[5] Autobiography of an Opium-Eater.—“Tait’s Mag.” August, 1835.
[6] Coleridge’s “Table-Talk.”
[7] So unskilful or so incurious was Warburton in the language of our ancient poets, that in his notes on Pope he quotes the following lines of Chaucer—
| “Love wol not be constreined by maistrie. Whan maistrie cometh, the God of love anon Beteth his wings, and farewel, he is gon”— |
from Urry’s edition, in which they appear thus transformed and corrupted:
| Love will not be confined by maisterie. When maisterie comes, the Lord of love anon Flutters his wings, and forthwith is he gone. |
[An excellent example of the superior vigour of Chaucer may be seen in an original passage of his “Palamon and Arcite,” contrasted with Dryden’s tamer modernization of the same, in “Curiosities of Literature,” vol. ii. p. 107.—Ed.]
[8] This “sagacity” has been much and justly questioned by the more advanced students of medieval literature. Sir Harris Nicolas has produced an excellent edition of the poet; but the best text of the “Canterbury Tales” has been published by Mr. Thos. Wright, from a careful collation of the oldest manuscript.—Ed.
