This short extract is given as a sample of the first blank verse written
in the English language. The spelling has been modernized.
A SONNET.
DESCRIPTION AND PRAISE OF HIS LOVE GERALDINE.
From Tuscan' came my lady's worthy race;
Fair Florence was some time their ancient seat;
The western isle, whose pleasant shore doth face
Wild Camber's cliffs, did give her lively heat:
Fostered she was with milk of Irish breast;
Her sire an earl; her dame of princes' blood:
From tender years, in Britain she doth rest
With king's child, where she tasteth costly food.
Hunsdon did first present her to my een:
Bright is her hue, and Geraldine she hight:
Hampton me taught to wish her first for mine:
And Windsor, alas, doth chase me from her sight.
Her beauty of kind, her virtues from above;
Happy is he that can obtain her love.
ON THE DEATH OF SIR THOMAS WYATT.
Wyatt resteth here that quick could never rest:
Whose heavenly gifts increased by disdain,
And virtue sank the deeper in his breast;
Such profit he by envy could obtain.
A head where wisdom mysteries did frame,
Whose hammers beat still in that lively brain,
As on a stithe where that some work of fame
Was daily wrought, to turn to Britain's gain.
A hand that taught what might be said in rhyme;
That reft Chaucer the glory of his wit;
A mark, the which (unperfected for time)
Some may approach, but never none shall hit.
An eye whose judgment none effect could blind,
Friends to allure and foes to reconcile,
Whose piercing look did represent a mind
With virtue fraught reposed void of guile.
A heart where dread was never so imprest
To hide the thought that might the truth advance;
In neither fortune lost, nor yet represt,
To swell in wealth, or yield unto mischance.
A valiant corpse, where force and beauty met,
Happy alas, too happy but for foes,
Lived, and ran the race that nature set
Of manhood's shape, when she the mould did lose.
Thus for our guilt this jewel have we lost;
The earth his bones, the heavens possess his ghost.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
WYATT and SURREY are usually named together as the most illustrious
poets of the earlier part of the sixteenth century. J. Churton Collins
calls them, not inaptly, "the Dioscuri of the Dawn." "They inaugurated,"
he says, "that important period in our literature known as the Era of
Italian Influence, or that of the Company of Courtly Makers--the period
which immediately preceded and ushered in the age of Spenser and
Shakespeare." It is to them that we are indebted for the sonnet: they
were indeed the founders of our lyrical poetry. Jonson, Herrick, Waller,
Cowley, and Suckling found inspiration in their ditties. Surrey's
translation of the second and fourth books of Virgil's "Æneid" (1552) is
the earliest specimen of blank verse in our language.
* * * * *
THOMAS WYATT was born at Allington Castle in 1503, and in his youth was
a prominent and very popular member of the court of Henry VIII. He was
knighted in 1536, and in 1537 became high sheriff of Kent. In April of
the same year he was sent as ambassador to Spain, and in 1539-40 was
with the court of Charles V. in the Low Countries. Returning to England
he lived for the next two years in retirement, and died at Sherborne in
1542.
* * * * *
HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY, was born about 1517, and, like his friend
Wyatt, passed his youth at the court of Henry VIII. He served in France
in 1540, and again in 1544-46. After taking Boulogne, he became its
governor; but, on account of defeat soon afterwards at St. Etienne, he
was recalled to England by Henry VIII. His comments upon this action of
the king caused his arrest and imprisonment in the Tower. A charge of
high treason was preferred against him for having quartered the royal
arms with his own, and he was beheaded on Tower Hill, January 21, 1547.
Ballads.
WALY, WALY.
O waly,{1} waly, up the bank,
O waly, waly, doun the brae,{2}
And waly, waly, yon burn-side,{3}
Where I and my love were wont to gae!
I lean'd my back unto an aik,
I thocht it was a trustie tree,
But first it bow'd and syne{4} it brak',--
Sae my true love did lichtlie{5} me.
O waly, waly, but love be bonnie
A little time while it is new!
But when it's auld it waxeth cauld,
And fadeth awa' like the morning dew.
O wherefore should I busk{6} my heid,
Or wherefore should I kame my hair?
For my true love has me forsook,
And says he'll never lo'e me mair.
Noo Arthur's Seat{7} sall be my bed,
The sheets sall ne'er be press'd by me;
Saint Anton's well sall be my drink;
Since my true love's forsaken me.
Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw,
And shake the green leaves off the tree?
O gentle death, when wilt thou come?
For of my life I am wearie.
'Tis not the frost that freezes fell,
Nor blawing snaw's inclemencie,
'Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry;
But my love's heart grown cauld to me.
When we cam' in by Glasgow toun,
We were a comely sicht to see;
My love was clad in the black velvet,
And I mysel' in cramasie.
But had I wist before I kiss'd
That love had been so ill to win,
I'd lock'd my heart in a case o' goud,
And pinn'd it wi' a siller pin.
Oh, oh! if my young babe were born,
And set upon the nurse's knee;
An' I mysel' were dead and gane,
And the green grass growing over me!
NOTES.
"This is a very ancient song," says Bishop Percy, "but we can only give
it from a modern copy." It is often printed as part of a ballad relating
to the history of Lord James Douglas and of the Laird of Blackwood. The
lament is that of a beautiful lady whose fortunes were connected with
those of Lord Douglas.
1. =waly.= An interjection denoting grief.
2. =brae.= Hillside.
3. =burn-side.= Brook-side.
4. =syne.= Then.
5. =lichtlie.= Slight, undervalue.
6. =busk.= Dress.
7. =Arthur's Seat.= A hill near Edinburgh, at the foot of which is St.
Anthony's well.
SIR PATRICK SPENS.
A SCOTTISH BALLAD.
[This ballad is a confused echo of the Scotch expedition which should
have brought the Maid of Norway to Scotland about 1285.]
The king sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blude-red wine;
"O whare will I get a skeely skipper,
To sail this new ship of mine!"
O up and spake an eldern knight,
Sat at the king's right knee,--
"Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor,
That ever sail'd the sea."
Our king has written a braid letter,
And seal'd it with his hand,
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.
"To Noroway, to Noroway,
To Noroway o'er the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis thou maun bring her hame."
The first word that Sir Patrick read,
Sae loud, loud laughed he;
The neist word that Sir Patrick read,
The tear blinded his e'e.
"O wha is this has done this deed,
And tauld the king o' me,
To send us out, at this time of the year,
To sail upon the sea?
"Be it wind, be it weet, be it hail, be it sleet,
Our ship must sail the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis we must fetch her hame."
They hoysed their sails on Monenday morn,
Wi' a' the speed they may;
They hae landed in Noroway,
Upon a Wodensday.
They hadna been a week, a week,
In Noroway, but twae,
When that the lords o' Noroway
Began aloud to say,--
"Ye Scottishmen spend a' our king's goud,
And a' our queenis fee."
"Ye lie, ye lie, ye liars loud!
Fu' loud I hear ye lie.
"For I brought as much white monie,
As gane my men and me,
And I brought a half-fou o' gude red goud,
Out o'er the sea wi' me.
"Make ready, make ready, my merrymen a'!
Our gude ship sails the morn."
"Now, ever alake, my master dear,
I fear a deadly storm!
"I saw the new moon, late yestreen,
Wi' the auld moon in her arm;
And, if we gang to sea, master,
I fear we'll come to harm."
They had not sailed a league, a league,
A league but barely three,
When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud,
And gurly grew the sea.
The ankers brak, and the topmasts lap,
It was sic a deadly storm;
And the waves cam o'er the broken ship,
Till a' her sides were torn.
"O where will I get a gude sailor,
To take my helm in hand,
Till I get up to the tall top-mast,
To see if I can spy land?"
"O here am I, a sailor gude,
To take the helm in hand,
Till you go up to the tall top-mast;
But I fear you'll ne'er spy land."
He hadna gane a step, a step,
A step but barely ane,
When a bout flew out of our goodly ship,
And the salt sea it came in.
"Gae, fetch a web o' the silken claith,
Another o' the twine,
And wap them into our ship's side,
And let na the sea come in."
They fetched a web o' the silken claith,
Another of the twine,
And wapped them round that gude ship's side,
But still the sea came in.
O laith, laith, were our gude Scots lords
To weet their cork-heel'd shoon!
But lang or a' the play was play'd,
They wat their hats aboon.
And mony was the feather-bed,
That flattered on the faem;
And mony was the gude lord's son,
That never mair cam hame.
The ladyes wrang their fingers white,
The maidens tore their hair,
A' for the sake of their true loves;
For them they'll see na mair.
O lang, lang, may the ladyes sit,
Wi' their fans into their hand,
Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come sailing to the strand!
And lang, lang, may the maidens sit,
Wi' their goud kaims in their hair,
A' waiting for their ain dear loves!
For them they'll see na mair.
O forty miles off Aberdeen,
'Tis fifty fathoms deep,
And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi' the Scots lords at his feet.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY.
This ballad in its original form is a very old one, and was probably at
first a metrical story of the Scotch expedition which was sent to bring
the Maid of Norway to Scotland (about the year 1285). In its
sixteenth-century form it shows many changes and additions, some of
which are not in harmony with the original tale. The _cork-heel'd
shoon_, for example, were unknown until some hundreds of years later
than the occurrence of the events here narrated.
=skeely=, skilful.
=skipper=, captain.
=braid=, open, not private.
=goud=, gold.
=fee= (see note 13, page 105).
=gane=, suffice.
=half-fou=, a quart, dry measure.
=alake=, alack.
=lift=, sky. (Still used in Scotland.)
=shoon=, shoes.
THE BAILIFF'S DAUGHTER OF ISLINGTON.
There was a youthe, and a well-beloved youthe,
And he was a squires son;
He loved the bayliffes daughter deare,
That lived in Islington.
Yet she was coye, and would not believe
That he did love her soe,
Noe nor at any time would she
Any countenance to him showe.
But when his friendes did understand
His fond and foolish minde,
They sent him up to faire London,
An apprentice for to binde.
And when he had been seven long yeares,
And never his love could see,--
"Many a teare have I shed for her sake,
When she little thought of mee."
