bleu adj.

  bleu 
 TR2.50 Ĭn Máy, thăt módĕr ís ŏf mónthĕs gládĕ,
 TR2.51 Thăt frésshĕ flóurĕs, bléw ănd whíte ănd rédĕ,
 TR2.52 Bĕn quíke ăgáyn, thăt wýntĕr dédĕ mádĕ,
 TR2.53 Ănd fúl ŏf báwme ĭs fléty̆ng évery̆ médĕ,
 TR2.54 Whăn Phébŭs dóth hĭs brýghtĕ bémĕs sprédĕ
 TR2.55 Rĭght ín thĕ whítĕ Bóle, ĭt só bĭtíddĕ,
 TR2.56 Ăs Í shăl sýnge, ŏn Máyĕs dáy thĕ thrýddĕ,

Line Information

  • Differences among the manuscripts and editions:
  • English translation (Windeatt: 1998): In May, the mother of happy months, when the fresh flowers killed off by winter are quickened into life again — all blue and white and red — and every meadow overflows with balmy fragrance, and when Phoebus spreads his bright beams in the sign of Taurus, the white Bull — it so happened (as I shall sing) on the third day of May …
  • Japanese translation (Sasamoto: 2012): 楽しい月々の母、五月、冬のために枯れ死んでいた青と白と赤の鮮やかな花々が速やかに甦る五月、草地という草地が芳香におおわれる五月、日輪フォイボスが白い金牛宮の中で、明るい光を拡散する頃おい、たまたま、五月三日のことを、私は詠おう、
  • Chinese translation (Fang: 1956): 五月是良辰之始，这时残冬冻死的花卉怒发，鲜丽的蓝，白，红，各色相衬着，田野中吹着花香；费白斯的阳光照耀，从白牛宫中放出光芒，正是五月初三，这时我唱着这只歌曲，

Word Information

  • Etymology: OF
  • Addresser: Narrator
  • Addressee: N/A
  • Adjectives with which juxtaposed: fresshe, white, rede
  • Counterpart in its source (Fil): N/A
  • Noun(s) (NPs) modified: plants (flowers)
  • Attributive/ Predicative: predicative

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

(of colour) blue

Comments from the Editor

Chaucer seemed to have attached some special meaning to the month of May. Except for Pandarus in the scene above, a number of Chaucer’s characters are inspired by the season. For example, Emily rises ‘er it were day’ (KnT. 1040) on a May morning to perform her observance. This time of year, as Chaucer says, ‘priketh every gentil herte’ (KnT. 1043). Later in the same story, Arcita the lover is also moved and rises early to see the merry day of May and to perform his observance (KnT. 1498–1500). Then he remembers ‘the poynt of his desir’ (KnT. 1501) and rides a horse also seemingly moved by the season, ‘startlynge as the fir’ (KnT. 1502). In another story, the rooster Chauntecleer is inspired by May: ‘He fethered Pertelote twenty tyme, / And trad hire eke as ofte, er it was pryme. / He looketh as it were a grym leoun, / And on his toos he rometh up and doun; / Hym deigned nat to sette his foot to grounde’ (NP. 3177–81). The word ‘trad’ means to ‘copulate with (a female)’ (MED, s.v. trēden, v. 6 [a]), so in this scene, Chaucer portrays a male full of sexual desire aroused by May.