'Lyft wp thyne Ene [not orne], and thank thi god of al.'
Ratis Raving, ed. Lumby, p. 10.
20. Hold the hye wey, keep to the high road. Instead of Hold the hye wey, some MSS. have Weyve thy lust, i. e. put aside thy desire, give up thine own will.
22. This last stanza forms an Envoy. It exists in one copy only (MS. Addit. 10340); but there is no reason at all for considering it spurious. Vache, cow; with reference to the 'beast in the stall' in l. 18. This animal was probably chosen as being less offensive than those mentioned by Boethius, viz. the wolf, hound, fox, lion, hart, ass, and sow. Possibly, also, there is a reference to the story of Nebuchadnezzar, as related by Chaucer in the Monkes Tale; Group B, 3361.
XIV. Gentilesse.
For remarks upon Scogan's quotation of this Ballad in full, see the Introduction.
The titles are: Harl. Moral balade of Chaucier; T. Balade by Chaucier.
Caxton's text is unusually good, and is often superior to that in the existing MSS.
The general idea of the poem is that Christ was the true pattern of 'gentleness' or gentility, i. e. of noble behaviour. Cf. Dekker's noble line, in which he speaks of Christ as 'The first true gentleman that ever breathed.'
But the finest poetical essay upon this subject is that by Chaucer himself, in the Wife of Bath's Tale; C. T. 6691-6758 (D 1109); which see. And cf. Tale of Melibeus, B 2831-2.