CHAPTER IVFROM CHAUCER TO SPENSER

The dates that appear at the head of this section are only approximate, but the general features of the time are well defined. In England the period begins with wars, unrest, and almost chaos; it concludes with a settled dynasty, a reformed religion, and a people united and progressive. Abroad, as well as in England, there is apparent the broad intellectual flood known as the Renaissance, running deep and strong: the renewed desire for knowledge, changes in religious ideals, the discovery of new worlds, both geographical and literary, and the enormous quickening of heart and mind. In England the scene is being prepared for the great age to follow.

1. Poverty of Material.Considering the length of the period, the poverty of the output is hard to explain. There is no English poet of any consequence; the prose writing is thin in quality and quantity; and if it were not for the activities of the Scottish poets the age would be poor indeed.

2. Scottish Poetry.Scottish poetry comes late into notice, but it comes with a bound. The poverty and disunion of Scotland, its severance from the intellectual stimulus of English thought, and the dearth of educational facilities all combine to retard its literary development. But these disadvantages are rapidly passing away, with the beneficial results apparent in this chapter.

3. The Development of the Drama.The popularity of the romance is almost gone; the drama, more suited tothe growing intelligence of the time, is rapidly taking on a new importance. The professional actor and the playwright, owing to real demand for their services, are making their appearance. The development of the drama is sketched in this chapter.

4. The Importance of the Period.The importance of the time is belied by its apparent barrenness. In reality it is a season of healthy fallow, of germination, of rest and recuperation. The literary impulse, slowly awakening, is waiting for the right moment. When that movement comes the long period of rest gives the new movement swift and enduring force.

1. The Scottish Poets.(a)James I (1394–1437)was captured by the English in 1405, and remained in England till 1424, when he married Joan Beaufort, the cousin of Henry V, and returned to Scotland. The chief poem associated with his name isThe Kingis Quhair(quireorbook). The attempts to disprove his authorship have not been successful. It seems to have been written during his captivity, and it records his first sight of the lady destined to be his wife. It follows the Chaucerian model of the dream, the garden, and the introduction of allegorical figures. The stanza is the rhyme royal, which is said to have derived its name from his use of it. The diction, which is the common artificial blend of Scottish and Chaucerian forms, is highly ornamented; but there are some passages of really brilliant description, and a few stanzas of passionate declamation quite equal to the best of Chaucer’sTroilus and Cressida. It is certainly among the best of the poems that appear between the periods of Chaucer and Spenser. Other poems, in particular the more plebeianPeblis to the PlayandChristis Kirk on the Green, have been ascribed to James, but his authorship is extremely doubtful.

The two following stanzas are fair examples of James’s poetry. The man who wrote them was no mean poet.

Of her array the form if I shall write,Towards her golden hair and rich attire,In fretwise couchit[45]with pearlis white,And great balas[46]leaming[47]as the fire,With mony ane emeraut and fair sapphire;And on her head a chaplet fresh of hue,Of Plumis parted red, and white, and blue.Full of quaking spangis bright as gold,Forged of shape like to the amorets,So new, so fresh, so pleasant to behold,The plumis eke like to the flower jonets,[48]And other of shape, like to the flower jonets;And above all this, there was, well I wot,Beauty enough to make a world to dote.The Kingis Quhair

Of her array the form if I shall write,

Towards her golden hair and rich attire,

In fretwise couchit[45]with pearlis white,

And great balas[46]leaming[47]as the fire,

With mony ane emeraut and fair sapphire;

And on her head a chaplet fresh of hue,

Of Plumis parted red, and white, and blue.

Full of quaking spangis bright as gold,Forged of shape like to the amorets,So new, so fresh, so pleasant to behold,The plumis eke like to the flower jonets,[48]And other of shape, like to the flower jonets;And above all this, there was, well I wot,Beauty enough to make a world to dote.The Kingis Quhair

Full of quaking spangis bright as gold,

Forged of shape like to the amorets,

So new, so fresh, so pleasant to behold,

The plumis eke like to the flower jonets,[48]

And other of shape, like to the flower jonets;

And above all this, there was, well I wot,

Beauty enough to make a world to dote.

The Kingis Quhair

(b)Sir David Lyndsay (1490–1555)was born in Fifeshire about the year 1490. He entered the royal service, and rose to fill the important position of Lyon King-of-Arms.

His longer works, which were written during his service at Court, includeThe Dreme, in rhyme royal stanzas, with the usual allegorical setting;The Testament of Squyer Meldrum, in octosyllabic couplets, a romantic biography with a strongly Chaucerian flavor;The Testament and Compleynt of the Papyngo, which has some gleams of his characteristic humor; andAne Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estatis, a morality-play, coarse and vulgar, but containing much of his best work. It is full of telling satire directed against the Church, and it shows acute observation of the frailties of his fellows. Lyndsay represents the ruder type of the Scottish Chaucerian. He has a coarseness beyond the standard even of his day; but he cannot be denied a bluff good-humor, a sound honesty of opinion, and an abundant and vital energy.

