favour of the country visited, would perhaps tend to introduce a still greater proportion of French phraseology. But still the foundation was laid at home, in the prevailing modes of education. With respect to the progress of this mixture, and the effects of the accessions which in the course of nearly three centuries the English language received from Normandy, the reader is referred to Mr. Tyrwhitt's very elaborate essay on the language and versification of Chaucer, prefixed to his edition of the Canterbury Tales. It appears, upon the whole, that "the language of our ancestors was complete in all its parts, and had served them for the purposes of discourse, and even of composition in various kinds, long before they had any intimate acquaintance with their French neighbours." They had therefore "no call from necessity, and consequently no sufficient inducement, to alter its original and radical constitutions, or even its customary forms." And accordingly, notwithstanding the prevalence of the French from the causes already assigned, it is proved by Mr. Tyrwhitt, that" in all the essential parts of speech, the characteristical features of the Saxon idiom were always preserved and the crowds of French words, which from time to time were imported, were themselves made subject, either immediately, or by degrees, to the laws of that same idiom." As to what English poetry owes to Chaucer, Dr. Johnson has pronounced him “ the first of our versifiers who wrote poetically;" and Mr. Warton has proved, "that in elevation and elegance, in harmony and perspicuity of versification, he surpasses his predecessors in an infinite proportion: that his genius was universal, and adapted to themes of unbounded variety; that his merit was not less in painting familiar manners with humour and propriety, than in moving the passions, and in representing the beautiful or the grand objects of nature with grace and sublimity. In a word, that he appeared with all the lustre and dignity of a true poet, in an age which compelled him to struggle with a barbarous language, and a national want of taste: and when to write verses at all, was regarded as a singular qualification "*" 12 The Saxons had a species of writing which they called poetry, but it did not consist of regular verses, nor was it embellished by rhyme. The Normans it is generally thought were the first who introduced rhyme or metre, copied from the Latin rythmical verses, a bastard species, which belongs to the declining period of the Latin language. To reduce the history of versification from the earliest periods is impossible, for want of specimens. Two very trifling ones only are extant before the time of Henry II. namely, a few lines in the Saxon Chronicle upon the death of William the Conqueror, and a short canticle, which, according to Matthew Paris, the blessed Virgin was pleased to dictate to Godric, an hermit near Durham. In the time of Henry II. Layamon, a priest, translated chiefly from the French of Wace, a fabulous history of the Britons, entitled Le Brut, which Wace himself, about the year 1155, had translated from the Latin of Geffry of Monmouth. In this there are a number of short verses, of unequal lengths, but exhibiting something like rhyme. But so common was it to write, whatever was written, in French or Latin, that another century must be passed over before we come to another specimen of English poetry, if we except the Ormulum 13, and a moral piece upon old age 14, &c. noticed by Mr. Tyrwhitt, and which he conjectures to have been written earlier than the reign of Henry II. 12 Hist. of Poetry, vol. i. p. 457. 13 A paraphrase on the Gospel histories, written by one Orme or Ormin. C. 13, Between the latter end of the reign of Henry III. and the time of Chaucer, the names of many English rhymers have been recovered, and many more anonymous writers, or rather translators, of romances flourished about this period; but they neither invented nor imported any improvements in the art of versification. Their labours, however, are not to be undervalued. Mr. Warton has very justly remarked, that "the revival of learning in most countries appears to have first owed its rise to translation. At rude periods the modes of original thinking are unknown, and the arts of original composition have not yet been studied. The writers, therefore, of such periods are chiefly and very usefully, employed in imparting the ideas of other languages into their own." But as many of these metrical romances were to be accompanied by music, they were less calculated for reading than recitation. These authors, whatever their merit, were the only English poets, if the name may be used, when Chaucer appeared; and the only circumstances under which he found the poetry of his native tongue, were, that rhyme was established very generally; that the metres in use were principally the long Iambic, consisting of not more than fifteen, nor less than fourteen syllables, and broken by a cæsura at the eighth syllable; the Alexandrine metre consisting of not more than thirteen syllables, nor less than twelve, with a cæsura at the sixth: the octosyllable metre; and the stanza of six verses, of which the first, second, fourth, and fifth, were in complete octosyllable metre; and the third and last catelectic, i. e. wanting a syllable or even two. Such were the precedents which a new poet might be expected to follow. But Chaucer composed nothing in the first or second of these four metres. In the fourth he wrote only the Rime of Sir Thopas, which being intended to ridicule the vulgar romances, seems to have been purposely written in their favourite metre. In the third, or octosyllable metre', he wrote several of his compositions, particularly an imperfect translation of the Roman de la Rose, the House of Fame, the Dethe of the Duchesse Blanche, and his Dreme, all which are so superior to the versification of his contemporaries and predecessors, as to establish his pre-eminence, and prove that the reformer of English poetry had at length appeared. But the most considerable part of his works entitle him to the honour of an inventor. They are written in the heroic metre, and there is no evidence of any English poet having used it before him. He is not indeed to be considered as the inventor in the most extensive sense, as the heroic metre had been cultivated by Dante, Petrach, and Boccace; but he was the first to introduce it into his native language, in which it has been employed by every poet of eminence to the present day. The of Chaucer had little of what we now understand by refinement. The public shows and amusements were splendid and sumptuous, they had all somewhat of a dramatic air: at their tournaments and carousals, the principal personages acted parts, with some connection of story, borrowed from the events, and conducted according to the events and manners of chivalry. But the national