GEOFFREY CHAUCER: THE CRITICAL HERITAGE VOLUME 1, 1385–1837 THE CRITICAL HERITAGE SERIES General Editor: B.C.Southam The Critical Heritage series collects together a large body of criticism on major figures in literature Each volume presents the contemporary responses to a particular writer, enabling the student to follow the formation of critical attitudes to the writer’s work and its place within a literary tradition The carefully selected sources range from landmark essays in the history of criticism to fragments of contemporary opinion and little published documentary material, such as letters and diaries Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included in order to demonstrate fluctuations in reputation following the writer’s death GEOFFREY CHAUCER VOLUME 1, 1385–1837 THE CRITICAL HERITAGE Edited by DEREK BREWER London and New York First Published in 1978 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003 Compilation, introduction, notes and index © 1978 Derek Brewer All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data ISBN 0-203-19619-8 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-19622-8 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0–415–13398–X (Print Edition) General Editor’s Preface The reception given to a writer by his contemporaries and nearcontemporaries is evidence of considerable value to the student of literature On one side we learn a great deal about the state of criticism at large and in particular about the development of critical attitudes towards a single writer; at the same time, through private comments in letters, journals or marginalia, we gain an insight upon the tastes and literary thought of individual readers of the period Evidence of this kind helps us to understand the writer’s historical situation, the nature of his immediate reading-public, and his response to these pressures The separate volumes in the Critical Heritage Series present a record of this early criticism Clearly, for many of the highly productive and lengthily reviewed nineteenth- and twentieth-century writers, there exists an enormous body of material; and in these cases the volume editors have made a selection of the most important views, significant for their intrinsic critical worth or for their representative quality—perhaps even registering incomprehension! For earlier writers, notably pre-eighteenth century, the materials are much scarcer and the historical period has been extended, sometimes far beyond the writer’s lifetime, in order to show the inception and growth of critical views which were initially slow to appear In each volume the documents are headed by an Introduction, discussing the material assembled and relating the early stages of the author’s reception to what we have come to identify as the critical tradition The volumes will make available much material which would otherwise be difficult of access and it is hoped that the modern reader will be thereby helped towards an informed understanding of the ways in which literature has been read and judged B.C.S For Helena Contents INTRODUCTION BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE THE PRINCIPAL EDITIONS OF CHAUCER’S ‘WORKS’ UP TO 1933 30 33 Comments 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 EUSTACHE DESCHAMPS, Great Ovid, c 1385 Love praises the philosophical poet, c 1387 JOHN GOWER, Venus sends greetings, c 1390 JOHN LYDGATE, The Gothic poet, c 1400–39 HENRY SCOGAN Moral Chaucer, c 1407 JOHN WALTON, Olde poysees clerk, 1410 THOMAS HOCCLEVE, The disciple’s commemoration, 1412 JOHN METHAM, Chaucer’s ease, 1448–9 JOHN SHIRLEY, Gossip Chaucer wrote for all those that be gentle of birth or of conditions, c 1450 GEORGE ASHBY, Embelysshing oure englisshe, c 1470 ROBERT HENRYSON, Who knows if all that worthy Chaucer wrote was true?, c 1475 Inventory of Sir John Paston II, 1475–9 UNKNOWN, Word and thing, c 1477 WILLIAM CAXTON, High and quick sentence, 1478, 1483, 1484 STEPHEN SURIGO, Chaucer’s Epitaph, 1479 JOHN PARMENTER’S Will, 1479 WILLIAM DUNBAR, Golden eloquence, c 1503 STEPHEN HAWES, Virtuous, or glad and merry, 1506 JOHN SKELTON, Some sad storyes, some mery, c 1507 GAVIN DOUGLAS, Venerabill Chauser, all womanis frend, 1513 WILLIAM TYNDALE, To corrupt the minds of youth, 1528 SIR BRIAN TUKE, Poets purify the dialect of the tribe, 1531 SIR THOMAS ELYOT, A discord, 1533 JOHN LELAND, A life for Chaucer, c 1540 UNKNOWN, Chaucer wrote much to us good, c 1540 SIR THOMAS WYATT, Noble scorn, c 1540 An Acte, 1542–3 THOMAS USK, 39 42 