Part 10

The most popular satire in the Middle Ages is found in the fabliaux, short tales which picture, with great zest, racy incidents in the lives of common people whose hidden sins or hypocrisies are suddenly exposed. The satire in these stories is exceedingly broad and attacks, by preference, women and the clergy, painting with vivid realism their immorality and intense selfishness. Readers will find information regarding these in "The English Fabliau," by H. S. Canby, _Publications of the Modern Language Association_, XXI, 200-214. Formal satire, which points out abuses and vices by means of exposition, is illustrated in the poems following. Satire against women is most agreeably found in "The Romance of the Rose," chaps. xlvi-lii (translated by F. S. Ellis, Temple Classics). In _Romania_, XV, 315, 339; XVI, 389; XXXVI, 1, will be found interesting matter relating to satires on women, in France.

The Song of the University of Paris

This is freely translated from the French poem of Rutebeuf, written in octosyllabic couplets, about the middle of the thirteenth century. Rutebeuf was a famous minstrel whose vivid wit gave him a distinguished place among mediæval writers. His works are full of autobiographical details; he pictured his unhappy domestic life, his poverty, all his failings, and his virtues with an engaging frankness. In allegory he was a master of the mannerisms of his day. In satire he was original and clever. The monastic orders aroused his fiercest resentment, and he made sharp epigrams at their expense, accusing them of committing the seven deadly sins and more. The dry incisiveness of his ridicule may have impressed Chaucer and also the author of "Piers Plowman," although we have no proof of this. A very good study of Rutebeuf has been published by L. Cledat, Paris, 1891. The description of the mediæval student gives a true picture of the day, but Chaucer's description of the Clerk of Oxford should be read as complement. For details regarding student life of the Middle Ages, consult

RASHDALL, H. The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, 3 vols. London, 1895.

HEWETT, W. T. University Life in the Middle Ages. _Harper's Magazine_, 1897.

SYMONDS, J. A. Wine, Women and Song (translations of many student songs of the Middle Ages). Chatto and Windus, London, 1907.

The Land of Cockaygne

The meaning of _Cockaygne_ is usually understood to be "cookery." This satire upon the mediæval monks was probably derived from a French original. It illustrates the contemptuous tolerance of that day for the greed, the gluttony, the slothfulness, and the immorality of the inmates of the monastery. The satire directed against literary conventions of the day is particularly amusing, if we notice how the various catalogues of animals, birds, spices, flowers, jewels, and food parody similar catalogues in the romances and in the poems describing paradise. The poem was written, in the short couplet, about the middle of the thirteenth century. It is printed in E. Maetzner's "Altenglische Sprachproben," I, 148. Berlin, 1867. Wright's "St. Patrick's Purgatory," London, 1844, contains an interesting chapter on this and similar burlesques.

The Complaint of the Husbandman

This "complaint," or "song," was written during the thirteenth century when the persecutions of the poor farmers by lords and their officers were most extreme. The poem explains very fully the various abuses which finally so incensed the poor that they rose in revolt and won certain rights from their oppressors. The Middle English text is found in K. Boeddeker's "Altenglische Dichtungen," p. 102, Berlin, 1878, and in T. Wright's "Political Songs," Camden Society, Vol. VI, p. 149.

The meter and rime of the original have been kept, in this translation, even at the risk of a few very slight changes in the order or in the phrasing of the original, because the versification is so illustrative of the transition from the old alliterative line to the elaborate stanza forms of the French period.

Sir Penny

This satire was evidently a popular one in the Middle Ages; it is found in various forms in Latin, in French, and in English. The following translation is made from a version, probably of about 1350, printed in Thomas Wright's "Latin Poems attributed to Walter Mapes," Camden Society, Vol. XVI, pp. 359-361. The poem is written in the six-line, tail-rime stanza of "Sir Thopas," and the translation seeks to preserve the cadences, movement, and structure of the original. It is interesting in connection with "Piers Plowman" and "The Pardoner's Tale," for it shows the great superiority of those satires, in imaginative appeal. The generalizations here are faithful, but they lack point and effectiveness because they do not drive home specific instances about individuals. We have a personal interest in Lady Meed and in the Pardoner, but we care little about classes and types.

LAY

Sir Orfeo

This Middle English version of a French lay seems to offer so few difficulties that it is given in its original form, as it appears in the Auchinleck manuscript. The text is copied from that edited by Laing in "Select Pieces of Ancient Popular Poetry of Scotland," reprinted in Edinburgh, 1884. A critical edition of the poem was published by O. Zielke, Breslau, 1880. A very charming free translation in stanza form has been made by E. E. Hunt, Cambridge, 1909.

"Sir Orfeo" is the mediæval interpretation of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice (Ovid's "Metamorphoses," bk. x, ll. 1-77), which was told in French, and then translated by some nameless but immortal English poet. The beauty of this Middle English version is undeniable. Despite its brevity and its occasionally laconic phrases, the poem shows real pathos in the account of the passionate grief of Orfeo, and his desolate wanderings in search of his lady. The concrete vividness of color and fragrance in nature, the dim stateliness of the retinue of the king of fairyland, the magic beauty of his strange abode, are described with true poetic sensitiveness. In choice of detail, in management of incident, in "discovery," and in conclusion the narrative is singularly well managed.

As a mediæval rendering of a classical tale, the poem has many charms, because it so naïvely and so completely changes the setting and insists upon mediæval towers and dress and customs. Pluto's dark realm is transformed into a fairy kingdom, Thrace has become Winchester, and the wandering Greek is a Breton harper knocking at the door of a Gothic castle. As a version of one of the most beautiful of the world's stories, this lay has true imaginative distinction; it pictures the loyalty of love and love's power over time and fairy spells, but it willfully changes the outcome of the old story to suit the sentiment of high romance in an age when every tale must have a happy ending.