(c)Robert Henryson (1425–1500)has left us few details regarding his life. In one of his books he is described as a “scholemaister of Dunfermeling”; he may have studied at Glasgow University; and he was dead when Dunbar(see below) wrote hisLament for the Makarisin 1506. Hence the dates given for his birth and death are only approximations.

The order of his poems has not been determined. His longest is a version of theMorall Fabillis of Esope, composed in rhyme royal stanzas and showing much dexterity and vivacity;The Testament of Cresseidis a continuation of Chaucer’sTroilus and Cressida, and it has a finely tragic conclusion;Orpheus and Eurydice, an adaptation from Boëthius, has, along with much commonplace moralizing, some passages of real pathos; and among his thirteen shorter poemsRobene and Makyne, a little pastoral incident, is executed with a lightness, a brevity, and a precision that make it quite a gem among its fellows. HisGarment of Gude Ladies, though often quoted, is pedantically allegorical, and of no high quality as poetry.

We quote two stanzas fromThe Testament of Cresseid. The diction is an artificial blend of that of Chaucer and of colloquial Scots, and it is heavily loaded with descriptive epithet; but it is picturesque and dramatic, in some respects suggesting the later work of Spenser.

His face frosnit,[49]his lyre was lyke the leid,His teith chatterit, and cheverit[50]with the chin,His ene[51]drowpit, how,[52]sonkin in his heid,Out of his nois the meldrop[53]fast did rin,With lippis bla,[54]and cheikis liene and thin,The iceschoklis that fra his hair doun hang,Was wonder greit, and as ane speir als lang.Atouir[55]his belt his lyart[56]lokkis layFelterit[57]unfair, ovirfret with froistis hoir,His garmound and his gyis[58]full gay of gray,His widderit weid[59]fra him the wind out woir;Ane busteous bow within his hand he boir,Under his girdill ane flasche[60]of felloun flanis,[61]Fedderit[62]with ice, and heidit with hailstanis.The Testament of Cresseid

His face frosnit,[49]his lyre was lyke the leid,

His teith chatterit, and cheverit[50]with the chin,

His ene[51]drowpit, how,[52]sonkin in his heid,

Out of his nois the meldrop[53]fast did rin,

With lippis bla,[54]and cheikis liene and thin,

The iceschoklis that fra his hair doun hang,

Was wonder greit, and as ane speir als lang.

Atouir[55]his belt his lyart[56]lokkis layFelterit[57]unfair, ovirfret with froistis hoir,His garmound and his gyis[58]full gay of gray,His widderit weid[59]fra him the wind out woir;Ane busteous bow within his hand he boir,Under his girdill ane flasche[60]of felloun flanis,[61]Fedderit[62]with ice, and heidit with hailstanis.The Testament of Cresseid

Atouir[55]his belt his lyart[56]lokkis lay

Felterit[57]unfair, ovirfret with froistis hoir,

His garmound and his gyis[58]full gay of gray,

His widderit weid[59]fra him the wind out woir;

Ane busteous bow within his hand he boir,

Under his girdill ane flasche[60]of felloun flanis,[61]

Fedderit[62]with ice, and heidit with hailstanis.

The Testament of Cresseid

(d)William Dunbar (1460–1520)is generally considered to be the chief of the Scottish Chaucerian poets. He was born in East Lothian, studied at St. Andrews University (1477), and went to France and became a wandering friar. Returning to Scotland, he became attached to the household of James IV, and in course of time was appointed official Rhymer. He died about 1520.

Dunbar wrote freely, often on subjects of passing interest; and though his work runs mainly on Chaucerian lines it has an energy and pictorial quality that are quite individual. Of the more than ninety poems associated with his name the most important areThe Golden Targe, of the common allegorical-rhetorical type;The Thrissill and the Rois, celebrating the marriage of James IV and the English Margaret (1503);The Dance of the Sevin Deidlie Sins, with its strongmacabreeffects and its masterly grip of meter;The Twa Meryit Wemen and the Wedo, a revival of the ancient alliterative measure, and outrageously frank in expression; andThe Lament for the Makaris, in short stanzas with the refrainTimor Mortis conturbat me, quite striking in its effect.

The following short extract reveals Dunbar’s strong pictorial quality and his command of meter.