43 44 59 61 62 64 64 67 69 70 71 74 77 80 81 81 83 86 87 87 90 90 96 97 98 CONTENTS 28 29 PETER BETHAM, Plain English, 1543 Chaucer our English Homer, 1545, 1552, 1563 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 98 ROGER ASCHAM, PETER ASHTON, Chaucer’s words out of use, 1546 EDMUND BECKE, The Bible versus Canterbury Tales, 1549 THOMAS WILSON, The fine Courtier will talke nothyng but Chaucer, 1553 ROBERT BRAHAM, Divine Chaucer lived in a barbarous age, 1555 WALTER STEVINS, Wittie Chaucer, c 1555 BARNABY GOOGE, Olde Ennius, 1565 JOHN FOXE, Industrious and fruitfully occupied in liberal studies, 1570 GEORGE GASCOIGNE, Riding Rhyme, 1575 UNKNOWN, Classic and heavenly, c 1575 MEREDITH HANMER, Good decorum observed, 1576 GEORGE WHETSTONE, Sir Chaucer’s jests, 1578 EDMUND SPENSER, Dan Chaucer, well of English vndefiled, 1579, 1590–6, 1599 (1609) EDWARD KIRKE, Loadestarre of our Language, 1579 SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, Chaucer had great wants, 1581 JOHN HIGINS, Quaint, 1585 GABRIEL HARVEY, Exquisite artist and curious universal scholar, c 1585, c 1600 WILLIAM WEBBE, Profitable counsel mingled with delight, 1586 RICHARD (?) PUTTENHAM, The naturall of his pleasant wit, 1589 THOMAS NASHE, Chaucer liued vnder the tirranie of ignorance, 1589, 1952 SIR JOHN HARINGTON, Flat scrurrilitie, 1591 ROBERT GREENE (?), Poets wits are free, 1592 FRANCIS BEAUMONT, Ancient learned men in Cambridge, 1597 GEORGE CHAPMAN, Newe wordes, 1598 THOMAS SPEGHT, In most vnlearned times being much esteemed, 1598, 1602 RICHARD VERSTEGAN, Mingler of English with French, 1605 RICHARD BRATHWAIT, An excellent Epanodos, 1616 HENRY PEACHAM, A delicate kernell of conceit and sweet invention, 1622 viii 99 101 102 102 103 104 106 107 109 110 112 114 114 117 118 120 120 124 126 127 129 130 135 140 140 144 145 148 CONTENTS 57 58 (?), Obsolete, c 1630 Believed the Bible to be as true as Chaucer, JONATHAN SIDNAM BRIAN WALKER, 1633 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 EDWARD FOULIS, Time can silence Chaucer’s tongue, 1635 SAMUEL PEPYS, A very fine poet, 1663, 1664 THOMAS SPRAT, A close, naked, natural way, 1665 SIR JOHN DENHAM, Morning Star, 1668 EDWARD PHILLIPS, Facetiousness and real worth, 1675 THOMAS RYMER, Will not speak of Chaucer, 1674 JOSEPH ADDISON, In vain he Jests, 1694 JOHN DRYDEN, God’s plenty, 1700 ALEXANDER POPE, The pleasure of Chaucer, 1711, 1728–30 JOHN HUGHES, Native Strength, 1715 DANIEL DEFOE, Not fit for modest Persons to read, 1718 AMBROSE PHILLIPS (?), Bright images, 1720 JOHN DART and WILLIAM THOMAS, Thus Chaucer painted Life, 1721, 1722 LEONARD WELSTED, Obsolete and unintelligible, 1724 JOHN ENTICK—THOMAS MORELL, No hyperbole, 1736 THOMAS MORELL, Noble fiction, 1737 ELIZABETH COOPER, Soaring in high Life, pleasant in low, 1737 GEORGE OGLE, Dramatic Characterisation, 1739 ASTROPHIL, Meer fictions for realities we take, 1740 THOMAS SEWARD, Gross expressions, 1750 SAMUEL JOHNSON, His diction was in general like that of his contemporaries, 1755, 1765 JOSEPH WARTON, Very sudden transitions from the sublime to the ridiculous, 1756, 1782 THOMAS GRAY, Circumstances alter, c 1760 RICHARD HURD, Gothic and Neoclassical, 1762 THOMAS WARTON, The lustre and dignity of a true poet, 1774 THOMAS TYRWHITT, Intelligence and satisfaction, 1775 UNKNOWN, Wrote like a gentleman, 1778 JOHN PINKERTON, Chaucer and the Scots, 1786 WILLIAM GODWIN, Integrity and excellence of the author’s disposition, 1803 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, The lucid shafts of reason, 1805, 1822 LORD BYRON, Obscene and contemptible, 1807 ix 149 151 152 153 155 157 157 158 159 160 172 173 174 175 176 186 187 193 198 203 205 207 208 212 215 220 226 230 233 233 237 247 249 328 Chaucer: The Critical Heritage vol the more modern schools (various as they are) of novelists… (p 178) In the incidents of his satirical tales Bocaccio, though he may be less offensively gross, is more dangerously licentious, than our English poet; and for this he offers us no apology: indeed he quietly informs us that he writes ‘per cacciar la malinconia delle femmine.’ In the poetical defence which Chaucer offers for his sins on the score of decency, although he establishes no case for himself, yet he proves that there was a class of his readers, amongst whom we will hope were included the fair sex, who would be scandalised at the immoral and indecent incidents he relates; thus indirectly showing that the moral tone of society in England, whether owing to the reformers and puritans, or to whatever other cause, was higher in his day, as it has been ever since, than that of Italy It should be observed, however, in defence of Italy in a subsequent age, that Ariosto apprehended similar objections to his ribaldry, as will appear from the following line of Sir John Harrington’s translation, which I give in preference to the original, because it approaches very nearly to the words of Chaucer— Turn o’er the leaf, and let this tale alone With regard to the literary merits of the respective fictions of Chaucer and Bocaccio, the distinctions lie on the very surface of the subject In the choice of the occasion; in the variety and delicate discrimination of the characters, and in the vivacity and dramatic effect with which the whole plot is conducted; in all these respects, Bocaccio, when compared with Chaucer, is but a mere shadow As a lively and agreeable fabulist, the Italian, especially in his serious tales, has the advantage Prolixity, a fault common to all our old poets, is one of the principal blemishes of Chaucer’s serious productions With Bocaccio, the subject of the ‘Knight’s Tale’ forms, as it should do, a separate and a considerable poem: and such, indeed, was its original destination in the hands of the English poet As it now appears, and as one of a long series of tales, we cannot help feeling, with the Knight who relates it, I have got wot a largé felde to ere The field, indeed, large as it is, has been cultivated, in parts at least, with triumphant success by Chaucer, though, with his usual modesty, he complains, in the person of his Knight, that ‘weke ben the oxen in my plow;’ yet we cannot help suspecting, that, when once the verdant spots have 329 Chaucer: The Critical Heritage vol been discovered, the reader will scarcely be persuaded to revisit any others In one respect, however, the ‘Knight’s Tale’ is admirably qualified for the situation which it occupies amongst the tales of the Pilgrims; though removed in time and scene to the heroic ages of Greece, it is throughout, in the hands of Chaucer, a feudal and chivalric story But this aptness of the tale to its relater is common to the whole series, with the exception of those related by the poet himself It is, perhaps, the intention of Chaucer, by the expressions in the Miller’s Prologue, already alluded to, to excuse himself from the charge of ribaldry, on the ground that the Miller’s, and similar tales, are suited to the characters who relate them This, indeed, is the ground of defence which Francis Beaumont, in his letter to Speght, endeavours to establish for the poet; and certainly the characters of the ‘cherls’ would have been less fully illustrated, had they been exhibited as drawling out the doleful ‘tragedies’ of the Monk, or the monastic legends of the Nonne or the Prioresse Some of the most pleasing instances of this attention to dramatic effect, are to be found in the tales which turn upon popular superstitions, and supernatural agency: in the fairy tale of the Wife of Bathe, with its picturesque and appropriate introduction; and in the tales of magic related by the Squier and the Frankelein, all of which are admirably adapted to the notions and characters of the respective narrators (p 317) These qualities [i.e delicacy of sentiment, freedom from ribaldry, polish, harmony of versification, description of landscape] in which the modern school of poetry has indisputably surpassed the more ancient, are, it will be said, but the minor graces and embellishments of the art; the dress rather than the graceful figure itself; the Dutch school of painting compared to the Roman This degeneracy, if it must be so called, has been the constant attendant of art in refined ages, but more especially, perhaps, of poetry Poetry is the natural growth of a rude and uncultivated soil; and in that soil, unfettered by the mechanical difficulties of sculpture of painting, it soon springs to maturity In an age entirely destitute of letters, poetry is of necessity the only literature Metre is required to aid the memory; and even metaphors, which, in after ages, are the work of art and design, are at first adopted from poverty of language There is a youth also, and youthful feelings, in nations, as well as in individuals In rude ages, the mind is unoccupied by more serious pursuits; the heart is not yet rendered callous by the vices, the follies, and intrigues of over-grown cities; and the pastoral, roving, or adventurous life of enterprise 330 Chaucer: The Critical Heritage vol in which