No More Learning

218 (#238) ############################################

218
Early Transition English
?
described as a stage of timid experiment, the second half (1200-
1250) as one of experiment still, but of a bolder and less uncertain
kind. But, before dealing with such literary material as survives,
a word may be said as to the submerged section of popular
poetry. It is true that little can be said definitely concerning this
popular verse, though Layamon refers to the making of folk-songs,
and both William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon
mention some with which their age was familiar. The ancient
epic material must certainly, however, have lived on. Such things
as the legends of Weland and Offa, the story of Wade and his boat
Guingelot, must long have been cherished by the people at large.
This period was also the seed-time of some of the later Middle
English sagas. The stories of Horn and Havelok were silently
changing their Danish colouring and drawing new life from English
soil. The traditions of Guy of Warwick and Bevis of Hampton
were becoming something more than local; the ancient figure of
Woden was being slowly metamorphosed into the attractive Robin
Hood. It was, in short, the rough-hewing stage of later monuments.
With regard to the actual literary remains of the earlier
period, a rough division may be made on the basis of the main
influences, native and foreign, visible in those works. The Here
Prophecy' (c. 1190) scarcely falls within the range of a literary
survey, though it is interesting from both linguistic and historical
standpoints. Among those works primarily reminiscent of earlier
times the Old English Homilies are naturally prominent. Some
of them are merely twelfth-century transcriptions of the work
of Aelfrica; in others foreign influences are seen. But even
then the mould into which the material is run is the same. The
earlier method of conveying religious instruction to English parish-
ioners by means of the homily is still retained. The Proverbs of
Alfred are also strongly reminiscent of earlier native tradition
embodied, not only in the Old English Gnomic Verses, but also in
the proverb dialogues of Salomon and Marcolf, Adrianus and
Ritheus, and in the sententious utterances in which Old English
writers frequently indulged. This Middle English collection of
proverbs is preserved in three MSS of the thirteenth century; but
these versions are obviously recensions of an earlier form, dating
from the second half of the preceding century. The actual con-
See Hales, Folia Litteraria, pp. 55–61; H. Morley, English Writers, m, 200_1.
* See Morris, Old English Homilies (preface passim) for statements regarding the
origin of De Initio Creature, the homily for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, and
the homily for the 5th Sunday in Lent.


## p. 219 (#239) ############################################

The Proverbs of Alfred
219
nection of the proverbs with Alfred himself must be accepted with
some reserve. His fame as a proverb-maker is implied in the later
Owl and the Nightingale and is even more explicitly maintained
elsewhere: Eluredus in proverbiis ita enituit ut nemo post illum
amplius'. But no collection of Alfredian proverbs is known to have
existed in Old English ; and, since some of the sayings occur in the
later collection known by the name of Hendyng, it may well have been
that the use of the West Saxon king's name in this collection was
nothing more than a patriotic device for adding to popular sayings
the authority of a great name. It is noteworthy that the matter
of the proverbs is curiously mixed. There is, first, the shrewd
philosophy of popular origin. Then there are religious elements :
Christ's will is to be followed; the soldier must fight that the
church may have rest; while monastic scorn possibly lurks in
the sections which deal with woman and marriage. And, thirdly,
there are utterances similar to those in Old English didactic works
like A Father's Instruction, where definite precepts as to conduct
are laid down? . The metrical form of the Proverbs is no less
interesting. The verse is of the earlier alliterative type, but it
shows precisely the same symptoms of change as that of certain
tenth and eleventh century poems. The caesura is preserved, but
the long line is broken in two. The laws of purely alliterative
verse are no longer followed ; an attempt is rather made to place
words in the order of thought. There are occasional appearances
of the leonine rime and assonance, characteristic of tenth and
eleventh century work; but, at best, the structure is irregular. In
section xxü. an attempt has apparently been made possibly by a
later scribe to smooth out irregularities and to approximate the
short couplet in rime and rhythm. The reforming hand of the
adapter, as in other Middle English poems, is also seen elsewhere :
but, these details apart, the work belongs entirely in both form
and spirit to the earlier period.
Alongside these survivals of an earlier day there were not
wanting signs of a new régime. In the Canute Song (c. 1167), for
instance, can be seen the popular verse striving in the direction of
foreign style. The song is of rude workmanship, but the effect
aimed at is not an alliterative one. Rime and assonance are
present, and the line, as compared with earlier examples, will be
seen to reveal definite attempts at hammering out a regular rhythm.
1 Ann. Min. Winton. Anglia Sacra, 1, 289.
se. g. “If thou dost harbour sorrow, let not thine arrow know it; whisper it but
to thy saddle-bow, and ride abroad with song. "
* Cf. O. E. Chronicle, 975, 1036.


