A Literary History of the English People | Page 5

Duchesse" 268
II. Period of the Missions to France and Italy.--The functions of an
ambassador and messenger--Various missions--Chaucer in Italy,
1372-3, 1378-9--Influence of Italian art and literature on
Chaucer--London again; the Custom House; Aldgate--Works of this
period--Latin and Italian deal--The gods of Olympus, the nude, the
classics--Imitation of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio--"Hous of Fame" 282
III. Troilus and Criseyde.--Plot derived from Boccaccio but
transformed--A novel and a drama--Life and variety--Heroism and
vulgarity--Troilus, Pandarus, Cressida--Scenes of comedy--Attempt at
psychological analysis--Nuances in Cressida's feelings--Her
inconstancy--Melancholy and grave ending--Difference with Boccaccio
and Pierre de Beauveau 298
IV. English Period.--Chaucer a member of Parliament--Clerk of the
king's works--"Canterbury Tales"--The meeting at the "Tabard"--Gift
of observation--Real life, details--Difference with Froissart--Humour,
sympathy--Part allotted to "lowe men." The collections of tales--The
"Decameron"--The aim of Chaucer and of Boccaccio--Chaucer's
variety; speakers and listeners--Dialogues--Principal tales--Facetious
and coarse ones--Plain ones--Fairy tales--Common life--Heroic
deeds--Grave examples--Sermon. The care for truth--Good sense of
Chaucer--His language and versification--Chaucer and the
Anglo-Saxons--Chaucer and the French 312
V. Last Years.--Chaucer, King of Letters--His retreat in St. Mary's,
Westminster--His death--His fame 341
CHAPTER III.

THE GROUP OF POETS.
Coppice and forest trees 344
I. Metrical Romances.--Jugglers and minstrels--Their life, deeds, and
privileges--Decay of the profession towards the time of the
Renaissance--Romances of the "Sir Thopas" type--Monotony; inane
wonders--Better examples: "Morte Arthure," "William of Palerne,"
"Gawayne and the Green Knight"--Merits of "Gawayne"--From
(probably) the same author, "Pearl," on the death of a young
maid--Vision of the Celestial City 344
II. Amorous Ballads and Popular Poetry.--Poetry at Court--The Black
Prince and the great--Professional poets come to the help of the
great--The Pui of London; its competitions, music and songs--Satirical
songs on women, friars, fops, &c. 352
III. Patriotic Poetry.--Robin Hood--"When Adam delved"--Claims of
peasants--Answers to the peasants' claims--National glories--Adam
Davy--Crécy, Poictiers, Neville's Cross--Laurence Minot--Recurring
sadness--French answers--Scottish answers--Barbour's "Bruce"--Style
of Barbour--Barbour and Scott 359
IV. John Gower.--His origin, family, turn of mind--He belongs to
Angevin England--He is tri-lingual--Life and principal works--French
ballads--Latin poem on the rising of the peasants, 1381, and on the
vices of society--Poem in English, "Confessio Amantis"--Style of
Gower--His tales and exempla--His fame 364
CHAPTER IV.
WILLIAM LANGLAND AND HIS VISIONS.
Langland first poet of the period after Chaucer 373
I. Life and Works.--A general view--Birth, education, natural
disposition--Life at Malvern--His unsettled state of mind--Curiosities
and failures--Life in London--Chantries--Disease of the will--Religious

doubts--The faith of the simple--His book a place of refuge for him 374
II. Analysis of the Visions.--The pilgrims of Langland and the pilgrims
of Chaucer--The road to Canterbury and the way to Truth--Lady Meed;
her betrothal, her trial--Speech of Reason--The hero of the work, Piers
the Plowman--A declaration of duties--Sermons--The siege of hell--The
end of life 382
III. Political Society and Religious Society.--Comparison with
Chaucer--Langland's crowds--Langland an insular and a
parliamentarian--The "Visions" and the "Rolls of Parliament" agree on
nearly all points--Langland at one with the Commons--Organisation of
the State--Reforms--Relations with France, with the Pope--Religious
buyers and sellers--The ideal of Langland 388
IV. Art and Aim.--Duplication of his personality--"Nuit de
Décembre"--Sincerity--Incoherences--Scene-shifting--Joys forbidden
and allowed--A motto for Langland--His language, vocabulary, dialect,
versification--Popularity of the work--Fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries--Time of the Reformation 394
CHAPTER V.
PROSE IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
The "father of English prose" 403
I. Translators and Adaptators.--Slow growth of the art of
prose--Comparison with France; historians and novelists--Survival of
Latin prose--Walsingham and other chroniclers--Their style and
eloquence--Translators--Trevisa--The translation of the Travels of
"Mandeville"--The "Mandeville" problem--Jean de Bourgogne and his
journey through books--Immense success of the Travels--Style of the
English translation--Chaucer's prose 404
II. Oratorical Art.--Civil eloquence--Harangues and speeches--John
Ball--Parliamentary eloquence--A parliamentary session under the
Plantagenet kings--Proclamation--Opening speech--Flowery speeches

and business speeches--Debates--Answers of the Commons--Their
Speaker--Government orators, Knyvet, Wykeham, &c.--Opposition
orators, Peter de la Mare--Bargains and remonstrances--Attitude and
power of the Commons--Use of the French language--Speeches in
English 412
III. Wyclif. His Life.--His parentage--Studies at Oxford--His
character--Functions and dignities--First difficulties with the religious
authority--Scene in St. Paul's--Papal bulls--Scene at Lambeth--The
"simple priests"--Attacks against dogmas--Life at Lutterworth--Death
422
IV. Latin Works of Wyclif.--His Latin--His theory of the
Dominium--His starting-point: the theory of Fitzralph--Extreme, though
logical, consequence of the doctrine: communism--Qualifications and
attenuations--Tendency towards Royal supremacy 427
V. English Works of Wyclif.--He wants to be understood by all--He
translates the Bible--Popularity of the translation--Sermons and
treatises--His style--Humour, eloquence, plain dealing--Paradoxes and
utopies--Lollards--His descendants in Bohemia and elsewhere 432
CHAPTER VI.
THE THEATRE.
I. Origins. Civil Sources.--Mimes and histrions--Amusements and
sights provided by histrions--How they raise a laugh--Facetious tales
told with appropriate gestures--Dialogues and repartees--Parodies and
caricatures--Early interludes--Licence of amusers--Bacchanals in
churches and cemeteries--Holy things derided--Feasts of various
sorts--Processions and pageants--"Tableaux Vivants"--Compliments
and dialogues--Feasts at Court--"Masks" 439
II. Religious Sources.--Mass--Dialogues introduced in the Christmas
service--The Christmas cycle (Old Testament)--The Easter cycle (New
Testament). The religious drama in England--Life of St. Catherine
(twelfth century)--Popularity of Mysteries in the fourteenth

century--Treatises concerning those representations--Testimony of
Chaucer William of Wadington--Collection of Mysteries in English.
Performances--Players,