infant nations are engaged, at once supplies themes for the bard, and disposes the minds of his audience to a rapturous admiration of his song Hence that truth and simplicity, natural only to a rude period, but affected, and therefore displeasing, in an age of comparative refinement Hence the impracticability, either of imitating or translating the sublimity of Homer, or of modernising the simple diction of Chaucer Poetry, in short, in order to progress, must be born again What, then, are the characteristics by which the literature of the present age is most advantageously distinguished from that of almost all preceding periods? Next to a purer tone of morals, the foremost of all advantages, must be reckoned that critical and antiquarian spirit in historical research, which we recognise but indistinctly, and only in some rare instances, amongst ancient classic authors; and which, in our country, does not appear before the days of Leland, scarcely before those of Camden, Selden, and Dugdale This laborious exactness, fostered as it has been, as well by religious controversy as by the study of physical science, can only be rendered available, through the facilities afforded to us, towards the preservation and inspection of ancient documents, by the art of printing Wherever we cast our thoughts abroad, and into whatever train of ideas we may fall, in comparing the present with the past intellectual condition of the world, to this powerfully effective art, and to its consequences, by one channel or another, we must inevitably revert; and, indeed, if there is one circumstance more than any other, in which the literature of the present age displays an undoubted pre-eminence over that of every preceding period, it is not, generally speaking, so much in the advancement, as in the diffusion, of knowledge Index The index has been divided into two parts The first index contains material on Chaucer: biographical details, literary qualities and themes and his works The second index contains general topics, people, books and periodicals GEOFFREY CHAUCER Biographical details acquaintances, 59, 92, 108, 125, 143, 181–2, 202, 215, 227, 240, 277, 319, 327 betrayal of friends, 42, 180–1, 277 birthplace and date, 91, 109, 142, 201, 277, 288, 298 children, 53, 95, 96, 149, 181, 202 contemporaries, 2–3, 5–7, 39, 92, 108, 125, 215, 240, 246, 277, 319 court life, 20, 23, 142, 176–7, 178, 184, 227, 298 culture of his day, 25–6, 88, 93, 104, 174, 188, 198, 206, 208, 217, 226, 238, 291–2 death and burial, 75, 331 95–6, 109, 111, 115, 202, 277, 288 education, 22, 91, 142–3, 176, 201, 277 epitaph, 11, 75, 78–80, 96, 109 exile, 179–80, 277 fame, 44, 65, 66–7, 82, 111, 115, 116, 247, 268, 318, 319–24 financial affairs, 202 foreign travel, 91, 142, 143, 165, 176, 179–80, 201–2, 227, 277 houses, 178, 181 interests, 183 astronomy and astrology, 105–6, 149, 162 mathematics, 91, 149 legal training, 142–3, 176, 201 marriage, 158, 182, 202, 277 332 Index old age, 181, 182, 202 parentage, 142, 145, 201, 298, 314 patronage, 7, 44–5, 57, 95, 143, 158, 165, 166, 177, 181, 202, 277, 299, 314 personality, 182, 183, 194, 218, 252, 258–9, 277–8 physical description, 177, 182, 194 political activity, 165, 178–81, 277 portrait, 62, 64, 96–7, 177 prison, 42, 143, 180, 277 readership, 14, 23, 66, 80, 97, 102, 103, 149, 151–2, 153, 235, 315 religion, 91, 107, 166, 178–9, 259, 277 sisters, 95 social setting, 7, 65, 66, 226–7, 229, 233, 239, 295–6, 297 social status, 23, 26, 91, 95, 142, 143, 233, 298–9 youth, 182 Literary qualities adverse criticism, 13, 86, 214, 249, 268, 323 allegory, 213, 290–1, 324, 325 allusion, 231 and barbarism of his day, 8, 157, 159, 188, 206, 208, 226, 229, 230, 238, 240–1,244, 292, 321 antiquity, 8, 13–14, 20, 22, 25, 27, 35, 149, 152, 157, 158, 160, 168, 169, 172, 173–4, 175, 187, 197, 206, 249, 289, 298, 322 artistry, 193 beauty, 86, 184, 242, 274, 279, 281, 320 brevity, 71, 72, 164, 246, 279 characterisation, 160, 163, 166, 174, 185–6, 204–5, 206, 212, 226, 229, 237, 242, 250–9, 260, 262, 272, 280, 305–6, 311, 315, 316, 324 cheerfulness, see genial nature childlikeness, 26, 291 ‘classic’ status, 9, 151–2 comedy, see humour Compared with ancient authors, see general index: Ennius;Homer; Virgil Compared with Scottish poets, 233–6 decency, see earthiness decorum, 13, 122, 130, 302; see also general index description, 124, 138, 163, 173, 177, 197, 227, 265, 272, 273, 278–9, 280, 291, 320, 324–5 landscape, 185, 250, 281, 325 nature, 183, 185–6, 281, 315, 325 dialect, 309 diction, 26, 