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LECTURE 1

ENGLISH LITERATURE BEFORE CHAUCER

English literature did not begin, as used to be said, with Chaucer. It began far back with the beginnings of the history of the English people on the continent of Europe, before bands of them had settled in the little island which was presently вскоре to become the home of the English race. Let's turn back to the ancient history of the English people to understand their culture and literature.

About three thousand years B. C. many parts of Europe, including the British Isles, were inhabited by a people, who came to be known as the Iberians because some of their descendants are still found in the north of Spain (the Iberian Peninsula). We do not know much about these early people because they lived in Britain long before a word of their history was written, but we can learn something from their skeletons, their weapons and the remains of their dwellings which have been found.

During the period from the 6th to the 3rd century B.C. a people called the Celts spread across Europe from the east to the west. More than one Celtic tribe invaded Britain. From time to time these tribes were attacked and overcome by other Celtic tribes from the Continent. Celtic tribes called the Picts penetrated into the mountains in the North; some Picts as well as tribes of Scots crossed over the Ireland and settled there. Later the Scots returned to the larger island and settled in the North beside the Picts. They came in such large numbers that in time the name Scotland was given to most of the country. Powerful Celtic tribes, the Britons, held most of the country; so the southern half of the island was named Britain after them. Today the words "Briton" and "British" refer to the people of the whole of the British Isles.

The Iberians were unable to fight back the attacks of the Celts who were armed with metal spears, swords, daggers and axes. Most of the Iberians were slain in the conflict; some of them were driven westwards into the mountains of what is now Wales and the others probably mixed with the Celts.

We know more about the Celts than about the earlier inhabitants of the island, because of the written accounts that exist. The Celts did not write down the events themselves. Other peoples who knew them described them in their books. The Greeks were the first to mention the British Isles. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus [ he'rodэtes] is called the Father of History wrote that in the 5th century B.C. the Phoenicians [ fi'niSien] used to come to the British Isles for tin which was used in making bronze. They called the British Isles the Tin Islands.

The earliest writer from whom we have learned much about the country and its inhabitants was Julius Caesar [ 'dzu:ljэs 'si:zэ], the famous Roman general, statesman and writer. In his Commentaries on the Gallic War, a book written in Latin, Julius Caesar describes the island and the Celts against whom he fought. He tells us that the Celts were tall and fair -skinned, blue - eyed with bright hair made brighter by thick washes слой of chalk. So weighted and stiffened жесткий was the hair that it stood out like a horse's mane. They wore long flowing moustaches but no beards. Сaesar writes that the Celts charged fiercely in the battle. Standing in their chariots, they rushed along the enimy's lines, waving their spears and uttering loud cries and driving the scythes against all who came within reach. Headhunters, they cut the heads off dead foes, hung them round their horses' necks, and then nailed them ti the walls of their houses, as hunters do with wild beasts. They were fond of horses. Celtic wives and daughters wore the the same clothes as their husbands did : tunic of blue, red and green. and they were as capable of violence as he. An historian of the 4th century wrote: " A whole band of foreigners could not manage a single Gaul if he called up his wife ...". Still, "husbands have power of life and death over their wives as well as their children." Caesar tells us. In their mode of life the British Celts differed little from the Celtic tribes of the Gauls [go:l] who lived on the Continent. In the 1st century B. C. they lived in tribes , and were ruled by chiefs whom all the tribesmen obeyed. The Celts had no towns; they lived in villages.

The Celts had a strange and terrible religion, called the Religion of the Druids. It seems to have been brought over in very early times from France, anciently called Gaul [go:l]. They worshipped Nature. They imagined the sky, the sun, the moon, the earth and the sea, to be ruled by beings like themselves, but much more powerful. They also believed in many nameless spirits who lived in the rivers, lakes, mountains and thick forests. They sacrificed not only animals, but also human beings to their gods. It is certain that the Druidical ceremonies included the sacrifice of human victims, and even the burning alive, in immense wicker cages, of a number of men and animals together. The Celts believed in another life after death. They were taught by priests called Druids that their souls passed after death from one body to another. The Druids lived near groves of oak trees which were considered to be sacred places. No one was allowed to come near without permission. The Druids were very important and powerful, sometimes more powerful than the chiefs. They built great Temples and altars, open to the sky, fragments of some of which are yet remaining. The Celts believed in Druids' magic power. They believed that the Druids were able to foretell the future and the Druids very often acted as prophets. The tribesmen often called upon the Druids to settle disputes. The druids could give orders to begin a battle or to put down arms and stop fighting. The Druids were also teachers and doctors for they were wiser than the other tribesmen. Wise women were also considered to be very important. There were women prophets, and women warriors who trained young men in arms; some women were made tribal chiefs and called queens. The Druids observed rwo festivals in each year. The former took place in the beginning of may, and was called Beltane or "fire of God". On this occasion a large fire was kindled on some elevated spot, in honour of the sun, whose returning beneficence [bi'nefisэns] благодеяния they thus welcomed after the gloom and desolation of winter. The other great festival of Druids was called "Samh' in", or "fire of peace", and was held on Hallowe'en (the eve of the first of Novermber), which still retains this designation(предназначение) in Scotland. On this occasion the Druids assembled in solemn conclave ['konkleiv] тайное совещание , in the most central part of the district. All questions , whether public or private, all crimes against person or property, were at this time brought before them for adjudication [э'dZudikeiSn] cудилище. With these judicial acts were combined certain superstitious usages, especially the kindling ['kindliN] разжигание of the sacred fire, from which all the fires in the district, which had been beforehand scrupulously['skru:pjulэsli] тщательно extinguished [iks'tiNgwiS] гасить, might be relighted This usage of kindling fires on Hallowe'en lingered['liNgэ] тянуться in the British islands long after the establishment of Christianity. The Bards were an essential part of the Druidical hierarchy ['haiэra:ki]иерархия. Thomas Pennant - (1726 -1798) ¹ says: "The Bards were supposed to be endowed with powers equal to inspiration. They were the oral historians of all transactions, public and private. They were also accomplished (превосходный) genealogists". Pennant gives a minute [mai'nju:t] подробный account of Eisteddfodau or sessions of the Bards and minstrels, which were held in wales for many centuries, long after the Druidical priesthood in its other departments became extinct (угасать). At these meetings none but Bards of merit were suffered(испытывать) to rehearse their pieces, and minstrels of skill to perform. Judges were appointed to decide on their respective abilities, and suitable degrees were conferrred. In the earlier period the judges were appointed by the Welsh princes, and after the after the conquest of Wales by commission from the kings of England. Yet the tradition is that Edward I, in revenge for the influence of the Bards in animating (воодушевлять) the resistance of the people to his sway(правление), persecuted them with great cruelty.

Lecture 2 The "Celtic Sagas" [

Like all the ancient peoples the Celts made up many legends about their gods and heroes. The legends were passed down from generation to generation. They were written down in the Middle Ages but they describe far older times when the tribal way of life predominated among the Celts. The chroniclers and writers translated the Celtic legends into Modern English and called them the "Celtic Sagas" ['sa:gэs].

The heroes of the Sagas and their adventures were imaginary. However, they give an idea of the Celts' way of life, occupations, tools, weapons, customs and religion.

The greatest hero of the Celtic heroic sagas was Cuchulainn[ 'ku:kulin]. The legends tell us that he lived in Ireland which was divided among several tribes. The tribes that lived in Ulster ['яlstэ] were ruled by the legendary King Conchobar

['kont Sэ ba:]. Many warriors gathered around the King of Ulster and there was none among them who was not a hero. Their exploits were those of giants. With one stroke of their favourite swords they beheaded hills for sport. When they sat down to meat, they devoured whole oxen. The gods themselves could hardly do better than the heroes of Ulster. But Cuchulainn was the greatest champion of them all. He was a demigod. When he was at the zenith of his strength, no one could look him in the face without blinking. The heat of his body melted the snow around him even thirty feet away. He turned red and hissed as he dipped his body into the sea. Cuchulainn was invincible in battle like Achilles [ э 'kil:z] and Heracles [ 'herэkli:z], two Greek heros.

While still a child, Cuchulainn's actions were already superhuman. Here is what the saga says about his childhood. "One day Cuchulainn played not far from the place where Cathbad [ 'kЙcbэd] the druid was instructing his class of older pupils. One of the pupils asked the druid whether he had anything special to say about the day. The druid replied:

"He who first takes arms this day shall be great and famous in arms above all of Ireland, and the stories of his deeds will be told for all time."

Cuchulainn overheard the words of the druid and rushed to King Conchobar.

"All good be with you, oh, King," he greeted Conchobar.

"Fine salutation," said the king. "What do you wish, lad?"

"I wish to get arms," replied Cuchulainn.

"Who put such an idea into your head, lad?" asked the king.

"Cathbad the druid," replied the boy.

"If it is on the word of Cathbad you come," said the king, "your wish is granted." And he gave the boy two spears, a sword and a shield.

Cuchulainn took the arms and, testing them, smashed them into small pieces.

"These are not good for me," he said.

Conchobar gave him another sword and spear and shield. These he smashed too. And no arms of all those Conchobar had ready for presentation to young warriors suited Cuchulainn.

The king was amazed at his strength and skill, and in the end took own his royal weapons and gave them to him. These Cuchulainn tested in every way he knew, and they stood the test.

Then Conchobar gave him his own royal horses and chariot.

Cuchulainn tested the chariot and found it good.

So Conchobar sent him out with a charioteer. That evening, Cuchulainn brought back the heads of three champions who had killed many of the warriors of Ulster.

