Chaucer's Works, Volume 2 — Boethius and Troilus

by Geoffrey Chaucer

Oneretque baccis colla rubri litoris;

Ruraque centeno scindat opima boue:

Nec cura mordax deserit superstitem,

Defunctumque leues non comitantur opes.'

[3]. rede see; lit. 'red shore.' However, the Red Sea is alluded to. Chaucer's translation of baccis by 'stones' is not happy; for 'pearls' are meant. Cf. Horace, Epod. viii. 14; Sat. ii. 3. 241. Pliny praises the pearls from the Red Sea; Nat. Hist. lib. xii. c. 18.

Prose 4. [9]. postum, short for apostume, i.e. imposthume. boch, botch, pustule. Lat. struma. Catullus is the well-known poet, and the allusion is to his lines addressed to himself (Carm. 52):—

'Quid est, Catulle, quid moraris emori?

Sella in curuli struma Nonius sedet.'

[14]. Certes, thou, &c. Rather involved. 'Tu quoque num tandem tot periculis adduci potuisti, ut cum Decorato gerere magistratum putares, cùm in eo mentem nequissimi scurrae delatorisque respiceres?' With is used for by: 'by so many perils' is intended. See Chaucer's gloss.

[16]. Decorat, Decoratus. He seems to have been in high favour with king Theodoric, who wrote him a letter which is preserved in Cassiodorus, lib. v. 31. It is clear that Boethius thought very ill of him.