6807 ff. From Ovid, Fasti, ii. 305-358. The ‘mistress’ of whom Ovid speaks is Omphale, but Gower supposed it to be Iole. He gets ‘Thophis’ as the name of the cave from a misunderstanding of l. 317, and apparently he read ‘Saba’ for ‘Lyda’ in l. 356, out of which he has got his idea of a goddess Saba with attendant nymphs. This feature, though based on a mistake, is a decided improvement of the story, which is told by Gower in a spirited and humorous manner.
6848 ff. The reading of X in this passage is also that of GOAd₂.
6899. The punctuation is that of F.
6932. al a route: so iv. 2145, cp. l. 6257, ‘al a compainie.’
7013. Cp. Mirour, 7181 ff.
7048. This is a nautical metaphor, ‘so near the wind will they steer.’ The verb ‘love’ is the modern ‘luff,’ meaning to bring a ship’s head towards the wind. The substantive ‘lof’ (genit. ‘loves’) means in ME. a rudder or some similar contrivance for turning the ship, and ‘love’ here seems to mean simply to steer. The rhyme with ‘glove’ makes ‘love’ from ‘lufian’ out of the question, even if it gave a satisfactory sense.
7140. gon offre. The ceremony of ‘offering’ after mass was one which involved a good deal of etiquette as regards precedence and so on, cp. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, A 449 ff., and ladies apparently were led up to the altar on these occasions by their cavaliers.
7179. ‘If I might manage in any other way,’ like the expression ‘(I cannot) away with,’ &c.
7195 ff. The story comes no doubt from Benoît, Rom. de Troie, 2851-4916, where it is told at much greater length. Guido does not differ much as regards the incidents related by Gower, but by comparing the two texts in some particular places we can tell without much difficulty which was Gower’s source. For example, in the speech of Hector Benoît has,
‘Veez Europe que il ont,