SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

79

the student should certainly commit the first twenty-seven lines of the poem, and parts, if not all, of Chaucer's description of the Oxford clerk and the "poore Persoun of a toun." These are special gems.

In proceeding with the study of this tale, remember that Chaucer appears now in a rôle slightly different Knight's from that assumed in the Prologue. Here we Tale. have the story-teller in actual fact, and it must be ours to appreciate the quality of the narrative as such, and to note the marks that make this narrative essentially Chaucerian. The tale itself is not original with Chaucer; the basis of it is found in a romance by Boccaccio, but the treatment of motive, incident, and character is practically Chaucer's. A clear comparison between the English romance and the Italian story is to be found in Mather's introduction, pp. lxi.-lxxiii. As we read, it will be natural to notice the entire appropriateness of ascribing this tale to the Knight, whose character, given in the prologue, is so consistent with the dignified and chivalric tone of the story. The characters of Theseus and Hypolita are met with elsewhere in English literature: are you acquainted with Shakespeare's poetical drama, A Midsummer Night's Dream? In studying this narrative, note where the introduction ends and the real story of Palamon and Arcite begins; but in the introductory section notice the effective points in the account of the

66

Companye of ladies, tweye and tweye,

Ech after other, clad in clothes blake,"

with their piteous cry and the quick response

"This gentil duk down from his courser sterte
With herte pitous, whan he herde hem speke,"

and in description of the war on Thebes, beginning (line 117)

"The rede statue of Mars with spere and targe,
So shyneth in his white baner large,

That alle tho feeldes glitteren up and doun," etc.

Having reached the account of the finding Arcite and Palamon among the wounded, and their subsequent captivity,

what seems to be the prime motive of the story that would naturally develop out of such a situation? Note in order the successive incidents that supply the narrative. Do these incidents occur naturally, or do they seem artificial? With this in mind study carefully the account of the cousins' discovery of Emily in the garden; their sentiments, as each expresses the effect of her beauty, and their subsequent quarrel (lines 204-328). In the same way study the description of Emily (lines 175-197). Find other portions of narrative and descriptive writing in the poem, and point out special excellences or, what seem to you, defects. Note the forceful portraiture of Emetrius and Lygurge (lines 1270-1330). In your own words describe the general appearance of the lists, of which the poet furnishes such full details. Now write the story of the tournament as recounted in the poem. Characterize the narrative of Arcite's death and funeral: how are you impressed by the account? Show the general fitness of the outcome in the light of Palamon and Arcite's prayers and vows before the encounter. Do you suppose that this appropriate issue of events just happens, or is this singular fulfillment of the prodigies only an evidence of a careful art which foresaw the coincidence before it came? Point out any artistic details of this sort that you discover. What do you think of the portrait of King Theseus himself, do you find "characterization" sufficient to outline a real personality? Tell what sort of a man he was. What can you say for Emily, the heroine, is her portraiture distinct? Cite some passages that show the poet's love for nature and enjoyment of natural phenomena. Compare the description of the sunrise (lines 633-638), and numerous single verses scattered through the poem. Here and there one comes on lines which seem to express the poet's own thought, that give a glimpse of Chaucer's heart. For example, the sentiment (line 903),

-

-

"For pitie renneth soone in gentil herte,"

is a favorite with the poet; he uses it thrice elsewhere. A bit of experience is involved in the couplet (lines 15891590)

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

"As sooth is sayd, elde hath greet avantage,

In elde is both wisdom and usage."

81

Somewhat humorously expressed is the truth (lines 1901

1902)

"And certainly, ther nature wol nat wirche

Farewel, physik! go ber the man to chirche."

The Nun's

Tale.

The Knight's tale receives no further introduction than that afforded by the last thirteen verses of the Prologue; inasmuch as the Nun's Priest is not Priest's formally presented in the Prologue, receiving scanty mention as one of Preestes thre in the retinue of the Prioress, it may be interesting to read the link-word which follows on conclusion of the Monk's tale and formally begins that of the Nonne Preest (lines 8420-8432)

"This sweete preest, this goodly man, Sir John."

For a full account of the sources of this tale, see Mather's introduction. It is hardly necessary to suggest material for study in this admirable story of The Cok and Hen. The mock seriousness of this domestic epic is delightful. Chauntecleer and Pertelote are genuine "characters in every sense of the word, and by no means confined in their peregrinations to this poure widwe's barnyard. Here is an excellent example of the poet's humor, pervasive and yet well in hand, to be read appreciatively and enjoyed.

The development of English literature during the AngloNorman period is as follows:

CHAPTER III

THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES

FROM CHAUCER TO SHAKESPEARE

I. The Fifteenth Century: The Renascence.

II. The First Half of the Sixteenth Century: From the Accession of Henry VIII. (1509) to the Accession of Elizabeth (1558).

III. Representative Prose and Verse in the Elizabethan Age.

IV. The Development of the English Drama.

V. William Shakespeare and his Successors.

I. THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY: THE RENASCENCE.

THE century immediately following that of Chaucer and his contemporaries is apparently one of the most unproductive in the history of English literature. It is to be recognized, however, as a time of preparation, and not without its important achievements.

The Re

The fifteenth century was the century of the “ new birth," or renascence, of learning and art in nascence. the life of the modern world. It was a period of invention and discovery, producing results which were momentous in subsequent history. New ideas poured in upon men's minds and greatly changed the manner of thinking in philosophy, art, literature, politics, and religion. The whole of Europe was under the spell of this new-born spirit of light and progress, but the centre of greatest influence and the chief source of power was Italy, the home of Dante and Petrarch;

THE PRINTING-PRESS

83

of da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo; of the Medici family, magnificent patrons of learning and art, and of hundreds of scholars whose names are less familiar, but who created a taste for the literature and thought of the classic age and taught that literature in the schools of Padua, Bologna, Venice, and Florence. This Revival of Letters was stimulated by the fall of Constantinople in 1453, which sent swarms of Greek scholars westward into Europe, bearing precious manuscripts of Greek philosophers and poets to quicken enthusiasm for the study of this new-old literature. In Germany the new spirit of freedom in thought produced the Reformation, and the scholarship of Melanchthon, Reuchlin, and Erasmus. In England these new ideas, heralded in the preceding century by Wyclif and Chaucer, were fostered and taught by Grocyn, Erasmus, Colet, Ascham, and More. New colleges were established at Cambridge and Oxford, and public schools were founded here and there in the kingdom. As feudalism decayed, the rights of the untitled class were recognized and a new independence was given to the commoner.

Most important of all the inventions that make this age remarkable, greatest of all inventions in the farreaching effects of its use, is that which made

The

possible the printing of books by means of Printingmovable types. The process of block-print- Press. ing from wooden slabs on which were cut the letters of a single page had, to some extent, displaced the painful art of transcribing on parchment and vellum the exquisite copies of the earlier manuscripts; but the use of separate types in the printing of books appears to have been the invention of John Gutenberg, of the German city of Mainz, about 1450. In Germany and the Netherlands the first printers plied their