5598. So also ll. 5319, 7553.
5623. Ovid’s comparison is to fire catching dry straw and leaves, Metam. vi. 456 f.
5643 ff. Ovid compares her state after the deed was done to that of a lamb hurt by a wolf and still trembling, or a dove which has escaped wounded from a bird of prey (527-530). Here, on the other hand, the idea is of being held fast, so that she cannot move or escape; while Chaucer, using the same similes as Ovid, applies the comparison less appropriately to her fear of the violence yet to come.
5651. Cp. Metam. vi. 531, ‘Mox ubi mens rediit.’
5663 ff.
‘si copia detur,
In populos veniam; si silvis clausa tenebor,
Implebo silvas, et conscia saxa movebo.’ Metam. vi. 545 ff.
5670. I suspect the combination ‘tale and ende’ may have arisen from some such phrase as ‘to sette tale on ende’ (or ‘an ende’), meaning to begin a speech: see New Engl. Dict. under ‘ende.’
5676. where is thi fere? that is, ‘where is thy fear of the gods?’ We must not take ‘fere’ in the sense of ‘companion’ or ‘equal,’ because in that case it could not properly rhyme with ‘Ere.’