He was then only seven years old." Many exploits were performed by Cuchulainn during his life and they are described in "Celtic Sagas".

In 43 A.D. a Roman invaded Britain and conquered the South - East. The hilly districts in the West were very difficult to subdue, the Celts fought fiercely against the Romans who never managed to become masters of the whole island. From time to time the Picts from the North managed to raid the Roman section of the island, burn their villages, and drive off their cattle and sheep. The largest revolt took place about 60 A.D. The Celtic queen Boudica [bou'dikэ] or Boadicea [boudi'siэ] tried to resist Roman rule. Boudica's husband was the chief of a Celtic tribe (Iceni [ai'seni]). When he died the Romans began to mistreat his family though at death he left his wealth to them. Boudica who became the Queen of Iceni decided to lead the local tribes in an uprising against the Romans. She was very tall and look terrifying with a glint in her eyes and harsh voice. A great mass of red hair hung down to her hips. Her warriors destroyed London, Colchester['koultSistэ] and St. Albans. They killed many Romans and their allies. London was reduced to ashes and seventy thousand Romans massacred ['mEsэkэ]peзать. At first she had the Romans on the run (не давать остановиться), but then the Romans, being outnumbered, defeated her. She killed herself by taking poison so that the enemies could not capture her. So the Romans managed to crash this revolt. She died in 60 A.D.

To defend their province the Romans stationed their legions in Britain. The Roman occupation of Britain lasted nearly 400 years, it came to an end in the early 5th century A. D. As a result of this conquest, signs of Roman civilization spread over Britain. There had been no towns in Britain before the Romans conquered it. The civilized Romans were city dwellers, and as soon as they had conquered Britain they began to build towns, splendid villas, public baths, theatres, forums, and schools as in Rome itself. York, Gloucester, Lincoln and London, who became the chief Roman towns sprang up around the Roman military camps. There were also about fifty other small towns. The Roman towns were strongly fortified and they were called castra which means "camps". This word can be recognized in various forms in such names as Chester, Winchester, Manchester, Leicester, Gloucester, Doncaster, Lancaster. Any English town today with a name ending in "chester", "cester" or "caster" was once a Roman camp or city. The names of many modern English towns are also of Latin origin . The town named Lincoln comes from the Latin word colonia which means " colony " ; The words which the Romans left behind them in the language of Britain are for the most part names of the things which they taught the Celts. For example, the word street came from the Latin strata which means "road", port from the Latin portus, wall from vallum. London, which had been a small trading settlement before the conquest, now became a trade centre . The town Bath became famous for its hot spring.

Early in the 5 th century (407) the Roman legions were recalled from Britain to defend the central provinces of the Roman Empire from the attacks of the barbarian tribes. They did not return to Britain. So the Celts remained independent, but not for long . The aboriginal Celtic population was soon conquered and almost totally exterminated by the teutonic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes who came from the continent and settled in the island, naming its central part Anglia, or England, i. e. the Land of Angles. The story of invasion is told by the Venerable Bede [bi:d] (673 - 735), a monastic scholar who wrote the first history of England, Ecclesiastical History of English People. To quote Bede, "the newcomers were of the three strongest races of Germany, the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes".

Few traces of the Celtic language of the ancient Britons are to be found in the English language of today: many rivers, hills and towns are still called by their old Celtic names. Thus in England there are several rivers called Avon, which in Celtic means river. Some rivers have the name Derwent, which in Celtic means clear water. The chalk highlands in the southern and south - eastern parts of England are called "the Downs". This name comes from the Celtic word down which means "bare, open highland."

Anglo - Saxons called the Celts welsh which means foreigners as they could not understand the Celtic language which was quite unlike their own. But gradually the Celts who were in the minority merged with the conquerors, adopted their customs and learned to speak their languages. Only the Celts who remained independent in the West, Scotland and Ireland spoken their native tongue.

To this day the descendants of the ancient Celts live on the territory of the British Isles. The Welsh who live in Wales are of Celtic origin. People in most parts of Wales speak Welsh, a Celtic tongue. In the Highlands of Scotland as well as in the western parts of Ireland the people speak a tongue of Celtic origin too.

In the pre - christian times Anglo - Saxons had no written language of their own. The earliest written records of English are inscriptions on hard material made in a special alphabet known as runes. The word rune originally meant secret, mystery and hence came to denote inscriptions believed to be magic. There is no doubt that the art of runic writing was known to be Germanic tribes long before they came to Britain, since runic inscriptions have also been found in Scandinavia. The runes were used as letters, each indicating a separate sound. The runic alphabet is specifically Germanic, not to be found in languages of the other groups. Neither on the mainland nor in Britain were runes used by everybody for writing or for putting down poetry and prose . Their main function was to make short inscriptions on objects, often to bestow up on them some special power or magic. Written Anglo - Saxon developed later on the basis of the Latin alphabet.

As a result of this conquest the Anglo - Saxons made up the majority of the population in Britain and their customs, religion and language became predominant. They had been pagans, as they believed in many gods. They worshipped the sun and moon, sea, spring and trees, and other pagans gods. One of their gods was Tu, or Tuesco - the god of Darkness. Another was Wooden - the great god of war. The red - bearded Thor was the god of Thunder. The Anglo - Saxons thought that they heard his magic hammer in the thunderclap. Freya was the goddess of Peace and Plenty. The Anglo - Saxons named the days of the week after their gods. Thus Sunday meant the Sun's day, Monday - the Moon's day, Tuesday - the day of the god Tuesco; Wednesday was Woden's day, Thursday was Thor's day and Friday - Freya's day; Saturday was named after Saturn, a Roman God.

The early Anglo - Saxons' poetry often told of events which took place on the continent. Their songs and epics were kept in the memory of the common people. It is due only to this that gems of ancient Anglo - Saxon poetry were preserved, for in the pre- christian times the Anglo - Saxons had no written language of their own.

Among the early Anglo -Saxon poems we may mention "The Song of Beowulf" ['beiowulf]. "The Song of Beowulf" can be justly termed England's national epic and its hero Beowulf - one of the national heroes of the English people.

The only existing manuscript of "The Song of Beowulf" was written by unknown scribe at the beginning of the 10th century and was not discovered until 1705. The manuscript is in the British Museum, in London. It is impossible for a non - specialist to read it in its original, so the text is in the English translation. The scene is set among the Jutes who lived in the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula approximately at the beginning of the 6th century, and the Danes, their neighbours across the strait. The Danes and the Jutes were great sailors. It shows us these warriors in battle and in peace, their feasts and amusements, their love for the sea and adventures. It tells with rude vigour mighty feats of the hero whose name it bears.

Lecture 3 “Beowulf”

The story of the Song opens with a description of the reign of the Danish king Hrothgar ['hroucga:] who, after he had won many victories in battles and gathered vast treasures, decided to build a large feast - hall where he could give feasts and distribute rewards among his kingsmen and warriors. The Hall was built and , having been decorated with the antlers of stags, was called Heorot ['heorot], or the Stag - Hall. But soon Heorot was deserted by Hrothgar and his hearth-companions. Attracted by the noise and din of the feasts, a huge sea-monster who lived in the neighbouring swamps and whose name was Grendel ['grendl] the Man-Eater, regularly appeared in Heorot at night - time, killed and devoured some of Hrothgar's warriors and then returned to his lair. In appearance he was like a man, but twice as tall and covered with such thick hair that no sword, spear or arrow could pierce it. There was no one in Denmark who could confront and conquer this terrible monster.

The news of the disaster that had befallen the Danes reached the ears of Beowulf, a young and mighty warrior of the Geats (Jutes). Though he was a nephew of Hygelac

[hidzэ' la:k], the king of Geats, he did not seek power or riches. His only desire was to serve the people and to win the fame which the common people reward their champions with. He immediately sailed forth in his boat with a small band of warriors and hastened to Denmark. A coast- guard met Beowulf's ship and, having assured himself that the strangers meant no harm, conducted them to Hrothgar's stronghold. Hrothgar had heard of Beowulf's deeds and of his strength that equalled the strength of thirty warriors, and so gladly welcomed Beowulf and his warriors.The banquet was given in honour of Beowulf. When the banquet was over, Hrothgar and his men left Beowulf' band in Heorot to wait for Grendel. Beowulf, who has learnt that the monster always comes unarmed, tells his warriors he is going to fight Grendel on fair terms and will meet him also unarmed. Full of care for his followers, he tells them to lie down and sleep while he himself keeps watch over them. In the dead of night the monster breaks through the bolted door and, before Beowulf could interfere, killes the warrior who was nearmost. Then Beowulf closes in grapple with Grendel . Feeling himself caught in such a mighty grip that could strangle the life out of him, Grendel loses his courage and tries to escape. The struggle is so furious that the walls of the hall shake. At last Grendel wrenches himself from Beowulf' grip, but he leaves his arms, torn off at the shoulder sockets, in the hands of the great champion. Grendel escapes and crawls off to his lair [leэ] to die.

The next day a new feast is given to celebrate Beowulf's victory. Beowulf leaves Heorot early to take a night's rest. While he is asleep, Grendel's mother, Water-Witch, comes to the hall to avenge her son and kills one of the worriors. Again Hrothgar appeals to Beowulf who resolves to free Denmark from this terrible fiend. At dawn Beowulf and his band, accompanied by Hrothgar and his followers, set out over stony hills and swampy marshes to the monster's lair . Amid the rocks they find a stagnant pool, frothing with blood, teeming with sea-serpents and livid with a flame issuing from beneath the surface. Leaving his companions on the bank, Beowulf, in full armour and sword in hand, plunges into the pool. Down, down, down he goes, and at the end of an hour reaches the bottom where the sea-hag attacks him. The sword , given to him by Unferth, fails him - it seems to have no power against the witch. He is in imminent peril, but he continues to fight.

