The Complaint of Chaucer to His Purse (Chaucer)

To yow, my purs, and to noon other wyght

Complayne I, for ye be my lady dere!
I am so sory, now that ye been lyght;
For certes but yf ye make me hevy chere,
Me were as leef be leyd upon my bere;
For which unto your mercy thus I crye,
Beth hevy ayeyn, or elles mot I dye!

Now voucheth sauf this day or hyt be nyght,
That I of yow the blisful soun may here,
Or se your colour lyk the sonne bryght
That of yelownesse had never pere.
Ye be my lyf, ye be myne hertes stere,
Quene of comfort and of gode companye;
Beth hevy ayeyn, or elles mot I dye!

Now purs that ben to me my lyves lyght
And saveour as doun in this worlde here,
Out of this toune helpe me thurgh your myght,
Syn that ye wole nat ben my tresorere;
For I am shave as nye as any frere.
But yet I prey unto youre curtesye,
Beth heavy ayeyn, or elles mot I dye!

Lenvoy de Chaucer

O conqueror of Brutes Albyon,
Which that by lyne and fre eleccion
Ben verray kyng, this song to yow I sende;
And ye, that mowen alle oure harmes amende,
Have mynde upon my supplicacioun.

Here are the Riverside notes:

lyght: light in weight, merry, wanton
but yf ye make me hevy chere: unless you look gravely at me, take me seriously
hevy: heavy in weight, serious, pregnant
stere: rudder, guide
shave as nye as any frere: as bare of money as a friar's tonsure is of hair
conquerour: Henry IV
Brutes Albyon: the Albion (Britain) of Brutus
lyne: lineage, descent
Have mynde upon: be mindful of

And here is the Riverside critical introduction (such as it is; it's only a blurb):

Here Chaucer observes the classic ballade form, in rime royal, with the same rhymes throughout and with a refrain that plays upon the broad range of meanings of the words hevy (heavy, sad, pregnant, etc.) and light (light, cheerful, wanton, etc.) The conventions of the love complaints are playfully employed to turn the mundane need for cash into an appeal for pity from his new lady, his purse. The envoy [a typical formal feature of the ballade], clearly addressed to Henry IV, differs in tone, language, and versification from the body of the ballade, and it may be a later addition. However, the poem as we have it, addressed to Henry, must date after his coronation in October of 1399; it is therefore the last work known to have come from Chaucer's hand.

Well, that's interesting: so far as we know, this is the last poem Chaucer ever wrote.

Q: Do you get the joke?

A: I hope so! Chaucer is mournfully talking to his purse (essentially his wallet; not a handbag) as if it were his lover, begging it to have mercy on him and become "hevy." The word "hevy" can mean "serious," but, of course, it can also mean "heavy." In this case, Chaucer is imploring the purse to fill up with money again. The humor in the poem comes from the way that Chaucer creates all these double meanings: every line in the poem might apply either to a moneybag or to a girlfriend.

This poem, like the previous one, is written in rhyme royal. Moreover, both of these poems are ballades. Let's learn a little bit about the ballade:

˚The ballade is originally a French form.
˚Classically, it has three eight-line stanzas, "each using the same set of rhymes throughout and ending with a refrain, usually with a brief envoy addressing either a lady, Madame, or, more often, a Prince" (Riverside Chaucer, 632).
˚The ballade might contain elaborate symbolism or classical references.
˚It could be used for a solemn or ceremonial song.

You can see that, in both of the poems you have read, Chaucer has replaced the eight-line French stanza with his new Engish form, the rhyme royal. In making this change, he is making the form his own. He is also taking a French form and making it more English.

In both of these poems, Chaucer is making use of the conventions of the courtly love poem, but in a lightly ironic way. His goal is not to please a real girlfriend or lover, but to please a patron or powerful person. Do you see how humor and the consideration of power lie behind both of these poems, even though they both claim to be about love? Do you see how Chaucer takes the conventions of the form, such as the use of elaborate symbolism, and puts it to a satirical use, as when he compares his purse to a lover?

The refrain of this poem ("Beth hevy ayeyn, or elles mot I dye!") contains a conventional lover's plea. Often, a courtly lover would beg his beloved to have pity on him (usually by sleeping with him, actually), and he would say, "If you don't have pity on me, I am sure I will die!" Here Chaucer is making the same plea, but he is making it to his purse, which gives it a different meaning: he is saying, "If I continue to be this broke, I won't be able to survive!" He is using sophisticated humor to make an important request.