Domnei | Page 3

act of
abnegation. And at the end, looking, perhaps, for a mortal woman,
Perion finds, in a flesh not unscarred by years, the rose beyond
destruction, the high silver flame of immortal happiness.
So much, then, everything in the inner questioning of beings
condemned to a glimpse of remote perfection, as though the sky had
opened on a city of pure bliss, transpires in Domnei; while the fact that
it is laid in Poictesme sharpens the thrust of its illusion. It is by that
much the easier of entry; it borders--rather than on the clamor of
mills--on the reaches men explore, leaving' weariness and dejection for
fancy--a geography for lonely sensibilities betrayed by chance into the
blind traps, the issueless barrens, of existence.
JOSEPH HERGESHEIMER.
CRITICAL COMMENT
And Norman Nicolas at hearté meant (Pardie!) some subtle occupation
In making of his Tale of Melicent, That stubbornly desiréd Perion.
What perils for to rollen up and down, So long process, so many a sly
cautel, For to obtain a silly damosel!
--THOMAS UPCLIFFE.
Nicolas de Caen, one of the most eminent of the early French writers of
romance, was born at Caen in Normandy early in the 15th century, and
was living in 1470. Little is known of his life, apart from the fact that a

portion of his youth was spent in England, where he was connected in
some minor capacity with the household of the Queen Dowager, Joan
of Navarre. In later life, from the fact that two of his works are
dedicated to Isabella of Portugal, third wife to Philip the Good, Duke of
Burgundy, it is conjectured that Nicolas was attached to the court of
that prince . . . . Nicolas de Caen was not greatly esteemed nor highly
praised by his contemporaries, or by writers of the century following,
but latterly has received the recognition due to his unusual qualities of
invention and conduct of narrative, together with his considerable
knowledge of men and manners, and occasional remarkable modernity
of thought. His books, therefore, apart from the interest attached to
them as specimens of early French romance, and in spite of the
difficulties and crudities of the unformed language in which they are
written, are still readable, and are rich in instructive detail concerning
the age that gave them birth . . . . Many romances are attributed to
Nicolas de Caen. Modern criticism has selected four only as
undoubtedly his. These are--(1) Les Aventures d'Adhelmar de Nointel, a
metrical romance, plainly of youthful composition, containing some
seven thousand verses; (2) Le Roy Amaury, well known to English
students in Watson's spirited translation; (3) Le Roman de Lusignan, a
re-handling of the Melusina myth, most of which is wholly lost; (4) Le
Dizain des Reines, a collection of quasi-historical novellino
interspersed with lyrics. Six other romances are known to have been
written by Nicolas, but these have perished; and he is credited with the
authorship of Le Cocu Rouge, included by Hinsauf, and of several
Ovidian translations or imitations still unpublished. The Satires
formerly attributed to him Bülg has shown to be spurious compositions
of 17th century origin.
--E. Noel Codman, Handbook of Literary Pioneers.
Nicolas de Caen est un représentant agréable, naïf, et expressif de cet
âge que nous aimons à nous représenter de loin comme l'âge d'or du
bon vieux temps ... Nicolas croyait à son Roy et à sa Dame, il croyait
surtout à son Dieu. Nicolas sentait que le monde était semé à chaque
pas d'obscurités et d'embûches, et que l'inconnu était partout; partout
aussi était le protecteur invisible et le soutien; à chaque souffle qui

frémissait, Nicolas croyait le sentir comme derrière le rideau. Le ciel
par-dessus ce Nicolas de Caen était ouvert, peuplé en chaque point de
figures vivantes, de patrons attentifs et manifestes, d'une invocation
directe. Le plus intrépide guerrier alors marchait dans un mélange
habituel de crainte et de confiance, comme un tout petit enfant. A cette
vue, les esprits les plus émancipés d'aujourd'hui ne sauraient
s'empêcher de crier, en tempérant leur sourire par le respect: Sancta
simplicitas!
--Paul Verville, Notice sur la vie de Nicolas de Caen.

THE ARGUMENT
"Of how, through Woman-Worship, knaves compound With honoure;
Kings reck not of their domaine; Proud Pontiffs sigh; & War-men
world-renownd, Toe win one Woman, all things else disdaine: Since
Melicent doth in herselfe contayne All this world's Riches that may
farre be found.
"If Saphyres ye desire, her eies are plaine; If Rubies, loe, hir lips be
Rubyes sound; If Pearles, hir teeth be Pearles, both pure & round; If
Yvorie, her forehead Yvory weene; If Gold, her locks with finest Gold
abound; If Silver, her faire hands have Silver's sheen.
"Yet that which fayrest is, but Few beholde, Her Soul adornd with
vertues manifold."
--SIR WILLIAM ALLONBY.