At last when, still fighting, they roll into the hall of the monster's castle, Beowulf sees a huge sword hanging on the wall. This is a magic sword forgotten by the ancient Giants. He seizes the weapon and kills the witch. Then he finds Grendel's dead body and cut off the moster's head to bring it back as a token of his victory.

Eight hours have passed since he plunged into the dreadful pool. Giving him up for dead, Hrothgar and his followers return home, and only Beowulf's warriors still wait for him. At last their faith is rewarded: Beowulf emerges to the surface holding Grendel's head by the hair. After a short rest the brave Geats return to Hrothgar's castle where they are met with great joy. Hrothgar heaps valuable gifts on Beowulf and his warriors, but of these Beowulf takes nothing for himself. He brings his share to Jutland and gives all the treasures to Hygelac.

Part II

After Hygelac's death, Beowulf is elected king by the people of Jutland. For fifty years he rules in the country, and throughout his reign the people enjoy peace and prosperity.

But at the end of this fifty years a great disaster befalls the country. In the mountains, near the sea, there lives a terrible dragon. This firedrake guards an enchanted cave where an enormous treasure is hidden.

One day a traveller, passing over the mountain - side, discovers the cave by chance, and as the firedrake is asleep at that moment, he managed to get into the cave and escape unhurt, taking away with him a jewelled cup. After the dragon discovers the theft, he rushes down upon the neighbouring villages and revenges himself by destroying and killing all of the dwellers. The people flee in terror to their beloved king and protector. The old champion decides that it is his duty to free his country from this new infliction. He puts on his armour, and takes an iron shield to protect himself against the flames breathed out by the dragon.

He allows only one worrior, whose name is Wiglaf ['wiglэf] , to follow him to the dragon's cave. When they approach the cave, the dragon attacts Beowulf, belching forth fire and smoke. Wiglaf stands aside waiting for his turn. The encounter is terrible to look upon. At first Wiglaf sees little because Beowulf is wrapped in heavy smoke and flames. Then Wiglaf sees the monster with two of his three heads struck off. The dragon is swinging his terrible tail, aiming to strike at Beowulf from behind while his last head is still breathing fire into Beowulf' s face. Wiglaf rushes to the rescue and with a mighty sweep of his sword cuts off the monster's tail. At the same moment Beowulf deals his last blow. The dragon is slain.

But Beowulf himself is dying, too, for the fire has entered his lungs. Beowulf knows that death is at hand. He sends Wiglaf into the cave where the young worrior finds rare treasures and among them a golden banner which issues bright light. Wiglaf fills his hands with jewels and brings them to Beowulf. The dying hero is glad that by his death he has gained more wealth for his people. He instructs Wiglaf , who is to succeed him, how to bury his body and how to rule the country after his death. His last words are full of care for the future of his land.

According to Beowulf' s last will, the people of Jutland build a large bonfire on a headland which stretches far into the sea and cremate the hero's body. Then they lay all the treasures from the dragon's cave with Beowulf's ashes to show that the gold can in no way compensate their great loss, and bury them under a tremendous mound. They pile the earth and stones so high that, in accordance with Beowulf's will, the mound thereafter becomes a beacon for the seafarers who sail along the coast. Thus, even after his death, Beowulf continues to serve the people.

The whole epic consists of 3182 lines and is to be divided into two parts with an interpolation between the two. The whole Song is essentially pagan in spirit and manner, while the interpolation is obviously an addition made by the Christian scribe who copied the Song. Other elements alien to the original text of the epic, can be easily traced in the text of the manuscript and do not thwart the style of the whole. The Song is written in alliterated verse: that is, the regular and emphatic repetition of the same letter; Alliteration makes Anglo - Saxon poetry highly musical in sound and practically acts the same part which rhyme takes in later poetry. Even today the English poetry shows a greater propensity склонность towards alliteration, than, probably , any other poetry in Europe. Here is an example of alliterated verse from Beowulf:

Grendel gongan, Godes yrre baer

(Grendel going God's anger bore).

Another peculiar feature characteristic of the style of the Song is the wide use of double metaphors, which poetically disclose the meaning of one single word through a compound simile consisting of two elements (usually a noun with an attribute); thus, in the Song of Beowulf the sun is called "the world's great candel", the double metaphors of "brain - biter", "life - destroyer" are substituted for the commonplace "sword"; instead of the word "harp" the writer uses a metaphoric "wood- -of - delight" and so on.

Ltcture 4 Monastic literature. Caedmon and Cynewulf. Venerable Bede.

Apart from Beowulf, the most important examples of the oldest English poetry are to be found in the works of Caedmon ['kEdmэn](Кэдмон) and Cynewufl ['kinэwulf] {Кюневульф), both of whom belong to the north, and to the period immediately following the conversion of the Anglo - Saxons to Christianity, which began at the end of the sixth century.²

Caedmon, who died about 680, was a servant attached to the monastery of Whitby ['witbi] in Yorkshire. According to a pretty tale told by the Venerable Bede [bi:d](достопочтенный Бэда), the power of verse came to him suddenly as a divine gift. He had never been able to sing to the harp as others did in festive gatherings in the monastery hall, and when his turn came round, he had always been used to retire in humiliation. But one night, having gone to the stables to look after the horses of which he had charge , he fell asleep, and an angel appeared to him in a vision, and told him to sing. Then when he asked, "what shall I sing?" the heavenly visitor replied, "Sing the beginning of created things;" and waking, he found himself, to astonishment, endowed with the faculty of poetry. Three free paraphrases of scripture which have come down to us in a manuscript of the tenth century, have been attributed to him; one dealing with the creation and the fall; the second, with the exodus from Egypt; the third with the history of Daniel; but it is now believed that a considerable portion of these poems, if not the whole of them, is the work not of Caedmon himself but of his imitators. They were first printed about 1650 by an acquaintance of Milton, and it has been thought, though there is no proof of this, that the great poet may have taken hints from the Genesis (Книга Бытия) in writing Paradise Lost (Потерянный Рай).

A miraculous element also enters into the story of Cynewulf's career. Born, it is conjectured between 720 and 730, he was in earlier life, as he himself tells us in his Dream of the Rood, a wandering gleeman and a lover of pleasure, but converted by a vision of the cross, he dedicated himself henceforth to religious themes. His works include a poem called Christ, treating of the Incarnation (Воплощение), the Descent into Hell(Схождение в Ад), the Ascension (Вознесение), and the Last Judgment(Страшный Суд); Elene, an account of the finding of the true cross, according to the legend, by Helena, the mother of Constantine; and Juliana, a tale of Christian martyrdom.

Anglo - Saxon poetry flourished most in the north; While generally sacred in subject, and profoundly earnest in feeling, Anglo - Saxon poetry is full of a love of adventure and fighting. A fondness for the sea, ingrained in English character, is another striking feature of it.

Prose developed later in the south. In general, while interesting from the linguistic and antiquarian points of view, the prose writings which have come down to us possess but little value as literature. The greatest monument of the Old English prose is the Anglo - Saxon Chronicle, which King Alfred (849 - 901) transformed into a national history, and which was so continued till 1154, when it closed with the record of the death of King Stephen [sti:vn]. Among the works rendered by King Alfred into " the language which we all understand" (to adopt his own phrase) was the Latin Ecclesiastical History (Церковная история английского народа) of the Venerable Bede, or Baeda ( 673 - 735). The Venerable Bede was an Anglo -Saxon monk. At the age of nine he moved to one of the monasteries in England where he studied and tought for the rest of his life . His books on a wide variety of subjects were a great source of knowledge of early English History. The most famouse one is Ecclesiastical History of the English People (finished in 731). After Bede died in 735, his disciple Cuthbert wrote a letter that the dying man sang the verse of St. Paul the Apostole telling of the fearfulness of falling into hands of the God. Here is an extract from Bede's death song:

Fore thaem neidfaerae naenig uuirthit

thoncsnotturra, than him tharf sie

to ymbhycggannae aer his hiniongae

hwaet his gastae godaes aeththae yflaes

aefter deothdaege doemid uueorthae

A literal prose version of this might be:

"Before that sudden journey no one is wiser in thought than he needs to be, in considering, before his depature, what will be adjudged to his soul, of good or evil, after his death - day".

The list of literature used

1.Аникст А. История английской литературы. -М. 1956. - С. 5 - 14.

2. Gilinsky J., Khvostenko L., Weise A. Studies In English and American Literature and Style. - Leningrad, 1956. P. 9 - 14.

3. Zaitseva S. Early Britain. - M. : Prosveshcheniye, 1975. P. 14 - 79.

4. Hudson W. H. An Outline History of English Literature. Bombay.: B. I. Publications, 1964. P. 1 -13.

LECTURE 5

ENGLISH LITERATURE BEFORE CHAUCER

Anglo - Norman Period between 1100 - 1350

In Europe this was the age of the great crusades [ kru:seids] and the period of the dominance of French literature. In England feudalism was established, Parlament came into into being , Oxford and Cambridge rose as strong universities.