## p. 220 (#240) ############################################

220
Early Transition English
In Cantus Beati Godrici (before 1170) is visible a similar grop-
ing after the new style. The matter dealt with is interesting as
anticipating, in some sort, the Virgin cult of the early thirteenth
century. The writer, Godric, was an Englishman who, first a
merchant, became subsequently a recluse connected with Carlisle
and, latterly, with Durham. Three small fragmentary poems have
been handed down connected with his name, one of them, it is
alleged, having been committed to him by the Virgin Mary as he knelt
before the altar. The fragment beginning Sainte Maria Virgine is
the best of the three. The rhythm, the rimes and, also, the strophic
form were clearly suggested by Latin verse, but the diction is
almost entirely of native origin. In Paternoster, a work which
appeared about the same date, or later, in the south, may be
seen a definite advance in carrying out the new artistic notions.
It is a poem of some 300 lines, embodying a lengthy paraphrase of
the Lord's Prayer, each sentence of the prayer affording a text for
homiletic treatment. The work is notable as being the earliest
example of the consistent use of the short riming couplet in
English. The underlying influence is clearly that of some French
or Latin model. The diction is native, but it is used with Latin
simplicity; the lack of verbal ornament marks a striking departure
from the earlier English manner.
By far the most important and interesting work of this period,
however, is Poema Morale. It is interesting in itself, interesting
also in the influence it exercised upon later writers, and its popu-
larity is fairly established by the seven MSS which survive,
though it might also be added that the most recently discovered
of these copies? , being, apparently, due to a different original
from that of the others, affords additional proof that the work
was widely known. The writer opens his sermon-poem in a
subjective vein. He laments his years, his ill-spent life, and exhorts
his readers to pass their days wisely. He alludes to the terrors
of the last judgment. Hell is depicted in all the colours of the
medieval fancy, and the joys of heaven are touched with corre-
sponding charm. And so the reader is alternately intimidated
and allured into keeping the narrow way. All this, of course, is
well-worn material. The Old English work Be Domes Daege had
handled a similar theme. The terrors and glories of the hereafter
had inspired many earlier English pens, and the poet, in fact,
specifically states that part of his descriptions were drawn from
Anna C. Panes, A newly discovered Manuscript of the Poema Morale, Anglia, III
(XVIII), pp. 217–38.
henvorn material omg the narrow mo alternately int


## p. 221 (#241) ############################################

Poema Morale
221
books (cf. 1. 224). But his treatment of the subject has much that
is new. It shows real feeling, though there are also the usual
conventionalities; the poem contains ripe wisdom and sage advice.
If the description of hell is characteristically material, heaven,
on the other hand, is spiritually conceived. The verse-form is also
interesting. Here, for the first time in English, is found the
fourteener line, the catalectic tetrameter of Latin poets. The
iambic movement of that line is adapted with wonderful facility
to the native word-form, accent-displacement is not abnormally
frequent and the lines run in couplets linked by end-rime. The
old heroic utterance is exchanged for the paler abstractions of the
Latin schools, and the loss of colour is emphasised by the absence
of metaphor with its suggestion of energy. A corresponding gain
is, however, derived from the more natural order of words; and, in
general, the merits of the poem are perhaps best recognised by
comparing its workmanship with that of the songs of Godric and
by noting the advances made upon Old English forms in the direc-
tion of later verse.
Mention has already been made of the presence of foreign
influences in certain of the twelfth century Homilies. Corre-
spondences with the homiletic work of Radulfus Ardens of Ac-
quitaine (c. 1100) and of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090—1153) point
to the employment of late Latin originals. Certain quotations in
these Homilies are also taken from Horace and Ovid-an excep-
tional proceeding in Old English works, though common in writings
of the eleventh and twelfth centuries'; and thus the inference is clear
that here Aelfric is not the sole, or even the main, influence, but
that this is rather supplied by those French writers whose religious
works became known in England after the Conquest. The influence
of the same Norman school of theology is, moreover, visible in the
Old Kentish Sermons (1150—1200). They are, in reality, transla-
tions of French texts, and signs of this origin are preserved in the
diction employed, in the use of such words as apierede, cuuenable
and others.
The latter half of the twelfth century was a period of experiment
and of conflicting elements. It was a stage necessarily unproductive,
but of great importance, notwithstanding, in the work of develop-
ment. Older native traditions lived on; but access had been obtained
to continental learning, and, while themes were being borrowed
from Norman writers, as a consequence of the study of other
Vollhardt, Einfluss der lat. geistlichen Litt. auf einige kleinere Schöpfungen der
engl. Vebergangsperiode, pp. 6—18.