Then all the maids of Islington
Went forth to sport and playe,
All but the bayliffes daughter deare;
She secretly stole awaye.
She pulled off her gowne of greene,
And put on ragged attire,
And to faire London she would go
Her true love to enquire.
And as she went along the high road,
The weather being hot and drye,
She sat her downe upon a green bank,
And her true love came riding bye.
She started up, with a colour soe redd,
Catching hold of his bridle-reine;
"One penny, one penny, kind sir," she sayd,
"Will ease me of much paine."
"Before I give you one penny, sweet-heart,
Praye tell me where you were borne."
"At Islington, kind sir," sayd shee,
"Where I have had many a scorne."
"I prythee, sweet-heart, then tell to mee,
O tell me, whether you knowe
The bayliffes daughter of Islington."
"She is dead, sir, long agoe."
"If she be dead, then take my horse,
My saddle and bridle also;
For I will into some farr countrye,
Where noe man shall me knowe."
"O staye, O staye, thou goodlye youthe,
She standeth by thy side;
She is here alive, she is not dead,
And readye to be thy bride."
"O farewell griefe, and welcome joye,
Ten thousand times therefore;
For nowe I have founde mine owne true love,
Whom I thought I should never see more."
ROBIN HOOD AND THE WIDOW'S THREE SONS.
There are twelve months in all the year,
As I hear many say,
But the merriest month in all the year
Is the merry month of May.
Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone,
_With a link a down, and a day_,
And there he met a silly old woman,
Was weeping on the way.
"What news? what news? thou silly old woman,
What news hast thou for me?"
Said she, "There's my three sons in Nottingham town
To-day condemned to die."
"O, have they parishes burnt?" he said,
"Or have they ministers slain?
Or have they robbed any virgin?
Or other men's wives have ta'en?"
"They have no parishes burnt, good sir,
Nor yet have ministers slain,
Nor have they robbed any virgin,
Nor other men's wives have ta'en."
"O, what have they done?" said Robin Hood,
"I pray thee tell to me."
"It's for slaying of the king's fallow deer,
Bearing their long bows with thee."
"Dost thou not mind, old woman," he said,
"How thou madest me sup and dine?
By the truth of my body," quoth bold Robin Hood,
"You could not tell it in better time."
Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone,
_With a link a down, and a day_,
And there he met with a silly old palmer,
Was walking along the highway.
"What news? what news? thou silly old man,
What news, I do thee pray?"
Said he, "Three squires in Nottingham town
Are condemn'd to die this day."
"Come change thy apparel with me, old man,
Come change thy apparel for mine;
Here is ten shillings in good silvèr,
Go drink it in beer or wine."
"O, thine apparel is good," he said,
"And mine is ragged and torn;
Wherever you go, wherever you ride,
Laugh not an old man to scorn."
"Come change thy apparel with me, old churl,
Come change thy apparel with mine;
Here is a piece of good broad gold,
Go feast thy brethren with wine."
Then he put on the old man's hat,
It stood full high on the crown:
"The first bold bargain that I come at,
It shall make thee come down."
Then he put on the old man's cloak,
Was patch'd black, blue, and red;
He thought it no shame, all the day long,
To wear the bags of bread.
Then he put on the old man's breeks,
Was patch'd from leg to side:
"By the truth of my body," bold Robin can say,
"This man loved little pride."
Then he put on the old man's hose,
Were patch'd from knee to wrist:
"By the truth of my body," said bold Robin Hood,
"I'd laugh if I had any list."
Then he put on the old man's shoes,
Were patch'd both beneath and aboon;
Then Robin Hood swore a solemn oath,
"It's good habit that makes a man."
Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone,
_With a link a down and a down_,
And there he met with the proud sheriff,
Was walking along the town.
"Save you, save you, sheriff!" he said;
"Now heaven you save and see!
And what will you give to a silly old man
To-day will your hangman be?"
"Some suits, some suits," the sheriff he said,
"Some suits I'll give to thee;
Some suits, some suits, and pence thirteen,
To-day's a hangman's fee."
Then Robin he turns him round about,
And jumps from stock to stone:
"By the truth of my body," the sheriff he said,
"That's well jumpt, thou nimble old man."
"I was ne'er a hangman in all my life,
Nor yet intends to trade;
But curst be he," said bold Robin,
"That first a hangman was made!
"I've a bag for meal, and a bag for malt,
And a bag for barley and corn;
And a bag for bread, and a bag for beef,
And a bag for my little small horn.
"I have a horn in my pockèt,
I got it from Robin Hood,
And still when I set it to my mouth,
For thee it blows little good."
"O, wind thy horn, thou proud fellòw!
Of thee I have no doubt.
I wish that thou give such a blast,
Till both thy eyes fall out."
The first loud blast that he did blow,
He blew both loud and shrill;
A hundred and fifty of Robin Hood's men
Came riding over the hill.
The next loud blast that he did give,
He blew both loud and amain,
And quickly sixty of Robin Hood's men
Came shining over the plain.
"O, who are these," the sheriff he said,
"Come tripping over the lee?"
"They're my attendants," brave Robin did say;
"They'll pay a visit to thee."
They took the gallows from the slack,
They set it in the glen,
They hanged the proud sherìff on that,
Released their own three men.
NOTES.
Among the earliest and most popular of English ballads are those
relating to Robin Hood. This noted, half-mythical outlaw was the
impersonation of popular rights as they were understood by Englishmen of
the lower orders in the days of the Plantagenets. Hence the memory of
him and his reputed deeds was preserved in the songs of the people. "It
is he," says an old historian, "whom the common people love so dearly to
celebrate in games and comedies, and whose history, sung by fiddlers,
interests them more than any other." Even so late as the reign of Edward
VI., "Robyn Hoode's Daye" was very generally observed in the country
parishes as a day of feasting and amusement.
The ballads were originally the production of wandering minstrels or
gleemen, a class of men very popular in the Middle Ages, who followed
the profession of poetry and music. These rude poets were held in the
highest esteem and veneration by the people among whom they lived; they
were received and welcomed wherever they went, and even kings delighted
to honor them. In short, their art was supposed, by the Anglo-Saxons,
to be of divine origin, having been invented by Odin, the great
All-Father, and perfected by Bragi, the musician of the gods. As,
however, civilization advanced and Christianity became established, this
admiration for the minstrel and his art became modified in a degree. He
was no longer regarded as a poet, but only as a singer, a sweet
musician. Poetry was cultivated by men of leisure and refinement; but
lyrical ballads remained the peculiar inheritance of the minstrel. For a
long time after the Norman conquest, minstrels continued to gain their
livelihood by singing in the houses of the great, and at festive
occasions, which were never considered complete unless graced by the
presence of these honored descendants of Bragi; nor did they cease to
compose and sing their inimitable pieces until near the close of
Elizabeth's reign. The greater number of the ballads now in existence
were probably produced during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; and
the best of them originated in the "North Country," or the border region
between England and Scotland. They were not at first reduced to writing,
but were handed down from one generation to another merely by oral
tradition. As regards their metre and versification, the ballads were
commonly composed of iambic hexameters or heptameters rhyming in
couplets. These couplets are readily broken into stanzas of four lines,
in which form they are usually printed.
The first collection of English ballads ever published was probably that
of John Dryden, in 1684. The collection was included in a volume
entitled _Miscellany Poems_. In 1723 a work called _A Collection of Old
Ballads_ was published anonymously. In 1724 Allan Ramsay issued _The
Evergreen_, "being a collection of Scots Poems wrote by the Ingenious
before 1600." This work included many popular songs and ballads. It was
reprinted in 1875.
We owe the preservation of a large number of the most interesting and
beautiful ballads to Bishop Percy, who, in 1765, published the first
really valuable collection of such works in his _Reliques of Ancient
English Poetry_. Previous to that time most of these songs had existed
only in manuscript, or, if printed at all, in the cheapest style of
typography, on sheets designed for circulation among the poor. Bishop
Percy's work first called the attention of scholars to the value and
beauty of these neglected and half-forgotten relics, and did much to
bring about that revolution in literature which took place in the latter
part of the last century. And it is to these old ballads, thus rescued
from oblivion, that we owe very many of the noblest literary productions
of the present century. We know that they were the immediate inspiration
of Sir Walter Scott, and that they exerted a wonderful influence in
modifying and directing the taste and style of many other distinguished
writers.
The Fifteenth Century.
"_When we pass from Chaucer's age, we have to overleap nearly a hundred
and eighty years before we alight upon a period presenting anything like
an adequate show of literary continuation. A few smaller names are all
that can be cited as poetical representatives of this sterile interval
in the literary history of England: whatever of Chaucer's genius still
lingered in the island seeming to have travelled northward and taken
refuge in a series of Scotch poets, excelling any of their English
contemporaries. We are driven to suppose that there was something in the
social circumstances of England during the long period in question which
prevented such talent as there was from assuming the particular form of
literature. Fully to make out what this 'something' was may baffle us;
but, when we remember that this was the period of the Civil Wars of the
Roses, we have reason to believe that the dearth of pure literature may
have been owing, in part, to the engrossing nature of the practical
questions which then disturbed English society. . . . Accordingly,
though printing was introduced during this period, and thus Englishmen
had greater temptations to write, what they did write was almost
exclusively plain grave prose, intended for practical or polemical
occasions, and making no figure in a historical retrospect._"--DAVID
MASSON.
"_Must we quote all these good people who have nothing to say? . . .
dozens of translators, importing the poverties of French poetry, rhyming
chroniclers, most commonplace of men; spinners and spinsters of didactic
poems who pile up verses on the training of falcons, on heraldry, on
chemistry, . . . invent the same dream over again for the hundredth
time, and get themselves taught universal history by the goddess
Sapience. . . . It is the scholastic phase of poetry._"--TAINE.
Poets of the Fifteenth Century.
=John Lydgate= (1370-1440). See biographical note, page 283.
=Thomas Occleve= (1365-1450). "De Regimine Principum"; short poems.
=Robert Henryson= (1425-1480). See biographical note, page 283.
=William Dunbar= (1450-1513). See biographical note, page 283.
=Gawain Douglas= (1474-1522). See biographical note, page 284.
