389. The idea of the four complexions of man, corresponding to the four elements, is not due to Aristotle, but we find it in the Trésor. The application to matters of love in ll. 393-440 is presumably Gower’s own.
405 f. Aristotle says on the contrary, οἱ μελαγχολικοὶ οἱ πλεῖστοι λάγνοι εἰσίν, Probl. 30.
437. To thenke. For this use of ‘may’ with the gerund cp. ii. 510, ‘I myhte noght To soffre.’
510. ‘While the flesh has power to act,’ that is during the life of the body.
521 ff. For the geography which follows cp. Trésor, pp. 151-153.
534. the hevene cope: cp. l. 1579, ‘under the coupe of hevene,’ where the spelling suggests the Latin ‘cupa,’ rather than ‘capa,’ as the origin of the word in this common phrase. The quality of the ‘o’ in Europe is perhaps doubtful.
536. Begripeth: used here as plural, cp. l. 1107: ‘calleth’ in l. 561 with ‘men’ (indef.) as the subject is not a case of the same kind.
545. who that rede: subj., cp. Prol. 460.
559. That is, presumably, double as much as either of the other two: cp. Trésor, p. 152, ‘car Asie tient bien l’une moitié de toute la terre.’
566. Canahim: a mistake for ‘Tanaim’ (or ‘Tanain’), see Trésor, p. 152, where the extent of Asia is said to be from the mouths of the Nile and the ‘Tanain’ (i. e. the Don) as far as the Ocean and the terrestrial Paradise.