Stanza 47

Boccaccio:

and upon her unkempt head let set a crown;

e sopra i suoi capelli, cosí scarmigliati come erano, le fece mettere una corona;


Petrarch:

Sic horridulam virginem, indutam, laceramque comam recollectam manibus comptamque pro tempore, insignitam gemmis et corona velut subito transformatam, vix populus recognovit;

So this simple peasant girl, new clad, with her dishevelled tresses collected and made smooth, adorned with gems and coronet, was as it were suddenly transformed, so that the people hardly knew her.


Chaucer:

Hir heris han they kembd, that lay untressed
Ful rudely, and with hir fyngres smale
A corone on hir heed they han ydressed,
And sette hir ful of nowches grete and smale.
Of hire array what sholde I make a tale?
Unnethe the peple hire knew for hir fairnesse
Whan she translated was in swich richesse.

(close this window to return to the Clerk's Tale.)

No comments:

Post a Comment