=Stephen Hawes= ( -1530), "The Pastime of Pleasure"; "Graunde Amour
and la Belle Pucel."
=John Skelton= (1460-1529). See biographical note, page 272.
John Skelton.
TO MAYSTRESS MARGARET HUSSEY.
Mirry Margaret,
As mydsomer flowre;
Jentill as fawcoun
Or hawke of the towre:
With solace and gladnes,
Moche mirthe and no madness,
All good and no badness,
So joyously,
So maydenly,
So womanly,
Her demenyng
In every thynge,
Far, far passynge
That I can endyght,
Or suffyce to wryghte,
Of mirry Margaret,
As mydsomer flowre,
Jentyll as fawcoun
Or hawke of the towre:
As pacient and as styll,
And as full of good wyll
As faire Isaphill;
Colyaunder,
Swete pomaunder,
Goode Cassaunder;
Stedfast of thought,
Wele made, wele wrought;
Far may be sought,
Erst that ye can fynde
So corteise, so kynde,
As mirry Margaret,
This mydsomer floure,
Jentyll as fawcoun
Or hawke of the towre.
CARDINAL WOLSEY.
[FROM "WHY COME YE NOT TO COURT?"]
He is set so hye
In his ierarchye
Of frantike frenesy,
And folish fantasy,
That in chambre of stars{1}
Al maters ther he mars,
Clapping his rod on the borde,
No man dare speake a worde:
For he hath al the saying
Without any renaying.
He rolleth in his Recordes;
He saith, "How say ye, my lordes?
Is not my reason good?"
Good!--even good--_Robin Hood_!--
Borne up on every syde
With pompe and with pryde,
With trump up alleluya,{2}
For dame Philargyria{3}
Hath so his hart in hold.
Adew, Philosophia!
Adew, Theologia!
Welcome, dame Simonia,{4}
With dame Castamergia,{5}
To drink and for to eate,
Sweete ipocras{6} and sweete meate.
To keep his fleshe chaste
In Lente, for his repaste
He eateth capons stewed,
Fesaunt and partriche mewed--
Spareth neither mayd ne wife--
This is a postel's{7} life!
NOTES.
1. =chambre of stars.= The Star Chamber, a court of civil and criminal
jurisdiction for the punishment of offences for which the law made no
provision. It was so called because the ceiling of the room in which it
was held was decorated with gilt stars.
2. =alleluya.= In allusion to the pomp with which Wolsey celebrated divine
service.
3. =Philargyria.= Love of money; covetousness.
4. =Simonia.= Simony; buying and selling church livings.
5. =Castamergia.= Gluttony. Greek _kastrimargia_. A not uncommon word
among the monks of the Middle Ages, one of whose prayers was, "From the
spirit of castrimargia, O Lord, deliver us!"
6. =ipocras.= Hippocras, or spiced wine, a drink formerly very popular in
England. It was made by mixing Canary and Lisbon wines, in equal parts,
with various kinds of sweet spices, and allowing the whole to stand for
a few days, after which the wine was poured off and sweetened with
sugar.
7. =postel.= Apostle--here ironically applied to Wolsey.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
JOHN SKELTON was born about the year 1460. In his earlier life he was
the friend of Caxton, the first English printer, and of Percy, Earl of
Northumberland. He was poet-laureate under Henry VII., and tutor of the
young prince (afterwards Henry VIII.), and was described by Erasmus as
_litterarum Anglicarum lumen et decus_. Later in life he was promoted to
the rectory of Diss in Norfolk, but was severely censured by his bishop
for his buffooneries in the pulpit and his satirical ballads against the
mendicants. He finally became a hanger-on about the court of Henry
VIII.; and, daring to write a rhyming libel on Cardinal Wolsey, was
driven to take refuge in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey. There he
was kindly entertained and protected by Abbot Islip until his death in
1529. Some of his poems were printed in 1512, and others in 1568.
Taine calls Skelton "a virulent pamphleteer, who jumbles together
French, English, Latin phrases, with slang and fashionable words,
invented words, intermingled with short rhymes. Style, metre, rhyme,
language, art of every kind, at an end; beneath the vain parade of
official style there is only a heap of rubbish. Yet, as he says,
'Though my rhyme be ragged,
Tatter'd and jagged,
Rudely rain-beaten,
Rusty, moth-eaten,
Yf ye take welle therewithe,
It hath in it some pithe.'"
As to the coarseness which characterizes his verses, it cannot be
explained by saying that it is a reflection of the manners of the times
in which he lived. For, as Warton says, Skelton "would have been a
writer without decorum at any period." Yet, notwithstanding his faults,
he is deserving of our notice, if for nothing else, on account of the
complete originality of his style--a style unknown and unattempted by
any former writer. His bold departure from the accepted rules of
versification showed to those who followed him some of the possibilities
in English poetical composition, and helped to open the way to the great
outburst of song which followed.
Selections from Four Minor Poets.
A VISIT TO LONDON.
BY JOHN LYDGATE.
Then unto London I dyd me hye,
Of all the land it beareth the pryse:
"Hot pescodes," one began to crye,
"Strabery rype, and cherryes in the ryse";
One bade me come nere and by some spyce,
Peper and safforne they gan me bede,
But for lack of mony I myght not spede.
Then to the Chepe I began me drawne,
Where mutch people I saw for to stand;
One ofred me velvet, sylke, and lawne,
An other he taketh me by the hande,
"Here is Parys thred, the fynest in the land";
I never was used to such thyngs indede,
And wanting mony, I might not spede.
Then went I forth by London stone,
Th[o]roughout all Canwyke streete;
Drapers mutch cloth me offred anone;
Then comes me one, cryed, "Hot shepes feete";
One cryde "makerell," "ryshes grene," an other gan greete;
One bad me by a hood to cover my head,
But for want of mony I myght not be sped.
Then I hyed me into Est-Chepe;
One cryes rybbs of befe, and many a pye:
Pewter pottes they clattered on a heape;
There was harpe, pype, and mynstralsye.
"Yea, by cock! nay, by cock!" some began crye;
Some songe of Jenken and Julyan for there mede;
But for lack of mony I myght not spede.
Then into Corn-Hyll anon I yode,
Where was mutch stolen gere amonge;
I saw where honge myne owne hoode,
That I had lost amonge the thronge;
To by my own hood I thought it wronge,
I knew it well as I dyd my crede,
But for lack of mony I could not spede.
The taverner tooke me by the sleve,
"Sir," sayth he, "wyll you our wyne assay"?
I answered, "That can not mutch me greve:
A peny can do no more than it may";
I drank a pynt, and for it did paye;
Yet sone a-hungerd from thence I yede,
And wantyng mony, I cold not spede.
Then hyed I me to Belyngsgate;
And one cryed, "Hoo! go we hence!"
I prayd a barge-man, for God's sake,
That he wold spare me my expence.
"Thou scapst not here," quod he, "under two pence;
I lyst not yet bestow my almes dede."
Thus, lackyng mony, I could not spede.
Then I convayd me into Kent;
For of the law wold I meddle no more;
Because no man to me tooke entent,
I dyght me to do as I dyd before.
Now Jesus, that in Bethlem was bore,
Save London, and send trew lawyers there mede!
For who so wantes mony with them shall not spede.
--_From "London Lickpenny."_
GLOSSARY.
=anone=, at once.
=assay=, try.
=bede=, offer.
=Chepe=, the market. Cheapside, still a famous street in London.
=dyght=, disposed.
=gere=, apparel.
=greete=, cry out.
=hyed=, hurried.
=lyst=, wish.
=mede=, reward, wages.
=pescodes=, pease.
=ryse=, bough or twig.
=ryshes=, rushes.
=spede=, proceed, do.
=yede=, went.
THE GOLDEN AGE.
Rightwisenes chastised al robbours,
By egall balaunce of execucion,
Fraud, falsë mede, put backward fro jurours,
True promes holde, made no delacioun;
Forswearing shamed durst enter in no toun,
Nor lesingmongers, because Attemperaunce
Had in that world wholy the governaunce.
That golden world could lovë God and drede,
All the seven dedes of mercy for to use,
The rich was ready to do almës dede,
Who asked harbour, men did him not refuse;
No man of malice would other tho accuse,
Defame his neighbour, because Attemperaunce
Had in that world wholy the governaunce.
The true marchant by measure bought and sold,
Deceipt was none in the artificer,
Making no balkes, the plough was truely hold,
Abacke stode Idlenes, farre from labourer,
Discrecion marcial at diner and supper,
Content with measure, because Attemperaunce
Had in that world wholy the governaunce.
Of wast in clothing was that time none excesse;
Men might the lord from his subjectës know;
A difference made twene povertie and richesse,
Twene a princesse and other statës lowe;
Of horned boastës no boast was tho blowe,
Nor counterfeit feining, because Attemperaunce
Had in that world wholy the governaunce.
This golden world long whylë dyd endure,
Was none allay in that metall sene,
Tyll Saturne ceased, by record of scripture,
Jupiter reygned, put out his father clene,
Chaunged obrison into silver shene,
Al up so downe, because Attemperaunce
Was set asyde, and loste her governaunce.
NOTE.
"The Falls of Princes," from which this is an extract, was printed in
folio in 1558. Its complete title is, "The Tragedies gathered by Jhon
Bochas of all such Princes as fell from theyr Estates throughe the
Mutability of Fortune since the creation of Adam until his time; wherin
may be seen what vices bring menne to destruccion, wyth notable
warninges howe the like may be avoyded. Translated into English by John
Lidgate, Monke of Burye."
THE GARMOND OF FAIR LADIES.
BY ROBERT HENRYSON.
Wald my gud lady lufe me best,
And wirk eftir my will,
I suld ane Garmond gudliest
Gar mak hir body till.
Off hie honour suld be hir hud,
Upoun hir heid to weir,
Garneist with governance so gud,
Na demyng suld hir deir.
Hir sark suld be hir body nixt,
Of chestetie so quhyt,
With schame and dreid togidder mixt,
The same suld be perfyt.
Hir kirtill suld be of clene constance,
Lasit with lesum lufe,
The mailyheis of continuance
For nevir to remufe.
