NOTES GEOFFREY CHAUCER Now Welcom Somer. 2. overshake, shaken off. 5. smale foules, little birds. 9. make, mate. What form of lyric does this exemplify? See Johnson's Forms of English Poetry, pp. 302-304. How does the verse form affect the apparent spontaneity of the poem? The Prologue. 11. corages, hearts. 14. ferne halwes, distant shrines. 16. Caunterbury. Where is Canterbury? 17. holy blisful martir, Thomas à Becket. 20. Southwerk. Where is this? 42. wol I first biginne. Why does Chaucer begin with the Knight? 51-66. Alisaundre, Alexandria; Pruce, Prussia; Lettow, Lithuania; Ruce, Russia; Gernade, Grenada; Algezir, Algeciras, in Spain; Belmarye, a town in Africa; Lyeys, Satalye, Tramissene, Palatye, towns in Asia Minor; Grete See, Mediterranean. 75. gipoun, shirt. 76. bismotered with his habergeoun, stained by his coat of mail. 81. sëynt Loy, St. Eligius, the patron saint of goldsmiths. Why should she invoke this saint? 93. lest, pleasure. 95. coppe, cup. 85. fetisly, skillfully. 112. wimpel, face cloth. 113. tretys, well-formed. 120. A peire of bedes, gauded, etc., a string of beads, of which every eleventh was a large green one. Why did she carry these? 127. venerye, hunting. 134. seint Maure . . . seint Beneit. The reule (rule) of St. Maur and that of St. Benedict were the oldest and strictest forms of monastic discipline. 145. wood, insane. 147. swinken, work. 148. As Austyn bit. St. Augustine made his cathedral clergy live strictly, like the monks. 150. pricasour, hard rider. 154-155. purfiled . . . with grys, edged with gray fur. 162. stepe, large. 166. for-pyned, wasted. 163. forneys of a leed, cauldron. 174. overest courtepy, outer short coat. 169. Clerk, university student. 180. fithele, or gay sautrye, musical instruments. 181. philosophre. The word is used in a double sense - alchemist and philosopher. Explain the humor. 194. scathe, harm. 198. offring, an allusion to the custom on 'Relic Sunday,' when the congregation went up to the altar to kiss the relics. 213-214. At Rome, etc. These were all famous shrines. 216. Gat-tothed, with teeth set far apart. 233. sythes, times. 261. So that the wolf, etc. Cf. Lycidas, ll. 116–129. 294. Chepe, Cheapside. 326. avys, consideration. The metrical form is original with Chaucer. employed it, and in what poems? 305. herberwe, inn. 335. whylom, formerly. What other poets have Does Chaucer fulfill the promise contained in lines 36-40? Illustrate from the introductory lines what is meant by saying that Chaucer is the first great poet who really loved outward nature as the source of conscious pleasurable emotion.' Chaucer has been called the most literal of poets. Does he portray life accurately? Are the personages he describes types or individuals? Would it be correct to call them individualized types? With which of the characters does he seem most in sympathy? What lines seem most satiric, most ironical? Is Chaucer ever cynical? When Chaucer describes anything, it is usually by one of those simple and obvious epithets or qualities that are so easy to miss. Select a few of the best examples of character portrayal. 6 Which one of the Pilgrims disproves the truth of Leigh Hunt's remark that the Knight is the only character in Chaucer that seems faultless'? Note the importance in the portrayal of each character of the last lines of the description. Which of lines 126-168 do you consider most effective in the description? Note the skillful transitions between the different groups of lines. Lowell says that Chaucer's descriptive passages are remarkable for that combination of energy and simplicity which is among the rarest gifts in literature. Justify this statement. Kemp Owyne. BALLADS Characterize the movement of the ballad. Does it seem to have been composed to be sung? What can you say of the rhymes used? What qualities of the fairy tale distinguish this ballad? Compare this with other ballads in the management of the repetend. Helen of Kirconnell. Compare this ballad, in its simplicity, directness, and charming crudeness, with any modern literary ballad, such as Longfellow's The Wreck of the Hesperus, and point out the differences. What may you conclude about the state of society at the time these ballads were written? Why were the best ballads composed in the borderland of Scotland and England? Point out what Lowell calls the 'shuddering compression' of lines 5-9. What stanza best exemplifies the quality of swiftness of movement? Which shows most savage sincerity of feeling? Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne. 1. shawes, groves. 1. sheene, bright. 1. shradds, coppices. 5. woodweele, wood lark. 6. a lyne, of linden. 7. wight, strong. 13. Sweavens, dreams. 12. wrocken, avenged. 17. Buske, dress. 50. slade, glade. 95. wilfull, astray. 111. shroggs, twigs. 150. ffettled, prepared. 29. capull-hyde, horse hide. 36. ffarley, strange. 224. rawstye by the roote, clotted at the butt. 156. may, maid. conventionally the fatal 207. steven, voice. 218. shrift, confession. Does the writer's personality intrude upon the ballad? Notice that his sympathy is with Robin Hood. Why? What are the qualities in Robin Hood that would make him appeal to the crowd? What lines illustrate the religious or the superstitious nature of the foresters? What is the purpose of the first two stanzas? Point out passages where the method of narration seems especially naïve. Where does the story move most rapidly? Note the use of common words in common order. What phrases are repeated? What passages show parallel structure? Alliterative phrases form one of the conventional marks of the ballad. Point out some such phrases. Do the ballads show much imagination in the figures of speech employed? WYATT AND SURREY Wyatt and Surrey are appropriately classed together in literary history because they began that important period known as the era of Italian influence. Perhaps their most important service was the introduction and naturalization of the Italian sonnet. Their poems were first printed in a collection of verse called Tottel's Miscellany, 1557. Which of these two sonnets shows more poetic feeling? Which is more reflective and sententious? Which shows more liveliness, grace, picturesqueness? Which contains the more clumsy or obscure lines? Which is the more masculine in tone? Which author is the better metrist? In which is there an abuse of alliteration? SIR WALTER RALEIGH The Lie. Though the authorship of this poem has been disputed, it is now generally assigned to Raleigh. Tradition says he wrote it on the night before his death. 2. arrant, errand. 25. brave it most, are most ostentatious. 16. faction, political party. 44. tickle points of niceness, uncertain and trivial questions. 49. Physic. Meaning? Cf. physician. How in this poem is Raleigh's penetrating, satiric temper shown? |