returns to Athens, and becomes a favourite fervant of Thefeus, being known to Emilia though to nobody, elfe, till after fome time he is overheard making his complaint in a wood, to which he ufually reforted for that purpose, by Pamphilo, a fervant of Palemone. B. V. Upon the report of Pamphilo Palemone be gins to be jealous of Arcita, and is defirous to get out of prison in order to fight with him. This he accomplishes with the affiftance of Pamphilo, by changing clothes with Alimeto a physician. He goes armed to the wood in queft of Arcita, whom he finds fleeping. At first they are very civil and friendly to each other (II;) then Palemone calls upon Arcita to renounce his pretenfions to Emilia, or to fight with him. After many long expoftulations on the part of Arcita they fight, and are discovered firft by Emilia, who fends for Thefeus. When he finds who they are, and the caufe of their difference, he forgives them, and propofes the method of deciding their claim to Emilia by a combat of an hundred on each fide, to which they gladly agree. B. VI. Palemone and Arcita live fplendidly at Athens, and send out meffengers to fummon their friends, who arrive, and the principal of them are feverally defcribed, viz. Lycurgus, Peleus, Phocus, Telamon, &c. Agamemnon, Menelaus, Caftor and Pollux, &c. Neftor, Evander, Pirithous, Ulyffes, Diomedes, Pygmalion, Minos, &c. with a great difplay of ancient history and mythology. (11) En fieme fe fer fefta di bon core, E li loro accidenti fi narraro. Thef. 1. v. This is furely too much in the style of romance; Chaucer has made them converfe more naturally; he has alfo judiciously avoided to copy Boccace in reprefenting Arcita as more inoderate than his rival. B. VII. Thefeus declares the laws of the combat, and the two parties of an hundred on each fide are formed. The day before the combat Arcita, after having vifited the temples of all the gods, makes a formal prayer to Mars. The prayer being perfonified (12) is faid to go and find Mars in his temple (12) Era afor forfi Marte in exercitio Di chiara far la parte ruginofa Thef. 1.vii. As this contrivance of personifying the prayers, and fending them to the feveral deities, is only in order to introduce a defcription of the respective temples, it will be allowed, I believe, that Chaucer has attained the fame end by a more natural fiction. It is very probable that Boccace caught the idea of making the prayers perfons from Homer, with whofe works he was better acquainted than most of his contemporaries in this part of the world; and there can be no doubt, I fuppofe, that Chaucer's imagination, in the expedient which he has fubftituted, was affifted by the occafional edifices which he had himself feen erected for the decoration of tournainents.- -The combat which follows having no foundation in ancient history or manners, it is no wonder that both poets thould have admitted a number of incongruous circumftances into their defcription of it. The great advantage which Chaucer has over his original in this refpect is, that he is much shorter. When we have read in The Thefeida a long and learned catalogue of all the heroes of antiquity brought together upon this occafion, we are only the more furprised to see Thefeus, in fuch an affembly, conferring the honour of knighthood upon the two Theban chieftains; E fenza flare con non piccolo honore E ad Arcita Polluce e Caftore In Thrace, which is defcribed, and Mars, upon un derstanding the meffage, caufes favourable figns to be given to Arcita. In the fame manner Palemone clofes his religious obfervances with a prayer to Venus. His prayer being alfo personified, fets out for the temple of Venus on Mount Citherone, which is alfo defcribed, and the petition is granted. Then the facrifice of Emilia to Diana is defcribed; her prayer; the appearance of the goddefs, and the figns of the two fires.