1035. sighte, sighed. So also pighte, 'pitched'; plighte, 'plucked'; and shrighte, 'shrieked.' It occurs again in Troil. iii. 1080, iv. 714, 1217, v. 1633; and in the Romaunt of the Rose, l. 1746.
1036. that he mighte, as fast as he could.
1038. 'I ought to suppose, in accordance with reasonable opinion.' Chaucer tells the story quite in his own way. There is no trace of ll. 1038-1042 in the French, and scarcely any of ll. 1048-1071, which is all in his own excellent strain.
1056. shet, shut, closed. Compare the description of Griselda in the Clerkes Tale, E. 1058-1061.
1058. Both twyes and owne are dissyllabic.
1060. all his halwes, all His saints. Hence the term All-hallow-mas, i. e. All Saints' day.
1061. wisly, certainly. as have, I pray that he may have; see note to l. 859 above. 'I pray He may so surely have mercy on my soul, as that I am as innocent of your suffering as Maurice my son is like you in the face.'
1078. After this line, the French text tells us that King Ælla presented himself before Pope Pelagius, who absolved him for the death of his mother. Pelagius II. was pope in 578-90.
1086. Here again, Tyrwhitt supposes Chaucer to follow Gower. But, in fact, Chaucer and Gower both consulted Trivet, who says
here—'Constaunce charga son fitz Morice del messager [or message].... Et puis, quant Morice estoit deuaunt lempereur venuz, oue la compaignie honurable, et auoit son message fest de part le Roi son pere,' &c.; i. e. 'Constance charged her son Maurice with the message ... and then, when Maurice was come before the emperor, with the honourable company, and had done his message on behalf of the king his father,' &c. Or, as before, Gower may have copied Chaucer.