## p. 222 (#242) ############################################

222
Early Transition English
French works, the riming couplet and the septenarius had by this
time been adopted, and an alien system of versification, based on
the regular recurrence of accent, seemed in a fair way of being
assimilated. With the attainment of a certain amount of pro-
ficiency in the technique of the new style, the embargo on literary
effort was, in some degree, removed, and the literature of the first
half of the thirteenth century forthwith responded to contemporary
influences. The age became once more articulate, and the four
chief works of the time are eloquent witnesses of the impulses
which were abroad. Ormulum is representative of purely re-
ligious tradition, while the Ancren Riwle points to an increased
interest in the religious life of women, and also, in part, to new
mystical tendencies. Layamon's Brut, with its hoard of legendary
fancy, is clearly the outcome of an impulse fresh to English soil ;
while The Owl and the Nightingale is the herald of the love-theme
in England.
It must be conceded, in the first place, that the general literary
tone of the first half of the thirteenth century was determined by
the prevailing power of the church and the monastery. The intel-
lectual atmosphere of England was mainly cleric, as opposed to
the laic independence which existed across the Channel; and
this difference is suggested by the respective traits of contempo-
rary Gothic architecture in England and in France. From the
eleventh to the thirteenth centuries the power of the pope, so far
as western Europe was concerned, was at its height. National
enthusiasms aroused by the crusades played unconsciously into
the papal hands, and, during this time, more than one pope deposed
a ruling monarch and then disposed of his dominions. Theology
was the main study at the newly-founded universities of Paris and
Oxford; it dominated all learning. And, whereas the church,
generally, had attained the zenith of its power, its influence in
England was visible in the strong personalities of Lanfranc and
Anselm, while the religious revival under Henry I and the coming
of the friars at a later date were ample evidence of the spirit of
devotion which was abroad.
But literature was not destined to remain a religious monotone:
other and subtler influences were to modify its character. The
twelfth century renascence was a period of popular awakening,
and vigorous young nations found scope for their activities in
attempting to cast off the fetters which had bound them in
the past. As the imperial power declined, individual countries
wrested their freedom, and, in England, by 1215, clear ideas had


## p. 223 (#243) ############################################

"
Literary Revolt of the Thirteenth Century 223
been formulated as to the rights of the individual citizen. This
groping for political freedom found its intellectual counterpart
in France, not only in the appearance of secular littérateurs
but also in that school of laic architects which proceeded to
modify French Gothic style? . In England, it appeared in a de-
liberate tendency to reject the religious themes which had been
all but compulsory and to revert to that which was elemental in
man. Fancy, in the shape of legend, was among these ineradicable
elements, long despised by erudition and condemned by religion ;
and it was because the Arthurian legend offered satisfaction to
some of the inmost cravings of the human heart, while it led the
way to loftier ideals, that, when revealed, it succeeded in colouring
much of the subsequent literature. The Brut of Layamon is,
therefore, a silent witness to a literary revolt, in which the
claims of legend and fancy were advanced anew for recognition in
a field where religion had held the monopoly. And this spirit of
revolt was further reinforced by the general assertion of another
side of elemental man, viz. that connected with the passion of
love. France, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, had been
swept by a wave of popular love-poetry which brought in its wake
the music of the troubadours. Germany, in the twelfth century,
produced the minnesingers. The contemporary poets of Italy
were also love-poets, and, at a slightly later date, Portugal, too,
possessed many of the kind. This general inspiration, originating
in France and passing over the frontiers on the lips of the
troubadours (for, in each country, the original form of the popular
poetry was one and the same%), was destined to touch English soil
soon after 1200. Though it failed for some time to secularise
English poetry, it imparted a note of passion to much of the
religious work; and, further, in The Owl and the Nightingale
religious traditions were boldly confronted with new-born ideas,
and the case for Love was established beyond all dispute.
The religious writings of the time may be divided into four
sections according to the aims which they severally have in view.
The purport of the first is to teach Biblical history; the second
to exhort to holier living ; the third is connected with the religious
life of women; the last with the Virgin cult and mysticism.
Of the several attempts at scriptural exposition Ormulum is
the most considerable. The power of literary appeal displayed
in this work is, intrinsically, of the smallest. Its matter is not
1 E. S. Prior, History of Gothic Art in England, pp. 21—2.
? A. Jeanroy, Les origines de la poésie lyrique en France au Moyen-âge.
foi