Let see quoth he now wha begins:—With that the foul Sevin Deidlie SinsBeyond to leap at anis[63];And first of all in dance was PrideWith hair wyld[64]back and bonnet o’ side,Like to make vaistie wanis.[65]And round about him as a wheelHung all in rumples to the heelHis kethat[66]for the nanis.[67]Mony proud trumpour[68]with him trippit;Through scalding fire aye as they skippitThey girned[69]with hideous granis.[70]Then Ire came in with sturt[71]and strifeHis hand was aye upon his knife,He brandeist like a beir.[72]The Dance of the Sevin Deidlie Sins

Let see quoth he now wha begins:—

With that the foul Sevin Deidlie Sins

Beyond to leap at anis[63];

And first of all in dance was Pride

With hair wyld[64]back and bonnet o’ side,

Like to make vaistie wanis.[65]

And round about him as a wheel

Hung all in rumples to the heel

His kethat[66]for the nanis.[67]

Mony proud trumpour[68]with him trippit;

Through scalding fire aye as they skippit

They girned[69]with hideous granis.[70]

Then Ire came in with sturt[71]and strife

His hand was aye upon his knife,

He brandeist like a beir.[72]

The Dance of the Sevin Deidlie Sins

(e)Gawain Douglas (1474–1522)was a member of the famous Douglas family, his father being the fifth Earl of Angus, Archibald “Bell the Cat.” He studied at St. Andrews University (1489) and probably at Paris, became a priest, and rose to be Bishop of Dunkeld. He took a great share in the high politics of those dangerous times, and in the end lost his bishopric, was expelled to England, and died in London.

His four works belong to the period 1501–13:The Palice of Honour, of elaborate and careful workmanship, and typical of the fifteenth-century manner;King Hart, a laboriously allegorical treatment of life, the Hart being the heart of life, which is attended by the five senses and other personifications of abstractions;Conscience, a short poem, a mere quibble on the word “conscience,” of no great poetical merit; and theÆneid, his most considerable effort, a careful translation of Virgil, with some incongruous touches, but done with competence and some poetical ability. It is the earliest of its kind, and so is worthy of some consideration. Douglas is the most scholarly and painstaking of his group; but he lacks the native vigor of his fellows. His style is often overloaded and listless, and in the selection of theme he shows little originality.

2. John Skelton (1460–1529)comes late in this period, but he is perhaps the most considerable of the poets. His place of birth is disputed; he may have studied at Oxford, and he probably graduated at Cambridge. He took orders (1498), entered the household of the Countess of Richmond, the mother of Henry VII, and became a tutor to Prince Henry. In 1500 he obtained the living of Diss in Norfolk, but his sharp tongue ruined him as a rector. He fell foul of Wolsey, and is said to have escaped imprisonmentby seeking sanctuary in Westminster Abbey, where he died in 1529.

In hisGarlande of Laurell Skeltongives a list of his own works, most of which have perished. This poem itself is a dreary effort, stilted in style and diffuse in treatment. It is in satire that Skelton appears at his best. His satirical poems, in spite of their shuffling and scrambling meters, are usually sharp, often witty, and nearly always alive.Why come ye not to Court?is addressed to Wolsey, and for jeering impertinence it is hard to find its equal, at that time at least;The Tunnynge of Elynore Runnyngeis realism indeed, for it faithfully portrays the drunken orgies of a pack of women in an ale-house. His more serious poems include aDirge on Edward IV,The Bowge of Court, and a quite excellent morality-play,Magnificence.

We quote an example of Skelton’s peculiar meter, which came to be called “Skeltonics.” It is a species of jingling octosyllabic couplet, but crumbling and unstable, often descending to doggerel. It is, however, lively, witty in a shallow fashion, and attractive. His own description of it is quite just:

For though my rhyme be ragged,Tattered and jagged,Rudely rayne beaten,Rusty and moughte eaten,It hath in it some pyth.

For though my rhyme be ragged,

Tattered and jagged,

Rudely rayne beaten,

Rusty and moughte eaten,

It hath in it some pyth.

The following extract shows his powers of invective:

But this mad AmelekLike to a Mamelek,He regardeth lordsNot more than potshords;He is in such elationOf his exaltation,And the supportationOf our sovereign lord,That, God to record,He ruleth all at will.Without reason or skill;Howbeit the primordialOf his wretched original,And his base progeny,And his greasy genealogy,He came of the sank[73]royalThat was cast out of a butcher’s stall.Why come ye not to Court?

But this mad Amelek

Like to a Mamelek,

He regardeth lords

Not more than potshords;

He is in such elation

Of his exaltation,

And the supportation

Of our sovereign lord,

That, God to record,

He ruleth all at will.

Without reason or skill;

Howbeit the primordial

Of his wretched original,

And his base progeny,

And his greasy genealogy,

He came of the sank[73]royal

That was cast out of a butcher’s stall.

Why come ye not to Court?

3. John Lydgate (1370–1451)had a great reputation in his day, but little of it has survived. He was born at Lydgate, near Newmarket, and became a monk at Bury St. Edmunds, where he rose to be priest in 1397. He studied and wrote much, gaining a wide reputation both as a scholar and a poet. The dates of his birth and death are only approximately fixed.

Lydgate was a friend of Chaucer, upon whom he models much of his poetry. But as a poet he is no Chaucer. He has none of the latter’s metrical skill and lively imagination, and the enormous mass of his poems only enhances their futility.The Falls of Princes, full of platitudes and wordy digressions, is no less than 7,000 verses long;The Temple of Glass, of the common allegorical type, is mercifully shorter; and so isThe Story of Thebes, a feeble continuation of Chaucer’sKnight’s Tale. On rare occasions, as inLondon Lickpenny, he is livelier; but he has no ear for meter, and the common vices of his time—prolixity, lack of humor, and pedantic allegory—lie heavy upon him.

