Surely 'debonaire' in Chaucer is rather French than Latin. And see debonaire in the E. version of the Romaunt, l. 5412.
Book Duch. 627. She is the monstres heed y-wryen,
Book Duch. 627. As filth over y-strawed with floures.
Book Duch. 627. Si di, par ma parole ovrir,
Book Duch. 627. Qui vodroit un femier covrir
Book Duch. 627. De dras de soie ou de floretes; R. R. 8995.
As the second of the above lines from the Book of the Duchesse is obviously taken from Le Roman, it is probable that the first is also; but it is a hard task to discover the particular word monstre in this vast poem. However, I find it, in l. 4917, with reference to Fortune; and her wheel is not far off, six lines above.
B. D. 634, 642. Fortune's capriciousness is treated of by Jean de Meun at intolerable length, ll. 4863-8492; and elsewhere. As to her wheel, it is continually rolling through his verses; see ll. 4911, 5366, 5870, 5925, 6172, 6434, 6648, 6880, &c.
B. D. 708. Cf. Et de fain avec Tentalus; R. R. 19482.
B. D. 778. Not from Le Roman, nor from Boethius, but from Machault's Remède de Fortune, as pointed out by M. Sandras long ago; see my note.
B. D. 1055-6. Cf. Car le cors Alcipiades
B. D. 1055-6. Cf. Qui de biauté avoit adés ...
B. D. 1055-6. Cf. Ainsinc le raconte Boece; R. R. 8981.
See my note on the line; and note the spelling of Alcipiades with a p, as in the English MSS.
We thus see that all these passages (except l. 778) are really taken from Le Roman, not to mention many more, already pointed out by Dr. Köppel (Anglia, xiv. 238). And, this being so, we may safely conclude that they were not taken from Boethius directly. Hence we may further infer that, in all probability, Chaucer, in 1369, was not very familiar with Boethius in the Latin original. And this accounts at once for the fact that he seldom quotes Boethius at first hand, perhaps not at all, in any of his earlier poems, such as the Complaint unto Pite, the Complaint of Mars, or Anelida and Arcite, or the Lyf of St. Cecilie. I see no reason for supposing that he had closely studied Boethius before (let us say) 1375; though it is extremely probable, as was said above, that Jean de Meun inspired him with the idea of reading it, to see whether it was really worth translating, as the French poet said it was.