## p. 224 (#244) ############################################

224
Early Transition English
attractive, its movement is prodigiously monotonous, its very
correctness is tiresome; and yet it has an interest of its own,
for, in its way, it helps to fill in the details of the literary picture
of the time. It was probably written in the first decade of the
thirteenth century in the north-east midlands. Its author, Orm, was
a member of an Augustine monastery in that district, and, in re-
sponse to the wishes of his "bro perr Wallterr," he undertook to turn
into English paraphrases all the gospels for the ecclesiastical year
as arranged in the mass-book, and to add to each paraphrase an
exposition for English readers. The work, as projected, entailed a
treatment of 243 passages of Scripture: the result, as extant,
embodies only one-eighth of the plan-thirty paraphrases with
the corresponding homilies. In his translation of the scriptural
text Orm faithfully followed his original; for the matter of the
homiletic sections he drew mainly on the Commentaries and
Homilies of Bede, though, occasionally, he appears to have con-
sulted the homiletic work of Gregory as well as the writings of
Josephus and Isidore. It has been usual to point to the works of
Augustine and Aelfric as among the sources; but definite reasons
have been advanced for discountenancing this view. Traces of
originality on the part of Orm are few and far between. Encouraged
by the spirit of his originals, he occasionally essays short flights of
fancy; and instances of such ventures possibly occur in Il. 3710,
8019, 9390. In a work so entirely dependent as this is on earlier
material it is not strange to find that the theology was already out
of date. Orm is orthodox; but it is the orthodoxy of Bede. Of later
developments, such as the thirteenth century mysticism, he has not
a sign. He combats heresies such as the Ebionite (L. 18,577) and
the Sabellian (L. 18,625), which had disturbed the days of Bede but
had since been laid to rest. In his introduction appear Augustinian
ideas concerning original sin; but of the propitiation theory as set
forth by Anselm there is no mention. His dogma and his erudition
are alike pre-Conquest; and, in this sense, Orm may be said to stand
outside his age and to represent merely a continuation of Old
English thought. Again, he is only following the methods of the
earlier schools in his allegorical interpretation. He is amazingly
subtle and frequently puerile in the vast significance which he gives
to individual words, even to individual letters. Personal names
and place-names furnish him with texts for small sermons, and
the frequently indulged desire to extract hidden meanings from
the most unpromising material leads to such an accumulation of
1 G. Sarrazin, Englische Stud. vi, 1–27.


## p. 225 (#245) ############################################

Ormulum
225
strained conceits as would have made the work a veritable gold-
mine for seventeenth century intellect. Most illuminating as to
this fanciful treatment is his handling of the name of Jesus
(1. 4302). Of the human and personal element the work contains but
little. The simple modesty of the author's nature is revealed when
he fears his limitations and his inadequacy for the task. Otherwise,
the passionless temperament of the monk is felt in every line as
the work ambles along, innocent of all poetic exaltation, and given
over completely to pious moralisings. He shows a great regard
for scholarly exactitude; but this, in excess, becomes mere pedantry,
and, indeed, his scruples often cause him to linger needlessly over
trifles in the text and to indulge in aimless repetitions which prove
exhausting. As a monument of industry the work is beyond all
praise. Its peculiar orthography, carefully sustained through 10,000 con
long lines, is the joy of the philologist, though aesthetically it is open
to grave objection. By his method of doubling every consonant
immediately following a short vowel, Orm furnishes most valuable
evidence regarding vowel-length at a critical period of the language.
It is doubtful whether he was well advised in choosing verse of any
kind as the form of his ponderous work; but it must, at least,
be conceded that the verse which he did adopt—the iambic
septenarius-was not the least suitable for the purpose he had in
view. It was the simplest of Latin metres, and Orm's mechanical
handling certainly involves no great complexities. He allows
himself no licences. The line invariably consists of fifteen syllables
and is devoid of either riming or alliterative ornament. The
former might possibly, in the author's opinion, have tended to
detract from the severity of the theme; the latter must have
appeared too vigorous for the tone desired. Except for his versi-
fication, Orm, as compared with Old English writers, appears to
have forgotten nothing, to have learnt nothing. Equally blind to 4! . Moe
the uses of Romance vocabulary and conservative in thought, werin ;
Orm is but a relic of the past in an age fast hurrying on to new
forms and new ideas.
Other attempts at teaching Biblical history are to be found in the
Genesis and Exodus poems and in the shorter poems called The
Passion of Our Lord and The Woman of Samaria. In the Genesis
and Exodus poems may be seen a renewal of the earlier method of
telling Bible stories in “londes speche and wordes smale. ” They
are probably by one and the same author', who wrote about 1250
1 Fritzsche, Angl. v, 42—92, and Ten Brink, History of English Literature, Vol. I,
Appendix F.
| K L I. CH, XI.
15