4. Thomas Occleve, orHoccleve (1368–1450), may have been born in Bedfordshire; but we know next to nothing about him, and that he tells us himself. He was a clerk in the Privy Seal Office, from which in 1424 he retired on a pension to Hampshire.

His principal works areThe Regement of Princes, written for the edification of Henry VIII, and consisting of a string of tedious sermons;La Male Règle, partly autobiographical, in a sniveling fashion;The Complaint of Our Lady; andOccleve’s Complaint.

The style of Occleve’s poetry shows the rapid degeneration that set in immediately after the death of Chaucer. His meter, usually rhyme royal or couplets, is loose and sprawling, the style is uninspired, and the interest of the reader soon ebbs very low. He himself, in his characteristic whining way, admits it with much truth:

Fader Chaucer fayne wold han me taught,But I was dul, and learned lite or nought.

Fader Chaucer fayne wold han me taught,

But I was dul, and learned lite or nought.

5. Stephen Hawes (1474–1530)was a Court poet during the first twenty years of the sixteenth century. Very little is known of him, even the dates of his birth and death being largely matters of surmise.

His chief works includeThe Passetyme of Pleasure, a kind of romantic-homiletic poem, composed both in rhyme royal stanzas and in couplets, and dealing with man’s life in this world in a fashion reminiscent of Bunyan’s,The Example of Virtue,The Conversion of Swerers, andA Joyfull Medytacyon. Of all the poets now under discussion Hawes is the most uninspired; his allegorical methods are of the crudest; but he is not entirely without his poetical moments. HisPassetyme of Pleasureprobably influenced the allegory of Spenser.

6. Alexander Barclay (1476–1552)might have been either a Scotsman or an Englishman for all that is known on the subject. He was a priest in Devonshire, and later withdrew to a monastery in Ely. His important poem,The Ship of Fools, a translation of a German work by Sebastian Brant, represents a newer type of allegory. The figures in the poem are not the usual wooden creatures representing the common vices and virtues, but they are sharply satirical portraits of the various kinds of foolish men. Sometimes Barclay adds personal touches to make the general satire more telling.Certayne Ecloges, another of Barclay’s works, is the earliest English collection of pastorals. It contains, among much grumbling over the times, quite attractive pictures of the country life of the day.

1. Reginald Pecock (1395–1460)may have been born in Wales, and perhaps in 1395. He was educated at Oxford, and took orders, when he became prominent through his attacks upon the Lollards. In his arguments he went so far that he was convicted of heresy (1457), forced to make a public recantation, and deprived of his bishopric of Chichester. He died in obscurity about 1460.

His two works wereThe Repressor of Over-much Blaming the Clergy(1449) andThe Book of Faith. In his dogma he strongly supported the ancient usages of the Church; and in the style of his argument he is downright and opinionative. His prose, often rugged and obscure, is marked by his preference for English words in place of those of Latin origin. His books are among the earliest of English controversial works, and thus they mark a victory over the once all-important Latin.

2. William Caxton (1422–91), the first English printer, was born in Kent about the year 1422. He was apprenticed to a London mercer, and in his capacity of mercer went to Bruges to assist in the revival of English trade with the Continent. In Bruges, where he lived for thirty-three years, he started his translations from the French, and in that city he may have learned the infant art of printing. In 1476 he established himself in London as a printer. There he began to issue a series of books that laid the foundation of English printing. The first book printed in England wasThe Dictes and Sayengis of the Philosophers(1477). The main part of the volume was the work of Lord Rivers, but Caxton, as was his habit, revised it for the press.

In addition to printing many older texts, such as Chaucer and Malory, Caxton did some original work of great value. He translated and printed no fewer than twenty-one books, French texts, the most remarkable of which were the two earliest,The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye(1469) andThe Game and Playe of Chesse(1474). Like KingAlfred, he added to many of his books introductory remarks, some of great personal or general interest.

We give a brief extract from his preface toThe Recuyell. Observe the rather clumsy sentences and the plain language.

When I remember that every man is bounden by the commandment and counsel of the wise man to eschew sloth and idleness, which is mother and nourisher of vices, and ought to put myself unto virtuous occupation and business, then I, having no great charge of occupation, following the said counsel, took a French book and read therein many strange and marvellous histories wherein I had great pleasure and delight, as well for the novelty of the same as for the fair language of French, which was in prose so well and compendiously set and written, which methought I understood the sentence and substance of every matter. And forsomuch as this book was new and late made and drawn into French, and never had seen it in our English tongue, I thought in myself it should be a good business to translate it into our English, to the end that it might be had as well in the realm of England as in other lands, and also for to pass therewith the time, and thus concluded in myself to begin this said work. And forthwith took pen and ink and began boldly to run forth as blind Bayard, in this present work which is named theRecuyellof the Trojan histories.

