Then might thou seen how it was tho
Of armes,” etc.
(Gower: Confessio Amantis, Book iv.)
Quoted from Warton’s English Poetry, vol. ii., p. 234, ed. 1840. I quote this as bearing somewhat on the subject, though it should be observed that Le Roman de la Charrette is not the same with Lancelot du Lac, but only a romance of the same class. Chaucer also refers to Lancelot in his Nonnes Prestes Tale, l. 392; and it is mentioned in the famous lines of Dante (Inf. v. 127)—
“Noi leggevamo un giorno per diletto
Di Lancilotto, come amor lo strinse,” &c.
[5] He does not necessarily imply that the poet invoked was still alive; and we might almost suppose Petrarch to be meant, who was more proud of his Latin poem called “Africa” than of his odes and sonnets. See Hallam’s Literary History (4 vols.), vol. i., p. 85. But this is pure conjecture.
[6] But the French has “Cardueil.” See [l. 2153].
[7] Tytler’s History of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1841), vol. iv., p. 216.
[8] The French text does not say anything about “astronomy.” We may especially note the following lines, as not being in the French, viz., lines [1473-1496], [1523-1542], [1599-1644], [1658-1680], and the long passage [1752-1998].