Hir gown suld be of gudliness
Weill ribband with renowne,
Purfillit with plesour in ilk place,
Furrit with fyne fassoun.
Hir belt suld be of benignitie,
About hir middill meit;
Hir mantill of humilitie,
To tholl bayth wind and weit.
Hir hat suld be of fair having
And her tepat of trewth,
Hir patelet of gude pansing,
Hir hals-ribbane of rewth.
Hir slevis suld be of esperance,
To keip hir fra dispair;
Hir gluvis of the gud govirnance,
To hyd hir fyngearis fair.
Hir schone suld be of sickernes,
In syne that scho nocht slyd;
Hir hoiss of honestie, I ges,
I suld for hir provyd.
Wald scho put on this Garmond gay,
I durst sweir by my seill,
That scho woir nevir grene nor gray
That set hir half so weill.
GLOSSARY.
=esperance=, hope.
=fassoun=, manners.
=garmond=, garment, costume.
=governance=, discretion.
=hals-ribbane=, neck-ribbon.
=hoiss=, hose.
=hud=, hood.
=kirtill=, skirt.
=lasit=, fastened.
=lesum=, lawful.
=lufe=, love.
=mailyheis=, eyelet-holes.
=pansing=, thought.
=patelet=, ruffet.
=quhyt=, white.
=rewth=, pity.
=sark=, shirt, chemise.
=scho=, she.
=schone=, shoes.
=seill=, knowledge.
=set=, suited.
=sickernes=, security.
=suld=, should.
=tepat=, tippet.
=tholl=, withstand.
=weit=, rain.
A MAY MORNING.
BY WILLIAM DUNBAR.
Quhen Merche wes with variand windis past
And Appryle had, with her silver schouris,
Tane leif at Nature with ane orient blast,
And lusty May, that muddir is of flouris,
Had maid the birdis to begyn thair houris
Amang the tendir odouris reid and quhyt,
Quhois armony to heir it wes delyt:
In bed at morrow, sleiping as I lay,
Me thocht Aurora, with hir cristall ene
In at the window lukit by the day,
And halsit me, with visage paill and grene;
On quhois hand a lark sang fro the splene,
Awalk, luvaris, out of your slomering
Sé hou the lusty morrow dois up spring.
Me thocht fresche May befoir my bed up stude,
In weid depaynt of mony diverss hew,
Sobir, benyng, and full of mansuetude
In brycht atteir of flouris forgit new
Hevinly of colour, quhyt, reid, broun and blew,
Balmit in dew, and gilt with Phebus bemys;
Quhyll all the house illumynit of her lemys.
Slugird, scho said, awalk annone for schame,
And in my honour sum thing thou go wryt;
The lark hes done the mirry day proclame,
To raise up luvaris with comfort and delyt;
Yit nocht incressis thy curage to indyt,
Quhois hairt sum tyme hes glaid and blisfull bene,
Sangis to mak undir the levis grene.
Then callit scho all flouris that grew on feild
Discirnyng all thair fassionis and effeiris
Upone the awfull Thrissil scho beheld
And saw him kepit with a busche of speiris;
Considering him so able for the weiris
A radius croun of rubeis scho him gaif,
And said, In feild go furth and fend the laif:
And sen thou art a King, thou be discreit;
Herb without vertew thow hald nocht of sic pryce
As herb of vertew and of odour sueit;
And lat no nettill vyle, and full of vyce,
Hir fallow to the gudly flour-de-lyce;
Nor latt no wyld weid, full of churlicheness,
Compair hir to the lilleis nobilness.
Nor hald non udir flour in sic denty
As the fresche Rois, of cullour reid and quhyt:
For gife thow dois, hurt is thyne honesty;
Considring that no flour is so perfyt,
So full of vertew, pleasans, and delyt,
So full of blisful angeilik bewty,
Imperiall birth, honour and dignité.
NOTE.
This is a selection from the long allegorical poem, "The Thistle and the
Rose." The thistle represents Scotland, of which country that plant is
the national emblem. The fleur-de-lis, or lily, represents France; and
the rose, England. The poem was written in celebration of the marriage
of James IV. of Scotland to the Princess Margaret of England, and the
friendly relations thus established for a time between those two
countries.
GLOSSARY.
=denty=, favor.
=effeiris=, affairs.
=ene=, eyes.
=fallow=, betroth.
=forgit=, made, created.
=gife=, if.
=halsit=, hailed.
=houris=, morning orisons.
=laif=, rest.
=lemys=, rays.
=lukit=, looked.
=mansuetude=, gentleness.
=morrow=, morning.
=muddir=, mother.
=orient=, eastern.
=quhen=, when.
=quhois=, whose.
=quhyll=, while.
=rois=, rose.
=sic=, such.
=speiris=, spears.
=splene=, heart.
=thrissil=, thistle.
=udir=, other.
=weid=, garments.
=weiris=, wars.
IN PRAISE OF HONOUR.
BY GAWAIN DOUGLAS.
O hie honour, sweit heuinlie flour degest,
Gem verteous, maist precious, gudliest.
For hie renoun thow art guerdoun conding,
Of worschip kend the glorious end and rest,
But quhome in richt na worthie wicht may lest.
Thy greit puissance may maist auance all thing,
And pouerall to mekill auaill sone bring.
I the require sen thow but peir art best,
That efter this in thy hie blis we ring.
Of grace thy face in euerie place sa schynis,
That sweit all spreit baith heid and feit inclynis,
Thy gloir afoir for till imploir remeid.
He docht richt nocht, quhilk out of thocht the tynis;
Thy name but blame, and royal fame diuine is;
Thow port at schort of our comfort and reid,
Till bring all thing till glaiding efter deid,
All wicht but sicht of thy greit micht ay crynis,
O schene I mene, nane may sustene thy feid.
Haill rois maist chois till clois thy fois greit micht,
Haill stone quhilk schone vpon the throne of licht,
Vertew, quhais trew sweit dew ouirthrew al vice,
Was ay ilk day gar say the way of licht;
Amend, offend, and send our end ay richt.
Thow stant, ordant as sanct, of grant maist wise,
Till be supplie, and the high gre of price.
Delite the tite me quite of site to dicht,
For I apply schortlie to thy deuise.
--_From "The Palice of Honour."_
GLOSSARY.
=afoir=, before.
=auance=, advance.
=ay=, ever, always.
=but=, without.
=conding=, condign, worthy.
=crynis=, diminishes.
=deid=, death.
=degest=, grave.
=dicht=, relieve.
=docht=, avails.
=feid=, hatred.
=fois=, time.
=glaiding=, happiness.
=gloir=, glory.
=grant=, giving.
=gre=, degree.
=guerdoun=, reward.
=ilk=, any.
=mekill=, much, mickle.
=peir=, peer.
=poureall=, the poor.
=puissance=, power.
=quhilk=, who, which.
=quhome=, without whom.
=reid=, advice.
=rois=, king.
=sanct=, saint.
=site=, shame.
=till=, to.
=tite=, quickly.
=tynis=, loses.
=wicht=, person, wight.
FOUR POETS OF THIS CENTURY.
JOHN LYDGATE was born at the village of Lydgate, near Newmarket, about
1370. He was a Benedictine monk attached to the monastery of Bury St.
Edmunds, and is remembered as the author of three poems, which, in their
time, attracted much attention. These are "The Storie of Thebes,"
written in ten-syllable rhyming couplets, and founded upon the "Teseide"
of Boccaccio; the "Troye Book," finished about 1420, and relating the
story of the Trojan war as recounted by Guido di Colonna in his Latin
prose history of Troy; and "The Falls of Princes," founded on a French
version of Boccaccio's "De Casibus Virorum Illustrium." In 1433, Lydgate
wrote a wearisome but somewhat amusing poem, "Pur le Roy," describing a
visit to London, and the pageants, processions, and other rejoicings, on
the occasion of the entrance of Henry VI. into the city after his
coronation. The date of the poet's death is not exactly known, but it
was probably not later than 1440.
* * * * *
ROBERT HENRYSON, "an accomplished man and a good and genuine poet," was
born about the year 1425, and died near the close of the century. He was
for a time a schoolmaster and notary public at Dunfermline, in Scotland,
and was connected, in some capacity, with the University of Glasgow. He
was probably, like Lydgate, a Benedictine monk. His principal works are
"The Testament of Cresseid," a sequel to Chaucer's "Troilus and
Cresseide," and a collection of thirteen fables. He wrote also many
shorter poems, of which the ballad of "Robin and Makyne" (published in
Percy's _Reliques_) is the best known.
* * * * *
WILLIAM DUNBAR was born in East Lothian, Scotland, about the year 1450.
He was educated at the University of St. Andrews, and in early life
travelled somewhat extensively as a novitiate of the order of St.
Francis. He visited England in 1501, upon the occasion of the marriage
of James IV. of Scotland to the Princess Margaret, daughter of Henry
VII. One of his best poems, "The Thistle and the Rose," was written in
commemoration of that event. He accompanied the queen to Aberdeen in
1511, and for some time, both before and after, was in attendance and
favor at the Scotch court. Nothing is known of his death, but it has
been conjectured that he fell in the battle of Flodden, in 1513.
Besides the poem just mentioned, he wrote "The Golden Targe," "The Dance
of the Deadly Sins," and many shorter poems, most of which are
allegories. The "Thistle and the Rose" has been pronounced "the happiest
political allegory in our language. Heraldry has never been more
skilfully handled, nor compliments more gracefully paid, nor fidelity
more persuasively preached to a monarch than in this poem."
* * * * *
GAWAIN DOUGLAS was a son of the famous Earl of Angus, and was born in
Brechin, Scotland, about 1474. He was educated partly at the University
of St. Andrews, and partly in Paris. His first considerable poem, "The
Palice of Honour," was published in 1501, and dedicated to King James
IV. It is an allegory, such as was at that time the staple of poetical
composition, and contains but little that is particularly original.
