The chief features of the romance were: a long story, cumulative in construction, chiefly of a journey or a quest; a strong martial element, with an infusion of the supernatural and wonderful; characters, usually of high social rank, and of fixed type and rudimentary workmanship, such as the knightly hero, the distressed damsel, and the wicked enchanter; and a style that was simple to quaintness, but in the better specimens was spirited and suggestive of mystery and wonder. In meter it ranged from the simple couplet of The Squire of Low Degree to the twenty-lined stanza of Sir Tristrem. In its later stages, as Chaucer satirized it in Sir Thopas, the romance became extravagant and ridiculous, but at its best it was a rich treasure-house of marvelous tales. 2. Prose. The small amount of prose is strictly practical in purpose, and its development as a species of literature is to come later. THE DEVELOPMENT OF STYLE IN POETRY With poetry in such an immature condition, it can be easily understood that style is of secondary importance, The prevailing, almost the universal, style is one of artless simplicity. Very often, owing chiefly to lack of practice on the part of the poet, the style becomes obscure; and when more ambitious schemes of meter are attempted (as in Pearl) the same cause leads to the same result. Humor is rarely found in Middle English, but quaint touches are not entirely lacking, as facts revealed in the life of Hampole show. Pathos of a solemn and elevated kind appears in the Moral Ode, and the romance called The Pistyl of Susan and the Pearl, already mentioned, have passages of simple pathos. EXERCISES 1. The following extracts show the development of English poetry from Old English to Chaucerian times. Trace the changes in meter (scansion, rhyme, and stanza-forma Are there any traces of re- When of old the water's mass When the sea-flood covered Through favour of God. Of the Lord's judgment. The Phonix, 900 And I saw the waves In the sea drive; And the lion in the flood When we two came in the sea, But there came swimming a And brought me to land. And weary from sorrow, and When I gan wake LAYAMON, Brut, 1200 (3) Ich am eldre þan ich wes. a winter and ek on lore. (5) (4) Herknet to me, gode men, Wiues, maydnes, and alle men, Havelock the Dane, 1300 Byteuene Mershe & Aueril Ich libbe in louelonginge For semlokest 11 of alle þynge, Icham in hire baundoun.12 An hendy 13 hap 14 ichabbe yhent (6) In Nauerne be 3unde the see In Venyse a gode cyte, And was auaunsede, y un- ysyngge A tempest that tyme began to falle Alysoun, 1300 In Avergne beyond the sea In Venice a good city And was advanced I understand. Every year at the flourishing When the vines should spring A tempest then began to fall And fordede here vynys And ruined all their vines. alle; 11 seemliest. 12 bondage. 13 lucky. 14 chance. 15 I wot, I know. 20 19 (7) Ther faure citees wern set, nov is a see called, Shal neuer grene ther-on growe, gresse ne wod nawther. 2. Account for the poor quality of English prose during this period. 3. What were the effects of the Norman Conquest upon English literature? 4. Describe the main features of the romance. CHAPTER III THE AGE OF CHAUCER THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (1350–1450) Compared with the periods covered by the last two chapters, the period now under review is quite short. It includes the greater part of the reign of Edward III and the long French wars associated with his name; the accession of his grandson Richard II (1377); and the revolution of 1399, the deposition of Richard, and the foundation of the Lancastrian dynasty. From the literary point of view, of greater importance are the social and intellectual movements of the period: the terrible plague called the Black Death, bringing poverty, unrest, and revolt among the peasants, and the growth of the spirit of inquiry, which was strongly critical of the ways of the Church, and found expression in the teachings of Wyclif and the Lollards, and in the stern denunciations of Langland. LITERARY FEATURES OF THE AGE 1. The Standardizing of English. The period of transition is now nearly over. The English language has shaken down to a kind of average-to the standard of the East Midland speech, the language of the capital city and of the universities. The other dialects, with the exception of the Scottish branch, rapidly melt away from literature, till they become quite exiguous. French and English have amalgamated to form the standard English tongue, which attains to its first full expression in the works of Chaucer. 2. A curious "modern" note begins to be apparent at this period. There is a sharper spirit of criticism, a more searching interest in man's affairs, and a less childlike faith in, and a less complacent acceptance of, the established |