eaks of

women that betrayed be
Through false folk, (God give them sorrow, amen!)
That with their greate wit and subtlety
Betray you; and 'tis this that moveth me
To speak; and, in effect, you all I pray:
Beware of men, and hearken what I say.)

At the same time the poet lends an attentive ear, as genius can always
afford to do, to a criticism of his shortcomings, and readily accepts
the sentence pronounced by Alcestis that he shall write a legend of
GOOD women, both maidens and also wives, that were

true in loving all their lives.

And thus, with the courage of a good or at all events easy conscience,
he sets about his task which unfortunately--it is conjectured by reason
of domestic calamities, probably including the death of his
wife--remained, or at least has come down to us unfinished. We have
only nine of the nineteen stories which he appears to have intended to
present (though indeed a manuscript of Henry IV's reign quotes
Chaucer's book of "25 good women"). It is by no means necessary to
suppose that all these nine stories were written continuously; maybe,
too, Chaucer, with all his virtuous intentions, grew tired of his
rather monotonous scheme, at a time when he was beginning to busy
himself with stories meant to be fitted into the more liberal framework
of the "Canterbury Tales." All these illustrations of female constancy
are of classical origin, as Chaucer is glad to make known and most of
them are taken from Ovid. But though the thread of the English poet's
narratives is supplied by such established favourites as the stories of
Cleopatra the Martyr Queen of Egypt, of Thisbe of Babylon the Martyr,
and of Dido to whom "Aeneas was forsworn," yet he by no means slavishly
adheres to his authorities, but alters or omits in accordance with the
design of his book. Thus, for instance, we read of Medea's desertion
by Jason, but hear nothing of her as the murderess of her children;
while, on the other hand, the tragedy of Dido is enhanced by pathetic
additions not to be found in Virgil. Modern taste may dislike the way
in which this poem mixes up the terms and ideas of Christian
martyrology with classical myths, and as "the Legend of the Saints of
Cupid" assumes the character of a kind of calendar of women canonised
by reason of their faithfulness to earthly love. But obviously this is
a method of treatment belonging to an age, not to a single poem or
poet. Chaucer's artistic judgment i