163, 209, 268, 271, 280, 298, 320, 324 drama, 292, 299, 300, 301–2, 305, 309–10, 311, 316, 324, 326, 329 dramatic unity, 205, 333 Index 209, 262, 263, 279, 299, 306, 309, 311 earthiness, 14, 15, 23, 62, 87, 114, 117, 126, 130, 132–3, 135, 137–8, 153, 166, 167, 171, 174, 177, 207, 214, 234, 244, 245, 248, 249, 298, 302–3, 318, 324, 328–9 eloquence, 72, 86, 125, 138, 155 Englishness, 26, 27, 128, 229, 294–5, 315 fantasy, 13, 24, 25, 228, 237, 290–1 father of English literature, 3, 19, 44, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 63, 68, 75, 81, 93, 106, 119, 125, 126, 142, 145, 149, 164, 185, 208–9, 227, 238, 277, 291, 294, 297, 300, 305, 313 fictionality, 19, 69, 152–3, 206, 224, 300 French influence, 91, 92, 145, 185, 209, 227, 233, 236, 288, 290, 313, 314 Gaiety, see genial nature genial nature, 7, 44, 45, 138, 177, 252, 289, 291, 292 genius, 2, 6, 202, 206, 227, 295, 313 gothic qualities, 8, 15, 23, 24, 25, 118, 124, 160, 212, 226, 284, 288, 289, 306 historical record, 7, 174, 206, 227, 295–7, 326 human qualities, 5, 45, 121, 133, 243, 300–1 humour, 8, 9, 11, 13, 23, 27, 52, 83, 121, 122, 125, 130, 153, 158, 173, 174, 198, 206, 214, 226, 228, 236, 237, 248, 260, 272, 283, 301, 311, 324 illusion, 19, 193, 206 imagery, 175, 217, 325 incident, 241 indecency, see earthiness innovations, 6–7, 189, 209 inspirational source, 114, 115, 295 invention, 7, 69–70, 88, 149, 175, 202, 275, 288 irony, 13 Italian influence, 92–3, 162, 171, 172, 204, 227, 233, 236, 277, 282, 313, 316 language, 6, 8, 13, 18, 19–20, 26, 44, 46, 49, 63, 72, 76, 81, 83, 85, 88, 92–3, 117, 120, 142, 155, 159, 163, 169, 207, 227, 290, 294, 315, 320, 322–3 intelligibility, 19–20, 22, 24, 26, 99, 102, 136–7, 152–3, 158, 167–8, 169–70, 174, 185, 187, 197, 206, 208, 289–90 purity, 3, 114, 116, 136–7, 140, 143, 145, 158, 161, 162, 202, 209, 217, 243, 294, 315, 322 learning, 7, 88, 121, 126, 143, 162, 164, 177, 183, 202, 227, 334 Index 300, 320 literalism, 275;see also general index metaphor, 279 metre, 21–2, 36, 45, 64, 76, 88, 110, 127, 128, 164–5, 168, 184–5, 189–90, 191, 192, 194–6, 209, 217, 218–19, 227, 232–3, 243, 268–70, 283, 289, 294–5, 309, 313, 320, 321, 324 final -e, 21–2, 165, 168, 184–5, 189–90, 192, 196, 217, 219, 269, 283, 289, 297 mixed genres, 13, 160, 168, 212–13, 214, 244–5 modesty, 11, 15 moral values, 7, 11, 23–4, 43–4, 60, 82, 87, 90, 99, 100, 102, 113, 138, 146, 166, 302–3, 308 musicality, 195 naivety, 27, 267, 268, 291, 324 narrative skill, 6, 25, 54, 88, 173, 176, 237, 242, 246, 309, 311 naturalness, 20, 88, 133, 160, 164–5, 173, 182, 243, 278, 279, 291, 301, 316 obsolete language, see antiquity pathos, 206, 237, 272, 279, 282, 320, 323, 324 plainness, 26–7, 88, 99, 101–2, 103, 125, 177 plots, 211 poetic primacy, 6, 46, 48, 49, 50, 52, 55, 56, 58, 59, 68, 75, 112, 117, 122, 125, 126, 131, 138, 143–4, 201, 202, 230, 238, 248 poetry, 5, 236 prolixness, 245–6, 279, 291, 328 prose, 289 realism, 6, 8, 14–15, 16, 23, 50–1, 72–3, 160, 163–4, 166, 175, 185–6, 212, 215, 216–17, 224, 226, 243, 272, 273, 275, 277–8, 284, 300, 316;see also general index reputation, 318, 319–24 rhetoric, 6, 7–8, 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 61, 63, 81, 147, 268, 320 rhymes, 64, 127, 209 rhythm, see metre ribaldry, see earthiness romance, 24, 290–1 satire, 8, 13, 166, 174, 184, 189, 198, 205, 213, 218, 228–9, 283, 315–16, 317, 324, 326–7 secular nature, 9, 11, 87, 90, 102, 112, 113, 319 sensibility, 242, 282, 289 sententiousness, 8, 82, 138 simplicity, 19, 26, 27, 125, 164, 175, 195, 237, 271 sincerity, 279–80 storytelling, see narrative skill strength, 275, 315, 320 style, 26–7, 125, 138, 295, 313, 320 terrible beauty, 281–4 335 Index variety, 5, 6–7, 8, 13, 15, 26, 39, 41, 45, 50, 54, 59, 76, 83, 121, 124, 132–3, 138, 166, 206, 262, 283, 288, 291, 299, 302, 311, 312 versification, see metre vocabulary, 19–20, 120, 136–7, 140, 158, 163, 207, 227, 271, 280, 290 wit, 163–4, 177 Themes chivalry, 224, 228–9, 246, 306, 329 class distinction, 280, 288, 311 general, 6, 15, 43, 61–2, 288 Jews, 303–4 love, 61–2, 177, 184, 241, 243, 271, 317, 319 nature, 183, 288, 300, 315 poetic justice, 16 religion, 107–9, 166, 315–16, 317, 319 science, 105–6, 121, 124, 149 women, 218,z 256, 308 Works 1532 ed (Thynne), 8, 33–4, 38, 42, 100, 140 1542 ed., 34, 38 1550 ed., 34 1561 ed., 34–5, 38 1598 ed (Speght), 22, 30, 31, 35, 141, 160, 167 1602 ed (Speght), 14, 22, 35, 38, 195 1687 ed., 14, 22, 35–6 1721 ed (Urry), 21, 36, 191 192, 194, 196, 218 1737 ed (Morell), 37, 193–7 1775 ed (Tyrwhitt), 