3. John Fisher (1459–1535)was born in Yorkshire about 1459, was educated at Cambridge, and entered the Church. In due course he became Bishop of Rochester. During the time of the Reformation he opposed Henry VIII’s desire to be acknowledged as the head of the English Church, and was imprisoned in the Tower (1531). While there he was made a cardinal by the Pope; and he was beheaded by the orders of Henry.

Fisher wrote much in Latin, and in English he is represented by a small collection of tracts and sermons and a longer treatise on the Psalms. Though they are of no great quantity, his prose works are in their nature of much importance. They are the first of the rhetorical-religious books that for several centuries were to be an outstanding feature of English prose. In addition, they show a decided advance in the direction of style. They are writtenin the style of the orator and are the result of the conscious effort of the stylist: the searching after the appropriate word (often apparent by the use of two or three words of like meaning), the frequent use of rhetorical figures of speech, and a rapid and flowing rhythm. In brief, in the style of Fisher we can observe the beginnings of an ornate style. It is still in the making, but it is the direct ancestor of the prose style of Jeremy Taylor and other divines of the same class.

In the following passage observe the use of such doublets as “painful and laborious,” “rest and ease,” and “desire and love.” The rhythm is supple, there is a quick procession of phrases, and the vocabulary is copious and Latinized to a considerable extent.

What life is more painful and laborious of itself than is the life of hunters which, most early in the morning, break their sleep and rise when others do take their rest and ease, and in his labour he may use no plain highways and the soft grass, but he must tread upon the fallows, run over the hedges, and creep through the thick bushes, and cry all the long day upon his dogs, and so continue without meat or drink until the very night drive him home; these labours be unto him pleasant and joyous, for the desire and love that he hath to see the poor hare chased with dogs. Verily, verily, if he were compelled to take upon him such labours, and not for this cause, he would soon be weary of them, thinking them full tedious unto him; neither would he rise out of his bed so soon, nor fast so long, nor endure these other labours unless he had a very love therein.The Ways to Perfect Religion

The Ways to Perfect Religion

4. Hugh Latimer (1491–1555)was born in Leicestershire, educated at Cambridge, and rose to be chaplain to Henry VIII and Bishop of Worcester. He resisted some of the reforms of Henry, was imprisoned in the Tower, and was released on the death of the King. At the accession of Mary he was once again thrown into jail, and was burned at Oxford.

Latimer’s English prose works consist of two volumes of sermons published in 1549. They are remarkable for their plain and dogmatic exposition, their graphical power,and their homely appeal. He is the first of the writers of plain style.

5. Sir Thomas More (1478–1535)was born in London, and was the son of a judge. He was educated in London, attached to the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and became a lawyer. A man of eager and aspiring mind, he fell under the influence of Erasmus, Colet, and other humanists of the period. For a time he sat in Parliament and saw State service. His advanced political views led to his imprisonment (1534), and he was beheaded in the following year.

Owing to their elegance and wit, his Latin works are of unusual importance. They include hisUtopia, the description of his imaginary ideal state. This book was not translated into English until 1551, and so does not count as an English work of More’s. His English prose works includeThe Lyfe of John Picus,The Historie of Richard III, and a number of tracts and letters. He writes ably and clearly, but with no great distinction of manner. He is the first writer of the middle style.

1. Poetry.In this period we have to chronicle the appearance of theeclogueorpastoralin the work of Barclay (Ecloges) and in some shorter poems like Henryson’sRobene and Makyne. The pastoral, which in classical times had been practiced by Virgil and Theocritus, became a common form of poetical exercise in Italy, France, and Spain before, in the sixteenth century, it appeared in England. It was marked by a set of conventional shepherds and shepherdesses, possessing such names as Colin, Phyllis, and Phœbe; by stock scenes introducing sheep, meadows, and flowers; and it was often made the medium for philosophical and political theories. As yet the golden age of the pastoral had not made its appearance in England, but the beginning of the vogue was apparent.

A glance at the poems mentioned in this chapter will reveal the importance of theallegory. In this period itgrew and hardened into a mechanical and soulless device, for the poets lacked sufficient poetical fire to give it life. The allegory, as we can see in Dunbar’sGolden Targeand Lydgate’sTemple of Glass, usually opened with a garden and a dream, conventionalized to an absurd degree, and it continued with the introduction of the Goddess of Love, the Virtues and Vices, and similar stock personations. The allegory, however, in spite of its enormous elaboration, was not at the end of its popularity, and, as we shall see in the next chapter, it was to add another great poet to its list of devotees.

The development of theballadandcarolcontinued, with highly satisfactory results. These poems began to acquire polish and expertness, for the early rudeness was becoming a thing of the past. To this period probably belong the lovely carol to the Virgin Mary beginning “I sing of a maiden,” and the ballads connected with Robin Hood, Fair Rosamund, and many others.

