THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY STYLE
1. Poetry. We have already stated that the time of transition and experiment is nearly over. English poetical style has established itself, and the main lines of development have been laid down. For this we are indebted almost entirely to Chaucer.
(a) With regard to meter, it is curious to observe that with increasing practice the tendency is toward simplicity. The extremely complicated stanzas are becoming less common, and rhyme royal and other shorter verses are coming into favor. Along with simplification is a greater suppleness and dexterity. There is less rigidity in the position of the pause, and a greater freedom in the substitution of three-syllabled feet for two-syllabled feet. These features are most strongly developed in the couplet forms. It is this union of simplicity and freedom that is to remain the dominating characteristic of English verse, thus contrasting with the quantitative system of the classical measures and the syllabic nature of the French.
(b) There is an interesting revival in alliteration. In the true alliterative poem the basis of the line is a system of repeating sounds, such as was the custom in Old English verse. One of the earliest examples of this type which occurs after the Norman Conquest is Wynnere and Wastour (1352), an anonymous poem of no great merit. The tradition is continued in the alliterative romances of the type of Cleannesse; and it attains its climax in Piers Plowman. Though this last poem gained a great popularity it left no important literary descendants. Hence the revival of the ancient system of alliteration remains as an interesting curiosity. In a very short time after Langland, alliteration becomes simply an ornament to meter—sometimes a device of great beauty, but not vital to the metrical scheme.
As regards the actual poetic diction of the period, there is a considerable liking shown for ornate French and classical terms. This can be observed in the earlier poems of Chaucer and in the Confessio Amantis of Gower. We have not yet attained to the aureate diction of the succeeding generation, but the temptation to use French terms was too strong to be resisted. Langland, though he draws upon the French Element, writes with much greater simplicity; and the ballads also are composed in a manner quite plain and unadorned.
2. Prose. The state of prose is still too immature to allow of any style beyond the plainest. Wyclif’s, the earliest of the period, is unpolished, though it can be pointed and vigorous. Mandeville’s prose style, though it is devoid of artifices, attains to a certain distinction by reason of its straightforward methods, its short and workmanlike sentences, and a brevity rare in his day. In the case of Malory, who comes some time after the others, we have quite an individual style. It is still unadorned; but it has a distinction of phrase and a decided romantic flavor that make Malory a prose stylist of a high class. His prose is, indeed, a distinct advance upon that of his predecessors.
EXERCISES
1. The following series of extracts is intended to show the development of English prose style from Old English times to those of Malory. The student should write a brief commentary upon the development of the prose, paying attention to vocabulary, sentence-construction, clearness, and brevity.
| (1) Ða ic ða ðis eall gemunde, ða wundrade ic swiðe swiðe ðara godena wiotona ðe giu wæron giond Angelcynn, ond ða bec ealla be fullan geliornod hæfdon, ðæt hie hiora ða nænne dæl noldon on hiera agen geðiode wendan. Ac ic ða sona eft me selfum andwyrde, ond cwæþ: “Hie ne wendon ðætte æfre menn sceolden swæ reccelease weorðan, ond sio lar swæ oðfeallan; for ðære wilnunga hie hit forleton ond woldon ðaet her ðy mara wisdom on londe wære ðy we ma geðeoda cuðon?” | When I recollected all this, I wondered very much that of all the scholars that long were throughout England and had learnt all the books in full, none at all wished to turn them into their own tongue. But in a short space I answered myself, saying: “They did not believe that men should ever be so reckless, and learning so fall away; through that desire they held back from it, and wished that the more wisdom there might be in the land the more tongues we might know.” |
