THE SQUYR OF LOWE DEGRE Composed within a century after Gawain and the Green Knight (p. 97 ff.), the Squyr of Lowe Degre is one of the best of the small number of Middle English romances for which no single French source is known or suspected. It is made up almost entirely of stock themes, of which two (1) the youth who, in spite of many obstacles, rises from comparative obscurity to wealth and power, (2) a pair of young lovers who, though separated for a time, are finally united have an eternal and irresistible appeal, especially to the young. The Squyr marks a step in the gradual evolution of the modern novel of manners; it is valuable for the light it throws not only on the mental furniture of the fiction writer of the fifteenth century but also on the courtly life of the time. The unknown author shows considerable skill in weaving together his various materials and unusual freshness and delicacy in his general treatment. "Though often neglected in the ordinary histories of English literature as being a mere type of a class, the Squyr, in its brilliancy of description and in its passages of genuine poetry, rises far above the level of the average fifteenth-century romance." It was widely popular in its day and maintained its vogue till well on into the age of Elizabeth. 1. squyer. Compare the description of Chaucer's squire, Prologue, 1. 79 ff. 1. of lowe degre, of low estate or station, not menial. In 1. 20 he is called a “gentill" (well-born) man. 2. the kings doughter of Hungre, daughter of the king of Hungary. Hungary is here merely a distant country, fit setting for a romantic story. 7. seven yere, the conventional number of years for such service. 8. set the lords. It was his duty as marshal to arrange them in order of rank. 11. styll mornyng, "always mourning" because of ill success in love. 120b 15. Christente, Christendom, the whole Christian world. 28. arber, here a garden of fruit trees." 31 ff. The tre it was, etc. Such lists of trees were popular in medieval literature and were introduced by imitators of romance such as Chaucer (in Sir Thopas) and Spenser (in the Faerie Queene, p. 217, l. 69 ff.). 32. Jesu chese. The cypress, according to medieval tradition, was one of the trees that furnished wood for Christ's cross; hence Christ may be said to have "chosen " it. 52. mery, sweet, pleasant, agreeable, without reference to mirth (Campbell). Cf. the phrase "Merry England." 65. bente. See note to p. 117b, 10. 67. lened his backe to a thorne. By leaning his back against a thorn he places himself in a state of bodily discomfort in harmony with his unhappy state of mind. To the medievals the plaintive note of the nightingale, the bird of love, suggested that it was leaning against a thorn. See l. 801. 121a 78. Syr Lybius, Sir Libeaus Desconus (The Fair Unknown), hero of a famous Middle English romance. The poet gives a brief summary of the romance later (1. 615 ff.). 80. Syr Guy, Sir Guy of Warwick, the hero of a popular medieval romance. 82. Syr Colbrande, a giant Danish champion slain by Guy of Warwick. See note to 1. 80. 90. sowned, swooned. The heroes and heroines of medieval romance were given to fainting under emotional stress. In the sentimental fiction of the eighteenth century swooning again became popular. 93. oryall, an oriel or bay window. 95. Fulfylled... with ymagery, filled with painted figures. 96. by and by, one after another. 98. Sperde, fastened. 116. it, the mourning. 121b 140. Lynen cloth... were; i.e., I will forego soft raiment and wear rough clothing. 148. his love that harowed hell. According to a tradition which was widespread and exceedingly influential during the Middle Ages, Christ, after his crucifixion, descended into hell, where he rebuked Satan and comforted the damned souls. There are versions of the story in Old and in Middle English, and it is the theme of the oldest English mystery play, The Harrowing of Hell. 162. and, if. 163. woyng, wooing. 198. the Rodes, Rhodes, an island in the eastern Mediterranean which knights errant, as well as palmers and pilgrims bound for the holy sepulcher in Jerusalem, would naturally visit on their journeys. 199 f. I hold... But, I do not count you worthy of praise unless, etc. 204. sable, a dark, almost black, color used in heraldry. Compare the description of the Squire's armor with that of Gawain in Gawain and the Green Knight (p. 102b, l. 50 ff.). 210. true loves, true lovers' knots. 214. A reason... me, a motto. The motto, given in the next two lines, is Amor, Love. Compare the motto of Chaucer's Prioress, Prologue, 1. 162. 229. cote armoure, a coat worn over the armor, upon which the wearer's coat of arms was usually embroidered. 232. yemen. Cf. Chaucer's yeoman, Prologue, 1. 101 ff. 122b 236. Jerusalem. After the completion of his fighting, the Squire must, like many other medieval knights, make a pilgrimage to the sepulcher of Christ in Jerusalem. 