37, 230–3 1894 ed (Skeat), 37 1933 ed (Robinson), 37 apocrypha, see spurious works early prints, 21, 33, 76–7, 88–9, 94, 167, 218, 292, 297–8 editorial changes, 76–7, 88–9, 94, 140–1, 187–97, 213, 218, 230–3, 297–8 further editions, 33–7 mss., 33, 231, 270 modernisations, 1, 13, 17, 20, 150–1, 152, 161, 168, 169–70, 172, 307 spurious works, 34, 35, 36, 37, 95 translations, 5, 8, 20, 41, 42, 51, 66, 67, 75, 86, 93, 99, 126, 149, 162, 236, 313, 321 ‘A.B.C.’, 35, 53, 141 ‘Adam Scriveyn’, 21, 33 ‘Anelida and Arcite’, 54, 65 ‘Beryn’s Tale’ (spurious), 36 ‘Boece’, 77, 94 ‘The Book of the Duchess’, 53, 94, 138, 325 ‘The Canterbury Tales’, 8, 9, 13–14, 17, 21, 37, 49–51, 54, 58, 74, 76–7, 82, 83, 94, 98, 102, 122–4, 127, , 137, 146, 149, 166, 167, 177, 189, 204, 219, 230, 237, 250–60, 336 Index 299, 311, 318–19, 326–9 ‘The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale’, 121, 123, 124, ‘The Clerk’s Tale’, 122, 203–5, 256, 282 ‘The Cook’s Tale’, 36 ‘The Franklin’s Tale’, 121, 122, 124, 254, 307–9 ‘The Friar’s Tale’, 122, 252, 311 ‘General Prologue’, 17, 250, 302, 325, 326 ‘The Knight’s Tale’, 14, 37, 44, 65, 97, 119, 122, 185, 192, 193, 247, 251, 278, 281, 306–7, 311, 324, 326 ‘The Manciple’s Tale’, 123, 255 ‘The Man of Law’s Tale’, 121, 122, 254, 324 ‘The Merchant’s Tale’, 122 ‘The Miller’s Tale’, 122, 124, 147, 255, 302–3, 311 ‘The Monk’s Tale’, 59, 123, 252–3 ‘The Nun’s Priest’s Tale’, 121, 124 ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’, 200, 202, 253 ‘The Parson’s Tale’, 18, 99, 100, 121, 123, 124, 254, 311, 327 ‘The Physician’s Tale’, 254 ‘The Prioress’s Tale’, 251–2, 256, 282, 304, 311 ‘The Reeve’s Tale’, 122, 235, 255, 302–3, 311 ‘Retracciouns’, 36, 130, 318 ‘The Shipman’s Tale’, 123, 259 ‘The Squire’s Tale’, 36, 121, 122, 124, 158, 224, 228, 257 ‘The Summoner’s Tale’, 122, 253, 280–1, 311 ‘Tale of Melibee’, 54, 224 ‘The Tale of Sir Thopas’, 25, 97, 224, 228, 324 ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’, 14, 17, 19, 44, 60, 130, 147, 162, 166, 171, 214, 256, 258, 283, 311, 325 ‘Chaucer’s Dream’, see ‘Isle of Ladies’ (spurious) ‘The Cock and the Fox’, 162, 283 ‘The Complaint of the Blacke Knight’ (spurious) , 95, 325 ‘The Complaint of Mars’, 65, 66, 95 ‘The Complaint of Venus’, 65, 66, 95 ‘The Complaint unto Pity’, 95 ‘The Court of Love’ (spurious), 243 ‘The Cuckoo and the Nightingale’ (spurious), 175, 178 ‘The Death of Blanche’, see ‘The Book of the Duchess’ ‘L’Envoy de Chaucer Bukton’, 33 337 Index ‘L’Envoy de Chaucer Scogan’, 59–60 ‘The Flower and the Leaf’ (spurious), 35, 140, 172, 281, 291 ‘Gamelyn’s Tale’ (spurious), 36 ‘The House of Fame’, 8, 74, 75, 82, 86, 95, 155, 172, 195, 212, 228, 291, 312 ‘Isle of Ladies’ (spurious), 35, 138, 140 ‘Jack Upland’ (spurious), 35, 107, 141, 173, 318 ‘Legend of Good Women’, 44, 54, 55, 70–1, 94, 95, 123, 138, 177 ‘Palamon and Arcite’, 162, 169, 171–2, 246–7;see also, ‘The Knight’s Tale’ ‘The Parliament of Fowls’, 44, 53, 70–1, 95, 116, 292, 324, 325 ‘The Plowman’s Tale’ (spurious), 34, 123, 124, 178, 248, 255, 259, 318 ‘A Praise of Women’ (Spurious), 95 ‘The Romaunt of the · Rose’, 41, 53, 94, 121, 124, 126–7, 149 ‘Testament of Cressida’ (spurious), 34, 94 ‘Testament of Love’ (spurious), 34, 42–3, 95, 108, 123, 142, 143, 179, 181, 319 ‘A Treatise on the Astrolabe’, 91, 95, 104–6, 123, 162, 181 ‘Troilus and Criseyde’, 13, 17, 21, 43, 44, 46–8, 53, 69, 70–1, 82, 84, 94, 108, 119, 120, 123, 126–7, 138, 149, 150–1, 154, 162, 184, 241–7, 271, 272–5, 278, 326 GENERAL INDEX Addison, Joseph, 13, 159–60, 173 Alderson, W.L., 30, 36, 37, 187 Ariosto, Ludovico, 128, 129–30, 139, 212, 221, 224, 266, 324, 325, 327, 328 Arnold, M., 15–16 Ascham, Roger, 9, 18, 35, 90, 99–101, 112, 320 Ashby, George, 67–8 Ashton, Peter, 20, 101–2, 322 Astrophil, 19, 122, 123, 205–7 338 Index Atterbury, Bishop, 36 Bacon, Roger, 12, 299 Bagehot, W., 16 Bale, John, 91 Batten, Sir W., 153, 154 Beaumont, Francis, 135–9, 140, 189, 318, 329 Beaumont and Fletcher, 247, 300 Becke, Edmund, 102 Bell, John, 37 Berthelet, Thomas, 93 Betham, Peter, 20, 98–9, 101 ‘Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine’, 25, 291 Blake, William, 15, 160, 249–60 Boccaccio, Giovanni, 6, 11, 119, 161, 162, 167, 170–1, 204, 212, 216, 227, 246, 247, 263, 277, 282, 291, 309–10, 315, 316, 318, 326, 328 Boethius, 7–8, 42, 53, 61, 66, 67, 74, 94, 123, 319 Braham, Robert, 103–4 Brathwait, Richard, 5, 19, 145–8 Byron, Lord, 249 Cambridge University, 9, 14, 20, 22, 110, 114–15, 118, 124, 127, 130, 139, 142 Camden, William, 35 Campbell, Thomas, 