In 1066 William , the Duke of Normandy, began to gather an army to invade Britain. William also asked the Roman Pope for support. He promised to strengthen the Pope's power over the British Church. And the Roman Pope blessed his campaign and called it a holy war. The Normans, who lived in the northern part of France, were a people of Scandinavian origin (hence the word Norman, i. e. Man of the North) but they had acquired French language, customs and culture. The pretext for the invasion was William' s claims to the English throne. He was related to the king who died in 1066. The king who died in 1066 had no children and Duke William cherished the hope that he would succeed to the English throne. But another relative of the deceassed king, the Anglo - Saxon Earl, Harold, was chosen . William of Normandy claimed that England belonged to him and he began preparations for a war to fight for the Crown. William sent messengers far and wide to invite the fighting men of Western Europe to join his forces. No pay was offered, but William promised land to all who would support him. William mustered a numerous army which consisted not only of the Norman barons and knights but of the knights from other parts of France. Many big sailing - boats were built to carry the army across the Channel.

William landed in the south of England and the battle between the Normans and the Anglo- Saxons took place on the 14th of October 1066 at a little village in the neighbourhood of the town now called Hastings.

The Normans outnumbered the Anglo - Saxon forces , they were all men for whom fighting was the main occupation in life. The battle went on all day. The Anglo - Saxons were encircled, a great many of them were killed, and horses trampled down their dead bodies.

The victory at Hastings was only the beginning of the Conquest. It took several years for William to subdue the whole of England. Soon after the victory at Hastings the Normans encircled London and the Witenagemot had to acknowledge William as the lawful king of England. Thus the Norman duke became king of England - William I or, as he was generally known, William the Conqueror. He ruled England for 21 years (1066 - 1087). During the first five years of his reign the Normans had put down many rebellions in different parts of the country. The largest rebellions took place in 1069 and 1071 in the North - East where the free peasantry was more numerous than in other regions of the country. After several uprisings in the North, William who was a fierce and ruthless , determined to give the Anglo - Saxons a terrible lesson. The lands of Northumbria were laid waste. With lessons of such severe punishment the conquerors meant to keep the people in obedience, to intimidate (запугать) them, so that they should not dare to rise against Norman rule. A monk wrote in the Anglo - Saxon Chronicle: " The King William was severe beyond all measure to those people who resisted his will. The earls who resisted him were kept in chains . He deprived bishops of their power and lands, and abbats of their abbacies, and cast earls into prison <<...>>".

The victorious Normans made up the new aristocracy, who spoke a Norman dialect of French, a tongue of Latin origin. Norman - French became the official language of the state. It was the language of the ruling class spoken at court; it was the language of the lawyers, and all the official documents were written in French or in Latin. The richer Anglo - Saxons found it convenient to learn to speak the language of the rulers. But the peasants and townspeople spoke English. Latin was used for learned works, French for courtly literature, and English chiefly for popular works - religious Plays, metrical romances, and popular ballads.

Writings in native English were few. The last entry in the Anglo -Saxon Chronicles was made at Peterborough in 1154. About 1170 a long didactic poem, the Poema Morale, appeard. The Drama made its first major forward leap in this period . The first recorded MIRACLE PLAY in England, the Play of St. Catherine, was performed about 1100. By 1300 the MISTERY PLAYS were moving outside (за пределы) the churches and into the hands of the town guilds. The establishment of the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1311 led to the extension of the Cyclic Dramas and to the use of movable stages or PAGEANTS.

Native English poetry, both in the older alliterative tradition and in the newer French forms, continued to develop. About 1250 came "The Owl and the Nightingale", a debat poem; about 1300 came the heavily didactic Cursor Mundi, and around 1340 the popular The Pticke of Conscience (Пробудитель совести), describing the misery of earth and glory of heaven.

From the Norman Conquest to the beginning of the thirteenth century English language had a severe struggle to maintain itself as a written language, and as a consequence, English literature almost ceased to exist.

During the years of the Norman rule, the English language borrowed very many words from French and thus greatly enriched itself. Thus the vocabulary of the English language was enlarged due to such Norman - French words dealing with feudal relations as manor, noble, baron, serve, command, obey; or words relating to administration and law, such as charter, council, accuse, court, crime; or such military terms as arms, troops, guard, navy, battle, victory and other words characterizing the way of life and customs of the Norman aristocracy. It is at this time that the English language lost most of the flexions inherited by the Old English from Anglo - Saxon and develop new form and constructions.

A rapid consolidation of the English language and culture begins at the middle of the 14th century with the commencement of the Hundred Year's War against France. This war is called the Hundred Year's War because it lasted over a hundred years. Edward III , the king of England, wished to make himself king of France as well. Wishing to make his people believe that he defended English trade, the king made war with France in 1337.

Prof. W. H. Gudson in his book An Outline on English Literature remarks : "The period between the Conquest and Chaucer is, however, much more important from the point of view of our language than from that of our literature. During these three hundred years, while little was being produced in prose or verse of any intrinsic value, modern English was gradually evolving out of the conflict of opposing tongues, and assuming national rank as speech of the whole people" (p. 14). Norman French long continued, endeed, to be the only recognised official language and to a large extent, the language of fashion. But by the beginning of the fourteenth century it had entirely lost its hold upon English life at large, and the complete triumph of English was signalised by a statute of 1362, which proclaimed that henceforth all proceedings in the law courts should be in that language instead of French. To trace the stages of the language evolution does not, of course, fall within the scope of a primer of literary history. It is enough for us to note that thus while French was disappearing, there was as yet no standarted form of the new English tongue to take its place. English was broken up into dialets. There was a Northern English, a Midland English, and a Southern English, which differed fundamentally from one another, and which were yet subdivided within themselves into numerous minor varieties. In this confusion, little by little, East Midland English tended to gain ascendancy, because it was the speech of the capital and of the two centres of learning, Oxford and Cambridge. Then when Chaucer began to write, he chose this as his vehicle, and it was largely on account of his influence that what had hitherto (до сих пор) been only one of several provincial dialects attained the dignity of the national language.

Similar to the facts we observe in the history of the language, are the facts of the of the history of literature. The Anglo - Norman period was a period of the flourishing of feudal culture. Feudality introduced into the history of European literature a new genre - the so - called romances. The term itself implies that this genre originated among the peoples who spoke Romanic languages. As a matter of fact, romances were brought to England by the medieval poets called trouvers ("finders") who came from France with the Norman conquerors. Later in England such poets were called minstrels and their art of composing romances and ballads and singing them to the accompaniment of a lute - the art of minstrelsy.

The early English romances were, as a rule, composed in rhymed verse, and the language used for them was the Norman - French. At the beginning of the 13th century there appear chroniclers and minstrels who write romances in Old English.

The subject matter of the romances are the adventures of knights, or of legendary heroes of the ancient times, whose characters and feats are described, nevertheless, in the true manner of the middle ages. The heroism and courage of knights as well as their virtuousness and uprightness of dealing are celebrated in these poems.

In attempt to justify their claims to England, the Norman feudal lords maintained that they were the lawful heirs of the ancient Britons who had left Britain under the onset of the Anglo - saxon invaders in the 5th century. The Anglo- Norman minstrels wrote many romances based on Celtic legenda, especially on those concerning King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

King Arthur was a historical character and the national hero of the Celts, became in the romances an ideal feudal king, surrounded by his faithful vassals - knights "without fear and reproach".

The cycle of tales about King Arthur are the most typical of feudal - aristocratic verse for entertainment. Here the knightly class found the mirror in which it liked to believe its best traits were reflected: personal loyalty, idealisation of women beloning to the same class, bravery indefense of the week. The less admirable traits also appear from time to time: brutality, glorification of bloodshed, contempt for women not noble or fair; contempt for the lower classes; contempt and hatred of non- Christians, and above all an unceasing rivalry for the possession of landed estates;

While romantic literature was proliferating in the domain of entertainent, works of religious instruction were also multiplying in the vernacular. Collections of homilies and saints' lives became popular among population. The South English Legendary (late 13th century) is one of the large collections of this sort, containing stories of the saints and events. Ormulum, a series of metrical homilies, in short lines without either rime or alliteration, by a Lincolnshire priest named Orm; and a prose treatise , the Ancren Riwle (about 1225) or Rule of Anchoresses, prepared by some unknown writer for the guidance of three ladies entering the religious life. A charming dialogue poem, The Owl and the Nightingale (about 1220), in which the two birds discuss their respective merits, is historically interesting, because it discards alliteration and adopts French end - rimes. This is the only other piece of thirteenth century literature which calls mention.

We thus come round to Chaucer, the first of really national English poets.

The list of literature used

A handbook to literature by C. Hugh Holman, William Harmon. 6th edition. New York, London;

An Otline on English Litatature by W.H. Hoodson. Bombay;

LECTURE 5

Middle English Period 1350 - 1500

THE AGE OF CHAUCER 1340 - 1400

The period in English literature between the replacement of French by Middle English as the language of court and the early appearances of definitely Modern English writings, roughly between 1350 and 1500. The Age of Chaucer (1340- 1400) was marked by political and religious unrest, the Black Death (1348 - 1350), the Peasants' Revolt (1381), and the of the LOLLARDS. The fifteenth century was torn by the Wars of the Roses. There was a steadily increasing nationalistic spirit in England,and early

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the reign of Edward III, lived through that of Richard II, and died the year after Henry IV ascended the throne. His life thus covers a period of glaring (бросающихся в глаза) social contrasts and rapid political change. Edward's reign marks the highest development of medieval civilisation in England. It was also the midsummer of English chivalry. Strong in its newly established unity England went forth on its career (успех) of foreign conquest and every fresh triumph served to give further stimulus to national ambition and pride. Trade expanded and among the commercial classes wealth increased. The king and his nobility led a very gay and debonair life. But there was another side to this picture. The masses of the people were meanwhile sunk in a condition of deplorable misery. Pestilence (мор) after pestilence ravaged the land, and then in 1348 - 1349 came the awful epidemic called the Black Death, which in a single year swept away more than a third of the entire population, and which reappeared in 1362, 1367, and 1370. Famine followed plague; vagrants and thieves multiplied; tyrannous laws passed (принимать закон) to regulate labour only made bad matters worse. The French wars, which had given temporary glory to the arms of Edward were fraught with disastrous consequences for his successor. Their enormous cost had to be met by heavy burdens of taxation, which were the immediate cause of a general rising of the common folk under Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball. Though soon quelled (подавлять), this was a sign of widespread social unrest. Political troubles also grew apace under Richard's unwise and despotic rule, and the constitutional conflicts between the king and his subjects resulted in endless discord and confusion. The temper of the England of Chaucer's closing years was therefore very different from that of England into which he had been born. Much of the glamour had gone from life, and men were more conscious of its stern realities.

