1180. Cp. i. 698, ‘And many a contenance he piketh.’ It means here perhaps ‘thus I keep up a pretence (for staying).’
1245 ff. A somewhat similar story to this is to be found in Andreas Capellanus, De Amore, to which my attention was first called by Mr. Archer. This book (written about 1220) gives imaginary colloquies between different kinds of persons, to illustrate the ways of courtship, ‘Plebeius loquitur plebeiae,’ ‘Plebeius nobili,’ ‘Nobilis plebeiae,’ ‘Nobilis nobili.’ In this last occurs the story of a squire who saw the god of love leading a great company of ladies in three bands, the first well mounted and well attended, the second well mounted but attended by so many that it was a hindrance rather than a help, and the third in wretched array with lame horses and no attendance. The meaning of the sight is explained to the squire by one of these last, and he is taken to see the appropriate rewards and punishments of each band. He relates what he has seen to his mistress in order to make her more ready to accept his suit (pp. 91-108, ed. Trojel, 1892).
There are some expressions which resemble those which Gower uses, as ‘quarum quaelibet in equo pinguissimo et formoso et suavissime ambulante sedebat’ (p. 92), cp. 1309 f.,
‘On faire amblende hors thei sete
That were al whyte, fatte and grete.’
And again, ‘domina quaedam ... habens equum macerrimum et turpem et tribus pedibus claudicantem,’ cp. 1343 ff. The story, however, is different in many ways from that of Gower. For other similar stories see the article in Romania for January 1900 on the ‘Purgatory of Cruel Beauties’ by W. A. Neilson.
The tale of Rosiphelee is well told by Gower, and in more than one passage it bears marks of having been carefully revised by the author. The alteration of 1321 f. is peculiarly happy, and gives us one of the best couplets in the Confessio Amantis.
1285. the Sonne Ariste: cp. iii. 1224. The capital letter was perhaps intended to mark ‘Ariste’ as a substantive.
1307. comen ryde: cp. i. 350.
1309. ‘hors’ is evidently plural here: so i. 2036 and often.