2. Prose.There were no outstanding achievements in prose, but facts all helped to reveal the waning influence of Latin and the increasing importance given to English. English prose appeared in theological works, as in those of Fisher; andCranmer (1489–1556)gave it a new field in his notable English Prayer Book. Historical prose was represented byThe Chronicle of EnglandofCapgrave (1393–1464), who wrote in a businesslike fashion; a species of philosophical prose appeared inThe Governance of EnglandofFortescue (1394–1476), and inThe Boke named the GovernourofEylot (1490–1546), a kind of educational work;The Castle of Health, also by the last author, was a medical work. The great race of Elizabethan translators is well begun byLord Berners (1467–1533), who translated Froissart with freedom and no mean skill; and, lastly, the English Bible was taking shape.

The work on the English Bible began as early as the eighth century, when Bede translated a portion of theGospel of St. John into Old English prose. The work was ardently continued during the Old English period—for example, in the Lindisfarne Gospels (about 700) and the prose of Ælfric (about 1000). During the Anglo-Norman period, owing to the influence of French and Latin, English translation did not flourish; but efforts were made, especially in the Psalms and the Pauline epistles. Translation was systematically undertaken byWyclif (1320–84), under whose direction two complete versions were carried through about 1384 and 1388. How much actual translation Wyclif accomplished will never be known, but his was the leading spirit, and to him falls the glory of being the leader in the great work. To the second of the Wycliffian versions is sometimes given the name ofJohn Purvey, the Lollard leader who succeeded Wyclif. The two versions are simple and unpretentious renderings, the second being much more finished than the first.

After Wyclif translation flagged till the Reformation bent men’s minds anew to the task. The greatest of all the translators wasWilliam Tyndale (1485–1536), who did much to give the Bible its modern shape. Tyndale suffered a good deal of persecution owing to his hardihood, and was driven abroad, where much of his translation was accomplished, and where it was first printed. It was at Cologne that the first English Bible appeared in print. A feature of Tyndale’s translation was its direct reliance upon the Hebrew and Greek originals, and not upon the Latin renderings of them. Of these Latin texts the stock version was the Vulgate, upon which Wyclif to a large extent relied.

Miles Coverdale (1488–1568)carried on the work of Tyndale. Though he lacked the latter’s scholarship, he had an exquisite taste for phrase and rhythm, and many of the most beautiful Biblical expressions are of his workmanship.

Translations now came apace. None of them, however, was much improvement upon Tyndale’s. In 1537 appeared the finely printed version of “Thomas Matthew,” who wassaid to beJohn Rogers, a friend of Coverdale. TheGreat Bible, the first of the authorized versions, was executed by a commission of translators, working under the command of Henry VIII. It was based on Matthew’s Bible. Another notable translation was the CalvinisticGeneva Bible(1560). This book received the popular name of “Breeches Bible,” owing to its rendering of Genesis iii, 7: “They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves breeches.” In the reign of Elizabeth was issued theBishops’ Bible(1568), a magnificent folio, which was translated by a committee of bishops and learned men. It was intended to be a counterblast to the growing popularity of the Breeches Bible.

With these we are close upon the greatAuthorized Version(1611), which we shall mention in the next chapter, where also we shall briefly discuss the influence and the literary qualities of this translation. A few representative passages from the early translations will be found in the exercises attached to this chapter.

3. The Drama.As we have arrived on the threshold of the great Elizabethan drama, it is here convenient to sketch the growth of the dramatic form of literature.

(a)The Origins.(1)Classical.By the fourth or fifth century the Latin drama had become degraded almost past recognition. It left the merest traces in themimes, who were professional strolling players common to all Europe during the Dark Ages. Their performances seem to have been poor and ribald enough, and they left little trace upon English drama.

(2)Popular Elements.At the great festivities, such as those at Easter and Yule, there were popular shows that included a large amount of acting and speaking. These plays, rude and childish probably, were survivals of ancient pagan beliefs and contained many scraps of folk-lore. There were nature-myths, such as that representing the expulsion of winter, in which a figure representing summer was slain and then revived. In England thesemummings, as they were called, developed into elaborate sword-play, intomorris-dancing (partly of foreign origin), and into dramatic versions of the feats of Robin Hood and St. George. These plays, which were commonly acted at the feast of Corpus Christi, were the occasion of fun and license, particularly at the election of the “Abbot of Unreason,” with his attendants, the hobby-horse and the clown.

(3)Ecclesiastical Elements.In early times the Church was the chief supporter of the popular drama. The Church service, including the Mass itself, contains dramatic elements. In the course of time, in order to make the Church services more intelligible and attractive, there grew up a habit of exhibiting “living pictures” illustrating Gospel stories, especially those connected with Easter. As early as the fifth century we have mention of such primitive dramatic entertainments, which were accompanied by the singing of hymns. Such was the origin of themystery.