## p. 226 (#246) ############################################

226 Early Transition English
in the south-eastern Midlands. Their theme comprises Israelitish
history down to the death of Moses. But the poet did not write
from the Biblical text; his work is founded almost wholly on
the Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor, although the first 600
lines appear to be drawn from some other source, while in 11. 78 ff.
a reminiscence of Philippe de Thaon's Comput is found. The poet's
aim is to tell a plain story, and it is the simple human items upon
which he concentrates. He avoids all show of moralising, and
consistently passes by the quotations with which his original was
abundantly fortified. In each, the earlier epic style has given way
to the more business-like methods of the riming chronicle, and both
works are written in a short riming couplet of excellent workman-
ship. They are of considerable importance in the history of English
prosody, since in them the principles upon which that prosody
is based clearly emerge. The line is based upon feet rather
than accents, and studied variations in the arrangement of the feet
produce melody of inconceivable variety in the accentual system
with its unlicensed particles. The other two poems deal with New
Testament history. The Passion is a sketch of the life of Christ
with details added concerning the later persecutions under Nero
and Domitian. It is, confessedly, a set-off to current narratives
of Karlemeyne and the Duzeper. The Woman of Samaria deals
with the episode of Christ's meeting with the woman at the
well, and, as in the previous poem, the suitable septenarius is
employed
The corresponding section of hortatory writings is of mixed
character. It comprises both verse and prose, and its effects are
produced in divers manners. Sometimes it is by satire in which
prevailing vices are specifically arraigned, elsewhere by stock
devices for terrifying evil-doers; or, again, the method may be
the less aggressive one of allegorical teaching. All these writings
have but one aim, that of inculcating holier living. Beginning with
the satires, we have in Hwon holy chireche is under uote a short
poem in septenars, in which the evils of simony within the church,
and the general batred of the church without, are lamented. Sinners
Beware, a more ambitious effort in six-line stanzas (aabaab), is
directed against the age generally, though worldly priests, a
rapacious soldiery, cheating chapmen and haughty ladies are the
types directly aimed at. And, again, in a Lutel Soth Sermun
-a poem in septenars—bad brewers and bakers, priests' wives and
illicit lovers like Malkin and Jankin are railed against. While
thus assailing the vices of certain types and classes the writers


## p. 227 (#247) ############################################

131
The Bestiary
227
frequently follow up their indictment with the argument of terror,
after the fashion of Poema Morale. Material for thundering of
this sort lay ready to hand in medieval compositions connected
with the subjects of doomsday, death and hell, such as the Old
English Be Domes Daege, The Address of the Soul to the Body and
The Vision of St Paul. In the poem called Doomsday and in the
work On Serving Christ the first of these themes is logically,
pursued. The clearest use of The Address motive appears in the
poem Death, the sequence of ideas observed in The Address being
here preserved', while, in addition, the theme is slightly developed.
Other reminiscences of the same motive also appear in the frag-
mentary Signs of Death and in Sinners Beware (11. 331 ff. ). Of
The Vision of St Paul traces are clearly seen in The XI Pains of 1
Hell. The depicting of hell was a favourite medieval exercise,
and The Vision is found in several languages. The archangel
Michael is represented as conducting St Paul into the gloomy
abode, and Dante's journey under Vergil's guidance is merely a
variation of this theme. The Vision can be traced in the twelfth
century homily In Diebus Dominicis, where sabbath-breakers
are warned. In The XI Pains of Hell—a poem in riming
couplets—the treatment is modified by the addition of the popular
Address element. A lost soul describes the place of torment
for St Paul's benefit, whereas in The Vision the description
proceeds from the apostle himself.
Besides satire and arguments of terror, allegory was employed
for the same didactic end, notably in the Bestiary, An Bispel
(a Parable) and Sawles Warde, each of which was based on a Latin
original. The Bestiary is founded on the Latin Physiologus of one
chemist!
Thetbaldus, though earlier specimens had appeared in Old English
and Anglo-French. Of the thirteen animals dealt with, twelve e
are taken from the work of Thetbaldus, the section relating to
the dove from Neckam’s De Naturis Rerum (1, 56). The method
of teaching is venerable but effective; the habits of animals
are made to symbolise spiritual truth. The work does not,
however, represent much originality, though the metrical form
is a blending of old and new. Its six-syllable couplet is de- x the ine
rived either from the Latin hexameters of the original or from
Philippe de Thaon's couplet, with which it is identical. But the
treatment is far from regular; alliteration, rime and asson-
ance are promiscuously used, and syllabic equivalence is but
.
* Mod. Lang. Notes (1890), p. 193.
15_2