Other lays, or brief tales, are described in W. H. Schofield's "English Literature from the Norman Conquest to Chaucer," p. 179. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1906. "Launfal," a lay of fairyland, is one of the most beautiful. The lays of Marie de France are accessible in the following translations:

WESTON, J. Four Lais of Marie de France (including "Launfal"). Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1901.

RICKERT, E. Seven Lais of Marie de France. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1901.

Fairy lore is discussed by many students. The volumes named below will be found serviceable to the student of English literature:

PATON, L. A. Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance. Ginn and Company, Boston, 1903.

NUTT, A. The Fairy Mythology of Shakespeare. David Nutt, London, 1900.

HAZLITT, W. C. Fairy Tales, Lays, and Romances Illustrating Shakespeare. London, 1875.

SIDGWICK, F. The Sources and Analogues of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Duffield & Company, New York, 1908.

In translating the poem the student should pronounce all the unknown words aloud and he will speedily recognize resemblances to modern words. _Y_ is the pronoun "I," but sometimes it is part of the past participle,—_y-hold_ = "held." _Ich_ is "I," and also "each." Frequently a pronoun and a verb are combined, as _ichil_ = "I will"; _wiltow_ = "wilt thou"; sometimes the negative particle is combined with a verb, as in _nis_ = "is not"; _nil_ = "will not." _Owhen_ = "own"; _yif_ = "if." It is assumed that readers will recognize the words used in the ballads or in Spenser's works. If there are words which are not recognized they can be found in the New English Dictionary, or in the New International Dictionary, or in Bradley and Stratmann's Middle English Dictionary.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Temple Classics, 3 vols. Dutton, New York, 1900.

[2] B. Smythe, Trobador Poets. (Translations.) Duffield, New York, 1911.

[3] See Notes.

[4] See Notes.

[5] varied.

[6] equal.

[7] disagreement.

[8] love.

[9] pleasure.

[10] describe.

[11] equal.

[12] quickness.

[13] breastplate.

[14] comprehend.

[15] Achilles.

[16] together.

[17] see.

[18] interval of a fifth.

[19] nightingale.

[20] music.

[21] color.

[22] staggers.

[23] in fief.

[24] love.

[25] See Notes.

[26] See Notes.

[27] Fifteen, in other versions.

[28] Other versions say that the bridge grew wider and wider as Owain passed over it.

[29] A stringed instrument.

[30] Here is a gap of two stanzas and more, pursuing the theme of Adam.

[31] See Notes.

[32] scarcely.

[33] refectory.

[34] ordinary.

[35] hermits.

[36] Thursday before Easter.

[37] griffin.

[38] with hair.

[39] See Notes.

[40] See Notes.

[41] See Notes.

[42] See Notes.

[43] See Notes.

[44] The four cardinal virtues: Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, and Prudence.

[45] See Notes.

[46] See Notes.

[47] See Notes.

[48] See Notes.

[49] See Notes.

[50] According to G. Paris he played on cymbals and exhibited a monkey.

[51] See Notes.

[52] See Notes.

[53] See Notes.

[54] hedge-warden, over-seer.

[55] under-steward.

[56] wood-warden.

[57] religious orders.

[58] peasant.

[59] over-seers.

[60] wax for king's seal.

[61] salmon.

[62] implement for pruning.

[63] See Notes.

[64] See Notes.

[65] both.

[66] called.

[67] lady.

[68] time.

[69] bright, vigorous.

[70] same.

[71] forenoon.

[72] grafted.

[73] rubbed, wrung.

[74] rent.

[75] removed.

[76] ran.

[77] away.

[78] took.

[79] dear.

[80] thee.

[81] criest.

[82] shrill.

[83] before.

[84] complexion.

[85] eyes.

[86] very.

[87] since.

[88] must.

[89] directly.

[90] again.

[91] forest.

[92] places.

[93] taken.

[94] woe.

[95] lose.

[96] defence.

[97] taken.

[98] dole.

[99] order.

[100] lost.

[101] roam.

[102] woods.

[103] scarcely.

[104] together.

[105] pilgrim's robe.

[106] however.

[107] ease.

[108] discomfort.

[109] fur (variegated).

[110] fur (gray).

[111] linen.

[112] wraps.

[113] moss (?).

[114] grub.

[115] shrunken.

[116] rough.

[117] gather.

[118] at last.

[119] about.

[120] branch.

[121] accustomed.

[122] speedily (?).

[123] royal.

[124] grandly.

[125] front.

[126] adorned.

[127] dwellings.

[128] dark (?).

[129] sapphires are mentioned in one version.

[130] lying.

[131] head.

[132] had no arms.

[133] mad.

[134] drowned.

[135] withered.

[136] mad (?).

[137] sport.

[138] ceased.

[139] hue.

[140] therefore.

[141] lie.

[142] just now.

[143] warmly.

[144] quickly.

[145] people, land.

[146] went.

[147] harbor.

[148] cottage.

[149] bit.

[150] back.

[151] withered.

[152] players on the _crowd_, a kind of violin.

[153] ate.

[154] lost.

[155] given.

[156] hour.

[157] remedy.

[158] gracious.

[159] inn.

[160] awe.

[161] understood.

[162] table.

[163] quickly.

[164] indeed.

[165] named.

[166] called.

* * * * *

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Minor punctuation and printer errors repaired.

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=.