VII. NERO’S CRUELTY.

No teer out of his eyen for that sighte

Ne cam; but sayde, a fair womman was sche.

Gret wonder is how that he couthe or mighte

Be domesman on hir dede beauté.

(The Monkes Tale, vol. iii. p. 217.)

Ne no tere ne wette his face, but he was so hard-herted þat he myȝte ben domesman or iuge of hire dede beauté.

(Chaucer’s Boethius, [p. 55].)

Ora non tinxit lacrymis, sed esse

Censor extincti potuit decoris.

(Boethius, lib. ii. met. 6.)