cruel adj.

2022-07-26 cruel

TR1.8 Tŏ thé clĕpe Í, thŏw góddĕsse óf tŏrmént,
TR1.9 Thŏw crúwĕl Fúrĭe, sórwy̆nge évere ĭn péynĕ,
TR1.10 Hĕlp mé, thăt ám thĕ sórwfŭl ínstrŭmént,
TR1.11 Thăt hélpĕth lóverĕs, ás Ĭ kán, tŏ pléynĕ;
TR1.12 Fŏr wél sĭt ít, thĕ sóthĕ fór tŏ séynĕ,
TR1.13 Ă wófŭl wíght tŏ hán ă dréry̆ féerĕ,
TR1.14 Ănd tó ă sórwfŭl tále, ă sóry̆ chérĕ.

Line Information

Differences among the manuscripts and editions:
English translation (Windeatt: 1998) (Windeatt: 1998): I call on you, goddess of torment, cruel Fury, ever sorrowing in pain: help me, who am the sorrowful instrument that, as best I can, helps lovers to lament. For, to tell the truth, a sad companion best suits a sorrowful person, and a sad expression a sorrowful tale.
Japanese translation (Sasamoto: 2012) (Sasamoto: 2012): 私は貴女に対して責め苦の女神と呼ぶが、絶えず人を痛苦で苦しめるむごい復讐の女神よ、世の嘆く恋人たちを力の及ぶ限り手助けする嘆かわしい楽器たる媒介役の私をお助けください。実を申しあげますと、悲しむ人には悲しみに暮れる仲間を持つことが、そして悲しい物語には曇った顔つきがよく似合いますから。
Chinese translation (Fang: 1956) (Fang: 1956): 我向你呼唤，苦难的女神，残忍的魔怪，你永远在痛楚中哀号，协助我，我就是悲哀的工具，尽我所能，帮衬着情人们歌哭！正是，伤心人应有潦倒的伴侣，愁苦的事迹应有悲惨的阵容。

Word Information

Etymology: OF
Addresser: Narrator
Addressee: N/A
Adjectives with which juxtaposed: N/A
Counterpart in its source (Fil): N/A
Noun(s) (NPs) modified: supernatural beings (Furie: Fury)
Attributive/ Predicative: attributive

Information in Previous Studies

OED: Not quoted
MED: Not quoted

Commented in other previous works:
Windeatt (2003): N/A
Fisher (1989): N/A
Benson (1987): N/A
Davis et al. (1979): Not quoted
Donaldson (1975): N/A
Baugh (1963): N/A

Possible Definitions

unrelenting, cruel, pitiless

Comments from the Editor

Chaucer invokes Tisiphone, one of the Furies, to help him write this story. As he says, ‘A woful wight to han a drery feere, And to a sorwful tale, a sory chere’. These two lines form a rhetorical commonplace, and we can find similar expressions in the Squire’s Tale: ‘Accordant to his words was his cheere’ (V.103).