24, 290–1, 292 Caxton, William, 7–8, 17, 21, 33, 74–7, 94, 96, 112, 231 Chapman, George, 140 Chaucer Society, 21 Chivalry, 221, 224–6, 327 Clifford, Sir Lewis, 39, 41, 178 ‘The Cobler of Canterburye’, 121, 123, 132 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 20, 24, 26, 284–90 Cooper, Elizabeth, 198–203 Cowley, Abraham, 13, 23, 168, 169, 323 Crabbe, George, 25, 260–7 Crawford, W.R., 30 Criticism change in 1600, 3, 9, 17 eighteenth century, 14, 19, 23 Gothic, 3, 5, 7, 11, 14, 115, 121 historical sense, 17, 25, 198–9, 242–3 Neoclassical, 1, 2, 3–5, 6, 8, 9, 10–11, 12, 13, 15, 16–17, 18, 24–5, 26, 35, 112, 115, 118, 121, 124, 130, 158, 160, 215, 220–6 nineteenth century, 24 rhetorical principles, 2, 4–5, 6, 7, 26 Romantic, 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24–7, 118, 215, 225–6, 237, 290, 313 seventeenth century, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 23 sixteenth century, 11 twentieth century, 24 Victorian, 1, Dante, 11, 15, 53, 119, 143, 161, 212, 227, 240, 277, 318, 325 Dart, John, 36, 176–86, 249 Decorum, 12–13, 112, 122, 137, 212, 213, 302–3 Defoe, Daniel, 174 Denham, Sir John, 157, 165, Deschamps, Eustache, 2, 5, 11, 33, 39–42 Dialect, 235 Dickens, Charles, 16 Douglas, Gavin, 8, 86, 234 339 Index Drama, 9, 209, 299–300, 317 Dryden, John, 159, 175 criticism, 2, 5, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 158, 160–72, 184, 189, 195, 203, 204, 208–9, 214, 241, 246, 294, 297 modernisations of Chaucer, 14, 20, 37, 154, 162, 168–70, 185, 204, 207, 213, 241, 247, 307 poetry, 173, 265, 312 Dunbar, William, 18, 20, 81, 234, 236 Dunnington Castle, 181 ‘Edinburgh Review’, 314 Edward III, 165, 176, 201, 298, 300 Elyot, Sir Thomas, 90 Empiricism, 12, 15 Englishry, see Patriotism Ennius, 100, 106, 119, 136, 163, 165, 203, 232 Entick, John, 187–9, 191–2, 193 Erasmus, Foulis, Edward, 152–3 Foxe, John, 11, 107–9, 318, 321 ‘The Free-Thinker’, 175 Galt, John, 267–8 Gascoigne, George, 21, 109–10 ‘Gawain’ poet, 2–3 Gilbert, W.S., 16 Godwin, William, 25, 237–47, 291 Googe, Barnaby, 99–100, 106 Gothic literature, 3–4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17–18, 24, 44, 45, 121, 198, 220–5, 285–9 Gower, John, 2, 7, 11, 43–4, 59, 61, 63, 68, 72, 81, 82, 83, 85, 91–2, 98, 108, 119, 122, 125, 126, 128, 130, 131, 133–4, 142, 173, 179, 201, 208, 209, 217, 227, 236, 243, 268, 290, 294, 300, 319 Granson, Oton de, 66 Gray, Thomas, 2, 21, 24, 215–20, 267–8 Greene, Robert, 130–5 Griffiths, D.D., 30 Hammond, E.P., 37 Hanmer, Meredith, 112–14 Harington, Sir John, 11, 23, 129–30 Hart, W.M., 16 Harvey, Gabriel, 11, 22, 114, 117, 120–4, 127 Hawes, Stephen, 8, 81–2, 320 Hazlitt, William, 15, 22, 24, 272–84 Henderson, A.C., 30, 36, 37, 187 Henry IV, 60, 95, 158, 165 Henryson, Robert, 7, 69–70, 241 Hetherington, J.R., 35, 37 Higins, John, 120 Hippisley, John, 27–8, 30, 316–30 Historical sense, 17, 25, 198–9, 242–3 Hobbes, Thomas, 12, 161 Hoccleve, Thomas, 18, 62–4, 96, 115, 178, 203, 217, 294, 300, 320 Homer, 99–100, 101, 128, 203, 206, 217, 225, 299, 300–1, 315, 317, 325 Hughes, John, 173–4 Humanism, 3–4, 8, 9, 18, 22, 340 Index 90, 118 Hurd, Richard, 17, 24, 25, 220–6 Hyperbole, 13, 189 Illusionist theory, 19, 203 ‘inkhorn terms’, 20, 99, 102, 103, 129, 322 Jews, 303 John of Gaunt, 66, 143, 158, 165, 166, 177, 178, 179, 202, 277, 298 Johnson, Samuel, 11, 13, 15, 17, 208–12, 226, 233, 266 Jonson, Ben, 10, 13, 300, 322 Keats, John, 31 Ker, W.P., 14 Kirke, Edward, 117–18 Kynaston, Sir Francis, 13, 17, 20, 152 Lamb, Charles, 260 Langland, William, 2, 11, 74, 198, 200–1 ‘Piers Plowman’, 2, 94, 113, 166, 200–1, 234, 249 Language, 4–5, 6, 12, 103, 136–7, 140, 187, 288–9, 293 Latin medieval culture, 3, 9, 93, 94, 127, 136, 173, 290 Leland, John, 34, 90–6, 142, 144, 320, 321 Literalism, 18–19, 24, 25, 26; see also Chaucer index Literature, critical concepts, Lorris, Guilleaume de, 290 Lounsbury, T 91 Lowell, J.R., 15 Lydgate, John, 2, 6–7, 8, 17, 18, 21, 23, 35, 44–59, 68, 70, 81, 82, 85, 104, 117, 121, 122, 123, 125, 126, 128, 136, 179, 188, 202–3, 206, 209, 215–18, 236, 268, 294, 300, 320 Machaut, Guillaume de, 11 Margaret, Countess of Pembroke, 177, 188 Mathias, T.J., 215 Mennes, Sir J., 14, 23, 153, 154, 157 Meres, Francis, Metham, John, 21, 64 Meun, Jean de, 149, 321 Milton, John, 6, 11, 12, 14, 17, 157, 160, 175, 212, 220–2, 289, 294, 313 Mimetic theories, 10, 12 Miskimin, A., 30 More, Sir Thomas, 101 Morell, Thomas, 21, 37, 187, 189–91, 193–7, 269 ‘Namby-Pamby’, see Phillips, Ambrose Nashe, Thomas, 127–9 National spirit, see