manners and habits were barbarous, unless where the restraint of religion repressed public licentiousness; and, with respect to taste, the spectacles in which the higher orders indulged, were such as would not now be tolerated, perhaps, even at a fair. What influence they had on public decency, it is difficult to ascertain. In Chaucer's time there was indeed no public, because there was 15 So called by Mr. Tyrwhitt, (whose opinions are chiefly followed on this subject) from what he apprehends to have been its original form, in which although it often consists of nine and sometimes of ten syllables, the eighth is always the last accented syllable. C. little or nothing of that communication of sentiment and feeling which we owe to the invention of printing. In such an age it is the highest praise of Chaucer, that he stood alone, the first poet who improved the art by melody, fancy, and sentiment, and the first writer, whether we consider the quantity, quality, or variety of his productions. It is supposed that many of his writings are lost. What remain, however, and have been authenticated with tolerable certainty, must have formed the occupation of a considerable part of his life, and been the result of copious reading and reflection. Even his translations are mixed with so great a portion of original matter, as, it may be presumed, required time and study, and those happy hours of inspiration which are not always within command. The principal obstruction to the pleasure we should otherwise derive from Chaucer's works, is that profusion of allegory which pervades them, particularly the Romaunt of the Rose, the Court of Love, Flower and Leaf, and the House of Fame. Pope, in the first edition of his Temple of Fame, prefixed a note in defence of allegorical poetry, the propriety of which cannot be questioned, but which is qualified with an exception which applies directly to Chaucer. "The incidents by which allegory is conveyed, should never be spun too long, or too much clogged with trivial circumstances, or little particularities.” But this is exactly the case with Chaucer, whose allegories are spun beyond all bounds, and clogged with many trivial and unappropriate circumstances. For upwards of seventy years after the death of Chaucer, his works remained in manuscript. Mr. Tyrwhitt enumerates twenty-six manuscripts which he had an opportunity of consulting in the various public and private libraries of London, Oxford, Cambridge, &c. but of all these he is inclined to give credit to only five. Caxton, the first English printer, selected Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, as one of the earliest productions of his press, but happened to copy a very incorrect manuscript. This first edition is supposed by Mr. Ames to have been printed in 1475 or 1476. There are only two complete copies extant, one in his Majesty's library, and another in that of Merton college, both without preface or advertisement. About six years after, Caxton printed a second edition, and in his preface apologized for the errors of the former. No perfect copy of this edition is known. Ames mentions an edition " collected by William Caxton, and printed by Wynken de Worde, 1495, folio," but the existence of this is doubtful. Pynson printed two editions, the first, it is conjectured, in 1491, and the second in 1526, which was the first in which a collection of some other pieces of Chaucer was added to the Canterbury Tales. Ames notices editions in 1520 and 1522, but had not seen them, nor are they now known. In 1532, an edition was printed by Thomas Godfrey, and edited by Mr. Thynne, which Mr. Tyrwhitt informs us was considered, notwithstanding its many imperfections, as the standard edition, and was copied, not only by the booksellers, in their several editions of 1542, 1546, 1555, and 1561, but also by Mr. Speght in 1597 and 1602. Speght's edition was reprinted in 1687, and in 1721 appeared Mr. Urry's, who, while he professed to compare a great many manuscripts, took such liberties with his author's text as to render this by far the worst edition ever published. There is an interleaved copy of Urry's edition in the British Museum, presented by Mr. William Thomas, a brother of Dr. J. Thomas" who furnished the preface, and the 16 Rector of Presteigne in Radnorshire. A large paper copy of this edition, with the same MSS. notes as that in the Museum, and a presentation copy from Dr. Thomas, was lately purchased by the present writer. C Glossary, and upon whom the charge of publishing devolved after Mr. Urry's death. This copy has many manuscript notes, and corrections. From one of them we learn that the life of Chaucer was very incorrectly drawn up by Mr. Dart, and corrected and enlarged by Mr. William Thomas; and from another, that bishop Atterbury prompted Urry to this undertaking, but "did by no means judge rightly of Mr. Urry's talents in this case, who though in many respects a most worthy person, was not qualified for a work of this nature." Dr. Thomas undertook to publish it, at the request of bishop Smalridge. In the Harleian collection is a copy of an agreement between William Brome, executor to Urry, the dean and chapter of Christ Church, and Bernard Lintot the bookseller. By this it appears that it was Urry's intention to apply part of the profits towards building Peckwater Quadrangle. Lintot was to print a thousand copies on small paper at £1. 10s. and two hundred and fifty on large paper at £2. 10s. It does not appear that this speculation succeeded. Yet the edition, from its having been printed in the Roman letter, the copiousness of the glossary, and the ornaments, &c. continued to be the only one consulted, until the publication of the Canterbury Tales by Mr. Tyrwhitt in 1775. This very acute critic was the first who endeavoured to restore a pure text by the collation of MSS. a labour of vast extent, but which must be undertaken even to greater extent, before the other works of Chaucer can be published in a manner worthy of their author. In the present edition, in which a more regular arrangement has been attempted, Mr. Tyrwhitt's text has been followed for the Canterbury Tales; and for the remainder of his works, the black letter editions, which, with all their faults, are more to be depended on than Urry's. Mr. Warton laments that Chaucer has been so frequently considered as an old, rather than a good poet, and recommends the study of his works. Mr. Tyrwhitt, since this advice was given, has undoubtedly introduced Chaucer to a nearer intimacy with the learned public, but it is not probable that he can ever be restored to popularity. His language will still remain an unsurmountable obstacle with that numerous class of readers to whom poets must look for universal reputation. Poetry is the art of pleasing; but pleasure, as generally understood, admits of very little that deserves the name of study. |