I have no doubt at all that the _Galfrid_ here referred to is no other than Geoffrey Chaucer, who was called, indifferently, _Galfrid_ or _Geoffrey_. This appears from the testimony of Lydgate, who speaks, in his 'Troy-book,' of 'Noble Galfryde, chefe Poete of Brytayne,' and again, of 'My mayster Galfride'; see Lydgate's Siege of Troye, bk. ii. ch. 15, and bk. iii. ch. 25; ed. 1557, fol. K 2, col. 1, and fol. R 2, back, col. 2. Hence we are not surprised to find that the author makes frequent reference to Chaucer's Works, viz. to Anelida (l. 235), the Death of Pity (701), Troilus (872), the Legend of Good Women (104, 873), and the Parl. of Foules (near the end). The two allusions to the Legend of Good Women at once make the poem later than 1385; and in fact, it must be quite a century later than that date. There are more than 70 rimes that differ from those employed by Chaucer. The Poet introduces to our notice personages named _Philogenet_, _Philobone_, and _Rosial_. Of these, at least the two former savour of the time of the Renaissance; for, although Chaucer uses the name Philostrate in the Knightes Tale (A 1428, 1558, 1728), he merely _copies_ this name from Boccaccio; and it is amusing to find that Boccaccio himself did not understand it.[230]
§ 12. POEMS ADDED IN SPEGHT'S EDITIONS OF 1598 AND 1602.
We have now to consider the additions made by Speght in 1598. These were only two, viz. _Chaucer's Dream_ and _The Flower and the Leaf_.
62. _Chaucer's Dream._ A long poem of 2206 short lines, in metre similar to that of The House of Fame; accepted by Tyrwhitt, and in all the editions. But there is no early trace of it; and we are not bound to accept as Chaucer's a poem first ascribed to him in 1598, and of which the MS. (at Longleat) was written about 1550. The language is of late date, and the sonant final _-e_ is decidedly scarce. The poem is badly named, and may have been so named by Speght; the proper title is 'The Isle of Ladies.' We find such rimes as _be_, _companie_ (Ch. _be_, _company-e_); _know_, _low_, i. e. law (Ch. _know-e_, _law-e_); _grene_, _yene_, i. e. eyes (Ch. _gren-e_, _y-ën_); _plesaunce_, _fesaunce_ (Ch. _plesaunc-e_, _fesaunts_); _ywis_, _kisse_ (Ch. _ywis_, _kis-se_); and when we come to _destroied_ riming with _conclude_, it is time to stop. The tediousness of this poem is appalling[231].