299 ff. See note on Mir. 16597.
320. The punctuation is here determined by that of F, which has a stop after ‘love.’ Otherwise the meaning might be, ‘And doth great mischief to love,’ the conjunction being transposed, as often.
333 ff. The story is from Ovid, Metam. iii. 138 ff.
350. cam ride. For this use of the infin. see New Engl. Dict., ‘come,’ B. i. 3. f.: so ‘thei comen ryde,’ iv. 1307.
367. For the use of ‘hire’ as a dissyllable in the verse, cp. 872, 1667: on the other hand, 884, 887, 939, 1673, &c.
383. That is, if a man gave heed to the matter, he would see that it was, &c.: cp. Prol. 460.
389. Ovid, Metam. iv. 772 ff. This, however, is not Gower’s only authority, for he mentions details, as for example the names of Medusa’s sisters, which are not given by Ovid. The confusion which we find here between the Graeae and the Gorgons appears in Boccaccio, De Gen. Deorum, x. 10, which possibly our author may have seen; but I suspect he had some other authority. The names which Gower gives as Stellibon and Suriale are properly Stheno (Stennio in Boccaccio) and Euryale.
422. Mercurie: see note on Prol. 323. Mercury’s sword is not mentioned either by Ovid or Boccaccio.
431. gan enbrace, ‘placed on his arm’; see the quotations in New Engl. Dict. under ‘embrace v. 1,’ e.g. K. Alis. 6651, ‘His scheld enbraceth Antiocus.’
452. To tarie with, ‘with which to vex’: cp. i. 2172, ii. 283, 1081, v. 925, &c., and Cant. Tales, F 471, ‘To hele with youre hurtes hastily.’