This is the first illustration to Troilus and Criseyde, the final poem in the Kelmscott Chaucer. Set at the siege of Troy, it again allowed Burne-Jones another gloss on a subject that continued to preoccupy him with work on the easel (see cat. no. 54), but this time it was at least brought to a satisfying con- clusion. The designs to the poem are among the strongest and most sober, and reflect Burne-Jones s considered opinion of the complementary characters of Chaucer and Morris. "Troilus [is] a very long poem I always think it was his most careful work, as the Legend of Good Women is the least care- ful. That looks as though he'd felt there was a great lot to tell and very little space to tell it in, and as if he were in a hurry to get it all in and couldn't. He's very much the same sort of per- son as Mr Morris; unless he can begin his tale at the beginning and go on steadily to the end, he's bothered. There's no inge- nuity [ingenuousness?] in either of them, the value of their work comes from the extreme simplicity and beautiful direct- ness of their natures." 1 1. Lago 1982, pp. 93-94 (entry for February 26, 1896).