[1059]. Meynee, attendants, followers, lit. household; O.F. meisnee, mesnee, meinee. Very common in Chaucer. The derived adj. menial is still in use. See l. 1089.
[1061-5]. From Æn. i. 613, 614. Ll. 1066-1074 are from the same, 588-591.
[1075]. 'Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco'; id. 630.
[1076]. The first syllable of Lyked forms a foot by itself. God do bote, may God give (us) help! A parenthetical explanation. All former editions (except my own) omit the necessary comma after as.
[1077-85]. Chaucer here gives a general outline of the state of the case, without following Vergil's words.
[1086-90]. This answers to Æn. i. 615-630.
[1091-1102]. From Æn. i 631-642.
[1099]. His lyve, in his life, during his life.
[1103-27]. This passage is, practically, original. Chaucer here tells the story in his own language, and gives it a wholly medieval cast.
[1104]. The M.E. swolow usually means 'a whirlpool' or 'gulf,' and such is Tyrwhitt's explanation. See the Catholicon Anglicum, p. 373, note 1, for examples. Thus, in Wyclif's Works, ed. Matthew, p. 97, we find—'Swolwis of the see and helle, that resceyuen al that thei may and ȝelden not aȝen.' Very rarely, it is used of an open mouth; thus in Allit. Poems, ed. Morris, iii. 250, it is said that the whale 'opened his swolȝ' to engulf Jonah. Hence, probably, arose the suggestion in Bell's note, that the reference is to the open mouth of hell, as represented in medieval drawings. Nevertheless, I believe Tyrwhitt is right; though either sense will serve. It is the mod. E. swallow, used as a sb. Cf. Dante, Inf. xxxiv. 137-9.