Write a note on the metrical romances in Middle English

Q.Write a note on the metrical romances in Middle English

Or,

What’s the historical significance of the Romances of Middle English?

Or,

From your study of the Middle English romances what idea of the mediaeval outlook on life have found.

 

Ans: Middle English Romances were of French origin and were influenced by the poetry of the troubadour trovers of French. The ideal of courtly love was the legacy of the former, while heroic adventure came from the latter. These romances in verse written and sung by the minstrels.

 

Roughly speaking, these romances were fashioned from the four cycles of romance that existed in France, with embroideries introduced by the native minstrels. These four cycles are:

(1) The Matter of Britain. This deal with stories of King Arthur and his round Table. Some of the notable of these romances are Sir Tristrem, Arthur and Merlin, sir Gawain and the green knight, the finest of the group.

(2) The Matter of Rome  i.e., those dealing with the classical themes like the exploits of Alexandra the Great and the siege of Troy.

(3) The Matter of France, i.e., those dealing with the legends of Charlemagne , the French national hero. These have little value. Rauf Coilyear and alliterative romance, sir Ferumbras, The siege of Milan belong to this group.

(4) The Matter of England, those dealing with the English history  and his heroes. Have lock the Dane, king Horn, Guy of Warwick, Richard Coeur de Lion are of this group. The most important of the cycle is that of King Arthur and the Knights of his Round Table and the search for Holy Grail. King Arthur, a legendary king of Britain and his knights went out in search of it and has thrilling adventures and experiences. The Arthurian Saga consisted of the main story of King Arthur and multitudes of romance tales concerning the different knights of his Round Table, Chiefly Sir Galahad, Gawain and Launcelot.

 

The secular strain is heard in some lyrics of the time. These mainly sing of natural beauty and of devoted love. The love songs – Alison and spring –may be mentioned as the fine pieces of verse on the beauty of nature and the impulse it gives to love.

In the literature of medieval England, the medieval romances occupy a distant place. They indicate the advancement of secular English literature, under the influence of French literature, and presages the great Chaucerian poetry which is to follow soon.

 

 

Q. Write a short note on the works of john Dryden

Dryden is the greatest literary figure of the restoration and in his work we have an excellent reflection of both the good and the evil tendencies of the age in which he lived. If we can think for a moment of literature as canel of water, we may appreciate the figure that Dryden is the “lock by which the waters of England poetry we let down from the mountains of Shakespeare and Milton to the plain of Pope.”

 

Dryden’s poetry early poem” Lines on the death of Lord Hastings” is written in the form of heroic couple strongly reminiscent of Donne’s Anniversaries. His heroic stanzas on the death of Oliver Cromwell and his Annus Mirabilies possess dignity and finish but lock of the strength and flow of his greater poems. The poetical craftsmanship is shown in celebration of Charles all’s return. His poem on Oliver Cromwell consists of thirty-seven quatrains. They are uninspired and stiff but they show force and material dexterity.

The restoration of monarch in 1660 is a remarkable event in the political history of England. One of the most notable effects of the restoration is the rise of the verse Safire as an effective force in England. They are appeared a galaxy of major verse satirist who contributed to the form and raised it to the great height of dignity of them, in the satirical literature of England Dryden remains an unsurpassable and unforgettable name. Dryden is “no more an enemy to the offender than the physician to the patient- - - - -” Dryden made his mark as a satirist with the publication of “Absalom and Achitophel” in 1681. It was followed in quick succession by “The Medal”. Mac-Flecknoe, Lowell comments “as a satirist and a pleader in verse that Dryden is best known.”

 

What is Restoration? Give at least three features?

 

The period from 1660-1688 mark significant changes in the moral and literary value on the one hand and political orders on the other in England. It is designed as the Athe of the Restoration. In the year 1660, the history of English politics take a term. In the year Charles II was brought to the throne from which his father had been driven. Same scholars believe that the restoration of King Charles II marks the decisive birth of the new world. This is actually termed as Restoration.

 

However, the Restoration of Charles II to the English throne brought about a revolution in English literature with the Restoration, there was a violent reaction against the strict rule of Crowell the puritan restraints.  It prominently shows some characteristic features:

(a)           Rise of Neo-Classicism:- In the Literature of the Restoration era, we note a sudden breaking away from Old standard. Just as society broke away from the restraints of Puritanism, the authors of the time turned to the great classical writers, in particular to the Latin writers for guidance and inspiration.

(b)          French Influence: More specially, it was the French influence which pre-dominated the Restoration Period. Charles II had passed most of the time in French and when he returned to England, he brought with them a new admiration for French literature.

(c)            An Age of Prose and Reason: Mathew Arnold has rightly commented,” The Restoration marks the real moment of birth of our modern English Prose”. The critical temper of the age the growth of science, religious and political controversies fostered the rise of prose.

(d)          Heroic Couplet: Another significant contribution of the age is the growth and perfection of the heroic couplet.

 

 

How did pre-romantic poets treat the nature.

 

Pre-romantic period witnessed a tendency among the poets to natural and romantic themes. There was what Is called a “Return to Nature.”In all of them, a real feeling for the world of leaves and flowers brought them with a growing interest in country setting apart from the town setting. Poets like Thomson, Gray, Goldsmith, Crabb, Collins, and Cowper showed their interest nature. “The Return to Nature” was invigorated by the world of leaves and flowers. “The Season” (1730) by Thomson for the first time is precursors in which nature instead of remaining sub ordinal is made the ceufral theme. The seed soon by Thomson grew and flourished in the poetry of Gray, Collins, Burns, Cowper, gray’s famous Elegy Written in a Country Church yard is characterized by a romantic melancholy or nature. Crabb sings of the sorrows and suffering of the peasants with great feeling and realism.

 

But all these naturalistic treat only of the external charm   of the nature. They do not yet give her a separate life and soul. But nature as expression of spirit, the eye of all things natural and supernatural was lets for great romantic poetic Wordsworth and Cowper  Chaucer has quite appropriately dedicated Gower the little “moral Gower”  a title that has struck to him ever since.

 

 

Alliterative Revival:

 

                                  ‘Alliterative Revival’ is a movement that takes the initiatives to revive uses alliteration as a rhetorical device to enhance the beauty of literature. For some time after the Norman Conquest, the alliterative character of Old English poetry was forgotten and poets of 12th and 13th centuries learned it from French poetry. Then there was a Splendid revival of the alliterative verse in the greatest and most popular of English Arthurian romances, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and three other poems called Pearl, Purity, and Patience found in the same manuscript, B.M. MS Cotton nerd. Perhaps they were written by the same poet known as the ‘Gawain-poet’. 

Alliterative Poetry

 

i> Pearl

ii> Purity

iii> Patience

iv> Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

 

The Metrical Romances: 

 

                                           These romances were French in Origin. The word ‘romance’ up to our mental vision of battlement castle of ladies in the castles and waiting for their brave knight to come to rescue them, knights riding for in search of gloriously impossible adventures. The characters are fair ladies in warriors in armor, giants, dragons, and various enemies of church and state. 

 

 

Jean Bodel classifies metrical romances into three categories:

• The Matter of Rome
• The Matter of France
• The Matter of Britain

There is, however, another important category of the romance of which Bodel said nothing – that is 

• The Matter of England. And also
• Miscellaneous Romances.