How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
O firste moevyng! crueel firmanent,
With thy diurnal sweigh, that crowdest ay
And hurlest al from Est til Occident
That naturelly wolde holde another way,
Thy crowdyng set the hevene in swich array
At the bigynnyng of this fiers viage,
That crueel Mars hath slayn this mariage. (295-301)
The stars don't just contain information about our future. Here, at least, they also cause it. We see this when the narrator blames the failure of Custance's marriage on the position of Mars at the time.
Quote #5
Imprudent Emperour of Rome, allas!
Was ther no philosophre in al thy toun?
Is no tyme bet than oother in swich cas?
Of viage is ther noon eleccioun,
Namely to folk of heigh condicioun,
Noght whan a roote is of a burthe yknowe?
Allas, we been to lewed or to slowe! (309-315)
Here's another theory for why Custance's marriage fails. The Emperor of Rome chose an unlucky time for the start of her journey. The narrator connects this failure to people being "to lewed or to slowe," again implying that mankind is to blame for our ignorance of the future. What's contradictory about all this astrologizing is that people are blamed for failing to control their future, while, at the same time, that future is said to be already written in the stars.
Quote #6
O sodeyn wo, that evere art successour
To worldly blisse, spreynd with bitternesse!
The ende of the joye of oure worldly labour!
Wo ocupieth the fyn of oure gladnesse!
Herke this conseil for thy sikernesse,
Upon the glade day have in thy minde
The unwar wo or harm that comth bihynde. (421-427)
Here the narrator expresses his fatalism, his view that "wo," or suffering, is, frankly, inevitable. This philosophy denies agency to human beings because it implies that we are helpless to control what happens to us.