N.B. The spellings between marks of parenthesis indicate the pronunciation, according to the scheme given in the Introduction.
References to other lines in the Canterbury Tales are denoted by the Group and line. Thus 'B. 134' means Group B, l. 134, i. e. the first line in the Man of Lawes Tale.
Notes taken from editions by Tyrwhitt, Wright, Bell, and Morris, are usually marked accordingly; sometimes T. denotes Tyrwhitt, and M., Morris.
1. In the Man of Law's Prologue, B. 1-6, there is definite mention of the 18th day of April. The reference is, in that passage, to the second day of the pilgrimage. Consequently, the allusion in ll. 19-23 below is to April 16, and in l. 822 to April 17. The year may be supposed to be 1387 (vol. iii. p. 373).
'When that April, with his sweet showers.' Aprille is here masculine, like Lat. Aprilis; cf. l. 5.
shoures (shuu·rez), showers; pl. of shour, A.S. scūr (skuur). The etymology of all words of this character, which are still in use, can be found by looking out the modern form of the word in my Etymological Dictionary. I need not repeat such information here.
sote, sweet, is another form of swete, which occurs just below in l. 5. The e is not, in this case, the mark of the plural, as the forms sote, swete are dissyllabic, and take a final e in the singular also. Sote is a less correct form of swote; and the variation between the long o in swote and the long e in swete is due to confusion between the adverbial and adjectival uses. Swote corresponds to A.S. swōt, adv., sweetly, and swete to A.S. swēte, adj., sweet. The latter exhibits mutation of ō to ē; cf. mod. E. goose, pl. geese (A.S. gōs, pl. gēs).
In this Introduction, Chaucer seems to have had in his mind the
passage which begins Book IV. of Guido delle Colonne's Historia Troiae, which is as follows:—'Tempus erat quo sol maturans sub obliquo zodiaci circulo cursum suum sub signo iam intrauerat Arietis ... celebratur equinoxium primi veris, tunc cum incipit tempus blandiri mortalibus in aeris serenitate intentis, tunc cum dissolutis ymbribus Zephiri flantes molliciter (sic) crispant aquas ... tunc cum ad summitates arborum et ramorum humiditates ex terre gremio examplantes extollunt in eis; quare insultant semina, crescunt segetes, virent prata, variorum colorum floribus illustrata ... tunc cum ornatur terra graminibus, cantant volucres, et in dulcis armonie modulamine citharizant. Tunc quasi medium mensis Aprilis effluxerat'; &c.
We may also note the passage in Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Naturale, lib. xv. c. 66, entitled De Vere:—'Sol vero ad radices herbarum et arborum penetrans, humorem quem ibi coadunatum hyeme reperit, attrahit; herba vero, vel arbor suam inanitionem sentiens a terra attrahit humorem, quem ibi sui similitudine adiuuante calore Solis transmutat, sicque reuiuiscit; inde est quod quidam mensis huius temporis Aprilis dicitur, quia tunc terra praedicto modo aperitur.'
2. droght-e, dryness; A. S. drūgathe; essentially dissyllabic, but the final e is elided. Pron. (druuht'). perced, pierced, rot-e, dat. of root, a root; Icel. rōt; written for roote. The double o is not required to shew vowel-length, when a single consonant and an e follow.
4. vertu, efficacy, productive agency, vital energy. 'And bathed every vein (of the tree or herb) in such moisture, by means of which quickening power the flower is generated.' Pron. (vertü').