Another allegory, printed after his death, is entitled "King Hart," and
has for its subject the heart of man. His greatest work is his
translation of Virgil's "Æneid" into Scottish verse. In 1509, Douglas
was appointed provost of St. Giles, Edinburgh, and after the battle of
Flodden he was made abbot of Aberbrothwick. In 1515 he was consecrated
Bishop of Dunkeld, but was unable to gain possession of the cathedral
except by force. Becoming involved in the feud between the rival
families of Angus and Hamilton, he was obliged to escape into England in
1521, where towards the end of the same year he died.
The Fourteenth Century.
"_In the fourteenth century there comes an Englishman nourished on this
[the romance] poetry, taught his trade by this poetry, getting words,
rhyme, metre from this poetry; for even of that stanza which the
Italians used, and which Chaucer derived immediately from the Italians,
the basis and suggestion was probably given in France. . . . If we ask
ourselves wherein consists the immense superiority of Chaucer's poetry
over the [earlier] romance-poetry, why it is that in passing from this
to Chaucer we suddenly feel ourselves to be in another world, we shall
find that his superiority is both in the substance of his poetry and in
the style of his poetry. His superiority in substance is given by his
large, free, simple, clear yet kindly view of human life. . . . We have
only to call to mind the Prologue to 'The Canterbury Tales.' The right
comment upon it is Dryden's: 'It is sufficient to say, according to the
proverb, that _here is God's plenty_.' And again: 'He is a perpetual
fountain of good sense.' It is by a large, free, sound representation of
things, that poetry, this high criticism of life, has truth of
substance; and Chaucer's poetry has truth of substance. If we think of
Chaucer's divine liquidness of diction, his divine fluidity of movement,
it is difficult to speak temperately. They are irresistible, and justify
all the rapture with which his successors speak of his gold 'dew-drops
of speech.' . . . Chaucer is the father of our splendid English poetry,
he is our 'well of English undefiled,' because by the lovely charm of
his diction, the lovely charm of his movement, he makes an epoch and
founds a tradition. In Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, we can
follow the tradition of the liquid diction, the fluid movement, of
Chaucer; at one time it is his liquid diction of which in these poets we
feel the virtue, and at another it is his fluid movement. And the virtue
is irresistible._"--MATTHEW ARNOLD.
Poets of the Fourteenth Century.
=Geoffrey Chaucer= (1328-1400). See biographical note, page 301.
=William Langland= (1332- ). "The Vision of William concerning Piers the
Ploughman."
=John Gower= (1330-1408). "Confessio Amantis."
Geoffrey Chaucer.
FROM THE "PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES."
Whan that Aprille with his schowrës swoote
The drought of Marche had perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertue engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swetë breethe
Enspired hath in every holte and heethe
The tendre croppës, and the yongë sonne
Hath in the Ram{1} his halfë cours i-ronne,{2}
And smalë fowlës maken melodie,
That slepen al the night with open eye,
So priketh hem nature in here corages:--
Than longen folk to gon on pilgrimages,
And palmers for to seeken{3} straungë strondes,
To fernë halwes, kouthe in sondry londes;
And specially, from every schirës ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The holy blisful martir{4} for to seeke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.{5}
Byfel that, in that sesoun on a day,
In Southwerk at the Tabard{6} as I lay,
Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage
To Caunterbury with ful devout corage,
At night was come into that hostelrye
Wel nyne and twenty in a compainye,
Of sondry folk, by aventure i-falle
In felaweschipe, and pilgryms were thei alle,
That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde;
The chambres and the stables{7} weren wyde,
And wel we werën esed attë beste.
And schortly, whan the sonnë was to reste,
So hadde I spoken with hem everychon,
That I was of here felaweschipe anon,
And madë forward erly for to ryse,
To take our wey ther as I yow devyse.
But nathëles, whil I have tyme and space,
Or{8} that I forther in this talë pace,
Me thinketh it acordaunt to resoun,
To tellë yow al the condicioun{9}
Of eche of hem, so as it semede me,
And whiche they weren, and of what degre;
And eek in what array that they were inne:
And at a knight than wol I first bygynne.
A KNIGHT ther was, and that a worthy man,
That from the tymë that he first bigan
To ryden out, he lovede chyvalrye,{10}
Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisye.
Ful worthy was he in his lordës werre,
And therto hadde he riden, noman ferre,
As wel in Cristendom as in hethënesse,{11}
And evere honoured for his worthinesse.
At Alisaundre{12} he was whan it was wonne,
Ful oftë tyme he hadde the bord bygonne{13}
Aboven allë naciouns in Pruce.{14}
In Lettowe hadde he reysed and in Ruce,
No cristen man so ofte of his degre.
In Gernade{15} attë siegë hadde he be
Of Algesir, and riden in Belmarie.
At Lieys was he, and at Satalie,
Whan they were wonne; and in the Greetë see{16}
At many a noble arive hadde he be.
At mortal batailles hadde he ben fiftene,
And foughten for our feith at Tramassene
In lystës thriës, and ay slayn his foo.
This ilkë worthy knight hadde ben also
Somtymë with the lord of Palatye,{17}
Ageyn another hethen in Turkye:
And evermore he hadde a sovereyn prys.
And though that he was worthy, he was wys,
And of his port as meke as is a mayde.
He nevere yit no vileinye ne sayde
In al his lyf, unto no maner wight.{18}
He was a verray perfight gentil knight.
But for to tellen you of his array,
His hors was good, but he ne was nought gay.
Of fustyan he werede a gepoun
Al bysmotered with his habergeoun.
For he was late ycome from his viage,
And wentë for to doon his pilgrimage.
With him ther was his sone, a yong SQUYER,
A lovyere, and a lusty bacheler,{19}
With lokkës crulle as they were leyd in presse.
Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse.
Of his stature he was of even lengthe,
And wonderly delyver, and gret of strengthe.
And he hadde ben somtyme in chivachye,
In Flaundres, in Artoys, and Picardye,
And born him wel, as of so litel space,
In hope to stonden in his lady grace.
Embrowded was he, as it were a mede
Al ful of fresshë floures, white and reede.
Syngynge he was, or floytynge,{20} al the day;
He was as fressh as is the moneth of May.
Schort was his goune, with sleevës longe and wyde.
Wel cowde he sitte on hors, and fairë ryde.
He cowdë songës make and wel endite,
Juste and eek daunce, and wel purtreye and write.
So hote he lovedë, that by nightertale
He sleep nomore than doth a nightyngale.
Curteys he was, lowly, and servysable,
And carf byforn his fader at the table.
A YEMAN hadde he,{21} and servaunts nomoo
At that tyme, for him lustë rydë soo;
And he was clad in coote and hood of grene.
A shef of pocok arwës{22} brighte and kene
Under his belte he bar ful thriftily.
Wel cowde he dresse his takel yemanly;
His arwes drowpede nought with fetheres lowe.
And in his hond he bar a mighty bowe
A not-heed hadde he with broun visage.
Of woodë-craft wel cowde he al the usage.
Upon his arm he bar a gay bracer{23}
And by his side a swerd and a bokeler,
And on that other side a gay daggere,
Harneysed wel, and scharp as poynt of spere;
A Cristofre{24} on his brest of silver schene.
An horn he bar, the bawdrik was of grene;
A forster was he sothly, as I gesse.
Ther was also a Nonne, a PRIORESSE,
That of hire smylyng was ful symple and coy;
Hire grettest ooth ne was but by seynt Loy{25};
And sche was cleped madame Eglentyne.
Ful wel sche sang the servisë divyne,
Entuned in hire nose ful semëly;
And Frensch sche spak ful faire and fetysly,
After the scole of Stratford attë Bowe,
For Frensch of Parys was to hire unknowe.
At metë wel i-taught was sche withalle;
Sche leet no morsel from hire lippës falle,
Ne wette hire fyngres in hire saucë deepe.
Wel cowde sche carie a morsel, and wel keepe,
That no dropë ne fille upon hire breste.
In curteisie was set ful moche hire leste.
Hire overlippë wypede sche so clene,
That in hire cuppë was no ferthing sene
Of grecë, whan sche dronken hadde hire draughte.
Ful semëly after hir mete sche raughte,
And sikerly sche was of gret disport,{26}
And ful plesaunt, and amyable of port,
And peynede hir to countrefetë cheere
Of court, and ben estatlich of manere,
And to ben holden digne of reverence.
But for to speken of hir conscience,
Sche was so charitable and so pitous,
Sche woldë weepe if that sche saw a mous
Caught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde.
Of smalë houndës hadde sche, that sche fedde
With rosted flessh, or mylk and wastel breed.
But sore weep sche if oon of hem were deed,
Or if men{27} smot it with a yerdë smerte:
And al was conscience and tendre herte.
Ful semëly hire wympel i-pynched was;
Hir nose tretys; hir eyën greye as glas;
Hir mouth ful smal, and therto softe and reed
But sikerly sche hadde a fair forheed.
It was almost a spannë brood, I trowe;
For hardily sche was not undergrowe.
Ful fetys was hir cloke, as I was war.
Of smal coral aboute hir arm sche bar
A peire of bedës gauded al with grene;
And theron heng a broch of gold ful schene,
On which was first i-write a crownëd A,
And after, _Amor vincit omnia._{28}
Another NONNE with hir haddë sche,
That was hir chapeleyne,{29} and PRESTES thre.
A MONK ther was, a fair for the maistryë,{30}
An out-rydere, that lovedë veneryë;
A manly man, to ben an abbot able.
Ful many a deynté hors hadde he in stable:
And whan he rood, men mighte his bridel heere
Gynglen in a whistlyng wynd as cleere,
And eek as lowde as doth the chapel belle.
Ther as this lord was kepere of the celle,
The reule of seynt Maure or of seint Beneyt,
Bycause that it was old and somdel streyt,
This ilkë monk leet oldë thingës pace,
And held after the newë world the space.
He yaf nat of that text a pullëd hen,{31}
That seith, that hunters been noon holy men;
Ne that a monk, whan he is recchëles
Is likned to a fissch that is waterles{32};
This is to seyn, a monk out of his cloystre.
But thilkë text held he not worth an oystre.
And I seide his opinioun was good.
What{33} schulde he studie, and make himselven wood,{34}
Upon a book in cloystre alway to powre.
Or swynkë with his handës, and laboure,
As Austyn bit? How schal the world be servëd?
Lat Austyn have his swynk to him reservëd.
