A BATTLE Alisander before is ryde, And many gentle a knight him myde;1 He dasheth him then fast forthward, He takes Bultyphal by the side, So as a swallow he 'ginneth forth glide. And with his lancë he him grett. He pierceth his breny, cleaveth his shieldë, The heartë tokeneth the yrnë; The duke fell downë to the ground, Other toll never I ne paid, Yet shallen of mine pay, Ere I go more assay. Another lance in hand he hent, Against the prince of Tyre he went He . . . . him thorough the breast and thare And out of saddle and crouthe him bare, And I say for soothe thing He brake his neck in the falling. Antiochus hadde him under, And with sword would his heved He lete his prey, and flew on horse, Antiochus on steed leap, Of none woundës ne took he keep, And eke he had fourë forde All ymade with speares' ord. Tholomeus and all his felawen? Of this succour so weren welfawen, 1 'Myde:' with.-' 'Bultyphal:' Bucephalus. 'Starf:' died.—' 'Heved:' head.- 'Lete:' left.-'Ord:' point.-7 Felawen:' fellows. Alysander made a cry hardy, Then the knightës of Achay They of Rome with them of Mede, Egypt jousted with them of Tyre, Many gentle lavedy There lost quick her amy.10 Be in dash'd with all their route, &c. Davie was also the author of an original poem, entitled, 'Visions in Verse,' and of the 'Battle of Jerusalem,' in which he versifies a French romance. In this production Pilate is represented as challenging our Lord to single combat! In 1349, died Richard Rollo, a hermit, and a verse-writer. He lived a secluded life near the nunnery of Hampole in Yorkshire, and wrote a number of devotional pieces, most of them very dull In 1350, Lawrence Minot produced some short nar ''Vavasour:' subject.-Cunteck:' strife.- 'Gregeys:' Greeks.-'Honteys:' shame. Kidden:' thought.-6 Distrere:' horse.-' 'Little thraw:' short time. - 'Heved:' head.- 'Lavedy:' lady.-10 Amy:' paramour.-11 'Yled:' led along, maimed.-12 Many fair pensel bebled:' many a banner sprinkled with blood.-13 Liklaking:' clashing. rative ballads on the victories of Edward III., beginning with Halidon Hill, and ending with the siege of Guisnes Castle. His works lay till the end of the last century obscure in a MS. of the Cotton Collection, which was supposed to be a transcript of the Works of Chaucer. On a spare leaf of the MS. there had been accidentally written a name, probably that of its original possessor, Richard Chawsir.' This the getter-up of the Cotton catalogue imagined to be the name of Geoffrey Chaucer. Mr Tyrwhitt, while foraging for materials to his edition of 'The Canterbury Tales,' accidentally found out who the real writer was; and Ritson afterwards published Minot's ballads, which are ten in number, written in the northern dialect, and in an alliterative style, and with considerable spirit and liveliness. He has been called the Tyrtæus of his age. We come now to the immediate predecessor of ChaucerRobert Langlande. He was a secular priest, born at Mortimer's Cleobury, in Shropshire, and educated at Oriel College, Oxford. He wrote, towards the end of the fourteenth century, a very remarkable work, entitled, 'Visions of William concerning Piers Plowman.' The general object of this poem is to denounce the abuses of society, and to inculcate, upon both clergy and laity, their respective duties. One William is represented as falling asleep among the Malvern Hills, and sees in his dream a succession of visions, in which great ingenuity, great boldness, and here and there a powerful vein of poetry, are displayed. Truth is described as a magnificent tower, and Falsehood as a deep dungeon. In one canto Religion descends, and gives a long harangue about what should be the conduct of society and of individuals. Bribery and Falsehood, in another part of the poem, seek a marriage with each other, and make their way to the courts of justice, where they find many friends. Some very whimsical passages are introduced. The Power of Grace confers upon Piers Plowman, who stands for the Christian Life, four stout oxen, to cultivate the field of Truth. These are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the last of whom is described as the gentlest of the team. She afterwards assigns him the like number of stots or bullocks, to harrow what the evanhad ploughed, and this new horned team consists of Saint or Stot Ambrose, Stot Austin, Stot Gregory, and Stot Jerome. Apart from its fantastic structure, 'Piers Plowman' was not only a sign of the times, but did great service in its day. His voice rings like that of Israel's minor prophets-like Nahum or Hosea in a dark and corrupt age. He proclaims liberal and independent sentiments, he attacks slavery and superstition, and he predicts the doom of the Papacy as with a thunder-knell. Chaucer must have felt roused to his share of the reformatory work by the success of 'Piers Plowman;' Spenser is suspected to have read and borrowed from him; and even Milton, in his description of a lazar-house in 'Paradise Lost,' had him probably in his eye. (See our last extract from 'Piers.") On account of the great merit and peculiarity of this work we proceed to make rather copious extracts. HUMAN LIFE. Then 'gan I to meten1 a marvellous sweven,2 A deep dale beneath, a dungeon therein, With deep ditches and dark, and dreadful of sight: ALLEGORICAL PICTURES. Thus robed in russet, I roamed about If any wight wist where Dowell was at inn, And what man he might be, of many man I asked; Till it befell on a Friday, two friars I met 1 'Meten:' dream.- 'Sweven:' dream.-3 'Swonken:' toiled. Freyned:' inquired. Wysh:' inform.- Lenged:' lived.-7 Minors:' the friars minors. I halsed them hendely,1 as I had learned, And prayed them for charity, ere they passed further, For they be men on this mould, that most wide walk He is other while elsewhere, to wyshen the people. 6 'How seven sithes the sadde man on a day sinneth, The boat is liken'd to our body, that brittle is of kind, Sinneth the sadde man, a day seven times, And deadly sin doeth he not, for Dowell him keepeth, Aye is thy soulë safe, but if thou wilt thyself Do a deadly sin, and drenche1o so thy soul, Do me to wit:' make me to 1 Halsed them hendely:' saluted them kindly. know. Kinnes:' sorts of.- 'Sythes:' times.- Wyshen:' inform, teach.'Sadde:' sober, good.—7 ' Forvisne:' similitude.—§‹ Raght:' reach.—9 ́ Latches:' laziness.-10 Drenche:' drown. |