Hyre white brest sche bet, and for the peyne,' &c.
[762]. This line, giving the name of Criseyde's mother, is not in Boccaccio (Fil. iv. stt. 89-93). I do not know where Chaucer found the form Argyve; in Statius, Theb. ii. 297, Argia is the name of the wife of Polynices, and Ch. calls her Argyve; see Bk. v. l. 1509 below.
[769, 70]. by-word, proverb: 'plants without a root soon die.'
[782]. ordre, order. She will pass her life in mourning and abstinence, as if she had entered a religious order.
[790]. Elysos, Elysium. It looks as if Chaucer was thinking of Vergil's 'Elysios ... campos;' Georg. i. 38; for the story of Orpheus and Eurydice occurs in Georg. iv. 453-527. Cf. Ovid, Met. x. 1-85.
[829]. cause causinge, the primary cause. 'Causa causans, a primary or original cause; causa causata, a secondary or intermediate cause;' New E. Dict., s. v. Causa.
[831]. Wher, short for whether; as in Cant. Ta. B 3119, &c.
[836]. 'Extrema gaudii luctus occupat;' Prov. xiv. 13. See note to Man of Lawes Ta. B 421.
[842]. The first foot is deficient: 'Peyn | e tor | ment,' &c.
[843]. 'There is no misery that is not within my body.'