(b)The Mystery-play.The mystery was the dramatic representation of some important Biblical theme, such as the Nativity or the Resurrection. There were stock characters, set speeches (usually in doggerel verse), and a rudimentary plot supplied by the Biblical narrative. The mystery was in existence as early as the tenth century. Priests took part in the plays, though it is not certain that they wrote them; and the performances took place in the vicinity of some church. This feature proved so attractive that the mystery developed quite elaborate forms. The mystery-play proper centered around the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, but other themes that grew into favor were those of the Fall, Noah, Daniel, and Lazarus.

We add a brief passage from an ancient Cornish mystery. The reader should observe the set speeches of uniform length, the simple style, and the rhymeless stanzas.

Mary Magdalene.Oh! let us hasten at once,For the stone is raisedFrom the tomb.Lord, how will it be this night,If I know not where goesThe head of royalty?Mary, Mother of James.And too long we have stayed,My Lord has gone his wayOut of the tomb, surely.Alas! my heart is sick;I know not indeed if I shall see him,Who is very God.Mary Salome.I know truly, and I believe it,That he is risen upIn this day.How long will it be to us now,That we find not our Lord?Alas! woe! woe![They sing.The DirgeAlas! mourning I sing, mourning I call,Our Lord is dead that bought us all.The Three Maries

Mary Magdalene.Oh! let us hasten at once,For the stone is raisedFrom the tomb.Lord, how will it be this night,If I know not where goesThe head of royalty?

Mary Magdalene.Oh! let us hasten at once,

For the stone is raised

From the tomb.

Lord, how will it be this night,

If I know not where goes

The head of royalty?

Mary, Mother of James.And too long we have stayed,My Lord has gone his wayOut of the tomb, surely.Alas! my heart is sick;I know not indeed if I shall see him,Who is very God.

Mary, Mother of James.And too long we have stayed,

My Lord has gone his way

Out of the tomb, surely.

Alas! my heart is sick;

I know not indeed if I shall see him,

Who is very God.

Mary Salome.I know truly, and I believe it,That he is risen upIn this day.How long will it be to us now,That we find not our Lord?Alas! woe! woe![They sing.The DirgeAlas! mourning I sing, mourning I call,Our Lord is dead that bought us all.The Three Maries

Mary Salome.I know truly, and I believe it,

That he is risen up

In this day.

How long will it be to us now,

That we find not our Lord?

Alas! woe! woe!

[They sing.

The Dirge

Alas! mourning I sing, mourning I call,

Our Lord is dead that bought us all.

The Three Maries

(c)The Miracle-play.From the well-developed mystery-play it was but a step to themiracle-play. In such plays the theme passed from the Scriptural story to that of the lives of the saints. The plots were much more varied, the characters nearer to human experience, and the style rather more urbane.

(d)The Morality-playregistered a further advance. In such plays virtues and vices were presented on the stage as allegorical creations, often of much liveliness. Abstractions such as Justice, Mercy, Gluttony, and Vice were among the commonest characters. An important feature of this class of play is the development of characterization. It is almost crude; but it is often strongly marked and strongly contrasted, with broad farcical elements. The favorite comic character was Vice, whose chief duty was to tease the Devil.

Everyman(about 1490), perhaps the best of the morality-plays, is represented by the brief extract here given. The characters are simply but effectively drawn, and the play does not lack a noble pathos.

Everyman.O all thing faileth, save God alone;Beauty, Strength, and Discretion;For when Death bloweth his blast,They all run from me full fast.Five-Wits.Everyman, my leave now of thee I take;I will follow the other, for here I thee forsake.Everyman.Alas! then may I wail and weep,For I took you for my best friend.Five-Wits.I will no longer thee keep;Now farewell, and there an end.Everyman.O Jesu, help, all hath forsaken me!Good-Deeds.Nay, Everyman, I will bide with thee,I will not forsake thee indeed;Thou shalt find me a good friend at need.Everyman.Gramercy, Good-Deeds; now may I true friends see;They have forsaken me every one;I loved them better than my Good-Deeds alone.Knowledge, will ye forsake me also?Knowledge.Yea, Everyman, when ye to death do go:But not for no manner of danger.Everyman.Gramercy, Knowledge, with all my heart.

Everyman.O all thing faileth, save God alone;

Beauty, Strength, and Discretion;

For when Death bloweth his blast,

They all run from me full fast.

Five-Wits.Everyman, my leave now of thee I take;

I will follow the other, for here I thee forsake.

Everyman.Alas! then may I wail and weep,

For I took you for my best friend.

Five-Wits.I will no longer thee keep;

Now farewell, and there an end.

Everyman.O Jesu, help, all hath forsaken me!

Good-Deeds.Nay, Everyman, I will bide with thee,

I will not forsake thee indeed;

Thou shalt find me a good friend at need.

Everyman.Gramercy, Good-Deeds; now may I true friends see;

They have forsaken me every one;

I loved them better than my Good-Deeds alone.

