776. a Monthe day: Ovid, Her. Ep. ii. 3 f.,
‘Cornua cum lunae pleno semel orbe coissent,
Litoribus nostris ancora pacta tua est.’
782. Cp. Ovid, Ars Am. ii. 354,
‘Exarsit velis acrius illa datis.’
787 ff. Except the idea of a letter being sent, Gower takes little here from Ovid.
816 ff. This passage seems mostly of Gower’s invention, partly perhaps on the suggestion of the story of Hero and Leander in Ovid, Her. Ep. xix. 33 ff. See Bech in Anglia, v. 347.
do set up. Apparently ‘set’ is the participle, cp. ii. 1799.
833. al hire one. This idea is emphasized by Ovid, Rem. Am. 591 f.
869. This piece of etymology is perhaps due to our author, who usually adds something of his own to the stories of transformation which he relates; see note on i. 2355. Lydgate says that Phyllis hanged herself upon a filbert-tree, but he perhaps took the notion from Gower: