659. Iubiter, Jupiter. But the Lat. text has Juno, and it is remarkable that Gower follows it.[1] Either the Lat. text must be wrong, or else deum must be changed to deam. Cf. l. 697.
670. 'A dozen of wonders,' i.e. his twelve labours.
675. Bollere, hard drinker. On this word, see Notes to Piers Plowman, C. x. 194.
682. 'And essayed(or followed after), whilst upon earth, that foolish fire.' Here folie, lit. folly, is used as an adjective. Cf. l. 688.
684. 'And kindles with the gleam all the lust of lechers;' Lat. libidinem accendit.
692. Or any seggus ellus, before any other persons besides. Ll. 691, 692 are due to the other Latin text—"Cererum frumenti datricem horrea ventris incolere;" ed. Bisse, p. 95.
696. The correction is obvious.
698. He; Juno is here supposed to be masculine, as in l. 717. 'And men say that he keeps a condemned spirit of the air, to speak wonders and foretell what is to happen, of wo or weal.' The sense of in his worde one is by no means clear; it may be 'by his word alone,' in which case in should rather have been bi. Or else it may mean 'in his world (sphere) alone;' only Juno was not reckoned as a planet or possessor of a sphere. Spild = condemned, ruined, fallen. Concerning spirits of the air, see Notes to Piers Plowman, C. ii. 127. The corresponding passage occurs in the text in Anonymus de Bragmanis, ed. Bisse, p. 95; which, however, gives quite a different turn to the passage, and makes Jupiter the god of the nose! "Jovem quasi aereum spiritum in naribus habere prætorium, Appolinem medicinæ et musicæ præceptorum habitacula possidere."
703. Hin; perhaps a mere error for him; yet it is the right form of the accusative. Cf. A.S. hine, G. ihn, the accusative, as distinct from A.S. him, g. ihm, the dative.
704. Leueþ, remains. Distinct from leuen, to believe; cf. l. 706.
708. Insert a comma after godus; folk is in the vocative case.
710. That traie is to paie, which it is a vexation (to you) to pay.
717. Vn; so in MS. Put for on, on.
719. A swan; evidently a translation of cignum, which would closely resemble agnum in a MS. And the text in Bisse's Palladius, p. 95, actually has the reading cygnus.
720. The corrections are easy; the MS. has on vs, where on is plainly not wanted, and vs = vse = use. And of course vectus is for venus; see Lat. text and cf. l. 693.
721. On his den take, taken in its den, i.e. nest.
732. Mo, more in number. Telle, count.
735. Solepme; so in MS. Read 'sol-e-pne' = 'solempne.''
- ↑ So also in Bisse's Palladius, p. 95:—"Junonem iracundiae presidentem praecordia tenere."