288. bewraye, betray. 123a 304. gente, graceful, pretty. 305 ff. he araied him, etc. Cf. the gay dress of Chaucer's squire, Prologue, 1. 89 f. 308. barres, stripes or bands on the belt. 317 ff. deynty meates, etc. Cf. the descrip tion of a meal in Bartholomew's Encyclopedia (p. 87b, 1. 42 ff.) and in Chaucer's Prologue, 1. 341 ff. The mediævals were hearty eaters and were fond of elaborate and highly seasoned dishes. 123b 352. can he fle, did he flee. 364. to longe, to long for, to desire. 380. purchase, the acquisition of an estate by any method other than descent (herytage). 386. For, on account of. 638 ff. Theyr enemyes approched, etc. The following scene needs a word of explanation. Although the attack upon the Squire was contrary to the king's orders, we must understand that it was the king who sent the armed men and who after the fight agrees with the Squire to test the lovers' affection for seven years There is some confusion in the account of the fight who ordered the Steward's body to be disfigured, disguised, and laid at the Lady's door, is not clear. 663. wemme, injury. 667. cast thee, planned, resolved. 675. weale away! wo alas wo, welaway. 126b 699. closed hym, etc. The story of a lady who kept her dead lover's head in her chamber was told by Boccaccio and furnished the inspiration for Keats' 180bella. 692. gynnes, devices, contrivances. 704. offre to them. Offerings for the dead were common during the Middle Ages and even in more recent times. 713. ruddy read, complexion red. 714. browes bent, arched eyebrows, regarded as a sign of beauty during the Middle Ages. 720. oryent, bright. 127a 737. every deale, every part, bit. Cf. Modern English great deal." 750. Trapped, supplied with trappings. 753 ff. rumney, etc. Lines 753-762 contain a list of various sorts of wine. 772. his rechase. Perhaps, the recall of the hounds after the deer had been brought down. 776. egle horne, a kind of hawk. 127b 790. countre note and dyscant, counterpoint and descant, musical terms. 816. or, before. 128a 841. fustyane. See footnote to Chaucer's Prologue, p. 141a, l. 75. 858. thore, there. 878. The whyles, the times. 885 ff. Tuskayne, etc. Cf. p. 140, l. 51 ff. 894. the sepulture, the Holy Sepulcher. Cf. 1. 243 ff. 128b 911. Let none ... meyne, let none of my household know. 923. Nor... she knew, For she knew not. 940. Fy, Fie. In the older language fie was a much stronger word than it is to-day. 129a 957. for, in respect to any relations with. 129b 1026. dyd of, took off. 130a 1070 ff. harpe, etc. Lines 1070-1077 include a list of musical instruments. 1088. thee, succeed. 1112. comunalte, the common people. 130b SIR THOMAS MALORY Sir Thomas Malory came of an ancient and distinguished family. He seems to have been born about 1400 (the year of Chaucer's death) in Warwickshire, the county of Shakespeare. He was brought up according to the best ideas of what a fourteenth-century gentleman should be. As a youth he served in the retinue of the Earl of Warwick, who was known as "the father of courtesy" and who made a point of keeping up the customs of chivalry, which had gradually become antiquated during the three centuries since their establishment in England (see Introduction to Middle English Period, p. 58). It was in this environment that young Malory doubtless imbibed the romantic admiration for knighthood and knightly exploits that inspired the Morte Darthur. In 1445 Malory was a knight and sat in Parliament for Warwickshire. During his late years he seems to have devoted himself to the extensive reading that must have preceded the writing of his great romance. He died in 1471. LE MORTE DARTHUR Malory's Morte Darthur (usually written thus rather than according to modern spelling, Morte d' Arthur) is one of several medieval romances bearing the same name. It is the most famous Arthurian romance of the Middle Ages and probably the only romance of mediæval England that is widely read to-day. The name Morte Darthur means the "Death of Arthur," but the book is far more than an account of Arthur's passing. It is a great treasury of Arthurian romance based largely upon French sources (cf. p. 131b, 16) and so arranged by Malory as to give a complete history of the knights of the Round Table from Arthur's birth till his last battle. Though not the first to undertake such a task, Malory was the first to make Arthur the central figure of his narrative, and he shows a certain amount of originality in the choice and arrangement of his materials, though he omits some good stories, such as Gawain and the Green Knight (p. 97 ff.). He is not altogether just to Gawain (see note to p. 94b, l. 43), and in recounting the death of Tristram (Tristan) he uses a far less poetic tradition than that preserved in Wagner's opera. At times Malory's characters are portrayed as fifteenth-century ladies and gentlemen, but in general they lack the flesh-and-blood reality to be found in the epic and in realistic fiction. Taken altogether, however, his book embodies the finest ideals of chivalry and the best traditions of “ old romance." The Morte Darthur is the chief source of Tennyson's Idylls of the King (see note to The Lady of Shalott, p. 877a). 