Therfor he was a pricasour aright;
Greyhoundes he hadde as swifte as fowel in flight;
Of prikyng and of huntyng for the hare
Was al his lust, for no cost wolde he spare.{35}
I saugh his slevës purfiled attë honde
With grys, and that the fyneste of a londe.
And for to festne his hood under his chynne
He hadde of gold y-wrought a curious pynne:
A love-knot in the grettere ende ther was.
His heed was balled, that schon as eny glas,
And eek his face, as he hadde ben anoynt.
He was a lord ful fat and in good poynt;
His eyën steepe, and rollyng in his heede,
That stemëde as a forneys of a leede;{36}
His bootës souple, his hors in gret estat.
Now certeinly he was a fair prelat;
He was not pale as a for-pyned goost.
A fat swan lovede he best of eny roost.
His palfrey was as broun as is a berye.
A FRERE there was, a wantown and a merye,
A lymytour,{37} a ful solempnë man.
In alle the ordres foure{38} is noon that can
So moche of daliaunce and fair langage.
He hadde i-mad ful many a mariage
Of yongë wymmen, at his owën cost.
Unto his ordre he was a noble post.{39}
Ful wel biloved and famulier was he
With frankeleyns{40} over-al in his cuntre,
And eek with worthy wommen of the toun:
For he hadde power of confessioun,
As seyde himself, morë than a curat,
For of his ordre he was licentiat.{41}
Ful swetëly herde he confessioun,
And plesaunt was his absolucioun;
He was an esy man to yeve penaunce
Ther as he wistë han{42} a good pitaunce;
For unto a poure ordre for to yive
Is signë that a man is wel i-schrive.
For if he yaf, he dorstë make avaunt,
He wistë that a man was repentaunt.
For many a man so hard is of his herte,
He may not wepe although him sorë smerte.
Therfore in stede of wepyng and preyeres,
Men{43} moot yive silver to the pourë freres.
His typet was ay farsëd ful of knyfes
And pynnës, for to yivë fairë wyfes.
And certeynly he hadde a mery note;
Wel couthe he synge and pleyen on a rote.
Of yeddynges he bar utterly the prys.
His nekkë whit was as the flour-de-lys.
Therto he strong was as a champioun.
He knew the tavernes wel in every toun,
And everych hostiler and tappestere,
Bet then a lazer, or a beggestere,
For unto such a worthy man as he
Acorded not, as by his faculté,
To han with sikë lazars aqueyntaunce.
It is not honest, it may not avaunce,
For to delen with no such poraille,
But al with riche, and sellers of vitaille.{44}
And overal, ther as profyt schulde arise,
Curteys he was, and lowly of servyse.
Ther nas no man nowher so vertuous.
He was the bestë beggere in his hous,
For though a widewe haddë noght oo schoo,
So plesaunt was his _In principio_,{45}
Yet wolde he have a ferthing or he wente.
His purchas{46} was wel better than his rente.
And rage he couthe as it were right a whelpe,
In lovë-dayës{47} couthe he mochel helpe.
For ther he was not lik a cloysterer,
With a thredbare cope as is a poure scoler,
But he was lik a maister or a pope.
Of double worsted was his semy-cope,
That rounded as a belle out of the presse.
Somwhat he lipsede, for his wantownesse,
To make his Englissch swete upon his tunge;
And in his harpyng, whan that he hadde sunge
His eyën twynkled in his heed aright,
As don the sterrës in the frosty night.
This worthy lymytour was cleped Huberd.
A MARCHAUNT was ther with a forkëd berd,
In mottëleye, and hign on hors he sat,
Upon his heed a Flaundrisch bevere hat;
His botës clapsed faire and fetysly.
His resons he spak ful solempnëly,
Sownynge alway the encres of his wynnynge.
He wolde the see were kept for{48} eny thinge
Betwixë Middelburgh and Orëwelle.
Wel couthe he in eschaungë scheeldës{49} selle.
This worthi man ful wel his wit bisette;
Ther wistë no wight that he was in dette,
So estatly was he of governaunce,
With his bargayns, and with his chevysaunce
For sothe he was a worthy man withalle,
But soth to sayn, I not how men him calle.
A CLERK ther was of Oxenford{50} also,
That unto logik haddë longe i-go.
As lenë was his hors as is a rake,
And he was not right{51} fat, I undertake;
But lokëde holwe, and therto soberly.
Ful thredbar was his overest courtepy.
For he hadde geten him yit no benefice,
Ne was so worldly for to have office.
For him was levere have at his beddës heede
Twenty bookës, clad in blak or reede,
Of Aristotle and his philosophyë,
Then robës riche, or fithel, or gay sawtryë.{52}
But al be that he was a philosophre,
Yet haddë he but litel gold in cofre;
But al that he mighte of his frendës hente,
On bookës and on lernyng he it spente,
And busily gan for the soulës preye
Of hem that yaf him wherwith to scoleye;
Of studie took he most cure and most heede.
Not oo word spak he morë than was neede,
And that was seid in forme and reverence
And schort and quyk, and ful of high sentence.
Sownynge{53} in moral vertu was his speche,
And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.
GLOSSARY.
=ageyn=, against.
=arive=, disembarkment.
=aventure=, chance.
=ay=, always.
=bar=, bore.
=bawdrick=, baldric.
=ben=, to be.
=bit=, biddeth.
=byfel=, it happened.
=bysmotered=, smutted.
=carf=, carved.
=cheere=, manner.
=chevysaunce=, loans, bargains.
=chivachye=, military expedition.
=clapsed=, clasped.
=cleped=, called.
=clerk=, a scholar.
=corage=, heart.
=courtepy=, cloak.
=cowde=, knew.
=crulle=, curled.
=cure=, care.
=delyver=, active.
=devyse=, speak of.
=digne=, worthy.
=don=, do.
=eek=, also.
=embrowded=, embroidered.
=encres=, increase.
=everychon=, every one, all.
=farsed=, stuffed.
=ferne=, distant, foreign.
=ferre=, farther.
=ferthing=, small portion.
=fetysly=, neatly, well.
=fithel=, fiddle.
=Flaundrische=, Flemish.
=flotynge=, fluting, playing.
=flour-de-lys=, fleur-de-lis.
=for-pyned=, much wasted.
=forster=, forester.
=frere=, friar.
=gawded=, having gawds.
=gepoun=, short cassock.
=goost=, ghost.
=grys=, fur.
=gynglen=, jingling.
=habergeoun=, hawberk.
=halwes=, shrines (holies).
=heethe=, heath, meadow.
=hem=, them.
=here=, their.
=heute=, borrow.
=holpen=, helped.
=holte=, wood.
=i-falle=, fallen.
=ilke=, same.
=i-ronne=, ran.
=juste=, joust.
=kouthe=, known.
=leede=, cauldron.
=leste=, pleasure.
=levere=, rather.
=lipsede=, lisped.
=luste=, pleased.
=maistrye=, mastery.
=maner=, kind.
=mede=, meadow.
=mete=, meals, eating.
=motteleye=, mixed colors.
=nightertale=, night-time.
=noon=, not one, not at all.
=not-heed=, shorn-head.
=pace=, pass.
=peyned=, took pains.
=pitous=, full of pity.
=pocok=, peacock.
=poraille=, poor folks.
=pricasour=, hard rider.
=priketh=, incites, spurs.
=prys=, reputation, worth.
=purfiled=, embroidered.
=purtreye=, paint.
=raughte=, reached.
=reccheles=, reckless.
=reysed=, ridden.
=rote=, a musical instrument.
=sawtreye=, psaltery.
=schene=, bright.
=scoleye=, attend school.
=seeke=, sick.
=semely=, becomingly.
=sikerly=, surely.
=somdel=, somewhat.
=sondry=, different kinds.
=sothly=, truly.
=souple=, pliant.
=sovereyn=, excellent.
=sowning=, boasting.
=steepe=, bright.
=streit=, strict.
=swich=, such.
=swynke=, toil.
=thilke=, this.
=tretys=, slender.
=venerye=, hunting.
=viage=, journey.
=wastel breed=, cake bread.
=wenden=, go.
=werre=, war.
=wight=, person.
=wiste=, knew.
=wood=, mad, foolish.
=wympel=, wimple.
=yaf=, gave.
=yeddynges=, gleemen's songs.
=yemanly=, yeoman-like.
=yerde=, stick.
NOTES.
1. =in the Ram.= In the constellation Aries. "There is a difference, in
astronomy, between the _sign_ Aries and the _constellation_ Aries. In
April the sun is theoretically in the sign Taurus, but visibly in the
constellation Aries."--_Morris._
2. =i-ronne.= Run. The prefix _i-_ or _y-_ is equivalent to the A.-S. or
German _ge_, and usually denotes the past participle.
3. =seeken.= The infinitive in early English ended in _n_, usually in
_en_.
4. =martir.= Thomas à Becket, who was slain at Canterbury in 1170. He was
canonized by Pope Alexander III. as St. Thomas of Canterbury.
5. =seeke.= Sick, ill. At the present time the English restrict the use of
the word "sick" to nausea, and regard it in its original and broader
signification as an "Americanism."
6. =Tabard.= A tabard is "a jaquet or slevelesse coat worne in times past
by noblemen in the warres, but now only by heraults. It is the signe of
an inne in Southwarke by London, within the which was the lodging of the
Abbot of Hyde by Winchester. This is the hostelrie where Chaucer and the
other pilgrims mett together and accorded about the manner of their
journey to Canterbury."--_Speght._
7. =stables.= Standing-places (Lat. _sto_, to stand); meaning here the
public rooms of the inn.
8. =Or.= Before, ere (A.-S. _aer_, ere). Compare Psalm xc. 2.
9. =condicioun.= A word of four syllables, accented on the last.
10. =chyvalrye.= The profession of a knight.
11. =hethënesse.= Heathen countries. From _heath_, the open country. "The
word _heathen_ acquired its meaning from the fact that, at the
introduction of Christianity into Germany, the wild dwellers on the
heaths longest resisted the truth."--_Trench._
12. =Alisaundre.= Alexandria was taken in 1365 by Pierre de Lusignan,
king of Cyprus, but was very soon abandoned.
