116. other: this must be regarded as a legitimate plural form beside ‘othre’: cp. iv. 1183, and see Morsbach, Schriftsprache, p. 23. On the other hand, ‘othre’ is sometimes used as singular, e.g. l. 481, ii. 283.
178. Mi world, i.e. ‘my fortune’: cp. Prol. 383.
196. The idea of ‘Genius’ is taken from the Roman de la Rose, where Genius is the priest of Nature, ‘Qui célébroit en sa chapelle,’ and she confesses to him, 16487 ff. (ed. Méon).
205. Benedicite: the regular beginning of a confessor’s address to his penitent.
213. Cp. Rom. de la Rose, 16927 f. (of Nature confessing to Genius),
‘Qui dit par grant dévocion
En plorant sa confession.’
225. my schrifte oppose, ‘question me as to my confession,’ cp. the use of ‘opponere’ in the margin here and 299, 708, &c.
232. tome. This is Gower’s usual form of combination where the accent is to be thrown on the preposition. We have also ‘byme,’ ii. 2016, &c., tome, l. 294, ii. 3160, &c., ‘untome,’ iii. 99, ‘tothe,’ iv. 1875. In such cases, as is seen below, l. 294, the final syllable becomes weak and subject to elision.
279. remene, ‘bring back,’ from Fr. ‘remener’: cp. ‘demenen.’