| Alfred, Pastoral Care, 900 |
| (2) Thæt witen ge wel alle, thæt we willen and unnen, thæt thæt ure rædesmen alle other the moare dæl of heom, thæt beoth ichosen thurg us and thurg thæt loandes folk on ure kuneriche, habbeth idon and schullen don in the worthnesse of Gode and on ure treowthe for the frem of the loande thurg the besigte of than toforeniseide redesmen, beo stedefaest and ilestinde in alle thinge a buten ænde, and we hoaten alle ure treowe in the treowthe, thæt heo us ogen, thæt heo stedefaestliche healden and swerien to healdan and to werien the isetnesses. | This know ye well all, that we will and grant that which our councillors, all or the greater part of them, who are chosen by us and by the land’s people in our kingdom, have done and shall do, to the honour of God and in allegiance to us, for the good of the land, by the ordinance of the aforesaid councillors, be stedfast and permanent in all things, time without end, and we command all our true men by the faith that they owe us, that they stedfastly hold, and swear to hold and defend the regulations. |
| Proclamation of Henry III, 1258 |
(3) And for als moche as it is longe tyme passed that ther was no generalle passage ne vyage over the see; and many men desiren for to here speke of the Holy Lond, and han therof gret solace and comfort; I, John Maundevylle, Knyght alle be it I be not worthi, that was born in Englond, in the town of Seynt Albones, passede the see, the yeer of our Lord MCCCXXII, in the day of Seynt Michelle; and hidra to have been longe tyme over the see, and have seyn and gon thorghe manye dyverse londes, and many provynces and kingdomes and iles and have passed thorghout Turkey, Percye, Surrye, Egypt the highe and the lowe, Ermonye, Inde the lasse and the more, and many iles, that ben abouten Inde where dwellen many dyverse folkes and of dyverse maneres and schappes of men, of which I schalle speke more pleynly hereafter.
Mandeville, Travels, 1370
(4) Yn Brytayn buþ meny wondres, noþeles foure buþ most wonderfol. Þe furste ys at Pectoun, þar bloweþ so strong a wynd out of þe chenes of þe eorþe þat hyt casteþ vp a[gh]e[29] cloþes þat me casteþ in. Þe secunde ys at Stonhenge, bysydes Salesbury, þar gret stones & wondur huge buþ arered[30] an hy[gh], as hyt were [gh]ates, so þat þar semeþ [gh]ates yset apon oþer [gh]ates; noþeles hyt ys no[gh]t clerlych yknowe noþer parceyuet hou[gh] & whar-fore a buþ so arered & so wonderlych yhonged. Þe þriddle ys at Cherdhol,[31] þer ys gret holwenes vndur eorþe; ofte meny men habbeþ y-be þer-ynne & ywalked aboute with-ynne & yseye ryuers & streemes, bote nowhar conneþ hy fynde ende. Þe feurþe ys, þat reyn[32] ys ys ye arered vp of þe hulles, & anon yspronge aboute yn þe feeldes. Also þer ys a gret pond þat conteyneþ þre score ylondes couenable[33] for men to dwelle ynne; þat pound ys byclypped aboute wiþ six score rooches.[34]
John of Trevisa, 1387
(5) So Balan prayed the lady of her gentleness, for his true service that she would bury them both in that same place where the battle was done. And she granted them with weeping it should be done richly in the best manner. “Now will ye send for a priest, that we may receive our sacrament and receive the blessed body of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Yea,” said the lady, “it shall be done.” And so she sent for a priest and gave them their rites. “Now,” said Balin, “when we are buried in one tomb, and the mention made over us how two brethren slew each other, there will never good knight nor good man see our tomb but they will pray for our souls.” And so all the ladies and gentlewomen wept for pity. Then, anon Balan died, but Balin died not till the midnight after, and so were they buried both, and the lady let make a mention of Balan how he was there slain by his brother’s hands, but she knew not Balin’s name.
Malory, Morte d’ Arthur, 1470
2. Comment upon the style of each of the following extracts. Note the use of French words, the type of sentences, the clearness of construction, and the handling of the meter. Compare (1) with the extract given from Chaucer on page 39. Which is the better narrative, and which shows the more humor?
