"O Thought, that wroot al that I mette, / And in the tresorie hit shette / Of my brayn!"
— Chaucer, Geoffrey (c. 1340-1400)
Work Title
Date
1384
Metaphor
"O Thought, that wroot al that I mette, / And in the tresorie hit shette / Of my brayn!"
Metaphor in Context
Proem
Now herkneth, every maner man
That English understonde can,
And listeth of my dreem to lere;
For now at erste shul ye here
So selly an avisioun,
That Isaye, ne Scipioun,
Ne king Nabugodonosor,
Pharo, Turnus, ne Elcanor,
Ne mette swich a dreem as this!
Now faire blisful, O Cipris,
So be my favour at this tyme!
And ye, me to endyte and ryme
Helpeth, that on Parnaso dwelle
By Elicon the clere welle.
O Thought, that wroot al that I mette,
And in the tresorie hit shette
Of my brayn! now shal men see
If any vertu in thee be,
To tellen al my dreem aright;
Now kythe thyn engyn and might!
(II .ll. 1-20)
Now herkneth, every maner man
That English understonde can,
And listeth of my dreem to lere;
For now at erste shul ye here
So selly an avisioun,
That Isaye, ne Scipioun,
Ne king Nabugodonosor,
Pharo, Turnus, ne Elcanor,
Ne mette swich a dreem as this!
Now faire blisful, O Cipris,
So be my favour at this tyme!
And ye, me to endyte and ryme
Helpeth, that on Parnaso dwelle
By Elicon the clere welle.
O Thought, that wroot al that I mette,
And in the tresorie hit shette
Of my brayn! now shal men see
If any vertu in thee be,
To tellen al my dreem aright;
Now kythe thyn engyn and might!
(II .ll. 1-20)
Categories
Provenance
Searching OED: second definition of 'treasury'
Citation
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Chaucer: The complete works. Ed. Rev. Walter W. Skeat. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1894-7.
Date of Entry
10/23/2003