13. =he hadde the bord bygonne.= "He had been placed at the head of the
table, the usual compliment to extraordinary merit."--_Tyrwhitt._
14. =Pruce.= Prussia. "When our military men wanted employment it was
usual for them to go and serve in _Pruce_, or Prussia, with the Knights
of the Teutonic order, who were in a state of constant warfare with
their heathen neighbours in Lettow (Lithuania) and Ruse
(Russia)."--_Tyrwhitt._
15. =Gernade.= Grenada, probably at the siege of Algezir, in that country,
in 1344. Belmarie was probably a Moorish town in Africa, as also was
Tramassene, mentioned below. Lieys was in Armenia. Both it and Satalie
(Attalia) were conquered by Pierre de Lusignan in 1367.
16. =Greetë see.= That part of the Mediterranean which washes the coast of
Palestine.
17. =lord of Palatye.= A Christian knight who kept possession of his lands
by paying tribute to the Turks.
18. =no maner wight.= No sort of person. In early English the preposition
was often omitted after _manner_. Observe the double negatives in these
two lines.
19. =bacheler.= "A soldier not old or rich enough to lead his relations
into battle with a banner. The original sense of the word is _little_,
_small_, _young_, from Welsh _bach_."--_Webster._
20. =floytynge.= Fluting. So, in Chaucer's "House of Fame," he says:
"And many a floyte and litlyng horne,
And pipes made of grene corne."
21. =he.= That is, the knight. The word _yeman_, or _yeoman_, is an
abbreviation of _yeongeman_. As used by Chaucer, it means a servant of a
rank above that of groom, but below that of squire. The present use of
the word to signify a small landholder is of more modern origin.
22. =pocok arwës.= Arrows tipped with peacock feathers.
23. =bracer.= A kind of close sleeve laced upon the arm. "A bracer serveth
for two causes, one to save his arme from the strype of the stringe, and
his doublet from wearing; and the other is, that the stringe glidinge
sharplye and quicklye off the bracer, maye make the sharper
shoote."--_Roger Ascham's Toxophilus_, page 129.
24. =Cristofre.= An image of St. Christopher, which was thought to protect
its wearer from hidden danger.
25. =seynt Loy.= St. Eloy, or Eligius.
26. =of gret disport.= Fond of gayety.
27. =men.= This word as here used is an indefinite pronoun equivalent to
_one_, or _any one_.
28. "Love conquers all things."
29. =chapeleyne.= Probably _assistant_.
30. =a fair for the maistryë.= A fair one for the chief place.
31. "He would not give a pulled hen for that text"; that is, "he cared
not a straw for it." Pulled = pylled = pilled = plucked.
32. =waterles.= Out of water.
33. =what.= Why, wherefore.
34. =wood.= Mad. Scotch _wud_, wild.
"An' just as wud as wud can be."--_Burns._
35. =no cost wolde he spare.= For this pleasure he spared no expense.
36. "That shone like the fire under a cauldron."
37. =lymytour.= One who was licensed to beg within a limited territory.
38. =ordres foure.= The Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and
the Augustine Friars.
39. =post.= Pillar, support. Compare with the modern expression, "A pillar
of the church."
40. =frankeleyns.= Country gentlemen; wealthy landholders.
41. =licentiat.= He had license from the pope to grant absolution in all
cases. A curate's powers did not extend so far.
42. "Where he knew he would have."
43. See note 27, above.
44. =sellers of vitaille.= Givers of food, or a livelihood. The original
meaning of the word _sell_ was to _give_. From A.-S. _syllan_, to give.
45. "In the beginning." The first words of St. John's Gospel in the
Vulgate.
46. =purchas.= Income from begging.
47. =lovë-dayës.= Days appointed for the amicable settlement of
differences, without recourse to law.
48. "He wished the sea were guarded." =Middelburgh=, a port in the
Netherlands. =Orëwelle=, a port in Essex.
49. =scheeldës.= French crowns marked with a shield. Shillings.
50. =Oxenford.= Not the "ford of the ox," but the "ford of the river."
_Ox_, from Celtic _esk_, _ouse_, water.
51. The word _right_ used, as here, in the sense of _very_ is now
considered a vulgarism. "A Southerner would say, 'It rains right
hard.'"--_Bartlett._
52. =sawtryë.= Psaltery, a Greek instrument of music.
53. =sownynge.= Sounding; that is, in consonance with. =Sentence=
= sense. So, also, construe =forme= and =reverence=, above, as meaning
_propriety and modesty_.
ON READING CHAUCER.
"'How few there are who can read Chaucer so as to understand him
perfectly,' says Dryden, apologizing for 'translating' him. In our day,
with the wider spread of historical study, with the numerous helps to
Old English that the care of scholars has produced for us, with the
purification that Chaucer's text has undergone, this saying of Dryden's
ought not to be true. It ought to be not only possible, but easy, for an
educated reader to learn the few essentials of Chaucerian grammar, and
for an ear at all trained to poetry to tune itself to the unfamiliar
harmonies. For those who make the attempt the reward is certain. They
will gain the knowledge, not only of the great poet and creative genius,
but of the master who uses our language with a power, a freedom, a
variety, a rhythmic beauty, that, in five centuries, not ten of his
successors have been found able to rival."--_T. H. Ward._
The peculiarities of diction and grammar which distinguish Chaucer's
poetry seem to make its reading and comprehension difficult and often
discourage the student at the outset. A very little study, however, will
show that the difficulties in the way are not nearly so great as they at
first appear, and, after a little patient practice in reading, they will
disappear entirely. By observing the following rules you will soon
acquire the ability to read with a fluency which will be highly pleasing
to you:
1. Final _e_ should be pronounced as a separate syllable whenever the
metre demands it.
2. In all words of French origin, such as viságe, coráge, maniér, the
final syllable is accented.
The greatest difficulty in reading Chaucer arises from the antiquated
manner in which the words are spelled; but if the reader will change an
occasional _y_ to _i_, and drop a final _e_ or a final _n_, here and
there, the words which seemed at first so strange will appear more
familiar to the eye and the understanding.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
GEOFFREY CHAUCER, "the morning-star of English poetry," was born in
London in 1328,--according to some authorities, in 1340. He was the son
of a vintner, and at an early age became acquainted with many persons of
distinction. He was a page in the household of Prince Lionel, and
afterwards valet and squire to Edward III. In 1372 he was sent abroad as
a royal envoy, and on his return he was made Controller of the Customs
In London. In the meantime he had married Philippa Rouet, one of the
queen's maids of honor, a sister to the wife of John of Gaunt. Being
thus closely related to one of the most powerful members of the royal
family, he was often employed in important and honorable commissions
connected with the government. In 1386 he was member of Parliament for
Kent, and in 1389 was appointed Clerk of the King's Works, at Windsor.
He died in 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey,--"the first of the
long line of poets whose ashes make that edifice illustrious." His
poetical history has been divided by Mr. Furnivall into four periods:
(1) up to 1371, during which he wrote the "A B C" the "Compleynte to
Pité," the "Boke of the Duchesse," and the "Compleynte of Mars"; (2)
from 1372 to 1381, which saw the production of "Troylus and Criseyde,"
"Anelida," and the "Former Age"; (3) from 1381 to 1389, during which his
best works appeared, the "Parlament of Foules," the "House of Fame," the
"Legende of Goode Women," and some of the "Canterbury Tales"; (4) from
1389 to the close of his life, in which period the remainder of the
"Canterbury Tales" and some short poems were written.
M. Taine says, "Chaucer is like a jeweller with his hands full; pearls
and glass beads, sparkling diamonds and common agates, black jet and
ruby roses, all that history and imagination had been able to gather and
fashion during three centuries in the East, in France, in Wales, in
Provence, in Italy, all that had rolled his way, clashed together,
broken or polished by the stream of centuries, and by the grand jumble
of human memory, he holds in his hand, arranges it, composes therefrom a
long sparkling ornament, with twenty pendants, a thousand facets, which
by its splendor, variety, contrasts, may attract and satisfy the eyes of
those most greedy for amusement and novelty."
=Other Poems to be Read:= The Knight's Tale; The Clerk's Tale; The Man of
Law's Tale; The Legende of Goode Women; The Parlament of Foules; The
House of Fame; Chaucer's A B C.
REFERENCES: Lowell's _My Study Windows_; Marsh's _Origin and History of
the English Language_; Charles Cowden Clarke's _The Riches of Chaucer_;
Morley's _English Writers_, vol. v; Carpenter's _English of the XIV
Century_; Taine's _English Literature_; Lounsbury's _Studies in
Chaucer_; Hazlitt's _English Poets_.
INDEX TO NOTES.
accloyes, 234.
afoir, 282.
aft, 106.
Age of Gold, 79, 192.
Ajax, 147.
Akenside, Mark, 96.
amaist, 106.
ance, 106.
"Annus Mirabilis," 173.
antickes, 234.
Aonian, 208.
Apollo, 74.
apparelled, 46.
Arnold, Matthew, 16.
Arthur's Seat, 254.
Arvon, 136.
Ashtaroth, 194.
assay, 275.
assuasive, 154.
awfull, 189.
axle-tree, 189.
ay, 282.
Aytoun, William Edmondstoune, 16.
Baalim, 194.
Bacchus, 87, 166.
bairns, 105.
baldric, 25.
Ballads, 265.
Beattie, James, 96.
bede, 275.
bedight, 233.
beets, 105.
belyve, 106.
ben, 105.
bield, 109.
birkie, 110.
Blair, Robert, 96.
Blake, William, 96.
blate, 106.
blinkin, 106.
Boadicea, 114.
boding, 127.
bonnet, 105.
bracer, 299.
brae, 254.
braw, 106.
bray, 137.
Browne, William, 158.
Browning, Robert, 16.
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 16.
brutish, 194.
Bulwer-Lytton, Robert, 16.
burn-side, 254.
Burns, Robert, 111.
busk, 254.
buskin, 139.
Butler, Samuel, 158.
Byron, Lord, 16.
ca', 105.
Cambria, 135.
Camelot, 24.
Camilla, 147.
Campbell, Thomas, 16.
cannie, 106.
