'O little child, alas! what is thy guilt, As let my little child dwell here with thee; Therewith she looketh backward to the land, THE GOOD PARSON. A true good man there was, there of religion, But rich he was in holy thought and work; And thereto a right learned man; a clerk That Christ's pure gospel would sincerely preach, And his parishioners devoutly teach. Benign he was, and wondrous diligent, And in adversity full patient, As proven oft; to all who lack'd a friend. At every need much rather was he found Unto his poor parishioners around Of his own substance and his dues to give:- Wide was his cure; the houses far asunder, 1 Destroyed. + Doubt. 2 Pitiless. 5 Praised. 3 Crowd. • Procure, provide. For sure a priest the sample ought to give Tho holy in himself, and virtuous, He still to sinful men was mild and piteous: He waited not on pomp or reverence, He taught: but, first, he followed it himselve. The following poem was the last production that emanated from Chaucer's prolific pen. It was written on his death-bed, and may properly close these extracts : Fly from the press, and dwell with sothfastness;2 In trust of her that turneth as a ball; Beware also to spurn against a nalle ;9 Strive not as doth a crocke10 with a wall; 1 Crowd. 2 Truth. 3 Be satisfied with thy wealth. 11 Judge. 4 Striving. 8 Without fear. 12 That (which). Though Chaucer was eminent chiefly as a poet, yet he deserves a passing notice as a writer in prose also. His longest unversified production is The 'Testament of Love,' to which we have already alluded. This is an allegorical and meditative work, and was written chiefly for the purpose of defending his character against certain imputations which had been cast upon it. Two of the 'Canterbury Tales,' also, are in prose; in one of which, the Tale of Melibeus, is found a passage on Riches, not less remarkable for the great amount of ancient wisdom which it contains, than for the clearness and simplicity of its diction. We have, however, already afforded to Chaucer so much space that we have not room to introduce this interesting passage, but must at once pass briefly to notice Gower, his illustrious contemporary. Though the genius of Chaucer far transcended that of all preceding writers in England, yet he was not the solitary light of the age. The national mind, and the national language had now arrived at a certain degree of maturity favorable for the production of able writers in both prose and Besides Wickliffe, Gower and Mandeville also belong to the same verse. period. JOHN GOWER was born of an illustrious family at Stitenham, in Yorkshire, 1320. He was educated at Merton College, Oxford, and at the time at which he was graduated, his eminence as a scholar was extensively known. Being designated by his parents for the legal profession, he removed to London immediately after he left the university, and entered the Middle Temple as a student at law; and though devoted to his profession, yet he did not permit it to engross his entire attention, but gave much of his leisure time to poetry and other literary pursuits. While thus occupied, and soon after he had completed his preparatory legal studies, he formed an acquaintance with Chaucer, who had just then returned from his travels on the continent, and the similarity of their tastes soon created a very close intimacy between them. Poetry, however, with Gower, was a pastime, while to his profession he devoted himself with such untiring industry, that before the close of the reign of Edward the Third, his position as a lawyer had become so commanding that when Richard the Second succeeded to the crown, that unfortunate monarch first selected him as his legal adviser, and Chancellor in Commons, and soon after raised him to the office of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. In this imposing position Gower remained until his royal patron was dethroned by the duke of Lancaster, afterward Henry the Fourth, when he being far advanced in age, and having also recently had the misfortune to lose his eyesight, retired from the busy scenes of life, and took leave at the same time, both of the muses and of the world, in his pathetic poem The Commendation of Peace. In this sweet production he plainly and affectingly indicates a full sense of his consciousness of an approaching death, which accordingly happened soon after at Southwark, where he then resided, in 1402. His remains were interred in St. John's Chapel, and to his memory a monument of unparalleled magnificence, for that age, was erected, upon which was inscribed a Latin Epitaph, that may be thus rendered into English. His shield henceforth is useless grown, To pay death's tribute slain, His soul with joyous freedom flown, Gower was a man of very extensive literary and legal attainments, and his poems, therefore, were rather the offspring of his learning than of his genius. His spirit was bold and uncompromising, and he accordingly inveighed in clear and energetic language against the debaucheries of the times, the immorality of the clergy, the wickedness of corrupt judges, and the vices of an abandoned court. His principal poetic work was a poem in three parts, which were respectively entitled, Speculum Meditantis, Vox Clamantis, and Confessio Amantis; the last of which, the 'Confession of a Lover,' was written in English, and was so pure and elevated in tone and sentiment, that Chaucer, upon reading it, immediately called its author, in spontaneous admiration, the Moral Gower-an encomium, to deserve which in that corrupt age, certainly argues very exalted merit. From this poem we select the following specimen, as it fully indicates the character of the author's poetic genius. THE ENVIOUS MAN AND THE MISER. Of Jupiter thus I find y-writ, How whilom that he would wit, Upon the plaints which he heard Among the men, how it fared, As of the wrong condition To do justification; And for that cause down he sent An angel, that about went, That he the sooth know may. So it befel upon a day, This angel which him should inform Was clothed in a man's form, And overtook, I understand, Two men that wenten over lond; And thus with tales he them led, With good examination, Till he knew the condition, What men they were both two; And thus when he hath knowledging, And said he mote algate wend; And he it shall of gift have. And over that ke forth with all He saith, that other have shall The double of that his fellow axeth; And thus to them his grace he taxeth. The Covetous was wonder glad; This Envious, though it be late, That he would chuse in no manner. This word was not so soon spoke, SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE, the last writer to whom our attention will at present be directed, was born at St. Albans, Hertfordshire, in the begin3 What thing he was most disposed to crave. 1 Then. 2 Say. |