1. Sir Mordred. See note to p. 94a, 1. Malory, following an older though probably not original tradition, makes Mordred the son of Arthur (p. 131a, 17) by his half-sister, the daughter of Igerna by her first husband, Duke Gorlois (see note to p. 97a, 324). Hence Arthur's downfall comes as a retribution for his youthful sin. 14. his uncle's wife and his father's wife. According to Malory, Arthur is both Mordred's uncle and his father. See note to 1. 1. 131a 6. shot great guns. From age to age the Arthurian stories have been more or less made over to suit contemporary conditions. The medievals were especially lacking in historical perspective. The original Arthurian romances, of course, knew nothing of cannon fired with gunpowder, which did not come into use in England until the fourteenth century. 16 f. to let ... to land. See footnote to p. 126, 1. 668. Contrast the meaning of let, to cause to," in 1. 30, below. 27. maugre, in spite of. 46 131b 15. he was shriven, he had made his last confession. 19 f. King Lot's son of Orkney, son of King Lot of Orkney. A common form of ex-' pression in Middle English. See note to p. 120a, l. 2. 23. The old wound. The battle in which this wound was received is described by Malory in Bk. XX, Chap. xxi. 44. straitly bestead with, hard beset by. 132a 12. his Saviour, the last Sacrament. 39. by the seaside... Salisbury. On this and other traditional locations of Arthur's last battle, see note to p. 96b, 1. 247 ff. 52. by, during. 132b 5. condescended, agreed. 133a 24 ff. your night's dream, etc. During the preceding night Arthur had two dreams in one of which the ghost of Sir Gawain appeared and warned him against doing battle the next day. 35. avail, advantage. 133b 11 f. do me to wit, cause me to know. 21. harness, armor. 31. works, turns. 134a 7 f. Excalibur. Arthur's famous sword Excalibur came originally from the fairy world (cf. p. 912, l. 272 ff.). Tennyson (p. 911, l. 197 ff.), following a passage in Malory not given here, tells how Arthur received the sword from a mysterious hand that rose out of a lake. Malory's account of the disposal of the sword by Sir Bedivere should be compared carefully with the corresponding passage in Tennyson's Passing of Arthur (p. 911, 1. 204 ff.). 29. lief, beloved. 134b 15 ff. hoved a little barge. Compare the earlier account of Arthur's passing by Layamon (p. 97, 1. 337 ff.) and the later version by Tennyson (p. 913, 1. 361 ff.). The mourning of the ladies is probably due to a confusion between two traditions: (1) Arthur was wounded, but departed alive to fairy land, (2) Arthur died and was buried in mortal soil (cf. p. 135a, l. 11 ff., p. 135b, 1. 30 ff.), and hence was to be lamented. 21. softly, carefully. 36. Avilion, Malory's spelling for Avalon, on which see especially note to p. 97b, 325. 42. took the forest, took to the woods. 135a 6. deeming, inference. 135b 3. Morgan le Fay. See notes to p. 119b, 5, and p. 97, 1. 327. 6. Nimue, a fairy personage sometimes identified, as here, with the Lady of the Lake, Arthur's supernatural helper and the giver of Excalibur. Under the variant form of Vivien she is the beloved of Merlin. 31 f. Hic jacet... futurus, Here lies Arthur, king formerly and destined to be king 136a again. WILLIAM LANGLAND An old tradition attributes Piers the Plowman to one William Langland (or Langley), and an imaginary life has been made up for the poet; but it is now believed that the poem in its various forms is the combined work of several different authors of varying degrees of technical skill and originality. The authors all agree in satirizing contemporary society and in urging a return to the customs of the past. Chaucer and many other medieval writers give the point of view of the aristocracy; Piers the Plowman is noteworthy because its authors give a picture of the times as viewed by the masses. PIERS THE PLOWMAN Piers the Plowman exists in three forms or versions: Version A, about 1362; Version B (the one printed here), about 1377; Version C, about 1397. The poem The poem is written in Old English alliterative verse and was composed under the same impetus that gave rise to the so-called "alliterative revival" of the fourteenth century (see introductory note to Gawain and the Green Knight, p. 97). 136a 2 f. shepe. . . heremite. The dress of a shepherd is said to have resembled that of a hermit. 