## p. 228 (#248) ############################################

228
Early Transition English
imperfectly apprehended. Occasionally delightful movements are
obtained such as exist in
Al is man so is tis ern,
wuldė ge nu listen,
old in hisė sinnes dern,
or he bicumes cristen:
And tus he newed him dis man,
Panne he nimex to kirke,
or he it bidenken can,
hise egen weren mirkel.
But the whole seems to point to artistic inconsistencies rather
than whimsical handling, though the work is interesting as showing
English verse in the process of making. The second work, An
Bispel, is a free translation of Anselm's De Similitudine inter
Deum et quemlibet regem suos judicantem. This prose parable
relates and explains God's dealings with mankind under the simile
of a feast held by a king, to which are invited, by means of five
messengers, both friend and foe. The English adapter adds certain
details, notably the incident of the five messengers, who are in-
tended to represent the five codes of law. The Sawles Warde,
a more pretentious allegory of much the same date, is based upon
a Latin prose work of Hugo de St Victor, the elements of which
were suggested by St Matthew, xxiv, 43. Wit (judgment) is lord of
a castle (the soul of man). His wife (Will) is capricious, and the
servants (the five senses) are hard to govern. He therefore needs
the assistance of his four daughters (the four cardinal virtues,
prudence, strength, temperance and righteousness); but the
good behaviour of his household is ultimately assured by the
appearance of two messengers, Fear (messenger of death), who
paints the terrors of hell, and Love of Life, who describes
the joys of heaven. The writer shows some originality in his
treatment, and the allegory in his hands becomes rather more
coherent and convincing; his characters are more developed, and
certain dramatic touches are added here and there. The same
motive appears in a short contemporaneous poem called Wil and
Wit. Other didactic methods which call for brief mention are
those in which the joys of heaven are persuasively described, as,
for instance, in the poems Long Life and The Duty of Christians,
or in which the dialogue form is used for the first time, as in Vices
and Virtues (c. 1200)—"a soul's confession of its sins, with reason's
description of the virtues. ”
1 Ll. 88–95. tis ern, this eagle. dern, secret. or, ere. tus, thus. egen, eyes.
De anima, eto. (Works, Bk. IV, chs. 13—15. ) See Vollhart, Einfluss, etc. ,
pp. 26 ff.


## p. 229 (#249) ############################################

Lives of the Saints
229
The third section of the religious writings of this period is
wholly concerned with the religious life of women. The twelfth
century, the golden age of monasticism, witnessed also an increased
sympathy with convent life; and this is evident not only from the
letters of Ailred, but also from the increasing frequency with which
legacies were left to convent communities, and from the founding
of such an order as that of St Gilbert of Sempringham? Before
the Conquest religious women had been by no means a neglig-
ible quantity. The revival of interest in their cause, at this
later date, was part of that impulse which had inspired, on
the continent, the mystical writers St Hildegard of Bingen, St
Elisabeth of Schönau and the philanthropic zeal of the noble
Hedwig. In the thirteenth century, the convent of Helfta in
Saxony was the centre of these tendencies; and, though it cannot
be said with certainty that England produced any women-writers,
yet the attention to practical religion and mystical thought, which
had been the subjects of zeal abroad, are tolerably well represented
in the writings for women in England.
Hali Meidenhad and the Lives of the Saints are connected
with this movement by the incitement they furnish to convent life.
The former, an alliterative prose homily, is based on the text of
Psalm xlv. 10; but the methods of the writer are entirely wanting
in that gentle grace and persuasion which are found elsewhere. He
sets forth his arguments in a coarse, repellent manner. Where
others dwell on the beauty of cloistered affection, he derides
rather gracelessly the troubles of the married state; and, if these
troubles are related with something like humour, it is of a grim
kind and easily slides into odious invective. Maidenly ideals are
exalted in more becoming fashion in the Lives of the Saints, which
appeared about the same date. They consist of three rhythmical
alliterative prose lives of St Margaret, St Katharine and St Juliana,
based on Latin originals. Saintly legends had revived in England
in the early thirteenth century, and were already taking the place
of the homily in the services of the church. With the later
multiplying of themes a distinct falling-off in point of style became
visible. Of the three lives, that of St Katharine is, in some
respects, the most attractive. As compared with its original,
the character of the saint becomes somewhat softened and refined
in the English version. She has lost something of that impulsive-
ness, that hardy revengeful spirit which earlier writers had regarded
as not inconsistent with the Christian profession. The English
L. Eckenstein, Woman under Monasticism, pp. 213 ff.