Patriotism Nature, in poetry, 11–12, 15, 18, 281–2, 300 Neoclassicism, 1, 2, 3–5, 6, 8, 9, 10–11, 12, 13, 15, 16–17, 18, 24–5, 26, 35, 112, 115, 118, 121 124, 130, 158, 160, 215, 220–6 Nicolas, Sir Harris, 37 Nicolas of Lynn, 91 Nott, George, 22, 268–71 Occleve, see Hoccleve, Thomas Ogle, George, 160, 203–5 341 Index Oldys, William, 198 Origen, 95 Ovid, 5, 39, 41, 59, 106, 134, 137, 160–1, 162–4, 168, 184, 206, 290, 294 Oxford University, 22, 91, 92, 104, 118, 142, 208, 230 Parmenter, John, 80 Paston, Sir John, 7, 70–1 Patriotism, 26, 27, 161, 191, 304, 314–16 Peacham, Henry, 22, 148–9, 189 ‘Pearl’ poet, 11 Penn, Sir W., 153, 154 Pepys, Samuel, 14, 153–5 Peterhouse, Cambridge, 20, 22, 99, 101, 135, 140, 215 Petrarch, 92–3, 101, 119, 128, 143, 161, 162, 204, 212, 227, 277, 282, 318, 320 Philippa, Queen, 177 Phillips, Ambrose, 175 Phillips, Edward, 157–8 Pickering, William, 37 Pinkerton, John, 233–6 Poetic status, 6–7, 10, 26, 119, 121, 188 Poetry, functions, 10–11, 15, 125, 188, 264–5, 275–6, 329–30 Pope, Alexander, 14, 17, 23, 172–3, 186, 207, 213–14, 228, 265, 294, 312 Protestantism, 9, 11, 107–9, 304–5 Puttenham, George, 126 Puttenham, Richard, 21, 126–7, 219, 268, 318, 321 Pynson, Richard, 33 Realism, 10–11, 14, 15;see also Chaucer index ‘The Retrospective Review’, 292 Rhetoric, 4, 18, 22 Richard of Bury, 319 Richard II, 91, 95, 143, 165, 179 Robinson, F.N., 37 Romanticism, 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24–7, 118, 215, 225–6, 237, 290, 313 Roscoe, William, 312 Rowlands, Richard, see Verstegan, Richard Rymer, Thomas, 13, 158–9, 161, 323 St John’s College, Cambridge, Scogan, Henry, 7, 59–60, 92, 113, 294 Scott, Walter, 31 Scottish poetry, 233–6 Seward, Thomas, 207 Shakespeare, William, 22, 24, 175, 208, 237, 313, 324 Chaucerian echoes, 13, 253, 288, 289, 301, 306, 324 drama, 9–10, 11, 13, 210–12, 300 Gothic qualities, 16–17, 24, 222 sonnets, ‘Troilus and Cressida’, 272–5 Shelley, P.B., 11 Shirley, John, 7, 60, 64–7 Sidnam, Jonathan, 13, 17, 20, 149–51 Sidney, Sir Philip, 6, 8, 9–10, 11–12, 13, 17, 26, 35, 118–20, 122, 127, 159, 244, 322 342 Index Skeat, W.W., 37, 38, 42, 60 Skelton, John, 6, 8, 17, 20, 23, 83–5, 115, 185, 198, 320 Smith, Rev James, 23 Some, John, 91 Southern Henry, 25–6, 292 Southey, Robert, 26, 313 Speght, Thomas, 14, 20, 22, 27, 30, 35, 91, 140–4, 160, 298 Spenser, Edmund, 12, 20, 24, 35, 114–16, 117, 120, 124, 127, 128, 137, 160, 165, 173, 175, 189, 199, 221–3, 225–6, 266, 276, 289, 294, 313, 322, 323–4, 325 Sprat, Thomas, 12, 155–6, 195 Spurgeon, C.F.E., 1, 2, 13, 30–1 Stevins, Walter, 104–6 Stowe, John, 34–5 Strode, Ralph, 59, 92, 327 Surigo, Stephen, 77–80, 96, 115 Thomas, Timothy, 36, 176 Thomas, William, 36, 176–86 Thynne, Francis, 140 Thynne, William, 8, 33–4, 35, 42, 87, 88, 94, 100, 112, 119, 140, 189, 250, 297, 320, 321 Took, John Horne, 299 Tuke, Sir Brian, 8, 25, 34, 38, 87–90, 94 Tyndale, William, 87, 90 Tyrwhitt, Thomas, 22, 25, 35, 36, 37, 230–3, 235–6, 247, 269, 297, 298, 310, 326 Urry, John, 21, 22, 30, 34, 36, 37, 191, 192, 194, 196, 218, 241, 269 Usk, Thomas, 6, 42–3 Vernacular in literature, 3–4, 10, 44, 79, 85, 88, 92–3, 99, 106, 115, 119, 128, 136–7, 143, 155–6, 159, 161, 173–4, 243, 293, 318 Verstegan, Richard, 144–5, 322–3 Virgil, 8, 86, 93, 106, 117, 128, 137, 163, 213, 241, 315, 325 Vowel-shift, 24, 219–20, 298 Walker, Brian, 151–2 Walton, John, 7, 61–2 Warton, Joseph, 212–14 Warton, Thomas, 17, 21–2, 23, 25, 226–30, 236, 247 Webb, William, 124–5, 321, 322 Welsted, Leonard, 186–7 Wentworth, Thomas, 14 Westminster Abbey, 2, 75, 92, 109, 228 Whetstone, George, 114 Wickliff, see Wycliffe Wilson, Thomas, 20, 22, 102–3 Woodstock, 96, 109, 178, 181, 202 Wordsworth, William, 27, 247–8 Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 14, 22, 97–8 Wycliffe, John, 108, 166, 178–9, 243, 315, 327 Wynkyn de Worde, 33 ... French, 16 05 RICHARD BRATHWAIT, An excellent Epanodos, 16 16 HENRY PEACHAM, A delicate kernell of conceit and sweet invention, 16 22 viii 99 10 1 10 2 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 6 10 7 10 9 11 0 11 2 11 4 11 4 11 7 11 8 12 0... of the author’s disposition, 18 03 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, The lucid shafts of reason, 18 05, 18 22 LORD BYRON, Obscene and contemptible, 18 07 ix 14 9 15 1 15 2 15 3 15 5 15 7 15 7 15 8 15 9 16 0 17 2 17 3 17 4 17 5.. .GEOFFREY CHAUCER: THE CRITICAL HERITAGE VOLUME 1, 13 85 18 37 THE CRITICAL HERITAGE SERIES General Editor: B.C.Southam The Critical Heritage series collects together a large body