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Influenced by Old English system of writting.
Oral literature:hymns, sermons , stories for perfomance & debates (The
Owl and the Nightingale) ® octosyllabic couplets (Experiences rather
than schooling). Poetic diction. Oral tradition fragmented (Caxton) -->
Sir Gawain. Strong influence from the continent (French & Latin).
Layamont’s BRUT is a transition work.- Irregular metres. A-S alliterative
line + French octosyllabic couplet + rhyme occassional (legendary story
of Britain from...)
Orm’s ORMULUM (c 1200).- Metrical homilies. 14 syllabic lines + alliteration
for ornament & emphasis. He invented and individual & remarkable
ortography.
ROMANCE : King Horn, The Lay of Havelock the Dane (8 syllables), Floris
& Blanchefur.
BRETON LAY.- A kind of Romance. Narrative or lyrical. 8 syllables. Love+magic
+celtic legend. To sing.Sir Orfeo,Sir Launfal,Chaucer Franklin’s Tales.
LYRIC.- It’s most popular than OE. To be sung. Peasantry sing &
dance. Harleain Miscellany.
ALLITERATIVE REVIVAL.- Long poems written in an alliterative metre. N &
W. It’s an alternative to the continental form or syllabic rhyming
verse. ALLEGORICAL : PIERS PLOWMAN.- How people understood their religion.
William Langland. Presented with colloquial & non-decorated language.
Complex variety of religious themes. The strengh of the poem doesn’t
lie in the structure or argument. 2 parts : 1) prologue (7 passus).- life
of man in society & seven capital sins. 2) 13 passus dealing with the
lives of Dowell, Dobet, Dobest.
ROMANCE.- SIR GAWAIN & THE GREEN KNIGHT.- Stanzas quite elaborated :
4 stresses sylables lines (3 firsts alliterate) arranged into pairs, followed
by Bob & Wheel (5 lines=1+4). Alternative Rhyme. Vocabulary very rich
influenced by French (in court) & dialect words. Arthurian setting.
2 parts. Theme of fidelity. Serious reflection upon human behaviour.
GEOFFREY CHAUCER.-
He was the son of a merchant. Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV. He belonged
to Medieval & New Age. 3 periods : Italian, French & English.
DREAM POEMS : PARLIAMENT OF FOWLS.- Separated French influence. 10 syllables
in seven lines stanza. Rime Royal. 5 stresse in each line ® Iambic Pentameter.
(ababbcc). Value of different kind of love. Boccaccio + Dante. THE LEGENT
OF GOOD WOMEN.- More important the prologue than stories. God of love is
angry. Rime Royal. Chaucer uses the heroic couplet for first time in English
literature. BOOK OF THE DUCHESS, HOUSE OF FAME, TROILUS & CRISEYDE.-
Rime Royal. It´s the longest. Boccaccio, Il Filostrato. Greater even
Canterbury Tales. The poem moves slowly with introspection & psychological
inside.
THE CANTERBURY TALES.-
1) variety of tellers 2) Developing relationships between tales & tellers.
3) Vividness with which the tellers are described.
Prose and verse of different metre although the predominant form is the
rhyming couplet or heroic couplet. ARGUMENT. FRAMING (Dream vision &
Spring setting ; link stories with pilgrinage). General prologue + tale
+ linking passage + tale + linking...
Many stratas of life. The only respectable are : knight, ploughman &
parson. The rest are mocked (included Chaucer). He’s dettached. The
work is not didactic, Chaucer doesn’t condemn any character.
The contest allows different genres. Not a common theme because of variety.
The tale suits the teller (knight - chivalric romance). Variety of level
of language. Rethoric. Chaucer uses colloquial and everyday language to
present a serie of portraits in poetry. The tales are short stories in verse
(2 expositions in prose) and the are arranged in pairs opposite. Canterbury
Tales ends with Retraction for writting about vanities of the world.