-. In the morning they proceed to the theatre with their refpective troops, and prepare for the action. Arcita puts up a private prayer to Emilia, and harangues his troop publickly, and Palemone does the fame. B. VIII. Contains a defcription of the battle, in which Palemone is taken prisoner. B. IX. The horfe of Arcita, being frighted by a Fury fent from hell at the defire of Venus, throws him; however he is carried to Athens in a triumphal chariot with Emilia by his fide, is put to bed dangerously ill, and there by his own defire efpoufes Emilia. B. X. The funeral of the perfons killed in the combat. Arcita being given over by his phyficians makes his will in difcourfe with Thefeus, and defires that Palemone may inherit all his poffeffions, and alfo Emilia: he then takes leave of Palemone and Emilia, to whom he repeats the fame request. Their lamentations. Arcita orders a facrifice to Mercury, (which Palemone performs for him) and dies. B. XI. Opens with the paffage of Arcita's foul to heaven, imitated from the beginning of the 9th book of Lucan. The funeral of Arcita. Defcription of the E Diomede e Ulixe di cuore Thef. 1. vii wood felled takes up fix ftanzas. Palemone builds temple in honour of him, in which his whole hiftory is painted. The defcription of this painting is an abridgment of the preceding part of the poem. B. XII. Thefeus propofes to carry into execution Arcita's will by the marriage of Palemone and Emilia: this they both decline for fome time in formal fpeeches, but at laft are perfuaded and married. The kings, &c. take their leave, and Palemone remains in gioia e in diporto Con la fua dona nobile e cortefe. From this sketch of the Thefeida it is evident enough that Chaucer was obliged to Boccace (13) for the plan (13) To whom Boccace was obliged is a more difficult fubject of inquiry. That the story was of his own invention I think is fcarce credible. He speaks of it himself as very ancient, [Lett. all Fiammetta. Biblioth. Smith. App. p. 141;]“ Trovata una antichiffima Storia, e al più delle genti non manifeíta, "in Latinovolgare, acciocchè più dilettafle e maflimainente a " voi, che già con fommo titolo le mie rime efaltatte, ho ri"dotta." He then tells her that the will obferve that what is related under the name of one of the two lovers and of Emilia is very fimilar to what had actually paffed between hertelf and him; and adds- Se forfe alcune cofe foperchie vi foffono, il "voler bene coprire ciò che non era onefto manifeftare, da "noi due in fuori, e'l volere la ftoria feguire, ne fono cagione.” I am well aware, however, that declarations of this kind, prefixed to fabulous works, are not much to be depended upon. The wildelt of the French romances are commonly laid by the authors to be tranflated from fome old Latin chronicle at St. Denys: and certainly the ftory of Palemone and Arcita, as related by Boccace, could not be very ancient. It was of Greek original (as I rather fufpect) it must have been thrown into its prefent form after the Norman princes had introduced the manners of chivalry into their dominions in Sicily and Italy. The poem in modern Greek political veries, De nuptiis 1 befei et Emilie, printed at Venice in 1529, is a mere trantlation of Tre Thefeida. The author has even tranflated the prefatory epittle addreffed by Boccace to The Fiammnetta. and principal incidents of The Knighte's Tale; and in the Notes upon that Tale I fhall point out fome pallages, out of many more, which are literal translations from the Italian. Sro. When the Knight has finished his Tale the Hoft with great propriety calls upon the Monk, as the next in rank among the men, to tell the next Tale; but as it feems to have been the intention of Chaucer to avail himself of the variety of his characters, in order to diftribute alternate fucceffions of ferious and comick in nearly equal proportions throughout his Work, he has contrived that the Hofte's arrangement shall be fet afide by the intrufion of the dronken Miller, whose Tale is fuch as might be expected from his character and condition, a complete contraft to the Knightes. SII. I have not been able to discover from whence the story of The Miller's Tale is taken, so that for the prefent I must give Chaucer credit for it as his own invention, though in general he appears to have built his Tales, both ferious and comick, upon ftories which he found ready made. The great difference is, that in his ferious pieces he often follows his author with the fervility of a mere tranflator, and in confequence his narration is jejune and conftrained; whereas in the comick he is generally fatisfied with borrowing a flight hint of his fubject, which he varies, enlarges, and embellishes, at pleafure, and gives the whole the air and colour of an original; a fure fign that his genius rather led him to compofitions of the latter kind. $ 12. The next Tale is told by the Reve (who is reprefented above [ver. 589,] as a cholerick man) in revenge of The Miller's Tale. It has been generally faid to be borrowed from The Decameron, d. ix. n. 6, but I rather think that both Boccace and Chaucer, in this inftance, have taken whatever they have in com |