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230
Early Transition English
fe
adapter also shows some idea of the art of story-telling, in re-
moving certain superfluous details. But, in all three works,
sufficient horrors remain to perpetuate the terrors of an earlier
age, and, in general, the saintly heroines are more remarkable for
stern undaunted courage of the Judith type than for the milder
charms of later ideals. Their aim however is clear—to glorify the
idea of the virgin life.
Besides these, there are certain works in which definite instruc-
tion as to the secluded life is given for the guidance of those who had
already entered upon that career. Early in the thirteenth century
the Latin Rule of St Benet (516) was adapted for the nuns of
Winteney. The version is clearly based on some masculine text,
for occasional masculine forms' are inadvertently retained in the
feminine version. A chapter is also added “concerning the priests
admitted to a convent" (LXII). The aim of the Ancren Riwle
(anchoresses' rule) is of a similar kind; but this is a work which,
owing to its greater originality, its personal charm and its complete
sympathy with all that was good in contemporary literature, stands
apart by itself as the greatest prose work of the time, and as one
of the most interesting of the whole Middle English period. It
may, in the first place, be assumed that the English version is the
original one, though French and Latin forms are found, and that it
appeared in the south of England in the first quarter of the century.
The question of authorship is still unsolved. Richard Poore, bishop
of Salisbury (1217—29) and founder of its cathedral, is credited
with it, and Tarrent in Dorsetshire is regarded as the site of the
anchorhold. The aim of the work is to provide ghostly counsel
for three anchoresses, i. e. religious women, who, after a period of
training within a nunnery, dedicated themselves to a secluded life
outside. These recluses often lived in a slight dwelling attached to
a church; and such may have been the conditions of these “three
pious sisters. " The work incidentally throws much light upon the
life within an anchorhold, upon the duties of the inmates, the out-
sisters and maids, and their sundry difficulties, whether of a business,
domestic, or spiritual kind. The admonition imparted was not
without precedent. As early as 709 Aldhelm, in his De Laudibus
Virginitatis, had depicted the glories of the celibate life, and about
1131–61 a letter (De vita eremitica) was written by Ailred of
Rievaulx to his sister, dealing with similar matters; since this
latter work is quoted in the Ancren Riwle, while the general
arrangement of both is the same, there can be little doubt of a
1 Cf. zearowne, 139. 2, eto.


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Ancren Riwle
231
certain degree of indebtedness. The treatise opens with a preface,
which summarises the contents; sections I and viII refer to
external matters, to religious ceremonies and domestic affairs;
sections II–VII to the inward life. The work has much that is
medieval commonplace, an abundance of well-digested learning,
borrowings from Anselm and Augustine, Bernard and Gregory, and
illustrations which reveal a considerable acquaintance with animal
and plant lore. The author also betrays those learned tendencies
which gloried in subtle distinctions. There is the ancient delight
in allegorical teaching : Biblical names are made to reveal hidden
truths: a play upon words can suggest a precept. And, along-
side of all this, which is severely pedantic, there is much that
is quaint and picturesque. Traces are not wanting of a vein
of mysticism. Courtly motives occasionally receive a spiritual
adaptation, and, here and there, are touches of those romantic
conceptions which were elsewhere engaged in softening the severity
of religious verse. The writer, then, is possessed of the learning
of the age, its methods of teaching, its mystical and romantic
tendencies. And yet these facts are far from altogether explain-
ing the charm of the work, its power of appeal to modern readers.
The charm lies rather in the writer's individuality, in his gentle
refinement and lovable nature. The keynote of the whole work
seems to be struck in that part of the preface where the sisters,
belonging as they did to no order of nuns, are instructed to claim
for themselves the order of St James. The work is animated by
the "pure religion and undefiled” of that apostle, and is instinct
with lofty morality and infinite tenderness. The writer's instruc-
tions as to ceremonies and observances are broad-minded and
reasonable; his remarks on love reveal the sweetness and light
which dwelt in his soul. The prose style from the historical stand-
point is of very great merit. The ancient fetters are not quite
discarded; there is still constraint and a want of suppleness; but
there are also signs that the limping gait is acquiring freedom.
The style, moreover, is earnest, fresh and touched with the charm
of the sentiment it clothes. Above all it is naïve: the writer
occasionally reaches the heart, while provoking a smile.
Closely connected with this woman-literature are those works
which belong to the Virgin cult and those which are touched with
erotic mysticism. This section is the outcome of those chivalrous
ideals which had dawned in the twelfth century, to soften the
harshness of earlier heroics and to refine the relation between
the sexes. These new ideals coloured the atmosphere of court


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232
Early Transition English
life, and the exaltation of woman in its courtly sense found a
counterpart in the revived Virgin cult, just as knightly wooing
suggested the image of the wistful soul striving for union with the
Divine. This erotic mysticism, which was to appear again in Crashaw,
Herbert and Vaughan, was merely a phase of those allegorical
tendencies, of which Dante was the culmination. The pious soul
yearning for a closer walk with God now expressed its longings in
the language of earthly passion, just as earlier mystics had tried
to interpret the Divine nature by the use of more commonplace
allegory. And this development was encouraged by the mysticism
of Hugo de St Victor, which influenced both Paris and Oxford;
while elsewhere on the continent a school of nuns was producing
works laden with passion and breathing an intense emotion.
The Virgin cult is represented in the first place by the prose
Lofsong of ure Lefdi, a fairly close translation of the poem Oratio
ad Sanctam Mariam of archbishop Marbod of Rheims (1035—
1138), and by On God Ureisun of ure Lefdi (A Good Orison of
our Lady), a poem in riming couplets, for which no Latin original
has yet been found, though it contains suggestions of the work of
Anselm? . Other examples of the kind are found in The Five Joys
of the Virgin, a poem in eight-line stanzas; A Song to the Virgin,
with Latin insertions; A Prayer to Our Lady, a sinner's repentance
in interesting four-line stanzas; A Prayer to the Virgin, in similar
form. Another side of the Virgin cult is represented by the Middle
English versions of the Compassio Mariae and the Assumptio
Mariae, which appeared about the middle of the century. The
former is a west Midland translation of a Latin hymn, and the
work is artistically interesting as illustrating how metrical innova-
tion was made. The six-line strophe and the riming formula are
taken over from the original, though this identity of form prevents
a literal rendering. The treatment is otherwise not without
originality. Alliterative ornament is added, and use is made of a
popular piece of medieval fancy, namely, the comparison of Christ's
birth to a sunbeam passing through glass and leaving it unstained”.
Assumptio Mariae rests on a venerable legend of the ascension
of Mary; it is of eastern origin, but is found in Latin, German
and French versions. The English version is written in short
couplets, and appears to be of an eclectic kind. The episode of
unbelieving Thomas is taken from a Latin version; otherwise the
poem is strongly reminiscent of Wace’s Vie de la Vierge Marie.
1 Vollhardt, Einfluss der lat. geistlichen Litt. eto. , pp. 41 ff.
: A. Napier, E. E. T. S. CIII, pp. 75 ff.