Among the causes which greatly contributed to the increasing evils of Chaucer's age we must also reckon the corruption of the Church. The greater prelates heaped up wealth, and lived in a godless and worldly way; the rank and file of the clergy were ignorant and careless; the mendicant friars were notorious for their greed and profligancy. Chaucer himself, as we shall presently have to note, took little serious interest in social reform; yet the portraits which he draws for us of the fat, pleasure - loving monk, the merry and wanton friar, and the pardoner, who wanders about hawking indulhences and relics, show that he was alive to the shocking state of things which existed in the religious world of his time. It is at that point that we recognise the importance of the work of John Wyclif ( about 1320 - 84), "the morning star of the Reformation". That earnest man gave the best of his life to the great task of reviving spiritual Christianity in England and with the help of his disciples produced a complete English version of the Bible - the first translation of the scriptures into any modern vernacular tongue.

Social unrest and the beginnings of new religious moment were thus two of the chief active forces in the England of the later fourteenth century. A third influence which did much to change the current of intellecual interests, and thus affected literature very directly, came from the new learning. That learning had arisen in Italy, chiefly from a renewed study of the literature of classical antiquity, and from the consequent awakening of enthusiasm not only for the art, but also for the moral ideas of Greece and Rome. The leaders of this great revival were the two celebrated Italian writers, Petrarch (1304 - 74) and Bocaaccio (1313 - 75), and it was through their work in the main that the influence of humanism ( as the new culture came to be called) passed into England, where its effect was soon shown in the quickened sense of beauty, the delight in life, and the free secular spirit which began to appear in English literature. We shall endeed know that in England adverse conditions long held this moment in check. But, though of little power as yet, humanism has to be included among the formative influences of the literature.

Geoffrey Chaucer, who is so much the greatest figure in the English literature of the fourteenth century that he has thrown all his contemporaries completly into the shade, came from a well - to - do merchant family that lived for several generation in Ipswish, some seventy miles northeast of London. In comparison with other major English writers of his time, Chaucer left abundant records of his life. We have no official documents for the life of the auther of Priers Plowman or for the Gawain - poet; records of Cower's life are few and confused. But Chaucer, because he was a public servant, can be traced in the records of his offices. Geoffrey Chaucer 's parentage is clearly established; he described himself in a deed of 19 June 1381 as "son of John Chaucer, vintner, of London". But the date and the place of his birth are not precisely known. We know practically nothing about his childhood, no school records for Chaucer have survived, but it is evident from the wide and varied scholarship which characterises his writings, from some of the knowledge of Latin classics shown in his works that he must have enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education. London merchants' sons in his time could receive a good education. At seventeen he received a court appointment as page to the wife of the Duke of Clarence, Edward III's third son. In 1359 he was with the English army in France, where he was taken prisoner; but he was soon ransomed, and returned to England. Sometime after this he married, and became valet of the king's chamber. From that time and onward he was closely connected with the court. Geoffrey Chaucer is the first recorded as a member of the royal household on 20 June 1367, when he received a royal annuity. One record of that date described him as valettus; another of the same date called him esquier. At any rate, he was one of a group of some forty young men in the king's service, not personal servants, but expected to make themselves useful around the court. During the years when Chaucer was in the king's service, he may also have been studying among the lawyers of the Inner Temple, one of the Inns of Court. In addition, Chaucer's later offcial positions, as controller of the customs and clerk of the king's works, demanded that he keep records in Chancery hand (на рассмотрение в суде лорда - канцлера), and use French and Latin legal formulas, skills taught the Inns of Court.

During this time Chaucer may have been experimenting with various popular verse forms, in French as well as in English. The Book of the Duchess, Chaucer's first major poem, belongs to this period. It is an elegy for Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, John Gaunt's first wife, who died, it is now believed, on 12 September 1368. Duke remarried in 1371; but he continued to remember Blanche, paying 30 pounds on 12 September for memorial masses on the anniversary of her death and ten silver marks in 1382 to each of the chaplains chanting masses at her tomb in St. Paul's. In his will of 1398 he directed that he be buried beside his "very dear late consort, Blanche." It seems significant, then, that on 13 June 1374 John Gaunt granted a life annuity of 10 pounds to Chaucer "in consideration of the services rendered by Chaucer to the grantor".

J. Chaucer was often entrusted with diplomatic missions on the continent, two of them being to Italy. In 1372-73 Chaucer accompanied two Italian merchants, Giovanni di Mari and Sir Jacopo di Provano, then residents of London, to negotiate on king's behalf with the doge and people of Genoa, who wanted to use English port. The business discussed may have been partly military, Giovanni di Mari, Chaucer's associate, was in the same year hiring Genoese mercenaries for king Edward.

The commision given Chaucer before his depature did not name Florence; yet the expence account submitted on his return, 23 may 1373, recorded treating of the affairs of the king "in Genoa and Florence". The visit to Florence has seemed significant to Chaucer scholars because Petrarch and Bocaccio, still living, were in that region. Chaucer, if he did not meet them, could hardly have avoided hearing a great deal about them and about Dante, who, though he had died in exile fifty years earlier, was now revered in Florence. Quite possibly Chaucer obtained manuscripts of some of these authors' works on this visit. It is customary in this connection to mention the reference to Petrarch in the Clerk's Prologue (IV. 31 -33), but with the warning that it is the Clerk , and not Chauser, who claims to have heard the story in the Clerk's Tale from Petrarch.

The Journey of 1372 - 73, it was once thought, gave Chaucer his first acquaintance with the language and literature of Italy; but it is now agreed that Chaucer might well have been chosen fot that misssion because he already knew some Italian. The hundred days allowed by the 1372 -73 journey would hardly have given Chaucer time to learn a language. London in Chaucer's youth provided better opportunities; many Italian families lived in London, some near the Chaucer house in Vintry, Chaucer's father and grandfather had business dealings with Italians. In any event, Italy had become, 1373, a part of Chaucer's firsthand experience.

During these years he received many marks of royal favour, and for a time sat in Parliament as knight of the shire of Kent. But after the overthrow of the Lancastrian party and the banishment of his special patron, John Gaunt, he fell on evil days, and with approaching age felt the actual pinch of poverty. Twice , 16 and 25 April 1388 , he was sued by John Churchman, collector of the customs of London . Philippa Chaucer, to whom he had been married for at least twenty - one years, disappeared from the records after 18 June 1387 and in presumed to have died. Fortunately , on the accession of John of Gaunt's son, Henry IV, things mended with him, and the grant of a royal pension at once placed him beyond want and anxiety. At Christmas, 1399, he took a long lease of a house at Westminster, which suggests that he still looked forward to many years of life. But he died before the next year was out, and was buried in that part of Westminster Abbey which afterwards came to be know as the Poets' Coner. The inscription on Chaucer's tomb in Westmister Abbey gives the date of his death as 25 October 1400. The tomb may, however, have been erected as late as 1555, and there is no other evidence as to the exact date of his death. He was buried in the Abbey for several reasons, none of them, so far as we know, related to his being a poet. He had a right to burial there because he was a tenant of the Abbey and a member of the parish. Moreover, commoners who had been royal servants were beginning to be buried near the tombs of the kings they had served. No one in England in 1400 could foresee that Chaucer's tomb would be the beginning of poet's Coner.

Fourteenth- and- fifteenth - century records tell something of Chaucer's descendants. Two presumed daughters of Geoffrey Chaucer are sometimes mentioned, Elizabeth Chaucy, nun at Barking in 1381, and Agnes, an attendant at the coronation of Henry IV; but records do not clearly identify them as daughters of the poet. Nothing more is known of Agnes, and Elizabeth, but many records attest to the distinguished career of Thomas Chaucer, the poet's son, as he became one of the most wealth and influental men in England. Enriched by marriage to a great heiress and by annuities from John of Gaunt, Richard II, and Henry IV, he served as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France, and often, speaker of the House of Commons.

Chaucer's Work in General. It is usual and convenient to divide Chaucer's literary career into three periods, which are called his French, his Italian, and his English period, respectively. His genius was nourished on the French poetry and romance which formed the favourite reading of the court. Naturally the fashion, and his early work was done on French models. One of the first tributies (дань уважения) to Chaucer as poet came from France (Chaucer translated the popular Roman de la Rose) in 1385-6. Though France at that time was preparing to invade England, Chaucer's friend, Sir Lewis Clifford, returned from France bringing Chaucer a poem of generous praise, written by the leading French poet of the time, Eustache Deschamps. Deschamp's ballade, with the refrain "great translator, noble Geoffrey Chaucer", stressed Chaucer's role as a cultural intermediary who had made Le roman de la rose accessible to English readers. The poem praised Chaucer extravagantly for his brevity of speech, his wisdom, his practical learning. Deschamps himself, he wrote, would be only a nettle in Chaucer's poetry. The Book of Duchess (1369) belongs to this period , it is written wholly in the manner of reigning French school.

