270 THE SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE

Through which men mighten any light discerne.

10. The door was all of adamant eterne,

Yclenched overthwart and endelong

With iron tough, and for to make it strong,

Every pillar, the temple to sustene,

14. Was tun-great, of iron bright and sheene.”

(The Knight’s Tale, l. 1983 of “The Canterbury Tales.”)

Line 1. “Bent.” In glossary, the ‘bending,’ or declivity, of a hill. Properly, I believe, the hollow cut out by the sweep of a stream. Just the place where they put milldams or chimneys on the streams above Sheffield, for grinding knives or bayonets.

Line 3. “Burnëd steel.” Twice hardened in the fire.

Line 5. “Vise.” I am not sure what the word means; but the general sense is, that such a blast came out of the building, that it lifted the gates, underneath, as a portcullis is lifted.

Line 7. “The Northern light.” Flickering, furious, and cheerless-the only light that is ever seen by the soul purposed for war.

Line 10. “Adamant.” Diamond: the jewel which means sable in heraldry. The Northern light is conceived as shining through it.

Line 14. “Tun-great.” As large round as a cask.

Note, finally, the absolute carelessness of all great poets, whether their images be common or not,-so only they be clear.

There is, by-the-bye, an exquisite piece of architectural colour just before:

“And northward, in a turret on the wall

Of alabaster white, and red corall,

An oratorie riche for to see,

In worship of Diane of Chastitee.”¹

¹ [The note as printed above is from the 1880 edition. Eds. 1 and 2 read:-“Except in Chaucer’s noble temple of Mars (quotation as above, though differently spelt: see below). There is, by-the-bye, ... Chastitee.” The following is the quotation from Chaucer as printed in eds. 1 and 2 :-

“And dounward from an hill under a bent,

Ther stood the temple of Mars, armipotent,

Wrought all of burned stele, of which th’ entree

Was longe, and streite, and gastly for to see.

And thereout came a rage, and swiche a vise

That it made all the gates for to rise.

The northern light in at the dore shone,

For window on the wall ne was ther none,

Thurgh which men mighten any light discerne.

The dore was all of athamant eterne,

Yclenched overthwart and endelong

With yren tough, and for to make it strong,

Every piler, the temple to sustene,

Was tonne-gret, of yren bright and shene.”

(The Knightes Tale.)

[Version 0.04: March 2008]