Chaucer Does the Work for Me (lines 29-35)

This bok of which I make of mencioun,
Entitled was al thus, as I shal telle,
Tullius of the dreme of Scipioun.
Chapitres seven hit hadde, of hevene and helle,
And erthe, and soules that therinne dwelle,
Of whiche, as shortly as I can hit trete,
Of his sentence I wol you seyn the grete.

Chaucer didn't have the internet, so he couldn't use google to find the text of the "Dream of Scipion" section of Cicero's Republic. Instead of reading a classical work like Cicero directly, he only had access to Macrobius's early Medieval commentary.

At this point, I'm not going to say too much about the Cicero, because the narrator spends the next several stanzas summarizing the story. He'll tell us everything that we need to know.

New Corn (Lines 22-28)

For out of olde feldes, as men seyth,
Cometh al this newe corn fro yer to yere;
And out of olde bokes, in good feyth,
Cometh al this newe science that men lere.
But now to purpos as of this matere --
To rede forth hit gan me so delyte,
That al the day me thoughte but a lyte.

science learning

The metaphor of books as old fields bearing new crops is one of my favorites of the poem.

It seems strange today to think that he's so busy reading he doesn't have time to think.

Notice that only now (four stanzas in) does Chaucer begin to make the transition into the narrative.

Of Lust and Lore (Lines 15-21)

Travel -- both for business and pleasure -- has kept me busy, so I apologize in the delay. That distinction is quite appropriate for this next stanza:

Of usage (what for luste what for lore)
On bokes rede I ofte, as I yow tolde.
But wherfor that I speke al this? Not yore
Agon it happed me for to beholde
Upon a bok, was write with lettres olde,
And therupon, a certeyn thing to lerne,
The longe day ful faste I redde and yerne.

luste/lore - pleasure/learning; yore agon - long ago

So now we have a glimpse into what's coming next: he's learned all he knows about love through books, but he's telling us about a specific day not so long ago when he found this book in Latin.

Note this is the second time in this very young poem that he's used the lerne/yerne rhyme. Previously, love was sliding so quickly away; now he's reading about it quickly. It's an interesting juxtaposition for our narrator, the reader.