th Homer, whose
"Iliad," before it furnished materials for the mediaeval
Troilus-legend, had been filtered through a brief Latin epitome, and
diluted into a Latin novel, and a journal kept at the seat of war, of
altogether apocryphal value. And, indeed, it must in general be
conceded that, if Chaucer had read much, he lays claim to having read
more; for he not only occasionally ascribes to known authors works
which we can by no means feel certain as to their having written, but
at times he even cites (or is made to cite in all the editions of his
works), authors who are altogether unknown to fame by the names which
he gives to them. But then it must be remembered that other mediaeval
writers have rendered themselves liable to the same kind of charge.
Quoting was one of the dominant literary fashions of the age; and just
as a word without an oath went for but little in conversation, so a
statement or sentiment in writing aquired greatly enhanced value when
suggested by authority, even after no more precise a fashion than the
use of the phrase "as old books say." In Chaucer's days the equivalent
of the modern "I have seen it said SOMEWHERE"--with perhaps the
venturesome addition: "I THINK, in Horace" had clearly not become an
objectionable expletive.

Of modern literatures there can be no doubt that Chaucer had made
substantially his own, the two which could be of importance to him as a
poet. His obligations to the French singers have probably been
over-estimated--at all events if the view adopted in this essay be the
correct one, and if the charming poem of the "Flower and the Leaf,"
together with the lively, but as to its meaning not very transparent,
so-called "Chaucer's Dream," be denied admission among his genuine
works. At the same time, the influence of the "Roman de la Rose" and
that of the courtly poets, of whom Machault was the chief in France and
Froissart the representative in England, are perceptible in Chaucer
almost to the last, nor is it likely that he should ever have ceased to
study and assimilate them. On the other hand, the extent of his
knowledge of Italian literature has probably till of late been
underrated in an almost equal degree. This knowledge displays itself
not only in the imitation or adaptation of particular poems, but more
especially in the use made of incidental passages and details. In this
way his debts to Dante were especially numerous; and it is curious to
find proofs so abun