C'est mes desirs, c'est m'esperaunce,
C'est ma santé....
C'est toute ma bonne éürté,
C'est ce qui me soustient en vie,' &c.
Line 1039 is closely translated. See Furnivall's Trial Forewords, p. 48.
1040. I here substitute lisse for goddesse, as in the authorities. The blunder is obvious; goddesse clogs the line with an extra syllable, and gives a false rime such as Chaucer never makes[[289]]. He rimes blisse with kisse, lisse, misse, and wisse. Thus in the Frankelein's Tale, F 1237—
'What for his labour and his hope of blisse,
His woful herte of penaunce hadde a lisse.'
Lisse is alleviation, solace, comfort; and l. 1040 as emended, fairly corresponds to Machault's 'C'est ce qui me soustient en vie,' i. e. it is she who sustains my life. The word goddesse was probably substituted for lisse, because the latter was obsolescent.