5. Malverne hulles, a range of hills separating Worcester from Hereford. The real scene of the poem is, however, London with its varied occupations and types of humanity. See also note on the faire felde," 1. 17. 17. A faire felde ful of folke. The "fair field" is the world (Matthew xiii, 38). The whole vision surveys the world, heaven, and hell. Visions, especially visions of heaven and hell, were popular during certain periods of the Middle Ages. The part of our poem beginning with 1. 17 is often referred to as the "vision of the field full of folk." 136b 22. wonnen... destruyeth, won that which wasteful men spend in gluttony. 23. putten hem to pruyde, take to pride, behave proudly. 26. ful streyte, very strictly. 27. hevene-riche blisse, the bliss of the kingdom of heaven. 33. murthes, mirths. 36 ff. Feynen, etc. This passage may be ren dered thus: "Feign fancies for them- 40. Bidders, beggars. 41. her bagges, the bags carried by beggars to receive whatever was given them. 42. atte ale, at the alehouse. 137a 43. hii, they. 45. evre, ever, always. 47. Seynt James, the famous shrine of St. James of Campostella, in Galicia, Spain. There were many 47. şeyntes in Rome. shrines in Rome. 51. To eche a tale, in regard to each tale. 54. Walsyngham, the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, in Norfolk. It was a popular resort of pilgrims. The followers of John Wyclif were opposed to pilgrimages thither. 57. shopen hem, arrayed themselves as. 58. the foure ordres, the four great orders of friars: Carmelites (white friars), Augustines (Austin friars), Dominicans (black friars), and Minorites (gray friars). During the Middle Ages the friars fulfilled much the same functions as the Salvation Army does to-day. Originally they labored among the poor and owned no property. They should be carefully distinguished from the monks, who separated themselves from the world and were property owners. See especially note to p. 78a, 1. 28. 60. Glosed... lyked, interpreted the gospel as it pleased them well. 62. this maistres freris, these master friars. 62. at lykyng, as they like. 64. sith...lordes, since love (charity), the special function of the friars, has turned peddler, selling absolution instead of giving it, and since the friars have devoted themselves chiefly to shriving lords. 65. ferlis, strange things. 66. But... togideres. The regular clergy and the friars quarreled as to which had the right to hear confession. Sometimes (see 1. 81) they agreed to share the profits. Here the poet says, "Unless they hold together better, the greatest mischief in the world will result.” 68. Pardoner, an officer of the medieval church commissioned to travel through the country and dispense absolution. 69. bulle, a bull, a letter or edict of the pope. 70 f. assoilen hem alle Of falshed of fastyng, absolve them all from the sin of breaking their vows of fasting. 137b 74. blered here eyes, deceived them. 78. Were the bischop yblissed, if the bishop were really a holy man, as he should be. 79. sent to deceyve; i.e., sent to the pardoner to be used by him in deceiving. 80. by, against. 81. parten, divide. 82. yif thei nere, if it were not for them. 83. Persones, parsons. 83. pleyned hem, complained. 84. sith the pestilence tyme. The reference is perhaps to the Black Death, which appeared in England in 1348. 85. To have, etc.; that is, they petitioned the bishop that they might have, etc. Chaucer praises his Parson because he did not rent his country living and hurry up to London to get a more lucrative position (Prologue, 1. 507 ff.). 87. bachelers, novices in the church. 88. cure, a cure, or care, of souls; a position as priest or curate. 91. an elles, and at other times. 93. chalengen his dettes, claim the debts due the king. The exchequer decided all cases dealing with revenue due the king from the various wards of the city and also claimed for him all waifs and strays-i.e., property without owner. 97. oures, prayers recited at stated hours of the day. 99. consistorie. The last great court held by Christ at the day of judgment is likened to a consistory or council of the mediæval Church. 101. as the boke telleth. The reference is to the famous words of Christ to Peter (Matthew xvi, 19): "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." 66 138a 102 ff. he it left, etc.; i.e., Peter left the power of the keys, delegated to him by Christ, to the four cardinal virtues Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice. The poet refers to these as "closyng gatis because the adjective 'cardinal," applied to them, is connected with the Latin word cardo, a hinge." 111. I can and can naughte, I can speak more, but I must not, out of respect for the holy power which the cardinals possess of electing the pope. 113. Might of the comunes... regne, the power of the commons caused the king to reign. Note the democratic idea that the king derives his power from the people. |