Then, almost certainly as a direct result of his visits to Italy, French influences disappear, and Italian influences take their place. In this second period (1370- 84), Chaucer is the disciple of the great Italian maters, for The House of Fame clearly owes much to Dante, while Troylos and Cryseyde is based upon and in part translated from Boccaccio's Filostrato.

Finally, he ceases to be Italian as he had ceased to be French, and becomes English. This does not mean that he no longer draws freely upon French and Italian material. He continiues to do this to the end. It simply means that, instead of being merely imitative, he becomes independent, relying upon himself entirely even when he used the borrowed themes. To this last period belong, together with sundry minor poems, the Canterbury Tales, in which we have Chaucer's most famous and most characteristic work.

Lecture 6. “The Canterbury Tales”

The Canterbury Tales. In his greatest work, the Canterbury Tales (1386-1400), Chaucer created a briliant and picturesque panorama of his time and his country. These are a collection of stories fitted (вставленная) into a general framework which serves to hold them together. Some of them were certainly written earlier, and before the framework had been thought of; but we put the Tales as a whole into Chaucer's third period, because it was then that most of them were composed, and that the complete design shaped itself in the poet's mind. That design explains the title. A number of pilgrims on the eve of their depature meet at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, where as it chances, Chaucer himself is also staying; and, he is easily persuaded to join the party. Pilgrimages were very popular in the fourteenth century; they were often undertaken, as here, in companies, partly for the sake of society by the way, and partly because of the dangers of the roads; Sometimes the pilgrims went as far afield as Rome and Jerusalem; but one of the favourite expeditions nearer home was to the shrine of the murdered St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury; The jolly host of the Tabard , Harry Bailly, gives them hearty welcome and a supper; after they satisfied, he makes a proposal : that to beguile the tedium of the journey each member of the party shall tell two tales on the way to Canterbury , and two on the way back; that he himself shall be the judge; and that the one who tells the best tale shall be treated by all rest to a supper on their return to the Tabard Inn. The suggestion is applauded, and these Canterbury Tales are the result.

All these is explained in the Prologue, after which Chaucer proceeds to introduce his fellow - pilgtims. Though limited to what we may call the middle classes, the company is still very comprehensive. The military profession is represented by a knight, a squire, and a yeoman; the ecclesiastical, by a prioress, a nun ( her secretary), a monk, a friar, a summoner, a pardoner (or seller of pardons), a poor parson, and a Clerk of Oxford, who is a student of divinity. Then we have a lawyer and a physician, and, running down the social scale, a number of miscellaneus characters whome one cannot well classify - a franklin (freeholder of land), a merchant, a shipman (sailor), a miller, a cook, a manciple(caterer of colleges), a reeve (land steward), a haberdasher, a carpenter, a weaver, a dyer, a tapycer (tapestry maker), a ploughman (the poor parson's brother), and a well - to- do west-country cloth-maker named Alicon, who however, is better known as the Wife of Bath. The pilgrims being 32 in all, the total number of tales, according to the Chaucer's plan, was to exceed that of Boccaccio's Decameron, but the auther failed to carry out this plan and only 24 tales were written.

The Prologue is a splendid masterpiece of realistic portrayal, the first of its kind in the history of English literature. All the characters are individualised, yet their typical quality gives unique value to Chaucer's picture of men and manners in the England of his time. The pilgrims are people from various parts of England, representatives of various walks of life, with various interests , tastes and predilections. Thus, " a worthy knight", just back from the wars. His dress and bearing are very plain and modest. This is Chaucer's ideal of a national champion. The knight's son, a gay young squire, thinks more of his dress and of song-making than of other chivalrous duties. He prefers the court to the battle - field. The knight's attendant, a yeoman in bright green colour of cloth, with a "mighty bow" in his hand. This forester, who has a hunting horn with him, recalls to the reader the image of Robin Hood. A Prioress who weeps when she sees a mouse caught in a trap, but turns her head when she sees a beggar in his "ugly rags". Her image, as well as those of the fat Monk, the jolly Friar, the Summoner (officer of the ecclesiastical court), the Pardoner and the "Doctor of Physic" are all treated in an ironical manner. With a feeling of sympathy Chaucer describes the Clerk , a poor philosopher who spends all his money on books, the Parish Priest, also "a poor parson of town" who reminds us of Wyclif and John Ball; According to the programme each of the pilgrims was to have told stories, and each of the narrators tells his tale in a peculiar manner, revealing his own views and character. Thus, we have the chivalry epic tale of the Knight in strange contrast with the coarse farcical story of the Miller.

His finest work as a narrative poet is the Knight Tale, which in accrdance with law of dramatic propriety is heroic in subject, chivalrous in sentiment, and romantic in tone. Based on the Teseide of Boccaccio, it tells of two young cousins of royal blood, named Palamon and Arcite, who, when Duke Theseus makes war against their city of Thebes , are taken captive by him , and imprisoned in a tower of his place. From their window one May morning they chance to see Emily, the beautiful sister of the Duke's wife, walking in the garden beneath; whereupon their life-long friendship is shattered and they become rivals in love. Arcite is presently ransomed; but unable to endure banishment from Emily, returns to Athens in disguise, and finds a menial place in the Duke's service. Then, after several years, palamon makes escape. The cousins meet in duel, but are interrupted by the Duke and the train as they ride out to hunt. Theseus dooms them both to death, but relenting on the petition of the ladies, spares (щадить) their lives on condition that each shall collect a hundred knights, and the case shall be decided in a great tournament, the hand of Emily being the victory's prize. In this tournament Arcite falls, and the story ends with the nuptials of Palamon and Emily. Brilliant in itself , this fine tale is also intensely interesting as the embodiment of that romantic spirit which, as we have seen, prevailed in the court circles of Chaucer's youth.

It should be noted that in no case the tales original in theme. Chaucer takes his raw material from many different sources. But whatever he borrows he makes entirely his own, and he remains one of the most delightful of English story - tellers in verse. His fourteenth century (or 'Middle') English looks very difficult at first, but only a little time and perseverence are needed to master it, and these will be amply (полно)repaid by the pleasure we find in the felicity (блаженство) of his diction and the melody of his verse. His descriptions of the country are often indeed in the conventional manner of his time, and his garden landscape and May flowers are to some extent things of tradition only. But he has a real love of nature and particularly of the spring, and when he writes of these, as in the Prologue and the Knight's Tale, the personal accent is unmistakable.

General Characteristics of Chaucer's Poetry.

Chaucer was not in any sense a poet of the people. He was a court poet, who wrote for cultured readers and a refined society. The great vital issues (спорный вопрос) of the day never inspired his verse. He made his appeal to an audience composed of the favoured few, who wanted to be amused by comedy, or touched by pathos (ч-л, вызывающее грусть), or moved by romantic sentiment, but who did not wish to be disturbed by painful reminders of plagues, famines and popular discontent.. It is true that, as we have seen, he felt the religious corruptions of the world about him, but on the whole he left burning questions alone. His was an easy-going, genial, tolerant nature, and nothing of the reformer went to its composition. Chaucer's temperament thus explains his relations with his age. Little touched by its religious or social movements, he responded readily to the influence of Italian humanism, and it is through him that its free secular spirit first expresses itself in English poetry. If Wyclif was "the morning star of the Reformation", Chaucer may be called "the morning star of the Renaissance" .

Chronology of Chaucer's work:

Before 1372: The Romaunt of the Rose (Роман о розе)

The Book of the Duchness (1368 - 72)

The House of Fame (1378 -80) (Дом славы)

Anelida and Arcite

The Parliament of Fowls (1380 -82) (Птичий парламент)

Boece

Troilus and Criseyda (1382 -86) (Троил и Крессида)

The Complaint of Mars (probably around 1385)

The Complain of Venus

Palamon and Arcite (The Knight's Tale) (Паламон и Арсит)

The Legend of Good Women (Легенда о славных женщинах)

1388 - 92: The General Prologue and the earlier of The Canterbury Tales;

A Treatise on the Astrolabe (1391 -92, with additions in 1393 or later)

1392 - 95: Most of The Canterbury Tales, including probably the "Marriage Group (Брачная серия))

1396 - 1400: The latest of the Tales, including probably The Nun's Priest's Tale,

The Canon's Yeoman's Tale (Рассказ слуги каноника); The Parson Tale; and several short poems, including Scogan (K Генри Скогану)), Bukton, and The Complaint of Chaucer to His Purse (Жалоба Чосера к своему пустому кошельку)

Лекция 7 Other Poets of Chaucer's Age

Chaucer's chief rival in poetry was John Gower (1332? - 1408). The two poets were long friends, and Chaucer's dedication of his Troylos and Cryceyde to the "moral Gower", as he calls him, and Gower's warm reference to Chaucer towards the end of his Confessio Amantis (Исповедь влюбленного), show their reciprocal esteem; but later on, jealousy and misunderstandings arose between them. Gower was a most industrious and well - meaning writer, and his work is extremely voluminous , learned, and careful; but for the most part he is hopelessly dull. Unlike Chaucer, who from the first realised the possibilities of the English tongue, he found it hard and of his three long poems, one - Speculum Meditantis - is in French; another - Vox Clamantis (Глас Вопиющего) - in Latin; the third - Confessio Amantis - in English. It is in this last named that he most distinctly challenges comparison with Chaucer. In temper and attitude towards life, the two poets differed radically. Gower took a very gloomy view of social conditions of the time. His Vox Clamantis is largely concerned with Wat Tyler's rebellion, his standpoint of that was a strong conservative. Gower had no sympathy with the teachings of Wyclif and his followers.