Knowledge, will ye forsake me also?

Knowledge.Yea, Everyman, when ye to death do go:

But not for no manner of danger.

Everyman.Gramercy, Knowledge, with all my heart.

(e)The Play-cycles.As the plays developed, so did the demands upon the stagecraft of the performers. At first the priests were equal to it. Quite elaborate erections were used. In the very early productions a popular setting was an erection in three stories. The top represented heaven, with the heavenly inhabitants, the “middel erde” was in the center, and lowest of all were the flames of hell, tenanted by cheerfully disposed devils. In the course of time the acting passed from the priests into the hands of the craftsmen, the students, and the schoolboys. The merchants’ guilds, in particular, were the most consistent supporters of the drama.

A curious feature was the fashion in which the plays ran in cycles or groups, each of which became associated with some town. The earliest is the Chester play-cycle (1268–76), comprising twenty-four plays; others are the York, with forty-nine; the Townley, with thirty-two, acted at the fairs at Widkirk; and the Coventry, of which only one play survives. Each member of the play-series was connectedin theme with the others, and the complete cycle illustrated Bible history in all its stages.

Each company of the guild, say the Barbers or the Wax-chandlers, took a unit of the series. Each unit was short, corresponding to anactof the modern drama. They were composed in a great variety of meters, from doggerel to complicated lyrical stanzas.

Each company having selected and rehearsed its play, the entire apparatus was enclosed in a huge vehicle called thepageant. The body of the vehicle was enclosed, and served as the dressing-and property-room; the top was an open-air stage. On the day of the festival, which at York and Coventry was Corpus Christi, the whole contrivance was pulled about the town, and performances were given at certain fixed points, of which the abbey was the chief. InA Midsummer Night’s DreamShakespeare has caricatured many features of these artisans’ dramatic performances.

(f)The Interlude.The last predecessor of the drama proper was theinterlude, which flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century. It had several distinguishing points: it was a short play that introduced real characters, usually of humble rank, such as citizens and friars; there was an absence of allegorical figures; there was much broad farcical humor, often coarse; and there were set scenes, a new feature in the English drama. It will be observed that the interlude was a great advance upon the morality-play.John Heywood, who lived in the latter half of the sixteenth century, was the most gifted writer of the interlude.The four P’sis one of his best. It is composed in doggerel verse, and describes a lying-match between a Pedlar, a Palmer, a Pardoner, and a Potycary. HisJohan Johanhas much sharp wit and many clever sayings.

(g)The Earliest Dramas.Our earliest dramas began to appear about 1550. Their immediate cause was the renewed study of the classical drama, especially the plays of Seneca (3B.C.-A.D.65), whose mannerisms were easily imitated by dramatic apprentices. The classical drama gaveEnglish drama its five acts, its set scenes, and many other features.

(1)Tragedies.The first tragedies had the Senecan stiffness of style, the conventional characters and plot, though in some cases they adopted the “dumb show,” an English feature.Gorboduc(1562), afterward calledFerrex and Porrex, written by Norton and Lord Buckhurst, was probably the earliest, and was acted at the Christmas revels of the Inner Temple. The meter was a wooden type of regular blank verse. Other plays of a similar character wereAppius and Virginia(1563), of anonymous authorship; theHistorie of Horestes(1567), also anonymous;Jocasta(1566); and Preston’sCambises, King of Percia(1570). Hughes’sMisfortunes of King Arthur(1587) broke away from the classical theme, but, like the others, it was a servile imitation of classical models. Many of the plays, however, preserved a peculiarly English feature in the retention of the comic Vice.

(2)Histories.Along with the alien classical tragedy arose a healthier native breed of historical plays. These plays, the predecessors of the historical plays of Shakespeare, were dramatized forms of the early chronicles, and combined both tragic and comic elements. This union of tragedy and comedy was alien to the classical drama, and was the chief glory of the Elizabethan stage. Early historical plays wereThe Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth(before 1588), a mixture of rude verse and prose;The Troublesome Raigne of King John(before 1591); andThe Chronicle History of King Leir(1594).

(3)Comedies.Though the comedies drew much upon Latin comedians, such as Plautus, and upon Italian models also, they were to a great extent the growth of the English mumming element. They were composed usually in mixed verse and prose, the humor was of a primitive character, but the best of them had verve and high good-humor, and they were distinguished by some worthy songs and ditties.Ralph Roister Doister(1551), byNicholas Udall, is the earliest extant comedy. Its author was the headmaster ofEton, and the play seems to have been composed as a variant upon the Latin dramas that were the stock-in-trade of the schoolboy actors then common. Another comedy wasGammer Gurton’s Needle(1575), the authorship of which is in dispute. The plot is slight, but the humor, though the reverse of delicate, is abundant, and the play gives interesting glimpses of contemporary English life.

We add a small scene from an early comedy. It shows the doggerel verse and the uninspired style—the homely natural speech of the time.

Christian Custance Margerie Mumblecrust

Back to Index Next