How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #10
"Mankynde was lorn and damned ay to dye,
For which thy child was on a croys yrent;
Thy blisful eyen sawe al his torment;
Thanne is ther no comparison bitwene
Thy wo, and any wo man may sustene." (843-847)
Here Custance prays to Mary, saying that the suffering of mankind cannot possibly compare to what Mary endured watching her own child suffer on the cross. Custance, who in the past has prayed to the suffering Christ, now prays to the suffering Mary. The change is appropriate since Custance has recently become a mother and, like Mary, must now watch her own child suffer.
Quote #11
The sorwe that this Alla, nyght and day,
Maketh for his wyf, and for his child also,
Ther is no tonge that it telle may –
But now wol I unto Custance go,
That fleteth in the see in peyne and wo,
Fyve yeer and moore. (897-902)
Get ready to get fancy. In these lines, our dear narrator is using a super cool literary device called preterition. What's that? Well, it's when a narrator suggests the significance or greatness of something by passing over it, often by suggesting that the thing in question is so great it lies beyond anyone's narrative abilities to do it justice ("ther is no tonge that it telle may"). Also significant here is the fact that finally, someone else besides Custance is suffering. Alla's pain at the loss of his wife and child is juxtaposed with hers on the open sea.
Quote #12
Whan Alla saugh his wyf, faire he hir grette,
And weep, that it was routhe for to see.
For at the firste look he on hir sette,
He knew wel verraily that it was she.
And she for sorwe, as doumb stant as a tree,
So was hir herte shet in hir distresse,
Whan she remembred his unkyndenesse. (1051-1057)
Wait a second. This is supposed to be a happy meeting, right? But it's a wee bit awkward, given that Custance thinks her husband tried to have her set adrift at sea. So here the narrator encourages us to suffer with the characters by telling us how the situation was "routhe," or piteous, "for to see," which places us in the position of sympathizing spectators. Sure, this is a nice family reunion, but there's some definite sorrow going on, too.