918. At-after, after; as in F. 302.
938. Aurelius. Tyrwhitt remarks that 'this name, though of Roman origin, was common, we may presume, among the Britons. One of the princes mentioned by Gildas was called Aurelius Conanus. Another British king is called Aurelius Ambrosius by Geoffrey of Monmouth.' See Fabyan's History, pt. 1. capp. 93, 108.
942. With-outen coppe, without a cup. This expression means that he drank his penance in full measure, not by small quantities
at a time. It occurs again in the Prologue to the Tale of Beryn, ll. 306, 460.
948. Chaucer wrote such things himself; see Leg. of Good Women, 423, and the note. See also, in his Minor Poems, the Complaint of Mars, the roundel in the Parl. of Foules, 680; and the exquisite triple roundel called Merciles Beautè.
950. The syllables as a fu- form the third foot. Some MSS. have fuyre, i. e. fire (see the footnote); but hell is not the place where fire was supposed to languish. The reading furye, i. e. fury, also presents some difficulty, but we must take languish to mean 'endure continual pain.' This precisely agrees with Chaucer's language in Troilus, iv. 22-24.
We have already had a confusion between fury and fire in A. 2684. The reading furie is perfectly established by help of F. 448 (this furial pyne of helle), and by further comparing l. 1101 below.
951. Ekko, Echo. So in the Book of the Duch. 735. Chaucer probably took this from Le Rom. de la Rose, 1447; see the English version, ll. 1469-1538. But he had learnt, by this time, that the true original was Ovid (Metamorph. iii. 407). Hence the side-note in MS. E.—'Methamorposios'—(sic).
963. And hadde, and she had; with a sudden change of subject.
974. Madame is here trisyllabic; in l. 967, the last syllable is very light.