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The Luve Ron
233
Erotic mysticism is best represented by the Luve Ron of Thomas
de Hales, a delightful lyric in eight-line stanzas, written in the
earlier portion of the reign of Henry III, and, probably, before 1240
judging from the allusion in ll. 97 ff. The writer was a native of
Hales (Gloucester), who, after a career at Paris and Oxford, attained
considerable distinction as a scholar. The main theme of the work
is the perfect love which abides with Christ and the joy and peace
of mystic union with Him. The poem is full of lofty devotion and
passionate yearning ; its deep seriousness is conveyed through a
medium tender and refined, and it is, in short, one of the most
attractive and impassioned works of the time, as the following
extracts suggest :
Maydė her þu myht biholde,
bis worldes luue nys bute o res,
And is by-set so felė-volde,
Vikel and frakel and wok and les.
beos beines bat her weren bolde
Beoþ aglyden, 80 wyndes bles:
Under molde hi liggep colde,
And falewep so dop medewe gres.
Hwer is Paris and Heleyne
bat weren so bryht and feyre on bleo:
Amadas, Tristram, and Dideyne
Yseudė and alle peo:
Eotor wib his scharpė meyno
And Cesar riche of wor[1]des feo?
Heo beob iglyden ut of þe reyno,
So þe schef is of be cleol.
The three prose prayers, The Wohung of ure Lauerd, On Lofsong
of ure Louerde and On Ureisun of ure Louerde, belong to the
same category as the Luve Ron. They are written in an allitera-
tive prose? , which aimed at obtaining the emphatic movement of
Old English verse, and is most effective in recitation, though the
absence of metrical rules brings about a looser structure. All
three prayers consist of passionate entreaties for closer communion
with Christ, and the personal feeling revealed in them illustrates
the use of the love motive in the service of religion. But
to interpret the love terminology literally and to connect these
prayers solely with the devotions of nuns, as one critic suggests,
seems to involve a misapprehension of their tone, for it infuses
i Ll. 9–16; 65—72. O res, passing, transitory. frakel, base. wok, feeble.
les, false. bles, blast. meyne, might. feo, wealth. schef of þe cleo, corn from the
hill-side.
Cf. Hwa ne mei luue pi luueli leor ?


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Early Transition English
into their being an earthliness quite out of keeping with their
rarefied sentiment. Further, these works have some points in
common, occasionally literal agreement, with the Ancren Riwle
and Hali Meidenhad, but, in all probability, it is in the works of
Anselm and Hugo de St Victor that the sources must be sought,
in which case all these English works are distinct and separate
borrowings from the same Latin originals”.
We come now to that section of the literature of the period
which represents a revolt against established religious themes.
It has been seen that religious writers occasionally made use of
the motives of legend and love, and from this it might be inferred
that these were the directions into which the general taste was
inclining. At all events, these are the lines along which the
literary revolt began to develope, Layamon, in the first instance,
setting forth in the vernacular legendary material which came to
hand. Layamon's Brut, written early in the thirteenth century,
has come down in two MSS (A text and B text), belonging
respectively to the first and second halves of the thirteenth
century. The later version has numerous scribal alterations:
there are many omissions of words and passages, the spelling is
slightly modernised, riming variants are introduced and foreign
substitutes take the place of obsolescent native words. The author
reveals his identity in the opening lines. He is Layamon, a priest
of Ernley (Arley Regis, Worcester), on the right bank of the
Severn, where he was wont to "read books” (i. e. the services of the
church). Layamon's ambitious purpose was to tell the story of
Britain from the time of the Flood. He is, however, content to
begin with the story of Troy and the arrival of Brutus, and to end
with the death of Cadwalader, 689 A.