201. An old man; i. e. an angel in the form of an old man, viz. St. Paul. Cf. note to l. 207.
202. with lettre of gold; Lat. 'tenens librum aureis litteris scriptum.' L. 203 is not in the original.
205. 'When he (Valerian) saw him (the old man); and he (the old man) lifted up him (Valerian); and then he (Valerian) began thus to read in his (the old man's) book.' This is very ambiguous in Chaucer, but the Latin is clear. 'Quem uidens Ualerianus prae nimio timore quasi mortuus cecidit, et a sene leuatus sic legit.'
207. Oo lord, one lord. Tyrwhitt prints On, 'to guard against the mistake which the editions generally have fallen into, of considering o, in this passage, as the sign of the vocative case.' For the same reason, I have printed Oo, as in MS. Pt., in preference to the single O, as in most MSS. Even one of the scribes has fallen into the trap, and has written against this passage—'Et lamentat.' See MS. Cp., in the Six-text edition. The fact is, obviously, that ll. 207-209 are a close translation of Eph. iv. 5, 6. Hence the old man was St. Paul.
208. Cristendom, baptism; Lat. 'baptisma.' See l. 217.
216. We must read the before oldë, not this or that, because e in the must be elided; otherwise the line will not scan.
223-224. that oon, the one; sometimes written the ton or the toon. That other, the one; sometimes written the tother. 'The ton' is obsolete; but 'the tother' may still be heard. That is the neuter of the A. S. def. article se, sēo, þæt; cf. Germ. der, die, das.
As to the signification of the red and white flowers, see note to l. 27 above.
Compare Act v. sc. 1 of Massinger's Virgin Martyr, where an angel brings flowers from St. Dorothea, who is in paradise, to Theophilus. See note to l. 248 below.
232. for, because; Lat. 'quia.'