Carew, Thomas, 158.
carking, 106.
castamergia, 271.
cataracts, 46.
Chapman, George, 216.
Chatterton, Thomas, 96.
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 301.
Chepe, 275.
Christabel, 64.
Churchill, Charles, 96.
chyvalrye, 298.
claes, 106.
Clarius, 208.
close, 190.
Clough, Arthur Hugh, 16.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 65.
Collins, William, 96.
conceit, 145.
concern, 119.
consort, 192.
convoy, 106.
coof, 110.
coot, 27.
coronal, 47.
cotter, 104.
Cowley, Abraham, 158.
Cowper, William, 122.
Crabbe, George, 96.
cracks, 106.
Crashaw, Richard, 158.
craws, 106.
crew, 168.
Cristofre, 299.
crynis, 282.
Cynthia, 190.
dædal, 74.
Daniel, Samuel, 216.
Darius, 166.
darkling, 87.
Davenant, Sir William, 158.
Davies, Sir John, 216.
deid, 282.
Delphos, 193.
demi-gods, 154.
Denham, Sir John, 158.
denty, 281.
deposit, 105.
dicht, 282.
docht, 282.
Donne, John, 216.
Douglas, Gawain, 284.
dragon, 193.
Drayton, Michael, 216.
Drummond, William, 158.
dryad, 86.
Dryden, John, 175.
Dunbar, William, 283.
dusk, 24.
Dyer, John, 96.
dyght, 275.
effeires, 281.
Elysian, 79.
ene, 281.
Epipsychidion, 79.
ere, 189.
esperance, 278.
eydent, 106.
eyn, 195.
fallow, 281.
fassoun, 278.
Fates, 137.
Fauns, 73.
feid, 282.
fell, 106.
Fergusson, Robert, 96.
fit, 145.
Flamins, 194.
Fletcher, Giles, 158.
flichterin, 106.
floytynge, 299.
fois, 282.
fond, 139.
foreland, 27.
forgit, 281.
forgoes, 194.
frankeleyns, 300.
Fungoso, 146.
Furies, 167.
galaxy, 25.
garmond, 278.
gars, 106.
Garth, Samuel, 120.
Gascoigne, George, 216.
gauge, 127.
Gay, John, 96.
genius, 193.
gere, 275.
Gernadé, 299.
gife, 281.
glaiding, 282.
glinted, 109.
gloir, 282.
Gloster, 136.
Glover, Richard, 96.
Goldsmith, Oliver, 128.
governance, 278.
gowd, 110.
Gower, John, 286.
grant, 282.
Gray, Thomas, 139.
gree, 110, 282.
Green, Matthew, 96.
Greene, Robert, 216.
greete, 275.
griesly, 137.
grisly, 194.
gross, 174.
guerdoun, 282.
ha'-bible, 105.
haffets, 106.
hafflins, 106.
halcyons, 79.
Hall, Joseph, 216.
hals-ribbane, 278.
halsit, 281.
Hammon, 194.
harbinger, 188.
hauberk, 135.
haut-boys, 166.
Hawes, Stephen, 268.
hawkie, 105.
Henryson, Robert, 283.
Herbert, George, 158.
Herbert, Lord, of Cherbury, 158.
hern, 27.
Herrick, Robert, 202.
Hesperus, 80.
hethenesse, 298.
hinges, 191.
Hippocrene, 86.
histie, 109.
Hoel, 136.
hoiss, 278.
Hood, Thomas, 16.
Howard, Henry, 252.
hud, 278.
Hunt, Leigh, 16.
hyed, 275.
hymeneal, 71.
ilk, 282.
influence, 189.
ingle, 106.
Ionian, 79.
ipocras, 271.
i-ronne, 298.
Isis, 194.
its, 190.
Ixion, 154.
Japhet, 209.
Johnson, Samuel, 96.
jollity, 46.
Jonson, Ben, 213.
Keats, John, 93.
kebbuck, 106.
key, 174.
Kingsley, Charles, 16.
kirtill, 278.
kye, 105.
laif, 281.
Lamb, Charles, 16.
Landor, Walter Savage, 16.
Langland, William, 286.
lasit, 278.
lathefu', 106.
lave, 106.
lawn, 189.
lays, 104.
lemys, 281.
lesum, 278.
Lethe, 86.
letted, 173.
licentiate, 300.
lichtlie, 254.
Lodge, Thomas, 216.
love-days, 300.
Lovelace, Richard, 158.
Lucifer, 80, 189.
lufe, 278.
lukit, 281.
lyart, 106.
Lydgate, John, 283.
Lydian, 167.
Lyly, John, 216.
lymytour, 300.
lyst, 275.
Macaulay, Thomas B., 16.
Mænalus, 74.
maiden (_adj._), 188.
mailyheis, 278.
mansuetude, 281.
Marlowe, Christopher, 216.
martir, 298.
Marvell, Andrew, 158.
May, 47.
mede, 275.
mekill, 282.
mend, 146.
"Meredith, Owen," 16.
Milnes, Richard Monckton, 16.
Milton, John, 195.
moil, 106.
Moore, Thomas, 16.
morrow, 281.
Mortimer, 136.
mould, 192.
muddir, 281.
Mulciber, 234.
Muses, 153.
neibor, 105.
noise, 190.
numbers, 147.
Occleve, Thomas, 268.
or, 189, 298.
oracles, 193.
organs, 168.
Orpheus, 154.
Orus, 194.
Oxenford, 300.
Osiris, 195.
pad, 24.
Palatye, 299.
Pan, 190.
pansy, 47.
pansing, 278.
paramour, 80, 188.
pards, 87.
Parnassus, 146.
Parnell, Thomas, 96.
passing, 126.
patelet, 278.
peir, 282.
Peneus, 73, 243.
penny-fee, 105.
Peor, 194.
pescodes, 275.
philargyria, 271.
Phlegethon, 154.
pies, 208.
pine (_v._), 71.
Plinlimmon, 136.
plum, 120.
Pope, Alexander, 155.
pourall, 282.
prevent, 188.
Procter, Adelaide, 16.
Procter, Bryan Waller, 16.
profuse, 71.
Prothalamion, 241.
Provençal, 86.
Pruce, 299.
puissance, 282.
quality, 147.
quhen, 281.
quhois, 281.
quhome, 282.
quhyll, 281.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 216.
Ramsay, Allan, 96.
reedes (_v._), 233.
reid, 282.
requiem, 87.
rewth, 278.
Rhodope, 155.
Robin Hood, 265.
rois, 281, 282.
rutty, 242.
ryshes, 275.
sacerdotal, 106.
Sackville, Thomas, 216.
Saint Agnes, 93.
Saint Cecilia, 168.
salvage, 233.
sanct, 282.
Sandys, George, 158.
sark, 278.
sawtrye, 300.
scho, 278.
schone, 278.
Scott, Sir Walter, 16.
seeke, 298.
seeken, 298.
seeliest, 212.
seill, 278.
seraphim, 191.
session, 193.
set, 278.
Shakespeare, William, 221.
Shelley, Percy B., 81.
shend, 244.
Shenstone, William, 96.
sic, 281.
sickerness, 278.
Sidney, Philip, 216.
Sileni, 73.
silly, 190.
Simoïs, 174.
simonia, 271.
Sisyphus, 154.
site, 282.
Skelton, John, 272.
skylark, 71.
Snowdon, 135.
socks, 213.
sort, 146.
Southey, Robert, 16.
sovran, 189.
sowninge, 300.
sowpe, 106.
sparks, 146.
spede, 275.
speiris, 281.
Spenser, Edmund, 245.
sphear, 188.
spiers, 106.
splene, 281.
spread, 193.
sprite, 71.
stables, 298.
stacher, 106.
stage, 48.
Star Chamber, 271.
steep, 119.
store, 243.
stoure, 109.
strook, 190.
Styx, 154.
Suckling, Sir John, 158.
sugh, 104.
Surrey, Earl of, 252.
Swan of Avon, 213.
swindges, 193.
Sylvans, 73.
Syrinx, 74.
Tabard, 298.
tabor, 46.
Taliessin, 138.
Tennyson, Alfred, 35.
tentie, 106.
tepat, 278.
terms, 127.
Thais, 166.
Thammuz, 194.
tholl, 278.
Thomson, James, 96.
thorps, 27.
thrissil, 281.
till, 282.
Timotheus, 147, 166.
"tirra lirra," 25.
Titans, 241.
Tmolus, 73.
toil, 104.
trailed, 24.
train, 104.
trump, 192.
turtle, 188.
tynis, 282.
Typhon, 195.
udir, 281.
uncos, 106.
undersong, 244.
unexpressive, 191.
Vaughan, Henry, 158.
vermeil, 243.
wales, 106.
Waller, Edmund, 205.
Warner, William, 216.
warp, 137.
Warton, Thomas, 96.
Watson, Thomas, 216.
weet, 109.
weid, 281.
weiris, 281.
weit, 278.
weltering, 191.
which, 245.
whilome, 234.
whist, 189.
wicht, 282.
wight, 233.
wilding, 51.
wiles, 106.
wisards, 188.
wit, 145.
Wither, George, 158.
wold, 24.
wonne, 234.
wont, 187.
wood, 300.
Wordsworth, William, 52.
wrought, 71.
Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 252.
ychain'd, 192.
yede, 275.
yode, 233.
Young, Edward, 96.
youngling, 106.
'yont, 106.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Ellipses match the original.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the orginal.
The following words use an oe ligature in the original:
Boeotia Phoenicia
Meliboeus Phoenicians
Oeagrus
The following corrections have been made to the text:
Page 79: Dante's _Vita Nuova_.[original has extraneous
quotation mark]
Page 81: full age of man, he might not[original has extraneous
comma] improbably
Page 124: Near yonder copse, where once the garden
smiled,[original has superscripted 1 at the end of the line]
Page 146: _Shakespeare_, _King Lear_, Act i[original has ii]
sc. i.
Page 146: versification of the "Faerie Queene," page
232[original has 234]
Page 303: chyvalrye[original has chyvalyre], 298.
End of Project Gutenberg's Six Centuries of English Poetry, by James Baldwin