(1) In a Croniq I fynde thus,
How that Caius Fabricius
Wich whilome was consul of Rome,
By whome the lawes yede and come,
Whan the Sampnitees to him brouht
A somme of golde, and hym by souht
To done hem fauoure in the lawe,
Towarde the golde he gan hym drawe:
Where of in alle mennes loke,
A part in to his honde he tooke,
Wich to his mouthe in alle haste
He put hit for to smelle and taste,
And to his ihe and to his ere,
Bot he ne fonde no comfort there:
And thanne he be gan it to despise,
And tolde vnto hem in this wise:
“I not what is with golde to thryve
Whan none of alle my wittes fyve
Fynt savour ne delite ther inne
So is it bot a nyce sinne
Of golde to ben to coveitous,
Bot he is riche an glorious
Wich hath in his subieccion
The men wich in possession
Ben riche of golde, and by this skille,
For he may alday whan he wille,
Or be him leef or be him loth,
Justice don vppon hem bothe.”
Lo thus he seide and with that worde
He threwe to fore hem on the borde
The golde oute of his honde anon,
And seide hem that he wolde none,
So that he kepte his liberte
To do justice and equite.
Gower, Confessio Amantis
(2) The kyng and hise knyghtes To the kirke wente
To here matyns of the day And the mass after.
Thanne waked I of my wynkyng, And wo was withalle,
That I ne had slept sadder And y-seighen moore.
Ac er I hadde faren a furlong, Feyntise[35] me hente,[36]
That I ne myghte ferther a foot For defaute of slepynge,
And sat softly a-doun, And seide my bileve,
And so[37] I bablede on my bedes Thei broughte me a-slepe.
And thanne saugh I much moore Than I bifore of tolde,
For I seigh the feld ful of folk, That I bifore of seide
And how Reson gan arayen hym Al the reaume[38] to preche
And with a cros afore the kyng Comsede[39] thus to techan.
Langland, Piers Plowman
3. The two extracts given below represent the older and the more modern versions of Chevy Chace. Compare them with regard to diction, vivacity, and general competence in the handling of meter.
(1) With that ther cam an arrowe hastely
Forthe off a mightie wane,[40]
Hit hathe strekene the yerle Duglas
In at the brest bane.
Thoroue lyvar and longs bathe[41]
The sharp arrowe ys gane,
That never after in all his lyffe days,
He spayke mo wordes but ane,
That was, “Fyghte ye, my merry men whyllys ye may,
For my lyff days ben[42] gan.”
The Perse leanyde on his brande,
And sawe the Duglas de;
He tooke the dede man be the hande,
And sayd, “Wo ys me for the!
To have sayvde thy lyffe I wold have pertyd[43] with
My landes for years thre,
For a better man of hart, nare of hande
Was not in all the north countre.”
(2) With that, there came an arrow keen
Out of an English bow,
Which struck Erle Douglas to the heart,
A deepe and deadly blow:
Who never spoke more words than these,
“Fight on, my merry men all;
For why, my life is at an end;
Lord Percy sees my fall.”
Then leaving life, Erle Percy tooke
The dead man by the hand;
And said, “Erle Douglas, for thy life
Wold I had lost my land.
“O Christ! my verray heart doth bleed
With sorrow for thy sake;
For sure, a more redoubted knight
Mischance did never take.”
4. “In the union of the two [art and strength] Chaucer stood alone.” (Saintsbury.) Compare Chaucer with Langland and Gower, and show how he combines the strength of the former with the art of the latter.
5. The following quotations on Chaucer can each be taken as the theme of a short discussion, and all of them can be used as the foundation of a longer paper.
(1) Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled,
On Fame’s eternall beadroll worthy to be filed.
Spenser
(2) He is the father of English poetry.... He followed nature everywhere.... The verse of Chaucer is not harmonious to us.... There is the rudeness of a Scotch tune in it.[44]
Dryden
(3) He was a healthy and hearty man, so humane that he loved even the foibles of his kind.... He was a truly epic poet, without knowing it.... He has left us such a picture of contemporary life as no man ever painted.
Lowell
(4) Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath
Preluded those melodious bursts that fill
The spacious times of great Elizabeth
With sounds that echo still.
Tennyson
6. Point out some of the traces that the social and religious unrest has left upon the literature of the time.
7. “There exists a general impression that our prose dates from the sixteenth century.” (Earle.) Is this impression a correct one?