The Canterbury tales and Faerie queene &c., &c., &c., ed. for popular perusal with current illustrations and explanatory notes, by D. Laing Purves.

THE HOUSE OF FAME. 233
Or if that spirits have the might Through malicious intenti6n;
To make folk to dream a-night; And whoso, through presunmptin,
Or if the soul, of proper kind,1 Or hate, or scorn, or through envy,
Be so perfect as men find, Despite, or jape,15 or villainy,l1
That it forewot 2 what is to come, Misdeem it, pray I Jesus God,
And that it warneth all and some That dream he barefoot, dream he shod,
Of ev'reach of their adventires, That ev'ry harm that any man
By visi6ns, or by figures, Hath had since that the world began,
But that our fleshe hath no might Befall him thereof, ere he sterve,l7
To understanden it aright, And grant that he may it deserve,l1
For it is warned too darkly; Lo! with such a conclusi6n
But why the cause is, not wot I. As had of his avisi6n
Well worth of this thing greate clerks,3 Croesus, that was the king of Lyde,l9
That treat of this and other works; That high upon a gibbet died;
For I of none opinion This prayer shall he have of me;
Will as now make menti6n; I am no bet in charity.20
But only that the holy Rood
Bt only that the holy Rood mNow hearken, as I have you said,
Turn us every dream to good.
Turn us every dream to good. What that I mette ere I abraid,21
For never since that I was born, December the tenth day;
Of December the tenthe day;
Nor no man elles me beforn,
TNor no man ells me -befornV When it was night to sleep I lay,
Mette,4 as I trowe steadfastly,
Sett, asnIetrowa steadfast, bTRight as I was wont for to do'n,
So wonderful a dream as I,. wond. ladreama....l..And fell asleepe wonder soon,
The tenthe day now of December; And fell asleep
As he that weary was for go 2
The which, as I can it renember,
On pilgrimag~ miles two
I will you tellen ev'ry deal.5 pilgrag mils two
6.... 1 To the corsaint 23 Leonard,
But at my beginning, trustil weel,
Bu at mybl,6 To make lithe that erst was hard.
I will make invocati6n,
I will make invocation, But, as I slept, me mette I was
With special devoti6n,
With special devoti6n, Within a temple made of glass;
Unto the god of Sleep anon, In which there were more images
That dwelleth in a cave of stone 7
atelthia ce fo e, Of gold, standing in sundry stages,
Upon a stream that comes from Lete, A,
_And more riche tabernacles,
That is a flood of hell unsweet, And rri re nn
And with pierrie 24 more pinnacles,
Beside a folk men call Cimmerie; more curious portraitures,
And more curious portraitures,
There sleepeth ay this god unmerry, And quaint manner res
With his sleepy thousand sonus,
h hs sp Of golde work than I saw ever.
That alway for to sleep their won 8 is; Of g r, t saw ever
And to this god, that I of read,9 But, certainly, I
d to t, t f re Where that it was, but well wist I
Pray I, that he will me speedwas Venusreadi
My sweven for to tell anright,. X r
y sweven for to tell aright, This temple; for in portraiture
If ev'ry dream stands in his might. saw anon ght her fig
I saw anon right her figure
And he that Mover is of all 2
Naked floating in a sea,7
That is, and was, and ever shall,
That is, and was, and ever shall, And also on her head, pardie,
So give them joyP that it hear,
So give them ]oye that it hear, Her rose garland white and red;
Of alle that they dream to-year; nd her o to o hr
And her comb to comb her head,
And for to standen all in grace er dov an Cupido
Of their loves, or in what place Her blinde son, and Vulco,
Her blindd son, and Vulcano,2s
That them were liefestl2 for to stand, in his fac was full brown.
And shield them from pov6rt' and shand,13
And from ev'ry unhap and disease, As he "roamed up and down," the dreamer
And send them all that may them please, saw on the wall a tablet of brass inscribed with
That take it well, and scorn it not, the opening lines of the AEneid; while the whole
Nor it misdeemen 14 in their thought, story of.Eneas was told in the " portraitures
1 Of its own nature. 2 Foreknows. 17 Die. 18 Earn, obtain.
3 Great scholars set much worth upon this thing- 19 See the account of his vision in The Monk's Tale,
that is, devote much labour, attach much importance, page 163.
to the subject of dreams. 4 Dreamed. o2 No better in charity-no more charitable.
5 Every part or whit. 6 Well. 21 Awoke.
7 The poet briefly refers to the description of the 22 Was weary through having gone. The meaning
House of Somnus, in Ovid's " Metamorphoses," 1. xi. of the allusion is not clear; but the story of the pilgrims
592, et seqq.; where the cave of Somnus is said to be and the peas is perhaps suggested by the third line
"prope Cimmerios," and to have a stream of Lethe's following-" to make lithe [soft] what erst was hard."
water issuing from the base of the rock: St Leonard was the patron of captives.
23 The " corpus sanctum"-the holy body, or relics,
" Saxo tamen exit ab imo preserved in the shrine.
Rivus aquae Lethes." 24 Gems, precious stones.
8 Wont, custom. 9 Of whom I tell you. 25 Strange kinds. 26 Knew.
10 This year. 11 In favour. 27 So, in the Temple of Venus described in The
12 Most desired or agreeable. Knight's Tale, the Goddess is represented as " naked
13 Poverty and shame. 14 Misjudge. floating in the large sea" (page 36).
15 Jesting, buffoonery. 16 Baseness ofnature. 28 Vulcan, the husband of Venus.