ABSTRACT
It is reasonable to believe that Chaucer finished Troilus and Criseyde about 1385, himself aged about 45 and at the height of his powers, not tired but eager to proceed. There were so many possibilities open to the poet for whom every new poem was an experiment, and whose mind was full o f stories, thoughts and questions. Troilus and Criseyde must have caused some little stir in court-circles because the next substantial poem, The Legend of Good Women, in its Prologue presents a vision of the mighty God of Love — the medieval Cupid, a bold, handsome young man — who reproaches the poet for bring ing love into disrepute. (There are two Prologues, referred to as F and G, to be explained later. Here we refer to the earlier, F.) The poet, says the God of Love, has made wise folk withdraw from him because the poet has translated the Romance of the Rose ‘that is a heresy against my law’ (F 330) and has told the story of Criseyde which makes men distrust women who are ‘as true as steel’ (F 3324). The likely date for The Legend is therefore about 1386. The god has with him a glorious Queen, incarnation o f the daisy, or marguer ite, who rallies to the poet’s defence, says he didn’t know what he was doing, etc. After some sharp words about the deceitfulness of courtiers she lists Chaucer’s own works which have made ignorant folk delight to serve love. She refers to the Death of Blaunche the Duchess, The Parliament of Fowls, ‘the love o f Palamon and Arcite’ though the story is little known (F 415-21), many love-lyrics, Boethius, the Life of Saint Cecilia, and a great while ago, Origen on the Magdalen.
