He streght anon unto his paleys torneth.

    325

    Right with hire look thorugh-shoten and thorugh-darted,

    Al feyneth he in lust that he sojorneth,

    And al his chere and speche also he borneth,

    And ay of Loves servantz every while,

    Hymself to wrye, at hem he gan to smyle,

    330

    And seyde, "Lord, so ye lyve al in lest,

    Ye loveres! For the konnyngeste of yow,

    That serveth most ententiflich and best,

    Hym tit as often harm therof as prow.

    Youre hire is quyt ayeyn, ye, God woot how!

    335

    Nought wel for wel, but scorn for good servyse.

    In feith, youre ordre is ruled in good wise!

    "In nouncerteyn ben alle youre observaunces,

    But it a sely fewe pointes be;

    Ne no thing asketh so gret attendaunces

    340

    As doth youre lay, and that knowe alle ye;

    But that is nat the worste, as mote I the!

    But, tolde I yow the worste point, I leve,

    Al seyde I soth, ye wolden at me greve.

    "But take this: that ye loveres ofte eschuwe,

    345

    Or elles doon, of good entencioun,

    Ful ofte thi lady wol it mysconstruwe,

    And deme it harm in hire oppynyoun;

    And yet if she, for other enchesoun,

    Be wroth, than shaltow have a groyn anon.

    350

    Lord, wel is hym that may ben of yow oon!"

    But for al this, whan that he say his tyme,

    He held his pees — non other boote hym gayned —

    For love bigan his fetheres so to lyme

    That wel unnethe until his folk he fayned

    355

    That other besy nedes hym destrayned;

    For wo was hym, that what to doon he nyste,

    But bad his folk to gon wher that hem liste.

    And whan that he in chambre was allone,

    He doun upon his beddes feet hym sette,

    360

    And first he gan to sike, and eft to grone,

    And thought ay on hire so, withouten lette,

    That, as he sat and wook, his spirit mette

    That he hire saugh a-temple, and al the wise

    Right of hire look, and gan it newe avise.

    365

    Thus gan he make a mirour of his mynde

    In which he saugh al holly hire figure,

    And that he wel koude in his herte fynde.

    It was to hym a right good aventure

    To love swich oon, and if he dede his cure

    370

    To serven hir, yet myghte he falle in grace,

    Or ellis for oon of hire servantz pace.

    Imagenynge that travaille nor grame

    Ne myghte for so goodly oon be lorn

    As she, ne hym for his desir no shame,

    375

    Al were it wist, but in pris and up-born

    Of alle lovers wel more than biforn,

    Thus argumented he in his gynnynge,

    Ful unavysed of his woo comynge.

    Thus took he purpos loves craft to suwe,

    380

    And thoughte he wolde werken pryvely,

    First to hiden his desir in muwe

    From every wight yborn, al outrely,

    But he myghte ought recovered be therby,

    Remembryng hym that love to wide yblowe

    385

    Yelt bittre fruyt, though swete seed be sowe.

    And over al this, yet muchel more he thoughte

    What for to speke, and what to holden inne;

    And what to arten hire to love he soughte,

    And on a song anon-right to bygynne,

    390

    And gan loude on his sorwe for to wynne;

    For with good hope he gan fully assente

    Criseyde for to love, and nought repente.

    And of his song naught only the sentence,

    As writ myn auctour called Lollius,

    395

    But pleinly, save oure tonges difference,

    I dar wel seyn, in al, that Troilus

    Seyde in his song, loo, every word right thus

    As I shal seyn; and whoso list it here,

    Loo, next this vers he may it fynden here.

    Canticus Troili

    400

    "If no love is, O God, what fele I so?

    And if love is, what thing and which is he?

    If love be good, from whennes cometh my woo?

    If it be wikke, a wonder thynketh me,

    When every torment and adversite

    405

    That cometh of hym may to me savory thinke,

    For ay thurst I, the more that ich it drynke.

    "And if that at myn owen lust I brenne,

    From whennes cometh my waillynge and my pleynte?

    If harm agree me, wherto pleyne I thenne?

    410

    I noot, ne whi unwery that I feynte.

    O quike deth, O swete harm so queynte,

    How may of the in me swich quantite,

    But if that I consente that it be?

    "And if that I consente, I wrongfully

    415

    Compleyne, iwis. Thus possed to and fro,

    Al sterelees withinne a boot am I

    Amydde the see, bitwixen wyndes two,

    That in contrarie stonden evere mo.

    Allas, what is this wondre maladie?

    420

    For hote of cold, for cold of hote, I dye."

    And to the God of Love thus seyde he

    With pitous vois, "O lord, now youres is

    My

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1