In striking contrast with both Chaucer and Gower, who were poets of the court, stands a third writer of this age, William Langland (1330? - 1400), who was essentially apoet of the people. Of the man himself we know very little. He seems to have been the son of a franklin; to have been born in the neighbourhood of malvern; and to had lived a life of poverty and struggle. Of his character , however, we a have a clear revelation in his work, the Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman (Видение о Петре - пахаре), an enormous allegorical poem, which runs to upwards (свыше) of 15, 000 lines. Rambling (бесссвязно), confused, and almost formless, the Vision has small claim to be regarded as a piece of literary art; but its defects on this side are redeemed (dopvtof.ncz) by its vigour and moral earnestness. Under the conventional device of a dream, or more exactly a series of dreams , the poet boldly attacts the social and ecclesiastical abuses (заблуждения) of the day, the greed and hypocrisy of the clergy, and the avarice and tyranny of those who sit in high places. Langland's spirit is strikingly puritanan democratic. He was not indeed a Wyclifite, nor politically was he a revolutionarist. But he was profoundly moved by the misery of the masses; he was an ardent (cтрастный) champion of their cause; and he sought to bring English religion back to the simplicity and purity of gospel truth. It is an interesting commentary upon the character of the poem that, written expressly for the people instead of for the court, its language and style are far more rustic and old - fashioned than those of Chaucer's work. Its dialect is a mixture of Southern and Midland English, and - the last important poem to be written in this way - it adheres (твердо придерживаться) to the Anglo - Saxon principle of alliteration:

In a somer seson whan soft was the sonne

I shope me in shroudes as I a shepe were ³

One other fourteenth century poet deserves passing mention - the Scottish John Barbour ( 1326? - 95), who for a time was Archdeacon of Aberdeen. As the real father of Scottish poetry, he holds (удерживает) a certain place in literature. His fame rests on (держится на) his long poem The Brus, in which the great deeds of Robert Bruce are recorded in spirited narrative.

The list of literature used:

1. Гардон Д. Жизнь и время Чосера. -М.: Радуга, 1986

2. Benson L. O. The Reverside Chaucer. Harward University, 1987

3. Gritchuk M.A. English for students of Literature. - M.: Vyssaya Scola, 1983

4. Klimenko E., Egunova N. English Literature reader . -M-L: Uchpedgiz, 1952

5. Hudson H. W. An Outline History of English Literature. Bombay.: B.I. Publications, 1964, p. 17- 29

LECTURE 8

Poetry , prose and drama of the fifteenth century.

Popular ballads.

With Chaucer English literature made a brilliant beginning, but it was only a beginning, and after his death it enters upon a long barren period (бесплодный период) in its history. It is perhaps that the fifteenth century was not in England an age of great men in any field of activity. But we must also recognise that even when talent exists it depends upon favourable conditions for its expression, and in the fifteenth century conditions were the reverse of favourable. The country was distracted by political conflicts, which culminated in the thirty years' struggle for power (1455 - 86) between the House of York and Lancaster. In these Wars of the Roses many of the great nobles were killed. The low state of education has also to be emphasised. Mental activity in the universities was wasted in endless and profitless controversies over the dry abstractions of mediaeval philosophy. In fifteenth century England , therefore, there was little enough to inspire, and much to repress literary genius.

Poetry of the fifteenth Century. The poor quality of fifteenth century verse is at once suggested ( допускать мысль, подсказывать) by the fact that the greater part of it is imitative. Nearly all poets tried to walk in Chaucer's footsteps and, style. Of these Chaucerians , who were numerous, the best known are Thomas Occleve, or Hoccleve (1370? - 1450?), and John Lydgate (1370?- 1451), both of whom were very voluminous. Hoccleve wrote a long poem called The Governail of Princes, in Chaucer's seven - line stanza and in the prologue , in which he tells us much about himself, describes his grief on Chaucer's death and sings his master's praises. Lydgate, a learned Benedictine monk of Bury St. Edmunds, his productions being the Storie of Thebes (designed as a new Canterbury Tale), the Troy Boke, and the Falles of Princes - the last based on French paraphrase of a Latin work of Boccaccio. But on the whole, like all imitative things in art, such productions are of slight permanent value.

The best poetry of the fifteenth century, however, was written in Scotland, where, though the influence of Chaucer was marked, the spirit of of originality was far stronger than in the south. There is not much originality, indeed, about The King's Quair , a long poem in which James I of Scotland (1394 - 1437) tells of his love for the Lady Jane Beaufort, who afterward became his wife ; but the the genuineness of its personal feeling gives life to its verse. In William Dunbar (1465? - 1530?), the greatest British poet between Chaucer and Spenser, the individual quality is much more apparent. His graceful allegorical poem, The Thistle and the Rose, composed to commemorate the marriage of James IV of Scotland, is quite in the manner of Chaucer's early poetry. But in his satirical ballads and in his remarkable Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins, there is a combination of vigour , broad humour, and homely pathos, which belongs wholly to the character of the poet and to his native soil. The true Scottish quality is also in Gawain or Gavin Douglas (1474 - 1522), Bishop of Dunkeld , whose Palice of Honour is full of Chaucer, while his original prologues to the successive books of his translation of the Eneid bear the stamp of the writer's own maind and stile.

The treatment of nature by these Scottish poets in general is specially interesting. Chaucer's May morning and garden landscape had become a convention which his English disciples were content to reproduce. In Scottish poetry, too, the convention reappears, but on the other hand we often find real Scotch scenery painted manifestly (ясно) by men who, instead of adopting a mere literary fashion, had studied and were trying to depict the nature about them for themselves. Scottish poets did much to bring the love of nature into later English literature.

It is interesting to note that though poetically poor, the fifteenth century did much to foster a love of poetry among the English people. Songs and ballads were widespread among the populace of England and Scotland; they were created and preserved by the people and that is why they are, in full justice, termed "the popular ballads" . There are various kinds of ballads: historical Chevy Chase Охота на Чевиотских холмах, The Battle of Otterburn Отернберская битва, legendary, fantastical Thomas Rymer (Томас Раймер), Clerk Saunders (Школяр Сандерс), lyrical Child Waters ( Чайльд Уотерс) , Helen of Kirkconnel (Елена из Кирконеля). English balladry includes also a great number of humorous ballads which were in general very popular in Great Britain. They reveal the unbounded (беспредельный) optimism, ingenuity and resourcefulness of common people. Get up and Bar the Door (Cтупай, закрой двери), The Crafty Farmer (Ловкий фермер) are good examples of a humorous ballad.

Of paramount importance (первостепенной важности) are the beautiful ballads in which Robin Hood 's feats are celebrated. Robin Hood is a partly historical and partly legendary character. The first mention of Robin Hood in literature is in Langland's The Vision of Piers, the Plowman (Видение о Петре пахаре ~ 1362- 1377) . He is also spoken of in several chronicles of the 15 th and 17th centuries.

In the History of Great Britain written in Latin and published in 1521 we are told that Robin Hood and his friend Little John lived at the time of King Richard the Lion- Heart. Robin Hood, a Saxon by birth, is a man with a twinkle in his eye, a man fond of a merry joke and a hearty laugh, was an outlaw, a robber, but he, says the chronicle, robbed only the rich and never molested the poor and needy. The character of Robin Hood is manysided. Strong, brave and clever, he is at the same time tender - hearted and affectionate. His hatred for the cruel oppressors is the result of his love for the poor and downtrodden (угнетенным). Robin Hood and his archers, proceeds the chronicle, were invincible and the King's and baron's soldiers could do nothing to them. Other historians date the years of his life to the 13th century, and also stress his popularity among the people.

The various ballads of Robin Hood were united at the beginning of the 16th century into cycle called A Merry Geste( 'exploit) of Robin Hood in which the whole life of the hero is portrayed.

The ballads of Robin Hood gained great popularity in the second half of the 14th century, at the time of the struggle of the peasants and artisans against their masters and exploiters.

Many English writers of the Renaissance and later times mention Robin Hood's name in their works or even introduce him as one of the heroes (W. Shakespeare, As you Like It; B. Jonson, The Sad Shepherd; Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; J. Keats, Robin Hood and others).

The ballads played an important role in the development of English poetry up to the 20th century.

Prose of the Fifteenth Century.

The great prose production of the fifteenth century, which is the one really book of the age, is the Morte Darthur (Смерть Короля Артура) of Sir Thomas Malory.

This work is a compilation made from a number of French romances dealing with different portions of vast cycle of legends which had grown up about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Malory's object (цель) being to digest the scattered stories into a connected summory. To this end (цель) he treated his materials with a very free hand, selecting, rejecting, abridging, adapting, and rearranging, to suit (приспосабливать) his prose. His narrative has little unity or propotion, but we must give him full credit (похвала) for the measure of success whoch he certainly achieved. In an age when the mediaeval spirit was fast dying and the old feudal order rapidly (быстро) becoming a thing of the past, Malory, a man of retrospective mind, looked back with sentimental regret, and his book is full (in Caxton's words) of " the noble acts, feats of arms of chivalry, prowess (доблесть), hardiness (cмелость), humanity, love, courtesy, and very gentleness (доброта)" which formed at least the ideal of the ancient system of knighthood. The Morte Darthur holds a high place in literary history not only on account of из-за its intrinsic interest, but his also because it has been a well-spring источник of inspiration to many modern poets such as Matthew Arnold, Swinburne, William Morris, and pre - eminantly (превосходящий других) Tennyson, whose Idylls of the King are largely based upon it. In style, it is artless, for Malory pays little attention to grammar, and his sentence structure is often faulty (несовершенный). But he is wonderfully racy (колоритный) and picturesque, and on occasion (иногда) he becomes really impressive.

The 15th century in English literature is a period not of production but of preparation to the great intellectual awakening of the century following.

LECTURE 9

The 16th century

RENAISSANCE IN ENGLAND .

PRINTING, INTRODUCTION INTO ENGLAND

The 16th century in England was a period of the breaking up of feudal relations and the establishing of the foundations of capitalism.

Manufacturies were developing and the trade was rapidly growing. The enclosure превращение общинных земель в частную собственность) drove thousands of peasants off their lands and many of them settled in towns.

It was a time when, accоrding to Thomas More, "sheep devoured [au] men."

At the beginning of the 16th century absolute monarchy was formed in England. In order to undermine the power of independent feudal lords and strengthen his own role, king Henry disbanded their feudal bodyguard.

The progress of bourgeois economy made England a powerful state and enabled her in 1588 to inflict (нанести ) a defeat (поражение) on the Spanish Invincible Armada.

The victory over her most dangerous political rival consolidated Great Britain's might on the high seas and in world trade. Numerous English ships under admirals Drake, Hawkins and others, who were both traders and pirates, ploughed the seas, visited America and other distant countries bringing from them great fortunes that enriched and strengthened the crown. They were those who established first English colonies.

Together with the development of bourgeois relationships and formation of the English national state this period is marked by a flourishing of national culture known in history as the Renaissance (French for "revival"). The period in English literature generally called the Renaissance is usually considered to have begun a little before 1500 and to have lasted until 1660.

That revival began , as we have learned, with Petrarch and Boccaccio in the fourteenth century in Italy, when wealthy men, like the Florentine banker, Cosimo de' Medici, and his grandson, Lorenzo the Magnificent, became munificent(щедрый) patrons of scholarship and the arts, when monastic libraries were ransacked (ограбить) and innumerable longforgotten treasures of Greek and Latin literature brought to light. Indeed, a great number of the works of classical authors were translated into English during the 16th century. English scholars crossed the Alps to study at Padua, Bologna, and Florence, bringing back with them the inspiration which they had received in these great centres of culture; Young Englishmen of rank (рядовые) considered a visit to Italy a necessary part of their education in the arts of life, and in this way another channel was opened up through which Italian humanism flowed into English soil.

In the development of literature this revival of learning worked in two ways: it restored the spirit and ideals of pagan antiquity; and it presented writers with (подарить) literary masterpieces which they might take the models for their own efforts (достижение). For these two reasons the Renaissance is rightly regarded as a chief force in the making of modern European literature. Hence the importance of the fact that England now began to share in(участвовать) in this new movements. In the early period English authors felt the impact of classical learning and of foreign literatures. During the reign of Elizabeth, England became a world power; its drama and ita poetry attained great heights in the work of such writers as Spenser, Sidney, Marlowe, and Shakespeare.

Nor must we forget how much the progress of new learning were helped by the introduction of printing, which by multiplying books, popularising knowledge, and disseminating (распространять) ideas , did more than any other agency(cредство) to change the spirit of the world. William Caxton, who, setting up his press at Westminster in 1476, became first English printer, thus deserves recognition as one of the great forerunners of the intellectual revival of the sixteenth century.

Лекция 10. Caxton. The Man who brought printing to England.

The circumstances of the invention and development of printing in western Europe (the Chinese and Japanese had a form of printing centuries before) are so obscure that it is impossible to assign the invention to any country, person, or exact date. It is fairly certain that the most important development of the art took place in Mainz, Germany, during the 1440s and 1450s. The earliest existing books that can be dated is an Indulgence (Mainz, 1454); the most famous existing early book is the Gutenberg Bible (Mainz, 1456). From Mainz the art spread to other countries, reaching England in 1476, when William Caxton set up his famous press at Westminster. Caxton had learned printing on the Continent, and at Bruges, probably in 1475, had brought out the first book printed un English, the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye. The first printed books in England were probably Pamphlets, some in Latin, but the first dated English book printed in England was Caxton's Dicts or Saying of the Philosophers (1477). Before his death Caxton had printed about a hundred separate books and had done much to direct the public taste in reading. He specialized in translations, poetry, and romances, two of his most important books being his edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1438) and his publication of Malory's Le Morte Darthur (1485).

The birthplace and the earliest home of William Caxton, the first English printer, must have been some lonely farm in the Weald ( a heavily wooded area in south - east England ) of Kent. In the 15th century it was a wild district with scanty population; its inhabitants had little intercourse with the towns, the affairs of the world went on without their knowledge and assistance.

Caxton's father, probably, a small Kent farmer, did his best to give the boy as good an education as could be given at those times. At the age of sixteen he became an apprentice (подмастерье) to Robert Large, a rich London mercer. At this period a law was enforced, whose object was to prevent the sons of labourers in farming, and endeed of the poorer classes of the yeomanry , from rising out of this condition in which they were born.

But William Caxton possessed opportunities for improvement which were denied to his fellow - apprentices. His master became Lord Mayor of London. By his last will he left to William a considerable sum in those times. In 1441, Caxton moved to Bruges, the centre of the European wool trade, becoming a travelling agent in the Low Countries. When he, the mercer's apprentice, stamped the merchant's mark upon his master's bales, he knew not, that this process of stamping would be carried forward by the ingenuity [indZi'nju:iti ] изобретение men into new art, which would change the face of the world.

A chronicle of that time says that even kings and nobles, possesing few books of their own, had sometimes to borrow of their of their subjects. King Henry V had borrowed from the Lady Westmoreland two books that had not been returned, and a petition still exists in which she begs his successors to let her have them back again.

If the nobles and the higher gentry were so poorly provided with books, we cannot expect that the yeomen had any books at all. The labourers, who were scarcely yet fully established in their freedom, as a class, wholly unable to use books at all.

Richard de Bury, bishop of Durham, wrote a treatise on the love of books. Reproaching those who misuse books, he disapproves severely the unwashed hands, the dirty nails, the greasy elbows leaning upon the volume, the munching of fruit and cheese over the open leaves, which were the marks of careless and idle readers. The statuses of St. Mary's College, Oxford, in the reign of Henry VI say, "Let no scholar occupy a book in the library above one hour, or two hours at most, so that others shall be hindered from the use of the same." It was a very common thing to write in the first leaf of a book, "Cursed be he who shall steal or tear out the leaves, or in any way injure this book."

While there were no books in common use, there could be no universaly in language. There was marked difference between the courtly dialect and that of the commonalty, and the common English which was spoken in onw shire varied from another.

The early printers had to do everything for themselves; to construct types, presses, and every other instrument and appliance. They manufactured their own ink, so that Caxton had to learn the art of ink - making.

But the ancient printer had something more to do before his manufacture was complete. He was a bookbinder as well as a printer. The ancient books, manuscript as well as printed, were wonderful specimens of patient labour. The wooden board between which the leaves were fastened, was as thick as the panel of a door. this was covered with leather. There were large brass nails, with ornamental heads, on the outside of this cover. In addition, there were clasps. The back was rendered solid with paste and glue, so as to last for centuries.

But the most difficult labour of the ancient printer was yet to come. He had to sell his books when he had manufactured them. For some years after the invention of printing, many of ingenious, learned, and interprising men who devoted themselves to the new art, were ruined, because they could not sell cheaply unless they printed a considerable number of a book; and there were not readers enough to purchase the stock.

The city of Cologne, where a press was set up about 1470, was very near at hand. Caxton went there, resolved (принять решение, решиться) to acquire the art of printing.

The first book printed in the English language does not bear upon the face of it when and where it was printed. That it was printed Caxton in Cologne, we can have no doubt, for it was there that he conducted his first printing operations.

In 1474, Caxton was allowed to set up his press in one of the chapels of the Westminster Abbey. Very few of Caxton's books were connected with the church. In his first book he made the English familiar with the romance of the Trojan war, which he had translated from French.

There is a book translated by Caxton from French, and printed by him in 1484, illustrating the female manners of that century, "The Knight of theTower". The Knight ckmplains of the ladies, of their extravagance in dress: "The wives say to their husbands every day, "Sir, such a wife an d such has such goodly array, and I pray you I may have of the same." And if her husband says, "Wife, such that are wiser than they have it not," she will say, "... they cannot wear it, and if I have it, you shall see how well it will become me, for I can wear it." And thus her husband must ordain her that which she desires, or he shall never have peace with her."

One of the more important works of Caxton, in which he sought to provide his countrymen with a knowledge of history, "The Chronicles of England," printed in 1480, begins at the fabulous period before the Romans, and ends at the beginning of the reign of Edward IV. From the chronicles of his own country Caxton sought to lead his readers forward to a knowledge of the history of other countries. He popularised old books making them intelligible. He praised History calling her "mother of all Philosophy."

The early printers, English and foreign, worked with scholars; they were scholars themselves. Caxton was especially the devoted printer of Chaucer.

In 1490 Caxton was approaching to the great age of eighty. He worked to the last day of his life.>> (From William Caxton, the First English Prine

LECTURE 11